(no subject)

[godcode]

God is either dead or running on double A's.

It feels like days ago since Root said the words to John and Harry, as the three of them walked out into a world without the Machine, Samaritan agents on their tails.

It's only been 5 hours. Funny how that works.

The subway is a risky move, she knows, but ever since those agents ambushed her on the corner of Nassau and Banker, all bets are pretty much off. There are a hell of a lot more cameras, but maybe if she keeps her head down, she can avoid them for a couple of stops, at least. Long enough to get some distance between the last place she was spotted, long enough to make some headway toward where she's going.

She needs to get back to their subway station, but there's a stop she's gotta make first.

The train jerks and starts moving, and now that there's a second to catch her breath, Root realizes she's bleeding. Maybe glass from the car window shattering? Either way, it'll need to wait. Every minute that the Machine is compressed, there's less of a chance they'll be able to restore her. The battery is only going to last so long, and they'll all have to act fast. That is, if Harry and John are safe.

She has to believe they are. She has to believe they've made it, because if they haven't....

Root doesn't have time to even go down that train of thought, because a woman sitting nearby is looking intently at a notification on her phone. And then a man just across the aisle. Before she knows it, the train car is abuzz with the sound of dozens of notifications, and a man is reaching for a wrench in a toolbox he's stashed under his seat.

It looks like a two minute break is all she's gonna get.

"Don't be a hero," Root says, but he doesn't listen. They never do. Which is part of why she doesn't feel the least bit sorry when she takes his weapon in the fight that follows, smacking him across the face with it before knocking out the security guard who joins in. They both get a wrench to the knee for good measure. They're alive at least; Harry would be proud. Even so, now she's pissed and she's going to have to walk the rest of the way to where she's going. The train starts to slow and she glares up at the train's camera. Up at Samaritan, the twisted creation that thinks it's going to take them all out so easily. Not a fucking chance.

"You can just call me Root, bitch."

It's lucky that there's an NYPD officer waiting just as the doors open at the next stop. You'd think they'd be better trained to deal with this kind of thing, but as it is, it's frustratingly easy for Root to incapacitate him and take his shotgun for the couple of blocks she'll have to travel once she's topside. A shot in her direction takes her by surprise, and she unloads a couple of shells on a few more agents as she finally reaches her destination, shooting the lock off of the heavy metal door.

All she has to do is hold them off for a moment. Bela and his men will defend their turf and do the rest.

Sometimes it's not about what you know, it's who you know.

Only, it's not an electronics recycling center she walks into, but somewhere entirely unfamiliar.

"Okay... this isn't part of the plan."

She tightens her grip on the shotgun.

Comments

[godcode]

"I'm not going to shoot the redhead," Root says, nearly rolling her eyes at John's attempt to protect her, "As long as she doesn't get in my way, at least."

Truthfully, she doesn't seem much reason to shoot anyone; it doesn't seem like this woman is any kind of threat, aside from somehow being in the way of what they need to be doing instead of standing here talking. But to her credit, she considers what John says, as ludicrous as it sounds.

"Three years," Root parrots, incredulous. None of this makes any sense, as strange as this situation is in the first place, but she'll humor him. "Okay, so if this isn't New York, then where is it?"

[primary_asset]

"Her name is Karen," he answers, more annoyed than his voice lets on by the comment. He shouldn't be. He knows Root and she's just arrived, but Karen is so much more than just some woman he's conveniently with at the time of Root's arrival.

She has no idea what she's just interrupted.

"We're in a city called Darrow. You're in my apartment." He pauses. "Our apartment."

[itsdarkcorners]

Though Karen doesn't actually think she's about to get shot, especially not with John clearly making sure that isn't going to happen, she still sort of wishes she'd been able to get the purse with her gun in it from the other room anyway. She doesn't like being unarmed, especially not being the only one who is. She flexes her hands at her sides instead and takes a breath, trying to decide how much she should chime in. She doesn't want to add to any tension, but she isn't very good at staying still and quiet, either.

"It's true," she says. "I got here a few weeks before he did. This place seems crazy, but it's real."

[godcode]

"If you're not going to help me, John," Root says, already done with this whole thing, "Then I guess I'm just going to have to handle it all myself."

She cocks her shotgun, and a shell clatters onto the floor. It's not meant as a threat, mostly preparation for whatever Root is going to have to deal with when she leaves them to... well, whatever this is.

"Last chance."

[primary_asset]

There's no stopping her. John knows better than to try. What he does instead is take one of his cards from his pocket and holds it toward Root. She might want to call him, he figures, once she does what she needs to do. She obviously knows where he lives now, too, but he likes to think she won't shoot the lock off their apartment a second time.

"You don't have to believe us," he says. "But take my card. When you decide you want your envelope, it's at the train station. The information booth. And don't shoot anyone, Root. I'm still working under the John Riley identity here, so don't make me have to arrest you."

It's mostly an empty threat. As empty as the threat with her shotgun, although he suspects she's preparing more for whatever she confronts when she leaves. And that's what he's afraid of. Most of this city is like any other. Innocent and unaware. He doesn't want anyone to get hurt.

[itsdarkcorners]

Karen glances towards John when Root cocks the gun, mostly to try to get a sense of whether or not she needs to be worried. It doesn't seem like she does, which is something of a relief. She wouldn't want to underestimate the situation, but she trusts John's judgment, since it involves someone he apparently knows. Later, she'll have to ask about all of this, but now definitely isn't the time for those sorts of questions. They just need to make sure this situation doesn't escalate.

"It'll have some things that might be useful," she offers. "The envelope. Some money, a map." She knows John well enough to guess that anyone who was working with him before wouldn't be interested in the cell phone or apartment, or probably the ID. Still, it's better than nothing.

[godcode]

Root glances at the card and rolls her eyes, not taking her hands off of the weapon.

"I'll find you if I need you," she says, and it looks like she's on her own, now. Though there's a nervous feeling in her gut as she turns to leave. This isn't where she was planning on ending up. And John's not wearing the same clothes he was when she last saw him. They've been on the run; she can't imagine he would have taken time to go find a change of clothes with Samaritan on their tails.

But she has to see for herself. She has to know for sure.

Root takes a step to leave, then turns to glance at the woman in the room first, the first time she's acknowledged her since she shot the lock off the door.

"She's cute," Root comments, then disappears into the hallway.