Disclaimer: Credit to Jonathan Nolan, Greg Plageman, and the POI writing team. Bolded sections are straight from the episodes.
QUEENSBRIDGE PARK
Chapter 4: before Proteus
After three days without a new Number, Finch and Reese are feeling more than a little restless, so despite the slight drizzle, they decide to take Bear out. The weather reports are promising a storm of epic proportions, so it will be the last time in at least the next 48 hours that Bear can get some exercise.
But by the time they cross the East River, the rain is as torrential as the meteorologists had predicted. Reese parks beneath the Queensboro Bridge, looking out at the park, but neither he nor Finch are eager to step into the wind and wet. Bear whines softly in the backseat, his nose fogging up the window as his paw scrabbles futilely at the door handle.
"Sorry, Bear. Looks like we'll have to take a rain check," Finch says.
"Maybe we can catch a movie instead," Reese says sarcastically.
He looks out his window at the payphone that had given them a Number more than a month ago and wills it to ring ... because the alternative would mean that the virus Stanton had used him to upload is causing the Machine to malfunction.
Nothing.
"Wait a second." Reese looks over hopefully as Finch's phone beeps. "What's Miss Cassidy doing here? In this weather?"
Due to the doomsday weather reports, Elena had paid her weekly visit to her grandmother in the morning instead of the afternoon. But the change of schedule had caused her grandmother to be more confused than usual, and she had gotten increasingly distressed, convinced Elena was her deceased daughter-in-law come back to haunt her.
Elena's mother had died nearly 25 years ago, and Elena barely remembers her, but the episode had left both her and her grandmother shaken and forced her to cut her visit short. With the streets beginning to flood and her mind still back at the hospital, Elena turns a corner too soon, and her rear wheel clips the curb. The jump jolts her back to reality, but before she can go another block, she can feel something's wrong with the car.
She pulls over next to Queensbridge Park and kills the engine. She slumps over the steering wheel, listening to the deluge of rain pattering endlessly on the roof of her car, before she lets out a string of curses, hitting her hand against the steering column to punctuate every four-letter word.
She takes a moment to catch her breath and notices Bailey's soft whining in the back seat. The golden retriever hesitantly pokes his head between the two front seats, and she strokes his fur, calming them both.
"Sorry, Bails. Let me just see what's wrong with the car, and then we can go home."
She turns up the collar of her trench coat and retrieves her umbrella from the floor of the passenger seat. When she steps out into the street, the water is running up to the ankles of her rain boots, so she picks her way carefully to the other side of the car, and sees her tire is both flat and sticking out at an odd angle.
"Damn, damn, damn!" She stares morosely at the tire, trying to decide if she should call a towtruck, a cab, or Ken to help her out. She opens the passenger door to get her phone just as the wind gusts and rips the umbrella from her hand. With a loud bark, Bailey vaults out the open door and chases after it.
"Bailey, no!" Elena yells. "Bailey, come back!"
Either the dog can't hear her over the rain and wind, or the thrill of the chase is simply too great. Elena takes off after him, somewhat glad the weather's so bad no one else is out to see her making an absolute fool of herself. But she soon gets worried when she loses sight of Bailey in the middle of the park. She turns in a circle, trying to catch some sign of the dog.
"Bailey, come back!" she yells, her voice sounding thin and strained and absolutely no match for the wind. "Bailey!"
Reese and Finch barely have time to speculate what Elena Cassidy would be doing in a park in the middle of a storm when a colorful umbrella blows past their car, followed by a golden retriever.
"Isn't that ...?"
Bear's excited barks answer Finch's unfinished question.
Reese steps out of the car and whistles loudly. "Bailey, stay!" he orders, his voice echoing under the bridge.
Bailey stops, clearly torn between chasing after his owner's umbrella and obeying Reese. They both turn at the sound of splashing footsteps as Elena rounds the corner and stops short at the sight of them. She's soaking wet from head to toe, her normally wavy hair plastered to her head.
"John?" she asks incredulously as she pushes the wet, tangled locks from her face.
He catches hold of Bailey's leash before the dog decides to run again. "Elena."
Harold steps out of the car. "Is everything all right?"
The automatic 'yes' sticks in her throat as she looks from John to Harold and back to John again.
"Not really," she says honestly as John hands her Bailey's leash. "I hit a curb on a turn, and I think I wrecked my car, and I lost hold of my umbrella, and Bailey decided to chase it, and—"
John opens the door of his car, stopping her increasingly hysterical storytelling before it spirals out of control. "Let's go take a look at your car, then."
Elena digs her heels into the concrete as Bailey tries to join Bear inside the car. "We'll ruin your seats," she objects.
The corner of Reese's mouth quirks upward as he gives Finch a passing glance. "Company car."
She's still objecting when he transfers his coat onto her shoulders, wrapping up the soggy mess she's become in a cocoon of fine wool. He smiles at her briefly, reducing her to a puddle, and before she remembers what she was saying, she and Bailey are in the backseat and they're rounding the block toward her car.
A quick survey by Reese confirms that her rear axle is broken. A quick call to a towing service confirms that she'll have to wait until after the storm passes for any sane mechanic to get her car to a garage.
"Can we take you anywhere?" Finch asks, as Reese hangs up the phone.
"Home, please," Elena sighs, staring morosely at her car as they drive away, too wrapped up in her thoughts to wonder why John is already turning in the right direction before she can finish giving her address.
They pull up in front of her house just as the sky really opens up, a crack of thunder echoing down the deserted street.
"No, don't get out," she says, when John unbuckles his seatbelt. "Thanks so much for all your help. Honestly, I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't caught Bailey and given me a lift home."
"It was the least we could do, Miss Cassidy."
She pauses, confused. "How do you know my last name?" she asks, slowly turning to face Harold, though her hand remains on the door handle, ready to turn it in a flash. "I don't think I ever gave it to you."
Finch smiles to cover his momentary panic. "It was on the headstones at the cemetery," he says apologetically. "I'm sorry, I just assumed ..."
"Oh." She shakes her head, though she still looks uncertain. "Of course."
"And here's my card, in case I can be of any help."
She's wary as she reaches out to take the small piece of cardboard he's offering her, but relaxes as she reads what's written on it. "Harold Wren, Universal Heritage Insurance." She smiles for the first time that day. "Thanks very much, Harold. John."
She pats Bear on the head as she slips out into the rain with Bailey, and Reese has to reach back and grab Bear's collar to keep him from following her. Once she's disappeared inside her house, Reese rolls his eyes over to Finch.
"Well, that was close. Nice save, Mr. Wren."
"That should not have happened," Finch says, shaking his head.
"You let your guard down," Reese says as he pulls away from the curb. He smirks. "Because you like her, Finch."
Finch takes the accusation in stride. "I thought that was quite obvious, Mr. Reese."
Reese lets out a puff of air that could have been interpreted as a snort.
"Nearly as obvious as the fact that you like her," Finch adds. "Turn left here, please."
Navigating the half-flooded street proves to be a task requiring all of Reese's attention, so much so that he doesn't have the chance to deny Finch's accusation.
Reese eases into an empty space and surveys the length of the block. Finch's directions had led them into Greenwich Village.
"Finch, what —?"
"Our destination is just around the corner," Finch says, taking advantage of a momentary lull in the downpour to step out of the car. After sharing a confused glance with Bear, Reese follows suit.
"Oh, Mr. Reese, you left your coat with Miss Cassidy," Finch notices as he and Bear join him at the back of the car. He's already donned a new waterproof jacket, covering up his expensive three-piece.
"I'll be fine, Finch," Reese insists, indicating his own trademark suit.
"Not to worry, I made sure to bring weather-appropriate attire for all of us," Finch says. He hands Reese a waterproof jacket, which fits perfectly, of course. Once he's buttoned up, Finch gives him a large golf umbrella to hold, and finally pulls out an orange service vest for Bear. Reese stares while the billionaire helps the dog don his new disguise.
"Come, Mr. Reese, we don't want to be late for our showing."
"Our showing?" Reese repeats blankly.
"You did say you wanted to catch a movie, didn't you? We're just in time for a double feature."
Just visible at the end of the street are the lights of the marquee of the Cinema Village theater. Reese can't make out the name of the movies at this distance.
"As long as there are no subtitles," he acquiesces grudgingly. Even for him, spending the rest of the day in the Library cleaning his guns has lost its appeal.
They both hesitate as they pass a payphone on their way to the theater, but the only sound that reaches their ears is the sound of the falling rain.
"Isn't the service vest a little unethical?" Reese asks when they emerge from the theater a few hours later.
"I am handi-capable, Mr. Reese, but I need some assistance," Finch reasons. "We don't want to exclude Bear from our rainy-day activities."
"We should have seen 'Once Upon a Time in the West'," Reese complains. "Fewer subtitles."
