Author's note: Another chapter - longer this time, too. Apologies for the formatting errors in the previous chapter - I'm still feeling my way with this site's document manager, which doesn't seem to want to put breaks in the text. That must have made the scene changes in the last chapter a bit confusing! I think (crossing fingers) I've got it figured now, though. Enjoy!
As they came down the stairs to the old subway station, Reese suddenly got the sense that something was different. He gestured to Carter to fall back and drew his service weapon. Hugging the wall, he turned a corner into total darkness. A low voice spoke.
"Welcome home, John. Company?"
"Sameen. How about some light?"
A brief pause, then "Lights please, Harold."
The lights came on, a sudden glare that momentarily dazzled him, but he was rewarded with the sight of Shaw's jaw dropping as Carter stepped out of the shadows, slipping a small handgun into her jacket pocket. He had to hand it to Shaw, though: she recovered quickly, lowered the Beretta she favoured and changed her expression to a glare directed at him. "You could have warned us. Someone coming back from the dead should be worth a heads up, don't you think? We couldn't tell who was with you on the stair cam."
He was about to reply when he heard the sound of uneven footsteps hurrying up to them. Harold was nearly running. Bear trotted happily at his side. The look on Harold's face as he approached warmed Reese's heart.
"Detective Carter, Joss, I, I... I am speechless with joy!" Finch beamed.
"So am I, Harold. So am I." Carter beamed back at him.
Shaw was peering up the stairs to the surface. "Look, can we move the love fest down to the station? If someone up there hears voices this location will be compromised, and there's no way I'm going back to the makeup counter. Not to mention wasting all Harold's welding."
As they made their way down the last flight of stairs to the station platform, Joss leaned towards Reese and murmured "Makeup counter?"
"Trust me, you don't want to know," he muttered back.
Joss's perfectly shaped eyebrows rose as they passed under the arched entrance onto the platform. "This is where you ran things from the whole time? I figured you must have a hideout somewhere but I never imagined anything like this."
"Actually, no," Harold replied. "We used to be based in an abandoned library, but it's safer here. Our new enemy is very powerful and almost omniscient." They filed into the old subway car, Joss's eyes widening at the array of computer equipment and its tangle of wiring.
"New enemy," she repeated. "Now why am I not surprised? I guess you'd better tell me all about it."
xxxxxxx
"The great mystery to me is how I failed to notice your reemergence," said Harold, glancing up at Joss. They were seated in the subway car, John and Shaw nursing coffees.
"I don't think there's any mystery at all," she replied. "You knew I was dead, so you never thought to look. It's a big city. Me finding you was always going to be a challenge, God knows I had a hard enough time even with the NYPD and the FBI helping. By the time I was recovered and out of witness protection the crime stats alone told me you were out of business. I couldn't think what had happened so I kept my head down. I guess in the end we would have made contact one way or another."
"Which indeed you have done," admitted Harold. "Hidden in plain sight. I just wish John had found you in a slightly less... memorable way."
"What do you mean?" asked Reese, frowning.
"Let me show you." Harold's fingers rattled across the keyboard. "Here's the surveillance footage from the court house." They watched the fuzzy images. A crowd of soon-to-be commuters waiting for an elevator. A tall cop in a suit suddenly plunging through the crush waving his badge, the agitation on his face clear even in the low quality black and white. The stairwell camera: the same man charging head first downwards, a slight Asian woman coming up the stairs knocked into the wall by his rush. The lobby camera: a woman walking hesitantly towards the street doors, the tall cop shouldering through the thinning crowd until he met her. They talked for a moment, then left together.
There was silence in the subway car.
"What we have just seen is exactly the sort of anomalous behaviour which draws Samaritan's attention," said Harold. "Samaritan will know of Joss Carter's past. It will know she spent time hunting the Man in the Suit. It will know she was assisted in bringing Alonzo Quinn to justice by a man in a suit. There may still be archive footage of that man. And here she meets Detective John Riley, who has just been seen acting in a thoroughly uncharacteristic manner to make contact with a woman he has supposedly never met before. And who wears a suit."
"The Man in the Suit is dead, though. Ever since Snow blew himself up," commented Carter.
"True, but in that case we are depending on Samaritan not to reexamine that conclusion. It won't link Detective Riley directly to John Reese because of the hard coding on the server. But it could make a more circuitous connection – the Man in the Suit to John Reese, and Riley to the Man in the Suit."
"Maybe I should just ditch the suit," murmured Reese.
"A bit late now, Mr Reese. That would only serve to draw attention to yourself. No, we need to think very carefully about this before we do anything at all." He rotated his chair to face Joss. "I am also extremely concerned that you used John's old cell phone number to try to contact him while you were in witness protection. Even though you were cautious enough to use a burner phone you may have been flagged by Samaritan at that point. You will need to be extraordinarily careful in the way you conduct yourself from now on, Ms Carter. One more false move and the hammer will come down – if indeed it is not already descending."
They were all still for a moment. "Well, some of us have to go to work in the morning," said Carter at last. "I think under the circumstances I'll walk myself home. Detective Riley has probably taken enough risks for one night." Reese nodded reluctant agreement.
"I'll give you a head start and then tail you," offered Shaw. "I know you're carrying, but this neighbourhood isn't the safest one in town."
"Might be best," agreed Carter. "It's not like I can run in these shoes."
"Oh, before you go, Ms Carter," said Harold, "I'd like you to have one of these." He held out a phone. "If you want one. One of the VHF phones I was telling you about. Of course you realise that if you accept it we will inevitably use it."
"You're asking me if I want to become one of your assets again. Go back to breaking the rules on your behalf? I'll have to think about that." She gave Harold an arch look. "Thank you, Harold. I think I will." She took the phone and dropped it into her jacket pocket, where it rattled slightly against the gun. She picked up her laptop and briefcase, nodded to Finch and shot a small, subdued smile in Reese's direction before she turned and left the car.
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The silence after the two women left was finally broken by Finch. He gave a long sigh and took his glasses off to polish them. "Quite an emotional roller coaster, Mr Reese."
Reese nodded.
"I think we need to make some contingency plans, though," said Finch. "If Ms Carter has already compromised herself she may need emergency accommodation and a new identity good enough to fool Samaritan. That won't be easy, so I'd better get started. We also need to consider what to do about Detective Riley." He turned back to his computer screens, his fingers flying over the keyboard.
Reese watched him for a few minutes. There seemed little else to do for the moment, and he was deeply tired. But he was reluctant to head home to Detective Riley's rented brownstone; there was too much adrenaline washing around in his body still. He stood and paced a little. The subway car was far more cramped than the library, but at least it was a good shape for pacing in. But after a few lengths he slumped back into a seat. Bear, sensing his disquiet, stood, yawned and meandered over to him, resting his head on Reese's knee and gazing up soulfully. Reese fondled the dog's ears in return.
"You could take him out for a walk if you wish, Mr Reese," said Harold without turning.
"Maybe I will, Professor. I'm too keyed up to sleep right now, a walk might be just what I need." He found Bear's lead and clipped it to the dog's collar; as the two left the subway car he thought he heard Finch murmur "Maybe he'll find some unfortunate mugger..."
It was very dark as he emerged onto the street, the sky lit by a diffuse glow of light pollution, but no working street lights so close to the entrance to their den – Shaw and Harold had made sure of that. The air had cooled quite a bit since sunset and it was very quiet – the quiet of a late night in a big city in the middle of the week. Distant sirens, traffic sounds from several blocks away. Bear's claws clicked against the concrete of the sidewalk as they set off down the street. Reese lengthened his stride, and Bear picked up his pace to a trot. Soon the rhythm of the walk soothed the turmoil in Reese's mind. Joss's return was ... well, what was it? Simply beyond anything he'd imagined or hoped. It was too big to deal with, and he found his thoughts sliding away from it. The fact that she'd estranged herself from all those nearest and dearest to her was somehow easier to latch on to. He shook his head as he walked. For a long time he had wanted nothing more than to have Joss's back, to be there for her and to stand with her, whatever the threat might be. But this one was beyond the skills of a former assassin. Maybe he should have become a therapist instead. Now there was a thought, John Reese the shrink, earning his living sitting next a couch with a notebook. A missed opportunity, perhaps...?
He was approaching a corner and snapped alert as two women appeared from around it and hurried arm in arm along the street towards him. Familiar figures, Joss marching as fast as she could in high heels and Shaw looking back over her shoulder as she drew her Beretta...He caught Shaw's eye as she and Joss approached. "We're being followed," she murmured as they passed each other. "I'll take care of it," he replied quietly. Shaw nodded, her hand under Joss's elbow. With a pang, he heard the sound of Joss's laboured breathing. Anyone wants me to run more than half a block, they're looking at a big disappointment...
He reached the corner, flattened himself against the wall and peered cautiously around it. There were two men approaching, one large and the other really, really large. He slid a hand down Bear's lead, preparing to slip it off. The two men were just beginning to break into a run as he slipped the dog's lead. "Bear! Houden!" he said firmly. The dog raced forward and came to a halt in front of the duo, growling menacingly with his hackles raised. They stumbled to a stop, momentarily distracted by the snarling dog. Reese took advantage and simply piled into the bigger of the two, tackling him at waist height and knocking him sideways into his companion. A neatly placed kick to the second man's crotch as they went down saw him rolling off into the dark clutching at himself and sobbing, but the big man used his own momentum to bounce back to his feet and hurled himself at Reese seeking a wrestler's hold. It was almost too easy. Reese dispatched him with an elbow to the throat followed instantly by a vicious headbutt to his face. The crunch of the man's breaking nose transmitted itself through Reese's own skull and sounded oddly loud in his ears. Dropping him in a limp heap on the ground, Reese searched through the shadows for the smaller man, coolly kicked him unconscious and bent to go through his pockets. Extracting a wallet, slightly sticky with some unguessable substance, he returned to the big man, who was beginning to stir. Before he had fully regained consciousness Reese had retrieved the man's wallet, fortunately cleaner than his comrade's. Bear was still in place, his growls dying away as Reese soothed the dog and clipped the lead back onto his collar. He turned and followed Joss and Shaw back along the darkened street.
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Back in their refuge, Carter had regained her breath and was sitting rubbing her feet. As he entered, she shot a look of dislike at her shoes, abandoned on the floor in front of her. "Never could stand wearing those things. God knows why I ever put up with 'em," she grumbled.
"Because they make your ass look good, next question," replied Shaw with a flick of one eyebrow..
Finch cleared his throat. "Perhaps you could tell us what happened now John's back, Joss," he said mildly.
"When I got to the corner of the street where I catch the subway I decided to make an extra circle around the block and found I'd picked up a tail," she replied. "Thankfully Sameen joined me not too far from where you met us, John. We were looking for a dark alley where we could have a little talk with them, but this was better. No comebacks."
Reese was going through the contents of the wallets he had taken. "Diego Vasquez and Oliver Madden. Anything on them, Finch?"
The rattle of Finch's keyboard. An oddly comforting sound, Reese thought.
"Hmmm... plenty, actually, John. Mr Vasquez has a lengthy rap sheet for petty robbery. Shoplifting. Dishonesty offences." A pause. "Much the same for Madden, with the addition of a couple of arrests for sexual offences, no convictions. Yet." Finch looked as though he had a bad smell under his nose.
"So most likely a couple of ordinary muggers," said Reese meditatively. He glanced at Joss. "Do we dare make another try to get you home and back into your normal life? Or do we assume you're compromised and sit tight here?"
"I'm inclined to agree that this is most likely a coincidence," said Finch. "But I also distrust coincidences. I think it would be wisest to stay here for the night, Ms Carter, until we can check out your apartment."
Joss gazed around the spartan interior of the subway car. It was plain she had no taste for staying there, but at last she shrugged. "If you have an emergency cot for me to sleep on I guess I could stay," she said reluctantly. "I could use a burner phone to call in sick tomorrow until we figure out what's going on."
"At present I think that might be the safest option, Ms Carter," said Finch. "I'm sorry we no longer have access to our safe houses. There is a cot we can put in here – the best hospitality we can offer, I'm afraid. And Bear will keep the rats out." His mouth tightened in distaste.
"I do wish you hadn't mentioned that," sighed Joss. "Still, I've slept in worse places." She looked across to Shaw. "Sameen, is there any chance you can find me some supplies between now and morning? I know it's late and I hate to impose, but..."
"Sure Joss," replied Shaw easily. "Gimme a list and I'll see what I can find. There's a couple of bodegas and convenience stores a few blocks away. But, ummm," she looked slightly embarrassed, "do you have any cash on you? I'm a little short."
It took a while to rig the cot and some privacy curtains at one end of the car. Finch was apologetic that he needed to keep some of the lights on while he worked, "Just in case a new identity for you is needed after all, Ms Carter." By the time they were finished the last of the adrenalin had leached away from Reese's system, replaced by a dragging fatigue.
"Bear and I will keep watch, John," Finch assured him at last. "You really need to get some sleep, I think." He nodded reluctant agreement and set off for Riley's apartment, with a last look over his shoulder at the dimmed lights of the subway car.
To be continued...