Chapter Seven

Hi all, Jess here. Sorry for the slight delay in posting this chapter, family health issues and school being busy is making writing a bit hard but hopefully that will all get better soon. Thanks again to everyone that's reading and accompanying us in this journey, we both really appreciate it and hope you continue to enjoy the story.

xxxxx

"Wish the damn thing would just leave," Callen whispered even as the bear took another step toward them. Then out of the corner of his eye, he saw something that turned his blood to ice. A smaller bear, equally dark as the bigger one in front of them, suddenly appeared from within a thick layer of leaves. His fur whitened by the falling snow, and his eyes much less menacing than what Callen assumed was his mother.

Suddenly, the bear stood on his hind legs and let out its most menacing growling roar yet as it lunged towards the two men. Deeks automatically took a step forward, and the bear caught him between his paws.

Hearing Deeks groan, Callen bent down and picked up a large branch, swinging it forward in an attempt to scare the bear away and get him away from his teammate. His defensive maneuver had no effect whatsoever though as the bear swiped at him with his paw and bit Deeks' arm. Blood immediately started to gush from the wound as Deeks stumbled backwards, hand moving to rest on a big boulder so he wouldn't fall to the ground.

xxxxx

Sam and Eric had been searching for what felt like hours, but in reality they knew it hadn't been longer than half an hour. Both men were tired and worried, so they decided to keep looking for a few more minutes before they would try to head back to the parking lot and try to contact the rangers.

Their patience was rewarded quickly when they heard a low groan, then a loud cry.

"Was that…?" Eric asked, but the look on Sam's face cut his question short.

Being able to recognize Callen and Deeks' voices anywhere and anytime, Sam spared no time and just started running towards the sound. His movement however was cut short and his heart began beating quickly and soon as he came to stand on a small clear area overlooking the lake.

A few seconds later, Eric caught up to him. The expression on his face instantly mirroring the look on Sam's face, as both teammates took in the scene in front of them. To their relief, both Callen and Deeks were there, but to their horror, two bears surrounded them. A smaller one to the side, looking more like a bystander that wanted nothing to do with the two men. And a bigger one just in front of them, swiping its paws at them, as Callen tried defending himself with a branch, while Deeks stood to the side holding his arm close against his torso. A crimson spot already evident on his jacket.

xxxxx

"Callen, run." Deeks said in between gritted teeth. "Go, and look for Sam. That's our best chance."

Callen spared a quick look at Deeks, and shook his head. He was aware that their situation had changed but he was still not leaving his man behind. "How hurt are you?" He asked, wanting to know if Deeks could follow if they both decided to bolt, hoping the mother would stay with her cub. That new development explaining to Callen why they were even in this predicament as most wild animals he knew, rarely attacked humans unprovoked. He remembered having been told that some types of black bears did prey on humans, considering them a potential food source. But in this case, it was only a mother protecting her cub. And thinking of Hetty, Callen couldn't fault the bear from doing so, especially as she didn't know neither him nor Deeks wanted to hurt them.

"I'm okay." Deeks said, panting. "I can run." He said, naturally understanding Callen's plan. "I say you go right, I go left. We meet back up in the middle. Hopefully both bears will stay behind."

Callen nodded, hoping they wouldn't be about to do something very stupid but he was truly out of ideas. "See you on the other side." He muttered as he moved to the side and started to run, but just then a shot sounded randomly out of nowhere, and then a second one, just as he felt a piercing ache on his thigh, just before his leg gave in and he tumbled to the ground.

xxxxx

Coming to the realization that Deeks was already hurt and Callen would soon follow, Sam saw no other option, so he reached for his back, drawing out his gun.

"What?" Eric asked, eyes wide. "What are you doing here with a gun?"

"Eric, we're federal agents, we always carry a gun." Sam explained quickly, taking aim as best as he could with the raging storm.

"Will you shoot her?" Eric wondered nervously. Not wanting Callen and Deeks to be hurt but also not particularly liking the idea of killing a mama bear.

"No, Eric. Not unless I absolutely have to. I will just try to scare her away. Now let me aim." Sam pleaded, not wanting to hurt Eric's feelings but needing to focus.

Planning his shot, Sam considered his options. He hadn't seen any other campers around as he had walked but he couldn't be sure there were no other people, maybe even hunters, so he couldn't risk shooting wide. But he also didn't want to get too close.

Being completely focused on his hands and gun, Sam failed to notice that Deeks and Callen were preparing to make a run for it and especially that Callen had already taken a step sideways. So when he finally pressed the trigger, his first show had the intended goal of drawing the mother bear's attention away from his teammates. But he couldn't understand how or why his second shot had been followed by Callen's sudden cry as he fell down onto the ground. The blood flowing from his leg making Sam take a step back, eyes going wide, and heart beating faster than before, as he realized that somehow he had just shot his own partner.

xxxxx

Hearing the shots and then barely seeing Callen stumble to the ground, Deeks changed his direction and quickly moved towards Callen. Still holding his injured arm, Deeks stood over his fallen teammate, ready to stand in the way, if the bear came any closer to them. But to his relief, both the mother and cub, started running away from them, the mother quickly ahead, as the cub followed slowly behind. Immediate threat gone, Deeks breathed a sigh of relief as his legs also gave in and he fell to his knees. His previous worry and fear having turned to a brief relief and now just confusion as Eric and Sam suddenly appeared, both with grief-stricken faces as they ran towards them.

xxxxx

"Eric, help Deeks," Sam ordered as he dropped to the ground beside his partner. "G? Hey buddy, how you doing?"

"I'm good, Sam," Callen said, managing a half smirk as he tried to control his shivering. "You...you're starting to look like a snowman. What are you doing out here?"

"We got worried when you weren't back at the cabin," Sam explained as he took off his jacket. He then pulled his Henley up over his head and tore it into two strips, one large and the other much smaller. He handed the small strip to Eric. "Okay G, I'm going to tie a tourniquet around your leg for now so I can get you back to the cabin. Then I can take a better look at it." He could see his partner was freezing and luckily they weren't too far from the cabin. He expertly tied the tourniquet then put his jacket over his partner. "Eric? How's Deeks?" he asked, looking over at the other two men.

"Deeks is fine," Deeks said, but his face was pale and drawn and it was easy to see his was in pain.

"Eric?"

"He's bleeding, but it's not too bad," Eric replied as he finished bandaging Deeks' wound. "How's Callen?"

"He'll be okay," Sam said gruffly as he got to his feet and bent down to pick up his partner.

"What the hell are you doing?" Callen snapped. "I can walk. You're not carrying me."

"Sorry buddy," Sam said as he pulled him into his arms and held him closely against his chest. "This isn't up for debate. We need to get back to the cabin as fast as possible and warm you guys up."

"You need help, Deeks?" Eric asked, his tone gentle.

"You're sure as hell not carrying me," Deeks said, his attention on Callen as they started to walk. He stumbled, feeling slightly dizzy as Eric put his hand on his arm to steady him. Deeks was still very confused as to all that had happened, but hopefully once they got back inside, everything would become clear.

xxxxx

Once they got back to the cabin, Sam gently placed Callen down on one of the wooden chairs. "You doing okay?" he asked his partner who nodded. Sam then turned his attention to Deeks. "Deeks, sit down before you fall down." He could see the blood which was coming through the bandage Eric had put on Deeks arm.

"Eric? Help me bring Callen's cot in here," Sam directed and Eric quickly moved to do what Sam wanted. After they had brought the cot into the main room, close to the fireplace. Sam helped Callen onto the cot and laid him down, then thanked Eric who had brought over the first aid kit. "Do you think Deeks' wound needs stitches?" Sam asked as he rummaged through the kit and took out the items he needed.

"No," Deeks replied.

"Yes, I think so," Eric contradicted, giving a nervous look in Deeks' direction.

"Okay, Deeks can you hold your arm up over your heart until I can get over to you?" Sam asked. "It will help slow the bleeding."

"How's Callen?" Deeks asked, uncomfortable with the attention being on him, but still lifting his arm, following Sam's instructions.

Sam looked down at his partner who appeared a bit woozy. He took some scissors and cut the pant legs away from the wound. There was a clear entry wound but no exit wound. "Damn it."

"What?" Callen asked, his eyes on Sam's face. It was easy to see he wasn't happy. "What's wrong?"

"Don't worry…"

"About what?" Callen asked, still looking dazed. "I don't understand. What happened? Did I get shot?"

"Shhh...We'll talk about that later. You're going to be okay," Sam replied. "Just rest up for now. I need to go take a look at Deeks' arm."

"No, no you don't," Deeks said who'd been listening to every word.

"Yes, I do," Sam pointed at the drops of blood on the floor that had soaked through the makeshift bandage. "You're bleeding too much."

"It'll stop," Deeks insisted. "I don't need stitches."

"Hey, it will be okay," Sam said soothingly. He searched through the first aid kit again and came up with a small nip bottle which he passed to Deeks. "One of Hetty's best. Drink it. It should ease the pain a little."

"That's all you've got in there?" Deeks asked. "Don't you have something that will just put me into la la land?"

"I can knock you out with my fist," Sam joked.

Deeks nodded. "Yeah, do that."

"Come on, Deeks, I'm not going to hit you," Sam said.

"Why not?" Deeks wondered, trying to sound as serious as possible. "You had no trouble doing so when we first met. Just think of how much you hated me back then and give me your best shot."

"I didn't h…" Sam began to say, but then shook his head and stopped talking. Lies wouldn't get them anywhere, especially not ones dealing with moments 10 years in the past.

"There's gotta be something better than that in that little magic kit you have there Sam," Deeks insisted, figuring that maybe he could pissed off Sam enough to impulsively hit him. "Let me look." He knew Sam packed a mean punch, but anything would be better than the alternative he knew was soon approaching.

"Fine, Deeks, there is something better," Sam snapped, losing his patience. "But I'm not going to give it to you."

"Why not?" Deeks asked as he looked at Sam and then his eyes traveled to Callen. "Oh." Deeks sighed deeply filled with sudden guilt. "I'm sorry, Sam. Do what you've got to do."

"I'd give you something if I could, Deeks," Sam said, "but I…"

Deeks shook his head. "No, you're right, Sam. Listen, I'm sorry. I just...I wasn't thinking. I'm sorry."

"You don't have anything to be sorry about," Sam said softly. "I'll be as gentle as I can with this. There's some stuff in here I'll spray on it. Might make it hurt a little less."

"Let's just get it over with," Deeks said. Now that he knew this was happening, he just wanted to get it done as quickly as possible.

"Okay...let's see what we're looking at," Sam said. He carefully unwrapped the bandage from Deeks arm revealing a nasty looking wound with caked on blood that was stuck to Deeks' shirt, as well as a lot of blood which was obviously still coming from the wound. Sam shook his head. "Eric? Can you get Deeks a clean shirt?"

"Sure, Sam." Eric hadn't said a word during all of these goings on. He went into the other room, and rummaged through Deeks' bag until he found a clean shirt. He really wished none of this was happening. He wished they were still enjoying the snow, throwing snowballs or making snow angels, or even better, all safe and sound back in LA instead of in this godforsaken cabin with wounded men and a storm raging outside.

xxxxx

"I'll be right back." Sam instructed, before quickly exiting the cabin.

With both his teammates gone, Deeks took a minute to let his facade fall, as he took in a few, deep calming breaths. He knew what was coming wouldn't be easy on him, but it wouldn't be any easier on Sam and Eric. So he tried to prepare himself for the expected discomfort, not wanting to seem weak but also not wanting Sam to feel guilty or add any further anguish to their situation.

A few minutes later, both men came back, Eric holding a clean shirt and Sam with a water basin and other utensils in hand.

"Why don't you change first?" Sam asked gently. "It will be harder later and I'd rather you not move your arm much after we're done."

Deeks just nodded and awkwardly started trying to remove his jacket and shirt. To his relief, Eric took pity of his struggle and decided not to wait to be asked for help, moving naturally towards Deeks and helping him change into the clean shirt. "Thank you." Deeks said sheepishly, after the short ordeal was over, all of them knowing that it was only the easy part.

"Okay, so first we need to clean this wound." Sam began to explain, wanting Deeks to know everything that would happen and to understand why it was important. "This is not the most sterile of environments but we have to try to fight off the chance of infection as much as we can." Then he began soaking a towel in warm, soapy water.

Deeks nodded again, knowing the control he had over his emotions was frail and not trusting his words not to betray how nervous he was.

"Let me know if it hurts." Sam offered, as he began scrubbing the skin around the wound, being careful to get the debris away from it and not into it. He then irrigated the wound thoroughly before spraying it with antibacterial cleaning spray, and adding an antibiotic cream for good measure. "Ok, we're done with this part…" Sam said, letting the implication of his words hang in the air.

"Ok." Deeks said softly, knowing there was no point in trying to fight Sam anymore. Not only did his ex-Seal teammate knew more first aid than any of them, but he had no intention of jeopardizing his health any further, even if that meant taking on a bit of pain, he had a marriage to get back to.

"Why don't you drink some of that," Sam suggested, indicating the small bottle he had given Deeks previously.

"Just do it, Sam," Deeks said, shaking his head. He refused to take anything that Callen might need, and he wouldn't be the reason why his team leader would need to endure any more pain than necessary, or why Sam would feel any more guilt than his features currently reflected. He could take one for the team.

"It might be easier if you close your eyes." Sam suggested instead, wanting to find any measure of comfort he could give Deeks. He then moved to sterilize the instruments trying to block Deeks' view of them with his back.

"Fine," Deeks got that Sam didn't want him watching, and if he was honest, he wasn't too keen on seeing the needle either. He did as the other man asked and closed his eyes, immediately thinking of Kensi's face. 'I really wish you were here with me, baby,' he thought to himself, inadvertently wincing as he felt the needle pierce his skin. 'This is not a whole lot of fun anymore. It started out okay, but… I miss you, Kens...I really do…' He tried to concentrate on anything else but he still felt every one of the stitches that Sam put into his skin. He felt slightly nauseous and he kept thinking about the mother bear with his arm in her mouth. This really sucked.

"Deeks? Hey, I'm done. You okay?" Sam asked as he began covering the wound with gauze and then with a clean bandage, but not before adding some more antibacterial spray and antibiotic cream. An infection setting in would be the worst possible thing that could happen right now, and he knew he needed to be proactive rather than reactive with this.

Deeks opened his eyes and gave Sam a shaky smile. "I'm good. Thanks," he whispered, his features however, betraying the certainty of his voice.

Sam had wanted to point out how proud he was of Deeks, and how brave he had been, but choosing not to throw Deeks further into the spotlight or make him any more uncomfortable, he shook his head and instead settled on smiling back at him.

"We're going to get your cot in here too," Sam told him after a few seconds of silence. "It's warmer and I want you in here." He'd done the best he could with the wound, but it didn't really look good and Sam knew the risk of infection was still a very real one so he'd rather keep a close eye on Deeks for any signs that one was settling in.

Deeks nodded, too tired to protest and deriving some amount of comfort from the thought of being in the warmer part of the cabin with Sam performing overwatch duties over his injured teammates, even though he would have much preferred if it was Kensi and not Sam.

xxxxx

Sam ran his hand over his face as he stood up and walked over to the front window of the cabin, not quite ready to deal with his partner yet. Eric followed him and they both stared outside at the storm which was now fully raging. Sam shook his head. "I'm really sorry I got you guys into this…"

"It's not your fault, Sam," Eric said. "You didn't know this was going to happen, none of it."

"We're in the middle of a really bad storm, Eric. Deeks got his arm chomped by a bear and I shot my own partner. I should have tracked the weather better. I should have been more careful out there."

Eric shook his head. "You don't control the weather, Sam, and sometimes storms just come out of nowhere. And It's not like you aimed the gun at Callen. It was just a freak accident. Stuff like that happens."

"Not to me," Sam whispered. "I need to go take care of G. Keep an eye on Deeks, will ya?"

Eric nodded and watched as Sam went over to his partner. After one more look out the window, he went over to sit with Deeks.

xxxxx

"Hey, G, you hanging in there?" Sam asked, forcing false cheer into his voice as he pulled up a chair and sat down next to Callen's cot.

"My leg is really big, Sam," Callen said, looking wide-eyed and not particularly pleased with it. "It's huge. It's like a giant balloon."

Sam looked at Callen's leg which was admittedly a little bit swollen but certainly nothing like what Callen was describing. "It's okay, G...you're just imagining it, okay? Listen, I'm going to give you a shot to put you to sleep and when you wake up, you're going to feel better, okay?"

"You have shots for that in your little bag of tricks?" Callen asked, torn between sucking it up while Sam removed the bullet or just succumbing to the drug and sparing himself that kind of pain.

Sam nodded. "Yeah. I guess Hetty likes us to be prepared. I'll get that bullet out of your leg and you won't feel a thing." Sam took the Ketamine vial out of the first aid kit and mentally thanked Hetty for having provided items which would never be in a standard kit. He put the medicine into the syringe and injected it into the muscle of Callen's arm.

"What was that for?" Callen asked, glaring at his partner as the injection had taken him by surprise.

"I told you. It's just an injection to put you to sleep, G. When you wake up, you'll feel better."

"A little warning would be nice, next time."

"Well, let's hope there's not going to be a next time."

Callen's lips twisted into a half smirk as if he'd been about to say something, but whatever it was remained unknown as he began to succumb to the effects of the Ketamine and eventually dropped off to sleep.

xxxxx

"Hi." Eric said softly, as he came to sit on the floor, besides Deeks' cot. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay, Eric." Deeks said honestly. The wound still ached a bit, but now he was doing much better since it had been taken care off and the painful part was over. "Thank you."

"For what?" Eric wondered in uncharacteristic frustration. "I wish I could have done more."

"Like what, man?" Deeks asked honestly. "Have the bear bite you instead? There's not much any of us could have done. So I just appreciate you being here and checking up on me." He said sincerely. "But I do wonder, what happened out there?"

Eric swallowed nervously, knowing the question was coming, but still not sure how to properly answer it. "Hmm… We took a bit longer than expected to get the water, so we assumed you guys would be back for sure by the time we returned. But you weren't, so we started to get worried and eventually headed out to look for you. We couldn't find you and the storm was picking up so we thought about looking for the rangers but decided to first give it one last try and that's when we found you…"

"I'm glad you didn't look for the rangers." Deeks said honestly. "They might have been able to take us out of here, but I'm not sure Callen and I would have been this unhurt then." Thinking about it, he knew they both were quite lucky and had to be thankful for the relative minor injuries. "Then what happened?" He pushed after Eric had remained silent, having reached the part of the story he was really curious about.

Drawing a hand through his short hair, Eric at least appreciated that it was Deeks asking the questions and not Callen. It would be much harder to explain to him. "We reached an open area that overlooked the lake and that's when we first saw you both and the two bears. We were still far away and the snow barely left us any visibility. And the bears were getting closer."

"Eric." Deeks said, cutting the man off. "I'm not placing any blame, and you don't need to defend your actions. I just want to fill in the blanks of what we missed."

Eric nodded appreciatively, hoping that Callen would be as understanding as Deeks. "Thank you. So… Sam took out his gun then, trying to scare the bear away, and the first shot was successful, but you already know what happened with the second…" Eric trailed off, but began to ramble soon after. "Sam couldn't see much, I don't even know how he managed to take the shot. I could never…"

Deeks stare cut Eric's arguments short, as the tech just swallowed hard and moved his stare down, not wanting to see Deeks' face, scared of what he would find there. "What did I just say, brother? I'm not blaming any of you for what happened, I'm just thankful that you found us in time and were able to help." He said honestly.

"I just hope Callen feels the same way." Eric muttered under his breath, remembering Sam's distraught look when he realized what he had done.

"I can't speak for Callen, but I think he will understand. We didn't have much options left, and at least we're both alive and only minorly hurt."

"Thank you." Eric said now, deeply appreciating Deeks' calm and bright outlook on the whole situation. Though, it shouldn't really surprise him. There was no one better than Deeks at turning the darkest of storms into a bright day. The thought making Eric wish the actual storm raging outside would let up soon, wanting to see the sun shine again, and honestly hoping they could somehow still continue their adventure.

Getting no response from Deeks after a few minutes, Eric looked up to see the man's eyes were now closed. His breathing coming in slowly, as he had seemed to have fallen into a peaceful sleep. "Sleep well." He whispered, glad his teammate was getting some rest after his ordeal. Looking up to see Sam sitting by Callen, Eric gingerly stood up and walked towards them.

xxxxx

"Sam? Do you need help?" Eric asked. He felt bad for the other man. His feelings were written all over his face. He briefly considering sharing his recent talk with Deeks, but decided against it, not wanting to give Sam any false hope in case Callen wasn't as understanding.

"Can you pass me a pair of gloves from the first aid kit?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, sure." Eric did as Sam requested and also brought over some water which he had taken upon himself to boil. Sam sterilized the instruments and went to work, grateful that his partner was asleep and not suffering through the procedure. It took a bit of exploration but finally Sam was able to snag the bullet and he dropped it into a small metal cup which Eric had provided.

"Everything good?" Eric asked, relieved that the bullet was now out of Callen.

"Yeah, sure...everything's great," Sam replied, staring at the bullet. It was hard to believe such a tiny little piece of metal could cause so much trouble. Then again, it wasn't the first time this had happened, but it certainly was the first time that Callen had been shot by his own partner. He wasn't sure that either of them would be able to get past it any time soon. Or at least he hoped Callen would, even if the guilt would remain in him for quite a bit longer.