A/N: I wanted to update this chapter yesterday, but FF didn't want to allow me, so I'm doing this today. I have no idea when will be the next chapter, as my days off ended, but I'll try to write it as soon as I can :) I have to finish my application for uni to UK, though, so I don't know how it will be with my time. Right now, however, I hope you are going to enjoy what I brough to you :) Thanks for reading and reviewing, it means a lot to me.
„It looks horrible…" stated Sue, looking at her partially healed gunshot wound.
It was her first day back at home. She definitely wasn't healed yet, but the doctors decided that she was good enough to be released from hospital, and only needed to come to control visits. She was ecstatic because of this, as with the passing time, she was getting more and more sick of the hospital, the room she was in, and the two women she shared it with. They were nice, and whenever they remembered that she needed to see their face in order to know what they were saying, she enjoyed conversations with them. The problem was, that they usually didn't; she didn't feel like it was purposely, to insult her but they simply weren't used to something like this. Still, she really wished she could be home, with her family and all the people, who she cared about.
She felt extremely happy, when she was leaving the building with Jack and Emily, who came to take her home. Her husband was there every day, and only because she insisted on it, he didn't spend his whole days there. He often brought Emily with himself, the girl missing her mom very much, and Sue missed her horribly as well. Just the thought that the two will sooner or later come, was able to make her feel better and now she was to have them all the time. Everyone was happy she was coming home, and Caroline even threw a small 'Welcome Home' party for her.
She was considering enough to think, that there was still some time before Sue will be perfectly fine, and none of the people present at their place upon their arrival stayed long. The journey home was tiring for Sue, her body wasn't in a normal shape and even something like this was enough to take her strength. She hated it, because she wasn't able to do a lot of things she always was doing, let alone by herself. She never liked to be dependent on others, and she didn't feel fine with it at all, but she knew that she couldn't even object if she wanted to take a shower, get dressed and other things she actually needed to do.
She was now in the bathroom with Jack, who was helping her wash herself, and one thing she had to admit was that she felt much more comfortable with him than the nurse, and even in the hospital it was him she asked to help her with washing. She has never really been comfortable with nudity or even revealing clothes, and it was probably going to stay this way forever, but with Jack it was different. He was the only person, who has ever seen her naked and even though it still made her blush, she didn't feel so uncomfortable with this as she would with any other person.
"Give it some time, Sue. One day you'll have difficulties to find it." he said, knowing that it might not exactly be this way, but it was definitely going to look much better than at this point.
He carefully finished treating the wound the way he was instructed to by the nurse. It was soon covered from her eyes by the bandage, and he reached to the side, to take his T-shirt into his hands and slowly helped her put it on. Her body wasn't making it easy, and even though most of the bruises almost faded, she still felt a lot of pain because of her broken rib and the wound. He was as careful as only possible, using the way they found out was the best and soon they left the bathroom and went to the guest room. It was the room she was now going to use, because they didn't believe going up and down the stairs a few times a day was the best idea for her, so Jack simply made the room on the ground floor ready for her.
"Jack…" she started, and he turned to look at her.
She didn't finish the sentence, though. She wrapped her arms around him and clung to him, resting her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes. He was a little taken by surprise, but a moment later he embraced her as well.
"I'm not a china doll. I'm not going to break if you hug me." he heard her mumble and could feel the heat come to his cheeks, gracing them with a faint blush.
Of course, she knew him so well that she couldn't have any troubles judging why he placed his arms around her so slowly and carefully. His grip tightened a little, and her sigh told him that it wasn't exactly what she hoped for, but it seemed to be good enough. He didn't want to cause her any more pain than she has already been through and was going to be for some more time, and he was afraid that he would if his grip was too tight. Because the truth was, he wanted to press her body against his as tight as it was only possible, to show her how glad he was she was fine and how he was not going to let anything harm her again. It was his turn to sigh, when he thought how he has already promised that to her once, and how he failed to keep this promise. It was his fault she got hurt in the first place, and even though she might not blame him, insist that it was her own choice as she didn't have to cover him from the bullet, but it wasn't all he had in mind.
It seemed she was thinking about the same thing, even though not in the same way. While his mind was once again focusing on all the things he did wrong, which led his family to find themselves in danger, she was thinking how much she hated it. She had absolutely no idea what has happened to the two men, who entered her house that day; she barely remembered anything from after she was shot, with the exception of Jack's gaze and he didn't really share anything with her. She knew he didn't want to talk about it with witnesses, and they didn't really have a moment alone in quite a while. When they were in the hospital, they were usually in the room and even though her roommates didn't really pay attention to their talks – at least she hoped so – he wouldn't feel comfortable with it. He also didn't want to talk about it in front of Emily, who just as they predicted, didn't want to be left alone without them. Even though much rarer now, she still sometimes had nightmares; she didn't see any real action, but the sight of her parents, her mom covered in blood and her dad looking so helpless, was enough. The difference was, that she absolutely didn't mind Emy's company, exactly the opposite. She was glad, that even though she was now suffering, she managed to keep her daughter safe.
She moved away from Jack a little, and sending him a small smile, she caught his hand and led him to the bed.
"Did they catch them..?" she asked, after they sat on it, not letting go of his hand.
"Yes, they did. The FBI arrived just seconds after you were shot, they didn't even manage to think about running away, let alone doing it."
"Did they mention, how long it's still going to be like this? I really came to love this place, to think about it as about home and as much as I wouldn't mind staying here forever, I hate to think I have no idea when will be the next time someone comes and tries to hurt us… I want it to be over…"
"It is, Sue. It's over. We're safe now." he nodded his head, seeing the surprised look in her eyes. Of course, he didn't say anything so she couldn't know about that. "When I talked to them, they explained that some time ago, the FBI found the organisation's new headquarter. Just like were the first suspicions, they moved to Canada, to Quebec."
"That's why they were speaking French…"
"Yeah. Some of the old members, who I got to know during my time undercover, were French-speaking Canadians. Because of a small misunderstanding, I had to learn the language very quickly, too. That's why they called me Jacques, not Jack, because my cover story was that I was from Quebec as well. And, to be honest, Canada was close. There were people from all over the world in this organisation, but it was definitely easier to run to Canada, than to Europe for example."
"So, they found them in Canada." she spoke up, suggesting for him to get back to the main story. She wasn't interested in such details, not now anyway. She just wanted to know what was actually important for her.
"Yes. Some of them died during the firing, some were arrested, but a few were missing. They were convinced they weren't there in the first place, but had to be sent on some kind of mission but they had no idea what. As it turned out, it was to find us."
"But we managed to stay here unnoticed for such a long time, how did they suddenly find us now?"
It was one of those things, which she absolutely couldn't understand. They really were careful not to bring attention to themselves, to live like they were just simple citizens of a small town. Even in the Hudsons' company, just a small group of people, who directly worked and met with him, knew that Jack was working there, just to be sure. Some thought they were freaking out a little, but they didn't want to take any, even smallest risk.
"Do you remember how we went to the hospital, when Emily was sick?"
She nodded. Of course she remembered that. The girl had a really high temperature, and nothing they were doing to make it drop was working. In the end they decided to take the girl to the hospital.
"It turns out, at the same time there was a TV there, even though I don't really remember it now." The look he sent her was enough for her to know he was thinking the same thing – whoever was there besides them was the last thing they were focused on, their daughter was much more important. "There was a famous sportsman inside, I don't remember the name now, because he had a car accident and a lot of people gathered there to get some information about his condition… It was just a short moment, but they caught us on one of the recordings. It has to be it…"
"So it all happened, because of such a stupid thing..?" she couldn't really believe his words, but she knew he wouldn't lie to her.
"It seems so… But the three of them, as well as the two they found later, were all the missing ones… There is nobody anymore, who could come and try to harm any of us…"
"At least now we'll get to lead a normal life…"
"Yeah, we will." he smiled at her, and caressing her cheek gently he leaned closer to kiss her forehead. "But now you should go to sleep. You'll recover faster if you rest."
Sue didn't have any other thing in mind. She always used to read at least a little before going to sleep, or as she did ever since they were living together, also spend some time only with him. But now she didn't feel like anything at all, she was fighting it but her eyelids were getting more and more heavy, and she really wanted to sleep.
"Jack..?" she caught his hand again, when she noticed him stand up from the bed after she was already lying comfortable under the duvet. "Stay."
"Sue, it's not a good idea…"
"When are you going to understand, that I'm not going to shatter to pieces at the stronger touch? I might not be comfortable snuggling to you, not for some time, but I still want to feel you close to me, even if it means that you're just lying next to me… It might sound ridiculous, but it makes me feel better."
She could see an internal fight inside him, very visible in his eyes, and after a moment he just nodded his head, giving up. Few minutes later, as carefully as he only could, he slipped into the bed on the other side, placing himself as far from her as possible, so he wasn't going to hurt her. She sighed; as much as she appreciated his care, she really hated the fact that he really treated her like she was the most fragile thing in the world. She really hoped he was going to see it soon, but she was going to have time to think about that later. In that moment, she simply wanted to sleep, and dozed off very quickly.