Four

Sam P.O.V.

Another few weeks flew by and I silently begged for time to slow down. I had never been so happy after Dad had disappeared until now. I always wondered whether it was because Quorra was such an imperative part of my life or that I had finally come to terms with everything that involved Dad or a combination of the two.

I tried to ignore the fact that this woman that I had met only a few months ago somehow had snuck her way past everything and was bringing out this new side of me. I wanted to act right, behave, grow up and be the best that I could be, all for her.

I tried to ignore the way she made me feel when she looked at me with such compassion and understanding in her deep electric blue eyes. But it was becoming harder and harder.

Alan had brought it up once after a board dinner as we stood outside of the penthouse on the balcony. I don't remember how the topic had begun but once he began talking, I couldn't stop thinking.

"Will you ever tell her?" he had asked nonchalantly like he had just asked me about the weather or wanted to know what my favorite color was.

"Tell who what?" I asked in return, looking out across the city as I felt my heart begin to race in my chest.

Alan cleared his throat. "Seriously, Sam?"

He was looking at me as if I had just grown two heads. "Seriously," I muttered, hoping that he'd drop the subject.

Of course he didn't, that would've been too easy.

"Quorra and you know what," he stated as he nudged me. "Come on, kiddo, I see the way you look at her. I've never seen you look at anyone like that before."

I shrugged again. "I have no idea what you're talking about, there's nothing to tell," I stated dryly.

"I know that isn't true, Sam," he said quietly.

We fell into silence for a while and I chewed on my lip, trying to think of something to say.

"Even if there was, I…can't," I said, exhaling deeply.

"Why not?"

I sighed and shoved my hands into my pockets. "I can't confine her to this life…with me. I don't want to stop her from what she wants."

"You've thought about it though," he said. "Don't over think this because I think you are. If she had planned on leaving, wouldn't she have done so already or made the suggestion?" he pressed.

"It's not like that at all, Alan," I said but I could feel the falseness to that statement deep within me. "So just drop it, okay?"

He was silent for all of five seconds. "You deserve to be happy too, Sam, don't deny yourself that."

And with that, he patted me on the shoulder and left me on the balcony with my thoughts.

I had come home that night to see Quorra playing with Marvin, the two taking turns chasing each other and Quorra occasionally throwing one of his toys for him to fetch.

"Hi, Sam," she said through her panting breaths before she tossed another toy down the hall. She let out a moaning noise and collapsed on the floor, looking at me with a grin. "Marvin needs to have a little less energy. How was your day?"

I stood over her as Marvin came back and stepped all over her torso before sitting on her stomach. We both laughed. "Marv," I playfully complained and all my dog did was look up at me with his large eyes. "It was pretty good, enjoy your day off?"

"I did," she said as she nodded, still trying to catch her breath. She made no effort to get up so I joined her on the floor, rubbing Marvin's head as I sat with my legs against her side. "How about we go see a movie tomorrow night?"

"Depends on the movie," I said although I knew that deep down, I would've gone to see any movie with her.

"The Chronicles of Narnia movie," she answered. "I finished all of the books and I'd like to see this installment," she murmured.

"Okay but you have to pick the movie time and place," I said as I nudged her.

She laughed. "Already done."

"So, what you're telling me is, you were planning on seeing this movie with me not dependent upon my answer," I said as I met her gaze, giving her a playfully dirty look.

"Precisely," she said as she laughed aloud.

I grinned down at her. "I'll give you something to laugh at," I said as I reached my hands out and grabbed her foot with one hand and began tickling it with the other.

She shrieked and twisted against my hold, causing Marvin to tumble off of her and walk over to his bed, away from the situation. "Oh, Sam stop!" she shrieked as she began to kick her legs and her laughter grew louder.

I slowly stopped and she gasped for air and clutched her sides. "Come on, get off the floor, Q," I teased her as she continued to catch her breath.

"Oh, shut up," she said as she laughed softly and placed her feet on the ground so her knees were bent at an angle.

I rolled my eyes and looped an arm around the back of her knees and worked the other underneath her back to lift her into my arms. I stood carefully and noticed how light she felt in my arms. "How about a movie now?"

"Yeah, okay," she hummed as her head rested against my shoulder and her arm was wound around my neck. Her other arm eventually worked its way around the other side of my neck. "I like this," she mumbled and I could feel her breath against my neck. "More than tickling."

I chuckled again and held her in my arms, thinking about how perfectly she fit there and how I could've held her like this until my arms grew tired. "Me too."

That's when I realized that I was running out of time.

"Just three more days, kiddo," Alan said as we walked down the hallways to the various hotel rooms that were being used to house all of the board members that accompanied us on the trip.

"Yeah," I agreed, glad to hear that there were only a few days left. "I can't wait to go home," I said as I stopped in front of my door. "I'll see you in the morning."

Alan chuckled softly as he continued down the hall and I closed the door to my hotel room. I looked at the clock.

I immediately pulled out my phone and sighed as I saw the two missed calls from Quorra. The last time that we had talked was three days ago after the second day of conference meetings had let out an hour early.

I missed her voice and the thought of not talking to her in such a while had me on edge. I called her phone and was relieved that I heard the phone make a clicking tone after three rings.

"Sam?"

I heard her tone clearly and I took a relaxing breath. "Hey, Q," I murmured as I settled onto the bed. "I'm sorry it's been so long."

"It's okay," I heard her say but she didn't sound okay as she said it. "How are things going?"

"Alright, I'll be on my way home in three days," I told her with a slight smile. "How about you?"

"Okay, I finally got Lora to leave," she said and I could hear the hints of an upcoming accusation coming my way. "You asked her to keep an eye on me while you were away," she stated.

I made a face. "Yeah, I don't know, I just felt more comfortable not leaving you hanging for a week."

"You're not, you're doing your job, Sam. I can't be mad at you for that," she responded with a sigh.

I swallowed hard, feeling my heart do that weird fluttering thing in my chest again. "I miss you, Q."

She was silent for a while and for a moment, I thought that the call had cut off. "I miss you too," she echoed quietly. "It's…different without you here," she went on and I could imagine her biting her lip. "I don't like it."

"I'm sorry," I told her honestly but I couldn't help the smile that spread over my face as well as that sickeningly familiar feeling in my stomach.

Silence fell between us for a few more seconds and I realized that something else must've been bothering her and I was about to find out what it was. "Can I ask you something?" she asked, her tone coming through quiet and muffled but I knew that it wasn't the cell reception.

"Sure."

"Why did you all stop the research on my capabilities?" she asked and I could imagine her chewing on her lip again. "Were they insufficient?"

I opened my mouth to speak but then shut it, sighing aloud. "No."

"Then what?"

I ran a hand through my hair and leaned into the pillow that rested against my back. "When my father wrote entries about ISO's in his journals, he had intended for there to be thousands. Not one," I started as I made a face. "We can't guarantee your safety if we go public with this and you know I won't have that."

She was silent for a handful of time and I knew that she was letting the truth to my statement sink in. "What if we're running out of time?" she asked, reminding me that the marking on her upper arm was still fading, even though the process had slowed substantially. Now someone would just think that she had drawn on herself and the ink was slowly fading away.

"Then, that's fine, life will still go on," I reminded her gently. "Lora is working on it. If anyone can work through the kinks of all this, it's her," I stated and I knew that much was true.

"I don't want that sacrifice to be for nothing," she said quietly and I could imagine her lips turning down in a detached grimace.

I sighed, feeling the grief bubble up inside of me, letting it take its course this time instead of pushing it away. "Believe me, you're not nothing and you can't take back what is already done."

"I wish I could," she said in a breathless tone. "He chose wrong, Sam."

I made a face, my thoughts torn at the statement. Having my father back with me wouldn't have been a great thing but then, I wouldn't have Q. I couldn't decipher which was the lesser of two evils and that scared me shitless.

"Don't say that, I love having you here," I said with a small smile and thought of anything to change the subject because I could hear the distress in the way she was breathing into the phone. "How's Marv?"

I wanted to embrace her in a hug but couldn't since I was thousands of miles away. So we settled on talking until I finally fell asleep three hours later.