A/N: This was going to be short and then it turned into something else so clearly I'm channeling all my pent up frustrations of not writing into one fic. Whoops! Ah well. Post ep/speculation fic for the end of "Ninguna Salida" because I cannot leave our team dead all summer long. Special thanks to chrisodonline over on tumblr for giving me ideas and helping me through some writer problems!

And if you're the anon reviewer who keeps posting hateful garbage on my fics, please just don't. This is a pro-Kensi place and if you don't like it no one's forcing you to read it, so move on!

Kensi woke first. The smell of smoke and gasoline filled her nostrils and then choked her so her eyes flew open. She gasped and sputtered for air as she took in her surroundings. They were on fire.

She heard a groan and turned to see Sam coming to as well. "Sam! Sam! Wake up!"

She twisted in her seat, desperately trying to free herself of the seatbelt and the dash that had come crashing down on her body. Her head throbbed and there was definitely something wrong with her shoulder. She tried her earwig. "Eric? Nell? Hello?"

There was radio silence. Deeks was motionless from where he lay beneath her. Blood trickled from his nose and down his forehead. Kensi called to him as she struggled, "Deeks! Wake up! Come on!"

Sam was yelling at his own partner. "G! Hey!"

Kensi twisted around trying to see. "Is he all right?"

"Yeah he's coming around. How's Deeks?"

"I don't know!"

"We've got to get out of here before they come finish the job. Here," Sam wrestled his knife free of his belt and handed it to her as he continued to try and rouse Callen.

Kensi slashed away at the bindings tying down herself and her partner, shoving them out of the way.

"Can you get the door open?" Sam asked

She eyed the opening. "I'll try."

She braced her feet and heaved up with all her might. Nothing.

Gunfire sounded nearby and the flames flared even higher. She heard Sam swear and then double his efforts to wake up his partner. "G I am not carrying your ass out of here."

Kensi shoved again and this time the door moved with a heavy creak. She reached down and grabbed the back of Deeks' shirt but he was too heavy to pull from this angle. Callen finally came to and immediately realized the danger they were in. "Kensi go!"

"I can't get Deeks out!"

"I'll get him. You and Sam get out of here!"

"I'm not leaving him!"

But Sam was already pushing forward, forcing her up and out of the vehicle. "Stay down!" he ordered as he pulled himself back up to help G retrieve their unconscious agent.

Kensi stayed low, her eyes scanning the area for any sign of trouble. She grabbed Deeks' pack from the back and a couple weapons, anything that still looked usable. Sam limped back from the car as Callen lowered Deeks down to the ground. "We need cover," he said.

"There," Kensi pointed to a shack, half hidden in the hills probably once used to house goats or other small animals. It wasn't the most defensible, but it would have to do for now.

Callen got Deeks in a fireman's carry and they hustled toward the building. Kensi took up the rear providing as much cover as she could until they got inside.

"I'll watch the door," Sam said, his face tight with pain as Callen lowered Deeks onto the dirt floor.

"Why isn't he waking up?" Kensi asked, trying to tamp down her panic.

"I don't know." Callen was digging through Deeks' bag for anything usable. "Sam how are we looking out there?"

"All clear for now," Sam said, wincing as he shifted his leg.

Callen glanced up. "You all right?"

"Fine."

His face said otherwise. Callen tossed Kensi a roll of bandages. "Get him cleaned up."

"What about Deeks?"

"I've got him. Take care of Sam."

Kensi joined him at the front of the shack. Blood was seeping through his pants, more than she'd seen since he'd come back from the hospital. "Let me change your bandage."

"I'm good."

"Sam!" Her voice cracked with panic she was trying not to feel and he acquiesced, letting her pull away the blood-soaked cotton and replace it with the new. Her hands were shaking, just from adrenaline she told herself. They'd been in worse situations. They would get out of this.

Callen joined them. "I can't get Deeks up. I think he took a pretty hard hit to the head. Not much we can do unless we get out of here."

Kensi felt her stomach sink her eyes drifting to her partner's prone body.

"We're going to have to have to draw them away from here," Callen said. 'They're not going to stop looking for us once they realize we're not in that car. I'm going to head out over the ridge and draw them out there and then circle around back here."

"I'll go with you," Sam said immediately.

Callen was already shaking his head. "You can barely walk."

"G—"

"It's not a debate Sam," Callen said firmly. "It'll be easier with one anyway. I'll pepper down some gunfire, throw up a grenade or two and get the hell out of dodge. You two stay here and take care of Deeks."

It was a stupid plan, but it was the only one they had right now. Sam's face looked like it had been carved out of stone but he didn't argue further. Callen caught Kensi's eye. "Kens come here and I'll tell you what to do for Deeks."

As they knelt next to Deeks' body Callen lowered his voice. "Listen, if help comes before I get back, take Deeks and Sam and go. Don't come looking for me. I'll find my own way out."

"Sam's not going to leave you."

"Then you do what you have to to make him," Callen said grimly.

Kensi felt sick. "Be careful."

He gripped her shoulder briefly and then was gone.

Kensi turned her attention to her partner who lay still and silent on the ground. Callen had bandaged a gash on his head but blood still oozed from it. She could see a large bump welling up near his temple and the words head trauma shot through her.

She twined her hand with his, trying to hold back tears. They weren't going to fix anything, not his injuries or the broken mess that their relationship had become in the last two days.

"Deeks, baby," she stroked his hair. "Deeks?"

No response. Not even the slightest movement.

It was her fault that he was lying here. He'd come back for her. He came back every, single, damn time for her. She'd told him she wasn't ready to leave, to give up the career she'd worked and bled to build. But watching him, so still and unresponsive, suddenly forced things into a horribly clear perspective: she didn't want to leave her job, but she wanted to keep him more.

His hand twitched and she felt her heart leap. "Baby? Hey! Deeks? Come on, wake up."

His eyes fluttered open and he reached a hand to touch his head. Kensi caught it to keep him from disturbing the bandage. "Deeks, hey, look at me okay?"

His did so but his eyes seemed unfocused. "Did you feed Monty?"

That didn't make any sense. She spoke gently, trying to jog his memory. "We're in Mexico, remember? A rocket hit the car."

He stared at her. "Can you tell Kensi I'm sorry? Tell her I love her."

"Deeks," she felt a swirl of fear. "Deeks, I'm right here."

He rolled onto his side and vomited. "Oh god," Kensi said as she reached for something to try and clean him up.

He moaned. "My head. Why does my head hurt? Kensi?"

"Yeah babe, I'm right here."

"Did you feed Monty?"

If Deeks was repeating himself his injuries were bad. She tried not to think about fractured skulls and permanent brain damage. There was no point in worrying about any of that when there was a chance they might not even survive the next five minutes.

His eyes closed and she squeezed his hand hard. "Deeks, hey, Deeks no, no no! You can't go to sleep! Hey!"

But he'd slipped back into unconsciousness and no amount of cajoling could wake him. Kensi slumped against the wall in defeat. She was trapped in Mexico with an injured partner, a rogue team leader, and a Navy SEAL who was too stubborn for his own good. How the hell were they going to get out of this one?

A/N: Leave your love in the reviews!