This is what happens when I stay up too late: I notice things* and they bother me until I have to write about them. Head-canon about Shaw realizing something during 4.05.

It was while they were sitting close together on the bench, watching their number, that Shaw realized something: Root was the only one she allowed to touch her.

It was a random thought, brought on by Root's strange behavior. There had been a moment when their faces were a little too close together, and Shaw thought that Root might raise a hand to her cheek. The moment had passed, but the thought remained to be worried at like a dog with a bone.

Shaw cast her mind back to the early days of their… friendship? Partnership? It was hard to put a name to something that seemed to have grown organically, out of necessity. On the first day they worked together, Root had abducted her and zip-tied her to a steering wheel. Hours later, she had gently pushed safety glasses onto Shaw's face.

The rest were small touches, little transgressions on Shaw's person that had ceased to bother her at some undefined point in the last year. Root would stand too close, or bump her arm, some small contact.

Then Shaw had allowed and even welcomed it; once again, in the beginning it was out of necessity, holding onto Root's waist as they rode away on a motorcycle. Then it was walking up to Root and allowing her to reach out familiarly; merely rolling her eyes instead of pushing away Root's hand as she wiped dirt from Shaw's face.

A lot of their conversations flip-flopped between business and innuendo, but the touches had become an anchor for both of them, Shaw thought. She knew that her only other real human contact was punching, unless you counted Bear. Root didn't even have the dog.

Other than Root, she discouraged physical contact. She supposed that Reese had patched her up a few times, and she was the official medic of the group, but she didn't really consider these in the same light. Physical contact with Root had become a grounding force, a way for both of them to say I'm here, you're here, you're real, hold on. It was something Shaw grudgingly admitted to herself that she needed, sometimes.

The realization did not show on her face, and neither did her concern for Root's odd behavior. She felt the need to reach out to Root, though she had never before initiated their touches. She was not quite able to reach out physically, and instead used her voice.

"Hey Eeyore, where's the perky psycho? You're creeping me out."

*I was watching a fan video and I noticed that Root always touches Shaw, and I couldn't think of anyone else on the team touching Shaw with any kind of regularity unless it was for medical or other life-saving reasons. Thanks for reading!