As horribly frustrating as the premiere was, it was hands down one of my favorite episodes in terms of realism, character quality, and talent on the part of the cast and production crew. How is this show not nominated for more Emmy's? I…LOVE…how these people are flawed, and they spiral down from time to time. Yeah, yeah, perfect world would have Woody and Jordan reconciled…but where's the fun in that? Their issues make them great…although I don't see how she'll ever trust him again, lol! That's my little blurb about that.

Thank you for the reviews, always fun to get those. I got jealous of you East Coasters who were like, "Thanks for the update, ok, premiere starts in ten minutes, gotta go!"… meanwhile, here in LA, I had three hours to go! Oh the tortures of PST…

And finally, to RosHillCrosCreekgurl (I hope I got that right!): CJ is in season 5

Hit Me With A Hot Note

Jordan woke up slowly, nestled comfortably under the covers of the bed. Her body ached happily as a result of a physicality from which she had been long removed. When she could no longer ignore the daylight peering through the window, she forced her eyes open. Squinting slightly, she brought a hand to her forehead and came in contact with a piece of paper. Her confusion lasted only a second before she laughed softly to herself, pulling the post-it note away from her skin. 'Don't go anywhere. I'll be back soon.'

She fingered the note for a few moments, thinking about what she had gone through over the last four months with Woody. A lot of problems. Tempers. Longing. Lies, ignorance, running, accusing. All to end with three words from him… 'Don't go anywhere.' Four years ago – hell, barely six months ago – she would have taken one look at that request and her flight instinct would have carried her out the door. Someone asking her not to move? They might as well have asked her to stand still while a building collapsed around her.

Now, she simply did not want to budge.

Placing the note on the bedside table, Jordan rolled over to grope around the floor next to the bed for something to wear. Her hand located the white button down shirt that Woody had been wearing the night before, carelessly tossed to the ground. She slipped it on, buttoning it and rolling the sleeves back a little so that she did not feel like she was swimming in it. The smell of his cologne clung to the fabric, and it actually made her miss him, wishing he were there.

She sighed, deciding to pass the time by making a pot of coffee and nibbling on a banana nut muffin that Woody must have brought in for her. Just as she had poured herself a cup of steaming coffee, she heard the door unlock and Woody walked in. He did a double take and stopped in his tracks, eyeing her sitting by the window dressed in his shirt, her legs crossed elegantly. A pleased smile tugged at his mouth.

"That's a good look for you," he commented none too innocently.

"You think?" she smiled with a sparkle in her eyes. He walked over to where she was sitting and leaned down.

"Yeah, I do," he answered, bringing his mouth to hers for a kiss that ended all too quickly for Jordan's liking. He straightened and reached for a mug, pouring coffee into it and taking a grateful drink of the caffeine laced liquid.

"So I guess you'd prefer this to the red lingerie I have in my dresser at home," she said smoothly as soon as the mug hit his lips. Woody nearly choked on his coffee, sputtering and trying to recover. Jordan smiled with mischievous amusement at the look on his face.

"You…I never said…how long-" Woody coughed as he tried to get a coherent thought out, his brain overwhelmed by images of her in red lingerie.

"Relax, Woody, it's just lingerie. You've seen me in less," Jordan told him. This just caused him to turn slightly red. "Aww, there's the easily embarrassed farm boy I know and love."

"Thank you, for making me lose every decent thought in my head," he said sarcastically.

"Anytime."

"As much as I hate to ask you to do this, can you get dressed? I want to take you somewhere," he said with a regretful look at her attire. Her lack of clothing was a huge temptation at the moment. But they had an early afternoon flight back to Boston, and there was one last thing he needed to do before they left. Jordan complied with his request, only slightly confused when he told her to make sure to wear jeans.

She figured he would take her somewhere that she hadn't been, someplace special that had a meaningful story attached to it from his past. Looking through the car window with narrowed eyes, she wondered what he could be up to when the scenery was not unknown. She bit her lip as he pulled onto the road that led to the ranch, thinking maybe they had a few loose ends to fix on the case. They neared the guest house, and then drove past it. Jordan gave him a questioning look.

"What-?"

"Just wait," he told her, a smile in his eyes.

Woody continued driving another hundred yards of so and pulled up in front of a large wooden barn. It was in good condition, but obviously not new. Jordan had assumed that it was used for storage or some such thing. Following him inside, she realized she had been wrong. Along one wall stood seven or eight stalls in which were whickering horses, tails swishing flies away. On the other wall was a variety of horse tack, grooming equipment, and what looked like a makeshift office in one corner. In the middle of the barn, a good sized Palomino stood patiently, haltered to a post. Jordan slowed to a stand still as Woody walked up to the horse, running a hand along its nose.

"Uh, Woody," she started. "You better not be planning what I think you're planning."

"Why not?" he asked, adjusting a strap on the bridle.

"Because the last time I was on a horse was the pony ride at the fair when I was seven," Jordan told him, eyeing the animal warily. Woody turned to look at her with an expression full of confidence that she would do what he wanted anyway.

"Get over here, Jordan," he said, amused.

Jordan opened her mouth, then closed it again, rolling her eyes a little before giving in and walking towards him. He took her hand and moved her in front of him, placing her hand gently against the horse's soft nose. The animal nickered softly at her.

"This is Eiffel," Woody said.

"Like the tower?" Jordan asked with a smirk. She felt Woody chuckle.

"He's a twenty year old gelding, completely mellow, and incidentally the offspring of the horse I learned to ride on," he said, his hand guiding hers along the bridge of the gelding's nose up to its ears. Jordan automatically gave the horse's ears a scratch, and Eiffel leaned his head into her arm, his eyelids drooping happily at the contact. Jordan smiled. "You ready?" Woody asked her.

"You're not going to give me a choice here, are you," she said, though part of her was starting to like the idea.

"Nope."

He led her around to Eiffel's side, placing a mounting block on the ground. Jordan noticed for the first time that there was no saddle on the horse…they were going bareback. Taking a breath, she climbed up onto the block and, with Woody's help, lifted herself onto the horse's back. Woody placed the reins in her hands. He then grabbed a small box from a nearby table and slipped it into a pack which he slung across Eiffel's haunches, unhooked the halter from the bridle, and climbed up behind Jordan before the horse had a chance to go anywhere. Not that Jordan thought it would. Eiffel appeared to be the most easy going creature she'd ever seen.

Any nerves that she felt about being on a thousand pound animal quickly vanished as Woody settled behind her. His body acted as a frame to hers, his arms wrapping around her to place his hands over hers on the reins. She leaned into him, feeling that this wasn't such a bad idea after all.

They didn't say a word as Woody guided the horse out of the barn and out into the open landscape of the ranch. He gently ran his fingers over hers as they rode, holding her tightly so that she would feel secure.

"How're you doing?" he asked after a while.

"Better than I thought I would," she replied. "You really did this a lot as a kid?"

"Pretty often. My interest waned when I discovered girls."

"Which was when, the age of three?" she teased him.

"Give or take a few years," he joked back, and she laughed. "Yeah, too bad they didn't notice me until I was twenty five."

"They were idiots, then," she said firmly.

"You didn't see me when I was a kid," he said, his voice full of self doubt. Jordan turned her head slightly so that she could see him over her shoulder.

"I've seen glimpses of him. And it's nothing to be ashamed of," she told him. Woody gently brushed her long hair away from her face and kissed her chastely on the spot below her ear that made her shiver.

"Thank you," he whispered.

A few minutes later, he brought Eiffel to a stop in the middle of a large field. They could see the farmhouse off in the distance, and all around them was the wild growth of the countryside. Woody reached behind him and pulled the box out of the tan pack. He held it in his hands for a moment and looked at it critically.

"David's wishes were to have his ashes scattered on the ranch," he said, and Jordan suddenly understood why they had come out there. "The least I can do is honor that."

Woody opened the grey box and tipped it so that the ashes were caught up into the wind, carried away from them. He watched the sight, waiting for some sense of closure to hit him. He wasn't sure if that was what he felt so much as a sense of finality for bringing some justice to the crime. That part, at least, he could be proud of. Wrapping his arms around Jordan, he leaned his head against hers.

"My father died hating his brother," he said suddenly. Jordan's mouth dropped open a little, taken by surprise. "They hadn't talked for years when he was shot. I still don't know exactly what it was about. Something to do with my dad becoming a cop…walking out on the family business."

"Woody," Jordan said, uncertain of what to say to him. She felt awkward about being the one to bring up Cal, hoping that she wouldn't have to. His revelation shone new light on what this last week had been putting him through, not to mention the fact that Cal had not been heard from in the whole time since Woody had been shot.

"Funny how history repeats itself," Woody sighed, defeated.

"Doesn't always have to," she advised him. She felt him nod against her head, but he didn't say anything. She relaxed a little, knowing that his need to change past patterns would fuel any bit of recovery in his relationship with Cal. "Did you decide what to do with this place?"

"I'm gonna sell it," he said without hesitation. "I don't have a real reason to hang onto it. I don't belong here anymore. This town made me who I am…but I need to leave my past behind me now. Start worrying about my future instead." As he said this, he spread his fingers over her belly, rubbing his thumb against the fabric of her shirt. The simple gesture was probably subconscious…but it still sent a thrilling chill down Jordan's spine, catching her breath with a satisfying feeling of hope.

Arriving before the rest of the morgue staff was not unusual for Jordan. What was unusual was the reason she had decided to show up early. The whirlwind of the last several days had prevented her from calling anyone…particularly, calling Nigel. Being accosted about details first thing in the morning was not a very attractive thought. So she snuck in early, keeping her windows shuttered off while the staff arrived. She wanted time to adjust before she had to answer questions. Her door opening startled her, and she looked up expecting to see Nigel. Instead, Woody stood there with a pastry bag in his hand and a grin on his face.

"God, I thought you were Nigel," she said in relief, placing a hand over her chest. "He's going to kill me for not calling him with an update."

"Still hiding out?" Woody asked as he walked over to her desk and placed the bag down. Jordan nodded and walked over to join him, leaning against the desk.

"I've managed to avoid everyone for two hours. We'll see how long that lasts," she said with an expression that said she wasn't looking forward to being discovered. Woody stepped in front of her and placed a hand on the desk on either side of her.

"Incidentally, I have a message for you from the Boston PD," he said, leaning towards her. "They'd like to personally thank whoever it was who 'removed my head from my ass.' Apparently, I had a bit of an attitude problem for a while there."

Jordan couldn't hide her smile and laughed. "And they know it was me?"

"They have a sneaking suspicion," Woody said with a smirk. He met her eyes and his face became more serious. "I really do owe you a lot for what you did for me. Not just the attitude adjustment…"

"Well…you know me – stubborn as a mule," she said, trailing her fingers along the edge of his coat.

"Thank God," Woody smiled at her. "Honestly, I really began to think that we would kill each other in a week if we tried hooking up. But we almost destroyed ourselves trying to be 'just friends.' I don't know about you, but if I'm gonna go, I'd rather make love with you and die in seven days than spend the rest of my life without you."

Jordan's response to this was a single meaningful look before she leaned up to capture his mouth, her arms sliding around his neck. He lifted a hand to the small of her back, pressing her into the desk as he deepened the kiss. The sound of the door opening sent blood rushing up to Jordan's face, and Woody pulled away from her quickly…but not quite quickly enough.

"Jordan, how was-?" Nigel broke off as he barged in the room, his face changing from one of gossipy curiosity to shock in the span of a second. "…Wisconsin…"

At a loss for words, Jordan self-consciously straightened her shirt out while Woody tried to act nonchalant with his hands on his hips, shifting on his feet. A knowing smile snuck onto Nigel's face.

"I was going to ask how things went, but…well, they say a picture is worth a thousand words," he said with a raised eyebrow. He glanced at Woody, then back to Jordan. "Glad to see you took my advice, for once."

Nigel turned and left the office, pulling the door shut behind him. Jordan let out a breath, her face still warm from embarrassment as much as Woody's kiss.

"Well. That's out of the way," she commented.

"What did he mean by you taking his advice?" Woody asked suspiciously, though a small grin played at his lips.

"Um…nothing," Jordan waved her hand in the air to dismiss his question.

"C'mon, Jordan, tell me. What are you telling people about me?" he said as he cornered her against the desk once again, the grin full on his face now. Jordan tried not to smile, attempting to dodge his efforts at trapping her.

"Nothing decent enough for office talk," she teased him, and he lifted an eyebrow at her. "Look, why don't you get out of here while you still can, before the entire building knows what Nigel knows. Come by my place later."

"Fine," Woody smiled at her, giving her a quick kiss before walking towards the door.

"Oh, and Woody?" Jordan caught his attention, sitting on the edge of her desk and crossing her legs.

"Yeah?"

"I wasn't kidding about the lingerie," she winked at him.