A/N: Thanks so much for reviewing. Life's getting a little ... interesting right now to say the least - my mom just informed me yesterday that she's planning on adopting a baby boy who's about two weeks old, but he was born at 27 weeks and no one wants him. Sad, I know. So my mind is really focused on that right now and I don't have very much time to write.

Claire looked between the two women, "Wait, you two know each other?"

Mare nodded, "We went to the same high school."

Sam glared at her slightly beneath her mask of cool neutrality. "You could say that," she said at the same time.

"Okay I got ten movies to choose from and two pizzas, I think we're set for the night," Janet said as she walked into the house, unaware of the glare off taking place in her living room between the two women.

"Hello?" Janet said, walking into the room. She looked back and forth between Sam and Mare, "What's going on?"

It was Claire who ended up answering Janet, "It seems they went to the same high school, Janet. Don't ask me what this is about, I don't have a clue."

Janet dropped the bags and boxes on the coffee table before sitting down next to Sam and motioning for Mare to take the recliner. "What's going on?"

Mare smiled slightly at Janet, breaking eye contact with Sam, "Nothing, Jan. Just some old memories."

"Nightmares you mean, Mare," Sam near spat at the other woman.

Mare rolled her eyes, "I wasn't there, Sam. I wasn't even involved with that! Why can't you understand that?"

Sam couldn't stop herself, "I can't even understand why Carrie shot me on Thanksgiving, Hernandez! Let alone can I even begin to understand why Ola thought it was her duty to finish the job! You're the only one who can answer those questions, Mare!"

Mare took in a shaky breath and quietly said, "No, Sam, I can't. I was never in the Group. Ola and Carrie were – and look where it got them? Carrie's dead and Ola's serving a live sentence. Jack was – and he was almost killed twice. I never joined."

Sam raised her eyebrows, "That's bull crap, Mare. The judge and both attorneys proved that in the case. I've only just wanted to know why they marked me as a target. What the hell did I do to them?"

Mare Hernandez knew she couldn't lie to Sam. She also knew that there would be a lot of questions popping up about it between their two silent witnesses: Claire and Janet. Tears filled her eyes as she told Sam what she'd been wondering since that fateful day when they were sixteen, "You were targeted because you got involved with Jack. Carrie was the only thing keeping him in the Group, but when you showed up and he left … they wanted to hurt him. And they knew they do it through you. That's why you were targeted, Sam. I'm sorry."

Sam's smile was full of anger and frustration, "I guess you have nothing to be sorry about, Mare. You weren't even there when Ola took her shot. You know, they told me that if that guy hadn't pushed me out of the way it would have ended up in the same place that Carrie's did."

Mare nodded, "Yeah, I heard that." They were all silent for a minute before Janet broke the silence.

"If you don't mind me asking, Sam, where were you shot?"

It was a common enough question to those who knew she had been shot. "I'll show you," she said with a slight smile.

Her shirt was one of Jack's button-up cotton shirts, so it only took a few moments for Sam to unbutton the top three buttons and reveal her camisole that revealed the scar left by the bullet and the resulting surgery. Mare gasped when she saw it, "I didn't realize how close to your heart it was."

Sam's smile was distant and sad, "Yeah. I was in a coma for almost two weeks, Mare. It still hurts sometimes."

"How long ago was that?" Claire asked as Sam buttoned up her shirt again.

"Five years ago," Sam said as if it was nothing. "Now, come on. I'm starving."

"So, Sam, how's Jack?" Mare asked after the four had finished two movies and had moved on to 'girl talk'.

Sam shrugged, "He's … Jack. Nothing new, really. He's become Mr. Popular at Peterson ever since I had to pick him up from work one day last month."

"What happened to his car?" Claire asked, getting another slice of pizza.

Sam smirked, "He decided to play mechanic and took apart some things he shouldn't have because he couldn't put them together again. It was at the shop getting fixed by a real mechanic."

Janet snorted in laughter and soon all of them where laughing at Sam's fiancé's attitude that he could do everything himself.

"Where are you going to get your Ph.D. at?" Claire asked. She had been wondering ever since Sam told her that was what she planned to do.

"The Air Force science and technology school."

"Is Jack okay with that?" Janet asked, curious about their plans together.

Sam smiled softly, "He says he is, but I don't think he cares for the idea that much. But he told me he wouldn't hold me back from my career, and that's what I want to do. No matter what he feels, he'll deal. That's why I love him so much."

"So, how is it that you guys are living together? I thought you had to live at the Academy?" Mare asked, curious how it had happened.

Sam grinned, "Funny story, actually. You see, when he was in his third year and I was in my first … my dad bought me a house down here for vacations. I'm technically living in the Sijan Hall but that's where Jack's living right now and that's where I stay whenever we get time off."

Claire smiled, "That's sweet."

"Why aren't you guys married, yet?" was Mare's next question. "I mean, you've been engaged since you were sixteen, Sam!"

"SIXTEEN! That's a little extreme, don't you think?" Claire asked, herself only being nineteen, couldn't imagine making that kind of commitment so young.

"We're only engaged, Claire. He asked me as soon as he was sure. And I commend him for that. He has guts."

"What do you mean?" Janet asked.

"He asked me a little less than a month after I was shot by his ex-girlfriend. And he asked knowing that we'd have to wait at least until he graduated from the Academy."

"So … why aren't you married yet?" Janet asked, now equally confused as Mare and Claire were at Sam and Jack's … interesting relationship.

She grinned slyly, "I want to graduate from the Academy first and Jack agrees that it would be best. So we wait."

"You got some last night, didn't you?" Janet asked, noticing the look in Sam's eye.

Sam looked at her watch, avoiding the question entirely, "Oh, crap! I've got to go. This was really great, Janet. Thanks for inviting me. It was nice to meet you, Claire … And it was good to see you again, Mare. You've matured a lot since high school."

"Bye, Sam."

A/N: So? Do you like my portrayal of Mare and Claire and Janet?