A/N: There is a small time-hop. Events that occurred within the time lapse will be revisited and discussed by the team in future chapters.

Chapter Ten

Several hours later, Kensi, was alert as she listened to the men share what had happened. After the Head-of-Security had escorted the three men off hospital premises, Deeks, had invited Sam and Callen to his apartment to discuss what needed to happen next. Kensi had awoken nearly a half hour before they had arrived. She sat on the sofa with her legs curled under her as she sipped on the cup of coffee which Deeks had brought her from her favorite corner cafe. A velvet plush blanket wrapped around her. To her left, Deeks lounged on the sofa beside her, with his denim-clad legs crossed at his ankles; his bare feet rested on his glass coffee table as his head rested against the back of the sofa. Sam sat diagonally to her right in a large arm chair perusing his phone. She furrowed her brow as she watched Callen pace the living area; but, listened as Sam listed an array of choices of restaurants to order delivery from.

"Callen, please stop." Kensi said, kindly. "What are you in the mood for?

Callen did not stop pacing, but he replied, "I'm not hungry."

Deeks rolled his eyes, but made no other movement as he interjected, "You've not eaten today. Nell would want you to eat."

"How do you know what she would want?" Callen snapped in frustration as he stopped pacing. Dejectedly, he sat on an arm chair identical to Sam's directly across from Sam. Callen placed his elbows on his knees then his face in his palms. He glanced upward at Deeks as he sneered. "Suddenly, become her best friend?"

Deeks almost chuckled at the undue jealously in Callen's tone until he remembered the dire events of the day, moreover of the past few weeks. "Nah, man, unless Eric does something truly horrific to betray her, I'm pretty sure, he'll be her best friend forever and ever." Deeks shrugged. "I am her friend, though. And, I count you my friend. Eat or don't eat, that's on you, man, but let me ask you this; how are you going to take care of her when she gets out of the crazy house if you don't take care of you?

"I'd rather you not use the term crazy house." Kensi said as she gently elbowed Deeks when she saw the death glare from Callen. "Speaking of Eric, where is he?

"He's in OPS. I called him on the way over. He said, he couldn't make it tonight. Said Granger required him to do something for one of the Beta teams." Callen responded to Kensi's question, before he glared at Deeks. "How dare-"

"Deeks has a point, G." Sam interjected in the attempt to diffuse the situation. "He may not have been eloquent in his delivery, but his point is valid. Take care of you. Then, take care of her. She needs someone." He paused as if considering his wording. "She needs you.

After several moments of silence, Kensi said, "Guys, I'm sorry that I wasn't available earlier to help you, to help Nell."

"Kens," Callen said, intentionally making his tone friendly even though he felt anger at himself, Janvier, Nell, Mike, the entire situation. "Don't apologize. You needed to take time to take care of you which today for you meant sleep. You would have been no good to us if you were there and not functional." Callen shook his head. "You were delusional this morning in the bullpen."

"Not my best," Kensi blushed, ashamed at how far she had allowed herself to go. "I'm sorry."

Deeks nudged her shoulder with his as he stated firmly, "No apologies necessary, Fern. It's been a hard month for everyone."

"So," Kensi said as she bit her bottom lip. "Nell's going to be okay, right?"

"Yes," Callen replied, firmly.

Deeks and Sam shared a look before glancing away.

Kensi sighed before she stated, "I wish I would have known about Mike and Nell. I'm glad that he was able to find some sort of happiness. He deserved it."

Deeks smiled as a stray, silent tear slipped from the corner of his right eye unnoticed by the others. "They were very happy together. I never saw them together other than in pictures or a rare video. I don't think Nell knew that I knew about them, but Mike was incredibly happy with her. He gushed over her whenever we played ball." Deeks sighed, melancholy. Both the glare from Callen and the inquisitive looks from Sam and Kensi made him slightly uncomfortable. "What?

Sam smiled, sadly. "I wasn't aware that you knew Mike that well."

Deeks shrugged nonchalantly, but his mouth formed a strained line before he made a revelation. "Actually, I've known him longer than I have known you guys. I met him a few years ago during an undercover op when I was still with the LAPD. An RA was dealing pills on UCLA's campus. I was posing as an underclassman whereas Mike was posing as a graduate student. I was investigating the drug deals, he was focused on solving an overdose of a Petty Officer who had no history of substance abuse. My run-in with you guys at the gym wasn't my first rodeo with NCIS or Hetty. But let me tell you, you guys were harder to crack than Mike. Mike was easy going, you guys not so much."

Callen exhaled quickly as if he had suddenly realized something shocking. He stated with a pained expression, "You're Martin."

The statement startled Sam. He blinked and looked at Deeks as if seeing him in a new light.

"Yeah," Deeks rolled his eyes as he wrapped his right arm around a the shoulders of a confused Kensi. "Detective Martin Adam Deeks at your service."

"No," Callen said, his tone no longer hostile towards Deeks. His tone softened as if he was talking to a relative of a victim in a case. "You're Mad Martin."

Sam added, "Mike's best friend, his gym buddy."

"What?" Kensi asked as she stared at the side of Deeks' face.

Uncomfortable at the revelation and scrutiny he was under, Deeks stood and walked over to the mini-bar in the corner of the room. "Guys, really." He said as he opened the fridge to extract a bottle of water. "Let's talk about Nell. Lets figure out what to eat. I'm starved. Anybody want a bottle of water?"

Callen stood then sat back down. He sighed then ran his right hand over his face. "Deeks, I get it. Don't talk to us, but talk to someone okay?"

"Hi," Deeks said, snarky. He took a sip of water from the bottle of water. "My name is Kettle, is yours Pot?

Sam and Kensi laughed. The right corner of Callen's lips twitched once before a stoic look became cemented over his facial features. "I talked to Hetty earlier today. She has arranged a transfer. Nate is returning to the team soon in the role of Operational Psychologist. I want each of us to utilize his office hours."

Kensi smiled widely as she said, "I wish it were under better circumstances, but I am stoked that Nate is coming back."

Sam cleared his throat before he sent Callen a meaningful look. "Are all of us going to utilize those office hours?"

Callen nodded as he replied in a shaky tone, "Yes, Sam."

Meanwhile, at a near hospital, within the Behavioral Health Unit, was a young woman whom was numb from sedation, yet still scared and alone. The room was bare of any décor save a flat dry erase board with smooth edges. The day of the week and month were written in flowery handwriting as well as the names of her assigned nurse and tech. The patient's last name and first initial were written in all capital print letters at the top of the dry erase board.

JONES, N.