Martin was driving early to work so he could finish his paperwork. He didn't know if he really wanted to go to work. He didn't know what would happen. He didn't know if he could face the truth.

His mind started to feel less skeptical and more fearful. He didn't sleep at all last night. He barely showered. He didn't have time to eat. Moreover, he looked awful because he didn't shave. He was just a wreck.

Samantha was right. His versatile mind was perfect when he had to figure out a case at work. Nevertheless, when it came to his personal life he was still a novice.

He was driving down the street when he realized that he had not called Sam since last night. He did not know if she was going to work. However, he knew that he had to call her.

He grabbed his phone and dialed Samantha's number. The phone started to ring. Martin was driving and holding his cell phone. Another ring came. He tried to think of a promising thing to say to her. After the third ring, Martin realized he had no idea what he was going to say.

After the forth ring it led to Samantha's answering machine, "Hey it Samantha Spade's home. Please leave me a message and I'll get back to you as soon as possible."

Martin began to speak hoping he wouldn't say anything stupid, "Hey it's me. Well obviously… Are you in the shower…?" He paused for few seconds and opened his mouth not caring what he said, "Where are you? What are you doing…? Come on just talk to me. Please!" He paused again knowing that she isn't going to pick up the phone. "Please call me when you get this."

The answering machine started to blink when Martin hung up the phone. Samantha stood in front of the answering machine. She was sitting on her bed drinking coffee, but she heard every word he had to say.

She wondered if she should have picked up the phone. She wanted to pick up the phone. She wanted to talk to Martin. She wanted to apologies to him. She wanted to get through this situation. She wanted to get through the situation with him next to her.

Something inside of her did not want her to pick up the phone. She didn't know if it was her guilt, her conscience, or her dignity. Whatever it was, it would not allow her to pick up the phone.


Martin had to finish up his paperwork from the previous case. Since he was at work early, he nothing to worry about. There was no one that would distract him. There was absolutely no one on the floor except the janitors.

His guilt still bothered him. He wondered if Samantha was okay. When he saw her cry last night, he recognized that she was truly terrified. It was an indelible moment that he could not forget. He wanted to help Sam. He wanted to fix this situation. He just didn't know how to.

Jack came out of the elevator. It was still a bit dark outside, and it was still early. It was a little bit past six. Jack started to come in early ever since his daughters moved to Chicago. There was really nothing to do at home.

As Jack walked down the hall he past the bullpen. There he noticed that Martin was here working. He headed through the doors wondering why he was here.

Martin drank out of his cup when he saw Jack coming towards him.

"Hey." Martin said.

"Hey." Jack replied, "It's a bit early… even for you."

"Yeah. I just… just got a bit behind on my work." Martin answered.

"Did you forget to shave or something? Cause you look like crap." Jack noted.

Martin didn't want to say anything about Sam's and his relationship, "It's really nothing. I uh, I overslept. One of my neighbors threw a party; it kept me up all night. Didn't have much time this morning."

"All right. See yah." Jack said.


An hour later Martin was still sitting at his desk. He was practically done with his paperwork. His legs were stiff. A few people came in, but they really distract him. Since none of them were Samantha. He tried to call Samantha many times. Few of those times he just got the answering machine. The other times he hung up. Martin was just anxious. As his anxiety strengthened, his eyes wondered around the room. He looked down and realized he did not have any coffee in his cup.

He walked down the hall to grab some coffee. He knew it was an absolute diversion but he needed to move around.

You see someone putting down the coffee pot. It was Samantha. She had arrived just a few minutes earlier. Sam set the coffee pot on the table and she put her hand to her forehead. Sam was trying to conceal her tears. Samantha seemed somewhat emotional this morning. Moreover, she knew she would be sensitive all day.

Martin walked into the room from the hallway reading an open file. He moved into the room when he saw Samantha. He was shocked to see her. He was shocked to see her cry.

Sam looked up just as he stopped in front of her.

"I, uh …" Sam didn't know how to explain.

"Samantha come here." Martin seized Samantha's hand trying to pull her towards him. He wanted her to hug her so she would feel comfortable.

"No Martin. I'm… I'm fine." Sam implied as she snatched her hand away.

"No you're not. I mean are you…" Martin he was going to say the word pregnant but Sam interrupted her.

"Still not sure." She stated.

"Oh…" He said mixed up, "But you're not okay. You seem…"

"I'm fine. I have to be fine if I am going to work today." Sam said.

Martin was quiet for a moment. He knew that Sam was hurting. "Sam."

Sam looked up.

Martin proceeded, "I was thinking… I was thinking that maybe you should take off the rest of the week."

"That can't happen." Sam said instantly.

Her answer appalled Martin. He decided to compromise, "Well maybe we should tell the team."

"No." She answered faster this time.

"Sam… I'm sure they would understand." Martin rationalized.

"No Martin they wouldn't. You don't even understand." Sam started to head out the door. Martin blocked the door and hugged her. Sam at first was vulnerable and gave in. Then she pushed him away.

"I have to go." Sam directed. Sam left and headed out the left door. Few moments later Martin followed her. Danny was behind the right glass door where he saw the entire scene between Martin and Sam. They must have not seen him. But he saw them together. He was utterly confused. He heard every word that they had said. But he was still confused.

As Sam came into the bullpen area, she joined Vivian and Jack at the conference table. Then Martin sat across from her. Samantha pretended as if she didn't care that he was there. She pretended to care about Jack's and Vivian's conversation.

"Did you see Red Sox game last night?" Vivian asked.

"No went to bed early." Jack said.

"Really cause my son stood up all night with my husbands and his friends. Isn't it some type of male specimen to watch the Red Sox?" Vivian explained.

"Not for me." Jack said.

Danny came into the bullpen still scandalized at what he just witness. He could not believe that something was going on between Sam and Martin. Something was going on that was more than a colleague relationship. He did not know why he didn't see it before. They left many big and small clues behind.


A flashback about a five month ago.

Danny was working at his desk so he could finish his paperwork. When he looked up across the room, he saw Martin and Sam talking. It looked like an innocent meeting. They were just jabbing about god knows what.

Then Danny saw Sam chuckling a bit harder and she rested her head on her shoulder for a brief moment trying to control her laughter. They were a little more intimate than what most co-workers should be, but Danny thought nothing of it at the time.


A flashback about few months ago

Danny was walking down the FBI hallways to head home. Even though it very late and everybody had gone home, Danny saw that Sam and Martin were still here. Martin sat at the conference table. Opened files covered the table. Samantha was sitting on her desk. She picked in the box of Chinese. Samantha had let her hair out of her ponytail. She seemed more relaxed.

"Aren't you going to help?" Martin complained.

"I will." Sam insisted smiling.

"Aren't you tired?" Martin asked.

"Not really?" Sam said.

"Don't you want to go home and have a life?" Martin begged.

"No No No No No No." Sam said, "You promise me that you would help me with my paperwork."

"I didn't know you were so far behind." Martin said.

"Yeah well I've been distracted lately." She said as took a bite of her Chinese.

Martin rubbed his eyes showing sign that he was tired.

"We might be here all night." Sam said.

"Hope not." Martin said desperately.

Samantha stared at him for a while.

"What." He said annoyed.

"Martin ... your collar." Sam laughed.

Martin nodded, "Well do I have to look nice all day all night?"

Samantha moved behind him to fix his collar, "No, just when at work. That is how you earn the position of being a respectable man." Martin looked behind his shoulder and smiled. Sam smiled back.


A flashback about six weeks ago

The team had to make a quit stop at he courthouse that day. They had to testify so they could go home. The first person who had to testify was Sam, then Danny, Martin, Vivian, and lastly Jack. Each testimony should have lasted twenty minutes.

An hour after Danny's testimony, he roamed around the courtroom's lobby. The team agreed that they would go out for lunch before they each headed home. He couldn't find anyone anywhere. He stepped outside the courthouse. He went down a few steps to see that Martin and Sam were sitting on the bench. He was going to go sit with them but he wanted to see what they were doing. The bench was only fifteen yards away but Danny couldn't hear anything they were saying.

At first, they were innocently talking, just as they usually did. Then Sam looked into Martin eyes, and smiled. She slowly leaned into him and rest her head on his shoulder. Martin put his arm around her and he rested his cheek on the top of her head. She listened to the sounds of New York's busy streets. As she listened, she gazed at Martin's face. She gazed at his lips. He gazed back. Martin started to lean in when,

"HEY YOU GUYS!" They snapped themselves out of it and turned their attention back to the courthouse. Danny turned around to see that Jack and Vivian were standing there.

"Aren't you coming?" Jack asked. It seemed that neither Jack nor Vivian saw anything suspicious about the scene. Martin and Sam joined the team thinking that none of them saw a thing.


A flashback a few weeks ago

It was about noontime and the team was working on a case about a missing girl, Tammy. The girl went missing at her mother job at the supermarket this morning. Vivian was reviewing phone calls her mother made. Martin and Sam were in the AV room reviewing tapes from the supermarket. Danny and Jack just came back from the supermarket.

"I don't have a good feeling about the father. I'm going to give him a visit." Jack said.

"Okay. Want me to come with you?" Danny asked.

"No." He said. Jack opened his bagged and gave another set of tapes to Danny. "These are the tapes across the street at gas station. They visual view of the supermarket's parking lot the morning. Check these out with Sam and Martin." Jack said as he headed out the door.

"Got it." Danny responded.

Danny headed down the hallway to get to the AV room.

Before he got the AV room Martin pulled out a tape and put in another in the VCR. Samantha reviewed the tapes.

"Check this out." Sam said.

Sam and Martin looked at the tape to see that Tammy's mom talking to a strange man. She was smiling and he was laughing.

"You think they know each other." Martin asked.

"Or they could be just flirting." Sam said.

Then unexpectedly Martin slid his left hand near Sam's hand. He put his thumb and index finger on Sam's right hand. Sam grabbed his hand tighter. She felt charged up by that one little gesture. She wanted him so bad and he knew it. She rubbed her hand in his inner thigh.

"Hey guys," Danny came in looking at the tapes. He didn't notice anything going on between Martin and Sam. However, once Martin and Sam heard a sound of another human being's life they instantly reacted. Martin took his hand off Sam's hand. Samantha moved her hand out of Martin's thigh.

"YEAH!" Martin and Sam said nervous.

"Got more tapes." Danny looked up to see that Sam and Martin were jumpy and anxious.

"What happened?" Danny asked.

"NOTHING." Martin and Sam said again unease.

"So you guys haven't seen anything from the tapes?" Danny inquired.

"Oh." Sam said. Martin looked a bit relaxed knowing that Danny didn't have any questions about Sam and him.

"Well." Martin said, "You see…" Martin begun to explain about the tapes.

End of Flashbacks


Danny was petrified that he knew too much information. It wasn't like Sam and Martin broke any rules. It just seemed that their relationship was distracting their work.

Samantha had a hard time focusing that day. She barely even took a glance at Martin. She didn't want be near him. It wasn't that she hated him or was frustrated at him. It was just she was distracted by reality. What if she was pregnant? What would she do? For a huge portion of her life, she loved her job. She loved her job so much that she put reality on hold. Moreover, when she realized that she might be pregnant she might actually have to reality.

Martin had a hart time focusing that day too. He wanted to apologies to Samantha. He wanted to make sure that he could fix this problem. He wondered how he could fix it. He never had been in this situation before. He had a couple of nieces and nephews. But was he ready for a kid of his own.

That night they finished a case. Martin stood a bit late again. Sam had already left an half an hour ago so there was no chance of Martin talking to her. He wanted to fix the situation but he didn't know where to start.

Martin grabbed his bag and headed out the door.

"Night." Danny said.

"See tomorrow." Martin said.

"Hey Martin." Danny said.

"Yeah." Martin said.

Danny wanted to tell him that he knew about Martin and Sam's relationship. He wanted to know if everything was okay. "I… I uh. I know." Danny was going to spill his guilt out when he accepted the fact that it wasn't any of his business. "I know that you got here early. And then you got her late. Do you ever go home?"

Martin put a small grin, "Yeah."

"You should take job on hold and uh figure out your life." Danny said paradoxically.

"Yeah I should." Martin said.

"See ya." Danny said.

"See ya soon." Martin said.


Martin headed out the door and into the street to hail a cab.

"You know you were right." Martin turned around to see that he past Sam who was sitting on the steps.

"What do you mean?" He said.

"I am afraid to take the test." Sam said as Martin sat next to her.

"Why?" Martin asked.

"Because if I am pregnant I would have to face the future. I have to face that I can't hide in this box. I can't hide…"

Martin finished her sentence, "You can't away from reality. No matter how hard I try."

"Exactly." Sam said.

"You want to get the test?" Martin asked.

Samantha looked at him after he asked the question. And then she asked herself the question again.

She leans against him and said, "Yeah. I can't run forever."