Sorry for the long wait for this chapter. I've been questioning my writing lately and it's been difficult to get anything out at all. In any case, hopefully, this is okay. Thanks so much for reading.

(Also, for those of you asking about Enduring Brotherhood, I honestly haven't been at all motivated with that one. I am going to try to get back to it though, just not sure when. Sorry about that. I'll do the best I can. )

xxxxx

Nell shivered slightly as she pulled her lightweight green jacket a little bit more tightly across her chest. She and Eric were making their way through the woodland area towards the camp where the team had been held hostage. "I hope we find what we're looking for," she said softly, her thoughts on Callen and the very real possibility that he could die.

"We'll find them," Eric replied with more certainty than he actually felt. "I don't think anyone would have thought to take the vials." They entered the campsite and walked towards the table where the vials supposedly were. As they approached the table, they could see that the tabletop was empty, but they spotted the vials on the ground almost immediately. Eric put gloves on his hands and Nell handed him an evidence bag. He then knelt down on the ground and carefully placed the vials into the bag, then sealed it up.

Nell's eyes were drawn to the campsite. The circle of tents seemed innocent enough, but she knew that they were anything but. "I can't imagine what kind of awful things went on here," she said with a slight tremor in her voice.

"What I heard wasn't good," Eric said as he stood up. "One of the guys, Gary, he turned on Bart and his men and he was helping to guard the men who were in custody." He shook his head. "Pure evil went on here, Nell. Stuff you wouldn't even want to know about."

She sighed to herself as she looked around once again, her mind filled with horrible images and menacing thoughts.

"I guess we should go," Eric said as he gently placed his hand on Nell's back and began to usher her out of the campsite. "The sooner we get back, the better the chance that someone will be able to help Callen."

Nell nodded as she and Eric headed back in the direction of the plane. She really didn't want to stay there any longer than necessary. The place honestly just gave her the creeps.

xxxxx

Sam sat by Callen's bedside, watching the rise and fall of his partner's chest and listening to the slight wheeze coming from his lungs with each outward breath. At least he seemed to be sleeping peacefully and that was something. However, it was killing Sam inside to know that his friend was slowly dying and that they might not be able to save him.

"Mr. Hanna?" Hetty's voice was very soft as she stepped into the room., her eyes on Callen. "How is he doing?" she asked.

"He's asleep more than he's awake," Sam said. From his expression, it was obvious that he was troubled by that fact. He ran his hand over his face and turned toward Hetty. "Have you heard from Eric?"

Hetty nodded. "He and Miss Jones are on their way back with the vials."

"But there's no guarantee that will even help anything," Sam said. "They may not be able to develop an antidote in time, even if they can come up with what he was given."

"I know that, but we can't give up hope."

Sam looked at Callen's pale face again and realized that was exactly what he was doing. He knew he had to stop. Him having this kind of an attitude could only affect his partner negatively and that was the opposite of what he wanted. He needed to keep G fighting for as long as he could. "What about Bart?"

"He's in recovery. As soon as he is able to have visitors, we'll be notified."

Sam shook his head. "I can't imagine he'll be of any helpfulness, but maybe I can shake it out of him."

"I know how you feel, Sam," Hetty said, looking at him sympathetically, "and I feel much the same way, but we need to do this the right way. Mr. Callen would not want you going to jail in an effort to get information."

"If I can save G, it's worth the risk," Sam stated adamantly.

"Well, we'll see what happens when the time comes," Hetty said. Her phone buzzed and she pulled it out of her pocket and looked at the screen. "And evidently, that time is now. Bartholomew is able to have visitors. Let's go see what we can find out." She then quickly headed out of the room.

"I'll be back really soon, buddy," Sam whispered as he looked down at his partner, his eyes filled with emotion. "You hang on tight, okay? Please hang on for me, G." He then followed Hetty out into the hallway.

xxxxx

"I'm sorry…I didn't mean it," Deeks called out frantically as he tossed and turned in his hospital bed. "Please forgive me, please."

"Deeks? Deeks wake up," Kensi said as she reached for his uninjured shoulder and rubbed it gently.

"Kensi?" He opened his eyes, giving her a startled look, but his expression quickly changed to one of guilt as he looked away from her.

"Deeks? What is it? What's wrong?" Kensi prodded. She put her hand on his cheek and turned his face towards her tenderly.

"Nothing. I'm tired." He turned away from her again and this time she let him be. After a few minutes of silence though, she spoke again. "I know you're blaming yourself for certain things that happened…but you shouldn't be. None of them were your fault…All of us have things we're sorry for."

Deeks didn't respond to her, but Kensi knew he was listening, even though he was pretending not to.

"If you're really to blame for things that happened out there, then Callen, Sam and I are too. We all did things we didn't want to do, Deeks, things we're not proud of. It's not just you."

"Really?" He turned back to her then, his blue eyes flashing. "What? What did you do that was so bad, Kensi?"

"I chose to withhold food and water from Callen…" Kensi said quietly, after a long pause, as she stared down at the floor. She would never regret choosing Deeks over Callen, but it didn't mean she didn't feel guilty about it, especially now with Callen doing so poorly.

Deeks shook his head, looking at her sorrowfully. "You didn't do that, Kens…it was all Bart…you know that."

"So, why is it different for you then?" Kensi asked him. "Deeks? Why are you punishing yourself? You never would have done anything if he hadn't forced you."

He closed his eyes and one teardrop escaped and trickled down his cheek. "I can't do this right now…I'm tired."

"Deeks, please talk to me."

"I said I was tired." His voice broke and he awkwardly turned onto his side so that his back was to her. "You…you should go."

"You sleep, Deeks," Kensi relented as she began to soothingly rub his back in a circular motion. "I'm not going anywhere though. I'm going to be right here when you wake up."

xxxxx

Bart heard the footsteps approaching his bedside and at first he deliberately kept his eyes closed. However, after the footsteps had stopped and nothing was said, curiosity got the best of him and he opened his eyes to see Agent Hanna and Henrietta Lange standing by his bed.

"Henrietta! What a lovely surprise. How kind it is of you to come and visit me after all these years. You've barely changed at all, except for appearing to have shrunken a bit," he said, smiling. "And you too, Agent Hanna, though I would have thought you would be with your partner, comforting him in his last moments, or… I'm sorry, has he already passed?"

"Shut up," Sam growled, already losing control of himself. He took another step closer to Bart's bed and Hetty quickly grabbed his arm.

"Mr. Hanna. Please keep yourself under control or I'm going to have to insist that you leave."

"Yes, Agent Hanna, listen to your little boss," Bart said with a chuckle. "Henrietta always knows best or at least that's what she thinks with her tiny little mind."

"We want to know if there's an antidote," Sam said, glaring at Bart.

"He does cut right to the chase, doesn't he?" Bart said as an aside to Hetty. "And of course there's an antidote. What kind of a person would I be to order the formulation of a poison without an antidote?"

"Okay, where can we get it?" Sam asked with a glimmer of hope.

Bart turned his attention to the handcuffs binding his wrist to the bedrail. "Handcuffs and two guards in the hallway… Am I really such a threat?" he asked, ignoring Sam's question.

"I asked you a question," Sam shouted. "Where the hell can I get the antidote?"

"You weren't so volatile in camp," Bart said, looking at Sam thoughtfully. "Does Henrietta have this effect on you? If so, I can't really say I blame you. She causes my own blood to boil as well. Although…she's not quite as imposing as she used to be."

"Enough of this, Bartholomew," Hetty said. "Please tell us what we need to know and spare yourself a murder charge on top of everything else."

Bart started to laugh. "Do you think it really matters? I know that once I go back to prison that I'm not getting out. Not ever. Do you really think I'm so stupid?"

"What do you want?" Sam snapped. "I know you want something."

"Freedom, Agent Hanna," Bart said with a sinister smile. "I want freedom."

"Fine, you want freedom, you've got it," Sam said. "Now tell us what we want to know. How can we get hold of the antidote?"

Bart shook his head. "You really must think I'm some kind of an imbecile. If I'm to give you this bit of information, I'm doing it with notarized paperwork and lawyers witnessing the whole thing. I'm not such a fool that I would take you at your word."

Sam shared a long look with Hetty. He knew they would never be able to make that happen.

"Why, Bart?" Hetty asked, looking at him sadly. "Do you really hold such a grudge against me that you would do this to my team?"

Bart turned his attention toward Hetty, glaring at her. "Yes…yes I do," he snarled. "You are the reason I was imprisoned to begin with. After you took in that snot-nosed kid, nothing was the same."

"You think Callen was the reason I didn't help you?" Hetty asked, shaking her head in disbelief. "You broke the law. He was not the reason. I wouldn't have helped you whether or not he was in the picture. You knew what my job was. I don't know why you would have thought any differently."

"I THOUGHT you were my friend. You could have looked the other way," Bart snarled. "But you chose to ignore our so-called friendship and for that you've been forced to pay a heavy price. Not only will you lose your darling Agent Callen, but the rest of your team will be permanently scarred from what I put them through. None of them will ever be the same."

"What exactly did you put them through?" Hetty asked, genuinely curious although a part of her was afraid of the answer he might give.

"Hetty…this isn't the time," Sam said. "There will be plenty of time to discuss that later. We need to focus on the antidote. Where is it?" He turned toward Bartholomew, his expression furious, but with a touch of pleading in his eyes as well.

"Freedom, Agent Hanna. And by my calculations, your partner likely doesn't have a lot of time left. Best come to an agreement quickly." His gaze once again traveled to Hetty and a smug smile appeared on his face. "I guess they didn't tell you the horrid things they did to each other, did they? Agent Hanna here whipped his partner's bare back 20 times. And Detective Deeks…"

"SHUT UP!" Sam yelled at him. "Shut the hell up, now or I'll shut you up!"

A doctor came into the room just then. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave," he ordered, glaring at Sam. "This patient just came out of surgery not long ago. He can't be upset."

"Really?" Sam asked the doctor furiously. "Do you have any clue what this bastard has done?"

"He's a patient in the hospital and what he has or has not done has no bearing here. He has the same rights as any other patient under my care."

"Sam…" Hetty put her hand on his arm. "We're not doing any good here. He's not going to help us."

"You're giving up?" Sam turned to Hetty with tears in his eyes. "We're just going to let G die?"

"You know better than that," Hetty said. "I have another thought. Come on. Let's go. We're just wasting time here."

The two started to leave the room as Bart screamed after them, cackling loudly. "You just signed Agent Callen's death warrant! Don't come running back to me when it's too late. Just remember that you could have helped him when you're standing by his grave. With friends like the two of you, he doesn't need enemies!"