It took almost thirty minutes for Shaw to make the trip downtown to the abandoned subway station that Finch was using for a base of operations. She had taken every precaution she knew to ensure she was not followed by any tail. Most of the precautions were done to prevent Samaritan from tracker her movements and deducing that she was one of the few working against the AIs plans.

Her footsteps echoed against the brick walls their sound muffled only by the thick layers of dust that covered the steps. There was a slight trail down the middle of the steps, almost invisible, that had only a thin layer covering it as opposed to the inch thick dust balls that covered every step, hand rail and corner. She did not use any source of light. Her night vision being adequate to navigate her way safely down from the street into the black tunnels.

She knew she had reached her destination thanks to the faint blue glow emitting from one of the subway cars. Time and again she had warned Harold Finch to either power down the system completely or find a way to completely obliterate even the faint light it gave off. Even the small pinky sized 'On' switch was enough to tip off someone as oblivious as a TSA agent that someone was coming down her on a semi-regular basis. That would lead to question which would of course lead to rumors and the threat of gangs or police hunting through the subways for either a new base of operations or for illegal activity.

Rolling her eyes Shaw hit the switch lighting up the dingy medium sized platform. It had a few creature comforts to make life more bearable in a domain belonging to the pests of the animal and human worlds. There was a wooden veneer desk, more plastic than real wood, that had several chips and gouges in it that led her to believe it had been recovered from a back alley trash bin or something. A chair, looking like it had been snagged from the library was pushed into the desk with a dog leash thrown over the back. There was a bed located in the far corner. It rested comfortably on a metal bed frame and was already made up with new sheets, a blanket and a comforter. None of which matched and likely had been purchased by John on his meager policeman's salary.

'I should probably buy him lunch sometime for getting this for us. Especially since I'll probably be using it tonight.' There was a slight grumble to Shaw's internal monologue since she was still unpleased about being woken up at this time of night.

Shaw booted up the computer. While she was not as familiar with it like Root and Finch she figured it was her best chance of translating the information the Machine gave her into a working name. Unfortunately she could not find any application or file that hinted at being the secret behind Finch's numbers. With a throaty growl of annoyance she stood and paced the platform. Wracking her brain the former assassin did her best to recall where Finch usually spent his time or usually had in his hands. Then she remembered that the eccentric man was particular when it came to his books.

Memories of the man berating Bear for chewing through one of his books sounding more annoyed than usual. Heading towards the back of the platform she located a couple of dingy bookshelves laden down with equally dusty books and cobwebs. Then she spotted it. The missing layers of dust in front of specific books.

"Not a bad system Finch. Probably not the easiest to crack. Makes me wonder if John figured it out and how long it took him." Her eyes began scanning the bookshelves looking for numbers that corresponded with what she had been given by Her. A small shudder ran through Shaw as she recalled the Machine's voice. It had been well chosen and one that certainly resonated with the former assassin. At times it had reminded her of Root. Back when the hacker had merely been flirting with her and before she'd abandoned her without a word or even a goodbye.

By now she'd collected about a third of the books she needed when she ran into a snag. The others were not here. The spaces they would have occupied were empty and there were fingerprints that indicated someone had been down here recently.

'Damn it. Why can't things ever be easy?' With a mental sigh of annoyance she headed back over to Finch's desk with the books. Setting them down in the order of numbers she'd received Shaw looked them over memorizing the first part of the social security number.

"Well the first five digits are a start, but without the last four there is little hope for me protecting the number." More annoyed then anything she shut down the machine and killed the lights before exiting the subway station.

25 Minutes Later the Downtown Library

"I'm sorry officer but I can't let you in. There has been no incidents here this evening so I'm sure whatever it is can wait till we open at 8:30." The man sounded tired. There were dark bags under his eyes and the long sleeve button up dress shirt he wore was rumpled in several places especially in the sleeves that had been rolled up a few minutes ago when Shaw had shown up and tried to get access into the closing public library. He likely had rolled them up during the day and had only put them back down in order to avoid looking too unprofessional when she had arrived demanding that he unlock the door and allow her inside.

"Look it doesn't matter I just need to get inside for about ten minutes. Five if you help me find what I'm looking for." Mentally Shaw was grinding her teeth at the fact she was wasting valuable time doing this two step with a guy that would be so much easier to flatten as opposed to negotiate with. Yet that would be unbecoming for her cover. Maybe if she had been a member of HR, they had little qualms about busting heads as a means to an end, but no that wasn't who she was supposed to be anymore. Even though the temptation to revert back to her former self, her former life, was so tantalizing that it took strong mental effort on her part to halt the thought in its downward spiral.

The man bit his bottom lip and looked at the watch on his wrist. She could see the wheels turning in his head as he mentally debated on whether or not to let her in. Finally with a long exhaled breath directed upward, enough to ruffle the man's brown hair slightly, he stood aside. "I can give you the ten minutes. But can you try and make it quick? I usually don't close and I've got a Medieval British history class at 7:15."

Sameen gave him a quick smile and waited till his back was turned before rolling her eyes at the man's whining. 'Sounds like he's used to getting his way. At least he was kind enough to let me in before I had to resort to violence.' She was a few feet into the building before she heard the quiet SNICK. Her hand drifted down to her gun as she calmly turned around.

The man, his brass nametag displaying the name 'David', gave her a weary smile. "Sorry about that. I just really don't want anyone else to get in without my knowledge. Not to say that I don't feel safer with you here and that you are not capable of handling your own troubles. I just rather be safe than sorry." David's hurriedly stammered out the rest at the glower on Shaw's face. He rubbed at the back of his neck for a moment before walking past her. Evidently feeling that he'd managed to dig a nice hole for himself and was now eager to get out of it. "So what exactly are you looking for?"

It only took two minutes for David to lead Shaw to a bookcase. The majority of the time eaten up by having to travel to the other end of the library and go up the three flights of stairs.

David's lips moved soundlessly as his eyes scanned the bookshelves. After a moment he grabbed a nearby stool and set it down just to the right of the bookcase and had climbed it. Even with the extra height he had to stretch in order to pull the first book down off the top shelf. Wordlessly he handed it over to Sameen before reaching to grab the second book from another high shelf off to his left.

Taking a chance, since David's back was too her, Shaw turned the book over in her hands and quickly memorized the numbers. She did the same for the second and third book. While she was tempted to hand them back over, since she needed them no longer, she felt that would be slightly too strange and would stick in the man's mind in the unfortunate event that anyone questioned him about odd going on recently.

Now armed with the full serial number she dutifully followed David back downstairs. She would rather have made good her escape, but her cover dictated following the law. So she swallowed back her urges and allowed the guy to sign her up for a library card, a necessity to even check books out, and waited till she was outside and in her vehicle before yanking her phone out.

While Shaw did not have the level of technology Finch and Root did she did have smarts and an app that had been developed for her while she was still working for Northern Lights. Not all the targets she had been given had come with a face and name. Sometime she had to work with serial numbers.

So with a confident smile she accessed the long unused application. "Now then let's see who needs saving this time round." Sameen mumbled aloud as she put in the Social Security Number. It must have been an old one since her device did not immediately spit out an answer for her. Finally a little bar popped up saying 'estimated time to search database 29:99:99. The numbers ticketed down slowly and Shaw threw her phone onto the unused passenger seat in a huff.

"Fuck! Why can't this be simple?" She raged for another moment or two before regaining emotional control. "Fuck this. I need a beer." Starting her car she peeled away from the library and headed for the nearest bar to get a drink.

Location: Unknown

With a grunt the woman threw the full can of gas into the back of the battered old pickup that she'd stolen only 5 minutes ago. She preferred to ride in luxury, but her latest assignment required a little bit of skill and a shred of tact. She did not care why she was hired for this job. Hell she could care less who she had to kill so long as she was paid well in cash. She only took on jobs where the client paid in full before they gave her the job. Simply because she did not trust them to keep up there end. She'd had a few people that had tried to pull fast ones on her. Turned out that to keep some people in line all it took was verbally reflecting in how meticulous she had been at turning the first man, who'd tried to screw her on payment, into a eunuch.

She put a second full can of gas into the truck bed before climbing back inside and starting the vehicle. The engine refused to turn over at first but finally it caught and started with a throaty grumbling. Pulling out her phone she unlocked it and looked back over the information she had been given.

Finally she went to the last page of the file. It was a simple 8x10 glossy photo. The last page was always reserved for the photo and was always the last page she looked at. She needed to get into the mindset of killing a person before she saw what they looked like. That allowed her to come up with a plan without any qualms or reservation towards killing the person. Regardless if they were a man, woman or child. It also had the added benefit of keeping her from having a recognizable pattern.

The woman in the photo was cute. She had long light brown hair and a smile that spoke of a devious mind. She was rather attractive, perhaps even someone that she might have considered picking up. If she was into women that was. Once she memorized the face she turned the photo over to ensure the photograph was of the correct person.

"So sorry Love, but your death has been bought and paid for. Hopefully you've made peace with the Lord before sleeping tonight because you'll be with him shortly Miss Graves." The woman said quietly in a clipped British accent before setting down the photo of Samantha Root Graves.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Any and all comments are welcome and feedback would certainly be appreciated.