Hello my dears. I would like to thank Petunia3116, Clare1974 and French fan (Guest) for the wonderful reviews. I would also like to thank those of you who have followed and favoured since my last update.
So here is the next chapter, it is again set in season 1, episode 19 'Hand-to-Hand'. I hope you like it.
Disclaimer: don't own NCIS: LA.
Callen opted to watch the fight between Sam and Deeks from ops. He knew he wouldn't be able to remain completely objective if he was there in real life. The plan was for Deeks to fold, but he knew the guy wouldn't. Not Marty. There was no way he would go down without a fight, no matter how much Sam pulled his punches. And so he stood there in ops, holding the table behind him so tightly his knuckled turned white, while making sure he had a calm look on his face as he watched Deeks and Sam beat the crap out of each other. It was strange really, because this was just what he was afraid of. That Sam would find out about what had happened between him and Marty and do this, though in that case he knew his partner wouldn't pull his punches. But that wasn't important right now, no right now he needed to concentrate on the case…He just wish Deeks would stay down, but he knew that wouldn't happen. The guy wanted to prove himself to him, to them, to the team. He wanted to prove he could do this. So Callen had to stand there and watch as the two men who meant anything to him, beat the crap out of each other. It was not nice, but he did it. He was lead agent and this was his job.
When the fight was finally over and Sam declared the winner Callen was out of the room as fast as he could go while keeping his voice even as he told Eric to get everyone to the boatshed. The only thought in his mind was to go and make sure Marty was alright. He knew Sam was, Sam could beat Marty with just one punch if he felt inclined, so really all Callen cared about was Marty. He was the only one he knew he had to care about.
Arriving at the boatshed Callen had hoped he would be the first one there, so he could take some time to get himself under control. But instead as he walked through the door he found Hetty sitting on the couch.
"Ah, Mr Callen. You made good time." Hetty said with a smile when she saw who had walked in. She was not surprised he had come so quickly, and she was sure she knew exactly what was on his mind.
"What are you doing here Hetty?" Callen asked with a frown. He expected to be alone, to find he wasn't was rather disconcerting.
"I have come to treat Mr Deeks and Mr Hanna's injuries, unless of course you wish to do that yourself." Hetty responded with a calm smile enjoyed the puzzled look that came over Callen's face at her words.
"You know I have only very basic first aid, how could I help them?" Was all Callen could think to say to that. He was glad she was there, glad she would be making sure Marty was okay, but it did mean that he wouldn't have the chance to have a private word with the guy. Not that he had any idea what he wanted say. He had agreed to leave talking until the end of the case, of course that was before Sam had beaten Marty up. Callen really was finding himself unsure about what he should do next.
Hetty watched her team leader, and read the thoughts going through his mind. Mr Callen was worried for Mr Deeks, it was all rather sweet to see in her mind. But she also wanted G to be comfortable enough around her to express the feeling she knew he had.
"Indeed I do, but it would give you a valid reason to be close to Mr Deeks." She finally replied taking pleasure in how wide Callen's eyes went at her words.
"What are you talking about Hetty?" Callen asked forcing his eyes to stop darting towards the door as if looking for an escape. Surely she didn't know about what had happened between him and Marty. No she couldn't, but… she was Hetty, she could.
"I am talking about you relationship with Mr Deeks." Hetty replied spelling it out for him. Making it so there was no way he could misinterpret her words.
"There is no relationship." Callen responded shaking his head. He had no idea what him and Marty were, what they would become, but he knew that a relationship wasn't on the cards for either of them.
"But that doesn't change your feelings for him Mr Callen." Hetty said with an understanding smile. Before Callen could reply the door to the boatshed opened and the man in question walked through. Making both sets of eyes in the room turn to him.
Deeks returned to the boatshed as quickly as he could, hoping that maybe he would have a chance to talk to G alone. So when he walked through the door and his eyes fell on the man, he couldn't stop the smile that appeared on his slightly bruised face.
"Hey G... And Hetty." He said when he realised that there was another person in the room. He needed to remember to search for Hetty whenever he entered this place. He didn't want to reveal the secret Callen had asked him to keep.
"Mr Deeks, come here please." Hetty replied waving him over to the couch, making him nervous. What was this about?
"Ummm, okay... Why?" he asked as he cautiously walked towards the little woman.
"So that I can assess your injuries." Hetty responded with a little bit too much pleasure in her tone for his liking. He so didn't want her anywhere near his injuries, not that he actually had any major ones.
"No need I'm fine, really." Deeks said even while he feet continued to walk him over the couch, it was if he couldn't say no to Hetty, it was scary.
"Sit, Mr Deeks." Hetty replied ignoring his words as she pulled on a pair of rubber gloves.
"But I -" Deeks tried to say, but before he could come up with an excuse he found a hand on his shoulder pushing him down. He knew who's hand it was and as such he turned to G to give him a look of betrayal.
"Give up now Marty. This is a fight you won't win." Callen whispered into his ear before moving back, making sure he was out of Hetty's way. Though he did find that he didn't want to remove his hand from Deeks shoulder, his mind claimed it was because he didn't want him getting away from Hetty, but the truth was, he just liked the contact, liked knowing Marty was there.
"Thank you for the compliment Mr Callen. I will remember that the next time you resist medical attention." Hetty replied showing she heard his whisper. At that all Callen did was smile in response, deciding to wisely stay silent as he sat down next to Marty and his hand unconsciously slid from his shoulder to curl around the back of the other man's neck rubbing gently in the hopes of easing some of the tension he could feel in Marty's muscles.
Deeks on the other hand was so shocked by G's behaviour he completely forgot the reason he was sitting down. Why was he touching him in front of his boss? In front of Hetty? He was the one who had wanted to keep things quiet, so what was he playing at now? Of course Deeks was pulled from His thoughts and questions by a sudden stinging feeling on his cheek. Damn that hurt.
"Ow." He said pulling away from Hetty and subconsciously moving towards G. Pressing himself into the man's arm which was half curled round his shoulders.
"I am sorry Mr Deeks, but I need to clean the cut on your face. I had thought you were aware if what I was doing. I did not realise that you were so... Distracted." Hetty replied, though her last words were directed at Callen who raised his hands away from Deeks with a smirk on his face.
"Sorry, I'll keep my hands to myself." He joked at her making Deeks turn to him and just blink at the words that had come out of his mouth. What was going on here?
"If you would for now Mr Callen, I believe it would be for the best. What you both do in your personal time is up to you." Hetty replied grabbing Deeks chin and turning him to face her again so she could try and tackle the cut once more.
"wait, what?" Deeks asked pulling himself out of Hetty's grasp and swinging his head from side to side waiting for someone to explain what the hell was going on here.
"Stay still Mr Deeks, I am almost done." Hetty responded not answering any of his questions. She would leave G to do that in a minute once she had sure Mr Deeks was unharmed.
Deeks took a deep breath and did what Hetty said. He knew the best person to get answers from would be G, just as he knew he wouldn't give them to him while Hetty was there. And so he sat perfectly still and willed Hetty to speed up and get this over with.
"Done. I will go and dispose of these things." Hetty finally said standing with the used wipes in her hand and walking towards the bathroom without looking back.
"Hetty knows?" Deeks whispered to Callen as soon as the door shut behind her.
"Hetty knows everything." Callen replied simply. There wasn't much else he could say about that after all.
"You told her?" Deeks asked his eyes widening at that idea. I mean, why would G tell Hetty what had happened between them? What would be the point? Unless he was trying to give her a reason to end the joint investigation and get him kicked out. But no, why would he do that?
"No. Hetty knows everything is an unwritten rule of thumb we all tend to work with." Callen replied with a chuckle at the look on Deeks face. He wasn't sure what was going on in his mind, but he wanted to make sure that Marty knew this had nothing to do with him. That he hadn't said a word.
"But how?" Deeks asked still confused by this sudden turn of events. And confused about how it would affect whatever decision G would make when they finally got round to talking.
"I have always felt it prudent not to ask that question. How are you feeling?" Callen asked changing the subject smoothly. The others would be here soon, and he didn't want to be caught discussing other things when they came through the door thank you very much.
"I'm fine. So what now?" Deeks replied, understanding that G was not going to talk about their personal thing anymore.
"Now we wait for Sam and Kensi and solve this case." Callen responded simply, moving to lean back on the couch and cross his arms to stop himself reaching out for the younger man again.
"and then we'll talk?" Deeks asked moving to lean back next to him, making sure he was staring into Callen's eyes as he got his reply.
"And then we'll talk." Callen nodded in agreement smiling at the scruffy man. He looked tired and a bit bruised, but his eyes still shone, and he still had his cute smile. He still managed to make Callen's heart beat a little bit faster, however much he wished it wouldn't.