Note : I'm not totally satisfied with this chapter and I'm not sure I captured Shaw well, but I really wanted to try and make an insight of her point of view. As for the second part... Let's say this chapter isn't really the most useful one but I felt like it was kind of necessary for what's next ^^
Remember this is supposed to take place right after 3x17 (Root Path), so Shaw is still mistrustful of Root. After seeing A House Divided (3x22), I'd say this has changed a little, don't you think ? ;) (No, I still haven't got over all the Shoot we got in this episode :D) Well anyway, I'll try to make her evolve a little in this fic !
Oh, and the rating may change in one or two chapters. There won't be anything too explicit but there's one long scene for which I don't really know if a T rating would be enough. I say one or two chapters because I still haven't written what happens between where this one ends and the scene I'm talking about, so I don't know how long it will be !

Shaw stayed by Root's side the two following days, never leaving the library. Harold tried to talk her into getting some fresh air once, without much success. The only answer he got was "no way", and he now knew the ex-agent too well to ask a second time. Reese was handling the numbers, so he and Shaw didn't cross paths very much. The latter only allowed herself some short naps, never more than a few hours.

One night, rather bored, she explored the whole library, but didn't discover another rooms as unexpected as the one Root was currently occupying. Other than this and her checks on the hacker's vitals, Shaw had quite some time to think, and it occurred to her how ironical the situation might seem. A year ago she could have been the one to put Root in that hospital bed but now she was stuck here, checking on her after saving her life and, well, not hating her anymore.

So much had happened in a year, she realized. The hacker had saved her life once, and had proved to be quite a valuable asset. Over the time, she had even shown she was evolving, being… Being a little more human and just a little less crazy. The relationship she had been developing with the Machine had really made her better. And that was definitely the reason why Shaw was now stuck next to Root's bed to watch over her while she was unconscious, and not to strangle her.

Her mind slipped back to the events that lead to this point. She still couldn't believe the hacker actually put her life in danger to save someone. This move, more than any help Root had provided to the team a few months back, had made her grow on Shaw. No, the hacker was definitely not as inhumane as she was a year before.

But she still had kissed the ex-agent. Okay, Shaw thought, correcting what she stated just a while before, she was not as inhumane, but still as much crazy because that wasn't exactly a smart move.

She shook her head. She had more or less got used to Root's unnerving habit of flirting with her and the urge to slap her in the face every time that damn smirk appeared on it was not that pressing anymore. But there wasn't a trace of that expression on the hacker's face before she passed out ; on the contrary, her smile seemed genuine. And that slightly disturbed Shaw, because she didn't know what the hell this was supposed to mean about Root's new stage of craziness.

She finally decided that trying to understand the hacker's tortuous mind was only going to give her a headache and, as far as she was concerned, she closed the matter a little while later on a rather simple conclusion : Root was still nuts.

Nonetheless, a part of her mind she wasn't willing to listen to couldn't help but note it was also what made her stay a mystery to Shaw. And Shaw quite liked mysteries, because that usually went hand in hand with interesting.

On the third day after she was shot, Root still hadn't regained consciousness. It wasn't really worrying given the blood she had lost, but Shaw kept on refusing getting out of the library. Still, she now allowed herself to spend some time in the main room with Harold and Bear, confident she would hear the monitors beep if anything happened and needing to occupy her mind a little.

She was playing with the dog when Finch hurried past her after a lively conversation with John.

"There seems to be a slight problem with the number and my hacking skills would apparently be well appreciated by Mr Reese. I'll be back soon."

"Okay Finch, no problem."

A little while later, she got up and went back to the hospital room, leaving Bear play with one of his squeaky toys. Since the previous night, Root's temperature had been rising and Shaw suspected she caught a virus that took advantage of her weakened immune system. Other than that, the woman looked fine. Had she been a little less whitish, she could have seemed asleep. Shaw sat in the chair next to the bed and started waiting again for her to wake up.

She had no idea how much time had passed while she was lost in her thoughts when Bear sat at the doorstep and whined. The dog wasn't allowed into the room, and it was rare he even came next to it.

"What's the matter ?" she asked, not at all concerned by the fact Bear couldn't answer.

The dog whined again, and since the ex-agent wasn't moving, he finally barked twice. A spark of understanding lit up in Shaw's mind.

"Do you need to go for a walk ?"

Bear got up and turned to the main entry but didn't move toward it, waiting for her to follow.

"Oh you gotta be kidding me !" she growled. "Sorry", she added to Root, "you'll have to stay on you own for a few minutes, even if I really don't like it."

Shaw realized how crazy she sounded, talking to an unconscious woman, but anyway, it wasn't as if she cared. Taking Bear's leash with her, she hurried up and went to walk the dog.

The first thing Shaw heard when she got back something like ten minutes later was a loud beeping sound. Recognizing it immediately, she rushed to the hospital room, cursing Bear who made her leave the hacker alone.

"What the hell ?" was the only thing that escaped her mouth when she got there.

The monitors weren't beeping because Root's pulse had faded, like she initially thought, but because the hospital bed was now empty. Spinning around, Shaw began to search for her in the library. In her state, she couldn't have gone very far.

She almost missed her in the dim light of the Faraday cage. The hacker was curled up on the padded bench, staring into space with her teeth shattering.

"Okay Root. That was a really bad idea. What were you thinking exactly ?!" Shaw spat, a bit of anger piercing in her voice.

"I missed Her so much when I was there", the hacker whispered, so low the other woman almost didn't hear what she said. It was obvious Root hadn't even realized someone else was now in the room with her.

Shaw moved closer to the hacker and crouched down to be at her level, trying to meet her gaze without much success. She surprised herself with how gently she put Root's hair back so she could lay her hand on the taller woman's forehead.

"You fever really hasn't improved", she noted.

Root was still staring blankly, her body shivering, obviously frozen.

"Where are You ?" she let out in another whisper that convinced Shaw the woman was totally delirious, something not so surprising given her medical state.

"Okay that's it. Let's get you back to where you belong for now."

The smaller woman got up and tried to put the hacker back on her feet. Root struggled for a few seconds, trying to fight off the grip Shaw had on her body.

"Hey, that's not to be discussed !" the latter finally grumbled with a peremptory tone.

A spark of consciousness lit in the hacker's eyes.

"Shaw ?" she just asked with a half-surprised, half-relieved tone.

As if the rest of her little strength had suddenly faded, she stopped struggling and let herself go into Shaw's grip. The latter just had enough time to hold her back before she fell. Root was still conscious but it was clear she would never be able to walk to the hospital room.

Shaw raised her eyes to heaven and sighed.

"You are so gonna pay for this later", she said while she lifted the hacker, then carrying her back in her arms. "Moreover, you're not exactly featherweight", she added, needing her full strength to hold Root.

The latter had snuggled her head up against the ex-agent's shoulder and mumbled an answer the smaller woman didn't understand. Not like she cared anyway.

Once they were back in the hospital room, Shaw freed herself from the hacker's weight.

"You try to move from that bed once again and I tie you to it. Tight", she warned.

Root opened her eyes, a small smile playing on her lips.

"With handcuffs ?"

Shaw didn't even find something to answer. Feverish, half-unconscious, delirious, probably in pain, but still flirting. UNBELIEVABLE. She shook her head. That woman was totally nuts.

She started putting back Root's drip and realized the latter had passed out again. She wasn't going to complain. When the hacker was unconscious, she at least couldn't do something stupid. Or drive her crazy.

Opening the closets of the room one by one, she finally found some covers for Root who still looked freezing cold. Once again, she surprised herself with her gentleness when she put them over the hacker, and fleetingly wondered how the hell that unbearable woman could make her so caring when it wasn't even like her in the first place.