A/N: This is for everyone who didn't see Zoe's request coming? All of you? Okay then :D

Random fact that has nothing to do with this chapter: Life goes better with jazz.

As always, enjoy x

Chapter 16: Mother

Wednesday 7th September 2016, 9.16pm, Jackson Heights, Queens

After eating humble pie with crow on the side and buying enough copies of Hidden Figures for her Book Club, Joss escaped her mother through John's shoddy signal and had the address of Claudette's whereabouts. She had no luck reaching John again because as soon as she got a quarter-mile from her location, her phone signal reduced to one bar and the streets became more dimly-lit. A pair of last season's sneakers were hanging from the power lines, not that she minded as she used to be on patrol for the 75th Precinct before she made Detective Third Class.

At 0.1 miles away she spotted a man being thrown from the top window at the front of a red two-storey house and immediately exited her vehicle because she knew her husband's handiwork from afar. While she ran towards the house a motorbike she hadn't seen before veered off in the opposite direction; she was 85% sure that was her man.

Besides the man with the dislocated leg crying on the bare lawn from his fall, her canvas of the ground floor was underwhelming. A video game still playing loudly on TV and a bowl of corn chips was knocked over on the floor. Not to mention the three men down; one moaning on the ground next to the broken pool stick and two seemingly knocked-the-hell-out. All this brought the probability that the man on the motorbike was John to 95%. There was no rear escape; clearly a fire hazard, so with a Glock in her right hand and torch in the left she called upstairs. "NYPD." After a moment or two or ten of silence, the shuffle of a small child's feet was the only noise upstairs. The little girl sat at the top of the stairs with more barrettes on one side of her head than the other.

"Claudette?" Joss flashed a light on her badge. "I'm a cop. You met my friend, John?" The little girl nodded. "I know you're scared, but there's nothing to be afraid of. I came to take you home to your mom." The girl didn't budge but she was shivering. "Did you leave your coat in the classroom? Before they took you?" She nodded again. "That's okay. You'll get it back. Can you come downstairs?"

Claudette shook her head and spoke her first word of the evening. "Sparkle."

"I like that movie. Do you like that movie?"

The girl twisted her left hand back and forth, like she'd studied a Beyoncé music video. "Sparkle."

Joss finally understood; trust John to give her a code. She smiled and held the torch up to her fourth finger on her left hand. Claudette smiled back. Joss took off the ring and placed it several steps up so she could see for herself. The curious child placed it in the palm of her hand. "It's pretty."

"Thanks. Let's get you home."

Claudette came down willingly and was about to give back the ring when she made an unusual appraisal. "It's blue raspberry."

Joss decoded her kid-speak and knew she was thinking of ring pops. "I like cherry. Let's get out of here."

9.32pm, Finch's Townhouse, Carnegie Hill, New York

After his first non-date in a very long time, Finch knew he had to have a one-on-one with The Machine about his conundrum, the impending doom and the future of The Team. "…So what I'm asking you to do is to come up with the most prudent solution to this problem. One that causes the least damage."

- Status: Amber alert

"Yes I know it's a problem, a manageable problem, you know the risks if Detective Carter hears about this."

- Status: Red alert

"Exactly. How do we keep Ms Morgan away from Mr Reese?"

- First Calvary Cemetery, 34-02 Greenpoint Ave, New York, 11378, United States

"Death is not an option."

- Death is an option. All options are choices, ranging in difficulty and efficacy, and all choices produce positive, negative or neutral outcomes.

"I'm aiming for a positive outcome, considering all variables."

- Likelihood of positive outcome, considering all variables: 8.333333333%

"1 in 12? There a 1 in 12 chance of a positive outcome?"

- Affirmative. Status: Amber alert.

The Machine produced a report from a communications network provider highlighting the name of Zoe's neighbourhood, Roosevelt Island.

"Hmmm. Down time in Zoe's area."

- Reduce or Exploit?

Finch made a pragmatic decision based on her emotional state when she got in her Uber. "For the greater good; exploit."

- Status: Amber alert.

10.02pm, Good Dam Donuts, Highbridge, Bronx, New York

Lucas Dabrowski pulled down the shutters and double-checked all the pad locks. Shaw wasn't used to slow, uneventful nights; she needed more of an adrenaline rush to deem the evening worthy of her time. "Wake me up when this snooze fest ends."

"You know, bats sleep with their eyes open." Fusco joked, popping two antacids for his indigestion. Even though his doctor had warned him about his cholesterol for the past five years, he felt his Sardinian roots and nonagenarian grandparents were his inherited right to give the finger to any and all dietary recommendations.

"Is that why Bagel just lies there while you do all the work?" Her advanced-level verbal upper cut was something out of Ms Evelyn's Academy of Imperial Shade Throwing.

If she was a man, and they were at the bar; he probably would've ordered a round of drinks just to save face. But they were friends. And Fusco had a secret Bachelor's Degree in Busting Balls in his back pocket. "What's wrong, Sporty Spice? Korean store all outta D batteries?"

She broke into a smile because this was the closest thing she felt to happiness; having a friend who could play her game with its upside-down rules. "I heard they made a blow-up doll you can plug in for conversation. Comes in three flavours; bagel, white bread and beige paint. Remind you of someone?"

He knew he should be defending Hazel, especially from the food names, but not-so deep down he knew his blood pumped faster ducking blows from Shaw than alone with his very-normal and very-nice girlfriend. That was why he didn't mind that she won this round. "Take a long jump off a tall bridge, Daria. W-RFS?" He asked, tuning the radio station.

"When you talk to me like that, sure."

Thursday 8th September 2016, 2.22am, Joss' apartment, New York

Joss was surprised to find John on the sofa waiting for her with the lamp light on. Usually he was the last one to sneak in. His leather jacket hung over the lounge chair. She kicked off her ankle boots, straddled him and rubbed his neck. There was just a comfortable knowing silence between them. Her touch was tender as she played with that knot as though she could loosen it in that moment and listened to him breathing through his nose.

"You go first." He suggested because she was making him feel tired and soothed.

"Claudette likes my ring." She smiled through the sadness of the evening. "It took two hours for Khaliah to let me take her to a doctor. She thought CPS would take her daughter away if anything happened to her. So I took them to Dr Chester." He nodded in agreement. Arianne Chester was a final year Medical school student and recipient of the Harold Dunnock Scholarship in Medicine and Nursing. "She thinks Claudette's shaken but fine. And I thought what kind of mother would rather have her child in her care than checked out by a doctor for signs of abuse? And I got my answer; a mother who wants to protect her child. Your turn."

He was shorter on words. "Could've killed Kairo but there were too many Narcos and a couple Narcs around. You saw what happened to the rest." This would've been a perfect time for a beer, so he had somewhere to go to. Instead he came home. He kissed her cheek. "Good job tonight."

"You too. You did good."

6.12am, Matero Apartment Complex, Roosevelt Island, East River, Manhattan, New York

Though Zoe felt worse for wear that morning, she knew that calling in sick wasn't an option when she owned the business. Her LH chart indicated the peak time for Trying to conceive (TTC) was from the 17th to the 22nd of September, not leaving her much time to talk to John. She put all thoughts of that ring and the woman attached to it out of her head and practiced tunnel vision. Even Harold's suggestion that she could adjust her expectations was a non-starter; she wasn't going to lower the bar and accept a sub-par donor – uneducated, stumpy, unable to catch a ball or throw one, with crooked teeth and some terrible congenital disease – just to get pregnant. If that was the case she might as well have a one-night-stand…and even that didn't work the last time. No, John Reese was the only man on Earth worth considering and as soon as they got a phone signal back on the block; she was going to call him.