Set during/after S1 "Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been." Martin sees Jack and Samantha on the bench outside court and is torn between helping to bring down the boss he once admired and the denial of his personal feelings.
Disclaimer: Yeah, maybe in my dreams I would own everything to do with Without A Trace but in reality I own none of it except the plot of this fanfiction.
A/N:- My distorted angle on what happened during this episode and it deals with the Jack/Samantha issue which I have shamelessly skirted round in most of other fics. This comes courtesy of the fact I'm ill and slightly angsty as I've been wanting to – but putting off – writing this for a long time now.
Martin loosened his tie and undid the top button of his shirt letting the cool air blow all over his face. He was pretty sure that he had just witnessed someone save his ass, put his own job on the line and most certainly let Spaulding walk free, all in one shot. If it wasn't Jack Malone who had done it, Martin would definitely have thought that person was mad. Instead, he just felt numb at the thought that there would be one more paedophile walking the streets as of tomorrow.
Jack had spoken well to back up his actions and had focussed the Judge's attention on what his primary concern had been and Martin was glad that his father had heard it. Maybe it would finally make Victor Fitzgerald change his mind about Jack and maybe he could be persuaded to make the OPR guy back off.
It had been a hellish couple of days but the respect Martin had held for Jack Malone from the beginning had come out of it still intact. Although Jack had lied to him, kept him in the dark and had made him out to be a liar in the Spaulding case, technically it was because of him – whether he had wanted it or not - that Jack could soon be out of a job. Fate had a way of evening things out between them, he guessed.
The speech Jack Malone had just made in court summed up why Martin had such a deep admiration for his boss, despite all his faults. Jack was intelligent, put his heart into every AWOL person, focussed all his energy on each and every case, was willing to take risks to save people's lives, gave each member of his team a chance when maybe others would sooner have seen them transferred ……………
Martin had been willing to take the fall for the Anwar Samir case himself. He had hankered too long and too hard under the wrong banner and if he had not spilled his preconceived ideas of the case onto the other members of the team then maybe Jack wouldn't have been persuaded to give the green light for the shooting. Sure, being fired and suffering the humiliation that came with it – getting told by his father that he had been right about him not being able to cut it as an Agent – would be bad but it would be nothing compared to the guilt that Martin himself felt for what had happened. Hypothetically, he had not done anything that strayed too far from the book: He had profiled Anwar, brought up the possibility of him being a terrorist and being dangerous, capable of planning a bomb attack ……… he had got the terrorist and bomb attack bit right – just the wrong person. But he HAD gone into the case with prejudices and had let suspicion hang where suspicion shouldn't have been. Even though in the end he had realised the truth and had tried to get Anwar out of the building alive, it was too late. Maybe if he had never lead the parade so far off course then the case wouldn't have resulted in the death of an innocent, law-abiding man.
However, perhaps the most horrible thing about it had been uncovered during his tough, knuckle-down 'you're prepared to screw over everyone else to gain glory' talk with Samantha. During the talk with Harrington, Martin had seen a window of opportunity to gain a little bit of respect from the team and had decided to jump right through …… and go crashing into the wall the other side. Not only had he jumped through the wrong window but he had brought any respect people had for him to an all time low. The worst thing about it was that Martin hadn't even realised he had been doing it until she had pointed it out to him ……….. god when had he turned into that guy …… that guy who so resembled his father?
In terms of respect from his team members, Vivian had always given him a chance from the beginning, and things had smoothed out between him and Samantha since the Samir case. He liked to think that there was quite a bit of trust between them now ….. and he often found himself hoping that he hadn't been too obvious/desperate asking her out for drinks after air hostess case. The whole flowers and liking "relationships nice and complicated" got him quite perturbed and the thought of her and Keller grated him more than he would ever admit. Still he tried to not let Samantha distract him at work ….. despite the fact she was, in the scheme of things, very distracting.
Since Farrell had shown up, the distrust Danny had shown him at the beginning had returned with a vengeance. At first Martin had wondered what the hell he had done this time until it dawned on him what he looked liked. It looked like that, although the OPR investigation was meant to be looking closely at the contributions of every member of the team, Martin's mistakes were being brushed aside in return for all the dirt he gave on the rest of the team. His stomach had turned over in disgust. His father. He couldn't believe that his father had got involved in his life again. What was more he couldn't believe the shallowness of his father's pride that he was willing to let a wonderful, successful, professional Senior Supervising Agent like Jack Malone go to save an easily replaceable Junior Agent who just happened to be his son.
Martin jogged down the steps of the courthouse and looked around for Jack. He had hurried off at the end of his testament, probably feeling sick with himself and wanting to be alone. He caught sight of him over the road sitting on the bench with …… Samantha. What was she doing here? They were laughing. Maybe she was telling him that they had just told Farrell to f—k off.
Martin crossed the busy road and was about to head over and grab their attention when all of a sudden he saw them draw closer. He stopped in his tracks. Jack was looking into Samantha's eyes as he played with her hair and rubbed his fingers against her temple. What was he doing? Why wasn't she moving out of his reach, slapping him, shrinking from his touch? This was definitely not just a professional comforting gesture - if it was then Martin's instincts as an FBI Agent needed some serious looking at. As if to justify his reaction, Jack pushed Samantha's head down, resting it against his chest and proceeded to rub her back gently.
Martin's brain whirled. He had always sensed the closeness between them but he had dismissed it as nothing more than a paternal bond. How stupid and naïve he was! In this job – in any job in fact – but especially in a job with so much pressure and strain on your personal life, the only bonds you made with people were those of a sexual nature. What had his father told him? That it hadn't been hard to make Jack the focus of the investigation? Jason Farrell must have this as canon fodder.
Martin blinked. The admiration he had for Jack was lost in an instant and his feelings for Samantha just hurt.
Right now bringing down Jack Malone didn't seem such a bad idea after all.
After awhile Jack leant down and whispered something in Samantha's ear and she pulled away slowly. Both stood up. He squeezed her hand and rubbed her arm a bit before walking off, leaving her standing there, gathering her thoughts. She had her back to him but he could see her rubbing her eyes. Suddenly she turned and saw Martin standing there looking at her. They locked gazes. Her eyes were red and watery. She was crying. Over Jack. Martin felt sick and turned without saying anything.
Samantha thought about what had just happened between her and Jack as she struggled to wipe her tears away. Yes she was upset ……… not really at the thought of never being able to 'be' with Jack again but more at the fact that that stage of her life was finally over. They had finally drawn the final line and she was scared where the future would lead her. She was also crying from the release of having had to finally confront her relationship with Jack for the first time since things had ended. She had never been able to tell anyone about it and that sense of being totally alone – even when Jack had his arms around her in bed – had never left her. During the year they were together, there were times when she just wanted to shout at Jack, tell him that hiding all this stuff, lying to their colleagues, playing this game, was too hard for her but she couldn't. She loved him. And she knew she was stupid hanging onto something which had no happy ending and she knew that she was stupid for being in love in the first place with someone who was older, married, a father ……… and she knew she was an idiot for falling in love in a relationship which was never going to be more than just about the sex ………………. Thinking about her and Jack made her feel so low sometimes ………… she really just wanted to talk about it, find someone who would listen, try to get them to understand, get it out of her system, help her move on properly. Find someone who could appreciate her for who she was. Someone like Martin.
There was an intensity in their eye contact sometimes which made her feel they had a connection. She hoped she wasn't just imagining it. He was a really nice guy. She got the impression that he liked her but not just because she was the pretty blonde one like Jack had obviously liked her for …………. she remembered how Martin had been about her and Eric Keller – guarded, trying not to make his feelings obvious …….. and the incident with the flowers in the Delia Rivers case. "That's how I like my relationships – nice and complicated." "Clearly." The way he had said that and looked at her – accusingly, mockingly……….. She had thought that maybe he knew about her and Jack …………… but by the way he had just looked at her a split second ago, then maybe not.
"Martin!" she called. He stopped walking and turned to face her. His face purposely expressionless. "Martin, let me explain." she said quickly. She could see how she was dropping in his estimation with every passing second.
He didn't say anything. Frankly he was still speechless. He just stood there looking at her.
Samantha looked away onto the busy street, feeling uncomfortable and very very small under his gaze. "What you saw just then between Jack and I ….. it wasn't what it looked like. Whatever might have gone on between us was over well before you had even arrived. Nothing was going on."
"Yeah. It looked like it as well." Martin said sarcastically, rubbing his hands together before placing them in his pockets. He could see what was coming: a retelling of the whole sorry love story between his boss and his crush.
"No, please trust me. It's been over for two years ……… that was just a weakness on my part …. I don't like letting things go – even bad things." she said, sighing. She turned away a bit. She didn't expect Martin to understand. She knew what it must look like and even to her her explanation sounded pathetic. "Today was just the final, final moving on part. It's over, finished, everything's in the past."
"And your tears are what? Tears of happiness?"
His words stung. "I don't know why I'm like this – it's so stupid. It was all so stupid. I thought I was over this but it took that bastard Farrell guy to dig it all up for me to feel that maybe I'm not as him as I thought. Maybe that's why I denied it all. Maybe because I was still clinging onto something that wasn't even there in the first place ……………… I know what you must think of me but it wasn't like that ………….. I thought that there was actually something between Jack and I ………… I don't even know if there was anymore. But it's over. For good now. And-"
"Why are you telling me this?" Martin interrupted bluntly. There was silence.
Samantha looked at him shocked. She had never seen him like this. The Martin she knew was completely different from the one she was seeing now. She didn't think he had it in him to be so cold and distant. "I thought you would have wanted an explanation."
"You don't need to explain anything to me. What you and Jack do or did in your spare time is not my business."
"Then why are you acting all hurt and betrayed about it!" she shot. The pain that came into his eyes immediately made her wish she could take back what she had just said. "Sorry." she apologised quickly.
Martin looked at her quietly seething. "I'll see you back at the office." Martin said coldly before walking away.
Martin hardly registered the cars honking their horns at him as he walked blindly into the road. "Jack calls you Sam all the time." Of course he did. It was probably what he called her during their moments together. His stomach churned. He wished he could believe what Samantha said about it all being over but right now he didn't think he could ever trust what she or Jack Malone had to say again. Yes he did feel betrayed. He felt betrayed for putting so much faith in his boss who was nothing more than a dirty sleazebag who took advantage of a vulnerable, insecure Junior Agent. Of course Martin was under no false impression that Samantha had played no small part in getting herself into this mess. What had she seen in him? Did she just have a fetish for older guys? Eric Keller wasn't old. Did Jack have a certain power and aurora around him that made her feel giddy and uncontrollable? Was she just sleeping with him, hoping to get a promotion? The latter seemed the most obvious but it didn't configure with what she had just said. Samantha thought they had been in love. She was obviously not as smart as Martin had thought she was - but the fact that Jack had obviously just lead her on ………. leading her to believe that there was something serious between them whilst all the time he was just using her to satisfy his own needs. What a bastard.
Martin knew that he had the power in his hands now to put an end to Jack Malone's career at the FBI once and for all. And it sounded very tempting.
Samantha had taken the long way round and it was a full hour before she arrived back in the office. Her first reaction after Martin had left was to panic. She liked to have more faith in people than Danny did and she didn't believe that Martin had been dobbing them in whilst getting his father to cover his backside but now he was obviously hurt and betrayed enough to spill what he had just seen to Farrell and ……………. She would have herself to blame. Maybe Martin wouldn't be so angry with her and Jack if she had bit her tongue and resisted turning this back round on him. He was a nice guy but he would practically have to be a saint to just swallow all of this and carry on work as usual. She got out of the elevator and walked down the corridor, looking into the office as she walked past. Vivian, Danny and Martin were in there working on the Carrie Wilkins case. Jack was in his office. Although after what had just happened on the bench, she didn't really want to see him right now, she needed to talk to him.
Jack looked up as she walked in, slightly anxious that she was going to try and continue the conversation they had outside court, maybe try to convince him to change his mind. He had known the affair was wrong from the start but after it had ended, he had worked through it and swore never to do it again. All he needed now was for Samantha to throw herself on him. She sat down and he dropped his pen and took off his glasses. "Sam, I still care about you and I'm truly sorry that you ended up getting hurt in a relationship that should never have happened in the first place but it's really time for you to let go. You need to move on, find someone else who'll treat you the way you deserve to be treated." he said, laying his cards on the table before she even had a chance to say anything.
Samantha looked at him slightly shocked. "I know. I'm past that. Today I guess I just needed to check with you, although I knew it was definitely over, to get it out of my system and draw the line." she said. Jack looked relieved. "It's not about that that I came to see you ……. well, actually it is in a way ………….. Martin knows about us."
Jack looked up and fixed his eyes on Samantha. "How?"
"He saw us on the bench outside court just now. And believe me he didn't seem convinced that things are over."
Jack rubbed his head with his hands. "And I just thought he was being off with me because he was still upset that I never told him that Spaulding asked for a lawyer." he sighed.
"You know that if he decides to go to Farrell with this then this is going to be the final nail in your coffin Jack." Samantha warned, rubbing her hands together nervously. After she had just spent an hour denying the relationship to Farrell then it could be the end of her career as well. Jack just sighed, leant back in his chair and didn't say anything. "You don't seem too bothered." Samantha commented.
"To be honest, I don't think it makes much difference." Jack sighed. "They're going to take me down one way or another."
Samantha walked out of Jack's office and closed the door behind her. She would loved to have been able to give Jack some comforting words and tell him that she was sure that no one was going to be fired or that there was no way they were after him specifically but in all honestly it was quite clear that they were on a witch hunt to bring down Jack, and, if anything, she had just given Martin fuel to add to Farrell's fire.
"Hello stranger, where have you been?" Danny asked as soon as she sat down at her desk.
"Oh, I just needed some air so I went for a walk." she said distractedly. She looked at Martin and flinched under his stoic gaze. They didn't hold eye contact for long before he swung his chair round to face his computer. She sighed and started wading through some files. There was nothing she could do.
Martin looked up from his monitor through the glass into the office where Jason Farrell was sitting behind a stack of papers, writing up his report. Now was the perfect time to walk in there and tell him what he had witnessed between Agent Malone and Agent Spade. It was simple. He would probably have to write a statement and sign something and then it would be over. It would be out in the open and come next month the New York Missing Persons Unit would have a new Supervising Agent. Martin glanced over at Samantha. She was looking at her computer screen, chewing on her bottom lip nervously but he could tell she had been watching him on and off for the past half an hour, worrying about what he was going to do. He was all too aware of the fact that if he went in there to bring Jack down then it was very likely she would be going down with him. He thought about it in the scheme of things. Did Jack Malone really deserve to be fired? He may have messed up his personal life and have non-existent work ethics but he was, without doubt, a brilliant Agent. The FBI and the general public should not have to suffer his loss just because of Martin's hot-blooded male feelings, jealousy and overprotectiveness towards Samantha.
Martin came to a decision and stood up. He could feel her eyes on his back. "Danny can I have a word?" he asked. Danny looked up at him slightly frostily. "Maybe we could grab a coffee?" he suggested.
They walked to the break-room in silence and it wasn't until he had finished pouring the coffee that Martin spoke. "You were wrong about me grassing everyone up to Farrell. I didn't even mention you. And I certainly did not walk up to my father and ask there to be an OPR investigation to boot Jack out as you were insinuating." Danny didn't say anything but paced up and down the room disinterestedly. Martin paused for a minute. "But you were right about my father covering my ass." he continued.
Danny snorted in triumph. "Well, at least you've finally got the guts to admit it." he said wryly.
Martin looked at him exasperatedly. "I haven't finished." he said firmly. "I did not go crying to him, begging him to keep me out of scrutiny, to turn the focus of the investigation from my mistakes during the Samir case onto Jack's mistakes during his entire career. And you better believe that."
"Oh really."
"Yes. After you attacked me about me getting a "free ride" I took a trip up to Washington to confront my father. Turns out he knew that there was going to be an OPR investigation into the Samir case and that I was their target. Because he is positively incapable of staying out of my life, he got the target changed to save me and to cover his own purpose of bringing down Jack."
"And I suppose you were so cross with him for doing that." Danny said sarcastically.
Martin looked at Danny angrily. "I was. I told him that I didn't need his help. If they were going to sacrifice someone in this then I deserved to go down - not Jack. I told him that he was wrong about Jack and that he was a great Agent. Now if you still don't want to believe me about this then it's your loss Danny." Martin said, getting more and more worked up. Danny looked at him unsurely. He had his complete attention now. "I know that I'm the new guy and I've made mistakes and everything but I want you to know that I understand the concept of working in a team completely and I would never roll on anyone." he paused. "Or help bring down Jack." he added with a sigh. "Believe me, I did not ask for this."
There was silence. Martin waited for a reaction. He could see Danny was taking in what he had just said. "Okay." he said at last. "I believe you. And I'm sorry for accusing before but you have to understand what it looked like from my point of view ….."
Martin relaxed. "I know. That's why I wanted to put you right."
Danny nodded. "Friends?" he said, holding out his hand.
"Of course." Martin said, shaking it. "Now we've just got to pray that Farrell doesn't get his way." he muttered.
Samantha couldn't concentrate on the documents in front of her. What was Martin talking to Danny about? Was he telling him about her and Jack? Were they planning to go in there and take Jack down together? So many scenarios played out in her head and none of them were nice.
"Are you okay?" Vivian asked, looking at her worriedly.
Samantha looked at her and shook her head slightly. "Ever done something which comes back to bite you later?"
"Did Farrell ask you about you and Jack?" Vivian said perceptively. Samantha nodded. "What did you say?"
"Of course I denied it but he kept on bringing up this stuff, saying we broke about half a dozen conduct rules and he had hard evidence – phone logs and stuff." Samantha sighed.
"Well, there's nothing you can do. Farrell obviously got all the dirt on Jack before he came here, he just wants to find out how easy it's going to be to get us to back him up. You don't need to worry Sam, there's no way in hell I'm going to that bastard to testify about Jack's affair." Vivian said.
"It's not you I'm worried about." Samantha said quietly. Vivian looked at her questioningly but before she could say anything Danny and Martin came back.
"What's going on?" she asked them as the four of them took a seat at the conference table to cross-reference their information on the case.
Samantha looked at Martin and tried to read his expression. He seemed less tense and looked like he had his mind resolved on something.
"We sorted out our differences." Danny said, answering Vivian. "I was wrong about Martin. He really is one of us." he said, patting his colleague on the back.
Vivian looked at them amused. "Here's where I say "I told you so.""
Samantha relaxed. He really was a saint then. Martin glanced at her and she thanked him silently.
Just as they were about to start comparing notes, Jack came in and joined them at the table with a glum expression on his face. "The charges against Spaulding have been dismissed. He's free."
"What! How can they do that? Don't they understand that it's his crimes that matter not how we came to know about the crimes!" Danny exclaimed, throwing down his pen frustratedly.
"I can't believe it. Adderly must have come from the same mould as Farrell." Samantha muttered.
Vivian touched Jack's arm comfortingly. "At least you told the truth." she said.
"It's kinda hard to feel good about that right now." Jack sighed. "If I'd told the truth from the beginning then he wouldn't be walking free."
"And Andy Deaver would be dead. You did the right thing." Martin said firmly.
Jack looked at him. After everything, he still had Martin on his side and for that he was thankful. "Sorry about the lawyer-thing Martin." Jack said.
"Don't apologise." Martin said. "If it wasn't for me, my prejudiced views on Samir and my-"
"Your stubborn overbearing father." Victor finished for him, approaching the table. "Then maybe the OPR investigation wouldn't have been so adversely biased."
Everyone turned to look at the Deputy Director General.
"Victor." Jack said gruffly. "Where's Farrell?"
"He's gone. The OPR investigation's over." Victor answered. "I've read his report and passed on my own report to Van Doran. No doubt she'll be conveying to contents of that to you shortly. Right now, I must get back to Washington. Take care of yourself Martin." Martin didn't say anything and Victor Fitzgerald walked out of the office to the tune of silence.
"Well, I just want to say it's been a privilege working with you guys ………." Jack started.
"C'mon Jack. They're not going to sack you." Vivian interrupted. "If they do, they can start looking for replacements for the whole team."
"I appreciate the sentiment Viv but ……."
"Agents." Paula Van Doran said, cutting Jack off. There was silence as everyone looked at her apprehensively. Her face gave nothing away. "The OPR investigation has concluded that while there is a question mark over the way Agent Taylor and Agent Fitzgerald handled certain cases, on the whole it appears that the New York Missing Persons Unit is run very smoothly and has had a great deal of success."
Silence. "And?" Jack prodded.
"And what? That's it. Case closed." Paula said, her eyes sparkling. She looked at Jack's stunned expression. "You can't escape from this place that easily Jack." she smiled.
Danny grinned. "Thank the Lord! There is still a God in Washington!" he laughed, hugging Samantha in relief that they were all still a team. Vivian patted Jack on the back and Martin just smiled to himself.
He had done the right thing.
"Well, it's been a difficult few days and since it must have been the first time a team has come through an OPR investigation with five bodies still in place, I think we've got a reason to celebrate …….. drinks are on me." Jack smiled.
In a quiet corner of a bar in central New York, five people dressed in suits sat, holding their drinks up in the air. "Here's to us for kicking that Farrell's ass and for making it through an OPR investigation with our integrity, loyalty and, most importantly, our friendship still intact." Jack toasted. They clinked their glasses with a smile and took a sip of their drinks.
Things could finally start going back to normal. Or near normal. As the evening went on, it was quite clear that Martin wasn't enjoying the social interaction nearly as much as he should be. And Jack knew why.
"Hey Martin! If you were a vegetable, what vegetable would you be?" Danny asked, leaning across the table. Vivian and Samantha looked at him, waiting for his answer.
Martin shrugged. "More drinks everyone?" he asked distractedly, walking to the bar without waiting for an answer.
"What's up with him?" Danny asked, confused.
Samantha looked down and fiddled with her hair nervously. "I'll go help him." Jack said, following Martin.
Jack sat down on a stool next to Martin at the counter as they waited for the drinks to be poured. "Sam told me that you saw us outside court."
Martin shrugged but didn't say anything. He had enough of turning the whole matter over in his head and really didn't want to talk about it, especially not with Jack.
"I'm sure she already told you this but whatever went on between us was over before you joined the team and what you may have thought you saw today, wasn't actually what you saw. Things have always been harder for Samantha than they have for me – I was looking for a release which grew into something more but she was looking for something which I could never give her …………….. I think today getting questioned about all of it by Farrell just made her realise how stupid we both were and she was upset so I comforted her. I didn't mean anything with it. We're over that. Now we're just good friends. Trust me."
Martin didn't give a reply and Jack continued. "Martin, she's scared of being alone. She will never admit it but I know it. To her, having a lousy relationship with me – if you can even call it a relationship – was better than nothing and she found it so hard to let go because she was afraid of having nothing. I was never any good for her. I couldn't give her what she needed." Jack paused and focused his eyes on Martin. He hoped by saying this he wasn't pushing things too far. "She needs someone like you to look after her Martin." He said.
He saw Martin's eyes flicker and his jaw set. Martin handed over some notes to pay for the drinks. "Do you mind taking them over? I'm going to stay here for awhile." He said. Just good friends. Yes, maybe he could accept that excuse. And despite everything, Martin still felt like he could trust what Jack Malone had to say. He was either very trusting or very stupid.
Jack nodded understandably and walked away.
"Is he alright?" Vivian, asked, nodding over to Martin as Jack put down the drinks.
"Yeah, he's fine. Just needs some space." Jack said, sitting back down.
"I think he feels really bad that the whole OPR investigation happened because of him and even worse that his father put you in the firing line instead of him." Vivian said. Danny nodded in agreement.
"It wasn't his fault and he knows that and I know that." Jack said firmly.
"Then why is he so down?" Danny shot.
Samantha swirled the clear liquid of her drink around in her glass and looked up at Martin's back. He was hunched over staring into his beer. She really wanted to talk to him but didn't want him to bite her head off, especially in front of everyone else. Still, sitting here whilst he was over there alone made her feel worse so she decided to take the risk. "I'm just going to see if he's okay." She said quietly, standing up and leaving the table.
Vivian watched her go and suddenly her face broke into a smile as she put two and two together. "Ahhh. Right." She said aloud, glancing at Jack. Jack took a sip of his beer and looked at her with a slight nod.
"Ahhh, right, what?" Danny questioned, looking from Vivian to Jack. They didn't say anything. "Don't say it: It's ironic that I'm the one who misses out on the office gossip."
Martin felt her sit down next to him before he saw her. His heart lurched.
"I know I'm probably the last person you want to talk to right now." Samantha started gently, putting her glass down next to his and leaning against the counter. He didn't say anything and she didn't know what to say next. "I told you I liked my relationships nice and complicated." She said with a feeble laugh.
He turned to look at her. "Why don't you try to have an uncomplicated one? You may like them even better." He suggested.
She held his gaze. "No one's ever given me a chance."
Martin looked down for a bit before looking back up at her. He was going out on a limb here. Putting himself on the line again. For her. "Well, maybe when you're fully over Jack, you'll let me take you out to dinner sometime."
Samantha smiled. After all this he was still willing to give her a chance. "I'd really like that."
Martin's face broke into a small smile. She had such a beautiful smile. He hoped he could make her happy so he would see it more often.
"Martin." Samantha said, looking deep into his eyes. "I'm fully over him now."
Martin looked at her. She had changed. She looked relaxed and more comfortable with herself. He reached over and gave her hand a squeeze. "I know." He smiled.
It was start of something new.
A/N:- If you made it to the end then seriously well done. I had no idea how waffly and rambly it was until I read it through again. -Cringe -