Chapter 15 – The Man in a Suit

A/N: This chapter is long and little clunky, as we touch base with a number of folks, and start tying up some threads as this story begins to come to a close.

"This is not what I meant by Community Relations!"

Zoe Morgan gasped as she surveyed the scene. Flames were shooting out of the Machine High chapel, the ground was littered with broken, bleeding bodies and handcuffed men were being herded into several police vans that had somehow managed to squeeze their way down the narrow paths.

Crowds had gathered along hastily erected police barricades and the Ledger's Maxine Angelis, jaw stretched in a wide, ghoulish grin, winked at the Marketing and Community Relations Liaison as she spoke to a television reporter. "I'm here at Machine High, where they teach the three Rs – Rampagin', Riotin' and Rumblin'…"

Ms. Morgan threw up her hands. "How – I am never going to be able to fix this!"

"Coulda been worse," Fusco said as he walked up beside her. "At least they didn't get a shot of a naked Wonderboy."

"John – naked?" her voice cracked. "Totally naked?"

"Yep. From his neck to his knees. Only things he had on were his hairnet, support hose and shoes. Reese could have a whole new career as the 'Thunder Down Under', if you get my drift," the Counselor chuckled. "Dude is packin'."

"Damn! Damn! Damn!" Ms. Morgan cried, as tears sprung to her eyes.

Fusco tilted his head at her. "You okay?" he asked softly. "You want a soda or somethin'?"

The Liaison looked at him as though she was seeing the Counselor for the first time. "Yes," she nodded slowly, "a soda would be nice."

Fusco extended his arm towards the parking lot. "I got an emergency twelve-pack in my car. This way."

XXX

"Could you give us a few minutes, Mary?"

Nurse Abbott was one of a virtual battalion of medical personnel who had been sent to the site to tend to the wounded. She had worked with Joss several years ago uncovering a baby snatching ring, and while she raised an eyebrow at the Auto Shop teacher's request, she nodded to her friend and left Joss and her visitor alone.

Antonia jumped into the ambulance. "I've made the final arrangements," she said softly.

"Thank you, Toni." Joss reached out and stroked the top of the Mob Enforcer's head, and Antonia sighed and put her head on the Auto Shop teacher's thigh. For a few moments, the two women comforted each other in their grief, then the sleek dog raised her head and began to speak. "He left everything to you – "

Joss shook her head vigorously. "I don't want it. It's –"

Antonia pressed her paw against the Auto Shop teacher's leg. "Let me finish. He was ill, Jossy, dying." Her ears twitched at Joss' unspoken question. "No, I didn't know for the longest time; you do remember who raised us?"

They shared a wry glance and then Antonia continued. "He swore me to secrecy once I found out. Most of his holdings have been transitioned into legitimate businesses and sold off. I'll dismantle what's left."

Joss couldn't believe what she was hearing. "It's all gone, the whole organization?"

"The men you knew are either dead or in prison, Jossy, and the young ones don't have the stones to take over, much less hold on to it. You were the only one who could have done it." Her eyes gleamed in admiration. "Everything you did tonight proved it. You would have made a good leader, a true Boss."

Antonia's eyes softened. "Coming to Machine High was a last ditch effort to get you to take over, but when he saw during the year he was here everything you accomplished, everyone you helped, and, how happy you were…he loved you, Jossy."

The Auto Shop teacher nodded. "And I loved him." She shook her head again. "But the money…I don't want it or need it, Toni."

"It's yours, Jossy, whether you like it or not." The Mob Enforcer tilted her head at Joss. "Look, if you really want to make peace with being his kid, take the money and do something," her upper lip curled, " 'good' with it." Antonia's muzzle twitched. " 'Course, if I were you, I'd spend it on cold tropical drinks and hot cabana boys, but that's just me."

Joss smiled softly. "What about you, Toni? What will you do?" She reached out and stroked her head again. Antonia hadn't just lost someone she loved, she'd lost her whole world.

The Mob Enforcer closed her eyes. "I don't know, Jossy. I always thought I'd die before he did. Guess I need to make some plans of my own."

XXX

"How many?"

John Greer walked slowly onto the site, accompanied by his CEO, Martine Rousseau. The flames from the burning chapel emphasized the deep wrinkles of his face as he impassively surveyed the chaotic scene in front of him.

"Four humans…" Ms. Rousseau tilted her head, listening. "And two…dogs."

The Samaritan Industries head raised an eyebrow. "Impressive. They defeated a much larger, well organized and heavily armed force."

"You did say that you wanted fighters."

"Yes, Ms. Rousseau, but I meant fighters for us, under our command. Machine High was to be expanded over time into a cradle thru college operation, with students indoctrinated from birth into fulfilling the destinies we've decreed for them." He smiled thinly. "Alonzo Quinn's treachery was fortuitous. If these…individuals could band together in one evening and thwart his plan, imagine what they could do if they had an inkling of ours."

"And the funds Quinn stole?" Ms. Rousseau tilted her head at him. "Apparently, Quinn initiated some doomsday scenario before he shot and killed the English teacher. Account numbers, routes, everything's been obliterated. We haven't been able to find a trace."

This time Greer's smile was broad. "If he can't have it, nobody else can." His eyes surveyed the scene again, then he shrugged. "It's only money, Ms. Rousseau. The real currency – bravery, intelligence, loyalty, teamwork – was on display here tonight."

"They'll need it," she replied. "When word gets out about what happened here this evening, this school won't exist much longer."

"Yes," Greer nodded, "the students, faculty and staff will scatter to the four winds. Our former School Board Head could have the last laugh. 'Saving' Machine High may have destroyed it forever."

XXX

"Hold still!" Dr. Megan Tillman snapped as she adjusted the bandages around Reese's torso. "You are the world's worst patient, John."

"It's good I have the world's best doctor, then, Doc," Reese smirked.

Dr. Tillman shook her head, then smiled. "Well, it's thanks to you that I'm still a doctor. Give me a couple of more minutes, and you can get out of here."

Reese sighed, stilling his body to let her work. He was anxious to get to Joss, who he knew was being attended to in another ambulance. Both Finch and Bear had assured him that she was alright, but Reese needed to see for himself, not only to make sure that she was okay, but to just be with her.

He'd tried to wave off being treated to stay with Joss, but after a stern lecture from Finch and a snapping of teeth from Bear, he relented, and as the doctor taped his freshly cracked ribs from one of Simmons' blows, Reese conceded that his friends were right.

Finally satisfied with her work, Dr. Tillman gently squeezed his uninjured arm and dismissed him. Reese tightened the blanket wrapped around his body and climbed out of the ambulance, just in time to see Ms. Marconi emerge from the one where Joss was.

The sleek dog jerked her head towards the vehicle. "Jossy's alone." Her dark eyes scanned his blanket clad frame sardonically. "You're not a hot cabana boy, but I guess you'll do."

Reese smiled at her. "Glad I have your approval, Ms. Marconi."

"You do," her eyes twinkled, "for now. And you can call me Antonia," she added as she trotted away.

Reese slipped into the ambulance. The cut over Joss' eye and the one on her arm from the bullet grazing her had been neatly bandaged and Joss was hooked up to a machine injecting her with a serum that would help counteract the effects of the torture she had been subjected to.

She gave him that slight nod as he closed the ambulance doors.

They were alone.

It wasn't what he had dreamed of – surrounded by cold metal, the smell of antiseptic, he had a blanket wrapped around his naked body, they were both battered and exhausted, and she had suffered a terrible loss, but finally, it was just him and Joss.

"I'm sorry, Joss."

"Thank you. I spent so many years hating him…" Joss took a deep breath, "…it's going to take me a while to sort through everything…"

Reese sat down, taking her hand. "The bad, and the good."

"Yeah…" She squared her soldiers and looked Reese right in the eye. "I'm a Mob princess. Carl Elias' adoptive daughter. I could boost a car before I could read. That's how I know so much about them."

Reese gazed into her big brown eyes. "I'm an international spy and assassin. I killed people using bad food. That's how I really learned to cook."

Joss reached up and slowly took off his hairnet, tossing it aside.

Reese knew that she was seeing the cook and the assassin, the good man and the bad, and finally, just him. There was no censure or judgment in her eyes, just acceptance and curiosity.

Her smile was sweet and shy. "It's nice to meet you, John."

His smile was shy as well. "It's nice to meet you, too, Joss."

He tilted his head towards the ambulance doors. "Can I…buy you a cup of coffee, Joss? There's a diner nearby, Lyric's, that should be open soon."

Joss raised an eyebrow. "I think you'd have to have a bit more on than just a blanket, John."

Reese smirked at her. "I've got a suit in my locker. Ten minutes."

As he stood up, Joss intertwined her fingers in his. "You came for me," she whispered.

With his other hand, Reese reached out and cupped her cheek, and while his hand had shook before with fear when he touched her, now it was shaking with the love that he felt for this incredible woman.

"I would go through hell and back again for you, Joss, a thousand times over."

Her eyes shone with a light that thrilled and humbled him. "And I would do the same for you. Five minutes, John. Hurry."

XXX

Joss disconnected the IV and stepped out of the ambulance. She knew that she'd get yelled at by Mary, and she smiled, John, for cutting her treatment short, but she needed to see for herself how the mop up of the site was going.

Detective Bill Szymanski smiled as he waved her over. "You should have warned me about your Security Head, Carter. Thought he was going to bite me if I didn't move fast enough."

"Give him time, Szymanski, give him time."

Bear was herding the last group of men into the police vans, forceful and focused on his work, while Antonia sat and watched with an appraising look on her face.

"He's good, Carter. A little…" Szymanski smirked, "overbearing, but good. Wish we had an elite dog like him on the force."

"Yeah, he's a good man, and a good friend."

Joss listened intently as the Detective updated her. While the fire department had been able to rescue the men tied up in the chapel, flames had spread to auxiliary oil tanks under the stone plaza, and the building was expected to explode at any moment. The wounded prisoners had been transported to a prison hospital, and the explosives in the old library had quickly been removed. Every building on campus had been thoroughly searched to make sure there weren't any booby traps or hidden pockets of men either planning to escape or launching another attack.

"I did what you asked, Carter, and kept your names out of it. As far as anybody knows, this was a battle between cops and crooks. You and the other staffers just happened to be here when the shooting started." He lowered his voice. "You sure about this, Joss? What you guys did here was monumental. The bomb squad told me that the stuff in the library would have taken out more than this campus. You saved a lot of lives tonight."

"I'm sure. We just want to move forward." She tilted her head at him. "And it's not a total lie. You're saying that it was an undercover cop who found out what was happening here tonight…they say you never really give up the badge, Bill."

He chuckled. "Yeah, once a cop, always a cop. I can see you takin' down perps in the nursing home fifty years from now. Hey, before you leave, there's somethin' I want you to see."

Szymanski led her to two police cruisers. Alonzo Quinn was huddled in the back seat of one, shaking uncontrollably, his normally rich brown skin mottled, shrunken and gray. On the cruiser's computer was the same scene that Joss had been tortured with.

"Figured what was good for the goose, was good for the gander."

Joss' face hardened as she looked at the man who had killed her father. "Equal opportunity for all."

"Yeah, thought you'd appreciate that. We're taking him and Simmons downtown for questioning. Thought we'd soften them up first. It's working with Quinn, but not with his guy."

"It wouldn't." Joss walked over to the other cruiser. "Put him on a restricted diet. Nonfat, no sugar and absolutely," she looked Simmons in the eye, "NO chocolate."

"You got it," Szymanski nodded.

For the first time Patrick Simmons showed real fear.

"Yeah," Joss winked at him. "Dinner, and then a show."

Simmons' wails could be heard as the police cruisers pulled away.

XXX

Reese dressed quickly, then pulled out a leash from the top shelf of his locker. As he reached in the back of the shelf for another leash, a flash of red caught his eye.

It was a beautiful shawl, dark red, shot through with gold threads.

The Cafeteria Lady had bought it last year on impulse at the school's annual holiday bazaar, telling himself that Joss could use it in the sometimes drafty Auto Shop, but that afternoon, Beecher had walked into the staff lounge and smugly announced that he and Joss were seeing each other.

Reese had never given it to her, his dreams full of Joss waiting for him in their apartment, wearing nothing but that shawl, the rich fabric highlighting her gleaming shoulders and full breasts, laughing in delight as he pulled it free from her glorious curves, and hungrily wrapped her with his own body.

They would sink down to the floor as he made love to her over and over again, on the floor, the bed, the couch, and every inch of the home they'd make together.

He'd wake up, reaching for her, only to find himself alone in bed, the shawl mocking him every time he went to work and opened his locker. Reese thought about giving it away, or even throwing it out, but he couldn't, craving the dream every time he closed his eyes at night.

He smiled, grabbed the other leash, and the shawl, then closed the locker door.

XXX

Szymanski escorted Joss back to the cluster of emergency vehicles still at the site. As rumors of the chapel's imminent explosion spread, the crowd was being pushed to the rear of the parking lot, while news cameras were jostling for the best position to film the blast. A bevy of high ranking officials from various municipal departments were readying their prepared statements, and entrepreneurs were already designing 'Chapocalypse' merchandise on their handhelds.

The Auto Shop teacher and the Detective smiled knowingly at each other; the next phase of the news cycle had begun.

"You wanna get a coffee, Joss?" Szymanski asked. "It's going to be a while before they get everybody booked. I don't need to go downtown right away. We could talk, catch up with each other."

"Thanks, but I've already got plans." Her eyes lit up as John strode purposely towards her.

Szymanski followed her gaze, then he smiled ruefully. "Take care, Joss."

Joss touched his sleeve. "You too, Bill, and thank you."

As Joss started walking towards John, she heard Maxine Angelis' excited voice over the noise of the crowd. "So you're saying, that there will be no more funding, at all? Can I quote you on that?"

Joss paused, recognizing John Greer and Martine Rousseau from their visits to the school.

"You may, Ms. Angelis. This is not an institution that Samaritan Industries, or," Greer's eyes glinted, "any other corporation or charitable group would want to be associated with. I'm sure Machine High's fine students would be readily accepted at any one of the city's prestigious schools immediately. Their futures needn't be impacted by what transpired here tonight."

Ms. Rousseau nodded. "We'll be meeting with…" she tilted her head, "J E Hoover High later today to discuss funding opportunities."

As they turned to leave, Ms. Angelis spotted Joss listening. "How about you, Ms. Carter? Ready to give another eulogy?"

"Machine High isn't dead, Ms. Angelis. It will be back, stronger than ever."

The newspaper reporter's smile grew even wider, her eyes darting toward Greer and Ms. Rousseau, as they turned and listened to the exchange. "Oh, come on – the founder's a crook, the school's broke and after John Greer's comments, nobody's going to give a dime to this place."

The Auto Shop teacher nodded. "Alonzo Quinn was the founder, but he wasn't Machine High. 'This place' is a lot more than him. It's going to take time and hard work, but we're a," her eyes glowed softly at John, Finch, Bear and Antonia, who stood quietly off to the side, "family. We care about each other and we care about this school. We'll make it work."

Ms. Angelis shrugged. "Maybe, but you still need money."

Joss glanced at Antonia. "There…might be some funding from another source."

The newspaper reporter leaned forward. "Really? Who? Someone famous or noteworthy?"

"Charlie Burton," Joss said softly.

"Oh." Ms. Angelis frowned. "But –" she glanced at her notes, "wasn't he just an English teacher?"

Joss smiled. "Yeah. He was. He was also my father."

Leaving a silent and bewildered Ms. Angelis, Joss began to walk towards her friends.

She felt a pair of eyes boring into her.

Joss stopped, gazing calmly into John Greer's pale eyes.

The Samaritan Industries Head nodded, bowed slightly, then turned towards the parking lot.

XXX

"Glad to see you're making friends, Joss," Reese smirked as she joined the group.

"I got bored." She gave him that look. "And it took you longer than five minutes."

"I had to get you something…" he held up the shawl, the gold threads shimmering in the light from the burning chapel.

"John…" Joss whispered, as she fingered the soft fabric. "It's beautiful."

"Your sleeve got torn where the bullet hit you..." He wrapped the shawl around her body, unable to hide the naked desire in his eyes, his long fingers lingering on her shoulders.

Joss reached up with her uninjured arm and touched his hand. "Thank you." They stared at each other, until Finch's delicately, then forcefully clearing his throat, caused them to finally step apart.

"Wooooooo." Antonia blew out a long, slow breath. "Serious eye sex. That was hotter than Bear pretending to slip me his wienerwurst."

"Bear pretended to sl-" Joss held up her hands, shaking her head. "I don't want to know."

"Unfortunately, some of us can't say the same," the Coach sighed. "You weren't the only one subjected to torture last night."

The Cafeteria Lady smirked, while Finch pointedly ignored the glares from the two dogs.

"We should leave before it gets light." Reese turned to the Coach. "We're going to Lyric's. You're welcome to join us, Finch."

"Thank you, Mr. Reese, but in this case," Finch smiled at his friends, "five is definitely a crowd."

His face grew solemn as he turned to the Auto Shop teacher. "I attempted to do what you asked, Joss, but I was unsuccessful."

"It was a long shot, but thank you for trying, Harold."

The Coach nodded and slipped away into the crowd.

The Cafeteria Lady pulled the two leashes out from his jacket pocket. The sky was beginning to lighten; if they remained on campus any longer, their bruises and bandages could lead to questions about what actually happened here. Anyone who did manage to tear their eyes away from the impending explosion would simply see a couple – Reese smiled at that thought – with their two dogs.

As he bent over to attach a leash to Bear's collar, a fireball from the burning chapel suddenly arched across the sky, landing squarely on Joss' Thunderbird, setting it ablaze.

"My car!" Joss cried.

Firefighters raced to put out the flames, but it was clear that it was a total loss.

Reese and Bear looked at each other. Reese fought not to smile, while Bear's muzzle twitched.

"Don't you dare!" Joss glared at them.

"We didn't say anything, Joss," Reese protested, smirking.

She folded her arms. "I know what you're thinking." The Auto Shop teacher then turned to attach a leash to Antonia's collar.

"Fork Over Repair Dough," Bear whispered.

Reese whispered back, "Flipped Over 'Recked Disaster."

"I heard that!"

XXX

"I think the earth just moved, Lionel," Ms. Morgan sighed from the back seat of his car.

"A fireball just took out Carter's ride, Zoe. Shook the whole damn parking lot."

"It did…but that's not what I'm talking about." Astride the Counselor, Ms. Morgan wrapped her legs tighter around Fusco's waist, while she nuzzled his neck. "John might be the Thunder Down Under, but you're the Stealth Bomber..." her eyes drifted downward. "I didn't realize there was all that 'meat' under the potatoes.*"

Wriggling over the front seats, the Liaison riffled through her purse, holding up a key card. "What do you say we spend the rest of the day in the Coronet Hotel's Presidential Suite?"

Fusco shrugged. "Sure…but I won't have to try on a bunch of uniforms, right?"

"No, Lionel," she purred. "I don't think you'll be wearing much at all."

"They serve falafels there?"

"It's the Presidential Suite. They can make you whatever you want," she drew the card between her breasts, smiling as he groaned, "whenever you want it, 24/7."

"Good," he reached up, took the key card out of her hand and kissed her. "I have a feeling I'm gonna need the energy."

XXX

"Great speech. I almost believed it myself."

Reese rolled his eyes. "What are you doing here, Pierce?"

"I'm not talking to you, Vice President of Dullness Al Bore**, I'm talking to her."

Logan Pierce swept past the Cafeteria Lady and stood in front of Joss. "Logan Pierce: genius, billionaire entrepreneur, sex god and the man who's going to make all your dreams come true."

The Auto Shop teacher took a step back. "Do…we…know each other?"

"Nope, never met. I'm the guy bankrolling the New Technologies department at Fitzhugh Quinnell – can't be bothered with meetings, interviews, boring stuff like that. Rather spend my time eating bacon wrapped hot dogs on Coney Island – hey, isn't there a nurse from here who ate like 70 footlongs?" He waggled his eyebrows. "Like to see what else she can swall –"

"Pierce," Reese warned.

"Okay, okay. You saved my life, like three times, remember? Maybe this is the reason why." The entrepreneur turned back to Joss. "I read your resume, scanned through the vids from your interviews for the New Technologies gig. I thought you were interesting before, Ms. Carter, but you're," he winked at Reese, "absolutely fascinating now. You left ol' Maxine there flapping her gums, and John Greer actually bowed to you – I bet the creaky Crypt Keeper will feel that tomorrow."

"Is this…leading somewhere, Mr. Pierce?" Joss asked.

"Clock's ticking, Logan," Reese growled.

Pierce held up a hand, then he suddenly became serious. "I'm going to double the endowment for the New Technologies department and insist that you lead the entire group. If you almost got me to believe that family and hard work spiel you were giving Maxine, you can do anything, Ms. Carter. I want you on the FG team. You'd be great with the students, their parents and the administration. You're not only good at what you do, you believe in it, and that's rare."

"I appreciate the offer, Mr. Pierce, but I meant what I said. I'm going to stay at Machine High."

"Stay? HERE?" the entrepreneur sputtered. "You're going to stay here? You're turning ME down? You're the second person to turn me down. First him, now you!" He shook his finger at the Cafeteria Lady. "You're a bad influence."

"That's the nicest thing you've ever said to me, Pierce," Reese smirked.

"What if I triple the endowment, Ms. Carter? I can take you to dinner – there's this place in St. Petersburg that serves the world's best pierogies - we could talk it over," Pierce wheedled.

Joss shook her head. "Thanks, but no. I'm going to notify FG's search committee later today that I'm turning the offer down."

"But – Joss, I can call you Joss, right? I -"

Reese's face turned to stone. "The lady's given you her answer, Pierce."

"But I haven't even –"

Reese leaned forward, his soft voice even softer still, as he grabbed the man by the arm and firmly steered him towards the parking lot. "Leave. Now."

"John! What are you doing?" Pierce cried.

"Saving your life. Again."

Pierce suddenly looked down. Bear's and Antonia's sharp teeth gleamed in the darkness, their eyes feral and murderous, glowing from the light from the fire. He raised an eyebrow. "So much for man's best friend."

"We are her best friend, not yours!" Bear growled through the translator.

Pierce jumped as Antonia jutted her head forward, snapped her jaws and then winked at him.

Muttering to himself, Pierce stalked away. They watched as he suddenly veered off and headed towards Greer and Ms. Rousseau, who were getting into a chauffeured vehicle.

Pierce touched the CEO's arm. "Plastic. Knew it!" Chortling, he vanished into the crowd.

"Friend of yours, John?"

Reese sighed. "It's a long story, Joss."

The Auto Shop teacher raised her eyebrows. "I'll look forward to hearing all about it – I think."

The Cafeteria Lady tilted his head at her. "You sure you want to stay here, Joss? You could accept Pierce's offer, or take your father's money and do whatever you want with it."

Joss smiled at him. "I spent a long time looking for a home, and I finally found it. Machine High is my home. "You," she looked at Bear and Antonia, then her eyes finally settled on Reese, "are my home."

"Besides," her eyes slowly scanned Reese's body, then she took his hand. "I plan on spending a lot of time getting to know the man in a suit."

* "Wow! All this meat and no potatoes." - Mae West said this in the 1978 film Sextette when she walked into a gym full of muscular men, including a young Tom Selleck.

** Al Bore – there were numerous jokes about US Vice President Al Gore's formal, some said boring demeanor, including this one: "Q: How can you tell Al Gore apart from a group of Secret Service Agents? A: He's the stiff one.

Next, Three Little Words will be posted on December 31st.