A/N: Thank you all for the wonderful encouragement and feedback. I wrote this to explore the M/S relationship (or rather the lack of one in recent seasons) and to help me emotionall [yes, I'm obsessed to 'get over' them as a couple. I started this rather angry at Ms. Samantha Spade, if you've read Hindsight and/or What Comes Around, well, you're quite familiar with my anger. However, as I explored Sam's character and tried to understand her I found I could no longer stay angry and while my original intent was to make sure she got her comeuppance in a most public, humiliating way, in the end, I found I too had grown and could no longer be mean.

So instead I give you what I hope is the middle ground, the vague, unsure, somewhat gray territory that---well, that is best expressed through Seether's song, Broken, and sung so wonderfully with Amy Lee of Evanescence.

I make only half-hearted apologies that the MP case is abruptly and rapidly wrapped up and that our boys time on the mountain is quickly closed, the voice and heart of this chapter belongs soles to M/S and everything that needed to be said and done to lead up to their 'moment' had already happened.

So thank you again for the encouragement and support, I give you the final chapter of this my most challenging undertaking to date.

Laurel

Medley:

Chapter 14:

Broken:

I wanted you to know that
I love the way you laugh
I wanna hold you high and steal your pain away…
I keep your photograph and
I know it serves me well
I wanna hold you high and steal your pain.

'Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome
And I don't feel right when you're gone away
You gone away, you don't feel me here, anymore

Seether: Disclaimer, 2002

It was late by the time Jack finally arrived at Base Camp. He'd had a chance to converse with the team back in New York and to hear that they had managed to capture the man behind the fires, of course, that still meant that Jeff Pierce was on the loose but the Utah and Colorado teams had combined to work with the states' police forces to shut down the man's escape.

He'd had a couple of conversations with Victor Fitzgerald during his flight, as well as on the drive up to Base Camp and each time he could hear the controlled yet evident concern. He was a bit surprised to learn that Victor had taken the time to contact Silvia Alvarez, Danny's sister-in-law, to relay his concern for Danny and to assure her that the Bureau was doing everything possible and did she need anything.

Jack and Victor had certainly had a rocky professional relationship over the years but once Jack realized that Victor truly did care for his son, and Victor realized that Jack for all his free swinging tendencies as an agent wasn't out to hurt his son's reputation or use Martin for his own gains, the two men had settled into if not a friendly professional relationship then at least a cordial one.

The time when Martin had been shot and nearly killed had shaken Victor to the core and Jack as well – not that he'd ever admit that to anyone—and the two had added another layer to their association. At least this time, Jack thought, Victor didn't blame him for Martin's disappearance and while it was obvious the man wanted to join in the search he knew his place was in D.C. where no doubt he was trying to wrest a satellite to hone in on the area and assist with the search.

Jack knew that would never happen, Victor had ties but not that kind.

Jack stopped his musing as he realized that Mike, the 'trusted man' Grenz had sent to pick him up, was stopping the truck. Looking through the windshield Jack took in the lights shining from the gas powered generators and saw several vehicles and many tents, large and small, set up in a cleared area. Getting out of the truck Jack pulled the hood of his jacket over his head to keep out the chilly drizzle that continued to fall and leaned back in to grab his 'ready bag.'

Following Mike he ducked under the tent flap and entered the command center of Base Camp. His eyes swept the interior, noting the maps, the electronics and the presence of half a dozen personnel on phones or poring over maps on a nearby table. A tall, muscular man with graying around the temples and three-day old stubble that was speckled with some gray approached and extended his hand.

"Emmett Grenz, you must be Supervisory Special Agent Jack Malone."

Jack returned the strong grip, "It's Jack if it's all the same to you."

"Good, around here things change fast and if anyone has to spout that moniker more than once, well, you'd likely be left behind." The twinkle in the man's bloodshot eyes told Jack plenty; this was his kind of guy.

"So, if things change so fast around here, any chance my agents are found and as we speak be transported down off the mountainside?" Jack knew that was unlikely but he wanted to let Grenz know right away that he was ready to get down to business.

"No such luck. The drizzle that greeted you at the airport and then again all the way over here combined with the wind earlier today and the fog has kept all aerial maneuvers grounded today. Other than a few reconnaissance planes that were able to scout the fire, we weren't able to do anything via air.

Good news however, the latest Doppler radar shows this front passing through over night and we'll be airborne in the morning. I have choppers standing by that will be in the air as soon as conditions allow which look to be just after dawn.

I've had crews working to clear a road of sorts so that some of our vehicles can get up to the last known whereabouts of your agents. We'll head out at first light, until then I've got a tent, well it's the same tent your agents used when they got here and Mike put their bags that they brought with them in the tent before he left to pick you up. We outfitted them in new gear for being on the mountain so their personal stuff is still here."

"Great, so I take it there's really nothing to be done tonight?" Jack asked frustrated at the inability to get right into work mode.

"Unfortunately Jack, the best thing for right now is to go get what rest you can and we'll start at dawn. The weather and the dark are still against us and there just isn't anyway around that."

"Right. I guess I'll go make myself comfortable." With that Mike escorted Jack out of the tent and gave him a quick tour showing him the various facilities, managed to sneak him a sandwich from the mess tent and then left him at the tent that was assigned to him for the night.

Hours later Jack still lay awake on the canvas cot his mind on his missing agents and wondering what tomorrow would bring. As the rain continued to beat a monotonous tone on the ceiling of his tent he wrapped himself tighter in the heavy blanket and wondered how Martin and Danny were faring this the second night of their disappearance, and as the night wore on and Jack caught snatches of sleep his mind never strayed from his concern for his agents nor his rock solid certainty that they were, in fact, still alive.

The next morning Danny and Martin woke at the same time, actually, neither had slept much; mostly they just huddled miserably on the cold ground, backs pressed to the cold rock with their shelter acting both as weather break and blanket. They were cold, tired, hungry, achy and thirsty and most of all eager to put an end to this their latest assignment and not only leave this particular mountain, but the state that it stood in.

Daring to peer out from behind their meager weather break they were encouraged to see the transformation that had been wrought overnight. While the sun had yet to fully emerge from beneath the horizon already the sky was lightening and they could see that the sky looked to be devoid of clouds and there was no more rain, nor did it look like any fog or mist remained at ground level.

Emerging from beneath their protective rock they both stood and slowly stretched and straightened stiff and protesting joints and limbs neither giving voice to their usual teasing banter as both felt wretched.

"Well, I've got some trail mix that I'll trade you for." Danny offered after he and Martin had complete their morning 'personal routine.'

"All right." Martin agreed and dug into his jacket pocket. "Let's see, yep, here you go." And the two men tossed the bags in the air each catching the other.

"Great. Trail mix." Danny commented as he pulled open the bag and started to munch on the contents.

"Mm-mm good." Martin agreed.

The two men stood and crunched the contents of their bags until they had swallowed every last morsel.

"Sure wish we'd had something to catch some more of that rain in." Martin said after swallowing the last of his peanuts.

"I agree." Danny said as he tried to work some moisture back into his mouth.

"Well, I'm all fueled up, what say we hike out of here." Martin eyed Danny who lifted his eyebrows back at him in agreement and then they both looked all around them surveying their choices.

"What do think, Martin, maybe—uh, down?"

"Down is good. I like the idea of down."

Both men began their slow journey down the mountain, each footstep a painful reminder since their feet had nice blisters at their heels and Danny had a doozy of one, he just knew it, on the top of his little toe on his left foot.

As the sun slowly rose above the horizon intent on shining its light on the gray hillside two lone figures stumbled and limped slowly down the terrain, from above they were barely visible as their ash covered, mud covered gear blended into the ashy gray surface over which they trod.

It was a little over an hour later, and barely a mile of stumbling over hidden stumps and rocks that the two men heard the faint yet unmistakably constant thump, thump, thump of a helicopter. Well aware that they were filthy and likely to blend into the terrain they grabbed their signal mirrors that were safely stowed in their jacket pockets and caught the rising sun's rays and reflected them back into the sky.

As they stood there desperately signaling for help the steady thrumming of the helicopter continued closer and closer until finally it appeared and headed straight towards them, no doubt, honing in on the flashes of light. The chopper came closer until it was above them seeming to need a visual authentication before it moved off to a distance and came lower to the ground, finally a man appeared off the side of the chopper and within seconds he had rappelled to the ground, a heavy pack on his back.

The chopper moved away as the figure on the ground signaled and then it hovered while Martin and Danny slowly made their way to the newcomer who quickly moved towards them.

"Hey, are you Agents Fitzgerald and Taylor?"

"That's us, I'm Danny Taylor and this is my partner, Martin Fitzgerald."

"Well, we've got a whole camp full of people who are going to be glad about that."

Their 'rescuer' quickly radioed to the waiting chopper that they had indeed found the two agents and the chopper responded in a message neither Martin nor Danny caught but they watched as it quickly dipped down and then disappeared down the hillside.

"He's headed down to direct the rest of the search party our way. We can't land a chopper here, too much debris and we can't get a vehicle up this far so we've got to make our way down about another mile to where we can get a vehicle to transport you the rest of the way down."

Their new 'friend' came with supplies, he was a medic and he brought food and more importantly water. While cleaning their feet and bandaging them and checking to ensure they had no other injuries or ailments they consumed a quart each of water and slowly munched some peanut butter sandwiches and apples that he had brought with him.

By the time it took for them to eat and drink and have their feet tended a half an hour had passed and they had only gotten underway for about 15 minutes past that when Jim's, as their guide/medic/rescuer/ and bringer of food and water was called, radio crackled and both agents heard the familiar voice of Emmett Grenz growling across the airwaves.

"Jim, it's Grenz, we're probably less than a quarter of a mile from your known position, hold there and we'll meet up and help you get those two down."

"Roger that."

Gratefully Danny and Martin folded themselves back down onto the ground and waited and sure enough, in less than 15 minutes they saw a group of figures trudging up the hill towards them. Shielding their eyes against the sun that was directly in front of them and still slowly ascending into the sky Martin and Danny grinned as they made out the familiar figure of none other than Jack Malone struggling through the ashy terrain.

When he appeared to trip over an unseen rock or stump or branch both men stifled chuckles and quickly looked down pretending not to notice, wouldn't do to tick him off just when he'd brought them food and water and could still very well leave them behind as he was likely now to count them as his two most expensive and notoriously troublesome agents.

Later that afternoon, Base Camp

After the rescue from the mountain, some well-deserved showers, shaves and more food and water and a more in-depth physical exam both men were pronounced none the worse for their ordeal and while they were more than a little footsore, that would pass with time and both agents were only too happy to return their 'borrowed' yet life-saving gear and don their personal clothing, especially their own broken in boots.

Danny had been given the use of one phone to call Elena and Martin another to call his father and both recipients were not only greatly relieved to hear their loved ones' voices but readily offered to spread the word that both men were alive and well and would be returning with Jack the next day.

As for Jeff Pierce, he'd finally been located trying to cross into Arizona on Interstate 191. Martin and Danny were shown his picture and readily identified him as their 'guide' who had led them astray and into the path of the inferno and since Hastings was already in custody and seemingly drained of all his hatred, broken and dispirited the case was going to be relatively easy to prosecute although Martin and Danny's presence would be required when, and if, it went to trial.

As it was they gave their statements to the local agents and along with Jack drove away from the mountain before dusk that evening, chauffeured once again by the able and trusted Mike to the Monticello airport where, through the efforts of Victor, no doubt, a plane was be waiting to transport all three agents across the country over the nighttime hours.

Two days later: Martin's apartment.

Martin was at home reading a book and enjoying a couple of days' down time that both he and Jack agreed was well-deserved. The knock on his door surprised him; he hadn't been expecting anyone. Swinging his feet to the floor and standing up he walked to the door and peered out the peephole and saw Samantha.

Stepping backwards he quickly unchained and unlocked the door and swung it wide.

"Hi, this is a surprise." She gave him a small smile but looked him square in the eye, something lately he'd noticed she didn't do anymore, usually her eyes just slid across his face; they didn't settle and hold his gaze like before.

He stepped back and indicated for her to come in.

"Yeah, I – I decided not to call because I was afraid that, if I did, either you would tell me not to bother or that I might hear something in your voice and misinterpret it and then scare myself out of coming here." Sam babbled the words rapidly as she entered Martin's apartment.

"Okay. Do you want something to drink?" Martin closed the door behind her and gestured for her to take a seat.

"Yeah, water would be great, thanks." She gratefully took off her coat and then settled into a chair, her coat folded across her lap.

Martin returned from the kitchen with a glass of water and then he sat in another chair facing her.

She took a sip of water, really stalling more than anything and watched as he just looked at her, curious but nothing more.

"I wanted to come by to first of all tell you how glad I am that you're all right." Sam started with something easy hoping the jitters she felt would calm a bit as she got going.

"Well, thanks, I appreciate that but you already told me that over the phone."

"I know. I wanted to say it in person. I also wanted to tell you that I've been doing a lot of thinking while you were gone and I've made some decisions about my life and who I am and what I want and who I want." Sam emphasized the last who and looked him deeply in the eye hoping to see some reaction from him but there wasn't any; it was as if he was nothing more than curious and not a part of this discussion.

"Okay. Well, that's good. I guess now that you have a baby coming it's probably good that you get some things settle---why are you telling me this?"

"Martin, I'm telling you this because I realized, finally realized that what I've wanted all along but hadn't admitted to myself was everything that you offer and what you and I could have had before if I had been less afraid of what everyone else would think."

Sam stood up needing to walk around a bit as if by the very nature of physical movement she could demonstrate the emotional movement she'd gone through recently.

"Just listen, when you said what you said to me that night in the office after the whole Lamaze thing, I was hurt. I was hurt and I was angry and I blamed you for being stuck on yourself and shallow and—and the truth is that I was the one that was stuck on herself and shallow and foolish and living a fantasy a make believe something, I'm not sure what to call it."

Sam stopped her pacing and stared at Martin, he was looking at her intently as if weighing the conviction of her words. She turned slightly as she gathered her thoughts again and her gaze swept across his desk, there was a picture of her in the center of the back of the desk. It was a picture of her sitting on the step of her building looking down the street. It was a picture that at the time she hadn't known he had taken as he'd gone out for a run and had come back, seen her sitting there and used his phone to snap the picture and then downloaded it.

It was an unguarded moment and she used to hate the picture although Martin loved it. He said it captured all of her that he loved, her vulnerability, her poise, her softness. He'd said when he looked at that picture he saw sorrow yet contentment, he saw vulnerability yet steadfast strength as she was looking forward, outward not down or defeated. The fact that she had no make up on and her hair was a tangle in the wind only added to the dimensions that he liked as he said there was no mask, no fakery there, just the bare essence of a person whose spirit is swirling and in turmoil but she sits still with grace and poise amidst the storm.

She'd laughed at him and called him a hopeless romantic and had made him promise to hide the picture and after that whenever she'd come to his apartment although she looked, it was nowhere to be found. She smiled sadly as she walked to the picture and gently touched the simple, delicate frame that it rested in. He must have decided that, since they were no longer together, he could do what he wanted with the picture since he wouldn't have to listen to her complaints.

She felt tears sting her eyes as she realized that of all the things he could have done with the photo, he'd kept it, in fact, he willingly displayed it where he could look at it daily. He placed it in the most visible place on the desk where he could purposely avoid looking at it if he chose but where it would easily be seen whenever someone walked into the room whether from the door because they had to walk behind it to hang up their coat, or from the kitchen, or from the hallway that led to the bedroom, this picture was in the most visible spot in the apartment.

As she turned back to Martin she noticed something that she'd never seen before and that looked strangely out of place in Martin's apartment, a watercolor painting. It was not matted and framed nor hung; it simply leaned against the wall at the back of the desk behind the lamp. The colors were pastel and light and airy, the setting was a park with ducks and water and the silhouettes of a man and a woman and a dog strolling along as an artist painted them.

It was simple and bright and Sam felt herself smiling without even thinking about it. She wondered what had possessed Martin to bring this into his home since, while he wasn't an art snob by any means, it just was so—so not Martin.

Curious about the painting but wanting to finish her talk with Martin more she turned to face him only to realize that he was standing right behind her watching her. As she looked into his deep blue eyes she saw the tenderness there that he'd used to have in those eyes when he gazed at her and she felt a flush of warmth in her belly. She knew her eyes at that moment were reflecting the same depth of feeling back to him.

He took her hands and held them gently as he looked into her eyes and this time she didn't look away; she wasn't afraid.

"Sam, I don't know how to say this without being insulting or---I don't know. But, I know that sometimes—we both know that, when times are urgent or we think the worst or there's a crisis, that people don't necessarily think or feel or understand---"

Sam shook her head. "I think you're about to say that the reason I'm here saying these things is because you were lost and no one knew where you were or if you were all right, right?"

He nodded relieved to see she wasn't angry.

"Martin, it's important that you know that I realized what a fool I'd been and how cruel I'd been before the news came that you and Danny were lost. Oh, yeah, when you left I was angry, but then Elena and I had a real talk, a real girl talk and I started thinking about some things and well, Vivian helped me see some things as well about myself, things I wasn't very proud of. I did a lot of thinking while you were gone.

I need you to know that when the word came that you and Danny were missing I had already handed Jack my transfer papers so that you and I would be in different divisions and not complicate our relationship and Elena and Vivian and I were at a lunch that I was treating them to as a thank you for kicking some sense into my thick head. You see, I knew that you were the man I want; the man I need; the man I am willing and ready to fight for before I heard that you were in danger."

"Sam, I –I don't know what to say to you; it's just that—"

"What, it's just what?" She was confused, the look in his eyes was of caring and concern and there was a warmth there as well but there was—sadness? What? It hit her as she watched his eyes focus on something just behind her and she turned and then she saw it, of course, the painting, the painting of the man and the woman in the park. She looked at it more closely and noticed that although the rendering of the figures allowed for many interpretations as watercolors tend to do, the hair on the woman had a soft hue of red, the length was to the shoulder and the woman was tall, almost as tall as the man.

Turning back to Martin she saw that he had followed her gaze and as she looked at him and saw the gentle smile on his lips and the lightness in his eyes and –and perhaps something more she knew. Sam knew at that moment as only a woman can know that there was someone else.

She stepped closer to the desk, reached forward and gently lifted the painting from its place and held it in front of her studying it. She turned and looked at Martin and saw him watching her. Still looking at him and knowing there would be something there, she turned the painting over and looked at the back, there written in ink was an inscription: Martin, a memory of our day in the park. I hope you will enjoy the memory as much as I. Holly

Tears stung her eyes as she held the painting and absorbed the meaning behind those words. Gently setting the painting back in its former place she turned back to Martin and reached up to touch his cheek. He leaned slightly into the softness of her hand and she smiled at him in sadness at what could have been and should have been and perhaps someday might be but not today.

Leaning forward Martin gently kissed her on her forehead, the kiss a promise of friendship and a promise that no matter what he'd always be there for her. Then he stepped away, went to the chair she had been sitting in and picked up her coat. Sam followed him and waited as he held her coat out for her and then assisted her in putting it on.

They walked the few paces to his door and he opened it for her and she stepped through it and turned to look at him and he was looking at her. She smiled and lifted her hand in a wave and he returned the gesture and then as she looked down he closed the door. She stood there listening as the door clicked close and then heard the snap of the deadbolt engaging and the chain sliding into place. She stood there for several minutes unable to will herself to move down the hallway.

On the other side of the door Martin stood silently, his hand and head pressed against the door listening for Sam's footsteps.

Broken

The worst is over now
And we can breathe again
I wanna hold you high, you steal my pain away
There's so much left to learn
And no one left to fight
I wanna hold you high and steal your pain

'Cause I'm broken when I'm open
And I don't feel like I am strong enough
'Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome
And I don't feel right when you're gone away

'Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome
And I don't feel right when you're gone…
You gone away, you don't feel me here anymore

Seether: Disclaimer, 2002

December 2007