Sierra Tango Oscar Papa

She's had enough. Enough of this torture and this life she may never escape. A broken roar pushes through her unused throat and she rips the sink from the wall with her hands and throws it against the opposite wall. Water spews from the pipe in the wall. She grips the sides of the mirror and pulls it from the wall as well. It shatters in the same spot the sink had crashed into and she hears the door of in the main room open.

She takes a large shard of the broken mirror and swipes at the first guard running toward her. He dodges it, but Shaw swings her leg up and knees him in the gut before punching him unconscious. The next guard comes and she swerves her body to the side and pushes him past her and head first into the wall. When the next guard comes in, he tackles her, pressing her into the wall in the main room. a jolt of pain hits her side, but she ignores it and jabs the shard of glass into his back twice before he drops to the floor and she's back on her feet. Sameen bends down and takes the pistol from the guard before bolting out of the open door. She shoots the kneecaps of three guards and a nurse before she opens a door and is met with a group of guards, each pointing their weapons straight at her.

She stands there, her own pistol raised in her hand as she breathes heavily. Sighing in defeat, Shaw drops the gun to the floor and raises her hands up in defeat. Two guards come forward, and the blow to the head is the last thing she feels before she's knocked out and dragged back to her room.

Searching for asset:

SHAW, SAMEEN

0 HITS. SEARCH UNSUCCESSFUL

Root sighs sadly, staring at the same results she always received. She's alone in the subway today; Harold and John having a number they needed to work on together. Root sits at the desk of monitors, her arm dangling off the side and scratching her fingers into Bear's head.

"I know you're out there, Sameen." Root says quietly. "I won't stop looking for you until we get you back. Don't lose hope."

One of the screens above her switch from a surveillance camera looking out at a New York street to a blue screen. Root watches as words appear on the screen. With Samaritan up and running, She couldn't communicate as openly through Root's cochlear implant as she used to. Sometimes talking through the monitors was the safer choice.

I am sorry I cannot find Sameen Shaw.

Root reads the message and smiles sadly. "It's okay. You're trying your best."

Is Analog Interface sad?

Root frowns at the screen. "I miss her. I..." Root's voice cracks and she already feels her eyes watering. "Shaw is out there somewhere, thinking we've abandoned her. She has no idea whether we're still looking for her or not, and I can't imagine what that's like, not to mention what they might be doing to her. It's been over a year and we haven't saved her yet." Root waits for Her to answer back, but she doesn't. "So please, if there's any possible way to find her... Or at least send a message to her, please just tell me."

The Machine doesn't respond for a while, and just when Root is about to get up and shuffle away, the blue screen flashes to Shaw's photo. Three dots appear and disappear just underneath the photo, as though loading or thinking.

After a bit, the screen flashes repeatedly; each time, showing a different camera angle. Root can't make out the scenes before they change to another and another and another, much faster than She usually does.

0 HITS. SEARCH UNSUCCESSFUL.

Root continues to watch the screen as it switches back to Shaw's photo.

Searching for name recognition:

SAMEEN AND/OR SHAW.

The other screen above the two on the desk starts flashing between sound waves of different voices. Root hears the name "Shaw" multiple times, but She bypasses them, marking them as irrelevant. Root edges closer to the end of her chair and watches the screens intently.

0 HITS. SEARCH UNSUCCESSFUL.

She slouches back into her seat in defeat and feeling her eyes burn.

"Skip the verbal foreplay, Root. Why are you calling?" Sameen's voice plays through the speakers and she looks back up again.

Searching for voice recognition.

The screen reads. This time, there is no flashing. Once again, the only thing on the screen is Sameen's photo and the three dots, accompanied by the four words now. She thinks and thinks and thinks and Root closes her eyes as she feels her excitement diminish after quite some time has passed.

Suddenly, the monitor beeps and Root opens her eyes.

I HIT. SEARCH SUCCESSFUL.

Root stands from her spot and stares wide eyed between the two screens. The monitor on the left opens a full map of the United States and begins zooming in slowly as it locates the destination of the single hit. When it's done, it's narrowed down to an area near Lexington, Kentucky, the day after the stock exchange mission over a year ago. A sound wave box pops up in the middle of the screen and the entire world seems to go quiet as Root waits for the sound to start.

It starts off as shouting, and Root could cry from how much the voice is Shaw's. She's grunting and breathing heavily and Root can imagine the compact sociopath having just woken up wherever she was and attempting to fight her way free.

"When I get out of here, I've going to destroy y--" She grunts and the box closes, ending the voice recognition.

Root stands from her place, running the recording over and over in head, saving it in her memory before she turns away and practically runs to her room to grab her supplies. The Machine voices its concerns to Root through her cochlear implant.

"You sound just like Harold." She says, barely listening to Her. "Like Creator, like ASI. Relax, I will be back before John or Harold return. They won't even know I left." The Machine continues to object. "I'll bring Bear with me, okay? I'll be fine. I have you with me after all."

Root gathers her things and immediately sets off to follow the cold trail of Shaw. She feels much more alive since she has for the past thirteen months.

As promised, she returns back to New York before Harold or John even worry about her. Her optimism and hope dissipated just as the small lead to Shaw's location had. Harold notices the down shift in her demeanor, but doesn't know what to say.

The nurse walks in early in the morning for the usual starting injection before the simulations start. It's been a few weeks since Sameen's latest attempt at escaping, and her cracked ribs have yet to finish healing. They did give her a little break from the simulations in the beginning, giving her time to recover before throwing her back in to just watch her shoot herself over and over again. The small pause gave Sameen time to work on her next big escape plan.

"Do you have any children?" Shaw asks the nurse, who looks up at her with a surprised look.

"No." She answers. "I hate kids. Now move your hand for me."

Shaw's grip on the bed rail doesn't loosen, but she does turn her arm over for the nurse to rub an alcohol swab on her skin. She pulls the syringe out of her pocket and moves it closer to her arm. Shaw move just the slightest and the nurse stops, catching the way the rail moves along with her. She stares at the aluminum pole for a second before looking up at Shaw's smirk.

"That's good." Shaw says, keeping her eyes on the nurse. "It means I won't feel bad for this."

Before the nurse has time to react and move away, Sameen pulls the rail that she had spent three weeks cutting on one end with her thumb nail. She pulls it up first, bending the pole up with her strength and then twisting it until the weak aluminum cracks and rips apart. It all happens so fast, the nurse only has time to back away a couple of steps before Shaw swing the pole down hard and fast into the top of her skull, hearing a crack as the nurse drops to the floor. Shaw stands from the bed and brings the pole up to look at; it's bent from the impact now. She knew it wouldn't stand much, seeing how easy it was for her nail to cut through it after enough friction.

"It'll make due for now." Shaw says to herself. She bends over the nurse's body and pulls her key card from her breast pocket before unlocking the door and stepping out. The alarm finally starts going off, announcing her newest escape. She doesn't have much time before they surround her. She runs down the hallway, swinging her pole into the camera in a top corner before slipping into one of the rooms on the side. She knocks the camera out in the room, turns the light off, and waits for the sound of shoes on tile.

"In there." She hears one of the guards say to another one.

They open the door and step inside. When the door closes, leaving them in pitch black again, Shaw steps away from her spot in the darkness and swings her weapon at one of the guard's heads. He lets out a grunt of pain and she throws her next blow into the other guy's stomach. A gunshot rings in the room, the blow lighting the room and revealing Shaw's place to the two of them. They both charge for her in the once again darkness and Shaw fights the two of them blindly, blocking and punching and kicking at predicted areas. She knocks one of the guys out quickly and soon enough, she has the gun from the other guy and shoots him... anywhere she possibly can; she honestly has no idea where she shot him. Judging by the low and pained groans, however, she figures somewhere that didn't kill him.

She crouches down and takes the man by his short hair, pulling roughly until he cries out. "How do I get out of here?" She hisses at him.

"You can't get out of here." He groans when her grip on his head tightens. "You won't get far before they take you down again. Haven't you learned that from all your failed attempts already?"

Shaw practically growls and runs her free hand down his body until it touches a wet spot on the side of the stomach. She jabs the barrel of the pistol into the bullet wound and he screams his agony. The door to the room opens, shining a light into the dark place and Shaw turns around to shoot the two people running in before the door closes again. She turns back to the guy in front of her and sticks the end of the pistol deeper into the wound.

"Tell me where to go or I'll make this the longest three minutes of your life." Shaw digs the weapon further into wound and cocks the gun to prove her point.

"Okay okay okay!!!" He half cries, half whimpers through gritted teeth. "Just please, don't kill me. Don't kill me and I'll tell you!"

Shaw nods her head. "Deal, now spill."

With heaving breaths, he tells her how to escape. When he finishes, she stands from her spot and turns away to the door, popping a shot into the incoming guard in the hallway before turning back to the one still alive on the floor.

"You should have learned already." Sameen says in monotone. "Never bargain with the enemy. You can't trust them." She brings the pistol up in front of her and fires her last bullet into his chest. She takes two pistols from the other guards and stuffs one in the waist line of her sweat pants. She runs down the hallways the guard had told her to go through, unsure if he was lying or not, but it was her only chance at escaping. She stops, however, when she catches a door in one of the hallways.

"Stewart." Shaw mumbles the name on the door and steps closer. When she opens the door, she finds the doctor sitting behind his desk doing some sort of paperwork. When he sees her, he jumps from his chair and backs into the table cabinets behind him.

"Shaw," He breathes, fear lacing his voice. "Please... You don't have to do this, please."

Shaw tilts her head, her dark eyes growing darker on him as she steps closer and closer. "But I do, Stewart. I told you, you're third on my list." His eyes are wet and his jaw is tense and there's nowhere for him to go. "It's funny, you're third, but you're going to be the first one I get to kill. Lambert hasn't showed up yet, but I'm sure he will. I'll find Greer eventually."

Shaw charges for the doctor and grips his throat with both hands, squeezing hard and tight. His nails scrape and claw at her fingers and hands and he manages to break skin in a few place, but Shaw doesn't let up. She watches as Stewart slowly loses strength until his eyes go unfocused and he goes still. When she no longer feels his pulse against her fingers, she lets go and watches him collapse to the floor, lifelessly. The door opens behind her, but she's on fire with Stewart's death only adding fuel, and she spins around, pistol in hand, and fires a bullet into each of the two men.

When she makes it to the elevator, she finds Lambert standing inside with a nurse and two guards. Taking a page from Root, she pulls out her second pistol and fires both weapons, taking down the two guards before she shoots the nurse and then Lambert's leg. He cries out in pain as he falls, but Shaw steps in and pulls him back to his feet by the collar of his suit.

She drags him to the closed door and swipes the keycard of the nurse from her room. When the code requirement screen pops up, she types the code the guard told her.

3141H765

A pleasant beep sounds in the elevator and the floor numbers light up underneath the screen. She presses the button with just a star symbol on it. When the elevator starts moving, Shaw's heart starts pounding in... Anticipation? Excitement? Relief?

All of the above, she decides.

"You know this is just another simulation, my dear Sameen. Why bother?" Lambert finally says with a struggled voice as Shaw forces him to stay standing on his now injured and bleeding leg.

"It's not a simulation." Shaw says surely.

"How are you so sure? It's been so easy for you to escape, why do you think that's so?"

Shaw scoffs. "Easy? This hasn't been easy. Not to mention this is not how the place looks in all of the other simulations."

Lambert lets out an easy laugh. "You've been getting used to the other ones, haven't you? We have to change it up so you don't catch on as quickly anymore."

Shaw hesitates. She's not sure if it's because of his laugh, his words, or the realization, but she hesitates if only for a second. Is this a simulation? she thinks.

"Now enough with this whole escape plan, though it is quite a good one, I must admit. You've figure it out, so there's no point in continuing anymore."

Shaw sneers, gripping Lambert's collar tighter and leaning close to his ear from behind him. "Not before I kill you. No harm done if this is a simulation, after all, right?" She hears him gulp and that's enough answer for her. When the doors slide open, she's met with five guards, guns all pointed at her. But this time, she has leverage. And she won't back down.

"Let me go." Shaw growls. "Let me go and I'll leave Lambert alive." Nobody moves, nobody lowers their guns, nobody says a thing; just as she figured. She swings her gun arm out and shoots. The first two men go down before the other three start shooting. She feels a bullet stick into her arm, but she fights the pain and keeps shooting. Quickly, all five men are down and it's just her and Lambert, who is breathing heavily now. She looks down at his body to see three new patches of bloody shirt. "See you when I wake up." She says in his ear. She brings the barrel of the pistol to the side of his head and pulls the trigger. She feels his blood splatter on the side of her own face, but she can't care less as she darts down more hallways.

"Mexico," Shaw huffs as she walks down the road and sees the country's flag hanging everywhere. "Either this is real life, or Samaritan really wanted to change it up."

"Miss Groves, how is it going with the number?" Harold asks in her ear.

"Well," Root practically hums. "I definitely don't hate it." In front of her, her number lowers herself on the pole in the middle of the stage elegantly. She lands on her feet as smoothly as a cat and does a few body rolls against her pole. Kitty, that's her name -- or at least that's her stage name. She wears a black mask over her eyes and a thong, her bra long since thrown away. "I am very surprised you sent me to do this number, Harold. John would have been very happy to do it as well."

"Believe me, Root, I'm not the happiest person today." John grumbles. Root chuckles as she watches Kitty slide onto the floor and run her hand sensually down into the little bit of fabric covering her crotch. Root physically has to shift in her seat the whirling in her gut intensifies. It's been over a year since she's had the pleasure of... pleasuring another woman, and she's not happy about it. She can barely stomach the idea of the being with anyone other than Sameen, however. It's just not right to her.

"I knew you would enjoy yourself, Samantha." Root rolls her eyes at the name she hates. "Do, however, remember that she is a part of your job."

"Oh relax, Harry, it's not like I'm about to jump her while she's preforming." Root slides further into her seat, crossing her legs tightly to quench a bit of the heat between her legs. "Though I still haven't decided about later."

"I was certainly not implying things such as that, Miss Groves." Harold says, obviously embarrassed. "I only meant that, though you may be enjoying the performance, you must not forget to check her surroundings for any possible perpetrator--"

"Relax, Harry. This isn't my first rodeo."

"Which part? The numbers, or the strip club?" John teases.

Root smiles mischievously. "Both."

It's a couple of hours into Kitty's shift when She contacts Root. It's a location, and despite Root telling her she's working on a number of her own, She insists. This location is of higher priority.

"Looks like it's your lucky night, Big Lug." Root says with a sad sigh. "She wants me elsewhere. You get to take over here."

"What a coincidence." Reese says. "I'm close already. Just wanted to go for a little drive. Be there in three."

When John comes, Root sets off for her new location. It's some gas station in the not-so-great part of town. Why The Machine asked for her specifically, she's not sure, but she trusts Her. When she walks in, there doesn't seem to be any problem going on. Confused to why she's been sent here, she walks the store, looking for anything suspicious. When she reaches the back of the store, she sees a woman facing the beer aisle, the hood of her sweater over her head. Something about her is suspicious and Root walks to the drink machine and fills a Styrofoam cup as she watches her from a distance.

When the girl turns around, Root drops her cup and it sprays all over the floor. Sameen shoots her head in Root's direction and their eyes lock. They stare at each other for what feels like ages, both of them unsure whether this is real or not. Root opens her mouth to speak, but nothing comes out. She tries to step forward, but her feet don't move. She's stuck in shock, her head spinning.

"Root?" Shaw says first, breaking the invisible barrier keeping Root in her spot. Root walks forward slowly until she's right in front of Sameen. She brings her hands up to either side of the Persian's face, but doesn't touch her; she studies her face. She looks like Shaw, but yet, she doesn't look like her. This Shaw looks zombie-like. "Root." Shaw's voice is quiet and broken.

It's the second time she hears her voice saying her name that Root finally is able to do something. She finally runs her fingertips against pale skin, making sure this is indeed real and this is Shaw. Her vision goes blurry with tears spilling down her face and she cups Shaw's face.

"Shaw?" She whispers, because that's the only way she can say it.

"Is this real?" Shaw asks, her eyes shift from each of Root's gleaming honey brown orbs, because honestly, it feels real, but so had all other ten thousand simulations.

"I'm wondering the same thing..." Root says throatily as she fights back the knot in her throat.

They stand there for a moment longer, just staring at each other, until reality hits Shaw -- or at least her reality -- and she starts moving toward the exit of the station. "We have to move. We need to go before Samaritan finds me."

"I'll take you to Harold." Root says, following close behind Shaw in a daze. Shaw stops and turns to face Root again, eyes scanning the face of the woman she's seen every day, yet hasn't seen in over a year. Her heart sinks.

She wants to go to The Machine. This is a simulation.

"We can't. I can't go to The Machine. They could be following me." Shaw shakes her head. "How about we go to your place?"

Root shakes her head back at her. "My place is with Harold and The Machine."

Wrong, Shaw thinks. This is all wrong.

"I'll take you to one of the safe places."

It's a new safe place she takes Shaw to, seeing as the other one is occupied with Elias. When they get there, John, Harold, and Bear are there. Shaw gets a welcoming greeting from Bear and he feels so real. But Shaw is tired, and Root takes her to the bed in the corner of the room to sleep after they patch her up. She lies down and pretends to sleep as she hears Reese, Finch, and Root talk about her. Just like in all of her simulations before, Reese and Finch have their doubts about her, though they are far happier that she's here. Root fights them against every negative idea about Shaw, and she's entirely grateful to still have the tall woman on her side through every single thousand of simulations.

When they're done, they agree to leave her in the safe house and not take her to The Machine, just in case. Root sits gently on the edge of the bed behind Shaw and places a tender hand on her hip.

"Sameen, we're going to keep you safe here, okay? Samaritan won't find you again." Shaw nods slowly. "Get some rest, okay? I'll be on the couch if you need me. The other two will be back tomorrow." Root is about to get up when Sameen takes her wrist to keep her seated. She turns her body to look at Root, telling her with her eyes what she can't say out loud. Root nods in understand with a small and sad smile and turns to look at Harold and John.

"We're glad you're back, Shaw." John says quietly. Shaw can't look at him, but nods in acknowledgment. When it's just Root and Shaw alone in the bed, Shaw can't look at her either. All of this feels too... similar to the simulations. Root, however, cannot take her eyes away from the dark rimmed and empty eyes that are Shaw's. She can't figure out what the girl is thinking, and it's killing her because she could read Shaw like a book most of the time.

"I never stopped looking for you, Shaw." Root says, and Shaw flinches, because she's heard her say that so many times. Root looks confused at Sameen's reaction to something she thought she'd be happy to hear. When Shaw finally looks into Root's eyes, it's with uncertainty.

"Tell me something only the real Root would know."

Root is taken aback by the request. "What?"

"Tell me something Simulation Root wouldn't know. Or is it that you can't? Because you're just another simulation."

"Simulation Root?" Root repeats, brows furrowed. "Sameen, what did they do to you?" She reaches for Shaw, but the sociopath moves away. "Sameen?"

"Root." Shaw gives her a firm look. "Tell me something." Root stares, mouth partly open, and nods.

"Do you remember that time you got the flu? And I stayed with you all day despite you telling me you were more sick of me than you were sick with the flu. The next day, I had to go take care of a number, and even though you were being your usual hard to get self, I could tell you wanted me to stay." Root chuckles lightly at the memory and the corner of Shaw's lip twitches upward. "And then you blamed me for giving you the flu, when I wasn't even sick. And you ended up getting me sick."

Shaw nods her head. That's not something Simulation Root would know. That's not something anyone but the two of them would know. It was back at Shaw's place. Root had let herself into the loft like she always does, no regards for the buzzer or knocking, and wouldn't leave no matter how much Shaw complained or threatened her.

"So this is real?" Shaw asks.

"This is real, Sameen." Root says, cupping Shaw's face once again and looking deep into her chocolate brown eyes. "I can't believe I finally have you back. I can't believe you're finally here again. I have been looking for you for thirteen months with nothing."

Shaw snorts halfheartedly. "Shoulda tried Mexico."

"Mexico?" Root repeats.

"Kinda funny, actually." Shaw says with no sign of amusement in her voice. "I, an American citizen, had to sneak past the border to get back here."

Root laughs with tears in her eyes, and the pure perfection Shaw sees right in front her is enough to make a smile appear on her own face. She takes Root's face in her own hands, then, and leans forward until her lips are against the perky woman's.

The kiss is everything they need and tells them everything they want to hear from each other, and Shaw surprises Root with a laugh when they part, because this is real.

Root is real.

And Shaw is back.