"How is Ms. Groves coping today, Mr. Reese?" Harold enquired as he released Bear from his sturdy restraint. The normally plucky Belgian Malinois just stood there briefly surveying the subway car, and then lay down, almost on his feet, seemingly as depressed as everyone else pretended not to be. It was hard to believe that only about a year ago they had lost Carter. And now very possibly Shaw as well. Though he would never voice his fears aloud, Harold knew that the likelihood they would all face a similar fate was very high. Sooner or later Samaritan would find them...they could only hide in plain sight for so long.

Without glancing up from servicing his favourite handgun Reese said, "Same as usual, Finch. Seeing the big bad wolf around every corner." He pointed to a fading red mark across his hand. "Tried to bite my finger clean off when I gave her her meds. Had to sedate her again. Might want to get more of that stuff."

Harold frowned slightly. "That is troubling news indeed. I had hoped a higher dosage of Symbyax and Zyprexa would surely help her more."

"There's only one thing that can help her now." Reese paused to blow into the disassembled barrel of his gun. "And we're no closer to finding her than when we started looking two months ago."

"Not quite, Mr. Reese." Harold held up his briefcase. "I believe I may have found something of extreme value on today's excursion."

"That so?" he asked carelessly. "Something like the last four times?"

A bit peeved after all his hard work, and more than a little tired of his comrade's constant putdowns- as if he had adopted Shaw's personality disorder as a coping mechanism - Harold nonetheless managed to maintain his composure. "Even dead ends have their uses, Mr. Reese. If only to eliminate possibilities."

"Whatever you say, Finch," said Reese, greasing up some more mechanical parts.

"Since you apparently have no interest in hearing what I have to say, I will leave you to your own devices and attend to Ms. Groves. No doubt you have been lax in attending to her dietary needs once more."

Finally Reese put his weapon aside and gave Harold his full attention. He leaned back in the swivel chair at the cleared off computer space and folded his hands in his lap. "Go on then, Harold, I'm listening. This better be good though."

"Oh, I assure you it is."


With military precision, Reese quickly and methodically snapped the pieces of his gun together, something Harold knew he could do almost as fast blind folded. Reese sprung up with a determined air, eager to be of use again, all the months of weariness easing off his features. Then he cocked his gun and said, "Let's go get Shaw back."

"I appreciate the enthusiasm, Mr. Reese, but as you well know, someone must stay with Ms. Groves at all times. Besides, I'm afraid I would be of little use to you in this endeavour."

Reese nodded once and tapped into the universal comm line, something he hadn't done for days. "Hey, Fusco, you busy?"

There was a lengthy pause before the irate response. Loud music could be heard in the background. "Yeah, I am actually. I have this thing called a life. It might be a shitty one but I like to live it once in awhile anyway. You should try it sometime."

"We've got a new lead on Shaw's whereabouts." Reese glanced towards Harold. "The intel sounds good. Really good. I think this is the one."

Another pause and then a muffled sigh. "You better be right, partner. I was this close to sealing the deal with this foxy mama who has the biggest-"

"How drunk are you, Lionel?"

"Only had a couple of beers."

"Good. Meet me at the precinct in half an hour. We'll take things from there."

Reese went to the weapons cabinet and began throwing everything- assault rifles, grenades, even a flame thrower- into a large black duffel bag.

"Was that last item really necessary, Mr. Reese?" Harold asked as Reese grabbed a bullet proof vest off the shelf and shoved it on top of the rest of his deadly supplies.

"See ya later, Harold," he answered, grunting as he lifted the hefty bag up.

"Please be careful, Mr. Reese. And good luck. I pray you succeed this time."

Reese had all but left the premises by the time Harold uttered this last bit. Now it was just him and Bear and what was left of Root in these somewhat derelict quarters. In her saner days, Root had done her best to spruce the place up, but oddly enough, it was difficult to make an abandoned subway corridor truly feel like home no matter how much interior decoration was used.

Harold scooped a few cups of dog food into Bear's bowl. Even after several prompts his best friend just continued to lay there, utterly dejected at the lose of his playmate and provider of gigantic and terrible rawhide bones. It was always a struggle now to get Bear to eat, not unlike their 'patient.' They had tried to keep Root hydrated and nourished intravenously but she would simply pull the needle out and scream that they were trying to kill her. So instead they sometimes had to spoon feed her as best they could. This was a difficult task for sure, but nothing in comparison to the trials of her bathroom breaks. The psychotic woman had frequently tried to run away when they unchained her and as such they had to keep the gate locked at all times, as if she were a small child who might fall down the stairs and do herself great injury.

But for all this, she still managed to have moments of lucidity. Whether from the drugs or her own willpower, he could never be certain. However it came to be, it was always nice to have a civilized conversation with her.

He entered the carriage and found Root in her usual corner, scribbling nonsense madly with crayons on large pieces of paper, convinced she was producing the secrets of the universe.

"No, no, no," she kept muttering under her breath.

"Good evening, Ms. Groves."

She started at the sound of his voice and then looked up and smiled. "You're just in time, Harold."

He was always just in time.

"Have you completed your equation?"

"Oh yes," she replied, her grin taking an unsettling turn. She held up the papers to him. "See for yourself."

He pretended to take a great interest in them. "Very intriguing, Ms. Groves. I particularly like this middle passage here. Very Turing like." She gazed at him with increasingly unfocused vision. "Would you like your dinner now?" No response. "Ms. Groves?"

"Oh yes," she said in a dreamy fashion, "that would be lovely, Harry."

"Won't you join me?" she asked politely upon his return.

"But of course, Ms. Groves. You are an excellent conversationalist."

The mad grin made another appearance as they sat down, but he pushed aside his unease and laid out the paper plates before them. What used to be the gun maintenance table was now relegated to mealtimes. For obvious reasons they had needed to keep her far away from a firearm. Root heard enough voices now, even without the Machine talking in her ear day and night. There was no telling what one of them would tell her to do next.

"Tell me about your day, Harry," she said as she took a big bite of her deli sandwich. She wasn't allowed any sharp objects which greatly reduced their food options.

"Well, I went on a research mission of sorts."

"Sounds fascinating. What about?"

Just speaking Shaw's name was likely to set her off. Harold knew to avoid it at all costs.

"I was attempting to ascertain the location of something very important."

"And? Did you find it?"

He hesitated a moment. "Yes, I believe so."

"I'm glad," she said, gazing off into the distance, sandwich forgotten.

"Ms. Groves, your dinner. You must eat. Ms. Groves?"

Abruptly her attention snapped back to him and she glared at him suspiciously. "What's in this anyway?"

"It's simply pastrami. Your favourite."

"I don't think so. This tastes nothing like that." She tossed the sandwich at his face and he just barely dodged the meaty onslaught. "You're trying to poison me, aren't you?" Root said jumping away from him, her ankle chain rattling. "Trying to get at my secrets. I know your ways. She knows your ways! You can't trick me!"

Harold sighed and left the carriage without another word.


This is my first Person of Interest fic so I hope I managed all right. You'll let me know I'm sure. :D

Stay tuned for the second part...assuming of course you guys want it. ;)