Disclaimer: Don't own anything POI related. Just using things for entertainment purposes.
A/N: Hi everyone. So if you're coming here first, thank you for checking out this collab piece between me and GuiltyPleasures48. This all came about last year when I was asked by GP if I wanted to do something with her and thought I'd give it a try. The idea became about John and Joss's journey starting with them being together in the military and the rest was history. Please go to her page before reading this chapter as she will be posting odd number chapters whereas I will be doing the even numbered ones. The schedule from this arrangement will be that we each post our chapter every Friday. If you have already checked out chapter one, thank you for continuing on this adventure with John and Joss.
Chapter 2 - Needing a Friend
5 Years Later - New York City
Sergeant Joss Carter of the NYPD awakened in a cold sweat. She had the nightmare again, the one that left her with severely scarred flesh on the right side of her body. She looked at the clock - 4 a.m. then at the other side of the bed. She sighed heavily at finding it empty, then padded to the kitchen for a glass of warm milk.
Her soft footsteps on the hardwood floor were the only sounds in the brownstone, much to Joss's disappointment. She had hoped that maybe Paul left the bed to go use the bathroom but passing by the door offered her evidence that proved otherwise. Joss's mind focused on the whereabouts of her husband as she slipped a glass of milk into the microwave and set the timer to one minute.
Glancing outside, Joss could see that the sky was still dark for the early morning hour. Dealing with the nightmares was frustrating. She tried to get help, her therapist constantly reminding her that she did a heroic thing for the sake of her country. Even then, there was still the guilt because the scar seemed to be the reason why Paul wasn't intimate with her anymore.
The beeping of the microwave grabbed her attention. Joss took her now heated milk to the kitchen counter and had a seat. She began eyeing the cordless phone that was the only other thing there. She needed someone to talk to her and the man that vowed to be with her through thick and thin was nowhere to be found. Reaching over, Joss looked at the LED screen, debating on whether to make the call due to the early hour.
Taking a chance, she searched through the contacts before finding John's name and patching the call through. Holding the phone to her ear, Joss began lightly tapping the glass as she waited for him to pick up. After the fourth ring, he did.
"Hello?" his tired voice answered and Joss felt awful for bothering him because of her problems.
"Uh hey, John," She answered hesitantly.
"Joss?" He sounded more awake after realizing who was on the other line. She could hear the sound of rustling sheets as he readjusted to what she thought was a sitting position. "Is everything alright?" John didn't like the fact that she was calling him at this time. What was wrong that she wasn't sleeping?
Joss tried to sound normal. "Yeah, yeah. Everything's okay. I just wanted someone to talk to right now." Holding the phone to her ear, she rested her other arm on the table and placed her chin on her palm before sighing. "You're not buying that, are you?"
"When could you ever get one over on me Joss?" He joked, his worry increasing. "Where's Paul?"
There was a brief silence. "I…I don't know." Joss felt awful, not even knowing where her husband of eight years was. "I woke up and he wasn't here again" she explained before taking a sip of her milk, the warm liquid coursing through her body in a vain attempt to relax her.
John's ears perked at one word. "'Again'? What do you mean?" He had to fight the anger that bubbled within him at the thought of Paul abandoning his wife when she needed him.
"It's nothing…"
"No, it isn't nothing Joss." John took a deep breath to calm down before continuing. "How about we meet somewhere?"
Joss looked out the window to get a reminder of how early it was with the still darkened sky. "Really, it's alright John. Besides, I don't think that there's a place opened at this hour." She then smiled sadly. Did it make her a bad wife because she wanted so much to talk to John who had been there for her since the beginning of their friendship? She shouldn't have felt guilty because Paul ran off somewhere without telling her again but she did. They took vows and promised to take care of each other.
"I know a place that's open 24 hours called Lyric Diner. I'll give you the address. Please come by Joss. I want to make sure you're okay." John pleaded, not liking the idea of Joss being distressed alone. With their shared history of serving and the incident, he wanted to be the comforting shoulder to her through the emotional and psychological trauma that followed. He owed her that much since she had suffered it protecting him. Besides, he still loved her deeply.
She felt a sense of warmth at her friend's concern, something that her own husband lacked showing when it was clear that she was still struggling with surviving the explosion. John remained the one constant in her life through it all. Soon, the guilt of waking John up and wanting to see him disappeared. She agreed to the meeting at the diner before grabbing a pen and paper to write down the address. After a hasty goodbye, Joss retreated back upstairs to get cleaned up, leaving the half-empty glass of milk on the table.
John arrived at Lyric shortly after the phone call, getting a booth in the old school style diner that was in the back so as to offer a form of privacy for Joss and him. A waitress came up to him and he went ahead with ordering coffees for himself and Joss along with getting her some pancakes, figuring that she'd be hungry.
After writing everything down on her notepad, the middle-aged woman gave him a charming smile before heading towards the kitchen to drop off the order. John's eyes scanned the double door entrance, anticipating his friend coming in any second now since they didn't live too far from each other.
Almost as if on cue, Joss's short form filled the door. Tentatively, she pushed the handle of the glass door and was greeted by the sound of a tiny bell alerting the staff to her presence. She was feeling self-conscious, having rushed out of the apartment in her pajamas which consisted of a matching baby blue colored pants and thin striped shirt, covered by her coat, along with sneakers. Her hair was tied up in a messy ponytail that left a few dark strands framing her face. Joss didn't realize it but John was truly admiring her even with what she considered to be a frumpy appearance.
After spotting him, she let out a soft smile before making her way to where he was. "Hey," she greeted before slipping into the leather seat across from him. Joss took a moment to do some appreciating herself as John was sporting a wifebeater and gray sweatpants with his coat slumped in the seat beside him. It was rare to see John in such normal and casual attire.
The waitress returned with John's earlier order, placing the coffees and Joss's pancakes in front of them before wishing them to enjoy and heading over to another person that just took a seat.
"Thought you could use some food," John explained at her confused expression. It changed to that of gratitude as they each took a moment to prepare their coffees the way they liked it and taking a sip.
"So now that I got you here Joss, want to tell me what's wrong and why Paul hasn't been there for you?" He was upset that as her friend, he didn't know that she was going through a rough patch. John didn't like the idea of Joss dealing with something as stressful as the emotional ramifications of the explosion alone.
Her movements faltered slightly before she turned her attention to the food, looking for any distraction as to avoid looking into those beautiful crystal-clear blue eyes John possessed. Ever since boot camp, she had been enthralled by the way it seemed his eyes would change color by going to from light to dark and back. She knew it had to be a trick of the light but it didn't stop Joss from constantly being fascinated by them and feel like by merely looking at them, her walls and wits would just crumble.
"Joss…" John pushed gently, seeing her reluctance to even look at him. He hoped that he wasn't overstepping his boundaries when it came to her marriage. "I just wanted to know what's going on. You're my best friend and I don't like seeing you like this."
She still wouldn't look at him. "I know." Even by saying this, she was still hesitant. John sat back and let out a huge sigh.
He didn't want to push for fear of angering her so he decided to back off for now. "What are your plans for today?"
Joss looked at him, her eyes reflecting her relief over the change of topic before going on to talk to him. Even though he was relenting right now, in the back of John's mind, he was making plans to do a little investigating into what Paul had been doing.
For the next hour, they talked about the most mundane topics. After Joss explained that she was just going to do some cleaning around the house, they moved on to sports. John noticed a small twinkle in her eyes and it bothered him at the idea that she was so happy to get such attention from him.
Where was the man that took this wonderful woman's hand in marriage? Paul should be the one comforting his wife and to learn that this abandonment happened more than once was inexcusable. John had to squash the visible anger that was about to erupt at the thought at Paul possibly blowing money or booze on another woman instead of being where he should be.
Joss appeared much more relaxed than when she first entered the diner and John decided that they should call it a night which she agreed. After she declined the offer for him to escort her to her car because she parked close to the front door, John sat back and watched her leave. Hovering near the double doors, Joss turned around and gave him a small smile with a wave which he returned before the small bell signaled her walking out.
John leaned forward, resting his chin on his hands as he finalized his plan to figure out exactly what Paul was up to and talk some sense into him before his marriage completely fell apart. Being in the military helped him develop his deductive abilities so as the waitress came over to refill his coffee, John thought about what to do first. If Paul was leaving in the middle of the night, that limited the places down to bars and nightclubs of which there were quite a few. So John decided on a geographical search strategy, starting with places nearest his home then fanning outward.
Dropping some money to cover the meal and the tip to the waitress, John exited the diner on a mission that would start tonight. Even if he had to bear the brunt of Joss's anger, he couldn't just sit back while she silently suffered.