Another Life.
by jjbird
Rated T
Disclaimer: Definately not my characters or showetc, butitis fun to play.
Spoilers: Some working knowledge of Season 3 is good.
A/N: This is dedicated to the lovely Mariel, who is always spot on with her advice, and to my fellow fanfic writers, especially the J/S shippers, who are still keeping the faith...This A.U. begins after Season 2, you'll get the idea.
The phone rang. He picked it up on the second ring. "Jack Malone speaking."
"Jack, it's Vivian, how are you?" asked the voice from the not too distant past. Six and a half months past to be exact.
"Viv! How the hell are you?"
"Fine, fine. How's Chicago treating you?"
"Great, go Cubs rah-rah and all that, but I just grin and bear it." He eased back into his chair, smiling.
"You got that right. Love to chat, but we need your help with a case."
"I'm listening and it's your dime."
"It's going to be more than a dime; we need you back here to help with it as it's related to an old one of yours, can't do it via email."
"In New York? Aaaaah, okay," Jack flipped through his day planner. "I think I can manage-."
"I've already spoken to your supervisor and it's not a problem. You'll fly out tonight, so you'll have Friday and the weekend if you need it. Then we'll see."
Jack raised his eyebrows as he listened. "Okay. I'll need to check with Maria." He was not looking forward to that conversation one bit.
"I'll send the flight details through to you. Really appreciate this Jack."
You really have no idea how much I appreciate this, thought Jack. "Sounds great. Be good to catch up with the team again. See you tonight maybe?"
"I'll try and pick you up at the airport, but it looks like there's going to be another case going on. Not sure."
Vivian rang off; leaving Jack delighted and intrigued as he replaced the phone in its cradle. He looked up to see his supervisor bearing down on him.
"You think you're pretty smart, don't you?" Gianelli asked, with a touch of a sneer. "You been pulling strings or something?"
Jack crossed his arms and stared at him. He disliked Gianelli intensely. "For your information, you knew about this before I did. Robertson can cover for me. It'll just be a few days, and mostly my weekend."
"I'll sign off on it, but I'm not impressed," Gianelli said bitterly as he walked off.
Like I really care, thought Jack, watching him go. A few days without that young asshole to contend with would be a holiday indeed. He glanced around the office; Robertson was pointedly ignoring him. Anywhere but here would be wonderful.
He pulled open a drawer in his desk and took out a photo. It was the team, taken at an office party. Vivian's birthday maybe? Vivian was in the center, with Martin and Danny framing her. Jack and Samantha were on the ends. It was a safe photo, and the only one he had of himself and Samantha almost together. He sighed, remembering, and returned the picture to the drawer.
He picked up the phone.
Did he and Maria have plans for tonight? For the life of him he couldn't remember.
He hit the speed dial for Maria's office.
xx--
Jack sat on the edge of the bed with a large brown envelope, given to him by the driver who had met him at LaGuardia. Vivian had been unable to meet him due to the new case. He was neither concerned nor bothered; that was the nature of the job.
The driver had delivered him in good time to the standard FBI hotel room, not far from Federal Plaza. Rather than read the case file while traveling, Jack had chosen to enjoy the city lights. He felt like a tourist, revisiting a city he loved, and he did love New York.
He opened the envelope and pulled the file out, his eyes fixating on the name. He silently whistled. So this was the man they were looking for. Well, well.
This old case held bittersweet memories.
This case had one very good reason to be etched upon his mind.
He riffled through the pages. How interesting that this had brought him back to New York and that this man was a missing person.
He looked toward the window, his thoughts straying, wondering what Samantha thought about this. He winced at the thought; probably she had forgotten, or didn't care.
He made himself more comfortable on the bed, mentally detached himself to focus, and began to read.
There wasn't much there. Emerson had left for work athis accountancy firm and not turned up. His wife, the second Mrs. Emerson, had been out of town for a few days, so hadn't know he was missing until she'd returned. He'd been gone at least 48 hours before she had reported him gone. Seems they'd had a fight, so she hadn't missed talking to him. The bulk of the envelope had been the files pertaining to the earlier case, and Jack remembered the details fairly well.
After a while he put the notes down, rubbed his eyes, and got up to look out the window at the city.
He missed New York.
He missed his old job, and the team.
He was missing his daughters.
And he realized something else; he sure as hell wasn't missing Maria.