Work Text:
It’s... whatever.
Root being out of town for a lame holiday doesn’t bother Shaw.
Root being out of town period does.
It’s not like she blames Root, or is jealous of her and the Machine. They’ve got jobs to do. But still. She’s gotten used to having Root around. Simple things, like sleeping beside her and having breakfast together and Root feeding her relevant intel on her number. But terrorists and murderers aren’t exactly cooperative, so Shaw’s at home and Root’s – well, she wasn’t exactly clear on where she was going, but it’s not New York.
So. Whatever.
She’s finished her research for the day’s first number and is about to close the laptop when it makes a soft ping sound. Suddenly, the desktop vanishes, replaced by an image.
It’s a black-hot IR photo of the two of them in bed, clumsily cut out and placed on a bright pink background, bearing the words ‘If love is being seen, then baby I want to see you all night long.’ Below that, there’s a To: and From:, filled with their names in Root’s handwriting.
Shaw snorts, and smiles.
The webcam light flashes at her a couple times.
“Shut up.”
She’s leaving the hotel her number was staying at with a bag of confiscated contraband when her phone vibrates. She takes it out and finds a picture message from Root.
The image follows the same format as the first one. This time with a photo of Root making a lewd gesture with her fingers and tongue captioned ‘There’s only one V I want this V-day.’
She smiles again, shakes her head, and texts back well then come and get it.
“Miss Shaw?” Harold asks as she walks by him with an armful of brightly coloured boxes of candy.
“What?” she says defensively.
“We’re not in the business of stealing from our numbers.”
“They were trying to kill each other. They don’t deserve to be rewarded for that.” Shaw shifts her arms, allowing one box to drop noisily onto Harold’s desk. He looks at her sternly, so she lets another one fall.
“Well... I suppose we shouldn’t let it go to waste.”
While Harold’s opening one of the boxes, her phone vibrates again. She shifts her loot to one arm to retrieve it.
This one is relatively restrained for Root. She’s smirking suggestively and appears to be wiggling her fingers, beside the caption ‘Wanna interface with me?’
Shaw lets out a little huff, which Harold knows her well enough to recognize as a laugh. He cranes his neck to see her phone, then his eyes go wide and his face takes on the bewildered expression he often has around Root.
She comes home to find a card sitting on the counter, placed so she’d be sure to notice it as soon as she arrived.
It’s another one of Root’s valentines, this time with a photo of Root holding her hands in a heart shape next to the question ‘Be my primary asset?’ Instead of To; and From:, this one has two checkboxes, labelled Yes and Absolutely!
Shaw rolls her eyes and lets out a little laugh.
The apartment’s lights turn themselves on, revealing Root unfolding herself from where she was sitting on the couch and attempting to sashay seductively towards Shaw. When she reaches Shaw, she grabs her gently just below her shoulders. She slides her hands down Shaw’s arms, one ending up resting on her hip and the other grasping Shaw’s hand. While she’s doing this, Shaw takes a moment to quickly make sure she hasn’t acquired any new injuries.
“Have a good Valentine’s Day, Sameen?”
“Do you know how many couples tried to murder each other today?”
“Hhm. What about you? Planning anything I should be worried about?”
“Surprisingly, no.”
“That’s too bad.” Root smirks playfully. “I guess we’re lucky I’ve got some plans for you.”