"The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see." ― Winston Churchill
VIII. Retrograde
Motel…West Virginia...Sunday...4:30AM
Joss pulled back into the parking spot in front of the motel she had just returned from retrieving a new car. After a few moments of decompressing she headed to her room. As she opened the front door she heard rushed footsteps coming up from behind her before she could react she felt a foot strike at her legs. She fell forward to her knees before she could reach for her gun she felt a sharp pain in the back of her skull. As she collapsed to the floor she heard the door close and the last thing she saw before her vision faded to black was a pair of black combat boots.
Ross flicked on the light switch and drew her gun as she moved around the room making sure they were the only ones there. Once she cleared the room she moved back to the body of the woman laying limp on the floor.
Ross bent down and checked her pulse to make sure she was still alive. She grabbed her hair and pulled the woman's face off the ground to make sure she got the right woman. Once she confirmed the woman was indeed Jocelyn Carter she picked her up and put her in a chair. After she was in the chair Ross pulled out plastic zip ties and restrained her arms and legs to the chair.
After making sure she was secure Ross grabbed her bag off the floor and pulled out her gun and knife and sat down on the bed facing her restrained target.
Ross sat in silence as she took in the woman's appearance. Other than losing a little weight and toning up she still looked the same as she did 6 months ago. Ross looked down at the news paper article she printed out on Detective Jocelyn Carter. The only thing about her that seemed to have changed was her name.
Ross got up and grabbed the trash bin next to the bed and headed to the bathroom and turned the water on in the tub. Once the trash bin was filled with water she walked back into the bedroom and tossed the water in Carters face to wake her up.
Ross sat back down on the bed and waited till the other woman stopped coughing.
"Good morning sunshine I hope you enjoyed your power nap" Ross asked sarcastically
All she received in reply was a glare. So she continued her line of questioning.
"Name's Ross. So what do you prefer to go by these days, Agent Ward or Detective Carter?"
When she didn't get an answer Ross reared up and backhanded her across the face.
"I'm not a patient person. So I suggest you start answering my questions before I start cutting off body parts."
Ross watched as she spit blood out of her mouth.
"What do you want to know?"
"Everything" Ross replied as she sat back down on the bed.
"That's a long story"
"I've got time to spare" Ross replied
Ross watched as Carter straighten up in the chair before she spoke again.
"Where do you want me to start?"
Ross sat back "At the beginning"
March 1999…Hospital room Germany
Joss tried to sit up in the hospital bed but the pain in her side still hurt. She clutched her side and laid back down. Joss closed her eyes and replayed the events of that led up her injury.
"Sir I have a lead in our investigation."Joss detailed to her commanding officer
"What is it?" he replied
"There's a man living in a small town on the border named Ali, my source says he knows the name of the man behind the shipment of guns that was discovered."
"Are you sure?"
Joss straighten up "I'm positive"
"Alright then I'm sending you with a team of marines to go get him, you leave in 20."
The rest was a blur one minute they were walking into the town the next she was on her back, ears ringing and her side felt like it was on fire. Her thoughts were interrupted as the door to her hospital room opened. The orderly let two people in one man and one woman who were dressed in suits.
"Warrant Williams my name is Ava Emerson and we work for the DIA and would like to ask you some questions about what you know about Ali."
Joss took a moment to collect her thoughts before replying
"Not much I was following up on an investigation."
"Into what?" Emerson questioned
"A few months ago a unit raided a rebel base and found a container filled with 1200 guns and excess ammunition. One of the rebels that were interrogated reveled that the guns came from America. He later reveled that Ali knew the name of the seller. I was sent to find out that name but before we got their one of the Marines triggered a landmine."
Joss watched as Emerson and her colleague exchanged looks.
"Thank you for your cooperation."Emerson said as they turned to leave.
"Wait what do you know?" Joss questioned
The man replied "That's need to know and you don't"
Joss narrowed her eyes" Ali speaks Gagouz, it's not a common language, finding someone who speaks it is going to take you time. Assuming Ali hasn't fled, I don't think time is a luxury you have."
Joss watched as the female agent dismissed her colleague. Emerson stared at her from the door before she moved back towards her bed.
"This is a DIA investigation and it's against regulations for me to communicate the on goings of a active assignment with anyone outside our organization."
Joss narrowed her eyes "I thought we're all on the same team"
She watched as Emerson smirked and sat down in the chair next to her bedside.
"Same league, different teams."
Joss watched as she dropped a phone on her bed.
"So Jocelyn, are you looking to trade teams?"
Emerson stood up from her chair and walked to the door as she opened the door and she glanced over her shoulder.
"Before you decide keep in mind that once you cross over you don't get to go back." Then Emerson walked out of the room and closed the door behind her.
Motel…West Virginia...Sunday 5:00AM
"After I made my choice they put me in the field to investigate. The trail led back to the States, to New York to be precise. I was first tracking a man named Chris Mann it was hard to keep an eye on him so I used his best friend Paul Carter to get close to him without being suspicious. Things got complicated and to maintain my cover I had to make myself seem beyond suspicion, nothing more disarming then a pregnant woman. Long story short I followed the trail and it led to dirty cops. So I played the part I had to, to get answers.
"And what were those answers" Ross interjected
"That a criminal organization named HR was using police buyback gun programs across the country to collect weapons and sell them overseas to the highest bidder. When I was able to find out who was running HR, I was pulled out of my cover. Once we questioned the head of HR we learned the name of the arms dealer they were selling to. A man named Jacob Black, so the DIA sanctioned an off the books team to find Black and bring him back to the States."
December 2013…cargo plane…Indian Ocean
Ross sat in the cargo hold of a drop plane as she listened to two intelligence agents by the named Ward and Frost detail their mission to find and bring back an arms dealer named Jacob Black.
The plane shook as the cargo hold opened Ross watched as the 3 other members of the team she was assigned to put their dive gear on and headed to the opening in the back of the plane. She secured her mask and parachute and glanced back at the two agents. One was an older white male with white hair and the other was a black, and judging by her accent, American woman. The woman caught her attention because it looked like she was in pain from something because she kept clutching her chest and taking deep breaths.
Ross turned back around and secured her oxygen mask and leap from the plane over the Somalian coast of Africa.
Ross was brought out of her thoughts when Carter spoke again
"How do you fit into this?"
Ross smirked "Well let's just say after you gave us those orders in that cargo plane,to find Black, the men I was paired with had other orders. To spare you the boring details, Blacks dead and now your friend Frost is tying up loose ends.
"Frost, Michael Frost?" Carter questioned
"Yep I had a little chat with my former boss back in New York turns out he wants us both dead."
Ross watched as Carter cursed under her breath.
"Well enough with the story telling. It's time to put a kink in Frosts plans."
"How do you suppose we go about doing that? No one's going to listen to either one of us without any evidence."
Ross grabbed her bag and put her gun away and stood up and grabbed her knife. Ross moved toward her and cut her ties and yanked her out of the chair.
"I guess we better find some then."Ross replied
Ross marched her out of the motel room and toward a black car. She yanked the door open and shoved her into the passenger seat and zip tied her wrist to the door handle and shut the door.
Joss watched as Ross slide into the driver's seat and started the car.
"Assuming you have a plan. Where are we going to start?" Joss questioned.
Ross smiled and turned to Carter
"Well new 'Bestie'. I thought we start with a man named Finch and his concerned third party. I hope you used the bathroom because it's a long drive back to New York."
AN: For clarification in my AU, Jocelyn's maiden name was Williams. Then she became Jocelyn Carter when she married Paul to protect her identity,then after she "died" she became Jocelyn Ward. Alexander Ross as well as Frost and Emerson are my OC's.I tried to match the time line as best as I could with the show and I tried to make it so that Taylor's relatively the same age between(14-16) as he was in the show.
I should have the next two chapters up bySaturdayThe next chapters are going to be the big confrontation and the team finds out Joss is alive and as much as I would like for her and Johns reunion to be fluffy and full of hugs and kisses, I feel a heavy dose of angst and anger is appropriate especially for John.