Sgt. Phalanx/Don't Say Goodbye

From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe

Justin waited patiently for Susan to arrive. He wanted to see her and talk to her, but he knew this would be a conversation he didn’t want to have. The police chief glanced up from his clipboard as Susan walked up to the table. Justin slid the clipboard across for her to see. “This is a report of what happened in Steel Canyon. It has details regarding everything we encountered,” he said.

Susan picked up the clipboard and began skimming through the report nervously.

“I know you don’t want the PPD to find your son,” Justin continued. He hesitated for a moment. “I’m… letting you read that report so you can cross off whatever you think shouldn’t be in it.”

Susan looked back at Justin and gave a small smile as she pushed the clipboard back to him. “I trust you Chief… Justin… You’ll do what’s right. It’s why I came to you in the first place.”

Justin nodded. He knew he would battle his own sense of duty later as he tried to balance a comprehensive report against keeping Susan and her son safe. He hoped he could find the right balance between the two. “Thank for trusting me with this,” he said as he took back the report.

“You’ve been a true friend when very few others were. I trusted you from the beginning.”

Justin stood up from his chair to stand closer to her. “So… I guess this case is closed, then.” He looked around at the terrace. It was the same exact spot where Susan told him of her son. It was the same spot it all started for him. “What you told me of right here on this terrace is set up to be finished.”

Susan nodded. “There is still one bit of unfinished business… The Disabler. It’s still in the hands of Black Scorpion.”

The chief grimaced. “True. We did a lot of damage to his lab, though. We likely set back whatever research they had by a lot.”

She nodded in agreement. “Maybe you’ll have time to find it… before he captures some other child and uses it on them.”

“It won’t be as easy without you around to help me…”

Susan smiled sadly and remained silent for a moment. “Were things different… I think you and I would have made a pretty terrific team.”

Justin grinned and gave a half-hearted chuckle. “Team?” he said as something in his chest ached. “Yeah…”

She immediately regretted her words and looked down quickly. “Yeah,” she responded.

The chief took a breath and pulled out a small gift box from his pocket. He offered it to Susan. “Here, a little something as a parting gift, I suppose.”

Susan furrowed her brow. “Wha…?” She hesitated for a moment before taking the box. “I… I don’t understand.”

Justin shrugged and gave a half smile.

Susan opened the neatly wrapped box and grinned at what she saw inside. Inside was a pair of expensive-looking name-brand sunglasses.

“It’s not much. Just something I thought you might appreciate,” the chief said sheepishly.

Susan put them on immediately with a small laugh. “Oh… Nice! These must have cost you a fortune!”

Justin gave a light but genuine chuckle.

“Thank you,” she said softly as she returned the glasses to their case. “I mean… I should be the one giving you a gift… after all you’ve done.”

Justin swallowed and shook his head. “Well… Just promise you won’t forget me. And if it’s safe, send me a postcard wherever you go.” The words were harder to say than he thought they would be.

Susan’s smile faded. “I won’t forget you… every time I look at my son, I’ll remember you… and your willingness to put your life on the line for me and him.” Susan paused. “And I won’t be gone forever… just long enough to see him safe and settled.”

Justin was afraid to ask how long that might be, but Susan answered before he had the chance to ask.

“Might be a few months… a year…” Susan shrugged. "Maybe more..."

The chief’s heart sank at what her tone implied. He thought he was ready to move on from Jessica and what happened nine years ago. Susan was even the woman who helped him believe he could find a life with another again. But even so, he wasn’t sure he could move forward by waiting for her at the same time.

“But I’ll be back,” Susan continued.

When? He wanted to ask, but knew there wasn’t an answer. Instead he said, “Susan… however long that may be… and whatever may happen to either of us between, know that I’ll always be your friend. I’ll always consider you one as well.”

Susan nodded quickly, her eyes bright with unshed tears. “Thank you. That means… a lot. Thank you.” She moved quickly to give him a hug.

Justin’s emotions flew into a confused frenzy. He hugged her back, but felt little through his heavy armor. He knew Susan had to leave Paragon for the sake of her son. He knew he would have to learn to let her go and move on. But he also wanted to hold her in his arms and promise he would protect them, to tell her to stay in Paragon with him.

Before he even realized it and before he could act, Susan had pulled back and was walking away.

Stop!, he wanted to shout. Good bye, he should have said. I love you, he needed to tell her. But the words caught in his throat, and all he could do was watch Susan leave. She was gone from his sight before long.

A dull and aching feeling settled deep into Justin. Memories of how close he and Susan had grown during the past months drifted in his thoughts. He remembered his time with Susan as he stood on the terrace. He remembered being told of her son, of the time at the waterfall, of fighting by her side to save the life of her child.

And the memories weighed infinitely heavier on him than his armor. He thought back nine years, when he watched Jessica walk away, and all of the sudden understood why Jessica chose to forget.

He wouldn’t forget, though. Justin promised he would always be Susan’s friend. He would keep that promise.

Still… a promise didn’t make it any less painful, and the pain was too much to bear.

The chief pulled out his police broadband and checked the reports, hardly aware of the tears flowing from his left eye. There was work to be done, and at least for a time, he needed to forget.