Author's Note- Hope you guys liked the last chapter!

Who do you think A.J. will end up with? Leave your comments and help me choose whether she will end up with Nate or Callen. :)

-Enjoy the next chapter inthe mean time :)

Chapter 18.

Monday Morning- Callen.

"Mornin' everybody." Deeks says with a southern drawl as he walks into the bullpen.

"Someone had a good weekend." Sam says, smiling.

"Care to share, Deeks?" I ask.

"Nope." He says, still grinning ear-to-ear. "Where's Kensi?"

"Not in yet." Nate says.

"Yes, I am." A sleepy voice says from the couch.

"Kensi? What are you doing sleeping here?" I ask.

"My apartment complex is being fumigated for termites. I had nowhere else to go." She answers, rubbing her eyes and stretching.

"You could have called me, Princess. I would have let you stay on the couch at my place." Deeks says.

Sam and I exchange curious looks.

"I didn't want to burden you, Deeks. Plus, there was no way I was going to wake up to Monty licking my face again."

Again? That was the question that passed through our minds.

"I'm going to the gym. Care to join, Shaggy?"

"Yeah. Let's go."

As they walk away, Sam said, "Do you think there's something going on between them two?"

"I'd rather not think about what Deeks and Kensi do in their spare time." I say.

A.J comes walking in. While I expect her to look perfect as usual, she doesn't.

Her skin is dull, not the bright porcelain that it usually is.

Her eyes are drooping, and she has dark circles underneath them.

Her nose is red.

She's not wearing her usual fashionable clothes, but a baggy white t-shirt, a grey jacket, jeans and her usual black Converse. She looks tired and sick.

"A.J.? Are you okay?" I ask.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" She answers with a note of hostility in her voice.

"You just..." I stop when I realise its not my place to comment on how she looks. "Nevermind."

The day comes and goes without a case.

The week stays the same, with Kensi and Deeks flirting, us completing paperwork, and A.J looking terrible. With each passing day, I get increasingly worried about her.

Friday once again rolls around and ends, and with no new cases, everyone heads home for the weekend. Except for A.J and I.

At 8pm, we are the only ones left in the bullpen. Sam went home to Michelle and the kids, Kensi gave Deeks a ride home, Eric and Nell left an hour ago to go to dinner with Eric's parents, Nate left in his car a half hour ago, and God knows where Hetty is.

The next decision I make may be risky, but I'll make it.

"A.J.?" I say, approaching her desk. "You want to talk about what's bothering you?"

"Not particularly, Callen." She says.

I pause and think of how this next move would play out. I decide for it.

"Okay, if you don't want to talk about it, maybe you'll settle for pizza and a beer instead?" I suggest.

She looks up at me, and I wonder if it was a wrong move. That is, until she says, "Actually, that sounds really nice. I just gotta finish up this expense report. I'll meet you in the parking lot in 20?"

Her voice was a lot more content than I had heard in recent days.

Maybe it's me. But it's probably the pizza.