So, to those of you who have been reading and supporting this story, I'm so sorry for the delay. I went kind of overboard with Christmas stories, but I've gotten them out of my system now. Also, this chapter didn't really go as I expected and I'm sorry for this too. It ends with a cliffhanger so I'm warning you in case you'd like to just wait for the next chapter before reading it. Since I'm home with the blizzard raging outside, I thought it was better to post something at least, since I feel bad I've been overlooking this one. Thanks to all of you who continue to support it. I appreciate it more than I can say.
xxxxx
Sam's eyes were fixed on Callen who was once again murmuring fretfully in his sleep. Maybe it was a nightmare, maybe it was from being sick or in pain. Sam just didn't know.
"Are you alright, Sam?" Kensi asked. She looked at him through troubled eyes, already knowing the answer to her question.
Sam shook his head slowly. "I don't know which is worse, do I just leave him to suffer in his sleep or do I wake him? Which is crueler?"
"I think I'd leave him until he has to wake up," Kensi answered quietly. "Maybe he doesn't feel thirst when he's asleep."
"Maybe," Sam said although he didn't really believe it. He was pretty sure his partner was now in a constant state of suffering. He noted the exact moment Callen started to shiver and quickly got another blanket which he gently draped over his partner. "Shh…it's okay G," he whispered. "You're going to be okay." He watched as his partner eventually calmed down and settled into a more restful sleep.
xxxxx
"Callen's going to die." Deeks' eyes were filled with despair and he spoke almost robotically, looking to be a million miles away.
"Deeks, stop it," Kensi scolded him in a whisper. "Sam doesn't need to hear that."
"You really think Sam doesn't know?" Deeks asked.
"Don't say that...Callen will be okay." Kensi glanced over at the other set of partners, but Sam didn't appear to be listening and Callen, thankfully, was asleep. "Are you feeling worse?" She reached out to feel Deeks' forehead, but he ducked away from her hand. "This isn't helping anything." Kensi said as she dropped her hand, her eyes still focused on Deeks.
"How's your back?" he asked, finally meeting her gaze, his blue eyes reflecting all the pain he was trying to keep buried inside.
"It's fine," she stated. If he was going to keep his true feelings hidden from her, she was going to do the same thing.
"I know it's not fine," Deeks said.
"It is fine and even if it wasn't, this wouldn't be the time to be worrying about it."
"Sam is worried about Callen," Deeks said.
"Callen isn't doing well. Of course Sam is worried," Kensi said. "You're not doing very well either, no matter how much you try to sugarcoat it. I know the truth."
Deeks neither confirmed nor denied Kensi's words. Inwardly though, he knew that she could never truly understand. He wouldn't want her to. Nor could he explain how every time he flashed back to what he had done, he saw his father's image and wondered if the wicked sickness in him had been passed on from father to son. If that was truly the case, he didn't think it would be something that he could live with. He would rather die than to be like that monster.
xxxxx
"Bart wants you to report for breakfast," one of the guards said as he peered in through the opening of the tent. "Get your asses out there now."
Sam stood up and Deeks and Kensi followed suit, giving Sam a curious look. "Aren't you going to wake Callen?" Kensi asked.
"G isn't allowed to sit at the table, so no, I'm not waking him."
Deeks and Kensi exchanged an uneasy look, already suspecting breakfast would not be a pleasant affair, not that they had ever been under the illusion that it would be. The three of them walked outside and over to the table where Bart sat waiting.
"Where's Agent Callen?" Bart growled as the three team members took their customary seats at the table.
"I didn't think you wanted him here," Sam said pleasantly. "You usually don't."
"Get him or I'll get him for you," Bart said, his eyes narrow and furious. "I highly doubt you want me to get him for you."
"I'll get him," Sam said quickly, inwardly cursing Bart, wishing he could get him alone with no weapons for just five minutes. He'd make him pay and pay dearly for everything he had done to G, Kensi and Deeks. He got up from his seat and walked back to the tent then knelt down beside his partner. He hated to wake him, especially when he hadn't been sleeping peacefully for very long at all. "G?" Sam gently patted Callen's shoulder. "Hey buddy, come on, can you wake up for me?"
Callen's only response was to burrow further under the blankets with a slight groan.
"TODAY, AGENT HANNA!" Bart screamed from outside.
"Bastard," Sam mumbled shaking his head. "G, wake up." He spoke a little more urgently now and used more force as he shook Callen's shoulder. "G, you've got to get up. Come on. Now."
"Go away, Sam," Callen mumbled, sluggish and slow to respond to what Sam wanted him to do.
Sam sighed, hating himself as he slapped Callen's cheek, not very hard, but it was nothing he wanted to do either. He felt like he was picking on a wounded puppy or kitten. "G! GET UP!"
Finally, Callen opened his eyes and looked groggily at his partner. "What?"
"Bart wants us, now. Come on, G. You need to get up." He practically manhandled Callen to get him out from under all of the blankets and the sleeping bag and felt a stab of remorse when his partner started to shiver. Sam wished he had a jacket to give him. Somehow, he didn't think Bart would look favorably upon Callen showing up wrapped in a blanket. "Come on…you have to stand up." Callen managed to get to his feet and stood there, still appearing somewhat dazed. He swayed slightly as he looked to Sam for guidance. Sam shook his head, feeling like a heel as he slapped his cheek once more, this time getting a more desired reaction.
"What are you doing?" Callen asked, partly stunned, but a larger part angry. "Cut it out."
"I'm sorry, G," Sam said contritely. "But we have to go outside. Bart wants you there too."
Finally awake, Callen took a few moments to mentally get his bearings and steel himself for whatever was coming next. He then turned to Sam. "Fine…let's go see what that son of a bitch is up to now."
xxxxx
"It's about time." Bart glared at the two agents when they finally arrived at the table and sat down next to each other. Sam was careful to sit closest to Bart as to keep his partner out of arm's reach. He knew it likely wouldn't protect him at all, but it still made him feel slightly better, having no idea what evil Bart was brewing up.
"You may eat," Bart said. "Then we will get to the business at hand."
"Why don't you just cut to the chase?" Sam said angrily. "None of us want to eat. Just tell us how this damn game ends."
Bart pounded his fist on the table. "You do not dictate the rules, Agent Hanna!" he bellowed. "You will do as I say or suffer the consequences!"
Not wanting to risk the well-being of his teammates, Sam silently began to eat his breakfast and Kensi and Deeks followed his example. None of them even looked at Callen, not wanting to know how he was affected. For his part, Callen just focused his thoughts elsewhere. He was now used to not eating and the thought of doing so actually made him nauseous. Drinking was a whole other matter, but he diverted his attention away from the table and gazed off into the distance, losing himself in his thoughts.
"Agent Callen? Aren't you thirsty? Wouldn't you like a drink?" Bart asked coaxingly.
Callen refused to be baited though. He ignored Bart, not even looking in the other man's direction. "I asked you if you'd like a drink?" Bart repeated, obviously riled by his inability to get a rise out of Callen.
Callen finally turned his head in Bart's direction. "No thank you," he said coldly.
"You're lying," Bart said. "I know you want a drink. Admit it!"
Callen smirked, pleased with his ability to aggravate Bart. "I don't."
"You always were nothing but trouble," Bart snarled. "Why Henrietta took you in is something I'll never understand."
"That makes us even," Callen said, a faint smile touching the corners of his lips. "Why she was ever friends with a piece of scum like you is something I'll never understand." He then turned his attention away from Bart and resumed looking off in the direction of the woods.
Bart stared at Callen, fuming and red-faced, but he didn't say anything else, knowing he would soon be finished dealing with Callen and his insufferable team once and for all.
xxxxx
At last, the intolerable breakfast came to an end and the team sat, looking at Bart, waiting for whatever came next. For his part, Sam was actually wishing the weapon he had been given was small enough to have been brought to the table undetected. If so, he would have just shot Bart then and there. He wondered if that happened, what the result would be. Would Bart's men continue to fight them or would they all just tumble like a falling house of cards?
"Burke?" Bart called out, at that point getting the team's full attention. "Please bring the tray."
Moments later, Burke arrived at the table and placed a tray in front of Bart, openly smirking as he did so. The tray held three different vials, each with a different color liquid inside.
"This is the final part of the game," Bart said loudly and dramatically. "As you can see, I have three separate vials on this tray. "Goldenrod," he said, touching the first one, "amber, and emerald." He smiled almost lovingly as he gently caressed the other two vials. "Two of them contain a deadly poison which, when ingested, will kill almost instantly. The other is harmless."
He turned to Callen, his eyes dark and dangerous. "I'm sure it will be of no surprise to you, that this final choice is yours. I will give you one hour to make it."
Callen shook his head. "What do you mean? Pick who drinks what?"
"Do it however you wish. You don't need to pick who drinks what. Have your team do it. I don't really care."
"There are four of us," Sam said, "but only three vials?"
"One of you will be spared from this unfortunate fate. He or she will be flown to an isolated location, with whoever drinks from the lucky vial. Whether you want your dead companions to accompany you for proper disposal or burial will also be your choice. It will likely only take you a day or two to find your way to help and then return home where you can live the rest of your lives in peace and harmony."
"You've seriously got to be kidding me," Deeks said, his eyes filled with every negative emotion one could think of. "Peace and harmony? After what you've done? The only thing that would ever give me peace is to see you dead or rotting away in an isolated cell for the rest of your hopefully very short and torturous life."
"Yes, well, sadly for you, Detective, I don't think you'll ever receive the peace you may be striving for." Bart turned his attention towards Kensi. "How is your back, my dear? I hope not too painful?"
"You son of a bitch," Kensi said, her eyes filled with rage. "You really are a sick and twisted coward. What did Callen ever do to you?"
"Nothing," Bart said as he started to laugh, almost demonically. "He didn't do a thing, Agent Blye except to be taken in by that woman. She chose not to help me when I needed her help. She turned her back on me and for that, she will be sorry. Now, I will be taking away half her team, which, if you ask me, is more than generous. It could have easily been all of you, but instead, two of you will live to see another day. As far as I'm concerned, my generosity knows no bounds."
No one on the team said another word. They had each seen evil, despicable acts in their lifetimes, more than enough for a hundred lifetimes, but this man and the depths of evil inside of him made each of their blood run cold.
"Burke, escort them back to their tent," Bart ordered as he stood up and prepared to leave the table. "I look forward to hearing your decision, Agent Callen," he said. "I hope it's a wise one."
xxxxx
The team entered the tent, each lost in his or her thoughts, regarding what they had just heard. Callen immediately isolated himself in the far corner of the tent and wrapped himself in two blankets, no longer able to keep up his pretense that everything was fine. He was pale and shivering as he sat and set his eyes on Sam, contemplating what he now believed was a chance to ensure that his partner got out of this alive.
"So…now what?" Deeks asked, looking towards Sam.
"Now…nothing changes," Sam said, keeping his voice low. "In one hour, we make our stand. This is it. We're not playing Bart's little game anymore. It's over."
Kensi looked over at Callen and the two locked eyes. She was pretty sure they were both on the same wavelength. "Sam…" she began. "You need to think of your children."
"I am thinking of them," Sam said. "Every minute I'm thinking of them. I'm trying to do the best I can to get home to them and to get you home to your families as well."
"That's not what she means," Deeks said softly, instinctively knowing Kensi's feelings and pretty sure that Callen would feel the same.
"Well, it's what's going to happen," Sam stated.
"It's not your decision." Callen spoke for the first time since they had entered the tent and he looked at his partner, his eyes filled with emotion. "It's mine."
Sam shook his head. "No. I'm not doing it, G. I can't. I won't."
"If it's true what you just said, Sam," Callen began. "Then this is the only surefire way you can get home to Aiden and Kam alive."
Sam looked at G and then the two younger team members, his face a myriad of emotions. "You trust him?" he asked, incredulously. "After all that he has done? You're telling me you trust that no good piece of shit? Well I don't and I won't. I never will." He turned back to Callen. "G…you've never made decisions like a dictator. Please tell me you're not going to start now. Tell me that if you and I live and Kensi and Deeks die, tell me that you're not going to live the rest of your life regretting your decision today. Look me in the eyes and tell me that. But if you can't…and I don't think you can…we go back to our plan. We do what we can to take that son of a bitch down once and for all…"