CALLEN'S POV:

I didn't like not being in the same vehicle as Livy, but we didn't want anyone to think that we were giving ourselves special treatment because we were married. Besides, as protective as I was of my wife, I knew that she could take care of herself, and that she was close to Sam, who loved her almost as much as I did.

Major Harrison's plan, which he had explained to us before the convoy set off, was to surround the abandoned village—a place that consisted of unused clay structures. The insurgents' headquarters was at the center of the village, hidden from sight unless seen from above.

Several different teams would go in from different entrances and converge in the middle, surrounding the insurgents. My team and Gibbs' team were divided up among Major Harrison's men, and he had promised me that his men would go in first as they were trained in combat fighting. I, on the other hand, had assured him that all of the agents I had brought with me were fully capable of fighting in a situation like this.

We reached the deserted village in just over forty-five minutes. The convoy surrounded the buildings, and they only got out of their vehicles when Major Harrison emerged. Close to one hundred soldiers were assembled, along with my agents and Gibbs'.

I could see Livy; She was a ways from me, but I could see her holding the M-16 as if she knew how to use it well. She probably did, considering she had spent a good deal of time in the Middle East before joining my team in L.A.

Major Harrison gave a simple hand signal and we moved out, swarming into the village's various entrances. I was on high alert, Dom at my side. He looked a little scared, but I patted him on the back confidently as we followed the trained combat Marines into through the tiny streets of the village.

Everything seemed fine. No gunshots rang out from any sector of the area as we cleared each building one at a time.

Then all hell broke loose.

Gunshots rang out from all over the place. The entire village seemed to be swarming with insurgents suddenly, and we all took cover, returning fire at them. A soldier nearby me fell to the ground, a bullet having struck him in the side.

"Dom, cover me!" I shouted, darting out into the open to drag him back to safety. A round grazed my arm, ripping a chunk of my flesh away. I cursed loudly, but managed to drag the soldier back to safety.

Livy would probably kill me when she saw my bleeding flesh wound, but I couldn't worry about that now. I was too busy fighting for my life.

LIVY'S POV:

It wasn't looking good for the Americans. The squad that Sam, McGee, and I were attached to had sustained several casualties and we couldn't seem to reduce the number of insurgents firing upon us.

I was knelt down at the corner of a building, shooting back, while Sam stood directly behind me, shooting over my head. My mind was whirling with emotions. This mission wasn't going as well as Major Harrison had planned, and I was afraid that I was going to lose someone I cared about before it was over with. So many of my friends were here, not to mention my husband and a man who was the closest thing I had to a father.

My nightmares were coming true, and I had to force myself to take several deep breaths. Otherwise, I felt certain that I would pass out.

CALLEN'S POV:

I managed to catch Major Harrison's attention amidst the chaos. "Call in an air-strike!" I shouted to him. "We're not making any progress!"

He pondered my request for several seconds—it seemed like forever—before pulling his radio, no doubt calling headquarters.

In just a few minutes, Major Harrison gave the order to fall back. Two F-14 Tomcats were on the way, ready to destroy the insurgents' camp. I tried to find Livy among the retreating soldiers, but I couldn't. There were too many soldiers to distinguish which one was my wife.

The convoy drove at dangerous speeds until we were a good five miles away from the village. I could already hear the Tomcats screeching overhead as we came to a stop. I opened the Humvee door and stood up, watching as the two jets flew over the village, their payloads dropping from their undersides.

The explosion was so violent that we felt the shocks even though we were a safe distance away. In a matter of milliseconds, the entire place was destroyed, not leaving a single survivor.

When we got back to the base, I began a frantic search for Livy. There were soldiers everywhere, and I picked out every one of our NCIS agents among them. Gibbs was fine, as was Ziva. Tony seemed to have received a bullet to the leg and Gibbs and David were helping him to the medical tent. McGee and Dom were talking—two rookies discussing their first real combat mission. Kenzie and Sam were just gazing at each other, not saying anything because words weren't really needed.

Then I saw her. She was frantically looking around, her blonde ponytail swinging madly.

"Livy!" I shouted at her, already heading in her direction.

"Callen!" she cried, her voice full of unmistakable love and affection. She ran towards me as fast as she could and, when we met, she threw her arms around my neck.

"Oh, I was afraid you'd been killed!" she declared, bursting into my tears on my shoulder.

"I'm fine, Livy. I really am," I told her. She hadn't seen my arm yet, and I was hoping to delay that for a little while. "I was worried about you, too."

Livy pulled back a little and looked into my eyes. "I don't know what I would do if I lost you, G." She pressed her forehead against mine and, for several seconds, we shared a very special moment.

But, at last, Livy saw my bleeding arm.

"Oh, Callen!" she exclaimed, her eyes growing wide with horror. "You said you were fine."

I shrugged. "It's just a flesh wound. It's really worse than it looks."

"Well, you still need stitches," she told me. "C'mon, we're going to get this treated." She held my hand and walked a few steps, then turned towards me and pressed a quick, tender kiss to my lips. "I love you, G," she whispered.

"I love you, too, Livy."

I am so sorry about how long it took me to post the last chapter. Fanfiction wasn't converting my documents for some reason, and I was fairly frantic trying to get it to work. I will promise you another chapter this afternoon. Hope you like this!