DOUBLE TAKE

Chapter 23

It had been a long day, with the flight home to Los Angeles dragging it out that much further. They had all slept on the plane, comforted, that although their time in Dallas hadn't been a pleasant one, they were all now together safe and heading home. Deeks had managed to persuade the doctor to release Kensi from hospital early, ensuring her that she would get plenty of rest and was looked after by him at all times. Hetty contacted Nate through back channels, due to how deep and how far away he was, that he was needed back at the Office of Special Projects.

Hetty watched her team depart, and leave in their collective cars to their homes. Sam went alone back home to his family, Deeks took Kensi home to her apartment, and Callen drove Nell home to her place. She would have smiled at the group if there had been something to smile about, instead she climbed into her car and drove home alone. Jackson and Charlie were flying up the following day to help them close this disastrous case. She had parted with Michel sadly, fully aware he was to fly home in a couple of days to his other family. But she had no regrets of their summer fling in Paris, of her choice to keep her daughter Charlotte, nor of her decision to finally contact him and unite father and daughter after forty years.

Deeks pulled up in Kensi's driveway, with a wave of déjà vu from a couple of days earlier. But this time instead of comforting her over the loss of Kevin, it was to comfort her over the cruel hurt Kevin had committed on her, and to hopefully help her heal. They were partners, so the trust they each had for the other was the highest it could be—-when it came to having each other's back, to keep safe and stay alive. But when it had come to Kensi's heart, she had always kept walls built up around it. It had surprised him how easily she had let those walls down for Kevin, five weeks earlier, when he had approached her in her apartment. She had been angry with him for being there when she had returned to pack her bags, after only one night with Callen's double. But he had only the best intentions for her—-to make sure she was happy and safe. That was all he ever wanted, and if it meant for her to be happy would result in the reality that she would never love him the way he loved her, then he was willing to accept it. But not now. He saw what state she was in when they had rescued her from that house in Dallas, surrounded by Kevin's team. It had broken his heart to see her deeply hurt and betrayed by Kevin. Anger rippled through his body from the memory of earlier that day. It made him more determined that he was going to be there for her, to comfort her, to help her heal, and let her trust with her heart again. But not with just anyone. Oh, no. There was no way he was going to let Kensi Marie Blye trust with her heart with anyone else, but him. It was what kept him going, after seeing the effects Kevin's actions had on her. Having his focus on her was what kept him from going insane and killing Kevin with his bare hands. He remembered Callen's words from the day before, just after Kensi had been kidnapped. He had threatened Kevin in the same manner. But he couldn't do it. Kevin was unarmed when they stormed the bedroom, so Callen had no right to end his life, no matter how furious he was with his brother. Nor was it in Callen's nature to kill without a valid reason. Even if it had entered his mind. How Callen had managed to keep his anger under control, Deeks couldn't comprehend, other than their team leader was good at controlling his emotions.

Deeks unlocked Kensi's front door with his key and switched on the light. He turned and saw her standing beside him, staring into her living room, and across to the kitchen bench. Still in its vase, sat the bunch of red roses Kevin had greeted her with four nights earlier. "I'll throw them out," he told her, and she nodded before walking straight into her bedroom. When Deeks had returned from the trash can, he watched Kensi drag sheets from her bed into the laundry. He remained where he stood as he heard the washing machine door open and shut close again, and the machine click on.

Kensi emerged with a fresh pile of sheets to make her bed with. "I'll do that for you, Kensi." He slowly took them from her and she let him make her bed. Kensi stood leaning on the door frame as she watched him quickly throw the sheets into the air and settle on the bed, before neatly tucking in the corners under the mattress. Watching him distracted her, and she smiled as his scruffy face scrunched up as he held a pillow under his chin while he slipped the pillow case over the pillow. Quickly and smoothly, without any pause, he completed all four pillows and was now fighting the quilt into its cover. This part of making her bed had always frustrated her, so she appreciated having her partner do it for her, but relented anyway to help him. "Thanks."