Authors Note: Thank you to Ninz for her constant encouragement and refusal to listen to my pathetic excuses for not getting this update written! Thank you to Ukeleleboy for the help with the Spanish and also thanks to SallyJetson who beta'd for me (and also helped with the Spanish!)
Thanks to everyone who is reading this fic and to those of you who have posted a review - they help keep me motivated to finish even when real life intervenes!
Tension
Twelve days later – Monday morning 9:00am – FBI Office
'Danny'
A familiar voice calling his name across the underground parking lot broke into Danny's thoughts; he swung around to see Viv approaching, a smile on her face.
'You looked as if you were away in your own world.'
She gave him a speculative look as she gently teased him. She had started giving him those 'I know there is something going on' looks at the start of the previous week but hadn't come right out and asked him ……….yet.
'Hey Viv, how're you doing – did you and Marcus have a good weekend?'
Her mouth twitched slightly as he sidestepped her unasked question but she let it go without comment as she replied;
'Yeah, we had dinner with some friends on Saturday night and slept in on Sunday; that alone made it a good weekend. What did you get up to?
There it was again; that 'look'.
The elevator car arrived and they got in. Preferring not to be interrogated about his weekend activities, Danny was relieved when several other FBI employees got in as well, giving him the perfect excuse to give a suitably vague answer.
'Not much really'
The raising of her eyebrows and the curling of her mouth showed him that she knew she was being fobbed off.
The car arrived at the 12th floor and they got out. Before Viv could try asking him about the weekend again Martin appeared in front of them. Danny's relief at this timely appearance disappeared as soon as Martin opened his mouth.
'Have either of you seen Sam?'
He looked and sounded worried.
Viv spoke slowly
'I thought she was in court this morning?'
'Yeah, apparently she was due to meet the ADA at 8:00am but she hasn't shown. We've called her cell, but it's turned off and she's not at her apartment because we got the super to check, but what's really freaking us out is that we got a call from the NYPD telling us that her badge was found 20 minutes ago on the street outside her apartment'
The icy chill running down his spine was the same one he got when he had to fly anywhere. Danny desperately tried to come up with some good reason why Sam would be an hour late to court, have her cell turned off and would have lost her badge, as Viv spoke again
'Have there been any reports of an accident or a struggle?'
'Nothing so far, Elena's just running another check …….'
Martin's voice trailed off as Elena joined them, before asking
'Anything?'
'Nothing at all. No reports of an accident or a struggle………and so far no-one in her neighbourhood can remember seeing her but obviously a lot of them are at work and we haven't been able to speak to them.'
She looked as worried as Martin and now Danny was aware of the chill spreading from his spine, to the rest of his body….….
'Danny, my office, NOW'
They all turned to see Jack standing at the entrance to his office looking and sounding very pissed off.
Three pairs of eyes watched him as he walked toward Jack's office. He knew they were wondering what this was about; he on the other hand had a fair idea what was coming. As he entered the office and heard the door shut behind him with some degree of force he reflected that it looked as if the decision had been taken out of their hands.
Flashback – Previous night
'I think we should tell them. It will be so much easier if we haven't got to keep it a secret. I know it isn't even two weeks yet but you agreed with me – this does feel different……..feels right, so there's no reason not to tell them is there?'
'Nooooo……… it's just…….Martin and Jack……what are they going to think?'
'They're in the past………it might make things a bit awkward to start with but only for a little while and it's going to come out sooner or later isn't it? Anyway, the longer we leave it the more likely they are to be upset, don't you think?'
'You really want to tell them don't you?'
Sam slid her arms around his neck and kissed him before replying
'I really do want to tell them Danny.'
He stared at her, still trying to get his head around her desire to tell them all about this relationship between them. She was right of course; there was no reason to keep it a secret. Ever since their first night together they hadn't spent a night apart and he knew that this relationship was different from all the others he'd had, and she was adamant that she felt the same way; still…….
He shook his head, a smile on his face
'I can't believe I'm hearing this.'
She flushed slightly, her expression defiant
'I know I didn't want anyone to know when Martin and I were dating but this is different Danny, this is……' she looked frustrated and he started to laugh.
'…different, I know, but Sam, we've been together less than two weeks…… I'm happy to shout about 'us' from the rooftops, I just think we should wait a little longer before we tell anyone….'
'…because you're uncomfortable about them knowing that you've fallen for the office…..slut.'
She tried to pull away but he tightened his arms around her to stop her and held her angry eyes with his calm ones
'You know that's not true. I'm not uncomfortable about them knowing about us, but once they do it puts us under a lot of pressure…….…everything we say to each other, every look we exchange gets noticed and analysed. It's all still new, and I like the fact that only we know about us at the moment. I just want to wait a bit longer before we invite them into our life.'
The anger died in her eyes and she smiled again
'OK………..so how long do you want to wait?'
He loosened his grip around her waist now he was sure she wasn't about to flounce off and slid one hand through her hair whilst the other caressed her hip
'Let's give it another two weeks and then see how we feel about it…..but when we tell them, we do it together, OK?'
She moved her body so it was pressed against his and her hands slid under his T shirt as she eyed him speculatively
'Hmmm, OK, deal….'
He grinned and brushed a soft tantalising kiss across her lips.
'Te quiero'
His softly murmured words bought a low moan from her throat and he felt her dig her nails into his back as she pressed her lips to his. The kiss deepened as he backed her slowly toward the bedroom……….
End of Flashback.
Jack walked around the desk and picked up a piece of paper. He glanced at it, his mouth noticeably tightening at what was written on it, before he threw it across the desk to Danny.
'Can you explain this?'
Danny met Jacks angry stare, refusing to look away until Jack did, then he picked up the piece of paper and glanced at it briefly before meeting Jack's eyes again.
'It's a record of the calls made from Sam's cell phone.'
Jack's mouth tightened again;
'She called you at 6:30 am this morning and according to this record you're the last person she spoke to. What did you talk about?'
Danny held Jack's eyes with his, refusing to back down even as he realised that Jack must have seen more than just one day's phone records to be this angry.
'Nothing in particular, just the usual stuff we talk about in the mornings after I leave hers and head back to mine to get changed.'
The shock in Jack's eyes might have been funny at any other time but all Danny cared about was finding out where Sam was.
'You and Sam…you're……it's serious?'
'Yes'
They continued to glare at each other. Even though his worry about what had happened to Sam was increasing by the second, Danny found a tiny bit of him wondering why Jack was reacting so badly to the news of their relationship.
'When the hell were you going to tell me about this?'
Danny stared at him, hardly able to believe his ears
'What the fuck has that got to do with anything?'
He made no attempt to keep the anger and beginnings of panic from his voice.
For a moment Jack hesitated, looking as if he wanted to take issue with him, then he took a deep breath and shook his head slightly;
'OK, when did you see her last?'
His voice was tight as he fought to keep it under control.
'I left at about 6:15am. She called me at 6:30am and we spoke for a couple of minutes. She said she was about to get into the shower and then she was going straight to the courthouse to meet the ADA and go over her testimony. She said she'd text me as soon as she was finished in court. We were going to meet up for lunch if we didn't have a case on.'
Jack pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger
'Is there anything you can think of that has upset her; has she been getting any strange phone calls…..anything?'
'No………she's happy……..we're happy. There's nothing that I know of that would explain her going missing.'
Before Jack could respond, a knock at the door heralded Viv's arrival. She looked curiously between Jack and Danny, clearly picking up on the tension between them.
'We've found Sam's car in the Bronx – it was set alight about 30 minutes ago on some waste ground not far from where you live Danny. Martin and Elena have headed over there to see if we can get any witnesses.'
'Near where you live?'
Danny swung to face Jack, shocked at the suspicion he could hear in his voice.
'I told you. I left her at 6:15am. She was getting showered and then heading to the courthouse. She wasn't planning on taking her car because she knew I'd have mine here and I'd be taking her home tonight.'
He could feel Viv staring at him but he didn't look at her; instead he continued to scowl at Jack, refusing to break eye contact, determined that Jack would back down first.
'Come on Jack, you honestly don't think that Danny has anything to do with this?'
Viv sounded shocked.
With an obvious show of reluctance, Jack broke eye contact with Danny and turned to look at Viv.
'You know in any disappearance that more often than not it is down to the husband or boyfriend.'
Viv stared at Jack for a second before her eyes swung to look at Danny, seeking confirmation from him that she hadn't misunderstood what Jack had just said. He nodded slightly and she swung back to look at Jack,
'Jack, you know as well as I do that this has nothing to do with Danny. Sam's missing and instead of trying to find her you're letting a bruised ego get the better of you. Now can we get on with finding her, please?'
Jack hadn't taken his eyes away from Danny throughout this exchange and the heat of his stare made Danny swing his eyes away from Viv back to meet Jack's furious glare. The anger was tangible as both men locked eyes again, neither willing to back down.
Viv stepped between them, clearly furious
'This is about SAM and you both need to rein it in and remember what's important here.'
Her words pierced the fury that had engulfed Danny at Jack's suggestion that he could be in some way responsible for Sam's disappearance and he pulled his eyes away from Jack and looked at Viv. She gave Jack one final glare before heading toward the office door, as she started to outline an action plan
'We need to speak to her neighbours – see if they saw anything this morning……'
'Not you'
Viv stopped, as abruptly as Danny, at Jack's words. Danny turned back to face him
'What do you mean, 'not me''
The rage that had temporarily abated was building inside of him again and he took a step toward Jack, his fist clenched.
'You're emotionally involved…..you're not on this case…..'
'And you're not emotionally involved?'
Danny clenched his teeth in an attempt to keep his voice down……in an attempt not to hit Jack. He felt Viv's hand on his arm as she stepped in front of him.
'Jack, we're all emotionally involved in this one…..NONE of us should be working this case but until Van Doren puts another team onto it I intend to do everything I can to find out what's happened to Sam; how about you?'
The tension in the room was palpable. As his cell phone started to ring, Danny groped in his pocket, fished it out and glanced at the caller ID showing on the screen……
Sam – cell
