TITLE: Inevitable
AUTHOR: Jennifoofighter
RATING: R
KEYWORDS: MS, Alternate Universe
SPOILERS/TIMELINE: Knowledge of episode 1x5: "Suspect" and 1x21: "Are You Now or Have Your Ever Been?" would be helpful but not necessary. There will be mentions of episodes but nothing so specific that you won't know what's going on. Also, it will feature a certain someone from my previous fic, "'Til the Sky Turned Blue."
DISCLAIMER: Hank and Co. own everything Without a Trace. No copyright infringement is intended...yada, yada, yada. I get nothing but the satisfaction of having them do what I want if only for a little while.
SUMMARY: When two agents, from two different Missing Person Units, living in different cities, are assigned to work together, they discover that some things in life are inevitable.

XoXoXoX

"There is no such thing as chance; and what seem to us merest accident, springs from the deepest source of destiny." – Johann Friedrich Von Schiller

XoXoXoX

Chapter 1

XoXoXoX

The sky overhead was dark gray as Martin walked briskly down the sidewalk, pulling the collar of his coat closer to protect him from the biting cold wind that stung his cheeks. It was days like these that he missed living in Seattle. While it could get really cold there as well at least it didn't have the whipping icy wind like Chicago. These mid-west winter days could be a real bitch; especially when a snow storm was expected to descend upon the city sometime in the next few days.

"Martin! Wait up!"

He turned around and spotted Charlie Denooyer, one of his team members from the Missing Persons Unit, jogging towards him. He was a stocky guy with a gut that seemed to grow slightly wider with each passing year. Martin liked Charlie a lot because while he could be gruff and crude, he was a damn fine agent and a truly loyal friend.

Charlie caught up to where Martin stood waiting. He was completely out of breath and panting heavily as he muttered, "Shit its cold."

Martin smiled at the sight of his chubby teammate with bright pink cheeks and said, "You need a minute or can we start walking?"

"Yeah, yeah, let's go." Charlie got in step alongside Martin as they headed to the federal building. Charlie rubbed his gloved hands together to create some warmth, smiled devilishly and asked, "So, how was the date with the delectable Hannah Flake?"

"Delectable? She's a woman not a pastry," he replied with a feigned annoyed tone as they approached the entrance to the building. He saw Charlie open his mouth ready to make a lewd reference about eating so he held up his hand and said, "Don't even say it."

"What?" Charlie laughed. "I was just going to ask you what was wrong with her, sheez."

He smiled and simply said, "Let's just say she lives up to her name: she was a flake."

"Martin, man, you are too picky," Charlie said as Martin opened the door to let them in. They got in line for the metal detectors and started pulling out their badges to attach them to their lapels. As they moved slowly in the line, he turned to him and said, "So what exactly was it about her that makes you say that?"

He sighed and replied, "I asked her to name her favorite author and she replied, 'King Arthur.'"

Charlie looked at him in disbelief. "She did not."

"Okay, maybe not, but she was just so superficial," Martin commented as they both showed the agents manning building security their badges. As soon as they passed through the detectors they made a beeline to the elevator. "All she wanted to talk about was what kinds of clothes she liked to wear and her favorite designer labels."

"So she's not a rocket scientist." Charlie pressed the call button and turned to look at Martin with a grin. "Who cares? With the way she looks who needs brains?"

He shook his head and said, "I do. You can only look across the table at an empty shell for so long before you get bored."

"You know what your problem is? You like blondes and cliché's are true for a reason," Charlie replied as he folded his arms and knowingly. "Millions of blonde jokes can't be wrong."

The elevator doors opened and they boarded. It was a surprisingly slow morning and they were the only ones inside.

"That isn't true and you know it." He pressed the button for the eleventh floor and as the door closed he leaned against the wall and said, "I just want to meet a woman who is smart, independent, and has a good sense of humor."

"And gorgeous…." Charlie supplied.

Martin shook his head with a smile and said, "Not necessarily."

Charlie waved his hands around the empty compartment and said, "Dude, it's just us here, you can tell me the truth. You know you want all those qualities wrapped up in a sexy hot package."

"Well, I wouldn't mind it." He grinned before looking seriously at his friend. "Why do you care so much about my social life?"

"I'm married with four kids. I have to live vicariously through you," Charlie replied lamely. "Besides, even when I was single I couldn't get the caliber of women throwing themselves at your feet."

"I'd take your life over mine any day of the week," he replied thinking his friend didn't know just how lucky he was to have a wife and family who loved him.

"Don't tell Nadine that; something tells me she'd happily switch me for you in a heartbeat."

Martin was laughing as the elevator stopped on their floor. They exited and made their way to the bullpen and found their fellow teammates, Anna Cook and James Kresse, sitting at the conference table talking. Anna was a short Latina woman with mocha skin and short brown hair while James was over six feet tall and had bright red hair and a face full of freckles.

Anna looked up as they entered and said, "We got the DNA results on that blood in Erica Mosconi's car. It's hers but get this: it is also a match for a missing person out of New York named Carmela Cicchini."

"You're kidding?" Martin said as he approached. He took the file and leafed through it.

James nodded his head and said, "It seems the case of the missing housewife just got really hot. Louisa is on the phone right now talking to New York."

Martin stole a glance at his SAC Louisa Roth's office and saw her furrow her brow in concentration listening to whatever the person she was talking to was saying. He closed the folder and started towards his desk.

Anna leaned back into her chair and with a smile on her face asked "So, how did the date go?"

"Ms. Flake didn't pass the Fitzgerald Wonder Woman test," Charlie quickly interjected as he took off his coat and hung it on the rack.

Anna sighed heavily and announced, "Martin, that's it. I give up. I'm not setting you up on anymore dates."

Martin looked up at the ceiling and with a big smile said, "Thank you Jesus."

Anna threw him a dirty look and tossed a crumpled up ball of paper at him that he caught mid air. He waved it at her victoriously.

Anna pursed her lips irritably and said, "You are too damn picky and if you keep it up you are going to be single for the rest of your life."

Charlie nodded his head at her as he walked to his own desk. "That's what I said."

Martin tossed the ball of paper into the trash before turning towards his desk. Unbuttoning his coat, he said, "Look guys, she is out there. I just haven't met her yet."

She shook her head and said, "Martin you are the worst: picky and a hopeless romantic. That's a combination destined for failure."

"No, he's worse," James interjected. "He's a hopeful romantic with impossibly high standards."

Martin glared at James as he pulled out his chair and sat down. He didn't have to look at their faces to know they were watching him amusedly. Sometimes he felt like one of those pandas from the zoo; everyone watching and waiting for him to find a suitable mate.

He switched on his computer when he heard Louisa's door open. He looked over at her as she emerged from her office headed straight for them. Louisa had shoulder length curly hair that bordered on frizzy and was short in stature but tall in attitude. She was tough but had a heart of gold which made Martin respect her immensely.

As she neared she looked at him and asked, "How did it go last night?"

Upon hearing yet another person ask about his love life, he rolled his eyes and plopped his head onto his desk, hitting the wood with a resounding thud.

Louisa smiled and said, "That badly, huh?"

He raised his head and glanced around, "What is it with all of you? Just because I'm the only single guy on the team you seem hell bent on finding me a wife."

In a monotone voice, James replied, "Resistance is futile, you will be assimilated."

Ignoring James' Star Trek reference he continued, "Look, each of you has told me that when you met your spouses you just knew that they were the one for you. I'll know her when I meet her."

"You're right," Anna agreed as she reached over and picked up her coffee mug off of the table. "So, I guess I'll just keep setting you up in the hopes that one of them will be the one."

He shook his head. "That's not what I meant…."

"Too late," Anna interrupted. "Have I told you about my son's teacher, Joy? She's really cute."

He realized that they were not going to give up so he decided to just change the subject. Looking at directly at Louisa he asked, "What did New York have to say?"

Louisa shook her head knowingly and replied, "I talked to Jack Malone. He's in charge of the missing persons unit in New York. He's reopening Carmela Chicchini's case to see if he can make any new connections, etc. He is also sending two of his agents to work the Mosconi angle with us." Smiling she waved her finger around at the group and added, "So I expect you all to be on your best behavior."

"Yes mom," they all replied in unison.

"Good." Louisa shifted gears and started giving orders, "James, Malone is forwarding whatever information they have on Chicchini. Go through it and see what you can find. Anna, how are you doing on Erica's financials?"

"So far it seems like she and her husband were doing fine. Nothing that stands out but I'll keep looking."

"Good," Louisa replied before turning to look at Charlie. "Tech called. They have the surveillance video back from the parking lot where her car was found."

"Okay, I'm on it," he replied with a mock salute before heading to the tech room.

"What about me?" Martin asked. He'd been on the team for almost two years but compared to the rest he was still the 'new kid'.

"I want you to go pick-up the agents at the airport. Their flight arrives at O'Hare at 1:15 pm," Louisa ordered before turning to walk back to her office.

"Can't they just take a rental car?" Martin asked the back of her head. This was not the assignment he was hoping for; plus he really did not want to have to go out in this weather to pick up some agents who probably thought they were hot shit just because they were from New York.

She turned around to face him and said, "No, we are on a budget. We'll issue them a bureau car when you bring them back here."

Martin blew out a frustrated breath. "Okay, so what are the names of these agents that I'm picking up?"

Louisa reached her door and replied, "Danny Taylor and Samantha Spade."