XxX

"She was the most perfect woman I have ever met."

Jordan's sour expression was lost on the smitten criminalist. Her ire kindled waiting to see how long it'd take him to notice her.

"Isn't she something?" His smile never wavered as he turned to finish up the sample; completely oblivious to the green-eyed monster beside him.

"Yeah, something." Her eyes darkened, remembering how earlier she had come in to find Nigel and Delinda looking quite cozy as they sorted through the ion spectrometer data. Jordan had to force herself between the two to get Nigel to report his findings to her and not Delinda.

"Her loveliness, her IQ…could you imagine how beautiful our kids would be?"

Rolling her eyes, Jordan threw open the door and stormed out. She chanced a peek back to see if her tantrum had been noted; it hadn't, and she stomped down the hall, huffing under her breath.

Her mood darkened when she caught sight of the tall, leggy blonde standing before the vending machine. The M.E. attempted to smooth her hair and fix her appearance, feeling quite under par, before venturing into enemy territory.

"Did you find those peanut butter cups you were after?" Jordan tried, forcing herself to act friendly.

Delinda was all smiles, "I did!" It was like a living commercial as she accepted her prize from the opening, "Want one?"

"No, I'm good." Jordan rocked from heel to toe, "So…where's Danny?"

"He's bringing the car around."

Jordan nodded, trying to be cleaver, "You two are pretty serious, huh? I mean, flying out just for the fight, Martha's Vinyard, room service…" She raised her brow suggestively.

"Yeah, we have a lot of fun together." Delinda beamed, "It's nice, finding your person."

Jordan could only nod as she worked out her next plan of attack.

"I hope you find yours soon."

"I have." The words were out before Jordan could think better of them.

Delinda tilted her head to the side, "I thought you said Woody—"

"Oh no, Woody and I aren't—no, it's not him." Jordan waved her hand away. Delinda continued to stare at her, expectantly. Jordan shrugged, in for a penny, in for a pound, "Actually, you spent most of your afternoon with him."

"Dr. Townsend?"

Jordan cast a quick look back to Forensics and smirked, "Yeah, Dr. Townsend." She allowed herself a slight eyeroll, knowing she needed to give him crap for that later.

"Well, he seems like a great guy." Delinda's voice was sincere, her expression genuine, "I can see why you fell for him. I mean, if I didn't already have Danny…well, even though I do—"

"He is." Jordan quickly cut her off, trying to salvage it with a smile, "I'm really lucky he's mine." Before they could say anything more, Danny appeared and called for Delinda.

Smirking, Jordan headed back to Trace, a triumphant spring to her step.

XxX

Nigel was wondering what he had done wrong. Not only had Delinda side-stepped his hug, but she had made sure to keep a foot of space between them at all times and hadn't played into any of his witty banter like she had the day before. She was all business today.

Danny was enjoying it all a bit too much, watching Nigel trail after Delinda like a little lost puppy. Finally, he decided to put the poor Brit out of his misery when they got a moment alone.

Clapping Nigel on the shoulder, Danny sighed, "Jordan set the record straight." His smile was playful. Of course, Danny knew nothing official was going on between Nigel and Jordan, but there had been hints over the years that something might be there just below the surface. He also knew that neither of the brainiacs were smart enough to have figured it out yet.

Confusion pinched Nigel's face, "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, Jordan and Delinda had a woman-to-woman talk yesterday. Just, establishing some boundaries about who's whose." Danny teased, "Delinda doesn't want to step on Jordan's toes again so if she seems a bit off, that's why."

Nigel continued to stare, unable to see the forest through the trees. It took everything in Danny to not burst out laughing, wondering how someone so smart could be so dumb.

XxX

"Got the final tox, looks like it was poison that took our champ out. Fentanyl was found in his stomach contents." Nigel handed the summary to Jordan as he headed for the computer. His attention kept wandering to her, waiting for the right moment. When he realized there was never going to be a right moment, he cleared his throat, "Hey, um, Jordan? Danny told me something odd this morning."

Jordan smirked, "If it has to do with my ducks, so help me I'll—"

"Actually," Nigel futzed with his ear as he made his way over, "He mentioned you and Delinda had a chat of sorts yesterday?"

Unlike yesterday, Nigel noticed everything about Jordan today. The way her movements froze, how her eyes grew, and the nervousness etching her face; it was a fleeting moment before she stuffed it all back down.

"Something about establishing who's whose?" He watched her like Bug did one of his insects, "Seems that she might have taken whatever you said yesterday to mean that we are…together?"

"Pfft, showgirls. Always needing to stir the pot and cause drama, just like high school." She tried to laugh it off.

"Jordan."

Nigel waited as she futzed, trying to find something to make herself look busy, but soon Jordan admitted defeat and turned to him, like a scolded child.

"I just…she got under my skin, everyone mooning over her…"

"If memory serves," Nigel crossed his arms, "Woody didn't seem caught up by her, neither did Bug or Garret or—"

"Alright!" She threw her hands up, "I don't know why I said that to her. It's just…it's stupid."

"You do know there are enough pats to go around, aye?" Nigel asked cheekily, "She's not going to replace you by any means."

Jordan looked unamused, but her eyes softened, "I guess I just don't like sharing my things, only child syndrome and all."

"'Things'?"

"You know what I mean." She waved her hand and tried to return to her work.

"No," Nigel stood off with her, refusing to back down, "I don't."

Jordan gave her signature look, "Come off it, Nige."

"You know," Nigel scoffed, "I really wish everyone would just say whatever the hell it is they want to say because I am tired of trying to work it out!"

The outburst caught Jordan off and she stood there like a deer in headlights.

"So, Jordan," Nigel placed a hand on either side of the table, steadying himself, "What is it you want to say?"

She swallowed a couple times, her eyes shying away from his, "I…erm, I…" Taking a deep breath, she finally faced it, "I was jealous that you were fawning over Delinda."

"That much I deduced."

Her smile was uneasy, "And I—I was jealous because I wish you would look at me that way…" Her voice grew quiet, vulnerable, "I just, I wish that…that you felt the same way about me that I do about you."

Nigel pulled back; his brow furrowed, "But…Woody—Danny—the ducks—" He managed, "You never said anything!" He threw his hands up and took up his pacing once more.

"I was hoping you'd figure it out." Jordan shrugged, giving her infamous half smile.

His eyes were wide as his fingers ripped back through his hair, "Clearly, unless you are a dead body, I can't just figure it out."

Jordan actually laughed; it gave her the jolt of courage needed to move towards Nigel.

"I guess I've just…I don't know, I was scared. With Woody, with Danny, I could survive things being awkward, I could survive losing their friendship, but with you—" Her smile grew nervous, "I…I can't."

He continued to stare at her, at a loss for words. What she was saying was the last thing he ever expected to hear from Jordan Cavanaugh. Of course, they had played back and forth, teasing each other over the years, but he had always taken it to be just that: a game. He never thought it could actually mean more.

"See, I told you it was stupid." Jordan muttered as she turned back to her work.

Nigel stepped towards her, "Jordan…"

Sheepishly, she met his eye.

"You're not stupid." He smiled, trying to coax one out of her. Leaning across the desk, he offered her the comfort he always gave her, "And you won't ever lose me."

Her eyes were childlike, tender hope caught up in them, "Promise?"

"Promise, luv."

A stillness drew around them. It wasn't awkward or uneasy; it was content.

A mischievous twinkle captured Nigel and he smirked, "So…does this mean it's my turn to see the ducks?" He chuckled as he dodged the pen she threw at him.

Resting his chin on the table, he looked up to her with his big, brown eyes and grinned. Jordan rolled her eyes but couldn't hide her smile, knowing this is exactly how it should be.

XxX