It was the strangest feeling, the moment of freefall. Sam let out a short scream, reaching her arms out for anything to hold onto. Her fingers met the ledge of concrete, and she stopped her descent for a split second. But her sudden weight was too much. Her fingers slipped, and she began to drop as a hold came around her wrist.

Sam reached up to it with both hands and looked up at John as he gripped hard onto her arm. He lay on the floor of the level, his other arm supporting him as he strained to keep Sam where she was.

She dangled underneath him, her legs kicking the air. Sirens reached them from the street below. Blue and red lights reflected off of the building. Sam looked down. An unmarked police car, followed by two squad cars was pulling to the side of the road.

Sam looked back up. "John!" she shouted as Cora came into view. She crouched down, and pressed her weapon against John's temple.

"Alan is still alive?"

"Yes," John said.

"Where is he?"

John didn't answer. Sam saw the wear on his face. They couldn't stay like this for much longer.

"Tell me, or you both will drop."

Six levels. Sam looked down. It was really high, but she could make it if she landed in one of those trees… maybe. It would be painful, but she believed she could survive it. Her odds were much more in her favor than John's with that gun to his head.

"Don't do it, John! Just let me go, I'll be okay."

"No." he said firmly.

"John!"

"I will not let you go again!" he shouted. "Never again."

Sam looked up at him in confusion as a spotlight came from overhead. The thudding of a helicopter's propellers hovered above them – Cora's ticket out.

Cora looked up, distracted.

"Sam!"

John slid something out to her and pushed it over the edge. Sam released John's arm with one hand and caught the gun. She pointed it up, and pulled the trigger.

Cora went down. John pushed her gun off of the edge and reached out his other hand to Sam, pulling her up to safety. She gained purchase on the edge with her knees, then her feet. She gripped onto John as he pulled her back to him, and held onto him. They knelt on the concrete floor, holding onto each other for dear life.

Sam closed her eyes as she caught her breath. John held her close and she didn't want to let him go. "Thank you," she whispered in his ear. She kissed him on the cheek and held him tighter as the helicopter circled above them. "Thank you."

Detective Fusco reached the floor and ran over to them.

"Was that you hanging on the outside?" he asked.

"Please, don't remind me," Sam said, wiping her face.

John stood and helped her up.

"You look like hell," Fusco said when he got a look at John.

"Thank you, Lionel. You always know how to greet people. If you want Carter's shooter, and the person responsible for the explosion downtown, she's right there," John pointed to Cora, who was on the floor, cradling her left side.

John took Sam by the hand and they left the detective to his work. Sam's legs shook underneath her. She moved slowly to get the feel of walking on something solid again.

Upon reaching the ground level, Sam was immediately accosted by Alina. She and Finch were waiting by the entrance to the stairwell, and she attacked Sam with a tight hug.

"We saw you up there, just dangling," she said. "We were freaking out."

"That is a crude, but accurate description of our reaction," Finch said supportively.

Sam laughed and hugged her back. Alina pulled away and pounced on John, kissing him full on the mouth. John raised his eyebrows and his arms stayed at his sides. Sam stared along with Finch until she released him.

Sam frantically searched for something to say. "They're arresting Cora."

"What are you going to do now?" John asked her, having recovered from the spontaneous attack upon his person.

"After talking to your friend here," Alina nodded to Finch, "and to my lawyers, of course. I might go back home soon. Pay my respects, take care of some business."

"What about your family?" Sam asked.

"They're not all like Cora. And now that I've inherited basically everything, they're going to want to do some major ass kissing. I think it'll be a nice visit." Alina winked.

Sam took her hand. "Good luck, Alina Watts."

"I think might have to go back to Watson."

"That would make things a little easier," Finch added.

Alina's dark eyes rested on Sam and John. "Thank you," she said, hugging Sam again.

Sam walked at a leisurely pace down the sidewalk. The night was moving on, and people were abandoning the streets, settling in to their destinations for the evening.

John veered a little, and she pushed him back on course. "Are you sure you don't want to go see a doctor?"

"Yeah," he scratched the back of his neck and stretched his arms in front of him. "I've had worse."

"That doesn't mean this," she waved her finger in the air at him, "is a good thing."

"It'll wear off in a little while."

"You have a concussion. You shouldn't be left alone for at least a few hours."

John smiled. "Trust me, I'll be fine, Sam."

"Yeah, just fine, passed out on the floor somewhere all by yourself."

"Well, where do you want to go?"

"I don't care."

Sam looked sidelong at him, her thoughts dwelling on those few moments that her life was literally hanging in the balance. The only line she had was John. And at one point, she had the feeling that she was the only line he had as well.

"I want to ask you something."

"Truth or Dare?"

"No, I trust you to tell me the truth. Maybe not all of it, but still the truth," Sam said.

"Not all of it?" John acted puzzled.

"You dance around the big pieces of the truth, John. You dance badly too, because I can always tell there's something you're not telling me."

"Sorry," John apologized, which wasn't what she was expecting. "It's a habit."

"I can understand it."

"What's your question?"

Sam chose her words carefully. "When we were in the parking garage, and I told you to drop me –"

"Sam, that was the stupidest thing you've ever said," John said with a laugh.

"I would have been okay… probably."

"Maybe after three surgeries, a year of rehabilitation and physical therapy, eating your food through a straw – "

"All right, shut up," Sam jabbed him on the arm and laughed. "It seemed like a better idea than you getting shot in the head."

"She wouldn't have done it."

"She tried with Carter, though."

"I think Cora was more aware of what she was doing with that gun than Carter realized. She was more scared than the rest of us."

"You were scared?"

"For a minute, yeah," John admitted. It had to be the concussion. Sam never believed he would have admitted such a thing if he were completely in his right mind. "I came very close to watching my friend fall to her death."

"I was scared too. My friend was blown up and nearly burned to death earlier today. And... yeah, I was hanging from the sixth floor of a building for a few minutes, so that was a little scary as well."

John gave away a subtle smile.

They crossed another street and continued walking. Sam thought she was following John, but it was possible that he was following her. Maybe they both just needed to wander for a while.

"When I told you to drop me you said that you'd never let me go again. What were you talking about?"

John closed his eyes for a moment as they walked and he put his hands in his pockets.

"It was probably the concussion talking," Sam said lightly when she saw his hesitation. "Forget I asked."

"It was the concussion talking," John confirmed. "I didn't realize what I was saying until after I said it."

"Don't worry then, it doesn't matter," Sam said.

They walked together quietly for a while underneath the streetlights. The only noise was the sound of their shoes hitting the pavement and the rushing sound of a vehicle driving by every once in a while.

Sam would have liked more of a detailed explanation, because she recalled very clearly the expression on John's face as he said those words. When he spoke, there was something that she had never seen before in his expression – a kind of desperate determination. She had a feeling that it wasn't solely about her.

"Before I met Finch, before any of this started," John began, speaking slowly as though he still wasn't sure whether he wanted to say what he was about to say. "There was a person who I was very close to. They were very important to me. But, I let her go, believing that she deserved better. And because of that, I wasn't in time to protect her when she needed me."

John's explanation was unexpected, to say the least. It was the most personal he'd ever gotten with Sam, and she could see right away that this ran very deeply within him. It was something he thought about a lot, more than he would ever admit. But she understood. Losing someone you love is one of the worst things that can happen in this world.

"I'm sorry," Sam said quietly.

"I won't make that mistake again," he said solidly.

Sam considered what she could say to him. Nothing would make him feel better, nothing would really fix him. But that's not what she wanted anyway. The John who was broken was the John she knew, the John she loved. Perhaps, all he needed was help holding the pieces together.

"You've saved her over and over since then."

John didn't reply. He looked down at his feet as they continued walking.

Sam took a hold of his wrist, pulling his hand out of his pocket and laced her fingers together with his as they walked. "John, it might not mean much to you when I say this, even though it should, but you are the most reliable, solid person I've ever met in this world. Nobody really deserves you, the dedication you have, if you ask me. And you've always been there when I needed you." The words almost fell out of her before she realized she was thinking of them. "I'm glad you decided not to let me go."

John gave her a little, half smile. "So am I. Thank you, Sam."

"I hope you know that that's your allotment of compliments for the rest of the year, so…"

That got a little laugh out of him. "It's your turn now anyway."

"Oh, right," Sam said as it dawned on her. "You just gave me a big one too. So, let's see," Sam thought for a moment and snapped her fingers. "Oh, I think I've decided on my new name!" she said excitedly.

It had been a little while since Sam was declared legally dead, and Finch had told her that she needed to come up with a new name for herself so the proper IDs could be made. Sam had been putting it off until she came across the perfect one for her.

"What is it?" John said with a hint of apprehension.

"I've decided to steal Alina's. What do you think of Samantha Watts?"

John tilted his head a little and shrugged. "Simple, but convincing."

"That's what I thought." Sam smiled and they continued walking aimlessly through the night.

Thank you so much for reading and for taking the time to post reviews! I so love to hear what you think!

Sam's new life and adventures will continue in the next story. Coming soon! :)