Dipping my toe back into fan fiction again with a short one chapter story!

Spoilers - late season 3, early season 4.

Major thanks to the incomparable Diane & Mariel for their excellent beta services. I couldn't have done it without you!

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She paused outside the front door and took a deep breath. This was the first time she'd ever been to his apartment, and although he was now divorced and they were no longer seeing each other, it still felt strange, like she shouldn't be there. But she was concerned enough about him to push these thoughts aside and firmly press the buzzer. The sound of silence was deafening. 'Come on Jack,' she muttered under her breath, 'I know you're in there.' She pushed the buzzer again, this time keeping her finger on it for longer, until a grumpy voice snapped " Who the hell is it?"

Samantha smiled to herself. "It's me, Jack, can you let me in?"

"What do you want?" he replied wearily.

Samantha wasn't particularly surprised by his tone, especially in light of recent events, but she stood her ground and persisted.

"Let me come in and I'll tell you."

Jack sighed inwardly. He knew Samantha only too well, and knew that she wouldn't give up until she'd got what she wanted. That was one of the reasons he'd hired her, and was why she was such a good FBI agent. He pressed the door release.

"Come on up then. I'll leave the door open," he said resignedly.

Samantha took a deep breath and climbed the stairs to his apartment. She gently pushed his door open and looked around her. Everywhere was in darkness, the only light coming from a streetlamp outside. As her eyes re-adjusted to the gloom, she could see Jack sitting on his couch, a glass clasped in both hands with his head bowed.

"Hey," she greeted him softly.

"What do you want, Sam, " he replied gruffly, wishing that she would go away and leave him alone. Deep down he knew that he didn't really mean it, but he hated for her to see him like this. He'd always been strong and protective, looking after her whenever she'd been vulnerable and upset. Now the tables were turned and he didn't like it one little bit. He still didn't look up, but sensed her moving around the couch and carefully sitting down next to him.

"Jack, look at me," she coaxed, "please."

Eventually, he lifted his head, took a slug of his drink and slowly turned to look at her. She was shocked by what she saw. His face was pale and drained, and his eyes were bright with unshed tears.

"Oh Jack," she exclaimed, catching her breath painfully. It hurt her to see him like this, and she knew that he wasn't happy that she was witnessing it either. In all the time that she'd known him, he'd always looked after her. She found his strength, compassion and toughness very endearing, and it was one of the many reasons that she'd fallen so hard for him. Now it was her turn to look after him. He'd been through so much recently, and the custody battle with Maria had hit him particularly hard. Apart from the occasional question about the girls, she'd pretty much ignored him, too wrapped up with trying to be the kind of girlfriend to Martin that she thought she ought to be. Things were going to change.

"Why aren't you at the hospital with Martin? I'm sure he'll want to see his girlfriend when he comes round."

Surprised at his tone, but refusing to respond in kind, Samantha cleared her throat. "We're not together anymore, Jack; we split up a few weeks ago."

He looked at her in surprise. "I'm sorry, I didn't know," he said. Looking at her closely, he decided she didn't look very upset, and was surprised to find himself glad that she wasn't. Grunting, he said, "I know it's none of my business, but what happened? I thought you looked like the perfect couple. I even had you pegged as the future Mrs. Fitzgerald, following Martin to Washington when he took over from Daddy dearest. Hell, I'd have laid money on it, if anyone was willing to bet against me. I'm damned glad now no-one was!"

Samantha pulled a face, glad to see the gentle humour and spark of interest in his eyes, a hint of the confident, untroubled Jack she knew and loved.

"According to Martin, I didn't try hard enough...but he was right. Sure I had a good time with him," she said, watching Jack wince at these words. "But it wasn't him I wanted. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't love him as anything more than a friend." She opened her mouth as if to say more, but quickly closed it and looked around the room.

Without saying a word, Jack got up from the couch and got another glass from the cabinet. He poured a large shot of scotch and handed it to Samantha.

"Here, you look as if you need this as much as I do."

Samantha smiled gratefully and took a sip, closing her eyes as the drink warmed the back of her throat.

"I came here to sort you out, and now look what's happened. We're a right pair aren't we," said Samantha with a wry smile.

"Yeah well, nothing can sort me out. I've screwed up big time. Danny and Martin getting shot at is all down to me and I feel responsible for Viv. I screwed her over with the job, caused her untold misery, and now she's lying in a hospital bed recovering from a heart problem. My girls are hundreds of miles away from me and will probably soon forget I exist, and to cap it all, I 'screwed you and dumped you like garbage', according to Vivian. I'll give you a medal if you can sort that little lot out."

With that, Jack downed the rest of his drink and relaxed against the back of the couch. Samantha eyed him incredulously.

"You can't seriously believe that you're to blame for all of that Jack? No-one could have predicted what happened to Danny and Martin. As for Viv, she didn't want anyone to know about her heart problem. You know what she's like. She was scared that people would treat her differently, handle her with kid gloves- the last thing she would want. As for your girls, you know they'll never forget you. You're a fantastic dad to them. Give it time and patience and I'm sure it'll all work out."

She paused for a moment and covered Jack's hand with her own, looking straight into his dark, hypnotic eyes. Eyes that had been her undoing so many times.

As for you 'screwing and dumping' me, you of all people know that's not true. Sure we broke up, but we both knew that we had to. I'll admit it was tough, and yes I was heartbroken, but it was the only option open to us at the time. Viv shouldn't have said that to you, but she was obviously hurting over what happened to her and took it out on you."

With that, Samantha sat back and after a small pause, gently leaned into Jack and put her head on his shoulder. They sat like that for a few minutes, then Jack reached out his hand to turn a lamp on, casting a soft glow into the room.

"Sam, when you said that it wasn't Martin that you wanted, did you mean that you were thinking of someone else," he asked quietly, hardly daring to breathe.

Sam reluctantly lifted her head from its comfortable place on his shoulder. Wanting to maintain body contact, she took hold of his hands and squeezed them gently.

"You know, Jack, for a crack FBI agent, you're pretty clueless sometimes. Of course I was thinking of someone else. I've always had a secret crush on Danny."

He looked at her, shocked, then saw the gleam of humour in her eyes, and more. The old warmth that had been there just for him, he was sure it was there now. When she smiled and reached out to touch his cheek, the weight of months of anguish left him, pushed out by incredible joy.

"Right, just for that, you're going to get seriously punished," laughed Jack as he grabbed her and threw her backwards onto the sofa, relishing the feel of her beneath him again. With a soft smile their lips met, gently at first, but deepening quickly as their passion heightened. After a while, as they paused for breath, Jack raised himself up onto his elbows and gazed into her beautiful brown eyes.

"Stay with me tonight," he whispered, watching carefully for her reaction.

Sam smiled sweetly.

"Of course," she whispered back, pulling him to her for another kiss.