THE BEGINNINGS

Written By: Rebanut

I don't own any part of Sue Thomas FB EYE…

This is what I wanted to happen after the final episode, just a little something while I struggle with another story line! Hope you enjoy it, let me know either way, but as always, please be nice about it!

After Sue's impromptu going away/return party, the crew settled back down to work. New cases were coming in, and needed some attention. At just after six, Sue decided it was time to go home. It had been a long and exhausting emotional day. As she was straightening some paperwork to put into a folder, she thought back to Jack, and how he was very upset she was leaving. He said he was going to miss her. He had used the word "I" that made her smile. If Myles hadn't interrupted them, she was pretty sure Jack was about to say something else. He looked like a man with something on his mind. All day, she had found herself watching Jack, and wondering just what it was he was thinking about. She wanted to ask him, but the opportunity never came. Levi nudged her arm, waking her from her pleasant day dream.

"Jack?" Sue said, surprised. "What are you doing back here?" She asked.

"Uhh… I was just wondering if you had any plans tonight." He asked, nervously. He was grateful she couldn't hear the trepidation in his voice.

"No, nothing really. Why?" She asked curiously.

"Want to grab some dinner?" He asked.

"Sure. Where?" She asked.

"Um, I was thinking that new place on 5th. It's called Rio's. I've heard the food pretty good. They have tons to choose from." Jack suggested.

Sue was surprised by the fact that he wanted to go to a restaurant, not pizza or take out. "Sounds good. Do I have time to shower?" She asked.

"Sure. I'll pick you up about 7:30?" He suggested.

"Make it 7, I'll be ready by then." She said smiling at him. She got up and the three of them walked out together. They said their goodbyes at the cars, and followed each other out of the garage. As soon as Jack was out of sight, Sue dialed Lucy.

"Luc? Can we change our plans for tonight? Jack asked me to dinner, and I really wanted to ask him about this morning. Thanks! I'll be home shortly." Sue said hanging up the phone.

Once back at the apartment, Sue hurried into the shower, and asked Lucy to pick something for her to wear. Lucy laughed, and agreed, but made her promise she'd wear whatever she picked for her. Sue agreed, but said she was going to draw the line on anything too revealing. When she got out of the shower, she was quite surprised to find a nice sun dress lying on the bed. It was white with little purple flowers on it, and just a touch of lace to make it special. The straps were wide, and it went straight across the top. After she put it on, she noticed it hugged her in all the right places, accentuating her figure. Lucy knocked on the door carrying white open toed sandals.

"You have to wear these with that dress!" She said excitedly.

"Lucy, I love the dress you picked. Think he'll like it?" Sue asked hesitantly.

"YA! That's why I picked THAT dress! He's going to be blown away by it." Lucy said smiling.

"Luc, don't start match making again, please." Sue begged.

"I'm not. Jack asked you out all on his own, I had nothing to do with that." She confessed.

"Hmmm…" Sue replied. "Hair up or down?" She asked.

"Down." Lucy answered. "Jack likes it down, remember?" Lucy teased. Sue fixed her hair so it was down, slightly curled. Right at 7, Levi told Sue there was someone at the door. Lucy let Jack in, and said good night as she left to go on a last minute date to a gallery opening with a friend.

Sue exited her bedroom, and walked toward Jack. His mouth fell open just a bit, and the edges turned up just a little. Sue blushed at the look on his face, which made him smile and blush himself.

"You look wonderful." He said.

"Thank you. You look pretty nice yourself." Sue said. They walked to his car, leaving Levi home. They talked about work on the way to the restaurant. Once inside, they agreed, no work talk. Jack ordered a surf and turf dinner, and Sue ordered grilled marinated chicken breast over wild rice and veggies.

"So, to what do I owe this dinner to?" Sue asked, shocking herself at the boldness of the question.

"Umm. I just thought we could have dinner." Jack answered.

"You came all the way back to the office just to ask me to dinner so we could just eat dinner? We could have just had pizza or Chinese." She said, urging him to tell her what was on his mind.

"You're right. Uhh… I sort of…well… I wanted to talk to you… I wanted to finish…" Jack began and stumbled over his words. Sue laughed out loud at him.

"Jack! For my sanity, please, take a sip of water, take a breath, and gather your thoughts." She laughed at him again. "Please, finish at least ONE thought!" She teased. He blushed a dark red as he drew in a deep breath.

"Sorry. I wanted to talk to you about today. Before I found out that you were not leaving…" Jack said.

"What about?" Sue asked.

"Umm…" He started. He suddenly looked at her, deciding he wasn't ready to put all his cards on the table, at least not alone. "Why did you decide to stay?" He asked.

"I thought you wanted to talk about before you found out I wasn't leaving?" Sue asked, not really wanting to answer the question.

"I do, but, I need to know." Jack asked, taking her hands in his. Sue put her fork down, and waved down their server.

"We're ready for the check please; can we have 2 to go boxes? Thank you." She said.

"Something wrong?" Jack was confused.

"I don't want to have this conversation in a crowded restaurant." Sue said, looking very serious. Jack swallowed hard wondering what can of worms he'd opened. They paid the check and went to the car. Jack held the door for Sue. He put the food on the back seat and walked around to the driver's side, getting in. As he started the car, he could feel Sue's eyes piercing into his soul. He glanced in her direction, smiling. He reached into her lap and took her hand in this, entwining his fingers with hers. She smiled at the move and allowed him to hold her hand for the duration of the ride home. They stopped at a red light, Jack asked if she wanted to go for a walk in the park. Sue shook her head yes. Jack parked in front of his house, and opened the door for Sue, helping her out of the car. She took his arm and they walked slowly toward the park entrance. The moon was high and nearly full. Its light shown down on upon the couple, creating a romantic scene. The night air was warm, yet a shiver made its way down Sue's arm. She rubbed her arm, more to make the goose bumps go away, than to warm herself. Jack noticed she was chilly, and took off his coat, and wrapped it around her.

"Thank you" She said and signed.

"You're welcome." He answered. She smiled at him. "What are you smiling at?" He asked playfully.

"You." She answered honestly.

"Oh? Why's that?" He asked.

"Just that you were so willing to go the extra step to make me feel welcome here. You went out of your way to learn ASL, for me. Not many people have done that." She said. "It means a lot that you did." Sue said, smiling at him.

"You're worth it, Sue. I would do anything for you, don't you know that?" Jack asked.

"Anything?" Sue asked playfully, nibbling on her bottom lip. Jack smiled that trade mark smile, and asked what she had in mind. Her smile became wide, she slightly blushed, but didn't answer his question.

"Hmmm… Silence is intriguing…" He said, smirking. "So, I noticed you totally ignored my question at the restaurant." He said, becoming serious.

"I didn't ignore you, I chose a change in scenery, that's all." Sue answered smartly.

"So?" He pushed.

"I forgot the question." She said smiling. Jack wasn't sure if she was teasing or had actually forgotten the question. She continued to walk some. Jack stopped letting her take a step, then reaching for her, pulling her back to him. She was surprised by his move, nearly losing her footing, she stumbled into Jack. Her breath became labored, his became nervous. His hands were on her upper arms, holding her close. His intention was to keep her from falling, now it had put them in an awkward situation. Their eyes met and locked onto each others. Their lips were mere inches from one another's. Sue's heart pounded so hard, she thought it would jump from her chest. If she could just make herself lean forward, just a bit… But before she could finish the thought, the spell was broken as Jack moved back.

"Uh… Um, are you alright?" He asked. She shook her head yes. She didn't trust her voice enough to answer. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you fall. I- I just meant to get your attention." He explained.

"Well, you have it." She answered, smiling at him.

"Why did you stay? Why would you give up the best opportunity to move up you'll probably ever get?" Jack asked.

"I told you, I didn't want to leave what I have here. I don't want to leave you." Sue said.

"We're your friends Sue, we still would have been your friends. We would have kept in touch." Jack said, trying to understand.

"You know how that is Jack. At first, you call a couple times a week, then it's a couple times a month… before you know it, you haven't spoken to the most important people in your life in 6 months. I didn't want that to happen to us." She said honestly.

"Sue… I can't see you and Lucy becoming that distant, ever." Jack said.

"Jack, you misunderstood me. I would have missed my friends- Lucy, Tara, D, Bobby, and I even would have missed Myles, I'm sure." She said, taking a deep breath. "I didn't want to leave you." She finally admitted. Jack's eyes widened when he realized what she had meant.

"That's good. I didn't want you to leave me either." He said. "It was killing me to think I wouldn't be able to see you, talk to you every day. My heart was crushed thinking I was losing my best friend." He took a step toward her. "I don't ever want to lose you." He whispered. His voice began to betray him as the tears that had welled in his eyes earlier in the day, returned. "That's… that's what I was trying to tell you earlier. I don't want you to go, Sue. I was going to ask you to stay." He finally lost the battle and the tears spilled onto his cheeks. Sue moved closer to him, wiping them. Her hand stayed on his face, as she turned it backwards to lightly caress his cheek with her finger tips. He closed his eyes, leaning into her touch. Tears welled in her eyes as well. She bit her lip, trying to keep them at bay. She took a deep cleansing breath.

"You know how you said you'd do anything for me?" She said, trying to smile through her tears. His hands snaked around her waist and rested on her lower back. Her hands rested on his chest. He shook his head yes.

"Anything…" He said.

"Would you kiss me?" Sue asked nervously. Jack let out a breath he didn't realized he was holding. A chuckle snuck out behind the breath.

"Not what I was expecting." He said. Jack let her waist loose as his hands traveled slowly up her back to her arms, then shoulders and finally resting on her face. He brushed a stray hair from her face. Again their eyes met and locked. Jack leaned up and kissed her on the forehead, then without losing contact with her, he moved to her cheek and kissed her again. He brushed light kisses along her jaw, and then made his way to her neck. He traced the outer edge of her neck to her shoulder where his jacket began to cover. She let out a sigh, one laced with desire meant only for him. She wanted to stop him. She wanted to correct his thought process, and tell him she meant on her lips. The problem was, she didn't want him to stop. She liked the feel of his lips on her naked skin. The more he caressed her, the more she wanted him to continue, the more she wanted him. His lips made their way back to her cheek once again. Only then, did he break contact with her soft skin. Her breath was broken and nervous. Jack smiled when he realized what he was doing to her.

"J- Jack…" She whispered in his ear. She was hard pressed to catch her breath, and he hadn't even kissed her on the lips yet. She sighed, trying to clear her head with another deep breath. Suddenly Jack noticed there were other people in the park, they were no longer alone.

"Come on." He said, taking her by the hand. He twisted his fingers around hers, and led her back to his house. He led her up the stairs, and opened the door. As they walked in the door, he reached past her to close it, making Sue nervous from the closeness. Sue shook Jack's coat off her shoulders and caught it with her free hand, placing it on the chair. Jack led her to the couch, and sat her down, sitting on the side of her. Sue was visibly nervous, her hands shaking a bit. Jack smiled understandingly. His effort was slow and determined. He closed the space between them, never taking his eyes off hers. As their lips finally touched, he allowed his eyes to close and take in her fragrant perfume. He drew in a deep breath as his lips lightly brushed against hers. He lightly nipped at her top lip, drawing it between his. His actions deepened the kiss. He could feel as she gave herself over to the passion she was feeling for him. She wrapped one arm around his neck, bringing him closer to her. His tongue sought entrance to her lips. She gave permission as hers searched for its partner. Jack leaned them back against the couch, wrapping her in his embrace. His hands wandered from her face to her arms and around her lower back. He began to rub her back lightly up and down. That same hand made its way to her knee and traveled up to her thigh then to her waist. He continued this trail, driving her to the edge of her control. His lips left hers for some much needed air, but didn't give her any relief. He started a new path along her jaw line, to her earlobe, down her neck to her shoulder. He began to feel his need for her begin to build within his body. He knew their play was about to come to an end.

"Sue… S-Sue…" He said as he began to pull himself away from his torturous route of her body. "We, we need to stop." He said as he pulled himself away from her so she could read him.

"I- I know." She whispered as she pulled back from him. "I guess that was a yes to my question?" She said teasingly. Jack smiled at her. He walked away from her long enough to grab 2 bottles of water.

"Here ya go." He said handing her one. "Maybe this will cool us down." He jokingly suggested.

"Are you planning on pouring it over your head?" She teased.

"Not a bad idea!" He laughed. "I have to do something. I don't trust myself around you right now." He said winking at her.

"I don't trust myself right now either." She said shyly.

"Someday… in the not so distant future we will be together. It's just too early right now." Jack said brushing her face with the back of his hand.

She smiled at him, and gave him a tight hug.

"I wanted to tell you… in the hall, outside the office… I don't want you to go…"He paused, and took a deep breath. "I love you Sue Thomas. I have for a long time, but things have just never been right to let you in on my secret. I just think you should know how I feel." Jack said, kissing her lightly on the lips again. Sue's eyes got big when she read what he'd said. She slowly pulled away from him again, and whispered in his ear, "I love you too Jack."

He slowly stood, and reached his hand out. Sue took it and stood up.

"Come on, I'll take you home." Jack said, kissing her one last time.

THE END!