Rated PG

Febraury 12: Elizabeth and Myles are discussing his lack of a date at "his" party.

Elizabeth stopped him before he could reach the door to his room. "but Myles," she almost whined, "if you're not bringing anyone to the party tonight, does that mean you don't have someone special in your life?"

"You would be correct, Mother. I am currently married to my job and we are perfectly happy together," he replied sarcastically.

"Well then, who should I give these to?" she asked, seductively waving a packet under his nose. He recognized the emblem of Mermaid Cruise Lines.

"I don't care, Mother. Give them to whomever you want," Myles retorted.

"Maybe I'll just give them to Anne," she goaded.

"Fine. She probably won't use them either."

Elizabeth sighed. "Here. You take them," she said handing the packet to him. "There are two tickets for a ten-day Caribbean cruise leaving the day after tomorrow from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. If you don't want them, give them to one of your (pause) friends." She looked like she was going to vomit.

"Mother," Myles warned, "my friends will be here at this party and I expect you to treat them exactly like you would a Congressman or the President."

"Oh, Myles," she sighed. "I promise I'll be civil to your people. But don't push your luck."

Myles grudgingly took the packet from his mother and tucked it inside of his suit coat as he left the room. Maybe he could find somebody to hand it off to.



Jack had invited Sue to the party and she happily accepted. He picked her up at her apartment at 6:00. They had decided to go out to dinner before the party so they wouldn't have to endure it on empty stomachs.

When Sue opened the door, Jack could only say, "Wow!" She was dressed in a knee-length, white beaded dress that glittered everytime she moved. She had her hair down - just the way he liked it - and around her neck was the most beautiful ruby nexklace he had ever seen. She was beyond beautiful. She looked more like Aphrodite or Helen of Troy.

Speaking of Troy, Lucy's date walked up behind Jack and gave him a slight nudge. "Excuse me," he signed. "I was wondering if I could go in or is there a cover charge at the door?"

The three of them laughed as Sue moved to the side and let the men enter. She hurriedly grabbed her coat, said "Good night" to Levi, and was soon walking outside with Jack.

"So, did you ever do anything with your invitation?" Jack inquired. "Or did you decide just to let that one go to waste?"

Sue answered, "I thought that since Lucy was inviting Troy, the least I could do was give mine to Charlie. He said he knew the perfect lady to ask, too."

"Great! I'm glad," he replied.



Anne arrived at Myles house early to help set up, and, to her mother's dismay, she was also unescorted. Elizabeth asked her, "What will people think? Both you and your brother at his party alone? You'll be the laughing stock of higher society."

"No, Mother," Anne replied. "You're just worried people will talk and it won't be about you for a change." With that, she turned and went to her brother's side.

Elizabeth watched tragically as she saw her children working side by side together as a team. They were actually enjoying each other. Were they even joking with each other and laughing? "Oh, I can't bear to watch anymore of this," Elizabeth thought, and went to the bar to get a drink. The days of pitting the two of them against each other were finally over.



As Darcy climbed into Bobby's car, he looked at her appreciatively. "Well, I'm glad you decided to join me tonight, Love."

"Don't think this will get you off the hook, Agent Manning," she scolded. "The journalist in me just couldn't pass up this opportunity. It's not everyday a girl gets to rub shoulders with so many politicians and dignitaries in one room."

"Well, right now I'll take what I can get," Bobby answered as they drove off.



Jack and Sue arrived at the restaurant and were seated immediately. Sue thought he was acting peculiar the entire time, but she assumed it was just nerves and the anticipation of the stuffy party they were about to endure.

Jack was, in reality, a nervous wreck during dinner, but not for the reason Sue thought. He had never felt this nervous before in his life. He felt in his pocket for the fiftieth time that night, and it was still there - the box with the ring he had originally bought for her at Christmas. But after the car accident and all the chaos that followed, he couldn't have given it to her, then. Now was the perfect opportunity. He was determined to present it to her after dessert.

But as luck would have it, their meals took over an hour to cook, and by the time dessert arrived, they had to quickly scarf it down and run or they were going to be late to the party. Relieved, Jack thought to himself, "Okay, this time it wasn't my fault."



As the Society page would report, the party of Phillip and Elizabeth Leland was, for the most part, a huge success. Dignitaries and politicians from all over Washington, DC and beyond arrived in limos that stretched to forever. Troy was able to get most of them to smile for his camera, too. Lucy trailed behind him to interpret when needed.

Charlie had invited a lady friend he had met at the garage. She was a widow and her children lived out of state. But she seemed to be enjoying Charlie's company immensely and was having a nice time at the party.

Bobby and Darcy were enjoying themselves as well, to an extent. She was still giving him the cold shoulder, but he acted like a little lost puppy and followed her around everywhere she went. She even had to stop him from following her into the restroom once. The boy had it bad.

Myles and Anne were the perfect hosts. They made sure everything ran smoothly, everyone had full glasses, and no one was being left out. At one point, Myles had commented to her, "All those wasted years we were fighting against each other. Just think what we could've accomplished if we had been a team, then."

Anne smiled and replied, "We would've been invincible."

Myles returned her smile and proclaimed, "Look out, World! It's those Lelands again!" With that, he embraced his sister. He glanced up and saw their mother staring in shock at them. When she saw him looking at her, she turned and walked off in a huff.

"Oh, that reminds me," Myles said releasing Anne and reaching inside his jacket. Elizabeth gave me this before the party." He showed her the packet for the cruise line. "I'm not going to be able to use these, so I was wondering if you could? It's a ten-day cruise that leaves the day after tomorrow."

Anne smiled sadly. "Sorry, Bro. Part of my agreement with the DA is that I can't go further than 100 miles from my residence. I can't even take a weekend trip to New York right now if I wanted to."

"Right. Well, do you know of anyone I could give these to? It'd be a shame if they went to waste."

"I'll keep my ears open and let you know."

Tara arrived on the arm of Adam Kinsey. He just happened to be on the East Coast through the weekend for a couple of television interviews in New York City. He was thrilled to accept Tara's invitation to the party. Unfortunately for him, he had to return to California on Monday for other guest appearances. All the other women at the party were obviously jealous of her. They surrounded Tara and Adam (more him than her) for most of the evening and Tara was positively glowing from all the attention. But she was so preoccupied that she didn't get to see much of her friends.



D and Donna were stuck talking with a Senator from Oklahoma and his wife. The Gans were obviously bored out of their minds and were looking around for a distraction to get themselves out of their predicament. Myles swooped in to the rescue.

"Excuse me, Senator. I need to borrow Mr. and Mrs. Gans for a moment, if you don't mind."

"Oh, sure, sure," the Senator replied. "I was just about to refresh my glass anyway. It was nice talking to you," and the Senator shook their hands and left.

"Oh, thanks, Man," D said gratefully. "That guy wouldn't shut up. He just kept going on and on about how he had to come back to Congress to 'instill some Oklahoma values in America' and blah, blah, blah. Like their values are that different from anyone else's once they get here."

Donna sighed, "Yes, Dear."

"Well, that's why I came over here," Myles explained. "I can't have some of my guests stuck in an endless conversation with some overbearing politician, now can I?"

"Well, I really appreciate it," D said.

"And besides, I have something I need to ask you," Myles changed the subject. He pulled the packet of information out and showed it to them. "My mother gave me this cruise for Valentine's Day thinking I would use it. I was wondering if I could give to you, instead? It's for ten days and it leaves the day after tomorrow."

"Oh!" Donna looked like she was going to cry.

D said, "We'd love to, but we have one, actually two problems."

Myles looked confused. "What is it?"

Donna explained, "Their names are Tanya and David. There would be no way we could find a babysitter for that length of time with this short of notice."

"Thanks anyway, Man," D said handing the information back to Myles. "Maybe in a few years."

"Don't mention it," Myles replied, replacing the packet inside his coat.



Jack and Sue were having a wonderful time at the party. They socialized with their co-workers, politicians, and the upper crust of society with the greatest of ease. And in between conversations, they would dance and just enjoy each others company. It was one of these time Jack looked into Sue's eyes and smiled. "Sue," he said, "I think we need to talk."

"Okay," she agreed, excited, but a little nervous. "What about?"

"Well, there's something I've been trying to ask you for a while now." He reached inside of his pocket and toyed with the box.

"What is it?" Sue asked, breathless.

From across the room, Bobby's voice rang out over the noise of the crowd. "Ladies and gentlemen, could I have your attention, please?"

Jack's attention distracted, he couldn't answer Sue's question. He was curious what Bobby was up to this time.

"What is it, Jack?" Sue was confused.

"Oh, sorry. Bobby just asked for everybody's attention," he answered.

"What's he doing?" Sue asked.

"I have no idea," he responded, afraid that he really did know. They both focused their attention across the room.

Bobby continued. "Ms. D'Angelo, could you please join me up here for a second?"

Turning bright red, Darcy walked up to the stage and whispered, "Bobby, what are you doing?"

Bobby simply smiled at her and turned back to the crowd. "As you may or may not know, Darcy and I have been seeing each other for a while now." Darcy looked like she wanted to crawl under a chair, but Bobby simply put his arm around her and pulled her closer. "Well, I thought I'd take advantage of this time of celebration of love and maybe add something else to celebrate."

With that, he turned to Darcy and grabbed both of her hands. "Darling, I love you. And I have something I want to ask you."

Gasps came from around the room. Myles smiled and fingered the packet inside of his coat. "It'd make a nice engagement present," he thought to himself.

Bobby dropped to one knee and produced a ring box from his pocket. "Darcy D'Angelo, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?"

Darcy looked at him with a shocked look on her face. Then she glanced up at the crowd that was waiting for her resonse. And looking back at Bobby with tears in her eyes, she said, "I'm sorry. I have to go." And she ran off into the crowd, wiping her eyes.

Bobby sat there, stunned. He didn't know what to think or do. As the crowd started whispering among themselves, Bobby stood, looking crushed.

"I'm sorry, folks. I didn't mean to spoil your evening." He looked like he was about to break down in front of everyone. "Excuse me," he said as he ran the opposite direction and disappeared into the crowd.

"Oh no," said Jack from his vantage point.

"Go to him, Jack," Sue suggested. "He needs you right now. I'll be all right."

"Okay. Thanks," Jack said, and ran after his best friend.



When Jack found Bobby, Myles and D were already there trying to console him. "Hey, Man, I'm sorry."

Bobby looked at his friend with tears welling up in his eyes. "For what, Mate? You didn't force me to make a fool out of myself out there."

"Yeah, but I didn't stop you, either," Jack responded. "Truth be told, I think you two make a great pair."

"Yeah," D agreed, clapping a hand on Bobby's shoulder. "She just doesn't know what she's missing out on."

"Or maybe she does," mumbled Myles.

Jack and D shot him a dirty look and he walked off to the other side of the room.

Jack turned back to Bobby, "I've just got to know one thing, Man. What were you thinking? You two have been fighting fr the last two weeks. I'm surprised she even came with you tonight."

Bobby looked up at Jack. "I thought she wouldn't be able to say 'No' if I asked her in front of everyone like that." He looked back down at his hands. "Shows what I know, huh?"

"Hey, maybe after she cools off and thinks about it for a bit, she'll come back," Jack tried.

"Yeah," D added. "And if she doesn't, then she wasn't the one."

Bobby gave them a slim smile and said, "Maybe you're right." He thought for a moment, then added, "I need a drink." He got up and left the room followed by D.

Myles stopped Jack before he was able to leave. "Jack, can I talk to you for a second?"

Slightly surprised by Myles sudden sincerity, Jack turned. "Sure. What's up?"

He pulled the cruise line packet out from underneath his coat and handed it to Jack. "My parents gave this to me for Valentines Day, but since I have no significant other at the moment, I thought I'd give it to you."

"Thanks, but I don't have anyone, either," Jack said.

"Yes, you do," Myles persisted. "You have Sue, if you'd just tell her."

Jack smiled to himself, then thought about his friend. "Well, what happened to Bobby out there is exactly why I haven't told her, yet. I mean, how do you know for sure she's 'the one' without making a fool out of yourself?"

"You don't," Myles advised. "And in all honesty, you're not the first one I've tried to give these to. Anne can't go out of town at the moment. D and Donna need a babysitter. Surfer Boy has to go back to California on Monday, so that leaves Tara out. Lucy and Troy are 'just friends'. And, well, you know why I can't give them to Bobby, now."

"Yeah, but how am I supposed to convince Sue to go with me on a cruise?"

"Look," Myles pulled out the paperwork. "It leaves the day after tomorrow from Ft. Lauderdale for ten days in the Caribbean. And look at this. The reservation is for a suite of rooms on the first class deck. You two can have completely separate vacations if you want." He looked back at Jack. "Please, Jack. Don't make me give these to a politician."

"All right. I'll ask," Jack answered. "But no promises." He turned to go, then stopped at the door. "By the way, thanks."

Myles smiled. "No problem. Just don't spread it around the Bureau. I don't want to ruin my reputation."

Sue, Lucy, and Tara raced outside. They found Darcy with tears streaming down her cheeks at the curb waiting for a cab. When she saw them, she held up her hands and said, "Don't you all start on me, too. I just had to get out of there."

"That's okay, we understand," Lucy assured her.

"Yeah," Tara added. "We just wanted to make sure you were okay."

Darcy nodded, "I'm okay. But can you believe the nerve of him? Emabarrassing me like that in front of everybody?"

Sue stepped up calmly and said, "Darcy, I believe Bobby is probably feeling a little more embarrassed then you right now."

Darcy looked flustered. "Well, I'm sorry. It couldn't be helped." After thinking for another moment, she asked, "Can you do me a favor?"

"What is it?" inquired Sue.

"Tell him that I love him and I always will. I'm just not ready for that kind of committment right now. Could you do that for me, please?"

"Sure," Lucy volunteered.

"Yeah," Tara agreed. "And don't worry. He'll be okay. We'll take care of him for you."

"And when and if you ever are ready for more, I'm sure he will be more than happy to take you back," added Sue.

Darcy gave her a slim smile. "Well, we'll see what happens."

Just then, the cab pulled up. She thanked them for their understanding, said her farewells, and left.



As the girls entered the house again, they literally bumped into Jack and Myles, who were looking for Bobby and D.

"Hey! Here's the little woman now!" Myles hollered cheerfully. "Now's the perfect time to ask her, Jack."

Sue looked puzzled. "Ask me what?" She was a little afraid he was going to pop the question to her, too. But he wouldn't do something like that after what happened to Bobby, would he?

"Um," Jack stammered, "Myles' parents gave him a cruise for Valentine's Day that he can't use. He was wondering if we might take the tickets off of his hands so they don't go to waste."

Lucy and Tara looked surprised, but secretly smiled to each other.

He continued nervously, "We would have separate rooms, of course, so you won't have to worry about me seeing you until you are ready."

"Oh, I don't know. When is it?"

"The day after tomorrow out of Ft. Lauderdale," Jack quickly answered.

"Ft. Lauderdale?!? Even if we left right now, there's no way we could make it to Ft. Lauderdale in time. I have to go shopping and pack everything and..."

Myles interrupted, "Well, that's the beauty of a cruise, my dear Sue. You can pick things up on your trip along the way."

"Yeah," Jack agreed. "So all you would really need are your basic essentials - toothbrush, toothpaste, hair brush, etc. And we can shop for whatever else you want when we get there."

Lucy jumped in, "And let's not forget, it's a FREE cruise, Sue."

Then Tara joined the chorus. "Yeah, Sue. Come on. What are you waiting for? You need to live a little."

Sue was getting excited. She had never been on a cruise before and it did sound like fun. Just one problem.

"What about Levi? Can he come, too?"

"Oh," Myles had forgotten that detail. "I don't know. I mean, special arrangements would need to be made and I'm not sure if there's time now."

Sue looked disappointed. But then Lucy spoke up, "That's okay, Sue. I'll take care of him."

Then Jack added, "And I'll help you get around without him." He smiled hopefully, "What do you say, Sue? Won't you be my Valentine in the Caribbean?"

"Sue returned his smile and said, "Sure. I can't think of a better way to spend the holiday."

He grinned, but then quickly sobered. "Oh, but what about Bobby?"

"Don't worry about him," Myles chided. "I'll pour some drinks down his gullet and he'll be fine."

"And I'll give him Darcy's message in the morning," Lucy volunteered.

"Okay, then. What are we waiting for?" Jack asked. "Let's go to Ft. Lauderdale!"

February 13

Their flight to Florida left DC at 9:00 AM which meant they had to be at the airport by 7:00. After passing through security, they found their gate. Sue sat down with the carry-on bags while Jack went to find some coffee. He returned with two steaming cups of the brew and offered one to Sue. She accepted it gratefully. After the first sip, she said, "Mmm. This is better than what we get at the office. I'm going to have to start coming here every morning."

Jack just smiled and said, "I think it's a little bit too far out of the way, though. Not to mention security would be a nightmare. You'd have to leave your apartment every morning at 5:00 AM just to get to work on time.

Sue wrinkled her nose. "Yeah, you're right. Maybe I'll just do it every other day," and laughed.

The flight itself went relatively smooth. Jack could tell that she enjoyed the first class treatment and he secretly hoped he could do this for her some day. "She deserves it," he thought to himself as he watched her reading a magazine.

Once they got to their destination, they found their hotel, then went to get a bite to eat. Afterward, the evening was still young, so they decided to go for a stroll on the beach. "It's so beautiful," Sue said out loud. "It's hard to believe that it's the same ocean we have in DC."

"Yeah," Jack could hardly take his eyes off of Sue to scan across the horizon. "And just think, tomorrow we're going to be out there as well."

After walking for about thirty minutes, they sat down on the sand and watched as the waves rolled in. Sue smiled. She was so excited, and Jack could feel it radiating from her being. He couldn't resist wrapping his arms around her. At first she stiffened, but then, she seemed to change her mind and snuggled into his chest, turning back to the ocean.

They sat like that for the longest time, each lost in their own reverie.

Sue thought about how safe he made her feel, how strong his arms felt, how happy she was just being with him. She wished they could stay like that forever.

Jack was just enjoying her smell, her touch, her every breath, her very essence. He wished they could stay like that forever.

But eventually, the sun went down and the beach got cold. Jack got Sue's attention and suggested they go back to their hotel. Since it was dark and they had to concentrate on where they stepped, they didn't talk much. And when they arrived at the hotel, Sue said she really needed some sleep before their big day tomorrow. They agreed to meet the next morning in the lobby at 7:00 for breakfast. Then they each went to their separate rooms. Both tried to sleep, but neither were successful.



February 14

The next morning, Sue knocked on Jack's door at 6:45 AM.

"Happy Valentine's Day!" she said cheerfully when he opened the door.

"I thought we were meeting in the lobby," he questioned.

"Yeah, I know, but I'm very hungry," she explained, which it was mostly true.

"Me, too," Jack replied. "Let's go eat."

They enjoyed a liesurely breakfast and each others company. Finally around 8:30, they decided to check out of the hotel and make their way to the ship. She added, "Better to be early than late. We don't want to be left behind!"



When they arrived at the dock, the mere sight of the ship took Sue's breath away. However, at the ticket counter, they experienced a little confusion. Jack handed the woman the tickets and she looked them up on her computer. "Okay, Mr. and Mrs. Myles Leland, we show you in cabin number 26."

"Oh, but we're not...." Sue tried to correct her.

"I know," said the woman. "You're cabin number was changed yesterday by a Mrs. Elizabeth Leland. She had the reservation authorization number and everything. She said you would be okay with that."

Jack tried to help out. "No, you don't understand, Miss. We're...."

"...On your honeymoon. Oh, I know all about it," the girl interrupted him. "Congratulations. We hope you enjoy your cruise." And she handed the ticket stubs back to Jack.

"Oh boy," he stammered. After they walked off, he looked at Sue and said, "Well, I guess we could pretend to be married for another ten days, huh?"

"Well, it's not like we've never done it before," Sue agreed. "And this time we get to use the Leland name to top it off!"

Jack smiled his boyish grin. "Oh, what I could do to that man now. Imagine him receiving a room service bill for $1,000!"

"Jack! You wouldn't!" Sue scolded.

"You're right. He'd probably kill me, then make me pay him back. I know."



As they found their cabin, they continued to be puzzled. They thought the first class suites were closer to the upper deck of the ship, but the numbers kept going further and further down. Once they finally arrived, they opened the door and found a single room with a double bed, a couch, and a dresser. The TV fit snuggly into a built-in bookcase and there was one door that led to a closet, and another for the bathroom.

"Uh-oh," Jack commented as he pulled out his cell phone. He immediately dialed Myles.

"Hey!" Myles sounded cheerful. "How's the ocean, my boy?"

"The ocean itself is beautiful, but the accomodations leave a little to be desired," Jack replied.

"What do you mean?" Myles questioned.

"Well, the woman at the ticket counter says a Mrs. Elizabeth Leland changed our reservation yesterday."

"Okay," Myles said guardedly.

"Let's just say Sue and I are going to be sharing close quarters for the next ten days." As he turned his back to Sue, he mumbled into the phone, "Not that I'm complaining, mind you, but we do have careers to think about, you know."

"Jack, how big is your suite?" Myles asked.

"Well, it's not really a suite," Jack stated.

"Jack. How many rooms do you have at your disposal?"

"Let's see. Counting the bedroom, the bathroom, and the living area, I'd say... two. Unless you want to count the closet."

"WHAT???" Myles hollered so loud that Jack had to move the phone away from his ear. "Why I'm gonna... Um, let me call you back in a minute. I need to have a conversation with my mother for a moment." And he hung up.

Myles immediately dialed his mother's number and didn't even let her finish the word "Hello" before he laid into her.

"Mother! How dare you disrespect my friends that way!"

"Myles," she replied innocently. "Why, I have no idea to what you are referring. And please don't yell at me. I am your mother, after all."

"You know perfectly well to what I am referring!" Myles said hotly. "Jack and Sue on the cruise that you bought for me. You knew I gave it to them and you went and changed their accomodations from a suite to a single room?! How dare you treat them in such a manner."

"Myles, you are always so melodramatic," his mother observed calmly. "I simply thought they would be more comfortable in a less-exquisite setting, that's all. I didn't mean any disrespect by it in the slightest."

"Mother," Myles warned. "You had better fix this and I mean NOW!"

"But I can't, dear," she responded. "The cruise line had a waiting list for those suites. There is no way I could possibly get one now. I was lucky to get one for you, and then I had been on the waiting list since Thanksgiving. Your friends are just going to have to accept what they have, or get off the ship."

"Mother," he was ready to explode. "I swear, you had better NEVER do anything like this again, or so help me, Phillip won't even be able to find work as a busboy in this town as long as I live here. And I can do it, too," he growled. "I have connections."

He heard his mother's gasp on the other line, so he knew she took the threat seriously. "Good day, Mother!" and he clicked off his phone.

He then dialed Jack back and explained the situation. "And I apolgize for my mother's snobbery," he said.

"That's okay," Jack sighed. "Sue and I will just have to get along nicely for the next week and a half. I think we can manage." As they said their farewells, Jack smiled to himself. "Oh boy. This is going to be interesting." And he turned to inform Sue.

She was not pleased, but she didn't seem too upset either. "Well, we're just going to have to make the best of it," she said smiling. "It's a good thing I didn't bring much."

"Yeah," Jack sighed. "Me too."

After unpacking a few things, they went exploring around the ship. They couldn't believe the size of it. It was like an entire city stacked on top of itself and set in the ocean. There were dining rooms, dance floors, stage after stage, beauty shops, massage parlors, swimming pools, even a casino.

They eventually made their way up to the bridge of the ship where the Captain was performing final preparations. He greeted Jack and Sue with a smile and a wave before coming to shake hands. "Hi!" he said extending a hand. "I'm Captain Hamilton."

Jack graciously accepted the hand and introduced himself and Sue. "Pleasure to meet you two. You getting to know my boat?"

"Yes," Sue said happily. "And she's beautiful, too."

Jack interjected, "This is her first cruise, so she's a little excited."

"Oh! Well, welcome aboard, M'lady," and he made a show of bowing before her. "If I can be of any assistance whatsoever, you just let me know."

Jack decided to take advantage of the offer right away. "Actually, I would love a short tour, if you have time."

Sue just laughed, "You know how men get around machines."

The Captain laughed in agreement. "Sure, sure. We have a little bit of time before things start getting hectic. Follow me."

Captain Hamilton showed Jack and Sue all around the bridge. He showed them everything from the radio to the steering controls. He even showed them the environmental controls. The tour had to be over too soon, though, because it was getting close to departure time and the Captain had to return to his duties.

"But I insist you join me at my table for dinner tonight," Captain Hamilton said before leaving. "Let's say around 18:00?"

"That would be fine," Jack agreed.

"Well, that was very sweet of him," Sue commented after the Captain left.

"Yeah," Jack agreed. "It sure was."



Dinner at the Captain's table was an extravagant affair. Not only was the food fantastic, but so was the company. Captain Hamilton kept the whole table laughing with his exploits on the sea. It seemed he had lived quite a full life and was not planning on stopping anytime soon.

The only tension Sue had noticed at the table was with one of the waiters, whose name tag read "Ahmed." He appeared to be of Middle Eastern descent and never smiled or spoke to any of the guests. Even their jolly captain was getting upset about the way he was behaving. Before dessert was served, Captain Hamilton called Ahmed over to him and was whispering in his ear.

"What's he saying?" Jack asked Sue.

"He's scolding him for the rude treatment of his guests and told him to either shape up or ship out," Sue whispered back.

"Hmm. A little late to ship out now, isn't it? Now that we're out in the middle of the ocean."

"Well, I'm sure they have a method of getting people back to shore in emergencies," Sue suggested.

"Yeah, but firing a waiter wouldn't be considered an emergency," Jack countered. "He'd probably just be confined to quarters or something."



After dinner, Jack asked Sue to dance. When they were alone out on the dance floor, he looked deep into her eyes and smiled. He wanted to say something, anything, but his mind went blank. Her beauty had made him speechless again. He finally was able to croak, "Happy Valentine's Day, Sue."

She smiled back and said, "Happy Valentine's Day, Jack." Then she laid her head on his shoulder. She loved to dance with him. He didn't mind that she couldn't hear the music. He was a great leader and was easy to follow.

They danced into the night, both of them floating on air. They lost all track of time. Then when they could dance no more, they returned to their table and realized all the other guests had left. Only Captain Hamilton remained. He smiled and invited them to sit for a couple of drinks.

Jack looked at his watch and realized it was already 11:00 PM. "I don't know, it's kinda late. What do you think, Sue?"

She smiled and said, "Well, maybe just one wouldn't hurt. We can actually sleep in tomorrow morning."

Jack nodded his head in agreement and said, "Okay, then. Perfect compromise. One drink, then we should go." They sat down and ordered. Sue asked for a Sprite while Jack ordered a beer, and the Captain requested a refill on his drink.

When the order arrived and they were alone again, Captain Hamilton's face sobered. "I need to aske you two about something."

Jack and Sue suddenly felt nervous about his seriousness. "What is it?" Sue asked.

"Well, I'll be honest with you. I went and checked on you two this afternoon after the tour. I've discovered I don't have either one of you on my guest list. So, I need to ask, who are you?"

Jack relaxed and smiled. "Actually, there was a little confusion with the tickets. Our co-worker, Myles Leland, III, gave them to us for Valentine's Day, but the reservation was put in his name, not ours.

The Captain's face started to relax some then, too. "Good. I knew there was a logical explanation why you were in Mr. Leland's room and he wasn't. I'm glad to hear that is it. So he's your co-worker, huh?"

"Yes," Jack answered.

"So, you work for the, uh, government as well?"

They both nodded. "We can show you id's if you need us to," Sue offered.

"No, that won't be necessary," the Captain said. "But it does explain your curiosity about my boat. I must say I'm glad you're with the good guys. All this terrorism going on around the world and I go and fall sucker to a good-looking couple and show them everything." He shook his head reproachfully at himself. "But now I will be able to sleep tonight."

Jack broke in, "But Captain, I need to ask you a favor."

"Sure, sure. Anything. Just name it."

"Can you keep our employer just between us? Usually the fewer people who know who we are, the better. Not a lot of people like the, uh, government."

"Oh, not a problem. We keep lots of secrets around here. Why, you wouldn't believe how many married couples we get on board who aren't actually married to each other."

They all smiled and the conversation relaxed. Jack and Sue talked with the Captain until way past midnight before they decided it was finally time to retire to their cabin for the night.



When they got there, Jack got his bed clothes and went into the bathroom to change while Sue finished unpacking her suitcase. When he came out he grabbed one of the pillows and a spare blanket, and turned for the couch.

That's when he saw it and froze. Laying on the bed was the last thing he wanted to see on this cruise. The beady eyes looked at him. The pasted on smile taunted him. The white fur just really annoyed him. It was that stupid bear - the bear that he gave her for Christmas instead of the ring. The bear that sat on her desk for two weeks, smiling at him, taunting him for his cowardice. The bear he had secretly given to Levi in hopes he would chew it to pieces. He could still see the bite marks.

Sue noticed his hesitation and said, "Jack, what's wrong?"

He pointed, "Is that the bear I gave you for Christmas?"

"Yes, I sleep with him every night," Sue answered. Then quickly added, "It's the only way I can keep Levi from chewing him up."

Jack thought, "Atta boy, Levi! I have got to remember to give him a special treat when we get back."

Sue saw the smirk that appeared on his face and thought he was laughing at her. She turned defensive. "I had to bring him with me. I couldn't risk Levi finding him while I was gone. Besides, we were supposed to have separate rooms, remember?"

Jack's smirk changed to a good-natured smile as he realized what she was talking about. "And I promise I won't tell anyone at work, either," he reassured her.

"Thank you," she said. "I'd really appreciate it." She grabbed her bed clothes and went into the bathroom to change.

Jack sat down on the couch and just glared at the bear. It just sat there, smiling at him even more. "Shut up!" he told it, not for the first time.


By the time Sue exited the bathroom, Jack had already prepared his bed on the couch. He was propped up on his pillow reading until he saw her. Then he put his book down and smiled. She yawned a giant yawn, then sleepily returned his smile.

"I'm sorry," she apolgized. "It's way past my bedtime. I'm exhausted."

"That's okay," Jack said. "I'm pretty tired, too. It's been a long day."

When he was sure that she was comfortably tucked in, he turned off the light. Sue watched as he felt his way across the room back to the couch. When she knew he had his back to her, she made the ASL sign for "I love you," and held it up to the dark figure across the room. But before he could turn around, she rolled over and covered up with her blankets. She closed her eyes and fell immediately to sleep.

When he laid back down on the couch and settled himself in, he glanced over at the bed. He could barely make out Sue's silhouette through the darkness, but could tell her back was to him. "I love you," he whispered to the dark figure. Then he closed his eyes and fell immediately to sleep.

February 15

The sun woke Sue up the next morning. As she rolled over and glanced at the clock, she realized it was already 8:00 AM. She sat up straight and looked around. Jack was already up. The bathroom door was closed, so she assumed he was taking a shower. She looked down at the bear that shared her bed and smiled. His smile was so cute and his white fur so snuggly. She really loved that bear, but secretly wished that the man who gave him to her would replace him on the bed someday. But until that day, she planned to settle for this substitute.

She got up and made the bed. Then she busied herself by setting out her clothes for the day. After a few moments, she felt a draft of warm, damp air flow past her ankles and turned to find Jack leaning against the door frame of the bathroom.

"Good morning," he said, smiling at her.

"Good morning," she answered, gathering her clothes together. "It's my turn to get in there. Remember, you promised you wouldn't look at me until I was ready," she teased.

"You're right, I did," he replied. He still didn't move out of the doorway. "But we were also supposed to have separate rooms, too." He flashed his boyish grin at her.

"Excuse me, then. I'd like to get in there."

He tossed his head in the direction behind him. "Oh, you mean in here?" He was enjoying teasing her.

"Jack, please move." She tried to push past him, but he grabbed her around the waist and wouldn't let her by. "Jack! Let me go!" She wriggled a little trying to get out of his grip, but failed. She looked up smiling at him and discovered his face three inches from hers.

The smile melted from his face and was replaced by a serious look. But then, his grip loosened from around her waist and Sue thought she saw a look of panic in his eyes as he looked away.

"Um," he stuttered, "Excuse me." And he walked out of the doorway, allowing her entry. He busied himself folding his blankets by the couch, not turning around until he heard the door shut behind him. Only then did he dare to turn around and look in that direction.

"Man, you idiot!" he chastised himself. "Get a grip on yourself. Remember what just happened to Bobby? You want that to happen to you, too?' He sat down on the couch roughly as he thought, "Better to have her in your dreams, than not to have her at all."

He clicked on the TV. He needed some kind of distraction to get his mind off of Sue. But there wasn't anything worth watching on. So he turned it off and picked up his book. He re-read the same paragraph three times before he realized the futility of his efforts. "Man, this is going to be a long vacation," he said to himself as he put his book down.

He sat there lost in his thoughts and didn't even realize the passing of time until Sue emerged from the bathrom wearing a pastel colored sun dress. She had her hair pulled back in a pony tail, but Jack noticed a few stray strands playing around her face and neck. He wanted to tuck them away for her, but he dared not touch her again. Not now.

"Ready?" she asked him.

"Ready for what?" he questioned. "I wasn't aware we were going anywhere."

"It's the first full day of our cruise and I wanted to do something," she explained. "You want to check out the gift shops on board? Maybe find some presents for everyone else?"

"I guess," Jack replied, not really sounding excited about the prospect of shopping all day. "Just remember, I'm a guy. I don't shop like Tara or Lucy do."

"I know," she assured him. "But it sure beats sitting around here all day."

"You're right." He grabbed his wallet and the cabin key, but decided to leave his cell and id badge on the dresser. What would he need those for out in the middle of the ocean? Sue grabbed her purse and met him at the door.

They spent the rest of the morning going from one gift shop to the next. Sue tried to be sensitive to Jack's "guyness," but he actually found himself enjoying the experience. After all, he was with Sue.

Around midday, they found one of the dining rooms and enjoyed a peaceful lunch. Afterwards, Jack reclined back in his chair and asked her, "So, what do you want to do for the rest of the afternoon?"

"Oh, I don't know. There's so much to choose from."

"Well, we could always go out on deck and watch the ocean go by," Jack suggested. "I mean, how often do we get a chance to do nothing?"

"You're right," Sue agreed, smiling at him. "That sounds like fun."

So they wandered out to the deck and found a couple of lounge chairs to make themselves comfortable in. After about five minutes of small talk, Sue got a quizzical look on her face.

"So, you never did get a chance to ask me whatever it was at Myles' party."

Jack stiffened. Butterflies suddenly found a new home in his stomach. "Oh, um, that."

Sue asked, "What was it you wanted to ask?"

"Oh, uh, nothing. It's not important now."

In the background, he heard a popping noise that sounded similar to gunfire. He turned and looked behind him, but didn't see anything unusual. So he shrugged it off and turned back to Sue.

"What is it?" Sue asked.

"Oh, nothing. I thought I heard something, but I didn't...." then he heard it again. But this time a lot closer. And he heard a woman scream.

He jumped up out of his lounge chair and faced the direction the sound came from looking for something, anything. The boat was so big, though, there was no telling which deck it had actually come from.

"Jack, what's wrong?" came Sue's worried voice.

He turned back to face her with his finger over his lips, trying to keep her quiet. Then he signed, "I hear guns."

She slowly stood up as she mouthed, "What? Where?"

He signed back, "I don't know. I can't tell." Then he heard running footsteps and voices yelling from somewhere above them. They were speaking in a foreign language he couldn't place, but it definitely sounded Arabic. He froze looking at Sue. Then with his eyes, he motioned upwards so she would know where the trouble was. She slowly nodded her head once to show she understood.

As the voices and footsteps passed, Jack relaxed some. Sue signed, "What do we do?"

"I don't know," he returned. His masculine protective side took over. "But first we need to get you somewhere safe. You try to contact the authorities and I'll try to see what's going on."

She nodded. "Should we try to make it back to the cabin?"

"Right now, that's about as good as anywhere else on this ship. And that way I can grab my cell, too."

They quickly but carefully made their way back to the interior of the ship, Jack in the lead, checking around every corner before going past. He may have been acting a little paranoid, but he was unarmed and had to get Sue somewhere safe and fast. He didn't know what he would do if something were to happen to her.

Jack heard a couple more rounds being fired on their journey. Once it sounded like it was right around the corner. But when he looked, the hallway was clear, so they continued on cautiously.

Jack and Sue made it back to their cabin after what seemed like an eternity. First thing he did, after shutting and locking the door was grab his cell. He had a signal, but this far into the ship and this far out in the ocean it was weak. He had to try. He hit the speed dial for Bobby. But then there was a knock on the door and a foreign voice said, "Mr. Leland?"

Jack clicked his phone shut just as he heard Bobby's voice answer. He motioned for Sue to go into the bathroom and shut the door. She complied fearing for Jack's safety. Jack quietly went to the door of the room and looked through the peephole. There on the other side of the door, he saw Ahmed, their waiter from last night. As he watched, the waiter knocked on the door again, "Mr. Leland, I have a message for you." For some reason, that statement brought a smile to Ahmed's face, a smile that did not make Jack feel anymore at ease.

Jack silently backed away from the door. He caught a glimpse of his badge still sitting on the dresser. How he wished at that moment he had brought his gun as well, but he didn't want to hassle with security and all the red tape. So he had left it at home. He grabbed his badge and started to put it in his pocket, but thought better of it and stuck it between the mattresses of the bed.

The knocking was alittle more persistent the third time and Jack realized they weren't going to leave. He wasn't about to answer either. He reached blindly for the first thing he could grab and crouched in a corner behind and parallel to the door. That's when he realized the thing he grabbed wasn't a pillow, but instead was that stupid bear. Well, he would just have to make do and think fast, because now it sounded like the door was being broken down.

It only took a few seconds before the door popped open, and there was Ahmed, gun drawn, ready to fire at anyone he found. Jack waited until he had his back to him, then threw the bear across the room, knocking over a lamp. The waiter quickly turned and shot in that direction. The poor bear didn't have a chance. Stuffing went everywhere. But before Ahmed could recover, Jack sprung out of his hiding place and tackled him to the floor.

A struggle ensued. Jack tried desperately to get the gun before being shot while the intruder tried desperately to keep the weapon and kill Jack. They rolled all over the floor crashing into furniture and knocking bric-a-brac off shelves. Finally, Jack successfully wrestled the gun away from his opponent and pointed it down at his bloody face, when he heard the distinct sounds of three other guns cocking right behind his head.

Jack froze. In all the chaos, he hadn't noticed the three other men that had come to assist Ahmed.

He put his hands in the air with the gun dangling from his index finger. He was immediately relieved of it and thrown roughly on the bed. His hands were tied behind his back with a piec of cord. "Stupid American," he heard one of his attackers say.

He heard the click of a safety being released right next to his ear and felt the cold steel of the barrel against his temple. He waited for the shot.

"Hey! Look what I found," a voice came from behind him in the directions of the bathroom. He heard Sue being dragged from the room and thrown on the bed next to him. Something inside of him snapped.

"Leave her alone!" he screamed as he kicked his capto in the kneecap and struggled to right himself. He had to get to Sue.

"Jack! Stop!" He heard Sue plead. "I'm okay. Just do what they ask or they'll kill you."

Ahmed got within inches of Jack's face and said, "You should listen to your wife, Mr. Leland. Unless you want to make her a widow on you honeymoon."

"Fine," Jack seethed as Ahmed and one of his cohorts sat him upright on the bed. "But you lay one finger on her, and you're dead."

"We don't want her," Ahmed stated with disgust. "We want you. We know who you are and who you work for."

"What are you talking about?" Jack asked, feigning innocence.

"You are Myles Leland, the third, special agent with the FBI," Ahmed said.

Jack repositioned himself so Sue could see his profile as he tried to reason with them. "Look. Obviously there's been some sort of mistake. I am not Myles Leland. I am Mr. Leland's neighbor. My name is Jack Huffield and I am a corporate lawyer. Her name is Sue Webber and she is my assistant. Mr. Leland couldn't use this cruise, so I bought it off of him so Sue and I could get out of the office for awhile. You know, get away from prying eyes and all?"

"Oh really? And why should I believe you? How do I know you're really not Leland?"

"Look. He works for the FBI. Do I look like I work for the FBI? I don't have a badge or a gun with me. I'm just a lawyer from the firm of Callaghan and Merced in DC. Call them if you don't believe me," he bluffed.

He could tell his tactics were working because Ahmed obviously had doubts. He spoke to his cohorts in their native tongue, then turned back to Jack.

"We have decided to take you to the Captain for his decision."

"The Captain? You mean Hamilton is one of you, too?"

"No. Captain Hamilton is dead. I mean OUR Captain, Muhammad Assaad. He's in charge now."

At the mention of the name, Jack's blood went cold. As they were led out of the room, first Jack then Sue, he fingerspelled to her about their captors. "Muhammad Assaad. Captain of Al-Quaida elite forces." He just hoped she could make it out since his hands were still tied and he had to make most of the signs upside down.



When they arrived on the bridge, they discovered their captors were not bluffing about Captain Hamilton. His body was being dragged out of the room as they were brought in. Jack heard Sue gasp behind him. He knew she would be mourning for him and he longed to comfort her.

They recognized Assaad immediately. He was the braggert in front of the camera. Apparently, they brought video equipment with them to record their take-over and broadcast their message around the world. He was speaking in English at the moment.

"...And I say, again, pull all American troops out of the middle east and I will let this ship of American tourists go. Otherwise, we will alldie here in the Caribbean Ocean."



Bullpen:

Myles had just completed yet another lengthy report. He was getting quite a lot accomplished with Jack and Sue gone. There wasn't the constant flow of interruptions normally present.

His cell phone ringing startled him for a moment. When he pulled it out and looked at the screen, he groaned. "Oh mother, now what?" he mumbled to himself.

He pasted on a smile and tried to sound civil as he answered, "This is Myles."

"Myles! I am so glad you decided not to go on that cruise."

"Why, Mother? Do you need somewhere to hold another one of your functions or something?"

"No! The terrorists!" she responded.

"What are you talking about? What terrorists?"

The mention of the word caught the rest of the team's attention.

"The terrorists on the ship of course! Don't you have a television?" she was getting hysterical.

He motioned to Tara to turn on the television as he asked, "What station, Mother?"

"All of them," she replied.

And sure enough, as soon as the television clicked on, there was Muhammad Assaad's face staring back at them from a ship.

"Mother, I have to go. I'll call you later," and Myles clicked his phone shut.

The team stood at their desks in disbelief and watched as Assaad spoke. A few moments later Garrett walked hurriedly in and said, "Oh good, you already know." He was immediately shushed by Bobby, Lucy and Tara in unison.

Assaad was going on and on threatening his hostages lives while the camera panned around the room, proving that he was actually on a ship and not in a studio somewhere. As the camera came across Jack and Sue, it focused in on them. Tara and Lucy gasped. Myles looked down at the floor and shuffled his feet.

Eventually, the broadcast ended and the bullpen was immediately filled with a flurry of activity.

D said, "I want every signal that comes off that ship monitored. I don't care if it's a microwave oven. If it's got a signal, I want to know about it."

Tara, already typing madly on her computer, raised her hand and said, "Already on it."

Lucy was grabbing files and shuffling through papers while Bobby and Myles put their heads together for an impromptu brain-storming session.

The only one not doing something was Garrett. he stood there with his arms folded across his chest and watched the team in action. After a few moments, he nodded his head in approval and walked back to his office. He thought to himself, "This is the best team we have. They'll bring them home."

When Assaad was done with his broadcast, he threw his microphone at the cameraman and demanded from Ahmed, "What are you doing up here?"

Ahmed looked nervous. "Well, you know that FBI agent?"

Assaad nodded impatiently.

Ahmed continued, "This isn't him."

"WHAT? So who is this? And you'd better quit wasting my time or you're going to be the next one going overboard."

"He says he's a lawyer and the agent is his neighbor. He says he bought the tickets off of him."

"Oh really? And you believe him?" Assaad asked sarcastically.

"Well, that's why we brought him to you."

"And who's the woman?" Assaad interogated.

"He claims she is his assistant," Ahmed answered.

Jack shuffled his feet and looked at the Captain. "Look, my name is Jack Huffield. I'm a corporate lawyer for Callaghan and Merced in DC. I don't know anything about the FBI. I don't have a badge or a gun. I hate guns. My battleground is the courtroom and my enemy is greedy corporate executives." He silently prayed that his bluff was working.

Assaad walked across the room and looked at Jack square in the face. "A lawyer, huh?"

"Yes," Jack replied blankly. "And these cords are really cutting the circulation off in my hands. I don't suppose you could take them off, could you?"

Assaad looked at him suspiciously, so Jack added, "What am I going to do? You have four guys with guns and I'm unarmed. It's not like you couldn't just shoot me if I tried something."

Assaad took a step back and nodded at Ahmed. He untied Jack's hands while the other three captors in the room trained their guns on Jack. Once the cords were removed, Jack moved his wrists around. He glanced over at Sue and winked at her to let her know he was okay. She smiled slightly at him and that warmed him immensely. It also gave him a slight dose of much-needed courage.

Jack reached for her hand. He looked at Assaad and said, "And Sue is not just my assistant. She is the love of my life. Without her I would be nothing. And as soon as I catch my big break at work, I fully intend to make her my wife. He glanced over at Sue and smiled warmly at her. "I love you," he said to her.

"I love you, too," she answered, her eyes brimming with tears.

It seemed such a natural thing to say. He wondered why it was so easy to tell an international terrorist about his feelings for Sue, but impossible to tell her. But he also wondered if her response was genuine, or if she was just playing the part.

But Assaad quickly broke in. "You still haven't proven to me you are who you say you are. How do I know you're not FBI?"

Jack swallowed. He didn't have any id with him that showed his name as Huffield. He didn't know what to do.



Bullpen:

After a few moments of brainstorming, Bobby and Myles came to D. "Hey, Mate," Bobby started. "Think we should try Jack's cell?"

D thought for a moment. "You think they would've let him keep it?"

Myles said, "If Al-Quaida answers, we can just say it's a wrong number and hang up."

"But if Sparky answers, we'll have it on speaker so we could all decipher any message he might try to give us," Bobby added.

"I guess it's worth a try," D agreed. "Tara, Lucy, you want in on this, too?"

As the team gathered around D's desk, he dialed Jack's number.



Back on the ship:

Jack was standing face-to-face with death. He didn't even know what to do. Suddenly, his phone twittered, startling all of them. Jack looked at Assaad. "Can I answer it?" Assaad looked distastefully at him, but didn't answer. Jack carefully pulled his phone out of his pocket and looked at the screen. "Look, it's my boss. I've got a million dollar deal I'm working on back home. This could be the break I've been waiting for." He looked hopefully at him.

Assaad nodded. Ahmed said, "One wrong word and you're dead."

He nodded and answered his phone. "This is Jack Huffied."

"Jack! It's D. You're on speaker."

"Mr. Callaghan! Nice to hear from you, too!"

He heard D mumble to Tara in the background, "Get that dummy website up and running, now."

Bobby asked, "What can you tell us, Mate?"

"No sir. I can't. I don't have my laptop or any files with me right now."

"You mean you're unarmed?" Myles asked.

"Yes, sir," Jack answered.

"How many of them are there?" Bobby asked.

"And where exactly are you?" D added.

"Sir, I'm out in the middle of the Caribbean Ocean on a ship right now. There is no way I can get that information to you."

"Unknown number of suspects," Bobby interpreted.

"Yes, sir," Jack paused. "Okay. I will try to procure a laptop from around here somewhere and get that information to you as soon as possible."

D said, "Jack, be very careful if you're saying what I think you're saying.

Bobby added, "Yeah, Sparky. Don't get yourself killed."

"No, sir. I'm doing all I can," Jack stated blandly. He paused again. "Oh, by the way, I must apologize for my assistant. It seems Miss Webber has accidentally grabbed the video game you bought for your nephew's birthday and brought it with her."

That stumped the team. They had no clue what he was talking about on that one. Bobby spoke for all of them when he said, "Huh?"

Jack suddenly felt anxious. He had no idea how to say it without retracting his statement. "You know, sir. The Game Boy for your nephew's birthday party tomorrow."

Suddenly Lucy got it. "Sue still has her blackberry!"

"Right," Jack confirmed.

"Excellent," said D. "Make sure she keeps it at all costs, too. That may be our only means on contact soon."

"Yes, sir," agreed Jack. One of the gunmen was getting impatient with the endless chatter and raised his gun at Jack. "Um, Sir, I really need to get going. Give Elizabeth my love."

"Ha! Ha! Very funny," Myles retorted, while the rest of the team laughed. It was a good sign that Jack could still joke around while in such a precarious situation.

"Yeah. Okay. Hope to see you later next week!" and he hung up.

D looked around the Bullpen, "Well folks, we know more now than five minutes ago. Let's get to work. Tara, you got that website up and running yet?"

"Almost," she responded, her eyes not leaving her monitor.

"Hurry! Get their pictures on there, too," D said.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know. I know," she brushed him off.



Jack hung up his phone, which was immediately confiscated by one of the guards. He looked at Assaad. "You got a computer I can borrow?"

"I don't think so. You are going to send a message to you FBI neighbor," he accused.

"Fine. So I'll lose this case and never be able to marry Sue." He acted agitated and started pacing around the room, testing his limits.

"Get back over here," Ahmed grabbed Jack and threw him in a chair. "And don't even think about trying anything either."

"Hey! Easy!" he protested. Sue was led to the chair next to him and sat down.

Assaad seated himself on the other side of the Captain's desk and looked icily at them. "Mr. Huffied, is it?" he asked.

"Yes, Jack Huffield," Jack confirmed.

"You still haven't proven to me your identity, Mr. Huffield, and I am losing my patience. Let me ask you one last time. How do I know that you are not hte FBI agent I was looking for."

"Well, as I said, the firm I work for, Callaghan and Merced, is very well known in DC. We have a website online if you want to check it out. It's complete with photos and everything."

"Hmmm, a website, huh? Interesting." Assaad thought for a moment, then turned to one of the gunmen. "Gessouran, get me online."

The one called Gessouran put his gun down and ran to the desk. He started typing madly on the computer. He reminded Jack a lot of Tara, the way he sat inches from the screen typing madly, like his whole life depended on it. Well, today Sue and his life depended on Tara and he was glad she was on his team. "Come on, Tara," he breathed.

Once online, Gessouran did a search for Callaghan & Merced and found the website. Jack talked them through the pages until they got to the Phone Directory section. It asked for the last name of the employee. Jack held his breath.



Bullpen:

Tara hit the last key and threw her hands up in the air. "Done!" she proclaimed.

"Hey! Hey!" Bobby cheered.

"Great job, Tara," Myles complimented.

"Let's just hope it was soon enough," D said soberly.



Ship's Bridge:

Assaad pushed Gessouran to the side and clicked on the box for the employee name. He typed in "Huffield" and hit "Search." A few seconds later, Jack's photo id popped up on the screen with his statistics, including a win/loss record and his cell phone number.

"Impressive," he commented as reviewed the record. Finally satisfied with Jack's story, he typed in "Weber." But this time, he got an error message. "Employee not found."

"Hmmm. That's odd. We found you, but not her. Are you sure she's your assistant, Mr. Huffield?"

"Um, yes. She's been my assistant for two years now."

"Perhaps SHE works for the FBI?" Assaad proposed.

"No. She works for me. She is my assistant," Jack insisted.

Sue stepped up and looked at the screen. Excuse me, but my name is misspelled. There are two B's. You only typed in one."

Assaad looked at the screen. He simply said, "Oh," and corrected his error. Sue's photo id and statistics then popped up on the screen.

"There. Now do you believe me?" Jack asked, relieved.

"For now," Assaad answered coldly. Then looking at the guards behind them, he said, "Put them with the other prisoners. We don't need to kill them, yet."

Jack and Sue were led to one of the larger dining areas on the ship. Inside, they discovered what was left of the other tourists on board. At each exit door, one guard was posted on the outside and one on the inside plus more were stationed inside the room. All were heavily armed.

When they were left alone, Jack looked over at Sue and said, "Let's try to mingle and find out who knows what." She nodded, and they both went separate ways.



Bullpen:

A few hours after the last broadcast, Tara announced a startling discovery. "Apprarently, this has been in the works for a while now. The terrorist cell has been planting some of their members on the cruise line since Thanksgiving, getting them hired on as employees - waiters, cooks, cabin boys, etc."

"Those sneaky blokes," Bobby grumbled.

D said, "That way it wouldn't look so suspicious having a bunch of them make a reservation at the same time."

"Exactly," confirmed Tara.

Then Lucy stood up from her desk and said, "There's more."

"What is it?" D asked.

"I've checked the cruiseline's reservation records. It appears this highjacking wasn't even supposed to take place for two more weeks."

"Why do you say that?" Myles asked.

"Because there were reservations made for a suite of rooms under the name Muhammad Abdul - a.k.a. Muhammad Assaad - for the next cruise, in two weeks."

"I wonder why they moved it up," Bobby stated.

Lucy glanced warily in Myles' direction. "Well, due to a last minute cancellation of a suite of rooms, they were able to take this one."

Myles, who was leaning against the filing cabinet by his desk, slowly straightened as he realized what Lucy was saying. His mother had cancelled the suite for Jack and Sue, which allowed the terrorists a chance to come on board and put his friends' lives in danger. He pounded the top of the filing cabinet with his fist, startling everyone in the room. Then, after thinking for a moment, he quickly went to his desk, grabbed his jacket and started walking towards the door.

Bobby asked, "Where are you going, Mate?"

Nonchalantly, he turned to the group and said, "I'm going to shoot my mother." Then he disappeared out the door.

Bobby and D just snickered a little bit and watched the doorway for him to come back. After a few seconds, Bobby looked at D and said, "You don't suppose he was serious, do you?"

D got a concerned look on his hace and said, "I don't know. Do you?"

They looked at each other for a second longer, then both men jumped up and ran out the door shouting, "Myles!"

Tara and Lucy could hear an argument ensuing in the hallway as the men tried to reason with Myles. Finally, they reappeared in the doorway, D and Bobby on either side of Myles practically carrying him by his arms. They tossed him in a chair.

"Just let me do this, D. Come on!" Myles begged.

"Nope. Sorry man. Can't do it," D answered.

Bobby spoke up, "'Cuz if you do, there will be an investigation."

D said, "And I don't hink they'd call this 'Just Cause' which means a trial by a jury of your peers."

Bobby continued, "And I don't think they could find twelve other stuck-up FBI agents who would see your side of the story."

Myles looked resigned. "Fine. But you better hope I don't regret this decision."



Back on the ship:

Jack and Sue finally met back up with each other and compared notes. Apparently, this had been well-thought out in advance. Their best guess brought the count to 20-25 highjackers involved - a small number of people for such a large ship, but not unlikely if they had members planted on the inside and all were highly trained. And they discovered that Ahmed wasn't the only employee involved, either. There were at least four cabin boys, two cooks, two other waiters, and one person from the engine room. There was no telling how many employees were actually involved.

Between eye-witness accounts and other reports, they were able to conclude that all the ship's officers were dead. They then knew they were on their own.

Jack also reported that he was able to get some information on the weapons. He said each guard was armed with an automatic weapon and a hand gun. Also, some of the passengers claimed to see knives on their captors. Jack was going to need to be very careful if he was going to over-power any of them.

Just then, the door burst open and in walked Assaad, his cameraman catching his every move. Jack looked at Sue. "We need to get you in front of that camera."

"What?" asked Sue.

"I mean get you in the background behind Assaad. That way you can sign a message back to our friends. Just one sign at a time so they don't catch on, but try to get as much information to them as possible."

Sue nodded. "I understand," she said and squeezed his hands. She slowly and subtly moved through the other tourists until she thought she was in view of the camera. She turned and pretended to speak to one of the other passengers....



Bullpen:

The team was watching the next broadcast from the ship. Assaad had gone to the dining area to prove his prisoners were alive and viable bargaining chips.

All of a sudden, Lucy shrieked from the back of the room, "Look! There's Sue!"

A definite sigh of relief was heard throughout the room. Bobby voiced the question everyone else was thinking. "But where's Jack?"

After a few seconds, Lucy looked at Tara. "Did you see that?"

"Yeah, I think so," Tara answered.

"See what?" Bobby asked. "I didn't see anything."

"That sign Sue just made," Tara explained.

"Sign?" D was intrigued.

"Yeah," Lucy repeated the sign she just witnessed. "It means 'officers.'"

"Look!" Tara interrupted. "That one means 'dead.'"

"'Officers dead.' I hope she is only referring to the ship's officers," Bobby said softly.

"She just made the letter 'J' for Jack, maybe?" D offered.

"Yes! She just signed 'ok,'" Bobby almost shouted. The rest of the team looked at him, surprised. "What? I've picked up a sign or two over the last couple of years."

They each smiled as they returned their attention to the television. "Okay, that was 'twenty,'" Lucy said.

"And there's 'men,'" added Tara.

Just then, the camera moved and Sue was out of the picture. "Oh no! Lucy said anxiously. "Go back, go back!"

And, as if the cameraman heard her plea, the camera returned to its original position. "Oh, thank God," she said.

"Okay, there's 'gun,'" Myles said.

"Duh," Lucy replied, rolling her eyes.

"And 'knife,'" added Tara, ignoring them.

They had been concentrating so hard on Sue, they hadn't even realized Assaad's speech was nearing completion. So when the broadcast ended abruptly, they all jumped in surprise. "No!" shouted Lucy.

D turned towards the rest of the team. "It's okay. We know the officers of the ship are dead, so we can't get help from them."

"We also know there are at least twenty men involved and they have guns and knives," Bobby added. "How many of each, we don't know."

Lucy continued, "Also, Jack and Sue are still alive and are now with the rest of the prisoners."

"And that's probably the best place for them," D stated simply.

Myles crossed his arms across his chest and leaned back as he smugly said, "That's not all we know."

"Oh, really?" Bobby asked. "What else is there, Mate?"

"Well, koala boy," Myles replied, "We know this Assaad character is a blowhard who loves to hear himself talk."

"Uh-huh," Bobby agreed.

But D straightened up and said, "I think I see where you're going with this."

Myles just continued to smile. "What does someone like Assaad like to talk about the most?"

Tara answered, "Himself!"

"And," Myles continued, "What professional, other than a psychiatrist, would allow him to do this to his heart's content?"

"A journalist," D responded.

"And do we know of anyone in that line of work?" Myles asked.

Bobby finally spoke up. "I know what you're asking, but she's not speaking to me right now. I can't even get her to answer her phone."

D walked over to Bobby. "Then perhaps we'll go pay her a visit."

Myles added as he put on his jacket, "It's for the good of her country."

Bobby shrugged. "Okay, we can try. But I can guarantee you, she's not going to be happy to see me."

As they were leaving, D looked across the room. "Tara, get started on setting up that interview with Assaad. Let's go, boys."

Back on the Ship:

After Assaad and his cameraman left, Jack made his way over to Sue. "Good job," he told her. "I don't think Assaad knew anything was going on."

Sue smiled back. "I just hope our friends saw it."

"Oh, I'm sure they did," he assured her.

Just then, more guards entered the room. As one of them flashed the lights, he announced, "Time to sleep."

All the passengers found places to lie down throughout the room. Jack and Sue found a little space in one of the corners and made themselves a makeshift bed with a tablecloth. Jack sat down on the floor against the wall and Sue laid down next to him facing his direction. "Aren't you going to get some sleep?" she asked.

"I will eventually," he said. When she looked at him reproachfully, he added, "I promise. I just want to see if I can get more information on these guys."

"Well, be careful," she said. "And Jack?"

"Yeah?"

"Please don't leave me."

He smiled and brushed a strand of hair from her face before he answered her. "I wouldn't dream of it." He thought for a moment, then said, "Come here," as he held out his arms.

She sat up and snuggled herself into his chest and he wrapped his arms around her. He sat there holding her, just watching her as she drifted off to sleep. Nothing else in the room mattered at that moment, just the woman in his arms.

When her breathing became regular and he felt her whole body relax into him, he knew she was asleep. He looked at her angelic face and felt his stomach fill with butterflies again. He gently leaned over and kissed her on the forehead, then softly whispered, "I love you, Sue Thomas."

He leaned back against the wall, lost in thought. He really loved Sue, he knew that for a fact. But why couldn't he tell her that when she was awake? He couldn't blame the last two years on Bobby's misfortune, just the last two days. Maybe it was because he didn't feel worthy of her. She was so perfect, so sweet and loving and forgiving and kind. So beautiful. So smart. What did he do to deserve someone like her? Absolutely nothing. He brought her on his team and showed her the ropes, just like any of the other team leaders would've done if they had recognized her abilities before him.

Yeah, if someone else had discovered her first, they would've probably never met. She would probably be safe and sound in her own bed instead of being a hostage on a cruise liner.

He shook his head. "You can't know that," he scolded himself. While it's possible she could be at home right now if she were on another team, it's just as possible that she'd be dead right now. One thing he had learned from Sue was that God had a way of working things out. There was a reason she was here with him - on his team and on this ship.

He looked around at the other passengers whose very lives depended on them, whether they knew it or not. There was the older couple recently retired enjoying their first vacation together in twenty years. And over there was the group of people here for their family reunion. The parents desperately trying to remain calm for the children's sake. And then there were the honeymooners anxiously waiting to start their new lives together. Maybe someday that would be him and Sue, but right now he had a job to do - Get these people home. Now he was more determined than ever to do just that.

He didn't remember exactly when, but he eventually drifted off to sleep.



Washington, DC:

Outside Darcy D'Angelo's house:

Myles and D each took turns knocking on Darcy's door while Bobby stood behind them on the walk. They could tell she was home because her car was in the driveway and they could hear music inside.

Bobby said, "See I told you she wasn't going to answer. She's rather stubborn when she wants to be."

They stood and waited on her doorstep until they heard the end of the song. Then Myles and D both pounded on the door simultaneously before the next song could start. They were rewarded for their efforts within a few seconds by the clicks of the door lock and the creak of the door.

"Oh, D! Myles! How nice to see you," she said, obviously ignoring Bobby.

"Miss D'Angelo," Myles greeted her.

"Darcy, we have something to ask you," D got straight to the point.

"Oh really?" she asked suspiciously looking at the dejected Bobby. "And what would that be?"

Myles used his most mysterious voice as he said, "What would you say to an exclusive interview with Captain Muhammad Assaad?"

She smiled and replied, "I'd say, come in and let's discuss some details." She opened her door for them to pass.

Bobby walked up hesitantly, expecting the doorto be slammed in his face, but she was being mostly civil to him in front of his friends. He gave her a slim smile and said, "Thanks, Love," in a rough voice as he passed by.

Darcy listened as Myles and D explained what they had planned. Bobby sat silently in a corner chair alternating his gaze between his hands and the floor.

"Now let me get this straight," Darcy said. "You want me to go with Agents Leland and Manning to the Caribbean Ocean to interview this crazed highjacker on a cruise liner."

"Yes," confirmed D. "Is there a problem?"

"Well, I know how you guys operate. It just sounds a little fishy to me that you guys would want ME to go with Bobby to the Caribbean."

Bobby finally spoke up. "Listen Darcy, I didn't ask for this. I was assigned. And they chose you because you're the best journalist they know. And they also know that you can handle yourself in pressure situations. It's perfectly fine with me to go with someone else. Personally, I know how to keep my professional and private lives separate. I will do what it takes to get the job done in order to bring Sue and Sparky home safely...."

"Wait, Jack and Sue?" she interrupted. "What do they have to do with any of this?"

Myles answered, "They're on the ship. Did you not catch either broadcast from Assaad?"

"Well, yes and no," she admitted. "I was working. I was listening to it while it was on, but I didn't watch either of them."

D said, "Jack and Sue appeared in both broadcasts. If you decide to go, we'll get you a copy of them, along with any other relevent information we've collected on the situation."

Darcy thought for a moment, then decided, "Okay. I'll do it. But only for Jack and Sue. I really like her. She's real sweet and good for Jack."

"We think so, too," Bobby agreed.

"Okay. So when do I leave?" Darcy asked.

D answered, "How soon can you get packed?"



On the ship:

Jack awoke to the familiar buzzing sound of Sue's blackberry from inside her purse. It took him a moment to remember where they were and why Sue was in his arms. But hten after the fog cleared from his brain, he silently woke Sue up. She opened her eyes, and he shushed her with a finger over her lips. Then he pointed to her purse as he mouthed, "Your blackberry is buzzing."

She nodded and carefully glanced around. She then opened her purse and silenced the device before pulling it out to read it. She held it to where Jack could see it as well. The message read, "D.D. will be there for interview 2/16 PM w/ M&B. More later. CUSoon. Love T."

Jack could feel Sue's body relax into his. Help was finally on the way.

February 16

The morning brought a breakfast of dry toast and a glass of water. Jack was feeling a little discouraged because he still hadn't thought of a way to get a weapon. But he knew help was on the way. He just hoped they could figure out a way to bring him one.

About mid-morning, one of the other passengers came over to them and introduced himself as Bill. He sat down to talk quietly with them. "Me and a couple of the other guys on the ship were talking about attempting a take-over ourselves. We were wondering if a young guy like yourself would be interested in helping out.."

Jack's adrenaline started pumping. "Don't you think we should wait and let the experts handle this? I'm sure they're working on it right now."

Bill said, "That's what they want you to think, but the government don't make deals with terrorists, remember?"

Yeah, but..."

"Yeah, whatever. They don't care about us. We're just a bunch of ordinary people - expendable you might even say."

"Now I wouldn't go that far," Jack argued.

"Listen. You want to be remembered as going down fighting like the guys on the plane in Pennsylvania? Or do you want to be remembered as just going down?"

"I want to be remembered as the one who came home alive, thank you very much!" Jack replied hotly.

Bill snorted. "Good luck with that one. No one's coming to help us. So if we don't help ourselves, then we're pretty much dead anyway."

Jack looked over at Sue for help. She gave him a slim smile and shrugged. How do they prevent a coup from happening before help arrives? How do they convince this guy to let them handle it without revealing their identities?

Jack finally said, "Look, we may out-number them, but they out-gun us. So unless you have a secret aresenal somewhere you're not telling us about, you can count me out."

Bill finally stood us. "Fine. If that's the way you feel then I'll just leave. But if you change your mind when the time comes, I know a lot of guys who would really appreciate the help."

Sue spoke up, "Sir? You said 'when the time comes.' Does that mean you already have a time in mind?"

Bill paused and looked her over. "Yeah. Why do you care?"

"I'd just like to know when to expect the shooting to start," Sue answered him honestly.

"Two o'clock," Bill informed her.

Jack quickly answered, "Wait a minute. Two o'clock? Make it six and I'm in."

"What?" Bill asked suspiciously. "Why the sudden change of heart?"

"Because I work better in the evenings. Why do you care? Do you want my help or not?"

"I don't know."

"Come on. What's a few more hours? It'll give you time to get some more man-power and fill in the ranks, and help you complete a plan to strike. What do you say?"

"Let me talk it over with the other guys and I'll get back to you," Bill said walking off.

Sue grabbed Jack's arm. "Jack! Are you crazy?"

He looked at her calmly and said, "Remember D's last message? Darcy's supposed to be here at 4:00 with Bobby and Myles. Hopefully, we'll be able to get things wrapped up before this guy even realizes what's going on."

Sue still looked unconvinced. "I sure hope you know what you're doing."

As an answer, he simply flashed her his boyish grin.

After about ten minutes, Bill came back over and said that six o'clock was agreeable to the rest of the men, but they wanted to have a planning meeting around two. Jack asked, "Wouldn't a bunch of men gathering together attract the attention of the guards?"

Bill thought for a minute. "Yeah, I guess it would."

"Maybe you and a couple of the other guys could come up with a plan, then let the rest of us know," Jack suggested.

"Yeah, okay. We'll get back to you on that." And Bill wandered off again.

"Geez," Jack said after he was out of ear-shot. "That guy is going to get us all killed! I'd be really worried if I didn't know the cavalry was on it's way."

Sue just smiled and placed her hand on his. "No you wouldn't. You'd be right in the thick of it planning out every detail."

He covered her hand with his other hand and smiled. "Yeah, you're right. I would."

Two o'clock came and went without incident. About 2:15, Bill and a man he introduced as Ted came over to Jack. They told him about the plan they had come up with.

"Are you crazy?" Jack had to consciously control himself to keep from shouting. "They are never going to fall for that."

Ted said defensively, "I've seen it work in the movies."

Jack looked exasperated. "Think about it. In the first place, they've only allowed one of us to the bathrooms at a time. Second, they have at least two guns and a knife each, maybe more. And third, how do you plan on over-powering them in the bathroom when you can't even walk across the room without stopping for breath."

"Fine," Bill said obviously offended. "Can you think of a better plan?"

"Yes, I can," stated Jack honestly. "Wait for help to arrive and leave it to the professionals."

"Bah!" said Ted. "They ain't comin' and you know it."

Jack started to say something, but Sue's voice stopped him. "Jack," he heard her say. "Sweetie, can you come here for a second?"

He dismissed himself temporarily from Bill and Ted to see what Sue needed. "Why don't you just make one or two small changes to their plan to make it more plausible and let them go their way. Otherwise, you're going to be stuck planning the entire thing and you won't be able to help Bobby and Myles."

He sighed and looked in her eyes. God, those eyes....

"You're right. As usual, you're right." He turned back to Bill and Ted and apologized. "Gentlemen, I'm sorry. I lost my head. Your plan might have some potential after all, with a few minor changes."

After about ten minutes, Bill and Ted wandered off smiling to inform the rest of the schemers of the revised plan. Jack just watched them walk off shaking his head. He mumbled to himself, "God help us all."

He turned to Sue and quietly asked, "Anything new?"

She just shook her head. "Last I heard, they're still going to be here within the hour."

Jack simply nodded. "Good."



A little before 4:00, Jack heard the familiar sound of a helicoptor int he distance. Sue could tell by the flood of relief on his face they were finally here. The other passengers tried vainly to see what was going on, but the guards wouldn't let them near the doors or windows. Rumors started flying around the room. Some thought it was more terrorists while others speculated it was the President coming to barter for their release. Only Jack and Sue knew the truth.



Outside on the upper deck, the helicoptor landed in a cornered off section. As the motor slowed down, the doors opened and out stepped Darcy. She was accompanied by Bobby posing as her photographer, Myles as her security escort, and Tara as her editor.

The mini-team stood on the deck for a moment taking in their surroundings. Not a tourist in site. "Well," Myles sighed, "Let's get to work."

They were led tot he bridge of the ship where they endured yet another search. All of Bobby's photography equipment was handled and tossed around as he stood back protesting. Tara's briefcase was rifled through. Even Darcy's miniature tape recorder was investigated. But the only gun they found was the one Myles had strapped to his ankle. He insisted that if he was going to be protecting Ms. D'Angelo, he needed something. But they refused to let him keep it., so he grudgingly gave it up with a lot of theatrics.

Darcy and Tara settled into the chairs waiting for Assaad to enter while Myles posted himself against the wall and Bobby took a few pictures around the room. Finally, Assaad arrived in a grand flourish of activity escorted by four guards. He seated himself behind the Captain's desk and just stared at Darcy.

Bobby was impressed by the way she handled herslf. She didn't even blink at Assaad's pompousness. Instead, she immediately got started ont he interview. Bobby snapped a few more rolls of pictures, then nodded at Tara.

Tara interrupted Darcy and Assaad's conversation. "Excuse me. I was wondering if we could take some pictures of the prisoners. You know, catch the realism of the situation and all that."

Assaad thought for a moment, then said, "I don't see any harm in that. Sure." He started motioning two of the guards over to escort Tara and Bobby to the dining area.

"Hold on. Let me get some of my gear packed back up first," Bobby said as he grapped one of his equipment bags. He looked over at Myles and said, "Think you could give me a hand here, Mate?"

Myles came over and crouched on the floor next to Bobby picking up pieces of equipment and placing it next to the bag. Meanwhile, Bobby opened the false bottom of the bag and pulled out a gun. He slipped it over to Myles and whispered, "Keep an eye on her for me."

"Like she were my sister," Myles promised, meaning every word in a heartfelt way as never before. He hid the gun inside his jacket.

Then Bobby said in a louder voice, "Hey! If you can't handle my stuff nicely, the get your big mitts off!"

"Fine!" Myles responded as he tossed a piece of equipment at Bobby. "If I remember correctly, you asked ME for help. If that's the way you're going to be, do it yourself." He stormed back to his post on the wall, sulking. "Gee, give a guy a hand and this is the thanks I get?"

Bobby finished putting everything back int he bag and stood up. "Ready?" he asked Tara.

"Sure. Waiting on you," she replied.

It was already after 5:00 and Jack was getting restless. The doomed take-over attempt was about to start, and there still was no sign of Bobby or Myles.

From their corner of the dining room, Jack and Sue noticed the door finally open and two guards enter escorting a man and a woman. They saw Bobby put his bag down and start taking pictures while the woman continued further into the room, looking around.

"That's not Darcy," Sue said. Then getting a closer look, she said, "It's Tara! She didn't say she was coming."

"So, then where's Myles and Darcy?" Jack wondered out loud. They stood up and slowly made their way over towards her.

Tara stopped at a table about midway into the room and pulled a notepad out of her briefcase. She interviewed some of the other passengers, making notes adn reassuring them that everything would be all right. She eventually made it over to Jack and Sue.

When they were sure no one else was around, Sue said, "What are you doing here? I thought you said Myles and Bobby were coming."

"Uh-huh. I did," Tara confirmed.

"So? Where's Myles?" Jack fished for an answer.

"Oh. He's up on the bridge with Darcy," she answered.

"But you didn't say you were coming, as well," Sue reminded her.

"Yeah I did," Tara countered. "I said 'C U soon.' Remember?"

"Yes," Sue replied. "But we thought you meant back home. We didn't realize you meant here."

"Yep. Here I am!" Tara said gleefully. Then she looked like she just remembered something. "Oh, Jack, I almost forgot...." She picked up the briefcase and opened it. "I have something here for you." He stood and went to the table next to her as she popped open the false bottom of the briefcase, exposing two hand guns and clips.

Jack just smiled at her and said, "Tara, I love you."

She flushed and glanced over at Sue. "Jack. What about Sue?" He just laughed her off as he selected one of the guns and carefully put it under his shirt.

As she was closing the briefcase she said, "Well, I'd bette be off! See you in a little bit."

"Oh wait," Jack called after her. "I need to tell you something."

"What?"

"There's a man over there standing just across the dance floor in white shorts and a Hawaiian shirt. His name is Bill. He's in charge of planning a coup-attempt that's scheduled to start at 6:00. You think you could convince him to change his plans?"

Tara looked across the floor and located the man Jack referred to. "Him?" she asked, alarmed. "He doesn't look like he could even plan a birthday party."

"Right," Jack agreed. "Now do you understand why I'm concerned?"

"Gotch chief," Tara said lightly. She picked up her briefcase and walked over to where Bobby was snapping pictures of some kids. They couldn't have been older than 10, and they looked like they hadn't slept in days.

"Bobby, can I talk to you for a second?" Tara inquired.

"Sure thing, Love. What's up?" Bobby asked, as he walked over to her. She quickly filled him in on the plan that Jack had told her about. Looking at his watch, he said, "We still have ten minutes. Plenty of time." He winked at her and wandered over to where Bill was standing.

"Excuse me, Sir. Mind if I take your picture for the paper?"

"Me?" Bill looked flattered. "Oh, um, sure. Okay. What do you want me to do?"

Oh, I don't know. You could just stand there. Yeah, that's perfect," and he snapped the picture. Then he pulled a notebook out of his pocket and walked up to him to where he couldn't be overheard.

"The name's Bill, right?" Bobby asked.

"Uh, yeah. How did you know...."

"Just do me a favor, Mate. Do as my buddy Jack suggested and cancel you plans for this evening. Let us professionals handle it."

Bill was speechless. All he could do was stand there, mouth agape, and stare at Bobby.

"Oh," Bobby added, "And when the shooting does start, perhaps you and your friends could be in charge of keeping the shielas and young'uns safe and out of the way for us? We'd really appreciate it."

Bill finally found it within himself to nod his head dumbly before he spoke. "Uh... yeah. Sure. Anything you say, Sir."

"Remember, though. It's our little secret. Don't want the bad guys to know." Bobby reminded him, putting a finger up to his lips.

"Okay. Okay. Yeah," and a smile appeared on Bill's face as he stuck out a hand to shake Bobby's. "Thank you. Thank you very much."

Bobby shook his hand and nodded once. As he turned to walk off, Tara was waiting patiently behind him. "What was that all about?"

"Oh, nothing. I just sold him a subscription," Bobby smiled.



On the Bridge:

Darcy was just about done with her interview with Assaad. She glanced at her watch and noticed it was almost 6:00. As she gathered her things together, she thanked Assaad for his time. Then as if she had an after thought, she added, "I don't suppose you would have time to take me on a tour, would you?"

Assaad smiled at her. "Of course. Anything you'd like."

They got up and left the room, Assaad with his two remaining guards, and Darcy with Myles.

He showed her around the rest of the bridge at first, but then moved on to the control room, then out on the decks, and finally made it to where the prisoners were being kept.

As they were led inside and the door shut behind them, Assaad stopped and turned to look at Darcy. "See all the prisoners are still safe and sound. (pause) And now you and your friends can join them."

"What?" asked Darcy, alarmed.

One of the guards grabbed her arm and said, "You heard the Captain. You are now a prisoner of Muhammad Assaad ." He started to lead her off towards the other prisoners.

"Bobby!" she screamed.

Bobby whirled around just as Myles pulled out his gun aiming it directly at the guard. "Freeze! FBI!:

Tara pulled her gun out before anyone realized she had even moved. It took Bobby just a second more, but his was out in a flash, aiming it at Assaad.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that Bill and a few other men were taking charge over the other passengers. "Good," he thought to himself. "One less worry."

Jack waited. His sniper instincts kicked in and told him to hold off just then. He stepped back into the crowd and disappeared to find a better shot.

Sue could see what was happening and blended in with the other passengers as well. She decided she would do what she could to help if the time presented itself, but without a weapon, she couldn't do much. Staying out of the way was her best option.

Assaad simply looked calmly at the three agents. He even produced a smirk for their benefit. "Oh, please," he said smugly. "Do you seriously thing that three FBI agents can overpower my elite troops? If so, you're more delusional than I thought." He nodded at the guard holding Darcy and he started dragging her away again.

Tara's voice stopped him. "You think we're stupid enough to come in alone? For yuor information, we have an entire group of snipers taking up positions around this dining room as we speak."

The passengers gasped and looked around the room expectantly.

Assaad called her bluff. "Ha! You four are the only living things on or off of this ship in the last 24 hours. Nice try. Now quit trying my patience!"

Myles joined in, his gun now trained on Assaad's head. "What? You don't believe her? Hey Bobby! He doesn't believe her."

Without looking over at them, he simply responded, "Hmmm. Imagine that. I wonder why. She's never lied to me before."

Tara continued, "Gee, I don't understand. I'm a relatively honest person." Then louder she added, "Isn't that right, Jack?"

Her answer was a single gun shot from out of nowhere. One of the guards near the door fell to the floor. Tara simply smiled at Assaad and said, "See? Told ya."

Bobby gave a half grin and continued the scenario. "Tara, I thought Sparky was supposed to come on this trip, too. Was he able to make it?

She nodded in agreement, "Yeah, he should be here somewhere, too."

So Bobby spoke a little louder, "Hey, Sparky! What do you say? Are you out there somewhere?"

His answer was a single gunshot from out of nowhere. One of the guards against the wall fell to the floor. Bobby simply nodded once and said, "Yep. Sparky's here."

Myles was getting into the act as well. "Oh, we can't forget the man in charge, guys. After all, without our fine team leader, we'd all be running around willy-nilly doing all kinds of crazy stuff."

Bobby and Tara both nodded in agreement. Tara said, "Yeah. He's right you know."

Bobby said, "We for sure wouldn't be this finely-tuned unit we are today without him."

So Myles spoke up a little louder, "What do you say, Mr. Hudson? Are you here as well?"

His answer was double gunshots from out of nowhere. Two guards, one by the door and the one next to Assaad fell to the floor. Myles snickered and grumbled, "Show off."

The situation was getting serious. Even with four guards down, the team was seriously out-numbered. And now the terrorists were scared, which made them desperate and unpredicatable. This was evidenced by the guard that came screaming out of the background, knife drawn, headed straight for Tara. Bbefore she could react, Myles turned and shot past her, killing her attacker before he hit the ground.

She raised he eyeborws at him and signed, "Thanks."

He simply nodded his head and turned his attention back to Assaad.

Bobby said, "Hey Myles. It just occurred to me, you were supposed to be on this trip, weren't you?"

"Yes, I was," Myles confirmed stating each word separately.

A look of recognition grew on Assaad's face. "Myles? You mean you are Myles Leland?"

Myles simply said, "Why, yes. Yes I am. Myles Leland, III at your service."

"Your neighbor friend sure has been a pain in the neck," Assaad stated simply.

"Neighbor? What neighbor?" Myles didn't understand.

"Your neighbor you sold the tickets to. Jack Huffield."

Myles' face showed enlightenment. "Oh, Jack! Yeah, Jack can be quite the thorn in the side at times. But we put up with him, for the sake of the team."

Assaad's smirk faded from his face. Team? He said he was a lawyer from DC."

It was Tara's turn to smirk at him. "Yeah, whatever. Don't believe everything you read on the internet, Buddy."

Tara's obvious insolence towards him caused his face to darken with anger. Then an idea occurred to him These Americans are very protective of their women, no matter how modern and independent they claim to be. He said, "You know, that blonde that was with him was pretty."

Bobby said, "Yeah, that's our Sue."

Assaad continued, "Yeah, she sure knows how to please a man, too. I told her that when we woke up this morning, then again before we had breakfast. In fact, I'm thinking about taking her home with me and making her my wife."

Another gun shot pierced the air. This time, the guard holding Darcy went down. She screamed and tried to run away, but Assaad was much faster. Taking advantage of the situation, he grabbed her and pulled her close to him. "Although this one seems to have a lot of fire in her. I can't decide which one I like better. Maybe I'll take them both," and he laughed an evil laugh.

Bobby's eyes flashed. He slowly lowered his gun as he said, "You'd better watch out with that one. You're definitely playing with fire with her."

Darcy looked insulted at Bobby's statement, and the expression on her face told him so. He winked at her and said, "Don't worry, Love. You can thank me later."

She stiffened. "Thank you?!?"

"I said later, honey," Bobby teased, making her even madder.

"Bobby! she hollered at him.

Assaad got a confused look on his face. Where exactly did he lose control of this conversation?

Darcy was still seething. "How dare you, Bobby Manning!"

"What?" he asked innocently. "Are you saying it's not true?"

"Yes. I mean, no. I mean... Aaaarrrgghhh! Bobby!" Forgetting the situation, she lunged for him. Assaad was not expecting this and he instantly found himself with his arms empty and unprotected.

Darcy made it almost to Bobby before she realized what had just happened. She froze right in his line of sight, so he almost missed the pistol Assaad pulled out from underneath his jacket, aiming it straight for her.

"NO!" Bobby hollered, pushing Darcy to the side and running straight at Assaad like a linebacker.

Myles was behind Assaad and didn't see the danger. Tara couldn't get a clear shot between Darcy and Bobby changing places. A shot rang out as Bobby tackled Assaad and thre him to the ground.

Myles was instantly there putting his gun in Assaad's face. "Come on. Give me a good excuse."

That's when he heard Bobby's groan and saw the blood. "Tara!" Myles hollered, "Bobby's been shot!" Still in a precarious situation, he couldn't let his guard down enough to check on him.

Sue had been sitting back watching the events unfold in front of her. She hadn't been able to catch all the dialogue, but she knew the terrorists were being picked off, one by one. She also saw Bobby run at Assaad and knew he had been shot. But from her vantage point, she couldn't tell how badly he was hurt.

That's when she caught a glimpse of Ahmed sneaking in and out of the shadows nearby. He was carefully making his way closer to Assaad and the three agents and didn't look like he was up to any good. Sue hid herself next to a table until she saw Ahmed's legs right beside her. She pounced and grabbed his legs, curling herself up in a ball around his ankles. She held on for dear life as he kicked and tried to release himself from her grip. He finally gave up on freeing himself and raised up the gun ready to hit her with the butt end of it.

Suddenly, Bill came from out of nowhere and clobbered Ahmed over the head with a chair. He was immediately followed by Ted who tackled him to the ground. They didn't stop pummeling him until they knew he was unconscious.

Other passengers took their cue from Sue, Bill and Ted. Quite a melee erupted then. The people used anything they could find to use as weapons. Chairs were sent flying towards the uncaptured terrorists. Some of them took the weapons from the fallen terrorists and used them against the other guards. Even the children bit and kicked the guards. The ones that surrendered or were captured were immediately tied up using anything that could be found.

Tara and Myles watched in awe as the passengers attacked their captors. Jack came out of his last hiding place and gawked as well. Who knew these people had so much fight left in them.

When all the terrorists had been apprehended, a cheer went up around the room. In one corner of the room, chants of "USA! USA!" were heard. But they quickly faded as the focus returned to the middle of the room.

Bobby was still on top of Assaad, his breath heavy and uneven. Jack and Sue joined their teammates as quickly as they could. Myles still had his gun on Assaad. Tara gently rolled Bobby over, scared of what she was going to find. Darcy appeared from the side in tears. "Is he okay?" she asked sobbing.

Tara quickly examined Bobby's abdominal area and smiled. "Yeah, he's fine. It's just a flesh wound."

"What?" Bobby opened his eyes and looked at her. "You're kidding? Man! It hurts like fire!" and he groaned again, holding his side.

"Nope," Tara assured him, patting his chest. "Just a couple of stitches and you'll be fine."

At that announcement, a raucous cheer went up all over the room. Myles forcibly pulled Assaad up and placed handcuffs on him. "Muhammad Assaad, you are under arrest...."

"YOU!" Assaad growled at the sight of Jack. "You are FBI! I knew I should have killed you when I had the chance."

Jack smiled sheepishly at him. Myles clapped Jack on the back and grinned slyly at Assaad. "Al-Quaida, meet our one-man sniper team, also known as special agent Jack Hudson."

Bobby added from the floor, "Also known as Sparky, eh Mate?"

He laughed a little at his friend's tenacity. "You just lie there and take it easy, Crash. We'll get you out of here and to a hospital in a minute."

As the terrorists were led out of the room and to a better "cell," Jack looked around. "What a mess," he thought to himself. Housecleaning was going to have fun with this one. But it could've been a lot worse. He didn't even want to think about the horrors that could've been.

"Well, boys and girls, let's go home," he said simply. Then a thought occurred to him. "Uh, does anyone know how to drive a boat?"

Medi-Flight transported a new Captain out to the boat as they came to pick up Bobby. His name was Captain Anderson and he conveyed the thanks from the company to the special agents for all they'd done. He quickly set about determining what needed done first so they could sail for the nearest port as soon as the new crew arrived.

Darcy stayed by Bobby's side until he was loaded onto the medical helicoptor. Just before she had to let go, she said, "Agent Manning?"

"What is it, Love?"

"My answer is yes," she smiled at him.

"Yes? Answer to what?" Bobby asked. He didn't remember asking her a questions, but he was in a lot of pain.

"Yes, I will marry you," she finished.

"You will?" he said, smiling as he tried to sit up.

Just then the door shut between them and the motor went into high gear. Darcy had to step back soo the chopper could take off. She smiled at him through the window and waved.

As the paramedic forced him to lay back down, Bobby was grinning from ear to ear. He looked at him and hollered over the motor, "She said Yes!"

The paramedic simply smiled and hollered back, "I heard! Congrats! Now stay down before I have to tie you down!"

Bobby settled in for the long flight back to shore. All he could think about for the rest of the trip was, "She said yes!"



After the helicoptor left the ship, Sue walked up to Darcy and asked, "What made you change your mind?"

Darcy thought for a moment, smiling before she answered. "He took a bullet for me when I was ready to kill him. If that's not true love, I don't know what is."



Jack, Myles, and Tara had gone back to the cabin to pack up. When Myles entered the tiny room, he stopped and looked around, "Whoa! You weren't kidding when you said this room was small."

Jack just smiled in agreement as he grabbed some clean clothes and stepped into the bathroom to freshen up. When he emerged, Sue and Darcy had arrived, and they were all beaming at him. Suddenly self-conscious, Jack stopped and said, "What? What did I miss?"

"Oh, nothing," Tara replied innocently. But her face betrayed her. She looked ready to jump out of her skin.

Myles shook his head and put his hands up. "Don't look at me. I didn't do anything."

So that left Sue and Darcy. Sue smiled at him sweetly, then glanced over at Darcy. "You want to tell him, or should I?"

Darcy said, "He's all your's."

Sue looked back at Jack and said, "Darcy just asked me to be her maid of honor."

"What?" Jack couldn't believe his ears. Bobby was going to be crushed.

Darcy sat there grinning at him. "Don't worry, Jack. I'm sure Bobby will ask you to be his best man."

It took him a moment to comprehend what she was saying. When it finally dawned on him, his face broke into a huge grin as well. He walked over to Darcy and grabbed her in a quick hug as he said, "Congratulations."

While in his embrace, Darcy grabbed the opportunity and whispered, "Maybe we could make it a double wedding."

Jack released her and stepped back nervously. "Uh, we'll see," he said noncomittally as possible. He got busy packing up his belongings.

As he reached between the mattresses to grab his badge, Sue went to the other side of the bed to pack some things. Her cry startled everyone in the room and caused the three agents to reach for their weapons.

Sue slowly reached down and picked up what was left of her Christmas present - the body of the white teddy bear. His head had been blown away. Her tragic look broke Jack's heart.

"I'm sorry, Sue," he apologized as he rounded the bed. "If it's any consolation, he saved my life. It was almost my head that was blown away."

Myles put his gun away and said simply, "He gave his life for his country."

As the tears welled up in her eyes, Jack pulled her into his arms and held her tightly. After a moment, he stepped back and said, "Look. If he meant that much to you, I'll get you another one. Would that make you feel better?"

She sniffed and wiped her eyes as she nodded slowly. Then she smiled as she said, "I'm sorry. I guess it's all the stress from the last couple of days."

Jack quickly pulled her into his arms again and held her to his chest. Tara came over and wrapped her arms around both of them as best she could. Then Darcy joined the hug. Finally, Myles came over and enveloped the group in his arms.

They stayed like that for many moments until Myles made a suggestion. "How about if we give our stuffed compatriot a proper burial at sea?"

Sue looked surprised at his offer, but soon agreed. After packing up what was left of their belongings, they made their way up to the deck. After Jack said a few solemn words of thanks, Sue kissed the body and threw it in the ocean while Myles hummed "Taps" in the background.

The team didn't notice they were being watched. After the small ceremony, the lone observer walked up behind them and said, "In all my years at sea, I don't believe I've ever seen a funeral ceremony for a teddy bear."

The group tunred around and found Captain Anderson watching them. He added, "I'm sorry. I hope I'm not intruding. I thought you were done."

Jack looked like he just got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "Oh, we were just, uh..." He really couldn't sanely explain what they were doing.

"It's okay, Agent Hudson. You don't need to explain."

"Okay, good," Jack felt relieved.

Darcy changed the subject. "So any idea how soon we'll be back in port?"

"Oh, it won't be until at least tomorrow afternoon," the Captain reported.

"Great," Myles said unenthusiastically. He turned back to the group, "Any idea where we're going to be sleeping tonight?"

"Oh, I thought us girls would sleep in the cabin," Tara chirped.

"Hey!" Jack protested. "It's my vacation. Why do you get the cabin?"

"Because we're girls," shot back Tara.

"But where do expect us to sleep?" Myles whined.

"Oh, I don't know. In one of the lounge chairs, maybe?"

Captain Anderson was smiling to himself as he watched the banter between these odd FBI agents. He finally raised his hands and said, "Excuse me! I might have a solution to your predicament."

The team quieted down and looked at him, expectantly. "It seems I have an entire suite of rooms available now. It's previous occupants have, uh, let's say they have found other accomodations for the rest of the cruise. I'm sure they wouldn't mind if you stayed there tonight."

The Captain was almost knocked over by Tara as she ran over and hugged him, Sue and Darcy in her wake. Myles and Jack walked up to him and said their thanks with a handshake.

"Well, girls," Jack said, "Let's get moving. Tara! Let go of the poor man. He needs to get back to work."

After they got settled into their new accomodations, they spent the rest of the evening and most of the night enjoying each others company. They eventually retired to their own beds and slept soundly until morning.

February 17

They finally landed in Miami by mid-afternoon. Bobby was standing at the dock waiting for them to come ashore. Darcy nearly ran over everybody in front of her to get to him and she was greeted with a deep passionate kiss.

When the others got caught up to them, Bobby looked up and smiled. "She said yes," was all he could say to Jack.

"I know," Jack smiled back. "It was all she could talk about all night. Congratulations." He held out his hand to shake with his best friend. Bobby just growled and pulled Jack into a big bear hug.

Myles added coyly, "And it only took a bullet to do it. If I had known it was going to be that easy, I would've shot you a long time ago!" he smiled. "Congratulations, koala boy."

Bobby smiled at him as he shook his hand, "Thanks, Mate."

Jack said, "Hey, let's get out of here, shall we? I've had enough of boats for a long time."



The earliest flight they could get home was at 8:00 that evening, so they were able to spend few hours as tourists around Miami. By the time their flight landed in DC, they were all so tired by the ordeal they went straight to their own homes for a good night's rest.



February 18

After spending what Tara described as a "mind-numbing day" completing reports, Jack and Sue decided to go out for dinner that evening. He promised to pick her up at her apartment at 7:00.

When he arrived, he was holding another white teddy bear, but this one was holding a small heart that read, "Be my Valentine." He smiled shyly and said, "It's all I could find right now."

She accepted it with a kiss on his cheek and lovingly placed it on the couch with a word of warning to Levi to keep paws off.

They went to their favorite Italian place and enjoyed a quiet meal, just the two of them.

Before dessert, Sue accidentally dropped her napkin on the floor. As Jack leaned over to pick it up for her, a small box fell out of his pocket, unnoticed by him.

"What's that?" she asked.

"What?" He looked down at where she was pointing and saw the ring box. "Oh, that. Um, well, it's complicated," he said as he picked it up off the floor.

"Complicated? How can that be complicated?" Sue interrogated.

"Well, see it was actually supposed to be your Christmas present, but then we had the accident and all. Then I was going to give it to you for Valentine's Day and Bobby had to go and mess that up."

"Can I have it now?" Sue coaxed.

"Um, well, sure. But first there's something I need to tell you."

"Okay," Sue said bracing herself.

He took a deep breath and looked in her eyes. "Sue, I'm crazy about you. I've been crazy about you from the first moment I laid eyes on you. I can't stop thinking about you even when we're miles apart. It's these stupid rules at the Bureau that's made me keep silent for so long. I don't want to lose you, but I also don't want to break up the team. We're good together, all of us, and I don't want my personal feelings to mess anything up between us. So here." he placed the box on the table. "Call it whatever you want. Call it a friendship ring or an engagement ring. You can even return it for store credit to get something you want. I just want to make you happy because..." he took another deep breath, "I love you, Sue Thomas."

There. He said it. It was pretty jumbled up and nothing close to what he had planned, but he said it. He just sat there and looked at her, waiting for some kind of reaction.

She sat there dumbfounded. She didn't know what to say. No man had ever spoken to her like that before and she didn't know how to react. With shaking hands, she gently reached for the box. She slowly opened it and found a beautiful gold ring with six diamond chips surrounding a solitaire. It sparkled in the candlelight. Or was that because of her tears? She didn't know. She didn't care.

"It's beautiful!" she was finally able to say. "I love it." She got up and walked to his side of the table and lovingly touched his cheek, making him look up at her. Then she leaned over and slowly kissed him. Her lips barely touched his at first, but when he reached up and wrapped his arms around her pulling her closer, the kiss deepened. Not wanting to break apart, she seated herself crossways in his lap and her hands carressed his cheeks on their way to his dark hair. The whole world stood still and they were the only two people that existed in the universe.

As the kiss slowly subsided, she wrapped her arms around his neck and laid her head on his shoulder. She found herself holding onto him with every fiber of her being, as if he would disappear if she were to let go. Sue said, "I love you, too, Jack Hudson. I've said it every night before I go to sleep, but never to your face and I'm sorry."

Jack leaned back so she could see him. "No. Don't be sorry, Sue," Jack begged. "It's not your fault. It's mine. I should've said something a long time ago. But the rules...."

She placed a single finger on his lips and said, "Shhh. I know. The rules...." With that, she kissed him gently on the forehead and went back to her chair.

She pulled the ring out and examined it closely. "Tell you what," she decided. "For now, let's call it a promise ring."

Jack frowned. "A promise ring?"

"Yes," Sue stated. "I promise to love you with all my heart and trust you with my life and wait for you until such time that we can be together." She handed him the ring.

Jack's face softened as he accepted the ring and held her hand. "And I promise to love you and cherish every moment with you and protect you from harm in every way humanly possible until such time that we can be together." With that, he placed the piece of jewelry on her left ring finger. Then he brought her hand up to his lips and kissed it. He softly said, "Thank you."

"For what?' she asked, puzzled.

"Thank you for making me the happiest man alive," he clarified. "Thank you for loving me. Thank you for being you." He slowly let go of her hand as he leaned back in his chair. "Now, do you suppose we should eat this dessert before they kick us out of here?"

As she picked up her fork, Sue laughed. "Lucy's going to flip."

Jack nodded in agreement. "Yeah, if I hear a scream in the middle of the night, I'll know it's just her."



After dinner, Jack and Sue walked around the park for awhile. When it got too cold, they sat in his car and talked. They both lost track of time, so when Jack finally dropped Sue off at her apartment door, it was well past 11:00.

He said, "I'll see you tomorrow," and gave her another kiss.

She smiled her sweet beaming smile at him and said, "Yeah. I'll see you tomorrow."

She entered her apartment and Jack turned to walk down the hallway. He only made it halfway down the hall when he heard Lucy's scream. He smile as he looked at his watch. "Hmmm. Seven seconds. Must be some kind of record."

THE END



Hope ya'll liked it. Let me know what you think!

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!!

Okiefoster

I bet she could beat 7 seconds

Happy Valentine's

The promise ring!!!

And I like Bobby only needing to get shot to get his girl! Piece of cake!

I liked it! I liked it! now I have to find the first story.



hugs, skeeter

Very nice! Loved it all!

ugh elizabeth downsizing jack/sue's suite which set in motion a terrorist attack..i don't blame myles for wanting to shoot her and i think D and bobby should've let him.
glad everyone was saved from the cruise...doubt jack/sue will ever take one again.
aww he bought her another bear and gave her a promise ring
cute bobby/darcy engaged.