Greg sat on the opposite end of the couch from Ed and looked at Sam in his black chair expectantly. After nearly 30 seconds of silence, and Sam not looking at either of them, he tipped his head down, trying to catch Sam's eye. "Sam." He said gently. "What's going on?"

Sam picked his feet up and put them on the edge of the chair so that his knees were close to his chest.

"Talk to us, Sam. You know as well as I do that's the only way that we can help you." Ed looked at Sam, worry in his eyes. He'd never seen Sam act this way. He shook his head. "Is it Kovacs?"

Greg looked at Ed when they didn't get an answer. "Sam. Look at me."

With a sigh, Sam looked at Greg. "What?" He answered with attitude.

"You aren't acting like yourself Sam and we need to know why. You know we just want to help you." Greg pressed.

"I'm fine." Sam answered flatly. They'll kick me off the team if I tell them, he thought. His head started pounding and he put a palm to the side of his head. "Look, I didn't get much sleep last night. I'm sorry about the call at the library today. I didn't think lack of sleep would effect me like that. I promise it won't happen again. I just need to get some sleep, hopefully get rid of this headache." He looked Greg. "I go to visit Matt sometimes. It's not a big deal. The incident in the cemetery was just a misunderstanding. That's all."

Ed narrowed his eyes at Sam, not sure if he believed him. "You're sure that's all it is?" He sighed through his nose. "Lack of sleep?"

Sam nodded. "Yes. I'm sorry Ed."

Greg watched Sam's face as he spoke. He could accept Sam's excuse, as it was, but something was telling him that there was more to it. He leaned back against the couch. He couldn't let Sam come back to work, it could be a risk to the team. They still had three days left of their shift this week. "Ok Sam. I understand. So I need you to take the next couple days off, ok? Get some sleep and re energize. Come back on Friday."

"We'll be checking in, so keep your phone on you." Ed added.

Sam ran a hand through his hair and nodded. Good, he thought, I can get some sleep and that'll fix it. I just need sleep. He stood, suddenly very tired. "Ok."

Ed and Greg both stood. They followed Sam to the front door.

Greg patted Sam's shoulder as he walked past. "We'll be in touch."

Sam nodded, relieved that they were willing to accept his explanation. He closed the door and was walking to his room when his phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket looked at the ID and answered it while he sat on the bed. "Hello?"

"Hello Samuel." The General was sipping his fourth coffee of the day, knowing he wouldn't be able to leave his office until very late tonight.

"Good day Sir." Sam undid the laces on his shoes. Suddenly Sam's heart skipped a beat. "Is mom ok? Nat?"

"Yes, they're both fine. How are you?" Winston Braddock turned his chair to the window and leaned back. He knew this wasn't going to be a pleasant conversation, it never was with Samuel, but he had tell him.

Sam frowned. "Sir?" His father never asked how he was. Something was up. "What's wrong?"

Winston sighed. He never could get anything past Samuel. Although if he and Lizzie had called their son more often, Samuel wouldn't suspect his only reason for calling was bad news. Everything seemed to go so wrong after Sara died. He stiffened his shoulders and put on his military voice. "I'm glad I caught you off shift. I have bad news. Sergeant Tony Johnson code name Craze was killed in action last night. I know you served together for almost your whole first tour. He was a good man and respected soldier. He is being returned home to Hamilton tomorrow. The service is on Friday, 1300. I expect you will go to the funeral, I will arrange transport-"

"No." Sam shook his head. "I'll take care of it. Thank you for calling Sir."

Winston's heart hurt for his son. He knew what it was like to lose a unit mate. Poor Samuel had had his share during his tours with JTF2. He put a hand on the phone and looked up, seeking guidance. Lizzie would know what to say. He was too set in his stiff upper lip military upbringing to show Samuel the kind of tenderness and support he deserved in this moment. He had to say something and the only thing he could think of was, "very well. I'll tell your mother you said hello. Good bye." He put the phone back on the base and silently kicked himself for being so distant.

"Bye." Sam hit the button on his phone and stared at it. "No. Tony." He put his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. After the tears finally stopped several minutes later, he wiped his face and went into the bathroom. He blew his nose several times, walked into the bedroom and stopped in front of the mirror over his dresser. He looked at the picture of his first unit in JTF2. The group of seven were dirty, but smiling. It made him smile as he went down the line of men. It was him, Matt, Shane, Kevin, Atlas, Tony and Keith. He stopped and looked at Tony's smiling face.

He shook his head and leaned back from the picture. He couldn't believe that Tony was gone. Anger welled in him and he kicked the dresser with the ball of his foot. He immediately pulled it back and yowled in pain. He picked his foot up and looked at it. Blood welled from the cut on the ball of his foot. He walked on the heel of his injured foot and hobbled to the bathroom. He grabbed some bandages from the medicine cabinet and fixed up his foot.

Sam walked carefully back into his bedroom and flopped on his bed. He put his fists to his face and cried for his fallen friend. He opened his eyes a while later and realized he'd fallen asleep. He got up, took off his jeans, flipped the light off and climbed back into bed. It only took seconds for him to fall asleep.

##########

The team stood around him as he tried one last time to get Darren Kovacs to surrender. He had just told Darren about Ben, something he felt he had to do to make Kovacs know he understood. Yes their wars were different, but he knew how it felt to be responsible for your friend's death.

"I got nothing here. I got nothin' to see me through." Kovacs said desolately.

"I thought it was over for me too Darren. I know ok, I know. But I found a different place to go, a different person to be, that's why I'm here so let me help you." Please, Sam thought.

"What was your first name again Braddock?"

"It's Sam."

"I'm tired Sam."

"Then let's get some rest. Let's do this together."

"Ok."

"Alright Darren, I need you, I need you to put down your gun."

"Ok I will."

"I need you to come to the bottom of the escalators, concession area." Sam looked at the team.

"No,"

"Darren."

"Center Ice. It has to be you."

Ed looked at Sam and shook his head. "Too exposed."

"Darren I can't."

"Center ice."

Sam worked his jaw. It was the only way. "I'll be there."

Next thing he knew, he was walking into the ring with Wordy and Spike as cover. Spike stayed back while he and Wordy walked towards a man that was dressed in a vest and ball cap. "Darren, it's me, it's Sam." He tipped his head down, trying to see the man's face, but the man didn't look up. "You made the right decision. We're going to get through this."

"I'm here! You see Sam. I'm a good soldier." A familiar voice said behind them.

"I'm a good soldier. I'm a good soldier." It kept echoing in his head as he saw Darren holding his gun to Spike's head.

"Stop. What're you doing? You don't have to do this. I promise you we can get through this. You just have to stay with me. Stay with me. Darren!" He screamed as Darren moved forward and said: "see you on the other side" and pointed his gun. He kneeled next to Darren's body, filled with anger. "He wasn't going to shoot. HE WASN'T GOING TO SHOOT ME!" He yelled.

Suddenly there was a loud ringing and he put a hand to his ear.

##########

Sam sat up in bed and looked at the clock, 0900. Whoa, I just slept 16 hours straight, he thought. How the hell? He felt groggy even though he'd slept like a rock with just a few dreams. He heard the ringing again, leaned down and grabbed his jeans. He pulled his phone from his pocket and look eat the caller ID, Jules. He hit the button. "Hello?"

Jules frowned. He sounded groggy and not like himself. "Hey. I just wanted to check in, see how you're doing."

"I'm good. No hot calls yet?" Sam asked.

Nice try, Jules thought. Deflection is not going to work. "Did you just wake up?"

"Uh, yeah. I guess I needed it. How was workout?" He sat at the end of the bed and rubbed his hand over his stubbly chin. I need to shave, he thought.

"Good. Ed ran us through the gauntlet. So, Sarge said you had a headache. Has it gone away yet?"

"Yeah it's fine. Did anyone beat my gauntlet time? I know Wordy was gunning for it since it was his record I broke." Sam stood, went to his dresser, pulled out his sweats and favorite beat up workout shirt. The guys always picked on him when he wore it, but he didn't care. It was hole-filled and the collar was falling apart, but it was from the first concert he ever went to with Natalie. He would never get rid of it, not until it fell apart completely.

Jules sighed and walked into her locker room. "Sam?"

"Yeah?"

She walked to the bench by her locker and sat down. "Can we cut the crap?"

Greg stopped with his knuckles less than an inch from Jules' locker room and smiled. She had said she was going to make a call, but she had disappeared and he wanted to be sure she was ok. It didn't surprise him that she was checking on Sam. They'd all been very worried about him. He was glad she was concerned. It made him smile big that Jules was obviously calling Sam out. He wondered if it was for yesterday or that he was stonewalling her now.

Sam raised his brows. "Uh, ok." He nearly laughed out loud, but he held it in. This was one of the things he loved about Jules, she always spoke her mind. Wait, did he just think of love and Jules in the same sentence? He half-smiled. I guess there isn't any reason to deny it, he thought. I've loved her since the moment I saw her.

"We're friends right?"

"Yeah?"

"So what's going on?"

Sam frowned. "What do you mean?"

"C'mon. You and I both know you hate games. You didn't want to hang out. You blacked out or hallucinated during a call. Then you're part of an incident with a possible gun. So what. Is. Going. On?"

Sam sighed. Could he tell her the truth? She'd have to tell the Boss and Ed and he could lose his job. No. He couldn't lose them all, especially Jules. "Like I told Ed and the Boss, I didn't get much sleep and it had a bad effect I wasn't expecting. And yeah I had a headache but it's gone. I'm fine. I'm going to call the Sarge and Ed and see if I can meet up with you guys."

Jules felt she was getting to know Sam pretty well and she was that sure that he wasn't telling the truth. She also knows how much the team means to him and if it was something that would threaten his job he would definitely hide it. She wasn't sure what to do. Should she push him? And if it is something that threatens his job, could she keep it to herself? "Nah, better to rest up. You feel like getting burritos tonight?"

"Uh, maybe. I'll call you later, ok?" Sam was relieved Jules didn't push the issue, but he knew she'd ask again later. He hated to keep putting her off, especially now that they weren't dating. He was afraid maybe she would think he didn't want to be friends.