A/N: Hello! Glad you found my story! This is my first attempt at writing, so please be kind and leave a review! Advice is greatly welcomed. I have many original ideas, but want to start off by basing my first story on an episode to warm up and learn as much as I can. If you want to know more about what I will be writing and so on, please see my profile. This story is based on the events of "Legend: Part 2" which is one of my favorite scenes and I felt it deserved more elaboration, so I chose to start off here. This will be around 3 chapters. No pairings, just friendship. Please review!

Sam's Greatest Fear

"You know what scares me most? Losing my partner"~ Sam

Sam watched his partner stroll down the sidewalk toward his apartment. The afternoon sun cast a bright glow over the streets of Venice. As always, Callen was considering moving again, but his reason this time was more concerning than usual. Sam wondered if he should worry that someone might be watching Callen, but he just decided to shrug it off. It was a beautiful afternoon, they had successfully solved their case, and Gibbs and McGee had just left Los Angeles. The sunlight illuminated the beach, reflecting off the water as the strange people of Venice went about their business. Nothing could ruin this perfect atmosphere. After all, he thought, his partner did tend to be a little paranoid.

Deciding to head home, Sam started his vehicle and began to pull out onto the street, but out of nowhere a van coming from his left cut him off.

"Crazy son of a", Sam began to spill from his lips, having a few choice words for the driver. However, he stopped himself short when he spotted a man peering out of the van's sliding door, wielding an automatic weapon. Sam's years of training kicked in once he recognized the threat and he threw open the door, immediately thinking of the safety of his unaware partner whom the van was speeding towards. "G!" Sam shouted. He sprinted down the road in the glowing sunlight, desperate to warn his best friend.

But he was too late.

Bullets ripped through his partner as he covered the last few yards separating them. The van had reached Callen first and opened fire on the oblivious agent. Sam returned fire with a couple of rounds, but the van was already too far down the road for it to make a difference. Catching the shooters was a lost cause at the moment. His only concern was saving the man who was like a brother to him, who allowed himself to trust him, and who now was depending on him to save his life.

Sam reached down toward Callen, picking his partner off the offending concrete. "Come on G, come on G", Sam pleaded as he tried to stay calm. "Stay with me".

He knew he needed to focus and act fast for Callen to be able to stay alive. Sam pulled his phone out of his pocket as he cradled his dying partner in his arms. Callen was struggling to breathe and stay awake, afraid if he gave in he would never open his eyes again. His blood seeped through the fresh holes in his body, staining his crisp, white shirt a startling color it should not be and tainting Sam's clothes and hands at an alarming rate. Sam dialed a three-digit number and placed the phone next to his ear.

"Stay with me G, don't do this to me, come on!" Sam grew increasingly worried that his worst fear would become his reality. His grasp on his ability to reign in his emotions during stressful and dangerous situations began to slip away as his partner started to do the same. Snap out of it, he scolded himself, he's still here and he needs you to concentrate.

He gained some composure as his call connected, requesting some rescue. "Yeah, I need an ambulance. Ocean Front road, Venice."

While waiting for a response from the 911 operator, he witnessed Callen's eyelids closing, and immediately his fear of losing his partner was at the forefront of his mind. As Callen lost consciousness, his last clear thought was that after living his whole life alone, at least he would die with his partner, the only person he ever allowed himself to get close to, next to him.

"Stay with me. Stay with me." Sam pleaded to Callen, listening to the operator inform him that an ambulance was three minutes away. "Come on buddy." He ended the call and put his phone away. His partner now was no longer conscious. As Sam silently prayed that the worst hadn't happened, he reached toward Callen's neck to check for a pulse, releasing his breath when he found it to be fast and erratic, but nevertheless beating. Sam worked fast to minimize the damage, applying pressure on the worst bullet hole. His friend was losing too much blood and a sickening puddle had formed beneath his body. Sirens pierced the air from a distance while a crowd began to gather, witnessing the despair that Sam felt consume him. Callen's face was visibly pale as the sun's powerful light accented the ugly red beginning to surround him. Sam couldn't lose his partner, he just couldn't.

Someone startled him from behind and he turned around, keen to protect his helpless partner, when he realized it was the paramedics. Sam gave them some room while they stabilized Callen for transport. He watched them work and felt useless to do anything to help. Once they loaded Callen into the ambulance, Sam joined them, leaving no arguments open about him riding along.

On the way to the hospital, Callen flat-lined. Sam felt as if the same had happened to him. The paramedics furiously tried to bring Callen back, all while Sam shouted and pleaded his friend to fight.

"Clear!" the paramedics yelled once again after two unsuccessful tries. When Sam was about to lose hope, another shock rewarded them all with a heartbeat from the monitor. Glad that Callen still proved to be as stubborn as he is paranoid, Sam relaxed a fraction and watched for any signs of trouble as they pulled up to the hospital and rushed Callen to emergency.

xmckenna4x

TBC, Please Review!