Title "Still out of control"

Author: Julian's Angel

Rating PG-13

Summary: Sequel to "Out of Control". Sam and John are together and everything seems to be perfect, until a friend from John's past came to Atlanta and asked John for a favor. How will this favor affect John's own life? Read to find out.

Category: Angst / Romance

Disclaimer All characters belong to Cynthia Saunders, Sanders/Moser Production and NBC of the show Profiler. I just borrowed them for my story.

A/N Here I am, again. lol I started this story a few weeks ago and had a kind of writers block, so I started my other story Dangerous Life. Yeah, this happens lol... now I'll try to continue this one. Thanks Mig, for helping me and beta-reading! :)

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Chapter 1

It was 8 o'clock in the evening and Sam stood in the elevator to drive up into her home.

Finally at home, she thought, when she pushed the button to close the doors. It was her birthday and she wanted to spend the day with her daughter. So they were shopping, went to see a movie and tried the new restaurant a few blocks away from their home. On the way back, the little girl begged to stay at her friend's house over night. She didn't want to deny her wish, because of their past life Chloe didn't have a lot of friends. She always had to be careful, no matter what she wanted to do. Sam couldn't allow her to play with her friends at the park, because she never knew if her daughter would be safe. And she hadn't always the time to be with her even if she wanted to. She had a job to do. Catching all the bad guys. Guys like Jack. Don't go there, she said to herself, Jack's dead… it's over.

The door opened and she walked into her home as she saw way to many people in her living room.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!" they shouted all at the same time.

"Oh my god…" Sam started, "…what, what are you doing here?" she put her bag on the small table near the elevator.

"What does it look like?" Grace said, smiling and headed towards her stunned friend. "It's your birthday, Sam. You shouldn't be alone on your birthday."

"But, I…"

Grace looked at her, "No buts." she turned around, "George, bring her something to drink. She needs to relax. Come on…" she took her hand and led her to the sofa.

"Oh, I'm fine. Really." Sam sat down and waited until Grace joined her. "It's just… I thought I would… how did you know the code for the elevator?"

George came back with a glass of wine and handed it to her, "Sam, don't ask." He told her, grinning.

Raising an eyebrow, she accepted the wine. "So, whose idea was that?"

"To crack your code?"

She gave George a small smile, "No, to throw a party."

"Well, ours. We thought you'd like that."

"I do but…" she put the glass back on the table and looked around.

Grace watched her, "What? Are you missing someone?"

"No, it's just…" but then she saw him. He leaned on the backside of the room, talking with his old friend Nathan. As if he could feel her eyes on him, he turned his head and met her gaze, a smile spreading into his handsome feature. He gave Nathan a pat on his shoulder and made his way up to her.

"Hey." he said, smiling.

"Hi John…" Sam started, looking up into his bright blue eyes.

"Happy Birthday."

"Thanks." she answered, lifting herself up from the sofa.

"How was your day with Chloe?" he tilted his head to one side, his eyes never leaving hers.

"Great, we… we had so much fun…" she told him, shoving her hands in the back pockets of her pants.

"Glad to hear that. Can we…" John stopped as Bailey came up to them.

"Sam…" he gave her a hug, "…Happy Birthday. You look great…" he gave her a smile, "...how about you gonna open your presents now?" Bailey took her hand and led her to the big table.

"Presents? For me?"

He pulled her down on the chair, "The one who has birthday gets presents too. Remember?"

"I know, but…" she looked at the table with packages in every size and colour and sighed "…okay."

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"I hope you like it." Grace said and bit her lower lip, looking at the book in Sam's hands.

"Photography of America." she read the title of the book, "Oh Grace, how did you know about that?"

"Someone mentioned it, I guess." she said, smiling.

"Thanks, that's so sweet." Sam pulled her friend into a tight hug.

"The next one." Bailey pointed at the table, "There're still a few things left."

Sam put the book next to her on the sofa and bent forward to grab a white envelope from the table. She read the letters on the front side and smiled as she recognized the handwriting. With a short hesitation she opened it and pulled out a beautiful card.

Sam,
I thought about your present a long time. Nothing seems to be the right thing, so I decided to give you something special and I hope you'll like it. A romantic weekend in
Italy, just the two of us. I know what you probably think right now. Italy, why Italy? This is going to be such a long flight. But I went there years ago and I'd like to show you the beautiful coasts and beaches they have there. I planned something like a candle-light dinner on a lonely beach, watching the sunset, drinking champagne... Sounds nice, doesn't it? More ideas are always welcome. I know you're smiling right now and I'm glad that I'm the one who makes you smile. It feels good to see you like this.
Happy Birthday!
John

John watched her as she read the card, waiting nervously for a reaction. But as she looked up and smiled at his direction he felt relieved and parted his mouth into a beautiful smile. Sam bit her lower lip and put the card back into the envelope.

"Hey, what are you doing? We're dying to know what's in there, too. Judging your face it has to be something really nice." George said, grinning.

"Yes, it is."

"Then show us." Grace exchanged looks with George. Both already knew that it was from John.

"No." Sam answered, holding the envelope in her hands.

"Why not?" Grace asked, curiously.

"Because…"

"Oh look, she's blushing." George remarked and threw a grin in Bailey's direction.

"No I'm not." Sam reached for the glass of wine, a little embaressed that all eyes were settled on her.

"Of course you do."

But Sam ignored him and reached for another small package. She opened it and noticed that it was a jewellery box. Her first thought was John and she smiled as she saw a necklace with a small pearl on it. She turned her head to look at John as Coop started to talk, "Do you like it?"

Sam stopped and turned her head to Coop, "What do you mean?"

"The necklace. Do you like it? It took me so long to find the right one for you." he explained with a smile.

"I…uhm…" she looked at the necklace and back to Coop, who looked at her with wide eyes. "Well yeah, thanks." she answered and closed the box with a sigh.

How could he do this? He's not supposed to give something like that to me. Unbelievable, she thought and put the box back on the table.

Then Sam looked up and met John's gaze. For a moment he held it, but then he gave her a small smile and walked over to the buffet.

"Excuse me." Sam apologized and got up to walk over to John. She stopped beside him and put her hand on his back, "Hey."

"Hey." he responded, shortly.

"Are you hungry?"

"Not really. Just checking what they ordered for your birthday." he turned to look at her.

"And the results?" she asked, propping her hands on the table in front of her.

"Not so bad."

"That's good."

"And do you like your party so far?" John asked, secretly caressing her fingers.

"Yeah, you could say so." she looked at her hand as she felt John's hand on hers.

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In the meantime Coop walked into the kitchen, looking for something to drink. He opened the fridge and reached for a bottle of beer. With a sigh he put it on the counter top and searched for a bottle opener. So he opened the drawer on the left side of the fridge but he didn't find any kitchen utilities in there. Instead there were a lot of letters and pictures. Hesitantly he looked back to the kitchen door before he reached for the pictures. Most of them were of Sam and John, and a few of John and Chloe. Apparently from a visit to the zoo, he thought. He flipped through it but stopped when he saw them kissing on one of them. Angrily he clenched his fists while he stared at the picture. How could she do this? Sam and John, that's not possible. But the pictures proofed what he knew all along.

"Are you looking for something?" Coop startled when he heard a voice behind him.

Immediately he put the pictures back into the drawer and turned around, "A bottle opener. I couldn't find one."

John looked at him suspiciously and came up to him. He opened the right drawer and put it out, "Try this."

"Thanks." Coop took the opener and watched as John reached into the fridge for a bottle of wine.

"Cheers" he said and left the kitchen again.

"Go to hell" Coop muttered and looked after him, angrily.

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"Thank you for coming." Sam said, hugging Bailey and Grace.

"I hope you liked your party even if it was kind of surprise. Well, but that's what surprise parties are for, right?" Bailey said, slipping into his jacket.

"I heard about that, yeah." Sam chuckled, pushing the button to call the elevator.

"And we shouldn't stay to help you cleaning?" Grace suggested.

"No, it's okay." she smiled and looked at Coop, "Could you please stay for a few minutes? I want to talk to you about something. "

"Sure. As long as you want." he answered and glared at John behind her.

"Fine. Drive safe." she said to Bailey and Grace before the elevator door closed.

"Okay, now we have to talk." Sam started again.

"But alone." Coop prompted abruptly, giving John a fretful look.

"No, he can hear what I have to tell you."

"Oh, it's okay… I…" John looked around and grabbed two bottles of wine, "…I'll bring them into the kitchen." he looked at Sam and walked away.

"Okay." Sam put the jewellery box into Coops hand and sighed, "Here."

"What? Why?" he looked at her offended, "It was a present. You can't give it back."

"Yes I can."

"But why?"

"Because I don't want it. And it's not right." she tried to explain.

"What are you talking about? What is not right?"

"To give me such a present, Coop. We're not together anymore and you can't buy me a necklace. You just can't do that. You know it's over between us, so why did you do that?"

"I…Sam please…"

"No, I don't wanna hear it. I'm not going to put up with it. Do you think when you give me such a present in front of our friends, I'm coming back to you?" she said, shaking her head. "No I won't."

"But I love you, Sam." Coop whispered.

"Go now."

"Sam..."

Please!" she said.

"We're not done!" He stepped into the elevator. "Happy Birthday!" he added, before the doors closed.

Sam let out a prolonged sigh and walked to John into the kitchen.

"John, you don't have to do this." she started as she saw him washing the dishes.

"I know, but I want to."

"John…" she stood behind him, putting her arms around his waist. "That's so sweet but… you really don't have to do this. I plan to make it tomorrow morning."

"If you let me help you, we'll be ready in a few minutes and you won't have to do it tomorrow." He dried his hands in a towel and turned around.

"Well, but I make the kitchen. I'm pretty sure there's enough you can do in the living room." she said smiling.

"Hmm, okay…" he leaned down to give her a short kiss and walked back into the living room.

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A couple of minutes later Sam finished her work in the kitchen and headed to the living room. When she opened the door she noticed that all lights were off. There were only two candles on the table which brightened the room into a soft light.

"John?" she said, while she walked to the table where she saw a small jewellery box and a red rose. With a smile she grabbed the box and opened it.

Suddenly she felt two hands from behind, hugging her "Happy Birthday!" John whispered into her ear.

"Oh my god, John. It's…it's so beautiful."

"A beautiful present for a beautiful woman…"

Sam smiled and reached behind her, caressing John's neck, "But you gave me a present already, remember? The weekend in Italy ."

"I know, but that was just the first part. This…" he reached for the necklace and put it around her neck, "…is the second." he stopped for a moment and continued, "I know Coop had the same idea and I…"

Sam turned around and put her finger on his lips, "Don't. That's not important. Yours is so much more beautiful because it's from you. Thank you!" she bit her lower lip, put her hand on the back of John's neck and pulled him down into a kiss.

"I'm glad you like it." he said and looked at his watch, "Well, it's time to go."

"No no no, you can't go now."

"Sam, it's after midnight."

"But you can't leave me alone. It's my birthday!" she looked up into his eyes.

"Well, actually…it was…" he gave her a smile, "…but if you want me to stay…" he grabbed her waist and pulled her close, "…I'll stay!"

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To be continued.... Please R&R!
So this is just the beginning. What do you think? Do you like it? :)