Disclaimer: None of the characters are mine, and I'm not making any money off of them.

Spoilers: Takes place between the beginning and middle of season 2 of POI, and somewhere in season 5 of Burn Notice. We're on POI's turf, and you can probably follow the story pretty well even without knowing too much about Burn Notice. The story will make most sense if you've seen POI S2E13, but it takes place before the events shown there.

Author's Note: Everything is within canon for both shows. It may not seem like it from the summary, but I promise to return them to the condition I found them in! I aim to have all the characters stay true to how they are depicted in the respective shows. I'm exploring mostly the interactions between Finch, Reese, Westen and Glenanne. Carter, Fusco and Axe get a little bit of action, Bear and Madeline Westen appear briefly. Snow and Stanton are the bad guy/gal of course, but everything is explored from the other characters' points of view. It is implied that the Machine, while not saying much, is watching everything and may be pulling some strings in the background. Two original characters have minor roles.

** Tuesday 7:25am

John Reese walked swiftly toward the library, carrying a box of mixed doughnuts under his left arm. The morning sunlight reflected brightly from the building's windows and he was reaching for his shades when his cell phone rang. He pulled out the phone instead.

"Hi Finch. Can't wait to talk to me this morning?"

"John, do not go to the library. Turn around right now and meet me at the park, you know which one, in 40 minutes." The agitation in Finch's voice was hard to miss.

"Harold, what's going on?" Reese was inclined not to read too much into his employer's obviously unsettled state of mind, since the man sometimes got worked up over trivial things.

"Please just do as I say. And lose the phone. I'll explain there."

Reese briefly looked at his phone, the line now disconnected. He tried to tell himself that Finch was probably over-reacting to something, yet he could feel the adrenaline flooding his body and his heartbeat quickened. In less than a second he went into high alert mode and just as quickly he turned his facial expression into a well-practiced mask, disguising his state of mind.

He turned the next corner, away from the library, while resetting the phone, then, without anyone noticing, lost the phone in the nearest storm drain.

.

** Tuesday 8:05am

Reese spotted Finch on the park bench from afar. Bear sat next to him idly watching the ducks drift along the lakeshore. Reese carefully looked the area over as he approached the man and dog. The sun was still shining brightly and a light breeze played with the leaves of the nearby birch trees. There were no other people, and no vehicles of any kind. The serene scene was at odds with Reese's state of mind and it bothered him unreasonably.

Bear noticed Reese and his tail started to wag as he got up and turned toward his other human. Finch, alerted by the dog, looked up from the laptop balanced on his knees, while turning stiffly in the direction the dog was facing. He was relieved to see that the figure approaching him with deliberately calm steps was his partner.

"Finch, what's going on?" Reese petted Bear on the head before sitting down next to Finch. Finch handed him a new cell phone.

"The library has been compromised." Finch said matter-of-factly as he looked sideways to observe his partner's reaction.

"Compromised? How?" Reese asked incredulously, rather because he did not want what he'd just been told to be true and not because it was an unlikely think to have happened. The library was only a place, and the distress he felt at losing it seemed undue, yet he could not help feeling like he was set adrift again, betrayed in some way.

"I don't know how exactly, yet." Finch turned to face straight ahead, looking nowhere in particular across the deep blue lake.

"You may remember that I updated the security systems around the library after the Root incident." He turned once more to see if Reese remembered. Reese offered a nearly imperceptible nod and Finch turned to face the water again.

"I programmed an algorithm not unlike one the Machine has. You know, back then it took a server the size of a closet, now any high-end computer system can run the analysis in reasonable time." Finch noticed Reese turning and giving him a look.

"Anyway, it identifies and catalogues everyone recorded on camera within two blocks of the library, assigning a higher threat-level to a person the closer they come to the library, and the more often. If there is a harmless reason for a person to frequently come close to the library - say they pass by on their way to work - the level of threat assigned to them is reduced."

"Finch, cut to the chase!" Reese wanted to know what the intel was already, not the details of how it was obtained.

"It came up with the faces of two people with, let's say, interesting background checks." Finch held up the laptop with the two pictures on the screen.

"It looks like they started surveilling the library yesterday around 4:30pm. Early this morning, while I was walking Bear, this one" he pointed a finger at the photo of the dark haired male "broke into the library!" Finch was appalled and indignant.

"And to make matters worse, I haven't been able to find out anything about that man. Mind you I'm working with limited resources here" with that he motioned a hand at the laptop on his knees "but it does confirm my fears about the seriousness of the situation."

"Now, the woman .. what?" Reese had a strange look on his face, not at all what Finch expected.

"The man's name is Michael Westen." Reese said as Finch turned his torso toward him.

"You know him?" Finch raised an eyebrow.

"Try the CIA personnel files." Reese looked away. His past catching up to him. Again. Finch was somewhat relieved. They were not up against an unknown enemy now. They had handled the CIA before. They barely got out alive then, but at least they knew who was after them, and knowledge was power.

"An old friend of yours?" Finch let the little bit of relief he felt show through by the teasing tone of his question.

"Not really. I know him by reputation. He's supposed to be one of the best."

"How did he find us?"

"I guess he lives up to his reputation." Reese said, growing impatient with his employer's questions.

"Well, what do you think he wants."

Reese said, no emotion in his voice:

"He probably has orders to kill us, or me. The woman must be his partner."

"I rather don't think so!"

"Oh?"

"She seems to have been involved in the IRA as an explosives specialist and more recently, has pursued a career in arms smuggling. Her name, unless someone made up a very convincing fake online footprint, is Fiona Glenanne. She seems to do the name justice, too. Wherever she goes, things seem to get blown up."

"The footage sure makes it look like they are working together. She might have been undercover, or maybe the CIA turned her. Did they get into your computer system?"

"Of course not!" Finch exclaimed.

"If Westen didn't, the techs from the CIA will be at it soon."

"There'll be nothing there for them to find. I remotely destroyed the hard drives in all the library computers. It doesn't seem like anyone has tried to gain access to the building since Mr. Westen left though."

Reese nodded. As inept as Finch could appear when confronted with an unexpected situation, he seemed to end up doing the smart thing anyway. It didn't hurt that he was always so well prepared.

"They are probably waiting for me to come back there, to catch me. Even if I don't show up, my fingerprints are all over the library. They'll know they came to the right place, and they'll know I'm not working alone. They have the board with the numbers, and all the tech and weapons. They will try to find out what I've been up to, which will bring them to you." Reese paused and finally whispered: "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault, John. I knew perfectly well the risks that came with hiring you."

Reese had a pained look on his face, and Finch wished there was something he could say to stop his friend from feeling responsible for the situation they found themselves in. Reese adjusted his mood though and spoke before Finch could think of something.

"We should find a place to set up provisional headquarters. It is probably safest to consider all our existing safe-houses burned."

"I've been on that already. I found us a cottage-like place just outside the city. Not far from here actually." Finch brought up the picture of a secluded looking house, and an address, on the computer screen. Reese memorized the address automatically. "I also set up the warning sign for our detectives. They should have seen it by now, and know to destroy their phones and not try to contact us."

"Good." Reese got up. "You go set up the new safe-house. Keep in contact." With that Reese put the earwig into his ear.

"Where are you going?" Finch closed the laptop, tucked it under his arm then struggled to his feet. Holding Bear's leash in the other hand, he took after Reese.

"I'm going to take care of this situation."

"And your plan is what? Get yourself shot again?"

"No. The plan is to get the other guy shot."

Finch looked appalled.

Reese's face had become hard as he turned to look at Finch. Arguing with him would be futile now, so Finch said nothing more. Instead he watched his employee's retreating figure for a few moments then looked at the dog by his side. Bear returned a puzzled look.

~ continued in the next chapter ~