London, England

December 24 1991

"What are you looking for?"

Noticing him studying the impressive gothic architecture as they slowly shuffled out of the church, Sue Ellen worded her sentence knowingly, somehow aware that he wasn't just looking at the vaulted ceiling out of interest.

"The bolt of lightning that's about to strike."

Only half joking, he wouldn't have been surprised if something did happen. He'd never considered himself religious but he'd had a brush with the afterlife earlier in the year and that had spooked him, leaving him wary of experiences that put him directly in contact with forces beyond the earth they inhabited.

"Figuratively?"

"Or literally."

He never would have chosen to attend a Christmas Eve church service himself but again John Ross had insisted, citing tradition but later revealing that since the church was affiliated with the school Sue Ellen had chosen to send him to, several of his friends would also be attending the evening service.

The boy had disappeared minutes earlier, having seen exactly who he was looking for apparently. Luck would have it too, Don had done the same thing, pulled away by an old friend and then separated from he and Sue Ellen as the crowds filed out of the pews and out of the large stone building.

"JR, what are you talking about?"

"I don't think heaven is where I'm going to end up in the next life."

Pushed close to him as they squeezed through a door with hundreds of other people, his answer had a double meaning. He'd done plenty of things in the past that would disqualify him from eternal happiness, but he was no better now, because his thoughts as he felt her beside him encompassed at least two of the seven deadly sins.

Stopping, almost as if she didn't realise they were blocking the doorway, Sue Ellen looked at him and earnestly asked, "why don't you try and change that?"

"Do you think I can?"

"I think you're capable of a lot."

Touching her hand to his cheek, the tender moment between them was lovely, although taking place in a particularly awkward location.

"I am."

Agreeing, he knew they needed to move soon if they wanted to live to carry on their discussion, so with a hand on her waist he guided her away from the doorway, away from the crowds.

"Are you capable of telling the truth?"

Carrying on their conversation as she walked with him, letting him lead, she didn't seem bothered by the fact that there was no way he had any sense of where they were going.

"Depends on the question."

Smirking at his response, she corrected him. "The right answer to that is yes."

"Ok, yes."

Playing along, he couldn't imagine she had anything more personal to ask him than they'd already discussed previously, so he saw no harm in letting her tell him what was on her mind.

Pushing through a heavy wooden door, entering a covered walkway that looked out onto a grassed courtyard, the noise from the interior suddenly seemed very far away.

"Good. So, tell me about these secret meetings you've been having."

Raising the subject of what he did when he wasn't with her or John Ross, her question hung in the air for a few seconds before he acknowledged it.

"John Ross told you?"

"You expected him not to?"

Raising an eyebrow, her expression indicated that he'd be a fool to expect their son to hide things from her, especially when she was currently his most trusted parent.

"No…"

Truthfully, he was quite pleased that she knew now, it gave him the opportunity to reveal his plans to her without having to find a way to slip it into a conversation.

"So…?"

Taking a few steps forward, distancing them, Sue Ellen looked to him for an answer.

"It's a surprise."

Grinning, he walked forward, reinstating their closeness.

"Are you planning on staying longer than you originally planned?"

Elaborating on her earlier question, her feelings on the subject weren't entirely clear. She told him she was happily married but she didn't seem to be making much of an effort to get out of his way again, indicating that she wasn't as uncomfortable with their familiarity as she wanted him to think.

"Would you hate that?"

Shaking her head, she answered simply, "no."

Delighted to hear it, he had the confirmation he'd been seeking but not directly asked for.

"So I have a chance?"

Nodding, she responded in a way that technically answered his question although they both knew wasn't what he'd been asking, "to re-establish a relationship with John Ross."

"To win my wife back."

"JR."

Saying his name in a warning tone, her facial expression said something quite different. Her eyes were wide and her smirk obvious; she was entertaining the idea he was suggesting.

"Don't pretend you haven't thought about it."

"Thought about it, yes, but…"

Hearing her admit it, he didn't give her a chance to make excuses for why her thoughts couldn't be a reality, he didn't want to hear it. What he wanted her to do was reciprocate his advances, which she did.

Cutting off her sentence with a kiss, the experience was just as he remembered it, delightful.

Pinning her against the stone wall, she couldn't have moved away from him if she tried, not that she was trying. Her lips on his, matching his movements as she had so many times before, she didn't resist at all when he took things further, his tongue exploring familiar territory as they stood surrounded by completely unfamiliar territory.

Leaning into her, his hands finally allowed to reach parts of her he'd only dreamt of for the last few years, it briefly occurred to him that if a lightning strike was coming for him with how close they were now she'd surely be a victim too, however as it hadn't got them yet he doubted it was ever coming.

On paper, their actions were wrong, but in reality they were very right. He loved her, he wanted her, and he now had her, seemingly just as invested in their actions as he was.