"Um…Root?"

"Don't." Root closed her eyes. "Don't say it."

Sameen licked her lips, holding back a smirk. "You, uh, burnt your mac and cheese again."

"I know," Root sighed. She opened her eyes and turned the stove off. "I know, Sameen."

The timer on Sameen's oven rang and she reached out to turn it off. She was actually enjoying Home Economics. They were only two weeks into the school year, but Mr. Greer was letting her make recipes that weren't on the syllabus. She turned her oven off and pulled the door open.

Beside her, Root's stomach growled. Laughing, Sameen pulled on her oven mitts and took a deep breath. She'd made a pasta pie for lunch. It wasn't the most complicated recipe, but it was really good. The bell rang, signaling the end of class, and Mr. Greer stopped in front of their workbench.

"Oh dear," Mr. Greer said, frowning. He stared at Root. "Miss Groves, I see you've failed to master Macaroni and Cheese once again."

"I don't understand," Root pouted. "It's just pasta and water! How can it form this?"

Sameen tuned them out and started transferring her dish to the tubberware she'd brought. Root had a C+ in Home Ec right now and that was only because Mr. Greer loved her. Apparently, she'd been the best employee he'd ever had at the ice cream shop and now he was trying to help her out.

Closing the lid on her container, she moved her dishes to the sink. Despite the academic setback, they were having a good year. Sameen was captain of the soccer team, Root was captain of the science bowl team, and they hadn't fought at all since Houston. She finished scrubbing her dish and put it onto the drying rack.

Glancing at Root, she rolled her eyes. Root's face was drooped into a cartoonish pout. "Yes, you can have some of my food."

"Thank you!" Root grinned and scooped their bags off the floor and headed out of the room.

"I can carry my bag," Sameen said, grabbing a couple of forks from a drawer and following her out into the hallway. "This isn't heavy."

Root just held their bags in her arms as they walked to the cafeteria. "That's precious cargo, Sameen. Everything you make is so good. I can't even boil pasta."

"You'll get there. We can practice."

They got to the cafeteria and Root leapt forward, pushing the door open for Sameen. The noise of several hundred kids talking at once hit them like a wall and Sameen saw Root wince. They crossed to the far corner of the room, walking along the wall and bypassing most of the room.

After Martine had bullied them their first two years, they'd moved to a table that was out of the way. Now, if anyone approached them, they'd see it coming. Sameen saw Gen sitting at their table and sighed.

Gen had been following them around since school started, trying to be Sameen's friend. Sameen wasn't sure what her deal was, but she was really interested in being on the soccer team and she seemed to know everything about their lives. Root dropped their bags on the table and sat opposite of Gen.

Sameen watched them glare at each other for a moment before sitting down. Root and Gen did not get along. Gen hated Root for no apparent reason and Root hated Gen because of their confrontation in the staple aisle. Sitting down on Root's left, Sameen opened her container and dropped the forks on the table.

Gen tore her eyes away from Root and grinned at Sameen. "Hello! Are you excited about soccer tryouts? Are they still tomorrow? I'm going to make the team for sure!"

Sameen shoveled food into her mouth and avoided eye contact. If Gen was good, she'd pick her for the team, but if she was bad, Sameen wasn't going to let her on just because they were friends. Not that they were friends.

"Maybe you should talk less and practice more," Root snapped. "You bother us so much, you can't possibly be practicing enough."

Gen stuck her tongue out at Root. "Some of us are naturally athletic. We can't all be nerds. Right, Sameen?"

Sameen raised her eyebrows and kept eating. She was not getting into this.

"Sameen happens to like nerds," Root replied, smug. "She happens to love them."

"Hey, guys," Lionel greeted, sitting at the table. He pulled his lunch out of his backpack. "What are we talking about?"

"Root's a nerd," Gen answered.

Lionel chuckled and started pulling his things out. Sameen glanced over the contents, nodding to herself. They hadn't talked about his fitness regimen recently, but Lionel had been doing a good job keeping it up. He'd probably always be a little pudgy, but he was almost as strong as she was now. Almost.

"Is that supposed to be news?" Lionel asked. "Am I supposed to be surprised?"

Her eyes slid to Gen, who didn't have any food. Maybe Gen had just eaten everything before they sat down. She probably scarfed down her food like she was starving. Sameen glanced up at Gen's face. Something reminded her of Root when they'd first met. Root's hand on her arm distracted her and she shifted so they could hold hands.

Gen scoffed and crossed her arms, clearly upset that Lionel wasn't on her side. Sameen took one last bite and pushed the container over to Root. She watched Root start eating, immediately getting pasta sauce on her face. Sameen dropped Root's hand to give her a napkin. Stretching her leg to the side, she hooked her ankle around Root's.

Root smiled at her with a mouth full of pasta, wiping her face. Turning back to the table, Sameen leaned on her elbows. Gen and Lionel were bickering about something, but she couldn't be bothered to listen.

It had been a really great two weeks. They'd spent the weekend in the train, Root working on her computer and Sameen just working out. So far, their plan to work on personal projects was going well. The train was covered in wires, which Root promised to clean up, and Sameen had started building a working circulatory system. Right now, it was just plexiglass tubes, but once Sameen figured out the system, she'd weld a skeleton and put it together.

Root's leg tensed and Sameen looked over. Martine was standing beside the table, her lunch tray clenched in her hands. Somehow glaring at everyone at once, Martine slammed her tray done and sat between Gen and Sameen.

"Um," Root frowned, "What-"

"My mom says I have to be friend with you," Martine said through gritted teeth. "You won her over last spring and I have no friends this year, so here I am. Slumming."

Frowning, Sameen leaned back in her chair, her arms dropping into her lap. Mrs. Rousseau was forcing Martine to be friends with them? Just when everything is back to normal with Root, the rest of the world starts being weird.

"You don't have to do what your mom says," Gen offered. "Just don't sit with us."

Martine looked her over, eyebrows raised. She pushed her blonde hair over her shoulder. "Do I know you?" She looked at Root. "Did Mrs. Reese adopt another one?"

Root rolled her eyes. "She's a freshman with a crush on Sameen. I hate to agree with her, but she's right. Just don't sit with us."

Everyone at the table looked at Sameen. She crossed her arms. When did she become the leader of the group? Not that there was a group. There was Sameen and Root and sometimes Lionel. Running a hand over her braid, Sameen thought for a moment.

Martine had been really awful to them their freshman year. She'd made fun of Root a lot, but she seemed to have calmed down a little bit. Lambert had been an awful boyfriend. Now that he graduated, maybe Hersch was ignoring her. Maybe Martine did need friends.

"Fine," Sameen bit, thoroughly done with the whole conversation. "You can sit with us, but we're not actually friends yet. You still have to prove you're not a bitch."

"I tried to warn you about Root and Hanna," Martine said, indignant. "I was on your side!"

Root glared at her. "You didn't try hard enough."

"And I'm done," Sameen sighed. She pushed her chair away from the table and grabbed her bag. "I'll see you in Econ. Bring the forks."

They said their goodbyes and Sameen headed out of the cafeteria. Before she got out of earshot, she heard Gen ask Martine if she was going to try out for the soccer team. Saying a quick prayer to who ever was listening, Sameen hoped the two of them wouldn't become friends. That would be too much to handle.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Root watched Sameen as she reached into the engine of a car. They were three weeks into the school year now and it felt like they never got time alone. Between Lionel, Gen, and Martine, there just wasn't any time to hang out. It hadn't even been a month since they got back from Houston and Root was itching to leave Bishop again.

Between AP Physics homework, soccer practice and science bowl, and making sure Lionel didn't feel lonely, Root and Sameen were finding it difficult to do anything fun. They had the weekends to themselves mostly, but whenever they went out, Gen showed up and bothered them.

They'd started hanging out in the autoshop. Mr. Lambert didn't mind, and he even let Root use his tools for her Robotics homework. Sameen pulled her arm out of the car. It was black from her finger tips to her armpit and she groaned loudly.

"This is going to take forever to get off," she grumbled, stomping over to the work bench.

Root handed her a rag, smiling affectionately. "You have a long sleeve jumpsuit, Sameen. Maybe you should use it."

Sameen just glared at her and scrubbed her arm. Her jump suit was tied around her waist like always. Root didn't mind; it gave her a better view of Sameen's arms and that was always a good thing. She kept expecting to get tired of Sameen's muscle, but it never failed to make Root's heart skip a beat.

"What are we doing this weekend?" Root asked, hopping onto the workbench. She swung her feet in front of her. "Swimming? Stargazing? Projects? We could practice cooking." She winked, both of her eyes closing. "We should practice winking. I'm so bad at it."

Sameen shook her head, her hair falling loose from her braid. "No. I like it."

"You like my inability to wink?" Root laughed.

"Yeah," Sameen said, smirking. She dropped her rag onto the table and stepped between Root's legs. "It's cute. I mean, in a dumb way."

Root leaned forward to wrap her arms around Sameen's shoulders. She grinned, brushing their noses together. "You think I'm cute and you can't handle it. Just give in, babe. I'm adorable."

"Oh my god," Sameen mumbled, her face flushing. She pushed out of Root's grasp and turned back to the car. "You're the worst. I try to compliment you…"

Root just grinned and leaned back on her hands. Sameen started to work on the car again, her arm still streaked with grease. They had homework to do and tests to study for, but Root didn't really care. It was Friday night and they could study on the weekend.

The door to the garage banged open and they turned to look. Lionel marched towards them, wearing a familiar pair of coveralls.

"Oh no," Sameen growled, stepping away from the car, "please tell me he's not wearing a uniform."

Root sighed loudly. "There goes this quiet place."

"How's it going?" Lionel greeted them. He looked at all the tools on the table. "This is neat stuff."

"Lionel, what are you doing here?" Sameen asked. She snatched a wrench of the table. "You barely know anything about cars."

Lionel shrugged and shoved his hands in his pocket. "So? Mr. Lambert says you can teach me. I told him we needed bonding time. He likes you guys."

Root slid off the bench and picked up her backpack. "I'm gonna go. I'll meet you at our place later?"

Sameen glared at her, obviously angry Root was leaving her. "You're running away?"

"I already know about cars," Root chuckled. She pressed kiss to Sameen's sweaty cheek and backed away. "See you later?"

"Yeah, yeah," Sameen snorted. "If I've forgiven you."

Lionel picked up a spark tester. "What's this?"

"That's my cue," Root laughed. Heading for the door, she pulled her back pack onto her shoulders.

They'd driven to the shop, so Root would have to walk home. As she crossed through the waiting room and out into the warm August afternoon, she smiled to herself. It was nice that Lionel and Sameen were spending time together. Maybe Root could spend some time with Harold and Grace this weekend. Family was important, after all.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

'Hello. I'm your computer. What-"

"Ugh, gross. No." The sound of typing filled the train. "Let's try this."

'Hello. I'm your comp-"

"No way."

Sameen looked over her shoulder at Root and rolled her eyes. Root was sprawled out across the bed on her stomach. She'd been trying to pick a voice for her computer for over an hour now, but none of them met her standards. Sameen didn't even know what she was going for, but all the voices were women, of course.

"Root," Sameen said, doing one last sit-up, "just pick one."

Root glared at her. "This is a commitment, Sameen. Scully has to have the right voice."

Sameen climbed to her feet, finished with her workout. Sweat dripped down her back and she pulled her tanktop off. "Are you naming your computer Scully?"

Grinning, Root pressed a few keys and scrambled off the bed, moving to the center of the room. Somehow, she wasn't sweaty at all and Sameen marveled at her ability to stay cool in any weather. The fact that she was only in her underwear probably helped, too.

Clearing her throat loudly, Root glanced meaningfully at Sameen. "Scully, it's me."

The large rectangle of glass on the wall came to life, casting a blue glue across the train. A slight whirring sound hummed along the ceiling and Sameen wondered if Root could even hear it and if it was a bad sign. A white smiley face appeared on the screen.

"Mulder, it's me," a throaty voice rasped. "Cut the crap."

Sameen chuckled despite herself. "I'm not going to get replaced by your robo-girlfriend, am I?"

"Never!" Root declared, wrapping her arms around Sameen's waist. Their skin stuck together in the heat. "She's just a talking computer. I don't know enough to build a real AI yet."

"Yet?" Sameen repeated. Her arms hung at her side as Root wiggled against her. "So I may have to worry eventually."

"Sameen!" Root laughed, trying to tug her to the bed. "You never have to worry. You've got me."

"Oh, I've got you alright." Moving quickly, she ducked down and grabbed Root's legs, lifting her into the air.

Root squealed and tried to hold onto Sameen's shoulder, but she was too high. Sameen crossed to the bed carefully. She tossed Root down and her back hit the bed with a thump. Crawling after her, Sameen grinned wolfishly. The sweat on her legs made her knees slip against the soft sheets and her approach was less than threatening.

"You're all sweaty," Root said, her nose crinkling. "Gross."

"Please," Sameen scoffed. She pushed her exercise shorts off her hips, dropping onto her butt to pull them down her legs. "You love it."

Root licked her lips, resting back on her elbows. "I do. I love it."

Sameen threw her legs over Root's hips, pushing their stomachs together. Her fingers threaded into Root's hair, tightening until Root's breath hitched. They'd done this so often now that just the flutter of Root's eyelashes made Sameen's stomach tighten. It should be illegal to be so attracted to someone.

Beneath her, Root ran her hands over Sameen's thighs, her nails leaving pale scratches as they trailed up to her waist. She dragged her fingertips up Sameen's stomach, over her bra, and down her arms, squeezing the muscle. They hadn't even kissed and Root's eyes were unfocused and dark.

"Kiss me," Root breathed, moving her hands to Sameen's face and pull her down. "Kiss me," she murmured against Sameen's lips.

Their lips slid together and they sighed. Root's mouth always felt like home. If someone put a gun to Sameen's head and said she was never going to kiss Root again, Sameen would pull the trigger herself. Root's tongue swiped against her own and Sameen felt like exploding.

Scooting down the bed, she pushed Root's bra up. Root's pale skin was already flushed and red. The splotches of red across Root's pale skin fascinated Sameen. They were like a roadmap telling Sameen where to put her lips.

"Sameen," Root gasped above her, "touch me."

Sameen smirked. "Someone's bossy tonight."

She ran her tongue up Root's stomach, nipping at her ribcage. Moving to Root's breast, Sameen froze. The gentle whirring that had started earlier had gotten louder. Now, an insistent beeping filled the train.

"What?" Root asked, running a hand over her face. "What's wrong?"

Sitting up, Sameen looked around. "Something's beeping. There's a fan noise and a beeping."

Root cursed and climbed out of bed, pulling her bra down. "Scully must be overheating. I have to climb up and check."

"What?" Sameen asked sarcastically. "A computer in a metal train in Texas in August is overheating? That's crazy!"

"Oh, shut up," Root muttered. She dug through her supplies in the corner and pulled out a flashlight. "I'm going to climb onto the roof and turn her off. Be right back."

Sameen dropped onto her side and watched as Root climbed out of the train onto the ladder they'd attached next to the door. Root's pale legs glowed in the moonlight for a moment before disappearing.

Turning onto her back, Sameen stared up at the ceiling and tried to track Root's footsteps as they stomped across the metal roff. Outside the train, the stars twinkled above the trees. A horn honked somewhere in the distance and she slid off the bed.

They rarely saw trains pass by. Only a few came by in the night and they were usually already asleep. Sameen leaned against the edge of the door as the train grew larger in the distance. When she was having trouble sleeping, she'd wait up until she saw a train go by and then try to sleep again.

She didn't have the same restless spirit that Root had, but Sameen could understand the desire to just disappear and become someone new. Of course, it would only be worth it if Root was still with her. Who was she without Root? Their fates were intertwined now.

Sameen chuckled to herself. What a Root thing to think. The ladder rattled as Root climbed back down and Sameen reached out to offer a hand. Root took it and hopped from the ladder back into their clubhouse. Outside, the train grew closer and louder and Root stood next to Sameen as it barreled towards them.

"Do you think they can see us?" Root yelled over the horn. "The driver?"

"Who knows?" Sameen called back. She saw Root frown and rolled her eyes. She signed her answer for Root.

Root nodded and adjusted her grip on Sameen's hand, tangling their fingers together. The flashlight hung loosely in the other hand. The train was almost on them now, screaming down the tracks. As it got closer, Root took a deep breath.

The train raced passed them and Root screamed into the wind, her voice getting swept away. After a moment, Sameen joined her. Sameen's hand hurt from Root's bruising grip, but she didn't let go. Instead, she clutched it as tightly as she could and screamed as loudly as she could. She wasn't sure why they were screaming, but it felt good. Root's hand felt good. They sucked in another breath and let the train whisk it away.