This is my next fanfic. The first one got good response and my OC seemed to be well liked, so I considered a sequel. There will be a case involved with this one like my last one, but will have a few chapters of background first.

If you want to learn more about my OC, see my other fic, Inter Service Rivalry. This is a continuation.

I didn't consider myself much of a writer but this has been fun and relaxing for me. I actually look forward to sitting down and typing some things out.

AN 12/13/2013- Do to a suggestion from Bard15 and my own opinions I did a little of a rewrite edit of this chapter. I feel better about it now. Chapter 3 is in work now.

DISCLAIMER. I dont NCIS LA or its Characters. Only my OC

It had been almost a month since Kensi was reassigned to Granger's mission. Deeks was alone in the bullpen at 0700, doing his best to keep his mind busy and not think about her.

He stared at his computer screen, trying to type out an AAR, After Action Report, from the takedown of a Marine who was trying to sell arms on the side. He had all the details in his head but couldn't write them down. He usually was pretty speedy and thorough with his paperwork but for the last month he has been struggling.

He got up and took a walk around the office, rubbing his face. He knew he was tired but he couldn't sleep; the dark circles under his eyes would attest to that.

Along with being tired, he was mad. He and Kensi finally had admitted their "thing" and agreed to work on it, and then the next instant she was gone.

As he was wandering around, he found himself in front of Hetty's office staring at the trinkets on her desk and other items scattered about. He blamed Hetty and avoided her as much as he could so as to avoid the possibility of showing his frustrations with her.

He respected Hetty. He kinda figured he was her favorite. She was a maternal influence on him since his mother was no longer around.

But he still couldn't shake the feeling he was betrayed. Didn't she approve of him and Kensi being together? Were they split because of that? Hadn't he gotten that note from Hetty about "Sunshine and Gunpowder?" He was confused. It kept him up at nights, but he came to realize that thinking about it would just make it worse.

So, after two weeks, he did the one thing he thought he could do to keep his mind off of her. He buried himself in his work. He had done the same thing after high school when he tackled college and law school. He set himself a goal, a goal that would keep him from worrying or thinking about his father or his mother. He was out to prove something.

He arrived earlier than anyone, even Sam. He worked on reports, read intelligence briefs, worked out in the gym, and spent extra time at the range. Lately, though, he was avoiding the range. It seemed the past few times he did some shooting and looked at how he did, he'd start thinking about her and how much tighter her groupings were compared to his.

Cases had come in here and there. He worked with Sam and Callen on a few as a trio; they never would've sent him off on his own. But the case that they had just finished had required him to work with Nell.

Nell was very competent, but she wasn't Kensi. He liked Nell. They were close, but he was more worried about her safety and was having trouble focusing on the case at hand. This was noticed by Sam and Callen but was especially noticed by Hetty.

Hetty had pulled him into her office on a few occasions to see how he was doing. The last visit hadn't gone too well.

TWO DAYS AGO

"And how are you, Mr. Deeks?" Hetty had him sit down in front of her desk. She used to offer tea but by now she knew he'd never accept.

"Same as the last time you asked me, Hetty, fine."

"We both know that when you use the term "fine" that you are not fine, Mr. Deeks."

"Hetty, what do you want me to say? My partner is gone to God knows where. No one can tell me anything. I don't even know if she is ok. I can't email, text, send a letter, or even carrier pigeon to her. I always have her back and she has mine; I worry about her."

"Mr. Deeks, what your partner is doing is very important, and you need to accept that," Hetty told him in a stern voice.

"You don't think I know that? That doesn't mean I have to like it. I feel like it's my fault she is gone. If I did something wrong and you're punishing me for something, then I'll go back to LAPD and you can bring her home; if that's what it will take. I told you that before."

"I will not argue with you, Mr. Deeks, but the situation is the way it is and that's how it will stay. Ms. Jones will assist you in the field when necessary."

"Hetty, Nell is a great analyst and shows promise in the field, but she's not an agent yet. I don't think pairing her up with me is a good call. Can I just work alone or with Callen and Sam?" Deeks was looking down at the floor. He liked Nell, considered her a good friend, but when it came to working in the field and being put in dangerous situations he had to tell the truth.

"I believe you have the skillset to be a good mentor and instructor for Ms. Jones. Your vast experience has made you an excellent undercover operator, which I believe she can learn from." Hetty countered his argument.

Deeks stood up and turned to walk away. "Are we done here? I have work to do."

Hetty nodded and he walked away.

Hetty could tell that he was hurting, but she was also concerned for her liaison officer. She did agree that Ms. Jones was still too green to be working in the field, but she had thought Mr. Deeks would be willing to work with her. Obviously that wasn't going to be.

She had plenty of NCIS agents to choose from to come in and work as a temporary replacement. All were good agents, but none had experience working with OSP. There had to be a better option.

She took a walk over to the bullpen. Her agents were not at their desks at the moment. She noticed Kensi's empty desk and chair. It wasn't a mess as it usually was. Mr. Deeks must have straightened it up.

At the thought of her talk with Deeks she turned to face his desk. All his files were neatly organized. She then looked over at his inbox/outbox, and that's when she saw it. Stuck to the box was a small black patch. On it was embroidered a gold LAPD shield in one corner, an F-16 Falcon at the top, and underneath was his name "Marty Deeks" and beneath that was the word "DAINTY."

Instantly a smile went across her face. She remembered the day when he had received that patch and whom had given it to him. Hetty went back to her desk and called up to Ops.

"Yes, Hetty?"

"Mr. Beale, I need you to find someone for me."

Fifteen minutes later she had the info she needed and made a call.

"Good afternoon, may I please speak to General Fitzpatrick?…...Yes, I will hold, thank you… Good afternoon, Fitzy, this is Henrietta Lange. General, do you remember that little incident in Turkey…. I have a request…"

PRESENT DAY

Sam had taken Deeks out a few times to try and talk to him. Sam knew what Deeks was going through due to his own experiences. He and Michelle had come together during a case and had fallen in love and had two children. He knew the sacrifices and pain that happened when two people whose jobs limited a happy home life. Deeks appreciated it. He and Sam had been at odds for years until the Siderov case.

Sam walked into the bullpen. He hadn't gotten used to Deeks being in so early.

"Deeks, good morning. Did you even go home last night?" Sam slid a coffee to Deeks and shot him a smile.

"Got a few hours of sleep. Came in early, didn't see the point sitting at home and just waiting. I have a lot of paperwork to work on from the last case." Deeks told him honestly.

Sam was concerned. Usually Deeks was full of witty or smart-alack comebacks. Deeks liked to use his humor to diffuse situations. That sense of humor had been gone for awhile now; Deeks was serious and focused. Months ago Sam would have welcomed this change, but now it didn't seem right, it didn't seem normal.

"Deeks, you good?" Sam asked him with an arm on his shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm good, Sam. Don't worry about me." Deeks was getting annoyed at everyone asking how he was doing, but with Sam, he gave him some slack. Then Sam said something that surprised Deeks.

"I worry about her, too, Deeks. She's fine and will be back."

Deeks looked at Sam and smiled. "Thanks, Sam." Deeks looked over at his partner's empty desk.

Callen then walked in with his coffee and a newspaper tucked under his arm. "Sam…...Deeks." He set his stuff down and took a seat at his desk. He looked over at his other two teammates. It was the same look he saw every morning, like something or someone was missing and it was affecting his team. There was no banter, no teasing back and forth. They were still mission-capable, but it wasn't like it used to be. Something had to change quickly before someone got hurt or worse.

Hetty chose that time to make her presence known.

"Gentleman, good morning." Callen and Sam looked towards her; Deeks just looked straight down at his desk.

"Morning, Hetty." Callen replied for the three of them.

Hetty continued, "Over the past few weeks, since Agent Blye's reassignment, this team has seemed on edge. Your performance has not suffered but the morale is at an all time low."

Callen began to object. Hetty raised a hand.

"Now is not the time, Agent Callen. Seeing that we are a person short, and this team needs to get back to what it used to be, I've decided to make a change."

Callen was visibly upset, "Hetty, what other change can you make? You already took one agent away; we are dealing with that in the best way we can. We just need time to adjust."

"Mr. Callen, it has been almost a month and it seems there has been no change. Ms. Blye is off doing a classified mission that requires her skills. I have no doubt as to her return, but the timeline is not up to me. You all know how important it is to complete a mission. I expect all of you to understand that." She paused to let the information sink in.

"I have decided to bring in another agent until Ms. Blye returns." She looked at all three of them. Deeks was looking at her but with disdain on his face.

Sam now piped up, "Hetty, Nell is doing a good job; she is adjusting to us. I know Deeks has her back. We don't need another Agent coming in, one we don't know or have ever worked with before. We will be fine; we can work through this."

"Mr. Hanna, my patience has run thin waiting on this team to operate the way I know it can. Ms. Jones is needed back in Ops. I have arranged to someone to step in."

It was now Sam's turn to try and interrupt.

"My decision is final, Mr. Hanna. I already placed the call the other day. Your new team member should be here this morning. His plane landed three hours ago."

All three agents eyes turned quizzically at Hetty's last remark.

Sleeping on a C-17 Globemaster is an acquired skill; I had mastered it some time ago. I had gotten the message to head back to Los Angeles 24 hours ago. I was shaken awake when the tires hit the runway. I looked at my watch- 0630.

It wasn't explained to me why I was being sent home. I was in the middle of my deployment with Detachment 2413 and my colleagues were not to happy with me, but the orders came from a two-star General.

When we landed at Edwards, I grabbed my gear and walked out the side door. I put on my hat, I wasn't in uniform, and reached for my sunglasses. In the pocket I felt an envelope that was given to me about the same time I boarded the plane. The person who gave it to me entrusted me with its delivery.

A fellow agent met me on the tarmac. I hadn't seen him in six months.

"Lieutenant Jackson, good to see you." I shook his hand.

"Welcome back, sir. Glad to see that you're safe." He walked side by side with me.

"Thanks. Any idea why I'm back? Orders weren't really specific. I was only halfway through my rotation." I had been thinking about that the whole flight over the Pacific.

Lieutenant Jackson handed me an envelope.

"I am supposed to give this to you and tell you that your presence is needed immediately. Information is in the envelope." He enlightened me.

"Ok, let me head home and get my car. I need a shower and a change." I started thinking about what I needed to do before I went, maybe go see my dog.

"Sir, I was told that you needed to go immediately. Your car is right over there." He pointed at my car and handed me my keys. I had let a squadron buddy borrow it while I was away.

My hands rubbed my face, I was trying to think it all through and wondered who had the horsepower to do all this. I headed to my car and opened the letter the Lieutenant had given me. All that was written was an address and a time. I recognized the address immediately. "Hetty."