Thirty Eight

They walked into the Bullpen just as Jack was about to come find them. "Oh good," Jack said, "Bobby, here's Dan— can you take his statement? We'll plan on going in tomorrow."

Tomorrow morning came, without incident—the elite team proved again to themselves of their ability to thwart crime, taking down the three doctors and stopping their scam against the Health Care system.

Sue took a moment out, while the doctors were detained and questioned on site, to find Gladys. The two women shared a brief but lovely visit. Gladys thanked Sue for helping her open up again to meeting new friends, especially Martha. Sue was also glad she'd had the opportunity to meet Gladys— in some small way, she knew Gladys helped her overcome the small part of herself that had always been embarrassed about being deaf.

A bit later, while gathering the final pieces of evidence to ensure a conviction, Jack noticed Sue seemed a bit sad. He leaned playfully into her, and as she glanced at him he signed, What's wrong?

Sue shrugged slightly as she replied. Nothing, we good. PAH me happy this done.

Jack furrowed his brow, shaking his head. "You lost me. I have no clue what you said." He chuckled slightly in embarrassment.

She leaned playfully into him in return. "I said there's nothing wrong, we did a good job, I'm glad this case is finally over." She felt a warm tingle at the brush of her shoulder against his.

Jack grinned at her. "What are you doing tonight?"

"Tonight? Why?"

"I thought I might take you out for a celebratory dinner – least I can do after all you've had to put up with this case."

She squinted her eyes slightly, trying not to show her excitement. "Do my eyes deceive me, or is my Training Agent asking me out on a date?"

Jack's face grew red at her implication. "Ah, yeah, well. I think you could train me in a few aspects of this job, as well as you have done." He cleared his throat. "Ahem, yes, I am asking you out – friends can't go out for dinner?"

She signed as she spoke. "Yes, friends can go out to dinner, and I would love to go with you, Sparky."

"Pick you up around 7pm?" Jack said.

Sue nodded. 7pm good, she signed.

A perplexed look fell over Jack's face once again. "I'll take that as 7pm is good?"

Sue giggled. "Yes, that's what I said."

Jack was having a hard time focusing on the subject at hand. "Are you done here?"

"Yep, I think I've got everything you asked for."

He grinned. "Then let's get this evidence back to the office."