"Yeah, we need to pick up your car from the bar," I remind him.

"It's already been done," he answers, showing me a spare set of car keys. I follow him to the car and take a seat in the passenger's side. I shut my eyes, replaying the day's events over in my mind as I feel Jack's hand rest above mine. "You okay with me staying the night?"

My eyes open and my head turns to glance at him. "I'd be hurt if you didn't."

********

We head inside my apartment and Jack makes his way into the kitchen. "I'll work on dinner. What do you want?"

"I'm not really that hungry." I let out a sigh and collapse onto the couch.

"You should eat something."

"We can order in," I suggest, and I hear the key turn in the door and see Eva making her way inside.

"Hey, Samantha."

"How was work?" I eye her with a tired smile.

"Pretty good. I was surprised you both didn't come home last night. Did you stay over at Jack's place or something?"

"No," I laugh, shaking my head. "We got caught out in the storm on a case."

"Ahhh," she nods her head with a grin. "You staying the night?" she smiles curiously towards Jack.

He glances my way, trying to decide what to tell her. "For tonight. He still doesn't have a place to stay," I answer.

"How convenient," she murmurs.

"Excuse me?" I glance towards her.

"I said 'how lenient.'" She closes her mouth in a tight-lipped smile.

Jack orders in for a pizza. Once we're finished eating, he follows me into the bedroom. I collapse against the bed, closing my eyes with exhaustion. My stomach lies flat against the mattress as I feel the bed shift around and Jack's body move to rest above mine. He straddles my form and I feel his hands on my shoulders, gently kneading my flesh.

"Relax," he whispers into my ear. His fingers work on lifting my blouse off my body and unhooking my bra. He tosses the clothes to the floor, as I lie with my breasts against the cool sheets. He runs his hands along my shoulders, brushing my hair to the side as he leans down, showering my back with kisses.

"Jack," I whisper out in a haze, feeling his fingers moving under me to unbutton and zip down my pants. He helps me slide out of them. I lie in my underwear, letting out a soft breath. His hands and lips kiss their way down my back.

I let out a soft moan, feeling his fingers on my lower back, teasing me as my hips shift against the mattress. I feel Jack's hips above mine, feeling me respond to his ministrations.

"You like that?" he leans down, breathing into my ear.

I roll around beneath his grasp, my hands snake around his body, holding him close against me. My answer is a smile as I lean up, brushing my lips against his.

My hands move over his back, lifting his shirt up and over his head. His lips capture mine once again, as my fingers move down his waist to his belt buckle. I slide beneath his body, using my teeth to unzip his pants. He let's out a low groan, obviously aroused by my actions. My eyes watch his as my fingers pull at his pants.

I hear the doorbell and moan out a sigh of frustration as I eye Jack. "Eva!" I yell for her to answer the door.

"It's Martin," she tells me. Jack rolls onto his back, lying against the mattress with a sigh.

"You need to tell him." Jack eyes me seriously.

"Right now?"

"I think now is a good time. Then we can finish what we've started," he answers, brushing his mouth against mine for another intense kiss. My hands roam in his hair, pulling him tight against me. "Don't be too long," he reminds me, slipping from my hold. I head into my bathroom, grabbing a robe and putting it on.

"Stay in here," I tell him, blowing him a kiss before heading into the living room.

"Samantha." I see Martin standing in the doorway and Eva eating ice cream in the kitchen.

"Hey, what are you doing here?"

"I heard about the case. I wanted to see how you're doing."

"I'm good," I answer with a smile. "How's the seminar been?"

"Long and boring. Thank Jack when you see him," he answers with a laugh.

"About Jack," I chew on my lower lip, feeling my heart race and my stomach knot at having to tell him. Before the words escape my lips, I hear the phone ringing and grab for it. "Hello?" I hear a crying voice on the other end. "Slow down; who is this?"

"It's Morgan. I need your help."

"What's wrong?" I can hear loud music in the background and her breathing is erratic.

"I'm at a party and I want to go home," she pleads with me.

"What's the address?" I question, scribbling it down and hanging up. "I have to pick Morgan up from a party. Can I talk to you tomorrow night?" I question.

"You want company?"

"I think it's better if I go alone. Morgan sounded upset and I want her to be able to confide in me."

"All right, I'll see you tomorrow night then. Bye, Samantha." He slips out the door and I head into the bedroom to see Jack lying on the bed.

"So?"

"I couldn't tell him," I answer. "I got interrupted. I've got to pick Morgan up from a party." I grab my keys and slip on my clothes in front of Jack.

He sits up, grabbing his pants and shirt. "I'll come with you."

"Jack," I pause, "you can stay here. I'll be back in under an hour."

"You've had a long day," he reminds me, putting out his hand to accept my keys. "Let me drive." I let out a sigh and hand them over. "Don't tell Martin I let you go with me."

"What? You didn't tell him I was in the bedroom?" he teases.

"No, I figured you could tell him that," I answer, slipping on my shoes and following Jack to his car.

We pull up in front of the apartment complex. "Wait here," I tell him, as I step out of the car. I make my way up the stairs and see Morgan sitting out in the hallway, dressed in a glitter halter-top and tight black pants. Her eyes are glistened with tears as she eyes me. "Come on." I help her to her feet, bringing her down to the car.

"Are you going to take me home?"

"That's the plan," I point out.

"Mom's going to kill me," she sighs.

"Why's that?" I question, opening the backdoor to let her inside the car. I take a seat up front and glance back at her.

"I was supposed to be spending the night over at Brittany's house."

"Where's Brittany?" I eye her intently.

"Upstairs. That's not her house, though."

"I figured that," I answer with a soft breath. "You can sleep on my couch if you want," I eye her, "but you have to call your mom and dad."

"Samantha," her voice pleads with me.

"They need to know where you are. I don't care how much you tell them. Here," I hand her my cell phone. "When you're done talking to them, I want to tell them something."

"Okay," she answers, dialing the number. "Mom it's me. I'm spending the night over at Samantha's place instead," She pauses and let's out a sigh. "No, she doesn't mind. Brittany and I got into a disagreement about something." I can hear her mother's loud voice but I can't make out her words. "No, I don't want to talk about it." Morgan hands me the phone.

"Vanessa?" I question.

"Yeah, is Morgan all right?"

"Just a little upset," I answer. "I told her if she ever had a problem, she could call me. I hope that's okay."

"It's fine," she answers, slightly annoyed.

"I have to work, but I can drop her off at school in the morning."

"That would be great. I'm out of town for the night and her dad had to work late," Vanessa pauses, "so she was supposed to stay the night at Brittany's and go with her to school in the morning." I eye Morgan intently.

"All right, bye." I hang up the phone and eye Morgan.

"You have your school things for tomorrow?"

"Yes," she nods. "Thanks for not ratting me out."

I laugh softly. "I can't tell you how many parties I snuck out to." I eye her seriously. "You want to tell me what happened?"

"There was a bunch of them drinking. There was this guy there, Ben, and he was pretty messed up. He started--" she pauses, eyeing Jack, "he wanted to do things that I wasn't comfortable with," she tells me.

"You're okay now," I remind her, as we pull in front of my apartment. We step through the front door and I notice Eva's door closed; she's likely asleep.

"I'll be in the bedroom," Jack tells me, giving me some privacy with Morgan.

I lead her to the couch to sit down. "Do you want to talk about what happened?"

She glances around hesitantly. "I--" she pauses, letting out a breath, "he wanted me to--"

"What, Morgan?"

"Do things to him," she tells me. "I've never--" her eyes meet mine, "and I thought it was gross. So I told him 'no' and then everyone there started calling me a prude." Morgan's eyes well up with tears.

I give her a warm hug. "It's okay," I reassure her, running my hand softly against her back. "You did the right thing," I nod. "I'm glad you called me."

"You won't tell my parents what I said?" Her eyes show fear and concern.

"No," I smile softly.

"Samantha?" I hear Eva's voice as she patters into the living room. "Hi," she smiles with a yawn toward Morgan.

"Morgan, this is Eva."

"She helping you out too?" Eva eyes Morgan intently.

Morgan nods her head quickly, wiping her eyes. "You should get some sleep," I remind Morgan, "you've got school in the morning."

"All right."

"I'll bring you a pillow and a blanket. Sorry I don't have another bed for you. Eva's got the guestroom."

"You can have it for tonight," Eva offers. "You look like you need it more then I do." Eva takes her hand, showing her to the bedroom.

"Thanks, Eva," I smile as I watch them walk off into the bedroom. A minute or two later I see Eva coming over towards me.

"Do you adopt everyone you know?" Eva teases.

"She's my half-sister," I answer.

"I didn't know you had any siblings."

"Neither did I," I answer with a laugh, "well, not until a short while ago."

"Oh," she nods, slightly confused.

"It's getting late. I'm going to head into bed. You know where the extra blankets and pillows are, right?"

"Of course," Eva answers as I slip into my bedroom.

"You're still awake?" I slip into bed beside Jack, pulling off my shirt and pants. I slide between the sheets, feeling his warm body next to mine.

"I was waiting up for you," he answers, rolling onto his side, moving his hand through my hair and brushing it past my face. "You're an amazing person," he tells me softly.

"What?" I laugh, curious as to the look on his face.

"I can't believe all the things you've done--for both Eva and Morgan-- although I hope your boss doesn't give you too hard a time when you're late tomorrow morning." He brushes his lips against mine playfully.

"I guess I'll have some convincing to do," I answer, sliding my hand beneath his shirt and feeling his warm skin against my palms.

He gently rolls me onto my back, leaning above me. His eyes glance into mine seriously, "When are you going to tell Martin about us?"

"Tomorrow night," I answer. "You're more then welcome to join us," I tease, playfully nibbling at his neck.

"As fun as that sounds, I think I'll take a rain check."

"Your loss," I remind him, brushing my lips against his.

"Sam," he props himself to meet my gaze but doesn't touch me. "I still can't get over why you took off the wire."

"I didn't need everyone hearing what I might have had to do," I point out. "As much as it sickened me, I had to restrain our perp and make him think I was there for sex. I didn't think the entire NYPD and FBI needed to hear what was going on," I point out.

"You shouldn't have taken it off," he eyes me intently. "Do you know how worried I was? We had no way of contacting you, no way of knowing what happened."

"I was fine," I muse. "I can't say the same for our missing person."

"You helped put him away," I feel Jack's hand in my hair.

"It's not enough," I answer. "I wanted to find him alive, so he could be with his family."

"We can't save them all," Jack reminds me, lying down to rest beside me.

"Sometimes I wish we could," I whisper, taking his hand in mine. I feel the cold metal of his ring and touch the band. My eyes meet his and I can't even the form the question on my lips as to why he still wears the barrier between us.

I roll around, dropping his hand and shutting off the light. I close my eyes, not wanting to think what it means.

"Samantha," I feel his hand on my shoulder as my head turns to face him.

"Hmmm?" I breathe out.

"Goodnight," he softly whispers.

"Night," I answer, allowing myself to succumb to sleep.

I roll over in the middle of the night, feeling an empty space beside me. "Jack?" I whisper, opening my eyes to the realization that he left--again.

I hear the toilet flush and moments later hear footsteps emerging. I feel the bed shift and my eyes glance over at him. "You're awake?" he questions.

"I thought you left."

He slips deeper into the covers, onto his side as he pulls me close against him.

"Nope, I'm with you forever," he answers, closing his eyes as I feel his breathing deepen against me. I lean my head into his chest, closing my eyes as I fall back asleep.