Disclaimer: Person of Interest does not belong to me.
Shaw stalked into the subway hideout, grumbling under her breath. "Slimeball. I should have let them break his legs".
Root followed her progress from her position lounging at Harold's comms station. She watched with a soft smile on her face as Shaw went to the weapons locker and grabbed a cleaning kit. "Problem sweetie?"
"No. It was a cakewalk. I didn't even get to use the new pistol". Shaw walked back to the comms desk and slipped into the chair beside Root. "It turns out that the diamonds the number was trying to sell, they were all like this." She reached into her coat pocket and tossed a dime sized uncut gem onto the desk.
"A yellow diamond." Root commented as she held it up to the light. "Pretty much worthless as a gem due to the olivine inclusions. I take it the Russians lost interest once they saw the merchandise".
"Yeah the fence laughed the guy out of the store. I barely had to intervene in order to get him away from them."
"If by barely intervening you mean knocking out six Russian mobsters, then sure, whatever you say, Sameen."
Shaw rolled her eyes. "That diamond being worthless," she nodded at the gem in Root's hand. "It depends on your perspective you know."
"Oh"? Root raised an eyebrow, her curiosity piqued.
"I'm assuming you know the basics of diamond formation". Shaw started dissembling the custom fit Beretta 92FS pistol Root had given her that morning, narrowing her eyes at a fingerprint smudge on the barrel.
"Yes, they're formed under the immense pressure and heat present in the earth's mantle. They rise to the surface through volcanic activity where they are eventually mined."
Shaw nodded. "That particular diamond comes from the Kimberley diamond mine in South Africa, which means that it was formed in the Kaapvaal craton, one of the oldest pieces of continental crust on the earth. The yellow color is actually a piece of that primordial rock, that was incorporated into the diamond as it formed." She squinted at the pistol, before vigorously attacking it again with a soft cloth. "You're literally holding a piece of the first land that formed on earth nearly 4 billion years ago."
"Well when you put it that way, it's definitely not worthless." Root's expression was thoughtful as she looked at the gem in her hand. "It's interesting how something that is dismissed as a flaw, is actually the part that is priceless. An original piece of the world, just sitting in the palm of my hand." She made to toss the diamond back to Shaw, who shook her head in response.
"Keep it." Shaw kept her gaze on her gun, seemingly totally disinterested in what Root was doing.
A slow smile spread over Root's face. "Why Sameen, did you just give me the world?"
"Root. I will shoot you, and not in the knee". Shaw reached into the brand new box of custom bullets, and determinedly loaded the pistol.
"Well that's just rude, threatening to shoot me with the Valentine's day gift I gave you. I'll forgive you though, given how special yours made me feel".
"Root!"
~fin