AN: Sorry about the length there wasn't really any good spot to split it up.
Both she and John went to bed late last night, only getting an hour or so of rest after rescuing Elias and managing to gather information and evidence against Quinn and HR. It was clear Alonzo Quinn was the head of HR which made sense. He was the political advisor and stuck around a lot longer than mayors did. As he said in his own words last night: politicians come and go but they had the real power. But not for long, he was going to be seeing a nice orange jumpsuit; she was going to see to that personally.
Currently Joss was on the rooftop across the street from Quinn's office waiting for the time when he learned the fact that all his money and drugs that were in the warehouse were taken. After John had talked her into breaking and entering the warehouse they had done exactly that. John took picture after picture of the unmarked bills, drugs, and guns that were inside the warehouse. It would be enough to get them on multiple felonies, along with the recordings to get them on conspiracy to commit murder. They just needed to get them to hang themselves with their own noose about Szymanski's homicide. They had to get them for Szymanski's family. Simmons looked too loyal to Quinn to rat him out but Terney didn't. Terney was a rat and in it for only himself. He would squeal with the right leverage and she would find it; Joss wasn't a top interrogator back in her day for nothing.
Once they had gathered enough evidence at the warehouse last night John called Shaw in for backup and asked her to 'get' an empty semi-truck. She did. They loaded it up with as much money, drugs, and guns that they could take. It was the bulk of it, leaving the warehouse barren which was a lovely sight. They took at least five million dollars and the drugs alone could fetch them somewhere in the three million range. Joss chose to not to ask Shaw how she acquired the empty semi-truck, feeling she was better off not knowing. The young operative looked awfully excited about pilfering the dirty money, guns, and drugs from HR. And Joss didn't miss the brunette's eyes caressing several of the guns. It wouldn't surprise her if some of the guns didn't make it in police hands once this was all over.
Their plan was simple: Joss was to watch Quinn from afar and when he received the inevitable phone call that their honey hole was gutted, she'd call John. HR would suspect it was the man-in-the-suit and that was exactly how John wanted it to play out. Joss, however, was dead set against it because Simmons vow echoed through her mind. No doubt if Simmons could get a shot on John he would take it. But John didn't seem to care about his own well-being but then what else was new; she would always care more about it for him than he ever would. She was trying to learn to accept that fact. But John was going to call to arrange a meeting with them for their cash, drugs, and guns back if they broke their new alliance with the Russians. It was pretty flimsy if you asked her, but John seemed confident that he could pull it off; claiming he coerced others with far less to work with.
Joss perked up when Quinn's cell rang. She leaned forward and listened.
"Hello," Quinn answered.
"Boss, we have a problem." Simmons stated angrily.
"What sort of problem?—I already talked to Mr. Yugorov and assured him that last night was a fluke. He seems pretty angry at the man-in-the-suit himself," Quinn acknowledged.
"Not that! Our warehouse was raided. Money's mostly all gone, the guns are completely ransacked, and at least three-fourths of our drugs are missing too."
Joss smirked as she watched through her binoculars; Quinn standing up, nearly sending his chair to the floor in shock. "WHAT?!" he demanded angrily before quietening. "Is it that vigilante again?"
"It has to be! There is no one else that would dare to do this!"
"Find him; force him to hand over our merchandise and when he does, kill him. He should have been taken care of a long time ago. Do not mess this up, Simmons," Quinn ordered before he ended the call and smacked his lamp right off his desk in a fit of rage, causing it to break into pieces.
Joss felt a wave of pleasure at his anger. It didn't begin to make up for all the hell this man had caused or bring justice for what had happened to Szymanski. But it was a start. She lowered the binoculars as his secretary rushed in and she ended the force-pair to call John immediately. John answered after a ring.
"Quinn knows," she said in way of greeting.
"Alright, I'll call and set up a meeting with Simmons."
"And I'm coming with you," she tacked on after he finished.
"No you're not," John countered.
"The hell I'm not! HR gunned down a friend of mine and now you have a giant bullseye on your back because they think you are the only one ballsy enough to waltz right into their place and steal from them!"
"You and Shaw were pretty ballsy too," he purred.
She ignored his attempt at adding humor. "You do this, I do it too," she continued.
"Joss, they hate you."
"And like they don't hate you?—they might hate me, but they loathe you. John, absolutely not are you doing this alone. And don't you think Lionel isn't going to want to help. He wants to get them too. Once we get Quinn, once we get the head, the body slowly dies. All the low level players will scatter and will be easy to roundup."
He was quiet for a few moments before he finally said, "Alright, you can be there. But you have to wear a Kevlar vest, its military grade, and one of the best."
"You do too."
"We all are. Shaw wants in on it since there is no new number to work. She hopes she can shoot some dirty cop's kneecaps," he said with a sigh, sounding like he had to listen to her complain. She smiled. "I have to go, Joss; I need to set up this meeting."
"See you soon," she said and then hung up. They were close, she could feel it.
Simmons was angry. Being an officer was perfect to be out of the precinct and off the grid while on the clock. He checked with some low level members in HR but no one heard of where the pain in the ass could be. Not that he figured they would, the guy in the suit just materialized out of nowhere to cause them problems, but he had to try. He checked security footage from the surrounding area of the warehouse and nothing. The guy must know where all the cameras were in the city, so he could stay in the shadows and not have anyone see his face.
He tugged his phone out when it began to shrill noisily in his pocket. Simmons frowned when it wasn't the boss's number. Simmons slowly answered it and put it to his ear. "Officer Simmons, long time, no see."
"Not long enough!" Simmons growled in response which had the other man laughing softly. "But I was wondering when you'd call or show your damn face."
"Officer, you're sending me mixed signals; first it's not been long enough and then you were waiting for my call; how am I supposed to know where we stand?" The man tsked and Simmons felt his fury grow. This guy had that innate ability.
"Who are you and what do you want? You keep sticking your nose in our business and it has now really pissed me off," Simmons snapped.
"I didn't call to talk about myself. I called to talk about what I should do with the drugs and money I took; what would your boss say or do to you if I burn it all?" he wondered softly. Simmons tightened his hand around his phone. "Ah, upset you haven't I?" Simmons whirled around, realizing he was being watched, searching for anyone that was out of place. "Not there," Simmons turned and the man laughed this time louder. "I'm not there either, but you'll be seeing me when I'm ready."
"What the hell do you want?"
The man took a moment before speaking, "Your organization wants power and money. I want neither. I merely want to clean up the city. But you're making it tough for me to do that with your new alliance with the Russians."
"So it was you that saved Elias's life?" he stated tersely. Simmons continued looking for the man-in-the-suit but didn't see anyone vaguely recognizable. He only saw the man once and that had been barely and in poor lighting.
"Officer," he drawled out each syllable, grating on Simmons's nerves. "You didn't really believe it wasn't me."
"You had a sidekick this time."
"I wouldn't necessary call the person a sidekick," the man murmured, sounding amused. "I don't want your drugs or money. Your guns are another story because they are now in my possession and possession is nine tenths of the law."
"You son of a bitch!"
The man carried on without heeding much attention to his outraged roar, "I'll tell you what Officer; you can have your drugs and money back for a price."
"And what the hell is the price?" Simmons demanded.
"It's simple; you might be able to get your goods back if you call in a meeting with your boss, Quinn, so we can have a little one on one chat."
Simmons stiffened. "Forget it," he snapped.
The bastard had the audacity to laugh. "You do not make the decisions Officer, now do you?—I don't do business with people who aren't in charge," the man said condescendingly.
"When I get the chance you're dead," Simmons guaranteed.
"I've heard that before…."
Simmons scanned the park. "Well this time it's a damn promise that I intend to keep."
"Be a good little lackey and call your boss to arrange a meeting. Call me back on this number and tell Quinn he comes alone or I'll be in a very bad mood. And you don't want me in a bad mood because your boss and everyone in HR will wish they never were born," he promised. "Tell him to make up his mind quickly; or his drugs and cash might just go up in smoke." And with that the man hung up.
Simmons angrily rubbed a hand through his short hair as he immediately dialed Quinn's number and he answered instantly. "We have a big fucking problem, boss," Simmons growled.
Joss drove with Fusco beside her. "So what's with the cloak and dagger stuff, Carter?" he wondered as she drove quietly.
She looked at him quickly before focusing on the road. "Can't talk at the precinct, there are too many listening ears there. But last night John and I found out who the head of HR is," she said finally.
"You did?" Fusco asked incredulously.
"We did. It's Quinn."
"Wait…the guy that was wounded in the gun down of Szymanski and the ADA woman?" Fusco murmured, blown away by the revealed information.
"Yea, him; Quinn is the puppeteer alright, pulling all the strings. I knew the head of HR would never be on some damn ledger. John and I learned the truth thanks to you actually, with your comments about Terney. You were right, Fusco, Terney is dirty, along with his lacking in desire to solve the Szymanski case, and the fact that Quinn's statement sounded off. John and I staked out Quinn after we rescued Elias and he met with Simmons."
Fusco blinked. Where the hell was he when all this took place? "You saved Elias?"
"Yes…."
"From what?"
Joss sighed. "From a hit put out on him from HR," she answered.
"When?" he demanded.
"Last night," she supplied patiently.
"But I thought you staked out Quinn and found out he was the head of HR?" Lionel said.
"We did. It was a long day and night and not at all in a fun way!" Joss said annoyed.
Fusco made a face. "Okay, do not talk about you and the big guy's love life. I don't think my weak constitution could handle it."
She snorted in response to that. "I don't kiss and tell," she reassured softly.
Lionel merely nodded, secretly happy for his partner and Mr. Stormy. They clicked; and he considered the big guy as a friend even if Reese didn't reciprocate yet. He was still working on him; surely he could wear wonder-boy down eventually. Lionel didn't call himself The Fuscinator for nothing! "So where are you taking me?—you passed my favorite falafel place," he wondered.
She flashed him a chagrin look before admitting; "We're not getting food."
"We're not. I should have known this was a setup, you hate falafels!" Fusco griped.
"First off I don't hate them; I just don't live on or wear them like you do." Joss insisted.
"Hey!"
"Lionel, you always have falafel stains on your ties." she said in exasperation. Lionel thought for a moment before conceding to that fact. "But secondly; I'm sorry and I promise to make it up to you. We have a meeting with Quinn and John needs backup."
That perked him up. "We're going to get them?"
"Yea, we are," Joss agreed.
Lionel liked that. "So where are we going?—we headed to the meeting?"
"We will, but not yet. The meeting is in the evening just at nightfall at one of the small empty lots near the Hudson River. First we need to get Kevlar vests on to be ready for HR. John instructed Simmons to make Quinn come alone but to get Quinn to meet with John at all; John had to agree to someone that came with him. And that won't be all, we both know they'll have more loyal HR members there hiding for backup. Both Terney and Simmons were noticeably absent from the precinct," she stated.
Fusco frowned. "Yea, heard Terney took a sick day because he injured his shoulder in a freak accident."
Joss snorted. "Yea his shoulder met a bullet." she agreed as she pulled them to a stop. They'd have to walk the rest of the way to the library. "But I think Terney is going to go with Quinn for the meeting. That means Simmons is going to be waiting around as backup and he's got it in his craw to kill the man-in-the-suit. But John will have his own backup in us," she said as she pulled to a stop. They'd have to walk the rest of the way to the library.
"Damn straight, Mr. Tall, Dark, and Deranged isn't going alone. We all have our own beefs with HR!" he said vehemently as they climbed out of her car. "So where are we headed?"
"To our friends' HQ,"
Lionel grinned as he walked beside her. "So I'm finally privy to learn where their batcave is?" he said in surprise. Although did he really want to know where Moe, Larry, and Curly holed up at?
"Yes, but you tell anyone and I'll have to shoot you," Joss teased cheekily.
They arrived at the entrance to the rundown and near crumbling library and Fusco eyed the place with a shake of his head. "I should have known that Einstein would choose their HQ as a rundown and abandoned library," he muttered with a short humorless laugh.
Joss laughed gently. "Yea, and they run on generators and everything," she included.
"Glasses is so far off the grid he's back on it," Fusco muttered before watching her unlock the door. "You even got a key."
She eyed with him side-long. "One of the perks of sleeping with one of the ones hiding out here," she couldn't resist the urge to torment her friend just a little.
Fusco glared at her. "Do I seriously need to put my hands over my ears and act like my kid when he was eight, Carter?"
She just laughed in answer before opening the door and they entered. They climbed the stairs before walking down the long corridor to find the gate with the padlock was open. They walked up to the hub of the action where John was pacing like a caged animal, Shaw was eating, and Finch was typing away at a computer. Bear was in his doggie bed and his head immediately popped up at the sight of them, wagged his tail, and trotted over to them.
"Hey Bear," Joss murmured as she pet the dog on the head.
Lionel tried to hate this dog for reminding him of Leon Tao, but couldn't. He reached down, petting the dog with a smile, before looking up just in time to have a vest thrown his way. "Thanks dwarf," he commented, annoyed as Shaw smirked.
"Call me that again and we'll test out how many bullets that Kevlar vest can withstand," Shaw said lethally. Fusco nodded in defeat as he began tugging his suit blazer off and undoing the buttons on his shirt so he could tug on the vest.
John watched as Joss undid her pantsuit blazer and blouse, tugging them off to stand in just her bra and pants. Shaw's and Finch's eyes widened while Finch turned in embarrassment, Shaw continued to gawk. John growled as he stepped in front of her.
Joss glanced up and then smiled as he stared at her breasts with a lusty gaze. "Only you would get randy at a time like this," she purred.
"La, la, la, la, la, la, la…" Fusco sang loudly as he was tugging on his vest.
Joss ignored their friend as she tugged on the bulletproof vest before grabbing her blouse. "You were indecent and Shaw was eyeing you. You're mine," he growled as he crowded her personal space which was all right by her. Joss smiled dreamily at that as she stared up into his glittering blue eyes that were dark with desire at her body while jealousy twisted his features.
"Thanks, Shaw, for the assist!" Joss called out, looking at Shaw from around him.
"Any time, Carter," Shaw answered.
John growled under his breath and Joss giggled in response. She glanced over at poor Harold who was still trying to avoid any glance her way for fear that she was indecent still. He was so sweet and she took pity on him. "You can turn around Harold, I'm dressed." she assured him as she flicked her hair over the collar of her blouse before grabbing her pantsuit blazer once more. It was a little bulky but no one would ever know that she had a vest on which was how they wanted it. If HR thought shots to center mass was viable, they'd take it, because it was far easier aiming for center mass than taking headshots.
Harold turned and was relieved to see everyone redressed. "Thank you, detective, now that you four are fully prepared…" he began but was interrupted by Shaw.
"We're not fully prepared, not yet," she countered as she giddily hopped to her feet and nearly ran to a side-room that Joss didn't even realize existed. When the small operative came back she came with a large duffel bag and carrying a RPG-7. It was nearly as big as she was.
Shaw set the duffel bag on Finch's table and unzipped it in front of Harold. Lionel and she both oohed at the variety of assault rifles in it. But poor Finch, his eyes bugged out of his head and he had hurried to get space between him and the guns.
John leaned close to Joss as she peered into the bag. "He's already chastised me for trying to clean the sniper rifle in front of him," he murmured gently.
Joss looked up into his laughing eyes wanting to press John's buttons. "I'd be happy to clean your gun, John," she murmured seductively and earned the desired look on John's face: hunger. His eyes went from laughing to smoky in two seconds flat.
"Well there goes my appetite," Lionel complained with a glower thrown her way.
"I call shotgun on the RPG-7!" Shaw announced, uncaring if Reese and Carter were about ten seconds from going to find an empty room to bang or not. She was using the damn RPG-7.
Joss shrugged. "I'm all in for the sniper rifle," she said as she grabbed it, lifting it to peer down through the sights. "Yep, nothing like a big gun in my hands," she added just for John's sake. She didn't miss his soft groan as she snickered to herself. John was so damn easy.
Fusco made a face at them as clearly Carter was talking about Mr. Fabulous' wonder-stick before looking at his options; grenade launcher or assault rifle? "Since the toy soldier took the RPG-7 and Carter took the sniper rifle I'm going to go with this," Lionel said, picking up John's Sig Sauer PM400 Elite that he got from Joss for his birthday.
"Good choice, Lionel," John said sincerely, ignoring Joss completely as she stroked the sniper rifle to just egg him on as he felt his body respond to her suggestive movements. "We need high power, don't forget the extended mags." he instructed roughly before positioning his favored Sig Sauer P226 at the back of his pants.
"You need more than that, John!" Joss argued as she dropped her little game and got serious.
"It's all I need. I have you guys as backup."
Joss fought for patience. "That's why you need more than a handgun. Quinn isn't going to come alone and Simmons is going to make sure there is like an army of dirty cops to get the man in the suit. He wants you dead, John!"
He shrugged. "They won't kill me. Not when they need me to tell them where their goods are," he assured her.
"Well that's reassuring; you'll be alive but barely," she snapped.
Fusco could smell an argument flourishing between these two from a mile away. He didn't know which he preferred: them arguing or making eyes at each other. Reese and Carter fought hard but it appeared to be a type of foreplay for them, because they made up harder. He wished it had been this way for him and his ex, then maybe they'd still be married since they fought all the damn time.
"So what's the plan, wonder-boy?" Lionel demanded before the two got carried away with them right there. He was not willing to watch these two go at it like two sex-starved teenagers because they got hot and bothered from their little tit-to-tat.
John looked relieved to cease the blossoming argument. "Simple: I go in, meet with Quinn get him to admit to the murder of Szymanski while Harold records it. Quinn isn't going to show up without extra backup as we all know; which is why you guys will be there to make sure I leave with the same amount of holes I have currently," he said as if it was as easy as baking a pie.
Lionel glanced at Carter. "And you agreed to this plan?"
"Hell no, neither did Finch because it's the worse plan in the history of planning. But getting John to hear reason is an impossible feat," she said scathingly. Fusco watched as the bane of his existence merely shrugged which seemed to only serve to fuel Carter's ire because her eyes darkened in anger. "Damn it, John, you're well-being matters to me!"
"They already know it was me. Let them come after me. They know a little about Shaw, but they don't know that you and Lionel will be there too. It will work out fine."
"It better work out fine because so help me, John, if you get hurt I'll shoot you myself!" Joss threatened.
"Way to go Carter, threaten bodily harm if he receives bodily harm…to wonder-boy that's like telling him you love him," Lionel said under his breath for Carter's ears only because Mr. Sunshine was finished with their discussion and pulled the dwarf over to speak to her quietly.
Joss glanced at her friend. "That's because I do," she whispered before turning her gaze onto John who wasn't aware of what was just said. Fusco eyed her in surprise before looking at Reese and got a determined expression.
Shaw, Fusco, Joss, and John split up. If they figured correctly then HR was going to be watching the meeting from stationary points. Shaw was taking North, Joss took South, while Fusco took East because facing West was the Hudson River; unless they chartered a boat they didn't have to worry about anyone from there.
"I got eyes on one." Shaw whispered over the connection. "He's actually in the prime position I would be in. HR is good but we're better. I'll take him out,"she murmured.
Joss agreed because as she walked through the door on the rooftop she found two men with their backs to her; one holding a sniper rifle trained down where the meeting was going to take place and the other holding a scope. Joss didn't say a word as she crept towards them and tugged out Shaw's Nano and fired at their kneecaps. The moment they fell to the ground was when she immediately removed their phones and yanking one man's hands behind his back for her handcuffs and used a zip-tie for the other man's hands.
"You're not shooting the man I love, sorry," she stated before setting up her sniper rifle. Joss looked down through the sights and saw Quinn waiting with the weasel, Terney. Joss swallowed hard, wishing she could hear what they were saying but knew that Fusco was much closer so he could force-pair with Terney's phone. John was on his way and once he got there that's when he would connect with them. "What are they saying Fusco?" she asked.
"Nothing you want to know." he responded gently.
Joss felt her lips thin, knowing what it was without Lionel needing to say it; John was a dead man after they got their goods back. "Has anyone seen Simmons?" she asked focusing on the task at hand.
"No, not as of yet," Shaw answered.
Joss nodded and watched silently, waiting. But while they waited for the meeting to happen; Joss's ears picked up a faint sound. It sounded like footsteps. She turned to look at the door that led up to the rooftop of this five story office building. She narrowed her eyes on it before she lifted the sniper rifle up and rushed to go hide behind one of the giant rusted air conditioners just as the door opened. She saw Simmons appear.
"Guys I got some company in the form of Simmons." she whispered as she tugged the Nano out.
John climbed out of the car at the designated time and location. He strode unhurriedly. "Is everyone in position?" he asked as he connected with the others.
"We are but Carter's got a little trouble," Shaw replied.
John stiffened as he stopped in his tracks. "What kind of trouble?"
"Simmons must have figured you'd bring back up and he went to check on the two morons that were on the rooftop on the Southside of the park where Carter's at."
"I'll go help her, wonder-boy, but then you'd be without…" Lionel begun though he trailed off leaving the rest of unspoken.
"Go, forget about me, go to Joss," he instructed.
"Don't you dare, Fusco," Joss hissed quietly over the connection, reminding them that she was very much connected to the call.
"He's going," John countered. "Aren't you Lionel?"
"Sorry Carter, I know that tone, it's his: I'll kill you if you don't do as I say, tone. And wonder-boy is scarier than you," Fusco assured her.
Joss cursed and with knowing Lionel was on his way to go help Joss, John continued to the meeting. He trusted Lionel to protect Joss and if he didn't the world was going to burn.
John walked up to the pair of men standing waiting for him. John smirked at Terney. "Nice arm."
"You bastard, you did this to me!—you and your sidekick!" Terney cried.
Quinn held his hand up to quiet the man's whining. "Enough Terney, our friend here wanted to meet with me and I want to hear what he has to say."
John tilted his head as he glanced at Quinn. "Alonzo Quinn."
"You have the advantage, you seem to know my name and who I am but I don't know anything about you."
John shrugged. "I'm a guy that doesn't like people that bully others, and you sir, you are the biggest bully on the block. When setting up a good cop like Szymanski to be dirty because you want to form an alliance with the Russians doesn't succeed then you resort to having Szymanski and the assistant district attorney murdered. Those are the type of people that I do not think belong in this city."
"Szymanski was an obstacle and I eliminate obstacles in the way of my power," Quinn asserted.
"Are you alluding to the fact that I'm an obstacle for your criminal organization, Mr. Quinn?"
"We run this city, we have the real power. You are just one man. We will dispose of you just as we disposed of Szymanski."
He smiled, knowing Finch was recording all of this. "I am just one man that stole all your money and drugs," he agreed.
"You did and we want it back."
John nodded. "I am sure of that but I want something in return," he murmured. John tried to focus on the conversation at hand but he could hear Joss and Lionel talking over the connection. He nearly broke concentration when he heard Joss try to advise Lionel to stay with him. He curled his hands into fists wanting to bark orders at Lionel until he relaxed when he heard Fusco state he wasn't leaving her alone.
Quinn grinned as he saw his loyal HR members creeping up behind this man in the suit, with guns trained on him. "I'm not sure you're in the position to make demands," Quinn stated.
John turned to look behind him and saw five men in uniforms making their way toward him. "Hands up!" one shouted.
John turned to eye Quinn with a smile devoid of warmth as he raised his arms up. "I tried to warn Officer Simmons not piss me off. I told you to come alone and you stipulated this weak detective."
"Did you really believe I wouldn't come with backup? Now you're outnumbered and currently Simmons is searching for and will kill your sidekick, so you're going to give me my goods back and then my men are going to kill you and you will never pose as an obstacle for me again," Quinn announced triumphantly.
John cocked his brow. "Is that my only option?—give you your drugs and money back for a quick death?"
"The only option you have. I'll make sure I kill you quick like I did with Szymanski and the ADA," Terney said, feeling smug all of a sudden. They were going to finally get the man in the suit. He was finally going to meet his comeuppance.
"Ready?" Shaw asked.
John shook his head. "Actually I have another option, Quinn," he said as a way to give Shaw the all go.
"Oh, pray tell, what is it?" Quinn wondered with his hands clasped in front of him.
John just smiled right before a loud booming sound erupted just as something hit the SUV parked behind Quinn and Terney, creating a large explosion; making everyone duck…everyone but John.
Joss stayed hidden as Simmons walked around the rooftop. "I know you're up here!" he called out. "Show your face." Joss rolled her eyes as she shifted to keep eyes on Simmons, seeing he had foregone the sniper rifle and was holding a semi-automatic handgun himself.
"I'm coming," Lionel puffed.
"Stay with John, please." she begged softly, not wanting to alert Simmons of where she was.
"Sorry, no can do. He'll kill me for one and for two, you're my partner. Don't worry about Captain America, Carter, he's got the Black Widow to help him," he reassured her.
"Damn straight," Shaw agreed.
Joss wanted to order Fusco to do as she said because she knew John would be outnumbered, especially with Lionel coming to help her with Simmons, but couldn't. Lionel wasn't going to listen to her over John.
"Simmons is positioned by the door, Lionel. Give me a heads up when you get up here so I can draw his fire," she whispered.
"Nearly there." he murmured. She listened to Simmons shout for her to show her face and how he was going to kill her and her family just for helping the man-in-the-suit. Joss heard Shaw and John talking right before a loud explosion sounded, just as Lionel said softly, "I'm here."
"Okay." Joss whispered trying to not focus on what was happening down on the ground and what was happening up here on the rooftop. Joss moved from her cover firing the Nano at Simmons hitting his shoulder which seemed to only anger him as he turned from the ledge to fire back at where the shot came from.
"YOU!" he roared as he grabbed his arm but fired at her again!
Joss hid behind the air conditioner just as the bullet hit the side of the unit, hearing the door to the rooftop open and Lionel screaming before grunts and shouts followed. Joss slid out from her position and saw Lionel and Simmons thrashing on the ground, each landing punches and kicks but neither truly gaining the real upper hand on the other. "Fusco!" she cried as she ran towards him to help.
"Help wonder-boy, I got this," Lionel assured her raggedly.
John could hear the commotion of whatever rooftop Joss was on with Lionel and Simmons, but couldn't focus on it because he had his own issues to deal with at the moment. Because he used the element of surprise from Shaw shooting the RPG into the parked SUV to his advantage, he turned and ripped one of the HR member's arm right out of the socket forcing him to drop the gun he held as was looking towards the SUV and no longer at him. The man cried out before John punched him hard in the temple before tugging him to his body to use him as a human shield as the other HR members gained their bearings and looked at him once more to fire at will at him.
"I'm on my way Reese," Shaw assured him, sounding out of breath as she ran.
He nodded as he shoved his now dead and bullet riddled human shield away and right at them, grabbing his weapon and firing at kneecaps before gasping in pain as one of the officers got a shot on him and hit him square in his vest, stealing his breath.
Joss tried to not worry as she heard gunfire and John's ragged breathing. She could breathe a little easier when she heard Shaw assure her she was on her way for John.
"Shaw, hurry, Quinn is trying to get away," John whispered hoarsely.
Joss shot a quick glance at Lionel as he fought with Simmons; both were pretty equal at the moment. Lionel had a crazed look on his face as he gained the upper hand and wrapped his hands around Simmons' throat. She watched in dismay as Simmons flipped Fusco over and gained the upper hand. Joss rushed over and lifted the sniper rifle up high and rammed the butt hard into the back of Simmons' head, knocking the man out cold.
"Thanks, Carter!" Lionel puffed as he pushed Simmons off of him, before tugging the unconscious man's hands behind his back.
"Don't mention it," she muttered as she took off to go stop Quinn. She got to the ledge of the rooftop and immediately aimed down the sights and searched for Quinn but found John. "JOHN!" she cried as he took a bullet to the chest then ducked as they aimed for his head once they realized he was wearing a bulletproof vest.
"Joss, get Quinn!" he barked heavily and she watched him with her heart in her throat as he proceeded to run full force directly at the three men that were still standing and tackled them.
"I'll help Reese! Carter, get Quinn!" Shaw growled.
Joss trusted in Shaw to be John's backup, just as John had to trust Lionel to be hers, so she found Quinn and Terney making a run for it, and she focused on Quinn's knee. "This is for Szymanski," she snarled and fired.
It had been a long damn day of taking down HR, but a good day. After she fired and got Quinn's knee, making the man fall, everything had fallen into place. She took her next shot at Terney to keep the bastard from running. Shaw had gone and helped John with the three on one he was dealing with. Thankfully John had exited the meeting with HR with the same amount of holes he had arrived with though with more bruises than he had prior. When she had seen him at the library after the long couple hours at the crime scene to help the FBI figure everything out, she had seen the large bruises from where the few bullets had hit his vest. And she refused to think about what would have happened if John hadn't had it on. During the fire fight Finch had sent the audio recording of Quinn's involvement along with all the evidence that they collected the night before to the FBI. The semi-trailer loaded with unmarked bills and drugs the man in the suit had taken, along with an unconscious Simmons was left conveniently in front of the FBI's office.
Joss had been right; Terney wasn't as loyal as Simmons. Simmons had been tight lipped and refused to give up anything but Terney sang like a canary so loudly and quickly to the FBI that she nearly laughed. He wanted a lower sentence if he testified against Quinn and Quinn, the bastard that he was, was already willing to give up the Russians if he could receive a lesser sentence. Scum, both were utter scum, not that she minded because Russians were in the process of being scrounged up themselves. FBI took her and Fusco's statement but neither confirmed the myth of the man-in-the-suit still being around, letting them think it was the new woman running around the city, and the precinct already heralded them as heroes for helping bring down the biggest criminal organization. Joss couldn't care less about that because all she cared about was getting justice for Szymanski. Agent Moss assured her that they would and that Quinn, Terney, and Simmons were going to be in prison for a very long time.
But after everything that went down with the meeting taking place during the early evening hours and the fact that it took a couple hours at the crime scene with the FBI, she missed not only lunch but dinner as well. Her stomach rumbled as it reminded her that she was starving as she entered her home. Joss quickly glanced at her watch and saw it was nine in the evening. God, it felt like it was one in the morning from everything that went down earlier. But Joss made her way into the kitchen, needing grub first, then a shower. John had promised to come over later and she was hoping he'd give her one of those amazing foot massages before she tugged him to her bedroom so she could make love to him. Without him none of this would have been possible; she was grateful he was by her side to help her bring these bastards down. At first she had wanted to handle it on her own because John had so much on his plate but she was glad he convinced her otherwise. It was much better to work as a team to get them. And now that HR was mostly handled, with only low level players running amuck and would be easy to round up, they could focus on Kara and whoever Kara worked for that wanted the machine broken down.
Joss made her way into the kitchen and saw on the refrigerator door the reminder of the date that her son was staying over for the first time overnight with his dad. The date was fast approaching. They had chosen a date in advance, that way Paul had time to prepare before Taylor came over. Joss opened up her fridge and frowned at the slim pickings. She needed to go grocery shopping since she did have a big dinner to make for Joan. Unfortunately she had to postpone it a day as she had originally planned it for today but thanks to trying to bring down HR it hadn't worked out the way she intended, but then she figured Joan didn't mind since they were cleaning up the street. Joss slid the fridge door closed after she grabbed a beer and headed for the phone to call in for pizza. Once her order was in Joss took a big gulp of beer before heading upstairs to change.
She made a quick change and hurried downstairs when she heard a knock on her door. Joss's stomach growled as she made short work of the stairs and headed to the door with cash in hand.
Joss threw the door open with a smile and froze. "Kara," she whispered.
Kara stood before her holding a box of pizza and a gun with a silencer on, trained on her. "Hello Joss, it will be fifteen fifty. And I expect a generous tip."
AN: Team machine just can't catch a darn break ;D But lots is coming your way as this story begins to wind down. Thanks for reading!
