The Insanities of Grief Unspent

by DiamondsR4eva

Sue is kidknapped, and it is not only up to her F.B.I. friends to save her... but Amanda too.

1. The Insanities of Grief Unspent

It was a gorgeous fall day and Sue was out walking Levi in the park, the sun was shining and there was a slight breeze, she was enjoying her walk a lot, leisurely throwing a stick for Levi to retrieve and bring back to her.

He was watching from the thick of the trees, she was getting closer and closer to his hiding place.

"That's it Steph just a little closer and then we can be together again" he whispered, as he started out of his hiding place to grab her… he saw the dark skinned woman approach her.

"Oh well Steph we'll just have to wait a little longer to be together" he whispered aloud.

Lucy walked up behind Sue and tapped her shoulder. Sue nearly jumped out of her skin, but was relieved when she turned round and saw Lucy, her best friend, co-worker and room-mate standing there.

"Oh! Lucy you scared me" she exclaimed,

"I'm so sorry Sue… I didn't mean to scare you, I just thought I would catch you and Levi up, and offer to treat you guys to breakfast" she offered guiltily, bending down to scratch Levi behind his ears.

Sue threw the stick once more, and Levi darted off after it, but ran straight past it and carried on running.

"Levi!" Sue shouted,

"Levi! Come back!"

"Levi!" Lucy tried but to no avail so she chased after him.

Jack was jogging in the park, hoping to bump into Sue… he knew she walked Levi in the park, around this time in the morning. Just as he had begun to think that he had missed her and would have to see her at work, he saw a flash of gold bounding towards him.

"Levi!" he called, the disappointment disappearing and being replaced by a grin, knowing that he hadn't missed her after all. He bent down as Levi bounded up to him and started rubbing Levi's soft head,

"Hey boy it's good to see you too, where's Sue boy?" he asked the golden retriever.

"Now's our chance Steph" he said as he saw the dark skinned woman chase after the dog. He came out of his hiding place and grabbed her by her arm, causing her to scream calling her friends name,

"Lucy!"

The dark skinned woman turned around, as he covered her mouth and told her,

"Ssh Steph, it's just me, I've come to take you home"

"Sue!" Lucy shouted and started to run back to help her, but he pulled out a gun and pointed it at her,

"Come any closer and I will shoot you!" he yelled at her.

Lucy stopped, and gave her friend an apologetic look… she didn't know what else to do… Sue looked so scared, as he dragged her to the parks gate and into an S.U.V. at the side of the street.

Lucy ran towards the vehicle and took out her cell phone, taking a photograph of the license plate, then called the only person she could think of, who would be able to help her find Sue and get her back.

Jack was still stroking Levi, when his cell phone began to ring; he grabbed it from his pocket and checked the caller I.D. 'Lucy' he picked up,

"Hey Luc, what's up?"

"Jack, I don't know what to do" Lucy was panicking and almost crying, making him start to panic too,

"Lucy, what do you mean? What's wrong? Has something happened?" he asked the worry evident in his voice.

"It's Sue… he- he grabbed her… Levi ran off and wouldn't come back, I was going after him, and Sue, she screamed my name, I turned, I was going back to her, but he was holding her and he- he pulled a gun out… he-he told me if I came any closer he would shoot me" she was sobbing now,

"He dragged her out of the park, and shoved her inside an S.U.V. parked at the side of the street, just outside the park gate" Jack felt his heart plummet and his blood run cold,

"Lucy, Levi's with me… I'm on my way" he told her and ended the call,

"Levi, take me to Lucy" he instructed and then ran after him as the golden retriever ran towards where he'd left the two women.

When Jack reached Lucy she was shaking and crying, he had ran as fast as he could, his heart pounding in his chest and ears.

'Why has this happened?' he thought to himself as he had ran, now he was by Lucy's side, he called Bobby and told him to get everyone to the bullpen immediately and then asked Lucy

"Are you ok?"

"I'm… I'm fine Jack, I couldn't do anything to help her" she cried,

"I know Luc, but we'll find her, she'll be o.k. we'll find her we have to" he choked, past the lump in his throat,

"Let's go to the bullpen and tell the others what happened, and then we'll get out there and find her" he said before noticing something on the floor near where they were standing.

"What's that?" he asked as Levi bounded over to the object and grabbed it in his mouth,

"Bring it here boy!" Lucy called and he ran back to her with it, she bent down to take a look and he dropped it at her feet letting out a whimper as he did, Lucy picked the object up with tears in her eyes.

"It's Sue's scarf" she told Jack as he looked at it too,

"She must have dropped it when he grabbed her, and I didn't notice" she stammered.

Jack helped her to stand,

"We'll find her, let's go" he told her forcefully, and they left for the bullpen.

Ten minutes later everyone was in the bullpen, waiting to find out what had happened and why Jack had ordered them to come into the office. Lucy stood in the middle of the bullpen calmer than she had been before and started to explain what had happened,

"I met Sue and Levi in the park. Levi ran off, he wouldn't come back, so I went after him, then Sue screamed my name, I turned around… and a guy had grabbed her, by her arm… I started to run back to help her, but he pulled out a gun and pointed it at me, he told me not to come any closer or he would shoot me. I stopped, and had to watch as he dragged her away, out of the park. There was an S.U.V. parked near the park gates… he shoved her inside it, when he jumped into the driver's seat, I ran towards it to get the license plate".

"You got the license plate?" Jack interrupted her,

"Yes, I took a photograph on my cell phone… then I called Jack to tell him what had happened, and it turned out he was in the park and Levi was with him" she finished, everyone looked horrified and enraged, Tara was the first to speak.

"Lucy if you give me your cell, I'll download the photograph to my computer and trace the license plate… and see what I can come up with"

"Great Tara, you get to work on that. Bobby, Jack, go to the park and see if you find any evidence there. Myles… we'll go and see if there is any C.C.T.V. footage of the area that might give us something. Tara...? Let us know, when you've got something for us" D said taking charge of the situation,

"Let's get out there and find her" said Myles,

"For once I think we all agree with you Myles, mate" Bobby grinned, everyone grabbed their things and were heading out the door when Tara suddenly shouted

"I've got it!" they all went back and gathered around Tara's desk and waited with baited breath, waiting for her to elaborate and tell them what she had found.

"The S.U.V. is registered to a Thomas Lewis, and hasn't been reported stolen" waving a slip of paper in the air she added with a smile,

"I also have his address"

"Tara, you beauty" said Bobby winking at her with a grin.

"Tara… you're amazing. Lucy…? Can you call forensics, and take them to where Sue was snatched from? The four of us… will go pay Mr Lewis a visit" D told them, taking the slip of paper containing the address from Tara.

"Come on Steph, out of the car now, we're here" he said opening the door,

"Where am I?" Sue asked him

"And who are you?"

"You know this place, Steph… and you know who I am, so stop playing these games" he told her angrily,

"I don't… and I'm not playing games… I have no idea who you are… or where we are… and why do you keep calling me Steph? My name is Sue" she told him.

'Very funny Steph' he signed,

Sue was shocked that he was signing, she signed back

'My name is Sue, what's your name?'

"Stephanie please, stop… with these games and let's go inside, we'll talk and then later we can go to pick Amber up from school together" he told her getting frustrated with her.

"I am not Stephanie… and who is Amber?" Sue was getting more and more scared, with every minute that passed by, he took her arm, leading her inside a cottage, it was very beautiful and homely, looking around she noticed a lot of photographs around the room.

In the bullpen Tara was looking confused, clicking away on her computer keyboard,

"What's up Tara?" Lucy asked coming through the office door,

"Oh you're back" Tara said looking up from the screen,

"They find anything?" she asked,

"No, all we have is Sue's scarf… but Jack and I found that. So what's got you so confused?"

"Thomas Lewis… the guy whose S.U.V. Sue was bundled into" Tara replied

"What about him?"

"Well I've heard his name somewhere before, and I don't know where… or why" she said utterly confused,

"I think I'll do some digging into this guy… if the guys don't come back with anything from his place, then at least I'll know why I recognise his name" Tara finished.

D, Myles, Jack and Bobby pulled up outside the address Tara had given them. A man was unlocking the door to the house, as they climbed out of their cars. D spoke as they approached him…

"Mr. Lewis?" he turned to them,

"Mr. Lewis?" D tried again,

"Oh! I'm sorry" the man replied

"I'm not Mr. Lewis, I'm Mr. Granger I'm an estate agent… Mr. Lewis hired me to sell his house. He told me to sell it with everything inside… but I thought I should check out what he was leaving behind, and have anything taken away, that I can't really leave in there when I sell it. Mr. Lewis did say he doesn't want any of the things that he has now left behind" he told them, then asked

"And who might I ask are you?"

"We're F.B.I. I'm Agent Ganns… this is Agent Leland… Agent Hudson… and Agent Manning" D replied indicating each of his co-workers in turn,

"Mr. Lewis is selling the property?" D asked

"Yes" Mr. Granger answered.

"Would you mind if we take a look around the property, before you go in? We have reason to believe Mr. Lewis may have been involved in the abduction of a fellow Agent" Myles asked,

"Yes… that's fine, if there is anything in there that can help you, you should take it while I'm here… before I actually sell the property" Mr. Granger responded,

"Thank you" all the Agents responded as they entered the house.

"Tara?" Lucy asked,

"Yeah…? What's up Luc?"

"I was just wondering if you've found anything about Lewis? …Bobby called, the guys are on their way up… when they got to the address you gave them, an estate agent was just going in… turns out Lewis moved out about a week ago, and he's putting the house and its contents on the market, they're bringing in his computer for you to check out"

"I haven't yet but I will" Tara replied, just as the boys came in carrying the computer,

"Looks like Lewis is our man from the park" Bobby told them

"He's no-where to be found"

"Find out everything you can on this Lewis" Jack told Tara angrily,

"Already on it" she replied, then she suddenly exclaimed

"Oh! That's why I recognised his name"

"What is it?" Lucy asked and Levi looked up from his post under Sue's desk,

"About 3 months ago Thomas Lewis and his family were in all the newspapers, and in every news broadcast around D.C. …their car was hit by a drunk driver, Lewis' wife and daughter were killed, while he was left in a coma for over a month. His in-laws had to arrange, and hold the funerals of his wife and daughter, before he awoke from the coma. He refuses to believe that his family is dead, and has vowed to never give up until he finds them" Tara read aloud from her computer screen,

"But… why take Sue?" Bobby asked as Tara continued to read what she had found,

"This might explain why" she said looking up, the whole team had gathered around her desk to listen,

"What?" they all asked together,

"Lewis' wife and daughter were both deaf… and like Sue, his wife Stephanie could both sign and read lips, she could also speak, and was teaching their daughter Amber to be able to use the skills too. He might think that because Sue can do these things too, that she might know his wife and daughter… and can lead him to them" Tara guessed,

"It's a possibility… Tara, could you checkout his computer, please? Lucy… let's go over what happened again, and see if we can come up with something you may have forgotten about before" said D.

Jack sat at his desk and looked over at Sue's desk, wishing she was there… smiling her shy, beautiful smile at him… the smile that always made his heart race… the smile she gave him whenever she looked up and caught him staring at her.

"Jack?" Bobby questioned and when he didn't get an answer he walked over to his friend and touched his shoulder

"Sparky?"

"Huh? What?" Jack asked stumbling over his words,

"You ok, mate?" Bobby asked concerned,

"Yeah I just want her back…. I mean back here with me…. I mean with us" Jack stumbled,

"I know what you mean mate" Bobby answered with a wink and a knowing smile,

"We'll find her and get her back safe mate" he told him,

"Yeah I know Crash" suddenly Jack felt something heavy land on his lap and looked down to see Levi stood in front of him with his head in his lap,

"I know boy I miss her too" Jack told him while stroking his head,

"We all do mate" added Bobby.

"Oh… my… God…!" Tara suddenly squealed

"What is it Sheila?" Bobby asked as he and Jack stood and walked over to her desk,

"You better get D, Myles and Lucy back here from the board room, they need to see this too" Tara said.

Bobby ran from the bullpen to fetch his team mates, he arrived at the boardroom and ran through the door,

"Bobby? What is it?" asked D, Bobby couldn't speak he took a few deep breaths to calm himself,

"What's going on?" asked Myles

"You came crashing through the door like there was a fire in the house"

"Tara needs us all in the bullpen there's something we need to see"

They all rushed back to the bullpen to find out what Tara had found,

"What did you find Tara?" Myles asked

"What?" he asked when everyone looked at him in surprise.

"Nothing" D replied,

"It's just since when did you get all… impatient?"

"I just want to know what she found. I want Miss Thomas restored to our team as soon as possible, just like the rest of you" Myles shrugged

"Now can we find out what Tara knows?" he asked,

"Oh… yes" Tara squeaked

"I don't know how long Lewis was watching Sue, there are no dates, but I found these on Lewis's computer" she told them putting the photographs up on the big screen, there were a lot of them, as she ran through them Lucy spoke up,

"He has photographs of Amanda, as well as Sue"

"Why does he have photographs of Amanda?" Jack asked,

"Yeah it doesn't make sense" said Bobby,

"I think we should contact Amanda's father and put Amanda under protection" stated Myles,

"I agree" D responded

"She could be in danger, Lucy can you contact Amanda's father, Jack? You and I will go to Amanda's school and pick her up"

"I'm on it D" Lucy replied,

"Let's go" Jack said grabbing his jacket and car keys.

As D and Jack approached Jack's car D's cell phone rang,

"Ganns" D answered,

"Yeah thanks Luc" he replied then hung up,

"Kevin's meeting us at the school. He's on his way now" he explained as Jack unlocked the car,

"Right, good" Jack replied,

"Let's go"

They jumped into the car and drove to the school, they met Kevin outside, and the three of them walked to the secretary's office in silence.

"Can I help you gentlemen?" the secretary asked,

"Yes" D answered

"We need to take Amanda Duffman out of school, we have reason to believe she may be in danger"

"And you are?" she asked

"F.B.I. Agent Ganns, Agent Hudson and this is Amanda's father" replied D, showing her his badge and indicating everyone as he named them,

"Oh yes I recognise Mr Duffman now, I will have to speak to the principal before you can take her out of school" and with that she disappeared. She returned a few minutes later and said

"I'll show you to her classroom"

The three men followed her to Amanda's classroom, where she went in and spoke to Amanda's teacher while the three men stood in the doorway. Amanda looked up from her work, spotting them, she smiled and waved excitedly at them, as her teacher walked over and invited them in.

D quickly explained what was going on while Jack and Kevin went over to Amanda. Kevin started signing to his daughter,

'Sweetheart, you need to pack up your things, we have to go with Jack and his friend. Sue was kidnapped this morning and they think the man who has her, is going to come after you too. He had photographs of you both on his computer, so you need to go somewhere safe until they catch him and get Sue back'

Amanda looked at Jack for confirmation over what her father had told her, and she knew from the look on Jack's face and in his eyes, before he nodded that what her father had said was true, she immediately started collecting her things together.

Amanda quickly signed to Ben

'I'll see you soon' when he looked up as she stood to leave,

'Are you okay?' he signed back, worried by the look of fear on her face and in her eyes,

'Yes' she signed in return.

Jack watched the exchange between the two teenagers, and realised how much the relationship between the two youngsters, reminded him of the relationship he has with Sue, he knew exactly how Ben was feeling right now, Amanda was being taken away from him, taken out of his sight, just like Sue had been from him. So he quickly signed to Ben and told him

'I'll make sure I keep you informed of what's happening with her… until I can bring her back to you' Ben signed his thanks as Jack, D, Kevin and Amanda left the classroom and the school.

About 10 minutes later the four of them entered the bull pen, Lucy walked over and gave the teenage girl a hug, followed by a whimpering Levi, the girl returned the hug and stroked Levi,

'You okay?' Lucy signed to her,

'Yes' she signed back… but her miserable look, and heavy sigh told Lucy she wasn't okay,

'What is it honey?' Lucy signed

'I miss Ben already' Amanda shyly signed back,

'Oh' Lucy signed,

"What's up?" Jack asked Lucy,

"Young love" she replied,

"Huh?" Jack looked confused,

"Amanda's missing Ben already" she explained,

"Oh... maybe… we can do something about that" Jack smiled,

"What are you planning Agent Hudson?" Lucy asked intrigued and smiling back,

"Can you find a telephone number for Ben's parents?" he asked,

"I could try" she replied,

"Good do it… I want that number in the next 5 minutes" he told her,

"Okay" Lucy smiled. 5 minutes later she approached Jack's desk with the telephone number.

As Jack took the number Tara shouted,

"Lucy I need you to come somewhere with me"

"Where we going?" she asked,

"To visit Mr and Mrs Thompson, Lewis' in-laws… maybe they can help us to find where Lewis has taken Sue" Tara replied,

"I'm with you" Lucy told her,

"You girls be careful, do you want Bobby and Myles to go with you?" Jack asked them,

"No we'll be fine" Tara replied, and with that the girls were gone and Jack went to make his telephone call. When he finished his call he shouted over to Bobby and Myles,

"Can you two go and interview Lewis' neighbours?" then he turned to D

"D, can you take care of Amanda and Kevin for a while? I need to pop out for a little while" everyone nodded their agreement in the tasks they were assigned.

Tara and Lucy arrived at the Thompson house and knocked on the door. The door was opened by a kind faced, blonde lady,

"Mrs. Thompson?" Tara enquired,

"Yes" the blonde woman replied,

"I'm Tara and this is Lucy we're from the F.B.I. we need to ask you a few questions about your son in-law Thomas Lewis" Tara told her,

"Oh yes, um please come in" the blonde lady offered and lead them into the lounge, before calling her husband to join them. Mr. Thompson came as soon as his wife called him,

"Hello, I'm David Thompson" he told the two women seated in the lounge,

"Hello" Tara returned

"I'm Tara and this is Lucy, as I have already explained to your wife, we work for the F.B.I. and we need to ask you a few questions about your son in-law Mr. Thomas Lewis?" Tara explained,

"Oh… well I don't know why you would need to do that. Tom's a good man, he wouldn't do anything wrong" David answered, although the look on his wife's face, said that she disagreed with that statement,

"Well, we have reason to believe, that he was involved in the abduction of one of our colleagues this morning" Tara told them,

Mrs. Thompson gasped and looked at her husband, who continued to look at Tara, when neither of them said anything Tara continued,

"Our colleague is called Sue Thomas and like your late daughter and grand-daughter, Sue is deaf, she also uses the same skills your daughter possessed. We believe he may have taken her for that reason, in the hope that she may lead him to your daughter and grand-daughter… who he believes are still alive. We found photographs of our colleague and her teenage deaf friend on Thomas' computer. We have the young deaf girl in our custody now for safety… in case he went after her too. We have no reason to believe he would harm our colleague, but we would like to get her back quickly" Tara finished.

Mr. Thompson was the first to break the silence that ensued,

"Thomas wouldn't hurt her… he just can't accept that Stephanie and Amber are gone"

"How can you say that?" his wife asked him angrily,

"The day Stephanie died, she told him she was taking Amber and leaving him. He'd been hurting Stephanie for months and she put up with it, but it was the final straw when he lashed out at Amber" Mrs. Thompson said through gritted teeth,

Tara looked at the older woman's pained expression and had to will, herself to ask the next question,

"Was Thomas violent towards Stephanie and Amber?"

"Yes" the woman replied,

"My daughter confided in her best friend Amanda… they had been friends since their first day at school, and Stephanie had arranged for herself and Amber to stay with her until she had found them a place to live" she finished.

"Do you think… he would hurt our friend?" Lucy asked,

"Yes… if she's not giving him the answers he's looking for" she answered,

"Can you think of any places he may have gone? Where he could have taken our friend so that he's not disturbed?" Tara asked,

Mrs. Thompson shook her head,

"No" Mr Thompson replied looking shocked and guilty by his wife's revelations.

"Well if you do think of anywhere could you give me a call please?" Tara asked handing the couple a card containing her contact details.

As the couple showed the two women out, Tara turned and asked

"Oh… I don't suppose you have any recent photographs of Mr. Lewis we could borrow? They will be returned to you as quickly as possible"

"I have an album containing pictures of Thomas with Stephanie and Amber, taken about a month before the accident, I'll go get it for you" Mrs Thompson replied and disappeared returning a few moments later with the album and handed it to Tara.

"Thank you, I will take care of it and get it back to you very soon" Tara told the woman and then left.

As she reached her car she saw the older woman rush towards her calling out her name, Tara turned to her and the woman said

"Did you say your friend… that Thomas has with him is called Sue?"

"Yes" Tara nodded.

"Sue Thomas" she confirmed,

"Sue short for Susan?" Mrs Thompson asked

"Yes" Tara answered,

"Susan is… I mean… was Stephanie's middle name, that could be part of the reason Thomas feels close to her and took her… she has Stephanie's abilities, her middle name, and his Christian name is your friends surname… the coincidences and the things that they all have in common, may be adding to his delusions" the woman told her,

"I hope you find your friend soon and if I can help in any way I will contact you" the woman said before turning around and returning to her house.

Jack walked back into the Bullpen after 20 minutes of being gone, with a teenage boy, he signalled to Levi to get Amanda's attention, she turned to see him and he signed to her

'You have a visitor'

'A visitor…? Me? Here?' she signed in return,

'Yes' Jack signed and stepped aside, revealing the teenage boy who stood behind him.

Jack felt his heart leap as he saw the look on Amanda's face change from a look of confusion to one of surprise and then finally to happiness, when a wide smile spread over it, she ran over to the boy and threw her arms around his neck, they embraced each other for a long time before they started signing to one another.

'What are you doing here?'

'Jack called my parents and asked them to take me out of school, pretending I had a dentist appointment, he picked me up at the school gate and brought me here to you. He told me you might have to go to a safe house'

'Yes… I hope I don't though, I'll miss you'

'No you won't… you don't have to miss me. Jack cleared it so that if you have to go… I'm going with you' the boy grinned and they hugged again. At that moment Lucy and Tara entered the Bullpen

"What's Ben doing here?" Lucy smiled to Jack,

"I went and got him" Jack replied,

"I also cleared it so that if we have to take her to the safe house for a while he can go with her" he smiled,

"Awww Jack that's so sweet" Lucy and Tara said together,

"Very romantic" D smiled.

"So what did you girls find out?" D asked,

"Well, they couldn't tell us a lot… except that Lewis was violent towards his wife and daughter… the day of the accident his wife was planning on telling him she was leaving him, she confided in a childhood friend called Amanda, about what had been happening and had arranged to stay with her when she left. Stephanie had another thing in common with Sue too, her middle name was Susan, oh and I have a photograph album, full of photographs of Lewis and his family, taken about a month before the accident, so hopefully we can identify Lewis as our abductor" Tara told them, then went to her desk to look through the album for a suitable photograph of Lewis that they could use.

When Tara was about to open the photograph album, Myles and Bobby walked back into the bullpen,

"So… what did you guys find out from Lewis's neighbours?" Jack asked them,

"Nothing much, Sparky" Bobby answered,

"We found out, that since returning home from the hospital after the car accident, and the deaths of his wife and daughter, Lewis kept to himself. He stopped talking to his neighbours and stopped acknowledging people altogether. Before the accident his neighbours said he was a friendly, approachable chap, always stopping to chat with them, or lend a hand if they needed it, but they did hear him and his wife argue a lot, and would often see his wife with bruising that you could see had been inflicted, but she would explain it away, as the result of a clumsy accident" Myles informed the waiting team, before going over to his desk.

After that Tara went back to her task of finding a photograph of Lewis, she opened the first page of the album and let out an audible gasp

"Oh my God" she declared,

"What?" everyone asked simultaneously seeing her wide eyed, shocked look,

"What is it Sheila?" Bobby asked,

"Oh…..um….. I'll show you" she replied

"Watch the big screen" she said taking a photograph out of the album and scanning it into her computer.

The team watched the screen as the images from earlier flashed onto the screen,

"These are the pictures from earlier" Tara explained,

"Yeah the ones of Sue and Amanda" Bobby said,

"Yeah… that's what I thought, I found it strange that he had photographs of Sue and Amanda on his computer…. but had none of his family" Tara continued,

"This is a new photograph" the new image flashed onto the screen.

"It's Sue and Amanda, again whose the guy with them?" Myles asked,

"That's the problem this photograph isn't what it seems… just as the others aren't" Tara replied and after taking a deep breath she continued,

"Meet the Lewis'… Thomas, Stephanie and Amber… It seems Sue and Stephanie and… Amanda and Amber, have more in common than we imagined"

"Are you saying we've been looking at pictures of Lewis' dead wife and daughter all day?" Lucy asked,

"That's exactly what I'm saying" Tara replied,

"Are you sure about this Tara?" D asked,

"Yes, I am. I just took that photograph from an album full of similar photographs, given to me by Stephanie's mother" Tara answered,

"So Sue was kid knapped by this guy… because he thinks she's his dead wife?" Myles exclaimed looking as shocked as the rest of his team,

"Yes it would seem so…" D told him, still reeling from the shock

"Which means… if he's been watching Sue and seen her with Amanda, he thinks Amanda is Amber" he voiced looking over at Kevin, Amanda and Ben who were playing with Levi to distract themselves from what the F.B.I. team were doing.

"Tara? Can you and Lucy go back to the Thompson's? Tell them everything we know… show them a photograph of Sue and Amanda too… see what they say about it" Jack ordered,

"And see if they've thought of any places Lewis might go yet?" he concluded.

As the two women got ready to leave, D stopped them,

"Luc can you take Myles with you to the Thompson's? Tara can you stay here and go through Lewis' computer again, see if you can get into his emails, find out if there is any information on his where a bouts or how he found Sue?" both women and Myles nodded their agreement, and went to perform the tasks they had been assigned.

Myles and Lucy headed to the Thompson's, stopping off at the apartment Lucy shared with Sue, to pick up some photographs of Sue and Amanda, Lucy picked one of the two of them taken at the bureau with the team and one of the two of them in the park with Levi and Togo. When they arrived at the Thompson house, Lucy gave Myles a worried look,

"What is it Luc?" he asked

"I don't know, I mean… what if they don't believe us… about the photographs? What if they think we're playing a horrible trick on them… trying to hurt them?" she asked him,

"Then we deal with it the best we can if that happens" he told her calmly,

"But we're never going to know, unless we go in there… and if we don't find out what we need to know now, we won't find Sue as quickly as we would like" he added and Lucy smiled at him,

"What?" he asked,

"You" she replied,

"You talk like you actually care about getting Sue back… it's the first time I've heard you talk about her in a… nice way"

"Well, I know Sue and I had our differences, but she's a part of our team… our family. I like her and I do care, I know I act like I don't… but I do, I care about our team" he said then added

"Come on lets go" as he opened his car door and got out, Lucy followed suit and together they walked to the front door. Lucy took a deep breath and knocked. The door was opened almost immediately by Mrs. Thompson, who recognised Lucy straight away,

"Oh" she said

"You were here earlier… from the F.B.I. you're… Lucy?" she asked uncertainly,

"Yes" Lucy replied

"…and this is Agent Myles Leland"

"Oh won't you both come in?" she invited,

"Thank you" they replied as she lead them inside to the lounge where she had lead Lucy and Tara previously that day, and as before Lucy sat on the couch only this time with Myles instead of Tara,

"There are a few reasons for our visit" Myles began,

"One was to return your photograph album" he said watching Lucy hand it to her,

"We also brought some photographs, to show you… we think the photographs will help you to understand why we believe your son-in-law abducted our friend, and why we believe he may be looking for her young deaf friend too" Myles continued,

Lucy took the photographs from her purse and showed them to the older woman,

"This is our friend Sue and her friend Amanda" Lucy said pointing to them in turn, in the first photograph

"…and this is Sue and Amanda with our team at the F.B.I."

"Oh!" Mrs. Thompson exclaimed

"They are so much like Stephanie and Amber, they could be twins" she said tearfully, Lucy took her hand comfortingly,

"I'm sorry we have upset you" she told her,

"Oh no, you didn't… I just… I'm sorry; it was just… such a shock. Now I see why he would have taken your friend… please save your friend… don't let him hurt her, like he did my Stephie and Amber" she pleaded while trying to get her emotions back under control,

"Well that's the other reason we are here" Myles told her

"Do you have any idea as to where he may have gone?"

"Well… now I'm thinking about it… there is a holiday cottage he used to take Stephie and Amber to just outside of D.C. and there's his parent's house, which he inherited just before the accident" the woman offered,

"Thank you very much Mrs. Thompson that is extremely helpful information. I don't suppose you have the addresses for the holiday cottage and the Lewis' house?" Myles asked her gratefully,

"Yes I'll just go get them for you" and the older woman disappeared, returning a few short minutes later with her address book, she wrote the addresses down for the agent and handed it to him.

"Thank you very much, this is the best information we've had all day. We'll go and look into the addresses you have given us" he told her gratefully.

Mrs. Thompson looked at him nervously, like she wanted to ask something, but wasn't sure whether or not she should,

"Is there something you would like to say Mrs Thompson? It's ok to talk to us, and if we can help you, we will help you in any way we can" Myles told her

"Um…. would you let me know when you find your friend… and… um… would I be able to meet her?" she asked nervously,

"Of course I will keep you informed" Myles replied.

"…and I'm sure Sue would love to meet you" Lucy added,

"Thank you" the woman replied seeing them out.

In the bullpen everyone was waiting for news from Myles and Lucy, or for Tara to come up with something more from Lewis's computer.

"Bingo! I'm in" Tara exclaimed excitedly, as Jack, D, Bobby, and Kevin looked up at her,

"I got into his emails"

"Nice one Sheila" Bobby told her,

"Great!" Jack and D both exclaimed at the exact same moment,

"Well if you think that's good wait 'til you find out what I've found" Tara told them cheekily,

"What have you found?" asked D,

"Well there are emails from a Jake Michaels, containing photographs of, and information about Sue and Amanda, looks like our Jake Michaels is a P.I." she explained

"Oh and Michaels emailed Lewis this morning asking him if they were still meeting at a certain address tonight for payments to be made, and it's not Lewis's home address" she added slyly,

"But he gives the full address in the email?" Jack asked her smiling,

"He does and Lewis replied about 2 hours ago with a yes, and they would have the company of his family" she replied,

"So we've got him as soon as Myles and Lucy get back we can go get Sue back" Jack grinned as did D and Bobby.

Myles and Lucy walked back into the bullpen,

"Lucy, Myles what did you guys come up with?" D asked them,

"Well Mrs. Thompson was shocked… and became tearful, when she saw the photographs of Sue and Amanda, she gave us two addresses to check out… one is a holiday cottage that the Lewis's own and vacationed at every year, the other is Lewis' parent's house, which he inherited just before the accident. She also begged us to find Sue, before Lewis could hurt her, like he did her daughter" Myles informed him.

"Well we can match your addresses up against the address Tara found in an email, see if we have a match" D answered, as Tara shouted out

"We have another email from Michaels" everyone rushed over to her,

"What does it say?" D asked,

"It says Amber was enrolled in school under the name Amanda Duffman, and there's a photograph of Amanda outside her school. Michaels says to meet him there when school lets out" she read,

"What do we do now?" she asked,

"We set it up so that Amanda's teacher tells them, Amanda was picked up early by her mother's friends because she was taken sick at school and no-one could contact her mother, so they contacted her emergency contact" D answered,

"I think we should have one of the girls pose as Amanda's teacher" Jack proposed,

"I agree" said Bobby,

"Me too" Myles agreed,

"I think Lucy should do it, she's more fluid in A.S.L. than Tara"

"Me?" Lucy asked,

"Yeah you" Myles replied

"You have the confidence in me to pull it off?" she asked amazed,

"Absolutely Luc, I know you can do it" Myles told her confidently,

"He's right, you're the best woman for the job" D agreed, Lucy looked at each of the team in turn as if needing their confirmation , they all smiled and nodded at her confidently and encouragingly.

"Okay so what's my story, who were the friends that picked his daughter up?" she asked,

"Jack and Tara picked her up, and you can give him Jack's new cell phone number, he will have a cell phone that no-one else will be calling so… Jack can arrange to take Amber home" D told her,

"You will be the substitute teacher… Miss. Dotson" Lucy laughed,

"Okay I think I've got all that, I can't wait to get Sue back" Amanda came over to the group and signed something to her, which made her look nervous,

"What's up? What'd she say?" Bobby asked,

"She wants to know what's going on, I don't know what to tell her" she replied, before anyone could answer Kevin cut in,

"It's okay if you tell her, I've been filling her in on most of it anyway… she knows why she's here and that the guy think's Sue is his dead wife, and that she is his dead daughter"

"Okay tell her then Lucy, if it's okay with her dad it's okay with me" D told her.

Lucy signed to Amanda telling her the plan they had come up with, when she had finished Amanda signed

'So when Jack arranges to take me… Amber home will I be going to the house to be dropped off?'

'No' Lucy signed back

'You will stay here… they will go to the house, and arrest the man who has Sue and bring her back'

"What's going on?" Jack asked,

"Amanda wanted to know if the part of the plan where you arrange to take her "home" was real… she thinks you're actually going to take her there to him, but Lucy just told her you guys will go and arrest the guy and get Sue back" Kevin replied, watching the conversation between the dark skinned rotor and his daughter,

"Now they're arguing" Kevin explained,

"Arguing…? Why would they be arguing?" D asked

"Amanda wants to help, she wants Lucy to ask you guys and me, to let her go to school and get picked up by the guy… so that she can let you know how Sue is… and that it is safe for you guys to go in. Lucy told her no, that she wouldn't ask… and even if she did it wouldn't happen, because none of us would put her in that kind of danger"

"Lucy's right, we wouldn't let her do it" D confirmed,

"Amanda just told Lucy we don't trust her… that we don't have confidence in her… she says she can do this and we think she's incapable of doing it because she's deaf… she's playing the deaf card to get Lucy to give in, she does it every time she's determined to do something that I won't let her do… so that I give in. My daughter is a very determined young woman, and when she's this determined, it's because she believes in herself and I don't think she can do it… but I give in, and in her determination she proves me wrong, and I'm proud of her for it" he told the agents smiling at the determined look on his daughter's face.

"Should we give in and let her do this? But in a slightly different way to how she's proposing?" D asked Kevin and his team,

"How would you do it differently?" Kevin asked,

"Keep the plan as it is… but have Jack "drop her off" and when she's inside, she messages Jack and Tara to say she's with her "Mum and Dad" and that she's "safe" in whatever room she's in, and then we go in" D answered,

"She won't be in any danger at that… so I'd say yes let her do it, she's determined to… and like I said she'll prove to us she can" Kevin replied,

"Are we all in agreement, to let Amanda pose as Amber?" D asked his team,

"I'm in" Jack said and added with a smile,

"She's like another determined, deaf woman we all know and love"

"I'm in too" Bobby answered

"Yes" said Myles

"She is very much like Miss Thomas isn't she?" he added smiling over at her,

Tara nodded her agreement, D told Kevin to tell his daughter the new plan, and he would explain to Lucy.

Once everyone had been told the new plan, Amanda hugged Ben and told him what would happen he signed to her

'You will be safe right?'

'Yeah of course Jack and Tara will be with me'

'You better come back to me' he signed worriedly,

'I will I promise' she signed

'Okay, well good luck, and I'll see you soon' he signed back,

'I'm not going yet' she laughed,

'I'll let you know when I am'

Lucy who was translating to Tara, D, Bobby and Myles, what was being said between the two teenagers, while Jack was talking to Kevin on the other side of the room, said

"They're so sweet… don't they remind you of someone?"

"Jack and Sue" the others all responded at once, and then they all looked over at Jack,

"I hope we get Sue back tonight and safely for his sake" Myles stated

"Because if we don't… it will destroy him and turn him; into a loose cannon"

"Yeah and I don't think any of us, would be able to stop him if that happened" Bobby agreed,

"Then let's go get this plan in motion" Tara said

"Oh… D I've had an idea" she added quickly

"What's that Tara?"

"Well, I have a pin with a small camera in it, I thought we could pin it to Amanda's jacket before she leaves, and Lucy could sit in the surveillance van and watch… she'll see everything that Amanda sees and we can be kept informed of what's going on inside, while we're stuck outside"

"That's a great idea, let's do it" D smiled,

"Nice one Sheila, you know you keep coming up with new things to amaze me with" Bobby grinned giving her a quick proud squeeze.

"Right… it's 3 o'clock guys, let's get our plan in motion, we need to hit the road if we're gonna get our "Substitute Teacher" to the school gate in time" D smirked.

20 minutes later Lucy was waiting at the school gate with an ear piece waiting for Lewis to show up with Michaels,

"Oh no" she whispered into her microphone

"What's up Luc?" Jack's voice asked through her ear piece,

"What if Lewis recognises me… from this morning?" she panicked,

"Oh sh…. I forgot about that" Jack replied,

"Hopefully… he won't and if he does, we'll deal with it somehow"

"Well we're about to find out, he's here" she said

"Hello, can I help you gentlemen? You look a little lost" she spoke and signed smiling.

"I'm here to collect my daughter Amb… Amanda" Lewis said

"Amanda? Amanda's surname is?" she asked,

"Oh Lew…"

"Duffman" Michaels interrupted

"Oh well didn't anyone contact you" she asked,

"I'm Miss Dotson I was teaching Amanda today… I'm a substitute teacher" she explained,

"Amanda was taken ill, no-one could contact her mother, so the emergency contact listed was called, and they picked her up"

"Oh no, no-one told me that's why I'm here" Lewis answered,

"I spoke to my wife earlier… we're separated, but we spoke today and agreed to give our marriage another chance. We agreed I would pick Amanda up, so she probably hasn't gotten the message yet. I don't suppose you can give me a number or an address, for Amanda's emergency contact could you, my wife and I haven't had shared that information yet, and she'll be in a business meeting by now, so I can't call and ask her"

"Oh, I'll have to ask someone in the office just give me a minute" she said and walked away,

Lucy walked to the office and spoke to the secretary,

"Our man's outside, he thinks I'm getting emergency contact details from you, the plan is working well"

"So it is going as the F.B.I. Agent told us it would?" she asked,

"Yes it is, I'd better get back out" Lucy answered and then she left.

The two men were still waiting at the gate where she had left them, and she smiled as she approached them,

"I'm sorry I took so long, you must be anxious to find out how your daughter is. When your daughter was collected by friends of your wife, Mr. and Mrs. Hudson they told the receptionist that they are changing their number, and hadn't managed to contact your wife to let her know yet. They asked us to pass it on to your wife, but since you're here, and we didn't manage to contact her, I can give it to you to pass on" Lucy explained as she passed the paper over, containing the cell phone number that would put a call straight through to Jack.

"Thank you" Lewis answered and then the two men left, Lucy waited for them to disappear from sight and told her listening team,

"They're gone… I just hope they bought it"

"Trust me you were great Luc, if I didn't know it was a set up… I would have believed you" she heard Tara's voice say through her ear piece, and then D's voice came through

"Yeah you were very convincing Luc, I almost believed you… you did great. Tell me why are you, a rotor and… not an agent?" Lucy laughed at his question and replied

"The hours are better"

"Okay… agreed, you do get to leave on time unlike us" he laughed

"Right you're clear you can head back to us" as Lucy got to the van, the cell phone Jack would be using for the set up started to ring,

"Hello?" Jack answered

"Yes this is Jack Hudson… Amanda's father oh yes… well I can bring her home, Tara just went to collect Lucy from school, she won't be long, then we'll drop Amanda home… oh sure we can bring her to your place… yeah I got it we'll see you soon, Tom" Jack hung up,

"Time to collect Amanda from the bullpen and get her ready" he said,

"Right let's go" said D and they set off for the bullpen.

Amanda was eagerly awaiting the teams return with her Dad, Ben, Levi, Myles and Bobby, when the rest of the team walked in, looking pleased with themselves,

"I take it, it went well?" Bobby guessed,

"It sure did" Jack replied, then went over to Amanda

'Time to go' he signed

'You ready?'

'Yes' she signed in return, and he took her over to Tara to have the camera pin, pinned onto her jacket while D filled Bobby and Myles in on what had happened at the school.

"Lucy was so convincing, she almost had me fooled… if I hadn't known it was a set-up I would never have guessed, I would have believed every word of her story. I asked her about becoming an Agent and she said her hours were better" everyone laughed,

"Well she convinced Lewis and Michaels… as soon as she got back to the van Lewis called. Jack's taking "Amber" home as soon as Tara gets back from picking Lucy up from school. He gave Jack an address to take her to… and surprise, surprise… it's an exact match for the one we've got… his parent's house" D smirked,

"Right, now let's get ready to go"

Ten minutes later they were all ready and in their cars heading for Lewis' house, they all had their orders, when Amanda messaged Jack… Bobby and Myles were to go to the back door with half of the SWAT team while D, Jack and the other half of the SWAT team would head to the front door, they would go in on the count of three. Tara, Lucy, Kevin and Ben would be watching from inside the surveillance van.

Twenty minutes later Jack, Tara and Amanda pulled up outside the Lewis house,

'You ok?' Jack signed to Amanda

'Yes' she signed back, a little paler than she had been, before they had left the bullpen,

'Nervous?' he signed

'A little' she replied

'Yes, you look a little pale now, that's why I asked' he returned,

'Well he won't know I'm pale through nerves… he thinks I'm sick so, my paleness just makes the sickness more believable' she told him making him laugh,

'You may be right, you ready to go in?' he replied, Amanda just nodded her agreement.

Inside the house, Sue was still trying to figure out what was going on,

*Why does this man keep calling me Steph? Who is this Amber he talks about? Why does he have so many photographs of me and Amanda? …and why is he in some of them with us? I don't think I've met him before she thought to herself while staring at all the photographs* suddenly, she came to one she had noticed, but hadn't paid much attention to… it was a wedding photograph, the man who had abducted her was in it holding the hand of the bride… he appeared to be the groom, she then looked at the bride and nearly dropped it.

"It's me" she said aloud, she couldn't understand this, surely she would remember if she had gotten married? Then she felt his presence behind her she turned to face him.

"Ah… I remember that day Steph" he told her noticing the photograph she held in her hand

"So… you remembering the good days are you babe?" he asked,

"Where did this come from?" she asked him,

"From our wedding of course" he answered,

"Your friends will be bringing Amber home soon, she was sent home sick from school… so they picked her up, I called them they're bringing her home, Jack sounds nice" he told her,

"Jack?" she repeated,

*oh thank God Jack's coming for me* she thought

"Yeah, Jack and his wife are bringing her home"

"Who is Amber? Why do you keep calling me Steph and why do you talk about us being married? I'm not married… I don't know you, so I wouldn't marry you… so where did you get this photograph?" she asked desperation clear in her voice,

"Amber is our daughter and I call you Steph… because your name is Stephanie. We are married… you are my wife Steph, the photo is from our wedding day… you know all this Steph stop playing these games. Please don't make me angry again, I don't want to hurt you again, like earlier, but then again… the making up afterwards was nice" he said kissing her, then he pulled back,

"Oh well another time, that's the door… it must be Amber" he said looking at his watch.

Jack and Tara watched from the car as the door opened and Amanda signed

'Hi Dad' to Lewis, and he pulled her into a hug, when he let her go she turned and waved to them, they waved back cheerily, as he waved too,

"Amanda just went inside, everyone, get ready" Jack said into his microphone

"I'm bringing Tara to the van now" he said as he started the car.

'Where's Mom?' Amanda signed

'Through here' Lewis signed back leading her through to the lounge.

"Amanda!" Sue exclaimed in shock,

'It's ok Mom, we can be ourselves again now Dad's back. You don't have to pretend to be Sue anymore, you can be Stephanie, and I can be Amber again… I miss our old life Mom… I want to be me again not Amanda. Uncle Jack and Aunty Tara know the truth, I told them and they think the truth is what is best for both of us, they said they really want to meet Dad' she turned to Lewis and signed,

'I told them I would message them and tell them what you said about meeting them, would you like to meet them Dad please?' she signed giving him a pleading look that made him laugh,

'You always did know how to wrap me around your little finger didn't you? Of course, ask them if tomorrow is ok?' he signed.

Amanda got her blackberry out and began to send a message to Jack,

"We're in the lounge, Sue looks scared, he must have hit her, the curtains are closed so he won't see you, he doesn't look like he has a knife or a gun or anything, so when you're ready we're waiting" and she pressed send.

Sue realised what was going on, Amanda was sending Jack a message for help, he knew where they were, he would come for her… he would come for them both… they were safe now.

Jack received Amanda's message,

"Received word form Amanda, let's get into position" he advised his team through the microphone,

"Jack?" Tara's voice came through his earpiece,

"What's up Tara?" she hesitated then said,

"Sue has bruises on her face…..and….." her voice trailed off,

"…and?" Jack queried

"…and Lucy says her- her…" once again her voice trailed off

"Lucy says what Tara?" Jack asked with concern, Tara hesitated again then told him

"Her clothes look different… dishevelled"

"I know what you're both thinking Tara, I'm telling you he hasn't… he can't have" Jack said vehemently,

"How can you be sure?" Tara asked shocked and upset by what they were suggesting,

"I just am" Jack said trying to bite back the anger that had still come through in his voice,

"In position" Myles and Bobby's voices confirmed over the radio,

"In position" Jack and D responded

"We execute on one" came Tara's voice

"3…2…1… execute" both teams burst through the back and front doors simultaneously,

"F.B.I. on the ground" the agents all shouted as they burst into the lounge.

"We said on the ground" Jack shouted shoving Lewis to the floor,

"Bobby, Myles deal with this scumbag!" Jack shouted at his team mates, then rushed over to Sue and Amanda.

'Are you okay?' he signed to them

'Yes' Amanda responded

"Yes" Sue choked out, while trying to hold back the tears that were threatening to spill over,

Jack took both of them in his arms and hugged them, while Bobby and Myles cuffed Lewis, picked him up off of the floor and took him out to the car,

"It's all over now" Jack told the two girls when he released them,

'Can I go see Ben and my Dad now?' Amanda signed to him

'Yes, of course' he signed, he tapped her shoulder as she passed him, and as she turned to look at him he signed,

'You did a fantastic job, your Dad and Ben were watching from inside the surveillance van'

'Thank you' she signed in return and ran off to be with her Dad and Ben,

"Thank you Jack" Sue told him,

"What are you thanking me for?" he asked,

"For coming to find me… for rescuing me from this very weird nightmare" she replied,

"Hey you're part of our team… you're our friend… part of our family… of course we would come for you. Did he hurt you?"

"Not really, he just slapped me a few times, but I'm fine" she told him,

*It's not the whole truth, but it is the truth* she thought to herself… but if she told him the whole truth, it would break her and set the team off like a rocket.

"Why did Amanda keep calling me mom back there? …and why did she ask me to call her Amber? It got me so confused" she asked him,

"Do you know why Mr. Lewis abducted you?"

"No, but I found photographs of me and Amanda. He had a photograph made of me and him together, a wedding photograph. He kept calling me Steph, and telling me we were married, that Amanda was our daughter, but he was calling her Amber… just like Amanda did" she told him, looking more confused as she rubbed her temples, as if trying to work it all out was causing her pain.

Jack took her hand in his and explained

"We thought the photographs were of you and Amanda too… but then Tara and Lucy went to see, Lewis' Mother and Father-in-law… Tara had already found out that Lewis was involved in a car accident with a drink driver, his wife Stephanie and daughter Amber were in the car with him, and while he was left in a coma, they were killed. Unfortunately Stephanie's family had to hold their funerals, while Lewis was still in hospital in a coma. Tara managed to get some photographs from Stephanie's parents Mr. and Mrs. Thompson… you have a lot in common with Stephanie, just as Amanda has with Amber, all four of you are deaf… Stephanie had the same abilities as you, Amber was learning them, but still just signed like Amanda… when we looked at the photographs, we found out they had a lot more in common with you than we first knew about" at this point he took one of the photographs from the fireplace and continued

"This is Stephanie" he said pointing to the woman Sue thought was herself, then pointing at the girl she thought was Amanda, he said…

"…and this is Amber"

"Really?" she asked,

"Yes" he confirmed,

"So he took me thinking I was his dead wife?"

"Yes, he didn't believe that his wife and daughter were dead, he refused to believe it and he vowed to find them. The day of the accident Stephanie had planned to take Amber and leave Thomas… Mr. Lewis, they were going to stay with Stephanie's childhood friend Amanda"

"Oh" she replied,

"No wonder he thought I was Stephanie. I can understand why he would get the idea of Amanda being Amber, because Stephanie may use her friends name for her daughter… and his first name for their surname like mine… but where would she get my first name from?"

"Ah, I forgot to mention… Stephanie's middle name was Susan" Jack told her,

"Oh now I understand. Can we leave now?" she asked,

"Of course we can, everyone's waiting to see you"

When they arrived at the surveillance van, Lucy threw her arms around Sue and Levi jumped out to meet them too,

"It's good to see you two, too" Sue told her friend and her faithful companion,

"I missed you both and everyone else" she said looking up and seeing Tara, Kevin, Ben and Amanda

"Where's everyone else?" she asked,

"D, Myles and Bobby took Lewis to the bureau to interrogate him" Tara answered,

"It's good to have you back Sue"

"Thanks" she said and tapped Amanda's shoulder to get her attention,

"…and thank you for what you did back there, you're a very special young lady" She spoke and signed,

'Thank you' Amanda signed in return,

Ben put his arm around Amanda's waist and pulled her against him and signed and spoke to Sue

"She sure is very special" and planted a kiss in her hair, while hugging her proudly.

"So Amanda" Jack spoke and signed,

"When will you be taking my badge and my job away from me? You were truly amazing tonight. You will make a brilliant F.B.I. Agent" he finished,

'How about I promise not to take your badge or your job… if I can just join your team instead? If I'm going to be an F.B.I. Agent, I want to be a part of the BEST F.B.I. team in the world' she signed back,

Sue had been translating for the benefit of everyone else, everyone laughed at her reply while Jack signed

'D-E-A-L' in return,

'We would be honoured' Sue signed to her,

"Shall we go back to the bullpen so we can take your statements?" Jack asked and they all agreed.

When they got back to the bullpen, Jack took Amanda to make her statement, to make things easier for both of them he wrote his questions down so that she could read them, and in return she wrote her answers, so that he could understand them. When they were done he returned Amanda to the bullpen, where Kevin and Ben were waiting to take her home. As they arrived Amanda saw Sue talking to Lucy and Tara, she could see that Sue wanted to cry, so she went over and signed,

'What's wrong?'

"Nothing's wrong, Tara and Lucy just told me, that the parents of the lady that man thought I was, would like to meet me… I look so much like their daughter, just like you look so much like their grand-daughter and you and I have a lot in common with them… I would be honoured to meet them, I just wish I could have met their daughter and grand-daughter" Sue signed and spoke,

'Could I meet them too?' Amanda signed,

Kevin who had been watching the exchange came over and answered his daughter's question,

'It would be best if they are asked, if they want to meet you first Amanda, it's not fair to put Sue on the spot like that'

'Sorry Dad… sorry Sue' she signed apologetically

'It's ok, I'll ask Tara to ask them if you can come with me' Sue returned, and smiled when Amanda nodded enthusiastically,

"Tara? Could you call the Thompson's and tell them I would be honoured to meet them… and ask them if it's ok for Amanda to come and meet them with me"

"Will do… I'll get right on it" Tara told them.

"Sue can you come and make your statement now?" Jack asked her,

"Uh yeah" she answered, although she wasn't sure what she would say,

*Should I tell Jack everything, or should I do what I did earlier and leave that part out?* she asked herself,

Jack watched the play of emotions crossing her face, as she was thinking, and wondered what had her so torn,

*Is it the situation she was in, now she knows why Lewis took her? or did something happen, something that she's not telling me?* he asked himself.

Jack leads her into a boardroom and gains her attention to let her know, he's ready to start when she is, they sat down and Sue nods to let him know she's ready to start.

"Can you tell me what happened today?" Jack asked her,

"I was out walking Levi in the park… Lucy came to find me, and she startled me, then Levi ran away from us, we called him but he kept on running, Lucy went after him… then this man suddenly appeared in front of me, he was signing at me, that it was time to go home and calling me Stephanie… I screamed and shouted for Lucy as he grabbed me… Lucy turned and started to come back to help me, but he pulled out a gun and aimed it at her, she stopped and looked at me apologetically, then the man dragged me out of the park and pushed me into a car… he took me to a house, and ordered me out of the car… I asked him where I was and who he was… but he told me I already knew those things, and to stop playing games. He kept calling me Steph so I tried to tell him, my name is Sue, and asked why he kept calling me Steph but he just told me to stop being funny, and that we would go pick Amber up together later, then he took me inside the house. I tried asking who Amber was and again, why he kept calling me Steph, but he wouldn't answer me, he got angry and hit me. He kept asking me what school Amber goes to now, but I didn't know… he got more angry and frustrated, the more angry and frustrated he got, the more he hit me, he kept hitting me, until he suddenly stopped… then he got a laptop out and started doing something then he said he'd found her it was ok… that he was sorry he'd hit me, and then he kissed me. Later he went out locking me inside, I looked around, and then he came back saying that Amber was sick and that my friends had picked her up from school, and would bring her back. Then Amanda turned up, and all of you came in" she finished.

Jack had sat in silence while she finished, feeling more and more sick the more she described everything… and when she had said Lewis had hit her and kissed her, Jack felt the sickening feeling getting worse, as well as anger bubbling up inside him, he was so angry he wanted to hit something… preferably Lewis' face… he also felt she was still hiding something, but didn't want to push her so instead he asked…

"Is there anything else you want to add?" Sue appeared to think about it, but then she replied

"No… n-n-nothing" Jack wasn't convinced, because of the hesitation, but really didn't want to push her so he just said

"Okay, let's head back".

When they walked back into the bullpen, Sue went straight to Tara's desk to find out what had been said during her telephone call to the Thompson's.

"Mrs. Thompson is glad you would like to meet her and she would be very pleased, and happy to meet Amanda… as long as it is ok with her parents. Kevin already okay-ed it, so… we just have to arrange it with all of you" Tara told her,

"That's great Tara, thank you"

Bobby, Myles and D walked back into the bullpen at that moment and each of them gave Sue a hug and told her it was good to have her back, then Myles surprised her and everyone else farther by also kissing her cheek and adding

"This place just isn't right without you Thomas"

"Thank you Myles" Sue blushed.

"So what happened with Lewis?" Jack asked them,

"Full confession, they just took him away… but in all honesty, I reckon he'll plead temporary insanity and the court will go easy on him" Bobby answered, the other men nodded in agreement,

"Could you cope with that Sue?" Jack asked her,

"Yes, now that I understand why he did what he did, I feel bad for him, I guess his problems show us how important it is that we should always take the time to grieve" she replied

"I hope he gets help" she added, everyone agreed with her, and began talking amongst themselves.

Sue gained Bobby's attention,

"Can I have a private word with you?" she asked him,

"Course, Sheila, what's up?" he enquired after following her out into the corridor,

"You said you got a full confession?"

"Yeah we did"

"What exactly did he tell you?" she had to know, she needed to know, if he had revealed what she had kept secret,

Bobby could see the fear in her eyes, and couldn't bring himself… not to answer her question,

"He told us about taking you from the park, pointing a gun at Luc, about getting angry over Amber and hitting you and about making it up to you… why do you want to know?"

"Did he tell you h-h-how… he made it up to me?" she asked, she looked so scared now and the fear had been evident in her voice too, when he didn't answer she pleaded,

"Please Bobby? I need to know" the tears she had kept from escaping started to fall slowly down her cheeks,

"No he didn't, why Sue?" he asked concerned for his friend,

"It doesn't matter" she choked out, past the lump in her throat, as she let the tears fall freely now, relieved that her secret was safe.

Bobby managed to move enough to be seen through the doorway and to draw Jack's attention, while Sue was drying her eyes he told him

"She needs you mate" indicating to Sue, Jack came straight out, gaining her attention, he saw she was crying,

"Hey what's wrong?" he asked with concern as he pulled her to him, and wrapped his arms around her, as she continued to cry, Bobby said…

"I'll go keep that lot in there busy give you guys some privacy" patting Jack's shoulder he started to walk away,

"Thanks Bobby" Jack said gratefully

"No problem mate" he replied, and walked away, leaving Jack and Sue alone.

Jack pulled Sue closer to him so that she was crying into his chest, when he felt her tears relent, he released her enough… so that she could see what he was saying

"What's wrong Sue?" he asked her again,

"Oh nothing" she tried,

"Come on Sue, something's bothering you, you don't cry for nothing" he told her

"I know you better than that"

"I think everything is just catching up with me" she told him hoping that would be enough, she didn't want to tell anyone what was really bothering her,

"Okay well in that case, let's get you out of here" he smiled and released her while he went back into the bull pen, grabbed their coats and signalled to Levi to follow him.

Jack, Sue and Levi, left for the night, they went to a diner, where Jack bought Sue dinner, they made small talk while they ate and then took Levi for a walk, walking in companionable silence, until Sue broke the silence,

"Jack I need to see him"

"See who?"

"Lewis" she replied,

"I have to see him… I have to talk to him"

"I don't think that's a good idea" he told her,

"Jack please? I have to" she pleaded,

"Okay, I'll see if I can arrange it" he told her

"But if you go, I'm going with you" she tried to argue but he cut her off

"No arguments, the deal is I go with you, or you don't go"

"Okay" she sighed and added signing

'D-E-A-L'

"Good" he replied with a smile,

"Shall we take you home now Miss Thomas?" he asked with a twinkle in his eye,

"We?" she questioned

"Yeah, me and my right-hand man… we want to take you home. We'll be your bodyguards" he told her indicating Levi, Sue laughed

"Well, I don't think my number one bodyguard… the number one man in my life… would be very happy, if I said no, now would he?" she replied and when she saw the smug look on Jack's face at her words she added,

"Would you Levi?" looking at her faithful companion, he barked at her and she looked back at Jack, with a grin,

"I think he agreed" she laughed.

When they got to the apartment Sue shared with Lucy, she thanked him again for everything he had done that day… for getting her away when she needed it, and for walking her home,

'You're welcome' he signed, after a long silent pause, while the two of them stared into each, others eyes, Jack coughed uncomfortably and said…

"So I'll… um see you tomorrow"

"Yeah, good night Jack"

"Good night Sue" he breathed, then she opened the door and was gone.

The next day Sue called Jack to find out if he'd organised the visit with Lewis,

"Hudson" he answered.

"Jack this is Sue"

"Hey Sue, it's good to hear your voice, what's up?" she smiled at that

"It's good to see yours… nothing's wrong, I just wondered if you were able to arrange that visit yet"

"Yeah we go this afternoon… three o'clock" he replied,

"Great, thanks Jack, I'll see you at work"

"You sure will. Bye Sue"

"Bye Jack" she ended the call.

Arriving at the office Sue was greeted by Tara,

"Morning Sue… um… are you free for that visit with Amanda on Saturday?" she asked her friend,

"Yeah that's fine" Sue went straight to her desk, she just wanted time to pass quickly so that she could get the visit with Lewis over with… she needed to see and speak to him… but the thought of seeing him again filled her with fear.

Around two o'clock Jack stood up from his desk and walked over to Sue's, she was lost in her thoughts… just like she had been all day, he knew she hadn't seen him and didn't want to frighten her, so he look at Levi,

"Get Sue buddy" he instructed, Levi jumped up and went to his mistress putting his paw on her lap drawing her out of her thoughts,

"What's wrong boy?" she asked and followed his gaze as he turned his head, she looked up and saw Jack standing at her desk.

'It's time' he signed

'You ready?' she nodded, the fear now worse than ever, and it must have been evident in her expression because Jack signed again…

'You okay?'

'Yes' she replied,

"Let's go" she said getting up, grabbing her coat and heading for the door of the bull pen, she called for Levi to come. Levi watched his mistress, then looked up at Jack who was still stood by her desk,

"I don't understand either buddy" he told him and they set off after her.

Lucy who had been watching the exchange and had been keeping an eye on Sue all day, because she was worried about her… looked confused and she wasn't the only one, the other members of the team had been discreetly watching too.

"What was that all about?" Tara asked,

"I don't know" Lucy replied,

"Any ideas what Jack was signing to her Luc?" Bobby asked,

"Yeah… but it didn't make sense" she answered,

"Why what did he say?" Tara asked,

"He said it's time, you ready? She nodded and looked scared, he asked if she was okay and she replied yes, then she got up and left, then Jack told Levi, he didn't understand either, then they went after her" she explained,

"Time for what…?" Bobby asked,

"I don't know" she told him,

"Has Sue talked about what happened yesterday? Is she okay?" Myles asked,

"She hasn't to me, she says she's okay, has she spoken to any of you about it?" she asked the rest of the team, they all shook their heads,

"No" in reply then Bobby spoke up,

"She was acting strangely last night, before she left with Jack"

"How'd you mean?" Myles asked him,

"Well she asked me if she could talk to me in private, we went out into the hall… she wanted to know about Lewis's confession… she looked scared about something and when I didn't answer her and tell her what he'd said she pleaded with me to tell her… so I told her what he'd said about losing his temper and hitting her and making it up to her, she then asked if he'd told us how he'd made it up to her, she pleaded with me again to tell her she said she had to know… and started crying… I told her no and she seemed relieved, but she carried on crying… I asked her why but she said it didn't matter, I managed to get Jack's attention and he came out to her. I left them together, and a little while later they left" Bobby explained,

"What did she want to know that for? Why was she scared? Do you think she's hiding something?" Myles asked him,

"I don't know, I told you everything I do know… but it kind of looks that way, maybe she told Jack what's going on. I hope she has, but today doesn't make sense" Bobby responded as D walked in,

"What's going on?" he asked them,

"We were talking about Sue, acting strange and how weird it was that she and Jack walked out of here together a few minutes ago… after having a weird signed conversation" Tara answered him,

"Oh, well Sue's bound to be acting strange after what happened yesterday… and as for today Jack came to me this morning and asked if he and Sue could leave at two o'clock, there was somewhere they had to go, I okayed it" D told them,

"Did he say where they were going?" Bobby asked concerned,

"Yes, he did"

"Can you tell us? We're really worried about her" Lucy asked anxiously,

"I shouldn't… but I will, and you can't tell either of them you know" D answered as they nodded their agreement,

"Jack told me Sue insisted on seeing and speaking to Lewis, he agreed to set it up under the ground rule that he go with her… she agreed to the deal, so Jack set it up. They're on their way to the jail to see him now" he finished, his colleagues were shocked by that piece of information, but after agreeing not to say anything and to keep it to themselves they didn't ask any more questions.

Jack pulled up in the parking lot at the jail and looked at Sue, she looked really pale and she was shaking, he gained her attention by touching her shoulder,

"You don't have to do this, we can turn back if you want to" Jack told her,

"No, I can do this… I have to do this" she said absentmindedly more to herself than to Jack; he took her hand and told her…

"I'll be with you all the way… I'll be by your side the whole time. I'll hold your hand the entire time if you need me to"

'Thank you' she signed,

'You're welcome, you okay?' he signed in return,

"Yes, you ready?" she asked aloud,

"I am… the question is… are you ready?" he asked her,

"Yes" she replied steadily,

"I'm ready, let's go" she said getting out of the car. The minute Jack was out of the car; he rushed round to her side, locked the car and took her hand in his. Then hand in hand they walked into the jail, and up to the desk,

"Agent Jack Hudson and Miss Sue Thomas… to see Thomas Lewis" Jack told the guard,

"Oh yes, I'll take you straight through to the interview room… and have him brought straight in".

Jack and Sue were lead to the interview room, and sat down to wait, within minutes the door opened again and the guard brought Lewis in. Lewis took the seat on the opposite side of the desk to the Agent and the woman he previously thought to be his wife, he looked at them wondering,

*Why are they here? Why is she so willing to see me after what I did, what I put her through?*

"Mr. Lewis, I'm grateful for you agreeing, to meet with me" Sue started, breaking him out of his thoughts,

"Well I was surprised when I was told you wanted to see me, after all I did to you" he replied,

"I had to see you" she told him, when he looked confused, she continued,

"I wanted to tell you, I understand why you did the things you did yesterday"

"How can you understand?" he asked still confused,

"My colleagues at the F.B.I. told me about your wife and daughter, they also showed me the photographs they had collected of you and your family… I saw and understood why you thought Amanda and I were Amber and Stephanie" she explained,

"You- you are so much like; her" he told her in a choked voice, as tears started to roll down his cheeks,

"I know now that you are not Stephanie and your friend is not Amber, Stephanie and Amber are… gone" he finished,

"I know and I am truly sorry for your loss" Sue told him,

"Thank you, but I am the one who should be apologising" he told her,

"I am so sorry for what I put you through, kid knapping you, not listening to you, hitting you and…" he didn't know how to finish,

"Let's not talk about it" Sue interrupted in a frightened but determined voice, that made Jack look at her confused,

"I am so ashamed, I should not have done…. that" he finished,

"Done what?" Jack asked,

"I…..I….."

"Nothing, it doesn't matter" Sue interrupted, causing both men to look at her quizzically,

"They don't know, do they?" Lewis asked her,

"Know what?" Jack asked, before Lewis could answer Sue signed to him,

'No and I don't want them to'

"Why not?" he asked aloud

'You will get into more trouble' she signed, he couldn't understand why she was protecting him, then it dawned on him, it wouldn't be something she wanted her friends and colleagues to know about, it would hurt her too much, so he decided to drop it.

"I'm sorry" he told her again,

"It's okay I forgive you" Sue told him,

"…and I am truly sorry for your loss" she said patting his hand,

"Thank you, very much… but I don't deserve your forgiveness" he told her shaking his head,

"But I'm giving it to you… besides it's my decision to make, whether or not you deserve my forgiveness and I've decided that you do, so accept it" she told him, Jack was amazed at the compassion this woman showed this man who had hurt her, he was proud of her,

"We'd better go now" Jack told her,

"Yeah, thank you for seeing us, goodbye Mr. Lewis" she said standing to leave,

"Yes goodbye Miss. Thomas" he said before she left.

On Saturday morning Sue met Amanda and Tara, to go and meet the Thompson's. As Tara pulled up outside the Thompson house, Mrs. Thompson opened the door to greet them.

"Miss. Williams, I'm so pleased to see you again" the woman greeted her,

"Mrs. Thompson it's good to see you again too… and please call me Tara, this is my colleague Sue Thomas and her friend Amanda Duffman" Tara indicated her companions as she introduced them,

"Please call me Alice, it's a pleasure to meet you both" she said,

"It's a pleasure to meet you too" Sue told her,

"Oh please come inside, I'll make us some drinks" Alice told them, and lead them into the lounge, then left to go to her kitchen. Alice returned a few minutes later with a tray, laden with a jug of lemonade, 4 glasses and a plate of biscuits, she set them down on the coffee table,

"I hope lemonade is okay" she told them,

"If not I can go make tea, or coffee, or even hot chocolate" she offered

"Lemonade is perfect, thank you" Sue told her. The woman sat opposite her three guests,

"…and who is this? I don't believe we have been introduced, handsome fella" she spoke to the golden retriever sat between Sue and Amanda's seats,

"Oh this is Levi, he's my hearing dog" Sue responded and signed to him, he got up and walked over to Alice, and placed his paw in her hand, for her to shake,

"Oh I'm pleased to meet you… he's very smart and polite" she smiled,

"Did you tell him to do that?" she asked,

"Yes" Sue smiled,

"Well" said the older woman

"I should explain, why I wanted to meet you"

"You don't have to, I think we already know" Sue replied,

"I must" she told them,

"Firstly, I wanted to see the resemblance between you both and my daughter and granddaughter for myself… and secondly to apologise to you both. I am so sorry for what Tom put you through" she told them, tears were swimming in her eyes as she said…

"I really am truly sorry, the resemblance between you and my Stephanie and Amber is remarkable, and it is awful that it caused the problems, it has with my son-in-law" Levi put his head in her lap as she finished talking Sue and Amanda rushed round to her,

"You don't have to be sorry it's okay" Sue told her kneeling down and taking her hand in her own, Amanda signed

'It's okay… friends?' she asked the older woman,

'I'd like that' she signed in return, and Amanda gave her a hug,

'Thank you Amanda' she signed

'I needed that, and you seemed to know it… just like my Amber always did' Amanda smiled at that, and signed

'I am honoured to look like her, and remind you so much of her' the woman smiled,

'Would you like to see some photographs of her?'

'Love to' Amanda signed in return, the older woman went to find her photograph albums, she came back a few moments later and handed one to Amanda, and signed

'These are all the ones from her birthday's… from the day she was born, to her last birthday'

'Great, you want to look with me?' Amanda signed to Tara, Sue translated for her,

"Oh, love to" Tara replied and Sue translated to Amanda, who giggled and went over to sit with Tara on the other side of the room.

Sue stayed with Alice and said…

"Mrs. Thompson… Alice, you know you didn't have to apologise to us… on behalf of your son-in-law, we understand why he did what he did, and he has already apologised to me and has my forgiveness. You have nothing to be sorry for… it's not your fault… I'm glad your son-in-law thought I was your daughter, because it meant that I got to meet you" she smiled,

"Thank you" Alice signed as she spoke, then the two women joined Amanda and Tara looking at photographs for the remainder of the visit.

The End….for now!