Bittersweet Cacophony

Note: Takes place sometime in season 2. I don't know how Samantha would take this kind of situation, but I'm giving it my best shot. A bit of alternate universe, if Martin and Sam didn't share a cab. One Shot. Dedicated to all my friends at the imdb Without a Trace message board. Yay for Smarty love!

Martin looked up at the clock which read 10:46. He sighed and put the last of his paperwork away. The bullpen was empty except for him and Samantha.

"You're even worse than I am." He said as he walked up to her desk.

"I guess so." She smiled softly and went back to her work.

"You should go home; you've done more than enough work for one day." Martin said smiling.

"I don't want to go home." She said softly, "because I know what happens when I get home."

"The day is over?" Martin was confused.

"No…well, yeah…but that's not why." She stood up and put another file away and grabbed another one.

"Then why?"

"I don't want you get involved in the sob story of Samantha Spade."

Martin shrugged, "I don't mind."

Samantha smiled and shook her head. "If you insist," she paused, "It's nothing really, I just have this new boyfriend that's kind of controlling."

"Oh. Controlling like abusive?"

"No...He just likes to know where I am all the time. And I know if I get home there will be about a dozen messages asking where I was all day."

"Just don't check your messages." Martin stated the obvious.

"I can't. Then he'll call." She stood up and looked for her coat.

"Then turn off your phone." Martin said as he followed Samantha out of the bullpen.

"What if I miss a call from work?"

"Okay, do what ever you want. Has he ever hit you?"

"No!" Sam said quickly and pushed the elevator button, Martin continued to follow her.

"If he ever does Sam, you can tell me."

"Thanks, but I've got it under control." She stepped into the elevator. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yea. Good night. And I mean it, just call if you ever need anything."

"Thanks Martin, you're a good friend." She smiled and the door closed in front of her. Martin stood in the hallway as he stared at the closed doors. A pang hit him in the heart. You're a good friend. He was just a friend to her, and that killed him. He sighed and went back to his desk to pack up.

Martin was asleep in bed when his cell phone rang. He moaned and grabbed the phone, "Fitzgerald." He said still groggy and looked over at the digital clock in his nightstand, it was three a.m.

"Martin, it's me."

"Sam?"

"Yeah…I'm sorry to call you late. But…"

"Sam, what happened?"

"It's Matthew."

"Did he hurt you?"

"No. But can you do me a favor?"

"Sure." Martin was wide awake by now.

"If I don't come by the office tomorrow, can you come by my apartment? I'm just afraid he'll do something to me."

"No problem."

"Thanks. I got to go."

"Bye." The line went dead before he could finish. He was so afraid that something would happen to Samantha that he couldn't go to sleep. The last thing he wanted was for her to get hurt. "She'll be fine," he told himself, "she's just scared." Martin shook off the bad feeling and went back to sleep.

Martin arrived early to work the next day and Samantha was already there.

"Morning." He said and walked to where she was sitting.

"Hi." She turned her face away from him "I'm sorry I called you so early."

"It's okay." He said and walked toward his desk while Samantha stood up and walked the opposite way. "Is something wrong?" He asked and she instinctively turned toward him.

"Oh my god..." he said when he saw her black eye "What happened?"

"I…um…nothing…I just fell."

"I've heard that one before, Sam. I've also heard 'I got dressed in the dark and ran into a wall' and 'I fell down the stairs' or 'I don't know.' Did he hit you?"

"I should have put more makeup on it." She tried to make light of the situation.

"Sam…"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Okay." Martin let it go.

Another long day of work had passed and Samantha still seemed upset.

"You guys wanna grab a drink?" Danny asked Martin and Sam. "You guys could meet Molly."

"Who's Molly?" Martin asked.

"My girlfriend." Danny said proudly and Martin glanced over at Sam who shook her head.

"I can't." Sam said softly.

"I probably shouldn't either." Martin said

"Okay." Danny said and turned to leave the bullpen, "It's your loss."

"Sam…if he's hitting you…" Martin said quietly to Samantha.

"Drop it." She said and hurried out of the bullpen. Martin decided not to follow. Samantha needed to cool off.

Martin flipped though the television channels as he slowly drank his beer. Nothing good was on, so Martin turned off the TV. and put his beer bottle on the coffee table when there was a knock on the door. He sighed and went to answer it, and to his surprise Samantha stood there. She was dripping wet from the rain and her eye that was purple that morning had begun to fade to a greenish. She also had blood coming out of a cut near her lip.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know where else to go." Sam begun to cry.

"Its okay, come on in." Martin held the door open for Sam and she searched for a tissue to wipe the blood off her face. "Are you going to tell me what happened?"

"I don't know what happened. When I got to my apartment Matt was there. And then I started yelling at him and I told him to never touch me again. He said he didn't mean to hurt me and then I told him to get out…and then he just starting hitting me. Then he walked out and he said he'd be back. I just didn't want to be there when he did get back." Martin noticed she was holding a bag and also had her gun and cell phone.

"It's okay." Martin said as he stood next to her, he didn't really know how to comfort her.

"Can I use your bathroom?" She asked, beginning to regain control over her self.

"Sure, it's over there," Martin pointed to the door.

"Thanks." She grabbed her bag and walked toward the bathroom. Martin sighed and went to the refrigerator for a bottle of water and grabbed another one for Samantha. A few minutes later she came out with a blood-free face and a dry change of cloths. She had also pulled her wet hair into a ponytail. "I was planning on getting a hotel or something." She said and Martin handed her the water bottle.

"What ever you want. You can stay here if you want. I can sleep on the couch." Proving it would be okay, he sat down on the couch. Samantha smiled; she was beginning to feel a little bit better. She felt safe with Martin, and she didn't feel safe with very many people. Suddenly, her cell phone rang. She checked the caller id and sat down next to Martin on the couch. "It's Matt."

"Turn it off." Martin said calmly.

"I don't know if I can." She said as the phone kept ringing. She sighed and turned the power off.

"See? That wasn't so hard." Martin said reassuringly and Sam put her phone on the coffee table.

"You must think I'm a complete idiot."

"Well, not an idiot per say. I definitely think you have some relationship issues." Martin joked and Samantha smiled.

"I just have bad taste." She said in a more serious tone, "Maybe I am an idiot. I always end up defending the wrong guy." Martin didn't really know how to respond to that.

"Can I get you anything?" Was all he managed to get out.

"No thanks, I'm fine." She said and noticed a growing bruise on her arm, Martin noticed it too.

"Can I get you some ice?"

"Sure." Martin got up and Samantha examined her arms for anymore bruises from where Matt had hit her. Samantha couldn't believe she had let someone beat her up; she was an FBI agent for crying out loud. At work she was tough, but when it came to her personal life she was oblivious to danger.

"Here." Martin had packed ice cubes into a plastic bag and wrapped it with a dishtowel.

"Thanks." Samantha said softly and pressed the cold bag on her arm and started to cry.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing…nothing," She wiped her eyes, "I'm sorry." Martin was the last person she wanted to see her cry.

"It's okay." He awkwardly put his hand on her shoulder to comfort her. Samantha let out a deep sigh and seemed to gather energy to stand up. Once she did Martin followed her as she made her way towards the door.

"I'm, um…hotel." She said tiredly and picked up her duffel bag. "I'm sorry to have ruined your night." She looked at Martin sadly and he walked toward her.

"You didn't," he said with sly smile, "I probably would have been worried about you and…" But Martin was interrupted when Samantha leaned in to kiss him passionately, and he didn't pull away. Sam dropped the bag and put her hands on his neck. He responded by pulling her closer by the hips.

"Sam," He said when he finally pulled away, "You're upset and…and sad."

"No," She pulled him in again, "This is where I want to be. I love you, Martin." Martin smiled at what she said and replied, "I love you too, Samantha." She smiled and Martin pulled her in for another kiss.