Work Text:
Now, there’s no cause for panic.
Not just yet.
There’s a perfectly reasonable explanation for Shaw’s uncharacteristic silence. Throughout the entire day, Shaw’s not complained once about the boredom. She just sits in the driver’s seat, watching their number through the DSLR camera and growls every so often. She doesn’t complain about the meager portion of hot dogs Fusco comes by with to feed them, all Shaw does is glare at him and takes Fusco’s hot dog as well (Fusco at least has the self-preservation to keep quiet).
The one thing that puts even John on edge is Shaw not offering even one line of snark after punching out their number.
No quippy one-liners.
Nothing but a grunt and Shaw leaves the unconscious number on the ground.
John wipes away a bead of sweat and trails after Shaw.He doesn’t say a word to her as they speed through traffic to go back to the subway.
-
“Hello John,” Root greets, spinning in her chair like an old movie villain. All she’s missing is the cat. She is stroking Bear’s head though.
“Root,” John says. “Where’s Finch?”
“Emergency staff meeting.”
John nods, placated. “Any new numbers?”
“Didn’t you two just finish one?”
John looks to the side, seeing Shaw coax Bear over to her wordlessly with a tennis ball. She ignores them in lieu of playing fetch with Bear.
“Yea,” he answers. He scratches his chin. “What are you doing?” he points to the computer programs running on Finch’s computers.
“Hacking into the Pentagon,” Root says, waving her hands dismissively in the air.
“You’re bored. The Machine doesn’t have any missions?”
Root raises an eyebrow and shrugs her shoulders. “ISA’s handling all the relevant numbers, currently there are no competing AI’s to be worried about and no people planning any murders.” Root chews on her lip. “Not yet anyways.”
John blinks.
Tilting her head to the side, Root listens to the Machine. John perks up, fingers itching for another mission.
“She says to take the day off, go play Chinese chess with Mr. Wong.”
John stuffs his hands into his coat. “Are you sure?”
“Yes John, have fun.”
He nods, turning halfway to the stairs before he stops. He glances at Shaw still playing with Bear and deliberates. He shakes his head. “Bye Root, bye Shaw.”
Shaw waves her hand good bye.
“Hey sweetie,” Root says, voice raised. She offers Shaw a thermos.
Shaw sips it and frowns, eyebrow raised in question.
“Heard you needed something to soothe your throat. Honey lemon tea.”
Shaw sets the thermos down, crowding Root in the small chair. “Not my throat,” Shaw slowly says, enunciating each word.
“You didn’t say a word all day, it’s not a sore throat?”
Shaw rolls her eyes and points an accusing finger at Root. “Ish your fault.”
Root blinks, a slow smile of realization crosses her face. “Can you repeat that?”
“No.”
“How about a tongue twister? She sells –“
Shaw covers Root’s mouth with her hand and growls.
Chuckling, Root pries Shaw’s hand away and kisses her on the cheek. “I think we need to work on your tongue strength honey. If you can’t even pronounce your S’s…”
“You try eating shomeone out all night,” Shaw says, her tongue too tired to properly form words. “Shee if your tongue getsh tired.”
“Challenge accepted,” Root says. She takes Shaw’s hand and drags her away from the subway.
The next day, Finch and John take note of Root and Shaw’s uncharacteristic silence. They don’t mention it.