AN: I know you guys really enjoy this story so I will try to speed up my updates, but in the meantime I want to thank you guys for being patient with me, I know I don't have to wait around like you guys do :)


John found and entered Fortunes Casino after a quick reply from an irritated Donnelly that it was on Deck 4 (complaining he should have just asked Shaw since he told her) and, for the first time in a very long time, his mind was not on work but rather on Joss. He heard the beep in his ear. He sighed, really not wanting to connect with Shaw, his mind was still reeling from earlier, his body was wound tight with sexual frustration but duty called.

He clicked the button in his ear. "Yes, Shaw," he answered slowly, preparing himself mentally for Shaw's barrage of questions and comments.

"Who the hell was that woman in our cabin?" Shaw asked without fail.

"New question, Shaw," he stated tersely, needing her to back off. He didn't know how to explain Joss to Shaw in a way she would understand.

"I like this one."

"Too damn bad. Where are you and have you managed to make contact with our targets?" he demanded, immediately changing the subject.

"Near the Blackjack table. And no, but I did manage to get eyes on them."

John scanned and found her. It was not hard to spot her, you could spot her from space since she stood out like a multi-colored neon sign.

"I should have just searched for the human traffic light," he deadpanned.

"Ha-ha, good one Reese, remember you want me to drop the subject of the sexy black lady you nearly plowed until I entered the room. You were two seconds away from reaming her," she reminded darkly.

"Point taken," he commented before disconnecting as he strode over to her as she loitered near the Blackjack table. She nodded her head and he followed her gaze, finding Nigel and Selma at the roulette table holding drinks, laughing, and talking. "Has anyone suspicious come up to them?"

"Nope, I scanned the casino and didn't see anyone keeping an eye on them either. Not like us," Shaw muttered. "They have been at the roulette table the entire time," she added.

"They look like they are having a fun time." he murmured, taking notice that Nigel Wixom rubbed his wife's arm before whispering something and she smiled, then he turned to leave. "I'll be right back…dear," he tacked on the endearment at the last second.

"I'll go try to establish contact with Selma, sweet cheeks." Shaw said with humor lacing her voice as they split up. Shaw headed for the roulette table while he followed Nigel to the bar that was set up in the corner of the room.

John walked up beside Nigel Wixom as the man ordered drinks for him and his wife before he sighed earning the man's attention. "Do you know what's good here?" he asked, feigning confusion as he eyed the different drinks behind the bartender's head.

Nigel smiled before answering, "I suggest the Crown and Coke."

"Thanks; me and my new misses are going to live it up on our honeymoon," he murmured before ordering the drink Nigel suggested.

"Oh you're on a honeymoon?"

"Yea," John agreed as he turned to offer his hand which the man took. "I'm John."

"Nigel. I'm on my honeymoon too."

"Oh, another shackled one," John joked lightly which broke the ice as Nigel laughed.

"I don't mind being shackled to her," Nigel murmured happily before pointing out Selma to him. "That's her, my wife; Selma."

"Wow, she's beautiful," John said warmly and Nigel nodded his head in full agreement. "And your lovely wife is actually talking with my wife Sam, what a coincidence," John said with a laugh.

Nigel looked back at his wife and saw a small brunette woman sitting with her talking. "She's pretty."

"She is," he agreed as he looked back at the ladies and prayed Shaw was doing alright with Selma. Shaw was a good chameleon and was able to blend in on any undercover operation but her short fuse was too short at times, and she found this case lame. John took the drinks for him and Shaw before turning with the man and added a comment about meeting Sam at a Mets game; thanks to Intel they knew that Nigel Wixom was a devoted baseball fan and his favorite team was the New York Mets for which he held season tickets. Sports was easy for John, since he held an interest there too, and the two men fell in an easy conversation that John hoped gained him an 'in' to the newlyweds.

Nigel laughed as he and John approached Shaw and Selma before the two ladies turned to look at them and the introductions were made as they handed their spouses their drinks. John didn't really know what to make of the look he was receiving from Selma and was going to demand to know what Shaw had told the woman.

"It's nice to meet you, ma'am," John murmured politely as he took Selma's hand and lifted her palm up and kissed it while Shaw drank half of her drink in one gulp.

"Oh my, you are very gentlemanly," Selma said with a look still in place, the look that John couldn't quite read, before he shot a questioning glance at Shaw as he straightened.

Shaw wrapped an arm around Reese's waist. "I told ya, didn't I, Selma," Shaw's voice held a hint of bragging rights and John was sure whatever she told Selma was not good for him.

Selma giggled and nodded. "Oh yea," she agreed before a bright smile filled her face. The four moved off to the side to chat for several more minutes, choosing topics that the Wixoms held dear to them, and after a while Selma invited them to dinner, "My husband and I were just going to go get some dinner, how about you two join us?"

"We would love too," Shaw chirped as her face darkened with hunger. "I'm starving."

"I bet you are!" Selma agreed with a look John's way before she slipped her hand into Nigel's. "How about meeting us at Bistro on Five in say twenty minutes?"

Shaw smirked. "Better make it a half hour."

Selma nodded and giggled at him again before the happily married couple turned and walked away. John and Shaw immediately parted and he glared at her. "What?" Shaw faked innocence as they handed one of the rotating crew members with an empty tray their empty tumblers.

"What did you tell her?" he asked angrily.

"Who?"

"Selma Gordon-Wixom, that's who!"

"I don't know what you're talking about, Reese," Shaw said with a lift of her pointy chin. He narrowed his eyes on her as they exited the casino to head directly for the elevator to get up to their cabin so Shaw could change.

They entered the elevator and John didn't let up. "You told her something because she couldn't stop giggling at me."

Shaw shrugged. "I found a topic that I was comfortable with and Selma and I hit it off."

The only two topics Shaw was good at were: guns and sex. "Let me guess: I have a constant hard on for you and I can't get enough of you and your pussy. How am I doing so far?" he wondered in exasperation.

Shaw grinned evilly. "You should have kept your big fat mouth shut about my hideous shirt!" she stated and he sighed. "And you're pretty close but I actually said that you act like my vagina is your penis's garage and you are packing quite the hardware, no fake husband of mine has a small package!" Shaw said and snickered at Reese's scowl, before she motioned down south. "Not that you have to worry about me lying for you, judging from the boner I saw when you were practically pressing that woman through the wall. You must have a dick the size of Texas," she added as they got off the elevator.

Shaw noted the curled hands into fists as if he was fighting the urge to strangle her and decided Reese was distracted enough with lust to kill her that he might give her an answer to her question, so she asked, "Who the hell was that chick anyway, an old girlfriend or something?" she demanded.

"I am going to kill Finch when I get back on dry land!" John vowed, not biting on the obvious ploy by Shaw to know who Joss was. He wasn't telling her anything. With his luck Shaw would try to chase Joss off if she learned that they slept together once almost five years ago. Shaw would hate her for not searching for him when it was his fault. But reasoning with Shaw was like reasoning with a brick wall and for some reason Shaw had latched onto running his love life like it was her business, no matter how angry he got.

But even though he was supremely irritated at the moment with Shaw and their cover, he couldn't say he was as upset about the case as he previously was. If Finch never told the Senator about him then he would never have been reassigned and he would never have run into Joss again. At least finding Joss again was his silver lining for this case from hell.


Joss paced the bedroom of the Royal Suite back and forth. She hadn't been able to calm down since running into John. She had shifted her thoughts about John in the back of her mind when she picked up their daughter so Maddie didn't notice a thing. Joss had taken Maddie back to their cabin to change back into her swimsuit so she could go swim some more before they ate dinner and retired for the evening in their cabin. Maddie was practically running on empty in the restaurant because she hadn't slept well the night before and that little cat-nap on the plane to Florida only lasted so long. Maddie tried to get mommy to agree to one outing for swimming but she refused, which the overtired Maddie had cried about. Joss had Maddie change into her pajamas and put on a children's movie which made her daughter forget all about swimming as she immediately got lost in the movie. Joss knew it would take about twenty minutes to a half hour before her daughter gave into the sleep that was beckoning her and would definitely sleep well tonight.

But her mommy wouldn't.

Joss had changed into her pajamas right along with her daughter. She wore mauve colored knit shorts and for her top she wore the lavender dress shirt John had left in his haste to make his flight the morning after their one night. Joss had found it on the floor when she got up to watch from her bedroom window as he hailed a taxi. She had told herself she could wave him down and hurry out to give it to him. But she hadn't wanted to. She wanted to keep it. She had told herself she was going to just wash it and hang it up in her closet, so she could always look at it and have the fond memory of their night together to look back on. But then the night that followed had been hard because she had missed him. It was stupid because she had just met the man but the night before they had spent the entire time talking and making love.

She had been sore and tired for work but her thoughts were on the man with gorgeous blue eyes that she couldn't seem to blink away. Taylor had teased her that she looked like a walking zombie and wondered what kept her up all night. She lied and said she couldn't sleep, which had been partial truth. But when she had gone up to her room that night when she thought sleep would have been easy since she was operating on less than a half hour of sleep, sleep eluded her. Her mind raced with thoughts of John, what they had shared the night before, and wondering where he was and what he was doing. She had tossed and turned, angrily punching her pillow, and even had gone downstairs, found her bourbon that she hid just for those types of nights and took several sips. But still nothing put her to sleep…that is until she broke down and tugged on his shirt that still smelled of his crisp natural male scent and that sexy cologne. Joss had fallen asleep like a baby the moment she curled up in her bed in his shirt.

And ever since that night she slept in it, though since then it had been washed and cleaned but sometimes she could almost still smell his scent on it because she longed for it so much.

Joss exited the bedroom and smiled softly as her daughter was sound asleep as the movie blared unwatched. She shut the movie off, collected her daughter into her arms and carried her into the bedroom. Maddie was so out of it that she didn't rouse even a little bit. Joss set her on the bed and pulled the covers over her little body. She pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"Goodnight' baby, mommy loves you." she whispered before kissing her forehead once more and moved to the door, shut the light off, and closed the door but left it ajar to let a little light flicker through. She didn't want her daughter to awaken and get scared.

Joss wasn't ready to sleep. She ventured for the veranda and exited out onto it and sighed as she looked out at the dark ocean that the moonlight reflected off. She smiled as she looked up and saw so many stars that it was breathtaking. Joss never really could see the stars in New York, it was too busy and such, and she didn't have the time to star gaze. She gasped in surprise when a shooting star crossed the beautiful night's sky.

"Joss, you know what that means." she said out loud to herself. It was time for a wish. And she knew it was silly but she couldn't break tradition. She closed her eyes and made her wish: I wish for a real chance with John, the father to my daughter. Joss opened her eyes and sighed as she sat down on the comfortable sandy colored lounge chair set up on the veranda, knowing that her wish had a good chance at coming true.

John kissed her and, given a few more minutes alone, she was sure they would have been doing something far more than just kissing. The same consuming passion between them ignited all over again and Joss couldn't say she didn't welcome it. She missed that passion from her life. She hadn't had it before John and she certainly didn't have it after. While Joss knew she had been celibate since then, there was no doubt in her mind that John had not. He was a man after all and a very good looking man to boot, and to be perfectly honest: a damn sexual man. She didn't hold it against him since they weren't in a relationship of any sort, but she did want to know why he hadn't ever come in search for her because she knew it wasn't all one-sided. It couldn't be which he had proved to her when he pulled her into his cabin and nearly scorched her with his burning need.

She needed to talk to someone about John. And she knew just who. Joss got to her feet and entered the suite to grab her cell phone before swiftly checking on Maddie to make sure she was still asleep. When Joss was satisfied that her daughter was out like a light, she closed the door again and immediately made a beeline for the veranda. She didn't want to risk the chance that Maddie would wake up and overhear a single word. Joss needed to let John in on the fact that he was a daddy before Maddie was told that her daddy that she had wanted since she could remember was found.

Joss sat back down all the while finding Grace's name and clicked it. She hoped she was up. On occasion Grace stayed up past Harold and Leila's bedtimes because she got inspired and would paint into the wee morning hours. She hoped that was the case tonight.

It rang three times and Joss nearly gave up before Grace answered with a cheery 'hello'.

"I didn't wake you, did I?" Joss asked.

"No, I was in my studio painting but I left my cell in the kitchen," she explained with a rush of breath. "But how are you, Joss, how are you enjoying the cruise thus far?" she asked warmly.

"I love it. I can't say thank you enough for what you and Harold have done," she said sincerely. And more than that, if they never got her this cruise then she never would have run into John again. And for that she would be forever grateful.

"Oh sweetie, you're so welcome, and stop thanking us. You are a very dear friend to Harold and I, Leila loves you and Maddie so very much as do we. As long as you and Maddie are happy and enjoying yourselves that is all the thanks we need," Grace assured quickly and with finality.

Joss shook her head unable to fight with her friend when she got into these moods. Joss leaned her head back as she rubbed a hand over the buttons of the shirt she wore, staring up at the stars.

"Is Harold asleep?" she asked prolonging the actual reason why she called.

"Yes, he had a rough day. His back and neck acted up and he was in so much pain," Grace said with acute anguish in her voice.

"I'm so sorry, Grace."

"There's not much we can do. Physical therapy helped him and while he's not in the wheelchair anymore, which is a miracle in itself, I just wish there was something more that could be done. His quality of life has been altered. He couldn't even lift Leila this morning," Grace murmured softly.

Joss thought she heard the very strong and caring woman's voice wobble and then a sniffle. "I wish I could offer more than a simple 'I'm sorry' but I can't, Grace."

"Me too, thanks for listening to me," Grace whispered and sounded like she blew her nose. "I just love him and worry about him. But I just have to hold onto the fact that at least he survived which could not be said about Nathan. His family had to bury him while I was graced by god to have Harold in my life longer."

Joss held off talking to her about John as she chose topics to cheer her friend up which were Leila, Maddie, and her painting. Joss filled her in about the adventures that Maddie already had with swimming, the paper mache mask she refused to stop wearing which had been a very gaudy purple, gold, and pink mixture.

"So what did you do while Maddie was engrossed in her paper mache mask making? I hope you went and got a massage to relax," Grace murmured, sounding a little more chipper.

Joss grinned. "I did," she agreed before she hesitated. Joss needed to tell someone about John before she exploded. "Grace, he's here."

"Who's there?" Grace asked.

"John…."

"Your 'John' is on the ship with you?" she questioned, but didn't sound nearly as surprised as Joss figured she would be.

"Yes my 'John,' Maddie's father…that John!" Joss agreed, emphasizing the importance of the fact. When Grace asked her what she was going to do, Joss narrowed her eyes. She had thought Grace would be surprised but Grace was acting like she had already known. And then she recalled the text she had received from Harold earlier about wanting her to be on Deck 8. She hadn't realized that she didn't see anything and hadn't paid much attention to that before now. Because she had run into John and all thoughts of anything else had taken a backseat.

"You don't sound as shocked as I figured you would be," Joss said, becoming suspicious.

"Oh I am." Grace said hurriedly.

"You're trying to lie to a former Army Interrogator and not very well I might add, Grace! You knew he was here didn't you!" Joss demanded loudly before she tempered herself down, not wanting to wake anyone next to her.

Grace sighed. "Harold warned me that I wouldn't be able to keep it from you that I knew. Oh boy, he was right. I shouldn't have asked him," she said.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Joss asked.

"Your John is our John."

"Excuse me?"

"Maddie's father is Leila's Godfather," she clarified.

Joss nearly dropped her cell phone in astonishment. "Leila's godfather…the Uncle John Leila talks about all the time is Maddie's father, the man that I have thought about for almost five years!" she said, trying to make sense of what she was hearing. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"Well Joss, first off; we didn't know, not until you told me the story of Maddie's father. Even then I didn't know. It wasn't until I told Harold offhandedly what you told me that he recognized the story about the woman that John used to love: Jessica. My husband began putting two and two together because John was in town during the time Maddie was conceived for our wedding," Grace explained.

Joss sat still while her mind swam for the second time in a matter of hours. Not only did she find John again, but now she learned that her good friends knew John and most likely set them up on to this cruise to find each other. "So does that mean the case he's working on is fake?" Joss wondered.

"Ah, so you talked to John then?"

"Yes." Joss agreed feeling her body warm as it recalled they had done more than talk for a few glorious minutes until his angry partner interrupted. "At first I thought he was truly married to someone else," she admitted.

"To answer your question, from my understanding from what Harold told me, the case that John was put on is very much real. I met Selma at her wedding and heard about the death threats she is receiving. I think my Harold really sold Selma's father on requesting John for the case."

"Was this wedding before or after I told you about John?"

"After," Grace answered. Joss furrowed her brows. Selma that wasn't a common name and maybe Selma was her neighbor in the Royal Suite next to hers. Joss immediately got to her feet, wanting to go inside her cabin so no one could overhear her conversation. "But don't you dare work on your vacation, Jocelyn! You need one, leave this one to Shaw and John."

"I have no intentions of getting in John or Shaw's way of working their case. I don't want to risk landing them in hot water," she confessed quietly as she sat down on the couch. "I already know they could get fired for even ousting their cover to me in the first place," she said softly, not wanting either one of them to lose their job for her.

"So John told you the truth," Grace said sounding immensely pleased with the news.

Joss chuckled. "He did after a tiny mix-up."

"Okay I have to ask: are there still feelings between you two?" Grace questioned, recalling the passionate tale Joss had spoken so fondly of.

"Yes." Joss answered without hesitation and Grace squealed in happiness. Joss relaxed feeling better after calling Grace, even if it did shock her that her friends had set her up. "May I ask you something, Grace?"

"Of course you can," she agreed, like she was unsure why she even needed to ask.

"Grace, does John know that you know me?"

"No."

Joss nodded. "Does John know that you set him up?" she wondered.

"From what my wonderful husband told me this evening, John had been very upset to learn that Harold had talked with Senator Gordon about his credentials. Harold very much intended for John to be reassigned because we had talked about sending you on a cruise for your birthday for a while. My astute husband learned Selma and Nigel's honeymoon plans from the glowing couple themselves and then immediately purchased you your seven day cruise to paradise for that very same cruise," she explained. "I think even if Harold didn't know about the connection between you and John that he would have still tried to get John reassigned," she included which piqued Joss's interest.

"Why?"

"He's worried about John and quite frankly; I am too," Grace murmured.

Joss froze. "Is he alright? Is there something wrong?"

"No, he's fine, but overworked. John doesn't relax and he hasn't taken a vacation since our wedding."

Joss nodded as she relaxed. "I see."

"Now I need ask you a question, Joss," Grace hedged.

"Ask away," Joss assured.

"Have you told John about Maddie?"

"No, not yet, but I'm going too."

"Good! Because John is going to make a wonderful father. He's so good with Leila," Grace murmured softly.

"Before I break it to John that our one night resulted in an unplanned pregnancy and he has a very beautiful daughter that wants him so much, I need to know why he hasn't come in search for me. I need to know." she whispered.

"I have a feeling I know just from the subtle things my husband has said about John's past."

"Why?—why do you think he stayed away?" she asked clutching her cell phone tightly.

"Oh, I don't think…" Grace started but Joss cut her off.

"Please, Grace, I need to know what you think." Joss requested.

"Alright, Joss. This is my opinion not fact but I think John stayed away from you for these last few long years out of fear."

Joss nearly dropped her phone again due to surprise. John didn't look afraid of anything. "Fear?" she repeated, making sure she heard her right.

"Yes, fear. I think you scared John."

"Grace…"

"I don't mean you scare him in the typical sense. I mean John's been in love once that I know of and it ended badly; he hasn't had much experience with relationships and feelings. And then you came along and made him face something he hadn't expected to find again and that frightened him."

"You're talking about Jessica."

"Yea, in all the time I've known John he's never been in a relationship," Grace murmured. She had met John two months after she met and began dating Harold.

"How long?"

"Close to eight years. I met Harold in '08 and met John a couple months later. Harold didn't have any family left and the only ones he wanted me to meet was his two best friends that were like brothers: John, and Nathan." Grace said and Joss sucked in a breath. That was a long time of being alone. It made her sad. "I never even knew about Jessica until my husband told me everything Friday evening after we gave you your present, when he explained to why he chose the particular cruise you were going on. I suspect that John held a torch for Jessica because it was a convenient excuse so he wouldn't have to try again and get hurt. Then she died and he needed to grieve over her and learn to accept the loss."

"And that's when I met him, when he hadn't been ready to accept the fact that she was gone," Joss said, feeling enlightened and felt like she understood John more after talking with Grace. She was so glad she decided to risk it and call Grace. "Thank you for telling me this, it's been a major help," she said honestly.

"Don't thank me, I had visions of match-making you two forever and felt like you two would hit it off. John would be so happy with a ready-made family in you, Maddie, and Taylor. But then Harold told me his suspicions that Maddie was really John's, I was over the moon. I know you and John have a lot to hammer out and a lot of catching up to do, but I know everything will work out in the end. I have faith," Grace said simply.

Joss smiled. "So do I because I let him go once, I have no intentions of doing so again. My daughter deserves her father in her life. And I deserve the man I love in my life too."

"You deserve the world and more, Joss."

Joss smiled. "I need to call it a night; we port at eight in the morning for the Cococay Bahamas. I have big plans of spending the time on the beach, then snorkeling, and then after we board the ship again talk with John about us, then tell him about our daughter."

"Well good luck and have fun Joss. Just know if you need to talk; call me anytime day or night because I'm here for you." Grace murmured softly. "I love you like a sister Joss."

Joss smiled as she felt tears prick the backs of her eyes. "I love you like a sister too, Grace." she said lowly.

"Goodnight Joss."

"Goodnight Grace." she reciprocated and with that they both hung up.

Joss got to her feet setting her cell phone down on the table in front of her before moving to the bedroom. She was bushed and needed sleep. Maybe she could have happy dreams of a bright future with John.


AN: I love the idea of Grace and Joss being this close. Had the show gone WAY differently I could have seen this happening, with Careese and Harold/Grace having double dates :') Anyways next chapter:

Chapter 7: My Girl?

Yes, a song title an oldie but a goodie, or you can view it as a movie reference too since there is a movie with the same name :D Thanks for reading!