Title: Privilege

Author: NightMage

Rating: maybe PG13, to be safe.

Summary: The team gets very, very frustrated with doctor-patient privilege! And Sam deals with a problem of her own. My very first M/S fic.

NOTES:

Hi, I know that nothing in the summary has actually happened yet, but I promise, it will! Anyway, this chapter's shorter than the first one, sorry, I do have most of the rest planned out but I haven't written it yet! Also, if this isn't how magazine photo shoots and stuff work, too bad. That's why I'm the author ;-p

Thanks to everyone who reviewed, it means so much to me!

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Chapter 2
AT LIVE NOW!

Vivian drove on the way back to the office, which gave Samantha needed time to think. Okay, first she had to organize the facts. What did she know? Carolynn Casper was missing. Her 23-year-old boyfriend claimed to have seen Carolynn and Cai Sanford arguing on the DoD, but Cai denied it. Well, the videos should help. If the cameras had caught Carolynn at the phone booth like Nigel Simmons – 'Zar,' Sam thought sarcastically to herself – had said, then the rest of Mr. Simmons's story was probably also true. But that led to more questions. For instance, why was Cai lying? Samantha sighed.

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Viv glanced over at her colleague. "You okay?"

"Yeah, fine. I just... I just don't know what happened to this girl."

Viv reached over and rested her hand over Samantha's. "Hey, we only just started this case. Who knows what we'll turn up?" She had noticed, through the years, that Samantha always seemed to get more emotionally involved with cases that had to do with teenage girls.

"Yeah, I know." But Samantha continued to stare out the window.

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Jack looked up from the paperwork on his desk at the sound of the main office door opening. Sam came in first, closely followed by Vivian. The blonde agent pulled her jacket off and slung it over the back of her desk chair, but her coworker immediately headed toward their boss. Jack stood up and waited as Vivian walked into his office.

"Hey, Viv. You and Sam busy?"

"It can wait." At his questioning look, she explained, "Video surveillance, phone booth on Jefferson. Why, what'd you have in mind?"

"Danny and Martin are still talking to Cai, but she's holding out on us. You two up to taking on Live Now!?"

"Sure, let's go."

Jack watched as Vivian went to tell Sam. At least, he meant to, but somehow he found himself completely overlooking Viv.

There she was. Her blonde hair was pulled back, but wisps had escaped the band and fell to frame her face.

Jack shook his head. He couldn't do this. 'They' were over – he had gone back to Maria.

Jack made his feet move. He walked out of his office and joined Sam and Viv.

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Sam had purposely gone into the Live Now! building last – Jack had gone in first. Now, she was glad. Hanging at the back of their group as they were escorted to the manager's office, she avoided most of the curious looks shot their way. And she could also look around without being too obvious about it. That was her specialty; people revealed more when they didn't know they were being watched.

"I can't do this, Richard!"

Sam glanced over to see a skinny blue-eyed brunette girl sitting on a stool in front of a bright red backdrop, pouting prettily at her photographer.

"I can't do this! I'm fat and ugly and I look awful in red!" The girl pounded the backdrop with one fist, and tugged at her fake ruby-encrusted gown with the other.

Sam looked away, rolling her eyes, as the photographer hurried forward to calm the girl.

They had arrived in the office, but Sam continued to look around. Let Viv and Jack interview the guy; she would rather study the place itself.

Suddenly, she felt someone grab her hand. She turned back to the group, startled, as she was pulled up in front of Jack and Vivian.

The manager was short and mousey-looking, and shaking the hand he had grabbed ecstatically. "Very nice to meet you!" He dropped her hand and took a step back, looking her up and down, and Sam hid a blush. She opened her mouth to say something, but before she could, he was babbling again. "Yes, I think red is definitely your color. Brick maybe, or something lighter – oh! The deep rose set from Ruby Jewelers is due in today! I suppose Moricia might be upset, it was supposed to be hers, but no matter. Now I just need to find a free photographer-"

Jack cleared his throat as Samantha bit back a laugh, finally realizing: this man thought she was here to become a model. She supposed she should consider that a complement.

Jack stepped in front of her, glaring at the man. "Excuse me, we're FBI. I," he flashed his badge, "am agent Jack Malone. This is agents Spade," – he gestured behind him – "and Johnson. We need to ask you some questions about Carolynn Casper."

"Carrie? Oh, I'm sorry, she hates it when I call her that. Carolynn, she's a touchy one, you know?"

Vivian stepped forward. "No, we don't; enlighten us."

The man shrugged. "Like, she could come in one day smiling and laughing like she was president. Then, someone accidentally steps on her foot and she's shouting like crazy, mad as hell, then you tell her she's getting her hair mussed and she totally collapses in on herself. Like, mega-sad." He paused, and looked again at Samantha. "You sure you don't want a job?"

Sam rolled her eyes – she felt like she was doing that a lot lately – and flashed him her famous fake smile. "Ihave a job, thanks." She turned to Jack. "You and Viv can handle this. I'm going to look around, 'kay?"

Jack nodded. As Sam wandered away, she heard the manager call after, "It's quite a nice set, and we got it at a bargain price - !" She shook her head and turned down the hallway they had come from, out of sight of the mousey manager.

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"Hey." Jack moved himself into the manager's line of sight, effectively blocking Samantha. "What did you say your name was?"

"Hmm? Oh, Conway."

"Mr. Conway, how many issues of your magazine do you sell in a year?"

Conway scratched the back of his neck and glanced away. "Well, you know, enough to stay in business."

"Uh-huh. The girls ever have trouble? Stalkers, jealous boyfriends, threats, phone calls, anything?"

"Well, sometimes, but – "

"Carolynn in particular?" Vivian interrupted.

"She got her share of fan mail, but nothing that upset her, I don't think." Conway shook his head. "Um, no. No one I can think of. Her boyfriend hung around sometimes, what's his name – something reptilian. But nothing that worried me."

"Okay, that's good." Jack glanced at Vivian and continued, "You mentioned mood swings. Is it possible that Carolynn is on something?"

Conway shrugged and looked away again. "Hey now, that's her business. What the girls do in their spare time is their own business."

Jack smiled coldly. "Yeah, I thought something like that."

"This place is up to regulation, you know, the inspectors came just last – "

"I'm sure they did. Thank you for your time, Mr. Conway. Stick around for a few days."

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Sam was not particularly awed by what she saw around her. Everything from smoking to anorexia. Lovely place.

And very, very sad.

Suddenly, she found herself being assaulted by redness and tiny, red-nailed fists. Samantha caught the flailing wrists and slammed the girl against the wall, wondering what in the world had provoked the attack.

It was the blue-eyed brunette who didn't like red. She pouted up at Samantha, who was staring at her. "That set is mine," she said fiercely.

Ah, Samantha thought. So this was Moricia. She released the girl and let her move away from the wall. "If I were you, I'd be more worried about being arrested for assault of a federal officer."

"Moricia!" Moricia's cameraman came jogging around the corner. The exact opposite of his charge, he was broad-shouldered, green-eyed, and so blonde that his hair was almost white. "Don't get your-" he stopped at the sight of Sam standing there. "-your dress dirty," he finished. Then to Samantha he said, "Who're you?"

Samantha didn't get a chance to answer. Before she could say anything, Moricia had mouthed "Bitch!" in her direction, grabbed her photographer's arm, and both of them disappeared around the corner.

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