Disclaimer: Anything recognizable from Walker or SOT belongs to TopKick Productions. Anything else is mine.

Author's Notes: This is in response to the Fanfic Challenge from SOTFS' Gayle and while Sam doesn't actually save the guys, she does get to kick some serious butt!!

The courier looked up at the building and then to the address on the package. This was the place. He climbed the stairs and knocked on the door.

"C'mon in." Kim was sitting behind her computer, typing. "Can I help you?" she said as she looked up.

"I've got a package for a T. Malloy and C. Sandoval."

"They're not here. Can I sign for it?"

"Sure," the courier said. "Just make sure you refrigerate it until they get it, okay?"

"Really?" Kim was intrigued. "What is it?"

"I don't know. I just know that it's perishable." He gave Kim the clipboard to sign and then bid her good-bye.

Kim shook the package as she walked back to the fridge in the office. The guys had called to say they were on their way back from Houston and would be there shortly. Her curiosity would have to wait.

"Hi, Kim," Carlos called as he and Trent walked into the office twenty minutes later.

"Hi guys. How was Houston?"

"Good," Trent answered. "We found out that Bill Jackson was headed back here to Dallas."

"He definitely knows we're on his trail," Carlos added.

"Why would he come back to Dallas?" Kim asked.

"This is where his connection is. He must be selling the info to someone here after Houston fell through," Trent told her. They had been working hard to track a man who had been suspected of stealing research information from a laboratory where he had worked.

"Oh! I almost forgot! There is a package for you guys." Kim quickly retrieved the package and handed it to Carlos.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I don't know, but it is perishable. Open it." Carlos tore open the package and found a tupperware container inside with a note. He handed the note to Trent.

Trent read, "Thanks for everything, Tina Lopez". He looked up at Carlos. "What is it?"

"Homemade blueberry muffins," said Carlos, with a smile.

"Wow! Aren't you two lucky?" Kim said.

"Here have one," offered Trent, as he and Carlos helped themselves.

"No, thanks. I had a big lunch. Go ahead." Kim smiled. "I guess the divorce is going well for her." Tina Lopez had hired the guys to trail her husband. Trent had taken pictures of her husband Jose entering a motel room with his secretary and had provided Tina grounds for a big divorce settlement.

"Actually, I have to give a deposition for her tomorrow," Trent reminded them.

"These are great," Carlos said between mouthfuls.

"Well, you eat them then, Carlos. Trent has dinner plans for tonight," Kim told them.

"I do?" asked Trent, taking another bite of a muffin.

"Yes. Sam called. She figured you wouldn't remember." Kim said laughingly. "She's got the faculty dinner tonight. She'll be here to pick you up in...." Kim looked at the clock. "...Ten minutes."

"She's right. I did forget. Well, buddy, just save me some for later."

"Sorry. You snooze, you lose." Carlos laughed. "I guess I can leave you one or two. I'll put them back into the fridge."

"I'll call Tina and thank her," Trent said as he headed into the back office. He reached an answering machine and left a message, thanking Tina for the muffins.

"Hi everyone," Sam said as she walked into the office. Trent was just coming out of the back office. "Ready to go?" she asked him.

"Do I have time to go home and change?"

"Here." Sam handed Trent a gym bag. "I figured you would need these." Sam had stopped and gotten Trent a change of clothes.

"Are you wonderful or what?" Trent said laughingly.

"Yeah, well, you still have to go to this." She smiled at Trent as he tried to look hurt. He once again headed into the back room. "So how are things going, guys?" Sam asked Kim and Carlos.

"Great! We got muffins!" Carlos said with a smile.

"Someone sure knows how to get your attention, eh, Carlos?" Sam laughed.

"Here, have one. They are great." Carlos held up the container for Sam.

"No thanks. I'm too nervous to eat. The heads of the school are going to be there tonight."

"Eek. Good luck," said Kim.

"How's that?" asked Trent as he came out of the back room for a final time.

"Great! Let's go." They bid Kim and Carlos good-bye and left. Carlos put the container back into the refrigerator and bid farewell to Kim as well.

As Kim sat finishing up her typing, the phone rang.

"Thunder Investigations, Kim speaking."

"Hi Kim, it's Tina Lopez. I just got Trent's message. What muffins?"

"We got a package of blueberry muffins and the note said it was from you," Kim explained.

"I don't know what to say, Kim. I appreciate all they did for me but I never sent them any muffins."

"Oh, well, there must have been some mistake. Sorry to have bothered you, Mrs Lopez." Kim's mind was racing. Who would have sent them the muffins with Mrs Lopez' name and why?

"No problem, Kim. Please tell Trent I will see him tomorrow. Take care." Kim said good-bye and hung up the phone. She fetched the paper out of the garbage and put it with the note. She would talk to the guys about it in the morning.

Trent was talking to Sam's faculty advisor, Andrew Jones when it hit him. His head started to pound and his eyes began to blur.

"Are you okay, Trent?" Andrew asked.

"Yes. Excuse me." Trent just made it to the men's room before he saw his supper again. Soon, he was having a difficult time breathing.

"Call 911!" Sam yelled as she and Andrew had come to check on Trent. "Hang on, Trent."

Sam was pacing. Trent had been admitted quickly after they had arrived but no one had come to tell her anything more. Then, she heard the booming voice and looked around the corner.

"Butch? What are you doing here?" she exclaimed as she saw the ex-prize fighter at the nurse's station.

"Hey, Sam. I just brought Carlos in. Strangest thing. He was sitting at the bar and then he just almost couldn't breathe. Now, I'm just trying to find out what's going on."

"Butch, I just brought Trent in with the same problem. Something is definitely wrong." At that moment, the doctor appeared.

"Hi, Butch. Let's go talk." He took a few steps away from the station and turned to Butch. Sam had followed. "It definitely looks like severe food poisoning. They just told me someone else was brought in."

"Yes, Doctor," Sam interrupted. "I brought him in. His name is Trent Malloy and he and Carlos are business partners."

"Can you find out if they ate together today and where?" the doctor asked, addressing Sam. "I'll need to know if it was a restaurant and if I can expect more people like this."

"I'll call their office manager. She should know where they've been. I do know they were in Houston but I don't know if they ate there."

"Okay. I'll go check on Mr. Malloy."

"Thanks, Doc," Butch said, as Sam dialed her cell phone.

"Hi, Kim. I'm at the hospital and I need your help.....Trent and Carlos seem to both have food poisoning....I'n not sure. They haven't told us much......Do you know where they ate today?" Sam asked. Kim reminded Sam about the muffins and told her about the call from Tina Lopez. She told Sam she would get the muffins from the office and bring them to the hospital.

"Someone poisoned them, Butch." Sam said, as she hung up the phone.

"What? Now, don't be jumpin' to conclusions. Maybe, it was just a bad restaurant in Houston."

"They got a package of muffins today and Kim just told me the women who supposedly sent the muffins knew nothing about them. Now they are deathly ill and I don't think it's a coincidence." Sam was worried about her friends.

"Let's just wait and see. Let's go sit."

Kim arrived within half an hour, bringing the muffins with her. She gave them to the lab for analysis and joined Sam and Butch in the waiting room.

After what seemed like an eternity, the doctor finally came to talk to them.

"We've taken blood tests from both Mr. Malloy and Mr. Sandoval and tested the muffins. Everything is consistent with botulism. It was in a very high concentration in the muffins and to tell you the truth, I'm not sure it could have been accidental."

"So now what?" Sam asked.

"Well, we are treating them with IV antibiotics. Mr Sandoval seems to be the worse off and we've got him on a respirator as a precaution. You might want to think about involving the police."

"Can we see them?" Sam asked.

"Yes but just briefly. They are on some pretty powerful antibiotics and we have to watch for secondary infections. We put them together in a quarantined area until for now but we will probably move them to a ward room later. Follow me." The doctor led them to a quiet area of the hospital.

"Hi," said Sam, going to Trent's side. Kim and Butch followed.

"Hi," he said weakly. "That's Carlos, isn't it?" Sam nodded. "What happened?"

"Well, you sure made for good conversation at the faculty dinner," Sam said, smiling. Trent tried to return her smile. "Seriously, we think y'all were poisoned. Tina Lopez never sent those muffins and they were laced with botulism bacteria."

"How's Carlos? He had more than I did." Trent tried to lift his head off the pillow to see his friend but he couldn't. Sam gently brushed the hair out of his face.

"He's hanging in there. They've got him on a respirator as a precaution."

"I have to get out of here....find out who did this." Trent tried again to sit up. Sam put a hand on his chest.

"No, you aren't going anywhere. You need to rest and give your body a chance to fight this. I'll call Det. Ryan and he'll find out who did this." Sam kissed him on the forehead. "I mean it...rest. I'll come back to see you tomorrow, okay?" She left Butch and Kim to talk to Trent as she went over to see Carlos, who was heavily sedated. She kissed him on the cheek and whispered, "We'll find out who did this Carlos. You hang in there."

Ten minutes later, Sam was standing in the hall with Kim when Ryan arrived. Butch had left for Uppercuts, with a promise from Kim to keep him updated.

"What's going on?" Ryan asked.

"Trent and Carlos have been poisoned," Sam told him.

"I'm surprised it took someone this long to do it," he said, smiling. Sam was not impressed.

"I mean it, Ryan. Someone sent them muffins laced with botulism."

"Muffins? You're kidding me right?" The little man couldn't believe his ears.

"No. We brought them into the hospital and they tested them." Sam was getting angry as it was obvious Ryan wasn't taking this seriously.

"Couldn't it just have been poor cooking?"

"The doctor said the concentration was too high."

"Well, Peanut, we'll just have to test those muffins at the police lab. Could be the person who sen them was just a bad cook. I don't want to jump to conclusions."

"Ryan, the women whose name was on the card said she didn't now anything about it."

"Maybe she was just too embarrassed to admit she poisoned them with her cooking," Ryan said laughing. Sam had finally had enough.

"Are you going to investigate this or not?" she asked, her tone dripping with ice.

"We'll analyze the muffins and then we'll decide. May take a day or two." Ryan started to walk away.

"My two best friends are in there. If you don't investigate, I will." Sam's ultimatum stopped Ryan in his tracks. He turned to face her.

"You are not a licenced PI. I don't want you messing around in an ongoing investigation." He was in Sam's face now. "You do and I'll throw you in jail for obstruction or have you deported." He turned and marched down the hall.

"That arrogant son of a........" Sam was so angry she could see red.

"Sam, calm down." Kim put a hand on Sam's arm.

"Kim, starting tomorrow, we've got work to do." Sam voice was determined.

"How did I know you were going to say that?" A smile flashed across Kim's face. "Let's do it."