John was up and out of bed early for once. Shaw was still on the couch, sprawled out on her back with mouth open and snoring. He shook his head as he quickly entered the bathroom to get a shower in before she woke up. But it didn't matter because by the time he was finished in the shower, shaved, and changed; Shaw was still out cold and still snoring. But they hadn't gotten to go to sleep until well in the night because of the conference call with Control. Donnelly had to blow his cover with cruise personnel so he could escort Melinda Decker with the help of the JMU, Joint Marine Unit, to the Cayman Islands last night, since they were in their jurisdiction with the cruise ship that close to the Cayman Islands. Decker would stay a night in jail with the local police until the U.S. Marshals arrive to extradite her back to the United States.

He smiled as he thought about Joss. Donnelly was impressed and also a little scared of her, apparently she threatened him, which made Shaw like Joss even more and it made him laugh. Joss and Maddie had come by the stateroom after he called and talked to both of them before inviting them to the stateroom so Joss could give her written statement. John had sat with Maddie while Shaw and Donnelly did the paperwork. Maddie hadn't wanted to leave and told Mr. Don that John was her daddy, that seemed to pique the man's interest but he didn't outright ask in front of the child. Thank God. But the man waited until the moment they were gone to ask and John had to explain with running commentary from Shaw that served to amuse Donnelly and herself, and anger him.

John eyed Shaw, who was still out cold, with a smirk. "Payback's a bitch," he muttered to himself as he walked, fully dressed and ready, to the room's phone to call room service. He ordered their breakfast special with orange juice and coffee, which he was reassured it would be prompt for his wife. John shook his head. Shaw called way too damn much for room service he thought as he hung up and checked his cell phone for calls.

He quietly looked through his phone and smiled at the text he received from Harold the night before; it was a picture of Grace, Leila, and Harold enjoying an evening at Chuck E Cheese. John texted back before he heard a sound at the door. He quickly got to his feet and hurried to the door, not needing Shaw to awaken at the sound and pull a gun on the man. John opened the door.

"Hey, it's nice to see you Mr. Jones!" Peter, their usual deliverer, greeted jovially.

"Hey, Pete let me bring it in; the ole' ball and chain isn't awake. She had a long night," he murmured.

The man's face broke out into a male grin. "Alright Mr. J., you get it! Don't mind me saying but your wife is hot!" he said with a laugh before he stepped back and held the door open for him. John kept his body blocking from allowing the man to look inside. But Pete was a good guy, nice fellow that seemed to put up with Shaw's: gimme gimme gimme, every time he delivered room service.

John felt his cheeks flush knowing what the man thought transpired last night. He couldn't wait for the moment when he wouldn't have to pose as Shaw's husband that had to have her at all times of the freaking day. He tipped the man before he wheeled the cart in and the food was hidden underneath a cover and the door slid shut before he locked up again.

John simply wheeled the food near Shaw and removed the cover. He had ordered the breakfast, minus the coffee, for Shaw since it had a large stack of hot pancakes sat there with a mound of scrambled eggs, hashbrowns, some pieces of toast, and loads of bacon. He'd never seen a woman love pancakes so much. But even though he ordered it for Shaw, he also had payback in mind with the breakfast too. He eyed Shaw, a little shocked that her nose hadn't awakened her yet. Maybe he shouldn't be cruel and eat a piece of bacon to wake her up but as the thought came, it fled when he remembered the fact that she poured water on him twice and then goosed him.

He bit into the bacon and her eyes snapped open and sniffed the air. "Bacon," she said groggily.

John shook his head before deciding she deserved a little more punishment for all the water, the goosing, and all the comments about the constant hard on he supposedly had for her. This was his payback. "Mmmm," he moaned for effect. Shaw's head lifted off the pillow and hands were out.

"Gimme bacon!"

John cocked a brow up as he wheeled the cart back so she couldn't grab a piece. "Shaw, are you trying to audition for those dog treats' commercials?" he teased and she cursed him. "Why should I share my breakfast with you?" he wondered mildly as she scrambled up, eyeing the food. He nearly laughed as her dark eyes went pleading.

John sighed, "It's no fun tormenting you when you give the puppy dog eyes. Have at it, I ordered it for you anyway, but the coffee is for me," he muttered as he grabbed the cup of coffee and Shaw greedily pulled the cart towards her.

"You're the best," Shaw said as she stuffed a piece of bacon into her mouth. She looked up at him. "So can I tell you all the reasons why having Carter and Mads move to D.C. is better than you moving to New York?"

"Shaw…"

"One: we are still partners." Shaw said over him as a piece of bacon popped out of her mouth and then she held up two fingers at him. "Two: you're still in D.C. near me so we can hang out like usual. I mean who will stop me from threatening every single guy that tries to come onto me. Or stop me from ordering one too many bottles of rum." Shaw muttered as she grabbed the fork and shoveled eggs onto it. "Or keep me in line because, I swear Reese, if you're not around I will kill someone."

John rolled his eyes. "Shaw, don't be melodramatic; I think you can handle not committing murder by yourself," he commented.

Shaw looked at him thoughtfully, "I don't know, Reese, I was pretty close to killing that guy doing the lifeboat drill," she said and he frowned. Well she had him there because it had led to the worst kiss in his life that he wished was just some horrible nightmare. But it wasn't. Shaw shrugged before she lifted three fingers up, "Reason number three for why you should stay in D.C. is…" she begun but it was his turn to interrupt.

"Let me guess: something related to you," John murmured.

"Nope," Shaw countered as she shook her head.

John cocked a brow in surprise. "Alright, hit me with it: why can't I leave D.C.?" he asked.

"Control isn't going to let you go anywhere," Shaw said.

John sipped his coffee as he contemplating what she said. He knew Control was going to be a bit of a problem, she controlled everything; hence the name she chose to go by, but just because she didn't want him to transfer didn't mean she could actively stop him.

"Control might not like it, Shaw, but she can't stop it," he said and Shaw grunted. "Fine, she can try to stop it but I have an ace up my sleeve."

Shaw furrowed her brows. "What?—you got some dirt on Control?" she asked before sitting forward more. "Tell me!"

"Not blackmail; I'll quit."

Shaw's mouth dropped open. "Quit…as in stop being an agent? Extorting Control to your advantage is better than that. Why the hell would you quit?—you love being an agent."

John nodded. "I do. I want to save people and the ones I can't save: get justice for them. But I love Joss and Maddie more than a career. And if their life is in New York and Control won't let me go than I guess I better look for a new job. I'm sure Harold could find me something," he said. He was more than sure that Harold could find him something. Finch had connections everywhere.

"You love Carter?—it's been four days Reese!"

John shook his head. "It's been a lot longer than that, Shaw. I've been afraid of what she made me feel in such a short time since our one night together because I told myself that love couldn't happen that quickly, but it can, and it did. I love Joss. I want a life with her and my daughter, Shaw. And if that life has to be in New York and not D.C. then so be it," he said as gently but also as firmly as he could. He knew Shaw was going to need more time to process, which was why he told her up front what he had been thinking about.

"So it's not set in stone," Shaw said.

He exhaled. That was what she heard in his entire impassioned speech….that it wasn't set in stone. "No, it's not set in stone, Shaw, but, it also is the most likely option. Joss and I haven't gotten to talk about what happens after the cruise. We are just enjoying here and now at the moment," he murmured.

"Then I have time to convince you or Carter that it's best that you stay in D.C. and not the other way around."

John shook his head. "I'm asking you as a friend not to go to Joss with this. I'm not telling her my plans until I talk to Control first. I told you because I felt like you deserved to know so you had a chance to process it, don't make me wish I hadn't," he said gruffly. He knew how to get Shaw to comply.

Shaw looked down as she stabbed her fork into her pancake. "Your secret is safe with me," she growled.

John took another sip of his coffee before saying, "Finish eating, we have a long day ahead of us. Thanks to Root coming through for us with finding out that Richard Gordon paid out a large sum of money to Samuel Zenner, who FBI has been tracking for three years now, we need to stay extra close to the Wixoms. Zenner is former military and is selling his skills and services to the highest bidder; he's wanted in at least ten murders in seven states. This is the first time he has resurfaced in six months," he stated getting back to business.

Shaw nodded, grateful for the case now. She wanted to focus her anger at something. "Yea, knowing chatty Selma, she probably told her dickhead father their plans today too."

John eyed Shaw. "Can I run a theory by you about our case, Shaw?" he asked. She looked up and nodded as she cut into her last pancake. "What if we are viewing this case all wrong?"

"We already were. We were led to believe it was death threats and it's really Richard being a piece of shit and wanting to off his daughter. The turd used his daughter's death threats as a smoke screen, played up being the scared daddy routine with getting us placed in this hell hole and voila: he looks squeaky clean in his daughter's death," Shaw stated with a stab of the fork into her pancake. "Bet that bastard has been practicing fake crying at her funeral. Selma might be way too cheerful and nice to be normal but she doesn't deserve to die! Who wants to bet the asshole is corrupt and Selma stepped on his toes and now he's having someone paid to off his own flesh and blood?! Donnelly's partner better come through for us with the search warrant for Gordon's house and offices," Shaw growled.

John nodded. That was a nice theory but his was a little more out of the box. "It could be Richard going after his daughter because of her activism is getting in the way. But I have another theory,"John admitted.

Shaw shrugged. "Hit me with it," Shaw stated as she stuffed half a pancake into her mouth.

"I mean: what if the person we think is the target really isn't," he said.

Shaw furrowed her brows. "You think its Nigel that daddy dearest wants to off…why?" she asked muffled with food.

"What possible gain is there for Richard to kill his daughter?" he answered with another question.

"What possible gain is there for Richard to kill his son-in-law?" Shaw flipped it, playing devil's advocate before taking a gulp of orange juice. Reese's instincts were impeccable, nearly as good as hers. Shaw watched as Reese snatched a piece of bacon off her plate and she made a face "You're so lucky I like you, Reese, or I would have chopped your hand off," she stated, pulling her plate closer to her.

He ate half the bacon, "Well there is plenty of gain for going after Nigel, Shaw. If you don't recall, Nigel Wixom is a billionaire, with a 'B.' He's loaded; he's somewhat young so I bet you that he doesn't have a will. He doesn't have any children so if he dies, the money won't go to an heir. It will go to his widowed wife," he explained before popping the other half of the bacon into his mouth.

Shaw liked this theory. "And Richard is using his daughter's death threats as a smoke screen," she added.

John nodded. "As you said, Richard is putting in a pretty good act, with adding security for his daughter. And then it just so happens that one of those threats were real and the man that wants to harm Selma Gordon-Wixom 'accidentally' shoots and kills her adoring husband instead," he said.

"And no one would ever think that Nigel was the intended target all along because of the death threats to Selma and the fact that Gordon sent us in to protect his daughter," Shaw murmured. "I like it. Just one question though."

"What?"

"Why?" Shaw asked.

"Why what?"

"Why would Richard Gordon want to hire someone to off his new son-in-law to get the money into Selma's hands? It's not like he can touch it; it goes to his daughter not him," Shaw said.

"Or can he?" he questioned and Shaw looked at him perplexed. "Selma clearly loves Nigel with all her heart, right?"

"Disgustingly so," Shaw complained.

"From your own words, Shaw, Selma was crying over thinking I cheated on you with Joss," he said and Shaw nodded.

"Yea; so what, Reese?—she's one of those bleeding hearts' types. She'd probably cry if she killed a spider on accident," Shaw muttered.

"Exactly! Selma has a soft heart that looks like it can be trampled on easily, so if anything happened to her new husband she'd be devastated…."

Shaw smiled widely. "Devastated enough for daddy to take care of everything for his daughter and maybe even put his name on the bank accounts with her, you know, being the caring and loving father he is," Shaw said feeling the groove for this theory. "It's plausible. But then so is mine."

John smiled. "It is," he agreed.

"I guess time will tell who is right. Care to wager?" Shaw asked as she leaned forward.

He cocked a brow up. "You want to make bets on whose theory is right?" he asked incredulously.

"Yea, we'll be there to stop it from happening to either one, so why not?"

"Because it's just in bad taste," John muttered. "And besides you just want to make a bet to try to force me to stay in D.C. So no, I don't care to make a wager," he said, seeing her ploy from a mile away. What did Shaw think: he was born yesterday?

"AHA, you agree with mine!"

"I didn't say that. I'm not placing my future with Joss and Maddie in New York on a bet with just pure conjecture and speculation on my end. Nice try though, Shaw," he conceded.

Shaw cursed. "Damn you and sniffing out my ideas. You're the shit, you know that, Reese." she murmured.

John chuckled as he shook his head. "Shaw, sucking up won't work either, now hurry up and get ready; we need to get close to the Wixoms."


Joss walked hand in hand with Maddie from the elevator. In the morning, after breakfast, they spent time at the pool playing and swimming. She was actively trying to keep her daughter busy so she wouldn't ask: where's daddy? It worked mostly until she realized John wasn't with them like he had been for the last couple days and Maddie would grow upset and Joss resorted to texting John asking him to Facetime with Maddie just for a few minutes.

Instantly there was a call and Maddie was so happy that daddy was Facetiming with her until the moment he had to go and Maddie was sad once more. Maddie wasn't going to be happy until daddy was attached to their hip it seemed, but she couldn't say she blamed her baby: Maddie finally found daddy and she wanted to spend all the time in the world with him to make up for lost time. Joss had to admit: so did she. She missed John and now having him back but unable to spend much time with him because of the case sucked big time.

"Mommy," Maddie murmured looking up at her so that she could see mommy over the brim of her little sombrero that she couldn't leave the suite without and had to be practically tugged off her head before she went swimming.

Joss sighed. Here it came. "Yes, baby," Joss said, pretending she wasn't aware of the incoming question.

"I want daddy."

Joss exhaled. Well at least it wasn't: where's daddy? "I know, me too, baby-cakes, me too." she murmured as she swung Maddie's arm although her daughter's want was innocent. Hers was far from innocent. "Daddy is our missing piece to our family; me, you, and Taylor is perfect but now with daddy it's complete."

"Yea," Maddie nodded. Joss looked down at her daughter and looked past her sombrero and saw the sad look on her face.

Joss squeezed her daughter's hand. "So baby, daddy's birthday is May 1st which is after what month?" Joss asked and waited for her daughter to answer.

Maddie thought of the answer before she stopped walking entirely, let go of her hand and lifted her little fist up and stopped to count her knuckles. "January, Febbarary…"

"It's FEB-U-AIR-REE," Joss corrected and enunciated for her daughter.

"Feb-ru-ary," Maddie said slowly before moving onto her next knuckle. "March, April, May…" she listed softly in full concentration and then looked up to her, "May comes after April, mommy!" Maddie announced, happy with herself.

Joss grinned and applauded. "Yay, good girl, you remember the trick. Guess what you get tonight for remembering your months…." she led her baby. Positive reinforcements always worked and her baby wasn't allowed many sweets so she wanted to give her daughter a chance to earn one.

Maddie bounced up and down. "Ice cream! Ice cream! Ice cream!" Maddie chanted. Joss laughed. God knows her daughter didn't need the sugar for more energy, but Maddie deserved it. "I want daddy to come too, mommy," Maddie demanded.

She smiled. She was sure she could steal John away for a half hour to have ice cream with them. "He'd be honored to have ice cream with you and I to celebrate the fact that you know your months, sweetheart," she murmured as she grabbed her daughter's hand and proceeded to walk together once more. "But for daddy's birthday I think we should make him something special."

"YES!" Maddie cried with a big smile on her face.

Joss pulled her sea-pass out and opened her door to their suite. She wanted Maddie to relax a little before lunch and then it was off to the Fun Factory for a little while so mommy could get a much needed massage. Maddie ran into the suite and flung herself at the couch before climbing up onto it. Maddie immediately reached for a strawberry.

"Daddy likes strawberries just like you baby, so I was thinking maybe the night before your daddy's birthday that me and you could bake daddy a strawberry cake," Joss said. And for her and John, after Maddie was asleep, perhaps they could have chocolate covered strawberries in bed. Mmm…

Maddie bounced up and down as she nodded, reminding her of the little presence so her mind couldn't go slinking off into memories of their one night. The wine, the chocolate…the amazing out of this world sex that she couldn't wait to experience again and again.

Joss shook herself free of the dirty thoughts running through her mind of Maddie's daddy, focusing on Maddie, "And you know what else he likes?" she asked.

"No. What, mommy?"

"Chocolate." she answered and Maddie giggled. "So we could make him some homemade chocolate candies. Daddy will surely love mommy's and Maddie's chocolates," she said before dropping beside Maddie on the couch.

"What can I get daddy, mommy?"

Joss slid an arm around her daughter's shoulder and tugged her close. "Oh sweetheart, anything you got him he'd love. But your daddy will be toast if you made him something. So how about we make him a homemade card and gift this year?" she suggested. Joss was aiming for John to be a sentimental mess that Maddie and she could hug to bits.

She had a perfect idea but she wasn't going to run it by her sweet-pea until closer to John's birthday. She needed her baby cakes to keep it a secret and there was no way in hell Maddie could do that!


John, Shaw, Nigel, and Selma all walked George Town for a while. As much as he wanted to spend time with Joss; he was glad she had decided to not go ashore with Maddie and to remain on the ship. He didn't want them anywhere near the Wixoms at the moment. Not with the fact that there was proof of an actual threat to them. He knew Joss could take care of herself but it just didn't matter; she was the mother to his daughter and the woman he loved. Joss said that Maddie wanted to participate in some of the games and crafts that the Fun Factory had running this afternoon and Joss just wanted to get a massage and hang out at a lounge chair near the pool to read.

"I need to hit the little girl's room," Selma admitted after a while. "That last iced tea did me in," she said laughingly.

Shaw's shoulders slumped. "Yea, I need to hit the head too, I guess," Shaw muttered before grabbing Reese's forearm. "You owe me." she growled.

"It's not my fault I'm not a woman," he whispered.

Shaw grumbled as she let Selma lead her away with her arm looped around Shaw's and giddily talked to her. John smiled. Selma was treating Shaw like they were best friends.

But while they were away he saw his chance at cornering Nigel about his concerns. He looked at Nigel as they sat down at a bench while they waited for the ladies to return. If he knew Shaw she would drag her heels long enough to let him have a chance to talk to Nigel.

"While your wife is out of earshot I need to know more then what you told me last night, Nigel," he began and earned the man's gaze. "We didn't get to talk much at the casino."

"I know. Selma has been on edge with these death threats and she doesn't like being alone. She's scared," Nigel said with a sad frown. "I hate that she feels like that."

John nodded. "I know I keep asking the same question but I really need to know when you found out about the fact that we were going to be here to provide additional security," John asked pointedly, because if the target was Selma then he needed to know if Nigel and Richard were in on it together or not.

"No, it is okay; if it helps with the investigation then I'm all for it. Richard called a meeting with your superior and invited me along, but on the stipulation that I keep it from Selma. I went along with it mainly because I wanted to try to dissuade Richard of the notion that we needed additional security. Your superior listened to my input but ultimately sided with Richard. They both told me to keep my mouth shut," Nigel said with a shake of his head. "And, because I didn't want to cause a fight with my new father-in-law, I gave in."

"Do you have any reason to believe Richard Gordon would go after his daughter?" John asked point blank.

Nigel shook his head. "No. Like I said last night, John, Richard loves Selma with all his heart. She's his only child. Sel's mother died when she was a teenager; she's all he has."

"Tell me more about their relationship." John prodded.

"I just told you he's…."

"Nigel, tell me more, please," John cut him off.

Nigel grew agitated but did as he asked. "I don't know; when I first met Selma she was very sheltered. Richard liked to control everything."

"Explain that."

"Richard loves his daughter, but he also controlled her life: every step of the way. Selma told me that he wouldn't let her cut her hair, wouldn't let her choose her own outfits to wear, or anything. Richard did everything, mapped everything out for her," Nigel explained.

John frowned feeling unease grow. "Did she ever rebel?" he asked.

Nigel shook his head. "No. Believe it or not: Selma, before I met her, wasn't even in activism work."

"No?"

"No. She was in college for business: just like her father. Richard wanted it that way and whenever she'd go to help causes she believed in even after school, he'd critique it to let her know that he disapproved. Richard didn't quite understand Selma's desire to save the environment or be the voice of those who didn't have one. He saw it as her wasting her life. I think Richard was hardened. Selma tried to laugh it off but I could see being in college for business was smothering her. It wasn't what she wanted; she was only doing it to make Richard happy," Nigel explained with a sigh.

John nodded. "So what gave Selma the courage to stand up for herself to her father?" he asked, already having the answer.

Nigel laughed. "Yours truly, I met Selma and I fell in love with her the moment I saw her. She just smiled at me and that was it," he murmured lovingly.

"I know the feeling," John muttered.

Nigel faced him directly. "Joss is one beautiful woman. I can see why you fell in love with her so easily; she's got that inner beauty like Selma has. You can see how much of a caring soul Joss is."

He nodded but he needed to get Nigel talking more. He didn't know how much longer Shaw could stall Selma. "So, you helped Selma get out from under her father's thumb?"

"Yes, we were dating for a while but I knew she was my future wife, so I sat her down and encouraged her to follow her dream and her heart, and if it was fighting for those who couldn't, then I wanted her to do what made the most sense to her," Nigel explained,. "At first Selma didn't want to tell her dad that she hated college and she hated business, and wanted to protect the environment and people's rights."

"But you convinced her," John prodded. He didn't know what the hell was wrong with Richard; those things Selma were doing were admirable. John hoped that he would never be like him to Maddie. He wanted Maddie to do whatever made her happy, no matter what.

"Yea, Richard didn't like it but he accepted it eventually. And then I asked Selma to marry me and the rest, you can say, is history."

"How did Richard react to the news of her marrying you?" John questioned.

"Happy, why wouldn't he be?" Nigel asked with a furrow of his brows.

But John immediately changed the subject to baseball as he saw Shaw and Selma approaching. "Hey you guys, what are you two talking about?" Selma asked as she slid onto Nigel's lap. Shaw just stood beside him.

"Baseball," John answered immediately.

Selma laughed. "Oh Nigel, you and your baseball!" Selma said with laughter as she slid off his lap and both men stood so they could continue their walk.

John and Shaw slowed down. "I think there is another reason for why Richard might want Nigel dead and it doesn't have to do with money," he whispered.

"What?"

John made sure the two lovebirds were deep in their own world before looking at Shaw, "Selma," he answered.


AN: I know everyone loves Maddie, Joss, and John moments but these two chapters are necessary to tidy up the case, so it's rather light on them. But if you can hold out and bare with me until chapter 20 I think you guys will be very happy ;D Next chapter:

Ch 19: We're Going to Hell

*snicker* Thanks for reading!