Here is the confrontation between Reese and Finch. Sorry it took so long to update, but I guess there was a twist to this story that even I didn't see coming.

Cupid

Finch's fingers were flying over the keyboard with expertise as he concentrated on the information the Machine was sending to him – or lack thereof. No matter how hard he tried, the information was not making sense. Two days straight without a number, and Finch was worried that there might be something wrong. All morning he tried to get into the database to find out if there was a glitch, but every time he tried to enter, he was thwarted.

"Tell me what is wrong so I can help you," Finch spoke low to the computer monitor. "I can't fix you if I don't know what is wrong," he pleaded and leaned in closer. His concentration was so focused that he didn't hear the footsteps approaching.

"Hello, Finch," Reese greeted his friend and mentor without feeling.

Startled back to the present, Finch turned around in the chair. "Mr. Reese! I didn't hear you come in!"

Reese nodded toward the computer. "Something wrong with The Machine?" he asked.

"I don't know," Finch admitted. "Is everything alright?"

"You tell me," Reese returned. His voice held just a bit of a growl. "How long did you know?"

Finch gave his best friend a dumbfounded look. "How long did I know...?" he repeated. Then the meaning dawned on him. "From the beginning," he confessed. "How did you find out?"

"Fusco told me everything. Last night in my loft."

Finch realized that the worst case scenario he had envisioned had come to fruition. "I see."

"So you admit to deliberately setting me up." It wasn't a question.

"I was against it from the beginning," Finch pleaded his innocence in the whole matter.

"Yet, you still went along with it."

"I did."

"You set me up. You lied to me!"

"Mr. Reese..." Finch began to try and defend himself and his actions.

"You told me – no, you vowed to me – that you would never lie to me."

"I did. But this was different."

"Different? How could you do this? How could you deceive me – and her – by going behind our backs and setting us up?" Reese demanded. His anger was just below the surface, waiting for the moment to be unleashed. He was hurting and he wanted everyone to hurt with him.

"It's not what I wanted to do."

"But you did."

"I did."

Reese took a deep breath and tried to find his center, but nothing was working. He was missing something he couldn't put his finger on. Although it didn't help that he had been betrayed by the three people he trusted more than himself.

"At least Fusco was right on this one; he told me that you wanted nothing to do with it and were against it from the start."

"I was."

"Why?"

"Because Detective Carter isn't right for you."

"And you know this because...?"

"I've seen her at her worse. She set you up and got you shot. You almost died. Or don't you remember?" Finch retorted angrily.

"That is between me and her; you aren't part of this," Reese's voice was low as he tried to control his temper.

Finch stood up. His palms pressed hard against the wood of the desk. "Not part of this?! I was the one who saved your life," he pointed out. "She could have blown our cover! She could have exposed us!"

"She made a mistake! She paid for it!"

"How are you so sure?"

"Because she didn't go back to Snow. She helped us."

"She shut you out and cut off all contact," Finch argued. "And nearly got herself killed."

"She did," Reese agreed, "but she let us back in."

"Almost at the cost of her son. The one you risked your life for."

"You never made a mistake?" Reese shot back. "You never made a poor judgment call based on bad information?"

"It's different."

"How?"

The two men stood and looked at one another. Neither moved for fear of showing weakness. Finally, Finch backed down.

"You don't like her," Reese pointed out matter of factly. "You never have." His fists clenched tightly as he tried to control his temper.

"She never gave me a reason, John," Finch replied simply. "I figured after Jessica..."

"Leave Jessica out of this," Reese warned. His blue eyes flashed hot.

"I felt you needed to take some time to yourself and not get involved with anyone," Finch finished his explanation.

"Including Detective Carter."

"Do you remember how you were after she died? Do you remember the road you were taking when I found you?" Finch demanded. "You were lost and alone. You were on the path of self-destruction."

"It was my life!"

"You were throwing it away. I didn't want you to go down that road again."

"Who are you to play God with my life?" Reese raged. "Who gave you that right?"

"You did. When you decided to put a bottle to your head, John. You needed a purpose. Not Joss Carter."

"She's the one who found me and gave me a reason to live," Reese murmured as he remembered that night at the precinct. He had tried to ignore the flickering flame of desire the doe-eyed detective had created deep down inside of his soul, but he found it impossible. He had taken a long shower that night as he tried to wash away the smell of her perfume. But it hadn't worked. She had stayed with him during the day and haunted him in his dreams at night. Like a fantasy he could never own.

"Maybe. But she also tried to have you killed. We would be better off without her. You would have been better off without her," Finch insisted stoutly.

"At least that's what I told myself," he soberly added.

Reese looked up. "What changed your mind?"

"Grace," Finch admitted with a sad sigh. "I was bad for her, but she made me a better person. And I wanted to be better for her. Everything I did was for her. She loved me. And I saw that in Joss. And you."

It should have brought him comfort, but it didn't. "It doesn't matter. I cut it off," Reese revealed.

Finch's brain began to spin furiously as he tried to make sense of his friend's words. "What? Why?"

"What do you care? You were against this, and you never liked her."

"That's what I thought in the beginning, but she is good for you; you're good for her."

Reese's eyes were full of hurt. "It's over. You and Fusco lied to me. I need to move on."

Stricken with fear, Finch tried to make amends. "We meant no harm. We just wanted to see you happy."

"Did you?" Reese asked sarcastically. "I didn't think you knew what happiness is."

"Initially, I didn't. But things changed."

"It doesn't matter, Harold. It's over." Reese tried to ignore the heart ache overwhelming him. There was no changing what had been done. He nodded toward the monitor. "Now we can get back to business."

"Heh. That's going to be a problem, Mr. Reese," Finch began slowly.

"What's wrong? Did you get hacked again?"

Finch shook his head. "I don't know. I can't find anything that would indicate that the system was compromised, but it's been down since the armoured truck."

"Are you saying that we haven't received a number in nearly three days?" Reese asked in disbelief. He couldn't believe that in a city of ten million people no one was in dire straits.

"Not one," Finch confirmed with a sigh.

"No one needs saving?" Reese scoffed. "I find that hard to believe. Are you sure the hard drive is working? Maybe it needs a little...tweaking," he offered his little bit of computer knowledge.

"Tweaking it isn't the problem. It's sending us information," Finch replied, "just not the information we require."

"Maybe it thinks we need a break," Reese rationalized.

Finch nodded. "Perhaps." He sat down at the desk. "I'll find out what's wrong with it...eventually." He started typing. "Why don't you go home and relax?" he suggested. "I'll stay here and try working the bugs out."

Reese cast a long glance at the monitor. He was sure that the Machine was up to something, but he was too sad to really care. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to have a little down time, he thought to himself. There was a part of him that wanted to get back into the fight and save the innocents. But the part of him that he tried to deny wanted to see Joss. Reluctantly he knew that was not going to happen.

"Maybe I'll make an extra appointment with my yoga instructor," Reese said rhetorically. "You'll call me if you need me?"

"As soon as I can find out what is corrupting the system, I will notify you," Finch promised. He concentrated on the screen. "You have my word, Mr. Reese."

Reese tried to come up with a reply, but his mind was blank. "Thanks, Finch." Then he turned on his heel and walked out of the library.

The silence was nearly deafening as Finch was left alone with nothing but his computer and thoughts. And the more he thought, the more he realized that he had been wrong all along when it came to his friend and love. John and Joss were meant to be together. But now, that would never happen.

Maybe if he could find out what was wrong with the hard drive, then he could forget about his friends' love life. Typing quickly, he tried to get into the back door of the system. At the last minute, he was denied. Groaning in frustration, he considered leaving and getting a cup of his favourite tea. Fresh air and a walk around the city could help, he concluded.

Standing up, he began to pull his coat on. Suddenly the monitor shut down. Worried, Finch sat back down on the office chair and pulled the keyboard toward himself. Furiously he hit the ESCAPE button, but nothing happened – save for the cursor blinking in the corner.

He swallowed nervously. Were they being hacked - again? Or was this the end, he wondered and held his breath. A minute later the screen came back up. Finch gave what he hoped was a hopeful smile. What was taking so long?

The screen flashed twice, then a picture of Joss and a picture of Reese filled the space. Finch leaned in close as his mind tried to make sense of the Machine's logic. A big grin broke out across his face as the meaning became clear.

"So, we do have numbers, it just happens to be our mutual friends. I guess you want us to save them?"

The computer blinked once.

"You're definitely smarter than all of us combined," Finch praised the Machine. Dialing a number from memory, Finch waited for the line to be answered.

"What's up, Finch?" Lionel greeted unenthusiastically into the receiver.

"How do you feel about getting your bow and arrow and playing Cupid one last time?" Finch asked enigmatically.