Title: Take Heed
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: John Reese/Jordan Hester
Fandom: Person of Interest
Rating: PG-13
Table: 1drabble
Prompt: 23, Defeat
Disclaimer: This is entirely a product of my own imagination, and I make no profit from it. I do not own the lovely John Reese or Jordan Hester, just borrowing them for a while. Please do not sue.

***

"John, you can't save everybody," Jordan said, reaching across the kitchen table to take John's hand, twining their fingers together and squeezing gently. "I know you think you should be able to, but there are some people you just can't help."

John nodded, sighing softly and squeezing Jordan's hand in return. "I know. There are some people who don't want to be helped, who are so used to fending for themselves that they can't let anyone in. I should know. I used to be like that, before Harold found me."

"He's a very special kind of person," Jordan said, his sigh mirroring John's. "Sometimes I wonder why you fell in love with me, and not with him."

"Because I could never love anyone in the way that I love you," John told him, his voice very soft and quiet. "I'd be lying if I said that I had never loved anyone before you, but you and I .... this isn't like anything I've ever felt before. This is forever, Jordan."

"I know," Jordan replied, not knowing what else to say.

He hated seeing John like this, hated seeing him feeling as though he had been defeated in the one thing he'd wanted to be good at. John was good at what he did, Jordan told himself firmly. He had helped so many people, changed so many lives.

Including his own. If John and Harold hadn't come along when they had, then he would be in jail by now, convicted of crimes he had never committed. And that evil woman who had stolen his identity would be free to victimize countless others, as well.

It just hurt to see John suffering the agony of defeat when he couldn't change a life.

Seeing his lover like this made him hurt inside. He didn't want to think that John could lose that driving force behind what he did; he didn't want to think that his lover could be easily defeated. John wasn't the kind of man to accept defeat easily, but it felt as though he had.

"You can't let this get to you too much," he said, wishing that John would take heed of his words. "It's one in a million, John. The good guys don't always win."

John nodded slowly, a win smile curving his lips. "I know you're right, Jordan," he said softly, squeezing his lover's hand again before he let go. "We can't help people who don't want to be helped. Sometimes I forget that. But there'll be another number tomorrow."

Jordan nodded, feeling his heart lift a bit. John wasn't going to let one defeat stop him. He would keep on helping people; he wasn't going to simply give up and walk away. That was the way it should be, and Jordan had no doubt that a new day would bring a new challenge.

***