Disclaimer: own nothing / claim nothing / profit nothing All errors are mine; no Beta
Spoilers: As always potentially any episode
Author's Note: Once again I am very grateful to eyesforfiction for the pre-read, feedback, and general soundboard assistance – Thank you my friend!
Chapter one
Adam was not happy about it; but, Sam had insisted on waiting for Mr. Foyle's return before they married.
Adam had frequently asked "When?"
And Sam had just as often answered, "I don't know. Just, after Mr. Foyle comes home."
His patience pushed to the brink one evening, Adam challenged, "What if something happens and he never comes back?"
The younger man was completely unaware of that being Sam's most secret fear. Hearing it aloud had shocked her into flight and she had left the London rooming house; where they each had a room, and sought a hotel room for the night. She could scarcely afford it; but, she could not deal with Adam or worse; face being reminded of his words by staying where they were spoken. Adam in turn was hurt by Sam's running off, leaving him to worry about her all night, and then refusing to discuss the matter at all once she returned. Tensions seemed to be steadily mounting between the two and Sam began to doubt the wisdom in continuing their engagement. This was where things stood when Foyle returned and managed to unintentionally get Sam fired
She and Adam were engaged and he had insisted she join him for his interview because he expected they would be married by the time he was on the ballot. Sam arrived late and Adam, although appearing calm and collected in front of the interview board, lost his temper when they were back at the boarding house and insisted she stay away from Mr. Foyle because it led to nothing but trouble.
"He lost you your job. And, he caused you to be late to the interview, which could very well have cost me my chance at MP."
Sam did not argue with him, even though she did not agree either. Adam was being ridiculous and totally unfair. Mr. Foyle had been looking out for her; he had not intended to get her fired. As for the situation that led to her being late to the interview; she had insisted on being included in finding out why she was being set up and there was no way she or Foyle could have known about the possibility of radiation exposure. A few days later when Mr. Foyle approached her about coming to work with him, at MI5 as his assistant, Sam did not hesitant to accept. Once again Adam voiced his objection. However, Sam did not remain silent. She explained that, as Adam had pointed out, she was out of a job and in need of work. Her argument continued with the point that with Adam pursuing a post in politics one of them needed to be earning some money. He relented but made it clear he was not happy with the arrangement and wanted her to secure other employment as soon as possible.
Over the next several months Sam continued in her job as Foyle's assistant, never once seeking employment elsewhere. The tensions between her and Adam, that had eased temporarily when he was elected MP, resumed a couple of months after his election and mounted steadily in frequency and intensity over the ensuing months. Adam, although quite consumed by the demands of his position, had begun to push Sam to set a date for their wedding. Sam was still resistant, although she was unable to tell Adam exactly why she was delaying the wedding at that point. The more often Adam brought the topic up, the greater Sam's general irritation with him rose.
Sam was at the office when Hilda Pierce had blown herself and Sir Alec up with a grenade. In addition to obliterating Sir Alec's office and the two occupants; the explosion had rocketed through the office door blowing splinters of wood and other debris into the wall across the hallway. Miss Pierce had chosen a point in the day when there was rarely anyone about. However, Sam had returned to secure some documents she had left in her desk. She was just returning from the upstairs file room, walking along the corridor near Sir Alec's office, at the time of the explosion. The blast threw her against the wall and caused her to fall to the floor. The ensuing chaos led of many of the senior members of MI5 back to the building. Two of the first to arrive were Foyle and Valentine, who had already been en route to the office following the arrest of Damian White. Foyle saw Sam as the attendants were helping her down the front steps of building. Forcing his way through the gathering crowd with a flash of his identification here and there he reached her fairly quickly. Sam's injuries did not appear any more serious than minor bruises to her knees, one shoulder and the palm of one hand which also sported a cut along the side; just off her palm. She insisted her most annoying complaint, of a humming in her ears, was really not very bad at all. Foyle secured a car and driver and accompanied her to hospital to be checked out. When the doctor's assured him her injuries were indeed, as surprising as it seemed, all fairly minor and she would be perfectly fine in short order, Foyle sent her home. But not before extracting a promise from her that she would rest and if she had any other complaints or her ears got worse she would return to hospital. Sam promised and he saw her off with the car and driver. Foyle secured a taxi and returned to the office to see what, if anything, he could do to help with the situation.
Adam was just returning to the boarding house when Sam exited the car. He stared at her, his mouth agape as he took in her appearance; hair disheveled, clothing covered in plaster dust, stockings torn at both knees, smudges on her face and a bandage on her hand. Sam stared back; tired and still trying to mentally process all that had happened in the last little while, she could not think of nothing to say. Carefully avoiding telling Adam what had happen; Sam insisted she was alright and just wanted to clean up, have a bite to eat and go to bed.
Sam returned to work the next day, earlier than usual, figuring there would be a lot to do in the wake of the previous day's events. Foyle's first reaction was to inquire after her wellbeing and seek an assurance that she had done as she had promised; eaten and rested. The building was abuzz with people, sifting, cleaning, securing, organizing and generally recovering from the damage wrought by Miss Pierce's actions. It would take a considerable period of time for everything to return to normal. However, it was not a task that would face undue delay. Sam marveled at the number of people who were brought in to set the place to rights. Including a new director; who was not only overseeing the reclamation efforts but was also spearheading an immediate return to functionality. Sir Leslie Sutcliffe was not a man to be deterred. An independent investigation was being conducted under Sir Leslie's prevue and he sought a return to a normal order of business for everyone else. He ordered the senior officers resume their usual work and focus solely on their cases with the promise of providing any and all additional support staff required. Valentine and Foyle were among those whose departments were generally unaffected by the situation. In fact the majority of the offices and were unaffected, save Sir Alec's and the hallway outside Sir Alec's office. The majority of the issues for the staff in the rest of the building were related to the dust and dirt from the vibration in various parts of the building and the items that had fallen or were otherwise displaced. By the end of the workday the majority of the senior officers and their respective staff had managed to satisfy Sir Leslie's directive to 'return to business as usual'.
That evening when Sam returned to the boarding house she met Adam for dinner and relayed the events of the previous few days to him. His response was to gloss over how she and Harris had helped him and immediately begin to blame Foyle for putting her in a dangerous situation again. Adam then started to blame her for continuing to work with Foyle after he had repeatedly told her to quit. He grew angrier with her by the passing second for not doing what he had told her to do. Sam became incensed and told Adam she could not marry him. As far as she was concerned Adam seemed to know and understand less and less about her every day and she would not marry any man who thought he could simply command her to do this or do that. Sam stormed up to her room and locked herself in, refusing to discuss the matter further; her mind was made up.
Adam said, "Well, just don't go running off in the night and leave me to worry about you again. We'll talk in the morning."
Sam called out from her locked room, "You are relieved of any further concern for me. I shall leave or do anything else that I wish and we will not talk tomorrow morning or any other time."
