Chapter 10: Staring at the sky

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Jordan stood in the middle of the clean cut knoll outside of the mini mart, It all happened so quick, she barely had time to take it all in. Her feet were bare, she wasn't quite sure when she had taken off her shoes, it had to have been some time ago. The sky was filled with purple clouds, that burst with rain. She just stared up at them, with a odd sense of wonder.

She had stood in the rain before, but she had never enjoyed it. She wiggled her toes in the sopping grass, she felt the rain soak threw her jacket and tee shirt. She allowed it to heavy her hair and drip down her face, for the first time, she didn't care. She could no longer see Woody, she wasn't sure where he had gone. But she had a panicked feeling that he had left. Her feet wouldn't move to find him though, she couldn't move from that spot on the grass. Blurred memories began to return to her, though grainy and distorted.

The gunshot, she remembered being startled by it, the way it seemed to echo through out the room. She remembered feeling frozen, much like she was at that moment. Stuck in a single second, frozen in a moment. She remembered Woody looking at her, something new entering his eyes. Then he stood, walking slowly towards the door, staring threw the doorway with astonishment, his face turned pale.

"Woody?" she sputtered shyly, standing up on wobbly legs. Gradually, she walked towards the door, her feet feeling like they were made of iron. Woody blocked her way.

"Jordan… No." once again, he was protecting her, he pushed his arm away, she was surprised at how easy it was, and she wasn't used to him feeling that weak. He buried his face in a hand, not wanting to see the pain on her face. Silently she stood in the doorway, not wanting to believe what she was seeing.

Oliver, so young, his dark hair matted with black blood. His tanned cheek stained crimson, His violet eyes staring sightlessly at the ceiling. What was it about him? She had barely met him, but somehow, she couldn't stand the sight of him lying in a pool of blood.

A sudden rush of images raced threw her mind. Her mother. Her mother had died like that, on a floor, cold and alone, in a pool of scarlet blood. A sudden rush of nausea came over her, she swallowed, not moving. A sudden rush of black Kelvar's rushed past her, the swat team had stormed threw the door. Two men drug her out of the store, and all of a sudden, she was that ten year old again, being torn away from her father.

"No." she whispered fiercely, "NO!" she screamed, yanking away from their grips. She lunged at Woody who was coming out of the doors, his dress shirt unbuttoned partially, his tie loosened. Wrapping her arms around his neck she began to sob into his shoulder. He silently he lifted her into his arms, he had forgotten how small she was, light as a feather in his strong arms. She peeked up to see Nigel, Lily, Garret and Bug sprinting towards her, their faces stricken with a mixture of panic and relief. Woody gingerly set her down as they crowded around her, fussing over her, looking her over.

Woody smiled and stood back, slowly scanning the crowd that had gathered, not seeing a single familiar face there. He looked at Jordan once more with a weak smile, walked away. Slipping his hands into his pockets and fading into the crowd, as he had done so many times before, sometimes it was what he needed.

"Love, let me look at you!" Nigel said in relief, caressing her face gently. He pushed her back only for a moment, then wrapped his arms around her again, clutching to her as if she would disappear.

"You scared the hell out of us Jo, you know that." Garret scolded lovingly, pulling her into a hug, kissing her temple.

"You better not do it again…" Lily said with a smile. Bug wordlessly hugged her, words failed him often, but he felt that the hug spoke volumes.

"Oh you guys." Jordan whispered, gathering her "family" into her arms, her voice breaking. "I was so scared… but I'm okay, Woody took care of me…" she suddenly looked around in a wordless shock. He was gone. "Woody." She repeated softly.

Now she stood in the soaking rain, just like she had done seven years before, when Woody had drove away. A sick sense of betrayal ran threw her veins. The rain felt so cleansing, so renewing, like it had come for the single purpose of washing away any sense of greed or hate away from the world. He was really gone, just like that, disappearing without a word to anyone.

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"How you doing Washee?" Shiloh asked softly, wiping rain from her dark eyes.

"Fine." He said immediately, clearly annoyed at her calling him "Washee." Her pet name for him, referring back to her Sioux heritage. She cocked her head, allowing a dark strand of hair to fall into her face.

"Then why are you in here and not out there?" she asked pointing to the open flap of the makeshift tent the FBI had set up.

"Because I am not a part of that family anymore, I don't deserve to be."

"Washee," she said stubbornly, " you're my partner and I love you, but sometimes you are too stubborn… This entire time you and Jordan were in there, they were just as worried about you as they were about her… I think the only barrier in-between you and them, exists in your mind ."

He contemplated what she had said for a long, agonizing moment before finally muttering. "What does that mean anyway?" her eyes met his.

"What does what mean?" she asked quizzically, wrinkling her tiny nose.

"Washee, what does that mean?" he said again slowly. She chuckled, slapping him on the thigh good naturedly.

"It's the lard I put in my stew…" Woody laughed as she stood and made her way out the flap of the tent. He was left alone with the events of the last ten hours running threw his mind. He thought of Jordan, Garret, Nigel, Lily and Bug, the family he had willingly joined in Boston, only to abandon them to run. He wondered if he would ever really be accepted back, he knew he didn't deserve it at all. But maybe, just maybe, he could earn their trust again, and he would never break it again.

He stood up slowly, scanning the crowd once again, this time looking for a whiskey-eyed, chestnut-haired medical examiner that had haunted his dreams for seven years. He found her standing on the knoll, her eyes to the sky. He felt nervous, wiping his palms on his suit pants. Swallowed the fear of what she might say.

Before he knew it he was standing right behind her.

"Hey." He whispered apprehensively

She turned startled, and then the look of fright became one of relief. "Hey back." She murmured "I thought you left."

"Nah… I kind like it here now." She chuckled, smiling, feeling the world melt away as he smiled.

"You wanna get a cup of coffee, I know this great place where we can get a good cup of week old coffee, and Caroline lets us eat all the cheesecake we want." He shoved his hands into his pocket nervously, feeling something foreign brush against his fingers. Slowly he lifted his pack of cigarettes. Staring at them numbly for a moment.

"You smoke? I didn't know you smoked." She said wrinkling her nose in disgust. He smiled and kissed her cheek, in the same instant crushing the pack in his fist.

"Did smoke." He corrected, after a uncomfortable moment he finally whispered "So are we okay?"

Jordan looked down then back into his blue eyes "We will be." She took his hand and led him down the street, relishing in the fact that he was home again… that word ringing threw her mind, over and over, and for the first time in her life that word felt safe. Home.

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Four months later…

"Get down here!" Jordan screamed into the phone. "I told you to bring the camra, remember? I stuck the post-it note to your head." She screeched.

"I'm sorry I'll be down as soon as I can." Jordan rolled her eyes as she heard Woody fumble for a moment before the phone went dead. Turning to Garret she groaned. "Some days I wonder about that man… I mean, come on Gar, he's like a gopher on crank sometimes." Garret smiled, hugging her close to him.

"But you love him right?" he asked as Bug burst threw the doors into the maternity ward waiting room.

"I have a little girl, I have a little girl Jasmine!!!" he screeched in happiness, before disappearing behind the doors again, Jordan smiled wide, rubbing Garrets back methodically.

"At times, I'm not sure why, but I love him more than words can express."

FIN