NOTE: Italic bold is a dream. IDK if I'm going to write any more dreams, so I'm not going to put that in my key :). Most likely, just for this story, and that one time a few episodes ago.

?-?

Sue couldn't stop the tears from falling when she opened the box in the attic. It was all her Dad's things. His High School yearbook. Some old ticket stubs to a game. A baseball that was autographed by someone who's handwriting was illegible. It probably was worth a whole pile of money, but she wouldn't sell it, as it is worth much more to her. Further down, there were pictures. Pictures of football games with the family. Of family dinners. Of her college graduation. Of herself, her Dad, and Judy. She stopped and looked at the picture deeply, letting a tear fall. She didn't know why these pictures were up here, but she put them back in the box, and found what she was looking for and packed up the box again. She then left the attic.

?-?

"I take it school was better today, huh?" Mya asked as she and her sister ate dinner, Maddy with a smile on her face.

Maddy smiled and nodded.

You want to talk why you weren't so fond about going yesterday? Was it because you were new?"

Maddy's smile disappeared. "I don't want to talk about it." She said, staring at her food. She didn't look at her sister again all throughout the meal.

"OK," Mya replied to herself, eating the rest of her dinner in silence.

?-?

That night, everything was catching up to Sue. Her dreams were proof.

Sue looked around. She was cold, and didn't know why. It was dark, but she saw some light up ahead. She walked towards it. It was an empty ice rink, and somehow, this rink was taller than normal, or maybe she was shorter. She looked down, and she had skates on, so she decided to go out on the ice. As she was skating, someone skated towards her. It was Judy.

"Sue!" she exclaimed, coming closer.

"Judy, hi." Sue replied.

"Come, skate with me. The competition is in a half hour." Judy said, pulling Sue's arm.

"Competition?"

Judy stopped, facing Sue. "Yeah, dummy. The competition that we've been practicing for for months."

Sue stared at her with a blank look, then remembered. "Judy, you need to do something for me. Lose. Don't win. I won't either."

Judy looked at her, totally confused. "What are you talking about? Why would I do that? Why would you? We've worked too hard."

Just then, a light in the bleachers turned on. Sue noticed this, and looked in that direction. She saw her Dad, cheering her on. "Dad!" she exclaimed, quickly skating towards him.

"You're doing a great job, honey." He said.

She skated towards the door out of the rink, and he walked towards it. Once Sue got there, she ran into her Dad's open arms. The hug felt good. So good. So warm, so right.

Then Sue remembered something. "Dad, don't go anywhere. I don't want to lose you."

He looked at his daughter strangely. "Honey, what do you mean? I'm not going anywhere."

"I-Just don't go anywhere."

Just then, a bright light flooded Sue's eyes, and everything went black.

Sue awoke with a start, shivering under the covers.

?-?

Sue stared blankly from her desk. She got to the bullpen early to help try to figure a few things out before going to undercover work at 9.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Jack, the only other person who decided to come in early, said and signed. Sunny was left at home, so when Sue didn't respond to his waving, he went over to tap her arm. She jerked her head up, startled that someone was there.

"What's wrong? You're staring off into space." He repeated.

Sue looked back at her desk.

Jack knelt down to be as eye level as he could. "Something's really wrong. What is it?"

"Do you know why I never came back to D.C.?" she asked almost inaudible, looking away.

Jack waited until she looked back at him. Once she did, he shrugged. "Because your Dad died."

Sue slowly nodded. "That, and another reason."

Jack frowned, unsure of the other reason.

"Last night, I had a dream. Both Judy and my Dad were in it." She paused, letting it sink in.

Jack's frown turned into understanding. "The two people you were the closest with. They both died unexpectedly." He explained. Sue nodded.

Jack racked his brain, trying to think up something to say that would make her feel better, but he came up blank. There was nothing to say.

"When you had your heart attack, I almost lost you to something that was completely unrelated to work. Then when my Dad died," she trailed off. Jack looked at her, hoping she would finish her sentence. "I knew I couldn't lose you like that. I thought it could be a clean break. I thought I could believe the lie that it didn't mean anything. That I didn't love you. I just didn't want another heartache."

"But I'm not going anywhere." Jack said, slightly smiling.

Sue sort-of smiled. "I know, at least not intentionally."

"Did Lucy's invitation bring all this up?" Jack asked.

Sue nodded. "Yes, but I've been dealing with this for months. Ever since you showed up at my classroom door. Before then, too, but I had buried it so down, I didn't think I felt it, but I did."

"Sue. " Jack started, unsure what to say, but he was going to try. "You can't change what happened, you can't change the past. What happened to Judy wasn't your fault, and neither was your Dad. That was all in God's time. He needed them back home. But how you reacted to those situations were the things you could change. Judy's death resulted in you being stronger, becoming the woman I love. But your Dad's death," he looked down, thinking. "It hit you so hard you reverted and hid away, thinking that was best for you. If you would've gotten over it, you would be in a different place. We would be in a different place. I'm not saying not to miss your Dad, but it's how you react. If you grow stronger from the situation, it's a good thing. If you don't, then it's a waste of God's gift to you."

Sue looked down so that Jack didn't see her tears. She remembered what happened when she was in a coma two months prior. How her life would've been if she didn't hide away in Ohio. She quickly wiped her eyes, and looked at him. "Can you promise me one thing?"

"What?"

"That you won't go anywhere?"

Jack chuckled, despite the situation. "You know I can't promise that. That's all up to God. But I have survived a heart attack, gunshots, captures, and several other bad situations. I don't think I will be going anywhere soon, especially if I have anything to say about it." He smiled at her. Through her tears, she smiled back at him. Then she leaned over to give him a hug. She slid off the chair so that she was sort-of sitting in his lap, and so that he could wrap his arms around her further. Then she realized something. The warmth of this hug was just like her Dad's in her dream. She hadn't felt her Dad's hugs in so long, she had forgotten how they felt like. And Jack had the same kind of hug. She sighed, falling deeper into the hug, and deeper in love.

They stayed like this for several minutes, but Jack pulled away. "Don't you have somewhere to be? It's almost 9."

Sue looked at him with wide eyes, and looked at her watch. "Oh gosh! I'm going to be late!" she quickly got up, grabbed her stuff, and ran out the door.

Jack, who was still on the floor, smiled and laughed, looking after the love of his life.

?-?

As Tara was getting out of her car, she looked at the building the massage clinic was in. It was an old converted building, divided up into two storefronts. Tara looked up at the engraved stone brick in the center of the front.

"Hrm." She said to herself. It was good that she brought her computer to work with her today. She would be doing a bit of research on her lunch break.