Shaw stood amongst the rubble of the subway along with the others. Other than the hole they'd blasted in the wall, nothing had changed. It was like they'd never left. But, she thought, looking around, everything had changed and things would never return to how they were before.

Shaw watched Root's eyes drift towards her old room which had also been left unchanged. If she asked why they hadn't done anything with it, Shaw would probably tell her it was because they didn't have time, but the truth is she hadn't wanted to touch it. It would have felt wrong to move any of Root's stuff after what happened.

Shaw turned her attention back to Root, dragging herself out of the past and back to the present. "So," she said, "Are you going to tell us why we're here or am I gonna have to start guessing?"

Root gave a sly smile. "I could tell you, but I'm starting to think having you guess might be more fun."

"And I'm starting to think kicking your ass might be more fun."

"That would be fun," replied Root, "but now's not really the time."

Root reached into her pocket, taking out a memory stick smeared with dried blood. "I found this on our friend from Samaritan," she explained. "I have no idea what's on it, but I reckon it will at least tell us something about their plans."

Shaw nodded. "You want to use the faraday cage to find out what their planning."

"Exactly," replied Root with a smile.

Finch frowned at them both. "How do you know, Miss Groves, that the USB contains any relevant information at all?"

"I don't," replied Root casually, "but there's no harm in finding out."

"So this whole thing could be a complete waste of time," added Fusco. "You know I've got other things to be doing, right?"

"I'm sure we've all got things we'd rather be doing," said Root, winking at Shaw. So much for now's not the time. Shaw responded by rolling her eyes, drawing a gleeful smile from Root.

Root took Finch and Grace with her to the faraday cage to test her theory, leaving Shaw alone with Fusco. "You know," he muttered, "just for once it would be nice to get a straight answer out of her."

"You think dealing with her on the occasional mission is bad," replied Shaw. "I've gotta deal with this kinda crap every single day now."

Fusco frowned. "I thought you liked her."

Shaw huffed. "Just because I like Root doesn't mean she can't be a pain in the ass, especially when it comes to telling me what the hell is going on."

"You two are a crazy pair, you know that right?"

Shaw laughed. "It's taken you how long to figure that out? I thought you were a detective."

"And I thought you didn't have a sense of humour."

"I also have a gun," replied Shaw with a glare. "So don't test me."

Fusco shook his head, smiling. Bored, Shaw left him there, grinning to himself, as she walked further into the subway.

Shaw found herself staring at the hole in the wall where the phone was. The phone didn't ring, and Shaw wondered if it would ever ring again now that Root was back. She noticed something else though, a cable attached to the phone. She followed the cable with her eyes, tracing its length to a tape recorder set up on a desk. Curious, Shaw walked up to the desk and hit play.

"If you can hear this, then the only thing left of me is the sound of my voice." Shaw was taken aback to hear Root's voice, but she pushed past the initial shock and continued listening to the tape. As it continued, Shaw came to realise that it was the Machine narrating and not Root, although it was still so difficult to tell the difference.

Shaw was so caught up in the tape that she didn't hear Root approaching. In fact, she only noticed her presence when her arm brushed past from behind and she turned off the tape. "That's not meant for us," said Root softly, wrapping her arms around Shaw's waist and resting her chin on Shaw's shoulder. Shaw leant into Root's embrace. "Why can't we listen to it?"

"Well for starters, you already know most of the story. It was intended as more of a failsafe really, in case none of us made it out alive."

Shaw thought about it for a moment. "Well I'd still like to hear it. I'd love to know everyone's dirty little secrets."

Root turned Shaw around, taking her hands in her own. "Trust me," she said in a low voice, "there are some things you'd rather not know."

Shaw gave a half smile. "Are you keeping secrets from me now, Root?"

"You know everything about me," she replied with a nervous laugh. "You know what I was like before the Machine, how I've changed."

"Yeah, but what about what happened during the time I was taken by Samaritan?"

Root's eyes darkened and she looked away from Shaw. "Listen, that was a pretty dark time for me. I'd rather not talk about it."

Seeing the guilt and pain appear in Root's eyes, Shaw couldn't help but feel bad. She didn't want to upset Root any further, so she decided to change the subject. "So what did the simulations say?"

The distraction worked, Root looked up as she replied. "I don't know, I left it running with Harold. We can go take a look."

Relieved to see Root back to her normal self, Shaw agreed.

Finch stood watching the laptop in the faraday cage whilst Grace and Fusco sat nearby in silence. Shaw entered with Root, who immediately went over to Finch to check the simulation. "How's our little test run going?" she asked.

"It's not quite finished," replied Finch, "but you can take a look for yourself."

Root studied the laptop which Shaw assumed, although she couldn't see it, was spewing out data. "It's a virus," concluded Root as she continued to watch whatever was on the screen. "Looks like it's designed to infect the Machine with Samaritan. Clever."

"It's not quite as clever as it seems," said Finch, drawing Root's attention to him. "The virus, is local. It has to inserted directly into the Machine. That's why they came after Grace and I, they wanted a location."

Root's lips stretched into a smile. "That's great news," she said, laughing from relief. When Shaw, and all the others, frowned at her, she decided to elaborate. "When the Machine came back online, she inserted herself… everywhere. You can't target her location because she doesn't have one."

Shaw pursed her lips. "Job done," she said with a hint of a smile. "No more Samaritan."

"I wish it were that simple, Miss Shaw," replied Finch. "But Samaritan's agents will continue to come after us regardless of what we know about the threat."

"Good," said Shaw bluntly, causing Finch to crease his brows further. "Saves me the trouble of hunting them down one by one."

"Miss Shaw, we save lives. We are not in the business of taking them."

Shaw shook her head angrily. "No. These people tortured me, they almost killed Root, and although no one's told me, I'm pretty sure they actually did kill Reese. They don't get to live."

Her words silenced Finch. Grace just looked utterly confused by the whole situation, but Fusco stared glumly; no doubt the reality of Reese's death had dawned on him at some point as well. Root walked over to Shaw and gently placed a hand on her arm. "It's alright Sameen," she said quietly, her eyes full of sadness and promise. "We'll get them, together." Shaw nodded silently in acknowledgement, and Root gave her arm a reassuring squeeze.

Root remained next to Shaw, but turned around to face the others as she spoke. "Look, I think what Shaw is trying to say, is that we can't just let Samaritan's operatives run around. Who knows who they could end up hurting?"

Finch sighed. "It doesn't matter what you want to do. I've decided I don't want a part in this life anymore. I'd rather you didn't kill anyone, but what you do now is up to you."

"What about the Machine?" asked Root. "She's your child, Harold."

"I believe the Machine has proven its independence on multiple occasions, Miss Groves. Besides, you can provide the Machine with better care than I ever could."

Root replied with a soft smile before going over to Finch and hugging him. "I'm going to miss you Harold. Thank you for everything you've done."

"Thank you too, Root," he replied. "You've given everything to this."

"I've gotten everything out of this," she said with a small laugh, stealing a glance at Shaw.

Finch turned to Fusco next. "Detective," he said.

"Glasses."

"You've come a long way from when we first met, detective, and I'm sure John would be proud of the man you've become."

"He'd be proud of you too," replied Fusco with a nod. "And I'm sure he'd want you to take this break." They both smiled and shook hands as a way of saying goodbye.

Finally, Finch turned to Shaw. "Miss Shaw," he began, a sad expression on his face. "I'll never truly understand what you went through for us, but please know I will forever be grateful for your sacrifice that day."

Shaw gave a small nod of acceptance in response.

"And," continued Finch before Shaw could say anything. "Although things work differently for you, I really do hope you're able to find some kind of happiness after all this."

Shaw looked over at Root, the woman she'd so nearly lost, then turned back to Finch. "You know what Harold," she said with something that resembled a smile, "that might actually be possible."

Finch smiled and nodded his reply; there was nothing more to be said. He went back over to Grace who honestly just looked relieved to be leaving. Shaw wasn't exactly surprised, this was a pretty messed up life after all. Root offered to take them wherever it was they were going, but Finch insisted he would be fine so the pair left on their own.

Root saw them off, and while Shaw expected her to be upset, she returned with a smile on her face. "You know," she said, "now that we're no longer hiding from the all-seeing Samaritan, I thought we could move out of the safehouse and go somewhere a bit nicer. My old apartment, perhaps?"

Shaw shook her head in disbelief. "Are you asking me to move in with you, Root?"

"What would you say if I was?"

"I think you already know the answer."

Root gave a satisfied smile. "Come on, Lionel," said Root, turning to the detective. "I need some help moving stuff from here to the apartment."

"You brought me here to help you move?" he complained. "You know I've got a pretty important day job, right?"

"One made much easier by the work we do. You wouldn't want that to stop because we're busy moving, now would you?" replied Root with a pout.

"Yeah hurry up, Fusco, and help us move" added Shaw with a laugh, clapping Fusco on the shoulder. "We've got work to do after this."