Title: Past Present
Author: Illman
Category: Martin/Samantha, Jack/Samantha, casefile
Beta: The wonderful DianeM offered to beta this story. Thanks.
Date: 02/19/2006
Warnings: violence
Disclaimer: It's their universe, not mine.
Spoilers: Seasons 1 and 2 are all game
Summary: When a married middle class man disappears, Samantha recognizes him as her ex-husband from 10 years ago. All clues start to lead back to the time of the victim's first marriage.
Author's Notes: Set in the 2nd season. Now beta-ed. All remaining mistakes are my own.
oOo
Samantha Spade was drawing lines on the table with her finger and only interrupted her activity by looking out the window of the bar once in a while. She was waiting for a date to arrive. Martin and she had been planning to meet in Marty's Bar almost twenty minutes ago, but so far, there was no sign of Martin and she was getting restless. She had not really been in the mood to go out that day, but when Martin had asked her at work today, she had said yes. She wasn't sure why herself. She liked Martin; he was a nice guy, friendly, well-mannered. They had gone out before several times, and it had been pleasant, even entertaining, each time. There had been no real reason to decline his invitation this time. Maybe her mood would pick up as the evening went on; otherwise Martin would probably wish he hadn't asked her out--that was if he ever showed up. Part of her started to get worried. She looked out the window again. A stream of people was hurrying by in the night, but she couldn't spot Martin among them. She sighed somewhat frustrated and ordered something to drink. She had almost finished her glass by the time Martin arrived. She had been so lost in thought that she hadn't noticed his arrival. Suddenly, he stood right in front of her.
"I'm really sorry I'm late. I got held up at work."
"You stayed there that late? We finished the case already this morning." Samantha was puzzled because even with paperwork, Martin couldn't have taken that long.
"Something from an old case needed to be taken care of," Martin replied stiffly, and she could tell that he was lying. "Nice table," he commented on their table with a view of the street, effectively changing the subject.
"Wasn't that hard to get. Most people probably prefer sitting away from the window, not that there is much to see at that time of the day. I hope you don't mind that I already ordered myself something to drink." She apologized, realizing that it might be considered bad manners. Somehow around Martin, she always had the feeling that she had to be careful.
"No, it's okay. I was really too late. You needn't have stuck around that long."
They went on to order more drinks, followed by dinner. Martin seemed distracted and preoccupied by something. He didn't pay attention to what she was saying, forgot what he had ordered and generally seemed to be somewhere else. Samantha considered asking him about it, but he would probably deny it, knowing him. But there was a chance that he wouldn't and truth was that Samantha didn't feel like going into anyone's personal problems tonight. Whether that made her a bad person or not, she had had a long day, a headache was building up, her lamb tasted like chicken, and most of all, she was only human. She put down her fork and took another sip of wine. Maybe she shouldn't drink that much or this might turn into an evening she might regret. She had already had some wine before Martin had arrived. Oh well. She took another sip and looked at Martin, who was staring out the window, letting his food grow cold. He was definitely having issues; normally food was the one temptation Martin couldn't resist.
oOo
Jack Malone's evening had been slightly more enjoyable so far. He had spent it at the opera--with his wife nonetheless. But since going to the opera was all about listening and not about talking to each other, it had been the most peaceful evening they had spent together in a long time. It was their tenth anniversary. Going to the opera might not be most people's idea of spending their anniversary, but it was something they both immensely enjoyed and one of the few things they still had in common after difficult years together. Now, he only had dinner left to navigate, Jack thought to himself and immediately chided himself for thinking about his anniversary like that. It should be a joy spending time with his wife; instead he saw potential points of conflict lurking everywhere. This was not how he had pictured it. Not in his dreams, not even in his nightmares. He never thought that he would be someone afraid of fighting. Outside his marriage he didn't avoid conflict. His job often put him in difficult positions, but at home, he simply had enough of it. Maria and he walked in silence down the street. Walking by a downtown restaurant, he gazed through the window and spotted two familiar faces. Samantha Spade and Martin Fitzgerald were apparently on a date together. This surprised him. He would have thought he'd known. He didn't pry into the personal lives of his agents, but still, the team worked closely together, and he never noticed that they were dating. What did that say about how observant he was? Did Vivian know? Probably, she knew just about everything. She had immediately known about him and Samantha. But maybe they had been less careful. Why was this bothering him so much? He was married, Samantha wasn't. She could date whomever she wanted and he was on the way to his anniversary dinner. Jack shook the thoughts from his mind.
oOo
Life wasn't easy for her, the kids, and the problems at her job, him not being home much. But that was about to change. Clyde smiled, bended down and softly kissed Linda on the cheek before getting up. Careful not to make much noise, he made his way into his small study. There wasn't much in the small room except for a chair, a table and a laptop. Clyde logged onto the Internet and checked his email account: two new messages. As expected. Everything was going as planned. He read them, memorized them, and then deleted them. He waited for it to turn 10 p.m., then he logged onto AIM.
Half an hour, Clyde Buckner, a bag in one hand, his laptop in the other, left the house.
oOo
Maria and Jack sat over dinner. It was amazing with how few words they had managed to get through the evening so far. When Maria suddenly put down her eating utensils and looked at him, Jack immediately had an ill feeling that she was about that say something that wasn't going to go anywhere pleasant .
"Jack, we need to talk about something." Maria's tone was serious. Jack wondered why she had chosen this evening. Normally an anniversary dinner was not the occasion for serious talk. But in their relationship, so much avoidance took place lately that maybe she had figured it was the best chance she was going to get.
"Okay, what is it."
"I know this might not be a good time, but we both know, that this isn't a romantic evening. We both enjoyed the opera, but the rest is just show." Maria put bluntly what Jack had been thinking. He didn't quite know what to respond. Normally, they didn't talk quite that honestly and he didn't really think that such a public place was the right venue.
"Do you really think that we should talk here? Maybe we should discuss whatever you want to talk about at home?" Jack asked cautiously.
"It doesn't really matter. What needs to be said needs to be said." Maria sounded cold. "Jack, I've been having an affair."
It was like a slap in the face. Unexpected. And it hurt. More than it deserved to hurt. After all, he had betrayed her as well, so technically he just got what he deserved. Still, it hurt. He didn't know what to say or think. He looked at Maria. She looked sad and scared. He couldn't imagine what she felt. It was as if a stranger was sitting opposite of him. He didn't know that woman at all. He was supposed to say something, but he couldn't.
"I need some time to think about that," he finally managed. He got up, grabbed his coat and left. A few people looked, but he didn't care. Back on the street, when the wet, cold air hit him, he realized that just walking out had been stupid and childish; he had run away from the confrontation with Maria. But he didn't know how to deal with that woman. She wasn't the woman he had married. But he probably wasn't the man she had married either. He hadn't even asked with whom she had had the affair, Was it still going on? He leaned against the wall of a building, catching his breath, as he had been walking briskly, almost running.
oOo
On the fourth try Samantha managed to insert the key into the lock. Her fingers were freezing and she had had too much to drink. Not a good combination. Martin, who was standing in the hallway with her wasn't any help either. He had caught up with her, drinking pretty quickly as the evening had worn on. Drink orders had made up for the lack of talking. Somehow they had ended up walking home together to Samantha's place. Samantha vaguely recalled a bottle of champagne in her fridge. She had kept it there for a date that hadn't gone as planned. Now she could put it to good use. Somehow, with lots of giggling, both made it into the apartment and out of their coats.
TBC