I've only a niggling little idea of where this is going, so I make no promises! It'd be a decent bet there will be a good deal of J/S moments, eventually, and actually, now that I think of it, I can make one promise... NOTHING TRULY BAD WILL HAPPEN TO LEVI.

LET SLEEPING DOGS LIE
~~o0o~~
Chapter One

“Levi!” Sue held open the back passenger door and commanded, or at least tried to command, the dog to exit. He’d been acting odd all morning and she was resigning herself to a vet visit if he didn’t snap out of it soon. Hanging his head and shifting his brows, Levi stuck his head out of the open door and looked at the concrete floor of the parking garage, but didn’t offer to jump out.

“What the problem, buddy?” Reaching over, she clipped his leash on a gave a gentle tug. “Come on, we’re going to be late.”

Slowy, all four paws found their way to the ground and Sue shut the door behind him, barely missing the tip of his tail.

“I better call Dr. Bennett, maybe he’ll have an opening tomorrow morning.” It was Friday, and the team was exceptionally busy, especially with Jack and D being away. Two cases were on the front burner, and another one was well on it’s way toward heating up. Good thing Jack was due back Monday. But all this meant she really didn’t have time to go to the vet if it weren’t necessary. “I don’t suppose you could manage to let me know if this behavior is serious, could you?”

Brown eyes rolled up at her and he lipped his tongue at her finger tips. Not gaining any insight from his behavior, all she could do was sooth the ruffled hair behind his ears before turning toward the bank of elevators and tugging on the leash again. “Come on boy.”



Bobby rounded Tara’s desk at a clip, nodding and smiling ‘good morning’ to Sue as she made her way across the room. In a hurry as he was, he didn’t notice Levi trailing behind and nearly stood on his head to avoid running over the slow moving dog. “Whoa Levi! Sorry buddy, didn’t see you there.”

He watched the normally volatile tail hanging limply behind his canine team member as he plodded along behind his mistress, and shot a confused glance at Sue. “What’s up with wonder dog?”

“Not sure. He’s been like this all morning.”

“Haven’t changed his flea medication again, have you?” Bobby hadn’t been really in tune with everything that had gone on at the time; his gambling issues had loomed large and blocked out pretty much everything going on with his friends, but he gathered later from Jack that Sue had just about worried herself sick over Levi when he’d gone missing. He didn’t like to see her worried.

“No, no changes in anything like that. I’m going to call his vet and see if I can get an appointment tomorrow..”

Deciding there was no time like the present, she pulled out her blackberry and found the number. Two minutes later, the appointment was set for ten the next morning. “Don’t look at me like that.” She told Levi when he gave her a pained look as she gave him the news. “I don’t like taking you any more than you like going, but I don’t like the way you’re acting.”



By eleven, it was obvious that waiting until the next morning was not going to be acceptable. His tummy was hot and he showed no interest in treats, even Bobby’s offering of half a donut went begging. The final straw was when he followed her into the women’s restroom a little before eleven and proceeded to lose what little he’d eaten since the evening before. Asking Tara to call for maintenance and telling her she was headed to the vet and would call as soon as she knew something, she coaxed Levi to follow her, but he hunkered down on the cool tiles and refused to budge. “Come on boy, you can make it to the car.”

“Maybe,” Bobby squatted down and hoisted the dog in his arms. “…but he sure doesn’t act like it. I’ll carry him down.”

He deposited Levi on the back seat a few minutes later and turned to Sue. “You want me to come with you?”

“Oh, no Bobby, but thanks for asking. There’ll be someone to help get him out at the vet.”

“I know, but I thought you might want moral support.”

She glanced at the golden, now curled up in a ball on the seat and completely ignoring his human companions. Trying to smile bravely, but failing, she squeezed Bobby forearm. “Thanks, but you’re busy. We’ll be fine.”

Bobby pursed his lips and gave a small sigh. “OK, but call if you need anything, ‘K?”

“Promise.”

~~o0o~~

:whimper: Tinaaaaaa!!!! I don't like having to worry about the Wonderdog!!! I know you promised that nothing truly bad will happen to him, but I'm still worried!!!

Lindsy

weeelll, like first I was Wheeee, she's writing a new fanfic and then I read and I knew we were in for trouble...and sure enough you dished it out in graphic detail by the end of that post. And now Sue is on her way to the vet ALONE!!!! Where is Jack???? It's gonna be hard to have when he's not even there!!!!!

kav

Poor Levi!

Yea! A new Tina2 story!

Kim

Hope Levi get well, and Jack get back soon!

Tere

This is a great start. Levi sounds very sick. What will the vet say. I have an idea that we will see a reaction from Jack when he hears.

Trusting that your NOTHING TRULY BAD WILL HAPPEN TO LEVI, I'm strapped in and ready for this not-very-angsty-ride

Looks great, Tina! Looking forward to more!

Tracy

Tina has entered the challenge!!!!!

So far so good....but what is wrong with Levi!!!!

Poor Levi! pour Sue, too! She's worried about him and shouldn't be alone...Please, bring SOMEONE (you know who! ) who can support her!!!

Poor Sue and Levi I really hope hes going to be alright and im also Jack returns before hes due back as sues going to need him very much cant wait to find out
Lin

what's wrong with levi...i hope everything will turn out okay with him.

Tina is posting a story !!!!!!!!!!!!

But there are three things wrong with this picture....Levi is sick, Jack is not there, and July is going to be my busiest month in months....away from my puter!

I'll try to stay caught up, but about 20 min internet time in the past three days is not a good sign!

Lynn

First of all - YAY, YAY, YAY, a Tina2 Story!!!

Secondly, what have you done to Levi?? I thought he might be missing Jack, until he lost his breakfast!!!

Joy

Lynn you just said it. Jack isn't there and Levi is having withdrawal symptoms!!!! Remember what he was like in the eppy when Jack had his little heart attack thingy!!!! (kinda don't like to remember that eppy too much!!!) Wonderdog was whining and curling up under his desk.

Other than that I can only imagine he's been digging up poisonous plants or been eating something which he shouldn't.

Tina, a J/S story, my favorite!!!! And I will be holding you to your word, no hurting Levi in producing you fab story!!!

Yay, for another Tina Can you tell I love your stories!!!!!

Sorry I'm so late - I got ready to post the second chapter and realized I'd never actually FINISHED it! Details, details... Oops.

~~o0o~~
Chapter Two

“An obstruction?” Sue stared at the white coated vet blankly.

“Yes. I can’t tell what exactly, but he’s swallowed something he shouldn’t have, and we need to get him into surgery immediately, ‘cause it looks like it‘s not moving on it‘s own.”

Sue’s eyes blurred with tears and the rest of the doctor’s words were lost to her. Swiping at them with the back of one hand, she held up her other to stop him from going further until she could follow. “I’m sorry Dr. Bennett, could you repeat that last part?”

“Ms. Thomas, what you really need to know is that Levi ate or swallowed something rather large and the mass is now lodged in his intestines. Sometimes these things move along on their own and are expelled in due course. But that doesn’t seem to be the case for Levi, so we need to remove it surgically. I’m sorry, this isn’t elective surgery, this could kill him if we do nothing.

She nodded and turned in the direction Dr. Bennett was pointing, her mind slightly numb at the news. She definitely hadn’t contemplated reading the words “this could kill him” when she’d told Bobby they’d be fine.

Angie, Dr. Bennett’s senior tech stood in the doorway of the examination room, beckoning her to follow her out to the lobby. She turned back to look at Levi, but only the sight of the door leading to hinterlands of the vet’s clinic shutting behind Dr. Bennett and another tech wheeled Levi away, greeted her. He hadn’t been kidding when he said immediately. Frowning, Sue turned with a sigh and followed Angie to the front counter where the inevitable paperwork awaited her signature.

When the last one was signed, Angie asked if she’d like a cup of coffee and even brought some newer magazines with her when she delivered it a few minutes later. “They’re not exactly hot off the press, but at least they’re not three years old like the ones out here.”

She remembered to smile her thanks as Angie turned away, but Sue couldn’t quite muster up her usual good humor; her mind going to the retriever that had been her constant companion for the last three and a half years. Wondering how long the surgery would take, she sat the coffee cup down and looked around for Angie, but now there was no sight of the tech. She was the only occupant of the usually busy lobby and she suddenly wished for the distraction of a litter of adolescent puppies in for their first shots or the purring of the vet’s resident cat. But Tripod, so named for the fact that a car accident had left him with legs numbering only three, was as absent as Angie.

She fished her blackberry from her pocket and sent Tara a message so that everyone would know what was going on, then leaned back in the uncomfortable chair and let her mind wander.Her thoughts went from Levi to her last conversation with Jack; wondering if her preoccupation with that was the reason she had missed the signs that Levi wasn‘t himself until this morning…

“I’ll drop off the file on my way to the airport.” Jack pushed clear of his desk and spun ‘round in his chair as he spoke. The paper wad he let fly arched in a perfect rainbow and fell neatly in the middle of her trash can. Eyeing him with one brow cocked at a disapproving angle, Sue felt every nerve in her body tense. The room was nearly empty; most of their co-workers having gone to lunch. Now was the perfect time to talk to him.

“I don’t see why it has to be you.”

“Why what has to be me?”

“This transfer escort. Why do you have to do it?”

Jack sat back in his chair and she saw his chest deflate as he puffed an exasperated breath. “Why not me?”

She swallowed, trying to think of the right way of phrasing her opinion about him handling this particular prisoner’s transfer. Knowing she needed to tread lightly, she stood and crossed to his desk. “I know you can handle it, I just don’t understand why they’d ask you to.”

“Given our history.” He finished for her.

“I didn’t say that.”

“No, but…”

“But… I was thinking it.” She admitted before he could accuse her.

“For one thing, they don’t know our history. They pegged me and D because we were her arresting officers and we’re familiar with her case. Besides, even if they knew, I think it makes me the perfect choice. No one is going to know what she’s capable of more than me.”

“Jack, I’m not worried that she’ll…”

“She’ll what?”

“Nothing.”

“I can handle this Sue. I‘m a big boy.”

“I know that…”

But he was standing and moving past her, snatching the folder laying on the corner in front of her and striding out the door; his body tensely controlled and his eyes straight ahead. He must have called to D, because he jumped up and grabbed his suit coat and ran after Jack, waving a hurried goodbye to her and the handful of agents left in the room.

That had been the last she’d seen of him before he left to escort Jessica from Greensville Correctional Facility in Virginia to the Maryland Correctional Institution for Women in Jessup. She’d been incarcerated at Greensville for only seven months, but had twice tried to escape. Sue didn’t know the details, but when she’d heard of the attempts, she could easily imagine the woman using her dark good looks to her advantage and trying to seduce a weak minded guard. The Maryland facility was for women only and she supposed the hope was that they were better equipped to handle this particular challenge.

Draining the last of the now luke-warm coffee, she tossed the paper cup into the wastebasket and stretched in her chair. She found herself wishing for Jack’s shoulder to lay her head on as she had during that interminable night when they’d stayed by Billy’s side almost three years ago. She smiled, remembering Billy’s graduation from the Virginia State Police Academy just a few short months ago. Jack had looked like he was about to burst when his young charge had stood shoulder to shoulder with the other cadets and recited the Troopers Pledge. It had been a difficult road, but the whole fiasco with him shooting Judge Kendall had finally been stricken from his record, allowing him to apply to the academy. In an odd twist, it seemed Billy was following in Jack’s footsteps after all; he was just traveling his own path in doing it.

Grateful for anything that took her mind off away from things she had no control over other than to offer up a prayer, Sue let her mind travel back to the very beginning of Billy’s graduation day.

Jack had arrived at the apartment just after eight, anxious to get an early start to the day and smartly dressed in a new black suit. With his best white shirt neatly pressed and accented with a bright red tie, he looked like he just stepped from the pages of a men‘s clothing ad. She had just stood smiling at him as he paced the living room cleaning his sunglasses, until he glanced up and caught her.

“Wha?” His eyebrows shot up and he had grinned self-consciously.

“Nothing. Just waiting for you to finish.” She had lied, with her fingers crossed beneath the light weight sweater draped over her folded arms.

“All done, ready to go?”

Nodding, she took his arm when he offered it and so began what she realized later was a perfect day. She supposed she should have caught on to that fact as it was happening, but she was too busy living it. Besides, if she’d analyzed it, it would probably have disappeared in a puff of smoke, and if that were the case, she was glad it had escaped her notice and she had those memories to relive.

Jack had especially attentive, starting by not only opening her car door, but tucking the hem of her floral print chiffon skirt inside before closing it. He took extra care with the temperature in the car, checking to see if she were hot or cool; and when she noticed a light fresh scent that the car had never had before, thanks in part to Levi, he admitted that he had washed and cleaned the vehicle the night before and pulled out a paper envelope from beneath his seat.

“A sachet? You know what a sachet is?”

“I do now. The lady beside me at the store where I bought the car wax was getting one and said something about it helping with the smell from her son’s sweaty baseball uniform. I figured it was worth a shot.”

From there, the day passed by at a speed she wouldn’t have thought possible. The graduation ceremony was followed by lunch with Billy and his girlfriend, Patty, and they spent another hour or so after that listening to the young recruit’s harrowing and hilarious stories of his training at the academy. They excused themselves when he announced that he and Patty were expected at her mother’s house for a small celebration, declining the invitation to join them.

Waving goodbye to the couple as they climbed into Patty‘s small car and drove away, Sue had turned to Jack and nudged him in the arm.

“We could have gone, if you wanted. Lucy will watch Levi for me and we don’t have to work tomorrow.”

“I know, but this is his time. Having FBI agents in the room tends to monopolize everyone’s attention.”

“Careful Sparky, your sensitive hairdresser side is showing.”

Grinning, Jack had just shook his head and opened her car door. The ride back was slow and easy, the two of them enjoying each other’s company and the unusually warm February day. Two blocks from her apartment, he pulled the car over and turned in his seat. “You wanna go see a movie?”

She knew she was staring at him too long, but for the life of her she couldn’t form words. Only when he started to fumble for words to let her decline the offer graciously did the old gray matter warm up and she blurted out , “I’d love to!”

His grin returned, and he relaxed into the drivers seat, obviously happy that she’d agreed. “Is there a particular movie you’d like to see? We could drive over to the Montrose and see what’s on…”

They’d been there before with Amanda and Ben, and another time with Lucy, but never just the two of them.

“Actually, I have their number in my blackberry, I can call and see what’s on and when they start.”

The only movie they were both interested in turned out to be a popular adventure movie, but the start times were nearly an hour and a half later. “How about coffee and maybe dessert while we wait?”

“Ooooh, dessert.” She licked her lips and gave him an ’how dare you’ look. “You know very well I can’t turn down chocolate. But we have to share; that’s the only way my guilt won’t eat me alive while I watch the movie.”

“Deal.”

They had laughed their way through a gooey chocolate brownie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and two cups of coffee before heading to the theatre. She tried her best to concentrate on the movie, but shortly after the opening credits rolled, Jack’s arm draped around her shoulders and his fingers curled into her upper arm. After that, not much on the screen had her full attention. At least not until a scene where the characters were battling gargantuan bugs. She tried not to squirm, but could help but hide her eyes. Discreetly, or so she thought, she dipped her head and squeezed them closed, not even daring to sneak a peek to see if the coast was clear.

Only a few seconds passed when Jack’s arm tightened and pulled her close to his side. Risking a quick look, she could see him signing something in the light from the screen… All gone. He told her later that he remembered her aversion to bugs from the time they had gone to that seedy motel looking for information and Bobby had teased her about big cockroaches.

She had no recollection of the rest of the movie, only Jack’s arm hugging her tight and his other hand that had settled on her forearm. Standing on the sidewalk outside her apartment later that evening, he had seemed anxious, stumbling over his words until she could barely read him. He had finally just shut up, and stood staring at her with a strange expression on his face. When she opened her mouth, trying come up with something to fill the awkward gap, he stepped forward and drew her into a hug.

When he pulled back, the look on his face was even more difficult to fathom. “Thank you for coming with me today. It meant a lot.”

“I wouldn’t have missed it. Thanks for inviting me.”

“I always want you.” His eyes rounded as he realized what he’d said. “I mean, of course I’d want you to come… you know Billy so well and all…”

She nodded, not knowing what else to do. “Right… of course.”

Then he was smiling at her again and he leaned in and placed a kiss on her cheek. “See you Monday?”

If only this Friday had been as wonderful as that one had been. She could use that arm wrapped around her shoulder right about now...

~~o~~

Poor Sue! Somebody call Jack and tell him to get back to D.C. PRONTO!

Kim

I absolutely LOVED this post! Thanks for finishing it . . . . althought we could have done with JACK ARRIVING IN THE NICK OF TIME . . . maybe in the NEXT one?? Very sweet description of Billy's graduation day. That would CERTAINLY have made a great episode . . . and then the movie! I call that a date, don't you? But JESSICA? ACK! Don't you make me start writing poetry again, do you hear me?

Now, as for Levi and his surgery. I keep telling myself that "angst is the pathway to happiness." Profound, isn't it? I read that somewhere . . .

Remember - NOTHING TRULY BAD WILL HAPPEN TO LEVI . . . and Jack will be back SOON, having dropped Jessica into a really deep hole somewhere, and he will profer his marvelous shoulder for Sue to cry on, sleep on, or whatever she wants to do with said shoulder. Do ya think she needs some ideas?

See you tomorrow???? Write, Tina! Write like the wind!!

Poor Levi.

Jessica, keep hands off Jack.

Love Sue's memories of her time with Jack.

That was a wonderful description of a perfect day! Loved the way he acted in the theater... Now... can you, please send a certain someone to comfort her??? She need a soulmate who can understand her pain and distress... Well, I think you know who I mean...

Tina, not to sound like a broken record or anything, but Jessica...NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sue and Jack!!!!!!!! Yes please!!!!!!!

Please keep Levi safe.

You have a great story going here. I am like everyone else hoping that Jack gets back to DC fast.

I'm feeling so bad for Levi right now. He's been hurting all this time and no one's noticed. :whimper: I wonder what he ate, though.

Sue's perfect day was, in fact, a PERFECT day! A shared dessert... a movie to snuggle up to... a goodnight hug and kiss (despite the fact that it was on the cheek)... :swoon:

Lovely Tina. Just lovely!

Lindsy

I really think Jack needs to get home and fast to be with sue
and levi and jess keep your filthy mitts off of jack unless you want a smack around the head but really jack im you get there for sue and Levi cant wait for more
Lin

I want Jack back too!!

Em

Hope Jack drop Jessica ( ) and get back immediately to Sue!
Poor Levi, hope he get well soon after his surgery

Tere

Poor Levi!! What could he have possibly eaten that has caused him all this trouble?? He's not a puppy anymore - he should know better!! Bunny's not missing, is he???

I sighed through the flashback to Billy's graduation!! What an absolutely perfect day, and they did seem to make some progress!!!

Tina, I didn't even know you knew the "J" word, not the "Jack" word, but the "J" word!! I didn't know you talked like that!! Does your mother know you talk like that?? I'm going to go look for a bar of soap!! I raised you better, Missy!!!

Now, I'm sitting here, worried about Levi, wishing Jack was with Sue, and extremely worried about moving the "J" word from one prison to another without mishap!!!

Joy

Oh Joy!

Tina, I love how I don't know where you're taking us. Absolutely love it. There's just one thing, though-- I thought you said nothing's supposed to happen to Levi. A major surgery is NOT 'nothing'. You do realise that, don't you?

Joy --this is not a horror fic!

So, tina, the angst over Levi being sick wasn't enough for you? Nope, you had to make it a life threatening situation...and Sue is sitting there all alone while Jack is with J-J-J...I can't say it! That's like quadruple threat angst...in one post...is that even allowed on this Board? Somebody check the guidelines quick!!!!!

kav

Sorry, Kav - I just got caught up in the moment!! It was one of those questions I felt compelled to ask!!!

Joy

I'm so excited to see that you've started a story. You da woman!!!!

You'd be more da woman if you get Jack to Sue while she's waiting on Levi to get out of surgery.

Amen . . .

I don't quite think this is what you're all waiting for... but remember I did say plenty of J/S moments... EVENTUALLY. This is just the third post!!

In the meantime, get those rotten tomatoes ready



Punching the small pillow didn’t seem to have any effect on it, but it relieved a little bit of the tension stored in his brain and body, so he did it anyway – and with enough vigor that the flight attendant began to cast furtive glances his way. Great… all he needed was to get kicked off this plane. Especially since it being on time was pretty much the only thing that had gone right in the last two and a half days.

He leaned forward and tried to see if D was asleep. His unwitting partner in this fiasco had kept his cool at all times, but by the time they boarded the plane ten minutes ago, Jack could see fissures appearing rapidly in the calm facade. D’s head nodded to one side and Jack sat back with a sigh. If he were D, he would have given him a piece of his mind, but no such censure had been offered.

When had he lost control, exactly? The job had started out smoothly, only the guilt he felt over walking out on Sue rumbling in his gut. Even though he knew she had only good intentions, he had shut her out. But what he had told her was true; he was a grown man and he could handle this. So, he steeled himself against whatever emotion might surface when he first saw Jessica again, accompanied D into the prison and sitting patiently as they waited to speak to the warden. Even the sight of her wearing the requisite orange jumpsuit as they brought her into the small visitors room didn’t stir anything beyond a pang of regret for the future she might have had if she hadn’t let greed rule her life.

Jessica was still beautiful, in a rather sinister way. The relative light heartedness he’d seen in her all those years ago had been stripped away, leaving only the more base side of her nature, and she seemed to have cultivated that to her advantage over the last few months. The warden told a tale of lies and deception that would have eventually gained the cunning woman her freedom if she were left under the care of male guards indefinitely. So far, three different men had reported her for trying to bribe them with everything from money to sexual favors in return for their aid in her escape. And Warden Cox knew that sooner or later there would be a guard that wouldn’t have the good sense to see through her lies. Maryland might not be the answer to all the problems, but it’s female guards were a start.

Not ten minutes into the ride to the airport with their charge now wearing non-descript, government issue khakis and stashed safely away in the back seat with a bullet proof shield between them, she started to whine about being hot, then hungry, then tired. She kept it up until Jack was seconds away from giving her something to really whine about, and even D’s jaw was tightening at the irritating assault on his ears, when she must have sensed how close she was to being gagged, and abruptly shut up. She was a model prisoner as they checked in with airport security, escorted to their gate and squared away at the rear of the plane. Once she was handcuffed to the armrest, D had excused himself to go to the restroom, leaving them alone with each other for the first time.

At first, neither said anything; each carefully avoiding even brief eye contact. When she laid her head back and settled into the seat, he thought she was preparing to get some rest, but then she spoke.

“I’m sorry Jack.”

He didn’t answer. Didn’t even move. He had expected those words back when they’d arrested her, but they hadn’t come. Only some insincere platitude over letting him go all those years ago. And it was just as well; he hadn’t been in the mood to listen at the time. Nor was he now. For a while afterwards, he found himself wondering what had happened to her that caused her to make such horrible choices, but he hadn’t dwelled on it, preferring to thank God that he hadn’t been dragged down with her. He was lucky to be where he was and to know the friends that had come to be family, over the years, and as the time since her trial lengthened, he had grown to appreciate that family, and one in particular, even more.

“You don’t have anything to say to me?” Her voice was low and soft and for a moment it reminded him of their days together in Kuala Lumpur. They had been heady times, but he was glad they were in the past.

“What do you want Jessica?” He hissed out her name, sounding like the viper of which she now reminded him.

“Nothing. I was apologizing.”

“Not interested.” He kept his eyes trained toward the front of the plane, tracking the movements of the flight attendants as they readied the other passengers for departure.

“That doesn’t sound like the Jack I knew.”

When she received only silence in response, Jessica leaned forward in the seat, her long hair sweeping forward to create a curtain of privacy for the two of them. They were starting to get curious looks from the older couple now seated across the aisle; Jessica’s handcuffs no doubt causing some concern.

Jack snorted softly. The Jack she knew; maybe that man never really existed, just like the Jessica he’d only thought he knew.

“So, are we just going to sit here and act like we don’t know each other?”

He turned a cold expression her way, the set of his mouth grim. “We don’t.”

She didn’t react except for her jaw jutting forward slightly. “I beg to differ.”

“Beg all you want. It doesn’t change the truth.”

“Jack… think back. We shared a lot that summer…”

“There was a time when I thought we did, but I was wrong. My father always told me that it takes a lifetime to even begin to know a person, but I was young enough to think I could learn it all in four dates. I’ve learned a lot since then.”

“So we meant nothing?”

“No, not ‘nothing’. But what I learned, you wouldn’t find very complimentary.”

“So there’s no chance?”

He snorted out an abrupt laugh. “Chance? For us? You’ve got to be kidding.”

Flouncing back in her seat, she curled her lips in a sneer. “Let me guess, it’s that blonde dummy…”

“Shut up.”

She slid triumphant eyes toward him. “Hit a nerve, did I? What she do, turn you down?”

“You couldn’t begin to think like her, don’t even try.”

“So she did turn you down.”

“You…”

D returned just then, before he could set her straight so he choked back the words, shifting in his seat to look out the window. Unfortunately, Jessica wasn’t prepared to play nice any more.

“I have to go to the restroom.” It was said with a petulant edge in her voice and she fixed her gaze on Jack as if D weren’t even near. When he didn’t answer, her nostrils flared and her voice rose. “Jack! I have to go to the restroom.”

Sighing, he turned away from the window and crooked his eyebrow at D, letting him know with a look that the flight was likely to be an adventure. He removed her handcuff from the seat clicked it onto his own wrist. Once they were in front of the tiny restroom he pushed open the door and checked to make sure no one was inside when he felt himself being pushed. Fearing that Jessica had somehow got out of the handcuffs, he pivoted quickly just as the door was pulled shut and found himself face to face with her; her chest pressed to his.

“What on earth? Open the door!”

“But this is so cozy, and I can make it worth your while to stay here with me.”

“You don’t have anything I want. Open the door.”

She ground against him. “You don’t mean that…”

He pushed her aside, or as far aside as was possible in the cramped space. He was reaching for the door handle when her scream pierced his eardrum, and suddenly the door was yanked open from the outside. A flight attendant blinked at the two of them, her eyes traveling down to where Jessica’s khaki shirt hung gaping open.

~~o~~

Jessica you are soooooooooo evil.

Tina I can see already this is going to be very interesting to say the least.

No you did NOT, Tina! I told you . . . dump her in a deep hole somewhere, anywhere, far away from JACK! I don't LIKE her. grumble grumble grumble. Where are those tomatoes . . . we REALLY need a rotten tomato smilie . . . er, frownie . . .
You expect me to SLEEP after that?

I have the perfect idea for that scenario. I got it from an old "Get Smart" show where the good agents kept disappearing on the plane. When Agent Smart went to the rest room, the floor openned up. The only way Smart survived was by grabbing onto the old fashion pull down towel roller. (Needless to say I laughed by head off). In Jessica's case we have the new modern paper towels so Jack could unhandcuff her, shut her in and Tina could open the floor. Problem solved.
I am enjoying this story and the replies as well!
Terie

I'm with Regina , Sue needs Jack!!

Tere

Ugh... this is so not good. But this does make for a very exciting story development. I'm excitied to see the twists and turns (for I do love them) you're going to throw into this story. Can't wait!

That is just how I picture Jessica would be if they would ever would meet in a situation like this. I am wondering if D heard that scream from his seat.

I can't believe you did that!!!! Arg! Tina!!!

Of course, this is definately going to be an interesting story to tell the air marshall. I know Jack's going to be able to talk his way out of it, but I wish I could see the look on the poor guy/girl's face when he tried to explain.

Lindsy

Sigh, and I was going to do a light, fluffy comment on your 'getting in touch with your hairdresser side' comment the second ot last post. (I mean, did anyone see Yannick's portrayl of a gay hairdresser in um...that show about the angel guy who comes and gives dead people a second chance?)

Okay, but I'm not laughing anymore. Not only do you thrust Jessica at Jack...you...you...left them alone!!!!! I'd have made her hold it until they landed...I mean it's not that long a flight, right? And can I just say thank goodness I didn't read that post while I was eating breakfast! Just cooking it...and now I think it's burned since I'm still reeling with shock.

kav

THE AGONY!

How dare you put us through that?

How dare she!


Em

Tina, Sweetie, Cutie, Honey, Gumdrop, what are you doing?? D is NOT going to believe that Jack accosted Jessica, but that still leaves a whole plane full of other people who don't know any better!!!

Guess what - it's FIX IT time!!!

I do have to admit, Tina, this is pretty clever writing!!!

Joy

You know what happened last time Joy used those lovely endearments on ME? She yelled at me (in love, I know . . .)!! Watch out, Tina!



Better do as she says, and FIX THIS!

(did that work? Joy, we could try good cop/bad cop on her, but I can't decide which ones we would be . . . we would just be confused cops . . . )

Don't like that woman; never have, never will.

Now this was what Sue was worried about.

Didn't mind Allie but Jessica

JESSICA!!! STOP THAT GAME RIGHT NOW!!!

I'm with you Joy, D won't believe it's the way that things happened, But I feel about everybody else... We all know SHE can be VERY convincing when she want something... or someone!

oh nobody is going to fall for that trick...are they!!! come on...D will keep it cool. everything will turn out fine.

Regina, why do I have this picture in my head of you standing behind me, yelling "Yeah, yeah, take that, Tina!!"??? LOL

I have to agree, we would end up being confused cops, because I would forget which one I'm supposed to be and start agreeing with you!!!

Joy