9

Every Dark Cloud

Rating: K+ for one little mild profanity

A/N: Happy Thanksgiving!

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Chapter 7

As Sue dabbed Bobby's flushed face, the corner of his lips quirked up.

"What's so funny?"

"Remember the day Jack introduced you?"

"How could I forget? I remember your exact words!"

"How was I to know you could read lips?" he chuckled. Abruptly, the laughter turned into a coughing fit.

"No more laughing."

He shook his head trying to get his breath back. "Good…for the…soul," he panted.

"You need something good for that cough."

"I'm….good. All alone…with a…beautiful…woman…what more…could….a man…ask?"

"Clean sheets in a hospital with a beautiful nurse?"

"No hospital." His gaze swept the room and landed on her face. "I like it here."

The sweetness of his smile made her heart give a funny little skip. She couldn't be, could she? she wondered. Maybe she was. Maybe it was propinquity. Whatever it was, it was doing funny things to her heart.

"… the best. Did you know that?"

Abruptly she realized she'd been staring at his face but not absorbing anything he'd said until she caught the tail end of his words.

"Did I know what?"

"Jack…he's a great bloke."

"Yes, yes he is."

"Yea, can't find a better mate."

"He's a good friend."

"It's my fault."

"What?" The abrupt change of conversation confused her.

"All of this...my fault. Should've….should've…."

"Bobby, we've talked about this already. It's no one's fault. Stuff happens."

"I'll get…I'll get…" He struggled to get up.

"Bobby!" she cried attempting to hold him back.

"Help. Get help," he panted. Another spasm of coughing stopped his thrashing as he fought to breathe.

"We have to get you to a hospital," she said worriedly as she rubbed his back. The radiating heat alarmed her. Was it affecting his thinking? His conversation was becoming disjointed and difficult to follow.

He shook his head as he tried to regulate his breathing. "No."

She opened her mouth to disagree but snapped it shut. It served no purpose to agitate Bobby in his condition. Better to cajole him to get him to calm down.

"You are a stubborn man, Bobby Manning," she scolded gently.

"So I've been…" his voice trailed away. "Sue?"

"Yes?"

"I'm glad you're here. I wish...I wish…"

She knew exactly what he was going to say. "Me, too," she smiled as she stroked his forehead.

"You always know."

"I do, don't I?"

"What am I thinking now?" he whispered.

The look in his eyes squeezed her heart. She bent down to kiss his forehead.

"I think so, too."

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"Thank you, Ms. Munez, for your cooperation," Marty Pavone gratefully acknowledged as he wrapped up their discussion. "The government appreciates your willingness to testify against Jay Miller."

"Well, I'll be very appreciative once you have that sonofabitch behind bars," she replied tartly. "No one dumps me the way he did and gets away with it."

"You do know his attorney will do his very best to shred your testimony…and you," warned Marty.

"Just let him try," Darlene Munez scoffed as she shook her luxurious mane of hair. "Don't let this bimbo exterior fool you. I do have a brain and I know what's what. I know his lawyer and Derrick Geddings is not going to rattle me!"

"We'll place you under protective custody until the trial is over. If you feel the need to disappear, we can arrange to put you in the witness protection program."

"I'll think about it. Is that it?"

"Special Agent Nakamura will go over the arrangements we've made for you," Marty explained. "If you have any questions or concerns, direct them to her. Whatever she can't answer, my office should be able to."

"Thanks."

"No, thank you," he smiled.

"Come on, Darlene," said Tracy with a tilt of her head. "We can grab a cup of coffee while we talk. My treat."

"Hmph!" snorted Darlene. "If we drink the coffee in this place, I may change my mind about that testimony."

"It isn't that bad!"

"That's not a ringing endorsement," Darlene said wryly. "Isn't there a Starbucks nearby?"

"There's a Starbucks everywhere." Tracy responded cheerfully as they walked out of the office.

"Good work, Jack," Marty Pavone congratulated the agent as the women disappeared around the corner.

"We can't take the credit," Jack protested mildly. "It was timing. We just said a few words about Jay Miller…prison and Darlene Munez was more than happy to provide us with the information we needed."

"Is her information good?"

"From what we've been able to corroborate so far, yeah, it is."

"Good." He lifted a questioning eyebrow. "How's the situation with Bobby and Sue?"

Jack's expression sobered. "Still waiting for the weather to clear up so we can mount a search and rescue operation. The forecasters are saying this weather should be changing for the better in the next twenty-four hours."

"I hope for once they're right."

"You're not the only one."

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Last log. When that was gone, the warmest thing in the cabin would be Bobby, she thought wryly as she threw it onto the fire. For a few moments she basked in its comforting warmth then moved away to return to his side. She reached for the damp cloth on his forehead and felt its heat in her fingertips. She closed her eyes for a moment then dipped the cloth in the bowl of water and resumed wiping him down. With each stroke, she prayed help would come soon.

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Saturday

"The sun is shining!" Lucy said excitedly as she practically ran into the bullpen. The men were already wearing their FBI jackets. "Are you….?"

"We've already notified Search and Rescue," D informed her. "We're leaving in ten."

"Levi and I want to go," she insisted.

Myles took her by the shoulders. "We know, Lucy," he said in a surprisingly gentle tone, "and we'd take you if we thought it would help find Bobby and Sue sooner. But it won't."

"But…"

"We'll have two teams searching including some local police who know the area."

"You'll be able to monitor communications the whole time," Jack pitched in.

"We'll let you know as soon as we find them," D said kindly.

"Besides," Myles pointed out, "somebody has to hold down the fort and everyone knows, this team would fall apart without you."

Lucy looked intently at her teammates then reached up to squeeze Myles' hand. "The minute you find them….'

"We'll let you and Tara know," he finished dropping his hands and straightening up.

"If you don't, I'm…I'm never doing another report for any of you again!" she said pointing her to finger to each one of them.

"Got it!"

As they filed out of the office, Jack bent down to scratch Levi's head. "Don't worry, boy, we'll be bringing her back soon," he said encouragingly.

Jack smiled when Levi barked in response as though to say, 'You'd better!'

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"Yeah," D answered his walkie talkie as he and the rest of the search team tramped through the mud to the next property on Tara's map.

"No luck here," Jack repllied as he peered into the unoccupied dwelling. "Doesn't look like anyone's been here for a while." Hours had passed as the two search teams looked for the missing agents.

"You sure?"

"Positive. What about you?"

"Got another mile or so before we get to the next "x" on Tara's map. It's kind of slow going with all this mud."

"I'm gonna need a new pair of shoes after this," Jack commented wryly.

"You're not the only one. Think Randy will allow it as an expense?"

"You tell me. You're the expert at writing for reimbursements."

D smirked recalling the incident of the infamous parade of pennies for payment. "It got them their money, didn't it?"

"That it did," Jack smiled ruefully. "Okay, we're headed for the next place on the map. Keep us posted."

"Sure thing. Gans out."

"How much longer, bwana?" Myles wisecracked as they followed the young deputy sheriff.

The deputy grinned. While Myles usually irritated people, Deputy Lane thought the tall FBI agent was a hoot. "'Bout another fifteen…twenty minutes to the Miller place. Their place is kinda in from the main road."

"Do you think the Millers are there?" asked D.

Lane shook his head. "Nope. Their daughter just had a baby so they're helping out for a couple of months. Asked us to keep an eye on the place."

"Do they live here year round?"

Again, Ronnie Lane shook his head. "Nope. Most don't. Just a handful stay on."

"How did those people weather the storm?" Myles inquired. "Get it? Weather? Storm?"

D groaned. Sometimes Myles could drive him wild. "Yes, Myles, we get it."

Lane's grin reappeared. "They're fine. The permanent residents all have shortwave radios to keep in contact in times like this."

"How long do you think it'll take to clear the mudslide?"

"Two…three days. Gotta make sure no more of the mountain's gonna slide down. Otherwise it'll be a job like that Sisy-fella."

Abruptly, Myles stopped and gave the young deputy a strange look. "You're familiar with the myth of Sisyphyus?"

"Sure. Learned about them Greek…or was it Roman? I never could remember which was which. Anyway, our teacher got us all interested in those myths. I remember reading all those books about them."

"She must have been a remarkable teacher," Myles remarked in admiration mentally revising his opinion of the young law enforcement officer.

"He…a male teacher. It's kinda funny now that you mention it."

"What is?"

"His name…his last name was Myles…Mr. Theodore Myles. Best English teacher I ever had."

"Is he still teaching?"

A look of sadness appeared. "No."

"What happened? Did he become frustrated with all the NCLB requirements?"

"No. Mr. Myles was in a National Guard unit that got sent to Afghanistan couple of years back. He was killed in a helicopter crash," Lane said soberly.

Eavesdropping on the conversation as they trudged through the ooze, at Lane's disclosure D's eyes traveled from the young deputy to Myles and back. Here was another person the Iraqi war had touched with tragedy.

"I'm sure he'd be proud that what he taught you stuck all these years," he said kindly.

"Yeah, I hope so."

Respectful silence reigned for a few moments.

"Um…" Ronnie Lane cleared his throat. "You should be able to see the cabin any minute."

D and Myles' eyes eagerly searched for clues of their missing comrades as a rustic looking cabin appeared in view.

"Nice place," Myles commented as they approached the dwelling.

"The Millers take care of their place. They come up pretty often compared to some of the others."

"Guys, is it wishful thinking or do those windows look like they're open?" D asked hopefully.

The other two men peered carefully.

"I think…I think you're right!" Myles concurred a quiver of excitement shading his voice.

Their pace quickened and within a handful of minutes, they were at the bottom of the steps.

"Myles, you…"

Before D could voice the rest of his instructions, the door was flung open and a familiar figure hurtled into his arms.

"Dimitrius! Myles! You came! You came!" Sue cried.

D hugged his missing teammate tightly relieved she was safe. Myles paused a moment to squeeze her shoulder then slipped inside the dwelling.

"Are you all right?" D asked in concern as his eyes scanned for any signs of injury. He noted the bandage around her wrist and her pale appearance. "Where's Bobby?"

"Sick," she signed. She was so overwhelmed with emotion she couldn't speak. "Really sick. Afraid…"

"Hey, we're here," he said kindly putting an arm around her, "everything's gonna be fine."

At the sound of their footsteps, Myles straightened up, his expression grave. D's eyes dropped to their friend. One look and he realized the seriousness of his condition.

Sue brushed away her tears, took a deep breath and pasted on a smile as she lowered herself next to the prone figure. She reached for his hand and covered it with hers.

"Hey, sleepyhead," she smiled brushing that stubborn lock of hair back. "Guess who's here?"

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