Perseid's meteors streaked though the skies,

One star fell before my eyes.

Bringing joy to a new day,

Welcome to the world, Esmé.

Morning came too soon. Somehow the late nighters had found their own beds before dawn. Granger was off at an early hour. A friend of his had a ranch in a nearby town and they were going to ride horses. Nate texted that he would meet up with them later. Who knows what that meant.

Nell monitored the suspected mole for activity on his blog. Her hunch was finally rewarded at 10:15 AM when he logged in long enough for her to find his location. "Very interesting," she said to herself, wondering if Hetty had known all along that the mole was in Wyoming, near the very town that the team was headed to that morning. She did a double take as Deeks lurched into the kitchen, heading for the bathroom, just after she had been able to discreetly activate the suspect's laptop camera. She quickly captured a photo of the suspected mole before abruptly shutting down her tablet. Callen watched as she sat wide eyed, taking deep breaths.

"Care to share?" he inquired.
"Let's talk in the car," was all she could say. Callen was intrigued.

As Callen had already loaded their bags into the minivan, they said their goodbyes to Sam and Kensi. Callen again listed his arguments about why he should be the one driving the Audi that had mysteriously appeared that morning, and not the minivan, but Sam just gloated. Shrugging his wide shoulders and grinning widely, he reminded them that they had to wait for Deeks.

"Just what would you do to get to drive this car?"
"What do you mean? I would do just about anything. I hate driving minivans."

"Would you take a job at McDonald's?"
"You know what? I think I would. Because then I wouldn't have to hear your smart aleck remarks day and night."

Sam smugly taunted, "Heartbreak is life educating us" before escorting Kensi out the door and into the prized Audi.

Callen looked impatient as they heard the shower turn on. "He took a shower last night. Why does he need another shower?"

"Didn't you see Kensi's ice cream dripping onto his head last night during the movie? He was out like a light. Believe me, he needs a shower. Go see if he wants anything at the coffee shop while I look for one on the GPS. It will give us a few minutes to talk."

Callen joined Nell in the minivan after a brief conversation with Deeks.

"So it turns out we should have asked Deeks more questions about this movie he was in," Nell started.
"Why?"
Nell handed the tablet to Callen. "Here is the photo I snagged of the suspected mole this morning."

"But that's Deeks. Are you sure you're monitoring the right computer?" Even as he said it he knew Nell was never wrong and that Deeks had been nowhere near a computer that morning.

"Yep. And apparently Hetty is one step ahead of us on this. The other Deeks was at the Jackson Hole Public Library this morning."

"And we're going to Jackson. Or near Jackson. Do you think the other Deeks was the one in the movie we watched last night?"
They just looked at each other and shrugged.

After picking up their coffee and pastries, they headed back to the safe house to pick up Deeks.

Callen came up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder. Deeks jumped.

"What are you doing man?"

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm vacuuming. "

"Well Cinderfella, let's get going. Sam and Kensi left a half hour ago and we need to catch up to them."

"Let me just take one more look around for my hoodie. I thought I had my hoodie but now I can't find my hoodie, and it's my favorite …." Deeks' voice faded away as he moved around the house looking for where he might have left the hoodie.

Callen took the driver's seat in the minivan.

"Before we talk to Deeks," Nell informed him, "Beale is going to review the social media and other records for the Deeks look-alike. Let's see if that gets us any closer to figuring out if he's actually the mole. And if there's any tie to Deeks."

"Good plan. There's no way Deeks is the mole or knows anything about it." Callen replied, "What led us to this guy in the first place?"

Nell just shrugged as Deeks jumped into the backseat. "Hetty," was her only explanation.

Once Sam and Kensi were on the highway, relaxing in the comfort of the leather seats of the Audi, Sam decided it was time to broach the subject he and Callen had been wondering about.

"So," he started. "You and Deeks…"

Kensi spat out a bit of the coffee she was sipping. "Wha-? What do you mean- me and Deeks?"

"Oh, come on, the cat's out of the bag. Apparently Deeks has more skills than we give him credit for. I can see you keeping a relationship from the team but I thought for sure he'd give you guys up. So when did it start? Was it when you were undercover as a married couple?"

Kensi choked on her coffee.

"Really? Before then? Was it when King nailed you in the jaw? We know Deeks was over at your place that night."

"No! No! No! Deeks is my PARTNER… Nothing happened when we were undercover together and nothing happened the night King hit me," Kensi managed to protest. Sam handed her a napkin to blot the coffee off her shirt.

"Well something certainly happened the night that ISIS bastard bit you, because it wasn't just the suspect's DNA that they recovered from the bite. Deeks' DNA was there too." Sam knew he had her now.

"It was probably just a stray hair of Deeks' that they recovered, not his saliva, he sheds more hair than his dog," Kensi's protest a bit weaker this time.

"So it was his saliva, huh?" Sam got a good laugh out of that. It wasn't often he tricked Kensi into giving him any information.

"Well…. It was a rough night. I don't really remember."

"A rough night? Let me refresh your memory. First they had to put the hospital on lockdown because you were throwing syringes and any other potential weapon you could find at the doctors and nurses."

"That was only like…. two minutes." Kensi's protests were even weaker at this point.
"Two minutes? It was a full hour before Deeks gave the all clear and the medical team was able to come in and take a look at your wound."

"Well," Kensi started, reluctant to think about, much less share, the details of that night.
"Come on, Kensi. Tell me what happened that night."

Kensi took a deep breath and rambled, "When I lived on the streets… that is after my dad died, I took off…. "

"I know that. What does that have to do with that night?"

"One night I was attacked," she finally blurted out. "I thought I had found a friend and was in a place where it would be safe to sleep through the night. I was so exhausted. I was only sleeping a few hours at a time and that was with one eye half open. But my "friend" wasn't a friend. Her boyfriend attacked me while I was sleeping and he…. he… he bit me! Right on my breast. About where that ISIS SOB bit me."

"So you killed him?"

"Well no but …"

"But it explains why you were out of control the night that you were bitten during the mission," Sam finished for her.

"I guess so. But Deeks. Deeks, he…."
"Deeks calmed you down."
"Yes. He didn't even flinch when I threatened him with that syringe. And this time he really did trip before he dropped like a rock."

"You totally nailed him with that syringe. Luckily it was just a sedative."

"Well I did kind of lose it when he bent down to check the bite. But he's my partner so…."

"Partners, right. Partners who hold each other, kiss each other's wounds, SHOWER TOGETHER! …. Or partners who work together to get the bad guys?" Sam raised his eyebrows and glanced over briefly to gauge Kensi's reaction.

Kensi sighed, pushed her seat back down and turned away from Sam. "Good question," she thought to herself, "good question." And hid a small smile because she was pretty sure Sam and Callen were still clueless about her trip to Vegas with Deeks. He did have skills. And a nice warm hoodie that smelled of him which she pulled up around her shoulders with a contented sigh.

The night when she had injected Deeks with the sedative… uggh. That was a terrible ending to a terrible week.

Deeks had been undercover as a homeless person. Initially she hadn't been too worried about him.

He was supposed to be playing a peripheral role. Just surveillance.

The first sign of trouble came when she got a text from a number she didn't recognize. It just said "bear paw." She had looked down at the Danish she was eating. It was a bear claw, not a bear paw. Since she was sitting at her desk in the mission, it seemed doubtful that the text was about her pastry. A second text came through. It was a location. Sam was busy chaperoning Kam's class on a field trip to a museum, so Callen partnered up to Kensi to see what might be waiting for them at the location. It wasn't until they were a few blocks away that it hit Kensi- Deeks called Monty his little bear. Maybe Monty, who was undercover with Deeks, had been injured.

Sure enough, Monty was waiting for them at the texted location. He was panting heavily and had an injury to his paw. There was also a little blood on his head. Was it Deeks blood? Both Kensi and Callen looked around surreptitiously for Deeks but there was no sign of him. Kensi put a brown bag containing a few cold bottles of water, part of her candy stash and some cash under a bench where Monty had been waiting. Hopefully Deeks was close enough to see her leave the gifts for him. Callen assured Kensi that Deeks would get help if he were wounded. Kensi just said, "I know," and wished she were as convinced as Callen was.

Nell located the nearest vet, who was able to treat Monty. Monty had been sitting on top of a cell phone. Nell purged Deeks' texts from the cell phone and made arrangements for she and Eric to return the phone to its owner. The owner was a young teen who had left it behind at a coffee shop.

That night Kensi stayed in Deeks' apartment with Monty. She wanted to be close to him in case he needed anything. Monty couldn't jump up on the couch or the bed and so Kensi ended up sleeping on the floor next to him. She'd have to remember to put the pillow back on the bed. Deeks was funny about things like that. A few minutes after falling asleep, she woke up disoriented. There was a flashing light under the bed. The flashing light was coming from a small black box.

"What could that be?" thought Kensi. The hair on the back of her neck rose up. Was it a bomb? Had Deeks gotten in too deep? Had he been made?" Kensi looked over at Monty. Monty was a bomb sniffing dog. If Monty wasn't reacting to it, it couldn't be a bomb. Or could it?

Closer investigation revealed the wires coming from the black box were plugged into the wall. Definitely not a bomb then. What the - Could it be an old fashioned answering machine? Yes, it could. And the light was blinking. Kensi pulled it out from beneath the bed by the phone cord. The number "12" was flashing. Did he have 12 new messages? He'd only been undercover a few days. How could he have 12 messages?

Impulsively she started pushing buttons. A female voice started speaking- "Hey Party Marty- This is Marie. Call me." Then, "Hi Marty, this is Melanie. I have a gift for you. Call me when you get a chance." Then, "Marty, it's Lea. Did you get a chance to check out my youtube video? Text me." And, "Hey you, it's Monique. Will 0429 work for you? Give me a call." Twelve messages, all from young women. The final one was from Brita, who had just called that day.

Kensi was sitting on the floor hugging her knees, rocking back and forth. She was fuming mad, and fuming mad because she was jealous of these woman. Angry, she corrected herself. She was angry, not mad. Dogs go mad. Humans get angry.

Angry enough to want to throw that answering machine against the closest wall. Deeks had told her that Brita was a bitch! And when did he have time to meet up with all these women? He was always with her. They had breakfast, lunch and dinner together most days. Except those weekends when she had sniper classes, and those evenings when she went out with her friends, and those days when he disappeared and claimed he'd been surfing.

She spent the rest of the night telling herself that Deeks was better off without her. He should marry a movie star and have adorable towhead babies. He deserved to have a normal life away from her. Or maybe they could plan a little trip away, just the two of them the next time they had a few days off.

Fortunately Kensi didn't have to wait long before Deeks surfaced again. Hetty, through means that only Hetty knew, had his location and sent Kensi, Sam and Callen to back him up. LAPD had scheduled a raid on the human traffickers that Deeks had been keeping an eye on. He discovered the traffickers had moved their shipment up a day.

The raid was over as soon as it began. Once Kensi saw Deeks she let down her guard. That was her first mistake. The second was letting the unarmed man get too close to her. The bite took her totally by surprise. Deeks launched himself at the man, smashing the assailant's head into the pavement. Sam and Callen finished corralling the group and checked on the junior partners.

"We're going to the hospital Kensi," Deeks insisted.

"We are NOT!" Kensi retorted, wincing in pain with the exertion of her statement.

"Let Sam look at it."
"No I am NOT letting Sam look at it."
"Then we're going to the hospital!" Deeks spat out.
Sam and Callen exchanged a glance. Then Callen distracted the pair while Sam grabbed Kensi was behind. Unfortunately when he pinned her she struggled, which aggravated her wound.

She was livid. Deeks was too tried to think straight. "Let her go!" he yelled. Several LAPD officers came over with weapons drawn. "Stand down," Deeks directed them. Kensi pulled herself free from Sam and walked away.
"Son of a witch!" Deeks snarled, turning his back to the group and grabbing his arm. Kensi was immediately there to check on him. Despite her own pain, she drove him to the hospital. And then erupted when she discovered it was a ruse to have her bite checked out.

Seeing those young girls who had almost been sold by human traffickers had been a shock. It hit home with her just how vulnerable she had been out on the streets when she was a teenager. Little had she known how lucky she was to survive that rebellious time in her life. That coupled with the surge of emotion she felt when she saw Deeks made her feel so vulnerable she had to lash out.

By the time Callen drove them home and they had both showered neither one could keep their eyes open. Deeks had sacked out on the couch with Monty, who was doing much better. The two of them were taking up the whole couch. She eyed the bedroom. Should she just go home? Man, she was tired. Without a word to Callen she slipped under the covers in Deeks' bed. Callen could just get over himself. She was tired of his smirking.

Her biggest mistake of the long day came a little later.

Once she heard Callen leave she found herself wide awake. She got out of bed and watched Callen's car disappear from sight from behind the curtain. Then she wandered into the kitchen. Nothing good to eat in the fridge or cabinets. She took a bottled water from the fridge and walked into the living room. Monty opened an eye. He seemed happy to be home and to have Deeks home. Monty gently eased himself off the couch. Kensi realized he probably hadn't been out in hours.
"Let's go out," she said, picking up his leash. He didn't need to wear it but it made her feel better. She slipped on a pair of Deeks' flip flops, grabbed a hoodie from the hook at the back door, hooked the leash to Monty's collar and headed outside.

The short walk helped her clear her mind. Kneeling down by the edge of the couch near Deeks' head, she bent down and impulsively gave him a soft kiss on his cheek. It hadn't ended there. Deeks' eyes fluttered opened and he reached out for her. He puckered up for a kiss and then pulled her onto the couch with him as their lips touched. She needed him so badly in that moment. And he needed to sleep just as badly. Kensi knew firsthand what it was like to try to find a quiet and safe spot to rest when homeless. She sighed as his body relaxed against hers. Half awake, he kissed her once more. As she felt him drifting off again she gently pulled her lips away and simply said, "Sleep." He slept. Eventually she slept too.

The next morning she awoke to a call from Ops. Deeks had the day off but drove her to the mission anyway. Maybe Deeks didn't remember the kiss. Usually he wanted to talk about everything but he hadn't brought it up.

She thought about him in the shower; sometimes he came back from the bathroom flushed and a little sweaty from his own release. She bought a box of condoms and hid them under her bathroom sink. He talked about little getaways they could take. Vegas. Baja. Maui.

She let him buy the toilet paper. When she put a box of tampons in her basket, he grabbed a duplicate box and put it in his.

Her hand gravitated towards his when they were sitting in her car on stakeouts.

Not only did she let him put sunscreen on her back when they were doing surveillance at the beach but she insisted that she apply his first. She bit her lip at the thought of helping him scrub the sunscreen off.

The rev of the Audi as Sam accelerated to pass some trucks woke Kensi from her reverie. She sighed at the memory of kissing a sleepy Deeks. A full minute later, Kensi faced Sam again.

"It's no big secret that you keep Tootsie Pops in the glove compartment for Callen, you know. Partners- huh?"

"Those lollipops are for Kam! If Callen gets to them first, well that's one less dental bill for the Hannah family." Sam couldn't help but smile at Kensi's lame retort.

"Well you and Callen shower together all the time," Kensi pointed out.
Sam laughed. "We shower together in the locker room, in separate showers!"

"Well I needed to shower because the smell of smoke in my hair was making me nauseous. On the plane I kept waking up and smelling smoke… and thinking I was still on the floor of that cave waiting to die. And I was too tired to stand but just had to get that smell out of my hair…" Kensi couldn't continue.

"Look," Sam continued, seriously this time, "My point is this: You've been through hell. And your partner went through hell getting you back. Something happened over there…. Well, there's a few things we still don't know about what happened in Afghanistan to you AND to Deeks. But you're partners, so you have to take care of each other. And given your history with Deeks, if you have to step over a few boundaries to do that, then that's what you should do. In the end we're all human beings and despite our training if we don't deal with these traumas, they come back to haunt us. And if there's one thing I've learned is: If you're in love, enjoy it. Don't deny yourself the comfort of another person just because you've chosen this career. Life- our lives especially- are too short."

Kensi had leaned back again and turned her back on Sam. She heartily faked a snore. Sam laughed and turned up the music.

Kensi couldn't help but think about last night's shower.

"It was bad." It wasn't what she meant to say but she was exhausted and all she could say at the time. With bowed head she swayed slightly and hoped she could hold the tears in.

"Shhhh," Deeks had responded, helping her sit on the bathroom vanity and standing close, running his hands up and down her back. His gentle touch was so soothing. It was a relief to finally be alone with him. She leaned forward to rest her head on his chest.

"Wouldn't you rather take a bath?" he finally asked.

"No. Just a quick shower."

Deeks pulled her sweater over her head and then hesitated. He pursed his lips. "How do you want to work this? Do you want to take the first shower?"

She shook her head no and pulled weakly at the hem of his shirt. He took a deep breath, pulled his shirt over his head, removed his shoes and socks, and stepped out of his jeans. No boxers for Deeks today. Then he turned his attention back to her. Reaching behind her, he felt underneath her shirt for her bra. She wasn't wearing one.

"I used it to fend off rats and bats," she explained. Her father would have been proud.

Deeks stepped back. Looking down, he ran his hands through his hair. She took his hands in hers as he took another deep breath, overwhelmed. She thought he might cry. She reached out with her long legs and drew him back towards her. Finally he took a deep breath and his teary blue eyes met hers.

Suddenly a loud noise from above them caused them both to start and look to the ceiling.

The initial banging was followed by Granger's gruff voice belting out a tune.

Back door Sally won't you let me in
I'm out here in the alley can't you hear me knocking
I'm nervous as a pussycat in a dog pound
Come on Sally girl stop your messing around
We can have lots of fun, balling to the break of dawn
Back door Sally won't you let me in?

Another round of pounding- was he drumming on the shower wall? Then just as suddenly as it began, the Granger danger was over.

Kensi snorted. She'd grown to respect Granger more on her most recent mission. He certainly was a man of surprises. So serious most of the time, yet Crazy Like A Fox.

"Is it a full Moon?" Deeks joked. Kensi smiled as best she could.

"Come on. I still want that quickie in the shower," he whispered. She loved his impish grin. He tenderly removed the remainder of her clothing. And he was certainly up for a quickie, she couldn't help but notice. She, on the other hand, could barely keep her eyes from crossing. And who wants a quickie in the shower anyway, she thought, unless it starts in the shower and moves into the bedroom. When she had finally Deeks alone it would be anything but quick.

Once Nell had navigated G onto the highway, Callen started thinking about his team. He and Nell had discussed many times, MANY TIMES, whether Kensi and Deeks were a couple. And now… if Deeks were involved in something he shouldn't be… did that mean Kensi was aware of it? Were they both hiding something critically important from the team?

G thought back to the incident with the Red Team. Had they been a couple then? Nell had said no…..

"You're sure?" G had asked Nell the question many times and each time her answer was the same.

Kensi and Deek were not "together together" despite all evidence to the contrary.

When the team bunked up with the Red Team, G had asked again. Nell immediately knew what he meant when he texted her "You're sure?" She had the same answer she always had: "Yes, I'm sure." Even though it was 2 AM and he knew he had woken her from a sound sleep.

Later G had given her the details.

Deeks and G had been sitting in the kitchen/laboratory. Kensi had come out of the ladies' bunk room and gone into the bathroom. Shortly after that Paris came out. Deeks blurted out to Paris: "What the hell?" Then he picked up his phone and started texting. Paris looked embarrassed. G just looked between the two of them, wondering what had just happened.

Paris sat down and G figured it was as good a time as any to work through the details of their next day's mission.

When Kensi came out, Deeks had shepherded her into the guys' bunk room, rambling on about movie night. As the door closed, G heard Kensi asking where the chocolate was.

Paris apologized about Kensi. G still had no idea what happened. He briefly wondered how Deeks had figured it out. And then wondered why he questioned their bond.

"It's all good," he replied, figuring Kensi would get over whatever it was that had gone on between them. Besides, there was work to be done.

By the time G made it back to the bunk room, Kensi and Deeks were sharing the bottom bunk, watching a movie on Deeks' tablet. Except Kensi was asleep and Deeks was watching her and not the movie. Deeks reached over and tapped her foot with his. Given the narrow width of the bunk, they were practically right on top of each other.

"Wake up Kensalina, it's time to go back to your own bed." Deeks prodded.

"But it's movie night, can't I just stay…", Kensi started to say, only half awake. Deeks looked up wide- eyed at G and quickly put his hand over Kensi's mouth.

"Wake up Kens," Deek persisted, "We're bunking with the Red Team tonight. Either you go back to the ladies' bunk room or snuggle up with Granger in his black silk pajamas. "

Kensi was finally awake enough to realize what was going on and had a horrified look at her face.

"See you in the morning then" she said a little too quickly as she rolled off the bunk.

"Here's your phone", Deeks said as he passed it to her. "Paris texted and wanted to run tomorrow at 0700 and I accepted for you."

"Dammit Deeks!" Kensi grumbled sleepily, "Did you hack my phone again? You didn't change my ring tones did you?"

"Just the important ones, darling, just the important ones", Deek replied with a grin as Kensi pretended to storm out while actually giving her partner a big smile.

But what was with the raised elbows and twirling of the pony tail that made Deeks practically fall out of the bunk? Why did Deeks peel off his T shirt and throw it at her? The shirt went with Kensi but only, she claimed, to put it out of its misery. Those two were a mystery to him.

G kicked Deeks out of the lower bunch and put up with the texting for half an hour while running through case scenerios in his head before threatening to take away Deeks' phone. There was work to be done and he hoped his team would be able to get a good night's sleep. They seemed to need it even when he didn't. At least since he was up most of the night he could make sure everyone slept in their own bed. Except Paris- she was up and down all night too.

Kensi heard her vertebrae crack as she stretched beside the Audi. It felt good to finally take a pit stop on their way up north. Her body was sore from sitting so much over the past, well, too long.

Sam was filling the car with gas while the others walked into the convenience store. But where was Deeks?

She walked over and peered into the minvan at his slumped form. "Hey", she said, knocking on the glass and repeating it when she got no response the first time. Still no response. She slid the door open.

Finally Deeks cracked open an eye to see what was going on.
"Hey sleepyhead. Aren't you going to get up?"

"No. Too tired." The reddened eye had closed again.

"Do you want me to buy you something at the convenience store?

"No, I'm fine," he replied without opening his eyes.

Standing in front of the refrigerated display case, she finally realized what was bothering her. Deeks didn't have to pee. Didn't he hydrate for the desert? No wonder he was so tired and out of it.

Nell caught up with her as she started loading up on cold bottled water and green tea.

"Thirsty much?"
Kensi conceded a small smile at the analyst's humor.

"It's mostly for Deeks. He's dehydrated."

"And you know this because….."

"Because he always has to pee and he didn't come in to pee. You guys didn't stop anywhere else, did you?

"No, we haven't stopped. But if Deeks drinks all that, we'll be stopping pretty soon."

Sam heard the tail end of their conversation as he approached them. "What's with all the drinks? You know we're not stopping again until we get to Jackson."

They all turned as the bell on the front door jangled and Deeks walked in.

Kensi sighed and her shoulders visibly relaxed as she saw him walk towards the restrooms. Gently Nell took a few bottles from her grasp and put them back in the cooler.

"Let's get some snacks," she suggested, leading the way to the junk food aisle.
Grabbing a package of trail mix for Deeks, Kensi wondered if the team had had the pleasure of seeing Deeks hyped up on sugar while she was gone. Until that moment she had been too caught up in her own mission to think about Deeks with another partner. Who had he worked with? She'd have to ask. When she could handle the answer. What if he and Nell…..? No, best not to go there. Not when she was fighting trying so hard to hold back the tears and put on a brave front for the team.

A satisfied smile graced her face as she felt her heart pumping, wiped the thin sheen of sweat from her brow and looked into the brilliant blue eyes of her partner. He… glowed. And grinned. This- just this- was what she had needed for so many months now. She leaned into him and as he wrapped an arm around her, she listened to his heart as it slowed to normal. Even though she was warm from the exertion, the heat radiating off his body felt so good. So good.

Sam and Callen had run right by them, oblivious to their hiding spot.
Deeks, as usual, had known what she needed. When she was cranky and irritable about getting back into the car, he challenged her to a race to the corner. Once there, they kept on running, or hobbling in her case, laughing as they went. When they realized Sam and Callen were racing behind them, she'd found a spot for them to hide so they could double back, effectively beating Sam and Callen back to the cars.
She had missed this, this best friend of hers, this partnership, and the little moments of joy that went with it.

By the time they got back to Nell, who was patiently waiting for the mad troupe, Kensi was almost ready to be cooped up in the car for another few hours.

"I could use a burger and a shake," Kensi announced as Sam and Callen approached the cars.

"One burger and shake, coming up!" Nell declared as she searched for nearby restaurants on her tablet.

A sudden loud noise had the group springing into action. Callen and Sam had guns out and ready as they all ducked behind the minivan. A sigh of relief came when an old car passed by in fits and starts. The loud noise was just the car backfiring. Deeks quickly holstered his…. fingers…. before anyone noticed that he had no gun.

"Reminds me of my friend Joe," Deeks started.

"Not another story about Joe" Sam put a hand up to stop him.
"But he-"

This time Callen interrupted Deeks. "We know- BOOM! Now let's go get some burgers."

Sam was closest and able to grab Kensi as she suddenly started hyperventilating. He led her to the minivan, and sat her on the floor of the backseat. When she started pushing him away, Sam made way for Deeks. As the others watched from a distance, Deeks gradually sat down next to her. Eventually she let him put an arm around her shoulders. He was talking softly the whole time.

When it looked like Kensi was calming down, Callen, Sam and Nell walked away to talk.

"We're pushing her too hard," Sam started, "She's very fragile right now and being fragile is enough to drive her crazy…."

"Let me talk to Hetty," Nell suggested. "Is there really any rush for us to move up north?"

After Nell had walked away, Callen suggested that he and Nell continue north while Sam stay with Kensi and Deeks. That would give Kensi another night to rest. He and Nell could get supplies and get settled into the safe house. Sam's only concern was that any medication Kensi might need was being sent to the safe house near Jackson. He motioned to Nell and asked her to find out if Kensi's test results were back.

"Good news and bad news," Nell reported.

"Good news first," Callen suggested.

"Well the good news is that of the test results that are in and the only health issue Kensi has is that she's a little anemic. Some of the microbiological results won't be in until tomorrow anyway so she won't be missing out on starting any medications at this point."

"And the bad news?

"The bad news is that we don't have a safe house nearby so we would have to stay at a hotel. Beale is lining that up for us now."

Sam and Callen exchanged a brief look before Callen turned to Nell. "What if you and I continue up north and leave Sam to follow tomorrow with Deeks and Kensi? Are you up for that?"

"That's a really good idea. We have a lot of ground to cover and that would allow us time to get supplies for the safe house and to work on our mole investigation." Nell tried to act nonchalant about getting to spend the extra time alone with Callen.

They all looked back at Kensi and Deeks. Kensi looked tired but calmer. Deeks looked tired and stressed. Nell looked at the guys and said, "Let's get some burgers and shakes."

The next morning Sam was glad he had taken Nell's advice and slept in a hotel room by himself. It looked like there may have been a ….frat party? in Kensi and Deeks' room. The bedding was off one of the beds and there was a distinct smell of something he couldn't quite put his finger on. Best not to ask.

Kensi was sleeping on her stomach with her head at the foot of the bed, spread out like a starfish. Deeks was curled up in the middle of the bed, knees practically to his chin, with his head on her butt. The covers were mostly on the floor. Milk bottles and Styrofoam food containers littered the floor. The TV was on with the volume turned on low.

Deeks raised his head to Sam's second "Good Morning!"
"Hey", he said, sitting up on the edge of the bed and running his hand through his hair.

"What time is it?"

"It's only 8. I was going to hit up the Starbucks and wondered if you guys wanted anything. Or maybe you would rather go out to breakfast?"

"Coffee sounds good," Deeks said, standing up and picking up a pillow that had fallen on the floor. "Could you bring back some fruit too? Maybe some banana bread? I'd love to go for a run this morning if you wouldn't mind hanging out here."

Kensi's eyes opened and she raised her head in confusion.
"What's that on your face?" Sam asked. Kensi's answer was incomprehensible.

Deeks took a wet washcloth and wiped the moustache of something brown- chocolate? off of her face.

"There's an Applebee's just down the road that was open until midnight and had several decadent dessert choices," Deeks explained, "and we needed them all."

"Go back to sleep," he suggested, rubbing her back, "Sam's going to get us some coffee and breakfast. You can sleep a little longer."

She lowered her head and closed her eyes.

Sam looked at the bags under Deeks' eyes. "Rough night?"
"Yeah. I have a feeling they are going to get worse before they get better."

"Well grab a few more Z's and I'll wake you up when I get back. I'll take my time- say 30 minutes. Going for a run is good idea. This has got to be incredibly stressful for you."

Deeks sat back down on the bed and sighed. "Can you bring over your extra towels too? We used all the ones we had."

Sam closed the motel room door and took a deep breath. He really didn't want to do what he was about to do, but if someone had to do it, maybe it was a little better for everyone that he was the one to do it?

Hetty had decided they should leave surveillance equipment in Kensi and Deeks' room overnight. If Deeks were the mole they needed to know if Kensi were involved. And as soon as possible. This would have been one of their first chances the two would have to talk alone in months so they couldn't miss the opportunity. Sam hoped all they did was talk.

Sam engaged the surveillance device and settled back into the seat of the Audi with a sigh. Suddenly, he stopped the recording. "Screw this," he said to himself. There was no reason to spy on those two and he wasn't going to be part of it.

After Sam left, Kensi asked if Deeks would show her some more photos of Monty. Deeks stood in front of the bed facing the TV and said, "Sure, let me find them for you."

The night before Deeks had casually taken a photo of the surveillance camera and then showed it to Kensi under the guise of showing her photos of Monty. She understood immediately and went along with the ruse.
"Here's one of him NOT catching the Frisbee," Deeks laughed, "because he was so smitten with that lab across the beach."
Kensi faked a snort while looking at the photo Deeks had just taken and verifying that the camera had been removed. "He's so funny- look how irritated he looks at you, interfering with his quality time with his lady friend." They had to assume the room was bugged as well.

Deeks best cover was to start rambling, so ramble he did.
"Yeah, the owner was really nice too. She was from somewhere in the East- Connecticut I think. Her dog's name was Hermione.

Kensi tried to suppress a yawn.
Deeks was tired of rambling. "Why don't you lie down for a while? I'm going to clean up a little before Sam gets back."

They both looked at the room. It was a disaster.

It made Kensi tired just to look at it so she got back in bed and closed her eyes while she listened to Deeks talk to himself while he was cleaning up.

"Well you took TWO bites of Triple Chocolate Meltdown, which is more than you ate of the applechimicheesecake or the blue ribbon brownie. BUT you ate ALL of the ice cream. So maybe, just maybe, you were thirsty and not hungry, as I, your partner, pointed out from the very beginning…"

Later, as Kensi and Sam walked around the park while Deeks went on his run, Kensi tried to find a way to ask Sam about the surveillance camera. She was worried she and Deeks might be separated again. Would he be sent back to LAPD? Would she be reassigned with no notice again? Why else would they think they needed to spy on them? Because of her mistakes in Afghanistan? Because of the change in their relat- partnership- before she was sent to Afghanistan? Ugg. Hetty was an enigma wrapped in a riddle tied in ramen noodles. And she was so tired she wasn't making any sense even to herself.

"You have nothing to worry about. Just focus on getting well. The rest of the team, we've got your back," It was as if Sam could read her mind.

"And Deeks?" she asked. "Who has his back?"

Sam wrapped an arm lightly around her shoulders. "We all do."
She breathed a sigh of relief.