Sorry about the cliffhanger for the previous chapter, but I really appreciate all of you reading and commenting. Thanks so much :)

xxxxx

"From your expression, I'm guessing you didn't choose the one with the plain water. Pity. It would have helped you with your thirst." Bart smiled and his smile continued to widen as Callen stared back at him, unable to hide the clear apprehension in his eyes. Callen quickly grabbed the remaining two vials and opened them then dumped the contents onto the ground. Bart watched, seemingly still amused. "It doesn't matter. You already made me quite happy with your choice and hopefully you won't be long for this world."

"Hopefully?" Callen asked. Maybe this poison wasn't the sure thing Bart had led them to believe it was.

"Well, nothing in life or death is a certainty, but I'd say the odds are most definitely not in your favor." He waved his gun at Callen. "Move it."

"Where are we going?" Callen asked, making no move to do as he asked.

"I'm taking you somewhere where you can die in peace."

Callen continued to sit as he stared back at Bart. "No thanks. I think I'll stay here."

"I said move it!" Bart ordered again.

At that point, Callen decided that Bart likely didn't know how quickly the poison would work so he decided he would play possum. He slowly got to his feet and deliberately quickened his breathing and then promptly collapsed onto the ground. Bart stared at him for a few moments and then smiled evilly before he walked off in the direction of where Burke and Sam were fighting. He raised his gun and aimed it at Sam. This was turning out to be an extraordinary day.

xxxxx

"Kensi? Baby? Can you hear me?" Deeks asked softly. He leaned over her, concern written all over his face.

"I'm okay, Deeks," Kensi murmured faintly, as she looked up at him, still obviously dazed from the blow to the head she had sustained. "What about you?" Her eyes went to his shoulder which he was favoring. She knew he had to be in tremendous pain.

"I'm fine, Kens…It takes more than that big buffoon to take me down," he said, forcing a grin. Inwardly, he knew that if Sam hadn't gotten involved, he would have been in big trouble.

He glanced out through the tent opening and saw that Sam and Bart were still going at it. He didn't know where they were getting the energy. Suddenly though, in the background, he recognized the glint of the sun hitting a gun barrel and then he saw Bart. He grabbed the weapon from the ground and flew to the outside of the tent, aiming and shooting in an instant.

xxxxx

Bart was shocked at the loud crack of the gunshot but the sudden pain in his side stopped him before he could get his own shot off. He stared in shock at Deeks who had just emerged from the tent with a gun and then fell to the ground.

xxxxx

Sam and Burke stopped short when the gunshot rang out. They both looked at Deeks and then turned in the direction he had shot to see Bart lying on the ground. Sam immediately trotted over towards Bart and Deeks shepherded Burke over to where Gary was guarding the other prisoners. "Do you have some handcuffs?" Deeks asked Gary. "I don't trust this guy as far as I can throw him." Gary tossed a pair over to Deeks who placed them on Burke's wrists.

"You're gonna be sorry for this you little son of a bitch," Burke snarled.

"Somehow, I'm not too worried," Deeks said. "You got this?" he asked Gary.

Gary nodded and Deeks headed back to Kensi.

xxxxx

When Sam reached Bart, he quickly retrieved the weapon on the ground beside the fallen man. He was about to go in search of something to put pressure on the wound when he noticed his partner sitting on the ground, staring at Sam with an odd expression on his face. As Callen's well-being was much more important than Bart's, Sam went over to him. "G? What is it? What's wrong?"

Callen didn't say anything at first. He just continued to stare at Sam. "What the hell, G. Talk to me," Sam pleaded.

"I…I drank one," Callen whispered. Sam's eyes instantly filled with fear as he noticed the empty vials on the table and he grasped the full meaning of what Callen was saying.

Sam shook his head slowly. "G, are you sure…I mean, are you sure that it was a poisonous one?"

Callen sighed heavily. "Yeah, Sam…I'm pretty sure. Bart said one of them was just water. This definitely was not water."

"Maybe he was lying?"

Callen shook his head. "I…I think he looked too happy for it to have been a lie."

"I'll be right back. Sit tight." Sam cast a quick look at Bart who appeared to be pretty out of it and went back to the tent. "Are you two okay?" he asked Kensi and Deeks.

"We're okay, Sam," Kensi said.

"What's going on?" Deeks asked, sensing that Sam seemed off somehow.

"It's G. He…he drank one of the vials and we're pretty sure it wasn't the harmless one."

"Oh my God, Sam," Kensi said, looking horrified by this latest development. "How is he? What are you going to do?"

"I have an idea. I don't know if it will work, but I have to do something. I was hoping one of you could bandage Bart while I take care of G?"

"We should just let the son of a bitch bleed to death," Deeks said emotionally, "but, of course we won't."

"I don't even know where there's any first aid stuff," Sam said, "but there must be something around here. For now, I need to ask Gary if there's any salt."

"Salt?" Kensi asked.

"Yeah," Sam said solemnly as he nodded. "I have no idea if it will help, but, it may give G a fighting chance." He then quickly left the tent and purposefully strode over to where Gary was keeping guard. "Hey Gary?" he asked. He was very grateful that this guy had switched sides. He was pretty sure they wouldn't have gotten through what had happened without him. He planned to do everything in his power to help him when they got out of this mess. "Do you know if there's any salt around camp?"

"Well, that's the cook's tent," Bart said pointing. "I would imagine he has salt."

"Thanks, how about first aid stuff?"

"That's in Bart's tent," Gary replied. "The one right next to the cook's."

By this time, Kensi and Deeks had joined Sam and heard the last part of what Gary said. "We'll get the first aid stuff," Kensi said. Sam nodded and walked over to where the cook's tent was. When he entered it, he saw the man who he assumed was the cook, cowering in the corner.

"Do you have any salt?" Sam yelled, not in the mood for any of this guy's foolishness.

"It…it's over there," the cook replied shakily as he pointed at a bunch of assorted spices and other ingredients on top of a small folding table. Sam went over to the table and quickly spotted the container of salt which he grabbed, along with some bottles of water. He then headed back to his partner. Callen was still sitting where he had left him. He didn't look like he had moved a muscle.

"Hey buddy, you feeling okay?" Sam asked, kneeling down beside him. He then opened one of the bottles of water and proceeded to pour some salt into it.

Callen nodded and looked at his partner warily. "Can I have some water?" he asked, not acknowledging what Sam was doing with the salt.

"Soon," Sam said as he replaced the cap on the bottle and shook it. He then handed it to his partner. "I need you to drink this, just hold your nose and drink it. Quickly, G. Please."

Trusting that his friend knew what he was doing, Callen twisted the cap off and took a deep breath, then started to gulp down the salt water concoction as quickly as he could. When he was finished, Callen lowered the empty water bottle and almost immediately became violently ill. He threw up the water he had just consumed, plus, hopefully, whatever it was that Bart had given him. Sam was pleasantly surprised at how rapidly the salt water mixture had taken effect. He supposed his partner's general poor condition and dehydration had helped to move things along. He just hoped the poison wasn't already in his system.

xxxxx

Bart was laughing as Kensi put a pressure dressing over his wound. "What the hell is so funny?" she asked, glaring at him. It was impossible to ignore the sound of Callen getting sick and it was making her incredibly tense, knowing he had drank one of the vials which contained poison.

"This…him…this whole situation is hilarious," Bart said. "All of you…you're all just fools."

Deeks stared at him, his blue eyes incredulous. "You've got a really odd sense of humor…you're going to prison. If that's what makes you happy, then laugh away."

"Maybe I will go to prison, but I've still won," Bart said, staring at Deeks. "Do you really think you're going to sleep well when you leave here, Detective? Are you really going to be able to live with what you've done to your precious little girlfriend?"

"Shut up," Kensi snapped. She turned to Deeks and could see that Bart's remarks were getting to him. "Don't listen to him," she said softly. "He doesn't know what he's talking about."

"You're right about that, Agent Blye." Bart's words were to Kensi, but his eyes were on Deeks. "I wouldn't know what it's like to hit or hurt a woman. "I've never done anything like that."

"No, you just order other people to do your dirty work for you," Kensi retorted angrily. "Deeks would never hurt a woman on his own. He only did what you forced him to do."

"I did no such thing, my dear. I'm sure he could have found a way out of it had he really tried. I think he enjoyed whipping you that way."

"Shut the hell up or I'll make you shut up," Deeks growled, having had more than enough of Bart's taunting.

Bart did as Deeks asked, but the smile remained on his lips as he could clearly see that he had gotten underneath Deeks' skin.

Xxxxx

Sam gently rubbed Callen's shoulder, being careful to stay away from any of the lashes that he had put on his back. He then took a bottle of water and handed it to him. "Drink this, G," he ordered gently. "It's just regular water. Just take small sips."

"Thanks, Sam." Callen took the water and slowly began to sip it, closing his eyes as the cool liquid slid down his sore, raw throat. As good as it was though, he soon began to feel nauseous again and he placed the bottle of water down on the ground.

"Come on, buddy, you have to drink it," Sam coaxed. "You were already dehydrated before you drank the salt water. You need to start replenishing fluids." He knew that what he'd had his partner do could be dangerous, but he had needed for him to vomit up the poison if it was at all possible. "Please, G…"

Callen sighed as he picked up the water and slowly began sipping it again. He got about three-quarters of the way through the bottle when his face paled and he knew he was going to get sick again. All Sam could do was watch helplessly and try to verbally comfort him as best as he could.

"Come on, let's go to the tent and you can get some sleep," Sam said to his clearly exhausted partner when the vomiting episode was over with. Callen nodded and tried to get to his feet. His legs were weak though and Sam put his arm around him and assisted him in getting up from the ground, then supported him on the way to the tent. Once there, Callen curled onto his side then fell asleep almost immediately. Sam covered him with blankets and made him as comfortable as he could. He then went out to where Kensi and Deeks were watching over Bart. "Let's get him over with the rest of the prisoners."

"How's Callen?" Deeks asked as Sam roughly grabbed Bart and pulled him to his feet.

"I don't know," Sam said, shaking his head. "We need to get him to a hospital. You too." He eyed his teammate's shoulder with concern.

"I'm okay," Deeks said, as Bart started laughing.

"Hopefully, you'll never be able to shoot again," Bart chortled gleefully, his eyes also on Deeks' shoulder.

"Keep your mouth shut," Sam growled unceremoniously shoving Bart over to where the others were. "How are you doing, Gary?"

"Yes, how are you doing, my traitorous friend?" All humor left Bart's eyes as he glared at Gary.

"I'm fine, Sam," Gary replied, deliberately avoiding Bart's gaze. "How's your partner?"

"He's hanging in there," Sam said. "Do you need me to spell you here?"

Gary shook his head. "No, I'm okay. You should stay with your friend."

"Obviously he doesn't mean that much to you," Bart said. "If he did, you wouldn't have left him alone. He could be dying as we speak. Hopefully he is anyway."

Sam ignored him although Bart's words struck a nerve. "Do you have more handcuffs?" he asked Gary. Gary nodded and handed a pair to Sam who cuffed Bart and then moved him to the opposite side from where Burke was sitting. "Keep them apart. If they try to get together, shoot one of them. I don't care which." He then headed back to the tent to stay with his partner.

"Do you think we should leave them alone?" Kensi asked, her eyes on Sam. Deeks shook his head. "Let's at least make sure Sam doesn't need anything first."

They followed Sam to the tent and he looked up when they walked inside. "Sam? Is everything okay? Can we do anything?" Kensi asked. She looked over at Callen who appeared to be sleeping peacefully, at least. Deeks eased himself onto the ground and allowed his eyes to close. It was evident that he was nearing the limits to how much his body could take.

Sam shook his head as he watched Deeks. Now that he had access to medical supplies, he decided he ought to take a look at his shoulder. "Hey Deeks? How about you and I take a walk over to Bart's tent? You can show me his medical supplies and I can at least change the bandage on your shoulder."

Inwardly, Deeks couldn't help but balk at Sam's idea, knowing that would hurt like hell. He was about to deny Sam's request when he heard the sound of a helicopter propeller approaching. "Now what?" he asked, sharing a worried look with Sam and Kensi.

"You don't think Bart managed to call for reinforcements, do you?" Kensi asked.

"I wouldn't put it past him," Sam stated as he got to his feet. "Come on, let's gather up some weapons and be ready to take a stand." He wondered if this nightmare was ever going to end.