I don't know where this story came from. All I had was a picture of Reese standing at Joss's grave, trying to find the right words to say on the one year since he lost her. But then I watched the movie "Anastasia" and I fell under its spell. What if Joss hadn't died and Reese knew but was biding his time? What if all that transpired was just a tiny portion of the bigger picture of the journey the pair was supposed to go on? Then I heard the beautiful song at the end of the credits and the story just seemed to flow.

I don't own Person of Interest.

Song prompt: "At The Beginning" by Richard Marx & Donna Lewis

At The Beginning

John Reese stood at the foot of Joss Carter's grave and exhaled slowly. One year without her in his life and he was still surprised that he could get up each morning and face the day. Even more surprising was that he could still remember to breathe. The experts say that with each day that passes, the grief will lessen and strength will eventually return. But they cautioned to take baby steps.

Baby steps, he scoffed to himself. A turtle could not have crawled slower than he did before he had the ability to take his first step. But he made it. And now, one year later, he found the strength to stand at her grave.

But more importantly, he found the ability to move on.

Finch took his resignation with a heavy heart, but he understood. With the defeat of Decima and Control, the work load would be less, so it would be no problem for Shaw to take over. And he was positive that she knew a few people from her old job who would fit in perfectly to complete The Machine's mission of saving the irrelevant numbers. As for him, he was done.

Flexing his hand into a fist, he closed his eyes. It wasn't so much quitting and leaving his friends behind - Fusco had come a long way since the days of walking on the dark side - and now that he was the 8th's new captain, he no longer needed saving. He may not have been able to change the past, and maybe he hadn't saved every life entrusted to him, but he had saved Fusco. Now it was time to go.

The wind stirred and on the breeze he caught a familiar scent. Her.

"I didn't think you'd come," he said without turning around.

"You're stuck with me, remember?" Joss replied. The leaves crunched under her feet as she took her place beside him. She glanced at the headstone engraved with her name, date of birth, and date of death.

"Eerie, isn't it?" she asked softly.

"You get used to it," he replied. He remembered seeing his name on the wall at Langley and the cold shiver that had run down his spine. It had hit him so hard to realize that everything he had ever done was summed up into a tiny gold name plaque. He had never felt so lost.

"I don't know about that." Joss snuggled deeper into her coat as the temperature dropped and the wind picked up.

"You're here."

"So are you."

"Now what?"

That was the question. Ever since Finch had told him the truth about Joss surviving the ambush, he had wondered and imagined what would happen next. Would she want to see him? But most importantly, would he want to see her? It was a question that had kept him tossing and turning many a night.

"Everyone thinks we're dead," Joss said quietly.

"Technically we are, Joss. Once we accept it, it makes it easier to move on."

Yeah, she thought to herself, it would be so easy to keep up the pretense of being dead and living undercover. The one thing that stopped her was Taylor. No matter what happened, he would always be her baby, her son. Her love for him would never stop.

"How did Taylor take the news?" Reese wondered. The kid had been through so much it wouldn't have been surprising if he had rejected his mother. After all, deception was a hard pill to swallow.

"Anger," Joss admitted. "Tears…more anger, but…in the end he understood. He knows how close the danger had been and why things were put into play." She blinked quickly to stop the tears that flowed despite. "He's still understanding the whys."

"Eventually, he will."

"The lines of communication will always be open between us. I promised him that much."

"That's good."

"And when he leaves New York, he will be able to visit without drawing too much attention." Despite HR being taken down, there were still a few criminals out there who wanted to draw on the bounty to take her down. And if word ever got out that she had survived… Joss shuddered to think about it.

"And your mother?"

"When we get settled, I'm sure Harold will think of something."

The sun was setting over the horizon to paint the sky in rich amber and dark pastel colours as a sign that it was time for them to go.

Reese turned to look at the woman who had changed his life and saved him more times than even he could count. She was thinner, and there were dark circles under her eyes. Stress and grief had given her lines near her eyes, but it also gave her a bit more of a mature look she hadn't had before. Yet, she had never looked more beautiful to him.

"Are you ready to go?" he asked.

Joss paused. Each side of her was torn, but she knew that it was for the best that she leave. Once Taylor and her mother left New York, there would be no reason to stay. Basically her ties were gone. The fresh start was standing before her. He looked so old and worn out, and grief had caused his blue eyes to lose the sparkle she had come to love. Maybe she could help find it. Maybe they could find it together.

"I'm scared, John," she admitted.

"Me too." He took her hands in his. He tried to pass some of his strength to her. "I'll always be there for you, Joss."

"Me too," she promised.

"I never said thank you."

Joss was flummoxed by the confession. "For what?"

"For saving me. You are the reason I took that journey - not knowing what was going to happen or where I was going to end up." He held tight to her hands. He had been wrong; it was her strength that was given him a purpose.

"Remember when I told you that if my number was up that I was glad that I was with you in the end?"

"Yeah." She had replayed his last words to her on that fateful night when everything she held dear had nearly been taken away.

"I'm even more glad that you are with me at the beginning." The muscle near his cheek twitched. A single tear dropped from his eye to run down his cheek. Joss caught it with her fingers and brushed it away.

"Well, this time nothing is going to keep us apart," she vowed. Standing on her toes, she took his face in her hands and pulled him down for a kiss. Soft with promises she intended to keep, she moved her mouth over his.

Pulling back, she looked into Reese's blue eyes. Their journey had led them to this moment. Now it was time to find out where else the road led.

"I love you, Joss."

"I love you too, John." She grasped his hand tightly. "Let's go."

Huddled close together, they took the first halting steps toward forever.

Happily.

The End.