Sam parked the Tahoe a block away from the apartment address she was given on Jack's orders. They both put on Kevlar vests and grabbed extra clips from the back. "I don't like this, I think we're being set up." Sam shrugged slightly and gave him a look that said she didn't have a choice. He surveyed their surroundings and pointed to a narrow walkway between buildings. "Ok fine, they'll probably expect us to come from over there, so we'll come from the other way."

"You stay back and cover me while I go check it out. Stay out of sight." Sam just nodded. She briefly considered trying to take command, but realized it was most likely pointless. It was hard to argue with Jack, he naturally took command in situations like this.

Sam followed Jack toward the apartment building. She watched him slink along the side of the building, gun drawn, and she couldn't help but think again how sexy he was. She hit her head with her hand, and whispered to herself, "You're losing it Murphy. You can't think of him like that." Although she had thought of little else since she the night she met him and felt his hard body covering hers.

She watched as Jack cautiously entered a small courtyard and looked around him. Sam flinched and crouched back behind a bush as two shadows rushed up on Jack from either side and aimed their guns at his head. Jack didn't have a chance to get a shot off.

The figure on the right sneered at Jack in a distinct Mexican accent, "Drop the gun, nice and easy now." Jack did as he was told and put up his hands, just as the other one aimed a flashlight in Jack's face. "Oh, look who we have here Juan, it's Jack Bauer. We haven't seen you since Mexico, ese."

"You're right Filipe, it is the infamous Jack Bauer. Hey Jack, can we interest you in a hit, just like old times?" They snickered at each other.

Jack turned his head slightly to get a look at the guys and thought he recognized them from the ranch, but couldn't be sure. He had tried to block out most of that time. Jack forced himself to answer through clenched teeth, "No, I'm clean."

Juan laughed, "Sure you are amigo. No one is clean in this business. Hey, Jose wanted to thank you personally for killing Hector and Ramone, you saved him the trouble. Too bad you won't live long enough to hear it."

"It's the least I could do. Now why don't you take me to him so we can get on with this?"

Juan laughed again, "Sorry, ese. We were told to kill you and the girl. Now where is she?"

Jack closed his eyes and clenched his teeth. "What girl?"

Filipe punched Jack in the gut, then yelled at him, "We were told to kill two people, you and a woman. Now where is she?"

"I don't know what you are talking about." Jack was doubled over in pain.

Sam crept up behind Felipe and put her gun to his head, "He means me." She cocked her gun. "Federal Agent, now drop your weapon!"

Felipe started to put his hands up slowly, and as he was raising the hand with the gun, he reached out and clocked Sam in the side of the head with it. "Sam, no!" Jack screamed. Sam fell hard to the ground, dazed. He moved quickly and punched Juan, knocking the gun out of his hand. Juan punched back and knocked the wind out of Jack. As he fought for air, he ran at Juan and tackled him to the ground. They fought, punching and kicking, rolling around on the ground.

Filipe ignored Sam's unconscious body on the ground and turned to aim at Jack, "Juan, move, I can't get a clear shot at Jack." Sam opened her eyes. She had played a hunch that Felipe would only kill her after shooting Jack and had pretended to be out cold. When he turned his back, she stood up and brought the pistol down on his head as hard as she could. Felipe never saw the butt of the gun that knocked him out. Then, dizziness overcame her so she sat down and tried to aim the gun at Juan with shaky hands.

Jack gained the upper hand when Juan saw Filipe's body fall and landed a hard blow to his chin. Sam cringed when she heard the bone crack. Jack landed a final blow to Juan's face and knocked him out too. Jack looked over at Sam, who looked dazed and still had her gun pointed at him. He said in a soft voice, "Sam, put the gun down. It's over."

He crawled over to her and leaned in next to her, "Are you hurt?" He took off his overshirt and rolled it into a ball and put it behind her head, "Here, lay down, let me look at you." He gently wiped the trickle of blood off of her face with his thumb. He turned her head to look at the goose egg sized bump on the side of her head. "I don't think it's too bad. We should probably take you to a doctor to get you checked out though." Her skin tingled where he ran his thumb along the side of her face. Their eyes locked again and her heart beat even faster. Another surge of adrenaline rushed through her veins, sending a warming sensation throughout her body. Butterflies danced in her stomach.

Jack was thankful that Sam was still alive, and his mind flooded with conflicting emotions. Teri, Kim, Kate, Nina. No, this was different; she was an agent like him. This was her job, she knew the risks and she had saved his life. She just looked so helpless lying there looking up at him with those blue eyes.

His mind went blank as he leaned in and brushed a lock of her hair away, then placed his hand back on her face and gently moved her lips towards his. He closed his eyes and placed a gentle kiss on her lips. Her lips parted invitingly, and he deepened the kiss.