Chapter 24:

"You look tired mate." Bobby exclaimed as Jack trudged over to his desk with a large cup of coffee. He shot his best friend a glare before sitting down.

"The girls kept waking each other up. Savannah woke up hungry, so Sue fed her but then Sophia started crying. Finally Sophia fell asleep but then Savannah started crying again when we put her down and woke her up. Sue and I were up most of the night." Jack explained. D just grinned, knowing what it was like to be up all night with an infant; he could hardly imagine what it must be like having two.

"Well Jack, I told you it wasn't fair – you got two and I don't have any. You could share." Bobby grinned. For the last 2 months he had loved going over to Jack and Sue's just to see the babies. It made him want to have his own kids even more. Tara and him had been dating for almost a year, but they weren't at that point yet. Instead, he just attached himself to his two "nieces" and spent a lot of time at the Hudson's.

"Even though they keep me up all night Crash, I wouldn't trade them for anything." Jack responded with a small grin. "By the way, Ted called yesterday. We have a big case coming up and he wants Sue's help – there are a lot of surveillance tapes to look at, and we might even be getting a direct feed to the bullpen. They authorized letting her bring the girls here and work part time at the office for a few weeks."

"Awesome! We haven't seen her that much lately, especially since the babies' came," exclaimed Demetrius. Myles looked happy as well, as it had been awhile since he had seen Sue and her kids. He was rather attached to the babies too, only unlike Bobby, didn't let it show as much.

Later that afternoon, Sue arrived pushing the double stroller with one arm, holding Levi's leash and a rather large baby bag with the other arm. She looked exhausted but they couldn't miss the joy on her face. She obviously loved being a mother. Jack rushed over and helped her with the bags. Everyone trickled over to say hello to their colleague and friend, and her two girls.

"It's so nice to be back!" Sue exclaimed. It had been 3 months since she had been at work, and she missed it a lot. She knew that during that time it was important to spend with her growing babies, but looked forward getting back into her job, even if it was only part-time. The FBI had somehow conjured up to swings for the babies, next to Sue's old desk. She put her stuff down and lifted out Sophia first.

Sophia was almost 3 months old by now, and growing fast. Her dark hair was slightly wavy and her eyes were a vivid brown. Her personality was starting to show through, and Jack and Sue could tell she was going to be like her mom. She was stubborn. She liked getting her way, but it was almost like she had a way of knowing people without them saying anything. They were very excited to see how she turned out. Jack took her from Sue and buckled her into her swing. She lazily sucked on her soother, looking around at all the new sites.

Sue took out Savannah next. Her hair was short, dirty blond but curly. She had her mom's eyes and skin tone. Jack was always astounded how much she looked like Sue. She didn't even look at all like her father, though Jack did notice her chin was shaped just like James'. It didn't matter though. Jack was her daddy and what had happened the previous September barely entered their thoughts anymore.

Savannah definitely had Jack's personality. She was quieter, more reserved than Sophia. She would go with the flow, but she was dedicated. If she wanted something, she wouldn't stop until she achieved it. She was also a total Daddy's girl. She loved being held by Jack and would spend hours just looking at him, whereas Sophia was more so a Mommy's girl. Once both girls were buckled into their swings and happily occupied, Sue turned to the rest of her friends, all of them waiting for Ted to arrive and fill them in. Bobby, naturally, was in front of the swings making funny faces at the girls, completely oblivious to how stupid he looked.

"Ted said we have a big case?" Sue asked, wondering if anyone else had more information. Tara piped up,

"We don't know much either yet – we're just waiting for Ted to update us. Happy your back?" Sue nodded and grinned.

"I miss it, although I wouldn't trade my family for anything. It's just a different kind of life. Busy!" Jack nodded and grinned.

"Exhausting too…" he added.

"Just you wait until they start teething, and crawling…walking…talking…then you get 2 teenagers at once" D added with a smirk.

"Yeah, they'll definitely be a handful. Have you guys started to bet on when they take their first steps yet? Or what word they say first? Or what they take in college?" Jack added with a grin at his friends. They all laughed. Jack and Sue had found out about the bet shortly after Savannah had come home, and they had taken them out to dinner. Sue's parents were in town at the time, so they watched the girls while all the friends had a nice evening out. Lucy and Ted had won the bet with 2 points, and the rest – Bobby, Tara, Myles, Dimitrius and Donna all came out with one point, and ended up paying for the meal. Tara had managed to get the birthday right on, which Bobby said warranted a free meal, but she declined and happily paid her portion.

"Did you parents have a good trip back Jack?" Lucy asked, to pass the time. He nodded and went into detail about their visit. They were pretty excited to meet their two granddaughters.

After another 10 minutes, and 2 babies who had fallen asleep, Ted finally walked in the door. After greeting Sue, they all went to the other side of the room and talked quietly as to not wake up the kids.

"It's nice to see you all together again. Unfortunately, the circumstances that have arranged this are critical. There has been another murder, and we have reason to believe it may be another serial. Hopefully we can stop them before another victim is attacked. There has only been one victim so far, but the NSA believes that the message left on the victim's body may lead to the fact that there have been more victims. The woman found was in her early 30's. She was a physiotherapist, and went by the name Karoline Grenon. They found her ID to identify her body. It was pretty messed up almost beyond recognition. Apparently there has been some people visiting her house, so have put 24 hour surveillance to see what's going on. There was also a note left on her body."

He took out the piece of paper, as Sue sat in shock, her mind reeling unable to speak. No one else had noticed the familiarity of the name. Including Jack. Ted continued to read the note,

"Dear Washington FBI: It's too late. You will give us what we have been searching for. We want her. Perfectly Innocent. Don't even bother trying to think it won't happen because it will."

"Karoline Grenon – that was the victim?" Sue said quietly. Ted nodded and looked at her with curiosity.

"Did you know her?" Jack turned to his wife and noticed how pale she looked. She nodded, and turned to him.

"Karoline – the one I met at the Jefferson remember? The one who taught the prenatal class?" Jack suddenly remembered the name.

"The one that didn't like me for some reason." Sue nodded.

"What do you mean didn't like you?" Myles asked. Jack went into the story of how Sue and her had met in the washroom. Myles remembered her face too, as Jack continued on at how defensive she was when she found out that Sue was married to Jack, not Myles and how she was surprised at the fact they were FBI. Ted also seemed very interested in this information.

"Maybe this is a set up? Maybe she's related somehow to the Jefferson serial? I mean they took Sue and Myles thinking they were married, and she knew that they were. Then when she finds out they took the wrong people and on top of it you were all FBI." Sue shook her head.

"She was just killed remember? I don't think she did this!" Jack took her hand; he could tell she was starting to get angry. "Her boyfriend had gotten her pregnant and left her. If anything she deserves our sympathy not our condemnation!" Bobby looked at her,

"She was pregnant?" Sue nodded

"She should've been due any day now. She was in her 4th month when I was in my 7th." Bobby turned to Ted.

"Was the woman found pregnant?" Ted shook his head no.

"Maybe she had already had the baby?" Lucy suggested. "I mean Savannah was early." None of this made sense. They had no idea if Karoline was in fact involved in anything or happened to be another helpless victim of a crazy and dangerous killer.

"Can I see a picture of her?" Sue asked Ted quietly,

"I don't think that's a good idea Sue. She was pretty banged up." She looked at him adamantly.

"Please – besides the ID, you don't have any proof that's her. If she was conspiring with the Jefferson serial, then maybe it's not her." Ted looked weary at that suggestion and slightly doubtful but nodded. Jack sat beside her as Ted ruffled through the papers and found the image of her lifeless corpse. Sue swallowed as she looked at the picture. The same hair color, same skin color. About the same height that she remembered. She was almost certain it was her. She swallowed back a sob welling in her chest, as Jack put his arm around her shoulders.

"Is that her?" Ted asked gently. Sue nodded.

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The rest of the day passed quickly. Sue was busy looking over surveillance tapes of Karoline's house, the rest of the team busy researching Ms. Grenon's history and any other bits of information they could find to help them with the case.