Broken Roots
Chapter Five: Trampled Underfoot
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 2,380
Disclaimer: I own Crossing Jordan. Um, right. That was a lie. I don't own anything. Except my own insanity. I can't even claim to own DVDs for Crossing Jordan. Okay, I can, but only season 1.
Summary: Sins of the father are passed onto the son. Sins of the mother to the daughter. And somewhere in the middle of all of that lies the truth.
Pairing: Woody/Jordan (kind of sort of... ok...eventually :) )

Author's Note: So I lost my copies of Crossing Jordan, couldn't find the episodes I needed to reference. And then, low and behold, they didn't tell me much. The rest I made up. Thus, I own the mistakes. Not sure I should be proud of that. :P

Trampled Underfoot

"Lily—Uh, good, good, come in," Jordan said, taking Maddie from her overloaded friend. She smiled at the baby, who made a face. Well, Woody could have charmed her, but all Maddie wanted from Jordan was down. With the files spread out on the floor, that wasn't an option. The screaming started, and Lily quickly set down her bags and took her daughter back.

Rocking Maddie back to happiness, Lily looked around. "What is all this, Jordan?"

Jordan looked sheepish. She had been caught. "Uh, I... It's the case files."

"I thought you were giving them to Woody," Lily said, chastising her. Jordan shrugged. Everyone knew her better than that. It wasn't really her fault that Garret had believed her. Bug hadn't. Nigel hadn't. But she'd gotten away with it until now. "That's why I came, to... To be here for when Woody saw the file. I wanted to help him make sense of what happened and how he feels."

"Thank you, Lily. I appreciate it. I'm not sure how Woody will react, but I'm glad you're here. Really," Jordan assured her. She held up a finger, a thought coming to her. "Actually, maybe you can explain something to me."

She crossed the room and found the picture that she'd stared at for the better part of the afternoon, the one that still bothered her. She handed it to Lily, who shifted the baby to her other side and looked at it. She frowned. "What about it? I mean, it seems rather obvious what's going on in it. And you would actually know better than I would."

"Lily, look at them," Jordan told her. "Look at their faces. Woody's crying. Cal is so lost, so helpless. How does that work? How could they... Why would they cares so damn much about a man that hurt them?"

Lily smiled sadly, looking down at her daughter. "Jordan, I'm afraid that's easy to explain. The thing is, no matter what our parents do—or don't—do, they are still our parents. Not much can change that. We have to be willing and able to overcome a biological imperative. We are born with needs, we need their help, their guidance and affection. If we don't have parents who can give us these things, if we have parents who are incapable of giving or who withhold them from us maliciously, that doesn't change our need. We simply have a hole where this should be, and we try to fulfill it later in life, if we can. For Woody and Cal, it goes even deeper than those needs. They lost their mother at a very young age. All they had, all they knew was their father. For them, this was the end of their world."

"You're kidding, right?" Jordan asked. "I mean, I guess I understand, but I don't. It doesn't seem right that Woody would mourn a man that abused him, that Cal would be so confused by the loss of a man that hit him. It should have been a good thing."

"Good is a matter of perspective," Lily said, sitting down. "Jordan, in that moment, Woody and Cal probably knew that their father was going to die. And they didn't know where that would leave them. Remember that Warren was not Woody's only abuser. There was the other man. If I was Woody, I would have been terrified that I would end up in his hands. That Cal would end up in his hands. In worse hands."

"So," Jordan finished. "Better the devil you know."

"In this case, yes," Lily agreed. She tugged at on of Maddie's curls, watching her smile. "I imagine that even when custody was given to Woody's aunt and uncle, he was still afraid. He mentioned in the past that he was overweight. Sometimes that can be a manifestation of this kind of abuse. The child attempts to make themselves seem less attractive, less desirable to someone who would abuse them. I'm not sure that's what happened with Woody, but it's a possibility."

Jordan sat down, taking a deep breath. She felt sick. Defeated. She turned to look at her friend. "I don't know where Woody is, Lily. But I have a bad feeling that these case files won't help him."

"Max! Good to see you, Old Buddy," the older man said, clapping Max's hand in his and shaking it like he was ready to pull it out of his socket. Woody watched it all, trying not to be disgusted by it. He didn't know why it was so revolting to see any sign of affection, no matter what relationship existed between the two parties. He shook his head.

"Good to see you, Boxer," Max agreed. He pulled his arm back, and Woody swore it was still moving, still pumping. He almost laughed. "Got some work for you."

"Bring it on," the other man said, shifting his heavy bulk around as he came around the counter. The floorboard creaked, and the glass in the case rumbled a bit. It almost broke. Woody looked at Max. Max shrugged. He trusted this man, no matter how large, how old, how bald. "You always did have the best cases. What is it this time?"

Woody sighed. He didn't want to play games. He just wanted to get this over with. Done. Max gone, everyone out of his personal affairs. He knew that the files from Kewaunee would be here soon. He didn't want to see them, and yet he did. He wanted to put it past him. And he needed to put it past him. He needed to put this past him, too.

"Yeah, how about that, Max?" Woody asked, folding his arms over his chest. He looked at Max again. "Where did you get that locked box?"

Max looked at him for a long moment. He didn't want to tell the truth, that much was clear. And Woody was not sure he wanted to know. But he felt like pushing the issue. "Okay, that's fine. I can go back to my little office and spend the rest of the day there. Or maybe I'll go tell Jordan that her MIA father is back in town. Hmm, decisions, decisions."

Max glared at him. "You know, I really don't think I care for your attitude, Hoyt."

"And I told you if you wanted to lie, try someone else. I'm not the man you knew, Max. I don't really care for this shit," Woody snapped. "The truth, or I can walk out the door. Because I have no reason to stay, and you know it."

Max sighed. Boxer laughed. "Hell of a young pup you've got on your hands there, Max."

"He's more trouble then it's worth," Max agreed with a huff. He sighed again, shaking his head. "Okay, Hoyt. I found this in a safety deposit box in Emily's maiden name. I didn't know she had it. I thought I'd looked everywhere. But James had the key, he left it in his place after he took Jordan... I tracked it down, found the box, and..."

"And you've waited three years to open the damn thing?" Woody demanded. "What the hell is wrong with you, Max? No, never mind. I don't want to know. I'm just here... I don't even know why, so I'm just not going to try and understand. So, you found the box. You brought it back here."

"Look, it may sound stupid, but I was afraid of what I would find," Max admitted. "I still am. Boxer, here's the tape. I don't know what condition it's in. But this could be what got Emily killed."

"Or it could be a charming home video," Woody muttered. Max shot him a dirty look. Woody smiled back and moved towards the door.

"Hold on, hold on," Boxer said, carefully examining the seal. He studied it for a moment. "It will probably oxidize the moment I open it. I'll have to get a sterile environment."

"Here?" Woody asked, earning another glare from the old men. He shrugged. He was enjoying irritating them too much. This place looked liked it hadn't seen a broom in years, and he was pretty sure that this was one of the pawn shops that doubled as a place to fence stolen goods. Not that he cared, because he wasn't a cop anymore, but he still saw the signs.

"I've got a place, and I can do the work, but it will take me a few days, Max. This is delicate," Boxer said, studying the 8MM reel again.

"I've waited a long time for this," Max said. "I think I can wait a few more days."

Jordan looked up as the door opened. He was back. She needed an explanation, but she didn't really have one. She looked over at Lily, who had fallen asleep on the couch, Maddie in her arms, waiting for Woody to get back. And it's not worth trying to hide because the evidence is all over. It's in plain sight, and she could only smile a little as she braced herself for what she knew was coming.

He looked at the floor first, then at her and Lily and Maddie. And he shook his head with bitter laughter. She winced, but she figured that was actually him taking it pretty well. Again.

"I'm not even going to ask," he began as he took off his coat and dumped it on the last free spot on the couch. He crossed into the kitchen and to the refrigerator. She would have bet that he would have taken out a beer if they'd had any. But if he's bought alcohol since the last she poured out, he hasn't brought it here. He settled on a soda and came back into the room as he popped the top.

"Well, it doesn't require asking, does it?" she said, getting up slowly, trying not to wake the others. "Can I ask where you've been?"

Woody stared at the manila folders like they would bite him. He finally pulled his eyes away and back to her. "Oh, that. Well... I said I wouldn't tell. Not sure I'm going to keep the promise... Maybe for now. This... This is the case file, isn't it?"

"It came today. To work. I... I wanted to help you with it," she told him. He looked at her for a long moment, and she caved in under his gaze. "Okay, okay, so I wanted to solve it for you. I wanted to have it all wrapped up in a nice bow so that I could hand it to you and make everything okay again."

He smiled a little, crossing the room towards her, touching his hand to her face. He leaned his forehead against hers. "Nothing can. You know that, Jordan."

She looked up at him. "I can't stop trying. I want to fix it. I want... I want us. And I know that can't happen until you know what happened. Until..."

"Jordan," Woody said, tipping her head up so that she was really looking at him, "shut up."

She started to say something, but he cut her off, covering her mouth with his. She couldn't hardly breathe, as he pretty much devoured her mouth. She felt weak, and somewhere in the back of her mind, she was wondering what game he was playing. He didn't do this, not... Not ever, really. This was not their kiss in the desert, not their almost kiss on the balcony, not one from their night at the Lucy Carver Inn, not their "one for the road" before he left...

He stepped back and pointed to Lily. "I think we need to send some people home. Poor Midget. She's all worn out."

Jordan held up a hand. "Wait a second. What was that?"

He just smiled at her and went over to pick up the diaper bag and then the baby. As he did, Lily woke. She blinked a few times, sleep clouding her eyes. Woody smiled at her. "Come on, Lily. I'll drive you home."

"But you don't drive," Lily muttered as she got to her feet, fumbling for her jacket. Jordan put her hands on her hips. What did Woody think he was doing? That he could just kiss her like that and walk away? That was not going to happen. He had some explaining to do.

"Woody—"

"We'll finish our discussion later, Jordan," Woody told her as he helped Lily with her jacket. Maddie was still out, her head up against his shoulder, and damned if the image of Woody as a dad didn't make Jordan a little weak in the knees. "In the meantime, maybe you should clean up a bit?"

She blinked. "What, you want me just to put it away?"

He looked at the files again. "Yeah, I want you to put it away. Because I want to sleep, Jordan. I don't want to spend the rest of my night looking at those things. I want one more night without those images burned in my memory all over again. So put them away."

Lily nodded encouragingly to Jordan, who sighed and started picking up the files. Woody opened the door for Lily and followed her out into the hall, closing the door.

Jordan cursed in frustration. What was going on? Why was Woody acting like this? She almost wanted the drunk Woody back. At least he kind of made sense. Yeah, he was angry at the world, but she could cope with that. She understood it. This Woody was all over the place, and she didn't know what to expect.

She picked up the last folder and went to put it back in the box. A paper fell out and she went to grab it. It slid under the table, and she reached for it. She didn't remember looking at this one, but she hadn't read them all yet. She looked at the door and figured she may as well while she waited for Woody to get back.

Oh, hell, she thought as she read on. She had the trial transcript, the one for the punk everyone knew was responsible for Warren's death, just one page of it, but the most important one. The verdict.

Not guilty.