A/N – I've been having a lot of trouble uploading chapters, which is why it took awhile for these to come! Sorry!

Chapter 18:

Jack was already sore from the bad sleep he had had in the hospital the night before, but could feel the pronounced ache in his muscles, as he lugged Sue's bag, and his stuff into her apartment. He hurried back, to hold the door open for her, as she went in, signing thank you as she went. As she walked into the living room, Jack noticed how much weight she had lost. She had always been slim, but the change was noticeable.

He moved his stuff into the spare bedroom, before grabbing her bags and bringing them to her room for her. He then settled on the couch next to her. To his surprise, Sue moved closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder. Jack realized how alone she must have felt the last week, and was thrilled that finally she realized that he was there for her so she didn't have to go through things alone.

No words were necessary, as Jack lifted his arm and wrapped it around her shoulders, hoping that he could comfort her. He was left to his own thoughts in the silence, knowing that eventually things were going to be okay.

-----

"This is Agent Harper from the Ohio office." Dimitrius introduced the man to his team, minus Jack, Sue and Lucy. "He has some good news for us." The broad shouldered man gave them all a small smile before starting.

"We have a lead on the murderer. It seems he had started to murder in the southwestern part of the states, hitting California, Arizona and Texas about 5 year ago. There was a string of 12 murders of families, but the man was never caught. As you all are aware, we believe the same man came up here, starting about 3 weeks ago, and have so far gotten to 5 families: two in Ohio, one in West Virginia and two here. We think he'll strike again."

"Serial killers almost never stop unless someone catches them." Myles side noted. Agent Harper nodded.

"Agent Gans informed me that you also received a note at each of the crime scenes, as well as found a random, and placed fingerprint – that of Jaden Colson, killed 13 years ago." They nodded in agreement. "This is where we've gotten lucky. It was believed that following the crash of the drunk driver into the Colson's van, the driver took off, leaving the five of them. The van ended up catching fire, and it was believed that the parents, as well as their three children were all killed.

About a week and a half ago, there was a robbery at an ATM machine in a town in Ohio, near the West Virginian border. Being a simple robbery, and though we didn't have a suspect yet, the case got pushed to the side, low priority, considering the murders that had happened. Some of the evidence from the robbery started getting processed a few days ago. This is where it gets interesting. The machine was wiped down, but the robber must have been interrupted, because they missed a spot. We got a clear print and ran it."

"Who was it?" Bobby asked, intrigued.

"It came back as Joshua Colson, who seemingly died in the accident with the rest of his family, when he was 9 years old."

-----

"Jack – there's something I want to ask you." Sue said quietly, as they sat at the table over lunch. Sue had slept late, which was unlike her, but Jack knew it was sleep that she needed. It hadn't taken her long to fall asleep the night before, and even for him, it had been one of the best sleeps he had had in a week, knowing that Sue was only on the other side of the wall.

"What's up?" He responded as casually as he could, but secretly hoping that maybe she would admit everything to him.

"I think I need to take myself off this case, but you need to promise me something." Jack looked at her, slightly surprised. She had been so obsessed at first with catching this guy, but now to suddenly back off? He knew it was best, and he hoped that maybe she was realizing that it was best for her as well.

"What do I need to promise?" He asked, kindly back.

"That I can watch the interrogation from the other side of the mirror when you catch him." Jack hesitated for a moment, but realized that it was a pretty good compromise. He would just make sure he was with her when she watched. For some reason, this was important to her, and he wanted to respect that, with the hope that sooner than later he would understand.

He nodded and she smiled weakly back, taking another bite of her omelet. She knew the moment she had a second alone, she needed to call up Howie. Sue knew that for her own sanity, she had to get off the case, but it didn't mean Howie couldn't help the rest of the team with the information she had been seeking.

-----

"What theories do we have?" Bobby asked. Tara was ready with a marker at the whiteboard.

"Well, we know the killer has been leaving fingerprints of Jaden Colson at his crime scenes, intentionally. Perhaps the killer has copies of Joshua's as well and are leaving them around to stump us." Myles suggested.

"Or maybe Jaden and Joshua are both alive. Maybe they are who we're looking for and it is actually their fingerprints?" D also added. Tara kept scribbling.

"If it's not them, how did the killer get their fingerprints to be able to place them?" Bobby asked. Tara turned around.

"The killer must have known the Colson's somehow. With both fingerprints showing up, either they are alive or the killer knew them when they were."

"Sorry to interrupt." Agent Harper said, striding into the room, "but someone is here to see you. He says he has information about the case. I ran into him downstairs as he was signing in as a visitor. He says he knows you?" They all looked as Howie walked into the bullpen.

"Howie?" Bobby said, confused. "You have information on our case?" He just nodded.

"I talked to some friends of mine, seeing what kind of news was on the street. Around here and in West Virginia and Ohio."

"No one asked you to do that…" Dimitrius said, suspicious. Howie's eyes shot around the room nervously.

"I…I know…but…but I thought you would come to me eventually, yeah, and you know me, always willing to help my friends at the FBI."

"Okay, what is it that you know?" Myles demanded.

"Does the name Ben French mean anything to you?" Howie said. Bobby looked at him,

"No. Who's Ben French?"

"A nutter. Apparently he was pretty big on the streets around California since he was teenager. He ended up moving to Ohio a few months ago." Myles looked around at his colleagues, who all shared the same surprised look. "All I know is, that he was very well known for spouting off his feeling about families, and how it was his goal in life to destroy happy families, the same way his had." Howie explained.

"How sure are you of this information Mr. Fines?" Agent Harper asked, obviously unaware of Howie's previous affiliations with the FBI.

"Positive. A friend, of a friend, of this buddy of mine used to be partners with Ben when he lived in Arizona for a short time. From what this guy tells me, Ben spouted off about having killed families before."

"I think we have a suspect." Dimitrius announced, as everyone hurried over to their desks to start making phone calls, leaving only Bobby and Howie alone. Bobby directed Howie into the hallway to talk to him,

"Is this the information you wanted to tell Sue yesterday?" Howie shook his head unconvincingly.

"No, it was something else." Bobby just raised his eyebrows, but said no more about the subject.

"If you hear anything else, let us know immediately, alright?" Howie nodded and walked away, as Bobby hurried back into the bullpen to call Jack and update him.