V. Lynchpin

Jamaica Queens, New York City, January 14th 8:30AM

Joss and Fusco watched as the bodies of two teenage males were carted off to the morgue

"Damn gang wars, I bet you none of those kids even finished high school before they got mixed up into this life." Fusco mentioned aloud as he shook his head in pity.

"That's the way the story goes, these kids don't have anyone to look out for them so the reach out for the first person who offers them a kind word and makes them feel wanted. I think God every day that Taylor doesn't make me worry about this happening to him" Joss replied with a relieved sigh.

Fusco nodded in agreement "Speaking of your kid, when are you going to introduce him to the "new boyfriend."

Joss quirked an eyebrow "What? No nicknames today Fusco."

I was going to do some kind of Bruce Wayne, Clark Kent mash up but it's been a long day.

Joss chuckled and shook her head before turning serious "Well…I was hoping that he would be free tonight, when Taylor and I go out for Friday night dinner"

"Oh yeah today is your family fun night." Fusco made and enlightened expression

"Yeah I try to set aside as much time as possible for Taylor to let me in on his teenage life..." Joss scratched the tip of her nose "…I'm pretty sure he has a girlfriend too…I just can't prove it yet."

Fusco laughed ",trust me Carter, as a former teenage boy you're going to have to wait until he tells you…but on a serious note do you think that it's a good idea, I mean given everything."

"I know but eventually he and John are going to meet and I rather it be on our terms then him finding out that I've been keeping secret boyfriend," Joss confessed.

"Well that too...but I was talking about John," Fusco cleared his throat, "...he's not exactly a social butterfly…and springing a teenage on him so soon without a game plan could end awkwardly."

Joss rolled her eyes "I've seen John interact with kids before Fusco, it won't be that bad…besides Taylor's met him before…in an unofficial capacity."

"Oh yeah I forgot about the whole Elias thing…so how are you going to spin his back story to your kid…'dorky investment banker by day, certifiable bad ass with tactical weapons training by night'."

"uhhh..." Joss replied "…I honestly was just going to tell him a variation of the truth and hope he doesn't ask to much about it, besides I doubt he'd believe the truth even if we told him."

Manhattan, New York City, January 14th 8:55AM

Kate had since moved away from the majority of the group, the noise of computers being setup and weaponry being distributed was breaking her had stayed up the majority of the night working on her introductory analysis of the components of John Reese.

He was a very interesting subject and she wished she was given more data but she had to make due with what the Agency provided. As she stared at the cluttered pin board covered in pictures and newspaper clippings crisscrossed by yellow and red marker.

"Someone's been busy kicking it old school."

Kate rolled her eyes as her new 'friend' from the elevator approached. "Don't you have some assault weapons to clean or a puppy to kick."

"I'm an operative not a crazy person and as for the weapons thing, I already cleaned them. I didn't introduce myself yesterday, the names…"

"Matthew Blake…age 35 born in Louisville Kentucky to Miranda Stevens, no father. Joined the United States Navy at 18 served proudly before being handpicked to join special operations, you've been with the agency for 8 years, 2 months, and 4 days as of today."

Matthew smiled "You forgot about my blood type.."

"B negative?" Kate replied drawing another red line to the question mark in center of her board.

"That looks like an interesting web you got there." Matthew critiqued as he looked at the assortment of pictures, newspaper articles and clippings of former mission briefs.

"I'm a visual person it helps me see the bigger picture."

"Tell me about it" Matthew asked as he looked at the linkages between certain events drawn in yellow and then the red question mark in the center that linked some of the outer cluster of activity.

"Well we were told that anything prior to and including his botched mission in China are irrelevant so we start when pops up back on the grid in New York City." Kate pointed to the picture of a homeless man assaulting a group of men on a subway train. "Two years ago he was picked up after getting in to a fight, his finger prints were run through the system and he pops up on our radar again. Agent Snow requested to follow up on the lead, enlisting the help of a junior agent. They then preceded to tack his movements in New York and his potential contacts. The agency received a communication from the junior agent in regards to a change of orders, from apprehend to terminate, but before the agency could respond back, the junior agent was found murdered and Agent Snow missing."

Kate then point to the picture of a male FBI agent. "After those events, Reese pops back up on the FBI's radar after an inquiry made by an agent regarding proof of domestic operations carried out by the CIA on United States soil. This same FBI agent would later come to arrest Reese, along with other hired guns in a botched bank job."

"Why didn't we intervene?"

"According to the records the situation was in the purview of another agency who already had an asset in place to eliminate Reese."

"What agency?" Matthew raised an eyebrow.

"One that's above our pay grade and security clearance to know about, unfortunately due to a turn of events, Reese was released from prison custody, only to turn up with Agent Snow at a secure facility, with bomb vests strapped to their persons."

"What kind of facility?"

"The kind that we don't need to know about, later it was discovered that Kara Stanton had apprehended Snow and Reese and was responsible for those events, as well as the murder of an FBI agent."

"Damn, I bet the Hoover boys were pissed about that one." Matthew whistled out.

"To their knowledge the murdered FBI agent was the victim of the retaliation of the men who hired the hitman at the bank." Kate clarified.

"So much for inter-agency cooperation."

"All the outer events are connect based on government operations to apprehend Reese..." Kate cracked her knuckles before pointing to the newspaper clipping about a vigilante hero in New York "… but there's a lot of things that don't add up…it seems to be Reese's prerogative to stay out of the agencies purview, it makes no sense that he would go out of his way to kill one of our agents, especially given this vigilante heroism he seems to have taken on."

"Maybe it was personal, Miller did hand pick him into the special operations program" Matthew justified.

"That's another inconsistency that I've discovered, given his personality type and moral tendencies, not to mention his results on the agencies performance test, he would have been better suited to handle security, extraction, and protection details for embassies and other foreign officials, instead of being a non-official operative carrying out high profile assassinations."

"Maybe someone made a staffing mistake" Matthew suggested.

"When it comes to non-official operations there's no such thing as staffing errors, the dependability of an operative to kill all potential targets; men, women and children, without hesitation is crucial. Reese never fit the profile, someone picked him for another reason…I just don't know why."

"So you don't have any leads on how to find him?"

"I never said that," Kate pointed to the red question mark in the middle of the board "…out of all this mess, one constant holds true in relation to Reese after he showed up again."

Kate picked up the photo of the black female police officer and pinned it to the center of the board. "She ran his prints, she began a de-facto hunt for a vigilante on the streets of New York, she was brought into the loop on the FBI task force due to her knowledge, and she was even saved by him. It seems that where ever she goes his always around. There's a connection of some sorts between the Detective and Reese and once we figure out what it is, we can use it to our advantage."

"I guess it's true what they say..." Matthew looked at the detective's picture "…all roads lead to Rome."

Midtown, New York City, January 14th 1:30PM

John sat in one of the spare chairs in the library in boredom as he watched Bear entertain Shaw as they both played tug of war with a rope toy. He was brought out of his musings as his phone vibrated in his pocket. After seeing the caller ID, he stood up and moved further away from Finch and Shaw so they wouldn't hear his conversation.

"Hey."

John grinned "Hey yourself."

Joss smiled at the sound of his voice "How's your day going, no new wounds I hope."

"It's been rather slow actually, just a few attempted murders." John answered back, enjoying the feeling he got from the simple act of her asking how his day was going. He wondered if normal couples called each other in the during the work day just to see how the other was doing.

"So…I was wondering…,if you weren't busy saving any damsels or crime lords, if you'd like to have dinner tonight with me…and Taylor." Joss bit her lip, worried at his reply.

John cleared his throat and nervously shifted on his feet "Is that a good idea…is it too soon…I mean, I would love to….but what do we tell him…I don't think he'll fall for investment banker, not after the situation with Elias."

Joss smiled as she heard how nervous he sounded "I figure we see we tell him bits of the truth but nothing to damaging" Joss explained trying to contain her excitement.

"Okay I can do that." John nodded in agreement s he breathed out.

"Perfect oh and wear something casual. I don't want him to think that my boyfriend lives in a suit."

John smiled at the mention of the title of 'boyfriend', she had said it once before months ago at the hospital but it still managed to make the butterfly's in his stomach act up."Okay just let me know when and where you want me to be and I'll be there"

Joss made a small giddy sound but quickly recovered when Fusco looked at her like she was crazy, "Okay I'll text you everything later."

"Okay."

Joss straighten up in her desk chair "oh and don't bring any firearms with you…"

"Yes dear," John rolled his eyes.

"Don't roll your eyes at me...Pooh-bear." Joss grinned out and hung up.

John stared at his phone before grinning at the ridiculous petname he just earned. Shoving the phone back in his pocket he turned around, the grin instantly falling from his face as he saw Harold and Shaw staring at him.

Harold was trying unsuccessfully to hide his smile behind a cup of tea and Shaw didn't even try to hide hers, as she sat crossed legged on the floor with a grin that would make the Cheshire Cat from Alice and Wonderland pale in comparison.

"….Pooh-bear?" Shaw repeated as she busted out laughing.

Brooklyn, New York City, January 14th 3:48PM

"Okay, bye Mom" Taylor hung up his phone as he turned his attention back on Maya as they walked down the street.

"So what did your Mom want" Maya asked as she ate her ice cream bar.

Taylor shook his head shoving his hands into his pocket "You are literally the only person I know who can eat ice cream when it's freezing outside."

"What can I say am a walking contradiction"

"That's for sure," Taylor agreed under his breath.

"So what your Mom want?"

"She wanted me to know that we'd be having a new addition to our family dinner night tonight."

"New edition?" Maya questioned.

"Yeah she wants me to meet her new boyfriend," Taylor muttered unimpressed.

"Do try to contain your excitement Taylor, you should be happy for your Mom." Maya laughed out punching him playfully in the arm.

"I am it's just she always goes out on dates with boring guys who never last very long and I worry about her meeting the wrong guy," Taylor justified.

"Well you could always be an asshole and make his life a living hell until he breaks up with her." Maya offered.

"No…" Taylor shook his head "If my Mom likes him then I will have to like him she deserves to be happy with whoever she chooses…even if they are boring."

"Awwwe look at my best friend, worried about his mommy, that's so sweet of you, you're such a little mama's boy" Maya made baby noises as she pinched his cheek.

"Maya knock it off" Taylor shrugged her off as they continued to walk home.

"Oh lighten up Taylor who knows you might end up liking the guy, he could turn out to be pretty cool or something."

AN: next chapter look forward to some family dinner time followed by some ease droppers and an unwanted attention by the FBI..Thanks for the reviews I appreciate them all.