Sam and Greg stopped cold and stared at the group, blinking after the flashes went off. All of them were talking at once.
Sam winced when the flashes went off. His damned headache was back.
Greg recovered first and put a hand up for them to quiet down. "I'm Sergeant Greg Parker of the Strategic Response Unit. I'm glad you're here. The SRU would like to make a formal statement to the press. We are unable to comment on an on-going investigation, but we are investigating the incident at Ella Montoya's home. That's all we have right now. No questions." Greg put up a hand and nodded to Tony who had made his way through the crowd to them while Greg was making his statement.
Tony put a hand up to Sam and put it around Sam's elbow when he stepped forward. "Come on." He said quietly.
The group erupted into shouted questions as Greg, Sam and Tony made their way to Greg's car. Tony pushed through the crowd using his commanding military voice saying things like, "excuse me ma'am. Sir, one side please." Once they were finally inside the car, Tony said, "sorry. They weren't gathered like that when I went out. They swarmed from out of nowhere."
Sam sat on the rear passenger seat looking out at them. He winced when the flashes went off, but he kept his face passive. He wished he could just tell them what happened, but he knew they would probably try to twist it against him. Their calls were never made public anyway. He looked up at Greg and Tony and the car moved forward. He frowned when they both looked blurry. He rubbed his eyes and it didn't seem to go away. Man this headache sucks, he thought. He put his head back against the headrest and closed his eyes. The light was bothering him anyway. It didn't take long before he was asleep.
After a few minutes of silence from the back seat, Greg turned and looked at Sam. He was surprised to see he was asleep. He looked at Tony.
Tony looked in the rearview and chuckled. "He can sleep anywhere."
"Yeah I think he's still recovering from the concussion." Greg said worriedly.
"Don't worry, he's tough. He'll be fine." Tony smiled.
When they got back to Greg's, Tony helped Greg carry Sam inside. They'd tried to wake him but it didn't work. They got Sam into the apartment and laid out on his bed.
Greg closed the door to Sam's room and motioned Tony to the kitchen. When they were there he said, "how long do you think?"
"Hopefully only a day or two. Who knows with the weekend though."
"Ok. Thanks for your help Tony." Greg smiled.
Tony smiled back, said goodbye and left.
Greg went to the couch and sat down. Two hours later he heard a thump and Sam yelling. He jumped up from the couch and ran into Sam's room. Sam was on the floor, arms and legs flailing, fighting with the sheet. "Sam? Sam! Wake up it's Greg!" He put a hand on Sam's arm and Sam yanked violently away. Ok, he thought, how do I bring him out of the dream?
Sam was lost in the dream. He was trying to get through to Tolie, but he wasn't listening. "Listen to me dammit." He said aloud. "You don't want to do this." He didn't understand why he was so wrapped up in his harness.
He's negotiating with someone, Greg thought. "Sam what's the threat level?"
"No!" He reached out a hand and started to cry. "Tolie!" He yelled and opened his eyes. Where am I, he thought. What was I just doing? Oh man, my head is killer. He laid back for a minute, willing the headache to go away. He finally sat up and realized he was on the floor, tangled up with the sheet. "Oh." He didn't even remember the car ride home or how he got to bed. He looked up and saw Greg. "Hey."
Greg knelt down, but didn't dare touch him. "That was quite the dream. You ok?"
Sam blinked and climbed up on the bed pulling the sheet and pillow back with him. "Um. Yeah." Sam looked at Greg but there were two of them.
Greg was reluctant to leave. He could see that Sam wasn't ok, but he didn't want to push him. He stood and waited.
"Sorry about the bed." Sam stood and was immediately sorry. His vision swam. He stood still for a second and let it pass. Even though it hurt his head, he bent down and straightened the bed.
"It's ok." Greg shrugged and tipped his head to try to see Sam's face. Something seemed off. "I'm going to get out of your hair. If you want to sleep some more, that's fine. Whatever you want."
"Ok." Sam nodded slowly. He was still dizzy so he sat on the eyes felt so heavy. He laid back gently on the pillow and was instantly asleep.
Greg backed out of the room and closed the door. He wondered what that was about. That was a pretty violent dream and Sam had been trying to negotiate with Tolie. Negotiate what? To keep Tolie from killing himself? He went and sat on the couch. Something didn't seem right. I'll have to try again when he wakes up, he thought.
It was 2030 hrs before Sam emerged from the bedroom. Even though he'd slept for four hours, he still looked tired. His stomach wouldn't let him sleep any more so he got up. "Hey Sarge. You hungry?" Sam yawned and rubbed his belly.
Greg turned on the couch and looked at him. "I actually ate a while ago. Sorry, I wasn't sure how long you'd be out. The menu is in the kitchen if you want to order."
"That's ok. I didn't think I was that tired." Sam shrugged and went to the kitchen. The menu for Moe's didn't look appealing anymore. He pulled open the drawer a little harder than he meant to and the contents shifted, making noise.
"You find what you need?" Greg called. He looked over the couch towards the kitchen.
"Yeah." Sam answered. He pulled out a Timmy's menu and grabbed the phone. A few minutes later he was in the couch beside Greg, mask firmly in place.
"I'm sorry you had a bad dream." Greg looked at Sam, compassion in his eyes. They had been sitting in silence for several minutes and he had been itching to start a conversation.
"Thanks." Sam answered dully. He felt bad he was being sullen and looked at Greg. Turning his head hurt it so he did it slowly. "It was pretty bad." He agreed.
"Yeah you were thrashing around a lot." Greg raised an eyebrow at him. I won't push, but I hope he can tell me what's bothering him, he thought. Obviously something is.
Sam chuckled. "I was caught up in a harness. So weird."
"Very." Greg nodded. "Who were you talking to?"
"Uh," Sam looked down and winced internally. Dammit, he thought, why does my head hurt so bad? "Tolie. I was hanging outside a window, he was inside a, a building I think. The outside was brick, but I could only see in the room he was in." Sam looked at him and cursed himself for moving his head so much.
"You were focused on only him."
"Yeah. He had a, um, gun to his throat. I couldn't stop him." He laid his head against the back of the couch and closed his eyes. I couldn't save him, he thought. I drove him to it. I'm sorry Tolie. I'm sorry.
"Sam." Greg said gently and waited for him to open his eyes. When he did, he said, "it's not your fault. He made the choice. It was his finger on the trigger, not yours."
"I put him there. He may not have been in an irrational state of mind if I hadn't-" Sam stopped. Part of him wanted to tell Greg about Matt. A part of him was scared to know what Greg would think of him. Of all the lives he's ruined with his actions.
Greg waited. Based on Sam's behavior, he knew he couldn't push him.
Sam looked at the ceiling. What do I do Matt, he thought. The answer came quickly. He can help, he will not judge. Haltingly, Sam told Greg about the accident with Matt and Tolie. He had kept his gaze on the wall in front of him, but he dared a glance at Greg. He saw understanding and acceptance. No pity, no disgust that he had done such a horrible thing. Again, he was amazed.
"I can see what you mean, but it wasn't just the accident with Matt Sam. Teresa cheating on him, him losing his cool, beating the lover and his behavior after that was all him. It's his fault." He looked at Sam and could see what he was saying was slowly sinking in. "You didn't make him do all that. I'm sorry that he took that way out, but that's not your fault either. Do you understand?."
Sam was still staring at the wall, but he turned to look at Greg. His eyes watered and the tears fell freely.
Greg pulled Sam gently into a hug. "It's ok." He said softly.
After a few minutes, Sam pulled away from him, stood and walked slowly to the bathroom. After he blew his nose and returned to the couch, Greg asked, "you're moving kind of slow. Are you feeling ok?"
"Yeah. You have any ibuprofen?" Sam stood when the doorbell rang.
"How many?" Greg stood and asked as he headed to the bathroom.
"Three." Sam opened the door, paid for his food and sat at the table.
"Headache?" Greg asked as he put the ibuprofen in front of Sam and sat in the other chair at the small table.
"Mm-hmm." Sam answered between mouthfuls.
"Bad?"
"No. This should take care of it." Sam picked up the pills, popped them in his mouth and followed them with water.
"Ok, well," Greg put both hands on the table and stood. "Let me know if it gets any worse ok?"
"Ok." Sam nodded. When Greg stood and turned his back, Sam winced. It better get rid of it, he thought. I don't want to take anything stronger, it makes me loopy. I get loopy and who knows what I'll say or do. He thought back to the time he'd broken his nose, sprained a wrist and a bruised a few ribs. Matt had snuck up on him in his perch and scared him. It scared him so bad that he'd fallen out of his perch onto the hard desert sand.
He was in a lot of pain so they'd given him some of the good drugs. He'd been so doped up that he ran out of the makeshift hospital completely naked and had streaked across the entire encampment before Matt tackled him with a blanket. He had then loudly professed his undying love for Matt as he was carried back to medical. It had been so embarrassing and he'd been picked on about it for months afterwards. I will never go through that again, he thought.