We arrived home an hour ago, but she hasn't even looked at me the whole time. Wordlessly, she took a shower, locking the door behind her, shutting me out. And now, she is curled up on the couch, looking nowhere. I stare at her, standing right in front of the couch. Her eyes are dark, not because her pupils are blown like when she looks at me when she's making me cum. It's more like her eyes are dead, no bright in them as they used to have. I stare at her and she won't stare back at me. How to say that this situation is breaking every bone in my body.

"Do you want to eat?" I get no answer. "I made dinner for us." I get her to look at me and that just breaks me. So I decide to be the Root for her Shaw, and I kneel in front of her face, making us be at the same level, and I brush a strand of her hair out of your face. Root's facial expression changes and suddenly she is sobbing and crying her soul out, burying her face in her hands. I grab those hands, put them away and I pull her into my chest and I hold her tight. Her hands are grabbing my shirt, nearly ripping it apart, making her knuckles go white. I hold her until she calms down a bit. I don't dare to ask her what happened, because I want her to take that step - hoping she will spill it soon or I will shoot every drug dealer in town until I get my answers.

"Can I do something to make you feel better?" I ask rubbing circles on her puffy cheek.

She pushes me away enough to look at me, and after staring at me for a while, tears still running trough her face, she looks like she figured it out and she says it out loud with a broken voice. "I want you to shoot me." I freeze.

"I'm not shooting you, Root." My voice trembles and I have to calm down, because the last thing she needs now is me going crazy and shooting every single being around us. Her hands grasp harder my shirt and she starts sobbing again, her cries desperate and loud.

"JUST SHOOT ME, SHAW." She is hitting my shoulder with her fist as her face is again buried in my chest. And all I do is hug her, tightly. She starts to calm down, whispering "why" a few times. I manage to carry her to our bed and I lay her gently down on the mattress, covering her shivering body with the sheets. I'm about to kiss her when she turns her face. "Please, don't." I just nod and go to the couch, assuming that she doesn't even want me to be there, in our bed.

Sitting there, I feel again that lump in my throat, my eyes burning and my hands sweaty. I've never seen Root like that, I've never seen her cry. She's never said no to me. I feel like everything is falling apart, I'm feeling desperate. What the hell happened out there? I growl as I stand, take my jacket and I head towards the subway. I need answers and that fucking machine better get me some.

My footsteps echo on the walls as I walk into the subway station, the lights of the computer screens shining brightly in the middle of the place. "Finch." I call, my voice revealing my anger. He turns around his chair and faces me, his face full of worry.

"Good evening Miss Shaw."

I scoot closer to him, making him flinch. "What happened to Root?"

"I-I don't know. She wouldn't tell us. She just came into the subway and sat there for hours. We tried to ask her, but she wouldn't talk at all."

"The Machine. Ask her."

He looks at me for a while and then he complies, turning his chair around again and tapping on the keyboard. I wait patiently for him to do his nerd stuff, and suddenly he steps back of the screens. I can see a security video playing on the screen. "I think it's better if I leave you alone." He is about to leave when he turns around and glances at me. Please, don't shoot my computer." And he leaves me with the video playing on the screen.

I can see Root in an alley, with a drug dealer. I see her shooting him on the knee. And when she is about to leave, three persons get in the alley, surprising her. She tries to fight back, but even if she is strong, they manage to beat her up, and a punch on her face sends her to the ground, her head hitting the floor. She lays there, apparently dizzy. I feel my blood boiling when I see a fourth person coming in: Martine. And things start to get darker. She makes them tie her up, her hands on her back and she says something, but there's no sound in the video, and two of the guys leave. Root seems to feel a bit better, her forehead bleeding, and she is struggling to get up. Martine kicks her and the guy pins her on the floor and rips her blouse open, showing her barely naked torso and her black bra. I don't want to keep watching, I can't take my eyes off the screen either. And I keep seeing how he pulls her pants down her long legs, how Martine kneels down next to her and says something to her before her hand sneaks under her bra, how Root keeps fighting to get them off her. I see the guy teasing her core, forcing her legs to stay apart, how he rubs his groin on her. I can see her eyes watering, Martine biting her earlobe and making her bleed before stepping back. The guy makes her turn around, so she is laying on her stomach and I hold my breath in anticipation. I release it when I see Root kicking him off of her, hitting him in his balls, freeing her bleeding wrists and grabbing her gun. She stands and before Martine can do something about it, she shoots both of them, fixes her clothes and runs away. I take a deep breath. I need to calm down.

"You knew it, right?"

"I figured it out when Miss Groves came in." He says as he approaches his computer. He quits the video and he stares at me. "I haven't been able to see the video, I didn't want to."

I try to swallow the fucking lump again, but it wouldn't go down. "Thanks for letting me know."

And as I'm leaving, I hear Finch saying me "Please, don't do anything until we figure something out, Miss Shaw!" Whatever.

A/N: wow, too much... At least she made it out in time...

Since I didn't like Root's death, But I liked how Shaw took revenge, I figured some alternative situation so Shaw can shoot people on Root's behalf.

I'm sorry for the possible mistakes. I've written this chapter at the barn, during some breaks I had, so I didn't have time to check it. Also, I'm Spanish and my English is not perfect.

Thanks for all your reviews! I get really excited when I see them and they give me the push and inspiration I need to keep writing. You guys are great. This fandom is great!