A/N: For the newbies: Chapters 1, and 35 to 37 are your friends.

For everyone who's been around, it's been a long time coming but you deserve it.

Fun Fact: Balboa Savings and Loans is the second bank they rob in Set it Off (1996) - Carter is Frankie and Shaw is definitely Cleo.

As always, enjoy.


Sunday 3.09am, Joss' apartment

9 hours, 50 minutes, 36 seconds. That' how long he had waited and in that time the Machine had released no new numbers like some kind of sick joke. Just 10 minutes short to 10 hours, he heard the jangling of Joss's keys opening the door as she and Shaw attempted to sneak in like teenagers. Tipsy teenagers who looked like they'd been in a fight. He didn't know whether to reach for the First Aid kit or a slipper. He overheard the tail end of their conversation. "I think Monster wants his own space. I've ordered another tank, can you distract Finch for me? He thinks I follow his silly 'no reptiles in the house' rule."

"And how do you suggest I distract him? Tell him it's a bookcase?" The door opened with with laughter of two women who'd just come back from the bar.

"What time do you call this?" John asked.

Bloody-nosed Shaw took that one. "Time to let the perp out of the trunk." She looked at Joss whose eyes met hers with a smile.

"Just kidding." Joss assured him. "We let Mendoza book him and his little friends at the 8th Precinct."

"He's a good puppy." Shaw nodded approvingly.

Joss smiled again. "Thanks, all it takes is a little training."

"I'm trying to get Doughboy to bite on command but nothing gives."

John interrupted their discussion on pet training. "I tried calling you both all day."

"Yeah, about that. I need a new phone." Joss replied.

"Me too. Preferably an LG." Shaw made a perfect Tag Team partner.

He raised his voice, annoyed at their double act as the Venus and Serena of verbal tennis. "Where were you? What were you doing? And why is your nose bleeding?"

Shaw mimicked Finch. "The age old question; time-space continuum. Are we really here? Are we all we are? Is my nose really bleeding?"

Joss handed her a few tissues. "Shaw just pledged Zeta Pi Mu and had her initiation at the Termite Bar."

"I always wanted a Big Sister I'll be needing that t-shirt." Shaw reminded her of how she bribed her back on side the previous afternoon.

"You got it." Joss replied, returning John's death glare with a look that could be translated to "You don't want it."

"Don't just stand there. I'm a guest. Get me some snacks or something." Shaw took Finch's Smith and Wesson and put it on the coffee table.

"Here." Joss handed her the box of tissues before taking off her jacket revealing a bulletproof vest and a friction burn mark running the length of her left forearm that still stung despite the vodka shots at the bar to numb the pain.

"What the hell is that?" He exclaimed, grabbing the First Aid box.

Shaw patted her on the back and recounted proudly. "A standard side roll out of a moving car; it was ...poetry in motion."

Joss blushed and looked down at the puncture marks in Shaw's pink Timberands. "Only an animal would sic a security dog on us and call themselves a guard."

Shaw elbowed her. "Good thinking with the pepper spray."

"Good catch." He stared at them like they were in the Twilight Zone. Joss reluctantly left him see to and bandage it.

"Since you're such a good boy scout, I'll have her t-shirt, unwashed. With my snacks." She cracks a sarcastic, crooked smile. "Did I ever tell you I like gummy bears?"

"Sorry, we're all out. Potato chips and pretzels?" Joss offered.

Shaw shrugged with disappointment. "If that's all you got."

4.05am, Joss' apartment

"If I didn't know better I'd think you were pouting." Joss said, rubbing lotion on her bruised legs. She didn't feel so self-satisfied when she had to shower with one arm raised in the air.

"You were MIA." He glared at her, sitting on the bed and fluctuating between being angered and turned on by her. Staring at her thighs wasn't helping.

"But we gave Finch the special; 3 for 1." She rationalised, because she knew it would annoy him further.

"It's not funny. Something could've happened to you."

She put on a t-shirt. "At least I had back-up." She got into bed and clapped the lamps off.

"Is that that this is about?" He clapped them back on. "It's different for me."

"Why? 'Cause you think you're bulletproof?" She asked, rubbing her hands together. "Or is the real problem you got left in the lurch for a change? That you waited up for me?

He sighed. "I should've said something. You shouldn't have woke up alone. But you know I would never leave you. Joss, you can't do this again. I won't let you." He clapped them off for dramatic effect.

"Let me?" She asked indignantly. She clapped them back on. "The only man who ever let me do anything was laid to rest a long time ago John."

She was so frustratingly sexy. "I'm here to protect you; to keep you safe."

She flipped the script. "There's no such thing as safe. If there was, you wouldn't exist." He rolled his eyes at her. "And I'm not gonna play Princess Peach to your Mario to make you happy. We're a Team."

"Pffffff. You don't know the meaning."

"I was a soldier too, John." She huffed.

"You were an interrogator and from what I hear you flew solo then too."

She gritted her teeth. "Don't be a hypocrite. You know better than anyone The Machine doesn't neatly spit out numbers at our convenience. We were there so we left. We did what we had to do. What's so different?"

"You did it without me." He admitted.

She laughed to herself. "I thought you learnt. I was shot standing next to you John. And we survived it. You went kamikaze and we survived that too." She glared at him daring him to bring up Walker.

He wasn't going to let her him, so he disarmed her. "I would die if anything happened to you."

"Then you died already. You told me we both know how this ends...with you leaving me behind." She said poignantly.

"And you accept that?" He asked genuinely.

"I was married to a soldier and raised by a Colonel; I know when your time is up it's up. I also know that those few, short seconds of hesitation make all the difference. I don't want you to hesitate because of me." She clapped off and turned her back to him.

"Joss."

"You don't belong to me John. You never have. You belong to them; everyone out there who needs your help. And so do I. And that's why I'm calling Taylor right now."

He clapped on. "It's 4 in the morning and you said you'd give him space."

"I can feel it in my gut, something's not right with him."

4.23am, Georgetown University, Washington D.C.

"Hello," Isabella's grainy, half-asleep voice answered the vibrating phone without looking.

"'Morning to you too sweetheart." Joss' voice was the opposite, alert and warm.

"Oh...I, juh-..."

"I went to college." She said with understanding. "Put Taylor on the phone, please."

She whispered. "Is it bad news?"

"No, just put him on."

She shook him awake which wasn't difficult to do; he'd had trouble sleeping for longer than he could remember. "Mom." He said, automatically assuming the worst. "Is everything okay?"

"Here, yes." She looked at John who was still mad at her. "I'm just checking in with you. Is it too early?"

"No." Isabella pulled the covers and pretended to go back to sleep. "What's up?"

"Still on Desk Duty, and it's still lame."

He smiled. "Yeah, admin's not your thing, huh?"

"Nope, never has been. Tay I wanted to tell you something."

"What?"

"How I got on Desk Duty in the first place."

"But that's on your Anything But list." He whispered.

John was staring at her. "It shouldn't be. I shot someone on duty."

"Was it a mistake?"

"No, I had reason to."

"Are you in trouble?"

"Not exactly...The truth is I don't remember what I did."

"How can you not remember?"

"Because my mind was heavy with thoughts I didn't want to think and feelings I couldn't control and..." She took another look at John and saw his side. "I didn't belong in the field. But I was out there anyway."

"Ma, what were you thinking?"

"I was thinking if I kept on going as normal then everything else would go back to normal, you know?"

He understood from experience. He purposefully hadn't given himself a spare moment in months. "Yeah I know."

"Taylor, you're resilient and strong but I didn't set the right example for you." John sat on the furthest edge of the bed.

"What do you mean? You've done everything."

"That's the problem. No-one can do everything. And all that time I wanted someone to help but I never let them; at least not as much as they wanted to. Not Dad, not Cal, not even Grandma."

"You never said." He replied.

"I was trying to protect you, and me."

"What about John?" He asked. "He's supposed to take care of you."

"Let's just say I haven't made it easy for him." She turned her bandaged arm over. John left the room.

"You? No!" His sarcasm was hereditary.

She giggled. "I went out tonight to prove a point and it seems to have backfired on me."

"Did you go to a club or something?" He remembered Isabella on Skype, all dressed-up from the party she never enjoyed.

"Not exactly. I went out with Sam and turned up at the turn up function."

He laughed. "You mean Samantha?" He thought Shaw was an Army doctor on sabbatical. "Do you even know what that means?"

She sighed and thought of John's face. "Trust me I do. Remember what you told me? That there are people out there who'll help if I just ask?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, it's always hard to take our own advice."

8.00am, Joss' apartment

Joss woke up alone. She put on her sorority sweats and bunny slippers and went downstairs to the familiar scent of eggs. John mastered the egg-white omelette when she hit the 10-pound mark and had a fit when she couldn't find a pair of jeans. She sat on Taylor's seat at the kitchen island and watched him burn the toast without saying anything. He overpoured her glass of blood orange juice and she let it drip onto the linoleum. She turned the analog radio on the counter to his station. Gerry Rafferty's "Right down the line" played. He hummed along and she didn't complain about it putting her to sleep. They hadn't spoken since she got off the phone with Taylor, he just took her to bed and let her lie on top of him until she fell asleep. He hadn't slept a wink. When the DJ played Maggie May she turned it down. "Older women will get you everytime." He said, revealing the origin of the song.

"Yeah?" She asked. "How is Zoe?"

He shook his head at her. "A while back I asked you to let me take care of you. To take a chance and let me in. To believe for once a man you love won't leave you or die before you tell him how you feel. Can you do that?" He asked her.

She thought for a while. "I think I can."

"I need to know Joss."

She exhaled. "Yes. I can."

He smiled. "Good. How's your arm?"

"Sore. Why?"

He gestured to see it. She gave him her hand. He inspected her bandage, it still looked clean. "I need to know if you can take the weight."

"What weight?"

He pulled a box out of his dressing gown pocket. "The weight of being Mrs John Henry Rhys for as much time as we have together." He opened the box and put it on her empty plate. A stunning three stone ruby and diamond ring in 18ct yellow gold called to her.

"Yes!" She shook her fingers. "Put it on."

1.25pm, Johns Hopkins University

Taylor drove back to campus and found a campus security car outside Hamilton Hall.

"Taylor. Tell me you know what caused all this nonsense." Funmilola wasn't her usual congenial self, cutting in before the security guard could ask him any questions. He shook his head, his bed was still made and she'd been there since the early hours of the morning so she didn't question him further.

He looked at Malik who was holding an ice pack under his right eye and avoiding eye contact. "We send you to school to learn, but you insist on fighting your stupid fights outside of the ring like you don't have home training..." She shook her head. "This is last year all over again."

Security Officer Reed took him to the side. Even though he was 6 foot 5 and easily 260 pounds, Taylor knew he wasn't a real cop. "Listen son, I need you to tell me what happened last night."

"I wasn't here." He replied. "I was at Georgetown with my girlfriend."

"All night?" Reid asked, quietly. Taylor nodded. He gave him a friendly punch in the chest, proving Taylor's first hunch was right. "My man. Listen, do you know why Malik would've fought with uhh..." He scrolled through the notepad. "I can't tell if it's Andreas or Andre. Ahh...here's the last name. Duarte."

Taylor tried to keep a poker face. "No, Officer. I have no idea."

"'Cause the girl with the purple hair seemed really upset about it..." Taylor shook his head. "Look it you think of anything call 3113 from any phone on campus, including the one in your room. Okay?"

Taylor nodded. "I'll be in the building."

"Yes, Officer." When Reid left he closed the door behind him.

Funmilola spoke to him in the same tone Joss used when he was younger, the only different was her accent. "Now my son, I understand that you don't want to get Malik into trouble, but you're too late. His coach already suspended him from the next match for his stupidity. Please, just tell me. Who is this Andres and why was he fighting with my son?"

Malik pleaded with his eyes. Taylor was still reeling over what she meant by last year all over again. He rationalised and stood behind his confusion to tell a half-truth. "I really don't know, Aunty Funmi. I don't know how it started."