We would both like to thank all of you for the wll wishes and positive thoughts which you all sent us with the previous chapter. We can't tell you how much they meant to us. The world is a very different place these days and many people are having a rough time which makes what you all said to us even more meaningful. We're sorry that we didn't respond individually, but we thought you might like to have the next chapter up sooner, rather than later. Hope you like it and thanks again for all your reviews and kind words. Stay safe, everyone.
xxxxx
"Good afternoon, I'm Fred Dawson. Can I help you ladies?" The older man, who was balding and wearing a slightly too tight ranger uniform, smiled kindly at Kensi and Nell as they walked into the ranger station.
"We were wondering if you've seen any of these men?" Kensi asked as she showed a picture on her phone to the ranger.
Fred peered at the screen closely for a few long moments then shook his head as he handed the phone back to Kensi. "Can't say that I have. Are they in some sort of trouble?"
"We're not sure," Nell interjected. "They came here right around the time the storm hit and we haven't heard from them. They definitely should have been back by now. "
"That does sound like a problem," Fred said musingly. "Do you know where they were staying?"
"Well, not exactly," Kensi said with a slight frown. This wasn't going the way she wanted it to go.
"I'm guessing they probably stayed up near the lake?" Fred asked. "That's where we have a number of cabins. Some of the owners rent them out."
Kensi nodded. "That's probably right." As much as Sam liked to rough it, she couldn't imagine that he hadn't at least gotten them a cabin. At least she hoped that was the case.
"I can give you directions to that area and you can look for them up there," Fred said.
"But how many cabins are there?" Nell asked, her eyes filled with despair. "We may never find them."
"There are only eight cabins in the area I'm thinking of," Fred said soothingly. "I can't imagine that your friends went farther than that. The other campground is a good three day hike."
Kensi and Nell shared a relieved look. There was no way Sam would have brought the boys on that long of a trek.
"I'll sketch out a map of where they are. They're all pretty close together if you know where to look. I'm sorry I can't send anyone up there with you, but we're short staffed with the aftermath of the storm. I can give you a handset for our two way radio system though. In the event that there is some kind of an emergency, just call in and I'll be able to get help to you quickly. I'll have a rescue team and paramedics on standby."
"Okay, that would be good. We appreciate your help," Kensi said. It wasn't ideal by any means, but at least it gave them some direction of where to go. Hopefully, they would find the boys safe and sound in one of the cabins. Somehow though, she had a feeling they weren't going to be quite that lucky.
xxxxxx
When the first bullet flew by, Eric thought it had been a trick of the wind. By the second, he got the inkling that something was wrong. With the third, he started running. The bullet embedding itself in the trunk of a nearby tree, inches above where his head had been.
Eric then ran for what felt like hours, but was only mere minutes, before two voices put a stop to the pursuit.
"Drop your weapon, hands in the air." The first voice shouted.
"Don't even think about it." The second one threatened.
Instantly, Eric dropped his bottle of water and raised his hands in the air. Then he abruptly realized that he wasn't even holding a weapon and that he actually recognized the two voices.
Lowering his hands, Eric slowly turned around, coming face to face with a very pissed off looking Kensi and Nell. Both ladies now pointing guns at another man that had his own weapon drawn and pointed directly at him.
With a start Eric realized this was one of the three men he had met before. And with that recognition came awareness as Eric slowly began joining the pieces to complete the whole picture. He thought of the drugs, the other two men, and his injured friends alone in the cabin.
Not alone. He chided himself. Sam was there and Sam wouldn't let anything happen to Callen and Deeks.
But still a small seed of fear had been planted and Eric now hoped his small misstep wouldn't cost his teammates dearly.
"Drop your weapon now! Or I'll be forced to shoot you." Kensi's voice from a few feet away, drew Eric's attention back to the scene playing in front of him.
Eric stared at the man, the man stared at Eric. Then the man returned his attention to the two women pointing guns at him. Making a split-second decision, he seemingly decided to eliminate the threat. Even when it would surely cost him his life, but at least then his brothers and their business would be safe.
Eric saw the man's arm twitch, his finger tightening on the trigger, and he had the vague feeling that he was about to die. That brief moment wasn't like they described it in the movies, and he didn't see his life flashed back. Instead he saw the future. He saw Nell in a white dress, two small children running to their mommy and daddy, and a whole family of four playing PlayStation on a lazy sunday morning. That small look into what the future could be, hurt Eric more than any impending bullet could. If only he had recognized the threat in the men. But even then, what could he have done, outnumbered and alone.
For a moment, Eric's world slowed down. His eyes seeking Nell's as he whispered an inaudible I love you. Then the sound of two successive gunshots sent his world back into motion. A desperate, "get down" the last thing Eric remembered hearing before he hit the ground.
xxxxxx
Leaving the rangers' station, Kensi and Nell begun following the map to where the man had said the closest cabins were located.
The scenery around them was beautiful, and if not for the current situation, Nell would have stopped to further take in the snow covering the foliage and capture the scenic moments in some pictures. But her worry for the boys' safety was more than enough to keep her pushing forward at a brisk pace.
"Do you think we will find them here?" Nell asked eventually. She knew Kensi couldn't have more of an answer to that question than she did, but the silence was beginning to unnerve her and she just needed to fill it with something.
"I don't know, I hope so." Kensi sighed. "I don't think Sam would have taken them to the cabins farther away, but..."
"There's still the possibility that he didn't take them to any cabins at all." Nell finished for her friend, the idea already in the back of both their minds.
"Let's try to be positive. If they aren't here, hopefully Sam was able to see the forecast before they lost connection and decided to camp at another area." Kensi added as an alternative, because any possibility was better than to think of her friends alone and unprotected while the storm raged around them.
"But if that's the case, why haven't they called?" Nell wondered. Again knowing that Kensi couldn't have an answer and that all her questions weren't helping. But she was an analyst and her mind constantly needed to analyze the ins and outs of every situation.
"Maybe..." Kensi started to answer but her words were cut short by the recognizable echo of a gunshot. Raising her hand, she stopped Nell's progress and waited. Then came another gunshot. Then it all was silent for a second and Nell thought that maybe it was just a hunter. The third gunshot however, pushed them both into action, their trained NCIS minds recognizing what their hearts wouldn't, and both agent and analyst deep down knowing that this was not the sound of a hunting rifle.
Kensi crouched down, and signaled Nell to follow her. Moving as one towards the sound, the NCIS ladies came face to face with one of their missing friends. They stopped suddenly as they saw Eric run through the woods, trying not to trip on broken tree branches or slip on the snow, as a man, neither of them had ever seen before, chased after him.
Carefully raising from the ground, hands steady on the gun pointed at the man, Kensi shouted. "Drop your weapon, hands in the air."
"Don't even think about it." Nell added, seeing the man's finger tighten on the trigger.
Out of the corner of her eye, a sound caught Nell's attention, and her eyes instantly flew away from the man, and towards Eric, where she saw a bottle of water slide away from him, as her boyfriend's hands flew to the air. Letting Kensi take point, Nell allowed herself a brief smile, which only intensified as she saw recognition on Eric's face, before he dropped his hands down and turned around. Eric could still be the cutest even in dire circumstances.
The standoff continued for the next few minutes. The man still pointing a gun at Eric, and the two of them still pointing theirs at the man. From their position a few feet away, in between the pursuer and its prey, Nell couldn't properly read the man's intentions. So instead she focused on Eric.
Nell saw a range of emotions play across his face, until finally settling on acceptance and some sort of resignation. Then Eric turned towards her, and whispered words that turned her blood to ice.
Looking back at the man, Nell now saw his intentions perfectly displayed. A different sense of resignation on his face, as he took a breath and pressed the trigger. Two shots then rang out, almost at the same time as Eric hit the ground, the tech operator pushed into action by Kensi's warning scream. The man's bullet then went flying past where Eric's head had been, but Nell's bullet hit its mark and center mass on the man's chest.
xxxxxx
Kensi shouted just in time for Eric to lounge himself to the ground, the bullet missing his head by less than a second. It had only been years of law enforcement experience which allowed her to read the situation, comprehending both the man and Nell's intentions before it had been too late for Eric.
As one, Kensi and Nell moved forward, but quickly stepped in different directions, as Kensi ran to the fallen man and Nell ran to Eric.
Searching for a pulse, Kensi found none. But just in case, she kicked the man's gun away from his reach, her eyes landing on the crimson that now stained the otherwise beautiful snow covered ground. Then she moved towards her teammates, finding Nell kneeling down and hugging a trembling Eric. The analyst was whispering comforting words to her boyfriend, making Kensi long to also hold her husband in her arms.
"Eric, where are the others?" Kensi hated to break the sweet moment, but she needed to know. "Where's Deeks?" Her voice trembled at her husband's name. Because if a man had been chasing Eric with a gun, it could mean her other teammates were already dead, because there was no way they would have left Eric alone to face an attacker. "Eric? Please."
Shaking himself out of his stupor, Eric kissed Nell's forehead, before stepping away and looking at Kensi. Then be began babbling about storms, and trees, bears, gunshots and cocaine or maybe meth.
"Eric. Slow down." Kensi gently directed, wondering what the hell Eric was talking about. "Please, slow down and start from the beginning."
Eric took a few calming breaths to slow down his heartbeat and racing thoughts, before he started telling the girls everything that happened since they left the city of angels. At first it was the tale of a happy trip between friends, then it turned into a nightmarish retelling of said friends' bad luck.
Kensi tried to stay calm as she listened but her fingers closed into fists when Eric mentioned a bear. And if the situation had been less dire, she would have laughed at her conversation with Deeks while he was packing came to her mind. Now she wished she had let him take his gun.
"If Sam isn't already dead, I swear I'll shoot him myself." Kensi threatened without any real power or intention behind her words. It was just the desperation of a wife that preferred to place the blame on someone, instead of acknowledging that her other half could be dead. Because if the other men hadn't finished the deed, Deeks' concussion might as well. Because one of those was never good and two was even more dangerous.
"It wasn't his fault." Eric whispered. "He doesn't control nature, you know. Not a lot he could do about the bear or the bad guys that decided to stash their drugs in the cabin either." He spoke louder this time, his desire to defend his friend greater than his fear of a pissed off Kensi.
"I know." Kensi breathed out. "But I'll kill Deeks for picking a drug cabin." A murderous edge clouding her words.
"It wasn't his fault either, we would have frozen to death otherwise." Eric timidly pointed out.
"I know, Eric, I know." Kensi said with a sad, dejected smile. Because deep down she knew this was really no one's fault, just a streak of bad luck dictated by some higher power.
"Are they okay?" Nell asked, trying to move the conversation into more useful territory. They needed to know what they would be going up against if they wanted to help their friends.
"They were when I left, but... he had two friends." Eric said, his eyes pointing at the now deceased man.
"You guys get yourself together, we have to find them. I'll just make a call and we'll be on our way." Kensi directed, her despair evaporating as she returned to bad-ass agent mode. She then stepped a few feet away and grabbed the radio the ranger had given her. Making a quick call, they arranged for EMS and the cops to meet them at the cabins. "Let's go."
Reaching a hand down, Kensi helped Eric get on his feet, giving him an extra minute to compose himself.
"How did you find us?" Eric asked, as they started their trek towards the cabin.
"I... might have hacked Sam's email." Nell said shyly.
"You did what?!" Eric shrieked, fear in his voice, but immense pride shining in his eyes.
"I hacked Sam's email. There I found some emails between Sam and cabin renters. He must have finalized the deal by phone as I saw no confirmation there, but all were in this general area, so we came here. Then Lucas confirmed you were at the inn and pointed us in the direction of the ranger station." Nell explained, filling Eric on her side of the story.
"You met Lucas?" Eric asked, a mischievous twinkle in his eye.
"Yes, we did." Kensi replied this time, the sentence clipped between gritted teeth.
"At least he helped us find Eric." Nell added hopefully, trying to give some perspective and gently remind Kensi that she couldn't just shoot Lucas when they returned to the town.
"Yeah..." Kensi whispered, dejection now clouding her tone. At this point, she just wanted to find Deeks, and she didn't care if Deeks had left behind him a path of infatuated men. None of them could be worse than Kirkin. But she would still have some choice words with her husband once he was out of danger.
Silence then fell on the group, as all three friends got lost inside their own thoughts as they continued walking towards the cabin and their remaining three missing teammates.
xxxxxx
Callen opened his eyes and focused on his breathing as he looked at his two friends, both unconscious, lying on the floor. He knew he ought to try to do something for Sam. The puddle of dark red blood by his leg was alarming in itself, as well as the sight of his seemingly infallible partner lying motionless. It was all he could do to get breath in and out of his lungs though. He didn't even think he could get his body to properly move in order to sit up, never mind help anyone.
"Hey...Deeks...can...you...hear...me?" he asked breathlessly, his voice barely above a whisper. There was no response from the detective though and as Callen stared at the younger man, he suddenly felt sick to his stomach. Deeks didn't look good, his face pale and his body perfectly still. In fact, it was hard to tell if he was even breathing. Mustering as much strength as he could, Callen made an attempt to lift himself up from the floor. This only resulted in his body slamming back downward as lightning bolts of pain shot through his back.
"Sam...Sam...Hey partner...can...can...you open your eyes for me?" No response from him either. What the hell? Were his two friends just going to die while he laid here useless?
He geared himself up to make another attempt at sitting up when he froze, hearing the unmistakable sound of loud creaking from the wooden porch outside the front door. Frantically, he looked around for Sam's gun, but couldn't see it. They were definitely just sitting, or rather lying ducks. He supposed dead ducks was the most accurate description. He inwardly braced himself for whoever was about to enter the cabin.
xxxxxx
"That's it, up ahead," Eric whispered, pointing to the cabin. His heart was beating crazily, fears of what they were going to find inside at the forefront of his mind. What if he had failed? What if they were already dead?
"It looks so innocent," Nell said, almost to herself, as she thought of the potential evil deeds going on inside the cabin. Outside, it looked like the perfect place for a romantic getaway or a family trip to spend time together in the wilderness. Inside, who knew what they would find. She saw Kensi readying her weapon and did the same.
"Eric, you stay out here," Kensi ordered as they stepped onto the porch. She inwardly cursed as the wood creaked loudly underneath their feet. So much for the element of surprise. Not willing to waste another moment, she put her hand on the doorknob and flung the door open. She was greeted by the sight of multiple bodies on the floor, none of them moving except for Callen who stared at them in apparent wonderment.
Immediately, Kensi rushed to Deeks' side and knelt down beside him. "Deeks, honey? Can you hear me?" Kensi asked, placing her hand gently on his cheek. "Sweetheart?" He didn't respond to her voice or touch though and she was brought back to the nightmare in Mexico. She didn't think she could go through that again.
"Go...go to Sam….," Callen rasped to Nell who appeared to be uncertain about who to help. "Leg… bleeding…"
Sensing no danger inside and needing to help, Eric went and retrieved the first aid kit and handed it to Nell, who pulled out a pressure bandage which she tightly wrapped around Sam's thigh. "Help will be here soon," she said to Callen with a forced smile.
"What happened here?" Eric asked Callen, eager to hear the details of how his now three injured friends had managed to overcome their assailants.
"I…" Callen was struggling to breathe once again. He couldn't even begin to explain what had transpired. It was too much for him to wrap his head around and definitely too much to verbalize in his present state. Instead, he chose to praise the young tech operator. "You...you did good, Eric. You...saved...our...lives…"
Eric smiled as a blush colored his cheeks. "I just want you guys to be okay."
Kensi could hear the others speaking in the background but her attention was focused on her husband who was still unresponsive. "Deeks, help is on the way...You need to hang on for me. Do you hear me? You are going to pull through this. You have to...you just have to." Her voice caught as her eyes filled with tears, but she quickly managed to blink them back. She was going to be strong. She had to be. She would be strong for her husband and make sure he pulled through whatever was ahead.
xxxxx
"I think I might hear a helicopter." Eric cocked his head and listened intently.
"I hear it too!" Nell said excitedly.
"I'm going to go out and lead them to us when they land," Eric said as he hurriedly grabbed his jacket and put it on. "There's a clearing nearby. I'm pretty sure that's where they'll land." He then ran outside, banging the door behind him.
"Are you doing okay?" Nell asked, turning her head toward Callen, even though she knew he was having a hard time talking. "Do you need anything?"
Callen nodded in response then shook his head when Nell asked if he needed anything. All he needed was for Sam and Deeks to be okay. He found that he was feeling guilty for being the only one conscious, which he knew was ridiculous, but he felt that way just the same. He wasn't even taking into account his own injuries. In fact, he was trying to ignore them altogether except for the fact that his breathing was so bad. That was a pretty difficult thing to ignore.
The occupants of the cabin again lapsed into silence until Nell managed to catch Kensi's eye. "How's he doing?" she asked softly, her eyes filled with sympathy.
Kensi shook her head, appearing distressed. "I don't know. I don't think very well. He hasn't even moved. I wish he'd just wake up." Once again, her thoughts were moving to Mexico. Too much had happened over the past couple of years and this wasn't even related to work. Couldn't things ever just be normal for them? Why couldn't they seem to catch a break?
"Deeks is strong. He'll pull through this," Nell said encouragingly. "He has a lot to live for."
Kensi nodded, but it was hard to believe Nell's words at the moment, not when her husband was just lying there so still and silent. It was the very opposite of how he usually was, so verbose and full of life. She hated seeing him this way.
Just then, Sam groaned softly and moved his head, in obvious pain. "Sam? Can you hear me?" Nell asked, taking his hand as Callen looked over at them anxiously.
Sam groaned again and then slowly opened his eyes. "Nell? What…" He looked around and saw that they were still in the cabin, but Nell and Kensi were with them which was definitely a good thing. Also good was the fact that G was conscious and looking at him. "Where's Eric?"
"There's a helicopter coming in. Eric went outside to guide them to the cabin."
"What about Deeks? How is he?"
"Deeks, he…" Nell trailed off, unsure what to say.
"What?!" Sam asked, alarmed. "He's not?"
"No, no, no," Nell answered quickly. "I'm sorry. We just, we don't know anything. He's still unconscious."
"He may have inhaled drug residue," Sam said. "Make sure to tell the medical personnel that."
Kensi, who had only been half-listening, now gave Sam her full attention. "Drugs?! How did that happen?"
"He cut open one of the bricks of drugs to help us against the thugs who were trying to kill us," Sam stated, his expression one of regret and resignation. He was totally prepared to accept Kensi's wrath about Deeks' situation, knowing full well the whole situation was his fault.
At that moment, the cabin door opened and the cabin immediately filled with various rescue personnel who set to work examining the men and preparing them for transport. Kensi stayed by Deeks' side as Nell went over to Eric, taking his hand and squeezing it tightly. She felt very lucky that Eric had been spared any kind of injury during this whole fiasco of a trip. She just hoped the other three men would also be fortunate and hopefully recover fully.
Thanks for reading :)