Sam brought Callen home almost an hour later. I did some real serious soul searching in that short time. I was so afraid that he'd changed his mind and wasn't coming home to me. When I heard the car door slam I was relieved and a little apprehensive.

Sam made sure that Callen got inside and watched him until he disappeared into the spare room. He turned his gaze to me.

I could tell that something was on his mind. He thought about it and then just opted to say it. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize what you two have. I should have listened to him. Hetty and I both insisted that you be questioned. I knew he was getting in deep and I honestly thought you were part of the crew we were looking for. He kept telling me and I wouldn't listen. Now I see him messed up like this and I want to fix it."

It broke my heart to see Sam hurting this bad. "Sam, we'll work it out. Thank you for caring about him this much." I could see that the man was not done.

He gave me a sheepish grin, put his hand on his heart and made a promise. "I was hoping you were the one we were looking for and it turns out you were the one he needed to find. Just take good care of my partner."

I nodded in agreement. I was too dumbfounded by his announcement to say much.

"Deeks is waiting for me. We'll see you soon, and again, I apologize." He opened the door and left. I heard the car pull away and turned to face my own dilemma. My biggest fear, at that moment, was what if we couldn't work it out.

I went looking for Callen and found him sitting on his bedroll in the spare room. He looked like a beaten man. Those gorgeous eyes of his were red from crying and exhaustion. I sat next to him on the bedroll and put my arms around him.

He never met my eyes. His brain was sure that this was not what I wanted but he was wrong. "Is this what you really want, Sara?" His voice was low and sounded dismal and beaten.

I felt a tear roll down my cheek, followed by more. "Yes, more than you know. I didn't know that you'd left and when I got up and you weren't here, I was beside myself with worry and anger at myself because I drove you out of your own home. Now I'm so grateful that you're home." He reached up to wipe away my tears. I sniffed back the rest. "I could use a cup of tea, how about you?"

A quiet chuckle escaped from the man in my arms. "A beer would be great right about now, but I'll have tea with you since it's eleven o'clock in the morning." We went into the kitchen and we made tea in "our" teapot together. I shared some of the secrets Hetty had shared with me.

When the tea was ready we went out to the patio and began to unravel what had happened. The situation we were in was one I had not expected and neither did G. He on the other hand, realized that he could lose me because of what I would see as duplicity, just like I did. Callen felt that he could have talked Sam and Hetty out of the interrogation in time, but time was something they didn't have a lot of.

I began to feel guilty for being angry with him. "I am sorry I got angry." I felt that I needed to explain my train of thoughts. "First of all I felt insulted and used, but there is more to it." I felt driven to explain my past interactions with men. "Men's ways of thinking have always been a mystery for me. There have been men in my life that I fell for and all I was to them was a means to an end. I thought that I was in that category again with you. Then came Mark, who taught me to trust. And then there is you, you who came on so strong and fast, that you caught me unawares. I have only in the last two days really came to understand exactly what you mean to me. I love you G. Callen and I don't want to lose you."

His reply was something to make any woman cry tears of joy. "I feel the same. I love you Sara Grandon, and I chose to protect you and I understood I could have lost you in the process."

It felt like we promised each other everything in those few words.

He took my hands in his and caressed them. "I just didn't know how much that would hurt. I was so deep in pain that I left here and didn't know where I was until Hetty opened her door. She gave me a shot of brandy and called Sam." There seemed to be a moment of embarrassment and I couldn't fathom where that came from. "I cried because of the pain and because I thought that I had lost you. Sam helped me talk it all out. He understands now that what I feel is like what he feels for Michelle, his wife."

He asked how I sorted my feelings. He knew there is no one here for me. Oh what a tender thought. I told him that I had a restless night and when I called him and got no answer I got up and got dressed to come looking for him. I explained that Hetty came to the door and how she and I talked. Hopefully she understood my feelings and then we had tea. She had really came because he was so torn up and it scared her to see him that way. I liked Hetty for that.

We'd talked and sat entwined with each other for quite a while. We noticed it had gotten late and started dinner. While the chicken baked and we peeled potatoes and carrots, we talked about his team mates. Sam was known to me and we'd made our peace. We both cared about Callen.

"Detective Deeks works for NCIS, in what capacity?"

He laughed. "It wasn't my idea but it seems to work. Deeks is the liaison between NCIS and the Los Angeles police department. His partner, Kensi, likes him."

I must've been wearing a quizzical look. "Who's Kensi? Have I met her?"

G looked at me in disbelief. "She's Deeks partner. You've met her."

Recognition came to me. "Oh, she's the gorgeous brunette?"

He chuckled and reached for the dishes, "Yeah that's the one. She's a sister to me and a damn good agent. I think that those two are sweet on each other even though they won't admit it." It was good to see him laughing again.

A thought came to me all of a sudden. "Hey, Deeks showed up at the hotel the night my room was tossed. Why?"

Callen looked a wee bit embarrassed and looked out of the kitchen window. "Deeks and Kensi were running surveillance on you, so when the call came in he held back a little while and then went in as a detective with LAPD." His gaze came back to me and a hand pushed my hair from my face. It was a small loving gesture. "I was glad that he was close and could keep an eye on you."

"What? It was you guys following me?" I was stunned by this revelation.

Callen gaze turned quizzical. "Yeah but only two days. Why?"

I never could place it but at times I still felt the itch between my shoulder blades so I told him. "I still feel watched, sometimes."

Callen brow furled and he tried not to show his concern but it was there. "We'll check on it tomorrow. OK?" he said.

I was happy with that response. "That's fine." We ate dinner, cleaned up and went to bed.

We spent the next week as normally as we could. There was no sign of being followed or watched. There was one week left of my vacation and we studiously ignored that. Neither of us wanted to talk about it and I definitely did not want to leave him, however, I had a job and twenty-one little faces that I was expected to return to.