A/N: I can't believe it but this is the last chapter for this story. I'm kind of sad to see it end… I hope the ending lives up to everyone's expectations and I have to say a huge thank you to everyone who has reviewed, followed, and put this story on favorites. The response was incredibly encouraging and meant more than I can say. A special shout out goes to my friend JaniceS whose support and encouragement touched my heart. Thank you all, Riptide.

Epilogue.

Deeks sits along the side of the Boeing C-17 Globemaster they've hitched a ride home on, the fingers of one hand tangled in his partner's still slightly damp locks, and feels relief mixing with exhaustion in his chest. It's a heady mixture, one he could get used to, and the detective tips his head back against the side of the plane feeling the vibrations in the back of his skull and chattering his teeth. Kensi's curled up on the bench beside him, her head pillowed in his lap, and so soundly asleep that he could probably set off a fog horn in her ear. She looks younger in her sleep, peaceful, like they've glossed over the last three months, and yet Deeks knows with a certainty that's unsettling that that isn't the case. Kensi's the strongest person he knows though, and he has no intention of leaving her side again for a very long time. He'll be there for his partner even if he has to move heaven and earth to do it, but Deeks still feels that clinch of fear in his gut because he knows just how close he came to losing her today.

They each cut it pretty close today and Deeks reaches up, fingering the goose egg over his right ear. He's got a mild concussion from hitting the ground trying to avoid Booker's first wild shot and his head aches, a dull pounding behind his forehead. Kensi's been treated for exhaustion and dehydration at the temporary air force base she'd been stationed at on the outskirts of Jalalabad and Deeks chuckles to himself in amusement as he remembers the look on Granger's face when they'd shown up at the front door. Jack had taken the worst of it though, Booker had taken a single shot at him and while the man's aim was appalling, the bullet had still torn a bloody gouge across the top of his shoulder. The former soldier had stuck around long enough to get it attended to at the base's infirmary before he'd disappeared from the base, and hopefully Kensi's life. Callen had been the only one of their ragtag group left uninjured, despite being ambushed by two insurgents up on the ridgeline at the same time they'd been fighting the local chapter of the Taliban.

Kensi moves in her sleep, head tilting slightly off his lap, and Marty straightens, carding his fingers again though her hair until his partner settles. They haven't talked about this thing of theirs yet and Deeks doesn't have a clue where they're going from here. Do they still have a chance at a future together? Does she still see him as anything but a friend? Will he be able to go back to just being her partner if she doesn't?

There's a thousand questions swirling around in Deeks' head, a whirlwind that would probably make him sick if he had the energy to be anything but exhausted, and he desperately needs a distraction. Naturally his eyes fall on Callen as the lead agent stalks back from the front of the plane to reclaim his seat across from Deeks. He's been on the sat phone with OSP for the last twenty minutes, trying to explain to Hetty what exactly they were thinking, flying halfway across the globe without back up, and Deeks doesn't envy him. He eyes the lead agent with a healthy dose of apprehension before asking, "So on a scale of one to ten just how angry was she?"

Callen chuckles hollowly in the back of his throat, but there's a distinct lack of humor in the sound and Deeks cringes, "Let's just say that we should probably make ourselves scarce for a while."

"So like, an eleven?"

Callen tips his head in what Deeks chooses to interpret as a nod and once again he wonders distantly if vague body language is something these guys are taught at Super Spy School or not. "On the plus side, we found your partner and plugged the information leak." The lead agent raises a single shoulder in a slight shrug, "She'll be over it by the time we get back."

"Do we know why he became the Ghost?" Deeks asks because it's been nagging at him since they left the desert. Booker had been an intelligence analyst for the CIA, assigned to the task force hunting the White Ghost, which of course had left him in the perfect position to cover his own activities as the Ghost, and Deeks wonders if he's the only one who can see the irony here.

Callen shrugs again, a little more pronounced this time, "They're still trying to figure out the extent of the leaked information. Nell dug into his background a little though. Looks like his father was an Afghani national and his mother was a journalist who was killed in a hostage situation in Kabul four years ago. American peacekeeping forces had been patrolling the area in the months prior, but they pulled out shortly before she was killed."

"He was out for revenge against the people who let his mother be killed." Deeks concludes. He remembers the hint of regret he'd seen in the man's eyes right before it all went to hell in a handbasket. Deeks feels a niggling of understanding in the back of his throat and stomps on it ruthlessly. He doesn't want to pity this man that nearly killed his partner, would have too if they'd gotten there any later.

"Looks that way," Callen agrees, reaching up to rub at the bruise that's blooming across his cheekbone. One of the two insurgents who'd ambushed him on the ridge had gotten lucky and his cheek is throbbing with what's sure to be a shiner come morning.

"And Jack?" Deeks questions, lowly when Kensi murmurs quietly in her sleep, the last thing he wants to do is wake her.

"On his way to a safe house in Pakistan the last I heard." Callen tilts his head in question, an edge of confusion in his eyes that clearly asks why Deeks cares. The detective shrugs slightly in answer, squashing the thought that says he cares what happens to the ex-soldier. Callen shoots him a look that makes it crystal clear he isn't buying it, but continues anyway, "He's no longer a person of interest for the CIA and Jack's agreed not to contact Kensi again, either way."

"And you had nothing to do with that, I'm sure."

Callen shrugs again, the edge creeping back into his eyes, and before the former spy can say anything else the satellite phone rings on the seat beside him, the sound bright and shrill after their low conversation. The lead agent murmurs something under his breath in a language that Deeks doesn't recognize, scoops up the phone, and retreats to the front of the plane again.

That leaves Deeks sitting in the quiet, Kensi's snuffling snores the only sound around him, and Marty cards his fingers though her hair gently. He remembers the knot of panic that had lodged in his chest when he'd found out she was missing. He knows now, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that she's it for him. He can't imagine life without her, as clichéd as it sounds, and as Deeks stares down at his sleeping partner he knows he's all in.

Callen's voice rises, enough that Deeks can hear him even through the cockpit door between them and over the rattle of the engines, and the detective stills trying to make out his words before he realizes that it's not English. Deeks listens for a moment more before Callen stalks back in and Deeks jumps like a guilty school boy caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Callen quirks an eyebrow at him as he sinks back in his chair, but Deeks refuses to back down. They've gone through a lot to get Kensi back, and Deeks thinks that just maybe they've taken a step toward friends instead of just colleagues.

"Was that OSP?" Deeks asks quietly, still trying not to wake Kensi. Callen's tense like a coiled spring all of a sudden, rage and worry fighting for dominance in his eyes, and Deeks suspects he's a second away from pitching the sat phone at the wall.

"No," Callen snaps lowly, his voice sharp and worried despite the lowered volume and that in turn makes Deeks nervous because they've already established that a threat to the team is just about the only thing that can get to the lead agent that way. "That was a friend at the NSA."

Callen falls silent for a moment, gaze fixed on a spot over Deeks' right shoulder, and then he's meeting the detective's gaze head on, blue eyes icy and burning in their intensity, "Governor Khaled was photographed entering the country via JFK eighteen hours ago. TSF lost him shortly afterward."

"Sam?" Deeks asks despite already knowing the answer. The former governor's sworn revenge on Sam and his sister Jada alike and if he's in the US now then there must be a reason. Callen nods shortly, tapping the sat phone rapidly against his thigh in a move that's surprisingly unguarded and Deeks glances down at his sleeping partner before meeting ice blue eyes. "We're with you."

G nods shortly, apprehension easing a little bit in his eyes, "Thanks, Deeks."

Deeks smiles, the arm lying around Kensi's waist tightening unconsciously. Callen's led him halfway around the world to save his partner, his Sunshine, the least he can do is return the favor. "What are friends for?"

The End.

P.S. If you're interested please take a look at my other NCIS: LA fics and as always reviews feed the plot bunnies