Danny glared at the Agent barring the door of Maggie's hospital room, 'You gonna move buddy or are you looking to take a shower in this coffee? He raised the cardboard tray in his hand with the three cups of coffee sitting on it and waved it under the Agent's nose.

The Agent stood his ground, his arms crossed, a sneer on his face…………..

'Is there a problem?'

Danny turned to see Victor striding along the corridor accompanied by Jack and a man he didn't recognise.

The Agent seemed to deflate like a punctured balloon, 'er no sir, no problem at all' he moved his head trying to avoid the glee in Danny's eyes

Victor, Jack and the other man stopped in front of the Agent who moved quickly aside; the other man grabbed the Agent by the arm and dragged him a short way down the corridor where he began to berate him in a low voice.

Danny grinned at Jack, 'that was a timely arrival'

Jack raised an eyebrow, 'well it certainly stopped him ending up with 3rd degree burns'

Danny shrugged his shoulders and nodded his head in the direction of the man berating the Agent, 'who's that?'

'Tom Holden, he's heading up the investigation into Henry Saunders; seems to think that you compromised his investigation when you interviewed Saunders'

'Yeah?

'Yeah' Jack paused for a moment then nodded his head in the direction of the hospital room, 'how's Maggie?'

'She's restless; she hasn't woken up yet but the Doctor thinks that she is likely to in the next couple of hours'

Jack stared through the door at the figure sat by Maggie's side, 'how's Martin?'

Danny shook his head, 'I don't know how he's kept it together, particularly since he's had to cope with his parents being here; Sam reckons he was about ready to kill them this afternoon, but he's OK' he paused and grinned at Jack, 'although you won't be his favourite person,……bringing Victor back.'

Jack threw Danny a sour look, 'you think I had a choice?' he hesitated, and then peering into the room asked carefully, 'is Sam in there? How's she doing?'

He saw the appraising look that Danny gave him and heard the slight pause before he answered; 'She's on the couch in the corner; she took a hard knock to the head and needed some stitches; she's very tired but she wouldn't leave Martin until there was someone to stay with him.'

Jack nodded, then without looking at Danny, 'I'll run her back to her apartment'

He could feel Danny's eyes on him and turned to see a far from enthusiastic look on his face as he heard this suggestion. He could see that Danny was trying to think of a suitable response and waited………..

'Look Jack, if Sam is happy for you to run her back then that's fine but if she say's she's not then you are going to have to let me do it' Danny held Jack's eye's without flinching

Jack nodded; before he could say anything Tom Holden arrived at their side; Jack could see the other Agent heading down the corridor toward the elevator.

Holden eyed Danny in an unfriendly manner, 'this is Agent Taylor I assume'

Jack and Danny exchanged glances; from the look on his face Jack guessed that Danny was about to say something less than tactful and intervened before he could

'You had better take those coffees in to Martin and Sam before they get cold' the warning tone in his voice stopped the heated words about to spill forth from Danny's mouth; Jack bit his lip to stop himself laughing at the contemptuous look Danny threw at Holden before he headed into the room with the coffees.

He turned to Holden; 'lay off Danny Taylor, you know and I know he had nothing to do with compromising your investigation; you managed that all by yourself. If I hear that you've threatened or in any way attempted to intimidate him I'll have your balls' he turned and walked into the room leaving Holden open mouthed with shock.

Walking into the room Jack could see how tired everyone was; Martin was white faced and haggard but Jack knew that had as much to do with worry as it had to do with tiredness; Danny was sitting on the couch next to Sam rubbing his face with his hands in an attempt to stay awake and Sam…………. Jack felt a jolt of fear run through him as he took in her white face, the stitches in her forehead and the blood……………….

'What the………..just how badly were you hurt?' the fear he felt made him speak harshly and he saw the hurt in her eyes and the anger in Danny's. She met his gaze and he saw the hurt replaced with something else he couldn't quite place a finger on.

'Jack…….' Danny's tone sounded a warning but he stopped as Sam placed a hand on his sleeve. Jack could see Victor looking at him with raised eyebrows and saw that even Martin had turned around and was looking between him and Sam, concern showing on his face.

Sam stood up and walked toward him, 'Jack, I'm OK, really I am, I just need to go home and rest', she laid her arm on his sleeve and met his worried stare. For a long moment they stood looking at each other then Jack turned to look at Danny

'I'm going to run Sam home; are you OK here?'

Danny didn't answer; instead he looked at Sam, a question in his eyes. Whatever he saw in hers seemed to make him relax slightly and he nodded briefly at Jack, 'Sure, I'll stay with Martin'

'That won't be necessary', Tom Holden spoke sharply, 'Agent Fitzgerald will have his father here and I'll be here as well. Agent Taylor should go home and get some sleep'

'Who the hell are you to say who stays in this hospital room and who doesn't' Martin stood up, clearly furious and Danny stood quickly and placed himself between Martin and Holden just in time to stop Martin launching himself at him.

Holden stepped back, shocked at Martin's aggression and sat down abruptly on the floor as he tripped over Sam's foot.

'Sorry about that' she didn't sound sorry in the slightest.

Victor seemed to come to life, 'Get out'; he towered over Holden and Holden gaped at him

'She's the main witness in a Federal investigation; I have to interview her as soon as possible if we are going to find out what she knows'

'For god's sake man, she's unconscious and even when she comes around she's hardly likely to be in a fit state to talk to you for a while. Anyway, with me, Martin and Agent Taylor she's got three Federal Agents looking out for her which is more than enough. Now get out and you'll be notified when she is able to talk to you' Victor was clearly exerting a huge amount of self control to avoid shouting but the effect was the same. Holden scrambled to his feet, flinching slightly as Martin surged forward against Danny's grasp in an attempt to reach him.

Turning with as much dignity as he could manage he left the room. Silence followed his departure then Victor turned to look at Sam

'I take it that was an accident Ms Spade'

Sam smiled weakly, 'You know sir I must be feeling worse than I thought, I just didn't see him'

'Hmm' Victor was having trouble keeping the smile from his face; he turned to Martin, opened his mouth to say something but seeing the look in his eyes stopped and obviously thought better of it.

'Come on then' Jack looked at Sam and then at Martin, 'you'll call me if you need to?'

Martin nodded; he hugged Sam and Jack could hear him whisper 'Thanks, I would never have got through today without you and Danny'

Jack watched as Sam hugged him back then hugged Danny; 'see you both in the morning'

She turned and headed out of the door with Jack following. Danny and Martin looked briefly at each other

'Right I'm going to get a coffee and to make some calls, I won't be too long'; without waiting for a response from either Martin or Danny Victor headed out of the room.

Martin sighed, 'thank god for that' he looked at Danny but Danny wasn't looking at him, instead he was staring at Maggie

'Martin' his voice caught, and Martin turned to stare at the bed…………

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sam sat with her eyes closed and her head back as Jack drove them to her apartment. He hadn't said a word since they had left the hospital which she was grateful for.

She felt the car stop and she opened her eyes, surprised to see that they had arrived. Jack jumped out of the car and came around and opened her door for her, his hand steadying her as she climbed out and stumbled slightly.

'Thanks'; she didn't move away from his grasp and she felt him shift slightly so that he had one arm around her shoulders and one hand holding her arm as he walked her up the steps to the front door. It felt strange to have his arms around her again, strange but nice, comfortable…..safe.

He looked at her and then smiled when she looked blankly back at him

'Keys?'

'Oh….yes, in my bag'

He took the bag from her and she felt a sudden chill run through her as she lost the warmth of his arm from around her shoulder. He looked at her

'You cold?'

She shook her head; 'no, just tired'

He produced the key, opened the door and held it so she could walk inside. They reached the door to her apartment and he opened that too and led her inside. She heard the door close and could feel him stood behind her; she could sense his uncertainty….

'I think I'm going to have a shower, I need to get rid of all this blood….' She gestured toward the bloodstained shirt, 'do you want to make yourself a drink?'

He nodded and smiled hesitantly at her, 'sure, do you want one?'

'A coffee would be good, there's some decaf in there somewhere' she watched as he headed toward the kitchen then turned and went into the bedroom.

When she came out after her shower he was sitting on the couch reading a magazine, his jacket over the chair. He stood up when he heard her come into the room, the slightly hesitant, uncertain look back on his face again; 'Your coffee's here' he indicated toward the mug sitting on the table, 'how are you feeling?'

Sam picked up the mug, wrapping her hands around it and clutching it to her, 'better for having a shower',

He sat back down on the couch but he was sitting forward, on its edge. She sat down next to him, their legs inches apart as she too sat on the edge, still clutching her coffee. For a long time they sat in silence then Jack turned his head very slightly

'I really am sorry about Monday; I was pig headed and insensitive and………….' His voice trailed away for a moment then, 'but I don't know what to do about how I feel about you'

She turned to look at him, shocked by the rawness of his voice and the tears she could see starting to form in his eyes

'I don't know what to do either' she spoke in a whisper and felt him put his arm around her as she let her head sink onto his shoulder as they both sat back on the couch.

They sat like that for a while; Sam could hear his heart beating, it's rhythm soothing her; she could feel her eyes growing heavy……

'Hey, you need to get some sleep', Jack moved prompting a mew of protest from Sam's lips as her comfortable half slumber was disturbed. He stood up and held out his hand to her;

'Come on' he took her offered hand and pulled her up and then led her into the bedroom. He led her up to the bed and pulled the covers back,

'I'll sleep on the couch, is your spare bedding still in the same cupboard?' he moved across the room to the cupboard and looked back at her, waiting for her answer

'No'

He stopped and turned, 'OK, where is it then?'

She shook her head impatiently, ignoring the pain that the movement caused; 'No, I mean don't sleep on the couch'

'The Doctor said someone had to stay with you' he spoke patiently but his face looked confused

'Well then, stay with me, but not on the couch. Stay here'

He stared at her for a moment then, doubtfully, 'you want me to sleep in the bed with you?'

'Yes'

He came back across the room to stand in front of her, his eyes searching hers, trying to understand what was happening. Sam climbed into bed and pulled the covers back for him; he hesitated for a moment then kicked off his shoes, pulled off his tie and lay down next to her, still in his shirt and pants. She turned so her back was to him but reached behind and found his arm and pulled it over her so that they were spooning. She could feel the tension in him slowly go and his breath in her hair as she fell asleep.