Hoyt knocked once and strode into his boss's office.
"This isn't going to work. Get me out of here."
Special Agent Tillman kicked his feet up on the corner of his desk.
"The feng shui of your office is not working out?"
"Yeah. My chi isn't finding balance"
"I hear Anchorage is open."
Woody pointed his thumb at the laptop sitting on the desk.
"Make it happen."
"I was only joking."
"I'm not."
"Hoyt, you lived through the limbo of witness protection and came back to talk about it. I would say your chi is just fine."
Tillman could almost feel the itch in Hoyt's fingers to show him what he thought of his sense of humor. Tillman sat up and put his elbows on his desk and motioned Woody to take a seat.
"What's up?"
"I always thought that an investigating agent worked out in the field. Since when does the M.E.'s office have to make a house call?"
"Protocol! You have a burr up your ass because of protocol."
"Humor me."
"I don't have to put up with this from you, you know."
"Then you shouldn't have asked for me to be transferred here."
Tillman kicked back again and studied his newest subordinate. He knew it was going to be awkward when he requested Hoyt to be assigned to his office.
Tillman's predecessor was the authority on the mobs of the northeast. When he quit it left a hole in the collective brain trust. In his short time with the Bureau, Hoyt had built himself quite a reputation as being good at his job. Tillman called him in a few times to consult in the previous year. He didn't think Hoyt would want to bolt at the first sign of his old life.
"That wasn't my call. Mayer was heading over to the morgue herself, but when I made the courtesy call to the CME he said something about a scheduling issue. He told me he would send the M.E. on the case over here."
"And nobody thought to give me a heads up?"
"Hoyt, you are damn lucky my wife came home from work early last night and I'm in a good mood. I'll spell this out to you as simply as possible. I requested you at this office because I wanted you on my team. But, I won't put up with you're prima donna attitude. You are a professional and you will conduct yourself as such. I will give you until Monday morning to get your shit in gear or by Tuesday evening you will be hanging sheetrock in Idaho again. Do I make my self clear?"
"Yes sir."
Woody stood up and grabbed the doorknob to make as quick exit. Tillman's words stopped him.
"Woody, I frankly don't know how I would feel if I where in your shoes. Hell, I'm largely responsible for everything you've been through. Take the next couple of days. Look up some old friends, check out you old stomping grounds, go get drunk, reconnect and come back here Monday ready to go to work."
Woody opened the door.
"Oh, by the way, I'm docking your pay for whatever I heard hit the wall. I'll leave up to you to patch the drywall."
Tillman waited until Hoyt was gone before he picked up the phone he dialed an internal extension.
"Mayer, just exactly who did stiff storage send over?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jordan didn't remember driving home. She just thought she just had stepped into the 'Twilight Zone'.
The shock was wearing off by the time she had finished cleaning up after dinner. Still damp from his bath, Jack was playing blessedly quiet in his playroom.
Right before Jack's first birthday, Jordan's building went co-op. With Max's help she bought her place and the smaller unit next door. It took almost a year, but between the two of them, they torn down the common wall and remodeled the larger area to make room for her and the baby. Jack's playroom was in the alcove were Jordan's bed once stood.
Jordan's home was her haven, even after everything that has happened in it. She relished in the strength it gave her.
Jordan desperately needed to tap that strength to relax and think about what she was going to do. She decided to pour herself a glass of wine and curl up on the couch. She almost dropped the bottle when she heard a soft knock on the door.
Jordan was relieved when she saw Eddie standing on the other side on the door. Jack squealed with delight when he walked in the room.
"Eddie!"
"Hey little man!"
Eddie smoothed the cowlick on the back of Jack's head when he looked up at him. Part of Eddie wished that Jordan would have taken him up on his offer of marriage just so that he could come home every night to Jack's sunny face.
"I was just going to pour myself some. You want to join me?" Jordan said holding up the wine bottle.
Eddie gave her a nod and Jack took back off to squeeze a few last minutes with his toys before he would be banished to his bedroom for the night.
Jordan set the wine glass on the kitchen counter before Eddie.
"I thought you had a date with Anastasia tonight?"
"Her name is Tatiana, Jordan and yes, I'm meeting her in an hour."
"Tatiana, Texarkana, I don't think it makes much difference. You're not with her for her stimulating conversation."
"If I wanted only that I could stay here with you."
"Touché"
"Her English is a little weak but you have to remember she's in the States on a fellowship at the Conservatory. She holds a masters in fine arts, I've seen her degrees."
"Oh, I just bet you have."
"If you would just marry me I'd forget all about her."
Jordan downed her wine in one gulp.
"What if I took you up on your offer this time?"
"Should I be thinking about taking my good suit to the cleaners?"
Jordan yelled out to Jack and told him to get ready for bed.
"Jordan, take care of him. Tatiana can start without me. I can tell by the look on your face we need to talk."
A few minutes later, Jordan watched as Jack arranged his pillow and blankets just so. The look of determination on his face set her teeth on edge. Max once joked that Jordan was only the vessel for Woody's clone, that he was the carbon copy of his father.
Jack giggled as he looked up at her ready for his good night kiss.
Jordan wrapped her arms around his little body. He pulled away and she looked at him. Max was wrong, she thought, Jack wasn't Woody's carbon copy. The way his eyes crinkled when he laughed was just like his Grandpa's and the way his lips curled right before he laughed was pure Jordan.
"Mama, why are you crying?"
Jordan self-consciously wiped her face. Just the night before, she had tucked her son in bed and spent the rest of her evening with three loads of laundry lamenting the state of her sex life, or lack of it. Now she was trying to figure out how to tell her baby boy that his dead father was alive and well and working in an office building, only fifteen minutes away.
Jordan made a production out of pulling the blankets around Jack's shoulders.
"Honey, these are happy tears. I have to go into work for a few minutes tomorrow and then we get to spend the whole weekend together; just the two of us."
Jack looked at her half believing.
"Just go to sleep. I'll see you in the morning."
"I love you, Mama."
"I love you, too."
"Do you love Gaylord?"
Jack held up his favorite stuffed animal. Its long ears flapped in the air as he shook it back and forth. Jordan had to smile.
"Yes, I love Gaylord."
Jordan blew him a kiss and closed his door behind her as she left.
Eddie was sitting at the kitchen counter right where she left him. She took a seat next to him and he refilled their glasses.
"Spill it Cavanaugh."
Jordan bounced the words around in her head. Nothing seemed to make sense, so she just jumped into it. Her voice dropped to a whisper.
"He's back."
"Who?"
"Woody."
"WHAT?!"
"Shhh. I don't want Jack to hear this."
Eddie leaned in closer to her.
"What do you mean he's back? You saw him. Where?"
"Believe it or not at Central Casting."
"The FBI field office! Why were you at the field office?"
"It's a long story. All that matters is he's back."
"I wonder why the hell they brought him here."
In Jordan's mind's eye she remembered seeing him standing there in conference room doorway. He looked right at home with his old skin.
"I have a feeling he came back by himself."
"What do you mean?"
"The side arm, badge and G-man arrogance were all a dead give away."
Eddie face was blank with disbelief and shock.
"I've been trying to figure it out all evening. The only thing I can think of is that when things cooled off around here they took him out of the program."
"It makes sense Cahill's origination has been disbanded for awhile now. How long do you think he's been in town?"
"Ironically, he just got here this morning."
Eddie understood Jordan's discomfort. Hoyt has a child he never knew existed sleeping in the other room. What about Jack? They have always told him that his father died in the line of duty.
"You'll have to tell Jack."
"Not right now."
Jordan stood up and began to pace.
"Jordan, you knew you were going to have to tell him sooner or later. Besides, the city's not THAT big. Hoyt's going to figure it out. He's not stupid. "
"I was planning telling Jack sometime after he had his OWN kids. As far as Woody goes....Eddie, what am I going to do?"
"We'll think of something. What was Hoyt's reaction when he saw you?"
"He didn't look happy. In fact he didn't look happy at all. He's changed Eddie."
"What do you mean?"
"I don't know. But I do know I don't want Jack anywhere near him until I know what's going on."
"You know I'm in your corner."
Jordan stopped pacing and gave Eddie a soft smile.
"How do feel about all this, Jordan?"
She looked like she was going to say something and then stopped. Eddie thought she wasn't going to get a response until she spoke.
"I don't know. I really don't know."
Eddie's heart went out to her. For years Jordan played cat and mouse games with Hoyt's affections. It took his faked death for her to acknowledge her feelings for him and then it took over a year for her to get over them, if she ever really did.
"I'm going to call Tatiana and cancel."
Eddie reached for his cell and Jordan stopped him.
"No, she probably wouldn't understand a word you were saying anyway. Go, at least one of us can have a good evening."
"You sure?"
Jordan pushed him out the door.
"You know you can call me anytime Jordan and I'll be right over."
"I'll remember that later on tonight." She said with a smirk.
Eddie chuckled and walked to the elevator. Jordan was still watching him as he gave her a wave as the doors shut.
Thirty minutes later Jordan was no where near deciding on how to handle Woody's return when she heard a knock at the door. Eddie's date must have ended before it began and he was in need of some stimulating conversation. Jordan hoped he could help her figure out what to do. She was smiling when she answered the door.
"What did Nikita finish without you .....?"
"Nikita?"
For the second time in one day Jordan felt her knees buckle.
"What the hell are you doing here?"
"This isn't going to work. Get me out of here."
Special Agent Tillman kicked his feet up on the corner of his desk.
"The feng shui of your office is not working out?"
"Yeah. My chi isn't finding balance"
"I hear Anchorage is open."
Woody pointed his thumb at the laptop sitting on the desk.
"Make it happen."
"I was only joking."
"I'm not."
"Hoyt, you lived through the limbo of witness protection and came back to talk about it. I would say your chi is just fine."
Tillman could almost feel the itch in Hoyt's fingers to show him what he thought of his sense of humor. Tillman sat up and put his elbows on his desk and motioned Woody to take a seat.
"What's up?"
"I always thought that an investigating agent worked out in the field. Since when does the M.E.'s office have to make a house call?"
"Protocol! You have a burr up your ass because of protocol."
"Humor me."
"I don't have to put up with this from you, you know."
"Then you shouldn't have asked for me to be transferred here."
Tillman kicked back again and studied his newest subordinate. He knew it was going to be awkward when he requested Hoyt to be assigned to his office.
Tillman's predecessor was the authority on the mobs of the northeast. When he quit it left a hole in the collective brain trust. In his short time with the Bureau, Hoyt had built himself quite a reputation as being good at his job. Tillman called him in a few times to consult in the previous year. He didn't think Hoyt would want to bolt at the first sign of his old life.
"That wasn't my call. Mayer was heading over to the morgue herself, but when I made the courtesy call to the CME he said something about a scheduling issue. He told me he would send the M.E. on the case over here."
"And nobody thought to give me a heads up?"
"Hoyt, you are damn lucky my wife came home from work early last night and I'm in a good mood. I'll spell this out to you as simply as possible. I requested you at this office because I wanted you on my team. But, I won't put up with you're prima donna attitude. You are a professional and you will conduct yourself as such. I will give you until Monday morning to get your shit in gear or by Tuesday evening you will be hanging sheetrock in Idaho again. Do I make my self clear?"
"Yes sir."
Woody stood up and grabbed the doorknob to make as quick exit. Tillman's words stopped him.
"Woody, I frankly don't know how I would feel if I where in your shoes. Hell, I'm largely responsible for everything you've been through. Take the next couple of days. Look up some old friends, check out you old stomping grounds, go get drunk, reconnect and come back here Monday ready to go to work."
Woody opened the door.
"Oh, by the way, I'm docking your pay for whatever I heard hit the wall. I'll leave up to you to patch the drywall."
Tillman waited until Hoyt was gone before he picked up the phone he dialed an internal extension.
"Mayer, just exactly who did stiff storage send over?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jordan didn't remember driving home. She just thought she just had stepped into the 'Twilight Zone'.
The shock was wearing off by the time she had finished cleaning up after dinner. Still damp from his bath, Jack was playing blessedly quiet in his playroom.
Right before Jack's first birthday, Jordan's building went co-op. With Max's help she bought her place and the smaller unit next door. It took almost a year, but between the two of them, they torn down the common wall and remodeled the larger area to make room for her and the baby. Jack's playroom was in the alcove were Jordan's bed once stood.
Jordan's home was her haven, even after everything that has happened in it. She relished in the strength it gave her.
Jordan desperately needed to tap that strength to relax and think about what she was going to do. She decided to pour herself a glass of wine and curl up on the couch. She almost dropped the bottle when she heard a soft knock on the door.
Jordan was relieved when she saw Eddie standing on the other side on the door. Jack squealed with delight when he walked in the room.
"Eddie!"
"Hey little man!"
Eddie smoothed the cowlick on the back of Jack's head when he looked up at him. Part of Eddie wished that Jordan would have taken him up on his offer of marriage just so that he could come home every night to Jack's sunny face.
"I was just going to pour myself some. You want to join me?" Jordan said holding up the wine bottle.
Eddie gave her a nod and Jack took back off to squeeze a few last minutes with his toys before he would be banished to his bedroom for the night.
Jordan set the wine glass on the kitchen counter before Eddie.
"I thought you had a date with Anastasia tonight?"
"Her name is Tatiana, Jordan and yes, I'm meeting her in an hour."
"Tatiana, Texarkana, I don't think it makes much difference. You're not with her for her stimulating conversation."
"If I wanted only that I could stay here with you."
"Touché"
"Her English is a little weak but you have to remember she's in the States on a fellowship at the Conservatory. She holds a masters in fine arts, I've seen her degrees."
"Oh, I just bet you have."
"If you would just marry me I'd forget all about her."
Jordan downed her wine in one gulp.
"What if I took you up on your offer this time?"
"Should I be thinking about taking my good suit to the cleaners?"
Jordan yelled out to Jack and told him to get ready for bed.
"Jordan, take care of him. Tatiana can start without me. I can tell by the look on your face we need to talk."
A few minutes later, Jordan watched as Jack arranged his pillow and blankets just so. The look of determination on his face set her teeth on edge. Max once joked that Jordan was only the vessel for Woody's clone, that he was the carbon copy of his father.
Jack giggled as he looked up at her ready for his good night kiss.
Jordan wrapped her arms around his little body. He pulled away and she looked at him. Max was wrong, she thought, Jack wasn't Woody's carbon copy. The way his eyes crinkled when he laughed was just like his Grandpa's and the way his lips curled right before he laughed was pure Jordan.
"Mama, why are you crying?"
Jordan self-consciously wiped her face. Just the night before, she had tucked her son in bed and spent the rest of her evening with three loads of laundry lamenting the state of her sex life, or lack of it. Now she was trying to figure out how to tell her baby boy that his dead father was alive and well and working in an office building, only fifteen minutes away.
Jordan made a production out of pulling the blankets around Jack's shoulders.
"Honey, these are happy tears. I have to go into work for a few minutes tomorrow and then we get to spend the whole weekend together; just the two of us."
Jack looked at her half believing.
"Just go to sleep. I'll see you in the morning."
"I love you, Mama."
"I love you, too."
"Do you love Gaylord?"
Jack held up his favorite stuffed animal. Its long ears flapped in the air as he shook it back and forth. Jordan had to smile.
"Yes, I love Gaylord."
Jordan blew him a kiss and closed his door behind her as she left.
Eddie was sitting at the kitchen counter right where she left him. She took a seat next to him and he refilled their glasses.
"Spill it Cavanaugh."
Jordan bounced the words around in her head. Nothing seemed to make sense, so she just jumped into it. Her voice dropped to a whisper.
"He's back."
"Who?"
"Woody."
"WHAT?!"
"Shhh. I don't want Jack to hear this."
Eddie leaned in closer to her.
"What do you mean he's back? You saw him. Where?"
"Believe it or not at Central Casting."
"The FBI field office! Why were you at the field office?"
"It's a long story. All that matters is he's back."
"I wonder why the hell they brought him here."
In Jordan's mind's eye she remembered seeing him standing there in conference room doorway. He looked right at home with his old skin.
"I have a feeling he came back by himself."
"What do you mean?"
"The side arm, badge and G-man arrogance were all a dead give away."
Eddie face was blank with disbelief and shock.
"I've been trying to figure it out all evening. The only thing I can think of is that when things cooled off around here they took him out of the program."
"It makes sense Cahill's origination has been disbanded for awhile now. How long do you think he's been in town?"
"Ironically, he just got here this morning."
Eddie understood Jordan's discomfort. Hoyt has a child he never knew existed sleeping in the other room. What about Jack? They have always told him that his father died in the line of duty.
"You'll have to tell Jack."
"Not right now."
Jordan stood up and began to pace.
"Jordan, you knew you were going to have to tell him sooner or later. Besides, the city's not THAT big. Hoyt's going to figure it out. He's not stupid. "
"I was planning telling Jack sometime after he had his OWN kids. As far as Woody goes....Eddie, what am I going to do?"
"We'll think of something. What was Hoyt's reaction when he saw you?"
"He didn't look happy. In fact he didn't look happy at all. He's changed Eddie."
"What do you mean?"
"I don't know. But I do know I don't want Jack anywhere near him until I know what's going on."
"You know I'm in your corner."
Jordan stopped pacing and gave Eddie a soft smile.
"How do feel about all this, Jordan?"
She looked like she was going to say something and then stopped. Eddie thought she wasn't going to get a response until she spoke.
"I don't know. I really don't know."
Eddie's heart went out to her. For years Jordan played cat and mouse games with Hoyt's affections. It took his faked death for her to acknowledge her feelings for him and then it took over a year for her to get over them, if she ever really did.
"I'm going to call Tatiana and cancel."
Eddie reached for his cell and Jordan stopped him.
"No, she probably wouldn't understand a word you were saying anyway. Go, at least one of us can have a good evening."
"You sure?"
Jordan pushed him out the door.
"You know you can call me anytime Jordan and I'll be right over."
"I'll remember that later on tonight." She said with a smirk.
Eddie chuckled and walked to the elevator. Jordan was still watching him as he gave her a wave as the doors shut.
Thirty minutes later Jordan was no where near deciding on how to handle Woody's return when she heard a knock at the door. Eddie's date must have ended before it began and he was in need of some stimulating conversation. Jordan hoped he could help her figure out what to do. She was smiling when she answered the door.
"What did Nikita finish without you .....?"
"Nikita?"
For the second time in one day Jordan felt her knees buckle.
"What the hell are you doing here?"