Root hears screams and cries as if a heart is breaking and oh how she tries to keep her composure. She falters a step. Tears gathered in those eyes, eyes so lost almost like in a maze. There is Shaw with a gun pointed at Root's frozen form. A stoic look, like she's seeing with eyes clouded by a veil. There's a pleading cry from Root, there's no Machine to talk her back from the edge. In fact the edge of the dock she's on is right below her feet but she's more concerned about the woman in front of her. Ignoring the gun in Shaw's hand, Root could care less. All she cares is that Shaw is there standing in front of her, alive, after she had searched for her for so long.

She pleads for her to come, pleads to remember who they were, pleads to her voiceless God to return Sameen to her. Then there's a piercing in her stomach, she hadn't even heard the echo of the gun going off in the Persian's hand. But Root didn't care, this wasn't Shaw's fault, it was her fault for letting Shaw get taken.

"I promise I'll save you."

Reaching her hand out to stay the flinching woman in front of her, fighting to lift that veil from her eyes. She's battling her programming. Dropping the gun and rushing too late to the falling Root. Root just smiles and feels water at her back. A hand clutching her stomach so hard as if she could quell the guilt seeping from her wounds. She should have been the one taken by Samaritan. She had been prepared for it. Her life wasn't worth much, with the life she'd led. Shaw could live without her, but she couldn't live without Shaw.

She's sinking like a stone in the ocean and all Root can think is all she's been hoping for all these months.

I could die happily if only I could see your face...

Limbs are reaching for the sun as her body sinks, salt water and blood seeping into lungs that want to cry out to the God's for all the suffering they let her cause, all the suffering caused to her.

Her Sameen.

Sorry, Sweetie…

Then there's strongly fragile arms wrapping around her very being and rushing her to the surface. Shaw is there, swimming them to shore and attacking Root's mouth as she breaths the breath of life into lungs that want to give up. But like loves true kiss, only one breath of air is needed to excite the water from her lungs. Weak sputtering of water brings a faint smile to Shaw's face and then she's tearing her shirt and wrapping it around Root's stomach a stomach she hoped to touch in a more intimate moment. And Root thinks it's okay to die now, as she's lifted over Shaw's shoulder and her eyes close almost at peace.

Next thing she knows she opening her eyes to their subway base and her body is screaming at her that she's alive and she wants to cry. There's a weight to her side and she looks down to see Shaw curled up in a ball at her side. So fragile and broken looking but she's there. She's ignoring the screaming pain in her stomach as she wraps her arms around the woman she's prayed to no God in particular for. She can handle broken as long as Shaw is there, she'll repair Shaw at any cost. She promised that she'd save her after all. And those arms that saved her before are wrapping around her now and she flinches, the pain in her stomach a reminder that this is real. She smiles and buries her nose in the black hair before her, smelling of salt water and everything that is Shaw.

Falling asleep a little more easily then normal Root feels whole and the emptiness that left her lonely ever since the Machine went offline has been replaced with hope.

Hope.