A/N: My apologies to any Myles fans but the way he wriggled out of assignments he didn't like the sound of, always annoyed me. This time there are consequences to his actions. (For this particular story, Sue and Jack are married).
Disclaimer: The characters don't belong to me, they belong to Paxson Entertainment. I'm just having a bit of fun with them.
Key: Signing in bold. ~ Thoughts/Writing ~
The Anniversary
o-xxx-o
Myles entered the bullpen in a much happier mood than the team had seen him in for days…
"Hey Mate, don't tell me you finally managed to wriggle out of that assignment."
The Harvard man high-fived him, "I did indeed, thanks to some very useful family connections. Dying in some God-forsaken part of the Middle-East will no longer be this particular Leland's fate."
"What made you think your number was up anyway?" Bobby asked curiously.
"Did you see that place? It was practically on the front-line, ergo chances of getting out in one piece – slim to none."
"Fair point" he concurred.
"I wouldn't gloat quite so much if I were you. Don't forget, some other poor guy is gonna have to take your place." D cautioned.
"I realize that and I wish him… or her, well." He bowed with a flourish and crossed to his desk.
o-xxx-o
Two Days Later: Friday
Jack slipped quietly into the apartment, the scent of fresh coffee filling the air. He walked into the kitchen to find his wife preparing vegetables for dinner and motioned to Levi to get her attention, reckoning that risking making her jump when she had a kitchen knife in her hand wouldn't be such a good idea. Sue turned, giving him a beaming smile as she crossed the room to kiss him 'hello'.
"Hi! You're early."
"Yeah, I took a couple of hours I was owed." He was studiously avoiding eye contact which immediately had her on alert.
"Is something wrong?"
"Come and sit down, we need to talk."
"Jack, you're scaring me."
"Sorry" he signed his apology. "I don't mean to."
She followed him into the living area and they sat together on the couch, Jack took his wife's hand in his, caressing the back of it with his thumb.
"Jack…"
He slowly blew out a breath, still unable to meet her gaze. "Sue, they're sending me overseas."
Sadness clouded her face. "For how long..?"
"About a month..."
"Well, that's not too bad" she sighed in relief. "I think we can…"
He interrupted her before she could finish, now that he'd started he wanted to get everything said as quickly as possible. "I'm going to Iraq."
"No…" The tears started to form in her eyes when she realized that he'd got the assignment that Myles had been so determined to get out of. "Why, you..?"
He shrugged, "They needed someone from our unit. D's married so he…"
"So are you!"
"I know sweetheart, but D has kids…"
Under normal circumstances, she would never have dreamt of putting anyone in danger but she was desperate. "What about Bobby?"
"He's due to give evidence in that Mafia case, they can't risk it. And Myles… well you know about him."
"I don't want you to go." She whispered, her lips quivering with emotion. Moving closer to him she buried her head in his chest.
"I know, I don't want to leave you either."
Sue sat up again so that she could see his face. "When..?"
"Daybreak on Monday, Sue I…"
She leaned into him, kissing him passionately on the lips and smothering anything he'd been about to say. When they broke apart, Jack stood, picked her up in his arms and carried her to the bedroom.
o-xxx-o