So sorry for the long wait for an update. I came home from my vacation with a really bad case of bronchitis and have been taking care of my nephews while their parents are away. In any case, here it is, I hope you like it, and I appreciate your support, as always :)

xxxxx

"I'll go to Deeks. You go to Kensi," Sam said to Callen who nodded in agreement. Sam then went over to the young detective who was now kneeling on the ground, looking very pale and somewhat dazed. "Hey Deeks," Sam said gently as he squatted down beside him and put his hand on Deeks' shoulder. "Can you stand up? Let's go over there by those trees so we can talk." He indicated an area where they would be able to have a bit of privacy. Deeks didn't move though, nor did he really appear to pay any attention to Sam's words. "Deeks, come on," Sam said, more loudly.

"What do you want, Sam?" Deeks finally asked, looking at Sam wearily. "There's nothing to talk about."

"From my perspective, there's plenty to talk about," Sam said. "Come on, Deeks…please? I'm just asking for a few minutes."

Deeks stared at Sam, his blue eyes filled with anguish. "You have no idea what I'm going through," he said.

Sam shook his head. "I gave my best friend 20 lashes with a whip earlier today," he said, his eyes appearing haunted by the memory. "I think I have some frame of reference in this situation. Come on…just for a few minutes?"

"Fine." Deeks reluctantly followed Sam over to the cluster of trees and crossed his arms over his chest defensively as he waited for Sam to speak. "It's not the same you know."

"What's not the same?" Sam asked quietly.

"What you did to Callen…it doesn't compare to what I had to do to Kensi."

Sam ran his hand over his face then looked back at Deeks. "This isn't some kind of a contest," he said. "Which of us hurt our partners more? I don't think either of us wants to win that one."

"Hurting Callen…that's not the same as having to hurt the woman that you love," Deeks said, very softly, obviously disturbed by the memory of what he had done.

"Maybe not," Sam said quietly, "but it's still not easy…and it still hurt me. I didn't want to hurt him. I hate that I had to. He's gone through enough…too much…"

"He didn't have to," Deeks said quietly.

"What?"

"I offered, Sam. You could have whipped me instead of Callen. Then you wouldn't be feeling whatever it is you're feeling now."

Sam shook his head, his eyes sad as he looked back at Deeks. "I really hope that's not what you think," he said. "Do you honestly think I would have been okay with whipping you? That it wouldn't have affected me?"

"It still wouldn't have been the same…we're not partners. No matter what you say, it would have been different." Deeks looked over to where Callen and Kensi were talking. "I can't imagine what she thinks of me now," he said, filled with remorse over what he had done.

"She doesn't think any differently of you," Sam said, trying to reassure him. "She loves you, Deeks, just as much as she always has."

"Yeah…that's an easy thing to tell myself," Deeks said, "that is until the first time she flinches away from me or looks at me with fear in her eyes…"

"That's never going to happen," Sam said. "All of us know what's going on here. We've all been forced to make choices against our will, to do things we would never do on our own. You know this to be true, Deeks."

Deeks shook his head, totally caught up in his own thoughts. "You just don't get it, Sam…" he said softly. "You don't know…"

"Then help me to get it, Deeks," Sam encouraged. "Maybe if you can explain, I can help you with what you're feeling."

Deeks sighed heavily, his eyes once again on Kensi. "No one can help me with this…"

xxxxx

"Kens?" Callen cautiously made his way over to where Kensi was huddled on the ground at the foot of the tree. He knelt on the ground beside her and looked at her with concern. "Hey…how are you doing?" he asked.

Kensi gave Callen a faint smile. "I'll be fine, Callen," she said. "It's Deeks I'm worried about."

"Sam is with him. He'll be okay." Callen said reassuringly. "Kens? Can I take a look at your back?"

Kensi hesitated and then finally nodded, but she visibly tensed as Callen lifted up the back of her shirt.

"It doesn't look that bad," Callen said, cringing when he saw the damage on Kensi's back. The welts were dark red and angry-appearing, each one with a slight bit of blood showing in the middle of it. Although the marks looked as painful as hell, Callen was relatively sure they would not scar. He hoped not at least, knowing what the physical evidence on Kensi's back would do to Deeks' state of mind.

"Really?" Kensi turned to face Callen as he let her shirt drop back down.

Callen nodded. "Really, Kens…I know they hurt, but…I think they'll fade away in time and it will be like nothing ever happened." Even as he said the words though, he knew that they weren't true. Although the physical evidence might fade away into nothingness, there was no way the psychological wounds of what had happened to them at the hands of Bart would ever be erased.

xxxxx

"Dinner is served," Bart called out. Deeks, Kensi and Sam went over to the table and Callen decided to follow along. Bart raised an eyebrow in amusement when Callen sat down with the others. "I don't recall you being invited to the table," he said to him.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I just assumed when you had guests it was rude not to invite them all for dinner." Callen unconsciously licked his lips as he eyed the pitchers of cold drinks on the table.

"Well, you assumed wrong. Now if I were you, I would leave the table before one of your teammates has to pay the price for your presence."

Callen stared at Bart, mentally weighing his options, but looking at the armed men circling the table and his unarmed friends, he slowly got up and left the table without saying another word.

Bart smiled in satisfaction as Callen left and then turned his attention to Sam. "You may have noticed that this evening's salad doesn't contain any cherry tomatoes. There seems to have been a shortage." Sam's expression didn't change, but Bart laughed anyway. "I actually let that good deed go unpunished. You get some points for cleverness, Agent Hanna, but I'm always one step ahead of you. Your partner got to eat the tomatoes because I chose for him to be able to do so. Unfortunately, for him, there will be no more such treats and any more attempts to give him any will result in very unpleasant circumstances for him and for you. In any case, he's not going to have to worry about his thirst for very much longer."

"What does that mean?" Sam asked, his suspicions immediately aroused.

"It means that the game ends tomorrow."

"How?" Deeks was unable to hold the question inside. "How does it end?"

Bart smiled as he looked at Deeks with false sympathy. "I'm afraid not very pleasantly, but all will be revealed tomorrow. Oh look! Chocolate mousse for dessert. One of my favorites. I suggest you eat up. Chances are it's the last time you'll be able to eat such a lovely dessert."

xxxxx

After Callen was banished from the table, he sat on the ground for a bit but then, feeling a coughing fit coming on, went into the tent where he could more easily muffle it by burying his head into his sleeping bag. He didn't want to give Bart the satisfaction nor did he want to worry Sam. The cough had settled deeply in his chest and caused him a lot of pain in his ribs every time he needed to cough. He vaguely wondered what his back looked like. He didn't think he was particularly vain as far as his appearance went, but it didn't mean he wanted a bunch of crisscrossed lines covering his back either. He badly needed to get some fluid into him. The cherry tomatoes had made him feel a little bit better, but their magic had worn off and he longingly thought how good it would be to drink an ice cold bottle of water.

"G?" Sam walked into the tent and looked at his partner with concern. Callen was curled up on his side but it just wasn't like him to be this tired so early in the evening. Then again, he hadn't been able to eat or drink anything and he still had that cold or whatever it was going on with him. Callen's cough had been worsening, but the partners were avoiding speaking of it, knowing there was nothing they could do about it.

"Hey Sam," Callen sat up and looked back at his partner. "How was dinner?"

Sam just shrugged but his eyes were serious as he began to speak. "Bart said something I think you need to know about."

"What?" Callen asked, smirking slightly. "Is he taking the blankets away too?"

Sam shook his head, looking subdued. "No, G…he said that the game ends tomorrow…"

Callen's expression changed to mirror Sam's. "What does that mean?" he asked.

"I think we know what it means," Sam stated grimly.

xxxxx

"Deeks," Kensi called softly, stopping him before he was about to enter the tent after Sam. "I don't think Sam needs you with him to check on Callen. I'd like to talk to you…please?"

Deeks sighed as he just stood there, facing the tent, not moving.

"Deeks…"

Finally he turned and faced her, looking positively grief-stricken. "Oh baby, please don't look at me like that," Kensi went to him and placed her hand on the side of his face as she stared into his eyes. "I'm okay. I promise."

"How…how can you even talk to me…or look at me…" Deeks whispered.

"I love you, Deeks," Kensi said. "None of this was your fault."

He shook his head. "I should have thought of something…I never should have hurt you."

Kensi looked at him intently. "What could you have thought of?" she asked him. "Callen and Sam haven't been able to think of a way for us to get out of this situation either. You're putting much too much pressure on yourself. You had to do what he said, either that or let Burke have his way with Callen. How would you be feeling if you'd done that? If Callen was lying in that tent beaten within an inch of his life or worse…if Burke had killed him? Would that have made you feel better?"

"No."

"I didn't think so."

"How bad…" Deeks closed his eyes for a long moment and then opened them, watching her closely. "How much pain are you in, Kens?"

Kensi shook her head and smiled at him. "Callen said it doesn't look very bad at all, Deeks. Please don't worry about it."

"I didn't ask you what Callen said, Kensi. I asked you how much pain you're in."

"Some…" she replied, looking down at the ground. "Not a lot."

"Let me see it," Deeks demanded, louder than he had intended.

Kensi shook her head. "No, Deeks, please…not now."

"But you let Callen see it?"

"It's not the same with Callen," she said. "I just…I don't want to make you feel worse than you already feel."

"I don't think that's possible," he said.

"Well…I'm just not ready for you to see it," she said. "Please, Deeks. I'd like you to respect my wishes on this."

He stared at her for a long moment and then slowly nodded. "All right," he said. When it came right down to it, he really didn't feel he had the right to ask her anyway. All he could do was hope she forgave him for what he had done, but he was pretty sure he would never forgive himself.

xxxxx

Remember everything we've spoken of, Mr. Beale," Hetty said as she placed the last tiny tracking device on his shirt. "You know we'll be keeping very close tabs on you and once we get a good idea of what exactly is going on, we will be there with a team and hopefully a successful rescue operation will take place." She looked up at him and smiled. "Please be careful, but I have the utmost confidence in your ability to carry this out successfully."

"Thank you, Hetty," Eric said, giving her a nervous smile.

"Be careful, Eric," Nell said as she put her arms around him and drew him in for a hug. "Remember, we'll be watching and tracking you the whole time."

"I'll remember, Nell. I'll see you soon." Eric gave a quick goodbye wave to the women and headed off to release Michael Shaughnessy from custody and put their plan into action.

xxxxx

Callen hadn't been sleeping well. He'd been tossing and turning since the team had gone to bed, which had been driving Sam to distraction. His murmuring had been mostly undecipherable, but one word stood out clearly among the others and cut Sam to the quick. "Thirsty."

"Sam?"

"Yeah, G, what it is?" Sam asked, creeping closer to Callen's side and looking at him under the dim light of the lantern, which lit the inside of their tent. His hand automatically went to Callen's forehead and his heart sunk when he felt the heat emanating from it. "Are you cold?" he asked hopefully. It was the one thing he could actually help him with.

Callen shook his head. "I'm thirsty, Sam. Can I have some water, please?"

Sam hesitated, feeling as if he'd been kicked in the stomach before he shook his head. "I'm sorry, G. We don't have any water."

"I need to go find some," Callen said as he sat up and shoved aside the top of the sleeping bag and the blankets that were covering him. "I need a drink."

"G, no," Sam grabbed his partner and tried to get him to lay down again, but Callen struggled against him.

"Stop it, Sam," Callen called out, in obvious distress, his eyes glazed from the fever now ravaging his body. "Let me go. I'm thirsty. Why won't you let me get some water? Please!"

By this time, Deeks and Kensi were awake and watching the situation as it elevated, both with despair in their eyes.

"Come on, G," Sam pleaded with his partner. "Just lie down, please? You need to get some sleep. You'll be able to drink soon."

Callen shook his head. "No, no. I want a drink now, Sam. If you won't get me one, I'll get one myself. I need a drink."

"There is nothing to drink," Sam lied. "You can't have anything right now. Just…just go to sleep, G."

"You're lying," Callen said, an accusatory look in his eyes as he stared at his partner. "Why? Why won't you let me have some water? Are you saving it all for yourselves?" He turned away from Sam and glared at Kensi and Deeks. "You're all being pretty selfish if you ask me." He then got to his feet and started walking towards the tent opening.

At that point, Sam grabbed him in a bear hug and pulled his struggling partner down to the ground, holding him tightly. "I'm sorry, buddy," he said, "I can't let you do that."

"Why won't you let me have some water?" Callen asked, struggling futilely against Sam's hold. "You…you're a bully, Sam. You're much bigger than me. Let me go!"

"This is for your own good," Sam said. He could feel that his friend's struggles were beginning to grow weaker and he breathed a sigh of relief. All he wanted was for Callen to tire himself out and get some much needed sleep.

"I…I would never keep water from you, Sam…I wouldn't," Callen said weakly before falling into an exhausted sleep, still in Sam's arms.

"I know you wouldn't, G," Sam said as he carefully lowered his partner back to his sleeping bag and covered him with the blankets. "More than anything, I wish I could get you some water." He went over to the entrance to the tent and looked outside. There were three armed guards within his direct sightline and more of Bart's men milling about a little farther away. He wouldn't be able to go five feet without getting shot down. There was no way to get his partner some much needed water to drink…there was no way at all to escape… although he was beginning to wonder if getting quickly shot down was the preferable option in this whole fiasco.

"Sam?" Kensi came up to him, her eyes sympathetic. "He didn't mean any of that…he doesn't even know what he's saying."

"I know that, Kensi," Sam turned to her with a forced smile. "But he desperately needs water and I feel awful that I can't get it for him."

"Hopefully, he'll get it soon," she said.

Sam shook his head and he turned so that he was facing both Deeks and Kensi. "I don't think Bart is going to be letting him have water…he'd be perfectly happy to let G die of thirst. In any case…I've been thinking about his final game, whatever it may be and, unless we get some kind of help from an outside source…we're not going to be getting out of his. We all know what Bart intends as his end game, just not what sick way he wants to accomplish it."

"Sam…" Kensi said, shaking her head. "We can't give up…"

Deeks took her hand and squeezed it. "Let's listen to him, Kens…" he said softly.

"I can't speak for the two of you," he began, "but for me…" He looked over at his sleeping partner. "And I'm sure for G too…I'm not going to carry out his final plan to finish any of you off…so, if it comes down to it tomorrow, I'm going to try to take someone's gun and take as many of them down as I can before they take me down. I know it's what G will want too. I'd rather just go down in a hail of gunfire than to fall prey to whatever his final chapter is going to be. I'm sure it won't be good for any of us."

Kensi and Deeks shared a long look and then nodded, their mutual decision made. "It won't be just you and Callen," Deeks said softly. "We'll be in there fighting with you, Sam. We won't go down without a fight." He knew the chances that even one of them would survive were extremely poor, but it was the principal of the thing and hopefully, one of them would be lucky enough to shoot Bart and wipe that bastard off the face of the earth.