I had a similar reaction when I was proofreading the fic after I hammered it out: I even had to go to the window in my study and take a few deep breaths of fresh air before I came back and hit the post button. Reese can be a scary guy to write, make no mistake: but I love writing him and I love how his mind works.

And yeah, I don't want to see Root outright killed: that would be too easy a punishment for her after what she's done and what she wants to do with the Machine. I believe I was thinking of the end of "Cura Te Ipsum" when I wrote this (ie. the one where Reese gives the rapist a chance to live, but we all know the guy is too scared to slide back into his evil ways, because he knows that the next time he sees Reese, he won't get a second second chance...)