As always, thanks for reading and supporting this story.

xxxxx

He awoke in the ambulance. Totally disoriented by the sound of the siren, combined with the unwanted touch of hands on his abdomen and unrelenting pain, Callen cried out, "let me go!" His blue eyes opened and he panicked as he saw yet another stranger hovering over him. "Let me go," he repeated and he started to struggle when he realized he was once again strapped down.

"G." Sam moved into Callen's field of vision. He spoke soothingly, trying to alleviate his partner's fears as he took his hand and squeezed it reassuringly. "You're okay, buddy. I'm right here with you. You're in the ambulance. We're just heading to the hospital. Everything's fine."

The paramedic who had been working on Callen had backed off and Sam's presence immediately began to calm Callen down. "Sam? Don't leave me."

"I'm not leaving you, G. I'm going to be right here, okay? We're safe now."

Callen nodded, focused on Sam as the settings on his monitors began to normalize and he closed his eyes once again.

xxxxx

Kensi and Deeks walked into the crowded ER waiting room and looked around until they spotted Sam sitting in the far corner of the room. He was hunched over with his elbows on his knees and his face buried in his hands. They shared a wary look as they approached him.

"Sam?" Kensi spoke first when they reached him. "Is everything okay?"

Sam raised his head and straightened as he looked up at his two junior teammates. He appeared exhausted. "They wouldn't let me stay with him after I promised him I would." He shook his head, remembering the scene on the way to the hospital. "He regained consciousness and totally freaked out in the ambulance."

Deeks was carrying a tray of coffee cups and he passed one to Sam before he and Kensi sat down next to him. "You can't really blame him, Sam…if what happened to him happened to me, I'm pretty sure I'd freak out too."

Sam nodded sadly. "It never should have happened to him…getting shot was bad enough, but the rest of it? I should have found a way to prevent it…"

"You're not superman, Sam," Kensi said. "You were outnumbered by Fadhil and his men and they were armed. What could you have done?"

Sam shook his head. He didn't think he'd ever be able to erase the memories of his partner strapped to a table and basically being butchered in front of his eyes. "Something…" he whispered. "He shouldn't have gone through that. I don't…I don't think I've ever felt as helpless as I did when they hurt him that way and I couldn't do a damn thing for him, except for..." He didn't finish the sentence. He knew that Kensi and Deeks understood that he was talking about Michelle.

"It's not your fault, Sam," Deeks stated. He understood the way Sam was feeling though. If anything like that was to ever happen to Kensi and he was powerless to help her, he wasn't sure what he would do. He knew he would have a very hard time coping with that.

"Agent Hanna?" Three pairs of eyes met the eyes of the ER doctor who suddenly appeared in front of them.

"How is he?" Sam asked anxiously.

"Right now he's holding his own," the doctor replied. "We've stabilized him and I just wanted to let you know that they're bringing him up to surgery soon. They need to make sure no serious damage was done to him with getting shot and the bullet extraction you described."

"Where can we wait?" Sam asked.

"Fifth floor," the doctor replied. "Just take the elevators down that hallway and follow the signs on the fifth floor. There's a waiting room with some vending machines. Also, the cafeteria is on the third floor if you want to get something to eat."

"Thanks very much, doctor," Sam said.

"Good luck with your partner," the doctor said. "I hope everything works out well for him."

Sam nodded and watched as the doctor walked away. He then turned his attention to Kensi and Deeks. "You two don't have to stay," he said quietly. "I can let you know as soon as G is out of surgery."

"We're staying here, Sam," Deeks said adamantly.

"We're not leaving you alone," Kensi emphasized. "Besides, we care about Callen too, very much."

"I know you care about him…thanks guys," Sam said, nodding. "I guess maybe we should go get something to eat? I think we may have a long wait ahead of us." He didn't feel quite right about heading to the cafeteria first, but truthfully he was hungry and knew getting something into his stomach would likely do him some good and increase his energy and stamina to better be able to be there for his partner.

"I think that's a good idea," Deeks said, nodding.

The three team members went up the cafeteria and got some food then found an empty table and sat down together. "So, Sam," Kensi said after eating a few bites of her salad. "Were you hurt at all? I mean…should you get checked out?"

Sam quickly shook his head. "They didn't do anything to me," he said with a heavy-hearted sigh. "Honestly, I wish they would have if it would have spared G some of what he went through."

"You know it doesn't work like that, Sam," Deeks said. "Of course they were going to go after Callen. He was the much easier target once they shot him. They used him to keep you under control."

"Yeah…I hate that they do that." Sam sighed again and took a spoonful of soup. He made a face after swallowing it though and pushed the bowl off to the side. "You'd think soup in a hospital wouldn't be so salty," he commented.

"You should get something else," Kensi said. "Do you want some of my salad? It's pretty good."

Sam shook his head. "I'll just go get a sandwich," he said. "I'll be right back."

"He's not doing so hot," Deeks commented after Sam was out of earshot.

"No, hopefully he'll calm down after Callen is out of surgery," Kensi said.

"You're assuming that everything is going to go okay with Callen," Deeks said quietly. "We don't really know what's going on with him. What if things don't go well?"

"I'm trying not to let my mind go there," Kensi stated. "I'm choosing to believe everything is going to be fine with him. He's strong, Deeks. He's not going to give up."

Deeks almost asked what good false hopes were if things did go downhill, but he knew such a statement would only upset Kensi, which he didn't want to do. "I hope you're right, baby," he said, squeezing her hand and offering a faint smile. "I really do hope you're right."

xxxxx

After they finished eating, Sam, Deeks and Kensi headed up to the fifth floor surgical waiting room. When they got there, they found Hetty sitting there.

"Hetty," Sam said, at first surprised to see her there. "You…there hasn't been any word on G yet, has there?" He couldn't imagine there had been any word, not unless…He shook his head slightly as if that action in itself would keep any such disturbing thoughts away.

"I haven't heard anything yet," Hetty said kindly. "Sit down, Sam. I dare say, you've had a very rough day."

"Yeah, well…I've certainly had better days," Sam stated as he sat down beside Hetty. He'd definitely had worse as well…much worse.

"Can I get you anything, Hetty?" Deeks asked.

Hetty smiled at Deeks and shook her head. "No thank you, Mr. Deeks. I'm fine. Please, why don't you and Ms. Blye take a seat?" At that moment, they were the only ones occupying the small waiting room. Hetty turned her attention back to Sam. "How are you holding up?"

"Me? I'm fine, Hetty," Sam said. "It's G I'm worried about."

"Well, I worry about all of you, Mr. Hanna," Hetty said. "Both physically and emotionally…"

"You don't need to worry about me, Hetty," Sam stated.

"Oh but I do worry about you," Hetty said. "I know that what affects your partner affects you, no matter how much you may try to deny it."

"I'm not denying it," Sam said, sighing heavily.

"That's good," Hetty said, looking at him seriously. "And I trust you're not blaming yourself for what happened?"

Sam didn't say anything in response to Hetty's question and Kensi and Deeks fidgeted in their chairs, looking increasingly uncomfortable. Sam finally broke the silence. "No, I'm not blaming myself."

"Good, good…" Hetty nodded in approval. "Now why don't you tell me what happened."

"G was shot," Sam said.

"That bit I know," Hetty stated. "You were down in those tunnels for quite some time though. I'm going to take an educated guess that there is more to the story than that?"

"You can read it all in my report when I get it done," Sam stated.

"Humor me, Mr. Hanna," Hetty said. "We've got some time now. I'd like to know more about what happened."

Sam ran his hand over his face and shook his head. "I don't think you would like to know more, Hetty."

Hetty stared at Sam for a long moment before speaking. "I assure you, Mr. Hanna. I won't break upon hearing whatever it is you don't wish to tell me."

"I'd really rather not talk about it," Sam stated.

"And I'd rather not have to order you to do so," Hetty said, "but I will if you force me."

"Fadhil's men…they made things worse for him, Hetty," Sam said. "The details aren't important."

"Oh from the way you're reacting, I'd say the details are a good deal more important than you think they are."

"Hetty, maybe it would be better just to let it go for right now," Deeks finally broke into the discussion, not wanting to witness the clear pain in Sam's eyes any longer.

"And do you know the details of what happened, Mr. Deeks?" Hetty asked, turning to him.

"Some of them," Deeks admitted. "But Hetty…"

"Fine, Hetty, I'll tell you," Sam snapped, unwilling to force Deeks to reveal what little he knew. Sometimes Hetty was like a damn dog with a bone. It could be so aggravating. "One of Fadhil's men took the bullet out of him. They strapped G onto a metal table and performed surgery down there."

"Without anesthesia?" Hetty paled as she began to grasp the full horror of what had befallen her agent and what Sam had been forced to witness. Now she regretted having pressed the issue with him.

"Yes, without anesthesia," Sam said. "Finally he passed out."

"I am sorry, Sam," Hetty said, appearing very remorseful. Sometimes she didn't know what got into her. "I can't imagine what you went through having to see that."

Sam shook his head as he, once again, recalled the image of what his partner had gone through, knowing he'd never be able to forget it. "He…he didn't make a sound," he whispered. "I think he was trying not to for my benefit, but…I almost wish he had. Fadhil…he said I should be proud of him that he hadn't ."

"Sick bastard," Deeks said, clearly affected by what Sam had described as was Kensi whose head was resting on Deeks' shoulder. Both junior team members had tears in their eyes.

"Yeah well…it wasn't good," Sam said as he stared down at the floor, trying hard to contain his emotions. "I wouldn't want to see anyone go through that, but especially not G. I hate that this happened to him…"

At that point, the small group became silent, each member lost in his or her own thoughts, as they continued to wait for word on Callen's condition.