The original protocols had called for a wipe-and-restore after each mission, but Harold had never liked the idea; if you wanted drones you should use drones, if you wanted to build yourself artificial operatives you should permit them to learn and grow the same as the organic ones. All the constructed memories in the world couldn’t take the place of experiential learning.

NOTES:  Harold does routine maintenance on John. Faintly creepy but also lovely. (so basically like canon. *g*)

high heeled shoes prompt fill by leupagus (for me!)

"Dare I ask?" Harold said, holding the pair of high heels the way John remembered his mother holding a dead rat.

NOTES: I am still laughing over this. Ahaha, John is the worst, and Finch is not far behind. (comment at AO3)

Outsider Perspective by neery

He didn't know where he was, he realized. He didn't know how he'd got here, or why he had some crazy stranger trying to choke the life out of him, or... or anything. Good God, he didn't remember anything

NOTES: Pretty sure everyone's already read this, but still. Seriously the best beta I ever got to do, and full of all my favorite things: amnesia, a well-written casefile, hurt/comfort, my boys being gorgeously competent and also super fail-y, pining. <3 <3 <3

Missed Connections by sevenses

SUMMARY: A selection of 'Missed Connections' postings that the Machine culled from Craigslist.

NOTES: Funny, clever, and sweet, with some direct references to episodes.

Chaos AU series by LindaO

SUMMARY: When a girl that Finch knew as a teenage intern at IFT comes up as a Number, balancing saving her with keeping his secrets turns out to be harder than anticipated.

NOTES: I was hesitant to rec this at first because the two OFCs start out borderline Mary Sue in their respective stories, but now that the series has hit 300K of smartly-written casefiles with good ensemble inclusion, solid characterization, and lots of Bechdel passing, I can safely say that's not a concern anymore. :)

Burn Up The Ashes by orockthro

For the prompt: Finch doesn't handle people he loves being put in soon-i'll-explode-and-you'll-be-left-alone situations. Another take on the gap between Number Crunch and Super, with respect to Harold and bombs and what we learned in the S2 finale. NOTES: I love Finch in this: falling apart inside but still clinging to his prickly, paranoid self-control, and ruthlessly making sure Reese is okay.

No Such Thing As Second Chances by ignipes