Jack closed his eyes, but couldn't sleep, so he untangled his arms from hers and slipped out of bed, careful not to wake Sam. He crept to the kitchen to get a bottle of water and peered out the window one more time. To his relief, the FBI agents were still where they should be. He pulled a chair close to the bed and sat down next to Sam and watched as she slept. She was on her stomach, her head facing him, her naked back uncovered. She was beautiful.
Jack couldn't drive their previous conversation from his mind. Could he really trust her? Had he loved Nina? He had trusted Nina with his life and his family, and she betrayed him. He couldn't endure someone else turning on him. Chris Henry did it, why wouldn't Sam. Although, he didn't detect anything but honesty coming from Sam. She didn't have the same hard edge to her that Nina did. No, Sam was different; she was softer, more feminine, more open. She tried to put up a strong agent exterior, but he could tell that underneath she was full of life and love. He didn't want to disappoint her, or even worse, hurt her.
He put his head in his hands. And that's inevitably what he would do; hurt her. He had hurt everyone that was close to him. Teri and Nina were dead. Kim was damaged forever, and Kate didn't deserve what he put her through.
He should stick to his philosophy to stay detached. That way, no one got hurt but himself. But could he do that, could he turn his back on this beautiful woman who just entered his life? Maybe Sam was different; she was an agent, she knew the risks, the dangers. He would be able to confide in her, share things with her that he couldn't with Teri or Kate. And, whether he liked it or not, she could take care of herself. She had proven herself a capable agent, an intelligent and confident woman.
And damnit, she drove him crazy whenever he was anywhere near her. He thought he had smiled more in the couple days since she came into his life than in the past six months put together. He had to admit that he had an intense attraction to her and couldn't get enough of her. That's what scared him the most. If one of his enemies found out, they could use her against him. He just couldn't put her at risk. He reached over and caressed her cheek lightly. Conflicting emotions swirled through his mind.
If he didn't know any better, he would think he was falling for her. And if he didn't put some distance between them soon, he might not be able to let her go. That's what he knew he should do, but it was killing him to do it. He hadn't been happy in so long. He saw the way that Kim and Chase looked at each other, he found himself longing for that closeness again.
Jack continued to stare at Sam, his mind weighing the options when he heard several faint pops. To his trained ears, the sound of silenced gunfire was unmistakable. He quickly pulled on his jeans and scooped Sam's clothes off the floor. He nudged her and whispered in her ear, "Sam, hurry, get up."
She woke up quickly, the sound of his voice told her instantly that something was wrong, "What is it?"
"I think we have company. Get dressed." He handed her the clothes. "Here's your gun. Check the back door, I'm going to call for backup."
She did as instructed and dressed quickly. She checked her clip, then proceeded down the hall cautiously, turning off the lights as she went.
Jack dialed quickly. A sleepy voice answered, "Hello."
"Chase, it's Jack."
He yawned. "Jack? What time is it?"
Jack peered out of the same blinds he had checked not long ago. The car in the drive was empty, but the windshield had two small holes in it. "After two. Listen carefully. The agents guarding us are down. I heard two gunshots. I need you to call it in now."
Chase sat upright, "Are you ok, what about Agent Murphy?"
"We're fine, but someone's out there."
"Ok, Jack. We have a team down the street from your position. I'll check with them and send another unit ASAP. I'll call you back."
"Hurry." Jack closed his phone and looked around the room for something to barricade the door. He began to push a huge armoire over toward the door when Sam came up behind him and touched his shoulder. He jumped and aimed the gun at her. "Son of a bitch! I almost shot you, Sam."
She whispered, "Sorry, the back is clear, but vulnerable with those sliding glass doors. Now I'm glad you put those trip wires across the deck earlier. What's going on?"
He motioned toward the window. "Take a look."
She pulled the blinds apart a couple of inches and saw just what Jack had seen. "Who did you call?"
"Chase Edmunds. He's CTU and practically my son-in-law. I trust him. He said there was a CTU team down the street, he's checking in with them."
Sam nodded and noticed the armoire out of place. "Need some help?"
"Yeah, help me push it in front of the door. It won't stop anyone who wants in bad enough, but it could slow them down." They both pushed and finally got the armoire in place, when Jack's phone rang. "Bauer."
"Jack, the backup team is not responding. I sent in another CTU team as well as LAPD SWAT, they have an ETA of less than six minutes. I also notified the FBI since it was their agents who are down. You ok till then?"
He peeked out the window again. "Yeah, are you still at home?"
"For now, but Kim and I are headed over to you. Why?"
"Can you transfer me to CTU? I want someone looking at the satellite of the area. I don't think we're alone out here. I want to know what we're up against."
"Sure, Chloe has the night shift tonight. She has already been notified of the situation. Hold on Jack."
A few seconds later, Chloe answered, "CTU, O'Brien."
"Chloe, do you have those satellite images yet?"
"Hi Jack. Just hold on a minute, they are coming through right now. Ok, I count eight hostiles, surrounding the house, holding their positions. Looks like you're outnumbered Jack."
Jack sighed, Chloe always had a way of stating the obvious. "Thanks Chloe. Let me know if they start moving."
"Jack, looks like three are approaching the back deck." Sam and Jack turned their attention toward the back of the house with their weapons pointed out in front of them. They heard several bumps then a loud crash as the sliding glass doors shattered, spilling shards of glass all over the floor. Several canisters spilling smoke flew at them, filling the small house.
Jack covered Sam's body with his own and pulled her back into the darkness of the kitchen. "Use your shirt to cover your mouth, try not to breathe the smoke. Back up should be here soon."