A/N: KittyDoggyLover, Jinubean, hot-te-molly(for some reason it won't let me put underscores...)and jtbwriter - many thanks for reviewing! daynaaa - shut UP! lmaoi just kidding. You just HAVE to rub it in. All us poor Aussies don't get the next season till Feb (maybe even later) next year! lolol. Have fun watching it. lol. I'm not at ALL bitter...

Chapter 10: If It Ain't Broke, There's Something Wrong With It

When Woody told Garret to go home, being the sensible man that he was, he went. Getting to his apartment, he closed his door, and thought back over what the two had just been discussing. They had been in the detective's office, going over every small detail, as they had been for a couple of hours before hand.

"You go too," the ME had told Woody when they wrapped it up for the night.

"I have a couple of things left to do here," he had said, avoiding the older man's gaze. "I'll go later."

Garret had paused, then nodded. "I'll see you tomorrow."

He was pretty certain Woody would still be there in the morning, having not left in the first place, but there was nothing he could do. Really, nothing he wanted to do. He was weary and stressed. He wanted nothing more than to kick back and relax. Forcing himself to do so, he relieved himself of his shoes and poured himself a small glass of scotch, before reclining on his sofa. He allowed his mind to go blank as he sipped on the beverage, allowed the music he had playing to first waft over, then consume him. It was a technique he practiced regularly, to be able to blank ones mind was a valuable skill, and one he had down pretty well. He sat like that for ten or so minutes before emerging from the blank state, and allowing himself to think.

He still had not quite shed the weary pain that had settled in his gut the moment they had assumed she was dead. It was still there, albeit duller and less prominent. It was his fault, he mused calmly. It was all there, the one and the one, all he had had to do was put them together to make two, but he had failed. He had allowed the pain to take him over, had allowed the grief to claim him. As soon as he saw the damn name flashing on the screen he should have turned to the others, laughed heartily and told them there was no way, because he had spoken to her. It wasn't even remotely possible, yet he had been too worried about being in denial, causing him to be in denial about the completely wrong thing. And it had cost them all. He had seen something die in Woody's eyes when he was told, something that could never possibly come back. It was akin to a disease, he thought. Just because there may be a cure some time in the future, it didn't mean all the people who had died before would be brought back to life. Even though they both now knew that Jordan was indeed alive and possibly well, it could never bring back what had ceased to exist in the young detective. Indeed, in all of them. What he had witnessed on Friday, Lily and Woody seeking comfort in each other's arms would not lightly leave him, it would stay with him for a long time to remind him of his folly. His absolute, stupid mistake. He should have been able to protect them all, instead he had bestowed a pain on them, a pain he wouldn't wish on his worst enemy. Whoever that was. Sometimes he believed it was himself.

He shook his head, but the guilt would not leave him. He needed to apologise, and, he confessed, needed to be absolved. He picked up his phone and dialled a well-known number.

"Lily," he said, when the phone picked up.

"Garret!" she said.

"How are you?"

"I'm okay," she said, worry plain in her voice. "Is everything okay? Have you found her?"

"No. We're going to continue the search tomorrow.

"Do you need my help?"

"No, its all fine, Lily, I was just checking up on you."

"I'm fine," she said.

He paused. "I want to apologise."

"What for?" she said in a tone that clearly conveyed her puzzlement.

"Friday. I should have known, I should not have let you all suffer."

"It wasn't your fault," she said almost automatically.

"It was," he said. "It was all there."

She paused. "If you're to blame, then so is Bug, Nigel, Woody, hell, even Sidney. They all knew you rang her, it was all there for them too."

He was silent.

"How's Woody holding up? You were with him last weren't you?"

"To be completely honest he took the whole thing a lot better than I expected. Still not good, though. Probably still in his office brooding."

"On what?" Lily asked.

"Who knows? He wants to be super cop."

Garret could feel Lily's frown over the other end.

"How about I go check on him?"

Garret grimaced. "Probably not a good idea." He glanced at the clock. A quarter to ten. "It's late."

Lily laughed. "Okay, Grandpa. Look it's no trouble."

Garret sighed. "I'd rest easier, Lily, thanks. I would go myself but he's more likely to listen to you. Try and talk some…sleep into him."

She laughed again, and they hung up.

Lily sighed. Her friend's voice was strained, and it was more than guilt. If she was perfectly honest with herself, it was his fault that they had gone through what they did. He should have remembered, should have put two and two together. But having him wallow in guilt was not going to serve anyone, and right now, 'serving' was what they all needed.

She sighed, picked up her keys and drove to the precinct. When she arrived, she marvelled at it's ability to function on a 'skeleton' crew, the people lucky enough to catch the graveyard shift. When she arrived at her destination she lifted her hand and knocked on the door, not bothering to wait before entering. She was hoping to catch him asleep at his desk, therefore have more ammunition when it came to ordering home, but he was sitting up, perfectly lucid, on his desk, staring out into the night sky.

He turned slowly and identified his visitor. The look he was unable to mask told him it was not her he was expecting to see.

"Evening, Lily," he said, turning back to the window. "Can I help you?"

"I was hoping I could help you," she said softly, closing the door and walking towards him.

"I'm all finished for the night," he lied.

"You should go home. Get some sleep."

"I can't."

Lily frowned, staring at the back of his head.

"There's nothing more you can do."

"There should be," he said, finally turning in his seat to meet her eyes. "I should be able to protect her."

"You can no more protect her than a herd of wild animals," she said, not unkindly. "You know what she's like."

"Even so," he said, apathy in his voice. There was a silence.

"I must have missed something."

"What do you mean?" she asked, mildly exasperated. She was not in the mood for philosophical ramblings, not tonight. Especially from a guilt ridden mind such as the one facing her.

"Like we missed it the day before yesterday. The whole phone thing. Ridiculous," he muttered, shaking his head. "There was no way we could be dead, yet we were too damn stupid to figure it out. What are we?"

"Human?" Lily said, and Woody looked sharply at her.

"I can't think of anything else though," he said, ignoring the comment. "Though there must be something. There always is."

"Is there?" she asked. He shook his head in dismissal. "Typical man. If it's broken, you immediately want to fix it. You can't see that some things can't be fixed with glue or nails."

"Yeah, rather blue tack," he said, and narrowed his eyes in concentration. "Do you think it is a coincidence that in the neighbourhood Nigel reckoned her call came from…" he trailed off. It didn't matter. "Go home, Lily."

"Funny," she said. "I thought that's what I was here to tell you to do."

"Hilarious," he agreed sardonically, then looked at her. "Are you okay?"

She narrowed her eyes. "I'm fine."

"What with everything…"

"Everything what? Nothing is wrong, not really. You know how it is. How many times have we been in situations like this?"

"Far too many times," he said. She nodded.

"And yet here we both are."

"I've never really imagined my death, or anyone else's close to me. It just reminds you our time is limited."

"Compared to what?"

It was a strange question, and Woody looked at her.

"Compared to our perceptions. Even in this job, even with this life, constantly surrounded by death, and we still don't believe we are mortal."

"No one ever does," she said quietly, and they stared at each other.

"Fine. I'll go home." He stood.

"Really?"

"Oh yeah, sure. Come on, I'll walk you to your car."

She frowned, and allowed him to steer her out of his office and down to the parking lot.

"I'll see you tomorrow," he said, and watched as she drove away, before walking straight back into his office. He resumed his seat, but was now preoccupied, and unable to fall back into the blank state he had been dwelling in for the past three hours. He stood, an idea having come to him.

"Books," he muttered, frowning, and walked out of his office and down the corridor.

Miles away, the man called Jeremy Ayres laughed.

A/N: Okay as for the blue tack reference - I'm not sure if it's just Australian or if you people call it something different - tell me and I'll explain it. Okay - next chapter will be up soon.