#like John Harold and Shaw rarely show emotions

[root--is--alive]

*hugs tightly*

Thanks, I cracked a smile! C:

x

[kinglivv]

Just Noise in the System

Root X Shaw

Summary: Root finally opens up to Shaw about Hanna.

Warnings: Childhood trauma, murder

A/N: This isn't my usual content so probably none of my followers are interested, but I heard somewhere that this is Shootweek20 (not 100% sure if it is, but still), and I wanted to do something for it seeing as I write fics now. Person of Interest is my all time favourite show, even more so than Doctor Who. It's influenced my life in so many ways, and Root and Shaw were the reason I first started questioning my sexuality and the reason I later came to accept it. I felt I owe them at least one fic :)

"Who's that?"

Root flinches when she feels Shaw's hand on her shoulder. She's sat on the sofa in their apartment, laptop open on the coffee table in front of her. Usually, she would lean into the touch, affection from her girlfriend being so rare. Today however, she's too busy staring at the picture in her hand to pay much attention.

It's an old photo - slightly faded and crinkling at the corners, the edges dirty from years of handling. It looks like it's from the 90s, picturing two school girls standing next to eachother in a library. One's brunette, staring at the camera with a grin on her face and school bag in hand. The other one's younger and blonde, looking up at the other one with an admiration on her freckled face.

"It's me and my friend, Hanna, when we were little." Root replies softly.

Shaw raises an eyebrow, and hops over the back of the sofa, settling down into Root's right-hand side. (She never sits on her left - she knows Root can't hear her). Both her and Root barely talked about their childhoods, them being equally filled with trauma. This seemed to be one of the rare occasions one of them brought it up, and she was interested.

"That you?" She asks, pointing at the tall brunette girl. Root shakes her head, curls bouncing.

"Nope," She points to the blonde girl. "That's me."

"You were a blonde?" Shaw grins, leaning her head on her shoulder. "Little Root was cute."

"It was just Sam Groves back then," Root hums, smiling slightly. "I was 12 in this."

"Sam?" Shaw asks. "Is that why you call me Sam?"

"Partly," Root smiles. "But also because it's adorable and it suits you."

"Shut up," Shaw rolls her eyes. "Why are you looking at it?"

"Today marks almost 30 years since Hanna was kidnapped and killed."

Shaw fell silent, glancing up at Root's face. She had heard Reese and Finch mention Hanna in passing before, but she had never pressed Root about it. She hadn't felt capable of taking on the emotional toll of someone else's childhood trauma, let alone her own.

"What happened?" She asked softly, lacing their hands together.

"She went missing one night, from the library in our home town," Root replied, squeezing Shaw's hand, her eyes not leaving the photo. "We'd been on the computers together, and then she had gone to check out her books. She went out the door, got into someone's car... and then she was gone."

"Someone took her?" Shaw asked carefully.

"Yeah," Root replied.

"They ever find out who did it?"

Root huffs a laugh. "I saw who was in the car." Shaw looked up sharply as she continued. "I told the librarian, even called 911 but no one believed me. The man in the car was really important in Bishop - he'd done a lot of good things for the town, so no one believed the daughter of the local alcoholic."

"John and Harold mentioned it once or twice, but I never really knew what happened." Shaw said. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be, Sameen - I got my revenge. Had him gunned down in a parking lot 10 years later, made up to look like a drug deal gone wrong."

Shaw almost smiled at that. She wouldn't expect anything less.

It's then that she looks up at the laptop on the table and sees there's a picture of a book on the screen, surrounded by various tabs of code.

" 'Flowers for Algernon' ?" She read off of the cover.

"The book Hanna checked out that night," Root replied. "I send a copy to the librarian every year on the anniversary of her death. Just a little reminder of how she didn't believe me and let a murderer walk."

Shaw doesn't know how to respond to that. It was moments like these that she remembered what Root truly was, what she was capable of. Hell, it was only a few years ago that Root was a hacker assasin for hire, killing people in cold blood and making a fortune in the process. Although the machine had changed her, bits of her past still peaked through occasionally.

"Reese and Carter were the ones who found out what happened to her."

"Really?"

"Yep," Root puts the photo down and turns to face Shaw properly, their knees knocking together. "When I kidnapped Harold the first time around, they were both looking for me and accidentally solved the murder in the process. They thought Hanna was me!" She huffed a laugh. "They went all the way to my home town and spoke to the librarian. Turns out Hanna had been buried under their patio the whole time."

Shaw bites her lip, sitting back and looking out of the window. There's something tugging on her heart, but she's not sure what it is. She wished she could feel things the way Root did - wished she could understand even a tiny bit of what she had gone through.

"Do you ever wonder how we would have been if these sorts of things hadn't happened to us?" The Persian asks suddenly. "If my parents hadn't died, if Hanna wasn't taken and you didn't have to run away?"

"Yeah," Root sighs. "But I'm happy with the way my life turned out, even if it was tough. I never would have learned about the machine. Never would have met you."

"Yeah," Shaw smiles one of her rare, genuine smiles. "Maybe our lives aren't so bad after all."

Suddenly Bear appears, pushing his nose into Shaw's lap and Root breaks into a grin. Photo abandoned on the table, she leans down to ruffle his fur.

"Bear!" She greets him and he woofs in response. "Come on, sweetie. Time to take him a walk."

And just like that, she's off to grab her leather jacket, conversation forgotten.

[shootwinterfest]

Peppermint Mocha for Two

“Look at that, isn’t it great,” Root pointed to the large Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center.

“Um-hmm,” Shaw agreed to pacify her. Well, it wasn’t bad. The tree was kind of impressive, Shaw had to admit to herself. She guzzled down a venti peppermint mocha as she strolled Manhattan with Root leading the way. Root had dragged her along to see the sights in full holiday decoration. Root had called it a staycation.

“Shaw, do you want to take a picture with me?” Root asked with a smile. Shaw grumbled at first but couldn’t help but say “yes.” Root let a passerby take the picture on her phone of the two of them standing under the tree.

“We need to get back to the library. I have to stop by to pick up some things before I get to my number,” Shaw changed the subject as Root showed her the picture that was just taken.

“Ok, sweetie. I need to get back too,” Root put her phone back in her pocket. It was rare that Root was actually here for an extended amount of time. Usually, The Machine had her off halfway across the world. The only way they had seen each other lately was when Root had invited Shaw out to work on relevant numbers with her. This year retail wasn’t the only profession that had a busy holiday season. It seemed as though people were using this time to get a little extra murder in. Irrelevant numbers were starting to come in like crazy and it was Shaw and the others who needed the backup this time.

The whole team was stretched thin. Reese had been working on two numbers at a time and Shaw had just finished one this morning. She got a call for a second one by mid-afternoon and would work on the stakeout tonight. Root was also called in for a number and it was the reason why she was here in New York. Shaw knew she was also running some other jobs for The Machine as well. Despite everything, they managed to find a few hours together.

“Good to see you, Root,” Reese was in the library cleaning a rifle, “Shaw,” He nodded over at Shaw, greeting both of them. Harold was busy behind his monitors, he didn’t even notice them walk in.

“Nice to see you too big lug but I got to cut and run,” Root replied cheerily and a little too loudly, probably to get Harold’s attention. She reached over when she noticed that both of the boys were looking and grabbed Sameen’s coffee out of her hand. She took a drink and handed it back, letting her hand linger on Shaw’s wrist a little too long. Shaw yanked her arm away and cleaned the lid of the cup with her sleeve.

“You got your number, Ms. Groves,” Harold called back too Root, he visibly started turning a little red and clearly wasn’t comfortable with a little PDA. Shaw knew that Root did what she did to get under her skin and to get under Harold’s skin. Reese didn’t care, he’d probably tease Shaw about it later.

“Yep, I’m heading out to the middle school now. See you kid’s later,” Root waved and walked out.

“Your girlfriend seems to be in a good mood, did you have a nice date?” Reese said as he reassembled the rifle.

“Not my girlfriend. Not a date,” Shaw growled and took a sip of her coffee. She got a smug smirk from Reese in response. She wanted to punch it off his face.

“Mr. Reese. Ms. Shaw. Its nice to have everyone in one place but we have a job to do,” Finch said, looking up from his monitors, “Every second we spend chatting could be a second too late.”

 “You heard him, Shaw,” Reese stood up and reached for his jacket. He took the rifle and walked towards the exit. Shaw just grumbled, it wasn’t her fault that she was dragged into these conversations. She went towards the back to find the DSLR camera and a good zoom lens for her stakeout.

“Finch, I’m taking your car,” Shaw announced and got a nod from Harold. She’d do a couple of donuts in it for payback. Ok, it was mostly John’s fault but Finch was the one who scolded them.

Shaw was back out on the New York streets and was heading to the parking garage where Finch kept his cars when she felt her phone vibrate. It was a text from Root, she had sent the picture of them under the Christmas tree from Rockefeller Center. Shaw shook her head, to everyone else it appeared like they were dating. They were not dating. Nope, no way.

>>>

It had been three days and even when Root was in the same city as Shaw, they hadn’t seen each other. It turned out Shaw’s number had been the perpetrator the whole time and he was now sitting comfortably (as comfortable as you can with a broken leg) in the back of a police car. Fusco was there to help clean up the mess and Shaw had handed all of the evidence over to him. She then took the subway back to her apartment. Shaw felt her phone vibrate in her pocket and she picked it up and set it against her ear. It was from Root.

“Hello, Ro-” Sameen started to say but she was interrupted by the woman in question.

“Sameen,” Root started, shaky on the other line. “I want you to tell me…” she trailed off.

“Root, are you okay?” Shaw asked and switched the phone to her other ear. She had a hard time hearing Root with the loud group of pre-teens to her left. “What do you want me to tell you?”

“I don’t know,” Root didn’t sound alright to Shaw, “To listen to The Machine. She doesn’t want me too do this,” Root continued but didn’t elaborate. Shaw could hear muffled yells in the background and what sounded like a police or ambulance sirens.

“Do you need back up?” Shaw asked, she immediately felt on edge. Whatever was happening on Root’s end was not sounding good.

“No... Shaw, I’m sorry I called. It was a mistake,” Root said hurriedly and hung up. Shaw was left alone in the subway again. Root’s voice playing back in her head the entire ride. She didn’t know exactly what to do once she stepped back on the pavement leading to her apartment, should she go back and find Root? She stopped at a security camera at the entrance.

“Hey, you, Tell me if Root is in trouble and I’ll go,” Shaw said up to the security camera and stood there in the cold. She didn’t get any type of reply and she walked into her apartment building. She could hear remnants of holiday music playing behind various doors and for the first time this week, she didn’t feel like it was the holiday season. She opened the door to her apartment and walked in.

That night she got ready for bed and kept on checking her phone for any updates but she didn’t receive any. She ate, changed into something to sleep in, and crawled into bed. She hadn’t really managed to drift off to sleep when she heard her door creep open. Sameen sat up and saw Root in the middle of her studio apartment, a little too dark to see but she knew it was Root. Shaw quickly turned on her lamp that was nearby.

“What the hell. Root, your covered in blood?” Shaw took one look at Root and got out of bed.

“Its not mine,” Root said solemnly as Shaw checked her over. Sameen just scoffed and continued to peel Root’s leather jacket off and then her blue blouse. None of the blood had come from Root, just like she had said. “I lost the number,” Root’s voice sounded hollow.

“The number got away?” Shaw asked.

“No, the number is dead,” Root shifted her weight over to her other leg, “She was just a kid. Thirteen. I carried her to the ambulance,” Root’s eyes were getting watery. Shaw knew what it was like to lose a number but she never felt it. She never really felt it. Not the way Root could despite all of her “people are just bad code,” spill.

 “Hey, Eeyore, lets get you cleaned up,” She led Root to the bathroom and turned on the shower. She checked the waters temperature and helped Root get out of her bloodied clothes. She stripped down herself and got into the shower with Root. She lathered up the shampoo and helped get the caked on blood out of Root’s hair.

“What didn’t The Machine want you to do?” Shaw finally asked once Root was all cleaned up. She lathered shampoo for herself and washed it out of her own hair while Root lathered up a bar of soap on her back.

“She didn’t want me to wait around in the hospital. She didn’t want someone to recognize me from the crime scene,” Root rubbed Shaw’s shoulders.

“Did anyone?” Shaw asked.

“No, I let the ambulance go,” Root said, her hands stilled on Shaw’s back. “She was pronounced dead at the scene so there was nothing I could do anyway,” Root finished and Shaw turned around to face her. Root looked angry, a whirlwind of emotion was going on behind Root’s eyes and Shaw just realized that Root had been crying. Her tears blending with the stream of the shower. Shaw wanted it to stop, she wanted the Root who had gotten coffees and wanted to take pictures under stupid giant trees.

They finished their shower in silence. Shaw turned off the water when they were done and got Root her spare pajamas that she had left in Shaw’s apartment previously. They both got dressed. Shaw stepped out of the bathroom first but Root caught her wrist and backed Shaw up against the doorframe, her emotions left unresolved and scattered. Root’s eyes looked wild, she looked like she wanted to ask something else of Shaw but she was waiting for Shaw to make the next move.

“Want me to make you feel something else?” Shaw asked.

“Please,” Root whispered. Immediately, Shaw pulled Root in for a kiss. It was hard and messy and frantic. They knocked over a paint easel and a lamp trying to make it to the bed before Shaw pushed Root on the corner of it. Root tried to pull off Shaw’s tank top off but Shaw grabbed and held her wrists.

“Concentrate on me,” Shaw dipped her head into Root’s good ear and kissed along her jaw. She let Root’s wrists go and Root immediately had her hands back under Shaw’s tank top. Shaw threw the shirt to the side and helped Root out of her’s. “Look at me,” Shaw ordered and Root did. They didn’t break eye contact as Shaw’s hand traveled between Root’s legs.

“Sameen,” Root whispered as her breathing hitched. Sameen watched as Root’s eyes turned from anger and confusion to lust, her eyebrows knotting together as Shaw increased the pressure and speed of her fingers between Root’s legs. She held Root’s jaw with her free hand, their noses brushing against each other, and breath intermingling. They didn’t break eye contact as Root slipped her own hand down the front of Shaw’s boy shorts.

“Don’t you dare look away,” Shaw pressed harder and was awarded a gasp from Root in return. She wanted to make Root forget the day, even if it was just for a night.

>>>

Shaw woke up first, She had her arm draped around Root in Shaw’s small bed. The only way that they both fit was if they slept sideways on it. Shaw had to remember to get a bigger bed eventually if this kept on happening. She curled her arm tighter around Root. She normally didn’t do this, the cuddling bit, but Root seemed like she needed it and Shaw had the strange sensation that she just needed to hold on. That these moments were fleeting.

Shaw drifted off to sleep again.

The next thing Shaw remembered was the sound of her phone vibrating off the night stand, it woke her up. The blankets were cool and crisp as Shaw stretched out. She opened her eyes to find that she was alone in the bed. She reached for her phone and looked at the screen. It was from Harold.

“Good morning Ms. Shaw, we have a rather large quantity of numbers today. I’d like you to report into the library early.” Finch’s voice came through on the other line.

“Ok, sure, whatever, Finch.” Shaw sat up in the bed. She looked over in the corner and found that the pile of bloody clothes that Root had left by the bathroom door was now gone. “I’ll be there,” Shaw hung up.

She quickly got ready and took the subway to the library. When she got there Reese was already gone. Harold was at his desk and typing away. He stood up to brief her on the next mission.

“Ms. Shaw, your next number is Tyler Jacobs, he works as a security guard for-,” Harold trailed on and pointed at the pictures that he had set up. Shaw was wondering when all these numbers where finally going to slow down. Not that she needed a break. Not that she wanted to check on a certain someone. Not really.

“You understand, Ms. Shaw?” Harold was now looking at her expectantly.

“Yeah, got it. Save his sorry ass. Kneecaps only. No big explosions. Got it.” Shaw was hurrying out the door, ignoring Harold on the way out. She’d figure it out as she went along and checked her phone for any missed messages or texts. Her phone had nothing. She was wondering what happened to Root this morning.

She walked up to a Starbucks before finding Jacobs’s address. She hadn’t eaten or had coffee yet and her stomach was growling. “I’ll take-”

“Two vinti peppermint mocha’s and two of your chocolate muffins,” Root’s voice echoed behind her. She stepped into place beside Shaw and payed the barista with a stack of cash.

“Morning, Sameen,” Root greeted her in her usual manner. She looked to be in her regular cheery mood.

“Root, where the hell have you been?” Shaw asked as she took the brown bags with the muffins and handed one to Root. Root handed it back to her, indicating that both muffins were for her.

“I just needed a walk,” Root shrugged, like the last 12 hours didn’t happen.

“Are you on another number?” Shaw asked and opened the bag with the muffins. She then proceeded to take a big bite.

“Uh-huh,” Root nodded, “Don’t worry, about me Sameen,” Root said and took the coffees that were now done from the counter. The barista nodded at both of them and smiled. He remembered them from the other day.

“I added extra whip cream, your girlfriend gives good tips,” He said as he turned to Shaw.

“Not my girlfriend,” Shaw muttered back with a mouth full of muffin. He didn’t seem to hear as he helped another customer. Root just looked at Shaw with a wide smile.

“Your going to need a bigger bed, y’know,” She said as they walked out back on the sidewalk. Shaw rolled her eyes but she knew Root was right.

“Sure your not going to go psycho killer for yesterdays number?” Shaw asked starting on her second muffin.

“No, Sameen. I’m fine, as long as your here with me,” Root nudged Shaw slightly as they walked down the sidewalk. Shaw looked at Root questionably, she wasn’t sure if that was true or not. Root looked fine this morning but last night was a completely different story.

“Okay, stop,” Sameen stopped walking, not even caring that she was blocking the way for the people behind her, “Look at me.”

“Whats all this?” Root asked but she did as Sameen said, she looked at Shaw dead in the eye. It was the same way they had looked at each other last night.

“Now tell me you’re not going to go psycho killer on that guys ass,” Shaw stared back. She remembered the look in Root’s eyes after she had gotten out of the shower. She was a whirlwind of emotion that Shaw could never completely understand herself but something that Root felt more intensely than anyone Shaw had ever met.

“Sameen, If I was, you’d be the first one to know,” Root looked collected and calm. She looked like herself.

“Okay,” Shaw started walking again, she felt satisfied by Root’s answer. Root followed in step.

“Thank you, for everything,” Root said softly beside her, almost too soft to hear. They walked to the subway. Shaw needed to get to her next number and Root needed to get to her’s.

“I heard theres an ice skating rink nearby, do you have some time tomorrow?” Shaw asked as they walked down the steps to the subway.

“Its a date,” Root winked as they made it to the main level of the subway station.

“Not a date,” Shaw grumbled but Root was already walking ahead of her.

“Oh, its a date,” Root turned around and disappeared into a crowd of people hurrying to their next destination before Shaw could throw in another word. Shaw huffed in annoyance, she took a big swig of her coffee to cool herself down. Root was an unpredictable headache but maybe she wouldn’t bite off the next person’s head who called Root her girlfriend.

 From @hackers-and-hammers

[luckythirteen45]

for the TV show meme: POI

Thanks @aragarna for the ask and this is going to get long because I have thoughts, so lets begin.Favorite character: My Favorite character is Harold Finch. One of the reasons I love Sci-fi is the moral struggles that characters face. Harold had so many complex decisions to make and that he stuck to his moral code makes him a very interesting character. Many genius characters are written as above normal human or as un feeling and its great to see a character break from this pattern.Least favorite character: Greer he can rot in hell.5 favorite ships (canon and non canon) 1. Rinch, 2. Elias/Anthony, 3.John/Zoe (the rest are for friendships they have) 4. John/Carter/Fusco, 5. Carter/FinchCharacter I find most attractive: John Reese, I find his aesthetics the most pleasing for the males, and Joss Carter for the females.Character I would be best friends with: Shaw, emotions aren’t my strong suit and I rarely need to talk about my own, and I love food so I think we would get along just fine.A random thought: What happened to all of Harold’s suits when they had to abandon the library and their previous identities? Did Samaritan find all of Harold’s ids and they just found a bunch of apartments with really nice suits in them?An unpopular opinion: I never really got why they trusted Root in season 3 I mean she goes from bad to good so fast it felt a little forced.My canon OTP: I don’t have a canon OTP per say I love the canon relationships between everyone (besides John/Iris that one always seemed forced to me and vaguely creepy)Non canon OTP: Rinch, like most of my ships I feel in love with the deep connection between the characters and solid friendship they had.Most badass character: Shaw she is awesome and I do see bits of myself in her.Pairing I’m not a fan of: Shoot, I just didn’t click with the ship not that I hate it, but it never resonated with me. Not that I don’t appreciate what it means for people its just not for me.Characters I feel the writers screwed up: Leon Tao, he had so much potential as a character especially when they were recruiting outside hackers and we just never head from him again.Favorite friendship: Rinch, I love the ride or die friendship they have and that two men with such trust issues, managed to come so quickly to mean so much to the other was amazing to watch on screen.Character I want to adopt or be adopted by: I want to be adopted by Harold FInch, I would love to have a conversation or 5 about different subjects.

[divermoon]

thoughts on guilty

as far as whole episodes go i didnt really enjoy this one. i think i might enjoy it more the second time if i have more distance wrt to the het and more boring bits but yeah

i wasnt that surprised by any of the reveals... that TM was setting harold up was obv and the other twists werent that surprising for me

i was living during the reesefinch moments at the start and, esp the scuffle where they both save each other from possibly fatal wounds 

the morse code!!! I MEAN great moment. (wish they could have had a few lines of banter in there too)

that they reference what was said in the pilot! like i said i was living for those moments

the reversed dynamic when john was in the subway station..... i mean i get that they did the whole thing so that john could spend time with zoe and iris but like yeah it was still nice seeing them work together

zoe morgan came back can leon tao return

i felt she was mostly just shoehorned in show johns affection for iris

like those therapy/iris scenes were so uncomfortable to watch for me and it was Bad

like john finally getting some therapy and developing as a charcter is not a bad storyline and i would probably really like it if that was waht we were getting but its some het bs when hes obv in love harold, its a patient therapist romance, and like? if we get any character growth its going to feel so wrong i mean..... just such a bad idea

hes been pining for harold for three seasons and i mean

what zoe said to john about being able to love someone and be good in a relationship my brain just thought shes talking about how hes been pining after harold for years

i mean i know in the show john and zoe are supposed to hook up at various times but i just dont read it that way????????? like all that flirty staring does not read chemistry to me it feels like performance

harold’s scene with the “knowing its your fault” :(((((((( my heart

fusco’s speech about his right to decide to join them that i really liked i mean fusco has grown a lot and im glad john has a friend in him now

when john saw shaw’s passports :(((((((((((( idk apart from that scene and the stuff with harold john did feel very ooc

like jim caviezel was probably supposed to play it that very certain way (those looks and smiles at zoe and iris) but considering its john it just felt so wrong. like? he rarely emotes so much it felt put on (.....i mean john performing straight esp wrt to what kara used to say to him is a thing ive thought abt exploring in a fic i mean johns been trained to disregard himself and then with kara... like, when he begins to harold he can let go of that and finally be more comfortable with who he actually is like john is gay and he’s always known but there’s his job that requires certain things until now. and he falls for harold but its hard to let go and its performative and its a way of hurting himself and this is such a tangent)

i mean that line about “love is a basic human need” ........like we all saw how lovestruck john is from ep1

“new habits”????????????????literally since he met harold??????? kneecapping? morality?????? putting them in jail or on trail vs wetwork??? bear? “i woke this morning and felt happy MUST BE THIS JOB” reaching out to others for help more often??????

just let them be in love with their dog sfdgfgjkjgf this is another reason why i want to write them so many happy endings

anyway v mixed feelings and considering the start a lot of it didnt quite fit

i mean if it was supposed to be a return to early s1 as implied at the start of the ep like at least until the development during the ep there should have been more of that idk (or was zoe’s appearance supposed to be that lmao)

also where was bear :(