Sequel to Identity Crisis tag

there were several requests (sorry for the delay) for a sober conversation between Will and Finch – here it is:

*RING*

*RING*

*RIN-

"Hello?" answered Will sleepily, his voice croaking.

"Good morning Will. I'm sorry to have woken you. I believe you requested that I call you as soon as I felt able. I'm much better now. Thank you for your concern. I'll let you get back to sleep." said Harold, a bit apologetically.

Will sat upright, scrambling for his clothes with one hand, "No, no, I'm up. Why don't we meet for coffee? In half an hour?"

There was a long pause before Harold replied, "Very well. Half an hour. See you then."

Will stifled a yawn as he made his way down the last block to the Coffee Hut, "My regular please, Carly." he ordered from the cute barista. Grabbing his cup, he spotted Harold as he turned to leave, making his way over to the bench he was seated on, "Morning Uncle Harold. Can I get you something?" he asked, motioning back to the cart.

"No thanks." Harold said, holding up his tea as a reason, "I already ordered. From a very nice young lady who sang your praises."

Smiling, Will replied, "Nice try Uncle Harold but she's taken. Has her very own nice lady. And a little boy. How about you? Are you seeing anyone?" he asked, trying to find out if his hunch the night before was correct.

"No Will." Harold said, with a sad tilt to his mouth, "John and I are too busy for that sort of thing."

"So, who is John anyway?" Will asked, thinking that maybe they just needed a push.

Harold sat in silence for a moment, "John is... He's my … friend. We rescued each other." he said finally, admitting more truth than he had intended.

Feeling slightly alarmed again, Will leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, "Did he get you into something dangerous Uncle Harold? Why would you need rescuing?"

"No! Nothing like that. John and I, we help people." Harold let out without thinking in his haste to defend Reese.

"You help people? Why haven't you told me any of this before? I'd help you." Will asked, feeling a little betrayed, this was entirely a different kind of secret than he was expecting.

"That's exactly why I didn't tell you. You should be off living your life, not staying here and putting yourself in danger." Harold said, frowning, "I've told you entirely too much. I must not be as well as I thought." muttering the last part.

Will blinked and John was there, grabbing Harold's arm and helping him up, "I'm taking you home Finch." Will heard him whisper to Harold. Was Finch a nickname? What was going on? Will stared as they disappeared into the crowd, feeling as though he'd been on the verge of some great discovery, only to crash and burn. But he felt his spine straighten as his resolve formed, he would figure out what Harold was keeping form him.

END