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Shaw scowled at the hand Root held out for her.
“You promised," Root pouted.
“You made me promise under very questionable circumstances," Shaw said, but accepted Root's hand anyway. Root gave her a sweet smile before she turned around to lead them onto the dance floor.
“Only one song. And I lead." Shaw announced, grabbing Root roughly by the waist. That only seemed to widen Root's smile. She leaned in cloesly. “We'll see how it goes.”
Root shifted her attention to their surroundings.“This is lovely, don't you think?”
“It's ok, I guess,” Shaw answered dryly.
“Shaw, I didn't expect you to start crying when Finch and Grace said their vows, but you could at least pretend to be enjoying yourself a little bit. Besides, I know you are fond of medieval stuff, and this castle was built in 1279, so you could at least appreciate that.”
“I like swords and crossbows - not this,” Shaw gestured around dismissively. They were in a small courtyard of a castle located in the south of france. Whine was growing up the rough stone walls surrounding them. Light chains were spanned over the courtyard, supporting the light from the starry sky above.
“Can't you at least find one thing about this that you liked?” Root asked exasperatedly.
“The steak was good,” Shaw stated. Root groaned and Shaw decided to give in a little. “And you look amazing in that dress,” she added in a low tone. She did want to get Root out of that tight, red dress later tonight, so she didn't want to aggravate her too much.
“Well, thank you. You don't look so bad yourself, Sameen,” Root purred while slipping her hand lower down Shaw's back. “You know I like you in black. However, I think you would also look good in white.”
“No.” Shaw snapped.
“But-“
“No, Root! One more word and I'll be out of here. We've been over this.”
They fell silent for a while. But eventually, Root couldn't stop herself.
“It wouldn't have to be like this. We could make it the way we like it. It could be at the beach, with a huge barbeque with all kinds of fancy meat - and cocktails and whiskey, of course. Bear could fetch our rings. Maybe we could set up a shooting range…”
“You've really thought this through, huh?” Shaw growled.
“She has,” Root said quietly.
“What?” Shaw looked at Root confusedly.
Root hesitated, looking down at their feet. “Before you came back,” she whispered. Shaw just stared at her. “It was only one of a million possible scenarios...”
“Why did she tell you?”
Root was quiet for a while and Shaw waited. “After all I had done, I always knew that a good death was all I could hope for. But I asked her if there had ever existed the possibility of something more to life. She said that as long as we are alive there is an infinite amount of possibilities. She can predict the most likely outcome, but the future is never solid. After all, her whole purpose is to help us prevent the most likely outcome. There is always a way to defy the odds. Whether or not this one scenario will ever become reality, doesn't really matter. What matters is - however slim the odds - it is possible – because we are alive.”
Shaw blinked. She was aware that Root could see way too much in her eyes in that moment, but she couldn't look away. Her hand went to touch the spot behind her ear.
“Yeah, I still can't believe it, either,” Root murmured.
“I was just checking, if I'm still not allowed to kill you.” Shaw didn't even try to sound convincing.
“Oh sweetie, nice try, but you know… the third song is already playing and we're still dancing, so…”
“Just so you know,” Shaw interjected, “I don't think it's legal to have an ASI as your made of honor." Root smiled.
"Not that that will ever be relevant," Shaw added hastily, while they kept dancing.