Hello my lovelies. I would like to thank Lic. Lu,heyjode, anonkp, Max and Fern 4ever and Beepmybanana for the wonderful reviews. I would also like to thank those of you who have followed and favoured since my last update.

I would also like to mention that as I live in the UK I won't be watching the next season until it comes on TV here in January, so please no spoilers in your reviews.

So here is the next chapter, I hope you like it.

Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS: LA.

It was Monty lifting his head and sniffing towards the bar that pulled the two men out of the world they had been inhabiting. Caused them too, to turn towards the building at their back. They could see Henry and Frank moving around inside, and Deeks knew the couple well enough now to know that they were setting up from breakfast.

"Come on. Food." He said to Callen, giving him a gentle push as he removed his arms from around him before standing and holding out his hand.

"Yeah." Callen agreed using Deeks help to pull himself up, wincing slightly as his muscles protested him finally moving after he had been sat in the same position in the cold for at least the last three hours. Damn he wasn't as young as he used to be. He thought as he stretched out, bringing heat back into his body, and waking up the parts that had fallen asleep.

Once they were both ready they turned as one towards the bar.

Frank had been on his way to tell the boys that breakfast was out when he saw them stand and turn to head in. He wasn't sure if it was some innate sense which they both had from doing the jobs they did, or had done in Deeks' case, or if there was another reason for their perfect timing. Watching how they were being led by Monty he found himself tending towards the latter option. And when Monty came in and made his way straight to his bowl that Frank had just filled, he felt that was a pretty safe bet.

"Callen, good to see you. Here for a break?" He asked smiling at the older of the two men. It didn't escape his notice how his eyes seemed slightly red, nor the bags and shadows under them. But he also knew better than to press. Now was not the time to gain the answers he sought about why Callen was here, though at least he now knew it was for himself rather than Deeks he had returned.

"Got a couple of days off. Thought I'd come see how you all were." Callen replied with a smile of his own, making sure his mask was firmly in place, even if he could see that Frank didn't believe it for a minute. Or at least that was what the look in his eyes said.

"Perfect. I'm sure we can find you something to keep you occupied while you're here. How good are you at cooking?" Henry asked tilting his head as he studied the man in front of him giving the impression that he was wondering if he could recruit him. He had seen the same thing Frank had, and as such knew better than to question Callen right then. But maybe if he got him into the kitchen, with just the two of them, maybe then he could get the guy talking. It had worked for Frank and Deeks behind the bar after all, why not for him and Callen in the kitchen? And well, you never know, maybe one day Callen would retire up here with them too. They really did not need another person on the bar, and he really did need to start training someone up to take over when he and Frank had had enough. He did like to plan long term, and it hadn't escaped his notice that Frank already had Deeks behind the bar, so…

"Terrible. But I can follow orders, and could probably chop up things." Callen responded with a cheeky grin as he could just imagine how Sam would look at the idea of someone wanting him to work in their professional kitchen. And as he did so he felt the thoughts that had been plaguing him on the beach slowly retreat in the face of the two men in front of him. In the face of the homely atmosphere they both projected without thought. In the face of the family he was with.

"Yeah right." Deeks muttered with a chuckle at Callen's words as he moved to take a seat at the table.

"Hey, I can chop." Callen defending himself, commented back. Though truthfully he wasn't initially sure that was true. He'd never really tried, both Sam and Michelle had always refused to let him help in the kitchen when they were cooking after all.

"It wasn't the chopping I was referring to, G. It was the following orders." Deeks responded with an unrepentant shrug. He knew Callen too well to believe for a minute he would follow any order he didn't agree with.

"The sensible ones I follow." Callen responded simply. I mean there was no point following the ones that didn't make sense, now was there?

"True, but I would have to ask whose judgement on sensible you're using. Because yours? Not so great." Deeks replied back happily falling into the usual bantering conversations that he had with the other man when he was around.

"Coming from you, that doesn't say much." Callen answered back without hesitation, smirking as he did so as he found himself completely forgetting everything but the joy of being here, with these people.

"I'll have you know, my judgement is awesome." Deeks replied in fake affront. If he'd been standing he would have put his hands on his hips, but as he wasn't he settled for glaring at Callen. Though it was ruined somewhat by the fact he was also shovelling eggs into his mouth as he did so.

"Really? So running away from LA and quitting was a good idea?" Callen answered back without thought. Though as soon as the words were out of his mouth he winced at them. They were definitely not the right thing to say. He was just about to apologise, to try and find a reason for saying what he had but before he could Deeks replied.

"The best one I ever made." He said in a serious voice, looking at Callen with a frown in his eyes. Though not at his words, but more wondering why it was he had said them. Why Callen had brought that up now, so many weeks later, when he knew that being here was the best place for him. What had happened to cause Callen to question that decision? Because he knew something had. Callen was happy he had left and found Frank and Henry, so what had changed?

Callen saw the look and put down his own cutlery while he tried to work out his own mind. Because Deeks was right. He knew this was the best place for him, just as he knew that leaving was the best decision the other man had made. So why would he say that? It was then he remembered the feeling he had when he watched another man, another LAPD detective take Deeks' desk. Remembered how he had tensed and refused to look deeper into the why. Hmm, he probably should have, but now was not the time to be thinking about that. Instead he responded in a deceptively causal tone as he watched Deeks out of the corner of his eyes. "Not sure Detective Thomas agrees with you on that one."

"Jase? What's he got to do with it?" Deeks asked frowning at that. He knew who detective Thomas was. You couldn't really do undercover for the LAPD and not know the others who did it as well. So yeah, he knew Jason Thomas. He just had no idea what he had to do with Callen or him leaving.

"He's our new liaison. Got thrown pretty much into the deep end on our last case." Callen replied carefully, wondering how Deeks would feel to know that Hetty had replaced him. That the team had moved on, even if he was the one to walk away.

"Yeah." Deeks responded not really listening beyond the fact that Jason Thomas was now LAPD liaison to NCIS Office of Special Projects. That he now had his old job. Nor could he stop the slight twinge he felt at that. The tensing it caused to go through him at knowing he had been replaced. At knowing there was no chance he could ever go back. Not that he wanted to, but somewhere at the back of his mind it had been there. A safety net ready to catch him and bring him back into the fold of the team he'd once called family.

It was a strange mixture of emotions that flowed through him, and while before he would have put on a mask and laughed it off as he locked them into a box, now he did neither. Instead he let himself feel. Let them run their course through him until his mind came out the other side with a calm he wasn't used to feeling. But it was one he knew that he could well become addicted to. The idea of actually allowing himself to feel, and process his emotions… yeah, that was something he actually really liked. Who knew it made you feel this good? Therefore turning to Callen with a smile he finally spoke into the silence that had descended around him as the other three men there waited to see how he would take Callen's words.

"He's a good guy. Good cop. what do the others think?" He asked, stealing himself to hear the team's names, to hear her name. He couldn't hide from this, he needed to confront it, wanted to confront it.

"Sam likes him. Though that could be more the military background than the guy himself." Callen responded cagily going with the one he hoped would cause the least pain to Deeks.

"I can see that. The wonder twins? I'm sure they have an opinion." Deeks replied with a smile, though he knew he was a chicken. He'd meant to ask about Kensi but changed at the last second.

"Haven't really talked to them about it. In fact haven't really talked to them since I asked them very politely to stop trying to track you down." Callen responded with a shrug, though in truth it had been him they had been trying to track, on Sam's request when he'd gone AWOL on his 'sick leave'. He didn't want then finding out where he had been or why, they had had no need to know about Deeks and what he was going through. Though he couldn't help but wonder why it had been so hard for them to find him. Sure he'd turned off his phone, but that was after he had arrived. And he hadn't considered turning off his car GPS until he was pretty sure it had been too late. So why …?

"Politely, huh?" Deeks asked with a raised eyebrow deciding not to think about Eric and Nell trying to track him, nor what Callen had done to make sure they couldn't. I mean he was pretty easy to find he was sure, he hadn't done anything to hide after all. So Callen had to have done something, but what Deeks didn't know, all he knew was that he was thankful that he had.

"Very." Callen corrected. He had been very polite, when he had informed the tech-two that he would prefer to keep his private life just that, private.

"And your laptop hasn't blown up on you yet?" Deeks asked both eyebrows raising at that. He knew Callen when he was being 'polite' and he doubted Nell would take it well. And where she led, Eric inevitably followed.

"That's more Kensi's style. They are far sneakier. They'll wait until I lower my guard before they strike." Callen replied with a shrug as he went back to eating, not really concerned about what the terrible twosome would do. Mainly because he had a feeling he wasn't the only one to speak to them, and Hetty was a hell of a lot scarier than he was.

"True. Nell is a cunning evil genius and Eric's her right-hand man." Deeks agreed also turning back to him breakfast. The silence that surrounded them was pressing, as if the elephant that was in the room was standing right in front of them. Because it didn't escape anyone's notice that there was one member of the team they hadn't talked about. Even Frank and Henry knew that Deeks' former partner had not been mentioned. Therefore as he finished his food Deeks decided it was time to bite the bullet. He knew Callen wouldn't tell him unless he asked, so that was exactly what he was going to have to do.

Taking a deep breath for courage Deeks asked, "So how is Kensi taking Jase as her new partner?"

"They seem to work well together." Callen replied not sure what else he could say. He didn't want to go into detail about how easily it seemed the detective and junior agent had fallen into a partnership. Didn't want to highlight the difference between how difficult it had been for Kensi and Deeks when they had first been getting to know each other. Deeks didn't need to know that. That was nothing to do with him, not any more.

At that Deeks nodded. He could read between the lines better than most and he heard what Callen didn't want to say. He wondered if he would feel jealous at the idea of Kensi having a new partner. Jealous of the idea of her having someone she could work with. Jealous at the idea she had replaced him. But instead all he felt was relief that she wasn't out there on her own. He knew deep down he could never trust her to be her partner again, could never have that kind of relationship with her again, but he didn't want her put in danger. They had meant too much to each other, had too much history for him to want that. Therefore he responded honestly with a small smile on his lips to Callen's words, both those spoken and un-spoken. "That's good. I'm glad she has someone watching her back."

And Callen sighed in relief at that response. Sighed when he looked into Deeks eyes and saw acceptance there. He'd been so worried it would hurt the younger man, that knowing that it didn't eased something he hadn't even known was tense inside him. Allowed him to think that maybe when he returned to work he would be able to look across at Thomas doing his job and not think he was sitting at Deeks' desk. No maybe for the first time he would be able to think he was sitting at his own. In fact Callen was so busy thinking that that he didn't even register when he mouth opened widely in a yawn.

"Did you get any sleep last night before you came down here?" Deeks asked with a frown. He knew Callen hadn't slept when he arrived, but surely he had before he came, right?

"Wasn't really in the mood." Callen responded with a shrug, but even as he did so he started to feel as if his eyelids were heavy. The good food he'd eaten for breakfast and the relaxing company he was in were combining to remind him he really did need to get some sleep, and sometime soon.

"Right. Finish breakfast, and then you are going to bed, mister." Deeks responded pointing a finger at the almost empty plate before directing at Callen.

"Yes, sir." Callen responded with a smirk, though he did turn back to the food in front of him. And as such missed the soft smiles shared by the two men who had watched and listened to Callen and Deeks, both deciding it best for them all if they did not get involved in the conversation that they had. Not to mention they had learnt so much more from not interjecting.

That was how Callen found himself being carolled up to Deeks' room after breakfast via his car, where he grabbed not only his go bag, but also the box of photos he had liberated from the office at the end of the case. He wasn't sure why he'd brought then with him, but when he left the house, needing to just go… somewhere after watching the home movie, he'd grabbed the box on his way out the door. Though now he had discovered where it was his mind had decided it needed to be, and more, who it decided it needed to be with, he could understand its thinking. He liked the idea of sitting down with Deeks and talking through the history the photos told. Talking through his history in a way he had never done before in his life. Yes, that idea sounded perfect to him. It gave him a peace he hadn't found since the start of the case that had brought him his father's name. And it was that peace that helped him drift off to sleep in Deeks' bed.

And Deeks, well he watched Callen fall asleep and couldn't stop his eyes travelling across the features of his face. From mapping how he looked in slumber. The frown lines and worry disappeared, and his masks were finally down. And Deeks couldn't help but notice there was an eternal quality about Callen in such a situation. Maybe it was just that he knew the older man trusted him completely due to how easily he'd fallen asleep with him at his side. Maybe that was what gave him that impression. But whatever it was Deeks didn't really care, no he was too busy taking it all in. Absorbing all that was an unguarded G Callen, as well as letting his mind fly. Letting himself think over all he and Callen had discussed and the feelings he'd felt while they did so before concentrating back on the man beside him. Coming back to the reason he was there.

It was only then that he realised as he hadn't before, that Callen had come to him. He could have gone to any of the team or Hetty, but no, he'd come to him when he was in turmoil. It seemed he wasn't the only one in their friendship who needed the other at times. That realisation made him smile. Because for the first time he realised that this was not one-sided. No, Callen needed him just as much as he needed him. And that made the last bit of residual worry at well everything, flee from his mind. Because now he knew, he wasn't alone any more. Neither of them were.