Author's Note: Okay ladies and gentlemen, you've read this far, now you've come to the conclusion of my little story. I thank you for reading and hope I get the chance to write for you all again! Please enjoy and remember that I need reviews so I know how I'm doing and whether to try again.

Chapter 19

“What do you mean? How will we get into trouble? Would they be that upset if we’re not there when they come back?”

“No, not them, the elevator itself. When the power comes back on, this sucker’ll move. With us still on top. If, indeed we are still on top. My plan is to be on that floor right there when this thing starts to move.”

She started to panic a little in her head. What if the power comes back on before we get up there? Then what? What if he can’t get us up there or something happens while he tries to- the power comes back on or he slips because I’m too heavy or he miscalculated?

“Ben?”

He turned around from gathering all of their stuff and stood right in front of her. He looked directly at her. “Don’t worry. Just trust me.”

He said it so calmly and reassuringly that it was near-impossible to not trust him.

He loosened his shoulders and neck up by rolling them and then picked up their stuff- their jackets, her purse, his tie, and the folder she was carrying on the Meghan Fried case. Then he looked back up at her.

“Okay, any last words?”

Her eyes widened. “WHAT?!”

He chuckled. “I meant before you hop on my back and we go back up to the sixth floor.”

She sighed with relief. “Oh. Um…” She thought for a moment about the whole ordeal. Maybe it’s only because I was stuck with him for so long. What is that condition where you start to identify with your captor? Maybe that’s it. I don’t want to admit to something that might not be there. Besides, I’ll just embarrass myself, anyway. He certainly doesn’t feel the same. Still, I don’t want to let this one pass me by…

“I was wondering. Is there anyone in your life?”

He looked confused. “Uh, my brother. Oh, and his family.”

She was getting more nervous. Relationships had not always been so good to her, she made poor decisions when it came to men.

“I meant…you know…”

He looked at her questioningly.

“…a woman.”

If it was possible, he looked even more confused. “Well, my sister-in-law is a woman and my two nieces are female.”

Then he finally looked like he understood a little. “Oh. You meant, like, a girlfriend. Well…she and I had a pretty nasty fight. My fault. I destroy every relationship I have by saying some nasty things in a fight. Usually something about her past and she leaves the room angry. Anyway, apparently I actually liked this one and I went out drinking with my cousin. I don’t drink. But, while we were out, he found out some things about his girl and her ex and we did some crazy stuff. Needless to say, I ended up with some ladies from my past and my girlfriend was pretty mad. We decided that we probably needed a little space. Away from each other. An hiatus, if you will. So, technically, I guess that would be a no. I do not have a girlfriend.”

“You just wrote her off like that? You said you really liked her.”

“I doubt that it could work between her and I. She’s got a past, I’ve got a past, and the fight was over trust issues. She told me her biggest secret and I didn’t tell her mine. She found out and it just went from there. Too much to try and work through.”

“What secret didn’t you tell her?”

He smiled sadly. “I can’t tell you for the same reasons I couldn’t tell her. You’re FBI and it could get me fired if someone else in the Agency knew.”

“I won’t tell.”

He smiled at her. “I can’t take that chance.”

“Why not? You told me all sorts of other things.”

“This is different. We need to go now. Hop on up.”

She sighed and he turned around and crouched down in front of her. She put her hands on his shoulders and positioned her feet so she could wrap her arms around his neck. As she did so, he started to stand up and she lifted her legs so that they were at his waist.

He grabbed her right leg and as he did so he started to speak. “I need you to hold on with both your arms and legs because I can’t hold you. Now make sure you hold on real tight, okay?”

Her legs were now tightly wrapped around his waist. “Okay.”

She concentrated on breathing because if she let her mind wander, she would be thinking about his perfectly sculpted body and the way it felt. Then she would be of no use to either of them.

“Okay. Now Samantha, close your eyes and we’ll be up there before you know it.”

She closed her eyes and was thinking about what she should concentrate on when he spoke.

“Okay Samantha. Floor six. Ding. Time to get off.”

She opened her eyes and all she saw was darkness. As her eyes adjusted, she noticed that there were very dim backup-generator-fed lights all along the main hallway. Other than

that, she recognized it as the sixth floor.

“Everything okay back there?”

“Oh. Yeah, just adjusting my eyes a little. That’s all.”

As she started to slide down off his back he caught her rear-end in his hands. She sucked in sharply and then realized that he was just helping her off so she didn’t lose balance and

fall.

Her feet touched the ground and she immediately felt sad. She wouldn’t see him again, let alone have another free conversation like the one in the elevator.

“So Ben…”

He turned around and started to hand her her belongings. “Mmmm…?”

“Will I see you again?”

“Are you going to ask me any more oddball questions?”

She blushed slightly and laughed softly. “Would that be such a bad thing?”

He gave her a small smile, but it was given warmly. “You should have been a journalist. Then, at least the people you questioned would be famous.”

She was still blushing as she laughed again. “I don’t mind. Your life is interesting. But you still didn’t answer my question. Will I see you again?”

He shrugged. “That’s up to your boss. Victor isn’t the only one who can call me in on one of your cases. He just does it when he feels you guys aren’t getting anywhere. Not just your team. Like I said, I ‘advise’ other teams, too. But Jack can call me if he feels he needs me or whatever. Or you guys can tell him that you feel you need another set of eyes or legs. Either way, the option is there. It’s all up to your team.”

He paused a moment and then cocked his head to the side. “I have a question for you, now.”

“Uh, okay. Shoot.”

“You’ve never seen me work. You don’t know anything about the way I work or what I can do.”

“Yeah, and?”

“Why is it that you are asking me if I’ll see you again? You don’t know anything about me work-wise, why would you want me there?”

Time to think quick, Sammy!! Otherwise you’ll tell him how you THINK you feel. You’ll end up making another compatibility mistake.

“Umm…well…you said that you always get your man, I’ve seen your ‘interviewing’ skills in action, I’ve seen how nimble you are and I don’t think that there’s anyone I could trust more to back me up in a nasty situation. I’ve also seen you stay calm under pressure, I’ve heard your background and it seems like you could relate to a lot of cases, and I know that you’re loyal and would be good undercover or on the streets. No one could get the best of you.”

He looked to the side and chuckled softly. “It was nice to meet you, Samantha Spade. I’m sure that I’ll see you again sometime.”

And as he walked away down the hall, she thought to herself, Well, I sure hope so.

Author's Note: I want to thank you all again for reading. Tell me what you thought. I need to know if my writing style needs work (don't go overboard) and what you thought about Ben. I may wish to bring him back, but I need input. A special thanks goes to my lovely ladies at the WaT board- Charmed, Pealee, Slclines, Burrcat, and Osobena. Those gals have given me great support and encouragement- even when I wasn't so sure! So thank you to you all!