A/N Sorry for the lack of updates I have had ongoing computer problems. Damn technology! However to compensate you get the next four chapters in one go! Enjoy and please continue to r&r. Thanks:)

Chapter 17

It had been a tough case for the whole team. The missing was a 10 year old girl who was abducted and killed. They had found her body in the basement of her step-fathers' parents' house. He had killed her because he thought she was trying to get him to leave her mother.

Everyone was feeling pretty low so they decided to go out for a drink to decompress. They had headed to a bar just a couple of blocks from the FBI building. It was where they usually went when they needed the time to deal with some of the feelings attached to a case like this one before going home.

They were sat around a table in the corner all slowly sipping their drinks in silence, each lost in their own thoughts, eyes on their drinks or the table. Vivian sat between Danny and Martin, Sam was sat opposite Martin with Rick next to her and Elena next to him opposite Danny.

Martin looked over the table at Sam. He hadn't had a lot of time to think about what she had said earlier but he was thinking about it now. His mind kept switching from images of the girl lying in a pool of blood, her blood, to Sam on the balcony saying those three little words he'd waited so long to hear.

He wasn't to sure where to go from here. He knew what he felt for her and what he wanted to tell her but it was still complicated. With their past and how things were now. Martin knew he'd have to be careful about how he approached it because if he screwed up again then not only would he not get another chance with her but Danny and Rick would probably kick his ass half way to the moon.

There had been a couple of moments through the day when Martin had been reminded of the closeness between the two and he had wondered again how they had ended up so close.

Sensing eyes on her Sam looked up across the table and looked straight in to the deep blue pools she dreamt of. Martin met her gaze with a ghost of a smile. He slid his leg out under the table and rested it against hers. "You okay?" he mouthed. Sam gave a slight shake of her head and pulled her gaze, and leg, away from his.

All Sam wanted to do was to curl up in Martins arms and let him make her forget the day they'd had, make the images of the girl in her head disappear. But she'd told him how she felt and what she expected. Telling him they could be friends was very hard for her and she defiantly didn't need that line blurred. It would be too easy to slip and do something she'd regret. She had Danny and Rick to comfort her tonight and she needed a clean break with her and Martin.

The looks between them didn't go unnoticed by Rick. He leaned back in his chair and placed his arm around Sam's shoulders. She leaned back and rested her head on his shoulder as he made small circles with his fingers on her upper arm.

Rick knew that Sam and Martin had things to work out and he wasn't going to stand in the way or try and give any advice. But he knew Sam was hurting a lot after the case today and now wasn't the time for Martin to start trying to patch things up. He wasn't about to let Martin forget that Sam had Danny and himself to take care of her when she was upset.

Danny saw Rick reach out for Samantha and he glanced down the table at Martin. Martin looked a little bit hurt and quickly looked back at the table. Rick's face remained impassive and open. He wasn't trying to be possessive or tell Martin to be careful what he did or said. He was subtly telling him 'Not now' unfortunately Martin hadn't know Rick long enough or well enough to understand that. He assumed that Rick was not only going to stop him talking to Sam but also stop Sam from talking to him. He needs to get to know Rick and soon or this is gonna cause problems. Danny thought watching Sam snuggle in closer to Rick and Martin's face fall further.

"Well I'm outta here." Vivian suddenly said standing and pulling her coat on "I want to get home and see my son. I'll see you guys tomorrow." She gave the team a weak smile as she left, placing some cash on the table to cover drinks.

"Yeah me too. I wanna say goodnight to my little girl." Elena said, also standing and getting her things "Night all"

"Night" The four remaining agents echoed quietly.

Martin took a deep breath and cleared his throat as Vivian and Elena left. "Sam" He started slightly nervous "Can we talk? In private?" He asked looking at Rick pointedly.

"Easy, Marty" Danny warned quietly.

Sam raised her head off of Rick's shoulder but didn't pull away from him. She frowned at Martin across the table before placing her head back on Rick's shoulder.

"It's been a tough day. Why don't we just leave this for tomorrow?" Rick asked gently trying to an argument as well as avoiding making Sam's day worse.

Martin glared at Rick "Why don't you stay out of it? I get that you and Sam are close but this is between us." He said tensely.

"I'm not trying to get in the way or protect Sam or anything like that. I'm just saying that this has been a hard day and there's no point making it worse when you don't have to." Rick said calmly meeting Martins glare with ease.

"Not your decision to make!" Martin said angrily.

"Martin right now you're the one trying to make the decision, not Rick. It's not just up to you." Sam said sitting up a little but still staying in Rick's grip.

Martin instantly backed down, apologetic "Sorry. I just thought…"

"Yeah I think I can guess what you're thinking Martin." She interrupted him "But you're wrong. Please don't get mad at Rick. All he's trying to do is to be a friend to me. He knows that what we have to discuss is between us. I didn't answer you when you asked to talk because I'm tired, it's been a long, hard day and I don't want to deal with 'this' now. Rick saw that and just said that maybe now isn't the right time." She said exhausted. She had a headache and really didn't want to do this now.

Rick stayed put where he was and let Sam do the talking. It wasn't his place to say anything. But he wasn't happy with where this conversation was going. He didn't like to see Sam hurt. The problem was he could see that Martin cared deeply for Sam and was struggling with what to do about it.

He knew he shouldn't judge Martin on what he'd heard in the past and he didn't want to. But he was beginning to see why Danny had been so mad with him, why Danny wanted to keep him away from Sam and protect her. As much as Martin cared for her he kept hurting her. But thankfully, for Marin's sake at least, he was better at keeping his temper in check and knowing when to stay out of it.

"Anyway don't you have to get home before your fiancée starts wondering where you are?" Sam asked tiredly.

"Actually no, I don't. We're over. We split up on Saturday" All three agents looked at Martin shocked. Danny's shocked expression quickly turned in to a smirk and he looked away.

"You…uhh…what happened?" Sam stuttered.

"I ended it. I have feelings for someone else." Martin said looking straight in to Sam's eyes.

Neither Danny nor Rick were surprised by his admission but Sam clearly was.

"So like I said, can we please talk in private?" Martin asked again, much calmer now Rick had shut up.

Sam glanced at all three men sat with her. Danny and Rick both looked at her but kept their expressions neutral. It was her choice to make and they weren't going to influence it. She knew they would be okay with it as long as she was. The problem was she wasn't sure she was prepared to hear what Martin had to say.

She had prepared herself for Martin to say he didn't think it would be good for them to be friends because of her feelings, given their past. She was not expecting him to say that he had feelings for her too. Let alone that he had left his fiancée because of them.

Oh my God! He left Anna because of his feelings for me? He has feelings for me? Strong feelings for me? I'm not sure I can do this now. What did he mean he left her because of feelings for someone else. Why did he stop the other night and tell me to leave if he has these feelings? Why didn't he tell me about these feelings?

Sam realized there was only one way to get the questions in here head answered was to talk to him. "Okay. Let's talk."