Without A Trace - Paternity Eternal

Summary: Another day, another case...but its Martin who's missing. Is the team ready for the secrets they will divulge?

Disclaimer: I own nothing...unfortunately

Authors Note: I have completed made up Martin's past as far as I know, no copyright infringement intended

Chapter One: Slow Day at the Office

It was 9am and the bullpen was already alive with activity. Agents milled about with papers and much needed caffeine, or sat behind their desks, knee deep in paperwork. You gotta love bureaucracy.

Special Agent Vivian Johnson was one of the desk watchers. Before her lay every official document known to man, and she had to fill out every single one of them. She sighed heavily and clicked her pen, preparing to bury herself in work.

It only took a few seconds for her to really need a break. She stood from her desk and headed to her bosses office. She knocked once and entered before he had chance to answer. Jack Malone sat behind his desk with binders full of similar papers to the ones on hers. She smiled knowingly. "Hey Jack."

"Viv, what's up?" asked Jack as he watched her enter.

"I've only just got here and I have the overwhelming desire to go home," was her reply. "I was just wondering if there was something a little more interesting happening..."

"If there was a case you would know by now," Jack interrupted. He smiled at his colleague who huffed at the lack of action. "Is everyone here yet?"

Vivian nodded, "Everyone except Martin, but he always manages to be late. He should be in soon."

"Good, good," Jack rubbed his tired face and then realised something. "Don't you have some paper work to do?" Vivian averted her eyes guiltily, and then with a look from Jack left his office.

As she re-entered the bullpen she saw Sam sitting behind her desk with her head nestled on her folded arms, looking half asleep. "Rough night?"

Sam jumped at the unexpected interruption and then rubbed at her temples, willing her headache to go away. "No," she muttered. "Great night. Rough morning."

Vivian nodded and returned to her papers. Sam blinked wearily and glanced around the room. Across from her was Elena's desk. She and Danny were talking together, too happily for Sam's tired mood. Danny noticed her watching and smiled, causing Sam to smirk. She silently cursed him for never having to experience hangovers now that he was clean.

In her groggy state, it took Sam a few minutes to realise she was one short with the headcount. She looked over to Martin's empty chair, wondering what his excuse for being late was gonna be this time.

She was a young cop. She'd only been on the Force eight years, clawing her way up from cadet to rookie to officer. She loved her job, although some of the things she had seen still haunted her. Her name was Jessica Lake, from Canton, Ohio.

The hotel room was the best she could afford, about 3-star. The colour scheme was questionable and the furniture was out-of-date. But it worked as a stop gap.

She huffed angrily, somehow stopping herself from growling in frustration. He wouldn't pick up his damn phone! She had left him a message last night, but he hadn't phoned her back. He had to. She bit her lip and redialled the number. She waited as it rang three times...

"The person you are calling is currently unavailable. Please leave your name and message after the tone."

She waited for the tone. "Hey Martin, it's Jessie...again. Look, it's really important that I talk to you okay? If your there you gotta pick up." She paused, hoping he would. "Damn, fine. You have to call me the second you get this message because...because you're in trouble okay. I think Anya may be too. Come on Martin, please call me."

She hung up the phone and rubbed her throbbing temples. She pulled out a photo frame from her bag and studied the smiling faces. It had been taken at her family home at Anya's sixth birthday party. The little girl smiled, her two front teeth missing. Martin had come down to visit and he smiled too, hugging his daughter. And there was; there was Suzanne. Jessie blinked back her tears and put the photo frame back.

She picked up her phone and pressed redial.

It was 11am and Sam was beginning to worry. She had stopped being able to focus on her work an hour ago, and the aspirin had finally taken away her headache. She tapped her fingers on the desk, staring expectantly at the elevators. Martin was going to walk through those doors any second now, all apologetic about how late he was.

Or at least she hoped he would.

She noticed how Danny and Vivian kept checking too, and occasionally Jack would come out of his office and look around, but no one had said anything. She tapped her fingers for a few more seconds. Then she pulled her cell phone out of her pocket.

Danny watched her from his desk. He'd been thinking about calling. Sam smiled at him and then dialled his cell number. She got the three rings, and then the recorded message. Damn. She thought to herself. She hung up before the tinny voice finished and dialled his apartment number. She got the same response.

Something wasn't right. She knew it. Sam stood from her desk and walked up to Jack's office. She felt the rest of the team watch her as she entered. "Jack."

"What's up Sam?" asked Jack. He looked up from his paperwork and studied her with concerned eyes.

"I've been trying to reach Martin for over an hour, and he's far later than usual...I...I think something's wrong," worried Sam. She clung to her phone in her pocket, hoping it would ring. Jack nodded. "Can I see if I can find him?"

"We don't have any other cases open, it's been a slow day," replied Jack.

"Is that a yes?" she asked, receiving a look from Jack. "Okay. I'm gonna go by his apartment, see if anything's wrong. It could be nothing."

Jack smiled reassuringly; "It probably is nothing. He'll show up while you're out looking for him."

"Yeah," responded Sam. God I hope so.

There should be some action next chapter, I just needed to introduce everyone!