This is my contribution to the Christmas fic exchange. I drew wolfmusic218 and the prompt was "Knowing he's not a big fan of the holidays, Carter invites Reese to help decorate her place or shows up to decorate his loft. Bonus if there is mistletoe involved" Well, there is mistletoe involved! Enjoy!

Thanks to fangirlu for the quick beta.

I don't own Person of Interest or the characters. If I did, it would be a MUCH different show right now!

"So, what are you doing for Christmas?"

John Reese flinched on the inside, but kept his stoic mask in place as he sipped his coffee. He had been dreading that question even though he knew it was coming. He and Joss were in the early stages of their relationship, and he knew couples asked each other questions like that all the time. It's just that he had a feeling the lady detective wasn't going to like his answer.

"Probably working a number," he replied carefully, bracing himself for the argument he knew was coming.

Joss Carter looked over at the man sitting next to her in the car, one perfectly groomed eyebrow arched. "What if there isn't a number?"

"The numbers never stop coming Joss," Reese replied. Please just drop it, he begged her in his mind. Couples spent Christmas together, he knew that. He was part of a couple now, but he just wasn't sure he was ready for some "couple things" quite yet.

"No, really, John, what if there isn't a number? You just going to spend the day cleaning your guns?" He knew she wasn't going to drop it.

"Not a bad idea, Carter," he shot back testily.

Joss frowned, picking up on the fact that he had used her last name again. Since they had decided to become involved, he had started using her first name; now he only used her last name when he was irritated with her. "You're just a beacon of the Christmas spirit, aren't you?" Joss sighed. John cringed on the inside. He heard the disappointment in her voice and he hated disappointing her.

John shrugged without taking his eyes off the house where their latest number resided. "Never had much reason to celebrate," he mumbled.

Joss blinked at him in surprise. "Not even when you were a kid?"

Dammit, he was afraid the conversation was going to go there. John closed his eyes and then opened them, which was the only outward sign of his discomfort. If it were anyone else, he would just growl at them to mind their own business; but this wasn't just anyone. This was Joss, the woman who had reached out to him when he was in a very dark place he thought he would never escape. Her kindness had shined a tiny little sliver of light on his dark corner. It had given him a whisper of hope despite himself, and it had laid the groundwork for him to take his present position with Finch saving the numbers. Thus he'd found himself opening up to her like he had never opened up to any other person. He felt another round of "John Lays His Soul Bare" coming up.

"I had a few good Christmases when my dad was alive, but after he died mom didn't have a lot of money." John paused as an unwanted memory of his mother tearfully apologizing for the lack of Christmas presents crossed his mind. He gave his head a little shake to clear the memory and then he continued his story.

"Since she died shortly after I enlisted, I always volunteered for duty on Christmas so guys who had family could be home. In the CIA, Christmas was a day your target was celebrating, so they were vulnerable. We took advantage of that more than once." Another memory pushed its way into his head, this time of Kara, Mark and himself infiltrating a Christmas party. They were the only ones who left the building alive. John stared morosely at the Lincoln emblem in the middle of the steering wheel.

"I'm sorry, John," Joss said softly as she gently rubbed his forearm and then laced her fingers through his in an attempt to comfort him. "I can see why you don't have much in the way of the Christmas spirit."

"It's OK, I've never missed it." He was lying to her and to himself, and she knew it. She always knew. He wanted to be normal and normal people celebrated the holidays with their loved ones. However, normal people didn't have the burden of being a former CIA assassin who had killed people on Christmas Day.

"You're welcome to spend Christmas with us. It will just me and Taylor this year. My mom is going south to my brother's. You could bring Harold."

"I'll keep it in mind, Carter," John said stiffly.

They both knew he had no intention of showing up, but Joss Carter wasn't about to take "no" for an answer. A plan was already forming in her mind.

A few days later John got a phone call from his favorite detective. "John, I'm sorry to bother you. Are you busy with a number?" Her voice sounded odd.

"What's wrong?" John was immediately alert.

"Well, I kinda have a minor emergency here, and I was wondering if you could help?" Joss was shy, tentative, which was very much unlike her normal, confident self.

"I'll be right there."

John knocked on Joss's door 15 minutes later even though it usually took 20 minutes to get from his loft to her apartment. His hand was on his gun and his eyes were roving the hallway for any suspicious activity.

Joss opened the door and grinned. "Hi, want some hot chocolate?"

John blinked at her completely confused; that was not what he was expecting. "Wait, what's the emergency?" he asked as he stepped into the apartment and Joss took his winter coat.

Taylor strolled up and handed John a mug. "Neither mom or I are tall enough to put the topper on the tree, so we need you." The teen grinned at him.

John blinked again. "Tree?" he asked weakly.

Joss, still smiling, took his arm and led him into the living room where a 6 foot tall, partially decorated Christmas tree stood in all is splendor.

"Oh," John said. He shifted his weight from one foot to another, clearly uncomfortable.

"Come on John, we need your help to get the top done!" Joss laughed. She took the mug from his hands, setting it on an end table, and handed him the tree topper.

John looked at the beautiful piece in his hands. It was a dark-skinned, porcelain angel dressed in golden robes with her wings fully extended. She held a gold horn to her lips and had a joyous look on her face. It was very detailed down to each feather on her wings. A cord dangled from her skirts so she could be plugged into the rest of the lights on the tree. John held the fragile figure carefully, afraid he would break it.

"Go on," Joss gave him a nudge in the direction of the tree.

John stepped forward and used his long arms to position the herald at the top, careful not to disturb any of the ornaments that were already hanging on the tree. He threaded the cord through the branches as close as he could get to the trunk and plugged it into the lights already on the tree. The angel rewarded his effort with a soft, golden glow.

"Perfect! Thanks, John!" Joss chirped.

"Yeah, John, Thanks!" Taylor said. "A couple of years ago Mom tried to stretch enough to get the angel up there, and she knocked the tree over!"

Joss sighed and rolled her eyes. "Are you ever going to let me forget that?"

"Nope," her son replied cheerfully as he picked another ornament out of a large plastic tote sitting next to the tree and hung it.

John looked closely at the ornament. It looked like a Rudolph made out of a clothespin. "You like?" Joss said at his elbow. "Taylor made that in second grade."

Taylor gave a theatrical groan. "Oh God! Don't get her started! She'll tell you the history of every ornament on the tree!"

Slowly, a big smile spread across John's handsome face. "I think I would like to hear that," he said looking down at Joss.

John took his suit coat off and rolled up the sleeves on his white shirt to his elbows to get comfortable. He listened intently as Joss pointed out various ornaments and recited their history. Several, like the clothespin Rudolph, were made by Taylor in school. He had also made a wreath made of mini pretzels that had been spray-painted gold and festooned with a lopsided green ribbon. There was a plaster snowman whose watercolors had run together into a muddy brown along with a felt bell with Taylor's name spelled out laboriously in red and green glitter.

There were several blown glass ornaments that had been in Joss's family for several decades. There were new Star Wars ornaments that Taylor had picked out, though John didn't find Darth Vader very Christmasy, even if he was wearing a Santa hat.

There was the Baby's First Christmas ornament featuring a small picture of a scrunchy-faced infant Taylor that Taylor had hidden toward the back of the tree. Joss moved it to the front, but John could tell by the look on Taylor's face it would be hidden again as soon a Joss's back was turned. There was a police badge ornament that commemorated the year Joss joined the police department, and a blue diploma that celebrated her law school graduation. A tiny lawyer in a suit and carrying a briefcase commemorated her passing the bar. There were a couple of black and gold Army ornaments and a blue and white ornament from Howard University, Joss's alma mater.

John listened to each story with visible interest, and even hung a few ornaments high up on the tree where Joss and Taylor could not quite reach safely. He sipped hot chocolate and playfully joined Taylor in teasing Joss when she got teary over some of the more sentimental ornaments.

While Joss was telling John the story behind a wine glass ornament (joke gift from a friend as a reminder of a girl's night out that had gone completely sideways) Taylor snuck up behind his mother and held a spring of mistletoe over her head. "Taylor!" Joss squeaked and blushed. John smiled and gave her a peck on the lips. On the down low, he slipped Taylor a twenty to keep it up. For the rest of the afternoon Taylor would randomly hold the mistletoe over his mother's head so John could kiss her.

As the day wore on, John helped hang the wreath on the door and string garland around the hanging light over the kitchen table. He placed the Elf on the Shelf high up on the bookcase in the living room. By the time they were done, the Carter apartment was ready for the holiday season. Taylor was sent back down to the basement to store the now empty totes that had held the Christmas decorations while Joss vanished into the kitchen to refill hot chocolate mugs.

John looked around the cheery, homey apartment with the colorful Christmas decorations and suddenly wished he didn't have to leave. For years he had been lying to himself about how much he had missed having a true home. Joss and Taylor sharing their holiday decorating tradition with him had given him a taste of normalcy and he realized that he liked it. A lot.

John was pulled out of his reverie by the doorbell. Joss breezed by him. "I'll get it; that's dinner."

"You ordered dinner?" John was surprised and a bit disgruntled that he had been so caught up in the decorating that he hadn't noticed her slip away for a few minutes to phone in the order.

"Of course I did! You didn't think I was going to cook after all that work did you? And you're staying so don't even THINK about leaving!" Joss shot him a smile and wink.

John moved to intercept her. "I'll get it."

"No you don't, I invited you over. You're my guest!"

"Joss, please, I want to do this for you!"

"JOHN!"

Joss pulled open the door to see a wide-eyed delivery boy who was barely older than Taylor looking back and forth between the tall, vaguely menacing-looking white man and the much smaller, much friendlier-looking black woman. Both were shoving money at him and both were obviously determined to be the one to pay. The kid made the wise choice and took the money from the scary man, much to the chagrin of the pretty woman. John carried his bounty back to the kitchen in triumph while Joss followed behind, staring daggers at his back.

Taylor came bounding back into the apartment at that point sniffing the air. "Yassss! Pad Thai! Nothing says Christmas like Pad Thai!"

The table was quickly set and dinner was consumed with much laughter and teasing. Despite the fact he had eaten in fancy restaurants all over the world, John thought it was the best dinner he'd had in many years. Probably since his dad had died.

After dinner John helped Joss clear the table while Taylor went to his room to do homework. "Would you like to stay and watch the game with me?" Joss asked when the last dish was washed and put away.

John found himself grinning like a fool. "Of course."

They grabbed some beers from the fridge, moved into the living room, and settled on the couch. They started out by sitting stiffly next to each other, both unsure at this early stage in their relationship. They watched the game for a few minutes. Well, Joss watched the game while John watched her out of the corner of his eye.

As an experiment he placed his arm on the back of the couch behind her head.

Joss smiled slightly and leaned towards him a tiny bit.

John leaned towards her a tiny bit.

Joss edged slightly closer.

John bent his arm at the elbow slightly and rested his hand on her shoulder.

Joss swiveled her head to look at him.

He looked down at her and smiled.

With a giggle Joss snuggled up to his side, placing her head on his shoulder. He slipped his arm around her, holding her to his side. They watched the rest of the game cuddled together.

The game ended, and John realized it was late and they both had to be at work in the morning. He reluctantly put on his suit coat and his winter coat and Joss walked with him to the door. Just as John opened the door to step outside Joss looked up at him, her face luminous with happiness. "I'm glad you came, John. Even if I did have to trick you into it."

John turned and wrapped his arms around her. "I'm glad too." Then he kissed her tenderly.

They drew apart and John looked at the glowing tree one more time. He swore the angel on top looked just like his Joss. John smiled and brushed his fingers over the face of his real life angel. Then he stepped out, pulling the door closed behind him. He waited until he heard the dead bolt and the night chain slide home.

If there had been anyone in the hallway they would have heard John Reese, trained killer and all around bad ass, humming Oh Christmas Tree as he walked away.