A/N: T/Y SWWoman. This is something I wrote a while ago, and I've just been sitting on it. I hope you enjoy it.
The Real Connection
So it had come to this. Detective Jocelyn Carter sat on her couch cross legged, dressed in black leggings and an over-sized gray Army t-shirt, and her hair loose. With her laptop nestled in her lap, a glass of Merlot` on the coffee table, she gazed at the homepage of a dating site called The Real Connection. The site had a good reputation, and was created by the billionaire genius who had created Friendzar*, Logan Pierce*, but until a few weeks ago she had never considered using a dating site before. She'd had the blind date from hell, and decided that obviously strangers could match her with a date better than her own family and friends could.
Joss had been alone for most of her life after divorcing her husband, Paul, fifteen years ago, but lately she had been feeling more alone than ever. Taylor, her son, was growing up, and spending more and more time with his friends, at school functions….and with girls. They were still as close as they ever were, but she was feeling the need for an adult connection; someone she could trust and depend on. She was also feeling more isolated at work because she was so determined to stand against the corrupt cops that wanted to take over the New York City Police Department, and Carl Elias who wanted the city itself. She was determined to uphold the law she was sworn to, and not allow HR's corruption to spread or allow Elias to dominate the criminal underworld of the city. She was also ridiculed for her search for "The Man In A Suit," who was a lawless vigilante, which was slowly turning into an obsession. So she wasn't very popular, even with the detectives who weren't corrupt, including her partner, Detective Lionel Fusco, who she wasn't too sure about. They thought she had a stick up her ass because of her strict code of ethics, which couldn't be further from the truth. She had to be tough, and hard, as an African American female homicide detective, but the people who really knew her knew that she was caring and tender-hearted. She only wanted to help and protect people. She shook her head, and pulled her thoughts back to what she had been doing.
After Joss had browsed through the site, she scrolled down, found the "create an account" button, and hesitated only a second before she followed the instructions to set up her own account. When she came to the "select a photo" section she debated for nearly an hour before finally selecting a simple photo of her in a white denim shirt unbuttoned at the top, showing just enough skin to be playfully sexy yet not revealing. She had her head tilted to the side slightly, making her long, dark, hair cascade around her face and over her shoulders, framing her large, dark eyes, and she wore a wide smile. It was a modest, unpretentious picture that she felt revealed her humor, intelligence, wit and charm. She laughed at herself as she thought about that. Then she had to write a small seventy-five word paragraph describing herself to potential suitors….which took at least another hour. This was turning out to be more stressful than she had bargained for. How did you describe yourself to make yourself appealing without sounding conceited?
Somehow she made it through the grueling process, and submitted her information. She was informed that it would take a few moments to post her information, and after that, if anyone showed any interest in her profile she would be notified by PM (personal message) on her profile page notifications. She was not obligated….bla, bla, bla. She was then allowed access to the site to look through any profiles she found interesting, and The Real Connection would also send her referrals that "matched" her profile within the next couple of hours to the "referral" notifications on her page. A similar PM would be sent to the "referral" notification of whomever The Real Connection "matched" her profile to give them the opportunity to respond.
Since Joss had to work the next day, and she was beginning to grow tired of browsing the endless photos and profiles, she was about to log off when she noticed a PM notification on her page. That was quick. Then she noticed another….then another and another. Her eyebrows rose as she watched the number of PM's rise incredibly fast. She slammed her laptop closed without logging off when the number reached double digits. What the hell? She stared at her laptop as if it might open up and attack her at any moment then slowly lifted the top again with her page still open. The number wasn't going up as fast anymore, but occasionally she would see a tic as another was added.
As tired as Joss was, she was also curious, so she clicked on the PM notification tab, and it took her to another page that listed messages much like an email account would. A client was encouraged to use only their first name or a username, and that was all that was displayed with their profile while all of their other identifying information remained private. She had decided to use "Joss" which was simple and unique enough, and besides, it was her nickname. Some of the names/usernames she saw listed had her clicking the delete button immediately. She shook her head and laughed softly as she trashed "Firestarter", "Flashman" and "Fingerme1" all at once. Don't these people understand you're supposed to attract someone not repulse them? Her fatigue began to return after she had weeded out the most ridiculous of the usernames which brought her numbers down significantly. Out of thirty-two she ended up with fourteen PM's that she felt she might actually read.
When Joss glanced at her "referral" notification tab she noticed that she had one notification. That meant that The Real Connection had found someone who matched her profile. Now she was really curious. Whoever this was had things in common with her, the same interests, and the same values. She bit down on her lower lip as she circled the notification tab with her mouse. She had to know. She clicked on the notification.
The username that popped up on her screen was "personofinterest01". Joss's eyebrows rose at this acronym as it was what police used when interested in a person during an investigation. Maybe it was someone in the department? She hoped it wasn't. She really didn't want to date another cop. Well, she might as well at least see what this guy looked like, and maybe read what he had to say. She clicked on his username, and her screen was filled with a photo of a devastatingly handsome white guy.
Joss could only stare for several minutes as she took in his deep-set, striking, silver-blue eyes framed with long, thick, black eyelashes. The look in those mysterious eyes was intense, but with a hint of devilish humor lurking in their depths. They flashed with intelligence, perception, and insight. She could also read compassion deep in his eyes. His hair was dark going slightly gray at the temples, and although it was cut brutally short it appeared soft to the touch and thick. He had high cheekbones, a square jaw line, and a slightly crooked nose she found very appealing. He wore a button down, black, form-fitting shirt open at the neck, revealing smooth, toned, tan, skin. Joss had to admit that, even just from his picture, she was strongly attracted to him.
Beneath his photo was a short but sweet message, and the link to his profile….
The woman John Reese was gazing at on the computer screen was mesmerizing. To say she was beautiful would be an understatement, but her photo revealed someone who had something deeper than physical beauty. Her large, soft, dark, eyes expressed care, compassion, and were bright with intelligence, reason, and intuition. Her smile was sunny and engaging, it made him want to smile with her. That same smile lit up her face just as the sunlight behind her lit the light brown highlights of her long, dark, hair as it fell around her face and shoulders. Although it looked as if she wore little make-up her complexion was flawless. The hint of her dark, golden-brown, skin beneath the denim shirt only made him want to explore more of her soft smoothness.
"She's quite stunning, isn't she Mr. Reese?" Harold Finch murmured.
"Yes, she is, Finch," Reese replied in his soft voice after clearing his throat. "I see it matched us. So I assume you were able to install your algorithm that would match us together?" he asked, returning to the business at hand.
They had received Carter's number early that morning, and through Reese's surveillance he had discovered that she might try out this dating site. Although Finch thought it was an unnecessary risk, Reese and Finch devised a plan to get Reese close to Carter by installing an algorithm in the site's programming that would match Reese and Carter together. The only flaw in their plan was that it depended on Carter responding to Reese when he sent her a personal message. Reese wasn't conceited, but he knew he was attractive, and had used this to his advantage on many missions when he was in the CIA. Strangely though, he found himself wanting Carter to be attracted to him, even excited that she might be, which he hadn't done in a very long time.
"Actually, Mr. Reese, I didn't have to," Finch responded with a quirk of his lips. He knew the detectives' background, her ethics, her need to help and protect people, and realized that she and Mr. Reese had a lot in common. Finch had decided to wait, and not install the algorithm to see if the site would match them naturally as he felt it would….and it did.
Reese looked at Finch curiously. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, I didn't have to install the algorithm. The site matched you and Detective Carter on its own," Finch said with expression.
"Really?" Reese inquired softly incredulous. Finch nodded, and Reese was finding it hard to contain his eagerness. "Well. I guess I had better make contact then," he said calmly, and headed toward the backroom they had converted to a small bedroom in case one of them needed to stay overnight.
Finch frowned. "Where are you going?"
John turned, and gave Finch a wicked grin. "I'll need some privacy to do this, Finch. Don't want you leaning over my shoulder correcting my grammar," and he turned to go get his laptop in the backroom, and message Carter probably a little more excited than he should be.
*Friendzar was the name of the social media site Logan Pierce created in Person Of Interest Season 2 Episode 14
A/N: I wonder what John said in his message, and did Joss respond? Wouldn't you like to know? See you soon...
