Yay! I'm writting again! ...ahem.
This is the sequal to The Basement and takes place a week or so afterwards. Nigel and Jordan are still together, Woody's still an idiot, etc. Lol.
Remember how fast I updated The Basement? Well, I can't update so fast this time. I've gotten a whole lot busier since then, and can't find as much time to write. So the chapters of this one are probably gonna come out a LOT slower. Sorry...
The Basement and Back to the Basement, as well as all of my other fics so far, are written on no particular timeline, neither before nor after any certain episode. So yes, Max is there, simply because I like him and I want him to be there. (The same is true for the story Return)
Disclaimer: I don't own Crossing Jordan, but I put it on my Christmas list
Back to the Basement
Chapter 1: Confrontation
- Jordan -
I awoke to find Nigel beside me, each moist breath of his playing around my neck, his arms around me warmly. I smiled.
"Nige?" I whispered. I didn't know if he was awake yet.
"Morning love," he whispered back, giving me my answer. I turned to face him, and we kissed briefly. Then I slid out of bed and walked across the floor of my apartment to the closet, changing in the bathroom and replacing my pajamas with today's clothes. Nigel was sitting on the edge of the bed when I returned, and I walked over and sat next to him, staring for a moment at the thin scar on his neck.
"You want some breakfast love?" he asked. "I could whip some up before we leave." I shook my head.
"It's alright, I'll make myself some coffee. You should go home and change." He nodded.
"You're probably right. You'll be okay getting to work? I can pick you up if you like. I know you love motorcycle rides."
"That sounds great," I agreed, and both of us were smiling now.
Fifteen minutes later, Nigel and I were speeding down the road, my arms around his waist and my head laid against his back. We pulled into the morgue parking lot and walked in together. As the elevator opened on our floor, we were immediately greeted by Lily, who was passing, and who smiled as she walked away. Of all those at the morgue, Lily seemed to be the happiest for Nigel and I. We separated and headed in different directions, Nigel to his office, and me to Garret's.
"Hey Gar," I said enthusiastically as I walked in. "What've you got for me?" He looked up and gave one of his usual half-smiles.
"Hi Jordan," he said, reaching to hand me a file. "Slow day today, but I saved an autopsy for you. Old woman, died of an apparent heart attack. You and Nigel are working this one together." Garret was another who gave his full support towards Nigel and me, putting us together on most of the autopsies since our return. Perhaps this was why work had suddenly become so much more enjoyable. I smiled at him.
"Thanks Gar." He nodded, giving another half-smile, and I walked away.
We finished the autopsy fairly quickly. Even with Nigel and I working together, it was extremely boring. I'd been half hoping for a murder, or at least something unusual, just to break the monotony. Instead I got a cranky old woman who lived alone and had died, as Garret said, of a heart attack. He'd been right about it being a slow day as well; I eventually found myself left with nothing to do except resign to the large pile of paperwork accumulating on my desk. I sighed as I pulled the first sheet from the top of the stack. Yet I had barely started, when there was a knock on the door.
"Come in," I called. The door opened, and I heard someone walk in. I thought at first that it was Nigel, but he didn't say anything, just stood there. So I turned to face him. My smiled turned into a cold look however as I saw that it was not Nigel, but Woody. I realized that I should have known.
"What?" I asked stiffly.
"Hey," he said. There was a pause.
"Did you need something?" I asked, just as stiffly.
"I wanted to see how you were doing," he said sincerely, but I didn't need this.
"I don't have time to talk," I said, turning back to my desk. "I have work to do."
"Oh c'mon Jordan, you hate doing paperwork."
"Well maybe things have changed." There was another pause.
"Some things never change," he said finally, and without waiting for a response, he walked out, slamming the door behind him.
I sighed and bent my head, breathing deeply to calm myself. Every day it seemed, he tried to get closer to me, tried to get me to let him in. I never would, and yet his continuous pressing and nagging was becoming almost intolerable. Maybe it was because when I was truly honest with myself, I realized that I missed him. I missed the Woody he had been before, my old friend. I missed his laugh, his sense of humor, the part of him that faded a long time ago. It was only the love that we had shared at one point and oh-so-briefly that I didn't miss.
Nigel was the only one to whom I had talked to about Woody. He understood my frustration, and always showed his support and care, without which things would have been even more unbearable than they already were. But even with his help, I still was unsure of how long I'd be able to stand him and his nagging, which was becoming increasingly frequent. I sighed again and once more started on the large pile of work in front of me.
- Nigel –
I finished what little paperwork I had left and quickly found myself with nothing to do. I decided to get myself a cup of coffee, which was never any good here. Most of us drank it anyways however, either to occupy ourselves, or else to stock up on caffeine. The former was the reason I left my office at that moment, though I forgot about it the instant I cleared the doorway. Woodrow Hoyt was walking down the hall, in the unmistakably opposite direction of Jordan's office. He gave me a scathing look as he brushed past, and I knew immediately what was up. He had just been to see her…again. I walked quickly in the direction that he had just come from and peered through the office window. She was doing paperwork, or at least attempting to. I doubted she was getting much done, and decided to give her a reason to procrastinate. I knocked.
"Go away! I told you I'm busy!" she yelled. I cracked the door open.
"Easy love," I said. "It's me." Immediately she sped her chair in a circle to face me.
"Oh, hi Nige. Sorry, I thought you were…never mind. What's up?" She smiled quite convincingly, though still I looked at her, slightly worried.
"He's been bugging you again hasn't he?" I asked quietly. She opened her mouth immediately as if to assure me that there wasn't a problem when there clearly was, but closed it again as we stared at each other.
"Yes!" she burst out quite suddenly, turning her chair back to her desk. "He's such an asshole; he just can't leave me alone!" She leaned forward, resting her head in her hands. I took two long strides across the room and knelt at her side, the way I had done just before she was kidnapped only a week or so ago, though she wasn't crying this time. I put a hand on her shoulder comfortingly.
"He'll stop eventually," I said soothingly. "It'll just take some time. And until then, you can always talk to me about it." She covered my hand with her own and looked at me. I gave her a small smile, which she returned.
"Thanks," she said.
"Anytime love." Then I grinned broadly. "How about you take a break from that paperwork and we go have lunch together."
"What did I ever do without you?" she asked, her grin not quite matching my own, but smiling more broadly all the same.
"You got me there love!" I replied. She gave a small laugh, and we stood together. Then she put a hand on my shoulder, I wrapped my arm around her waist, and we walked out.
Yay! Review please! And an extra thanks to all those who R&R-ed The Basement! It really encourages me to keep going! And once again, I apollogize for my lack of knowledge on anything. I'm not the most observant person in the world, or the best speller. Lol.
