Here goes the next chapter… Sorry it took a little bit longer this time.

3 - Walk and talk

She just finished cleaning up the last plates of her rich breakfast as she hear a knock at her front door. He's been fast, their phone call was only a few minutes ago. The early interruption of their conversation this morning was still annoying her. She enjoyed being together with John without hunting someone down or protecting an innocent. In those times, they weren't Carter and Reese. Just John and Joss, two people who liked and respected each other. She wondered if there ever could be more between them than a close friendship. She wouldn't mind taking their relationship a step further even if the future would hold many difficulties for them. A detective and a vigilante, this sounded more like from a cliché romance novel.

A second knock at the door sent her thoughts back to the present. 'John's probably going to break the door if he thinks something's wrong.' Wanting to keep her door intact she yelled "I'm coming!" Grabbing her jacket on the way she rushed over.

"Hello John" she said after opening the door. Looking down she noticed Bear waiting next to his master. "Hi Bear!" Joss kneeled down to scratch him between the ears. The dog seemed to be happy to meet the friend of "his human". Wagging its tail he licked right across her face. "Ugh! Bear!" John escaped a small laughter as he saw her grimace. She stood up, signed him to wait by using her hand and went straight towards her bathroom to clean herself up.

In the meantime John looked down to Bear who made a very innocent face back at him. "Bear, you can't just lick over a girls face if you like her" he whispered to the dog. "Okay, maybe you can, but this one belongs to me, you understand?"

Carter came back to the front door that moment. "I'm ready, let's go!" They started walking down the streets in the direction of the Washington Square Park.

"So, what did Finch want this morning?"

"Oh, he just wanted to talk about our last case and make sure the victim is safe now."

"Do you mind sharing it with me? Since I'm not working today I won't trip over a dead body or a bunch of bad guys kneecapped and cuffed together." She glanced at him sideways.

"You always sound like those are bad things. Our jobs aren't so different. Both of us catch the criminals and stop them from harming innocent people."

"Yeah, but our ways to do this are different. I need to follow some rules, John. Those were made for a good reason."

"You know I always try not to kill anybody until I have no other choice, don't you?" John looked at Joss with a serious look on his face. She knew he needed her to confirm that she trusted him and believed in what he did.

"I know you do now, John. But what about Peter Arndt?" she felt him stiffen immediately. Joss knew she hit a soft spot, but since her trip to New Rochelle she wanted to ask him for his reasons. She could already imagine those but her gut kept telling her there is something she didn't know. Something, that made John who he is today.

"How do you… What do you know about Arndt?" he was clearly caught completely off guard.

"I accompanied Donnelly as he went to follow a lead of you in New Rochelle when I met the parents of Arndt's wife." She sighed as he looked straight ahead not wanting their eyes to meet. "She told me about Jessica's former boyfriend, an army soldier who left her after 9/11. Going through her stuff I found a picture of you two."

"I understand…" John said with low-voiced. After a few seconds Joss realized she won't get another answer.

"But I don't, John." She stated firmly. "You know I won't judge you for this. Hell, I know he was an asshole who only hurt people who were weaker then him. I saw the radiographs which showed some old fractures. I just want to make sure you did it for the right reasons. Please, John, let be a part of your life. You told me this morning I'm not alone anymore, so are you!"

"Joss, I… that was a long time ago." He finally looked at her and she was shocked at the amount of hurt in those deep blue eyes. She didn't say anything so he continued. "She called me the night she died. I promised her to come back to her but the CIA had other plans with me. After I finally made my way home I was told that… she died in a car accident. I visited her house and found a videotape of their wedding. The way she looked… he hurt her, that bastard hurt her and I wasn't there for her. I had to make sure he wouldn't be able to hurt anyone else ever again."

They walked in silence for a few minutes, each of them focused on their own thoughts. Joss already assumed what he told her but never found any evidence that would pass at court. At first she was angry of John for not letting this handle the local authorities. But after all… It might be better this way.

"Thank you." Carter said and stopped walking. He looked at her in surprise "For what?"

"For sharing this with me, I know this isn't easy for you. I'm always here for you, if you want to talk about something, John. I hope you know that." He smiled sadly at her. "I know. I'm not used to people caring for me."

They continued their walk and Carter's phone rang. Suspiciously she checked the caller ID and answered the call with an irritated look. "Taylor? What's wrong?" Her face lit up as she listened to her son. "Wait, wait, keep it slow. I can't understand a word you're saying." A few minutes of listening later she smiled happily. "That's great! I'm really happy for you! When does it start? Do we have to buy you a few things first?" … "Oh, okay." … "No, no, it's all right. Have fun and be careful! I love you, bye!"

Joss disconnected the call and looked sadly at John who watched her questioningly. "That was Taylor, a talent scout saw him playing basketball yesterday and invited him to a training camp for a week. He's been already at home packing things up since they're leaving in half an hour." She explained to him "I'm happy for him but I wish I had a chance to say goodbye face to face."

John smiled at her "He's growing up fast, you did a good job raising him."

"He's still my little boy, I don't think that will ever change."

They already walked a round in the park without realizing it. Bear sensed his companions needed to talk without him interfering, so he just tagged along.

"So, what other plans do you have for your free day, Carter?" John asked her, he almost forgot he initially was here to protect her. Being in her surroundings had this effect on him lately.

"Oh, I don't know yet, wasn't prepared to be woken up this early." She yawned. "Maybe I'll take a short nap and tidy up the house. Since Taylor is out for a week, there might be a chance it'll be persistent for more than 4 hours. At least until a certain someone decides to cook breakfast for a whole company, again."

"Hey, I cleaned everything after cooking!" he pouted. "You're still mad at me for waking you up?"

She grinned at him "Like I could be mad at you for more than a few minutes… But you didn't think about the dishes you used, did you?"

At least he was contrite about it. "Sorry, I didn't plan on Finch calling me over so soon." "Well, you can try again next time." She smiled warmly. John smiled back at her. "I'd love to"

They slowly made their way back to Carter's apartment talking about old cases of both of them.

"I want to thank you for asking me to come with you, John. I really enjoyed the walk with you and Bear." Joss said and petted the dog, not kneeling down this time. "The pleasure is all mine, Detective. I really hope we can repeat this sometime."

She smiled and turned to open up her front door, before stepping inside she looked back and saw him still standing there.

—

John waited and first started walking to the library as her door closed safely. Scanning his surroundings he recognized a black SUV which parked at the apartment as they left for the walk and he also saw it as they arrived at the park.

Fetching his phone he dialed his partner. "Finch? I need you to check a license plate number. DCF 5529. The car has been tailing us all day and is parked in front of Carter's home now. Can you call Shaw and get her to watch the street for an hour? I need to prepare for observation."

"Of course, Mr. Reese. As soon as you'll arrive at the library with Bear I have something interesting to show you."

"Oh, and Finch? Thank you for getting Taylor out of danger."

We'll get a little bit closer to the perps…

Hope you liked this chapter, please leave a review :-)