TRUST ME
by Annie2000
Fandom: STUDIO 60
Pairing: Jack Rudolph & Jordan McDeere
Notes: It is mostly friendship intented, but there's a couple of shipper ones and some singles.
Theme set: BETA
Rating: K
Warnings: none
#01 - Walking
"Okay, I know you're mad, I know you're in hurry, I also know time is money, really, but will - you - please - slow down before I drop dead on the carpet?!"
#02 - Waltz
Danny gave her up reluctantly, just in name of tradition, watching Jack, also in name of tradition, trying not to make a fool of himself as he took a few steps to his right and left, trying to guide Jordan and hoping Matt would run and take his place soon.
#03 - Wishes
It wasn't until Jordan slipped Jordan into his arms, not until he felt the little child cuddle and his arms get the grip right as if it was so natural, that he realized it was too soon to give up his dreams yet - after all, if you think about it, 46 is not too late to have a daughter.
#04 - Wonder
"It's a perfectly normal feeling" Jordan said at the door, about to leave Jack to his divorce papers, making him look up slightly, "that, maybe, you're giving up too soon."
#05 - Worry
"Oh" Jack growls from behind his desk, as she stands in front of him with a sure smirk, so secure of herself, "don't tell me not to, that's what you ALWAYS say!"
#06 - Whimsy
"I wonder if your parents ever told you 'NO', Jordan."
#07 - Waste/Wasteland
She eyes the salad left overs and he expects her to say something about his eating habits, simply because she has something to say about everything.
#08 - Whiskey and rum
"I don't wanna be the mommy, Jack, but it's probably not the best mix for you to take at 9am."
#09 - War
One morning, she says, casually, her uncle lost an eye at 'Nam, and he doesn't even look up to say his father lost his leg and soul at 'Nam, hoping, too late, she wouldn't feel sorry for him.
#10 - Weddings
Watching the vows being trade, Jack touches his ring with the tip of his right fingers, feeling the cold gold slip through the knuckles and end up in his palm a moment too long before he has the courage to shove it in his pocket, thinking if that's what people call closure.
#11 - Birthday
"I swear, if these murmurs I'm hearing are what I think they are and I walk in my office and find a cake and a bunch of people yelling 'surprise!' I am going to kill you, Jordan!!"
#12 - Blessing
Jack sighed with the biggest smile she had ever seen on his face: "You are giving interviews the right way, you're not snapping with lawyers and reporters and you're worried about money - Jordan, motherhood is the best thing that ever happenned to you!!"
#13 - Bias
Jack heard the bad british accent and, for a moment, she could swear he was going to agree with her, but the moment was over pretty quick.
#14 - Burning
He shivers at the cold breeze and is pretty sure his weekend will be spent under blankets and with chicken soup, but at this moment, Jack Rudolph just hopes nobody notices his high fever as the flu tries to get to him.
#15 - Breathing
Everybody knew Jack's heart would explode/stop/quit it's job sooner or later - Matt wanted to sketch about it, but Danny said no -, so, when he gasped for air and collapsed in Jordan's office that monday morning, there was no real surprise.
#16 - Breaking
She took a look at his face - and a moment to recover from the shock - as Jack's chin shook, unable to form words - who do you think you are to storm in my office, this is not what you think, I am not crying, it's an allergy... I'm allergic to my divorce papers -, but this all is over in five seconds, and she rushes do mumble "I'm sorry" and closes the door behind her.
#17 - Belief
"I don't disdain religion - I've always respected other people's stupid and unfoundamented faith."
#18 - Balloon
None of them smiled at the colorful gift - Rebecca was too small and Danny was, well, too resentful -, but he left the room as Uncle Jack, either way.
#19 - Balcony
She smiled and tapped on the chair by her side - the place of honor, with the best view of the show - and he considers to yell "that's what you called me for?!", because he's not in the mood to watch the show at all; however, he's not in the mood to go home and reminisce over his divorce either and, putting it that way, watching Studio60 doesn't seem that bad.
#20 - Bane
Jack threw his head back and sucked in with all his strenght, but by the dry sound that came out of his throat, no air got in, and it scared Jordan out of her mind to think that could be the last sound she'd ever hear from him as his heart stopped and he lied fighting for life and fumbling through air in search of someone - anyone - to grab, to hold on to.
#21 - Quiet
Jack shrugs, asking, and Jordan explains she means he "would do a great job as a dad", and he blinks, turning back to Becky (asleep in his arms), not sure if she's being honest.
#22 - Quirks
The word "marriage" made Jack shrug: "You know the song: 'you think might as well dance a tango to hell'", he recites, as if Rent could help him stand a point on how unkinde marriage could be, but all Jordan can think is that he quotes way too many musicals.
#23 - Question
She held her breath for a moment and tried to keep her smile - and jumps of overwhelming joy - to herself; when her heart went back to a normal pace and Jack's eyebrow moved slightly inquiring her long silence she asnwered "yes", she'd take the job, and thank you very much, the polite tone of a professional and eyes that sparkled like a child's.
#24 - Quarrel
He slams the door before she can stop him, the screams still echoing in her office and an angry feeling burning in her gut.
#25 - Quitting
Once she asked if he ever played with that idea, leaving all behind just because, financially, they could - she said she'd like a simple life in a stressful and noisy city not to be bored; he smirked and answered he wouldn't mind a quiet place, as long as everybody still knew his name.
#26 - Jump
Jack's eyes popped open and he found Jordan looking down at him, people trying to find the nearest exit not to have his anger misdirected to them and Matt and Danny rolling on the floor, as the psychologist tried to explain once more what that "Trust-Fall" thing was about - it wasn't about letting people fall on their back!! - and how "these things happen sometimes", and even bad experiences are good for building trust at work place; Jack drummed his fingers on the carpet and waited for an explanation: "I... thought you would be too heavy - sorry" Jordan said, blushed.
#27 - Jester
Seeing him touch the woman's shoulder slightly - timid, a post-divorce common and so hated side-effect - Jordan couldn't help but smile and wonder if that perfect gentleman with two champagne glasses in hand would've been a dork at high school (we'll all work for the nerds, right?), trying to flirt with the cheerleader the right way and tripping on his own words; she decided you couldn't be the geek and the football player all at once, but maybe she could define him a "library rat/jock", aiming for a schollarship and graduating top of his class, not quite here or there, not exactly fitting anywhere.
#28 - Jousting
"I don't care Dylan in a horse costume would be riddiculous, Jordan, no animals on stage, specially after the coyote/ferret/snake fiasco" Jack yells back, and Jordan just thinks the Medieval Times sketch just got a little bit too complicated.
#29 - Jewel
"Is this for your mistr-" but Jack cuts her joke snapping the necklace from her hands, mumbling "my niece" in a fast excuse he knows gives away much more than if he had just agreed with a "yes, my mistress, right".
#30 - Just
The Team-Building Therapy was Jordan's idea (even though it wasn't part of her job discription), she thought it would be fun and it would help people to connect around the office; of course, when the Psychologist commanding the event suggested she'd be paired to Halley all those good intentions were sent to hell as she cursed under her breath and took place by her grim co-worker, thinking, like a child, that it simply wasn't fair!
#31 - Smirk
"Okay, quick question: is this the closest thing to a smile that you can get?!"
#32 - Sorrow
The morning she had to pack up and leave (friday, of course) he didnn't come to see her until she was already at the parking lot, Danny closing the trunk; he didn't glare at Jack, not looking to blame someone, and even steped away to check on Becky when Jordan asked him to, just so they could say something like "goodbye"; instead, her boss- her former boss just menaged to unblock his throat and whisper: "I tried, J-Mac", his way of letting her know he was going to miss her.
#33 - Stupidity
"You love your wife; it should be enough" Jordan says, and Jack chuckles bitter and drunk, and when she asks what's so funny, he says he sometimes forget she's so young, way too young to understand.
#34 - Serenade
Jack rolled his eyes to the celling for the interrupted meeting as everybody watched half-applauding, half-laughing, Danny attack the guitar with unexperienced fingers - he had learned that song and no other, that was for sure, trying to make their firsth anniversary special and unforgetable; he couldn't sing and Shelly feared for the glass around them, but Jordan, with a blush on her face and tears in her eyes, was oblivious that - and anything that wasn't her wonderful husband.
#35 - Sarcasm
When Jordan told Jack she wanted to be a ballerina at the age of six, he smirked; when he replied he wanted to be a corporate lawyer at the age of eight, she asked if he had ever heard of something called "childhood".
#36 - Sordid
Halley took a look at her phone (not her phone) and cursed as Jordan waited on the other side of the line - explanation, explanation, explanation; she looked over to Jack, who was still sound asleep by her side, his naked back moving rhythmically as he breathed, so peaceful, so late for work, and she hoped he wouldn't wake up, greet her with a lazy (but loud enough) "good morning, beautiful" and screw up everything worse.
#37 - Soliloquy
"Please, tell me the baby voice is for Rebecca and that's not how you talk to yourself when you think none is listening."
#38 - Sojourn
Looking back, Jordan realized she wasn't surprised at all to find Jack sleeping in his office that morning; even least surprising was realizing he had spent the whole weekend there, among Law books, Constitutions, jurisprudence and notes on the FCC, trials and Federal Court - unshaved, wrinkled and far away from his empty house.
#39 - Share
There is no such thing with a pregnant woman - either you say no and become the biggest jerk, or you hand them your plate and try your best not to smile as they dig in.
#40 - Solitary
Jordan sighed her boredom and clicked on the last king standing on her screen, finishing the 8th match with a winning and thinking lazy days in the office should be spent more productively.
#41 - Nowhere
Jack rolled up his eyes - that had become her favorite excuse for where she had been, since it sounds better then "making out with my boyfriend down the studio".
#42 - Neutral
As Matt and Danny wait on the other end of the table, Jack turns to Jordan, right in the middle, wanting support, betrayal or, most likely, something in between.
#43 - Nuance
He takes the pills out of the set and lay it down on his desk, never stopping the long lecture of that week - he sets every pill an inch apart - he fills a tumbler with water and finishes a sentence - he takes a pill, places it very carefully in his mouth, takes three sips - the lecture proceeds to a very well placed comma - the second pill, three more sips - the paragraph goes on and ends - he takes the fourth pill by mistake - he places it back and gets the third in line - it's gone with three more sips - he finishes the one way conversation - the fourth pill is finally taken - and asks Jordan if she got everything he just said, and she says she did not get anything he said ever since the fascinating OCD ritual started.
#44 - Near
When he asks if she's got a thing for "those guys", she is not offended and steps in with a smile - a tease? - and Jack is glad to have a chance to lie he doesn't find her charming, hoping to believe it himself.
#45 - Natural
She crosses her legs and he blows smoke in the air - the show is playing on the flat screen and, down the studio, Danny is trying to keep Matt from flipping out; Jack chuckles when she points that out (as he always does ever since they ended up in this every-other-friday ritual, six years ago), and mends that's probably why she is there, in his office, as well, to keep him from flipping out; sometimes, she'll say "I can't fool you", but every once and a while, she'll kinda mumble, kinda say proudly she's there because they're friends (best friends) - and that friendship is what allows her to most of the times answer him with a "I'm here because we're Best Buddies!!", just to see him roll up his eyes.
#46 - Horizon
"The telescope is purely ornamental, so you're not gonna see any stars, Jordan, specially if you point it to the sunset - are you trying to go blind or what?"
#47 - Valiant
He could shake his head and mumble whatever he wanted - she did have spunk, and, hating it or not, it was something to he respected as much as he worried about.
#48 - Virtuous
He paces back and forth and she watches him, sitting on the tip of her chair; the lawyers wait, sure he will give up and pay the FCC, leave it all behind, but Jordan knows him better - or at least, she hopes she does.
#49 - Victory
Beating the FCC was suppose to make him feel better, and Jack can fake it with a smirk and an arrogant posture, but Jordan knows better and can see it all through.
#50 - Defeat
He smirks and jokes ("Wouldya have 73 million dollars?") but she doesn't laugh, saying it's not about the money - he nods slowly, agreeing, not quite drunk, but wanting to get there as soon as possible.
FINAL NOTES:
Some are connected, as you probably figured out.
#26 and #30
#15 and #20
#16 and #04
Some are post-episode
#48 - The Christmas Show
#44 - Pilot
#47 - The Cold Open
#13 and #24 - The Long Lead Story
Also, I am aware I was quite pushy on the "one sentence" thing - I wrotte real paragraphs sometimes, didn't I? Sorry...