A/N: This one has been sitting in my files for a while. Just thought I'd add it to the Moments series. I hope you like it. Any mistakes are mine. None of the characters are. Thanks to the usual suspects for putting up with me and this obsession I have with characters long since gone.

Reese couldn't believe his ears. She was leaving. The city. The NYPD. Him.

He turned away from her eyes pleading with him to understand.

Her hand landed on his back and he tensed.

The FBI. This was a good thing for her. A wonderful opportunity.

They'd made no commitments to each other. Hell, she didn't even know how he felt about her.

And now she never would.

He tightened up his resolve.

"John, please try to understand. This is a great thing."

He turned then, his CIA-trained facade firmly in place. "It is. You deserve this. They won't know what hit them when Jocelyn Carter joins their ranks."

She shook her head. "No, you don't get it. It's perfect for us." His heart stopped for a second before she continued, "I can help you more from there. I'll have more access to information."

"No, absolutely not. No." The tone of his voice dared her to argue with him. "You can't do that. If you're going to do this, you need to do it right, clean. That means..."

"Don't you dare say it."

But he had to. For her. For the woman he'd fallen so in love with from almost the first moment...

"...you have to stop helping us, Joss."

"John...no..."

Before his emotions could get the better of him, he pulled her into a tight embrace and kissed the top of her head. He could feel her shaking against him as her arms wrapped around his waist. He only held her a moment before he realized he had to get out of there before he broke and begged her to stay. Stay with him.

He pulled back and grasped her hands, lifting them to his mouth. "God, Joss, I'm so proud of you. You were made for this and I know..." He cleared his throat. "I know you're going to do so much there. You're going to show them how it should be done."

She sniffed...shook her head...but didn't look at him. He knew the feeling. Saw the tears. Felt the pain this separation was going to cause both of them. Even if she didn't know why.

But he had to go. So she would go.

He lifted her chin with the tips of his fingers. "Joss, look at me."

The tears were streaming now. "I can't. I don't want this to be the end...I didn't think about it when I said yes."

"Of course you didn't. And you shouldn't have. But you have to go. You'll be running the place in no time."

She gave a watery chuckle and finally looked up at him. And caught her breath with a gasp at what she saw in his eyes. Something deep and real. And something in her wasn't surprised in the least.

"John..." she reached up and cupped his jaw.

He leaned into her hand and gave her a tight, sad, smile and shook his head slowly, tears welling in his own eyes. "I need to go."

She clutched at his shirt, tugging at it. Reese covered her hands with his and stared at her, torn between taking what was being offered and making the break that he knew, deep down, needed to happen. If he got a taste of her, it would break his heart to have to leave. But he would. Because she deserved this. She deserved to be acknowledged for the incredible work she'd already done and would do in the future. He wouldn't stand in the way of that.

In the end, she didn't give him a choice when her mouth came up and covered his. Her soft lips teasing and tasting and enticing him. When he pulled back, he only stared at her a moment before lifting her against the nearest wall and devouring her mouth.

The voice in his head screamed at him to stop. But he couldn't. Not now. He would follow where she lead. He'd fooled himself into thinking he had a choice.

When they finally came up for air, Joss took his hand and wordlessly lead him to the bedroom, clicking the door shut behind them.

Several hours later, Joss woke up and tears immediately sprang to her eyes.

She was alone.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, she'd known she would be.

She turned her head to his pillow and a tear rolled down her cheek, landing on the sheet. There was a note.

She didn't want to read it.

She knew what it would say. She knew that she'd never see him again. She hated that he was doing this for her.

And she loved him for doing this for her.

Joss looked back up at the ceiling and wiped her eyes. Then, after a long fight with herself, she reached out without looking and clutched the paper.

She took a deep breath and opened it.

Joss,

Thank you for everything these last three years.

Thank you for tonight.

It was more than I ever hoped for or deserved.

You've made me believe again.

In the power of love and the power of letting go for the right reasons.

Knock them dead in DC. I know you will.

Yours,

John

She cried until she couldn't any more.

And then she got up, pulled herself together, and did as he asked.