TITLE: Lost AUTHOR: Kasey RATING: PG-13, ESF(T), EMF(T), ELF(A), EJF(A), S/M SUMMARY: Sam and Mallory go up to Sam’s family’s cabin.  DISCLAIMERS: They don’t belong to me.  If they did, there’d be a LOT of reasons we’d need to pity these guys! FEEDBACK: Yes! ARCHIVE: Absolutely.  Just lemme know where so I can come see it! “Here we are,” Sam announced proudly as he held open the door for Mallory, dropping his duffle bag in the entry. Mallory dropped her bag and wrapped her arms around Sam’s neck, kissing him.  “Sam, it’s absolutely gorgeous!” she exclaimed, gazing around the cabin at the large fireplace and the picture windows which looked out over the glittering, freshly fallen snow. “I’d forgotten how beautiful it was,” he said, looking around as well.  “Last time I was here was when Lizzie – When I was 14,” he concluded, sounding distantly sad.  “Anyway, since your father has granted me the entire weekend off, why not use it?” Mallory was slightly puzzled by his sudden change of subject, but shrugged it off and smiled.  “Sure.” “Up to a walk in the woods?” “Yeah.”  She pulled on her hat and gloves – which she produced from her coat pocket.  Sam took her hand in his and led her out the door, across the tiny lawn, and into the woods.  About fifteen minutes later, they reached a small meadow.  The snow was falling, and Sam walked immediately to a spot on the far end of the clearing, fell to his knees, and began to search through the snow for…something.  “Where is it?” he muttered over and over as he pushed the snow aside with his glove-covered hands. “Where’s what?” Mallory asked, kneeling beside him. “Nothing.”  He stood and looked around, slightly disoriented.  He headed off into the woods, and Mallory had to race to catch him. “Sam, what’s wrong?”  “Nothing,” he said icily, so Mallory remained silent as they walked. About half an hour later, the cold was starting to get to her.  “Sam?  Can we head back?” “We ARE heading back,” he replied. “We are?” “Absolutely.  It’s right up there.”  He pointed to a spot ahead of them, but when they got there, there was nothing but a small creek, a wide bank on either side. “Okay, Sam…I’m not trying to question your ability or offend your delicate male ego or anything, but I think we’re lost…” He sank defeatedly onto an old log.  “…We’re gonna die…” he said in a child-like, fear-filled voice. “Sam?  What?” “…We’re gonna die, we can’t find out way back, it’s snowing and getting colder by the minute, night’s starting to fall…We’re going to die.” “What are you talking about?  We can find our way back or at least a way to stay warm until we do…We’re not necessarily going to die…” His words terrified her, an icy pit forming in her stomach.  But more than fear, what was filling her was puzzlement.  This was so unlike the Sam she knew, the one who thought he could change things in a system of government that was so set in its ways, the one who rebelled against her father just enough to get the weekend off to go up to the cabin but not enough that he’d be skinned alive during work every day.  “…We can make it, it’s not…” “We’re not invincible, Mallory!” he screamed, and she stared at him in shock.  “Lizzie was invincible, and look at what happened to her!” “Who?” “…My baby sister…well, not baby sister, the youngest, though…” “What happened?”  She sat beside him on the log as he stared out over the creek and began to speak. “…We always used to come up here for Christmas Eve.  The entire Seaborn Clan.  And we’d have dinner and open presents and have a huge snowball fight and then our own little Christmas Eve Service.  My other sister, Dana, would sing and my cousins would play their band instruments and we’d sing carols and my uncle, a minister, would give a sermon and we’d read the Christmas Story… The best part by far was the snowball fight.  It’d be the adults vs. the kids, and it’d usually end up about even because there were more kids but the adults had better aim…All the people were allowed, even the little kids, who usually just ran around and chased each other…Including Lizzie, who was five at the time… She disappeared during the snowball war and we didn’t notice she was missing until it came time for the service.  There were just so many little cousins…we didn’t forget about her, not like that…just that we didn’t realize she wasn’t there…She’d run off after my cousin Jimmy and then couldn’t find her way back.  My father found her the next morning, frozen to death in the meadow.  That was the last time any of us were up here.” Tears froze on his face as soon as they fell, and Mallory hugged him as he continued to stare across the creek.  “My sister and I made a little memorial in the place where she’d died…I…I couldn’t find it today…She was invincible…” “…Sam…”  Mallory didn’t know what to say. “…We’re gonna die…” he said, in a strangled voice. “…Do you know where we are?  Maybe if we could find our way back…” “I’ve never seen this place in my life…I didn’t even know there WAS a stream back here…” Mallory drew in a deep breath, trying to calm herself so that she might be able to help Sam calm down, even though he seemed to be a lost cause.  “Okay.  So we need a way to stay warmer than we can right now.” “…I don’t know of one…” “I do, though.”  She knelt down and began to dig a large hole in the deep snow. “What are you doing?” “We’re gonna bury ourselves in the snow.” “Are you crazy?  Snow is cold, we need to be warm!” “The snow’s gonna be warmer than the air, especially when the sun’s down all the way.” She continued to dig as she spoke, until she had made a place for them. “…Looks too much like a grave…” Sam murmured, looking at it apprehensively. “It should be high enough that we’re out of the wind.” “Take off your coat.” “NOW who’s crazy?!” “We’ll wrap it around both of us, save body heat,” he said as he shrugged out of his heavy trenchcoat.  She nodded and followed suit, and they laid down together, as close as they could, wrapping the coats around both of them. ~*~*~*~ “Hey, Leo, where’s Sam?” Josh called down the hallway. “He has the weekend off, he’s up at that cabin he talked about.” “’Cause he should at least know about this thing…” “What thing?” “They’re bringing up more opposition to school vouchers.” “Why not just call Mallory?  She’s the one who argued for two hours with him.” “That’d work too.” “He’ll be pissed as hell at you, you know that, right?  I told him he could have the weekend off.” “I’m not dragging him back here, I just thought I should tell him.” “Yeah, okay.” ~*~*~*~ “Your phone’s ringing,” Mallory whispered. “Hm?” “Your phone’s ringing,” she repeated. “…Ah…it makes a nice sound…” Sam mused disorientedly.  “Sam?”  “…Wha?” he asked.  He sounded so groggy. “Don’t go to sleep, Sam.” “Why not?” “Because you can’t, okay?” “Mmhmm…” ~*~*~*~ Josh looked puzzledly at the receiver.  “He’s not answering.” “So?” “So something’s wrong.  Sam never doesn’t answer his phone.  He’s never without his phone and never lets it ring without answering.  I’m serious.  Never.  Not even if he and Mallory were –“ “I get the picture, thank you,” Leo said dryly, inwardly shuddering at the idea. “Something’s wrong, Leo.” “And what something might that be?” “I don’t know.  But something bad has happened.” “And what do you propose we do?” “We’ve gotta go up there.” “Josh.” “Be sure that everything’s okay.” “He’ll hate you.” “Unless I end up saving his life.”  Leo laughed, though Josh was entirely serious.  “C’mon, Leo.  You’re honestly not worried that something might have happened to them?” Leo sighed.  “Get your coat.  Do you even know where we’re going?” “Yeah.  Sam’s got the address written down in his office.” “Get that, too.  And I’ll go…explain to the president that you’re worried because Sam has the weekend off and is choosing not to talk to you during it.” ~*~*~*~ The phone was ringing again.  And Mallory wanted to answer it…she really did…But there was a sort of clumsiness about her, and she couldn’t find it in what she could reach of the trenchcoat… “Don’t worry about it,” Sam said distantly.  “It’s my time off…we don’t need the phone…” “Sam, don’t you get it?  Whoever it is might be able to help…” “Help what?  We’re fine…”  He was clearly delusional, and it was terrifying to Mallory, who was already panicky enough. “Sam.” “Yeah?” he slurred, sounding drunken. “Are you okay?” “What?  Yeah…It’s not so cold out anymore…” Mallory knew that couldn’t be good.  “Sam, stay with me…” “I am with you, don’t you see me?” She wanted to reach for the phone, to pull the coat off just long enough to find the phone and tell whoever was on the other end that they needed help…But for some reason, her hands wouldn’t work. “…Why’s it so quiet?” Sam asked out of the blue.  “It’s like that song by Simon and….someone.  Someone with a bizarre last name…funny-sounding…Arbuckel, maybe?” “Garfunkel,” Mallory whispered lazily. “Sounds of Silence…just like this right now…” The grips of sleep were tugging at her…she knew she couldn’t let them overtake her…they couldn’t, that would be deadly…And yet she couldn’t resist.  Sam’s breathing had slowed, become deeper already…and he was right, it wasn’t so cold anymore.  In fact, it was almost downright warm, she thought as she slowly drifted off to sleep. ~*~*~*~ “This has gotta be the place,” Josh said as he pushed open the unlocked door.  “See?  That’s Sam’s bag right there.” “And Mallory’s suitcase,” Leo said, looking around.  “Nice place.” “Yeah.  Sam said he hadn’t been here in a long time, don’t know why.” Leo shrugged.  “If they’re here and just doing…other things…first Sam kills you, then I do…and I’m pretty sure Mallory would be interested in joining in that beating as well.” Josh rolled his eyes.  “Sam?  Sam, you in here?”  No answer, just the echoing off the walls.  “Mallory?”  Again, no answer.  He wandered from room to room, calling.  No signs of life.  No signs that anyone had been there in decades.  “Leo, they’re not here,” he announced, going back to the entryway.  He tried Sam’s phone again.  Nothing.  “You don’t think…” he said, noticing two sets of footprints heading out the back door and into the woods.  “I don’t know, Josh, this is your little holiday.” Already Josh was pulling gloves from his pocket.  “I’m gonna go look for them.” “By yourself.” “Yes.” “In the freezing cold when you have no idea where you are or where you’re going?” “Yeah.” “No, you’re not, I’ll go.” “Leo, I…How can I put this nicely?  I’m a lot younger than you are, and it’s not my daughter out there.” “Meaning you won’t look as hard?” “Meaning that if something HAS happened…” He let it hang.  “So I’m going, and that’s final.  Keep calling Sam’s phone, I’ll let you know if I find ‘em.” ~*~*~*~ Josh cursed his thin gloves as he tried to follow footprints which had been already mostly filled in with snow.  It was growing dark, and aside from a tiny flashlight on the key ring in his pocket, he was without any source of light. And then he heard it. A ringing cell phone.  Through a small cluster of trees, it sounded like.  "Sam?!" he called loudly, startled by the ringing.  "Sam? Mallory?  Anyone?  Hello?" The phone rang again.  He was sure of its location, and he forced his way through the branches until… He appeared into a startlingly open area.  A creek, with a wide bank on each side. And there, practically at his feet, with a thin layer of snow covering them, were Sam and Mallory. Josh snatched his own phone from his coat pocket and speed-dialed Leo's cell.  "Leo McGarry." "Leo?  I found them…" As he spoke, he knelt in the snow beside them and gently dusted the snow from their heads, feeling lightly for a pulse.  Both hearts still beat, though Sam's very weakly and slowly and even Mallory's not so well or healthily as normal. "And?" "And…it's bad." "How bad?" "I'm no expert, Leo, but it's…pretty bad.  They're unconscious, I think…I don't know HOW cold they are, but they're cold and it can't exactly be good…" "But there's alive?" he asked, and Josh was amazed at the panic in his voice. "Yeah." "I'll call for help.  Where are you?" "By a creek…I can find my way back okay, but to describe it, I don't know…" "Okay.  I"ll call.  Stay warm, and if they wake up do NOT let them go back to sleep." "Got it.  Oh, and Leo?" "What?" "I hope Mal's okay." "Yeah."  There was a pause.  "Call if anything happens." "Got it."  He hung up the phone and put it back in his pocket.  Gently he shook Sam and Mallory by their shoulders in some attempt to try to wake them up. And slowly, so slowly that he didn't notice at first…Mallory's eyes opened to gaze up at him. ~*~*~*~ Leo was rapidly wearing out the rug in front of the fireplace as he called people.  The EMTs were on their way.  Jenny was waiting by the phone for when they knew what hospital they were going to.  Jed had been informed and was probably making Abby crazy, pacing around either the bedroom or the Oval Office. And yet he jumped when his cell phone rang.  "McGarry."  He listened a moment to muffled noise, then heard a quiet, weak, groggy voice that brought tears to his eyes." "…Daddy…?" It took him a minute to find his voice.  "Mal?" "…Yeah…Josh is here…" "I know, Baby…Are you okay?" "…It's cold…and Sam's…here somewhere…" She was only semi-coherent. "Listen, help's on the way it should be there soon." "Okay…I think I"ll sleep while I wait…" "No!" Leo said at the same time as Josh did.  "Baby, I know you're tired, but you can't sleep, not yet." "Why?" she was starting to revert back to childlike tendencies, whining. "Because it's…Because it's dangerous right now." "Okay…" she said uncertainly.  "…I hear sirens…" Leo breathed a sigh of relief.  "Good." Josh's voice came on the phone.  "Leo, I'm gonna go to where the sirens are, direct the crew over here." "Good idea." "Keep her talking." "Got it.  See you in a bit." "Yeah." Mallory came back on the phone.  "Daddy?" "I'm here, Baby." "Josh had to leave." "I know.  He's leading the EMTs to you."  Silence.  "Mallory?"  He heard a sort of choking sob.  "Mallory?  Are you okay?" he asked, fighting the panic which bubbled up in him again. She started to speak too fast, sounding panicked.  "Daddy, I can't wake Sam up, he's lying next to me but I can't wake him up…What's wrong with him, why isn't he waking up?" "It's gonna be okay, Baby." "Why can't I wake him up?  HE was fine when we were walking." "You've been out there too long.  That's why help's coming." "Is he gonna die?" "I don't know, Baby." "HE HAS to be okay, Daddy, he CAN'T die!" And then Josh's voice again.  "Leo, they're here, I'm gonna go along with them in the ambulance.  They're going to Sugarbush General Emergency, right in town." "Got it.  I'll meet you there." ~*~*~*~ "What've we got?" "White male, 30-32, hypothermic and unconscious, temp's down to 83, BP 80/50." "Start him on warm IV fluids, take him to Trauma I. And get a crash cart!" "White female, late 20's, hypothermic, temp's right around 90, awake and responsive." "Warm IV fluids and get her some tea.  Whatever.  Anything that isn't coffee,  And no alcohol!" "…Where's Sam…?" the female patient mumbled weakly. "We're gonna get him warmed up." "I've gotta see him…" "We want to get your temp up first, okay?  But I promise we'll let you see him."  The patient sighed and nodded, wincing as they started the IV. ~*~*~*~ "What do we know?" Leo demanded. "Nothing yet." "Damn." "Yeah." They sat in silence.  Leo slumped in his chair, eyes closed, as he thought of all the things he would do if the two lives were spared.  Josh leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and his forehead in his hands, starting at the floor as he muttered what sounded like gibberish but Leo guessed was some sort of Hebrew prayer. "Mr. McGarry?" Leo jumped.  "What?" "Your daughter wants to see you." "I…Okay, yeah."  He stood.  "She's…I mean, is she okay?" "Her body temperature's up, into the normal range, no apparent tissue  damage…Everything looks good." "Thank God," he whispered.  "How's Sam?" "He's making slow progress. His temperature was a lot lower…" "Damn California blood," Josh whispered from his chair. "Josh…I'll be back soon…" "Nah…go.  See your daughter.  I'll wait here for news." "Okay.  You're sure?" "Yeah.  Tell Mal I say hi." Leo nodded and followed the doctor to a small room. Mallory laid on a bed at its centre, an IV running into her arm to try to raise her temperature completely, a warm-looking blanket wrapped around her. She looked so tiny and fragile. She'd always been skinny, but there was something almost…ghastly…about her right then. "…Don't let her see you cry," he whispered to himself.  "She's been through enough without her father falling apart -" "Daddy?" Until that day, the last time she'd called him that had been twenty years past.  "Hey, Baby," he whispered.  Anyone in politics would've been shocked had they seen him - the President's attack dog completely crumbling.  "How ya feeling?" He approached the bed slowly, finally sitting in the chair near her. "Okay…It's not so cold anymore…" "Yeah." "How's Sam?" "Not…Not great…he's improving…" Mallory's hand was near the edge of the bed, and Leo gently placed his hand over it.  "He was a lot colder than you when he got in…that's why you couldn't wake him up…" Mallory nodded, tears welling up in her eyes.  "Baby, it's gonna be okay." "…Not if something bad happens, not if he…not if he d -"  She choked out a sob and couldn't even say the word.  Leo sat on the edge of the bed and hugged her as best he could with the IV in her arm.  Gently he stroked her auburn hair, wishing there was something he could do to make it better. ~*~*~*~ "Okay, guys, let's take 'im to a room."  As the medical team started to move the gurney, the beeps of the heart monitor turned into a stead drone.  "Damn!  Get the cart!" "I thought we were past this!" "We must've jolted him!" "Charge to 200..Okay, clear!" <<Schzack!>> <<EEEEEEEEEEEEEE>> "Charge 300…Clear!" <<Beep…Beep…Beep…Beep…>> ~*~*~*~ "Ron, I honestly don't give a damn if it's 'secure' or not, that's my goddaughter and speechwriter in there!" The nurses on duty at the front desk looked at each other.  They knew that they knew that voice…But from where? And then they saw him.  Complete with Secret Service entourage.  The President of the United States. The nurses leapt to their feet - those who had already been standing stood straighter. The President walked to the desk.  "Excuse me," he said, "but I would like to find out the condition of Sam Seaborn and Mallory O'Biran, please." The nurses stared at him, and finally one looked at the board.  "Um…Mr. President…sir…Ms. O'Brian has been moved to a room, Mr. Seaborn is…still in Trauma I, sir." "Thank you."  HE started to walk away, then turned and went back to the desk.   “Actually…many members of my staff are on their way as we speak, is there by chance a room or somewhere you could put us so my secret service agents don't have heart attacks?" The nurses looked at each other, then pointed to a private room across the hall. "Thank you." ~*~*~*~ The doctor who walks in looked very nervous, especially when the President stood, as did his entire staff.  "M-Mr. President, I'm Dr. Callahan, I worked on Sam Seaborn…" "How is he?" "He -…There was cardiac arrest, sir." Josh began to tremble uncontrollably.  CJ - who had arrived with Toby, Donna, and Cathy - put her hand on his shoulder, but he shrugged it off. "…We got his heart started again, but I'm a little concerned.  His body temperature isn't rising as quickly as we'd like." "Is he…is he going to be okay?" Toby asked quietly in his usual emotionless way. "Right now, all we can do is wait, keep trying to get him warm."  The president nodded.  "Thank you, Doctor." "You're welcome, sir."  The doctor turned and left. The President said something quietly to Charlie, who exited, then turned to face his staff.  IT was then that he noticed Josh, still standing as was everyone else, trembling like a leaf.  "Josh…sit down…" He did so wordlessly. ~*~*~*~ “Leo?” Leo turned to see Charlie standing in the doorway.  “I have a message from the president…” He could tell by the tone in the young man’s voice that it wasn’t good.  And, from the way he kept looking at Mallory…it was about Sam. “Yeah.”  Leo joined Charlie at the doorway and lowered his voice.  “What’s up?” “The doctor just told us about Sam.” “And?” “His heart stopped when they were moving him.” “Damn.” “They got it started again, but he’s not warming up as quickly as he should be.” Leo sighed.  “And now I have to go tell her that…” “…I should go back…” “How’s Josh?” “If he was shaking any more, I’d think he was having a seizure.” “Yeah.”  He looked quickly over his shoulder at his daughter.  The IV had been removed and she was lying there, curled up in a ball under the blanket.  He sighed.  “Anyway.  Thanks for telling me…” “No problem, Leo.”  Charlie left, and Leo turned and walked back to his daughter’s bed. “How’s Sam?” “What makes you so sure we were talking about Sam?” “Now seems hardly the time to worry about the numbers on the environmental lobby.” Leo sighed.  “It’s…it’s not good, Baby.” “How ‘not good’?” “Mallory…” “How ‘not good’?” she repeated. “…His heart stopped, they got it started again…” He paused for a moment as Mallory put a hand over her mouth, her eyes misting over.  “…He’s not warming up as they’d like…It doesn’t mean he’s beyond hope, not by any stretch…”  He stopped as Mallory rolled over, curled tightly in a ball, and began to whispered and mutter to herself, as though she was communicating with Sam via some link. “…Don’t die, Sam…Come back to me, Please…Don’t die on me…Warm up and come back…I have too much to tell you, too much left unsaid…” It broke Leo’s heart to hear her.  For the first time, there was literally nothing he could do.  He’d always at least been able to TRY to make it better…He’d stopped drinking, he’d become the father he should’ve been before…But now…He was completely powerless to stop it. ~*~*~*~ He was stuck in a bad chickflick.  One his sister had made him watch when she’d been in NYC three or so years back, and now he was regretting it. He was the hero.  The charismatic artist.  The Romeo to the Juliet in the star-crossed pair.  The man who had nothing and made the best of it anyway.  The one who saved the life and won the heart of the beautiful red-haired maiden. The one who was going to die. He clutched tightly the hand of his love as they climbed frantically to the top of the sinking ship0 – what had once been the back of the ship, now stuck at almost 90 degrees in the air.  It was such cold air…no way to get warm… And then they hit the water. He was even colder than before, the icy knives of the water stabbing into him. Land.  Raft.  Boat.  They had to get out of the water. He had to get her out of the water. ~*~*~*~ “…Daddy…*Please*…” “Baby –“ “I love him, I Have to see him!” “I know, Baby, the doctors just aren’t so sure it’s a good idea yet –“ “…Dad…” She looked up at her father and he saw tears in her eyes.  “…Please…” she begged in a hoarse whisper. He sighed.  “I’ll go get a nurse escort.” ~*~*~*~ Seeing her to safety was the ultimate goal.  She was too important to him to lose…so long as she was okay, it was enough…And he instinctively knew he would die if it would save her life. ~*~*~*~ Mallory gasped as twin slits of gleaming sapphire blinked slowly up at her.  She tightened her grip on his hand as she watched his eyes dart around nervously as he tried to speak.  “…Mal…ry…?” he rasped. “I…I’m right here,” she whispered. “You’re…okay…?” She nodded and gently smoothed his hair.  “…Good…” he said quietly, closing his eyes in relief as he relaxed.  His job was done, she was safe. And the blips on the EKG slowed dramatically. ~*~*~*~ The room was in an uproar.  Doctors and nurses clamoured about, trying to figure out what happened. “What’s happening?  What’s going on?” Mallory demanded.  She didn’t understand the jargon they were using, all she knew was that something was wrong with Sam. “Someone get her out of here!” “C’mon, Baby, let’s go so they can have more room to work, okay?” Leo suggested. “No!  What’s wrong with him?  I need to know what’s happening –“ “And you will in a little bit, I promise, but for right now you’ve gotta leave, okay?” one of the nurses called in response. “…Daddy?”  She looked up at him. “…Let’s go back to your room, Baby,” he said quietly, gently leading her away.  She looked back over her shoulder the whole way.  As soon as she was safely back in her room, she collapsed in a fit of sobs in her father’s arms. ~*~*~*~ She was in trouble again.  He didn’t know what kind…it wasn’t like before.  She wasn’t too cold, it wasn’t her life being in immediate danger.  But something was wrong.  She was devastatedly upset, he could feel it. What was wrong?  He’d come back to make sure she was okay…She had been so he could let go… Unless… Unless that was WHY she was so upset. ~*~*~*~ “Heart rate’s back up…” “Good sinus rhythm…” “Okay…I don’t know what just happened but he’s back.” “…Wh’r’s…Mal…?” he asked groggily.  “…I h’ve…see…’er…” ~*~*~*~ “What do you mean?” Mallory and Leo stared at the doctor with twin expressions of shock. “We don’t know what happened.  But all of a sudden he came back, saying he had to see you.” “Is he…I mean, is he gonna be okay?  It’s not like one of those things where for the last few minutes of their life they –“ “His temperature’s dramatically increased, heart rate’s just about normal.” “Then I…um…I shouldn’t keep him waiting…” Mallory whispered, a grin spreading across her face. ~*~*~*~ The motorcade procession through the small towns in Vermont drew quite a crowd.  People waved and smiled and whispered to each other questions of why the motorcade would be passing through their town. The answer was simple – because they were on their way to the airport where they would be picked up by Air Force One and taken back to Washington. It had been a long two weeks for the people inside the motorcade.  Shuttling back and forth between D.C. and Sugarbush General.  Everyone had gone back and forth countless times…except for two people who’d taken up residence in a small motel near the hospital.  Yes, the President had been forced to deal with the country without his chief of staff for awhile, because, as Leo and Jed both put it, “Some things are more important than the presidency.”  Too bad that philosophy hadn’t been put into play during the ending of Leo’s marriage. Mallory had seldom left Sam’s beside, only when the nurses kicked her out, and both of them were happier that way.  She was beside him as they processed through the country streets, leaning her head on his shoulder in one of the cars.  Leo sat opposite them, casting a nervous glance in their direction.  While he was much more…used to the idea of his daughter and Sam being together, he still wasn’t exactly thrilled about it.  Josh had reluctantly agreed to ride in the car behind them.  He’d become very overly protective of Sam, which was surprising considering he’d found his best friend nearly dead in a snowbank.  Donna was riding with him, probably to try to help calm him down as he worried and fretted, which was very unlike Josh but becoming a common sight. As for Sam…he remembered vaguely suggesting that he and Mallory go for a walk, but other than that all he remembered was something about being stuck in a chickflick.  And that was all he’d say, before taking Mallory’s hand in his own and giving her one of those looks that made Leo cringe. It had been a very long two weeks indeed.  But now, finally, things were on the mend and on their way to being back to normal…with a slightly altered version of “normalcy” than before.