Sue stared at the phone for a few minutes. Upon returning home, she took a short nap and fixed a light lunch. She had been trying to work up the courage to just call Jack. Levi pawed at her leg and went toward the door. A quick peek through the peephole revealed the person she'd been thinking about.
"Jack."
The brown-eyed agent smiled in greeting. "Hey. Mind some company?'
Opening the door, she let him in. Levi said hello in his own special way before curling up in his favorite spot. They went to the living area and sat on the couch not quite touching. Sue was wary of contact until she sorted out what it was she was feeling. But this was Jack, her best friend, someone who was becoming a source of her strength and reason to smile. Bracing herself, she plunged right in.
"Jack, are there things in your job that you can never tell me?"
He was taken by surprise but felt she needed his complete honesty in his answer. "Yes. There are things I can never tell you."
"Do you think it will make me trust you less?"
"What? I don't understand." His eyes looked for reason behind the question.
Sue pressed. "If I know there are things you have to do and never tell me about, do you think I will trust you less?"
The brown headed man looked at his hands, seriously thinking about her request. Meeting her gaze, he said "No. You have the ability to look beyond that and still have your trust remain anchored." He gave her a gentle grin. "It's one of my favorite qualities about you. Your faith in humanity. In me."
"If…if I have something I can never tell you, will you trust me less?" There. It was out, hanging in the air for him to accept or reject.
Brown eyes narrowed. Jack realized that the question was not about secrets. "If you have to keep it classified, then I know it's safe with you. You would never intentionally endanger someone. I hate that you have to carry that kind of burden, and want you to know you don't have to carry all of it alone."
"I attended a memorial today." Tears flooded to the edges and threatened to spill. "It was a hard thing to watch. Someone, a friend, had lost something precious and another friend found it for him. The grief was so overwhelming." She sat trembling, wanting to be held but knowing she had to do this part alone. "It hurt right here." A hand pressed to her heart. "But it was fleeting, knowing that she was found. Oh, Jack, he loved her so much." The tears came now, an outpouring of relief. "I…I just want to be loved like that."
A pair of strong arms reached for her and she fell into what she was looking for.