WITHOUT A TRACE - FICTIONAL SEASON 8
So this is a 24 episodes fictional season 8 for Without a Trace. I have no real intention to write any of the following episodes, but I simply couldn't get it out of my head, so I'm offering some basics: personal life plots for the six main characters, the closure I expected them all to have (but never got) and some Missing Person cases with a few guidelines and an open ending. If anyone wants to take it as a challenge, feel free to write any of it and change whatever you want to.
Now, it's rushed because I tried to fix everyone's issues the best I could. I don't even think we'd have time to MPs with that manny personal plots.
Also, I'm supporting no main shippers in this because,
A) I don't really see how Sam and Martin could get back together.
B) Jack and Sam didn't get their chemistry straight this season and Brian worked much better.
C) I hate Danny/Elena.
But since I'm picking up from season seven, there're mentions of JS and DE. Please, endure cannon with me. Until I fix it.
*Evil laughter should go here*
*But this would be lame*
And, just so you know, I'm aware of how cheesy I am. I was born amongst soup-operas, it's not my fault.
08x01
*The Right Way*
Picks up a month after the finale.
Martin comes to see Kim at prison after she and her lawyer kept pressing over the past two weeks. He's cold towards her and says he's there only to ask her to get out of his life. When he tries to leave, she tells him she's two months pregnant. He's in shock and furious and leaves without working things through.
Throughout the episode, Kim's lawyer tries to contact Martin, but he refuses to talk to her.
At the end, the lawyer comes by to see him and he snaps at her, saying he doesn't know what he'll do yet, but that, up to that moment, he doesn't feel obliged to do anything for Kim or the baby.
Danny and Elena come back from their honey moon.
Hanna is back in Chicago, spending her summer with her mother and sister. Her things are packed, but she's still unsure of what she'll do when she calls her father to say hi.
Jack and Sam are trying to deal with their final break up. They act professional with each other and really seem to be fine.
At a certain point, Sam actually thanks Jack for making things so easy for the past month.
Later, Jack and Viv talk it over. He says he thought this time he and Sam'd work things out but, in the end, he only wants her to be happy.
MP: BY THE BOOK KIDNAPPING
A traditional, by the book kidnapping.
A wealthy father, very close to his only teenage son, who's kidnapped in front of him.
Soon comes ransom call, but when they get to the drop off, the arrest goes wrong.
They now have to find the kid before he's killed.
08x02
*Some Women*
Hanna calls Jack and says she'll be heading back to New York and that she's thinking on applying for NYU next year.
Martin and Sam talk about Finn, who's starting to walk.
Sam also tells Martin she is glad to have Brian to help her and that she's glad she doesn't have to do it alone.
Danny wants to adopt Sophie, so he and Elena contact Carlos's lawyer.***
The lawyer later calls them back and say that Carlos didn't agree to a meeting.
At the end, Martin tells Jack Kim's pregnant and that he's unsure of how he'll handle it.
Jack tells him to think it through carefully and that he's gonna help him with anythign he needs, specially dealing with the Bureau.
MP: A JUNKIE MOTHER
Three kids (a teenager and a couple of preteens) pass flyers on the streets trying to find their mother, who left three weeks ago and never got home.
The mother is addicted to heroin. Father left.
This case gets to Martin and Sam, who later exchange a conversation where Martin states, bitterly, "Some women should never be mothers".
Martin also gets to work directly with CPS, which reminds him of how the system works.
Notes:
***I have no idea how adoption works in the US and I think Carlos would have to give up his rights for Danny to be able to become a father with all it's rights and dutties, or else I think he'd just be a foster parent or another guardian, I'm not sure. I'm taking a long shot here, sorry.***
08x03
*Fathers*
Hanna gets home, and Jack is glad to see how happy she seems to be in NY.
Martin's parents call him and his sisters to Washington for a family reunion, and they have some news: they're getting a divorce. And his father is being forced to retire.
Martin's sisters want him to take Victor to NY and help him through it because, even though they're closer to him than Martin, they're even closer to their mother and don't want to be caught in the middle. However, Martin tells his father he can come to NY, but he'll be stepping in a huge mess due to Kim and the baby. When asked, Martin says he's seriously considering being a single father, because this could be his last chance. That leads to a HUGE fight.
When Martin gets back to NY, he goes to see Kim, but she's not at her cell.
MP: THE CHILD OF ABUSIVE PARENTS
Seems the kid ran away, but Danny thinks he was killed by his father.
Danny gets to work on this one a lot, we get a bit more of background story for him.
We could even have a Danny/Elena moment since Martin is away. I'll do my best to ignore it.
08x04
*Too Late*
MP: KIM MARCUS
Follows up immediatelly after last episode.
Martin calls Jack as soon as he realizes Kim escaped prison.
At the office, Martin has to tell everyone else Kim's pregnant before they start looking for her.
Victor comes to NY and tries to make peace with Martin, but Martin ends up venting his anger on him and telling him to go away.
Kim was being threatned in prison because of the bribe she took, so she had to run away.
She went to see her sick mother and told her she knows Martin wouldn't be there for the baby because of what she did (and she can't really blame him) and she'll have to figure out what to do on her own. She says goodbye and flees the state.
The team later find out it was her ex-boyfriend the one trying to get to her before she could spill the beans in court, but she doesn't know that. They try to find him too, but can't.
At the end, the traces go cold, and another woman goes missing, so Jack has to put Sam and Viv on it.
Jack promises Martin they won't stop looking for Kim, but Martin seems resigned and asks to take a couple of days off.
Later, Victor learns what happened to Kim and the baby and goes to Martin's appartment just to find him falling apart.
08x05
*Untitled* (That's the tittle. Seriously.)
Day off for Sam.
Sam goes to see her sister with Brian and Finn. Emily seems finally happy and well.
They all have a great time and she starts to realize she likes the life she's living.
Martin, who had taken a couple of days off, comes back to work later, trying to keep busy and to keep Kim out of his mind.
MP: A PROFESSOR WHO WORKS WITH MARCUS
The professor was being accused of plagiarism, but Mrcus was standing by him because they're old friends.
Marcus gets to help Viv - background for them.
Is mentioned that Reggie went to college last year, and how Viv is taking it.
08x06
*Real Men*
Victor moves in with Martin.
Martin is surprised to see his father making an effort to get along and make things easy for the both of them.
Elena thinks she's being watched, so Danny suspects Carlos is back, but when he tries to contact him through his lawyer, she says she haven't heard from him since they talked about Sophie.
MP: A GAY MAN
The man is very effeminate and quite stereotypical, which makes him disliked by his family and also by some part of the gay community.
Disappearence is connected to prejudice.
Danny and Martin may have a quick undercover moment - like Sam and Elena in FROM THE ASHES. Yes, I can't betray my True Slasher Heart.
08x07
*Partners and crime*
Day off for Jack.
Jack and Hanna try to bond and find something in common.
Katie comes to visit Jack and he asks her if she'd like to move back to New York as well. However, Katie is happy living in Chicago.
Viv's in charge and does a great job.
MP: A COP AND HIS INJURED PARTNER
During a shooting, the cop's partner got injured and went to the hospital where he was in a coma for three weeks.
Two days after he wakes up, they both go missing from the hospital room.
The cop had something to do with the shooting: he caused it, ran away from it, shot his partner himself, whatever.
Reference to Martin and Danny's shooting accident and the case gets to them pretty hard. They finally talk about that night.
08x08
*HiTech*
Because Mac simply vanished and I want an explanation.
MP: MAC, THE TECH GUY
Lucy is Mac's girlfriend.
We get to know more about the techs that work at the FBI, as well as what they think about their jobs - they never really got the attention they deserved.
08x09
*Without her*
MP: ELENA DELGADO
Danny says goodbye to Elena and heads to the office. She vanishes.
When it's almost noon and Elena haven't showed up, he tries to track her down.
Elena dropped Sophie at school and got kidnapped right after that.
One of the kidnappers is found and he says Carlos hired him for help, but the plan was just to scare her.
However, after a heated discussion, Carlos shot her, almost as a reflex. Realizing what he did, he shot himself.
Elena is found dead in a motel, along with Carlos.
Danny goes tell Sophie at her grandma's house and they cry together.
*Elena is not replaced until the end of the season.*
**I thought of just breaking them up and sending her away, but they do have some fans around the net, so I thought I could give them something more dramatic and heartbreaking without betraying my anti-D/E heart - plus, we get our angsty Danny back!!**
08x10
*Wave goodbye*
Danny tries to arrange Elena's service, but can't cope with it. Vivian steps in to help.
Near the end, Jack and Sam talk about Elena. Sam tells him she's thinking of quiting because of Finn. Jack says it's a noble thing to do, but looks sad about it.
As an eulogy, Danny reads his vows.
Raphie, who just got out of jail, comes to remind Danny he still gotta take care of Sophie and that she needs him. At the service, however, Danny asks Elena's mother to take care of Sophie for a while.
Danny tells everybody he'll go home, but heads to a bar.
MP: A FRUSTRATED HOUSEWIFE
A woman who gave up her dreams to become a full-time wife.
Her husband turned cold through the years and they never had children, so now she's questioning her life.
The husband said he didn't wanna get divorced, but she was thinking about doing it.
08x11
*Whatever it takes*
Sam gets caught in a life or death situation that makes her re-think things.
Because of Sam's history with Jack, Alex Olcyck tells him to stay out of it and puts Vivian in charge. Jack walks away but tries to save Sam his way.
Danny was taking a few days off, but heads back as soon as he hears what happenned to Sam.
Jack goes psycho trying to save Sam and ends up killing an inocent man by mistake. He gets rid of the body and keeps it a secret to himself - it isn't as easy as he thought it would be.
Sam is rescued by Vivian, who uses more rational ways.
MP: HOSTAGE SITUATION
Sam is send inside but is kept as a hostage as well.
08x12
*A Merry Little Christmas*
No MP.
The team gets trapped in the bulding due to a horible storm on Christmas Eve.
Hanna is in Chicago with her mother, so Jack is enjoying another lonely Christmas and is hunted by what he did.
Martin was supposed to be in Washington with his mother, but all flights were cancelled and he's got stuck in the building. He thinks Kim must be having the baby somewhere by now. Victor, who got trapped in the building as well while dealing with some paperwork from his retirement, tries to help him through it.
Sam spends the whole time with Brian and Finn at the phone. At the end, she tells Brian she loves him and means it.
Danny thinks of calling Sophie, but can't, so he hides away from everybody, trying not to crave. Martin finds him later and Danny tells him he drank a glass of scotch the night of the funeral. Eversince, he's been going to meetings every night.
Vivian is home with her family having the only trully merry Christmas. Only, she was passed for promotion one more time and tells Marcus she feels her career is going nowhere. Reggie has a girlfriend and comes home from college.
After learning the team got stuck in the building, Vivian sends them an e-mail with a Christmas Carol to cheer up their night.
08x13
*To Protect*
Martin gives Danny his cousin's phone because she lost her husband to violence as well and is a part of a grief counselling group.
Later, Danny calls Jamie and she takes him to her group.
MP: FORMER PARTNER OF VIV'S BROTHER
A lot of background info for Vivian on this one because her brother's partner on the NYPD goes missing and he comes to ask for her help.
Her brother is very overprotective.
They have a tense, but close relationship.
Vivian'a brother, acording to WIKIPEDIA, is named Alton Johnson.
08x14
*Baby Steps*
Kim's body is found.
She was killed after coming to see her mother, who passed away a week earlier.
She's given birth already, so they trace her steps trying to find the baby.
Kim's ex-boyfriend was trying to get to her before she could spill the beans in court, he's the one who killed her.
They end up tracing the ex-boyfriend thinking he may know where the baby is, but he got Kim after she delievered. He's arrested.
The twins are found later, alive, in a hospital, but Martin must take a DNA test before getting to take them home.
The babies are about a month old, and Kim had them elsewhere, but abbandoned them near the hospital and called to give their location, giving no information so the ex couldn't trace them or her. She was planning on telling Martin, but was caught firsth.
MP: MARTIN'S BABIES.
08x15
*Split*
DNA confirms Martin is the father and he gets to take his babies home. He names the girl Bonnie (after his aunt) and the boy Daniel (after his baby boy's godfather). That makes Danny smile in a long time.
Jack's feeling on the edge because of what he did. After he snaps at Hanna for something random and has to ask Viv to take over a case because he can't focus, he tries to talk to Sam, but she's out with Brian and Finn. He, then, calls Claire and asks for a section.
MP: THE CHILD OF TWO MOTHERS
One biological and one who raised her but both trying to be good moms.
The father died and tension builts up between mother and step-mother whom the girl loves equally.
The girl either ran away form them both, is hidden somewhere by one of them or gets killed by one mother so the other can't have her.
08x16
*La Muerta*
Martin tells Danny his kids gave his life a whole new reason.
After meeting with Jamie and talking things through, Danny calls Sophie and asks her if she'd still like him to be her father.
MP: A MAN WHO LOST HIS WIFE
He is still going through grief and just can't move on.
It shocks (thought not surprises) Danny to see how it affects his three children.
08x17
*No Return*
Brian is offered a job in Washington and lets Sam decide if he's gonna take it or not.
Martin gets home late and tells his father he's affraid he won't be there for his kids because of the job, but Victor says it's up to him to decide how much work must get in the way.
Jack has his firsth section with Claire.
MP: AN EX-CON AND THE FATHER OF HIS VICTIM
The ex-con is released from jail and goes missing short after, along wth the father of the girl he raped and killed.
The father had swore to kill him when he got out.
08x18
*Gone*
Jack gets another offer to work in private security and talks it over with Claire.
Jack also tells Claire about the man he killed.
MP: A CHILD THAT IS NEVER FOUND
Because we never really had that. Sometimes, it's good to have a sad ending.
It's all about trying to find closure.
08x19
*Broken Hearts*
Sam goes to visit her sister and talk things through. She ends up making a decision.
Sam tells Jack she's decided to go to Washington with Brian and quit the FBI, maybe going back to college.
Danny talks to Jamie and says he's thinking of trying the BAR exam again. Being a lawyer, she offers to help him study.
MP: A MAN THAT WAS TRANSPORTING A HEART FOR A TRANSPLANT
Along with the heart.*
Note:
*Too bizare?
08x20
*Over the Edge*
Clark Medina's son goes missing and Medina tells Jack to do whatever he has to do to find him.
However, when situation demands Jack to go extreme, he can't.
MP: MEDINA'S SON
He had just gone to college and was feeling pressured by everyone in his family.
He went to New York for the weekend, but didn't return to college and haven't called his parents ever since.
Note:
I really just wanted Steven Weber back. Even if it's a fictional Steven Weber.
08x21
*Bruised*
Jamie gives a birthday party to Ava and invites Danny.
When Martin gets there, Jamie presents him to her friend, Laura.
Hanna gets in the NYU.
MP: AN ABUSED WOMAN
The woman is married and has two small children.
Some people say she didn't wanna leave the husband.
Some others say she was planning to get away.
08x22
*Cracked*
Victor starts looking for an appartment and Martin is surprised to find out he doesn't want his father to move out.
Danny takes the BAR exam.
Jack starts interviewing people to take over Sam. Later, when talking it over with Claire, he realizes he can't do this job anymore.
MP: A BABY SOLD FOR CRACK
A junkie mother sold her daughter for crack, but she's no longer with the dealer.
08x23
*Into thin air*
Victor announces he's got an appartment is will soon be moving out. He is already packed when Martin tells him he's got a better place for him to move in - an appartment a couple floors under his own.
Hanna announces she'll be apending summer Chicago again, but she'll stay in her father's appartment for at least the firsth semester when she gets back.
Sam gets a goodbye party. She gets closure with Martin, who wishes her the best.
At her party, Danny announces that Sophie's adoption came through. And that he passed the BAR and may be leaving soon if he gets a job in the DA's office.
He and Martin talk later and there're hints that he's interested in Jamie.
Martin calls Laura.
When everybody is gone, Jack calls Vivian aside and says he's taking a job offer to work on private security and she's gonna start running the team starting monday.
Sam comes by the office later just to take a final look and finds Jack there. They remember how they first got together. She gets her closure, but he still seems sad with her departure.
The final image of this episode would be Sam getting in the elevator, ready to go to Washington with Brian and Finn, as Jack watches her.
MP: MAGGIE CARTWRIGHT
Same woman they found at the series' premiere.
08x24
*Found*
No MP.
Takes place about five years after last episode.
Everybody comes together for some reason.
We have flashbacks of everybody's first day at MPU while we find out what happenned to everybody.