[ the sound of her voice tugs at something in sam's chest. he feels like he knows mal well enough, but in seeing the desperate hope in alina's face makes him wonder what exactly it is they've run from. what they're still running from, here. he feels the urge to let his small smile drop if only because he doesn't even know if it will help anything, given the survival he sees written all over her.

but what is he to do? they want to run, to get anywhere else, and now they're both in cells. cells that phoenix works day and night to get them out of, but progress only moves so quickly. sam's eyes dart off down the hall, to where mal's cell is, and he lets out a breath. something like a sigh. he hates how helpless he feels, that he can't just make a few calls and make this happen, but they're all in new territory here. ]

Listen- I know you two will survive, and I'm not going to tell you to stop trying to make a break for it. [ he turns back to alina, looking a bit more serious now. ] But there are people on our side- [ he gestures between them. ] -who are working on getting you out of here. And that's harder to pull off when we're not all on the same page.

[ part of sam wants to tell her to hold tight, to trust that the work they're doing will get them free. he wants to tell her it'll be alright, and that she and mal will both be okay in the end, if she can just hold still...but he won't. he doesn't know what it is he's seeing in her eyes, but it stops any niceties or placating words he might have said right in his chest, and instead, sam shakes his head. ]

Just...you or Mal give me a heads up next time you try something like that, okay? I can't help you if I don't know what you're going to do.