A/N: Thank you guys so much for the support...I hope you all stick with it after you read this chapter.

The rest of the day was spent in good company. William and Helen did their best to involve Sam in the conversations and activities; Priscilla was happy to have another girl around in the house full of boys; Andrew, Luke and Adam kept on teasing Jack about his relationship with Sam, but after a while Joel put a stop to that by reminding each one of his younger brothers that they didn't have girls of their own and should stop teasing Jack for getting the dream girl.

When William said the blessing over the meal and Helen started passing plates around the table, Sam looked down sadly, remembering the last Thanksgiving she had shared with her mother.

Tears came unbidden to her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. Joel squeezed her hand from her right, "You okay, Sam?" the soon-to-be-rabbinical-student asked quietly, not wanting to draw unwanted attention to his brother's girlfriend.

Sam nodded, with a reassuring smile at Joel. "I'm fine. Just hormonal, I guess."

The older man made a face at that, causing Sam to laugh – he was just so much like Jack. Speaking of Jack, the eighteen-year-old was sitting on Sam's other side and shot a glare at his older brother. Sam was his girlfriend, after all, not Joel's.

Will and Helen watched the interaction carefully, both wondering what was going on in their oldest sons' minds that would cause them to act like that. Little did they know that possibly the only comforting thing about Joel in the eyes of Sam was that he reminded her so much of Mark, her own absentee brother.

"Thanks for inviting me, Jack, I had a really good time," Sam said as Jack pulled up to her apartment building.

"Yeah," Jack half smiled, "I hope Joel wasn't too overbearing tonight at the table."

Sam shook her head, Jack's behavior at the table and afterward now making complete sense, "No, he wasn't. Actually, he reminds me a lot of Mark…how Mark used to be before…" she shook her head again to clear away those thoughts. Leaning over to Jack, she kissed him soundly before pulling back, "I had a wonderful time, Jack. Thank you."

Jack smiled dumbly at her, "Can I walk you to your door?"

Sam grinned, loving his chivalrous nature, "Sure."

After locking the car, they walked up the stairs to Sam's apartment in compatible silence, each just enjoying the company of the other. It wasn't until they were nearly on top of the young woman hidden in the shadows shrouding Sam's hallway that they saw the gun she held.

Sam's eyes went wide as her body went into shock, unable to move or look away from the teen in front of her. Jack recognized her immediately as his ex-girlfriend, Carrie Smith. When she pointed the gun at Sam, Jack immediately moved to cover his girlfriend, but Carrie was too fast in her firing – the bullet passed through Jack's arm and into Sam's chest.

Carrie looked at Jack as he fell next to the still form of Sam. "Damn it, Jack. I didn't want to hurt you." Jack's eyes went wide as she turned the gun from him to her own head, "I guess it's too late now," and she fired a shot, silencing all else.

"Oh my God!" the woman who lived across the hall from Sam said as she ran out of her apartment to see what was going on. She felt for a pulse on Carrie, and finding none then went to check Jack.

"Help Sam," he said, pointing to Sam's motionless body. He grabbed at his arm, putting pressure on the wound as darkness tried to claim him.

"Are you alright?" another woman asked as more and more ventured out of their homes to find out what was wrong with the nice new girl who had just moved in a month before. "Oh my God! Judy! Call 9-1-1! Hurry! They're both bleeding real bad!"

Jack fumbled in his pocket for his wallet. When he finally got it out, he dropped it on the floor, his body unable to respond to most of his commands. The woman who'd yelled for 'Judy' bent close to him, trying to pick up what he was saying through the fog of pain. "C-call, General O'Nei..O'Neill."

She nodded, "It's going to be okay. Just hang in there."

Jack couldn't help it. The pain was too much. The darkness the beckoned him seemed so inviting…he went toward it just as the ambulance was pulling up outside.

Peter Sahlberg turned on the eleven o'clock news as his wife finished putting the leftovers away.

The news reporter looked at the screen with wide eyes, "Breaking news. We've just learned that there was a shooting a few hours ago in the Riverside Apartment Complex. A young woman shot a young man and another young woman at point blank range. No names have been released yet. After shooting both of her victims, the gunman then committed suicide. Both victims were admitted into St. Joseph's Hospital one and a half hours ago. The female victim is in critical condition after being shot in the chest, and the male victim is undergoing surgery on the broken bone in his right arm.

"The only information being given out by police right now is that all three involved went to the same school, and that the two victims are the children of Air Force officers. Stay tuned for more."

"Anne," Peter called out to his wife. She was standing right behind his chair, having walked in half way through the report. "Anne?" Peter looked up at his wife, noticing the blood drain from her face.

Anne Sahlberg felt only terror at the words she had just heard. Children of Air Force officers. How was that possible? Oh, God, she needed to sit down. "The keys…I need the keys."

"Anne, what are you thinking?"

"What hospital are they at?"

"St. Joseph's." At the look of determination on his wife's face (he knew from experience that she was very stubborn and treated her students like children) he added, "Come on, I'll drive."

A/N: Okay, I'm ready to take the screams. Bring it on! ...In the form of reviews, of course.