A/N: Ah…'nother long chappie coming your way but it shouldn't be too unbearable cause it's practically all romance! Yay. Explores the little 'date' at the end of Deja Past in a little bit more detail and their relationship develops…a lot!
FrenchKissingWoody: What can I say to you that's constructive...? I'm on a high! Lol, thanks for the nice, comforting, supportive comments and putting up with my incredibly DETAILED writing for the most part...even though you don't even like this couple...maybe I'm amazed at the way you amaze me. Hm...enjoy the COUCH chapter...love ya!
astacia: Ooh...I have another reviewer! Thank you so much :) I feel so loved. Lol. Hope you can stomach long chapters cause this one will kill all with its size. I'm glad that there's another Devan/Woody fan amongst the minority but as for Renee and Garret...I don't really have much more to offer for them; Renee sorta disappears after that last chapter. But I'll try to work it into my sequel, I promise! Thanks again for your review!
Disclaimer: Eh, better do one of these. I, as much as I would like to, do not own Crossing Jordan. Or the song "Glory Box" by Portishead. Not legally, anyway. ;) Great song, though. Check it out if ya can!
Deception
Chapter 5: Beginning Of Forever
The car came to a slow stop at the top of a dirt driveway. Arthur Cutsberg's driveway, to be precise. It was midday, and the sun was brightly shining above them. Devan shrugged off her light, black jacket, revealing the pink top she had on underneath. They had agreed to come here first, and then they would track down that dentist they needed to find in the Goodson case. This seemed like the perfect plan, only because Arthur Cutsberg's house was close enough to the precinct if they needed back up. And it would take a while to track down that one dentist they needed.
"Did you come prepared today, Devan?"
Devan returned Woody's sarcastic look. "Breaking and entering only comes on special occasions."
"So does that tone," Woody remarked, referring to Devan's sarcasm.
Devan looked puzzled as she knocked twice on the front door. "What's special about this occasion?"
Woody clicked his tongue slyly. "Our date tonight."
Devan shrugged uncaringly. "Oh, that."
There was a moment of silence as they waited for Cutsberg to come to the door. Woody looked pensive. "What are we doing, by the way?"
Devan straightened as a shadow appeared behind the wooden front door. "You'll see." She had a vague idea but she just had to find the right excuse for it…
The door opened slowly, revealing a middle-aged man wearing ragged blue jeans and an unbuttoned shirt. His brown hair was unruly and shaggy, coming down to about his earlobes. His black eyes probed Woody's blue ones. "Can I help you?"
Woody flashed his badge. "Woody Hoyt, Boston PD. You always answer the door like that?"
The man rubbed his face with a rough hand. "Yeah. What do you want?"
Devan swallowed before smiling at the man. "We're investigating a homicide and we stumbled upon your number and address in a Victoria Castlemaine's phonebook."
Arthur Cutsberg cleared his throat before glancing around nervously. "Look, all I can tell you is that I'm a photographer and I used to take photos of Victoria."
Frowning, Woody pressed further. "Used to?"
The man nodded distantly. "Yeah, until she got pregnant."
Motioning his hand for more, Woody looked into the man's eyes. "Why did you take photos of her?"
Sighing, the man rubbed his forehead once again. "She auctioned them on a website."
Devan frowned. "Why would she auction photos of herself being pregnant?"
Arthur Cutsberg just stared at the two plainly. Devan was the first to click.
"Oh. Until she got pregnant." Woody stared at her with a confused look. "Pornography."
Cutsberg nodded. "That's right."
The door then slammed viciously in their faces, causing both Woody and Devan to jump slightly. Devan just shook her head while Woody rose up his hand to knock on the door. Devan stopped him by placing her own hand over his and giving him one of her looks.
She began walking back to Woody's car, her hands coming to rest on her hips. "This is leading us nowhere."
Woody nodded, stepping down from the one concrete stair that led up to the front door of Arthur Cutsberg's house. "So, where to next?"
Devan patted the pocket of her black pants. "Well, we have a mile-long list of dentists to check out."
Woody gave her a look. "That would be ten dentists to check out. And it is unlikely we will have to check every one of them before we find our man."
Lily stared straight ahead as she traced along the wooden table in the conference room with her finger. She wasn't listening to the woman in front of her, which was very irresponsible of her, but she had to sort out something in her mind before she could do anything else. Earlier that morning she had received a call from her ex-boyfriend…the one who had hit her when they were drunk one night. She had left him the next morning…straight away, but now he wanted her back. She had told him to go to hell, that she didn't want to deal with him…but he had her number. And that frightened her.
"Excuse me…?"
Lily snapped out of her trance and turned her attention to the woman in front of her. "Sorry, I-"
The woman frowned. "You…don't know where the bathrooms are…?"
Lily widened her eyes. "Um…of course. I'll show you where they are…"
Had that been what the woman had asked? Where the bathrooms were? She had to stop zoning out during sessions…
It was like a train that wasn't moving forward when it was supposed to. There wasn't enough electricity to keep the train going so it just stopped in its tracks. That was exactly how their case was; an idle train. And it was so confusing. Nothing fit where it was supposed to and just when they thought they had figured it all out, something else came into the picture and disturbed it all. Maybe Woody was right…maybe they should just give it up…
"Hey, Love," Nigel stopped in his tracks and stared at Devan's hair. "Big night?"
Devan laughed, sliding off her desk slowly. "Actually I went crazy with the hair-straightener."
Nigel flitted through some notes on a clipboard. "Looks good." He noticed Devan glancing out towards the hallway of the morgue. "Waiting for someone?"
Devan looked up, her eyes trying to conceal the truth. Though to no avail. "Woody and I have been working on this case…"
"Ah," Nigel closed over the clipboard, "the old 'working together' excuse. I will say this, Love: too much of one thing always ends badly."
Devan raised her eyebrows with a grin. "We're running away to Vegas to get married. I thought you knew." She looked at Nigel's puzzled look and sighed. "We're just going to…relax. That's all."
Nigel nodded and chew on the gum in his mouth impulsively. "You don't have to tell me twice. That Woodrow certainly needs it, that's for sure."
Devan frowned, then smirked at Nigel's mischievous grin. "What are we talking about, here?"
Swallowing hard, Nigel inclined his eyebrows. "Have fun."
With that, he walked out of Devan's office quickly, rounding the corner before Devan could retort. All she could do was sigh and shake her head. She then picked up a few papers and placed them carefully into her bag and walked out of her office, turning the opposite way down the hall to where Nigel had gone. She was met with an exhausted Jordan suddenly and she smiled, still walking down the hall.
"See you tomorrow."
Jordan nodded. "Yeah. Hey, big plans tonight?"
Devan stopped and tilted her head back. "No, I'm just going to go home, rent a movie…order take-out."
Jordan sighed. "Nights like that are underrated. It's a perfectly acceptable evening. I might even take your queue."
"Good." Then Woody walked in.
"Hey, Devan. You ready to do this, I'm double-parked?" He gave her an impatient look before flicking Jordan a glance.
Devan nodded. "Yeah."
He circled an unsure arm around Devan's shoulders and looked back at Jordan. "Take care, Jordan."
Devan turned back at that. "Have a nice evening."
Jordan nodded, still slightly dazed. "You too."
Woody leaned in towards Devan, flashing her a smile. "You look…terrific."
Jordan could only stare at them. They were hanging out again. Again. And they were actually happy. Jordan knew she should be glad for them, that they were working…but she just couldn't feel it. What she and Woody once had was special. And who the hell was Devan to just come in and steal it all away from her?
When they reached his car, Woody started the questions. "Ok, I've waited the entire day to find out what we're doing and you haven't said a thing."
Devan smirked and slipped into his car, taking advantage of the gentleman he was being by opening her door for her. When he sat down on his side, she gave him an innocent look. "Yes I have."
Puzzled, Woody started the car. "What have you said?"
Devan leaned back into the beige leather seating. "Do you know the way to the massage parlour?"
Woody opened his mouth…wide. "No way."
Devan nodded proudly. "Way."
There should be a limit to how much pleasure you give a man on your first date...because he was enjoying this way too much. He stretched out his muscles…slowly, in front of her. His towel was wrapped tightly around his waist, exposing his bare chest. His gorgeous bare chest. Water droplets ran in rivulets down his body, accentuating his muscle tone as the tiny beads caught themselves within the ridges of his chest and torso. He smiled down at her as he stretched his arms out.
"That spa…" he began with a wide grin, "was amazing."
Devan returned his grin, though she knew she didn't really hold the reigns anymore. Woody knew both her strength and weakness lay in him. "Wasn't it?"
He leaned in closer. "Yeah, with all the jet bubbles and everything…"
He was talking slowly, teasing her. Their roles had been reversed. He knew he had her and her guard was down completely. "And that's only the beginning."
She countered his slow voice…just as a woman entered the room. She was wearing a bathrobe and her blonde hair came down to her back. Woody stared at her.
"Hi. I'm Melinda and I will be your masseur tonight." The woman walked over to the long table, to which she motioned for Woody to lie on. He did obligingly, smiling up at Devan fleetingly, who began to lie down on her table. When both were comfortable on their respective benches, Melinda began to work her hands down Woody's back, causing him to sigh. She was good, very good.
Just as Woody was getting comfortable with the fact that a hot woman was giving him a massage, a well-toned black man entered the room. He had only a towel around his waist and showed no attempt to cover up his well-developed chest muscles. When he leaned over Devan and whispered something in her ear, Woody swatted Melinda's hand away.
Devan grinned. "Hey, Randy."
Woody looked between Devan and the man she was calling Randy. "Wait…Randy?"
Devan looked expectantly at Woody. She had the upper hand once again. "Yeah. Randy's my weekly masseur."
Woody's eyes widened as Randy gently peeled the towel off Devan's back. "Whoa…wait! Maybe we should…swap here."
Randy frowned, as did Melinda. Devan could only smile innocently. "But…I always have Randy."
She was talking slowly again and this time Woody relaxed, resigning to Devan's working attempts at making him jealous. Yeah, they were working. But he relaxed nonetheless. Melinda moved her hands down his back, towards the small ridge, which he flinched at.
"You're holding a lot of tension in that area…" Melinda crooned gently.
Woody nodded almost apathetically. "Yeah…it's all those weights I work. Every morning I do two hours of weight training."
Randy circled his hands around Devan's shoulder blades. "How's your karate going, Devan?"
Devan sighed enthusiastically. "It's good. I broke a board the other day. It felt so good."
Woody swallowed…hard. "K-karate?"
Devan nodded. "Mmm, it's great. You should try it."
Woody slammed his head down into the small hole. She was beating him…badly.
"So…what's that guy's name again?" Devan sat on her blue suede couch with her legs up beside her, as she pointed to the television.
Woody took another sip from his bottle of beer. "Cipher."
Devan nodded, absorbing this. "Right…and he's a bad guy?"
Woody shook his hand slightly. "Kind of. He was good but he turns bad."
Devan sighed as she leaned forward to grab her bottle of beer. "Well, in my opinion, there are only two types of people: the good or the bad."
Woody looked at her seriously. "That is very narrow-minded of you, Maguire."
Countering his level look, Devan stared into his eyes. "Guess I am just narrow-minded, Hoyt."
The staring contest ended abruptly as the music elevated in the movie and another person was killed. Woody shook his head slightly. "So then, what are you; good…or bad?"
The way he accentuated that last word made Devan turn around and give him a dirty look. Woody could only grin. Score!
"Just wonderin'."
"Hmm…well just don't."
"Got it."
They both stared at the screen in silence before another incredibly unreal stunt occurred. Woody took it all in while Devan shook her had at it.
"Oh come on! Like that would ever happen!"
Woody sighed. "Well Devan, that's what imagination is for."
Devan looked at him with confused eyes. "Ok so far, my imagination is running everywhere. Not in your direction, by the way. I still haven't been able to figure out a thing about this movie. Apart from them having really good costumes."
Taking yet another sip of his beer, Woody thought of something. "It is just a movie. Anyway, what do you go for more; the tight leather look or the long, sexy coat?"
The answer came abruptly. "I personally prefer spandex."
Woody laughed and looked at her sideways. "I can certainly make that happen. And about the movie, there's a whole complex theory based on it."
Devan gave a confused look. "But is that really the point? Being complicated beyond comprehension?"
"Yes, and you want to know why?" Woody lifted up a finger.
"Enlighten me."
Woody smiled triumphantly. "So that everyone can instead focus on the romance."
Devan perked up immediately. "Romance? Ooh, I like this movie."
Woody put on a dull voice. "Devan, why do you think they call him 'The One'?
"Because he's 'The One'…" Devan nodded emphatically.
"Exactly."
Devan sat back against the soft couch as the credits rolled up the screen. "Ok…that was romantic. I don't get it, but it was romantic."
Woody leaned back too, folding his arms up around his head. "See, told you. I think I've had way too much 'happy food'," he said, gesturing to the empty Chinese boxes.
"And beer."
"And beer," he echoed. "I don't think I can eat anymore."
Devan tilted her head. "You want some ice cream?"
"Sure."
Devan placed her hand on Woody's leg and vaulted off of him, making him wince. She walked around the coffee table and over to the kitchen. As she flicked on the light, Woody flinched at the brightness. He watched her the entire time…her movements, her characteristics…the way she would do things in a way only she could. She looked up suddenly from the kitchen, her eyes searching his face.
"Triple-chocolate or coffee?"
Woody sighed. "Coffee. Please."
She walked back over with two tubs, each with their own spoon. "Guess the triple-choc's mine, then."
"Guess so."
Before she sat down next to him, Devan walked over to the stereo system and put in a random disc, pushing down on a button. A song began playing, softly.
- I'm so tired, of playing
Playing with this bow and arrow
Gonna give my heart away
Leave it to the other girls to play
For I've been a temptress too long -
They ate in silence, just taking in the song and the ice cream that melted on their tongues. Despite their teasing, there was still tension in the room from the unresolved kiss all those nights ago. Even though their relationship had…developed slightly, they still didn't know quite where they stood with each other.
Woody was the first to break the silence. "You know, I have a fear of red pen."
Devan turned her head to look at him with a raised eyebrow. "What?"
Nodding enthusiastically, Woody twisted his body around so he was completely facing Devan. "Yeah. All through school, when I would see red pen corrections all over my work, I would freak. There's just something about that colour pen that just…sets me off."
She could tell he was joking, in part, but it strangely made sense. "Yeah…I see your point. Vaguely."
- Just…
Give me a reason to love you
Give me a reason to be a woman
I just wanna be a woman –
There was silence again. Devan frowned at it. It shouldn't have to be that way.
"Woody," she began quietly, but he ignored her, cutting her off quickly.
"What was your first kiss like?"
Devan stared. "Excuse me? What was yours like?"
Woody smirked mischievously. "Underneath the table in the first grade. Her name was Lucinda Bolton and we were six. Great kisser, she was."
Amused, Devan laughed. "You get caught?"
"Yeah," Woody's grin faulted her a second, his mind remembering the embarrassing ordeal. "All the kids laughed. What about you?"
Sighing reluctantly, Devan gave Woody a slightly impatient look. They weren't exactly supposed to be talking about it… "My friend's twelfth birthday party. It was a beach party and my friend told me this guy, Michael, was going to kiss me at midnight. He did."
Woody dug his spoon into the small tub of ice cream. "Sounds very romantic."
"Was very awkward."
- From this time, unchained
We're all looking at a different picture
Through this new frame of mind
A thousand flowers could bloom
Move over, and give us some room -
After another moment of silence, Devan looked down at her tub of ice cream, then glanced at Woody. "Hey, you have to try this."
Woody leaned forward expectantly when Devan held out her spoon, and when he took it in his mouth, he raised his eyebrows. He had caught a whiff of Devan's perfume on the way down… "That's nice…the ice cream, I mean. And your perfume."
- Give me a reason to love you
Give me a reason to be a woman
I just wanna be a woman -
It was rose oil. Devan smiled lightly and leaned back into the arm of the couch, just looking at Woody. "Thank you."
Her voice was serious. Not flirtatious…not light. Serious. Woody could see in her eyes what she really wanted but…could he do that? Three years of 'dancing' with Jordan and now it was Devan he was after. She saw the flicker of hesitation in his eyes before it vanished into a smirk. The empty ice cream tubs were placed on the coffee table before Woody leaned over. Devan drew back slightly…but surrendered and melted into his light kiss. She had longed for his kiss ever since she had first tasted his lips, but she didn't know that it would come this quickly…and last this long.
Woody pressed down on her lips harder, deepening the kiss when his tongue south entrance. Devan let him go deeper, though hesitantly, almost afraid of what was happening. But why? She had wanted this, after all. They broke apart suddenly, Woody drawing himself back. He was grinning.
"So…was I better than Michael?"
Again, a swift answer. "No."
"Ok," Woody nodded and leaned in again, kissing her once. "Now?"
"Getting warmer," Devan grinned.
Woody kissed her again, deeper this time. "What about that?"
"Equally good."
Woody sighed then. He cupped his hands around her face and leaned over her, drawing her back down against the couch. He kissed her slowly, just as her head touched the arm of the couch. "And that?"
Devan inhaled shakily, her hands resting on Woody's chest. "Better."
- So don't you stop being a man
Just take a little look from our side when you can
Sow a little tenderness
No matter if you cry -
He lay over her, his legs intertwined with hers. It was awkward but it worked. He grinned down at her when she sighed impatiently at his delay. He was teasing her, testing her boundaries. He leaned down once again and planted a soft kiss on her lips; Devan's back arched slightly. One of her arms hooked coyly around his neck while the other one still rested on his chest. As he kissed her slowly, Woody's hand trailed slowly up Devan's leg. When it reached the hem of her black pants, Devan broke the kiss immediately, straightening slightly, causing Woody to sit up.
He looked at her with worried eyes. "What?"
Her eyes searched his face, her breath erratic from gasping for air. "I need to know Jordan has nothing to do with this."
Woody exhaled softly with a sigh. "Why the hell would Jordan have anything to do with this?"
"Because she has everything to do with this," Devan replied coolly, giving him a knowing look. Jordan had been the reason he had turned away from her kiss the first time.
Woody's eyes reached the base of the blue suede couch. He thought for a moment in dead silence. "Do…do you want to take this slow?"
With much effort, Devan nodded. "Yeah. Or at least…slower."
"Ok. Then I should go."
- Give me a reason to love you
Give me a reason to be a woman
Its all I wanna be is all woman -
They walked to the door in silence, Devan slightly rubbing her arms. Though it was not cold, she shivered. They reached the door and Woody opened it slowly. He turned around to face Devan, sincerity glowing in his features.
"I had a great time tonight. It was amazing. Thank you."
Devan smiled warmly. "Couldn't have done it without you."
Woody nodded vastly. "Yes…you could have."
Shrugging, Devan frowned lightly. "Well not the kissing aspect."
"Got a point there," Woody took a step out of the apartment, still holding the door open. "You want to do this again sometime?"
Devan nodded. "How's next week? I'm working late but you could swing by the morgue…"
Woody grinned. "Sounds great. I like the morgue when it's quiet."
He leaned forward and kissed her lightly, making sure she was ok with that. When he smiled goodnight, Devan held on to the door and watched him leave. Thinking of something, she called after him…
"Hey, was I better than Lucinda?"
Woody turned around. "No," he said, shaking his head, grinning widely.
Devan smiled when she closed the door over. Leaning her head back against it, she sighed contently.
- For this is the beginning of forever and ever
It's time to move over… -
A/N: Just as a side note, I don't own The Matrix, in case you didn't guess what movie they were watching ;) And Jennifer Finnigan actually does karate. Heh, who would've thought?
