AN: Hello. I'm new to the Person of Interest fandom. Couple of important things about this story. I wrote it on Monday in zero period. After watching tonight's episode I went back and forth between making some minor changes and not because there was a parallel with it and my story, but I ended up leaving it as is. So without further ado Set in Stone.
Root walked quickly from the car she was "borrowing" to the stone. There was no body so there was no grave. Just a stone. Just a simple stone that Harold had paid for. It was the nicest money could buy, supposedly. He didn't so much as reference their "already depleted funds" when he signed the check. Then he'd asked Root what she wanted it to say. She didn't want it to say anything she didn't want it to exist. She didn't dignify the question with a response.
John had suggested something about her unparallel ability to kick ass. Fusco had opted for something that was lighter but still of the same general message. Harold just wanted to call her a hero. Root didn't know what the final result was. She didn't care.
There was no grave because there was no body. There was no body because Shaw wasn't dead. Root glanced down to ensure she had the right stone. Sameen Shaw. She tore her eyes away. She didn't want to look. She didn't want to see the love of her life memorialized as if she was gone.
She wasn't gone.
Harold didn't understand. John didn't understand. Fusco didn't understand. She understood. She took a deep breath and lifted the sledgehammer over her head preparing to bring it down hard on top of that disgusting, disgraceful tombstone. Harold should've listened when she'd said no.
The machine chattered in her ear before she brought the mallet down. The message was simple. Don't.
"You know!" Root screamed. "You know where she is! Tell me!" She began to sob. She didn't want to. God, how she didn't want to. But it wasn't optional at this point. Not in the slightest. "Tell me!" Root sunk to her knees. The hammer hit her ankle but she didn't register the pain. She couldn't feel anything but her broken heart.
If there had been anyone else at the park, they probably would've called the police. Not that Root couldn't take them. She just didn't want to deal with them. But Root was alone. Except she wasn't. She'd made it so that she could never be alone again. The machine was always going to be in her ear.
After what could've been seconds, hours, she rose shakily to her feet. She bent back down and picked up the hammer. This time, when she raised it above her head, she brought it down without a moment's hesitation. It hit the stone with a sharp crack.
"Wow, Root." She could practically hear Shaw saying. "Way to desecrate my memory." For a wild moment, Root spun in a circle. But of course, Shaw wasn't there. They had her. They had done this. They had taken the only beautiful thing in her life away from her. And they were going to pay.
She didn't need the machine to know that Shaw was alive. She felt it. And she didn't need the machine to find her either. If there was anything she'd learned from her time with Shaw, it was to rely on yourself. Root knew how to rely on herself. She thrived on it. Still the machine's instructions had everything to do with everything, it was hard to ignore even the lightest of them.
She lifted the hammer and brought it down again. Crack. She knew the stone was broken now, but she didn't dare look. She didn't need to. Or maybe she just couldn't. Both, likely.
Root. She could just make out her own name though the wave of static the machine sent her. But she was beyond help right now. Only one person could make her stop. And she wasn't here right now. When she brought the mallet down the third time, a piece of the stone broke off.
It was sharp, jagged, and it read Sam. Sam like Sameen Shaw. Sam like Samantha Groves. She reached down and picked up the stone. She curled her fingers around the jagged piece. And she swore then and there that she would find whoever had Shaw and she swore that they would die with this stone sticking out of their neck.
She tossed the sledgehammer out of the way. She had better things to do now. Break-down over. Purpose sealed. Besides, she had to leave some of the stone untarnished. Shaw would get a kick out of bashing it to pieces later.
AN: Viola. Bonus points for anyone who can tell me what the parallel was. I love Shoot and I've watched the scene of Shaw's "death" several times. I'm trying to analyze Root. I hope I was somewhat successful. This is a two parter- the second part will go up when the rest of Shaw's story line plays out. I'll just leave it at that. Reviews are greatly appreciated.
-Tatalol