Finch looked up from his spot in front of his computer to acknowledge the familiar form of Reese, who had just entered the loft.

“How did Det. Carter take the news about her son?” Finch questioned as he watched Reese, who stood, staring out of the large window by the entrance.

“I haven’t told her yet.” Reese replied giving no further reasoning behind his decision to not tell Carter.

“May I ask why?” Finch asked after a pregnant pause.

“I need to be sure before I say anything.”

“You say you found the blood stained panties of a little girl and in the same area that you were sure you saw young Mr. Carter toss something. Even if he didn’t toss them you still need to report what you found. There may be some child out there dead or dying right now.”

“How do you know that, did the machine give you the number of a child?” Reese asked his anger flaring slightly. Finch arched a brow at Reese’s defensiveness.

“You would have been the first person I would tell if I had Mr. Reese.” Finch stated with a heavy sign. “I advised you in the beginning that it would not be a good idea to get emotionally involved with any of the people we help. I never imagined that you would, in fact your aloofness was one of the things that attracted me to you…” Finch quickly ended his words before he said too much and Reese took his words the wrong way. “Answer me this, if this were anyone else would you tell Det. Carter about what you found?” Reese only threw him a look that told Finch he would. “Right, and do you think Det. Carter will appreciate you keeping such news about her son from her.”

“I just want to be sure Finch.” Reese conceded.

“No, you’re trying to protect her feelings.” Finch stated at he stared directly into Reese’s eyes. “I don’t know the detective as well as you, but from what I’ve seen I do know that she can take care of herself. And if you keep this from her she is going to be pissed.” Finch finished with a tone and language that surprised Reese.

“I’ll tell her when I meet with her later, ‘after’ I talk with Taylor. I hope you don’t mind but I’d like to take her and Taylor to the apartment you set up for me when I was recovering, if it’s still available.”

“Yes, as I told you before I purchased it for you, so you do with it as you please. But why even bother taking them to a safe house if Taylor Carter is our culprit as you’ve said?” Finch asked curiously.

“Because I need to be 100% sure that he is the bad guy especially after what happened with Elias,” Reese mentioned the name of the man he now knew to be a mobster and murderer, a man that he had saved after thinking him to be a victim the Machine had spit out. “I just don’t want to make another mistake like that. I let the bad guy get away, and I don’t want to be responsible for putting an innocent kid behind bars Finch.” Finch simply nodded his understandings and then remained silent and watched as Reese headed back out the way he had come in.

**Sometime Later**

She had been on the lookout for and possible threat as well as looking for the familiar presence she now called John. She sensed him before she saw him just as she and Taylor exited the precinct.

“Hello Jos,” Reese calm and leveled voice called out to her and she and Taylor both turned to find him standing right behind them.

“John,” Carter replied with a smirk and a raised brow at him calling her Jos. Taylor remained silent as he nervously sized Reese up with his eyes. “This is my son Taylor.” She introduced and then turned her full attention to her son. “Taylor this is my friend John, you know the one I told you about, who will be helping us for awhile.”

“Hi,” Taylor spoke as he held out his hand to Reese. Reese smiled at the gesture as he shook the teenager’s hand.

“Hello Taylor.” Reese responded.

“Why exactly are you helping us?” Taylor asked.

“Taylor,” Carter interjected. “I explained this to you already…”

“No mom, you really didn’t. I mean you said that we would be staying with a friend for a little while but you never said why. What’s going on mom?”

“Taylor I…” Carter started to speak but Reese cut her off, seeing that her temper was flaring a bit and he didn’t want her blowing up and drawing attention to them.

“Your mom is working a very dangerous case right now that involves some nasty people. People who would use you to get to her,” Reese spoke in a calm voice as he gained and held Taylor’s attention. “But we’re not going to let that happen. I’m going to take you both to a safe house but I’m going to need your cooperation, Ok?” Taylor shrugged a bit.

“Yeah, Ok,” Taylor replied with a slight shrug.

“Ok?” Carter repeated in disbelief. “That’s it…OK?”

“Yeah,” Taylor answered again shrugging.

“I’ve known you for 14 years and you question everything I say. You just met him,” She stated as she thumbed at Reese. “And he gets a ‘Yeah, OK’?”

“Mom you never tell me anything, you’re all, ‘do as I say because I said so’. He told me the deal, he explained why I need to do what you guys say. I can respect that.” Taylor said as he flung the backpack he toted over his right shoulder. “So where we headed?” He directed to his mother who stood stunned by his words. It was Reese that would reply.

“I’m taking you to my place.”

“Can we stop by our house first to get some clothes?” Carter asked as she moved down the street. Reese simply nodded as he lead the by.

**Reese’s Safe House**

She entered the room to find him standing staring out the large window that looked down over the gardens in front of the building. She could tell by the slight turn of his head in her direction that he was aware that she had re-entered the room, but he said nothing and so neither did she. She just silently stood watching him as he watched the night. She was determined not to be the first to speak and was pleased when Reese obliged her.

“You get Taylor settled in?” He asked as he turned his gaze onto hers.

“Yeah, wasn’t too hard that room is a teenager’s dream. I never took you to be a gamer.” Carter commented on the room that had every newest gaming console, a computer, and large flat screen TV.

“Not my stuff. All that was here when I got the place,” Reese said around a smile.

“Uhm…hmmm, so you’ve never played with any of it. Funny it didn’t look dusty to me.” Carter teased with a smile which made Reese broaden his smile.

“Sometimes there’s a dry spell in between the numbers.”

“Hey I understand,” She threw up her hands a bit as she moved towards him. “I like to play a bit on my downtime.”

“And what’s your game Carter?” Reese asked as he turned back to staring out the window. Carter was now at his side, staring out with him.

“Oh I like the first person shooter games, my favorite being Call of Duty 4.” Just as Reese was about to challenge her to a game he got a beep in his ear. He reached up and connected the call.

“Finch,” He spoke out and the smile that had been upon Carter’s lips instantly faded.

“I hope I’m not interrupting anything.” Finch said as he watched the screen the showcased Carter and Reese standing in the living room of the safe house.

“I know you can see that you’re not,” Reese replied as he turned and looked right into the camera.

“I just wanted to see if you’ve made any progress in the case, given the circumstance I’d say time is of the essence, wouldn’t you?”

“I’m still working on it Finch, when I know something you’ll know.” Reese said and then disconnected the call.

“What did Finch says, does he know why Taylor’s in danger?” Carter quickly began interrogating.

“Not yet, but I think the best place to start is with Taylor. I’d like to ask him some questions.”

“Yeah, Ok.” Carter agreed as she turned to lead the way to the room Reese had given to Taylor, Reese’s firm yet gentle grip on her arm stopped her.

“Carter I’d like to speak with him alone,” He stated and could see the fight in her eyes as she was about to protest. “He’s not going to be as open and honest with his mom in the room.”

“Yeah well he’s not going to be open and honest to a stranger either.” She countered.

“Look we’re running out of time here, the sooner I can get the answers that I know Taylor has, then the sooner I can help him.”

“Fine,” Carter relented as she closed her eyes and let out a heavy sigh. “But,” she continued as she snapped her eye onto Reese’s and pointed her finger at him. “I want to know everything he tells you.”

“I’ll tell you everything he tells me,” Reese affirmed. “That’s relevant to this case.” He added as he made his way to the bedrooms. Reese entered the room not bothering to knock. He closed the door behind him to block the conversation from Carter, who he knew would be eavesdropping. He saw Taylor quickly grab one of the game controllers and then pretend to be engrossed in an online game. Reese moved the game console and turned it off.

“Awww man I was playing that.” Taylor exclaimed as he yanked off the headphones he had been wearing.

“We need to talk,” Reese announced giving no apologies for interrupting Taylor.

“Talk about what?” Taylor asked as he slouched back in his seat, pouting slightly over missing out on the game.

“About these,” Reese spoke as he pulled out a plastic baggie that contained the bloody panties from his pocket and placed it on the Bureau that the TV and game system sat on. Taylor instantly tensed up and his body became ridged as he locked his eye onto the fabric.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Taylor said as his eyes remained locked onto the wadded up piece of clothing.

“If that were true you’d by yelling for your mom right now.” Reese declared. “Look I know that you’re in trouble and it has to do with these.” Reese pointed to the panties. “I can help you and I will help you but you have to tell me what happened.”

“She’s dead,” Taylor spoke out as he looked up at Reese with tears in his eyes. “I knew that she was in pain, she was crying and she started to scream. I wanted her to be quite I prayed that she wouldn’t scream but she did and then…” Taylor held up his hands and curled his fingers as if mimicking choking someone. Reese stood stoic his disgust and anger building as the thought that Taylor had murder some child washed over him. “He killed her.” Taylor proclaimed as his tears finally spilled from his eyes, the words made Reese let out a breath he hadn’t realized he had been holding.

“Who, who killed her?”

“Rodney Jenkins, some kid I use to go to school with but he dropped out. I planned to skip school and head over to Bella Studios, it a dance studio over near Hamilton. I take a shortcut through the back alleyways, that’s when I heard the little girl crying. I moved closer to where I heard her because, you know, I wanted to help her if I could. There was a wooden fence that separated the apartment building from the alley. It was one of those buildings the city condemned but the people won’t move out.” Reese simply nodded his head not wanting to interrupt Taylor’s story. “I moved closer and peeked through a crack in the wood and I saw Rodney and one of his boys there, with the little girl. They were…they were touching her,” Taylor looked up at Reese with pleading eyes, eyes that begged for him not to have to give details. “Rodney’s boy had her pinned down and Rodney was touching her. Then Rodney pulled down his pants and h…he just,” Taylor swiftly punched his fist into the palm of his other hand to signify what he couldn’t say, but Reese understood that it signified Rodney forcefully penetrating the little girl. “That’s when she started screaming. Rodney didn’t care though he was like a crazy person, he didn’t stop and he tore off her panties. I guess they were in his way. Rodney’s boy was getting scared because she was screaming, he couldn’t do anything like cover her mouth because he was holding her down, and so he told Rodney to shut her up. So Rodney put his hands around her neck and squeezed until she stopped screaming. I couldn’t move but they didn’t see me from where I stood. When Rodney was finished he told his boy that he could have her but his boy said he wasn’t going to mess with no corpse. So they went back in the back door of the building. They just left her there. She was dead, I watched her die, and I didn’t help her. Why didn’t I help her?” Taylor asked Reese.

“Because if you had you would be dead right now too, something in your brain knew that that’s why you couldn’t move.” Reese answered honestly hoping that somehow it would comfort the young boy who sat before him crying. “And you’re helping her now. You couldn’t save her but you could put her killers away. That’s why you went in there to get these, right?”

“Yeah after Rodney…when he was finished he used them to clean himself. So I knew…my mom talks about DNA, that it helps them solve cases.” Taylor said as he wiped away his tears. Reese smiled a bit, he couldn’t explain why but he felt pride in what Taylor had done.

“So why didn’t you take them to your mom?”

“I was going to but when I was leaving that alleyway, Rodney had come back out probably to hide the body and he spotted me. He called out to me but I just took off running. I don’t know if he was chasing me or not. I just ran to where I saw a bunch of kids hoping I would just blend in that’s when you and mom came up. I panicked and threw the panties away.”

“Thank you Taylor for being honest with me.” Reese said as he carefully retrieved the evidence and moved to the door.

“Wait what are you going to do?” Taylor called to him.

“I’m going to go make an anonymous phone call about a murder.” Reese said as he stopped just at the door.

“Are you going to tell my mom?”

“No, you’re going to tell her.” Reese declared Taylor gave a nod and Reese nodded back and then left the room.

“So what did Taylor say?” Carter asked the second Reese rounded the corner.

“He said he has something to talk to you about.” Reese said as he headed for the exit.

“Wait, where are you going?”

“I’m going to make sure your son won’t have to look over his shoulders. Go talk to him.” With that Reese left out leaving a baffled Carter behind.

Everything had happened as Reese figured it would. He had Finch track Rodney’s cell number like a GPS which lead Reese right to his location. Reese then called Rodney to tell him he saw what happened to that little girl, knowing that it would panic Rodney and cause Rodney to try to better dispose of the body. When Rodney and his friend went to where they had stashed the body in some old abandoned warehouse, Reese and Fusco were right there with them. It was what Fusco had called an easy arrest given that Reese had already supplied him with the panties that had the little girl’s DNA as well as Rodney’s all over them. Taylor was safe and two child murders were off the street. Reese thought the news was worthy of celebrating and so he picked up a bottle of wine on his way back the safe house. When he entered the apartment it was dark, all the lights had been turned off, but he could see the silhouette of Carter seating on the sofa facing the large open window. She had her legs tucked underneath her on the couch and she seemed unaware of his presences as she gazed out the large window behind the couch.

“You’ve started without me,” Reese’s low voice seem to boom in the room. Carter looked to where he stood, her gaze one of confusion until he nodding towards the opened half emptied vodka bottle that sat atop the the coffee table.

“Oh, yeah…I’m sorry I just really needed something,” She paused she searched for the right words. “Strong…but I’ll buy you another bottle to replace that one.” She offered.

“Don’t worry about it,” He said as he placed the bottle of wine beside the empty vodka bottle.

“So how did your mission go, is Taylor safe now or will he have to keep looking over his shoulders?”

“He’s safe. I take it he told you about what happened, what he witnessed?” Reese asked and Carter nodded as her eyes instantly watered up.

“Yeah he did,” She confirmed. “My poor baby, I never ever wanted him to be touched by the ugliness I have to see day in and day out. That’s part of the reason I do what I do, to protect him. I don’t even know what hurts the most the fact that I couldn’t protect him from what he saw or the fact that he didn’t feel save enough to come to me and tell me about it.”

“Don’t beat yourself up over it Jos. You’re a good mom and Taylor knows it, even if he acts to the contrary.” His words brought a smile to her lips and she turned a bit in the seat, and stretched out her arm across the back of the arm where his rested and she placed her hand atop his.

“Thank you,” Reese opened his mouth to protest but she cut him off. “No I mean it, thank you. Thank you for saving my life and my son’s life, thank you for being here. I’m beginning to wonder how the hell I got my job done before you came along to help me out.” She half joked with a wide smile. Reese watched her a moment, fixated on her lips.

“You have a very beautiful smile,” Reese said surprising both of them with his admission.

“Thank you,” Carter replied and she coyly ducked her head before she looked back up directly into his eyes.” You have very beautiful eyes.” She commented as she gave him a compliment to even the score, hoping to relieve the embarrassment she could see on his face. Reese smiled as he averted his eyes. “Whoa are you blushing?” Carter teased as she moved her head to the side to get a better look at his face which he had turned a bit from her gaze. “You can’t take a compliment can you?”

“Well,” Reese began around a chuckle. “I’ve been living on the streets for the past year. No one wanted to get close enough to see how beautiful my eyes are. So I guess I’m just not used to compliments.” He stated as he playfully batted his lashes and his words made Carter scrunch up her face in a scowl, even as she smiled at him.

“Yeah I remember when I first met you, oh you were definitely ripe.” He chuckled at her words.

“And so what’s your excuse?”

“My excuse…are you saying I stink?” She asked self-consciously as she lifted the collar of her blouse to her nose.

“No I meant why can’t you take a compliment? I’m sure you hear them all the time.”

“No like yourself I am not used to them, I am however used to very crude sexual remarks about my…attributes. But I hardly consider those compliments. Present company excluded I haven’t had any man compliment me since,” She actually had to think on it a moment before the face of a man who had long since died popped into her mind and instantly the smile faded from her face.

“Since your husband?” Reese spoke out filling in the gaps.

“How…” She began to question how he knew she had been married but then rolled her eyes and closed her mouth. “Nevermind, forget I asked. My husband is off limits ok?”

“Ok,” Reese agreed seeing by the look in Carter’s eyes that it was a sore subject and so he wouldn’t pursue it. “So how’s Taylor?”

“Sleeping, he was upset which is understandable giving what he saw. He cried himself to sleep, broke my heart. I haven’t seen him cry since he was 6 or 7.”

“And how are you?” Reese asked as he leaned further back in his seat. In reply she reached out and grasped her vodka filled glass from the end table. She lifted it a bit in a cheers gesture and then put it to her lips. Before she could drank it all down as she had intended to, Reese grasped it from her hand and finished it off himself.

“This is a temporary fix, trust me.” He offered as he swirled the ice around in the glass.

“I know but it takes the worries away and makes me feel good, even if it’s just for a little while. I really need that right now.” Carter said as she reached for the glass Reese still held.

“There are other things you could do that will accomplish the same thing.” He said and she arched her brow as a smirk crossed her lips.

“Well, what did you have in mind John?” Carter teased as she batted her lashes at him, and then she burst out in laughter at the stunned doe caught in headlights look on Reese’s face. “I’m kidding, not that I would mind having some mind blowing sex right now.” She mumbled as she snatched the glass for his hand and moved to pour herself another shot.

“No, I wouldn’t mind that either,” Reese replied and once again stunned Carter with his words. “But I was referring to a friendly game of Call of Duty 4.” Carter raised her brow as a very wide smile graced her lips.

“Yeah I think spanking your butt in Call of Duty would make me feel much better.” She said as she set the glass back on the end table and then rubbed her hands together in anticipation.

“Oh I’m not going to let you win just because you’re drunk and licking your wounds.” Reese stated as he stood and offered her his hand which she accepted. She allowed him to pull her to her feet.

“Let me win? Ha! Yeah you may be some badass ex-CIA agent, but don’t think you’re the only one in this room who can handle themselves with a gun. Oh and I’ll have you know that I am not drunk I just have a slight buzz. Not that it matters because I will never be too drunk to whoop your ass in Call of Duty,” Carter offered as she put her hands on her hip and rolled her neck a bit.

“All right, show me what you got.” Reese said as he waved his hand toward the big flat screen TV mounted on the wall just above the stereo system and several gaming consoles. The two settled in for a couple of hours of gaming, and true to their words; Reese didn’t go easy on Carter and Carter had no problem whooping his ass.