#i was informed that the supposedly cut scenes w/ shoot and bear didn't happen

[asleepinawell]

Primary Asset Good Boy

The apartment was dark and quiet when Shaw entered, and for a moment she wondered if anyone was actually there. But Root’s favorite boots were lying haphazardly in the middle of the floor–just waiting for some unsuspecting person to trip over them–and Bear’s leash was coiled (almost neatly) on the little table by the door.

The apartment had that feeling it got when she wasn’t the only one there. Once upon a time that would have set off alarm bells in her head, or made her feel crowded and uncomfortable at the least, but now it felt correct. Complete.

And even if she sighed in exasperation at the clearly-not-properly-cleaned shotgun on the coffee table and the tangle of cables on the kitchen counter, there wasn’t any real annoyance there.

She paused before heading into the bedroom to look across the darkened living room towards the little camera Root had mounted on the wall ages ago. It had creeped her out a little at first, but now it was kind of comforting to see the red light winking at her.

She threw it a two-finger salute before she left.

Root didn’t stir when Shaw slipped into the bedroom. She was curled up on one side, her hair a messy wave on the pillow, and her breathing deep and steady. It was a relief to see her sleeping soundly; that often didn’t happen when Shaw was away.

Maybe the reason for Root’s peaceful slumber was right next to her, where Bear was getting a little bit squished by the way she’d curled up around him (though he didn’t look put out at all). When he saw Shaw enter, Bear’s ears perked up and his tail thumped against the bed a few times. She held up a finger to her lips and he settled down immediately.

Neither of them had moved when Shaw got back from her quick shower, but, when she slid under the covers on her side of the bed, Root stirred slightly.

“Go back to sleep,” Shaw said quietly, but Root was reaching over Bear and fumbling along the mattress with one hand trying to find her. She slid over far enough that Root’s hand bumped into her. Root wrapped her fingers around Shaw’s upper arm and gave a small, happy sigh.

She was asleep again seconds later and Shaw drifted off soon after.

Shaw woke up the next morning to find that Root had tried to curl up around her during the night. The problem, though, was that Bear was still between them so mostly what had happened was the poor dog had gotten smushed while shielding Shaw from the attempted cuddling. Shaw untangled herself from the mess and gave Bear a pat on the head as a reward.

Normally she’d have taken Bear with her on her morning run, but today she left him in bed just in case Root hadn’t fully registered last night that she was back and freaked out when she woke up dogless. Shaw would have to give him an extra treat later to make up for it.

Root was up and about when she got back, sitting on a stool at the kitchen counter wearing her pajamas, and staring at her laptop. She looked up when Shaw came in.

“I wasn’t sure if I’d dreamt that you’d come back. You should really scatter some of your things around next time so it’s obvious. Even your toothbrush is in the exact same place.”

“You make enough of a mess for both of us.” Shaw motioned at the general state of the living room.

Root failed to look even a little contrite.

“I thought I must have imagined you getting in bed last night since you didn’t take Bear with you this morning.”

“He looked comfortable.” He’d looked smothered.

“I never realized how clingy he was,” Root mused. “Curled up almost on top of me every night and wouldn’t let me out the door without him.”

Shaw exchanged a look with Bear, who was stretched out on the kitchen floor. She was really glad right now that he couldn’t talk.

“He probably missed me or something. Thought when you were leaving that you were going to wherever I was.” Sounded logical enough, Shaw figured.

“He insisted on going everywhere with me. Even missions. He actually took down a perp I got into a bit of a brawl with.” Root looked down at the dog, speculatively.

“Sounds like he showed up Reese, anyway.” Unfair to poor Reese, (especially since he’d also been deprived of dog-sitting Bear while she was away this time, though she thought he’d probably figured out why), but Shaw wanted to move away from the topic.

Root shut the lid of her laptop. “Hmm, I wonder if…” She froze, staring at Shaw as if she’d somehow only now registered that Shaw had just gotten back from a run and was standing all flushed and sweaty in the kitchen.

Shaw didn’t smirk, but she did possibly flex her arms very slightly. Root’s eyes went unfocused.

“I’m going to go take a shower,” Shaw said. “You coming?”

Root blinked a few times, refocusing. “Quite possibly.”

Shaw snorted softly at that. She turned to head out of the kitchen, and Root slid off the stool to join her. Somehow they didn’t make it into the hall and Root ended up pressed up against her, kissing her thoroughly while her arms wrapped around her perhaps just a tiny bit tighter than they usually would have been.

“Miss me?” Root asked when they broke apart. She was smiling mischievously, the question meant as a tease rather than anything serious.

“Could be.”

Root’s face lit up in surprised delight at the almost-admission.

Root didn’t need her to answer the little teasing questions, Shaw knew, but sometimes she liked to anyway.

“Shall we move the welcome home party to the shower?” Root asked, tugging at the bottom of Shaw’s shirt.

“I’m not the one who detoured us up against a wall.” Mostly true.

Root smirked and stepped back before gesturing for Shaw to pass. Shaw hesitated and looked back into the kitchen.

“Uh, actually, can you go get the water started? I’ll be there in a second.”

Root looked a little curious but agreed easily enough, dropping an unnecessary kiss on the tip of Shaw’s nose before wandering away down the hall. Shaw watched her go and scrubbed at her nose with one hand, indignant. How could she ever have let herself end up with someone who wore pajama pants covered with pictures of some dumb penguin?

(Which, now that she thought about it was almost definitely the damn Linux penguin because this was Root so of course it was. And she couldn’t even mock her for it because then she’d have to admit that she’d recognized it. Unfair).

Once Root had vanished down the hall, Shaw went back into the kitchen and hunched down next to Bear.

“Good boy,” she told him, scratching his head and neck. “Know it’s exhausting keeping her out of trouble.”

Bear licked her in the face.

She hadn’t been quite sure he’d understood what she’d asked him to do before she left, but he’d done even better than she’d hoped. This was the first time she’d been on a trip where she hadn’t gotten a message from the Machine at some horrible hour prompting her to call Root, or had to patch Root up when she’d come home to find that she’d been careless and gotten hurt again.

Bear had helped both of them sleep better.

“Sameen?” Root’s voice echoed down the hall. “It’s no fun getting all wet without you.”

Shaw rolled her eyes and gave Bear one more pat on the head before she went to go join Root.