As usual, I don't own any character that has appeared on the show.

Thanks to ReeseIsLAVAHot for the Beta!

Chapter 1 – New Old Number

John opened his eyes slowly. The warm spring breeze ruffled the curtains in the windows and he could tell by the amount of the light in the room that the sun was just now coming up over the city.

Joss Carter stirred against his side. John looked down at his lover. She was still fast asleep and from the slight smile on her face, she must have been having a pleasurable dream. John gently pushed a lock of hair that had fallen across her face back and tucked it behind her ear. She looked so peaceful and beautiful that John had to smile at her.

John glanced up at the clock, the alarm would go off in about fifteen minutes so he decided to simply lie there and enjoy the feel of her body against his. Sometimes, despite everything he had been through in his life, despite all the evil he had seen and done, he felt like the luckiest man on the planet. Lying here like this with his beloved Joss in his arms was one of those times.

Harold Finch made it to the library especially early this morning. He'd had trouble sleeping again because of the pain that was his constant companion, so he decided to get up and go into work. He knew he would not see Reese for a couple of hours but he figured that he would get a jump on the new number that was sure to be waiting for them. The more information he had waiting for Reese, the faster John could investigate and neutralize the threat, whatever it was.

As Finch walked by the pay phone two blocks down from his home, it rang. He smiled and answered it. The familiar voice rattled off the information that would lead him to the new number and a new person to save.

Finch limped into the computer room of the library and booted up his equipment. He did his customary check on the whereabouts of all his "people" as he thought of John, Joss, Joss's son Taylor, Joss's partner, Lionel Fusco, and his beloved Grace. Fusco was still at his apartment, Grace was at home, and John, Joss and Taylor were still at the Carter apartment. They were all just where they all should be at this time of the morning. Harold imagined that they were probably just rolling out of bed to start the day, except Grace. Grace slept late.

So far so good.

Finch quickly assembled the new number from the information the Machine had given him a few minutes before. It looked vaguely familiar, which unsettled him. Repeat numbers were often battered women and Finch hated those cases because of what they did to his partner. They reminded Reese of his lost love, murdered by her abusive husband and they always put John in a very dark place for days afterward. Finch had gotten in the habit of warning Joss whenever they had a one of those cases so she could be prepared. Lately though, Joss had reported that it was not taking John nearly as long to emerge from that dark place. Finch hoped that time and a new love, was healing old wounds.

Finch sighed; he had better get to it.

He typed in the number, and his face went white at the picture and name that appeared on the screen.

"No, it's not possible!" he gasped.

The man watched the tall, blonde woman walk to her car in the apartment parking lot just as he did every morning. She was dressed in her usual scrubs and her hair was tied back in a ponytail. She looked around furtively, as if she knew she was being watched.

Of course she knew she was being watched; he had let her know long ago that he watched her every move.

He watched eagerly as she reached her car and saw the lovely red rose he had left for her on the windshield. The rose was red for passion and love, because they were soul mates. But she was not pleased to see it. She picked it up, looked around to see if anyone was watching and threw it on the ground. She made sure she ran over it when she backed out of her parking space.

The man pressed his lips together in a thin line. He was quite angry that she had refused his gift. He was going to punish her for that. She was his soul mate and she had no right to refuse his gifts.

John was dressed and standing in the kitchen, leaning against the counter with arms crossed as he glared at the coffee machine as if that would make it brew faster, when he got the call from Finch.

"John, we have another number, but…but it's out of the ordinary. Do you think Jocelyn could accompany you here this morning?"

John was curious and nervous. Finch had never asked for Joss to come with him to the library first thing in the morning before. "I'll ask her."

"Please tell her it's important, very important." Finch emphasized the last two words.

John was puzzled, "Alright, I'll let her know."

Taylor strolled into the kitchen and poured a bowl of cereal. "Good morning," John greeted him.

"No such thing as a good morning," the teenager grumbled. "Got a Trig test today."

"You spent a lot of time with Finch over the weekend; you should be prepared."

"Yeah, yeah. Just not feeling the test thing today."

"Understandable. But you'll do fine."

"Good morning, boys," Joss chirped as she walked into the kitchen fresh from her shower.

"Good morning, beautiful," John pulled her to him and gave her a quick peck on the lips while Taylor made gagging noises in the background. Joss threw Taylor a dirty look as she disengaged from John. John couldn't help grinning at his family.

"Finch wants you to come with me this morning if you can. There is something about the new number that has him upset." He told her as he poured her a cup of coffee and handed it to her.

Joss looked puzzled while she sipped her coffee, "What could have him upset? I suppose I can go with you. I'll call Lionel and have him tell the Captain I'm following a lead on the way into work so I'll be late."

Joss and John walked into the computer room in the Library together, smiling and talking like the happy couple they were, and had been for months now. Finch looked up from his monitor, plainly unhappy. What he had to say to his friends could destroy their happiness.

"We're here. What's up, Finch?" Joss asked as she hung her jacket on the coat rack by the door and then stooped to give Bear a hello scratch.

Finch licked his lips nervously, "We have a new number and this may be the hardest case we have ever had. Please take a look."

John and Joss walked around the table to see the monitor. John gasped and Joss's hand flew to her mouth.

The picture on the screen was of Jessica, John's supposedly dead girlfriend. The one they had thought had been killed by her abusive husband; the one whose death had helped send John spiraling down into depression, alcoholism and near suicide.

John glared at Finch, "What is this, some sort of sick joke?" Joss just squeezed her eyes shut and then opened them again like she was trying to will the picture away.

Finch shook his head sadly, "If only it was," he said throwing a sad look at Joss, who was still standing with her hand over her mouth like she was going to be sick. "The Machine gave me Jessica's number a couple of hours ago. Last time the Machine gave us a number of a dead person…"

"…that person turned out to be alive. Yes, I know Finch," John snarled. His eyes were hard and cold.

Joss sat down heavily in a chair. "I saw the coroner's report. I talked to medical examiner myself, that son of a bitch lied to me." Bear, aware something was very wrong, gently nuzzled her, trying to comfort her as best he could. He whined a bit when she didn't respond.

John looked up when he heard Bear's whine and noticed for the first time how upset Joss was. He walked over and knelt next to her. "Hey, hey, it will be OK. "

Joss looked over at him. "You can't promise that, John," she said softly. "You have no idea how you will feel when you see her again after all these years of carrying a torch for her." John looked stunned.

"Joss..." he said laying his hand on her cheek. He didn't know what to say.

Joss shook her head, "Don't John, you can't promise me anything," she said. She stood up, "I need to get to work." And she left quickly without saying good bye.

John watched her go, still in the kneeling position by the chair she had just vacated with a devastated expression on his face. Bear whined again and nuzzled John. Finch's chest hurt. At that moment he wished he had just ignored the number and left Jessica to her fate. She was supposed to be dead; he should have let her stay that way.

"I'm sorry, John."

"Joss and I have been so happy. How could she think …?"

"You mean just because you nearly drank yourself to death over Jessica?" Harold said kindly.

"Point taken, Finch." John said sadly as he stood up from the floor. He sat down heavily in the chair that Joss had just vacated and leaned forward with his forearms on his knees.

Finch took his glasses off and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "John, how do you want to proceed? I won't blame you if you don't want to work this case, I can ask Fusco…"

"No, I owe Jessica. I told her I would come for her and I didn't. If she is in danger now, I owe it to her to come for her this time."

Finch turned his chair to look directly at his partner. "Even if it means you lose Jocelyn?" Finch asked softly.

"I won't lose Joss. I'll make her understand," John said fiercely as his eyes bored into Finch's

"If you say so, John," Finch said dubiously as he looked away.

"Call Fusco, have him keep an eye on Joss for me. I'm going to New Rochelle to talk with a certain M.E.," John said grimly.

Finch punched the preset for Fusco on his phone as John walked out the door.

"What's up, Finch?" Fusco growled into the phone.

"Detective, we have… a situation. You need to stick very close to Detective Carter."

"Dammit, is HR after her again? I don't see why John just doesn't blow them all away," Fusco snapped irritably.

"No, it's not HR, not this time." Finch paused and took a deep breath. " It seems Mr. Reese's former love Jessica is alive."

Fusco froze in shock, his coffee cup halfway to his mouth. "No kidding? The blondie in the picture? Does Joss know?"

"Yes, I'm afraid she does. And she's quite upset."

Fusco carefully put his coffee mug down on his desk. "Don't worry, I'll take good care of her."

"I know you will, Detective. Don't hesitate to call me if you need anything, anything at all." And Finch ended the call.

Fusco set down his phone and let out a long breath. Jessica, ALIVE? Yeah, Joss would be upset all right. He rubbed his hand over his face. Fusco knew a big mess in the making when he saw one and this was bound to be a doozy. And this time, it was personal. John, Joss and Harold had helped him get out of HR and back on the right path. This could threaten the team that had become an incredibly important part of Fusco's life.

He looked up as Joss walked in, looking a bit ill. Fusco walked over and sat next to her at her desk like they did when they were going over case files.

"Finch called me. You OK?" He said softly so no one else could hear.

Joss gave a Lionel a look that broke his heart, "No," she confessed.

Lionel squeezed her hand under the desk and said in a whisper, "John loves you to distraction, Joss. I know it. Don't do this to yourself."

"He loved her first. He loved her enough that he nearly killed himself over her. I don't think he ever really let go of her," Joss couldn't bring her self to meet Lionel's eyes. She was afraid she would see pity there and she couldn't bear that. She had no way of knowing that all she would have seen was a friend's caring and concern for her.

Joss's phone buzzed, she glanced at it, Meet at the diner for lunch the text message read. She looked across at Fusco, he was looking at his phone too, their eyes met and they nodded. Finch had invited both them. Lionel replied that they would be there.

Joss sleepwalked through the rest of the morning. Lionel ran interference for her so she was able to spend it sitting at her desk, pretending to work. No work got done.

They met Finch at his favorite diner a few hours later.

"Have you heard from John, yet?" Joss asked.

"No, and I haven't really expected to. I called you here because wanted to talk to you," Finch said gently.

"Don't worry Finch. I won't get in the way of protecting Jessica or solving this case," Joss said sadly.

Finch looked hurt. "I know you won't Jocelyn. But I also know you're hurting."

"Finding out that my boyfriend's dead lover is alive and well? Her number came up, so now John has to go rushing off to rescue her from whatever danger she is in like some kind of heroic White Knight. Yeah, that hurts alright," Joss said staring down at the Formica table top.

"Jocelyn, John loves you. I've seen the way he looks at you, the way he protects you…" Harold started to say.

Joss looked at Finch with her big, dark eyes glistening with tears. "Harold, you don't understand. Jessica is his fantasy woman. He has idealized her to the point that she's not even human anymore. You know how it is when someone dies, everyone starts talking about them like they were some sort of saint. They focus on the good and forget all about the bad. All those years of carrying a torch for her just made her larger than life and absolutely perfect in John's head."

Joss paused and looked down at the table. "I'm just the person he settled for because he thought she was dead," she whispered.

"Jocelyn, that's not true. John let her go long before he even met you because she couldn't handle who he was, what he needed to do. Since then, John has only gotten more committed to the cause of protecting people. You don't just accept that, you share it. She will never be able to take your place. She wanted him to change, to be something he isn't, something he doesn't want to be."

"He wants to be normal, have a family. She's his chance," Joss whispered again.

Fusco broke in, "Joss, John does love you. You and Taylor are his family."

Joss looked over at her partner, "In his mind right now, she is Saint Jessica. She has no flaws. I can't compete with that."

Both men shifted uncomfortably, unsure of what to say next. Secretly, they were afraid that Joss might be right.