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


QUEENSBRIDGE PARK

Chapter 38: after Pretenders


Reese and Fusco walk down the hall to Reese's apartment after a long but pretty productive day.

They'd saved their Number, an insurance office worker masquerading as a detective. They'd found a truckload full of guns that had been missing in the city. And they'd struck a deal with Elias, who would hopefully be able to check the growing power of the Brotherhood and Dominic.

True, Reese had gotten shot in the arm in the process, and their Number had taken one in the arm, too. But since he is a big fan of the Man in the Suit, he hadn't seemed to mind their matching wounds.

Reese unlocks his door and stops short at the sight of the two other people already in his apartment

Elena is sitting on the floor next to Bear, encouraging him to eat. Shaw is sitting on his counter, eating his food with no encouragement needed.

"Good boy," Elena coos as Bear begins to nibble at the food in his bowl. She looks up, and her eyes go wide at the bloody arm Reese is sporting.

"Oh my God, did you get shot?!" she exclaims, jumping to her feet.

"I'm fine, El," he assures her. "How did you two get in here? Three," he amends as Bear comes over to greet him.

"Your girlfriend let us in through the fire escape," Shaw says through a mouthful of cereal. "Bear's been a picky eater all week since Harold's been in Hong Kong." She smirks. "Thought maybe he likes your kibbles and bits better than Finch's."

Fusco grins. "What about my kibbles and bits?"

"No one likes your kibbles and bits, Fusco," Reese snarks.

Elena stares from Sameen to Lionel to John, shocked at everyone's calmness despite the situation. "Okay, I'm guessing coming home with a bullet in your arm is something that's common for you guys, but shouldn't we be going to a hospital or something? Calling a doctor?"

"No need," Shaw says, hopping down from the counter and whipping a knife out of ... somewhere. "I can take care of him here."

"I'm sorry, what?" Elena squeaks.

"Calm your tits, Cassidy," Shaw orders. "Go ... boil some water."

Reese looks at Shaw as Elena hurries toward the stove. "What do you need boiling water for?" he asks as Shaw unpacks a first aid kit complete with antiseptic and bandages.

"To keep her busy while I fix your arm." Shaw raises an eyebrow. "Unless you want her here to hold your hand?"

A few minutes later, Elena returns, eyes going wide and face going pale at the sight of Shaw digging the bullet out of Reese's arm.

"The water's ready. What should I do with it?" she asks in a strained voice.

"Uh, toss some tea bags in and let it steep for five minutes," Fusco pipes up.

"I don't think John has any tea here," Elena frets, eyes going over his bare cupboards. She frowns. "Wait, what —?"

"Not even Finch's sencha crap?" Shaw asks.

Elena's look of confusion slowly morphs into irritation. Carefully avoiding looking directly at what Sameen is doing, Elena crosses her arms across her chest and glares at Lionel instead.

"Is this some kind of hazing for those of us who don't get shot at on a daily basis? Did he even really get —?"

"Got it, sucker!" Shaw holds up the bloody bullet in triumph.

Elena whirls around and disappears back into the kitchen.

Instead of the muffled sound of someone being sick, however, they hear the clink of glasses, and Elena reappears a moment later with two glasses, a can of club soda, and a bottle of whiskey.

"Not tea, but better, I think, considering the circumstances," she says.

She hands the club soda to Fusco and makes two generous pours of whiskey for Shaw and Reese. John takes the glass from her with a look of gratitude before downing it in one gulp.

She refills his glass, then takes a swig straight from the bottle herself.

"Look at you, Cassidy," Shaw says, tipping back her drink as soon as she finishes tying Reese's bandage. "Petty theft. Bullet extraction. Time to try your hand at grand larceny." She glances at Reese, baiting him again. "And I just happen to be the wheelwoman for such a crew."

"You know, I am a pretty good shot," Elena offers, seeming to seriously consider Shaw's proposal, if only because teasing John is too much fun. "Not like snipe a guy in the arm through a brick wall in the dark good, but decent enough."

Reese glares at Shaw.

"What? We got bored waiting for you," Shaw explains. "I gave her a rundown of my greatest hits." She looks at Elena appraisingly. "You say something like that, and you better be prepared to back it up, Cassidy."

She pulls out a gun from ... somewhere, and offers it to Elena, but Fusco intercepts it.

"You realize we're cops, right?" he demands. "You can't just go shooting off guns in an NYPD detective's apartment!"

Shaw shrugs. "I'm just calling Little Miss Normal's bluff here."

"Why don't you just ask the guy who taught her?" Reese suggests, tilting his head toward Fusco.

"Ellie's a good shot," Fusco confirms, and Elena goes quite pink. "Or at least she was 10 years ago. Have you even held a gun since then?"

"Once or twice."

"You pulled a gun on me a couple of months ago," Reese reminds her.

"Not bad. For an art major," Shaw adds.

Elena narrows her eyes at Shaw before she reaches out and takes the gun from an unsuspecting Fusco.

"Hey!"

But Elena's already field-stripping the Glock, without taking her eyes from Shaw's. She lets the pieces drop onto Reese's dining table.

"Art history," she corrects in the stunned silence that follows.

Shaw looks from the disassembled gun to Elena. "You are the most interesting boring person I know, Cassidy."

Elena grins at what's a compliment, coming from Shaw. "I like you, too, Sameen."

She glances at Reese to gauge his reaction and catches an odd expression on his face, a mixture of admiration, and disbelief, and ... something else she can't quite place but makes even more color flood her already pink cheeks.

"What the hell, Ellie?" Fusco demands, gesturing at the gun parts. "I didn't teach you how to do that!"

Elena shrugs. "You learn to do things when you grow up with other kids of cops." She smiles brightly. "I can even do it blindfolded. Wanna see?"

"Yes," Shaw and (surprisingly) Reese answer, at the same time Fusco says, "No."

Shaw's phone beeps with a message from Romeo about a new job. "Ugh, just when things were getting interesting," she mutters. "Cassidy, you're going to have to show me what else you can do blindfolded one day. Reese, you know the drill with your arm but ..."

She leans in close and drops her voice to a whisper "... it's time for you to grow a pair around Little Miss Normal before I find out what else she can do with a gun and date her myself."

Elena and Fusco see Reese's face go carefully expressionless at whatever Shaw is telling him.

"See you at the beauty counter, hotshot," Shaw winks in parting.

"Care to share with the rest of the class what you were whispering about?" Fusco prods.

"Not really," Reese says truthfully.

Fusco's phone beeps. He reads the text and waves his phone at Reese. "Captain's calling us in, partner."

Reese gestures to his arm. "I'm injured."

"So I'll just leave you here with Nurse Hotshot while I do both our jobs, shall I?" Fusco says resignedly. "Good luck with him," he tells Elena on his way out. "He may look tough, but he can be a real baby when he gets a boo-boo."

Possibly just to prove how much of a baby he isn't, Reese stands and tests Shaw's handiwork.

"So how did you get shot?" she asks.

"Guy pretending to be a detective — not me — got caught in the crossfire of a gun-smuggling ring."

"And you did, too?" she finishes, trying to sound blasé and failing.

"I'm fine, El," he assures her with a smile. "Hungry?"

"I suppose I can throw something together," she muses, contemplating the contents of his fridge. Meal prep is usually under his purview, and for good reason.

"Don't burn the place down," he warns as steps into his bedroom to change. "Better yet, why don't you just order something?"

"Ha ha," she says sarcastically, though she's already flicking through their stash of takeout menus. "Do you need help?" she absently calls after him.

He pokes his head back through the doorway. "Are you offering to help me shower, Elena?" he asks.

She knows he's just teasing. She can't help the blush rising in her cheeks, but she can give as good as she gets.

"I heard what Sameen said. You know, if she does ask me out, I just might say yes."

She looks up, but he's already disappeared back into his bedroom. She smiles to herself as she reaches into the pile of menus and grabs one at random.

"El."

She looks up to see John back in the doorway. He nods his head toward the table, still littered with gun parts.

"You wanna show me what else you can do with a gun?" he asks. "Let's see you put it back together."

She begins to scoff, but then he drops one of the neckties she picked out for him in Italy — one she's pretty sure has never been worn — on the table.

"Blindfolded."


A/N: Shaw's greatest hit comes from Liberty (s3e01)

Reese: Shaw, a little help here?

Shaw: I would have taken the headshot, but Finch gets annoyed when I kill people.

[Fires.]

Shaw: In the arm, through a brick wall, in the dark. You're welcome.

[Man falls out the window.]

Shaw: Oops.