This is my little Christmas present for you!

I also want to share with you my own happiness, since I've accomplished another wonderful year with my husband! So, what else could I write at this moment, when LOVE is in the air, all around me?

I hope you've enjoyed my story, there's just one more chapter to go, the epilogue and that'll be all. I love you all!

And please, don't forget to review, that will complete my Christmas present.

Merry Christmas!

Chapter eleven. Love is in the air.

The helicopter descended into a small clearing, the one spot of open ground in the crowded, dense forest that was just barely big enough to get the chopper down safely.

As he watched the landscape grow closer and closer through the chopper's window, Garret reflected on the past two days and all the events that had taken him to that place. He didn't know if they could trust in those lunatic instructions that told them how to rescue Jordan and Woody. The piece of paper where those instructions were written didn't have a signature, or a single fingerprint or any other sign as to whom could be giving the information, but for the time being, it was the only solid evidence they had managed to get. So, their only hope was in that lead.

Jordan and Woody's disappearance, as well as the investigation into Senator Bloom's exploits and his family's deaths, had been immensely distressing. Garret was completely exhausted after two sleepless nights. He could only hope to find them alive. Most of all, he needed Jordan to be alright. What he felt for her went way beyond friendship; she was somewhere between a little sister and a difficult daughter to him. He had no luck when it came to family; his were always confrontational, whether it was his child by birth, his Abby, or the one he had acquired, his Jordan. Wild, bold, stubborn, cynical, pushy...Jordan had wormed her way into his heart in a way that was impossible to ignore. She was such a strong force of nature. She championed the weak, the ones that couldn't defend themselves anymore; she cared for her friends, for the ones she loved. She cared for everybody in a way that sometimes compromised her own well-being. She loved intensely, so much that it betrayed her. Garret hoped that Woody would be fine, too, not only because he was his friend--and a very good one--but also because Jordan loved the young detective. She had already lost so much. Garret didn't want to think about what would happen if she lost Woody, too.

The pair was so much alike it was frightening. They both seemed so strong, so self-assured, and they were both faking it, big time. They both had similar tragedies in their lives. Both grew up without a loving mother, a circumstance that made them grow up faster than other kids and made them face responsibilities and emotions their young, confused minds weren't yet ready to handle. Their hard and unique childhoods had molded their caring personalities and they both had built strong, feral defenses against the world. Despite all that, the world eventually gave them a hand by bringing them together, but their own prejudices blinded them to the love they should have recognized in each other, and their struggles continued, with Garret right in the middle of it most of the time. Like it or not, as much as he wished he could deny it, both of them had picked him to replace their own father figures, and he felt obligated to fulfill their expectations. Well, mostly Jordan's expectations. Some days, like today, he felt like it was just too much responsibility for his fragile and uncertain shoulders!

Garret's head throbbed with all those thoughts that whirled in it; his stomach stiffened anxiously, and his heart bumped uncontrollably in anticipation. He would be devastated if this were another dead end.

Once the chopper was down, Garret could see a small cabin hidden among the trees. The building had been completely unnoticeable from the air. Garret's heart stopped as he realized that without those instructions they never would have found it. The front door of the cabin opened and there was Jordan, waving to them, her face lit up with that magnificent smile of hers.

Garret all but jumped out of the helicopter and ran toward her, catching her in a fierce hug and holding her, intending to never let her slip away from his caring watch ever again.

"How are you?" Garret shouted, his voice competing with the noisy 'whop-whop-whop' of the helicopter's blades as they slowly whirled to a stop.

"Me? Fine. It's Woody…" she struggled against the roaring rotors, but she shook her head and frowned annoyingly, pulling Garret by the hand to follow her into the cabin. "Come!" she compelled him.

The two med techs that had flown here with Garret climbed out of the chopper and began gathered their equipment.

Inside the cabin, Garret found for himself what Jordan had tried to tell him. Woody sat on a couch, looking extremely pale and weak, though his eyes were gleaming happily. Traces of blood scattered all around the tiny space showed him that the young man had been hurt. There was a gauze covering part of his temple and under the thick blanket over his shoulders, the bald man could distinguish a blood stained bandage around his bare torso.

Rushing to Woody's side, Garret did a quick visual assessment of his condition, calling on his medical training to judge the seriousness of his injuries.

"Hey, Dr. Macy," Woody greeted him, as though he were just arriving the morgue.

"What happened to you?" Garret asked bewildered that a man who was that bloody could be so merry.

"Isn't that obvious?" But he corrected his discourtesy right away, "I mean… I attract bullets like a magnet, even the ones that aren't meant for me." He laughed, but the pain transformed his grinning face into a wince.

"Stop making stupid jokes or the wound will bleed again!" Jordan lectured him, while she approached him and tenderly tapped his back.

Garret's confusion only grew.

"The shot was through-and-through from front to back. The bullet passed very close to his right lung, but I don't think he's bleeding internally. He's such a lucky man," Jordan said, her eyes lost in Woody's sparkling ones.

Garret wondered if that last part had an ulterior meaning, one that he couldn't confirm completely yet, but that he had a pretty good hunch about. Then, as if to confirm his suspicions, Jordan held Woody's hand, leaned in and kissed him on the mouth. After that, the young couple kept looking fondly at each other, like a pair of lovers, unmindful of alien eyes. Garret was more than a little surprised by this strange behavior, particularly from Jordan who had always kept her feelings for the detective hidden, even from herself.

But it didn't take long for it to sink in that something had occurred between Jordan and Woody while they were waiting, in this secluded place, for help to arrive.

The veil had fallen.

He knew in that instant that he was now the outsider and while it was wonderful to see these two people he cared so much for so happy together, it was also surprisingly painful to accept that their need for him would be less from now on.

He stepped away for a second to yell out the front door to the medics to bring a stretcher in with them.

Garret returned to them, his entire demeanor screamed 'solemnity' when he repeated the question to Woody, expecting this time that the injured man would tell him without the joking part, "Again, what happened to you?"

"A teen's bad aim shooting, and I was serious before, the bullet was meant to end up in a bear, not in me." Woody could barely tear his eyes away from Jordan to look at the older man.

"It didn't have anything to do with your abductors?" Garret insisted.

Woody managed to be serious for a moment, raising an eyebrow as though he was in deep reflection about the matter. But that only served to give him a childish and playful appearance that was at odds with his fragile condition.

"Not directly. They didn't want us hurt, or so Mr. Green told us. Look around," he said, nodding his head toward one side of the room and then the other, beckoning Garret to inspect the cabin's luxurious interior. "He gave me the vacation of a lifetime...I'd have to say it was, uh, rather good fortune," he concluded, his adoring gaze flickering over Jordan again.

Garret laughed openly, his intentions at remaining grave completely ruined. He didn't understand all that was happening here, but what he knew was enough to assure him that everything would be fine, that he could let go of his concerns and just be happy that these two had finally given in to their long-denied desires.

Did that mean they had overcome their inner monsters? It was something that only time would tell…

A few moments later, the rescue team entered the cabin.

"Yes, we have to fly you to a hospital quickly!" Jordan reacted at the sight of the other two men. She disengaged her fingers from her lover and tenderly kissed his cheek, as she moved aside to let the team do their job.

While the paramedics checked on Woody's condition before moving him to the stretcher, Garret wrapped his arm around Jordan's shoulders, embracing her like a loving father. She flashed him a grin, but returned quickly to carefully observe what was happening to her other man.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

A flustered Lily hugged Jordan firmly, not wanting to let her go, as she babbled a complaint that explained why Bug wasn't with her. "He's outside with Maddie. Some stupid hospital policy says that babies can only visit family, the bastards!"

"Don't worry, Lily, we're fine," Jordan assured her, shooting Woody a comically confused look over Lily's shoulder.

"Oh, are you really?" The red-haired woman gripped Jordan softly by the shoulders and moved her away a little so she could take a good look at her friend, and then glanced unconvinced toward Woody, who lay on the hospital bed, connected to countless machines and tubes.

Jordan laughed sympathetically, as she responded, "Never been better in my life."

"So, is it true? Tell me Jordan, is it true?" Lily demanded.

Jordan snorted, amused. "What, Lily? What are you asking? I've already told you we're fine. Woody is injured, but fortunately, the bullet didn't do any real damage. He'll be fine pretty soon…"

Lily interrupted her, annoyed at her friend because she didn't grasp the real meaning of her question, or rather because she knew what she was asking, but preferred not to acknowledge it. "Oh, no, Jordan. You know what I mean! Is it true that you and Woody are finally together, that you told him everything?"

Jordan's eyes bulged, "What? Who told you?"

Woody couldn't help but laugh out loud at his friend's comment which made him flinch in pain...again. "I think good news travels fast, doesn't it Lily? And, by the way, don't go talking about me like I'm not here. I can hear you."

"I know you're here, but why should I ask you? You've already told me you love Jordan." Lily faced him as irritation and happiness wrestled within her, with happiness finally winning out. Smiling and nodding toward Jordan, the red-head continued, "She, on the other hand, has yet to admit it to me..."

Lily didn't finish what she was saying because Jordan cut her off. She turned to Woody, visibly angry. "You told her? Who else did you tell? Everybody knew but me, is that it, Woody? How long did you keep this from me?" Jordan hurled question after question, suddenly recognizing that during all the time she ached for him, the only one oblivious to what was really in Woody's heart was her.

Woody's cheeks turned red and he directed his confusion to Lily, "You could have kept ignoring me…"

"Oh no, Woody! You tell her directly why you couldn't just spill the beans to her. There is where you learn to really love each other. A relationship needs more than pure and deep feelings. It needs lots and lots of hard work."

As Jordan watched Woody's frightened features, she realized how stupid and useless her outburst was and she laughed at herself, easing the tension that her harsh words had sparked between them. She touched Lily's hand kindly as she moved away from her friend and toward Woody. She leaned in close enough to reach his lips and kissed him soundly, right in front of Lily's eyes.

"Yes, Lily. It is true. I told him everything. So you all know now, huh? ...I love Woody," Jordan proclaimed with a flourish of her hand as though she were announcing it on the TV news.

"I'm here, you know? I heard you." Woody uttered jokingly as he cast a warm smile at Jordan.