A/N: Well hey there folks! Sorry it's been so long! Grad school yo, it's no joke...This is the final chapter of this story but I do have some new stories lined up to go! Hopefully I'll be able to post with a little more frequency! Enjoy!

Deeks couldn't sleep. It had been hours since he'd dropped Kensi at home after their run-in with Mattias on Hetty's behalf. Kensi had insisted on going, laughing and joking the whole time like she hadn't nearly died earlier in the day. She'd kept insisting she was fine, but something about her attitude ate away at him. No one lived through something like that without repercussions.

Deeks rolled over, staring at the ceiling. She'd gotten in that car and he hadn't been able to stop her. The guilt had been eating away at him all afternoon, squeezing him until he felt like he couldn't breathe. He was her partner, he was supposed to protect her, and he'd failed.

He sighed and threw off the covers. He needed a distraction and knew just where to find it.

By the time he reached NCIS it was after 11:00 pm. He pulled his workout gear from the trunk and headed into the gym intent on punching some of his feelings into a practice dummy. He started warming up, ignoring his protesting muscles, and then stopped when a strange sound caught his attention. He cocked his head, listening closely, but heard nothing more. Shrugging it off he continued his stretching and then paused again. This time he was sure he'd heard something coming from the locker room. Frowning he moved quietly toward the door.

At this time of night the whole place should have been empty, the techs and agents having gone home hours before. Slowly he pushed open the door and moved inside. He peeked around a row of lockers and stopped short. "Kensi?"

"Deeks?" She was sitting on the floor in workout clothes, her knees to her chest, tears streaming down her cheeks, her body shaking.

He knelt in front of her. "What's wrong? Are you hurt?"

"N-n-no," she gasped between sobs. "I c-c-can't s-stop."

"Okay, okay," he sat down next to her and pulled her into his arms. "Shh. I've got you. It's all right."

She melted into his embrace, her sobs intensifying. "I c-couldn't s-sleep and I c-came here to w-work out and it s-started and I can't, I can't…"

"Okay, it's okay. I'm right here. You're safe. Shh," he stroked her hair as she cried.

It was several long minutes before her sobs began to subside. Even then she continued to lean against him, drinking in his support. "I'm sorry for getting in the car," she finally managed.

"What? No, I'm sorry," Deeks told her. "I should have done something to help you. I failed you today."

She shook her head. "You saved me Deeks. You came for me. Letting me go was the right thing to do. If you hadn't we'd probably both be dead."

She sniffed and pulled away from him. He felt the loss of her immediately and had to work to get his emotions under control. "I guess I'm not as okay as I thought," she told him as she wiped her eyes.

It hurt to see her like this. Deeks toyed with a strand of her hair, needing some sort of physical contact with her. "You went through a serious trauma today," he told her. "This sort of thing is totally normal. You'll get through it."

She sniffed again. "Thanks."

"You're welcome," he told her. "You want to get some waffles and ice cream? I know a fantastic 24 hour diner that will most likely not give us food poisoning."

She smiled. "I could go for some waffles."

"Then waffles it is." He stood and helped her to her feet, watching her wince as she did so. "Little stiff?" he asked.

"Little bit," she rubbed the back of her neck.

Deeks turned and began walking out of the locker room. "Should have had more water!" he called over his shoulder.

A towel smacked him in the back of the head and he smiled. That was his Kensi.

A/N: Hurray! Densi happiness :) Leave some reviews! They'll keep me going while I write my research paper on how Orff-Schulwerk relates to the new National Standards for Music Education. Yeah, doesn't that sound thrilling?