Chapter 11:

Tara called in the middle of dinner to tell Jack she was going to be late. They had some new leads on the family serial killer and she couldn't get away yet. Sue suggested that they go in, but Jack flat out refused. He wasn't even sure if she should go to work tomorrow, let alone that evening, but offered for himself to go and help. Tara told him that there wasn't any point, since it was just computer work for now, that only she could do and just assured him that she would be by later.

Once they had finished their supper, Jack and Sue settled on the couch, as they had so many times before, only this time Jack felt oddly uncomfortable, torn between the need to talk to her about everything that happened, and the fear that if he did, she would retreat further away from him. He could already feel the gap that had grown between them; he could feel her pushing him and everyone else away.

She pulled her legs up on the couch comfortably, sipping at her tea. Breaking the silence, she spoke up,

"Tell me what's happening with the case so I'm not behind tomorrow." Jack still didn't feel comfortable that Sue was so anxious to get involved in this one. For some reason, something didn't seem right and his instinct told him to keep her away, but he knew he couldn't. If he continued to hold her back, she would eventually draw back even further.

"There's been another murder of a family. We think it's a serial killer."

"Same MO as the last one?" Jack nodded.

"No trace evidence, note left again. We're almost positive it's the same guy. The note alluded to the last victims, information only we and the killer would know."

"But why would he go after families? Destroy so many people's lives? We need to catch this guy, before he does this again." Jack could see the fire in her eyes, an obsession to catch this man. He had seen her passion before, and had always admired that about her, but this was different. It was rage and anger, and it was personal. He couldn't help himself and asked,

"Sue, what's going on?" She looked at him for a few moments.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean the fact that you're completely submerging yourself into this case, and completely ignoring what happened the last few days." Sue stared at him and waited before answering, weighing each of her words carefully.

"It's not fair for me to take slack and not help out, especially with a case this important, and especially when I'm feeling fine. I had been tired, and not sleeping very well, which is why I got dizzy. I saw the doctor and I'm fine now. I want to help."

"I can't just forget that you disappeared for two days without telling anyone. Something happened, you admitted it yourself and I wish you would stop pushing me away and tell me what's going on!" Though she knew Jack wasn't angry, Sue could tell how frustrated he was, and couldn't blame him; but she also knew if she gave him any hint of what was happening, there was no way he would let her work, especially this case. Sue knew what she needed to do, and as much as it hurt even more, she knew it was necessary. She got up off the couch and said,

"I'm really tired; I'm going to bed. I'll see you at work tomorrow." She turned around and walked away, Levi right behind her. Part of her expected Jack to come after her, the other part knew that Jack was the kind of person who would respect her, no matter how discouraged and upset he felt. She closed her bedroom door, and leaned against the cold wall, her eyes filling with tears, knowing she had pushed away even further someone she had come to care about more than she had ever been willing to admit. And it hurt.

-----

Tara arrived two hours later to find Jack deep in thought, sitting in the kitchen, an untouched cup of tea in front of him.

"Where's Sue?" She asked, pulling up the chair next to him.

"In her room. Probably asleep by now." Jack wanted to tell Tara everything, but he didn't know what to say anymore. Spilling everything would involve admitting that he cared for Sue, as more than just a friend, and he didn't know if he was ready to do that. Not now, not when she had pushed him so far away he couldn't reach out to her anymore. He said his goodnights to Tara, before letting himself out of the apartment. As he looked up from outside his car, he could see Sue's bedroom light on. He realized, as he got in and drove off that he wasn't going to be the only one up all night.

-----

"Miss. Thomas, it's wonderful to see you again." Bobby said as the blond walked into the bullpen, the crisp and frigid Friday morning.

"It's nice to be back. Lucy called this morning, after Tara had already left. She's going to stay in Arizona an extra week. Her mom's going to be there, for an event, so she figured she would take the opportunity to have a small vacation, get away from this cold spell." She announced as she sat down at her desk, purposefully trying to avoid Jack's gaze.

"Are you going to be okay for that long?" Myles asked. Sue smiled,

"Of course. I've even convinced Tara to return to her own place tonight, instead of babysitting me." They all looked at Tara who shrugged.

"Doctor said it was fine, and she knows I'm just a phone call away." Sue gave her a small smile and nodded, knowing that the next 2 weeks were going to be lonely, but necessary if she was going to accomplish anything.

"So where are we on this case?" Sue asked, looking around at everyone except Jack, whom she knew was just staring at her. Dimitrius caught Jack's eye, as if to ask him if it was okay. He shrugged and gave a small nod in defeat, so he started explaining,

"We have new evidence. Besides the two letters he left at the two crime scenes, we also found a clue we believe he planted."

"What was it?" Sue asked. Bobby got her attention.

"A fingerprint strategically placed. The rest of the house was clean, so we believe he may have put it there purposefully for us to find."

"Or he got sloppy?" Myles suggested,

"I don't think so," Jack joined in. "we ran the print, and it came up as Jaden Colson from Illinois. He died 13 years ago – he was only 11 years old when his entire family was killed in a car accident. Hit by a drunk driver."

"The killer had a print from 13 years ago?" Sue asked, astounded.

"How he got it, I don't know, but we checked the first crime scene again, and after combing the boy's bedroom more carefully, we found another fingerprint. This one was more cleverly hidden on a wall. The second one had been on the boys play train set. This time, the boy was an only child, unlike the previous murder, where there had been two children – a boy and a girl."

"Then we can start to guess his pattern. He's starting to get more predictable." Sue concluded. Dimitrius nodded.

"Let's run with what we've got and see what we can do." They all headed back to their desks, picking up their phones or typing furiously at their computers, Sue included. Jack sat for a minute and watched her. On the outside, she seemed to be okay. She seemed to have everyone else fooled. Everyone except him.