Joss entered the pub where she agreed to meet Shaw at, deep in thought. Root was very secretive and wanted anonymity so everyone agreed that Shaw would be there go between.

Today was her day off and John agreed to watch Taylor for her so she could do 'errands' when what she really wanted to meet up with Shaw alone. Shaw wasn't a baby-person or really a person-person and she needed John and Shaw to meet under a more controlled setting like say; Shaw being plied full of steak to keep her crude humor to herself. Once she got this meeting over with, then she did really have to go get some groceries and come up with a plan at keeping John at her place just for one more night. Ah, who was she kidding, she wanted him to park his butt in her bed for all eternity. There was no going back now. She was in love, he was in love, but the only difference between them was that John would willingly walk away from her if he thought it was in her best interests. She rolled her eyes at the thought. As if it ever was in anyone's best interests to have the person you love leave you no matter how noble the cause. Being together made you stronger and it was that sentiment she was going to beat into his thick gorgeous head until it stuck. That disconnect that John had with the world was genuine. All she just needed to do was learn how to re-plug John in so to speak. Years of living alone, day in and day out, on the outskirts of a real life had done a number on him. But then years of relying on only herself had done a number on her too, so they both had some learning to do.

Maybe she'd find out some more of his secrets after another orgasmic round of lovemaking. She couldn't stop the shit eating smile from forming on her face. After the extremely difficult conversation they had last night she had given John his reward for keeping his hands up, alright. And the reward had been pure ecstasy for him…and her too. He might have stopped her from seeing to completion of his blowjob but the results had been nothing short of spectacular because he retaliated and she gorged herself on the exquisite pleasure of his ministrations. However, those moments were just the appetizers because the main event happened after where John let loose and showed his unbridled passion that had her growing wet just replaying in her mind. Zoe's words from the other day about how she might be the woman to unlock the passionate man locked beneath his aloof façade filled her head, because it certainly felt as though she unleashed something in him last night. John truly was a fantastic lover even before last night and knowing no other woman ever experienced that kind of passion with John made her glow with happiness.

And then there was her sweet baby; Taylor just adored John and the feeling was mutual. She nearly felt her heart burst with love when she saw John making Taylor smile and giggle as he changed him this morning, her baby only smiled at her and his nana, and now John too. A monster…pfft! John might have a dark streak, one that was built for the job he did but he turned into a gooey marshmallow around her and her son. No doubt that the dark streak in him was still there from throwing Paul out a two-story window to trying to blackmail Root off the case but both those times were to protect her. She hoped he never met Justin who lived a few houses down and had a penchant of stealing her newspaper. Although it would be hilarious to see Justin wet himself as John stalked around him like a vulture eyeing his scrawny prey.

She slid into the booth seat of the casual pub they regularly came to. Shaw was already waiting with a drink, or rather bottle, in hand and stared at her. "You got laid!" Shaw announced bluntly as she raked her accessing gaze over her as Joss wore a white tank-top and bright red running shorts to combat the blazing summer heat.

Joss pushed her sunglasses up into her hair and made a face as she sat down across from her. "How the hell did you know that?!" she asked incredulously.

"You have your super-powers, I've got mine," Shaw answered vaguely before a wolfish smile appeared as she leaned forward. "Is your frog prince good in the sack or is he more prince than animal?"

Joss arched a brow. "I came here to ask you questions about the case not get peppered about my sex life. Go get your own one, Shaw."

Shaw didn't back off though. "Come on Carter, don't be a tease."

Joss laughed in spite of herself. "He was ridiculously good in bed," she answered, knowing they'd never talk about why they were meeting up until she actually answered Shaw and she knew what was said would stay between them. "I even wiggled out an 'I love you' from him."

"You must have an amazing pussy to get his dick to speak," Shaw commented dryly, choosing to take Carter's comment differently on purpose. Emotions and feelings made her twitchy.

Joss rolled her eyes. "Anyway, what did she find out about Snow?" she asked, deciding to not tell Shaw about John's original determination to remove Root from the case or the fact that he tasked Harold into finding out more about the mysterious woman. She didn't know how Shaw would react so it was better to remain mum for the time being.

Shaw eyed Carter speculatively before reaching down beside her and lifted a folder up to hand her. Joss greedily took it. "Root looked through his personal computer. There wasn't much in the way of saved files that were of use; nothing that alluded to illegal activity. Although Root claims he had a truly disturbing amount of cat videos," Shaw added before growing serious once more. "But once she hacked into his private email she hit the motherlode. Root copied all the emails between him and his Chinese contact. There are a lot of emails with highly sensitive government material in there and proof of money transfers. That should be enough to start the ball rolling for you to get a warrant to search his office, his work computers, and laptops."

Joss flipped through the pages and pages of emails feeling a smile grow. "This is really good, Shaw." If they could get Snow behind bars than he couldn't go after John anymore and no one would believe him that a dead man was running around alive. They'd think he was just trying to stir up trouble. "Root is good. What kind of arrangement did you make with her anyway to get her to agree to take on my case?"

Shaw sighed. "I agreed to one date for her to take the case."

"That's it?" Joss murmured in surprise.

"That's it?—that's a lot, Carter, being as I bed people, not date them!" Shaw stated tersely. "I'm giving up a lot having to actually go out with the nerd so you better make sure my steak is Kobe Prime Rib!"

Joss felt as though Shaw was protesting quite a bit. Perhaps her tiny friend was looking forward to this date. "Of course," she agreed.

"Anyways don't get too excited yet Carter because there's more," Shaw stated as she reached down beside her and slid Carter another folder.

This time when Joss opened it up they were 8x10 colored photos; photos of Snow with some bottle-blond woman. But the woman wasn't recognizable, at least, not to her. She lifted her brow up as she looked to Shaw. "Who is she?" Joss asked.

Shaw gulped some of her Grey Goose down before sitting back. "She's a very big problem for your frog prince."

"How? Why?" asked Joss, with a heavy crease on her forehead as she struggled to figure out what was going on. Who could be worse than Mark Snow?

Shaw sat forward, her dull brown gaze sharpening. "Carter, this is some dangerous shit. Are you sure your frog prince is worth it?"

Joss felt her shoulders stiffen. "Yes," she stated shortly. "Now tell me what the hell is going on or I'll make you live to regret not telling me!"

Shaw smiled. "I love it when you get fiery. It's so fucking hot. But for that answer we'll need to move this to a little more private of a place." Shaw murmured as she held up a recorder. "As I said Root is thorough in her investigations."

She frowned at Shaw. "Well not my place because John's there watching Taylor for me. I don't want to tell him anything until I know what the hell is going on first," Joss said, looking around suspiciously to see if anyone was watching or listening to them.

Shaw grinned. "My place it is." she murmured with a flirty wiggle of her brows. Joss sighed as she thinned her lips in response. Just great, she was about to enter Dungeon Dominatrix!

The drive to Shaw's apartment wasn't that far from the pub where they had met at. But Joss was lost in thoughts the entire time so it felt even shorter. Who was the blond woman that was bad news for John? Root got her a lot of information but also new questions; questions that needed answers.

She arrived at Shaw's surprisingly normal humble abode and sat at her small dining table; Shaw had her chair turned backwards and was resting her forearms across the back of the chair. Joss sat normal, but with her hands clasped in front of her, and nodded. "Play it," she commanded.

Shaw nodded and pressed play on her recorder and Snow's voice filtered through:

"Hello Martine, thank you for meeting me quickly." Snow greeted.

"You said you had cash up front so here I am," the woman named Martine said.

A momentary silence followed before a rustling sound happened. "Yes, well, I need you to find this man and eliminate him. You get fifty thousand in cash now and once you bring me his molars as proof of death I'll give you another fifty thousand," Snow stated.

A chuckle erupted. "Eliminate him?—I kind of want to fuck him first," the woman stated. "What's his name?"

"John."

"John. No last name?" she demanded.

"No, not anymore, we stripped him of it," Mark stated.

A disgusted sigh came. "He's former CIA; I take it back, I don't want to fuck him anymore," Martine said sourly. "Give me his last known name then."

"Sorry, Martine, I can't do that. I need him gone without the CIA or any other agency ever learning of his existence so this must be done with good ole' fashioned recon," Mark admitted.

"Oh, there's a story there," Martine plied, sounding intrigued.

"Not one you'll hear,"Mark responded bluntly.

"Well, in that case my rate just went up. I want one hundred thousand up front and another one hundred thousand once I produce the molars," she stipulated. "Seeing as I have to put more hours into this hit job than others with no name to go on."

"You bitch…."

"Unless of course you want to get your hands dirty, Mark," she sneered. "Oh, that's right, you can't find him. That's why you came crawling to me to find him for you."

Silence ensued. "Your tracking skills even of the most elusive marks are second to none which is why I sought you out for this job," Mark complimented begrudgingly. "Fine, you'll get one hundred thousand now and then another one hundred thousand when you bring me his molars. And dispose of his body someplace where he'll never be seen again. I'm tired of John ruining my life," Mark whined.

Shaw stopped the recorder. Joss sat still. "Mark Snow just hired an assassin to kill John? He must be getting desperate and can't keep looking for him by himself, and as he said he can't have anyone finding out John is alive," Joss murmured. This was going from bad to worse.

Shaw nodded. "I listened to the rest of the conversation and your name came up but Mark doesn't think you hold any kind of significance to your frog prince. Root is already attempting to force-pair with this Martine's phone to find out who she is and what your frog prince is up against," Shaw explained.

It also explained why Shaw was the go between because Root had wanted to get her the information while seeing to the added wrinkle on her latest case. "Tell Root to back off; this is quickly turning more dangerous, Shaw."

Shaw snorted. "Root won't back off until the case is over, Carter. Martine is now a part of it and we don't have info on her yet, which means she'll do what it takes to uncover her secrets and get them to us. Biggest problem as I see it is that now that she is investigating even more I'm afraid she'll want two dates," Shaw grumbled.

Joss frowned at Shaw but knew what the brunette said was true. Root was invested in this case now and had personal reasons for seeing it through because of Shaw. Maybe Harold could find out something on Root so Joss had leverage to end it before Root got hurt more than a bruised heart from Shaw.

"Hopefully if we can make a move on Mark Snow and prove him to be the treasonous bastard we know he is than we can erase the bounty on John's head before Martine can try anything." Joss murmured, though she didn't think that would be the case. This Martine received one hundred thousand with the promise of another one hundred thousand, that was going to make her a very real threat.

"Maybe," Shaw agreed though she didn't sound any more convinced.

"All I know is that if blondie thinks of coming anywhere near me, my son, or John I'm going to beat her ass all the way to hell," she stated darkly.

Shaw grinned as she said, "Oorah!"

Joss snorted. "You meant to say: Hooah!" she teased with a wink to the former Marine earning the finger for it. Joss laughed as she rested a hand on Shaw's shoulders. "Tell Root thanks and to be careful," she admonished as she rushed towards Shaw's door.

Shaw waved her off as she left. Joss had to go home and as she climbed into her car she realized she needed to tell John about what she learned from Shaw which might just cause John to do the exact thing she didn't want him to do: leave.

AN: See that's why I plied you guys full of hot sexy times before this because the chaos is about to erupt.

Thanks for reading!