I just want to start off by thanking everybody who has reviewed, favorited, and followed this story so far! Your support means so much to me!

There will be some more Kensi/Callen friendship in this chapter, just so you guys know =)

I don't own NCIS L.A.

Enjoy!

Chapter 2

"Kensi-"

"No."

"Kens-"

"No, Callen." Kensi told him for the billionth time.

It had been a couple hours since Hetty and briefed her, Callen, and Michelle on what had happened. Sam's cover had been blown—by Janvier, Callen explained to her and Michelle—so Deeks went in to save him when Sidorov and his men attempted to drown him. Then, after saving Sam, they had both been taken and god only knew where they were now. And Kensi knew in her heart that Sidorov hadn't had them killed then and there because he needed information. Information that could only be brought out through torture. The second that happy thought made its way into her brain, she had stormed out of OPS and down to the armory. She had started with target practice, using up each and every paper target to vent her anger and frustration.

Then Callen came down, and he had been nagging her ever since to go home.

"Kensi, just hear me out, okay?" Callen tired again.

She looked at him. She took in the bags under his eyes, the tired and drawn expression on his face, and she instantly felt guilty because he was going through the exact same thing he was. His partner was missing, too. And not just his partner, Sam was his best friend. Callen would be crushed, devastated if anything happened to Sam. Holding onto that common ground, Kensi nodded, signaling for Callen to continue.

"Kensi…I get it, okay? I wanna get them back, too. But you're no good to me—you're no good to them—if you're sleep-deprived and crabby because you haven't eaten anything all day." He said, giving her a knowing look, which she responded to with a glower in his direction.

She folded her arms across her chest, refusing to answer because a part of her knew he was right. But being as stubborn as she was, she still continued to argue.

"I don't want to go home. And not just that, I can't go home, G. I need to be here. I'll be fine. There's a couch upstairs," she told him.

It was the truth. She couldn't go home. Not now. She needed to be there if they found something on Deeks. And Sam, she quickly admonished her thoughts.

Callen sighed. "I get that, Kens, but you're burnt out. As team leader, I'm ordering you to go home."

"Order me around or not, you still can't make me go home," she felt like a five-year-old saying in, but she wasn't leaving. She'd break his nose if he tried to carry her out of there.

"No, I can't," he admitted. "But Hetty can."

"You wouldn't dare." She practically growled, glaring at him.

"Oh, wouldn't I?" he smirked. The smile didn't last long, though, and she knew he was, no doubt, worrying about their missing partners. "Go home, Kensi." He said softly.

Her resolve broke. She was tired. Maybe going home, taking a hot bath, and downing a tub of double-chocolate ice cream would help to take her mind off things. She doubted it, but it was worth a shot.

"Fine. But if anything happens—"

"You'll be the first to know. Promise."

-:-:-:-:-:-:-

Kensi made it to her driveway before the reality of the situation really hit her. The whole drive home she had turned the speakers up till her car vibrated with the bass and it felt like her eardrums would burst. The music helped her focus on anything but her kidnapped colleagues. But the second she cut the engine, the second there was no music to distract her, she almost lost it. The only thing she could think about was that the last thing she said to Deeks had been, "I've got to stay with Michelle". Then she had driven off, and now he was gone. Kensi hit the steering wheel in frustration when she felt tears burn behind her eyes. But she refused to let them fall. She was Kensi—freakin'—Blye. And Kensi—freakin'—Blye didn't cry. She refused to show any sign of weakness like that.

I will not cry I will not cry I will not cry, she chanted in her head. Over and over and over. I will not cry I will not cry I will not cry. And she didn't. Numb, Kensi climbed out of her car and went to unlock her door, stepping inside her dark house and shutting the door quietly behind her. She flipped on the lights. As she looked around at the dirty cups, empty beer bottles, and junk food wrappers, she felt like something was missing, even though nothing was. It was strange. She realize that home didn't quite feel lie home at the moment. That's because home is where Deeks is. Home is when Deeks is safe and by your side, a mutinous little part of her brain thought. Involuntarily, she reached a hand up and brushed her fingers against her lips. She closed her eyes and the moment when Deeks kissed her replayed behind her lids.

One minute she had been berating him for his communication skills—or lack thereof—and seconds later, his mouth was on hers. She remembered the feeling of absolute warmth and security that had fallen over her when his lips, so soft and so gentle, and pressed against hers. Even when he broke away, his blue eyes gazing into hers, that warm fuzzy feeling remained. His voice rang out in her mind—"How's that for communication?"—and Kensi opened her eyes slowly. The ghost of his kiss danced on her lips, and she knew it would haunt her until he—and Sam—were safe.

Kensi felt a single tear slip down her cheek and she immediately wiped it away angrily. It wasn't like there was anyone here to see her cry, but she hated the fact that she had anyway. She was stronger than that. And she definitely couldn't afford to be weak. Not when Deeks need her to be strong. But, she realized, even the strong needed rest.

The first thing she did was shower. After running around all day, she needed it. She quickly washed her hair, body, and face, then simply stood under the torrent of water for far too long. But the water was helping to ease some of the tension in her muscles and made her realize how tired she actually was. Finally deciding it was time to stop hiking up her water bill, she shut the water off and climbed out, wrapping herself in a towel. She padded to her bedroom and started rummaging through her monstrous pile of dirty clothes, trying to find a clean shirt. She turned to her dresser and looked there.

She was about to give up hope of finding anything even remotely clean, when in the corner of her bottom drawer, she spotted a fresh t-shirt. And it wasn't even hers. She recognized it as being one that Deeks had 'accidentally' left after one of their regular movie nights. She lifted the shirt to her nose, inhaling its scent. It still smelled like Deeks, even after being buried in her dresser drawer. The ocean, the beach, that's what it smelled like. That's what he smelled like. Kensi smiled as she slipped it over her head, loving the way it hit her mid-thigh. She pulled on underwear and sleep shorts, then went to hang up her towel.

As she passed the kitchen on her way back to her bedroom, she eyed the freezer longingly. She knew she still had ice cream in there. The thought of creamy-chocolaty deliciousness made her will-power crumble. She grabbed the ice cream, the biggest spoon she could find, then plopped down on her couch and dug in. Surprisingly, she didn't even eat that much. But when she felt her eyelids getting heavy, she decided she'd rather fall asleep on her bed than have her face fall into a tub of ice cream. Kensi put the ice cream away and made her way back to her bed. She curled up under the covers and let sleep take her.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Kensi bolted upright in bed, the remainders of her nightmare clinging to her mind like cobwebs. She couldn't remember everything about her dream, but she knew it had had something to do with Deeks and sharp instruments. Sighing, she looked over at her alarm clock. 11:09. Great. She had only slept for an hour. She knew there was no way she'd be able to fall asleep easily now. Not when she remembered that Deeks was out there somewhere in Los Angeles, getting poked and prodded for answers he would never give up. The thought made it hard to breath. She needed fresh air. Kensi walked out her door and nearly had a heart attack when she saw Callen sitting outside her door.

"Callen? What the hell are you doing here?" she hissed.

He smirked. "Sorry. I probably should've told you I was here. Didn't want to wake you. But I see that you got about as much sleep as me."

She sat down beside him, enjoying the light breeze that was fluttering through the air. The street lamps provided their only source of illumination.

"Yeah, I couldn't sleep." She admitted. "You still haven't told me what you're doing here. I thought you were at the office?"

"Well, I was. Until Hetty kicked me out." He looked a little sheepish, but Kensi laughed a little. Even Callen wouldn't dare defy a direct order from Hetty.

"I don't know," Callen started, rubbing his hands over his face. "I needed to go for a walk, and I just sort of ended up here. Thought you could use some company, too."

"Yeah, I could actually. Thanks for that." She said earnestly. Callen had always been like a brother to her, and she found it easy to be around him. He was comfortable talking with her, but they were also both comfortable sitting in each other's silent company.

"You as worried as I am?" she whispered.

"Yeah. Believe me, if I could go back, before Janvier gave up Sam and change it, I would." Callen said, and Kensi knew he felt guilty about that.

"It's not your fault, G. You couldn't have predicted what Janvier was gonna do. None of us could have."

"I know," he sighed. "But it's not your fault either. I know you feel bad that you weren't there to back up Deeks and Sam, but if you hadn't gone to help Michelle, she'd probably be dead, Kens. You know that, don't you?"

Kensi pondered that for a moment. Callen was right, of course, she did feel guilty for not backing Deeks up when Sidorov tried to drown Sam. But she also knew that if she and Deeks had managed to get Sam out of there, and let Michelle die in the process, Sam never would've forgiven them.

"Yeah, I know that." She finally said.

They were silent for a few minutes, even though it felt like hours.

"Something else, Kens…" Callen trailed off, and when she looked at him, he looked slightly embarrassed.

"Yeah?" she asked cautiously.

"This case…it's really important. Hetty and Granger, they, of course, want Sam and Deeks back, but they also want this case wrapped up. We need to get those nukes, get Sidorov-"

"Get to the point, G," she interrupted, knowing that he was skirting around what he wanted to tell her.

He took a deep breath. "I need to know that you'll have my back. I need to know that you can get your head in the game."

"You know I can," she said, puzzled.

"Can you make it not personal?" Callen asked quietly.

"Why would I make it personal?" she asked, though she had a feeling she knew why he was asking.

"You know why, Kens," he said. Still, she refused to answer. "You know, Kensi, you're too smart to play dumb. All of our coms were on. Plus, Eric and Nell had eyes on all of us, Kens."

Kensi felt a blush creep up her neck and rise to her cheeks, making her very grateful for the mostly-darkness around them. So they knew. They knew that Deeks had kissed her and that she didn't stop him. She tried to tell herself it was no big deal, but it was. That had been a private moment, and even though she knew it was important to keep their coms on, she still felt like the moment had been a little ruined.

"Look, I'm not gonna ask, it's not my place to worry about what you do in your free time-" Callen said politely.

"There's nothing going on." she interrupted. "Sorry. Continue,"

Callen gave her a half-smile. "Anyway, it is my place, however, to make sure that the mission comes first. I hate it, too, but we have to put the mission first. Of course, the mission right now is to get Sam and Deeks back. So I have to ask, can you make this non-personal?"

"Yes," Kensi said, and she would do her damndest to live up to that. She knew that if she made it too personal, Hetty would take her off the case, and she had to be on the case. She didn't wasn't them putting some agent she didn't even know in charge of her partner's life.

"Okay," Callen said.

"Okay," she echoed, smiling.

"So what do you say we go get our partners back?"

Okay, so I know these chapters aren't super long, but I hope you guys liked it nonetheless!

So I just want to thank everybody again for all the support, you guys are awesome!

Next chapter will be all about Sam and Deeks and what's going on with them, so prepare yourselves!

Don't forget to tell me what you think! Am I in character? Anything you really liked? Didn't like? Anything you think I should change, let me know.

Thanks for reading!

-DaughterOfPoseidon333