"How are you feeling?" Sam has to blink four times before she can assign a face to the voice which woke her up.
It's Daniel's.
Daniel's swollen face.
"What happened?" she asks him confused.
"You got stabbed," he responds.
"What?" she says her brain trying to figure out how her getting stabbed resulted in Daniel's face being all swollen.
"You got that virus which made most people go all angry and violent, but which just made you want to have public sex with your boyfriend."
"What?" she exclaims again. Daniel doesn't know about her and Jack, so he must mean someone else. She hadn't lost her mind and ended up back with Jonas has she? That would definitely hurt her pleas to him to leave her alone.
"I'm not a psychologist, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say this all could have been avoided if you had been more honest about your feelings for Jack."
"You know?" she says.
"Yep, and I could have avoided a fist fight if you'd told me sooner," Daniel adds.
She looks at his face again, with fresh eyes, knowing that that black eye was all her fault. "I get everyone hurt."
"No, you don't," Daniel says grieving for how little she thinks of herself, "It never would have happened if we weren't all infested with this virus. I just don't get why you wanted this romance to be a big secret. I mean, I've been staying at the house with the two of you guys for days! You could have just told me that I was killing the mood."
"You weren't."
"Oh come on Sam. No one wants another guy crashing their time with their boyfriend," Daniel objects.
Sam looks completely ashamed of herself.
"Okay, unless there is some reason you actually do want a buffer," he says softly.
"I'm just not ready yet. I mean, things with Jonas went really, really bad. I don't want to jump right into something right away."
"You know that you could tell him that," Daniel suggests.
"Or I could hide behind my friend until I'm emotionally ready to deal with it," she says hopefully.
"Yeah, Sam, you can do that," he says, "We are going to need a secret word for when you want me to leave you alone."
"How about we go with the super subtle, "Don't you have some work on base?'"
Daniel giggles. "Yeah, that will do it."
-0-
Sam still hasn't gone to her own house. She's lived in Colorado Springs for the better part of a month now, but every night she just hops into Jack's truck with her boyfriend and her best friend.
Once in a while, she heads home, but always returns with another box of clothes.
So when the door rings, she really doesn't have any qualms about answering it. That is until she sees a distressed women with two kids there.
"Jack!" Sam calls knowing that this might be his ex-wife.
"Kids, can you go to your room while?" Sara directs her youngsters.
They stare at Sam was they walk past. The little girl with admiration, and the little boy with pure hatred.
Jack walks past his kids in the hallway, and quickens his step to the door. "Sara what's wrong?"
"Dad had a stroke. I'm running up to the hospital see him. I know it's not your time with the kids, but…"
"No problem," Jack says, "I've got them for as long as you need me to. I'm so sorry, Sara. I hope Mike is going to be fine."
"Thanks," she says. "I wrote down all the stuff I knew you would forget like when Charlie's school starts and the foods that make Ava stay up all night."
"I can take care of them Sara," he says.
She nods with a thin smile. "You've got everything secured?"
"Yes, Sara. My house is always ready for the kids."
"Okay," Sara says. She starts to walk away, but turns back, "You're going to double check?"
"Of course," Jack practically whispers.
"I'll go home," Sam says quickly as soon as the door is closed.
"Hey, the kids met you. The ship has sailed. Come on," Jack says with the puffed-up voice of a man eager to show off his kids to someone.
"Hi," the little girl said reaching up her arms. Sam picks her up without even thinking, and the little thing just melts into her arms.
"Baby girl. Does your arm hurt?" Jack asks rubbing her back.
She nods her head.
Jack reaches into the bag his son brought. "Did your mom put in your meds?"
"She just takes over the counter stuff now," the boy sneers.
"I know, but I don't have any of the stuff for kids here," Jack replies.
"You have kids. You should have medicine for them," the boy declares.
"You know what? It's fine. I'll go get some medicine for Ava," Jack says calmly.
"And leave us with your girlfriend?" Carlie says narrowing her eyes at her.
"Her name is Sam, Charlie," Jack says.
"I'll go for the medicine," Daniel offers walking into the room.
"Kids, this is Daniel," Jack says, "Thanks," he tells the other man.
"I'm glad you meet you guys. Your dad told me how amazing you are," Daniel says grinning at the kids. "Anything else you kiddos need?"
"Bubbles?" Ava says with a face full of hope.
"Don't be such a kid," Charlie says.
"Ah, well, she is a kid, Charlie, and so are you," Jack says with a grin.
"Fine. If you really want me to pick a toy. I pick a," the kid grins, "Pop gun."
Silence, and the little girl clings more tightly and desperately to Sam.
"I'll get you a box of crayons, kid," Daniel says.
"Great," Charlie says climbing up on his bunk bed, and starring at the ceiling.
"Did Mama do your arm games with you already?" Jack asks.
Sam feels a head shaking against her shoulder.
"Come to Daddy, little one," he says holding out his hands. The little girl comes to him, and he carries her off to the living room. Sam stays behind in the room with the boy for a few seconds before his silence causes her to follow Jack and his daughter.
-0-
Jack clearly did some sort of physical therapy with his little girl in the living room. It seems to cause her a great deal of pain, which isn't exactly relieved by the pain medicine that Daniel brings her. She doesn't stop clinging to Sam. She whimpers and complains whenever Sam tries to leave her. Sam falls asleep before the kid does.
When the kids first arrived, Daniel figured he and Sam would go to her house, but when Sam falls asleep he decides to stay. Not that the couple really needs a buffer between them when there are little kids around.
He's glad for the decision when he wakes up to the sound of her throwing up. He goes into the bathroom to hold her hair.
When she's done she leans against the wall of the bathroom. Daniel leans against the other.
"What happened to that girl?" Sam asks.
"I think maybe you should be talking to Jack."
"Fair point. I think I should share some things with him," Sam says.
"Like the reason you just threw up?" Daniel asks.
"I want to keep it," she whispers.
"That little girl wiggled her way into your heart didn't she?" Daniel smiles.
"Yeah. Does she have a…birth defect?" Sam asks again.
"No," Daniel sighs. "Her brother accidently shot her. The pain comes from the fact that there is still a bullet in her arm. It was Jack's gun, and he thinks it was his fault. Every pain that little girl has…Jack blames himself."
"Wow," Sam says glumly, "And so does the boy."
"What? No. " Daniel says in shock, "Charlie blames Jack too. He's pissed at him. He wants to hurt him. I mean, that pop gun comment today?"
"I think it's a cover," she says.
"You might be right," Daniel observes, "So it's okay to say congrats on the baby now?"
"Yeah," she says grabbing Daniel's hand to rest it on her belly.
A shadow falls over Sam's lap. She looks up to see Jack.
"What's happening?" Jack asks swallowing. He has thought for a while that there was something going on between his girlfriend and his best friend. He doesn't know exactly what it is, something secret.
"Time for that conversation, eh?" Daniel says standing up, and walking out of the room.
"You know what, Sam? Let's skip the conversation," Jack says going back to his own room.
"What if I don't want to?" she asks following him in. It's the first time she's been in his bedroom. She already feels at home here.
"Sam. I get it. I should have been upfront with this, and we wouldn't have had to waste all of our time pretending to be together. You can't love a guy who almost killed his own kid."
"Jack, you didn't…" he begins.
"Daniel didn't tell you?"
"He did Jack. It was an accident, and I'm not trying to break up with you. I'm trying to tell you I have a secret as big as yours. I'm pregnant."
"What? We haven't even had sex," then he snorts at himself, "That was stupid of me to say. You lived before you met me. It's Jonas's kid."
"I get that you might not want to date a women who lied about being pregnant…" she says.
"Let's be real. I don't deserve my own kids. I certainly don't deserve to be involved with someone else's kids," Jack says.
"I trust you," she says.
"You shouldn't."
"I think your kid needs someone to show him how to forgive himself," she observes.
