Monday night, 7pm
Dinner was quiet, punctured by bits of small talk. Sue finally flipped on the news after about ten minutes, just so they had something to do besides not look at each other.
Finally, when the takeout was gone and the news over, Jack took a deep breath and reached for the remote. He switched off the TV, took another breath and touched Sue on the shoulder.
"So tell me about last night."
Her eyes widened. "But I thought Bobby…"
"He did. I want you to tell me."
She sighed and looked away. "I'm so sorry you heard about it the way you did. I didn't mean—"
He reached over and drew her face back around. "Forget the apology. Just tell me what happened with David."
Sue looked at him for a long moment, then leaned back against the sofa, propping her cheek on one hand and drawing her feet up under her. "Well, we had a nice dinner, then we went for a walk down along the river. There was a bridge we had to cross, and we stopped in the middle of it for a minute. David said there was something he wanted to talk to me about."
Jack mirrored her position on the sofa. "What was it he wanted to discuss?"
"He asked me to marry him. He had a ring and everything."
"Just like that? Out of the blue?"
She nodded. "He said he knew it was sudden, and he'd understand if I needed a little time to think about it, but he wanted me to know how he felt."
Jack thought back to the conversation he'd had earlier with Bobby. Dead on, Crash. He leaned forward a little. "And how do you feel about him?"
"I—" She paused. "He's wonderful, we have a great time together; I like him a lot. But…" She looked directly at Jack. "…I don't know if I'm ready to marry him."
She was stalling, and she knew it. She could see Myles' face in her mind, and the last look he'd given her. "Get it over with already."
But Jack beat her to it. He reached over and gently took her hand. "Can I ask you something?" He watched her eyes widen, but she simply nodded. A very deep breath preceded his next words. "What if there was someone else who felt the same way about you that David does?"
She reared back slightly, but held his gaze. "What are you saying, Jack?"
He moved a little closer to her, his hand releasing hers and moving up to stroke her blonde hair. "I'm saying, what if there were a chance for something…" He trailed off, losing his nerve.
Sue stood, shivering a little, then walked over to the window. Now that they'd come right down to it, she wasn't sure she could go through with the conversation. "I don't know, Jack," she said softly, gazing out at the street below. "I just don't know how there could be a chance. Not with the rules at work."
"Study hall is an appropriate metaphor for the two of you." Bobby's words stung him enough that Jack finally made a decision. He walked over to join Sue at the window and gently took her by the shoulders.
"Forget the rules at work. For just one moment, forget them, okay?" He saw her nod slightly, her eyes brightening with something they'd kept locked away since they'd first met.
"All right. So, tell me what you're really saying, Jack." Her voice was very soft.
He smiled. "Why don't I just show you?" Her pulled her close, one hand tangling in her hair again, and very gently kissed her.
The world vanished; he felt her respond to him, and the simple kiss deepened into exquisite sweetness as they said all they'd never dared to verbalize. He allowed himself the liberty of drowning in her kiss, the feel of her arms around him, the softness of her skin and her hair.
When they finally parted, he sighed. "Wow." He signed it as well as speaking it.
Sue smiled brightly. "I think I agree completely with that assessment." She was a bit breathless as she said it.
His eyes smiled back at her, but his expression was serious. "Sue, I think I'm falling in love with you. I needed to tell you that. I don't know how to work it out in terms of work, and I don't want to lose our friendship, but I had to tell you."
"Jack…"
He placed a finger on her lips. "The most important thing to me is that you're happy. I hope you know that. If marrying David will make you happy, then that's what you should do. But, if there's any chance that you'd want…something else, then at least now you know there's another possibility."
"Jack…"
He shook his head. "I don't know how we'd work it out. But—"
Sue placed a hand over his mouth. "Jack."
"What?" His voice was muffled behind her hand.
"I still need to think about all of this. I know that. But, for right now…I don't want to think about anything. Would you just kiss me again, please?"
His eyes widened as she moved her hand away. "I think I could handle that." He pulled her into his arms again.
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Monday night, 10 p.m.
"He kissed you!" She dropped her purse and pounced on the edge of the couch by Sue's feet.
From the look on Lucy's face, Sue suspected that her voice was so high-pitched that Levi probably couldn't hear it, either. She nodded, smiling at the memory.
"Wow!"
Sue laughed. "Yeah, that was the general consensus."
Lucy stopped and looked at her friend. "Okay. So how come you're just laying there staring up at the ceiling with a smile on your face and a what-do-I-do-now look in your eyes?"
"It doesn't really change anything, Luce."
"What are you talking about? It changes everything, doesn't it?"
Sue sighed and sat up, tossing Levi's bunny across the room for him. Then she crossed her legs Indian-style beneath her and leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees, her hands folded in front of her. "The only thing it really changes is that I have a lot to talk to David about. Myles was right. It's not fair to David that I can't fully give him my heart, yet continue to let him hope."
Lucy blinked. "Wait a sec – Myles was right? Since when does he get involved, especially in areas of romance? Not exactly his expertise, believe me."
Sue gave her friend a rather chastening look. "Will you let it go, already? There is such a thing as forgiveness in this world, you know. Yes, I know he hurt you, and yes, you had every reason to be angry with him. But it's been a year and a half, for goodness sake. Move on."
Lucy blinked, startled that usually quiet Sue would lay it out that candidly. She shook her head in amazement. "You of all people, after the way he treated you when you first joined the team, talking to me about forgiveness – wow. All right, I'll work on it, okay? But, he's the one who told you to…?"
"Talk to Jack? Yes. Let him know how I feel? Yes. Get out of 'study hall,' so to speak? Yes."
"Now the last one sounds like Myles," Lucy replied with a grin. "So what are you going to do about Jack?"
"That, I don't know. Luce, he said he thinks he's falling in love with me – I'm not sure I'm ready for that. I just really got settled in with the team. I don't want to have to transfer to another unit – not right now, anyway. So I guess I need to talk to Jack again, too."
"What would it be like to have two guys falling all over me?" Lucy wondered out loud, grinning.
"It's not funny, Luce." Sue tossed a pillow at her.
Lucy ducked, laughing. She threw it back. "Oh, yes, it is."
For the next ten minutes, pillows flew and Levi jumped around, barking excitedly. Finally, Sue collapsed against the couch, trying to catch her breath. Lucy was sprawled in the armchair, her legs dangling over one arm, still giggling. Sue looked up at her friend.
"Thanks, Luce. I needed that."
"Anytime, girlfriend. Hey, let's go find some double-fudge ice cream. I feel a late-night chocolate attack coming on."
Sue's face lit up. "Oooh. You're on. Come on, Levi!"
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Tuesday, 8 amThe next morning at the office, Sue found a single white rosebud sitting in a tiny vase on her desk. The note beneath it said simply: Just follow your heart. Friends, no matter what.
She glanced over at Jack, already at his desk engrossed in a case file. Conscious of someone's eyes on him, he looked up. When their eyes met, she signed Thank you. That means a lot.
His shoulders moved in a small shrug as he replied. No problem. I swiped it off a neighbor's rosebush this morning. He watched as she tilted her head in the familiar motion that made his heart skip a beat, and then he returned the shy smile she was giving him. For a moment, his mind slid back to the night before and the sweetness of her lips...
"All right, people, gather 'round." Dimitrius' voice entered the Bullpen before he did, and everyone moved around to the board where Myles was setting colored markers on a map of the DC-Arlington area.
"Either yesterday's bombings were a one-shot, or our perp took the night off." D's voice was steady and calm. "SOG reported nothing unusual at any of the churches they were watching, and no new explosions or suspicious boxes were reported."
Bobby folded his arms over his chest. "Somebody got all their grievances out in one sermon? Makes for better sleeping, but it means we have absolutely nothing to go on."
Myles had moved to his desk as Lucy indicated a call coming through. Now he was on the phone while the rest of them brainstormed.
"Tara?" D asked. "What'd the lab come up with on the stuff we brought in yesterday?"
She stepped up in front of the board. "Most of the components of the pseudo-bombs were pretty common stuff, available at any hardware store— the wire, timers. The boxes were handmade— again, basic materials. Where it gets interesting, though, is the clay used to simulate the C-4. It's pottery clay— pretty high-end, too. Not the type you could pick up at a general craft store. I ran a check, and there are two ceramic supply stores in the DC-Arlington area."
"Just for the sake of covering our bases, expand your search area to a 50-mile radius around DC," D replied. Tara stepped back to her computer as he continued. "We've got markers set up on the map for all the churches within a 25-mile radius."
He indicated the map, which was nearly hidden under black, blue, and a single red, markers. "As you can see, Lucy did her usual very thorough job with that list. The red marker is First Presbyterian, the one church that was actually bombed. The blue ones are the randoms SOG watched last night, and the black ones are the rest."
Myles hung up the phone rather loudly, and they all turned to see the anger blaze against his hazel eyes. He stalked over to the board, paused for a moment as he searched the map, then exchanged a blue marker for a red one.
"So much for a one-shot," he said darkly. "Temple Beth Chai just went up in a blaze of fire and brimstone."
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