Woody stood there uncomfortably and couldn't help but remember that Jordan
had used the exact same sediment when she saw him earlier in the day.
"You really need to work on your welcome home speeches Jordan. No matter what you may have heard; 'What to hell are you doing here?' was not the name they stuck on me when I left here."
Jordan fought the urge to wrap her hands around his neck or wrap her arms around it. Instead she gripped the door frame tighter.
"I don't even know what to call you."
For years he went to sleep every night, thinking about the way her breath caught in the back of her throat right before she came and then she exhaled his name, making it sound like the most intimate word in the world. He mouth was suddenly full of rocks.
"Woody" he choked out.
"But I thought they gave you a new one?"
Woody fumbled in his jacket pocket.
"They did and I changed it back. You want to see my ID?"
Jordan put up a hand as if to say that it wasn't necessary.
"Woody."
The name sounded almost foreign to Jordan. She kept her hand on the door frame, making no effort to invite him in. An awkward silence followed. Woody rocked back and forth on his feet wondering why he was even there in the first place.
When he left the office he drove aimlessly around the city. Woody decided Tillman had a point. He was being a jerk. When he initially hired on at the Bureau he planned to eventually make his way back to his adopted hometown. He was sidetracked. Now he was back and needed to make the best of a difficult situation.
He decided to try to mend some fences. The first step led him to Pearl Street. He almost hit a parked car when he saw Eddie Winslow walking out of the building holding his car keys. Woody circled around the block and pulled into the parking spot that had just been vacated by a silver sedan that he assumed was Winslow's.
Woody sat in his car and debated on the wisdom of being there. Jordan deserved an explanation. When he decided to stay in Virginia he made an effort to move on with his life and forget Boston, something always held him back, leaving him in as much limbo as he was in Idaho. He justified getting out of his car and riding the elevator to the third floor by thinking that if he cleared the air with her he would be able to truly put everything behind him and begin anew.
"What ARE you doing here?"
"I needed to see you."
Jordan couldn't fight the tension and confusion that had been building in her since she first saw him standing there in the conference room door. She questioned the reason he never tried to connect her when it was apparent he had been out of the program for awhile. Jordan also felt cornered by the emotions she thought she had long since buried. She lashed out.
"And you thought you could just pick up were we left of? I'm sorry, but no. It's great that you got your name back.....that's great that you could...could come back to Boston....but ....there are.....five years....that you just can't sign on a dotted line and take out of storage....you had to leave and that sucked.....but life went on here without you...."
Woody cringed Jordan was not going to make this easy. He never thought she would. Too much time had past and they were strangers. That point was painfully obvious to him.
"Damn it Jordan, I just came by to say hello! I didn't come here for...for...that...I just wanted to..."
He wanted to wrap her in his arms and bury his face in her sweet smelling hair. Instead, he looked at his feet willing them to just turn, walk away and never look back.
"I'm sorry it's too late. You should leave."
"I should have just left when I saw Winslow leaving. I should have waited until I knew he was home."
"What!? Were you staking out the building? How did you know I was still here?"
"I looked it up."
Jordan couldn't hide the shrill in her voice.
"Of course, you're working for the government now. You have access to all kinds of information. Tell me, what all do my files have to say?"
Woody ran an agitated hand through his hair. All he only wanted to talk to her and put some of his own demons to rest. Yes, he had looked her up, it had been years. He figured she would have moved because of Winslow and the child.
"Christ Jordan, you know me, it's not like that!"
Jordan looked him up and down taking note of the subtle changes she noticed before. There was a new edginess about him that made her very uncomfortable.
"I don't know who the hell you are anymore."
"Mama?"
Jordan turned to look at Jack's frightened face. He was standing in the room behind her, he's little body poised to run. Woody was taken back by the sight of Winslow's child. A boy; he couldn't help but by a little envious. Even in the dim light Woody could tell that the color and texture of his hair matched his mother's perfectly. He was bigger than he thought he'd be. Tall like Winslow. But what he couldn't get over were the electric blue eyes that seemed too big for his face. For the life of him, Woody couldn't remember if Winslow had blue eyes or not. He could never forget that Jordan's were color of honey and seemed to melt when she smiled.
Jordan left her sentry at the door and went to her son pulling him to her side, murmuring incoherent smoothing words to him. Jack's eyes never left the stranger standing at the door. Woody realized their raised voices must have frightened the boy. He felt guilty. He took a few steps forward and knelt down.
"Hi, what's your name?"
Jack looked up to his mother holding his arms up. She picked him up, leaving Woody on the floor alone. Jack wrapped his legs around his mother's waist and locked his toes together like a monkey. As Woody stood up he couldn't help but feel the child's pose looked vaguely familiar.
Jordan took a deep breath. She didn't know what she was going to say.
"Jack, this is ....this is.....Agent Hoyt. He used to work...with the police."
Jordan held her breath as Jack and Woody continued to study each other. After a few seconds Jack turned to her.
"Does an agent have a badge like Eddie?"
Woody felt confused by such a young child referring to his father by his first name but he chose to ignore it. Woody cleared his throat and those blue eyes swung back over to his face.
"You wanna see it? Your Mom didn't."
Woody reached in his pocket and pulled out his badge and handed it to Jack. Jack studied the shield just as he studied Woody's face.
"Is this for real? It doesn't look like Eddie's"
For the first time all day Woody smiled.
"Yep, I got it three years ago. I used to have one like your daddy's before you were even born."
"My daddy had a badge like Eddie's and now he's dead."
The statement lay heavy in the air between them. It didn't take long for Jordan to snap into action. She took the shield out of Jack's hand and gave it back to Woody.
"I think you had better leave now."
Woody could only nod and turned to leave. He heard the lock turn as the door shut behind him. Woody's head was swimming. Winslow wasn't Jack's father. There had been someone else; a dead cop. As he walked out of the building he stopped in his tracks. The fleeting memory of his brother Cal being carried around on her mother's hip with his legs wrapped around her and his feet locked. For years his mother use to call him 'monkey boy'. He brushed it off as a coincidence. He was too confused to think about it.
Woody drove away realizing that some things never change. His heart was still in Jordan's hands, only this time someone else had staked claim to hers.
"You really need to work on your welcome home speeches Jordan. No matter what you may have heard; 'What to hell are you doing here?' was not the name they stuck on me when I left here."
Jordan fought the urge to wrap her hands around his neck or wrap her arms around it. Instead she gripped the door frame tighter.
"I don't even know what to call you."
For years he went to sleep every night, thinking about the way her breath caught in the back of her throat right before she came and then she exhaled his name, making it sound like the most intimate word in the world. He mouth was suddenly full of rocks.
"Woody" he choked out.
"But I thought they gave you a new one?"
Woody fumbled in his jacket pocket.
"They did and I changed it back. You want to see my ID?"
Jordan put up a hand as if to say that it wasn't necessary.
"Woody."
The name sounded almost foreign to Jordan. She kept her hand on the door frame, making no effort to invite him in. An awkward silence followed. Woody rocked back and forth on his feet wondering why he was even there in the first place.
When he left the office he drove aimlessly around the city. Woody decided Tillman had a point. He was being a jerk. When he initially hired on at the Bureau he planned to eventually make his way back to his adopted hometown. He was sidetracked. Now he was back and needed to make the best of a difficult situation.
He decided to try to mend some fences. The first step led him to Pearl Street. He almost hit a parked car when he saw Eddie Winslow walking out of the building holding his car keys. Woody circled around the block and pulled into the parking spot that had just been vacated by a silver sedan that he assumed was Winslow's.
Woody sat in his car and debated on the wisdom of being there. Jordan deserved an explanation. When he decided to stay in Virginia he made an effort to move on with his life and forget Boston, something always held him back, leaving him in as much limbo as he was in Idaho. He justified getting out of his car and riding the elevator to the third floor by thinking that if he cleared the air with her he would be able to truly put everything behind him and begin anew.
"What ARE you doing here?"
"I needed to see you."
Jordan couldn't fight the tension and confusion that had been building in her since she first saw him standing there in the conference room door. She questioned the reason he never tried to connect her when it was apparent he had been out of the program for awhile. Jordan also felt cornered by the emotions she thought she had long since buried. She lashed out.
"And you thought you could just pick up were we left of? I'm sorry, but no. It's great that you got your name back.....that's great that you could...could come back to Boston....but ....there are.....five years....that you just can't sign on a dotted line and take out of storage....you had to leave and that sucked.....but life went on here without you...."
Woody cringed Jordan was not going to make this easy. He never thought she would. Too much time had past and they were strangers. That point was painfully obvious to him.
"Damn it Jordan, I just came by to say hello! I didn't come here for...for...that...I just wanted to..."
He wanted to wrap her in his arms and bury his face in her sweet smelling hair. Instead, he looked at his feet willing them to just turn, walk away and never look back.
"I'm sorry it's too late. You should leave."
"I should have just left when I saw Winslow leaving. I should have waited until I knew he was home."
"What!? Were you staking out the building? How did you know I was still here?"
"I looked it up."
Jordan couldn't hide the shrill in her voice.
"Of course, you're working for the government now. You have access to all kinds of information. Tell me, what all do my files have to say?"
Woody ran an agitated hand through his hair. All he only wanted to talk to her and put some of his own demons to rest. Yes, he had looked her up, it had been years. He figured she would have moved because of Winslow and the child.
"Christ Jordan, you know me, it's not like that!"
Jordan looked him up and down taking note of the subtle changes she noticed before. There was a new edginess about him that made her very uncomfortable.
"I don't know who the hell you are anymore."
"Mama?"
Jordan turned to look at Jack's frightened face. He was standing in the room behind her, he's little body poised to run. Woody was taken back by the sight of Winslow's child. A boy; he couldn't help but by a little envious. Even in the dim light Woody could tell that the color and texture of his hair matched his mother's perfectly. He was bigger than he thought he'd be. Tall like Winslow. But what he couldn't get over were the electric blue eyes that seemed too big for his face. For the life of him, Woody couldn't remember if Winslow had blue eyes or not. He could never forget that Jordan's were color of honey and seemed to melt when she smiled.
Jordan left her sentry at the door and went to her son pulling him to her side, murmuring incoherent smoothing words to him. Jack's eyes never left the stranger standing at the door. Woody realized their raised voices must have frightened the boy. He felt guilty. He took a few steps forward and knelt down.
"Hi, what's your name?"
Jack looked up to his mother holding his arms up. She picked him up, leaving Woody on the floor alone. Jack wrapped his legs around his mother's waist and locked his toes together like a monkey. As Woody stood up he couldn't help but feel the child's pose looked vaguely familiar.
Jordan took a deep breath. She didn't know what she was going to say.
"Jack, this is ....this is.....Agent Hoyt. He used to work...with the police."
Jordan held her breath as Jack and Woody continued to study each other. After a few seconds Jack turned to her.
"Does an agent have a badge like Eddie?"
Woody felt confused by such a young child referring to his father by his first name but he chose to ignore it. Woody cleared his throat and those blue eyes swung back over to his face.
"You wanna see it? Your Mom didn't."
Woody reached in his pocket and pulled out his badge and handed it to Jack. Jack studied the shield just as he studied Woody's face.
"Is this for real? It doesn't look like Eddie's"
For the first time all day Woody smiled.
"Yep, I got it three years ago. I used to have one like your daddy's before you were even born."
"My daddy had a badge like Eddie's and now he's dead."
The statement lay heavy in the air between them. It didn't take long for Jordan to snap into action. She took the shield out of Jack's hand and gave it back to Woody.
"I think you had better leave now."
Woody could only nod and turned to leave. He heard the lock turn as the door shut behind him. Woody's head was swimming. Winslow wasn't Jack's father. There had been someone else; a dead cop. As he walked out of the building he stopped in his tracks. The fleeting memory of his brother Cal being carried around on her mother's hip with his legs wrapped around her and his feet locked. For years his mother use to call him 'monkey boy'. He brushed it off as a coincidence. He was too confused to think about it.
Woody drove away realizing that some things never change. His heart was still in Jordan's hands, only this time someone else had staked claim to hers.