Disclaimer: I do not own Person of Interest

A Wandering Replacement

Chapter 1

The chime of his cell phone awoke the man in the back of the parked taxi cab. His green eyes narrowed at the device but with a sigh he saw the message he received, and it was coordinates? He raised an eyebrow intrigued, cracking his neck as he sat up. The man ran his hand through this short black hair, and his short beard. He threw a couple hundred down for the cabbie as a thank you for letting him use the cab for the night. With a push of the door the man was walking on the busy streets of New York. Dressed in an oversized army coat and dirty jeans with equally dirty sneakers, a large black duffel bag thrown over his shoulder completed the image. If one didn't look closely enough to see the thousand dollar watch on his arm they would think him homeless and that suited the man just fine as he crossed the city getting closer to his goal.

Meanwhile in the library Shaw was petting Bear while thinking about what happened on there last mission. Reese the dumbass hero that he was had gotten himself shot well defending their number from harm and while she had been able to stich him up and he would be fine, John would need a few days of bed rest. Like the stubborn man he was though John tried to object but after some stern words from her and Joss, mostly Joss he agreed to take the must needed rest.

"Finch do we have another number?" Shaw asked still petting the dog

The hacker nodded as he put a picture on the board of a young woman with a short brown hair and in a pink shirt.

"Miss Hannah Bridges secretary for a Mister Stephen Gales who is the CEO of Whole Lucky Foods a billion dollar a year food company mainly dealing in frozen foods."

"Sounds boring" Shaw said as the two heard a knock a few feet away

On instinct Shaw pulled her pistol and pointed it at the man who stood in the door way. It didn't escape her notice that he had reached for something in his back pocket.

"Is that a knife in your pocket?" She asked as Bear growled next to her. The man nodded as his eyes darted to the dog. Her eyes narrowed, "If you think of hurting the dog I will put a bullet between your eyes.

"I would never-" The man started but a growling Bear shut him up.

A few moments of silence took over the library before a cool female voice was heard in Finch and Shaw's ears.

"As sexy as I find Shaw threating to kill a man who would dare harm that sweet dog, you can't let her do it Harold. The machine sent him to help while John is out." Root's playful voice said causing Shaw to roll her eyes.
"Not that I doubt you Miss Groves but help can this man be of help to us?" Finch asked

"Harold type this name into the computer and you will see." Root said

Harold did as asked, "Edward Sebastian Blake, born in England to a Marcus and Mary Blake both deceased. Father owned a weapon making factory. Moved to America and became a nationalized US citizen at 6 months old. At 18 joined the army, and became an Army Ranger sniper. With 30 confirmed kills.

"And those are only the ones I'm allowed to talk about, in truth it is about 60." Edward chipped in.

Finch nodded as he continued, "You were honorably discharged at age 23 and then you emptied all your bank accounts and there has been no trace of you for two years."

"So Harold I assume you can use a former sniper who can live off the grid almost as well as us?" Root asked

Harold nodded as Shaw lowered her gun, and Edward took his hand out of his pocket.

"Oh one more thing Harry she asks that you tell Mr. Blake everything. Well I've got to go, bye Harold, and have fun Shaw." Root said as the line went dead. Again Shaw rolled her eyes.

Finch eyes widened but they returned to normal as he concluded that Ms. Groves was right if the machine for whatever reason trusted this man to give him the location the team then follows it would trust him enough to know the truth.

Harold gestured for Edward to sit down. "Mr. Blake before you accept this job, I must tell you a few things and you should be sitting well I speak." Edward nodded as he took his seat.

Edward looked down in quiet thought replaying what the glasses wearing man had told him "Let me get this straight. You created a machine that looks for terrorists, but finds other people in trouble as well. But the government doesn't about care them, so you assembled a team of ex-CIA agents and police to save them?"

Finch nodded, "That is the basic story yes."
Edward gave a smile, "When do we start?"

Finch and Shaw raised an eyebrow.

"You are taking this revelation whether well Mister Blake." Finch said

"To be frank for the past couple years I have felt eyes on me, now I know it appears to have been a camera, but more importantly you and your team are doing good and that is enough for me." Edward said as he unzipped his duffel bag, and pulled out a sniper rifle.

Shaw's eyes widen when she saw the fire arm. "Is that XR 23?" She asked

Edward nodded, "Got it for a pretty do price to, what to hold it?" He asked

Shaw rushed toward him and grabbed the rifle from his hands.

"Finch I like this guy already." She said examining the gun. Edward gave a smile.

Finch on the hand shook his head wondering what the machine had gotten him into this time.

That is all for now. Next time the team tracks the new number, Edward meets the rest of the team, and we learn more of our replacements back story.