Title: A Little Bird, Singing in the Night
Rating: K
Characters: Seymour Birkhoff, Harold Finch
A/N: I do not own Nikita or Person of Interest. I'd be interested in seeing Reese go up against Roan, though – who'd win that one?
Birkhoff stared at the screen indecisively for a few moments. It was the middle of the night; by all rights, he should be asleep, like Nikita and Michael were. The sleep of the righteous.
Ha.
The righteous, indeed. At least he figured he was on the right side this time - for what it was worth.
If it weren't for his countermeasures, Division would have caught up with Nikki and Mikey ages ago. Either that, or it would've been Oversight, or Gogol, or one of the countless other groups and individuals who wanted them dead, dismembered, torched, or just generally removed from circulation. In their line of work, enemies were a dime a dozen. Simple survival was a daily victory, one Birkhoff treasured; he likedbeing alive.
Making up his mind, he opened up his personal shell program, a private chat room that didn't exist when they weren't there. It couldn't be hacked, or tracked, or traced. And there were only two people on Planet Earth who knew of its existence.
knock knock, he typed, a smirk crossing his lips.
To his gratification, though not his surprise, he received an almost immediate response. Hello, Shadowwalker. It's good to hear from you after all this time.
Birkhoff snorted quietly. Not only did his teacher type in precise, complete sentences, he was a master of understatement. u know me, im a survivor
I was pleased to hear that you escaped from Division, was the reply that appeared a moment later. I would be sad to lose one of my best students.
glad 2 know u were keeping an eye on me. kinda creepy, tho.
I still think your screen name is somewhat pretentious.
This, of course, was his idea of a sense of humor. He was probably an English teacher in real life. How could a world-class hacker be so stuffy at times? haha, very funny, finch.
The more pompous the name, the more likely they are to remember you. As a hacker, that is normally what you do not want.
they already know who i am. wouldnt make a difference now. Birkhoff remembered the first time that he met Finch- Shadowwalker had just been starting out, talented enough to try his hand at hacking a peculiar secure section of the Department of Justice, stupid enough to think he could get away with it. Whoever he was, Finch kicked him out and knocked him on his metaphorical backside. Once he'd finished smarting from the swift kick in the pants he'd been administered, Birkhoff had admired Finch's coding: it was beautiful, elegant even. What he had to do with the government, he never found out.
It was the start of an educational, if odd, relationship.
Birkhoff wasn't surprised that Finch knew about Division. Frankly, he wasn't surprised at anything Finch knew. He'd be more surprised if he came across something Finch didn't know. we could use ur help against them, he typed, but he already knew the answer he would get, the same refusal as always.
I can't afford to draw attention to myself by attacking them directly, Finch replied. To Birkhoff's surprise, however, the mysterious hacker continued. Their operations in certain areas of the United States, however, might have been compromised due to unforeseeable circumstances.
Birkhoff stared at the screen; was Finch really moving against Division now, after all this time? why now? he asked. why not b4?
The reply was a long time in coming. I found what I was looking for. Now I can finally act. Good luck, Shadowwalker. I'd tell you to be careful, but you know better than most what you're up against.
Finch has logged off.