Chapter 17

Callen, Sam and Kensi were at their desks dealing with some of the annoying paperwork that came with the job, whilst Tash had another session with Nate.

Kensi put down her work, having had enough and in need of a break. She looked up at the boys. "So tell me more about Tash. Guessing if she's sticks around, she'll end up being my partner."

Callen looked at Kensi, not entirely sure that would be a good idea. He put down his pen and sat back in his chair before responding.

"Maybe." Kensi and Tash on the loose together on their own, probably wasn't the best idea.

"Maybe?" Sam asked, having heard the doubt in Callen's voice. "What G? Ditching me for a pretty girl?"

Callen grinned and looked at Sam. "She was mine before you."

"I think she'll match up with Kensi just fine," Sam said, though putting Tash back with Callen would be nice to see. He'd be fine working with Kensi, as long as she didn't insist on driving all the time.

"So what should I know? Aside from the blood thing," Kensi asked.

"She's a girl." Sam chuckled at Callen's answer

Kensi rolled her eyes. "That much is obvious."

"No, not what he meant," Sam said as he shook his head. His comment made Kensi curious and she looked to Callen for an explanation. Callen complied.

"Tash, is more gentle than you. If I had to choose which of you to take in on a physical fight, you easily Kenz. But on something requiring a more gentle touch, Tash would win."

"I can be gentle," Kensi defended.

"Not doubting that. Just that Tash is better at that kind of thing," Callen said.

"What about driving?"

Callen smiled as Sam answered that one.

"Hetty wants the car back without a scratch, let her drive. Otherwise, you're better." Sam glanced at Callen before continuing. "She's the only one of us that has a perfectly clean record. Not a scratch or an accident in the two years she was active here."

"So I'm the tough tomboy and she's the girly girl," Kensi summed up.

"Yep," Callen answered with a grin. That was one way to differentiate between the two of them, though they could both be the other if they had to be.

"Unless someone messes with one of us," Sam added. He looked over at Callen, a grin on his face. Callen nodded.

"Good point. Then she gets scary," Callen agreed.

Kensi sat back in her chair and smiled. "Do tell." She liked Tash and was starting to look forward to not being the only girl on the team. Not that Hetty wasn't a girl, but Hetty was just Hetty.

"Sam got taken once. When we managed to find him, it was just Tash and I and back up wasn't going to be there for about five minutes. There was only three guys, so we figured why not," Callen said.

Kensi looked at Sam, curious. "How'd they manage to catch you?"

"Drugged him," Callen answered. Kensi turned back to look at Sam as he spoke.

"Couldn't believe it when they walked in and Tash left G dealing with the other two whilst she came over to me. I swear there was fire in her eyes. Didn't know what she was going to do."

Callen grinned. "I'd forgotten to warn Sam about her protective streak."

"No kidding. She walked straight at us. This guy had a gun to my head and she wouldn't stop." Sam shook his head briefly as he remembered that day.

"Seriously?" Kensi frowned, not entirely sure if she liked the sound of this story.

"Seriously. Cool after the fact, but I thought she'd lost it and that I was about to get shot in the head," Sam admitted.

"Details please." Maybe with more details it wouldn't be as bad as it sounded.

X

"Ten minutes until back up gets there," Eric said. A few minutes later Callen and Tash saw three of the six men leave in a car.

"Come on G, let's go get Sam. There's only three of them now," Tash pleaded with him. "If you're not up for it, I'll do it myself."

Callen looked at her carefully.

"Not letting you go off on your own." He could see the fury in her eyes. It had been there since they heard about Sam being taken.

"Then let's go." Tash stood up and walked to the entrance. He followed close behind.

They broke threw the door and there were two of the men. Callen went through first, giving Tash the chance to look for Sam before she got into the fight.

"All yours G, I'm going to get Sam." Tash passed by him and landed a punch on one of the men as she went.

Sam saw her coming, leaving Callen fighting the other two. She had her gun pointed at them. He wondered if that really was Tash. He'd never seen her looking so bad, in a good way, before.

"So, your choice. Put the gun down, step away and get down on the floor, or I'll shoot you." Tash kept walking toward them, her eyes focused on the man holding the gun to his head. She didn't even glance at Sam.

"I'll shoot!" came from the man next to him. Tash didn't slow down, if anything Sam thought she was going faster now and he wondered what the hell she had planned. At least he hoped she had something planned.

"Go on, give it try. But you won't, because before you pull the trigger, you'll have half a dozen bullets in you, none fatal, and I will ensure that you live a long, and very painful, life." Tash was now only about five steps away, still walking full speed, and Sam could feel the guy shaking. His eyes went looking for Callen, who had taken care of the other two and was watching, standing relaxed against the wall. Sam wondered why he wasn't coming closer.

"I'll shoot," the man stammered once again.

"No, you won't." Tash walked right up to him and punched him. He fell to the ground and lost the gun. She kicked the gun out of the way, flipped him over, cuffed him and said firmly, "You don't mess with what's mine."

Tash then stood up and moved to Sam.

"You okay?" Tash asked, as she used a knife to cut the tape around his ankles.

"I'm fine, but what did you do with my sweet little Tash?" Sam asked, as she undid the handcuffs and he saw that Callen was finally making his way over as the back up team took care of the two he had taken out.

"Did I forget to mention she's a little protective?" Callen asked when he got to them.

"You also forgot to mention that she shoots fire from her eyes when pissed off," Sam added.

Callen chuckled. "That too."

Tash looked up at Sam and he saw the softness he was used to.

"Sam, I would never do anything to risk either of you. The guy still had the safety on. Let's go home," Tash said softly.

Sam sighed in relief. "She's back."

X

Kensi turned to Callen. "When did you learn about her protective streak?" she asked.

"A few months after Tash started, we went to a house to bring in a suspect. Didn't go as easily as planned. There were four guys but we managed to take down three of them before the last one, the one we were there for, got some shots off that barely missed me and Tash went for him. Almost emptied her clip at his feet and had him dancing out of the way like a puppet." Callen smiled at the memory before he continued. "Then he fell and she was on him so fast, gun pressed right against his head. Had the guy completely terrified. She didn't move until we had back up there to take them in. They were only a few minutes away, so not long."

"Didn't try and get her to move off him?" Sam asked.

Callen shook his head. "Would you? After seeing her eyes?"

Sam shrugged. Probably not.

"What did she do when she finally moved?" Kensi asked.

Callen grinned. "Realised she was bleeding and almost fainted. She was too angry about them almost getting me to realise they'd actually gotten her." Callen stopped as he saw Tash heading over to them.

"Okay, so any sign of fire in her eyes, get out of the way." Kensi shook her head slightly. "But even with that, you still don't think she's tough?"

"She's tough enough. For the rest, she has us," Sam answered.

When Callen saw Tash reach for the table he jumped up and went over to her. He still remembered yesterday when she had almost passed out. Tash looked at him. "Tough?" she whispered before he saw her eyes go distant as another memory took over.

X

She was tied to the chair, mouth taped shut and her head hurt. She could hear voices and wondered whose they were. They didn't sound familiar. She tried to clear her head, gently shaking it and taking some slow, deep breaths, trying to remain calm. She heard gun fire but couldn't do anything. She couldn't scream to let them know she was here, assuming it was her team. She closed her eyes as the sound of the gunfire got closer, not wanting to see, should she get hit. But there was no pain and the shooting stopped.

She heard footsteps come closer, but was scared to open her eyes. She'd been stuck here for over a day and just didn't want to see her captors at the moment. She felt like she was about to lose it and that wouldn't be good. She just needed sometime to pull herself together, even if it was only behind closed eyes.

"So is this the way we get you to stop talking?" a familiar voice asked as he quickly pulled the tape off her mouth. It hurt, but she didn't care as she opened her eyes to see Sam, smiling at her.

"Just ask, okay," she whispered. Sam reached around and cut the ropes binding her hands and legs. She wanted to reach out, to throw herself into the safety of his arms, but she was shaking. That, and her muscles didn't want to respond after being stuck in the same position for so long.

"You okay Tash?" Sam asked her, concern in his eyes and voice.

"Now I am." Her throat was so dry that her voice came out broken and soft. "But I don't think I can move."

"I can take care of that." Sam gently picked her up and carried her out of the warehouse. She rested her head on his shoulder and felt the tears fall. Sam didn't complain. She closed her eyes as the sun hit them, so bright it hurt.

"Our girl okay Sam?" Callen's voice asked, with more of the same concern she had heard in Sam's earlier.

"Yeah, she's good," Sam replied. The tears fell faster and she muffled a sob in Sam's neck.

"Tash?" Callen's voice was gentle, as she felt his hand move her hair away from her face.

She turned her head slightly to look at him. "Guess I'm not as tough as I thought."

"You're tough enough," Sam said. "And you have us for the rest."

X

She stood under the hot shower for a long time, getting her muscles to loosen. When she was done and dressed, she walked to her desk to get her things, but they were gone. She frowned and looked around for them.

"Missing something?" Callen asked, bringing her attention to him. He was leaning against the wall, holding her bag.

"Not anymore." She walked over to him and reached for the bag. He held it away from her and she frowned.

"Come on G, I want to go home to bed." She was exhausted and just wanted this day to be over.

"That's where I'm taking you," Callen replied. She looked up at him, confused.

"What?" she asked.

"Sam and I flipped a coin. I get to keep you company tonight, Sam tomorrow night," Callen clarified.

"I don't recall inviting either of you to stay at my place." She didn't mind though, not really. She should have expected something like this.

Callen shrugged. "You didn't."

"So how did that happen?" she asked him.

Callen straightened up and reached out to touch her cheek, that was bruised. Just one of the several minor injuries she had from the ordeal. "You're hurt and we care about you. Like it or not, you're stuck with us."

Tash looked at him for a moment. She couldn't think of any two guys she'd rather be stuck with.

"Fine, I like. But I get the bed." She turned and walked away, leaving him with the bag. She heard him chuckle from behind her.

"I don't mind sharing, but the couch will be fine," Callen said as he caught up and fell into step beside her. She tried not to smile. They knew her well. She hadn't really been wanting to go home. She had even considered staying on the couch here.

X

She woke up from the dream, in the comfort of her own bed, not tied up. Her breathing was harsh, but at least she hadn't screamed out. She saw a soft light coming in from the lounge room and got up to check. She found Callen asleep on the couch. She carefully covered him with the blanket that was on the back and watched him for a moment before turning away and going back to the bedroom. When she got there, she stopped in the doorway and looked at the bed. She realised she didn't want to be alone. She walked back to the couch and slipped underneath the blanket, trying to not to wake him. She didn't succeed.

"Tash? What's wrong?" Callen asked, as he sat up and looked at her.

"What? It's not like we've never shared a couch before." She didn't wanted to admit why she was here. She was sure he would figure it out, but as long as she didn't say anything, she could deny it all she wanted.

"The bed would be more comfortable. Not like we haven't shared a bed before either," Callen said softly.

"It's lonely in there," she admitted. Better to admit lonely than scared. Callen smiled gently at her.

"I can take care of that," Callen replied, unconsciously repeating Sam's phrase from earlier in the day. She didn't really know what to say next. He stood up, took her hand and pulled her up to him.

"Bad dream?" he asked. She nodded, biting her lip.

"You're safe. Let's get some sleep." He slipped his arm around her shoulder as he guided them back to her bed.

X

Tash finally looked at Callen and Sam and smiled.

"You know you two are really sweet."

"Sweet?" Sam asked, confused. Tash looked at him.

"Both of you, staying over to make sure I was okay," she said.

Sam frowned. "I didn't stay over."

It was Tash's turn to frown as she looked at Callen.

"So who stayed the next night?" she asked him.

Callen shrugged. "I did." He knew what memory she'd just had. It was the first time he'd stayed at her place. Finding out she had been kidnapped had been even worse than when Sam had been taken. He wasn't about to leave her alone after that. He'd ended up spending almost a week there, though she didn't seem to remember that yet.

"You lied about the coin?" Tash had that tilt to her head that she got when she was trying to figure something out.

"Did what needed to be done," Callen replied. He hadn't been sure she would say yes, so he'd felt it would be easier if she thought the idea came from the two of them.

Tash sat down in her chair. She closed her eyes briefly.

"Tash, are you doing okay?" Sam asked, concerned.

She looked up at Sam. "Sometimes the memories are more intense than I am expecting, that's all." She knew from her memories that she had felt lucky to have them in her life then. She was starting to realise it now too.

"Coming faster?" Callen asked, hoping this was a good sign, though he didn't like to see her so fragile.

"That too," Tash nodded. "Not a good time to try my hand at driving. Or anything physical for that matter."

Callen checked the time. Close enough. "Perhaps I should take you home," he offered. Since they weren't in the middle of anything, he didn't think Hetty would object.

"Maybe, but don't you have work to do?" Tash asked. Home sounded really good right now.

Callen grinned. "You are work." Tash raised her eyebrows at his comment.

"Really? That bad am I, that I'm work?"

"The good kind," Callen reassured her. "Come on, let's go." He reached out his hand to her. She took it gratefully and he pulled her up, making sure he held on until he was sure she was steady on her feet. She wasn't going to complain about going home right now. She'd remembered so much in her session with Nate today, along with everything that had come back in the last few days, and she was tired. She didn't even know where to start to try and process everything new in her head, let alone all of the previous stuff.