Sorry about the delay between chapters, I won't bore you with the details, but I'll try to do better. Hope you are all enjoying your summer. Thanks for your support, as always :)
xxxxx
The team ate quietly. The only sound was the occasional utensil hitting a plate. They shot each other numerous looks, none of them looking particularly happy with the situation that they were in, however, each of them did the best they could to eat, knowing the importance of doing so. They finished before Bart did and just sat silently, waiting him out. Finally, their so-called host wiped his mouth with a cloth napkin and put it down on the table. He then looked at each of the team members in turn. "I trust you enjoyed your dinner," he said, a smile touching the corners of his lips.
No one commented or said anything, unsure of what the rules were for conversing with him. "Please, feel free to speak," Bart said. "As this involves all of you, now is the time to do so. I insist on allowing you all to share your opinions."
"Well, my opinion is this whole hunt of yours sucks." Deeks finally made the move to speak first, a challenge in his eyes as he stared back at Bart.
Bart stared back at Deeks, obviously angry. "Watch yourself, Detective…"
"You said to share our opinions," Deeks said. "I just…"
"Deeks," Sam said quietly. "Don't."
"Fine," Deeks relented although obviously reluctant to do so. "How long does this hunt of yours last? Is there some kind of a time limit?"
"Good question, Detective Deeks!" Bart said. "And the answer is…there is no time limit. The hunt ends when you or I end up dead, or if you are able to escape the confines of this area and reach help. Then, of course, you will have achieved your freedom."
"All of us need to be dead?" Kensi asked, trying not to show the increasing horror she was feeling inside about what lay ahead for them. Bart's calm demeanor and obvious enthusiasm for tracking them down and murdering them chilled her to the core.
"Yes, all of you my dear," Bart said, giving Kensi a patronizing smile. "If we only needed to kill one of you, it wouldn't be all that challenging. Bringing down such an accomplished team will be quite a notch on my belt. I will even have a trophy engraved to mark the occasion."
"Are we allowed to have weapons or any way to defend ourselves?" Callen asked.
"Hmm…" Bart said, appearing to mull over the question. "If you were just ordinary civilians with no training, I suppose I'd give you weapons just to give you a fighting chance. However, in this case, I think it would give you too much of an advantage, so the answer is no. You won't be allowed to carry any weapons. There's a whole wide world of natural weapons though. Use your brains. Utilize your training."
"Do we get a head start?" Kensi asked softly, disappointed, but not surprised, to learn they wouldn't be allowed to have weapons.
Bart turned to Kensi with a smile. "Of course you do. What kind of a game would it be if I didn't give you a head start? One hour."
"That's not much time," Sam said, shaking his head in disgust. "You're not giving us much of a chance at all."
"No?" Bart turned to Sam, appearing surprised. "As a Navy Seal, I would think I'm giving you quite an incredible head start, but I'm a fair man and I believe in the art of negotiation. What would you think is a fair head start, Agent Hanna? And I warn you, if you ask for an absurd amount of time, the time I've already given you will be reduced."
Sam sighed and looked to Callen who proved to be no help at all as he shrugged at his partner, leaving the decision up to Sam.
"Three hours," Sam finally said when none of his teammates offered any kind of a suggestion.
"Two hours," Bart stated with a note of finality in his voice. Sam didn't push any more, not wanting to get their allotted amount of time reduced in any way.
"How about this area?" Callen asked, trying to get as much information from Bart as he could get. "Where exactly are we?"
Bart shook his head. "Sorry, Agent Callen. You don't get to know that."
"How far are we from any sort of civilization?" asked Deeks.
"You don't get to know that either," Barks said, smirking at Deeks.
"Is the area booby trapped?" Sam asked, already thinking ahead to what could be waiting for them as they tried to outwit and escape from Bart and his goons. At that, Bart laughed in delight. "I like the way your mind works, Agent Hanna. Go with your gut. There's a good chance you're on the right track." Sam sighed. That pretty much told him there were booby traps in the area. He didn't like this, not one bit.
"Do we get water or food?" Callen asked, unsure of what kind of water sources they would be able to find.
"You will each get one canteen of water. I suggest you use them wisely."
"So you're telling us there's no water around?" Sam asked.
"You're putting words in my mouth, Agent Hanna," Bart said. "I said nothing of the kind. Perhaps there is. Perhaps there isn't."
"What about food?" Callen asked.
"What about it? You just ate and it was quite an impressive meal at that." There was a distinct edge to Bart's voice now and he appeared irritated as he glared at Callen. "You should be grateful for what you got. I'm not providing food for you. If you didn't eat sufficiently, it is your fault, not mine. You'll be allotted a sufficient breakfast in the morning before your starting time."
Bart then turned to Burke. "Take them to their tent. If they cause any trouble, I think bullet holes in their legs will slow them down quite efficiently tomorrow." He then turned back to the team. "I suggest you get some shuteye. I doubt you'll be getting much of a chance to do so once we begin the hunt…unless it's more of a permanent kind of sleep."
xxxxx
"Oh my God…he's certifiable," Kensi said, once they were situated back in their tent. She turned towards Deeks who folded her up in his arms, then rubbed her back with his hand, trying to comfort her.
"We're going to beat him, Kens," Deeks said softly. "You've got to believe that." He then turned and looked over at Callen and Sam. "So…anyone have a plan yet of how we're going to deal with this?"
Callen shook his head and looked at Sam. "You're the one with the military training here, partner," he said. "I'm going to defer to your best judgement on this. What do you think?"
Sam slowly shook his head. "I wish I knew. This guy is crazy like a fox. He knows what he's doing. All I've got right now is we stay together, try to cover our tracks and make some kind of weapons to defend ourselves with."
"Strength in numbers…I guess…" Callen said, not sounding entirely convinced.
"You don't think so?" Sam asked. "Splitting up isn't a good idea, G."
Callen nodded. "I know. I just wonder if we paired off and went in opposite directions…maybe there's a chance two of us would escape."
"I don't think so, G. We're stronger as a team."
Callen sighed. "Yeah, I know. I don't know what I'm thinking, Sam." He couldn't help feeling somewhat guilty about the situation, although he really wasn't sure why.
"You're not thinking this is your fault, are you?" Sam asked, recognizing the telltale look in his partner's eyes. "Come on, G."
"I'm not blaming myself, Sam," Callen said. "I know this isn't my fault…It's not anyone's fault, except Bart's…"
"Do you think Hetty has any idea what's happened?" Kensi asked.
"You can be sure he's going to let her know if he hasn't already," Deeks replied. "He's not doing this just to challenge himself in his sick little hunting game…He's going to want her to know what he's doing."
"Or what he's done…after he's done it," Kensi said, looking uncharacteristically unsettled.
"Come on, guys," Sam said, looking at his two junior team members. "We need to stay positive. We're smart and well-trained. We've got to believe we can defeat this guy at his own game. That's half the battle right there."
"We should try to sleep," Callen said. "Who knows how much of a chance we're going to get to do so after tonight." He looked around the tent and spied some folded up blankets over in the back corner. He picked them up off the ground and handed one to each of his teammates. "It's getting cold." There was also an LED lantern which he turned on at the very lowest setting, casting a dim glow over the inside of the tent.
Deeks and Kensi went over to the right side of the tent and curled up together, then put both of the blankets over them. Callen gingerly lowered himself to a sitting position on the ground with his arm folded over the right side of his abdomen. He tried to be nonchalant about it, but of course Sam noticed. "How bad, G?" Sam asked, a note of concern in his voice as he looked at his partner.
Callen sighed. "I told you already…I'm alright, just sore."
Sam nodded, knowing there wasn't anything he could do anyway, even if Callen was injured. He didn't like the helpless feeling this situation was giving him. "You should try to sleep."
"Right back at you," Callen said as he stretched out on the ground and pulled the blanket over him. "6 a.m. is going to come quickly."
xxxxx
No one slept very soundly that night. Each member of the team dozed sporadically, but none of them got what could be termed restful sleep. Callen had whimpered softly a few times in his sleep, which had done nothing for Sam's ability to settle himself down.
"Can't you sleep?" Deeks whispered over to Sam. He himself had just awoken for what felt like the hundredth time that night and it was only 2 a.m. The ground was hard and uncomfortable and his nerves were on edge. He was extremely worried about all of them, but especially about Kensi. She had gone through so much over the past year. She didn't deserve to go through anymore.
"I've slept some," Sam replied vaguely.
"Guess he's hurting a little bit more than he let on," Deeks commented, his eyes on Callen.
Sam nodded. "Yeah…He'll be okay though." Sam certainly wouldn't mention to his partner that he had exhibited symptoms of pain in his sleep. If he did, he knew Callen wouldn't sleep at all. His stubborn partner would choose to stay awake, not wanting to call attention to the fact that he might be feeling some pain. Sam knew that keeping quiet was the best thing he could do.
"We should try to sleep, Sam," Deeks stated after a few moments of silence.
Sam nodded then closed his eyes, attempting once more to get the rest he knew he needed. "G'nite, Deeks."
"Good night, Sam," Deeks murmured.
xxxxx
At 4:30 am, Callen gave up on trying to sleep and sat up with the blanket still wrapped around him. There was a distinct chill in the air. He wished they had their jackets. He wondered if they'd be able to take the blankets with them. They certainly wouldn't be able to depend on campfires. If they did, they might as well paint giant targets on their backs that said "Here I am, take your shot." He took his hand and gingerly felt along his right side. There was no denying it was painful, but slightly less so than the previous day. He was pretty sure it was just a bad bruise.
"You okay?" Sam's voice was barely above a whisper.
"I'm fine, Sam," Callen whispered back. "I don't want to wake up Kensi and Deeks."
"You don't need to worry about waking me," Deeks said. "I'm been awake since 3:30 or so."
"I'm not sleeping either," Kensi said.
"You think Bart's going to give us a big breakfast like last night's dinner?" Deeks asked.
"I think we're more likely looking at cold oatmeal," Sam said.
"I don't even think I can eat," Kensi said.
"If he offers food, you need to eat," Callen said gently.
"He's right, baby," Deeks said softly.
"I know…" Kensi said.
The team then fell back into silence, each member lost in his or her own thoughts. Then, at 5:30, the tent opening was unzippered and Burke stood in the doorway. "If you want breakfast, get your asses out there and eat it," he snarled.
They went outside and sat at the table. There was no hot food like they had eaten the previous night. There was cold cereal, some fruit, bread and pastry. Bart was not at the table. They ate well as they took in the men guarding the area around them. "You think we're really going to get a two hour head start?" Callen whispered, looking over at Sam.
"I have no idea, G," Sam whispered back. "All I know is we've got to move quickly as we can and watch our backs."
Callen nodded and went back to eating his breakfast.
"You doing okay, angel?" Deeks asked softly, gazing at Kensi.
Kensi forced a smile and put a strawberry in her mouth. "I'm going to be fine," she said, trying to assure Deeks as well as herself.
They continued to eat until Bart came out a short time later. His expression was gleeful as he stood by the table looking down at them. "It's so good to see my prey eating and diligently preparing for the hunt."
"Stop saying that," Kensi snapped, glaring up at him.
"Kens…" Deeks cautioned, taking Kensi's hand.
"Stop saying what, my dear?" Bart asked, looking confused.
"We're not your prey. We're human beings and you're just…"
"Kensi!" Callen said loudly as he shook his head at her. "Don't."
She took a few deep breaths and stared down at the table silently.
"Can we take anything with us?" Callen asked, staring up at Bart, his eyes defiant.
"What is it you want, Agent Callen?" Bart asked. His expression was now cold, his eyes dark and threatening.
"Blankets?" Callen asked.
Bart considered the request. "Fine. You can take blankets and water, but that's it. Go and get them now before I change my mind."
Callen headed to the tent, while his three teammates remained behind.
"I suppose a compass is out of the question," Sam said.
"Don't try my patience, Agent Hanna. I don't think you or your partner will be happy with the results."
"You leave him alone," Sam said, slowly shaking his head, as he narrowed his eyes at Bart. "If you hurt him…"
"Seems I've struck a nerve," Bart observed. "You'd better focus on your plan of escape, Agent Hanna. If you don't keep your eyes on the prize, none of you will last the day."
Callen came back out of the tent, carrying the folded blankets in his arms. It was almost 6 and his heart was beating quickly and erratically. He walked back over to the table and couldn't help but notice the tension in the air. "Everything alright?" he asked quietly.
"We're good, G," Sam stated as he stood up. Kensi and Deeks then followed his example. Burke walked over to the table, carrying canteens which he silently handed to each of the team members.
Bart was staring at his watch, with an almost maniacal expression on his face. Then he began to speak. "Five…four…three…two…one…Let the hunt begin!" he shouted.
Without a moment's hesitation, Callen, Sam, Kensi and Deeks fled into the woods as fast as they could go.