Thanks so much to those of you who have been reading and supporting this story. I can't begin to tell you how much I appreciate it. :)

xxxxx

"You really need to get some rest," Kensi said as she wheeled Deeks back into his room. "You're not following doctor's orders at all and you just had surgery not long ago. If you keep this up, you're never going to get out of here."

"I'm fine, Kensi," Deeks stated as she stopped the wheelchair by his bed.

"Deeks, please," Kensi pleaded. "Just get some sleep."

Deeks sat in the chair for a few more moments but finally did as she asked. He carefully stood up and climbed onto the bed.

"Thank you." Kensi plumped his pillows and when he had situated himself, she covered him with the sheet and blanket and tucked him in.

"You don't need to be fussing like this," Deeks protested.

"I know I don't have to...I want to." When she was finished, Kensi kissed Deeks on the lips, then sat down in the reclining chair by his bed. "Hell of a day…"

"Yeah...but it looks like Callen is going to pull through," Deeks said. "He's a tough guy…"

"It really makes you think…" Kensi said thoughtfully.

"About?"

"How short life is...how everything can change in an instant. We shouldn't take a moment for granted."

"No...but sometimes things aren't that easy...you can't just gloss over them…"

"I'm not saying we should gloss over them, but…"

"I'm tired." Deeks closed his eyes and rolled away from her, effectively bringing that topic of conversation to a halt. "You said it yourself. I need to rest."

"Okay, Deeks...you rest," Kensi said softly. "I'll be sitting right here when you wake up." She knew he was avoiding the issue, but in all honesty, she felt like doing the same thing. She knew she was going to have to try to help him through it though. They wouldn't be able to move forward with their relationship if she didn't.

xxxxx

Sam's eyes were on his partner as he murmured something unintelligible in his sleep before he slowly opened his eyes. "Did Hetty go home?" Callen asked, noticing that the other chair by Sam was empty. He rubbed his eyes with his hand and tried to appear more awake than he really felt.

"She went to get us some dinner," Sam said. "How are you feeling?" He was still worried about his friend, not yet fully trusting his improvement.

"I'm feeling okay." The incessant headache that had been troubling him previously had gone away which was a great relief to him. He still felt tired and weak, but he knew it would take time to regain his strength.

"Good." Sam nodded, grateful for every positive sign he got. "Can I get you anything?"

"Maybe some water?" Callen asked.

"No problem." Sam poured some water from the pitcher into a cup and handed it to his partner. Callen gulped the water down quickly then handed the cup back to Sam. "Can I have some more please?"

"Yes, but don't gulp it down like that, G. You'll make yourself sick." Sam gazed at Callen, a guilty expression on his face. "There's plenty of water now...you don't need to worry about not having any..."

"I know that…" Callen dropped his eyes from his partner's gaze.

"I'm sorry, G…"

"Why are you sorry?" Callen asked, still not looking at Sam.

"I'm sorry that I didn't protect you, that I hurt you, that I didn't find a way to get you water. I didn't have your back the way I should have…"

"It wasn't your fault, Sam...none of it was. It wasn't up to you to protect me. I didn't protect you either...I'm supposed to be the leader of this team and I didn't protect anyone…"

"Don't do that to yourself," Sam said. "Come on, G, look at me. I feel like I'm talking to myself here."

Callen lifted his head and met Sam's eyes, his own blue eyes full of emotion. "You don't have anything to be sorry for...let's face it, this is all on me...everything that happened...it was my fault."

Sam shook his head, a hint of anger in his eyes. "No way, G...There is no way I'm letting you take the blame for this. It's on Bart and his flunkies, no one else. Certainly not you. In any case, you were hurt. You did all that you could do under the circumstances."

"You know Bart was focused on me...you all just got caught up in it and got hurt because of that. Deeks isn't in great shape because he was forced to hurt Kensi. That's on me too."

Sam rolled his eyes. "Fine, G. You're right. You and Hetty are to blame for all of this."

"Hetty? I didn't say Hetty."

"Bart was Hetty's friend. She's the one who brought him into our lives. If it hadn't been for her, Bart never would have known any of us even existed. It's her fault just as much as it's yours."

"You're being ridiculous. How was Hetty supposed to know what he was going to do? She hasn't even been in contact with him in decades." Even as Callen defended her, he knew what Sam was trying to do and he pretended to fall into his partner's trap.

"Do you get what I'm saying, G?"

"Yeah, Sam…" Callen sighed heavily, "but…"

"No buts, buddy. Bart focused on a 15-year old kid who never gave him a second thought. It is NOT your fault."

"Okay, Sam...you win. It's not my fault," Callen said, not sounding particularly happy about it.

"I'm not trying to win...I just want you to really believe it, G. I think you've suffered more than enough without blaming yourself."

"I do believe it, Sam...I'm fine. I won't blame myself anymore."

"Well, I for one, am glad to hear that," Hetty said as she came back into the room, carrying a brown shopping bag. "You certainly don't have anything to blame yourself for."

"I know, Hetty...Sam beat it into my head," Callen said, managing what he thought was a genuine smile.

Hetty didn't smile back though as she put the bag on his tray table. "It troubles me that you would even think this was your fault," she said sadly. "You've had more than your share of bad luck, Mr. Callen. Heaping more undeserved guilt on yourself isn't going to help your recovery and that, I'm afraid, would be on me."

"This is just turning into one big blame game," Sam muttered under his breath, but not so softly that Hetty and Callen didn't hear him.

"It's not your fault, Hetty," Callen said.

Hetty sighed softly. "Perhaps that's true," she said, "but I also know that Bart would not have taken any of you if it wasn't for me. He wanted to hurt me and I'm afraid he did a very good job of accomplishing that. He picked the perfect way to get back at me and I'm very sorry that the four of you were caught up in this."

"Hetty...G and I don't blame you for what happened," Sam stated, "and I know Kensi and Deeks feel the same way. Bart is a whackjob. There was no way you ever could have predicted what he would do, or the lengths he would go to, in order to get back at you."

"I suppose you're right," Hetty said, but like Callen, she wasn't particularly convincing.

Wanting to change the mood in the room, Sam focused on Hetty's brown paper bag. "Well, I don't know about the two of you," Sam said, "but I'm starved. What did you get for dinner, Hetty?"

"Just some simple things," Hetty said as she began pulling items out of the bag, some sandwiches, chicken soup, salad and some cookies that looked quite tempting. She passed the container of chicken soup to Callen along with a plastic soup. "I thought this might be easy for you to start with…"

"Thanks, Hetty," Callen said as he took the lid off the container. He watched as Sam eagerly dug into a salad and Hetty soon followed suit. He tentatively put his spoon into the container and swallowed a spoonful of broth then tried another. He really had no appetite though and it just didn't appeal to him. He put the spoon down on his tray and found himself listening to Hetty and Sam who were engaged in quiet conversation. It wasn't very long at all before the sound of their voices lulled him back to sleep.

xxxxx

"K...Kensi?" Deeks' voice was very tentative as he approached her. She was sitting on the floor in a corner of their basement, her face buried against her pulled up knees and her hair messy and matted. As he drew closer, he could see that she was trembling. "Baby? What's wrong? What happened?"

"Stay away from me." Kensi lifted her face and Deeks stopped short, shocked at her appearance. Her right eye was practically swollen shut and her cheek underneath was a massive bruise of purplish, bluish and reddish hues.

"Who did this to you?" Deeks demanded. "Tell me, now!"

"How can you even ask me that?" Kensi shook her head and looked at Deeks, her expression a mixture of fear and hatred. "You! You, did this to me Deeks!"

Deeks' eyes widened in shock when he heard Kensi's accusation. "Baby...baby, I would never, ever do anything like this. I could never hurt you…"

"These cracked ribs tell a very different story, unless you have an identical twin you never told me about... You're a LIAR, Deeks and don't ever call me baby again. I'm not your baby. I'm not your anything anymore!

"Kensi, please," Deeks pleaded as his eyes filled with tears. "I...I don't remember hurting you...I don't understand…"

"Well, maybe you'll understand this. All those times you used to say you'd end up just like your father, I never believed you, but that was a mistake. Now I know what you are...you're a carbon copy of your father and I am never going to have anything to do with you. Not now...not ever! And you need to submit your resignation from NCIS, or at least apply for a transfer, because I'm not going to work with you and when Callen and Sam hear what you've done, they won't work with you either. As a matter of fact, they're probably going to want to beat the living hell out of you and I'm certainly not going to stop them. You're just lucky I'm not going to press charges. I just want you out of my life. I never want to see you again."

xxxxx

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, please Kensi, please forgive me. I didn't mean it. I would never want to hurt you…"

"Deeks! Deeks, baby, wake up. Come on, sweetheart," Kensi held onto her distraught fiance tightly, trying to get him to calm down. "Shh...it's okay, baby. I'm right here. You're okay."

"Kensi?" Deeks opened his eyes, still looking confused and upset by the dream.

"Yes, baby. It's me. Everything's okay." Kensi brushed his hair back and lightly kissed his cheek.

"But, but you said…" Deeks shook his head, trying to orient himself back into reality.

"What did I say, sweetheart?" Kensi asked.

"I...nothing…" The look Deeks gave Kensi was filled with very real guilt and remorse and it hit her like a ton of bricks as she began to realize that maybe hiding herself from Deeks was not making things better...perhaps it was making them worse...

"Deeks? I'm beginning to think that I may have been wrong not letting you see my back," she said softly. "It's really not that bad at all and maybe if you see it, we can help each other heal together…"

Deeks shook his head. The glimpse he had seen had been bad enough. "I don't know, Kens…"

"Deeks please," Kensi said softly. "You trust me, don't you?"

"Of course...With my life…"

"Then trust me with this…" Kensi took his hand gently and brought it to her lips, letting all the love she had for this man show in her eyes. "Please…"

Deeks looked at her, his eyes filled with emotion. He had a hard time refusing her anything, especially when she looked at him like that. "Alright, Kensi…" he said, a slight tremor in his voice. "I'll do whatever you want…"

xxxxx

Thanks so much to UsedToBeMe for your suggestions about how to help Kensi and Deeks start to reconnect. They were very helpful to me. There will be more in the next chapter.