A/N – I'm loving this whole, getting a lot of time to write… maybe I should just quit university (joking, joking…) I wanted to post yesterday, but I got stuck with this horrible flu/cold. Not fun! And by the way, this is still part 1 – part 2 will be posted as another story, like what I did with undeniable. I'm hoping to have part 1 done soon, it just took me a lot longer than I anticipated :)

Chapter 36:

Sue had convinced Jack that she needed to go into work the next morning. They had barely talked about what had happened the day before. Jack wasn't too sure if Sue was avoiding the subject, or still trying to cope with the information, or both. Either way, he knew that they had grown close enough that she would talk to him when she was ready.

Sue was in the shower, when Jack heard the phone ring. He quickly grabbed it, expecting it to be Myles or Tara.

"Hello?" He answered. He was surprised when he heard another voice on the line, one he had not expected.

"Jack?" The voice answered back. "This is Michael Thomas. How are you?"

"I'm okay, and yourself?"

"Fine. How's Sue?" Mike asked. Jack noticed how worried his voice sounded.

"She's doing alright. Mike – she told me what had happened, and I'm very sorry for your loss." There was silence for a few seconds.

"Thanks Jack. Everyone here is so worried about Sue. None of our lives will ever be the same, but at least we've had each other to get through this; we were all surprised when Sue just said she was going to go back to Washington, the day after the funeral. Has she told anyone else?"

"Not yet."

"The reason I'm calling is we got a phone call early this morning from the agent out in West Virginia who was taking care of Ben and Gracie's case. He said you guys had caught the man who had killed them." Mike explained, his voice sounding hopeful.

"We did. He's in custody and is going to be charged with the murders of 37 people. He'll never get out of jail alive." Jack answered, happy to give this family the hope and closure they needed.

"Thank God."

"I'm doing everything I can for Sue here, but if there's anything else I can do, please let me know." Sue walked into the living room in her housecoat, her hair wrapped in a towel. She frowned and looked at Jack, who mouthed 'Mike'. "Mike – Sue's here and she wants to talk to you. No problem, anytime." Sue picked up her phone and started talking with Mike, as Jack went back to finish getting ready. They wanted to stop by and see Bobby again.

Howie had already been released, and from what they had heard, was recounting tales of stopping the bomb single-handedly and saving millions of lives. Bobby was improving by leaps and bounds and was expected to be released any day, as long as he stayed off the field for 2 weeks until his head completely healed.

Jack walked back out into the living room, to see Sue, sitting deep in thought on the couch. He sat down next to her and she turned to look at him. He noticed the bags under her eyes, and knew that her sleep had not been good.

"Nightmares?" He asked, upon intuition. She nodded.

"They'll go away, I'm sure. I talked to Mike."

"He sounds like he's doing okay."

"Mike is doing okay. Sarah, his wife, is wonderful, and I know it's been tough for the both of them, but he does sound like he's getting back to normal. He wanted to call and see how I'm doing and to tell me something."

"What's wrong?" Jack asked immediately, knowing that look.

"My mom's not doing very well apparently. They're all relieved that we caught him, but she's been having troubles getting over what happened." She didn't say anything more, and Jack wasn't too sure what to say. He couldn't imagine what it must be like for Sue's parents, to lose a child and his family – their grandkids, their daughter-in-law. After a few minutes, Sue glanced at the clock, standing up.

"We should get going if we want to see Bobby before work." Jack got up next to her, and took her hand.

"Are you sure you want to go in today?"

"We all need to get these reports done and you did say that I could go back to work once this case was over." Jack gave her a look, and she just gave him a small smile. "It feels like years ago, that weekend we went ice skating, and then took that really long walk in the park. How can so many things happen in less than 2 weeks?" Jack was reluctant to bring up the subject again, but he knew that this was his chance, and she needed to be prepared if she was going to go into work today.

"When are you going to tell the team? Myles is already suspicious – if we're doing reports, one of them could easily stumble across the names and put two and two together. I know everything's still fresh, but now that the case is over, you can let them help you get through this too."

"I know – I'm going to say something if we get a moment today. Will you help me?" She asked honestly, knowing that she wouldn't be able to get through everything on her own.

"Of course," Jack answered.

-----

"Bobby! Dimitrius! You shouldn't be here!" Tara said, surprised, hurrying over and giving them both a small hug. Sue and Jack came in closely behind.

"Sue and Jack came to visit just as I was being released. Figured I would come in and get to work on that report for a few hours. Doc said I was fine." Bobby explained.

"And I actually convinced Donna that I was good to go. It was better than me moping around the house all day." Dimitrius said with a smile, looking much better. "How was the interrogation of Ben French?" He asked to Myles and Jack. Myles responded,

"He admitted to all of the murders. He had a psych exam done this morning; we're still waiting for the results. They're holding a press conference in about an hour. They want Jack and I to be there." Myles looked at Jack, who nodded.

Everyone slowly started to filter back to their desks, getting to work on the loads of paperwork they needed to get done. Myles shot Jack a look, before turning to look at Sue. When he looked back at Jack, Jack shook his head, trying to tell Myles that now wasn't the right time. He went back to his desk, and started to file through his work.

Jack had a clear view of Sue from his desk, which was something he had always loved to have. He watched her as she went through the files she had been given to process, frowning at the information, before typing at her computer. Jack turned back to his work, and noticed he had been given the cases from Ohio and West Virginia. He knew this would buy some time for Sue, seeing as if anyone else had gotten the Thomas murder, they would have easily made the connection. Still, it was hard for Jack, to look through the papers, and worst of all the pictures.

An hour past quickly, as everyone sat silently, working. Myles got a phone call saying that they were ready for them. Jack figured just him and Myles would go, but was surprised when everyone else got up to go with them.

"What?" Bobby said with a grin at Jack's confused face, "You think you're going to get all the credit? We just want to come and watch." Jack nodded, and looked at Sue, who made her way up. Jack gave her a small smile, which she returned, as they walked together down the halls to the press conference.