The End of the Game - 4
Reese and Shaw entered the subway and stopped at what they saw. Finch lay on the floor, blood pooled under him and Root sat hunched in the corner, hands in front of her face, watching the world through splayed fingers. Her blue pyjamas were ripped and torn and she had bruises and scratches on her skin. "See to Finch" said Reese "I'll check the perimeter".
Shaw went over and felt for a pulse in Finch's neck, shaking her head at Reese "He's gone". They examined the body although the cause of death was obvious – the handle of a screwdriver protruded from his chest. Shaw cleaned Root up and got her into some clothes, wrapping a blanket around her to keep shock at bay. All the time Root said nothing, just humming softly at intervals. Reese looked away, swallowing a lump in his throat and ignoring the stinging in his eyes. He had always thought that, underneath, Root was just a scared little girl from Texas who had seen something bad happen to her friend. She wasn't the most stable of people but she had seemed to find contentment working with them, and for the Machine, and now it was all unravelling. He hoped fervently that her mind had enough resilience to keep itself together.
Reese and Shaw spoke apart from her, careful to keep their voices low.
"What do you think happened, Shaw?" asked Reese
"I gotta say" said Shaw sombrely "It looks like Finch attacked her, obvious self-defence"
"I don't buy it, not Harold" protested Reese
"What do either of us really know about Finch?" said Shaw "You and I never even tracked down where he lives although we tried plenty. It's an old story: his hormones are working, Root does some of her stupid flirting, Finch misreads it, and things get out of hand. We know he's a normal guy because he liked Grace."
"What would you do if a guy came on strong, Shaw?"
"Punch him or kick him in the nuts"
"Exactly, you wouldn't need to kill him. Neither would Root. I've seen her in those situations; she'd handle it like you. Just more subtly"
"If it's someone she likes and trusts though… she panics, grabs the first thing to hand, and lashes out"
"Panic and Root don't go together in my experience. Anyway wouldn't the Machine warn her if Harold was starting to act weird?"
"Yeah, that's a good point. To be honest, moving at anything over a brisk walk should be enough to escape Finch if you needed to"
"I hope to hell she's not going like after Hanford. It took 3 months of top psychiatric care at that hospital to get her back, and even then it was mainly the Machine's doing"
"Christ, what a screw up" growled Shaw "Look, you go and check Peck's old man's place, maybe he's there. I'll give Root a sedative, maybe sleep will help her snap out of it and she can give us the story. Maybe we'd better get Lionel down here, a real detective might give us an insight"
"Yeah, good idea" sighed Reese "I know none of us will live forever but I never thought we'd suffer friendly fire"
He left downcast and feeling very weary.