Thank you so much to everyone for your kind reviews. It's helping to keep me motivated. I'm having a great time writing this story, so I'm glad you are all enjoying it. Hope you like this chapter just as much as the rest!

Disclaimer: I don't own them. I'm just trying to focus my anger on creating a complete ending for our beloved characters.

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Chapter Six – Reunion

He'd deliberately held back, letting Bug, Nigel and Kate have their reunion with their co-workers. He'd needed a minute to reflect on everything that had happened and prepare himself to see her for the first time since his life had changed forever. What he wasn't prepared for, though, was how exhausted she looked. He knew Dr. Macy's injuries and surgery would have taken their toll on her, but by the looks of her, he knew Dr. Macy wasn't doing as well as they were hoping. Her face was pale and her cheeks were gaunt. A light bruise ringed the abrasion on her forehead that she'd allowed a nurse to cleanse and bandage.

She didn't see him at first, too busy hugging Nigel and Kate and welcoming them home. She turned slightly; caught sight of him. For a moment she stood, rooted to the floor. Then she stepped forward, making her way toward him, her steps slow, deliberate. He reached out, crushed her to him; angled one arm across her back, fisted the other hand in her long chestnut hair. She wrapped her arms around him, holding on with everything she had. He breathed in the scent of her, buried his lips against her neck, her skin soft against his mouth.

She was shaking, with fear or relief, he wasn't sure. It took him a moment to realize her emotions had caught up with her and she was sobbing softly in his embrace. He quietly held her, letting her cry.

When her sobs calmed, he drew back gently, tenderly wiping tears from her cheeks with the pads of his thumbs. He laid a gentle kiss on her forehead, next to the bandage, being cautious of her bruise.

"Hey." He smiled gently at her.

"Hey yourself." She drew a shaky breath.

"That was quite the homecoming." He teased.

"Shut up, Farm Boy." She snuggled into his chest, content to be in his arms, feeling safe for the first time in days.

He held her that way for a long moment, knowing they'd drawn the attention of their friends. He knew they'd both be getting the third degree later on, but for the time being he was enjoying ignoring their blatant looks of curiosity. He wondered idly who the winner of the office pool was. He hoped it was Lily or Bug; they'd probably need some extra cash for a wedding before too long.

He waited until he was sure she was steady again, cupped her face in his hands and kissed her gently on the lips. "How is he?"

Jordan sighed, reality seeping into her body once again. She took his hand wordlessly, led him back to the waiting area where the others were anxiously awaiting news of Garret's situation.

She faced her friends, looking each one in the eye as she spoke. "His broken rib lacerated his spleen, just like he thought it did. It was a clean break, no fragments. They repaired the damage to the spleen, but he'd all ready lost a lot of blood. He had to have several transfusions in the O.R." She looked at Woody, then Bug who was snuggling Madeline close to his heart. "He crashed as soon as they brought him into the E.R. If you guys hadn't done what you did. . ." She let her voice trail off while she choked back more tears. She felt Woody squeeze her hand. "He's in a coma. They won't know about brain damage until he wakes up. He made it through last night with no problems, and if he keeps progressing, they're going to start running tests tomorrow to see if they can determine the cause of the coma."

She watched her friends' faces, saw the grief flicker across them one by one. It wasn't the news they were expecting or hoping to hear, she knew, and the guilt she'd been holding at bay since she'd discovered Garret's injury resurfaced.

"Can we see him?" Nigel's broken voice cut through the silence.

Jordan nodded. "One at a time. Ask the nurses about time limits. His room's around the corner, first door on your right."

Woody waited until they'd filed down the hall and he and Jordan were alone. "I need to go talk to my captain, let him know I'm back. Then I'm going to take you home, Jordan. You can grab a shower, change your clothes. Maybe catch a nap." He saw her hesitation, directed his gaze to their friends. "They'll stay until you get back."

She nodded. "I know." She looked at him harshly, as if something had just occurred to her. "Do I smell that bad?"

He laughed. "No, but you look like crap. And when was the last time you ate? Real food."

"Actually, the nurse brought me a plate of bacon, eggs and toast this morning. It wasn't half bad for hospital food." She caught his gaze, saw his raised eyebrow. "I could use a cup of decent coffee, though."

He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, helped her stand up. "All right. Coffee first, from your favourite café. Then the precinct since we'll be right around the corner. Then back to your place. Okay?"

She leaned her head on his shoulder, enjoying being taken care of for a moment. "Okay."

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They stayed at the café a while, enjoying two cups of coffee and savouring the freedom of being alive.

He held her hand as they walked the short distance from the café to the precinct. She held his as they stood on the precinct steps. She watched the emotions flicker across his face, felt him take a breath before the entered into what they knew would be chaos.

She hung back, letting his fellow officers greet him with hugs and slaps on the back. She let out a shriek as Matt Seely grabbed her in a bear hug, whirled her around in a circle. She laughed at the enthusiasm, her first real tension release since she'd found out Kate was leading the d-mort.

And she stood back as Captain James congratulated Woody on making it home. Then he proceeded to tell them how the case had advanced while they'd been on the mountain.

Apparently, Homeland Security had gotten wind of the d-mort and it raised red flags within the organization. Something similar had happened off the coast of Japan a few months back when threats of blowing up a nuclear plant had been leaked to the Japanese authorities.

This time, Homeland Security had called in the FBI, who in turn, brought in their own forensic specialists to go over the two bodies that had been brought into the morgue before Kate and her team had left Boston. The FBI forensics team recognized a mark when they saw one; they concluded the gunshot wound on the decedent's head wasn't really a gunshot wound. Although they didn't have all the pieces without the rest of the victims, they determined there was enough evidence to go ahead with an investigation into the ship's role in a possible terrorist attack.

"So, that's where I need you two," the Captain concluded. "The bodies are being pulled off the mountain as we speak, along with any paperwork you may not have been able to gather. I need every piece of paper, every theory, every shred of evidence you've gathered handed over to the FBI." He held up a hand to silence the protests. "I know they're not the easiest people to work with, but I gave the agent in charge a run down of the events of the last 72 hours, and he's agreed to do what he can to include you both in the investigation. In short, I made him promise to work with you, not against you. Any questions?" Woody and Jordan shook their heads, too tired to argue right then. "Good. The sooner you can get started and meet with the agent in charge, the better off we'll be. If there is still a looming threat, we need to get it dealt with, now."

Woody and Jordan turned to go, stopped when Captain James spoke again. "Dr. Cavanaugh." Jordan looked at him, waiting. "I heard about Dr. Macy. Please accept my department's condolences, and if there is anything I can do for you, please do not hesitate to ask. Garret's a good man; a strong man. If anyone can make it through this, it's him." Jordan gave him a small smile of thanks then turned and left the office.

The walked down the hall in silence for a moment. "I'm sorry." Woody finally said.

Jordan looked at him, surprised. "What for? You couldn't have known stopping here to check in would result in us getting forced back to work almost immediately."

"I know, Jordan. I just wish you could have a few more days, you know. To be with Dr. Macy; talk to his doctors, get a better idea of his prognosis."

"It'll do me good to get back to work. Have something to do, you know? We'll work out a rotation so one of us is always there with Garret. I won't let him be alone." She smiled sadly at him. "We'll figure it out."

"What's this I hear? Is Jordan Cavanaugh actually putting a positive spin on a situation?"

"Yeah, well. Don't get used to it. Right now the only positive thing I can really focus on is a nice, long, hot shower." She closed her eyes, imagining the luxury. "And maybe a nice glass of wine -"

"You'll have to postpone your plans for the moment. I need to speak with both of you immediately."

Jordan's eyes flew open as she spun around. "What the hell are you doing here?"

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Kate was waiting for Nigel in the hallway when he emerged from Garret's hospital room. They didn't speak as they made their way down the hall to the waiting area. She watched him try to settle comfortably into a chair, but could tell by the grimaces on his face that his arm was hurting him.

"Why don't you go home, Nigel? Get cleaned up, have a nap."

He shook his head. "Lily and Bug all ready left, and I don't know when Jordan's planning on coming back. She and Woodrow could be a while," he grinned wickedly at her.

She rolled her eyes. "I'll stay here; wait for news on Dr. Macy. I'll call you if anything changes." He knew that tone of voice. It meant 'don't argue with me and go do what you're told.' For once, he actually agreed with her, although he was never going to admit that.

He sighed, loudly. "All right, luv, if you insist." He got up from the chair, looked at Kate. "Can I bring anything back for you? Something to eat? A book to read? Coffee?"

She looked surprised. "No, but you can take this key to my house and stop by to feed Binky. He'll want something to eat. My landlord takes care of him when he sees I'm not there, but if you wouldn't mind . . ." She laughed at the horrified look on Nigel's face. "Oh, for crying out loud, Nigel. He's not an attack dog." His face relaxed and he turned to go. "Just don't let him smell your blood!" She called after him, grinning as he all but ran down the hall to get away.

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Jordan looked with shock at the man standing in front of her.

"You look like hell, Cavanaugh," he said.

"I'd like to see you keep the wrinkles out of your suit while being stranded on a mountain with dead bodies!" She shot back.

He raised one eyebrow at her. "Well, I've seen you look worse."

She cocked her head at him. "I thought you said the next time you came to town it would be for a social call."

"I said if I was in town again, I'd look you up. I'm looking you up." He made no attempt to hide the way his eyes traveled up and down the length of her body.

Woody didn't miss obvious flirtation either, and stepped quickly in front of Jordan. "Who are you?"

Jordan grinned. "Detective Woody Hoyt, meet Agent Drew Haley, FBI."

Woody looked sharply at her.

"We worked a case together a few years back, before you came to Boston. He's a profiler." Her honey eyes held Haley's gaze as she spoke.

"What the hell is a profiler needed for on a terrorist case?" Woody demanded.

"Is he always this cranky?" Haley flicked his eyes in Woody's direction.

"Good to see you developed a sense of humour. Finally." Jordan chided Haley, while carefully sidestepping his question about Woody. She recognized the first signs of Woody's jealousy and decided they didn't need any more tension to deal with. "But really, why are you here? To the best of my knowledge this isn't some crazy psycho running around for you to figure out, so what's up, Haley?"

He gave Jordan a pointed look then glanced at Woody. "Is there someplace we can talk in private?"

"My office," Woody said shortly, as he led them down the hall.

Once they were seated, Haley began. "You know about the heroics of the ship's first mate and navigator. You know about the Japanese nuclear threat a few months ago." He waited until they both nodded their agreement. "What we don't know, is if the two incidents are connected. If they are, we have to determine, from the bodies and evidence you collected," he glanced at Jordan, "if there are more potential threats out there."

"And you're here, why?" Woody fired at him.

Haley ignored him and directed his answer at Jordan. "I'm here to go over the evidence with you. I need your help to determine which one of the four terrorists on that ship was likely the guy in charge. Once that's done, I can work up a profile to figure out if he was likely to act alone, or as a puppet to a larger organization."

"And then you base the ensuing investigation on that theory." Jordan nodded her understanding. "So, when do we start?"

Haley looked at her with sympathy in his eyes. "I know you haven't really had a chance to come to terms with your ordeal, but I need you to get started on this asap. The sooner we have the profile information, the sooner we can get to work on diffusing other threats, if need be."

"Wait a minute!" Woody interjected. "She's just come off a mountain plane crash, her boss is in critical condition, she's had no shower, no decent food, and you just expect her to jump right in because you said so? No. You give her till tomorrow morning to get her personal stuff straightened out. . ."

"Woody! It's okay. I can start now. I kind of need something to keep me busy, anyway. I only have one request." She looked Haley in the eyes.

"Anything." He held her gaze as she spoke.

"You make sure one of my team is able to be at the hospital with Garret at all times. I won't let him lie there by himself while the rest of us run around chasing would-be terrorists. We take shifts if we have to, but he is never to be left alone."

"Okay." He nodded, still not breaking eye contact with her. "I can work with that." He got up to leave.

"Oh, and one more thing: I need a cell phone."

"What?"

"I need a cell phone. Mine's stranded on the mountain. I need a new one."

He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Look, if you want me to be able to focus on this, I need a way for my team to get in touch with me about Garret, new evidence, whatever. I need a new phone."

"Fine." He took a wad of bills from his wallet. "Here. You've got an hour. I'll meet you at the morgue."

"Thanks." She grinned at him, swiped the money from his hand. "I'll see you there." She watched him turn toward the door.

"Oh, and Jordan? Try and stay out of trouble."

"Hey, I'm not making any promises!" She laughed as she watched him shake his head and make his way out of Woody's office.

Woody stood silently as he watched Jordan watch Haley leave the room. There was more to their past than what she'd told him, he was sure of it. People who had just 'worked a case together' six years ago, didn't have the kind of connection he'd just witnessed. And he hated the ball of jealously that sat in his gut because of it. He sighed. So much for talking things through with her.

She heard his sigh, glanced over at him. "What's up Woods?"

"Nothing." He figured there was no point in getting into it now. "Can I take you home now? You can grab that shower you were talking about."

She shook her head, closed her eyes in frustration. "I don't have time. I've got to get a new phone, then get over to the hospital, brief Nigel and Kate and try and again to track down Maggie and Abby. I'm going to need their help now, to sit with Garret while we get this case wrapped up. I won't let him be alone, Woody. I can't. I promised him."

"I know." He stepped forward, put his hands on her shoulders, "It'll be okay, Jordan. He'll be okay."

She wrenched away from him, blinking back tears. "Why does everyone keep saying that? If he was going to be okay, he wouldn't be lying in a hospital bed, in a coma, with tubes and monitors keeping him alive!"

"Jordan, I'm sorry. I didn't mean -"

"I've gotta go. I don't want to keep Haley waiting." She turned her back, left the office and all but ran down the hall to the precinct doors, leaving him wondering what on earth he'd done wrong this time.

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