Work Text:
10 MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT
"Hey sweetie. I want a baby."
Sameen Shaw shot Lionel Fusco, her partner for tonight's stakeout a sharp look as he choked on his saliva.
Shaw didn't wait for his inevitable queries, simply stepping out of the car. "Put us on a private line," she growled, leaning against the trunk.
"I want a baby," Root repeated once they were suitably discreet.
"We’re not stealing a baby, Root," Shaw told the hacker with as much disapproval in her voice as she could muster.
"I didn't say anything about stealing one. I was thinking about getting one the old fashioned way."
"Sorry Root but the last time I checked, neither of us has the full set of equipment to do that. "
" Well we’d need help obviously, but there are places,” Root replied in one of her most annoyingly reasonable tones.
Shaw scoffed. “Root, there are a lot of things that you and I excel at, but raising a kid is an entirely different thing altogether.”
“We can do anything we want to together, sweetie.”
“You don't even like kids, why would you want one of your own? Don’t tell me this has anything to do with that babymall we shut down?”
“Maybe a little. But it's more than that. I’ve been thinking about the future. What things are like in ten, twenty years.”
“Dark, I’d imagine, and six feet lower.”
“Possibly, but I'm not the only one who likes the idea.”
“Then I think Finch needs to give Her a check up ‘cause She's clearly been watching way too many romance flicks and reading too much lesbian erotica.”
“Shaw,” Root said flatly. “I'm being serious. We’re not getting any younger and She has to think about Her continuity of operations.
“So’m I. You really think we’re still gonna be kicking in another five years to raise a kid, let alone ten or twenty?”
“You don't?”
“As you said, neither of us are getting faster or stronger. And we get shot at for a living. I would’ve thought you’d be the last of us to want to bring a kid into a broken home.”
“Where are you getting broken home from? I know we’re a little dysfunctional, but I don't think we’re that bad.”
“I mean neither of us had the healthiest of childhoods and you want to bring a kind into that probability? Especially given your recklessness?”
“Having a child would alter the Machine’s calculations when in combat. And I know I’d have to be safer.”
Shaw pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. “That’s not enough, Root, and you know it. We both know that in all likelihood it would be me left behind. I’m no good with kids; there’s no way I could raise ours alone.”
“It's not like we’d be raising her alone, even if we wanted to. I highly doubt Carter would trust either of us enough for that to happen, at the very least. And should the worst did happen, whichever of us was left would have help.”
Shaw liked to think that the fact that she crushed her first instinct to shoot Root down immediately meant she had grown as a person. Root was certainly the only person whose desires she took into consideration when she did something. At the end of the day, while she did give a shit about Finch and Reese, it wouldn't bother her if they thought she made a wrong decision. With Root though, it was different.
Aside from when she worked Root up deliberately, she didn't like it when Root thought badly of her. Root was the only person in the world that she actually wanted to make happy. But given that Root had decided that she wasn't going to be the logical one, she had to.
She shook her head at the surveillance camera that Root was almost certainly looking at her though. “I gotta say no. At least not without a hell of a lot more talking,” Shaw tacked on the last part in consideration for her partner's feelings.
“Should I be keeping an eye out for any amber alerts?” Fusco asked when she reentered the car. Shaw just glared at him.
9 Minutes to Midnight
The next two months were some of the most infuriating of Shaw’s life. Root had never been one to display outward concern for herself aside from basic maintenance, but she had become borderline suicidal after Shaw turned her down.
Root had taken her out on tertiary operations six times since their talk and each time it was only Shaw’s presence behind the scope of a sniper rifle or at her six that kept Root the right side of ground level.
Not to mention the constant hints Root dropped left and right. Magazines left out, subscriptions to new-mother newsletters turning up in her email, vitamins in the medicine cabinet and on the counter, family reality shows on their Netflix queue.
Their current mission was no exception to Root’s apparent new mandate. They were a few miles south of the border in a corrugated steel warehouse the Knights Templar were using as a distribution center. As in most of their missions lately, they seemed to be working with an incomplete picture, Root’s Machine-given orders having gathering most of the building’s security to the main storage area, the twenty or so assault rifle wielding thugs doing their best to turn Root into Swiss cheese.
Shaw was perched in a tall tree about fifty yards off, the suppressor mounted at the end of the muzzle letting her take out six shooters before any of them realized there was a sniper. “So if I were to say yes, things can't be like this,” Shaw said without preamble as she put two more triggermen down. “I was serious when I said I can't raise our kid alone. You gotta promise me you’ll stick around for at least the next eighteen years.”
“Death itself wouldn’t be able to keep me away.”
“I'm not fucking around Root. We do this, you’re not allowed to check out. Having a kid… It’s forever. The kid and me gotta take priority, even when the Machine says something else.”
“She wouldn't put us in that position.”
“I don't care; you promise me our kid always comes first, no matter what.”
“Fine, sweetie. I promise.”
"Solves the housecleaning problem too. I mean I keep saying we need to get someone to take care of the apartment; we both hate cleaning, now we won’t have to. It will take a couple of years, obviously, but we won’t have to pay the kid.”
“Shaw, our child is not going to be your personal maid,” Root said flatly.
“Oh relax, Root. I was just joking. We’ll give her an allowance, obviously. But she will have to buy the cleaning supplies herself.”
“Sameen!”
“Kidding, kidding!" Shaw felt the small smirk that had been curling the corners of her mouth extend across her lips and meet in the middle.
"You know this means we should probably get married as well. You know, just so the state doesn’t give us any problems in case of a medical emergency or something.”
"Don't push your luck, Root. You got me to be your baby daddy; let’s not get wild."
Root let out a little huff and Shaw could imagine the mou of disappointment her lips curl into.
"I love you, Sameen." Root replied after several seconds of silence, warmth flowing over the line.
There was a point in time where the flicker of a hint of such a thought would have had her running for the metaphorical hills but hearing those four words from Root's lips now lit what she knew to be a matching ball of heat in her chest to the one that she was fairly sure never wavered in Root's.
“Me too,” Sameen whispered back.
8 MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT
“Good morning, Ms. Groves, Ms. Shaw. Nice to finally meet you the both of you, though we have of course spoken over the phone, Ms. Groves. If you would follow me to my office, we can start discussing the process.”
“The pleasure is all ours, I assure you, Dr Reeds.” Root replied to the doctor’s back. “And please, call us Root and Shaw.”
Reeds nodded and held a door at the end of the hallway open, taking her place behind her desk as the two Machine-agents seated themselves in the pair of armchairs.
“After looking through your paperwork, I have absolutely no doubt that the pair of you will make terrific parents.”
“Yeah, about that. This was sorta sprung on me so if you could actually explain what this place is, I’d appreciate it."
Reeds gave Root a look which Shaw thought was the least of what Root deserved. "This is the Reeds Assisted Reproduction Clinic. We are the leading provider of assisted reproduction in the United States.”
"You make blender babies,” Shaw said.
Reed’s lips thinned at the term, her tone turning cooler and clipped. "We give same-sex couples, such as yourselves, the one opportunity that nature denies you, biological reproduction via recombinant DNA therapy.”
“Sweetie, Linda is trying to help us. I would appreciate it if you could refrain antagonizing her.”
“Sorry,” Shaw muttered. “Just slipped out.”
Reeds lips regained their color and she gave a forgiving nod. “I understand. And it’s hardly the worst thing I have had said to me about my work. There is a reason why we don’t have a sign outside.”
“Anyways, would you mind explaining the process for me? I used to be a doctor.”
“Not a problem. What we do is we take an egg from each of you and extract the DNA from one, bathe the other in a proprietary solution and inject the DNA from the first into it. The solution will then bond the two strands, creating a viable embryo. We then implant it into one of your wombs and the rest is up to you.”
“Seems pretty straightforward, what’s your success rate?”
“For fertilization, we’ve only had three failures in just over a thousand procedures. For implantation, our percentages are a little lower as there are more variables to consider, though we do have some options we can offer for those clients who have difficulty with the implantation. Now according to your medical records, either one of you would be suitable to be the carrier; have you decided which one of you wants to do it?"
"I won the coin toss," Root said with an impish grin.
Shaw couldn't let that stand of course. "Don't listen to her. She's the one who really wants a kid; she can be the one who suffers for it."
Reed gave her a look for that comment but let it pass. "Well, let's get you set up with an appointment then.” Reed tapped around on her computer for a moment. “How does Wednesday sound? One o’clock?”
“Wednesday sounds perfect,” Root purred, smiling and rising to her feet. “See you then.”
5 MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT
“I am sorry, Ms. Groves, but it seems you lost the embryo again." The news was accepted in silence, the only sign Root had heard was how her hand tightened in Shaw's. "Have you been sticking to the regimen prescribed? You been drinking the shakes you were given?" Reeds asked.
"To the T! She's trying to get pregnant; why wouldn't she do what you told her?" Shaw snapped.
"You said you were a doctor, Ms. Shaw. I’m sure you’ve had more than one recalcitrant patient who would not adhere to doctor’s orders.”
“Well that’s not the case here; she’s been doing everything you told her,” Shaw insisted.
"Then I am afraid that there’s not a whole lot more that I can do. As unfortunate as it is, impregnation is still one of the few things that is wholly up to nature. We can keep trying of course but we have done everything we can to enhance your fertility."
Silence fell over the room for a moment, Root to absorb the news, Shaw to debate internally about the next words out of her mouth.
"Try me."
Root inhaled sharply, giving her a very surprised look. "Are you sure, sweetie? I’m the one who wanted this, not you."
"If that is what you think then you’ve not been paying attention.Yeah, I was on the fence for a while but..." Shaw took a deep breath, trying to ignore the third person in the room. "You know I can't love you Root but you are the most important person in my life. This matters to you so it matters to me. I think that we are going to make a mess of this but there is no one else I would rather mess it up with."
“Very well, if you would come with me, we can get you a few of our shakes and set up an appointment for the procedure.”
When she returned to Reeds’ office, it was with a six-pack of the shakes in one arm and strict instructions on what she was and was not allowed to eat or do.
“Keys please,” Root said as they approached their car.
“Get real, Root. I’m not pregnant yet and that means I’m driving. I know you are going to try to treat me like glass once I’m pregnant but not a moment before. Capiche?”
Shaw didn’t wait for Root’s response, sliding into the driver's seat of the BMW.
CLOCK STRIKES TWELVE
“Ms. Shaw, Ms. Groves, a pleasure to see you once again. Are you ready?’
“Time to bite the bullet, I guess,” Shaw said, standing up and wiping her palms on her pants. She would never admit to anyone (except maybe Root) but she was not as calm about this as she pretended. Root was waiting in the examination room when she reentered in paper gown and settled into the stirrups.
“This is going to be a little cold,” Reeds told her as she rolled between her legs.
Shaw resisted the urge to squirm (as she did not squirm) at the insertion of the syringe and suppressed the urge to rub her thighs together when Reed rolled back.
“Okay, so that is everything for today. Remember, stick to your regimen, no smoking, drinking, moderate exercise and drink your shakes. Any questions?”
“No, I think we got it,” Shaw said, rising to her feet and and gathering her clothes up.
The drive home was silent, Root focusing on the road and Shaw staring out the window.
---
“Root are you awake?” Shaw whispered. The glowing green digits of the alarm clock read 2:14. Root was curled up against her back, face nestled in her neck, an arm draped over her waist.
Root shifted behind her, arm tightening slightly. “Always, sweetie. What’s wrong?”
“I don’t think I can do this. I’m not a mother, Root. I’m pretty good at killing but not much else. What am I gonna do with a kid?”
“Well, first of all, it’s a little late to back out now. Two, it’s hardly like you’d be doing by yourself, even if you wanted to. We have the internet. And Carter. And the boys. Finch and Reese had a baby number before, so they probably have some advice.”
“You know, every part of that statement sounds like shit except for the Carter thing. Seeing as she’s the only one who has a kid.”
“You know what they say, it takes a village. But seriously, we got this covered. Hundreds of millions people do it all the time; how hard could it be?”
Shaw took a moment to roll onto her back so she could look at Root. “Seriously, Root, you had to go and say something like that. Now our kid is guaranteed to be some kind of hellion.”
Root smirked. “Hey, she’s gonna be our kid, I’d say any hellion-ness is a foregone conclusion. Not to mention all the kooky aunts and uncles she’s gonna have.”
Shaw groaned.