Chapter 67

Kensi gratefully watched the door close behind their latest visitors. She loved Cindy, Chris and the baby, but the visit hadn't gone well. No matter who was holding him, LC had kept reaching out to Deeks, not understanding why Uncle Marty didn't immediately take him into his arms and cuddle him, like always. LC adored Deeks and, whenever he was around, the baby wanted no one but Deeks to hold him. The baby had started out whimpering and then progressed to full blown wailing. Both Cindy and Chris had tried to comfort him but nothing had worked. As the crying had gotten louder, Kensi had noticed that Deeks was frowning in his sleep and his hands were twitching. He never could stand to let a crying child go uncomforted and, even in his current condition; the sound was enough to trigger that desire in him. Eventually they all decided it was best to cut the visit short, Chris telling Kensi to let them know when he was awake and they'd come back. Cindy had kissed Deeks on the forehead and given Kensi one last hug and then they were gone.

Quiet. Blessed quiet. There'd been a steady stream of visitors today, all under the mistaken impression that he'd woken up, each one of them disappointed to find him still out. She looked at her watch. It was just after eight, visiting hours were over. The only ones she might see now were members of their team. Or so she thought. As soon as she settled into the chair by his bed, ready to spend some one on one time with him, she heard the beginnings of an argument outside the door. A grin spread over her face when she recognized the voices.

"Sir, I've already told you, visiting hours are over!"

"I just want to see him! I won't be long."

"Then I guess you should have been here before 8!"

"It's only 8:02! Cut me some slack, will you? I just got back into town and I came here straight from the airport!"

"I'm sorry for that, but the rules are the rules! Visiting hours end at 8! You'll have to come back tomorrow."

"I'm not leaving here until I see him! Do you know who I am?"

The last sentence goaded Kensi into action. She got up, opened the door and smiled at the sight in front of her. Caroline Finch, the petite night nurse, had her fists on her hips and was glaring up at basketball star Kip Brigham. Kensi loved Kip but knew he was not used to being told no. She contemplated letting them duke it out, if anyone was taking bets her money would be on the nurse, but she knew how much Deeks meant to Kip and understood his frustration at finally getting here and then being denied entrance.

"Caro? Would it be okay if he came in? Just for a little bit? He's Deeks's best friend." Kensi wondered if the little nurse followed basketball and knew who Kip was.

Caro turned to Kensi and smiled at her. "For you and for Marty, I'll let it slide this one time." She turned and glared up at Kip. "Not for him!" She flounced away, leaving a slack jawed Kip in her wake.

Kensi could hear her muttering under her voice as she left. "Do I know who he is? Ha! Mr. big shot basketball player, used to getting whatever he wants. I don't care if he is the leading scorer in the league, he's not all that!"

Kensi was trying hard not to laugh but when she looked at Kip's face, she lost it. He definitely wasn't used to be treated this way, especially by women. They usually fell all over themselves trying to get his attention. He definitely wasn't used to being told off. The man looked downright lost. At the sound of her laughter, he turned and met her eyes, fully intending to be offended that she'd found the whole situation funny. One look at her and the humor of it all overrode his indignation. He started to laugh with her.

When the laughter finally died out, Kensi looked at him and said "It was good to laugh. I haven't done that in days." He reached out and pulled her into a quick hug.

"Kensi, how is he? How are you doing?" She could hear the worry in his voice. She stepped out of his embrace and looked him in the eyes, wanting her words to reassure both of them.

"He's doing so much better. The doctor's taken him off the ventilator and has ratcheted down the sedation over the course of today. We're hoping he'll wake up at any time. He's going to be just fine. He opened his eyes and talked to me earlier today but it turned out he was still under."

"Ventilator? Sedation? Just how bad was this accident?" He looked through the open door at his friend lying in the bed but couldn't make out much about his condition.

"Let's not have this conversation in the hallway. But, before you come in, you need to be prepared. He's pretty bruised and battered but the only thing you need to think about is that he's vastly improved and getting better every minute!"

The two of them entered the room and Kensi turned to shut the door behind them. Kip kept walking and stopped by the bed, shocked at the condition of this man who had done so much for him, been his best friend since he was just a kid. He looked up when Kensi reached his side. "You call this vastly improved? Just how bad was he? Someone did this to him! This wasn't from any damn car accident! Tell me and don't lie to me! I get a text from you that he's been in an accident and he's in the hospital and this is what I come home to? You lied to me!"

"I'm sorry I lied Kip, but I knew there was nothing you could do from where you were and I didn't want to worry you. Plus, at the time, it was still an ongoing case. I had no idea what direction it would take and it could have ended up being a matter of national security. Now that it's over, I can share everything with you."

Kensi took a deep breath and told him everything. About the abduction, the torture, the rescue, the injuries, the attack on him here in the hospital, the mole inside LAPD, the one at NCIS, everything, until she eventually ran out of steam. Kip stood there silently through the whole story, his body tensing as he listened to her tell him all the things his friend had gone through. When she finally petered out, he turned to her, anger radiating off him.

"Did you get the bastards who did this to him?"

"Yes! The man who tortured him is dead. My boss killed him herself, just as he was about to shoot another member of our team. I doubt there's a person on this planet that's sorry that she did so. His partner was arrested and gave up his boss, the one who ordered the whole thing. He also gave us enough information to close down a weapons smuggling ring being run by the same man even though he's already behind bars. This man ordered a hit on a friend of Deeks's years ago and the guy we arrested was the one who gunned down her, her husband and unborn child."

"You got the guy who killed Katie and Michael?"

"You knew about that?"

"Yeah, Marty and I were already friends when it happened. I met them once or twice; we weren't exactly what you'd call close. They were nice people but we didn't run in the same circles. Marty was our only connection. He was really torn up about it. For once it was me pushing him into playing basketball, trying to get him out of his funk about the whole thing."

Kip was starting to get worked up again. "Damn it, Kensi! You should have told me how bad it was! I would've cut my road trip short! Coach would've understood. He knows Marty's the reason he has the leading scorer in the league on his team. I would've liked to have been here for him, for you!" His voice had risen during his rant.

"Don't be giving my girl a hard time! She'll kick your ass into next week." The voice was weak and hoarse but music to both their ears.

Kensi rushed to his side and grabbed his hand. Her own was trembling. "You're awake! Oh baby, it's good to hear your voice, see your eyes open! I've missed you so much!" She leaned down and kissed him. When she stood back up, he was looking at her in confusion.

"What happened? You missed me? How long was I out?"

"What do you remember?" Kensi turned worried eyes toward Kip, not sure if she wanted to be the one to tell him everything that had happened to him if he couldn't remember.

"Don't worry Fern. I remember being in that damn packing plant, I remember everything those bastards did to me. The last thing I remember was seeing Sam coming through the door." He sucked in a breath and tried to sit up. "Sam? Is he okay? Please, Kensi, tell me Sean didn't kill him!" The pain in his ribs, chest and back forced him back down on the bed, his breath coming in pants.

"Sam's fine, Deeks! You saved his life!"

"I don't remember that part; all I remember is the door opening, Sam's head coming through and Sean taking aim. You're sure he's okay? You wouldn't lie to me about that, would you?"

"Why would I lie about that?"

"To keep me calm until you felt I could handle it better?"

Kensi pulled out her phone and hit the number 4 speed dial. When the owner answered she said "Sam, there's someone here who wants to talk to you." She handed the phone to Deeks.

"Sam? Is that you? Are you okay?"

"Seriously Deeks? I'm at home with Michelle and Kam, you're the one who's in the hospital and you want to know if I'm okay? I think you need the doctor to take a closer look at you. Maybe you do have a brain injury!"

Deeks huffed out a laugh and heard the same words as last time. "Laughing is good."

He nodded, even though Sam couldn't see him, and replied the same as last time. "Yeah."

"It's good to hear your voice. Oh man, did I really just say that? Maybe I'll get the doc to take a look at me when I come to visit you. Maybe I'm the one with the brain injury."

"You love me, just admit it!"

There was silence on the other end of the phone, not at all what Deeks had been expecting. He'd figured Sam would come up with some funny put down. Finally Sam spoke again, his voice hushed. "You need to stop doing this to us Deeks! Apparently you need us there to watch your back at every second. It's time to walk away from LAPD and become an NCIS agent."

Deeks frowned, not exactly sure why Sam would think he needed to leave LAPD. Becoming an agent was something that had been on his mind more and more lately but it was good to hear Sam encouraging him to do so.

He was brought out of his reverie when Sam said "Michelle wants to say hi."

He could hear the rustling of the phone being handed off and another voice came over the line. "Marty? How are you sweetie?"

"Hi Michelle. I don't really know. I just, I just woke up here. I don't remember much after the raid started on the plant. Is Sam really okay?"

"He's fine, not a scratch. He was really worried about you though, we all were. I'm so glad you're finally awake." She paused. "Marty, now it's my turn. I'll owe you for the rest of my life for saving him for us. This is becoming a habit, you saving a Hanna."

"Someone has to do it. You guys always manage to get yourselves into trouble!"

"Very funny! I'm glad you're doing better. Sam and I will be in to see you soon. Can you put Kensi back on for a minute?"

"Sure. Um, will you be bringing Kam with you?"

"We'll see. She has school but I know she's worried about Uncle Marty."

"Tell her I said hi and not to worry, I'm going to be fine!"

"I will." Deeks handed the phone back to Kensi. She took it and walked a little ways away, signaling Kip with her eyes and a nod of her head to keep Deeks occupied.

"Hi Michelle."

"How is he Kensi, really?"

"Um, he's awake but the doctor hasn't been in yet. I haven't even had the chance to let the nurses know. His friend Kip showed up for a visit and he just woke up. He looks better to me but I know he's in pain and hiding it. I also think he's confused."

"What does he remember?"

Kensi filled Michelle in on the little she knew. He'd only been awake less than a half hour at this point and Sam had been the first thing on his mind. They hadn't had the chance to get into all the details of what had happened before, during and after the raid, and she didn't want to do that while Kip was in the room. When they finally hung up, she turned to look back at the bed.

Kip was telling Deeks some story about a situation between him and a groupie on this last road trip, one that had Deeks gasping out little laughs even though she could see that each one caused him pain. She watched the two friends interact and wondered at how two such different people could have such a deep connection. For some reason, it reminded her of Thapa, even though Kip was as far from the spiritual, knife wielding Ghurka as you could get. As she watched, Deeks's eyelids started to droop and she knew he wouldn't be awake much longer. This time though, the sleep would be a natural, healing one.

She wandered over to them, just in time to catch the tail end of Kip's story. "And then her husband shows up and starts accusing me of hitting on his wife! I tried to be gracious and walk away but he wasn't having any part of it. He actually took a swing at me! I ducked and caught him with an upper cut. Dude went down like a sack of potatoes. Then the groupie is all over my case, yelling at me for hitting her husband. What was I supposed to do? Let him deck me for something I hadn't even done?" Kip wound down and took a closer look at Deeks. He, too, could see that his friend was tiring. It was time to leave.

He wanted desperately to give him one of their bro hugs but knew that was out of the question and he certainly wasn't going to kiss him. He settled for placing a hand on his shoulder and squeezing. "I'm glad you're going to be okay Marty-Mar. I don't ever want to find out what it's like to not have you in my life." Kensi had to smile at how uncomfortable this admission seemed to make the basketball player. The friendship between the two, while unlikely, was years in the making and very real.

They said their goodbyes and Kensi walked Kip out, telling Deeks she would be right back. Kip looked at her once the door closed behind them. "You'll take care of him, won't you?"

"Of course! You know I will. You didn't need to ask me that."

"I know. I know how much you love him. It's just…it's hard for me to see him like that! To know that another human being did that to him. Although I find it hard to call the one who did that, a human being. "

"You're not alone! You should have heard the doctor who treated him. She told us if we hurt the monster that did this, to not bother bringing him here, to her hospital, for treatment."

"I think I'll like this doctor!"

Kensi smiled, thinking of Moira. She had a feeling the two of them would hit it off. She was sure she'd find out soon enough. "How long are you in town for this time?"

"Two and a half weeks. We're on a west coast schedule right now. We have mostly home games and the couple of the road ones aren't far away, they won't require us to stay overnight. I'll be in to see him as much as possible. Don't be surprised if a couple of the guys from the team show up with me. They've all met Marty at one time or another and they like him. Coach too."

Kensi smiled, idly wondering what the administrators would think of celebrity NBA players wondering in and out of their hospital all day. She'd worry about that when the time came. Kip gave a huge yawn and she realized he'd probably been traveling most of the day and dealing with the time change. The game last night had been in Boston against the Celtics. She didn't even know who'd won and she didn't really care. "Kip, go home, get some sleep. I'll be here all night and tomorrow. Come back when you're more rested and he can stay awake for a longer period."

"Thanks Kensi. For everything. For being there for him, for loving him." His words were filled with sincerity and concern.

Kensi blushed a little and tried to hide it in a goodbye hug. Kip let her and kissed her on the top of her head. "I'll see you both tomorrow some time. Try to get some sleep yourself."

"Are you saying I look haggard, Mr. Brigham?" Kensi drew herself up to full height, the look in her eyes belying the belligerent question.

"What? No, no, no! I would never say that! I have it on good authority that you can kick my ass into next week!"

They both laughed and said their final goodbyes. Kensi watched him walk away and, once he was out of sight, she poked her head back into the room. Deeks was sound asleep again. She smiled at him and closed the door gently. She turned and went off to track down Caro, to tell her that he'd woken up and had been talking, coherently this time. She knew Moira would want to know and she had a ton of calls to make. Deciding it would take too long to call everyone who'd want to know, she sent a group text to those whose number she had in her phone.

"He's awake!"

~,~,~,~

A/N – well finally! I thought he'd never wake up, although, hard to believe as it is, it's only been a few days.

A/N 2 – thanks for RiconV35 for the idea to bring Kip in! I'd completely forgotten about him and decided to blame his absence on the road trip and the fact that Kensi hadn't told him the whole truth, knowing there was nothing he could do from the other side of the country.