Hi everyone, first of all we want to thank everyone for the support of this story. We can't begin to tell you how much we appreciate it. Also, we're sorry we haven't updated as quickly as intended. The world is a crazy place these days and sometimes it's hard to be writing, no matter how much we'd like to. Also, we hope all of you are staying safe and healthy. Our thoughts are with each and every one of you and your loved ones.
xxxxx
Callen awoke shivering. He pulled the blankets tighter around him, trying to warm his body. The attempt was unsuccessful though. Sam had situated his cot closest to the fireplace and he hadn't protested despite a tiny inkling of guilt that he was somehow undeserving of that place. He looked at his co-workers in the room lit only by the fire in the fireplace. Everyone appeared to be peacefully sleeping which was good. He sighed softly and was suddenly aware that the pain in his leg had increased quite a bit since before he had fallen asleep. That wasn't good at all.
"G...I can hear your thoughts whirring around in that head of yours from over here."
Sam's whispered voice startled Callen slightly but he didn't let on. "How can you hear my thoughts? Have you developed some sort of new super mind reading ability?"
Sam came over to his partner and knelt down beside his cot. "What's going on?"
"Nothing, why? What makes you think anything is going on?" Callen asked unconvincingly.
Sam didn't answer but put his hand over Callen's forehead. "I think you may have a fever, buddy."
"I'm alright," Callen insisted. He didn't want to hear that he had a fever. It was much easier to ignore his symptoms and pretend everything was fine. "I just need to get some sleep. We both do."
"Is it your leg?" Sam questioned, unable to hide the look of guilt that flashed across his face.
Callen sighed, choosing not to lie but his silence pretty much answered Sam's question.
"I'd better take a look at it," Sam said.
"Just wait until morning," Callen said. "I don't want you having to wake everyone up."
"I need to wake Deeks up anyway, make sure he's doing okay," Sam said.
"And I'm not asleep," Eric piped up from his cot.
"See? No problem," Sam said, flashing a grim smile at his partner. "I'm going to check on Deeks and I'll be right with you."
Sam got to his feet and stepped over to where Deeks was sleeping soundly. He hated to awaken him, knowing that doing so would likely only serve to bring confusion and pain to the detective. "Deeks? Can you wake up for me?" Sam asked quietly. Deeks remained asleep though so he gently patted his shoulder. "Come on, brother. Wake up."
"Sam? What's up?" Deeks asked, finally managing to open his eyes partly and peer at Sam through his half open lids.
"Just checking to see how you're doing."
"I'm good, great, fantastico."
"Why don't you try a word I can believe."
Deeks shrugged. "I don't know what you want me to say, Sam. I have a headache." He really didn't think that saying he had construction workers pounding his head with giant sledgehammers would help anyone at the moment.
"How bad?"
"Can I go back to sleep now?" Deeks asked, ignoring the question entirely.
Sam stared at the younger man for a long moment then simply nodded. "Yeah, sure Deeks. You can go back to sleep." As he'd done with Callen, he had gotten the answer to his question simply by Deeks' refusal to answer him. "Do you want some ibuprofen?"
"No, I'm good," Deeks said, closing his eyes.
"Yeah, sure you are," Sam whispered. He sighed heavily then went back to Callen who appeared to be sleeping. "G?" Of course he didn't answer. Sam inwardly debated between allowing him to sleep undisturbed until morning or taking a look at his wound now. He had almost decided to let his partner remain asleep when Callen called out fretfully in his sleep. "Sam? Somebody help me. I can't get away."
"G? Wake up, buddy. You're okay."
"Sam? Where are we?" Callen asked, disoriented at first but quickly gaining his bearings. Cabin. Snow. Cold.
"We're in the cabin, remember?" Sam asked.
Callen nodded silently.
"I want to take a look at your leg."
"Can't it wait?"
Sam shook his head, his eyes filled with sympathy. "Sorry, I'm not really comfortable with that. It won't take long." He went and turned on the lantern then retrieved the first aid kit.
"Is there anything I can do?" Eric asked.
Sam shook his head. "Thanks, Eric. I think I'm fine. I'll let you know if I need you for anything."
Callen steeled himself as Sam lifted the covers away from him. He immediately started to shiver feeling as if a cold blast of air was attacking him. Sam quickly moved the blankets so they covered the top half of his friend. "Thanks."
"No problem." Sam carefully began to unwrap the dressing over Callen's wound, taking care not to hurt him anymore than necessary. He knew he wasn't being entirely successful though when Callen involuntarily hissed. "I'm sorry."
"I….I'm fine." Callen squeezed his eyes shut, wishing that Sam would just hurry up with cleaning and redressing the wound.
"This is going to hurt a bit," Sam said before he began his treatment of the bullet wound. It didn't look horrible, but it was definitely showing the beginnings of an infection, with the development of redness and some pus along the wound edges. Not what he wanted to see. They really needed a plan of action and sadly, he knew the options were very limited. "G? I'm done."
Callen let out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding and shot Sam a shaky smile. "Thanks."
"You're welcome." Sam then dug around in the first aid kit and came up with what he had been searching for, a thermometer. He placed it into Callen's mouth and Callen, decided not to kick up a fuss though it was the last thing in the world he wanted. When the thermometer beeped Sam removed it and looked at the digital reading. "101.3."
"Could be worse," Callen said, actually relieved to hear it wasn't all that high. .
"Could be better." Sam knew the temperature in itself wasn't really too high, but with the circumstances and the start of an infection in Callen's leg, it gave him a high sense of foreboding.
"I'm sure you had a higher fever than that in Mexico," Callen retorted. "We just didn't have this handy dandy first aid kit to tell us every little thing."
"Really, G?" Sam asked, trying to keep his temper under control. "We're lucky to have this handy dandy first aid kit."
"Yeah, Sam...I know we are...I just...I think I've had enough of this little adventure now. We need to head back home...Deeks...Deeks needs to be in a hospital."
Sam gave Callen an incredulous look. "Are you kidding me? You're not going anywhere, G. There's no way you could make it out of here in your condition, nor could Deeks. Anyway, this is a discussion for tomorrow." He softened his tone, not wanting to be yelling at his friend. "Do you need anything?"
"Maybe some water."
Sam nodded as he went and got Callen's water bottle and brought it back to him. Callen took a couple of sips and Sam then placed the bottle on the floor right next to his cot. "It's right here if you want more, okay?"
"Okay, thanks Sam," Callen said with a nod. His eyelids were growing heavy now and he didn't even try to force them open any longer. "See you in the morning…"
"Goodnight, G…" Sam sat with his partner for a bit then went over to where his sleeping bag was on the floor. Sleep didn't come easily for him though. He knew that Callen was right. Both Deeks and Callen needed a hospital. Although the situation was not yet urgent, he could feel that time was not their friend. He couldn't help but think about their fight against time to save Michelle and what that tragic outcome had been. He couldn't let that happen again. They needed to get help quickly. More than anything, he needed for Callen and Deeks to be okay.
xxxxx
"Oh man…" Deeks' hand went to his head where the throbbing, intense pain was coming from. There, just above his forehead, under his tousled hair,, was a nice sized goose egg. No wonder he was hurting so badly. "This really sucks," he murmured.
"What sucks? Are you alright?" Sam's voice came unexpectedly out of the darkness.
"I'm good," Deeks replied automatically as he wondered if Sam ever really slept. The next thing he knew, the other man was beside his cot. "I really am good." His words didn't match his eyes though which were filled with pain.
Sam gently removed Deeks' hand from his head and placed his own hand there. His expression immediately turned to one of sympathy. "Ouch...that must be hurting you quite a bit. I'll get you some ibuprofen."
"I don't need it," Deeks said, but Sam ignored him and got the first aid kit. He handed Deeks some of the ibuprofen tablets and then his water bottle to wash them down.
While Deeks was taking the medicine, Sam rummaged through the first aid kit again and came up with a cold pack. He squeezed the edges shut which released the liquid inside and then shook the pack before handing it to Deeks. "I think this will help.
Deeks took the cold pack from Sam and gently placed it over his head. His facial features began to relax as the coldness immediately began to penetrate and dull the pain. "Oh, than you, Sam-Dawg. This is the best."
"You need anything else?" Sam asked.
Deeks shook his head. "No...this is more than enough. Thanks."
"Let me know if you need another one. We don't have a ton but hopefully they can give you some relief for a while anyway. I'm going to see if there's ice in the freezer." He should have thought of it sooner. In any case, ice was one thing they really didn't need to worry about. "Try to sleep, if you can."
Deeks nodded as he allowed his eyes to close. He was just happy to have the pain relieved for a bit. Next on his wish list was to just be home with Kensi, relaxing on the sofa, sharing a bowl of popcorn and watching some old movie on t.v. Somehow, he didn't think that was going to be as easy to achieve though.
xxxxx
After Deeks dropped off to sleep, Sam went over to the refrigerator and opened up the freezer. There he found two five pound bags of ice. There were also frozen waffles, a few single-serve entrees and a loaf of bread. "Nice," he said to himself as he took the loaf of bread and placed it on the countertop to defrost. That was something at least. He closed the freezer and walked back towards his sleeping bag, stopping by Callen's cot first. He gently placed his hand over his sleeping partner's forehead and found it still to be warm. "Don't worry, buddy. I'm going to get you and Deeks both some help really soon," he whispered. He then went back to his sleeping bag, but sleep was elusive and he was still awake as the sun rose and the inside of the cabin began to lighten.
xxxxx
"Morning Sam," Eric said as Sam got up from the floor and began to stretch his stiff muscles.
"Good morning, Eric. Did you sleep well?"
Eric shrugged. "On and off… I'm guessing you didn't get much rest."
"I'm fine," Sam stated. He was just exhausted. At times like these, he missed his wife more than he could have ever imagined. The thought that he would never be with her again still had the power to totally devastate him at a moment's notice. Once they got out of this situation, he was going to play visits to see both his children. Life was just too short.
Eric nodded, unconvinced. "So…"
Sam gave him a questioning look as he went over to the wooden table and sat on one of the chairs. "So what?"
"I'm going to leave soon."
"You're what?" Sam looked at Eric in confusion. "Where are you going?"
"To get help."
Sam stared back at Eric then slowly shook his head. "No, no you're not, Eric. I'm going to go get help. I know a lot more about survival in the elements than you do. I can go faster."
"I know all that, Sam," Eric stated, "but you also know a lot more about medicine in these conditions than I do. I don't trust myself to do the right thing if Callen or Deeks needs help. You need to be with them. You need to stay here. I can do it, Sam. You just tell me what I need to know and I'll get help. I do know how to read a compass. I won't let you down."
Sam sighed. What Eric was saying made sense, but he wasn't ready to agree to it yet. Somehow, sending Eric out into the wilderness on his own seemed like sending a lamb to the slaughter. "What about the bears?"
Eric's eyes widened. "Uh...I….well, hopefully I won't run into them."
"Let's have some breakfast while we think about this." Sam went over to their stash of food to see what they still had left.
"You think there's any more food here?" Eric asked as he went over to the cabinets. "Hey, Sam! There is food! Peanut butter, cookies, crackers and cereal!" He grabbed a box of Cap'n Crunch and pulled it out of the cabinet. Yes! I love this stuff. It's one of my favorites. And it's not expired!" He was practically dancing as he ripped open the top of the box and the expression on his face changed immediately to one of shock and fear.
"Houston...we have a problem…"
xxxxx
"Kens, I found them!" Nell shouted excitedly from her familiar spot in front of the ops computers. The NCIS ladies having gotten tired of their partial access when working at home from Nell's tablet, and having decided to use the full extent of OSP's resources to locate the boys.
"What are we waiting for? Let's go!" Kensi was already halfway to the door when she spoke. The fear she felt for her husband having instantly changed to her ever-present need to protect him. That need now finally having an outlet as they had their locations at last.
"Are you sure you just want to barge in there? They're probably okay. Sam is a trained ex-Navy Seal and Callen, Deeks and Eric are also capable in their own ways." Nell asked softly, her ability to analyze the ins and outs of every situation shining through.
"Then why haven't they called?" Kensi wondered out loud, knowing it was more of an introspective question as Nell couldn't possibly have an answer to it.
"I don't know, Kens. But I assume it's just that they don't have any signal." Nell offered, as she lacked any better explanation.
"But, what if we wait and then we're too late?" Kensi asked again, her mind thinking of all the times they'd nearly been too late. But then she remembered this situation didn't involve bad guys, only nature, and her boys were more than adept at handling that. "Ok." She agreed finally, moving back towards Nell and dejectedly plopping down on a chair.
"Let me do some more research and we can decide when I have some more intel." Nell proposed. Deep down also wanting to rush into that forest and make sure that the boys were really okay, but also not wanting to ruin their getaway in case things were perfectly fine.
A few minutes of typing and a phone call later, Nell rushed out of the room, screaming at Kensi to follow her.
Surprised by Nell's reaction and change of demeanor, it took Kensi a second to react and follow her friend. Reaching the bullpen, she found Nell standing in the middle with two go-bags ready to go. "Come on, I will explain when we're on the way!" Then as quickly as before, Nell ran out of the mission and towards the parking deck.
Reaching her car, Kensi's nerves were on edge, knowing Nell must have discovered that something was very wrong but too scared now to ask for details. Could she have found hospital admission information? Or news from the park rangers? Or even worse, the name of one of the boys in the local morgue?"
"Where to?" She asked eventually, knowing that her mind was going in a downward spiral and only seeing Deeks would be able to calm her now.
"Van Nuys. There's a private airport there and I called Hetty, she has a plane ready and waiting for us." Nell explained calmly.
"What did you find, Nell?" Kensi didn't wait for an answer, she just speeded out of there as if all their lives depended on it. Nell wouldn't have involved Hetty if the situation didn't truly call for it.
"Woah!" Nell shrieked, holding onto the handles on the roof of the car for dear life. "I found out the location of the cabin they rented and also a hotel reservation in Reno." All the words rushed out of Nell as soon as a red light forced Kensi to slow down, allowing Nell's heart rate to go back down to normal rhythm.
"Ok." Kensi said, knowing there had to be more to it, her sideway glare prompting Nell to keep going.
"I called the hotel to see if the boys had checked in but they missed their reservation and no one called to cancel or move it". Nell turned to look at Kensi, knowing the implications of that information but still holding onto the hope that maybe the blizzard had just forced them to delay their plans.
"When should have they checked in?" Kensi asked reluctantly, wanting all the intel but not to crush her spirits any further.
"Yesterday."
"Ok, ok, ok..." Kensi said over and over. Hands clutching so tightly to the wheel that her knuckles looked completely devoid of color.
"Kens." Nell called from beside her friend. "Kensi!" She shouted after getting no response. "We will find them. It's only been a day, the storm probably made it impossible for them to stick to their schedule. But if something else happened, we will go out there and help them. Hetty is calling the rangers, and they will also have medical attention on standby in case we need it. We will help them, okay? And everything will be alright." Moving her hand to Kensi's shoulder, Nell squeezed tightly, letting her know that she wasn't alone in this. The thought that the rangers and paramedics would be waiting also helped to ease the girls' concerns, because they might not need their services, but they were sure glad to have them if it turned out someone was hurt.
"Thanks, Nell." Kensi whispered, a silent tear running down her cheek.
"Anytime." Nell said honestly, secretly also feeling proud at managing to help her usually composed friend through her brief show of vulnerability.
For the next few minutes no one said anything else, both agent and analyst lost inside their own heads. Both also trying to convince themselves that everything was okay, but at the same time, preparing themselves for a fight if it came to that. Nature might not have a conscience but it could be as unforgiving as any bad guy they had faced.
Reaching the airport a half hour later, a thought occurred to Kensi as she parked her SUV. "How did you find all this information?"
Nell winced, turning an apologetic look towards her friend. "I might have hacked Sam's email."
Kensi's instinctual response was to mirror Nell's grimace. Both knowing that Sam wouldn't be a happy man when he found out, especially if things were perfectly okay, after all. Still both friends promptly burst out laughing, their worry easing and their nerves coming out in desperate chuckles.
Giving each other a minute to sober up, they collected their belongings before stepping out of the car. Then sharing a determined look and walking to the waiting plane.
"Let's go get our boys."