Chapter 1

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A/N – Honus47 who had been asking me for a sequel to Lies, Deceptions and Broken Hearts for a while now. This is for you Joni!

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They had been together again for three weeks and Deeks noticed that Kensi had become, not clingy exactly, but…inquisitive. Whenever he would leave she needed to know where he was going and when he would return. After the first week, he explained to her he was all done running and not to worry about him leaving. After that things settled down into an everyday routine.

Currently, he leaned against the wall, watching her, a neutral expression carefully pasted on his face. Inside he was screaming to go to her, partly to help her, partly to encourage her, but he knew it wouldn't be welcomed, either by her or by the Physical Therapist. Instead, he stayed where he was and watched her painfully moving step by step, her hands gripping the parallel bars in white knuckled determination, each leg dragged forward in a stumbling step, the sweat dripping off her face. When she reached the end, she practically collapsed into the waiting wheelchair and he finally pushed off from his place, striding towards her with a smile on his face.

"You did it Kens! You did it!"

"Did what? Dragged myself a few feet? What the hell good is that?" She snarled at him. The therapist walked away to give them some privacy.

He didn't take offence because this time he was prepared. They'd been going to counseling together. A weird combination of grief, couples and rehabilitative counseling. They'd both shared things that they'd never told anyone before. He of his violent father and she of her time on the streets after losing the father she loved above all else. With each shared memory, they developed a better understanding of the other, what drove them, what made them who they were. The counseling was also helping them deal with a possible future where she was in this wheelchair for the rest of her life. He knelt down in front of her and put his right hand on her left knee, squeezing a little. "It is good Kensi, you know that! A few weeks ago, what you just accomplished would have been impossible."

She sighed and searched his face, looking for lies but only finding sincerity and, thankfully, love. He'd been back a little over four weeks and they were both working hard on repairing the damage she'd caused when she'd told him she didn't love him, shivering a little as she remembered the nasty things she'd said to him, remembering the hurt on his face before he'd turned and walked out of her life. It had taken just over a week of her groveling, apologizing and making promises before he finally agreed to try again. The fact that he had agreed to give her a second chance was something she wasn't sure she really deserved and she'd vowed to herself to spend the rest of her life making him glad he had. She swallowed her frustration and lifted her hands to frame his face. "I do know it, but it's so frustrating!" She said softly. "I just want to get better and go home."

He brought his hands up to cover hers, turning his head a little to the left to kiss her right palm, turning to the right to repeat the gesture on the left one. "You will get better and you will go home! You just need to be patient."

"I know and I'm trying. I'm sorry I yelled at you."

"You can yell at me all you want, just don't ever give up!"

This time a smile graced her face. "Well, I guess not being able to go home is a blessing in disguise, seeing as I don't seem to have one at the moment." She gently teased him.

He sighed a little. He'd been looking for another place for them, one that could be made handicap friendly if she didn't regain full use of her legs, something he hadn't shared with her, determined to always be positive for her. It was hard at times but she looked to him for strength and he gave her every bit he had. He was still living with Callen but he was afraid he would wear out his welcome soon enough, although he wasn't there much during the day as he was either out house hunting or here at the hospital with her. He still hadn't resolved his job situation either. Hetty and Granger were both haunting him about becoming an NCIS agent, with Sam, Callen and the wonder twins backing them up. It felt good to be wanted but he still wasn't sure if he wanted to go back into law enforcement and he sure didn't want to go back to being a lawyer.

"Deeks? It's okay, you'll find us something. I know you will." She called him back from wherever he'd just gone to.

"I know but I just can't seem to find something we'd both like and that will allow dogs. I'd like a place with a fenced in yard for Monty. I just wish our old place hadn't rented out so quickly."

She leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on his lips, knowing that he still felt guilty about packing up the house and giving up the lease. He'd gone back to their realtor, Rosemary Lock, as soon as they'd agreed to try again. She'd had to tell him their old place was already gone and was now trying hard to find them a new one, but nothing was available that fit all their needs. "I have so much to apologize to you for. I'm sorry I drove you away like I did! I will be forever grateful that you came back to me. I'm going to get better and walk out here with you by my side. That's all that matters, not where we live."

He smiled at her, happy to hear a more positive Kensi. "I know but I'm really not looking forward to living with Callen until I'm old and grey!"

She laughed. "Does he still get up at night and take things apart? Sam warned me years ago, before he bought that house. I was going to offer him my spare room and Sam said not to. Said he'd be up at all hours of the night either doing that or practicing his Russian."

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, it's amazing how little sleep that man can get by on. I don't know how Joelle put up with it." They were both saddened when Callen and Joelle had broken up but it was for the best if they weren't right for each other.

They were interrupted when the therapist came back. "Kensi? It's time to return to your room."

"Okay Chelsea. Thank you." Kensi replied as Deeks stood up and took his place behind the chair, pushing her back to her room.

When they got there, the two of them helped her get back into the bed. She yawned widely and blinked a few times. He looked at his watch. "Why don't you get some sleep? I have to go anyway. I have an appointment with Rosemary in a half hour to look at yet another place."

"I wish I could go with you."

"I know you do. I'll send you pictures so you can see what it looks like, per usual." He leaned down and kissed her. Her hands came up and buried themselves in his hair as she deepened the kiss. When they both came up for air he grinned at her. "If I didn't know better, I'd think you were trying to keep me here."

She laughed and pushed him away. "Go! Find us some place wonderful to live so I have something to look forward to!"

"I'll do my best. I'll see you later, try to get some rest." He kissed her again and left.

An hour and a half later, he sat in his car feeling thoroughly depressed. This house wouldn't work either. Far from having a fenced in yard for Monty, there was no yard at all, the houses so close together there would be little to no privacy. The rooms were small and he'd felt claustrophobic the entire time he'd been inside. He hadn't even bothered to take the promised pictures for Kensi. He knew Rosemary was trying but he had a limited budget and the market was driving up the rent on the kind of place they wanted and buying was out of the question considering his current state of unemployment. He sighed and rubbed his face. He'd hoped to have better news for Kensi. He knew she was waiting to hear how it had gone and pulled out his phone.

"No go." He texted her.

A few moments later his phone chimed. "It's okay, we'll find something sooner or later."

He had to smile at the words but the smile didn't last long. He was afraid it was going to be later and he was tired of looking. He closed his eyes and leaned back into the head rest. He should get going but he just didn't have the energy right now. His thoughts wandered back over the events of the last month. He'd reacted badly, stupidly even, and run. Run almost to his death on that boat. He still had nightmares where the boat was torn apart or where Reuben hadn't been able to get him back on board, coming awake with a gasp just as he started to drown. He hadn't told Kensi about what had happened, just that he'd spent some time with an old friend who'd helped him put things in perspective. He supposed he shouldn't be so depressed. Other than the housing and job situations, things were going well. They were back together and getting stronger every day. He still had the ring but hadn't asked her again, wanting the time to be right and for them to be in the best place possible, to be sure that she didn't say yes out of some misguided guilt. The swelling on her spine had gone down and just look at what she'd accomplished today, walking on her own. His phone rang, pulling him away from his thoughts. He looked at the caller id and a small smile graced his face.

"Hi Hetty."

"Mr. Deeks, it's good to hear your voice."

"Yours too. What's up?"

"I was wondering if you would have to time to stop by The Mission today?"

He looked at his watch. He could drop by and still get back to the hospital to have dinner with Kensi, as long as it didn't take very long. "Sure. What's up?" He asked again.

"I'll tell you when you get here."

"Oookayyy." He drew out, knowing her well enough that he wouldn't get it out of her if she didn't want to say.

"When can you get here?"

He calculated the distance he would need to drive and responded. "I should be able to be there in about forty minutes."

"Good, very good. I'll see you when you get here."

"See you in a bit." They hung up and he stared at the phone for a minute, wondering if he should have agreed. It was probably just another lecture about why he should become an agent and put an end to his days of unemployment. He'd thought about it but he'd have to go to FLETC and, while the closest one was in New Mexico, it didn't offer all the classes he would need to take to become a full agent. Which meant he would have to go to Georgia and be apart from Kensi for close to two months. Of course, with him being away and her still in the hospital, it would temporarily ease the urgency of finding somewhere to live. He shrugged and started up the car, pointing it towards the place he'd felt most at home in for the first time in his life. Maybe he would let her talk him into it.

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