-II-

"And it's a beautiful day here in sunny Los Angeles, California…"

Kensi hit the off button on her alarm clock and stretched sleepily. The early morning sunlight touched her eyes, and she sighed contentedly. She had been having the most amazing dream about a certain blue-eyed NCIS agent. Stop it, she scolded herself. She was surprised that she had even been dreaming about him, as she had been trying so hard to shut him out of her mind. But eleven months later, she still could not forget him.

Realizing that she was going to be late for work and Hetty would have her head, Kensi reluctantly left the warmth of her bed and headed for the shower. When she finished, she had every intention of going straight back to her bedroom and getting dressed. But something drew her to the second bedroom that morning. She hadn't set foot in there since that night…that one night eleven months ago that she and Callen had shared the same bed.

The door creaked as she opened it, and she glanced around the empty room. His sleeping bag still lay on the bed where he had left it so long ago. After that night, when she had woken up the next morning, the heat of his body was gone, but she had still been wrapped in his sleeping bag and could still inhale his scent. She hadn't moved it since.

This morning Kensi sat down on the edge of the bed and hugged the towel around her body. In eleven months, she hadn't heard anything about the top secret mission in Russia. She tried not to think about it and had gotten pretty good at pushing it out of her mind. If Hetty knew anything about it, she didn't say. And so Kensi was left to wonder.

But she knew there was a reason why she had called Keith in Washington and broken it off that next morning. She had been rather blunt, and she didn't regret it, so there was another reason why her heart still felt so empty. But as she had done so many times before, Kensi had simply constructed the usual iron walls around her fragile heart. She didn't expect – eleven months later – that those walls would be on the verge of crumbling. And so today she allowed herself a minute to think about the handsome NCIS agent who made her knees weak and put butterflies in her stomach. She wondered if he was okay…and if he ever thought about her.

That was all she allowed herself to indulge in, though. She quickly stood up and went to her bedroom. She threw on some clothes, grabbed the stack of expense reports for Hetty, and headed out the door to headquarters.


"Hey, guys," Kensi greeted as she walked into the bullpen.

Dom, Nate, and Eric were all sitting there, looking at her curiously.

"What?" Kensi asked.

"Hetty wants to see you," Nate said quietly.

Kensi looked towards Hetty's office, but the little lady wasn't there.

"She's upstairs," Eric explained. "With the director. On the system."

"It's confidential," Dom added.

Kensi gave the three of them a suspicious glare. Over the last eleven months, they had all quickly accepted her as the new head agent, and for the most part, they let her call the shots. Or rather, shoot the ducks. But every so often, they still liked to cause her trouble. And sending her into the ops center alone to meet Hetty definitely meant trouble.

Kensi tossed her bag on her chair and headed up the stairs. She entered the ops room and saw Hetty glance at her with a worried expression. And then she looked on the screen. Director Vance was on one side, and a very familiar looking man was on the other.

"Sam!" Kensi exclaimed.

"I need a fully trained undercover agent, Director," Sam was saying. He suddenly noticed Kensi on his screen. "I need her."

"What's going on?" Kensi asked.

"These soldiers are planning to launch homing missiles within the next 48 hours," Sam said. "Director, we know their targets…it could devastate cities all over the world. And we know where they're hiding…we just have to get a couple of agents in there to deactivate their system."

"Where's Callen?" Kensi asked.

Sam hesitated. "He…uh…they're holding him hostage in their underground cavern."

Kensi felt her heart drop into her stomach.

"It was an undercover op gone wrong," Sam said quickly. "That's why I need you, Kensi. To get him out."

Kensi looked at Hetty and Director Vance. The pleading look in her eyes said it all.

"Leon," Hetty began…but she didn't need to.

The director sighed in surrender. "Agent Blye, your flight will leave in one hour."

"Yes, sir."

And then the screen went blank.


Kensi was just zipping up her bag and heading out to meet the plane when she turned and saw Hetty standing near the door.

"Bring him home," Hetty said in an oddly gentle tone.

"I will."

"And bring Sam, too."

Kensi started walking out the door. "I will."

"And while you're at it, bring yourself home, too."

But Kensi didn't hear her.