Dis: Characters are not mine, Lyrics are not mine. As far as I know there is no association between Carrie Underwood and NCIS:LA.

Nate could recall Hetty's words that those who needed him would come to him when they were ready to talk. This was one of those times. Case load had been not calm but more cut and dry giving the team little drama and little need of his services post mission. So he was a little surprised when Kensi came to him on a Wednesday afternoon. They had sat in silence for quite awhile.

"I, I'm sorry I've wasted your time Nate." She said suddenly and started to stand.

"Kensi you aren't wasting my time. Even if you just want to sit in silence, it isn't wasting my time if you feel better when you leave." He watched her intently as she froze with her back to him.

"I don't feel better though." She whispered.

"Then stay until you do." He responded coming around the desk and placing a hand on her shoulder.

"I miss him, they all think I don't, that I've moved on but I can't. Every year it is the same way. I remember, three of them in uniform coming up the walk, I knew then. I didn't want to believe but I knew. It was the same when my father had been killed. I wanted to scream, I wanted to cry, but I had been taught better."

Nate had gently steered her to the couch. He let her talk, his mind reeling trying to catch up and figure out who she was talking about. It clicked almost instantly after she ruled out her father. The guys, Callen and Sam, had asked him what he knew about Kensi having a fiancé. Even if he had known he wouldn't have been able to tell them.

"Five years today. Five years and I still can't make myself go out there. Nate, how is it that I can face a gun down daily but I can't go to a cemetery and leave flowers at a stone?" She looked into Nate's e yes for an answer; he knew she expected him to spout off some nonsense about fears and instincts, fight verses flight – the usual. All he could think in that moment was how badly he wanted to see the pain gone from her eyes.

Kensi was a tad bit of a profiler herself. She often knew the answers he would give before she would ask him a question. It wasn't professional, but he knew what he wanted to do for her.

"I'll take you out there. I will drive you and stay until you've made your peace." Maybe it was the part of her that had been trained never to back down; maybe it was really all the more prompting she needed, either way Kensi said yes.

Hetty didn't question when Nate informed her that they were leaving early.

Kensi acted almost normal on the truck ride, they talked about different things the team had been up to, latest crazes in television and she even gave him a hard time for not being current on what was going on in the music scene.

As they neared the cemetery conversation died out. Nate wasn't sure how to break the silence, or even if he should. Instead he reached over and squeezed her hand. He allowed her to keep in when she squeezed back and didn't let go. He forced himself to push away the thoughts of how gentle her grip was, and noted fact that the calluses on her hands were not too rough.

Finding the plot marker did not take long, as they rolled up the hill where their destination lay he chose to break the silence.

"I'll wait here for you." It was a battle he had been waging since they got in the truck, but deep down he knew that Kensi needed this moment alone, no matter how much he wanted to be by her side.

She smiled, and he had no doubt that she knew his ever last thought on the subject. Once again he found himself reminded that she was a bit of a profiler.

The wait seemed forever, he watched her kneel, then sit, then stand, walk around, kneel again. Finally she came back to the truck, less than twenty minutes had passed, but the waiting had felt like much longer.

"Thank You." She said her voice raw from crying. He nodded his head.

They drove out the gates without a word and were back on the highway before she spoke.

"I'm not sure I want to be alone this evening." She said, her voice sounding uncertain.

Nate waited for her to say something more, one hand on the wheel the other on the center console.

She took the free hand causing him to turn and look at her for a brief moment. He had no doubt that she had made her peace out there, but now, now she felt empty and lonely.

"Is there any way I could stay with you tonight?" Once again she was asking a question she already knew his answer to.

And then they handed her a folded up flag, And she held on to all she had left of him,Oh, and what could've been
And then the guns rang one last shot, And it felt like a bullet in her heart ~ Just A Dream by Carrie Underwood

AN: This drab, though it demanded to be written, for the record goes against my 'Kensi Fact or Fiction' beliefs. Personally I do not believe that there was ever a fiance. Further more this song make my heart ache when I think about how many men, women and children live this song out because somebody they love will never come home.

Semper Fi