Chapter Seven: Staring Right Back In The Face

Disclaimer: As much as I would like to own Eric Close, the F.B.I and Without A Trace, alas I only have the licence to dream. The plot is mine, my own, my preciousssssssssssss.

A/N:- I know you guys all want Martin and Samantha to get back together ASAP but I'm afraid you're going to have to wait a little longer for that because some things need to happen in between. Originally I was aiming for this to be about ten chapters long but it looks like it may be a little longer than that by the time I'm done.

Dedicated to:

Missusmesser, Raspberry Muffin, Sammy, Bdoney, Berta101, Spooky Bibi, Lapmal, Without A Trace Freak, Give Love A Break, Jtsideout389, Equestrian Babe, Sweetoney89, NightMage, Tea

Ariel3JLP – Hun, without a doubt you get the prize for the longest review I have EVER received. Seriously wow, thank you! As you can see the tension shall continue in this chapter and in the next chapter ….. well …… And yes –blushes- Martin in a wet shirt is one of my many Martin fantasies and I think I'll include a little Martin/Samantha/WetShirt moment in all my fanfics purely for my benefit! Hehe. Victor will definitely be making another appearance before the end. I'm glad it was tasteful because these things are always awkward to write. Yeah, I write detail mainly for my benefit because I like to know Martin/Samantha's reaction to each other and their thoughts etc.

"How many of these have you got?" Vivian exclaimed as Martin laid down a pile of 3 T-shirts and Tracksuit bottoms with 'FBI' written across the front of the T-shirts and up the leg of the trousers.

"My Dad's useful for something." Martin laughed. "This one's for you." he said, chucking Danny a separate T-Shirt.

Danny caught it and opened it up revealing the words 'FBI -Female Body Inspector' on it. "Hehe. Very appropriate." he grinned.

Samantha laughed and picked up one of the towels that Martin had brought out and wiped her face with it. She didn't think she had ever been this cold and this wet before but the warmth from Martin's apartment at least meant she could feel her toes again.

Being the son of Victor Fitzgerald, she had expected Martin's apartment to be as nice as it was. It was situated in a very exclusive and upper-class block of flats uptown with a shiny, marble lobby and spotlessly clean elevators. His apartment had way too much room than a single person would need. The living room was incredibly spacious with a balcony and a view over the harbour that would have been quite spectacular if it wasn't for the rain. He had a luxurious settee and armchairs and a plasma television in the middle of the room. Cabinets and bookshelves lined the whole of one wall and photo frames hung everywhere – he had obviously inherited that from his parents ……….

"If you want to change whilst I order the pizza, the bathroom's the first door on the left down the corridor and there's another toilet in my bedroom at the end." Martin said, grabbing a pizza menu and walking into the kitchen.

Danny grabbed his set of dry clothes and headed into the bathroom. Jack took off his saturated jacket and slung it over the radiator before grabbing a towel in a vain attempt to stop himself dripping all over Martin's soft, luxurious carpet.

Samantha walked over instinctively to the mantelpiece where a whole row of photo frames stood. She recognised most of the people in the photos of being his parents and sisters and she even thought she saw one of Robert, Zach and his other friends from high school but before she could look closer she got distracted by the one next to it. She picked it up and stared at it. She couldn't believe that he had kept this and had it up after everything ……………………

Vivian walked up to her and peered over her shoulder. "Oh Martin's Prom photo. He looks very smart in his tux with his hair like that …." she smiled.

Samantha hardly heard her, lost in her own thoughts.

Jack came up and examined it too. "Wow Martin was a lucky lad …. that girl's ……… oh my God Samantha, is that you?" he said taking the frame out of her hand and peering it.

"Yes." she said softly, stepping away and walking over to the window in a daze. He still had it. On his mantelpiece. Did it mean he still cared? Maybe it wasn't so long ago after all. She could feel his breath on her neck and his arms around her waist just like they had been in the photo. She watched the rain hit the glass and the drops slide down, picking up other drops along the way and form a stream running down the window. And all of a sudden she was falling down with them.

"You never said you two dated." Vivian said interestedly, looking at the photo again and turning to her.

"Who dated?" Danny asked, coming out of the bathroom, rubbing his hair with a towel, and stuffing his wet clothes into a carrier bag. No one answered him but Jack handed him the photo. "Woah you and Fitzy …… Man you were hot back then!" he exclaimed.

"Well, it certainly would explain why he didn't think twice about running back into that barn to save you." Jack said, rubbing his towel behind his neck. "You wanna talk about it?"

Samantha turned away from the window slowly. "Not really." she picked up her pile of dry clothes. "Martin and I have a past ……which is firmly in the past." she said quietly, walking down the corridor to change. Her words echoed in her head. She didn't quite believe them herself. Of course they weren't all in the past, her feelings were in the present too and they were so strong it was like they had never faded.

She turned the knob on Martin's bedroom door, intending to use the ensuite bathroom but as she opened the door, Martin was in the room getting changed.

"Oh sorry." she muttered embarrassed, closing the door again but he stopped her.

"You can come in." he said smiling at her. He was wearing a pair of dry tracksuit bottoms but his wet shirt was still half-unbuttoned and still very wet. She felt herself flush and looked away.

Martin walked away from her. "What a nasty day – it's still raining." he said looking out of his bedroom window as he pulled off his shirt. Samantha felt the heat rise up in her cheeks and she looked at the door of the bathroom, trying to work out if she could sneak in there before he finished changing. Obviously not.

Martin pulled on his dry T-shirt and turned round. Samantha was standing awkwardly in the middle of his room looking really bedraggled and awkward. He was about to make some passing remark about how long the pizza would take to get here when she spoke first.

"Martin, can I ask you something?" she started hesitantly.

"Sure." he said, chucking his wet shirt in the washing tub and walking up to her.

"Do you find it hard working together? I mean, given our past and everything?" she asked, biting her bottom lip nervously. She could hardly believe she was daring to be this bold. Could she make it anymore obvious? She was so stupid sometimes ….. they had just managed to get their friendship back together and now she had gone and ruined it.

He looked at her, slightly surprised at her question. "Do you?" he asked simply.

Samantha put down her clothes and took a deep breath. "Yes. Yes I guess I do." she sighed. Martin helped her pull her soaking suit jacket off and laid it on the radiator. Suddenly she felt so self-conscious standing there in a wet blouse. She tried to focus on the question. "I guess seeing you again made me feel like there was so much left unsaid before and I'm worried that time will never heal the wounds I caused." she said.

Martin didn't say anything for awhile. He had his back to her, looking at the radiator. He grabbed a dry towel and walked to her slowly, his face unreadable. He looked down at her and met her gaze steadily. He took a strand of her wet hair and rubbed it in the towel gently drying it. She felt his soaking wet bandage on his left hand touch her cheek and it made her think about how much she owed him.

"Yes it is difficult because seeing you again makes me feel like I'm eighteen again and it's hard ……." he trailed off and looked deeply in her eyes. She felt his hands stop rubbing her hair and his right hand left the towel and dropped to her cheek, stroking it gently. Her breath caught in her throat. "It's hard not to feel like I felt back then." he said softly. She focussed on his lips. She really wanted him to kiss her. Her heart was pounding in her chest. He still liked her. Is that what was he was implying or was she just imagining it? She didn't know anymore but she certainly felt like she was eighteen again.

Martin lost himself in the moment. He still cared for her so much and the attraction between them was red-hot. He knew it wasn't what they should do. But he couldn't resist the hold she had on him. He started to lower his head slowly when suddenly Danny called out from the lounge.

"Pizza's here!"

Martin moved away from Samantha. "Okay." he answered then he glanced back at her and handed her her dry pile of clothes. "Go get change before all the pizza's gone." he said, holding her gaze for a minute before leaving her alone in his room. Samantha breathed out slowly and ran a hand through her wet hair distractedly.

Samantha walked back into the living room, a towel around her shoulders, her brain still running wild, trying to figure out what had happened – or nearly happened - with Martin in his bedroom a few moments earlier.

Everyone was seated round the coffee table, looking odd in their matching black T-shirts and tracksuit bottoms and Danny and Martin seemed to be caught up in a discussion over whether Domino's or Pizza Hut made the best pizzas. As she came to join them, Martin looked up and caught her eye, giving her a faint smile. "You better grab a slice before it all goes." he said, handing her a plate. She smiled at him awkwardly and sat down on the sofa next to Danny.

"So … the case." Jack said, starting the debrief. "I've just heard from the Bureau. Sarah's been found safe." The team breathed a collective sigh of relief. "I'd say that the whole undercover operation went very smoothly. Danny, Martin, your acts were very very convincing and your timing was perfect. Vivian, Samantha, surveillance was good. Martin and Samantha well done on arresting the two suspects. There's nothing that could have been executed better."

"Yeah, Sam's rough and tumble in the rain with the hooker was quite …."

"Don't start Danny." Samantha interrupted, rolling her eyes as she took a sip of her beer.

A comfortable silence settled on the group as they concentrated on eating the pizza and it wasn't until it was all gone and the five of them relaxed in their chairs that Danny, after a quick exchange of looks with Jack and Vivian, brought up the subject which they were only all too curious to learn more about.

"Well Martin, you and Samantha both kept your past relationship very well hidden." Danny said. Martin looked stunned. "The Prom photo ….. we all saw it."

"Oh right." Martin said, putting his bottle of beer down with a nervous laugh and gave a hesitant glance in Samantha's direction. "Yeah, that was a long time ago."

"I guess that's why there was all the awkwardness and stuff between you?" Jack asked, opening another bottle of beer.

Samantha nodded. She knew that Martin was feeling just as uncomfortable about this as she was. "Do we have to talk about this?"

"Sure." Danny grinned. "We're FBI Agents, call us curious. Besides I thought I knew everything about you Sam – obviously not. We want to know everything about you guys."

Martin sighed with resignation. "What do you want to know?"

Danny shrugged. "I don't know. You could start with how you two got together?"

Martin looked over at Samantha. She looked away. "We met in High School. I asked Sam to the Prom in our last year."

"That was it? And all of a sudden you two got together?" Vivian asked, raising her eyebrows.

Martin nodded and opened another drink. Samantha hesitated. Whilst she was thankful for Martin's avoidance of the subject, she knew that it was bound to come out sooner or later and maybe it was time that her work colleagues got an insight to the real Samantha. "Actually we got together because Martin stopped me from committing suicide and helped me with my abusive father. I guess you could say I was quite insecure but Martin showed me how to enjoy life."

No one said anything. Danny, Vivian and Jack were trying to hide the surprise on their faces and Martin seemed very intent on examining the carpet.

"Wow. I had no idea." Jack said at last.

"Needless to say it wasn't a friendly break-up …." Vivian started, aware that she was touching on a very sore subject.

Martin stood up abruptly. "More beer anyone?" he asked and walked into the kitchen without even waiting for an answer.

Vivian looked at Samantha apologetically. Samantha looked at Martin's retreating back worriedly. She hated how they had just managed to put all of this stuff behind them and it was being dragged up again. "Let's just say I hurt him badly." she said, sighing.

After awhile, Martin walked back in with a forced smile on his face carrying some more beer. "So, who wants one?" he asked.

"Not for me." Jack said, standing up. "Sorry but I've really got to be getting back."

"Yeah, me too." Vivian said grabbing her coat. "Thanks for the clothes. I'll wash them before I give them back."

"Me too. Take it easy." Jack said, glancing at Martin's bandaged arm. Today had proven it wasn't a hindrance but he was still concerned for him. "Oh, and sorry for prying into-"

"No problem." Martin said, cutting him off and walking them to the door. "See you tomorrow."

Martin walked back to Danny and Samantha. There was an awkward silence until Danny looked at Martin's Playstation 2 enthusiastically. He caught Martin's eye and Martin's face broke into a grin. "If you must."

Danny didn't need telling twice and was soon seated happily on the floor, pressing buttons as if his life depended on it.

Samantha watched the TV screen as if she were scrutinising Danny's every move and looking across, she saw Martin doing the same. Obviously he shared her idea that if they concentrated on something else then they could avoid talking or looking at each other. As Danny got himself killed for the third time in a row and was being mercilessly teased by Samantha, Martin brought out his First Aid kit. His bandage was still sopping wet from before but he had put off changing it for as long as he could. He hated the procedure – partly because he was squeamish and didn't particularly appreciate having to stare at the sores on his arm, and partly because when he bandaged it up, it reminded him of the fact that there was still no progress regarding his sense of touch.

He cut his old bandage off and dumped it in the rubbish bin and flexed his fingers and grimaced at the unhealed burns before opening up the bag, looking for some cream.

Samantha turned away from the TV at that point and fixed her eyes on his arm. Martin avoided meeting her gaze but out of the corner of his eye, he could see her almost shudder at the sight of his arm. "Let me help." she said getting up and crouching down next to him.

"I can do it myself." he said fiddling with the lid of the cream.

"I know." she said simply but she still took the tube of cream from him and he didn't argue. Samantha squeezed the cream on his arm and rubbed it in in silence. Beneath her fingers, his skin was hard and rough and she knew that when the burns eventually healed, scars would remain forever. Guilt was churning in her stomach and she had to bite her tongue to stop her from apologising for the millionth time. She laid down a dressing and grabbed a fresh bandage, unravelling it before starting to tenderly bandage Martin's arm up again.

Martin watched Samantha at work. She was feeling guilty again and he hated that which is why he had let her look after his arm tonight. If changing the dressing somehow made her feel less guilty then so be it because he hated how she constantly felt that she was in severe debt to him. He felt his heart jolt inwardly as his mind registered the familiar sequence of events: She was playing Nurse to him, treating a wound he had sustained whilst protecting her …… Like the time she held the ice to his face at his house after he had been punched by her father ……

After she tied the knot, Samantha looked up at him and ran her fingers softly up and down his arm. Martin imagined that if he actually had feeling in that arm then he would feel shivers running up and down his spine just about now. "The feeling will return." she said softly. Martin didn't know if she was talking about his arm because he certainly knew that he was having a hard time fighting his returning feelings for her.

After she had finished, she didn't stand up and walk away but just stayed there, meeting his gaze. Martin stared back into her soft brown eyes.

They were doing it again. Barely an hour had passed and they were being drawn into each other again. Samantha wondered that if the pizza hadn't arrived at that moment earlier whether Martin would have actually had any intention of kissing her because God knows two more seconds and she would have pressed her lips against his. And now she was getting to that stage again.

There was no question of hesitation in his eyes. If previously she had been unsure whether Martin actually wanted to kiss her, this time she was sure of it. He brought his head down and she leant up on her knees. Neither of them looked away. They stopped, their heads centimetres away from each other, still looking at each other searchingly, deliberating whether it was something they definitely both wanted. Samantha closed her eyes and ……

And Danny interrupted them again. Having just cleared another level, he had spun round in excitement and ruined the moment. Martin jerked away from her and she sat back on her heels. "Oh sorry." Danny said quickly.

Samantha could feel a red flush rise up her neck and the awkwardness stifled her. Martin didn't look at her but instead stood up and started clearing his medicine and the First Aid kit off of the table. Samantha turned round. Danny mouthed 'Sorry' to her but she just shrugged and sighed.

Danny switched off the game consul and looked at the clock. "Well, we better be off." he said grabbing his still damp clothes.

"Yeah." Samantha agreed, eager to make a hasty retreat.

As he handed her her clothes back in a plastic bag and said his goodbyes, Martin didn't meet her eyes once and Samantha knew that the friendly, flirty rapport they had had earlier on that day was once again lost.

A/N:- Danny certainly has some great timing doesn't he? Oh dear.