The alarms in the school went off. They were locking down because of the gun fire. Jamie draped his frail body over Sam, calling her name. Sam's eyes were glazed over and barely open. Red flooded through the wounds and soaked into her shirt.

Red was all he saw after Sam hit the floor. John's brain seemed to shut off, and he moved automatically to the man with the rifle. He disarmed him in two moves, and knocked him to the floor in one more. He turned, his body in front of Jamie, Susan and Sam, aimed, and fired four more rounds. Each of Elias' men went down one by one as they were drawing their weapons, leaving the mob boss standing alone as the doors to rooms slammed and locked around them.

John pointed the rifle at Elias, but he stopped. Elias backed away like a trapped rat. He ran to the kitchen, back down the passage way to the sublevel while John gave him the chance.

Susan had gone limp and went to her knees when Sam was shot. She curled up on herself, tears running down her cheeks.

John bent over Sam, his hand on her face. She was trying her best to console Jamie as she dealt with the pain. "It's okay, sweetheart. I'll be okay.

"John?" she squeaked. She found his hand. "Get Jamie out. Leave me here. I'll be okay. Just get him out."

"Don't talk, Sam," John looked at the wounds. She had taken both bullets in the chest. The injuries were strange, but he didn't have a chance to figure out why.

"Freeze! Get your hands up!"

The police and school security flooded the cafeteria from the other side.

"Go, John. Go!" Sam's eyes rolled back into her head and she said no more.

John put Jamie's hand in Sam's. "Stay with Sam. The police will help her," He waited until Jamie nodded. He squeezed their hands and ran, taking the rifle with him.

"John, what happened?" Finch asked desperately.

"Sam's dead," John said tonelessly as he picked the lock to one of the outer doors. "The police are with Jamie."

"Hold it!" Someone said behind him as he opened the door.

John burst through the door and ran.

By that evening, every news channel across the state had their top story sewn up in Jamie Coop's miraculous recovery, and return home after two years being held captive. The reports varied; some stated that he was found in the school, others reported that his captor grew careless, and Jamie was seen at the school but he hadn't been living there. Reports linking a New York mob to the kidnapping were quickly snuffed. Only one smaller, local NYC station reported Jamie's own story; he was saved by two strangers, a man and a woman. And the woman died trying to rescue him.

Susan Gaylene was arrested and placed under psychological observation. Charles Gordon Jr. was also arrested for lying to police, and assisting in a kidnapping.

Sam's death was never mentioned anywhere, which wasn't a surprise. John told Eva himself, hoping that somehow she'd know that it was Sam's choice in the end. He never believed it was the right one, but it was hers to make. Eva shouted him out of her house, blaming him and his way of life for the loss of her friend, and slammed the door in his face. He'd expected nothing else.

The funeral service was held five days later, almost in the exact spot where Sam had said goodbye to her own family last fall. Now, it was spring. The trees were flowering, and the sun was bright.

The small crowd gathered for the service sat huddled together under a tent, shaded from the warm sunlight. As Sam had no family left, both Eva and Leo said a few words about their dear friend. The service was short, and the crowd parted silently, sadly, leaving a dark, polished casket, standing alone on the green. Sam would be buried next to her parents and brother. It was only fitting.

John Reese approached the casket after the crowd had dispersed. The large arrangement of flowers on the lid waved in the breeze at him. He stood beneath the sun and said nothing.

"I didn't see you at the service." Finch was close by.

John looked to his right. His employer and friend stood next to him, facing the casket. He wore a dark, three piece suit, and the neck tie John remembered Sam admiring one day.

"I doubt I was welcome," John said gruffly. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"To make it believable for one thing," Finch answered. "And, we all know that you would never have gone along with it."

"I'm surprised you did, Harold."

"I have my reasons and she had hers. Perhaps I'll let her explain it to you as she did me. It made much more sense at the time."

John shook his head. "I'm sure," he said sarcastically.

Finch glanced behind John and stepped away. "I'll see you tomorrow," he said.

John looked behind him and saw a woman in a black, knee length dress and heels. Her hair was swept up in a twist at the back of her head. She greeted Finch warmly and kissed him on the cheek before they parted.

The woman approached John. She pulled her sunglasses off and looked at the casket, then at him.

"Do you believe in life after death, John?" she asked.

"I'd like to," he answered simply, his eyes remaining on the casket. "Do you?"

"I have to," she replied. "Otherwise I'd never talk to my Mom again, and I just can't imagine that."

John couldn't think of who he'd like to speak to again. Thoughts like that brought too many things with them to the surface.

"I can always tell when you're mad, you know" she said.

"I'm not mad."

"You are restraining yourself from bodily throwing me across this cemetery as we speak."

John heard the smile in her voice without looking at her and fought the urge to smile at her joke. "That's not what I want to do."

"And what do you – "

Sam gasped with apprehension as John's arm went around her waist and he pulled her to him in an embrace. He closed his eyes, the scent of her hair filling him up. "Pull anything like that again, and I will be mad," he said quietly.

"It's partially your fault, you know. Telling Elias that crap about that machine," Sam said into his shoulder.

John smiled. "Sometimes the truth is the hardest to believe." He waited while Sam absorbed his meaning.

"What are you - ?"

"Finch let me figure it out on my own," John cut her off, changing the subject.

"Oh, well… you did figure it out, didn't you?"

John looked down at her. Sam's hair had a reddish glisten in the sunlight. She smiled up at him, and he felt her fingers close to his, playing with his hand.

"After a little while, I did. There's one thing I don't get, though."

Sam raised her eyebrows and waited.

"Why the blood in the vest?"

"That was not my idea, and that obviously wasn't blood," Sam said with a wave of her hand. "Finch wanted it to be convincing." Sam looked at the casket again and sighed. "Eva always picks the best flowers. Her wedding was gorgeous." John took her hand and held it. "It's all so permanent, isn't it? No going back now."

"Now that you're dead? No. You can only get away with doing this once."

"It's kind of freeing in a way, though, a brand new life. Most people only get one. This is almost like a second chance at –"

"Sam," John's voice was serious. "Finch and I never chose this. We wouldn't have chosen this if we had the option."

"Every situation is different. Harold gave me the option, and I thought about it. It took me a short time to realize that I had already made this choice over and over again since we met."

"What do you mean?"

Sam put both of her hands around his and blinked away the coming moisture in her eyes. "I made the choice when I first trusted you with my life, when I killed that man in the cellar; I made it at my family's funeral; I made it when I danced with you, when I tried to protect you; I made it when I jumped into the river to get to you; and I made it when you made me so angry that I wanted to shoot you. John, I know you don't agree, but you're not a bad bet. So guess what, you're stuck with me."

John lowered his eyes, knowing what she really meant when she spoke like that. "What about Eva?"

"I'll miss her to death. But I know she'll be safe. As long as Samantha Tudin was alive, she'd be in danger. I wouldn't have been able to deal with that, John. She and Leo will be moving into my family's old house upstate, and their bank account will be much more… substantial," Sam grinned up at him. "Lionel and Harold helped me with the details. Getting out of the hospital was the biggest thing. That's something I never want to do again. They really don't let you go if you have something that looks like blood on your shirt," she added, sounding frustrated.

"It's still wrong, Sam. You could have – "

"I could have a dull, uneventful life, working for a moron at a coffee shop," Sam interrupted him. "It's wrong according to you, John. That's your opinion. I considered everything that this decision would affect, trust me."

John had no question about her considerations. He only wished that she truly realized what she'd done. "Where will you go?"

"Harold is also helping me with that," Sam explained. "He says that I need to pick a new name for myself so he can have the IDs made. I never thought I'd say anything like that." she laughed a little. "I have no idea what to settle on. Yours and Harold's names are so simple, yet normal and convincing, you know? Maybe I'll let you pick one for me."

John considered the idea. "Mine was chosen for me as well."

"Oh, well, I'll let you pick mine if you want. I'm at a loss."

"I'll have to think about it," John said.

They stood in silence for a moment or two, Sam's hands wrapped around his. He tried not to get used to the feeling it gave him. "I heard Jamie is adjusting very well to being back home," she said.

"He and his mother were here today. The woman named Sam helped save his life after all."

"Really? That's so sweet," Sam said, getting teary-eyed again. "I wish I could see him."

"There's very little chance of that now – of everything, of you having a family of your own," John looked at her hard when he said the words. It was a low blow, but he knew he'd cornered her.

Sam only blinked up at him. She lifted herself up on tip toe and lightly kissed his lips. Before he could respond, she'd pulled away again. "You are my family now. Like I said, you and Harold are stuck with me. Isn't it better anyway? You're not alone, John. There's still some normal left for you if you want it."

Note: It's not over just yet. One more chapter! Just FYI. :)