TITLE: The Letdown

AUTHOR: Julian Lee

EMAIL: thwarted1066@yahoo.com

URL: http://geocities.com/thwarted1022/index.html

CATEGORY: Nigel/Woody

RATING: PG

SPOILERS: "Dead or Alive"

DISCLAIMER: Tailwind & NBC own 'em. I just wanted in on the fun. In a completely not-for-profit manner.

ARCHIVE: Yes to list archives; others please ask.

SUMMARY: "Woodrow, have I ever let you down?" Nigel to Hoyt, "Dead or Alive"

NOTES: A little surprise for Perpetual Motion, though it's not exactly what she asked for. Enjoy.




The Letdown
by Julian Lee

"Never."

Nigel looked up, file folder in hand, mouth turned down in confusion. Woody stood just inside the doorway, hands stuffed in his pockets in a failed attempt at nonchalance. Nigel smiled softly and shook his head. "Never what?"

"Earlier this week, when Cruz and I were in here asking about the tape. You asked if you had ever let me down." Woody's eyes dropped to the floor. "You haven't. Not ever."

Something was going on here that Nigel didn't like to look at too closely. He'd never seen this look on Woody's face, never heard his voice sound so...*earnest.* So Nigel just grinned and went back to reorganizing hi desk. It had been such a crazy week that he hadn't had time to worry about the state of his paperwork. Now he could barely see the surface of his desk. It was rumored that he had a computer down there somewhere. Nigel kept his smile wide and his voice light. "I was just having you on a little. You know - giving you a hard time in front of your showoff Detective Cruz."

Woody sighed. He pulled one of his hands out of his pocket and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I'm trying to be nice, Nigel. I'm having...a moment, here. It's hard."

Nigel put his head down, letting his hair fall in front of his face to hide his smile. It had been a tense few weeks, and everyone's recent obsession with the Halford case had exacerbated the underlying problems between them. But despite it all, Woody really was trying. It was cute. "Don't worry about it."

"But--" Woody rubbed his nose again and took a few steps further into the room. "I do. I just...I don't think I say it enough. How much I appreciate you."

This was better. This was easy. Nigel raised his head, smirk firmly in place. He even managed to meet Woody's gaze squarely. "You say it plenty, Woodrow. Why, just last night--"

"Hey! Hey." And there Woody went, blushing again, just like he had in front of Cruz. "I don't mean that. Or--" He was smiling now, too. "I don't mean *just* that. I mean..." He sighed. "I mean...all of it. Your work. Everything."

Nigel gave up. There wasn't enough paper in the entire ME's office to keep him distracted now. Woody was changing everything, damn him. Nigel dropped his eyes; he couldn't keep meeting that gaze. But he had to say *something.* After everything that had been going haywire between them lately, he couldn't ignore the gesture Woody was making. He sighed and raised his head. "Thank you, Woody. That means a lot to me."

Woody smiled at him then, and it felt to Nigel like the sun coming through the clouds after two weeks of rain. He grinned. A lot like England, then. Woody grinned back. "Listen, Nige, you got any plans after work tonight?"

Nigel shrugged. "At this point? Anything that gets me out of this damned office."

Woody looked extremely relieved. "Sounds great to me. I'll swing by and get you on my way out."

And Woody hadn't *said* anything out of the ordinary, but Nigel felt like he had just agreed to something much more than one evening. At once, he was unaccountably scared. He was out of his depths, here. He'd a mind to back out - say he'd forgotten something, say he'd changed his mind, say *anything* that would get him out of this.

Then he looked over and caught Woody's smile, and he knew he wasn't going to say a thing.

After all, he'd never let Woody down before. He wasn't about to start now.


FIN