Here we are again. Thanks to all the people who left a review, I love to get those.

And thanks to BeeEhVee who again took the time to check my spelling and grammar and who added a nice touch here and there. Any faults still left are mine.

Chapter 7

When Callen woke next he checked in on Deeks, but it seemed like the younger man was peacefully sleeping this time. It was the same when he checked again later. It was nearly dawn when he checked next and found the young man more or less awake. He gave him a moment to find his bearings before addressing him "How about a hot shower and breakfast afterwards?"

"You think I can take one?"

"Don't see a reason why not. I have a small stool that fits into the shower in case you need to sit down. Let me just put something over your dressings so they don't soak. We'll need to change them later anyways, just be careful when washing your hair. I'll give you ten minutes, after that I'll check to make sure you haven't drowned."

True to his word Callen 'waterproofed' the dressings, not an easy feat with the one close to Deeks' hairline, put a stool into the shower stall and showed Deeks were to find some towels and his duffle bag with fresh clothes.

Next he strolled into the kitchen wondering what he could offer in way of breakfast. Cereal would do, he decided after some consideration and in no mood to bother with eggs and bacon, so he started the coffee machine and put out two bowls and some milk. After a short hesitation he put the brownies on the table as well. Deeks might not remember who made them but they smelled too good to be wasted. Callen hollered at Deeks and reassured by his prompt answering holler, he took his cell to give Hetty a call. He filled her in on what happened during the night. To his immense relief she told him that Nate would give him a call later to answer some of his question and help however he could from afar. Before they hung up he asked her for the files on his desk which she would make sure to get to him.

He could hear Deeks coming towards him, the crutches a clear giveaway, and turned. Sadly he couldn't suppress the snort when he got his first look. "You do remember what brushes are for, Deeks? That's not styled by pillow, that's styled by putting a finger into a socket."

Deeks just gave him an irate look, sat awkwardly down, leaned the crutches against the table and took one of the bowls. He added cereal and milk and started munching. Even when Callen put a cup of coffee in front of him Deeks just nodded his thanks, but kept his quiet.

Callen joined Deeks at the table and tried in vain to start a conversation. A few minutes later he gathered the newspaper from his front door and skimmed the headlines. Though living on his own and being used to it, the ongoing silence while in Deeks' company was unnerving. So it was with quite some relief when his cell phone rang. "I'll be in the back yard, okay?"

Deeks gave him a hot look then busied himself with putting the bowls, cups and utensils into the dishwasher, leaning on the table and the kitchen counter respectively.

"I don't know Sam…it's so weird." Callen talked into the phone as he watched Deeks move around in the kitchen from where he stood in the backyard.

The line coughed as another caller joined the conversation. "Hi Sam, Callen, I'm sorry I can't actually be there."

Sam held a finger up to Michelle and tucked his phone into his shoulder. "Hi Nate," Sam acknowledged his presence before continuing. "Do you want me to come down?"

Callen scrunched up his face and thought about the offer. "No, it's just," he paused.

"I'm not sure what I'm seeing here." He nudged a weed with his foot. "There are these moments of the Deeks we know, all hyper and irreverent, but then he's sarcastic and moody. I made a comment about his hair and he got this look in his eye and wouldn't talk to me for an hour."

OK, it might not have been an hour, but it had sure felt like one.

"You have to keep in mind you're dealing with a concussed person. They're prone to moody behavior. Do I need to remind you of that one memorable time you…"

"No thanks, Nate." Callen interrupted hastily, before his dearly missed former teammate could delve into that particular moment in time. Nate sniggered and continued.

"Then he lost his memory. That has to be frightening whatever other impression he might give. We all know how good he is at deflecting and hiding, just like someone else we know," again with the hinting, Nate was like Hetty in that regard "but I bet underneath he is scared as hell. And then there's the fact that he is an undercover cop. He played roles, or more like lived roles, for days, weeks or even months. We don't know which of his aliases might pop up without him even realizing, because he has no idea to begin with that there are any roles to come up."

Callen already felt calmer now Nate was on the line. It all sounded reasonable laid out like this, but still…

"Well, you're not wrong about him being scared." Callen said and filled Nate and Sam in on what had transpired the night before.

"I'm afraid that was to be expected." Nate offered. "Good thinking with the photos."

"It was the only thing I had at hand that moment. But it's strange. When I tried to talk to him about this at breakfast he acted as if it never happened. Well, he ignored me most of the time to be honest, but I just hoped…"

"Maybe he's embarrassed?" Sam chimed in.

Silence met that assumption, but more a reflective than a disregarding one.

"You still there, Callen?"

"Yeah, sure, sorry, Nate, just lost in thought."

"What a mess. I would love to come, but…"

"I know, Nate, I know. Thanks for calling, it helped a lot."

"Glad to hear it. Sorry, but I have to go, say hi to the others and I hope to see you lot soon."

"Bye Nate, take care!"

Sam was still on the call and he grunted. "G, I think it'd be good if we swap out at some point." He saw his wife nodding her approval and saw the note she scrawled on the notepad. "I'll be there tonight. You can take the night off."

Callen sighed and weighed the pros and cons. "I think it'll be good for him. I'll explain it to him now so it doesn't seem like I'm abandoning him. See you tonight."

Decision made Callen went back to the kitchen were Deeks sat at the table, squinting at the newspaper. "You look like a mole caught in the sun." Callen said before he could stop himself.

Deeks shot him an annoyed look "Why do you always mock me? I think I should just leave. Just tell me where I live and I'll take a taxi."

"And pay it from what money?" Callen felt the urgent need to hit his head on the kitchen counter, repeatedly, when he saw the hurt flash over Deeks face before it suddenly resembled a blank mask.

"Sorry, Deeks, Marty, I'm sorry. I'm just teasing you, you know…"

"That's the problem, Callen, I DON'T KNOW." Deeks took several deep breathes to calm himself and continued in a more sedate voice "I don't know. I just have this feeling that I can trust you, Sam and Hetty, but beyond that? There's nothing. No reference for me to judge if you're just teasing, mocking or being deliberately mean, because you may feel obliged to take care of me right now, but nothing else. Maybe Hetty just told you to despite you not wanting, how should I know?"

Callen sighed and sat down at the table again. He was so screwed. He looked at the table top "No, Deeks, no. I'm sorry, I really am. I don't want to mock you and I sure as hell don't want to be mean to you. You're right, you can't know what it means to me to share my home with someone, what it means to have you here. Sam and Hetty do, but you, you just can't and I forgot." Callen snorted at the irony of that statement and made sure to look Deeks into the eyes for the next words. "I thought it would be enough if I tell you that I think of you as my annoying little brother that I WANT to take care of. Not because I feel obliged to do so, but because I like you. So I teased you as usual, the back and forth we do, the way brothers would tease each other, not realizing that you can't know it's just teasing. Sorry."

Deeks nodded and cleared his throat. "Thank you. It's just, I don't know what to do, what will happen next. And by next I don't mean tomorrow or the day after, but next week, next month. If I don't remember then what?"

Callen didn't know how to answer that question so he kept silent. They both did for some time. It was Callen who broke it before it could get uncomfortable "Come on, your dressings need changing. And after that we can see what we can do about that shaggy mop of hair on your head, deal?"

Later, they went to the beach again and it soothed both of them with the steady crash of waves on the sand. Callen had made the effort to call Eric and make sure that they were not sitting at one of Deeks' usual haunts. It would lessen the possibility to meet someone who knew the detective. It still was a beach frequently used by surfers.

Deeks watched them and his lighthearted comments about what they did well or bad kept both of them entertained for some time. When Deeks seemed to run out of steam, Callen took over with exaggerated guesses about the backgrounds of some of the guys around them which made Deeks laugh. He joined in on the fun and together they made up quite some wild stories about the people with them on the beach while relaxing in the sun warmed sand using some boulders as backrest.

"Callen, I would like to know something, but you have to tell me…"

"Shoot."

"G. Callen?"

Callen shrugged. He would have expected Deeks to ask even sooner and didn't mind at all "I don't know what the G. stands for. I'm not from the US and when I came to be part of the system all they had on me was that name: G. Callen. Sam usually calls me G, you and others Callen. I'm used to it."

"Wow, that must suck."

"I don't know anything else, so, as I said, I'm used to it by now."

Deeks nodded, thought it over and resumed their game of making up stories about the people around. Callen was surprised about the lack of prying. On the other hand, the Deeks he knew was intense, but normally he backed off before upsetting the person he was with. Don't get him wrong, Deeks sometimes was as annoying as you could get them, but he seldom if at all upset anyone. Interesting how that worked.

Deeks fell asleep not much later and Callen let him have the little nap. He bought them some burgers for lunch and they decided to spend some more time at the beach, though at a more comfortable place with actual chairs. The really good coffee and even better pie that went with it had nothing to do with that decision. Nothing at all…

They were in a decidedly better mood when they went back to Callen's house later in the afternoon. Callen had filled Deeks in on the fact that Sam would come in the evening and Deeks had only grinned.

"I hope, you have something nice planned for tonight."

Callen just shook his head. What could he possibly say to that?