Jocelyn Taggert trudged up the steps to the third floor of the apartment block having waited ten minutes for the elevator to arrive with no success. Her suitcase was overly heavy – you could never tell what the weather would be like in Chicago and she had come well prepared. Sweat prickled on her hairline and she could imagine the shine on her face and squinted against the mental image.

It may have been her imagination but she had been sure that she could feel a pair of eyes peering at her as she had exited the taxicab and a shrill shiver ran up her spine and she shuddered. She had shrugged it off when she saw a cat leap off one of the windowsills from above her and pulled her suitcase behind her.

The apartment block hallway was well kept, tidy, neat and appropriate. The walls were a deep red, the floor wooden and large colourful paintings hung from the walls as she walked down the spacious hallway. The place looked good, and she could find nothing to condone it for; except, perhaps, that it was not Luka's hallway. There was a smell in it that was unrecognised to her inept senses but she dismissed it.

As she reached the door, she heard voices within the slightly ajar door. She thought she had raised her daughter better than that. Knocking on the doorjamb lightly, she pushed the doorjamb open and stepped into the apartment, pulling her wheeled luggage with her. The apartment was spacious also, the walls and carpet neutral, the sofa covered in a thick red blanket similar to the colour in the corridor. There was still the smell of newness in it and Jocelyn scrunched her nose at the slightly stale underlining. Sam Taggert needed to open a few windows – but then, perhaps that had best be left until the storm passed.

Shaking water droplets from her hair, she called out her daughters' name.

"Sam! Sam, honey, where are you?"

Sam appeared quickly from behind a wall and Jocelyn smiled at her. The red top she was wearing was twisted to the side slightly, her hair tossed up in a messy bun.

"Mom!"

Sam ran across the wooden floor and practically jumped onto her mother, almost strangling her in the type vice grip she had around her neck.

"Good to see you, sweetie," Jocelyn said and pulled back from her daughter, holding her at arms length.

Close up, she could see that Sam had been crying – or near to it – and that there was remnants of anger in her dark brown eyes.

"Sam, what-"

"Hey there Mrs Taggert," a voice said from behind Sam and Jocelyn frowned at Sam and leaned to the side to see past Sam's shoulder.

"Doctor Carter." Her voice had been more crisp than she had intended and she saw Sam raise her eyebrow at her.

"Please, call me Carter. Coffee?" He smiled and Jocelyn instantly melted. She didn't know if it was possible to be mad at him when he turned on his boyish grin.

Jocelyn nodded and moved past Sam, towards the sofa.

"That would be great," she exaggerated a sigh as she flopped onto one of the large cushions and she automatically reached out to the blanket to fold it up. "Looks like quite the storms coming in, got here just in time."

Sam nodded and looked to Carter and Jocelyn caught the edge of a frown.

"Yeah. Shouldn't be long until it gets here… Speaking of getting here… I didn't know you were coming."

Carter left the lounge room and Jocelyn heard him banging about in the kitchen. He seemed to know his way around Sam's new apartment pretty well, Jocelyn thought and frowned to the ground.

"I told you last time I called that I was planning on coming to see you."

"Yes," Sam sighed and stood in front of the coffee table, looking out of the window frowning. "Yeah, you just never told me you would be here so soon. A little warning would have been nice; I don't have the spare room set up yet."

Jocelyn smiled tightly and shook her head.

"That's all right, we'll set it up later on tonight after Carter leaves. That is, if he is leaving." She couldn't help it. It just slipped out.

"Mother!" Sam hissed and snapped her head towards her. "What the… I actually have no idea what to say to that."

There was a tense silence between them and Jocelyn pursed her lips before raising her eyes to meet Sam's.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that."

"Yeah, you're right."

At that moment, Carter came back into the room with two steaming cups and placed one in front of Jocelyn and handed the other to Sam before moving back to the kitchen only to appear moments later with a third cup.

"So…" Jocelyn spoke after a few seconds of silence, after a sip of strong coffee that had no sugar in it. "Where's Luka?"

At that, Sam let out a deep breath, pulled her bottom lip into her mouth, and made a strange clucking sound.

"He's in Croatia," Carter answered and Jocelyn frowned. "His mother is sick," he finished by way of explanation and Jocelyn nodded.

"Goodness, what's wrong with her? Nothing serious, I hope."

She never knew how to react when it came to hearing of other peoples' misfortune.

"As I was telling John before you came in," Sam began and Jocelyn processed Sam's use of 'John': she couldn't help it. Her radar was constantly on. "His mother has end stage emphysema, the doctors don't think she has long to go." Had Sam lost weight? "You know, it's ridiculous." Jocelyn thought she had. "I don't even know his mother's fucking name. It's like 'his mother', 'his cousin' – and he's the one who complains that I don't talk. I'm sick of it. I'm sick of him blaming everything on me!"

Whoa! Jocelyn's mind supplied. Information overload. What the hell was going on?

"What's going on?" Jocelyn asked confused as she sat her coffee cup down on the tabletop just as the first crack of lightning pierced the sky.

Glancing out of the window, Jocelyn could see the sky still alight and she saw Sam stiffen. Her daughter had never been a fan of storms.

"Luka's in Croatia," Carter spoke again and Jocelyn glared up at him.

"Yeah, I got that part."

Carter jutted out his jaw and smiled apologetically at Jocelyn before moving towards Sam and laying his hand on her shoulder. Sam turned towards him and smiled, visibly relaxing under his touch.

"He didn't tell me he was leaving. Called me from London to tell me but he managed to tell Abby – in person! – before he left," Sam replied curtly and nodded her head in anger as tears jumped into her eyes. "I don't even know why I'm crying," she snuffled angrily, swiping at her nose with her sleeve. "I hate him; I hate the way he does this to me."

Jocelyn made an 'O' with her lips and glanced to Carter hoping that he would get the hint and make his way home.

"Well," Carter cleared his throat and moved towards the back of the sofa to retrieve his coat. "I better get going if I want to get to the hospital on time. You know what the roads are like in this weather."

Sam turned to him in confusion but stood up and smiled none the less.

"I'll see you in the morning?"

"Yep," he replied as he reached out to touch her elbow and kiss her cheek.

Jocelyn was not impressed.

"Bye," Sam called as he opened the door to her apartment and he turned to her and winked before waving to Jocelyn and leaving the apartment. When Sam turned back around, Jocelyn was looking at her with a raised eyebrow. "What?"

Across the street, Steve grinned. Now was his chance to scare her. Laying down the binoculars that he had... acquired, he pulled his bright yellow plastic coat on and ran downstairs just in time to see Carter walking hurriedly down the street towards the EL station.

He followed quickly behind him, knowing that the now pounding rain would shield him and he could walk as close as he wanted – smell the dick's aftershave if he wanted.

Tonight was the night.

TBC