One Step Ahead
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Disclaimer: The characters of Person of Interest don't belong to me. I'm just borrowing them with no intention of gaining any profit.
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Acknowledgements: As always special thanks to my lovely beta scully1138.
All remaining mistakes are all my own.
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"Where's Finch?" Shaw asked, slightly puzzled at finding the billionaire absent from his secret lair - and John Reese leisurely lounging in the other man's preferred chair with his feet propped up on the workstation's desk. Knowing that John was aware that Finch would never approve of someone using his desk as a leg-rest, Shaw could only conclude that their employer could not be in their near vicinity. Odd.
"Someplace safe." Reese said. He looked rather smug which made several alarm bells go off in Shaw's mind. Something was definitely not right here. If something had come up that John had perceived as such a threat to Finch that it warranted relocation to an even more secure place than the library she would have expected Reese to be acting like an over-protective worrier - ready to shoot anyone who merely looked askance at Harold Finch.
It was more like the exact opposite. The man looked relaxed and at ease. Very odd.
"What do you mean 'someplace safe'? she asked as she walked closer to the desk.
Removing his legs off the desk with a flourish John bent forward and turned one of Finch's screens towards the female ex- (more or less) assassin.
On various split-screens the monitor displayed the surveillance feed of the rooms they had kept Root locked up in. Only this time it was Harold Finch who apparently had the pleasure of occupying the secure abode. And he certainly did not seem all too happy about it.
Shaw took it all in - Harold sitting on the chair in the middle of the room with his arms crossed and the proverbial thunder cloud looming over his head, and Bear dutifully keeping watch in front of the securely locked door (Reese had apparently upgraded the locking system). She raised an eyebrow as she looked at the seated man's profile. "Okay ... Did I miss something here?"
"It's the time of the year where experience has shown that Finch usually gets himself kidnapped." John said evenly. "And this year I thought I'd make sure to beat them to it."
"So you locked him up."
"Yep."
Shaw looked back at the screen noting that - unsurprisingly - Finch's mood had not improved. "I guess he didn't go voluntarily?" The innocent look Reese tried to adopt confirmed her suspicions about the circumstances of Harold Finch's current imprisonment.
"How did you ... never mind." Screwing up her eyes Shaw shook her head. This was insane, but then again 'insane' had always been the order of the day around here. "Them?" she asked. "Who is 'them'?"
"I don't know." Reese replied and leaned back in Harold's chair. "But they certainly won't find him this time."
Sameen blinked. This entire conversation was just a little surreal. "How long are you planning on keeping him in there?"
John shrugged and looked at his watch like he was calculating the hours necessary for Harold's safekeeping. "September sounds about right."
Shaw knew she was now openly gaping at John while she tried to wrap her mind around his reasoning. Judging from how pissed off Harold looked - and knowing that once Reese made up his mind he could be even more stubborn than a mule - there was definitely bound to be one doozy of an argument between the two men in the near future. And as entertaining as that promised to be, she had better make sure that she was in no way associated with Reese's harebrained idea.
"You know what? I'm so gonna stay out of this." At Reese's shrug Sam turned around and started to leave. Halfway towards the exit she stopped and looked back at Reese, who had once more put his feet up on the desk and was complacently staring at the surveillance feed. And not for the first time she questioned her own wisdom in having agreed to work for Harold Finch.
"You've got issues, Reese. You know that, right?" she said in exasperated disbelief.
The only reaction from the other ex-op was a sound - half chuckle and half hum - and another smug smirk.
Yep, Shaw thought again, not really surprised. Absolutely insane.
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The End.