Mulderette here, our sincere apologies to those of you who have been waiting for an update to this story. Life in the real world has gotten in the way for sure. I was permanently let go from my job of 11 years due to the coronavirus and my head just hasn't been in a good place for writing. However, on a much more serious note, my friend and writing partner, Jess, lost her dad after his battle with cancer. She and her family have gone through quite a lot over these past weeks.
We're so sorry for having disappeared and failing to update this story for a little while. But we plan to return to more regular updates now. Thank you to everyone that's still here. We hope you enjoy this chapter.
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"Whoa...whoa...slow down, Kens… Why don't you let me drive…" Deeks was in a sitting position on his cot with his hands tightly clutching the sides of the thin mattress, looking more than a little bit woozy.. "Come on, baby...you really need to be more careful. I'm going to get sick."
"Deeks? Hey, brother… What's going on with you?" Sam went over to Deeks and squatted beside his cot. "What's the matter?"
"Sam Dawg?" Deeks looked at Sam in confusion, his eyes darting around wildly. "Or I guess it's Sam Dawgs...There are two of you. That's pretty freaky. Where did Kensi go? Did she turn into another Sam Dawg?"
"Deeks, come on, man… you need to lie down, okay? Help should be here soon." Sam tried to get Deeks to comply, but the younger man stubbornly refused.
"Where did Kensi go? She was driving. How'd you even get here?"
"You have a bad concussion…" It seemed to be a lot worse than Sam had first thought. "Come on...you need to rest."
"No, no, no... I need Kensi. What did you do with her?"
Sam ran his hand over his face in frustration. "I didn't do anything to her. You'll see her soon, okay? Just sleep. Hopefully, she will be here when you wake up."
"Really?" Deeks asked. His eyes darting back and forth as he chuckled. "I don't know which Sam I'm talking to. It's really freaking me out that there are two of you. Which one is Callen's partner? Is one of you going to be partnered up with me until Kensi gets here?"
"Yeah, we'll decide that later," Sam said, keeping his voice calm and soothing as he tried to push Deeks gently down once again. "Come on...just rest now…"
Exhausted, Deeks finally succumbed to Sam's wishes. "Okay, I do think Callen should get to choose which one of you he wants to be partnered up with...It's only fair. He might know which one of you is the original. Just...just wake me up when Kensi gets here, okay? I miss her."
"I know you do, just sleep now…" Sam watched as Deeks finally dropped off to sleep and sighed heavily. He really hoped it hadn't been a mistake to let Eric go for help. There was no way he could leave his two friends alone to go after him.
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"He's not doing too good, is he?" Callen asked from his own cot.
Sam walked over to his partner. "That's the pot calling the kettle black, don't you think?"
"I'm alright," Callen replied unconvincingly. "How long has Eric been gone anyways?"
Sam shrugged then looked at his watch. "A couple of hours, I guess. It's hard trudging through snow. It was a lot easier getting here than it's going to be heading back." He hoped Eric was warm enough and that he didn't run into any wild animals. Just the thought of it made him slightly panicked. He quickly forced the thought out of his head. Eric was doing a heroic thing. He would be fine.
"I guess this isn't the fun time for Deeks we thought it was going to be. We're going to owe him some kind of a makeup trip."
"I can't imagine Deeks is going to want to go away with us again any time soon, probably never," Sam said sadly. "I also don't think Kensi is going to let him out of her sight either." He had no idea why he had insisted on a wilderness trip. It certainly hadn't turned out anything like he had planned. He didn't think he'd plan any kind of boys' trip ever again.
Callen shifted his position and winced as his injured ribs rebelled against the movement. "Damn."
"You okay?" Sam asked, his eyes filled with guilt and concern. He still hadn't forgotten that he had shot his partner. Although he was attempting to keep it in the back of his mind, it wasn't all that easy to do. Right now, there were too many other things to worry about. He knew at some point he was going to have to come to terms with it even if it had been an accident. It didn't make him feel any better about it.
"Just a little twinge," Callen said. "Nothing I can't handle."
"Let me take your temperature."
Callen shook his head. "You just took it, Sam. I'm fine. Don't worry about me."
"I'm always going to worry about you," Sam stated. "It's what we do."
"Yeah well, you don't have to. I'm going to be fine."
"Yeah, I know you are…" There was silence for a few moments before Sam spoke again. "Can I get you anything?"
"Some water?"
"Yeah, sure," Sam picked up Callen's water bottle from the floor and handed it to his partner who took a few sips and then placed the cap back on the bottle.
"Thanks."
"Why don't you try to get some rest," Sam suggested.
"I thought I'd keep you company," Callen said although he was obviously fighting sleep.
"I'll still be here when you wake up, G... Just rest."
"Okay, just for a few minutes," Callen said, allowing his eyes to close. "Wake me up if you need me."
"Yeah, I will buddy." Sam straightened the blankets covering his partner and looked at his watch once again. Time seemed to be standing still. He just wanted his friends to be safe and sound in the hospital and out of this mess that he had created. Hopefully, Eric would arrive with help very soon.
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In its wake, the receding snowstorm had only left a thick white coating over the forest floor. And with no new snowflakes to take its place, Eric's footprints clearly marked the path the young man had taken up to the point he encountered the three men.
"Do you think he found our cabin? Could he be a cop?" One of them asked, the vein on his neck continuing to pop as he entertained the possibility.
"Did he look like a cop to you?" The second one shot back, eyebrows raised as he recalled the cheerful man. His hand, nonetheless, instinctively moved to grasp the handle of his gun, half expecting for the forest to suddenly light with gunfire, and for a hundred SWAT officers to burst into the scene.
"Not really... But you know how it is these days. More and more of these cops just look like surfer dudes from down in Venice," the third one responded, his fingers still rhythmically bouncing up and down his pant leg. "Tho, in retrospect, this one didn't look like a surfer either..."
At that comment, the three men chuckled, blaming the healthy dose of paranoia that came from a life of crime for their apprehensions. But as they kept on their way and their newly carved footprints continued to collide with that of the blonde, the three men's fear began bubbling over again.
"Should we go after him?" One of them asked.
His two friends didn't say anything. One of them began opening and closing his fists, his knuckles ready for a fight. While the other took a second to turn back towards the general direction of the parking lot, still waiting for a swarm of cops to rush them any second.
"What if he wasn't a cop, but a lookout for one of our rivals?" One of the men finally responded.
"Did he look like a gangbanger to you?" The question elicited a laugh from all three men. "And I don't see him as cartel, either".
"Okay, but I think we can all agree that something's not right," the man that had started the whole conversation quickly said. All laughter stopped as his hand pointed to the door of their cabin, to where a path had been created in the uneven footprints of the young man they couldn't place, but who clearly meant some kind of danger.
"Should we go in or backtrack and hope we can catch him before he gets reinforcements?"
"It all looks quiet. Maybe we can sneak in, take our things, and hightail it out of here before it's too late."
"We shouldn't leave any loose ends. He saw our faces."
The conversation followed in the same manner for the next few minutes, all three men trying to agree on the best course of action. Ultimately, it was decided that two of them would go in the cabin and the last man would try to catch up with the young blonde. When they had originally met him, they were about one third of the way to the cabin, and two thirds to the parking lot so hopefully he could maintain a quick pace and intercept and eliminate the threat before it became their downfall.
Drawing in a deep breath, the leader of the group grabbed his gun and checked his ammo, before starting towards the cabin. "See you on the other side, brothers."
His two companions nodded, both reaching down to grab the guns strapped to their ankle holsters, then mirroring his image, checked the ammo and cocked their weapons.
Without another word, two of the men slowly moved towards the cabin, one going to the front door, while the other sneaked to the back. Their friend wasted no time before he began backtracking towards the parking lot at a quick pace.
All three men decided against wearing balaclavas as neither of them expected to leave any kind of witness.
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To anyone without a trained ear, the only sounds reaching the cabin would have been the soft breeze that followed the storm and the chirping of the few birds that had decided to brave the cold to welcome the now reappearing sun. But to Sam Hanna, the wind also carried whispered words that he didn't recognize. Words that made the hairs on the nape of his neck stand up as his spidey senses tickled with the promise of danger. He shook his head, wondering when had he started thinking like Deeks? The thought only increased his worry as he sadly looked down at his two injured friends, before slowly moving towards the window at the front of the cabin.
It was much too early for Eric to be back, unless someone had already been searching for them and had managed to meet their young tech halfway through. But Sam's brief moment of hope was extinguished like a candle in the wind as soon as he marginally opened the curtains. His eyes narrowed as he stared at three men standing at the edge of the forest. Waiting to see if they would continue on their way, Sam held his ground.
As the men started moving, Sam instantly knew that things were about to go very, very wrong. At least if the guns that the men had suddenly procured seemingly out of nowhere were any indication. Turning back towards his friends, Sam quickly debated what to do. He didn't want to take his eyes off the men, but he also couldn't leave Callen and Deeks exposed in case they decided to burst in to search for their drugs. Because that was the only possible explanation. Leave it to Deeks to make them break into what possibly is the only drug cabin in the park.
Letting the curtain fall back into place, Sam turned around and was not at all surprised to be met with the inquisitive eyes of his team leader. His finger instantly went to his lips, in the universal sign of 'stay quiet'. Callen just nodded, silently telling his partner that he had heard too. Both men then reached the same conclusion, they had to get Deeks to safety and prepare to fight back as best as they could.
Silently moving towards the sleeping, or maybe unconscious man, Sam carefully began shaking him awake. Instantly regretting the action as soon as Deeks' features scrunched up in pain. But having no choice, Sam shook harder, and quickly moved his hand to cover Deeks' mouth as soon as confused blue eyes opened and stared back at him. Repeating his action from before, he moved his finger to his lip. Only removing the hand that covered Deeks' mouth when his teammate had nodded a few times and his eyes had cleared a bit.
"Deeks, we have company." Sam practically whispered. "We need to get you up and into the other room, come on." He began lifting the other man, but Deeks held his own and just stared at Sam with a hopeful look on his face.
"Is Kensi finally here?" Deeks asked, eyes searching the door.
"Not the good kind of company." Sam said through gritted teeth. "Please, I'll explain later but I really need you to move now. We don't have much time." His estimate was only a guess but seeing his partner's tense posture as he stared looking out the window, he knew he was right, and they needed to get in a fighting position sooner rather than later.
Even in his concussed and disoriented state, Deeks recognized the urgency and concern in Sam's tone. Years of abuse by his father made it all too familiar from an early age - many nights Roberta having entered his room to quietly prepare him for the impending wrath of hurricane Brandel - then many years as an undercover cop further tuning his instincts to an impending sense of doom.
"What can I do?" Deeks instantly asked. Taking Sam's outstretched hand as he gingerly sat up and then made his way to his feet. His legs wobbled and he almost went down but Sam was ready to catch him. Swinging his arm over his shoulder, he took most of Deeks' weight as he maneuvered them both into the other room. Reaching the closet door, he opened it, and motioned for Deeks to sit inside. Hopefully, there he would be safe while he and Callen took care of business. He wished he could protect his partner too, but even he knew that he needed help to take on the men. Seemingly he wasn't super Sam after all.
"Come on, Sam. I can help." Deeks said as he tried to push up. "Just give me anything that can be used as a weapon."
"Deeks, please, you're hurt. I know I haven't done a great job of protecting you on this trip, so let me make it up to you now. Kensi will be here soon, just wait and try to relax." Sam pleaded quickly, using his strong arm to push Deeks the rest of the way down, before he closed the door and moved back into the common area.
Stepping into the living room, Sam grabbed his gun and moved closer to the window. Smiling even in the dire situation as he noticed his partner now held a lamp in one hand, a kitchen knife in the other. Sam raised his eyebrows and stifled a laugh.
"What?" Callen asked in mock offense. "Not all of us have the luxury of having a gun."
Ignoring Callen's comment, Sam's eyes softened as he asked. "Are you okay to do this, buddy? If you want, I can take you to Deeks and hopefully you'll both be safe there." Sam also considered giving Callen his weapon, but in his partner's injured state, it probably wasn't the best idea to be handling a fire arm. They didn't want another friendly-fire incident.
Callen shook his head. His eyes showed some real offense now at the thought of his own partner thinking he would choose his own safety over fighting alongside him. "Let's do this," he said simply, before moving into full team leader mode. "There's two of them. One went back, not sure if to look for reinforcements, or maybe..." Shaking his head, Callen left the possibility unsaid, choosing to believe that Eric would be okay and soon would be back with cops and paramedics in tow. "The other two spread out, one is coming to the front, the other probably through the back." He finished his explanation. "So, what's the pl..."
Callen's question was cut short as both the front and back door flew open, and the cabin came to life with the sound of gunfire as the two men waited no time before they began shooting at anything that moved.
Sam and Callen jumped out of the way, docking behind any furniture they could find as they prepared to fight back.
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As the door closed behind Sam, Deeks was left alone in the dark closet. He didn't know what the threat was about but vaguely remembered drugs, so he assumed it was its owners coming back for their product.
Closing his eyes, Deeks tried to remember his brief recollection of this room. Trying to decide if there was anything that could be used as a weapon. But his confused mind came up short and he cursed at his own inability to help his friends. It had been a long time since he had felt like the weak link on the team, but in this moment, he was back to being that man sitting at a chess table, feeling that he had to prove himself. Testing his own physical limitations, Deeks tried to stand up. His legs wobbled again, but he used his good arm to steady himself against the wall.
When Deeks was finally confident enough in his ability to stay upright, he opened the door and took a tentative step outside. Just then the familiar sound of gunfire erupted from outside the room and Deeks had to fight the instinctive reaction to duck for cover. Drawing in from a different kind of instincts, Deeks took in a long breath, releasing it slowly as he moved towards the door of the room. He was a cop. He was almost an agent. And right now, he needed all his years of experience in both jobs if he wanted to help his teammates. Giving a short, humorless chuckle, he wondered how much help he could be. Sadly acknowledging that Sam left him here because at this time he was more liability than asset. For the second time in the last few years, a damned hit to the head had left him useless and he didn't welcome the feeling now, just as he hadn't back in Mexico.
A grunt from outside drew Deeks' focus away from his own self-deprecating thoughts. And as his hand moved to open the door, he vaguely remembered that he didn't have a weapon. Turning back towards the closet, Deeks rummaged inside. His lips quirking up in a smile as his fingers came upon the handle of a big, hunting knife.
Weapon in hand, Deeks finally made his way outside. The sight that welcomed him twisting his gut as he stared at Sam lying on the floor, a growing red stain spreading over his thigh. While a now bloodied Callen stood over his partner, hands up in the air as one man pointed a gun at the senior agents.
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The two gangbangers quickly overpowered Sam and Callen. Their single-minded focus on getting their drugs and getting out of dodge proving more than a healthy man's divided focus between the dangerous men and his injured partner.
As soon as the bullets started flying in their direction, Sam began returning fire. But out of the corner of his eye, he continued to keep an eye on his partner. Callen for his part soon realized that he was too far away for the lamp to be of any used, instead he remembered his hand to hand sparring with Kensi, and swiftly moved towards the man at the front, managing to stab him with the knife before the man regain his composure slamming the butt of his gun on Callen's temple. Blood slowly beginning to trickle out of the wound and down over Callen's face.
A grunt coming from his partner, had Sam twisting away in a second, forgetting about the man that was shooting at him as he raised from the ground and directed his shot at the man who was about to hit Callen again. As soon as he was on his feet, a searing pain shot through his thigh and he stumbled to his knees. The recognizable burn of a bullet hitting skin making Sam realize he had just been shot. Serves me right, he thought darkly as he remembered he had shot his own partner.
Being shot threw Sam's aim away, as his bullet didn't find center mass. Instead imbedding itself on the man's shoulder. Anger flashed through his face as he realized he had been shot, so he raised his weapon and pointed it at the man in front of him. Callen promptly raised his hands in the universal sign of surrender.
"Stop!" The leader of the team shouted as his partner was about to shoot the man in front of him. "Before getting out of here we have to find out who they are and what they know." A sick smile graced his lips as he stepped forward, his hand reaching down to grab the knife strapped to his leg. "Now, who wants to go first? Or will you kind gentlemen just talk and save us all the trouble? And on that note, drop your weapons."
Sam and Callen complied, letting the gun and knife fall to the ground, and then stayed quiet, neither of them wanting these men to know they were NCIS, even if this was supposed to be a leisure trip and they had just accidentally stumbled upon their stash house.
Kicking the weapons out of reach, the man seemingly made a decision, choosing to move towards Sam who lay helplessly on the floor, both hands trying to slow the blood flow coming from the hole in his leg. Just then the door to the room opened and a third man joined the party.
Sam silently cursed, wishing Deeks had stayed hidden and out of danger so at least one of them could tell their story. But before he had time to further delve into those thoughts, Deeks had moved to the kitchen, grabbing a brick of the drugs Sam had left partially hidden, and using a knife to cut at the package. The white powder raining all over him and the subject that stood over Sam. Luckily the cabin was small, so it had only taken a few steps for Deeks to take advantage of the men's surprise at seeing him.
In between a coughing fit, Deeks was able to push the knife into the man's chest before he had a chance to react. At the same time as Callen leaped forward, grabbing the gun the recently deceased man dropped as he twisted around and fired at the other subject, his bullet hitting him between his eyes, which now stared blankly at the roof as his body felt backward.
As soon as both bad guys were down, all three NCIS officers breathed a sigh of relief, before things took another turn for the worst, if only to keep with the tradition of the hellish week.
"Sam!" Callen shouted, dropping the weapon and finally being able to move to his partner. The movement however, made something inside him shift as breathing became difficult and his vision dimmed. And just like that, he plummeted to the floor.
At the same time, Deeks coughing intensified, as his hand moved to his head as the drum solo that beat inside grew exponentially. Also, at the same time, he realized with a sinking feeling that he had probably ingested some of the drug he used as a diversion and they wouldn't mix well with his concussion. But before he had a chance to find a solution to his problem, he promptly collapsed, joining Callen on the ground as both men slipped unconscious.
Sam saw it all happen in slow motion. First his partner's panicked stare as he failed to draw air into his lungs. Then the shadow that crossed Deeks eyes as he probably came about the same conclusion as Sam. And both his teammates hitting the ground as Sam wondered absentmindedly if they were even still alive. As Sam's eyes narrowed in confusion at how distant his own thoughts felt, he could feel himself sinking. Fighting a losing battle, Sam dropped his hands from his leg, blood now flowing freely and pooling in an increasing puddle below him. Then his eyes slowly closed as he finally lost his battle against blood loss and his consciousness slipped away.
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Apologies for the cliffy, but we will be back…