This one took me by surprise. I was listening to a song when it triggered another. The second I heard the lyrics I could see Reese and Carter. Those who are familiar with my writing style will not be disappointed that I did it again. For those who aren't, we…ell, you may end up hating me. Either way, let me know what you think.

I don't own POI nor the characters. I do own the strange ability to see a story in a song.

Song prompt: "I Surrender" by Celine Dion.

And for all readers, I will spell "Through, threw, and thru" any damn way I want to!

I Surrender

John Reese unlocked the door to his loft and stepped aside to let Joss Carter in. He secured and locked the door behind her. He was taking a chance letting her in to the private part of his life, but he didn't have much choice. He needed to get her somewhere safe where HR couldn't find her.

"Make yourself comfortable," he gestured toward the living space. "I'll get you something to drink."

"Thanks," Joss murmured and rubbed her hands together. It was warm in the room, but she was still cold – partly from the weather, and partly from shock.

"Anything in particular?"

"What ever you have." She sat down on the couch and tried not to think. If she didn't think, she could believe everything was okay. "I need to call my mother and check on Taylor."

"Take your time." Reese looked back once, then headed toward the kitchen. A second later, his earwig beeped. "Finch."

"I take it you have Detective Carter somewhere safe?" Finch inquired with concern.

"I brought her back to my place." Reese took the bottle of sparkling white grape juice out of the fridge and placed it on the counter. He reached up and took down two fluted glasses.

"Is that wise, Mr. Reese? HR could have spies tailing you."

"I made sure we weren't followed," Reese assured his friend. "Besides, I never use the front door."

"You could have used one of my safe-houses…"

"Thank you, Finch." Reese uncapped the bottle and poured generous amounts. "But we had to make a quick getaway, and my place was nearby."

"How is she?"

"Shaken, but she'll recover."

"Fusco and Shaw are taking care of the hit guys. So, I think it would be wise to stay with our friend until the streets are clear."

"That's wise," Reese said. "And I agree."

"Elias is also passing word that if anyone harms Detective Carter, they will have to answer to him personally."

"Nice to know that he doesn't harbour hard feelings," Reese gave a sarcastic snort.

"I will touch base when I hear the coast is clear."

"Thanks." Reese disconnected. He gathered up the glasses and walked back to the main room. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah." Joss placed her phone on the coffee table. "Taylor is staying with a friend over the weekend, so he's safe." She took the glass Reese offered. "Thanks." She sipped. "It's grape juice," she remarked.

"I try not to drink much." He sipped slowly and watched her. She seemed restless. "Are you okay?"

"Just…" She tried to put her thoughts in words but failed. "This isn't what I expected you to live in," she changed the subject.

A smiled tugged at Reese's mouth. His eyes danced with humour. "What were you expecting, Joss?"

"Oh, I don't know…a dark cavern in some underground dwelling with hidden passages and secret corridors," she said in half-jest.

"I decided to move up. I know it isn't much, but it was a birthday present," Reese returned.

"Nice present." Joss placed her glass on the coffee table and stood up. "Is it safe to look out the windows?" Picking up the remote, Reese turned off the lights. "Thanks." Joss walked over to the large windows. Standing beside the panes, she stared out into the city.

A long moment of silence filled the large studio.

"It's almost deceiving," she remarked softly.

"What is?" Reese wondered. A pull he couldn't describe was taking hold of him. He tried to shove it down. He was protecting a friend, he reasoned, he didn't need to let emotions get in the way. But as the lights from the street lamps and the moon illuminated her, he was slowly losing his reasoning.

"Being up here and looking down." She touched the window with her fingers. "It looks so peaceful and harmless. But there is evil down there."

"There is," he agreed. He took a couple of steps forward. Hesitantly he reached out and laid a hand on her shoulder. Half expecting her to flinch, he was surprised to feel her relax under his touch.

"What have I done?" she asked rhetorically. "I thought I was making a difference by trying to take HR down, but I haven't made any progress."

"I wouldn't say that, Joss," Reese contradicted. "You've set in motion their downfall. You brought down the top men and cut off the head of the snake."

"But what about the others behind them? The Russians will do what they can to put HR back in place."

"We won't let them. Elias won't let them."

"I think that bullet that whizzed by my head said something different." She shuddered as she replayed in slow motion the exact moment her life flashed before her eyes. If John hadn't been there to push her out of the way… She closed her eyes and tried to banish the negative. She tried to concentrate on the positive feeling of his touch.

"They're scared. Once we get these guys taken care of, and the Feds can move in to finish off HR, things will be different," he assured her.

"Until they decide to make another attempt," she sighed. Her shoulders slumped.

"I won't let anything happen to you."

She shook her head in disagreement. "You can't promise that." She turned around to face him. "Can you promise to always be there? What if you're somewhere doing what ever it is that we do, and my number comes up? Then what?"

"Joss…"

"Are you going to be my shadow? Glued to my hip so that you are always there to protect me?" she asked defiantly. "Can you really promise that nothing will happen?"

"I won't let anything happen," he affirmed his vow.

"How can you say that?"

Reese lifted his hand to cup her cheek. "Because I would lay my life down for you."

Joss blinked back the sudden tears that filled her eyes. "John…"

"I'm standing here ready to throw away everything that I believe in and stand for," he stated hoarsely. "You're making me want to cross that line and take a second chance at happiness."

"You can't mean it, John. You're just saying this because I had a close call," Joss said, but her heart raced frantically at the thought of what he was saying could be true. "Tomorrow you might feel differently."

"There is no tomorrow, Joss, and we both know it. Right here, this moment, is what we have." He took her hand in his and pressed it against his chest. "Do you feel that?"

Joss held her breath as she felt his heart beat strong under her palm. Her eyes met his. She nodded.

"That is what I feel for you," his voice was low and sensual. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you. That is my vow to you." Dipping his head, his lips covered hers for a slow kiss full of heat and promise. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he pulled her close to mold her soft curves to his hard frame.

Joss felt her breath catch in her chest. She could feel the heat coming from John as his hands caressed up her back to curl in her hair. She hesitated only a moment when his tongue traced the seam of her lips to beg entrance. Moaning low in her throat, she let him in and felt a jolt of electricity course thru her body.

Reese felt it too, and it nearly brought him to his knees. Hungrily he kissed her until they were both breathless from want and desire. Moving from her lips, he trailed kisses along her jaw line, down her neck, to the opening of her blouse. With nimble fingers, he released a button after button to expose her rich mocha coloured skin. He kissed every inch until he reached the valley between her breasts.

Joss couldn't think. He was driving her crazy. God, she wanted him! More than any man she had ever known before, she wanted to be with him, feel his body press against hers. She barely felt him unsnap her bra to free her breasts into his hands.

Moaning softly, she closed her eyes, her fingers curled into his hair as Reese's mouth closed over a nipple and suckled gently. She swore she said name, but she wasn't sure – she wasn't sure of anything other than the sensation he was causing in her.

Moving his mouth over, Reese lavished attention on the other breast. He felt his blood boil hot when she called out his name. He took pleasure from hearing her gasps and moans of pleasure as he slowly made love to her. For a moment he wondered if she wanted him as much as he wanted her.

Blindly he reached for the button on the slack and loosened it to let the material pool at her feet. His lips trailed a path from her breast down to the scar on the right side of her belly. Ever so tenderly he kissed it, before moving down to the satin piece of triangle.

"John…don't," she tried to warn him.

He put a finger to his lips, "Shhh." Then he kissed the long scar. "It's a part of you," he murmured against her skin. Standing up, he looked into her eyes. His hand stroked her face. "I want to make love to you, Joss."

"Yes," she breathed. Her fingers trembled as she unfastened the buttons on his shirt and pushed it off his shoulders. Once or twice she had entertained fantasies of what might lie beneath that infamous suit, but she wasn't prepared for him.

Feather light, she traced a finger to the scar underneath Reese's collarbone. She tried to remember to breathe, so she kissed it. She thought she felt him tense, but she continued her journey downward and stopped at the scar on his left side. She froze.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I'm sorry." She laid her palm against the scar. This had been her fault by listening to the wrong people, and it almost got him killed.

"Joss. Come here." He pulled her close. "Kiss me."

She did as she was told and kissed him as though her life depended on it. She kissed him like she never kissed a man. And he kissed her back with the same intensity before picking her up in his arms and carrying her to the bed to lay her down. Looking at her on the mattress, her body bathed in moonlight, he tried to remember to breathe. He had never seen anyone so beautiful.

Quickly he shed the remainder of his clothes and joined her. Mouth to mouth, skin to skin, they loved one another with total abandonment. They had nowhere to go, and all the time in the world. For them, time had stopped.

And when Reese made them one, the world came to a halt.

Inch by slow, delicious inch he made her his. He knew he had waited a lifetime for this moment, and he wanted to share it with her. Trembling, and trying to hold back, he waited for her to adjust. But she was ahead of him. Undulating her hips, she set the pace and invited him to join.

Each thrust was met by her returning back in kind. Reese swore he had met his match. And when she took him deep, he knew he had died and gone to heaven. And he was done.

He was ready to make her his. He kissed her hard and fast, his tongue matching the rhythm of his hips. He could tell by her gasps that she was close. He wanted to see her face when he brought her to completion.

"John…John…" she chanted, unable to think of anything else. She clutched at him as wave after wave of her orgasm jolted thru her body and left her world spinning. She barely heard him call out her name as his body tensed, then shuddered to completion.

Brushing a lock of hair from Joss's face, Reese kissed the tears from her cheeks. "You're crying," he whispered.

"So are you." She kissed the tear and tasted the salt on her tongue. So strong, yet so vulnerable. He continued to amaze her even after taking her to the stars.

Sated and complete, Reese pulled the blanket over them to ward off the cold. He wrapped himself around Joss's body and held her close. Side by side they lay in the afterglow, neither daring to speak and break the spell.

Reese dropped a kiss on her neck. "Don't leave me," he whispered before drifting off.
*****

Sunlight streamed thru the windows to fall on the bed. Groaning aloud, Reese rubbed at his eyes and tried to pull himself back to consciousness. Caught somewhere between sleep and consciousness, he reached for the warm body he knew was there. And his arms came up empty.

Fully awake, Reese looked around the bed, then at the room. Where was she? He almost called her name when it hit that she was gone. Forever. Last night had been a dream. Again. Like every night since the nightmare had begun.

The sound of the phone ringing broke into his thoughts. Grabbing it, he hit the receiver.

"Yes, Harold."

"I was wondering if you were coming in this morning," the voice on the other end greeted. "I will understand, but…"

"We have another number," Reese finished the sentence. "I'm on my way." He ended the call. He fought the urge to call back and tell Finch that he changed his mind. He fought wanting to burrow under the covers and going back to the dream.

"No." He sat up and pulled the covers off. He had a job to do and people to save. Everything depended on him. And he wasn't about to break his promise to Joss. He would get through the day – somehow. Then if the dream came and claimed him later, he would surrender to it as he always did.

Dreaming was the only thing that kept him sane. And that's what mattered.

Didn't it?

The End.