It was evening now as Joss, Fusco, and John all sat together in her car as they hurried to Harold's location per Root's direction. Shaw was going to meet up with them there as she had been searching up on a separate lead alone. Joss shifted a quick look at John's profile and thinned her lips in concern before focusing on the road once more. He looked exhausted and thinner than before. John was always a thin and fit man but this was past that; she knew he skipped meals to help work numbers, and didn't get enough rest which worried her. Sleep deprivation could lead to mistakes and one false move with that evil super computer watching his every move could prove to be his last. She learned about the machine after her ordeal with HR. John and Finch had sat down with her and explained everything with the contingency that she not tell Fusco a single thing. She agreed…reluctantly. Then things seemed to have settled until all hell broke loose and John had told her what was going on with the evil computer coming online and why they needed these cover identities, and the thought of losing this man made her heart stop.
She flicked a look at Fusco in the backseat who was clearly disgruntled still. Joss didn't understand what the issue was with letting John ride shotgun instead of him. It felt like forever since she became captain of the 8th precinct and ever since then Fusco and she had been off, which was her fault. Taking her frustration out on Lionel wasn't fair but she couldn't help it. It felt like her life was all topsy turvy now and she wanted things to go back to the way they were before this evil super computer came online.
But nothing compared at how tense things were for her and John. John was struggling at having to be a detective with actual rules to follow whilst she was struggling with the fact that he was pulling away from her emotionally. They had come so far and he had been finally opening up to her after what they survived with HR. As she oversaw his recuperation from his gunshot wounds he sustained from Simmons before she had a chance to arrest the bastard, John had opened up to her about Jessica and why he truly left her behind, about his hopes for the future, and his fears he'll never atone for his past. But then Samaritan fell into Decima's hands and now everything was a mess. It was one step forward and twenty back for her and John. Joss could feel the invisible wall between them now, keeping her on the outside, along with everyone else, and she hated it.
And her feelings for John were getting harder to ignore because now they worked closely together. Before she would have some space at work but now he was there at work and then there was after work, and the thing between them was simmering to a boil. Not to mention she got a little hot under the collar at bossing him around. Joss could see the hard set of his jaw before doing as she asked and fantasies of having that sort of power over John in the bedroom took over. Thankfully John and no one else knew of her lusty thoughts.
But it was evening now and they have been searching for Harold since mid-morning. John was frantic, and they were all worried the worst case scenario had happened: Harold's cover identity was blown. But that unsettling and scary possibility was proven to be just a fear as Root had called to tell them that she found out that Harold had been receiving threatening letters from an irate and unstable student, who had taken him to an abandoned hotel in a small town in upstate New York which was where they were currently heading to.
"No wonder it's abandoned, the whole town is," Fusco commented as he looked out the window, watching the passing scenery as the entered the tiny town of Argyle, New York. Joss doubted it, but the town was small with a population of like 300. It didn't take a genius to figure out why the hotel had been closed down. They probably didn't have a lot of tourists so there was no need for a hotel in the tiny town.
Joss pulled up to the address that Root had gotten them, seeing Shaw had already arrived and was climbing out of her car. "It's nice." Joss said eyeing the nice hotel that was about only two stories tall, but it was a beautiful red bricked building.
John hopped out of the car without waiting for her to cut the engine, while she and Fusco followed at a far slower rate. John and Shaw were already wearing their ski-masks and tugging out their guns. Joss rolled her eyes, of course those two would go vigilante mode. One thing you didn't do was mess with was Harold. But this sleepy little town didn't appear to have any cameras they needed to worry about so she doubted the need for the ski masks but she was grateful they were taking care of their identities.
"Fusco and I are taking the front entrance, while you and Shaw take the back," she commanded and both Shaw and John looked at her. But they didn't say anything as they hurried to head to the back, while Fusco walked beside her towards the front.
"You enjoy bossing wonder-boy around don't you?" Fusco laughed.
"Yeah I do." She agreed, happy that the strain that was between her and Lionel had faded at least for now. It was like the good ole' days again, working as partners, side by side, as they hurried to the front door. She motioned for him to go in at the count of three. He nodded. She counted down from three to one, and he grabbed the knob tugging the door wide open. Joss went inside first, finding it clear. "It's clear Fusco," she whispered and Fusco entered.
The door closed behind them with a loud creak as they moved further in the old abandoned hotel. There was quite the amount of cobwebs and dust covering the place. Joss and Fusco both aimed their guns when they heard movement before relaxing, realizing it was only Shaw and John.
"Finch has to be in here, somewhere," John whispered as he scanned the lobby before looking up.
"Hey guys, isn't this a little odd for a rundown and abandoned hotel?" Shaw wondered as she motioned at a laptop settled on what once was a concierge desk.
Joss eyed it. "It's on, and plugged in, which means there is power running in this place,' she murmured, in agreement. Fusco nodded as he moved back towards the door, and turned the light switch on, flooding the hotel with light.
John looked around. "We have to find Harold," uncaring about if they had electricity or not. Their only priority was to get Finch back safely.
"We'll find him, John, I promise," Joss assured him, touching his hand. His eyes met hers and she hastily dropped her hand away.
They all jerked in startled surprise when a loud booming sound echoed through the old hotel.
"What the hell was that?" Shaw wondered out loud, before jumping back when the blackened screen of the laptop suddenly lit up. Harold's face was peering back at them.
"Finch where are you, are you alright?" John demanded moving towards the laptop.
"I'm alright Mr. Reese, I apologize for the manner at which I have taken to bring you four together, but it was necessary. All of you mean a lot to me and watching you fight has me worried that it will boil over onto cases and ultimately expose who we really are," he said sincerely.
Joss blinked in surprise, wait, did that mean this was all a setup?! "So, you are alright and not in any danger?" she demanded, feeling her mood darken quickly. John's face went from worried and concerned to angry in seconds flat.
"So you were never in danger?" John snapped. "We have spent all day looking for you, Finch, worried about you, thinking you were grabbed by Greer," he growled. He had twisted himself in knots in fear; thinking that he had lost a friend.
"I apologize sincerely, I do. Ms. Groves told me she allowed you and Ms. Shaw to think I was kidnapped by Greer for a while which was not supposed to be a part of the ruse," Finch explained with a chagrined look residing on his face.
That got Shaw's attention. "Wait a minute, Root was in on it. That's it, she's dead! I'm going to torture her to an inch of her life for this."
John rolled his eyes. To Root, Shaw's torture would be foreplay. But he should have known something was going on because Root didn't seem as upset or worried as she would have been if Finch had been truly kidnapped. Now it all made sense.
Joss eyed the screen. "Why would you do this, Finch, this isn't like you to dupe us like this?" she murmured softly.
"Because I tried to get you to talk to me to help you, but no one seemed to want to. I'm sorry but this will help the four of you to come to terms with what is bothering you so I don't lose any of you," Harold said so earnestly that Joss believed him. The ruse wasn't meant to be malicious; he was truly wanting to help with whatever he perceived was ailing them.
John turned to walk towards the front exit, not wanting to take part in this but paused. "Where's the door?" he asked in surprise.
Fusco rolled his eyes. "Open your eyes, wonder-boy, the door is right in front of your…" Fusco griped but trailed off when the door that had been there was now gone. "…where's the door?" he wondered out loud.
Joss turned to eye where she and Fusco came in and her eyes widened. "Where the hell did the door go?" she demanded as she went to inspect the same wall that John and Fusco were. Doors just didn't disappear!
Shaw eyed Finch on the laptop before running towards the same way her and Reese entered, finding that door gone too and there had been a window right next to the back entrance which was also gone. Shaw hurried back to the main room of the lobby. "Back door is gone too, same with the window."
Fusco eyed Finch on the laptop. "Okay, so all the doors and windows are missing; what the hell voodoo is going on Glasses, this is freaky even for you?!" he demanded. Lionel wasn't going to ever admit that he was a little scared, doors didn't just go missing but yet these did.
Harold wasn't about to tell them that the doors and windows were still there but Angel used a charm to hide them from visibility. It would defeat the purpose of this. "I'm sorry but this is for your own good. Angel, if you please…" Harold said trying to not feel guilty before he disappeared from sight and an elder man appeared in front of the webcam.
The man none of them ever seen before, waved. "Hello, my name is Angel." he said as if this situation was something that happened every day of the week. "I've been practicing magic since I was just a child. My mother taught me how to harness my special gifts to better the world and never use my gift to harm."
"Great, Einstein is friends with a guy named Angel that is male version of the Wicked Witch." Lionel griped as he stood next to Joss and she glared at him so he grew silent. She took a tiny step away from John who was right beside her and taking up all her space.
The four of them watched as the man held out a paper, cleared his throat, and began reading an incantation. The floor started to shake and their eyes widened as they struggled to remain on their feet.
"What the hell is going on Finch?" Shaw demanded, grabbing onto John's forearm to keep from falling. But as soon as she said it a beaming light escaped her mouth and eyes, Joss stared in utter shock and fear as it happened to Fusco too, then John.
"JOHN!" Joss cried as she immediately reached a hand out to him but she followed seconds behind.
Their bodies jerked back and they all fell to the ground as the beams of light faded away.
AN: See, bye-bye normal story and hello crack world :D Thanks for reading, the final two chapters will be posted on Halloween which is very fitting.