John Reese (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
shoots_kneecaps) wrote2012-04-05 02:11 pm
shoots_kneecaps) wrote2012-04-05 02:11 pm
Entry tags:
For LJ Comm "theatrical_muse" - Combo of topics 73, 240, & 269
Combo topic of doom: 73. Which are you more afraid of: Being too gullible and believing things that aren't true, or being too skeptical and missing out on something important? / 240. Discuss an individual who has scared you. / 269. Write about a time you were outsmarted
In my job I can't afford to be gullible. When any Number could turn out to be the victim or the perpetrator of a crime, a lack of skepticism can be a very dangerous thing.
That's why I view the "Charlie Burton" case as my biggest failure to date. Because for some reason I let appearances completely deceive me, and by the end of it I not only let a very dangerous man get away, I actually helped him further his ambitions to take over the criminal empires that exist in the city.
I've tried to analyze how he so completely outsmarted me, and all I keep coming back to is the fact that friendly, meek Charlie Burton reminded me too much of Finch. Intelligent, unassuming, dislikes guns, wants to make the world a better place, not exactly physically imposing... Very similar to Finch. And yet the whole time he was watching me -- assessing me. Gathering intel on me so he would know what he'd be up against the next time we tangled. Because meek, mild Charlie Burton turned out to be Carl Elias, a man driven by revenge and the desire to control all the crime families in the city. To kick out the foreign interests he'd been studying through their children he taught at school...
I was so taken in by the role he played that he was able to observe me and learn not only a wide range of my own skills but also that I work with someone who provides me with information. Pretty sure he even heard me call Finch by name...
It took years of training and moulding to make me what I am, and he thought rings around me. If it hadn't been for Lazlo, I probably wouldn't have figured it out until I met with Fusco and Finch on the dock.
Someone like that -- someone who reads people that well and can fool even someone with my training -- is someone to be very wary of. Considering how large his support network really seems to be, I'd even say he's someone to fear. Because he knows many of my weaknesses -- and so far, I don't know any of his.
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Muse: John Reese
Fandom: Person of Interest
Word count: 370 per WordPerfect
Crossposted to LJ at theatrical_muse
In my job I can't afford to be gullible. When any Number could turn out to be the victim or the perpetrator of a crime, a lack of skepticism can be a very dangerous thing.
That's why I view the "Charlie Burton" case as my biggest failure to date. Because for some reason I let appearances completely deceive me, and by the end of it I not only let a very dangerous man get away, I actually helped him further his ambitions to take over the criminal empires that exist in the city.
I've tried to analyze how he so completely outsmarted me, and all I keep coming back to is the fact that friendly, meek Charlie Burton reminded me too much of Finch. Intelligent, unassuming, dislikes guns, wants to make the world a better place, not exactly physically imposing... Very similar to Finch. And yet the whole time he was watching me -- assessing me. Gathering intel on me so he would know what he'd be up against the next time we tangled. Because meek, mild Charlie Burton turned out to be Carl Elias, a man driven by revenge and the desire to control all the crime families in the city. To kick out the foreign interests he'd been studying through their children he taught at school...
I was so taken in by the role he played that he was able to observe me and learn not only a wide range of my own skills but also that I work with someone who provides me with information. Pretty sure he even heard me call Finch by name...
It took years of training and moulding to make me what I am, and he thought rings around me. If it hadn't been for Lazlo, I probably wouldn't have figured it out until I met with Fusco and Finch on the dock.
Someone like that -- someone who reads people that well and can fool even someone with my training -- is someone to be very wary of. Considering how large his support network really seems to be, I'd even say he's someone to fear. Because he knows many of my weaknesses -- and so far, I don't know any of his.
---------------
Muse: John Reese
Fandom: Person of Interest
Word count: 370 per WordPerfect
Crossposted to LJ at theatrical_muse