As soon as the bus pulled up outside the right stop Sam jumped off and began running as fast as she could down the quiet street that was only a couple of turns away from her house, Tom tearing after her. Their footsteps echoed and the sound ricocheted off of the houses, causing several curtains to twitch as they went by and Sam received more than one disgruntled moan or yell as she shouldered people out of the way, intent on her destination with Tom left uttering quick apologies as he, too, shouldered past.

"Sam I've had an idea about the money-"

"Not now!" Sam snapped, in no mood to listen to ideas about a boat load of money she hadn't even cashed the cheque for.

Sam bypassed the living room where Zoe was still sitting completely, running full pelt up the wooden stairs which made disturbing creaking sounds as she did so, and ran into her bedroom. She dove across her bed and grabbed her laptop, tilting the screen up to her eye line and sitting down with in on her lap.

She completely ignored Tom's questions as he entered the room, the stairs once more making bizarre groaning and creaking sounds as he leapt up them. After noticing her attention was fixated on the screen he took a seat beside her and glanced over her shoulder, coming face to face with Google maps, zooming in on a particular section of Afghanistan.

"Where's that?" He asked in a more gentle tone than he asked all those rushed questions as he finally noticed her stricken expression.

"The area my brother was posted." Sam replied, zooming in further.

"You remember that?" Tom asked with a look of surprise.

"I didn't before I flashed back on the hill." She replied, still desperately searching the terrain for some kind of landmark.

"You flashed back? What did you see?" Tom nearly shouted.

"What's going on?" Zoe asked, emerging up the now screaming stairway, "And what's with those stairs…?"

"Sam flashed back while we were out. She remembers something about her brother." Tom explained when Sam didn't answer.

"What are you looking for?" Zoe asked after standing over Sam and glancing at the laptop screen.

"I'll know when I see it…" Sam said as she narrowed her vision and continued to scan the scenery.

"Ok…." Zoe said, narrowing her eyes also and taking a seat next to Tom.

It took Sam nearly half an hour of meticulous scanning to find what she was looking for, and it was no wonder when she did find it that she went over the same spot about five times without noticing it. The army base her brother was at was so well camouflaged that from this GIS map it looked like it wasn't there, simply a slightly darker patch of sand in the Registan desert. As Sam zoomed in further she was just about able to pick out the outline of the fort, along with several tents and a main building which looked to be built out of stone.

"This is it." Sam said, jabbing the screen triumphantly.

"This is what?" Tom asked, nonplussed.

"This is where I'm heading." Sam replied simply before looking up the earliest flight she could get into Afghanistan.

"Sam slow down!" Zoe exclaimed as she rummaged around her room looking for her credit card.

"Why should I? They could be out there!" Sam shouted back after finding her card in the bedside table and returning to her laptop.

"They? Sam I get that you're worried about your brother since he hasn't made contact but…" Tom began, trying a more tactful approach than Zoe.

"My brother is dead, Tom. They killed him and now I'm going to kill them for what they did to me and to him!" Sam said through gritted teeth.

"Sam-" Began Tom in protest.

"Fine." Zoe said, finally understanding her haste, "But we're coming too."

Sam took one look at each of them, Tom's surprised but determined and concerned eyes and Zoe's harsh and otherwise unreadable expression, and decided not to argue.

"Ugh, fine. But you're paying because I haven't cashed that cheque or worked in months so I'm not made of money. Yet." Sam said as she stood up and stated throwing things into a suitcase.

"And I also hope you realize we're never in a million years going to let you kill someone." Added Tom after quickly rallying round to the idea.

"Try and stop me."

…

A couple of hours later and they were all packed and ready to go, wheeling and bouncing their luggage down the stairs. Zoe took a while longer to pack than Sam and Tom partly because she insisted on meticulously folding every item of clothing while Tom and Sam were happy chucking a few clothes in. When she finally did emerge and started coming down the stairs she was forced to dive for the ground floor as a massive crack resonated around the room and the stairs started to break apart.

"Looks like someone is going to have to stay behind." Sam said matter-of-factly as she assessed the damage.

Tom and Sam both turned to Zoe and her suspected sprained ankle.

"Fine!" Zoe quipped, "But I want you both back in one piece- not in a pine box- you hear me?"

"Got it."

…

So I figured I'd write this out instead of spending tonight dreading school…

Here's a hint about what's going to happen next- Sam meets some old friends and Sam and Tom's relationship takes goes to the next level.