Disclaimer: The Crossing Jordan Characters are owned by Tim Kring and Tailwind Productions.  Not me!  They just borrow my head for a playground!

Kaidlyn, on the other hand, does belong to me.  I created her for my stories!  :0)  Hope you like her!

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Endgame

Rating: PG-13

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Woody. . .

Jeeze, what a morning.  Well, what a night and what a morning.  Who am I kidding?  What a couple of years!  But yesterday. . .yesterday was just weird.  Now that Jordan and I are together, things are usually pretty calm, but last night she was nuts. . .

"Jordan, sweetie, what is wrong?  Things look fine!"

"I know ~ I think.  It's just that I talked with Dad earlier today and my cousin's coming into town for some job-related something.  And I haven't seen her since around the time my mother died and. . ."

"Ok.  Anything I can do to help?"

"No.  Well, maybe.  I don't know."

So I made myself as small and quiet as I could.  I watched her run around cleaning things.  I love to watch her.  But more than that, I knew that if I tried to do anything to help I'd only get her frustrated and flustered.  As much as it's supposedly "our place" since I got back from L.A., it was times like this I wished I still had a place of my own here in Boston.  When things didn't work out with the division in L.A and I moved back here, we picked up pretty much where we'd left off.  She's the one who suggested I move in.  I was going to suggest we look for a place together, but looking at things now, I really think this was the better option ~ a little more room than anything I'd seen when I was looking around.  And even though she didn't want to admit it, I think she felt safer, a little more free in her own place.  She didn't have to leave anywhere to retreat if things got to be too much. 

All of a sudden, I realized that she had stopped cleaning and was saying something to me.  Something that I hadn't heard half of.  I don't hear half of a lot of stuff when Jordan's around.  Not great for the job, but we get by; I'm getting better about focusing. 

"Earth to Woody.  Come in Woody."

"Hey.  Sorry about that.  I was just thinking."

"Ok.  Babe?  I'm sorry about earlier.  I just want things to be nice when I see her.  And no, I don't know that she's coming over here, but who knows.  I don't see why she should have to stay in a motel if she doesn't have to."

"I understand.  Should I plan to make myself scarce?"

"Nah.  I think we're fine.  When I get to talk with her we'll see.  Maybe she'll stay at Dad's.  I don't know.  I'm not even sure what she's doing in Boston ~ Dad really didn't know either, but he sounded really happy to see her."

"I didn't even know you had any cousins."

"Yeah ~ on Dad's side.  The last time I saw them was at Mom's funeral.  They live somewhere near the Carolina coast.  I guess she's about 26 now.  Don't get any ideas ~ you're mine!"

"No problem.  I'm not even looking.  Why should I?"

"Good answer.  You seem kind of stressed.  Anything wrong?"

"Not really.  I didn't get my time in the training room that I usually get, so no running or anything."

"Why not?  I thought that room was always open."

"It is.  But we were told to stay out, that it was being used for a 'specific reason' and we weren't to disturb them.  There were these two people in there working on what looked like self-defense moves.  Some girl and an older man.  It sort of made me think of Buffy working with her Watcher or something."

"That sucks.  But I can think of some other ways to work out."

"Magic words.  Ok, let's go.  You asked for it."

So that was last night.  I know it's obvious that something's up with me ~ and with Jordan.  I wonder how many people know what's going on with us.  Thankfully Max seems to be ok with things.  Funny, even after all these months I still get a little tongue tied whenever he says anything about us.  I don't know.  I know I love her and would do anything for her.  But I still want to be selfish about us and not share us with anyone.

Ok, now I guess I'll go and see what adventures the city of Boston holds for me today. . .

 "What the. . .?"  Ok, who is in my office and. . .?  Great.  The "watcher."  Why is he here here?

"Detective Hoyt, this is Special Agent Drew Haley from the FBI.  He and his partner are going to be working out of this department for a few weeks on a special assignment.  Try to make them feel at home."

"We'll try not to get in your way.  Basically just need the desk space and a couple of computer lines."

"Ok.  Thanks for the introduction Sarge.  Anything else?"

"Remember our discussion yesterday about a special assignment for you?  This is it.  Help them settle in for now.  You'll get full details later."

"Ok.  So you're with the FBI.  But why here in this office?  Why not your own offices?"

"Well, a few reasons.  First, it's not for that long.  Second, the lower we fly on this the better.  And third, we need an inside contact with the Boston P.D. for this.  But I promise we'll be out of your hair as soon as possible."

"Ok. . .Agent. . .Haley, was it?"

"Yes, but you can drop the 'Agent.'  Haley's fine.  Or Drew.  Mind if we set up on this side?"

"No sir, that's fine.  But, um, I thought Sarge said you had a partner."

"She should be here in a minute.  Cleaning up after this morning's training.  She's good ~ maybe too good in some ways.  Scary actually.  But we've had to really up the skills on certain things for her own safety with this assignment Especially since a lot of the time it's just going to be. . .  Well, never mind that stuff now.  You'll find out later."

"Oh.  Ok."  And here we sit in awkward silence.  Or I sit.  He's busy setting stuff up.  I'm not thrilled with this office invasion, but I guess I can handle it.  They did say only for a few weeks.

"Hey Haley!  Are we set?"

I looked up from my desk to see a young woman, practically a girl, come bounding into my office.  "Buffy."  Dark blonde to light brown hair pulled into a loose and somewhat messy ponytail, blue eyes.  The tiniest hint of a Southern accent.  She is kinda cute.  Not that I'm looking anymore since. . .  But still, this is Haley's partner?  I mean, yeah she is the girl I saw him working with yesterday ~ actually it looked like she was kicking his butt ~ but are we sure she's out of high school? 

"Kaidlyn!  You cleaned up quickly.  I'm not quite set up yet, but this is where we're going to be for a while.  Come on in.  Detective Hoyt, this is agent Kaidlyn Reilly."

"Nice to meet you.  Please, call me Woody."  Why does that look I'm getting seem so familiar?  And there's something else about her that seems vaguely familiar.  And yet. . .

"Any particular reason you're staring at me Detec. . ., Woody?"  Please tell me this is a joke.  I'm scared enough this being my first thing out of the academy and all, and now I've got this guy that I've got to deal with.

"I'm sorry.  It's just that I didn't really expect an agent to be so. . .so. . ."

"So young?  I'm 26 ~ I know I look younger.  Darn genetic curse."

"But it's exactly why she's perfect for this operation we're here for.  Kaid, you get in touch with your housing?"

"I left a message Drew.  But the guys said they talked with him and were going to go over and check out the house to make sure it's cool.  Thanks for being flexible and letting me stay there!  No sense in the Bureau paying for another hotel room when I've got someone I can stay with.  And don't worry ~ he's totally cool with this kind of thing ~ crime stuff, I mean."

"Ok.  Actually as things unfold, I think it's probably going to be a really good thing.  You'll understand more later when we do our first briefing.  I just want to make sure that everyone, including you is safe.  This is one of those things where you can't be too careful."

"Speaking of, when am I going to hear about what exactly I'm doing here and why exactly I've been working on kicking your butt for the past two weeks?"   

"In time, Kaid, in time.  Be patient.  I need to verify a couple of other things with our support team and then we'll sit down and go over everything.  With you too, Detective."

"Me too?  Why?"

"It's what your Sergeant was talking about when you came in.  Nothing the Bureau does happens by accident.  The guys who worked that building blast up here a couple of years ago were real impressed with you.  Said for a new guy you knew the city really well, and we're going to need someone like that on our team for this.  You're still technically with the Boston PD, but you'll be a liaison between both teams."

"Ok."  This is going to be interesting.  A liaison?  That's kind of cool.  Just wait until. . .

"Hoyt?  For now I need you to keep this quiet.  Only those who need to know can.  Otherwise it could jeopardize the whole operation ~ and the lives of everyone involved.  I'll tell you more later when we do our preliminary briefing, but please, this has to be quiet."

"Ok.  I can keep my mouth shut."  Unlike the person I'm. . .

"Hey!  Who's this?  Your girlfriend?"  It can't be who I think it is, can it?  It sure looks like my cousin ~ well, actually my aunt who died when I was 3 ~ but still, it could be. . .

Great, the picture's been there for a couple of months now and no one's said anything.  "Buffy" comes in here and ~ ok, that's mean.  I shouldn't call her that, but I swear she looks like she could be in high school.  Kaidlyn comes in here and sees it right away.  "That's, um. . ."

"Good morning Woody. Nice picture of you and Jordan there.  Hey. . ."

"Max?  What are you?  I mean good morning sir.  I, um. . .I. . .I. . .how are you doing?  Jordan and I have. . .um. . .well. . ."

God what a dork.  So that is Jordan in the picture with him.  What on earth. . .?  I guess I'd better rescue him.  "Hey Uncle Max!  How are you doing?"

"Hi Kaidlyn!  It is so good to see you, baby girl!"  How long has it been?  I think the last time I saw her was around Emily's funeral, so she would have been about 3.  And now she's all grown up and working for the FBI.  "It's been way too long since I saw any of your family." 

And I don't even want to think what Woody was babbling about.  He knows I know about him and Jordan.  Everybody knows about him and Jordan.

"Yeah, well, you know after my father left us things changed a lot.  I don't know why Mom didn't move back here.  I guess she liked the beach or something like that.  But whatever.  I'm glad to be back here though!  I missed the snow!"

"Wait a minute.  You're Jordan's cousin?"  Great, not only was I stuck with "Buffy" in my office; I was going to have to deal with her outside work as well.  I mean, she's nice enough, but. . .

"Yep.  I was getting to that when I saw the picture ~ I thought it was Jordan, but I wasn't sure.  I haven't seen her since I was 3.  Then Uncle Max came in and you stuck your foot and leg all the way down your throat.  I was going to rescue you sooner, but you wouldn't shut up."

"Great."  Can I find a hole and crawl in there?  Now?

"Woody, it's ok.  I've told you over and over again I'm happy for you and Jordan."  Of course I'm worried as hell about both of them ~ Woody because, well, I know Jordan and Jordan because she is my little girl and I would hate to see her get hurt ~ but I can't deny how happy Jordan's been since he's come back from California.  And how good they seem to be for each other.

"So, Uncle Max?  Stuff's all cool about staying at your place?  It's ok? Because. . ."

"Kaidlyn, please.  Relax."  She is so right for this job ~ "Haley, we need someone young, someone bubbly, someone who can get in there and find out what we need to find out."  What other choice was there.  No need for elaborate make up or clothes to make someone look younger.  I swear sometimes I have to look back at her file to remind myself that she is old enough.  And good enough.  I haven't seen anyone this good in a long, long time.  It's hard enough for an older man who's had police training to get through some of the academy tests, and here's this 26 year old girl who made everything look so easy. . .  That young and that talented.  It's a scary combination.  I just hope it doesn't end up being lethal at some point. 

"So you're Max Cavanaugh?  Nice to meet you.  I'm Drew Haley.  I had the pleasure of working with your daughter on the Digger case a few years ago.  And now working with your niece, I can see that certain things run in the family.  Career-wise I mean."  And definitely in some other ways.  Kaidlyn's just as stubborn as her cousin, and just as determined.  Hopefully just as fearless.  I knew I'd seen that spunk before, I just never put things together.  Their names are different, so it never occurred to me, even when she said she had family in Boston.  It didn't even occur to me.  But that's not important.

"And in some other ways if I remember correctly and things haven't changed.  I remember Jordan talking about that case.  It got pretty scary as I recall."  She didn't want to tell me about that, but I'd gone over to her place to check on her and talk with her about some things and ran into her and Garret in the lobby.  Garret made her tell me what had happened.  I could have strangled her for taking a chance like that, but I settled for a hug.  That way she's still here.  And now Kaidlyn's doing God knows what with the FBI, and from the going over they gave the house earlier I can only begin to imagine what she's doing.

"Yes sir, and I am terribly sorry about that.  I can assure you that the only people directly involved in this case, the ones who are going to be in the trenches, will be our agents.  This one has the potential to get. . ."  Great Haley.  Stop saying anything until the briefing.  The kid's already scared enough and now she's completely freaking out on you.  "Kaid, hon, breathe.  You're going to be fine.  Believe me, if they ~ if I didn't think you could handle it or were ready for something like this you would not have been assigned to it.  We're going to go over everything until you're comfortable with it and you're going to be fine.  I already know ~ or my legs and arms and chest do anyway ~ that you're more than capable of defending yourself.  Trust me.  I'm not going to let anything happen to you."

"I know you won't.  I know.  It's just…"

"I know.  The first case is always terrifying.  I remember mine to this day."  And it was nothing like this kid's gonna be facing.  I can't even imagine…  "So, Mr. Cavanaugh. . ."

"You can call me Max.  It's ok."

"Alright.  Max.  We can certainly provide a room for Kaidlyn, but she thought that. . ."

"Of course she can stay at my place.  It will be good to catch up.  While she's not working that is.  In fact, your guys just finished going over the house.  Everything is in place.  Here's their verification."  Everything they did has me more than a little worried for Kaidlyn.  I know she's always been fascinated with crimes and mysteries and things too, but somehow I never pictured my sister's baby girl as an FBI agent.

"Great.  Thanks.  Now, I've got a few things to finish setting up.  Kaid, you had a hard workout this morning.  Why don't you go with Max and get things settled there, rest up for a bit, and we'll meet back here at 3:00 to do a preliminary briefing.  Does that work with your schedule Detective?"

What does he mean he worked with Jordan on a case and it got out of control ~ or "pretty scary" as Max said?  She never told me about that.  I mean, yeah, it was before I came to Boston ~ at least I guess it was ~ but still.  There are so many things about Jordan that I'm still learning and. . .

"Woody?  You with us?"

"What?  Oh.  Yes sir.  I'm sorry."

"Does a briefing session at 3:00 today work with your schedule?"

"Yes, sir.  According to my orders I'm to be at your disposal for the duration of your time here.  They'll only pull me off if something goes completely nuts in the city."

"Good.  So I'll see you then."

"Do you need any help with anything Haley?"

"No, I'm fine.  Thanks for asking, though.  Max, I'd like for you to sit in on the briefing as well.  Since Kaid's going to be staying at your place.  And for other reasons that will become clear as we go through the briefings."

"Of course.  Not a problem.  I'll help however I can.  Woody, I've already called Jordan about joining us for lunch.  Why don't you come along?"

"Well, alright.  I don't guess there's much I can do here for now.  Sure.   I'll come."  Ok, so we won't be alone.  It's time to be with Jordan anyway.  And maybe her cousin's not as bad as I thought at first.  She seems sweet enough.

"Great!  It's going to be so much fun getting to know you!  Bye Drew.  We'll see you at 3.  I've got my cell if you need me before then.  Ready y'all?  Let's go!  I can't wait to see Jordan again!"

to be continued. . .