A/N: Just a short little one-shot about flying...not really but metaphorically. This is told through Devan's point of view, and I kinda like the bird/flying analogy because it ties in with the poem Garret read at the end of Fire From The Sky...which I still haven't seen. I curse my country daily...and the tennis.

I do not own Crossing Jordan or Vanessa Carlton's "Ordinary Day".

Sappy, sad and angsty little fic. Enjoy!

Ordinary Day

I found him leaning against a railing on the rooftop, where Jordan said he would be. He looked vaguely upset, but mostly distant as he stared out into the intertwining streets and tall buildings from the very top of the morgue. I wondered why he looked the way he did, and I wished I could delve into his mind to read his thoughts and emotions. It would be a lot easier than trying to talk to him. When he was like this he was always so reserved, so to himself. So unlike what I was attracted to in him.

Just a day

Just an ordinary day

Just trying to get by

Just a boy

Just an ordinary boy

But he was looking towards the sky

He jerked up from the railing, aware of my presence. He tried to smile his welcome but failed miserably. I joined him up against the railing, my arms dangling out from the cold steel bar daringly. It was cold, very cold. He looked to the sky then, trying to find an escape. Not from me, but from everything.

"I heard you spent the day with a serial killer," I said, easing the chill.

"And I heard you had the day off," he replied mildly, not looking away from the heavy grey clouds.

I shrugged. "I spent the day with my mother. She's on a holiday here for a while. She lives in France and doesn't really visit much."

And as he asked if I would come along

I started to realise

That everyday he finds

Just what he's looking for

Like a shooting star he shines

He smiled distantly, still not looking at me. "What about your dad?"

I looked at him squarely. Even then he didn't meet my eyes and I was almost thankful for the opportunity to study his profile. "Don't know. Never met him. He left when I was a baby."

His eyes closed over in a squint and I looked away. "Aren't you curious?"

"About what?" I asked in confusion.

"About him," he replied quietly, referring to my father. "You know, what kind of person he was…"

"He was an asshole," I said quickly. "Still is, as far as I'm concerned."

He said take my hand

Live while you can

Don't you see your dreams

Are right in the palm of your hand

We stood in silence for a while. I didn't quite know what affect my presence had on him; whether he enjoyed my company or whether he couldn't stand me, which I hoped was not the case. We usually joked around a lot, teasing and flirting, and I wasn't quite sure where I stood with him when he was in his moods.

"I would give anything to have my parents back for just one day," he whispered, his breath coming out in a trail of white cloud.

He had told me about his parents a while back. But I didn't openly feel sorry for him. I sympathised with him silently but I knew he hated it when people treated him like he was small and defenceless. He was strong; he had survived loss and heartache. Jordan didn't know the half of what he had been through but I was in no position to judge how she treated him. It was none of my business.

And as he spoke

He spoke ordinary words

Although they did not feel

For I felt what I had not felt before

You'd swear those words could heal

I laughed quietly. "When I was young I used to think about my dad. I used to pretend he was a king who was taking a break from ruling the world. He was just sick of having to fix things everyday because everything was so disorderly. Then, when he realised the world couldn't survive without him he would come back and take care of everything. Even me."

Woody nodded slightly. "Did your mother ever talk about him?"

My eyes thinned into a frown. "They never married. In high school, they dated. And when she was nineteen she got pregnant. My father stuck around for a few years before disappearing altogether. She used to lie about him, though. Used to say he was coming back."

"I'm sorry," he whispered in a raspy voice.

"Don't be," I said, shaking my head and smiling. "I survived him."

There was silence again as we stared out into the setting sun, which was hidden behind thick clouds. Still, it peeked through the cracks and its reddish glow spread gently across the entire sky. He smiled distantly, and I wondered again what he was thinking about.

"When I was young," he began quietly, "I loved to paint. My first year in school I remember painting a picture of birds. I used to always paint birds. Then another kid came along and asked me why I always drew birds."

He stopped and I could see tears welling up in his crystalline eyes. "What did you say?"

And as I looked up into those eyes

His vision borrows mine

And to know he's no stranger

For I feel I've held him for all of time

Woody swallowed. "I told him that when people die, they become birds and fly higher than they ever could when they were alive. He laughed and said that when people died they were buried in dark holes."

There was something bitter about how he said it but I didn't touch on it. Instead I just gave a stifled laugh. "He had a lot to learn."

But he didn't laugh. Instead he just stared dead ahead. "Thing is I believed him. I remembered my mother's funeral and how sick she had been. I remember thinking that she couldn't have possibly flown because she was always so ill. And birds can't fly when they're sick."

I looked at him closely. "Do you still think that?"

Woody shook his head with a small smile. "No. She flew higher than anyone."

And he said take my hand

Live while you can

And if we walk now

We will divide and conquer this land

Don't you see your dreams

Are right in the palm of your hand

Right in the palm of your hand

I smiled and tightened my grip on the railing. Our hands were only inches apart and silence fell once again. It wasn't uncomfortable, though. It was actually comforting knowing that we could talk so openly to each other when we had to. It was something we both shared that would never vanish. He looked at me then. He turned around so he was facing me squarely, and I did the same, taking my hands from the railing. He had that smile in his eyes, the spark that I loved.

His hand dug up underneath my hair and he pushed it back behind my ear. He trailed his finger along my nose, dipping and sliding down the curve. "You remind me of a bird. So free and beautiful."

Please come with me

See what I see

Touch the stars for time will not flee

Time will not flee

Can you see?

I let him trace over my lips. I was savouring this moment. It was special. I didn't say anything, just looked at him with studying eyes. He was far off; I wasn't free. But I wanted to be, so I pretended. I closed my eyes as he pulled me into his chest and embraced me in a hug. I took in his scent as I buried my head into his light shirt. We both needed an emotional rescue, and this was where we found it. In each other.

I pulled back first, breathing in deeply as I did so. He then looked at me seriously. "Do you ever feel like a bird?"

I smiled at him. And I didn't pretend this time as I thought about what it was like to be free. "All the time. When I'm soaring through the sky I feel so light it's amazing. I love the wind through my wings…"

He smiled in return. "I'm afraid of flying."

Just a dream

Just an ordinary dream

As I wake in bed

And the boy, that boy, that ordinary boy

Or was it all in my head?

Then he turned away, hiding his eyes from me. I smiled, though. There was a barrier of fear just before you left the ground but when you broke through it, there was nothing holding you back. You just had to know how to break through it without falling straight back down to the ground.

I slid my arm around his shoulders, coming to fall in behind him. I rested my chin on his shoulder and we stayed that way for a while, just breathing and listening to the wind. He said he was afraid of flying. There was nothing to fear if you had someone to guide you. Slipping my other hand slowly into his, our fingers intertwined and I laughed quietly to myself.

Did he ask if I would come along?

It all seemed so real

But as I looked to the door

I saw that boy standing there with a deal

And he said take my hand

All it took was a leap of faith.

Live while you can

Don't you see your dreams

Are right here in the palm of your hand

And you would be flying.

Just a day, just an ordinary day

Just trying to get by

Every time I was with him, I felt free.

Just a boy

Just an ordinary boy

But he was looking to the sky

Like I could fly.