Without You

'They couldn't go on like this' Sam thought, 'it was killing them' They'd broken up only two weeks ago but it felt like a lifetime. Everything was falling apart including work, something she'd once sworn that no man would ever disrupt. Jack wasn't any man though, he was the man she loved with all her heart, the man who made her feel complete, her soulmate. They had to talk.

"Vivian, you and Martin check out the boyfriend, I think he's lying to us. Danny you run a full background check on all of the Dobsons, there's something dodgy going on there I know it. Sam you and I are going to go interview the parents again." Jack ordered, Sam looked up, this was the first time that he'd paired them together since he'd said it was over. Instead he'd been pairing her with Danny or Martin or even Vivian. The whole team had noticed, none of them had commented but Sam knew they all wondered why. Now they would wonder no longer, perhaps they would think that Jack had been checking up on them. Whatever the case it didn't matter, she now had her opportunity. The parents lived outside of the city, it would take them an hour to get there by car, an hour in which to talk things over. Perfect.

"Jack." Sam began, they'd been driving for about five minutes, she'd been trying to think about what to say and how to say it before she realised it didn't matter.

"Yeah?" Jack replied, both eyes on the road, clearly not really paying attention.

"We need to talk." Sam told him, that got his attention, for a moment he took both eyes off the road and stared at her before fixing one back on the road, just in time to avoid a collision.

"I know." Jack said calmly.

"We can't go on like this." Sam stated. "I thought it would be ok, that we could manage. It's just thinking about what we had . ."

"Marie chucked me out." Jack interrupted. "I'm living in a hotel. She didn't believe that I'd really broken up with you." Sam stared at him in disbelief. "I didn't know how to tell you. I guess I didn't know what would happen."

"What are you saying Jack?" Sam asked, "I have to know."

"Sam I . . I miss you and I love you. It's just . . I can't lose my daughters." Sam didn't reply, she knew how Jack felt about that, how he felt about his mother.

"There's no hope for us then?" Sam looked for confirmation, this would be a harder truth to bear than it just being over if he said no, but she had to ask.

"Marie could still divorce me, it would be out of my hands then." Jack told her, avoiding the issue like only he could.

"Is that likely?" Sam asked, knowing the answer before the words had even left her lips. Jack and Marie were very different but one of the few things they had in common was that neither believed in divorce. They both believed that children should be brought up in the best environment possible, they both believed that environment to be with both parents together. It probably came from both being brought up by catholic families, despite the fact that neither believed themselves.

"No." Jack answered finally after a long pause. "No it's not likely."

"It really is over then." Sam stated, those were the last words spoken on that long drive out of the city.

I believed it was over, I believed that there was no hope for Jack and I. Then I went into a small bookshop, had a drop go bad and met Barry Mashburn. Now I don't know what to believe anymore.

A/N: Finally after a long bout of writers block I managed to finish this. I hope it's ok, any comments and/or criticisms will be very much appreciated. Thanks for all the reviews already, they mean a lot to me.