A/N : Wow I was blown over by the response to the last chapter, you guys really liked it so a big thanks, also thanks to everyone who's reviewed and and added alerts recently. For everyone who wanted to know what the photo was...

It wasn't unusual for him to use photos for bookmarks. He usually had them lying around and it was easy to grab one and slip it between pages to mark his place. Quite often they would be of Monty or some piece of scenery that had struck him and he just had to capture it. He was guilty of taking many photos and printing them off only for them to sit around in little piles and never move any further than being tidied into one of his desk drawers. This picture however was different. Nell had sent it to him after their little Montalban trip. It had been taken after he'd come out of wardrobe and had been fiddling with his tie. Kensi had swatted his hands away, insisting he didn't know how to tie one properly and she had started to do it for him. That was the moment Nell had chosen to appear and hand Kensi the phone for the data transfer. Kensi had promptly pretended to be strangling Deeks with the aforementioned tie and the quick thinking Nell had captured the image on her ever present tablet. He guessed Nell had emailed it to Kensi too, and he wondered if she had ever done anything with it. He loved the photo and thought it summed up their relationship. It showed Kensi's playful side, while all the time he remembered how the photo had actually come about. Their close proximity had made him tingle when she'd stepped up to him and taken hold of the tie, only for the moment to be ruined by Nell's poor timing. Still the photo made him smile and it was a nice reminder of how far they'd come as partners in the past couple of years.

His musings over, he climbed out of bed and wobbled a little as he reached for his crutches. It had only been a couple of days and he hated the things with a vengeance. The sooner the doctor gave him the okay to lose them the better.

"Where do you think you're going?" Kensi's sudden reappearance made him jump.

"Jesus Kens, you don't think my week's been rough enough as it is without adding a heart attack to my list of ailments?"

She chuckles and offers her apologies, "Sorry, I just wasn't expecting you to be up. Why are you up?"

"A guy can't even take a pee without permission? You're a tough one Nurse Blye."

"Oh sorry, erm yeah, you ah, just go ahead." She disappears out of the room leaving him to go about his business.

A few minutes later she hears him calling her name and she makes her way back to his room just as he's settling himself back into bed. "You need something?"

"Someone," he grins at her. "I've had enough sleep for now, but you seem pretty keen on me staying put here, so you wanna keep me company?"

"Sure. But let me change first, I'll be right back." She returns five minutes later in her favoured yoga pants and T-shirt. She has 'Lethal Weapon 3' in her hands and waves it at him. He looks confused and points at the TV. "Built in DVD player," she tells him instantly understanding his confusion.

While Deeks may have had his fill of sleep for a while, Kensi on the other hand is fighting a battle to stay conscious. The day's events and worry over her partner being missing finally win out, and for the second time that day she falls asleep in the same bed as him. It takes a while for him to realise she's asleep, but as her head slowly comes to rest on his shoulder and he feels her breathing slowly he knows she's out for the count. He allows himself to chuckle at the situation. It's not the first time Kensi has fallen asleep on his shoulder and he guesses it won't be the last. He leaves her where she is and continues with the film. He thinks maybe she'll wake up at some point and then he can send her off to her own room to get a good night's sleep, but the film ends and she looks no more likely to wake up now than she did earlier.

He shakes her gently, mindful of her ribs. "Kens? Time for bed."

"Mmm yeah, in a minute," she mutters and promptly snuggles up to him a little more.

"Kensi," he sing songs. "Come on sleepy head."

"I'm fine here," she tells him in that cute little sleepy voice.

"And while that's great and everything, I'm the one you'll be punching in the morning when we wake up in bed together."

"S'ok, I'll let you off this time," she mumbles.

"Which would be fine if you actually remember saying that." But she's back asleep and in his current state he can't do much more to change her mind. He contemplates heading for the couch, not wanting to wake her when he has another dream. He's had the same one each time he's slept since the accident, so it's inevitable it will come again. Only he knows he won't be able to sleep on the couch. It's not really big enough to be comfortable for much more than a nap, and he's not that sleepy right now. He knows he'll just lie awake and stare at the ceiling. He watches TV until the early hours of the morning. Kensi at some point snuggles down into the bed. She looks peaceful and is still quite close to him. He wonders if she even registers his presence in her current state. He thinks maybe not. Sleep finally comes for him once more, and despite knowing it's a bad idea he can't fight it any longer and slides down under the covers.

Kensi comes around slowly, aware of something happening but not fully with it. She feels the warmth of another body close by and remembers the vague words as Deeks tried to rouse her. Yet again she can hear words, recognises his voice, but something is off. Slowly she opens her eyes. Deeks is right there in front of her but the expression on his face has her instantly concerned.

"No, no. Please. Not again." his voice is small and he sounds terrified.

She looks more closely at him and sees his eyes closed, brow furrowed. He's still asleep.

"Please, I promise, please."

She feels awful. He sounds so different from his usual self. His usual strong, confident, funny self. The words stop but then he begins to almost whimper and she doesn't know what to do. Nightmares, she hates them. She's had her own in the past. They're haunting, terrifying and so deeply personal. She'd hate anyone to see her having one, to learn some of her secrets. And yet here she is witnessing her partner's own turmoil. The whimpers continue and it breaks her heart to listen to someone so strong sound so totally helpless. She toys with waking him up, but she doesn't want to embarrass him. She can't listen to much more though and she reaches out to him.

"Kensi?" it sounds like he's calling for her and there's an edge of desperation to his voice.

"Kensi?"Like he's looking for her.

She strokes his face, her hand running over his stubble. "Deeks, I'm here. Deeks come on wake up, you're OK." He doesn't wake up but he does seem to relax a little. "Deeks come on wake up for me." His eyes suddenly fly open and they're wide with shock. For a second he looks panicked, then the look changes to one of confusion with a tinge of embarrassment, and he looks away from her. "Deeks it's..." It's what? Only a nightmare, she wants to say, but she doesn't want to use such a throw away comment when he's clearly fighting something so dark. She won't ask him if he's okay. The answer to that is quite obvious. He isn't, far from it. She runs her hand over his jaw once more. It's oddly personal, and not something she would usually do but it has the desired effect and he raises his eyes to look at her.

"Sorry," he mutters.

"No, Deeks. You don't have to apologise. It was a dream... a nightmare," she adds quietly. She wants to ask him what it was about, if he wants to talk about it, but she can see it's troubling him. "You were calling for me," she tells him. He nods as if to confirm her statement. "Did I, did I do something?"

He shakes his head so slightly she almost misses it. "No," he whispers.

"Deeks you know you can talk to me if you want, anything, any time. I know..." she hesitates. "I know we aren't the most straightforward partners sometimes, but you have to know, I'm here for you." She blames it on the lack of sleep. Her defences are down and she shows him a part of her she normally keeps under lock and key. Her hand rests on his cheek still and he reaches up and takes her wrist in his hand.

Holding her gently he starts to speak. "I know, and thank you. You're, you're..." He wants to say so much to her but he's scared for so many different reasons and he doesn't want to face what's going on. "I'm sorry, I just can't. I want to but... it's just too much." He hasn't had to deal with this for years now. He'd blocked so much of his past, and now here it was rearing it's ugly head again. His usual coping methods were gone with his ability to stand on his own two legs. "I'm fine," he tells her, throwing her well used phrase back at her.

"You're not," she tells him bluntly, "But you will be. Whatever is going on, we can work it out, get you through it. If you don't want to talk about it, then fine." She shrugs slightly and there's a look of hurt on her face. "But I won't let whatever it is, drag you down."

"Kensi," he takes her hand from his face and holds it between both his hands. "You know, I trust you more than I have anyone, ever. Please don't think this is about trust. I just... there's a lot I haven't told you. For good reason, and I... it's hard. It's horrible and it... it does this to me and I don't want your pity. I just need to get past it."

She watches him, watches how torn up he is and sees the inner fight he seems to be having trying to pull himself together. "Whenever, whatever, I'm here." She squeezes his hand and shuffles back across the bed. The look on his face tells her he doesn't want her to leave, but he won't say it. "I'll be back in a minute," she almost whispers and he releases her hand.

He can hear her moving about in the kitchen. The microwave pings and then it sounds like she's making tea. A few more minutes pass and she reappears with two mugs just as she had the previous morning. He's about to ask if she made coffee when he smells something sweet. Sitting up and turning on the bed side light he takes the offered mug and inhales the smell. "Thanks." It looks like chocolate milk but he's getting the distinct smell of hazelnut. "What is it?"

"Warm milk, it'll help you sleep. My Mom used to make it for me when I had bad dreams." She watches him hold the mug between his two hands like he's trying to get warm. "It has a dollop of Nutella stirred in," she whispers. "Makes it taste nice."

This earns her a grin, and he sips at the drink cautiously. She watches as his eyes close and he savours the taste. "Wow!"

"Good huh?"

He nods. It's surprisingly comforting. He'd thought the Nutella was probably just something to do with her sweet tooth. Kensi is never one to miss an opportunity to dose up on sugar, even if it was the middle of the night, but the hint of chocolate and hazelnut really works. He finishes the milk quickly, and it helps to chase off the cold the nightmare brought. He feels much better and looking at the clock he realises it's not even three am. They really should try to go back to sleep. He shuffles back down so he's lying on his side watching her. She should really head back to her own bed, not that he wants her to, but he won't ask her to stay. He doesn't want to make things any weirder than they may already be come day light. He doesn't say anything and opts to let her make the decision. After a few minutes he simply says, "Night," and closes his eyes. When he hears the light switch off and feels her weight shifting but not leaving the bed, he can't help but inwardly sigh, feeling a little bit more content with her close by. He's asleep before he gets to hear her whisper back a quiet, 'Good Night.'

The following morning as Deeks comes round he can feel someone watching him. Which means one thing; Kensi is still in the bed. Keeping his eyes closed he lets his best cheesy grin spread across his face. "Can't keep your eyes off me," he teases.

"Ha! Oh yeah I just can't resist that hot body of yours Deeks."

"I knew it." He opens his eyes to find Kensi lying on her side, one arm tucked under her pillow and head. The way she's looking at him throws him, she's obviously been watching him for some time and her eyes are full of concern.

Kensi watches as the playful mood he'd apparently woken in vanishes. "Don't," he warns her and closes his eyes so he doesn't have to see her expression.

She sighs and closes her eyes too. She wants to say she's just concerned, but she can tell he really doesn't want to take this any further right now. "I'm gonna go make us some breakfast, that is assuming you're sticking to your promise from yesterday?" she eventually tells him.

He opens his eyes and watches her go.

She brings him coffee and doesn't say anything, leaving to continue making breakfast. He can sense the unease and mentally kicks himself. 'She's just looking out for you.'

She eventually returns with a tray of food for him. There's an omelette, toasted bagels and some fruit juice. It makes him feel even worse. "Kensi." He waits until she looks at him properly before continuing. "I'm sorry, and I'll keep my promise. Gonna stay right here, all day, even if it kills me to do it. Well, right after I've had a shower that is." The smile that lights up her face is worth it and he digs into the food she's brought him.

Deeks does as promised and spends most of the day in bed, only leaving to shower and use the bathroom. Kensi flits back and forth catching up on house work and intermittently checking up on him, bringing him drinks, snacks and any medication he requires. Mid morning Eric drops Monty off, having kept him overnight and taken him to the beach once more. At lunch time Kensi stops to make them sandwiches and spends an hour with him watching TV. By mid afternoon he's fed up with the TV and picks up his book and reads for a couple of hours. House work is as done as it's ever going to be. Kensi returns to the bedroom to find her partner fast asleep, so she goes to shower and dress and then starts preparing dinner.

Dinner is ready to just be popped in the oven when it's wanted and she settles on the couch with her laptop. She sticks the TV on a music channel for background noise and catches up on emails, the news and then finally the gossip columns. Bored with Deeks still asleep she starts watching film trailers. Maybe she can take him to a film one night if he fancies escaping for a while. She spots the new James Bond trailer and wonders if maybe that would be a good choice. When she spots a trailer for 'Back to the Sea' it reminds her of the film Deeks had passed over the other day and she types the name into Google.

'Lilo and Stitch.' It's an odd name for a movie. She looks at the strange little alien that is pictured under images and wonders what on earth the film could be about. It only takes a second and she spots another image. This time the little alien is surfing with two girls. She wonders if this might be why he's turned it off, not wanting to rub salt in the wound. As she's about to click on the link for IMDb she hears Deeks stirring and Monty takes off from his chair, running across the room to go see his Daddy. Kensi follows him and laughs at the sight of the dog wiggling furiously as he stands at the side of the bed eyeing Deeks.

"Think he missed you."

"Hey Boy." He rubs the mutt's head and then sniffs him. "Think you need a bath." He waved his hand in front of his nose trying to waft away the smell.

"Well you're not doing it."

"Hear that Monty? Kensi's offering to give you a bath, you're a lucky boy."

"What! No I never."

"So you're just going to let him stink up your house?"

"No! Can't you send him to the groomer's?"

"For a bath?"

"Oh hey, I know." There's a cheeky grin on her face and Deeks instantly perks up wondering what she's thinking. It's not often she comes up with something sneaky that's non-work related. "Sam!"

"What about him?"

"He can bathe Monty."

"And how exactly are you going to convince him of that?"

"He owes me," she says smugly.

"Really?"

"Really."

"I need to hear this."

"See that was the deal, I told no one, he owes me. And now I'm cashing in."

"You're really not gonna tell me?"

"Nope." She's still smiling smugly. "At least not until he's paid his debt."

"Oh remind me never to get on your debt list."

"Who says you're not?"

"I am? What for?"

"You'll find out, when its payment time."

"I can think of plenty of ways to repay you."

"And there it is. You know you nearly managed a whole day without lowering the tone."

"Hey I can't do everything right. I promised I'd be the model patient and I have, even if I am bored to tears."

"But rested. Which reminds me, Patient. Time to change your dressing again."

"Any excuse to man handle me." With that Kensi goes to fetch the supplies she requires.

This time the cast comes off quickly and Kensi notes how the bruising has changed colour. It's also fading which means he's healing. She runs her palm up and down his leg asking if it's tender. He shakes his head in reply, fighting not to laugh as her hand drifting over his skin tickles. If Kensi notices she does a good job of ignoring it and moves on to removing the dressing.

"We should have checked this yesterday." She peers at the wound.

"Why?" He sits up trying to see what she's looking at. She shoves him in the chest with an open palm and he topples back against the pillows.

"Just, you might have knocked it. It looks OK though, the cast obviously protected it." Deeks relaxes and Kensi sets about cleaning up the damaged area. She carefully applies a clean dressing and tapes it in place before putting the cast back on. She lowers his leg back on the bed and gives it a gentle pat, "You're all done."

"Thanks."

"No problem." She looks over at the clock and notices it's coming up on five pm. "You want dinner early or later."

"Depends?"

"On?"

"If I still have to stay in bed."

"I'm not following."

"I kinda hoped we could go out."

"Deeks," she sound exasperated.

"Just in the car thirty minutes, that's all."

"You need to go out that bad?" He nods and she feels sorry for him. How can she say no? He's rested all day, what harm is thirty minutes sitting in the car? If it cheers him up then surely it's worth it. "Where did you want to go?"

He grins knowing she's caving. "I don't care as long as it's out."

"OK, OK, I'll fix dinner and then we can go out. Thirty minutes."

The lasagne she's prepared goes in the oven and she quickly makes up some garlic butter for garlic bread, adding it to the oven shortly before the lasagne's finished cooking. They sit at the table and eat taking their time. Kensi brings up the idea of going to a movie later in the week and Deeks' face lights up like a child. They discuss films and she tells him she'll let him choose what they see as long as it's not horror. She suggests 'Skyfall' and he agrees. Bond sounds like a great idea. For dessert they have some of the doughnuts and Deeks teases Kensi about there actually being some left. She points out that a dozen in one day is excessive even for her, especially when she hasn't been to the gym for nearly five days.

They clear up after dinner and Deeks changes clothes. They head out to the car and Deeks settles into the passenger seat. She asks where he wants to go. He shrugs, "you're the driver."

Kensi's initial choice had been to head for the ocean and take the coastal road, but she wasn't sure she liked the idea of taunting Deeks. Thirty minutes isn't long and she knows already they'll be out longer.

He sits quietly with his head leaning against the window. He's quiet and she worries he's lost in thought. She heads away from the city, aiming for somewhere a lot less crowded. They end up in the hills and find a parking spot. The thirty minutes was up five minutes ago. The sun had set on the drive up and now they sit quietly in the dark watching the city below. At night, the city looks a lot less hectic, just a series of twinkling lights on a black canvas. He hasn't spoken for ages and when he finally does it startles Kensi a little.

"Thanks."

She turns her head to look at him. "No problem."

"You know it's been more than thirty minutes right?"

"Yeah well, not like we need to rush back for anything." She looks back at the city in front of them.

"It's nice up here, quiet."

"I thought about taking the coast road, but..."

"That would have been nice too."

"I just..."

"I'm not avoiding the beach just 'cause I can't surf." He cuts her off knowing where she'd been going.

They go back to sitting in silence and enjoying the view. More time passes and Kensi finally asks if he's ready to head back. It's been a quiet evening, they've said very little to each other, Kensi feels uneasy, her partners silence worries her. Finally she can't resist any longer. "Something bothering you?"

"Nope," he answers. "Should there be?" He turns and watches her drive.

"You're just... quiet."

"I can be quiet."

"Maybe, but it's not something I've seen outside of work before."

"You think I talk too much?"

"You talk," she states.

They drive home with the windows down and the radio on. Deeks tries to get Kensi to tell him about Sam's debt and when she doesn't give in they change topic. They arrive back home and Kensi declares she's having an early night. It's actually only just turned ten but anything before midnight is early in her book. They bid each other good night and retire to their rooms.

A/N: So this is likely to be this last chapter for a couple of weeks as my lovely Beta is away, I shall continue to write though so don't panick!