For Bklyngrl

My Favorite Things

The mood was somber as the three people sat around the table. Three drinks in, and each was waiting for someone to break the ice. But where to start when remembering someone who had touched your life so deeply?

"I didn't like Reese when I first met him," Shaw groused as she brought the glass of whiskey to her lips. Smooth as silk, the aged to perfection whiskey only slightly burned as it went down her throat.

"Considering you shot him, Ms. Shaw, I think that was a given fact," Finch replied dryly.

"You shot him?!" Lionel sputtered in disbelief.

Shaw shrugged. "He was wearing a vest," she argued.

"Ah, well. That makes everything better," Lionel scoffed sarcastically in disbelief that anyone would be that bold to take on Superman.

"Okay, Lionel, what was your first encounter with like?" she challenged.

Fusco shifted uncomfortably in his seat, as he sheepishly admitted, "I put a gun to his head and threatened to bury him in Oyster Bay." Okay, not his most shining moment, but he blamed it on the liquor.

Shaw looked vaguely impressed by the confession. "How'd that end for you?"

"He detonated a tear gas grenade in the car, then shot me in the back." Lionel pretended to be interested in stirring his Sprite with a twist.

"So, it worked out well." It wasn't a question.

"He shot me in the back—four times!" Lionel protested with righteous indignation.

"But you were wearing your vest," she pointed out without any sympathy.

"I was."

"Ah, well, that makes everything better."

Lionel's eyes narrowed. "Did anyone ever tell you that you have the most unique bedside manner?"

"Yep. That's why I became a hitman."

"Makes sense."

"What about you, Finch? What was your first encounter with Reese like?" Shaw asked.

"He incapacitated two of my bodyguards," Finch revealed.

Fusco looked impressed. "Wow! What did you do?"

"I offered him a job."

"Reese always has his own way of communicating," Shaw said.

"Like that time he took out members of the Sinoloa Cartel," Fusco said with pride. "Arms tied up, he let them beat him down until they let down their guard, then he let them have it. Pow, pow, pow! And it was over." He made the motions with his fists.

"He never wasted time getting to his point."

"There was the time he risked it all to save Joss's son. Took on Elias's team—swatting them down like flies. Wish I could have been there," Lionel chortled with pride and delight—and envy. But he had been in the room when Joss Carter had saved his life.

"Me too," Shaw replied with just a touch of envy. "He was extraordinary."

"A paradox."

"A loner."

"So, what did you admire about him, Lionel?" Shaw wondered.

"His sweet arsenal. Oh, what I would have given to have had a peek." Lionel sipped his drink. "Plus the fact that he never held it against me that I kicked his ass."

Shaw looked surprised by the revelation. "You kicked his ass?" she echoed in disbelief.

"Yes," Lionel confirmed without apology.

"I guess it's true that even a blind squirrel can find a nut," she murmured over the rim of her glass.

"Thanks. What about you, Shaw? What did you admire?" Fusco asked.

"His loyalty. He was behind someone one hundred percent. And if he said he was going to have your back, he meant it—bad guy or not." She swallowed down a weird lump in her throat. "He made me feel part of the team. I know he didn't want to, but..."

"He had that way." There hadn't been a handshake—no, it was more like a threat, but that was John Reese's way of bringing someone on board. Short, simple, to the point, and always room to grow and learn. And if Lionel had learned nothing else, he had learned the many ways a heart can break and be put back together.

"Mr. Reese had his own methods," Finch chimed in. Not all of them had made him happy, but even he had to agree that sometimes the ends had to justify the means. Rules were made to be broken.

"You should know, Harold. You have been known to march to your own drummer."

"Trust was never an easy thing for me," Finch said solemnly. "Mr. Reese managed to teach me that trusting other people isn't necessarily a bad thing." He turned the glass around on the slick, wood table-top. "But mostly, he taught me to trust my inner instinct."

"He was in a class all by himself," Lionel stated hollowly.

"That he was," Shaw concurred.

A silence fell over them as they absorbed the moment. The fire crackled in the fireplace. Was it fate, or chance that they would find themselves in this same exact place nearly three years later? Either way, it was a sad kind of irony. And though none of them wanted to be there, there was no where else they would rather be.

"I miss him," Lionel choked. He didn't expect to be so overwhelmed by emotions when thinking of his mutual friend. He thought with everything he had been thru in his life, and the things he had seen, another life gone would be just that. But this one was...different. He had been different.

"I do...in my own way," Shaw admitted. It wasn't something she was proud of, but what was this unfamiliar pain in her heart? Sharp and breathtaking, it overwhelmed her beyond all comprehension. But she wasn't going to think about it—not right now, she told herself before draining her glass. Reaching for the bottle, she filled the glass to the rim. It was going to take a lot more than that bottle to get her drunk tonight.

"I don't believe in a higher power," Finch said in his cultured and succinct tone, "but I do believe that there has to be a reward for someone like Mr. Reese." Didn't there? He had never asked his partner what his personal and spiritual beliefs were. Somethings were better left unasked. But right now he would give his entire fortune to ask that one question.

"Where will you be going, Finch?" Lionel asked.

"Italy. I have made arrangements for the both of you to be well taken care of, in my absence," Finch revealed. "I'm sure you're aware that Mr. Reese left his loft to you, Detective."

"Thanks," Lionel said in a humbled tone. It saved on the commute time to Queens, but he didn't want that time saved any more.

"And the numbers...?" Shaw wondered.

"They will continue—if you are willing."

"It won't be the same," Lionel groused.

"It never is, Lionel." It was a sad fact that Shaw had come to grips with over the years. She had never known until now, just what it meant.

His hand shaking ever so slightly, Finch raised his glass.

"To Mr. Reese—wherever he is; may he have found peace."

"Gotten his reward," Shaw continued and raised her glass in honour.

"May he be with the woman he loves." Lionel added his glass to complete the toast.

They clinked the glasses in agreement and in memory of their lost friends.
**********

"And here you thought they were going to forget you," Joss chided at the tall man standing next to her. They had stood quietly in the corner of the room while their mutual friends gave their eulogies in their own unique fashions.

Reese shrugged. His lip twitched. "You never can be too sure what impact you'll make on someone's life, Joss," he replied. He had never been one to toot his horn or relish in accolades. It was almost surreal to hear the nice things said about him.

"Like the one you made on mine?" she asked with a smile.

Reese looked down at her. "I was thinking more like the one you made on mine," he contradicted. "I still don't think I'm worthy."

"They loved you."

"I hope they did."

"Considering you got a eulogy done in the way only Fusco, Shaw and Finch can, then I think they do." She took Reese's hand in hers and squeezed. "They listed their favourite things about you."

"I feel as though my life has been summed up in a song," Reese said in a quirky tone. "Though I'm sure that nothing I did resembles a nun running over brooks and streams, and singing on mountain tops."

Joss chuckled. "There are worse songs to have your life and accomplishments compared to."

"True," he admitted. "I didn't believe you and I would be back together again."

Her voice was choked with tears. "Well, you did tell me that you would see me on the other side."

"I meant it, but I didn't think I'd end up here...with you," he confessed. All of the things he had done in his life, the wrong turns, the wrong decisions, the bad moves... How could they ever let him inside the Pearly Gates?

"You made up for your wrongs by doing good. You touched more lives than you'll ever know." Joss cupped his face in her hands and looked deep in his eyes. "You were loved, and you loved. That's what matters."

"I'm going to hate leaving them," Reese whispered as he felt his heart start to crack. He looked at the three remaining members of the team and realized that he was leaving his family behind.

"You'll see them again," Joss promised. "But for now, we have to go."

"Do you want to know what my favourite thing is?" Reese asked.

"Can I guess?"

"It's you, Joss. From beginning to end, it's always been you. I said it before, but I meant it: You saved me."

"Well, you can spend eternity in my debt," she returned and stood on tip-toes to press her lips to his in a kiss that promised love. Pulling back, she took his hand in hers. She gave it a loving squeeze.

"Come on, it's time to go."

"As long as I'm with you, Joss..." A tear broke free to run down his cheek. Joss reached up and brushed it away.

"You're stuck with me, remember?"

"Then lead the way, Detective."

"Just so you know, you're my favourite thing, too."

With their arms around the other's waist, the pair walked toward the bright light to forever.

The End.

Wishing all of my readers a safe and happy and very prosperous 2017. May your year be blessed with love and laughter.