Here is the third installment in the "Kiss of..." series. I don't think I have to tell you where in the show this story is going to fall. It was painful to get into the minds of our star-crossed lovers – especially when we all know what the outcome is going to be. Still, I wanted to hear what they had to say as the kiss in the morgue took down the veil and allowed them to remember their two previous and significant meetings. Despite all, I hope you enjoy.

P.s. Don't worry, there are two more stories to go.

Kiss of Fate

He loved Joss Carter.

There was no other way to explain it. Okay, so he was no expert in the matters of the heart, but he knew the feeling when it hit him like a lead pipe alongside his head. The moment their lips met, he knew that what ever he had felt in the past for another woman could never come close to what he was feeling for Joss.

He had tried to deny it for the longest time. Love, being in love, it had no place in his life or in his heart when he had a job to do. Sure she was pretty and smart and determined – all of the things he admired in a woman, but she also wanted to throw his ass in jail. Not exactly the way he wanted to start a relationship. So, he tried to ignore her. But his heart and mind had had other plans.

She pursued him during the day and haunted him at night as he tried to sleep. Her voice wove thru his mind like a haunting melody that he couldn't stop. He smelled her perfume every time he turned around. He couldn't run away from her if he tried. It pissed him off, but it thrilled him, too.

It was a cat and mouse game they started. No one understood the dance they did around one another as he moved to the right when she came in from the left. It was almost like a mating ritual they had subconsciously established that long ago night when he had been brought into the 8th Precinct. And then it dawned on him that he had fallen in love with her at "hello". Or had he?

Something had been gnawing at the back of his mind for the longest time that their paths had crossed long before the fateful subway ride. He was sure of it. But where? When?

Cupping his hands behind his head, Reese laid back on the hard metal bunk covered with two inches of foam, and closed his eyes. The silence of the holding cell gave him the peace of mind he needed to figure out the questions he needed answers to.

Where? When?

Then it hit him. Fallujah! Joss had been the woman wounded by the IED. He had saved her life and held her hand until help arrived. He had pressed his lips against hers as he tried to breathe life back into her. He had looked into her big brown eyes and assured her that everything was going to be alright. And she had trusted him. She had trusted him.

How many nights had he replayed the feel of her lips on his? How many nights had he wondered what had become of the beautiful Warrant Officer whose life he had saved? How many nights had he dreamed of what would happen should their paths cross again?

Reese gave a small chuckle. Had the Machine known that they would be perfect together? Had it arranged for him to be on the subway that night so he would find her again? Or had it known that he would always protect her and would gladly give up his life for hers?

It hadn't been fate that brought them together time after time after time, and he didn't think it was the Machine – it had been something more powerful than either of them could have imagined. It was destiny. And now it all made sense: The way he followed her, protected her, watched her every move and cared about what her next step would be, and defended her when she betrayed him. It explained why he took her back when every instinct had argued against it. It explained the inexplicable attraction he felt and the way he had been drawn to her from the moment his eyes met hers from across the room.

Yes, he should have known the moment he kissed her in the morgue that their lives had been woven from the beginning. And now as it all fell into place, he wanted to be with her. It was more than the pouring out of his soul and letting her know that she had saved him in every way possible. It was more than their lives which they entrusted with the other and the way they could read each others mind. It was all of that and love.

Love.

Reese took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He was finally free of the past, and it felt so good. He was at the beginning of a new and fresh start and it involved Joss Carter. He wouldn't have it any other way. Fate, destiny, a helping hand – he didn't care. He wanted her and her alone. For the rest of his life. And once he was sprung from this jail cell, he would tell her everything in his heart. And he was sure she would feel the same way. How could she not?

It's finally come full circle, Reese smiled to himself. His life finally made sense. And as far as he was concerned, it was perfect.
*******

He had kissed her. Full on the lips, nothing held back. He had kissed her in the way only a man could kiss a woman: With all of his heart. And she liked it.

The realization shook Joss Carter to bottom of her soul.

Of all the men who had passed thru her life, it had to be the homeless, lost soul of a bum who had captured her heart and caused her to toss aside all that she had put her faith in. It was the ex-CIA hit man with a heart of gold who made her want to be a better person. It scared her and thrilled her. But isn't that what loving is all about?

Love?

Oh god. Of all the messes she could have gotten herself into, why did love have to factor into the equation? Why not like or appreciate? Why not admire or lust? Yeah, she could handle any of those. Love was a totally different puppy.

Sighing, she turned out the light and leaned back against the headboard. HR was done and gone – for good, and she had her mutual friends to thank for that. But most of all, she had John to thank. He was the one who stood behind her and gave her the moral support she needed to bring down corruption and pull it out in the light of day for everyone to see. He was the reason she developed a bravery she never thought she'd ever have. And it had nothing to do with the kiss.

Or did it?

She never told another soul that she had dreamt of him kissing her. And when it happened, she didn't know whether to laugh or cry. But it had been real. And so sweet. Her heart had nearly jumped out of her chest from the thrill that he had touched his lips to hers. But there had been something so familiar about it...what was it? It was like deja vu, but how?

The soft strains of "Here and Now" playing on the radio reached her ears. Two seconds later she shot up out of bed. The song! The moment she kissed a complete stranger at the wedding reception! All this time she had chalked it up to an alcohol fueled fantasy that involved a blue-eyed stranger. She was happy to keep her fantasy lover in the back of her mind to fulfill her needs on cold and lonely nights. She could imagine his voice and touch and the way he kissed. Not anymore.

He was real and sitting in a jail cell in the 3rd Precinct on bogus charges. Her fantasy lover was the hero she had always wanted in her life. Okay, so, she pushed him away time after time and then ran into the arms of another man. Nobody was perfect.

If anything happens, I'll hate you forever.

She loved him more than she thought possible – more than she had loved any other man. And she would have died for him. In a minute, without a moment's hesitation, she would have given up her life for his. But did he feel the same?

Shoulders slumped in defeat, she wondered if he even cared as much as she did. Did he know that she was the woman at the bar? Did he care that it was her? Most of all, did he have any feelings for her?

Maybe she should tell him and put it out there – just lay it all out on the table - then it would be his right to accept or reject, and she could handle that. Knowing the truth would be easier than envisioning a worst-case scenario. Besides, she was an adult and could deal with anything that came her way, she reasoned logically.

She was being re-instated to Homicide Detective in the morning, and after all was said and done she would head down to the 3rd and get her friend released. Then they would have a long overdue talk.

Everything's finally come full circle, she thought happily to herself. Her life and her love for John finally made sense, and she was ready to embrace it all. It was almost too perfect for words.

To be continued...