Reposting after fixing some things. Working on the last 2 chapters and they will be up soon. Thanks so much for hanging with this story. And thanks as always to Stef and Donna.

Chapter 12

Sidorov - Part 8 Omni

It was a quiet morning in the bullpen. Sam had just come back to work and was in the gym with his partner. Kensi was going through after action reports. Her partner was home still recovering. She missed him. By now spitballs would be making their way onto her desk. But being the good partner he was, he substituted whiny text messages with silly emojis to make sure she knew that he missed being there also.

Kensi was so engrossed with her reading that she didn't hear the footsteps near her desk. "Hey kiddo." Her head snapped up to see Nate standing at her desk.

Kensi jumped out of her chair, raced around her desk and threw herself into his arms. "Nate! When did you get here?" Their former operational psychologist chuckled and hugged her tight.

"I just got in and came straight from the airport. How are you?" Nate leaned back to see Kensi's face, hoping to not only hear but see an honest answer. Hetty had filled him in on the events of the previous few weeks and shared her concerns for both Sam and Deeks but also for the rest of the team. He was particularly troubled by the exchange he had listened to between Sam and Deeks. To say he was surprised by Sam's treatment of Deeks would be a lie, though. He had witness first hand, on Deeks' first day at OSP, the senior agent's animosity towards the detective. Nate knew Sam had been struggling with Dom's disappearance, but to carry on those feelings for three years now? It was very disheartening.

"How's married life going? You had an anniversary not too long ago, yes?" Kensi's smile told him everything he needed to know. Nate would never be able to repay those two for rescuing him from Iran.

"We're good. And yes we did and I hope we will be able to have dinner together while you're here." Kensi looked at her friend and sighed. "Are you here about Sidorov?" Nate nodded. "Good. I'm worried about Deeks. He's been having nightmares, doesn't want me to worry. But with everything that Deeks had gone through, I'm also angry with Sam. I assume you heard the recording?" Another nod. "Deeks still won't talk to him. Sam's tried to reach out but Deeks refused to see him. And to be honest, I don't blame him. The good news is that Deeks is close to being physically ready to come back to work. We need the team to be back together but until Deeks and Sam deal with this, I don't know how that can happen."

Kensi had been holding Nate's hands while she spoke. Nate pulled her into a hug."Don't worry Kens. I'm here for both and I'm disappointed in Sam too. I promise to do the best I can for both of them." He hugged her again. "And, I am here for you too. You had to deal with a few things and I want to talk to you about that and I would like to talk to you and Deeks together. Okay?"

Kensi looked at Nate and agreed about meeting together. She wanted what was best for her husband and their partnership. "Let me know when you want to come to our place."

"Nate!" The psychologist turned to see Callen and Sam approach the bullpen.

He shook both their hands and shared bro-hugs. "I'm glad to see you both. Sam, you're looking well." Sam flexed his arms, assuring him he was fit.

"You here for Deeks?" Everyone stopped and looked at Sam.

Kensi got right in his face, poked her finger in his chest and growled, "What was that supposed to mean? I am so sick and tired of your condescension toward my husband. Maybe, just maybe, Nate is here for you because of the crappy things you said to him before he risked his life to save your sorry ass." And with that Kensi left the bullpen and the mission.

Callen looked at Nate and shrugged. Sam tried to backpedal. "What? I just meant that Deeks was never trained for this. He's a cop, not an agent." Before he could continue, a stern voice sounded over them.

"Mr. Hanna, my office now. Mr. Callen please go to OPS, there is a case. Dr. Getz, Mr. Hanna will meet you in the boatshed shortly." Everyone dispersed to their assignments. Sam was the last to leave the bullpen. He wanted to say something to Nate but the operational psychologist had walked away, shaking his head after what he just heard. Callen also left quickly. He hadn't realised that Sam was still harboring ill feelings towards the detective. Sam sighed and headed over to Hetty's desk.

Hetty sat down as did Sam. She poured herself a cup of tea, offered one to Sam, he declined. She took a sip, placed the cup in its saucer, folded her hands and looked at her senior agent. "I find myself in a quandary, Mr. Hanna."

"Why's that Hetty?"

"I thought after all that Mr. Deeks had done for you and your wife that you would finally see him as the talented undercover operative that I did when I brought him in. I realized the timing of his arrival was at a stressful time for the team. And I should have been honest with you. Dom was not going to work out. I had started arrangements for his transfer to the Navy Yard. He was going to fill the spot vacated by Agent McGee when he moved from operations to Gibbs' team. He just didn't have the feel for the fieldwork here and I needed someone strong as a partner for Kensi. Did I foresee the relationship between Mr. Deeks and Miss Blye? No, but I can't say that I am unhappy about it. They are a strong unit. What they went through to get Mr. Getz back, what Mr. Deeks did for you was over and above what was required by them. But they did it. And now we need to pull together so we can put this team back together. For you to trivialize Mr. Deeks as 'being a cop' is disrespectful to the profession in general and to Mr. Deeks specifically and I will not have it."

Sam sat there and absorbed all that Hetty had said. He would not admit it to the operations manager, but Michelle and Callen had also spoken to him on Deeks' behalf. Michelle, especially after the stakeout incident, had a lot of questions of Sam. She obviously did not see Deeks the same way her husband did but she also wanted to be supportive of him. Michelle, unlike Callen, she had not known what went on when Deeks first started with the team.

Callen watched Sam as he blamed himself for what had happened to Dom. And then his disdain when Deeks arrived. But Deeks had more than proven his worth not only to the team as a whole but with Kensi both at work and now as her husband. While he was not always a fan of work relationships, he respected the effort they put into keeping things professional and as team leader, he supported their decision. Callen also realized that he too, had not been welcoming when Deeks arrived. And he probably should have spoken up to his partner when Sam continued to hassle Deeks. Sam still being disrespectful towards Deeks was a nut he still hadn't cracked with his partner. Hopefully Nate being in town would help.

Sam made his way into the boatshed where he found Nate reviewing his file. "Hey Doc!"

Nate looked up. "Hey Sam."

Sam looked at Nate. He seemed different, reserved. Sam just chalked it up to his time away. He went and sat on the couch. "All right, bring on the questions."

"Is that what you want? Me running through a list of questions to see if any of them trigger you?"

"Trigger me? Am I a ticking time bomb?"

"Is that how you feel?"

Sam thought about the question. He wasn't sure how he felt. Michelle and Callen had been walking on eggshells around him. Ironically, Callen had shared his disappointment with what went down with Deeks. Kensi was just flat out angry at him. And Deeks, well, he wasn't sure how Deeks felt. It then dawned on Sam. "Nate, I get the sense that you're disappointed or not happy with me?"

Nate considered the SEAL. Sam was a friend but so were Deeks and Kensi. He was worried when Hetty called him back, that he might not be able to stay neutral. He was disillusioned with Sam but his first priority was the team and he was going to do what he could to get them back together.

Nate shared his thoughts about the the exchange between Sam and Deeks. He said honestly that he was disheartened by Sam's treatment of Deeks, but he also expressed hope that they could work things out.

Sam understood that honesty was the only way to get through this. He shared what he had felt when Deeks first arrived. All Sam saw was Dom's replacement. A reminder that, in his mind, he had failed the young agent. Sam knew he was wrong about the detective. Deeks was extremely good at his job. Time and again he had proven himself. Sam also was very grateful that Nate had been rescued. And if he had learned anything from the whole Sidorov case it was that perceptions and more importantly, first impressions, could be deceiving.

The two men continued to talk. Sam not only shared his guilt about Dom, but all the times he had harassed Deeks and had even gotten Callen to join in. Sam also shared the feelings of a perceived betrayal by Kensi, for trusting Deeks, and then by his partner who came to see Deeks' value to the team. Sam felt angry and betrayed when Callen contacted Deeks and not him while in prison and then suggested the CIA use Deeks to rescue Nate. Michelle even gave him grief over his treatment of Deeks. She was CIA, she saw the reports. They all said how well Deeks and Kensi did, especially Deeks when the hotel room in Iraq exploded.

Nate was encouraged by Sam's "confession" and was sure that the team would be able to work through all that had gone on and be stronger on the other side. He gently suggested that Sam needed to talk to Deeks. Sam agreed and would wait to hear from Nate before proceeding.

Deeks was in the kitchen getting a cup of coffee waiting for Nate to arrive. He was nervous about this meeting but knew it was part of the healing process. He was brought out of his thoughts by Monty running to the front door. Deeks chuckled as he opened the door. "Hey Nate."

Nate passed through the entryway. "Hey Marty. Hi Monty." Deeks watched as Nate's very tall frame got down low to fuss over Monty, who dutifully rolled over for his belly rub. Nate chuckled and gave the mutt a good long rub. "How are you feeling?"

The two walked out to the balcony and sat down on the futon. The roar of the ocean and warm breeze made for a comfortable setting. "I'm still a bit sore but all things considered, I'm doing okay."

"How are you sleeping?"

"What has my wife told you?"

Nate smirked but was not going let Deeks duck the question. "I asked you. You want to try again?"

Deeks ran his hands through his scruff. "Okay, okay. Sleeping? Not great. I have had nightmares mostly centered around Kensi being the one captured and me not getting to her in time. Sometimes they morph back to our time in Iraq just after the explosion. I still jump if I hear any kind of machinery, vacuums, power tools. If I didn't have Kensi with me, I probably wouldn't be sleeping at all." Deeks sunk back in the futon.

Nate looked at Deeks. "Kensi is concerned about you. She loves you. And I have to admit, you look better than I expected you to look given what Kensi told me. I have seen cases like yours and sleep deprivation is not unexpected. But you are very fortunate to have a partner who is very in tune to you and can help you with the rough patches."

Deeks chuckled at the thought of his wife ratting him out to Nate. He knew how lucky he was to have her in his life but he was not the only one dealing with fallout. "Nate, did Kensi talk to you about how she is feeling?"

"About what?"

"I know she feels guilty about leaving me in the chair and at the hospital. She raged at Granger. And I am sure you know about what happened between me and Sam prior to our capture." Nate noticed as Deeks posture shrunk down into the cushion.

"I do know and have talked to Sam about it. I thought it was very harsh and unfair. I know he now feels bad about it and we talked about where it came from. Obviously I can't share what he said but it is my hope that you two will talk to each other. I think the only way we get the team back together is if you two see each other." Nate waited for Deeks to absorb what he said.

Deeks sighed. "I hear what you're saying, I do. I have been kicked around enough by LAPD, but I have shown nothing but loyalty to this team. I need to talk with Kensi about this and I'll let you know."

Nate nodded, as he got more than he thought he would. "Speaking of Kensi, I am going to meet with her alone and then I would like to meet with the two of you together. You both have gone through a lot. You didn't tell me, how did you feel when she left you in the chair?"

Deeks gazed off toward the ocean. Nate watched as the memory flashed through his mind. "I'm not going to lie to you. I was angry. I heard what Kensi said to me. I know in my head we had to protect Michelle. But my heart . . . my heart hurt that she would leave me. I never would have left her."

Nate put a hand on Deeks' arm. "Are you sure? Would you have compromised the mission?"

Deeks' head dropped to his chest. "No, probably not."

"Are you still mad at her?"

"No. And I know how awful she felt about leaving me. I guess I'm just mad about the shitshow this mission turned into. I love Kensi with all my heart. She saved me. I don't want her to hurt anymore."

Nate could see he was getting tired. "Marty, I think that's enough for now. How about we grab Monty, hit the food trucks and go sit on the beach? I need some sun." Deeks' face lit up at the idea. Nate smiled, encouraged that things would work out and the team would be okay.

As they sat on the beach enjoying the truck fare, they talked about their time in Iraq and Iran. Deeks laughed as Nate remembered their plane ride home, when everyone found out about his and Kensi's marriage. "You two were good at hiding your relationship. I loved Callen's reaction."

Kensi flashed her wedding ring at the men. "Yes, we never got to registered so when we get back, I guess we'll be at Neiman Marcus if you guys want to pick up something for us. You can send a wedding gift up to a year after the ceremony. We're going to need everything. Being dead means we need a lot."

"When did you get married?" Nate asked.

"Last May."

"Before or after my arrest."

"After."

"You got married without me?" Callen sounded almost hurt.

Deeks shrugged his shoulders. "Sorry, we were getting married without you, arrest or no arrest."

"We had a small ceremony on May 25th." Kensi stood and walked to her backpack. She pulled out her wallet and returned to the table. She passed a photo over to Nate and Callen. "I'll look like that again when my hair grows back," she told them as they looked at the wedding portrait. "I'm beginning to think Deeks likes the goatee, however."

Deeks smiled at the memory. "It was worth it to have fooled Callen. When I went to see him in prison, he tried to blackmail me into meeting with Ira Weiss by threatening to tell Kensi about all the women I had been sleeping with. The thing was, Kensi was the only woman I'd been with for two years by that time. We had just been married a week when I went to see him. It was nice to know we had done a great job hiding things."

Nate laughed at that. Suddenly Monty jumped up and went running toward the boardwalk. Deeks didn't even have to turn around and waited until two arms wrapped around his neck. "Hello gorgeous!" Deeks said as he turned his face to place a kiss on his wife's cheek.

Nate blushed but also marveled at his friends, particularly seeing Kensi so in love and happy. This was definitely not the same woman he knew when they first started working together. She had been gung-ho, one of the boys and not open to anyone. Now here she was married, a happier and stronger person. Marty had shown her what a partnership meant. And Kensi showed Marty love and acceptance. They were perfect halves of a whole.

Nate cleared his throat. "I hate to break this up but I'm going to stay here with Kensi. Marty, why don't you and Monty head back and we will catch up after a bit. Is that okay, Kensi?"

Kensi gave her husband a proper kiss and helped him up. "Not a problem. I think Deeks and Monty could use a nap. You look tired Babe."

Deeks chuckled at that. He leaned in and kissed her again, then whistled for Monty and left the two friends to talk.

Kensi and Nate settled back down on the sand. Nate gave his a friend a cursory once-over. He noticed the worry lines around her eyes. "So how are you doing?"

Kensi chuckled. "That's the best ya got?"

Nate huffed. "I know you well enough kiddo. You are not usually one to share." Kensi smirked back at him. Now that the ice was broken, Nate wanted to dive in but had one piece of unfinished business. "I never did thank you two properly for coming to get me. I was so afraid that I would never get out of Iran. And I realized that I was kinda out of it when we got back to DC." He leaned into Kensi and hugged her tightly. "You mean the world to me Kens. And I want to do whatever I can to help you and Marty."

Kensi hugged her friend back. "Nate, we were happy to rescue you. We may have run into a few speed bumps along the way but we did get you. As for what's going on now, Marty is struggling a little and whatever you can do to help, I'm grateful."

"Kens, what about you? How are you dealing with all of this? You had to leave your partner not only in the warehouse but in the hospital. That could not have been easy."

Kensi sighed. "Leaving him in that chair was beyond anything I ever had to do. I just wanted to cut him loose and run. The pain in his eyes killed me."

"Did you consider getting him out of there. Defying orders?"

She didn't even hesitate. "Yeah I did. I have been by the books all my life. But when I saw Deeks in that chair, in the state he was in, yeah, I almost cut him loose. Because I knew if it had been me in the chair, he would have gotten me out."

"And you still feel bad about it." Nate watched as his friend's shoulders drooped and the tears ran down her cheeks. He reached over and pulled her into a hug. "For what's worth, when I asked Deeks, he pretty much said the same thing. He would have thought of doing it, but he would not have left Michelle in danger."

Kensi looked at Nate. "He said that?"

"He did. You two really are good partners. You both have made each other less reckless. You see the big picture. That doesn't mean you always agree with the mission. And that's okay. But you would never knowingly keep a teammate in harm's way. And you were not wrong for being upset. You love Deeks. Your situation is unique. And it is a testament to your partnership and your marriage that you've been able to perform as you do." Nate watched as Kensi sat up a little straighter and wiped the tears from her face.

"We do have a good partnership. I knew he was upset but I never felt it was directed at me. Well, maybe for a minute but he seemed to understand. But I don't want him to lie to me. I'm okay if he was upset. I just want to be able to get through this and I want him to be honest with me. Stop trying to protect my feelings, you know? I think there is a part of him that is still so afraid of rejection that he won't express any honest feelings of anger or disappointment for fear of upsetting me."

Nate nodded in acknowledgement of what Kensi had shared. From past conversations with Deeks he knew that the detective would rather fall on his proverbial sword than upset someone he cared about, especially Kensi. Nate then moved onto to discuss what went on with Sam and Deeks. "Kensi, how did you feel about what Sam said to your partner while you and Callen were away?"

Kensi knew that this would probably come up. She was so angry at Sam. "Nell played the audio for me when I got back. It had upset her and Eric. Hetty was livid. Callen never did say a word to me, which pissed me off. But before it could be addressed, they were abducted and well here we are. And before you ask, I will follow Deeks' lead on this. He doesn't need me fighting his battles, but I will have my say."

Nate thought it might be a good idea to stop for now. "Kens, I think we should take a break. I am going to meet with both you and Deeks tomorrow and we will talk about this, all of it. But there is one thing I can tell you. You and Deeks are okay. You will work through this. You both love each other and that is all you need to hold on to for now. Deeks will always be your husband and he will be your partner again soon. Do you believe me?"

Kensi nodded. She did believe him and she knew Deeks loved her. They would get through this. They always did. With that she stood up, brushed the sand off her legs and with her friend, headed home.

Kensi slipped into their apartment. It was quiet with a soft breeze blowing from the balcony door. She found her husband stretched out on the couch, fast asleep with his bodyguard positioned on the floor next to him. Kensi found her eyes getting moist as she studied him. The bruises were getting lighter, the swelling around his jaw was almost non-existent. Her breath caught at the thought that she almost lost him and then the guilt reemerged at having left him there for the sake of the mission. She shook her head to clear those thoughts, Nate's reassurance that her partner held no ill will helping the doubts fade away. But still.

"You like what you see?" His voice was still rough with sleep but sexy nonetheless. Kensi slipped herself onto the couch, her body on top of his as she nuzzled her face into his neck. Deeks hugged her close and kissed the top of her head. "You okay? How did things go with Nate?"

Kensi sighed. "Umm, good. We talked about his rescue. About you, about me, us. He wants to meet with us tomorrow if you're up for it." Kensi snuggled closer and yawned. She didn't realize how much her session with Nate had worn her out.

"You really okay Princess?" Deeks could feel his wife hold him tighter. Obviously the session with Nate had drained her. He decided not push, there would be time for that during their session tomorrow. He pulled her close, kissed the top of her head again. "How about you and I take a nap and then maybe I take my gorgeous wife out for dinner. Nothing fancy, but we go out like regular folk?"

Deeks felt Kensi's smile. "Sounds wonderful. I love you so much."

"I love you too. To the end of time and back."