A/N: A brand new chapter for the weekend! I hope you enjoy it. Joss has some explaining to do. Thanks to SWWoman for everything she does including propping up the ego of a nervous new writer. And a big thank you to those who review and I'm unable to directly respond.

Breaking Point Chapter 3

Joss groaned and stretched like a cat in the morning sun as she reached for John finding he wasn't in bed beside her. Blinking the sleep from her eyes, she turned her head to scan the room and saw him over by the dresser in his boxer briefs standing stock still staring at something in his hands. Curious, Joss pushed the covers away and climbed out of bed, grabbing her nightshirt and pulling it over her head. It was April in New York but there was still a slight chill in the air.

Walking up behind him, she wrapped her arms around his waist and snuggled into his back. He was cold. He must have been standing there awhile. Well she knew how to warm him up as she held him tighter and snuggled deeper Joss frowned, something was wrong. He didn't relax into her embrace. He stood stiff and unyielding as if he didn't want her to touch him. Joss stepped back as if she were scalded. What could have happened between last night and this morning to make him so …cold?

"John?" Joss asked quietly.

"When were you going to tell me?" his voice so soft and quiet yet rough with suppressed emotion that she could barely hear him.

A heavy weight fell into the pit of Joss' stomach and she swallowed hard. He knew. She had confirmation when he turned and she saw his face but more importantly she saw what he was holding. She looked from his hands to his face and her heart broke at the look of betrayal she saw there. He was angry, yes, but more than that he felt betrayed. He had been lied to by the very person who swore she would never lie to him.

John threw the item at her in anger and she instinctively caught it holding it to her. It was her ID….and her United States Federal Bureau of Investigations badge.

"You're a fucking Agent, Joss!? With the FBI!? When were you going to tell me, huh?" his voice was low and soft showing just how angry and betrayed he felt. "When? A better question is WHY? Why didn't you tell me?" He looked at her with a look she had never seen before. His eyes were cold as a winter sea and a muscle ticked in his clinched jaw. She took a step toward him and he quickly stepped back. John took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair turning this way and that, seemingly unable to settle on anything.

"I gotta get outta here." He murmured. "I can't… I can't stay here. Not now" His voice trembled with churning emotions. He grabbed his jeans and began to get dressed.

Joss was frozen. He was leaving. He was just going to leave without letting her explain. She stood in the middle of the hotel room wide eyed and watched him as he pulled his tee shirt over his head then sat down on the edge of the bed to put his socks and shoes on. He was really leaving. The thought spurred her into action.

Dropping to her knees in front of him, she grabbed his face between her small hands and made him face her although he still wouldn't meet her eyes. With tears swimming in her eyes she begged him, "Please, let me explain. At least give me that. If after that you still want us to," her breath hitched, "go our separate ways I will leave and you never have to see me again. Just, please, give me that?" This last was said as a prayer and seemed to touch something in John because she saw his face soften when he finally fully looked at her.

Taking her hands in his he looked deep into her warm brown eyes filled with tears to match his own. As he gazed there he could see genuine regret and he knew he would listen. Not because of her regret but because he loved her desperately and he didn't know how to live without her; he didn't even want to try. He didn't know if she could explain this, but he was willing to listen. In all the time he had spent with Joss he knew two things; she had a good heart and a thirst for justice which, he had thought, was why she had become a lawyer. Yeah, he would listen probably more with his heart than his head, but he would listen just the same.

Standing to his feet he pulled her to hers. "Get dressed. I'll wait for you outside and we'll go find some breakfast and…..talk." He still had that look of betrayal in his eyes but his anger had subsided somewhat and there was something else in his bluish grey eyes that she couldn't quite define but she let it go. He was willing to talk and that's what mattered.

He hesitated only briefly before he dipped his head and brushed her lips with his. She was stunned. With a slight smirk and a shrug of his shoulders he said before turning to wait outside,

"I didn't get my good morning kiss."

Trying hard to suppress a squeal and a grin Joss turned and hurried to get ready for the power breakfast of her life!

One Hour Later

The last thing Joss wanted to do was eat. They had decided to go to a small diner tucked away behind a strip mall a good way away from their hotel in case someone tried to track them by their phones. They had turned them off and took out the batteries while they were at the hotel so they couldn't track them there. By leading them across town in a completely opposite direction it might throw them off the scent for a while; So far so good.

Joss placed her menu back in the holder after placing her order waiting while John placed his. This mornings' drama didn't seem to have affected his appetite as he ordered the Hungry Man Special with steak and eggs hash browns toast and a three stack of pancakes on the side. The waitress turned to leave giving Joss a secret thumbs up and she couldn't help but smile.

"What are you smiling about?" John asked and Joss looked over at him quickly.

"Oh, well, the waitress gave me a secrete thumbs up when she went to turn our order in," she explained truthfully. No point starting out on a lie. He looked at her quizzically a small smile tugging at the corners of his own lips. "She was congratulating me on having such a fine handsome man at my table," she explained further and had to suppress a grin at the lite blush that crept up his cheeks as he looked down at his hands resting on the table.

"Oh," was all he said. He sat up straight in his seat and looked her dead in the eye. "I think it's time you explained yourself, Joss," he said quietly but firmly.

"You don't want to wait until our food arrives?" not surprised at his impatience. "So we're not interrupted?" she added quietly.

"No, I don't," he said sternly. Just then their smiling waitress brought their steaming cups of coffee and placed them on the table in front of them. Neither acknowledged her presence. They just kept staring at one another and the waitress feeling the tension murmured for them to call for her if they needed anything before beating a hasty retreat.

John sat there waiting not saying another word. He had said he would listen so now he would.

Joss broke away first and looked down at her hands wrapped around her coffee cup. She needed the warmth because the chill emanating from John froze her to the bone. Taking a deep breath she dove right in.

"Everything I told you about my past is true. I was married, I was in the Army, I was medically discharged and I did go to law school and passed the bar. I am a lawyer. I had Taylor during that time and I lost my husband in Iraq just as I said." Taking a sip of her coffee she looked up. His expression was unreadable his eyes shuddered with no emotion whatsoever. She plunged on, "After I passed the bar I felt there was a different calling for my life. Something more pro-active I could do so I joined the NYPD Police Academy and became a cop moving up the ranks to become a homicide detective in the Homicide Task Force at the 8th Precinct here in New York." She saw a spark of interest in his eyes when she said this but he remained still and quiet.

Finally their food arrived and she was able to take a break and gather her thoughts on how to tell him about her involvement with Kara…..and him. They silently prepared their food and settled in to eat. Just as she picked her fork and knife up to cut into her pancakes, she was hungrier than she thought, John said,

"Continue," and plopped a piece of steak in his mouth chewing slowly waiting for her to begin.

Joss looked at him for a moment then cutting into her pancakes said, "After a few high profile busts I was approached by Agent Donnelly whom I had worked with on a particular case and asked if I would be interested in joining the FBI. At first I didn't want to consider it because I would have to leave New York and the training would take up to six months. I didn't want to uproot Taylor from his home and friends and I was the only family my mother had nearby. So, I declined." Joss chewed her pancake and swallowed cutting another piece and glancing at John.

He was diving into his eggs now with gusto and nodding his head in understanding. He could see why she wouldn't want to uproot her family and move to god knows where and that Agent training was brutal.

"What changed your mind?" he asked intrigued in spite of himself.

"Well, two things actually," she replied with a slight smile. He stopped eating to give her his full attention. "One: Agent Donnelly said I could work out of the New York field office if I decided to join, there would be some travel, yes, and yes I would have to go through the mandatory six month training period, after that I would be working cases in and around the New York/Manhattan/Brooklyn area. The second, "and her smile widened, "was Taylor himself. He told me he did not want me to let him stand in the way of doing good in the world. He said I was born to do this and he didn't want me to lose this opportunity…. his words," she finished.

By the end John was smiling too. Joss had a great kid. He had met him several times when he would go to Joss' house to just hang out or watch a movie. He and Taylor both loved sports and always had something to talk about when he would visit. John felt that the boy missed having a man around that he could confide in; things a teenage boy couldn't talk about with his mother no matter how close they were.

He sobered as he remembered why they were having this conversation. He went back to eating his food. He wasn't the least bit hungry but he had learned that your body needs fuel to run and although it tasted like card board in his mouth he forced himself to finish his meal.

"Okay. All of that makes sense." John said starting in on his pancakes. "What I don't understand is why you didn't tell me and why you were posing as a lawyer when we met." Putting his knife and fork on the table he looked up at her suddenly overcome with emotion. "Even if you were under cover you could have told me the truth, dammit. I told you everything about me. Even though it could have cost me my job I told you who I was what I did and what I was doing and with whom. Why couldn't you show me the same damn curtesy?" He finished on a harsh whisper and leaned back against the booth all pretense of eating gone.

Joss' watery brown eyes looked into Johns' shimmering blue gray ones unwaveringly, "You're right, I should have. And I regret more than you know not telling you. It was a careless stupid mistake that I should have never let get this far but John in all honesty, we were not supposed to happen, "she said breathlessly. He looked at her in astonishment. Reaching over the table she grabbed his hand he and didn't he pull away. With a whimper she said, "I was not supposed to fall in love with you but I did and the longer I waited to tell you the harder it got until I was so afraid of losing you I didn't know how to tell you." She sniffed as her tears threatened to spill over and laughed a humorless laugh. Looking up at nothing in particular that humorless smile on her face she said, "You know what's funny. You'll love this. I had made up my mind last night before I fell asleep to tell you this morning." She laughed that humorless laugh again. "Isn't that ironic?" she said sarcastically.

The only thing John heard after she took his hand was that she loved him. The rest registered somewhere else in his brain but the fact that she loved him rocked him to his soul. He knew he loved her but he never thought that she would reciprocate his feelings. She cared for him certainly and he knew she had a good heart, but for her to love him, his mind couldn't process it! He stared at her beautiful face with her tears now leaking out of her eyes and leaving tracks along her smooth skin. He couldn't believe he almost walked out of this woman's life forever, to never know that she loved him body and soul, scars, demons, killer, and all. Standing, he stepped to Joss's side of the booth and reached for her hand.

Joss had noticed a change in John after she got control of herself and stopped her mirthless laughing. He seemed to be trying to process everything she had told him but that wasn't it. Something had grabbed his attention and he was chewing on it like a dog chews a bone. She went over in her mind what she had said to him in the past few minutes but couldn't think of anything that would have caused this kind of change in him. Then she caught her breath. She had told him she loved him. It had just spilled out as she tried desperately to explain what had happened. She gazed at him wide eyed as he got out of his seat across from her and stood next to her reaching for her hand. She let him take it.

Taking Joss by the hand John pulled her to her feet and into his arms for a blistering kiss that had her melting into his embrace and fisting his tee shirt. This went on until they both had to come up for air. Dragging in deep gulps of air Joss' glassy eyed gaze met his desire darkened eyes and she asked breathlessly,

"Where did that come from? I thought you were pissed at me?"

He smiled that slow captivating smile, "You said you loved me, I just thought it would be good manners to say it back," he said softly holding her to him tightly. "I love you Jocelyn Carter, that is your name right?" he added teasingly.

"Y..Yes, of course. You love me? Even after all that?" Joss finally stammered out after catching her breath.

Still smiling he said, "Yes, even after all that. I'm in The Business Joss. I know how this works. Although I wish you would have trusted me enough to tell me from the beginning, I do understand your thinking." He ran his hand down her back. They really needed to get somewhere more private, he thought.

Joss frowned slightly, "But what about my mission? Don't you want to know what my mission is?"

John looked into her eyes seriously, "Yes I do. But if I had to guess it probably has something to do with Kara and it's a part of the reason my cover was blown. Am I close?"

"Very. But there are some things you need to know about Kara and her activities. There's a lot to talk about, John." She replied just as seriously although his hands on her back getting dangerously close to her bottom were distracting her.

His hand drifted to her hair and he pulled her head towards his and whispered sensuously in her ear, "Well, why don't we go back to the hotel and….discuss your mission more thoroughly, Hmm?"

Joss closed her eyes and let his voice wash over her. That man could make a woman come apart with his voice alone, she thought. Licking her lips and swallowing hard Joss turned her head just enough that their lips were only a breath apart. "That sounds like a wonderful idea. After that we can discuss what my mission from the FBI is. Ya think?" She said her words dripping with promise of what they would do before that. She brushed his lips with hers in the briefest of kisses and John groaned as he released her from his embrace.

After being so emotionally torn this morning and now getting reconciled, he was ready for some good loving. Especially since they both had declared their love one for the other. Their sex up till now had been nothing short of spectacular. Now without having to hold back their feelings for each other, being able to express their deep love for one another, making love was going to be earth shaking. And he couldn't wait.

Throwing some bills on the table he grabbed Joss by the hand and once again she was being dragged behind him but this time she had a smile on her face in anticipation of what was to come. They still had things to clear up. John needed to know the danger he was in. The real danger he was in. Turning her head she caught their waitress's eye and secretly shot her a thumbs-up. The waitress grinned then turned her attention back to the very well-dressed man with thick black glasses and asked,

"Can I get you anything else?"

The man glanced up at her turning his head stiffly, "No. Thank you. That will be all." With that the waitress laid his ticket on the table and walked back towards the kitchen.

Meanwhile the well-dressed man with thick black glasses watched the beautiful couple walk to their car arms around each other seemingly without a care in the world. But both the man and woman were hyperaware of their surroundings and both carried their weapons concealed behind their jackets in the waistband of their jeans. The well-dressed man knew this because he watched them; had been watching them for a long time. Picking up his phone he pressed a button then held the phone to his ear. It rang once then, "Are they leaving?" was the low sharp female answer.

"Yes," the well-dressed man spoke quietly. "We need to make sure no harm comes to them Ms. Shaw. They are excellent for our endeavor."

"You know me, Finch. Not on my watch." Shaw replied dryly.

Finch smiled and said blandly, "Of course Ms. Shaw. Keep in touch. Let me know of any problems. " He hesitated a moment then looking around seeing no other patrons within hearing, "How is our situation with Ms. Stanton progressing?"

"Damn! She's a slippery one, Finch." The woman on the other end exploded. "I don't think she made me but she did manage to shake me off her tail. I presume she just naturally takes countermeasures for safety. Those CIA grunts are very well trained." She acknowledged grudgingly.

"As were you, Ms. Shaw. It's one of the reasons I chose you as well as the fact your employers were about to kill you." The man called Finch replied dryly. "Keep me informed….on both fronts, if you would." It wasn't a request.

He ended the call, rose from his seat by the window and left the restaurant leaving the waitress a generous tip. As he made his way to his Lincoln Town car with a pronounced limp, his thoughts wandered back to the two people he had just observed. They had seemed to have some sort of conflict but obviously had worked it out or at least begun to. He had been impressed with Jocelyn Carter when she was just a detective and first came onto his radar. She cared about people and wanted to help them. It seemed, at times, she was frustrated that she couldn't do more. He smiled to himself. That was very good for his cause. His smile faded. Sadly, she had an enemy she was unaware of who threatened her life and Mr. Reese' happiness. And John Reese, well, he was a special case. He remembered his first encounter with Mr. Reese as if it were yesterday. He would not be alive today if it had not been for him. Mr. Reese didn't know it, of course. He had just decided to do the right thing and unfortunately it was coming back to haunt him. Yes those two would do very well in his endeavor. Very well indeed, he thought as he slid behind the wheel and put the key in the ignition. All he had to do now was keep them alive.