Complement the atmosphere
Fill the ground with all our tears
Dry them up to make it clear
We do no wrong

Samantha played with her necklace as she continued her paperwork. It was almost Christmas time. She hated this time of year, all the snow and the cheerfulness and the presents. But she hadn't hated Christmas last year, last year she wasn't alone. Sam forced back memories as she glanced up at Martin, who was contently playing solitaire on his computer. She couldn't help but remember last Christmas: "You make me really, really happy."

Sam snapped back to reality when her cell phone rang.

"Spade?"
"Very official." The female voice said. A voice Sam hadn't heard in a long time.

"Leslie?"
"Yep," Sam's younger sister replied in a light tone, but then her voice grew serious, "Listen, something's happened with mom."
"What?" Sam prepared for the worst, while her co-works glanced up at her.

"She's missing. We were supposed to meet for lunch yesterday, and she never showed. I called around and no one has seen her for a few days…"

"I'm getting a flight out." Sam said instantly and stood up

"Are you sure?"
"Of course, I'll call you when I get my flight." Samantha hung up and ran into Jack's office.

"I need a vacation time. I need to go to Wisconsin, it's a family emergency."
"What is it?"
"My sister called, my mom is missing." She said impatiently, she wanted a flight out as soon as possible.
"Take Martin with you." Jack said without looking up

"What?" She knew Jack knew about them…or what they used to be.

"It's a case isn't it? You're going to need to work with, and Martin is the only who didn't request off for the holidays. So I put two and two together. Martin is going with you."

Sam was still in shock, was he secretly plotting to get them back together? Or maybe he thought it would be amusing. Or maybe he wanted them to stay out of his hair while he worked alone in the office. No, that would be crazy. Maybe Jack just thought Sam couldn't do this alone, and on a whim he decided Martin would go with her. "I'll get a flight out for you."

"Ever wanted to go to Wisconsin?" Sam asked Martin as she begun packing up her things.

"I've never really thought about it." He replied honestly

"Well, you're going. With me. Today."
"Okay?"

"My mom is missing." She said bluntly and went to pack up the rest of her things.

"I got you a flight," Jack came into the bullpen, "You leave JFK at seven tonight. There will be a rental car waiting for you at General Mitchell airport in Milwaukee."
"Great," Sam said, "Martin, I'll call you around five. Be ready." She said and left.

"Ohh…you're gonna have fun!" Danny said sarcastically. Everyone sensed that Sam was in a mood. Martin glanced at his watch; it was three pm. "I should go. Sam will kill me if I'm not ready at five."

"I hate flying." Sam said as she tapped on the armrest of the seat, "I mean, we don't know anything. The plane could crash, or the seat could break, or we could get food poisoning, or the plane could explode..."

"Sam! Calm down." Martin quickly said before she continued her list, "you're gonna scare people."

"I'm not saying anything people aren't already thinking."
"Would you like anything to drink?" The flight attendant asked them.

"Yeah, I'll have a coffee. And do you happen to have Dramamine?"

"What?"

"I'll have a coffee also." Sam said and nudged Martin in the side with her elbow, "that was not funny."
"It was a little funny." Martin smiled and Sam returned the smile. She had finally started to calm down.

"Hi, Leslie, it's me. I was just calling to tell you we got in to Milwaukee; I'm with a college of mine. I'll call you first thing in the morning." Sam hung up her cell phone and got into the rental car.
"You're not very close with your sister, are you?"
"Not really." Sam said sadly. They had had cases where the missing person was best friends with their sister, or two brothers were extremely close. But Sam didn't have that; she only had a younger half sister that she resented since she was five because as soon as Leslie was born, her parents couldn't get back together. It was stupid really. "Here's the hotel." She attempted to change the topic as she pulled into the Holiday Inn parking lot.

After checking in, and noting their rooms were on different sides of the hotel, they said their good-nights.

"Hey Martin?" Sam called out as he begun to walk away.

"Yeah?"
"Thanks for coming." She smiled

"You're welcome." He returned the smile and continued to walk down the hallway. Sam wanted to say something more, but she didn't know what to say. She just turned into her own room.

The next morning, Sam and Martin were on their way to Leslie's house. Sam tapped on the steering wheel trying to remember what street her sister lived on, while Martin made a miniature white-board in a note book. December 20, reported missing was the first thing he wrote. "I hate it here." Sam said quietly, "It was so suffocating."

"Doesn't seem all that bad." Martin replied

"Live here for eighteen years, I'm sure your mind will change." She turned into a driveway of a modest house. A woman with shoulder length blond hair wearing a winter jacket and a pair of jeans stood in the front yard smoking and shivering. Martin guessed it was Leslie.

"Sammy!" The woman said and went over to the car.

"Hey." Sam climbed out of the car and gave her sister a small hug. Not the kind of hug sisters who haven't seen each other in four years would give, but more like a hug you'd give a distant cousin on their wedding day. "This is Martin Fitzgerald." She gestured towards Martin. "How are you doing?"
"I'm a little freaked out. I've told Nick, but I haven't told the kids yet. Anyway, they're excited to see you."

"They remember me?" Sam asked. Her nieces were ten and seven, and Sam hadn't seen them in years.

"Well, they've seen pictures." Leslie snuffed out the cigarette. "Come on in, I made coffee."

A man about Martin's age sat at the kitchen table reading a newspaper and drinking coffee while to little girls sat around the table eating cereal.

"Mommy! Today is the last day of school before Christmas break!" The one with longer hair said.

"I know!" Leslie replied cheerfully. "Agent Fitzgerald…"

"Call me Martin."
"Okay, Martin, this is my husband Nick. And our two daughters Julie," Leslie pointed to the girl with the longer hair, "And Rachel." Leslie pointed to the other girl with shoulder length hair. "Girls, say hello."

"Hi!" Julie said and waved to Martin, Rachel looked up startled and quickly went back to eating her cereal.

"Do you know who this is?" Leslie pointed at her sister.

"Aunt Samantha!" Both girls cheered and went to hug her.

"You guys are so big!" Sam got down on her knees and hugged them. "Hi, Nick."

"Hi, Sam." Nick said politely and went to get his daughters, "Time to get ready for school. It was nice meeting you, Martin."

"You too." Envy panged Martin's heart, this family (Samantha's family no less) seemed to be perfect. The type of family Martin had always dreamed of, but never imagined actually getting.

"So, what's the plan?" Leslie asked once everyone had cleared out of the kitchen.

"We were going to go to mom's apartment, and then to her work." Sam replied

"And then we were going to call hospitals and…" Martin saw Leslie turn white at the anticipated word, "…more hospitals."

Sam stood in the small apartment. It wasn't the apartment she had grown up in, but all the furniture was the same. Sam sat down on the familiar couch, which warped her into her own flashback.

"Samantha, would you please eat your chicken?" Cathy Spade said to her oldest daughter, who was six.

"It's gross," Sam replied and continued to pick at it.

"Well, at least eat half, okay? Your dad will be here soon." Cathy begun to wash the dishes.

"Fine." Sam had a bag packed for her stay at her father's for the weekend. Well, really it was her father and his new wife. Samantha was the result of a two-month-long relationship and was cursed to live with her mother because her parents weren't married. Her mom was just nineteen. At least they were finally out of the trailer. Baby Leslie was with her dad's parents for the weekend, so her parents could have the weekend together. Cathy, Michael, and Leslie were a family, Samantha was just cast aside. "I'm finished!" Sam said and went to the window hoping to see her dad's car pull up. It was almost six thirty and he was a half hour late. At last, there was a knock on the door.

"I see you punctuality hadn't changed." Cathy said to herself as she went to answer the door.

"Miss Spade?" A police officer asked

"Yes?" Cathy replied with fear in her voice.

"I'm very sorry, but I'm here regarding a James Clinton…" The police officer continued and Samantha inched closer, trying to figure out what happened to her dad.
"Oh my god…" Cathy begun and turned toward Sam, "Honey, could you go to your room?"
"No! What happened to my dad?" Sam nearly yelled.

"There was a car accident," The police officer explained, "There was ice on the roads, James was driving, he lost control. I'm very sorry ma'am, but James is dead."

"No!" Sam yelled and started crying.

"Samantha…" Cathy said after saying good-bye to the officer.

"I HATE YOU!" Sam screamed "I WISH IT WERE YOU THAT DIED AND NOT HIM! THEN I COULD LIVE IN THEIR HOUSE AND NOT THIS STUPID APARTMENT!" She continued to scream. "I HATE YOU!" She ran into her room.

"Sam?" Cathy said quietly after her daughter

"Sam?" Martin sat down on the couch next to her. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I was just thinking about…" Sam decided not to lie to him, "About when my dad died. I was only six." Sam told him the story about what happened that day. "I always blamed myself." She said sadly

"It wasn't your fault, it was an accident."
"If I didn't tell my dad to come that weekend, or if I asked to be picked up Saturday morning instead of Friday night, maybe he wouldn't have died. I always thought…that I should have been in the car with him."

"Sam…" He awkwardly put his arm around her shoulders, "It wasn't your fault…maybe if he didn't die you wouldn't be the person you are today."
"I guess." She wiped her eyes, "I want to find my mom."

Close the door before it's late
We were born to love and hate
Turn it down for our own sake
We do no wrong

(Lyrics: Thirteen Senses-Do No Wrong)