A/N: Thank you to those of you who took the time to review, as always it really is much appreciated. I'm a bit undecided as to whether to make this the last chapter or do one more, especially as there doesn't appear to be much interest in this story anyway. Maybe it's time for me to finish both this and 'Remember Me', put away my pen and give up writing for a while? I do have a few other plots running around in my head but I'll have to give it some thought. In the meantime, enjoy!

o-xxx-o

"Okay, that's it!" Lucy shot up out of her chair making Sue jump in the process.

"Is something wrong?"

"I think that should be my question."

"Excuse me?"

"Have I done something to upset you?"

Sue looked at her in surprise. "No… Why?"

"You've been moping around here for the past week or more. You're picking at your food and hardly saying a word all evening and I can't stand it any longer. So I'm going into the kitchen to make two mugs of hot chocolate and when I come back you're going to tell me what's bothering you." She walked to the door and then turned. "And don't even think about disappearing into your room while I'm gone, I'm getting to the bottom of this even if I have to call Troy to break down your door to do it."

When she returned she put the drinks down onto the coffee table and sat beside her friend on the couch. "Alright, what's up..? Her question was greeted with silence. "I'm not giving up until I find out and remember I learned my interrogation techniques from the best." She'd hoped for a smile but none came. "Is it work? The counselling sessions..? O.P.R. still giving you grief..?"

"No."

"The impending visit to your parents' then..."

"No."

Lucy sighed and shook her head. "Okay, well that only leaves… Jack." The woman beside her remained quiet but her expression said it all. "You're not still beating yourself up over what happened?"

"No." The answer was a little less convincing this time.

"Sue, how many times do you need to be told that it wasn't your fault? He doesn't blame you, does he?"

"No."

The rotor looked Heavenward, almost praying for some sort of divine guidance. "Then, what..? The doctors seem pleased with his progress… He's going to be okay, right?" She asked, suddenly worried.

"Yes."

At least she'd gotten a different response that time. "Thank God. And he'll be coming back to work, real soon?"

Sue just stared at her.

"Well okay, obviously he has some healing to do first but knowing Jack, he won't be able to stay away from the bullpen for very long and in the meantime you can go visit him at his apartment." She paused. "Although, come to think of it, you haven't been to see him at all lately… You two didn't have a fight?"

"Not really…"

Finally Lucy felt as though she was making some headway. "Sue, I'm sure it's nothing you can't work out, you always have before. Why don't you take him for a meal or something? When he's feeling better, that is… Tara and I are already planning his surprise party."

"He's going home to Wisconsin."

"Oh, I didn't know that… but he'll be coming back."

It had been more of a statement than a question but Sue couldn't keep things to herself any longer. "He doesn't know." She whispered softly.

"What do you mean, he doesn't know? He's not thinking of transferring there permanently?"

"He might not be working for the F.B.I. at all."

"What?"

"He said he needs time away."

"Is that all? After everything he's been through, I'm not surprised. He'll be back, you'll see," she searched her friend's face not liking the message it was portraying. "Unless of course, you know more than you're letting on?"

Sue sniffled. "He died, Luce… in the ambulance and on the table. They had to resuscitate him at least three times. I… We came…" She raised her hand, the tip of her thumb and forefinger only a hair's-breadth apart. "…this close to losing him. He saw that light everyone talks about on those television programmes you watch and there was more… I'm sorry but I can't tell you all of it, the things he described to me were far too personal."

"It's okay, I understand" she patted the other woman's arm reassuringly. "You don't believe he'll come back, do you?"

Sue shook her head and Lucy twisted round to pick up the phone. "What are you going to do?"

"Call Bobby, if anyone can talk some sense into him, he can."

"Luce, please don't."

"Why, not..?"

"Because, if I'd known you were going to do that I wouldn't have said anything. This has to stay between us, it's Jack's decision and he needs to make it on his own."

Reluctantly, she replaced the receiver. "You're saying we should just let him go without telling anyone? Bobby's been his friend for ever, it seems wrong not to let him know what Jack's planning… and, what about you? I can't believe he'd just leave… not after… I always hoped that one day…"

"I know what you hoped," Sue interrupted.

"How could he?" Her voice was sharp but that was down to shock more than annoyance. "If anyone had asked I would never have said that he'd be the one to break up the team, Myles maybe but not Jack. I have a good mind to go round there myself and…"

"No!" Sue looked appalled. "If you do I never forgive you."

"What about you..? What are you going to do without him?"

"We were just friends Luce and friends often move away from one another."

"Sorry, I'm not buying it. There has to be more to it…"

"He asked me to go with him." It was spoken quietly, as though she hadn't really meant to say it out loud.

"He, what..?"

"Asked me to go with him..."

Lucy's mood changed in a heartbeat and she could barely contain her excitement. "Yes! And you're going, right? That's what you were worried about… You didn't know how to tell me!" For the first time she noticed the other woman's face. "You said 'no'."

"Luce, how can I go?"

"Easily, you pack a bag for yourself and Levi, jump on a plane with the guy you've been in love with almost since the day you first met him and fly off into the sunset."

"This isn't one of your bad romance novels and I told you before, we're just friends."

"Okay, if that's all there is to it, then why did you refuse to leave his side all the time he was in the CCU when you could have just visited like the rest of us? Why did he share with you all the intimate details of what happened to him? And why do you light up like a Christmas tree every time he walks into the room? Why do you get jealous whenever another woman comes onto the scene and why is he the same way when you show an interest in another guy? Sue, you two were made for each other anyone can see that, even Myles."

"Myles..?"

"Long story... Go with him, you owe it to yourself to find out if it'll work between you. You'll regret it for the rest of your life, if you don't."

"It's not that easy."

"Why?"

"There's the F.B.I. regulations… we'd be breaking them."

"Not if he doesn't come back."

"That's what he said." She sighed.

"If Jack's not worried, why should you be?"

"What if he decides after a while that he wants to come back? We might not be able to work in the same unit anymore, if… And anyway, I can't just drop everything and fly to Wisconsin."

"Why not..? You already moved from Ohio to D.C."

"That was different."

"How..?"

"Then I had just me to worry about but now I have responsibilities. I have to think about you and Levi and…"

"Sue, I've always wanted you and Jack to be together."

"Really..? You never said." She rolled her eyes, smiling for the first time in days but it was short-lived.

"And as for Levi… I'm sure they have trees in Wisconsin and parks and woods to explore…"

"He wants me to meet his parents."

"Wow, this is serious!" She was teasing but Sue didn't see the funny side. "Okay, so what's the problem?"

"They don't know me. They might not like me."

"Sue, I'm sure he's told them all about you."

"Yes but as a co-worker, it's a whole different thing their son having a deaf girlfriend. What if they don't think I'm good enough for him? Remember, Allie's and Jack's parents are friends and I'm sure they had hopes for them to be together."

"He doesn't love Allie." Lucy took her hand. "Just for a moment, forget the F.B.I., forget me, forget what his parent's might or might not think of you and answer one question... honestly… Are you in love with him?"

Sue's eyes filled with tears and she nibbled on her bottom lip. "Does it matter? It's too late anyway, he leaves in two days."

"How do you know that?"

"He texted me this afternoon"

"What did he say?"

Reaching over the arm of the couch she picked up her purse, took out her BlackBerry, brought up the message and passed it to her. "I didn't read it all."

"His flight's not until late afternoon. He says he's bought a ticket for you. You can pick up it up at the desk if you change your mind and he's made arrangements with the airline for Levi, just in case. Sue, he wouldn't go to all that trouble if he only thought of you as a friend."

"But what if after we get there he realises he made a mistake? Gets fed up with having to explain to people that I'm deaf and they have to look at me when they speak or his parents might resent him being with someone like me. I wouldn't want to come between them. And what if because of it we lose what we already have?"

"There were an awful lot of 'what ifs' in there and anyway, haven't we been here before? You used the same excuses when we were talking about sharing a place together and it all worked out okay…"

Sue stood abruptly. "This isn't the same Luce and you know it. No, I'm going to visit my parents the way I planned and that's all there is to it."

"I know you're scared, but…"

"I'm not scared, I'm just being realistic."

"Then shouldn't you at least go and say goodbye to him? Make things right between you? After all, once he leaves, you may never see him again… Do you really want it to end like this?"

o-xxx-o

The airport departure lounge was less busy than he'd expected and he'd found a seat by the window almost adjacent to the boarding gate. He knew it was probably because he'd got there earlier than he normally would but he hadn't wanted to hurry, despite all the rest he'd had things still ached if he pushed himself too hard. Bobby, of course, would have had another explanation for the lack of people… he could almost hear him now.

~ It's simple Sparks, who in their right mind would want to forsake this seething metropolis for the wilds of cow country, only a total galah like you, mate. Now, the Caribbean I could understand; got all four 'S's… sun, sea, sand… and beautiful sheilas in tiny bikinis… ~

Bobby… He hoped his friend would understand why he'd done what he had and forgive him one day, once he'd got passed being angry that was. D would be breaking the news in about an hour, after he was safely on his way and it was too late talk him out of leaving, because he knew that if Bobby set his mind to it, he was the one person who could, well apart from… but that wasn't likely to happen, not now.

She'd looked so miserable when he'd told her that he'd really started to believe she felt the same way about him as he did her, so he'd taken the chance… Tried to let her know how much he cared without actually saying it but instead of falling into his arms, she'd run… as far and as fast as she could in the opposite direction. She hadn't been in touch since and it appeared now as though all he'd succeeded in doing was ruining the friendship that had kept him going even when just the simple act of breathing had seemed too hard. It was just one more reason for him to get away…

More passengers were beginning to arrive so he grabbed his flight bag off the chair next to him, wincing as he did so and put it down on the floor out of the way. Both the hurt and the weather matched his mood perfectly. Outside it was warm and sunny, like the prospect of returning home but the residual ache from his injuries captured perfectly his feelings of guilt for deserting the team and her.

Boarding was announced over the loudspeaker system and the people around him immediately started to form a line to the desk. He remained where he was, waiting for the crush to die down and looking at the sea of faces… some happy, some expectant and one or two a little teary eyed as they filed past him. He'd ignored the first call but the second sounded more compelling and glancing around he saw that he was virtually alone. Sighing, he bent down slowly to pick up his bag, pulling his hand back startled when he felt something warm and wet touching it and then a paw appeared on his knee.

"Levi, hey Buddy." Getting to his feet he turned, grinning in relief when he saw her standing a few yards away. "Hi." For some unfathomable reason he could feel tears pricking at the backs of his eyes and he swallowed hard several times to clear them.

"Hi, yourself…"

He felt a pang of disappointment when he noticed she didn't have any cases with her but she had come to see him off and that was something… The final call sounded and he knew he'd run out of time, he signed to her so that she understood.

"Then we should go."

"We..?" His voice faltered slightly as he watched her retrieve a shoulder-bag that had been hidden from view by a row of seats.

"Levi and I had a long talk and he told me that while he enjoyed going to Ohio, he'd always wanted to visit at least one dog park in all fifty states and he thought Wisconsin might be a good place to start and I didn't want to disappoint him, so, if the offer's still open..."

"Mmm… I might need to think about that…"

She pinned him with an exasperated glare and Jack gave her one of his spectacular smiles before bending down in another attempt to pick up his bag.

"No, I'll carry that."

"Thanks."

"Welcome." She hooked it over her shoulder with her own. "Will you take Levi, for me?"

"Of course," accepting the leash from her he held it in his right hand while his left automatically strayed to the small of her back. "Shall we, Ms Thomas?"

"Whenever you're ready, Sparky..." She replied with a smile of her own, her free hand sliding around his waist.

Jack held her more tightly against him. "There are so many places I want to share with you…"

o-xxx-o

A/N2: To go on or not to go on, that be the question :-D