Disclaimer: psht… I'm joining Nynaeve1723's coup

AN: This is something that has been stirring in my brain for a while, and I thought I would put pen to paper and see what happened… it could be a one shot… it could be a chapter story… it could be an excuse for me to use a lot of ellipses… who knows…

I'm partial to reviews, if you are so inclined

The I Love You Song

Tingling sensations finally alerted Jordan Cavanaugh to the fact that the water running over her hands was practically ice cold. She clenched her teeth together and grimaced, pulling the coffee cup out from under the faucet and shutting the water off. The cup went directly onto the drying rack by the sink, and Jordan's pink hands went directly to the towel next to it. She rubbed them hard, working warmth back into her skin. The cold did not bother her half as much as the realization that her emotional tactics for avoiding pain were potentially starting to creep into a physical avoidance. Delayed reactions to temperature and slight bumps or cuts were becoming a daily occurrence. Jordan did not know what to do about it. Nor did she know if she wanted to do anything about it.

Once the warmth had been restored to her hands, Jordan turned and surveyed her current living situation. The studio apartment she had been renting under a false name for the last month had been neglected by her for many reasons, the least of which was that she could not stand to be cooped up in the small space for too long. Clothes were everywhere. A makeshift laundry line stretched from her shower curtain to a bookshelf. She had not wanted to frequent any establishment in DC, including laundry services, and therefore resorted to doing many things from home. Her bed remained unmade and was nearly obliterated by stacks of papers. Research on any little clue.

Jordan ran her hands over her face. The cup of tea she had made for herself had done little to sooth her nerves. Her situation was never easy to deal with, but some days were worse than others. Today was one of those days. She had unfortunately glanced at the front page of a newspaper and seen a headline that made her stomach turn: "Reporter's death still a mystery; main suspect at large."

Not only was the case far from being solved, but they had not let up on publicizing it at all. Every mention of the case on TV or in the paper made Jordan jumpy. For the first time in her life, she truly feared that things would not work out and there was nothing she could do about it. Running had made trying to clear her own name next to impossible. Besides that, the searches that she had been doing had turned up empty. Each day that she came up empty handed she began to question more and more if there truly was another person responsible for JD's murder. The investigation had dragged on just a little long for her liking. She was tired. She wanted it to be over. Even if that meant accepting responsibility for the crime, so long as it was finally over.

The soft rap on the door nearly made Jordan jump out of her skin. Her hands flew to the counter and gripped it tightly, forcing her heart out of her throat and back into her chest. Holding very still, she prayed that whoever it was would think she wasn't home and just go away. The knock came again, a little louder this time. Her lips pleaded silently for the person to walk away.

"Jordan?"

The voice was so soft that she wasn't sure she had heard correctly. Her heart thudded violently and she stared at the door, unsure of what to do.

"Jordan, are you in there?"

A tear slid down her cheek. The voice, so familiar to her ears, comforted her in ways she hadn't felt in months. Pushing away from the counter, she crossed the small space of her apartment and carefully unlocked the heavily bolted door. She opened it halfway, not completely trusting of the outside world, but halfway was enough to reveal the tall form standing on the other side.

"Nigel…" his name escaped her lips somewhere between a question and an answered prayer.

He stared at her, his eyes filling with tears along with hers. His face was worn with worry, but as he stood before her the worry dropped away into desperate relief.

"How did you find me?" Jordan asked in disbelief.

"Are you seriously asking me that question?" he said, his voice choked with emotion, and he moved forward through the doorway and wrapped his arms tightly around her.

Jordan felt a sob rise up inside her as she sank into the first real human contact she'd had in over three months. Her arms went instinctively around his waist, burying her face in his chest. She felt one of his arms tighten possessively across her back, the other cradling her head to him. They stood like that for a long time, each afraid that letting go would somehow make it a dream. Eventually, Jordan realized that it wasn't a dream and that Nigel had found her despite her epic efforts to hide. She pulled back gently and looked up at him.

"Is it over?" she asked quietly, terrified of the answer. Nigel's face fell ever so slightly.

"No," he told her, releasing her from his arms. "The investigation is still full force. Bloody morons are going about it all wrong, too."

"So push them in the right direction -"

"We're not allowed to touch the case, Jordan," he said, visibly upset. "They won't let us anywhere near it."

"When has that ever stopped us before?" Jordan asked him with a slight smirk. He returned it halfheartedly. She studied him for a moment. "How did you find me?"

Nigel rolled his eyes.

"Believe it or not, Jordan, you leave hints when a part of you wants to be found. And I really am just that good," he added teasingly. She smiled, but it quickly faded and they fell into an awkward silence. Nigel's brows dropped in concern. "I'm the only one who knows where you are," he said, trying to reassure her. "Although Macy has a pretty strong suspicion that I wasn't using my vacation to go to Hawaii."

Jordan nodded, rubbing a hand along her arm. Nigel's eyes dropped to the floor.

"I wish I had something more to tell you. Something more encouraging," he said regretfully.

"No, Nige, it's okay," Jordan said quickly. "I understand. You're doing what you can. I'm just… unbelievably happy to see you."

"Yeah?" Nigel looked up hopefully. Jordan flashed him a genuine smile. "I'm happy to see you too, love. More than happy," he told her. His hand reached up and brushed a strand of hair from her face. "I've missed you a lot, Jordan."

"Oh? I thought you guys would have gotten used to my disappearing act by now," Jordan attempted to joke with him, keenly feeling his seriousness.

"Not something one gets used to easily," he admitted.

She gave a small laugh and nodded.

"Can I get you something to drink? Water, tea?" she asked, heading over to her refrigerator and opening it. She bit her lip. "That's pretty much all I've got."

"Good to see you're taking care of yourself," he said sarcastically, walking over to her and leaning against the small counter. "Tea's fine."

Jordan grabbed the teapot, still warm from her earlier attempts at relaxation, and refilled it with water and placed it on the burner. She could feel Nigel's eyes on her all the while. When she had flipped the burner on, she glanced up at him. He met her eyes.

"You trying to start a staring contest here?" she asked flippantly.

"Jordan… there's a lot of questions I want to ask you about all of this," he started carefully.

"I don't doubt it. But I don't know if I even have answers to half of them," she told him honestly. "Why did I run? Why DC? Because I had to. I didn't see any way out, I didn't know what else to do."

"Have you found anything here?" Nigel asked, his professional curiosity kicking in.

"Nothing but dead ends," Jordan said. They were silent for a moment, listening to the sound of the water boiling. Then Jordan asked the question she had been rolling over in her mind since she had arrived in Washington. "Nigel, what if they never find evidence that points to anyone else?"

"They will."

"But what -"

"They will, Jordan," he said firmly. He shifted his weight, running his thumb along the edge of the counter nervously. "I'll crash the investigation if I have to. I'm not going to let them put you behind bars for something I know you're not capable of. I'm not going to lose you again."

Jordan looked up at him, her eyes widened slightly in confusion. Had she heard him right? Reaching out, she stilled the movement of his hand on the countertop. She waited for him to speak.

"Wisconsin detectives, Danny McCoy, and Aussie reporters I can try to ignore, not to speak ill of the dead" he said softly, avoiding her eyes. "Murder charges I will fight."

"Nige…"

"This was not exactly my intent when I decided to find you," he said, a little embarrassed and trying to gather his nerve. "But now that it's out in the open, there's not much point in trying to pretend anymore. I can't just sit on the sidelines anymore, Jordan. You mean too much to me, and I'm sick of being one step behind some other guy and too nice to do anything about it."

He hesitated only a moment, then tugged her close to him and lowered his mouth to hers. Jordan shocked herself as she felt her arms slide up around his neck and, quite unexpectedly, found herself responding hungrily to his kiss.

Do I hear an encore?