Disclaimer: Credit to Jonathan Nolan, Greg Plageman, and the POI writing team. Bolded sections are straight from the episodes.


QUEENSBRIDGE PARK

Chapter 19: before, end of The Devil's Share


Elena Cassidy decides she is a prisoner, just not a conventional one.

Her jail is a stylish condo in the middle of Manhattan.

Her warden is an apologetic man who brews her tea and buys takeout from the kind of restaurants Ken's family goes to.

Her guard is an intimidating woman who always seems to have a gun within easy reach. Her assistant is an intimidating-looking but incredibly sweet military dog. His deputy, a golden retriever, arrives shortly after her stay begins.

Her cellmate is an injured man who has yet to regain consciousness.

"How long do you expect me to stay here?" Elena demands when Harold arrives with Bailey and the overnight bag she keeps semi-packed in case she plans to spend the night at Ken's.

"As long as is necessary to keep you safe," Harold replies patiently and vaguely. "Our ... source has informed me that you are in trouble, Miss Cassidy."

"But ... what does that even mean?" Elena flounders. "I could be mugged on the train. Or break a heel and twist my ankle on the way to work or —"

Harold shakes his head as he opens a laptop and begins typing, the screen conveniently facing away from her. "Our source is only concerned about violent crimes, not accidents. Crimes that are premeditated. Deadly."

She stares at him.

"Looks like Simmons did recognize you after all, Cassidy," Shaw says from an armchair next to John. Her feet are propped up on the foot of her patient's bed.

"So ... this is what you do?" Elena asks incredulously. "You somehow find out who's in trouble, then lock them up in your fancy condo until their killer just ... what? Gives up?"

Shaw smirks. She'd expected Cassidy to dissolve into hysterics (and had a sedative ready just in case), but Reese's pretty secretary is proving a little tougher than she looks.

"No," Harold admits. "Usually John would take a more ... direct approach with the perpetrator, but as that is not an option, I'm afraid we are going to have to wait until the proper authorities apprehend Officer Simmons."

Shaw's feet come flying down. "I take the direct approach, too, Harold. Just let me go after Simmons, and we can kill two birds with one stone here. Save Cassidy's ass, get Carter's killer."

"You know my answer to that, Miss Shaw," Harold says tersely.

Shaw shakes her head as she sits back down and props her feet up on John's bed again, and Elena can't decide whether she or Sameen is more unhappy about being stuck here.

Next to Shaw, Bear continues keeping vigil over Tall Man, Bailey now joining him. Elena sees Shaw giving Bailey a treat and scratching the golden retriever's ears.


Elena's always been an early riser, but when she wakes the next morning, Harold and Shaw are already seated at the dining table. She hasn't figured out yet where they sleep. Harold disappears from time to time, but never long enough for rest. Shaw ... possibly isn't human.

Shaw had confiscated her phone, so she has no way of reaching Ken, though she doesn't even know if she wants to. She can't wrap her mind around his connection to HR — not Ken, the idealistic poli sci major who'd turned down a job at his father's multibillion-dollar company to work as an aide at City Hall.

"No, your corrupt fiance hasn't been arrested yet," Shaw says, when Elena opens her mouth to ask.

"I've been keeping an eye on his credit cards and bank accounts," Harold elaborates. "He hasn't made any financial transactions in the past 48 hours. His phone hasn't been used since he called you, and has remained at his condo even though he isn't there. The FBI was there this morning."

Elena stares. "And you can just do that?" she asks. "Check his credit card and track his phone?"

Harold gives her a brief look over the top of his laptop before he continues typing.

Elena sighs as she reaches for the steaming pot on the table and pours herself a cup of ... coffee! She'd been drinking the sencha green tea Harold makes, but coffee has always been her preference. There are even little pots of cream and sugar set out.

Elena can feel Shaw's judgmental gaze on her as she adds an unhealthy amount of both to her cup. "Do you want some?" she asks archly.

"No, I take it black," Shaw says, raising her own cup to her lips.

Of course she does. Like the clothes she wears. And probably her soul.

Elena takes a second look at Shaw's clothes as she gulps down her first cup of coffee in 48 hours. Shaw's wearing a black coat, as if she's planning to go outside. She glances over at Harold, who's wearing a dark suit and tie, his own coat draped over the back of his chair.

"Are you going somewhere?" she asks cautiously, pouring herself a second cup.

After a moment, Harold closes his laptop. "Yes, we are, Miss Cassidy. Detective Carter is being laid to rest today."

Elena thought she had entered the completely numb stage of things, but the room wavers a little bit. "Oh. I'd like to go. Can I —?"

"I don't think that would be prudent," Harold says gently, but firmly. "Not with Officer Simmons still at large. The safest place for you is here."

"How are you going to stop me from leaving if you're not here to point a gun at me?" Elena challenges.

Harold gives Sameen a sharp look, but she just shrugs unconcernedly. "Kept her here, didn't it?" She looks at Elena. "I suggested tying you up, but Harold didn't want to deal with the messy logistics of bathroom breaks and violating the Geneva Convention." Shaw nods toward the front door. "We could rig it so that door locks from the outside," she suggests to Harold.

"I'll ... I'll ..." Elena looks around wildly. "I'll start a fire!" she declares. "You won't risk locking John in here with me then!"

Shaw nods approvingly. "That's not bad. Huh, didn't expect that from you."

"You wouldn't risk John like that either, Miss Cassidy," Harold says calmly.

"Then wha...?" The room tilts dangerously, and Shaw reaches out just in time to snatch the coffee cup from Elena's hands and keep her from falling out of her chair.

"Miss Shaw!" Harold stands up in alarm and hurries around the table. "How much did you give her?"

"She's the one who went to town with the sugar and cream," Shaw says. "I put it in both."

"Is it possible she took too much?" Harold frets.

"Uh, no," Shaw says unconvincingly.

Elena is vaguely aware of Harold and Shaw moving her back to the sofa. Someone (likely Harold) slides a pillow under her head.

"Harold ..." Elena protests, and Finch feels a twinge of guilt at the hurt and betrayal in her eyes.

"I'm so sorry, Miss Cassidy," Harold apologizes. "It's for your own safety," he tries to explain, but her eyes are already slipping closed, though she fights a losing battle to keep them open for a few more moments. He hovers over her uncertainly.

"She'll be fine," Shaw dismisses. "Nurses Bailey and Bear will look after her."

Harold looks toward Reese's bed when he hears a slight noise, but John is still completely out of it. Bear or Bailey must have moved at the sound of their names.

Bailey trots over and nudges his mistress. He looks up at Harold questioningly.

"Bear, hier," he orders, and the dog reluctantly picks his head up from Tall Man's arm and goes to Glasses Man. He cocks his head and looks at Pretty Lady, whining since she's now asleep like Tall Man.

"She'll be fine, Bear. You and Bailey watch over her," Finch says, trying to convince himself. He checks over Reese's monitors one last time to make sure everything is stable.

"Ready to go, Mother Hen?" Shaw says impatiently.

No, not all.

"Yes," he says aloud, before he follows her out.


As soon as the door closes behind Finch and Shaw, Reese opens his eyes. He pushes himself into a seated position. He knows he should be in pain, but he's never felt so focused in his entire life. He knows his mission, his objective: Find Simmons and avenge Carter's killer.

The fact that Simmons is after Elena Cassidy is just the icing on the cake that will make revenge and death all the sweeter.

Working quickly, Reese removes the blood pressure cuff, oximeter, and other sensors. Bear and Bailey watch him curiously, but don't move from where Finch had stationed them.

He puts on a fresh suit. He wants Simmons and all who dared help him to recognize from afar that the Man in the Suit is the one coming for them.


14 hours later

The doctor had come and gone again from the safehouse after patching up Reese from his nearly suicidal pursuit of Simmons.

Shaw, Harold, and another woman had brought John back just as Elena was emerging from her drugged sleep. She didn't think it was possible, but John looked worse than he had two days ago.

From what Elena pieces together, he had somehow regained consciousness and left shortly after Shaw and Harold had drugged her. He'd tracked down Quinn, who was in federal custody, to find out Simmons' whereabouts. But Harold, Sameen, Lionel, and whoever this other woman was, had stopped him from killing Quinn, Simmons, and likely himself.

While the doctor had worked, Finch had attempted to contact Fusco precisely nine times, but his call had gone to voicemail every time.

Root, still communicating directly with the Machine, wasn't divulging any more information about the detective's whereabouts, other than a vague comment that Reese hadn't been the only one who wanted to kill Simmons.

Shaw wasn't volunteering to get the information out of Root, which was being viewed in an overly positive light by Root and in a completely different light by Finch.

"Look at it this way," Shaw says as she eats a sandwich cobbled together from the questionable contents of the safehouse's fridge. "If I get the information out of her, I'm just going to go finish off Simmons, which you're not going to like either, Harold."

Shaking his head in disapproval, Finch turns back to fussing over Reese.

Root smiles at Shaw. "You're welcome to try to get it out of me," she invites. "I promise to make it hard for you."

Shaw's look could freeze hell over. "On second thought, I think I'll just take my chances and try to pick up Simmons' trail myself," she says, getting to her feet."

"Lionel's already found him," Root says. "He'll take care of Simmons."

"What do you mean by 'take care', Miss Groves?" Finch demands. "The detective —"

"Lionel's going after Simmons?" Elena asks sharply. She'd been quiet since Shaw and Harold returned to the safehouse with this strange lady, but she feels like she's been patient long enough. "He can't! He'll —!"

"He ... is just doing his job," Root says, listening for a moment longer. "He's arresting Simmons."

Elena stares at the newcomer. "Who are you? How do you know these things?"

The lady smiles. "You can call me Root."

Elena blinks. "Like ... part of a tree?"

Shaw snorts. Root looks unamused, though more at the response Elena had gotten out of Shaw than at the question.

"Well, I know exactly who you are: Cassidy, Elena Marie, though 'Little Miss Normal' might be more appropriate," Root says. "You're 28, daughter of Tommy and Bridey Cassidy. Receptionist at City Hall, chief of staff's office. NYU, Class of 2008, BA in Art History that you've never put to any use, plus a few credits toward a master's degree that you never finished. Engaged to the late Kenneth Parker, son of —"

"The late?" Elena interrupts. "What do you mean 'the late'? Ken's not —"

She's cut off by the ringing of her phone, which Shaw had locked in the drawers by the window.

"She should answer that," Root tells Finch.

Finch gives Root a displeased look before he limps to the drawers, unlocks one, and quickly hands the phone to Elena when he sees the name flashing across the screen.

"Lionel?" she answers. "What's —?"

"Sorry to call you in the middle of the night, Ellie. I, uh ... I wanted to tell you myself."

There's something odd in his tone. He's serious, no hint of humor or sarcasm.

"Tell me what?" Elena asks. She feels dread pooling in the pit of her stomach.

"It's Ken." Lionel sighs. "I'm sorry, Ellie. He's dead."

There's silence all of a sudden, like all the air has been sucked out of the room.

"It happened at the East Hampton Airport," Lionel is saying. "It looks like he was meeting Simmons, the cop all over the news. Simmons was trying to get out of the country on Ken's family's plane. Ellie ... it looks like Ken was working for HR. But he tried to be a hero in the end. I don't know if he wanted to turn Simmons in or just take him out, but anyway, he pulled a gun on Simmons ... but Simmons shot him first."

"It's okay, babe. I'm going to make it right, okay? I'm going to fix this. I love you, Lenie."

"His ... family's here, so they know. But I wanted you to hear it from me."

"He's dead," she repeats. It's not really a question.

"Yes, Ellie."

She doesn't know how long she just stands there, holding the phone to her ear.

"I have to escort Simmons back to city," Lionel finally says. "Are you okay? Not okay, but are you ... is there someone you can call? Someone who can come over, be with you?"

No. The only person ever is — was Ken.

"I'll be fine, Lionel," she manages to say.

"Okay," he says reluctantly. "I'll call you later. Everything is going to be all right, Ellie. I know it doesn't seem like it now, but it will be. Just ... just hang in there, okay?"

Elena slowly lowers the phone from her ear. She doesn't even notice when the phone falls from her suddenly numb fingers.

"Miss Cassidy?" Finch says tentatively.

"It's Ken," Elena says in an oddly toneless voice. "He's dead. Simmons ... killed him."

"What?" Finch asks incredulously.

"She was right," Elena says, before she faints.


"What a textbook damsel in distress," Root observes as Finch makes Elena as comfortable as possible on the sofa. "No wonder the Big Lug can't resist her."

Shaw turns to Finch. "Why would Simmons kill Cassidy's fiancé?"

"I'm afraid we'll have to wait until Detective Fusco can fill us in on the details."

"Or ..." Shaw looks significantly at Root.

Root sighs as she finishes off the sandwich Shaw had abandoned. "It's really not that interesting, but if you insist: Simmons used Little Miss Normal to blackmail her fiance into helping him get out of the country. But Kenneth Parker knew that if Simmons was alive somewhere, Elena would never be safe. So he tried to kill Simmons. I did say Reese wasn't the only one who wanted to kill him," she reminds them.

"Simmons is in custody now, though," Shaw points out. "So Cassidy should be safe, right?"

Root shrugs carelessly. "The Machine sees no threat to her anymore." She lifts her eyebrows slightly at Shaw. "Really? Little Miss Normal?" she says in disappointment. "I mean, I guess she's pretty, but —"

Shaw, who is finding it easier to just ignore Root at this point, turns to Finch. "So what do we do with Cassidy now? We saved her, she can get on with her life."

"What's left of it," Finch muses, almost to himself, as he looks down at Elena. "We'll let her rest for now."

Root settles comfortably in one of the armchairs and puts her feet up on the coffeetable. "One last fun fact about Little Miss Normal: She and the Big Lug are the same blood type."


"Doctor said he's gonna pull through," Shaw updates Finch a few hours later. "Lost a lot blood. I'm gonna go steal some more from Manhattan General."

Finch fusses with the blanket covering Reese's legs.

Shaw looks up, realizing something. "Where's Root?"

The bathroom door opens, and for a moment, Finch thinks it's Root, but it's Elena emerging from the shower Shaw had pushed her into when she'd regained consciousness.

She stands on the other side of John's bed, absently toying with the edge of his blanket. "So what happens now?" she asks quietly. "I'll need to go soon. Ken ... his family ..."

"Yes, of course, Miss Cassidy," Finch says. He gestures her into the seat he's just vacated. "I just need to ... check on something," he says, with a significant look at Shaw as he gathers his coat. "Then we can discuss what happens next."

Elena looks around the loft as Harold closes the door behind him. It hurts too much to think about Ken, so she thinks about other things.

"Where'd that weird woman go?"

Shaw shrugs. "She only appears if you say her name three times in a mirror at midnight."

Elena doesn't think she's joking.

She looks down at John. "Is he going to be all right?"

"Maybe," Shaw says honestly. After all, there was a reason she'd never become a doctor.

Elena reaches out to take his hand, but then thinks better of it. "You said he needs more blood?" Shaw nods suspiciously. "If I promise to stay put, would you go get him some?"

"No," Shaw says at once, but then she remembers what Root had said. "But I don't have to go anywhere. I can get some right here," she realizes. "You're the same blood type."

"How do you know that?"

"I just do." She starts rigging up a transfusion set. "Ever experimented with intravenous drugs?" she asks, then glances at Elena and answers her own question. "Got it, not Little Miss Normal. Last time you left the country?"

"2009. Paris."

"Ever had unprotected sex?"

Despite her best efforts, Elena blushes. "No."

"'Course not. Ever had hepatitis, malaria, Chagas disease or babesiosis?"

"No." Elena offers up her arm. "Take what you need, Sameen."


It only takes a few minutes for Finch to pop into the library and find that Root had returned there. And that she and Bear are apparently good friends now.

"Miss Shaw, what on earth ...?" Finch begins, when he returns and sees Shaw drawing blood from Elena while an anxious Bailey looks on.

"You heard Root, they're the same blood type." She looks at Finch. "Speaking of Root ..."

"She's at ... where she previously was," Finch says.

"What?" Shaw hisses. "Why would she go back there?"

"A problem for another time, Ms. Shaw," Finch mutters. He turns to Elena. "After you've finished with what I hope is a voluntary procedure, we should talk, Miss Cassidy."

Ten minutes later, Finch is serving tea and cookies at the table. Elena politely sips the cup of green tea, though she steers clear of the sugar bowl. Shaw ignores the steaming teacup in front of her and grabs one of the bottles on the sideboard.

"I'll pass on your sencha crap, Harold," she says, giving herself a generous pour of the amber-colored liquid.

"Miss Shaw, it's 7 in the morning!" Finch protests.

"Well, Mr. Wren, I haven't slept yet after helping save that tall ass over there from his suicide mission, so technically it's still last night for me."

Before she can recap the bottle, Elena holds out her teacup. Shaw pours enough to fill the cup back up to the brim. "You're starting to grow on me, Cassidy."

Elena clinks her teacup against Shaw's glass. "You, too, Sameen."

Finch looks from one to the other, not quite sure if he likes where this is going.

"Well, now that we're all sufficiently hydrated," he says, with a last disapproving look at Shaw, "you should know, Miss Cassidy, that with Officer Simmons in custody, he no longer poses any threat to you."

"So I can go home." She thought she'd be happy when she was finally allowed to go. She doesn't feel anything.

Harold stirs his tea contemplatively. "I thought you might be interested about your fiance's association with HR, so I looked into it further. Neither you nor Detective Carter ever found anything connecting Mr. Parker to the organization because he wasn't directly involved with the more ... violent side of their operations. He watched the money, he was the bank."

"That doesn't make any sense," Elena says blankly. "Ken's from money, he didn't need HR to get rich —"

"Which made him the perfect person to handle HR's accounts and investments," Harold points out. "Quinn and Simmons knew he would never be tempted to skim or try to pocket any of the funds himself."

Elena nods in defeat. "So, he didn't directly kill anyone, just helped pay the people who did the killing."

Oh, Ken ...

"I know this is very difficult, Miss Cassidy. But Mr. Parker, in the end, died trying to save you. Simmons used you to blackmail your fiance into helping him, and your fiance believed killing Simmons would keep you safe, though unfortunately he died in the attempt."

"How do you know that?" Elena asks quietly.

"A very reliable source."

"That woman, the one who was here last night, she's your source?"

A strange expression crosses over Harold's face. "Not ... exactly."

He reaches into his pocket and takes out his handkerchief, which he offers to her. It takes Elena a moment to realizes her cheeks are wet with tears.

"Now we need to figure out where the final piece of Detective Carter's investigation fits," Harold says. Elena looks up in confusion. "She took great pains to ensure you would not be connected to it. She was a remarkable woman. Very thorough."

"She was fearless," Elena says decisively. Shaw raises her glass in agreement.

"However, as the FBI's investigation continues, people will start to ask about who took the evidence from City Hall, the evidence you helped collect." He meets Elena's gaze steadily. "I make one call to Detective Fusco, and Kenneth Parker could become that person."

Elena goes very still.

"Not only would that spare you from the press, but also the inquiries, the trials, any remaining HR lackeys who might hold a grudge —"

"I don't care about that," Elena says at once. "But it would save Ken, his name, his reputation ..." she trails off, blinking back more tears. "His family, his friends ... they won't have to find out that he wasn't ... perfect."

"It would also mean that no one will ever know a City Hall secretary helped bring down HR," Shaw points out.

"Well, I ... never thought anyone would know," Elena admits. "Besides, isn't that what you do? Help people in secret?"

"Yes," Finch agrees. "And about that, Miss Cassidy, in order for us to continue doing what we do, I must ask that you —"

She reaches out and places her hand on top of Harold's. It startles him, because somehow Elena is reassuring him instead of the other way around. "I won't tell anyone, Harold. I promise."

Shaw watches curiously and considers the possibility that maybe it's Finch who has a little crush on Little Miss Normal.

"But that's why you picked me, right?" she asks, and she sounds oddly desolate.

"I'm afraid I don't understand, Miss Cassidy."

"Why you and John kept meeting me in the park? Because you knew Ken and I would be in trouble? Because I was working with Joss? Because I know Lionel?"

"Believe it or not, Miss Cassidy, the truth is that Bear needed companionship, and you and Bailey were nice enough to give him that. And us," he adds, with a glance at his still unconscious partner.

Despite everything that has happened in the last few days, despite all that had been revealed to her in the last few minutes, Elena feels a little bit of relief at that.

"Are you going to be all right, Miss Cassidy?" he asks softly. "Is there anyone who can ... be with you during this time?"

No. The only person ever is — was Ken.

"I'll be fine," she manages to say. She smiles weakly. "I have Bailey, after all."

He nods.

"I do have just one more question." Elena finally says. "John ... he's the Man in the Suit, isn't he?"

"Stupid name, right?" Shaw answers for Finch. "Lionel calls him Wonderboy."

"A nickname I doubt Mr. R— John finds endearing," Harold points out, catching himself just in time.

"Oh." Elena realizes something. "That's an alias, too, isn't it? Mr. Reese? Mysteries?"

She misses the look of shock on Finch's face as he realizes Reese had given Elena his preferred name instead of one of his other aliases. He and Shaw had been carefully referring to him only as 'John' in her presence.

Shaw tips back the rest of her drink. Nope, it's definitely Reese who's the one with a not-so-little crush on Little Miss Normal.


A/N: Shaw's pre-transfusion questions come from Razgovor (s3e05) when she uses Peter Yogorov to transfuse herself.