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Chapter 15 - Chapter 15 - Momentary Homesickness

Sam walked into his and Arles' flat, and closed the door quietly. After a quick shower, he dressed in some football shorts and a sweatshirt. He went up to the ship to check the results that he was certain would give him some answers as to what he actually was.

'100% undetermined.' It blinked. 'Species not found in catalog.'

"Damn it!" Disappointed with their lack of information, he became frustrated. It was only 6:12, so he went to the work-out room and found Lewis and Exton running on the treadmills.

He smiled at them. "Good morning, gentlemen."

Lewis smiled back at him. "And good morning to you. Want to run?"

Sam was busy putting on gloves. "No thanks, Papa. Not this morning."

He enjoyed running, but not when he was annoyed. He reached up and grabbed the bar overhead and started to pull himself up, one right after another. Exton and Lewis watched in amazement as Samuel did chin-up after chin-up. Everyone, perfect. He never appeared to even sweat.

Lewis turned off the machine he was on. "Son?"

Sam dropped onto the floor and stretched his back. "Yes, Papa?"

Lewis was stunned. "How many was that?"

Sam shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. I didn't count."

Lewis turned to Exton. "Did you count?"

"Looked like 43 to me, Primus."

Lewis pointed at Sam. "Where the hell are you hiding those muscles, man?"

Sam grinned at Lewis. "It's a mystery, Papa."

Exton chuckled, "Probably under that sweatshirt, Primus."

Lewis snapped at Exton. "Man on man. All three of us. Push-ups. I'll pay $500 to whoever does the most."

Exton rubbed his hands together. "With pleasure. He has nothing left after that work-out."

Samuel laughed and pat Exton's back. "I'm young, man. Let's go. Papa?"

Lewis got into the position in front of them. "And go."

The three men did push-ups, one right after another one for what seemed like forever.

After a while, Arcite and Timon walked in with Aemilius and Bassanio. They all stood in the doorway, watching.

Lewis grunted. "How long have we been at this?"

Sam grinned. "Getting tired, Papa?"

Exton laughed and continued. "Come on, Lewis!"

Aemilius cheered. "Kick his ass, Lewis."

Bassanio insisted, "Exton! Come on, man!"

Exton gave up and sat down on the floor. "He's all yours', Primus."

Lewis growled. "All mine! Come on, Samuel!"

Lewis and Sam's faces had begun to show some strain, but the cheers of the Quauhtin kept them going.

After 32 minutes and 14 seconds of push-ups, Lewis lay on the floor and rolled over. "And I'm spent."

The men cheered.

Sam bounced up and stood on his feet. He offered his hand to Lewis. "Hell of a job, Papa."

Lewis laughed and allowed him to help him to his feet. Sam then helped Exton up, too. Exton shook his hand. "$500. I'll pay that."

Lewis laughed proudly. "Hell of a job, Samuel. Damn!"

Sam laughed and rubbed his face. "Oh, that was a good work-out."

The other Quauhtin pat his back and cheered.

Sam realized, "Damn. I'm sorry, Papa. I need to get back. I need to wake up Arles."

Lewis nodded. "Sleeping beauty, huh?"

He smiled, "Yes, sir. Coming to the family meeting?"

Lewis grinned. "Yes. With $500 to settle a bet."

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Samuel walked back into his and Arles' flat. Genie was already there with Legate, sitting at the bar, having tea.

He stopped walking and looked at them as he opened the fridge. "Umm….late. Yes. I'm late."

Genie grinned. "Go get cleaned up, goof."

He grinned and took a bottle of Vitex that he had taken from Karen's dorm with him. He walked into Arles' bedroom and sat on the side of the bed.

As soon as he sat down, Arles groaned. "It's not morning, is it?"

Sam laughed. "Sorry, mate. Yes."

Arles sat up and rubbed his head. "Oh, this sucks."

"I bought you some medicine, and a Vitex. It should help."

Arles took the medicine. "Cheers, man. But, I'm not drinking that shit."

Sam laughed at his brother's grumbling. "Genie and Legate are already here."

"What time is it?"

"You have time for a shower. It will help you feel better."

Arles rubbed his face. "What happened with that girl?"

He smiled. "I've only just gotten home."

Arles smiled. "That's it, Sammy! We're going to be alright here."

"I think so."

"I'm going back to that club tonight. You game?"

"Nah. I think I'll just…have some dinner with Karen and …. See what happens."

Arles grinned. "Uh-oh."

He rose his finger. "This is not uh-oh-"

"This is uh-oh." He insisted as he sat up. "You are falling for this girl."

Sam sighed. "I'm not talking about this with you."

"Not now, you aren't. I'll get it out of your skinny ass."

"See, my ass on your mind, worries me. Do we need to have Tony suggest some clubs for you?"

Arles laughed, then immediately regretted it, and grabbed his head. "Oh. I'm drinking less tonight."

Sam was struck with a sudden thought. "Can I try something?"

Arles rubbed his face and groaned. "If you know something that will help a hangover, be my guest."

Sam put his hand on Arles' chest and seemed to be listening. After a few minutes, he rose his eyebrows and looked back at his brother. "This will be weird. Sure you're okay with this?"

"Do it, man." Arles told him. "I trust- AH!"

Arles' eyes opened widely and he looked shocked back at Sam. "What was that?"

"How's your hangover?"

Arles thought and then realizing he was fine, smiled. "Sammy, you're my favorite brother."

"Phhh. Idiot. I'm going to jump in the shower. They will be here in 28 minutes."

Arles sat on the side of the bed. "Saved my life. Again! Cheers!"

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By the time Samuel got out of the shower, he could hear Rose's laughter coming from the kitchen. It was 7:42. She was always early. It was something he teased her about back home.

His heart dropped thinking of how upset she probably was now. They had been gone long enough that he had begun to miss her, terribly. She had always done everything she could to keep all of them so safe, and so close to her. For the first time since the TARDIS crash, Samuel became homesick. Just the thought of how sad he had made his Mum seemed to crush his spirit.

He stood in front of the mirror of his dresser, towel wrapped around his waist, and began to cry silently. Sure, Rose was in the other room, but that wasn't his Mum. His Mum was 18 years away from here, with no possible way of him being able to tell her how sorry he was. How much he missed her. And even though he couldn't get a straight answer from his father, he knew they were going to be here for a long time.

He brought his hands to his eyes and wiped his tears. He quietly told himself. "Get ahold of yourself, man. You're alright."

He caught his reflection in the mirror. His skinny form showed his muscular chest and shoulders. His wet blond hair hung in loops on top of his head.

He told the guy looking back at him. "Samuel. You are alright. You need to pull yourself together, and get a trim. Seriously, man."

He opened a drawer and took out his boxers and socks. After a quick trip to the cupboard, he appeared back in front of the mirror and saw his reflection again wearing a pair of jeans, and a long sleeved shirt under a grey t-shirt. He leaned in closer to look around his eyes. No one would spot he had been crying.

Lying on top of the dresser was his wallet, watch, and cell phone. He picked up his watch and smiled. His Uncle Tony had given it to him years ago. He had reminded him that he always could tell what time it was, without wearing one, but Tony had insisted.

"I always feel like a watch makes me look, more…complete. Dressed." He had told him. "And this will keep people from thinking you are as weird as John."

He put on his watch and saw his phone light up with a text.

It was from Karen. "Good morning, Samuel."

His face spread into a smile. He picked up his phone and text back, "You're up early."

"Do you mind if I call you? I miss your voice."

He rang her and she answered immediately. "Well, that was fast."

He chuckled as he looked at himself in the mirror and worked with his curls to make them look the way he liked. "I miss your voice, too. What are you doing?"

She sighed. "It got cold in here, so I decided to get up and put on some clothes."

He thought of the thin window and the snow on the other side of it. "Are you alright?"

"Yes. I'm fine. I made myself some coffee. I now I have my small heater running."

He turned around and leaned against his dresser. "You have a heater that we didn't use?"

She laughed. "I knew you were going to complain about that."

He smiled, "No, its fine. It wasn't even cold."

"I believe I was just used to having your body lying next to mine."

He grinned. "I'll be sure to bring it with me tonight."

She giggled. "Do that."

He smiled, "And I had a thought about this Latin class of yours."

"What is that?"

"Well, I speak Latin. I could tutor you."

"Samuel, you don't have to do that. I truly do want to see you again."

He chuckled at her. "I'm serious, Karen. Let me help. Give this another try."

She sighed. "Alright. But, I believe I'm a lost cause. Just so you are warned."

"Well, I'm warned." He insisted.

"Gosh. I don't want to seem like….crazy stalker here-"

"Believe me. You're not." He told her. He mumbled, "You would be surprised what I know about crazy stalkers."

She giggled. "I'm just really looking forward to seeing you this evening."

He felt butterflies in his stomach as he smiled. "Oh, me too. I'm counting down the hours."

He could sense her smiling. "Me too, Samuel."

"Samuel." He repeated quietly.

She giggled. "Well, I need to probably let you go. I can study for a while. Get some stuff done since everything is quiet here for the moment."

"Decide where you want to eat tonight. Your pick."

"Are you giving me more homework?"

He grinned. "Yes."

"Then, bye. I have enough to do." She teased and ended the call.

He laughed and put his phone in his pocket. He looked back at his reflection and decided to put some gel in his hair.

As he worked it through the locks, his phone rang in his pocket. He answered it, "Sam."

"Hey, man. Feel up to a flight?" Tony asked on the other end.

"Oh, hell yeah! What's up?"

"Ah, Pepper has me doing this Top Gear thing today, and I have some guys that are just too close to the line."

He knew he was talking about the soldiers getting too close to danger. "Sure. Be happy to. I've got this meeting with Mum and Dad, but-"

"Meeting? What about?"

"Beats the hell out of me."

"Well. As soon as you're done with that, just come and suit up. I'll probably still be here. I'm getting this ass shield ready for you."

"What? An ass shield?"

"Well, yeah. I don't need you getting shot in the ass twice."

Sam rolled his eyes. "It was my back, Tony."

"Close enough to your ass."

"Bye."

Tony laughed, "Love you, too-"

Sam ended the call and put the phone back in his pocket. He laughed under his breath at his uncle's words and turned to look at himself one more time in the mirror.

"Samuel. You've got this, man. You're alright." He gently high fived his reflection and left his bedroom.

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