Couple of notes on this story, this is NOT a sequel to The Wolf at My Door, it's back to the normal POI universe. I am working on the sequel to Wolf, please be patient!

Donnelly appears in this chapter, I actually started working on this story back around Christmas when I had a few days off work. I thought about rewriting his part using another character, but decided to leave Donnelly in. It's sorta my good-bye to him.

Like he did most mornings, John Reese stopped at his favorite bakery and purchased several doughnuts, a large cup of coffee, black, and a large cup of Sencha green tea, one sugar. And, like most mornings, he strolled to the library nearby and ducked into the back entrance without anyone seeing him. As usual, Bear met him in the hallway and Reese gave him a good ear scratching in greeting.

But this wasn't like most mornings. When Reese got to the computer room, Finch gave Reese a nervous glance, and then turned away quickly so Reese could not see how agitated he was. This usually meant that they had a new case, one that Finch knew Reese would find upsetting.

"Do we have a new number?" Reese asked tensely.

"We have a new, but old number." Finch looked up at Reese, licking his lips nervously. "Detective Carter's number has come up again."

Reese stopped sipping his coffee and his eyes grew hard and cold. No wonder Finch was upset, he knew how much John cared for the pretty detective.

"Is Elias after her again?" Reese hissed, his voice low and deadly.

Finch shook his head, "I doubt it. Elias has been most impressed with your skills, I don't think he would upset you lightly, and after you rescued Taylor, he knows messing with the detective will upset you. I have my weekly chess game with him this afternoon, if you wish, I will ask him."

"I wish, but do you think he will tell you the truth?" Reese asked dubiously.

"In chess one gets to know how one's opponent thinks, and I do think he will tell me the truth."

"May I point out Finch that while you are getting to know him, he is getting to know you, too."

"Mr. Reese, I'm not the one who rescued Taylor Carter from a heavily guarded facility, and emerged without a scratch."

"Meaning?"

Finch looked at John with a bit of a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, "I'm not the one who scares him."

Reese growled in frustration, "OK, so if it is not Elias, who wants Carter dead?"

Finch sighed, "That's the hard part Mr Reese, Detective Carter's list of enemies is matched only by your own. She has angered just about every crime boss in the city at some point or another, not to mention the remnants of HR, and a couple dozen common street punks. That does not take into account the number of people who might go after her to get to you."

John felt a little sick at that thought. The only thing worse than Carter getting hurt would be Carter getting hurt because of him. He could not live with himself if that happened.

Reese's thoughts were interrupted by Finch's voice, "How do you want to proceed, Mr. Reese?" Finch was fully aware this was not just another case, and he decided to let Reese take the lead.

"We have the advantage this time of being able to be upfront with our number, I'm going to have a meeting with Carter and Fusco to brief them. Maybe they will have an idea who might be after her this time," John said, still obviously quite angry.

Finch checked his GPS information, "Both Fusco and Carter are at the precinct at the moment."

John pulled his phone out of his pocket, hit his favorite preset and waited for Carter to pick up.

"Talk fast, John, I have a meeting with Donnelly in 5 minutes", Carter answered.

Despite the circumstances, John could not resist teasing her, "IneedtomeetwithyouandFuscoas soonaspossible."

"Very funny John. We can see you in an hour in the park," Joss was trying to sound annoyed, but he could hear the smile in her voice. John gripped his phone a little harder, thinking about what a large portion, the good portion, of his world this incredible woman had become.

"Carter, are you wearing your Kevlar vest?"

"No, why?"

"I'll explain later, be sure you put it on before you leave the building".

"John!" she started to argue.

"Don't argue Carter, just put it on!" John said firmly and hung up before she could reply.

Joss Carter glared at her phone in annoyance.

Fusco looked over at her. "That must have been James Bond on the phone, he's the only one who pisses you off like that."

"Gee, you must a detective," Joss said sarcastically. Fusco grinned at her. "He wants to see us in an hour in the park. And he wanted me to wear my vest."

Fusco raised his eyebrows. "That sounds serious. You think you might be the case of the week?" Fusco, bless his heart, sounded worried.

Joss made a face. "He's probably just messin' with me."

"Who's messing with you?" Donnelly asked curiously as he walked up to her desk.

Joss smiled at the FBI Agent. "Just a friend of ours who likes to get my goat as much as he can. He's really good at it, too."

The agent answered her smile with one of his own and a bit of a twinkle in his basset hound eyes, "Ah, I see, one of those guys who never quite grew up and delights in annoying the pretty girls." Behind Donnelly's back Fusco made a gagging motion by pretending to stick his finger down his throat. Joss kept her expression neutral, barely.

"Let's find an empty office so we can talk, Agent," she said. "You never know what degenerate might be listening around here." Donnelly turned and headed for the row of offices along the wall, with Joss following, but she made sure to shoot her partner a dirty look as she walked by. Fusco just gave her an angelic smile.

Carter and Fusco were a few minutes late to the meeting with Reese in the park, and Reese was verging on panic thinking someone might have gotten to Joss already. He had to take a few deep breaths to calm himself when he finally saw them walking towards him. It almost worked.

"You're late," he said peevishly.

Fusco grunted, "Carter's meeting with her boyfriend ran long and then she had to put her vest on."

"Boyfriend?" John arched an eyebrow and managed to sound amused on the outside, but on the inside his heart was screaming NO! NO! NO!

Carter glared at her partner. "He means Donnelly," she snapped. "We are not dating!"

John's heart breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'm telling ya, he wants you", Fusco teased. John's heart went back to screaming NO!NO!NO!

Carter turned to Reese, "I'm guessing you did not call us here to discuss the state of my personal affairs."

As much as Reese would really like to discuss personal affairs, emphasis on the word affairs, with Carter, he knew he had better get down to business.

"Carter, our sources tell us that your life is in danger again."

As he expected, Carter did not take the news well.

She made a sour face and raised an eyebrow. "Oh, you mean those sources you won't tell me about?" she snapped. "I'm a homicide detective, when ISN'T my life in danger? I can't believe you called us out for this!"

She started to turn away to leave, but John moved swiftly to block her. He grabbed her upper arms, gently, but in an iron grip that prevented her from moving, so she was forced to look at him.

"Carter listen to me, our sources would not spit out your name unless it's very serious. Whatever the threat is against is you, it's real and it's big. Last time it was HR and Elias, who knows what it this time? Have my sources ever been wrong?"

She looked away from him, "No I guess not. But I have a job to do. I can't run and hide."

"Carter, I think we ought listen to him, whatever sources he and Glasses are using, they're good." Fusco said, very concerned.

Reese released her arms. "Wear your vest at all times, send Taylor to your mother's and stick close to Fusco. I'm going to turn this town upside down until I figure this out; I just need you to be careful until I do."

Carter glared at him. "I'll send Taylor to mom's, and I'll wear my vest. But understand this, John, I WILL do my job." And with that she stepped around him and marched off down the path. Reese watched her go with a mixture of fear for her life and love for her spirit. He turned to Fusco.

"Stick close to her Lionel, don't let anything happen to her," John ordered him.

Fusco grunted. "I'll try Boss, but if you can't keep her contained, what makes you think I can?" And he followed his partner down the path.

John sat down heavily on the nearest bench. He'd known Carter would not take well to being another number, and their meeting had gone about as well as he had expected it go, but he had hoped that she would listen to him, just this once and stay safe. He understood how she felt; had the roles been reversed, he probably would have said the same thing, I will do my job. That's part of what made her who she was, and why he'd come to love her. She was five feet four inches, one hundred twenty pounds of pure moxie, but he could only hope that moxie didn't get her killed. He refused to live in a world that didn't have Joss Carter in it.

John couldn't pinpoint the date he fell in love with Carter; it snuck up on him like some sort of thief of hearts. Suddenly he found himself looking for excuses to call her and hear her voice. He found himself eagerly looking forward to seeing her in person. He asked her to meet him in out of the way places where there were no security cameras and he turned off his phone so Finch could not eavesdrop on their conversations, because he wanted her all to himself for those few minutes he had her. He actually even found himself getting a little bit annoyed when Finch had meetings with her without him.

Then the erotic dreams started. Carter, naked, sliding into his bed, taking him in her arms….

His phone rang, it was Finch of course. "Yes, Finch?" He sighed.

"How did your meeting go with the detectives?" Finch inquired.

"Well, she didn't shoot me." John said wryly.

"Ah, so it went well! I'm leaving to meet with Elias now. I'll call you when I get back."

"Good luck, Finch."