A/N: Thank you SWWoman for your time and sacrifice. Disclaimer: I do not own anything of Person Of Interest. Anything you may see written here from the show is the property of Person of Interest and its writers. Thank You. Please enjoy...
A More Conventional Life 3
Over the next few weeks Joss worked the numbers with John without ever bringing up what had happened between them. At first he had been a little wary of even speaking to her, but after he realized she wasn't going to bring it up, he began to relax around her. He even initiated the teasing banter that they had previously enjoyed, only now there was an undercurrent that she realized had been there the whole time, she just hadn't been willing to acknowledge it.
Joss took full advantage of these teasing remarks, injecting playful flirting and coy smiles, and also catching his beautiful eyes with a hot, knowing gaze for only an instant, then turning away. She was keeping him off balance, letting him know that she fully intended to keep her promise. She was going to catch him, and he was going to love it.
It wasn't just working the numbers, either. Joss would call John randomly, just to talk. Not about a case, just about anything and everything, and slowly he began to open up more and more to her. She felt that her plan was going smoothly….that is until precious little Layla came along, and everything blew up in her face.
Joss was so angry with John for involving Carl Elias in Layla's abduction instead of calling the police, instead of calling her, that she had told him she couldn't work with him anymore. John had gotten Layla back, but at the cost of losing Don Moretti to Elias, and getting a good cop shot. She had told John that she didn't want anything else to do with him or his friend, and despite John's many attempts to contact her, she had ignored him.
It was killing her to separate herself from John, but Joss was still so angry. She could still see the crestfallen expression on John's face when she had told him she just couldn't do it anymore…but what choice did she have? He had reached out to a criminal instead of trusting her to be able to help him, and that had hurt. The fact that he had betrayed her trust to Elias was a bitter pill to swallow.
Another fact, however, was that she still loved him, and still wanted him. She knew in her heart that John had thought he was doing the right thing, the way he was accustomed to doing things…outside of the law. If he wanted her to work with him, though, he was going to have to change that. Her problem now was how to forgive him for his lack of trust in her, and equally her lack of trust in him, in order to move forward. She was afraid she may have damaged whatever progress she had been making by cutting him out of her life so rashly.
There was nothing for Joss to do now, but start over. But how? She pushed these thoughts away as she sent another call from John to voicemail, and approached her new crime scene. She would have to sort out her problems with him later, she had work to do.
John sighed and looked out of the Library window as once again Carter sent him to voicemail. He understood why she was angry, but at the time he was so frantic to find Layla that he had felt the only move he had left was to call Elias. Finch had tried to warn him, but he had called Elias anyway, knowing that he would have the connections to help find Layla.
If he was honest with himself, John hadn't called Carter because he didn't want her to be disappointed and angry with him for losing Layla in the first place. She had been very vocal about how she would feel if anything happened to the baby when they had met at the river that day. He hadn't taken her concerns seriously because he had been so sure he could protect Layla, and then she had been taken from him right from under his nose. He had retrieved Layla, but at the cost of betraying Carter's trust, which had killed him, and now she wasn't speaking to him. He may have lost a friend, and maybe something much, much more.
John missed her. He missed the way they worked together, he missed hearing Carter's voice on the phone, he missed the random calls and the talks they had, but most of all he missed her. He had begun to tell her things that he hadn't told anyone, even about his recurring dream about the little boy at the graveside. He was still reluctant to deal with his father's death and the impact it had on his life, and the choices he had made, including his decision to leave Jessica. He was still having the dream, and since his separation from Carter, it had become more frequent.
There were things in his childhood that John was going to have to confront at some point, he knew that now. Questions about his father's death that he had buried deep a long time ago that now wanted to be answered. The image of that stoic little boy standing by his father's grave floated before his mind's eye, and he felt an unfamiliar clench to his heart. Why now?, was the question that he still asked himself.
That dream wasn't the only thing keeping him from sleeping at night. When he wasn't dreaming about the little boy, he was dreaming about Joss. The memory of what had happened between them in her foyer kept replaying in his dreams, only in his dreams he didn't stop and step away from her. In his dreams he would see himself surrendering to her, and her leading him upstairs to her bedroom where he would slowly undress her, kissing and caressing each new patch of soft. golden-brown skin revealed to him. He would see her underneath him, both of them crying out their pleasure at finally being joined as one.
With these thoughts swirling in his head, he turned as Finch began telling him about their new number, and he ruthlessly pushed them aside to concentrate on the number. He would have to do something about his relationship with Carter, but right now he had work to do.
.A few more days went by, and Joss was still uncertain about what to do about reconnecting with John. He was still calling her, and she was still sending him to voicemail, although his calls had become more infrequent lately. She wasn't confused about her feelings for him or if she still wanted him, she did. She just wasn't sure she could work with him if he stuck with his present methods, and the way he refused to trust her.
Joss had just dropped Taylor off at school, and was in a hurry to get to the precinct because she had gotten a call from Lablanca in SID about the accounts of Elias that Joss had flagged a few weeks ago. Lablanca had said he had drained all four million dollars from the accounts. Elias was up to something, and Joss needed to get to the bottom of it.
When Joss arrived at the precinct, she dropped her things off at her desk, and went directly to Lablanca to see what was going on. Lablanca told her that Elias had made wire transfers, and cash transactions to over a thousand unique payees. It would take way too long to get warrants for these transactions so they had no idea what, or more importantly, who, the money was going to. Elias bought people, police and politicians that would look the other way for him to 'conduct business' as he wished. While she had been talking to Lablanca John had tried to call her, but she immediately sent it to voicemail. She had to figure out what Elias was up to, and fast. She had a bad feeling that things were about to get complicated. and she had to see what she could do to stop Elias.
John was tired from lack of sleep, and the constant string of numbers. He was running late because, for the first time ever, he had overslept, and he knew he probably looked like death warmed over when he finally dragged himself into the computer room of the Library.
Of course, Finch noted his tardiness, and made a comment about it, but John deflected with a quip about having his yoga class, the last thing he wanted to do was discuss his sleeping habits, or lack thereof, with Finch. Finch countered with a comment about getting in touch with his chi, and then proceeded to tell John that they had five numbers, the five heads of the mafia.
There was only one person who would go after the five heads of the mafia, and that was Elias. John suggested that they let the trash take out the trash, and Finch reminded him that, unlike his previous employers, they were reaching for a higher standard, which brought a small smile to John's lips. Finch's dry humor could be quite sharp sometimes.
John decided to approach Capparelli directly, telling him that Elias had plans for him and his friends, offering Capparelli protection, which he arrogantly declined. The result was that Capparelli and his crew were blown up with a car bomb right in front of John with civilian casualties. He watched as Marconi, Elias's first hand man, looked John in the eyes, then sped away in his SUV.
When that approach failed, John decided to reach out to Elias, and ask him to end this before anyone else got hurt. Elias reminded John that they were both killers in their own right, and then tried to soothe the sting of his words by telling John that he now protected innocent people. It didn't help. John knew he was a killer. He didn't need to be reminded by the likes of Elias.
At the end of his conversation with Elias, Finch informed John that they had another problem….Carter. After Capparelli's death, she began to reach out to the other dons, offering them police protection, unaware that Elias had the backing of HR. John stormed from the Library, commanding Finch to give him Carter's location, and that's where he was headed now.
John parked about a block away from Carter's location, and began to head in her direction. He was almost there when he heard gunfire, and he picked up his pace. When he arrived, he saw a man on the sidewalk aiming for Carter as she crouched behind a garbage can. With two shots the man was down, and John turned to see Carter staring at him with wide eyes full of disbelief.
John gave her a small smirk, and then said calmly, "You really should return your calls, Detective." Then walked toward her.
Joss was speechless. Once again John had saved her life. She didn't know, or care, how he knew where she would be, but she was glad he was there.
"Are you alright?" John asked, his voice gentle, and full of concern.
"Yeah, I'm alright. Thanks to you…again," Joss answered a little shakily. Then she heard sirens in the distance. "You better get out of here. You don't need to be around when everyone shows up."
John nodded his head then said softly, "Meet me at the diner a couple of blocks down," and he pointed in the direction he had come. "I'll be waiting for you," he added as he looked at her intently.
"I'll be there, wait for me," Joss replied quietly, and she heard John's sharp intake of breath then he was gone right before her eyes as if he had never been there.
The waiting was excruciating, but John made himself sit in the booth at the diner until finally he saw Carter walking toward him. She slid into the seat across from him, and for a few minutes, neither one spoke.
"Carter, I'm sorry for what happened with Layla, and Moretti, and Szymanski. My decision had nothing to do with not trusting you or if you could handle it. You're a great cop, a great detective, and I should have come to you.," John said with all sincerity, his eyes intent on her face.
Joss looked away from the intensity in his eyes, and slowly shook her head. "John, I want to believe you, but…" she began, then he reached over, and took her hand in his. She looked up at him then, surprised that he was even touching her.
"Believe me, Joss. I made a terrible mistake. It won't happen again, I promise," John said softly, his blue eyes open for her to see his vulnerability and desperation.
Joss searched his eyes, and knew that he was truly sorry, and was trying to make amends for his mistake. She looked down at his hand holding hers, and nodded her head. Then she looked back into his eyes, "Okay, John. I believe you."
John squeezed her hand gently, and visibly relaxed then released her hand. Joss immediately missed the warmth of his hand clasping hers.
"You should know the FBI has a task force set up in your honor," Joss said tiredly. "They think you're working for Elias."
"I'm often misunderstood," he said with a smirk and a twinkle in his eyes, his double meaning not lost on Joss, she had to smile softly.
Just then Finch walked up, and slid into the booth next to John. Joss turned her head away. She really didn't want to deal with Finch after the night she had.
"I take it that things didn't go as expected," Finch said evenly.
Joss looked at him squarely and replied, "I don't know who to trust anymore."
"You can trust us," Finch replied in that same even voice.
Joss sighed heavily. "Elias transferred four million dollars to over a dozen cash and carry hubs around the city, but we can't access their database without a warrant."
"Maybe I could use…other techniques to access the information," Finch replied, and Joss smiled ruefully, knowing what those "other techniques" implied.
"If we can track down the people on Elias's payroll, they might lead us right to him," John added.
Joss closed her eyes, and relented. "In the meantime I need to convince the other dons to work with us to stay alive. Thanks for the back up," she added with a glance at John then started to leave when she felt John's hand on her arm.
"Uh, if I'm not there next time, I want you to be prepared," and John reached behind him, grabbing a black duffel bag, placing it in front of Joss.
Joss opened it up, then looked at John. "Not exactly standard issue. Do I want to know where you got this from?" she asked sarcastically.
"Probably not," John replied with a grimace.
Grabbing the bag, Joss got up from the booth, and left the diner. It was late, and she was exhausted, and a little dejected at how things had turned out that night. Although John and she were back on speaking terms, they still had a long way to go in repairing their friendship as well as any deeper relationship they might have.
Joss got in her car, and made her way home, hoping beyond hope that she would be able to sleep tonight.
After her conversation with John and Finch at the diner, things went from bad to worse for Joss. She was determined to thwart Elias in his plan to murder the remaining dons, so she and Fusco basically kidnapped them, and took them to one of Finch's safe houses.
When Elias discovered that she had the dons in a safe house, he abducted her son, Taylor, and demanded she give the dons to him to save her son. Of course she couldn't relinquish the dons, but John had already promised her that he would rescue her baby, and she trusted him to keep that promise. In the meantime, Elias had somehow found out where they were, and had tried to break his way into the safe house with a blowtorch. He wanted her to believe she was alone, but one look at the ammunition John had given her, she knew she wasn't alone.
The hours that Joss had to wait while Taylor was in Elias's clutches were some of the longest, and most agonizing she had ever had to endure. Not knowing what was happening to him or where he was nearly drove her out of mind. Thankfully, if she could say that, she had the dons and Elias to keep her mind busy. Unknown to her, Fusco had called for backup, and they had arrived just in time to arrest Elias and his men right after they had broken through the door. Somehow John and Finch had gotten to HR, and HR had left before backup arrived.
Now Joss was standing outside a diner, waiting for John to bring Taylor to her. Taylor had called her after John had rescued him to say what a badass he was, and ask who the guy with the glasses was. She had laughed in relief, knowing her son was safe. She couldn't wait to see him, and hold him, though. At that moment she heard Taylor call her, and she threw down her umbrella, racing to meet him as he ran toward her, throwing her arms around him in a tight hug. It felt so good to have him in her arms.
Finally, she released him, and looked at John gratefully with a huge smile. Their eyes met, and she hoped she conveyed all she was feeling at that moment. She couldn't love him more.
"Good to know you keep your promises," Joss said with tears in her eyes.
John gave her a soft smile. "I told you I'd never let anything happen to your son," he replied, and then turned to walk away, giving Joss more time with her son.
Joss watched John leave over the shoulder of her son while she held him. Yeah, she thought as she watched John's back as he walked away, things will definitely be different between us from now on. I'm going to make sure of it.
A/N: I apologize for such a long chapter, and the use of so much of the POI "Baby Blue" episode, but I felt this was important to set up the rest of the story. I hope you enjoyed it, and I will have a new chapter soon. See you soon...