Chapter 14: Closure

Her lips were soft. They moved lightly over his. His answer was just as tender.

...almost chaste.

The hand on the side of her neck stilled. Jordan pulled back thinking she had made a huge mistake. One look at his face made her breath catch in the back of her throat. There was no mistaking his reaction. His lips parted sexily as he stared at hers. He cupped her jaw and traced her lower lip with his thumb, making her shiver.

It took her the space of two heartbeats to realize he was waiting. Once again he was giving her space. Without speaking he was telling her what she wanted to hear. He wanted her, but he was letting her set the ground rules. Giving her complete control.

Love struck her, as it often did...without warning. Not the steady day-to-day feeling she had grown used to when it came to her feelings for him, but the hot, wild spurt of it that geysered up and filled her with so many feelings they couldn't be separated. The last time she let herself feel that way about him she knew there would be consequences. In the end those actions only brought more monkeys on her back, ruining three lives in the process. Fate was handing her a second chance. Giving them both a chance.

She echoed the words he said earlier. "I care about you too..."

Care; Love, the right words would come in due time. For now, "care" was where they needed to be. They still had problems. Jordan knew they probably always would. But for the first time in their long relationship Jordan didn't want them to avoid them.

Woody let out the metaphorical breath he'd been holding since she said she wanted to talk. She didn't come out and say she'd changed her mind and was staying. He had his work cut out for him. He knew from that moment on he wouldn't let a second go by without making her feel needed and treasured as a colleague, as a friend, and the woman that, despite all their mutual shortcomings, meant the very world to him. If he was lucky he wouldn't have to do it from a different time zone.

Jordan stunned him further by giving him a dazzling smile and wrapping her arms around his neck. His own arms snaked around her waist and this time he kissed her. Not hard and deep, but long and loving...Just enough to let her know...if she could possible have any doubt...that he was head over heals crazy about her. Not just the warm female body he was holding...but the complicated woman inside.

She felt human for the first time in a very long time. It was like she reclaimed part of herself she that she'd lost forever. What happened to her in DC would always be part of her. For the rest of her life it would be part of how she lived...shaping her relationships with those she loved, the way she saw herself in outsider's eyes.

But standing there, strangers walking past; some gawking, some too wrapped up in their own world too care; displaying herself in that blatantly sexual way was a lifetime away. Wrapped securely in his arms she didn't fell like an object. She felt cherished.

When it was over she opened her eyes to find his on her. Smoky, affectionate ...shaky... as if he was thinking the same thoughts. Even though they had hurt each other in the past, he wanted to try and make it right.

He rubbed his hands up and down her back, holding her against him, but not too close. For that she was thankful. She toyed with the knot of his tie. For as ridiculous as it sounded, Jordan felt as nervous as she did the first time she shared a kiss with a boy.

"Come on; let me buy you dinner," he smiled.

"Calamari?" she smiled back.

"Whatever you want, as long as you're sitting next to me."

Like he did earlier, Woody held out his hand. Like before she didn't take it. Instead she tucked her arm around his waist and rested her head on his shoulder.

"I can't think of any other place I'd rather be."

Six Months Later

Steam drifted up from the manhole covers that dotted the center of the street. Lights from the restaurants and bars lining both sides of it lit up patches of sidewalk. Occasional laughter from the bars leaked out into the night, along with a street corner Santa's bell, broke up the monotonous drone of the evening traffic.

The temperature was probably hovered right around freezing, but it felt colder with the wind coming off the river. Woody was quickly losing feeling in his toes despite the heavy socks and boots he was wearing. His fingers were already gone, but not before coffee is his hand was ice cold... and that was about fifteen minutes before he finished it. He stood next to the passenger side door of Jordan's road salt covered El Camino and studied her profile where she stood a street light away. He'd give her ten more minutes...give or take as long as she needed, he thought to himself.

With a flick of his numb wrist, he tossed his empty cup in a nearby trashcan. A man in an overcoat hustled by, huddled down over a bag of take-out from one of the restaurants. He stopped next to Woody, holding up his arm to hail a nearby cab and Woody caught a whiff of fried calamari coming from his bag. It took him back to that hot, steamy ...wonderful July night he and Jordan had split a plate.

He also remembered the kisses. But more importantly he remembered that by the time they left the restaurant, Jordan had told him she was going to stay in Boston. 'Try' was her exact word. Try was good enough. They could work with try.

A week past, neither of them brought up the fact that Jordan was still didn't have an address. Nor did they talk about status of JD's case. She was the first to make an appointment to see Stiles, Woody followed soon after. Woody hated to admit he needed the man's help...but he was happy he did it.

Within a month, Jordan was back to work fulltime. Still, the subject of Jordan moving out never seemed to come up. They fell into a comfortable routine of sharing meals, chores and the occasional kisses. One night in late September, Woody kissed Jordan good night outside the bedroom door. Instead of just saying 'good night', Jordan invited him in.

He'd like to say the night was magical. He remembers being worried he'd do something wrong. The night in the hotel room in DC haunted his every move. For Jordan it went further back than that. For her it was their first time. At least the first time that really counted.

It was the first time they made love without hidden agendas or false hopes. They took their time to open and honestly rediscovered each other. Lovingly, they encountered new barriers and over the next few months they worked together to tenderly tear them down and replace them with confidence and self-esteem. He didn't need to sleep on the sofa again.

With each passing day Woody's love for Jordan grew stronger. Still, there were shadows hanging over them. Santos was still free and Jordan was still living out of her suitcase.

Thanksgiving Lily offered to make a real turkey dinner and Woody offered the place in which to serve it. Nigel helped get Jordan's dining room table out of storage. Woody assured Jordan it was just for the day.

Just before halftime in the Detroit/Dallas game the phone rang. Woody took the call in the bedroom. Santos's body had washed up in Maryland. The COD was two bullets to the back of the head. The murder was under investigation. Garret said they had many things to be thankful for that season. Woody was thankful that Santos was rotting in Hell.

One shadow gone, one more to go. Jordan's table went back into storage.

The chains on a city truck's tires clanged past the parked car bringing Woody back to the present. He stomped his feet a few time to get the blood circulating again. Ten hours and two tanks of gas ago Jordan skimmed halfheartedly through the 'for rent' ads in the morning paper, like she did every weekend morning, and then turned to Woody asking him for a favor. Not her usual favors, she assured him. Something more personal. He readily agreed.

She wanted to go to Washington. Woody picked up the phone to make what he thought were the necessary arrangements. Reservations, time off from work. Jordan simply picked up her keys and her purse. She said if they left right away they'd make the beltway before dark. Woody only wished he'd taken time to pull on an extra sweater.

The conversations were pretty one-side on the trip. Jordan said very little. The closer they got to Washington the more tense she became. Woody began to question the wisdom of their spontaneity. Dr. Stiles once told Woody that Jordan still needed closure. That was why she couldn't commit to officially living with him. He could only assume closure was the reason they were there. When they turned down the street The Chambers was on Woody noticed her hands visibly shaking. He pulled over suggesting a cup of coffee before they went any further. Jordan left hers on the coffee shop counter and set out the rest of the way on foot.

The Chambers looked exactly the same as it had the first time he saw it. Only this time he tried to look at it through Jordan's eyes. She looked at it like it was something alive. He asked her if she wanted to go inside. She just mumbled 'no'. He left her standing there across the street from the oak and brass doors.

Never more than a few feet away, he watched over her as people walked past them, seemingly indifferent to the business taking place on the other side of those brownstone walls. Occasionally someone would go in or come out the doors. An hour past. Jordan just stood there...staring.

Woody checked his watch. He was beginning to worry. Slowly he walked over to her and stood by her side.

"It's just a building, isn't it?" she asked never taking her eyes off the sight.

Woody looked at the architecture for a second and said "It's just a building Jordan."

A few minutes past and she didn't do anything except taking a deep breath.

"Do you love me?" she asked finally, in a small voice.

Woody looked away from the building and once again was caught up in delicate beauty of her profile. "...Yes, I do. I love you very much."

"Why me when you can find someone who's less...complex?"

"I tried. In the end there is nothing about you that can be replaced. It's you I want."

She blinked hard and turned to look at him. "I love you Woody," she declared softly, sincerely.

Woody's smile was warm, and to Jordan it looked sexy as hell. She rewarded him with one of her own. He wanted to swing her up in his arms and scream his pleasure out loud. Not here. Not in this place. Instead he cupped her cheeks and brushed his lips over her chilly ones.

"I love you..."he whispered.

Her skin was grey from the cold. He murmured disjointed, comforting words pulling his hands out of his gloves and tucking the collar of her jacket closer around her neck.

They both glanced back at the building. Her smile faltered, her lips rolled to the side, but she looked stronger somehow. Like she was truly convinced it was just a building. Woody knew whatever conclusions, closures or decisions she made, she was going to keep them between herself...and JD.

Turning away for the last time Jordan held out her hand.

"Let's go home."

Woody let his fingers weave through hers. He knew she wasn't just talking about Boston, but she was also talking about his...their...apartment. Their life together.

"Let's go home."

THE END

AN: I hope I gave everyone and ending they can live with...even if it was written completely in Woody's after-the-fact POV. If I tried to go into Jordan's mind too far I'm afraid it would be the end of season SEVEN and Chapter 400 before I felt like I could give them some peace. We'd all be bored to death by then. ;)

Thank you for all the kind feedback I've received. Like any fan-ficer, it's my drug of choice.

Jo.