I don't own any of the characters in this story and no copyright infringement is intended.
This is a "What if?" fanfic. What if in the season eleven episode "Top Gun" Sue Ellen had changed her mind at the last possible moment and instead of teaming up with Kimberly and Wendell to beat JR she voted her Weststar shares to make him CEO?
***
What If
Part 43
***
"And the doctor didn't say anything else?" Jenna asked her.
"No," Sue Ellen shrugged. "She said she wouldn't know anything until she got the test results."
"How long will that be?" Lucy asked.
"A few days," Sue Ellen answered. "Until then, she left my medication the same and added something to ease my stomach cramps."
"Well, don't overdo it, Sue Ellen," Jenna said. "We need you healthy and full of energy for your wedding day."
"Oh, don't you worry about that, " Sue Ellen laughed. "I won't let anything ruin this wedding. Speaking of which Lucy, did you talk to your parents about being seated with the family?"
"Yes," Lucy told her. "They were surprised you asked them. They both said they'd be honored so long as JR was on board with it. They want to make sure he won't be annoyed over it."
"It was JR's idea," Sue Ellen smiled. "He'll be very pleased to hear they've agreed."
"I think it's wonderful you are making the seating of the family part of the ceremony," Jenna said. "I don't think I've ever seen that done before."
"It's very important to JR and me that the whole family feels like a part of this wedding. We want you all to be part of our special day."
"Do you have the order of entrance figured out?" Lucy asked.
"Yes," Sue Ellen nodded. "Jack and Donna will enter first. Then Jenna and Cliff. Then Gary and Valene. Of course Clayton and Miss Ellie will be seated last."
"Cliff Barnes is being seated with the family?" Jenna gasped.
"Of course," Sue Ellen laughed. "He's Christopher's uncle."
"And JR is okay with that? Really?" Jenna sounded shocked.
"He is," Sue Ellen chuckled. "He even laughed about how everyone in Dallas would die of shock."
"Hey, wait, Sue Ellen," Lucy said thoughtfully, "if Clayton is being seated with the family, who is going to give you away?"
"The boys," Sue Ellen beamed. "They'll be on each side of me and give me away together."
"Oh, Sue Ellen," Jenna sighed wistfully, "it's going to be such a beautiful wedding."
"Yes, it is," Sue Ellen smiled brightly. "I can hardly wait."
***
"How long will it take?" Jack demanded.
The chemist looked up from the assortment of pills lying on the counter in front of him. "A few hours. I'll call you when I'm done."
"No. No calls. I'll come back by in three hours."
"As you wish," the chemist shrugged.
Jack nodded and made his way toward the door. He glanced at his watch and frowned. Three hours to kill. He supposed he should check around for open job opportunities. That way, if anyone asked why he had gone to Dallas, he'd have a reasonable excuse.
***
JR frowned and sat back in his chair. Crystal and Sly had been waiting for him when he'd gotten to the office. Crystal had told him about her visit from Kimberly Cryder and the picture of Sue Ellen with her brother.
"Sly, you said Kimberly had an appointment to see me today?"
"Yes, JR. At 2:00."
"Alright. Thank you ladies. Crystal, do you need anything?"
"No," Crystal shook her head. "You've already done so much for me."
"Thanks for coming in and letting me know about Kimberly. You call me at the office if you need anything."
Crystal nodded and walked to the door.
"Do you need anything else, JR?" Sly asked.
"Yes. Get Bobby on the phone for me, would you?"
"Of course, JR."
JR turned his chair to the window and stared out at the skyline. What was Kimberly up to? And why in the hell had Sue Ellen been meeting with Crystal's brother? And why hadn't she ever mentioned it?
JR's face grew dark. It seemed like no matter how close he and Sue Ellen got, she would always have her secrets.
***
"You're not over at Jenna's helping the ladies plan the wedding?" Clayton asked.
"No," Ellie sighed, sipping from her coffee. "It seemed very important to Lucy that she does most of it on her own. I'm going with them tomorrow when they shop for dresses."
"I have to meet JR and the men tomorrow to be fitted for my tuxedo," Clayton grumbled. "Don't know why I can't just wear one I already have."
"Well, you know Sue Ellen," Ellie laughed. "She wants everyone to be coordinated."
"Yes," Clayton agreed. "Have you seen Jack around?"
"No, not since breakfast. I wonder where he got off to?"
"Avoiding me and the offer of honest work probably," Clayton groused.
"We have to let him try to find his own way, Clayton," Ellie told him. "If he decides not to work for you, you can't hold it against him."
"No, I suppose not. But he has to work somewhere. He can't lay around Southfork all day and expect us to treat him like a kept man."
"I'm sure he knows that, Clayton. Just give him some time. I'm sure he'll sort everything out."
"He'd better sort it out. And the sooner the better."
***
"Jordan," JR said calmly, "I appreciate your concern but I haven't even made up my mind yet."
"All I'm saying is that there's not any reason for you to sell your shares, JR. If you decide you don't want to run Weststar, you can always keep control of the company and hand pick your own CEO."
"Why does this matter so much to you?" JR asked.
"Weststar is the biggest oil company in Texas. How it operates affects my company and the company of everyone in the cartel. We don't need an unknown upstart running things. And you know, it'll affect Ewing Oil too."
"I'll look after Ewing Oil," JR told him. "As for the cartel, tell me why I should care one bit about them? Marilee has been running all over Dallas with Kimberly and Wendell plotting against me."
"JR, you know how Marilee is. She gets excitable sometimes. And I haven't done any business with Wendell or Cryder."
"Why not, Jordan? Did they leave you out of all their schemes?"
"No," Jordan admitted. "They came to me and asked me to throw in with them. I turned them down."
"Why?"
"It seemed personal," Jordan sighed. "There wasn't any real money to be made and you know I don't get involved in personal feuds. That's why I always declined to get in between you and Cliff Barnes."
"Well, Jordan, like I said, I haven't made up my mind about Weststar yet. But if you want, give me some names that would be acceptable to you as CEO. I'll talk them over with Sue Ellen."
"Sue Ellen?"
"She has as much stock as I do," JR reminded him. "She'll be an equal partner in any decision I make."
"Of course," Jordan smiled. "By the way, the wife and I are looking forward to the wedding."
"Not as much as I am," JR laughed, standing up to walk Jordan to the door. "Send me those names. I'll get back to you, Jordan."
JR followed Jordan Lee out into the reception area and walked him to the elevator. Once he was gone, he moved back toward Sly's desk. "Do you have any messages for me from Harry?"
"No, JR. Not yet."
JR nodded and went back into his office and shut the door. He was waiting on the information on Mitch Cooper, but he had another reason he wanted to talk to McSween; he wanted to know why Sue Ellen had met with the man who blew up his oil rig - and he wanted to know before the wedding.
***
Jack sat on the park bench and tossed bread crumbs to the birds. He checked his watch and realized it was almost time to head back to the chemist.
He's been roaming the country aimlessly for months when Wendell's man had found him. At first, Jack didn't have any interest in what Wendell was offering him. The money was insane, but Jack didn't want to come back to Dallas. He'd had enough of the Ewings and Cliff Barnes to last him a lifetime.
Jeremy had been persistent though. He'd reminded Jack about Jamie's death, how she'd be alive if Cliff hadn't hurt her and Sue Ellen hadn't shipped her off to California, how they had fought over the ten percent of Ewing Oil, how greedy they'd all been, and how April and Cliff had wound up with what had rightfully belonged to Jack Jeremy reminded Jack in excruciating detail that the Ewings didn't care about anyone or anything other than themselves and their precious Ewing Oil and they deserved whatever they got.
***
"You okay, Sue Ellen?" Jenna asked, her voice concerned.
Sue Ellen took a deep breath and nodded. "Just a dizzy spell."
"Get her some water," Jenna told Lucy.
Sue Ellen took the glass from Lucy and drank it all in a few gulps. "Thank you," she said, handing the glass back to her niece, "I'm much better now."
"Sue Ellen, you're shaking. And you're as white as a ghost. Maybe we should go back to Southfork so you can get some rest," Lucy suggested.
"Yes," Sue Ellen nodded. "I think that's a good idea."
"I'll help you get her to the car," Jenna told Lucy. "Should we call JR?"
"No," Sue Ellen waved her hand. "I'll be fine and there's no reason to worry him."
"Are you sure, Sue Ellen?" Jenna pressed.
"Yes," Sue Ellen managed a small smile, "I just need to rest a bit. I'll be just fine, ladies. I promise."
***
JR looked up from the papers he was studying when his intercom buzzed. "Yes, Sly?"
"Mrs. Cyder is here, JR," Sly's voice came out of the machine.
"Show her in," JR said and stood up.
"Kimberly, come in and have a seat," he nodded when she came into the office. "Sly, leave the door open, please."
"Hello, JR," Kimberly said as she took a seat. "It's good to see you back in the office again."
"Cut the crap," JR snapped. "Just give me Wendell's package and then get the hell out of my office."
"What?" Kimberly breathed out in shock. "How did you know?"
"For a woman who claims to be so smart, you sure do act stupid sometimes. Crystal told me."
"JR, this could all have very serious implications regarding Sue Ellen. I can help you with this."
"It'll be a cold day in hell whenever I need your help with anything, particularly if it involves my wife," JR said menacingly. "And if I find out that you had anything to do with Wendell's scheme to blow up my rig, I'll have your ass thrown in jail so fast, it will make your head spin. Now, get out."
"But, JR, Please listen to me!" Kimberly pleaded.
"Get out now, Kimberly," JR growled. "Don't make me have to tell you again."
"JR, I need your help!" Kimberly sounded panicked. "I'm afraid Jeremy will have me thrown in jail - or worse!"
"Well that's just too damned bad. You should have thought about that before you decided to come after me. You're on your own, honey."
JR watched as she stood up from the chair and walked to the door, her shoulders slumped and her head down. He reached over and picked up the phone. "Bob? I've got it. You and Ray get over here. Sue Ellen is in real trouble."
***
Sue Ellen rolled over and checked the time. She'd slept about an hour. Her stomach had been cramping like crazy, but the new medication had helped her a lot. She sat up slowly and fought back a wave of nausea. She didn't understand how menopause could possibly make her feel this poorly. She wondered for the thousandth time if there was something else going on with her body.
She got out of bed and walked to the bathroom, intending to take a pill for nausea before it got too bad. She opened the medicine cabinet and frowned slightly. Her medicine had been moved around. She kept the bottles in a specific order so that she could find the pill she needed quickly. The bottles had all been rearranged.
"Maybe JR was looking for something," she sighed to herself as she put everything back in its proper place. Her frown depended when she realized there was a pill missing from her birth control packet. How had that happened? Surely she hadn't taken two pills this morning by mistake?
"This is so strange," she muttered to herself. She made a mental note to ask JR if he'd been searching for something in the medicine cabinet. It just wasn't like him not to put everything back where it belonged.
***
Jack stared at the paper the chemist had given him. He didn't understand half of what the guy had told him, but he was sure it was bad. Sue Elllen's medication had been tampered with.
Jack wondered how Jeremy had managed to do it. There almost had to be an accomplice in the house, someone with access to JR and Sue Ellen's bedroom. Then again, if Jeremy already had a plant at Southfork, why did he need Jack?
It crossed Jack's mind that maybe JR had tampered with Sue Ellen's pills, but he dismissed the idea very quickly. JR seemed very happy and very much in love with his wife these days. And even if that was all an act, Jack doubted seriously that JR would stoop to poisoning the mother of his son. No. Someone else was hurting Sue Ellen.
He walked over to a payphone and dropped in some dimes. "Listen, this is Jack Ewing," he said when the person at the other end of the line came on. "Yes, I know I said no phone calls, but I have a question. How would you go about poisoning those pills? Could it be done by anyone?" The answer made him scowl darkly. "Thanks," He muttered, hanging up the phone.
Jack knew it was time to find JR and confess the whole story. He wished he had more time to sort out his personal issues, but he had to act now. If Sue Ellen kept taking these pills, she was as good as dead.
***
"Calm down, JR," Ray sighed. "All you have is one picture. You can't even tell where it was taken. For all you know Sue Ellen just happened to bump into the guy on the street."
"They're sitting down at a table together, having drinks!" JR thundered. "Doesn't look like a chance meeting to me!"
"JR, there's bound to be a reasonable explanation.Just go home and ask her instead of assuming the worst," Ray admonished him. "You don't have to get McSween to dig around. You know Sue Ellen won't lie to you."
"Look at this," Bobby spoke up. He held up the picture of Sue Ellen and Crystal's brother and pointed to a splash of color in the bottom left hand corner. "That's a lady's shoe," Bobby said. "There was someone else at that table with them."
"Kimberly Cryder maybe?" Ray asked.
"I doubt it," Bobby shook his head. "There's no way that Sue Ellen would have had drinks with Kimberly and not mentioned it to JR."
"Unless it was before we reconciled. Sue Ellen was meeting with Kimberly a lot before the Weststar takeover. We need to find out who that shoe belongs to and when that picture was taken.," JR said.
"Why do you think Jeremy had Kimberly bring you this stuff?" Ray asked. "If he wanted to use it to hurt Sue Ellen, why not just do it?"
"To sew doubt and cause friction in their marriage?" Bobby wondered out loud.
"I don't think so," JR replied. "There's no doubt he'd love to make Sue Ellen and me miserable, but he could have done that with just the picture."
"Then what is he up to?" Ray asked again.
"Wendell is facing murder charges and life in prison. The case against him rests heavily on Crystal and her testimony. He knows I have some influence over Crystal. This is his way of letting me know his defense will be to accuse Sue Ellen."
"Based on one picture?" Bobby asked incredulously.
"No. Not just the picture. Sue Ellen had a drink with Crystal's brother. That means she touched that glass and drank out of it," JR paused and shook his head. "Wendell has her finger prints. He's going to try to frame her for the explosion if I don't have all the charges against him dropped. If I were him, that's what I'd do.
"My God, JR," Ray breathed out, "You're right. That's why he sent you a copy of his lawyer's brief on bail. They're going to tell the judge they have proof that someone other than Wendell planned the explosion."
"Yes," JR nodded. "And that someone is going to be Sue Ellen.'
"Well, what do you want to do, JR?" Bobby asked.
JR was silent for a moment as he organized his thoughts. "If we can figure out where and when that picture was taken and who else was in it, we can blow a hole in Wendell's frame job."
"The best way to do that is for you to go home and ask Sue Ellen about it," Ray told him.
JR's eyes grew dark again. He knew Ray was probably right; but a part of him didn't want to take the chance that Sue Ellen might lie to him. As much as he hated to admit it, having her evade the truth would break his heart.
"Excuse me, JR," Sly stuck her head into the door. "You wanted to know as soon as Harry got here."
"Send him in," JR nodded.
"JR," Harry stopped when he saw Bobby and Ray. "Is everything alright?"
"Just fine, Harry." JR told him. "What have you got for me?"
Harry handed him an envelope. "Here's those pictures from Atlanta. We have some good shots of the mother."
"Fine, thank you Harry," JR took the envelope and put it in his briefcase.
"Sly said you had something else for me to check out."
JR grimaced and looked over at Ray. "No," JR finally answered. "That'll be all, Harry."
"Alright, JR. Call me if you need anything else," Harry nodded at Ray and Bobby and left the office.
"Good decision, JR," Ray said.
"JR, what mother in Atlanta?" Bobby asked.
"It doesn't matter," JR said. "It has nothing to do with Wendell or Sue Ellen." He picked up his briefcase and retrieved his hat from the hat stand. "Well, boys, let's go home and see what my wife has to say for herself."
***
Sue Ellen was mighty shocked JR wanted anything to do with a horse 
