A's/N. ncislaaddict123 and I would like to apologize for the long wait between chapters. For those who don't know she is writing this with me, (Callen37). I however have been called out of the country for work and have limited to non-existent internet where I am, today I have managed to get a limited signal so we managed to get this out for you. We are working hard on the next chapter, which again will be posted when the internet in this very very hot country is working and not frelting my computer. Thank you for your patience. Gina Callen.

Chapter 5

Callen and Deeks sat on the deck, Monty lying stretched out at Deeks' feet. They ate their steaks in silence; finally, Deeks was feeling comfortable instead of awkward in front of his team leader.

The constant questions Deeks asked himself and the uncertainty he felt towards himself, and the events on the Mission pushed him deeper and deeper into the dark recesses of his mind.
Monty sensed that and he barked to bring his master out of the dread he intended to get himself lost in.
G only watched, he knew it was too early to confront the shaggy haired man. He decided instead to share some stories about Sharky to get a feeling for each other and maybe Deeks would relax a bit more. He had to be careful with him because he knew if he approached the subject too soon Deeks would backtrack and build up his walls again.

"Where did you learn how to make such a delicious steak?" Deeks asked unexpectedly ... moments ago he was withdrawn and far away in his mind, Callen couldn't bring him out of it and now ... it was as if he was protecting himself; avoiding any questions or comments about what had just happened.

"Gibbs taught me while we were on a Mission to rescue some political hostages in Serbia" was G's responded.
He looked at Marty and saw the light flinch and the stiff body posture by mentioning the words "hostages and rescue"
All he got from Marty was a nod...

"How did you meet Sharky?" Deeks asked.

Callen laughed, "I was twelve, I was placed with a family that lived near the beach, and they were ok as families went but took absolutely no notice of me whatsoever."

Callen stopped as Deeks raised an eyebrow at Callen's casual mention of neglect.

"Trust me, sometime being ignored is safer than being noticed," he said shrugging it off and he continued. "Anyhow I hadn't eaten for a few days and it was summer vacation so no chance of a school lunch to get something to eat. So as I had to be out of the house before the family got up, I was at the beach at 4.30am, I was watching the vendors set up and get their wares ready to sell. Anyway, I'm sitting on the beach smelling a hot-dog vendor's cart and my stomach starts rumbling." Callen ate another bite of his steak as if he was stopping a memory of his own he swallowed and continued.

"So this old guy comes along and puts his towel down on the sand with a cool box puts his surfboard in the sand. Like most adults I think he doesn't see me on the sand, turns out later he did and was worried about me." His voice breaks a little at the memory and he took a drink to cover the slip. He really didn't want to tell Deeks this, but if he was expecting the younger man to open up to him, he needed to give a little first didn't he?

"Anyway I watched him surf and I knew he was out in the water, but I lost sight of him as I stared at that cooler, I moved closer and closer until I was sitting right by it, and I opened it half an inch, nearly died at the amount of food there was inside it. There was sandwiches and chips and soda's. I smelled it and wanted to take it, but I couldn't and I started to close the lid when Sharky put his hand on my shoulder."

Callen smiled at the memory.

Sharky had been four times to the beach that week and had seen the skinny kid there every day, yesterday he had watched the kid all day, seen him there before daylight, and watched as he'd scrounged through the trash looking for discarded food. He'd been impressed when a man had dropped his wallet and although the kid was obviously hungry, he had ran up to the man with his kid and handed him his wallet back, refused a reward suggesting he brought his kid something with the money instead and had stared hungrily at the ice cream he'd brought his son.

He didn't know what the deal was with the kid, but he was obviously honest and hungry. A rare combination.

So this morning he'd packed a cooler full of food and drinks and taken it with him.

He'd seen the same kid on the beach and surfed briefly watching the kid get closer and closer to the food, he'd opened the lid and he wondered if the kid would get the hint and help himself to the food inside but even though he could hear the kid's stomach growling he was shutting the lid.

He reached out and touched the kid on the shoulder. Instantly he flinched and scrambled away.

"I weren't gonna steal nothin!" Callen snapped looking frightened at the man.

"I know that kid, but I'd be a shame if you didn't help me eat some, I made too much again."

Callen shook his head; he wasn't going to just, take food from the other man.

Sharky sighed, grabbed a sealed packet of sandwiches and a soda, and dropped them in an empty trashcan.

Callen waited for a second and bolted over to the trashcan, took the food and drink out of it and wolfed it down watching Sharky all the time as he ate.

As Callen finished his food and put the trash in the can he turned to find a packet of chips and another can of soda on the sand halfway between the man and him, Sharky nodded at the boy and he moved over to eat the food.

Sharky moved a bit closer, watching Callen as he ate, "My name's Sharky, what's yours?" he asked.

Callen looked at him. "Callen…G…my name's G."

"Interesting…" Sharky said as Callen winced slightly waiting for the inevitable, how can that be your name to come out; however, Sharky said nothing.

"You like the ocean?" Sharky asked.

Callen nodded his mouth full; he took a drink of the soda. "How do you do that?" he asked nodding towards the surfboard.

"What…Surf?" Sharky asked.

Callen nodded, "Is it dangerous?" he asked.

Sharky shook his head, "Na…you know if you're interested the surf shack runs classes, maybe your parents would let you learn."

Callen looked away, "I don't have any parents…I...I don't wanna learn, I was just asking."

"Hey…kid, G…I could teach you…" Sharky offered as Callen turned to look longingly at the surfers in the ocean.

"Na, Can't pay ya." Callen said.

Sharky smiled, "You're young and healthy though?" He said.

Callen's head snapped up and the scared and guarded look came up again, Sharky wondered what on earth this kid had been through in his life. Callen softened as Sharky's dog, Bob came bounding over and nuzzled the boy, for Sharky that was it, if Bob liked him the kid couldn't be bad.

"I have a shed I need building and some yard work done, what do you say? you give me an hour's work for an hour's surfing lesson."

Callen nodded, and Sharky smiled. He was an ex police officer and he'd seen kids like Callen before; he hoped that by getting him a hobby he liked he could keep him out of trouble. There was good in this kid and he hoped that in some small way he'd help keep him out of trouble.

Callen turned to Deeks, "And that was that, I did his yard work all summer and he taught me to surf, and a few other things as well…He was a good friend." He said sadly remembering that Sharky had died a few years before.

After breakfast and after they had shared a few more stories about Sharky and how similar the experiences were Callen decided to show Deeks yet another secret no one else know except for him.

Callen stood up and grinned, "C'mon, I want to show you something " he said and the two made their way to the garage where he stopped in front of the door and fixed his younger companion with a serious glare to maintain how important this was... "You have to keep this a secret." He said.
MARTY said in his unique surfer drawl "Don't worry about me I can keep a secret, despite what everyone else believes, so don't sweat it" and of course he kept some major ones.

Callen then opened his garage, walked to the far end lifted a tarpaulin up and tossed it to the side ...

Deeks was speechless and Callen could see the longing in his eyes and he knew what this look meant, he had the same one. Standing in the middle of the garage were two motorcycles, exactly the same type as the ones Hetty had confiscated from Deeks a few months ago. He walked towards them and stopped, reached out reverently and almost touched one of the glorious machines but hesitated, he looked at Callen to seek his permission. He got a nod and than he was once again in his own world.
He dared to remember how he felt when riding such a perfect bike how the wind whistled through his hair or the freedom he felt. But then again as if on purpose, his mind assaulted him once again with his failures.

Callen could see the sudden change in Deeks demeanor and quickly handed the young man a helmet and took the lead he thought it was the best to decide for him and maybe, maybe he would come out of it.
This safe haven had been good, he lifted Monty up and secured him to a harness he had preinstalled on the back of Deeks' bike and grabbed two bags, which he tied to the back of his bike.

"Where are we going?" Deeks asked.

Callen smiled, "Haven." He said and climbed on the bike, "Stay close and follow me." He instructed, he turned the ignition over on the bike and after locking up the house by remote control he sped off with Monty and Deeks following close behind.