"Did you not hear me?" Hannah demands as Shaw adds a little more oil to another part of the disassembled weapon scattered across the living room coffee table.
"I heard." Shaw nodes once without lifting her eyes from her self-given task at hand.
"Then why the hell are you so cal…"
"Bear won't let anything happen to her." Shaw points out spinning the freshly cleaned barrel around a few times just to listen to the calm sound of it before getting to work on putting the gun back together again quietly hating that it wouldn't be so easy to put Root together so easily as she worked.
"Oh, so I guess that makes everything so much better?" Hannah exclaims still pacing in front of the seated Persian chewing nervously at her already shortened nails. "Letting the dog be her babysitter?"
"Yes." Shaw answers "look it's only natural Root slipped us. Or do you not remember all the times I did the same during my time as Samaritan's lab rat?"
"Is this meant to make me feel better?" Root's old school friend huffs finally choosing to take the open seat beside the still seated Shaw.
"Not really." Shaw shrugged fitting the last piece of her gun together with an audible clicking of metal against metal. "The only feelings I would care about if I were that kind of person are…"
"Sam's yeah I know." Hannah nodes running a hand over her face in anxiety as her house guest makes another expert disassembly of another of her many guns for more rounds of cleaning. "But even you have to be at least a little concerned about this."
"If Root's really in any kind of trouble we'd know about it." Shaw points out not lifting her head from her hard scrutiny of the weapons trigger. She'd noticed the way Root had seemed to have a little trouble with it in her last handling. "And like I said, Bear isn't about to let her do anything completely reckless."
"Yeah, only mostly reckless, right?" Hannah argues "Need I remind you about the fact Sam is recovering…."
"Like I need the reminder." Shaw cuts in about to give in to the want to simply slap the other woman across her not-so-bad-looking face if she didn't shut the hell up and let her clean her guns in peace when the rustling of keys, and several shopping bags, and the familiar jingling of Bear's collar sounds from the other side of the 'safe house' front door.
The shorter of the pair crosses with cat-like agility towards the door whilst Hannah gives a quick check of the apartment surveillance.
"Morning Sweetie." Root snickers once the door has been properly closed and relocked behind her and Bear only to turn into the sight of an angry Sameen Shaw glaring at her from the middle of the pathway into the apartment kitchen. Shaw only gives her an appraising raise of an eyebrow as she shadows the taller woman into the kitchen. Bear trotted in after them with a shopping bag of his own held between his teeth with a greeting grumble around the bag's handles.
"What? Bear and I got hungry this morning, so we decided on a little side trip for some fresh previsions, let you and your new friend there sleep in a little longer." Root says with a shrug of her shoulders at the unsaid scolding Shaw gave with just another raising of her eyebrow.
"It was still foolish for you to be out so soon." Hannah scolds. "What if something had happened to you?"
"Oh, darlin you must really be new here." Root laughed aloud sparing a watching mystery woman with only the smallest of glances before turning her back to the unknown one as she went about unpacking the small collection of groceries she'd picked up on her outing. "Or hasn't Samaritan told you it takes more than a snipper wound or mind-rapping torture to kill us cats?" Root jokes nudging her hip with Shaw's as she stashed away a new pack of bacon into the refrigerator. Shaw, having taken the liberty of unpacking the other bags now pausing with the half a bag of apples Root had picked up dangling from her fisted grip.
It's only a warning glare from Shaw that stalls any more argument from the simmering Hannah for the time being as the shorter woman moves a few steps closer to the newly returned hacker. The hand not already reaching out for Root dropped to card her fingers through Bear's scruff as her dog shook out his fur with a tired yawn as he nudged his muzzle up against Shaw's wrist as she passed him.
"Humm and hello to you too, Sameen." Root sighed at the probing feeling of Shaw's searching hand dipping beneath the cover of her shirt when she half turned in the shorter woman's direction.
"Sshh." Shaw hushes her hand yet to move from the tapped wrapping covering Root's chest. "I mean it Root. Shut up." She warns in a low growl still counting the beats under her palm checking for any chance of arrhythmia. "Right, shirt off." She instructs once she is satisfied with one aspect of her checkover. "Unless you want to risk an infection so soon after you've woken the hell up."
"Careful sweetie saying things like that might make me think you care for someone other than Bear." Root teases but does allow for the unamused Shaw to strip off her shirt in continuing her inspection of Root's newest collection of injuries.
She does snicker when she cates a now couch lodging Bear look over at them from the sofa. As she'd expected given the bad guys were pocking around inside her head the happy-seeming pup was once again chewing on one of the fuzzy bunny slippers Harry had once gifted her.
"No signs of any visible infections." Shaw diagnoses after expertly peeling away the medical wrappings "Sorry." She adds in sympathy noticing Root's wince of discomfort at the action.
Rather than comment on the obvious slip up in Samaritan's coded Shaw decoy Root rolls with it giving her a half smile when the checkup only seems to draw Shaw closer. "Not complaining, Sweetie. Just enjoying the way, you play doctor." It wasn't a lie either.
As anticipated Shaw only rolls her eyes at this before she drops down to kneel between Root's slightly parted legs.
"Hum, well this is new." Root acknowledges that without much prompting her hands drop to slide through Shaw's pulled-up hair.
"Quit it Root," Sameen barked batting away the taller woman's hands as she stood this time holding the medical kit once stashed under the kitchen sink. "I'm not risking your health just to scratch an itch." She denies in a growl.
"Humm, but you know I love it when you scratch me." Root pouts taking advantage of the fact Shaw hadn't thought to move away when she'd stood up meaning she was still standing temptingly close at the moment. "Among other things."
And there it was.
That same look she'd first seen from the actual Sameen seconds before she'd been pushed back into the service elevator of the stock exchange.
"Dammit, Root."
For a supposed to be dying AI Root had to admit Samaritan was fantastically good at the realness of the taste of Shaw's lips tilting up that last little bit to meet hers.
Then again, this was the same tech that had tricked her perfect partner over seven thousand times into first turning on their friends and then killing herself over and over. And don't even get her started on the whole tricking Shaw into willingly sleeping with her sim-created doppelganger all those times.
Root's fingers pull in jealous possession at the remembrance of that little fact when the kiss kept going with Shaw's hands shaking with a hesitancy Root wasn't used to even when every second, she felt Shaw's grip becoming surer and surer at the back of her shirt.
Either because Samaritan was buttering her up for a later assault to make her turn on the Machine or possibly because Shaw- her Shaw- was becoming surer this wasn't one of her own simulations Root can't be sure.
"Come on, Sameen." Root encouraged on the off chance her second choice was true once they separated just enough to catch their mingled breath. "I've got you, Sweetie."
She was being selfish she knew should her hunch turn up dead wrong, but she also wanted to see just how good this crumbling AI was at making her believe what was about to happen was somehow better than those borrowed hours she'd had with the real Shaw in that CIA safehouse.
After all, she did have over seven thousand stolen moments to make up for in an even shorter amount of time, so maybe being selfish was warranted. It wasn't as if Samaritan expected her to survive much longer even less for its own digital life expectancy.
"Show me." Root ordered at the same time she'd finally managed to make her trembling fingers cooperate long enough to pull off Shaw's tight black shirt, so the thing joined Root's on the kitchen floor.
Shaw's eyes blazed at the husky challenge in Root's tone, her next kiss hard enough to bruise Root's lips as the hacker found herself being coaxed backward and up until she was sitting on the edge of the kitchen counters. Shaw very solidly keeping her hostage as she stands between Root's parted thighs as more bruising kisses pass in trade.
Shaw's lips now burning a heated trail down Root's neck as the hacker opens herself in offering.
What a way to go.
"Come on you two, seriously?" their long-forgotten audience interrupts just around the time Shaw's skilled fingers slipped the barrier of the front of Root's loose-fitted pants. "You do remember we're still in the middle of what could end up being the end of the world here right?"
And just like that Samaritan once again spoils their fun.
"and seriously Shaw, she just woke up from heart surgery. I highly doubt she's strong enough for…. This."
Root glared up long enough to catch when a hand was waved at the couple's interrupted positioning.
"Can I shoot her?" Root pouts when Shaw immediately backs away this time wearing the same expression, she'd had in the park right before she'd turned a gun to her own temple threatening to end her life rather than risking Root's or anyone else on their too-small team.
"You'd regret it later." Shaw waved off her tone suddenly defensive earning a friendly kind of smile from the dark-haired mystery Root was too distracted to working out. "Maybe." She adds earning an eye roll from their glaring third wheel.
"Don't you dare, Shaw." Root warned gritting her teeth against the jostling pain lowering herself back to her own jellied footing required when despite the offered break the heartbreaking expression Root despised didn't leave Shaw's features. "Please." She begged reaching out to quickly interlock their hands once she noticed the way Sameen's fingers grazed a gun grip tucked into the back of her jeans.
"Then don't you get the stupid idea to play chicken with an AI." Shaw snarled back as her now-held hands tightened around the delicate hands held inside hers. The newer coating of black polish already beginning to chip against a few of Root's nails drawing Shaw's attention for repainting in the near future.
That threw her for a loop for a half second. Root couldn't remember being in the know about Shaw knowing anything about her attempted blackmailing of her personal God into helping track her stolen partner down.
"Okay, how about everyone just take a breath, alright?"
For once Root wasn't about to strangle the third body in the room with her bare hands at the suggestion. "Finally, something we can agree on." She mumbled only for the shrill ringing of Shaw's cell phone broke any more attempts at a back-and-forth between the trio.
"What?" Shaw demands in answering the call flipping the audio to speaker phone.
"Well, hello to you too Shaw."
Only three of the four of the apartment occupants react to the rough growl at the other end of the line.
"John?"
Root questions first considering Shaw and Bear were both glaring unthrusting at the small communications box in Sameen's palm at the voice.
"Root. Good to have you back,"
"Well, at least she doesn't sound like you anymore." Shaw cuts in now standing close enough to brush with deliberate intent against Root's side.
"Funny." The Machine offered up in answer still using another 'stolen' voice. "now can we get back to the problem at hand before Admen gets into even deeper trouble, please?"