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Disclaimer:
The names of all characters contained here-in are the property of Jerry
Bruckheimer Films, CBS, etc. No infringments of these copyrights are intended,
and are used here without permission. "Hop Lee isn't really that far, Sam," Danny said to
the blonde agent as they walked through the main lobby of the federal
building. "It is when it's snowing like this," she responded, glaring
at the weather outside through the glass doors. They all stopped and waited
for the final members of their trek to join them. "You are such a suck," Martin chided with a smirk. Vivian watched
on with humour as the younger agents discussed their trek. "I am not. In case you haven't noticed, it freezing cold outside
and it's snowing...heavily," she grumbled. "I just don't like
winter." "No kidding," Danny smiled. "Cutting through Columbus Park, it's 10 minutes, tops," Viv
added, "And it can't be that cold if it's snowing. It's probably
very nice out." "Unless it's 80 and July, it can't possibly be very nice outside."
Sam crossed her arms and glanced warily at the snow-covered sidewalk.
She drowned out the voices of her colleagues chatting about the snow around
her. "I'm going to get a sweater," she announced and took off
to the elevator again, on her way to the gym lockers. They all watched
her go with curious expressions. She was wearing a pretty thick pea-coat. "She is a suck," Danny laughed in agreement with Martin as
the doors closed behind her. Viv shot him a warning glare, but despite
her best efforts a grin slipped out. A brief moment later, the doors chimed
and Jack and his father entered the lobby. The two men joined the rest
of the team. Frank Malone glanced around. "Where's Samantha?" Everyone stared at him for a moment, Jack
more curiously than the rest of the agents. "She's just getting sweater. She'll be joining us shortly,"
Viv responded. As if on cue Sam came marching back to the group huddled
near the doors. Danny tried to suppress his chuckle but failed. Sam was
wearing her Quantico hooded sweatshirt underneath her tight peacoat. She
tried to ignore him as she pulled on her mittens. Martin looked her over
curiously. "You look like the abominable snowman," Danny managed to say
with a relatively straight face. "You look like someone who's about to get pneumonia," she responded
smarmily, obviously not in the mood to be teased any further. Martin opened
the door and Sam briskly walked out into the cold. Holding the door for
everyone else, Martin joined Danny at the rear of the pack, trailing along
behind Vivian, Sam, Jack and Frank. The front group appeared to be involved
in their own conversation leaving Martin and Danny to talk amongst themselves.
They crossed Foley Square with only a few complaints audible from Sam
as she tripped into a snow-covered bench. She quickly rejoined Viv and
Jack. As they stepped onto the sidewalk, Danny slowed to get some distance
between the rest of the team and him and Martin. Martin looked at him
suspiciously. "What's up?" Martin asked. "Nothing." They both continued walking and watching the group
ahead. Danny sighed before continuing. "Has Sam seemed upset to you
today? Do you know if she's ok?" Martin smiled. If only Sam knew that beneath the teasing, Danny worried
about her quite a bit. But he was pretty sure both of them were aware
of the level of care, but it was just more fun to rag on each other. He
shrugged. "Yeah, she's been pretty moody today, but I think she's doing just
fine." He stared at the blonde agent as he spoke, a small smile on
his face as he remembered her earlier confessions. Danny smirked and shook
his head. "I guess the whole thing with Jack has been tough," he said
as his smirk faded, "On all of us." "Guess so." They walked into Columbus Square. The plows hadn't been through for a
while and the snow covering the grass lay undisturbed alongside the pathways,
aside from the snow banks forming. Only a few drifts of snowflakes fell
in gusts of wind. It seemed to have calmed down for the time being. Danny
leant closer to Martin. "How much would I have to pay you to throw a snowball at her?"
he whispered conspiratorially. Martin laughed. "Not enough." "Oh come on. Look, she's in a better mood now," he said pointing
at Sam who was smiling at something Frank had just said. Martin shook
his head. "I don't think so, man. Why don't you do it?" Danny chuckled. "Because she'd rip my limbs from my body without
a second thought. I think she'd be a little gentler on you." "Oh really?" Martin wasn't sure what Danny's comment was supposed
to mean. He still couldn't tell if Danny knew about his and Sam's relationship.
It would appear that he did. "Yeah really. She's always had a soft spot for geeky rookies."
He nudged Martin's arm. Martin glared at him. "Hey, I'm not a rookie anymore," he grinned. "Well
then go on, hot shot. Get her." The idea seemed to roll around in Martin's head for a few moments. He
weighed the consequences, coming to the conclusion that the most likely
retaliation would involve a hard kick to his groin and no invitation over
to her place for the next week. He wasn't completely convinced that would
be worth the amusement. Danny was waiting expectantly for action. He saw
the hesitation on Martin's face. "C'mon. Just imagine the reaction. It would be *priceless*!" They both smiled. "It would be pretty funny." "See? It's just too good an opportunity to pass up." They glanced
at each other. "You know you wanna." The group of agents in front of them was too deeply involved in their
conversation to pay any attention to the two stragglers, one of whom was
gathering snow from the side of the path. Martin approached Sam quietly.
Viv glanced back but he quickly put his free finger to his mouth. She
looked at him as if he were crazy but turned back around. It was convenient
that Sam happened to have grabbed her sweatshirt from her locker earlier.
The hood hung helplessly down her back. Martin carefully picked it up,
keeping pace with her and dumped snow into it. She was oblivious to his
actions. Already predicting the outcome, Danny was desperately holding
back his laughter until Martin had completed the mission. For some reason,
Sam was not cluing into the heavier feeling of her hood as Martin gathered
some more snow. He placed the additional snow into her hood. With a swift motion, he grabbed hold on her hood and yanked it over her
head sending snow cascading over her face and down her back. The accompanying
screams surprised the entire team. Danny burst out laughing as Sam shook
the snow off her head and pushed her hood roughly down. Everyone had stopped
in his or her tracks. Even Viv and Jack looked amused by the younger agent's
antics. The look of utter shock on Sam's face accompanied with her squirming
against the cold melting snow down her back was, as Danny had promised,
priceless. "Martin you DICKHEAD!" Sam screamed, when she finally found
her breath again. 'If looks could kill,' Martin thought. "I HATE YOU!" She continued, making quite the scene in the
middle of the park as she shook herself. Martin tried to contain his own
glee at her predicament. "You are such a jackass," she grumbled as she wiped her face
and then looked at Danny with intent. "And so are you! I know you
caused this!" She pointed a finger threateningly at the Latino agent.
"You are so fucking dead when I get my hands on you." He backed up from her, grinning in complete delight, leaving Martin in
closest range of her wrath. She glared at him. He was still wearing that
stupid Santa hat. But he looked so cute in it. Then the melted snow dripped down the concave of her spine past the waistband
of her pants. She growled and narrowed her eyes. He could tell what she
was planning. Before she could lift her knee to finish him off, he pushed
past her and took off running in front of his colleagues. The pure innocence of the encounter triggered something pleasant in Sam.
Martin and Danny acted like 5 year olds. And it reminded her of easier
times. The party began walking towards their destination again. Martin
stopped far enough in front of the crowd to ensure his safety. Sam acted
as if she was over it as they approached. He visibly relaxed as he took
in her behaviour. Sam came within a few feet of him. Then he saw the gleam
in her eyes. He was immediately on guard again, but it was too late. Sam
dashed after him and as she ran, she shoved a handful of snowy mitten
in his face. They wrestled briefly until he tackled her around, holding
her tightly from behind with her unable to thrust any more snow in his
face. She laughed loudly and his reaction mirrored hers. Jack, Viv, Danny and Frank watched the exchange with a mixture of enjoyment
and curiosity. The smile on Sam's face, and a similar one on Martin's
as he tried to hold onto her, was impressive. She truly hadn't smiled
so wide in ages. Her laughter wasn't stifled after a few chuckles but
bounded continuously over the snow. "Such an ass!" she yelped as he grappled them both into a snow
bank, her face going first. He stood and watched her struggle out of the
snow. He offered a hand, aware of the smirk on her face. After she stood,
ignoring his hand, she snatched the hat from his head, pulling it over
her blonde locks and grinning. Viv peeked up at Jack. His eyes were glued on the scene in front of him.
Up ahead, Martin and Sam were still throwing snow at each other. Danny
and Frank were watching with amusement. Jack's morose mood seemed to deepen
as he watched. Although she had never agreed with Jack's actions regarding
Samantha, Viv sympathized with him at this moment. It would be hard to
finally accept that everything in your life had changed without your permission.
It would be especially hard for someone like Jack who had a hard time
understanding that he was not the centre of everyone else's lives. She
gave Jack's arm a quick pat. He forced a tight smile in thanks. He turned
back to the action. The two younger agents had stopped playing in the snow and walked together
ahead of the group. Sam reached down to grasp Martin's hand, and promptly
dropped it again, realizing quickly that they weren't alone. They waited
for their colleagues to catch up, exchanging apologetic smiles. "Just wait for the rematch Sam," Danny smirked looking at his
friend. Martin held his hands up in surrender. "Not me," he laughed, "You're on your own." Danny shook his head and glanced at Sam. "All right then, how 'bout
I'll treat you to some Chinese?" he offered as truce. "Sounds excellent," Sam said as they all walked into the restaurant. End. |