A/N: Firstly let me say a big THANK YOU for all of your kind words of encouragement some of which I'll be answering personally very shortly. It's been a bit of a rough year for me so far but, fingers-crossed, I'm hoping it's taking a turn for the better and anyway, I'd hate to let everyone down by not finishing both of my current stories, so...

Secondly, this was supposed to be the final chapter but since it seemed to be growing to epic proportions, I've decided to split it into two. Sadly, I know nothing about the state of Wisconsin, (I've visited over 30 others but not this one), so I've kept the story-line general

o-xxx-o

Opening her eyes Sue stretched languorously, having allowed herself an extra half-hour in bed before getting up to face another work day. It was a habit she'd adopted lately and thankfully Levi respected it, for the most part anyway. Ever since she'd stepped onto that plane so many months ago, her feet hadn't seemed to touch the ground. She felt as though she'd been caught in a whirlwind with barely enough time to catch her breath between rotations and she loved every minute of it... Well, almost every minute…

Meeting Jack's parents hadn't been as much of an ordeal as she'd expected, awkward at times - definitely, but not disastrous. His mother and father had welcomed her with open arms until they'd realised she was far more to their son than just a co-worker and friend, that was. Having had years of experience she'd noticed the change in temperature almost immediately, Jack, on the other hand, had taken longer to pick up on it but as soon as he had, he'd offered to find them both somewhere else to stay. From the very beginning, it had been one of the things she'd feared the most but, as ill-at-ease as she'd felt, there was no way she was going to create friction within the Hudson household by taking him away from them. It had been obvious by the way they'd greeted him when he'd arrived just how close they were as a family, despite living hundreds of miles apart and she'd been determined to stick-it-out, for his sake.

The times they'd spent alone together had been wonderful however, and had more than made up for her discomfort and he certainly hadn't been exaggerating when he'd told her that he had lots to show her… By the time her visit had come to an end, almost ten weeks later, she'd felt as though she knew every part of his hometown as well as she did her own. He'd shown her where he went to school and the ice hockey rink where he'd realised he wasn't destined to play professionally… The house his grandmother had lived in, they'd even visited her grave so that he could 'introduce' them and leave flowers but the really fun times had been spent down by the river.

It had come as a shock to him that she'd already known how to cast a fishing line, courtesy of her brothers, but he'd teased her mercilessly when she'd made him bait all the hooks. Later they'd wandered hand-in-hand to his favourite spot under a wonderful old tree to eat lunch and he'd confessed that one of his greatest regrets in life was never having seen the view from the top because of his fear of heights. The petrified look on his face as she'd smiled down at him, while precariously perched on one of the higher branches taking photographs, would remain permanently etched in her memory. She hadn't realised just how badly she'd scared him until he'd reached up to help her down and she'd felt his hands shaking while his heart seemed to be trying to hammer its way out of his chest… He'd been out-of-sorts for the rest of the day and by dinnertime, she'd begun to think that maybe she'd outstayed her welcome but he'd come outside as she'd sat on the porch swing with Levi at her feet, settled beside her and apologised. They'd shared their first real kiss that evening and the next day they'd visited his beloved, somewhat neglected fort, which they'd spent most of the afternoon repairing while Levi played by the waters' edge, splashing around contentedly and chasing anything that moved. By the time they'd been ready to go home, his golden coat had been caked in mud and as punishment, she'd made Jack give him a bath, laughing uncontrollably when the dog had shaken himself dry, soaking him through in the process. He'd grinned at her mischievously and she'd known immediately that she was in trouble, a suspicion that was confirmed when he'd turned the hose in her direction and they'd all ended up drenched while his parents had looked on bemused.

Jack himself, had gone from strength-to-strength… When they'd first arrived even simple things like walking to the shops had exhausted him but by the time she'd left, he'd been running again to improve his stamina and was almost back to his old self, at least physically… Mentally, he'd still seemed fragile and uncertain. In the quiet time late at night after the rest of the household had gone to bed, they'd talked more about his experiences or rather he'd talked and she'd listened, putting in a word of comfort here and there. It was something that in the end she knew he'd have to accept and move on from, but after all his years in law enforcement his mind was just too analytical. It wasn't going to be laid to rest that way, it had to be taken on faith alone without benefit of evidence and it was proving problematic for him. Those were the times that had made her feel special, knowing that he'd shared his most personal thoughts with her and no one else, not even his parents who could see he was struggling with some kind of inner turmoil and had offered to help. He'd just tell them he was fine and make some weak joke about his lapses in concentration but they all knew it wasn't true.

The night before she'd been due to leave, his mother had taken her to one side and apologised for her behaviour towards her. She'd cited all the reasons for her doubts and concerns but then gone on to say how wrong she'd been. She'd watched them and had seen how happy she made her son. How good they were together and how obvious it was that they were in love. Of course, Sue had tried to deny it but her protests had been unconvincing because they simply weren't true. She did love him very much but as hard as she'd tried, she hadn't been able to see a future for them. Her life was in D.C. and she loved her F.B.I. job, somehow she couldn't imagine herself living anywhere else. …And Jack..? Only God knew where his future lay and He hadn't chosen to share, at least not then.

She'd been back to Wisconsin several times, including very recently, returning only a couple of weeks ago and…

Levi was starting to worry the brand new covers and afraid he might tear them, she reluctantly abandoned her musings, slid out of bed and made her way to the bathroom to shower and get ready for work, her mood taking a nosedive when she thought about what was to come.

It had been a year to the day since Jack had been shot and the Team had never really recovered from his leaving, in fact, one of their temporary assignees had assumed he'd died from the way they all spoke about him… At first there had been a sense of optimism that he would return but as the weeks stretched into months without any word, hopes had begun to fade and then Tara, who had been doing some research on one of his old cases, had accidentally discovered that Jackson Samuel Hudson was no longer listed in the directory as an 'active' Federal Agent. Sue had known for a while as had Lucy but the others had been completely oblivious and she'd had to endure the seemingly never-ending speculation on Myles' part, along with Bobby's understandable yet misplaced anger towards his best friend. She'd been desperate to defend him but knew she couldn't. He wouldn't have wanted everything he'd been going through made public and the reasons for his 'inactive' status had had to remain confidential.

o-xxx-o

When she walked into the bullpen everything was as she'd anticipated only worse… Monday morning worse…

The Team that had been consistently rated as one of the best was slowly disintegrating and no one seemed to know how to turn it around. Tara was under her headphones as usual and sometimes Sue wondered if it was more out of self-preservation than necessity, Lucy waved in greeting before signing to warn her that Bobby and Myles were on each other's cases again and Dimitrius it seemed was sequestered in his office. Sighing, she quickly and quietly removed her jacket and hung it up before sitting down at her desk and booting her computer, in the hope that the two Agents wouldn't notice her arrival but it wasn't to be.

"Another half-day Thomas..?" Myles inquired sarcastically.

"No, I…"

"Oh, give it a break. It's only fifteen minutes, for Pete's sake! G'day, Sue… Levi… And how are you on this damp and overcast Monday morning?"

"We're fine thanks."

"Well, that makes one of us."

"Pay no attention to him. He's just miffed because he's got to do some work for a change."

"I believe D handed out extra assignments to everyone and not just me… Everyone who was courteous enough to show up on time, that is... And anyway, I have no problem with filling my own work quota, I do, however, object to finishing other people's, especially…" He held up a stack of handwritten notes, "…when it's as badly put together as this."

"We all have our crosses to bear, mate."

"Thanks to you…"

"Look…" Picking up a pencil he waved it at the man across the desk, threateningly.

"We're all doing our fair share, we just need more help." Tara put in from her desk by the door.

"You mean like those last drongos they sent us?"

They'd had three replacements in the past eight months but none had lasted more than a few weeks before putting in for transfers. D had been so angry after the last one that he'd flatly refused to request another.

"Maybe, if you'd given them a chance to settle in before telling them they were useless at their jobs…" Myles began but Manning cut him off.

"Excuse me but you didn't exactly cut them any slack either and at least mine was constructive criticism, not a twenty minute lecture on when to use a semi-colon and when to use a comma!"

"Grammar happens to be a very important consideration when writing…"

"It's a report not a literary masterpiece, Harvard!"

"Perhaps we could all have been a little more welcoming," Tara interjected again.

"You think that would have helped? They were completely useless."

Sue spoke up at last, "No, they just weren't Jack."

The Aussie's expression darkened. "Maybe not but they did have one thing in common with him, they all shot through without even a 'goodbye'."

"Bobby, that's not fair, Jack almost died. You can't blame him for…"

"I know, I know…Sorry Luce, sorry guys, I guess I must have got out of bed on the wrong side this morning."

"And slammed right into the wall by the sounds of it..." The Bostonian added sarcastically.

"It's being stuck inside." The rotor observed.

"And too much work…" Tara added.

"It's the day." Sue whispered quietly and no one had the heart to argue. This was one anniversary they all wished they could forget.

o-xxx-o