Chapter Four: Escape
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or the F.B.I, I just dream about them but the plot is mine, my own, my preciousssssssssssss.
A/N:- More tension and angsty Sam in this chappie. She seems to be crying an awful lot on this fic and I imagine her to be a very strong but complex woman who rarely shows her emotions (like Eowyn in LOTR….) but you have to bear in mind here she's still in shock and has the whole guilt thing going on …… The English-isms a few of you have commented on. I'm English and it's infuriatingly hard to write in American and although I know it's an American show etc., you're just going to have to ignore / put up with / mock the English-ness for now. Lol. This is really random but it just occurred to me whilst writing another fic … the reason why Sam drinks Martinis? MARTINi – gettit? I need to get out more …….. Thanks for all the lovely reviews.
Dedicated to:
Spooky Bibi, Tracy, NightMage, Alli, Klutz101, Joy, Jacks Girl, EquestrianBabe, Jtsideout389, Raspberry Muffin, SuperKelli15, Ariel3JLP
"Found a lead on Charles." Vivian told Jack as soon as he walked into the conference room. "A Charles Slater. His brother, Ricky Slater, killed Vicky O'Sullivan, we tracked him down and locked him away for life about 3 months ago. This Charles certainly had a motive – he's close to his brother – both were in prison a while back, charged with armed robbery. He matches Sam's description of him as well. Forensics are checking fingerprints."
Jack nodded. "Sounds like we've got our man."
Danny walked into the room, looking worried. "This just came." he said, handing a videotape to Jack. They all stared at it for a moment.
"Okay, switch on the TV and close the door, let's see what we've got." Jack said heavily. He hoped that it was a ransom tape, at least that way they'd have some leads.
He took a seat next to Danny as Vivian inserted the tape. The tension was almost unbearable.
Just as Jack was about to press play, the door opened and Samantha walked in. Her broken arm was in a sling and there were dark rings around her red eyes. She usually looked pristine and immaculate with not a hair out of place, now she looked a state. "What's going on?" she asked tiredly.
Jack looked at her. "Sam, you should go home and get some rest, we'll phone you if we have any developments."
She ignored him and looked at the television. "It's a ransom tape from them, isn't it?" she questioned.
"Sam, I think you should leave it to us."
"I want to see it." Sam stated.
Vivian and Danny looked at each other unsurely. "I don't think it's a good idea-" Jack started.
"I WANT TO SEE IT." she said forcefully, slowly making her way over to a chair.
"Okay," Jack said resignedly. He could see Vivian looking at him questioningly and he knew it probably wasn't a good idea considering Sam was already worked up in such a state and they didn't know what this video contained. On the other hand he knew why Samantha needed to see it. He pressed play.
Once again the video started with a close up of Charles Slater talking to the camera.
'Morning, Agents Malone, Taylor and Johnson, did you all sleep well last night? I hope so because if you don't comply with our demands then it's the last fitless sleep you're going to have.' The camera moved away from the face and focussed on Martin. He was lying on the floor, tied and gagged and had a gash running down the side of his face. Samantha gripped onto the table. The other two balaclavered men waved at the camera and laughed before proceeding to kick Martin, in the face, in the stomach, in the head …… The camera turned back onto Charles. 'Yes, Agent Martin Fitzgerald, a friend of yours I believe? Maybe you already know about his capture- maybe you found your other Agent unconscious outside that house, maybe you don't even know that she's missing and right now the blood is draining from your faces ….. maybe you found her and it was too late to save her, who knows?
Here's our demands: you pay a ransom of 1000000 dollars. Leave the notes in a bag on the doorstep of 75 Flangton Avenue at 12pm sharp. No funny business just one unarmed man. Don't try anything stupid or heroic like Fitzgerald did. It didn't work and right now we're making him pay for it. Make a phone call to Bellemont prison. Tell them that you made a mistake and there is actually no evidence against Ricky Slater. Have him released. You know the procedure; you guys prove people innocent everyday. If you do all this, you can have your precious agent back, if not then I trust his life isn't worth that much anyway. Don't believe I'll do it?" Charles sneered, showing a gun to the camera.
"Watch this." The camera turned and focussed on Martin again. The two captors moved out the way and Charles pointed the gun at Martin's leg and fired. Everybody in the office flinched and Samantha cried out.
The camera lingered on Martin for a moment, showing him curl up in pain, tears falling down his face, blood running everywhere before fading out with his muffled screams.
Samantha sat there frozen, staring at the screen in shock. The other three looked at each other, their faces creased up with worry.
"He's going to be ok." Jack said, breaking the silence. "We'll find him and he'll be alright."
"Jack, you know if they leave him like that he could bleed to death." Vivian said quietly.
Danny looked up shocked.
Jack looked away. "They won't leave him bleeding. They want him alive. They'll tie a tourniquet under his knee to slow the blood fall." he said. Vivian and Danny looked at him unconvinced.
Just then Sam stood up. She was all pale. "I –I – I just need some air." she said, leaving the room and going out on the balcony. Jack looked at Vivian and she went and joined her.
"This must be really hard for her." Danny said.
"Yeah, if there was any other way I would have left her in hospital. This is too much for someone who's just been taken hostage and fallen from goodness knows how far up. That alone would have been traumatic enough but this on top of it…." Jack sighed and rubbed his eyes. They were all exhausted and he had to rely on his adrenaline to focus. "Danny, I want a map of Flangton Avenue and a detailed picture of the house. I'm going to notify the SWAT team that we're going to need their services. I'm not taking any chances this time."
Samantha stood out on the balcony, shivering, letting the bitter wind enfold her and keep her awake. She looked over New York. Lights scattered the horizon and a yellow cab drove here and there but the city was still asleep in these early hours. She felt numb. She couldn't believe all that had happened in the last twenty-four hours.
She always came out here when she was feeling down. Only last week, Martin had seen her and had come and joined her. He hadn't said anything, he'd just leant on the railings watching the city move with her. Then he'd turned to her and gently put his hand on top of hers. "You're not alone you know." he'd told her. "I'm here if you ever need someone to lean on." She'd looked up at him and nodded and they had a 'moment.' She'd stared at him, silently wishing that she could just pour out her heart to him right then. Martin was that kind of person, a listener, she knew that he would have made her feel better. He'd looked at her, debating whether he should ask her out to dinner. "Sam," he'd started. "Do you wanna-" Just then he had been interrupted by Danny tapping on the window, having found a lead on the Kaler's case. Martin never finished saying what he had started to say. That evening she had gone to the café and met 'Richard Fadler.' The tears ran down Sam's face silently. Now Martin was somewhere on the horizon, bleeding, in agony, maybe dying because of her.
"Stop beating yourself up about it." Vivian said. Samantha jumped and turned, she hadn't realised anyone was out there with her. "It could have happened to any of us."
"No, no, I was just so stupid." she said, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. "I'm one of those people who hardly let their guard down and the one time ……. the one time I just talking to a random guy, THIS happens. How am I going to explain this to Martin?" she asked.
"He won't blame you Sam, he'll understand. He knows that you didn't mean any of this to happen." Vivian soothed, drawing her friend into her arms. She'd known Sam for quite sometime now and she knew that she hadn't exactly had a happy past and she'd seen how affected she was by the cases sometimes. There was a time when things had been frosty between them - when Vivian had found out about Jack and Sam's affair, she had automatically blamed Sam, believing her to be the cause of Jack's marriage problems and for seducing him. When Jack had ended things with Sam, Vivian had seen that this wasn't the case and Sam really had felt something for him. Ever since, they'd been friends and she'd kept a watchful eye on her.
"W-what if he doesn't make it? What do I tell his family? What do I tell the tribunal? What do I say to the press? It IS my fault."
"Shhhh. Sam, you got to remember that we all have choices to make. You chose to go to that restaurant yesterday and although that might not have been the right choice, Martin also made a choice last night. He chose to go it alone, he chose to risk a lot of things to get you out of there and I'm sure whatever the case he wouldn't want you sinking in all this self-hatred, self-blame. He'd want you to rest, get better, be strong, right?" Vivian said. "You've been through a lot today. Go back inside and get some sleep. Jack's going to get him out of there alive okay?"
Samantha pulled away and nodded. "Thanks." she said weakly.
Vivian watched her go and took a deep breath before going to help Danny with the preparations.
Vivian had made her feel slightly better. She was trying to be positive. She would take some painkillers and sleep so she'd have enough energy to be there with Martin when they got him out of there alive. She walked along the corridor and into the office but didn't sit down at her table. Instead she walked over to Martin's desk. She stood there looking at it for a moment.
It was still covered with papers relating to the last case they'd been working on. On top of his printer there were a couple of photo frames. One was of his parents, sisters, aunts, uncles and cousins and the other one was of him with a bunch of boys around his age, which Sam guessed were his friends from home. On his computer monitor he'd blue-tacked photos of the team. One was of the five of them at their Christmas party, all in fancy dress, another was from the interview they did for the internal F.B.I magazine and the third was of her, him and Danny at a bar. He had his arm around her and they held their drinks in their hands. They hadn't been drunk but she'd certainly been tipsy. Martin had said something and she had turned to look at him laughing, he was smiling at the camera whilst Danny had stuck his head in in the background. Samantha looked at this one for a long time and smiled sadly. Then she sat down in his chair and drifted off.
A/N:- Will they, won't they make it in time to save Martin? Find out in the last chapter …….
