A/N: Thank you soooo much for the reviews! You guys are amazing! :))

This one is a little bit shorter but it was such a cute ending I just had to cut it there...

As always huge thanks to my beta kensi54382 and nope, I still don't own a thing :))

Enjoy!


The next minutes just flew by for Kensi. She watched how the EMTs quickly checked her partner, how the obvious injuries were noted. She just stood there, when they rammed a needle into his chest to get the air out so that Deeks could breathe again. Her world only started to spin again, when Deeks lay safely on the gurney and was being transported out of her garden. He had to be stable, then, didn't he? At least he had to be stable enough to be transported.

Without thinking of Sam and Callen who were talking to the paramedics and gave them necessary information, Kensi closed the space between her and her partner, grabbed his hand and then said – in such a strong voice that left no room for arguing -, "I'll ride along."

If the paramedics had intended to protest, one glare from all three of the agents together shut them up.

"We'll follow you, Kensi. Hetty, Nell and Eric are going to meet us in the hospital," Callen said and ignored the surprised glances he got from his colleagues who still didn't know about the phone call between Hetty and him – now wasn't the time for explanations.

"Okay," with that word, Kensi disappeared into the back of the ambulance, her hand still closed around Deeks'. It was the second time in a week that she was sitting like that next to her unconscious partner in an ambulance. She would so kick his ass if he made a habit of that.

Her thumb kept rubbing soothing patterns on the back of Deeks' hand, the pressure just enough to let him know she was there, with him. The EMTs worked the whole way to the hospital on her partner, looking at the wounds beneath the bandages the agents had applied, checking his blood pressure and his heart rate. Kensi didn't have an eye for that. Her mismatched eyes were trained on his face, half covered by the oxygen mask, trying in vain to ignore the reopened cut on his temple.

Kensi noticed that they had arrived at the hospital, only when someone pulled at the gurney and by that at her hand. Without even thinking about what she was doing, Kensi straightened and kept the pace of the gurney, the doors of the emergency room shutting behind her and once again, she was in the too sterile rooms of a hospital. Deeks' gurney disappeared behind the doors of a treatment room and Kensi needed a moment to understand why she wasn't with him in that room. Only then she registered the hands on her biceps, obviously stopping her from storming after her partner.

Kensi stared at the doors Deeks had vanished behind and when she was absolutely sure that nothing would let the hands disappear from her arms, she tried to focus her thoughts on the here and now. Somebody was talking to her, probably the same person who was holding on to her. Kensi shook her head to get it clear and finally understood what was whispered in her ear.

"He'll make it, Kensi, trust me. Deeks won't let us down like that."

Kensi closed her eyes for a second, took a deep breath and then turned to face Callen.


Callen didn't know how often he had whispered the words until Kensi finally seemed to understand him. She turned around, her brown eyes opened so widely, she looked like a scared deer. He loosened his grip around her arms and then just hugged her tightly. Kensi Blye was no fan of feelings and showing them openly was completely against her principles, Callen knew that. He also knew that something had changed in Kensi - that Deeks had somehow managed to get her to open up more and more. That was the only reason why Callen dared to hug her in public, only some months, maybe even some weeks ago, hugging Kensi would have left him with her elbow in his stomach, even if she were to be in the condition she was now – it wouldn't have mattered.

Callen noticed how Kensi took some shaky breaths before she collected her thoughts and he released his hug, but left one arm around her shoulders, showing support.

"The rest of the guys are in the waiting room," he said and became his answer to the implied question when Kensi started walking.

The two agents stepped into the waiting area and were greeted with the all too welcome smell of coffee.

"We thought that we would have to wait some time to get answers so it seemed like a good idea to spend that time drinking coffee," Sam said and gave a cup of the steaming hot drink to Callen and Kensi each.

"Thanks, Sam," Kensi sighed and sunk onto the uncomfortable chair next to Nell.

The petite analyst also held a cup of coffee in one of her hands, the other encircled with Eric's larger one. Hetty was sitting next to Eric, obviously a tea instead of coffee in her hand, looking ten years older than she actually was. The thought of one of her agents lying in a hospital and that it was possibly that said agent wouldn't make it – it wasn't one of those thoughts you can get used to, at least she hadn't managed to, until now, after countless years of working for NCIS.

Despite her gloomy thoughts, Hetty put on one of her most confident faces and looked into Kensi's eyes, "Deeks is strong, he has proved that more than one time. Do not abandon hope, Ms. Blye."


Kensi didn't abandon hope, like Hetty had said. Just like the rest of the team didn't. The doctors only had to repair the damage done to Deeks' lung and he should be, at least physically, on the safe side. The two shots to the chest had been more dangerous; they could have torn his lung completely or even hit his heart – so, this was a piece of a cake, right?

The image of Deeks sitting in her backyard, slumped and bloody all over, had burned itself into Kensi's mind. How much could a human take, before he broke? Deeks' nightmares, his whole childhood, his working for the LAPD and NCIS, the injuries coming along that line of work, the shot to his knee and then his abduction together with the torture – especially the torture. He had been severely beaten, and they had found the whip, just thinking of what could have happened made her sick. What maybe even had happened. This was one of the moments Kensi wished to have Nate back from wherever he was right now. She actually thought that Deeks felt like he was part of the team by now, even more so because of the solidarity of the last couple of days and that they could help him through it together – but who knew how it looked inside of him, how he felt about everything?

He couldn't come out of this mentally unscathed. That was just impossible, it was too much. Kensi just hoped that the events of the last week didn't have him reaching his breaking point. She looked up from her coffee and let her gaze wander over the people in the waiting area, surrounding her. They were a team, a family – they wouldn't let Deeks allow losing himself. Wouldn't allow that he bottled everything up and locked himself away from everyone, should he try that. Kensi lightly shook her head, she didn't think that he would just shut up and maybe even get depressed. Why she thought so? He had talked to Callen, had let her into his nightmares. He was no longer the little boy who only had the weapon his best friend had given him for his protection. Deeks had found a family in the team, just like Callen and Kensi had. A soft smile tucked at the corners of Kensi's lips, despite the tense situation. Everything was going to be okay, she was sure of that.


A/N: Too much? From the reviews I guess that you rather enjoy that kind of Densi-feelings, and I assure you, it will get even more cheesy... god, I'm so out of my comfort zone when it comes to romance... :))

See you next weekend!