Disclaimer: Neither Anna nor I own Jordan, Woody, Nigel, or any of them. Unfortunately. Lucky Tim Kring.
A/N: I know this chapter is a bit short; the chapters will hopefully be longer. This is just sort of setting the scene, so to speak. Even if the chapters aren't longer, they hopefully will come often. This is Alex, btw, xoretributionox. I am writing this chapter, then Anna (author of Surfacing; penname itsonlyme) will be writing the next chapter, and so on and so forth. Enjoy. Please don't flame; even if you don't like it, try to say it nicely. Oh yeah, this takes place at the end of the season premiere. We're ignoring the second episode of this season for this story's purposes. Wow. I just realized I basically restated the summary. Ahh! Sorry, lol, I'm tired. I'm not normally this odd. I don't think.
Jordan went back to her own office, lost in her own thoughts, and though she wouldn't admit it, stunned. Devan and...Woody? Woody with anyone other than her? As that thought flashed through her head, she froze. No. It couldn't be. She'd been trying so hard to keep herself from it. She'd only end up hurting him. But her efforts were to no avail. As she sat on the couch in her office, all thoughts of going home forgotten, she prayed to a God she'd long abandoned, trying to figure out why, despite everything, she'd fallen in love with Detective Woodrow Hoyt.
Down the hall, Garret sat in his swivel chair, staring at his computer. Useless, really, as his computer was shut off. This place attracted a lot of drama. Mostly about love, except for the murder of Jordan's mother. Him and Lily, Woody and Jordan, Bug and Lily (he saw the way he looked at her, even if Bug hadn't said anything), and now Woody and Devan...definitely not the two he would have seen together. Garret knew, though he was the only one except for Renee at the moment, that Devan wouldn't be leaving after her rotation was up because he planned to hire her. She'd caused trouble, yes, but she reminded him of a blonde, younger Jordan. Oftentimes he had thought himself crazy for hiring Jordan, but in the end he was always immensely glad. Something told him the ride with Devan would be just as bumpy, but something else told him she'd make a great ME. Hell, she already was good, especially for not having worked there long. Sighing, he stared at his black computer screen and failed to hear the telltale click of pumps on the floor. He jumped slightly when the hands came to rest on his shoulder, but when she spoke, he smiled, turning around. "Hello, Renee." Tipping his head up, he captured her lips in a brief kiss before slipping his arms around her waist and standing up, drawing her close and standing there in silence, simply enjoying her presence.
Devan walked down the hallway with Woody, laughing as they talked more about the elevator situation they had just managed to extract themselves from and NewGuy-err, Sydney. She leaned her head against his shoulder at one point, overcome by laughter as they rode down in the elevator. Once they stepped out of the lobby and into the parking lot, her jovial mood somewhat disappeared as she stopped. Woody, sensing she was no longer beside him, stopped and walked back a few steps. Looking down at the blonde with a small bit of worry, he spoke. "What's wrong, Devan?" She smiled up at him. "Nothing really...just thinking about someone. But, the car situation-I took a taxi this morning. I was lazy, I admit it." She laughed. "Anyway, so I guess that's not really a situation; I can ride with you. Do you want to go to the Pogue? I didn't know if that might be a bit...odd." Though she did not speak Jordan's name, he understood what she meant. He thought for a moment, and then spoke as they headed towards the car, his voice gaining sureness as he spoke. "It'll be fine. Let's go to the Pogue." She nodded, and both got in the car, buckling their seatbelts before Woody drove off towards the bar.
Back in the morgue, two men sat in silence at their desks in their shared office/miscellaneous things room. Nigel rested his chin on the wooden desk; his mind lost in thoughts of a certain blonde ME. They'd been flirting lately-not something he would have expected when she first came. Despite that, he was finding himself attracted to her and increasingly close to asking her out. She seemed to feel the same way, but he wasn't sure. How could he be?
The other was Bug; he sat staring at the tank of cockroaches that lived on his desk. Lily was so pretty-but surely out of his league. He doubted she liked him anyway, at least as anything more than a friend.
So the two men sat there, contemplating the women that they wanted to be in their lives in a different way. Jordan sat on the couch in her office, wondering how in the bloody hell this could have happened. She pulled her knees up against her chest; she really wanted to talk to Garret or Nige about this, but Nige seemed lost in thought about something and Renee was in Garret's office. Burying her face against her knees, she let out a sob and wondered how this ever could have happened. She didn't realize she might be overreacting, as Devan and Woody were only going out for drinks and hadn't actually done anything yet; she'd always been oddly hurt whenever Woody had a girlfriend or a date and realizing she loved him only amplified that. Down the hall in Garret's office, he and Renee walked hand in hand towards the elevator, her head on his shoulder.
What a day it had been, for all of them. And the promises of things to come as consequences-both good and bad-were abundant.
