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


QUEENSBRIDGE PARK

Chapter 65: after Sotto Voce


The rising sun begins to filter through what's left of the 8th Precinct after a shootout between the Templario gang and Detectives Riley and Fusco had left the station in shambles.

Reese saunters over to Fusco as the medic finishes patching him up and offers him a cup of the station's awful coffee.

"How's your arm?" he asks.

"It's going to take more than a bullet to keep me down."

Reese looks down at his wounded partner. "I think it's time we had a talk, Lionel."

Reese leads him to the rooftop. "So what are we doing here?" Fusco demands. "You're not going to propose to me, are you?"

"Give me your phone."

Fusco takes his phone out of his pocket but doesn't hand it over. "Why?"

Reese grabs it from him and tosses it over the edge of the building.

"What the hell did you do that for?" Fusco exclaims.

"You never know who might be listening," Reese cautions as he guides Fusco out of the sight of the security camera.

"It wasn't even turned on!" He takes in the serious expression on Reese's face. "What's going on?" he insists in a lower voice.

"Those questions you've been asking, you deserve answers."

"Mr. Reese, are you certain that disclosing the truth to Detective Fusco is a wise choice?" Finch asks in his ear.

"These days, even the precinct's not safe," Reese replies. "The best we can do is ... trust each other."

"Very well," Finch acquiesces. "But there's an urgent matter now that requires your attendance after you're finished."

Reese glances out over the New York skyline before he begins to tell Fusco the truth.

"There's a system listening to every microphone, watching through every camera ..."


An hour later, he and Fusco are (illegally) parked on the bike path that runs through Queensbridge Park. All things considered, his partner had taken the truth rather well, though Reese doesn't know if it's because he's in shock, he doesn't believe it, or he doesn't yet understand all the implications.

They walk across the grass to join Finch overlooking the water, and Root joins them a moment later. She turns, and they follow her gaze to see —

Shaw.

She's pale and looks ill, but it's undeniably her. No one moves or says anything, instead allowing her to approach them at her own pace.

A frantic barking breaks the tableau as a Belgian Malinois comes barreling across the park, dragging along a human after him.

Hammer Lady! IT'S HAMMER LADY!

"Bear, stil!" Reese orders, but for the first time, Bear doesn't follow his command as he continues to make a beeline for Shaw.

Reese steadies Elena as Bear finally reaches his goal and jumps up on Shaw, licking her face frantically.

"I don't know what's gotten into him!" Elena says as Reese unwraps Bear's leash from her wrist, which she rolls with wince. "He just shot out of the car and ..."

She trails off as she recognizes the woman Bear is lovingly mauling.

"Hey, Cassidy," Shaw greets as if it were just another day in the park. "How's the beauty counter?"

"Sameen!" Elena exclaims, pushing Bear out of the way and throwing her arms around the assassin. "Oh my God, where have you been? How did you get here? Are you all right?"

It's a perfectly normal reaction to seeing someone you believed to be missing at best, dead at worst. It's not lost on the others that none of them had reacted that way.

After a few seconds, Shaw manages to extricate herself from Elena's grip, more or less shoving her back at Reese.

"Cassidy," Shaw repeats, though it seems like she's talking more to herself than to them. "That's new."

"What ...?" Elena looks from John to Lionel to Harold to Root, who are all looking curiously at Shaw now.

Elena takes a deep breath, then says in the most authoritative voice she can muster, "Will someone please tell me what the fuck is going on?"

Reese looks over her head at Finch, and they seem to share an unspoken conversation that ends with the older man finally nodding once. Then, unexpectedly, Reese looks at Fusco, who's shocked only for a second before he nods, too.

"Come on, El, there's something I have to tell you," says Reese, taking her hand

Her eyes widen as he raises her hand and ... strips off her smartwatch, which he hands to Finch. And somehow that makes more sense than John Reese kissing the back of her hand in Queensbridge Park in front of all their friends.

"Phone?"

She pulls it out and hands it to Harold herself.

Leading her by the hand he hasn't let go of, he takes them farther under the bridge.

She peers up at him, brow furrowed. "Enough stalling, John. What's going on?"

As Reese gathers his thoughts, she glances back at the others. They're too far away to hear but don't look a bit curious about what John's is going to tell her. Which means, they already know.

"Oh." She gives him a brave smile as she nervously fiddles with her keys. "Are you finally going to tell me Important Things, John?"

He takes her other hand, stilling its fidgeting. "Only if you want to know. But knowing will put you in danger, Elena."

"The kind you're in every day?" She glances back at the others. "That you're all in?"

He nods.

She smiles brightly. "Then I'm all in, John."

Was it possible to be both relieved and more worried at the same time?

"There's this system, a machine, listening through every computer, watching through every camera ..."

By the time he's finished explaining everything, including Samaritan and Shaw's kidnapping, he doesn't think it's physically possible for her eyes to go any wider.

"Elena?" he asks tentatively, once he's given her a little time to process it all.

"I ... can't believe you told Lionel before me."

He cracks a smile. She would never stop amazing him. "I told him just before we got here. Took him to the rooftop of the precinct."

"He probably thought you were going to push him off," she muses. Her eyes widen. "You're not the reason his arm's in a sling, are you?"

"No." He reconsiders. "Well, not directly. There was a shootout at the 8th last night. Me and Lionel versus a gang that took over the precinct."

"What?! John!"

"We're both fine. I'll tell you all about it later. Promise. Come on, let's get back to the others."

"That seemed like a longer conversation than we had, partner, and I didn't get any hand-holding," Fusco quips as they approach. "What were you doing, proposing to her?"

"Why would I propose to her?" Reese wonders.

"Gee, thanks, John," Elena drawls.

"El, we're already married."

Her mouth drops open. She's pretty sure Lionel is having a heart attack, and maybe Harold, too. There's a tight feeling in her chest as well, but she's not sure it's a medical issue.

Root, who is in an exceptionally chipper mood with Shaw's return, nudges Reese playfully. "Aw, who knew the Big Lug could be such a romantic?" she trills.

"There is no way that was legal!" Elena hisses.

"Wait, you two did get married?!" Fusco exclaims.

"No," Elena says adamantly.

Reese raises his eyebrows as he reaches into his pocket and pulls out her wedding ring. "I believe this is yours, Mrs. Riley."

"Okay, wait." Elena holds up a hand as everyone's attention shifts back to her. "That wasn't — he isn't — we're not — It was a fake wedding for my dying grandmother!" she blurts out. She rounds on John. "Why do you even have that with you?"

"No more secrets, El. I can't have Lionel here questioning my intentions." John holds up the ring he'd slipped on her finger nearly two years ago. "Elena Marie Cassidy, would you do me the honor of staying married to me?"

Her ability to speak has completely deserted her.

She's saved by Shaw. Beautiful, blunt, bold Sameen.

"You know what?" Shaw says, looking up and speaking to the sky. "This is a really fucking weird simulation."