Orange Sky

Working late one night means that Samantha gets the opportunity of hearing Dr Harris' words of wisdom and taking the vital step to happiness …… S/M

A/N:- Along with my new laptop came inspiration to write this. I have no idea how or why but I hope you like it. Just a warning, I'm away from Monday to Friday of next week, stuck in a cottage with a well in the middle of nowhere so I'm not going to be able to update any of my fics then (If you're lucky you may have an update for CBD before I go...). However the rolling hills and abundance of sheep means that it's probably going to be heaven for my Muse.

Dedicated To:

My lovely reviewers of my other fics

"That's the lot." Martin said dropping a stack of files in the middle of the conference table and pulling out a chair.

"Great, we're going to be here sometime." Samantha said giving the pile an unfriendly glare as she placed two mugs of steaming liquid which the FBI tried to pass off as coffee on the table.

"Makes Mount Everest look almost petite, eh?" Martin said, stretching his arms in the air before giving the folders his attention. "And I bet Danny's added the stack of work which he was meant to have done during the week to the pile as well."

"His Out-tray does look suspiciously empty." Samantha agreed, pulling the first file from the top of the pile and examining it tiredly. Doing late duty consisted of reading and checking everyone's report for all the cases that fortnight, reading witness and police statements for old cases and finishing off writing any reports that had been left unfinished during the week. This time, because it was the run up to the annual AGM, they also had Supervising Agents and other head of staff's annual reports and analysis of the past year to check. And she hated it.

"Is it me or do we always seem to end up with the Friday night late shift?" Martin commented.

"I thought I was the only one who had noticed." Samantha sighed. "Whoever draws up the rota must really hate us."

"Or know that we don't have lives."

"That too." Samantha laughed. "It's a conspiracy."

She tried hard to focus on the case laid out in front of her but her mind kept lapsing. She could smell his aftershave and it was strangely distracting but she had no idea why. Plenty of men wore aftershave.

"Calvin Klein." she said aloud before even realising it.

"Ralph Lauren." Martin said almost immediately.

Samantha looked up from her work and raised her eyebrows. Martin returned her gaze, blinking. "Sorry, I thought we were playing that word association game again." he said with a lopsided grin after awhile.

Samantha gave a soft laugh remembering the last time she had been on late shift with Martin. The paperwork had been never ending and they were still trying to make a dent in the pile at 9pm, already exhausted by a hard day's work, so they had resorted to playing a word association game whilst they worked to keep them awake. Out of all the lates she worked, she was always secretly glad when she got paired with Martin. With Vivian, she got the paperwork done the quickest - Vivian was always eager to get home to her family so the two women sat there in near silence working steadily until they were done but it was rather dull and dreary. With Danny, the work took nearly twice as long due to his constant chatter and intent on getting out of doing his half of the work, instead taking the opportunity to wind Samantha up in 101 different ways. However with Martin they could have a laugh and work at the same time. Plus he seemed to have attained a talent for reading her mind and going off to make some coffee just when Samantha felt she couldn't read another word without a dose of caffeine.

"No, I was just saying, the aftershave you're wearing, it's Calvin Klein." Samantha clarified.

Martin looked at her surprised. "Yes, yes it is."

Samantha nodded absently and looked back at her file but she was suddenly aware of the fact Martin was still staring at her. She looked back up. "What?"

"I, er …." Martin started. Then he gave a soft shake of his head, a small laugh and turned back to his work. "Nothing."

Suddenly a hot flush began to creep up the back of her neck as Samantha realised what it must have sounded like …… she was smelling him, picking up his scent - an ancient mating ritual if there ever was one. God she hoped he didn't think that every time she looked at him from now on she was checking him out. Maybe she should have just taken the chair opposite him.

They worked in silence for about half an hour before they were interrupted by the ringing of Martin's cell phone.

He looked at the caller I.D and gave a small smile before answering. "Hey there. Fine, fine. Tonight? Sorry, I can't ….. I'm working late at the office……….. Tell me about it, working Friday nights should be banned …… I'm really sorry. I can do Monday night if you can put it off …… Yes, yes I promise. See you soon. Bye!" Martin said, finishing his call.

"Keeping you from a hot date?" Samantha questioned with a slight pang in her stomach as she realised there wasn't anyone out there who would actually care that she was working late tonight - or any night for that matter.

"Hardly." Martin laughed. "That was my sister asking if I could baby sit for her tonight."

"You often baby sit for your niece?"

Martin nodded and leant back in his chair, taking his coffee mug in his hands. "A couple of times a month." he said. "Gives Sally and John a break."

"So you're the cool Uncle Marty then?" Samantha smiled.

"I don't know if Jess would describe me as 'cool' but we get on fabulously - maybe because our maturity level is the same." Martin laughed.

"I bet." Samantha smiled whilst wheeling her chair over to her desk to fetch a stapler. All the overhead lights in the office were switched off signalling the end of the normal working day and the room was dimly lit by some low-voltage lamps and the rather more powerful ones over at the conference table, giving the office a rather cosy homely feel.

"What do you have planned for this weekend?" Martin asked, hole-punching some loose sheets and treasury-tagging them into a folder.

Samantha made a face. "You know that's the one question that all single women dread to hear." she said, leaning forwards, her arms on her folder.

Martin gave a small smile and fixed his eyes on her. "Don't be single anymore then." he said simply, his eyes sparkling in the lamplight.

Samantha opened her mouth but struggled to think of a response and by the time she had thought of one Martin's soft gaze was no longer on her but on the doorway. She turned and saw Dr Harris standing there.

"Hey there Samantha, do you have a minute to talk?" she asked, taking a few steps into the room.

Samantha looked at the pile of work left to do before the night was out. "Not really, we've kinda got out hands full here." she told her.

"You can go, I'll handle it." Martin said.

Samantha looked at him. "Are you sure? I want to do my fair share."

Martin shrugged. "Go. You deserve a break anyway." he said, smiling warmly.

"If you're sure….." Samantha said, getting up. Martin nodded and turned back to the file he was reading.

…………………………………………………………………..

"So, what's up?" Samantha asked as she took her customary seat in Dr Harris' office. It was late and they hadn't scheduled this appointment.

"Well, I've been talking to Agent Malone and Van Doran and we all agree that you no longer need to have these sessions. Thought I'd pass on the good news." Dr Harris said, smiling at her.

Samantha leant back and smiled involuntarily. That really was good news. Whilst over the months, the sessions had become less trying - she had finally lost the difficult stubborn attitude that she had at the start and the two women became closer to each other - the therapy sessions still made Samantha feel uncomfortable. "Great, thanks." she said.

Dr Harris gave her a small smile and glanced towards the door. "That was all I really wanted to say if you want to get back to your work now." she said.

Samantha didn't move though. "Don't I get an analysis?" she asked.

"An analysis of my state of mind."

Dr Harris shrugged. "Your state of mind is fine - you're focussed and determined."

Samantha let a small laugh escape her lips. "You mean to say after months of hearing me speak about my life, my relationships and my feelings, that's all you've got to say about me."

Dr Harris' lips twitched. "Samantha, we don't usually analyse patients' minds or lives unless there's something wrong with them. I may have formed an opinion of you from what you've told me but ……"

"Let's hear it then." Samantha said interestedly, crossing her legs preparing to listen to whatever Dr Harris had to say with an open mind. "You've got to have some advice for me."

Dr Harris sighed. "You're leading your life fine now, if you listen to what I've got to say then you might start looking at things in a different way and ….."

"And that might be a good thing." Samantha interrupted. Samantha took a deep breath and then said "Lisa, I just want to hear your honest opinion and any advice and if I think what you've got to say is rubbish then I'll just dismiss it. It won't affect me, I promise."

Lisa Harris sighed, knowing that this was one person who wouldn't budge until she got what she wanted and she opened her file of notes. "Okay." she sighed. "This is just between friends, right, because I've got no legal obligation to tell you this."

Samantha nodded and waited patiently.

"You were adopted when you were ten years old which means that you were old enough to realise what was happening and to remember how torn up it must have felt to be taken away from your parents – no matter how bad parents they were, you still felt connected. Being put in a new family, a new environment where you had no connections, nothing in common with your elder adoptive sister created such an upheaval in your life that under normal circumstances that would have been enough to have affected your later life. Combined with the fact that your adoptive parents also turned out to be drunkards caused you a lot of trauma, causing you to take the drastic measure you did to get out of your old life i.e. get married. You were obviously a very determined person from a young age which meant that once you left Gary you were able to get your life on track and find yourself an excellent job at the Bureau. Your past experiences mean that you empathise with a lot of the victims you meet and certain cases, especially those involving young girls, like Siobhan and Annie, or cases related to adoption, for example the neurosurgeon Lianna Sardo and Serene Barnes hit you hard because you see how much of your old life is reflected in theirs. Strongly motivated and focussed, perhaps your past has helped you steel yourself against the rigours of adulthood and you have done really well for yourself." Lisa Harris paused for a moment. "However, certain attributes of your character now maybe connected with your past. For example you have trust issues and hate opening up to people. Consequently, you try to avoid making meaningful relationships with people, preferring to engage in those which can give you the comfort you long for without the ties that go along with it i.e. your past relationship with Jack Malone. Personally, I think your impulse to push people away before they get close is part of the reason why you radiate loneliness ……" Dr Harris trailed off, afraid that she had said too much.

Samantha didn't say anything, letting Dr Harris' words soak in. Part of what she had said, she had already known at the back of her mind, she just needed someone to say it aloud, but at other things she felt enlightened: God she really did have the habit of pushing good people away from her didn't she? And the trust and commitment issues, she had always thought it was just being cautious and that people who were too trusting were so naïve ….. but she was the other extreme and that wasn't a good thing either.

Her mouth was all dry and she suddenly felt incredibly vulnerable. "So, any advice?" she said, smiling weakly.

Dr Harris smiled at her kindly. "Samantha, you've got nothing to worry about. Many adults who have had a traumatic adoption as a child feel insecure about showing their real selves to people and, like you, put on a façade so people only see what you want them to see. I think life's going really well for you at the moment, just learn to embrace it more, live for the moment. You never know you might enjoy it."

"So I should just go out tonight and do something random because tomorrow I may not have the chance to do it?" Samantha said with a quiet laugh.

"No, you know that's not what I meant. I think there's things in your life at the moment that if you allow yourself to follow up could turn out to be really good." Lisa said with a pointed look.

Samantha looked confused. "Wha-"

Dr Harris leant back in her chair and started up an apparently unconnected conversation. "So it's your turn to work lates tonight with Agent Fitzgerald?"

"Yeah." Samantha said distractedly, still trying to process Lisa's advice.

"What's he like?"

Samantha thought about the question. She'd never really analysed Martin before. "He's a good Agent, not afraid to follow his instinct." She said simply.

"A bit like yourself then." Dr Harris said with a smile. "What I meant was, what is he like as a person?"

"He's kind and caring." Samantha said automatically. "And he knows how to make you feel good about yourself and cheer you up when you're down. He's very sensitive but at the same time we can always have a laugh together. I think we're on the same wavelength and we've definitely grown closer recently. Oh and he has really nice eyes." She said with a small laugh, suddenly wondering how that had slipped out. Her eyes connected with Dr Harris' and a sudden jolt went through her body as if she's just run into a wall of realisation. "Wow, I never realised …. I …." She was actually speechless. How come she had never seen it before?

Dr Harris was smiling at her. "Do you regret asking me to tell you my opinion?" she asked.

Samantha shook her head. "No. I think up until this point I've always felt the need to be in control of my life because of stuff that was out of my control in my past, but tonight has made me realise that there are some things that you just can't control." She stood up and held her hand out. "Thanks a lot Lisa. Although I didn't think so at first, these sessions have really done me some good."

Dr Harris smiled at her. "I hope things go really well for you."

……………………………………………..

Samantha walked back into the office, absorbed in her own thoughts, to see that Martin was standing up, carrying the pile of files over to the Out tray. "What's going on?" she asked.

"It's all done." He smiled, turning round and walking over to his desk to grab his stuff.

"Really? But my share-"

"I did it." He said simply.

Samantha looked at him gratefully. "I really owe you one. I didn't realise I'd be in there with Lisa that long."

She headed over to her desk and pulled on her black trench coat and slipped her cell phone into her pocket and watched Martin pull on his overcoat.

"Martin?" she said quietly. "Erm, you feel like getting a drink?" she said, tilting her head to the side slightly, anxiety churning in her stomach. Now she was responsive to her emotions, even looking at him made her feel giddy.

He held her gaze and they had a subconscious conversation through their eye contact and chemistry that made Samantha feel like she was flying in the clouds.

"Sure." Martin said with a grin that was reflected on Samantha's face.

Things were only going to get better.

A/N:- This was intended as a one-shot. Hope it wasn't too rushed.