I found some old, completed Sue Thomas F. fanfictions on my computer, so I thought I would post them here for your reading pleasure.
Jack Hudson was out for his daily run after work. Once upon a time, he used this time to think of his parents, his job, his home state of Wisconsin. Now, he thought of Sue Thomas, with every pound of his heart, with every exhale, with every step.
It was strange. As a special agent for the F.B.I., he could stare down a terrorist without flinching or conduct a raid on a warehouse stocked with explosives calmly, but the mere thought of telling Sue that he loved her was enough to turn his knees to jelly.
If only it were not for that silly no-dating rule – no. To himself at least, it was high time to admit the truth. As Team Leader, he was privy to information which no one else knew. He knew there were loopholes in the no-dating policy, if one looked for them. He knew agents in other units had managed to get waivers. With Sue not even being a full-fledged agent, just an analyst, they could almost certainly remain in the same unit, if they wished to date or marry.
It was his cowardice which kept him from speaking his heart. Their friendship was so beautiful – it would break his heart if his confessions tainted it with awkwardness. And Sue Thomas was as tantalizing as she was beautiful. Whenever he uttered a flirtatious remark, she rebuffed him with equal wit. He was never sure whether she was playing hard-to-get or whether she genuinely disliked his attentions. She made dates with other men effortlessly. As a matter of fact, she was currently in a relationship – for months, she had been seeing a man she had met at the dog park, named David.
He would be lying if he pretended that he was not worried. David took her out on expensive dates; he was fun, joyful, and got along well with Levi. Sue called him a few times a week from the office. Jack feared that one day, sometime soon, David would propose, and be accepted.
…
Agent Hudson noticed a quaint little park on one side of his usual jogging path, and decided to check it out. Running into it, he had completed nearly a lap when something in a little alcove of oak trees caught his eye.
Sue and David were standing together, Levi sitting at his mistress's side. Slowing, Jack kept looking at the couple, and then stopped completely when he recognized the expression on Sue's face.
She was crying.
In a heartbeat, Jack forgot his run and began to sneak up towards the alcove, F.B.I. training in full force. If David had hurt her, in any way – he would pay for it. Dearly.
Once he was within earshot, Jack positioned himself out of view and listened. To his surprise, Sue gasped out between sobs,
"I am…so sorry. I have treated you terribly."
Jack Hudson was certain that Sue Thomas could not treat someone badly if she tried. What was she saying?
"Sue, don't," David said, in a much steadier voice. "Don't apologize. I've known for quite some time that it would end like this."
"That does not excuse the fact that I strung you along - "
"I know what you were doing. You were trying to make it work. I could see that. But I've known for quite some time that it would not. You have nothing to blame yourself for. You did just break up with me, after all. You could have kept stringing me along for much longer than you did."
Sue wiped her eyes.
"If you knew that it would not work, why did you not break up with me?" she asked in a quivering voice.
"Because I enjoyed your company, and frankly, did not have my eye on any other young ladies in the meantime. I thought we might as well go out together until you came to the same conclusion as me. But honestly, Sue, for weeks now I have thought of you as a friend, and nothing more. A man knows when he is beaten. I know that I stand no chance against Jack Hudson."
It would be difficult to say who started more violently – Sue Thomas, or the hidden Agent Jack Hudson.
Jack's mind was spinning. Had David truly said his name? Had he and Sue discussed him during their relationship? Did David think that Sue was – in love with him?
Sue struggled to collect herself.
"Did…did you just say that you stood no chance against Jack Hudson?" David nodded. Defeated, Sue bowed her head.
"How did you know?" she whispered.
Jack nearly keeled over in the bushes.
"I've seen the way your eyes light up when he comes into the room. I've taken you out to the Kennedy Center to rub elbows with the rich and famous, dressed in the best tuxedo I could find in the metropolitan DC area, and yet I could never put that spark in your eyes for an instant."
"Maybe you should be in the F.B.I. instead of me," Sue laughed shakily.
"Perhaps. All I am going to say is that if Mr. Hudson does not notice the same, then I should definitely be in the F.B.I. in his place." He extended his hand. "So long, Sue. Maybe I will see you around?"
"Thanks, David." She met his eyes. "Thank you for understanding."
"No problem. Thank you for everything, Ms. Thomas."
With that, David, now the ex-boyfriend, walked away.
…
Unaware that the man of her dreams was watching from the bushes, Sue Thomas sat down on a bench in the oak alcove. Levi crept nearer to her, and rested his head upon her lap. Sue took one more look at David's retreating form and began to cry hard.
"Well, Levi, I've done it again," she said between sobs, her voice trembling. "When will I stop being such a ridiculous fool? David is great – he is funny, he was smitten with me, he understood me, and we had some wonderful times together – and I've let him go. Let him go gladly, I might add. I've given up another man for a dream that can never be reality." She gathered the golden retriever closer to herself. "It is always the same. A man notices me, asks if I want to go out, and if he is the least bit interesting I say yes, as if I did not have a padlock on my heart! I try to have fun, I try to see the good in him, I hope that feelings for him will eventually engulf and consume the ones that are so firmly rooted in my heart." She rocked back and forth, her sobs becoming even more profound. "No matter how hard I try, I always end up comparing him to Jack, and he always comes up short. Maybe I should do what Tara once threatened to do – swear off men forever. At least then I would not treat my poor, unsuspecting dates so unfairly."
Levi licked her hand, trying desperately to comfort his mistress.
"Of all the men I could have fallen for, I had to pick Jack Hudson." Sue muttered. "Jack Hudson, who could have any woman he chose with a snap of his fingers. You have seen his former girlfriends, Levi – if anything, it is clear that he can do much better than an average-looking deaf co-worker who needs a dog to tell her when the doorbell rings. No offense, buddy."
For once, the hearing canine did not seem offended, but simply inched closer to her as she dissolved into shuddering sobs.
Jack could bear no more. To see her rocking back and forth, in such pain, thinking that he did not care about her – nothing could have induced him to go away and leave her in such a state. Even his own happiness at hearing so through a confession of love from her lips was overshadowed by her tears.
Walking toward her, he motioned to Levi to be quiet. The canine obeyed, and did not signal Sue that someone was approaching.
If she had been anyone else, he would have spoken, reassured her with words. But in this case, any words would literally fall on deaf ears. She was crying far too hard to see him clearly, and thus would be unable to read his lips or even ASL. But he had to do something. Therefore, he seated himself next to her on the bench, and pulled her into his arms.
Startled, she pulled away and tried to see who it was, but her eyesight was too blurry from moisture to see faces clearly. Thinking that it was her ex-boyfriend who had rejoined her, she murmured,
"David, please, if you do not mind, I would like to be alone with Levi now."
Jack reached out and wiped away her tears. As soon as he deemed that she could see clearly enough to read lips, he softly said,
"I'm not David."
Shock registered in her eyes as she recognized him. Realizing that he must have heard all, she jerked up from the bench, embarrassed beyond imagination. She was about to run away with Levi as fast as her legs could carry her when Jack imprisoned her hand in his own and gently pulled her back down.
"Don't go, Sue. You cannot run off now, not after voicing sentiments which I have longed to hear for the last three years."
Instead of relieving her, his request appeared to deepen her shame. Apparently, she thought that pity had something to do with his response to the situation.
"You needn't be kind, Jack. I'm the most abominable fool for speaking like that in the middle of a public place, and I promise that tomorrow morning I will be asking for a transfer to another field office so that you never have to see me again."
"You do that, and I promise that I will be transferring right alongside you," Agent Hudson said seriously. Seeing that she was now listening intently to him, he looked directly into her eyes as he whispered, "I cannot live without you, Sue, and only insecurities about what you felt – or did not feel – kept me from telling you. I love you, Sue Thomas, with every molecule of my heart. As for your deafness, I do not care. There are plenty of women, my former girlfriends among them, who could hear just fine and yet were nowhere near as kind-hearted and amazing as you. You are the most beautiful woman I ever saw. I love your expressive eyes, your silky blond hair, your wonderful smile. I am only sorry that my silence gave you so much grief, for so long."
This convinced her. Dropping her head upon his shoulder, she began to cry again, but this time, her tears were of joy. He held her close, almost in disbelief at his good fortune.
After several minutes, she raised her head and met his eyes.
"I love you, Jack Hudson, with my whole heart as well."
Smiling, he smoothened her blond hair and said boldly.
"I know that it might be a little improper, considering the fact that you just finished one relationship and the fact that I am woefully unprepared with suitable jewelry for the occasion, but I am unable to restrain myself any longer from asking: Sue Thomas, will you marry me?"
Sue gawked at him.
"Could…could you repeat that?"
"Will you marry me?"
In ASL, she signed a very decisive YES.
Jack reached for her, and in an instant, they were sharing their first real kiss.
After a few sweet moments, Sue suddenly pulled away.
"But one of us will have to be transferring. The rules - "
"About no-dating can easily be circumvented, if you just know how," Jack finished for her. "Trust your experienced F.B.I. fiancé for once, please?"
"Very well, my very Special Agent Jack Hudson, very well," was all Sue said before they leaned in for another kiss, Levi barking his approval in the background.
THE END
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