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


QUEENSBRIDGE PARK

Chapter 58: during 6,741 (Part 1)


A/N: 6,741 (s5e04) is the simulation Samaritan puts Shaw through when Greer and Co. are trying to break her, so pretty much the whole episode doesn't actually happen.

So ... here it is! Elena's episode, in three parts.


"Got eyes on Little Miss Normal, John," Root's voice sounds in his ear. She already sounds bored. "So far, she's answered the phone, taken some notes, made some coffee. I know she's pretty, but I really don't see what else you see in her."

Reese is not in a particularly charitable mood, so he doesn't pull any punches. "Shaw did," he says shortly as he joins Root on the rooftop of the building across the street from where Elena has been working all week. "Shaw called her the most interesting boring person she knows."

Root considers. "That's not exactly a compliment, but —"

"Coming from Shaw? That's a five-star review."

Root smirks as Reese sets up his sniper rifle to use the scope and puts Elena, who's wearing glasses he's never seen before and is sporting severely straightened hair, in his sights.

"You don't have to work on my conscience, John," she chides. "You tried your best to help save Shaw. I'll try my best to help save your girl."

"Elena isn't my —"

"Isn't she?" Root asks. "We all know you stayed away from her to keep her safe, but look, danger's come for her anyway."

"Or because of me," he reluctantly points out.

"Or maybe because she happens to be a pretty, young woman working for a dirty old man."

They both watch as Elena bends slightly to place a fresh cup of coffee on the executive's desk, and he slides his hand over the curve of her behind.

"This guy's dead," Reese mutters, aiming at the back of the executive's head.

Root doesn't try to stop him — of all the members of their strange little team, she was never the moral arbiter — but she smiles knowingly when he hesitates.

"If the threat was sexual harassment, the Machine would be sending us Numbers day and night," she points out. "And look, Little Miss has it handled."

Elena 'accidentally' drops the hot coffee in the exec's lap. He yells and jumps from his seat as Elena tries to make a quick exit. She's slowed down by her four-inch heels, however, and he manages to reach her.

Reese's finger rests on the trigger, but he has no clear shot with Elena in the way. He aims for another part of the window, just to cause enough of a distraction —

Elena knees the exec in the groin, sending him to the floor in fetal position before hurrying out the door.

"Her technique could use some work," Root critiques. "But still, effective."

Reese doesn't answer. He's busy watching Elena through the scope of his rifle. She's leaning on the wall outside the executive's office, catching her breath. But when another office worker passes by, she smiles brightly, acting as if nothing was wrong, and settles herself back at her desk.

"Mr. Reese, Miss Groves, I've broken into Miss Cassidy's terminal at the office building," Finch's voice comes through their earpieces a few minutes later. "It seems she's ... filing a sexual harassment report with human resources. Could that be the reason behind the threat to her?"

"Doubtful, Harry," Root says. "We just saw the harassment happen. Don't think the harasser had time to premeditate anything. Seems more like a crime of opportunity."

"You both saw it happen? Is he still alive?" Finch asks, panicked.

"Unfortunately," Reese mutters. The exec has managed to crawl over to his couch but is still in obvious pain. "He probably wishes he wasn't, though. I could put him out of his misery."

"We're trying to stop a murder, Mr. Reese, not commit one."


Though she finished typing up her sexual harassment complaint 30 minutes ago, Elena waits until 5 p.m. to submit it, then slings her bag over her shoulder and walks out.

"Mr. Reese," Finch's voice tentatively sounds over the line, "there's something ... strange about what Miss Cassidy just did. When she submitted her report, she also emailed it to the entire company."

Reese takes out his phone as it beeps. He'd bluejacked Elena's phone when he'd walked her back to her apartment a week ago.

He holds up the screen for Root to see. It's a notification from Elena's Thornhill Services app, telling her to report to a new job placement at another company at 9 a.m. on Monday.

"Oh dear. Mr. Reese, this isn't the first time she's done this," Finch continues. "It appears this is the fourth time since she began working at Thornhill Services. The previous three times resulted in sweeping internal investigations, overhauls of the companies' corporate structures, and at least one arrest. This may sound far-fetched, but I believe —"

"The Machine is sending her on missions?" Reese growls.

"What? To ... expose bad corporate behavior?" Root says incredulously. "Please."

Another notification pops up on Elena's phone. It's a text from Adam Saunders.

Parked out front.

Reese looks down on the street and sees Saunders' black sports coupe in front of the lobby. Exactly one minute later, Elena emerges from the building. Reese turns up the audio so they can all hear what's being said in the car.

"Hey, Adam," she greets as she opens the door.

"Hey, Ellie."

She gives him a quick kiss before sliding into the backseat. "Thanks for bringing my stuff. Hold these for me, please?" she requests, handing him her glasses before beginning to change out of her business formal clothes.

"I've never seen you wear these before."

"They're fake."

"What?"

"Guys don't make passes at girls who wear glasses."

Adam scoffs. "You clearly haven't seen yourself in glasses, Ellie."

Reese silently agrees.

Adam glances at his rearview mirror. "Not that I don't mind this little show, but wouldn't you be more comfortable changing upstairs?"

"There are hidden cameras in the ladies room."

"What?!"

"Don't worry, I reported it to HR, and I've got a new placement next week."

"Where this time?"

"Just up the street actually."

"You know, Ellie, you don't have to keep doing this temping thing. With your experience, you could easily land a permanent position. Or, you know, just give it up altogether and let me —"

"John," Root says in a measured tone, "I really don't think Little Miss Normal will appreciate it if you shoot her boyfriend."

Reese doesn't give any indication he's heard her, but he does remove the finger he'd inadvertently placed on the trigger.

"Adam, we've talked about this. I'm not yet ready for something like that. I'm not saying I won't ever be," she adds quickly, "but ... just not yet."

"Is it because of Rooney?"

"Riley," Elena corrects automatically.

"Right."

Reese wonders if his cheeks are burning as much as his ears.

"No, it's not because of him," she says, placing a quick kiss on Adam's cheek before she slides back into the passenger seat. "It's just ... I really like how things are right now, okay?"

"Okay."

Elena and Adam both look down as their phones receive texts at the same time. Reese and Root look down at his phone to see what it says.

Mac & KT en route. —KC

"Ah, crap," Adam groans. "Tell me again why we're switching?"

Elena grins as she steps out of the car and looks down the street expectantly.

"Look at that," Root says. "Little Miss Normal pulls off quite the wardrobe change."

"What do you mean?" Finch asks in their ears.

"I don't know, Harry, what does it usually mean when you're dressed all in black from head to toe?"

"That sounds more like something you would wear, Miss Groves. Or Mr. Reese."

"Exactly."

"What's this?" Reese mutters as the sounds of squealing tires and a revving engine echo down the street.

A Ducati rounds the corner, headed straight toward Elena. Reese is already taking aim, ready to take the shot as the rider and a passenger close the distance. Elena is checking her phone and is completely unaware of the danger she's in. He makes a mental note to warn her about not paying attention to her surroundings. He begins to squeeze the trigger —

The motorcyclist beeps, and Elena looks up as he decelerates and slows to a stately stop beside her on the sidewalk.

"Mr. Reese?"

"I don't think ..."

"Hey, Ellie." The rider raises his visor as the passenger hops off the back of the bike.

"Well, this is a different kind of Uber, Mac," Elena comments.

"It'll make for a quicker getaway if necessary."

The passenger removes her helmet, revealing blonde hair in a chic lob. She tosses the helmet at Elena, who catches it easily.

"You need to be quick to make a getaway, Mac," she laughs, fluffing her hair as she takes Elena's place in Adam's coupe.

Adam rolls down his window. "The way you drive? Ellie'll be better off sticking with me."

"Shut up, Ass."

"It's Ace, if we have to keep using these stupid code names."

"You know what we do isn't strictly legal."

"Yeah, yeah. Don't get your panties in a twist, Mac. Why the switch anyway?"

"By popular vote, you're taking the lead on Crimson tonight."

"Damn."

Elena gives the motorcycle an appraising glance as she slips on the helmet. "What about our gear?"

"Already en route with the others." He turns to Adam. "Race you there?"

Adam revs his engine.

"Better hold on tight," Mac advises Elena as she hops on the back of his bike, in a way that has Reese wishing he had taken the shot earlier. Saunders glares out his window.

With a last beep, the Ducati zips off down the street, with Saunders' coupe following close behind.

Reese and Root look at each other.

"Well, that got a tiny bit interesting," Root admits as Reese packs up his rifle. "Maybe Shaw was onto something about Little Miss Normal."

"Come on," Reese mutters, leading the way off the rooftop.

"I'm not sure I understand what's happening," Finch says. "If I didn't know any better, I would say that Miss Cassidy is mixed up in something that sounds illegal and very likely dangerous. Is it at all possible she could be the perpetrator?"

A few steps ahead of her, Root sees Reese pause for the slightest moment before he continues to hurry down the steps.

"If that's the case, Harry, I'm going to need to come up with a new nickname for her."


The Ducati and Saunders' coupe prove difficult to follow in rush hour traffic, but with Finch's help, they trace Elena's phone to the Red Hook docks.

They park on the edge of the property, a place conveniently hidden between stacks of shipping containers and some scant shrubbery growing along a chainlink fence.

"So you've made stalking Ellie a full-time job now?" Fusco asks as he exits his similarly hidden police cruiser.

"Finch send you?" Reese asks resignedly.

"Someone's gotta make sure 'Detective Riley' comes out of this intact, and it seems the Professor doesn't think Cocoa Puffs is up to the job," Fusco explains. Root gives him a dirty look. "I'm hurt you didn't read me into this, partner. This is Ellie we're talking about. Who'd be stupid enough to go after our girl?"

"She's not my girl."

Fusco looks supremely unimpressed. "Yeah, you made sure of that."

"What if your girl is our bad guy?" Root hypothesizes.

Fusco stares at her. "Then you've really gone cuckoo."

"Is that a trunk full of guns Little Miss Normal is standing next to, or is it just me?"

Reese and Fusco peer around the edge of the container shielding them from the rest of the docks. In the shadow of a warehouse, the Ducati and Saunders' coupe have been joined by two other, less flashy cars. The occupants, along with Elena, Saunders, and the two who had joined them in front of Elena's building, are crowded around the cars' trunks, outfitting themselves in what can only be described as combat gear.

"What in the actual hell?" Fusco mutters.

"What's going on?" Finch demands.

"I honestly don't know how to answer that," Reese admits.

The crew behind the warehouse moves quickly, efficiently, expertly as they strap on vests, goggles, and helmets, and check that their weapons are loaded. Once everyone's fully outfitted, the man named Mac calls for order.

"All right, we all know the objective?" There are nods all around. "Crimson team leader?"

"Yup," Saunders steps forward with a sigh when the blonde named KT nudges him.

"Your team will go first. Two minutes head start."

"Roger that."

Saunders, the blonde, and four others depart, disappearing around the other side of the warehouse.

"Indigo team leader?"

Elena steps forward. The only reason Reese can tell her apart from the others is her height, as she stands a head shorter than everyone else. Unlike the others armed with handguns, she's holding a rifle.

"You know, I was thinking, we could just have Ellie snipe them all and call it a day," Mac suggests.

"Now where's the fun in that?" she says. "You two sweep from the left, you two from the right, KC and I will go high."

"Aye, aye, Captain my Captain."

The six split off into pairs just as Elena instructed. Two follow the path Saunders had taken his team. Two hurry along the shadows around the opposite side of the warehouse. And Elena and KC pick their way to the far end of the shipping container that Reese, Fusco, and Root are waiting behind.

KC covers Elena as she scrambles to the top of the container, and quickly follows once she's situated.

"You're clear, Indigo 2," KC says into a radio.

Between shipping crates, Reese glimpses one pair sprint across an open space before quickly disappearing in the shadows again.

"Move in, Indigo 1," KC says into a radio.

"Hang on, I think I recognize that voice," Root whispers.

"We make a good team, Ellie," KC says, chatting as if they're not set up to snipe someone.

"Of course we do, Kace. You're my work spouse. Good call on telling me to bring the coffee into Harris's office today. It came in handy when he got handsy —"

She breaks off at the sound of muffled shots and yells in the distance.

"Indigo 1, report," KC orders. There's silence on the other end, so he tries again. "Indigo 1 -"

"They're on the crane," a voice crackles back on the radio. "They went high, too!"

Everyone's eyes shift to the crane that looms higher than anything else on the docks. Which would leave Elena and KC like sitting ducks.

"I see him, I can get him," Elena says, taking aim. "Tell everyone to hold position."

KC is about to give the order when Indigo 1 speaks again. "No, they all went high!"

Reese is already scaling the chain-link fence to get to the top of the container. Calmer, Root pulls out a pair of wire cutters from ... somewhere, and slices cleanly through the fence. She and Fusco follow, guns drawn.

Elena and KC both turn as Reese appears at the far end of their crate.

"What the —?"

"Get down!" Reese orders, sprinting across the top of the container as he sees a laser sight appear on Elena's chest.

He wraps her up in his arms and rolls her over to take the bullet himself. It catches him right in the middle of his back. In the confusion that follows, KC goes over the side of the crate and just manages to catch the edge with his hands.

"Kace!" Elena exclaims, though it comes out more as a wheeze due to the tall man in a suit currently on top of her. "What the fuck? John?!"

"Ellie, 2 o'clock!" KC exclaims.

Somehow, Elena manages to flip her and John over so that she's on top of him before she shoots slightly to the right. Reese only hears a groan in the distance.

He looks up at Elena in shock.

"Told you I was a pretty good shot," she says smugly, pushing herself off him.

"Elena! What is going on?" Reese demands, gripping her arm to keep her down.

"Ah!" KC finally loses his fight with gravity and falls to the ground.

"Kace, are you all right?" Elena asks, peering over the edge.

He's flat on his back but moving, Root and Fusco standing over him.

"He's just fine," Root calls back. She smiles down at him. "Aren't you, Daniel?"

"Mr. Reese," Finch's voice sounds in his ear, his tone sheepish. "I believe we've read the situation all wrong."

Reese is already taking a better look at Elena's gun. A glance over his shoulder and the spatter of red paint across the back of his suit confirms it.

"Paintball?" he says in disbelief.

"Ultimate paintball," she corrects. She gestures to the docks at large. "Meet the Police Academy Rejects."

Someone blows a whistle and a voice crackles over all the radios, "Timeout! Civilians on the scene!"

"Not civilians, 5-0. 5-0! Clear the scene!"

He turns to see the other players emerging from various places of shelter across the dock. By the time he and Elena are back on ground level, Saunders has crossed the dock and is hurrying over, along with the blonde and the tall man called Mac. The other seven are speeding away in the two cars parked with Saunders' coupe and the Ducati.

"Idiots," Adam mutters. "What's going on?"

"Just a misunderstanding, I think." Elena spots the bright blue splotch across his chest with satisfaction. "You were the one on the crane?"

"Yeah, I was just surveillance. I didn't think our guns could shoot that far," he huffs. "We almost had you, Ellie."

"Your strategy was to have everyone target me?"

"I knew the only way we'd have a chance is to take out the best shooter." He catches sight of Reese standing in the shadow of the shipping container and stops short. "Rooney?"

"Riley," Elena and Reese correct.

"Right."

"What the hell are you doing here?" demands Daniel Casey, now on his feet and looking from Root to Reese, and looking like he's seriously contemplating making a break for it.

Elena grabs his arm, both to steady him and give him a warning. "This is Detective Riley, Kevin," she says very deliberately as the others gather around them. "He's a ... friend."

"KC," Reese says in realization. "Casey."

"Kevin Cooper," Elena introduces hurriedly. She smiling, but there's a hint of panic in her eyes as she looks at Reese.

"Detective John Riley," he says, giving her a reassuring look.

"Detective Alice Ginsburg," Root introduces herself and takes charge of the situation. "We got a call about suspicious activity here and came to check it out."

"It's just a really elaborate game of paintball," Elena explains. "Detective," she adds ironically.

"I thought we had this all squared away, Mac?" KT says.

"We do! My uncle runs the place," he says to Root. "He knows we're here, we're not trespassing."

"Last I checked, Red Hook wasn't zoned for recreational activity."

"Why don't we let them off with a warning?" Reese suggests, since he wouldn't put it past Root to arrest Elena just to make her a little more interesting. "No one gets written up as long as you all leave here quietly."

Fusco makes a show of checking to make sure everyone's paintball guns aren't actual weapons. He takes a bit longer with Ellie's sniper rifle, unable to get over the sight of her in combat gear. She tosses her head defiantly.

"See something you like, Lionel?"

"I'm not sure yet," he says honestly.

"I'm going back to the subway after I have a chat with Casey," Root says in an undertone to Reese. "I think the Machine's having trouble processing context again." She sighs in disappointment. "Just when I thought Little Miss was going to get a bit more interesting."

She tugs Casey toward their car. "This one took a nasty fall. I'm going to get him checked out," she says aloud.

Casey hurriedly follows, if only to escape the teasing of the others.

"Sorry, our colleague's a real ballbuster," Fusco explains.

"He's going to be okay with her, right?" Elena asks John worriedly.

"Yeah, they go way back."

"And how does he know you?"

For a moment, he imagines telling her the truth: I was a government hitman sent to kill him because he found out about the Machine. I let him go but forced him to pull out his molars for proof of death.

"That's ... a much longer story," is all he says.

"So what is this Police Academy Rejects business?" Fusco asks the group at large.

"That's what most of us are," Mac shrugs. He gives Fusco another look. "Hey, I know you. My brother works at the 8th. You're homicide. Why —?"

"I'm starving," Elena announces. "Let's head over to Ace's diner. You're welcome to join us," she adds to Reese and Fusco. "And we can tell you all about us."


"All of us are kids of cops," KT explains once they're all seated at a semi-private section of Sowoski's, the new storefront of Adam and his uncle's food truck business. "Except for Ace here."

"Honorary membership, though, since I'm dating Ellie." His eyes meet Reese's for a moment across their table.

"My dad and KT's worked together," Elena says, subtly changing the topic. "You know, Lionel's my dad's old partner, Kate, maybe he knew your dad, too."

"Mike Tucker," KT says. "He worked gang division."

"Yeah," Fusco frowns. He looks at KT cautiously. "Yeah ... yeah, I think I remember him."

"And how do you know John here?" KT asks Elena interestedly, eyes flicking over Reese.

"John's Lionel's partner now, and we actually lived in the same building last year."

Reese glances at Elena at this very impersonal description of their connection, but she is carefully not meeting his gaze.

"What a small world," Adam observes.

"And 'Police Academy Rejects'?" Fusco prompts.

"Academy's where we got the idea of paint guns. Most everyone went through at some point but didn't follow through for one reason or another," Mac says. "I failed the practical."

"My mom said she'd disown me," KT shrugs.

"I never went," Elena points out. "But John here was an Academy instructor for a little bit."

"Oh, really?" KT turns at him in interest.

"Yeah. And what about the one Ginsburg took with her?" Reese asks off-handedly.

"Oh, he's another one of Ellie's strays," KT says, with a teasing look at Adam.

"He's tech support at my temp firm," Elena explains. "He's great at finding us places to play," she adds with a smirk at Mac.

"The one time I try to help!" Mac says, throwing up his hands and nearly upsetting the tray of the server arriving with their orders.

Adam quickly reaches up to steady the tray before it topples over. "Steady on, Mac," Adam laughs, helping distribute the dishes. "You know we only keep you around for target practice."

"You know we only keep you around as a meal ticket, Ass," Mac retorts.

"It's Ace."

"What's up with the code names?" Fusco asks.

"They're stupid," Saunders says.

Elena smiles and shrugs. "I like them."

"My name actually is Katie," KT says. "Katie Tucker."

"Matt Carson," says Mac. The others look at him. "Matt Arcturus Carson," he adds reluctantly.

"Mine's boring. LE, Ellie," Elena explains. "And Adam here," she smirks, "goes by Ace, but technically it is ASS."

"It's not."

"Adam Saunders Sowoski."

"Like I said, stupid."

Elena teasingly raises her mlikshake in toast, but before she can take a sip, Reese's hand shoots out and grabs her wrist.

"Strawberries," he says in the stunned silence that follows as everyone stares. "You're allergic, aren't you?"

"Yes, but ..."

She stirs the shake with the straw and sure enough, there are strawberries mixed in.

Saunders grabs her glass and marches it back to the counter. "Hey, Bob, you trying to kill my girlfriend?"

"Adam ..." Elena starts.

His uncle takes back the shake in confusion. "No, I know not to put strawberries near anything for you guys." He turns to his kitchen. "Hey, who filled this order?"

A few minutes later, Elena has a new, strawberry-free vanilla shake and cheeks red from embarrassment at all the fuss.

"Thank you," she says quietly to Reese. "And that was unnecessarily aggressive," she adds to Adam, "but thank you all the same."

Saunders smirks. "We've all seen you hungry, and we know what you can do with a gun, Cassidy. That was just self-preservation."

They finish the rest of their meal without incident. After they say their goodnights (though KT seemed open to continuing a more private conversation with Reese), Fusco confronts Reese at his cruiser.

"So are we going to keep following her tonight?" he asks, as Saunders zips away in his coupe. "She's still in danger, right?"

"I'm not sure that she is," Finch says in Reese's ear. "Miss Groves and I are going over the Machine's code again to see if it is processing context properly. Though Miss Cassidy's game of paintball was very elaborate, it shouldn't have fooled the Machine. But it appears it did."

"She should be fine tonight." Reese glances down at his phone. "Looks like she's headed straight back to her place."

"Hey." Fusco gives him a hard look. "You'd tell me if she was in trouble, right?"

Reese's expression softens ever so slightly. "'Course I would, Lionel."

"All right," Fusco says cautiously. "Just so we understand each other. You can't keep me in the dark when it comes to Ellie."

Reese ends up camped out on the rooftop across the street from Elena's building all night.