Thanks for all your support.

xxxxx

"Wakie, wakie!" Bart came into the tent, banging on a small tin pain with a fork. "Rise and shine, my lazy little prisoners. It's not even dark yet. You certainly shouldn't be sleeping. Look at you and Detective Deeks all snug in your little sleeping bags," he said to Kensi. "You see, you found a way out of your situation, after all. It doesn't even affect you that you can't have blankets. How about you, Agent Callen?" he asked. "Have you found a substitute for water?"

Callen only glared at Bart, not giving him an answer and Bart laughed uproariously. "I'll take that as a no!"

"Can't you ever just leave him alone?" Sam growled.

"Perhaps when he's earned it, Agent Hanna," Bart said amicably, "but right now, he hasn't earned a thing. Now, come along. Let's get outside for our next very important question!"

They walked outside and stood in a line formation as they waited for Bart to move on with the game. He grinned at them, then turned towards Deeks. "Detective Deeks, let's give you a turn, shall we?" This will effectively be the end of round one since you will have each had a turn. I'd say we should change things up a bit for your turn. Did you ever hear of the game Deal or no Deal?"

"Yeah, I've heard of it," Deeks said, his face expressionless.

"Well, this game is called Dollar or no Dollar! Clever, isn't it?" Bart asked laughing. "I just crack myself up."

"Yeah, you're a real hoot," Deeks said.

"So, in this game, you won't have to choose between your teammates. This will focus solely on…hmmm…" Bart turned to where Callen, Sam and Kensi were and began to recite, "Eenie, meenie, miney mo…" He stopped on Callen and began to shout. "Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding! We have a winner folks! Or in this case, possibly a loser. We'll have to see what develops. Agent Callen, come over here and join Detective Deeks."

Callen reluctantly walked over to Deeks keeping his arm tightly pressed against his side as he stood by Deeks' side and Deeks gave him an apologetic look.

At that point, Bart pulled a 50 dollar bill out of his pocket and showed it to the team. "We have here a 50 dollar bill. Now the object of the game is to either pick the hand with or without the bill in it, depending upon Agent Callen's choice.

"What?" Callen asked, looking utterly confused by whatever Bart was talking about.

Bart rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Really? And you're the team leader? Nepotism at its worst, folks. I don't know what Henrietta was thinking. So, Agent Callen, let's try again." Bart spoke slowly enunciating each word loudly and clearly. "I am going to put this bill in one of my hands. I need you to choose whether you want the good detective here to choose the empty hand or the hand with the bill in it to win the game."

"What does he get if he wins?" Callen asked.

You and he get off Scott free," Bart said. "The best of all possibilities."

"And if he loses?"

"Oh…I'm afraid you won't like that very much at all," Bart said, oozing false sympathy. "That would be very, very bad. If he loses, you both lose as he will have to shoot you."

"What?" Kensi gasped.

"No!" Sam shouted.

"Yes!" Bart chortled gleefully.

Deeks shook his head, looking shocked at what Bart wanted. "I…I can't shoot him," he said.

"Oh, I'm afraid that's not an option," Bart said, shaking his head sadly, "because if you lose and refuse to shoot him…let's just say your team will be two members short. You and Agent Callen will be playing the remainder of the games alone."

"Fine!" Callen spat out angrily. "So if we lose, where does he have to shoot me?"

"Good question," Bart said, nodding his approval. "Your four limbs are off limits. Other than that, anything goes! He can shoot you in the head, the neck, chest, abdomen, back. Hell he can shoot you in the ass for all I care. Just somewhere other than your arms or legs. So, for the win, do you want Detective Deeks to choose the empty hand or the hand with the 50 dollar bill in it?"

Callen considered the question for a few moments and then spoke. "The empty hand," he finally stated.

"Very good then!" Bart put his hands behind his back and started shuffling about. Callen was really hoping this wasn't some kind of trick, but he had a queasy feeling that the game was rigged and he was going to take a bullet in his butt. It was a painful prospect, not to mention humiliating.

Bart finished shuffling and held out his two closed fists to Deeks. Deeks stared at them uncertainly and then looked to Callen for guidance. "Do you have a preference?" he asked.

Callen shook his head. "Whatever you think," he said quietly. "And whatever happens…it's not your fault."

"This sucks," Deeks said. He had no desire to make this choice. Even if Callen didn't think it was his fault, he knew he would always blame himself. He also knew that no matter where he shot Callen, the chance of it going very wrong would be very good. He stared at Bart for a long moment and then chose the left hand. Bart smirked after Deeks made the choice and Deeks and Callen immediately prepared themselves for the worst, until Bart opened up his fist and it was empty.

"Nicely done, Detective Deeks," Bart said. "Now that's the way to play the game." He turned his attention to Callen. "You be sure to give him some kind of an extra little treat when you get home, Agent Callen," he said. "I mean if you get home…well…" He frowned exaggeratedly. "Well, let's face it, you probably won't get home at all. Maybe you should just pat his scruffy little head and tell him he's a good boy."

"So now what?" Callen asked, ignoring all of Bart's attempts to irritate him.

"Now it's dinner time for two of you and I guess watching time for the other two. Detective, Agent Blye. If you'll please join me for dinner."

"Why do we get dinner?" Kensi asked.

"Why are you even questioning it?" Bart replied. "If I were you, I would accept my generosity and not say another word about it. We have a special treat tonight, chicken, potatoes and vegetables. If I remember correctly, there will even be a chocolate cake for dessert and all the water you can drink."

"You're being cruel," Kensi said.

"And you're being ungrateful." Bart said, narrowing his eyes at her.

"Can I trade off with someone?" Kensi asked.

Bart considered her request for a few moments and then nodded, a sly smile on his lips. "Yes, yes you can. You can trade off with Agent Hanna."

A look of dismay entered Kensi's eyes as she looked at Sam.

"No thanks," Sam said. "Kensi, just eat it."

"I already ate today, Sam…you haven't," Kensi looked at him pleadingly. "Please take it."

"She's right, Sam," Callen said. "Please do what she's asking."

Sam stared at his partner. "How can you even ask me to do that?" he asked.

"Because it's what you would want me to do, isn't it?" Callen asked. "I'm okay, Sam…please take the food. You don't know when you'll get the next chance to eat or drink again."

Sam looked from Kensi to Callen uncertainly. He was starved and very thirsty, but he didn't know if he could do it.

"Please Sam?" Kensi asked again. "I ate so much already today…"

"I just…" Every time he looked at Callen, his guilt increased tenfold.

"Sam…it will help you keep up your strength," Callen said. "I think that's pretty important right now, don't you?"

Sam considered what his partner was saying and then looked back at Kensi again. "Are you sure?" he asked her.

Kensi nodded quickly. "I'm very sure."

"Alright…thank you…"

"How about me?" Deeks asked, looking at Bart.

"How about you, what?" Bart asked, looking annoyed.

"Can I trade off too?"

"No, I fear it would give you much too much pleasure if I was to allow that. From what I've been able to gather from observing your condition, you don't want to eat. It gives you no pleasure whatsoever and it would likely give Agent Callen a great deal of pleasure if I was to allow him to eat or drink an ice cold glass of thirst quenching water. Mm…So refreshing… So, Detective Deeks, you will eat and drink and if you don't, someone will pay the consequences for your refusing to do so."

Deeks sighed as he gave Callen an apologetic look.

"It's okay, Deeks," Callen said. "Thanks for trying."

"So, Agent Hanna, Detective. Come along. We don't want the food to get cold."

Sam and Deeks followed Bart to the table and began to eat their dinner. Neither of them looked particularly happy, but it was obvious that Sam was enjoying the food a lot more than Deeks who was basically trying to force it down.

"You better not get sick, Detective," Bart admonished. "If you do, it will spoil my dinner entirely and I will have to take out my wrath on someone who is not joining us for dinner."

"I'm not going to get sick," Deeks said as he forced himself to chew on and swallow some of the chicken. He couldn't help but wish that Bart would choke on the damn food.

"I'm sorry about this, Callen," Kensi said as she looked over at him regretfully. "I had really hoped he would relent and let you eat or at least drink something. I know you're terribly thirsty."

"I'm okay, Kens," Callen said, smiling at her. He was pretty sure Bart had already decided there was no way he would be allowed to drink anything. He'd gone beyond the point of hunger so he didn't really care that he couldn't eat, but the thirst…that was getting harder for him to ignore. "I know what you were trying to do and I appreciate it. At least Sam gets to eat and drink though so that's good." He also knew it would help towards settling the tensions that had been cropping up amongst the team members throughout the day. However, he was also smart enough to know that those tensions could easily erupt again, depending on what else Bart had planned for them.

He looked up as Sam and Deeks came over to them, both having finished their dinner.

"I'm sorry, G," Sam said,

"Don't be," Callen said.

"I had thought having a special prime time edition of the game this evening," Bart said as he joined them, smiling arrogantly. "But, alas, I haven't finished the questions yet, so I'm afraid you're going to have to wait until tomorrow. Tomorrow's questions won't be the easy little decisions like what you had today. Tomorrow's questions will be doozies. They will test you like you've never been tested before."

"I can hardly wait for that," Callen muttered under his breath.

"I understand your enthusiasm," Bart said to Callen, grinning. "And I feel the same way as you do! The questions will definitely be worth the wait though. I'm going to make sure you and your teammates have the very best game playing experience imaginable."

As Callen stared back at Bart, he wondered if he had done something as a boy to piss him off. He couldn't imagine that he had. He had only met Bart twice back then, but maybe it was something he couldn't remember or something he had done quite unintentionally. Bart 's decision not to let him eat or drink anything seemed pretty pointed and he couldn't help but think there was a reason for it.

"Now you'd better get some sleep," Bart said. "You're going to need your rest to rejuvenate yourselves for the next round. Goodnight all and pleasant dreams!"

They trudged over to the tent and Deeks immediately got himself into his sleeping bag. "Thank you for what you did tonight," Sam said to Kensi. "You didn't have to do it, and, I appreciate it. I also apologize for my behavior earlier today…"

Kensi sighed softly as she gazed back at him. "There are no apologies necessary," she said quietly. "I fully understand why you were upset today. I…" She looked over at Callen who had already burrowed into his sleeping bag. "I'm glad you got to eat tonight, but I'm sorry it didn't work out the way I'd intended it to."

Sam nodded. "I know you are. I'm sorry about that too." He would have given anything for his partner to have gotten to have dinner that night. Knowing he had been thirsty hours ago and had been refused water, cut Sam to the quick. He couldn't imagine how G was feeling now. "Goodnight, Kensi," he said as he picked up his sleeping way and made his way over to where Callen was.

"Goodnight, Sam."

"Hey, G," Sam said as he settled down by his partner who was facing the opposite direction. "You doing okay, buddy?"

"I'm good," Callen replied, but there was a telltale hitch in his voice that told Sam he was anything but good.

Sam sighed softly, not even knowing what to say. To keep apologizing for water that Callen couldn't drink seemed like beating a dead horse, not to mention constantly reminding him of that seemed just as cruel as Bart bringing it up. "You warm enough?" he finally asked. It was the one thing he could help him with. There were plenty of blankets, at least, and it was the one thing that Callen was actually allowed to have.

"I'm fine, Sam. Don't worry, okay?"

"Yeah…okay…" At least G had been spared a bullet that day. Sam wasn't sure how he would have coped with that. He knew it would have turned a very bad situation into a dire one. He patted Callen's shoulder comfortingly and then laid down next to him, wishing he could think of a way to get him some water to drink. His inability to get such a simple thing for his partner made him feel helpless and feeling helpless was something that Sam hated.

xxxxx

Kensi settled down next to Deeks whose eyes were already closed. She tentatively touched his forehead and brushed some of his hair away from his face with her hand. "Deeks?" she whispered. "Are you awake?" He didn't give her an answer and she knew that he was asleep. She also knew that it was a bad sign. He never fell asleep that quickly or easily which told her his condition was worsening. She sighed as she curled up against him, hoping and praying that some kind of a miracle would happen and they would somehow get out of this situation with all of their lives intact.