Author's note: WOW. You guys are the absolutely best! Thanks for sticking with me to the end on this one. I can't apologize enough for the delay between chapters. Every review and favorite makes me so incredibly happy that these musings in my head can entertain others as much as they entertain me. Thank you so much. – M Rae

"Thk you, br'th'r." He slurred into Sam's chest as he let his hand fall back to the side of the chair. His consciousness blacked to nothing as he passed out.

"Sam?" Deeks shakily voiced into comms.

Sam held G tightly against him for what felt like centuries. He had felt the moment his best friend passed out completely in his hold and was secretly thankful that Callen was out of pain for good. He didn't want him to be experiencing the fear he was feeling in these final moments.

Sam waited, but after several more moments past and the room remained silent, he felt like he had to know how much time they had left, so he cautiously cracked one eye open to find out.

The senior agent's heart leapt in his chest when he saw the red "0:02" on the screen and he instantly snapped his eyes shut. He waited for the hot flash of chemical bonds to ignite and explode against his skin as the air would undoubtedly boil and then suffocate them as they blew into a hundred pieces… but he waited, and waited, and nothing happened.

Callen squirmed slightly from underneath Sam's grip as the agent painfully regained awareness. "Sm?" he slurred through the haze and lifted his good arm up to hook gently onto the material against his partner's back.

Sam cracked his eyes open again to comfort his confused friend, but as his line of sight traced down to G's face, he saw the same "0:02" displayed on the timer.

He snapped his eyes back up and stared at it now to see if his mind was just playing with him. But when he felt Callen squirm and groan in his grasp again, he knew this was real time, it hadn't changed.

"It stopped." He said aloud, in complete disbelief.

"Wait, what? Repeat your last." Deeks asked through the open comm line, surprise obvious in his voice.

"Sam, did you just say the timer stopped?" Eric asked next, eagerly.

"Guys, it stopped, I don't know how, but the timer has two seconds on the clock, it just froze."

Sam shifted his gaze down to Callen's shoulder, suddenly overwhelmed with the urge to determine if his partner was still awake since they were apparently not blowing up at the moment anymore.

"G, hey, you with me? You okay? The timer stopped man, I can't believe it! Callen?" He gently shook the bleeding man in his arms.

"Oh my God, are you kidding me? You're sure." Kensi queried, clearly doubting her senior agent's news. What were the chances?

"Yes Kens, Callen's beat to hell though, we need the bomb squad down here too, I don't trust a damn timer. Just hurry, Callen-" Sam moved his attention to his partner again as he felt his body begin melting towards unconsciousness once more.

The lead agent groaned and shifted in his friend's grip. He mumbled something into Sam's shoulder that the older agent couldn't make out.

"What'd you say, G?" He asked as he pulled his friend away from his chest slowly. He was petrified the slightest of movements would set off the bomb because their luck just couldn't be this good. Callen's head slumped forward as his forehead landed on Sam's collarbone, but his voice was no longer blocked by the fabric of the larger agent's shirt.

"Alright, Deeks and I are headed to you now, I'll let you know about the bomb squad, Hetty?"

"I am contacting them now, Ms. Blye, standby."

"We still-" Callen's voice finally spoke up but was quickly cut off by a set of weak coughs. He grimaced and settled again before continuing. "Still gn'a expl'de?"

"No, man. I don't know how, but the timer stopped, it's frozen at two." Sam took a moment to assess the bloodied gash he had just spotted along G's hairline and prodded at the edges. He then looked down to the floor and saw the likely weapon of cause: it was a crow bar discarded on the ground a few feet away. Sam's jaw tightened in fury.

Callen kept silent for a few moments, then finally spoke up. "Hm, gue's I'got it r'ght." He slurred tiredly. He allowed his hallmark smirk to spread across his face next with his eyes remaining closed due to the exhaustion and the blood loss.

"What? I don't get it, got what right?" Sam inquired, readjusting his grip and slowly switching which knee he was kneeling on in front of Callen. The concrete floor had made the leg all but numb.

"Hail mar'ied it." Callen shrugged in the same moment. His forehead furrowed into tight lines of pain suddenly.

"Sam, we're headed your way, be there in two minutes. Bomb squad is coming too to check out the chair, just sit tight." Deeks stated.

"Copy, Deeks, we're not going anywhere–"

Without warning, Callen let out a cry of pain as his body stiffened like a board, and then just as quickly, he began deflating into nothingness.

"Woah, easy man, what's wrong? G? I need you to stay awake." The older agent tried to support his friend better who was slumping almost lifelessly against him, but the manhandling only tore another pained moan from Callen's lips.

"S'm, stop." He strained out between panted breaths and tightly closed lids.

"I'm sorry, just talk to me, I don't know what's wrong." Sam all but pleaded, feeling helpless for his friend.

"M'arm, let… go…"

Sam sighed in frustration finally realizing his shifting was jostling his battered friend's arm. "Okay, I hear you. Just hang on, we gotta wait for Deeks and Kensi. I won't move you again but it needs to stay here for now."

The older agent exhaled sharply and then peered down to the floor to see if there was something he could splint the arm with, at least temporarily. But as soon as he looked down, he spotted a small puddle of blood forming beneath the rigged chair and Callen's feet which caused his heart to drop instantly. "Shit."

"Sam, what is it?" Nell voiced immediately in response.

"Guys, we're gonna need EMT's down here, Callen's bleeding bad."

"Can't until the bomb threat is neutralized." Deeks huffed back as he sprinted across the street, his eyes locked on the distant subway entrance that would lead him to his two senior agents.

Sam exhaled again, completely frustrated now and moments away from pure panic.

"Where's he bleeding from?" Kensi breathlessly inquired who was hot on her boyfriend's heels. The question helped Sam focus back in on the present rather than all the potential outcomes that could unfold, however.

He looked down at Callen and began to assess. "I can't tell, definitely his arm… I just can't see." He sounded defeated.

The senior agent switched gears. He knew how important it was going to be to keep Callen conscious for as long as possible, mainly for the purpose of monitoring his head injury symptoms. He also needed a distraction from his growing panic building up in his chest and psyche.

"Alright buddy, let's do some triage here. You ready? Listen up." Sam ordered, jostling his friend when he felt him slump lower in his grip.

The rest of the team listened intently now, itching to know the status of their colleague.

Callen groaned in protest.

I'll take that as a yes. Sam approved and quickly proceeded.

"You breathing okay?"

Callen moaned unhelpfully.

"G, yes or no, you know how this goes." Sam pressed as gently as he could.

Callen moaned again and then murmured a 'ya' into his partner's shoulder.

"Okay, anything numb?"

"Ya." Callen answered which prompted a sigh of frustration from Sam.

"Where, G?" The older agent pressed again.

Callen took a few moments to answer and then finally mumbled out a response. "Y'said y's r'no."

"You're impossible, you know that?" Sam couldn't help but roll his eyes at his partner's tenacious comment. At least he was listening to the directions.

"Are your legs numb?" Sam specified hesitantly, going straight for the question he really needed an answer to. He waited, fearful of the potential response.

"Leg kills." Callen stated, subconsciously reaching down to grip the top of his left shin. Wow, thanks for reminding me.

Sam glanced down and saw a small tear in the pant leg, but the room was too dark to make anything out concretely. "Which one? This one?" He patted at the material along the shin in search for any break in the fabric or bone sticking out and then repeated the process on the other leg. He felt nothing out of the ordinary but he just wasn't sure. "G?"

A groan was the only response.

"Where do you feel numb?" Sam's heart was pounding in his chest. So was he paralyzed? Pain was good, right?

"'S m'hand… can't feel m'fngrs." He finally specified.

Sam sighed in relief. "Alright." He nodded, mentally logging each of his partner's answers to best help the EMTs once they arrived. "Alright, what about your head, can you see straight?"

G blinked sluggishly as he looked into the haze of blurry shapes behind Sam, it was the same fuzzy landscape he'd been seeing since the car crash.

"No." He answered.

Sam nodded sharply. Okay, so far, not so good. "Do you feel sick?" He continued.

But Callen didn't answer which prompted the older agent to shake his friend alert. G groaned again as his arm was jostled in its pinned position against Sam's front.

"G, stay with me, stay awake. Do you feel nauseous?" Sam tried to hurry up his questions in fear of G losing consciousness again.

"Yes." He finally whispered out, completely exhausted.

"Where else are you hurting?" He asked hastily.

Again, Callen was silent, as if he hadn't heard the question and Sam almost screamed in terror and frustration.

"G!" He shouted fearfully.

After a few more moments of silence, Callen finally spoke up. "… dn't knw… how much lng'r-"

"No, no, no, hey, stay with me–"

"Sam! You tell him to hang on, you hear? We are almost there, help is coming." Kensi panted into comms, overwhelmed with the rollercoaster of emotions she was experiencing.

Deeks and Kensi sprinted down the subway steps and slammed through the metal utility door headed straight for Sam and Callen.

"Sam!" Kensi's distant voice echoed through the narrow underground hallway and the older agent nearly wept in relief. Finally.

"Callen, come on!" Sam shouted at his friend, loud enough for the duo to zero in on the empty storage room they were currently occupying.

The junior agents tightly rounded the corner into the room and ran straight towards Sam as soon as they saw him.

"Oh thank God, Callen." Kensi exhaled finally seeing him in person since the shooting at the pier.

"Hey, Callen, you're gonna be okay." Deeks encouraged moving in next to Sam as he half kneeled on the floor.

Deeks clamped his hand onto Callen's good arm and felt how cold his skin was. Step one of preventing shock, keep the patient warm.

"He's freezing." Deeks instantly pulled his shoulders back behind him and slipped his jacket off his arms. He whipped the material around to his front and covered as much of Callen's torso as he could with the leathered jacket.

"Check his shoulder and see if that's where this bleeding is coming from, he said his leg hurt and his head, you need to put pressure on it..." Sam ranted.

"I got it." Kensi instantly unhooked and slipped her belt off in one motion moving in towards Callen's shoulder. She immediately spotted the bleeding wound and situated the loop as high up on his arm as possible. She then pulled out her flashlight to get a better view of the damage and placed the small light between her teeth to free up her hands.

She located the gunshot wound and made sure the belt was proximal to the puncture spot, then instantly tightened the loop she created snug against Callen's skin as he let out a yelp of surprise.

"It's okay Callen." She voiced in sympathy.

"Where's the bomb squad? We need to lie him down, he's definitely going into shock." Sam said with as much patience as he could muster. Now's not the time to freak out Hanna, keep it together.

"Agent Deeks? Agent Blye?" A voice echoed down the corridor followed by several pairs of footsteps.

"In here!" They both shouted back, simultaneously.

Four men entered a moment later wearing heavy gear and holding bags presumably full of equipment that would allow them all to get the hell out of this tiny room.

Sam pulled his partner away from his chest slowly again as soon as he saw the bomb squad begin filing into the room.

"G, hey look at me." He gently tapped the side of Callen's bleeding and clammy face and watched breathlessly as his partners eyes fluttered and then opened to meer slits.

"There you are, keep your eyes on me, G. Bomb squad's here, you ready to go home?"

Callen's eyes shook from strain and then fell shut as he huffed out a breath of relief. Or was it pain? Exhaustion? Maybe a little of everything.

"Hey what did I just say, look here, man." He voiced desperately.

Callen groaned for a second and then mumbled back. "Eyes… you…" He physically forced his lids to lift again only to stare back at a blurry Sam.

"Agent Hanna, move aside for a moment." One of the bomb specialists ordered suddenly.

Sam's protective instincts kicked up abruptly, even though he knew the man was no threat and meant no harm to his partner.

"He's gonna fall over if I move, what are you trying to look at?" He snapped back, and it came out a little more potent than he intended.

The bomb tech seemed to understand though, seeing the blood that was covering the senior agent's dark arms and the panic within his eyes. He also could see what bad shape Callen was in.

"You don't have to let go of him, just slide back a little so I can see the front of the chair if you can." He explained patiently.

Sam instantly obliged, feeling bad for snapping at the man who was just trying to help. He moved his chest away from G's front slowly but allowed Callen's chin to stay rested over his shoulder.

Unfortunately, Sam forgot that his body was acting as an immobilizer for Callen's warped and bloodied arm so as soon as he lost contact with Callen's front, the arm slid down to G's lap which ripped a cry of pain out from Callen's throat.

"Oh shit, his arm, Deeks!" Sam scrunched his eyes shut in sympathy at his mistake, just as Deeks scooped up Callen's forearm and held it as still as possible between his own hands.

The bomb tech moved forward quickly and seemed satisfied with his inspection after only thirty seconds or so. He hastily moved out from between the agents and their team leader allowing them to huddle in towards him and give him the support his body desperately needed.

Callen was panting now and his eyes had slid shut again against the pain the switch in positions continued to cause him.

Kensi had make-shifted a dressing for the gunshot wound and was just now finishing securing it to the bleeding injury.

"Sam, you said something about his leg, right?" She inquired next as she rounded to the front of the chair just as two bomb specialists moved to the back, inspecting the wiring and the timer now.

"Yeah he just said it hurt." He supplied the small amount of information Callen was able to mumble out a few minutes ago.

Kensi kneeled down as Sam and Deeks shifted outwards to allow her access to Callen's legs. She placed the flashlight between her teeth again and slid his jean pant leg up to inspect the right shin. Apart from a small cut that had already clotted, she found nothing out of the ordinary.

She moved onto his left shin sliding the material up and instantly saw a pool of blood collecting in his boot. There were several lines of blood trailing down the shin as well. She tried to slide the jean leg up farther but it became lodged onto something she could not see.

G sucked in a breath of pain but did not rouse enough to protest whatever was going on down by his legs.

"Deeks, hand me your knife." She requested quickly. Deeks' hands were literally full of Callen's warped forearm so he shifted his hip towards her. "Left back pocket."

Kensi reached in and slipped the knife out, snapping the blade open and cutting a line in the fabric up towards Callen's knee.

The problem was instantly identified once the jean material was separated and there, buried deep within Callen's outer shin was a piece of metal. The cut continued to ooze blood down towards the floor.

"There's a piece of shrapnel in his shin, I need to tie it off, it's still bleeding pretty bad." She reported. She decided to cut a piece of Callen's jean material off and use that as a dressing. As soon as the material was cut away, she wrapped the piece around the back of his calf and then looped the free ends loosely in the front, ready to pull the ends tight and start the clotting process.

"Ready?" She voiced aloud, really just preparing herself for the pain she was about to cause her already fading mentor.

Without a second thought, she yanked the ends tight right against the shrapnel piece wincing as Callen reacted instantly.

He shouted out and then whimpered miserably as pain exploded from yet another spot on his body. After a moment more of agony, he decided that consciousness was overrated and began to fade into the blissful blackness. I really hope I see you guys again.

"No you don't." Sam slapped Callen's cheek to rouse him before he could drift off completely. "No sleeping, not until the EMTs get here." Oh come on, I was so close.

Deeks looked at the bomb techs and finally interrupted their work to ask how much longer this was going to take.

"We're just trying to make sense of something. It looks like someone tried to dismantle it."

The three agents snapped looks of confusion at each other.

The bomb tech spoke up again. "Someone definitely dismantled it. There was one line to the power panel out of the bundle, it looks like it was ripped right out, obviously just in time. Two seconds on the clock is ridiculously close."

The whole room seemed to sigh a breath of relief.

Deeks stared at Sam. "Sam. Did you try to diffuse it?"

"It wasn't me." He looked down at his nearly lifeless friend. "It must have been Callen." Sam said in complete disbelief and awe.

He then shot his head up to the bomb tech who had just reported. "So we're good? We can move?" Sam needed a confirmation, he wasn't going to kill everybody in the room just for being too hasty.

"It's disarmed, you can get up." He confirmed.

"The bomb is no longer active, I repeat, the bomb has been defused. Get the EMT's down here now." Kensi instantly voiced into comms.

Callen heard the last mumbles stated by Kensi and felt strong hands all over his body. But the confirmation that the bomb had been deactivated was the last thing he was waiting to hear. He chose that moment to allow the blackness to completely consume him. Everyone had made it out alive, hopefully he did too. Sorry guys.

Okay ow.

That was Callen's first thought as he climbed through the blackness and fogginess within his head and opened his eyes to reveal a dimly lit hospital room. Holy shit I lived. Ha!

He shifted his foot slightly to test out his muscles, which felt like a piece of lead by the way, but that small movement instantly ignited all the pains in his leg, arm, head, and chest, all at once.

He gasped weakly in agony. On second thought, living is overrated.

He froze all his movement attempts and chose to take a moment and re-evaluate himself, and his impulsive choices.

He worked to calm himself as he took some controlled breaths and worked to steady his spiking heart rate. After an unknown amount of time passed, Callen began to notice a warm heaviness on his forearm. What is that?

He pried his eyelids open to see (a much clearer version) of a slumped over Sam Hanna, his thumb was scrolling through his phone held inches away from his face illuminating his facial features while the other free hand was gripped onto G's forearm.

G studied his partner for a moment. Sam's jaw was locked tight and his brow was furrowed into concentration. Or maybe it was anger? Worry? He wasn't sure, but he definitely didn't look happy.

"You look upset." Callen rasped out between dried lips.

Sam's head snapped up to G's face and he locked his phone, dropping it on the sheet below him instantly.

"Finally, you're awake, you've been out for almost two days." He stated with both exacerbation and exhaustion as he slid closer towards the bed and Callen's face.

Callen tried to move his forearm that was being held by Sam's big hand but there was no strength in the limb.

"Why can't I move?" He inquired quietly, slightly frustrated and verging on the edge of panic.

Sam exhaled and moved even closer, he looked incredibly stressed. "You went into shock you idiot. Your heart stopped as soon as they got you out of the ambulance."

Oh that bad huh… "That explains why I feel like someone's sitting on my chest." He winced out.

"You went through three surgeries in the last forty-eight hours, your body's probably dead tired, just be patient, the doctors said you should recover fully."

"What's the damage?" He finally asked after a few moments of pure breathing. The two second conversation was already wearing him out. Unconsciousness tugged at his eyelids.

Sam nodded and reported. "They said you lost almost half you blood volume between the field and the first surgery. Your blood pressure was so low they didn't think they could keep up with it, even with the blood transfusions."

The older agent didn't let go of his grip on Callen's good forearm as he spoke.

"What about my arm?"

Sam shook his head. "Somehow, the nerve damage from the break was reversed, you have some damn good surgeons, bullet came out pretty smoothly from what they said too. You should be fine after a ton of PT for your hand."

Callen scoffed, he hated PT, the process was so slow, but it did get him back on his feet after his drive by shooting years ago. He'd get through it.

"You had a piece of shrapnel in your shin and a piece around your knee cap too, probably from the car crash. Those were removed without any issues too."

Sam let a gentle grin spread across his mouth. "Your head was the biggest problem." There were so many insults he could use against his downed friend right now. Later.

"You had a severe concussion and a small brain bleed. The docs didn't want to operate unless they had to so they kept you in an induced coma for twenty four hours and just waited to see if it got worse. Longest fricken day of my life."

Sam inhaled deeply before continuing. "Obviously the swelling in your brain dissipated and reversed itself with the meds they were giving you, so it didn't come down to that, thank God."

Callen just laid there, looking at his friend through half closed eyelids and took in the status report.

"Your face is broken too but they said that will just heal on its own, you look like a plum." Sam grinned again and Callen huffed in amusement. His face did feel pretty swollen.

"The only other thing was some internal bleeding, from the crash maybe. They were able to stop that with an arthroscopic procedure though, no crazy scars to add to the collection."

Sam took another breath and looked down at his slightly shaking hands.

G finally spoke up. "Wow, is that all?"

Sam snapped his gaze to Callen's face and glared at him, suddenly serious.

"You scared the shit out of me, G." He scolded.

Callen sighed, he could only imagine how worried his friend must have been.

"I didn't try to get kidnapped, Sam." He defended, his voice still sounding like sandpaper.

Sam deflated some. "I know, I know. You have the worst luck though, literally in the world, G. And apparently also the strongest will to live. The doctors can't believe you pulled through."

Callen's eyes drifted closed in exhaustion but he fought to open them again and gain more information on the men that did this.

"Get some rest." Sam urged.

Callen stubbornly ignored him. "What about Narek?"

Sam didn't answer.

Okay, switch tactics. "You been here the whole time?"

Sam responded to that one. "I'm not going anywhere, Hetty gave me a week off just to keep an eye on you and make sure you didn't bother any of the nice doctors."

"Oh Jesus." Callen groaned.

Sam's eyes suddenly enlarged and his demeanor changed in an instant.

G looked at him quizzically.

"How in the hell did you know to pull the green wire? I thought we were goners, how'd you do it?"

Yikes, and now would be a good time to pass out.

Callen chuckled weakly. Sam's face switched to a look of horror and anticipation. "G…"

"I guessed."

Sam's face turned beat red.

"You guessed? Oh my God, you freakin guessed, and to think I thought you were some kind of McGyver genius, you lucky bastard, we almost died!"

"Would you prefer to be in tiny pieces instead?" Callen whispered as his eyes closed.

Sam was beside himself. "I can't believe you just grabbed a wire and pulled on it…"

"…it was a good guess." Callen mumbled over Sam's protests.

"There were five wires and the angle you must've had to pull them apart to even just grasp the one in your fingers away from the bundle was impossible in itself, I can't believe…"

But Sam's voice faded out as his body happily succumbed to the blackness of oblivion, he'd deal with the aftermath of this one later. The big guy would forgive him, he always did.

END