A/N: This is my first Sue Thomas fanfic. Hope you enjoy! Also posted on under the pen name "Jaded."

Warning: Contains major spoilers for the episode "Simon Says."

spoilers...

Takes place right after Jack shoots the serial killer.

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"Are you okay?" Jack asked Sue.

Still shaking, she nodded. "I'm fine." Aside from the fact that a serial killer had just gotten shot in the middle of her living room...

He embraced her, wrapping his arms around her, trying to convince himself that she was still real, that this wasn't a dream... or a nightmare. With her body pressed against his, Sue realized that he was shaking, too.

"I'm sorry," he said. He would have signed it as well, had his hands not been busy stroking her hair.

She murmured the obligatory, "It's not your fault." It sounded so cliché, but there was really nothing else he could have done.

But she couldn't know that Jack didn't feel as guilty for letting his guard down as he did for what he had been thinking as Death reached out his hand to snatch her away. Was it selfish, he wondered, not to be worried about Sue herself, but instead the fact that he had almost lost her for the second time this week?

"I don't want to lose you," he told her; his words came out as a desperate plea. She buried her face in his shoulder, and he felt the dampness of her tears soak through his shirt.

"I – " Jack began, but couldn't bring himself to voice what he really wanted to say.

Sue felt the vibrations of his voice and lifted her head to see his lips, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. Knowing she expected him to say something, he cleared his throat.

"I guess we'll need to find you another plumber."

Sue let out a laugh at his half-hearted attempt at levity; but it had barely escaped her lips when it morphed into another sob.

"Shh, shh, it's okay," he soothed, brushing away her tears. "You're okay. He's not gonna hurt you anymore."

Of course, that didn't mean someone else wouldn't. Death, loss, tragedy... it was just another day on the job. Every moment that passed was a moment in which he could lose her forever.

Every moment except this one. Jack hugged Sue tightly, and she closed her eyes, not thinking of Death, thinking only of Jack's warm, protecting arms.

Jack leaned in close to her ear. "Don't leave me," he whispered. "I love you." And took comfort in the knowledge that she couldn't hear him.