Author: SoThatHappened

Root was asleep on Shaw's bed. In her apartment. On her bed. Asleep. Turns out pulling an all nighter was a lot for a tired hacker who had spent the previous night dealing with a drunk Shaw. They had watched the sunrise and tried not to kiss each other, then come back to Shaw's mostly because it was closer and Root was losing energy with every step. She wasn't going to admit she was cold, and she wasn't going to take Shaw's jacket either. Because she was still annoyed. Not that that made any sense to Shaw, who had forcefully pinned her jacket around Root's shoulders anyway and shot her a death glare if she even tried to consider giving it back.

Shaw's place was a piece of shit compared to Root's, she had all of two pieces of furniture. One was a fridge, and the other was a bed.

Shaw was tired, but she would survive. Root on the other hand climbed onto Shaw's bed as soon as they walked in, curling up under the covers, her eyes immediately shutting.

Shaw didn't make anything of Root's behaviour. She was cold and tired, and there was a bed and blankets in front of her. It wasn't anything special just because it was Shaw's bed. Although Shaw did count the fact that Root came back to hers as a positive.

But as soon as Root fell asleep Shaw immediately felt uncomfortable. What was she meant to do. There was no telling how long Root was going to be asleep, would it be 40 minutes or a solid 8 hours?

Shaw paced around her apartment for a solid few minutes trying to figure out what to do, she even reached an all time low of almost calling Reese to ask for backup. But she refrained. Instead she decided to go to the gym, burn off some of this excess energy. Yes she needed sleep. But she also needed to release this tension that she'd been carrying around for the past few days. And she damn well wasn't about to climb into bed next to Root.

She changed into her gym gear and grabbed her bag and a pen. Then before she left scrawled the word 'gym' onto Root's arm in case she woke up.

*

Shaw was gone for a few solid hours. She went to the gym, worked out until her muscles ached, took a shower, drank a protein shake and then went over to Finch's to have a nap on his couch. He looked at her curiously as she walked in in gym gear and she just rolled her eyes.

"Have you slept?" he asked and she just dumped her bag on the floor with a thud and threw herself onto the couch with a gruff mumble.

"I thought you had a bed?" Finch asked and Shaw kept her eyes shut as she replied.

"Root" she muttered and Finch raised an eyebrow.

"Did she... steal it?" he asked in confusion, with no idea what was going on between the two of them. But Shaw was practically asleep before she could get the answer out of her mouth.

When she woke up Finch and Reese were both out, it had been a couple of hours. She let out a sigh and figured she should probably go and check on Root. Not that she needed checking on... but it was her apartment. Why did she hesitate. Goddamn it.

She grabbed her bag and made her way back to her place, stopping to get two coffees on the way, remembering that Root always put sugar in hers. Fucking disgusting. But whatever, that was Root. She did weird shit like that.

As Shaw threw open the door to her apartment she immediately saw Root was out of bed. She was standing by the window the stretching, looking out through the dust at the shitty view of the back of the buildings. She turned around when she heard the door open and smiled when she saw Shaw.

"I got your message" she said and bit her lip, turning her arm towards Shaw revealing the smudged gym message. Shaw smirked a little and handed Root a coffee.

"A lot of thought went into that" Shaw said and Root rolled her eyes taking a sip from the coffee and humming happily.

"Your bed is pretty comfy" Root said looking over the top of the cup at Shaw.

"I'm glad it could be of service" Shaw said and Root just watched her.

"Where did you go?"

"Gym" Shaw shrugged "Finch's."

Root raised an eyebrow. "DJ cover getting replaced?"

Shaw shook her head and took a sip from her coffee.

"I took a nap" Shaw said and put her things down, sitting on the edge of her bed facing Root near the window still.

"You went to Finch's for a nap?" Root asked "You could have just come back here."

"You were asleep" Shaw said "I didn't want to disturb you."

"It's your place Sameen" Root pointed out and Shaw just shrugged.

"It's fine."

Root paused for a moment. "Your bed has more than enough room."

Shaw looked at her, a thousand thoughts racing through her mind.

"I know that" she said slowly. Root looked at her, as if she wanted to say something. Instead she moved towards the door.

"I should...get going" she said and looked around in case she was forgetting anything. Shaw raised an eyebrow.

"You can stay" Shaw suggested but Root just stared at the wooden floor.

"She, uh, has some work for me to do" Root said quietly.

"Does she?" Shaw asked. "Or do you just want to go?"

Root looked at her, the smallest frown twitching on her forehead. "Sameen," she said softly. "I wouldn't lie to you."

Those words carried a lot more weight than Shaw had expected. She suddenly couldn't find any words, so instead she just nodded, and Root went for the door.

"Root," Shaw said suddenly as Root was halfway out the door. Root paused immediately and glanced back at Shaw.

"Yeah Sam?"

"Do you want to do something tonight?" Shaw asked bluntly, the words tumbling from her mouth without further thought. Root stared at her.

"Like, each other?" she said with a slight hesitation and Shaw just shrugged. That hadn't been exactly what she had in mind.

"I mean, or something else" Shaw said and Root just looked at her.

"Okay" she said with a small nod. It felt like Shaw had been holding her breath up until to the moment Root said okay. Finally she could breathe again. Shaw didn't say anything else, she let Root leave. Then immediately smiled as soon as the door shut. Progress.

*

Shaw spent the rest of the day wondering what the fuck she was going to do with Root that night, apart from try not to fuck anything up, or kiss her. She wanted to kiss her, which was annoying and frustrating and weird. But she didn't want to kiss her, because she was trying to make a point. Whatever the fuck that point was. She was a good person. Most of the time. She tried to be. And Root needed to remember that. And somehow in Shaw's jumbled thoughts that amounted to not kissing her. Whatever. Stop thinking about it, Sameen. She told herself. Every time Root crossed her mind her thoughts just got more and more tangled. She hated it. There was no logic whatsoever, no facts she could line up. No easy solution. Root was like a walking nightmare in Shaw's life. But somehow she kept coming back to it willingly.

Shaw didn't need to overthink it though, because around 5pm Root called her.

"Hey Sameen" Root's voice said through her earpiece "I hope you're not busy."

"Why?" Shaw asked curiously.

"I'm in a bit of situation" Root said and Shaw was suddenly intrigued.

"Does it call for my 37mil?" Shaw asked and could practically hear Root smile.

"You know how you wanted to do something later?" Root asked and Shaw froze.

"...yeah"

"Well," Root said "Later is now."

"Could you be more specific?" Shaw asked.

"Turns out Adina is in some serious shit with Retrospect" Root said "And trying to save her has landed me in quite the predicament"

"Retrospect is what?" Shaw asked.

"A giant online software company" Root said "And they also have guns."

"Oh." Shaw said. "I'm on my way."

"Sending you the address now" Root said.

This was work Shaw reminded herself as she barged into the office complex. This was not a rescue mission, Root just wanted backup. Because this was work. She reminded herself that over and over again with every guard she took out. Every agent with a gun. Every level she climbed in the elevator to get to Root.

When the elevator doors opened all she could hear was gunfire. The office was wrecked, broken computers, paper everywhere. In the middle of it all she saw Root. Clearly she had a new cover. But it stopped Shaw almost dead in her tracks. Crisp blue button down shirt, red lips, her glasses on top of her head, black pants, pulling across her ass as she was crouched behind a desk. She looked over at Shaw and smirked. Shaw raised an eyebrow before taking out the guys that were shooting at her. She ran over to Root and skidded down beside her dodging a stray bullet.

"Thanks for coming" Root said and glanced at Shaw.

"I never say no to a fight" Shaw said and Root smirked.

"I'm not sure that's always a good thing, Sam" she said as she fired off a round at the remaining shooters. Shaw joined her instantly. It was almost stupid how in sync they were when it came to gun battles. How perfectly timed they were with one another. Shaw could feel the adrenaline racing through her veins. She thrived off this kind of stuff. She loved it. Root could see that.

Root had to admit the moment the elevator doors opened and she saw Shaw standing there, head to toe in black, a gun in each hand, she had felt a surge of energy rush through her body. Her heart had skipped a beat. Shaw had been looking right at her. Don't fall in love she had told herself in that moment. Don't.

She felt Shaw shooting right alongside her, their arms almost touching. They took out the last shooters and suddenly silence fell through the office. They'd won. For now. Root dropped back down behind the table, setting her gun on the floor and turning towards Shaw. Don't kiss her.

Shaw looked at her. Their eyes met. Suddenly their lips met too. Shaw had Root by the sharp collar of her blue shirt, kissing her hard. Root felt like a schoolgirl being kissed for the first time by a kid her parents would not approve of. Exhilarated, she kissed Shaw back. Red lipstick smudging. Tongues. Hands. A soft and almost embarrassing moan escaping from Root's lips before she could trap it. Hungry for more, hungry for each other. Not that they'd admit that. Shaw pulled away first.

"Sorry" she muttered under her breath and Root just stared at her breathlessly. Her red lipstick smeared across Shaw's face. They looked at each other again slowly. They didn't know what to say. What were they supposed to say.

"Yours or mine?" were the words that came from Root's mouth following the silence. Shaw looked at her.

"Are you sure?" she asked and Root just stared at her. Dark eyes. Fixated. Hungry. There was no question. "Mines closer."

*

It was almost nerve-wracking until they remembered why they both enjoyed it so much. Root felt more nervous than she had before they had sex for the first time. She could feel her heart racing. She knew she was probably being stupid letting this happen again so soon after she had been hurt. But she couldn't resist it. She wanted Shaw. Now. And people made mistakes right? Especially sociopaths who are learning to care.

She was nervous until their clothes were off. In scattered piles across Shaw's floor.

Shaw had her pinned against the wall, kissing her neck, sucking, biting, hands wandering. And Root smirked, pushing her knee between Shaw's legs.

"Fuck me" she whispered and Shaw's eyes met with hers. That was an instruction. Nervous? No.

Shaw grabbed Root's jaw and forced her head to the side, biting her neck then kissing it. She was addicted to the smell of Root, the taste of her skin was almost sweet.

She pushed Root back onto her bed. This was probably a bad idea. But Root initiated. She could stop it though, if she thought it was going to result in more shit. But she didn't. Neither of them did.

She fucked Root, good, hard, until she swore she could feel the weak walls of her apartment vibrating with Root's screams. Root was easy compared to Shaw. She was gone at Shaw's slightest touch. The brush of her fingertips, her tongue, her lips, the weight of Shaw's body on top of her.

Shaw took a moment to let her hands wander Root's body, let her hands feel Root's soft skin, trace her bones, feel her breathing, outline each rib, her nipples, the curve of her tits, the dip in her waist. She loved Root's body, she could easily admit that. She pushed her fingers deep into Root and watched her back arch perfectly underneath her. Shaw watched her lips part, watched her suck the air in, her perfect long eyelashes fluttering, her skin flushing pink. Shaw pushed her to orgasm twice, first with fingers, then with tongue, she felt Root's body tremble after the second. Shaw licked her fingers clean and kissed the middle of Root's stomach. Root's breath was ragged as she lay there, an arm thrown over her forehead she stared at the ceiling, lips still parted.

"You okay?" Shaw had to check. Root just nodded.

"You're too good at that" Root said eventually.

"Practice makes perfect" Shaw smirked and Root just shot her a look. Shaw rolled her eyes.

"I meant with you."

"Did you?" Root asked, she was trailing a finger up and down the crevice between her boobs. Shaw was watching her finger. She reached out and grabbed Root's hand, stopping it from moving, locking their fingers together.

"Yes." Shaw said her jaw tight. Root watched her. Don't fall in love.

Root pulled her hand back after a few moments and sat up. She didn't particularly want to move. She was tired, comfy, content. But she got up regardless. She started getting dressed and she could feel Shaw watching her closely as she tugged on her pants, then bra, then shirt.

"What are you doing?" Shaw asked. "You don't need to go."

"This is the second time I've used your bed today Sam" Root said as she did up the buttons on that fucking blue shirt that she looked so good in.

"So?" Shaw asked trying not to get distracted.

"I have my own bed" Root said and Shaw just raised an eyebrow.

"What are you implying?" Shaw asked and Root just leaned over to Shaw and wiped a smudge of red lipstick from the side of her mouth with a small smile.

"See you tomorrow, Sameen" she said her thumb overing at the corner of Shaw's mouth for a moment, wanting to run it over Shaw's perfect fucking lips but refraining. Barely. She pulled her hand back and grabbed her glasses, slipping them on before she headed for the door.

Shaw frowned. Sex, she thought. That was their agreement. Just sex. So why did she feel so strange watching Root leave?