003: Call to Action

A harsh, loud laugh rang out. A horrific face loomed in front of her, laughing manically. All around her she heard screaming. A gun was waving in front of her face. Another man lay on the ground in a pool of his own blood. The laughing and screaming never ceased.

"If you're an FBI agent why didn't you save them?"

The horrid question kept repeated over and over with the laughing and screaming in the background.

There was a gunshot.

Angela Harper sat straight up in her bed in a cold sweat.

Outside it was raining. Lightning raked through the sky, illuminating her room. A crash of thunder quickly followed. As Angela's breathing slowly returned to normal, she tried to get rid of the nightmare she had just had.

It wasn't the first time either. The same dream had been plaguing her sleep for the past six months. Ever since May.

Trying not to think about the dream or the Incident, she looked at her clock. 4:32. She knew she wouldn't be able to get back to sleep, so she threw her legs over the side of the bed and got up. After a quick cup of coffee, Angela dressed, grabbed her coat, and left her apartment. There was no sense in staying there. She would just be forced to dwell on what had happened and she had wasted too much time in the past doing that. She might as well go to the office and get started on the paperwork that awaited her.

It was a little after five when she arrived. Everything was dark and empty, but somehow Angela found it comforting. She set her belongings down at her desk and turned on a lamp and began her work.

As she worked, her mind wandered to the rest of the team. She had settled in quite nicely and was starting to get used to everyone. Even if they weren't getting used to her.

Samantha was clever and despite her cool attitude towards her, Angela rather liked her. She could get away with joking with all of the members, including Jack. Angela respected her.

She also deeply respected Vivian. She was probably the most rational of the five. Her maternal nature was coupled with an extraordinarily sharp mind which made her a great ally but one hell of an enemy.

Jack was the same way: he would protect his team to the end and if anyone ever tried to touch one of them, they were really in for it. Angela never ceased to be amazed by his ability to get inside people's heads, and sometimes it was just unnerving.

Martin… Martin made Angela smile. He was a little quirky and had a really cute smile, but he was a fierce agent. He seemed as though he was always trying to prove himself, though he had already proven himself too many times to count. And he always seemed to want to do the right thing.

And then… then there was Danny. Danny was such… a pain. He was very quick and extremely clever and his sarcasm and good looks didn't help matters. He had a good bond with all of the other agents, but he simply refused to like Angela. And he hated to be told that he was wrong or to be shown up by someone. Especially by a female desk watcher. If he didn't have such an ego, Angela might have even considered asking him to get a drink. Because he was rather good looking. And clever. And he liked the Mets…

Angela's thoughts were interrupted by the sharp clicking of heels on the tiled floor. She had been there for about an hour now, but she still wasn't expecting anyone to come in until around eight.

The slender form of a woman turned the corner and entered the dark, large room, only lit by Angela's lamp. The single light source caught the blonde hair as Samantha turned to see who was at work.

"What are you doing here so early?" she questioned as she set her purse down on her desk. For once her question didn't demand an answer; she was actually interested.

"I couldn't sleep," Angela replied with a small yawn. She wanted desperately for this to be the turning point in their friendship. While Samantha had been growing continually warmer to her, now calling her "Angela" instead of "Agent Harper," she was still stiff with her.

"Why are you in this early? I wasn't expecting any one until later."

"Oh, well," Samantha said, not looking at her. "I couldn't really sleep either."

Angela observed her for a while, knowing that there was more, but she wasn't sure if she should push. But before she could stop herself, she asked.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Samantha turned sharply, probably surprised at the question. It was a few seconds before moved. With a sigh, she walked over to Angela's desk and sat in a spare chair.

"It's just…" she began. "Martin and I… we're just hitting a rough patch."

"How so?" Angela had assumed by heir body language through the past month that the two had at least been sleeping together.

"I don't know. It's like… we're always fighting. Over little things. And I guess he's starting to think about the future, and he knows what he wants. A really classic American family. I mean, kids, dog, barbeques, a country club membership—"

"Hey, hey. Take a breath," Angela grinned holding up her hands. "But you… don't want a family?"

"Well, I don't know," Samantha said with a confused and frustrated look on her face. "I just didn't expect it to come up this soon. I don't know what I want. I barely know what I'm going to have for lunch. And I mean Martin…" her expression softened as she said his name. "It's just like he has everything all planned out… He's going to be a great dad someday, Angela. But me? I don't think I could be a mother."

"Oh, Samantha, please," Angela said, almost surprising herself at her interruption, but she continued. "I've seen you with the kids that come up here. You are so patient and gentle with them. And they adore you."

Samantha scoffed at this, but Angela just looked at her with a raised eyebrow and a serious face. She thought about it for a few seconds.

"But… I couldn't be a mother."

"Yeah? Why not?"

Samantha didn't say anything and stared aimlessly at something on Angela's desk. Angela finally understood. It was something about her past.

"Listen, I'm not going to tell you what to do, but personally, I think you'd be a good mother. But I would suggest going and talking to Martin. Just talk it out. Tell him what you told me. You guys will figure it out."

Neither one of them moved, until Samantha looked back at Angela and realized what she had said. "Wait, now?"

"You've got two hours," Angela smiled. "Go on. Go. I think I can hold down the fort."

Samantha laughing lightly and stood up. She considered it for a few second, and then turned to grab her coat and purse. As she threw her coat over her shoulders, she turned and looked back at Angela.

"Hey, Angela?"

"Hmm?"

There was a short pause before she smiled softly. "Thanks."

"Not a problem. Now go," she said with a grin, waving her hands at her.

Samantha turned to go, but stopped once again. "And… I'm sorry."

Instead of asking what she was sorry for, Angela just smiled softly. "Get out of here."

---

The team was hardly in the office that day, though the kept Angela plenty busy. A background check here, a phone call there. Every once in a while, one of them would pop into the office to grab a fax or to consult with the tech team. As the credit card records for Rachel Duchess were being printed, a warm voice disrupted Angela's wandering thoughts.

"Good morning, Angela."

She turned and was pleasantly surprised at who had greeted her.

"Well, good morning to you, Martin. How are things out on the field?"

"Slow," he admitted. "All the leads seem to dead end."

"One will turn up. It's only been seven hours. Plus—" Angela snatched the papers off the printer. "—I have her credit card records." She looked back at him and though he was smiling, he looked a little distracted. "You talk to Samantha this morning?" she asked concerned.

"Yeah," he chuckled. "She came banging on my door at 6:15 this morning." He looked up at her. "Wait, how'd you know?"

She shrugged with a playful grin. "She was at the office early this morning when I was. We had a chat."

"Yeah?" he grinned. "You two best friends now?"

Angela laughed. "Getting there. Four down…" her eyes flickered to Danny's vacant desk. "One to go. I just…" she gave him an exasperated look. "Martin, I don't get him. I understood Samantha's issues with me. I mean, another woman on her turf? Completely understandable. You and Vivian never really had a problem with me, but you got used to me—"

"—And now can't live without your amazing background checks," he added.

"Jack hasn't had a complaint about me yet. But I just don't get him. Vivian's always telling me that he'll come around, but it's been a month and a half. And all I've done is cross check phone logs and run out alibis for him."

"You want to know what I think it is? I think he's scared of you."

Angela stared at Martin for a few seconds before she began to laugh.

"I really think he is," he said again.

"Yeah?" she asked, cocking an eyebrow at the cute man in his polka-dotted tie. "And why is that?"

"Because Elena—"

"You people blame all your problems on her."

"You never met her. Danny will never admit it, but she stole his heart the first time he saw her. And she was always cold towards him. Broke him every day he had to work with her."

"I don't want to date him," Angela said, although that was just a flat out lie. "I just want to work civilly with him."

"He's just trying to protect himself, Angela," Martin explained. "Distance is how he protects himself. From women, from his family—"

"His family?"

Martin sighed. "He had a pretty rough childhood, ok? His parents died when he was young and his other brother didn't really look after him all that well. Listen, Angela," he said softly. "He just doesn't want to get hurt again."

At that precise moment, Martin's phone rang.

"It's Jack," he said, looking at the caller ID. He glanced back up at Angela. "He really will come around. I promise."

"Like I haven't heard that before. Now answer your phone and get going, Agent."

"Good luck with those credit cards," he said before answering his phone. "Agent Fitzgerald."

As Angela was turning back to her desk, Martin caught her arm.

"Yeah, she's right here," he said into his phone with a note of confusion in his voice.

Angela looked at him with a questioning face, but he just furrowed his brow as he listened.

"You sure? Alright. Yeah, we'll be down there in fifteen minutes."

As he snapped his phone closed, Angela stared at him. "We—?"

"Jack wants us down there for the ambush. Both of us."

"But I can't—I'm not a field agent," Angela protested, feeling the color drain out of her face.

"He said that they needed you. You'd better grab your gun."

A/N: Huzzah! Another chapter! Ok, so I decided that I'll update this story every Monday and Friday. I can't take postponing it another day. So be here Monday and Fridays. :)

So here's another chapter. I hope you guys liked it. I'm getting really positive reviews about it which makes me really excited. The questions for this chapter… well, the obvious "What's the deal with Angela's nightmare?" And the recurring question "What happened to Angela in May?"

Danny's not actually in this chapter, but a few of you commented about his cold and arrogant attitude. I'm sorry, I know it's slightly frustrating to have him be that way, but you know, look at the circumstances. He's just mad because someone's on his turf. It's a guy thing (I think. Maybe. I wouldn't know.) But don't worry. The Danny we know and love will soon emerge. Or will it? Will he change his mind about Angela? Will she change her mind? What will happen between them? Dun, dun, dun. Haha. Ok leave reviews!