Previous: Redheads and Poutine

Joss…actually didn't know what to do with herself. She kind of…stood there, her fingers lightly playing with his. “Um…do you…want to watch some tv? Are you tired? Thirsty? I…it's been awhile…a long time really…I don't….know what I should be doing…”

“I can tell.” Jimmy was grinning like a loon. “Any of those would be good. A drink, some TV, sleep, would all be good. How about some water to start with? A hangover wouldn't be a good way to wake up.”

“Water. Right. One moment.” Reluctantly she let go of his hand and moved to the little kitchenette. She stood there for a moment, her hands shaking slightly. She looked at them and closed her eyes.

*This…is different. He'd never hurt you. Dani knows…what happened…before. Seeley would kill him if he was like…that. Or would he? He would. And…James…doesn't seem like that sort.*

*Scott didn't seem like that sort either.*

*Be quiet. James is different. I can feel it. See it.*

She got a bottle of water from the fridge and came back to him, holding it out to him with a shy smile. “Here you go, Sir. There's…a TV in the bedroom if you want to watch it in there…erm…”

Her cheeks almost matched her hair.

He wrapped one hand around the bottle his other going to her hand. He could feel the tremors she was trying to hide. “Thank you.” He could see her cheeks flushing, the redness and the warmth. The hair framing her face almost matching it.

He held her hand warmly, trying to figure out what was wrong before deciding to ask outright. “Joss.” He squeezed her hand slightly. “Tell me what's wrong.” Not ask. Command. “Tell me why you're afraid.” Almost as observant as Seeley. He had a good teacher.

“I um…had one serious relationship. It ended about four years ago after…six years? She did some math in her head. “Seven years.” She cleared her throat. “He was amazing at first. Until about…eight months in? It was…I was still sixteen. Eight months. He um…” Did she have to say it?

She held up a finger. Took off her tee. Normally erotic, right? Except…Joss had eight scars. And anyone in Aubrey's field would know them for what they were.

Stab wounds. “This wasn't what he did back then…but it got worse. You'd think once I'd gotten my Bachelor's degree in psych I would have peaced out, right? It uh…was actually Brennan who opened my eyes. He loves me, I said. We'd been swimming at the Y, me and her, and she saw them. He loves me, I said. That doesn't look like love, Neill, she'd said. It stuck with me like a thorn…I returned to Quebec…and wound up in the hospital because he was angry I was considering a career in law enforcement. I guess he didn't want me to be strong. But…in the hospital, I broke up with him. And he tried to kill me. In the hospital. In front of security. He was arrested, my internship director recommended me to the FBI and two days after I was released I touched down at Washington-Dulles.”

Jimmy reached out to touch the scars, trailing his fingers over each one of them, bringing his head down to see each one for what they were. He dropped down to his knees to make sure he could see each one as he mumbled beneath his breath. “Asshole.” He looked up from his position beneath her. “Good job getting out of that one alive. I hope he rots in whatever hellhole he's in.”

More touching, the edges of the scars, end to end, then… He kissed each one as if they needed tender loving care. They were healed, they didn't need it, but he felt *she* needed it. Proof he wasn't 'that guy'. He would be the sort of guy to put 'that guy' in jail for abuse, attempted murder, or even whatever he could get to stick.

“I hope he's rotting in a hellhole somewhere, at least.”

He was touching them. With *care*. With *tender concern*. She thought for a moment of the 'hellhole'. Concrete. Steel. Metal. Glass.

He was *kissing* them. Each one. *All* eight. She swallowed. *See? I know he's different. Look at him. He puts guys like that in jail.*

“Ah…you asked me if I miss Quebec and I said sometimes. I'd miss it all the time…” She took a deep breath. “But that's the hellhole he's rotting in.”

The charges hadn't stuck long enough. He walked the concrete, steel, metal, glass jungle of Quebec city.

He wrinkled his nose as he finished paying attention to her scars, looking up at her again. He stood back up, opening the bottle finally and taking a swig from the contents before he spoke. “That really grinds my gears. People getting away with abuse. Attempted murder. Anything that means they should be behind bars.”

He sighed, then took another drink from the bottle, calming his nerves. She was topless. In front of him. Without asking. As far as he was aware, this wasn't intended to be a first date, but it was quickly heading in that direction.

He put the bottle on the side, then shrugged out of his jacket looking around for somewhere to hang it up, finding the hooks by the door. His tie joined his jacket, then he return, unbuttoning his shirt and pulling it out of his pants to show off the shrapnel wounds across his torso. “Not quite the same, but I got these saving Hodgins from a bomb.”

“It's…he did two years. Not long enough but thats not my call, sadly.” Came her reply. She turned red once he stood. *I'm topless. Save for a bra. He probably thinks I'm…okay well put it back on!*

“Sorry!” She gasped, pulling her shirt back on….as his jacket…tie…came off, his shirt, unbuttoned. Timid hands moved up, fingertips brushing against the scars. “Not quite the same.” She agreed, peering up at him. “These…I would be proud of these. You saved a life.” She smiled and lightly pressed her lips to a few of them. “Be proud of them, James. They don't make you any less handsome to me.”

He nearly placed his finger on her lips, but let her finish her thoughts as she paid attention to his own scars. “Yours don't make you any less beautiful, either. You survived. You're here today because you're strong.”

He almost puffed out his chest as she kissed his scars. A badge of honor. Something to be proud of. He was just doing his job, as far as he saw it. “I guess that's true.”

Joss looked up. He thought she was beautiful? Her soft pink lips curled in a bashful smile. “It is true. Maybe it was part of the job but still…people in your shoes have balked. You didn't. You beautiful man.” She whispered, her eyes shining at him.

*You're safe, Jocelyn.*

He tilted his head to one side. Beautiful? Physically? Mentally? Which did she mean?

“Isn't that what we're here for, to save lives? Or, at least, to bring those who would threaten to take lives to justice?” He was just as bad as Seeley when it came to trying to protect people. Joss included, in Jimmy's mind. He was too late for what happened in her past, but he could be part of her future.

Joss had meant in every sense. Physically. He was the most handsome man she'd ever seen. Mentally. He was smart. Witty. Charming. Emotionally. She was seeing his heart, saw it written on his body.

“Yes. It is.” She agreed. “I wanted to be a negotiator to prevent the need for fire. And then I wanted to help the people who sometimes had no choice but to pull the trigger.” She murmured.

“I think you've done an admirable job.” He stopped pushing his chest out and released his shirt, but didn't button it back up again. He felt comfortable around her.

“Mrs Booth has recovered from what Booth says, at least well enough to function. I think pregnancy may have helped. Paying back the loss in life by bringing new life into the world.”

“You think so?” She asked softly. “Thank you…I don't think you know how much that means.” Maybe he did. She did tell him after all, the difficulty carrying on the work of Dr. Sweets while leaving his shoes empty and proving her own were good on their own merits.

“I worry about her. She seemed…not totally here today at the office. I hope Seeley takes my advice and just…addresses it. But it's advice from me. And despite what you say, I don't think he likes me much.”

“I think so.” Yes, he did. He knew how much the first would affect people. He was what it did to Ella. He saw the difference it made for her to get the counseling she needed.

“She's somewhat pregnant. She has that to think about as well, so there's a lot on her mind. There's probably a lot on his mind too. Once you get through his gruff exterior, he's… Well, he's kinda gruff underneath. He appreciates what you did for her, don't let his gruff exterior bother you.”

“Should I let his gruff *interior* get to me then?” She laughed lightly. “As for Ella…she takes care of herself, she eats more than she's supposed to, and she's thinned out everywhere but her belly. She's been talking to me, but I can't say anything beyond that. But my sister went through very similar with her first. Her husband managed to alleviate it whenever he could but I don't think Seeley would want to hear it from me.” She sighed. Her fingers lightly played with the unbuttoned buttons on his shirt. “Maybe one day.”

“His gruff interior is what kept her sane with her first kill.” She should know about that since she was her counselor. Jimmy didn't know that, though. “You shouldn't say anything beyond that, I know about the confidentiality clause. Not as good as the Santa Claus though.”

He snorted. Bad puns, he's got them. “You won't know if you don't try. He's not going to bite your head off, it's not like he's a werewolf or a minotaur or some mythological creature. He's just a man, Joss.”

She cracked a smile at his awful pun. A light chortle. She loved bad puns. The worse, the better.

“I guess so. Today was enough to have me worried…a quick moment please, Sir.” She said, pulling her phone from her skirt pocket. She tapped out a quick message and then laid it on the table.

She met his eyes again. “What do you want out of…this?” She asked finally, gesturing between them. “Is this…our first date? Will you be dating others? It's been…ages. I need to know what you want, what I should expect.”

He watched her tap out a message on her phone, laying it on the table out of the way. That wasn't 'quick' by his definition of quick.

“Well… First, you can keep calling me Sir. I like it.” First date? Kinda. Ish. Maybe. Well… “I'd guess this is our first date if you want to call it that. It doesn't have to be. It could be. I'll leave that up to you. ” Way to go being decisive there. Eh. She'll deal with it.

“Why would I want to date anyone else? I'm don't see anyone else here to date.” He made a point of rotating 360 degrees to look around. “I see one person.” He placed his finger on her chest. “There. Right there. Only you.”

It wasn't quick by her definition either, but given the length of the message, she'd tapped it out fairly swiftly. “He's smart. Hopefully, he'll catch it.” She said once she'd laid her phone down.

Her attention was fully on him now as he began to speak. Keep calling him Sir. Got it. She raised an eyebrow on his back and forth over whether or not it was a 'date'.

But then she was laughing as he gestured around them. “Of course there's no one here, it's my hotel room. No one but us anyways.” She clarified. Dummy. Of course, he knew no one but them. “Only me?” She said softly, a sweet smile appearing on her face.

“Just us. I…like the sound of that. If you want it to be that way, I mean. Sir.” She fumbled over her words.

*Smooth move, Ex-lax.*

“Yeah, but it made you laugh, didn't it?” She lit up when she laughed. “Yes, only you. Which means yes, just us. Which means yes, I want it to be that way.”

She was flustered. Fumbling over her words. He could tell she wasn't used to dating, she even told him that with the story about her abusive ex. Of course, she hadn't mentioned anything between, so he was only reading between the lines. Between then and now, at least.

“Why? What do *you* want out of this?” Her turn. “Is this our first date? Will you be dating others? What should I expect?”

She smiled at him, her smile unfading. She'd been too afraid her judgement would lead her wrong again, that she'd wind up getting hurt again. When he read between the lines, if he came up with the conclusion that Joss hadn't dated since then, well, he'd be right.

“I want….” She looked up slightly, the freckles on her nose shifting as the bridge crinkled rather adorably. “This is…it's…I want…” She faltered. “You. Me. Just us. I think…I don't think they would have set us up if they didn't think we had staying power. I…want to treat this like it's the last time we'll be doing it. I want…love. Romance. I want to feel protected and cherished not…open, raw, and scared. And…I don't think Ella would have done her part in getting us together if she thought you'd make me feel open, raw, or scared.” She said, looking at her hands.

“You can expect…fidelity. Love. Devotion. I…would want to make you feel all the things you'd make me feel…and…I think…this is more than a first date…don't you?” She looked up.

*Stop fuckling rambling, Neill.*

He listened. Waited.

Us. Staying power. Last time. Love. Romance. Protected. Cherished. Not open, raw, or scared. Fidelity. Love. Devotion. Feel.

“Yes. I can't promise not to make you feel open, raw, or scared, but I can promise to be with you if I do and to help you recover. I'm not perfect, I make mistakes. While I don't plan on making you feel any of those, I do plan on loving you, cherishing you, protecting you, romancing you, staying with you… Among many other things that aren't coming to mind at the moment because I feel like I'm just rambling.”

*She doesn't have a monopoly on that.*

“Well, I mean, they all could be wonderful in the right context….” She amended, resting her forehead against his bare chest. “I…want you…us…to stay. I don't mind if you ramble. Maybe it will help me remember to shut up.” She murmured, her breath warm against him.

“Maybe it will make you ramble more. I like listening to you talk. Never be afraid of rambling, it doesn't stop me.” He ran his fingers through her red tresses, trying to avoid them tangling or catching. “I'm staying.”

“But I like when you talk. I like your voice…” She said softly, leaning into his hand slightly. “And…I like your hand in my hair.” She added. “I like the way you say my name. I like your French. I like your lips. Your eyes. I like everything about you, Agent Aubrey, Sir.” She crinkled her nose again.

His hand gripped the strands of her hair when she mentioned it. *Tug* Unintentional, accidental. Or was it? Yes, it was, he decided. “Special Agent Aubrey, James, Jimmy, I answer to anything.” He smirked, leaned down, and kissed the tip of her nose.

Joss's lips parted and she gasped when he tugged her hair, the movement having her arms slip around him, her body leaning against his as he kissed her nose. She smiled up at him. “I bet you prefer Sir from me though.” She teased lightly

This time the pull on her hair was intentional, pulling her head back o he could look down into her eyes, then down her nose, over her lips, and at her bared throat. It looked like it was missing… Something. He couldn't quite put his finger on it. He'd figure it out later, if at all.

“Definitely. Didn't I say that? I thought I said that. Maybe something like that.”