Really great, angsty story! You perfectly captured the unimaginable terror, that our poor Deeks would have gone through after the horrible experience.
The final conversation between Sam and Deeks was wonderfully done, very in character and miles better than the short "I owe you" scene, we got in the show.

Best regards, Cape!

I'M A BIG FAN OF NCIS LOS ANGELES. PLEASE DON'T WRITE KENSI OFF THE SHOW. HER ANDS DEEKS MAKE A WONDERFUL TEAM. THE SHOW NEEDS THEM BOTH AS A MARRIED COUPLE. IT WOULD ASLO SHOW HOW A COUPLE CAN WORK TOGETHER AND BE ROMANTIC TOO. THEY COULD EVEN BRING A CHILD IN. IT WOULD BE MORE LIKE "REAL-LIFE". I'M ONLY ONE FAN., BUT A FAITHFUL FOLLOWER. THANK YOU.

Really liked this story, but you have a major mistake at the end: Sam was a Navy SEAL, not a Marine.

Awsome job

I really liked this - I think it delves deep into the emotions that were glazed over during this period of the show. The dynamic between Deeks and Sam obviously was in some kind of turmoil, even though it came out better on the other side, and it's really great to see an exploration of that. This was a pleasure to read and well written, even if it was quite serious and the topic wasn't happy/funny/exciting.

Wow! Awesome fic! Just saw the last episode of season 4 (here in India they are showing season 4 & 5 for the first time) and I was quite disappointed in the way Sam behaved with Deeks! Loved this fic! Made me feel better for Deeks!

awwwww! so sweet! that was REALLY good!

:D

You did a great job of keeping Deeks in character through the trauma without making him sound like he's fallen into self-pity, which is where I think a lot of people go with this scenario. I haven't read many post-Descent fics because that is a hard balance to strike but you've done it beautifully.

Sam wasn't a marine. He was Navy. Great story!

I enjoyed reading your story. It was well written and seemed mostly in character. The only problem I had was when you had Sam say "a marine always pays his debts" as Sam was in the navy not the marines.

This is excellent. I definitely want to see Deeks get angry on his own behalf in this situation - after three years, he really should not have anything left to prove to the team.

Hands down the best continuation of the finale that I've read. Absolutely phenomenal! I can only hope that the season premiere will manage to do half as good as you!

The lie Deeks told to protect Michelle and secure her cover was brilliant. The way you wrote the moments of consciousness added a nice style and I like that it was kept to strictly Deeks's POV. I always love the way you write Deeks and Hetty together, you give them some great moments.

Kensi explaining why Callen's had been at sorts seems spot on, the poor man must have a lot of guilt about what happened and his oversight that lead to his own partner being burned, and by extension Deeks.

Sam and Deeks really needed to have that talk, and I'm glad that you left them on some-what even ground. Brilliantly done as always :D

Sam was a Navy SEAL not a Marine.

I like how you made Sam have to work to get Deeks to even consider coming back on the team. How humor could lighten the load even though both were really hurting. I hope the can version can deliver as well. Great job. :)