Medley

Chapter 1:

Everybody's Fool:

Look her she comes now

Bow down and stare in wonder

Oh how we love you

No flaws when you're pretending

But now I know she never was and never will be

You don't know how you betrayed me

And somehow you've got everybody fooled

Evanescence: Fallen, 2003

The small plane's engine hummed steadily as it traveled across the rugged terrain. Danny alternately stared out the window of the plane at the scenery below what he could see of it in the darkening sky and his partner on this assignment, Martin Fitzgerald.

They'd been assigned to travel to Utah to interview people that had had contact with their current missing person David Braxton. The man's family lived in New York City and he spent as much time there as he could when he wasn't working an incident. Braxton works for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and specialized in analyzing wildfire risks, reduction of associated hazards, support during an incident and after incident assessment.

He had been in the Manti-La Sal National Forest in the Abajo Mountains in Utah overseeing some controlled burns to remove heavy fuel buildup, the easily ignitable grass, branches, logs and undergrowth in areas where, if a fire were to start unbeknownst to anyone, it could rapidly reach wildfire stage. The idea was to prescribe a burn, otherwise known as a control burn, in order to clear out some of this area and reduce the risk for a wildfire.

He had completed the first phase of the work and had headed to NYC to see his family and be with his wife during the birth of their third child and all had appeared fine initially. However, once he was reported missing the team had uncovered a series of phone calls, emails and even letters through the mail that all were vague but definitely threatening in nature. Since many of the messages contained references to his current work in Utah Jack thought it best to send two members of the team to conduct interviews on site.

Samantha was four months pregnant and easily crossed off the list for several reasons since inhaling the smoke plus trekking through the rugged terrain with little to no cell phone communication and medical personnel prepared for burns, not pregnancy complications were all realities of this assignment.

Vivian also was just as easily crossed from the list as she was splitting her time between heading up a multi-agency task force investigating human trafficking and the MPU and she needed to be in the city to handle both jobs with any level of effectiveness.

Jack could have sent Elena but decided two things stood in the way of that, first, her background was not likely to aid in the investigation in the back country of the mountains. While Elena was a solid agent and able to handle any assignment as well as the others, time was of the essence and her city background was going to hinder her if not her gender and her ethnic background; in Jack's mind it was just three strikes against sending Agent Delgado.

That left Danny and Martin as Jack preferred to maintain point at the office since his second logical commander, Vivian, could too easily be called away to work on the task force and he wanted to stick close.

Danny stared out the plane's window at the slight glow in the distance. Dusk was falling and with the darkening sky he could begin to make out the rosy coloring indicating the location of at least one if not more of the blazes. He knew their plane wasn't going to fly anywhere near the inferno, no, they would land at a nearby airport in Monticello, Utah and then drive to Base camp where they would conduct their interviews. Still, even from this distance the glow was both beautiful and eerie as he knew what it signified.

The Abajo Mountain area was not set to begin phase two of the prescribed burns until David Braxton returned but, since his disappearance, two days earlier, a creeping fire in one of the prescribe burn areas had broken out and since creeping fires burn with a low flame and spread slowly no one had seen it until it crowned out and became a crown fire, meaning that it advances from tree top to tree top. With conditions favorable to fire and no one noticing the creeping fire until it crowned it grew rapidly and when the wind caught embers at the tree tops it carried them, spreading them over a large area causing a cascade of spot fires that led to a blowup.

The good news was that no one was in the area when the blowup occurred, the bad news was that the fire was able to establish itself fairly well and what had been an incident for prescribed or controlled burns now became a Project fire, Incident Command was established and temporary infrastructures sprang up, base camp, spike camp, fire camps with teams pouring into the affected area to regain control.

Danny and Martin were already en route from NYC when word came that their investigation was going to be slowed due to the demand of the fire crew. Jack sent them anyway knowing they could stay at base camp and gather some background information and then once the fire was confined, which the FIO or Fire Information Officer indicated should happen quickly since, although the fire had established itself quickly and spread quickly, they had a lot of equipment and personnel readily available and were optimistic they'd have it back under control within 24 – 48 hours on the outside.

So Danny sat on the small commuter plane he and Martin had transferred to in Denver and alternately stared out the window and at his partner. Shifting his glance again away from the window to Martin he chuckled quietly at the change in appearance for both of them. Most of the time their assignments required them to wear suits and ties but since they were headed into the rugged country, they'd foregone their usual attire and were both wore hiking boots and blue jeans, and dressed in layers, t-shirts under jerseys and FBI windbreaker jackets on top, not high fashion in the city but certainly perfect for where they were headed.

They had been told they would be given proper protective gear and on-site instructions when they reached base camp; standard procedure, they'd never be anywhere where they'd actually need the training or the gear but those were standing orders.

Martin had been quiet during the trip spending his time reading all the information they had on the crew members they were going to interview, background information on their missing person and also any information the Forest Service gave them on the fires and the terrain. Martin liked information, liked the mountains, was good with numbers and easily crunched the financial information for prescribed burns, fires for the past ten years both prescribed and otherwise. He even had a map of the area they were going in and Danny had watched him marking entry and exit routes and other reference points.

Danny didn't mind that Martin was reading and preparing, he too had been doing the same thing, what bothered him was that he and Martin had traded the files and folders and articles back and forth and jotted notes and compared and planned strategies during the flight from NYC to Denver.

What bothered Danny was that Martin was going through it all a second time and that Danny didn't understand. He'd worked with Martin for over five years now and the man's brain was sharp, not as sharp as his own, of course, but still the guy could hold his own just fine. Martin didn't need to reread the information; Martin was obsessing over the information so as not to obsess over something else. Danny was determined to find out what the 'something else' was.

"So, how is it we're stuck in the dog house and sent on this mountain trip and the rest of the team gets to stay nice and comfy back in the city?" Not the greatest of icebreakers but Danny was a bit desperate.

"Speak for yourself, Danny, I'm happy to get out of the city." Martin replied glancing up from the file he was rereading.

"Well, I for one had plans this evening; actually, Elena, Sophia and I had plans."

"Mmm."

"So, no plans, Martin Fitzgerald, all work no play that seems to be you everyday."

Martin glanced up sharply and Danny could see there was a glint of anger in his eyes.

Well, I've found at least one button to push, let me try another.

"When was the last time you had a date?"

This time Martin ignored him.

That didn't take long, when Martin ignores me I know I've gotten to the root of the problem.

"You know, if you're having trouble finding someone and I know you would be having trouble," Danny raised a hand in surrender as Martin shot him a look of pure hostility, "Not cause you're not a happening guy or nothing but simply because you work, work, work is all I'm saying—"

"I don't need any help finding a date. I can go on a date pretty much whenever I want to."

"So why don't you?"

Martin sighed, "Just not too interested in anybody these days."

Such a simple statement and it spoke volumes as Danny watched the look of sorrow that flashed across Martin's face and heard the regret in his voice.

"I'm sorry, man."

"You know, it wouldn't be so bad if we didn't lose the friendship and—" Martin stopped and appeared to be thinking on whether or not to continue.

"And?" Danny prompted, his friend had been in the blues for weeks now and Danny was determined to snap him out of it and this trip was perfect since there was no one but themselves.

Martin glanced at Danny and saw the look of real concern and friendship and decided to hell with it, he didn't owe her anymore especially after what had happened earlier that week, "And if she didn't keep throwing Jack in my face." There he'd said it.

"Jack? I'm confused, what does Jack have to do with it?"

"You really don't know? Huh, Samantha wasn't certain if you did or not."

Danny was truly confused; he didn't know all the reasons that Sam and Martin had broken up although he'd heard little bits of their exchanges in the office and guessed that Sam had some commitment issues and that Martin was getting tired of hiding their relationship.

Danny used to tease Martin about his romantic views and his straight-up dating philosophy but since he and Elena had become an item he'd realized that Martin really had had the right idea all along and he liked being in a mature and healthy relationship with Elena and he loved Sophie and wasn't at all adverse to having an instant family in his life.

Danny remembered asking Sam why she was hiding her relationship with Martin when it was so obvious that they were great together and he sensed trouble when she'd hesitated at answering but since they were at work and right before she could answer they'd been interrupted by another agent giving them some information he'd not given it another thought.

"Sam wasn't certain if I knew what?"

Martin shook his head slightly before looking him straight in the eye, "She and Jack had a little fling a while back."

Danny sat back in his chair stunned whatever he'd expected to hear it wasn't that. Sure he knew that Sam and Jack had an easy familiarity with each other but so did he and Jack and he sure hadn't had a 'fling' with Jack.

"When?" Oh, God, Danny thought, was that why the two of them broke up, was she seeing both of them at that time? Wait---

"Apparently it happened before I joined the team and it was only a few months and it was over—well, it was over for Jack that is." The bitterness in Martin's tone snapped Danny out of his wandering thoughts and he focused his attention back on his friend.

"Is that why you two broke up?"

"It was a number of things, not the least of which is that I was absolutely in love with her and certain that I could fix all her phobias, her like of men that are unavailable, her liking of complicated, messy relationships. I thought I could change her mind about a couple of kids, a dog, a little house, stupid now that I look back but at the time I was so taken by her strength and vulnerability, her beauty and brains that I just was willing to take the chance."

"So you knew for two years she and Jack—" Danny was stunned. He'd worked with Sam longer than Martin and he hadn't known, how is that Martin had figured it out so soon?

"Two years—no, do you think I knew--, No, Danny, right about the time Jack announced he was going to Chicago is when I learned that she and Jack had---anyway, our friendship had grown and we'd been flirting and then I'd saved her life…now that I've looked back on it, several times, I realize that I was just available at a time when she felt like she was being abandoned, so she took her consolation prize, me."

"Martin, I don't think that's how she saw you." Danny interjected, he'd seen the looks on Sam's face at times when she didn't think anyone was watching her watch Martin, and she had had looks of pure happiness on her face. Danny also remembered the anguish on Sam's face when he'd interrupted her trying to call the hospital for information on Martin's condition after he was shot and how scared she was that she was going to lose him.

"Yeah, well, I'll let you in on a secret, Danny, I knew, I knew for so many months before I finally ended it that once Jack stayed I had no chance and to be honest with myself, even if Jack had stayed away I'd still have had no chance. It's hard to be in a relationship, a committed relationship, with someone who sees you as second choice, second best, not worthy."

Danny had had enough of this, both Sam and Martin were his friends and while Martin wasn't really pounding Sam as much as he was telling his side of their history together and how he viewed it, Danny wasn't going to watch Martin pound himself either.

"Yeah, well if you're her second choice, then why did she ask you to be her Lamaze coach?"

"What makes you think she did that?" the surprised look on Martin's face spoke volumes to Danny, gotcha, my friend, you're not getting away with pounding yourself or heaping loads of emotional baggage on Sam.

"Because I heard her."

"Tell me what you heard." Martin countered stonily.

"I was in the conference room sorting some past files to go back to archives and it was early evening and everyone else but you, me and Sam had already left and I heard her ask you to be her Lamaze coach."

"What else did you hear?"

"Nothing, I didn't want to pry on you two, I was just glad that you both seemed to be finding your way to be more comfortable around each other so I quietly closed the door."

"Well, I'll let you in on a little bit of what happened, first of all it wasn't only you and Samantha and I that were left in the office; Jack was still in his office. Secondly, I was gathering up phone records and financial records at the conference table in the middle of the bullpen getting ready to take them to the file room and watched as Samantha finished a phone call, packed up her desk, grabbed her bag and walked out of the bullpen giving me a "night" on her way by.

I collected all the papers and boxed them at my desk where I had a clear view of Jack's office. Inside his office with the door closed stood Sam and she was talking to Jack. She was doing her usual twisting of her hands when she's all nervous about something. She finished saying whatever she was saying and I watched as he sat back and said nothing and then he shook his head from side to side.

As she got a stunned look on her face of complete disbelief I turned away, carried the box to the file room and came back. When I got back about ten minutes later she was sitting in my chair. As I approached she got up and did the same little act of the nervous twisting of her hands and then she said that she'd signed up for Lamaze classes and that she'd be needing a coach and she wondered and hoped that I'd be her coach and then she held out a sheet of paper that she'd written the date and time and location of the first class."

"Wait a minute, so you think she asked Jack first and when he said no you think she came to you? For all you know she could have been asking him to assign her out in the field more, you know how he's been holding her in the office. You're assuming facts that aren't in evidence, pal."

"Yeah, well the phone call she was finishing at her desk was her signing up for Lamaze class since I heard her use the word coach, and repeat the date and time. I also know she scribbled a note on a pad of paper on her desk and heard her tear it off as she left her desk and walked by me. When I saw her in Jack's office she was holding the paper while she was twisting her hands and when she handed me the sheet of paper it was pretty crumpled from someone twisting it in their hands and it had the date and time that she'd repeated back to the person on the phone.

You know, Danny, I was born at night, it just wasn't last night. No matter what I do or don't do or who I am or how I change and grow I'll never be good enough for her. I'll always be her second choice. She gave her heart to Jack."

"The problem with that, Martin, is that Jack doesn't want it." Danny said softly.

"You know what the bigger problem is?" Martin countered.

Danny shook his head silently.

"She still has mine."

Everybody's Fool:

Perfect by nature

Icons of self-indulgence

Just what we all need

More lies about a world that

Never was and never will be

Have you no shame don't you see me

You know you've got everybody fooled.

Evanescence: Fallen, 2003