Just a little thing I thought up randomly one day.

My muse seems to be back. Which is how something that I meant to be a one-shot is about to have me writing a third chapter. It is so not my fault I haven't done what I wanted to do yet. This really isn't going to be long and it's hopefully just going to be a feel-good story. That is all.

I own nothing. Please, review?

"How much did you hear, Mr. Callen?" Hetty questioned once Deeks fell into a fitful sleep.

"Enough," I answered staring at the younger man, "Does he really think we don't care?"

"Do you?"

Without saying another word or even sparing me a glance Hetty walked out of the bullpen and to her office leaving me alone to think about what she and Deeks had been saying.

A large part of me wanted to get angry and tell her that of course we cared about Deeks. He wouldn't be here still if we didn't, no matter how much the older woman wanted him here.

Alright, maybe we hadn't exactly been the nicest people to the younger man, but I had thought that we were making a lot of progress and so had he. Or he had thought that until yesterday.

The worst part was that I had known it was his birthday. I just didn't say anything. I usually never did. It had taken me about four years of being partnered with Sam before I actually even acknowledged that it was his birthday.

They were never a big deal to me. Another year older, another year wiser, another year closer to getting out of the foster system. That was all that my birthday had ever meant to me.

And because of how I usually treated my birthday I didn't even think of how other people would want theirs to be treated. Besides telling the person happy birthday the day never changed.

Isn't that all Deeks had been looking for? A little recognition that he was part of our team? That we cared? Something, it seemed, that none of us had actually been willing to give to him.

Sighing I found myself walking closer to the man and kneeling down. This is not where I thought I'd find myself when I met Deeks. Then again he never did the thing that I expected him to do.

Was that because he just randomly did things without thinking or because I had no idea who the man before me actually was? I really hated that I already knew the answer to that.

Deeks was a good guy. A little too loud at times, but liked him. Though after what I just heard to sounded like he had no idea that anyone, besides Hetty, actually gave a damn about him.

And that was my fault. Well, not for everyone else. Usually I would have no problem taking on the weight of this team, but this wasn't something that I could control in any way.

Sam, Kensi, Eric, and Nell had to show what Deeks meant to them in their own way. They just hadn't done that or at least been obvious about it. Something that the man needed.

I, on the other hand, never liked getting close to people. It didn't end well for me and I knew that Deeks had taken that into consideration. That was why all he wanted was a simple acknowledgement.

He didn't need a party or presents or anything like that. He needed someone to actually show that they cared even a small fraction. And let's face it, simply saying happy birthday was a small fraction.

"What are we doing to do, Deeks?" I questioned the slumbering man.

"Dump cold water on him," Sam smirked walking up into the bullpen.

"Not this time."

Without thinking I brushed Deeks hair away from his face before standing up. Sam gave me a weird look, but didn't bother to say anything. When it came to me and doing something even remotely affectionate he never did.

As I sat at my desk I continued to think about everything that the younger man had said. He basically thought that no one on the team cared and if I was to show him that I did I couldn't do it yet.

If it made any sense I knew that trying to show him so quickly after have hurting him would just backfire in not only my face, but the entire teams. No, I had to do whatever I did slowly.

That lead me to wonder exactly what I was supposed to do. I doubted that it had to be something big, but it did have to be something that showed Deeks how much he meant to the team. Or, at least, me.

There was no way that I could tell anyone what Deeks had said this morning. I would lose the little trust that the man had put in me. I was going to have to go in this alone.

I ended up sitting at my desk for about half an hour trying to come up with some ideas of what to do. I never thought that it would be this hard figuring out a present for someone that talked as much as Deeks.

That was it though. For as much as we made fun of the man for talking he never really revealed anything about himself. Most of the information I knew about him I got from his file.

Even then there wasn't really much to go on. It was like Deeks didn't want anyone to know who he was. Maybe he didn't. I hadn't tried to get to know the younger man before now.

"G?" Sam questioned from his desk causing me to look up, "What's up?"

"Why didn't you remember Deeks birthday?" I asked back.

"I remembered."

"You remembered? Why didn't you say anything then?"

"I didn't think that it was that big of a deal. Deeks doesn't seem like the type of guy that would care about a birthday. Why? Did he say something to you?"

"No, I was just thinking about it last night. Wondering whether or not someone should have said something."

"Kensi is his partner. If she didn't then it might be for the best that we didn't."

"Maybe."

Sam nodded his head calmly and went back to filling out his paperwork. Silence filled the bullpen once again before my partner put his pen down once again and stared at me.

"You want to do something for him, don't you?" Sam asked staring at me.

"Kind of," I nodded.

"Realize you're going to be doing it alone?"

"Yeah, I know, Sam. I still feel like I have to do it."

"Feel like you have to do what?" Kensi said walking to her desk.

Looking up at Kensi I found myself wondering what she thought about everything that happened yesterday with Deeks. At the end of the day she was the one partnered with Deeks.

She really should have been the one that had remembered. That wasn't right though. No, Hetty was the only one that had taken the time to show Deeks that they remembered.

That was what Hetty did for everyone. She saw that one of her people were hurt and she would come in and let them know that there was always at least one person that cared about them.

I knew that she had done that for Kensi and Sam just as many times as she had done it for me even though they never told me about it when it happened or even when it happened.

There was no point in asking either. When the time came for Hetty to help us in her own Hetty way it was between that person and Hetty. Talking about it with someone else was unheard of.

I wondered if Deeks knew that. If I did something to show that he wasn't alone on the team, that he did have a place here, it was more than possible for him to think that I only did it because of Hetty.

No, that was not something that I wanted. I needed Deeks to see that I was doing this because I wanted to. Yeah, I really should have done something before everything had gotten complicated.

"Nothing," I shook my head.

"Okay," Kensi gave me a look, "What's up with Deeks?"

"Don't know. He was asleep when I got here."

"What you got here? Really? That early?"

"I don't get here that early, Kensi."

"You practically live here. So, Deeks was asleep when you go here. Do you think he went home last night? I mean, he did look bummed when I left. You don't think that he was hurt that badly about me not remembering his birthday?"

"You didn't remember?"

"Well, I remembered. I had it on my calendar and everything. I just…I might not have changed my calendar so it's a year off."

"Wow."

A small blush came to the agents cheeks as she sent me a glare. Alright, so she hadn't done it on purpose either, but Deeks had no idea that was what had happened. It was just a mistake.

That didn't matter though. To Deeks it would probably just sound like some excuses for us to feel better about everything that happened. No, I still needed to come up with a plan to show him.

"Hey Deeks," Kensi whispered resting a hand on his shoulder, "Wake up, Deeks. You really don't want to be asleep when Hetty walks in here."

"Good motivation," Sam smirked.

"Shut up," Kensi playfully glared, "Wake up, Deeks."