Chapter 10:

"Does this shirt make me look fat?" Samantha asked her reflection, looking herself over in the mirror. "Yes." She answered, pulling the navy sweater over her head, tossing it onto the floor. She shoved hangers from one side of the closet to the other, trying to find something suitable to wear.

She had never been the type of woman to spend hours getting ready, but today she couldn't seem to decide on an outfit she liked. In the back of her mind she knew she wanted to look nice because of Martin, but there was no way she'd ever admit it to herself. She finally settled on a black oxford and pale grey skirt. "This will have to do." She spoke aloud, putting the finishing touches to her makeup.

She left her apartment looking like an absolute disaster area with clothes strewn from one end to the other and rushed outside to hail a taxi. She was already ten minutes late and knew traffic would be terrible on the way in to work. By the time she reached the FBI building she was fourty-five minutes late. She jumped in the elevator, riding it up to the MPU offices. The doors opened at her floor, and she nearly ran into the bullpen.

Everyone was situated around the conference table with one more person than usual in the group. "Nice of you to join us." Jack quipped as she slipped into the only empty seat.

"Sorry, there was a wreck on the freeway. Traffic's a nightmare." She lied. If Jack knew she was late because she couldn't decided on what to wear, she'd never hear the end of it. "Do we have a case?"

"Not yet, but we do have a new member joining the team today. This is Martin Fitzgerald."

"I'm pretty sure they already know each other." Elena informed the group, ignoring the death glare Sam sent her way.

Danny noticed the none too subtle glare on Sam's face and Elena's playful tone as he surveyed the group. "Is that so?"

Martin remained silent, not quite sure how to act around Samantha. She obviously wasn't happy at the moment, and he couldn't figure out why. Was she having second thoughts about them? Was she ashamed about the whole situation with Brady? He slowly met her gaze and noticed her face softening dramatically as their eyes locked. She flashed him a small smile from across the table before focusing on Danny.

"Yes we do know each other, and it's none of your business, so don't even ask." She answered with a smirk.

"Ma'am, yes ma'am." Danny said, giving a mock salute.

"Cut it out you two." Jack ordered dryly. "Like I said, we haven't had any cases come in yet, so take the day to finish up any old paperwork or reports, and if all goes well, we'll be out of here by five." He stood from his seat walking towards his office. "Get to work." He called over his shoulder.

Danny, Elena, and Vivian all scurried to their desks leaving Martin and Samantha seated at the conference table. After a few quiet minutes, Martin moved from his seat to the one nearest the blonde agent. "You don't have any work to do?"

"Not really. Unlike these three, I try not to put off my paperwork until the last minute." She smiled. "What about you? You don't have any papers to sign or anything?"

"Nope. I took care of all that before you got here this morning." He answered, returning her smile. "That's probably a good thing though because I'm not sure I could focus." He whispered softly into her ear, pulling back slowly to look her over appreciatively. "You look great, by the way."

Her cheeks blushed at his unwavering stare. "Thanks."

"What are you doing after work?"

"Nothing that I know of. Why?"

"I just thought maybe we could grab a bite to eat or something." Martin answered, slightly unsure of himself.

"I'd like that." She admitted with a wide smile. Her hand found his underneath the table and gave it a gentle squeeze. "I think I could get used to this."

"Me too." He agreed, his thumb running lightly over her knuckles.

"Could you two keep the flirting to a minimum, please? I feel like I'm about to puke out a puppy." Danny teased, turning in his chair to face them.

"Shutup, Danny." Samantha glared. "If I had a nickel for everytime you and Elena flirt, I'd be a millionaire."

"She's got a point there, Taylor." Vivian added, looking up from her paperwork.

"Yeah, yeah. Take her side." He countered, spinning back around to face his computer.

"Is he always like that?" Martin asked quietly.

"Yep. You'll get used to it." She assured him.

Martin nodded with a smile on his face. His eyes shifted around to each of his new teammates before settling on Samantha. He was well aware that her hand was still in his and couldn't have been happier, but the longer he sat there, the more he saw a picture of Brady's alcohol induced state.

Although both of them were reluctant to admit it, anyone could tell that he and Samantha were definitely more than friends. That thought both thrilled and frightened him. What if Brady happened to see them together? Or someone else saw them and let it slip to one of his family members? Countless questions ran through his mind before Samantha's soft voice grabbed his attention.

"Marty?"

"Yeah?"

"What's going on? What's wrong?" She asked timidly.

He sent her a shadow of a smile, thinking his answer over. Lie to her and deal with it on my own, or tell the truth and find out how she feels about the situation. Martin weighed the two options in his mind before deciding on the latter. "Last night I when I got home I found Brady on the couch surrouned by beer bottles. He was holding a picture of the two of you, talking about how happy you were and where it all went wrong. He asked me to look after you."

"Oh."

"Yeah." He paused, running his free hand over the back of his neck. "I just don't know what to do. I feel like we've stepped out of friend territory. You know?"

She nodded, at a loss for words. She couldn't imagine Brady being so upset about the demise of their relationship. He'd never been much of a drinker, and to invision him surrounded by empty beer bottles was nearly impossible. Clearly he wasn't taking the breakup well. "So what are we going to do?" She managed to ask.

"I honestly don't know, Sam. I want to be with you, but I don't want to hurt Brady any worse than he already is. I'm just so confused about the whole thing." He looked around, noticing the stange glances people were sending them. Samantha must have noticed them too because she promptly stood and led him by the hand to the balcony outside.

"People can be so nosey." She observed after a few silent minutes passed between them. "I like you Martin. And I want to be with you." She turned to face him, taking both hands in hers. "But if now is not the right time for us to be together, I can wait. I don't want to come between you and your brother because I know how important he is to you. So I guess what I'm trying to say is, I want to be with you, now or in the future. I'm willing to wait however long it takes because I know it'll be worth it. You'll be worth it." Her eyes held his as she attempted to convey the sincerity of her words. Martin was unlike any other man she'd every met, and letting him go easily was not something she planned on doing.

"Really?" He flashed a her dimpled grin that reached from ear to ear as his arms pulled her closer, settling around her waist.

"Yes, really." She answered returning his smile and locking her fingers behind his neck. Her lips brushed his tentatively before she pulled away.

His arms remained wrapped tightly around her middle, refusing to release her. "I want us to be together." He stated. "But we have to keep things low key for awhile okay? I want to give Brady time to move on."

"Yes sir." Her lips curved into a smile. "We should get back inside."

"Yeah, okay."

"So where you takin' me to dinner at?" She asked playfully as the walked back towards the bullpen.

"Wherever your heart desires, m'dear." He smiled, happy to know things were progressing between he and Samantha. Things were looking up.