MISSION IMPOSSIBLE

When she was in college, Sue was the only one who called home daily. Well, it was that or receive calls from home daily and sometimes, those came at the most inconvenient moments. Yes, it had definitely been better to call home, even when it meant constant teasing from her room mate who viewed the whole point of college as getting away from home. Her room mate had also thought it hilarious that, for someone who was deaf, she sure used the phone a lot … for calling her mother.

Sue smiled at the memory and sent a silent thank you to the genius who put in place the phone relay system. And then she sent heart-felt thanks for her mother: the relentless pursuit of every known skill, methodology and pedagogy, and the selfless devotion to making sure these had been available to her beloved only daughter had resulted in Sue being able to straddle the deaf and hearing worlds with relative ease.

Whatever else her mother had been, she had moved heaven and earth to ensure Sue would never be at a disadvantage, sometimes at the sacrifice of her sons’ needs. And if those efforts had seemed overbearing at the time, Sue now understood that her independence was the greatest source of pride to her parents.

“Didn’t you know you were her ‘mission impossible’?” her father had often joked.

Given that Carla had an aversion to failure, it was a forgone conclusion that the mission would turn out “accomplished”. And Sue was accomplished, in more than one sense of the word.



ANIMAL HOUSE

She’d fallen in love with Levi the first time she saw him and she’d decided that he would be her hearing dog. The trainers had been horrified at her choice but she’d displayed some of her mother’s stubbornness and refused to accept any other.

She turned to look at Levi lying at her feet. He looked back at her, made a goofy face and, as always, a grin lit her features. The partnership had paid off beyond anyone’s expectations.

“You’ve stood by me through every adventure in the FBI, haven’t you, boy?” she said, ruffling his fur. “Except for that one time you went a little nuts and disappeared and you had the whole team looking for you.”

Levi woofed and nudged her leg. He didn’t like being reminded of the experience.

But he had no other complaints about his life or the humans in it, despite their endless gripes about how they all led a Dog’s Life, needed Dogged Determination to see their cases through, and a hundred other jokes that somehow involved his species … and that calendar! That was the one time he'd been seriously miffed at Sue; what possessed her to allow him to be dressed in those hideous clothes? Dogs did not wear clothes!

Levi sighed. And then there were Myles’ endless cracks about how the bullpen had turned into Animal Planet since his arrival. Hey, he wasn’t the one who came up with the term “Bullpen”!



RANSOM

She glanced at her Blackberry, frowning slightly at the sudden vibrations and, for all of a nanosecond, she half expected it to be Jack, calling to check on her as he was wont to do.

It wasn’t … and why should it have been?

Sue gave herself a shake of disgust. She glanced at her watch and squeezed her eyes shut in a rush of indefinable emotions; in eleven minutes (if the bride was punctual), Jack Hudson would no longer be single … her best friend was getting married to someone he had known for years and it was something she would have to deal with because it was all her own doing.

She’d known she loved him when she couldn’t bear the thought of him seeing anyone else. With hindsight, she should’ve realised he’d never gone out with anyone throughout their partnership. How could he, when most of his time had been spent with her? They’d had more meals together than most other married couples, shared hopes and dreams they’d never told anyone else … but none of his dreams had ever included her.

So she’d dated other men and she cringed afresh at the thought of Tony, and how she’d even defied Jack to side with him. But nothing had come out of any of the dates because no one had measured up to Jack.

“There’ll never be anyone else but Jack,” she whispered, playing absently with Levi’s ears. “I wish I could tell him now … ”

Levi sighed. He’d been well aware that Jack had captured her heart even before she did but there hadn’t been anything he could do; to be fair to himself, he hadn’t seen Sue do anything about it either. She’d silently accepted that he would hold her heart hostage forever, never doing or saying a thing about getting it back, or getting his in return …

So here they were, nine minutes to the wedding, still sitting outside the chapel on Jack’s wedding day, detached from family and friends … and him.



INDEPENDENCE DAY

She supposed marriage was another step towards independence. As a wife and, one day perhaps, a mother, a bride was really leaving behind a part of her life and crossing the threshold into another … a sort of crossing over from girlhood to womanhood with a fresh set of responsibilities and relationships. Was any woman ever truly prepared for it?

She knew women who viewed marriage as a prison sentence and the wedding band as a wrought-iron shackle. They had been unable to comprehend how any woman could surrender her independence to share her life and achievements with a mere male mortal. Sadly, she also knew women who had married and then lost their spirit and belief in themselves because their husbands had cruelly eroded those away.

She had been lucky. The men she’d met in DC had been pretty decent. She couldn’t imagine Bobby, D or Myles ever standing in the way of their partners’ aspirations or of ever dominating or hurting them. Of course, with Bobby and Myles, they’d have to first find a partner.

And Jack … what would he be like as a husband?

She’d had a little experience with that and a unexpectedly dreamy smile crossed her face at the memory of their brief “marriage”, complete with grocery shopping, dinner with the neighbours, a fight and a photo album of “wedding” pictures. Well, it had been her idea and, as usual, Jack had allowed her to have her way.

She would never admit it to anyone but she’d enjoyed the experience and the glimpse of domestic Jack had been heart-warmingly impressive: he had no hang-ups about taking out the trash or getting the laundry and dishes done, and he actually picked up after himself, unlike her brothers.

But he was getting married for real … in less than five minutes. And her heart constricted at the thought of how her relationship with him would now be forever changed.



YOU’VE GOT MAIL

Sue smiled sadly. “You know that things will be different now, don’t you, now that Jack and I won’t be working together anymore? No more treats behind my back and no more rides in Jack’s car on a case because I won’t be going on any more of those with him … ”

Levi moaned and propped his head on her knee. He understood about change. Heck, he’d been forcibly separated from his mother before he’d learned his first word. But that was in the past. Right now, Sue was … crying?

“It’s okay, boy,” she said with a sniff. “I’m not crying, not really.”

She hadn’t felt this emotional since that awful day she’d decided to accept the job in New York. No, that wasn’t right … she’d felt worse when Jack had narrowly escaped being shot right there on the street and that was when she’d realised for certain that she could never leave him.

She’d come to the conclusion that night that she had two choices: hide her feelings for the privilege of continuing to work together or tell him and sacrifice dignity and pride while risking rejection. She didn’t expect Jack would be unkind but it would be embarrassingly impossible to work together thereafter, and then she would have had to leave anyway. Then he’d startled her with his speech the next day and she had no idea whether she should’ve felt hope.

In the end, she’d written him a letter and laid bare her feelings and nothing had been the same since. She should have known that risking a true friendship with the truth was bound to have consequences …



MY BEST FRIEND’S WEDDING

It was to be expected that even Mother Nature would give Jack a perfect June wedding.

He was, after all, the golden boy of the FBI, good-looking, popular and respected. Intelligent, steady and caring, he made friends easily yet managed to retain much of his privacy. She should know: as his partner, she’d been privy to more than most people. Which was why the speed at which he’d decided on and organised the wedding had taken her aback because she’d never seen it coming.

But then Jack had never been one to waffle once he’d made up his mind. Hadn’t he stood firmly behind her against the criticisms and scepticisms when she’d first joined the FBI? Hadn’t he defended her and protected her career when she’d made glaring errors? In the end, he’d produced a respected analyst whose abilities were much sought after and Sue was often away from the bullpen, helping other units with their work.

She owed him a lot. So why was she sitting alone on the most important day of his life?

She looked up as Levi prodded her leg.

Lucy smiled at her. “Why are you sitting here on the most important day in living memory?” she asked, and leaned down to gently dab at the tears that had gathered unbidden in Sue’s eyes. “It’s time to go or you’ll miss the entrance of the bride.”

Jack had wanted a quiet affair attended by family and close friends who would’ve known or heard about her. But she knew all eyes would be on her nonetheless when she entered and the last thing she wanted was pity or to be regarded as Jack’s deaf protégé … not today.

Just before he realised she’d arrived, she’d stolen a glance at him. He looked more serious than she’d ever remembered him looking, and there was a tiny frown on his face. He didn’t appear nervous but oddly impatient, which in itself was rare for he was the most patient man she knew.

She would need every ounce of calm she could muster. Sue took a deep breath and walked in.

Then Jack turned and saw her. He relaxed.

The beloved face lit up and his eyes darkened with emotions she didn’t need words to interpret. She smiled and he grinned back. She kept her eyes on him all the way down the aisle, forcing herself to keep pace with her father, just as they’d practised.

Sue turned to her father, leaning up to kiss his cheek as he stepped away. She looked at her mother just beyond and mouthed, “I love you, Mum.”

Then she turned to Jack, her heart filling with love. Eschewing the rehearsed moves and uncaring of what the guests might say, he stepped before her, slipping his arm around her waist and tilting her face up to study it.

“You okay?” he asked softly. “You were alone for a long time.”

“I was thinking about you … us … ” she whispered back. “I love you.”

He smiled. “I love you. You ready for this?”

She nodded and smiled back. “Let’s do this.”

“No regrets?”

“I’m marrying my best friend in the world. What do you think?”

Jack grinned, holding himself back from desperately wanting to kiss her. “I think it’s the foundation for the best kind of marriage there is.”



THE END

I like the way you took each story title and incorporated it into your tale. You had me thinking as to whether it was Jack and Sue getting married for a bit or Jack and someone else. It was a wonderful short story, great writing I enjoyed reading it.

i was totally convinced right up to the end that he was about to marry someone else

briliant writing


cath

yhm,

Great to see you back and with such a great short story. It was so clever of you to weave all of the titles together like this. Very enjoyable. And CM didn't even make an appearence.

Thanks for sharing, yhm!

YHM, I am so, so, so, so, SO glad to see you here again!!!

And that story was absolutely brill - incorporating all the titles so nicely and I swear up until that last bit I was mad at you because you were marrying Jack off to someone else!!

Love you hun,
JF

That was FAB yhm!!!! I loved how you weaved all the titles into your fic and they produced a fantastic story. A job really well done!!!

Jenny

YHM, missed your story loads and this short story incorporating each and every one was fabulous....and Ivory is right, CM didn't even rear it's ugly head!

Can we have more from you soon, no matter how big or small!

Thanks for sharing your awesome talent with us!

Yhm, I love the way you wrote this - using all the titles in your short story!! I didn't start catching on until almost the very end!!! I was very afraid he was marrying Allie!! Very clever, keeping us guessing until the very end!!!

Thanks for sharing your amazing talent with us!!!

Joy

that was amazing, really great...first i thought she really was standing on the outside off this wedding and it was killin gme and then it changed and i started to hope, maybe she was going to be the bride, and then when lucy talked to her i jumped for joy...beautiful story yhm....i loved it

Fabulous!! I held my breath, thinking it could be Jack&someone else's wedding, but then I remembered you had written this, yhm. I still trust you with a happy end.

That was one clever writing. I was quite anxious for a while but I knew you wouldn't do anything drastic to our favorite couple.



Siti.

All the way through I keep thinking how J/S would end up together...would Jack walk out...would the bride to be and then when I realized you had Sue marrying him I had to go back over the whole thing with different reading glasses on and it was all there...very subtle...very clever. Loved it!!!

un that was beautiful!!!


outstanding !!


thanks yhm!!

Very clever!!! I didn't see the ending coming at all. In fact I was beginning to think that Sue had set Jack up with Tara!!!! And the way you blended all the titles together is fabulous.

kav

It's wonderful to see you again, yhm, I missed your clever, deep writing! Your ideas are spectacular and I loved the blend of all titles! Wonderful writing, as always!

yhm, that was simply wonderful. I loved how you managed to do every title into your story. For a second there, I almost thought you broke Jack and Sue up. Thank goodness you didn't and what a lovely ending you gave it. Bravo!

Thank you, ladies, for the lovely welcome back. Glad you enjoyed the story because I had the greatest fun writing it, even if it was at 2 in the morning.

You had me scared for a minute, but it turned out great. Excellent actually. Jack andSue are getting married!

Very original !!!! Loved it!

you had me worried there for a minute! i thought this was another jack-allie wedding! PHEW!

I liked it!
I liked it!

I REALLY, REALLY LIKED IT!

You had me so convinced that Jack was marrying someone else! Wow! I loved the ending. Perfect.

very good, you had me hooked and convinced Sue was not marrying Jack!

loved all the little snipetts.