DISCLAIMER: NCIS/NCIS LA are still not mine, all the others still are.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hey there! So, I big HUGE thank you to everyone who is following, favoriting, reading, and especially reviewing! You have truly given my confidence a boost! I am so happy you are enjoying it. This chapter is maybe not the most exciting but it does give us a clue as to what everyone is thinking right now. One of the things I truly love is when you review and tell me your thoughts on what YOU think the characters are doing and why... where YOU think they are headed... I can't decided, however, when I'm more excited. When your thoughts are in line with mine... or when I know I'm about to turn your thoughts on end. Keep those reviews coming and maybe I'll figure it out before the story ends... which isn't for a while yet, so we have time. Enjoy and have an awesome rest of your day... or evening depending are where you are!

"We could have had him, Sam" Deeks stated as they were walking into the mission.

"Not without the risk of casualty" Sam said evenly.

"He's right. It was solid. I had my partner's back," Kensi said in agreement with Deeks.

"So you were okay with putting your husband's life in danger?" Sam argued.

"I wasn't in any danger. I trust my partner." Deeks reasoned, growing annoyed with the repeat argument and Sam's lack of conviction in following through in the field.

"Problem is, Marty… Sam doesn't trust your partner. He doesn't think I have your back." Kensi challenged.

"I didn't say that, Kensi."

"Are you sure? Actually, it shows in the way you constantly feel you have to protect me by short changing the mission!" Kensi's voice had escalated, once again drawing everyone's attention to the bullpen for yet one more fight, "I'm a well-trained agent and I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself and my partner!"

"Yeah, well we all know who trained you. I don't need another agent who thinks they can do everything themselves or believes they are invincible." Sam responded hotly.

"Are you kidding me? Callen was a great mentor. He covered your butt enough on cases. Callen was just as concerned about this team as you are… but he taught us to trust our training… not run away." Kensi yelled.

Ana rarely intervened in these arguments. Sam was her partner. Truth was, she agreed with Kensi, but she also understood Sam's angst. His wife had been an agent and he didn't want that pain of loss for either of them. The problem of leaving them together on the same team was a valid one but as it turned out, more because of Sam than either Deeks or Kensi… The only reason there hadn't been more of an issue made was because Hetty knew where the problem lie. She had hoped with time things would improve but it was now affecting the entire team.

"Ohhhh, Saaaaaaam," Hetty called out in a melodic tone, "A moment please?"

With a heavy sigh, Sam put his things on the desk and headed over to Hetty's office.

"Sit please," Hetty motioned to the chair in front of her desk.

"You need something Hetty?" Sam asked, knowing what was coming.

"It has come to my attention and pretty much everyone else's, that there appears to be some tension within your team. Would you care to explain?" Hetty asked looking over the top of her glasses.

"Nothing we can't handle." Sam answered.

"Really? It does not appear so. This has become more of a problem with each case that comes. You are the leader of a highly trained team. They are all good agents. Mr. Hanna, you need to let them do their job."

"And you need to trust me to lead them. My style is very different from our past leader. I don't believe in taking unnecessary risks. There are better ways to do things than risk the team's life in the process. It may take a little longer but we will get him." Sam explained.

"Oh, Mr. Hanna… trusting you to have your team's best interests at heart is not my problem. My concern is for your well-being. You are so set at proving you were right about Mr. Callen that you are not being true to yourself and your own leadership abilities. Trust your team's training. I think you will find they are still up to the task and they won't let you down. It is understandable that your first instinct would be to protect at all cost those you hold dear… after everything that has happened.

"Hetty, don't… we're not going there." Sam's voice held an edge to it.

"All the same, Sam. However, consider that Mr. Callen was very much that way… but his way was to make sure his team was ready and sometimes it was to push back and go it alone in order to keep you all safe. Perhaps you are in such a hurry to do things differently that you have, in fact, come full circle."

"Hetty, this has nothing to do with Callen and everything to do with making sure we all come home at the end of the day."

"You're are good man, Sam, but you are suffocating your team. You need to let them do their job." Hetty advised.

"Fine. I'm changing up partners. I don't think Kensi and Deeks should be partners anymore." Sam stated.

"Okay. Perhaps… but sometimes the very thing we expect to be our weakness is actually what makes us our strongest." Hetty replied, "Go, Mr. Hanna… those reports won't write themselves."

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"I can't believe he's splitting us up!" Kensi said on their way home that evening. "We didn't do anything wrong."

Deeks gave a soft chuckle, "Honestly, I'm a little surprised they didn't do it before now. We're married, Kensi. That goes against all protocol."

As they pulled up in front of the house, they just sat, silent. Kensi whispered, "I miss him."

"Yeah, me too." Deeks responded, taking her hand in his, making no move to exit the car.

"He wouldn't have done this." she said softly.

"He threatened to once." Deeks corrected.

Kensi shot him a look of disbelief, "What? When?"

Brushing the hair out of his eyes, he smiled remembering the night they had that conversation.

"Remember the night we all came to check on him after the Joelle fiasco?" Deeks asked.

"How could I forget?"

He knew he wouldn't. He thought back to the pile of broken furniture representative of a broken trust in someone he cared for? The site of Callen sawing that table in half and breaking up the chairs was a mix of fear and concern he would likely never forget. "Yeah, well, as you may recall, you'd had a rough day dealing with Ferris… I had a really bad day trying to find you before it was too late. It didn't go unnoticed. Callen told me that he wouldn't stick his nose in our business unless our business interfered with work and it almost did that day… so he said I needed to figure it out or he would figure it out for me.

"See? Callen wouldn't be acting out toward us like Sam is. It's not just us either, Marty. Sam is always on edge, angry. We are taking twice as long on cases as we ever did with Callen. He would assess the case, make a plan and then delegate. Sure, sometimes plans changed but he did it on the move," Kensi said.

"Well, Sam has been through a lot. When he lost Michelle, he lost a big piece of himself. I don't know about you but I can't begin to imagine that kind of pain. If I lost you… I don't know what I would do. I guess I can understand why he's reacting the way he does. He doesn't want that kind of pain for either of us." Deeks sympathized.

"I understand that and no, I can't fathom my life without you in it. I know he must be angry and hurt. Still, Callen has lived his entire life dealing with the pain of loss. He didn't let it stop him from doing the job." Kensi countered.

"Everybody deals differently. I do think Sam misses Callen. I also think he resents his not being here for him." Deeks said.

"I don't know. Arkady flat out told him that Callen has had his back the whole time he's been gone. He even saved his family from an attack. You'd think he'd appreciate it instead of tearing him down for how he led our team… or how he trained me!" Kensi thought for a moment then asked softly, "Do you think Sam blames us for not finding her sooner?"

"No, I don't think so. I think if he blames anyone, it's himself." Deeks attempted to assure her and perhaps himself as well.

"You ever think about Callen? Where he is now? What he's doing?"

"Yeah, sometimes. It's hard not to. Nothing has been the same sense he left. If I hadn't gotten shot that second time, none of this would have ever happened. Hard to believe how long ago that was." Deeks answered, leaning his head back against the headrest.

"I just hope he's okay now." Kensi said as she finally opened her door to get out. Deeks followed, saying nothing more.

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Callen came out of the locker room freshly showered following his latest workout with Ziva. She had proved a worthy sparring partner, as well as, a teacher. He was always a good street fighter… his childhood had offered him that training. Over the years of working the other agencies he'd picked up a few different fighting styles… boxing, karate, Jujitsu, Pranayama for controlled breathing. Sam knew little of what he could do, in all reality. Hetty seemed to think him incapable of protecting himself. Sam was the muscle in the group… So Callen let him for the most part. He'd gotten rusty during his time with NCIS… it was nice to get back to it.

He was finally feeling as if he were back to the top of his game. He felt more in control. Ziva had also proven to be a pleasant distraction. He had asked her about her relationship with Tony to which she assured him they were just partners. He was nobody's dummy. He could see the attraction they had for each other. He saw the same thing early on with Deeks and Kensi… who were now married. He also knew that Gibbs was not as forgiving of such relationships with his team as Hetty was. Ziva knew of his relationship with Ana… if you could truly call it that. She also knew it was over. Truth was, he'd always felt a draw towards Ziva. Maybe because they understood each other and accepted each other as is. Right now, that's what he needed. Another time, another place and he would have felt bad, but these days he wasted little energy on such notions and since Ziva was in agreement, who was he to argue?

If Gibbs picked up on it, he said nothing to him.

Callen headed through the bullpen towards the elevator when Leon called him back, "Callen! Could you come to my office please?"

Callen turned towards the voice and debated. Vance could see his reticence, "Agent Callen, my office." He knew he held no power over him as he wasn't officially an NCIS agent anymore. Ziva caught Callen's eye and with an encouraging look, he turned and dropped his bag at her desk and trotted up the steps to the office.