I thought there would be more happening in this chapter, but the characters kind of took over so it's more transitional. The next chapter will be a big one. As always, thanks so much for reading and all of your support. (Also, I think I missed a bunch of personal responses to notes for the last chapter and I really apologize for that - I didn't do them right away and then I think I forgot - sorry about that)

xxxxx

It was a very long night.

Deeks and Kensi held each other, neither willing to sleep if this was to be the last night of their lives. Kensi was careful not to show Deeks that she was in pain and he did the same. He knew that he was feverish again, but with what was about to happen, it didn't seem to matter, nor did the infection he knew was festering in his shoulder. He had gotten used to the pain. It was just a part of him now.

"I feel sorry for Sam," Kensi whispered, her eyes focused on the senior agent as he sat with Callen keeping vigil. "I'm sure he's worried about his children. They just lost their mother a few months ago…"

Deeks nodded. "I know…I can't imagine what that feels like. I mean, as horrible as this is for us, at least we're not going to leave people behind mourning for us."

"Deeks," Kensi said reproachfully. "What about our moms? You don't think they're going to be devastated by this? They say the worst loss is that of a child."

"I…" Deeks looked at Kensi and could see the emotion in her eyes. "Yeah, you're right. I just…I guess I didn't really want to think about that." His mom hadn't had the easiest life and now he was going to be bringing her even more grief.

"It's always hardest on the ones who are left behind," Kensi said softly.

Deeks took a deep breath as he tried to keep his emotions under control. They had no idea what tomorrow would bring, but for him, the very worst thing would be, to be the lone survivor. He was sure he wouldn't be able to take that and prayed to God that would not be his fate.

xxxxx

Sam hated seeing his partner like this. Callen was coughing in his sleep and obviously very uncomfortable as whimpered softly and tossed and turned frequently. Sam wished he could do something to help him, first on his list would be to get him some much needed water. He knew G was very dehydrated and that his fever was only serving to worsen his condition. He also couldn't get his mind off his children. He knew that the loss of their mother had caused them both tremendous pain. If they were now to lose him on top of that and G, who they were close to, as well…he couldn't even bear to imagine what that would do to them. He glanced at his watch and saw that it was 1:20 a.m. He then looked over at Kensi and Deeks. "I'm going outside for a bit," he said. "I won't be long. Let me know if G needs me."

Deeks and Kensi both nodded as Sam got up and headed outside the tent. Two of the guards looked over at him as they raised their weapons and pointed the rifles in his direction. "I'm just getting some air," he told them. They lowered the weapons but still kept a close eye on him.

He shook his head and approached a third guard who watched him carefully but didn't appear to be particularly menacing. "Hey there," Sam said when he reached him.

"What do you want?" the guard asked him gruffly.

"I was wondering if you might have some paper…and maybe a pen or pencil that I could borrow?"

The guard looked at him in confusion. It was obvious he hadn't expected Sam's request. "What do you need that for?"

"I'd like to write a letter to my children," Sam stated softly. "I know you don't particularly care, but…they lost their mother in May and now it looks like they're going to lose me too. Their mother never got the chance to say goodbye to them. It's important for me to be able to do so."

"I didn't know any of you had kids…"

Sam nodded. "I've got two, a son and a daughter… I just want to let them know how much I love them."

The guard stared at Sam for a long moment and then nodded. "I might have something," he said. "I'll be right back."

Sam hid his surprise at the guard's response and waited for him to return. "Here," the guard said as he handed Sam a notebook and a pen. "I have kids too…two girls…they're with their mother."

"Do you get to see them much?" Sam asked.

"I haven't seen them since I got out of prison."

"Prison?"

"Well, it's kind of obvious I'm no angel, ain't it?"

"So you got out, but now you got involved with this?"

The guard shrugged. "No one would give me a job. Bart and I met up in prison. We were friends. He kept in touch and offered me this gig. I gotta eat and pay the rent."

"I'm sure you could have found something else…now you're just going to be heading back to prison," Sam said.

"Maybe…maybe not. Gotta get caught before that happens."

"Yeah well…" Sam didn't continue as he didn't want to piss this guy off. He was the first one to have treated them with any kind of decency since this whole fiasco had begun. "I guess I'd better go and write my letter…thanks for this."

"You're welcome."

xxxxx

"Any change?" Sam asked as he went back into the tent, clutching the notebook and pen tightly.

Deeks shook his head. "No…he's pretty much the same."

Sam nodded and gave his partner a concerned look. He hated that these days had been so hard for him and that he hadn't been able to protect him or find a way to get him water, which should have been a simple thing to accomplish.

"Where did you get the notebook?" Deeks asked curiously.

"One of the guards," Sam explained. "I want to write my kids a letter…in case I don't see them again."

"Don't give up hope, Sam," Kensi said, appearing dismayed by his words. "We may still get out of this."

Sam nodded. "I hope so, but, I'll feel better if I do this."

"Maybe I'll write my mom something after you're through," Deeks said after thinking it over. "I mean if it's okay…"

"Of course it's okay, Deeks," Sam said. "I guess I'd better get working on mine then." They only had the one pen and he wasn't going to push his luck as far as that went.

xxxxx

When the letters by Sam, Deeks and Kensi, who had decided to write one to her mom, were completed, Sam brought the notebook and pen back outside to the guard who had given them to him. "Thanks," Sam said. "By the way, what's your name? Might be nice to know who I'm thanking."

"Wasn't any big deal," the guard said. "My name is Gary."

"Well, Gary. It might not have been a big deal for you, but it is for me and I'm sure it will mean a lot to my kids." He just hoped someone found the letters and made sure they were delivered to their families.

"You sound like you're already resigned to dying," Gary said, looking a bit troubled.

"Bart informed us that tomorrow is the end of the game. We're pretty outnumbered," Sam said. "I have to admit, I'm not optimistic about our chances. We're unarmed, my teammates are injured and…and my partner is in rough shape."

Gary nodded. "Just so you know…I don't agree with what Bart has done to him, not letting him have water. That's really shitty."

"I don't suppose you could get him any?" Sam asked, with a sudden surge of hope.

Gary shook his head quickly. "Sorry, but Bart made it clear there would be dire circumstances if any of us was to give him water. He really has it in for your partner."

"Yeah, I know," Sam replied, unhappy that he hadn't been able to get the much-needed water for Callen. He'd been briefly hopeful that he'd be able to get some for him. "Well…I'd better get back to him…thanks again for the paper and pen."

Gary just nodded and watched as Sam returned to the tent and disappeared inside.

xxxxx

About a half hour after Sam returned to the inside of the tent, Callen sat up suddenly, clutching his ribs tightly, in the midst of a violent coughing fit. Finally he managed to get his cough under control as he tried to catch his breath, red-faced and in obvious pain. "Damn it," he muttered in frustration.

"G? What can I do?" Sam asked, rattled by his inability to help his ailing friend.

"I…I'm alright, Sam," Callen replied as he shifted to try to find a more comfortable position.

"Sure you are," Sam said, shaking his head helplessly. At least Callen was lucid again so his temperature must have gone down some. "I'm so sorry about this, G…so sorry."

Callen looked at Sam, appearing confused. "Why are you sorry, Sam? None of this is on you."

"I'm sorry that I didn't protect you better. I haven't had your back the way I should have."

"What?" Callen shook his head uncomprehendingly. "This isn't your fault, Sam…I'm responsible for myself. In any case, there wasn't anything you could have done."

"I could have tried harder, G…I should have."

"Please don't, Sam," Callen said, coughing into the crock of his arm as he experienced another fit of coughing. "I…I don't want you blaming yourself after this is all over with."

"What do you mean by that?" Sam asked.

"You know what I mean," Callen said, staring at his partner meaningfully.

"Don't even go there, G," Sam said, shaking his head. "I mean it. Just…just don't."

"Fine." Callen didn't have the emotional or physical strength to even attempt to argue with Sam. It was easier just to go along with him and pretend that everything was going to be okay even though he knew it wouldn't be.

"Listen G," Sam began, his eyes intent as he looked at Callen. "Tomorrow…I don't know when, but at some point, Deeks, Kensi and I are going to try to take Bart's men down, or as many of them as we can. When we do, I want you to take cover just as quickly as you can. Just get the hell out of the line of fire and stay down."

"What?" Callen stared at Sam incredulously as he shook his head in disbelief. "You want me to run away?"

"I want you safe," Sam stated. "You don't have the strength to fight, G. I just don't want to have to worry about you." He glanced over at Deeks and mentally wondered if he had the strength to fight either, but at least he'd been given food and water and had been able to sustain some of his strength. He knew that G was drastically weakened.

"If you guys are fighting, I'm fighting with you," Callen said insistently.

Kensi and Deeks had been listening to the conversation, basically because they couldn't really avoid overhearing it in the close quarters. "Callen," Kensi said. "Let us have your back just this one time, okay?"

Callen shook his head stubbornly. "No. I'm going to be a part of this."

"Come on, man," said Deeks. "You're in no shape to try to fight. Kensi and Sam are right. We've got this."

"Really?" Callen asked. "Last time I looked you weren't exactly in great shape either, Deeks. Do you have access to some kind of miracle cure that I don't know about? Anyhow, there's strength in numbers and you guys are already vastly outnumbered."

"And what if one of Bart's men grabs you and you can't fight back? They can put a gun to your head and that's it. You could screw the whole thing up," Sam said harshly, knowing his words were going to hurt his partner, but still visibly wincing when he saw the stunned look on G's face.

"They could grab one of you too," Callen retorted angrily.

"Not as easily as you…Honestly G, I don't know how you can even stand on your own two feet at this point," Sam said.

Callen stared at Sam for a long moment and then closed off his emotions as he buried himself in his sleeping bag and turned his back on Sam and his younger teammates.

"Come on, G, I didn't mean it like it sounded. I just want you to be safe," Sam pleaded.

Callen remained silent as he refused to acknowledge Sam's words. He wondered how he had gone from team leader to someone who now wasn't even thought of as part of the team. They were treating him like a victim or a child. They thought he was useless…just a liability…

"He'll be okay, Sam," Deeks said quietly. "We're just trying to protect him. This is for his own good."

"Yeah…right…" Sam couldn't help the guilt he felt deep inside him at what he'd just said. Even though his heart was in the right place, he knew G didn't see it like that and he hated that he'd hurt him, especially now when the time they had left could be extremely limited.

xxxxx

Callen tried, but couldn't fall back to sleep. He just tossed and turned as the anger he'd been feeling eventually began to fade. He realized that all of them could be dead in mere hours and being angry with his best friend didn't seem to be the most productive use of his time. He painstakingly turned his body around and sat up as his eyes went toward his partner who was staring off into space, looking extremely troubled.

"Sam?"

"Yeah, G," Sam replied quietly as he looked over at him.

"Are you okay?"

Sam nodded. "Yeah…just thinking about things…"

"Listen…I'm sorry about before," Callen began. "I…I guess I overreacted."

Sam shook his head. "I don't blame you for being upset. I didn't handle that in the right way at all."

"I know you were just worried about me. I think we've got more important things to worry about than my hurt feelings," Callen admitted.

"Hurting you was never my intention," Sam said. "I just want you to get out of this alive…I want all of us to…"

"And you think my not being a part of this is the best way to accomplish it?" Callen asked, looking into Sam's eyes searchingly.

"I don't know," Sam finally admitted. He shook his head uncertainly then gazed back at Callen. "Look G…I trust you to make the right decision regarding this. Just…just do what you think is best, okay?"

Callen nodded. "If I really feel like I can't be of any usefulness, I'll do what you want, but if I think I can help, I'm not leaving you guys twisting in the wind while I run and hide."

"Fair enough, G," Sam said with a nod. "Why don't you try to rest up for a bit? Daybreak is going to be here before you know it." He knew the more rest Callen got, the better off he would be.

"Okay." Callen really was exhausted. He burrowed back into his sleeping bag and had just closed his eyes when he heard a movement by the opening to the tent and he opened them again. A tall guard with red hair and a red beard entered the tent, carrying a rolled up blanket. Deeks and Kensi immediately went on alert as did Callen.

"Hey Gary," Sam said quietly.

"Hey Sam…I got this for you…in case anyone needs it. Temperature is dropping," he said as he handed the bundle to Sam. He then lowered his voice conspiratorially. "Just make sure you don't aim it in my direction. I'm sticking my neck way out by doing this." He then left the tent rapidly.

"What is it?" Callen asked as he, Kensi and Deeks looked on curiously. Sam cautiously unrolled the blanket and his eyes widened when he discovered the compact assault rifle and box of ammunition.

"Oh man," Sam exclaimed softly.

Kensi, Deeks and Callen all exchanged smiles and suddenly the mood in the tent changed dramatically for the better. Finally, they stood a fighting chance.