Hello my darlings. Me again. I want to thank LKK (Guest), Petunia3116, elsje1967, anonkp and Guest for the wonderful reviews. I'm glad you liked how Callen finally told Deeks he loved him. Now I have been waiting to write this chapter for so long, I just couldn't wait until next week to do it. I hope you like it as much as I do.
Anyway, again this is set in season 2, episode 17 'Personal'. Enjoy.
Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS: LA, nor any of the lines I have taken from the show.
Callen was still sitting at Deeks side, his hand still firmly held in his own even though the hospital ward was now filled with LAPD and the curtains to Deeks cubicle was open. He didn't care who saw them. He was with the man he loved, and there was no way he was going to let go of his hand. No way he was going to not show that he cared, not now he had said the words out loud.
That was how Sam and Kensi found them when they came back from the parking lot, though neither of them batted an eyelid at the intimacy Callen was displaying. In fact they were pleased to see it. Pleased to see he was finally where he should have been all along. At his boyfriend's side.
Deeks looked up when Sam approached and he could see in his eyes that he wanted to read him the riot act for his lack of protocol. And hey, he was pretty sure he deserve, but he really didn't want to hear it right now. Therefore he spoke before Sam could. "It won't happen again."
"And you're gonna need this." Sam replied chucking a bag at the detective, one which contained his gun. He wanted to make sure Deeks could defend himself if he needed to. "They're moving you to a room, with a view." He continued, explaining to both the men there what he and the LAPD had arranged for Deeks safety.
"Thank you." Callen responded, nodding to his partner, knowing that he had made sure that Marty would have every protection he needed.
Sam then proceeded to show Deeks the photos of the suspects, hoping he could give them some light on why they were trying to kill him. Or at least tell them if they were after him for themselves, or if they were hired by someone else. Though he was pretty sure it was going to be the latter, what with their suspects being gang members and known as guns for hire. After getting a description from Deeks, which fitted the guy who had gotten away from him and Callen in the firefight he turned to his partner, but before he could speak Deeks did.
"You know, for gang members, that's not a lot of fire power. It looked like a .22. That's gonna get you laughed at in the streets, right?"
"The driver must have gunned up." Callen replied frowning. There was something not right about this. Why would someone come at Deeks with a .22, and then come back to finish the job with the guns they had had when they had fought them? They were missing something here.
"We found a .45 calibre with Rhinos on the driver." Sam explained to the man in the hospital bed.
"Somebody really doesn't like you, Deeks." Kensi agreed.
"Yeah, and why didn't they get it right the first time?" Deeks asked, though his words caused the man holding his hand to tighten his grip to the point where it almost hurt.
"Don't say that." Callen growled out. He didn't care why they didn't shoot Marty with the larger guns in the store, he was just glad they didn't. No, all he cared about was that he was going to be okay.
"It's an honest question, G." Deeks replied turning his head to stare into his lover's eyes. He knew G didn't want to think about it, but they were gonna have to if they were gonna work out who was behind this and why they seemed to want him dead.
"This place is crawling with LAPD, you should be safe. You coming G?" Sam said interrupting the staring his partner and his boyfriend were doing. They needed to work on this case, see if they could find out what was going on.
At his words Callen had a quick argument in his head. Because part of him wanting nothing more than to follow his partner out of the hospital and to kill the SOB who was behind this. But a larger part, the part which had caused him to finally tell Marty he loved him, told him to stay where he was. To stay at the side of the man he loved so he could protect him from anyone else who could come. It was that part which won, as he knew it would as soon as he had heard the words leave Sam's mouth.
"No. Kensi'll go with you. I'm staying here." he replied in a definite tone. There was no way he was leaving Marty's side now.
"Okay. Let's go. But after you recover, we three are gonna talk." Sam responded pointing to the two men he was leaving behind in the hospital.
"Can't wait." Callen answered sarcastically as he rolled his eyes, though he had known it was coming. He was the one who had not trained Marty properly after all.
Kensi for her part decided she couldn't leave without stirring it slightly. It was the only way she could think of to get back at Deeks for pretending he had lost his memory. Therefore with a smirk she turned to her partner. "If I see Nurse Debbie, any messages you want me to give her?"
"Nurse Debbie?" Callen asked his eyebrow raising as he looked at Marty. Who was Nurse Debbie, and what had she to do with his lover? Though knowing how Marty was, he had no doubt flirted with the woman. But still… considering the look on Kensi's face, he decided it would be best for everyone if this Nurse Debbie stayed well away from Marty from now on.
"Umm, yeah. Tell her my boyfriend is more than capable of giving me a sponge bath." Deeks mumbled in reply. He could see the look in G's eyes and he had a feeling he wasn't going to see Nurse Debbie again. But he was okay with that, because G was at his side, and he was staying there. Who else could be possibly want more than him?
"Ha-huh." Callen agreed as the other two agents left laughing at their partner's behaviour.
Hetty pulled the file she had on Gordon John Brandel out of her filing cabinet in preparation to give to Nell. She needed to find Marty's father, to make sure he wasn't the one who had done this to her boy. She needed to make sure he was nowhere near the ones she saw as family.
"Miss Jones. A moment." She called as she heard the distinct step of the intelligence analyst coming down the stairs.
Nell came straight to Hetty's office when she heard those words. That was not a command she was willing to ignore. She was surprised though when Hetty handed her a red file.
"For me?" She asked wondering what it was Hetty wanted her to do with it. Though when she opened it and read what was inside her eyebrows rose. This was not the first time she had seen this bit of information after all.
"Release papers for Gordon John Brandel." She said not sure what else she could share considering she this was the man Callen had asked her to find, a man she now knew to be Deeks' father. She also knew that that investigation had not been authorised by Hetty. Oh this was not going to go well.
"Parole contacts and addresses. I need you to track him down." Hetty replied not elaborating on who the man was or why she was interested in finding him. Nell did not need to know any of that information to do her job after all.
"Um…" Nell responded with, not sure what to do. She didn't want to lie to Hetty and pretend to do as she asked when she already knew he was dead. But she also did not want to get into trouble for doing none authorised work.
"A problem, Miss Jones?" Hetty asked her eyebrow raising as she stared down the younger woman. Why was she hesitating to do this? What was she missing?
"It's just, well, I already have." Nell replied cracking under her stare. There was no way she could not tell the truth to Hetty. They didn't have the time to waste for her to pretend to be looking for someone she already knew the location of.
"You have? For who may I ask?" Hetty asked in a deceptively calm tone. Though she had a good idea of who it was that had asked Nell to look for the man. She just needed to know when he had asked, so she could figure out exactly how much trouble he was going to be in when she got a hold of him.
"Callen. He asked me to look for Gordon John Brandel a few months ago." Nell responded in a rush, biting her lip as she saw how Hetty's eyes seemed to darken at her words.
Hetty for her part was already deciding on what words she was going to use to berate her boy for his obviously personal use of government resources and time. But that was not of upmost importance then.
"And what did you find Miss Jones?" She asked simply.
"He's dead. He died in '98 in a car accident." Nell answered holding the file back out for Hetty to take. She did not need it after all.
"Very well, back to work." Hetty responded taking the file with a nod before she turned back to her cabinets. Oh, how she was going to have a very strongly worded conversation with Mr Callen when this was over. Oh, yes she was.
Callen sat next to a sleep Marty in his new room. He had been kept up to date with the investigation, including how they had caught the guy who had shot him. It was probably a good thing he hadn't been there for that take down, he was pretty sure he would have just killed the guy. Though considering he wasn't talking, Callen really couldn't see much of a problem with that idea. Sam had also informed him of the relationship between Marty and detective who had originally been investigating his case. At how it seemed his boyfriend was integral to the guy getting sober, and making sure he stayed that way. He couldn't say he was surprised by that fact. It sounded like something Marty would do, especially the whole waking the guy up at 3am when he was vacation just to make sure he hadn't been drinking. Yep that was his Marty all right.
But now he was waiting for the other man to wake so he could go over the rather long list of names they had been given that could well be behind all of this. He wasn't sure if he was proud or worried by the size of it. I mean, it showed that Marty was doing his job, and that he was damn good at it, but on the reserve of that was the idea that he was in a lot more danger than Callen had previously considered. It was a confusing mix of emotions that was for sure. He had also been considering where they would go from here. After they had caught whoever wanted Marty dead. Because there was no way he would let Marty go back to his apartment, it had been compromised now. Which left Callen with something of a dilemma. Actually no. it was less a dilemma and more a worry. Because he had come up with a plan, one he thought was really good, he just had no idea if Marty would go for it. He really hoped he did.
Deeks woke to see his boyfriend sitting next to him frowning into space. He couldn't help but smile at the sight. That G was still there at his side. Oh man, he loved him.
"Hey, you." he muttered quietly gaining Callen's attention instantly.
"Hey, yourself. How are you feeling?" Callen asked smiling at him. He loved the sleep muddled look Marty always had in his eyes when he woke, though he did prefer to see it when he was waking on his chest in their bed, but he couldn't have everything. At least Marty was still alive, that was enough for now.
"Ready for my Jell-O." Deeks replied moving to sit up, but before he could try and rearrange his pillows G was standing and doing it for him, making him as comfortable as he could. "Thanks."
"I will never understand why you leave it to breathe." Callen said as he handed Marty the pudding pot. It made absolutely no sense to him.
"It tastes better that way." Deeks replied taking a spoonful and closing his eyes in joy at the taste, making Callen chuckle at his behaviour. He knew he should start on the list of names that Sam had sent over to them, but there was something he needed to discuss first. If only he could find the right words to talk about it. But he couldn't so instead he just sat there in silence watching the man he loved eat.
"So, how's the case?" Deeks asked once he had finished his Jell-O and was leaning back against his pillows comfortably.
"It's going. Sam sent over a list of names to go over, but first…" Callen replied, but he trailed of at the end, still not sure what words to use to put his proposal to the man in the bed next to him.
"First?" Deeks promoted when he didn't continue. He had no idea what was up with him, but he wanted to know. He needed to know so he could make it better. He didn't like seeing G uncertain.
"You need to move Marty. You can't stay at your apartment anymore." Callen stated in a tone that would brook no argument from the younger man.
Not that Deeks was inclined to do so. He understood what G was saying. "Right. It's compromised. I guess I can find myself another one."
That was the opening Callen was waiting for. So taking a deep breath he said "well I have already done that for you."
"You have, have you?" Deeks asked his lips quirking up at those words. Because of course G had already found him somewhere to live. And no doubt it was more secure than Fort Knox's.
"Ha-huh. It's a nice three bed place, with a back yard for Monty." Callen replied not able to look Marty in the eyes as he said the words, wondering if he would work out what it was he was really saying.
"Sounds ideal. What's the catch?" Deeks asked seeing how G was avoiding eye contact. He knew there had to be one, but he trusted that it wasn't too bad. He trusted G to find them a good place to live.
"Well there is a roommate. He can be a bit protective on occasion, and he really doesn't sleep much." Callen explained deciding to dive right in, even if he knew his voice shook slightly with nerves at what he was saying, at what he was suggesting.
And Deeks hearing the words felt his eyes widen as a massive smile was trying to force its way onto his lips. Because he knew exactly who G was describing to be his roommate, just as he knew exactly where he was suggesting he move to. Deeks he couldn't be happier. He felt like Christmas had come early at the idea G was putting forward. But he couldn't stop himself teasing the man next to him just a little bit.
"Is he cute?" Deeks asked with a cheeky smile.
It was the smile Callen loved, and it caused his nerves to melt away and his usual confidence return. Therefore putting his hand in his pocket and pulling out his house keys he leant towards the man in the hospital bed as he held them out to him and spoke. "You tell me."
"Is this your way of asking me to move in with you, G?" Deeks asked, wanting to make sure he wasn't getting the wrong end of the stick. Wanting to make sure that G really did want them to live together, and not that he was just offering him somewhere to stay. He didn't want to get his hopes up only to have them dashed when he discovered G hadn't meant for it to be permanent.
"Yep. If you want to, or you know, you can just use it temporarily until you find somewhere else if you'd prefer." Callen replied, backtracking in case Marty wasn't ready for this step. Though he did promise himself that if Marty was only staying for a while he would do everything in his power to convince him to stay forever.
"There is nowhere else I'd rather be. I want to live with you, G. But… I have conditions." Deeks responded swiftly. The idea that G wanted this as much as him was heady and wonderful, and well, it was perfect.
"Okay." Callen agreed, ready to go with whatever condition Marty gave him. Unless of course it was that they sleep in different rooms or something like that. He didn't think he could agree to that idea.
"You need to get some new locks on your doors. Because if I can pick them they really aren't good enough." Deeks answered taking the keys from G's hand as he did so. Because he knew that if he was living with G, the first thing he would do would be to get the best damn locks on the market installed. Like G had said, his new roommate was a bit protective on occasion.
"Already done. My boyfriend wasn't happy when he discovered how easy it was to break in." Callen replied smiling widely as he realised that this was really happening. That he and Marty were going to make his house into a home.
"How sensible of him. I love you, G." Deeks said, responding to the smile on G's face with one of his own. He was going to live with the man he loved. He had thought that this wouldn't happen for years to come. Not with the way G seemed to resist serious commitment. The fact that it was the older man who had suggested it, who had asked him to move in, it was the icing on the cake in his mind.
"I love you too, Marty." Callen replied causing the smile on the younger man's face to grow even bigger if that was possible. He would never get tired of hearing those words from those lips.
And Callen for his part had never been happier than he was at the moment. He was in love and he was loved. And he was going to have Marty where he could keep an eye on him at all times. With that thought he closed the distance between the two of them and kissed him tenderly. Letting his love flitter through to the younger man, letting him know without words that now he had him, he was never going to let him go.
Deeks responded in kind, raising the hand that wasn't holding the keys to cup G's face, stroking over the slight stumble that was starting to form there as he enjoyed the moment with the man he loved.
But soon it was over, too soon in both their minds, but they also knew where they were and the fact that Callen was supposed to be on protection detail, not kissing his protectee.
Therefore Callen sat back in the chair and pulled open the folder he had at his side. "Now this list…"