"I'm glad you were able to solve the problem with Mr. Tao quickly. Nonetheless, if you want to be on time, you should make your way to Detective Carter", Harold reminded John of the meeting, from which even the needless antics of arguably the city's most clumsy criminal were a welcome distraction to his emotional rollercoaster.
Due to the background of their current case, he had assumed to spend the evening with Zoe. Although he still felt a stitch of them being no longer a couple, he knew the professionalism of both sides would leave his job untouched. With Carter, on the other hand, for whom he admittedly somehow had developed feelings during his time with Zoe already, this evening was about to become a tightrope walk.

"Is there a problem, Mr. Reese?", Finch had asked about his cautious reaction after describing his cover story.

"Other than that you owe Carter something for wasting her time on a dead boring event, there's no problem", he'd tried to appear as normal as possible.

"I'm sorry if our current cases don't seem to be keeping you fully occupied. Perhaps you should nonetheless try to use the calmer period as a recovery phase if you want to call it that. I'm sure you will be back to chasing mafia and clan bosses again sooner as you think."

Calmed about the fact that Finch obviously didn't recognize his actual thoughts, John had made his way to the car.

While on the one hand the coming hours presented the perfect opportunity to make Joss understand his serious intentions -that their kiss for him was not just a flash in the pan- it was her stubborn silence on the subject that unsettled him. His intentions set to give her the necessary time to process what happened between them, he thought that she would come up with the topic sooner or later. Now, however, he wasn´t sure how to interpret her ongoing reticence.

Parking next to her apartment, John's thoughts drifted back to the moment when he had followed his emotions alone as only a few times before. Though his feelings for Carter deepened over time, it was this special friendship between a vigilante and a detective that he was afraid to risk. While he was troubled by a bad conscience that she jeopardized her job more than once already, it seemed even more absurd that a righteous soul like hers could feel for him. Caught between the longing of his heart and rationality he stroke his cheeks in a helpless gesture. Although he thought to have seen something in her eyes that went beyond their actual friendship when they kissed, he now wasn´t sure if it was nothing more than wishful thinking. Asking himself if she might kept quiet for the same reasons, he suddenly knew that no matter what was between them would be under a magnifying glass tonight.

Ignoring the unusual pounding of his heart, he made his way to her apartment. While he didn´t lack self-esteem in concerns of his job, this situation was different. Ultimately, he tried to reassure himself that he at least would have the convenience or their undercover roles on his side tonight.

"Mr. and Mrs. Rooney", Finch had modified his most used alias to include a woman by his side.

"According to your background story, barely anything changed. You are representing a successful investor, who is using the event in search for new projects. As for Detective Carter, I placed her role in white collar crime. It's how you met, as she has mistaken you for a scammer who made his money from short-stock purchases."

"How flattering", John had replied with a raised eyebrow.

"I can put your mind at ease, Mr. Reese. Of course, your alter ego is none of that and therefore you are happily married to your wife for three years already."

Happily married to your wife - a sentence that sounded no less outlandish to his ears than a squad of mercenaries who were nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Frowning at the thought, he rang the bell to Joss' apartment.

While the two worlds of going about his daily business and desiring a relationship in the past seemed incompatible, it was different with Joss. Although their lives couldn't have been more opposite at first glance, he appreciated their common understanding of fundamental things and situations. In contrast to their now unlikely friendship, he had only hesitantly revealed his world to her. While it wasn't about trust issues alone that made him set boundaries at first, it´s always been the concerns about her safety that kept him distant. Nonetheless, she had ignored the danger and limitations of her profession more than once in terms of helping him out. Even though John wasn´t able to tell when exactly, over time the dear detective became the only person besides Finch in whom he had an unusual degree of trust. Moreover, he had to confess that in her presence he felt more like the person he aspired to be.

He didn´t lie to her. Joss changed him in ways he never thought possible. She strove him in his righteousness; an aspect for which he had admired her from the start. Furthermore, they had developed a unique form of communication that made it easy to understand each other intuitively. While he was usually cautious to only let people into his life up to a certain point, he knew about Joss' ability to read him as he was able to read her. What would have made him retreat for self-defense reasons from anyone else, somehow gave him a certain grounding in relation to her. Lastly, it was their common sense of humor that made him chuckle more often than he liked to admit.

Drawing his attention back to her apartment door, he rang the bell once more. While something in him already wanted to reach for the lock picking set in an old habit, he warned himself not to spoil what might be his only chance. Thinking about his options, he wasn´t able to fathom his emotions when she finally opened. Even though he was eager to keep it on safe territory for now, he wasn´t able to take his eyes off her. In an involuntary reaction that was beyond his control, he scanned the dress that framed her body perfectly. Suddenly realizing the contradiction between her appearance, which far transcended anything of their past meetings and her usual friendly banter, John instantly knew that this evening would be a play with fire. However, in this very moment he eventually understood to be ready to lay his cards open - hoping that fate would deal him a good hand.