A/N: Serenity House is a real organization that specializes in the rehabilitation of people who are homeless for some reason or another but, I have used my creative license with it in this story. More Sam, hope you enjoy it, it's getting a little lighter now (for the time being).
Reviews are greatly appreciated!
"Do you want any of these books?" Sam asked Paul as he stuffed a couple into his bag. "I mean there are no pictures or anything, and there are some big words-ouch!" He chuckled as one of Paul's sneakers bounced off his shoulder.
"Fuck you!" Paul grinned from his perch on the end of Sam's bed. "Nervous?"
Sam grimaced and zipped up the bag. "A little, I guess I kinda got used to being here." He shrugged. "In a twisted way it's become my home."
"Yeah? When was the last time you lived in a house with reinforced windows where your mom locked you in at night?" Paul cocked an eyebrow and smirked. "I mean this is home away from home for me, but you? I'm guessing not so much!"
"Hey," A guard appeared at their doorway "time to go buddy."
Sam nodded and lifted his bag on to his shoulder, reaching out to shake Paul's hand. "Remember what I said, okay? Let them help you. You never know," he shrugged as he headed for the door "they might let you out early?"
Paul chuckled as the guard pulled the door shut and Sam heard him shout. "Where's the fun in behaving? Maybe I'll make them think I've got a split personality or voices in my head? That should get me some pretty decent meds, right?"
"Good luck with that!" He shouted back with a smile as he was walked out of the wing and towards the entrance hall of the building.
Sam pushed through the doors to find Doctor Cullen standing at the reception desk waiting for him with a younger man.
"Sam, this is my son in law, Jasper Whitlock." She said enthusiastically as they shook hands. "I asked him to come and escort you to Serenity House and help you settle in, any questions or any problems you can go straight to him."
"Nice to meet you sir." Sam nodded politely and Jasper chuckled.
"It's been a while since I've been called sir." He said with a grin and a slight southern twang. "Jasper will do just fine. You ready to go?"
"Sure." He turned to Doctor Cullen. "Thanks for everything Esme, I really do appreciate it."
"You're welcome, Sam." She smiled, squeezing his bicep. "Everything will work out just fine, you'll see and you know where I am if you need me."
Sam followed behind Jasper as they were buzzed out of the building and walked to the car park.
"First gen Camaro." His eye's widened in adoration as he spotted the vehicle. "Sixty nine?"
Jasper nodded as he opened the driver side door. "You know cars?"
"Not really," Sam shrugged dumping his bag on the backseat and slipping in the passenger side "I had a weekend job at Black's Garage at the edge of the Rez before…the owner, Jake, he had me working on one with him for a couple of weeks. It wasn't even close to being in the same condition as this one though!"
"I spent a lot of time on this car, it's been a labor of love and my wife has questioned my relationship with her more than once!" He grinned. "I had a lot of time on my hands a few years ago and she kept me going."
Jasper reached a hand out to rub the dashboard of the car and for the first time, Sam noticed the scars that peeked out from the sleeve of his sweatshirt.
He caught Sam's eye. "Esme tells me you got some scars of your own?"
"Do we have to talk about this?" Sam groaned and Jasper chuckled quietly and shook his head.
"She told me you were stubborn too! I'm not going to make you talk about anything you don't want to, but we still have a good few miles to go before we get to Port Angeles so we may as well talk about something." He said pulling out of the parking lot and Sam watched in the rear view mirror as the Green Hill grew smaller and eventually disappeared.
"You tell me about your scars and I'll tell you about mine." Sam mumbled as he looked out the window and he saw Jasper nod out of the corner of his eye.
"Seems fair." He pursed his lips. "I was in the army, Captain Jasper Whitlock."
Sam's brow furrowed and he turned to face his companion. "I thought you were a counselor?"
"I am," Jasper nodded, his eyes never leaving the road "I always have been. I joined the army to complete my master's degree, they offered a full scholarship and when I completed I was required to do active duty.
To cut a long story short, the vehicle I was in went over an IED. No one was killed, thank god! And I wasn't the worst casualty, it was mostly shrapnel."
He brought his scarred hand up and pulled back his jaw length hair to reveal a spattering of shiny white scars that covered the skin underneath his ear and over his neck, disrupted his hairline and disappeared under his collar.
"I had a few burns, mostly first degree, a couple of second and one third degree, which you saw on my hand and," he stopped the car at a set of lights and pulled up his trouser leg to show Sam his metal limb "the blast destroyed the lower half of my leg, they amputated above the knee."
Sam sat dumfounded as Jasper pulled off again, a smirk on his face. "It wasn't all bad. I was out cold for a few days after the shrapnel hit me in the head and when I woke up I had an angel standing over me. Her name was Alice Cullen and the first thing she says to me is 'I've been waiting for you Captain Whitlock' right before she rips a dressing off my chest!"
"Esme's daughter?" Sam asked and he nodded.
"And my wife of five years. She was a reserve nurse and just started her active duty when I was brought in and she looked after me until I was shipped back home. A year later I went to the hospital for a refit," He tapped his fist against the prosthesis "I walked past the emergency room, heard an almighty crash and when I looked ,there she was, this tiny little thing pinning down one of the biggest guys I've ever seen, haven't spent a day without her since. Your turn."
Sam shot Jasper an exasperated look and he chuckled again. "Hey fairs, fair!"
He sighed and launched into a narrative, offering more explicit details to Jasper than he had Esme, as he sat silently and listened to every word and by the time he was done they were nearing Port Angeles.
"Esme explained what they do at Serenity right?" Jasper asked and Sam nodded. "You'll be staying at the adult shelter while they help you find something more permanent, no more than ninety days and it's going to be a mixed bunch-substance abuse, medical issues, domestic violence and just plain homeless, but everyone there is receiving some form of treatment and I'll be there three days a week."
"You don't work there all the time?" Sam asked with a frown.
"I split my time between there and my home office." He informed him. "If you ever need to talk to someone and I'm not around you're welcome to visit me there." He reached into the glove compartment and pulled out a card with his address and phone numbers on it and Sam mumbled his thanks.
A short while later they pulled up outside there destination and Jasper walked him inside, logging him in at the front desk and escorting him to his tiny room.
"I'll be back tomorrow." Jasper said as Sam emptied his bag. "I have some private sessions in the morning but I'll be in around lunchtime, Esme mentioned finding you some work and I thought we could look into it a bit better, check out the local college and see if there's anything that takes your fancy."
"That would be great." Sam nodded as Jasper headed towards the door. "Thanks Jasper."
"Anytime." He smiled, throwing a little salute as he closed the door behind him.
Sam blew out a long breath, taking in his almost barren surroundings, the pale walls and uniformed bed sheets, the narrow free standing closet, the three drawer bedside table with a small lamp and a wash basin. The only difference between this room and the one at Green Hill was the lack of bars on the window and that the door locked from the inside instead of out.
Somewhere in the distance he could here a child crying and the smell of food permeated the air, making his stomach growl embarrassingly. He pocketed the single key to his room, and left, following his nose out of the building and down the street.
"Hey man you got a light?" A guy about his age asked from his perch atop a fence, waving an unlit cigarette in front of him.
"No sorry, I don't smoke." Sam shrugged and the guy nodded. "Would you happen to know if there's a kitchen or a store around here?"
"Yeah, come on I'll walk with you, name's Jared by the way." He held out his hand in greeting, using the other to tuck his smoke behind his heavily pierced ear. "You in Serenity?"
"Sam and yeah I just got here, you?" He asked, shoving his hands into his pockets as they walked along the path.
"Family housing," Jared thumbed towards a group of two story houses "my girls trying to calm our daughter down, she's doing this whole controlled crying thing and I keep giving in and going to her crib to get her so I've been banished until she's quiet."
"You have a family, how old are you?" Sam frowned and Jared smiled.
"Seventeen," he nodded "same as Kimmy, we've known each other pretty much all our lives, she was like a sister to me, but then puberty hit and-" he grimaced cupping his hands at his chest. "let's just say I finally noticed she was a girl and leave it at that! Beginning of last year she found out she was pregnant with Kiah and neither of our families were very supportive, we moved in together and managed on our own for a while but I lost my job last month and we couldn't make rent."
"And you ended up here?" Sam asked.
"Better than the other option." Jared shrugged. "We have a roof over our head and we still have Kiah. We're together and that's all that matters. What about you? What brings you this way?"
"I just left Juvi," Sam mumbled, glancing quickly at Jared to gauge a reaction "I got drunk and caused a traffic accident last year, thirty six weeks reduced to twenty five for good behavior. I'm not entirely sure I'm wanted back home so my Doctor set me up here so that I can get myself back on my feet."
"Damn! I think I heard about that crash?" Jared exclaimed, stopping outside a building. "Anyway, this is the kitchen. I'm gonna head back and check on the girls, if you want to come over some time we live in unit five, just gimme a shout."
"Thanks man." Sam shook his hand again. "Hope the whole crying thing works out for you."
"Yeah me too, apparently I'm too soft." He chuckled backing away. "That little girl's had me wrapped around her finger since the stick turned blue. See you around."
The next morning, Sam woke to the annoying ring of an alarm clock, his heavy hand slapping it to the floor in an attempt to silence it. He pushed himself up on his elbows and glanced down at the offending contraption, noticing that he'd managed to sleep until almost eleven and could quite happily go back.
He sighed and stood, padding over to the basin and turning the faucet, splashing his face with cold water, catching his reflection in the plastic mirror above the sink.
Sam flicked his eyebrow, watching as the small scar that sat above the left one disappeared with the movement. His gaze traveled to his stomach and the scar that ran between the lines of his abdomen, a result of his splenectomy and the small spot like scars just below his armpit left by the chest drains after the accident.
A knock at the door drew his attention and he grabbed his small towel and rubbed his face dry as he went to answer it.
"Sam Uley?" A stocky, older man enquired and Sam nodded. "You have a message from Jasper Whitlock."
The man held out a folded piece of paper and Sam thanked him before closing the door and unfolding the note to find that Jasper was now giving a private patient a lift to the local community college and informing him that he would meet him there at twelve.
Sam pulled his jeans off the end of the bed and dug out a clean, plain white t-shirt from his drawer, dressing quickly in the hope of managing to find breakfast before his meeting. He walked out to the front desk and got directions for the college and headed towards it, stopping at a corner store for a small carton of milk and some cheetos.
The lobby of the college was fairly busy and rather imposing. Sam dropped his trash into a can and walked along a wall that listed a bunch of professors and their subject. He was a little early so he grabbed a worn prospectus from a small table and dropped into a chair to browse.
"See anything that interests you?" Sam looked up to find Jasper grinning down at him, and a girl who was a good few inches shorter hiding behind him. "Sam this is Emily, she's from the reservation up at Neah Bay, close to where I live and she attends this college."
"Nice to meet you." He smiled as she ducked out from behind Jaspers lean frame to shake his hand, her face hidden by a curtain of long, black hair. "Are you part of the Makah tribe?"
"Uh, yeah." She said softly, still keeping her distance.
"I'm from the Quileute tribe in La Push." Sam nodded, pushing his hands into his pocket nervously and glancing at Jasper who watched the exchange with an amused expression. "I haven't lived there in a long time though, but I have some fr…I know some people there."
"I…I know some people." Emily's hair shook and Sam thought he saw a slight curve appear on the visible part of her lips. "I have family there."
Sam watched as jasper regarded her with pursed lips, before cocking an eyebrow and interrupting them. "Emily I hate to rush you, but Sam and I really need to get on with finding him something to do and I'm sure you don't want to be late to your first class. I'll see you in two days."
Emily nodded and turned away, hugging her backpack over her shoulder and keeping her head down as she walked through the halls.
"Did I do something wrong? Was I not supposed to…?" Sam started but Jasper cut him off with a squeeze to the shoulder.
"Interesting." Jasper drawled, leading Sam across the lobby. "You're the first person she's spoken to, that isn't a medical professional, teacher or family in almost a year."
Sam frowned and glanced in the direction Emily had gone. "So why did you tell her we had to leave? Surely her talking is a good thing?"
"It is, it's a very good thing, and I plan on using that information in the future." Jasper nodded to himself. "I've just got to figure out how. So how was your first night?"
"Not to bad," Sam shrugged, "I got talking to this guy on my way to get some food, turns out he has a family in the centre, and I slept surprisingly well too."
"So you made a friend, that's good." Jasper clapped him on the back gesturing for him to sit in a small alcove with a table and two chairs. "I'm not counseling you today, at least not in the traditional sense, I just want to go over what you want for the future, things you can see yourself doing and Esme had some recommendations too." He looked at Sam expectantly.
"Honestly Jasper, I really don't care." He mumbled. "All I need is a roof over my head and to be able to live comfortably, anything else would be a bonus right now. I don't care what I do, whether it's McDonalds or some high powered office job, I just want to be able to get on with my life."
"Sam, for you to be able to afford a two-bedroom rental at the fair market rate of seven hundred and seven dollars a month on a minimum wage job, you would have to work a sixty five hour week. All the while, rental prices are on the increase and income isn't," Jasper explained. "I'm not saying that you won't be able to support yourself, or that you won't get anywhere without advanced education, but the doors it could open for you would be acutely beneficial for the future you want."
"What about if I enlisted?" Sam asked and Jasper sighed. "It worked for you right?"
"Joining the military is not the easy way out," he rubbed his forehead "as an Active Duty Soldier you'll be required to do anything from two to six years, deployments are twelve months at a time and a two week break in the middle. It's a serious step, Sam and it shouldn't be taken lightly, but if you're serious then I will help you. In the meantime look at this damn prospectus and see what you like."
They sat like that for hours, pouring over the course literature, talking about the pro's and con's of each subject and listing possibilities until, finally, Jasper had sat back and decided it was time for him to go home.
Sam tucked his papers under his arm, and headed for the door just in time to see Jasper's Camaro shoot past. He turned in the direction of Serenity and collided with a small body.
"Oh shit, sorry I didn't see you there!" He exclaimed as an open bag fell to the floor and books and pencils spilled out.
"Don't worry about it." A soft voice said and he looked down to see Emily, on her knee's gathering her things.
"Here let me help?" He sank down beside her and picked up a book.
"Oh no, you don't have too, I…I should have been paying more attention- it's not your fault." She stammered, keeping her shaking head down.
"I do and it was my fault, I should have been looking where I was going." Sam gripped her hand and passed her a book, helping her to her feet. "I'm sorry."
Emily glanced up at him through her curtain of hair, and he saw her cheek turn pink. "Apology accepted."
"So, uh, what are you studying?" Sam asked, his nerves returning full blast.
"Uh, food…I mean culinary arts!" She exclaimed, running her hand down her hair.
"Oh so you want to be a chef?" Emily shook her head.
"Private catering." She whispered.
"Sounds interesting, so…" He was cut off.
"I'm sorry I have to go." And with that she ran in the other direction, leaving Sam dumbfounded on the sidewalk.
"Sure, see you around," he said to himself as he watched her disappear round a corner.