This is pretty short. Let me know what you think!

The sun is high in the sky and Shaw is warm. She's spinning on her heels, once, twice. She's alone, but she feels warm, so warm. She's standing in a poppy field and everything is bright around her. She sees red, so much red. The flowers are beautiful.

She remains standing up for what feels like an eternity.

She hears faint voices but they are distant, so distant that she cannot understand what they are saying.

There's a laugh and suddenly she's not alone anymore.

"Root?"

Root is here; her brown hair blown by the wind and almost touching Shaw's face. Root looks at her and smiles.

"Root," Shaw says again. "What are you doing here?"

"I just missed you, sweetie."

They haven't seen each other in a while. It feels good to have someone familiar with her. Shaw shrugs and takes one of Root's hands in hers.

"Well, don't just stand here. Come with me and let's walk."

Root's hand is cold in hers, and Shaw wonders why because it's so hot out there. She looks down at their hands intertwined and frowns.

"No black nail polish?"

"Hmm? I must have forgotten."

They walk for long minutes before Shaw stops and drags Root down with her.

"Where are we?" Root asks.

"I'm not sure. I just liked the flowers. And I feel like I haven't seen the sun in months."

Root picks up a poppy and holds it in front of Shaw's face.

"You like flowers?"

"No," Shaw snorts as she swats Root's hand away from her face, "but poppies are not too bad. I like the color."

There's a fleeting smile on the other woman's face, before it disappears and her features grow serious.

"Shaw… I'm worried about the Machine."

"Why?"

"If Samaritan finds out how I communicate with it…"

"It won't. They can't know about the implant."

Shaw gently brushes the hair out of Root's face and lets her fingers graze her right ear.

"It's okay. Your direct line to the Machine is safe."

"Thank you," Root replies softly.

The sun flickers and Shaw looks up and squints.

"Shaw?" Root asks.

But Shaw frowns at the sky. It's darker than she remembers it to be. And the sun flickers again, but there are no clouds up there.

"Sweetie? We're losing her."

Shaw's attention snaps back to Root.

"What?"

"What?"

"What did you say?"

"Nothing, sweetie."

Shaw's body throbs in pain and she groans.

"What is happening?"

"It's okay, Shaw. It'll all be over soon."

"Root?"

She blinks, hard, but her vision is blurring and the world is changing around her.

"No," she panicks, "no."

The field and the flowers disappear, slowly but surely. Shaw reaches for a poppy but her fingers only encounter a wet substance. She chokes back a sob. She's been tricked.

"No," she whispers.

She feels weak.

The sun is not a sun. It has never been a sun.

The poppies are not poppies. They never have been.

Root…

Shaw tries her hardest to focus on the other woman's face.

"Root…"

"Sorry, Shaw. Not quite."

Root is not Root. She has never been Root.

Her beautiful features contort and morph into a face Shaw hates deeply.

"You…"

"Thank you for giving me the piece of information I needed, Shaw."

"Screw you."

Martine smirks at her and nods at the man standing beside Shaw's chair. Shaw looks down and sees the blood on her clothes. Pain is invading her body now that the drugs are wearing off. She suppresses a wince. She can handle physical pain. It's the chemicals that mess with her. The mist in her mind has not entirely dissipated yet, and Shaw feels another syringe being stuck in her neck.

She struggles against her restraints—or at least she thinks she does—but her body is so weak that nothing happens and the syringe is emptied in her veins. Her eyelids grow heavy and she wonders what kind of drug is making its way through her bloodstream now.

"Well, this has been fun," Martine declares, "but I have to go now. Enjoy your nap, Shaw."

And Shaw wants to reply but her mouth won't obey, and Martine leaves without looking back. Shaw's head falls against the headrest and she breathes, in and out, in and out.

The darkness swallows her whole.

Also, you may (or may not) think that Shaw seems OOC in this, but keep in mind she's been tortured for weeks, and she's under the influence of drugs. At least in this one-shot.

OTH-FOQ