Amp's hand was shaking when Sam handed her bag back.

“ 'manda...." She soooo hated that nickname. "....if your not feeling well you should have just called me, no reason in pushing your self…”

She hadn't told him she was diabetic, so he likely had no idea what was happening to her. She could have easily ordered a glass of orange juice and be perfectly fine in a few minutes. But that's not what she wanted. She wanted him to worry, to see what he thought was a weaker side.

"Don't worry, it's nothing. Really." She smiled. "I'll just go back. To my apartment. Just need.... rest...." As she moved to stand, she started to sway, and her legs threatened to collapse from under her. She reached out for where she thought Sam was standing.

"Don't worry, it's nothing. Really."

Sam had continued to look concerned as he handed the bag off to Amanda, she said she was okay but she hadn’t been very convincing with her hand shaking while grabbing the bag. Sam’s look of concern grew as she tried to stand…

"I'll just go back. To my apartment. Just need.... rest...."

She was up for a second and then down the next, as she swayed Sam already had his arms around her catching her in his chest. “Amanda, Amanda! What’s wrong?” Looking around Sam called out for help, “Somebody get some help!” Sam held Amanda tight as he started to panic, he hated to feel powerless.

“Amanda, Amanda! What’s wrong? Somebody get some help!”

Amp shook her head vigorously, and squeezed his arm around her.

"No! I'm okay. Really." She frowned, her vision still blurred. "Just.... want to go home."

She made another attempt to stand up again. She made it to her feet, barely.

"Please."

He knew where she lived, she didn't worry about that. It was just a matter of putting enough urgency in her tone, but staying on her feet long enough, to keep him from calling for medical help. She even took a few shaky steps away, just to make the point.

Sam’s instant panic faded a little when he felt Amanda squeeze his arms. However if didn’t fade completely and the fact that she sounded so weak when she spoke didn’t help either.

"No! I'm okay. Really." "Just.... want to go home." "Please."

Sam’s hardened concerned look softened a bit. Going against his better judgment he said, “Okay.” Sam turned his back to Amanda and grabbed her arm and pulling her forward so she would end up piggy back riding him. Sam extended his legs over the small fence as he talked to Amanda, “Odds are if you remember me having you piggy back so close to your home, once your better you’ll probably rough me up a bit.” He laughed a little as he walked at a steady pace to her apartment. “Which is fine with me cause that would mean your better.”

After rounding a few corners Sam found his way to her apartment and made his way up the stairs to her floor. Opening the door Sam walked in with Amanda still on his back, “you want some food or something?” Sam walked threw Amanda’s apartment to the bedroom and turned his back to the bed as he slowly lowered himself so Amanda would gently land on the bed.

“Okay.”

Amp felt him lift her onto his back, and she hung on as tightly as she could.

“Odds are if you remember me having you piggy back so close to your home, once your better you’ll probably rough me up a bit. Which is fine with me cause that would mean your better.”

"Heh. You know it," she replied, her words a bit slurred.

The reached her apartment quickly, and he took her into the bedroom. Again, she wasn't worried about him trying to take advantage of her weakened state. She learned enough about him to know he was too nice.

“you want some food or something?”

"Juice.... Need sugar...." Her low blood sugar had her acting as if she were drunk, or high, which was just what she wanted.

She reached for the nightstand beside the bed, and a little black case sitting there. She fumbled to get it open, revealing a diabetic glucometer inside. Her hands shook as she fitted the needle into the pen-shaped contraption that draw blood, so she could test her blood sugar level.

The monitor beeped just as Sam returned, announcing 'fifty-eight' in big black letters. She blinked, then looked at Sam, her eyes totally unfocused..

"Whoa.... that's not good...."

"Juice.... Need sugar...."

When Sam heard that he almost ran off from her room to the fridge, a thought occurred in his head, ‘is she a diabetic? Why wouldn’t she tell me?’ Sam ran back figuring he would find out son enough, which is exactly what happened when he returned with a jug of orange juice.

"Whoa.... that's not good...."

‘Yep she was a diabetic,’ Sam thought as he frowned at the low number. “Why didn’t you tell me?” asked Sam as he handed her the jug of Orange juice with a glass. “I mean this is usually you say to your boyfriend right?” at this point his fear and concern sidestepped it’s way for a flash of brief anger. If he new about her being a diabetic he could have helped her prevent against a situation like this. Sam just sighed and sat on the edge of the bed as his back was turned to her. Sam was going to wait this one out.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

Amp took the drink and downed half a glass in one gulp.

“I mean this is usually you say to your boyfriend right?”

"You didn't ask," she snapped in reaction to his anger. Her eyes turned downward guiltily.

The refined sugar reacted quickly in her body, and sent much needed carbs into her system to restore the imbalance. While the juice did its job, she pulled her knees up to her chin on the bed, and wrapped her arms around them. She looked at the far wall sullenly.

"I didn't want to you to think I was handicapped, or something...." she lied quietly.

"You didn't ask,"

Sam fought the urge from turning around and yelling at her again, ‘I shouldn’t have to ask, you should have told me.’ Sam put his hands on his face and then ran it through his hair. He turned around to look at Amanda as she spoke.

"I didn't want to you to think I was handicapped, or something...."

A small happy smile appeared on Sam’s face as he noticed that she was doing better almost instantly. “It’s nothing to be ashamed about.” Sam got up and stood up and walked over to Amanda and sat next to her on the bed and put his arm around her as he kissed her on the forehead. “Besides even with the Diabetes your tougher than me.” He looked out the window for a second hen back to Amanda, “you doing better?”

“It’s nothing to be ashamed about.”

He stood up, and came to her side, then kissed her on the forehead.

<"Sap,"> Amp thought to herself. This job was going to inflate her ego as an actor at this rate.

“Besides even with the Diabetes your tougher than me.”

She hoped so, though not for the same reasons.

“you doing better?”

She pressed herself closer to him, into his chest, and nodded.

"I will be. It just takes a few minutes to kick in."

They sat there for a what seemed like a long time, though it really wasn't. Finally the shakiness faded, and she could think clearly again. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, then tilted her head upwards, still snuggled into him.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you. Forgive me?"

Sam just smiled when she nodded into his chest, his sudden fear had vanished and no was replaced with a peaceful feeling as he just wrapped his arms around Amanda and let her lay on his chest.

"I will be. It just takes a few minutes to kick in."

Sam’s smile just widened, as he didn’t move only said, “Good.” Minutes passed by as he laid there motionless realizing that this had to be the happiest he had ever been in his entire life, never before has he worried so much about someone, well there was another but that didn’t end to good. Never before did things seem so simple in his life. Sam felt her head move as he looked down in her eyes as she spoke.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you. Forgive me?"

He bent his head down and kissed her, “Of course I do, just don’t give me a scare like that again, okay?”

He reached down to kiss her. “Of course I do, just don’t give me a scare like that again, okay?”

Amp smiled. "Okay. Promise."

She reached up to kiss him again, deeper this time to show she was coming around, and to further put him at ease. She could tell by the look on his face, and his general stance, how happy Sam was. She could probably get anything she wanted out of him right at that moment, with no protests. Inwardly she smirked.

<"Too easy.">

It would have been fun to try, to see just what kind of lengths she could push him to, to see what he would do to please her. But he was too good of a guy, and probably wouldn't be worth the effort. Besides, she was growing bored of this game. It was time to end it and move on to the next one.

She sighed, and sat up, pulling away from him slightly, still smiling.

"I think I'm all right now. If you're still up for lunch, eating would actually be a really good thing for me right now. The juice helped, but I really do need to eat something solid."

A week. She needed to make a few requests at King Pharmaceuticals, which would take a week to fill. After that, the game would end. And Sam along with it.

"Okay. Promise."

Sam head was swimming when Amanda kissed him. He could have stayed like this forever. Time seemed to stand still for the brief seconds Sam held her and they kissed. Sam felt her pull away and let her go from the embrace with a smile. He was glad to see here doing better, so glad in fact he felt like doing something extraordinary, but what that was he didn’t know.

"I think I'm all right now. If you were still up for lunch, eating would actually be a really good thing for me right now. The juice helped, but I really do need to eat something solid."

Sam chuckled in relief, as she was seeming more and more like her usual self. Sam smiled and said, “Yeah I think I might be able to stomach something after the scare you gave me. The café we were just at?” Sam got off of Amanda’s bed and stood.

“Yeah I think I might be able to stomach something after the scare you gave me. The café we were just at?”

She nodded. "I guess I should apologize for scaring them, too."

She slid off of the bed, a bit wobbly, but no longer totally unbalanced. Idly she noticed once more how much taller Sam was than her.

Back in the front room, Amp spotted her bag. "Aiie, I forgot!" She retrieved it and pulled out a small snowglobe. Inside, a snowman tipped his hat at an icy ballerina amid the faux blizzard.

"I know its cheesy," she remarked, handing it to him, "but it kinda reminded me of that lake show of yours. And we all need a few useless knicknacks, right?"

A small part of Amp felt bad for what she was about to do to the poor guy. A very small part. Ah well. She'd set the snowglobe on her nightstand after the deed was done.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It had taken longer than a week to get the ingredients she needed to implement her attack, much to Amp's frustration. And what she really wanted would take even longer; apparently curare wasn't as easy to get as she thought, even with the Order's connections. So she had to settle for the sleeping pills instead. Sam was a big guy, so she'd need to find a way to get a lot into him to be effective. She figured she knew how to get him distracted enough so he wouldn't notice.

If she could go through with it....

She'd invited him over for dinner. Not a fancy one, but still nice. She even did the cooking herself; it was easier to know what had been drugged and what hadn't that way. If she calculated right, it would take about two hours for the stuff to kick in. She'd wait an hour after that, just to be sure.

A devilish glint twinkled in the redhead's eyes as she set two steaks in the skillet, and they began sizzling ominously.

It has been a week since Sam had received what was one of the first gifts of his life. Yes it was cheesy but nonetheless it was a gift from the heart and Sam treasured every second he looked at it. He loved the gift that his amazing girl friend had given him and he wouldn’t exchange it for anything. Sam sat in his room shaking the globe as the snowman watched the ballerina in a frozen pose dancing among the now glittering snowflakes. Sam ran a finger over the globe as a tear ran down his face thankful for the great life he now had.

Sam arrived a few minutes early to Amanda’s place in his usual clothing of a nice casual suit. It wasn’t anything fancy but it certainly made him look a little higher class when he wore it to bars. But as of late he had not been bar hopping unless it was with Amanda.

Sam walked up the flight f stairs to smell steak cooking, his mouth watered as his stomach growled, “Smells good” called Sam as he walked into Amanda’s room. He walked to the kitchen and said, “I am gonna use your bathroom real quick.”

A minute later Sam walked back into the kitchen to pull Amanda into a hug and then kissed her. “Miss me?”

The steaks were just about finished when Sam walked in.

"Well, don't you look dapper. I feel under-dressed now." Amp's version of 'under-dressed' included a rust colored shirt-and-skirt combo that matched her hair, and simple ballet flats instead of going barefoot.

“Smells good. I am gonna use your bathroom real quick.”

"Mmkay," she replied, and began lining the table with food; mashed potatoes, green beans, salad, and garlic bread. Her table was too small to set everything out and eat, too, so that meant they would have to eat on the coffee table and couch.

She had just put the meat on two plates when she felt herself pulled into a hug. She twisted in his arms to return the kiss.

“Miss me?”

"Wouldn't you like to know," she teased with a not-so-innocent grin, and poked the tip of his nose lightly. She pulled one of his hands loose and stuck a plate in it. "I hope you brought your appetite, 'cause I don't plan on keeping leftovers."

She waited for him to get his food first, before serving her own. She avoided the potatoes and salad dressing, under the guise of them being too many carbs. Before he could get to the bread, she picked up two pieces, dropping one onto his plate before biting into hers.

"Sorry," she apologized. "I love garlic bread."

She set her plate on the living room coffee table, then returned to the kitchen.

"What do you want to drink?"