Disclaimer-I do not own any of the characters or the show, but that would be really cool if I did. Of course…then the whole thing would be Martin and Sam…

A/N-Ugh…do you know how much it sucks that the next new episode of Without a Trace doesn't come on for another two and a half weeks! It better be oozing Samantha/Martin stuff. By the way, the beginning of last chapter…the part where Martin and Jack are both yelling at Sam, that was a dream. Just wanted to clarify, some people seemed a little confused about that.

Chapter Five: Awakenings

Samantha's heart was suddenly beating very fast. That one simple phrase had set her world in motion. She was filled with a sudden euphoria and felt that for the first time since Martin had been shot she could properly breathe.

"I'll be there in twenty minutes," she said, snapping her phone shut and jumping up. She ran to her closet and grabbed a pair of wind pants, a fitted t-shirt and a Knicks sweatshirt. She pulled on her tennis shoes and ran into the bathroom. She applied a small amount of make up quickly. She knew Martin wouldn't care how she looked, but that didn't dampen her girlish tendencies. She just spent enough time to make sure she didn't look half as tired as she felt. She pulled her hair back into a ponytail with her bangs falling somewhat elegantly into her eyes. She gave her reflection a weak smile and then bolted out of the bathroom. She grabbed her bag and keys, locked the door and then raced down the hall to the elevator.

The cab ride seemed to last a lifetime. All of the buildings looked like an unending blur as she stared out of the backseat window. She watched as the meter spun slowly, her bill gradually getting higher and higher.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the cab slowed to a stop in front of the ER entrance. Samantha fished in her purse and pulled out a few bills to hand to the driver.

She walked as quickly as possible to Martins' room. The receptionist smiled at her as she rushed past and Samantha smiled back as she thought to herself,

"I really need to get out more."

She stopped outside of the room and listened as Martin and Danny talked. Martin sounded extremely tired but he was laughing. She walked into view of the room but neither guy noticed her. She watched as Danny tossed a baseball up in the air repetitively saying something about a girl he'd gone on a date with. Martin had a smile on his face. His left arm was in a sling and it was the first time Samantha had ever seen a burger and fries in Martin's immediate vicinity that he was not scarfing down.

She gave a small laugh when her thoughts were immediately contradicted because Martin reached out with his right hand and grabbed a few of the fries. Her sound caught his attention and he cut his sentence short as soon as his eyes fell upon her. He smiled that smile, the one that made her feel like she was floating. His eyes were sparkling despite the intense exhaustion and she knew that he had just completely forgotten that Danny was in the room, let alone that he had just been talking to him.

She couldn't help but smile back but for some reason she felt extremely shy. She bit her lower lip and walked into the room. She glanced over at Danny and gave a quiet hello before returning her gaze to Martin. She sat on his right but didn't say anything, too afraid that if she tried to open her mouth she would start to cry…again. She didn't want Martin to see her weakness.

Danny looked between the two who were simply staring at each other, completely engrossed in the others' silence. He smiled that all knowing smile and then stood up and cleared his throat. Samantha and Martin both snapped their heads over to look at him.

"I'm going to get some coffee, you guys want anything?"

Samantha appreciated his perceptiveness, although wishing he'd been a bit more subtle.

"No thanks," Martin said and Samantha merely nodded. Danny smiled and then walked out shaking his head.

Samantha swallowed the lump in her throat and lifted her hand to his forehead and began to stroke his hair. He was still smiling at her and she was so happy to be feeling the uncomfortable flutter in her stomach from it.

"Figures you'd wake up once I finally left," she said with a smile.

"Yeah, you know how I like to keep you guessing," he teased and she gave a feeble laugh. They could usually pull the small talk off but her emotions were running too wild at the moment. She could feel the tears welling up in the corners of her eyes and was desperately trying to blink them back.

"I'm so…you have no idea…I thought you were," she said, unable to finish any of her sentences but he understood her meaning. His eyes penetrated hers and she could see his concern for her. Imagine, he was in the hospital bed, arm in a sling, recently awaken from a coma and he was concerned about her.

"It's okay, Sam. I'm okay. You didn't think you could really get rid of me that easily," he said trying to lighten her mood. She didn't smile this time but locked eyes with him.

"Don't even joke about that. Even when they said that you were going to be okay, I still couldn't shake the feeling that I was going to lose you." She ran her fingers through his soft brown hair, eyes closed. "You just, you don't even know how relieved I am to see you right now. Just to see you breathing; hearing your voice, it makes me happier than I've been in the last week." She dropped her hand down and gazed at her hands in her lap. "Don't ever leave me again," she whispered.

This time he raised his right hand up to her cheek and gently stroked it with his thumb. "Hey," he said so that she would look at him, "I'm not going anywhere." She smiled despite her feeling of vulnerability and felt a single tear roll down her cheek. "Come here," he said gesturing to her with his head.

She leaned in slowly and closed her eyes in preparation for the kiss she was about to receive when Danny's voice entered the room once more.

"Hey, guys…whoa, sorry to interrupt…" he said gazing at the two from the doorway. Their faces were a mere inch from each other and they were both glaring at Danny. "Um…Jack and Viv are in the hallway on their way in here."

Sam immediately sat up straight and pushed her chair a little further away from Martin's bed. He continued to look at her a hint of hurt in his eyes, but he looked away and thanked Danny for the warning. Danny nodded, but looked at the two, amazed by the way Samantha's wall had gone up the second she heard Jack's name.

Once Jack and Vivian came in, Martin was all smiles again and Samantha was doing her best to stay awake although Danny did not fail to notice all of the stolen glances between Samantha and Martin every time her stubborn ploy to stay at Martin's side was mentioned.

Samantha desperately wanted to be the last one to leave so that she could talk to Martin alone, but with every passing minute her eyelids felt heavier and heavier and she began to grow incrementally more tired. Just about the time she thought her wish was going to come true as Vivian said that she needed to get home to Reggie and Danny said he had to go and get ready for another date, Dr. Kincaid walked in.

Samantha rolled her eyes and prayed that he wouldn't start hitting on her in front of Martin. He shook hands with Jack, Danny, Viv, and Martin before grasping Samantha's hand and giving her a simultaneous wink and squeeze. She gave him a disbelieving look and Danny smirked behind her. Martin had a confused look on his face but didn't bother asking about it.

"Well, I'd like to keep you here tonight for observation," Dr. Kincaid said addressing Martin, "just to make sure that your condition is stable and if all goes well you should be released at noon tomorrow." He threw a smile in Martin's direction before his eyes fell upon Samantha again. She shook her head and then sat back down in her seat. She stifled a laugh at the increasingly confused look on Martin's face as Dr. Kincaid left the room.

Danny stood up and pulled Vivian up next to him. He clapped Martin on the back and said that he would see him later. Vivian said goodbye to the other three and then the two of them walked out of the door. Jack, Samantha, and Martin sat in uncomfortable silence for a moment. Samantha couldn't help noticing that Martin was staring at her. She refused to make eye contact with him but felt a smile creeping up on the corners of her mouth.

She yawned widely and leaned back in her chair, knowing that she needed to go home. Jack smiled at her as she yawned again.

"Sam, did you get any sleep once you went home?" he asked, somewhat amused. He was looking at her oddly, in a way she hadn't seen in over a year. She shook her head with a small smile and Jack laughed. She glanced over at Martin, Jack's gaze making her highly uneasy.

"Why haven't you been sleeping?" Martin asked her, eyebrows raised. She knew what he was thinking. When she had been in the hospital and undercover, he had gotten extra sleep, but he falls unconscious and she doesn't sleep at all.

"Samantha's been here the whole time. She came to work this morning and fell asleep at her desk, so I sent her home. I assume that's about that time Danny called," Jack explained very businesslike. She was glad Jack had said it because she knew that Martin would be less skeptical hearing it from his boss. They shared a quick look before she looked away blushing. She could see Martin smiling knowingly out of the corner of her eye.

She still wanted to talk to him alone, but exhaustion was beginning to get the better of her and she wasn't sure if Jack would ever leave. Her eyelids drooped and she had to blink multiple times to keep the room in focus.

She yawned once more before standing up and announcing her plan to depart. She could see the disappointment behind Martin's eyes but just couldn't bring herself to wait the extra hour or two that Jack would be there.

"Yeah, I need to go, too," Jack said standing up as well.

"Figures," Sam thought bitterly. "You would decide to leave right after I do!"

They began to walk out of Martin's room, uttering a few polite farewells. As Martin began to settle down into his bed to prepare for some much needed sleep Jack walked out of the room and Samantha turned around and said,

"I'm glad you're feeling better. I'll see you at work Monday." She said this very loudly to make sure that Jack heard her before she mouthed, "Call me tomorrow," and walked out. Martin couldn't help but be amused at this. Usually her struggles to keep them a secret made him angry or upset but every once in a while she would do something ridiculous or over the top that made him smile. He wiggled a little until he was in that comfortable mix between sitting up and lying down, leaned his head to the side, closed his eyes and welcomed the inevitable and uneventful sleep.

Samantha and Jack walked silently, side by side through the hallways of the hospital and out into the lobby where Sam picked up a phone to call for a cab. She waved goodbye to Jack but as he was walking out of the doors, he turned abruptly and strolled up to where she stood propped up on the counter.

"Listen, I have something really important I need to talk to you about. Can you meet me for brunch tomorrow?"

Samantha stuttered out a few "uhs" and "ums" but her mind was drawing a blank in the excuses department. Jack's penetrating eyes were locked on her so tightly that all she could do was nod. He smiled and she told him to call her in the morning when he was ready.

He smiled once more before walking out of the hospital without another look back.

Had he looked back, perhaps he would have seen Sam hang up the phone and hurry back in the direction of Martin's room. He would have seen the exasperated face she put on after agreeing to a brunch. Maybe he even would have seen the way she desperately wanted to see Martin despite the fact that her body was about to hit total and complete meltdown level. But he didn't as he strolled smugly towards his black vehicle parked in the back of the lot.

The receptionist gave Samantha an odd look indeed as she walked past her desk for the fourth time that day. She smiled guiltily but hurried back down the hall and into Martin's doorway.

He mouth was open as she was preparing to apologize for leaving but was quickly silenced. He was asleep. His head was lying in what was probably a very uncomfortable position and his mouth was slightly open. She smiled and knew she would be content to watch him for hours if she had the energy. Her thoughts were quickly interrupted though.

"So, Samantha, how about lunch tomorrow," came the cool, smooth voice of Dr. Kincaid.

She looked at him incredulously before replying with a blunt and overzealous "No!"

Her tone clearly didn't convince him so he continued with his idiotic interrogation. "Why not?"

She shook her head in disbelief and turned to look at Martin once more. A small smile crept onto her face as she watched his slow and steady breathing. All of the worries of the past few days seemed to melt away. It was the same room, the same man lying unconscious of his surroundings in a white bed but she felt completely different. Her heart had been fifty pounds lighter ever since that fateful phone call.

"I see," Dr. Kincaid said as he looked from Samantha to Martin with an all-knowing look. "You're in love with him." It wasn't a question and it served to quickly and efficiently snap Samantha out of her trance. Had she been drinking something at the time she would have spit it all over the floor in front of her. She ripped her eyes away from Martin's face and looked at the handsome doctor next to her. Her eyes were huge and she knew that there was an undeniable fear in them and she could only hope that the surprise and shock was covering it up.

"No…no I'm not," she said in what she hoped was a convincing tone. She swallowed hard and could not bring herself to look back into Martin's room. Dr. Kincaid gave a small laugh and shook his head. He looked into the room and took a deep breath.

"Samantha, I work here, day in and day out and whenever people come in, they are in the worst of situations. It's amazing the things you see and not just from the patients but from their family and friends. From giving good news to giving the worst kind of news…" at this point he looked back at Samantha, "…I've seen every kind of reaction and emotion and based on the way you look whenever you are in his room or even hearing his name, I'd say you are more in love with him than most people I see." He had a small smile on his face now, one of deep understanding.

"You're…I don't…you don't know what you're talking about," she finally spat out. "Thank you very much for all of your good work," she said shaking his hand. "Make sure he doesn't die during the night and I hope to never see you again." Then she turned on her heel and stalked down the hallway for the last time.

Dr. Kincaid merely chuckled and clicked his pen as hewalked into Martin's room, muttering "typical" under his breath.

No matter how hard Samantha tried, she could not get Dr. Kincaid's statements out of her head. She walked into her apartment and kicked off her shoes. She walked slowly into her bedroom, a pensive look about her. She didn't bother changing back into her sleeping clothes or taking her make up off. She crawled into bed, but despite the extreme fatigue she was experiencing, sleep would not come. His words were rattling around in her brain. Every time she closed her eyes she saw Martin's face and the words "You're in love with him" blared in her ears.

"I don't love him," she muttered and rolled over to her other side. She kept having to reply every annoying and frustrating thing Martin had ever done like a slideshow to convince herself of that. She had to ignore the fact that quite a few of them had to repeated numerous times so that she didn't run out of material but she finally convinced herself enough to settle her mind and she fell into an uneasy sleep.

Jack's phone call came way too early the next morning. She heard the familiar tone across her apartment at eight in the morning. She practically fell out of bed before gaining her footing and trudging across the carpeted floor. Her legs felt heavier than they had the night before and she could barely force her eyes to remain open. She tried to remember where she had dropped her bag the previous evening and remembered one ring too late. She wasn't entirely too disappointed at the prospect of missing Jack's call and even considered going back to bed before the sound of her house phone ring filled the empty apartment.

She made a growling noise out of pure frustration but managed to sound somewhat cheerful when she picked up the phone. She and Jack made plans to meet at a pancake house fifteen minutes from her apartment at eleven. She poured herself a cup of coffee hating the fact that she was too awake by this point to fall back into bed for another hour. She walked out onto her small patio where she and Martin often spent rainy mornings together, drinking coffee and reading the paper. On weekends they would stay out there for hours just talking and watching the rain. For a while she had been uncomfortable with this routine, feeling like it was too permanent. Drinking coffee, reading the paper, and watching the rain in your pajamas seemedfar too husband and wife to her. But she found that the longer they were together, the more she looked forward to those mornings. His presence was soothing and the permanence that she had once hated so much now gave her a sense of security.

She sighed as she finished off her drink and went inside. She went for a run through the streets around her apartment complex, carefully thinking about what she needed to do today. The cool, crisp air felt good on her face and was sufficient enough to wake her up all the way. This was her favorite time of morning. She liked watching the couples walking their pets and the children running around while parents screamed at them to look both ways before crossing the street.

As she made her way back around the block and up the steps to the front of her building, she couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to actually have a family, a real family. With a loving husband and a couple of kids running around. She tried not to paint a picture in her mind because if she saw Martin as the husband, it would only make it ten times harder to fall asleep every night.

She jumped into the shower and scrubbed her skin free of the pollution and sweat she had just infused into her body. She spent a good hour fixing her hair and making sure to look good. It took her even longer to pick out something to wear. She finally settled on a pair of jeans and a pinstriped button up shirt. She smiled at her reflection in the mirror, satisfied with what she saw and headed out of the door at 10:30.

She jumped on the subway and got off one stop early, not wanting to waste the wonderful day. The sun was out and the temperature was comfortable, a very rare thing for New York in the early spring. She walked quietly to the pancake house and was still ten minutes early, very much like her. She decided to wait for Jack before going inside so she sat on a wooden bench outside the doors and watched the people walk by. There was a park directly across from the restaurant, a place that she and Martin frequented.

Sometimes on Saturday mornings they would run down here and then walk around the perimeter while eating ice cream. This was the first place he had actually held her hand. It was a weird feeling. He had grabbed her hand which was covered in sticky chocolate ice cream but he didn't let go. She had blushed and felt instantly ridiculous because of it. She felt stupid for being so shy about letting him hold her hand because they'd been sleeping together for over two weeks. It was casual and comfortable and Samantha just couldn't help but think about how perfectly her hand fit into his. As she thought back on it, she realized that the fact that it was a loving gesture and something that everyone could see and would know that they were together was probably the reason it made her so giddy.

Once they had packed a picnic and brought it with them and sat at one of the wooden picnic tables. They had packed the most delicious looking sub sandwiches with all kinds of meat and vegetables, had a bag full of Martin's favorite chips and strawberries and Cool Whip. Of course, it was a very windy day so the second Martin pulled out the paper plates and napkins they went flying every which way. They spent ten minutes chasing them down and had decided just to eat with their hands once they finally found them stuck in a puddle of mud. By the time they finally got back to the actual picnic all of the food was covered with ants. Martin was disappointed but Samantha only laughed and they had walked across the street and eaten lunch at the pancake house.

It was one of their favorite places to go on Saturdays. They could go to sleep in the shade of a tree, read on one of the many benches, go for a nice run, or if they were feeling particularly playful, push each other on the swings. They didn't do that too often though because they would usually get some very strange looks from parents and kids alike. Samantha also felt comfortable there because it was largely populated and she didn't know Danny, Viv, or Jack to enjoy pancake houses or parks.

"You're early," Jack said, snapping Samantha out of her daydream. He was wearing jeans and a t-shirt, something that was very out of the ordinary for him. It had been so long since she had seen him outside of work for any reason that she almost didn't recognize him at first.

"I'm always early, you know that," she said, smiling. They walked in, Samantha feeling awkward the whole time. There were small things like Jack holding the door open for her or him ordering a table for two that took her back to good times that she had had with him. Of course, they would never be in a place so close to his kids' school and never during the day. It had been a rule. They were only allowed to go out for dinner because that's when he knew Maria had to be home to take care of the girls.

They sat in the center of the restaurant, something else that never could have happened. They always sat in dark corners and near the restroom so that if someone they knew walked in, one or both of them could get up discreetly and hide until they could sneak out. She liked this much better. They went on with some pointless chatter, talking about work for only a few minutes and then talking about his girls for a little while. Jack asked her about her life and she made up some fantastic lies about going out with some guy she knew in high school and then their horrific break up. Jack hinted about Martin and her insistence to stay with him but she was saved when an old college buddy of Jack's came up and said hello. She sighed a huge sigh of relief whenever Jack's attention was geared away from her erratic behavior over the past few days.

When the check came Jack grabbed it and insisted on paying for them both, another action that made Samantha stir in her seat. When the waitress took his credit card to go scan it Jack reached out for her hands.

She gave him an uncertain look but he ignored it.

"Samantha, I have something very important I need to talk to you about," he said. She looked at him and the seriousness of what he was about to say was all over his face. She couldn't bear to look into his eyes anymore and forced them downward towards their hands.

She remembered her memory earlier of the first time Martin held her hand. She remembered thinking that despite his vanilla intermingling with her chocolate, his hands were very soft. It was the perfect size, just a bit larger than hers and surprisingly gentle for someone who handled guns everyday.

Jack's hands were rough, calloused, and gigantic compared to hers. The wedding ring that she used to despise was now absent and she couldn't care less. She couldn't help but think about how ironic it was that the one thing she wanted gone for so long finally was and now she didn't care that it wasn't.

"I've been thinking about this for a while now and it really hit me whenever Martin…" Jack was saying. Samantha realized that she was supposed to be listening to him and glanced up but as she did the face of her watch caught the sunlight and winked at her. She looked down at it. It read 12:00.

She immediately pulled her hands from his grasp and stood up, grabbing her purse as she did so. Jack stopped talking mid-sentence and Samantha pulled out a few bills from her wallet.

"I'm sorry, Jack, but there's somewhere I have to be. Can this wait until later?" She didn't wait for an answer, thanked him for lunch and then hurried out of the restaurant. She ran to the nearest Subway station and jumped on the train. Jack was left with nothing but a ten dollar bill, half eaten French toast and an empty chair.


Martin walked into the lobby of his apartment building, smiling as the doorman asked if he had been "staying with Miss Samantha for a while" and then questioning him about the sling that his left arm was in. He told him the long and short of it, that he hadn't been staying with Sam but that he'd actually been shot. After a welcome back he smiled and walked to the elevators. He punched the number six and dug around in his pocket for his keys.

His neighbors were waiting for the elevator that he got out of and smiled at him as he told the story once again of being shot.

"Good to have you back, Marty," Bryan Jacobsen had said as the elevator doors closed. He walked down the hall a ways to number 624. He slid the key into the lock and jiggled the handle around a little. He made a mental note to call maintenance for the seventh time to get them to fix the lock on his door.

He walked in, only the deafening quiet to greet him. He sighed as he dropped his keys into the bowl on the table next to the door. The lights were all off and his dirty dishes were still in the sink. He knew that he should call Samantha like she had asked him to, but he was a little disappointed. He knew that it was ridiculous for him to expect her to be at the hospital when he was released. He knew that she wouldn't be there; he hadn't asked her to be there so she had no idea that he wanted her to, but he had still hoped.

"What did you expect Martin, a welcome home party?" he mumbled. He draped his jacket over the back of the couch right next to Samantha's which he assumed was there from the last night they had spent in his apartment.

"I don't know if I qualify as a party, but hopefully I'll do," Samantha said as she walked out of his bedroom. He turned around, shocked to hear her voice but pleased all the same. He smiled at her and she walked over to him and finally kissed him, something she'd been longing to do since walking into his room the previous night.

"Welcome home," she said briefly before he pulled her into another kiss.

A/N-This is the second to last chapter. There is one more. I hope you liked this. If you do, you can thank Muzzy-Olorea for forcing me to update today. She laid the guilt trip on me. I'm really happy Martin is awake. He is one of my favorite characters (along with Danny, Sam, Viv, and Jack-well, sometimes Jack!)

Can't wait for Transitions! I can't believe we have to wait another 1.5 weeks, that sucks so much. Stupid NCAA tournament, why can't they air that on NBC? Oh well. I assume that the last chapter will be up by the end of the week. Hey, I have to have something to occupy the time I spend counting down the days to the next episode!

Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed me on the last chapter. You all left such wonderful reviews and I really appreciate it. It's really nice to know that people like what you spend so much time doing (time I might add that should be spent doing something else—like passing my classes for instance) So, if you don't mind leaving another one, that would be great!

PS-I have a Without a Trace livejournal if you want to check it out. Check out my bio for the address.