rose_griffes: John Reese from Person of Interest on CBS (reese (the *other* messed-up Reese))
rose_griffes ([personal profile] rose_griffes) wrote2012-06-27 10:01 am

Person of Interest: five drabbles about Zoe Morgan/John Reese

More procrastination on popcorn fic by writing drabbles; Zoe Morgan/John Reese this time. Hello, part-time ship. Though I wouldn't describe most of this as shippy. (Maybe someday I'll write happy drabbles. Right.)

fandom: Person of Interest
characters: Zoe Morgan/John Reese
rating: maaaaaybe R for sexual themes? though there's nothing explicit at all
disclaimer: these characters aren't mine


accord
After two failed attempts to get together for a drink--though they were planning to have sex, they never changed the wording from Zoe's original invitation--they agreed on some ground rules.

Phones off, batteries out. She would take care of the hotel room, he would have to approve it. No explanation needed for last-minute cancellation due to work.

He would supply drinks. Plum brandy--the irony isn't lost on him. A reminder to himself that everyone has hidden motivations.

"Do I need to get these notarized?" he asks her.

She quirks an eyebrow in his direction before allowing herself a small smile.

repairs
She once told him that there wasn't a woman alive who could fix him. What she didn't say was that she prefers him this way.

The appeal isn't about attraction. Both use appearances in their arsenal of weapons; at a casual glance from powerful men, Zoe is dangerous sexuality, a carefully cultivated image of visible allure deflecting attention from her control and knowledge.

What they also share is a desire to stay unattached. They won't put their emotions at risk. Security is paramount.

He's safe, and a respite from the masks she wears. As she is for him.

vice
He learned this from before: luxury is a trap. Too many men in power whose corruption was draped in jewel-toned cloths. But after years of wearing the Company's suits for mere functionality, he hasn't yet lost the thrill at lightweight wool in his hands, the slight catch against his fingers of starched Egyptian weave. He's learning to appreciate the privileges that this job permits.

He tells himself that he's not attached and takes a perverse enjoyment when the fine cotton shirts get sliced, bloodied, torn.

Zoe has the same cachet: an expensive indulgence. She's becoming a guilty pleasure.

still
"Don't move," she tells him, eyes gleaming in the half-light. She checks the knots.

"For how long?"

"Until I say." She's sitting across his hips, carfully leaning over him, close but not touching.

He stares at her cheeks and lips, thinking about tracing the plane from cheekbone to mouth. She leans forward and kisses him but pulls back after just barely brushing his lips.

"You like to watch, don't you," she says. It's not a question. So he watches her as she sits up straighter, unzips her dress in the back and slowly pulls the straps down.

phantasm
If she had lived, if he had stayed with her, Jessica's John would have had no appeal for Zoe Morgan.

The man he might have become would have seen a siren in high heels and a short dress: unattainable, a fantasy, a nightmare. That John might only glimpse this truth: being with her would mean losing everything Jessica's John would have prized the most.

Jessica's John might have sensed the danger, but wouldn't know how deep and true it ran.

He appreciates the irony that he doesn't have nightmares the one time he ends up actually sleeping next to her.

[identity profile] teachyrchildren.livejournal.com 2012-06-27 04:16 pm (UTC)(link)
Yes, times five. Nicely done!

[identity profile] rose-griffes.livejournal.com 2012-06-27 10:48 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you!
jedibuttercup: (john reese)

[personal profile] jedibuttercup 2012-06-27 04:26 pm (UTC)(link)
Lovely. Favorite parts of this: well, the whole last one, and this line -

> She once told him that there wasn't a woman alive who could fix him. What she didn't say was that she prefers him this way.

[identity profile] rose-griffes.livejournal.com 2012-06-27 10:49 pm (UTC)(link)
Thanks! And I'm glad to know which line you liked best. (It seemed like a pretty obvious follow-up to what she said in that last episode, heh.)

[identity profile] dien.livejournal.com 2012-06-27 09:31 pm (UTC)(link)
All good, but really like the last one. "Jessica's John" is a great phrase to me-- there's such a gulf between the John-that-might-have-been and the Reese-that-is, and for all he fetishizes longs for that normal life, he would be so much less compelling that way, which I think this drabble does a great job exploring.

[identity profile] rose-griffes.livejournal.com 2012-06-27 10:52 pm (UTC)(link)
Thanks!
ext_2333: "That's right,  people, I am a constant surprise." (Default)

[identity profile] makd.livejournal.com 2012-06-27 10:06 pm (UTC)(link)
Very nicely done. I especially like the last one. Reese is a different man without Jessica...and a more interesting man for Zoe....

[identity profile] rose-griffes.livejournal.com 2012-06-27 10:49 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, thank you!

(Anonymous) 2012-09-25 06:06 pm (UTC)(link)
I thouroughly agrre with you.

[identity profile] sdemar.livejournal.com 2012-06-28 11:52 am (UTC)(link)
Anything Reese /Zoe I love so thank you for this.

[identity profile] rose-griffes.livejournal.com 2012-06-28 04:02 pm (UTC)(link)
Thanks for letting me know you liked it!

[identity profile] blacktop50.livejournal.com 2012-06-28 12:15 pm (UTC)(link)
Very nicely done. You capture the calculation in their relationship so well The meditation on Jessica's John beautifully captures his understanding of how much he has lost and fits neatly back with Zoe's remark about his brokenness. I really like this insight into both characters.

[identity profile] rose-griffes.livejournal.com 2012-06-28 04:02 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, thanks!

[identity profile] mamahub.livejournal.com 2012-06-28 12:59 pm (UTC)(link)
Excellent job! You are certainly putting your procrastination time to good use! :)

I totally agree about having an odd part-time "ship" for Reese/Zoe. I'm a dyed-in-the-wool Rinch girl. But if I'm shipping het it's these two, because they just spark off each other like mad! You have the "relationship" between them down perfectly. Each knowingly using the other primarily for physical release, with an underlying psychological twist. As you put it so eloquently in "Repairs": "The appeal isn't about attraction. Both use appearances in their arsenal of weapons; at a casual glance from powerful men, Zoe is dangerous sexuality, a carefully cultivated image of visible allure deflecting attention from her control and knowledge. What they also share is a desire to stay unattached. They won't put their emotions at risk. Security is paramount. He's safe, and a respite from the masks she wears. As she is for him."

[identity profile] rose-griffes.livejournal.com 2012-06-28 04:04 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you!

Each knowingly using the other primarily for physical release, with an underlying psychological twist.
*nods* It's why I can't really ship Zoe/John in a long-term way, because they can't have a healthy relationship with each other--at least not without some drastic changes in their goals and circumstances. But yup, sparks!
ext_18106: (Domino and Cable are adorable)

[identity profile] lyssie.livejournal.com 2012-07-02 09:06 pm (UTC)(link)
If she had lived, if he had stayed with her, Jessica's John would have had no appeal for Zoe Morgan. I think I'm in love with this line (and them! I love them, too, because they are twisted and screwed-up, and not trying to fix each other. And, um, I approve.)

[identity profile] rose-griffes.livejournal.com 2012-07-02 11:52 pm (UTC)(link)
Yay, thanks! I think not fixing each other should be the number one rule for writing Zoe/John. (Not that most people need to know rules. Because most people aren't writing them. WHICH I STILL DON'T GET AT ALL, BUT WHATEVER.)

(Though since I'm busily writing Carter/Reese epic, I'm slowly losing my Zoe/John semi-shippiness. Ah well.)