I'm still taking a break from posting, but I had to write this after re-watching "If-Then-Else" this morning. Root's shock and grief was very heart-wrenching, and it got me to thinking about how once I had been in her shoes. I had no one to lean on, and no one to talk to...I had no outlet for my grief. I didn't want that for her. She needs someone to talk to and to sort out her newly realized feelings. And what better sounding board than Reese? I hope you like it.

Post Ep: "If-Then-Else"

I don't own Person of Interest in any way, shape or form.

Song prompt: "How Do You Mend A Broken Heart?" by The Bee Gees.

How Do You Mend A Broken Heart?

The pub was dark and nearly deserted, and the few patrons left were either engrossed in personal discussions or playing pool. One or two were watching the game on the TV. But no one noticed the lone figure tucked away in the corner in the booth. No one saw the way her head was bent over the glass of amber coloured liquor that she had yet to touch. No one saw her grief.

Except one person.

Whisper soft from his years of training in the CIA, John Reese walked carefully toward the lonely woman.

"Mind if I sit down?" he asked.

Root shrugged, but didn't meet his eyes. "Sure."

Reese took a seat on the opposite side. He looked at her glass. "What are you drinking?"

"I don't know," she admitted. "I told them to pour me something strong."

Reese didn't reply. There was nothing to reply to. But as the seconds ticked by to become long minutes, he felt her pain, her heartache, and he waited to make his move. But she beat him to the punch.

"Why are you here, John?" Root wondered.

"I thought you might need a friend," he answered.

Root gave a sarcastic snort and shook her head. "We've never been 'friends', John."

"But we're not enemies, either," he stated truthfully.

"Is that suppose to bring me comfort?" Her brown eyes were so sad and lifeless. And so lost.

"Only if you want it to." He wasn't going to push her. There was no love lost between them, but over the years he had gained a certain amount of respect for her.

"She sent you."

Reese nodded. "She is worried. We all are."

Root's smile was full of mirth. "I doubt that."

"No matter what has transpired between us, Root, we are still a team with a mission."

"And that means I have to open up and talk?" she asked. "To you?"

"No. But a therapist once told me that it does help to know that if you need to talk, someone is there to listen."

"What crazy person said that?"

Reese smiled gently. "You did."

Root chuckled softly and ducked her head. "You remembered. And now you're on the other side of the table giving me advice. How is that for ironic?"

"No advice. Just lending an ear. We all need someone to talk to."

Root turned the glass around in a circle. "How did you do it?" she whispered but there was a definite crack in her voice that could not be disguised.

"Do what?"

"Get up every morning. Remember to breathe, to think." Root looked up. Her eyes met with Reese's. "How did you remember to...live?" The last word was said so sadly it nearly broke Reese's heart. He reached over, hesitating for a moment, then took her hand in his.

"I didn't," he reminded her. "I almost gave up."

Tears filled Root's eyes. "But you didn't," she argued.

"I didn't want to. I wanted to die. I wanted to avenge Joss's death and kill everyone – even if that meant I died in the process. Her death..." Reese had to pause and take a deep breath. One year after losing the woman who had saved him in every way possible, was still as fresh as the moment it happened. "...hurt me."

"But you survived. You pulled back."

"Because I had to realize that she died the way she lived her life: on her terms. She was true to herself and her moral code – even to the end she never betrayed herself. She was a protector," Reese told Root.

"And you loved her," Root said simply.

Reese nodded. "I did," he confirmed. "Just like you loved Sameen."

The muscle at the corner of Root's mouth twitched hard and one single tear fell from her eye to land on Reese's hand.

Her other hand shaking, Root brought it up to wipe her eyes. "I don't know what you mean," she denied angrily.

"Yes, you do."

"I don't know how to love," she replied honestly. But deep down inside there was a small flicker of something that was trying so hard to come to life. She didn't know what it was, but it scared her.

"You do," Reese encouraged. "You just never learned how to do it properly." He gave Root's hand a comforting squeeze. "I know about your mom and how you stayed with her while she was sick."

"Yeah, a lot of good that did," Root griped. "She died."

"I know. But you cared for her and you tried to help her when she needed it. That's love."

Root turned her head away. She didn't want to hear what Reese had to say, but there was something hypnotic about his voice that kept her from tuning him completely out.

"You sent our mutual friends to help save me from myself when I needed it the most."

"I almost didn't," Root confessed softly and with regret.

"But you did. That is what matters, Sam. Love isn't about losing, it's what you learn from it and keep so you never make those mistakes again."

"Did you?" Root wondered.

"Did I what?"

"Learn from your mistakes?"

Reese gazed down at the table top and fought to control his emotions. "Eventually," he finally confessed. "I had to learn to accept what I couldn't change. And even then I was prone to give up."

"What changed that?"

"Joss. She gave me a reason to want to live again and be a better person. Her faith in me was the catalyst I needed to move on and love again."

"But you lost her," Root pointed out.

"I did. But I got to tell her what I was feeling for her. I got the chance to know that..." Reese tried to swallow around the lump in his throat that was threatening to choke him. "...that life can give you a second chance." A tear fell from his eye and raced down his cheek. "I got to tell her good-bye."

"I didn't." Root wiped at her eyes angrily. She didn't understand the emotions coursing thru her, and a part of her didn't want to. Tears were a waste of time and nothing she had a use for, but they kept coming. It wasn't helping that each time Reese opened his mouth the tears started again.

"Yes, you did. She knew you cared. That's what matters."

"Why does it hurt?" Root choked out.

"Because it was real."

"How long will it hurt?"

Reese shook his head. "I don't know. No one knows." He gave a small smile. "Not even the Machine knows."

"I don't want it to hurt," she argued. "I don't want this pain."

"It comes from being human, Sam. It comes from life. You don't want to go your whole life without feeling," Reese warned her.

"It's better that way," she protested weakly.

"It can be," he agreed. "But that doesn't make it right."

"It's easier."

"Not really. Do you want to know how to mend a broken heart?" he asked rhetorically. "Time. Good old fashioned time."

Root rolled her eyes heavenward. "Time?" A sardonic smile danced on her lips.

"Time," Reese repeated.

"But it's no guarantee," she surmised.

"No. No, it isn't." His heart would be the first to admit that not all wounds were healed with time.

Root sniffled back the tears. "Why are you doing this, John?"

"Do I need a reason?" he returned.

"Everything needs a reason." Her smile was sad, so sad and yet it held amusement. "We're not even friends. I don't think we ever will be."

"Maybe," Reese said, "but we respect one another. We've come a long way since Texas. As for everything needing a reason..." He searched for the right words to make the woman he once vowed to kill, understand that there could be a reason to keep living...despite. "...you do have people who care," he finished. He let his words sink in before continuing.

"We may not be friends, but we're a team."

"Y-y-yes," she affirmed, her voice trembled with the confirmation. "I want them to pay."

"They will. We will make sure they do. But you should know that no matter what happens, it isn't going to bring her back."

"I know. I know." And that is what hurt the most, she realized with despair.

Reese heard the defeat in her voice and his squeezed at his heart. He had once been in her shoes, wandering in the dark without a hand to hold or a soul to talk to. He had almost given up and would not have minded if something had come along and ended his life. But he had grown since then and learned the most import of lessons: Life is precious. It was going to take a while, but Root would come around and see the light. It was a growing pain, but it was worth it.

"John?" her question interrupted his thoughts.

"What?"

"Why?"

Reese was flummoxed by her question. "Why, what?"

"You could have been anywhere tonight, but you took the time to talk to me. Why? What made you do it?" she asked in disbelief that anyone could be so unselfish.

"Would you believe me if I said I wanted to?"

"I don't deserve this. Not after...everything—everything I've done."

Reese weighed his words carefully before replying, "When all hope was lost and I was on the verge of losing everything, you rescued me. You helped to find me when I didn't want to be found."

"So, this is payback?" She couldn't fathom someone wanting nothing in return. Everyone had an agenda.

"No," he contradicted and squeezed her hand. His eyes were kind and soft as they met hers. "This is 'thank you'."

Root bowed her head and wept. For the first time since she could remember, she let the tears flow freely and felt her soul being cleansed. When the storm had passed, Reese was ready with a serviette to help her wipe the tears away.

"Thank you," she spoke softly and blew her nose. She looked down and noticed Reese's hand was still on hers. It felt weird but good. And it brought her comfort.

"I guess we're friends now," she observed with a tiny, light laugh.

"I guess we are," Reese said.

"Do you need to go anywhere?" she asked. "Like right away?"

"Are you asking me to stay?"

Root lifted her head and met his eyes. "In a roundabout way...yes."

"I can stay as long as you need me to," he offered.

Root smiled although it hurt her heart to do so. "Thank you."

Reese smiled back. "You're welcome."

The End.