A/N I do apologize for being late with this last chapter. We were out of town for a few days and I meant to post it before we left, but there were just too many last minute things to do. I would like to thank SWWoman, Wuchel, impvme, FynnMitsuki, bcmom, and everyone else who reviewed, followed, favorited or left 'kudos' on this story. This story wouldn't be here without YOU!

A/N I've said this before, but while I absolutely LOVE epilogues, I am terrible at writing them. thanks for bearing with me. I really don't mean to end stories abruptly, sometimes it just

oO0Oo

The EMTs worked quickly and efficiently and soon both men were above ground and the sirens tracked their hurried trip towards the nearest hospital.

It would be hours yet before the two detectives could follow. First they had to secure the scene. Then they felt compelled to ensure that Elias had kept his end of the bargain.

All they were able to discover was that all four of the criminals on the bus had indeed kept their court dates. They could also confirm that Elias was back behind bars.

What had happened in between - they would never know.

Finally, Carter had a moment to call and find out to which hospital their friends had been taken. She hadn't been able to shake the fear that John hadn't made it. Nor would she until she had laid eyes on him.

Fusco spotted her talking on the phone and offered to finish up the paperwork so she could make her way to the hospital. She gratefully accepted with only the briefest moment of guilt. She'd return the favor eventually. She promised to keep him updated on what she found and left.

Once at the hospital she had another mystery to solve since there was no record of John or Finch - or anyone admitted with conditions even remotely similar. Carter was tired and frustrated and worried. But then she noticed that the hospital happened to be renovating one of its upper floors. On a hunch, she headed there next.

That was that she found Finch. He was sitting alone in a hard wooden chair in an unfinished hallway across from a closed door. One arm was in a sling, and an IV bag hung from a pole next to him. He stared at the floor in front of him and did not move until she was standing next to him, "Finch?"

He started and glanced up at her. When she saw his rather shell-shocked gaze, Carter sat down next to him, fear once again filling her chest. "How's John doing?" She asked with trepidation.

He looked at the door across from where they sat for a moment and then told her, "He's going to be alright."

Carter took her first deep breath in hours.

Finch continued. "The doctor just left. They've treated his dehydration and he was in surgery for quite some time to repair his internal injuries. They've only just settled him in his room… It's the only one on the floor completed enough to support a patient."

"Yeah - how did you manage that, anyway?"

Finch smiled slightly. "I offered to pay for the wing."

"Ah." She smiled. Then she too looked at the closed door. "Why are you out here instead of in there?"

Then Finch became uncomfortable. "Something the doctor said." He murmured.

Carter frowned, intrigued. "Finch?" She prompted.

Finch glanced sideways at her for a moment before he spoke. "The doctor is my personal physician. He's very good. I told him all that had occurred so that he could provide John with the best possible care. He also treated my own - minor injuries." Then Finch fell silent.

Carter waited patiently for him to fill the silence.

Finally he spoke. "When he compared our injuries with the story I told him, he was able to deduce how John's ribs were broken…" He swallowed and continued in a whisper. "I caused them."

Carter frowned doubtfully.

"John told me he'd grabbed my arm and pulled… I didn't realize that meant he used himself to break my fall…"

Understanding dawned, and Carter was not surprised at Finch's reaction. She'd be upset too if John sacrificed himself to save her - upset, but not surprised.

"The doctor said that a fall like that… if it didn't kill me, would have severely compromised my… disability - perhaps permanently… John understood that. And prevented it."

"And you're surprised?" Carter asked drily.

"The act very nearly killed him."

Carter took a moment to gather her thoughts. She realized that there were certain things that she understood about John a little better than his employer so she endeavored to explain. "The night I met John - that was your lawyer that got him off the hook for beating up those punks on the subway, wasn't it?"

Finch nodded, a little puzzled by the question.

"I figured it was you… You saw the footage of what happened on the train?"

Finch nodded.

"And you know John's story? - The events in his life that had brought him to that place?"

Finch nodded again.

"I don't... But at the same time… In a way... I do." She tilted her head and regarded Finch. "You know I was an interrogator."

"A very good one…" Finch commented.

"Well, I did get pretty good at reading people. And I recognized John when I saw him that night. Not by name... but I'd seen too many people in his situation not to recognize it…" She took a deep breath. "Men like John are rare. The things they can do - they can be a powerful force for good - or for evil. The worst is when a good man is led into a world of evil. It does something to them. Takes away a part of them. Not everything… just the part that matters." She pursed her lips. She wouldn't meet Finch's gaze. "When I saw that video footage and looked into John's eyes that night, that's what I saw." She was quiet for a moment, thinking of how horrible things were for John at that moment in his life. "I was afraid. I was afraid for him. You put that together with the train he was on - and the time…?"

Finch frowned at her.

"That train… at that hour of the night… there's only a few places he could've been going in his state of mind." She paused. "I'm pretty certain that if his trip hadn't been interrupted, John wouldn't have seen another morning."

Finch's eyes narrowed in sadness at that and he looked away. He'd known Mr. Reese had been near suicidal at times. He hadn't realized just how close he'd come.

"Finch - you need to understand that you gave him back a part of what he'd lost. You saved his life in a very profound way… You can't be surprised if he returns the favor once in a while."

When Finch looked like he was about to protest, Carter continued. "Plus I'm pretty sure you've saved his life a time or two since then-"

"But not at the risk of my own." Finch protested.

At that Carter raised her eyebrows. "I'm also pretty sure John would disagree with you on that. Given what I've learned about the way you two operate… You may be risking more than anyone."

The weight of responsibility Finch had been feeling was becoming slightly more manageable as they talked, and a thought occurred to him. "I believe John would credit you with changing his path that night."

She smiled in acknowledgement but pointed out. "I didn't give him a job."

Finch returned her smile and Carter was glad to see it.

After a moment's consideration he spoke. "Shall we go in and see him?" But before she could respond, Finch's smile fell as he saw something over her shoulder.

Carter turned to see Elias's right hand man approaching.

She immediately stood and pointed her sidearm at him. "What do you think you are doing here?" She demanded.

"You can relax, Detective." The man raised his hands to show he held no weapon. Then he raised the hem of his coat and slowly turned a 180 in the universal gesture of 'I'm unarmed.'

Carter relaxed, but only slightly.

The man spoke quietly. "Elias sends his sincere regrets. This-" He gestured at the hospital surroundings. "Was never his intention. He simply wanted to keep you out of the way for a time. Some of his men took things further than he intended. Be assured, they have been dealt with."

The last sentence was spoken so ominously that Finch cringed.

Then Scarface turned specifically to Carter, "There is no threat to Davida."

Carter didn't justify his statement with a response. Instead she asked, "What do you want?"

The man backed up a step. "As I said - to apologize. And to say that if you need anything-"

"Everything is taken care of, I can assure you. We have no need of 'help' from Elias." Finch interrupted drily.

The man nodded in satisfaction that his message had been delivered. It didn't not need to be welcomed. He nodded again, turned and walked away, speaking over his shoulder. "Our best wishes for a speedy recovery." And he was gone.

Carter holstered her weapon and turned to Finch. "Why don't you go in? I'll make sure our 'friend' has left the building."

Finch stood and grasped his IV pole, although the bag of fluids dripping into his vein was nearly empty. "Thank-you, Detective." He moved towards the door, then paused and turned to her. "And thank-you… for finding us."

She nodded at him, waited until the door closed behind him and then went after Elias's messenger.

oO0Oo

Finch sipped his tea. Detective Carter had returned shortly after he had begun his vigil at John's bedside. She'd sat with him for a while until a call from her partner had pulled her away. She'd departed with a promise to return later with food.

John slept. The steady beep of the heart monitor and the gentle hiss of oxygen reassured Finch that he would recover.

A nurse had stopped by to check on John and remove Finch's IV. She was able to reassure him even further. "He's responding well to his treatment. The effects of his dehydration are greatly diminished and he'll only need time and rest to recover from his other injuries. He'll be back on his feet in no time." And she'd smiled and left, not hearing Finch's murmured, 'You have no idea…'

After that, Finch was lost in his own thoughts for a while until a hoarse whisper pulled his attention to the figure in the bed.

"You okay, Finch?"

Finch smiled slightly. He was glad to see John awake, and was trying not to be surprised that the man's first thought was for his health. "Yes, Mr. Reese, I am fine. More importantly, how are you feeling?"

Reese sighed shallowly and looked at the ceiling. "Like somebody sat on my chest."

Finch's eyes widened at his words, and he -stared, only to see a ghost of a smile on John's lips. "Mr. Reese! How can you joke about it?" He demanded incredulously.

"Why not?" Reese whispered.

"You nearly died!" Finch protested.

"Yeah - but we didn't." He reached for the cup of water beside his bed and Finch moved quickly to fill the cup and hand it to him, watching to see if he would need help drinking.

"I'm fine, Finch." Reese pointed out as he drank from the cup. "Just a little sore."

Finch returned to his seat shaking his head. Reese was quite a bit worse off than, 'just a little sore.'

"You don't have to mother-hen me." Reese commented, replacing the cup on the bedside table. "I'll be up and around in a few days… back to working the numbers." A thought occurred to him. "Were we right? Was it Elias that locked us up?"

"Yes," Finch responded. "Apparently he had a meeting he did not want us to interrupt. Our detective friends and, apparently, Bear managed to locate and rescue us."

Reese nodded, processing the information. "I'm guessing things didn't turn out exactly as Elias expected?"

"Yes - he actually had the nerve to send one of his men to apologize. He himself is back behind bars"

Reese nodded to himself and rested his head back on the pillow. He would deal with Elias later- when he wasn't quite so 'sore.'

"Mr. Reese, I do have one question, if you feel up to it."

Reese raised an eyebrow a tiny bit.

"How did Bear find us? How did he get out of the library?"

There was a hint of a smirk. "That's two, Finch."

Finch raised his own eyebrows - for a man who had just beaten death, Reese was certainly in a good mood. But then again, perhaps beating death was enough to raise one's spirits.

"Second chances, Finch. There's always a possibility that neither of us makes it back to the library. There's no way I would lock Bear up without knowing he could get out if he had to. He has his own… emergency exit. Don't worry - it's secure. As for how he found us?" Reese shook his head. "I have no idea. He's a smart dog. Maybe he accessed your computers."

Reese's mood was contagious and Finch felt his own heart lighten. "I suppose there are numerous stories of dogs finding their home or their owner against incredible odds..."

John nodded and continued softly in a different direction, "And Finch? Do you think we could turn up the air conditioning in the library - just for a while?"

At that Finch smiled. "Agreed, Mr. Reese. Agreed."

At that moment, Carter returned with a bag of take out. Seeing John was awake but barely keeping his eyes open, she smiled. "Hey, sleepyhead. How're you doing?"

John replied, "Better than expected, thanks to you."

Carter huffed a breath and was about to protest when Finch stood, holding the bag of food she had handed to him.

"I thank-you for the meal, Detective." He said sincerely. "If you will be staying for a bit, I would go make certain Bear is properly rewarded for his actions... and retrieve some reading materials."

John's eyebrow quirked slightly at Finch's obvious intention to 'baby-sit' him for the duration. He would've sighed, but taking deep breaths was still quite painful, so he resisted the urge.

Carter saw his reaction as Finch left and smirked. "He takes good care of you, John. You should be grateful." She teased. "You need someone looking after you."

"Mm." Was the only response. "He worries."

Her smirk softened and she came to sit on the side of the bed. "With good reason, I'd say." His slow blink told her he wouldn't be awake much longer, so she continued. "Speaking of people who look out for you, you should know that I never would have figured out what happened to you two without the help of a woman named Joan." She watched carefully and saw a tiny reaction to the name in his eyes. "She said she looked after you for a time..." She paused to let him elaborate on that story, but unsurprisingly, his eyes just slid away to look into the past.

She smiled softly and let it go. Maybe someday he would share that story with her, but not today. She could see he was slowly fading and she figured he probably wouldn't remember much of this conversation when he woke up anyways. "I'm glad you're okay." She told him sincerely.

He smiled slightly and dragged his eyelids upwards once more. "Because of you." He murmured, the drugs in his system tugging at him. "Thank-you, Joss." And he gave in to the sleep his body needed.

"Any time, John." She said and lightly rested her hand on his. "Any time."

oO0Oo

END!
oO0Oo

A/N - I hope that wasn't too abrupt. Please leave a note and let me know what you thought, now that it's over. Thanks! Papaya

(A/N - and yes, for those of you who still want to know, "Solitudes" - Stargate SG-1 - s1 e17 is probably my favorite story of all time, and served as inspiration for this one. Virtual cookies to everyone who recognized it. :-D)