It was mid-afternoon and the captain strode out of his office and looked around the room of detectives. "Carter, Fusco!" he barked. "We got a new shooting in a street over by Chinatown. Get your butts over there, it's your new case."

Fusco growled in frustration; he had hoped they could spend the day safely inside the precinct, but that was not going to happen. To top it off, they got the worst possible case, a shooting on a busy street where they would be outside and completely exposed. It was the perfect setup for anyone who wanted Carter dead.

Fusco got up and followed Carter out the door to her cruiser. He let her drive, as usual. As soon as his butt hit the seat, he pulled out his phone.

Carter glared at him. "Who are you calling?" She snapped. Actually, she already knew.

"You know darn good and well who I'm calling. Don't try and talk me out of it, it won't work. If anything happens to you, I'm a dead man." Fusco shot back.

He called Reese.

"Hello, Lionel. How are things going with Carter?"

"The usual, she's being Carter," Fusco replied. Carter shot him a dirty look.

Reese smiled. He understood exactly what Fusco meant. However, unlike Fusco, Carter being Carter made John Reese insanely happy.

"I take it you need some help then?" He purred into the phone, his happiness at getting to see Carter twice in one day getting the better of him, despite the circumstances.

"Yeah, we got a call, shooting in the street. We are going to be outside, and more exposed than a flasher," Fusco growled into his phone.

Reese's stomach clenched; outside on a busy street is exactly where he did not want Carter right now. "I'll be right there. Finch did you hear that?"

"Yes Mr. Reese. I'm already monitoring several security cameras in the area, the scene is quite chaotic".

"Just what we don't need," Reese growled in frustration.

John arrived at the scene only few moments after Carter and Fusco. His heart did a happy dance at seeing Joss at work. He loved to watch her work; he found her intensity and passion on the job incredibly hot and sexy. He'd often fantasized about having that passion and intensity directed at him. Reluctantly he tore his eyes from the object of his affections and scanned the area for threats.

"Finch, I don't like this; there's a big crowd of people here and I can't watch them all, even with Fusco's help. There are buildings all around that could shelter a sniper. This is about the worst place possible for Carter."

"I concur with your analysis, Mr. Reese, but I don't think we can do anything about it. This is her assignment."

Reese sighed. Finch was right, but he still didn't like it. He didn't know what he would do if he lost her. He caught Fusco's eye and Fusco gave him a quick head shake, as if to say Nothing we can do. Fusco was plainly unhappy, too.

Finch was also on edge. He knew if they lost Carter, he would lose Reese as well, especially if Carter died while she was supposed to be under Reese's protection. Finch knew Reese would blame himself for her death and self destruct in his grief and guilt. Harold was fully aware that there were two lives in the balance, not one, and he caught himself holding his breath.

Carter was oblivious to all the worrying being done over her by the three men. She was busy on the case, questioning witnesses and bagging evidence. Fusco was sticking as close as he could to her, but he was fully aware of their exposed position. He kept shooting nervous looks over at Reese, but John was as much at a loss as Fusco was. There was simply nothing they could do at this point except hope for the best and expect the worst.

It didn't take long for the worst to happen. John saw the car first as it came barreling down the street at a high rate of speed. As soon as he saw the vehicle, John knew it was the attempt on Joss he had been waiting for. He immediately began running towards her, and shouting at Fusco. Hearing John's shouts, Fusco looked up, saw the car and began running towards Joss as well. John reached Carter just as the occupants of the car opened fire. John tackled her to the ground, shielding her with his body as the bullets flew.

It was over in just a few seconds. The car sped off and John rolled off Joss onto his knees so he could check her for injuries. His heart stopped when he saw blood on her arm. Carter quickly clamped her hand over the wound. "It's just a graze, John, I'll be fine in a few minutes," she said when she saw the look on his face.

John got up and pulled her to her feet. He grabbed her good arm in an iron grip and started walking her to her car. Fusco came running up. "Is it bad?" He asked when he saw the blood on her arm.

"We will see when I get her someplace safe," John said grimly.

"John, I can't leave the scene of an investigation," Joss protested.

Fusco opened the passenger door of her car. "Carter, shut up and get in the fucking car!" He snarled at her. Carter looked shocked and John smiled at Fusco. Carter got in the car without another word, while John took the wheel.

"Tell your boss she was taken to the hospital, make the wound sound worse than it is, Carter is about to take a medical leave of absense.

"Will do, and good luck keeping her contained."

"I heard that, Fusco!" Carter yelled at him as the car drove off.

"Finch, I'm taking her to my place,"John said.

"Is the detective badly hurt? I have several doctors on speed dial I can call."

"I don't think so, but I'll let you know if we need one."

Reese unlocked the door to his loft and ushered Carter into the apartment. She entered tentatively; slowly, looking around.

"Wow, John; this is nice. I had no idea that being a vigilante paid so well."

John smiled at her. "Finch is a generous employer. This was my birthday present."

"Make sure he knows my birthday is in September, OK?" She joked.

She still had her right hand clamped over the wound on her left arm and blood had seeped through her fingers. John gently touched her hand. "Lets get that fixed up, shall we?"

Carter nodded and let John lead her to a seat at the island that separated the kitchen from the living room. He opened a cabinet containing medical supplies and extracted what he needed. He spread them out on the counter next to Carter and tore the sleeve off her blouse. Carter made a face.

"Relax, it's just a shirt, Carter. I'll get you another one."

Carter sighed, "I know John. It's just that I really liked the color of this one."

John smiled warmly at her; he actually liked that color on her a lot too. He started working on her arm. He cleaned it, causing her to hiss when the antiseptic touched the wound. John shot her an apologetic look. She gave him a weak smile back.

The sting from the antiseptic aside, John had plenty of experience when it came to dressing wounds of this type and his long, elegant fingers had a very gentle touch. He was soon done with a minimum amount of pain to his patient.

When he was done he gave Carter a cocky grin. "Do you want to me to kiss it and make it better?" Carter shot him a dirty look, and his grin got wider.

He was just glad she was alive. The close call had shaken him badly, though he would never admit it.

"Carter, I think you should stay here for the night, maybe for the next few days until we figure out who is trying kill you."

"John…" She started to argue.

"No arguments," John snapped. "If they are bold enough to take a potshot at you at a crime scene with all those police around, think about what they will do when they get you home alone."

Carter hung her head. John really wanted to put his arms around her and hold her tight, to comfort her; hell, to comfort himself, but he settled for gently touching her wrist. He had no right to touch her, and he rather doubted she would appreciate more touching than he gave her.

"Can I at least go back to my apartment and get some things? I'm guessing you don't have clothes that fit me," she said tiredly. It was obvious that the strain of the events of the day was finally catching up with her.

"No, they might be watching your place. I'll go get some things for you," John told her sternly.

"Oh I don't think so! What makes you think I'm going to let you paw through my underwear drawer?" The old Joss was back and snapping at him.

John barely suppressed a thrill at the idea of rummaging through Joss's panties. "Would you prefer I send Finch?" He asked smoothly.

"Please leave me out of your little panty raid, Mr. Reese," Finch said in a panicky voice.

"Well Finch, Carter can't go to her place, the hit men may be watching it and she doesn't wear the same size I do. I doubt she wears your size either and she is going to need something to wear." Carter rolled her eyes, she was used to Finch being a third unseen party in her conversations with John.

"I have a better idea, Mr. Reese, there is a highly rated boutique around the corner from your place. Take her there and purchase what she needs."

John smirked over at Joss. "Feel like shopping?"

"A little shopping therapy would be nice John, but I'm saving up for Taylor's Washington trip," Joss sighed.

"Finch is buying."

"Well, that puts a new spin on things," Joss said hopping off the chair. "Let's go!"

John escorted Joss around the corner to the address Finch had sent him. Joss paused when she saw the place. "Um...John, this place looks expensive. I'm more of a JC Penny's kind of girl."

John smirked, "Don't worry, you could buy everything in the store and it wouldn't matter to Finch. Come on, we can't stand out in the street." And John hustled her inside.

He stood by the door and kept an eye out while Joss flipped through the rack of jeans looking for her size. John was not going to take any chances with her.

He stole a glance at Joss. She looked at a price tag and her eyes nearly popped out of her head. He smiled inside, he was glad he got to buy her some nice things, she deserved them. She had a couple pairs of jeans over her arm and was hunting through the t-shirts. She pulled out a deep red one and held it up against her body to check the size and John caught his breath, the color looked spectacular on her. He was very pleased when she added it to the other clothes she was carrying. She picked up a sky blue shirt as well, and then walked over to the dressing rooms. John moved rapidly over to intercept her and make sure the dressing room was clear before he let her enter.

He stood guard outside, trying to act like a bored boyfriend while maintaining his watchfulness. The clerk smiled at him, "How nice of you to buy your girlfriend some new things!" John smiled back at her, "She's worth it." He meant it.

Joss came out of the dressing room to use the big three way mirror by the dressing room entrance. John nearly gasped. She was wearing the red shirt, and it looked every bit as good on her as he thought it would; and then some. The jeans hugged her rear end perfectly. He never thought a simple jean and t-shirt outfit could look so good.

Joss turned to him, "I think this outfit costs something like two days salary."

John smirked at her, "Not for Finch. What else do you need?"

"Some underwear, a couple of bras and some pajamas."

The clerk looked up from folding clothes, "Oh, we are all out of pajamas. We just had a sale, and we haven't gotten our new shipment yet."

"Great, now what do I sleep in?" Joss grumbled.

"You can use one of my shirts. Finish shopping and let's get back to the apartment. I'll feel a lot better when you are safe inside."

Joss grabbed the last few things she needed. John followed her to the register and pulled out his wallet. He had about a dozen credit cards under various names to choose from, but he paused, then took out the one card that was linked to his personal account. He wanted to buy these things for her, even if she thought it was Finch doing the buying. He passed the card over to the clerk.

Then he hustled her back to his loft.