"Jack, you didn't have to carry me, I could have walked." Sam laughed then clutched her chest painfully as Jack carried her up the stairs leading to his apartment.

"Yeah, but I'm hungry, and that could have taken all day."

"Hey, don't make me laugh, it hurts." She slapped his arm playfully. "And I'm not that slow, besides I have a really good excuse. But I bet I could still beat your ass at target shooting, injury and all." Jack awkwardly unlocked his door while still holding Sam, then kicked it open with his foot. Sam couldn't help but think of the cheesy cliché of the groom carrying the bride over the threshold and suddenly blushed. But unfortunately, she wasn't playing house with him. She knew the only reason that she was here was because he felt responsible about her shooting.

"I'll take that bet." He set her gently down on the couch and on the table in front of her sat a large bouquet of pale yellow lilies. She knew he wasn't the type of person who regularly displayed flowers, he must have just bought them today for her.

She beamed a large smile at him, then leaned forward to smell them. "Jack, they're beautiful."

"See, I told you it wasn't dreary." He set their food on the coffee table and went to the kitchen to get some plates.

She called out to him, "I wish you had let me go by my apartment and get some of my stuff before we ate. Now we'll have to go back out and make another trip."

Jack walked back in carrying plates and napkins. "I knew you were hungry, and there's no need to go to your place."

Sam stopped in mid-bite of a French fry she had snagged from the bag, then quickly chewed and asked, "Why not? I think I would look pretty silly wearing your clothes."

Jack looked down at the carpet, as if suddenly aware of how his actions would be perceived by Sam. "I stopped by there earlier and picked up some things for you."

Sam shot him a quizzical look, "You were pretty confidant that I would come back here with you, huh?"

His face suddenly went serious as he paused and answered, "Sam, this is the only place I can protect you. And I swear, I won't let anything else happen to you."

She took his hand, "Jack, how many times do I have to remind you that this was not your fault. Because of you, I'm not dead." He looked away, still feeling guilty for her wounds in his mind, no matter what she said. "And I'm grateful for that."

His tense face relaxed as he chuckled and grinned over at her, "Oh yeah? How grateful?"

She hit him again, and grabbed a handful of fries and surveyed her new temporary home. The apartment was small, but neat and full of light. He had opened all the windows and a fresh breeze blew through. Her second impression of his apartment was much better than the first. He had obviously tried to brighten it up a bit for her. A thought suddenly struck her. "Um, Bauer. How much did you think this little plan of yours through?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, if I'm not mistaken, this is a one bedroom apartment. And if there is only bedroom, that usually means there is only one bed."

"What's your point?"

She fidgeted with the straw of her drink, trying to think of the right words. "I just...I mean...shouldn't we talk about—"

Jack cut her off and smiled, "Relax, you can have the bed, I'll take the couch."

"Oh, I couldn't do that. You've spent the last two weeks sleeping in a chair next to me. I couldn't kick you out of your bed too. I'll take the couch."

"You are sleeping in that bed, end of discussion."

She stared at him for a moment and realized that it was pointless to argue with him any further. She gobbled up the rest of her sandwich and fries and then went for his plate.

He slapped at her hand when she tried to snag a few more fries. "Eat your own Murphy."

She took her hand back and laughed, "I already finished mine. Now I'm eating yours."

Jack looked over at her empty plate and shook his head, "You finished a double cheese burger and a large fries already?"

"Shut up, Bauer, I don't want to hear it. They were starving me there."

"Uh huh. I've never seen a girl eat so much so fast."

"Watch it, or I'll have to find my gun. And that would hurt. So please don't make me do it." She sat back gingerly and held her chest.

"Sam, honey, you ok?" He leaned over and put his hand on her face. "Is there anything I can get you?"

She put her hand over his and relished his touch for a moment. She took a deep breath and eased through the pain. "I'm fine."

He nodded slightly and withdrew his hand from under hers, stretched his legs out in front of him, leaned back and closed his eyes.

She scooted closer to him, and then winced at the pain just moving around caused. "Look at you, you're exhausted. Why don't you go lay down?"

"I'm not tired."

"I can take care of myself for a little while. See." She tried to get up and grabbed her head as a wave of nausea hit her. "Whoa. Maybe you could just get me a pain pill first?"

He turned his head to her and opened his eyes, "I'm fine. You're the one who needs to rest." He got one of her pills from the side table and handed her the drink, but held onto it when she placed her hand on it and looked her in eyes. "Sam, I watched you die. I watched the doctors shock your heart back to life. I won't do it again. Now, would you just for once listen to me and do what I say." She looked back at him with wide eyes, it hadn't occurred to her that he had been there for that. "Now, lay back."

"What?"

"Just lay back and give me your feet." Sam did as she was told, because she was starting to feel the pain in her chest, and it hurt her to breathe. She took the pill and closed her eyes as Jack began to rub her feet.

Sam moaned, "Wow, that feels really good. I don't think anyone has ever done that for me before."

"Really, Teri used to make me rub her feet all the time, I—sorry." He quickly shut his mouth.

"No, it's ok."

Jack was so quiet for so long that Sam opened her eyes and checked on him for fear that he had fallen asleep. "Jack?"

"Yeah."

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Sorry, it's just that I haven't thought—"

"Jack, you don't have to. Um, you never told me if you got to interrogate Gibson." Sam desperately wanted to change the subject. He was clearly still in love with his wife and there was no way she could compete with a dead woman. She was an idiot for even thinking she had a chance.

He continued to rub her feet and then moved up to her ankle and calf. Sam had never been so relaxed, yet so anxious at the same time. She loved the feel of his tender hands on her body, but she knew his heart still lie with Teri.

He finally answered, "No, not yet, I was hoping to get in with him today, but CTU is still fighting the feds for access. They have interrogated him and given us the transcripts, but no one knows as much about this as I do. Hammond is really pushing them, so I should get my chance tomorrow."

His hands kept slowly moving up her legs, massaging as he went. His touch was tender and soft, almost teasing. Sam was in heaven, she didn't want him to stop, but she knew she had to keep herself at a distance, or she was going to get hurt. It was not going to be easy keeping that distance while staying here, but she had to do it. She couldn't risk her heart on Jack Bauer.

She sat up painfully and pulled her feet away and put them on the floor. "I think maybe I should just go stay with Jill. I'll be safe over there, Salazar can't connect me to her. And he probably knows where you live." She was babbling she knew, but couldn't stop herself.

He stood up, "You're staying. I'll leave." He picked up the remote and handed it to her then went to the bedroom and closed the door before she could protest.