There was a knock at the door of the safe house. Root was so shocked to hear it that she thought she'd imagined it until the door resounded again. She glanced at the array of monitors she'd set up to keep an eye on the outside world while she was in hiding. Pointless really, she thought. To keep hidden from Samaritan there were no cameras in the building, which meant that she too was blind. The Machine remained silent in her ear, so it seemed that whoever it was on the other side of the door, it didn't know.

Samaritan was gone now, and although Root had been preparing to finally find Shaw again, she wouldn't be surprised if Samaritan's final revenge was standing behind her door. "If this is it," she said, picking up a gun, "make sure Sameen gets my message." The Machine gave her a brief assurance before the silence returned.

It was a silly idea, really, the whole message thing. Root had made it mostly just as a way of distracting herself. But it was more than that, she supposed. It gave her the chance to explain to Shaw why she'd done what she'd done, even if she never got the opportunity to tell her in person. After Samaritan had been defeated, Root had assumed she wouldn't need it. Now she wasn't so sure.

Root had barely pressed herself against the wall when the door burst open. She reacted quickly, knocking the gun out of the hand of the intruder as they entered. The attacker was fast too, grabbing Root's now exposed wrist and twisting her round. A sharp strike to the back of her knee followed, sending her to the ground. Just as she was about to turn around and return the favour, the attacker spoke. "Root?"

Root couldn't help but smile at the sound of the voice she'd so desperately wanted to hear. She placed her gun on the ground as she turned slowly to face Shaw. "We need to stop meeting like this," she said, now standing. Shaw looked at her in disbelief.

"I don't believe it," she said, shaking her head. "I'd hoped you were alive but… You're really here. I thought I'd lost you"

Seeing the pain on Shaw's face, all the fear came flooding back to Root. "Sameen," she began. "I can explain."

Shaw grabbed her, and then, in a rare display of affection, hugged her. Root wasn't sure what to do as Shaw held her tight, and she found herself cupping the back of Shaw's head with her hand. In that moment, she was reminded of her last reunion with Shaw and just how close she'd come to losing her before. Root did her best to hold back tears as she held her close. "I'm so sorry," she breathed, her voice barely a whisper.

Shaw eventually released Root and cupped her face in her hands. "I don't care why you did this," she said, gently stroking her cheek. "I just care that you're here." Root went to explain, but Shaw pulled her in and kissed her. It was a soft, intimate kiss, unlike their usual more passionate kisses, but Root had to admit she liked the change of pace. She melted into Shaw's arms and, just for a second, all the pain and horrors of the past few months faded away.

Shaw released Root and for a moment there was a brief silence. There was so much Root wanted to say, so much she wanted to explain, but it just didn't feel like the right moment. Instead, she found herself asking, "So how did you find me?"

Shaw frowned. "The Machine gave me the address, didn't tell me you were here though.."

"Funny," replied Root, glancing over at the monitors. "She didn't tell me anything."

"Maybe she wanted to surprise you."

Root ran her thumb over Shaw's cheek. "Well it's the best surprise I could have asked for." She tilted Shaw's chin up and planted a kiss on her lips. "I will never get bored of doing that."

Shaw gave a small smile, but then her eyes widened and she gripped Root's arm. "We need to go," she said. "Fusco, he needs to know you're alive."

Root traced a finger lightly down Shaw's arm. "You know, he doesn't need to know that you've found me just yet. I'm sure Lionel can wait a bit longer." She cocked her head to the side and smiled. "I can think of a few ways we can make up for lost time."

Shaw raised her eyebrows. "I'm listening."

Root leaned in close, her lips practically on Shaw's ear. "I'm pretty sure there's some spare zip ties lying around in the bedroom." She spoke in a low, teasing voice, and when she finally saw Shaw's expression she knew it had worked.

Root took Shaw's hand and and guided her to the bedroom. "Now," she said as they entered the bedroom, "before we do this, I-"
"Oh shut up," said Shaw, shoving Root onto the bed and kicking the door shut. "You went and got yourself killed," she continued, grabbing the zip ties from the bed stand. "So we're doing this my way." Root replied with a smile; she was in for a fun night.