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Several nights later...

Sam sat against the ledge of her roof, dangling her legs over as she watched cars slowly drive by, people below her walking just as slow.

She sighed quietly, humming a soft tune as if she were waiting for something to happen in the middle of the day.

Instead, she got up from her spot and returned to her apartment, changing into work clothes and getting ready to head to the office.

Sam paused for a moment as she smelled the air, something rotting lurking in the alleyway. She turned towards it, frowning as she slowly crept towards the dumpster.

"Please just be a dead animal. Please be a dead animal." Sam whispered as she peered inside the dumpster, yelping when she saw a rotting raccoon inside it, covering g her mouth and gagging as the smell had become more putrid.

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19 years ago...

9 year old Sam ran through the hallways of Saint Agnes Orphanage, a wide grin on her face as she ran right past her bedroom and into the one on the other side of the hall closest to hers.

Sam burst through the door, startling the new boy who had his hands covering his ears, his glasses blocking him from seeing anything. Not that he was going to, anyway.

"Oh." Sam muttered softly, watching the boy huff in pain. "Are you hurt?"

The boy stayed quiet, looking as if he was staring right at her, watching her move closer to his bed. "I'm Samara. Everyone calls me Sam or Sammy here. What's your name?" The boy frowned hard, slowly uncovering his ears.

"Matt. I—I'm Matt." He answered softly, Sam smiling.

"I know how to read Braille." Sam showed off as she grabbed one of the Bible's next to Matt's bed, setting it on the bed in front of him, startling him slightly.

"You seem jumpy." She pointed out, flipping through the Bible. "I don't believe in God, but the Sister's force me to say I do. They're kinda mean about it."

"You talk— a lot." Matt pointed out as Sam's hand trailed against the buMps in the paper.

"They say it's ADHD. Did you know in the Bible, it says that touching a pig or it's car— car... car case? Carcase that it makes you unclean."

"It's carcass. Not carcase." Matt corrected as Sam nodded quickly.

"Carecase."

"Carcass."

"Cercass."

"Car."

"Car."

"Cass."

"Cass."

"Now say it. Carcass." Matt tilted his head as he waited for Sam to speak, which she frowned, deep in concentration.

"Carcass."  She rolled out as Matt smiled softly.

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Sam was quick to walk out of the alleyway and get back to the office, shutting the door tightly. "Rise and shine, Sammy." Foggy greeted from the kitchen as she waved softly.

"Loving the reference, Foggy. Please don't start playing Heat Of The Moment because I will break down." Sam pointed to him as he turned to the radio, slowly looking back at Sam.

"No promises." He grinned nervously. "Anyways, what's yo with you? You look like you just saw a dead body."

"Because I did." She sighed loudly as Foggy choked on his coffee.

"You what?! Well— I mean— did you call the police? Any leads, any suspects?" Foggy asked as Adam chuckled, shaking her head.

"It was the body of a raccoon, Foggy. I probably should have been a little clearer." Foggy's hand slapped against his chest, letting out a relieved sigh.

"Great, because I do not want to deal with dead bodies right now. Or ever." Sam sucked in a breath, shaking her head.

"Have fun with that, Foggy. You'll probably be dealing with dead bodies in cases for a while." There was a short silence before Sam tapped her foot, looking down at her watch. "I should probably head to my office now. Start packing old files and other things, clear it out."

"You need any help?" Foggy asked as she shook her head.

"I think I should do fine. I'm gonna keep the office but bring some of the important things here, keep the other ones there if a client is brought to me personally."

"Sounds like a good idea. I'll see you later, Sammy." Foggy waved goodbye as Sam returned the gesture, walking out of the office.

When she started to round a corner she paused, sensing Karen's presence, backing up slightly as she turned the corner, digging through her purse and nearly bumping into Sam. "Oh— shit. Sorry I wasn't paying attention." She laughed awkwardly as Sam shook her head.

"No worries. I thought you weren't gonna show."

"Cant really do that now, can I? Are Matt and foggy up there?" Karen asked as Sam shrugged.

"Just Foggy. Matt hasn't returned any of my calls."

"Maybe he's sleeping in?" Karen suggested, Sam shaking her head.

"No. Y'know, since he's blind and all of that, his phone practically screams whose calling him so he'll hear. I accidentally discovered my phone had that when I was messing with the settings." Karen chuckled as Sam nodded.

"Do you think he rammed into something and knocked himself out?" She laughed, Sam once again shaking her head.

"He was really clumsy when we were kids. Always bumping into things before this old man took him in for a while. I think I'm going to stop by his place, make sure he's alright." Sam patted Karen's shoulder and brushed past her, leaving the building and turning towards her and Matt's street, rather than the direction of her office.

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"Matt?" Sam pounded in the door to Matt's apartment, resting against his door. There was shuffling from inside the apartment, a wave of relief washing over Sam as she looked in using her ability to see through walls.

Of course, it wasn't X-Ray vision, or she'd be seeing Matt's skeleton rather than the darkness followed by the white as his body radiated heat, rather than color indicating where his hottest and coldest spots were.

And, if they were colored, Sam would hope that everywhere on him was red.

Sam's eyes returned to normal as the door opened, seeing Matt staring at the ground as he hadn't put his glasses on yet. "Hey, Sam."

"Was wondering if you were dead. You haven't answered my calls." Matt stepped aside to let Sam in, shutting the door after she entered.

"Sorry... I was busy last night. Probably slept right through everyone's calls." Sam paused for a moment, smelling the air and turning back to face him.

"Are you.. bleeding?" She frowned as Matt froze in his spot.

"I Uh— fell down the stairs over there last night. Splinter from the old wood got my side pretty good. I Uh.. I'm fine." Sam listened to his heart beat skip, and she frowned again.

"You sure you're okay? I can have a look at it for you. I've been told my hands heal a lot more than frustration." She joked as Matt scoffed a laugh, walking into the kitchen.

"No no.. I'm alright." He promised, pouring himself a water.

"Okay. Just don't go banging yourself around so much. People don't magically heal overnight." She mused, sitting down on his couch as he walked back over, handing her a water. "Oh, thank you."

"Is there any other.. particular reason you decided to come over? Not just to make sure I wasn't dead." Matt asked as his eyes fixated on nothing past her arm, his head twitching around as if he were listening to everything all at once.

"Well, unless you forgot that you have an office to be at, I think that my stay here has been long enough." She drank her water as Matt chuckled, shaking his head.

"I'll be at the office soon. I just need to run a few errands before I get there." Sam nodded and stood up, going to the kitchen and setting her glass in the sink before snatching her bag.

"Well then, Matthew. I hope to see you in the next few hours." Sam walked out of his apartment and back down to the outside world, making her way to her office.