A/N: I really did not expect to find myself writing this. I've barely even watched the show for months, caught up on the last half of the season over the weekend, suddenly I'm a diehard Densi shipper, and then, well, this happened, out of the blue. I guess if I was writing the show, and had to remove a team member, this is what I think I'd have to do.

NB: I'm perhaps taking a few liberties – both with Sam's family and with medical fact. I really don't know much about this, so I've just manipulated a few things to suit the purposes of this fic. I don't think I went so out there for it to be completely impossible.

Falling Apart

Nobody expected a call like this.

It was just a regular day, no dead Marines, no terrorist ops, no Mexican drug cartels, just a stack of paperwork and far too much time to do it in. They were just… kidding around, teasing one another, putting off the work. Kensi had grabbed Nell and Eric on their way to Ops, to settle a bet with Deeks, and Callen had taken a phonecall over to the coffee machine. It was a normal day.

"I don't think we can settle this," Nell was saying, and Kensi was practically begging her when a crash cut across her voice.

"Are you sure?" they heard Callen say. He was leaning heavily against the counter, his voice tense, and his mug was in pieces on the floor. "When did you find out? How… Of course. I'll be right over. Hang in there, Clara." He closed his phone, and for a moment didn't notice the others watching him. Then he looked up, eyes hollow. "Um, Sam… Sam was in a car accident this morning. He's in the OR, but it doesn't look good…"

There was a long, stunned pause. Then, a wild scrambling as they took off, as a unit, for the car park.

…

"Can they tell us anything?"

Kensi hadn't been crying, but she had been fighting it back, and it didn't look to Callen as if she was even aware of Deeks' arm around her back, holding onto her tightly – as much for his own support as for hers, it seemed. Eric sat on a bench by their side, shaking, clinging to the seat. He looked like hell. Callen shook his head.

"They're speaking to his wife now. Clara will talk to me. But, uh, it sounds like… bad news."

A kind of noise escaped from Kensi, and Deeks strengthened his grip on her reflexively. Eric sank a little in his seat. Surely they couldn't do without Sam. Surely they wouldn't have to.

"Agent Callen?" a nurse called, appearing at the other end of the corridor. "You can speak to Mrs Hanna now." There was a funny look in his eyes, as if something was terribly wrong. "I'm sorry."

That was enough to send Callen running. Enough to have Kensi turn in Deeks' arms and cry into his shoulder, and for tears on his part, too. Enough for Nell, coming back from a phonecall to Hetty, to recoil in horror at the sight, to freeze, and to grab hold of Eric with all the force she could muster.

Not Sam. He was the strong one. He was the rock of the team, the solid, faithful, foundational one. They needed him. They couldn't…

"It doesn't mean," Kensi began, then stopped, choking on another sob. She lifted her head from Deeks' shoulder; didn't let go of him, but raised one arm to dry her eyes before she tried again. "Sorry doesn't mean Sam…" She stopped again.

"Kens…" Deeks murmured into her ear.

"No, I have to… Doesn't mean he's gone," she managed.

"Not for certain," Eric said quietly. He was the only one with dry eyes, but there was a resounding emptiness in his voice that said he felt it just as painfully as any of them. "But we have to face that it doesn't sound promising."

"Kensi's right," Deeks said. "Until Callen comes out here and tells us that Sam is… We don't have to give up hope."

"No. No, we don't have to do that."

Slowly, Deeks and Kensi settled onto the bench with the others, still holding onto each other as if for dear life.

"What did Hetty say?"

Nell wiped at her eyes with more effect than grace. "She's on her way. LAPD are looking at the car now."

"Had to be an accident," Deeks contributed quietly. "Sam would know if he was being tailed. No way could he be taken out on purpose."

"He's not out," Kensi said sharply. Then she squeezed his hand, and rested her head on his shoulder.

"This must be hell for Callen."

Deeks glanced up at Eric's words, tightening his hold on Kensi, as if afraid that she too would slip away. She wriggled closer. She didn't have to imagine what Callen was going through.

They sat, huddled together in silence for ten minutes before the door opened to admit Callen. They sat up as one, still holding on to one another, but straightening with the tension.

"It isn't good news," he said quietly. "Sam's alive, but he probably won't make it."

The stillness radiated around them. Callen took a breath. "We're going to help them through it," he said. "Nell, his kids need picking up from school. Eric, see what closure we can get them from the accident, and make sure that's all it is. Deeks, find his SEAL buddies, get them down here. Kensi… can you sit with Sam and Clara?"

Kensi nodded, biting her lip a little. It would be hard on her; Callen almost reconsidered. But he couldn't send her to Sam's home. Only he could do this. The others disappeared off into their various tasks, an array of sniffles and touches punctuating the scuffle of movement. Callen caught a little moment between Deeks and Kensi, a kind of half-hug that meant support for them both. He and Sam had discussed a number of times if there was something going on there. What they would do to Deeks if he hurt their girl. It was strange to think that he might be just exactly what she needed. Maybe she needed someone who needed her, too. He would try and talk to Sam about it. If there was time.

When the others were gone, he took Kensi down to Sam's private room. Clara rose when they entered, ignoring Callen's introduction and dragging him off to one side. "I don't need a babysitter, G."

"You shouldn't be alone," he said quietly. "Just be on the safe side, okay? We don't know for certain this was an accident." He paused. "Clara, if you trust me, you can trust Kensi."

Clara held his gaze for a moment, then nodded silently before moving back to Sam's side.

"I'm going back to your place," he said. "I'll get anything you might need, be back as soon as I can. Kensi, keep me in the loop."

Clara was first to speak up, a couple of minutes' silence after Callen was gone. "So how long have you known my husband?"

"Four years," Kensi said after a brief calculation. "Wow, I never realised it was so long." She paused. "Or so short."

"Don't talk like it's over."

Kensi glanced down for a second, inhaling deeply. "No, you're right. There's no need to give up hope just yet. What… what have the doctors said?"

Clara was silent for a minute. Kensi was aware of the other woman studying her carefully, sussing her out, deciding what to share. "It really doesn't look good," she said quietly. "He sustained a lot of injuries, and some of them are dangerous. But Sam's been through some crap before. We'll know more when he's awake."

"They think he'll wake up soon?"

Clara masked a look of surprise at the sheer volume of tense eagerness in Kensi's tone. "That's what they say," she said, and turned Sam's hand over in hers, massaging softly with her thumb. "If he doesn't, we're in serious trouble. But there's no need to go down that road just yet."

"No." Kensi was about to say more, but the ringing of her phone cut across. "Sorry, I just have to take this." She crossed the room and closed the door behind her. "Eric, what can you tell me?"

"Not a lot, he managed to be completely away from any traffic cams. Suspect number one is a black SUV, I can't make out the plates but we can't rule out a hit just yet. Deeks has three SEALs on the way and a couple more coming soon. Nell will have the kids there in fifteen minutes, and I've not heard from Callen. Any news on your end?"

Kensi glanced back towards the room. The blinds were nearly closed, but she could just make out Clara bent right over Sam. "Nothing yet. Chances get worse by every minute he doesn't respond. And what if he doesn't wake up? Eric, what are we going to do without him?"

There was a brief silence, and Eric sounded defeated when he answered, "I don't know."

Kensi sighed and shifted to lean against a wall, taking a second to breathe, to get rid of the tears in her voice. "Sorry, Eric, that was dumb. We're going to get him through this."

"Yeah. Yeah, I guess so. Well, I've got to update Callen. Take care, Kensi."

What an idiot she was. How unfair on Eric, for her to explode on him like that, he wasn't suited to dealing with her kind of crap, she couldn't offload on him. If anyone, she could talk to Deeks, but it wasn't fair for her to go to Eric. And now he'd be beating himself up and… She would deal with it later. Talk to Deeks when he got back to the hospital. Now, she would be there for Sam, and there for Clara. It was all she could do.

…

"Miss Neeeeeell?"

"Yeah?" Nell sighed, trying to keep her eyes on the road and not on Sam's daughter.

"Why aren't we at school?"

It was a question the kids kept plaguing her with, and she really didn't know what to do. Nell wasn't great with kids at the best of times, but this was Sam, and it was pretty damn near the worst. Still, she had to give whatever she could manage. "Your daddy needs to see you," she said carefully. What could she say in this situation? It wasn't down to her to explain.

"But why?"

"He'll tell you all about it later," she answered.

"A surprise?" Rebecca asked eagerly, bouncing about in her seat.

"Not quite." Nell shook her head, for the moment able to enjoy silence. She really was terrible with kids.

…

"What the hell, man? I can't fly out to LA. I got a life. There better be a damn good reason for this crap."

"Yeah." Deeks paused, and then said, "Sam Hanna."

The tone of the other voice changed at once. "What kind of crap has he got himself into this time? Hey, man? What's going on? Is Sam okay?"

"No," he said. "No, he's not. And he's going to need family around him."

"I'll be there by the end of the day."

Once he got hold of each man, it wasn't hard at all to get them to come over. Deeks kind of wondered at the strength of these SEAL bonds. He didn't think anybody would fly over from Toronto on a half-day's notice for him. Perhaps Kensi would. And Callen, Eric, Nell, Hetty. Sam. But Sam was that kind of guy. A good guy. Why had this had to happen to Sam?

…

"No, you listen to me. You put your best doctors on this one because he is one of my men and he is worth it. You said you owe me one, Ronald. I'm collecting. Do not let anything happen to this man."

Hetty slammed the phone down. This was not how her agents were supposed to be treated. To think a man as valuable and strong as Sam Hanna could be described as "just another RTA" was unthinkable, and most certainly despicable. And she could do nothing. She wasn't used to doing nothing.

…

Callen slung the bag over his shoulder and locked the door behind him. Anything Sam's family might need while they were stuck there, was in his bag. Any kind of stuff that would help Sam, or Clara, or Becca or Chris. He still didn't get the whole stuff thing. But it was for Sam. And that was why there was a single sequined glove in that bag.

Single glove. Pairs, partners, weren't meant to be kept separate. And Sam was more. Family. A tough word for Callen, one that included very few people. Sam himself. Hetty and Kensi. Deeks, on a good day. He couldn't lose one single part of that. And Sam was too alive.

Nobody that alive could die like this, could they?

He refused to dwell, and started to think about what he could tell Sam's kids.

…

Finally, a new angle had come in. Somebody had caught the accident on camera, and the tape had gone through LAPD before winding up on Eric's computer. And from the footage, he could see the man in the other car before the crash itself. A woman, waiting at the lights, but looking apprehensive. She knew what was coming. He couldn't ID her just yet, but that man in the car…

He had something.

"Cobra" didn't seem to fit the bill.