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. Please R&R!

NOTES:

THANKUTHANKUTHANKU for all the reviews! What an amazing amount of support! Please, keep them coming! My goal is 100, but I know that's a little optimistic. But hey, why not, right?

So. Quoting some of my reviews:

"more Martin/Sam please!"
"please hook martin and sam up properly soon?"
"hurry up with martin and sam"

That last chapter, Her and Him? That was for you, guys. Except, it made Psycho Stalker mad. Tsk, tsk.

Anyway, on with the chapter, and I'm sorry if it gets a bit too dramatic. Hey, it wastwo in the morning, what can I say?

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Chapter 10
CONFUSION AND DENIAL

"Anything?"

"Nothing. You?"

"No."

"Yeah, me neither."

"Yeah. You said that."

"Oh. Right, sorry."

Martin and Sam quickly glanced away from each other and back down at the file folders spread out over the table.

Martin was having trouble concentrating on the information in front of him. He had kissed Samantha Spade. Carolynn Casper had six cavities in the past eight years. He'd kissed Samantha Spade. Carolynn's dentist's name was Rick. He'd kissed Samantha Sp – what? Rick kissed…? No, no. Focus Martin. You kissed Samantha Spade. No, wait a minute. Focus on – on Rick. Rick was…who?

Martin gave up.

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Samantha was not having much luck, either. She told herself it was too soon. She told herself he was too new. It was just a kiss anyway. Plenty of guys had kissed her in the past. She told herself to be careful.

She remembered how right it had felt.

Shut up, Sam, she told herself. Read about Carolynn Casper. Samantha glanced down at the open file and read, 00441 2397 ii6 k28. What?

Samantha rubbed her forehead. She was too tired to do this now. It was already dark out, and they still had no leads on where Carolynn Casper might go to end her life. What were the chances, anyway? She was going home.

Sam slammed the file shut and reached for her coat. Martin's head popped up. "Where are you going?"

"Home."

"I'll… I'll walk you to your car."

A look passed between them.

"…Okay."

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Martin and Sam walked out together, and they both wondered who would notice. They both guessed the same person: Jack. But they didn't discuss it. They were silent all the way out to the street. It wasn't a tense silence, but it wasn't quite comfortable, either.

It wasn't tense, at least, until they reached Sam's car.

Both the driver's and the passenger's windows had been smashed. Someone had keyed the word whore into the silver paint on the side door.

Martin and Sam stood in shock.

Sam spoke first. "Oh, God."

Martin didn't reply.

"Martin? Please tell me you think this was random."

He didn't look at her. He was staring at the driver's seat. "He left you something."

Sam hesitantly followed his gaze. Lying on the driver's seat was a single red rose. "Oh, God."

Martin turned toward her with a firm look on his face. "I'm driving you home."

Sam started, and tore her gaze from the rose. "What? No, no I'm fine."

"You are not fine."

"I'll just have it towed and get a cab."

"Sam, you're being stalked!"

"I know!"

Their voices were beginning to rise.

"It's not safe for you to be alone!"

"I'm a big girl! I can handle it!" She turned and flagged a taxi.

Martin shook his head. "Then I'm coming with you."

She flung the door open. "No, you're not!" She shoved her purse in.

"Then – then I'm coming over tonight!"

Sam turned and stared at him. "Fine. Whatever." Then she got in and the taxi drove away, and Martin rushed to his own car to follow them.

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Martin followed taxi 47 all the way to Sam's apartment, too caught up in his worry to notice that someone else was following the license plate FTZGERLD. And Sam sat alone in her cab, her thoughts racing too fast for her to catch up with them.

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A/N: Hey, this is the first time I've actually written from the author's point of view. But, I think that at this point, it was the best way to tell the story.

Also: in the writing of this chapter, my editor (my sister, actually) and I discussed the issue of whether or not Sam owned a car. After all, it's NYC, what if she always takes a cab or the subway or something? But this chapter worked best if she did have a car, so I don't know if she does on the show, but in this story, she does.

Reviews, reviews, reviews! are always wonderful.