Epilogue
Changing Tides
Three days later….
Lyric Diner 10:10PM
John placed the gift bag on the table as he slid into the diner booth and smiled at Joss
Joss looked at the bag "Okay so why'd you call me what's up?"
"Nothing."
"Nothing….then why am I here?" Joss asked.
John cleared his throat and pushed the bag over to her.
Joss looked suspiciously at the bag "Those better not be guns or grenades."
John raised an eyebrow "Why would you think that?"
"Because the last time you gave me something it was a duffle bag full of assault weaponry."
John grinned "Not this time….it's an apology gift….for messing with your case."
Joss looked at him suspiciously then pulled the bag closer and looked inside. Her mouth dropping open at seeing the complete works of Shakespeare at the bottom of the bag "John I can't accept this."
"Why not you don't like it?" John frowned.
"No I love it, but this had to have cost you a few thousand dollars."
John shrugged and grinned "Take the gift Joss or I'll just sneak into your home and hide them around the house."
Joss narrowed her eyes at him trying to fight her smile "You better stop sneaking into my house before I accidentally shoot you…."
"it wouldn't be the first time I've been shot." John interrupted her with a smile.
"…..in the ass." Joss finished with a grin as she wiped the smile off his face "So what else did you want to amaze me with?"
John grabbed a napkin off the table and fiddled with it as he debated on how to asked for what he wanted without it seeming like he wanted it.
"Did you want to...talk?" He mumbled out intentionally avoiding eye contact.
Joss watched as he sat in front of her looking out of place and slightly uncomfortable. They really hadn't had a chance to communicate properly since Cal was murdered and then the incident with Fusco. She had been so wrapped up lately, between work and gradually letting Paul back into their son's life. That her extracurricular activities of playing quarterback to John and his shenanigans had fallen by the waste side. Before she could stop them, the words fell from her lips "Sure…..but first I'm a little hungry."
John smiled as he looked up "I heard they have pretty good pie here."
Manhattan, New York City 11:00PM
Ronald made his way down the street towards his hotel, luckily his lawyers were able to get him out on bail. Simmons had conveniently been ignoring his calls. If he and HR thought they could leave him out to dry on a murder charge then they were mistaken.
All it took was one call to the FBI and he could ruin HR's entire operation. Ronald stumbled sideways into an alley as he felt a rough shove. He turned around to yell only to come face to face with a masked man pointing a gun at him. Before he could plead for his life he felt the painful shock as three bullets entered his chest.
The masked man bent down over the dead body removing all his valuables before taking off down the dimly let alley and vanishing into the dark.
Brooklyn, New York City 11:00PM
"Is it done..…good" Simmons replied as he hung up his phone.
"Is it taken care of?" Quinn asked as he sipped on his brandy.
"Yes. Clean, looks like a robbery gone badly." Simmons replied as he looked at his boss.
Alonso chuckled "Good now we can focus on rebuilding. Now that Elias is out of the picture the Russians are willing to do business with us….Now about our other problem?"
Simmons nodded "From what I can tell she's still looking into Beecher's death but she has no solid leads. I don't think she'll give up until she gets to the truth. With her position as a Detective and clean record, plus her FBI contacts her snooping could turn out to be an irritation."
"Irritations can turn in to serious infections if not treated early." Alonso replied finishing his drink as he looked out on the New York skyline "Tell Terney to get her off our backs."
Lyric Diner 11:42PM
"I enjoyed our talk Joss" John stated as he walked her to her car "We should do it more often."
Joss smiled "I'd like that too…goodnight John and try to stay out of trouble."
"I always try Detective" John winked as she rolled her eyes and drove away.
John watched as her car disappeared around the corner. His eyes catching a glimpse of two familiar faces smiling at him before a passing truck obscured his vision. He looked back at the spot only to find it empty. His attention diverting to the person trying to sneak up on him.
"Shaw."
"What are you looking at?" Shaw asked as she stared at the empty street corner, shaking up her bag of glazed nuts.
"Nothing." John replied, he could have sworn he just saw what looked like Floyd and Yvonne when they were younger.
Shaw shoved the rest of the glazed peanuts into her mouth "Okay if you done doing nothing we have a new number."
"Who?" John asked as they began to walk down the street.
"I don't know some dude named Leon. Finch said he knows you." Shaw recanted.
John resisted the urge to curse as he wondered what Leon had gotten himself into again. He glanced at Shaw, maybe if he was lucky she could scare him straight.
AN: Well that's the end. I hoped you all enjoyed this little mini story. I'll leave it up to you guys to whether or not John and Joss end up with a Happy ever after or a tragic Shakespearean end.