I don't own NCIS Los Angeles! My native language is Dutch and I'm dyslectic so sorry for any mistakes. Thank you for the reviews, alerts and favorites!

I know it has been a long time...but I can't help it. My laptop is kind of on life support. I can only have sound through my headphones (which I need for not disturbing any members of family) if I have the cord looped and crossed over the keyboard, which makes typing really hard! But I don't give up that easily...it just takes a little longer to write.
And to be honest I had a little writer's block but it cleared. I now know how to continue this story.

Chapter 10

The next afternoon, after work, Deeks and Kensi were surprised to actually see Narah do some homework at the table. Head bowed over the paper, resting on her hand. Every now and then they heard a sighed and saw furious erasing of what she had written down. She didn't even seem to notice the presence of Deeks and Kensi.

'Where is our foster daughter?' Deeks joked whispering at Kensi, who smiled.

'She is ready to kill her teacher for her stupid homework,' Narah mumbled angrily and she pushed her paper away. 'This is not fair to us students.' Deeks laughed and he sat down, taking the papers.

'That is what I thought as well when I started it,' he told her. 'But I got it in the end…let me see…' He took a glance at the papers and his smile was replaced with a deep frown. 'What is this?'

'Math,' Narah told him with a smirk.

'This is no math,' Deeks answered and he put the papers away as well. 'You need to be a magician to be able to make this.' Kensi smiled and she rested her hands on Deeks' shoulders.

'Not so easy as it seems, does it, Deeks?' she smiled and she kissed him on the cheek. Then she looked at Narah. 'You should ask your teacher for some extra instruction.' Narah shrugged.

'Can I go see my friends?' she asked.

'Did you finish your homework?' Kensi asked.

'Beside math, yes,' she answered and she smiled. 'So can I go please? I could ask Ivan to help me with math.' Deeks was immediately on high alert.

'Who is Ivan?' he asked curiously and slightly worried. Even a bit parent-like.

'Ivan is my friend,' Narah answered and she laughed. 'Don't worry. He is like my brother.' Deeks slowly nodded.

'It starts with being friends,' he replied and he glanced at Kensi.

'It seems to go okay,' Deeks concluded at the end of the day when he sat on the couch with Kensi, drinking one beer before they would go to sleep. Narah had to be reminded of some rules like bedtime at half past ten, but in the end she followed them all without too much complaining.

'This was just day one,' Kensi said, trying to be realistic. But the smile on Deeks' face made her smile as well. 'But it was a good first day.' Deeks wrapped his arm around her shoulder and she rested her head against his chest. He gently placed a kiss on her lips and felt her smile against his lips.

'Don't mind me,' Narah announced when she walked passed them towards the kitchen. 'I'm just getting some milk. I'll be out of here in no time.' Deeks and Kensi pulled away embarrassed. Both a blush on their face and Narah smiled while she filled her glass.

'I am allowed to take it to my room, right?' she asked. Deeks and Kensi nodded numbly. 'Oh and go on, I'm used to it. One of my foster moms was an at-home-prostitute to earn some extra money. I will just listen to some music.' Deeks and Kensi watched Narah walk back to her room. Both speechless.

'What just…what…' Deeks stumbled and he glanced at Kensi, who stared blankly at him.

'That was awkward,' she told him.

'Too awkward,' Deeks agreed. Even though he felt like that, he moved in closer and captured her lips again. Kensi pushed him away this time.

'Only kissing,' she told him strictly and Deeks nodded obediently.

Kensi ate another Twinkie and she sighed. Next to her Deeks was toying with the wrapping paper of one of the many Twinkies she had eaten. Stake outs never were much special. Simply waiting for the time to pass. For the action to begin. And on this stake out the action was nowhere to see. They and Callen and Sam, on the other side of the building, were waiting for the drugs dealing Petty Officer Roofert to arrive. He had killed the wife and daughter of another Petty Officer when he could not get the money for more drugs. The quietness in the car was disturbed with the ringing of Kensi's phone, which she quickly answered.

'There is a man standing outside of the house!' Narah sounded scared and hurried. Kensi immediately put the phone on speaker.

'Where are you now, Narah? And where is the man?

'I'm in my room and I don't know where the man is...but he was looking inside! No way that guy was just passing by! Pl...please...please come home...' Kensi knew it was really wrong. Narah had never sounded as she did in that moment. Never so scared and vulnerable.

'Callen, Sam, we have trouble at Kensi's house,' Deeks told them over his earpiece. 'Are you okay with us leaving?'

'Of course. We will be fine,' Callen answered.

'Okay, Narah we are on our way. Stay in your room. Don't go out to see if the man is still there. We will be there in ten? Probably less. Stay on the phone, okay. Just talk to us.'

'I'm...I'm scared.' Kensi's heart broke in that exact moment. She never had heard Narah speak of fear like this. Deeks seemed to have the same reaction as he floored the gas panel.

'We are there in no time, Narah. He is not getting in...' Kensi glanced on Deeks who was focused on the road and she took a deep breath. 'Narah, we're almost there.'

'Please hurry!' Narah whispered with a trembling voice.

The car was barely parked when Deeks and Kensi jumped out of it, their guns firmly in their hands. Quickly and on high alert they moved to Kensi's house. On the outside was no one and when they enter the house they also found no one there. The man had already fled. Kensi walked to Narah's room and opened the door. She spotted Narah behind her bed, holding the phone tightly and with tears on her face.

'Are you okay?' Kensi asked worried as she pulled the girl in a hug. Narah couldn't find the words and cried in Kensi's arms. Kensi stroked her hair gently, giving her the time she needed to gather herself. Deeks appeared in the door opening.

'I called the CSU,' he told them. 'They are going to check the door and window for traces.' He walked towards them. 'Are you okay, Narah?' He sat down beside them. He noticed Narah shaking her head against Kensi's shoulder and he stroked the girl's back. Soon Deeks' and Kensi's phones started to ring.

'It's Callen,' Deeks told Kensi, looking at the caller-ID and he answered the call. 'She is fine...pretty shaken up but the man didn't get inside. He appeared to have left.' He listened to Callen on the other side and nodded every now and then. 'Yes, already called the CSU. They should get here soon. How is it going with Roofert?' Narah backed her head up out of Kensi's shoulder and both Deeks and Kensi saw the fear in her eyes. Deeks ended the call with Callen after getting an update on the case and he glanced at Kensi.

'Roofert still hasn't shown up,' he told her. Narah looked up scared. 'But that doesn't matter because we're staying with you.' He looked at Narah, who silently leaned against Kensi.

'Can we go...go to your place?' she asked him mumbling.

'Of course,' he told her and he and Kensi helped Narah who was trembling pretty badly. 'I will grab you two some stuff and then we can go. You walk over to the car.' Kensi let Narah out of the room and Deeks grabbed a bag and the first clothes he saw.

Deeks and Kensi sat on the couch in his apartment. Narah was lying in the bedroom, with Monty at her side. It was the only way she felt safe enough to fall asleep. And they did not know how long it would take for nightmares to come. All they could think of was how wrong this could have gone.

'We need to find a safer place for her to stay at after school till we get home,' Kensi said. 'This can never happen again.' Deeks nodded in agreement.

'We could bring her to the boatshed after school,' Deeks suggested. 'She will be safe there.' But Kensi shook her head.

'No, at the boatshed she would still be alone,' she answered. 'She needs to be with someone.' Deeks thought for a moment and then he stared at Kensi. She looked surprised at him. 'You have someone in mind?'

'Well...we could ask...your mother,' he answered and Kensi stiffened. Asking her mother? With whom she was still working to repair their relationship? Whom she hadn't told about Narah yet?

'I don't know...' Kensi said unsure. 'I don't know if she's willing to take a girl in who she has never met and doesn't know...I don't know if she would like a teenager in the house. A stubborn one.' Deeks shrugged.

'We can always try,' he said. 'Your mother lives far away from Fratris Armis territory and no one really knows about the connection between her and you...'

'Maybe,' Kensi replied, still not convinced. 'It's just...I don't want to ruin our building relationship by asking such a big thing of her...'

'Why don't we start with introducing them to each other,' Deeks suggested. 'Asking your mother to come for dinner. If she has an impression of Narah, we can ask her if she would mind to take her in after school till we come to get her.'

'We do need to introduce them to each other,' Kensi agreed. 'I will ask her to come over for dinner anytime soon.' Deeks smiled.

'Good,' he said. 'I liked your mother the last time I saw her.' Kensi smiled as well and she kissed Deeks.

Deeks had made pancakes for Narah and Kensi had let her sleep as long as she could. But the teenage girl looked like she had had no sleep at all. She had barely brushed her hair and had dark bags under her eyes. Kensi glanced worriedly at Deeks. He placed the plate with pancakes in front of her.

'Here you go, Narah,' he told her softly but she did not even look at the food. When Kensi touched Narah's shoulder, the girl jumped and Kensi pulled away her hand.

'Maybe we should let you stay at home,' she mumbled but Narah shook her head.

'I want to see my friends,' she whispered softly and Kensi nodded, still worried about how she would do at school after what happened yesterday.

'We'll try to get home early,' Deeks said to Narah, who shook her head.

'I'll be staying with Emily after school,' she replied and Deeks nodded. Maybe that was for the best. Being with a friend might be the thing Narah needed at this moment. 'She told me that her father agreed with me staying for dinner…'

'Okay,' Kensi replied. 'Then we will pick you up after dinner at Emily's place.' Narah did not say anything and looked at her pancakes before shoving the plate away. Deeks grabbed the plate and put some extra bread in Narah's schoolbag.

'Can we go?' Narah asked softly and before she got an answer she walked towards the door, clearly ready to go to school. Deeks glanced at Kensi, who shrugged. Neither of them knew how to deal with a girl who been through something like yesterday. All they knew was that they wanted to help Narah, if Narah wanted their help.

'Let's go, Deeks,' Kensi told him and they grabbed their stuff and Narah's schoolbag, which she had forgotten.

'Did Roofert show up?' Kensi asked Callen and Sam when the men arrived at work, both surprised to see Deeks and Kensi behind their desks already.

'Yes, he did,' Callen answered. 'We had to chase him and Sam got to do a nice tackle, but we caught him in the end. He's already at LAPD. We already interrogated him last night.' Kensi nodded and she turned back to the papers on her desk.

'How is Narah doing?' Sam asked curiously and a hint of worry was present in his voice. 'Did she recognize him?' Deeks shook his head.

'She barely spoke a word about it,' he answered. 'And she is dealing with it. Slowly, and without us. I hope she will be okay. She wanted to go to school and didn't eat her pancakes, which is her favorite breakfast.'

'So what are you going to do now?' Callen asked and Deeks and Kensi shrugged at the same time. 'Did CSU find anything?'

'They found several prints on the door handle,' Deeks answered. 'But none were useable since they could not separate any individual prints. Nothing useful showed up at the security cameras. So we don't really have anything…'

TBC.