Disclaimer: I do not in any way, shape, form, or fashion own Without a Trace. If I did the show would be over because Sam and Martin would already be married.

A/N: Okay, I am such a hopeless romantic and I so love Samantha and Martin so this is my super-fluff chapter. Because Sam's real only big part that didn't have to do with the case was the S/M hug, that's what this chapter is about so…there you go. I love S/M!

POV: Samantha Spade
Spoilers: Safe

Chapter Seven: Top Hat

I stayed true to my promise. I wasn't going anywhere. Martin was not alright despite what he told me every time I saw him. I always got his schedules from the receptionist to find out when he would be awake (because he was so heavily medicated for the first two weeks) and visited him at every possible opportunity.

He was on a lot of drugs though. Most of the time I would just talk to him and tell him about whatever case we had just wrapped up but he would have no clue what I was talking about. He would listen and smile and just stare at me until I finished.

He always asked how Danny was. He wanted to make sure that there weren't any aftershocks of the head injury. Then he always asked if Jack was seeing anyone new yet since his divorce was finalized. At first it was a little awkward but I guess it was just his way of making sure that I hadn't picked up where Jack and I had left off. Of course, once they lowered his medicine dosage and he was really thinking he stopped asking that one.

And he always asked how I was doing. It just amazed me that he was lying there, wounded and having almost died and he was still concerned about how everyone else was doing.

I helped move him back into his apartment once he was released from the hospital. He hated it…said it made him feel less manly because I was doing everything for him. He was in a wheelchair at that point and I spent a lot of my free nights at his apartment making him dinner. He hated that too but it was because I'm a terrible cook.

But that last week, when the doctors "strongly encouraged that he try to move around without the wheelchair" work got really busy and I couldn't come over any more. So instead of going over I would call either from the office or on my cell phone during the cab ride to my apartment.

And then Jack said it…the words I'd been anxious to hear since Martin had been shot.

"Martin called me last night to let me know that he will be back at work today. He has a final check up this morning so he will be in later. Try to act normally around him."

I'll admit that I was a little shocked to find out that he would be back. I had talked to him the night before and he hadn't said a word about it to me. And then of course I was sent out into the field so I wouldn't be in the office when he finally showed up.

I tried not to seem anxious as Danny drove us out to the high school, but he sensed it.

"You excited to see Marty?" he asked, that smug grin in place as it always was when he mentioned the two of us.

"I'm just as excited as you are," I said smoothly.

I felt ridiculous for being so anxious about seeing him. I had been around him more than anyone else on the team and it had only been a week since the last time I'd seen him and only a few hours since I'd last spoken to him.

"Yeah, I bet," Danny said, the smallest hint of sarcasm in his voice.

I gave him a dirty look as we pulled into the parking lot but let it go as we marched through the front doors. I had to remain professional and lucky for me, I had perfected the act of hiding what I was really feeling and putting on a mask.

Once we were back in the car though, and headed back to the office, I couldn't fight back my own nervous habits: biting my lower lip, moving my right leg up and down, and tucking my hair behind my ear countless times. Thankfully Danny didn't say anything, but he didn't need to. I could see exactly what was going through his mind by the look on his face.

He dropped me off at the front of the building and then went to park the car by himself. When I asked why he did that he just gave me an exasperated look and pushed me out of the car and onto the sidewalk.

I walked faster than normal to the elevator and pushed the number 12 at least three times under the impatient belief that it would make the elevator go faster. I sighed audibly when two agents got on at the fifth floor and pushed the number 10, earning me a few well-deserved looks. I tried to contain myself as I walked down the hall and got closer and closer to our desks, giving Mack only a brief smile as I blew past his office.

I tried not to be too visibly disappointed when I walked into the bullpen and Martin was no where to be seen. Instead, I put my professional face back on and headed over to where Viv was sitting to help her out.

It wasn't too long though, before he walked in.

"Cunning and wounded, dangerous combination," Vivian said as we discussed the state of Ryan Wallace.

"Yeah," I replied, again realizing how much nicer it was to have Vivian back in the office.

"Talking about me?" My heart leapt up into my throat and although I knew it was him, I had to see it to believe it. And sure enough, there was Martin, walking toward me with a huge grin on his face. I'm still surprised that I managed to only say "Hey!" and give him a hug because what I really wanted to do was jump up and down and then run into his arms.

I know that I held onto that hug a few seconds too long, and I know that Vivian and Danny were sure to discuss the connotation of those precious moments at some point in the near future, but at that point in time the rest of the world just seemed to fade away. Had there been no one else around and if I hadn't been worrying about "how long is too long now that we're not together anymore," I could have held on to him for hours.

But all too soon I remembered that we were in the middle of the office and that people would notice if I just hugged Martin for the rest of the day, so I pulled away. And that's when I saw the cane.

I don't know exactly what I expected. There was no way that he could go from wheelchair to fully functioning in seven days, it just wasn't logical. But a cane made him feel too much like a cripple…it just seemed too permanent.

"I left my top hat in the car," he said when he noticed what I was staring at.

He could still do it. After all these weeks and all of the pain and anger we'd been through, he could still make me smile.

"You look good," I said as I stared into those pools of blue. I was elated. I couldn't get over the fact that he was back for good.

"Thanks, you too." I laughed as I thought about this statement. Of course I looked good. The only times he'd seen me in the last six weeks were after I'd already showered and my hair was pulled up into a curly mess, my make up was off, and I was generally dressed in sweats and a t-shirt.

It wasn't until later that night, when I was sitting on my couch watching I Love Lucy reruns that I realized he wasn't talking about my physical appearance. He wasn't really saying "You look good," but meant "I've really missed you."

A/N-Sorry, that ending wasn't really romantic, was it? Well, imagine what happens next. Does she go to bed wishing she were with Martin? Does she call him up and chat for hours? Does she run to his apartment and beg for his forgiveness and they live happily ever after? (I vote for the latter…)

Anyway, Martin's is next! Hooray! Leave me a review and I'll love you forever!