So we have come to the last chapter. This is my first completed multi chapter story, quite fitting as chapter one was my first ever fic. I feel quite sad it's done now :( Thank you all so much for the kind reviews and wonderful encouragement. Thanks to Moresassythanclassy, bookdiva and JKO73 who kept me motivated in times of writing drought. You guys are the best. I hope you've all enjoyed this story! This last chapter is quite angst filled but don't worry our Densi always figure it out :) For more fluff filled, less angst ridden fics check out my other stories. A couple of ongoing ones, requests taken by PM! Yes, shameless plugging. Please review as I love to hear your thoughts, especially now it's complete :)

One more thing HAPPY DENSI DAY! So without further ado...

Deeks held the door to her place open and waited for her to enter first but she just stood there staring ahead. He gave her a few moments before breaking the silence.

"Kens?" He asked softly. Slowly she tore her eyes away from whatever she was seeing and looked at him. Or rather his direction.

"Kensi?"

This time she looked into his beautiful but tired face. The face she had pictured a thousand times during their separation. Despite her fitful sleep on the plane home she was finding it difficult to focus. He didn't smile, he just looked back asking a silent question unsure whether to voice it. He wanted to ask what was wrong but he knew from experience the answer was everything, so why bother asking. Instead he stepped into her apartment and switched on the lights. He noticed her intake of breath as she seemed to brace herself, slowly stepping over the threshold.

It was exactly how she remembered it. It was as though she had never left. God, she wished she had never left. Kensi stood in the middle of the room watching her partner as he dropped her bag on the floor before walking back to shut the door she had neglected to close. This time he stopped in front of her. "Don't worry, I didn't move any of your stuff." He gave her a small smile.

"Everything looks the same." She looked round blankly.

"Yeah I just kept it clean." He followed her gaze around the room before returning his attention back to his partner.

"That's not what I mean." She forced herself to look at him. He tilted his head in response.

"Everything looks the same." She felt the tears building. "But it's not, I'm not, everything..." She began to sob and felt his arms encircle her. "Shhhh. It'll be ok. It'll be ok." He repeated as he smoothed her hair. He held her and waited till her tears subsided. He felt her release a deep breath. Loosening his grip on her, he pulled back just enough to look down at her and what he saw there made his heart break for what felt like the hundreath time in the past few days. He had seen her upset before, her had witnessed her tears but he had never seen her like this - broken. And the most horrorify part of it was he knew all to well how it felt. And he knew no words or no amount of reassuring hugs could fix this. He led her to the couch and sat close to her, their knees touching. They sat like that for awhile before Deeks cleared his throat. "Do you want to shower or sleep?" He asked. "Eat?" He added with a raised eyebrow and a smile.

"Sleep." She replied. She wanted to sleep and wake up to find it had all been a bad dream and she was still Badass Blye who rarely cried. Not this broken shell of her former self. She wanted to be able to sit on this couch with her goofy partner and listen to him complain about her bad taste in TV even though she knew he loved it really. She didn't want to think about that cave, the cold she swore she could still feel in her bones, the horror she felt as they as they beat Jack, the kicks and the punches and the bursts of hot searing pain. She didn't want to think about the fear she had felt that she would never get to see home again. That she would never get to see her friends, her mother or the man sat beside her now. The thought of him had been her only escape. She grabbed his hand as he made a move to get up. She hated feeling this needy. He stood, not letting go of her hand and as he looked down at her pulled her up. "Do want me to stay?"

She nodded in reply, afraid of breaking down again. He led her to her bedroom and shrugged off his jacket. Kensi stepped to her drawers and pulled out her sweat pants and an old tshirt. She hesitated before heading to the bathroom. Kensi winced as she removed her clothing. She looked at herself in the mirror and saw someone she didn't recognise staring back. Her body was a mass of bruises. Closing her eyes, she exhaled softly. She wanted to wash it all away. Kensi opened her eyes and switched on the shower, she stepped into the hot spray and let the tears fall.

He watched as she stood by the drawers before walking into the bathroom. When he heard the door click he let out a sigh of exhausion and pinched the bridge of his nose. He was trying to be strong for her as she went from crying to some kind of comatose state. She hadn't slept well on the plane. Neither had he. He had sat beside her on the flight home, keeping his arm around her she rested her head on his shoulder and trying to coax her into sleep with reassuring whispers. To be honest he didn't want to sleep, he was afraid of what his dreams would hold. Kensi had been right, everthing looked the same but it wasn't. She wasn't. He wasn't. He tried to push away the dark thoughts that began to crowd his mind again. But he was back in that house and rage was taking over. He could still feel the man struggle as he... He shook his head trying to stop the images flashing. He tried to take solace in the thought that he had stopped. It had been like watching someone else pouring that bucket of water. What was he doing? What the hell was he doing? Shock had taken over as he realised the bucket was in his hand. All his life he had tried to direct his anger into something more positive. He knew that rage and anger led nowhere good. And seeing that image of Kensi lying there... He had forgotten that. He had allowed the darkness to take over and he couldn't take it back. How he wanted to take it back. "It's stupid to beat yourself up for being too good a man to torture another human being." He repeated Makar's words like a mantra. He snapped out of his unwelcome thoughts. Long enough to register the hum of the shower. As he stripped off his jeans, he tried to turn his mind to happier thoughts. Kensi was home. She was home and she was alive. Sitting back down on the bed, he scooted back leaning on the headboard. The scent of sweat and that damn desert filled his nose, pulling off the t shirt he dropped it on the floor. His phone beeped and he looked down to see a message from Nell. He typed a message back before switching off his phone, he needed to concentrate on his partner. She emerged from the bathroom her dark brown hair damp and her frame looked so small in the large tshirt he recognised as his own. She smiled sheepishly at him as he raised one eyebrow. Switching off the bathroom light, she made her way to the left side of the bed. Deeks pulled back the covers and lay down as she climbed in beside him. The soft mattress felt so familar and welcoming, just like her partner's strong arms and she snuggled in closer to him. Wrapping his arms around her, Deeks rested his chin on her head as she lay hers on his bare chest. "I missed you." He dropped a kiss to her head.

"I missed you too." She whispered back. She concentrated on the beating of his heart. It kept her here, in the present, in this moment that she had dreamt about for months now.

"I feel like I'm drowning." She said after a long pause.

"I got you, Kens. I got you." And he was never letting go.

"Promise?" Her voice was small and so unKensi like. He felt tears sting his eyes.

"Always." He whispered into her hair and listened to her breathing even out. The fact that she was letting him hold her like this gave him hope. It was gonna take time but hadn't he already promised he'd be patient. They might both be broken but together, together they could be whole.

And it's done! Thank you:) Please review!