A/N ~ This story is an AU. I got the initial idea from Lovemboth where Carter isn't a police officer and where she meets Reese under different circumstances. I enhanced that idea and added a few other things to the plot that we'll see further down the line as the story starts to unfold. I hope you enjoy what I've come up with. Thanks to everyone who encouraged me during my writer's block; Bug Evans, Wolfmusic218 and anyone else I might have missed out. As it turns out, out of my writer's block I was able to write this. This is the prologue and starts in the present day.
I do not own Person of Interest or its characters.
PROLOGUE
May 2013
Joss Carter settled into a parking spot and shut down the engine of the rental car she'd gotten just yesterday evening when she arrived in Chantilly, a small town just a few miles from Langley, Virginia.
Her hands were shaking as she slipped the keys out of the ignition and she put them back on the wheel trying to steady them. She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath and told herself to relax. She told herself she'd be alright. She'd only come to confirm what Derek Chambers, the private investigator she'd hired to look for John had found out. That he'd worked for the CIA and that he'd been killed in the service, just a few short years ago.
She didn't want to believe it. Her heart sank at the news and she felt an overwhelming sense of regret and sadness. What would she do now? She needed answers, she needed a solution. Coming to the CIA headquarters was something she felt compelled to do. She had to see for herself.
She got out of the car and straightened the jacket of her suit, smoothing imaginary lines from her gray skirt and walked towards the entrance. The lobby was imposing and she looked at the seal under her feet as she made her way further in.
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
John had told her he'd worked for the government, but he hadn't been specific when she questioned him. He wouldn't say where. She figured he worked in the Army or the Marines even. Maybe he'd been deployed when they met, or was on a tour. She never guessed he worked for the CIA.
None of that mattered now anyway she told herself as she walked up the stairs and made her way to the Memorial Wall.
She stood in front of it, gazing at the rows of stars in front of her. All carved carefully into the marble, perfectly formed, perfectly spaced, all gray standing side by side. She looked down at the Book of Honor beneath it in its case, its pages open and she searched for the most recent names added to the book.
Derek had said that she would find him there. She looked down scanning the names row by row, hoping and praying that he was wrong. She didn't have to look long; there it was, staring back at her in bold italicized lettering;
2010 * John Henry Lucas
She put a hand to her mouth as she felt tears sting her eyes.
Derek had been right. He was dead. John was dead.
She pressed a kiss to her fingertips and lightly touched the steel case, letting it linger there for a moment.
"Goodbye, John."