Epilogue

"Whatever you're doing I recommend you doing it faster man!" said Rafe, his eyes on the men in the distance as they closed in on them.

"Got it," grunted EJ as the car roared into life.

"EJ," said Sami nervously as the men got closer and she could see that their guns were drawn, "They're coming."

"I've got an idea," said Rafe ironically, feigning casualness, "Why don't you put the car in gear and drive really, really fast EJ?"

"There's the tax payers money at work for you right there," said EJ sarcastically, gunning the motor and doing just that, roaring down the driveway, out of the enclosure and along the little road that lead through the thickly forested area.

Sami screamed as some bullets dinged off the car as they shot at the speeding car.

"Get down!" EJ ordered her sharply, briefly looking in the rear vision mirror to see that she was alright before turning his attention back to the winding road and putting the gas pedal to the floor.

All of his experience with his international racing career held him in good stead for maneuvering along the uneven and winding dirt tracks but nonetheless the cars bearing down on them were making up the distance between them thanks to their much more powerful engines. EJ's skill in driving kept them ahead of the game but not by much.

"I've got another idea!" said Rafe, looking behind them at the rapidly gaining car, "Can you get a little distance between them and us EJ?"

"It will only be temporary," EJ warned him, concentrating fiercely on his driving as he swerved all over the road trying to shake off their pursuers, "This thing has the pickup of a sewing machine!"

"I just need you to buy me a little time," said Rafe urgently, "So I can do this."

He suddenly dived between EJ's legs, head first.

"What the hell are you doing?!" asked EJ in surprise, momentarily taking his attention off the road to see what Rafe was doing with his head stuck between his legs.

"Yeah!" Sami seconded the question unhappily as Rafe's face disappeared into EJ's nether regions, "Rafe!"

"I'm going to rig it to blow," his muffled voice informed them from between EJ's legs as the other man tried to clutch, brake and change gears around him in annoyance.

"Who are you blowing?!" asked Sami, leaning forward and looking in concern at Rafe as he continued to practically bury his head between EJ's legs.

"The car."

"Oh," said Sami, slightly mollified.

"Put your head down Samantha," EJ ordered her as he gritted his teeth, keeping the car under tight control as it slid across the dirt track before he could get it going in a forward motion again.

"But we're in the car!" exclaimed Sami, ignoring EJ as Rafe's plan sunk in.

"I'm rather thinking the plan is that we won't be at the time of the explosion," said EJ grimly, most of his attention directed to his driving and the cars in hot pursuit behind them, "Samantha – head!"

Just as he said that more shots whizzed past the car, one taking out EJ's side mirror. He jerked the wheel to one side to avoid being in the firing line, jostling his passengers in the process.

"Rafe – head!" he complained to the man still between his legs as Rafe was thrown against him.

"Stop driving like a maniac and there will be less chance of my head ending up where the sun don't shine," complained Rafe, his voice still muffled by his current position, "I'm guessing neither of us want that!"

"Tell you what Special Agent," said EJ, still managing to be sarcastic while driving at the top speed the car could do, "Why don't we pull over by the road and you can do what you have to do eh? I'm sure the men with guns currently chasing us down will understand completely and wait for you."

"I don't want to die listening to you two bicker!" groaned Sami, clutching her stomach and half lying on the backseat, her head down as instructed by EJ.

"No one is going to die," the men reassured her in unison.

Rafe made a triumphant sound then.

"Got it!" he declared, scrambling back upright again, "All we've got to do now and put as much distance between them and us as you can EJ so we can get out of the car without them seeing us."

"And then the car will explode?" asked Sami.

Rafe and EJ exchanged looks then which made Sami immediately nervous.

"You and Rafe will sweetheart," said EJ as he and Rafe silently came to an agreement, man to man, "I'm going to draw them away and then just drive the car into a tree."

"That's an insane plan!" exclaimed Sami in horror, "There is no way I'm letting you do that EJ! You'll be killed!"

"I'll jump out just before the explosion," he told her, holding her stricken gaze for a split second in the rear view mirror, "Then I'll just rejoin you two when the coast is clear."

"No EJ NO!" said Sami, shaking her head at him and holding on tightly to her stomach, "Please don't do this, think of Johnny, think of this baby – they need you, I need you!"

"I can do it," offered up Rafe, seeing Sami's distress, "I'm nobody's father."

"No," said Sami, very upset now, "I don't want either of you to do it! Come up with another plan!"

"We don't have time sweetheart," said EJ grimly as he wrestled the car back under control, skilful driving having put the other cars out of sight, "And we don't have time to switch drivers either. I'm doing this and there is nothing else to say."

Sami had plenty to say but EJ was already pulling over and Rafe was grabbing her arm, practically dragging her out of the car.

"Good luck man," he told EJ quickly.

"Protect her, no matter what," EJ begged him quickly as they left the car.

"No matter what," Rafe promised him grimly.

"EJ!" said Sami, her voice catching in a sob.

"I love you Samantha," he told her fiercely and then before she could answer him he was roaring off and Rafe was dragging her into the bushes, out of view of the cars that very quickly passed them by, already almost caught up with already.

~//~

"He should be back by now," fretted Sami, pacing back and forth anxiously.

They had felt and heard the force of the explosion nearly fifteen minutes ago now and the cars that had been pursuing them had come back down the track that they'd chased EJ down but there was still no sign of the other man.

"He'll be here," Rafe tried to keep Sami calm even though he'd planned on only giving the other man another ten minutes before he made good on his promise and got Sami to a more safe location, "He's English, they don't have a great sense of direction."

"I'll have you know I have a superb sense of direction," said EJ flatly, suddenly appearing from behind some bushes.

"EJ!" Sami exclaimed in delight.

Sami launched herself at EJ and hugged him tightly, unable to stop herself from crying now. Her extremely pregnant state making her highly emotional nowadays and Sami wasn't in any state to hold anything back right then.

"I'm alright Samantha," he reassured her softly, hugging her to him.

Sami pulled back from him a little bit, caught between mind altering relief and utter frustration.

"If you ever, ever do something that reckless and stupid again I will kill you myself you gigantic idiot!" she declared hitting his arm in annoyance for scaring her like that before promptly throwing herself back into his arms and sobbing, "I love you so much EJ!"

"Boy," said Rafe watching Sami's give full vent to her mercurial moods, "And I thought what we just had was a wild ride."

"Pregnancy hormones," smiled EJ, just ecstatic to have Sami in his arms again in any kind of mood, "Natures way of keeping men on their toes."

"Stop talking about me as though I'm not here," grumbled Sami, her voice muffled as she continued to cling to EJ, her face buried in his chest, "I hate that and I'm not hormonal, you two are just idiots."

The two men grinned at that, exchanging looks above Sami's head but didn't argue the point.

~//~

"My feet hurt," grumbled Sami as they walked along, intent on putting some distance between themselves and where they had been held prisoner.

"I'm sorry sweetheart but seeing as we needed to create a diversion to make good our escape walking is the only recourse left open to us," said EJ, taking Sami's arm and helping her over the uneven ground.

"Nice driving by the way EJ," commented Rafe, who was keeping an eye out for anyone who might be following them, "I suppose all those years of being a racing car driver made you good at crashing into things."

"So it would seem," said EJ with a twist of his lips at the other mans dig, "I'm guessing FBI training doesn't really equip you for such things eh old boy?"

"They tend to teach you how not to crash a car and send it up in a fireball that is visible from space," said Rafe straight faced, "They're funny like that."

"Well it was just as well I was on hand to save the day then wasn't it?" said EJ with a little smirk, finding a ready replacement in Rafe for his needling of Betty and Veronica.

"I was the one who rigged it so it would blow," said Rafe with a scowl at the implication that it was all EJ's doing.

"Stop it the both of you," snapped Sami, her current discomfort making it very easy for her to lose her patience with this constant backing and forthing between the two men, "You're both idiots for coming up with such a crazy, dangerous plan in the first place okay?!"

"A crazy, dangerous plan that worked," said EJ smugly, obviously very pleased with himself.

"So now what?" asked Sami, throwing him a dirty look, "We just keep walking?"

"For the moment," nodded Rafe and they all looked up as a plane flew overhead then, "So where do you think we are exactly?"

The two men then launched into a very complicated conversation about the answer to that question based on the plane flying overhead and the number of cities that particular company flew to and the time of day it was. Sami listened to them, her mind boggling as they continued back and forth.

"Well it's after two," calculated EJ thoughtfully, "I know there is a flight from New York that heads out to Houston at that time and the plane was flying north west…"

"But that's assuming it left from New York," argued Rafe as they tried to work backwards and factor in all the variables.

"I can't believe I'm hearing this," said Sami with a roll of her eyes.

"Please darling," said EJ, "This is complicated, Rafe and I are trying to work out where we are exactly."

"How about less than an hour's drive from Salem?" asked Sami sarcastically, "Seeing as they obviously regularly bring EJ the second here for regular tune ups and there would be questions if he kept disappearing for days on end. Plus Stefano and Nicole were probably regular visitors to the place they were keeping us so logically it can't be far from Salem."

The two men exchanged sheepish looks as they realized that Sami's simply hypothesis was most likely the correct one.

"Men!" said Sami in disgust as she walked along, "Why do they have to overcomplicate everything they touch?!"

EJ opened his mouth, about to defend his sex's reputation on that front when they rounded a corner and they all saw the same thing at once.

"A house!" declared Sami excitedly, picking up her pace.

"Wait!" said EJ quickly, grabbing her arm, a little more cautious about what or who might be in that house.

"I'll go and check it out," said Rafe, "You two stay here."

They both nodded and then Rafe was making his way carefully up to the little house. EJ put a protective arm around Sami and kept them both out of sight until Rafe returned.

"It's some kind of ranger's hut," he informed them, "It's deserted but there looks like there are supplies and best of all, a radio."

"Is there water?" asked Sami hopefully, so thirsty right then she could hardly think straight.

"You betcha," nodded Rafe and then they were all heading towards the ranger's hut.

"Sit down sweetheart," EJ instructed Sami when they were inside and she gratefully complied, "I'll get you your water."

EJ found the supplies and quickly poured Sami a glass of water which she drank quickly and he refilled her glass for her. Rafe meanwhile had been fiddling with the two way radio and the thing hissed into life. He gave them both a pleased look.

"I'm going to get word to the bureau about what has happened," he informed them.

"Wait," said EJ and Sami in unison and then looked at each other.

"Why don't you want me to call for help?" asked Rafe in consternation, looking from one to another, "What were you planning on doing instead if you don't mind me asking?"

Sami and EJ exchanged a long look before turning back to address Rafe as one.

"Revenge."