A Matter of Trust

Chapter 1

Chapter 1 Summary: Picks up right where I left off in the Prologue...Reese and Finch try to find out how Ella became involved with their previous POI, her background and why her number came up.
Pairings: Reece/OC
Many Thanks to my Beta ParkerAlexis88 for taking on a newbie! You are awesome!
Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OC Ella. While my character is my own, I own nothing in the "Person of Interest" universe nor do I profit in any way from playing with the characters just for a little while. Person of Interest and the characters therein belong to CBS. Lucky them!
Author's Note: Chapter 1 picks up right where the prologue left off. I really wanted to try and write a good story involving Reese and a romantic interest other than Finch (there are quite a lot of those out there and I didn't really want to use Carter either).
Please, please, please review! This is my very first PUBLISHED fanfic and I need constructive criticism to become a better writer.
Rating for adult content, language and lemons in later chapters.

"Hello Ella." Reese whispered.

Ella inhaled sharply. Reese watched as several different emotions crossed over her face in that moment; surprise, confusion, anger and finally fear. The fear however, was fleeting. Ella's eyes narrowed up at Reese.

"Who are you and how the hell do you know my name?" Ella pushed the gun harder into Reese's side.

Reese's eyes flickered down to the gun again and back up to Ella's face. He had already decided how he could disarm her but chose instead to wait until the right moment.

"My name is John, Ella."

Finch had been feverishly searching for as much information as possible on Ella while he listened in on their short exchange. "Reese, I haven't been able to find much on Miss Morgan. It's as if she didn't exist before 1999. Eerily similar to a certain former Stasi agent we once knew."

Ella began speaking again. "OK John, and how is it that you know my name?"

Reese cocked his head to the side and answered. "I have my sources."

His mind was mulling over the information Finch had just told him through his earpiece.

"And what else do your sources tell you John?"

The corner of his mouth curled up in a slight grin. He really did like her spunk...at least verbally; she wasn't as good at masking the fear he saw in her eyes."

"Oh...not as much as I would like." He paused before continuing. "But enough to know that you don't seem to have existed before 1999; at least not that we know of..."

Ella paled. Sweat broke out on her forehead and upper lip almost instantly.

Reese continued slowly as he saw Ella's pulse accelerate at the base of her neck and her chest rise and fall more quickly. "...and since you are obviously older than twelve, I would venture to guess that you probably changed your identity. But why? That is the question that I don't have the answer to...yet.

Ella swallowed hard. Her brows drawn together in a look of sheer panic.

"That...that's none of your business!" She stammered.

Finch cut back in again. "Reese, whoever erased Ella's original information, if that is actually her name, was exceptionally good. I can't find anything on her at all. In my experience, a person who goes to this much trouble to erase their former identity is either running from someone very dangerous, has done something very bad and doesn't want to get caught, or is in the witness protection program. I don't believe that it is witness protection though because I would have been able to find at least something on her."

Reese silently agreed with Finch's assessment and thought that it was most likely the first option. However, with the girl's use of weaponry and the unknown substance she used on Ron earlier, the second option was definitely a possibility as well.

"Ella, I'm not here to harm you. I want to be very clear about that." Reese continued.

"Then why were you following me?" She asked, pushing the gun even harder into Reese.

"You weren't the one that I was following originally." He answered tacitly.

"Then who...?" She started and then stopped when the realization dawned on her.

"Oh God. Ron...in the alley...you were there?"

Reese nodded once slowly.

" That's who you were following? But why...why didn't you try to stop me, or call the police?" Her eyes were searching his face for the answer.

He could tell that she was not coming to the right conclusion. He didn't want her to make a rash decision and draw attention to them.

His movements were swift and smooth. His right leg came up and curled around the back of her knees pulling them towards him causing her to lose her balance. Simultaneously he brought his left hand up to her right; pushing the gun up and out of Ella's hand and into his own and his right arm wrapped around her back to keep her from falling. In the next second he pivoted and had Ella's back pressed against the wall.

"Please, don't..." She gasped.

"Ella, I told you I would not hurt you."

He barely finished speaking when her eyes rolled back and she fainted where she stood. Reese still held her with one arm while he pocketed her gun.

"Finch, she fainted."

"Is she alright? What happened?"

"I'm not sure. Can you get a car here quickly, I'm not going to be able to carry her very far without being noticed."

"Just a moment."

Reese shifted Ella a bit so that he could lift her arm around his neck. Her head lolled towards his; her forehead coming to rest against his cheek. Reese frowned and brought his hand up to Ella's cheek and then slid it up to her brow.

"Finch..." He started but was quickly interrupted by Finch.

"I have a town car on it's way to you now Mr. Reese. It's two blocks away."

"We have another problem."

"Well, it really wouldn't feel like a normal day if we didn't meet our quota of issues, would it?"

"She's burning up Finch".

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, do you know a good doctor? High temp, flushed skin. She has a fever. Now I'm not sure if she fainted because she was having a panic attack or if she's very ill. Either way just get a damn doctor."

No answer.

"Finch?"

"Bring her here." Finch quickly replied.

"Are you sure?"

"Well, unless you have another alternative other than a hospital or clinic where we wouldn't be able to keep her contained, then yes...I'm sure."

Reese scooped Ella up into his arms and walked down to the mouth of the alley. When he reached the sidewalk he peeked around the corner and watched as a black town car came to a stop in front of the alley. He quickly walked towards the car as the driver was walking around and opened the door for him. He gently set Ella down on the black leather seat. He told the driver to get in and hurry as he walked around and entered through the opposite door.

He slid in next to her, reached over and pulled the seatbelt across Ella and snapped it closed. He glanced up into the rearview mirror and caught the driver watching him.

"Drive...fast and keep your eyes on the road."

"Yes sir." The driver quickly complied and Reese felt the car accelerate.

Reese looked back over at Ella. Her color had returned with a vengeance. Now instead of being pale her skin, especially her cheeks were reddening quickly. He wondered to himself how long she had been sick. For the fever to be this advanced she couldn't have felt very well when she started out earlier to follow Ron but she certainly hadn't acted ill when she had Ron backed up against the wall or when she was stabbing the syringe into his groin. The profile he was creating with just the limited information he had on her so far was impressive...or frightening. He wasn't sure which.

Her head was lolling from the quick turns and she was shivering; her teeth chattering audibly. He removed his light wool coat and laid it over her then reached around and gently pulled her head onto his shoulder. A tiny groan escaped her lips as she tried to burrow further under his coat. Reese looked down at her. Her face was half covered by his coat and the other half was covered by her hair. He gently pushed her hair, now drenched from sweat, back behind her ear. She mumbled something he couldn't make out. He moved his head down so that his ear was closer to her face.

"What did you say Ella?" He asked solftly.

"Why?" She sighed and then shivered.

"Why, what?" He stroked the side of her head not currently pressed into his side.

"Wh...why is it s..so cold?" She was slurring her words slightly

"Oh, I know and I'm sorry you're so cold. We're on the way to the doctor now. Please try to sleep."

"It hurts."

"What hurts?." He started stroking her from her head, down her neck to her shoulder and back hoping to comfort her just a little.

"I...I think he..." She shivered again. Her hand clutched his coat closer around her neck.

"found me." She finished.

Reese frowned down at her. "Who Ella?"

"Can't let...I kn..knew." She sighed again. He was just about to ask her what she meant when he continued.

"Don't let him. Ok?" She tried to turn her head up to look at him but she didn't have the strength.

"Don't let who do what?" He asked, bending his head down to her again.

The car braked quickly and Reese looked up. He saw Finch walking out to the car and the driver had just got out and was walking around to Ella's side to open the door. He quickly looked back down at her.

"Ella?" He shook her gently.

Her car door opened and Finch leaned in just as Ella whispered the answer.

"Kill me."

Author's Note: Sorry for the cliffy! I will try to get an update posted asap.