A/N: This one has been banging around in my head for a while now. I know some people have written things similar to this, but hopefully you'll enjoy this still. Partially inspired by recent events involving Sarah Shahi. I just looked at it and thought, what those two would be like as parents. This is un-betaed so any and all mistakes are my own and the result of typing this up in the last 2 hours.
POI – POI – POI – POI – POI
It was rare for Root to feel this happy. Casting her mind back the only time she could remember coming close was when she had successfully tracked down Harold Finch and confirmed her suspicions that the man had created the first ever A.I. A computer program so advanced that it would shake the very foundations of society and help bring about the change in humanity that Root desperately wanted to see.
That dream had been brutally crushed almost a year later when her attempts at setting the Machine free and undoing the damage deliberately caused to her by her obviously flawed creator Harold. How the man could take something so perfect, so beautiful and just handicap it like that and leave it in a state tantamount to a quadriplegic.
Looking back on all that Root fully understood why Harold and Her had thought it best for her to spend months locked up in a psych ward. It actually gave her an opportunity to truly interact with someone who was her equal on a near daily basis. Something she had forgot the sensation of after the loss of her friend Hanna.
In a way the Machine had helped Root start to heal from the trauma she had undergone as a child. The healing process was slow and more than once the temptation of easily sliding into past destructive & murderous habits had been there. Somehow though she had resisted the darkness and had now gone three years without staining her hands with blood.
It had not been easy though. Especially during the war against Samaritan. During that period the temptation had been terrible not having the Machine's guidance had made things all the worse. So Root had fallen back on humor. Efforts at keeping her mind from drifting into blackness by any means necessary had become a means of survival. One that Root probably would not have survived had it not been for Sameen Shaw.
The Persian woman had been a beacon of light to her during those days. Her iron resolve and single-minded focus on the job at hand had been a godsend to the taller woman. Sure Root had teased and bantered with the woman. The obvious difference in their heights, Shaw's meticulousness with cleaning her guns, even the woman's seemingly endless patience had been poked and prodded at like a doctor checking an old injury to see if it had fully healed.
During that time Root had singled out Sameen. She had been far more amusing than Harold with his fixation on saving people and habit of ignoring her banter. Lurch had just been too dull and boring. Sure some women might find him attractive, but then Root was not most women and men had never really been her thing. Sameen though…the way she could get a rise out of the woman from her innuendo laced flirtations. The way her face went all calm and still becoming nearly unreadable – more than once leaving Root uncertain if this would be the time Shaw would slice her throat and be done with her once and for all. Sure Sameen had been good looking and the physical attraction had been there ever since their first encounter. Root would even freely admit that more than once – when her body and mind were worked up with sleep proving elusive – her mind had wandered to the dark haired pale skinned beauty. Fantasies of the fun she could have had breaking the government agent – without all the messy blood and physical torture – had fueled the fire between her legs that once quenched had always sent her right off to sleep with a smile.
Innumerable times Sameen had either ignored the flirtation or given her a blank hard stare. In her dreams and fantasies Shaw would eventually give in and the two of them would sate their lusts with a weekend spent mostly in bed. Okay maybe also the shower, kitchen table, Shaw's favorite chair, Root's computer desk – necessitating the purchase of a new desktop afterwards –, Hell she'd even been kinky enough to spend an afternoon fantasizing about making use of the cage set up in Finch's personal library. Her as the jailor and Sameen as….well she didn't dwell on that one much anymore. Living it out had proven far more enjoyable than fantasizing about it. Even if Harold seemed apoplectic when he had arrived the next morning to discover the two wearing only bedsheets and his system a broken ruin lying smoldering on the floor nearby. Granted things might not have been so bad had he not raced up the steps upon hearing the thing go crashing to the floor and finding the cord somehow entwined between both women's bodies.
Shaw kissing her before walking off to almost certain death had not been how Root ever wanted their relationship to begin. However the year and a half later when during a raid on one of Samaritan's databases had resulted in her finding Sameen - taking advantage of the created chaos to make her own daring escape – alive and well…that kiss and what ensued more than made up for things. Even if Lurch had spoiled it by arriving to find Sameen sans her top and Root with her pants and underwear around her ankles with Shaw's tongue busy between her legs.
It had…not been either woman's most dignified moment. Thankfully Lurch had settled for smiling that insufferable smile of his and whipped out his phone to snap a photo for blackmail purposes later. Root still had yet to pay him back for using it to help his own relationship with Zoe. Truthfully Root believed that Sameen had gotten off easiest. Granted she continued to grumble - to this day – about having to loan him her favorite sniper rifle and the less than pristine condition Lurch had returned it in.
As she lay there staying at the darkened ceiling she listened to the rhythmic snoring of her girlfriend. After safely escaping from Samaritan's facility Root had joyfully negotiated with the Machine for a new and more permanent cover identity for her and Sameen. One that had been quickly put together – in part to Samaritan now falling apart and no longer being a threat. Sure Sam had grumbled at first – while eating her first rare steak and enjoying her first beer in over a year – but in the end she had given in. To Root's immense glee – and Shaw's more subtle and hidden pleasure – the Machine had set them up with one where the two were in an established relationship with each other. Having chosen to recently move in together. It had been awkward at first – both women more than used to living on their own – but somehow they made it work. Even if there was bickering and grumbling on the part of both parties.
"See a doctor and get your nose fixed before I do the surgery myself." Shaw had growled at her after living together for a month. "If I'd known you snored that loudly I would have thought twice about breaking out of that hell hole."
Root had responded with a dark glower. Her own eyes had dark circles under them and her hair hung limp and looked far less glamorous than previous. "Speak for yourself. I've heard chainsaws quieter than you. Plus could you maybe not use up all the hot water in the morning?"
"Sure I can do that." Shaw snapped back as she slammed both hers and Root's breakfast plates down on the table before going back to the counter to get her coffee. "If you'd do laundry for once. I've worn the same shirt now for three days…"
"Not straight." Root muttered as she took a sip of her coffee and looked down at the tablet before her that had the days newspaper displayed.
"And I can't even find any clean underwear anymore." Sitting down she tore into her bacon like she had not eaten in days.
Root thought it best to say nothing. Discreetly she crossed her legs underneath the table – causing the long sleep shirt she wore to ride up – hoping that Sameen would not notice that Root was wearing Shaw's last clean pair. 'Really hope she doesn't remember that she begged me to rip more than half of them off of her.' Moisture built between her legs as she remembered the last time when she had to sneak the unpaid for La Perla see through black teddy out of the store after the couple's impromptu romp in the changing room.
Somehow the two had made it work though for the last year and a half. Both women had never been happier and ironically they both felt as though they had finally found a piece of them that they had never known to be missing. Root felt something was missing though. As she lay there in bed while Shaw slept soundly her mind continued to weigh the pros and cons of what she was planning.
'It would be a huge change. Sure we've dealt with other upheavals and changes, but nothing as dramatic. Would Shaw even stay with me? Could she handle being a mother? Can I handle being a mother? A part of me wants to have a kid with her though. One that has my intellect and her caring heart – even if it's buried and she tries to pretend that it doesn't exist.'
Rolling over onto her side Root smiled as she stared at the slumbering Sameen. Reaching a hand out the light haired brunette brushed some stray strands of hair off of Shaw's face and was rewarded by the woman subconsciously rubbing against her hand with a quiet moan of contentment.
'That settles it then. I'm contacting her tomorrow.'
POI – POI – POI – POI – POI
Root feigned an excuse the next day. She left just after Sam awoke and hated that she wasn't able to accept the shorter woman's invitation of letting her wash her back.
She made her way to a coffee shop taking her laptop with her. Choosing a booth that had her back pressed to the wall Root plugged in a pair of headphones and turned her machine on.
It was five minutes to the appointed meeting time and Root nervously licked her lips. Her fingers drummed lightly on the wooden table as she watched the clock slowly tick down. Two minutes before the meeting her skype opened and the smirking face of a young woman with red hair filled her monitor.
"You are getting sloppy Root." The woman said happily as she leaned back in her chair. Her air of confidence and victorious smile brought a light hearted chuckle from the more experienced hacker.
"Good to see you to Claudia. Did you enjoy your evening with…Douglas was it?"
The woman's pale face turned the same shade of red as her hair. Her eyes grew wide for a moment before she regained her calm composure. "How?" She quietly hissed out as she leaned close to the mic to prevent others from hearing.
"Well unless you've taken to wearing men's boxers to bed then you obviously had company last night." Root said smugly as she enjoyed the look of embarrassment on the woman's face.
Glancing over her shoulder the young warehouse agent saw the incriminating evidence and gave a tired sigh. "Thankfully it's just you and not Artie. The grumpy old bear still hasn't forgiven Dougie for upgrading the warehouse again last year…or the resulting chaos that unfolded like last time."
For the next half hour the two women chatted amicably catching up on times. They had become acquainted back when Root was trying to hunt down Finch and Claudia Donovan was busy trying to find the location of some top secret government warehouse located out in the middle of nowhere South Dakota. Both had needed the other's skill in order to find what they were hunting for and every so often would contact the other when they needed a little extra help in hacking into someplace.
The last time they had talked Root had enlisted the younger woman's assistance in tracking down Samaritan's servers and making sure they were heavily bombarded with high-tech malware and viruses while team Machine had made their raid on the main database.
"As much as I'm enjoying this little chat Root, what is it you need?" Claudia finally asked. She had finished her coffee off and her bladder was going to need relief soon and she didn't fully trust the older woman to not play around on her laptop just for shits and giggles.
Biting her lower lip Root took a deep breath to steady her nerves. "I've been thinking a lot about it lately, and Sameen and I are going to have a child."
The young agent's face turned from puzzled to shock to outright joy. Her screech of 'congratulations' made Root's ears hurt. Before the redhead could bombard her with questions Root held a hand up and managed to silence the woman.
"I'm…neither…" Root was blushing now and she suddenly felt uncertain. Doubts about asking the woman for a favor began to plague her mind. With some effort she managed to tamp them down and silence them. "Claudia I need your help though. I…don't want to have to involve anyone else. I want this child to be Shaws and mine. Not mine and some guys."
Understanding dawned on Claudia's face and once more she leaned in close to the microphone. "Well I think I might have something that can help you out. There's a scientist at GD, brilliant woman by the way, who is actually doing research in that area. She and her partner kind of want to be parents themselves someday and neither of them really wants to go to the trouble of some clinic. Look give me say…a week and a half."
"Okay then." Root said simply trying to contain the thrill she felt inside her. "I'll wait to hear from you in a week then." She was about to end the Skype session when Claudia's frantic speaking made her pause.
"No you misunderstand. It should show up on your doorstep in a week and a half. The researcher is actually looking for volunteers last I heard. And she happens to owe me a favor." The redhead grinned as she took in the sight of Root sitting there with her mouth hanging open slightly in surprise. "Just one thing though."
"What…anything." Root said hurriedly her heart now threatening to burst from her chest and tears beginning to well up behind her eyes.
"I'm going to want an invite to the baby shower." The young woman said with a grin.
Root smirked back at her and said "Count on it."
POI – POI – POI – POI – POI
A/N: Anyway I hope you all enjoyed this. This probably won't be updated as frequently as 'Deprogramming' or 'Root and Shaw Oneshots', but if you the readers want this to continue let me know. Feel free to review/comment. Oh and feedback is always welcome especially when it comes to improving and correcting errors/mistakes/out of characterness etc. Thanks for taking the time to read this.