Harold merely hums his thanks when John returns with the tea, taking the cup between his hands and studying his friend carefully as he waits to let his drink cool down before taking a first sip. He tries not to react at what John has to say about a particular article in the paper, though he's not sure he succeeds as well as he'd like to think.
At a certain point, Harold had grown rather incapable of hiding his concern for this man, no matter how many times he might have watched John somehow slip just between the cracks of death's door. Worrying had become synonymous with sending John after another number, and Harold doesn't regret saving all the people they have but that hadn't made it any easier to acknowledge that John might not come back one day. He'd been terrified he'd never see his friend again after Detective Carter's death, that John's grief truly would overcome him; but they'd still had a purpose then.
That's something they need to find again, here in Darrow, but that's a matter to discuss later. Right now, Harold silently opens the paper, scanning the pages until he spots what he's looking for.
The man in the photo accompanying the article is unmistakably John. He reads the words 'homeless man found' and 'beach' and 'John Reese' before he's already pushing the paper away, refusing to make eye contact as he takes a drink of tea. If it burns, he doesn't notice. Doesn't care. It stings, oddly, having seen the article, there's a sense of guilt Harold knows isn't rational but feels all the same. He'd been able to help John in New York, give him a reason to do more, to help people. Either there hadn't been a Harold Finch in this other Darrow, or that Harold Finch is not a man worth knowing.
Either way, there's a John Reese who's dead.
"To be perfectly honest with you, I'm don't quite know what to say," Harold finally admits. "Saying 'I'm sorry' doesn't seem quite right but neither does anything else. Are you alright, knowing this? I can't imagine it's especially easy reading something like this about yourself, even if it is about a different version of you."
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At a certain point, Harold had grown rather incapable of hiding his concern for this man, no matter how many times he might have watched John somehow slip just between the cracks of death's door. Worrying had become synonymous with sending John after another number, and Harold doesn't regret saving all the people they have but that hadn't made it any easier to acknowledge that John might not come back one day. He'd been terrified he'd never see his friend again after Detective Carter's death, that John's grief truly would overcome him; but they'd still had a purpose then.
That's something they need to find again, here in Darrow, but that's a matter to discuss later. Right now, Harold silently opens the paper, scanning the pages until he spots what he's looking for.
The man in the photo accompanying the article is unmistakably John. He reads the words 'homeless man found' and 'beach' and 'John Reese' before he's already pushing the paper away, refusing to make eye contact as he takes a drink of tea. If it burns, he doesn't notice. Doesn't care. It stings, oddly, having seen the article, there's a sense of guilt Harold knows isn't rational but feels all the same. He'd been able to help John in New York, give him a reason to do more, to help people. Either there hadn't been a Harold Finch in this other Darrow, or that Harold Finch is not a man worth knowing.
Either way, there's a John Reese who's dead.
"To be perfectly honest with you, I'm don't quite know what to say," Harold finally admits. "Saying 'I'm sorry' doesn't seem quite right but neither does anything else. Are you alright, knowing this? I can't imagine it's especially easy reading something like this about yourself, even if it is about a different version of you."