Note : Sorry for not updating earlier but Internet had crashed at my place ! As an apology this chapter is a bit longer than the others, and I really had a lot of fun writing it... Hope you'll enjoy it too and that I'm still in character enough.
Oh, and I really don't have any medical knowledge, so Root's healing may not be realistic. If so, I'm sorry, but that's not really the main point here. Let's rather enjoy Root and Shaw's interactions ;)


Root stayed in and out of it for the next two days, still struggling with fever, and knocked out by the painkillers Shaw was now giving her since she periodically regained consciousness. The hacker was never fully awaken though, but was no longer delirious either. The good thing about her current situation was that her wound was healing nicely while she slept. Fortunately, she hadn't reopened it during her little trip to the cage.

Finch had wondered what had happened during the time he was helping John - he had noticed Shaw was once again refusing to leave the hospital room for more than a few minutes, but the only thing the ex-agent had been willing to tell him was that Root didn't have her finest idea that day. He thus let go and just came to see how the hacker was doing from time to time. It had now become a habit for him to bring Shaw some food too, since it looked like she was always hungry no matter the time of the day.

The ex-agent was once again checking on Root's wound when the latter stirred slightly and opened her eyes. She looked absent for a few moments but other than that, she had definitely regained some colors and was more aware of her surroundings than during the previous times she had woken up.

"When can I get out of this damn bed ?" the hacker asked when she finally stopped staring into space.

"If you behave, I'll let you walk a little. You need to get some strength back anyway."

Root sounded a bit annoyed at Shaw's answer.

"I meant in a more permanent way. She needs me."

"Well, for a start you don't know what Her plans for you are right now. And if She wants you to be of any help, She'd be wise letting you stay here a little while longer. You're not ready to go back to your missions, whatever those are, just yet."

"Actually, I do know She needs me. And I'm not gonna be of any help here."

Shaw glared at the hacker.

"No you don't. I made sure you don't have an earpiece while you're in that condition. You have crazy enough ideas on your own."

Root chuckled lightly, which only made Shaw raise an eyebrow as she didn't understand which part of what she had just said could made the hacker laugh.

"You didn't see it, didn't you ?"

Since Shaw kept glaring at her and didn't look like she would be answering anytime soon, Root pulled some strands of hair away from her right ear and turned her head to the side. The smaller woman moved closer to take a better look.

"What the hell is that supposed to be exactly ?" she asked, slightly shaking her head in disbelief. Taking a step back, she looked at Root in the eye, waiting for an answer.

"An implant", the hacker shrugged as if this was the most normal thing in the world. "So yes, I know She needs me, and yes, I need to get out of here."

"And that's still not gonna happen", Shaw firmly answered, dropping the Root-is-now-a-crazy-cyborg subject for the moment. "I didn't patch you up so you could get yourself killed over stupidity. Any doubt crosses my mind about you trying to disobey and you really end up tied to the bed."

The ex-agent was obviously dead serious here and the other woman seemed to understand she wouldn't help her cause by protesting. Pouting, she looked away and stubbornly ignored Shaw until she finally went back to sleep again.


A few hours later, the hacker hadn't woken up and Shaw decided to take a closer look at the stitches behind Root's ear, a bit curious but mostly to see if it was healing nicely. She mentally slapped herself for not checking the other woman's entire body after she got shot, but on the other hand, how could she have known what the hacker had got herself mixed up in ? Yet, on second thought, with Root everything was always possible, she should have known that.

Shaw tried to turn the sleeping woman to the side as gently as possible so she wouldn't wake her up needlessly – moreover, the hacker was less likely to be a pain in her ass when she was not conscious – and wedged her on that position with some pillows. Pulling Root's hair away, she examined the work of the doctor that had stitched it up and had to admit it had been really well done ; there was no reason to be worried about the healing. Her thoughts were cut short by a whisper.

"I love it when you play doctor", Root let out in a flirtatious tone, a small smile obvious in her voice.

Shaw let go the hacker's ear she was still pushing back at that point and went back to her chair, exasperation written all over her face. Root chuckled once lightly and turned around to face the other woman. The shadow of a smile was still playing on her lips, and it didn't improve the way Shaw was glaring at her. Not at all.

"You said I could walk a little", she reminded the ex-agent, raising on one elbow and suddenly becoming serious again.

"I said if you behaved."

Root shrugged slightly.

"Haven't I ? I've been sleeping since you told me that", she answered innocently.

Shaw sighed and raised her eyes to heaven before closing them for a few seconds. There was no point in getting into this kind of conversation with the hacker and she knew it, Root would just end up running on her nerves even more. If this was even possible anyway.

"Okay. I'll help you take a few steps, see if you at least can stand up on your own. Last time I watched you try, you weren't doing so well", Shaw ironically noted.

"Yeah, about that…" Root sat on the edge on the bed and started fidgeting. "I remember being shot but my memories after that are a bit… Puzzled. I know I've been more or less unconscious for five days, She told me that, but She can't tell me what happened during that time. Lack of information. So I was hoping you could help me with that, because… I don't really know which part of what I think I remember is right and which part was rather a dream… Plus there are probably things I don't remember at all… I'm not really at ease with situations like this", she added quietly, her eyes down.

Shaw noted how much the hacker looked lost. She couldn't count on the help of the Machine because the library was not equipped with cameras and couldn't trust her own memories either. For once, the ex-agent could see the other woman for what she really was, even if she was damn good at making people kind of forget this about her. Because at this moment, fidgeting and waiting for Shaw's help because she wasn't sure she could stand on her own, Root wasn't the crazy-and-now-cyborgy-self-confident-to-death-helper-of-the-Machine, no, she was just a human. The hacker had been unconscious for the past five days, yet she had never looked more helpless than at this moment, willingly admitting her weaknesses.

Shaw was hit by a thought just as she realized how totally unusual it was for the other woman to let her guard down, and it made her froze. She kind of got the hacker. She could comprehend how misunderstood Root might have felt her entire life, because she had herself always been different from the others too. But while the ex-agent was protected by her personality disorder, the other woman had to build up a mental shield so she wouldn't be hurt. Using her skills, she had re-shaped that shield into a sword and had learnt to use people, always being the one leading the game, but had lost faith in everything and everyone including herself - exception made of computers. Root had made a damn good job at making herself look unbreakable ; but underneath, she was still just human and the Machine was definitely helping her remember that. A human that deserved to be given a second chance by people who would accept her just for who she is, just like Finch and Reese had given Shaw the chance to do what she always wanted to - save lives – without ever trying to change her. Okay, Harold might have been reluctant at first, yet eventually he came around. But had anyone ever given Root that chance, the ex-agent wondered, someone as in a human person, not a Machine, because even an AI was still a computer ?

As the silence went on, the hacker hesitantly moved her head back up and her eyes met Shaw's. The apprehension in Root's look is what broke the ex-agent out of her thoughts after a last mental note : she had been given a second chance in life when she didn't even expected it, and the other woman deserved one too. And since Shaw highly doubted Finch, let alone Reese, would ever see the hacker as something else than a former amoral killer, well she could be the one to try and see Root as the human she still was at the end of the day. Moreover, the ex-agent was probably the only one in the team who could at least partially understand the other woman.

"Long story short ? You passed out, woke up, kissed me, kind of apologized, passed out again, bled out but not too much so I was still able to patch you up once we brought you back here", Shaw started slowly, irony dancing in her voice. She couldn't help herself, smirking at how Root seemed to be shrivelling up with each word and enjoying the fact that she was the one teasing the hacker for once. "Then you stayed unconscious for almost three days, decided to take a trip to the cage during the only ten minutes I couldn't watch you – how you did that in the state you were in I honestly have no idea, and I finally had to carry you back here because you couldn't stand on your own. You're heavy, by the way."

Shaw was trying to sound serious but was only half-successful, an honest smile growing on her face. Root's expression was priceless.

"… Oops ?" the hacker finally let out, an apologetic look on her face, causing Shaw to crack up. Damn, that had felt good. She had finally got to be the one messing with the other's head, and it was way better than what she had envisioned it would be.

She got up from the chair and moved towards Root, unable to wash her huge grin off her face. The hacker looked a bit offended, which clearly didn't help either.

Shaw grabbed the other woman by the waist and waited for her to put her arm around her own shoulders.

"Okay, let's try and see how much strength you have left", the ex-agent said, now serious again.


Root was definitely feeling better, because she proved to be able to stand up and walk on her own without much trouble. Soon though, she felt dizzy and had to sit back again.

"You lost a lot of blood, you know. You need time to get your full strength back."

"I don't have time. As I told you, She needs me", the hacker answered, a bit impatient, as if she was trying to teach something to a reluctant child.

Although Root's tone was giving Shaw an urge to smash her face, she forced herself to answer calmly.

"And you need rest. You're not out of here until I'm sure you can stay by yourself without any risk."

The hacker tilted her head to the side, smiling fondly.

"Aw, you're so cute."

"I'm protecting an asset. And you're probably the first one ever to tell me I'm cute. Which, by the way, I'm not", Shaw shot back sternly, forcing herself to unclench her jaws, all-too-well knowing that Root was just trying to get under her skin.

"Can I at least have tonight's meal sitting in a chair and not in this frigging bed ?" Root sighed. "I'm not that bad anymore."

"Sure. Harold will be glad to see you're doing better. But try anything and you'll regret it for a very long time", the ex-agent answered with an emphasis on 'very long time'.

"I'm not that stupid", Root said and rolled her eyes.

"You're the one saying it !" Shaw muttered.