A Sue Thomas F.B. Eye end of series tag - what is the way forward for Jack and Sue after she decides to stay on at the FBI in Washington D.C.? Set two weeks after the season 3 finale.
After dinner tea and coffee was somewhat uncomfortable for Jack. Ally had been draping herself over him all evening and he couldn't seem to get away. She had now somehow maneuvered a way next to him on the couch and kept on smiling at him, touching his am and focusing all her energy on him when all he wanted to do was shift away from her. He looked across and caught Sue thoughtfully looking from Ally to Jack and back again. Bobby was pleasantly engaged talking about one of their FBI cases as if it were a mad caper, which made his parents laugh and he thought, not for the first time, that this evening would have been so much more pleasant for him if Ally hadn't suddenly showed up just before dinner! His mother had been in on it, beaming at the pleasant surprise she thought she had given Jack, but Jack's heart just sank into his shoes. This dinner was supposed to be with just Bobby and Sue present, the two people he felt closest to in this world. Ally just didn't belong there, not for a very long time, not anymore.
Earlier that afternoon his parents, visiting from Wisconsin, had dropped by his office in the FBI Hoover building. The last time they had been in Washington DC had been five years ago, they had visited his then new apartment but they had never visited him at work before. Seeing them at work had been strange but the team had been very kind and welcoming and it had made him smile when he saw his father and Sue hit it off chatting in a corner by themselves at one point. When his parents left, his mother had asked the team over for dinner. Only Bobby and Sue had been able to accept and Jack had felt strangely elated at the prospect. Ever since Sue had almost left for New York two weeks prior, but had changed her mind at the last minute, something had shifted in Jack. The thought of losing his dear friend and colleague had almost eaten him up alive and he knew then that something in their relationship would have to give.
He had been intrigued by Sue from the moment she had marched into his office with her hearing dog Levi by her side three years ago and that intrigue and interest had only grown, now into a good friendship. There was always something extra there between them; there had been joking and long glances and touches and being there for each other, there had been living together as a married couple undercover which had thrilled him more than he dared contemplate at the time and there had been that one kiss, again undercover, in a darkened lawyer's office which had felt very real and not acted at all. Yet through it all, they remained at a professional albeit very friendly distance. There was the no fraternization rule within the same unit to consider, after all, but more than anything there was the fear of completely giving yourself to another person and the great vulnerability that came with that.
Jack enjoyed the company of women but to let them into his soul was something else altogether. Yet somehow Sue had managed to work herself into the very core of his being and he found he liked having her there. He knew she liked him too, that she enjoyed his company, and he felt himself grow closer and closer to her, in such a way that she was occupying his thoughts more than ever. Even Lucy had seemed to suggest in the elevator, not too long ago, that he and Sue were maybe perfect for each other. Then Sue announcing she was leaving Washington DC altogether had happened and that had felt like a gut punch. It signalled to him that she felt alright about leaving him and that could only mean that her feelings didn't run deeper, right? He had felt elated when at the last minute she had decided to stay for her work family and the friendships she had built here but that left him wondering if that was all they would ever be: work family and good friends. Did her feelings run deeper? If someone had asked him a month ago he would have answered that there was a real possibility, now he wasn't so sure anymore.
What he had become sure of recently was that it was getting more and more difficult to ignore his own feelings for Sue. On the one hand he wanted to act on it, test the waters, find out more about how she really felt about him, but on the other hand he didn't know how to approach that and was getting more convinced that someone like Sue could never have serious feelings for someone like him. Could they even cross over from friends to being more and would Sue even want to be more with him? She had initially wanted to leave, after all, and these past two weeks since her announcement that she'd stay after all had left him with an inner turmoil. Into all of this, his parents' visit came and now this little dinner party his mother had organized had suddenly happened and it had felt like an opportunity which made his heart sing. Oh, why did Ally then have to show up?
He had tried to gauge Sue's reaction to Ally but Sue had been completely friendly all evening during dinner. No sign of upset or jealousy. Was that the proof that she didn't care about him in that way? After Ally had arrived, Bobby had taken Jack aside and had whispered, "I didn't know you and Ally were starting up again, mate."
"We're not!" Jack had answered, "I didn't even know she was coming! Her mom and mine are good friends, I think they are trying to matchmake again."
Dinner had been pleasant but he hadn't been able to have much of a conversation with Sue as she had been engrossed with his dad for most of it. They seemed to get along very nicely but it irked him that so little of her attention was for him. He couldn't blame her, as Ally was draped over him at dinner, but it irked him nonetheless. And now, with after dinner coffee and tea almost done, the evening just seemed to slip away, none of the promise he had hoped for that afternoon had materialized.
Sue took the last sip of her tea and then abruptly got up and said that she had to leave, that she still needed to do something at home. She thanked her hosts gracefully, she fistbumped Bobby and said "See you Monday" and she gave a friendly handshake and smile to Ally and said, "It's nice to see you again, Ally, it's wonderful that you and Jack can reconnect again."
Jack's heart sank at that little remark. She was just so warm and friendly to everyone and she seemed perfectly at ease with Ally being there for him. No, Sue's feelings were nothing more than friendship, the way she handled herself that evening seemed to prove that to him.
At his front door he helped her into her coat and as she turned around he softly said, "Ally isn't part of my life, Sue." No matter how Sue really felt about him, he needed her to know that.
"She'll always be part of your life, Jack, you two have a history together," Sue gently said.
"And that's all it is, history," he replied, studying her reaction closely.
"For now... She's really great, Jack, and as your friend I wish you happiness," she smiled a little tensely, adding, "See you on Monday."
She then swiftly turned away and she and Levi were gone, leaving no room for further discussion.