xxxxx

chapter sixty-five

xxxxx

taking one step back
trying to pull yourself together
no matter what you say nothing you do
can hold back the forces on you forever
-Ivy, "Undertow"

xx

April 12, 2004
8:15 am

Sam walked down to the cash register and paid for her drink. The cashier was a petite college-aged girl with bleach blonde hair and a name tag that read 'Amelia'. She chewed gum loudly as she deposited the money in the register, handing Sam the change as she said, "Have a nice day now."

Sam nodded and dropped the coins back in her wallet, moving off to the side as she waited for her drink. When the barista called out her order, she took the warm cup in her hand and made her way back to the corner of the shop, sliding into the chair next to where Naomi sat.

"Good morning," she greeted her friend. "Sorry I'm running a little late."

Naomi took a sip of what Sam could only assume was her usual Caramel Latte. Looking out over the top of her Starbucks cup, Naomi smiled and said, "It's no problem. Did Martin get off okay?"

Sam nodded, lifting her cup to her lips and inhaling the foamy hot liquid. She and Naomi tried to keep a regular coffee date, although they never seemed to connect at the same time every week; this week, they opted for Monday morning but she had been late because she waited with Martin until he was off to the airport. They usually frequented this Starbucks because of its location just a block away from the FBI building, which made it both convenient and comfortable. It was popular among their fellow agents, and she smiled and waved at Darren Reed from Major Thefts.

Looking back at Naomi she answered, "Yeah, he called me a little over twenty minutes ago just before the plane was due to take off."

Naomi smiled knowingly. "You must be sorry to see him go."

"I always am," Sam countered, tilting her head to one side. "But enough about me, how was your weekend?"

Naomi looked away for a split second and took another long drink from her cup. "It was fine. I went out on Friday night, but nothing else exciting unless you count laundry and finishing my taxes. I want to know more about your weekend; this was the big anniversary weekend, was it not?"

The thought briefly crossed her mind that Danny had been on his way to meet someone on Friday night and wondered if there were more to the story than met the eye. However Sam nodded and played it off, recognizing that her friend was being purposely dismissive. Sam rubbed her hands together cautiously and then tapped the table with her index finger. "Yeah, he apparently had something planned but we never made it that far," she said finally.

Naomi frowned. "You never made it that far?" she asked. "What happened?"

"It's not like that," she replied with a small laugh. "He got stuck in Washington on Friday night in a filibuster, and he didn't get in until Saturday morning. Whatever it was, Martin wanted to keep it a secret and reschedule for another weekend. He still wants to surprise me, so we just stayed at his place instead."

Naomi giggled. "Secret anniversary plans and spending the weekend at home alone together? You have found yourself a real romantic, Agent Spade."

She laughed, smiling back at her friend, "Oh Naomi, you have no idea."

Still laughing, Naomi looked down at her watch and said, "It's 8:30, should we start making our way over?"

Sam nodded and stood up. She pushed her chair back underneath the table and took ahold of her cup that was still relatively hot. She stopped at the counter to grab a to go lid while Naomi tossed her empty cup in the trash can, and the two women walked out into the cool early spring morning.

They reached the big glass doors leading into the New York field office and Sam held it open in front of Naomi. Walking over to the elevators, Naomi bent forward and punched the 'up' arrow with her index finger. The button did not light up, but it had been broken for weeks now and there was no indication that it was going to be fixed anytime soon. Naomi tilted her head and looked over in Sam's direction. "You look different Sam," she commented.

"Different?" Sam answered, biting her bottom lip to hold back a smile. She had thought long and hard about telling Naomi but decided to wait just a little while longer. "What do you mean 'different'?"

In front of them, the elevator doors dinged and slid open. Naomi looked over her shoulder as she stepped inside. "You've been happy for awhile now, but you're..." she furrowed her eyebrows for a moment, searching for the right word. "You seem peaceful."

"Peaceful, huh?"

Naomi held down the button for the 12th floor until it lit up and said, "I know. I sound crazy, right?"

The elevator car gave a small jolt and jerked upwards as it set itself in motion, and Sam leaned forward to depress the button labeled '10'. Naomi gave her an inquisitive look and she shrugged her shoulders and answered, "Tell everyone that I'll be right there, I just have something I need to take care of first."

The car came to an abrupt stop at the tenth floor, and the elevator doors creaked as they opened. Sam looked back over her shoulder as she started down the hallway towards her destination, just in time to see her friend staring back curiously, as the elevator doors slid shut.

xx

9:15 am

Sam tapped her foot as she waited for the elevator to arrive. Glancing up at the panel just above the elevator doors, she saw the button light up that the nearest car was on the 25th floor and, with that information, decided to just walk up the two flights to Missing Persons.

She swung the heavy door open and entered the dimly lit stairwell, the door slamming shut behind her with a loud thud. The click of her heels echoed loudly in the otherwise empty stairwell, and she had nearly reached the top when she felt her cell phone buzz in her pocket.

She removed it from her pocket and flipped it open, stopping at the top of her second flight of stairs. She hit 'answer' and said, "Hey, did you just get in?"

"Yeah, plane just landed ten minutes ago," Martin answered back. She could hear the smile in his voice as he said, "I'm on my way to meet with John and Anna at the office before my lunch with Philip Hoyt. How is Naomi?"

"She's fine," Sam answered, shifting her weight from one foot to the other and leaning back against the wall. "She said something about going out on Friday night, but she was being purposely evasive, so I'm not sure what to make of it."

He paused for a second on the other end of the line. "Do you think it was with Danny?"

She chewed on her lower lip thoughtfully. "The thought did cross my mind. I know Danny was on his way to meet someone on Friday, but it could just be coincidence. I'm just glad to see her going out again; she'll tell me when she's ready."

"Look at you being all wise," he teased. "When did that happen?"

"Probably when I started hanging around you," she countered, pausing dramatically before she added, "After all, you know what they say: keep your friends close and your enemies closer."

Martin laughed. "Okay, okay. You've made your point." He paused for a beat, "Hey, I've got Rick calling me, so I'll talk to you later tonight?"

"Yeah, give me a call whenever you're done," she paused for a beat, smiling to herself. They said their goodbyes and Sam hit the 'end' button before flipping her phone shut and slipping it back into her pocket. She pushed the heavy door open and entered the 12th floor hallway.

All around her agents were bustling about their days, rushing quickly around searching for suspects or victims or evidence. She smiled to herself as a sense of calm euphoria settled over her, and she picked up her steps. The entire team had began to assemble at the conference table, and she strode up to join them.

She pulled out a chair and sat down, getting suspicious and curious looks from both Vivian and Naomi. Danny, meanwhile, was otherwise oblivious as he looked beyond the table to where Jack was approaching from his office.

"Good morning," Viv said, hands gripping her coffee mug.

"Morning," came Jack's gruff reply. He took a seat at the head of the table, holding his coffee and the morning newspaper in his hands.

"Yankees got their asses kicked this weekend," Danny said with a cheerful, satisfied smirk.

"So I heard," Jack replied. He took a long sip of his coffee and glanced around the table at his team assembled before him. Sam felt his gaze linger on her and she looked up. Jack spun his coffee cup around until the black lettering that read FBI was facing out and said, "You're late Samantha. Are you alright?" He paused for a beat, getting her attention. "You look flushed."

Sam looked around the table at her surrogate family assembled before her: Danny, his face contorted and slightly confused; Naomi, looking on with encouragement; Vivian, calm but expectant; and Jack; his expression subtle and unreadable. Viv reached over and touched Sam's arm reassuringly, and Sam was certain that both she and Naomi knew what she was about to say.

Her gaze travelled around the table once more and she smiled. "I'm sorry I'm late," she said, slowly at first but picking up speed and confidence as she let her excitement sink in. "I just met with Van Doren, and I've asked to be transferred to DC as soon as something opens up." She paused, looking from Viv to Naomi to Danny and finally raising her eyes to look at Jack. She took one last deep breath and smiled. "Martin and I are getting married."

xxxxx

End Undertow. Epilogue to follow.