A/N – the last chapter was the original ending to this story. I had several people ask for a follow up on the Anderson brothers and that got the hamster running. So, to get him off his wheel, here goes nothing. Hoping it's not too neat...

Happy belated birthday Ali!

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Chapter 10

Six months later

Deeks paced back and forth. Fifteen steps one way, look at his watch, look at the gate, turn, fifteen steps back, turn and repeat. Kensi knew it was fifteen steps as she had taken to counting. She wondered if he even knew it was exactly the same number of steps before each turn. She smiled as she leaned up against the SRX, watching him. The Anderson brothers had served six months of their one year sentence and all three were being released today for good behavior, just as they'd hoped. Kensi and Deeks were here to pick them up and take them home. They were supposed to have been out fifteen minutes ago and Deeks was stressing about it but, as she said to him over and over, these things take time. She thought back over the last six months since that fateful day Deeks decided to stop at the bank to make a withdrawal.

Somehow, Deeks had gotten the entire team, plus Nell, Eric and Hetty, involved in the Anderson's lives. He had started taking the boy's mom, Barbara, to her doctor's appointments and treatments. They didn't have a car and he was adamant that she was not taking the bus to get around, especially not to her chemo appointments. They tired her out and made her feel nauseous. He didn't want her sitting on a bus afterwards. The first time Deeks couldn't make it, he had drafted Kensi. The rest of the team had slowly followed suit until all of them were taking turns, except for Kensi that is. Unbeknownst to her, Barbara had asked Deeks to not ask Kensi to take her again after that first time, stating "I'm not going to survive cancer just to die in the car with Kensi! She's a horrible driver!" Deeks had laughed and agreed with her. He ensured that Kensi was still involved by helping in other ways but always made sure she wasn't the one driving Barbara anywhere. So far, Kensi hadn't noticed. If she had, she would have been vocal about what good a driver she actually was.

They had all found Barbara to be a kind and gentle but, surprisingly, strong woman. She had been angry with her sons for doing what they did but also sad that they had felt so desperate because of her illness.

Deeks had worked with several advocacy groups and lawyers who specialized in helping people with huge debt due to catastrophic illness. As of now, the Andersons were no longer in imminent danger of losing their home. The mortgage company had been willing to work with them, once the right people had been contacted. There was still a long road ahead of them as Barbara was still ill and the debt was ever increasing. At least now she had one less worry while trying to get better. Deeks had promised her he would continue to help her for as long as it took, the others had told her the same.

Deeks had pulled some strings and managed to get the three brothers into the same cell. Their fourth roommate was twenty year old Stevie Parks, who was doing a year for robbing several liquor stores. Luke had told Deeks about him, saying that he was a good kid who had made a bad decision similar to theirs. Unfortunately, he didn't have someone like Deeks in his corner. That was enough to get Stevie on Deeks's radar and the young man didn't know what to make of the fact that he was now in Deeks's orbit.

Deeks had asked Luke how he'd come up with the idea to rob a bank and how he'd seemed to know just what to do and say, had seemed so confident until the police had arrived and everything had gone south. After hemming and hawing, Luke'd finally admitted that he'd pieced it together from various movies and television episodes. Unfortunately, none of them had shown him how to deal with nervous hostages and a cryng child, with police with rifles standing outside the bank. That's when he'd lost it and pointed the gun at Lissy, something he would never forgive himself for. Deeks hadn't tried to dissuade him, a gun pointed at a crying hit a little too close to home for him. He hoped the feeling lingered forever and that Luke would remember it should he ever be tempted to do anything so stupid again.

Luke and Chris had both lost their jobs, for obvious reasons. No employer could be expected to hold a position open for anywhere from six months to a year while their employee sat in jail and then have a convicted felon return to the workplace. Besides, it wasn't like either job was highly skilled; their employers were able to fill the positions immediately. The whole team had been working on making sure the brothers had some sort of work lined up when they were finally released.

Luke had started working in the auto mechanic shop under the inmate vocational program. He had found he had an aptitude for it and really enjoyed working with cars, something he hadn't been able to do growing up. Sam had a buddy, Todd, who owned a shop and had often helped Sam work on Charlene and was now helping him with the new, as yet unnamed, Challenger. Todd had agreed to take Luke on as an apprentice. He was an ex-con himself and knew how hard it was to get a job with a criminal background. If it worked out, he would mentor Luke and help him get his ASE certification. The pay was decent and the shop wasn't too far from the Anderson home.

Chris had tried out several different things under the program but hadn't found anything that really struck him as something he would like to pursue as a career. He had confessed to Deeks that he liked working with numbers and Deeks was in the process of researching grants/scholarships for ex-convicts who wanted to go back to school to learn a new trade. What exactly that would be, hadn't yet been decided. In the meantime he would be working as the Assistant Night Manager at Sandune Convenience Store on Culver Blvd. Deeks was still friends with the owner Frank, even though he didn't see him as often since the day he had been shot in the store. He had been a little hesitant about hiring a young man fresh out jail, but Deeks had gotten permission for him to interview Chris at the prison and Frank had walked away impressed with him. The position sounded good on a resume but was, in reality, just a glorified night clerk position responsible for restocking shelves, taking inventory and manning the cash register, plus it didn't pay much. The store wasn't as close to home as the auto shop, but it was right on a bus line which was helpful until the brothers could get a car. With Luke working at the shop, he would have access to cheap, well serviced cars and was already talking payment plans with his soon-to-be new boss. Working at night would allow Chris to attend school during the day when they found the money and he knew what he wanted to do.

Kyle had graduated with his high school class, figuratively speaking. For the first time in their relationship, Deeks had used his connection with the Chief of Police for a favor. The entire NCIS team had been cleared to pick up any assignments Kyle needed to do for his classes. They had also been allowed to bring him tests and monitor him while he was taking them. It had taken some pressure from Chief Henderson to get both the principal of Kyle's high school and the warden of the prison to agree, but eventually, they had. The brothers were well behaved and Kyle worked so hard on his class work, that a couple of the guards had started to get involved, quizzing him before tests. With no distractions at night or on the weekends, Kyle's grades had actually improved. He didn't know what he wanted to do once he was released and, for now, he would be responsible for helping his mother around the house. They would work on finding him a job once everyone was back into a normal routine and he had had a chance to think about it.

The day his class was graduating, Deeks had gotten permission to use one of the interview rooms to meet with all three, along with Stevie, at the same time, under the guise of his being one of their attorneys. He had brought in a cake and ice cream for the occasion. The guards had looked the other way when the entire NCIS squad, plus Barbara, had trooped in with Deeks, several of them carrying contraband. When everyone had had their fill, Kyle had asked for the left overs to be put in the guards break room, as a thank you for the help he had been given. All four had been warned not to mention any special treatment to any of the other inmates. Everyone had left full and hopeful about the future, especially their mother.

True to their experiences with Deeks and older women, Barbara Anderson had fallen under his spell pretty much the minute he showed up on her doorstep, explaining who he was and how he was going to help. Although at first she had resisted having him help her, deeming it charity, Deeks had charmed his way around all her protestations and she had now pretty much adopted him as her fourth son. When she had met Stevie; that number had grown to five. When Stevie was released, he was going to live with the Andersons and help out with the bills once he found a job, something Deeks already had on his agenda. That would give Stevie a good home environment, as he sure didn't have one now, and it would help out the Andersons.

One afternoon, when Deeks had left to go take Barbara to an appointment, his NCIS friends had talked about him, trying to figure out what it was about the Anderson brothers that had struck such a chord with him. It wasn't like this was the first time he'd run into young people who had made bad decisions. He had never become so involved with any of them. What was it that was so different about these three?

Hetty had proposed that he saw them as younger brothers he had always wanted. Or, perhaps, he saw himself as a father figure who could help them move towards a better future, as his own father had not done for him. Once the laughter had died down at the thought of Deeks being anyone's father figure, Sam had playfully suggested he was suffering from Stockholm Syndrome. Kensi just shrugged and didn't offer an opinion. Truth be told, she'd already had this discussion with Deeks and even he didn't know the answer. Finally, Nell had just stated that he was simply a nice guy, trying to do what he always did, help people. The conversation stopped when the man under discussion returned to the Mission. Nothing had been determined other than that they were proud of their Liaison and happy to help whenever, wherever they could.

Kensi's musings, and Deeks's pacing, were interrupted when the gate to the prison finally swung open and they walked out into the sunshine. Deeks rushed over and said "Where have you been? Did you run into any trouble? Is everything okay? You were supposed to be out a half hour ago!"

The others all laughed at his frantic questions and he blushed. Luke reached out to give him a hug and said "Relax bro. There were a couple guards who stopped by to say good bye and good luck. We had a hard time getting away!" He stretched his arms up to the sunshine and tilted his head back. "It is SO good to be on the outside!" His brothers copied him and all sighed with relief, big smiles on their faces. They were going home.

Deeks smiled. "Come on, let's get you guys home. Your mom's waiting for you." The brothers moved to the car, the smiles leaving their faces when they noticed Kensi move to the driver's side door. They had all been regaled with the tale of their mom's one and only ride with Kensi. They each looked imploringly at Deeks, their eyes trying to telegraph that they didn't want her to drive. He laughed and said quietly, so Kensi couldn't hear, "Suck it up boys! I do this pretty much every day and I'm still alive. She was kind enough to come get you, don't you dare hurt her feelings." The last was said with no hint of laughter in his voice. The brothers finally nodded and got into the back seat of the SRX, each immediately snugging their seat belt around them as tightly as they could. Deeks just shook his head, got in the front passenger seat and said "Ready Kens?" She nodded and, as she pealed out of the parking space, he casually reached out for the handle over his door and braced his feet. He didn't even notice he had done it.

The ride to the Anderson home was over quick, with only a few gasps from the back seat. The brothers had done their best not to back seat drive but they were out of the car almost before it stopped. Deeks wondered that one of them didn't drop to the ground and kiss it. Really, was her driving that bad? Or had he just gotten used to it? It didn't seem out of the ordinary to him anymore. Except in extreme cases, like when there were pedestrians in the area, crosswalks, red lights, stop signs, sharp corners, other cars. He stopped his train of thought right there, afraid he wouldn't be able to get into the car with her again if he continued. The brothers raced up the stairs and burst into their home, yelling "Mom?"

"Surprise!" was the reply. Comically, they all stopped short at the same time with identical stunned expressions on their faces. In the front room, under a Welcome Home banner, stood their mother, surrounded by friends and family, including everyone from NCIS, Todd and Frank. Even Miranda and Lissy Simpson were there, along with Brad and his wife. Brad was home on leave for a short while and had asked if he could join the party. He and Deeks had met up when he returned so that he could thank him in person for keeping his mother and child safe. They had talked about what had happened and how Deeks was helping the Anderson family. Brad had been angry at first. After all, they had pointed a gun at his little girl, loaded or not. Deeks had gradually been able to get him to accept that the brothers weren't bad men, just badly misguided. Brad and he had ended up becoming friends. It turned out Brad like to surf as well and they'd met up several mornings for an early ride.

The brothers carefully hugged their mom, afraid to hurt her. She hugged them back as hard as she could. Her boys were home and she was surrounded by friends and family. She was determined to beat the cancer and live a long and happy life, but knowing her boys had the support network they now did, gave her peace of mind should the unthinkable happen.

Deeks watched the reunion of mother and sons somewhat wistfully. Both his mom and dad had been out of his life for so long, and even when they had been there, it was not a happy home. He hadn't had any family until he joined NCIS and even then, it wasn't flesh and blood. He shook his head at himself. His flesh had beaten him bloody more times than he could remember. This warm feeling of being picked to be part of a family was good enough for him. He felt Kensi press up against his side, silently communicating that she knew why he was so quiet. He looked down into the beautiful face that was smiling up at him and had a moment's vision into the future, their future. He saw a little ninja assassin with her hair and eyes. The feeling it gave him was overwhelming. He had never thought to feel that kind of happiness and it awed him. He smiled at her and she gave him a questioning look. He shook his head at her, now was not the time to have this discussion. It was still a little too early in their relationship but, have it they would. He pulled her into the group surrounding the brothers and they got into the spirit of the party. Good friends and family, gathered to celebrate a special event in the best way possible. Simply by being together.