I am not Hannah

"Why are you always running away from me Root? Running away from us?

"It's not safe for you to be with me. It's not safe for Gen. It's not safe for anybody."

"Root, I am not her. I am not Hannah. I am not that 13 year old girl. I can protect myself, you and Gen. Have you forgotten what I was before I joined the Team Machine? Don't you remember my resume? You said you were a big fan. Remember, babe?

She can still recall the very first time Root screamed out Hannah's name. They had been living together for a month and after the Machine had informed her about the threat of Samaritan going online, Root was agitated. After an argument with Harold and Harold's unwillingness to listen to her, she and Root came home exasperated. Shaw knew Root well enough to just let it go. She can hear Root mumbling incoherently in her sleep and then she heard Root screamed out "Hannah." Root was sweating profusely and her eyes looked hollow and confused. She waited for Root to calm down and didn't ask any question.

She didn't have to say anything. Root can read her like a book. "Don't worry Sameen, Hannah wasn't an ex-girlfriend. She was my best friend when i was 10 years old. I couldn't save her when a bad man took her away one night."

Root had woken her up a few times again after that night screaming Hannah's name and every time, she recalled how distant Root's eyes looked and she saw the guilt in them. No matter what she told Root, the guilt never left her.

"I know. But you know Samaritan, Greer will never stop trying to get me. He will try everything to get to me because of her. He wants the Machine so Samaritan can rule this world. So it could be the only existing Machine. And he Is using the people that did bad things to me a long time ago. The ones who turned me into a really bad person, the one I rather forget."

When the threat of Samaritan became clearer when it went online, Root's nightmares became more frequent. She would have a nightmare and scream out Hannah's name. Sometimes It will be her name or Gen's name. It scared Shaw because she could feel her slowly drifting away. And there was no way she was going to lose Root. She was not going to let Root fight this alone. There were too many people that have hurt her and each of them she want to kill with her bare hand just to take away Root's pain. It wasn't just losing Hannah that made Root lose faith in humanity, it was all the horrible things that was done to her. Nobody ever protected her and there was no way she was going to let Root down.

We can both get them. We also have Reese and Fusco, they will both help us get them. And you and Harold will figure out a way to get to Samaritan. I know you will. With your brains and his, you are smarter than Greer and all the men that Samaritan hires."

"This is what Greer wants, he wants us to hide. He wants us afraid. The only way to win is to fight back. That arrogant British asshole thinks he has us. He thinks that just because he has secret agents hunting us they can get us. I have you know, just last night we just took down another one. Did she tell you that?"

Root shook her head. She knows that the Machine has to be careful that she doesn't compromise their locations.

"But that British blonde with a horrible accent, I am saving her for you. I'd like to kill her myself for that shoot out at the hotel last week. But I'm giving her to you when I catch her. I'm going to enjoy watching while you torture her."

"What about Gen? How are we going to protect her?"

"Nobody knows who she is yet and Harold made sure of that. So don't worry about her. It will break her heart if you leave, Root. She loves you. You, me and her, we are family. And I am going to protect my family. I need you."

Root eyes welled up because Shaw was never a person with words. She always showed her feelings through actions. Even if Shaw never told her, she knew cared for her and Gen.

Root pulled Shaw closer to her and kissed her.

"I love you. I promise I am not going anywhere. I am staying."

"You better. And by the way, I don't care what the Machine said you are not going on any mission by yourself. You either take me with you or you take Reese. Nobody on this team goes alone."

"Okay."

"Okay? Good. Come on let's go home, you owe me make up sex tonight."

"Yes, ma'am."