A/N: Hello, my lovely readers, how's everyone doing? Can't believe it's almost May! As I mentioned on another fic of mine, I've had an interesting few months. Starting in January I was temporarily promoted which means I get to do what I was trained for and get better pay, but I've also been super busy.

I hope you enjoy this next chapter which was nearly as hard to write as the last couple. I know I keep saying there's only a few more chapters to this thing, but I think this time I'm actually telling the truth when I say that we just have the epilogue after this one.

Disclaimer: No, I have no ownership of any part of NCIS:LA, including Eric Christian Olsen. More's the pity.

Reviews: J: I'm so glad you like it! It means everything to know that people are enjoying what I write.

pegasus25: I have every intention of finishing this fic, it might just take me a little while. Hopefully you'll hang in there with me.

FireFlower88: Thanks! I think it's mandatory to give Deeks one-liners and I probably enjoy it a little too much sometimes.

Guest (french fan): Thanks so much!

Thanks to everyone else who reviewed, faved, and followed or read for the support and encouragement. Now let's see what other cruel and unusual things I can do to poor Deeks.

The Truth Shall Set you Free

Kensi stayed with Deeks through the rest of the night and into the better part of the morning. The next time he woke he was more lucid but in significantly more pain as his meds wore off and he attempted to move around a bit more.

He was less jumpy than he'd been the night before but Kensi still moved cautiously around him, worried she'd cause him more harm if they maintained their usual level of contact. So instead they watched reruns of The Andy Griffith Show while Deeks toyed unenthusiastically with a container of soupy pudding. Personally, Kensi didn't think it looked all that bad. He'd been fairly quiet all morning which was perhaps the most frustrating and concerning aspect of this whole ordeal.

Deeks talked. Always. Even when he was mad or hurt, he talked to excess, talked to distract. So his one word replies and careless, and no doubt painful, shrugs were drawing on her last nerve. She was itching to ask him exactly what happened in that alley before she found him. Everything hinted at Doug having been there, having called 911, but it made no sense when combined with his lack of cooperation and outright lies.

"Deeks-" A firm tap on the door interrupted and Kensi scowled, turning her attention to the familiar hand curling around the edge which was attached to a mustard yellow sleeve.

"Mr. Deeks, Ms. Blye, I hope you are having a good morning, all things considered." Hetty greeted them quietly. Her omniscient eyes missed nothing as they scanned the room before finally settling on Kensi and Deeks.

"Well, only since you arrived." Deeks offered with a hint of his normal snark. Grasping the edges of the bed he started to pull himself up and Kensi immediately stepped forward to assist. Hetty watched them silently before gliding father into the room.

"Thank you for the effort Mr. Deeks, but I'm afraid I am not here to flirt, this time. Ms. Blye, perhaps you would like to return home and freshen up a bit, eat, rest if you can?" Kensi started shaking her head before Hetty had even finished.

"Hetty, I'm fine. One of the nurses brought me an Uncrustable and some coffee. I'm good, really."

"Well, as delicious as that sounds" Hetty paused for a moment to grimace. "it wasn't a suggestion so much as an order. I have things to discuss with Deeks and it's not necessary that you be here." Adding a nod to this, she stepped alongside Kensi's chair, gesturing for her to stand. Kensi's mouth gaped slightly at being so summarily dismissed, although she probably shouldn't have been too surprised. Hetty rarely minced words when she had an agenda.

"Hey, uh, do I get any say in this?" Deeks asked mildly from his semi-upright position.

"No, Mr. Deeks." Hetty replied evenly. "Now Kensi, home. You're of little use to your partner if you're completely exhausted." With a resigned air, Kensi collected the few belongings she'd brought with, which included her muddy jacket.

"Oh, LAPD is coming between 2 and 3 to take Deeks' statement." she said, pausing in her task as the information came flooding back from the night before. Worriedly she glanced at Deeks who frowned at the news but appeared as unsurprised as Hetty.

"Yes, I'm well aware. That should give us more than enough time to finish our discussion. Wouldn't you say, Mr. Deeks?"

"I think I need more morphine." he muttered. Suddenly he looked a little nauseous and Kensi wondered if it was the pain or the idea of a prolonged heart-to-heart with their imposing boss.

"Enough stalling, Kensi. Your partner is in safe hands with me."

For the next few days Kensi was bogged down with the expected mountain of paperwork resulting from one kidnapped and beaten detective/liaison, two shootings and collaborating with LAPD. Hetty wasn't providing any leeway on that front either and Kensi wasn't sure if it was deliberate or simply because she wanted the whole mess cleared up as fast as possible.

Rationally she knew that Deeks was probably out of danger, bullet wounds and possible infection aside. It was ridiculous to think that he would be targeted a third time in less than two weeks but she couldn't completely tamp down the idea that she should be with her partner, making sure nothing else went wrong. She'd managed to squeeze in a visit each day which momentarily ameliorated her fears, if only just.

Finally after four days in the hospital Deeks was deemed healthy enough to return home again.

"I'll do it." Kensi volunteered at once when Hetty mentioned Deeks' need of a chauffeur. "I mean, I'm his partner so it makes sense that I should drive him around." she rambled, ignoring Callen and Sam's knowing looks.

"Of course, Ms. Blye. No need to argue the point, I believe everyone is completely happy with that arrangement." Hetty said serenely. "Particularly Mr. Deeks." She added under her breath as she walked away.

"Hey Kensi, maybe you can practice your nurse routine when you get Deeks all tucked in. I'm sure he's got a uniform you can borrow and it will do wonders for his morale." Sam suggested while Kensi grabbed her phone, keys and wallet.

"Or maybe he's more of the slutty cop kind of guy." Callen added.

"Sorry Callen, but I don't really think you're his type." She called back, flashing a protesting Callen and laughing Sam a quick grin as she walked towards the doors.

Deeks was feeling a distinct sense of de ja vu as he unlocked his apartment door, allowing Kensi through first since she was lugging his duffle bag. He shuffled his way into the living room, and glanced longlingly at the couch.

"Hey, somebody cleaned up." he observed. There was a distinct lack of broken glass surrounding the furniture and the bedding that he'd used before being so rudely abducted was now neatly folded on one side of the couch.

"Uh yeah, Hetty had her cleaning service come by a couple days ago." Kensi replied, coming back from his bedroom. He wondered if he should be worried by her increasing familiarity with his apartment.

"Awesome, I should get hurt more often if it means free housecleaning." Deeks drawled while he attempted to force his protesting torso into a sitting position.

"Deeks, that's not funny." Kensi snapped immediately, losing the unsure demeanor she'd had ever since she picked him up.

"Sorry." he said mildly, not sure his body or psyche was up to a pissed of Kensi Blye just yet.

"Are you hungry?" she asked after a long silence. She seemed torn between not letting him out of her sight for a moment and expending some of the restless energy that had her shifting back and forth on her feet every few seconds. Deeks grabbed the arm of the couch for support and managed to shift himself up a few inches unaided.

"Well, that depends," He shifted again and only ended up tweaking his ribs. "on whether or not Hetty's magical cleaning service restocked my cupboards." Kensi wrinkled her nose but he could still see the concern in her eyes as he tried to find a more comfortable position.

"I didn't realize that sweeping up glass required magic." She commented, gesturing at the floor which appeared spotless and loath though he was to say it, up to par with his meticulous standards.

"It's Hetty, everything she does involves magic." Deeks said dismissively.

"Ok, well assuming Hetty's house elves did go shopping, are you hungry?" Kensi asked, accepting his explanation.

"I guess…just not if there's chicken soup."

"Jerk." she muttered on her way to the kitchen. "That soup was perfectly edible." A few minutes later a clanking sound announced her impending return and Deeks wondered what horror awaited him. Surprisingly enough Kensi had prepared a PBJ and a small bowl of applesauce. She'd also brought his next dose of meds and a glass of water. It wasn't exactly a gourmet meal but Deeks appreciated the effort and intent, not to mention the fact that none of the food was expired.

"So…" Kensi started casually, once Deeks had consumed a few bites of his sandwich. "What happened in that alley, before we found you?" He almost chuckled at the predictability of his partner, but instead threw down his half-eaten piece of bread, the niggling guilt that had been plaguing him off and on for the last few days returning full force.

"You've been dying to ask that all week, haven't you?" he asked instead of answering her question. "I'm surprised you were able to keep it in this long."

"Ok listen, I was being considerate. I figured Hetty put you through the wringer so I wanted to wait until you were better." Kensi countered, pulling a chair closer to the couch and taking a seat.

"And feeling a false sense of security." he muttered darkly. A pillow smacked dully against Deeks's face before falling uselessly to his lap.

"Why didn't you tell us Douglas Tourney was there?" Kensi persisted. Deeks breathed in long and deep, ignoring the pang it caused, and blew it out slowly.

"You weren't supposed to know about that." He said. "I mean, I'm not surprised you figured it out but I was hoping that you wouldn't know anything about Doug. Pretty stupid I guess." Kensi frowned at his downtrodden tone, her expression somewhere between concerned and confused.

"But that's the thing, Deeks. We don't really know what happened. By the time I got there, you were alone and Jerry was dead. The only reason we know Doug had been there too was because he made the 911 call."

"Really?" Deeks asked in surprise. "Hetty didn't mention that for some reason."

"Probably didn't want you to worry."

"Sure."

"What did she tell you?"

"She told me Doug was working at the hospital when I was there, somehow let it slip to his uncles –which I already knew by the way– and that I shouldn't concern myself with him anymore."

"What the hell does that mean?" Kensi asked, her eyebrows furrowed in concern.

"Her exact words were, 'The matter has been dealt with accordingly and Mr. Tourney is no longer considered a threat to you. However, rest assured that we will continue to monitor the situation.'" Kensi didn't appear amused by his Hetty impression, which he'd honestly thought was pretty spot on.

"What did she do with him?"

"Wouldn't say. Just that he was apparently unharmed." Kensi shook her head, apparently at a loss for words. Deeks couldn't blame her really. He'd felt similarly dumfounded and slightly concerned when Hetty had briefed him. Even if Doug hated him now, he couldn't help but worry about what Hetty meant by "handled the situation".

"Seriously though, Deeks, what happened?" Kensi asked after a few minutes of quiet contemplation, returning to her original question. Deeks sighed again and turned his head slightly against the back of the couch.

"Right after I shot Jerry, at least I think it was right after, my timeline's a little screwed up, but Doug came along. I don't know how he found us. He freaked out and then he..." Deeks trailed off as he came to the part he really didn't want to go into detail about.

"He what, Deeks?"

"He got a little angry, you might say, when he realized that both of his uncles, and remaining relatives, had been killed in one night."

"Doug is the one who beat you up?" Kensi asked, raising her voice slightly.

"No, he just kicked me a few times."

"He kicked you?!" She repeated, a dangerous look coming into her eyes. Deeks decided it was probably a good thing that Hetty had spirited Doug away somewhere unknown.

"Kensi, he reacted like anybody would in a similar situation." Kensi's brows furrowed again and slumped in her seat as though his lack of anger had completely disheartened her.

"I don't get it. Why does this kid mean so much to you? You've never mentioned him, but clearly you care enough about him to not want him arrested or anywhere near the police." Her voice was filled with frustration and after a brief second of reflection Deeks made his decision.

"I met a boy named Douglas Tourney on my first major undercover op. I'd done short-term things and my training officer liked my work so he told me to plan for something more long-term. I had a little while to come up with an alias but I really had no idea what I was doing.

I went under as a petty criminal with aspirations in one of the less lucrative ghettos. I was supposed to infiltrate this up and coming drug ring that LAPD thought was responsible for a string of murders." He paused to take a sip of water, allowing Kensi the chance to comment but she remained silent.

"I probably wasn't ready for it, but I wanted to prove myself so I jumped at the chance. I started going to the local bars, threw around some rumors about my less than honorable activities and pretty soon a couple of low-level thugs decided to give me a chance. I met Jerry and Tom while I was trying to make a deal with the drug lord's cronies. Tom and Jerry were willing to do the crap that nobody else wanted to so even with Tom screwing everything up, they still had a job. Since I was a lot better at just about everything, they tried to play nice with me, let me crash at their dump which was super creepy."

"And that's where you met Doug." Kensi guessed. Deeks chuckled dryly and scratched at his jaw.

"Yup. I walked into this dirty, broken down apartment with two thieves and there's this scrawny kid watching cartoons at a second-hand table, eating knock-off Cheetos."

"I bet it freaked you out a little."

"Of course it did." Deeks said. "For a second I thought one of them had actually procreated."

"Lovely." Kensi commented with a roll of her eyes and gestured for him to continue.

"The first couple days he was terrified of me, wouldn't stay in the same room when I was there. I don't know what he'd seen, but it had him pretty messed up."

"How old was he?" Kensi asked.

"I don't remember. I think he was a freshman, maybe sophomore. It was hard to tell cause he looked like such a kid and he was weirdly naïve for someone who'd lived that kind of life."

"Well, not everyone can be a Casanova at 14." Deeks ignored the blatant sarcasm in Kensi's voice, shaking his head at the implication.

"No, Doug couldn't even talk to girls. I mean, he barely talked to anyone; it was a week before I got him to respond to me. He was naïve because even with all the awful people his uncles brought home and the horrible things he knew they did, he still hero-worshipped them to some degree."

"Did he want to be like them?"

"No, he wanted to get out there so bad but he didn't have anywhere else to go. His aunt raised him since he was three. Then the summer he came to Tom and Jerry, she got really sick. I think she had cancer for a while, but she kept it from Doug as long as she could. When it got really bad, she knew she couldn't take care of him anymore."

"So she asked her criminally inclined nephews to take him in." Kensi summed up. The derision was evident in her voice and Deeks hurried to defend the aunt, even though he'd never had the pleasure of meeting her.

"He didn't have anyone else and his aunt was terrified of what would happen if he landed in foster care. I'm not saying that some kids don't end up in great homes, but in the kind of places we grew up, we're usually not so lucky."

"It sounds like you spent a lot of time together."

"Once he stopped being afraid of me we did. It was like he thought I was his big brother or something. Anything I told him he acted like it was invaluable and it never seemed to bother him that I was a criminal." Deeks felt a familiar mix of annoyance and fondness as he talked about Doug.

"Well, you weren't really a criminal. You were just pretending to be one." Kensi observed.

"For all he knew I was. "

"So what kind of tips did the great Marty Deeks give his young, impressionable friend?"

"I told him to stay out of trouble as much as he could, stressed the importance of finishing high school. At that point he wanted to drop out but I told him he could get into college, maybe get away from that kind of life completely if he kept his grades up and stayed out of trouble. And he listened." Deeks shrugged, suddenly feeling self-conscious as Kensi started at him a little too intently.

"That's actually really…sweet." Deeks couldn't help but shake his head in contradiction as Doug's accusations rang ran through his mind, disjointed as they were. He'd always wondered at the complete trust the teenager had in him and now he felt even more unworthy.

"It was stupid. I was undercover as a criminal wannabe, not a counselor for struggling teens. Do you know how much trouble I could have gotten both of us in? And I'm not just talking about what would have happened if LAPD found out I was spending my afternoons helping a kid with his algebra homework instead of making connections. If the drug lord I was trying to make an in with, saw me playing nice with someone like that, it could have ruined everything. Coulda got Doug killed too." He sighed and shoved a handful of hair off his forehead.

"I don't know, maybe that's the real reason I was pulled. They could tell I was losing it and got me out before I could screw it up any more."

"So the op didn't work out?"

"Nah, I got some evidence which helped take down a few guys, but the drug lord moved on to a more lucrative part of town." There was a few minutes silence as Deeks allowed himself to wallow in a bit of self-loathing. He glanced at Kensi, her expression pulling him out of his own thoughts for a moment. It appeared she was either thinking very deeply or attempting to hold in a fart.

"You ok over there?"

"I'm just thinking." She said, face still contorted.

"Dare I make a joke?" Deeks muttered to himself, but Kensi obviously heard and leaned over far enough to smack the back of his hand.

"Shut up. No, I was thinking about Doug. He obviously put a lot of store in what you told him, I mean look at him now."

"I knew him for all of three months and I didn't even remember him at first."

"It's been years since then, right? I bet there's a lot of other Dougs out there which might make it kind of hard to remember everyone." Kensi observed in a nonchalant voice. "Besides, it doesn't matter if you forgot, because he didn't. You made a lasting impression on him."

"I couldn't just ignore them." Deeks said tightly. "And it still doesn't make it ok. I still lied to an impressionable kid who now is probably questioning everything he's been told and done in the last six years."

"I find it…admirable, even if it might be 'stupid' as you put it. There are too many people who don't bother because it's not their problem or they have more important things to do." If Deeks was blushing a little and looking slightly damp-eyed, Kensi didn't say anything. She cleared her throat and it took Deeks a moment to realize she was looking rather self-conscious herself.

"Well, you should finish your lunch and then go to bed. I left your meds in the bathroom." She said, rising to her feet and surprising Deeks slightly with the sudden change in topic.

"Wait, where are you going, it's only 3:30? I thought you were supposed to protect me from further attacks by ruffians." Deeks injected a slight whine into his voice, hoping it would make him seem less desperate for her to stay.

"Some of us have work to do, we can't lay in bed all day and watch Gunsmoke reruns."

"Ok, that was one time, the Little House marathon was over, and you're not on active duty, how could you possibly have any paperwork left?" He said hurriedly as he watched her gather her bag and phone. If it had been possible, he would have gone after her, but just sitting up made his entire stomach burn.

"It's Hetty, when isn't there paperwork? If you send me the address, I can pick up Monty and bring him home tomorrow. And make sure you set your alarm system after I leave, because I'm pretty sure Sam will kill you if anything else happens."

"I feel so loved." Deeks mumbled to himself as Kensi opened the door and walked out, chuckling creepily the whole way. His guilt hadn't dissipated by any means, but he felt slightly better having talked things through with Kensi.

With a sigh, he slipped a pillow behind his aching back and thought of the first Doug had taken him to his favorite diner which had some of the worst eggs Deeks ever had the pleasure of tasting. Deeks drifted off to sleep, smiling despite himself.

A/N: Hope you all enjoyed this and that there was enough comfort present to make up for all the hurt in the rest of this fic.