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Belated Bash

Chapter 6

Four AM Monday morning and Marty knew right where to find the missing man, because his friend and team leader had talked about the place many times. He plodded through the sand at Santa Monica Beach and slipped under the Santa Monica Pier. After turning on his flashlight, Marty followed a path back into the underbelly of the pier. When he found his friend, he sat on the sand beside him. "If you need to talk I'm here, man."

"How about if I need to spank your bottom?" G asked.

"Sure, go ahead and get your frustrations out on my lovely ass."

"I wouldn't do that to you, Marty." He sighed. "Thank you for coming, but—"

"There's no need to talk, G."

"I still need time."

"Come home to my place and hide out."

"And when Hetty asks where I am?"

"I won't say a word."

"And she'll rip you a new one for hiding me."

"At this point in the game, I don't care," Marty said. "You need time to sort things out and not be pressured by her, Nate, or you know who."

"The problem is, I love you know who and it hurts me."

"I know." Marty wrapped his arm around G's shoulders and drew him into his side. "Okay, let's stay here then. I brought you a protein bar if you're hungry."

"What, no donut?" He laughed and slid down until his head rested on his friend's lap.

Marty stroked G's hair and face. "Sorry, no donut and no coffee."

"You're slipping, but I'll make an exception this one time."

Marty leaned over and kissed his friend's head. "Sorry, you got rejected."

"No, it's ejected this time."

"As if you were shot out of a cannon?"

"Feels as if that happened."

"Nate wants to talk to you."

"Great, but I'm not ready to go anywhere near headquarters."

"He says he'll meet you anywhere you wish to talk."

"Under the pier?"

"Yep, he's willing to come here."

"This is my hiding place, and I don't want anyone but you coming here." G sighed. "I'll take you up on your offer."

"My place?"

"Yep, I need a shower."

"I was wondering what that disgusting odor was."

"Now you're asking for a spanking."

"Provoking you is fun, because I can get my kink on and I need a good walloping."

"You like it?"

"Yeah, hate to admit it, but I love it when you take control and spank me."

"I've got one question."

"Fire away."

"You know that is not a healthy response when I'm an undercover agent for one of the most highly respected agencies."

"I know, but I love the saying."

"I could use it in more than one sense, especially now that I know you love to be spanked," G said. "How come it took you until Monday morning to come here?"

"I wanted to give you as much time as possible, before I invaded your space."

"No, you wanted to let me starve."

"That too," Marty said, "then you'd be more willing to come back to my place to stay."

"Ulterior motives."

"And to get a walloping."

"I'm glad you told me about your kink."

"Me too."

# # #

After a shower and a hearty meal, G sat with Marty in Nate's office waiting for Sam.

"I know you said you love him," Marty said. "I just wanted you to know that I'm available too."

G's jaw dropped. "Available?"

"Yes, for a relationship."

"Sorry Marty, I'm hooked on him."

"Even though he's not hooked on you?"

"I decided to give him another chance."

"To redeem himself?"

"Yeah.

"You're a brave man."

"Or a very stupid one." G laughed.

Marty laughed. "Ready to see Nate?"

"Ready as I'll ever be."

Marty left the office which signaled for Sam and Nate to enter.

"Just don't sit next to me or anywhere near me," G said.

Sam sat in a chair in front of Nate's desk, a good five feet away from his partner. He positioned the chair so that it now faced G.

Nate sat between them on a burgundy leather sofa.

"You're a courageous man, Nate," G said.

"I'm the peacekeeper and referee."

"In this case, those positions might place you in danger," G said, whispering to him.

"Hopefully, after this morning, we can reunite you two," Nate said. "Sam, I'd like you to start sharing what we discussed."

Sam cleared his throat not once, but twice. "I do love you, G."

"But?"

"I know it sounds as if there's an exception or a dismissal coming," he said. "My commitment issues aren't about you. They are about my wife and how she left me. She said and did some horrible things to me. Nate and Hetty know about what happened when she left. I don't know if I'm ready to talk about those aspects of our breakup."

"Just what are you saying, Sam?"

"I have trust issues."

"Don't we all?" G stood and crossed his arms. "So because you don't trust like you did before your divorce, you can toss out all relationships which get too serious?"

"I want to push you away, man." Sam sighed. "I loathe the intimacy which a close relationship brings."

"Now you're doing what I used to do."

"Yep, I need you, but it brings up too much pain."

"And you don't think for one minute that when I become vulnerable to you, needing and wanting you, that doesn't bring up pain for me?" G asked. "I shared some horrors from my childhood and now it's as if you've vomited a foul smelling and disgusting puke all over my pain." He strode past both men. "I thought you wanted something more than this crap you call a relationship. I thought this meeting was about that. But no, it's simply more excuses for you. Loving me causes you pain? What kind of bull shit is this? I don't get it. I don't understand. I'm finished, through with everything, and I do mean everything. I quit."

"Callen—"

"Don't even try Nate. Don't." G strode out of the office.

Sam followed him. "You're quitting?" he said, yelling.

"Yep, the whole damned thing." G entered the bullpen and threw his badge on his desk.

"Don't do this, G."

"I can't work with someone who doesn't give a shit."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You know exactly what it means." He tossed his gun on the desk too.

"Come on, G, at least speak to Hetty about your decision."

"No." He strode toward the exit. "Don't bother searching for me. I'm finished with you, with us, and NCIS."

# # #

Sam dashed after him, meeting G in the parking lot near his car.

"Get the hell out of my way."

"I'm not in your way, G," Sam said. "What's really going on?"

"I told you."

"Yeah, I think there's more to it then us," he said. "I can't believe your quitting NCIS."

"If you're a part of it, I want no part of it."

"This is why workplace relationships are discouraged."

"And that's supposed to mean?"

"Look at you, man, you're leaving the whole of NCIS over this breakup."

"Yeah, because I told you intimate details about my life, and now I feel exposed and there is no one to share the rest with."

"Yeah, now we're getting down to reality," Sam said. "This isn't just about me is it?"

"Screw you!" G opened his car door. Sam slammed it shut before his partner could get inside. "What the hell was that for?"

"Don't drive away from this."

"You mean like you?"

"You're the one who left me twice."

"And you're the one who left me emotionally and mentally twice," G said. "You shut me off from your world. Now you expect me to hang around on the outside and pretend I'm having a relationship with you."

Sam wrapped his arms around G's waist and pulled him hard against his body. "I didn't shut you off from me."

"You did, now release me!"

"No," he said. "For once, you're not cutting me off and you're allowing me to explain myself."

"I swear I'll kick you right where it counts, if you don't release me."

Sam let him go and flipped him around, forcing him back hard against his body and wrapping his arms around G's chest.

"I said—"

"And I said, no, you're listening to me," he said. "I was hurt by my wife when she left me. She did some things which shook me to the core. Hetty protected me from her wrath. I never expected the divorce to be that brutal. It devastated me. I'll tell you more later. But right now, you needed to hear what I just said." He sighed. "I need you, G, but I'm afraid of letting down my defenses after my wife put me through shear hell. I… damn it… I can't live without you in my life, both in my professional life and my personal life. As you jokingly said one time, 'You'd miss me, I complete you,' I would miss you, G."

"It wasn't supposed to be a joke, Sam, I was serious." He sighed and relaxed in his partner's and his lover's arms. "Sorry, Sam."

"I should be the one apologizing to you, man." He kissed the top of G's head. "I do need you, and it hurts to make myself vulnerable to someone I love, again. I'm willing to do whatever it takes to make this work. I want you. You complete me."

G turned around and gazed into Sam's eyes. They were filled with tears, just like his own.

"I love you, G, and I mean those words," he said. "That's not just lip service."

"My lips could use some servicing." G winked at him.

"And the rest of you too?"

"Yeah, all of me."

Sam pressed G against his car and kissed him. "We better take this some place more private than the parking lot outside of NCIS Headquarters."

"You think so?"

"Wise ass."

G wrapped his arms around Sam's neck and pulled him down for a passionate kiss.

"Okay, we need to get a room, before we get caught out here doing something more than kissing."

"The private men's bathroom?"

"You don't want something more romantic?"

"What do you have in mind?"

"In my bed, where you belong."

"I like the sound of that."

"But first—"

"No, buts, now, I need you."

"I'm driving your car."

"Fine."

"No arguments, that's a first."

"You've caught me in a desperate moment." G raced around to the opposite side of the car and climbed into it.

"I've never seen you run to get into your car," Sam said, sitting down in G's car. He laughed.

"I've never had the proposition you just gave me."

Sam cupped G's face and kissed him again. "Can't wait to make love to you in my bed where you belong."