Chapter Two: Finding Sam

Sam shivered once again in the cold, her tears freezing to her cheeks, as her breath puffed in front of her in small white bursts. Her lips were turning blue around the edges and she could no longer feel her fingers or toes.

Hypothermia wasn't far away, and Sam could feel the cold seeping further into her, chilling ever her bones.

Danny looked at the woman before him, with pity and shame. He had killed her father.

flashback

Eighteen year old Danny was inexperienced but somehow the Army saw potential in him. Especially one Captain MacLain.

Captain MacLain had taken Danny under his wing in Danny's first days of training. After Danny had taken the placement test and been assigned to the secret program Captain MacLain had treated Danny like a son. Danny thought of Captain MacLain as one of the only decent people he had ever met.

Until Danny killed him, Danny couldn't have asked for a better mentor.

It was dark, pitch black against the snow that would be blinding in the daytime. Danny huddled down against the side of the building, waiting for his target to appear.

When the large figure of a man stepped onto the porch of the cabin, Danny took perfect aim, firing once, killing the man. It wasn't for several minutes that Danny realized his mistake.

That was the first and only time Danny had taken an innocent life.

End Flashback

"I'm sorry Ember, for what I have done. It was my mistake that cost your father his life, and for that I will never be able to forgive myself. Think about what you are doing to Sam, an innocent. Do you want to turn out like me, Ember?"

Ember stood silently for a moment before hanging her head. "I'm sorry, Daniel. But this is payback. You killed someone I cared about; it's only fair to kill someone you care about."

"Damnit! Ember, your father was my mentor! You think I didn't care about him? He was the second father I had lost!"

His words must have made contact with Ember's grief addled mind.

"I'm so sorry, Danny. Sam's in the basement of a condemned building on 43rd Street." She tossed Danny a set of keys. "You'll need these."

"Ember…I really am sorry." She nodded as he ran to find Sam.

Sam was cold, so cold. Her mind could no longer process anything besides the cold. Her lips were completely blue, her fingers and toes turning a dark shade of purple at the tips.

She was so cold she wouldn't remember Danny running down the stairs, unlocking her, freeing her from her frozen prison.

It wouldn't be until later, much later, that she would learn the full truth behind what had happened.

Danny sat beside Sam's hospital bed, holding her now warm hand. For the amount of exposure Sam had suffered, she had taken not many ill effects. She had mild frostbite on one of her fingertips and was severely cold for several days, but she pulled through with remarkable tenacity.

Danny was thankful.

"I love you, Sam." Danny said to the sleeping woman.