AN: Hope you guys enjoy this chapter. I wanted to do a callback to an episode I loved but twist it for our pleasure ;D


"Joss," Joss blinked her eyes open at that sexy low voice she would recognize anywhere sounded, drawing her name out. She stared at John who sat beside her in her cage, legs stretched out in front of him with hands clasped in his lap, and her heart started pounding.

"John?" she whispered in awe. "How did you…" she trailed off as she barely lifted her head up. Her mouth was so dry, her stomach felt like it was eating away at itself, and the world felt like it was spinning. Joss tried to focus and understand how he was inside her cage with her. How did he get here? When did he get here? And why wasn't he urgently trying to get her out of here?

He smiled down at her. "You need to keep going Joss," he said softly.

"Why? Who anointed you my keeper?" she mumbled.

"You did. Your heart pounding isn't because I'm here," John murmured.

"Are you sure?—because you sure look hot." she said as she eyed him. John was looking really good in jeans and a leather jacket that she wished he would wear more often.

John smirked. "You're having heart palpitations because you're dying of dehydration, Joss."

"I like my idea better," she muttered as she wiggled to get closer to him, wanting to touch him.

He chuckled. "I'm sure you do. But you need to focus. Don't give up on hope just yet, Joss," he asked.

"I'm tired, John," she whispered. "I just want to lay here with you and go to sleep for a long, long time."

"I really wish you wouldn't," he countered softly as he lounged back. "Do you really believe that no one is looking for you?"

"How can I go on believing in the impossible, John? You don't know I'm alive. You don't know where I am, who's holding me, nothing," she said as tears filled her eyes. "I can't believe I'm going to die in this cage, alone," she cried. Joss closed her eyes as she sobbed unable to keep it in anymore. It was so unfair. She was so thirsty and hungry. Joss cried for several minutes until she quieted down as she heard him humming to her, a song her mother and father used to hum to her when she was a kid. "How do you know about the song my parents used to hum to me when I was upset?" she wondered aloud as her voice wobbled with emotion.

John smiled as he reached down to touch her face. "Because, Joss, I'm your subconscious' manifestation as you try to survive and wait for rescue."

Joss stared at him. "What?" she demanded.

"I'm a hallucination, you needed me and here I am," John said with a sweep of his arms.

"Great, I'm hallucinating," she said.

His smile grew wider. "I told you, you weren't alone, I'm your friend and I'll always be here for you."

Joss shook her head barely. "But I want you in a different way," she said roughly as she looked up at him. His blue eyes were so bright. "I love you John. I never told you how I really felt before Simmons came and then Moss stole my life from me!" she said bitterly. "They stole my shot at being with you. They stole you from me. They stole my son from me."

"I love you too, which you knew deep inside you, didn't you? It frightened you," he murmured.

"Yes, because you meant everything to me and I was so scared I'd lose you if I said anything, told you I felt the same," she admitted.

"Why?" he asked.

She looked away. "I don't know."

"Oh come now, Joss, yes you do," he said softly and knowingly, she glared at him.

"If you know it then why don't you tell me?" she snapped.

He grinned. "Alright, your past relationships failed and you were scared you'd lose me too if you admitted that you were in love with me. So you buried it, hid from it because it was easier to pretend than realize the truth."

Joss felt her heart hammer. "You do know," she whispered in awe.

He shrugged. "Well Joss, I'm the embodiment of the subconscious, so of course I know how you feel," he said with a soft smile. "It's okay to be afraid once in a while, Joss."

"But my fear made it so I never told you how I felt and now I might never get to."

"That's why you need to fight Joss. You want to tell me how you really feel?"

"Yes…"

"Then fight. You want to see your son again, don't you?" he asked.

"Desperately, I want to see my son again," she said roughly as tears filled her dry crusted eyes once more.

"Think about seeing him again, Joss. Hold onto your hope to see your son again. Think of when you held him in your arms for the first time when he was born," he murmured and Joss closed her eyes and got lost in the memory.

"He was so soft and perfect. All that pain, worry, and sickness was worth it to hold him in my arms," Joss whispered with a smile. "He had tiny little toes and little fingers." she could almost remember it as if that was just yesterday when she held Taylor in her arms for the first time. He was everything to her from that moment on. John, or her subconscious, was right, she had to fight to see Taylor again, her son deserved nothing less.

She opened her eyes and saw her hallucination John was still there with her. She was glad because she would take a figment of her imagination of John at this point. Joss swallowed hard trying to work the desert that formed in her mouth away. "Thank you," she whispered.

He stared down at her. "You have nothing to thank me for, Joss."

"Yes, I do, thank you for not letting me be alone. I need you."

"I'm here for you," he murmured before looking away from her to the other cage. "Maybe you should check on your friend over there. She hasn't said anything in a while, Joss."

"She tried to kill the real you, John, not the hallucination you, but the real breathing one," she argued with her imagination. "Why should I care what happens to her?"

He shrugged. "Because that's who you are, besides she failed."

"When I get my hands on you I'm going to make it so you're not so glib about your well-being," she huffed. She couldn't wait til she got her hands on him.

He chuckled. "Well, Joss, you know how I feel about myself."

"I do, you don't love yourself. I'll love you enough for the both of us."

"Joss, make sure she's okay, you know you want to," he murmured.

Joss sighed. "You're a bossy hallucination," she complained softly as she struggled to do as her hallucination-John asked. She rolled onto her back and felt even dizzier. "Control," she called weakly. "Control!" she said a little bit louder.

"Hmmm…"

"You hanging in there?" she tried yelling but it came out as a soft whisper.

"For now, I'm so thirsty."

"Me too," Joss responded before grasping John's hand, she didn't have the strength to roll back onto her side and instead just turned her head. "Happy now?"

"I am," he agreed.

Joss stared up into his big blue eyes. "Will you stay with me?"

"Of course, now refocus on your son and me and thinking about seeing us again, Joss," he purred softly before he once more began humming the same soft lullaby from earlier to her and lulled her into contentment.


AN: I wanted to do a reversal of Terra Incognita because John hallucinated Joss to survive and I can't help but believe Joss would do the same. Next chapter team machine get on with their search for Joss :)

Thanks for reading!