I'm going to be on a five-day course next week, so I wanted to finish this chapter before heading off :)

Thank you very much for your reviews, they really keep me writing!

7 - Safe?

He was breathing heavily, the sweat dropped from his forehead as they slowly made their way through the dark woods of the Harriman State Park. They were merely walking for half an hour and yet he was completely exhausted.

Joss noticed how fast the condition of John got worse. His shoulder wound began bleeding again slightly from moving around and though the piece of metal still inside him was stopping him from bleeding out, the pain of it shifting around within his side didn't help him to keep standing on his feet.

They needed to take a break soon, otherwise she would have to drag him to the cabin and she doubted she could move his muscular, tall body anywhere without his help. Her own head was pounding because of the concussion she got, but the thought of John needing her help made her ignore her own pain. She's been through worse to let it stop her.

Just as they passed a fallen tree, which was at a perfect height for John to sit without bending or stretching his body too much, she chose this was probably the best opportunity they'll get.

"Okay, John, let's get you over there, we're taking a short break before you pass out on me."

"I don't… pass out!" He ground out. However he let out a relieved sigh as he half sat, half leaned against the tree.

"Yeah, right, you would call highly concentrated with closed eyes." She muttered shaking her head. Why did men always have to act tough? Joss checked his wounds briefly. John's shirt was covered with dirt and blood. As far as she could tell the piece of metal which pierced his side didn't hurt any major organs or artery. She didn't doubt it would bleed heavily once it's pulled out and she secretly hoped somebody with medical training would be around if that happened.

"You're done?" A husky voice near to her asked. Without her noticing he had lowered his head next to her ear. She jumped at the sudden sound and turned her head around. Their faces were only inches away from each other. Both of them were caught in the moment and stared into each other's eyes not being able to get out a word.

John's eye moved between her eyes and her lips. Damn, she knew exactly what he wanted — she's been wanting this herself for a while now. Even totally exhausted, dirty, sweaty and hurt he was the most beautiful man she ever met. She saw how John leaned slightly forward and prepared to kiss him back as he suddenly let out a hiss of pain.

"John!" She looked at him with concern as he reached for his side with his right arm.

"I'm fine…" He mumbled. "Just stretched too much."

She was sad about the interruption of their magic moment but on the other hand she didn't wanted him to do this because he was hurt and the moment itself. She knew how she felt about him and wanted to do things right. Her heart would break if they got closer and later he would break up with her because he didn't feel the same way.

They agreed without words to continue their walk to the cabin. It was getting darker and they needed to get there before they wouldn't find the way anymore. Joss stabilized his hurt side again and they were heading towards the cabin without speaking about the situation before.

The only positive aspect of it was the fact, that it distracted him from thinking too much about the pain. He was angry at himself for letting his body interrupt the chance to kiss the woman he loved. But she couldn't love him, he was a monster and a vigilante and wouldn't fit well to the beautiful police detective who acted strictly by law.

And yet… he saw her change over the last year.

She wasn't the same person he met at the police station back when he was living on the streets and nearly drinking himself to death. Not that he didn't also admire her as she was back then. But she was also used to do everything how she was taught and couldn't get herself to break the rules. As himself, she evolved into a person who would do anything to prevent innocents from being hurt and that's what attracted him even more.

In silence they were walking until they reached a clearing with a small wooden cabin in the middle of it. It was looking like a nice place to hang out and Joss hoped they could get here someday together and enjoy a weekend together.

"We made it, just a few more steps and we can take care of your wounds and give you some painkillers." Joss was relieved to finally get him some medical help.

"No… painkillers." John stated.

She was ready to discuss this later as someone stepped out of the cabin and walked towards them. Her mind was already forming an escape plan - not a very good one - but she realized it was Shaw who was coming for them with a gun in her hand.

"What the hell did you guys do?" Shaw asked and after she got a closer look at John: "Whoa, you look like shit." He gave her an unnerved look, but she just shrugged and steadied his other side so they could walk towards the cabin.

Shaw opened the front door and the exhausted partners were welcomed by a warm room with a big corner couch in the middle. Joss noticed four more doors, a kitchen, two bedrooms and a bathroom she guessed.

John was pulling her towards the couch and she was happy they could finally rest. He groaned of pain as he lay down on his back. Joss sat herself near to his head and finally allowed herself to feel the worry she tried to suppress all the time. She stroked through his hair as Shaw inspected his wounds.

He didn't make another sound until Shaw touched the piece of metal. "Argh… get this stupid thing out… now!" John demanded with a low voice. Sam looked at Joss and handed him a towel: "You'll need to help me with this. As soon as I pull it out you have to press this towel at the wound to take care of the bleeding." Joss wasn't happy about it, she didn't want to hurt him but didn't want him to bleed out either, so she took the towel and sent John an 'I'm sorry' look. He nodded almost invisibly at her and his tired eyes said 'It's okay'.

"If the two of you finished your wordless communication we can start" Shaw interrupted them. She prepared some bandages and a sewing kit next to her so they could replace the towel quickly.

John and Shaw exchanged a glance and in agreement, Shaw pulled out the metal in a fast move. Joss tried not to look at the blood which immediately ran out of the, in her opinion too big, hole. Instead she pressed the towel at it just like she was told. John let out a hiss of pain which hit her right into the heart.

Fortunately Shaw had the sewing kit and some antiseptic ready in no time and signed Joss to take the towel away so she could quickly clean and stitch up the wound. Joss locked eyes with John to distract both of them from what's happening at his lower body. She saw him twitch at each stitch and it hurt her too.

A minute later only small drops of blood tickled out of the sewn up hole and Shaw put a bandage around his waist to protect it from getting infected.

After Shaw finished the examination of his other wounds she summed it up. "The wound at your side should heal up nicely, no major organs were hurt. You have some cracked ribs which will be uncomfortable but harmless. The bullet wound at your shoulder damaged some muscles which explains why you can't move your arm. Unfortunately it also got infected and you lost good amount of blood. But since you're a big boy it's not at a life threatening level. You already have some elevated temperature which will get worse soon, so I need you to rest and take some of these." She hold out a bunch of pills.

John knew he had no other chance as both women looked at him and weakly took the pills. Joss handed him a glass of water to wash them down.

"I'll have to clean the wound at your shoulder so it will heal more quickly." John nodded and closed his eyes as Shaw began working on him.

Joss watched him as he slowly began drifting to sleep and was relieved. She trusted Shaw and her judgment. The only thing that worried her was the infection, she realized during the walk his skin was warm, but thought it was due to the exhaustion.

She began feeling comfortable on the couch and leaned backwards. Soon enough her eyes began dropping and she couldn't fight the urge to sleep anymore, even though she shouldn't regarding she got a concussion. But the efforts of the last hours were beginning to exacting their toll.

By the time Shaw was done cleaning up the wounds she had to smile at the couple on the couch. Joss unintentionally shifted closer to John while she's been asleep. She suspected something between them for quite a while now but couldn't put a finger on it.

But the way she met them outside — Carter almost carrying a wounded John and the deep worry in her eyes — told her everything she needed to know. She just wondered why both of them wouldn't admit it to each other. They definitely cared for each other but seemed to be too scared to openly show it. Just because Shaw herself didn't felt much emotions didn't mean she couldn't sense them.

She decided to let them rest for a few hours before asking them what happened exactly. Driving to the cabin she saw the crash site and suspected they would need some first aid in the cabin. She was just speaking with Finch over the phone — who was worried sick after she told him about the accident — as they came in sight. Finch wanted to tell her something but she disconnected the call and got out of the cabin to help them inside.

Finch would want an update soon, but she chose to get the information herself first. So she regularly checked the perimeter for any upcoming danger and got some food ready for herself and the sleeping beauties.

To be honest, I didn't expect the story get this long as I started writing it :O

The next update will take some more time, just to warn you right ahead!

Please drop a review if you like it!