I'm so sorry it has taken me so long to update this story. I appreciate anyone who is still reading and I hope to be able to update at least a couple more times over the holiday season. I felt compelled to update near the two year anniversary of the worst travesty to happen on television. I hope you enjoy this chapter and I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Love Undercover-Chapter 10- Bumps in the Road

Joss looked at the faces of her co-workers as they stared at her in disbelief. She knew she'd dropped a bombshell they weren't ready for, but she had to tell them before they heard it from John. Natalie opened her mouth and then closed it before being able to utter a word.

"What do you mean you and John are taking a break?" Lena was the first to speak. "He's the most perfect man in Chicago…maybe even in the U.S."

"Lena, please," Joss pleaded. "Taking some time away from John is hard enough."

"I'm sorry, Joss." Lena did her best to give Joss a sympathetic look, but it morphed into something of a much more confused nature. "I just don't understand what John could have done to cause you to break up with him."

"I didn't break up with him. I just need some space." As for what he did, he rejoined the CIA, not that she could say so out loud.

Joss sighed deeply. "I found out he wasn't being completely honest with me."

Natalie sat on the side of Joss's desk. "When you say he wasn't being honest with you, do you mean he was being dishonest, as in he told you he liked that grandma-ish grey skirt you wear from time to time or something bigger?"

"Something much bigger. And what's wrong with my grey skirt?" Joss frowned.

"The fact that you have all of those beautiful clothes in your closet and you don't know what's wrong with that skirt presents a bigger problem." Lena shook her head. "Did you find out he is secretly married?"

"No." Joss felt a little more bummed since that skirt was one of the few items she had purchased herself.

Neither woman paid her hurt feelings the least bit of attention, but instead continued to probe what happened with John. "Is he gay?"

"No."

"Did he cheat on you?" Lena sighed. "Because if he did I'm going to have to hurt him."

"No, John would never cheat. That's not who he is." No matter how furious she was with John, she knew he was a one-woman man. A part of Joss also knew that she had his heart the moment that they met, just as she was pretty sure he'd known the same about her.

Still, Joss knew she had to tell her friends the truth or as much of it as possible or her friends would never stop guessing what happened. And then dwelling in the sad state of her love life would ruin her day.

"Ok, Ok, I'll tell you if you promise to stop hounding me. And you have to keep it quiet." Joss took a deep breath.

"We will." Lena touched Joss's hand sympathetically.

Natalie rolled her eyes and mumbled, "Speak for yourself." Natalie soon felt the swift kick of Lena's foot.

Joss's mind flashed back to the morning of John's big announcement. He told her that he figured that going back to the CIA was his best option for them to stop hunting him, which would make it possible for them to be together like a real couple. So, he called Purcell, who had been his former handler, before Snow,. Purcell was a good man that he knew he could trust. Purcell had also been promoted to Deputy Director. After signing a few agreements about his willingness to testify against any of those who remained, should that become necessary and his agreement to complete one more mission on the Agency's behalf, he was a new man.

He was reborn in March as John Reagan, legally and completely, just days before he orchestrated it so that Joss could save him. And his new arrangement that allowed him to openly be Joss's boyfriend brought him more joy than he could imagine. In his heart, he knew his time with the Agency now would be different. In fact, the Agency even told him that he could tell people that he worked for the CIA as training instructor, although it still wouldn't be a great idea to broadcast it.

There was only one drawback. The rebirth and the renewed ties to the CIA meant that some of his old ties had to be broken: specifically, those ties to his past life as a vigilante and to those friends who continued their work. It was the only way to keep them safe and keep the government from digging into their past. That wouldn't be too hard if they continued to live their lives there in Chicago, but a return to New York would most likely be out of the question.

Joss was overwhelmed by John's admission, his "new" job, and the fact that he'd made mountains of decisions without her input. She told him that she thought it was best that she not move in with him…at least for now. She also told him that she could use some space. Reluctantly, John agreed to give her space, which lasted all of one day before John started blowing up her phone.

After the memories passed, Joss looked at both her friends before she blurted, "John took a second job with the CIA as a combat training instructor."

"A combat training instructor?" Lena raised an eyebrow. "The college professor knows how to fight?"

"Yes, he's studied martial arts for years."

Natalie, "Oh no, sweetie, does this mean John is going to have to move to a different city?"

Joss frowned. "No, he can stay here."

Lena eyed her suspiciously. "Then what's the problem, Joss? What you just told me made John's sex appeal go from 10 to 15."

"He made this decision without talking to me…and I was about to move in with him." Joss turned her head and looked out the windows. She couldn't tell them that it also meant that John had to give up a significant portion of his past and part of the person that Joss had fallen in love with long before they got to Chicago. She wondered if he'd even be able to make it stick. "I'm not sure ready to move forward."

Joss tried to hide the tears that began streaming down her cheeks, but her friends saw them and quickly enveloped her in their arms. Lena spoke softly into Joss's hair. "Sweetie, couples have problems sometimes. You know that. But John is a good man and I'm confident you two can work things out. You haven't even been together six months, yet. You were bound to hit a speed bump. How long has it been since you talked to John?"

"Two days." Joss felt embarrassed that she was such a wreck after such a short period of time. "But it feels like a month."

Natalie smiled and then picked Joss's phone up from her desk. She pointed the phone at Joss. "Call him."

Joss hesitated and then took the phone from Natalie. She was about to start dialing when her office phone rang. When she answered the phone, the receptionist, Esmeralda, informed her that she had a visitor waiting for her at the front desk. Esmeralda said the visitor's name was Ian Murphy. Joss assumed it was John using Ian's name because she was refusing to talk to him, but when she arrived at the front desk, she was surprised to see that Ian…and Alex really had stopped by the office.

She stepped out into the waiting area and greeted Ian with a hug. "Ian, what are you doing here?"

"I wanted to check on you and make sure you were ok." He looked at his son who was a four-foot version of Ian with the same blue eyes and blonde curly hair. "We thought maybe we could take you to lunch."

Joss was faced with the option of going to lunch with an old friend or talking to her new friends about her disastrous love life. She knew Ian would be the last person who would want to talk about John and that tipped the scales in his favor. So, she texted Lena and Natalie to tell them she decided to go to lunch with a friend and then she got Ian out of the office before Lena and Natalie got a chance to see him.

Ian, Joss and Alex walked to Hackney's, a quaint burger place in Joss's neighborhood. Alex was thrilled at their choice in restaurant and chattered to Joss about all the things he and his dad had done during the summer. At some point during lunch, Ian turned his attention to Joss.

Ian stared at Joss, giving her the once over. "Joss, you really look great. Chicago agrees with you, except…"

"Except?" Joss was curious as to what line Ian was going to give her.

"You look a little sad. Is everything ok?"

Joss could feel her body tense up. This is what she hoped to avoid at the office. She quickly responded, "I'm fine."

Her quick response did nothing to squash Ian's curiosity. "You're not fine. Is it Mr. Tall, Dark and Dangerous?"

"Ian, I really don't want to talk about it."

"Don't tell me you broke up?" Ian's eyes danced mischievously.

Joss wanted desperately to answer, "no," but instead she said, "It's complicated."

Ian could barely suppress the smile on his face. "I'm so sorry to hear that."

Joss shook her head and half chuckled. "That's definitely just a line."

"OK, maybe it is." Ian smiled before getting serious. "I hate to see you sad. And I won't get in the middle of your relationship with John, but if it's ever over, promise you'll call me."

"Ian," Joss sighed.

"Promise me."

"Fine. I promise."

Later that afternoon, John was surprised to find his field agent friend, Carl, waiting for him after his combat class. Carl had voluntarily kept an eye on Joss before to make sure shed was safe from HR. John knew Carl wouldn't have waited until after class to talk to him if Joss had been in danger. Still, Carl looked as if he had something to tell John that he didn't want to tell. "What is it, Carl?"

Carl fidgeted with his hands. "That Murphy guy is still in Chicago."

"And?"

"And he just had lunch with his kid and your girlfriend."

John ran his hands through his perfectly coiffed hair. "Carl, I told you to give Joss her privacy. Murphy's not a threat to her."

Carl smirked as he looked at the naïve man in his presence. "He may not be a threat to her, but he's a threat to you."

John felt the hair rise on the back of his neck. "A threat how?'

For dramatic purposes, Carl let his thick southern accent roll into a serious drawl, "He wants your lady. I can tell by the way he looks at her. Just thought you should know." Carl then walked slowly out of the fitness room.

John thought carefully about what steps he should take next. Joss was already angry with him. She was so angry she wasn't speaking to him. His next move could reunite them or tear them apart. John slowly dialed a number from his past and nervously waited.

"Hello," John heard the younger man's voice. Instead of calming him, the younger man's voice made him more nervous.

"Hey, it's me." John waited for a slight acknowledgement before continuing on. "I need your help with Joss."

"Is she in danger?" John could hear the worry that he hadn't meant to cause.

"No." John paused before he added, "but I might be in danger of losing her.

The voice replied, "Just let me know what you need me to do."