Author: SoThatHappened

It had been a couple of days now and Shaw had felt like she had barely seen Root. They had gone from the high point of their relationship straight down to a low. Shaw got it, kind of, nothing could top having a wedding on your birthday, and she knew Root probably had already imagined it would just go downhill from there. But Shaw hadn't anticipated it actually would.

Not that anything much had changed which was the infuriating part. It just seemed like Root was unplugged, she was hardly sleeping, barely touching food, conversations were almost a joke. Shaw didn't know what to do. She knew The Machine was probably the only one that could fix it, and she despised that. The fact she had to share her relationship with a machine in general had always bugged her more than she had let on. But of course she tolerated it, because she loved Root.

Although that moment of unsettled thought was still lingering on her mind from the hotel that night. What would happen if one day she woke up and the feeling was gone? It was practically a miracle that she could feel anything at all, so what if this was just a glitch? And one day she woke up and she couldn't look at Root in the same way?

Since Root hadn't been much of a conversationalist the past couple of days Shaw had more than enough time to mull this over, coming to no conclusion, and ultimately freaking herself out even more.

Shaw had just taken care of a number, she had walked in the door and gone straight to the kitchen, but when she walked in she was greeted with Root. Unexpectedly home, sitting on the counter with the first aid kit out and a bloodied knuckles.

"What happened to you?" Shaw asked bypassing her to get to the fridge, grabbing a beer and using the counter to pop the lid off. She walked back around and stood a meter from Root inspecting her wound from afar.

"And if you say nothing, I will put you through a wall" Shaw said "I'm sick of your one word answers." As soon as the words left her mouth Shaw took a mouthful of beer. I sound like my mother she immediately thought. Not so much the hostility but definitely the part about one word answers, which almost made her laugh. Who knew she'd be telling anyone off ever about one word answers?

Root raised an eyebrow. "What does it look like?" she said and lifted her hand. Shaw frowned.

"Root," she said waiting for Root to turn her attention back to Shaw instead of riffling through the first aid kid. Finally she did.

"Lose the attitude" Shaw frowned. Root needed to be pulled out. And Shaw watched the change on Root's face as she snapped out of it a little.

"I'm sorry" she said quietly "This isn't your fault."

"Yeah, exactly" Shaw said.

Shaw watched as Root wrapped the bandage round her hand several times before securing it tightly. Root looked up at her. She looked exhausted, her eyes were tired and lost, but Shaw still wanted to pull her close. As she looked at Root, and the distance between them she wondered what it would be like if she looked at her and didn't feel a thing. She had always felt something with Root, since the very beginning, even if she ignored it for a while it was still there. But she couldn't shake the thought of it somehow going away suddenly.

Root didn't even notice the distance in Shaw's eyes, she packed up the first aid kit and glanced over at Shaw before she walked out of the room.

Shaw stared at the spot where Root had just been standing and shook her head. She knew Root would come around, but she wasn't exactly a fan of her current plan; grin and bare it. She took another sip from her beer and set it down on the counter, looking over at Bear who stared at her as if to say. "Well fuck, I don't know either."

Suddenly Finch's voice was in her ear.

"Sameen," he said. "We have another number."

"Great" Shaw muttered. "Who is it?"

"An old friend of yours," Finch said and Shaw frowned trying to think of who it could be. "I thought you might want to handle this one yourself, I'm sending you the location now."

Shaw sighed and was just pulling her phone out to see who it was when Root walked back into the room again. As Shaw was sliding her phone back into her pocket she saw the face on her screen and almost choked on her breath. It was Tomas. She looked back up at Root.

"Why do I feel like I'm always letting you down?" Root asked and Shaw just stared at her, the image of Tomas distracting her from Root was saying. What was he doing back? And why was his life in danger again? Or rather, what was he planning on doing?

"You're not" Shaw answered and Root frowned, leaning on the counter in front of Shaw. "I'm sure it's just a feelings thing," Shaw said absentmindedly still wondering about Tomas. "You should be lucky you have them." she added her earlier thoughts creeping back into her mind, which only deepened Root's frown.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Root asked and Shaw just looked at her.

"I have to go." Shaw said and grabbed her keys off the counter, Root watched her in confusion and followed her all the way to the door.

"Wait, Sameen" Root said reaching over Shaw and shutting the door as she opened it. Shaw turned to look at her expectantly.

"What?"

Root just stared at her, unsure what to say. She opened her mouth, the frown still creasing her forehead, she shook her head and then closed her mouth again.

"Nothing." Root said and Shaw rolled her eyes pulling the door open again.

"Bye" Shaw said and bounced down the steps towards her car. Root just watched her leave feeling even more lost than she had a few moments ago.

Root went down the steps following Shaw and folded her arms watching Shaw get into the car.

Shaw glanced over at her and rolled the window down.

"Yes, Root?" she said and Root just frowned.

"You're mad." Root said and Shaw's grip tightened on the wheel a little.

"Nope" Shaw said and Root leaned down her head in the window.

"Then what?" Root asked.

"I've been asking you the same thing for days" Shaw said with a shrug. "And you say, it's nothing" Shaw paused and let out a breath. "Look, I've really got to go."

"Are you gonna tell me where?" Root asked and Shaw just looked at her.

"Does it matter?" she asked then saw the look on Root's face change from a frown to almost an instant sadness. Immediately giving in to that face, Shaw leaned over, her face close to Root's.

"Kiss." she demanded and Root closed the gap between them kissing Shaw's lips slowly then pulling back, not lingering.

"It always matters to me" Root said quietly, but Shaw still didn't answer, instead she turned the engine back on and pulled on her seatbelt.

Root moved away from the window and Shaw put it back up before driving off. Root felt a sinking feeling in her stomach, suddenly feeling completely abandoned by both The Machine and her wife. She knew Shaw probably had another number, and Root knew Shaw wouldn't mention it to her for the obvious reason of, The Machine was still giving them numbers, but not talking to Root.

She was still standing on the sidewalk with her arms tightly folded across her chest when Sarah, their neighbour called out to her from where she was getting into her car.

"Hey Samantha" she said and Root almost forgot to turn around at the sound of that name. She stretched a half decent fake smile across her lips as she raised a hand in acknowledgement to her neighbour before quickly starting back towards the door.

"I just can't get over how cute you two are" Sarah said and Root realised she must have seen her following Shaw out to her car. "I wish Paul came out to kiss me goodbye" Sarah continued and Root just looked at her. She doesn't even realise, Root thought. She doesn't even realise that was by far one of the worse goodbye's we've ever had.

"Just force him to" Root said before she disappeared back inside and shut the door behind her. Leaning back on it and squeezing her eyes shut. Don't cry she told herself. You don't need to fucking cry.

Root twisted her wedding ring around her finger, it was more of an anxiety thing then anything else. She knew she had been acting like a brat, but she couldn't help it. Going from having a voice in your ear almost constantly, to being plunged into silence without direction, it wasn't the easiest thing to deal with. Although when it had first happened this time she had almost forgotten about it entirely, with Shaw being so incredible, their wedding ceremony. Everything. And then it was over, and she had woken up to silence. And it hurt.

Sucking up her tears in a hitched breath she went upstairs and quickly got changed, her hand aching under the bandage she realised driving her bike was going to be harder than normal. Or she could take the subway. She sighed. Grabbing her jacket and Bear and deciding to walk instead.

By the time she got to Finch's a light rain had turned into a more heavy shower and both her and Bear were decently soaked. Bear shook the rain off his coat as soon as he walked in the door and Finch turned around at the familiar sound, raising an eyebrow when he saw Root.

"Root," he said. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Root shrugged, pulling off her wet leather jacket and dropped it on the coatrack.

"I thought Bear might want to see you" Root said and watched as Finch scratched Bear's ear with a smile. She sat down at the other chair next to Finch's computers and looked at them, seeing a photo of Tomas in one of the half hidden tabs.

She immediately sat forward and looked at Finch.

"Where's Sameen?" she asked and Finch raised an eyebrow.

"Considering she's your wife, I'd assume you would know more than I do." he said and Root rolled her eyes reaching over him and bringing the photo up on the screen.

"Is she with him?" Root demanded and Finch looked at the photo then back at Root and frowned.

"Did she not tell you?" he asked and Root just stared at the screen, her lips pressed firmly together. "Is everything okay?"

"Oh it's just fine" Root said and Finch tentatively put his hand over hers. Root looked at Finch's hand and sighed.

"He's just the number right?" Root asked her eyes shutting lightly.

"Yes" Finch said. "I figured Sameen would want to deal to him."

"Deal to him?" Root echoed. "Why would you think that Harold? Because she fucked him last time?"

Finch's eyes widened in shock at what she said, and the way she had suddenly snapped at him.

"She what?" Finch said his eyes still wide as Root looked at him.

"As if you didn't know" Root rolled her eyes. "You're the one that wanted our ceremony so bad Harold, and now you're trying to sabotage our marriage?"

Finch frowned. "Root," he said shaking his head. "Stop, you're just projecting, Sameen is not going to cheat on you with... Tomas, she honours your marriage you must know that."

"Sure" Root said "but you didn't see how fast she walked out the door this afternoon."

Finch stared at her with deep concern, not so much for Root, but for what he had done. He moved out of the way of the computer, his direct communication line to Shaw suddenly free. Root looked at him, then the computer and shuffled over. Hitting the button and immediately hearing the computer connect to Shaw.

"What Harold?" Shaw's voice hissed. Root almost felt bad for a split second before she smirked.

"Hey sweetie" she said with a smile. "You busy?"

"Root?" Shaw sounded shocked. "What the hell are you doing?"

"I'm checking in on you" Root smiled. "Tomas is a pretty bad guy, from what I remember."

"Well you remember wrong" Shaw said "He's fine."

"Is he?" Root asked the sharp tone in her voice not going unnoticed.

"Root." Shaw said. "Don't do this now."

Root went quiet. Her jaw locked as she stared at the photo of Tomas on the screen. I should kill him she thought.

"Why, am I interrupting?" Root asked and she heard Shaw sigh loudly.

"No" Shaw said "It's just annoying."

Root swallowed hard, a lump forming in her throat. For some reason that time it stung more than usual. And she knew Shaw meant it to.

"Fine." Root said and without a moment of hesitation hung up the line. She stared at the desk feeling mildly embarrassed, but when she turned around to see if Finch was there, he was gone. And so was Bear. She let her head fall into her hands and she pulled at her hair.

She knew Shaw would never cheat on her. Not after that whole bad dream fiasco and that hadn't even been real. But it was the fact she hadn't told Root where she was going. The fact she was suddenly being so short with her. Root frowned, she knew she hadn't been easy the past couple of days so she had been trying to stay out of Shaw's way. Shaw had dealt with enough of Root's issues, she didn't want to burden her with a bad mood too. But apparently that had still made to worse, it had caused a rift in their seemingly perfect relationship. Days ago they had been all over each other, yes that had been one hell of a coping mechanism from the fact The Machine wasn't talking to Root, but for it to suddenly crumble to this.

Root took a deep breath.

Then the line started to ring again. It was Shaw. Her finger hovered above the keyboard before she accepted the call. She waited for Shaw to speak first.

"I was going to say," Shaw said. "It's annoying that you still don't trust me."

It felt like one brick had been lifted off a very dense pile. Root almost smiled.

"I do trust you." she said, and she meant it.

"Doesn't feel like it." Shaw answered.

"Sam, I trust you okay" Root said "Believe me."

Shaw sighed. "Whatever." she said. "I have to go."

Root opened her mouth to say I love you, but the line disconnected. She frowned, pushing herself back from the desk and kicking her feet up onto it.

*

"Who keeps calling you?" Tomas asked when Shaw walked back into the bar from the ladies room and slipped back into the seat beside him.

"My wife" Shaw said and he raised an eyebrow at her.

"Wife?" he was surprised. "Didn't see that one coming."

"You know," Shaw said with a playful smile "Tall brunette, pretty as hell, could murder you with a smile on her face if you so much as look at me wrong."

"I could never look at you wrong" Tomas said, their eyes locked on each other.

"I'm sure she's got other ideas about that" Shaw said with a smirk watching as he took a sip from his drink, and then switched their drinks around. She knew Tomas wouldn't try anything with her but she had to be certain. He smirked as she did so.

"As if I'd use a date rape drug on you" he said and Shaw lifted an eyebrow. "You're married."

She smirked. "Sure," she said "and with that look in your eye who needs one, girls would be falling at your feet."

"But not you" he said and she rolled her eyes. "You always liked me, but you'd never swoon."

"Oh I swooned" Shaw smiled. "Just when you weren't looking."

Tomas smiled at her. "It's good to see you." he said and Shaw looked at him before nodding and finishing his drink.

"Yeah" she said. "But it always means trouble."

"So what?" he said "You like trouble." he looked at her and winked and she just rolled her eyes again.

"Not your kind of trouble."

"That's not what you said last time." he smirked.

"Last time I didn't have a wife, who is all the trouble I can take."

"Fair enough" he said. "I'd like to meet this wife of yours."

Shaw almost laughed at the thought of it and shook her head. "No you don't."

"I think we'd get along" he said, always so sure of himself, always so softly spoken as he watched Shaw with his dark eyes. "We both have excellent taste in women, we like a little danger..."

"Don't tell me you like tasers too?" Root's voice said from behind him as she pressed her taser into his neck. It wasn't on. But he immediately froze in place. She looked over his shoulder at Shaw whose eyes had widened, she looked like she had just been caught out.

Tomas saw the look on Shaw's face but didn't panic, instead, he started to laugh.

"Well timed." he said and turned around to examine who the taser belonged to.

Root kept it pressed to his neck as she glared at Shaw before turning her attention to Tomas.

"Nice to finally meet you, Tomas" she said "Sam's told me all about you."

Shaw shot her a look that she didn't see.

"You know you almost ruined our relationship once, so if you thought for a hot second that I was gonna let you do it again, you're dead wrong." Root said, they all knew what she was talking about. Shaw had almost left with Tomas last time he was here. She had almost left with him when her and Root had just started sleeping together, when they had just established that it was going to be a thing. No it wasn't quite a relationship but it was finally getting somewhere. And he had almost catastrophically messed that up, until Shaw realised she had wanted to stay.

"Hey, she's your wife" Tomas said and lifted his hands off his lap in surrender. "But last time she made her choices, that had nothing to do with either of us."

Shaw looked frantically between the two of them. Wishing anything would happen to finish this conversation.

"You're wrong" Root said. "It had to do with me."

Tomas glanced over at Shaw who was plastered to the stool like she was watching an action movie. He smiled at her and shook his head.

"Okay, okay" he said and started to get up off his seat, leaning forward to Shaw. "You're right," he said, his breath on her neck. "She's beautiful, congratulations."

Root prodded him in the shoulder with her taser.

"Flirt with my wife one more time," Root warned and he turned around to face her.

"You must be used to it, right?" he said with a wink and Root glared at him.

"Leave now, before I turn this thing on and doing some serious nerve damage" Root demanded and he moved around her, merging into the crowd heading towards the door. "And take a lesson in subtlety on your way home" she yelled out after him, before turning back to Shaw who was staring at her in disbelief.

"Says you" Shaw commented and Root narrowed her eyes.

"Outside. Now" Root scowled and Shaw quickly slid off the bar stool and followed Root out into the evening.