A/N: At this time, I have upped the rating for the story, I didn't anticipate this or subsequent chapters when I began. Thank you for all of the wonderful reviews, I'm glad you enjoy reading because I'm enjoying the writing.
Chapter 9 – Vulnerability
Thursday Morning, May 27, 2004
Samantha slept fitfully throughout the night and awoke early. The stress and tension had built up during the past week and she decided to take a run in the park, part of her usual routine. She dressed and left the building as daylight was just dawning. Running felt good, she concentrated on her breathing, blocking out thoughts of Jack and Martin. She came out of the wooded area into the clearing and should have been paying more attention to her surroundings.
Three young men dressed in dark baggy jeans and sweatshirts suddenly began keeping pace with her. They started whispering to her, one said he'd like to "do" her and the others added various lewd comments. One pushed her into the other, but she righted herself quickly and kept jogging. She tried to assess the situation, who was around, what did she have to protect herself with. She would not let panic slip in, instead she slowly lowered the zipper on her jacket and sped up her pace, hoping they would get bored of her or tired and stop. The three were telling her that they had seen her before in the park and wanted her. One told her that he appreciated her taking good care of herself so that when it was his turn with her she'd be tight and firm. She longed for her badge and gun, but quickly dismissed them because those thoughts would not help her here. One grabbed her arm and she shook him off. She realized that that would only make them mad and she got ready to fight. Then, the biggest one grabbed onto her jacket and she knew she had to make a break for it. She let the jacket fall off her shoulder as she put on a burst of speed, her arms slipped easily out of the material and, running for her life, she left them behind. Without stopping she crossed a busy street, eager to put distance between herself and the three men. She turned a corner and then another, afraid to stop and afraid to turn around. Finally, she ducked into a small coffee shop that was well populated and allowed herself to breath, out of sight from the street. Her adrenaline was pumping and she tried to calm herself. Tears threatened to fall down her face, but she fought them back, she would not allow those thugs to make her cry. She tried to focus on how well she had done, she had not panicked and had gotten away; three on one and she had gotten away. She sat down in a chair in the corner and wrapped her arms around herself. "I could have been the team's next case," she thought. An employee approached her holding a cup of coffee. She looked up at him and whispered apologetically, "I don't have any money, I can't pay for that."
But the employee shook his head, "It's OK, you look like you could really use it. Is anything wrong? You're white as a sheet."
"Am I?" Samantha asked as she reached for the coffee and the mug instantly warmed her hands. "I guess I overexerted myself this morning. Thanks for the coffee." She had not realized how cold she was, but sitting here in only her tank top and jogging pants she eagerly sipped the coffee. The hot fluid rushed into her body spreading its warmth throughout. Again, as she relived the attack in her mind she felt like crying, letting the emotions out through her tears, but she could not let herself, she was too strong for that; she was Special Agent Samantha Spade and could not be vulnerable.
She didn't notice time passing and the crowd thinning out as people headed for work. The same employee came up to her, his name tag read 'Robert', and asked her if she needed anything else. "What," she said glancing around her, "Oh my, what time is it, I've got to get going."
"It's 8:30," Robert answered helpfully.
Samantha realized that she had to get home, get dressed, and go to work. She searched her mind to remember whether any identification had been in her jacket, but for once she praised its lack of pockets. The guys would not be able to find her apartment. She asked Robert if she could use the phone and although it was against policy he took pity on her, she was still pale, as pale as when she came in this morning out of breath. She called the office and Martin answered, "FBI, Missing Persons, Fitzgerald speaking."
"Martin," she whispered. Then she realized that she didn't have to whisper, no one was going to get her in the coffee shop.
"Samantha, is that you, are you OK?" Martin asked concerned.
"Yeah, sorry," she answered in a normal voice. "I, I'm going to be late this morning, I went for a run and …" Should she tell him, should she tell anyone? What would she say? But she didn't have to continue, Martin cut her off.
"You should know, Jack's late too and if you two are going to do this 'thing' and try to keep it a secret you should plan a little better or get a better excuse." With that Martin hung up the phone. He felt a little bad about his bluntness, but he had remembered his drunken phone call and figured he couldn't hurt their friendship any more than that.
Samantha stared at her end of the phone. What was Martin talking about, why would he think that she had been with Jack this morning? She put Martin's statement and attitude out of her mind, she had to get home and then to work.
She didn't have any money for a cab so she had to run home, luckily she hadn't lost her apartment key because it was tied to her shoelace. As she got ready for work she resolved that she had to tell someone, something had to be done about those three before they hurt someone else. And it bothered her that they had seen her before in the park, what if they had attacked her before or tried again.
At work, she singled out Vivian, she was a woman, she would be the easiest to tell about the attack. Vivian immediately encouraged Samantha to tell the entire team, for support, and then notify the local police so they could investigate. Samantha was reluctant to tell anyone else, but Vivian pointed out that this was probably not the first time these guys had attacked someone in the park and she needed to do her part to stop it.
Vivian called the team together and helped Samantha get through her story. She couldn't make eye contact with anyone except Vivian, but could tell that Jack, Martin, and Danny would do everything they could to support her. Martin was especially quiet through the whole story. He was thinking about the last conversation he'd had with Samantha. He'd accused her of sleeping late with Jack and calling into work with a crappy excuse, but he'd been wrong. She had been running and then she'd been attacked, she'd probably called in as soon as it had happened and what did she get, she got me being snide to her and hanging up. It didn't matter that Samantha couldn't make eye contact with him because he couldn't look at anyone.
It was Danny who came up with the plan, the plan to catch the guys. He emphasized that the guys had been in the park before and suggested that since they had been so daring this morning that they would attack again. He proposed a sting operation using Samantha as the bait.
Both Martin and Jack immediately let their protests be heard, they were looking past Samantha's calm exterior and imagining that she must be terrified by what had happened. Neither wanted Samantha to be "bait." But Samantha, as usual, had a mind of her own and wanted to prove, to everyone as much to herself, that she was a capable agent. She immediately latched onto Danny's idea and tried to ignore Martin and Jack pleadings.
Against his wishes, Jack set up an appointment with the local police chief and the entire team headed to the police station. Over the next couple of hours a plan was devised, Samantha would go running the next morning, wearing a wire and surrounded by hidden FBI agents and local officers. She needed to get enough on tape of the guys' intentions and actions to arrest and charge them. At the end of the meeting, both Jack and Martin approached Samantha. It was awkward, both of them looking at her so caringly. They started to speak at the same time, but Martin deferred to his boss, besides, he thought that Samantha didn't really want to hear from him right now.
"Sam, you know you don't have to go through with this. Even though we spent a few hours on this plan you can back out. Nothing is set in stone." Jack tried to make Samantha see reason.
Samantha nodded, expressing that she had heard him, but that she wasn't going to back out. As Jack watched, Martin reached out and lightly grabbed her arm to make her acknowledge him. She looked up at him as he said, "We'll be there for you, you give the signal and we will be there in flash. You know that?"
"Yeah, I know you guys won't let me down. I'll give the signal and let you guys do the hard part." She smiled at her joke, but Martin and Jack did not. They both looked worried. "Don't worry about me guys, it's just another undercover, we've all done it before." She was actually upset that they didn't think she could take care of herself. "I'm going home now, we have to meet early tomorrow and I need some rest."
Jack stepped forward. "I'll take you home Sam, you shouldn't be alone tonight," Jack said protectively. Samantha, instead of looking at Jack appreciatively, glanced at Martin in time to see his face deflate.
"Of course," Martin thought, "I'm not needed, Jack is more than a friend, I don't get to be her protector--like she needs a protector. Besides she probably doesn't want me within ten feet of her the way I've treated her." Martin backed off and let Jack lead Samantha out of the police station. He left through a different exit to go home to his lonely apartment.
Once outside the station, Samantha pulled her arm from Jack's grasp and told him, "I'll take myself home, I don't need you to baby-sit me. I'll be fine." She wished that she had done that in front of Martin, so he could see that she wasn't 'with Jack,' at least not yet. She wondered why she cared if Martin thought she and Jack were together.
Jack looked a bit stunned, but he'd dealt with the strong willed Samantha before and he let her go.
She watched from her apartment window as Jack pulled away from the curb. Did he think she was stupid enough not to realize when she was being followed. Oh, well, he was only thinking of her, but she didn't need to be protected, watched over. She reminded herself that she was not a weak woman, she was strong and capable and after tomorrow Jack and Martin would have to admit that.
TBC
