"How is Mr. Roland?"
Hetty's words were like a bomb dropping on Kensi, how did she know that? What the hell? "How did you know about Jack?" Kensi asked, shocked by Hetty's ability to get information so quickly about her life, especially when she'd mentioned the whole thing to no one.
"Let's not go into the labyrinth of that right now, how is Mr. Roland?" Hetty repeated.
"Well… he's fine I guess, it's just been a day. It will take some time before we know how it will turn out." Kensi wasn't quite sure about what she was saying because she really didn't know how he was.
"Are you sure about what you are doing here Ms. Blye?" Hetty asked, concerned at what her agent was doing.
"What do you mean Hetty?" Kensi asked, confused by Hetty's question.
"What I mean is I don't want you to do something then regret it in the future, that's all." She explained.
"Please Hetty, don't do this to me. It's the only chance that I have to help him, to prove to him that he was wrong by leaving me… this is what I was looking for." Kensi pleaded with Hetty, begging her to understand and not be judgmental.
"I don't have to tell you what to do, it's your life Ms. Blye, but as I said I don't want you to do something you will regret." Hetty said, trying to make Kensi see the complicated situation she had put herself in.
"Don't worry about that Hetty, I can handle this." She tried to convince Hetty that she didn't need to worry about her.
"I hope so. I hope that you can do this. Now, what are you doing here Ms. Blye?"
She raised her eyebrows, confused. "Well we have a case to work on."
"After what happened with the accident we were unable to track Sidorov and we don't believe he will show up anytime soon, so I gave everybody two weeks off to rest and recover: you should use it wisely." Hetty instructed her agent.
"I should get going then, if you don't need me here." She said, standing and getting ready to head out of Hetty's office.
"Ms. Blye," Hetty called after her, "I recommend that you tell the others what is happening with you… you could use some help."
"I know, and I will tell them once Sam is discharged from the hospital." Kensi agreed before walking away and out of the Mission.
When she was in her car she didn't have a clear idea of where she wanted to go so she just drove through the Los Angeles streets until she noticed her favorite coffee shop. She parked and walked inside, ordering her usual, and sat on a table in the corner beside the window. It had a view of the beach and she saw a few people enjoying the sand and a couple of surfers walking away with their boards. She remembered her partner, the shaggy surfer, and how much he loved to surf and how much it made him happy and care free with no pressure on him; Deeks and the ocean were like soul mates, and, even if she wouldn't say it aloud, she enjoyed watching him surf.
After she finished her coffee she started her car and decided to go home to rest then prepare herself to go to the hospital.
When she entered her apartment Jack was sitting on the couch flipping through TV channels. When he saw her he asked, "Hey, you didn't go to work? Is there something wrong?" He was concerned because she had left only a few hours ago and returned so quickly.
"Nothing's wrong, it's just that Hetty gave us two weeks of vacation…."
She was interrupted by Jack. "Hetty, who is Hetty?" Confusion clear in his face.
"Oh, right, you don't know anything… maybe I should tell you about my work."
"I'm all ears." Jack said. Deep inside he was happy because he thought they were getting more comfortable with each other, more quickly than he had expected.
"Well, I'm an N.C.I.S agent and Hetty is our boss. We just got out of a horrible case that almost ended up with Deeks' death, he's my partner, but we managed to recover him before they killed him. When I arrived at work Hetty informed me that we have two weeks to rest and recover." Kensi explained, attempting to tell him what she had been through recently.
"Oh… I'm sorry to hear that Kens. How is your partner now?"
"Well he is going to live but he will have a long road to recover full of pain, but as I said, he is going to be fine."
They talked for a long time, catching up on each other's lives: Jack told her about the treatment and how it was hard for him after he left her, how he had had to do that alone and how he had managed to get along after some time. In exchange Kensi told him about how her life turned upside down after he left her before she had gathered herself up and joined N.C.I.S to become a federal agent. Then she told him about her teammates Callen, Sam, Nell, Eric and Hetty. She didn't mention Deeks because she didn't know what to say about him, what to say about their awkward partnership (their "thing"), and how much she wanted to be with him before all this mess had happened and changed her mind. It hurt her, not being with him, but she couldn't risk it if there would be a chance that she might lose him.
"And what about your partner, Deeks?" Jack asked, concerned after she had stopped talking about her teammates without mentioning Deeks.
Kensi snapped out of her thoughts as Jack asked about her partner. "Well, Deeks is like Shaggy in Scooby Doo: he has the same look and he is very funny and he is simple and complicated at the same time… he makes your life easier." She explained, deep inside knowing that no matter what she said no words would ever do justice to describing him right.
Jack noticed the light in Kensi's face and how she changed and relaxed when she talked about Deeks and how the smile never left her face while she was talking about him. In that moment Jack knew that there was something going on between her and her partner. That made him feel jealous but he knew that he didn't have the right, after what he had done to her, and he couldn't control her life.
When he looked at his watch it was 2 p.m. He was kind of relieved. "Hey, I'm starving, what about you?" He asked, trying to change the subject.
"Wow, me too. What do you want?" She inquired.
"Well I was going to suggest that I cook something for us but I checked you fridge and I couldn't find anything useful so either we order something or go and do some shopping." He said, hoping for the latter because he wanted to go outside and spend more time with her.
"I think we should order something to eat." She said, but, noticing the change in his face she knew that he had wanted to go out and spend more time out of the house so she added, "But after we eat we could go and do some shopping if you want."
"Sure, I'd love that!" A smile widened his face.
They ordered some Thai food and when it arrived Jack went to the kitchen, grabbed two beers, and returned. They ate their food and drank the beers then got ready to go shopping.
It took them two hours to get everything they needed. Kensi got bored so she snuck around to buy some Twinkies and chocolate bars and when she got back to Jack and saw he was finished she was happy that this terror had come to an end. After they paid and loaded everything into the car they headed home and unpacked everything into the kitchen. They made dinner and ate and after that they both were tired so they sat on the couch and put a movie in the DVD player. They watched while eating ice cream and laughing a lot.
When the movie ended Kensi was yawning so she called it a night, even though it was early.
The next morning she awoke again to the sound of Jack making coffee so she walked into the kitchen and took the coffee mug he offered her. They headed out for a run, just like the day before. It was obvious that it had an effect on Jack, he was smiling more freely, so she decided to spend the whole day out doors. She told him that they were going to the beach and he was very happy to spend some time where her not alone.
After they got to her house she took a shower and told Jack to take one. While he was in the bathroom Kensi took the chance to call Hetty.
"Ms. Blye." Hetty answered her phone.
"Hey Hetty, I'm sorry to call you now but I need you to do something for me."
"What can I do for you Ms. Blye?"
"Well, it's just that I know Sam will be discharged today but I don't know how I'm going to tell them about Jack, so I was wondering if you could help me with that."
"You want me to tell them about Mr. Roland?" Hetty wanted to confirm.
"If you don't want to do it I will understand, it's just going to be awkward for me to bring up the subject." Kensi explained, hoping Hetty would do it for her.
"Don't worry about that Ms. Blye, you can consider it done; I will talk to them when they are home."
"Thank you Hetty, I don't know what I would do without you." Kensi said, relieved that Hetty would talk to the others so she could avoid that awkward conversation.
"You don't have to thank me Ms. Blye, now take care of yourself and Mr. Roland." Hetty said before hanging up.
After Jack finished his shower they made breakfast, ate, and then prepared everything they would need for the beach. Ready, they drove to the beach. The son was hot and they spread a blanket on the sand and sat there watching the people on the beach, enjoying the heat from the sun.
At the hospital…
Before the doctor came with the paper to discharge Sam, the agent asked Callen, "Could I go and see Deeks before we get out of here?"
Callen didn't know what to tell his partner. He was tired of lying to him so he decided to just tell the truth. "Sam, there's something I need to tell you."
Sam's face grew confused before a touch a fear slid into it, he was worried something had happened to Deeks and the team was hiding it from him.
Callen continued. "Well… it's… I don't know how to say this… it's just that Deeks doesn't want to see you at this time." Callen stumbled, finally got it out, and was immediately afraid of his partner's reaction.
But Sam's reaction was a surprise for them all. He looked down in shame and said, "I won't blame him for that."
This brought an even more confused look to Callen's face. He was starting to go crazy trying to figure out what the hell had happened between the two and why both of them were acting weird. He had gotten a hint from Sam's behavior that Sam had done something to Deeks, but he wasn't going to punish him for that now.
At that moment the doctor entered with the papers for Sam's discharge. After they had signed them Michelle wheeled Sam to the hospital entrance while Callen got an SUV for them and then they headed to the Hanna house.