This is my first posted fic. I actually started a different one a few weeks ago, but then the finale happened, and I had to get this out . . . soooo hope you like it! This might be one shot, or there might be more. Please R&R and let me know if you want more! Thanks to the CR gals for inspiring me!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with Crossing Jordan; it's just for fun and venting frustration!

Chapter One – Rescue

"I love you."

"Jordan. . ."

She shook her head. "I'm not asking for anything here. I just. . . I don't want it left unsaid." She took a deep breath. "My whole life I've been so focused on death, you know. My Mom. My job. I, uh. . . I think I've just been afraid of really living, you know."

Suddenly his lips were on hers. They were warm, despite the cold. Firm, but still soft and tender. Her mind flashed back to that night in the Mojave desert. Talking and getting to know each other. A small fire keeping them warm. Their first kiss, keeping them warmer. She knew now, from that moment, that kiss, that it had always been Woody. It would always be Woody. To the end of her days, however long that may be. . .

He pulled away gently, resting her forehead against his, his beautiful smile showing the dimples she was so in love with. Just looking at him made her knees go weak and her pulse race. She willed the pounding in her chest to subside.

Suddenly he looked up and squinted his eyes at the bright sky. She looked up, too, and realized it wasn't just her heart hammering in her ears that she'd heard. It was – helicopters?

Woody jumped to his feet. "They found us!" he shouted at the top of his lungs, waving his arms in the air as she went running for the rest of their friends.

Woody sat alone by the fire, dawn just beginning to break over the mountains. He watched with a heavy heart and realized how many times he had missed the beauty of a sunrise. He had always just assumed there would be another one to watch tomorrow.

Tomorrow, he thought to himself. Will there be a tomorrow? Will there be one more sunrise to be in awe of?

He thought of all the missed sunrises and opportunities in his life. He'd been too young when his mom died to know what opportunities were, but young enough that his innocence caused him to grab each opportunity and run with it, not worrying about the outcome. After her death, opportunities were pushed aside unless they were going to benefit his family, namely his brother. He could think of only one time in his life when he'd grabbed an opportunity thinking solely of himself and what it meant for his future: the job offer as a detective with Boston P.D. Little did he know at the time that that opportunity would lead to so many more missed ones. . .

He thought back to the night before, watching Jordan's defeated expression at the news he and Bug weren't able to make the transmitter work long enough to contact help. He knew she was worried about Dr. M. and they were all painfully aware that he didn't have much time left. If Dr. M. passed, Woody knew Jordan would give up. He wasn't going to let that happen. He wouldn't stand by and watch either of them give up, especially Jordan.

He sighed, thinking of Jordan Cavanaugh and all the opportunities he'd missed with her that he'd never get back. He vowed right then and there if they both got off this mountain alive, he'd never miss another opportunity with her.

As if she could read his thoughts, she was suddenly sitting beside him, reaching for his hand. He smiled at her, knowing how much effort it took for her to make that one gesture. He squeezed her hand in reassurance and wrapped his arm around her. They sat in silence for a long time and watched dawn break on a new day.

"Woody, I don't know what's going to happen up here. But. . . there's something I have to say. . . just so you know. . ." She took a deep breath; looked straight into his eyes.

"I love you."

"Jordan . . ."

She shook her head. "I'm not asking for anything here. I just. . . I just don't want it left unsaid." She took a deep breath. "My whole life I've been so focused on death, you know. My Mom. My job. I, uh. . . I think I've just been afraid of really living, you know."

He didn't think. He just reacted, the words he'd been longing to hear again echoing in his brain. Her lips were warm, despite the cold. Soft and tender. His mind flashed back to that night in the Mojave desert. Talking and getting to know each other. A small fire keeping them warm. Their first kiss, keeping them warmer. He knew now, from that moment, that kiss, that it had always been Jordan. It would always be Jordan. To the end of his days, however long that may be. . .

He drew back, gently, smiling into her eyes, willing his pulse to slow down. His heart was hammering in his chest, the pounding in his ears so great he . . . suddenly he looked up. She'd heard it too. It wasn't just his imagination. That wasn't just his pulse pounding, that was – helicopters?

Bug sat, alone, fingering Madeline's teething keys, willing himself not to give up hope.

So much wasted time, he thought to himself. Why did I waste so much time? The pain of realizing he may lose Lily so soon, and that Madeline wasn't old enough to remember him actually made his stomach ache. His mind flashed back to that morning at the morgue, before they left to board the plane. Jiggling the teething keys in front of Madeline, trying to make her smile.

"It's just gas," Nigel had told him. Bug shook his head at him, refusing to believe it was anything but her daddy's love that had caused the smile on Madeline's face. He remembered how excited he'd been when Lily had come back into the room and he told her Madeline had smiled for the first time.

He sighed now, willing his mind to hold onto the picture of that toothless baby smile until he could see it again. He refused to believe he would never again have the opportunity to hold her, see her smile and tuck her into bed at night. He refused to believe Lily would have to raise Madeline on her own after all. He refused to let his tears overflow, and willed his angry pulse to slow it's pounding in his brain. . .

Slowly, reality made its way back into his head and he realized the noise he heard wasn't his heart hammering in his ears it was – helicopters?

The sound of Woody shouting dragged him out of his reverie and he scrambled out of the plane to see Woody waving his arms at two rescue helicopters circling over head.

Nigel sat still, hanging his head, knowing that hoping for any rescue was futile. His mind struggled to comprehend where he could have gone wrong in repairing the transmitter. He was so sure. . . You failed your friends! His mind screamed at him. When they needed you the most, you failed!

He dipped his head, his body shuddering with sobs he tried not to let loose.

He felt a hand on his shoulder, then two. He looked up and saw Kate. He realized she knew him well enough to know what he was thinking, what he was feeling. How responsible he felt for the failure of their last attempt at rescue. They were enough alike that she would have felt the same thing. He covered the two hands with his good one, enjoying the extra warmth her touch provided.

He realized vaguely that this woman was quite possibly who he'd been searching for his whole life. She was competitive, she challenged him, she was tough-as-nails-take-no-bull and soft and vulnerable all at the same time. She was his friend. He could feel his pulse accelerating as his mind tried to figure out the words to tell her how he felt. He opened his mouth to speak, surprised to discover his heartbeat pounding so loudly in his ears. . .

He looked up suddenly, all feelings of Kate flying out of his mind as his thoughts collided in his brain, fighting desperately to make sense of the sound he was hearing. It couldn't possibly be, but it was - helicopters?

Kate stood silently out of Nigel's line of vision and studied the way his body hunched into itself. She hadn't known Nigel long, but she knew him well enough to know he wasn't a man who lacked confidence. But right now his body language screamed failure.

The transmitter was probably their last chance at rescue and between the impassable mountain and a dead cell phone battery, there wasn't much point at attempting to fix the transmitter and trying again. It was too dangerous to keep sending members of their crew up a mountain anyway, especially considering they had little food and next to no water. They couldn't keep exerting themselves. All they could do now was wait and hope.

She watched Nigel a moment longer and was surprised to feel her heart aching for him.

She wanted to tell him it wasn't his fault, but knew those words would fall on deaf ears. She wanted to tell him how she'd never felt so connected to a co-worker before and how much that meant to her. Hell, she'd never worked in one place long enough to have co-workers, let alone to call any of them a friend.

Friend. Yes, that's what Nigel was to her. She'd never before revealed as much of herself to anyone as she had to Nigel. She realized it was because he didn't try to pry into her life. He wasn't the kind of guy to go around spilling his friends' secrets for all to hear.

He just accepted her as she was faults and all. And the fact the he called her on those faults didn't hurt, either. He wasn't afraid of her. She smiled to herself thinking of the times she'd unnecessarily threatened to feed his kidney's to Binky.

She stepped forward then and sighed, knowing no amount of words would help take away the burden he carried right now. So she did the only thing she could think of.

She laid one tentative hand, then two, on his shoulder, knowing he would take comfort in that small gesture. She was pleasantly surprised when he covered her hands with his one good one. She was even more surprised to realize her heart skipped a beat when he did. It had been a long time since anyone had managed to get her pulse racing with such a small gesture. She willed her pulse to slow it's pounding in her ears as Nigel had looked up towards the sky. She cocked her head listening and quickly realized it wasn't her heart pounding in her ears it was – helicopters?

Garret closed his eyes letting his mind wander through his memories of the last six years. His heart refused to believe this was the end, even though his physician's brain was screaming at him to let go. He fingered the piece of paper in his hand as his mind flashed to that day Jordan was taken into surgery. She'd been barking orders at him, assuming the worst. He had managed to stay relatively calm until she'd started crying. "I should have written this down! Why didn't I write this down?" she'd choked out.

So now he was writing it down. He had a will, of course, but it held only his wishes for his material objects, of which there weren't many. This small yellow piece of paper in his hand held his last thoughts, his last thank yous, his last apologies, his last I love yous:

Abby – I'm proud of you. Don't ever forget that I love you.

Maggie – Thank you for Abby. Take care of her and yourself.

Renee – I'm sorry. I wish things could have been different. I'll always love you.

Bug – Cherish each moment. She'll be walking and talking before you know it.

Lily – You're an incredible mother. Don't forget to ask for help from the "village."

Nigel – Try and keep Jordan out of trouble. And forget the new car – buy a ring instead.

Kate – Welcome to the team. I know you'll make a great CME. Good luck with Jordan.

Woody – Stop procrastinating! Take care of her. She needs you more than she'll admit.

He was having a harder time with Jordan though, and nothing he could think of seemed to do justice for what she really meant to him. Finally he settled on a short note:

Jordan - Thank you for being you – for pushing me to be better than I ever thought I could be. Thank you for taking care of me when I couldn't. Thank you for making me see "family" doesn't mean there has to be a blood relation. I know you've never done anything I've ever told you to, but I need you to do this one last thing for me – for you. I'm telling you now to get over your stubborn Irish self and tell Woody how you really feel. You have a second chance Jordan; don't wait until you're the one writing it all on a piece of paper with a frozen pen that doesn't want to work. And I will be watching to make damn sure you do it! P.S. – don't drive Kate too crazy. And don't forget to do your paperwork!

He chuckled to himself at that, knowing she'd have some choice words for him when she read it. He also knew she'd do what he asked, because he wouldn't ask her to do it if he didn't know it was the best thing for her.

He re-read the note and realized his heart was pounding at the thought of this little piece of paper being found by some nameless orderly at the nearest hospital. He made a mental note to himself to sneak it into Jordan's pocket the next time she came to check on him. He willed his pulse to slow down, knowing he had to save what little strength he had left so he could get the paper to Jordan. He concentrated on breathing slowly and wondered briefly why his heart was still hammering in his ears. He looked up suddenly, realizing that the sound he heard wasn't his heart racing; it was – helicopters?

He crushed the paper in his fist as Jordan came running in and crouched beside him. "Garret, you hear that? They found us!"

He choked back tears and tried to sit. "Just help me up. Come on." He groaned.

"You've all ready been heroic enough. Okay? Stay still." She told him as she pushed him gently back down.

He gripped her hand tightly and closed his eyes. He took several deep breaths, then looked her straight in the eyes. "Jordan, thank you for coming back. From L.A., you know? When I needed you." He let the tears start to fall.

She smiled at him. "No. No, I needed you." She said, choking back tears of her own.

He let his tears fall, as she rubbed the back of his neck in comfort. He reached for her and wrapped her in a tight hug, the little yellow piece of paper all but forgotten.

Want more? Or should I leave it at this? I've kinda all ready started chapter two, but that doesn't mean I have to post it. . . Please R&R! Thanks for reading!