Author's Note 1: You guys probably noticed that I pulled a couple of my stories from the grid. For that I apologize. I have been crazy busy lately, and have run into a few issues with the aforementioned stories and I just needed to pull them and work on them in private for a little bit. As for the other remaining stories I hope to have updates for all of them by the middle of next week, please just bare with me a little bit longer. Thank you guy so much for your continued support. :)

Author's Note 2: Just to caution you guys on this new story. It is, in my opinion, one of the saddest things I have ever written (I felt somewhat saddened as I was writing it). Just be warned, if crying or tearing up is not really your cup of tea, then I would steer clear of this one.

Thanks Again, and As Always Happy Reading!

Everything settled at last. Deeks looked around, or at least tried to, but it was too dark to see anything at any distance. His flashlight would do him no good as it had been smashed during the buildings' first cave-in. He could feel warm, thick liquid oozing out from the leg wound he'd sustained during the first cave-in. He knew that meant the makeshift tourniquet Kensi had fashioned together earlier had now failed.

He had already been through a couple of rounds of lightheadedness, and with the blood flow through his leg no longer restricted he knew he would soon have to endure that once again. He wasn't afraid to die, or at least that was what he'd been telling himself for the last few hours. It was the unpleasant sensations one had to suffer before that dark inevitability that bothered him.

And anyway Deeks had resigned himself to the possibility of death hours ago. That wasn't to say that he had completely given up all hope for some miraculous rescue, quite the opposite actually. After all he had always played the part of the eternal optimist in his time with the team at NCIS.

It was a role that he'd been pushing even more after becoming trapped beneath layers upon layers of cement and brick. He did so not just for the sake of his own sanity, but more so for his partner's sake—for Kensi.

He tried to move, but quickly realized that his already injured leg was now pinned beneath a new pile of heavy rubble. He felt no pain though, and knew once again that this absence of feeling was due in large part to the adrenaline that was now coursing through his veins once again.

"Aah." He grunted as he tried to twist his pinned appendage free from its new prison. His efforts were to no avail though, and he soon ceased trying. "Well, guess I'm stuck here." He mumbled through a coughing spell.

He remembered the cell phone he'd been holding on to since this whole mess began, and immediately began searching the area just around where he was laying sprawled against the cold, hard floor. "There you are." He whispered as he felt his fingers graze the sleek edge of the once elusive electronic device. He pulled it towards him, and then finally grasped it firmly in his left hand.

The device was still turned off, which was how he'd last left it, and now he figured it would be a good time to switch it back on. He had been trying to preserve what little battery life the device still carried. He knew he wouldn't be able to make any kind of phone call with it because there was no reception this far down under; but he also knew that Eric and the others would be looking for them by now. If nothing else, maybe Eric could still track the GPS chip inside the phone.

Deeks switched on the cell phone, and watched as it hummed to life in his hand(s). "Okay, Eric." Deeks breathed through a rather uncomfortable spell of dizziness. "Its your turn buddy. Work your magic."

He then placed his head gently against the ground, and fought the waves of nausea that were passing over him at that moment. Everything within him screamed for him to keep fighting the urge to close his eyes and sleep.

He thought of Kensi all alone on the other side of the rubble wall. She had been so beside herself ever since this whole mess started, and he had been devoting all of his energies to comforting her, and trying to keep her optimistic through the whole ordeal.

At this point he felt almost certain that he wouldn't make it out of this one alive, but he'd be damned to hell before he gave up on Kensi. Everything he'd done so far had been with the intention of ensuring her survival at the very least.

I'll rest when I know she's okay. Not before.

Somewhere in the pitch-blackness he heard movement, and it made his heart leap into his throat with expectations. Then he heard the soft, familiar moan that followed. However faint that moan was, he knew it like he knew the back of his hand. It meant that his partner was still breathing.

That's my girl. Don't quit on me now.
_

The dust settled in the darkness. She coughed and sputtered while her eyes struggled to find even the dimmest of light amidst the immense blackness that surrounded her. She fumbled for a moment before finally laying her hands upon the flashlight she'd dropped only moments before. She clicked it on, and the bright beam cut through the thick veil hanging over her.

The sudden burst of light made one thing unquestionably clear. She must have hit her head on the way down because now the intense throbbing in her temple was unmistakable. She reached her hand up to feel the area around the throbbing sensation and felt a warm liquid trickle gently over her fingers. Great.

Then she heard a sound. It was a steady, rhythmic sound, and it drew her attention almost immediately. She listened intently trying to discern from where the sounded emanated.

"Deeks!" she coughed as more dust particles were sucked into her lungs. "Deeks, say something!"

She pulled herself forward on her hands and knees and crawled towards the furthest point from where she'd fallen. Her head ached and her vision was blurry, and she swayed with every movement she made.

"Deeks!" she tried again, still coughing and sputtering as she pulled herself along.

"Kensi." His reply came back weak and labored in nature. "K-Kensi."

Kensi dropped onto her side near a section of what was once a sturdy wall, now turned into crumbling rubble. She could hear the sound of his breathing through the crumbling wall that separated them at present.

"D-Deeks, are you alright?" she asked as she took a moment to quickly look herself over with the flashlight she held so close. "Deeks?" There was a long silence while Kensi was surveying the visible cuts and scrapes she'd managed to acquire during the tumultuous events that lead to their current predicament.

"Deeks?"

"I'm fine." He managed after a moment, swallowing a lump in his throat. "You?"

"I'm okay." She replied as she brushed her hand over a patch of exposed flesh just above her left bicep that had blood slowly oozing out from within her body. The top she wore was relatively new, and was one she was quite fond of. It was also ripped, now, in several places.

Suddenly the gravity of their situation registered fully with the female federal agent. She looked around at the mess of rubble and debris around her, and the grim reality of it all became quite clear. She heaved a great sigh and fresh teardrops dotted her delicate, dust-stained cheeks.

"Kens?" Deeks wheezed uncomfortably.

Kensi wiped some tears away from her face with the back of her hand, and at the same time smudged more dust and dirt across her features in the process.

"I'm sorry." She mumbled miserably.

"For what?" Deeks asked. There was a certain measure of pain clearly audible in his voice.

"Its my fault we're in this mess." She pointed out as she wiped a few more tears from her cheeks. This was so uncharacteristic of the badass federal agent, but it could not be helped at present.

"Don't beat yourself up." Deeks told her in a quiet voice. "You were doing your job—we both were."

She knew he was right. He usually was. Still, they both knew better than to do what they did. It had only been a few hours since the earthquake had shaken up their beautiful city, and as always, following an earthquake, the subsequent advisories warning about possible aftershocks had been posted all over the local news stations.

Kensi had chosen to ignore the advisories. She let a suspect in the investigation that her team had been running lead her (and her partner) into a rather unsound looking building just near the edge of town. She had even followed the fleeing man down towards the basement level of the structure.

Her actions this day would haunt her dreams for the long months to follow. Had she been able to see the consequences of her choices during the investigation they were running, maybe then she could have been spared the heartache that would plague her both day and night.

"Hey Fern," Deeks spoke quietly and with great effort on his part. "We're gonna get through this…alright?"

"No one knows we're down here, Deeks." Kensi reprimanded herself in angry silence for her actions over the course of the last several hours.

Deeks coughed rather loudly. "You'll be fine." Deeks managed at last. "You're a fighter. Stronger than any man I know."

Kensi settled herself back against the rubble wall that divided her and Deeks, and folded her arms across her chest. "I-I don't know." She admitted in a low voice.

"Just hang in there, princess." Deeks said weakly. "Please…for me."

Kensi was feeling a little on the drowsy side, most likely as a side effect of the slight concussion she'd suffered during the aftershock that had trapped her and Deeks in their present dwelling.

The flashlight slipped from her hand and rolled a little ways down into her lap. Her eyes began to grow heavier and heavier with each passing second. The air around her was steadily growing thick with each exhalation of air from her lungs.

"Whatever…happens," Deeks panted heavily from the other side of the rubble wall. "Keep fighting…"
_

"Ms. Blye?"

The sound of the red-haired woman's voice snapped Kensi out of the haze of her memories. She straightened up a little, and surveyed her surroundings, quickly, before settling back down.

"Ms. Blye?" the woman tried again.

"Yes?" Kensi responded at last, looking over at the red-haired woman standing directly over her in the pale colored hospital room.

Kensi had been in and out of consciousness for the last several hours, but the last two hours had been her best thus far. That said, the red-haired nurse had so seen fit then, to call the rest of her team up to visit.

"You have some visitors, sweetie." The red-haired nurse told her in a sweet voice. Then she motioned over her shoulder at the squad of apparent misfits huddled together just inside the door of the small room.

The red-haired nurse then turned, and nodded politely to the short, older woman at the head of the group as she left.

"Hetty!" Kensi exclaimed, though rather weakly.

"Its nice to you have you back among the living my dear." Hetty replied quietly to the younger woman's greeting. "You had us all quite worried for a bit there."

"Well, you had them worried anyway." Callen spoke up from off to the side. "I knew you'd pull through though." He said forcing a smile.

"Yeah. Whatever." Sam retorted, and rolled his eyes slightly at his partner.

Something about the way they were all acting seemed very odd to Kensi, and it bothered her greatly. Not quite as much as her head though. Her head was still aching a little bit, and she kind of hoped that the red-haired nurse's next visit would bring with it some kind of pain meds.

"Hetty," Kensi tried again. Her voice was still heavy and weak, and it took a lot of energy to force the words through her lips. She needed to do this though-she had too. "I've been trying to get some answers…since I woke up."

Hetty winced at the implication in Kensi's words, and really wished with every fiber of her being that the somber knowledge she carried then weren't so heartbreaking.

"Perhaps now's not the best time." Hetty tried, with a soft smile at the younger woman laying in the hospital bed before her. "She really should be-"

"Hetty." Kensi repeated, but even more sternly the second time. "Wh-where is he?" She looked from Hetty to each member of her team. She searched their faces for some sign or inkling as to the answer to her question.

Sam shook his head, and Callen tried to look away. Eric and Nell were both motionless, and stone-faced to her gaze.

"Hetty, please?"

"Kens, Hetty's right." Sam said at once. His voice was soft and gentle, but pleading in its underlying nature. "You shouldn't-"

"Their right." Nell chimed in without lifting an eye in Kensi's direction. "You're still too weak. You need rest."

Kensi was beginning to get rather frustrated with her teammates, and wished that someone would just answer the damn question. "Hetty…Where is he?" Her voice was still weak, but now also thick with emotion. "Where's Deeks?"

Hetty hung her head in despair, and tried to speak a moment later but found the words oh so difficult to pronounce. Kensi could tell that something was wrong, but true to who she was she forced it all away, and refused to believe that her deepest, darkest fears had come true.

Then Callen stepped forward, and moved to Kensi's side. He lowered himself down to the edge of her bed. Then he looked deep into her mismatched eyes, and tried hard to keep the heavy emotion out of his voice when he spoke.

"Ken…Kensi." Callen started. His voice broke almost immediately, and he had to pause briefly to recompose himself before continuing.

Kensi could see the moist redness of Callen's eyes, and it told her that something had greatly upset him as of late. "G.-"

Callen shook his head at the brunette federal agent. "He…He didn't make it, Kensi." Callen finally managed to croak out the words. Hearing them out loud seemed to upset the normally unshakeable team leader.

Hetty stepped up to Callen's side, and laid a hand against his shoulder. There wasn't a dry eye in that entire room at that moment. Kensi sat in her hospital bed staring straight ahead motionless. Her heart and her head battled each other heatedly over whether or not to believe the heart-wrenching news that had just been delivered to her bedside.

Nonetheless, a single tear streaked down the length of her delicate cheek, and eventually dribbled down over the edge and fell down to the blanket that covered her lap.

…To Be Continued…