Scene change for 1.14, "Prodigal Father."

AN: I have another episode change for this that I published a while back, under the name "Arrhythmia." I'm rather fond of that version as well and plan to soon be adding more chapters too it, so I recommend you go check it out and follow so you don't miss the new chapters when they come up. ;)

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Sue walked into Jack's hospital room and dropped her coat on the chair by the door. "How're you feeling?" she asked.

After pondering a moment to remember the sign, Jack put his oxygen-monitored index finger up toward the side of his nose and twisted it slightly.

Sue laughed at the sign. "Bored, huh?"

"Is there a sign for 'bored out of your mind'?" he asked.

She signed bored again, then turned her hand toward her face and wiggled all four fingers, as though indicating her mind being erased. He copied the sign back to her.

She chuckled once more. "I think that means you're on the mend."

"Yeah, the doctors seem to think so," he agreed. He shook his head as he thought about it again. "I've been in raids, I've been in take-downs, I've been shot. I knew it was dangerous, and I knew there was always a possibility that I might not make it out of there, but . . . ." He took a deep breath, searching for the right words. "It's not like I'm not scared in those situations . . . this was different. This wasn't some bad guy hiding behind a door with a gun. This was my own heart . . . out of control. Out of my control. All of my training, everything I've learned in order to protect myself, at that moment meant nothing."

Sue stared for a moment, contemplating what to say, then decided words were not what he needed. Instead, with only a slight hesitation as she wondered how it would be received, she reached down and took his hand. He smiled and closed his fingers around hers gratefully.

"I did learn something," he added.

"And what's that?"

"Your life doesn't flash before your eyes." They both laughed, the heaviness lifting a little at his joke, but then he glanced up at her and grew contemplative again. "I guess it kind of makes you think, though. About things that you've been doing." He flitted his eyes away from her nervously, then seemed to rally his confidence and refocused on her face with determination. "Maybe even more about things that you haven't been doing. You know?"

She smiled a little and nodded understandingly. "Yeah. I think I do know."

He stared at her a moment, as though with enough concentration he could read her mind to find out if they were truly on the same page. Apparently deciding actual communication would be required for that, he said, "I . . . just want to be sure, because . . . um, because this is too important to risk miscommunication on. Sue . . . I . . . really like you. I might be in love with you, I'm not sure. But I'd really like to find out."

She drew in a deep breath, swallowing a few times, before she managed to speak. "I . . . really like and maybe even love you too. But . . . what about FBI regulations?"

"We'll figure that out later. I'm on an enforced medical leave for several weeks, exact time frame to be determined by the doctor. Can we . . . can we use that time to . . . maybe see where things could go?"

She smiled and squeezed his hand again. "I would love that. Very much." After a pause in which they just smiled at one another like idiots, she ventured to add, "And . . . under that new . . . development . . . may I do something that . . . well, that I've wanted to do for a very long time, but in particular, after seeing you collapse, I so much wanted to greet you with once you were awake?"

Nearly holding his breath, he nodded. She slowly bent down and pressed her lips to his, only for a moment, before pulling back slightly, resting her forehead against his and breathing deeply. "You have no idea," she whispered, "how tempting it was . . . to find something else to do after asking that, just to mess with you."

They both laughed, but not for very long. It's hard to laugh when your lips are connected to someone else's, and Jack had captured hers again as quickly as he could, and made sure to kiss her much more thoroughly this time.

A familiar voice broke through the haze of hormones that were engulfing him. "Jack, I brought the—what the—?"

Jack startled and broke away from Sue. "Allie!"

Allie dropped a small duffle bag on the bed and folded her arms, cocking one hip and glaring at Jack and Sue. "I brought the pajamas you wanted from home," she said sharply. "Though now I guess I see why you wanted me out of the hospital. This your side bit?"

Sue raised her eyebrows. What was happening? On instinct, she started to remove her hand from Jack's, but he tugged back, not enough to hold her if she had truly been determined to go but enough to make it clear he didn't want her to. She glanced furiously between this new woman and Jack, trying to make sense of it all as she waited to see who would speak next.

It was Jack. "No, Allie, she's my girlfriend." It took everything Sue had in her to not start grinning like a maniac at those words. Something told her this angry woman would not appreciate that.

Jack continued: "My only girlfriend. You are not my girlfriend. You were my girlfriend years ago."

She arched her eyebrow challengingly. "When your mom told my mom you were in the hospital, she dropped that you were still single too."

Jack rolled his eyes. "Well, she doesn't know about Sue, this relationship is still fairly new," (Sue managed not to snort at that understatement, but only just), "but even if Sue wasn't here, you and I still would not be a thing. I thought you came here as a friend, but if you came to try to rekindle old romance, I'm sorry, that's long dead and the ashes blew away."

Allie scoffed again. "Haven't you ever wondered why we keep getting back together, Jack? We're meant to be together."

He rolled his eyes. "Allie. We had an on-again/off-again thing in high school. We haven't even tried to rekindle it since freshman year of college, and we're not going to, ever. I am thoroughly and whole-heartedly head-over-heels in love with Sue."

"I thought you said the relationship is new?" she challenged.

"This stage, yes, but we've known each other for a while now and . . . why am I explaining myself to you? I think you've made it clear that your only purpose here was to try to convince me we should be together, and I'm telling you right now, that isn't going to happen. I think you need to leave."

She gaped for a moment, opening and closing her mouth a few times as though if she kept trying maybe a brilliant retort would appear on her tongue. None did. Finally, she turned sharply and left in a huff.

Sue looked back at Jack, raising her eyebrows. "Totally, completely, whole-heartedly, head-over-heels? What happened to 'maybe, not sure but want to find out'?"

Having expected her to be commenting on something about Allie, it took him a moment to catch up with her words. Once he did, he looked slightly chagrined. "I . . . may have been downplaying that a little. I didn't want to scare you away if you weren't . . . feeling quite the same . . . ."

"Well," she said, leaning toward him with a mischievous grin on her face, "as it happens, I am totally, completely, whole-heartedly, head-over-heels in love with you too."

"Really?"

"Yeah," she said, leaning a little closer.

"So you just downplayed it too?"

"Well, I wasn't going to say more than what you'd said. But I didn't know you'd lied to me."

"I wouldn't say lied per se."

"I would."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"What are you going to do about it?"

"I think I'll just have to torture those lying lips of yours until they only tell me the truth," she murmured, continuing to lean toward him. Just as their lips brushed, she suddenly jumped.

"What?" he asked, alarmed. "What is it?"

"Sorry," she said, and she looked quite sorry indeed. "My pager." She read the message on it and then said, "It's Bobby. Hoffman called Mac in. The game's in play."

"Does that mean you have to go?"

"Yeah. I'm sorry." She leaned down to give him a quick kiss goodbye.

"That's all I get for a goodbye kiss?" he asked with a silly pout.

She smiled. "Sorry, but I'm afraid if I give you anything more than that I may never leave."

He raised his eyebrows appreciatively. "That's okay too."

"Jack!" she admonished. "We have to go take this guy down!"

"Yeah, I know, I know," he relented. "Will you be back later?"

She grinned. "Wild conmen couldn't keep me away."

"Thieves either?"

"The only thief I see around here is you."

"Me? What'd I do?"

"You went and stole my heart." She winked, blew him one more kiss, and hurried out the door.