I admit that my mind is kind of warped with some of the things I come up with ;) Part of this chapter is pretty out there but it was kind of fun to write. In any case, please forgive me and thanks for reading.

xxxxx

Eventually, Deeks settled down. His emotions were still all over the place, but he was no longer sobbing. Instead, he was quiet and still as Kensi held him. He had no idea how he had managed to gain the complete love and trust of this woman who remained loyal to him no matter what, but he was extremely grateful she remained by his side.

"Deeks?" Kensi's voice broke into his thoughts as she slowly released him, but still kept one hand gently on his waist, not breaking contact as she looked into his emotion-filled eyes. "Are you okay, sweetheart?"

Deeks took a deep breath and slowly exhaled before nodding. "I...I'm okay, Kens, but…"

Kensi slowly shook her head. "No buts, Deeks...you did what you had to do and that's all there is to it. You didn't have a choice. We both know that if Bart had set Burke loose on Callen, he wouldn't have stopped beating him until... Callen wouldn't have stood a chance. Would you really have been able to live with that?"

Deeks sighed softly as he thought about her words and really considered them. He knew she was right. Callen would very likely be dead right now if he hadn't made the decision he had made.

"I know with everything in my heart that you would never willingly harm me," Kensi continued.

"I just...I still can't stand that I did that to you...that I hurt you."

"I'm strong, Deeks. I'm fine. Please don't worry about me. Don't give Bart that kind of power. He would love to know that this has crept into your brain and he would be thrilled if we ever let this come between us. I know I don't want to give him that kind of satisfaction...do you?"

"No... " Deeks said softly. "You're right...I don't want to do anything that would make Bart think he won. He hasn't won. We're the ones who survived in spite of everything that he did to us."

Kensi nodded slowly as she smiled. "That's right, Deeks. We survived and we're going to come through this just fine. You just need to truly believe it in your heart and once you do, you'll be as sure as I am that everything will be okay."

xxxxx

Callen awoke with a start, his heart pounding. He was both surprised and relieved to find himself alone. He took a few deep breaths as he tried to slow his heartbeat and then reached for the pitcher of water. He was in the act of pouring it into the cup when Sam returned to the room, carrying a plastic bag. Startled, Callen dropped the pitcher and the cover came off as water poured all over the bedside table and over the edge, landing on Callen's bed and his hospital gown.

"I'll get a towel," Sam said as he rushed into the bathroom and came back moments later holding a white towel. He then began to wipe up the watery mess. Callen just watched Sam silently, his blue eyes wary. "How wet are you?" Sam asked, after he had gotten the small table tried off. He reached towards Callen's hospital gown but Callen immediately moved away from him.

"Don't," Callen ordered. Sam immediately backed off and saw something in his partner's eyes that he had never seen directed at him before...fear.

"G...what is it? What's wrong?"

Callen just stared back at him. Finally he whispered, "you whipped me."

Sam felt like he'd been gut punched when he heard the words and saw the expression on Callen's face. "G...I…" He hung his head, having no words to defend himself. He had somehow managed to put what had happened out of his mind. So much had happened since then that he'd thought it was behind them. He now knew that had been foolish of him. "I'm so sorry, buddy...you'll never know how much..."

"I'm sorry too and I'm not your buddy," Callen stated, the look in his eyes switching from fear to ice cold anger and Sam could have sworn he saw something else...hatred. "I'm sorry that I ever trusted you. I'm sorry that we were ever partners." Callen then edged over to the other end of the bed, as far away from Sam as he could get, and once again fell asleep.

xxxxx

"So, Deeks?" Kensi began hesitantly, not wanting to upset him again.

"Yeah? What is it baby?"

"I…you don't have to do this, but...I still need to have the cream put on my back…" Kensi went on to quickly add, "of course, I understand if you don't want to do it. I can find someone else who can help me." She wasn't really sure who though as Hetty had already left. Perhaps she could find a nurse who would be willing to help her.

Deeks looked back at Kensi, considering her question for only a few moments. "I don't want you to have to go to anyone else," he said softly. "I can do it, Kensi."

"Are you sure?" Kensi asked.

Deeks nodded and he picked up the ointment from the bed. "I'm sure."

As she had before, Kensi took off her shirt and waited, but this time she didn't have long to wait. She could feel Deeks begin to very gently apply the ointment to her welts. She immediately felt the cool and soothing relief the ointment gave her. "I'm finished," Deeks said softly, when he had finished applying the ointment to the last welt.

Kensi turned to him and saw the emotion in his eyes but he had definitely reacted better this time. "Thank you, Deeks," she said softly as she embraced him tightly. "You did such a good job. It feels so much better. I love you so much. I couldn't love you more."

"Right back at you, baby," Deeks said, with a slight hitch in his voice. "Right back at you."

xxxxx

After Callen had fallen asleep, Sam quietly went over to the other side of Callen's bed and took out the contents of the bag, six bottles of water which he placed on top of the nightstand. He hoped that having them there would help ease his friend's fear of not having water. He then settled back into the reclining chair and thought about what had just occurred. The more he went over it in his mind, the more he was convinced that his partner wasn't thinking straight at all. He had a hard time believing that Bart had broken Callen, no matter how badly he had been hurt during their captivity. He was pretty sure that he was experiencing side effects, likely from the drug cocktail. He would see if he could talk to Callen's physician privately the following morning about what was going on with his partner. Finally, exhausted from the events of the day, Sam fell into a troubled sleep.

xxxxx

At a little after 3 a.m., Callen awoke abruptly, gasping for breath with his heart racing. He sat up in bed and his eyes widened when he saw Sam sleeping in the recliner beside his bed. "I need to get out of here," he whispered to himself. "This is my chance." He pulled the IV from his arm and grabbed two of the bottles of water from the nightstand. He then very quietly got out of bed and quickly fled from the room.

xxxxx

Kensi opened her eyes with the feeling that something was wrong. Her first instinct was to look at Deeks, but he seemed to be peacefully asleep, his breathing soft and even. She then turned her head and her heart skipped a beat when she saw Callen staring at her. He was leaning with his back against the door, barefoot and wearing a hospital gown, holding a bottle of water in each hand. "Callen? Are you okay? she asked as she got out of the reclining chair and cautiously approached him. He didn't answer her. When she reached him, she gently put her arms around him and could feel him shivering as she held him. "Did something happen?" She gently ushered him to the chair she had just vacated. "Callen, sit down," she ordered gently. She then put her discarded blanket around his shoulders. By this time, Deeks had awakened and was watching them with a silent question in his eyes. Kensi shrugged and then squatted down next to Callen. "Can you tell me what's wrong?"

"Sam...Sam's working for Bart," Callen finally said.

"Sam? Why would you think that?" Kensi asked. "Sam's your best friend. He would never work for Bart…"

"He whipped me," Callen stated. "He doesn't let me have any water. He...he's going to kill me."

Deeks eyes widened at the last part of what Callen said. "What the hell?" he whispered.

"HE IS GOING TO KILL ME DEEKS!" Callen yelled, shifting his attention towards the detective and glaring at him. "I don't care if you don't believe me. And you two better watch your backs because he'll probably try to kill you next."

"I didn't say I didn't believe you, Callen," Deeks said, keeping his tone even and calm. "Just...can you tell us what happened?"

"I got away."

"From Sam?" Kensi asked, trying unsuccessfully to make sense of what was going on.

"He was asleep. I managed to escape."

"You don't think he knocked Sam out, do you?" Deeks whispered.

Kensi shrugged, not knowing what to think. "I don't understand how he even got here… Why didn't anyone stop him? He doesn't even have any shoes or socks."

"How'd he even know where we were?" Deeks asked.

Callen stared at Kensi and then Deeks incredulously. "You two do know that I'm not deaf, don't you?" he asked. "Hetty mentioned your room number earlier and I wouldn't be much of an agent if I couldn't get from my room to yours undetected."

"You're right, of course," Kensi said, trying to soothe him. "Why don't you rest for now? It's late."

"I'm not tired," Callen said, but the heaviness of his eyelids directly contradicted his words.

"Come on, man… " Deeks said. "Kensi's right. It's very late. You're safe here. Sam's not going to hurt you. I promise."

"You can't promise that, Deeks," Callen said, obviously anxious. He kept looking towards the door as if expecting Sam to come crashing through it. Finally, exhausted from his ill-advised trek through the hospital, he could no longer keep his eyes open and he dropped off to sleep.

Once he was sure that Callen was sleeping, Deeks sighed then looked over at Kensi. "It never seems to end, does it...now what?"

"I'm going to call Sam," Kensi stated as she looked over at Callen, her eyes filled with worry. "I have no idea what it is, but there's obviously something very wrong with Callen."