AN: I know I haven't finished Chance Encounters yet still. I have tons of changes I want to make to it and I'm going to go back and change basically every chapter, and want to do that all at once, but I am still going to finish it, I promise! I've also been through a lot of life changes lately, not the least of which being leaving my day job to work on building my own business. I'm still working on my novel and a few other things, and have been dealing with some both physical and mental health struggles as I adjust to all these changes, so I figured some fanfic therapy was in order. I was reading through this one and realized that it's fully drafted and only needs editing and posting, so here you go!
Disclaimer: I do not own Sue Thomas:FBEye or the characters thereof. Thisstory combines events of "The Newlywed Game"/"Breaking Up is Hard to Do" (s2e5-6) and "Troy Story" (s3e16) and uses both events and some direct lines from those episodes. I do not claim credit for those lines - the series was created by Dave Alan Johnson and Gary R. Johnson, and those episodes were written by them and edited by Stephen Beck, with an additional writing credit on "Troy Story" by Joan Considine Johnson. All credit for the stories and writing that are theirs go to them, and all ownership of the series belongs to PAX and/or whomever actually owns the series these days, which I have found incredibly difficult to ascertain. HOWEVER, I have not differentiated which lines are theirs or mine, as the lines are so interspersed and are occasionally altered slightly to fit my own story's needs. I strongly recommend watching all of those episodes, not only to see which episodes go with what, but also simply because they're great and the series is fabulous and deserves to be watched and not just read in fanfiction. Frankly, this story is just a way of making my shippy heart happy, it's not much of its own storyline, and in fact has a tendency to brush over a lot of the actual case dealt with, so again, for that, I strongly recommed watching the actual episodes.
Meanwhile, if you're just here for the shippy happiness like I am, enjoy!
"New job—a promotion?" Bobby asked.
Across their restaurant table Darcy, his girlfriend of about two years, gave a tight, almost pained smile. "Mm-hmm."
"Well, good on ya, Darce! That's great!"
Darcy hesitated a moment, almost shaking with indecision, before bringing herself to add almost too brightly, "In Los Angeles! Editor."
Bobby froze a moment before managing to ask, "Really?" At her slight nod, he added, "B-but doesn't the, the Los Angeles editor have to, um, live in Los Angeles?"
Her face said it all before she managed to get out the word. "Yeah," she finally managed, then bit her lip nervously."
"Oh." Bobby glanced down at his fingers before asking, "Do you want to take it?"
She nodded, this time with no hesitation. "Yes. I do. It's the next step for me. For my career. The only question is . . . where would that leave us?"
"Yeah, that's . . . that's something we'll have to talk about, won't we?" he responded.
"Well . . . I've already thought about it a lot. Considered all the options, really. I've considered asking you to move out there with me—"
Bobby breathed out an impressed whistle. "Whew. That's huge."
"—yeah . . . and I also considered the possibility of maintaining a long-distance relationship, but . . . ."
"But . . . ?"
"Well . . . ." She leaned on her forearms and looked at him seriously. "Be honest with me, Bobby, if I asked you to come with me, would you?"
"I . . . I don't know, to be perfectly honest. I want to say I would, but the reality of leaving my friends and my job here . . . it's a lot to consider."
"Yeah. And frankly, you and I are both terrible at keeping in touch with anyone long distance."
"So . . . what are you saying? You want to break up?"
"Not that I want to, Bobby, just . . . I think we're sort of at one of those crossroads. One where we consider whether we really think this relationship is supposed to go the distance, or whether we're just sticking with it because it's safe and comfortable, and . . . I'll be honest, when I thought of having you move with me, my primary thought was that I would feel safer if I had someone I know and care about with me—someone, and you're someone that fits that bill, but . . . so are some of my best friends. And when I thought about a long-distance relationship it felt more like a burden than like a way of maintaining something. And I realized . . . I think our relationship has been a secure and comfortable safety net for a long time and it took a promotion that moves me to California for me to realize it. And if you're honest with yourself, I suspect you'll find the same thing."
Bobby leaned back in his chair, staring lamely at his dessert for a moment or two. "I want to argue with you. I want to tell you that it's not that, but . . . you're right. I can't honestly say that this relationship is anything more than that."
She nodded, tears in her eyes. "I know." She reached out and squeezed his hand reassuringly. "I care very deeply for you, Bobby, but . . . I think the only thing I ever really fell in love with was the idea of us. I'm so sorry."
"No, don't be sorry, sheila. Hey, we've had a great run, you know? And, uh . . . well, if I'm ever out in California, I hope you don't mind if I look you up."
She smiled tearfully. "Of course I don't mind."
"Welp." He lifted his wine glass to her, striving for an encouraging smile that came out weak at best. "Congratulations."
"Okay, listen up everybody," Jack said, rushing into the bullpen. Belatedly, he realized that Myles was back, and was limping with a cane. "Myles, you're back early, how was Pamplona?"
"It . . . fraught with danger," Myles replied vaguely.
"And that's not even taking the bulls into consideration," Bobby quipped.
Everyone else, who had just gotten Myles's full description of how he was injured running with the bulls—only to be followed by Bobby forcing the real story of how Myles was actually injured stepping off the curb to get into a taxi at the airport and never made it to even see the bulls—stifled their laughter. To Myles's great relief, Jack was too focused on the case he was bringing in to care much about looking into that more, though surely someone would fill him in sooner rather than later.
"I'm glad you're back, we could use you. We intercepted a call from a phone in Yemen that we know has been used in the past by Arif Dessa."
"I don't suppose," Dimitrius interrupted, "that he was considerate enough to drop us a hint as to his whereabouts."
"The call was scrambled," Jack replied. "There's no way to tell what was said. But here's a really interesting part: the call was placed to the home of Betty and Joseph Vanderwylen in Arlington."
Bobby cocked his head. "Why would Ozzie and Harriet in suburban Virginia be getting phone calls from one of the world's most notorious terrorists?"
"Exactly what I was wondering," Jack agreed.
Bobby stood from where he'd perched on the edge of a desk. "Maybe we should find out."