GHOSTS
Harold Finch: "And, Mr. Reese, we'll meet on my schedule. Not yours."
Well, Finch should have thought of that before hiring a highly paranoid – not as much as the older man, obviously, but still a former CIA officer – operative. It might be one of the reasons John is prodding at the limits put up by Finch, too; the man needs to be reminded that if John is flexible, it is by choice, not by obligation. Moreover, the victims won't wait for Finch's schedule.
John Reese: "Took it off your friend Stills."
And there also is the fact that John is used to walking inside a precinct with a police badge. As a CIA operative, he had more than once needed information, and not all the ops he was on were such that he could ask politely. And before that, once upon a time... He had had a badge just like Stills' – his own. But that was long ago.
John Reese: "That's how I would have done it."
Though the CIA never had him kill a family like that. The Agency might not be perfect, and sometimes the missions were dubious, but there was a limit. No agent would have believed that a child needed to be terminated alongside their parents – the parents, maybe, but not the child, and certainly not right in front of the child's eyes. So no, he hadn't ever had to do something like the Whitakers' murders... But on a purely practical point of view, that is, to fake an execution followed by a suicide, yes, that's how John would have done it.
John Reese: "And if I speak too loudly, say the wrong thing?"
Not that he will. But he does feel it necessary to remind Finch that he could. That there will be consequences, if the man tries to play him. He also wants to know what Finch's reaction would be. It's important to assess how far the man is willing to go – with Mark, John hadn't thought he'd be ordered to kill Kara only to get rid of a problematic witness, but it had happened. He hadn't had any illusion that the Agency would hesitate to terminate either of them if they were found to be traitors, but he hadn't thought there was a possibility they'd just get rid of them for no other reason than convenience. And now Kara is dead, and John is supposedly dead too.
John Reese: "Find out where I can hire one."
He has some ideas, of course, but the city probably changed a lot in two decades. Still kind of the same, but not exactly. The local fixer isn't the same as the one he used to know back then. He'll have to ask Fusco.
Solnick: "I get it. You're like me. A killer. A genuine bad guy. Then I don't have to explain to you what happened to those people on that boat. You already know."
Of course he knows. He is a killer – maybe not a "genuine bad guy", but he knows these people as if he were one of them, so close enough. John does what needs to be done, and he doesn't do it for the money. The means to these ends are the same, bad guy or man of necessity. What he wants are the specifics, and Solnick knows that too.
John Reese: "You're gonna need to trust someone."
He isn't going to pretend he's the best guy in the neighborhood, morality-wise, but he's certainly the one who can keep Theresa alive. Most genuine good guys don't have the necessary skills – and that's why the world needs people like John. He's a compromise.
John Reese: "Sorry."
Or not. Someone who hired a contract killer to get rid of an entire family wasn't someone John was sorry to hurt a bit. Especially when the only reason behind the action was money. But he was a sarcastic little shit, so...
John Reese: "You've been asking a lot of questions about me. It's time we sat down face to face."
Which doesn't mean he's going to do it. At most, he's acknowledging her quest for intel on him, the fact that were the situation different, he would sit down face to face with Joss Carter. But the situation is such that she'd come with an intervention team, and he can't afford to let himself be jailed. If she can't figure it out herself... But John knows she'll still come. She has to. And that, his white lie and her obligation, that will allow Theresa to be safe.
Harold Finch: "Trust? That's not something I come by very easily. I have my reasons."
Finch is saying that as if John doesn't have the very same urge to keep to himself. As if the CIA hadn't launched a missile at him less than a year ago, even as he had been a trustful agent. Trust isn't something John gives out easily either – but it's alright. There is trust, and trust. For now, he gives Finch the former – trust in his skills, and perhaps even in his motivations. But he keeps the latter to himself – he's only an employee, a hired gun, and he knows it. He's simply reminding Finch that he's aware of it too, by making the man admit it out loud.