I'm really sorry about not updating in so long. I've been so out of the loop of the fanfiction world, woefully behind in reading and writing. So many of you have been asking about this story though that I decided to try and work out some kind of a chapter. I'm still really unsure of my writing, but hopefully with time, things will get better. Thanks so much for your comments and support.

xxxxx

"What do you mean he's gone?" Hetty snapped into her cell phone, which she was holding with a white knuckled grasp. "How can he be gone?" Hetty listened briefly to the person on the other end of the line before speaking again. "This is inexcusable, Robert. I demand you find out what happened and try to track him down. I don't think I need to reiterate that the situation is critical." Without waiting for a response, Hetty clicked off her phone and sighed heavily. This wasn't good…it wasn't good at all.

xxxxx

Nell stood in the doorway of the small surgical waiting area, silently watching Kensi. The other woman looked sad and very much alone. She was obviously lost in her thoughts as she was unaware of Nell's presence. Finally, Nell cleared her throat softly and walked into the room. "Hey Kens, how are you?" she asked.

"Nell!" Kensi's eyes lit up as Nell came over to her and the two women warmly embraced. "It's so good to see you."

"We were so worried," Nell said as she took a seat next to Kensi. "How are you doing?"

"I…" Kensi shook her head. "I honestly don't even know right now. Everything has been so messed up and it really doesn't seem to be much better except for the fact that we got away from that madman."

Nell nodded slowly, her eyes full of emotion. "I can't even begin to imagine what you went through. It must have been horrible…"

"How did you know I was here?" Kensi asked, not yet willing to delve into the horrors of what had happened at the hands of Bart.

"Hetty."

"Did she say how Callen was?"

Nell sighed. "He's not doing very well at the moment. Evidently, the antidote was a fake. Hetty sounded really upset. She usually doesn't express her emotions like that."

"A fake?" Kensi asked in disbelief. She then took a few moments to digest this latest bit of unwelcome news before speaking again. "Well, she is really close to Callen…and I imagine she feels somewhat responsible because it was Bart who did all this."

"But it wasn't Hetty's fault," Nell defended.

"Of course it wasn't," Kensi said quickly, "we all know that, but, I'm sure she still feels responsible nevertheless."

"Well, when Callen gets better, he can talk to her and make her realize it's not her fault."

Kensi nodded, but she didn't verbalize her thoughts of what would happen if Callen didn't get better. She couldn't begin to imagine how Hetty would be then, not to mention the rest of them. It wasn't anything she even wanted to think about.

xxxxx

Sam sat next to his sleeping partner trying to fight against the hopeless feeling that he'd had ever since the doctor had given them the news that they didn't have a true antidote. G's oxygen level had dropped and he was now on nasal O2. "I don't even know what to say, buddy," Sam said softly. "I'd like to tell you to fight, but I already know you're fighting as hard as you can." When he'd thought Callen had been killed by the river, it had been the worst pain he'd ever felt except for when Michelle had been murdered. Then he'd found out G was alive, but he'd been forced to suffer constantly at Bart's hands and now...now, the more time that went on without an antidote, the greater the possibility was that his best friend wasn't going to make it. Sam wasn't at all sure he would be able to cope with it if that was the case.

xxxxx

"Is there something I can get for you? Maybe something to eat or drink?" Nell asked. She and Kensi had been sitting together, mostly just quietly, but she knew Kensi appreciated her presence.

"I'm fine, Nell. Thanks," Kensi said with a faint smile.

Nell nodded and there was silence once more before she spoke again. "If there's anything you want to talk about...I'm a pretty good listener."

Kensi sighed as she looked at the other woman. "I wouldn't even know where to begin," she admitted.

"Well, you don't have to talk about it," Nell said, "but just know that I'm here for you if you'd like to…"

"There's just so much…" Kensi began, biting her lip, her thoughts going in a million different directions. "So many things happened…"

"Eric and I went to the campsite," Nell said, thinking back. "Just being there gave me the creeps...I can't even imagine what you all went through."

"One of the worst things was Bart withholding food and water from Callen while the rest of us had to eat and drink in front of him...we knew he was suffering and there was nothing we could do to help him…"

"I can't imagine how awful that was," Nell said, barely holding back tears.

"And then Deeks…"

Nell nodded. "It must have been horrible when he was shot."

"It was," Kensi nodded in agreement, "but…" She hesitated, inwardly debating whether or not she wanted to discuss what Deeks had been forced to do to her. She was saved from making a decision though when the surgeon came into the waiting area.

"Is he okay?" Kensi asked anxiously as she got to her feet.

Dr. Bolton smiled at her, seeming much more human than he had when he had first met with Deeks. "He came through everything just fine. He's awake in recovery and will be transferred to a regular room soon. If you come with me, you can see him now."

Kensi looked back at Nell, a questioning look in her eyes.

"Go," Nell said, smiling, really glad that everything was okay with Deeks. "I'll catch up with you later."

"Thanks so much for staying with me," Kensi said. She then headed out with Dr. Bolton, eager to see for herself that Deeks was okay.

xxxxx

"Mr. Hanna?" Hetty quietly approached Callen's bedside where his partner was sitting faithfully as ever by his side. "Is there any change?"

Sam sighed heavily as he looked back at Hetty. "Not for the better, I'm afraid. He's just been sleeping. I know it's the best thing for him, but…" He didn't finish the sentence, unable to say out loud that he was afraid he'd never see his friend's eyes open again, that they'd never get another chance to talk or tease each other. He couldn't bear the thought of it.

Hetty looked back at Sam, seeing the pain in his eyes, not wanting to tell him what had occurred, but she knew she couldn't keep it from him either. "I called to see about getting Albert Garvey brought here, to try to get some information out of him about the antidote…"

"And?" Sam asked, his eyes quickly looking hopeful. "Is he here? I want to talk to him. We'll bring Dr. Carlisle in. Maybe between the three of us, we can get him to talk."

Hetty shook her head. "I'm afraid that's not going to happen, Mr. Hanna...not now, maybe not ever."

"What? Why not?"

"Because evidently he was released from custody. A lawyer claimed we had no basis to hold him on, which I suppose technically is true."

"He made a poison that could be killing G," Sam growled angrily. "That's okay?"

"Of course it's not okay, but he claimed to have no knowledge of what the poison was being used for, said he was just hired to work for Bart."

"But he didn't give us the real antidote," Sam said. "He knew it wasn't going to work. He knew that G…" Sam looked at his partner, his eyes filled with emotion and pain. G was still asleep or unconscious, Sam didn't even know which it was. "He knew G would die without it…"

"We're going to do everything we can to find Garvey," Hetty said. "I'll talk to Bart again maybe…"

"NO!" Sam said loudly. "I will talk to Bart, Hetty." He angrily got up from his chair and headed towards the door before looking back at Hetty and lowering his voice. "Stay here with G...I'll be back soon…"

xxxxx

"Hey baby." Kensi smiled as Deeks opened his eyes and looked at her drowsily. He had fallen back to sleep before she'd gone to see him and he was now in a room on the surgical floor. The doctors had insisted on that until he was 24 hours post-surgery.

"Hey Kens…" Deeks said, covering his mouth as he yawned. "Did everything go okay?"

"It did," Kensi said. "It went very well. You'll be home again before you know it."

"That's good…" he mumbled sleepily. His eyes slowly closed before they popped open again. "How's Callen doing?"

"He...he's holding his own," Kensi said, but her expression didn't support her words.

"How bad?" Deeks asked after a few moments of silence. "The antidote hasn't kicked in yet?"

Kensi slowly shook her head. "Nell said...the antidote wasn't real...it's not going to help him."

"Damn," Deeks said, appearing distressed at this latest bit of news. "I was really hoping that was the answer…"

"Me too," Kensi said. "But I don't want you to worry about this now, Deeks. You just got out of surgery. You need your rest. You know Callen. You know how strong he is."

Deeks nodded, but his thoughts were not optimistic. Callen might be strong, but even that wasn't enough to combat a poison meant to kill.

xxxxx

Sam tried to control his anger as he made his way to Bart's room. The last thing he needed was to get turned away before he even got there. When he reached the room, he was glad to see a friendly face. John Emerson, a stand-up agent and friend of the team's was standing guard outside Bart's room.

"Hey John," Sam said, stopping to greet his friend. "How are things going?"

John shrugged. "Quiet." His eyes were serious as he looked back at Sam. "How's Callen? I heard things weren't too good."

"They're not," Sam stated with a meaningful look at the closed door to Bart's room. "But I aim to change that if I can."

"Sam…" John said with a cautionary note in his voice. "I'll give you some leeway here, but be careful, okay?"

Sam nodded. "I won't do anything extreme...I just want to see if I can get some info out of him."

John nodded. "Okay. I'll take your word on that, Sam."

Sam smiled grimly and opened the door to Bart's room, closing it behind him. Bart's eyes opened when he heard the door to his room close and he stared back at Sam. "What are you doing here?" he asked with a sneer. "I thought you would be with your precious G...unless...is the battle finally over? Is your partner dead?"

"Where's Garvey?"

Bart smiled. "Albert? How on earth would I know? He hasn't even come to visit me. I must say, it's a bit rude of him."

"You know where he is," Sam said angrily. "Tell me."

"I have no idea where he is," Bart stated, the smile still on his lips. "It's not my fault if you lost him. You and your team aren't very good at what you do. You were pretty lousy game players as well. Pity. I expected much more, but one can't have everything, I suppose."

"You're a sick, twisted son of a bitch," Sam growled as he leaned down and put his face only inches from Bart. "You think you're so clever and funny, but I'll have you know…if G does die, there won't be a hole you can crawl into that's far enough or deep enough that I won't find you and kill you, slowly and torturously. I once made a mistake letting a piece of shit like you live. I won't make that mistake again."

Bart continued to grin, but now there was a bit of something else in his eyes which Sam was pretty sure was fear. "Careful, Agent Hanna," Bart said. "That could be considered a threat."

"Oh it is a threat," Sam whispered. "And one that I intend to carry out. You'd better hope my partner pulls through this hell you've put him through."

"You'll end up in prison," Bart said. "Your children won't have a mother or a father they can depend on."

Sam shook his head slowly. "That's not going to happen because I'm going to be very, very careful. And even if I'm not, I have plenty of friends who will be willing to look the other way, especially when they know what you did to our team. No one's going to care when I wipe a worthless scumbag like you from this planet. Remember that. Now I'll ask you one more time…Where the hell is Garvey?"

"I suspect he's gotten himself far, far away. If I was him, that's what I would do…and if I were you, I'd get back to my partner before he croaks."

Sam clenched his fists for a long moment as he stared back at Bart, then turned and stormed from the room, knowing that he was never going to help them and not wanting to be away from his partner for too long.

xxxxx

Sam met Dr. Carlisle outside the door to Callen's room. "Any change?" he asked.

"That's what I'm here to find out," Dr. Carlisle answered. Sam opened the door, allowing the doctor to go in ahead of him and the two approached Callen's bedside. Hetty looked up at Sam who shook his head grimly.

Dr. Carlisle walked over to Callen, looked at the monitor readings, then examined Callen. When he was done, he gently tried to awaken Callen. "Mr. Callen?" he called out. Callen remained still and apparently oblivious to the doctor's attempts to wake him. After determining that Callen was not going to respond, the doctor turned to Hetty and Sam.

"Well?" Sam asked.

Dr. Carlisle shook his head. "He's getting worse. I think it's time for a decision to be made."

"What kind of a decision?" Sam asked, having a hard time keeping his emotions under wraps.

"The lab has come up with a drug cocktail that could be helpful."

"Where is it?" Sam asked eagerly. "What are you waiting for?"

"I said could be helpful," Dr. Carlisle explained patiently. "There are no guarantees here. It might not help at all."

"I don't understand," Hetty said. "You said he's getting worse. Isn't a chance, no matter how small, better than no chance at all?"

The doctor nodded. "It is, but just understand there are no guarantees here… about possible positive or negative effects of the cocktail."

"What do you mean, negative?" Sam asked. He turned to gaze at his partner then sadly turned back to the doctor. "What can be worse than this?"

"There is a chance that the side effects could be bad...these are some very strong drugs. I just don't want you to be upset by what could happen."

"Try the drugs, doctor," Hetty said, her eyes filled with emotion as she gazed at Callen. "We need to give him a chance."

"All right… I'll go get the cocktail," Dr. Carlisle said. "I'll be right back."

Hetty and Sam watched as the doctor left the room then returned to keeping their vigil over Callen, each of them hoping and praying that this would prove to be the answer they were looking for.