"How far, Eric?" Callen yelled into his com-link. They had been in the air for thirty minutes and should have been over the yacht by now.

"It should be right there, Callen," Eric said, his voice tight with fear. The tension in the chopper and the OSP Center was palpable and they were all near panic as the search continued.

"There!" Sam shouted as the yacht came into view under the spotlights of the Coast Guard helicopter. They swooped in low and circled the vessel and suddenly they all watched as two men dragged an unconscious man to the stern and kicked him overboard into the water.

"Deeks!" Kensi screamed.

"Get me down there, now!" Sam yelled into his headset. And the pilot responded instantly, dropping the chopper down just above the surface of the water.

Sam dropped feet first into the dark ocean. He immediately dove for Deeks, but the water was inky black and he searched in vain until he caught a glimmer of gold moving in the darkness below him. His powerful kick brought him close enough to reach down with his hand and grab a handful of Deeks' swirling hair. Then he kicked toward the surface as fast as he could and his heart was pounding as he broke the turbulent surface of the sea. He pulled Deeks' limp body to his chest, holding his head above water and waving for a rescue basket.

"He's got him, Kens," Callen shouted with tears standing in his eyes. Kensi was shaking so hard as she leaned out of the open door that Callen grabbed her, afraid she would fall. She looked at him and he saw the raw fear on her face and he hugged her to him and they held on to each other as the basket carrying Deeks slowly rose above the waves.

When they pulled the basket into the chopper the paramedic on board immediately covered his pale body with a Mylar thermal blanket. Then he searched desperately for a pulse. He looked up into the anxious faces of the two Federal agents and he shook his head. Kensi screamed, but Callen looked so intense the medic thought he was going to hit him. Then Sam was in the chopper and he moved to Deeks' side, brushing the hair out of his face that was blue with cold and immediately started CPR.

"You do chest compressions," he yelled at the medic as he continued to breathe for Marty Deeks. He didn't stop as the chopper headed for home. Kensi reached out and took Deeks' hand as they worked on him and she looked at Callen with tears streaming down her face.

"He's so cold, G," she cried and he hugged her as he blinked back his own tears.

"Mr. Callen, status of Mr. Deeks?" Hetty asked softly in his ear.

"No response, yet, Hetty," he answered.

The medic finally stopped chest compressions to check for a pulse and Deeks coughed. Sam quickly rolled him on his side as he vomited up seawater.

"Hetty, he's alive!" Callen shouted into his com-link, and the people in the OSP Center started to breathe and silently hugged each other, exhausted from the tension of the day.

Kensi gripped Deeks' hand tighter, but got no response in return. She watched as Sam checked his eyes and he looked at the medic for confirmation.

"He's been drugged and looks like he overdosed," Sam told Callen and Kensi.

"How fast can this bird fly," Sam asked the pilot and they felt the chopper surge forward as they raced for land.

...

Hetty found her three agents huddled in a corner of the ER waiting for news. They looked exhausted and were silent, their heads down. She noticed Sam hadn't changed out of his wet clothes yet and he looked cold.

"Mr. Hanna, please find some dry clothes to change into," she pleaded. "I don't want to have to worry about you, too."

"I'm fine, Hetty," he said quietly. "I'm not leaving until I find out how Deeks is."

She nodded and let them be. They had formed their own unit and even she couldn't break through to them tonight. She had never seen them so insulated. She called Nell and told her that Sam needed his go bag and then looked up to see Austin Fellers walk in. She wasn't surprised he felt the need to be here. He and Deeks had bonded over the two months they had worked together and he wanted to be here, no matter how it ended.

"After you left, Eric heard from the Coast Guard," Austin said softly. "They boarded Ella Nilsen's vessel and arrested her and her two companions and the crew. They'll turn them over in the morning."

He would have continued but he saw a doctor heading their way and the three agents quickly joined them as he approached.

"Are you all here for Marty Deeks?" he asked and saw the five of them nod silently. "Well, we were able to reverse the effect of the overdose of heroin, but there were two other drugs in his system, including meth and some foreign substance we haven't been able to identify yet. That, plus the water in his lungs, has him in pretty bad shape right now. To be honest, I'm surprised he's still alive with the amount of drugs that were in his system. He's unconscious right now, although he was awake right after you brought him in. He was mumbling something about an assassin named Ella, but he was a little hard to understand and it might have been a hallucination from the drugs. We're making him as comfortable as we can, and you are welcome to see him, just don't stay too long." He turned to go, but Kensi stopped him, pulling him around to face her.

"Is he going to be okay?" she asked with an intensity that caused the doctor to step back.

"Yes, he is. I'm sorry I didn't make that clear." Then he smiled and patted her hand and left them all shaken but slowly realizing that their nightmare was over and Deeks had survived.

...

Callen was the only one in the room when Deeks woke up. He had fallen asleep in the chair and Deeks didn't want to wake him. He stared at him, taking in the dark circles under his eyes and the funny sounds he made as he was dreaming and Deeks smiled at the simple pleasure he felt just from watching him sleep. He didn't look so intimidating when he was sleeping. He knew they were all here somewhere, taking turns sitting with him and that knowledge comforted him and he felt his emotions rise in his throat.

His mind drifted back over the past twenty-four hours and he thought about what he had done wrong. What had he missed that had almost gotten him killed? Ella had been seductive and sexy and he had dropped his guard around her, and that had been his biggest mistake. Her beauty and his attraction to her had distracted him so much he had ignored any warning signs that would have alerted him to her place in the hierarchy of the syndicate and the danger she presented for him. She had been better at her job than he had been at his and that bothered him greatly.

He badly needed to talk to Kensi, but he was afraid she would be angry at the way he had so easily surrendered to Ella's seduction even though it was needed for the operation. His actions had caused Kensi to suffer a beating and he was having trouble coming to terms with that as well. He loved her, but was sobered by the fact that when temptation had come along he had succumbed to it easily and it made him unsure of his relationship with her. His mind was spinning and his head hurt as he tried to make sense out of everything that had happened.

"Hey, you're awake," Callen stood up and walked to his side.

"Yeah, dumb luck," Deeks didn't want to look at Callen for fear of seeing the disappointment in his eyes he was sure was there. "I screwed up, just like you knew I would."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Callen was shocked at how dejected he seemed and he wondered if the drugs were causing him to go into a depression.

"Did she get away?" He asked quietly as he looked down at his shaking hands. He'd let a murderer go free because he was taken in by her great tits and ass and it made him angry with himself.

"Ella?" Callen began to realize that Deeks thought the operation had failed and that it was his fault.

"Deeks, she's in custody. They're all in custody." Callen put his hand on his arm to reassure him. "You did good, Deeks."

Deeks' emotions and the physical pain he had endured suddenly overcame him as Callen's words sunk in. He felt exhaustion seep into every fiber of his body as he buried his head in his hands and began to shake violently. The heavy drugs that had ravaged him, twisted and distorted his mind and he flashed back to the pounding beat of the raucous music and the rush of panic that had filled him when she had injected all that poison into his body. It was like a waking nightmare and he lashed out with his fists to clear the dark memories away. Callen grabbed his arms and forced him back against the bed as his breathing started to come in great gasps.

"Deeks!" Kensi was suddenly beside him, pulling his head to her chest as he fought for sanity. He wrapped his arms around her in desperate need to be anchored once more to the reality of his true self. She held him tightly until he slowly came down and his breathing evened out. He lay back on his pillow and looked at her, seeing Sam standing behind her with intense concern troubling his face.

"Are you okay?" he asked as he stared at her.

"Me? You're the one who took a swim in the ocean," she said laughing, trying to lighten the tension in the room and hitting him lightly on the arm. "Don't you think I can take a punch, Deeks?"

"Yeah, but if I hadn't sent you away that night, they wouldn't have hurt you," he said, dropping his head to his chest.

"Give yourself a break, Deeks," Sam said softly. "It's over. You're safe now."

"How did you even find me?" he asked as he looked up at them.

"We had a little help from the Attorney General," Callen told him with a smirk. "He owes you."

"And you owe me," Sam said shaking his finger at Deeks who looked confused. "I pulled your ass out of the ocean by the hair on your head. Your long hair saved you Deeks. It's the only thing I could see."

"You jumped in the ocean to save me, Sam?" Deeks was so moved he shivered slightly at the knowledge that they had all come to find him.

"That's what Navy Seals do, Deeks," Sam said. "Besides, Pee Wee here can't swim that well." Deeks laughed at the pissed off glare on Callen's face.

"I think Pee Wee is a cute name, Callen," Kensi said with a wicked grin.

"Shut up, Fern," Callen retorted with a smirk.

A feeling of calmness settled over Deeks as the friendly banter continued between the three people he had come to care about. They were like family now and they anchored him. They had come when he needed them, without question, and that kind of deep friendship was worth more than all the expensive cars and houses in the world. Friendships like these were the real riches in his life. He could live without everything else.

...