"Oh, I'm sitting back and watching how things go for you before making any plans." G laughed. Although, really, that was a sound enough plan. He wasn't going to make any plans until he saw how things went that night, what did or didn't blow up in their faces.
Another shrug of a shoulder dismissed the question of leadership. That ball wasn't in his court and he didn't know where he wanted it to land. Turning to face Sam where the other man sat on the couch, G's expression hardened. "Don't push this, Sam. If she earns my trust, she'll have it. But, you of all people should know how easy that is. I don't care if she's a kid. I'm sorry if life has been too easy for her. But, you can't tell me you expect me to lead and then ask me to turn a blind eye to the fact that no matter the cause, her attitude would be a danger in the field.
"It's not about rules. I don't always follow the rules. And you know Hetty doesn't. If I am going to lead all of these people, I need to be able to know that every member of the team has the rest of the team's back. That they're not going to run out on someone to save their own skin." Sighing, he turned to stare out the window, contemplating if he was up to more sharing that morning or not. But, this was a lot easier than talking about his childhood. "I had a partner in the CIA, someone I thought I could trust. We did a job in Uzbekistan. Tripped an alarm. I tried to hold them off long enough for her to get outside. When I got outside, she wasn't there. I thought she'd gone back in after me and I went in after her. I searched for hours, nearly got caught myself and had to retreat.
"Turns out she had gotten out after all," he finished, turning back to his current partner. "Gotten out and left. Found her back at the safehouse drinking tea. I won't be responsible for putting anyone under my leadership in a position where that could be them abandoned by their partner, Sam. I refuse to do that to anyone on my team and until I see some evidence she won't be the reason someone is, I can't trust her."
At least he already knew Deeks could take care of himself on the unlikely chance anything happened while shopping.
He chuckled as Sam gave him a theology lesson. "And the candy cane is the shepherd's crook or the letter J for Jesus depending on which version of the story you read. But, no not that history. Personal history." Shaking his head, he tucked his hands into his back pockets. "I know you have personal reasons, family reasons. You don't have to explain that part to me. I get it."