II. The Calm Before
New York City January 12th 6:58 PM
…Tick…Tick…Tick
Joss stared at the ticking clock that stood upon the mantle of her fireplace as she sat on the couch, fiddling with her fingers. She felt her eyebrow give a nervous twitch as she counted down the seconds until her date arrived.
Why was she so nervous it wasn't like she hadn't been on a date before, for heaven's sake she shared bed with the man already and she was acting like it was her prom night all over again.
Ding Dong
Joss stood up as her door bell rung looking at her front door, taking a deep breath and smoothing down her dress before opening the door.
John straightened up standing silently as he let his eyes take in the image before him. She looked absolutely beautiful in her cobalt blue knee length dress, adorn with a simple silver necklace and a few bracelets. Her hair was down in loose curls framing her delicate face. Realizing that he was gawking, he finally opened his mouth to speak, "Joss your look amazing."
"Thank you," Joss replied as she took in John's new dark grey suit and his purple and grey patterned tie. "You look rather dashing this evening as well, let me just grab my coat and purse real quick."
Joss pulled her coat on, grabbing her purse as she closed and locked her front door following John as he linked his arm with hers and escorted her down the steps.
Joss paused mid step as they stopped next to the car parked in front of her home. She dropped her arms to her side as she looked between John and the car in astonishment "You're kidding me right!"
John smiled, "Of course not Joss, after the reaction I got to the last one, I figured I ought to step my game up."
Joss let a laugh out as her gaze traveled up and down the cars features admiring the shiny black exterior and the silver detailing along the edges "So in order to step your game up you rented a Bugatti Veyron for our date"
John gently grabbed her hand opening the passenger door as he guided her in. He grinned as she pulled her legs inside the car, putting her seat belt on as she touched the dash board, "Unfortunately Joss the rental place didn't have any on hand so I just bought one."
Joss felt her mouth drop open as he shut the door.
Baton Rouge, Louisiana January 12th 7:35 PM
Terry turned her tea kettle on as she sat down at her kitchen table pulling her reading glasses on while she unfolded her newspaper. Just as she began pulling the newspaper apart she heard a click and felt a pressure on the back of her head.
"Hello Terry it's so lovely to see you I've see father time hasn't treated you well you old bag."
Terry held her breath as she recognized the low male voice coming from behind her. A voice that belonged to a dead man.
"Daimen"
"Oh good so you do remember me that will save us the introduction process and we can get down to business."
"What do you want?" Terry gritted out.
"Not what I want..."Daimen removed his gun from the back of her head "It's what I need."
"And what do you need?"
"Vengeance."
"Against who…me…the Agency!" Terry exclaimed "Once they find out you're alive it will only be a matter of time before the hunt you down and kill you."
"I'm counting on it but in the meantime I need your help finding someone"
"Who?"
I former operative." Damien replied.
"Why?" Terry asked.
"Because he destroyed the only thing I had to live for." Damien answered.
"What do you plan on doing once you find this operative?" Terry asked.
Damien placed his hands on her shoulders "I'm going to make him suffer."
"And what makes you think I can find this person?"
Damien smiled "Because you're the one who made him my replacement and authorized Mark Snow to retire me."
New York City January 12th 8:18 PM
"So she called an ambulance and the entire school saw the whole thing?"
"Yep I kid you not, I kissed my sixth grade crush on the bleachers and our braces got tangled and the PE teacher called an ambulance, long story short I was the laughing stock for two weeks until Megan Sherman pants Brady Sinclair in the cafeteria." Joss laughed out.
John laughed as he took a sip of his wine.
"Okay your turn, what was your most embarrassing moment from school?"
"My most embarrassing moment…" John made a face as he contemplated, "Okay when I was in 10th grade I finally hit had my growth spurt and went from barely being over 5 foot to 6' 2" and as soon as I became tall and started playing basketball I went from being a dork to one of the popular kids and it went to my head…so much so that I thought I could pull off juggling two girls"
"Oh so you were a playa," Joss jokingly chastised.
"Yeah for about two and half weeks, long story short they both found out about each other and confronted me during basketball practice, one of them kneed me in the nuts and the other broke my nose."
"Damn." Joss replied shock.
"Yeah did I mention they both did taekwondo?"
Joss laughed "Well I hope they taught you a lesson John?"
"Yeah to never underestimate an angry woman" he laughed out as he watched her drink the rest of her wine.
Out the corner of his eyes he saw as a man make his way to the mic stand next the woman who was playing the grand piano off center of the dancing floor, he watched as a hand full of couples danced to the slow piano music
Throwing caution to the wine he stood up moving next to Joss's seat holding his hand out, "Would you like to dance with me Joss?"
Joss sat her wine glass down scooting her chair back giving him her hand. A soft smile gracing her face as she admired how his hand dwarfed hers in size. As he led her to the dance floor she felt like she was in high school again, feeling like the shy wallflower who got asked to dance by the prom king.
John found a spot on the dance floor that allowed him to view the entrances and exits to the restaurant. Leaving an opening for them to make a hasty escape she the need arise.
"Relax John nothing's bad is going to happen tonight." Joss giggled as she interlaced her hand with John's, resting her other hand on his shoulder.
"Sorry reflex…" John apologized shyly, as he slid his hand across her lower back pulling her closer as they swayed to the soft piano music and the live singer.
"I love this song" Joss muttered softly as she rested her cheek on his shoulder closing her eyes enjoying the subtle tinge of cologne.
*'Somewhere beyond the sea, somewhere waiting for me my lover stands on golden sands and watches the ships that go sailing…We'll meet beyond the shore we'll kiss just as before happy we'll be beyond the sea and never again I'll go sailing….'
If only he could make this moment last a lifetime John thought to himself as he closed his eyes and listened to Joss as she softly hummed along to the song.
Baton Rouge Louisiana January 12th 9:00 PM
He stared at the picture of the woman, taking in the wide brown eyes, her perfectly arched eyebrows as she smiled modestly at the camera dressed in her police uniform with the American flag in the background. Snow had graciously done a full work up on the woman named Jocelyn Carter before he died, suspecting she was some kind of asset to John Reese.
Damien smiled removing his flash drive as he stood up leaving Agent Millers lap top open to the files he had just finished downloading.
"So now what?" Terry asked.
"Now I wait for the Agency to do what they do best…try to clean up their mess and draw Reese out of hiding." Daimen stretched.
"And how do you plan to pull that off?" Terry asked.
Daimen drew his gun and fired a round into Terry's head watching as her body slump forward, her face making a dull thump as it hit the table.
"Well when the Agency finds out you're dead they'll wonder why you were looking at John Reese's old files and they'll pick up were Snow left off that way I don't have to do any heavy lifting," Daimen explained out loud looking and Agent Millers dead body, "oops I guess I was supposed to tell you that first and then shoot you."
Daimen lifted his foot and knocked the old woman's body out of the chair "Oh well" He turned on his heel and casually walked out of the apartment.
New York City January 12th 10:14PM
Joss unlocked her door pushing it open before turning around "Thanks for letting me drive your car back." she smiled as she handed John back the keys to his car as they stood on her stoop.
John smiled as he pocketed his keys "You're welcome."
"Thank you for dinner John it was the best date I have had in a very long time," Joss smiled as the wind blow a few stray stands of hair into her face.
"I'm glad…" John whispered as he reached out pushing the loose stands of her hair out of her face, the backs of his fingers lingering on her cheek as they gazed into each other's eyes. He let his sight drop to her lips, it had been four months, two weeks, and three days since they shared that heated kiss in her kitchen.
"Would it be improper of me on a first date to ask for a kiss?" the words tumbled off his tongue and out his lips in a low whisper.
Stepping closer Joss tugged on his labels, making him bend down until their lips met. She moaned softly, her eyes fluttering closed as she felt him thread his fingers through her hair. Gasping, as his tongue pushed past her teeth curling around her own as he deepened their kiss
When the need to breathe finally outweighed her resolve to keep their lips locked, she pulled back, slowly opening her eyes as their eyes locked again.
John removed his hands from her hair resting them on her flushed cheeks as he tried to mental burn the look on her face into his memory forever.
"Would it be improper for me to ask you in for coffee?" Joss muttered out softly.
John looked at her lips again slowly rubbing the pads of his thumbs against her cheek bones "You know it's bad to have coffee so late at night?"
Joss gripped his purple tie tugging it slightly, pulling him closer to the thresh hold of her house "Well I guess you could always have it when you wake up in the morning."
"In the morning then..." John whispered softly closing his eyes as their lips meet again as he followed her inside, closing the door softly behind him.
AN: * Beyond the Sea- Bobby Darin
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