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I don't own any of the NCIS: LA Characters I only own Sarah.
(I used dialog from season 2 ep 23)
This chapter is the longest one that I have done. Most of this has been ready for almost a year. Chapter 9 should be coming up soon just waiting for the editing.
As always thanks for the favorites and the reviews. I have opened it up to anonymous reviews please review so I know that someone is reading.
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Chapter 8
Callen tried to keep an eye on her as they drove back to the Mission. She looked at the badge the entire time in the car. It was like she had seen a ghost.
"Is that the first time you have seen that since you went on reserve?" He asked breaking the silence.
"No. I found it while packing to go to DC. I grabbed a bag and it fell out. I couldn't believe I still had it. Hetty gave it back to me when I walked out and told me the deal that would keep both of us in NCIS."
"You were never called in after you left?"
"Gibbs asked me to be another set of eyes on some of them, but I wasn't listed on the report. I was usually eye candy and stuck with DiNozzo just in case something happened."
He pulled into the lot. "Wait you and DiNozzo?"
"We're just friends nothing more."
He looked at her. "Just friends? DiNozzo doesn't have 'just friends' Sarah."
"He does with me. We're too much alike."
He laughed. "You're nothing alike."
"Tony knows that if he tried anything he would be knocked on his ass by me or get his ass handed to him by Gibbs."
Her phone alarm went off. "We have five minutes to get back in there,"
"I can talk to her if you want me to."
"No. This is my fault."
"Sam wants us over for dinner tonight, to meet his wife." He finally told her.
"He told me in the breakroom before I talked to Nate. I'm glad that I'm not the only one who keeps personal and private life separate."
"His are on two different worlds. Kensi, Deeks, and the others don't know."
"His secret is safe with me."
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Hetty walked into her office and sat down. She wasn't as angry at them she was surprised. Watching both of them bicker at each other earlier that day, and seeing them both on stage, how far that had actually come in the short amount of time that they had been together. She was also surprised at the choice of music selections. Out of all the songs Sarah knew, she picked that one. There were plenty of songs that she knew Sarah could have sung that would have had him believe but she chose that one. It was still a mystery to her and the performance nothing like she ever saw before. If she would have known that they would have a deep connection already she would have pushed harder to make her stay in NCIS. But after that last mission she was knew that if Sarah survived physically and mentally it would be a miracle.
"Sullivan is dead." Their handler said.
"What about Agent Burgess?" She asked.
She didn't like the silence at the other end of the line. "What about Agent Burgess?" She asked again.
"She's missing." He finally said.
"Find her." She told him.
"We're doing the best that-"
"Find her now!" She told him and slammed the phone down.
Two days later she was surprised to get a call from Gibbs. Sarah was in a hospital beaten up pretty bad with a gunshot wound in the shoulder. From what he heard from the man who found her she was walking down the highway took him a couple of minutes to convince her that he was not one of them and he would protect her. When asked if there was anyone that she wanted to contact she gave him Gibbs' name before she passed out. They found him in Russia and he was there the next day.
Hetty looked at the clock as she saw both of them walk in and wondered who was going to talk to her. She wasn't surprised when Sarah walked up and stood there at the desk.
"Yes, Agent Burgess." Hetty said finally acknowledging that she was there.
"I would like to apologize for what happened this morning." Her stomach twisted in knots.
"Isn't that breaking a rule?" Hetty asked beginning to secretly enjoying this a little too much.
Sarah sighed. "Yes but in this case I think it should be broken. What you saw was-"
"Two people who have major trust issues who I have hoped that one day they would be able to trust someone out of their little 'family' work together on stage doing the most romantic version of that song I have ever seen."
"Wait. What?" She sat down.
"If I didn't know that this was a test I would have thought you two worked on it for weeks."
She sat there looking confused. "So you're not mad?"
Hetty smiled. "You're not the only one who can act Sarah Jane."
She couldn't believe she fell for it. "I told myself...I have a rule." she stopped.
"He made that promise to himself too years ago."
Now she felt like an idiot. "The rule about handcuffs."
"It happened years before he started working for me. As you said some rules are made to be broken. Especially if in the end you will both be happy."
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Kensi watched Deeks as he looked at the file. There was something bothering him and she wanted to know what it was. She walked over and saw what the file was. "Why are you looking at Sarah's file again?" Kensi asked Deeks.
He was beginning to wonder the same thing. There had been something bothering him ever since he got back from talking to Steven."There is something about her that bothers me. I know I have seen her before but I cannot remember where." He looked at the back of the file where it had some pictures and he saw a picture of Gibbs and Sarah together and he remembered.
Gibbs dropped his coffee and went right to the nurse. Deeks saw him whisper in her ear.
"I don't care!" The nurse said kicking and elbowed Gibbs in the chest. Gibbs leaned back and tried to catch his breath.
Hunter was the same. "I swear I will-"
"Holy crap!" He said stunned and shut the file.
"What?" Kensi asked.
"Where's Sarah?"
"In the gym I think. Why?"
"I have to talk to her."
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Deeks found Sarah on the walking on the treadmill. "Hey, Sarah."
She took her earphones off. "What's up?"
"I would like to talk to you about something but not here." He looked over at Callen and Sam by the rock climbing wall.
"Why not here?" She asked.
"It's about an elevator, in Romania." He said quietly.
She looked over to see if Sam and Callen were watching. She slowed down and turned off the machine. "Let's have lunch. There's a sandwich shop across the street. Meet me in the courtyard around one and we'll talk." She put the iPod in her pocket.
"Okay."
She got off the treadmill and took the towel. "Oh, and you're buying." She told him walking to the locker room.
"Wait I didn't say-"
She turned around "You want to know, you're buying lunch." She smiled and went into the locker room.
"Know what?" Callen asked him.
"Nothing."
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Sarah sat down on the bench and decided to cut through the small talk. "What made you remember?" She asked.
"I talked to Steven Bury at LAPD. He told me that you have known him and Jenn for about five years. I was looking at your file I saw a picture of you and Gibbs together. I knew I had seen you before but I couldn't remember. When did you get there?"
She thought about it, "The third day that she was in the hospital."
"Why did you pose as a nurse?"
"You were all pretty raw with emotions. Gibbs knew that if he asked if I could see her, he would have been told no."
"He could have told us about you. You have known Hetty your whole life."
"Never mix business and personal lives."
"What?"
"It's a rule that Hetty and I have. If we see each other and it wasn't planned, or the team is there, we act like we don't know each other. With the jobs that we- she has, it's better that way."
"So, why were you fighting with Hunter in an elevator?"
"What did she tell you?" She asked.
"She told me that she didn't want to talk about it. So what was it? Did she steal your boyfriend when you were younger or something?"
She smiled. "I wish it was that simple. I met her when I was sixteen. We never got along and acted like we did only because of Hetty. I think she was mad that she was not the only one that Hetty trained."
"How pissed was Gibbs when the doors closed?" He asked remembering the conversation he had after everything settled down.
"This never happened." was all Gibbs said.
"Agreed." Deeks said not about to ask what the hell was going on. He didn't want to know and the less he knew the better.
"Not as pissed as as I thought he would be. He was worried that the others, or worse Hetty, would find out. Told both of us that if he caught us fighting again, he was going to walk away and let us kill each other."
"You got a couple of good hits on her."
"Thanks. So why aren't you in NCIS yet?" She asked changing the subject.
"Well you know, because I'm a cop, and I think it's more than what I do, I think it's who I am." He realized he was giving the same speech to her that he did to Hetty when she gave him the application for NCIS before she left.
"Have you thought about applying?" She asked.
"Hetty filled out an application before she left. All I need to do is sign."
"She filled out the application? What the hell Deeks!"
"I don't know if it is the right thing for me now." He said.
"Oh cut the crap! Do you know how many people would love to work with her? How lucky you are to have her want you to be on her team?
"Well I-"
"Is this about Kensi? You're afraid that something will happen, and to make it less painful you would go back to LAPD to make it easier on her."
He nodded.
"You two are impossible, you know that? I'm going to ask you what I asked Kensi yesterday. Are you happy?"
"Yes."
"Then that's all that matters. Callen knew from the beginning and you're still alive. You know if Callen knows that Sam knows-"
"It's Hetty. She doesn't know." He admitted.
Sarah smiled and then started laughing. "Deeks, Hetty knows everything."
"How?"
"It's Hetty. The only places she doesn't have bugged are the bathrooms and out here."
"Wait when you mean everything you mean-"
"Everything."
"But that's-that's."
"Deeks, has Hetty given you any indication that she knows?"
"No."
"She may not approve, but she believes in having a team that gets along, and is happy. Hetty has faith in you Deeks. Sign the damn application!"
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Sarah and Callen walked up to the door of Sam's house. "Are you sure about this?" She asked.
"You'll be great." He knocked on the door and then opened it. "Honey I'm home." He said loudly as they walked in the house.
Sam's wife walked out of the kitchen wiping her hands on the towel. "Well it's about time you got here." She hugged Callen. She then took him by the arm. "Now I need you to go out and rescue dinner I really don't want pizza tonight. You know where the fire extinguisher is if it gets out of control." She said taking him to the back door leaving Sarah there. She saw Sam's wife look back and wink at her.
"Fire extinguisher?" Callen asked. He knew that it got bad but not that bad.
"Yes. Go out so us girls can talk about you two." she smiled.
"Honey?"
"Don't worry G I'll take care of her." She whispered and pushed him out the door. She shut it and locked it behind him.
She turned, leaned up against the door and sighed. "There." She smiled at Sarah. "So you're Sarah." she said walking up to her. "My name is Miranda but everyone calls me Honey."
"It's nice to meet you."
"Believe me you do not want to be out there while Sam is trying to grill. Sam can save the world but he cannot cook worth a damn." She laughed.
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Callen watched Sam attempt to grill chicken. "You know you need to turn that over."
Sam glared at him.
Callen shrugged his shoulders. "I'm just sayin'." He went to get a beer out of the cooler.
"Where is Sarah?" Sam asked.
"She's talking to Honey in the kitchen."
"Maybe you should be in there with her." He sounded annoyed.
Callen grabbed the bottle opener. "She locked the door on me."
Sam smiled. "And that surprises you?" He asked.
"That Honey is questioning my girl-"
"What?"
"Nothing." Callen said quickly.
"Ah HA! You said it."
"No I didn't." Callen closed his eyes.
"So she's your girl?" Sam smiled.
"Yes. No. I don't know. You're burning the chicken."
"Stop changing the subject." Sam said.
"Fine. I'll just sit here, drink my beer, and let you get in trouble." He sat in the lawn chair.
"I can cook." Sam said trying to convince himself.
Callen laughed. "You burn eggos!"
"Only because you took the toaster apart the night before." Sam defended himself.
Callen knew that he was going to be blamed for this again. "That had nothing to do with it and the chicken is now-"
Sam walked away from the grill pointing the grill tongs at him. "You neglected to put one of the springs back in the toaster."
Callen stood up. "All of them were back in!"
As they continued arguing Honey opened the door watched them and the dinner on the grill that was going to be ruined if she didn't say something.
"Samuel Hanna!" Honey said.
"What!" He looked over at her. He hated being called Samuel and she knew it.
She looked at him and then looked at Callen who was trying not to laugh. Callen's smile had him look like a little boy getting away with something.
Sam took a breath to try and calm down. "I'm sorry Honey. What?"
"The chicken is on fire." She told him calmly and then walked back inside.
He turned to look at some of the pieces on fire. Callen was telling the truth. "Oh crap." He tried to move the meat around "It's your fault." he said fighting the chicken that was now sticking to the grill.
"My fault? I warned you."
"Yeah whatever" Sam said trying to save dinner now.
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Honey closed the door and started laughing. "God I've missed him."
"They're worse at work." Sarah said watching from the window over the sink.
"Hetty has told me." She said admitting the secret that she had kept from her husband for over two years.
"You've met Hetty?" She was surprised.
"About two years ago it was shortly after G was shot. Sam was not taking what happened very well. She wanted to make sure that he was okay." Honey had not told Sam that she still met with Hetty.
"Have you met anyone else from the team?" Sarah asked.
"No but I've heard about them. The thing about Sam is he's a very private person. Believes in protecting the family from what he does."
"I do the same."
Honey watched men arguing again on a totally different subject. "G is the only one who can get Sam like that. Which is nice since he takes things very seriously."
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"So how do you think they are getting along." Callen asked.
They heard the laughter of the women from the open window. "I think they are getting along great." Sam said quietly.
Callen looked at him. "Why are you pouting?"
"I'm not pouting." He said turning the chicken over.
Then it all came together. "You did this to impress her."
"Who?"
"Sarah."
"Why would you care G? It's not she's your girl or anything." Sam said knowing that Callen would take the bait.
Callen took a hold of the grill tongs and pushed him aside. "Well maybe I've changed my mind. You have your own."
"Maybe I can have two."
Callen laughed. "Bring that up with Honey I'm sure she'll agree to that."
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"You and G get everything straightened out?" Sam asked sitting across from her across from Sarah at the picnic table after dinner. He didn't see her much after her talk with Hetty.
She took the badge out of her back pocket and placed it on the table. "I'm now an Agent."
"Really? How did you do that?" Sam asked since Hetty didn't say anything after she got back after from finding them. He didn't ask G because he knew that he wouldn't tell him anything.
"I had to prove it to him. I have a test that I have my students do before they perform and I told him that if he didn't believe it I would agree with his recommendation."
"You proved him wrong." He smiled.
"Yes. But Director Vance told Hetty that he wanted this done right away so it didn't matter what Callen said."
"But you still proved him wrong. What was the song?" He asked.
"Whatever Lola wants."
"From Damn Yankees."
She was impressed that he knew the show. "The one and only. What we didn't know is that Hetty saw the entire performance."
"Hetty saw you sing that song to G." Sam said.
"Yes" Sarah said wishing she was drinking something stronger than water now.
"Hetty saw you trying to seduce G."
She put the drink down. "I wasn't seducing I was..." She paused trying to find a better word "persuading."
"Seducing." Now he knew why Hetty was pissed when she walked in but cooled down quickly when she walked into her office. "Did it work?" He asked.
"If you're asking me if I finally proved to him that I can be an agent then yes. If you're asking if I was successful in 'seducing' him that is a no."
"Because you're not done yet." He told her.
She sat there and tried to look shocked. "Sam Hanna I'm shocked that you would think that innocent little me." She batted her eyelashes at him.
He rolled his eyes. "I saw you sing the other night. We have all seen the looks between you two. You could've had him that night at the boathouse if you didn't allow him to be a gentleman."
"Sam!" Now she began to blush.
"He is trusts you Sarah. Skipping dinner at my house to see you sing. Looking for you and letting you prove to him that you can do it and not drag you back to the office which he would have done to anyone else. Meeting my my wife? Yeah he's overprotective of you because he doesn't want you to get hurt."
"I'm a big girl." Sarah said.
"I know. But this is a side of G Callen I have never seen."
"What side is this?" Sarah asked.
"A man who is falling for you."
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Callen helped Honey clean up the kitchen. She watched him put the dishes in the dishwasher and keep an eye out on Sam and Sarah outside at the picnic table.
"You don't have to do this." She told him.
"I know."
"You're not grounded because you haven't stopped by for about two weeks." Honey was beginning to wonder what was going on and why he volunteered to help her out.
"I know."
She stood there and looked at him. "You want to know if I approve."
"Yeah." He smiled.
She put the beer away. "I like her."
"Really?"
"Yes. She's great. But there's something that I want to know."
"What?"
"What is it about her?" Honey asked.
"What do you mean?"
"Is it because she's a good singer? That she has a voice of an angel? That she can pick out all the agents in the room? She can sneak out of a two story house without making a sound? That she can shoot left or right handed? That she can kick Deeks ass?"
He smiled. "Sam has talked about her."
"Constantly." She would almost be jealous about him talking about another woman but seeing how Callen and Sarah interacted during dinner she knew that she had nothing to worry about. She was serious now. "What is it about her G?"
He went wiped down the counter and sat down at the table "She triggered a memory." He finally admitted to her.
She tried to hide her smile. "Really? When did she do that?"
"The first time I saw her sing it was a couple of days before Halloween."
"What was the song?" She asked.
He sighed "Love Will Keep us Together. Amy loved that song when we were kids it drove me nuts. That song was playing the day we went to the beach."
"Does Sarah know about what happened in Romania and everything about Hetty?" Honey asked.
"She knows parts."
"It's best that she doesn't know all of it." She didn't even know all of it. Just remembered the feeling of dread when Sam sent her a text before he left. 'Love you Honey.' was all it said. She knew if she got that text it was serious.
"How are the nightmares?" She asked.
"Still have them." Callen admitted.
"Still dream that she's dead?"
He nodded.
"Have you had one in the past couple of days?" She asked.
"Not as bad as they could be."
He looked out the window when he heard Sarah laugh. Sam and she were still at the picnic table talking. He knew that Sam was probably telling her some embarrassing story about him.
Honey looked at him and realized he was finally happy. "Does she know?"
"What?"
"That you're falling in love with her?" Honey smiled.
"I'm not falling in love with her." He denied.
"No." he finally said.
"Tell her how you feel. Show her because if you let her go Sam's going to kill you."
"I told myself after-"
"I know. But that wasn't your fault. She made that decision." Honey was the only one he told about that past love. Not even Sam knew about the woman who made him swear off women with handcuffs.
"And paid with her life."
"She saved yours. She would want you to live again G. She would want you to love again."
He put the washcloth in the sink. "You know someday Nate is going to be calling you."
"Why?" Honey asked.
"To see why out of every one in this merry band of misfits of a family that I have you are the one who can get me to realize what the hell I want." He kissed her cheek. "Thanks." He opened the door to the back yard.
"Anytime." she smiled.
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Callen got out of the car and did not believe what Sarah just told him. "No."
"Yes." She smiled.
"Honey did not tell you that." He still couldn't believe it.
"Yes, she did." She said.
"Sam Hanna."
"Yes."
"My partner. Big guy." He walked up the porch steps.
"Yes."
"Wears red a lot, Navy Seal, and a badass."
"Yes!" She was now laughing.
"Takes a bubble bath once a week" He unlocked the door and opened it for her.
"Twice a week." She said walking in.
He laughed "Even better." Walking in after her and closing the door.
She put her purse on the stairs and turned around. "You're not going to say anything."
"Not yet." He smiled.
"Callen. No you can't!"
"Sarah, if she didn't want anyone to know she would not have told you."
She stood there stunned. "So this was a test?"
"In a way yes it was." Callen said.
"Did I pass?" She walked back to him.
"Yes you did." He put his arms around her.
"Good." She kissed him.
He heard the door lock clicked. She was going to make sure that no one was going to interrupt them this time. She took him by the hand and walked towards the bedroom.
She turned to him and he kissed her. "Callen" she whispered in his ear. "If your phone rings I'm throwing it out the window."
He took it out, put it on silent and placed it on the entry way table by the stairs. He kissed her again, heard her moan softly as she pulled him into the bedroom, and closed the door.
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Marty Deeks woke up to his phone ringing. "Yeah." He didn't bother looking at the time or who it was he just assumed it would be Eric calling them on a case. He reached over to wake Kensi and realized that the warm body next to him was not Kensi but Monty. Once again the mutt was in between them and hogging the bed. Monty groaned, got up, and moved to the foot of the bed.
"Deeks its Steve Bury."
"Hey Steve what's up?" He looked at the clock and saw it was three a.m. 'Nothing good if he's calling me at this hour' he thought. He touched Kensi's shoulder and she groaned. He got up and started getting dressed while holding the phone between his ear and his shoulder.
"There's something going on and I'm pretty sure it's connected to the Burgess Case." Steve said.
"Okay where are you?"
"At the bar where Sarah was at the other night."
"Will be right there." He was already dressed by the time he got off the phone. He put the phone in his back pocket and saw Kensi getting up.
"There's something going on with Sarah's case." He said making sure he had everything that he needed.
She got up and started getting dressed. Grabbed a rubber band on the nightstand and put her hair in a ponytail." What do we know?"
"Not much."
"That's not good." She looked around for her shoes.
"I know." he handed them to her.
"Do you think we should call Callen?" She asked knowing that if they did Sarah would want to be there.
"No but we better call Sam."
"You owe me coffee for waking him up." she said.
"Okay."
"Eggs, bacon, toast."
"Done."
She stopped in front of the door and looked at him "and a kiss" she smiled.
"Done." He kissed her. She felt her knees go weak. With the men she had been with no one had ever made her weak in the knees like he did.
"We have to go." He said not wanting to stop. If someone would've told him a two years ago that Kensi would be his partner for work and personal life he would of told them they were out of their mind. "Guard the house Monty." he said to the sleeping dog who stretched out across the bed and started to snore.
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