AN: Hey for all who did whatever with this. Sorry. I kind of lost Jack and Sue for a while. This is the next chapter. Another will come shortly. I don't own Sue Thomas or Jack, or anything else related to the show.

-RawPotato

It was positively the worst day of Bobby Manning's life. His best friend was missing, and on top of that, Sue and her silly dog had gone missing as well. The SWAT gear he wore as they methodically moved through warehouse after warehouse was starting to feel very constricting, and he felt he was suffocating. Wither it was the suit, or his emotions that were choking him he wasn't really sure, but as the stepped outside to the rising sun, he was certain that they had been gone far too long. Every ounce of training he's received told him that his friends were dead, but there was a very large part of him that just would give up hope. The spark was burning bright and strong, even though fifty percent of the docks still needed to be cleared.

"Bobby? Are you there?" To Bobby, Tara's voice sounded as worried as he felt, and he could swear he could hear her pacing over the microphone in his hear.

"Yes." He kept his response short, in the hope that the automatic carrying maniacs wouldn't hear him and start shooting again.

"Okay. D.C. swat started west and are about forty percent done. So with the half that you and the F.B.I. have done there should only be about ten more warehouses to check." He wished so bad that this nightmare would come to an end, but he wouldn't stop looking until they found Jack, Sue and Levi. He would never leave a man behind, or a woman and her dog.

"Thanks Tara... we are moving into the next one. You'll be the first to know if we've got them."

"Bobby." Her pause was pregnant with an emotion he couldn't identify readily, so he just stopped and listened to whatever it was she had to say to him. "Be safe. Please."

"Yes ma'am."

Bobby took point of the ten men that were working as a team moving through the warehouse searching. They were a quick and efficient unit, moving silently through the huge builds in under two minutes.

"Okay boys. Just like last time. Get in, get out. Be safe."

Cocking his gun, he opened the door silently checking the opening. This warehouse was different from the others. Piles of boxes and pallets, creating what looked like to be a maze. He held up a quick fist, keeping his gun pointed in front of him, indicating that the men should stop and pay attention to him. Holding up two fingers, he motioned for them to go two by two through this one, to ensure maximum safety for all. Once again, he moved into the warehouse, a feeling of dread creeping inside of his stomach. In this kind of work, differently usually meant bad, and he was worried that he was going to find bodies, instead of friends.

The man that was working with him was good at what he did, and Bobby was impressed with the rookie. They moved quickly, working their way through what Bobby was discovering was a maze. Silently, and efficiently they worked their way around piles of stuff, until Bobby went first through an opening and came face to snout with a snarling Levi. He was surprised the dog hadn't barked or made any noise.

Quickly lowering his gun, he removed his face shield, and watched as recognition passed over Levi's face and rushed forward to lick his face. Normally Bobby didn't care much for Levi kisses, but in this instance he didn't mind so much. Standing quickly he looked up and all he saw was more boxes. Looking around he didn't see any sign of Jack or Sue, and that had him a little bit worried. Speaking in a low whisper to the dog he said, "Levi, take me to Sue."

Tail wagging the golden retriever turned and trotted through a maze. Bobby and his rookie still worked two by two, moving faster than normal to keep pace with Levi. Shortly after the progress started again Tara's voice once more filled his ear. "Bobby, did I hear you say something to Levi?"

"Yeah, I found him, now he is leading me to Jack and Sue. Just a second darling." They rounded one last corner, and Bobby's heart did a little dance as he finally laid eyes on his best friend, and the dame he knew that friend was very fond off. He noticed that they seemed to be sleeping, but as Levi had already crossed the small space and started licking both of them, which roused them to look at him. His partner had rushed to them, but Bobby, feeling happier than he had ever in his life spoke into the microphone. "Tara, we've found them. They are both alive, but we need to get an ambulance. Jack looks like he needs stitches, and I'm sure Sue could go with seeing a doctor." He heard he shout for join and telling Lucy. Then he moved towards his friends.

"Jack, Sue. Thank goodness we've found you." He could hear the joy in his own voice, and was excited that neither of them was dead.

______________________

Sue Thomas had never been happier to see in her entire life. That included the time she had seen Jack after a suspect had tried to kill her. She hadn't heard him yelling her name as he entered, nor had she heard the gunshot. All she could remember was the feeling of him go limp on top of her and then seeing Jack's face over his slumped shoulder. Never had she seen anything more beautiful.

Except there stood Bobby, and a random SWAT guy she didn't know, and he was suddenly the most beautiful thing in the world. She wished, now more than ever in her life, that she could hear. So that she could have her questions answered. What time is it? Where are we? Is Jack okay? She noticed that though the rude awakening, Jack was struggling just a little bit to rouse from his stupor. Not that she could blame him. Her own head was beating her a new conga rhythm, and she was sure that Jack had to feel like he was dying. His forehead and face were covered in blood from the gash above his eye, and she could see that he had removed his jacket because his shoulder had started swelling. The joint looked dislocated, and was staining his normal tinged skin a grotesque shade of purple and black.

Before she could move in on him, to make sure that he was as okay as he said he was, she felt herself enveloped in very large arms and lifted from her kneeling position. She couldn't see much except the black fabric of the chest of some person, and she was wondering who could possibly be holding her like that. Once she was back on her feet, Bobby's face came into view and relief once again filled her. There was no way she could ever express how seeing him now made her feel. Noticing that his lips were moving, she focused on them, and tried to read what he was saying.

"You have to get out..." She turned away from his words to look at Jack, who still hadn't managed to sit up. Looking at him, he looked in a terrible amount of pain. Half of his body was uncovered, and the sling that she had put on him last night was now just around his neck, a loose fragment of cloth. Now she was terribly worried about him. Turning her attention back to Bobby, she noticed with a rueful smile, that he had just continued talking. "-Jack. He'll be fine. But as soon as you are safe, and in a hospital, he will be too."

She started to argue with him, but someone was pulling her away from Jack, which was the very last place she wanted to be, away from jack. She'd spent most of the last 12 hours thankful for the man that was sitting beside her. They didn't speak much through the darkness, but as she held his hand with hers she knew that he needed to know what he meant to her. It was more than just a boy/girl thing. She that was a large part of it, but so much more than being attracted to him, she respected him. Admired him, was proud of him, and thought he was a great friend. Sure she could run down the list of his qualities that she liked about him, she knew that it was much more than that.

She called Levi, who hadn't left Jacks side, and the dog started to follow her. Casting one last look at Jack as she was pulled around the corner, she saw his head pick up just as Bobby crouched in front of him. She knew that Bobby would make sure he was safe. They were after all best friends, and that's what best friends did. They made sure they didn't die.

Sue could hardly keep her bearings straight as she was hustled from the warehouse to a non-descript FBI issued SUV, and squished into the backseat with Levi. The worst part of this was that she couldn't understand what was going on. Bobby had something about going to a hospital, but she couldn't see out of the tinted, and she was sure bulletproof, windows. The panic that had dissipated with seeing Bobby was coming back now that she was, again, unsure what was going on.

After several tense minutes, she was shuffled out of the vehicle into the sunlight. It was freeing being in the sunshine, after her night of terror, the way her skin felt warmed, just by standing outside. Looking down at Levi she knew that he felt the same, the way he closed his eyes and raised his snout towards the glowing ember. She patted his head, and ruffled his soft fur, glad that she had his companionship.

Looking back up, she copied his posture and closed her eyes, allowing the golden rays to wash over her, and fill her with a sense of renewal. Seconds ticked by until suddenly she felt Levi tug on her sleeve. She opened her eyes, and standing before her were her two friends Tara and Lucy. They all smiled and hugged, and suddenly Sue knew that she was actually safe from the warehouse and whatever evil it housed. Leaning back from the awkward triangle hug she looked at Lucy and asked, "Where is Jack?"

While watching her hands Lucy both spoke and signed, "Miles said that he is on the way, in an ambulance."

"Oh. Are we going in now?" Lucy grabbed her hand, and Tara grabbed the other and they pulled her into the emergency exit of the hospital. Looking behind her, she saw Bobby on a cell phone, speaking intently into it. She couldn't read his lips as his profile was turned away from her. Then he turned and she caught the last of his statement and the heat she had gained from the sun left her. "Turn the lights on and drive fast we can't lose him."

She tried to call to him, but the sliding doors shut and he once again turned away from her, as she was dragged away from the doorway. At the desk, she turned her attention to the nurse there who started asking questions. She could catch all of it because the nurse kept turning away from her. Instead she turned to Lucy who again spoke and signed the words.

"She said fill out the insurance information, and you are probably going to need stitches on your forehead, and that dog isn't allowed inside the hospital."

Sue turned back to the nurse, and signed as she spoke. "I am legally deaf, Levi is my helping dog, he had every right to be in this hospital."

This time the nurse kept her face turned to her, and Sue could tell that she was over enunciating her words just for the sake of Sue being able to read her lips.

"Sorry. Yes, fill out this information, and we'll get you to a room as soon as possible."

Sue took the clipboard that was handed to her, and went to sit in the hard plastic chairs that were half full.

The information was tedious and her headache was getting worse. She'd been hit only once, but it had been with a gun, and then she stayed down, Levi talking his teeth baring stance in front of her. Then minutes later Jack came in, his arm hanging loosely at his side, his face contorted with pain.

Finally Lucy and Tara stood up, pulling her with them as they made their way to a room. Levi followed behind them, his tail wagging, and tongue hanging out. Inside the room, Sue changed into a pair of scrubs that they had given her, her clothes now evidence in an active investigation.

Once she was cleaned, stitched up, and interviewed, she was left in the room with a tray of hospital food, and two friends who were avoiding looking at her. Sometimes she wondered what people thought when they turned away from her. That of she couldn't see their lips that she couldn't get their attention.

"Tara. Lucy. Tell me why you are avoiding me." She knew she sounded angry, but they still hadn't told her how Jack was doing. She saw Levi bark, and her friends jump, startled at the sudden loud noise her dog made.

"Bobby called while you were changing. When they roused Jack, and got him into the ambulance, he passed out again." Again, Sue felt really cold, and hopeless. All the positive that she had felt since being rescued washed away when she learned that Jack wasn't as safe as she had thought.

She was in love with him, strange woman and copy child aside, she still loved him. Learning that he was in possible danger where his health was concerned caused her heart to stop a little. She wanted nothing more than to rush to him, and take him in her arms, to hold him and feel his heart beat to know that he was safe.

She stood and made her way to get out of the room, but she was held back by Lucy, who forced her back onto her bed, and behind her tray of hospital food.

"What aren't you telling me?" Though she couldn't hear she knew she sounded hysterical. She knew because she felt hysterical. Her heart was racing and she was having trouble breathing. Her forehead was drumming again under the pharmaceutical drugs that had stopped it.

"Nothing," Lucy said quickly, her signing sloppy, but Sue could still read her lips fairly well. "Bobby also said that he is in surgery for his shoulder, and that the doctors said he should be just fine."

Just fine wasn't acceptable to Sue, and her heart demanded to go find his doctors, and ensure that he got the finest treatment available.

"Can we please go see him?" She didn't know if they knew that she was in love with him, didn't know if they even suspected, but her heart needed satisfaction that he was going to be fine.

Lucy's hand came up quickly and Tara was nodding along, "Bobby said he would come get us when we can go visit Jack in his room."

The answer wasn't what she wanted, but it would have to suffice as her friends blocked the doorway, and her escape to Jack. She pushed the tray of food away and moved to lay down on the uncomfortable hospital bed. She saw Lucy and Tara exchange a glance but nothing more, and sit back down. Patting the bed beside her, she called Levi up onto the bed and he joined her. He lay down beside her, and she snuggled herself into his soft warm body, praying that Jack would be fine. If not for her selfish sake, but also for the boy that she suspected was his son.

**

It was the next day when Bobby had come to get her. Lucy and Tara had gotten her some of her own clothes, and the hospital had asked that she stay overnight for observation. It was late in the afternoon, when the tall man walked into her room, and got her attention.

"Jack is awake, and he's asking to see us."

Sue dropped everything that she was doing, called Levi and followed Bobby to the ICU.

When she entered the room, her heart heaved a giant sigh of relief, as he smiled when their eyes met. She moved immediately to his side, and took his free hand in hers. His shoulder and chest were wrapped in gauze, but a smile graced his face, and he no longer looked as if pain was weighing him down.

"Hi Jack." She whispered the words, the love she felt for this man weighing her down, and lifting her up at the same time.

"Hi Sue." She laughed as he tried to sign the words.

"Don't worry about signing. I can read your lips." She saw as appreciation crossed his face, and revelled in the feeling of having his hand back in hers. "How are you feeling?"

"Good. Good. A little... yeeha, from the painkillers but I'm okay. How are you?" She laughed as he made a funny face, but felt it drop when Jack's eyes went wide. She followed his gaze, and felt all the blood drain from her body as she took in who else was standing at the door.

Beside her team, stood mystery woman and the boy. The boy's focus was on Levi, who had moved to him, obviously remembering that the little one had lavished him last time they had met.

Jack pulled his hand from hers, and she instantly moved towards Lucy, who had the same look of apprehension on her face that Sue felt. The woman and the boy moved closer to Jack, and she saw that the rest of her team look at Jack and Bobby speak up.

"So, Sparky, who's the Sheila?"

Jack swallowed hard, as the woman lifted the boy onto the bed, and Sue was flabbergasted to see Jack hug the boy, and her lifted when he placed a small kiss on Jack's cheek.

"Guys," Jack gestured to the woman and the boy and smiled. "This is Darlene, and Danny Hascall." The boy waved and smiled at them, and she saw the whole team wave back. "Debra is Danny's mother, and Danny is," She saw him hesitate and swallow. Just as he opened his mouth to speak again the Danny bounced up and said. 'He's my daddy!"

Sue felt like she was going to faint again.