Once again I have to throw kisses and rose petals at my killer beta, fangirlu. Her comments on this chapter really helped me make it so much better than it originally was. Girl, you rock!
This chapter consists of several little vignettes as Joss prepares for the challenge and we see how everyone is holding up as the time draws closer. We find out how Taylor feels about the challenge, and see more of Joss's training, among other things. I felt these were all important to include from a character development perspective. I hope you agree.
Chapter 6 - Taylor
With a few keystrokes, Finch had given Joss the entire month off for medical leave, giving her more time to prepare for the upcoming challenge. This also gave her more time to spend with Taylor.
Joss was grateful that Taylor had not been there the night the challenge was issued since he had been traveling with the debate team. Normally he didn't miss a Pack Night since his goal was to become a Wolf himself as soon as he passed his 18th birthday. He knew a challenge had been issued, but like most of the pack, he didn't know just how serious it was, and Joss was not about to tell him.
Despite that, Taylor was still angry with John for allowing the challenge in the first place. He was just getting used to having a father figure in his life, and he reacted with predicable anger when confronted with the possible loss of what he had just gained. Truthfully, John completely understood how the teen felt and was not surprised to find himself uninvited from basketball games and debates. He was not surprised, but it still hurt. He had come to regard Taylor as his own son and losing that relationship was almost as big a blow to him as losing Joss.
After several days of Taylor ignoring John's calls and generally acting like a stereotypical angry teenager, Joss felt it was time for an intervention. Taylor knew what was up as soon as he walked in the door and found his favorite pizza sitting on the table along with a liter of his favorite soda. "Time for a talk?" he sighed.
"Sit down," his mother said firmly, pointing to his normal seat at the table.
Taylor dropped into his chair, slouched, and folded his arms, letting his mother know this was going to be a tough sell.
Joss took a bite of pizza. "I think you should know that you're punishing the wrong person."
Taylor sniffed. "I don't think so. John's the Alpha; he could stop this."
"No, he can't. He has to follow the law." Joss waved a piece of pizza under her son's nose. "Sure you don't want any? It's good!" she said in her best coaxing voice.
Taylor was hungry, so he sighed and took a piece, acting like he was doing his mom a favor by eating. "John doesn't bother following any other laws, so why does he have to bother with this one?"
Joss looked at her son sharply. "How do you know that?"
Taylor glared back. "Really? You think I can't hear you chewing his ass out all the time?"
"Language young man!" Joss snapped, then sighed and rubbed her forehead. "John has to tread very carefully. Pam really got to the pack with her speech. He already broke several protocols by bringing me in the way he did, and she exploited that."
Taylor took a bite of his pizza and chewed slowly. "Still, John's the Alpha, can't he can't he stop this?" he mumbled sullenly, not ready to let go of his anger.
"I took the matter out of his hands when I accepted the challenge," Joss said.
Taylor's head snapped up,and he looked his mother straight in the eye. "That was stupid! Why?" he demanded.
Joss decided not to chide him for calling her stupid, because quite frankly, she was beginning to agree with his assessment of the situation. "I thought it was the right thing to do. I need the pack to accept me or they could reject John too. He's waited his whole life to lead a pack, and I won't let him lose his pack because of me."
"This is a bizarro world we got into, Mom," Taylor sighed as he reached for his second slice.
Joss gave her son a weak smile in return. "It's different, that's all."
Taylor chewed his pizza slowly, lost in thought. "I'm not sure I want to do this anymore," he said softly. "You've been a great Alpha, Lassen told me so, and he's Wolf born, so he knows." His eyes met his mom's. "It's not fair they can toss you aside like that."
"I know, baby," Joss sighed. "I'm hurt, make no mistake about that. I don't think they are rejecting me so much as they are trying to cling to their traditions, even if they don't make sense. But I'm Wolf now,and I'm committed. You still have a choice; you don't have to come to Pack Night, and you don't have be turned. The choice is yours."
Taylor shifted uncomfortably in seat. "I just need some time, mom, to, you know, figure things out."
"Take all the time you need."
Later that night Joss lay in bed watching that damn ceiling fan go around and around again. She shifted into a more comfortable position as she waited for the ibuprofen to take affect and dull the ache from another one of Shaw's training sessions. As she lay there, she thought back over her conversation with Taylor.
Joss had told Taylor the truth when she said she had been hurt by the pack's willingness to accept the challenge from Pam who was a virtual stranger to them. But as a black woman, she also understood the pull of tradition and how important it was for a marginalized group to hold onto their culture. Joss also had to admit that she was mostly a stranger to the pack since she had been a member for a only few months longer than Pam. She had thrown herself into her new role with her typical thoroughness and sense of duty, but not enough time had passed for the entire pack to completely accept her.
She knew now that she and John had made a mistake in introducing her to the pack in the way they had. She was an outsider and after centuries of persecution and prejudice, Wolves were cautious about accepting outsiders into their ranks. She and John were so in love they had forgotten that their mating was about more than just them. She should have been introduced to the pack before they mated and she should have been member of the pack for at least a few months to gain some trust before she became an Alpha.
It still hurt how quickly they had accepted Pam's challenge though. Joss had worked hard to be a good Alpha. She had helped one pack member navigate the confusing justice system when he had been arrested for beating a man who had been harassing his family. He had gotten off with a short probation thanks to Joss's intervention. She arranged for Taylor to tutor the child of one member who needed help in Algebra. The child had gotten a B. She had organized birthday parties and baby showers. She had arranged for food delivery for sick pack members. She had thrown herself into her new role with her typical thoroughness and sense of duty, but not enough time had passed for the entire pack to completely accept her.
She was still learning to be Wolf. This world was still strange to her and she had realized now that she should not have expected to just waltz in and take over. This was not the Army and it was not the NYPD, rank was important, but only a part of the equation. She still needed to work on the other part- winning the pack's hearts- and she had been naïve to think otherwise. She should gone slower and let the pack get to know her before she assumed the Alpha role. John had been too distracted with the numbers to help her through the transition, so she had simply jumped in with both feet, causing some resentment. Now it could cost her John, or cost John his pack.
Joss Carter had never backed down from a fight, and she wasn't about to start now. The stakes were too high for the pack. She suspected most of the pack didn't know just how deadly Pam was. For obvious reasons, they didn't know about John's, Shaw's or Pam's previous lives. She could not believe that Pam would be good, dutiful Alpha. No matter how much the pack had hurt her, she would not give up on them and leave them to Pam. Joss had grown to care for them, they were becoming her friends.
Nope, Joss could not turn her back on them now. She just hoped it wouldn't kill her.
A couple of evenings after her talk with Taylor, Joss was relaxing on the couch, icing her bruises after another training session with Shaw when she heard a soft tap on the door. She went to answer it and found Finch standing there. "Is something wrong with John?" she asked, her heart clutching. Finch very rarely came to her home, even though he had been invited multiple times.
"He's…doing about as well as can be expected, detective," Finch said politely. "May I come in?"
"Of course!" Joss stepped back out of the way to let Finch into the townhouse. "Can I get you some tea?"
"Tea would be lovely, thank you, Detective."
Joss led the way to the kitchen, and Finch seated himself at the counter while she put the kettle on to boil. "You said John was doing about as well as can be expected?" she asked as she rooted around in the cabinet for the Sencha green tea bags John had insisted on keeping on hand for Finch when he came over, even if he very rarely visited the Reese/Carter household.
Finch sighed. "He misses you desperately, but he does his best to hide it. However, he is not sleeping very well, which is why I am here."
"Oh?" Joss took the kettle off the stove and poured a cup of hot water, then dropped the tea bag in. "What can I do about it? I'm barely allowed to see him." Her voice choked a bit on the last sentence, and she closed her eyes for a minute to regain her composure. "Sorry, Harold," she said in a sad tone of voice as she handed him his tea.
"It's OK, detective. I understand not being with the one you love," Finch said kindly, keeping his eyes down as he removed the tea bag and neatly placed it on the saucer to give her some time to recover. "I know this hard on you both, but I think I know of a way to make it a bit easier for Mr. Reese."
Joss leaned back against the counter. "You know I'll do anything for him."
Finch sipped his tea and gave her a small smile. "I think we established that when you took a bullet for him."
Joss unconsciously touched the scar on her chest left by Simmons's bullet.
"But what I have to ask you is not nearly so painful or life threatening," Finch continued. "I merely want to ask you to give me your pillow so I can give it to John."
Joss stared at the software genius for a minute as she processed his odd request. Finch looked a bit uncomfortable. "I understand that this is rather strange request…"
"I get it," Joss interrupted him with a grin. "I've been sleeping on his side of the bed since he was forced to move in with you. You think sleeping with my pillow covered in my scent will help him sleep better."
Finch was quite relived she understood. "Yes, I do."
Joss immediately retrieved her pillow from the bedroom and gave it to him with a smile. Somehow it made her feel a little less lonely to know that John was going through the same thing she was. Finch took it gratefully and returned home.
Finch walked into his townhouse a short while later to find John moodily cleaning his guns on the dining room table. Though the guns continued to bother Finch, he had wisely decided not to say anything to John; the Alpha Wolf needed the distraction.
John looked up as Finch entered the room and immediately noticed the pillow he carried tucked under his arm. John lifted an eyebrow. "Nap time?" he queried with a hint of a smile.
Finch chuckled. "In a way, Mr. Reese. But not for me; it's for you." He placed the pillow on the table next to the gun parts. With a smug smile he watched as John's eyes opened wide with surprise as his sensitive nose caught a whiff of the scent clinging to the pillow. John looked at Finch and Finch nodded in response. John picked up the pillow and buried his face in it, taking a long deep breath.
Finally John lifted his face from the pillow. Looking up at Finch, he blinked back tears, barely able to choke out, "Thank you."
"I'm not Wolf, so I felt no obligation to your laws." Finch shrugged. "Just another step in my descent into delinquency."
John chuckled for the first time since his separation from Joss.
That night, Finch woke up in the middle of the night. With a groan he forced himself out of was going to need a pain pill to get back to sleep,and he had left the bottle on the counter in the kitchen. He padded down the hallway as silently as he could in his bare feet, not wanting to wake John.
John was in the habit of leaving his bedroom door open at night so Bear could wander in and out as he pleased. As Finch passed John's bedroom he was unable to resist a peek inside. He saw that John was fast asleep, laying on his side with Joss's pillow hugged tightly to his chest, his body curled around it like it was the woman herself.
Finch continued on his way to the kitchen to get his medication, but his step was bit lighter knowing his idea had worked.
A few days later Shaw and John were working on the case of Raymond Tuttle, an alarm installation technician who had wired alarm systems for the mansions of some of the richest people in the city. The fact that he had the alarm codes to so many homes of the super-rich had made him an inviting target of a particularly vicious gang who specialized in home invasion robberies. John and Shaw were stationed on the building across the street from Tuttle's apartment, keeping an eye on their number. Sahaw scanned the street using the sight on the Barret sniper rifle while John used his pocket sight to keep an eye on their number through the window of his apartment.
"Oh crap," Shaw snarled.
"Do you see one of gang members?" John asked quietly as he scanned the street, looking for the threat.
"Worse. Pam is here," Shaw said, her voice dripping with contempt.
John spotted Pam loitering on the street below. Through his scope he could see her smirking up at the rooftop where he and Shaw were stationed. Pam clearly saw both of them looking at her and cheerfully waved.
"Fuck! She's giving us away!" Shaw growled in frustration. "I can drop her from here, easy. Pretty please?"
"No, but only because we're in the 8th Precinct's territory, and Joss and Lionel are on duty, and that could get awkward," John snapped. "I'll get rid of her."
"If she's not gone in five, I'm dropping her anyway," Shaw called after him as John stalked to the door.
"If she's not gone in five, I'll kill her myself," John retorted over his shoulder. "Keep an eye on Tuttle."
John did not bother to hide his raw fury as he approached Pam. He vowed to himself that if Pam had blown their cover, he would snap her neck and throw her body in the river, Wolf laws be damned.
Pam watched him approach a bit nervously, as if she seemed to suddenly realize that interfering in his operation was a really bad idea. Good, John thought as he approached. Maybe she'll learn not to interfere again. He watched as she assumed her usual mask of bravado, and she smirked playfully at him. He did not smile back.
"What are you doing here?" he snarled at her while his glacial blue eyes threated to cut her to bits.
"I just wanted to see what my future mate did for a living," she purred. "You're so secretive."
He reached and clamped onto her upper arm with a grip of iron and dragged her into the nearest alley. "This isn't a game. Someone's life depends on us."
Pam sighed theatrically and rolled her eyes. "You're so dramatic."
"Remember what we used to do to anyone who screwed up an operation?" he said, his face inches from hers.
"You wouldn't dare! Not before the challenge," Pam hissed back, dropping all pretense of civility.
"Do you really want to find out?" John's quiet voice sliced through Pam's anger like a knife, and she stared at him wide-eyed.
Pam jerked her arm out of John's grip. "Fine," she snarled. "But this time next month you and I will be mates and there won't be any secrets." She stormed off down the street. John watched her go, silently hoping that Shaw would make good on her threat to take Pam out.
"We'll see about that," he snapped as he watched her disappear around the corner.
John stormed back to the roof to resume his vigil with Shaw. As he stomped out onto the roof, Shaw looked at him with concern. "You OK? I'm good here if you need to take some time. Go shoot some people; it will make you feel better, just be sure one of them is Pam."
"I'm fine," John responded churlishly.
Shaw raised an eyebrow and looked at him with an expression on her face that plainly said she didn't believe him. John ignored her and pulled out his pocket scope, resuming surveillance on their number. Shaw made a face and resumed sweeping the street with the big rifle.
"How's Joss's training coming?" John asked casually without pulling his gaze from the number.
Shaw smiled to herself. John wasn't fooling her, when it came to Joss, he never could. "Good. She's fast and she's in shape." Her grin grew a bit wider as she felt her partner relax just the tiniest bit next to her.
"Have you worked on her tracking skills? Part of the challenge is the hunt; she should be able to track Pam using her Wolf sense."
"On it." Shaw grew quiet for a minute while she checked out a likely suspect, then decided he was no threat and moved on. "How is Pam's Wolf Sense? Don't you Old Bloodliners have excellent senses?"
John made a rude noise. "Some of us do, but Pam's is just average. Her range is a only few yards, she's nothing compared to Joss."
Shaw snorted. "In more ways than one."
John finally pulled his eye from the Barret's eyepiece and looked directly at Shaw. "Thank you for helping her."
"She's my friend, John."
Joss stood at the edge of the park next to Shaw. The radio in Shaw's hand crackled. "OK we're in position."
"Roger. Everyone stay put until we find you," she replied.
"OK, Joss." Shaw turned to her friend. "Focus on your Wolf sense. Can you feel Fusco and the others?"
Joss closed her eyes and focused. "Yes. Lionel, Mike, Lassen. I sense them all."
"Good, now who is closer?"
Joss hesitated for a second. "Lionel feels the strongest."
"Yes," Shaw said, obviously pleased. "Who's next?"
"Mike, then Lassen." Joss didn't hesitate this time.
"OK, now lead me to Fusco."
Joss paused, turning to the left and then to the right. Tentatively,she began leading Shaw down the path to the left. As they moved along her stride became more confident and soon they turned a corner to find Fusco sitting on a bench munching on his beloved falafel.
Shaw glared at him.
"What?" he snapped. "I was hungry."
"So am I," Shaw snarled.
Wordlessly,Fusco indicated a second portion sitting on the bench next to him. Shaw grinned and scooped it up. But her grin vanished as soon as she bit into it. "Hey, there's no meat in these. This isn't real food!"
Joss sighed and rolled her eyes. "I'll go see if I can find Mike and Lassen." As she walked off down the path, she could hear the little voice inside her head nagging at her, Only a couple of weeks to go. Are you ready?