I started this before 4x14 aired but only finished it today...

Let me know what you think!

Stop. Turn around.

She ignores the voice in her ear and keeps walking at a brisk pace.

Turn around. Please. I can't protect you.

"I don't need your protection," she says angrily.

Root stops abruptly, having been momentarily distracted by the Machine. She looks around and sighs. She has lost her track.

"Where is she? You made me lose sight of her."

Her question is met with silence, which only serves to anger Root more.

"Fine. I found her once, I'll find her again."

She had spent weeks undercover, posing as different women, all in search of the same one. She had gone as far as to infiltrate gangs; most of the time remaining a wealthy and powerful—yet mysterious—figure in the shadows. Money would not be an issue: Root was a hacker. Tap into someone's bank account and make it look unsuspecting, she knew how to do. She'd done it a thousand times. Those thugs, they were after the money. So she'd found a picture of the woman and made it circulate among New York's well-connected gangs and waited for a phone call.

The phone call had come twenty hours earlier.

"That woman you're looking for? I saw her twice at that coffee shop."

"What's the address?" Root had asked.

She had wired him the money as promised and had left immediately in search of the woman.

The Machine wouldn't tell her anything about Shaw? Fine.

If Root couldn't find Sameen, she could sure as hell find Martine.

Root knows that the Machine is always watching. Even now that they're not talking anymore, Root knows. She's sitting in her car, waiting for Martine to show up at the coffee shop. The blonde has no regular schedule but it's where she gets a cup of coffee from time to time, so Root practically lives in her car for two entire days. Stake-outs are not much fun, especially when one wishes to escape their own thoughts, but she has no other option. So she waits. And waits. And waits.

Until Martine shows up, forty-nine hours later.

Root exits her vehicle after making sure her beanie is in place. She's parked close to the entrance of the coffee shop.

There's a camera nearby, a reminder that both her ally and her enemy can see her right in this moment.

In the right pocket of her black coat, her hand wraps around a small syringe.

What happens now, she's not sure. Maybe the odds will be in her favor, maybe they won't.

Martine is sitting at the counter, her hands wrapped around her cup of coffee. She seems unaware of her surroundings, but Root knows it's just a façade. At least she's not facing the door, meaning she hasn't seen her enter. There are only a handful of people inside and Root has her FBI badge in her left pocket so she's not worried about anyone trying to stop her. She just has to act quickly.

Root slips behind Martine and plunges the syringe into her neck. Briefly, she remembers Sameen and her reaction at what she'd considered a betrayal at the time.

I will end you, she had threatened Root.

Martine's sharp intake of breath brings her back into reality.

"Hello," Root whispers in the blonde ear, who frantically tries to reach for her gun in her purse, only to have it snatched away by Root.

The employee standing behind the counter watches them worriedly, but Root flashes a smile and reaches for the badge in her pocket.

"FBI," she says, "don't mind me."

A few seconds later, Martine is dead weight in Root's arms as she slips her off the stool and drags her back to her car.

Part one is complete.

Martine finally comes to almost two hours later. She blinks slowly, surely confused as to what happened to her and where she is now. Root watches as the blonde operative realizes she's tied to a chair that is itself fixed to the cement underneath.

When Martine finally stops struggling and looks around, Root steps forward, making her presence known.

"I hope you had a nice nap. It'll be a while before you sleep again."

The blonde sneers at her.

"Let me guess," she starts, "you want revenge for your little girlfriend."

Root wants to cut her into pieces. Instead, she smiles.

"Well. I suppose I can't always be unpredictable."

Martine looks unperturbed, as if Root doesn't currently have her tied to a chair in an abandoned warehouse, dozens of miles outside of New-York.

"I'm impressed that you managed to find me," she says.

"I'm good like that," Root replies easily.

"Surely you realize how futile this is going to be? I'm not talking."

Root stops smiling. Instead, she walks toward the other woman until she's looming over her, and she stares down at her. Root studies Martine silently for a while. When she speaks again, it's so quietly that even Martine almost misses her words.

"Everyone has their limits."

Then she steps back, her lips once again stretched in a smile.

"I think I'm going to enjoy breaking you, Martine Rousseau. Or, you know, whatever the hell your name is."

Part two is now beginning.

Root's arms are sore and the knuckles on her right hand are red with blood despite having switched from using her fist to using brass knuckles. Martine's face is not a pretty sight now, but the blonde just laughs at her.

"You know," she manages to say, "I didn't think you'd be one who likes to punch people in the face."

"I am many things," Root deadpans, before she smirks. "But I'm just warming up and your face looked like it needed some fixing done."

Martine seems to enjoy this, and it is not what Root wants, at all. The blonde spits out some blood and coughs twice.

"So, what now?"

"I start using tools," Root replies. "Feel free to scream."

It's much brighter outside when Root finally relents. Martine is half unconscious, her head hanging low and slightly moving from side to side.

"This could end much quicker if you just told me what I want to know."

Martine doesn't look up as she croaks:

"You haven't even told me what that is."

"Where is she?"

Her question is met with silence.

"Where is she?" Root asks again, more forcefully, as she grabs Martine's hair and yanks her head back so that she can look her in the eyes.

Well, Martine's eyes are both swollen and purple so Root doubts that the woman can actually see anything, but just in case…

"Martine… You know you're going to tell me eventually, so why do you want to prolong this torture? Not that I'm bored, or anything…"

"Why is it so important to you?"

It sounds like Martine has trouble breathing and yes, maybe Root has broken a few of her ribs, but the Samaritan agent had been warned.

"You see," Root starts as she crouches in front of her captive, "not being able to have closure is something I really, really don't like. Not knowing makes me a bit… unstable. So it's in your best interest to give up her location sooner rather than later."

"You're going to kill me either way."

"Yes, and you know what I'm going to say next."

"You'll make it quick if I tell you."

"Exactly."

Root has to hand it to her though; Martine really is a tough one to break. Briefly, she wonders if Shaw would have had the same tolerance for pain. Most likely, yes. She refocuses on Martine.

"I'm getting a bit impatient now."

Martine just smirks at her, showing bloodied teeth and split lip. Root shrugs.

"Very well then."

Root stops abruptly when Martine finally screams the answer that she's been looking for. Slowly, she puts the blowtorch away from the blonde's body and lets it drop to the ground.

"What did you say?"

She knows, she's heard it the first time, but she needs Martine to confirm it.

"Sh—She's… She's alive…"

Root feels faint. She had not expected that. In her mind, despite her relentless search for Shaw, she had come to terms with the fact that there were little to no chance for Shaw to still be alive.

"Where? Where is she?"

Martine coughs blood again and she looks terrible. Root almost feels bad for her until she remembers that Shaw is missing because of her.

"Empty offices in New-York City," Martine starts.

She gives Root an address that the hacker memorizes instantly, before she adds:

"They'll have… moved her. They must already know I'm—I'm missing. They have to assume I've been c—compromised."

"Looks like I don't have any time to lose then."

"You promised to—to kill me."

Root smiles brightly at that.

"I did no such thing."

She takes one of her guns and fires once in Martine's abdomen.

"You're going to bleed out on this chair. If you're lucky you'll lose consciousness in a couple of minutes. I suggest you use the rest of your time to reflect on your actions. Goodbye Martine. Wish I could say it's been a pleasure to meet you."

Root walks away then, leaving everything behind. It's not like anyone will find this before she tells Fusco to come and have a look.

"You bitch! I hope they killed her. I hope she's dead!" Martine yells with the last of her strength.

It's almost enough to make Root turn around and put a bullet between her eyes. She doesn't.

Part two is complete.

Root trembles as she reaches for the door that separates her from Shaw. Somewhere behind her, she hears gunshots and she knows that John, Fusco and the agents that Control has managed to get on their side (Root hasn't bothered to learn their names) are right behind her, covering for her while she gets Shaw out of the building.

Quite surprisingly, there are not that many Samaritan agents here. Root is not sure why, because surely Greer knew that she would be coming for her. Martine has been dead for less than fifteen hours and Root is more than ready to end all of this.

She opens the door.

And her eyes meet Shaw's.

Fusco ends up in the hospital but Sameen scoffs and says that the bullet just grazed him and he's just "a wuss". They lose three of the twelve ISA agents. Root is actually surprised that they managed to get out of the building all in one piece. Samaritan must have a plan.

But Shaw is here.

Shaw is alive.

That is a victory and Root feels light-headed.

She smiles, and when she tries to stop smiling, she only smiles wider.

Shaw pretends not to notice. She tells them that they really took their sweet time to find her. She looks pale and frail, but no one comments on it. Root watches her closely, not quite believing her eyes. Shaw glares at her a few times but she remains silent.

Finally, they stop near the subway entrance, but not close enough for the ISA agents to figure out where their secret base is. They might be allied to Control for now but it doesn't mean they trust her.

Samaritan is blind for the time being, courtesy of Harold and the Machine, who have found a way to temporarily shut down the cameras in several blocks in the city, including the one where the building Shaw was held in is.

John, Shaw and Root walk as fast as they can to the subway station, and once they're inside…

Bear barks, once, twice.

Shaw sinks to her knees and he tackles her to the floor, licking her face, her hands, and Shaw holds on to him and she laughs and laughs, and Root wipes a tear that has escaped from her eyes.

Part three is complete.

Root stands a bit on the side as Shaw and Harold talk in hushed tones. She can't quite hear what they're saying but she doesn't mind. Finch is probably apologizing for giving up on her and Shaw is probably telling him that she understands and that he doesn't have to feel guilty. John is cleaning his guns, somewhere behind Root. Bear is waggling his tail and keeping close to Shaw.

Root waits.

Finally, they're alone in the subway station.

The two men wish them goodnight and leave at the same time; John always insisting to make sure Finch gets home safely.

The silence stretches between them, but Root would take an eternity of silence if it means Shaw is here and alive. She can tell that Sameen is uncomfortable now that all the hype has died down, that the adrenaline has left their bodies. Root herself feels exhausted. She hasn't had a good night of sleep since the day at the stock exchange.

"I'm going to take a shower," Shaw announces.

Root nods quietly. She's reluctant to let Sameen out of her sight but she knows better than to tell her that.

Now alone with her thoughts, in the dimly lit station, Root buries her head in her hands.

She can't cry. She will not cry.

Sameen is here, she's okay, she's alive.

She cries anyway.

If Shaw notices her reddened eyes, she says nothing. She sits next to Root on the cot; their thighs not quite touching but close enough to feel the heat of each other's body.

"You kissed me," Root says quietly.

Shaw tenses up but she remains silent.

"You kissed me, Root repeats, "and then you got yourself shot. It was a nightmare."

"You came for me," Shaw simply says.

"Of course I did."

"Thank you."

Root turns her head to look at her, but Shaw stubbornly refuses to meet her gaze.

"What did they do to you?"

"You know; the usual. They tried to make me talk. They failed. For some reason, Samaritan didn't want me killed."

"They tortured you."

Shaw nods and shrugs.

"They did what I would have done to any of them."

"I'm sorry."

"For what?" Shaw asks, a bit lost.

"For not finding you sooner."

"I'm alive, aren't I?"

"Still."

The truth is, Root can see scars and bruises on Shaw's skin that weren't there before and she's boiling inside. They hurt her. They tried to break her. Root wishes she could tear them apart with her bare hands. Some of them are dead now. There was no kneecapping today. She didn't bother and she knows John was angry enough to forget his white hat for a few hours.

"Root."

Root snaps back to the present as she refocuses on Shaw, who is now looking at her with intense eyes.

"You found me and now I'm here. That's all that matters."

From where he lies, Bear whimpers in his sleep. Shaw pronounces something in Dutch that Root doesn't understand, but she suspects it is to calm the dog because he becomes silent again.

"Did you think you were going to die?" Root asks, a little out of the blue.

"I… no. I never really think about that. Why?"

"I thought I was going to die. When I didn't find you, when I chased dead end after dead end, I thought it would kill me."

"Root…" Shaw tries to interrupt.

"They gave up on you, one by one. Finch, Fusco, Reese. I've never felt so alone in my entire life and, believe me, I've spent most of my life alone. I couldn't give up because I knew that if I did, I would die."

"Root. Please."

Shaw is as uncomfortable as she was before when it comes to talking about feelings, whatever they are. Root doesn't stop.

"I would have found them eventually. If I couldn't find you, I would have found them and I would have gone in there with my guns, maybe grenades, and I would have taken as many of them as I could down with me. I was ready to do it. I was going to."

"That would have been very stupid," Shaw declares.

Root smiles and continues:

"Then I found Martine."

"Martine? Where is she?"

"Dead. Sorry. I guess you would have enjoyed that."

"Yeah. Yeah I would have."

And then, for a reason unknown to both of them, Shaw takes Root's hand in hers and she squeezes it lightly. Root closes her eyes and breathes out slowly.

"Thank you."

"You said that already."

"For not giving up," Shaw clarifies.

"Never."

It sounds like a promise, like a vow.

And in the darkness of the subway station, with her hand on Shaw's lap and their thighs now touching, Root knows it is the absolute truth.

The war is far from over and she has no idea if they can even win it, but tonight Root breathes again.

She feels complete.

I hope this isn't too out of character!

OTH-FOQ