Author's Note: Reviews are appreciated!

Part 4

Jack mechanically began to make toast and tea for Samantha. His thoughts torn between agony and rage for the injuries to his beloved and a tiny hint of pleasure that she had thanked him for helping her. Guiltily he pushed aside the warm feeling her gratitude had brought about. If she hadn't been violated she would have never let him near her and her gratitude was the same for him as it would have been for to a total stranger. Jack wasn't going to kid himself, Samantha would at best want nothing to do with him in the future and at the worst have him arrested.

Once he had a tray ready he brought it to Samantha and watched as she slowly fussed with the toast and drank a couple cups of tea. Neither spoke, but sat in utter silence, the only sounds in Jack's sanctuary were the dull electric hum of his computers. Jack decided she wasn't eating enough of her toast to suit him, so he started picking up the pieces she'd shredded on her plate and began to feed them to her. For a moment she scowled and drew back, but sighed and allowed him to place the toast in her mouth.

"I know you don't feel like eating," Jack soothed. Then he encouraged, "There's only a little more toast to go."

Sam nodded and a worried look crossed her face, "What about Angel? She's going to call Bailey if I don't come home."

"What about if you call her on my phone and tell her you're at a friend's," Jack gently suggested.

"That would be ok for tonight," she replied and began to cry slightly. "But what about tomorrow and after that? They can't see me like this!"

Samantha, Jack decided was regressing slightly, probably as a coping mechanism. So he considered carefully and spoke to her as though he were speaking to a child. "Let's just worry about tonight and we'll deal with tomorrow when it comes."

"Jack, I look hideous," she sniffled. "They'll know something is wrong."

"You don't look hideous," Jack replied. Running quickly through the potential verbal minefield of reassuring her about her appearance after the attack, he settled on, "You look like a very brave girl who's had a very difficult night. As to them knowing if something is wrong, you don't have to see them if you don't want to."

"I don't want to spend the next however many weeks it takes to look human in a hotel," Sam declared petulantly.

"You may stay here as long as you like."

"I knew it! I should have known better! I-"

Jack interrupted, "Samantha, I meant you could have the place for as long as you like. If you wish to be alone I can go elsewhere."

"You trust me alone here?" she asked incredulously.

"Yes, besides it's all going to be yours one day anyway. You've been sole beneficiary of my will for many years now."

Casting a disparaging eye about she retorted, "Lucky me."

As soon as the words were out, guilt washed over her and she regretted saying them as a hurt look crossed his face. He could have left her at the hospital or tried to take advantage of her situation, but he hadn't. Jack had been nothing but kind and polite. True she was hurting and he'd killed many people around her, but the forlorn expression on his face touched something inside her. "Jack-"

"I can do nothing about your accommodations tonight Samantha, but if you like I can arrange something nicer tomorrow. In the morning I'll arrange a car and driver to take you to somewhere more to your liking. The mansion in Savannah is occupied by my Mother at the moment, but she would leave for a few weeks if needed. Or if you prefer, there are 20 other mansions and estates across the world to choose from or I'll rent anywhere you desire if none of my homes please you."

"Jack I didn't mean it like that. Look, it's been a really lousy night and I have to admit I've been thrown for a loop by you being Jack and being nothing like I would have expected. I don't want you to leave your home and I would very much like to stay if you're still willing to let me."

"I would never rescind an invitation Sam. But I believe it would be best if in the morning I secure a nurse for you and take my leave."

She cringed at him calling her 'Sam' and felt oddly abandoned as he walked away. Tears flowed anew and she stood up painfully as she cried out, "Jack!"

In an instant, the tray had been discarded and he was back at her side. "What's wrong? Please sweetheart get back into bed you shouldn't be up."

She clutched his arm and pleaded, "Please! Please don't leave, Jack!"

"Samantha, I was only going into the kitchen, I wasn't going to leave you," he stared in confusion and urged, "Please dearest, do get back into bed."

"I meant leave tomorrow," she explained as he tucked her into the bed. "Don't leave me alone with some stranger."

"I'll stay if that's what you wish, but should you change you mind, just let me know." Jack turned away and picked the tray up to take to the kitchen, pausing a moment to inquire, "Would you like any pain medication? I have everything over the counter and prescription you could imagine."

"Maybe some ibuprofen?"

"I'll bring it along with the phone in just a moment."

Jack disappeared to the kitchenette and deposited the tray. He got a glass of ice water for Samantha to take her pills with and picked up the bottle of pain reliever. A quick dash to his desk for his cell phone and he returned to her side. Handing the items to Sam he asked her, "Where is your car?"

"My car?"

"I'm assuming you were out somewhere when the attack occurred. If your car were towed it would set off alarm bells with the VCTF. So I'll have to retrieve it."

"It's at the mall, but do you have to go out tonight? Couldn't we call the mall or something?" Sam fretted. She knew she'd hurt him and couldn't blame him for wanting to get away from her, but she really didn't want to be alone.

"I was merely going to arrange to have it towed here for you. Why don't you call Angel? I'll make the call about your car on the house phone while you use the cell. Should you need anything in the night, just let me know."

"Where are you sleeping?"

"Should I decide to sleep I'll do so in a chair, but I don't plan to sleep just now," Jack informed her and walked away.

Jack's polite distance made Samantha feel strange as she called Angel. Once her excuses were made to her roommate, she swallowed the pills. She turned off the bedside light and settled uneasily in the bed. For a long time she lay awake staring at the glint of the mirrored ball over the bed. Sam kept seeing the attack as she closed her eyes and when she tried to assuage her fears by reassuring herself that Jack would keep her safe, she would see the hurt in his eyes. Maybe he would act more normally if she apologized in the morning for hurting his feelings.

But there was more to it then hurt feelings, it was as if he couldn't get far enough away from her fast enough. Maybe he considered her damaged goods, she thought as the crude and cruel remarks of her attackers echoed in her ears. After all these years of despising his feelings for her, she felt oddly bereft by their loss. Tonight he'd been so sweet and kind, his behavior had been entirely above reproach as he helped her. Over the years Sam had cried many times because of Jack; but on the night of her attack, Samantha fell asleep crying for Jack.

On the other side of the loft, Jack sat motionless in the dark until he was certain from her even breathing that Samantha was asleep. Quietly he picked up his cigarettes, his lighter and a bottle of whiskey and took them out onto the balcony. The air was cold through his thin shirt, but he decided it really didn't matter. Lighting a cigarette and sitting on a chair so he could stare up at the sky, Jack decided there was a hell of a lot that didn't matter anymore. Tonight his life changed just as much as his Samantha's had and nothing could ever be the same.

Opening the bottle of Jack Daniel's he took a large swallow and enjoyed the burning sensation it made down his throat. Physical pain was good, he could deal with that. The pain in his heart was what was unbearable. He'd failed her. Jack hadn't been watching her properly and now she was suffering, it was all his fault. All these years he had guarded her and dreamed of her loving him, now were erased in a single evening. He'd let her down and now she was lost to him. Tears fell from his dark eyes as he wept for them both. For Samantha he wept for her pain and for the sheer devastation his golden goddess had endured. At the same time, Jack cried for himself, for the betrayed look in Samantha's eyes and the knowledge that she could never love him now.

Jack was halfway through the bottle of whiskey when the first scream came. Over the years he'd heard many people scream, usually at his inducement, however Samantha's scream chilled him to his soul. In seconds he was at her bedside, she was sitting upright but her eyes were closed. She was screaming in her sleep, so deeply caught in her nightmare that her blood curdling screams weren't rousing her. He hesitated and gently laid a hand on her arm, hoping it would wake her.

"NOOO!!! God please make it STOP!" Samantha cried out.

Unable to bear the pitiful sight a moment longer, Jack sat on the bed and began to shake her in earnest. "Samantha! Wake up!"

Blue eyes shot open at lightning speed, for a moment she blinked in confusion, then whimpered, "Jack!"

"I'm here Samantha. It's all over, nothing can hurt you now."

His heart nearly stopped as she threw her arms around his neck and and sobbed into his chest, "Hold me! Oh God, please hold me, Jack!"

Jack held her tightly, his heart aching as she shuddered against him and her tears soaked his shirt. Hesitant at first then more confidently he stroked her back and murmured reassuringly to her. When her crying subsided slightly, he started to pull away in vain as her hold around his neck remained like iron. "Maybe you should try to sleep again."

"Stay," she entreated and looked up at him through watery eyes. Then added, "Please."

"Samantha I-"

"Please Jack," she implored and pulled the covers back for him to join her.

Uncertainly, he joined her in the bed and lay stone still as Samantha wrapped her arms around him again. Overwhelmed by her closeness and his failure, scalding wetness spilled down his cheeks and he hoped she wouldn't notice. His hopes were dashed as she raised her head and looked at him in the dim light. Jack's breath caught as she raised her hand to his cheek and brushed the moisture away. Samantha brought her fingertips to her mouth and kissed them, then pressed her hand to Jack's heart. For several moments they looked at one another through the darkness before settling down. In the silence they held one another, never letting go even as sleep overtook them...