A/N: Many thanks Jinubean! Sorry about the lenghty chapters - I'm used to the 2,500 word ones now, I'm a girl of tradition, hehe, but I can gradually make them shorter ir you want, eg this ones only 2,300. Haha. Big difference. Haha - hint taken! I've been trying to get them together for this whole ep but Garret keeps showing up and sticking his big nose in things. LOL. Seriously - at the end of chapter 8 it was meant to be Woody comforting her, then Garret showed up. LOL. They had a fight all of their own accord, don't blame me! lol.

Thanks again to Orlando-crazy and Lioness-Rampant!

Chapter 17: Don't Panic…

"Jordan." Garret leaned forward, watching his friend carefully. There was a quiet determination in her eyes, mixed with a sense of desperation as she watched Woody talking into his phone over to the side of their table. The wind picked up and her hair whipped out of her face, revealing the tell tale signs that she hadn't had much sleep. And he didn't really blame her.

"Mm?" she said, distracted, and turned her face to look at him.

"I hate to bring this up, but you're going to have to make some arrangements for…"

"Its all taken care of," she said. "I made a few calls this morning."

"You did?" He was surprised. He knew her, and knew enough to know that she would be in denial, and that making these arrangements would be, to her, a declaration of acquiescence. That she gave up, that she was not going to fight anymore. She held his gaze and he suddenly realised, she was growing up. He allowed himself a small smile at the fatherly thought, but knew it to be the truth. Sometimes she could be as wise as an old sage, but most of the time she was reckless and wayward, and he had thought that her father's death would only fuel those tendencies, spark the dynamite, cause her to do something really stupid. Or, more likely, a whole string of really stupid things. So far she'd only done one, and that was to go to New York after her brother. He had been thoroughly surprised at the way she'd handled herself throughout the whole ordeal, albeit subconsciously. Now, at this calm statement, it hit him with considerable force. He sighed as she looked back to the detective, and caught the furtive look that passed between them as he snapped his phone shut and joined them again.

"He said he'd check it out," he said, looking at Renee, who nodded. Garret wasn't exactly sure why he was here, why Renee had called him. Out of courtesy, politeness? Or was there something else behind it? Did she not want him to forget his part in this? The autopsy he had performed? Did she want to rub his face in it, that she had been right and he wrong? Or maybe she wanted to see him squirm, for the first time in their rocky acquaintance. Maybe she knew how much this had affected him, and wanted to watch. Every single gruelling moment of it.

"Are you ordering, Dr. Macy?" He jolted out of his reverie and looked around the table. Renee and Harding were chatting in a low voice opposite him, and Woody was staring at him. Jordan was speaking to the waiter who stood expectantly to one side. She finished up and the three stared at him.

"I'll have a…" He glanced at the menu, and, feeling pressured, said, "I'll have what she's having."

Jordan and Woody exchanged a glance, smiles on their faces. The waiter nodded and walked off.

"A vege burger with a bottle of water?" she asked, eyebrow raised.

"I…what?"

Jordan laughed. "Just playing with your head." She held her hands out and wiggled her fingers, playing at mysterious, and laughed again, tossing her head. The two men grinned in response, not able to help themselves, but Garret could see as clear as day, the other layer, the one behind the carefree, the dark one that was only just being kept at bay.

The wind tugged gently at her hair as she sat back in her seat again, her contribution for the moment out of the way. She just wanted to go home, wanted Woody to go somewhere else, she just wanted to be alone, but apparently being alone was eluding her. She was still in 'custody', and both Renee and Woody would not be convinced that she could be trusted to hang around. Especially not after last night's stunt, which was still preying on her mind like a dog with an especially juicy bone. She sighed, resigning herself to the regimented regime she knew she would continue to be subjected to.

When their food had arrived, and Garret had made sure that he was actually eating meat, they ate, glad for the distraction. Just as they were finishing up, a phone rang and comically, everyone straightened and reached for their own. Smiling at one another sheepishly, they watched as Woody answered.

"You…what? That's wonderful! I…no. Better just send photos. We'll just compare records, no need for…oh. Right. Oh my god!"

He was doing surprised well enough, she figured, but this oh my god sounded a little too genuine to be an act. He sought her eyes and found the question in them and he shrugged slightly. Maybe he was a better actor than she gave him credit for.

"No. You better send it down then. Oh, there's really no need for…" He sighed heavily. "Fine. Do it."

He snapped his phone shut, obviously deep in thought. "Well?" Jordan asked impatiently.

"They found something."

"That was quick," Renee interjected.

"They're sending someone down."

"Someone?" Jordan asked.

"Someone to oversee the analysis."

"We'll do it at the morgue," Harding piped up.

"No. They're going to do it in the police labs."

"This is a murder investigation. Our murder investigation. We'll do it at the morgue."

They all stared at her, Garret and Jordan smiling lightly, Woody and Renee frowning. She shrugged. "Makes sense."

Woody sighed then nodded. "I guess I'll talk them around."

Before any of them really knew what happened, Jordan has sprung to her feet and was staring at something across the street. She squinted. A man was walking, a tall man with greying golden hair… transfixed she stared, colour draining from her face.

"Jordan?"

Her head snapped around and she stared at the speaker, Garret, who was standing not knowing what to do. She stared back and the man was walking, but it was with brown hair that he did so, and she sunk back into her seat, swallowing hard.

"Apologies," she said, doing an superb job of keeping her voice under control. Damn it, she said over and over in her head, holding her hands together under the table.

Looking up, she was aware that the four of them were staring at her. She opened her mouth to say something, but instead stood stiffly.

"As entertaining as I'm sure this entire thing was, I think its time I left." She pulled out a twenty-dollar bill and threw it down on the table, feeling like she wanted to throw up.

"We haven't even…" Harding started.

"Call me when whatever it is gets here," she said, and walked away. Woody stood, shrugging and followed her. Garret was quiet, watching them go. Renee was as well, but there was a decidedly suspicious look on her face.

"She didn't ask what they found," she said, frowning after them.

-------------

Harding poked her head around the office door to find the Chief staring at the pen sitting loosely in his hand. "Its here. And it's mildly disturbing. Want to come and rifle through it with me?"

He stood. "I'm surprised you came and got me," he said as they walked to Trace.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I had you pegged as Renee's man," he said, and then looked at her. "Or otherwise."

"I'm no one's man," she said, shrugging. He nodded.

"What is it?"

"Guns, a receipt and a box."

"I see," he said, snapping on a pair of gloves and picking up the receipt.

"Its from Boston. Same area the body was found."

"Found in Koreldy's pickup."

He raised an eyebrow and allowed himself to smile. "This is good," he said, and she nodded.

"Take a look at this," she said, holding out the box, and watching as he opened it. His face was neutral a he thumbed through the articles, but he couldn't contain feeling as his gloved hand met with the hair.

"That bastard," he hissed, and bagged it. "Nigel!" he called, and Harding raised an eyebrow. Nigel, who was walking past, stuck his head around the corner irritably.

"Run this, will you?"

Nigel took the bag without a word, and when Garret turned, he saluted, causing Harding to have to work hard to suppress a laugh.

"I suppose you recognise it?" he said.

"Mm," she replied. "I took the liberty of sending the guns to ballistics," she said, "Which explains their absence."

"Okay. Call me when you get the results." He made to walk away, then thought better as he turned.

"What did you make of Renee's comment earlier?"

She looked at him, having anticipated this. "She thinks they knew."

"Do you?"

"To be honest? I don't know. They were both acting weird, though."

"Mm," he conceded, and looked at the box as a distraction. "It doesn't matter. Hoyt would not sanction anything too illegal."

"How do you know? Its her, after all, and you said yourself that there was something between them, and Renee hinted at it as well."

"I'm sure she did," he said through gritted teeth. "But trust me. He arrested her once, you know."

He was pretty much bluffing and they were both well aware of it, but Harding ignored it. "I'm not going to say anything."

"There's nothing to say," the Chief ME insisted, and left the room.

"Whatever you say," she muttered and continued her pottering around the Trace lab.

----------

"Who did you see?"

The woman he was addressing turned her eyes on him coolly. "Excuse me?" she said, perfectly calmly, but Woody knew better.

"At the café. You saw someone. Who did you see?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said, and stood up from the couch, walking into the kitchen.

"Okay. Well what about last night?"

"What about last night?"

"Who was that you were talking to?"

"What?"

Panic ran through her and she prayed that he hadn't seen him, seen her brother. And she wondered where on earth he had gone.

"Who were you talking to?"

He knew she was keeping something from her, and he had seen someone running, at least thought he had. He was still half asleep.

"I don't…"

"Please don't lie to me, Jordan, don't lie again."

She looked at him and he immediately wanted to snatch the words back. Sending her on a guilt trip would not help any of them.

"My brother."

He started, but couldn't say he was completely taken aback. It made sense.

"How you got inside."

"He was there."

"Did you know?"

"Not when I went. Not even when you called."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

She gave him an exasperated look. "Why do you think, detective?" she said, slightly stressing the last word. "He's not exactly the Virgin Mary." She cocked her head to the side, thinking her choice of words amusing.

"I wouldn't have…" he trailed off, deep in thought.

"Wouldn't you?" she asked.

They had been sitting in her apartment for about two hours since they returned home from the somewhat eventful lunch at the café, and Jordan had not a minute to herself. Not that she hadn't tried.

"You know me well enough to know I'm kind of a solitary person right?" was her first subtle hint, to which he just smiled infuriatingly.

"I'm serious, Woody. I'm going crazy," was the second, which was far more akin to a sledgehammer.

He adopted a confused expression. "But that would have to mean you weren't crazy to begin with…" He grinned at her and she sent him a withering look, which was only half-serious.

The phone rang, and Jordan had it against her ear in a flash.

"Hey," the voice said.

"Morning, Garret, long time no…speak."

"Long time no work you mean. We better get this wrapped up soon, Bug's threatening vacation!"

"Ouch," she said with feeling. "Did it come?"

"Yeah," he said, and waited.

"Well?" she asked with well-feigned impatience. "What is it?"

"What, you don't know?"

"How could I know?"

"Where were you this morning?"

She closed her eyes. "Ask Renee, she thinks she knows everything."

"I asked her and she hinted at what she suspected."

"Well there you have it."

"Don't be stupid I know where you were!" his shout cut her and she hated lying.

"I was in bed. Woody got a call, we woke up, we had breakfast. End of story."

"That's crap. Why didn't you ask Woody what it was this morning? What they found?"

"I wasn't exactly thinking straight."

Woody was staring at her, question in his eyes, but she just shook her head and mouthed 'Garret'.

"Why? Lack of sleep?"

"Stop it, just stop it!"

"No. I want the…"

"Truth?" she shouted back at him. "Hell, don't we all? Just drop it!"

"How can I? How can I when you're lying so easily? How do I know you haven't lied about…" He broke off.

"I guess you're remembering the conversation we had in my jail cell?" she said coldly. "When I asked you how you knew, why you believed me?"

There was silence. Woody watched, bewildered.

"I trust you," Garret said, sighing.

"Thank you," she said. "And when this is all over, I promise I will tell you everything."

Before he could protest she clicked the phone back down on the cradle and let out a great shuddering sigh, momentarily forgetting that she wasn't alone.

"Hey," Woody said from behind her. "What did he want?"

"Its time for a trip to the morgue," she said. "Lets go and look all shocked and horrified that I apparently had a psychotic stalker."

"Just another day at the office," Woody murmured, following her out.