AN: My muse suddenly hit me with this idea and I just had to get it on paper (so to speak). This will be a one shot and is set in season two. Jules and Sam are broken up, Lou died a few months ago and Raf is on the team. This was a long one and I WAS too stubborn to give up making it a one shot, until I tried to load it on the site. :( So, it is now a two shot. Let me know what you think!

Ed, Raf and Sam were nearly to the top of the 30 story Murray building and all three were huffing a little. Who needed the stairmaster? They just needed a hot call. It was the first of the day but it was late afternoon and they'd spent the first half of the day training.

Sam looked at Raf and smiled. "Outta breath?" He lightly swung his hand at Raf.

"No more than you." Raf smiled and stood up straight. He had been bent over, hands on his knees catching his breath. He slapped Sam on the shoulder companionably. A moment later they were both serious. They brought their guns up and readied to enter the floor.

"Ready?" Ed asked, MP5 pointed at the door. He was glad neither had noticed how winded he was. They were all in excellent shape, but 30 floors was a lot to climb up.

"Copy." Sam and Raf answered together. They entered an open area where 25 people were waiting for the elevators.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Ed yelled over the din of conversation in the room. When the talking stopped, he said, "we are with the Strategic Response Unit. Sorry folks, the elevators are shut down. Please use the stairs but go calmly, no running." They watched as the people started filing into the stairwell, groaning and moaning about all the stairs they had to go down.

Sam glanced at a pretty but overweight girl as they walked to the left to clear the offices. He nodded at her and they moved ahead.

Elaine was in awe of the officers in their uniforms. They each looked like they meant business. When the bald one said they had to walk down the stairwell she looked to the doors of the stairwell. Dammit, she thought. She looked around the throng of people for her co-workers and finally found them, but they had just disappeared into the stairwell.

This is what I get, she thought sadly. She blew out a breath and joined the end of the line of people exiting to the stairs. She happened to look over when the handsome blonde officer looked at her and then nodded. She blushed and looked away. Damn he was cute, she thought. No way he'd ever go for someone like me though. She looked next to her and saw Jeannette, the office hottie. Oh, he was looking at her, of course he was stupid. She looked at the wall.

The guys cleared the three separate offices on the west side of the building and moved to the east, all the while listening to Jules, the Boss and Spike in the truck hunting down information on the bomber while Wordy talked to people coming out of the building. The bottom ten floors had been cleared by security when they first got the bomb threat and they were working their way down with local PD starting on the 20th floor.

Elaine saw the officers walk to the other side of the building. None of them looked at her, but she was still following the crowd. As she got closer to the stairs her heart was racing more than it usually did. The thought of walking down all of those flights made them seem like she was walking down from Everest. She wondered for the hundredth time why she took the job on the top floor. It paid really well, that's why, she thought.

The man and woman in front of her didn't acknowledge that she was behind them, they kept talking quietly, wondering what was happening. She looked to where the three officers disappeared and her fear mounted. Soon they'd be coming back and would tell them to be careful, but hurry. Oh god, she thought, I can't be rushed. It's going to take hours for me to get down. Tears threatened her eyes and she turned back towards her office. She walked quickly, hoping not to be seen. As she turned the corner around the wall to the elevator area she heard "hey! Wait! Stop!" She picked up the pace, even though he feet were screaming in her new heels.

As they were returning to the stair and elevator area, Sam saw a flash of fabric round the corner. "Hey!" He put his gun up and walked quickly towards the other side of the building. Dammit! Where were they going? "Wait! Stop!"

"Sam?" Ed asked as he looked down his gun. He and Raf were each facing to the side, covering Sam.

"Someone just went to the other side. In pursuit." He quickened his pace.

"Raf, cover." Ed lowered his gun and watched the people walking down the stairs. He hoped they could get everyone out. He looked at his watch. It was going to be close, they only had an hour to get everyone down.

"Copy." Raf started moving to catch up with Sam.

Sam looked back at them. "No, I got it. You start clearing the next floor, I'll be right behind you."

"Too risky." Ed shook his head and frowned.

"No time to argue," Sam looked at his watch, "we gotta get these people out now."

Ed sighed. He didn't like it, but he knew Sam was right. "Ok. Go careful. Raf, let's start pushing their pace." They ran to the stairwell and started encouraging the people to move quicker, but still be safe.

Sam turned back and cleared each side of the opening before he went left.

#####

Elaine's breath was coming in gasps. She'd already turned her ankle once so she kicked off her shoes and walked as quickly as she could to her office at the end of the long hall. She opened her door, walked in and crawled under her desk. Whatever was happening she would ride it out here and if the building fell, well, who would care?

A minute or two later she heard someone coming down the hall and tried to quiet her breath. The outer wall of her office was frosted glass and she watched a dark figure with what looked like a gun walk down the hall slowly. She pulled her head back under the desk and wrapped her arms around her legs. Please don't find me, she thought, please just go. She was embarrassed to be hiding under her desk like this, but she didn't have a choice.

#####

Sam stopped when he heard a small scraping noise. He looked to his left and tried to see into the office, but the frosted glass made it difficult. He was about to look away when he saw a slight movement under the desk. He looked at the door and saw that it opened in. He slid over to it so that he was against the wall next to the door, put a hand on the knob and turned it slowly. He pushed it open hard and rushed in the room, his gun pointed at the desk. "SRU! Come out!" His body tensed when there wasn't any movement. "Get out from under the desk now!" He commanded.

She looked up as silent tears slipped down her cheeks. Fuck. He found her. When he gave the command again she jumped. "Ok." She said quietly. She wiped her face with her hand and crawled out from under the desk. She put her left foot up and using her chair pushed herself up with a grunt. God that sucked.

He frowned as he watched her get up with difficulty. When she turned and straightened her blouse he saw it was the girl he saw before.

"Sam? Status." Ed asked anxiously.

"Found one person in her office. Escorting her to the stairs." Sam gave her a pointed look.

"No." Elaine put her hands up, but shook her head vehemently. "I'm fine right here. I'm not going anywhere."

"No choice. We have to evacuate this building." Sam frowned. What was her problem?

Elaine smirked. "Then you'll have to carry me down kicking and screaming." He looked her over and she rolled her eyes. Yes, I'm fat, you can't carry me, she thought angrily. "Do whatever you gotta do, but I'm staying here."

"Sam. She's trying to sound brave, but it's covering fear. Something's up." Greg could hear it in her voice. Was she an accomplice? "Search her."

"Ok, first I just need to make sure that we're both safe. Do you have anything on you I should worry about?" Sam stepped closer to you and she took a step back, fear reaching her eyes.

"I don't have any weapons." She frowned deeply. Understanding suddenly dawned. Of course he was suspicious of her, she ran from the evacuation. Even though he was very handsome, she didn't want him to put his hands on her and feel the body she hid under her clothes. "I'll turn my pockets out very slowly." When he nodded, she turned them out.

"Lift your shirt and turn around."

"Excuse you?" She looked at him incredulously.

Sam sighed and let his MP5 hang from his chest. "Look, I'm not here to hurt you. I need to know that you don't have any weapons." He held her gaze. "Can I search you?" He could've searched her forcefully, but there was something about the look in her eyes that made him try asking her first. When she nodded, he gently patted her waist and legs before he stepped back. When he did her face was red and her eyes watery. He frowned. Was it something he did? "Are you ok?" He asked gently.

She blew out a breath and stepped back from him, covertly wiping her eyes. "Yes. I'm ok. So now that you know I'm not dangerous you can go and take care of whatever is." She waved her hand to the door.

He cocked his head to the side. "Do you know why we're here today?"

"No. Just that we're supposed to evacuate. There are rumors of course, but I never listen to it." She sat in her chair and pulled herself close to the desk, hiding her stomach under the desk. She desperately wanted to pull on her blouse to pull it from her body so it wasn't sticking to it, but she forced herself not to. "So, thanks for checking on me but you should probably go save the rest of the people here."

"What about you?" Sam narrowed his eyes at her. He didn't like the way she was talking. He believed her, she wasn't involved, but why was she trying to get rid of him.

"Speed this up Sam. Time's ticking on the bomb." Greg was silent for a moment. "What do you think?"

"All good here." Sam said into his headset.

"The others checking on you?" Elaine tipped her head to the side and looked at the black earpiece in his ear.

"Yeah. They're just worried about us." He watched her for a moment. "You didn't answer my question."

"Why are you still here?" She asked, a little anger tinged her words.

"I'll answer yours if you answer mine."

"Fine. Go ahead."

"Because it's my job to make sure everyone evacuates the building."

"So go do it." She rolled her eyes at him. Why wouldn't he leave her in peace?

"I said everyone. Why don't you want to leave?"

She huffed out a breath. "Doesn't matter. Just go. Please."

"I don't think I asked your name." He raised his brows.

"Elaine." She leaned forward and looked at his chest. "Officer.. Braddock."

"Yeah. My name's Sam." He smiled easily at her. "Elaine, I can help you."

"You have more important things to do." She insisted.

"Nope. Right where I need to be right now." He walked back to the wall and leaned against it.

"If you think you can out stubborn me, you are sadly mistaken." Elaine chuckled.

"Oh, I don't know, we French can be pretty stubborn." He shrugged.

"Yeah well, I'm part German. No one more stubborn." She crossed her arm across her chest.

"Sam, Jules just bought us some time. The subject has disabled the timer, but the bomb is still live. He can remote detonate it." Spike said desperately. He hated that Sam was stuck up there like this. "Just pick her up and carry her. We don't have time for this."

"We're still good." Sam nodded at her for which she rolled her eyes. He studied her for a moment. "You know, we had to hoof it up all 30 flights to get up here. I thought I was dying." He said with emphasis. He saw a flicker in her eyes and knew he'd guessed right. He was sure that being her size would make it hard for her to walk down all those steps.

Her face reddened and her eyes flashed. "I see. The fat girl probably can't walk down all those stairs. Typical." She looked away, forcing the tears not to come.

Sam pushed himself off the wall. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to insult you."

She shrugged. "I'm used to it."

"No one should ever get used to being put down." He tipped his head to the side, trying to catch her eye. "I'm sorry you've had that in your life."

Elaine stood and stalked to the door. She flung it open and walked down the hall. She knew the stairs we're going to kill her, but anything to get away from his pity.

"Hey, hold on. Elaine." He hurried after her, but put his hand up to cover his face. "We're coming down."

"Go easy here Sam. Touchy subject." Greg nodded.

"Copy." He whispered and switched to a run to catch up with her now that she'd gone around the corner. "Elaine!" When he caught up she was at the top of the stairs, looking down the middle of the stairwell at all the stairs between her and the bottom, a defeated look on her face. "Hey, just look at this set of stairs. One level at a time."

Her eyes flicked to the stairs in front of them and she nodded numbly. She stepped down with her left leg and brought her right down. She did this for the first flight before he talked to her.

"You're doing great." He smiled. He didn't touch her as she went down the steps, he just stayed next to her in case she needed to steady herself. He watched her do the next flight the same way and had to ask. "Is your left knee injured?"

"I found an Elaine Ville that works for Samson, Zingerman and Feinstein. Law firm on that side of the building." Wordy said into his headset.

"Ok, yup." Sam watched her start her third flight. It was for her and Wordy.

"She's had several falls over the last couple months. Two on stairs, one in her driveway and another at work. She claimed she stubbed her toe on a loose piece of carpet. Landed on her left knee each time."

"Have you fallen on that knee?" He asked when she stopped at the bottom of the flight.

She nodded, trying to catch her breath and give her knee a break.

"We're going to take this easy then. Take a break whenever you need to." He tentatively put a hand on her shoulder. He was glad that she didn't pull away.

"Just go," she pointed down the stairs, "you're wasting time. I'm not going to fall again." She hoped. She'd been on the meds for nearly a month now.

He gave her an incredulous look. "I need you to keep me from falling." He put a hand to his chest.

Elaine snorted. "Please. I know ego stroking when I hear it."

"Hey, I'm not going anywhere. We go down together. That's the only option." He looked her straight in the eye.

"Fine." She rolled her eyes at him and started down the next flight. He legs were already starting to ache. Just hold out legs, hold me up, she thought.

Sam smiled when she started down the next flight. She wasn't kidding, she was very friggin stubborn. "So, you work for the law firm up there?"

"Yeah."

"How long have you been there?"

"Three years. It's a prestigious firm so I jumped at the chance when they held interviews at the law school." She huffed as she got to the landing of her fifth flight and stopped.

"Yeah I hear they're the top attorneys in the province. That's awesome they hired you. Very impressive." He was keeping his tone light, but he was worried about her knee. She was starting to limp with her right because she was overusing it.

"Thanks." She smiled and stepped down the next flight normally even though it was a scary struggle. She went slow, but on some steps down she felt like she might fall. Her legs were really achy now and she wondered how much longer they'd hold her up. All the way to the bottom, she told herself.

He put his arm up behind her and matched her rhythm when he saw she was less steady this way. When she stopped at the landing he knew he had to ask, even though she didn't want him to. "How are your legs doing? Mine are feeling the burn." He smiled.

"They're ok." She nodded and forced a smile.

She only took a short break this time and he stepped in front of her. "Take another minute. We've got all the time in the world."

"Nope." She couldn't stop. She wouldn't let her legs fail her. Two flights this time, she thought.

"You don't have to prove anything to me Elaine." Sam said as she stepped down the next flight one legged and moved right to the next.

Elaine looked at him. "The only person I need to prove anything to is myself. I'm getting down these stairs today and no one is going to stop me."

He looked at her for a moment and was impressed. "Alright, let's do this." He smiled. She did the next two flights without stopping and was smiling as she turned to go down the third. She suddenly collapsed before she could make it to the stairs.

Sam saw her falling, grabbed her waist and pulled her to him so that he rolled under and took the brunt of the fall. He grunted when her elbow went into his gut.

"Sam? Status." Wordy asked.

"We're ok. Just took a little spill." Sam turned his head and looked at her, she had her face buried in his chest.

It surprised her when he grabbed onto her and pulled her to him. Why would he do that? She was a complete stranger.

She was really grateful though as she knew she was probably going into hurt herself again. She was also embarrassed as she was now lying on top of him. She felt her face burn. She wasn't sure how to get up without hurting him.

"You ok?" He pulled her brown hair back from her face. He could see on her face that she wasn't sure what to do. He rolled them to the side and gently laid her on the floor. He sat up and put a hand on her arm. "Elaine?"

Wow. He was very gentle when he paced her on her side on the floor. She thought for sure he would just push her off him. She put a hand down on the floor when he said her name and pushed herself up to a seated position. She looked down at her legs and bit her lip to keep from crying.

"Elaine. Answer me. Are you ok?" He'd removed his hand when she sat up but he put it back on her hand on her leg.

She nodded. God damned legs. God damned body. She moved to her knees, put her left leg up then used her arms to push herself up and get her right toe on the floor. She tried to make her legs push herself up, but they wouldn't listen. She gritted her teeth and growled as she tried again, still not able to stand.

"Ok, just rest for a couple minutes." He said reassuringly. She sat back on her butt and they sat in silence while she sniffed and wouldn't look at him. "This started a couple months ago didn't it?" He asked quietly, watching her.

"What? How?" Elaine looked at him confused.

He took a breath through his nose and released it. "It's what we do. When I found you in your office we had to make sure you weren't someone we should worry about. My teammate found a record that said you'd fallen a couple times."

"How deep did you look?" She wiped her eyes.

"I only know about the falls. Was there more?" He probed.

Elaine moved so she had her back against the railings and sighed. "Three months ago I called into work, sick. It was the first time in the three years at the firm that I took a sick day. Hell I barely use my vacation time before the end of the year. Suddenly I'm sitting on my couch and I can't move, because I can't see. I had double vision so bad that I couldn't tell whether the carpet was on the floor or the ceiling."

"I'm sorry. That must've been so scary."

She scoffed and wiped her eyes. "Ha, yeah. So I ended up going to the ER, then saw my doc, had bunch of tests, gave them a gallon of blood." When he chuckled she looked at him. "And guess what?"

"MS?" He asked. The symptoms sounded familiar to his cousin.

"Multiple, fucking sclerosis." A tear tracked down her cheek and she didn't bother to wipe it away. "I'm 26." She whispered, as if it was a secret. It wasn't.

"I'm sorry." He knew there wasn't much he could say that would make the degenerative disease better. He saw her tip her head back and close her eyes. After a few minutes of silence, letting her rest and be alone with her thoughts, he broke the silence. "Elaine, open your eyes."

With a frown she tipped her head down looked at him.

"No, put your head back the way it was, and look up."

She raised a brow at him and he gave her an annoyed look. She put her head back and looked up.

He moved next to sit next to her and looked up with her. "Look at what you've accomplished already." He ignored her when she looked at him. "You've already walked down all of those flights of stairs." He looked at her. "You. Can. Do. This."

Wordy and Greg held their breaths a little. They needed Sam to get her moving. Negotiations were starting to break down with the subject and they were the last two in the building.

"What if I go up and we carry her down?" Raf asked over the comms.

"I need you where you are Raf. If this guy decides to run, he's running your way." Greg shook his head.

More tears tracked down her cheeks as she looked up at the ten flights she'd already walked down. She wiped her face and looked at him. "Thank you."

"It's all you." Sam stood and held his hands out to her. "We go down together. No other option."

She put her hands in his and her feet against his. When he pulled she pushed with her legs. She grabbed the railing when she stood as her legs were still rubbery. She looked down the stairwell, looked at him and smiled. "No other option."

They made it down five more flights before her legs gave out again. This time when she tried to stand she couldn't. Her legs were done. She stole a look at him and could see he was patiently waiting, but his face was tense.

When she collapsed this time Sam knew her legs were done. She couldn't walk down these steps on her own. He wondered if she could do it if he held her up. He'd encouraged her to try to stand after a fifteen minute break, but she couldn't. He wasn't sure, but he could try a fireman's carry. He was just about to suggest it when he heard shouting over the his comm. things had been going well, but when the subject decided to surrender, an accomplice suddenly screamed from the sidelines "Vive le revolution!" His heart started pounding. He turned to her and picked her up, one arm under her legs, the other around her waist. "Gotta go."

Elaine squeaked when he picked her up and was surprised at how easily it seemed. "Oh, uh.."

He made it down a flight before they heard a deafening boom and the building shook. He dropped to his knees on the floor and covered her as they free fell for what seemed like forever. Both were screaming as the building started falling around them.

This is it. I'm going to die, she thought. It felt like the world was crashing down around them. They landed with a thump and she felt something in her back crack. She grunted with the pain and heard him grunt too except that his head went forward and he hit his forehead on the concrete next to her. She looked up and saw that more of the building was falling and that he was out. She knew he had fallen on top of her to protect her, but she couldn't let him die. She rolled carefully and with a sharp intake of breath when her back screamed at her.

Several pieces of debris fell on her back but she bit her lip to keep from crying out. When the shaking and falling stopped she sighed with relief. Her back hurt, but they seemed to be ok. She put a hand next to his head and was about to push off him when she felt something stab through her back. She screamed in pain and looked down at him. He was still out, but his face contorted in pain.

She heard several voices, but they sounded far away. She looked around but didn't hear anyone. She frowned. What the hell? She looked down at Sam and saw the black earpiece next to his head. She picked it up and put it to her ear. "Hello?"

##### outside #####

Greg put a hand up and then moved a finger to his lips. The team froze and looked at him. They'd heard her too and every one of them felt a stab of hope. "This is Sergeant Greg Parker, who is this?"

"Um, Elaine Ville." She said unsteadily.

"Elaine." Greg took a breath. "Are you and Sam ok?"

"Um, no. H-he hit his head and I-I think I got stabbed with something." She'd kept the tears at bay so far but the weight of what just happened, but her resolve was crumbling. She covered the mouthpiece and sniffed.

"Ok. We're coming. Just keep talking to me ok? Tell me how Sam's doing." He motioned for the team to turn off their comms. "Ok, I'll keep her on channel two, we'll be on three. Let's get coordinated with fire and ambulance. We need to get them out of there NOW." The team split and started talking to the fire and ambulance crews on the scene. He'd kept his comm on, but muted. She was talking, but he could tell that she was in a lot of pain. "Is he bleeding from his head?" He saw Ed sending a medic his way and waved him over.

##### inside #####

"No." Elaine tried to slide off of him so he could breathe easier, but she couldn't move and it was incredibly painful. She groaned. She looked down between them and saw blood dripping down next to him. "Oh no."

"Elaine? What's happening? Can you tell me what floor you're on?" Greg asked nervously. He was looking at Steve who had a concerned look on his face.

"Oh god." She looked down at Sam and could see he was starting to stir. He put his hands on her arms and was trying to push her off. "No. Sam. Stop." She put her hands on his shoulders, moved them to his upper arms and tried to push his arms down.

"Elaine. Talk to me." Greg commanded.

"Sam. Easy. You're ok." It took all of her strength to hold his arms from pushing her off and possibly killing her. She remembered from medical shows that she watched that you can't remove something impaled in you. "He's waking up."

Sam felt a weight on top of him and it made it hard to breathe. "Off. Can't. Breathe." He could hear a woman talking to him and she sounded familiar but he couldn't place it. "Jules?" His head was pounding. What the hell happened? He let go of the person on him and put a hand to his head.

"No Sam, I'm Elaine. Who's Jules?" She was glad he'd let go of her arms, but it concerned her that he seemed confused.

"Friend." It hurt to talk, but he had to find out what was going on. "Boss?" He put a hand to his ear and frowned when there wasn't anything there.

"Here." She took the earpiece from her ear and leaned forward to put it in his ear. The world started to spin so she put it in his hand and moved back.

Sam opened his eyes and looked at her. She was close to passing out, but when she moved back after she gave him the earpiece he saw her eyes clear. He frowned and out the earpiece in. "Boss? Everyone ok?"

Greg sighed with relief. "Yeah Sam. Just you two inside. You guys doing ok?"

"Um, headache. Possible concussion. Not sure about, uh, Elaine. Hey, stay awake." He looked at her and saw that she was blacking out. He shook her shoulder slightly and felt it move something in his stomach. He put his hand down to his stomach and felt something bumpy and metal there. He followed it up and felt it in her upper stomach. When he brought his hand back it was covered in blood. "Boss, we need to get out of here ASAP."

"What's going on Sam?" Greg didn't like the fear in Sam's voice.

"We've been impaled." Sam looked at Elaine and saw the fear register in her eyes. "We're going to be ok. Just stay still." He reassured her.