Jack had just walked through the door to his apartment when his phone began to ring. Opening it, he grinned at the number and answered it. "Hi mom."

"Hey there, Jackey. How are you holding up today?" Her voice was curious, not concerned. Her several conversations with her son over the last two and a half weeks had allayed her fears for him, but instead brought up a lot of questions that she didn't know how to ask, or even if she should ask.

Jack smiled. "A little tired, but other than that, quite well. I'm actually just walking through my door now. But isn't it a little late for you? Not that I mind at all; I like talking to you, but you normally go to bed by 10 and it's 10:30."

He heard his mom yawn and he grinned wider. "Oh, Jack, you know that I like to keep up with you. And if you are busy, I can stay up a little later. It's not like I've got work tomorrow. Your father already went to bed, so you don't need to worry about him."

Jack laughed. "So what's up, mom?"

"Oh, just wanted to see how your Thursday went." Rose said. Jack had made it a habit to call at least once a week to talk to his mom or dad to catch up on what was going on back in Wisconsin and to bring them up to date on what was going on in his life. Since the accident, though, Rose had made it a point to call Jack at least once every three days, just to keep her eye on her little boy. He had a sensitive heart, and she knew this couldn't be easy for him.

Yet, to her surprise, he seemed to be doing exceptionally well. And he was spending a huge amount of time looking after one of his co-workers; one with a name that had popped up again and again in his conversation since she had started with a far greater frequency than anyone else that Jack interacted with in DC. She was curious as to what was going on, though she had a suspicion and was far from upset if she was right.

"Just spent the day at Sue's. I ended up going to the 6am mass beforehand, and then to Sue and Lucy's to make them breakfast. Omelets, that's the best way to start a day." Rose still couldn't believe that Jack was getting up that early. He never got up that early if he didn't have to, and yet he was voluntarily rousing himself at 5:30am so that he could make these young ladies breakfast. "After Lucy left, Sue and I chatted, completed our marathon of the Lord of the Rings movies, extended of course- Did you know that she enjoys them as much as I do? She actually has started reading the books too! We went for a brief walk in the park, and then ended up spending about 3 hours reading. Sue took a nap while I was prepping supper. Lucy came back and we all sat around talking until about 20 minutes ago when I came home." He took a breath. "A full day."

"I'm glad that your day went well, Jackey. I'm glad that you've gotten a good friend to spend your days with." Rose said.

"So am I." Rose noted that his tone of voice had changed from matter-of-fact to almost pensive. Her curiosity finally got the better of her.

"Jack...I've got a question for you. And if you don't want to answer, tell me to go away."

"You're fine, mom, go for it." Jack said as he settled into his couch with a beer in his hand.

"You've...Jack, what is this young woman to you?" Rose said, a little haltingly.

"She's my best friend, mom." He said, and she was surprised to not hear a defensive note in his voice. All of the other times she had asked about Sue in the first year and a half had prompted a defensive response, and she had stopped asking. This time seemed different though.

"And what would you like her to be to you?" Rose pressed gently.

Jack blew out a breath and paused. "I don't rightly now. Well, that's not true... Mom, I'm falling for her again. I know it's really soon after Rachel died, but it's no longer like I lost a potential spouse. It's like I lost a good friend. And...it's just..." He took a breath. "I want to do everything for her. I want to make sure that she's taken care of. Rather, I want to be the one taking care of her. I want to make sure she has everything that she needs. I want to take away all of her pain. I... Heck, mom, I got my pastor to install me so that I can bring the Eucharist to Sue after mass, and now I'm going to daily mass to make sure she can have the Eucharist because she loves it so much. I want to be around her all the time; and I'm ending up doing so from after mass until almost 10 at night." He sighed.

"It sounds like you love her." His mom said quietly.

Jack sat for a few seconds, then said resignedly. "Yeah. That's about it."

His mom was puzzled. "Jack, that's wonderful. Really and truly, it is. And from previous conversations, I figure you have for some time, even though you tried to run from it. Don't worry, I'm not going to yell at you or be upset; I know you've worked your way through that. What I want to know is why do you sound like someone just condemned you by your admission that you love this young woman?"

Jack took a long pull at the bottle, then put it down on the coffee table. "Because, mom... two reasons. Firstly, work rules. And I'm not giving up the team until I know that she would feel the same. And secondly, and most importantly, I doubt she loves me. Heck, she was dating a man who just died, and I doubt that she would be ready to date again so soon even if she did remotely return my feelings. I can't see it working out, no matter how much I want it." His voice was heavy with disappointment.

His mom raised an eyebrow. So her son needed a little nudge. "So, let's tackle one at a time. Can we?" She asked. She always tried to treat him as an adult and let him decide if they could address stuff like this. He normally did, but when it came to Sue...he could be unpredictable.

However, she was delighted to hear him say "Please? I'm tired of trying to sort this through on my own, and my friends are...good willed, but have their own ideas."

"It would be my pleasure." Rose said. "If you had the opportunity to open a relationship with this young lady, would you do it? Regardless of work?"

"Yes, I would. I would give up...pretty much anything. I would have a word with D to request an exemption, or a transfer, or work out with Sue something that would work for the two of us. I don't want her to lose her dream of working as an agent, so I would likely transfer out. Or heck, I'd be an analyst. I'd do most anything. Like a shot, I would go out with her."

"Okay. So really, while it may have been the two of those reasons before, right now it's limited to one. You say she's just coming out of a really hard situation, and you don't think that she would be open to dating anyone. That's just a matter of time, and her close friends may be the ones to ask about that. But the root is that you don't think she could love you. Is that about it?" Rose finished quietly.

Jack took another long pull at the bottle before he answered, his previous good mood gone, replaced with a saddened one. "Yeah. That's about it."

"And why is that Jackey? She was dating someone else? You had never made your move, and she may have thought you weren't interested. But let me tell you something right now, my son. She turned to you when her world was turned upside down. It's you she trusts when she's at her most vulnerable. It's you that she turns to for protection and comfort. It's you that she asked to come back for supper on the weekend, even after seeing you all day, all week. It is you that she looks forward to having around from when she wakes up until right before she goes to bed. It's you that she still clung to even after starting dating someone else. Jackey...it's you...it's you that causes her to brighten up when she sees you, that she misses when you're gone, even after all day with her. Ask your mamma how she knows the last two, even though you never told her."

Jack was rather stunned as she laid it all out before him. "How did you know?" He asked quietly.

"Because that's how I reacted with your father. Jack...I can't promise you that you two will be married. But I can promise you that she has fallen for you as much as you have for her. She wouldn't react the way she is now without that being the case. You don't spend that much time with someone, finding a way to be with that person, even if they are your best friend. They are the person you love." She sighed. "My poor little boy... I know it's confusing, but don't let her get away again. You've gotta give it a shot at least. I can tell you that you won't regret it if you do, but you will if you don't."

Jack sat quietly for a few seconds before he sighed himself. "Thanks mom." He paused. "I need to ask. It's just finding the right time. I don't want to push her while she's still getting over Matt. And I don't want to take advantage of her while she's hurt. But I can't go on living like this." He let out a groan as he got to his feet. "Thanks, mommy."

"Oh, you're welcome. Now go and get some sleep. You have an early day tomorrow."

"That's right, it's almost 11. Mom, you are going to be exhausted tomorrow. I'll talk to you later. Goodnight, love you, and God bless."

"Love you too. Night, Jack."


As Jack was talking to his mom, Sue was talking with Lucy. "I've fallen in love with the man, Lucy. He's the one that I want to be with. I made my mistake in stringing Matt along, hoping to be able to give him everything. Now I realize that I just want to be around Jack all the time. We've been through this before...but I just don't know what to do."

Lucy had abandoned her 'excited-matchmaker-squealing-and-kinda-obnoxious' persona, instead showing the gentler side that she knew was needed here. Sue was confused, and just looking to talk stuff out. "Why don't you know what to do?"

Sue sighed and smiled crookedly at Lucy. "I'm not exactly the best catch in the world, Luce. I'm not a dazzling beauty, I'm not the most intelligent, I'm deaf- and don't even try to tell me it doesn't matter. It causes a different approach, even if it's not inherently bad. Jack could have most any woman. I'm just not that great."

Lucy raised an eyebrow. "My dear Sue."

Sue rolled her eyes with a grin. "Going 'Leland' on me?"

Lucy ignored her. "Jack is quite dazzled by your beauty, in the case you can't see how you leave him flustered at times. Did you forget when he showed up last Saturday for supper? He said that you were incredibly beautiful, and Jack doesn't lie to you. He find's you an intelligent and wonderful, kind and sweet, funny and beautiful young woman. I know. He did tell me." Lucy said, answering Sue's mildly surprised look with an 'I'm-not-kidding' look.

"And Sue...He is bending over backwards to help you, to care for you. He's getting up incredibly early to go to mass so that he can bring you the Eucharist. He's giving up his entire day to be with you. You should have seen the look on his face when I invited him last Saturday to dinner; he was excited and thrilled. A man doesn't just do that for his best friend. There's something more to it than that."

Sue's face showed a glimmer of hope as Lucy continued. "Sue, don't you see the little things he does? The smiles, the small touches, the tender caress of your cheek? Can't you see the way he looks at you? The regret in his eyes when he has to leave in the evenings, and the joy at seeing you in the mornings? The fact that he's been here every day from 7am until 10pm? What more do you need to know?" Lucy said, a little frustrated that Sue couldn't see it.

"He never asked me. And he still hasn't asked me." Sue said quietly, dropping her eyes.

"What?" Lucy said, confused.

"He never asked me when I stayed. Luce, I stayed primarily for him. I wanted him to ask. He never did. So I gave up. And now, after having that choice taken away from me, I've fallen for this man again. And he still hasn't asked me. What else can a girl think?" Sue said quietly, a tear working it's way down her cheek.

"Ah." Lucy said. She had a discussion with Jack on this topic after Sue started dating Matt buy before Jack met Rachel. She knew that it was fear, fear of losing his best friend. But she also knew that now that he had lost her for that time, he wouldn't wait any longer than necessary. She had learned much from Jack in that conversation and others that had occurred after. It's why she no longer used the 'excited matchmaker' self when trying to help Jack and Sue. "Well, I know that he was scared of losing his best friend. He didn't know if you returned his feelings."

Sue looked up at her in surprise. "What? How could he doubt it?"

Lucy snorted. "David, for one. And Jack's a man. They don't really get our hints. Before you ask how I know all of this, I talked to him after you started dating Matt."

Sue looked dazed. Lucy continued. "Now, I'm pretty sure that he is just biding his time until he is sure that you are over Matt, and that he's not taking advantage of a highly emotional time for you."

Sue shook her head. "I'm past it, as hard as it is to believe. I want to be with the man that I love."

Lucy smiled gently. "Maybe you ought to let him know that." Lucy stood up as Sue sat, deep in thought. "Now as you dream up how to do that, let's get you ready for bed. Jack will be here bright and early to see you."


Coming through here to the finish soon. Hope you enjoy!