SUPER

Harold Finch: "Stitch him up – no questions asked – and you can be a doctor again."

It's not that the CIA didn't take care of its agents – the Agency did, as long as the stitching didn't cost more than a new trainee would, because the months at the Farm are expensive and not everyone makes it, and because the best agents are those with experience, and you can't become experienced if you're left to die. It's not... It's just that Finch really thought about this. About what might happen. About what John's life was worth.

Ernest Trask: "Okay. Here are the keys. You need anything, my number's on that lease. The name is – Well, you know."

It's almost like listening to a broken record. Also, Trask is a curious man, who asks questions – doesn't prod for answers, but still asks. As if he's reminding people who he's supposed to be, as well as fishing for who is what and how. Then again, Trask is a super. It's good for him to figure out the boundaries of all his residents.

Harold Finch: "Not that I don't share your concern for the woman who tried to hand you over to the CIA..."

Carter didn't know any better, that's all. She's not a bad person for all that.

John Reese: "I'm not here to rest, am I?"

Good news. John doesn't do idle. Never did. Last time he tried to he almost jumped off a bridge, and the time before that he got into a brawl which ended up with him enlisting.

Harold Finch: "Don't you have anything to unpack?"

The few things he cares about are far, far away. In places he can't reach, so that they're kept safe. So that no one can link them back to him. The rest, he can do without.

John Reese: "Oh, no. I'm – I'm good for now."

That little smile, that sympathetic attitude... John guesses his efforts to get closer to Finch – not especially to trick him, betray him, but simply because it's easier to work with someone you can trust – are paying. But right now he'd prefer if it hadn't resulted in this situation. This... gift.

John Reese: "You know, Trask may seem like a harmless bag of wind, but I've been fooled before. If he bought a gun, I'd just like to know why."

He hasn't been fooled often, but it happened. And he doesn't want to take the risk. Maybe Trask has a harmless reason for the gun. Maybe not. John's not someone who blames others for having firearms, it'd be hypocritical, but he's not going to dismiss the fact either.

Harold Finch: "Somehow I doubt that's what alerted the machine."

Doesn't keep him from watching, if only for a moment, before looking away. Well. Now John knows his employer is truly a human being.

John Reese: "Maybe he's about to snap and kill his boss?"

A few weeks earlier, Finch wouldn't have given him that look. The I-can-sense-the-obvious-irony-in-your-words,-Mr-Reese look. They do have become used to each other, uh?

Ernest Trask: "I haven't seen damage like this since Hurricane Opal trashed my yacht. Looks like somebody went at this with a hammer."

Whoops. Spot-on assessment there, though.

John Reese: "Harold, get out of there now. Finch, did you get out of there? Finch?"

He absolutely needs to teach Harold to listen and to report, when he's out there – yeah, John doesn't do it all the time either, but John can kill or incapacitate anyone who comes at him if he's caught, so it's not the same.

Harold Finch: "I feel like a rat in a maze. How do you put up with this?"

Habitude, mostly. Not questioning absolutely everything while on the field can save lives, even if you can't walk in completely blind either. But also the fact that he knows he can trust the one on the other end of the phone call. That, regardless of the larger picture, Finch's goal is to save the numbers. And for that, he needs John alive. If he can keep him running free, he will. Finch might not trust him completely yet, but he trusts him with the numbers. And so John trusts him to be a competent tech partner.

John Reese: "Well, I have used a computer before."

Because he's not a bloody genius hacker like Finch doesn't mean he's completely illiterate either. The CIA taught him how to do a few things, to begin with, and even if they hadn't, he'd still be able to conduct an Internet search. He's not hopeless.

Harold Finch: "Please, stop."

Alright. He might be indulging himself a bit, making Finch uncomfortable with all the poking in the eyes and everything else. But he does have a point. Finch doesn't like to use violence, but it doesn't mean he shouldn't know how to last long enough, if he's attacked, for someone to come to his rescue. Being strictly anti-violence is foolish. And Finch isn't a foolish man – he hired John to do the dirty work, after all, since he couldn't do it himself. Except John is... incapacitated at the moment, and Finch keeps wanting to intervene nonetheless.

Harold Finch: "And I think Lily's been spied on enough."

He won't comment on that.

John Reese: "Don't eat in the field, Finch. Never know when you'll have to move fast."

He could pull that off, but Finch certainly can't. First, he wouldn't be able to outrun the angry owner after trying to leave without paying.

Harold Finch: "Now you know how I feel."

Except John knows how to defend himself, and he can run to get there fast if he needs to.

John Reese: "Yeah, I'm just sick of being cooped up and, uh, staring at screens all day."

He's starting to complain aloud – not much, mind you, but he does, and he can't deny that. It can mean two things: one, he's really, really not made for this; two, Finch's not the only one getting comfortable with this partnership.

Ernest Trask: "Please... I love this job. And I do care for Lily, but not like that. Not like that."

He really would like to believe him. John's good at reading people, and everything tells him to believe Trask. But because he's good at this, it also means he tends to overlook the possibility that the person in front of him might be an even better liar than he is. So he'll need proof. Or at least a plausible explanation.

John Reese: "He's in Witness Protection."

Trask wasn't that subtle about it, either, and that explains why John's bullshit-o-meter hadn't reacted, but since the man's true identity seemed... fantastical at best, he guesses it's not such an issue. Two ways to go around WITSEC: never look back and mention anything, or make everyone think you just enjoy telling stories.

John Reese: "Be honest, Finch. There is no machine, is there? It's just you."

He doesn't believe that, of course... Not entirely, at least.