Last November Samantha was out healing someone that had a nasty bite injury and she found moaning in pain in an alley. As she started to assist and use her magic the sounds of 'things' moving in the back of the alley started to alert her of a bad situation. Working quick she because using her healing magic on the injured homeless guy to heal his wounds and about that time Bryce comes walking past the alley entrance and sees her.. and then he sees the sea of devil rat eyes in a wave rushing towards Samantha and the guy she is obviously using magic to heal (glowing green aura from her hands healing the guys gashes and bites)....

 

Bryce sees the woman and the guy she's taking care of about to be torn to shreds by the horde of evil little monsters. He draws his gun and steps into the alley, yelling to the woman: "Get him out of here!" while he fires his gun and tries to help her move the guy away from the evil rats.

 

Samantha finishes up her magics on the homeless guy and works to help him stand, his wounds closing after her magic fixes him up and gives him hope again.. as she escorts him out towards Bryce the devil rats charge, squeeling and squeeking and drooling for the taste of human flesh. As Bryce's gun blasts within his hand, slamming rounds into the charging devil rats some in the front tumble to the alley floor while those behind pile over them like a speed bump. Samantha continues to push/escort the man towards Bryce as she points back behind her, fingers of lightning shoot from her finger tips back at the devil rats and the crack of thunder fills the alleyway and the smell of ozone with it. The lightning spreads across the body of her first target and the hair of the devil rat catches fire and it crackles and snaps with electricity and goes limp.. another speed bump for those behind. Samantha gets the homeless man into a side door in the alley near Bryce and herself she jumps inside... there won't be time to get Bryce in though for the devil rats are far too fast and are upon them.. so.. Samantha slams the door behind her, leaving Bryce in the alley with the devil rats.... but alas... The window in the door is What Samantha looks through as she casts magic upon Bryce and he begins to float up off the ground about three meters and then stops there in the air.. hovering. Bryce can see Samantha below him in the window, muttering words quietly to him as she points at him, obviously holding him up in the air out of harms way with her magic.. this allows Bryce to pick off the devil rats one at a time with relative safety and he's able to shoot and kill about fifteen of them before they wise up and rush off to some hole in the ground somewhere down at the end of the alley......

 

After the devil rats are gone, Samantha opens the door and comes out as she lets Bryce down to the alley floor....

Bryce and Samantha gather at the mouth of the alley after the rats have fled and speak for a while.  It's then that Bryce notices that Samantha seems a bit distance, detached a bit emotionally when he offers her comfort.

 

After a couple weeks the two bump into each other at the Barricade, again a week after that.. they being to chat a bit and get to know each other.

 

Bryce decides to not push her too much but yet to inquire as to her strange behavior he asks, a few questions to suggest she's detached because of too much cyberware by saying 'I didn't know folks with a lot of 'ware could still cast magic the way you did.'"

 

Samantha says she has no cyberware.. she appologizes for being so distanced she feels uncomfortable around men because she had... a problem while in college.

 

Later, Bryce does a bit of research on local universitties and finds a picture of her in the University of Michigan from 5 years ago.. finds her real name is Samantha McDonald and that leads to a lot of news/media info.

 

5 years ago while a Junior in college there she was abducted by a serial rapist for two weeks before she was rescued. It was a big media circus cuz both her parents were professors at the university (still are).. after that the stories die off, she refused to ever be interviewed about it.'.

When they meet on further occasions at the Barricade, Bryce doesn't mention anything about her college. He becomes though somewhat protective towards her. He's also careful not to use any foul language unless she used a whole lot of it.

Bryce in time realizes that Samantha doesn't curse much.. not a prude or religous person in the slightest.. it's just she was raised in a High Lifestyle and never learned the 4000 ways to use the F*Word in your life like those in the Blight have learned. She doesn't offer any info about the college situation, and in fact steers away from discusions about college and even stiffens up a bit whenever even college football or hockey is mentioned.. just the topic brings back the memories. She's found often at the bars/wandering the streets at night and if asked she says she can't sleep well.. or has trouble sleeping (nightmares). During one of their conversations she comes right out and complements Bryce on his gunplay and thanking him for saving her and that helpless guy, she inquires as to his skill with his gun and how he is so polite to her.. as if she's surprised by finding someone like him in the Blight.'.
 
Bryce offers to Samantha that he had a gun in his hands at the same age most kids were learning to tie their shoelaces. He's from an actual farm in the south. Grew up as a subsistance hunter...