Hi everyone. My friend read my story and recommended that I change the rating back to T. I am going to go along with their advice. If you disagree let me know. I can always change it back. Hope you enjoy this chapter and will keep reading. I do enjoy reviews. Thank-you.

Kensi stood up and grabbed Deeks's jacket that was hanging over the back of his chair.

"You need to put this on. It's cold outside, this time of year, in the evening."

"Kens.."

"Shhh…you trust me Marty, remember." She replied as she held his jacket open for him to slip into.

Deeks looked up at Kensi, nodded his head once and slowly stood up

Smiling slightly she took his hand in hers, picked up their bags with her other hand, and lead them both outside to the mission's parking lot towards her Cadillac.

"We need to make a couple of stops before we hit the road, okay."

"Where…where…are we going?"

"Somewhere to heal…you trust me…remember."

It was near 11:30 at night when they pulled into the driveway of a medium sized, two storied, white washed, peaked roofed coastal beach cottage.

"We're here." Kensi said as she turned off the engine of her Cadillac.

"Where…where…is here?" Deeks questioned in a barely audible voice as Kensi opened the driver's side front door of the vehicle.

The two hour trip had gone more smoothly than Kensi had imagined. Deeks had sat staring out the front window with his hand on her leg for the majority of the trip. He wasn't in a good place and she knew the physical contact was helping. He needed to feel her touch. She had to admit to herself though that she was becoming more concerned about him as time ticked by. Different times Kensi had attempted to talk about anything, but he was too lost in his own thoughts. To break the silence she had put his favourite satellite music station on the radio. It did not tend to have news on it. Every other channel seemed to be reporting the case, and right now that was something Deeks did not need to hear. They had made two fifteen minute stops on the way. One was at Deeks to pick up Monty and to pack Deeks a bag with enough clothes and toiletries for three days. The second was at a family owned independent grocery store that Kensi knew of on the outskirts of LA. There they had picked up some milk, bakery goods, fresh fruit and vegetables, candy, meat etc... Kensi had been raised by a Marine. She could be packed and ready, or in and out of any store, in fifteen minutes or less. Her Dad had taught her well.

"It's my cottage." She answered as Deeks climbed out of the Cadillac and she opened the back passenger door for Monty to exit.

"When I was little, after my Mom died, my Dad would rent this place a couple of times a year for a week and bring me here. We would swim in the ocean; hunt for sea shells, build sand castles on the beach, go into town and buy ice cream cones…all the things I loved to do when we were here. I always felt better when the week was over. After he died, I wanted to come here, but I couldn't afford the rent. It wasn't until four years ago that I was finally able to come back here for a visit."

Kensi walked to the back of the Cadillac and opened the trunk. She handed Deeks the groceries to carry and she grabbed a couple of the bags.

"I kept my eye on this place for years. Two years ago it quietly went up for sale. I bought it the day it was listed. No one knows that I own it. I bought it using an alias; I created on my own, and not through NCIS. I rent it out for eight months of the year. The other four months I keep it for my own use. This is the time of year I have it to myself. That's why I didn't have to stop and pack anything. I leave things here this time of year. I've never told anyone about this cottage. Although I suspect Hetty knows. Somehow she knows everything." Kensi said with a sigh as she unlocked the front door.

"Hetty has given us the next three days off plus the week-end. I thought it would be a good time to visit. Come, I'll show you where the kitchen is. You can put the groceries into the fridge for me, while Monty and I go and get the rest of the bags from the car." She said as she walked into the cottage.

The cottage was beautiful inside. To the right of the entrance was a powder room and to the left was a large coat closet. Past the closet were a flight of stairs leading to the upstairs bedrooms. Past the entrance the cottage opened up into a full kitchen dining room area to the right and a large living area to the left. The back of the cottage sported two massive bay windows. The one on the left allowed a view of the beach and ocean from the living room. The other allowed the same view from the dining area side. Between the windows was a glass sliding door that lead out to a large wooden back deck. Past the deck were the beach and the ocean. The walls were painted warm neutral colours and all the floors were either hardwood or Italian ceramic tile. The kitchen contained maple cabinets, a ceramic back splash and a marble counter top. The living area was decorated with black leather and maple furniture.

Kensi and Monty returned from the car with the rest of the bags.

"I thought we could sit out back for a while, start a fire in the fire pit table, and listen to the ocean. Maybe we could have a drink or something to eat." Kensi said as she walked into the kitchen.

"Yea, sounds…good."

"Come, let me show you." Kensi replied as she took his hand in hers and lead him to the wooden back deck.

Deeks took a seat in one of the lounging deck chairs, on the left side of the deck, while Kensi started a fire in the bronze fire pit table that sat on a circular brick foundation towards the far right corner of the deck away from the cottage.

"I'm going to get Monty set up. I thought I would bring out his basket and get him some water and food. I'll be right back."

Deeks looked up at her and nodded.

Once Monty was set up, just to the right of the sliding glass door, she slipped back inside a moment to quickly prepare a tray for her and Deeks.

Returning she placed the covered tray of chicken skewers, buns, plates, utensils and condiments down onto the circular wooden deck table, located on the left side of the deck. She glanced over at Deeks. He was sitting sideways in the middle of one of the white washed wooden lounge chairs with his feet on the ground, his elbows on his knees, and his face in his hands.

She had become increasingly more worried about him over the last few hours. She had seen this before. The distant, lost, depressed look. Her fiancé had come home with it. She wasn't able to help him. He was too deep, into his own world, by the time he returned. Marty was nowhere near that place. He could be saved. She could save him, and this place could heal him. She knew it could. It had healed her once, when she had seen the same look on her own face. It's why she had brought him here.

Slowly Kensi walked over to where Deeks was sitting. Kneeling down in front of him, she gently pushed herself between his legs and slowly wrapped her arms around his neck pulling him close to her. He was trembling. As she began to caress his back she felt him remove his hands from his face, and gently wrap his arms around her waist, his face now buried in her shoulder.

Most people's nightmares would seem tame to the things he has seen, and the situations he has dealt with, as a cop. Fortunately the "bad things" that happened tended to be done to low life that were simply experiencing karma. The phrase "what goes around comes around" would come to his mind. Many times the "bad things" would result in an arrest and the end of his make believe life undercover. He could return to some type of normality. If he did experience any problems then there was always the sea and a great surf board. After a couple of hours, everything simply was washed away by the great Pacific. The only time he did have "issues" was when his partner Jess had been killed. She did not fall into the usually "fast fix-it" category. It was way more personal. In that situation finding her killer and the reason why she was murdered had worked wonders for his mental health. Joining another agency and distancing himself from his old world had helped as well. Today though… He had handled everything until his eyes had seen the images of the one small blond wavy haired, blue eyed boy. Memories had flooded his brain. Memories he had long since buried and kept at bay. Childhood memories he never wanted to deal with again. He knew what this small child had been experiencing. The boy's childhood was over. He hadn't even reached the age of six and it was already over, taken by adults. Adults, who had removed him from his warm bed, in the middle of the night, and taken him from his perfect family life, into the depths of hell. Adults that "they", no "he" should have protected him from. Everything rapidly became too much for Deeks. Quietly he had left the ops centre and gone to the mens room. There he had done something he had never done before. He vomited. He wasn't completely clear as to the events that had happened over the next few hours. He remembers sitting at his desk, Kensi coming to him, some of the drive, and the arrival at her cottage.

Now he was sitting on the wooden lounging chair, on the back deck. He was freezing. It wasn't that cold out, he had a jacket on, but still he was freezing. He felt Kensi kneel down in front of him. His first impression was she wanted to talk. He didn't know how to tell her he couldn't. Not right now. She never said a word though. Instead she wrapped her arms around his neck, drew him close to her, and started to caress his back. She felt so warm. He couldn't help himself. He wrapped his arms around her waist and buried his head in her shoulder. He was freezing, and she felt so warm. Her hand rubbing on his back, felt so warm. Everything he was feeling started to come out...the pain, the distress, the depression, the anger. The tears he had been holding back poured out of his eyes. She kept holding him not even whispering a word. She felt so warm.

She knew he was shedding tears. The slight dampness she felt through her top and the odd quiet sob she heard made it evident. How long the two partners remained in their embrace is something lost to the universe. All she knew, was that she had held him and caressed his back until she felt his breathing even out, the trembling dissipate, and his sobs subside. Keeping her arms around his neck, she slowly pulled away, just enough to be able to see his face.

When she pulled away slightly he thought about getting up, excusing himself, and hiding in the washroom of the cottage for awhile. Take some time to try and compose himself. He didn't really want her to see his face, to see him like this. No one had ever seen this side of Marty Deeks. He hadn't even seen this side of Marty Deeks. She felt so warm though. This felt so right. He couldn't move. So when she pulled away slightly from him he kept his arms around her waist and simply hung his head.

Kensi kept one arm around his neck. With the fingers, of her other hand, she gently traced his jaw line till she reached his chin. Positioning her middle and index fingers just underneath she raised his face till their eyes met. His were misty, bloodshot, ominous, distressed and the colour of an angry thunderous sky. He was struggling with a dark, violent storm that was raging inside his soul.

"The photos that were coming across. They stirred something up from deep inside you. Didn't they? Something you had long since buried." She softly asked as she moved her hand to cup his face.

He didn't know how to respond. The things he had lived through. He had never even spoken of them to himself, little alone to another being. All he could give her was a slight nod.

"You were beaten. As a child, you were beaten. You know what many of those children have been going through. How they feel. How they cope. The lengths they will go to try and please. To prevent more of the same treatment. You look at their photos and you can feel every bit of pain that you felt as a child. The pain they feel."

He swallowed hard.

"Marty, it's okay."

"It's not okay."

"It is."

"I didn't have the same childhood as you. I don't know what it is like to be beaten as a child; by the person who is suppose to be taking care of you. I can try to imagine, but I will never really completely sense what it is like. I do know what it feels like to be beaten by a love one, as an adult. My fiancé, when he came back, he'd have these episodes where he wasn't…"

She pushed her lips together, swallowed hard, took a deep breath and then licked her lips.

"He wouldn't recognize me and he would hit me, kick me...when I'd scream in pain it would usually snap him out of it. The times it didn't I seemed to be able get away, run to a neighbour for help. I've been punched, kicked, thrown as a result of our work. I can relate to the physical pain, and somewhat to the emotional pain experienced. In both situations though, I was an adult. I could make a choice to get help or walk away or both. You and those children didn't have that. I cannot completely relate."

With her thumb, Kensi absentmindedly, wiped away a single tear that was trickling down her partner's cheek. She was not one to talk about herself or her feelings. A lot had to do with her upbringing and training. Secrets are what they are…information that is never to be revealed. Right now though, her partner and friend needed her and her help. The only two ways she knew how to do that was to one bring him to her cottage and the other was to share a secret.