Author's Note: Thanks for the kind words reviewers. That was obviously my first experience with nasty, hateful reviews. I hope you find this chapter to your liking. I tried to make it longer.

"Deeks and Callen, go check out the wife. Sam, I want you and Kensi to talk to the girlfriend."

"But…" the four agents unanimously disagreed with Hetty's assignment.

"No arguments," Hetty cut them off before they could even begin complaining. The petite woman gave each of her agents the stink eye before turning on her heel and leaving Ops.

"What the hell?" Deeks mumbled.

"I heard that Mister Deeks," came echoing back up into the room.

"How does she do that?" the detective asked.

"It's Hetty," Callen answered.

Sam nodded his agreement, "She knows everything."

The four agents gathered their gear and headed out to accomplish their respective tasks.

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"How are you holdin' up, Kens?" Sam asked as he merged his car into the flow of traffic.

"Fine."

"How are you really doing?" He turned to look at her, his eyes full of compassion.

She rolled her eyes at him. "I'm good. Really."

"Have you talked to anyone?"

"Seriously, Sam, what's with the twenty questions?"

"I've been there, Kensi. I know what you are going through."

"You have no idea."

She knew as soon as she said it that she was screwed. She'd accidentally let Sam get his toe in the door and there would be no turning back now. With those four words, she had just admitted that she was far from fine.

"Kensi," Sam nearly whispered, the brotherly love he felt for her evident in his voice.

"Just drop it," she growled.

"You know I can't do that."

"We have a job to do."

"It can wait."

"I'm not talking about it."

"You have to talk sometime."

"No. No I don't."

Sam wanted to drive right past the address. He wanted to keep Kensi captive in his car, to force her to talk. But he didn't. He pulled into the cheap motel, and Kensi had the door open before the car was even parked.

After the interview, Kensi was smiling when they got into the car.

"What a piece of work!" she laughed.

Sam replied with his signature smirk and started the engine, wordlessly starting the drive home. He wanted to pretend like their earlier conversation hadn't happened. He wanted to keep Kensi smiling. But he knew that wasn't in her best interest, and he wanted what was best for her.

"Do you know why Hetty split everyone up today?" he asked, wondering if he could steer the conversation where he wanted it.

"Callen probably made her mad," she joked.

"Deeks chatter could certainly qualify as punishment."

There was a moment of silence while Sam thought about his next step.

"It could have something to do with the tension between you and your partner." When he said it, he heard a whoosh of air as Kensi gasped.

Trying to recover, she pasted on a smile and asked, "What tension?"

"Come on, Kens. We can all see it. What's going on between you two?"

"Nothing," her answer was firm and clear. Sam could practically hear the unspoken "not anymore."

"But there was, wasn't there? Before Afghanistan? "

"How did…"

"Federal agent," he interrupted her, puffing out his chest.

Even in the midst of this conversation that she didn't want to have, she smiled.

"So what changed?" Sam asked. "Was it Afghanistan?"

"Yes," Kensi whispered.

"Kens, you pulled him through after Sidorov, let him help you now."

"I can't, Sam. This is different."

"How?"

"Because it's his fault!"

She didn't mean to say it, much less shout it.

"Kensi, you know that's not true." Sam's response was quiet, pleading with her to acknowledge the truth.

"I know, I know, I know. I didn't mean to say that," she back pedaled.

"But you did say it. Which means at least part of you believes it," Sam spoke as he approached Ops. He decided this time to keep driving because this conversation needed to happen and he knew if Kensi bolted now she might never confront her feelings.

Sam let the silence hang in the air as he waited for Kensi to respond. The furrows in her brow indicated that she was finally thinking, processing. He didn't want to interrupt.

"If we hadn't…" she couldn't finish the sentence. She couldn't tell Sam about sleeping with her partner, even if he suspected the truth.

"Slept together?" he finished for her.

She nodded, not wanting to have this conversation but seeing no way out of it.

Sam was struggling to connect what happened in Afghanistan to what had happened between Deeks and Kensi before her assignment overseas.

"You don't feel that way towards him and now you're uncomfortable after what transpired between you?"

"God, no. If only it were that easy."

Now Sam was thoroughly confused.

"I love him, Sam," her brow crinkled as she struggled to find the words to continue, "but they ruined that."

"The Taliban?"

"They punished me for being unwed. They thought it was just Jack, but I couldn't stop thinking about Marty."

It didn't slip past Sam that she had called her partner by his first name.

"And now, with the nightmares. I can't look at him in the eye anymore."

Silence settled in the car as Sam looped back around toward Ops. He knew Kensi and Deeks needed to get through this together. He just didn't have a clue how to help them.