It was embarrassing.

That fateful day one year ago when he was poisoned by his own plot and required the help of the redhead standing in front of him with a strangely confident look on her face. He'd been itching for a way to redeem himself, but no new plot he came up with for the standards needed to elevate himself from his deadly mistake one year ago.

So he had been sitting silently in his cell, giving him actual time to think of something else.

Until he heard about Sam.

And now, here he was in her little college town, with the newfound knowledge that Sam, goodie two shoes/super-spy Sam, who was the reason he was always even in jail, who had saved him from death by giving him the antidote he brewed in his home, had turned into a murderer.

Well, heh, almost. Gus was on the verge of dying anyways. A quick snap to the neck had just made it official, not that Sam needed to know that. No, better to let her think he died of the four stab wounds to the abdomen that she herself had inflicted. That would work better for him.

A ploy that had clearly worked in his favor, since now here she was, her green eyes glistening with intent, asking him for a favor.

Heh. He could only imagine what she wanted but instinct told him it wouldn't be that good... for WOOHP.

Sam's eyes fluttered away from him for a second, and he waited patiently while watching her reach for the words. He waited a long time to have her in his grasp, and now here it was, moments away from having her at his mercy. It was an intoxicating feeling.

"I…" She took a deep breath and tried again. It was strange, the feeling of burning curiosity that was building up in his skin. He felt like he was at the edge of his seat in anticipation and right now, she could ask anything, and he wasn't sure he'd have the power to deny any request she made.

He didn't like that feeling.

She glanced back up at him, her eyes shining brighter and brighter by the second, and finally she spoke.

"WOOHP fired me. Because I helped you." Sam gulped. "And now that they royally screwed up, my life's in danger."

Tim raised an eyebrow. "So you want me to protect you?" An odd request but understandable. He wasn't sure why she was asking him though. Wouldn't going back to WOOHP and pleading her case be more effective?

A wary look was raised on Sam's face. "No… not exactly."

This was taking too long. "I'm not a mind reader, Sam."

That seemed to have the intended effect. Sam steeled herself and straightened her shoulders. "I'm going to continue to be in danger unless I stop them… permanently."

That was… a little shocking, to say the least. He assumed her confrontation with Gus had been an accident. Gus found her and threatened to expose her, and Sam, already hardened by her paranoia and fear, reacted appropriately to the threat, in his opinion anyways.

But this…

"You sure you're ready for something like that?" He asked, wary.

Sam raised an eyebrow. "I thought you would jump at the chance to turn me into a murderer."

"A little too late for that, don't you think?" She rolled her eyes in response.

"I'm not talking flat out murder." He begged to differ, "permanently" was a very strong word, but who was he to just crush her delusions like that. "Just… incapacitate them. Badly."

"Like, "break every bone in their body" incapacitate, or do you mean a repeat of today where you injure them to the point of no return and leave them for dead?"

Sam crossed her arms defensively and he sighed. He wasn't entirely sure why he was arguing with her in the first place. Wasn't this exactly what he wanted? Yet some part of him wouldn't really allow it. He squashed that feeling down until it could no longer hang around in his thoughts.

"Point is", she said, blatantly ignoring his question. Rude. "I haven't kept up with my training and I'm useless in a fight right now." Ah, a sparring partner. She came to the right man.

"Fine, we'll discuss details of your "plans" later." Sam gave him the look at his unbelieving tone and he chose to ignore it just like she ignored his questions. "We'll start tomorrow… after we get you out of this shit hole", he said, warily glancing at her run down apartment.

Sam's jaw dropped but he moved past her to go to her closet. "Where's your luggage?"

"Oh, sorry, did you already buy me another place?" She asked incredulously. The nerve of that man, she thought to herself. She sprinted ahead of him before he could open her closet door and see all her things. "And I can pack on my own, thank you very much."

Scam rolled his eyes. "Then make it quick."

"Wait, where are we going?"

Scam, already halfway out of her bedroom door, stopped and turned around. "I'm going to get rid of the bloody evidence I'm sure you left lying around this apartment, like an idiot", he said pointedly, ignoring Sam's jaw drop. "We'll be discussing how to clean up after yourself better after we get out of here."

Sam sighed. "Wouldn't it be super obvious if Gus shows up dead and I happened to move out of the country?"

"Don't be dramatic; we're not moving out of the country", he said from far away, probably in her bathroom. Sam huffed. She was not being dramatic. "Besides, no one will be finding Gus for a long time." The "no thanks to you" comment he muttered quietly did not go unheard, thanks to the small size of her apartment. If this was how a partnership with him was going to be, then she had her work cut out for her.

Sam opened her closet door and took out her luggage. With Scam here, it seemed like time was of the essence, even if that jerk refused to tell her where they were going or what was going to happen to her apartment. She quickly started loading her clothes into her bags when she heard Scam muttering something.

"What is it now?"

"I thought you had eidetic memory. Are all these textbooks necessary to keep?"

Where had he even… "None of your business, and stop touching my stuff." Sam started packing faster before he could cause more damage in her home.

"Your business is my business now. Remember?" Unfortunately she did. Too clearly. Maybe she should have waited until the adrenaline and panic had calmed down before she asked him to train her. Sam got up from her spot on the ground and went to her living room to confront him.

"Scam." He turned around to face her with a cool look in his eyes. "This…" Sam pointed back and forth between the two of them, "truce is a two way street", she said, for a lack of a better word. She cocked her hand on her hip. "I'm not a mind reader either."

Scam pursed his lips and sighed, rolling his eyes so far back that she briefly wondered how they hadn't fallen out yet. "Fine. You think it's coincidence that you've spotted so many of your enemies all of a sudden? Don't think I didn't notice the other two pain in my ass teammates of yours the other week." Sam frowned. He had to have been referring to Clover and Alex being at her diner just recently. She had presumed it to be coincidence, since they didn't see her and didn't seem to be looking for her… but suffice to say, Scam seemed to have a point. A really good point.

A part of her expected Jerry to keep tabs on her, since her memory was still intact. But since no one had actively pursued her, most likely due to a lack of suspicious activity and her resuming civilian life, but now that she thought about it, it was strange. Gus, Clover, Alex, Scam. Cambridge wasn't like Los Angelos or New York City.

Sam glanced up at Scam, blinking as she realized her gaze had dropped down to the floor.

She was a fool to have ever believed she was safe. She hadn't been safe for weeks now, assuming Scam had been here much longer than she realized if he had the time to see Clover and Alex.

Scam continued speaking. "Too many people know you're here. The fact that you haven't moved in over a year gave you a false sense of security", he said roughly. From his tone, Sam knew he didn't approve of her actions, or the lack of them. "If you want our partnership to work out, then that will change. Understood?"

There was little room to argue with his domineering tone. Deep down, Sam knew he was right. "Understood."

He didn't say anything for a minute and Sam bit her lip, wondering if she should go back to her room and pack. She still didn't know where they were going, but clearly Scam had a plan.

"How far are you willing to go to fulfill this plan of yours?"

The sudden change of topic caught Sam off guard for a second, but she shook her head to clear her thoughts. "However far I have to go", she said, voice hollow and teetering on sounding broken. This was the only way, she told herself.

He nodded in understanding. "You took this apartment under your alias, correct?" He confirmed, glancing over the room. Sam nodded. "Good. Hurry up and grab what you need."

Sam thought about the clothes she had haphazardly put her in luggage. "Should I pack light then?"

If she looked under the right light, it almost looked like Scam was smirking in approval. "Yes. If Jerry comes looking in this apartment, I don't want him realizing that you were planning on disappearing."

Sam frowned. "Why would he be raiding my apartment? I thought you said you took care of Gus?"

This time his smirk was clear as day. "I did. But I know Jerry. He's not going to be happy that you're gone."

Gone? "Gone?" She asked. This conversation felt like a dream. He couldn't mean… "As in?"

"As in, how does Samantha Ortal feel like dying? By an accidental kitchen fire, or a car accident?"

Thanks for all the love. I'm glad this fic still has fans. Funnily enough, I wasn't expecting Scam to fake Sam's death, but that's where this story took me as I was writing it.

This chapter is parly inspired by the Disturbed concert I finally got to go to (it was amazing), and the fact that I'm currently close to Beverly Hills and can only think of Totally Spies.

Please review! It keeps me inspired.

Ivy