Disclaimer: I do not own anything from this property. I use it solely for entertainment purposes.
Not All That Bad
When Carter opened her eyes to the new day, she was upset. She hadn't been up for more than five seconds and she was already in a bad mood. As she sat up, the cause of her current state of unhappiness was apparent. She could feel an uncomfortable scratchiness in her throat and she felt a bit dizzy.
She hated being sick. One of the main reasons was that it would hamper her ability to do her job; but she was stubborn enough to go to work despite her condition. Over the years, she had done her best to keep her body in good shape and make sure that she took enough Vitamin C to keep herself ready to go.
When Taylor had gotten sick last week, she knew that it wouldn't be long before she was next. Despite her best efforts, she had in fact woken up today with the common cold. She couldn't help but scoff at herself for being disabled by such a small little thing like this. It was then that her thoughts drifted to the vigilante John Reese.
In all the time they have known each other, she had never seen him sick. Either he never suffered the effects or he was very good at hiding it. He always seemed so strong and capable in the field that it must be that he just didn't get sick. His job of protecting all of those people was just too important for him to be bedridden.
As she got ready for the day, Carter knew that she was the same way. She was only human though and when she went to the bathroom to wash up, she still felt utterly exhausted despite having gotten a good night's sleep. Her reflection in the mirror didn't provide any comfort. Her eyes looked bloodshot and her complexion looked a bit paler than her normal dark chocolate color.
She sighed to herself as she started the shower, knowing that the guys at the station were going to notice, especially Fusco. Despite her reluctance, she had to get ready as she had a job to do. Not only did she have to file some massive amounts of paperwork, but she also had promised John that she would join him on a stakeout of a potential new threat.
Carter was almost inclined to call and cancel. She really didn't need John fussing over her for being sick and she could certainly do without his teasing. Then again, over the last few months, she had found herself not only enjoying his wild ways but actually looking forward to them. She couldn't remember when she started to feel this way for him. Maybe it was when he rescued Taylor from Elias or almost died at the hands of his partner.
Telling him was out of the question, of course. It would never work out between them anyways. She was confused though because she couldn't even commit to Beecher who was a good man for her and Taylor. Her son had met Cal once and didn't seem to have a problem with him. After the one meeting with John however, Taylor had besieged her with questions about him to which she answered only the ones that she could, since she didn't know much about him either.
She laughed dryly that her thoughts had really gone to relationship material when she should be really worried about trying to get through the day while trying to fight off this damn cold. Cleaning up under the hot water, Carter dried herself and changed into her usual work clothes which consisted of black slacks, a beige buttoned down shirt and her black boots. She opted to leave her hair down and grabbed her gun and badge from the table. As she was walking out, Joss noticed Taylor who was searching through the cupboards for some sort of edible fuel.
"Hey baby" she said, her voice becoming a bit scratchier. This was not lost on Taylor as he stopped in his search and turned around. The young man noticed that his mother was under the weather. He knew that there was going to be no way to talk her out of leaving the house, but that didn't mean that he couldn't worry about her.
"Mom, are you alright? You look like you are going to fall over any second."
Joss lifted her right hand and put the back of it against her forehead, noticing that she was quite warm. "I'll be fine Taylor. I can't let a small head cold stop me from my job."
"Mom…" he stopped when she raised a hand to him to stop him.
"I'll be fine. I'm just going to be doing paperwork and then I have to help John with something later tonight."
Taylor raised an eyebrow at the mention of the vigilante. He knew that his mother worked on a daily basis with John, but he wasn't sure if she was up for anything the way she was looking.
Before he could object, Joss pointed at the clock. "We better get going or we're going to be late for school."
"Did you at least take some medicine? We have something here." He reached up where he was looking and saw a small bottle. He tossed the white bottle in his mom's direction, and she caught it effortlessly.
She looked down at the label with a bit of a worried expression. "Let's hope that this gets me through the day. We better get going" she reiterated as Taylor grabbed some Pop Tarts and his school things. Joss grabbed her jacket and keys before following him out.
Much to her dismay, when Carter entered the station, a few of her fellow officers did notice her condition and asked how she was. Before she got to her desk, Fusco gave her a strange look and she knew the question before it even left his mouth.
"It's just a head cold. Nothing to worry about."
It didn't look like Lionel was convinced. "Why are you even here, Carter? You should be at home in your bed getting some sleep, not here doing some paperwork that someone else could do."
"That's not really an option Fusco." She wasn't in the mood to argue about the elephant in the room. Carter hoped that the small mountain of paper that stood on her right would provide a sort of distraction for the day.
As she began to put her personal belongings away, she took out the small medicine bottle and dropped a pill in her hand. Putting it away, she threw the pill in her mouth before gulping down some water that she brought with her.
"If you have to take something to get you through all this Carter, I think that it would be a hint. On top of that, you are helping Wonderboy with his stuff too."
"Like tonight?"
Lionel's eye widened slightly. "Carter, you are doing all this and working on a case while you are sick. You are crazy. Even if you won't listen to me, I'm sure that our friend would have a problem with you doing that."
"I know that John is going to say something and I'm going to tell him the same thing I told you. Look Fusco, I know that you are worried about me and I appreciate it but I'll be fine. You should probably be happy that I'm helping John instead of you today" she smirked, noticing the annoyed look on his face.
"Who's John?" She heard someone ask from behind and she grimaced as she recognized the voice.
As she turned to face Cal, she gave a laugh as she brushed off his question. "Just a friend that I'm going to meet later today." She saw the look he gave her and rolled her eyes. Does everyone have to notice that she's sick today?
"You look a bit under the weather Joss, are you sure you should be meeting this guy and not heading home?"
"It's nothing big, just a stakeout, Cal" she said, hoping to brush him off so she could finally get some work done. She and Cal were still friends, but she could tell that he was trying to get the relationship back on track. After everything that had happened in the last few months, she just couldn't bring herself to do it.
Her mind would drift back and think about John's capture, his interrogation at Riker's, them being arrested by Donnelly, and especially John's close call with the bomb. Without realizing it, she had thought about him again in that way in the span of only a few hours.
Cal seemed to notice that she was distracted. "Joss, you okay? Maybe I should come around your house later to make sure you are okay."
Carter shook her head slightly to get her thoughts back together. "I'll be fine Cal, really. You don't have to go through the trouble. Besides, I'll probably be home late." She grabbed the top manila folder and opened it up before logging into her computer.
Seeing that she was starting her work, Cal took his leave with her answer. Fusco had noticed the bad blood between them but decided to stay out of it. Carter had been his partner for a while and knew that she was smart and could take care of herself when it came to people. The small sneeze he heard from her end had him looking over at her desk, where she was reaching for a handkerchief.
He hoped for her sake that she would take the hint and go home early.
Despite her condition, Joss managed to get through all of her work. It was around eight when she told Fusco that she was heading out to meet John. He once again gave her a look before deciding to not say anything other than a goodbye.
She was driving towards the stakeout. The course of the day pretty much consisted of research, write ups, and taking more of the medicine that she had brought with her. She'd had her bout of coughs and sneezes, but they weren't so detrimental that she couldn't keep working.
Joss couldn't help but feel annoyed at how foggy her head was feeling. She was starting to wonder if she should have called John and told him she couldn't make it. He probably would have just bugged her about her reasons and paid an uninvited visit to her house. She figured this would be better to avoid the hassle.
Pulling up near a row of warehouses, she spotted a black car parked on the side. Maneuvering behind it, she turned off her engine and pulled her jacket tighter around her face as she exited into the now freezing weather.
"How the hell can that man work like this" she grumbled out loud. She brought her gun and badge with her as she made her way to the car. She was expecting John to be waiting inside for her. When she got close, she saw that the lights were off and it was empty. She pulled away and began to look around, hoping to see some signs of life.
Seconds later, she heard rather than saw some commotion that sounded like it was coming from inside the warehouse. She saw that the lights were on and began to run to the source. The door was ajar, forced opened from what looked like someone kicking it open. She pushed her way inside, hearing the commotion getting louder. She worked her way around the scaffolding as the voices got clearer.
"Now now, what happened to talking things out?" she heard John tease. The man always had to take things lightly! She wasn't sure whether to be angry at his recklessness or laugh at how nonchalant he was about it. Maybe that was his plan all along.
As she finally reached the clearing, she felt her body getting heavy and grabbed something nearby to hold her up as she surveyed the chaos before her. As John was dealing with one man, five more were lying on their backs, more than likely seeing stars because of him. The last man standing was the one that she had been asked to stake out. Looks like this time their man was the perp.
The guy was no match for John's CQC as he rushed him only to suffer the same fate as his friends. John just casually brushed off his hands. When he turned to Carter, he stopped in his tracks as he noticed her for the first time. She looked completely drained as her skin looked lighter than usual to him.
He saw how she was gripping the scaffolding next to her, and realized she was fighting just to keep herself upright.
"Well once again you managed to make my job less messy," she uttered before noticing the look on John's face, his softened blue eyes looking solely in her direction. She tried to stay strong even though her body was against her. "I know what you are going to say John and I'm fine. It's just a head cold. Nothing that won't go away in a couple of days."
He looked at her, not believing it for a second. "If that's the case, then let go of that scaffolding Carter."
Being who she was, she did just that in hopes that she would be strong enough to convince him she was fine. Carter managed for about ten seconds before she feel her legs weakening under her weight and she began to fall forward. She would have made contact with the concrete floor if John hadn't been as quick as he was and reached out to stop her fall, her gun slipping from her hands.
"I guess I was wrong," she joked. She was surprised when John grabbed her and put away the gun before draping one of her arms around his broad shoulders and picking her up. She was nothing short of confused. "Umm John, what are you doing?"
"Carter, I know you want to wrap up this case but I can tell you aren't up to it. I'm having Fusco come and take these guys in."
"Don't think that you can just expect me to just sit back and do nothing. I have job to do."
"And you do it quite well Detective; but you are pushing yourself too hard. You have friends to rely on, remember?" He set her down momentarily and noticed her roll her eyes.
"Right, I have two men that have broken more laws than I can count and a partner who is working undercover with probably the most powerful criminal organization in New York. With friends like you, I would think I'm crazy."
John tapped his earpiece and was instantly patched through to Finch. "Mr. Reese, has the number been dealt with?"
He looked in Carter's direction as he replied. "Yeah, turns out our guy was planning something with a few friends of his. Can you call Fusco and have him come down here to take these guys in?"
"Isn't Detective Carter with you?"
"She is but she isn't feeling too good and I don't want her to overwork herself on top of that."
"If you want Mr. Reese, I can have a physician take a look at her."
John couldn't help but smile at the seemingly endless resources Harold had. "No thanks Finch. It just looks like she dealing with a cold. I'm sure that I have something in my apartment that can knock it out."
"Very well, I will contact Detective Fusco, but you will need to make yourself scarce in the meantime."
"You don't need to tell me twice," he said before ending the call.
He reached a hand out to her only to receive a weird look from her. "You can't even stand up Carter. How long have you been sick?"
"It's only been a few hours" she answered honestly. Joss couldn't explain her current state was the cause of her illness.
"Did you eat anything at all?"
She just shook her head, knowing that he would catch her if she lied. He reached over and draped her arm again across his shoulders, lifting her off the ground. Carter couldn't help but notice that her legs felt quite a bit like jelly. "I'm going get you out of here, and there is no way you'll be able to drive yourself back home."
He shuffled towards the door. "Well what's your plan then because I drove myself here? And you think I'm not in any condition to drive myself out."
"Have you forgotten what just happened? I doubted that you would even be able to make it into your car." As he looked down at her, he felt himself calming down a bit because even though she was arguing, she wasn't physically fighting him to let her go. "I'm having Finch get Lionel over here and clean this up. As for you, I'm taking you to my apartment."
Her eyes widened at that notion. "I'm actually going to see how New York's most notorious vigilante lives the high life?"
"My place is closer and I have a few things that will be able to knock the bug out of your system in no time."
Hearing the possibility of getting over this damn cold, how could she refuse? "John, you always know just what to say to make a girl feel better. Too bad I didn't bring a camera. Let's go then."
Happy that she accepted, he got them out of there.
During the drive, Carter couldn't help but reflect and ask why she was going along with this so easily. She was going willingly to John's apartment after he found she had been sick for the whole day. She tried to be defensive? But maybe it was her illness that was just allowing her to go along with this.
Her mind once again reflected and compared the course of their relationship to what she had with Cal before what happened with Szymanski. She didn't even want him in her house waiting for her. Every time she saw his face, it only brought up anger at him and sadness over what happened to her friend.
John made her angry and sometimes they had their full blown argument but she never wanted to push him away. When he had given up Moretti's safe house, she didn't understand his reasons until a few days after he saved Taylor when he told her the truth along with apologies. She had to stop her brain from driving her crazy again. It already betrayed her by not allowing her to think of a good reason for John to let her drive herself home.
When they got to his place, John carried her upstairs the same way he had been carrying her the last few times. When they reached one of the doors in the hallway, he reached into his pocket for a single key. After unlocking and opening the door, he got them inside. Carter's eyes widened at the spacious apartment.
"Damn John, you (cough) got to let (cough) me know what's Finch (cough) favorite book (cough) (cough) (cough)"
"Let's get you some water" he said as her constant coughing continued. Sitting her on a stool next to the island counter, he went and got her some water. Carter removed her jacket while doing her best to cover her mouth and muffled the worsening cough.
She then saw a glass of water entering her view. "Here." She nodded her thanks and took a swig, allowing the cool liquid to soothe her inflamed throat. Being careful not to drink too fast, she felt her throat getting better and the cough was taken care of.
"Thanks for that. I don't know what happened right there" she said, her voice still holding a croaking sound on some of the words.
"I'll get you that medicine I promised so that you can start feeling better soon."
Joss smiled at the possibility. "That would be lovely."
As he headed in the direction of what she presumed was the bathroom, she took the time to get a better look at John's place. She couldn't help but find herself surprised at the accommodations. There was no doubt that Finch was responsible for this as the furnishings screamed money. It seemed however that there were a few things here and there that were all John. On the far table she saw some ammo and a pistol that she assumed he had been either cleaning or modifying.
It was kind of amusing to her whenever she saw the differences between the two men. She couldn't help but find it endearing, though, that she could see bits of John here and there in the form of some sort of ammunition being strewn about in organized groups. She felt a bit intrusive now for having forced him to bring her here rather then invite her willingly. It was just another reason to hate the fact that she was sick.
People tend to feel obligated to do things and she didn't need to give John more to have on his shoulders. She opted to take whatever medicine he gave her and hopefully finding a way to get back home quickly because Joss knew she was invading his personal space and figured he was the kind of guy that really cared about his privacy
In the distance, she heard a bit of shuffling before the door opened and closed behind John. He had his right hand in a fist, probably holding whatever he was going to give her. Standing off to the side, he opened his hand in front of her, dropping a white oval pill.
"Finch understands that I can't do my job if I get sick so his physician gave me a good supply of these. I forget the name, but they have worked to keep me from being disabled too long." Shrugging her shoulders, she took it in her hand before plopping it in her mouth and drinking the water to help it go down. She trusted him for a while now and knew that he wouldn't do anything to take advantage of her.
When he took the cup from her hands, their fingers brushed lightly and she had to fight the small shiver that ran up her back. It surprised her that such a small action could bring out such a blissful feeling.
"Now, how about you head over to the bed over there and get some sleep." He then noticed the surprised look on her face. "What?"
"It's just that I thought you were going to tell me off for doing something stupid like this."
"Not really. I understand that you need to do your job to protect people. The thing is…" He surprised her by placing his large hand on top of hers. "Joss, you do have friends. You could have just called me and told me the truth. I would have asked Fusco to help me instead."
When did John think like that? She couldn't help but be downright confused by his actions. "So you wouldn't have just come over to my house and bugged me to come?"
John shook his head. "I would have been able to tell you were serious by the sound of your voice. I know that you don't want to be here. I'm sorry, but I couldn't let you drive in your state."
"I was going to say the same thing about you. I figured that you would want me gone as soon as possible."
"Actually Joss, I was looking for an opportunity to invite you over and maybe hang out as friends, away from prying eyes."
She licked her suddenly dry lips at what he just told her. He quickly changed the topic of conversation.
"Look Joss" his blue eyes became serious. "Just promise me that you'll at least get enough sleep to get your strength back. You can leave the second you feel better. If you can do that for me, I promise I won't do something like this to you again."
She couldn't help but be sad that she had given him the impression that she was angry with him because he was just looking out for her. She was a fool. "I don't think I can do that John." Before he could object, she continued. "I will keep my end of the bargain as long as you don't keep yours."
"Care to explain Detective?"
Not answering right away, she got up with a small bit of renewed strength. Surprised at how effective the drug was, John offered a hand which she took. Even though she felt like she could make it to the bed, there was no way she was going to deny more skin to skin contact with John Reese. He directed her and she had a seat on the mattress.
While removing her shoes, she continued with the conversation. "It's just that I thought you were doing it because of me being an asset. I just didn't want to get in your way since you've been courteous enough to reciprocate for all the trouble you caused me and I had no way to do it in return other than what I'm already doing."
John shook his head. "Think of it more like a friend that just wants to help. Goodnight Carter" he said before making his way to the far end of the room.
"John…" she whispered when he was out of earshot.
After watching him for a bit, Joss leaned back into the covers. She felt herself getting sleepy quickly from the combination of the drug and John's scents that had been imprinted in the sheets. She just smiled and let herself drift off.
Joss felt herself waking up. After opening her eyes and sitting up, she looked out the window and got a beautiful view of the morning New York skyline. She figured she must have been asleep for a few hours. To her amazement, she felt her head cloud free and her throat was not hurting like it used to. She made a mental note to ask John to have Finch's physician send her some of those pills.
Rubbing the drowsiness from her eyes, she pulled herself to the edge and found her shoes where she left them. Knowing that she had to get back home to meet up with Taylor who had a study session at a friend's house last night, she put her shoes on quickly and fixed up her hair as best as she could.
Spotting her jacket in the same spot where she left it, she slowly rose up and went over to get it. Just as she was about to grab it, she heard a strange noise. As she looked around the room, her eyes fell on the source and she had to do her best to keep her laugh down.
John was laying on the couch in his traditional white dress shirt and black slacks. He had taken off his shoes to get a bit more comfortable. The thing that caught her attention was the sound of snoring coming from him. It wasn't loud by any stretch of the imagination. She couldn't help but find it endearing how he looked in such a relaxed state.
Her mind briefly wondered how long he had stayed up after she had gone to sleep. The things that he said right before was still in her mind. Joss smiled softly as she battled the urge to wake him up. She didn't feel right just leaving without giving John her thanks and a goodbye. Instead of going for her jacket, she tiptoed her way next to his upper body and crouched down.
She was amazed at how beautiful he looked. The silver strands in his hair appeared the shine and his face was completely impassive as he laid there. He was using his right arm as a substitute pillow and his left lay lazily on his stomach. Joss's thoughts quickly wandered to what John Reese was hiding underneath those suits.
She shook her head and was about to get up when he started moving again. After a bit of stirring his eyes opened and she knew she had been caught. She opted to act like nothing was wrong. "Morning" she greeted warmly.
Getting the grogginess out of his head, it took him a moment to remember what had happened the night before. When his eyes finally brought Carter into focus, he smiled. "Good morning to you too Detective. I have to say that I'm surprised to see you still here. Don't you have to get back home for Taylor?"
She confirmed what he asked. "I was on my way out actually and it didn't feel right for me to just leave after you put up with me last night."
He continued to smile. "I should let you know that I did turn off the volume on your phone last night after letting Taylor know where you were. He wanted me to tell you that he's glad that you're alright and he will see you later."
Her first instinct was to immediately argue with John about going through someone else's personal things. Those thoughts quickly disappeared as Joss remembered that she never had the chance to let Taylor know what was going on and he would have been really worried about her. She instead felt a small weight being lifted off her shoulders that her son knew she was in good hands. Good thing for her John was always a few steps ahead of the curve. "I guess that would be my cue to get my butt back home then. Thanks again for all your help John."
He just shrugged it off as he sat up ready to escort her to the door. "Like I said, it's what friends do for each other right?"
Joss soundly agreed. As he walked with her to the door, she grabbed her jacket from the chair. She was wrapping it around herself as John opened the door. "I guess I'll be seeing you later for another case?" She asked.
John's smile changed into an outright smirk. "The opportunity to make your life a bit more miserable? I wouldn't miss it for the world."
She glared back at him quickly before allowing the smile to break through. "Shut up," she said jokingly as he allowed her to exit. Looking around, she turned to head down the stairs to her right. As she got to the top of the landing, she turned around to see that John was still watching her from the threshold of his apartment. She just gave him a reassuring wave, one that he returned, and made her way downstairs.
Exiting the building, she reached into her pocket to grab her phone while she looked for a cab. When she activated the screen, she was surprised to see seven missed calls from Cal. He must have been serious about going over to her house to visit. She also saw that there were voicemails attached to each of the calls.
Without hesitating, she deleted everything from her phone before putting it back in her pocket. Hailing the first cab she saw, she entered and told the driver to take her home all the while thinking about the vigilante that just changed her perception on their friendship just a bit more.
A/N: I have to ask but did anyone else get like that small feeling during Reese's fight that maybe he did what he did because of what happened with Carter. I can't stop thinking about it lol. The eppy was a step up once again. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy story. SWWoman, thanks for being an awesome Beta.