Shaw wanted to murder someone, preferably that Joss woman, but Reese made it so that she was off-limits. Donnelly was maintaining silence as he stayed at their stateroom for the evening to keep an eye on the Wixoms' room which meant she couldn't take out her mood on him either.

"Keep up that look and someone is bound to think you suck on lemons for fun," John murmured gently, trying to lighten her up a bit as he escorted Shaw out of the elevator towards the chosen restaurant.

He felt her nails dig into his forearm but she didn't respond. John knew he had put a lot on Shaw's plate, because she complained enough earlier, but she needed to know the truth. He made a face as they slowed their pace down considerably when they landed behind an elderly couple. Shaw looked around to speed past them but found they were walking dead center.

Her hand dug into his forearm further. "Can they walk any slower? I've seen cars going in reverse move forward faster!" she snapped as she leered at them from behind.

John rolled his eyes. "They are elderly, you know one of these days you are going to be this decrepit too," he reminded her.

"Yea, well, you'll reach that stage first," she sniped back. He hoped she'd focus on their back and forth and not this poor innocent older couple in front of them. "Besides they have one foot in the grave already, no one will ever know…"

"Shaw, you can't murder them for walking slow," he whispered darkly.

"Why not?"

"Oh I don't know, because they're old," John said in exasperation.

"They're not just old Reese; I've seen ancient relics younger than the old prunes in front of us," Shaw snarled in agitation, needing to take her foul mood out on someone and these vacationers around her would be fine. The older couple turned, obviously having overheard the entire conversation, and glared at them before moving off to the side.

"Sam, be nice," John snapped. Shaw looked up at him and a cocked a brow. "Right, what was I thinking?—at least don't be downright rude. Didn't your mother ever teach you: if you don't have anything nice to say not to say anything at all?"

"I thought that was Thumper from Bambi?" she muttered as they approached Luminae.

John's lip twitched. "It's good to know you watch cartoons, Shaw. Perhaps one of these days you and Maddie can watch them together."

She glowered at the mention of his little ankle-biter. She didn't know why she was so angry but she was. Maybe it was because even she had known Reese always wanted a kid, he was such a fucking moron around them, so it wasn't too hard to tell. And the fact that he had one that he never knew about, enraged her and he was so damned lucky he made her promise to not kill that Joss, or she would have been placed at the top of her hit list, bumping Donnelly from numero uno.

John stopped short. "Hey," he demanded and Shaw looked at him. "Can you at least try to like them?—Maddie isn't going anywhere, now that I know she's mine," he asked.

Shaw shrugged. "I'll probably like Maddie since she's half you, so she has to be kickass."

He sighed as that would be all he could ask for now. Maybe after their undercover gig was over he could really talk to Shaw and have her understand what had happened with Joss. John blanked his expression as they stepped forward to the hostess of the restaurant to tell them they were under the reservation for the Wixoms. They followed behind the hostess and found the Wixoms and Joss and Maddie already there.

"What? Are we fashionably late?" Shaw said cheerfully with a smile, so unlike herself.

John paused to stare at Joss who smiled at him. Good god, she was breathtaking and her look grew knowingly. He pulled his gaze from her so he didn't gawk like a teenager and his eyes fell onto their daughter, who turned and a smile broke out on her cute face.

"JOHN!" Maddie squealed in happiness, as she hopped off the chair and ran to him, throwing her arms around his legs. He smiled down at her as he reached down and touched her soft cheek. He swallowed hard. Maddie was so perfect. "Look at my dress, do you like it?!" she demanded as she bounced away and gave him a little twirl.

"It's beautiful, just like you."

Maddie grinned, happy at the praise before grabbing his hand. "Sit next to me and my mommy." Maddie said tugging his hand.

"Maddie…."Joss began. She had tried to warn Maddie the entire walk over here that John might not be able to spend as much time with them as she wanted him too. The way the chairs were situated John would be next to Maddie and his partner who was supposed to be his wife.

"No it's okay, we'll switch since the ankl—Maddie would like my husband to sit between you two," Shaw assured.

Joss was surprised before masking it. "Maddie, what do you say to Sam?"

Maddie turned to Shaw. "Thank you lady!" she said happily.

Shaw looked awkward as she shifted from foot to foot. "Er...you're welcome, kiddo."

John clenched his teeth together so his jaw didn't drop. Should he check Shaw for a temperature? What was wrong with her?—she was being nice? Shaw wasn't nice or polite...to anyone.

Selma smiled at Shaw. "You and your husband are the sweetest," she said softly.

John fought the bubble of laughter at that statement. He was sure no one ever in their life used 'sweet' to describe Shaw before this very moment. He looked at Shaw and they shared an amused look before they both covered it as Shaw moved to take Joss's seat.

Joss collected the purse she brought that housed Maddie's tablet as she stood and John stared at her. He couldn't help staring at her. He knew that Selma and Nigel were there but at the moment he didn't even pretend to care. Hopefully Shaw distracted them. He'd buy her ten steak dinners if she'd do that for him this once because he just needed a moment to gather himself as he hadn't been anticipating Joss to be wearing something so…so…enticing.

Shaw made a face as Reese eyeballed the woman she'd love to vaporize, so she turned and struck up small talk to buy him some time. He so fucking owed her for this!

John groaned as he shifted, willing his body to not respond to Joss's very attractive one. She was small, but she was wearing heels that added some height to her, making her eyes and her rich red lips nearly impossible to miss, as if he could have before. He licked his, wanting to suck on her lips, so he pushed his gaze down trying to curb the urge but it was a bad idea. Because the yellow dress that she was wearing reached mid-thigh and showed off her shoulders. His tongue danced behind his teeth as he recalled licking nearly every inch of her skin. He could distinctly remember the dewy taste; it was delectable and heady and he wanted another sampling so damn much.

Joss nearly got lost in John's eyes that were darkening with desire and she wished they weren't in a room full of people until a rough grasp on her wrist brought her back to reality. She looked at his partner seeing fury radiating in her brown eyes. Clearly John told the woman the truth about her and Maddie.

"Enough eye sex before you get knocked up again," Shaw growled for her ears only, before raising her voice for the sake of her cover, "I'll let you borrow my husband for now, but I'd love to get to know you better, Joss," she announced, sounding innocent enough but got the true point across.

Joss nodded curtly, understanding that they were going to have a chat in the very near future and Joss was damn sure it was going to go belly-up. It was clear this woman was fiercely protective of John and she found it a mix of annoying and so damn cute. John didn't need a protector but it seemed Shaw took the role very seriously.

"Same here, Sam," she agreed airily for the sake of John's and her cover before dropping her voice to a low whisper for his partner's ears only and said, "Because I'm not going anywhere, no matter what you say or do."

Joss tugged her arm free and she thought she saw another smirk on the woman's face but she couldn't be sure. Joss didn't even care because she moved over to the chair where she figured Shaw would sit beside John and took it. John sat between her and Maddie, with Shaw beside Maddie on the other side of the round table, with Selma on her other side. Nigel was seated between his wife and her, so the round table was filled finally and the dinner that was going to take everything in her to finish could finally start.

Shaw was watchful of Reese and Maddie, noting that the little girl was already trying to dominate his time. She vaguely listened to Selma who was talking to her as she glanced at Joss—Reese's whatever she was—speaking to Nigel.

The waitress appeared to take their food order as Selma and Nigel had already ordered a bottle of the best champagne and for Maddie a Shirley Temple, a Sprite with cherry syrup and a cherry, which excited Maddie since she never got to drink soda.

"Mommy let me wear blush," Maddie told John.

He smiled. "She did, well it looks perfect on you and your mommy," he murmured.

John nearly jumped out of his skin as he felt Joss lay a hand on his thigh. He tugged his gaze off their daughter to look at Joss and saw her looking at him before she smiled as their eyes connected as she caressed his thigh. Their lips were close as they seated close together and all he had to do was lean in just a few inches and capture her lips with his. But the moment was broken when his eyes widened a bit as he felt Joss allow her hand wander upwards. He ceased the movement resting a hand on hers.

"Mommy, my tablet please," Maddie requested sweetly as she sat on the chair on her knees, making both Joss and John jump.

Joss discreetly removed her hand from John's thigh as she immediately reached inside her purse, pulling out the small pink tablet she got her baby for Christmas. She loaded the thing with games and learning apps. Her daughter was going to be over ready for kindergarten. She tended to bring the tablet with her when she knew Maddie was going to be surrounded by all adults so she wouldn't get bored and get mischievous to quench that boredom.

She handed it to Maddie who promptly showed John it as if he never seen a tablet before. John, being the good sport, pretended to not know and asked questions so she'd show him, making the little girl supremely happy to have John's undivided attention.

"John, truly you and Sam need to have children because you'd make a wonderful father," Selma said. Joss and Shaw both nearly choked on their champagne.

John looked up and plastered a smile on his face. "Maybe someday," he said, leaving off 'when hell froze over'.

"Play tic-tac-toe with me, John," Maddie said loudly as she grabbed his forearm to get his attention back to her.

"Maddie…" Joss warned, finally being able to recover from nearly choking to death.

It was John's turn to rest a hand on her thigh which he noted jolted her and he nearly groaned at the feel of her thigh under his hand. It was so tantalizingly soft. All he had to do is let his hand slide up and he'd be between her legs where he knew she'd be wet. He just knew it. And he could slip his fingers deep inside her and rub her clitoris. He wished to taste her again. God did he miss her taste. She was so divine.

John shook himself free of the sexual fog that was trying to fill his brain as he gave her thigh a gentle squeeze before removing his hand halfheartedly because if he didn't he would be doing just as he wished.

"It's okay, I'll play with her," he murmured, still awestruck to be sitting next to the daughter he didn't know he had til earlier this afternoon. It wasn't a bother. While he needed to maintain his cover he also wanted to spend time with his daughter. And this dinner party was innocent enough that the Wixoms wouldn't know that there was more going on than met the eye.

Joss leaned over so she could whisper for his ears. "Don't let her win every game, Maddie needs to learn she loses too." she instructed and he smiled in agreement before shifting his focus to his daughter.

Shaw narrowed her eyes on Reese and his kid. Now that she saw them together the girl did have Reese's eyes, they were bright and blue. She lifted her gaze off the pair and saw Selma, Nigel, and that woman talking. That was fine by her it gave her a chance to observe and not have to keep up appearances and could unscrew her fake smile for a bit.

John let Maddie win the first two but he snuck a win on the third one. "I won…finally, you're one tough tic-tac-toe player, Maddie," he said and Maddie giggled as she ducked her head shyly. He leaned in closer to her. "Do you know what Xs and Os mean, Maddie?" he wondered.

Maddie looked up in confusion and shook her head. "What?"

He smiled down at her. "X means hugs and O means kisses," he explained which was met with a snort from Shaw and he thought he heard an 'awww' out of Selma. Selma-Gordon Wixom was a plain ole' softie wasn't she?

But he couldn't find out what Joss thought because Maddie stood up on the chair and flung her arms around his neck as she laughed merrily. John couldn't help but smile as he slid an arm around her while he held the tablet in his other hand. Maddie really did have an infectious laugh, John actually saw Shaw's lips twitch before she reinforced her scowl to keep the smile from forming.

"I'm Os so that means…" he started then paused because he gave her a loud noisy kiss on the cheek which sent the little girl into a fit of giggles.

"I'm Os next! I'm Os next!" Maddie squealed in delight as she clung to his neck, hugging him tight.

Joss shoved her chair back. "I'll be right back; I need to use the ladies' room," she said breathlessly, excusing herself. She needed to go hide in the bathroom before she blew John's cover. They were too cute and this was too much; she needed to be alone for a moment to collect herself.

Shaw perked her head up as she watched Reese's whatever the hell she was hurrying to the bathroom without sparing her daughter or Reese a glance. Now was her chance! She shoved her chair back too. "Yea, I got to piss too!" Shaw announced.

John glared at her as Maddie crawled on him to sit on his lap. "Sam," he said with voice low with caution.

"Sorry, little ears, I gotta pee," Shaw corrected, or as much as she could with her limited social skills, and he exhaled as he eyed Selma and Nigel apologetically.

"Sorry, sometimes my wife forgets…." he trailed off as he wanted to say: to be normal, to be a human but neither were options he could use to describe Shaw because Sam Jones wasn't either of those. Sameen Shaw, FBI agent, with a personality disorder was.

Selma and Nigel waved off his apology. "It's alright, we think she's adorable."

John nearly laughed but caught himself, not wanting to offend the nice couple that was their target. He filed that tidbit away for the future to harass Shaw with. He was currently worried about the fact that Joss was going to be alone with Shaw for any amount of time. But with Maddie in his lap and practically putting the tablet in front of his face for his attention he couldn't fully focus on it. He had his daughter to spend time with.


Joss took a couple deep calming breaths as she rested her hands against the granite countertop in the posh bathroom of the restaurant. She bowed her head trying to calm the maelstrom inside her at the scene John and Maddie made.

She lifted her head up immediately when the robust sound of the door to the ladies' room burst open and John's partner entered with a sour look on her face. Joss stiffened, not about to show any sign of weakness in front of this woman, as she straightened and folded her arms across her chest.

"What do you want?" Joss asked stiffly. Couldn't this have waited just a few more minutes?

Shaw shrugged but didn't make a move away from the door as if readying herself to growl at any poor woman that dared to enter and interfere. "We weren't fully introduced the other day; you know the one where Reese was busy sucking on your tits."

Joss lifted her chin in defiance. "My name is Joss Carter," she introduced herself.

"Carter it is, you can call me Shaw."

Joss nodded briskly. "Alright, Shaw…I'm assuming he told you the truth."

"You assumed right," Shaw agreed flatly. "He told me about you and about Maddie. He told me it's his fault, not yours for why he never knew about her."

Joss cocked a brow. "But you don't believe that; you believe it's my fault?" she supplied.

"No it's most likely Reese's," Shaw stated, surprising her. Joss had been sure she was going to be blamed and truly there was no fault. John thought it was his and while some could say it was, Joss didn't. She just wanted to understand what happened and move forward.

His partner hopped up onto the countertop flailing her legs like a kid as she leaned her back against the mirror before continuing, "Reese has a thing for you which I'm not entirely sure why yet?—you're nothing special, but he's my friend I have to protect."

Joss arched a brow, not reacting to the slight but rather the fact that this woman felt the need to protect John. "And who anointed you his protector?" she asked.

"Me. The moment the stupid bastard saved my life," Shaw snapped, leaning forward and animated for the first time since entering the bathroom.

Joss smiled inwardly. "From what I know about John is that he wouldn't see saving your life as a mistake and he wouldn't want you to feel like you owe him for it," she said softly.

"So what you are?-his fuck buddy for one night and suddenly you know him?" Shaw asked.

"I know him better than you do, if that's what you think," Joss stated coldly.

The door opened and a young woman was entering. Shaw eyed her darkly. "Get out, we're busy talking here," she barked.

Joss sighed as she looked at the woman. "I'm sorry, we're nearly through but it's girl talk, you can understand, right?" she asked sweetly. The woman nodded before eyeing Shaw with a look before whirling around and exiting. Joss looked at Shaw. "Did anyone ever tell you that you could catch more bees with honey?"

Shaw rolled her eyes. "I don't want to catch bees, I want them to attack and sting people in the eyes."

Joss chuckled abruptly. "You would," she muttered before getting back to their conversation. "Look, Shaw, I'm not going anywhere now that I found him. I need you to understand that. I get you are taking this role of protector very seriously because he saved your life, but he's the father to my daughter," she said sincerely.

Shaw eyed her with an expressionless look on her face. "Who are you, his good pussy?"

Joss jerked as if she was slapped and tight fury popped the lid off her temper. "I don't know who the hell you think you are but you're so damn lucky that we are in a restaurant or I'd throw your ass overboard!—cover blown or no!"

Shaw stopped flailing her legs for a moment. "You're not afraid of me are you?"

"No. I'm not." Joss said with a snarl. "John told me you have a personality disorder and I think you enjoy saying things to piss off people because you think you get a free pass at doing it by using your disorder to your advantage. Well that isn't going to work with me. You don't scare me Shaw, you anger me."

Shaw hopped off the countertop to stand directly in front of her, nearly daring her to pop her one. Joss was very close to doing it but how was she going to explain breaking John's supposed wife's nose to the Wixoms?—oh sorry guys, Sam tripped and fell on my fist. Yea that would go over real well since it seemed Selma genuinely liked Shaw.

"When we got on this cruise for this lame case; Reese and I talked about monogamy," Shaw said, which was so out of the blue that Joss felt like she had whiplash.

She recovered from her surprise. "I'm surprised you even know the term," Joss said.

"I do," Shaw agreed before she shivered and Joss chuckled shortly. Of course the thought of monogamy would give this woman the creeps. "But Reese made a comment that he never explained."

"And pray tell, what is that comment?"

"He said he believes there is the 'one' out there that makes you want to have sex with the same person over and over again. Sounds boring if you ask me, but Reese said that he never believed in it until recently."

"He said that?" Joss murmured.

"Yea and I asked him who was the good pussy and he told me that good sex wouldn't change his mind. But he never explained further than that," Shaw replied. Joss felt her temper over Shaw's comment earlier fully die out. Now that she knew the context; she didn't feel so angry. "And now I'm wondering if he was talking about you."

"I'm not talking to you about what we shared or didn't," Joss assured her.

His partner grinned wolfishly. "Oh I know what Reese shared with you,"Shaw said shrewdly.

Joss rolled her eyes in response. This woman had her say, now it was her turn. "I need to ask you something and I want a straight answer, Shaw."

"Ask away, Carter," Shaw offered.

"Do you have more than friendly feelings for John?" Joss asked point blank and Shaw's reaction was comical. Her mouth dropped open and then disgust filled her face.

"EW! That's like incestuous or something. What the fuck is wrong with you?" Shaw demanded with an utter look of horror, which was all she needed to know. Shaw wasn't harboring more than platonic feelings for John.

Joss softened. "It's good to know you think of John as a brother. But I needed to be sure Shaw. I needed you to know I'm not stepping back. John's the father to my daughter and someone I have thought about and wanted for a long time. Now that he's back in my life, I'm not letting him go."

Shaw's horror faded as she contemplated everything that was said before nodding. "Alright, but you date him, you're dating me too. I lost everyone when I was little. I floated from foster home to foster home until I joined the Marines. I never had a friend. And then I joined the FBI and was partnered with Reese who I hated until he saved my life and I realized I had someone I could trust," Shaw said gruffly. "And I…he's…" Shaw couldn't figure out the words and she didn't know what emotion was swirling inside her so she ignored it and focused on the one emotion she did know: anger. "Just don't hurt him or I'll snap your legs off," Shaw threatened.

Joss smiled softly, now this woman made even more sense. That had to be tough to not have anyone to depend on and now she had John and she was petrified of losing him. "I won't hurt him, Shaw, and if you're afraid you're going to lose him because of me: don't. I have no desire of taking your friendship away, it's clear you two are close, like brother and sister, and now I understand why you're so protective of that friendship. I would be too if I lost everyone and had no one," she said. The woman blinked in surprise as she stared at her but otherwise gave off no indication that she was even listening to her. "I think we can all co-exist together, even be friends, if you just give me a chance. You love him like a brother and I love him like the father to my daughter and the man I want to spend my life with."

Shaw didn't dispute the fact that she said that she loved him. Shaw stared at her for a while before saying, "We better go, Reese is going to get his knickers in a twist if I'm alone with you too long. He made me promise not to murder you," she said before turning around and exiting the bathroom.

Joss wondered if that was the first step in the right direction with Shaw. She didn't outright dismiss her or hurl more insults her way. So that had to mean something, right? She wanted Shaw to like her. Joss wanted Shaw to like her because Shaw was a big part of John's life. And she didn't want any awkwardness since she had no plans of leaving John's life and neither did Shaw.


AN: Shaw and Joss's interactions are always so fun to write. Shaw's a good friend she just takes things from 0 to 80 in seconds flat; though we all know Joss can run circles around the poor compact ball of anger :) Next chapter:

Ch 11: You+Me=Frustration

Take that as you will and might not be what you think or could be ;D Thank you for reading XOX