It had been two weeks since the night at the club. Shaw had neither seen nor heard from Root. Her calls and text messages had gone unanswered. The longer it went on the more the sensation that started in her stomach spread and grew. The more Shaw fought it, the more the word screamed in her mind.

Feelings, Shaw, feelings. You had them and you didn't like them. Then you screwed up the one thing that made them good. Now you've lost the only chance you had at living with the good feelings. But, congratulations, asshole, you've managed to end up with bad feelings in spades.

Her appearances at the subway were brief, only stopping to get information on the latest number, then grab what equipment was needed and leave. The one time she asked about Root, Finch only answered vaguely.

"She's on a mission for the Machine."

When Shaw pressed, Finch delivered devastating news.

"She specifically asked me not to tell you where she was going."

….

Shaw's phone rang at 9:15 three days later. "What do you want Finch?"

"We have a situation, Ms. Shaw. While I want to respect Ms. Groves' wishes, I don't want anything to happen to her that we would all regret. She's in trouble and needs your help."

"I thought she didn't want you to let me know where she was."

"That's correct, however, she called ten minutes ago, asking for back up, specifically, Mr. Reese to come as back up. When I told her Mr. Reese was out of the state on a mission for the Machine, she said, 'never mind' and hung up.

"I've found where the call originated from, and it appears Ms. Groves has gotten herself in a situation where she desperately needs assistance. The warehouse she called from is currently surrounded by SWAT as a gun battle is ensuing inside. It's a building one of the Mexican cartels has been using to store drugs, weapons and cash.

"They took an unnamed hostage in there an hour ago and are threatening to kill her if they aren't given safe passage. They won't get safe passage, and based on their history, they will kill Ms. Groves. Her pride may very well result in her being killed."

Shaw's stomach was tied in knots. This is all my fault, she would have been with me if it wasn't for my being such an ass. She grabbed several weapons from her closet and headed down to the car she was currently using.

Fifteen minutes later, Shaw pulled her vehicle to the side of a nondescript building less than 100 yards from the warehouse. Loading everything into a duffle bag, Shaw walked over to where the SWAT team had cordoned off the area. One quick call to Finch and she was headed back to a manhole cover behind the sealed area.

Shaw slipped under the street and followed Finch's directions until she came to a ladder. Climbing the ladder, Shaw encountered a steel grate that allowed her limited vision inside the warehouse. After seeing the coast was clear she raised the grate and slipped into the warehouse.

As she rounded a corner looking for Root, she encountered the first of the cartel's members. He went down without a sound and Shaw zip-tied and gagged him, then headed in the direction he came. A wall toward the back of the building had a door toward one side. The door was slightly ajar and light spilled into the adjoining area.

Shaw carefully approached and as she got closer she could hear voices arguing in Spanish. While not fluent, Shaw understood they were arguing about whether their best option was to kill Root and fight their way out, or wait to see if the rest of their companions would get there and attempt an escape.

Shaw stuck her head around the wall and quickly assessed the situation. There were five of them, and the area was confined enough that she knew she could see them all. They were standing around Root, who was tied to a chair and looked unconscious.

Guessing she had taken out the only other perp, she raised her silenced Uzi and took out the five in less than ten seconds.

No kneecaps today, Harold, I hope you understand.

Root's head picked up at the sound and she looked around confused. She had been beaten, but didn't appear to have any serious injuries. As Shaw approached, Root looked over at her rescuer and her expression went from curious to relieved to blank, all in seconds.

"Come on Root, let's get you out of here. Are there any more?"

"One, he left a couple minutes ago."

"He's down, here's the plan. There's a grate in the floor at the other end of the warehouse, we're going to go down and out that way, but I'm blowing this place up when we leave. I have enough C4 to ensure this place will be nothing but rubble."

"There's a package I have to get first, it's out there too."

"Is it that important?"

"It's the reason I came."

As they headed back toward their exit point, Root indicated a bundle of burlap lying near the far wall. Root reached it, opened it and slid a small child out, bound and gagged. She leaned into the child's face and spoke briefly.

"We're getting you out of here, but I can't take a chance on you making any noise now. When we are out, I will take off the gag and untie you. Do you understand?"

The child's eyes were bugging out of her head (Shaw finally determined it was a girl, maybe seven or eight years old), but she nodded and Root started to pick her up. Shaw stopped her, handed her the C4 and detonator and slung the child over her shoulders. Root reached behind the bag used to contain the child, grabbed a backpack and followed Shaw to their exit point.

The three slipped into the tunnel where Root made sure the girl was physically OK, removed the gag and bindings and they headed toward Shaw's entry point. Once clear of the tunnel, Shaw checked that SWAT was still attempting to establish contact and not storming the place.

She then blew the building. The ensuing explosion touched off several smaller explosions as flammable items in the warehouse went up. As the inferno raged, the two women put the girl in the back seat of Shaw's car and headed out without any words.

Root directed Shaw to the local precinct and had her pull behind the station. She pulled the child from the back seat, carried her to a car idling with one female officer in it, approached the driver's side and set the child down. She spoke briefly to the officer, shook her head and returned to Shaw's vehicle.

"Let's go- now!"

Shaw pulled out of the station and the female officer decided to attend to the child rather than attempt to follow her rescuers. As Shaw headed for Root's apartment, she looked at Root and asked, "Are you OK?"

"Didn't know you cared, Shaw, pull over here." Shaw shook her head no and continued toward Root's apartment.

"You're hurt and need medical attention. And we need to talk."

Shaw slowed at a red light to turn right. As she stopped Root opened the passenger door and hopped out. She reached through the back window for the backpack, grabbed it and turned away. She glanced over her shoulder as she walked away.

"No thanks."

Shaw jammed the car in park and hopped out. Chasing Root down, she grabbed her left arm and spun her around. Root's eyes flashed anger and she shook off Shaw's hand. Turning away again, she said,

"Leave me alone."

Shaw shrugged and removed something from her hoodie.

"What goes around, comes around."

She tased Root.

….