A Year and A Day

Summary: Sam & Jules travel to a remote estate to attend Mason's wedding. It is scheduled at the end of a week long clan gathering. Join Sam & Jules in the Scottish Highlands and find out what whisky, traditions, history and games have in store for them. Without giving anything away if you were ever saddened by the events ruining Sam & Jules wedding, this story will gladden your heart.

Setting: This story starts about month after You Have Always Been Loved. It will be Sam and Jules centric but will include Mason, Blaze, Winds, Jim, Heather, Marsaili and some new OCs in supporting roles.

A/N: Special thank you to venetiaj for helping me sketch out the framework for this story. Also thanks to all my readers that provide me input. It encourages me to keep writing.

AN: Again another Alphabet Injury story demands to be its own story. This started out to be AI-W with the working title of Whisky, Whumps & Weddings.

I do not own Flashpoint or any of the characters from that series. I do own my original characters (OC).

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Gate 525 Ghosts, Whoops & Old Nick Again

Toronto Airport International Departures – Gate 525

A cold chill ran down Sam's back as they waited to board the plane. Ghosts, he was surrounded by so many ghosts. He blew out a breath.

Jules looked at Sam and saw he was distracted as he shifted his back pack on his shoulder. She placed a hand on his upper arm and asked "Sam you okay?"

Sam pulled himself out of his thoughts and smiled at Jules "Yeah."

"What ya thinking about?" Jules asked rubbing his arm lightly.

Shifting his back pack again Sam answered "The last time I was here. Wasn't so pleasant."

Jules just tilted her head and looked up at Sam. She would not push. Jules waited.

Sam checked his watch, the plane had been delayed but they should be boarding soon. He looked at Jules. He could see she was waiting for him to answer. "Walter" Sam said.

Jules racked her brains and that name did not ring a bell. "Walter?" she questioned.

"Yeah. This gate, 525. This is where Walter Volcek wanted to exchange me for Wilkins" Sam said in a distracted voice.

Jules slipped in next to Sam and hugged him. She remembered when Sam told her about that call now. It was while she was recovering after being shot on the rooftop by Petar Tomasic. "So that was here."

She remembered that his chest was so bruised and he was so sore for days after that. He had risked himself jumping on that flash grenade for agent Simple and it had bothered him that she had chosen to go after Wilkins. It unnerved her when she found out Sam had been taken hostage and held with a frag grenade. Ed had to use the slug and that thing was so unreliable.

A cold shiver ran down Jules' spine. They had so many close calls. Too many.

Sam hugged Jules back "Yeah. Seems the longer we do this job the more places in the city have ghosts for us."

Jules nodded "True. But at least most of them have happy endings." Needing to distract Sam she grinned and said "I cannot wait to see Scotland."

Pulled out of his recollection completely now, Sam focused on Jules. She was beautiful and today was a good day. "Yeah they do. At least we are traveling to someplace neither of us has been before. No ghosts following us."

Jules was about to respond when the gate agent made the announcement that they were beginning boarding. Sam and Jules made their way to the gate with the rest of the passengers.

Airplane Enroute to Scotland

"What?" Sam said as he looked at the amused look on Jules' face.

Jules just shook her head and sighed as she curled her sock covered feet up in the luxury chair "Bet you prefer military transports. They don't have drunken passengers."

Sam chuckled and shoved his backpack into the overhead compartment. "At least I now know to bring a change of clothes when I fly commercial. But I gotta tell you that was a damned waste of some fine whisky."

Snickering Jules said "You know, I think maybe you do it on purpose to get upgrades. I mean this is the third time in three flights some jerk has doused you with their drink and you got upgraded to first class."

Sam sat down in the seat next to Jules and smiled "Well I'm thinking that it might just be worth it you know. And no I don't prefer military flights." Sam slid into the chair next to Jules near the window "Because they lack certain amenities."

"Such as?" Jules asked lightly.

He raised the wide padded arm between their chairs and pulled Jules close to him then answered "You."

Jules snuggled close to Sam and inhaled "You smell like whisky still."

Sam chuckled "Well, yeah. Only so much I could do in that little bathroom. At least I'm not covered in tomato juice this time. Although, you know you could have popped in and helped me."

"Uh huh Sam, I told you already. We already joined the mile high club. We don't need a repeat performance and getting caught" Jules whispered as she angled her head up to look at Sam.

Sam kissed Jules' forehead and mock whined giving Jules puppy dog eyes "But Jules it would be the international mile high club."

"Sam Braddock, you are incorrigible" Jules huffed with a smile and swatted his arm as she looked into his eyes that quickly turned roguish and all man.

"One of the many things you love about me" Sam said cockily and winked.

Jules laughed "Oh really now?"

"Yeah really!" Sam stated with an air of confidence.

"A bit full of yourself there bucko" Jules teased.

Sam gave her a WOW smile.

Jules pulled Sam's head down to her and kissed him enthusiastically.

They were interrupted by a flight attendant clearing his throat. "Excuse me but public displays of affection are frowned upon. It makes other passengers uncomfortable."

As Jules let go of Sam's neck and sat back in her seat Sam snickered. Then as the flight attendant left under his breath Sam teased "You should've joined me in the bathroom Jules. No one would be uncomfortable then."

Jules whacked him playfully with the soft little pillow and Sam laughed.

Sam put the pillow in his lap and then pulled Jules down so her head rested on the pillow. Sam gently stroked her arm as he softly he said "Let's get some sleep sweetheart. We have a long week ahead of us."

Jules yawned. They were taking a red-eye and they had worked a full shift before heading to the airport. Sam was right, they should get some sleep. At least now they had comfortable seats to sleep in. Sleeping in coach would have been less comfortable. Not that she liked Sam getting doused in whisky by yet another drunkard it did have its perks.

"Hmmm, so comfy" Jules said quietly as sleep quickly pulled her into its embrace.

Sam reclined the chair and stretched his arms, yawned then turned to look out the window into the darkness. He tucked one arm behind his head and allowed the other to gently lay across Jules waist. Sam loved it when she slept in his lap.

He needed a few minutes to unwind before he could join Jules in getting forty winks. There was nothing to see out of the window being pitch black with no moon and nothing but the Atlantic Ocean below them. Sam relaxed his body let his mind wander where it would.

His mind decided to wander too just after they boarded the plane about two hours ago. There was a mix up in seat assignments and he and Jules ended up in separate rows. She was behind him and both were in the middle seats. Sam was flanked by two young teen girls and she was flanked by the mother and father of the teens.

None of the four wanted to switch seats leaving one of the family members alone so he and Jules could sit together. That was not such a big deal though since Jules and he essentially planned to sleep on the flight. Jules had nodded off quickly being between the parents.

But the two girls were bubbly and excited with their first international trip. At first Sam had fun listening to the girls as they bantered with each other over him for a long time. They reminded him a lot of Wordy's girls. His girls were much younger than these two but he could clearly see what Wordy would be dealing with in a few years.

Their energy was not abating and after his long day at work he was getting a bit tired. Sam did not want to squash their fun and excitement so he offered to switch places with one of the girls so they could sit next to each other and continue to talk and he could nod off to sleep. They happily agreed and one of the girls stood up and waited in the aisle for him to slide out.

Unfortunately, their father appeared to be well into his cups even before they started serving drinks. When Sam got up to switch with one of the girls the plane hit some nasty turbulence and Sam reached out to steady the sixteen year old girl when she started to fall.

Embarrassingly his hands landed on her breasts as he tried to keep her from falling. Red faced, Sam had said "Whoops so sorry miss."

Her father went ballistic accusing him of taking advantage of his daughter. He had yelled "Whoops my ass! I'm gonna whoop your ass for grabbing at my daughter."

The father threw his full glass of whisky in his face and then lunging at him. Very quickly, they ended up on the floor of the aisle with the father on his stomach and Sam kneeling on the man's back. Sam had restrained the father's hands behind him. However, restraining the father wasn't really necessary. The man had passed out.

As Sam stood up the whisky continued to drip down his face. Sam had licked his lips and caught a bit of the whisky that was dripping down. Damn fine whisky he had thought when he tasted it.

Jules had woken during the very brief altercation and had quickly shown her SRU id to the Air Marshall that came forward. She explained that he was SRU too but didn't comment on what caused the ruckus. Luckily the Air Marshall said he saw the whole thing and agreed that Sam did not do anything wrong. The Air Marshall took over the man and moved him to the secure room at the back of the plane.

The flight attendant then recognized him and Jules from the news article written by Hazel Hester. She apologized for the man and so did the wife. The wife said that her husband was afraid to fly so had taken some meds to try and quell his fear but that he drank much more than he should have too.

When it was all said and done Jules and he were offered an upgrade to the first class section because they still had open seats.

Sam yawned and checked his watch. They were three hours into an almost twelve hour flight. He could get a solid eight hours of sleep.

He pulled out the blanket that was tucked in the side of his seat and shook it out. Then Sam covered Jules with it and gently tucked a flyaway piece of hair behind her ear. He looked down at a sleeping Jules and then he closed his eyes and slipped off to sleep himself.

Day 1 – Inverness Airport

Sam and Jules collected their luggage and then headed to the car rental. Both had slept soundly and only woke with the barest cricks in their necks. They were in good spirits.

Jules thought happily as they walked, nine days' vacation in beautiful Scotland. They were both looking forward to attending Mason's wedding. Jules had been worried up until late last week that Sam would not be able to come.

She had nearly exploded when she found out Sam was hiding the fact he could be facing life in prison for the things he said on that rooftop. Jules had calmed when he explained that he did not want to add to her stress and that he had been fairly confident it would not come to that after talking with his dad.

Jules still wasn't sure exactly what happened with the Committee. It was all shrouded in secrecy. Although they had had several long conversations about everything that happened in her home town over the past weeks. She shook herself away from those thoughts. It was time to relax and enjoy a vacation, just her and Sam. Well, and all the other people coming to the wedding and Marsaili's family clan gathering.

A smile crept onto Jules' face as she slowed and followed Sam. As he continued ahead of her she let her mind's eye dress him in a kilt. Now that she could not wait to see. Before they left Mason sent Sam the name of a tailor in Toronto and he had to go get measured for his Prince Charlie Kilt. Marsaili's grandfather had insisted on each male member of the wedding party wearing a kilt.

Jules laughed.

Sam turned back as he continued walking forward "What's so funny?"

"Oh, I was just picturing you, Blaze, Winds, and Jim in kilts" Jules chuckled.

Sam sighed and looked up at the sky "And that is funny?"

"Well, Blaze, Winds and Jim will be funny" Jules stated. Then her voice got seductive and added "You on the other hand will be sexy."

Sam laughed as his eyes came back to Jules' face "I am so gonna take advantage of that …"

He was cut off as Jules called out a warning "Wall."

The warning was a bit too late and Sam ran into a half wall, flipped over it and ended up on the floor of the airport with their luggage strewn about. Sam just sat there a moment while Jules laughed at him and those passing by stared.

Finally getting a hold of herself, Jules closed the gap between them and with light laughter still filling her voice said "Oh Sam. I can't believe you ran into a wall. You okay?"

Sam raked his hands through his head and then looked at Jules. His face was bright red in embarrassment "This is all your fault."

"My fault? I wasn't the one that didn't see the wall" Jules retorted. She could see Sam was alright just embarrassed.

Sam pinned her with his eyes "But you distracted me."

Jules conceded the point knowing her suggestive tone and the content of her words had hit Sam below the belt so to speak. They had not had a chance to be intimate since the last time in Medicine Hat before they went over the roof. One thing after another conspired to keep them apart. First it was their injuries. Then it was them being separated as Sam dealt with the Committee. Then finally work.

She nodded and playfully said "Yeah I did. Sorry. But now I'm gonna hold you to taking advantage of the kilt."

Sam was somewhat appeased and really just more upset with himself for not being more aware. He mumbled "Second time I've made a fool of myself in less than a day" as he started to get up.

"Second time?" Jules questioned.

Sam simply held out his hands and waggled them a bit.

"Oh, right. The girl" Jules responded getting Sam's meaning. He had been so embarrassed where his hands landed when catching the girl. As Sam gathered up the luggage Jules looked around then back to Sam "I'm gonna get us both a coffee while you rent the car."

"Sounds good, I could use one before I have to drive on the wrong side of the road" Sam responded drily.

The two separated as Jules headed to a coffee stand and Sam went the short distance to the rental desk.

The rental agent had watched the man that stood before her now fall over the half wall. She politely asked "How may I help you?"

Sam set the luggage down and then reached in his back pocket for his wallet to get his id "I have a reservation. Sam Braddock."

The reason for his falling became apparent to her. Mr. Braddock was sauced up. She could smell the whisky on him and he was not even that close to her. She shook her head sadly "I'm sorry Mr. Braddock, our policy prevents us from renting a vehicle to someone who is inebriated."

Sam stared at her "I'm not drunk. I haven't had a single alcoholic beverage in over four weeks."

He thought I haven't had any time to drink even though at points I surely felt like having one. At first he could not due to the pain meds. Even though he quickly switched to over the counter pain meds he never mixed alcohol with meds. Then he was busy with the Committee stuff and had to keep a clear head. Finally the last week at work every day went into overtime. It was all Jules and he could do to get home and fall into bed to sleep.

"I'm sorry but I have to disagree. You smell of whisky and you fell over that wall there. I cannot rent you a car in your state" the rental agent stated.

Others were lining up behind him. Sam really didn't feel like explaining fearing that the woman would not believe him. He was sure she had heard every excuse under the sun from people that were truly drunk. Sam thought pick your battles to win the war. This one had defeat written all over it. The last thing he wanted right now was to make another scene.

"Fine. Switch the reservation into the name of Jules Callaghan. She will be along in a moment" Sam stated as the put his wallet back into his pocket.

The agent nodded "Thank you for not becoming irate Sir."

Sam sighed and thought that the woman probably did have to deal with an awful lot of customers that were actually drunk. He smiled and said "You are just doing your job. It's not very pleasant being yelled at for doing it."

"No Sir it is not. Can you give the details for Ms. Callaghan?" the agent said.

Sam nodded "Everything is the same except her name of course and her license number."

At that moment Jules joined them and handed Sam an iced coffee "Got yours spiked."

Sam sighed relishing the thought of what the extra caffeine would do for him as he took a long drink. Then he noticed the disapproving look of the agent and he said "Jules you have to drive. They will only rent to you."

Jules looked at Sam confused "Why?"

Chuckling Sam said "Old Nick again."

Dawning understanding lit her eyes along with amusement. She turned to the rental agent "Sam's drink is spiked with an extra shot of expresso. He is not drunk; a man on the plane threw his whisky on Sam."

Sam stopped her "Just rent the truck Jules and let's get out of here. We have a long drive to the Mac'IlleMhìcheil estate."

The agent stopped "You are going to the Mac'IlleMhìcheil estate?"

Jules nodded "Yes."

"Are you part of the groom's wedding party?" the agent asked. At the wary looks she added "I'm Wynfreda Mac'IlleMhìcheil, Marsaili is a cousin of mine. I will be at the clan gathering and the wedding."

Sam and Jules both nodded "I guess we will see you there then Wynfreda" Jules said without really answering her question.

Wynfreda quickly finished the paperwork and as she did so felt bad for accusing Sam of being drunk. She applied a discount to their rental and had them out the door quickly after that. She watched the handsome blonde man walk out and thought now there is a man I'd love to roll in the heather with.