Chapter 33:

Jack turned over and looked at the alarm clock, which blinked 10am. He shot up quickly, surprised at how late he had slept, which was not at all like him. He got up and looked in the mirror. He looked a lot worse than he had yesterday. The cuts on his face were red and irritated and his bruises looked more purple and yellow in the morning light. Though the sight reminded him of the previous day's events, and all of the trauma that had happened in the last few weeks, Jack couldn't help but smile, thinking about the moments Sue and him had shared the night before, and how it felt just to hold her in his arms.

He quickly got dressed and headed into the living room, surprised to see Sue fast asleep on the couch, Levi cuddled next to her like a warm fuzzy blanket. Levi's head perked up at the sound of him walking into the room. Jack quickly tried to settle him, as to not wake Sue up. He reached over and grabbed an afghan, covering up Sue's bare arms. He rested his hand on her soft skin, feeling her warmth and soaking up her innocent beauty.

He popped some frozen waffles into the toaster oven, and attempted to start brewing some coffee for when Sue woke up. It didn't take long, as she walked into the kitchen sleepily, smiling to see Jack reading the paper, munching on waffles and drinking his coffee. She strangely didn't feel awkward at all, grabbing a cup of coffee and sitting cross-legged on the chair next to him. Jack folded the paper, and smile at her, loving her messy hair and pajamas.

"Sleep well?" Jack asked. She shrugged.

"I woke up in the night and couldn't sleep. Maybe I should just replace my bed with a couch." She reached her hand over, like she had the night before, touching his face and looking closely at the biggest cut he had, near his temple, which was nicely bruised and red. This time she didn't quickly move her hand back. "You should get that checked out by a doctor. You should at least get some ointment to make sure it doesn't get infected."

"What on earth would I do without you?" Sue rolled her eyes at him. "We can stop at a clinic on the way into work. Now it's my turn to take care of you." Jack grinned, and kept trying to keep the mood light. It was the most cheerful conversation they had had in weeks.

"I like the sound of that." Sue swatted him playfully on the arm, as he pretended like it hurt and pulled back. Her face slowly turned more serious, and Jack knew what was coming. He decided to say something first; "Are you sure you're going to be okay this afternoon?" She knew that Jack had this instinctive way of reading her mind before she ever said anything.

"I don't know, but I think that maybe seeing him will help me be able to put things behind me. You know, see that he's going away for good." Jack completely understood her reasoning, but had many other concerns too.

"There might be some things that come up." Sue got up from the table, and started clearing the table. Jack did the same. "I wish I could be there with you." He said quietly. Sue stopped what she was doing and moved closer to Jack.

"I wish you could too, but you need to do this. Not just for me, but for our team and for the families that need closure, and for the ones you've now protected." Sue reached for his arm.

"Someone has to be with you – the doctor doesn't think you should even be back at work yet. And if you need me at all, you let me know. Promise?" She nodded, and took a hesitant step closer, putting her hand on his cheek, small tears filling her eyes as she looked at all the bruises and cuts. Jack put his hand over hers. Sue kissed him, before stepping back.

"I really should get ready if we want to get to the doctors before hand, and we should stop in and see Bobby and Howie too." Sue left, as Jack finished up straightening the kitchen, wondering how things were going to go today and between him and Sue in the future.

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"Tara, I need a favor." Jack said in the hallway, as he was heading back into the bullpen. Despite the gash across her cheek that was neatly stitched together, she looked fine and happy.

"Of course, what's up?"

"Sue wants to watch the interrogation this afternoon. I want someone watching with her." Tara looked at him quizzically.

"Sure. Is everything alright? Did you figure out what was going on?" Jack didn't want to lie, and although he understood Sue's reasons for keeping things quiet, he also knew that their friends might be a little hurt that she had never said anything. Now that they had caught Ben French, Jack knew it was only a matter of time before she would tell them anyways, since the case was now over.

"She's okay, but you know how much stress she's been under lately, with everything, and she's not even supposed to be at work yet. I just don't want something to happen, or all of this to get to much, and no one to be there." Tara nodded understandingly, though she felt like she was missing something.

-----

"We caught you red-handed blowing up the café. That's at least attempted murder of 12 people, including FBI agents. You'll never get out of prison, and if you're willing to talk about the family murders, then we might consider life without parole, instead of the death penalty. Now if we link you to any of those murders, you're going down. We know it was you, and I don't think it will take long for us to get you on one or all of those murders." Jack said, coldly. Ben French smugly stared back, a look sending chills up Sue's spine as she watched from the other side of the glass.

"I'm not ashamed of what I've done. My only regret is that I won't be able to continue my work, my purpose." Ben replied, a glitter of insanity in his eye.

"What purpose is that?" Myles asked, disgusted.

"To destroy the families that are seemingly happy, but really just hide what's really going on. I hate fakeness." French replied with a small grin. Jack quickly glanced at the one way mirror, knowing that Sue was just behind, and that this wasn't going to be easy on everyone. He turned back to look at the evil man sitting next to him.

"I want details, and every one of the families you targeted and why." Jack said, as Ben just grinned at him.

"No problem. I remember every single one. Let's start at the beginning, in California."