#shootsecretsanta

“So the Machine wants us to go into our next mission flying blind?” Shaw shook her head. “Usually I’d be up for this sort of thing, but you barely just recovered from that GSW. Now is not the time to play hide and seek with the details.” “There has to be a good reason for her to keep this information from us,” Root said. “Besides, I’m fully healed now.” She lifted up the hem of her shirt to reveal a shiny pink scar just under her right ribs. “See? Good as new.” Shaw shook her head. “Just because you look fine on the outside doesn’t mean that it doesn’t still hurt on the inside, Root.” The words were simple but Root could tell that there was much more meaning behind them than Shaw let on. She raised an eyebrow in question and Shaw responded by rolling her eyes. “I’ve been gutshot too, remember? Coming back from the dead ain’t as easy as it sounds.” “It’s not too bad if you have your own personal physician to make sure that you’re healing properly,” Root teased. “Anyway,” Shaw said, changing the subject, “why should we even go on this mission if the Machine doesn’t trust us with the number’s identity?” “Consider it an adventure, Sameen. It’s not that she doesn’t trust us; the Machine assures me that there is nothing to worry about and that She just didn’t want the number’s identity to cloud our judgment.” “Who could it possibly be that would cloud our judgment?” Shaw asked. Root gave her pleading look and Shaw threw up her hands. “Fine. Your baby Machine better know what it’s doing,” she grumbled. “So what’s the plan?” Root listened intently to the Machine in her ear and nodded along in understanding. “There’s a charity event tomorrow night at the Waldorf Manor in the upper east side hosted by Robert Waldorf III himself.”

“He’s got a number after his name? Ugh, I hate him already.”

“Waldorf has connections to various criminal groups in New York, though it has never been proven. To the average New York citizen he’s just a very, very successful businessman and philanthropist. Our number was abducted on his orders and is being held somewhere inside the mansion. We need to secure invitations to this party, find and free the number, and then escape without getting noticed.” Shaw nodded. “Sounds easy enough. I assume the Machine will be supplying us with the invites to this party?” Root smiled. “You assumed correctly.” She paused and listened again as the Machine provided her with additional information. “Hold on, there’s...a second part to this mission,” Root relayed the Machine’s message to Shaw. “Also hidden at the mansion is a hard drive containing the identities and objectives of every undercover intelligence agent at the CIA. This information was probably obtained during Samaritan’s time and is likely being sold to the highest bidder.” “If any of this information gets leaked, who knows what kind of chaos it could cause. Not to mention all the lives that would be put at risk.”

“Exactly. That’s why we’ll need to retrieve the hard drive and destroy it as soon as possible.”

“Alright - what are we waiting for, then? We have a party to crash.” . . . . “Caitlyn Kennedy and Mara Walker,” Root announced their cover names to the doorman as they approached the grand doors to Waldorf Manor where the party was being held. Root wore a navy blue dress while Shaw wore one in her signature black. A security guard standing by searched through their bags as the the doorman took out his tablet and scanned it for the names. He nodded and looked back up. “Ms. Kennedy; Ms. Walker - this way, please,” he gestured politely for them to enter. They retrieved their bags from the security guard and proceeded into the grand corridor towards the ballroom. The sound of light chatter and clinking glass reached their ears as they walked through the large corridor and into the grand ballroom. “So who do you think would be abducted and imprisoned by someone this rich and powerful?” Shaw asked lowly, surveying the room. “I guess we’re about to find out,” Root answered. “In approximately seven minutes, the security guard at the west doors will leave his post to go for a cigarette break. There will be a 42-second window before his relief comes to take over the post. During this time, we will need to leave through the west doors undetected. The Machine will loop the surveillance footage so that we won’t be detected on the cams, and we’ll need to create a small diversion so that we can move.” Shaw nodded imperceptibly while grabbing a handful of canapés off of a passing tray. “And where do we go once we get through the doors?” she asked, stuffing the food into her mouth. “The number is being held somewhere on the third floor. The Machine will give us directions once we get up there.” Shaw looked around the room looking for a drink, and as if out of nowhere, Root produced a flute of champagne and pressed it into Shaw’s hand. “Where did you- actually y’know what, never mind. I’ve learned not to question anything when it comes to you and the Machine,” Shaw said as she downed the champagne in one gulp. “Thanks, sweetie,” Root beamed, taking the empty glass back from Shaw and tossing it into the corner of the room, causing it to shatter upon impact with the floor. “Move - now!” Root whispered, gesturing to the direction of the west doors while heads turned towards the sound of the shattered glass. They quickly made their way out of the west doors and into the hallway, staying close to the walls to avoid detection. They headed towards the grand staircase and Shaw had started to ascend the stairs when Root grabbed onto her elbow and pulled her back. “What the hell, Root?” Shaw whispered, “aren’t we supposed to go to the third floor?” Root smiled. “Minor detour, Sam.” Root pulled Shaw into an empty guestroom nearby and shoved her up against the wall, lifting a finger to her lips to signal for Shaw to keep quiet. “Well this is cozy,” Root teased, still holding the shorter woman against the wall with her own body. Shaw was about to shove Root off of her but froze when the sound of footsteps approached from outside in the hallway. 

The door to the room opened and a man wearing a tuxedo entered, chatting on his phone. He stopped when he saw the two women pressed up against the wall.

“Oh, e-excuse me, I didn’t think anyone was in here,” he stammered, turning around to leave. 

“I’m sorry too,” Root said, swiftly pulling out a hot pink taser from out of nowhere and shoving it into the man’s neck.

The man slumped to the ground, unconscious, and Root raised her eyes to meet Shaw’s questioning look. Root shrugged. “I borrowed this from Zoe. The ones I have are too bulky to smuggle in the back of my dress.”

“Well that’s nice that you guys share weapons and all, but I’m wondering why we had to tase the guy.” Shaw gestured to the unconscious form on the floor. “He was going to leave.”

“Oh, that. The Machine says that we need to tie him up and take his clothes.”

“And I suppose this is all part of the mysterious plan?”

Root shrugged. “I only do what I’m told. We’ll find out eventually what the Machine has in store.”

Shaw rolled her eyes. “Right.”

Root rummaged through a nearby linen closet and pulled out a bathrobe. She removed the belt of the bathrobe and the both of them quickly tied up the man and dumped him onto the bed. Root grabbed a pillowcase and stuffed it into the man’s mouth so that he would not be able to alert anyone when he regains consciousness. They grabbed the clothes and proceeded out of the bathroom and back into the hallway. 

Shaw followed Root up the staircase and down yet another hallway until they stopped in front of one of the doors. 

Root put down the clothes and turned to Shaw. “Two armed men. Both on the left side of the room. We have the element of surprise. The tallest one has a bad right knee, so you’ll take him out first while I tase the other.”

Shaw nodded, kicking off her heels. 

“On my count,” Root whispered, “One...two...three!”

Shaw used her shoulder to ram open the door and immediately headed toward the tallest man, kicking in his right knee and relieving him of his sidearm when he doubled over in pain. She knocked him out cold with a blow to the back of the head using the handle of her pistol. Shaw glanced over at Root who had tased the second man and also taken his weapon.

They looked over towards the other side of the room and spotted their number. A man standing with his back towards them and his hands bound and tied with rope to a light fixture above his head. His face was obscured by a black hood, but Shaw knew that this man was no stranger to her or Root. 

As they approached the figure and Root reached up to remove the hood, realisation dawned on Shaw. That face (and that ass) was unmistakable. Oh, shit. It’s- “Tomas! What a surprise,” Root greeted in her saccharine sweet voice that Shaw knew she only reserved for people she really, really wanted to stab. This would explain why the Machine chose not to reveal the identity of the number ahead of the mission.

“I’m sorry, I don’t think we’ve met,” Tomas replied, a look of confusion on his face. He look over toward Shaw and the confused look turned into a wide grin. “Now there’s a face I recognise!”

Root rolled her eyes. “I’d hate to interrupt this reunion, but we’re on a bit of a clock.”

Tomas nodded. “I’d love to get out of here as soon as possible too, but…” he motioned with his chin to his hands which were still tied up above his head. 

Shaw spotted a folding knife tucked in the boot of one of the unconscious men. She walked over to retrieve the knife and proceeded to cut down the rope. 

Tomas smiled. “It’s been a while. I see you’re still in the business of saving my life.”

Shaw snorted. “Don’t flatter yourself, Tomas. I’m in the business of saving lives in general. Although I see that you’re still in the business of getting into trouble with powerful people.”

“Well I have to keep things interesting,” Tomas said as Shaw severed the last ligaments of rope holding him up. He rubbed his wrists to bring back the circulation into them. “My offer still stands if you ever want to-” his words were interrupted as Root shoved the tuxedo into his face.

“You’ll need to put this on - quickly.”

Tomas shrugged and started shedding his clothes. Root and Shaw turned around to give him some privacy.

“Hey, what’s up with you?” Shaw whispered to Root out of earshot.

“We have another mission to finish, and it can’t exactly wait while you and Mr. Charming Thief get reacquainted.”

“So,” Tomas said as tucking in his shirt as he walked up to them, “What’s the plan?”

“There is a very important hard drive hidden somewhere in this building-”

“I know where it is,” Tomas chimed in.

Shaw looked over at him. “You do?”

“You don’t think it’s pure coincidence that I was abducted and held here, do you? I worked a job with a new group recently and overheard them talking about this hard drive and how it contains very sensitive government information - the kind of information can be very dangerous if accessed by the wrong people.”

“And so you came here to retrieve this hard drive out of the goodness of your own heart?” Root responded. “Didn’t think you were the selfless type, Tomas.”

“I figured it wouldn’t hurt to ask for a little bit of spare change in exchange for our government’s deepest secrets.” A look of intrigue crossed Tomas’ face. “I’m sorry - who are you again?”

“You can call me Root. I work closely with Sameen here.”

Tomas turned to Shaw. “Ah, so it’s Sameen. I never thought you looked much like a Nadya.”

Shaw shrugged. “Believe me, it’s not a name I would have chosen for myself.”

“Anyway,” Root continued, “Tomas, since you know where the drive is being kept, you and Sameen will need to go and retrieve them.” She turned to Shaw.”There’s a surveillance room on the second floor. I will hack into the mansion’s security system and disable it while you two retrieve the drive. The security system can only stay offline for 15 minutes before it automatically reboots, so you’ll need to get out of there by then or risk getting caught - do you think you and Tomas can handle that?”

“Of course - this is what I’m good at,” Tomas said, winking at Shaw.

“Subtle,” Root murmured, rolling her eyes. She headed towards the door. “No time to waste now, kids - let’s move.” 

They split up - with Root headed towards the security room and Shaw and Tomas in search of the room holding the hard drive.

“Your friend - she doesn’t like me very much, does she?” Tomas asked as he led the way down the hall. 

“She’s not really a people person,” Shaw replied, checking to see how many rounds she had left in the magazine of her stolen gun.

Tomas held up a hand to signal Shaw to stop as they approached the room containing the  hard drive. They crouched down on either side of the door to listen for movement inside and Shaw heard the familiar crackle in her ear as the comms turned on. 

“Hey sweetie. How are we on finding that drive?”

“We’re workin’ on it. You found the security room yet?”

“Already here,” Root said, watching the screens. “You’ve got fifteen minutes starting now. There are two guards waiting for you on the other side of that door. Take them out and then find the safe hidden behind the Monet painting on the east wall.”

“And then let Tomas work his magic on the safe. Got it.”

Root scrunched up her nose. “I wouldn’t really call it ‘magic’, more of a convenient skill. If you want magic, I can show you later-“

Shaw rolled her eyes as she tapped to turn off her earpiece. She turned to Tomas. “I’ll take out the bad guys, you crack the safe. It’s behind the Monet painting on the east wall.”

Tomas nodded and Shaw proceeded to knock on the door.

A tall, burly man in a suit opened the door. “What are you doing here? You’re not supposed to be in this area.”

“I saw a suspicious looking man walk down the hall just now,” Shaw said, pointing down the corridor.

The man craned his head to look down the hall and Shaw quickly knocked him out with her pistol. 

“Hey! What’s going on?” The second man shouted, rushing towards the door and looking down at his fallen comrade.

“Just trying to see how long it would take for you to figure out that it’s not smart to turn your back on an opponent,” Shaw deadpanned.

“What?” 

Before the man had a chance to draw his gun, Shaw had already jumped on his back and put him into a sleeper hold. Once he slumped to the ground, Shaw looked up at Tomas. “Get to the safe. We have eight minutes before the security system comes back on and the alarm goes off.”

They ran to the Monet painting and took it down, revealing the antique safe embedded in the wall behind it. 

“I don’t have any of my tools with me, so I’ll have to improvise.”

Shaw grinned. “Who doesn’t love a good challenge?”

Shaw stood guard as Tomas carefully turned the dial on the safe, listening for subtleties in the clicks that would indicate the numbers of the combination.

At the sound of approaching footsteps, Shaw quickly drew her gun and pointed it at the direction of the door.

“Hey kids, having fun?” Root asked, casually stepping over the two unconscious bodies by the door and walking into the room.

Shaw relaxed and lowered her weapon. “Root. How are we on time?”

“You’ve got two minutes and twenty-seven seconds before the security system comes back on and the alarm goes off.” She turned to Tomas. “No pressure,” she chirped.

Tomas grinned. “I thrive under pressure,” he said, continuing his work on the safe.

They all heard a click as the safe door swung open and revealed the hard drive inside. 

“Nice work,” Shaw said to Tomas as Root took out the hard drive and put it into her bag. 

Root headed toward the door. “Let’s go!”

Shaw and Tomas quickly followed Root back out into the hallway.

“We need to get back into the ballroom and leave through the front door,” Root instructed. “When the security system reboots, the lights will go out for five seconds. We need to get back into the ballroom through the west doors during those five seconds.”

Tomas turned to Shaw, “How does she know all this?”

Shaw shook her head. “You don’t wanna know.”

They arrived at the west doors just as lights shut down. Shaw quickly slipped through the doors and back into the ballroom. Tomas was about to follow when they heard footsteps hurry toward them.

“Hey! What are you two doing here? You are not allowed in this area of the property!”

Thinking quickly, Root swiftly punched Tomas in the stomach and he doubled over in pain. She patted his back and looked up at the security guard approaching them. 

“We’re so sorry. My husband must have eaten something that did not agree with his stomach so we’re just trying to find a bathroom - right honey?”

“Yeah, I think it must have been the shrimp,” Tomas groaned through his teeth.

“Only authorised personnel are allowed in this part of the property. There’s a bathroom if you go back through the ballroom.”

Root flashed him a smile. “Thank you, we really appreciate it!”

They went back through the doors into the ballroom where Shaw was waiting. 

“What happened to you two?” Shaw asked, eyeing Tomas who was still doubled over in pain. 

“We got spotted by one of the security guys just as we were about to follow you. I had to think fast.” Root turned to Tomas. “I’m really sorry about that, but I suppose you’d rather endure a little punch to the stomach than a bullet to the head?” She asked, absolutely no trace of remorse in her voice. “Well if you put it that way,” Tomas grunted, still wincing.

Shaw raised an eyebrow at Root, who shrugged innocently. “Anyway, it looks like we did what we came here to do. Now, before we leave I need to get me some more of those truffled quail eggs.”

. . . .

“I guess it’s time for me to say goodbye. Thank you for getting me out of there, ladies,” Tomas said once the three of them had returned to the safehouse and wiped the hard drive. “We work pretty well together. Let me know if you’re both ever in the market for a more lucrative career.”

Shaw snorted. “As tempting as that sounds, I think I’d rather avoid pissing off obscenely rich people with connections to the mob.”

“Well that’s too bad,” Tomas said, stepping toward Shaw to give her a goodbye kiss on the cheek. “We could have made a great team.”

Shaw glanced over his shoulder at Root, who was perched on the dining table with a tight grip on her taser. Tomas turned around and approached Root, extending his hand to shake hers.

“I can see why Sameen turned down my offer last time,” he said low enough so that Shaw couldn’t hear. “Looks like there are things that she cares about here.” He winked at Root before turning around. “Well, I’ve got a plane to catch. Got a job in Paris that promises a lot of adventure and of course a lot of money. I hope to see both you you again sometime - although maybe under different circumstances.” 

After Tomas left, Root hopped off the table and sauntered towards Shaw. “Well I can definitely understand what you saw in him - he really is very charming.”

“And yet I’m still here putting my life on the line to work as a vigilante with zero pay and no 401K.”

“We also have a dog.”

“He’s the only reason I’m still here.”

“The only reason?”

“Fine, I guess there are a few perks to the job.”

“Why don’t we head to the bedroom and I’ll show you a few of those perks right now?”

But the neighborhood is quiet. Well, not that it shouldn't be, this early on a Saturday morning, but when Root's involved in anything there's usually some degree of chaos. Oddly, nothing seems to be out of place. No smoke means no fire, no screaming means no gunshots have recently gone off. The only person running like their life depended on it, is Shaw, who's starting to wonder if she's even at the right place. 

But it is the right place. 314 Avenue C. And Shaw knows this because it says so. Right there on the door. Behind Root. 

The woman who cried wolf lounges casually at the foot of the stoop, without a scratch on her head or a single care in the world. And though Shaw is somewhat relieved by the sight of neither dead nor dying Root, it doesn't make her any less perturbed, being pulled out of bed at the brink of dawn because someone can't quite grasp what constitutes an emergency. 

Shaw drags her feet the rest of the way, shoving her hands deep into her coat pockets so Root can't see how tightly they're balled into fists. She doesn't want to do anything she might regret, like punch a certain grin off a certain someone's face. Not until she has a valid reason at least. 

“Good morning,” Root sing songs in her usual pleasant way. 

“What is it this time?” Shaw asks, bypassing formalities completely. The faster she gets to the point, the faster she can turn down whatever it is and go home. 

“Let's see...” Root glances to the imaginary watch on her wrist. “Fifty-eight city blocks in less than twelve minutes. Wow, Shaw! I think you broke your old record.”

Shaw's eyes flutter into the back of her head. “Why am I here, Root?”

“Isn't that the age old question?” Root ambles to her feet with a large cup of coffee in hand. “Whole milk. No sugar. Just the way you like it,” she says, extending it towards a wary Shaw. 

Whether it's a hot cup-o-bribery or a peace offering, Shaw isn't sure, but she takes it anyway. “You know, this doesn't even begin to make up for-”

“Do you like hunting?” Root asks peculiarly and out of nowhere. 

Shaw just blinks. There isn't enough caffeine in this coffee, or in the entire city of New York, to help prepare her for the roller coaster that is Root's cryptics. 

The first thing that comes to mind is fugitive tracking of course, a literal man hunt. Now that, Shaw could get on on board with. But knowing Root, it's probably nothing so obvious and easy. It's two very different things, what Shaw thinks and what Root actually means. 

“It depends,” Shaw says, reluctant to commit without details first. She's learned the hard way too many times before. “What the target is... if I can shoot them... but mostly, my mood.”

“And...” Root leans in on the tips of her toes, “What kind of mood do you currently find yourself in this lovely day?”

“The pistol whipping kind of mood if you don't cut the crap and tell me what you want.”

Root pouts half-heartedly, slipping a piece of paper from her coat pocket, to which Shaw snatches and unfolds. Written on it, in barely legible hacker scrawl, is a list of addresses that still do everything but answer Shaw's question. 

“They're apartments,” Root clarifies. “I need your help finding one.”

A map could do a better job. Hell, Root's practically got a GPS system and then some squawking in her ear. But maybe it's more than that, Shaw thinks. Maybe there's a bomb planted in one, or a missing person tied to a radiator. Looking closer at the list, she finds a four digit number beside each address. Next to that, some kind of code... 2/1 1700SF W/D... 

But it isn't until Shaw reads the part about “no pets” that she shoves the paper back at Root. 

“This is why you 911'd me? To help you house hunt!” Shaw says, gaping in amazement. “Are you out of your damn mind?”

Root throws her an obvious look. 

“I thought you were...” Hurt. Dying. Both. The potential of either could light a fire of apocalyptic proportions under Shaw's ass, and Root seems to relish the fact. “Do you know how many traffic laws I just broke?”

Root shrugs. “All of them, I imagine.”

Shaw deadpans her for a moment, mystified as she internally debates whether or not she should spoil her knuckles today with an all you can beat buffet of Root's face. Shaw nearly mowed down a group of tourists crossing the street, sideswiped about a dozen parked cars, ran every single red light while doing quadruple the speed limit. For christsake, she car jacked someone at gunpoint. And for what? For the exciting, once in a lifetime mission of finding analogue-interfull-of-shit a place to live?

“Happy hunting,” Shaw eventually says and turns heel in the opposite direction. And of course it isn't the last word. Root follows on her heals and whines in her wake, with things like please and wait and a few pet names she isn't allowed to call Shaw in public. 

“You're bored, I get it,” Shaw tells her in stride. “The Machine gave you the day off, so instead of annoying relevant numbers, you've decided to annoy me instead. I get it.”

“No, that isn't-” Root groans in frustration. “Will you please just hear me out?” and she hooks an arm around Shaw's to stop her. “I called you because, one, I value your opinion. And two, I thought you'd like to be a part of a mutually beneficial decision.”

“How in the world does this benefit me?”

“Think of it like this. The sooner I get a key to my own place, the sooner you can have yours back,” Root says and places an encouraging hand on Shaw's shoulder, which is batted off not a second later when the information is really processed.

“You have a key to my apartment?”

“I made copies.”

“Wait. Copies, plural?” As in more than one? “Seriously, Root. What the fuck.”

“Look, we can stand here, arguing semantics for the next 45 seconds until your stolen vehicle is swarmed by cops, plural, or...” Root jingles a set of car keys like a carrot on a stick. “I'll even let you drive,” she adds, and Shaw doesn't have much time to mull it over, not with all the sirens wailing in the distance. 

“Fine,” Shaw finally agrees, though it was a tough decision to make. The back seat of a squad car or Root's- where is her car? 

She presses the clicker and follows the faint little beep across the street, to where the vintage muscle car sits. Not just any muscle car though, a cherry red, 1967 Mustang twin turbo V8 in pristine condition. And Shaw knows this, because it looks just like the car Harold has, locked in his garage. The one he brags about all the time, having spent years restoring it to near mint. The one he never drives or lets anyone else drive, for the matter. 

“How'd you get Finch to lend you his car?” Shaw asks, quickly realizing how dumb her question sounds aloud. Especially to Root, who just throws her head back and laughs. 

…

The first stop of the list is on the upper east side, to a twenty something story apartment building fitted with a starch press suited doorman and a security guard station, which Shaw deems is more for appearances sake. Armed with walkies, flashlights, and pens for the sign in sheet, they let Root and Shaw breeze right by with their fake ID's and concealed weapons.

It's no surprise when Root hits the “P” for penthouse button in the elevator. She's not exactly the humble type, or one to underplay any sort of small endeavor.

A well dressed blonde woman greets them right off the elevator, shining a permanent smile of all veneer that never lets up even while she speaks. Root gingerly accepts the pamphlet offered, glossing over it as she absently wanders about the main living area, which is two times bigger than Shaw's entire apartment. And white. All white. The carpets, the walls, even the staging furniture. Lord forbid anyone so much as whisper the words red wine or tomato sauce, or in Root's predictable case, blood. 

“Seems nice,” Root says while Shaw shuffles alongside like a bored child. 

“Then buy it.” The sooner Root signs the deal, the sooner she can get back to her regularly scheduled program of having absolutely nothing to do on her day off. 

“The master bath apparently has a built in sauna...” Root gives her a little nudge, “Guess how many settings the smart shower has?”

“Enough to replace me.”

“Not likely,” but then Root lowers the pamphlet in introspect. “Unless I could program it to be mean to me...”

“Ha. Ha.”

“I'm gonna have a look around.”

“And I...” Shaw scans the room, searching for the oasis in this desert of white hell, “...will see you later,” and she branches off towards the refreshment table.

It's probably the best thing about an open house. Well, if you're Shaw and you have no intent on buying anything. The free food. And not just tired old finger sandwiches either. The last time Shaw's seen a spread like this, she was undercover at a political fundraiser for what's his name running for office of who cares. 

Shaw sips a bellini from a flute as she grazes the table, helping herself to a little of this and that. At some point she does make threatening eye contact with the foolish person who tried reaching for the last salmon wrap, but all is pleasant and well for the most part. She get's to explore her pallet, Root gets to explore the apartment. A win-win so far in her book. 

“God! You wont believe the offer that tacky-khaki couple just proposed.”

Inconspicuously, Shaw glances a little ways to her right. The fake toothed woman who greeted them earlier stands with another, conversing in whispers and hushed voices. Well they'd like to believe no one else can hear them.

“An open house... what was Harriet thinking? Letting anyone waltz in off the street?”

“We'll have to fumigate when this is over.”

“Would you look at all the riff-raff?”

Shaw follows the acrylic red finger nail as it not so discretely flicks across the room. Of all the people scattered about the living area, she decides to pick out Root. 

“What do you think her net worth is?”

“If that ugly leather jacket's anything to go by. I saw holes in it.”

“And the hair...

“I like her boots though...”

“So did I- five seasons ago!”

Their annoying laughter eventually fades into the violin music, but Shaw's temper continues on it's high note. In her head, she's already plotted half the steps towards their accidental deaths, because no one – no one – is allowed to talk crap about Root. Except for Shaw, that is. 

And under any other circumstance, she'd just go over there and confront the two women with a lesson in manners. Incidentally, fists are a great learning tool for most people. 

Oh, but where would that get her? Wanted by the police, probably, if that little car jacking stunt didn't already land a warrant for her arrest. But it would be fun, well fun for Shaw, to give those rent-a-cops downstairs a run for their money. 

No, she eventually decides. There are more subtle ways to exact revenge. 

She sidles over to the group of young hipsters first, who have gathered by the fire place pretending to admire the brickwork. 

“Did one heck of a clean up on this place, huh?” she says, cutting into their conversation at just the right moment. 

They turn to her with mixed expressions. “What do you mean?” one of them asks. 

Shaw leans in. “Oh, you don't know?” she says in a hushed voice, so secretive and curious, it demands the group's undivided attention. All but one.

The guy with thick rimmed glasses just scoffs at her. “What? Did some dude die here or something?”

“More like dudes. Plural,” Shaw replies and glasses guy stops laughing. “A few months back, this tech company was having their big launch party here. Well, during the party, one of the partners totally loses it and I mean loses it. I heard, it was because the other partners were trying to cut him out... guess he thought he'd beat them to it.” and she unfolds the rest of the scene, in graphic detail with complementary stabbing gestures. To the point, a few of them turn a sickly shade of pale. 

But glasses guy, the apparent leader of the pack, needs more convincing. 

“Come on! How do you not remember this?” Shaw says, and name drops a famous New York magazine that all the people like them claim to read but never do. 

And suddenly, him and the rest of the group are singing a different tune, nodding their heads and collectively muttering things like: Oh yes, I remember that article and Such a tragedy and It's too bad, I heard they were really up and coming... 

“Yeah.” Shaw gazes solemnly at the fireplace. “That's where they found the head... threw it like it was a bowling ball.”

Like before, they stare at the fireplace. Albeit, in utter silence and for new and morbid reasons now, but Shaw takes it as her cue to move on. 

And move on she does, to the pleasant older couple standing by themselves in the kitchen, which is also bigger than Shaw's apartment as well. They look a bit out of place. Suburban, perhaps midwestern. Shaw isn't sure just yet, but they definitely aren't like the rest of the people who live here. 

“Excuse me,” Shaw says, all smile and cheer. “I couldn't help but notice, you two aren't from around here, are you?”

“Oh, heavens no!” The woman replies. Her accent is unmistakably southern and thick as molasses. “We're visiting our daughter. She just graduated from NYU!”

“Edna, you don't gotta tell everyone we meet,” the husband grumbles. “Hell, half of New York City knows by now.”

“No, it's fine,” Shaw politely reassures them. “You two must be very proud. Are you looking to move here as well, or?”

The woman side eyes the man. “Well, I would like to... It'd be nice to live closer to our little girl. Not  to mention the broadway... But Richard here's an old stick in the mud.” she leans in to whisper only to Shaw, “He doesn't take to change very well.” The man grumbles again. 

“I totally understand. When I first moved here, it took me a while to get acclimated. I mean, the first time I was mugged-”

“You were mugged?” The woman clasps her chest. “Oh, you poor thing!”

“Yeah, well,” she shrugs, “You get used to it. After a dozen times or so it's just like muscle memory. Wallet, phone, jewelry, please don't kill me.” Shaw acts it out like a routine. The grand finale, pulling the bottom of her shirt. “I was stabbed a block away from here, wanna see the scar?”

Their southern manners come to a full stop and they leave without so much as a goodbye or a bless your heart. Filled with a sense of crudely gained accomplishment, Shaw blows the smoke from the imaginary barrel of her imaginary gun and sets her sights on other targets. 

One by one, they're taken out. She tells the uptight newly weds the apartment had been used as a movie set for prestigious films such as Gang-Bangs of New York, and One Fuck Over the Cuckhold's Nest, and Forrest Hump. 

The leader of the co-op board has a portrait of Hitler hanging in his foyer. The neighbor downstairs is prone to clanging pots and pans at odd hours of the night because the voices tell her to. The walls are coated with so much lead paint, the apartment could double as a fallout shelter from radiation. And the whole building is haunted by failed venture capitalists, Shaw said to another person, and when his back was turned, she flickered the light switches. 

And alright, that last one was mediocre at best, she admits. But in her defense, the one too many bellinis were starting to kick in a that point and she was running out of material. Thankfully, Root had come full circle by then, finished with her browsing. 

“What do you think?”

“I heard the foundation's crumbling-” Shaw covers her mouth, pushing back the bubbly. “Whole place is gonna level in like a year.”

Root flashes her a look of disbelief, “That's absurd,” and returns to the brochure in hand. “I think it's pretty nice,” she says, and goes on and on about all the nice features and the nice amenities and the nice view.

“You!” 

They look up and see the teethy realtor clomping her heels in their direction. “Aw, shit,” Shaw whispers when the woman turns her pointed red nail to her this time.

“Just where the hell do you get off! I lost potential buyers because of you!”

Shaw blinks, unfazed by this woman practically yelling in her face. However, Root's rather confused, bordering the edge of worried. 

“What is she talking about?” Root asks, one of her hands sliding to the taser tucked in the back of her pants. Hovering, like she's unsure whether or not it's going to be necessary in the next ten seconds.  

“I don't know,” Shaw replies with an innocent shrug at first, until she completely abandons the concept of an inside voice. “Must be all the asbestos in the air!” she shouts and the rest of the room, the few people she hadn't managed to scare off, they all clam up and turn bug eyed in their direction. 

For a moment, the realtor panics and her fake smile returns to settle the crowd. “You need to leave!” she says through gritted teeth. “Both of you need to leave, immediately!”

“Way ahead of ya, sister.” Shaw says and calls out over her shoulder, “Wouldn't want to get a stupid thing like lung cancer or anything!” At this point, Root looks like she's going to taser Shaw instead. 

“Let's go, Sameen,” she says, perturbed and not in a mild way, judging from grip she has on Shaw's elbow. 

And still... “Really, you think they'd shell out a few extra bucks to remove hazardous materials from the walls!” Shaw manages one last time before she's shoved into the elevator.

Root jabs the lobby button and the doors close. She turns to Shaw with a myriad of emotions, some embarrassment, a little confusion, but mostly anger in her eyes. Shaw can feel them boring into the side of her face.

“What?” Shaw eventually shrugs. “Something you wanna say, Root?”

Root crosses her arms, tightly over her chest. “Something you wanna say, Shaw?”

Shaw rolls her eyes to the top of the door, watching the floor numbers fall on the screen for moment before clearing her throat. “Your hair looks nice today.”

…

Miles later in Midtown...

Together, they loiter the sidewalk in front of the next apartment Root might potentially rent, if the realtor ever decides to make an appearance. They've been waiting over a half an hour now. 

“What's taking so long?” Shaw asks, again. 

“Traffic, probably.” Root shrugs. She doesn't seem to mind the waiting as much as Shaw does. Then again, she doesn't have anywhere else to be. And neither does Shaw, but that's besides the point. Tardiness is just unprofessional. 

“Call them.”

“I've already called five times,” Root tells her. “No one's picking up.”

“When?” Shaw asks. She hadn't seen Root touch her phone at all. 

Root just taps the shell of the cochlear implant hiding beneath her hair. Oh yes, how could have Shaw forgotten, the ethereal blue tooth connection to robot overlord. 

“I still don't understand why the Machine couldn't help you with this,” Shaw says to her. “Seems it'd be a heck of a lot easier. Beep boop beep... an apartment appears.”

Root smirks at her sideways, “You know that's not how it works.” 

“Why not? I mean, she can make up elaborate identities for you, reposition satellites in orbit for you-”

“She can also tell me how many times you've watched Eat, Pray, Love... this month.”

Shaw glares to the side of Root's face trying, and failing to keep the amusement all to herself. But she's distracted for a moment, there's a passerby who's taking too long to pass by Harold's car. “Keep moving! So her abilities fall just short of finding her favorite asset a place to live?”

“She wants me to be more...” Root chews the inside of her cheek, “Independent, was the word she used.”

For once, Shaw's in agreement with Root's girlfriend. 

“I'm pretty sure this is the exact opposite of what she meant,” Shaw teases. That is unless, the definition of independence changed over night and no one bothered to say anything. 

“She also thinks we don't spend enough quality time together,” Root quickly adds, casually with a flip of her hair. 

“Yeah, right,” Shaw scoffs at that. She'd like to know what the Machine would have to say about being  slandered and used as a pawn for Root's own projections. “We spend lots of time together. Too much if you ask me.”

“Numbers don't count.”

“You come over all the time,” Shaw argues. Root just lets herself right in, with all those keys she's made.

“Sex doesn't count either.”

“Then what- Hey buddy! You wanna lose that hand!” Shaw shouts at a particularly touchy admirer of Harold's car. “What does count?” she finally asks. Really, she wants to know, how she can possibly spread her time thinner than it already is. “Does this count?”

Root thinks about it for a moment. “I'm not sure yet. But I'll let you know.”

“Right.” Shaw shakes her head; Root can be impossible at times. The 'issue' can go on the back burner for now, Shaw decides. They've got to move forward with the day, which is no longer dependent on the no-show realtor. 

The front door of the building is locked, go figure, but that doesn't repel Shaw. There's an intercom system right beside it with dozens of names, each having their own call button. Shaw mashes all of them and waits. 

In no time does the speaker crackle with static and slews of voices, speaking all at once in a melody of Hello? Who is it? and What the fuck do you want?

“Time Warner Cable,” Shaw says into the box and almost immediately, a buzzer goes off and unlocks the door. Shaw opens it and turns to Root still waiting on the sidewalk. “You coming or what?”

Root leads her upstairs and down the short hallway. “This is the one,” she says, pointing to the lock for Shaw to pick, which she does so effortlessly.

The inside is just as bland as the outside. The walls are coated in a neutral beige color that matches the carpet in all the rooms. A single bedroom, an eat in kitchen, a reasonably sized living area with a few windows and an okay view of the coffee shop all these midtowners mill about. And that's pretty much it. Though, Shaw thinks that was Martha Stewart crossing the intersection. 

“I don't hate it,” Root sums up, having toured the entire place in less than a minute. 

“But you don't like it either.”

“Eh.” Root shrugs. “It's just hard to picture myself living here, without my things.”

An idea pops into Shaw's head. “Okay, how about...” she thinks aloud and surveys the area. “Your desk can be here, in the living room, since you don't watch TV anyways...” She moves to the kitchen next. “You can put a little cafe table here... coffee pot here... and hey look, extra cabinet space for things that aren't cooking related.”

“I know how to cook, Shaw.”

“Name one time you cooked anything,” Shaw asks, but immediately stops Root the second her mouth opens. “Let me rephrase. Cooked anything that wasn't eventually used as tear gas.”

“Okay, you've got me there,” Root concedes. “Please continue.”

Shaw leads her to the bedroom. “The bed can go here. Nightstand with the lava lamp right next to it. Dresser here. Bean bag- if you still want it, there. The closet's kinda small... you'll have to get rid of a few jackets, but-”

“Wait,” Root interrupts. “Go back to the part about the bed.”

Shaw back tracks a few steps. “The bed goes here and-”

“Right here?” Root asks, edging closer and closer. 

And Shaw's so distracted with her fake floor plan, she thinks nothing of it. She doesn't realize Root's been methodically backing her into the wall until her back actually hits the wall. 

“And, what do you imagine we'd be doing on this bed, Sameen?” Her voice drops an octave in Shaw's ear, tingling like those fingertips skirting the inside hem of her jeans. 

“I can think of a few things...” Shaw whispers, tracing the heat radiating from Root's lips inches away from her own. “On this bed, and then, that bureau over there.”

Root flashes a grin and presses it to Shaw's, briefly though. The kiss was only a ruse to take Shaw's lip between her teeth and tease some more before letting go. “I want you to know...” Root sighs as her hands circle around Shaw's wrists, “I'm really sorry about this.”

What that means? Shaw doesn't know. She barely had time to process anything Root said, because as soon as Root said it, she was spun around and pinned to wall with her arms locked behind her back. 

“Whatthafuck!”

“Just go with it sweetie,” Root tells her, and not a second later do they hear footsteps coming down the hall and a man's voice calling out shakily. “Hello? Is someone there?”

He double takes when he sees them, his face conveying a look of surprise and slight fear for his life. “What's going on here? Who are you?”

“Special Agent Augusta King,” Root announces. As swiftly as she got the jump on Shaw, her free hands whips out a black leather bound badge that says FBI. “We received an anonymous tip about a wanted criminal hiding out in the building.”

“Here? In this building?” the man stutters in shock.

“Are you the tipper, sir?” Root asks, meanwhile, zip tying Shaw's wrists together for the bonus effect. So tight, Shaw thinks she's actually in trouble with the federal government. 

“No, I live next door, I was just going-”

“So you heard suspicious activity from the vacant apartment right next to you and didn't think to report it?” Root says, catching him off guard. “Sir, are you aware that harboring a fugitive of the law is a felony offense?”

Shaw grumbles, “Like impersonating a-” 

Root silences her with a good shove.

“Woah, wait a minute,” the man backs away, hands up in defense. “I had no idea she was- I wouldn't harbor anything!”

“You'll be hearing from my offices.” Root begins escorting Shaw out into the hallway, pausing to glare at the man as she passes. “Don't leave town.”

By the time they exit the front door, Shaw is more than done with the whole charade. Immediately, she shirks out of Roots grip, fuming slightly as she strains for the folding knife in her back pocket. “I can't believe you- no wait, I can!” The zip tie snaps free after a bit of sawing.

“I'm not the one who left the door wide open.”

The few choice words bubbling in the back of Shaw's throat, simmer down. Root's right. She did leave the door open. Like some kind of fucking amateur. She rubs her sore wrists, bitter. “What are you still doing with that thing anyway?”

“I don't know.” Root jogs the badge in her hands. “It does come in handy though.”

Shaw shakes her head. From the corner of her eyes, she notices a suspicious group of hoodlums beginning to circle Harold's car like vultures on a carcass. 

“Gimme that!” Shaw snatches the goddamn badge out of Root's hands and flips it out with an, “FBI! Freeze!” The little bastards bolt in all directions, and Shaw hums to herself. “How come I never got one of these?” 

…

Later and lower on the east side...

Jerri, a fast talking woman from Queens who looks like Fusco's sister, hustles them up the stairs of a run down walk up. The bellinis Shaw guzzled earlier threaten to make a second appearance as they round the landing of floor number six. More so when she sidesteps a ragged baby doll lying in a questionable pool of something awful slicked on the floor. 

“Not much further,” the woman tells them. “Just a few more floors!”

“She said that- three floors ago!” Shaw huffs in tow.

“Try to keep up, Shaw,” Root says, jogging the steps with ease, at a steady rhythm that's utterly baffling. Considering Shaw's never seen her so physically active at something that didn't involve

“Coming...” Shaw grumbles and picks up the pace. She reaches the top floor well behind them, out of breath. “I gotta start working out again.”

Jerri pulls out a ring of keys bigger than a steering wheel and starts sifting through them. “It's gotta be one of these,” she says and tries a few but to no avail. “Doh!” she smacks her forehead. “Silly me, we went too high! It's two floors down!”

Shaw deadpans. “Are you fu-” Root jabs her with an elbow, “Funny! Aren't you just funny!” 

“Down we go!” Jerri cheers, waving at them to follow her once again. Shaw wouldn't follow this woman if she were the most relevant number of her career. But Root insists, so she has no choice but trudge back down the stairs. 

The door, the right one this time, it looks like it was breached with a battering ram and glued back together. It sticks as Jerri tries to push it open. Shaw wishes she hadn't been able to unjar it from the frame, when they finally step foot inside.

Cramped is an understatement. Claustrophobia is an increasing possibility for Shaw as they stand shoulder to shoulder in what the realtor calls a studio apartment. More like a closet. 

“Why don't I give you the grand tour!” Jerri says. 

Shaw turns her head left, then right, then back again. “I think I've just had it.”

“Oh, she's hysterical! Does she do stand up?”

“Only when she can't sit down.” Shaw wriggles free of the pair for more space, but doesn't get much. The square footage of this place barely pushes the three digit realm. 

The detail Jerri goes into as she tries to upsell this apartment gives Shaw the idea, she's either the most optimistic woman in the world or the biggest hustler in New York real estate. And if it's the latter, Root's the most patient mark, letting this con artist finish her entire spiel of blatant lies. 

“Look Root, I'm in the living room, kitchen, and bathroom. At the same time.”

“I think what my friend is trying to say-”

“Her friend...” Shaw interrupts, until she realizes that Root didn't actually put the word girl in front of friend first. For once. “Never mind, carry on.”

“There just isn't a lot of space,” Root puts delicately. 

“Space? There's plenty of space!” Jerri fires back, jazzed and sorts. “What this place lacks in size, it makes for in compartmentalization!” and she goes on to show them, the hidden cabinets in the in the walls, the drawers underneath the diagonal slant in the staircase frame. “And!” she claps her hands together before grabbing the the lonely painting from the wide wall. Underneath is a latch like rope, which she pulls. “Tada!”

A bed flops out of the wall and Shaw stares at it, unblinkingly. “You've got to be kidding me.”

“May we have a moment please?” Root says, and Jerri the realtor goes into the kitchen, two feet away. 

Shaw whispers to Root. “This whole thing is one bad pullout joke. You can't actually be serious.”

“So what?” Root replies. “It's not like I'll be around to mind it so much.”

“Well, I mind it!” 

Root smiles as she bats her lashes. “Planning sleepovers already?”

“Not if I have to unhinge the bed every time I wanna-”

“Want to what, exactly?” Root teases, for a moment, until Shaw's dead serious face hits home. “Okay, okay.” She clears her throat for Jerri to end her fake phone call. “Do you have anything else available?”

“Preferably not coffin-sized,” Shaw adds. 

It's like a light bulb flickers over Jerri's head. She frantically searches through the mess of sordid papers in her haphazardly thrown together briefcase until she finds the one. The holy grail of documents, she holds it up. “Yes!” she exclaims at first, then presses it to her chest, distraught. “No, I don't! Technically, the application's still pending and I can't show you.”

“Come on, Jerri,” Root says, putting on half her charm. “We just wanna look. Where's the harm in that?”

She gives it some thought. Not much. “Oh, what the heck? You've convinced me. It's only three floors down, come on, I'll show you.”

“Let's hope she's got the right building at least,” Shaw says and Jerri bursts in laughter. 

“Honey, if your job doesn't involve a stage and microphone, you gotta change careers because you are-”

“Hysterical?” 

…

The other apartment is nothing like the previous. It's as if they've slipped into an alternate universe on the stairwell, because there's no possible way this is the same building. Root's in awe the moment she walks in, her eyes lighting up in a way Shaw's never seen before, well, when it comes to this sort of thing. 

Crown molding lines the walls, coated in a scheme of rich blues soft whites. The long paneled windows that stretch from the living room all the way to the kitchen fill the spacious interior with honest light. And the view, Shaw's never considered Midtown to be a scenic place. Then again, she wasn't looking through this window. 

“You've been holding out on us, Jerri,” Shaw tells her. For the first time today, she approves.  

“About that other application,” Root says, “What if you accidentally misplaced it?”

“Say no more, sweetheart.” Jerri bats a hand. “My family's from Sicily. I know all about that sort of thing. We'll go to my office, lose some paperwork, sign some paperwork, have ya in here in no time,” she says, and starts ushering them towards the door. Quickly, adamantly. Suspiciously. 

“Wait,” Shaw says. There's something missing, something she's not telling them. “What's the catch?”

“Catch? What catch? You two look like a nice couple, I wanna cut you a break, that's the catch.”

“We're not-” Shaw rubs the bridge of her nose. “Look, no offense, but this is all too good to be true.” There's got to be something wrong with it, Shaw can feel it in her bones. Shit plumbing, rats in the walls, a weird smell that only comes around during certain times of the day. Something. 

“Listen, I got pristine records going back thirty years on this place. You can take a look for yourselves, but we gotta go down to my office fir-”

“Shh!” Shaw holds a finger up, silencing the room. “Did you hear that?” Her ears keen to the faint, muffled noises. “It's coming from the living room.”

“Yeah, you know what,” Jerri hastily explains in Shaw's wake. “I know what that is. The neighbors are redoing their kitchen. On a Saturday, can you believe it?”

Shaw ignores her and presses her ear to the wall, listening for the noise that seems to have gone away now.

“See? What'd I tell ya? Now if you don't mind, I-”

There's a loud crash suddenly. Something had smacked against the other side of the wall with such force, it rattled the hanging lights and shook the floor. 

Shaw slowly backs away as more, lesser thumps follow. Steadily, like a beat from a drum. And not seconds later, the moaning starts. Unmistakably from a man and oddly, a very strict sounding woman who seems rather disappointed in him.

“And...” Shaw turns to Root with her I told you so face. “there's the catch.”

“Rent controlled nymphos...” Jerri hisses and then smacks the wall, “Hey! Some of us are trying to work over here! Not that you care! Can't go one minute without screwing each other's brains out! Literally!”

“Are they?” Curiosity in her eyes, Root steps closer to have a listen for herself, and it's completely unnecessary. With walls so thin and neighbors so loud, she could stand in any room and still hear all the graphic details of their sexcapades. So it's really a bit extra of Root to flatten the whole side of her face against the wall like that. “Oh, Jerri, you have been holding out on us.”

Shaw rolls her eyes, “Come on, we're leaving,” and takes Root by the arm.

“No, Shaw wait! It's getting better!” Root protests as she's literally dragged to the door. “Shaw, I heard a paddle!”

….

The end in East Village.

“I don't think I've ever heard the word charming used to describe so many not charming things in my life,” Shaw says. She fiddles with the butter knife at the table while she waits for her order. They decided- well, Shaw insisted they stop for a late lunch, and the Russian owned deli on 7th was the closest eatery that wasn't a letter grade away from being quarantined. “How is a giant water stain on the ceiling charming?”

“Depends on how you look at it,” Root replies, her head in the piece of paper lain on the table top. She's been scribbling on it since they sat down. The list from earlier today looks nothing like it did, crumpled up, torn at the edges and for some reason, wet. Nearly all of the address had been crossed out, angrily by the look of it. 

Shaw twirls the utensil in her fingers. “I thought it looked like Margaret Thatcher.”

“I'm not getting sucked into this argument again.” Root draws another x over something and brings the pen to her lips, chewing at the end. “It was Barbara Bush anyway...”

Shaw snatches the paper from Root's unsuspecting hands. 

“Hey I need that,” Root says. Her attempts of retrieving it are all in vain. “Shaw, I still haven't decided which one I- where did you get those glasses?”

“Glove box,” Shaw replies, lifting the shades from her eyes to squint at the paper. “Didn't think I could get a hangover before I fell asleep.”

“Can I have it back, please? It's important.”

Shaw throws the glasses aside. “Root, these are all crap. You know this.”

“But I need to pick one.”

“Seriously, have you never gone apartment shopping before?” Shaw asks. Judging from the look on Root's face, she hasn't. “Root. Just make a new list.”

She sinks into the booth, whining pitifully. “But I hate this so much, Shaw. Can't I just live with you? Please?” 

Root smiles, full charm this time. And Shaw jumps when she feels something crawling up the length of her thigh. Luckily the waiter comes with the food, so Shaw has a valid excuse for evicting Root's foot from her crotch. 

“Independence.” Shaw reminds her before grabbing the sandwich off of the plate. She's about to take a bite, but pauses midway. An odd feeling had struck her, a feeling like she's being watched and not by a secret system.

Leaned against the wall, slumped in her seat, is Root, staring at Shaw's sandwich with a weird lust in her eyes. If she was hungry, then she should have ordered something. So tough, Shaw thinks, bringing the sandwich to mouth again and goddamnit!

Shaw cuts the fucking thing in half and slides the plate across the table. Root smiles to herself and takes a nibble and then just- chomps down. Shaw can't believe what shes seeing right now.

“This is the best sandwich I've ever had,” Root says, at least that's what Shaw thinks she says. Root's mouth is so full, and yet, she keeps trying to fill it. 

“As a person who's had a lot of sandwiches, I-”

“Shut up and eat it, Shaw!”

Without further protest, Shaw takes a bite. Her eyes roll into the back of her head. “Oh my fucking god.” It is the best sandwich she's ever had. Why is Root right all the time?

“So, tomorrow...” Root manages to swallow the rest without choking. “New day, new list, perhaps a new car even? I heard Harry's got a viper tucked away in cold storage.”

Shaw chews on it. As fun as it was gallivanting around this charming city with Root... she'll have to pass. “Sorry, you're on your own for round two. I'm busy.”

“I checked. You're not.”

What is this? Slow season for criminal activity? “I'm taking a personal day.”

“Fine,” Root says, dabbing with the napkin before it's surly tossed aside. “I'll be wandering Hell's Kitchen tomorrow if you change your mind.”

“Okay, Root.” Shaw snorts, almost choking on her food. “Give your taser a good charge before you do.” She'll definitely need it for that side of town- if she were actually going. 

Shaw's not stupid, she recognized the pattern as soon as she saw the list. All the stops they've made so far today were along the 4 train, which lets off near Subway HQ and coincidentally, right by Shaw's apartment.

They step outside the deli and Shaw gives the place a nod as she slips the glasses back on. The sign is in Russian, and unfortunately, none of it involves the ten words she knows. “Goodbye restaurant I don't know the name of.”

“Actually,” Root says, glancing up at the sign. “It think it says sandwich, well, bread meat bread, but you get the picture.” 

“Hmm.” Shaw shrugs. She's halfway to the car, that better not be stolen, when she notices Root isn't behind her. Doubling back, Shaw finds her standing at the deli's window, staring at a sign that says For Rent – Inquire Within. 

…

They inquire within. 

The owner of the deli; a burly, grey bearded and rather abrasive gentleman named Vlad, throws his dirty apron over his shoulder and yells something wild in Russian to the cooks behind the counter. 

“Come! We go!” he then yells to Root and Shaw, and leads them out and around the building, through several locked doors and up a rickety old freight elevator, all while cursing in his native tongue. And Shaw's sure of this because most of those words he's using, are the same ones she's used to start bar fights overseas. 

“You go, I wait,” Vlad says, and shoos them off the elevator. 

It's was an industrious space converted to a loft by the previous owners. The concrete floors were replaced with dark hard wood for a more domestic feel, but the steel pillars remained. Carved out to one side, the obvious kitchen accustomed with marble counter tops, a range, and a classic style refrigerator. And in the far corner, the porcelain bathroom with the large clawfoot tub, partitioned by a wall of glass blocks. 

Root turns circles, marveling the expanse of open floor plan. “I have no words, Shaw.” 

“I'm shocked,” Shaw replies, but it has nothing to do with this rare real estate gem they've stumbled upon by sheer luck. Root's non-stop motormouth has suddenly run out of fuel and hell has actually frozen over. 

But in the weird trend of today's events, Shaw checks and double checks everything. That the light switches turn on and the water runs from the faucets. She test the sturdiness of the steel beams and the thickness of the walls. She stomps around in her steel toed boots for weak spots in the floor. In the end, everything seems to be in working order. The radiator is blasting heat, the toilet is flushing, and yes, the refrigerator is also running. 

The second Shaw mentions roof access, Root's falling over to make a deal. 

Vlad may be limited in English, but he understands the universal language of money and the giant wad of cash Root suddenly pulls out of her pocket. He shoves a set of keys in her hand and goes off on Russian tangent as he counts the money.

“He says...” Root pauses to listen. “No checks, no cards, rent is cash only...”

“How the fuck do you know that?”

“I did some work for the Russian mob- long story,” Root tells her before she's back to translating. “I'm supposed to put the money in an envelope and slip under his door... on the first of the month, not the second, or... well that doesn't sound very pleasant.”

Shaw's eyes widen some. She tries to ask what the she means by that, but Root shushes her with a raised finger.

“There is one rule... don't bother me. If you do not bother me, I will not bother you and everything will be... cookies and cream?”

“What does that mean?”

“Sorry, I'm a bit rusty.” Root tunes back in, nodding profusely at the last part before he shakes her hand and leaves. 

“What did he just say to you?”

Root turns to her. “He said, My name is Vladimir Baronov Petrovich, and I fix nothing.”

…

A week later... 

Shaw picks up a bottle of wine on the way to Root's. A house warming gift of sorts, or a present depending on how you look at it, though Shaw prefers it as a celebration of mission completion and good things yet to come. 

The days of Root living out of satchels and crashing on couches are finally over, and for some reason, Shaw takes comfort in that. It means things are changing, for the better, she believes. Having a safe, permanent place to lay your head, it means something.

Shaw can hear the faint music playing as she lifts the elevator gate. She expects Root sprung for a decent sound system, something to listen to while she cranes her neck over a computer for hours on end. And maybe she found a nice desk and a comfortable chair like Harold's to sit in while she does, Shaw wonders, as she rounds the corner, quietly. 

Sneaking up on Root is a hit or miss, depending on the Machine's mood. But Shaw hopes she gets to catch Root doing something weird for once, even though she has no idea what that might entail. 

Root's barefoot, sitting cross legged on the floor with a soldering iron, humming to herself. And Shaw thinks it's actually kind of cute- maybe, at least until she finds a better word for it. Which is never. The feeling becomes short lived, the nameless word is moot when she realizes why Root's sitting on the floor. 

She has no goddamn furniture. 

“Love what you haven't done with the place,” Shaw calls out, announcing her presence to Root, who flinches and then smiles bashfully to the wires in her lap. As it turns out, the Machine was in Shaw's favor this evening. It's a rare occurrence to find Root so off guard, with her hair pulled into a loose bun, with little smudges of soot on her shirt and holes in her blue jeans. 

Her walk is still the same, smug saunter as it always is though. Root lets her hair down as she approaches, on purpose Shaw thinks. 

“Welcome. May I take your coat?” Root offers, and Shaw does a bit of casing as she slips her arms free of the sleeves.

It was inaccurate to say Root didn't have any furniture; there's a mattress lying in the middle of the floor beside a steel column. Root had thrown some sheets and pillows on top and called it a bed. Next to that, her other Root things. A laptop, a bag, a few articles of clothing and a cell phone playing the music Shaw had heard earlier. 

“Is that for me?” Root asks, nodding to the bottle of wine in Shaw's hand. 

“Yeah, but uh,” Shaw rubs the back of her neck, glancing again at the great empty space. “I feel like I should have brought a plant or something, or a chair.”

“Busy week,” she says, internally debating where to hang Shaw's jacket, for a moment, until deciding to just throw it on the floor. “Haven't been home much lately-” and then Root laughs, lightly to herself. “It's strange isn't it?” 

“What is?” Shaw asks, halfway to the kitchen for a pair of drinking glasses before she realizes, Root probably doesn't have any of those either. 

“This place, my place... It is supposed to feel this weird?”

“Don't worry, the charm wears off pretty quick. Eventually, it'll be just another Tuesday night where you store all your things.” Shaw flops down on the edge of the mattress. “Correction, thing.”

“Awfully presumptuous of you.” Root teases. 

“Awfully rude of you, not owning a couch.” There are worse problems than not having a proper place to sit. “I'd guess you don't have cork screw either, or is that me being presumptuous again?”

Grinning, Root ambles to the spot next to Shaw on the mattress. “You'll have to use your imagination, sorry. I didn't think you'd bring anything fancy.”

The label is the only fancy thing about this wine, an Italian sounding word, Shaw thinks it means something like hat. The price tag said twelve, but she got it for six. 

Shaw flicks open her pocket knife and stabs it into the cork with a twisting motion. 

Root leans back and lounges on her elbows. “I did buy something yesterday, now that I think about it.”

“What?” Shaw asks, straining with the knife and the cork that wont budge.

Root nods. “That.” and Shaw looks in the direction. Hanging on the opposite pillar is a crudely sketched portrait. Of Shaw.

“Um, where did you get that?”

“From the man in the park,” Root replies, like it's supposed to mean something to Shaw. “Fun fact, he used to be police sketch artist until he injured his hand in a tragic trout-fisting accident. Anyways, if you pay him twenty dollars, he'll draw anyone you describe.”

Thankfully, Shaw gets the bottle open by then. The horrible taste of it helps her forget she ever heard the words trout-fisting back to back. “Hope you like cork in your fancy wine,” Shaw says and passes it on. “My eyebrows are off, by the way.”

“Hmm...” Root cocks her head the side, “I still like it.” She takes a swig from the bottle and grimaces almost instantly. 

“You know, you don't have to drink it,” Shaw says, laughing at the sour look on Root's face from the cheap wine. She has to run to the kitchen sink to wash her mouth out, it's so bad.

“Wanna see something cool?” Root asks when she returns and Shaw throws her a wary look. The last time Root tried to show her something cool, she ended up with stitches. 

“Do you have a first aid kit?”

“No?”

“Then no.”

“Just close your eyes,” Root insists. “Please..”

“Fine.” and Shaw covers her eyes, however, she checks for any sharp objects in Root's hands and in the immediate vicinity first. Patiently, she waits on the bed, listening to Root as she scampers around in her bare feet, for a moment until there's a loud click and the main lights go off.

Shaw opens her eyes... winding up the steel columns and along the rafters high above the bed, Root's hung strings of lights. Of all shapes, sizes and colors, they're arranged in way that makes Shaw feel like she's sitting inside a Christmas tree. 

“So this is what you've been doing?” Shaw smirks to herself. The order of Root's priorities are a mystery to her.

“Livens the place up,” Root says, looking up with a kind of awe in her eyes, or maybe it's the light glowing from the red bulbs. 

Root joins her on the bed again. Their legs hang off the edge, their feet occasionally running into each other.  

Shaw takes another swig of the wine, biting at the taste. “So um, does this count?” she asks, and when Root turns to her mixed, she has to awkwardly clarify. “Is this part of that quality the Machine says we don't have enough of?”

Root says nothing, she just grins.

“Why not?” Shaw goes on the defense. She showed up, she brought the wine, she looked at the pretty lights and they're talking. If that isn't quality time, then what is? “I really think you should reevaluate-” and suddenly, Shaw is rendered speechless by Root, who grabs her face and kisses her. 

“That's why,” Root says, giving Shaw a quick peck on the lips before pushing her down on the bed and climbing on top. 

And Shaw doesn't protest either, when Root starts unbuckling her belt, she's beginning to think this may fall under another made up category in Root's head. Something along the lines of fun time. 

        Root blinks slowly and seems like she’s having trouble waking up.  Her hand pokes out from above her jacket, rubbing her eyes and dropping heavily into her lap. Shaw watches as she tries again to look around. Root’s mouth stretches open into a comically large yawn, and Shaw rolls her eyes.

        “Excuse me,” Shaw says, weaving her way through the outdoor furniture towards Root. “You can’t nap here.”

        Root’s eyes fix on her and widen slightly. “Sorry,” she says softly, her voice innocent. “I must have fallen asleep. I was just trying it out.” Her hand slides along the armrest, nails scratching slightly at the fake plastic woodgrain.

        Shaw almost believes her, but Root’s eyes widen a little bit more and Shaw is just not dumb enough to fall for that. She shoves her hands into her pockets and sighs.

        “Look, I don’t care. Can you just get out of this section so my boss will stop harassing me?”

        Root’s face relaxes and her head tilts to the side. “Sameen, right? You were in my class a few years ago.”

        “Yeah, so?” Shaw asks. Root still hasn’t moved an inch and Shaw doesn’t want to carry her out. “Can you move?”

        Smiling, Root’s delicate hands clasp her leather jacket and she climbs to her feet. Shaw takes a step back. She forgot how tall Root is and it makes her angry. Root pulls her jacket onto her arms, smiling at Shaw and running calculating eyes over her body.

        “I like this place,” Root says, unprompted. “There’s a lot to do.”

        “It’s not a playground,” Shaw feels compelled to point out. “It’s a store. Just buy some candles and go home.”

        Root reaches out and flicks a finger against Shaw’s badge. “How long have you worked here?”

        Shaw drops her head back and turns around. If talking to Root won’t make her leave, maybe ignoring her will. She steps off the fake grass onto the tile floor and a second later, she hears Root’s boots echoing behind her. She needs this job, she reminds herself. She has student loans to pay and dogs to feed.

        “Can I help you?” Shaw asks, turning around. She finds Root grinning at her and scowls. “What?”

        “I don’t remember you being this grumpy in my class, Sameen.” Root’s shoulders sway back and forth. “Then again, you didn’t talk too much. Required class?”

        Shaw rolls her eyes, crossing her arms. “Is there something in the store that you’re looking for? Candles? Soaps? Something for your boyfriend?”

        “I don’t have a boyfriend,” Root laughs. She leans forward, lowering her voice, her eyes dancing. “I like girls, Sameen. Women.”

        A chill runs down Shaw’s back and she jerks away, ignoring Root’s chuckle. Root looks predatory and Shaw suddenly remembers the first day of class. It was three years ago and Root had only been 21, but she still managed to look like she could eat Shaw whole. Time has only strengthened her gaze.

        “Ok,” Shaw growls, throwing her hands up. “Did you come here to harass me? Or buy something? Because I can only help with one of those things.”

        “Which one?” Root asks, tossing her hand over her shoulder. “Just kidding. I’m actually looking for candles. I have a lot of…coding to do and they help me relax.”

        Shaw notices the pause before ‘coding,’ but decides she doesn’t care and holds an arm out, pointing in the right direction. “Please pick a candle and leave.”

        “Don’t worry, Sameen. I won’t get you in trouble with your boss.” Root smirks at her and walks away, following the direction of Shaw’s hand.

        There is no doubt that Root is a menace, but hopefully she’ll be gone soon. Shaw watches her walk away, annoyed that Root looked so good in her jeans. Shaw has good game; she’s never lacking for company, but Root seems like she’d be…exciting to spend time with.

        Zoe appears at her side. “She’s hot.”

        “She’s weird,” Shaw replies, “but she is hot, yes.”

        “Get her number.”

        Shaw sighs, flicking a stray hair from her face. “Too late. She’s leaving.”

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

        Shaw smiles at her customer as she hands him the towel set. Harold had       scolded her for being rude, so she is trying to be civil. The man nods gruffly and walks away. As soon as he is far enough away, her smile drops and she sighs angrily. As much as she hated people before, this job is making her actively want to kill them. She needs to smell some candles and calm down.

        Turning to look across the aisle at the candle section, Shaw rolls her eyes. Root is standing in front of the display, her nose deep in a jar of essential oils. It had been almost an hour since they’d talked and Root was still hanging around. Her urge to kill strengthens and she shoves her hands in her pockets.

        “You’re going to give yourself a migraine,” she says, crossing the aisle and stopping next to Root. “You’re only supposed to smell a couple of drops at a time.”

        Root ignores her, just puts the jar back and picks up another. This time, when she sniffs it, she sneezes violently and jerks back. The jar slips from her fingers and Shaw has to reach for it to keep it from smashing on the ground. The last thing she wants to do today is mop the floor.

        When she straightens, Root is smiling at her softly rubbing her nose.

        “Sameen! My hero! Did you appear just to catch that?”

        Frowning, Sameen puts the jar back on the shelf. “I was talking to you.”

        “Oh,” Root shrugs. She taps her right ear. “Deaf. I couldn’t hear that husky voice.”

        Sameen rolls her eyes again. “Whatever. Just stop trying to sniff the oils; you’ll give yourself a headache.”

        “What’s your favorite smell?” Root asks, moving around the candles on the shelf. “Probably something tropical.”

        “I don’t have a favorite smell,” Sameen lies, knowing full well that her favorite smells are metal and antiseptic and her dead father’s cologne. They don’t make candles like that, though, so she just grits her teeth. “Even if I did, I wouldn’t tell you.”

        Root looks at her for a moment and Shaw wonders what she’s thinking. Root’s eyes are distant, like she’s listening to a song no one else can hear and it makes Shaw uncomfortable. Then, Root blinks and time starts to move again.

        “I like fabric smells,” Root says. “Or Rain.”

        Shaw wants to scream at Root to leave, so she can move on with her life. Instead, she forces a smile on her face. “Is there anything in particular that I can find for you?”

        “Hmm,” Root says, pushing her hair behind her ear, “is there a bed section? A really soft blanket would be nice. My bed could use an upgrade. Maybe I’ll get myself an early Christmas present.” She raises an eyebrow. “Any advice?”

        Spinning on her heel, Shaw starts to leave. She doesn’t know why Root is still here or why she’s decided to bother her all day. Across the aisle, Shaw spots John watching her. Great, Shaw thinks, slowing to a stop. If she doesn’t help Root now, John will snitch to Harold, their manager.

        She can hear Root snickering behind her and turns back around, glaring. After she helps Root, she can take her break and then it’s only three hours until she can go home.

        “Bedding is this way,” Shaw spits out. Yanking the candle from Root’s hand, she slams it on the shelf. “Follow me.”

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

        Another hour passes and Shaw is fairly certain that Root is gone. They’d spent an agonizing 10 minutes in the bedding section before Root finally let Shaw escape. It was a good thing, too. One more thinly veiled invitation and Shaw would have strangled Root. Although, she is starting to realize that Root might like that.

        Once Shaw escaped, she’d left for her break. Now, she is back on the floor and it’s been almost 30 minutes with no sign of trouble.  She only had a couple hours of work left and she was hoping they’d be easy ones. Maybe if Root was still around then, Shaw would take her home. She winced. It was probably a bad idea to sleep with a professor, even if she wasn’t Shaw’s anymore.

        Shaw leans against a display of humidifiers and thinks back to Root’s class. It was years ago; Shaw is in her last semester now, just waiting to start med school in the fall. Root’s class had been difficult for an intro. course. Apparently, Root is some sort of genius, only 24 and she has a PhD. She’s pretty hot, too.

        The radio on Shaw’s hip crackles and she raises it to her ear. Please don’t be calling for her.

        “Harold to Miss Shaw,” her boss voice says.

        Sighing, Shaw hits the button. “What?”

        “I thought I told you to get that woman out of here.”

        Shaw hesitates, a headache forming in her head. “You did and…I did.”

        “Well, she’s still here.” The radio crackles again. “She’s in the make-up section…smelling things.”

        “I’ll deal with her,” Shaw growls into the radio before clipping it back to her belt. She starts towards the make-up aisles, mumbling to herself. “I’ll kill her.”

        Root is easy to spot, tall and attractive in her tight jeans and leather jacket. Shaw rolls her eyes. Root is easy to spot because she has her nose in a jar of cold cream. Root doesn’t look like she needs it. She’s young and her skin is disgustingly flawless. Shaw stops beside her.

        “Can you not sm- ugh,” Shaw scoffs and walks to Root’s other side. “Can you not smell the products before you buy them?” She snatches the cold cream jar from Root’s hands. “Do you have to smell everything?”

        Root smiles at her and reaches for another jar. “Smell is one of our best senses, you know.” She squints at the label. “Is this any good?”

        “No.” Shaw screws the top back on the jar she’s holding. “Buy the pink jar. That’s what I use.”

        Glancing at Shaw through long lashes, Root puts her jar back. She steps to the right to look at the pink jar of overnight cream. “This one?”

        “Yes.”

        Root picks it up, immediately unscrewing the lid. “It’s cute. Like you.”

        Shaw rubs her forehead, the pounding growing in her temple. This job is not worth all the trouble. She’s not allowed to hit dumb customers. She’s not allowed to literally throw customers out. She watches as Root holds the jar up to her delicate nose and takes a sniff. Her mouth quirks up in a smile and Shaw wants to kiss it. She’s not allowed to sleep with customers in the store.

        “It smells good,” Root hums, looking at Shaw. “Do you smell like this?”

        Shaw sighs, shrugging helplessly. “Probably?”

        Root closes the lid and takes a few leisurely steps towards Shaw, hips swinging as she saunters closer. She leans down, her face inches away from Shaw’s, and all the hair stands on the back of Shaw’s neck. Breathing in, Root’s mouth smiles again.

        “You do smell good. I always thought you would.”

        Shaw jerks back, swatting Root away. “Look, you have to leave. This is so weird, and my boss is going to fire me if he sees you again.”

        “I’ll hire you,” Root croons, the jar of cold cream disappearing into her jacket. “You can be my personal assistant. I know exactly what I’d use you for.”

        Shaw isn’t sure if she likes the tone of Root’s voice or her implications. Root is hot, she’ll give her that, but she also seems a little crazy. Who spends an entire day in Bed, Bath, and Beyond? Who just smells things for hours? Root blinks at her, her whole face scrunching to one side, and Shaw crosses her arms.

        “What was that?”

Root looks surprised at the question. “What was what?”

        “Your face,” Shaw says slowly. Maybe all the smelling killed Root’s brain. “It just got all scrunchy.”

        “Scrunchy?” Root repeats again. She makes the face again. “That? I winked at you.”

        “No, you didn’t.” Shaw closes her eyes. “I can’t do this. I have to quit this job.”

        Something brushes against her face, and she jerks back, her headache growing. Root is pushing a loose strand of hair behind Shaw’s ear. She taps Shaw’s nose and steps away, pretending to look over the jars of cold cream and Shaw remembers the jar in her jacket.

        “I thought you wanted to buy candles,” Shaw says, putting her hands on her hips, “not steal lotion.”

        Root glances at her, then goes back to looking at the jars. “I’ll buy it. I just don’t have a jacket. I didn’t think you’d care.”

        “I don’t,” Shaw confirms, annoyed. “I’d love to get one over on Harold, but you don’t even need the cream. It seems a waste. Steal the candle you want.”

        Laughing, Root starts walking away. “Help me pick one out.”

        Shaw’s mouth drops open as she watches the way Root’s hips move in her jeans and the way she flicks her dark hair over her shoulder. Root had been in the candle aisle hours before, and now she wanted Shaw’s help to pick one out. What is this woman doing here? Had she come here just to stalk Shaw, or did she really need something?

        Root turns the corner and Shaw jogs after her. She follows her perpetual customer, feeling like she’s been tricked. Root is walking around the store like she lives there and Shaw is helplessly following behind her. She was going to make this hot nerd write her a compliment card, so Harold can’t yell at her.

        They pass the safety section and Shaw sees Zoe leaning against a column, texting. She stops next to her as Root turns into the candle section. 

        “I’m going to murder a customer. Will you be my alibi?”

        Zoe shrugs, not looking up. “Sure. You were here the whole time.”

        “Thanks.” Shaw scratches her forehead. “She’s pretty hot actually. I might sleep with her.”

        That gets Zoe’s attention and she looks at Shaw with raised eyebrows. “Oh, yeah?”

        “If I can get through the next five minutes without strangling her…” Shaw pulls her pony tail tight. “I’ll think about it.”

        “You’ve got this, girl,” Zoe says half-heartedly, already looking at her phone again. “Let me know if you kill her or kiss her.”

        Shaw rolls her eyes, but she heads for the candle section. Before she gets there, Root steps back into the aisle, her face drawn down into pout. 

        “I thought you’d ran away,” Root says when Shaw was close enough. 

        “You don’t have to be weird, you know.” Shaw brushes past Root into the candle aisle, adjusting her radio on her belt. “You’re hot without all the mystery.”

        “The mystery is part of my charm,” Root answers. She runs a hand along a shelf, pretending to read labels. “I keep you guessing.”

        Shaw ran her eyes over Root, eyes lingering on her long neck and red lips. “If I pick a candle for you, will you leave?”

        “Hmmm,” Root took another step towards Shaw, stopping to look at a large blue candle, “only if you leave with me.”

        “I have another hour and a half.” Picking up a green candle, Shaw sniffs it, gagging at the sweet smell. “Not this one.”

        Root steps even closer. Her arm brushes against Shaw’s as she picks up a rainbow candle and puts her nose against it. Shaw is acutely aware of the warmth at her side, but she focuses on the shelf in front of her. Root would actually have to ask her out. Shaw isn’t going to ask first.

        “Want to come back to my place?”

        Shaw sighs loudly, giving up on the candles in front of her. “I told you, I have another hour and a half of work.”

        Root shrugs, leather jacket scratching against Shaw’s bare arm. The feeling makes her think of the leather she has at home and a tingle runs down her spine.

        “I can wait,” Root says, smiling. She winks at Shaw again and this time Shaw kind of likes it. “I know where the bed section is. I’ll take a quick nap. Save up energy.”

        Shaw wants to tell Root to go fuck herself, but Root is hot and she still seems a little dangerous. They can mess around for the weekend. Shaw needs to burn some energy anyway and, with the way Root is looking at her, Shaw can tell that something will get burnt. She sighs loudly.

        “Fine. Look, if you leave now, I’ll meet you outside when I get off my shift.” 

        “Ok, Sameen,” Root says, reaching out to tug lightly on Shaw’s ponytail, “I’ll help you look good in front of your big bad boss.”

        Shaw’s headache begins to subside and she nods. “Thanks. Now, are you going to buy a candle?”

        Root taps her chin, thoughtfully. For a moment, that faraway look appears in her eyes and she stills almost completely. Then, it’s gone and she shrugs. “Why don’t you pick some out? You can set the mood tonight and I’ll set the next one.”

        “The next one?”

        “Yeah,” Root says, smug, “you’ll want more than one taste, Sameen. I’ll see you later.”

        She blows a kiss and walks away, leaving Shaw to stare after her. Before she disappears, she glances over her shoulder at Shaw, meeting her eyes until she rounds the corner. The radio crackles at Shaw’s hip and she blinks, pulling herself together.

        “Miss Shaw?” Harold’s voice calls over the terrible radio. “Why is that woman still here?”

        Shaw reaches for her radio, but Zoe’s voice comes through before she can press the call button.

        “Did you get her number, Shaw?”

        Shaw closes her eyes, trying to imagine she’s on a beach like her therapist told her to. Pressing the button, she sighs. “She’s leaving, Harold. Don’t worry.”

        “But did you get her number, Shaw?” Zoe’s voice repeats. “I have to know.”

        “No, Zoe,” Shaw growls, “but I’m sure I’ll get it when I go to her place tonight.”

“So you thought the best way to ask was to stand on my fire escape at,” Shaw pulls her phone from her back pocket, checks the time, “two in the morning?”

Shaw should sleeping, honestly, warm underneath her blankets while plotting the best way to steal Bear (and hoping that the Machine doesn’t send her out on another early morning number), and not doing whatever this is. Standing here, letting the cold draft in while Root stands on her fire escape, expecting entry.

She mulls over sending Root on her way, but thinks better of it. Shaw sighs, shakes her head, and steps away from the window.

“Fine. Get in.”

And she doesn’t need to see Root to know that she’s smirking in that infuriating way of hers. Shaw moves to the bathroom where she keeps her supplies, calculates the fastest way to deal with Root’s injuries so she can get to sleep.

She listens to the sounds of Root scrambling off the metal escape and fumbling her way through the window. It’s a miracle she doesn’t trip over herself with all of those gangly limbs.

When she returns, Root hasn’t moved far from the window sill, her eyes catching on the relatively empty place Shaw calls her living space (not a home, not a home at all). Shaw takes a moment to look her over, bundled in a coat, her face flushed from the cold.

“You gonna show me or not?”

And Shaw regrets the way she phrased it the second Root’s eyes train on her, a more pronounced smirk pulling at the corner of her mouth.

She shrugs off her coat. “I thought you’d never ask.”

Shaw rolls her eyes and opens her hefty first aid kit. She removes the supplies she needs and settles into the familiar role of patching someone up.

(The last time she did this, there’d been a hole in Root’s shoulder and a glazed expression on her face after she saved Cyrus Wells.)

Root, oddly, says nothing when Shaw begins cleaning the blood around the gash on her arm, stays quiet and still and lets Shaw work in peace. Only supplies knife when Shaw asks what did it.

“What did the Machine have you doing?” Shaw asks after a moment, unnerved by Root’s silence and not knowing why she’s encouraging this. But the ire from having been disturbed so late has faded, and maybe she’s a little bit curious.

Root tilts her head to the side, Shaw catches a brief glance of the pink scar behind her ear before it disappears behind a curtain of hair, and makes a face, clearly listening to the Machine.

“Preparing.” Shaw arches a brow. “There’s a war coming, Shaw. We need to be ready.”

Shaw knows that. Has heard it countless times since their encounter with Control, but no one has told her anything about it. Just another AI looming in the near future. But Shaw and Reese aren’t doing much about it.

Just Root.

“You ever gonna let us in on whatever plans you have?” Shaw asks as she finishes the neat row of stitches, pulling the thread taut.

“When She tells me it’s time,” Root replies, pulling that whole mysterious bullshit.

“Whatever.” She places a bandage over the stitches, folding the edges across Root’s skin, and Shaw can feel Root’s attention on her then, eyes burning into the the top of her head. She pulls back. “All set.”

Root grins, rises to her feet. “Thanks, Doc.” She slides her arms through her coat.

“You heading out?”

Shaw wonders where she sleeps — or if she ever sleeps. Root always flits in and out of the library, providing cryptic clues and answers whenever she sweeps by. Bizarre how the Machine makes her the interface and doesn’t give her a place to stay.

“Are you inviting me to stay?” Root steps into Shaw’s space, and Shaw tilts her chin up to meet her gaze, blinks slowly.

“No.”

To her credit, Root doesn’t appear put out.

“But try the door next time.”

“Next time?”

Shaw regrets letting Root through her window.

—

Except she lets Root through the door the next time, and the next time.

Casual encounters that start with an ill-timed come-on and end with Shaw scowling at Root’s lack of self-care. Not only that, but Root has a habit of appearing at her doorstep in the late hours of the night, looking like she was swept in a whirlwind.

And there’s a sort of disconnect there, Shaw notices after she patches up Root for the third time in a month. A disconnect from her body.

It’s different, noting that about her. Because Shaw has always been firmly planted within herself, aware of how her body moves, where it’s positioned in relation to her adversaries. A connection she’s honed since her residency and carried with her through the Marines and the ISA.

But Root doesn’t share that, doesn’t seem to want to spend time on such trivial things like making sure she doesn’t bleed to death.

(Weird how the Machine chose someone with such a blatant disregard for her health to be its eyes and ears.)

Shaw doesn’t comment, just stitches up Root’s newest injury, and watches her disappear out the door and into the night.

—

Once Samaritan comes online, letting Root through her door happens fairly less often.

With all of them in hiding, keeping their heads down, it’s too risky for any of them to be seen together. Being in hiding also comes with the worst job ever, and Shaw has to resist stabbing someone with a stiletto at every turn.

(Working in environment filled with entitled people and others who think she cares about which color lipstick matches them best leaves much to be desired.)

(Shaw is going to take a hammer to the Machine for putting her here.)

But the numbers eventually return, and Shaw no longer has to sit idle behind her make-up counter and pretend to be a normal aspect of society. She gets to out there, shooting people, and fucking with Reese.

And with the numbers, Root follows. Flitting in and out of their new subway base like a coming breeze. They barely have time to say more than a few sentences to each other before Root leaves on another mission. Not that Shaw is particularly bothered.

But there’s this persistent nagging in the back of her mind whenever Root leaves on a mission for the Machine. This urge to know if Root’s taking care of herself properly — she never did even when Samaritan wasn’t a threat.

Shaw keeps that strange feeling tucked in the back of her mind and focuses on the numbers that come her way. Works alongside Reese to ensure the safety of the civilians, and makes sure to keep Bear company.

Because that’s the mission. And Shaw knows how to handle the mission better than anything else.

—

“We really have to stop meeting like this.”

That’s what Root goes with after she’s been shot twice, combatted that blonde bitch without backup, and disappeared for a day without a word. That’s what Root goes with as she leans heavily against Shaw’s doorframe at half-past midnight, clutching her arm, and smiling dazedly.

Shaw would never admit the tinge of relief she felt when she saw Root in once piece, but she buries that beneath the familiar sting of annoyance.

She tugs Root inside and into the bathroom, flicking on the light as she steps through the door.

“Moving fast, are we?” Root murmurs, teetering in place, unbalanced, when Shaw releases her to rummage through the cabinets.

She shakes her head, placing the kit of her supplies on the sink with a clatter. “You’re an idiot,” she remarks when she looks at Root again, noting the shadows under her eyes and the stark white bandage peeking from underneath her shirt.

“I’ve actually been known to be a genius.” Root grins, but it fades when she winces, having jostled her arm as she settles on top of the sink.

Shaw tugs at the hem of Root’s shirt. “Off.”

Root tries to put on a show, but the effect is lost when she attempts to get her injured arm out of the sleeve, only to grimace in pain at every try.

After several moments of struggle, Shaw stepping in to assist her, the shirt is finally off and Shaw can examine the poor stitching job of whichever intern patched Root up after the shootout in the hotel.

“You should’ve had backup,” Shaw mutters, snapping on a pair of nitrile gloves.

Root sighs. “We’ve been over this, Shaw.” She shakes her head, messy waves of brown hair cascading over her uninjured shoulder. “It would have blown your cover.”

(Covers. That’s all Root’s been focused on since Samaritan came online. Their covers and running around for the Machine.

Covers, covers, covers. Damn them if the Machine is going to be sending out her assets alone.)

“Bitch could’ve killed you,” Shaw says instead, swallowing down the flood of angry words. “What then?”

“She didn’t,” Root reminds her, like that means anything. Like she isn’t sitting in Shaw’s apartment bleeding from yet another bullet wound.

“You’re not bulletproof.”

“Clearly.”

“Next time, you’re getting back up.” Shaw neatly ties off the end of the stitches. “Don’t care what the Machine thinks.”

Root peers through her lashes, lips quirking into a tiny smile. “Is that concern I hear, Sameen?”

Shaw purposefully focuses on returning all of her supplies to their proper places, slamming the cabinet doors shut a little too loudly.

When she turns back around, Root is still staring at her, eyes sharp and intense, but there’s something about it that’s different than the flirtation Shaw is accustomed to. And it’s not the first time she’s noticed.

Lately, the way Root looks at her has changed. Less of the intention to unnerve and more… more of something much heavier. Something Shaw is certain she knows the name of but adamantly refuses to label.

(She doesn’t do feelings. Not at the intensity of everyone else.

They are shallow echoes in her chest — like when her father died, when Cole died — quiet murmurs in the back of her mind. Ones that have compelled her to become a doctor, become a Marine, accept the ISA’s request.

The feeling of doing the right thing because she has the choice to.)

She doesn’t do what Root is doing. Doesn’t look at her with potent emotion searing through every tick of her expression. She knows Root regards her in some special light (not unlike how she views the Machine).

Knows that this is different.

(For both of them.)

“You can take the couch.”

Root’s brows rise, and she cants her head to the side. “Are you asking me to stay?” It’s less flirtation and more confusion, and yeah, Shaw is asking her to stay.

And maybe because it has to do with the way Root seemed so drained of life the previous day, so tired and weary. Maybe it’s the way that Root seems generally unmoored, lost.

“I’m saying the couch is open.” Shaw points to the wound she just patched up. “Shouldn’t be doing anything extensive with that.”

Root blinks, opens her mouth to say something, but the Machine must pitch in because she shuts her mouth with an audible click and nods. Shaw helps her into a more comfortable shirt, presses a pillow and blanket into her grasp. Ushers her to the couch.

As Shaw turns away, ready to catch some sleep of her own, Root calls her name.

Shaw pivots on her heel, hitches a brow.

“Thank you.”

It’s said so genuinely, so unlike how Root typically is, and Shaw does nothing but nod and flick off the lamp, retreating to her bedroom to sleep off the energy that’s been buzzing through her since she knew Root was still relatively intact.

—

“The Machine, she isn’t talking to you, is she?”

It’s after another long number, another number that required Shaw saving Reese’s ass, again, and Shaw is decompressing in her living room with the lights off, only the faint illumination of the streetlights outside allowing her to see Root, who sits across from her on the couch, cheek pressed into her palm.

(She forgets to be annoyed at the fact that Root stole her extra key and let herself in.)

Shaw takes a drink from her beer, sets it down on the table. The glass briefly reflects the dull orange light spilling across the apartment floor, and Shaw turns her attention back to Root, who hasn’t said a word.

“That’s why you’ve been all Eeyore lately?”

And with Root half-shrouded in shadow, it’s hard to read her face, but Shaw likes to think she knows her well enough to recognize when Root is hiding something.

“I get murmurs,” Root finally answers, voice barely above a whisper. “She can’t talk with Samaritan online.”

Shaw can hear the sadness bleeding through her tone, doesn’t know what to say to that. How do you comfort someone who’s lost their connection to an artificial super intelligence they view as a god?

(Not that Shaw has ever been one to comfort someone.)

“Root,” she starts, weirdly uncertain of why she’s even bothering to speak, “sorry she can’t talk to you right now.”

Shaw resists the urge to roll her eyes at herself, takes up her beer again to avoid having to say anything else. But she must have said something right because the space beside her dips with additional weight, and Root’s warmth is mixing with her own.

Shaw stiffens when Root rests her head on her shoulder, but she doesn’t shove her off. Kind of enjoys the way Root’s hair is soft against her neck.

They don’t speak after that, and Shaw doesn’t remove Root from her shoulder until she starts to feel it go numb.

(She does offer the couch to her again, so at least there’s that.)

—

Afterwards, Root crashing into her apartment becomes a near regular thing whenever she’s in town, which isn’t very often since she’s constantly being shipped off all over the world.

But she always appears at Shaw’s doorstep when she returns, a smirk on her lips and a glint in her eyes.

They fuck in the comfort of the darkness, carve out a space in each other as the night paints them in greys and silvers. Burn impressions of of themselves into skin and bone, brand each other with fire on their lips.

And Shaw’s never had someone match her heat with equal fervor.

(Maybe it’s the desperation of the war, or maybe it’s because Root knows how to read into everything Shaw wants in a sexual partner.

But it’s better than any sex Shaw has experienced.)

She lets Root stay.

—

It’s almost a year later when Shaw is able to open the door to Root again.

Open the door in reality, and not welcome Root into the vulnerable crevices of herself in some fucked up simulation that blurs her reality and leaves her head spinning for hours until she can catch her breath, remember how to think clearly.

(Thinking clearly, now that’s a thought.

Everything around her is tainted, and Shaw finds herself trying to remember what was real and what wasn’t more than she does anything else.)

But Root helps.

When the sun dips and the sky darkens and every nerve ending in Shaw’s body is on fire — it’s not real, that didn’t happen — Root is there. Gentle fingers wrapped around Shaw’s wrist, tugging her hand away from the side of her neck.

Away from the skin Shaw’s rubbed raw ever since she’s returned from Samaritan hell.

Contrasted against the shadows and the pale moonlight, Root tries to pull Shaw away from the lingering imprint the simulations left in Shaw’s mind. Tells Shaw about the numbers she and Reese worked when Shaw was gone.

Tells her of the wedding they crashed — well, I crashed, Root amends with a crooked smile, fingers running through the strands of hair at Shaw’s temple, I wasn’t technically invited. Tells her about Bear.

Bear, who sits at the end of the bed, watching them with pricked ears and a wagging tail.

And Shaw is able to resettle herself for the time being, with Root’s voice in her ear, and Bear’s presence anchoring her to the present.

—

It takes time. Takes an annoyingly long amount of time for Shaw to stop questioning every little thing that’s off (it never goes away, that clawing doubt in the back of her mind, that scraping at her throat that this isn’t real), but she gets there.

Gets to a point where she’s more or less like to her old self.

(No one could have survived what you went through, Root assures her, confident in Shaw — always confident in Shaw — vehement in the face of Shaw’s doubt. You are so strong, Sameen.)

She gets back to the numbers, to messing with Reese, to fucking with Fusco. She gets back to her early morning jogs, gets back to walking Bear around the park.

Gets back to disentangling herself from Root to make breakfast.

She still stumbles at times, jerks awake from the phantom burning in the side of her neck. But Root is there every time, helping her fumble through the faint grey light of pre-dawn. There to reassure Shaw that this is reality.

That she escaped Samaritan.

It takes time. But Shaw is nothing if not resilient. Strong, deeply connected to herself. Samaritan may have tried to break that, may have taken parts of Shaw that she won’t get back, but they didn’t succeed.

Shaw didn’t break.