I didn't expect to finish this until the weekend, but I got inspired after work today and didn't want to leave the cliffhanger for too long if I could help it. Anyhow, here's the next chapter. Hope you like it. Thanks so much for reading :)

xxxx

"Deeks, stop!" Kensi called out as she chased him down the hallway. "You're going to hurt yourself. Don't make me call your doctor."

"Really?" Deeks stopped in his tracks and turned around, facing Kensi. There were tears running down his cheeks and whatever Kensi had been going to say flew out of her mind when she saw how upset he was. She approached him to fold him in an embrace, but he put out his arm, motioning her to keep her distance. "Don't."

Kensi stopped short, looking confused as she stared at him. "Why?"

Deeks shook his head. "I...just don't...you should leave Kensi...you should get away from me...far, far away. I'll go back to LAPD, whatever you want...anything to keep you safe."

"Deeks, please…We need to go somewhere private where we can talk...really talk." She couldn't help but notice that they were drawing stares from curious onlookers and she felt very uncomfortable to be having this conversation in the middle of a hospital hallway.

"I don't see that we have anything to talk about. My mom took years of abuse from my father. I won't let that happen to you."

"Deeks stop it!" Kensi snapped, her eyes flashing angrily. "You are not your father. I know that you would never, ever willingly hurt me. This wasn't your fault. None of it was your fault."

Deeks shook his head, staring down at the floor, unable to meet her eyes. "I can't do this right now, Kensi. I...I need time. I need to be alone to think about all of this."

"Deeks…" Kensi stopped speaking with the sudden appearance of Hetty. The older woman looked very upset, her eyes filled with unshed tears.

"I am very sorry to interrupt," Hetty said. "But...I received a call from Mr. Hanna. It seems that Mr. Callen is not doing well at all. The doctor has suggested that we go to see him and...and prepare to say goodbye…"

"What?" Kensi shook her head and automatically reached for Deeks' hand which he took as he moved in closer to her.

"I'm going to go try to get in touch with his father and Alexandra. You should go now and see him. Sam...he's very upset…"

"We'll go now, Hetty," Deeks said, all thoughts of Kensi's back at least temporarily gone from his mind.

"Thank you," Hetty said softly. "I just...I just can't believe…" She trailed off as she turned and went on her way, looking very old and broken. Deeks and Kensi stared after her for a few long moments and then, hand in hand, began to walk towards Callen's room.

xxxxx

After Sam called Hetty, he sat next to his partner, and took G's hand, squeezing it gently, hoping to get some kind of a reaction. Callen, however, remained silent and still.

"Oh G…" Sam whispered, an almost desperate look in his eyes as he stared at his sleeping partner. "I'd give anything if you could just come back to us. I need you so much...all of us do and Hetty...I don't know what she'll do without you." He really wasn't sure that Hetty would be able to move past this, especially when her old friend had been the cause of Callen's troubles. As far as he was concerned, if Callen died, Bart was going to suffer the same fate. He hadn't been bluffing when he had threatened Bart's life. He had meant what he'd said. Bart didn't deserve to live after what he had done to Callen...after what he had done to all of them…

"Sam?" Kensi came into the room, followed by Deeks, then leaned down and gave Sam a tight hug. "I...I can't believe this is happening," she said tearfully.

"I can't either," Sam said returning her hug gratefully. "I really thought...I'd hoped…" Tears began flowing down his cheeks again as he once again lost control of his emotions.

Deeks squeezed Sam's shoulder, totally at a loss for words. The nightmare that had begun with an insane man named Bart never seemed to end. "I...I'll give you two some time alone with him," Sam said, giving one more sorrowful look at his partner. "If anything changes...I'll be right outside in the waiting room." He then quickly left the room, leaving Deeks and Kensi alone with Callen.

"How...how could this have happened?" Kensi asked, not even trying to hold back her tears now that Sam had left them alone. "We...we should have tried harder...we should have done better."

"Come on, Kens…" Deeks said, putting his arm around her shoulders and holding her close. "This isn't our fault...we did everything we could…" Even as he spoke the words though, he was filled with doubts. Had they done everything they could have? They shouldn't have waited so long to make a move. If they had done it sooner, the poison wouldn't even have been a part of Bart's ridiculous game. They'd played it and Callen had ended up the big loser, although he supposed they all had lost. He knew Sam would never get over what had happened...he didn't know if any of them would. He watched as Kensi went over to Callen and took his hand.

"I...I used to love when you called me your favorite agent," Kensi began tremulously. "Even though you don't really do it anymore, I knew it was still true. I mean I'm not counting Sam, because he's your partner and that's different, but we were always such good friends and I...I had hoped you would walk me down the aisle because Granger…" A fresh onslaught of tears overwhelmed her and she turned back to Deeks, burying her face against his chest. Deeks gently stroked her hair, afraid to touch her back because of her wounds. They stood silently for a few long minutes, just watching Callen and listening to the beeping and whirring sounds of the monitors. Finally, Deeks moved towards him and took his hand as Kensi had before.

"I know it's nothing we ever really talked about, but...I really respected you, Callen, and I like to think that we were more than teammates, that we were friends. I...I'm sorry for some of the stuff I said to you after Bart captured us. I was just frustrated and… well, I didn't really mean any of it."

"He knows you didn't mean it, Deeks," Kensi whispered as she took his free hand. "And you are his friend."

Deeks nodded and bowed his head as a few tears finally slipped from his blue eyes. "This really sucks...it shouldn't have ended this way…"

xxxxx

"Sam?" Hetty found him alone in the waiting chair, his elbows resting on his knees as he stared down at the floor. He looked up when he heard her voice and she was instantly struck by how forlorn he looked.

"I tried to get hold of Garrison and Alexandra...but I had no luck…"

"Bastard," Sam muttered under his breath.

"I'm sure he would have come if he knew," Hetty said softly.

"Really?" Sam asked loudly, his anger momentarily overtaking his sadness. "And how would you know that? He hasn't done a damn thing for G since he came back into his life. G never talked about it, but I knew how disappointed he must have been. He spent his life looking for this guy...for a piece of the family he never had and for what?"

"He found his half-sister," Hetty said evenly, trying to calm Sam down. "And a nephew…"

Sam shook his head, his anger deflated as he leaned his head back against the wall. "And a lot of good that did him. Where are they now? Who knows. They're probably off at Disneyland, having a grand old time for themselves while G is lying here dying. Some father...some family…"

Hetty was going to try to defend them, but at the moment, she knew that would be of no help to Sam. His emotions were everywhere and it was better that he express them than to keep them buried inside. "I'm going to go see him now…" she said, putting her hand on Sam's shoulder and patting it gently. "Would you like to come with me?"

Sam slowly shook his head. "Why don't you take some time to yourself with him. I'll go in after you."

"Alright." Hetty gave Sam another long look, but she didn't have the words to comfort him. She wasn't quite sure how she was going to get through this herself.

xxxxx

Kensi and Deeks both turned when the door to the room opened and Hetty stepped inside. Hetty could see the emotion on the faces of both her younger agents and it broke her heart. After what they had gone through, she knew her team was likely irreparably broken. "Sam is out in the waiting room," Hetty said to them. "Perhaps you could stay with him for a little while?"

"Of course, Hetty," Kensi said as Deeks nodded.

Hetty watched as they left the room and then she made her way to Callen's bedside, the tears pooling in her eyes and beginning their descent down her cheeks. She took his hand between her two small hands and sat in the chair by his bed. "They say the hardest thing is to lose a child," she said softly. "I have to say, I truly believe that is the case. I know we never really talked about it, but I'm pretty sure you know the way I feel about you...at least I hope you do. When you first came into my life, we both had a lot of adjusting to do." She smiled through her tears, remembering back to the first days of their life together. "You were so suspicious back then, a trait of yours that you never really overcame, but...I know I gave you reasons to be suspicious. I do regret some of the secrets I kept from you, but in your heart, I hope you know, I was only trying to protect you."

She sighed heavily, her thoughts going to Bart...the reason for all of this pain and suffering. "You'll never know how much I regret bringing Bart into your life. I never could have imagined…" She trailed off, a hitch in her voice. "I never could have imagined the pure evilness of that man, to have planned and schemed for so long to hurt you, just so he could hurt me. Well...he definitely found a way to succeed. My heart is broken and I...I'll never be able to forgive myself for any of this…for what he did to the others...for what he did to you…"

"It's not your fault, Hetty…" Sam said as he walked into the room and came up behind Hetty. "G...G would never want you to blame yourself. He loved you, Hetty. When he thought he was going to get blown up, he wanted me to tell how he felt about you. It was really important to him."

"Funny how we often don't talk about our feelings until the end is near or it's too late…" Sam just nodded, his eyes back on his partner. "Why don't you take a little time," Hetty suggested as she got up out of her chair. "I'll be in the waiting room."

Sam nodded gratefully and sat down in the chair Hetty had just vacated. He sat for a few minutes, just staring at his partner as memories of Callen flashed through his mind. "I don't really know how to do this…" he finally said. "Say goodbye to you...I don't want to, but...I know how hard you fought and I'm not going to ask you to fight anymore. I'm just sorry I didn't find a way to protect you. I'm your partner and I should have had your back. I just wish…" He stopped and watched Callen's chest as it rose and fell, knowing it wouldn't be doing that for much longer. Once again, he couldn't hold back his emotions and the tears filled his eyes. "I just wish we had more time…" With Callen gone, he knew he would be resigning from NCIS for good. He couldn't imagine starting over with a new partner. He didn't have it in him to do it again, especially when the end could hurt so badly. He never wanted to experience this kind of pain again, not if he could help it.

"I love you G...and I'm so sorry...I'm just so damn sorry…" Sam then laid his head on his partner's chest and began to sob heavily. First Michelle and now G. It was so unfair. He couldn't help but think that he had done something truly horrible to be punished so brutally. Once he really started to sob, he couldn't stop and he didn't even care who saw him or heard him. Finally, he felt a hand rest comfortingly on his shoulder. He vaguely wondered which one of his team members was there, but he didn't look, not until he heard the voice.

"Sam? You're getting me all wet…"

Shocked, Sam lifted his head and his eyes met the blue-eyed gaze of his drowsy-appearing but unmistakenly awake partner.