Chapter 5

'Holy crap!' Elise thought, her jaw dropping as she and Harold entered the mansion. The ceiling above the very large entryway supported a crystal chandelier that must have weighed several thousand pounds. It threw shards of light all over the large area and the walls glittered with rainbows. Elise then gasped and her hand on Harold's arm tightened as she took in the glittering assembly of people spread throughout the room. There were so many people! The men were all dressed in black tuxedos just as Harold and Reese were but the women remaindered her of a bunch of peacocks. There were dresses of every imaginable hue and every single woman sported some type of glittering jewels on her body and in her hair. Elise was immensely and unexpectedly grateful for Zoe's insistence that she look her best.

Harold must have heard her gasp and felt her arm tightening because he awkwardly turned his head towards her and smiled. "Don't let it get to you Ms. Tate. It's just for show. Think of all these people as…playing dress-up, like little kids. That's actually what this is about, dressing up for your friends and neighbors and bragging about how much money you have, just like children do. Very few of the people here, REALLY care what happens to others…" Harold's voice became softer and trailed off.

It was Elise's turn to re-assure him. "But YOU do Harold. I've seen it, in the way you took care of me when I needed it; the way that you help others in need. You are nothing like these people."

So softly that Elise wasn't sure she heard him, Harold whispered, "But I used to be..." And his eyes got a far-away look to them. "I used to fill my days with trivial things, just like these people. My parents expected it of my brothers and I. I spent SO MUCH time obsessing over how to make money; I didn't realize I was missing the whole point of life! Then 9/11 happened and I questioned everything I was doing. I would have been in those towers that day if it hadn't been for the fact that I was out late the night before with an old college friend. Nathan always was an idealist. We argued over that incessantly." Harold smiled but Elise saw that it didn't quite touch the sadness in his eyes. "Like many people after that day, I tried to make sense of it all and wondered what I could do. I felt lost and confused. Once again, Nathan saved me. He came up with a crazy idea. It gave me a purpose once again, one I could live with this time." Harold shook himself out of his reverie. "I'm not sure why I'm telling you all this Ms. Tate. Except that you seem rather easy to talk to."

Elise grasped Harold's hand and squeezed it. "You're a good man Harold and I feel privileged to know you. I consider you a good friend. I don't have many of those. And PLEASE call me Elise."

Harold smiled shyly and said, "I don't either Elise and I too would like to consider you a good friend. And I have something to confess, I absolutely HATE these things too."

The two of them made their way through the press of people. Elise began to relax and smile more, feeling at ease with Harold. He introduced her to a few people he knew and she began to enjoy the quick wit he showed when they asked him about his opinion on this or that topic. She knew Harold was not as comfortable with this entire social situation as he appeared and Elise was impressed with how well he hid it. Harold grabbed two flutes of champagne from a passing waiter and passed one to Elise.

"I don't drink while I'm on the job, Harold." Elise reminded him.

"Neither does Mr. Reese. Just hold it and consider it blending in." Harold suggested to her.

At the mention of Reese, Elise craned her neck and found Reese and Zoe standing about ten feet away. Reese caught her eye, raised his own glass to her and gave her one of his patented smirks. Was he mocking her? His surprise at how nice she looked earlier still smarted her feminine pride. Elise turned her back on him and tried to fight the blush she felt advancing from her shoulders, up her neck and to her face and ears. Damn! She knew his observant eyes would see it and know that he had caused it.

"He does that on purpose you know. You shouldn't let him get to you." Harold said quietly.

"Excuse me?" Elise asked in a high-pitched voice, her mind still on the infuriating Reese.

"John, he uses his face as a weapon. Usually it's to charm someone but just as often, he tries to intimidate them with a look."

"Yes, I've seen that. He doesn't intimidate you?" Elise asked.

"No, but I do respect him. I've worked with John for several months now and I've seen how he handles himself in many different situations, most of them situations that any sane person would run from in a heartbeat. Not John though. I've come to realize that he always has two guiding principles that shape what he does: one, he takes his responsibilities and duties seriously and two, he can't help but stick up for those who can't stick up for themselves. It's just in his nature. Don't get me wrong, John has a closet-full of demons to exorcise, but he never strays from those ideals."

"Demons? That usually implies guilt. What does he have to feel guilty about?" Elise couldn't help but picture all sorts of scenarios in her mind but none of them had Reese doing anything really, morally wrong.

"I'm afraid you'll have to ask him about that Elise. It's his story to tell. But as I said, I'm not intimidated by John in the least, though he LIKES to think so and I suppose I haven't done a lot to discourage that." Harold chuckled a little as they continued on towards the dining area.

"He sneaks around, trying to be quiet and he thinks he can sneak up on me. He hasn't quite figured out that I have cameras and motion sensors all around the building and I know the minute he comes anywhere near the library." Elise giggled a little at the thought of big, bad Mr. Reese being out smarted by little, innocuous, Harold.

"There was this one time," Harold smiled. "He thought he'd sneak up on me and I decided that I'd turn the tables on him. John came in, saw that he was alone and started his usual snooping. I then sat down at the computer and when he came back into the room, he couldn't figure out where I had come from." Harold leaned over and whispered conspiratorially, "I think it bothered him that I was able to appear out of nowhere, just like HE does!" Harold winked at Elise. "When he asked where I had been, I told him that I had breached the space-time continuum. Oh you should have SEEN the look on his face, Elise!" Both of them laughed out loud and were just about to take their seats at the table when Reese and Zoe walked by. Seeing Reese, Elise pictured the oh-so confident, arrogant man with a bewildered look on his face and burst out laughing even harder. Reese turned to give Elise a puzzled look and she just smirked back at him, causing him to frown. Two could play at this game! She thought.

Throughout the rest of the gala, Elise kept surreptitiously glancing at Reese at the next table over. As much as she tried, she could not contain her occasional chuckles. It didn't help that every time she laughed, his ears would turn red. He KNEW she was laughing at him and that made things even funnier because for once he couldn't immediately come back with some smarmy remark! She smiled to herself enjoying herself much more than she'd thought she would.

Reese tried very hard to focus on his diner companions while also deciding the best way to go about seeking the information they needed, but every time he heard Elise laugh at the table next to them, he got a little bit angrier. What exactly was Harold telling her that was making her laugh so much? He had never heard her laugh that much while in his company. He tried to tell himself he wasn't jealous of Finch, he was just mad that she was drawing so much attention to herself and therefore jeopardizing their investigation. But deep down, he knew it wasn't true. Well, two could play at that game! Reese leaned over and said something amusing to Zoe. Her loud peel of laughter made him smile when he realized Elise MUST have been able to hear it. He did it again and again Zoe laughed at him, this time putting her hand on his arm. Reese could barely suppress the urge to glance at Elise to see if she was hearing and seeing him flirting with Zoe.

Elise looked over at the table where Reese and Zoe were sitting when she heard Zoe's laughter. She watched as Zoe placed her hand on Reese's arm and then Elise blushed as Zoe leaned over and whispered in Reese's ear. She knew Zoe was interested in Reese, Elise just wasn't sure why she cared or why she felt like going over to their table and removing Zoe's hand from Reese. I'm happy for Zoe; that she and Reese seem to be getting along so well, Elise told herself. I need to focus on this job and forget Reese and Zoe.

The master of ceremonies started to announce the beginning of the silent auction. There was a list of items available for bidding on each of the tables. The MC encouraged people to make their largest bid on whichever items appealed to them. At the end of the night, the winners with the largest bids would be announced.

As Harold wrote in bids on several items, Elise noticed Reese signaling her. Apparently he wanted them both to slip off when the bids were collected. Elise nodded her head ever so slightly and once everyone at the table had made their bids, she excused herself and took the bids over to the table to be tallied. She walked in the direction of the bathrooms but rather than enter, she stood off to the side, as if waiting for someone in the bathrooms. Two minutes later, Reese appeared next to her.

"Took you long enough." Elise hissed at him. Reese frowned at her but just motioned for them to move up the grand staircase. In case anyone was watching, Reese reached over and grabbed Elise's hand in his and leaned in towards her as if they were sharing a secret and were sneaking off for some privacy.

"Giggle a little please. We need to fool everyone into thinking that we're going upstairs for a tryst." Reese whispered in her ear.

Elise tried for a little giggle but even to her ears, it sounded weak. Well, she was NOT the giggling type first off and second, Reese's warm hand wrapped around hers was very distracting.

As soon as they were out of sight, Reese let out a breath and said, "That was a terrible giggle. Anyone with half a brain who heard that wouldn't have been fooled for a second!"

"Thanks," Elise replied sarcastically. "Next time, YOU do the giggling then! Or better yet, get Zoe to come up here with you and she can giggle away." Elise was embarrassed that she let Reese see her pique at the show that he and Zoe had put on downstairs. What was it about this man that brought out her worst side? "Gah! I'm going to check the rooms on this side of the hall, you get those. Call me if you find anything."

Reese was tempted to tell her that NO, he'd get this side and SHE could get the other but as he had no good reason for it, he held his tongue. He was surprised at Elise's next words.

Elise took a deep breath and tried to calm down. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you. Let's just get this done." Reese nodded and they both went their separate ways.

Elise was just entering the third room in her search when she suddenly felt a presence behind her an instant before a hand snaked out and caught her from behind and then a knife was pressed against her throat. "Be quiet or I'll slit your throat here and now!" A harsh voice spoke in her ear. "Ted, get over here and put the handcuffs on her!"

Elise gasped when she recognized the name and then groaned. Damn it, twice in the same week she had been taken by surprise! Where was her mind? She was making rookie mistakes for God's sakes! Her thoughts were pulled back to the present though: when she felt her hands being tightly cuffed behind her back. She heard a rip and then a piece of duct tape was placed over her mouth.

"The boss was REALLY angry to find out we failed to get rid of you the last time." The man who must have been Ted's partner, Jeff said. "We didn't know then that you were working with someone else. Now, you're gonna help us catch him."

Elise felt hands around her throat and when they withdrew, she had a very small but tight chain around her neck. From it, dangled a handcuff key presumably to the pair she was currently wearing.

"Sit over there in that chair. I'll be hiding on the balcony over here while we wait for your friend to arrive, but in the meantime I'm going to have a gun pointed in your direction, so don't try any funny stuff!" Jeff told her.

Twenty minutes later, Reese was done searching the rooms on his side of the hallway. He wondered where the hell Elise was. She must have found the safe but just hadn't felt like calling him. Damn the woman! He walked to her end of the hall and started opening doors, calling for her in the darkened rooms. A few doors, down, he thought he heard the sound of a shoe scrapping across the floor. "Elise?" He called, moving further into the room. Suddenly, all his senses began to scream danger to him.

"She's here buddy, just waitin' for ya to come and save her. Too bad you won't get the chance this time! Now don't try anything or I'll blow her brains out." A man walked towards Elise who Reese could see was bound and gagged in a chair in front of them. "My associate is going to handcuff you now and then we'll have to see 'bout your friends downstairs."

In the faint light coming in through the balcony doors, Reese could see tears glistening on Elise's cheeks. He immediately saw red. If these men harmed a hair on her head, they were dead. He had no choice but to allow himself to be cuffed with his hands behind his back but he studied the faces of the two men so that when he saw them again, he would be able to recognize them and more importantly make sure they DIDN'T enjoy the meeting.

Suddenly, a cell phone rang in the quiet. The larger man who had just cuffed him, answered it. "Yeah boss? Yeah we got two of 'em, the woman from the warehouse and the guy who helped her. Ok. Yeah. Ok boss, we'll be right there." And the man hung up.

"Boss wants us downstairs NOW! The other two have gone missing." He explained to the thinner man.

"Damn it! Alright. These two should be okay while we hunt down those others. They couldn't have gone too far."

As soon as the two men left the room and locked the door behind them, Reese turned around and used his hands to pull the duct tape off Elise's mouth, his fingers brushing against her cheeks, wet with tears. He turned around to look down at her.

"Elise honey, are you ok?"

"Yes John. I'm so sorry I got us into this. I swear they knew we were coming and I never heard them until it was too late. I'm so sorry; and now they're going to have Harold and Zoe as well!" Elise's eyes filled with a fresh round of tears thinking about poor Harold and even Zoe at the mercy of these guys.

"Elise, calm down. You were trained better than this. We are not going to let anything happen to Harold or Zoe. Now think, what can we do to get out of these cuffs?"

Elise sniffed and realized he was right. She stopped crying immediately and said, "They left a key around my neck. I think it was an insurance policy meant to lure you in to help free me if the gun thing didn't work. I think it opens the cuffs."

"That's a girl!" Reese turned around and started to reach for the key around her neck. "This might hurt for a second but I'll be quick, I promise." He jerked the key off her neck but it slipped out of his hands and fell downwards. "Shit! I lost it! Do you see it?"

"Um. No. I know where it is though." She spoke reluctantly.

"Where, Elise?"

"It.. it fell down the front of my dress. Let me see if I can get it out." Elise leaned forward, hoping to dislodge the key from between her breasts. After a minute, she had to admit to defeat. "It won't come out!" She wailed.

"Alright, sit back down on the chair. I'll get it." Reese directed her.

"WHAT? ARE YOU CRAZY? YOU ARE NOT PUTTING YOUR HANDS ON ME THERE!"

"Elise, we don't have a choice here. We need to get out of here and find Harold and Zoe. I'm sorry. I…I won't…." Reese's voice trailed off. There was nothing he could say that would make this any better for her. "Please." He asked simply.

"Oh my God! I can't believe this is happening! Ok, be quick before I change my mind."

Reese backed up close to Elise and tentatively reached his hand down her dress. As he was feeling for the key, he couldn't help but appreciate how soft her skin was. He tried not to touch her breasts but couldn't help brushing the edge of her nipples a few times. A part of his brain registered that they were starting to harden into little peaks. Damn! His body began reacting to hers and he was glad that she couldn't see the front of his pants.

Meanwhile, Elise's face was flaming red. She couldn't believe she had agreed to this, not that she'd had much choice. Several times, his gentle fingers swept against her nipples and they puckered in response. She couldn't decide if the moan she bit back was because she was so embarrassed or because….she liked it.

As Reese dug his large hand further down into her dress, Elise felt the key shift and suddenly it was lower. It slipped down between her breasts but lodged itself closer to her belly button. The full corset lingerie that she was wearing was so snug that it kept the key from sliding down any further. "Reese, stop!" Elise gasped out.

"Elise, I'm sorry but I've got to get this key…"

"NO! Stop! John stop!"

"What is it Elise?" He asked, withdrawing his hand.

"The key shifted and now it's lower. You'll never reach it." She squeaked out.

"How much lower?"

"Um… it's down near my belly button."

Reese paused and then said, "Can you shake it out?"

"No," Elise whimpered. "This damn lingerie is too snug."

Reese thought for a second. He knew she wasn't going to like this. Hell he didn't like this idea either after the way his body was responding to hers. "Elise….. Elise, you're gonna have to let me get it out from below, honey."

Elise thought she was going to pass out. The thought of Reese having to go…down….under her dress…" Elise didn't think she could stand on her own two feet just thinking about it.

"Elise?" Reese questioned softly after he got no response. "Elise? Are you alright honey?"

"No." Elise said so quietly, Reese had to move closer to hear her. "I don't think I can do this John."

"Yes you can. Come here. Come on, you're a strong woman, baby. You CAN do this." Reese knelt down in front of her. "Now, put your leg up on my shoulder so I can get under your dress. Come on, Elise. You can do this."

Elise closed her eyes and did as he told her. She felt exposed as her dress fell down her thigh, and one of her garters and stockings could be seen. She almost jumped when she felt John's lips and teeth on her belly. He was trying to grab the lower edge of her lingerie to pull it away from her body so the key would fall out. He missed several times and she felt his nose and soft lips against her skin. Oh God! Despite the fact that she was mortified about having him under her dress, her skin where he was touching felt like it was on fire. His teeth grazed her again and her knees almost buckled.

Without warning, the door opened and the light from the hallway framed the figures of Zoe and Harold.