"What happened?" Jess asked, excitedly. "Was everyone okay?"

Trent smiled and stole a glimpse at the woman at the end of the bar. He knew she had been listening.

**

"Carlos, can I go now?" The blond man sat slumped in a chair at Dallas PD headquarters.

"Yeah, sure..."

"NO! Malloy stays here!" A short stocky man with a big attitude, Detective Ryan was trying to exert his authority. "I haven't finished with your statement."

As Trent rolled his eyes, sighing heavily from exhaustion, Carlos pleaded his case. "Look Ryan, his girlfriend is at the hospital. Let him go."

Ryan studied him for a moment. "Alright. But I want you back here tomorrow morning." He had to yell the last part as Trent was already out of the door.

Carlos was set to leave himself about 10 minutes later when he heard a uniformed cop stop at Ryan's desk. "Here she is, Detective." Looking up, Carlos saw Sam standing there.

"What are you doing here?" Carlos asked.

"I brought her in. I want her statement while it is still fresh," Ryan said, without even looking at Carlos.

"If you knew she was coming here, why did you let Trent head out to the hospital?" Carlos asked in disbelief.

"Not my concern where he was going." Turning to Sam, he said, "Take a seat."

"Want a cup of tea, Sam?" Carlos asked, gritting his teeth to stop himself from telling Ryan what he really thought of him.

"Please."

When Carlos returned, he put the tea in front of Sam and said, "Do you want me to call Trent?"

"No, Carlos. Let him just go home. He's probably tired. You look like you should go home, too."

"Yeah, we both are working on about 36 hours without sleep." As Carlos said this, his phone rang. "Sandoval," he said into the receiver. "Yeah, manno, she's right here. Want to talk to her? ...Okay." Carlos handed the phone to Sam.

She took it tentatively. The truth was, in all the excitement she hadn't actually talked to Trent since the shooting. "Hello," she said.

"Hi...You okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine. You?"

"Yeah. I'll come and get you, okay?"

"No, don't bother. Carlos says you guys have been up for a while and you need some sleep. Just go home and go to bed. I'll get Carlos to take me home." There was a brief silence as each pondered where exactly home was.

"If your sure."

"Yes, Trent. I'll see you around." Before he could answer, Sam had hung up the phone. Sam looked up to see both Ryan and Carlos looking at her. "Let's get this over with."

**

Sam stood in the doorway to the bedroom. Trent was sound asleep on the bed, wearing only his pajama bottoms. What did I do to deserve him? she thought. He was everything she wanted; kind, generous, caring and not to mention the bluest eyes she had ever seen. What she wanted more than anything was to feel his arms around her, holding her, protecting her. Instead, she quietly took the extra blanket and pillow from the closet and headed to the couch.

**

"Good morning." Sam woke up to the smell of coffee brewing.

"Good morning," she yawned, sitting herself upright on the couch.

"How's Casey, " Trent asked as he placed a cup of tea on the coffee table in front of Sam. He eased himself down on the couch beside her, testing her.

"Okay. I called the hospital before I left the police station. They said that luckily the bullet missed all her vital organs," Sam told him, picking up the teacup and bringing it to her lips as she pulled her knees up to her chest.

"Good." Trent took a sip of his coffee. "How about you?"

"I'm okay." The words rang hollow, but Trent let it go. "Thanks for the tea, " Sam said. "I should get moving. I have to go to the police station and I want to visit Casey." But Sam didn't move. "I..." Tears began to roll down Sam's cheeks. Trent took the teacup and his own coffee and put them on the table. He pulled Sam to him and wrapped her in his arms as the tears gave way to sobs. Trent knew that it wasn't just Casey.

"It's okay, Sam. Let it all out." He held her until finally she gained her composure. She pushed away.

"I've got to go."

Sighing, Trent said, "Sam, it's okay to need people. You don't always have to be the strong one. I know you went back to the apartment."

She looked at him, surprised. "How did you know?"

"'Someplace I never thought I would be again'." He put his arm around her again. "It must have been hard."

She didn't pull away. "It was." She took a deep breath and let herself relax against Trent. "I just don't want everyone treating me as if I will break. I am dealing with this just fine."

"Yeah, by finding the most dangerous situation you could and putting yourself in the middle of it." Trent ran his fingers through her hair. "Look, the fact it is, we all worry about you. We worry about Carlos, about Walker, about Alex. We are your friends and we just want to protect you. I'm sorry but I don't think that is going to change. I personally am amazed at how strong you are but I'm not going to stop trying to look out for you. You are just going to have to live with the fact I love you." Trent smiled. "I'll make you a deal. We won't treat you like you are fragile and you won't go getting involved in strip clubs and drug dealers. Deal?"

Sam smiled. "Deal." As she snuggled further into him, she told him, "I'm used to being the one taking care of everyone. What did I do to deserve this?"

**

"So everything was okay with you two after that?" Jess asked.

"For the most part. She still managed to get herself into dangerous situations."

"That's not uncommon for someone who has been through a life-threatening situation and survived," Jessie told him.

"She even got herself shot. She was just so damn stubborn!" Trent smiled as he thought about Sam. A voice brought him back to the present.

"Do you know where Casey is now, manno? Maybe we should warn her," Carlos said.

"I'm pretty sure she already knows, Carlos." After a few moments of silence Trent got off his barstool and took his beer in hand. "Excuse me for a moment."

Carlos watched as Trent went and sat next to the redhead at the end of the bar. As they hugged, Carlos knew she was familiar but he couldn't place her.

**

"Oh Trent," she said, hugging him.

"How are you, Casey?"

"I'm okay. I'm so sorry about Sam." She put her hand on his cheek.

"Thanks," he said, smiling. "Do you want to say "Hi" to Carlos?"

"Sure."

The made their way back to Carlos, Kim and Jessie. Carlos was shocked. He didn't even recognize Casey as her appearance had changed dramatically. She had gained about 30 pounds (Carlos thought she finally looked healthy), coloured her blond hair a deep auburn and had grown it long. She had even had some plastic surgery on her face. She looked great, Carlos thought...and clean.

"Please everyone, call me Laura. I changed my name for obvious reasons." Casey told them. "Now I am really glad I did." She shivered as if a chill had gone up her spine.

"What are you doing now, Case...I mean Laura?" Carlos asked.

"I'm working as a nurse in the ER at Methodist Hospital. I am just finishing up my training. They took such wonderful care of me when I was there, it inspired me."

Casey turned as she heard the sound of the door. Shock registered on her face as she immediately turned towards the bar. Jessie saw the terror in her eyes.

"Good afternoon, Malloy." Trent didn't even turn around. He knew immediately who it was.

"Well, it was a good afternoon until you came in."

"I'm here to express my condolences. When I left the prison today, my lawyer told me about Samantha. I'm sorry to hear about it. However, judging by this pretty lady by your side, I see you've moved on."

Trent finally turned to see the smirk on Carter's face. "What the hell do you want, Carter?"

"I just thought you might know where Casey is." Trent snorted as Carter continued. "I just want to let her know there are no hard feelings. I hope she is doing well."

Casey tried to keep her breathing even, keeping her eyes on Jessie.

"What makes you think I know? Or even if I did that I would tell you?"

"I'm sure she would have been sentimental enough to go to Samantha's funeral...if she wasn't doped up somewhere."

Trent shook his head and laughed. "You are something else. If she was doped up somewhere I'm sure it would be because of you." Trent took a drink of his beer. "What makes you think she even stayed in Dallas? Wasn't she from someplace in the Mid-west?"

"Actually, I think it was Upstate New York. Nice bluff." Carter stared at Trent as he weighed his words. Finally he said, "I'll find her. Don't worry. It was nice seeing you again." Carter turned on his heel and marched out of the door. Trent turned back to the bar, resting his elbows on it as he drank. There was a heavy silence. Finally Carlos spoke.

"He had no idea you were right here."

Casey finally let out her breath. "You heard him. He isn't going to stop until he finds me," she murmured, using a napkin to wipe her eyes.

"He didn't recognize you. He thinks you went home," Trent assured her.

"I'm sorry, Trent, but I can't testify again. He'll know what I look like now and I am not willing to take that risk. I know I'm letting you down, letting Sam down, but I can't." She got up. "I'm sorry," she said again before leaving the bar.

"Laura..." Trent called but she was gone.

**

"Thanks for seeing me, Jessie." Casey sat down in the leather chair in the cozy office. Jessie had passed her licensing exam and had set up her therapy practice in downtown Dallas. "I'm finally feeling at ease," Casey said to her therapist.

**

"You are not going to believe this," Carlos said, throwing the newspaper down on the bar between Trent and Jessie. "Check out page 3."

Trent turned to page 3 and spread it out on the bar so both he and Jessie could read it. The headline read, "Carter found dead in hospital."

Trent looked up at Carlos. "Methodist Hospital?"

Jessie just stared wide-eyed at the paper.

"You don't think..." Carlos let the words hang in the air.

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