Hello everyone!. I know I've been MIA, but I had some things I had to take care of. I know this chapter may seem a bit...ordinary...but the next chapter will be more interesting I swear. Read on and give me some feedback, I actually use it! Hope you like it and keep coming back. Oh, and the song that I've been writing to as of late and kinda of inspired this ch. and the next is the song "Remember the Name" by Fort Minor. It's the song on a POI fanvid, so go check it out.

Riding the elevator down to the lobby, Jocelyn couldn't keep the grin off of her face. She sunk against the wall on the way down and leant against it just breathing, wondering what exactly she had gotten herself into. She pushed off the wall as she made her way outside to hail a taxi, smiling as she gave the cabbie her address and got it. She leaned back against the seat, closing her eyes and reviewing the entire evening in her mind. It was harmless fun for the most part, innocent in every action even with her and John's almost kiss. It wasn't that she didn't want it to happen, but there was something about him that still made her think that he was too go to be true. She reached into her pocket for her phone, and panicked when it wasn't there. She went through every pocket a few times then at heavily against the seat as she remembered that it was still hooked up to Jon's stereo. She swore as the cabbie stopped, looking at her expectedly as she sat in the car in front of her apartment.

"Yeah yeah, just calm down" she mumbled under her breath as she paid him and jumped out, angrily stalking into the building and up to her apartment.

As she walked into her apartment and peeled off her coat, going over to play her messages as she decided how to find his number and ask for her phone back. As she was changing her clothes and listening to her neighbor asking her to watch Boo Friday night, she sighed and walked back into her living room, freezing when she heard John's voice on her answering machine.

"Hey Joss, It's John. You left your phone here, as I'm sure you're aware of by now, but I can bring it by the precinct in the morning on my way to work. I have to drop off Amelia with my brother first, but I can be there around 8 if that works for you. Give me a call back if it doesn't, if not I'll just drop it off. My cell number is…"

She let him ramble off his number, reminding herself to save the message as she sat on her couch smiling again. As she started to think about her day tomorrow, realizing that tomorrow was the Thursday that ADA Brian Curtis was coming by, she started to panic. She knew that Brian liked her, and her was the type of confident ADA that would make it clear that he was pursuing her. That one date had made it clear of his intentions, but she had told him that she just didn't have the time. Now with John coming by, there wasn't any way to avoid them running into one another, and she buried her head in a pillow as she flopped over. If Brian was anything like he always was, she may have to break up another fight in the morning. She sighed as she got up and plopped on her bed, the thought of tomorrow morning making her groan as she closed her eyes and willed herself to sleep.

Walking into the precinct at 7:30, Carter tried to calm her nerves as she strode over to her desk. She was one of the only people around since it was an hour and a half before the next shift began, Fusco not coming until almost nine o'clock, knowing he'd make it in time, if just barely. She smoothed her hands over her maroon button up, her hands going over the tops of her black slacks as she looked down at herself with a sigh. She knew she had put a little bit of extra effort this morning because John was coming by, but she couldn't help the voice in her head saying that this was going to be a complete disaster. She knew Brian, and if John was anything like he was in the taqueria on Tuesday (yeah, she knew what he was doing), this was going to be something just short of a blood bath. She ran to the bathroom in an effort to calm herself, but ended up critiquing herself in the mirror instead. She pulled her hair up off of her neck like she had last night and kept fidgeting with it, finally deciding that leaving it down and parted off to the side was the least amount of effort. She pulled her blazer off of her shoulders, feeling suffocated but eventually huffing and putting it back on, bracing herself to walk back out to her desk. She looked at herself one last time in the mirror and walked out, feeling the air leave her lungs as she saw who was seated at her desk, fiddling with her computer.

"Brian, what have I told you about sitting at my desk?" she sighed, sitting down as he got up, leaning his hip against the side of her desk as he smiled. It wasn't that he was unattractive, but it was just that she didn't feel a real spark of anything other than friendship between them. She shuffled through a few papers as he stared at her, finally giving up on ignoring him as he opened his mouth.

"Joss, why the hostility? I thought you liked my company?" he pouted, and she just rolled her eyes as she turned her chair to face him.

"Brian, you know I like talking to you when the occasion arises, but you know that there's never going to be more than a friendship" she said trailing off softly, trying not to wince at the fallen expression on his face. She had wanted to avoid this conversation all together, but it just wasn't her morning. Jut as she was about to try to rephrase her feelings, she heard the doors open, and reflexively she turned around.

"Joss!" Amelia squealed, launching herself at Carter as she crouched down to catch her. Amelia hung on and squeezed her; Carter's smile widening as she squeezed back, before her father came into view.

"Nice to see you again Detective, I take it you found Amelia?" he said as he tried to hold in his laughter, his daughter still not relinquishing her hold on Jocelyn. Jocelyn decided to just pick her up and put her on her hip, Amelia content to be held and smiled brightly at her father. He came closer and patted Amelia's head, getting even closer to kiss her head as his eyes met Carter's. She sucked in a breath as he got that much closer, smiling nervously as he pulled away but stayed close enough to be within Amelia's reach. As Brian cleared his throat, all three of them whipped around to face him, only Carter seeming to have a guilty expression.

"Brian, this is John Reese and his daughter Amelia, John this is ADA Brian Curtis" she introduced awkwardly, John holding his hand out politely for Brian to shake, but Brian just looked back and forth between John and his hand before begrudgingly shaking it. Carter glared at Brian for acting childish, but Amelia pulled her attention away.

"Joss, I get to go see Uncle Harold today!" she exclaimed, and Jocelyn smiled at her, pulling her closer as she spoke.

"Really? Is Uncle Harold lots of fun?" Amelia nodded her head emphatically up and down, smiling and talking a mile a minute about her favorite uncle and how much they were going to do. John and Brian looked on, John smiling as they spoke, but Brian looked irritated, as he was no longer the center of attention.

"Jocelyn, are you free for lunch today?" Brian interrupted, Carter's gaze shifting back to him, and Amelia looked at Brian with open hostility that John had never seen from her before. She just stared at him in what he thought was anger as she hugged Jocelyn tighter, burying her face in her neck after a moment. Carter's attention went back to Amelia, assuming Amelia was talking to her because she was nodding and rubbing her back as she spoke into her hair. After a minute Jocelyn looked back at Brian, her eyes relatively vacant.

"I'm sorry Brian, but I can't. Plus, I don't really think that's a good idea…" she trailed off, looking anywhere but at the hurt look on Brian's face and the smug look on John's. She didn't know why she turned him down to be honest, but with John there it just seemed like a monumental mistake. She didn't want to hurt Brian's feelings, but if it was between him and John and Amelia…

"Since when did it become a bad idea Detective?" he said coldly, eyeing her as she looked anywhere but him. It hurt to know that she'd said she wasn't ready to date, but seemed to get pretty cozy with the Reese family so quickly.

"Look Brian, I really am sorry…"

"Save it Detective, you don't owe me a damn thing"

"Don't insult her because your ego's bruised" John said as he stepped slightly in front of Carter and his daughter, looking down at the ADA from his two inch advantage. Brian just smiled sarcastically and stalked out, refusing to say anything as the doors slammed shut behind him. Carter let out a deep breath he thinks she had been holding, putting Amelia on the floor as she snuck her hand into his pocket to grab her phone from him. He swung around to face her, the smile returning to his face as she waved the electronic in front of him.

"I need to get working John, but it was nice to see you and Amelia this morning" she says softly, looking him in the eye as Amelia successfully seats herself in Jocelyn's chair and kicks off the drawers to spin herself in boredom. They both just watch and laugh, him leaning in to give her a genuine hug goodbye, her arms automatically wrapping around his waist as she leaned her head into his neck.

"I really am glad I got to see you" she murmured into his neck, her lips barely ghosting over the sensitive skin under his ear, making him smile and shudder involuntarily. He pulled away and just nodded, brushing a kiss across her cheek as he stepped around her to grab Amelia. Just as the little girl was about to protest, he brought her over to the detective to give her a hug goodbye, and Amelia whispered something to Jocelyn that he couldn't hear. Instead of asking, he noticed the way Jocelyn smiled and reached into her shirt and pulled out the necklace Amelia had given her last night, and almost dropped Amelia when she hugged Carter fiercely almost coming out of his grasp. He pulled her back and she looked over his shoulder as he walked away, feeling her weight shift as she waved goodbye to Jocelyn one last time.

"Daddy, can Joss come live with us?" she asked innocently, and he couldn't help the smile that broke out onto his face.

"We'll see mi hija, she has to want to"

"You're silly Daddy, Joss loves us" she stated matter-of-factly, her eyes rolling as she wrapped her arms around his neck as he loaded her into the car. If it were only that simple…

Like? Let me know what you think I need in here, I'm all for some suggestions... :]