Disclaimer: My second story of the batch. Once again, does not belong to me.

For Her

In the end, he did all of it for her.

Over two years ago, John had sent an indirect message to Elias, warning him to stay away from Joss. Now he was going to have to teach HR the same lesson and then some.

John volunteered to meet up with Simmons while Shaw rescued Gen, understanding all too well that Shaw developed an attachment to the child. He wanted to confront the man since he had ambushed him back in that parking lot. The plan was simple and he was stupid enough to fall for the idea that meet was a setup. Carter played her role perfectly just like he knew she would.

An image of Joss filtered through his mind once he began to take down Simmons's backup. When a body dropped, he would remember a smile or a look that she had thrown his way. These men had done their best to take those things away from him. He knew that she had changed because of being demoted from a job she loved. John also knew about Carter's crusade to stop these men.

Last night, confronting her with the knowledge of her activities and sharing a beer was meant to be a way to casually offer his help, understanding that she was treading a dangerous path. She had changed quite a bit from the Joss that he met in that interrogation room. She was much stronger now, more confident than she had ever been before. She was taking more risks but Joss was also beginning to fall into that invisible gray area. Joss was after the leader and she wouldn't stop until HR was dead and couldn't rise from the ashes as she so poetically put it. She wasn't going to show any mercy.

John couldn't have predicted that the new number and her case would have intertwined like they did. Working together with her felt like old times.

When he surprised Simmons, John had been tempted to just lodge a bullet between the bastard's eyes and walk away. It would have been all too simple, too quick. They both knew what was going to happen and John had been more than happy to oblige. The gun was quick to go back to the waistband as he took a defensive stance. The fight itself was all for her. There was no other reason.

Every punch that John connected would be for everything HR had taken away from Joss. The blows to his body would be for all the times that they had threatened her life. These men would learn to fear him just as Elias had for laying a finger on her.

The encounter had been quick with Simmons emerging as the loser. Even so, he still had the stones to taunt them. All John confirmed was that they would go down, one man at a time. Carter would see to that.

John left the scene using the diversion of the arriving police cars to cover his escape. In his head, he had every intention to just head on home to his apartment for the night. Finch had just informed him that Shaw managed to find the girl and had managed to destroy the lab. It was a start in the right direction. HR would have to take time to recover from this blow to their joint operation with the Russians.

The adrenaline was dying down in his body. John could feel the burning in his wrists from the pummeling he had just delivered. He knew that his hands would be sore but it was all worth it. Carter didn't need anyone fighting her battles; she had that area pretty much handled.

The streets were deserted and quiet so the distinct sound of a gunshot couldn't help but catch him off guard. It wasn't the fact that there weren't crimes in that area of town, John wasn't naïve. He pinpointed the source to a bar that was located just across the street. Hanging back for now, John decided to wait and see who would pop out, and then he would provide the hasty takedown and delivery to Carter.

John leaned casually on the light post next to him. He only heard one shot being fired so he figured that whatever confrontation had ended. It was unsettling because nothing else was happening but he couldn't just go over and check. If someone was conveniently thrown out the door, he would then intervene.

The wooden door open and John was surprised to see a familiar face walking out. Decked out in her leather jacket, Joss looked around before making eye contact with him. Smiling to herself, she headed his direction. "I swear John, is this how the entire day is going to be. We keep running into each other." She looked around him. "No beer this time?" John's hands flinched a bit as a small bit of pain reached his brain. "Should I ask what happen?" She asked, noticing the gesture.

"If you must know Carter, all I did was meet up with our friend while Shaw grabbed the girl. We just had a friendly chat." John explained innocently.

Joss looked over his shoulder, looking for any cop cars coming their direction. "The last time I checked, friendly chats didn't involve bloody and bruised fists." She tilted her head towards her SUV. "Come on, I'll patch you up and we can talk about what really happened."

Not much was said on the ride to Carter's apartment. Mostly the only conversation each one guessing what the other had been doing before they ran into each other. Joss knew John wasn't telling her the whole truth about the confrontation with Simmons. Joss laid some first aid supplies on her kitchen table and allowed John to clean his wounds while she looked to her fridge for something to eat and drink.

"You can at least tell me why you did what you did John." She saw him disinfecting his knuckles, never seeing a wince on his face. Joss tipped her beer towards his hands while she leaned against the island a few feet from him. "You most certainly don't get a hand that mangled by having a simple chat with someone."

She watched as he flexed his hand, making sure that everything was in order. "I couldn't just let him walk away. HR needs to understand a few things. One of them being that you have more friends than they do."

"Well John, you can't discount the Russians. I did hear about what happened to the lab after Shaw saved the girl. No one is going to be too happy that they can't make their precious new drug as scheduled."

"Except for us" John interrupted picking up his beer and taking a swig.

"Except for us" Joss repeated as they once again clinked bottle necks just as they did last night. "Even so, I'm worried. I had no idea that HR was getting into the drug business before all this and making something like bath salts. Reminds me of that case I heard about from another state."

"You mean the maniac that ate someone's face off because of the same drugs?"

Joss nodded her head. "That guy was far gone. Now HR and the Russians want to spread that poison in this city. They don't care who they hurt as long as they make their money" she uttered with disdain. "Looks like we'll both be busy these next couple of weeks, huh?"

John nodded in agreement. "It sounded like you were busy in that bar too. Something went down with Laskey?"

She recalled the scene vividly. "He was trying to lure me into a set up with the owner. Unfortunately for him, I laid down the whole story of how I knew he was corrupted from the start and how our plan to help the girl worked thanks to him. They were none to happy once I pulled out the cuffs and had to shoot the owner to scare Laskey into working for me. I used his gun that he showed off to me earlier today as a bargaining chip." Joss didn't think much of it at the time, just another road bump to getting what she needed.

"Carter, why didn't you call me? You wouldn't have had to get your hands dirty as much as you've had." John thought about what was happening to her; Joss had changed because of them. Now she was fighting and taking control because she was embracing the dark, but he didn't want her to.

She scoffed at the comment. "I told you you would be my first call if I ever needed help, but I can't just keep running to you every time. You've given me space even though you knew what I was up to which meant that you trusted me to handle things." Joss downed the rest of her beer, leaving the empty bottle next to the sink. She looked at John with hard eyes. "I was a soldier and a cop. Before you showed up, I never really had anyone to rely on but myself."

"People change," he said simply.

The look on her face caused him to smile a bit. "That's for sure. Look at the two of us." Joss looked out of the window for a distraction. "The first time I saw you, it looked like you were on your last leg. Now you're doing something with your life. I had hoped that you were alright after that night. It's good to see you are and then some."

"Well you've decided to trust more than you use to Carter. First it was Fusco who was under my orders to watch you. It's funny how well you guys work together."

"You can say the same thing about us." Joss turned to look at him with a somber expression. "I'm sorry that it took me giving you up to Snow for us to get reacquainted. At the same time, it helped me to learn who to trust and here we are almost three years later."

John realized that during the course of their time together, he had done quite a few things for her without her asking. He had saved her life from her CI in that alleyway before letting the man that delivered the kill order know that Carter was off limits. John, with help from Finch, was able to bring Taylor back home to her safe and sound after Elias kidnapped him. He would never forget the beaming smile on her face as she hugged her son. The cases and the criminals he wrangled up were for her. Fusco wasn't to keen on their working relationship at first so John was glad when Carter joined the team.

Thinking that he probably overstayed his welcome, John cleaned up the table, throwing some things into the bin, before packing everything back into the first aid kid. "Thanks for letting me use that."

"No problem. It was the least I could do since you did help by distracting Simmons." Joss reached over to grab the box. She knew that he was getting ready to leave. "Maybe I'll need your help tomorrow John, trying to find a way to get eyes on a HR/Russian meeting."

He nodded his head in understanding. "I'll have a word with Finch, see if he could track the phones that you've bluejacked so far. They might postpone things because of what happened in the lab."

"They need the money" Joss emphasized. "HR and the Russians probably have a back up plan for this. I just have to know who the leader was that put the hit on Cal."

"And you will." John rose from his chair and approached her. Looking at her, he put a reassuring hand over hers.

They smiled and nodded at each other. No words needed to be said for either of them to understand the magnitude of what it could all mean if the mystery man was finally identified. Letting John go, Joss went into her bathroom to put the kit back in the cabinet where she always kept it. When she got back, Joss rolled her eyes as once again John disappeared without making a sound. The man needed a bell on him. Shrugging her shoulders, Joss threw away the empty bottles of beer before turning in for the night.

John stayed outside the brownstone apartment after he made a hasty exit. Through the window, he could make out her silhouette doing some last minute clean up before turning the lights off for the night. He wanted to make sure that she would be alright before he left. There was no telling when or where a threat would come from. Against his better judgement, John had slipped a small camera into the hallway just at the top of the stairs. It wasn't really crossing any personal boundaries as much as it was just being precautious.

A warm breeze picked up just before the window grew dark. John smiled, bid a silent goodbye to Joss before he went home. The least he could do was watch from afar and be there for her until she could bring herself to ask him for help.

A/N: Once again, thank you for the beta SW. You are a trooper. Today is all for remember Detective Joss Carter everyone. Let TPH know how you feel! #JossCarterIsEternal