winged-mammal:

I think the turning point for Root’s feelings about Shaw was Deus Ex Machina, when Shaw biked through New York in a blackout to get to Root in Jersey, and abandoned the larger mission to do it. It was a moment where someone put Root first, because they cared about the mission her, and I think that up to that point Root had still mostly been in the ‘flirt with Shaw to annoy her but also she’s really cute and interesting and better than most people’ place, but when Shaw came to keep her safe, Root’s feelings took an irrevocable turn for the serious. Root knew that Shaw was a bit of good code in a world full of shit, and admired her and was attracted to and intrigued by her, and after that moment, she knew Shaw was the one for her.

And that same moment was an important one for Shaw too. To copy liberally from an old post of mine: Root calls Shaw and tells her to be at a certain intersection in 15
minutes, Shaw asks if she’s about to kamikaze into a Decima
fortress with a bunch of nerds, Root says it’s just her, Shaw
asks if the Machine’s got her back, Root just tells her to be at the
intersection again and disconnects the call, and Shaw just stares into
nothingness in disbelief. Then we see Shaw and Reese and Hersh walking down the sidewalk, and Hersh says “So, we’re going to 23rd & 5th because…” and Shaw and Reese say in unison, “it’s complicated.”

And that’s when Shaw stops in the middle of the street and makes this face

because the answer to Hersh’s question was basically “because Root
said so” and they’re both so used to it by now and trust her and there’s
a fondness to their exasperation at how “it’s complicated” and Shaw has
been stewing about Root going into a Decima fortress alone already, but
the moment she answers Hersh’s question she stops and can’t go on with
the mission without doing something to help Root. She just realized that
she enjoys Root’s complications and she wants her to stick around, and it disturbs her to think that she might not.

And Shaw’s not going to let that happen, blackout and impossible odds be damned. So I think that this episode was pivotal for their respective feelings about each other, with Root tripping and falling in love and with Shaw grumbling and accepting that Root is a part of her life she actively wants to keep.

I think Shaw’s acceptance of her wanting to keep Root in her life in some capacity beyond her typical level of attachment to the people she lets in, happened in Prophets or Honor Among Thieves, or maybe a slightly more gradual process between the two episodes. In Prophets there’s that moment where we see Shaw having an unusually emotional reaction to the thought that Root’s dead – I’m talking Shaw emotional, where she actually fucking pulls up short and stops and stares blankly into nothingness at the bomb Finch just dropped on her.

(x)

We haven’t seen her react like that to something, and I think that whatever she’s feeling in that moment would have been something that tipped her off that Root really does mean more to her than she’s used to caring about people. So by the time Honor Among Thieves rolls around, she gets this attractive offer from an attractive guy and instead seeks out Root when all is said and done.

I’m sure Shaw knew something of the extent of Root’s feelings by then, hence her teasing about staying for the things she cares about here. But I don’t think Shaw fully realizes Root actually loves her until the moment in If Then Else when she turns around in the elevator and sees the look in Root’s eyes. Root’s awareness of Shaw’s attachment is something I’m more unsure of. She obviously knows that Shaw’s grumbliness is just Shaw being Shaw and that she likes having Root around, but I don’t know that she’d dare assume anything without Shaw explicitly saying it or acting on it. The progression of their relationship has always been up to Shaw, because Root’s not going to press the issue and make Shaw uncomfortable or angry – which is why that “maybe someday” simulation in If Then Else is so fucking heartbreaking, because it’s only when Root knows she’s about to die that she presses the issue, and the knowledge that Shaw feels their connection too is enough to make her smile the biggest lovey dovey smile we’ve seen her smile.

So their conversation just before Shaw sacrifices herself in the elevator would probably be the most that Root’s let herself think that Shaw shares her affection. And even with that and the kiss and everything that happens in the second half of S4, I think Root would still err on the side of not assuming anything about Shaw’s feelings about her, and whatever happens between them when Shaw gets back will be up to Shaw. (Aside from whatever tearful reunion hugging/punching/whatever might occur when they’re first reunited, anyway.)