Work Text:
Sameen Shaw hated riddles. Even as a child she’d been frustrated by them, not understanding why anyone would dance around an answer or make everything seem like a trick, and she hadn’t had cause to change her mind since then. A riddle meant someone was lying or wanted something she probably didn’t want to give, and she hated having to figure out which it was.
Since she’d met Root, she hated riddles even more.
Every word out of the other woman’s mouth seemed to have a hidden dimension, usually a joke that Shaw didn’t quite understand. Or didn’t want to understand in some cases, but that was another thing altogether. Every conversation was a struggle to ignore the innuendo and the whisper of secrets and pay attention to the things that were important. It was exhausting to have to be so attentive.
The biggest, most obnoxious riddle, though, was Root herself. Shaw just couldn’t work her out, see if the innuendos were just that or more, see if the flirting was a mak or not. More than that, she couldn’t decide which she’d rather be true.
She ran over thoughts like these fairly often, but even more so when she was alone, doing nothing but watching a number. Those were the times her mind was blank and there was nothing to distract her from thinking about riddles and Root and how she felt about it all.
“So, Sameen,” Root purred, coming up right beside her. Shaw tried not to jump. She should be used to things like this by now.
“A little buys,” Shaw gritted out, not taking her eyes from the number. He hadn’t moved from his seat at the cafe across the street, but that could change at any moment. She didn’t need to be distracted, and Root was always distracting.
“Aw, don’t be that way,” Root pouted, pressing up against her side for a moment while Shaw tried to decide if she more wanted to push her away or pull her closer. “I just came by to say remember the seven. Wouldn’t want this to take too long, I’ve got plans for us tonight.”
Shaw frowned, but before she could open her mouth to ask what the hell that meant, Root was gone. She glanced around, but knew there wasn’t much chance of figuring out where the other woman had gone. Just then, her eye caught on the neon seven in the sign of the building next to the cafe. There was a man standing there, dressed like he was trying not to stand out.
“Gotcha.”
***
No one else was in the subway when Shaw returned there. She wasn’t surprised, John had mentioned in passing that he and Harold would be out of touch until the next day. She didn’t ask why, but she’d expected Root to be there. Especially after what the other woman had said earlier about having plans.
She didn’t have much time to think about that, because just a few minutes later she heard someone coming down to the train car. She turned and saw Root standing in the doorway, holding two bags of food. The logo on the bags looked familiar, and a moment later she realized it was because she’d been staring at the same logo for most of the day while she staked out the number at the cafe.
“Hungry?” Root asked, holding up the bag and giving one of her teasing smiles.
Shaw narrowed her eyes, arms crossed. “What do you want?” she asked, suspicious of some secret plot that she really didn’t want to get involved in.
“Can’t a girl just want to enjoy a nice take out dinner with another beautiful girl?” Root said, looking totally unconcerned by the suspicion. She usually did, and it frustrated Shaw to no end.
“It’s never that simple,” Shaw replied. She watched as the other woman started unpacking the bags, setting out delicious smelling sandwiches on the table along with what looked like hand cut fried potato chips. “Just tell me so I can eat my sandwich in peace and you can get back to… doing whatever it is you do when you’re not here.”
Shaw had grabbed the sandwich Root handed her and was well into eating it before she realized the other woman hadn’t answered. She looked up, mouth full of food that was as delicious tasting as it was smelling, and frowned as much as possible. Root hadn’t started on her own sandwich, but was instead staring down at the table, eyes a little vacant, a small frown on her own face.
“Root?” Shaw asked as soon as she could swallow. She didn’t like this look on Root, so unlike her usual confidence, and she had a sinking feeling she’d missed something very important.
Root seemed to startle at hearing her name, and shook her head, the confident mask quickly falling back into place like it had never gone at all. “Not to worry,” she said with a smile that seemed forced even to Shaw. “I’ll be out of your hair soon.”
“Forget that,” Shaw said, waving a hand. The feeling in her gut had solidified to something that she couldn’t ignore anymore, and she had to figure out how to make it right. “Why are you here, Root? Don’t try to bullshit me.”
“Don’t you know?” Root asked. She tilted her head, giving a small, sad smile. “I thought I’d been pretty obvious.”
“You’re a fucking riddle,” Shaw groaned, squeezing her eyes closed for a moment so she could control the very real urge to throw something. “If I knew, I wouldn’t be asking, would I?”
Root sighed, fiddling with her still wrapped sandwich. “A date,” she finally said, looking Shaw straight in the eye like she needed to see every moment of her reaction. “I wanted a date with you. A romantic one, if you still don’t understand.”
“I-” Shaw started, then closed her mouth with a snap, realizing she had no idea what to say.
She hadn’t expected something like this, to be honest she hadn’t expected it to be personal at all. The life she led, those kinds of things were pushed to the back, and she hadn’t had a reason to think very hard about them in a very long time. But now she needed to think about it, and all she could do was stare at Root, unable to comprehend why she would want something like this without an ulterior motive.
“Sameen,” Root said softly, breaking her out of the thoughts that continued to go round and round without any end. “Breathe.”
“I am breathing,” Shaw snapped, but there was no heat in her words. She concentrated on evening her breath, thoughts slowing down as she did.
Emotions were hard for her sometimes, but as she sat and thought and breathed, they seemed to get a bit clearer. All those double entendres, the flirting and the coy looks, that had all been leading up this, and wonder of wonders, it had been real. She just needed to figure out how she felt about that and what she wanted to do.
Because as much as she’d forced herself not to think about it before, she quickly realized that she liked the idea of Root wanting something romantic with her. As frustrating as the woman was, she was also brilliant and beautiful and someone Shaw had always been able to talk to, even if most of their conversations were sarcasm and threats.
Once she came to that realization, the choice was really an easy one. Root wanted her, she wanted Root. She’d never been one to hold herself back unless she absolutely had to, and there was no reason for that now. She could do as she liked because there was no one to police her actions in this.
“Dates usually work better if more than just one person is eating,” Shaw said, picking her sandwich back up and taking a big bite. She hid a smile at the shocked look on Root’s face before the other woman could hide it.
“So that’s a yes to dating?” Root asked, picking her sandwich up but not eating it yet. Shaw rolled her eyes, but nodded, and was rewarded with a real smile.
“Just eat your sandwich,” Shaw said. She tried to sound gruff, but was pretty sure she hadn’t quite hit it. For once, that didn’t bother her too much, because there was an almost foreign warm feeling building in the pit of her stomach that she thought might just be happiness. Somehow, she seemed to have solved the riddle that was Root. And it felt good.