A/N: Last one! Can't believe I started this at the beginning of season 5….enjoy.

"Trust men and they will be true to you; treat them greatly and they will show themselves great."- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Trust cannot be commanded; and yet it is also correct that the only one who earns trust is the one who is prepared to grant trust."- Gustav Heinemann

"You idiot. You complete, absolute idiot."

As Sam moves his way up the ladder to the scaffold, he can hear Kensi's deep growl to what he can assume to be to Deeks. At the top of the ladder, the ex-SEAL peeks his head up to see Callen kneeling behind Kensi, who's on her knees next to Deeks. Deeks is lying on his back, his messy blonde hair covering his closed eyes while his hand resting on the Kevlar vest that was hidden under his jacket. When the detective unconsciously takes a deep breath and his chest rises, Sam can suddenly empathize with Kensi's desire to kick his ass.

Sam stares hard at the remains of the .357 bullet entangled in the Kevlar vest. "How is he?"

Callen opens his mouth to talk but Kensi punches Deeks' thigh, causing him to let out a groan and a cough. She rolls her eyes and mutters, "This idiot's fine."

"Kens, what the hell…."Deeks groans. He continues cough as he turns his head and opens his eyes. "I just got shot. Why would you do that?"

"Because you stood there and pretty much dared a psychopath to shoot you. Which he did."

"I'm with Kensi on this one, Deeks," Callen agrees, "You couldn't have come up with a better plan? You know- one that doesn't involve pissing off Hetty and the United States Marines?"

Deeks drops his head back and groans, "Oh yeah, my friends are stuck with a sociopath and a nuclear weapon and Idecide to pull over to the side of the road and draw out a map of all the outcomes."

"Sarcasm does not help your case. Are you ok?"

"I was," Deeks snorts, "until someone decided to punch me in the thigh." He quickly furrows his brow past Sam and asks in a much serious tone, "Is Nahili dead?"

"You really think we'd be up here having a conversation if he wasn't?" Sam answers. He stands up and looks down to the courtyard. His wife stands almost completely still with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders while a handful of U.S soldiers scatter arrest one of Nahili's remaining men. He can hear a faint noise of trucks echoing off in the distance. Here comes the rest of the cavalry.

"He's down and the rest of them are either under arrest or dead," Sam adds. "You did great, partner." The comment comes out casual as any other compliment he had given Deeks in the past but the term partner causes a shocked silence between Deeks, Callen and Kensi. Deeks' eyes widen as he watches Sam's gaze continuously scanning the courtyard.

"Sam?" Deeks gasps softly. Sam turns his head back to Deeks, still completely unaware of what he had just called Deeks. "Huh?"

"Never mind, Sam." Relief passes over the detective. Partner, huh. I like the sound of that.

Al Bateen Executive Airport

A C-17 Globemaster sits in the front of the business airport's lone hanger. Acquired by Hetty, through means no one on the team dares to question, the military jet sits waiting for the remainder of the small group of passengers to arrive. Sam walks up the ramp of the back of the plane, knowing that his wife, Callen and Kensi are due to arrive soon. As for the detective, Sam finds him bundled under a blanket on a jump seat deep in the cargo bay.

"Cold, Deeks?" Sam asks, amusingly. The startled detective flinches in response before letting out a hiss from his still sore ribs.

"No…no. Well, I don't know- I might be a little cold-"Deeks pauses when Sam places the back of his hand against his forehead, "What are you doing?"

"Just checking," Sam steps over to the jump seat closest to Deeks' feet and pulls the seat open. When he lowers himself into the seat, he feels the aches and pains from Sidarov that he hadn't been too distracted to focus on. "I want to make sure that you're ok."

"Besides being in the Super dog house with Kensi and Hetty, I'm fine. Well…., I'm pretty sure Callen is probably bidding his time and waiting to wham! Attack me when I least expect it. But yeah, I'm ok."

"Good." Sam glances over to the hangar where he can see a black SUV slow to a park. "Hey, man, can I ask you a question?"

Deeks smiles and settles back into his seat. "Sure. Go ahead."

Sam rubs his hands together and lets out a heavy sigh. "When we get back, are you going to stay a cop?"

"Argghh, can we not talk about this now?"

Of course, you'd try to deflect, Deeks. "Yes, now. You can't go back to being a cop. Not after everything that's happened."

Deeks scowls in annoyance and suddenly stands up. He mutters, "Fine. How am I supposed to become an agent? How am I supposed to just switch off the identity that I've known for years and pick up a new one? How am I supposed to keep up with everyone else with their years on me of being agent? How am I supposed to-"

"Trust me with everything that's happened between us?"

Deeks swallows hard and shakes his head slightly. "Yeah, especially that."

"Well, first," Sam replies, "let's talk about a new identity. When I first joined NCIS, I couldn't sleep for three months because I felt lost without my identity as a SEAL. I had a few guys that I had been partnered with before Callen weren't like the Marines that I knew and me being the stubborn ass that I am, butted heads. I didn't talk about with anyone because I was embarrassed- a big bad Navy SEAL feeling lost wasn't something I wanted to tell the word."

"How'd you get over it?"

"I learned that it's a natural thing. Changing from one thing to another doesn't mean that you'll lose your identify as long as you know what kind of mind you are," Sam finishes. He pauses and watches the detective's expression slowly move from quiet uneasiness to amusement.

"I think that's real deep, man," Deeks jokes, "Does Callen know you have this emotional side?"

"Oh, shut up!" Sam exclaims with a snort. While Deeks stifles down a laugh, Sam states, "You'll be a great agent, Deeks. And I'm going to get you to trust me, man. That is a promise."

"Aww, our boys are playing nice." Sam and Deeks look to their left to see the remaining members of the team standing at the bottom of the ramp. Kensi walks up the ramp and finishes her sentence, "Callen, I think I need to take a picture of this moment."

"Jealous," Deeks says. He raises an eyebrow at Kensi, "Still in the doghouse?"

"Oh, most definitely."

Sam looks over to Michelle and she returns a comforting nod back. Sam places a hand on Deeks' shoulder and says, "Think about what I said, alright?" He quickly crosses the bay and meets his wife at two empty jump seats. He can hear Kensi chatting happily with Callen and soon Deeks and Hetty humming quietly near the end of the row of jump seats.

In ten minutes time, the ramp of the military jet rises and closes off the cargo bay from the outside world. With every agent and detective sitting quietly and calmly, the cargo bay is completely silent as the plane slowly taxis towards the runway. Sam, with his hand enlaced with his wife's, knows that they'll be home in about ten hours' time where hearings, a hell a lot of debriefs, and more than likely a suspension or two. But with the ten hours of flight time, he knows that it's more than enough time for everyone to ready themselves and Deeks to think about their talk.

"Guys?"

Deeks breaks the silence and looks up from his hands to the middle of the cargo bay. Kensi leans forward and touches his shoulder in concern. Deeks' gaze moves slowly over to the small operations manager sitting next to Callen.

The detective takes a breath, holds it for a second and then states, "I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God…So help me God. Is that ok?"

Man had the oath memorized this entire time, Sam thinks happily. He, along with Kensi, Michelle and Callen, wait for a word from Hetty.

Hetty gives the answer everyone wants to hear. "If that is your request to join the team as an agent, Mr. Deeks, it's perfect."

The End