I hope y'all like this chapter… I certainly had fun writing it :)

Woody watched Jordan pace back and forth in his hospital room, his hands folded patiently across his stomach. Aside from a quick hello when she first stormed into the room, he hadn't had a chance to speak since. The passionate, crusading Jordan Cavanaugh was back as far as he was concerned.

"You should have seen the look on his face, Woody," Jordan steamed. "There is something funny going on there. I don't know how he was ever allowed graduate from kindergarten, he probably terrorized the other kids into a totalitarian society from the age of five. I swear, I was about ready to just -"

"Jordan, Jordan," Woody stopped her rant and reached out to grab her arm to get her to hold still for ten seconds. "Ok, I know you're upset and Slocum is a total rat, but… you were snooping around in his office."

Jordan huffed and gave him a withering look.

"Trivial detail," she said. He raised his eyebrows at her, and she rolled her eyes up to the ceiling. "I know, I know. You're right, not the best place for me to be… but I just -"

"No, no, no 'buts'," Woody stopped her again. "Look, if there's anything weird going on, they'll figure it out." He gently tugged her arm towards him and she sat down on the edge of his bed, facing him.

"I don't know why that got to me so much, Woody," she admitted. She sighed and rubbed at her temples.

"Because of what happened with Garret," Woody said quietly. "Maybe we haven't told you enough about it. When Garret left the morgue, from what I heard you were hell bent on getting Slocum out and bringing Garret back. You're very devoted to him, Jordan."

Jordan smiled a little, glad to hear his words. She was beginning to doubt her character when she learned of her seeming passivity in the morgue being overturned to Slocum.

"I'm starting to remember a little bit about him," she told Woody. "Not too much, just feelings really. How… how much of a father he was."

She looked at him, slightly embarrassed. It was the first time in several days that she had shared a memory with him. Woody's face reflected the pride that she felt about her recovery. He took her hand and she felt her body freeze in nervousness.

"Speaking of memories," he began, looking at their entwined hands, "I took a look at that book you left for me."

Jordan followed his gaze shyly. She felt like a teenager being called out on a note she had left for a boy. She swallowed hard and shoved the fear of the unknown out of her mind. Just shut up and let him in.

"Did you now?" she smiled expectantly.

"Yes I did," he smiled back, his fingers running lightly across the back of her hand. "Funny thing about that story…it seems that the reason she calls him 'farm boy' and orders him around is because she actually loves him."

"Well…how 'bout that?" she whispered, her eyes flitting up to meet his.

"I'm sorry I was too stupid to believe you before, Jo," Woody murmured, his eyes dark and intense. "I'll never doubt you again."

"Good."

Woody slipped his arm around her waist, pulling her closer. Jordan's heart raced at his touch, allowing herself to relax into his embrace for once. Her eyes stayed focused on his until he was merely inches away from her, and then dropped her gaze to his mouth. She felt her breath catch in her throat as his lips started to barely brush hers.

"Time for your evening meds, detective!" a nurse sang out as she burst into the room, completely oblivious to the moment she had interrupted.

Jordan and Woody jumped away from each other, startled and extremely disappointed. Woody gripped the bed sheet to try to control his fury against the unassuming nurse. Jordan exchanged a look of sympathy with him. The nurse seemed to notice Jordan for the first time.

"Oh, I'm sorry miss," she said. "Visiting hours are over."

"But last night, I -" Jordan started.

"I know, but that was an exception. Detective Hoyt is doing just fine now, and we have to go by the rules again," the nurse at least seemed apologetic to have to tell her this.

Jordan opened her mouth to protest, but at a look from Woody she closed it again. She looked at him and tried her best to convey her feelings without saying a word. He squeezed her hand and shrugged in defeat.

"I'll see you tomorrow," she said to him, and he nodded. Dejectedly, she stood up and walked towards the door, glancing back at him one more time before leaving. His eyes were still locked on her, revealing how much he wanted her to stay. As soon as she was out of sight of the room, Jordan closed her eyes, clenched her hands into fists in the air, and let out a silent scream of rage.

Jordan barely slept that night, but not because of nightmares. She lay in bed for nearly three hours, just staring up at the ceiling and fuming at whatever bad luck had ripped her away from Woody again. For a few minutes there, it seemed like fate was going to let them have their chance. And now she was at home, alone, once again tantalized by the smell of him in her own bed, and she couldn't do a damn thing about it. She wanted to smack fate in the face. Finally, after hours of agonizing, Jordan fell asleep.

Bug had just changed into scrubs for the day in the locker room and was walking through the almost empty morgue towards autopsy. Slocum truly delighted in making Garret's favorites arrive just after dawn. He yawned sleepily and pushed the double doors open to get started on another long day. He stopped short when he saw a familiar brunette head in front of one of the trace machines.

"Jordan, what are you doing here?" he asked incredulously, hurrying over to where she was. "Slocum practically has a price on your head."

"Yeah, well, I have a price on his right now," she retorted, continuing exactly what she was doing. "I'm still an employee in this morgue, I have just as much right to work here as anyone else."

"Not on a case that you've been banned from," Bug pleaded with her. "And if you don't get out of here, I have a feeling you won't be an employee for much longer."

"Let him fire me," she said facetiously. "Just as long as I have enough time to get a match on this DNA…"

Bug watched her perform the finishing touches on the sample before submitting it to the data base. He thought he recognized the case file that was sitting next to her. Groaning, he said, "Please don't tell me that's the mystery DNA."

Jordan just smiled wickedly at the screen in front of her in response.

"What is it with you and phantom evidence?" he demanded, and then wished he hadn't said anything. Jordan looked at him questioningly. He forgot that no one had wanted to say anything to her about the mysteries in her mother's case. Changing the subject quickly, he said, "I don't know what you expect to find, we already ran it against the national database."

"Bug, my friend, never underestimate what Nigel has taught me about under the table tracing."

He took a nervous breath and decided to just go along for the ride. They both watched the screen for nearly a minute, hoping for something to show up. The beep of a match startled them both, and Jordan jumped forward to inspect what they had found.

"Charles Quinten," she said, her brow furrowing in confusion.

"Who did you expect to find?"

"Not him…" her voice trailed off, looking closely at the information in front of her. "It's a perfect match. I don't understand…"

"What I don't understand is why you are here," Slocum's voice boomed from behind them. He was standing in the doorway, just barely overhearing the end of their conversation. "I thought I told you to stay out."

Jordan felt her anger build up inside her again. She was sick of being threatened by this pathetic person when she was perfectly in her rights to be working on this case.

"Obviously, my work was needed on this case," she argued with him. "I just traced your mystery evidence for you."

"Congratulations. I'll make sure to get you a medal," Slocum said scathingly. "And now I want you out…or do I have to call the police?"

He turned on his heel and left Jordan and Bug standing in the autopsy room, stunned. Bug worked for something to say to her, but before he could formulate a sentence, Jordan narrowed her eyes and set out after Slocum. Bug ran after her, nearly colliding with Lily and Nigel on his way out of the room.

"Jordan!" he called out.

"What's going on?" Lily asked. Bug didn't answer her, but kept on after Jordan. Nigel and Lily looked at each other and followed suit.

"You know what, Slocum?" Jordan was confronting him in the middle of the lobby of the morgue. "You could show a little more appreciation for those people who work their asses off for you here. If you would stop being a jerk for five minutes you might be able to give them the chance to actually do their job."

"I'm warning you, Dr. Cavanaugh, I am not above having you physically removed from this building," Slocum said.

"Of course you're not. You're not above a lot of things I bet. But you seem to be above conducting a thorough investigation on the Gomez case," she accused him.

"You were told to stay off that case."

"You were ignoring a huge piece of evidence, how could I just sit there and let you overlook it! We found someone else's DNA under her fingernails," Jordan dropped the bomb. By this time, everyone who was in the morgue had stopped what they were doing and focused completely on the ensuing battle of wills.

"What are you insinuating?" Slocum asked her coolly.

"I'm saying, we have reason to doubt Gomez's involvement. It's possible someone is framing him."

The room fell awkwardly silent, and all eyes were frozen on either Jordan or Slocum. Slocum calmly walked closer to Jordan and stared her down.

"That's an awfully big assumption to toss around," he said condescendingly. "But then, you were always one to make the radical accusations around here, weren't you? Never could leave well enough alone. Had to stick your nose into every piece of business that wasn't yours. It's what got your father into trouble with his past. You just couldn't ignore the mystery of your mother's murder."

"Shut up, Slocum," Nigel said menacingly. Slocum merely shot him a threatening look and went on.

"I bet your friends forgot to mention that to you. Oh yes, Miss Cavanaugh, there is a lot of suspicion surrounding your father in regards to that murder." He stopped briefly, enjoying the look of disbelief and fury on Jordan's face. "But that wasn't the only case where you burned bridges, broke every law possible to try to get to the truth. Did they also fail to mention that your own investigative skills brought Garret Macy down from his pedestal? Your relentless, irrational behavior has destroyed more lives than it's saved. And you were ready to lie for him, too. Once a law breaker, always a law breaker. And what has it gotten you? Your father's gone. Garret is gone. Excellent work. Now…I am going to turn around and go into my office. And when I come out again, you will be gone. And I don't want to see you or hear any more renegade talk about Gomez being framed. He is guilty, and I intend to see him locked away for the rest of his life."

Jordan watched him turn slowly and arrogantly around, her ears ringing so loud in anger that she could barely hear anything but his disgusting voice. He had barely gone three steps when Jordan spoke.

"Hey, Slocum."

Slocum turned around just in time to see Jordan swiftly pull her arm back and release it, her fist crashing menacingly into his jaw with a huge crack. There was an audible gasp from everyone watching as Slocum toppled backwards onto the floor, his hands flying up to cover his face in pain. Jordan stood there just long enough to catch the looks of shock and admiration on the faces of her coworkers before striding out of the room, feeling better than she had in a long time.