Author: SoThatHappened

Root had made it at least a couple of blocks away before Shaw finally caught up with her.

"Okay, stop" Shaw said coming up beside Root after pushing several people out of the way to get to her wife. Root glanced at Shaw looking briefly startled to see her. Then even more so when Shaw suddenly slapped the cuff back on Root's wrist, reattaching them to each other.

"What are you doing?" Root asked with a frown and Shaw just looked at her.

"We're going home" Shaw said.

"I have things to do" Root tried and Shaw rolled her eyes.

"Really like what?" Shaw bit her tongue before she could make a comment about The Machine not being in Root's ear. She was trying to make this better, not worse.

Root just shook her head and kept walking, leaving her handcuffed wrist limply by her side.

"Are you really not going to try and fix this?" Shaw asked with a frown and Root just shrugged.

"I'm tired" Root said simply and Shaw stared at her in disbelief.

"I came after you because I thought that's what you wanted" Shaw said "And because I don't want us to be arguing."

"So maybe you should have thought about that first" Root answered.

"Root" Shaw protested "I am trying here."

Root suddenly snapped, coming to an abrupt stop and turning to look at Shaw.

"So was I this afternoon," Root said icily. "It's not fun when no one listens to you, is it?"

They looked fixedly at one another, until Shaw finally started shaking her head.

"I'm sorry" she said and threw her hands up, half taking Root's with her. But it were as if Root was looking straight through her, she turned and started walking again without even acknowledging Shaw's apology.

Shaw was forced to keep walking with Root. She could tell Root was heading towards central park, which was technically on their way home, but she had a feeling it was going to be Root's last stop.

"What do you want me to do then?" Shaw asked. "Just fucking tell me."

"I don't know, Sameen" Root said, it was that quiet tone. That quiet sadness and anger that she was trying to handle, which always came out in the softest way. It was almost worse than if she just yelled at Shaw. Shaw could handle violence and yelling, what she wasn't so good at was Root's quietness, and her uncertainty.

"Do you want me to take these off then?" Shaw asked and rattled the cuffs. Root just shrugged.

"I don't know."

"Well what do you know then?" Shaw was starting to get frustrated, her voice rising a little.

"Do you think interrogating me is going to help?" Root asked her voice level, which almost made Shaw even more frustrated.

"I'm not-" Shaw started then cut herself off with a head shake and looked in the opposite direction from Root.

Root didn't say anything else, neither did Shaw. They walked through Central Park, the trees were still missing their leaves, there was still snow stuck to the sides of the walkway. Shaw let out a breath and pulled them to a stop. She unlocked their wrists from the cuffs and tucked them into her back pocket. Root rubbed her wrist as they kept walking, and didn't say thank you.

Shaw wasn't entirely sure what she was meant to do now, Root was hardly in a cooperative mood.

"What did you want to say to me earlier?" Shaw asked finally after an unknown amount of silence. Root didn't reply immediately.

"Why does it matter" Root said as more of a statement than an actual question. Shaw just turned to look at her.

"It matters." Shaw said. "I want to know" she added after a beat.

Root was staring at the trees as they walked, it was pretty much dark, only lit by the street lamps in the park. It wasn't the safest place to be at night, but considering Root's amount of weapons and the fact they were both trained killers they were never worried about such a minor detail. It was also Root's happy place, or at least one of them. She loved the park, the loved feeling like she was away from the clutter of the city, and her mind. A breath of well overdue fresh air was the usual driving force of her visits.

She was glad Shaw was there, angry or not, it did mean something to her that Shaw had come after her. She knew it was probably provoked by Finch almost having a heart attack after their little row right in front of him. But the fact that she listened, or made that choice herself, still meant a lot to her. A while ago it would have almost been a joke to assume Shaw would come after her... however as soon as Root thought that she changed her mind. Shaw had always wanted to come after her, whether they were on good terms or not.

Root glanced at her, half of Shaw's face in the shadow, the other half lit by the park lights.

"I think I was going to ask you to stay" Root said "to be honest I really don't know, I just didn't want you to go because I guess I was feeling... lost"

Shaw looked at her. "Why didn't you just say that?"

"You were already out the door" Root said "And I couldn't find the right words, I didn't even know what I wanted."

Shaw frowned. "Do you know now?"

"No."

Root wasn't looking at her, her eyes were fixed straight ahead on the path. But Shaw couldn't look away. She despised fighting with Root, yes they had their plethora of other battles behind them but for some reason this one felt different. Like an emotional attack, not that she knew what that would feel like. But the twisting feeling in her stomach wouldn't go away. The fact that she was so frustrated with Root for the way she was acting, the fact she couldn't just come out and talk to Shaw. The fact that every time Shaw tried to make it better she made it worse, because she really didn't know how to deal with this.

Shaw looked at Root. She traced Root's profile with her eyes, the perfect point of her nose, the outline of her lips. Please, come back Shaw thought. I can't do this without you.

"I want Her back" Root said softly and Shaw kept looking at her.

"What if She doesn't come back?"

Root said nothing, as if that weren't a possibility although she knew it was. The Machine had been giving Root more space since she and Shaw had agreed on their married terms. The way She backed off was frustrating to Root, but it were as if to say, you have Shaw now, you don't need both of us, constantly. The Machine chose Shaw for Root. She is the human. She wins. But that didn't mean Root could cope easily after being so used to having Her in her ear.

"I know you talk to Her about everything" Shaw said. "But I'm here too."

"I know that." Root said.

"So talk to me then" Shaw practically pleaded. Root turned to look at her, their eyes finally met even through the dark. But before Root had a chance to say anything, Shaw's phone started ringing. Shaw ignored it, but Root just rolled her eyes.

"Answer it" Root said and Shaw shook her head.

"No."

"Sameen" Root just said with a sigh, Shaw reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone glancing at the screen and seeing Finch's name.

"It's just Harold" Shaw said, but Root was looking in the other direction.

"It's probably important" she said and Shaw just stared at her, before picking up the call.

"Not a great time, Harold" she said quietly but Finch barely listened.

"Sameen" he shouted "Tomas's number just came up again, he's in a lot of danger, I need you to go now"

"Harold" Shaw growled "Get Reese to do it, did you not just see what happened?"

"He's working another number, I have no other option but you Sameen" Finch said and Shaw clenched her jaw glancing over at Root who wasn't paying any attention to her.

"Send me the address" Shaw said. "But I have no guarantees."

"Thank you, Sameen" Finch said then paused "How's Root? Dare I ask."

"Well about to be a whole lot worse" Shaw said and then hung up the phone.

"Obviously an emergency" Root anticipated looking back at Shaw the moment she put the phone back into her pocket.

Shaw looked at Root, unsure what to say, or how to explain what she was about to do. She eyed Root's collection of various weapons that she had stashed on her body.

"Can you come with me?" Shaw asked and Root raised an eyebrow.

"Where?"

"Just, walk with me" Shaw said and started heading towards the park exit. She glanced behind her to make sure Root was following, she was. That was a positive sign. It would have been easy and almost expected if Root had rolled her eyes and walked off in the other direction. And when she figured out where they were going, she might just do that.

"Can I have a gun?" Shaw asked but Root just handed her a taser instead. Shaw stared at it with a frown before tucking it into the back of her jeans. Whatever, it'll do.

Shaw stopped walking in a car park outside a club. You could feel and hear the clubs pounding bass from outside.

"What is this, Sameen?" Root asked finally looking around at where they were with a frown on her face. At that moment the backdoor to the club opened and Tomas stepped out with someone else. Root saw him immediately and reached for her gun. Shaw grabbed her hand to stop her. A second later a shot was fired, it bounced off the wall next to Tomas and hit his friend, dropping to the ground.

"Get down" Shaw yelled at him and Tomas looked over at her, with wide eyes. Finally, he was fucking scared. He ducked behind the closest car as another round of shots were fired. Shaw's hand was still gripping Root's wrist tightly, so she knew it wasn't Root firing the rounds off.

They crouched behind a car. Root was glaring at Shaw.

"I can't believe you" she said angrily.

"You said you wanted to fuck him up" Shaw pointed out. The firing stopped, Tomas made a run towards them. A few more shots barely missed him as she dove down next to them behind a large SUV.

"Ladies" he said with a smirk. "Finally it gets interesting."

Root rolled her eyes at him, and Shaw was about ready to use that taser on herself.

"We are getting you out of here, and then you're gonna get on a plane and leave forever, understand?" Shaw said and Tomas just looked at her, a smile twitching on his lips, then he looked back at Root.

"She's mad" he said to Shaw, and Root gave him a thunderous look.

"Oh good you noticed" Root said from behind Shaw where she was leaning against the car loading her gun.

Shaw stare at Tomas. "Do not make this worse." she warned him and he just laughed, as shots started firing at the car they were behind.

"This doesn't seem like a bad situation" he said and Shaw rolled her eyes.

"My wife is more ready to kill you then whoever is firing those guns" Shaw said and could almost feel Root's smirk behind her. Shaw turned around to look at her.

"Give me a gun and let me take these idiots out" Shaw said and Root stared at her before handing her a gun and rolling her eyes.

"Is your car here?" Shaw asked and Tomas nodded.

"Over there" he said and nodded to the other side of the car park and Shaw groaned.

"Let them finish this round then we run, yes?" Shaw said and Tomas nodded, Shaw looked back at Root who just shrugged.

They waited in a painful silence for the shots to stop then Shaw leapt up.

"Go" she shouted practically shoving Tomas to start moving, catching sight of the three guys that were reloading and firing Root's gun at them. She could feel Root sticking close to her, their shots practically matching, taking two of the guys out, she managed to shield Tomas at the same time. It was almost assuring to know how well they still worked together as a team despite the obvious friction between them.

Shaw glanced at Root. It was a stupid mistake. And in that split second, her focus wavered, she felt the shot to her shoulder. Like a fiery puncture. Her shoulder jerked back and she stifled a groan, lifting her gun and firing a shot at the last man standing.

Root almost beat her to it, two bullets hitting him in the chest at the exact same moment. One from Shaw, one from Root.

Shaw shoved Tomas towards his car, taking the keys from his pocket and tossing them to Root.

"Get in and duck down" she told Tomas forcing him into the passenger side as she climbed into the backseat and half lay down.

"Where'd it hit you?" Root asked immediately as she started the car, reversing out and changing direction in one extremely fast move.

"Shoulder, I'm fine" Shaw said through gritted teeth finally feeling the pain of the bullet.

"You got hit?" Tomas asked incredulously. Root just shook her head at his comment. Tomas turned around in his seat to look back at Shaw.

"Worried?" Shaw asked sarcastically, and Root hit a corner hard before Tomas had a chance to reply, making both of them jolt to the side uncomfortably.

"Do you want me come back there?" Tomas asked and Root rolled her eyes. "Let me take a look."

"For fuck sake" Shaw groaned pulling the taser from the back of her pants and flicking it on as she leaned forward pressing it to his neck. She felt the jolts leave her hand and buzz through his body until he was quickly unconscious.

Root's eyes immediately widened as she saw him fall limply against the window.

"What?" Shaw asked when Root glanced over her shoulder at Shaw. "He wasn't gonna shut up."

"What happened to save the number?" Root asked.

"He's unconscious, not dead" Shaw said. "For now."

"Are you okay?" Root asked looking through the rearview and seeing the blood pool on Shaw's shoulder.

"Yeah" Shaw said "Just stop taking such aggressive corners, it's not helping."

"Where are we dropping him?" Root asked with a smirk.

"The airport" Shaw said and Root arched an eyebrow.

"Oh you meant that?"

"Why would I not?" Shaw asked and Root just watched at the road.

They drove in silence most of the way, the sound of the radio playing bad pop songs was the only thing that kept Shaw from going completely crazy. She tried to stop the bleeding from the bullet wound as much as possible by ripping a piece of her shirt and wrapping it around her shoulder with an annoying amount of difficulty, that practically wiped the rest of her energy. She lay down across the backseat, and let out a deep breath. She listened to the sound of Root driving and wondered how mad she still was. She wanted to just ask, just get it all out in the open so they could sort it out.

The car rolled to a stop, Shaw felt half asleep, but pulled herself up anyway. Her energy was drained, she felt a little light headed but she didn't care. Kicking open the door she got out and opened Tomas's door. His head was still hanging but she knew he would be near waking up.

"Come on" she said and slapped his face with her good arm. "Get out."

She watched him come to, slowly, he looked around and then at Shaw. He smiled, not seeing Root leaning on the car next to Shaw.

"You gonna come away with me this time?" he asked with a smirk and Shaw rolled her eyes, grabbing him by the shirt with one hand and yanking him out of the car.

"Not a chance" she said and immediately took his seat in the car, before she collapsed.

"This is my last stop then" Tomas said as he looked at Root. Shaw watched through the wing mirror as Root pointed her gun at his head.

"Finally," Root said "you're starting to get it."

Tomas just laughed and Root stared at him coldly.

"I like you, you know" he said and Root just rolled her eyes.

"I really don't care" she said and he looked down at her gun.

"Are you going to shoot me?" he asked and Root kept her gun pointed at him for a solid few seconds before she let it drop to her side.

"Not today" she said "but if I ever catch you near my wife again, I'll lobotomize you with my taser."

Tomas smirked. "It's a big world." he said as she started to walk off.

"Not big enough" Root murmured watching him go, before she got back in the car and threw her gun in the glove compartment.

Shaw was leaning back against the headrest with her eyes closed.

"I didn't hear a gun shot" she said hearing Root's door shut and the engine start.

"Silencer." Root replied and Shaw smirked.