Title: What He Can Live With

Author: Jedi Buttercup

Disclaimer: The words are mine; the world is not. I claim nothing but the plot.

Rating: PG.

Summary: Lionel has to grudgingly admire the man's recruitment methods. 500 words.

Spoilers: Person of Interest 1.10 "Number Crunch"

Notes: I did a Reese spec fic and a Carter exploration for this ep; but I neglected a canon-adjacent tag. So... Fusco; I haven't done a tag for him yet, and enough other people have done Finch for this one. Rated for language.

Lionel doesn't know how the Suit and his pal know what they know. Or why they seem to give a damn about Carter-- always wanting to know how she's doing. Wanting her protected. Why her, of all cops? Just because she's the one officially chasing them? The squeaky wheel?

What the hell does that make Lionel, then?

He supposes he should just be thankful he lived past the first time he'd threatened the guy, never mind the second. Couldn't be just because he's useful; there's obviously a shit ton of money and influence behind him, enough to buy scores of cops if he really wanted to. Case in point: the easy way he'd had Lionel moved downtown, the instant the whim took him to put an ear in Carter's precinct.

Maybe he has; maybe Lionel just doesn't know it. 'Course, it doesn't really matter from his point of view, does it?

Some days, Lionel thinks the Suit's gotta be working for some other crime family. Some days, he thinks he's trying to be some kinda Batman instead; his hat's a little too grey for Lionel to be sure which. But either way... apart from the Sword of Damocles dangling overhead, Lionel's life has changed enough these days he has to grudgingly admire the man's recruitment methods.

Somewhere between shooting him in the vest and making him bury Stills, the Suit had told him he thought Lionel was in it for the loyalty, not the money. He hadn't been wrong about that. And in moving Lionel to Homicide, giving him a better partner and the chance to make a difference for a change at a job he'd been disillusioned by a hell of a long time ago, he's training Lionel not to want to break away from his new leash even when the asshole jerks on it to remind him it's there.

Sending cameras to the office. Making comments about his digestion, for Christ's sake. Between the Suit's ninja skills and the behind the scenes wizardry of his creaky little friend, they could probably scare anyone straight.

And maybe that's why there haven't been more bodies on the ground, yet. Lionel's been kinda holding his breath on that score. Whatever reason the guy has for being in New York... whatever he and his friend are really up to... there's gotta be some kind of master plan. Nobody does what they do without good reason.

And nobody gets away with it for long regardless, not without attracting some serious attention. Carter's in the shit already. Maybe Lionel is better off at that, kept at a distance and continually reminded he's not trusted.

Unimportant. Which means: not as much of a target.

He can live with that. He can even put up with the constant surveillance, if it ups his chances of being there for his kid's next game.

...They better not get any ideas about calling him Fiasco from that aide, though. A man's got to draw the line somewhere, after all.

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