2.19 "The Kiss" episode alternative #2, in which Janice decides interrupting would not be in anyone's best interest.
AN: If you follow me, or this story specifically, and have gotten a ton of notifications about all the chapters being updated, don't worry! I'm only going through and making the section breaks more consistent, no actual storyline has changed at all.
~0~
Jack had told Sue he would page her BlackBerry if anyone came in, but the moment Janice walked in, he realized just how visible he would be while sending that page. Instead, he rushed in and grabbed Sue's arm, accidentally startling her in the process. Thankfully, she managed not to shriek out loud! He would never have forgiven himself if they were caught because he'd forgotten to move around where she could see him so he wouldn't jump her.
She'd just finished what she needed to do and was shutting the computer down, but even so, by the time they got to the door of Ms. Kern's office, Janice was heading down the hall straight toward them. They quickly ducked back inside and looked around for an improvised plan.
"Deposition," Sue whispered, reminding Jack of the spiral-bound sworn statement they had brought with them both to hide the spyware disc and as an explanation for why they'd been signed into the building at that point at night. "But why would we still—?"
Trust me? he signed to her.
Always, she signed back.
He plucked the blue folder she'd added the disc and names related to financial records into from her hands, tucked it into the waistband of his pants where it was hidden by his coat, and—
And suddenly he was taking her into his arms.
~0~
Late nights were not uncommon for Janice Clark, but she was still irritated that she'd had to come back to the office now. She and her husband had been out to a late dinner, celebrating the new phases of life and mourning the old. Their middle child had just graduated college and moved out of the dorms and into an apartment to stay and begin graduate school. Their youngest had also just graduated, though high school in her case, and she'd moved to live with the middle one and begin at the same college that coming fall. As for Janice and George, they were just preparing to head home for a romantic empty-nesters' evening together when Ms. Kern had called her absolutely insistent that she needed some paperwork dropped off to her immediately. George was understanding as always and was waiting in the car, but Janice was particularly upset to have this, of all evenings, disrupted.
As she approached her desk, she thought she heard movement from inside Ms. Kern's office, so she stepped toward it, hoping rather than truly believing that perhaps the lady herself had decided to come by and save Janice the trip out to the townhouse. She reached for the lightswitch—but stopped herself just short as her eyes adjusted and she realized it was not Ms. Kern, but rather Sue and Mr. Buchanan in the office.
And they were kissing.
A lot.
Janice hesitated for a moment, wondering if she should call them out on it, or at least on their being in Ms. Kern's office for this little rendezvous of theirs. But they were two adults, adults who by all her observations were quite responsible, or at least wise and discreet enough not to leave a mess in the room. Interrupting them would just lead to awkwardness for everyone. Besides, she'd seen enough boss/secretary affairs in which a lecherous older man took advantage of some young secretary who didn't feel she had the right to say no, or in which the secretary figured she could open her legs up to get a leg up. That imbalanced power dynamic didn't seem to be the case here. The camaraderie between these two, the way they teased—in many ways it was hard to believe he was her boss. They were more like partners, best friends even.
Well, clearly more than that.
So, all those thoughts running rapid-fire through her mind in her brief moment of hesitation, she decided that rather than put all three of them in an awkward situation, she would simply leave them to their own devices and trust them to be responsible. Hopefully responsible enough not to go . . . further than that . . . in her boss's office.
She shook that image from her mind as fast as she could, quietly swapped out a folder she'd had in her car for the paperwork she needed from her desk, and stepped carefully back down the hallway. She had to go drop this off to the Dragon Lady so she could get home to her own amorous connection.
~0~
Jack was kissing Sue. He could hardly believe it—he was actually kissing Sue.
No, he reminded himself. Mr. Buchanan was kissing his secretary. It was all part of the cover.
That didn't change that it was his own lips against hers, his own tongue sparring with hers, his own body pressed against her, his own hands roaming from her back to her neck to her jaw to her hair, anywhere he could manage that he didn't think she'd slap him for. This idea he'd come up with was arguably the best he'd ever had in his entire career. He was kissing the woman he'd been pining after for years, all for the sake of doing his job properly. It was brilliant.
It was stupid.
Worst. Idea. Ever.
How could he ever stop? How, after touching her like this, tasting her like this, could he go back to keeping his distance?
And how would she feel? Would she feel he'd taken advantage? The passion with which she returned the kiss, the feeling of her hands roaming his body as much as his explored hers, gave him hope that she would not. Still, he knew several times over how good her acting and improvisational skills were. The odds were high that this really was entirely an act on her part.
So focused was he on these anxieties and pleasures warring for his attention as he strove to savor every moment he could steal in this way, that he barely noticed the sound of Janice's footsteps retreating back down the hallway. Somehow, it made it through his muddled mind and he listened for the sound of the door locking. As soon as he'd heard it, he . . . figured he should wait a few more seconds.
Or maybe a few more than that.
Just to be safe.
When he could no longer convince even himself that he was just being cautious, he slowed the kiss and reluctantly pulled away just far enough so that she could see his mouth. "I think she's gone," he whispered. He noted that neither of them actually let go of the other at this news. They simply stood there, hands frozen to the spots they'd landed on at the exact moment he'd broken the kiss, chests heaving as they each sought to regain their breath–a difficult task after that experience, made only more difficult by still being wrapped up in an embrace with the most incredible woman he'd ever known.
She stared for a moment, seeming to take longer than usual to process his words, eyes fixated on his lips for several moments before they shifted up to hold his gaze. Finally, she whispered back, "Are you sure?"
"I—pretty sure? I heard her walk back down the hall and heard the door lock again, but—"
She tilted her head to one side, a suggestive look on her face that he'd never seen before, and shifted the hand that still rested on his jaw, moving it up to stroke his hair back. Suddenly, he realized what she was really asking.
"On the other hand," he continued, "it wouldn't hurt to . . . play it safe . . . just in case she . . . you know, comes back . . . ."
She smiled and they wasted no time drawing back together.
~0~
Sue was kissing Jack. Jack was kissing Sue. She could hardly believe it. Over two years waiting for a moment like this. Even when pretending to be married, when it felt like they were really living in their own domestic bliss, they had never crossed this line.
At first she was sure that it was just the cover, that they would somehow have to pretend it had never happened once the purpose for it had passed. But then she felt how he held her, felt all the love and passion that he poured into her, felt the reluctance when he pulled back to tell her that Janice was gone. He was a good actor, she had seen him undercover enough times that she knew this, but she also knew how to read him fairly well and the look in his eyes said that he was equal parts sorry to pull back from her, and afraid that he had done something wrong.
Had Janice seen them? She had no idea. She didn't especially care. At that moment, she just wanted to ensure he knew that she had no regrets about this, whether it ended up serving their cover or not. More than that, though, she just really wanted to kiss him again.
It took him a moment to understand her point, but once he had, he was clearly both relieved that she wasn't mad, and more than happy to comply with her implied wishes.
There was no telling how much longer they stood there, hands learning one another's bodies in ways they'd never allowed before, mouths reading one another far better than she'd ever read lips before, and legs . . . getting very tired.
Apparently he was thinking something similar—or, come to think of it, possibly something entirely different—because he started to move, slowly shifting them toward the desk, turning her so that she could lean back against it, fumbling to remove the folder from his waistband and toss it onto the desk before fully pressing himself against her. She responded both with gratitude and pleasure, and he took the opportunity to move from her mouth, kissing along her jaw and down her neck. She took a deep, shuddering breath, but when he nipped at a particularly sensitive spot, then latched onto it, she whispered, "Jack."
She felt the vibration of his responding hum, but he didn't stop, apparently thinking she was whispering his name in pleasure. Which, technically she was, but that wasn't her reason for saying it.
"Jack," she said, still speaking softly but no longer whispering, fighting through her own arousal to try to sound firm. "Jack, we need to stop."
He lifted his head quickly, pulling away a bit and looked at her guiltily. "I'm so sorry, Sue. I . . . let myself get carried away. I—"
She put her finger over his lips. "Don't you dare apologize," she said, hoping she was infusing enough teasing into her voice that he would realize she wasn't upset with him in any way. "That was . . . absolutely amazing. I just don't think I want to have to explain marks on my neck to the agents of the Hoover building or the law offices of Calahan and Merced."
He smiled, once again looking relieved. Though ducking his head slightly in that adorable way he did when embarrassed, he still winked as he said, "Isn't that what makeup's for?"
"I live with Lucy, remember? I guarantee she would notice," she countered with a wink of her own.
He nodded his understanding of that, though of course he was never truly trying to push the issue. So he righted himself fully and took a step back, pulling her back to standing as well. "At any rate," he replied, still looking a bit shy, "it's probably best you stopped us when you did. I think it's safe to say we've moved from playing it safe that we wouldn't get caught, to staying so long we're increasing the risk of getting caught."
She smiled and murmured, "Good point." They re-gathered their things and headed out, each with dreamy smiles, holding hands. Still, as they walked, she couldn't help but worry about what this meant for the future.
~0~
As he walked her back to her car, Jack was growing concerned about Sue's silence. What was she thinking? She chewed her bottom lip as she often did when concerned or uncertain. Trying to come up with something to ease her mind, he said, "You were good back there, by the way."
Her eyes widened in surprise and he quickly amended with, "I mean remembering the deposition. If Janice had come into the room we were ready with a story, and while I . . . uh, may have instigated one part of that, the deposition part was your idea. You've always been really good at that, but . . . especially good this time." She furrowed her brow and nodded an acknowledgement of his words, but looking even less certain than before. He couldn't let that stand, and cleared his throat before nudging her with his shoulder and adding, "But your kisses are even better than your improv."
She blushed and looked away a moment, saying softly, "Not so bad yourself, Agent Hudson." But when she turned back she still looked worried. He was about to demand to know what was wrong, an approach that almost surely would have backfired but his own fears that she may regret what he rejoiced in left him ready to forge ahead with it anyway.
Thankfully, she offered an answer before he could even open his mouth wide enough to stick his foot in it.
"Jack . . . what now?"
"What do you mean?" He was almost certain he knew exactly what she meant, but wanted to be sure.
"What do we do? I . . . I really like our team. I really you and I being partners within that team. But . . . I also really like you. Like, really like you. And as much as I've always suspected it, the way you kissed me back there seemed to confirm that you really like me just as much?" He quickly nodded his affirmation of this, not wanting her concern in that regard to last any longer than necessary, especially as his own heart soared at her direct confirmation of her feelings. Despite still looking concerned, she clearly couldn't help the smile on her face in response to his one simple nod.
"So, what now?" she repeated. "Do . . . you transfer? Do I transfer? Do we go back to pretending that we don't both know how attracted we are to each other, which I imagine will be even harder now that we both actually know it instead of just suspecting it? Do we—"
They had arrived at her car and she was turning toward him, so he silenced her stream of questions with a kiss, much gentler and more appropriate for a public sidewalk than what they'd been doing back in the office, but no less filled with all the love he could convey. When he drew back again, it was to say, "Give me a little time to look into it. I'll talk to D, I'll see if there's past precedent to argue for us to remain on the same team." He held her hands and raised them both to his lips for a kiss to the back of each, eyes trained on her. "I will do everything I can to keep our team together, but now that I've got you, as long as you're willing to put up with me, I refuse to lose you. I will fight to keep the team together, but I will fight harder for you, even if it means I have to quit."
Sue smiled and her eyes watered at his sweet words, but she said, "Oh Jack, you can't quit the FBI. If anybody were to quit, it should be me. I sort of fell into it by accident and I'm still so limited in the parts I can contribute to. You worked so hard to get where you are."
"You contribute so much, and you have also worked incredibly hard. But don't worry, nobody's quitting," he reassured her. "I only mean if it came to it, I would put you before even keeping my career. But I'm fairly confident we can work something else out."
"Really? How?"
"Trust me," he teased back, "I'm a lawyer."
"Funny. I thought you were my secret agent man."
"Your man." All teasing was gone, replaced with a genuine smile. "I like that. Of everything I have ever been in my life, being your man might be the best one yet."
~0~
"I have a bone to pick with you, mister!" Tara exclaimed, stalking toward Jack as they packed up all the FBI equipment and props they'd taken to the law offices. "Seems you've been cheating on me." Turning her glare toward Sue, she added, "With one of my own friends, no less!"
Sue cringed slightly. "You've been talking to Janice?" she guessed. That was one of three ways Tara could have found out, and even then only if Janice had in fact seen them that night, which was technically never confirmed. But the look on Janice's face when Tara introduced herself as Jack's wife lent much credence to the probability that they had been seen, and at the moment Sue preferred to believe Janice spilled the beans out of concern than that either of the other two people (besides her and Jack of course) who might have revealed it had betrayed their confidence.
Tara wasn't done teasing, though, and said to Jack, "So, any way we can work this out? Or do I have to file for a divorce?"
"Alright," Jack responded, "now you've had your fun, any chance we can keep this on the down low?"
Bobby walked up just then, apparently unbeknownst to Jack until he started talking, but he'd deliberately made sure Sue was looking at him so she'd read his lips. "What, and keep the tabloid story of the century off the airwaves?" Sue rolled her eyes and shook her head—though her reaction was to the mixed metaphor more than the meaning behind it.
"Actually," Bobby continued, "we have a nice little office pool going. I say Jack and Tara weather the storm and stay together."
"Yeah," Dimitrius interrupted, "but the smart money's on Sue, the home wrecker, landing her man."
"What'd I miss? What are you guys talking about?" Lucy asked, walking up behind them."
"Sue and Jack making out in Dragon Lady's office at Callahan and Merced," Bobby tossed off lightly.
Lucy leaned back, arms folded, and gave a knowing, "Ahhhh," just mysterious enough to sound to anyone else like she was only intrigued, but giving Jack and Sue a look that they fully understood . . . because they knew she was one of the two who knew.
"We, we, we weren't . . . we weren't making out," Jack protested somewhat lamely.
"Wanna go under oath and say that?" D responded quickly. "We have a reliable witness." Jack and Sue both looked to D questioningly, and he gave a slight, almost imperceptible nod and permissive wave of his hand, which they both realized was his permission to reveal the recent conversation they'd had with him, a couple higher-ups, and HR. After a quick glance to each other to ensure they were on the same page, and seeing each ready to reveal the truth, Sue said,
"Jack's right, Janice did not see us making out. It didn't turn into fully making out until after she'd left."
Jack tossed a wry look to Tara as he added, "Sorry, honey."
Sue couldn't hear the gasps she assumed were happening, but every jaw was dropped—Tara and Bobby in shock at what they'd just learned, and D and Lucy just shocked Sue actually admitted it so blatantly.
Reaching over to take Sue's hand, Jack added, "Anyway, D, I don't know if you're actually allowed to win that bet. Shouldn't it disqualify you if you have insider information?"
Tara and Bobby looked at D, who had recovered from his surprise at Sue's words and was now chuckling at Jack's; and then over to Lucy, who was simply laughing in delight. Then they both finally recovered their ability to speak at the same moment.
"Whoa, whoa, what is going on here, Sparky?" Bobby asked.
At the same time, Tara said, "Okay, you four are all in on this practical joke? Is that what's happening here?"
Jack smiled at Sue, then said, "No joke. We've been having meetings with D and . . . well, several other people with whom we have varying levels of comfort and most of whom have higher security clearance than we can even see from where we sit. And then we signed paperwork with HR confirming our agreement of how this proceeds, and voila, we officially have permission to be dating. Which is good, because otherwise one or both of us was going to leave. At this point, going back to just friends and coworkers was not going to happen."
Honestly, Tara and Bobby were both in danger of needing to see a dental surgeon to repair their jaws if they kept dropping them like that. Was there such thing as TMJ whiplash?
"Wait," Tara said finally, "so you are both staying on the team? But also dating? This is for real? I thought that wasn't allowed!"
"Loopholes," Sue said with a wink.
"What loopholes?"
"It's not even really a loophole," Jack clarified. "It's never really been a rule to begin with."
"Uh, yes it is, mate" Bobby argued. "I've read it in the policy manual myself. Double and triple checked it a few times," he added, and Sue narrowed her eyes at him as he seemed to, for the first time in this conversation, be deliberately not looking at Tara as he said that part.
"That's not actually what it says though," Jack continued, not seeming to have noticed what Sue thought she'd seen. "It says, and I quote, 'Members of the same team are highly discouraged from entering into romantic relationships, and HR may remove one or both from the team should a relationship be entered into inappropriately.' They keep it deliberately vague so that people will think it's entirely forbidden, but all they really mean by 'inappropriately' is that they'd better not catch anybody keeping a relationship like that a secret, and they have to review things regularly to ensure that it won't cause conflict or danger to anyone on the team. As for us, we've been on the same team and working effectively together without putting ourselves or anyone else in danger because of it, despite . . . ." he glanced at her, looking suddenly lost for words.
"Being attracted?" she supplied. "Interested?"
"I was going to say falling for each other more and more over that time frame." He smiled softly at her, a smile she returned, and it was clear to everyone that for that moment they were the only two in the room—which only proved their point, because this was not a new scenario for anyone on the team to witness. After a moment, Jack cleared his throat, and managed to draw his gaze away from Sue to finish his thought to the others. "Anyway, despite that, and despite clearly having greater concern about the wellbeing of one another over anyone else, reviews of every case we've worked on together turned up no evidence of inappropriate behavior, either by being too familiar with one another, or by changing plans for the sake of protecting one another. So, we signed all sorts of agreements saying we understand we'll be under constant scrutiny—"
"Something I'm already under anyway," Sue added, "and Jack by extension since he argued for my being on the team in the first place, and then trained me too."
"Exactly," Jack agreed, "so we didn't figure it'd be that much different. Oh, and we aren't allowed to team up when we're going out in pairs unless there's a very specific reason we need to like if we were to go undercover as a married couple again."
With those words, Jack ducked his head a bit and blushed. Sue felt her own face heat up and wondered whether he was thinking the same thing she was—a hope that one day that wouldn't be a cover, but a reality for them. Jack continued with, "And we're not allowed to show excessive PDA or preferential attention to one another anywhere in the Hoover building or while on missions."
Bobby raised an eyebrow at their still-clasped hands. "Seems like you're failing on that one, mate."
"This isn't a mission or the Hoover building," Jack argued.
"Yeah, it's just packing up after a mission," Sue added.
"Oh, is that how that works?" Bobby teased.
Jack shrugged and smirked. "It works for us, anyway."
"Trust me," Lucy added, "this is not excessive PDA. When they're not at work they've been insufferable for the past several days."
"Hey!" Sue protested. "You're the one who's been pushing for us to get together practically since we met! You have no right to complain!"
"Well I have cause for complaint!" Tara exclaimed. "Several days? And you never told me? What, am I the last to know?"
"Oy! And me, luv!" Bobby pointed out.
"Well, no, you're not last," Jack observed. "Myles isn't even here right now so he still doesn't know."
Almost in synchronized motion, all five faces suddenly lit up and looked at one another with twinkling eyes and mischievous smiles, saying, "Myles doesn't know yet!"
Sue grinned up at Jack. "Oh, this is going to be fun."