Next chapter is up! How will Kensi react? And Callen? Find it below! Don't forget to R&R
All my thanks to my new beta-reader, It'sMyFavoriteSong

Chapter Six: Secrets

Before she had time to react, the paper's delicate weight had been removed from her hand. Her vision was blurred by a long unfamiliar liquid that had coated her mismatched eyes, yet they couldn't seem to let go of the face that hovered in her field of vision. She could see he was determined to help her, and she knew that once he got like this there would be no stopping him. After all this time of working so closely with him, going undercover as lovers, as family, as a married couple... she knew his looks and his gazes, and she knew he was currently thinking something along the lines of, we're doing it my way or not at all.

Callen backed up slowly from the increasingly irate woman, making his way back to the office while folding the little plastic bag in his pocket. He kept her gaze until the door was only inches from his hand. Another short pause, his hand touched the handle, and he was gone. Gone from her sight.

Kensi stood, rooted to the spot. She was paralyzed. Paralyzed by his presence and his actions, his God-forsaken selflessness... but when his face disappeared inside the building, the feeling in her legs and arms suddenly returned, and she could felt the full force of the exhaustion that had built up inside of her.

So, she calmly made her way around the corner, preferring to get out of the way of nosy, albeit well meaning, colleagues who didn't know her well enough to know not to try and offer what they might believe to be some semblance of comfort. She needed to be alone, or at least that's what she might've said had someone had the balls to ask, but most of her male coworkers valued their- erm- special places too much to even begin to cross that line.

Once secluded from any curious onlookers, Kensi let herself slide down the rough brick wall of the Mission. Fresh tears were making their way down her cheeks, but by this point she was powerless to stop them. All she could find the energy to do was hold her hands in front of her eyes with her elbows on her knees and let it out.

She couldn't believe what she had just done. It wasn't bad enough that she had been pushing her own will too hard without thinking about the consequences her actions could have… No… now she had involved someone else… someone she cared about. This team was the only family she had, and now she had unintentionally put Callen in harms way. A hazard of the job, maybe, but she knew from experience that only when someone got too involved did it ever get this far, and she was a first class example. enforce

Callen… She shook her head as the realization sunk in. I am putting his life in danger for my own selfish ass. It was the one rule Hetty had stressed above all others. Have your partner's back and work as a team. It said something for her small dysfunctional family that they were sticking by her through this at all. Callen's insistence on helping her, though annoying, only gave away how much he cared. But Kensi… Kensi had failed. She had broken the promise she had made so willingly, with such conviction… and she hadn't even stopped to consider it until now. Now she had indirectly forced this man, her partner, her brother, maybe something completely different… she had indirectly forced him to do something so potententially dangerous… for her… without the knowledge of the rest of the team… their family.

Kensi knew that, even though she hadn't asked him, she had indeed forced him to do this for her. Because that's how G. Callen works. Whenever there's something to lose, he would do it himself. Her head was still shaking while the thoughts in her head became stronger. She had a feeling that something was about the go terribly wrong, that there would be no one to blame but herself, and that there was absolutely nothing she could do to stop it.

She probably would've sat there all day if she had heard the approaching footsteps and been able to slip away from whoever was coming to try and talk to her. She slowly looked up and was only slightly surprised to see Hetty standing over her. She quickly wiped away the tears from her face, but didn't have the strength yet to stand up. Hetty remained, saying nothing, standing perfectly still with her hands behind her back.

When the younger agent had composed herself, Hetty finally spoke. "I just saw Mr. Callen storming upstairs to the Ops room. He didn't seem quite happy." Kensi didn't reply.

"Is there something I should know, Ms. Blye?" Kensi looked up again. What if she just told her? How easy would that be? But she couldn't, of course. Callen was now involved, there was no backing out anymore.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Hetty had seen the worry flare in the usually bright confidant eyes before her at the mention of her Senior Field Agent and relaxed a bit. At least they still cared for each other, nothing that couldn't be healed. Although she was filled with curiosity about the contents of the conversation her two agents had shared just before Callen had angrily stormed by, it was best to let it rest for now. She needed to trust them.

Hetty nodded, electing to remain satisfied with the information she had gathered.

"Alright," she said with a shrug, her expression only mildly mischievous. She began to walk away but not before she spoke one last time,"Mr. Callen is a big boy. Don't worry about him, go home and get some rest. You'll get the day off."

With that, the little woman took her leave, accompanied by a nagging feeling that the day wouldn't end quite as expected.

When Callen had entered the OSP room again, Sam noticed immediately that something was off. He watched calmly as his best friend barged into the room, overheated and talking loudly, flashing dangerously at anything that had the misfortune to find itself in his path. Sam knew better than to try and intervene, so he waited patiently until his partner finished with his temper tantrum.

"We've got the go-ahead from Hetty, so let's do this the way we planned. Oh and Nate?" The psychiatrist nodded, his attention already focused on the duo courtesy of Callen's little fit, "Keep an eye out for the coroner's results, we need them ASAP." Nate nodded again. Although he'd love to know what had happened downstairs, he was also needed on this case. He looked towards Sam, who gave him a small nod, assuring him that the former SEAL had it under control.

Sam turned his head back towards his partner and sighed, quickening his step as he saw Callen the Ops room again, no doubt heading for the car so they could get to the crime scenes. When he caught up, he tried to make eye-contact, but Callen was Callen, and continued to stare ahead stubbornly until they reached the car

"Let's go to the primary crime scene first, where the victim was stabbed, then we can walk our way back towards the grass field where lohe ended up dead," Callen finally said.

"Sounds like a plan." But Sam didn't move. After a long moment, Callen turned a questioning look towards his partener.

"What are we waiting for?" he asked. Sam kept his gaze, and Callen was beginning to feel uncomfortable.

"For you to tell me what's going on."

"I don't know what you're talking about." It was a half-hearted attempt at diverting the conversation, Callen knew when he was beat, and he knew that Sam was hell-bent on finding out what was going on.

"Stop the BS, G. Why do you always have to be so difficult!" Sam angrily hit his steering wheel with the palm of his hand. He was not about to go and work with his partner not knowing what was going on. Sure, he could let it slide for now, he could just focus on the case, butthe guy wasn't looking like he a freaking ghost. Sam took another look at Callen. He shook his head while doing so. The paleness of the guy in front of him was of a horrible level. Very tiny drops of sweet were lingering on his temples while his eyes were bewildered and angry. Reckless.

"I can't do this, G. Not unless you tell me what's going on for God's sake!" Callen was taken aback by Sam's angry outburst and felt the guilt rising up again… For the hundredth time today. Sam pressed on,

"You're gonna get us both killed if you keep this up man, I know you're up to something, and if you're not gonna tell me, I'm not going with you." Now it was Callen's turn to be irritated.

"What's with all the hatred all of a sudden? Don't be stupid man, I'm not getting us killed." Only myself, he thought, but he wisely choose to keep that knowledge to himself.

"G… I know you too well for this. You're so far gone that you're not even acting like everything is okay. Just tell me." Sam stared him straight in the eyes, and Callen caved underneath the pressure. He needed to tell him something. But he couldn't tell him everything. He trusted Sam with his life, but he still needed to protect his partner. And so he would help. He couldn't let his best friend risk his job, his family, and his life, just because he himself didn't care so much about his own. He couldn't let that happen.

"It's just... I worry about Kensi. I worry about her a lot. I'm afraid she's up to something." The ground suddenly became very interesting as he felt his partner's scrutinizing gaze. Although it wasn't quite the biggest problem he was dealing with right now, it wasn't a complete lie. He did indeed worry about Kensi, especially after the whole ordeal with the address. She could be that stubborn and she knew it… he knew it. Upon thinking about the address, his hand moved towards his pocket. It was still there. Before walking back towards the OSP room, Callen had already made up his mind. He was going to give the address a little visit after they had finished with the crime scenes.

It was beginning to get late and soon it would be too dark to keep tracking the evidence. They would agree to finish tomorrow, and Sam would offer him a ride home… well… a ride to his hotel. After that, he would go and check out the address scribbled on the little yellow post-it. Sounded like a plan.

Callen was pulled back to reality when Sam broke the silence.

"I worry about her too," he said quietly.

"Yeah. I know."

"I'll keep an eye on her, okay? Will that make you feel better?" Callen turned his head and smiled. It actually would make him feel better.

"You'd save this old man's heart." He touched his stomach with his hand in a faux dramatic gesture. Sam snorted.

"What?"

"I always knew you had your heart in your stomach." Both men laughed as Sam started the engine and drove off, and Callen felt his mood lightening.

"Speaking of which... Isn't that donut place along the way somewhere?"

"Nope."

"Well it would be if we went around the other way."

"If we need to go around for it, how can it be on the way then?"

"Just saying."

After 5 minutes of driving, Sam's stomach started to growl.

"Ugh… Now all I can think about are those donuts!"

A big smirk appeared on Callen's face.