Thank you all so much for your wonderful comments!

So here's the next chapter.. Enjoy and let me know what you think.
Again, all my thanks to MyOwnWorstCritic for the beta-reading.

Chapter Two: Connections

From the moment Hetty mentioned Kensi's involvement with the video they had just watched, Nate knew it had to be about her father. It couldn't be a coincidence. A Marine who quit around 15 years ago, Kensi not saying a word the entire time in the OSP center; the horrific look on her face when everybody turned to look at her.

It wasn't just the story that made the alarm bells go off inside his head, but the state Kensi was in hit the psychological part of Nate's brain. He noticed that she was closer to collapsing on the floor than she was to explain all of it to the rest of the team. So, very carefully, Nate pushed himself off the table and slowly walked towards his female colleague, gesturing towards his other friends to stay put. They all knew, out of experience, that Nate was the one to handle these situations best, so they obeyed his silent request to not interfere with him and Kensi and didn't move an inch.

When Nate was close to Kensi, ready to touch her shoulder with his hand, the woman seemed to snap out of her inattentiveness and stared straight into Nate's eyes with a shocked expression. Just when Nate was about to pull her towards him, she moved her shoulder away from his grip and pushed him aside while storming out of the room. The force was so hard, Nate lost his balance and was tumbling straight towards the sharp point of the table but Sam's hands smoothly grabbed him before he could encounter the painful point. Nate stood up on his own legs quickly.

"Thanks." His gratitude towards his big tough colleague was only as loud as a whisper. Nate felt a hand patting his back.

"No problem, man." A small smile appeared on Sam's face but it was gone as fast as it had appeared. Worry overcame him again. Concern over the toughest yet sweetest woman he had ever met. Nate could feel someone approaching him from the other side of the room.

"What was that all about, Nate? You look like you know what's going on." The psychologist noticed the softening tone in Callen's voice when he spoke his carefully chosen words. Involvement of a team member in a case made all of the others instantly aware of their vulnerability.

"I'm not sure, but what I am sure of is that I'm going to find out. And I need you all to let me." Nate's sincere words got the attention of all present in the room. He saw them nodding at him one by one.

"Go do what you do best. We won't disturb you," Callen said, and Nate knew Callen was speaking on behalf of all of them. He gave Callen a small smile and left the room, going in search of Kensi. What he didn't see were the concerned look and tense shoulders both Sam and Callen had.

Nate didn't find too much trouble in locating Kensi. She was sitting in her chair at her own desk, in plain sight for everyone to see. With a quick glance, Nate looked towards Hetty's spot. Not a soul in sight. Good.

While slowly walking towards her, Nate was already working his psychological brain to figure out why Kensi would not try to hide, but to stay so close for everyone around her to find her. Did she want to be found? And by whom?

He sat down in the chair next to her, slowly moving towards her. Kensi hadn't moved an inch since he got there, and she was looking down at her hands, her hair covering her face. Nate tried to lay his arm around her shoulders again, knowing full well all the members of the NCIS team were usually resistant when it came to embraces and tenderness. Surprisingly enough, Nate felt no resistance this time and Kensi didn't try to move.

"You know you can talk to me, Kensi. You know you can trust me. I'll always be here for you." That statement got him slight movement from the woman underneath his arm and Nate could only think about one thing, she was still so young and already so damaged. Inch by inch, he moved closer to her, completing the hug with both his arms. His heart started beating faster when she hugged him back, her arms around his waist.

Her pain, so long locked up inside of her. She had probably promised herself never to let herself fall apart in front of anyone, and here she is still fighting that promise.

After a long and awkwardly comforting embrace, Kensi freed herself of his grip and sat up straight.

She was ready.

She quickly wiped away the mascara that had partly transferred onto Nate's shirt. She turned her head to see the damage she had done to his shirt. She looked at him apologetically. Nate carefully shook his head. No need to apologize at all.

"Who is Glen Fortell, Kensi?"

He heard her take a deep breath before answering, "He was one of the guys on my dad's platoon. He was there when they picked him up to grab a beer that night. And he did come home that night while my dad didn't." Again she lowered her head.

"Have you ever spoken to him since your father's death?" Kensi firmly shook her head. "Do you have any idea who would want him dead?"

A little snort could be heard from Kensi. "Besides me? No."

Nate was taken aback by her answer, not knowing full well if it was meant sarcastically or not. What he did know was that it was not the time to ask her about it, so he continued. "You also never tried to contact him? Ever searched for him?"

"I thought about contacting him, but never did. I never had the courage to look him up to see what he had become or where he lived. If he was still married, or had children..." She paused. "Maybe now I wish I had, so he could still be alive. Or maybe…"

"You don't know that Kensi. You didn't know anyone would've wanted him dead."

A silence followed, neither of them wanting to say anything else yet. Both of them could hear voices coming out of the OSP center above them. Nate thought about the passed time since he had joined Kensi downstairs and knew they were becoming quite impatient upstairs, even though they had promised not to interfere with them. He focused back on Kensi.

"You ready to tell them?"

Kensi looked up at him and all of a sudden switched her gaze towards the stairs, where they could both see the figure of Callen walking out of the shadows of the room upstairs. Nate was about to get angry with their Senior Field Agent when he saw the concern and trouble in his eyes while looking down at Kensi. After the longest glare Nate had ever witnessed between the two colleagues, Kensi finally stood up and headed towards the exit door.

"You tell them. You know everything I know. I'm not ready to do it." With that she departed and Nate was left alone with an empty chair and an NCIS team full of questions.

After moving back upstairs and enlightening the others about Kensi's story, the room became quiet. All of them could almost feel the pain and worry Kensi was in right now. They all had their losses; all had their battles to win. But something that hit so close to home... Only Callen was as close to feeling what Kensi was feeling.

After hearing Nate's words, Callen could feel a small shiver travel through his body, luckily for him, no one else saw it. Everybody kept quiet, lost in their own thoughts.

After letting his eyes swift through the dark room, Callen straightened up. They needed to solve this one, and fast. "Eric, what else do we know about this Glen Fortell?"

Eric was snapped out of his thoughts and quickly began typing on his keypad in hand. The big screen showed multiple files and photos. Sam moved towards the screen and started sorting though the documents one by one.

"No criminal records besides some speeding tickets. Looks like he's married. No kids. Parents are deceased. Has one older brother. Hmm…"

"What is it, Sam?"

Sam turned his head towards G. "He's soon to follow his younger brother. Guy's got terminal lung cancer." Callen knew they had to act fast if they wanted all the information. Callen made up his mind.

"Sam, you take Nate and pay Fortell's wife and brother a visit. I'll go to the crime scene and see what I can find with Eric on standby."

Eric nodded in his direction. You got it.

Callen walked out of the OSP room with a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach. Something wasn't right. He couldn't explain what or why, but he just felt that time was of big importance in this case, for their sakes as well as Kensi's.

Once outside, he took a look around to see if he could find Kensi anywhere. She was nowhere in sight. Maybe it was for the best not to get her involved in this case, remembering the reaction she had after seeing Fortell's dead body. But when she was still nowhere to be seen after Callen had reached his car, he knew there was only one place left she could be. Callen slowly stepped in the car, avoiding the confrontation as long as possible. The moment he was about to start his engine, he heard a sound.

"Will we be taking the family or the crime scene?" Callen sighed and the engine stopped roaring again. He turned his head towards the passenger seat.

"Nice hiding spot."

"Thank you."

"Hiding in plain sight. It's new, and actually worked well this time."

"Thank you."

Callen saw a little smile appear on Kensi's face. His face became sincere again.

"You know it's not the right thing to do to get involved in this case, Kenz. It'll only be a matter of time before Hetty officially throws you off of it."

Now, it was Kensi's turn to look sincere. "But she hasn't yet, has she? And you want to know what happens when you tell her I shouldn't be involved?" Kensi shot G a daring glare. She was good.

"Well, tell me. I'm quite curious now."

"Oh, you know, how you abused your authority to make us tell you stuff while you were thrown off a case." Callen gave her a look like he wasn't even fazed by this threat. "Or how you led us all in danger by your stupid actions to infiltrate a militia group and put our lives on the line when you had no way out." Kensi could instantly feel how she had crossed the invisible line, even though it was meant as a joke. She needed to be on this case. It was her only hope.

Callen's face instantly turned into a deep frown, the guilt washing over him after Kensi had said that. Was she telling the truth? After a short pause, Callen carefully turned his keys into the ignition, his car roaring back to life. "You will regret this sooner or later, Kenz."

With that, he drove away following the address Eric had sent to his GPS, not knowing how right he was about his retort…