The five of them, Harold Finch, John Reese, Lionel Fusco, Sameen Shaw and Bear were in the subway, summoned there by the Machine.
After the fall of Samaritan there was no more need for a hidden base of operations like that one, honestly, but nostalgia is a weird thing, so they had left it open to gather every now and then.
The Machine's (Root's) voice began to resonate, sending chills down the spine of Shaw; she had not gotten accustomed to that voice yet: "What you are going to hear now is the real voice of the analog interface; I recorded it the day before she died, as I had warned her that the war against Samaritan was beginning to escalate, as I had noticed the frantic behavior of some of their operatives.
She was unsure she could survive then, and she was unfortunately right, so she asked me to relay this message to you in better times."
There were some seconds of silence, then they heard another voice; to a stranger, it could compare to the one just heard, but they knew better; this voice was the same, yet not the same: warmer, less mechanical, more human; more humane. The voice of a dear friend.
"Hi everyone! If you are hearing this, it means I'm gone; and I have something to tell you, to all of you. I hope you have all made it, and are all here to listen.
Harold ... I never really apologized for what I did to you, and I never properly thanked you for all the good you did to me. I kidnapped you, twice, threatened the love of your life, and yet you gave me, an amoral killer, a second chance, and helped me to become another person.
I hope you won't feel offended if I tell you this: you were to me the father I never had ... thank you so much."
A minute of silence followed, and a deeply touched Harold Finch could form in his mind only one coherent thought: "You can't even imagine, miss Groves, how proud I would have been to have you as a daughter ... "
Then the voice started again: "John, I have to apologize to you too. I despised you, thinking you were only Harold's muscle; how wrong I was! When Sameen was taken, you helped me though you were wounded, and supported me in any possible way ... can I call you a friend, or even a brother?"
Another minute of silence; John Reese's eyes were shining with tears; he only nodded.
"And Lionel, thank you for all the pet names you devised for me; creativity is caring, and I know you cared for me, too. And, please, forgive us for not telling you for a long time what you deserved to know"
Fusco's reaction was similar to Reese's.
"Thanks everyone, for being the family I never had, and please don't be sad ... I had much more than I deserved."
Another moment of silence, then: "Bear, thank you for keeping me company when I felt lonely; I am sure you will be there for Sameen too, if she needs that."
Bear whined.
"And now, Sameen, let's have a chat; if you are uncomfortable, I'll let the time for the others to walk away."
The three men looked at Shaw, but she only told them: "Stay." She wasn't afraid or ashamed of her feeling anymore, not even in presence of her friends; indeed, she was sure she was to be proud of the words that Root's voice was about to say.
After a while, Root's voice said: "Sameen, you are the best thing that happened to me. I couldn't even imagine what real love was before meeting you. And I know that you loved me back; yes, you never said the words, but how do you call what occurred in those simulations? Even when you were not sure if what surrounded you was real or not, you could never hurt me, and shot yourself instead. And you showed that you care so many times ... why should I need to hear the three words, when I know you care so deeply about me?"
Then, for the first time in her adult life, Sameen Shaw cried.