A Matter of Trust

Pairings: Reece/OC

Rating for adult content and language

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: Just a little side note...I typically refer to the characters as Reese and Finch but Ella doesn't know them like that. So, when Ella is thinking, speaking or watching the two men they will be referred to as John and Harold. Just wanted to put that out there for continuity's sake. :-) And please forgive any errors…I'm minus a Beta right now (Thanks to my hubby who read it over before I posted!)

Chapter 6

Reese looked over at Finch. "OK Finch, so what's your plan for Ella?"

Finch grinned. "Well Mr. Reese, I'd like you to meet your new partner."

John felt the blood drain from his face. That...he had not been expecting. Several different thoughts ran through Reese's head as his eyes fell on the woman sitting across the room. His emotional side screaming what a horrible idea this is and what the hell was Finch thinking. His rational side fought just as hard that he could always use another person in the field as backup, she's definitely got potential as an asset...no, not asset...partner. His emotional side is screaming again. There's no way she could do what he does, not without training. She would be a liability, he would be constantly distracted because he would be concerned for her safety all the time...and right there was the crux of it. He had worked with people before...Cara, Snow, Zoe and he had always been able to do his job. The difference – he knew, was that he felt differently about Ella. He wasn't sure how exactly but he could at least recognize that much.

Finch interrupted his thoughts. "John, before you say anything, you need to understand that this arrangement is contingent on two things..."

John's brows rose in question but his eyes remained on Ella.

"The first and most important thing is your approval of the arrangement. The second...your rules, regarding anything involving Ella...any training she needs, when you think she's ready...anything. Is this acceptable?"

Both Finch and Ella were watching him holding their breath. He stood suddenly and they both jumped. It would have been funny if the situation hadn't been so serious to him. He started pacing. His coping mechanism...

His languid movements back and forth across the small room made Ella think of a caged jungle cat. Beautiful but very deadly. She had to stop herself from reaching out to stroke the fur she had been imagining as he stalked in front of her and Finch. She shook off the thought when Finch started speaking again.

"You don't have to make your decision right now Mr. Reese. Ella is in no condition to do anything at the moment anyway. There is no rush." Her eyes flicked over to Harold and back to John.

Reese's pacing stopped and his head turned towards Finch.

"I'm sorry to change the subject but might I remind you..." Finch started. "...that our friend Detective Carter is still out making not-so-nice with the abusive husband and the insane mob boss."

Ella watched as the muscle in John's jaw jumped. He hadn't said a word in several minutes but his actions spoke volumes to her. She wasn't sure that he was going to agree to this new arrangement with her. All she could do for the time being was to hope.

"Where is Carter now?" He directed his question to Finch when he finally spoke.

Finch turned his chair towards his monitors and in a few swift key strokes Ella saw an image of a woman sitting at a desk in what looked to be a police precinct. She leaned forward to read the camera location name. Doll Cam. Odd name for a camera location name Ella thought to herself. She would have to ask Harold about it later. A few more keys and she heard sounds coming through the speakers where she had listened to John shoot up the garage earlier. She watched and simultaneously heard the woman sitting at the desk who she assumed was Detective Carter, pick up her phone, punch in some numbers and begin speaking.

"This is Lewis." Said the voice answering the woman's call. Ella assumed that John or Harold had bugged the woman's...Carter's phone

"Hey Jack, it's Carter.

"Hey Carter, I was just gettin' ready to call ya'."

"You got somethin' on Kovach?" She asked quickly.

"Yeah, you said you wanted to know if he left his place. He took off about five minutes ago and went to the pub just down the block from there."

"Great, thanks a lot Jack."

"Yeah you bet. Give me a call if ya need backup."

Carter hung up the phone and pocketed it. She grabbed her gun and holstered it, put on her jacket and walked out of the camera's line of sight. Finch's fingers were flying again and the monitor's picture jumped to what looked like a bird's eye view of the front of the 8th precinct building. Ella watched as the Detective walked out of the front of the building and headed east on foot.

John turned and headed towards the front door calling out as he grabbed his coat. "Get me the address of that pub Finch."

"Already have it. It's on the corner of..." Finch stopped talking as Reese had already walked out the door before he could finish. He grabbed the cell laying on the desk and sent a quick text with the location to Reese's cell. A minute later his phone was ringing with an unknown number showing on the display. He picked it up without a greeting.

"Hey Finch, I didn't get a chance to give you my new number. The old one is somewhere between here and Hector's shop."

"Good to know Mr. Reese since I just sent the address to your old number."

"Well send it to my new number. You've got it now." Finch could hear the slightly amused tone Reese was using and breathed a sigh of relief. He had been worried that he had upset him and that was not something Finch was accustomed to doing. He wasn't quite sure how to handle it.

"I just sent it to you Mr. Reese. Call us back when you get there."

Finch heard the click, signaling that Reese had disconnected the call and turned to Ella.

"Well, that went better than I had expected."

Ella raised one brow in a look of mock horror. "Better?"

Harold quirked his own brow in return. "Oh yes. Better."

"OK." She muttered looking back at the screen where he had just pulled up another camera angle of Carter walking down the sidewalk. "So this Detective...Carter. What's her story? John seems..." She paused, searching for the right word. "...protective of her."

"Yes..." Harold replied slowly but continued to watch the screen rather than expounding on his answer.

Ella frowned slightly. "I get the feeling Harold that maybe you don't..." Again she paused, trying to use the right word. "...approve?"

Harold sighed, taking his time in responding. "It's not a matter of approving or not. I believe that he is getting dangerously close to a person that has the capability of destroying our entire operation."

"You don't trust him?"

He turned to Ella. "You mean her?"

She shook her head. "No, I mean him."

"Well of course I trust him. I entrusted him with one of the most important secrets on the planet. I wouldn't have hired him if I didn't think that I could trust him."

"But you don't trust him enough to trust his judgement of another person?" She countered.

He narrowed his eyes at her in thought. "The Detective is...an innately good and moral person. That makes her a good cop but not necessarily the best person for a man like John, or myself for that matter, to get too close to. If it came down to it, no matter how many people we help, her first reaction would be to arrest him because in her book he is breaking the law. He's nothing more than a vigilante in her eyes. She sees the world as black and white, not as it is, with shades of grey.

Ella absorbed what Harold had said before responding. "Maybe he sees something in her that you can't yet. The potential to be someone that can help."

"I suppose it's possible. Only time will tell."

" I hope you're wrong Harold." Ella smiled at him.

Harold nodded but did not respond.

The phone beeped; signaling a call coming in from John. Harold hit the Enter key answering the call on speaker.

"Finch, I'm here and so is Carter. She's at the bar with Kovach." He switched over to listen in on their conversation via her cloned phone.

Ella listened as the little Detective smarted off to the not-so-little man sitting next to her. His insinuations about how he would use his big "gun" to protect himself if she didn't mind her own business didn't phase her. Ella laughed when Carter responded: "I got a feelin' it ain't that big."

John chuckled too. "I gotta admit Finch, I like her style."

They watched as Carter walked back out of the bar. John chose to stay at the bar and watch Kovach. He had a feeling that she had made him angry enough that he might do something stupid either to Carter or to his wife. The man finished his beer, threw a couple bills on the bar and stalked out. John immediately stood and followed Kovach out.

"Are you going to stay on Kovach Mr. Reese?"

"Yeah, you keep an eye on Carter and I'll take care of him." John disconnected their call.

Harold sighed and then looked over at Ella. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm actually a little tired, believe it or not." Harold smiled kindly at her. "Well I can't imagine why." Was his sarcastic reply. She smirked in return.

He turned back to the monitors; watching as Carter walked into the precinct's parking garage. Then he pulled up the next camera's angle that showed the Detective getting into an unmarked police car. Ella looked over at Harold, both brows raised in surprise. "Uh...Harold, how in the hell are we watching the inside of a Detective Carter's car?"

He smiled and shook his head. "About that..." And Harold started explaining how he planted the camera in Carter's car while John sat in the diner keeping watch. He also told her about Carter's Confidential Informant, Bottle Cap a.k.a. BC, that she had met up with earlier. Harold looked over at Ella, after she had stopped responding to what he was telling her, and saw that she was curled up in the chair fast asleep.

He got up quietly and went to get a blanket for her. He draped it gently over her and sat back down to get back to watching Carter.

_Later that evening_

Ella thought she heard gunfire...yelling...she was sure she heard John's voice in the background somewhere. Something about being close enough. She drifted back out for what seemed like just seconds. She heard Harold talking, presumably to John, but she couldn't quite make out what he was saying. Her head hurt which is what finally woke her up completely.

Sitting up slowly Ella opened her eyes carefully. She had been leaning on the arm of the chair where she had obviously fallen asleep. She groaned rubbing her neck. That was why her head hurt so damn much.

"A little sore?" She heard Finch ask her.

She looked over at him and nodded with a grimace. "How'd ya guess?"

"I've fallen asleep one too many times sitting right here and regretted it for days."

"Hey Finch," Ella heard John on the speaker. "It looks like Carter's working some overtime. She's not heading home yet."

"Are you going to stay on her?"

"Yeah."

Harold pulled up the detective walking down the street until she turned down an alley. He and Ella watched her walk towards a man standing about halfway down.

"Mr. Reese, she's meeting her CI."

"I see them Finch."

They listened as Carter gave the man some money, explaining that there would be more but the paperwork was slowing the process.

He apologized to her, saying that she had always been good to him.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"Well ya know how you asked me to look into that guy Elias?"

"Yeah." She answered.

"Well, I found him...he said it was either me or you."

Ella knew what was going to happen before the man pulled the gun and pointed it at Carter but it didn't stop her gasp.

They watched the muzzle fire and heard the three pops of the gun being shot into Carter's chest. She went down onto her back. The man, BC stood over her; the gun pointed at her head.

"Well, It's gotta be you Carter."

The next second the man was jerking backwards and fell to the ground. Ella gasped again not seeing John until he walked into the camera's view, his gun still pointed towards BC as he came to a stop next to Carter.

"Glad you took my advice and started wearing the vest Detective." Carter closed her eyes and John leaned down placing his fingers on her neck.

"Is she all right Mr. Reese?" Harold asked.

"Yes, she just passed out. I'll wait until she's concious before I leave. If it's more than five minutes though I'm going to take her to the hospital."

"I don't need to warn you about how dangerous that is Mr. Reese."

"I'm not leaving her Finch, not here."

"No, I suppose you wouldn't." He replied.

Ella saw the detective start moving again. She grabbed at her vest, trying to pull the zipper down. She rolled her head to look up at John still standing over her.

"I know this doesn't change anything and I know you'll still arrest me if you get the chance but whether you like me or not Joss, you're never alone."

Ella turned her eyes towards Harold, her brows raised. Harold turned his chair towards her and shook his head. "See what I mean."

John turned and walked out of view.