A/N - Thanks to those reading, reviewing and alerting this story.

Disclaimer in Chapter 1

Chapter 8

"Miss Farrow, would you mind joining us upstairs?" asked Hetty. Callen and Tash had just arrived at the office the next morning.

Tash frowned, not quite sure why she felt she was in trouble.

"Nothing like that, my dear. It is just time for you to see if you can remember a bit more of what you did here," Hetty reassured her as she noticed the look on Tash's face.

Tash looked at Callen and he shrugged, not knowing what Hetty had in mind.

"Okay." Tash started to walk to the stairs with Callen following. Tash looked back at Hetty who was returning to her desk.

Hetty glanced up to them, "On you go, I'll be there shortly."

They went up and joined Eric and the rest of the team.

As Tash was leaning against the table waiting for Hetty, her hands automatically went behind her and she pushed herself up to sit on the table.

"You don't want to do that," Callen whispered, smiling at her. It was good to see she was subconsciously remembering little things that she used to do.

Tash frowned, "Why not?"

"Hetty doesn't like it," Callen replied, glancing behind them as Hetty walked through the door.

"Bring up the case Mr Beale," Hetty requested. "Miss Farrow, I will allow it this time in the hope that it will bring back some of your memories, however, I do prefer my agents to have their feet firmly on the ground, where possible."

Callen looked at Hetty then back at Tash, shaking his head slightly at her getting away with it.

"Does this make me the favourite?" Tash asked quietly and smiled at Callen.

"For now, Miss Farrow, but that could change," Hetty answered. Sam and Kensi both chuckled in the background.

"Murdered de-facto wife of a Naval officer. Only came in day before yesterday but we've struck a dead end. No pun intended. We've gone over everything, talked to everyone. But can't manage to get any proof on who the murderer was. Crime scene was clean, no one saw or heard anything," Eric summarised as he brought up the information on the screen. Tash guessed she had seen this before, as she wasn't surprised at the technology they were using.

"Tash, we want you to see if you can get into the head of the victim," Nate explained.

Tash turned and frowned at him, "Isn't that your domain, Nate?"

"No, I usually go for those still living. You were working on a theory about the victim being able to help, if you could figure out what he or she might have been feeling or thinking just before," Nate answered.

"How was I doing that?" Nate shrugged at her question. Tash turned to Callen, a questioning look on her face. Callen shook his head.

"I don't know either. Somehow, sometimes, you just could," Callen replied to her unspoken question.

"Eric, the victim please." Tash turned back to the screen at Hetty's request.

"Twenty eight year old female. Died at home from single stab wound to the heart. Signs of slight bruising but none of it seems to indicate a struggle," Eric informed them.

"She didn't fight back?" Tash was confused. Why didn't she fight? She tried not to think too much. There was something about this that seemed familiar. Maybe if she could just let it happen. She blocked everything from her mind except what she could see in front of her on the screen.

"Not that we can tell," Eric replied.

Tash frowned. "How could she not?" She looked at the pictures and whilst she tried to make sense of what she saw she asked, "Who's the most likely suspect?"

"The de-facto husband," Callen answered. "He was supposed to be deployed but he arrived back early. Apparently, heading to his parents to get a family ring so he could propose. He stayed the night and returned to find her dead in their kitchen around lunchtime." He understood what Hetty had in mind now. This case, whilst not nice, wasn't too bad for a first case. It was quite tame, considering some of the other cases they had on the books at the moment.

"Apparently?" Tash turned to face Callen as she spoke.

"His parents had gone away. The only proof we have is the ring, which he did actually have," Callen explained. Tash looked back to the screen and the pictures.

"She died the night before right?" After recieving confirmation, she asked, "What about a boyfriend? Lover?"

"Husband claims there wasn't one," Sam said.

"Yeah right." Tash rolled of her eyes.

Callen looked at her, raised his eyebrows, and smiled. She was sounding like the old Tash now. "Why's that?"

"Look at what she is wearing," Tash hopped down off the table and moved toward the screen. "You don't wear something like that for no one." The victim was in a lacy, black and red corset, matching pants and stockings.

"Really?" Callen asked. "Why not?" Tash turned and looked at him.

"Seriously? Is that what you guys think us girls wear at home? Do you have a back view?" Tash asked as she turned to Eric.

"Yep."

Tash smiled her thanks and turned back to the screen, as Eric brought up the appropriate photo.

"Bigger please Eric...Look at those hooks. There's got to be at least ten there and they are a serious pain to do up." Apparently some things were just knowledge, not memory.

"Not that easy to undo either," Callen added, as he watched for her reaction to his words.

"You don't wear something like that to lounge around the house in on your own, it's not meant to be worn for long," Tash continued. She ignored his comment, though her heart had started to race as his words brought up a flash of a memory, just a picture this time. Another one of them.

Callen held back a smile, noticing the little things about her reaction; she didn't look at him; the slight tinge of pink on her cheeks; and the flash of something in her eyes. Callen shook his head slightly, shaking off the picture in his mind and focused back on the case.

"Why not?" asked Eric.

"It's not exactly comfortable. The bones can be painful if you sit down for long," Kensi replied.

Callen turned to Tash and asked, "Who was she waiting for? Maybe she was just trying on something for later."

"I don't know," Tash replied, a frown of concentration on her face. "Perhaps you should have another chat to the husband though."

"Nice work, Agent Farrow." Callen smiled as he spoke and headed past her to the door. "Sam, let's go."

~o~o~o~o~o~o

"How did things go with you and Tash last night?" Sam asked Callen as they drove away from the office, heading off to speak with the husband again.

"She had some more memories, like when she got mad at me for getting shot," Callen replied.

Sam chuckled. "That's good. Guess we managed to prompt that one after all. Anything else?"

"Yeah. She dreamt about you and the car." It had taken her a while to settle back to sleep after that. Callen didn't remember how long they had sat on the bed, him holding her, stroking her back. Eventually Tash had pulled away, brushing the tears of her face and looking embarassed at her reaction. He'd reassured her it was okay and she'd finally settled back onto his pillow and he'd gone back to the couch. Somewhat reluctantly, not wanting to leave her alone in case she had anymore bad memories come back through the night.

"Not so good with that one." Sam held back a shudder as he remembered that time. It wasn't a particular happy memory for any of them, how close he had come still being in the car.

"No. She also asked about her father," Callen added.

"What did you tell her?" Sam asked, concerned.

"As little as I could get away with. Didn't tell her she was there," Callen replied. "That's one memory I'd prefer she didn't get back."

"She seemed like her old self just now. You think this will be over soon, that she'll remember quicker now she's with us?" Sam could see the difference in Callen, now Tash was back. Could see the hope in his eyes, the hope that he had watched disappear over those two months, so long ago.

"We can hope," Callen replied.

"We can do more than hope G. We can actually help her now. We've got her, she's not scared anymore." Sam was confident that she would get better and be their Tash again. He'd do whatever necessary to help her. As he was sure Callen would too.

"I know, but she still doesn't remember."

Sam detected a note of sadness in his partner's voice and asked, "She doesn't remember the two of you yet?"

"Not that she's said," Callen admitted. He was sure she had remembered some things, but not enough to be confident to talk to him about it.

Sam grinned. "She will. You're not that easy to forget."

~o~o~o~o~o~o

When they returned to the office, Callen found Tash lying on the table in the Op Centre, looking at the ceiling and tapping her fingers together. It was a familiar sight. Eric had left her to mull things over when she had asked for time alone. Again, familiar.

"I should call Hetty up. Get my spot back as favourite," Callen said from the doorway. Tash sat up quickly and looked at him.

Tash smiled. "She's out for lunch."

Callen grinned back and walked closer to her. "Checked did you? Come up with anything more from the victim?"

"Not sure. Any luck with the husband?" Tash asked.

Callen shook his head. They had nothing new.

"Still denies there was anyone else. I think he is telling the truth." Callen stopped by the table and lent against it, whilst he watched her.

Tash turned to look at the screen. "He might be, but it's not." She looked back to him before she continued. "She didn't fight. She was feeling safe with whoever it was. She must have known him."

"Him?" Callen asked, pleased to see she seemed to be finding her way into work mode. She might come up with assumptions but generally those assumptions sent them in the right direction if they had nothing else to go on.

"Just a feeling." Tash moved down off the table. "I'm missing something, I know I am." Tash frowned as she walked over to the screen. "But what?" She moved some photos around on the screen as she tried to figure it out.

"I'll get Sam to get a list of names of people she knew." Callen turned to go as he spoke, to let her work this through on her own, as she used to.

"Stay please. I think I'll need your help," Tash asked, as she turned to him. She wanted him to stay, she was feeling a little out of her depth.

Callen moved back to stand beside her. "Sure," he replied.

"How tall was she?" Tash asked. She had so much information in her head that she couldn't keep track of it all. Maybe if she had someone else tell her it might help straighten things out a little.

Callen checked the appropriate file. "Five seven."

"Five eleven then in the shoes." Tash pointed to the high heeled shoes the victim was wearing. "What about the husband?" she asked.

"Five eight," Callen replied.

Tash frowned. "So he was shorter than her at the time."

"Meaning?" Callen asked, as he looked at her and saw the familiar look of concentration on her face.

"Which means we are probably looking for someone over six foot, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to reach around her throat and her chest like that." Tash pointed to the pictures on the screen as she spoke.

"Ruling the husband out." Callen could see where she was going with this.

Tash turned around and looked at him. "Feel like some role play?"

"What did you have in mind?" Callen asked. She occasionally did this with him when working through a problem. He wondered if she'd actually remembered that or if it was just instinct, like sitting on the table had seemed to be. Tash smiled.

Tash moved closer to the screen. "See these indents here from the corset," she pointed them out.

"What about them?" Callen couldn't see anything different, but trusted that she did.

"They're slightly darker than the rest just here," Tash said. "Like someone was holding her tight. And here, on the neck. The slight bruising. It's not all the way around, so someone wasn't holding her neck in their hands."

"So what do you want me to do?" Callen moved away from the photos and turned back to her.

"Pretend I'm her. See what you can do that would match." Tash turned and faced the screen so she could see the pictures.

Callen walked up behind her, slipped an arm around her ribs and an arm around her neck, checking the photos to see if it matched up.

"Other way." Her voice was soft and focused. He swapped arms. "Better," Tash added. "You're the right height, comparatively speaking." Perfect height actually, as she felt how easily they seemed to fit together. Tash shook her head slightly to get her mind back on track, on the case, not on the feel of being in his arms.

"So why didn't she fight?" Callen asked. He was enjoying the feel of holding her again. Just like he had last night, only this time was more fun.

Tash frowned as she pulled away and went closer to the screen."I don't know." Blowing up the one that showed the bruises on the woman's neck, Tash tilted her head. Callen knew it was a sign she was concentrating hard, so he waited patiently, missing her.

"Again," she said softly and stepped back to him. He complied.

"That's not right, the bruising doesn't match up. She wasn't facing straight, she was...looking at him." Tash she turned her head up to look at him. Callen caught her gaze for a moment and almost forgot what they were doing.

"Why was she looking at him?" Callen watched her eyes, saw how she was seeing something else, as she tried to figure out an answer to his question. He waited patiently. This was Tash in work mode, at least this part of her work. It was a different look to what he saw when she was remembering something.

"He was the lover, she wanted him," Tash started to explain what she was thinking. "Maybe even kissed him." Tash looked at his mouth and Callen saw a blush come over her cheeks. She continued to look at him, but her mind returned to something only she could see.

"How did he get away with hurting her?" Callen asked, his voice soft as he still watched her face. He knew what to look for. He didn't want to disturb that, especially if it would help her remember more.

Her voice was soft when she finally replied. "She didn't know. She wasn't conscious. He took her breath away when he kissed her. It was normal that she fainted. She found it a thrill, so he'd kiss her until she did. Then all he to do was lay her down and do it. She wouldn't have known anything." Tash didn't take her eyes off him whilst she spoke.

Callen took advantage of the role play. He'd waited so long for her to come back to him, so moved his head to kiss her.

Tash was shocked when she felt his lips on hers, but she didn't pull away. Somehow this was familiar and she wanted to know why. So she returned the kiss and found herself forgetting what they had been doing. It just felt so right. When Callen finally broke it off, Tash was breathless, barely breathing and he had to hold her up.

"Guess you were right," Callen said quietly. He was tempted to kiss her again when she didn't pull away, but Eric choose that moment to walk into the room and they pulled apart quickly.

"Well, well, well. You two back..." Eric started to say.

"Just working on the case Eric," Callen cut him off, wishing he had closed the door and, preferably, locked it.

"Eric," her voice not quite as strong as normal as she asked, "did they do DNA testing of the victim's mouth and stomach contents?"

"I'll check. Why?" Eric asked.

"Make sure they test everything, just might find something our killer left behind," Tash directed, as she walked out of the room. She needed to get away from Callen, her thoughts were so scrambled. Everything pointed to them having a relationship but she didn't know what kind. Some of her memories looked more like cases, than life. She went to the bathroom and splashed some cold water on her face. Who was he to her?

Callen watched her go, wondering what was going through her mind. She had returned his kiss, responded like she always had; fully, passionately and not holding back. He knew she had enjoyed it. So had he. Given her response, he hoped that it might spark other memories. He also hoped it wouldn't be too long before they got the chance to do that again.