Disclaimer: I don't own the show or any of the characters. Just taking them out for a spin …

A Rainy Day in New York City

John Reese shivered slightly as he walked through the trees on the south side of Central Park, wishing he had listened to Harold's motherly admonishment to wear his trench coat this morning. It was a blustery fall day; the colour of the leaves on the hardwoods was beginning to turn, promising a spectacular display in the days to come. The colours did little to impress the ex CIA operative however. He was focused on the young woman walking on the trail just beyond the edge of the copse of trees in which he now stood concealed from sight.

She stopped and fiddled with her cell phone. He looked down at his own device, ready to pair it with the woman's, then flinched suddenly, almost yelping in surprise when his face was unexpectedly and violently lashed by one of the tree branches careening to and fro in the gusty wind. Instinctively he dropped the phone, and in an instant had drawn his pistol from its holster in the middle of his back. Hyper vigilant, his eyes searched for the source of the threat. All quiet…attacked by a tree. Good job agent. Reese put the gun back in its holster, cursing silently to himself. He reached down to pick up his fallen phone and knocked a big hunk of mud off the screen. Glancing up, he saw that the woman had put her own phone back in her knapsack and was continuing her walk towards the park exit. Damn he thought, missed the chance. He sighed and reached up to wipe a thin trickle of blood from his cheek, compliments of the whipping the tree had given his face. How was it that even in doing a seemingly non-dangerous task like following their latest number on a walk through Central Park, he managed to get yet another visible facial abrasion that Harold was going to fret over?

True to form, his employer's voice suddenly chirped in the operative's ear, sounding impatient. "Mr. Reese, I'm STILL waiting for the link with Miss Robinson's mobile device. You have been following her for over two hours. The cameras tell me she FINALLY used her phone and yet, still I have no link. You missed the only opportunity we've had so far. Are you still awake out there?"

Reese grimaced as another cold gust of wind swirled around him and slid its icy fingers down his open shirt collar. A light drizzle was starting to fall. "Still awake Harold," he growled. "I dropped the damn phone at just the wrong moment. Don't worry; I'll pair it next time."

"I advised you to wear a decent coat Mr. Reese". The 'I-told-you-so' tone in Harold's voice was grating. "If you hadn't been so stubborn I'm sure your hands would not be numb and you wouldn't be so clumsy."

Reese scowled and bit back the rude retort that jumped to the tip of his tongue. His scowl deepened as he watched the object of his surveillance walk past the park exit, stop to pull a sensible raincoat from her knapsack, don the jacket and start a second loop around the trail. The light drizzle turned into a steady rain. Just great.

Harold Finch allowed himself a slight smirk as he eyed the camera feed showing his hapless employee emerging from the copse of trees and continuing to discreetly follow the target. He could almost see Reese trembling under the onslaught of the wind and rain and found it amusing to note that the tall man, usually so graceful and composed, was looking remarkably pathetic. Like a puppy abandoned in the rain, he thought absently.

Finch made a mental note to pick up some Echinacea, chamomile tea and honey on his next excursion out of the library; can't have his asset getting sick. He found himself enjoying the anticipation of forcing the operative to take the cold remedies when he got back from the surveillance. He knew Reese would claim invincibility and fight to avoid it, but in the end, he would pout like a little boy and take his medicine. Finch wasn't sure why, but he felt oddly parental where Mr. Reese was concerned and found a large degree of comfort in doing what he could to take care of the younger man.

His fingers danced across the keyboard. "Miss Susan Robinson…" Finch stated needlessly. He had already briefed his employee on the basics but he found it helped his thought process to talk while he searched for more information on their latest number. "…24 years old and a student at Cornell University's College of Veterinary Medicine in Ithaca, New York."

"I know all that Harold" was Reese's aggravated reply. "My question is what's she doing in New York City, four hours from Ithaca, wandering around Central Park in the rain…" Finch thought he could hear the younger man's teeth chattering. "…in the rain for TWO hours and counting?"

"That's your job to determine, Mr. Reese…" Harold said sternly. "If you had listened to me this morning when I tried to tell you it was going to rain…"

"Enough Harold," came Reese's curt reply. "OK, you were right. It's cold. It's raining. I should have worn my coat….happy now?" Finch smiled in spite of himself.

"So tell me Harold", Reese continued. "Have you found ANYTHING that might tell us why the machine gave us this woman's number?" The wind howled and Reese groaned inwardly as the rain got even heavier. It was coming at him sideways now and showed no signs of stopping anytime soon.

"Nothing so far…" Finch answered. "Miss Robinson is single, living in a small apartment close to her campus…no boyfriend as far as I can see but without access to her phone, which we would have if you weren't so juvenile in refusing my advice this morning, it's hard to tell." Reese closed his eyes and willed himself not to respond to Harold's scolding .

Finch continued his monologue as he scanned the screen before him. "No money problems. She's got a student loan but nothing outlandish. She has achieved excellent academic results and all the comments from her university professors indicate that she is an outstanding student." His eyes darted to another screen. "Miss Robinson has been working on a research project for one of the tenured professors as part of her training…" Reese could hear the sound of Harold's fingers flying across the keyboard…or was it his own teeth chattering? He couldn't be sure. "The research is being led by a Dr. Daniel Fenson. Seems to have something to do with developing some kind of new drug to treat cancer in dogs", Harold went on. "Did you know Mr. Reese, that it is estimated that almost fifty percent of dogs over the age of ten will get cancer and approximately one in four of all dogs will develop cancer at some stage in their lives?"

"Fascinating," came Reese's unenthusiastic reply. He tried to look unobtrusive as he crossed an open grassy area while the woman continued her tour around the park. The grass was soaked and he could soon feel water sloshing around inside his shoes. Could this get any worse? The young woman stopped abruptly and Reese hurriedly pushed his way inside a large shrub to get out of sight before she looked in his direction. Not that there weren't other people in the park, but he definitely looked out of place, dressed as he was in a dark suit with no overcoat and soaked to the bone. She pulled her phone out of the knapsack. Oh thank God, he thought. He didn't miss it this time, finally managing to pair the young woman's phone with his own. She had just received a text message, the contents of which were odd, to say the least. "Are you getting this Harold?" he asked.

"Yes Mr. Reese. I FINALLY have access. That wasn't so hard, was it?" Reese rolled his eyes. "She has received only two texts this morning" Harold continued. "The first when you fumbled the pairing one hour ago and the second a moment ago. Odd, the first one just states, 'go around again' and the second says 'have to wait, the bushes have eyes'. Mr. Reese, I would suggest that your surveillance has been noticed." Finch's voice sounded slightly concerned.

Reese considered this. "That means someone's got counter surveillance on this woman Finch. Skilled counter surveillance…on an ordinary university student…what the heck has she got herself into?" He looked down at his phone. Susan was receiving another text. 'Sit down on the bench in front of you and wait. We need to find him'. Great, if he left his cover in the shrubs, the woman would see him. Staying put would allow whoever was doing counter surveillance to intercept him. "Finch, someone out there is starting a sweep for me. I need a distraction."

"I'll take care of it, Mr. Reese. Stay put for a few minutes while I call out the cavalry."

Reese hunkered down in the bushes and watched Susan as she sat down on a nearby bench. He was close enough to see her face now and she looked frightened. She nervously fingered her phone, her eyes darting from side to side. Glancing behind him, Reese noticed two…no three…figures moving stealthily amongst the copse of trees which he had passed through earlier. The trail he had made through the thick grass across the open field would be easy to follow once they found it, even with the heavy rain. It would lead them directly to his current hiding spot. He looked around, searching for options. Just as he was considering making a break from his concealed position, he was surprised to hear…hoof-beats. Hoof-beats? When Finch mentioned the cavalry, he wasn't kidding.

Two horses came thundering up the trail, carrying two police officers who appeared to be searching for someone. The figures moving through the trees behind him tried to hide but the police horses had already caught the scent, their nostrils flaring and fearful of the imagined predators hidden in the trees. The officers pulled their mounts to a stop and ordered the men out of hiding. Three figures emerged and Reese could hear the officers saying something about a report of a group of men hiding in the bushes and mugging joggers in the park. Reese glanced up. Susan Robinson was standing now, staring intently at the activity with the police near the trees. Reese used the distraction to break cover, quickly loping across the path and disappearing into the forest on the other side. Concealed once more, he stopped and watched as the mounted officers started herding their suspects towards the park exit. Reese could hear the men arguing but the police would take them out of the park to somewhere dry to interrogate them. He was safe for now.

"Thanks Finch." Reese watched as Susan again looked at her phone.

"Another text Mr. Reese", Harold's voice piped into his ear. This one says 'Meeting postponed. Go back to room. Walk slowly and use side streets'."

"They're trying to pick me out. Someone is still watching her." Reese glanced around, unable to spot any obvious tails. "Harold, I'm going to stay put and see if anyone follows her. Can you track her location with the cell phone?"

"I'm disappointed you have to ask, Mr. Reese." Once again Reese rolled his eyes. He shivered in spite of himself, pulling the lapels of his suit jacket as tight as he could around his neck. Susan moved away towards the park exit. Walking slowly as instructed, she couldn't help but glance behind her every few seconds. She was definitely scared of something.

Reese waited a full fifteen minutes after the woman had left before breaking cover. He tried to look casual as he walked in the opposite direction than that she had taken, conscious that his sodden suit jacket and bedraggled appearance made it obvious he had been lurking in the rain. His eyes never stopped moving, scanning the area for anyone who might be watching him. Harold's voice chirped in his ear. "She's heading downtown. Why don't you come back to the library and I'll keep track of her from here?"

"Sounds like a plan Harold", Reese replied, trying to keep the gratitude from his voice. The thought of some dry clothes and a hot coffee almost made him forget how cold he was.

Finch smiled as he watched the two screens immediately in front of him, one a street view showing Susan walking, presumably towards her hotel, and the other from a camera in the park following Reese's movements towards an alternate exit. As he watched the tall man striding across the open grassy area, Finch found himself thinking that he should put the kettle on and whip up something hot for his employee to drink. He was about to get up from his chair when he saw Reese suddenly jerk his body towards his left, one hand whipping up to his neck. He heard the agent hiss. "Something bit me…"

"John…John, what's happening?" He saw Reese pull his pistol out and start loping towards the park exit. "John, talk to me…are you okay?"

"Finch, someone shot me with some kind of a dart. Like a tranquilizer dart. Whatever it contained was injected before I could get it out of my neck…" Reese kept moving, intent upon getting out of the park before whatever chemical it was took effect.

Now Harold really was alarmed. "John, slow down…the more you exert yourself, the faster it will find its way into your bloodstream."

"Gotta keep moving Harold…no place to hide here." Reese's stride faltered slightly. Finch saw him change direction and head off the trail towards the trees, some 30 metres away.

"John, where are you going?" Harold watched the camera feed, unable to rip his eyes away from the image of the tall man heading for the only cover anywhere nearby.

"I'm starting to feel it…dizzy…" Reese's speech was slurred. "Gotta hide before I…" He stumbled. "Before I…."

Finch watched in increasing panic as Reese staggered and fell, trying to raise his pistol in a defensive posture. He saw two men then emerge from the trees, one carrying a rifle. They cautiously moved towards the fallen operative. "John! John! Look out they're coming!"

Reese's voice was a whisper, thick and garbled. "Harold, I can't…can't… see…" His arms felt like lead and the pistol fell from suddenly useless fingers. The world swam before his eyes; his stomach lurched as he fought to avoid throwing up. Reese struggled to focus as two shapes approached. His breaths came in ragged gasps as he tried to rise but his limbs were tangled and his muscles refused to obey his commands. "Harold…I…"

His hand scrabbled in the muddy grass, looking for the pistol. One of the shapes kicked it away and he felt the other roughly flip him over onto his stomach. A voice, gruff and hard, spoke from somewhere. "Go get the gator…and something to cover him". Reese grunted as a knee was forced into his back and his arms were painfully yanked together. He felt the cold steel of handcuffs snapping around his sodden wrists. He struggled against the restraints, using every ounce of strength he had left in an attempt to roll over but his drugged body betrayed him and he flailed uselessly against the unknown assailant. He was rewarded with a vicious knee to the kidneys and he grunted from the pain. "Don't move boy-o…" or you'll just make it worse for yourself." Reese could feel his consciousness slipping away and desperately increased his thrashing. The man stood and kicked him hard in the temple; Reese's head snapped back and darkness enveloped him.

Harold stood immobile, mouth open in horror, watching helplessly as John was taken. He could still hear the operative's gasping breaths over the com-link. "John, can you hear me?" Silence… The second man returned with a green six wheeled all-terrain vehicle with a large box in the back; the kind of vehicle groundskeepers used to move equipment and supplies. The two men picked the manacled agent up and roughly folded his unconscious frame into the box, then covered him with a dirty beige canvas tarp. One of them picked up John's pistol and stuck it in his waistband. The two men then jumped into the seats of the vehicle and drove out of sight of the camera Finch was watching. The bespectacled man looked on, frozen in place. He suddenly found the ability to move and jumped back to his computer to find a different vantage point. He found the gator moving with its hidden cargo towards the exit of the park. Just before they got there, the gator stopped and the man in the passenger seat flipped the tarp up and rooted around Reese's pockets. He found the cell phone, stood and crushed it under his heel. The sound of John's labored breathing ceased abruptly and Finch watched as the gator silently exited the park and disappeared onto the rainy streets of the city.

…to be continued….