A little later than planned, but here it is. She's back! ;-)


Saturday had finally arrived, and Callen was excitedly pacing down the arrival hall. After an excruciatingly long week without her, he wanted her home, with him. He hadn't known you could miss anyone like that. There was the New Years Eve party they were going to tonight, but until then he had her to himself.

A glance at his phone revealed that her plane should've landed by now. People were starting to get in, but he wasn't seeing her familiar form yet. It wasn't until he heard his name, that he finally saw her. "Grisha!"

She was running, and he smoothly caught her. She smelled like sunshine and coconut; courtesy of the sunscreen she used. Her laugh and excitement just made his entire week right again. Every miserable, lonely minute he had to endure, was worth it because she was back. Because she still fit under his chin, because he could hold her.

Her grip on him tightened and her breathing slowed down. And for minutes, they stood there, locked in a seemingly endless embrace. Ultimately, Deja pulled back and kissed him. "Hi."

"Hey, you." God, it was good to hear her voice. "You have no idea how much I missed you."

She smiled and rested her forehead against his. "Believe me, I have a pretty good idea." Deja swallowed. "Who would've thought, huh?"

"Yeah." He searched her eyes. "Welcome home."

And what a wonderful welcome it was. He seemed in one piece, but his eyes still reflected sadness, and if she could, she'd love it all away. For now, she'd settle with an afternoon for the both of them, somewhere quiet and alone. Time for catching up. "Thank you." For another moment, she basked in the pleasure of simply holding him, before letting go in search of her luggage.

"Do you need to take a nap before the party tonight?" He was steering the car in the direction of a park.

"Only if you take one with me." She was being bold, she knew that. But the only thing she wanted was to be with him, to love all his pieces back together. So she had to push sometimes.

Callen couldn't hold back a grin. "Deal."

Half an hour later they were sitting under a tree on a blanket with a picnic. Deja shook her head at him. "Have you been practicing?"

Shrugging, he refused. "Unfortunately for you, not as much as you would like. I had some other things to take care of this week. But I got everything from that place Derek has been talking about. Just of the farmers market?"

Deja nodded, knowing what he was referring to. "It looks delicious." She took a bit out of a sandwich and closed her eyes. Callen observed her, being completely at ease just having her close.

"How was your trip?"

Deja looked up and smiled at him. "Great. It was nice to see everyone again. Uncle Diego is getting married again, sometime next year, and his fiancée is a sweetheart. Mom and Dad are great, Nanna and Abuela say hello…" She dived into a description of her family and her trip. Callen laughed at her little cousins' antics and tried to make a picture in his head. It wasn't until she actually produced photos that he could put names with faces.

"… and lastly, Enrique and Carmen with baby. Carmen is Arturo's daughter." She grinned up at him. "And no, you're not missing baby. Baby won't be here until the summer."

"Ah." He shook his head, staring at the photo. It was a large family; grandmothers, mothers, fathers, nieces, nephews, cousins, grandchildren. "That's all your extended family?"

Deja nodded, swallowing a sip of iced tea. "Yeah. Diego, Arturo and Pepe are Mama's brothers, and Tia Beatriz is her sister. They all have kids, plural. And those kids, my cousins, are all starting to have kids, too. We're getting bigger by the year."

Without saying anything, Callen looked down at the pictures in her hands. To actually have a family to go home to. Someone who'd known you all your life; knew your parents and where you came from. He couldn't really picture it. Besides, the small family he had at NCIS didn't compare to this life size one.

Deja watched him closely. He was struggling with her description of her family, large as it was. And she'd only fully covered the Spanish side. There was a, albeit smaller, British side to that family as well. "You know, if you play your cards right, you might actually meet my parents when they come here in April."

That made him lift his eyes to hers. He blinked once, then smiled. "April, huh?"

"There's time to prepare yourself." She winked. "Did you to over to your friends' for Christmas?"

Of course she'd noticed his inner turmoil. She'd make a damn good federal agent, looking right through anyone. He let her change the subject. "Actually, I did. I had to give my compliments on the quiche, they really liked it."

She beamed. "Oh, great! You tell them that you helped me make it?"

"I did." He told her about his reluctance to go, then her text at the exact right moment, and the fact that he had enjoyed himself immensely. "Of course Julia and Roberta saw right through me, but they didn't interrogate me on the matter, so we left it at that."

Deja laughed. "Mothers tend to do that. Life experience and all that." She yawned. "Oh, I'm sorry. Stupid jetlag."

It wasn't stupid. Of course she was tired. Honestly, he would've stayed in Spain, no matter whom he'd promised to be back for New Year's. All that hassle. She settled between his legs, his back resting against the tree they were sitting under. He kissed the top of her head. "Sweet dreams." Deja was asleep within seconds.

Callen let out a breath. He seemed to be able to breath easier when she was close. This past week had been hell. He wasn't used to doing stuff on his own anymore. She left a void in his life that he hadn't known she'd filled. But peacefully sitting here, looking out over the park, with her in his arms, he knew that he'd do everything in his power to keep her. And the thought both scared and elated him.

They arrived to the party a few minutes late. Of course he'd fallen asleep right along with her and they'd woken way later than expected. Dropping Deja off at her apartment, he made a U-turn to his house to shower and get dressed, only to drive back to pick her up.

"Your hair is down." It was the first thing he noticed. Normally, it was up in a bun, or braided, to keep it out of her face. He liked this.

"You're in an actual suit," she pointed out. "You clean up nice."

"Thank you."

Unsurprisingly, Lindy and Jess were all over her the minute they set foot in the jazz club. "You're here!"

Callen took a step back to let the girls say hello. Somebody next to him handed him a glass of champagne. "This might take a while." The guy offered him a hand. "Ted. I'm with Lindy."

He had a hard time tearing his eyes away from Deja. "Grisha." The name rolled of his tongue as if it hadn't been his name for less than a year.

"You're Deja's boyfriend." It wasn't even a question.

"I am." Did he actually sound proud admitting that?

Ted grinned. "From what I've heard from Lin, you make her happy. But I've seen her hurt before, and if I even have the slightest idea that you don't deserve her, expect your days to be numbered."

Callen bowed his head. "Understood." He could tell Ted was only trying to protect her. "I take that she's been hurt before?"

"She wants to believe in the good in others, which is admirable, but it's worked against her way too many times. A normal person would've given up on the human race altogether, but not Deja. She's positive and stubborn to a fault." Ted tilted his glass in the direction of the girls. "I'd hate to see her hurt again."

Yeah. Callen noted that his protective instinct had taken over when it came to her. It was on a completely different level than it was with Kensi, which was new to him. Even the thought of her getting hurt, in any way, made him clench his hands into fists.

Having made good on his sort-of-threat, Ted steered the conversation to work. "So, what do you do for a living?"

Callen still hadn't shared specifics with her, so he wasn't going to share specifics with Ted either. "Government job."

"Somewhere in the alphabet soup?"

"Yeah, somewhere in the alphabet soup. You?"

"I'm a vet."

They talked shop for a few minutes, until the girls came back. Deja slipped under his arm. "I see that you've met Ted."

"I have."

"Ted's great. And don't take everything he says seriously. Not even Lindy does that." She stuck her tongue out. "Come dance with me?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Dance with you?"

"Yeah. You know, sway to a musical tune. Move one foot in front of the other. It's like walking, but different."

He rolled his eyes. "You make it sound so appealing."

"I do, don't I?" Halfway to the dance floor, she turned to him. "You do dance, right?"

His answer was to take her all the way. Deja was flabbergasted that he danced as well as he did. Callen was glad that all those dance lessons years ago from Hetty paid of. At least now he could use his skills for something else than an undercover op.

With only half a minute to go to midnight, he gathered her close, laughing. She pushed her hair back and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Have I ever mentioned that I'm extremely grateful that I walked into your café on accident?"

"You and me both," she said. They counted down with everyone else, and he kissed her as the clock struck midnight. A happy new year it would be.