Chapter 24

XXXXXXX

Eight months later…

"Gather 'round people, we have a new case."

Sam grabbed her notepad, pen and coffee mug before spinning around in her chair and heading to the conference table. She sat down in a chair at the far end, preparing to listen to the details of the case as she casually sipped her coffee. She could feel a pair of brown eyes staring at her cup longingly so she looked over and asked, "Are you jonesing for the caffeine this morning?"

"If someone told me how hard it would be to give up coffee when I got pregnant I might have opted to use a surrogate."

Sam laughed and looked over at the dark haired Latina and replied, "I know you don't mean that."

Desiree grinned and nodded her head. "Oh, no, I do mean it. I miss it so much." She ran her hand over her basketball shaped belly and added, "Not only would I have been able to drink coffee but someone else would have had to deal with the gas, heartburn, back aches, not to mention the seemingly endless trips to the bathroom."

"Well, despite all that you wear pregnancy very well," Sam replied, setting her cup down on the table. "You're really glowing."

"That's not glowing, it's perspiration." Desiree replied with a wink.

Sam laughed.

"You only have three more months," Sarah chimed in as she took the chair opposite them. Sarah was the second most senior agent on the team as well as the hardworking mother of three boys. "You just have to hold out a little longer."

"Not when you factor in breastfeeding," Desiree replied, releasing a tired, heavy sigh. "That's at least another six months right there."

Sam sat back and smiled as she listened to the two women argue the merits of breastfeeding versus the bottle when Frasier cleared his throat and said, "If I can interrupt this fascinating discussion, I'd like to get started on this investigation if that's alright."

"Sorry," Desiree and Sarah replied in unison.

"Thank you," he replied before he began telling the team about the missing person.

Sam took notes and glanced around the table at her new team in Los Angeles. In addition to Desiree and Sarah, there was Jerry and Gabriel and, of course, the team's SAC, Robert Frasier. When she transferred from New York she was worried about having to bond with a new team, particularly since she would be taking over the position that was vacated due to a death of a team member but they were all very nice and made her feel like she fit right in from the get-go.

Months ago, when she finally made the decision to transfer out of Jack's unit, she couldn't believe how liberated she felt. It was like a huge weight she didn't even know she had been carrying for all those years was lifted from her. She grew excited by the thought of starting someplace fresh and immediately went to work trying to find any open positions.

And while making the decision to transfer out was easy, finding an open position in a Missing Persons Unit was not. After hours of scanning the FBI Human Resources webpage she found out that the only current job postings were in Albuquerque, New Mexico or Salt Lake City, Utah. After years of living in New York she couldn't imagine living in either one of those places so with a heavy heart but a desperate desire she called up Frasier and asked him about having to fill in his fallen agent's position in Los Angeles. Thankfully he told her that while he was still upset about losing an agent he was very glad that she wanted to join his team and would gladly accept her transfer request.

Once the location of her transfer was settled the next step was much harder. She had to tell the team that she was leaving. Danny and Elena were very supportive of her decision even though they were sad to learn that she was going to be moving across the country. They joked that their one consolation was that it would give them an excuse to go out west and take Sofie to Disneyland. Viv was incredibly supportive, telling her that transferring was probably the bravest and most wise decision she has ever made. She didn't know Henry very well but he still wished her good luck – and then asked if he could have her chair when she left. The last person she had to tell was Jack and she dreaded having to do so. There was so much history there but she knew she had to do it, make the break clean and fast.

XXX

She wanted to wait until the job was secure before telling Jack. Once she got the confirmation from Frasier she hung back until the team was gone for the night. She sat at her desk and spotted Jack sitting at his desk, reading over case notes. She knew it was now or never so she took a deep breath and walked over to his office carrying the form in her hand, knocking softly on the door. "You got a minute?"

He looked up at her, his thick-framed reading glasses perched on his nose. "Sure, come on in." She strode in purposefully, her resolve strong as she sat down on the chair opposite of him. He removed his glasses and asked, "What's up?"

She handed him the sheet of paper and said, "I need to submit my transfer papers."

He blanched as he accepted the form, glancing at it briefly before looking back up at her. "You're transferring? To which unit? There aren't any openings in Missing Persons or White Collar, Elena has already checked." He leaned back in his chair and said, "I can't imagine you working anywhere but MPU."

She gave him a tight-lipped smile and replied, "I'm still going to work Missing Persons." She squared her shoulders and looked him directly in the eye. "I'm transferring to Los Angeles."

Jack's mouth gaped open as he stared at her in disbelief. "LA?"

She nodded.

The air was quiet for a long beat as Jack absorbed her words. He cleared his throat and looked away quickly before refocusing his attention on her. "I guess I shouldn't be so surprised. This was bound to happen eventually." He folded his hands, placing them on the desktop. "Is this because of us?"

She shook her head and laughed. Not because it was funny but because after all this time he still managed to bring everything back to him. "No."

He processed her answer before asking, "Is this because of Martin?"

"It doesn't have to do with any of that, at least not directly." She smiled at him realizing in that instant how great it felt that this decision was not about him, or even Martin really, but about herself and what she needed. "I just think it's time for me to move on."

Jack tilted his head and replied, "What if I said I'm still not ready for you to go?"

She shook her head slowly and replied, "Wouldn't matter. I'm ready."

He looked away, staring at the framed certificates on his wall. She knew him well enough to know that he was mentally calculating how he could convince her to stay but was smart enough to know that there wasn't. She gave him the benefit of the doubt and waited but after the length of silence had been extended, she decided they had been sitting in quiet long enough. She stood up and started to the door. "Goodnight."

Just as she reached the doorway, she heard Jack say her name. She turned around to face him and with a gentle look he said, "I guess I was wrong. When it comes to your personal life you don't always make the worst choices."

She stared at him a beat, surprised that she could feel both sad and happy to not see him everyday. She gave him a small smile and said goodnight again before turning and walking down the hall to the elevator.

XXX

Sam wrote down some notes on the missing person as Frasier started doling out the assignments. He looked at her and said, "Samantha, I want you and Jerry to head over to interview her yogi. Her roommate said she had dinner with him two nights ago. It's near the courthouse so you should be done in time to testify in court."

"Sure," she replied as she stood up and started gathering her things.

The trial had begun for Niles Kramer and she was scheduled to testify this afternoon. Kramer decided to fight his charges in court, hoping that his "assistance" to the investigation should have granted him some leniency. While she never enjoyed this part of her job it was a necessary process in order to ensure justice is served. She had hoped that the trial would give her a chance to see Martin, or even Danny or Chao, but the prosecution had agreed to simply use videotaped interviews conducted a few months earlier in New York and Washington.

"Ready to roll?" Jerry asked, walking over to her desk.

"Yeah," she reached over and grabbed her jacket off the back of her chair. "Who's car should we take?"

"I think you should drive," Jerry declared.

She stopped what she was doing and asked, "Me? Really?"

He nodded confidently and as he motioned for them to walk to the elevator he said, "You've got the LA driving down pat. You go fast, you change lanes like you're a pro in NASCAR, and you aren't afraid to bang on the horn."

She laughed as she got into step alongside him and said, "I think that may be one of the nicest things anyone has ever said about me."

He laughed.