Twenty five feet.
Root would swear her whole body is shaking, it scares her because she usually possesses nerves of steel. It's not like the landing is a precarious one, they've got plenty of ground. Had Sameen, been attached to the parachute, the landing would be smooth and calculated.
10 feet
"Root, listen to me, you need to hit the ground runn..."
Within a matter of seconds, both women crash into the ground, rolling and tumbling as wet dirt and blood fuse together in their mouths. Root takes the worst of it as she finally lands on her side. Dislocating her shoulder.
Gritting her teeth and squirming in pain, Root regretfully passes up the innuendo to plea with Sameen on top of her.
"Aghhh, Pleeeeeeaseee tell meee you can cut us loose."
"Ok Root, I can cut us loose."
Shaw rifles through her pockets, looking for something, anything. She fingers a small Swiss army knife. Powering though the pain, Shaw digs her fingernail against the warm rigid edge of the knife and flicks the blade out. It's a two inch blade, and its better than no knife at all, yet it still won't make the tedious process of cutting through the straps any easier.
The former marine, rolls off of the taller woman, and staggers to her feet, almost stumbling over in the process.
After finding her balance, Shaw reaches down and grabs Root, by her good arm, and yanks her into the upright position.
"Well, that really hit the spot", Sameen said. Her tone seeped in sarcasm.
"I think I disclocated my shoulder, Sam."
"You did; move over there, lean against the rocks."
Out of curiosity Root staggers over to a rock formation, the whole time wondering if Shaw has a plan or if this is some sort of new kinky stress relieving exercise, before they save the world. Root comes to a stop and forces herself to lean against the largest rock.
Sameen steps up behind her, "I need to reset it. This is going to hurt, quite a bit."
"Nothing we haven't done before, Doctor Shaw." Root's voice goes full liquid in that statement as Shaw uses her muscles and pops Root's shoulder back into place. Birds fly away because the scream is so loud.
Root falters, but Sameen catches her and guides her into a sitting position then follows suit once Root is settled down against the rocks.
"Inventory Check", Shaw commanded.
"All I've got is ahhhhhhrggh", Root tries to reach in her pocket but her sore shoulder wont allow it, the perky psycho closes her eyes and grits her teeth while she quickly reaches into her pocket. "this taser."
The ex ISA agent sitting next to her lets out an annoyed chuckle and leans her head back. Sameen shakes her head and reaches into her pockets and shows Root the contents. "So one gun and twelve rounds, and this stupid knife, This is all we have Root."
"They knew we were coming...how?" Root inquired.
"It doesn't matter now. You can't reach go-bot at all?"
Root opens her eyes back up and looks at her girlfriend. "No, they've deployed the virus, I think."
"But you can stop it, right"?
Root reaches into her pocket and pulls out the most hardcore flash drive Shaw, has ever laid eyes upon. "If we catch it, early, then I can transfer it onto here, otherwise we're fucked once it goes over 40 percent luckily, signal strength isn't as powerful out in the middle of the sea."
"Break time's over." Shaw stands up and helps Root to her feet.
"Stay close to me at all times. We do this very carefully, they're most likely prepared, even if they aren't we can't chance it. Once the coast is clear, we'll break in." Marine Shaw has taken over now.
"We should split up, Sam."
Sameen quickly cocks her pistol and aims it at her head. "No! You stay with me at all times. Root, I swear to god, If you split, I'll put one in my head. Got it?!"
Root's eyes widen and she rushes over to the love of her life. Breathing frantically and on the verge of tears she grabs the shorter woman's arm, and lowers it, with no resistance from Shaw. Sameen was serious about not wanting to be separated again, and Root couldn't blame her, the last time Shaw forced her to split up, both of their world's came to a crashing halt.
"Please don't you ever scare me like that again". Root begged.
Shaw lowered her gun, this was part of her plan. They were not going to separate again, under any circumstances
"Then do as I say."
The former marine continued on with their battle strategy. "Use the taser only if you must. Since I have the only gun, I'll make sure the coast is clear for each hall and room we enter. I shoot someone, then you can take their gun, and we can cover each other and go all John Woo on their asses, but until then you stay behind me at all times. I mean it Root. We do this very carefully."
"My brave little soldier." Root coos and bats her eyes, she loves it when Sam takes control of the situation.
"Come on, We don't have much time. We need to get in there and stop this thing."
Ten minutes pass and both women hike up to a more secluded area of the facility, patiently they wait until they see an opening. Shaw high tails it inside and Root follows close behind her.
For every light panel that was on, two were off, Root gathered that they must be on some sort of reserve power in the facility. How the hell that's possible, is irrelevant to her at the moment. Root and Shaw sneak along the hallways of the ominous facility. The low lighting was eerily similar to the lighting situation in the stock exchange years ago, and it wasn't just the lighting, but the facility shared the same foreboding sense of doom. Ignoring her intuition, Root vigourously buries the uneasy feelings down. She's with Shaw, and they'll always be safe with each other. Using the reflections of the knife blade, Shaw checks around every corner hoping that the coast is clear, before they proceed. It amazes Root, because she's never seen Sameen this cautious before. She'll never admit it, but she can't lose me again.
Shaw stops abruptly and raises the knife blade a second time to double check down the next corridor. Two hostiles. The former soldier reaches into her pocket, and grabs a rock and throws it down the hallway, catching the attention of one of the goons. The man strolls down the corridor to investigate while the other one stays behind as cover.
Both Root and Shaw look at each other, no need for words between them, their nonverbal communication is in sync. Both ready themselves as the man is close to approaching the corner they're hiding around. Within seconds the tall, man reaches the intersection of the hallway, spots the intruders, but before he can utter a sound, Shaw unloads two bullets in him. Two to make absolute sure, he was dead. They can't afford any surprises. Their greatest ally, their god, is benched at the moment.
"Grab Him!" Shaw screams at Root. Root complies as Sameen engages in a very brief shootout with the man at the other end of the hall.
Root drags the other man to their side, and routinely steals his gun and extra clips.
Picking up his radio and taking cover the other man pleas for assistance. "Claire, intruders. I think it's Groves and Shaw. Hurry!"
Close to a thousand yards away, Claire Mahoney springs into action. She motions for Stefan and one other assistant to follow her. The rest of the crew, the young woman commands to spread out and find the intruders.
"Stefan, Nico, come with me."
All three sprint off in the opposite direction.
As they hurry Claire continues to dish out orders "Stefan, take this taser, Nico, this is a powerful sedative, Please please don't fuck this up. Listen to me, both of you, Groves and Shaw's greatest weakness is their feelings for each other. We'll use that to our advantage. Hurry up, you both know what to do."
The Persian and the perky psycho smile and face each other from both sides of a corridor. Arousal is flooding their internal systems right now and its taking every ounce of willpower for them to stay focused, they burst around the corner and begin firing rapidly at assailants in the John Woo style Sameen promised. Bullets zip past them, failing to hit them as they encroach closer and closer to their intended target, until the young assailant is helplessly backed into a corner and finally eliminated.
The two woman follow this cover and strike tactic, eliminating most of Claire's crew until they finally reach the residential quarters.
Root's eyes happen among one of the most simplistic and cliched sights ever. A small sign on a door which reads "Claire's Office." Sameen glances at the sign then Root and rolls her eyes. Both open the unlocked door and stroll right in. Root's sight intermediately hones in on the master computer at the desk.
Sam Groves drops everything and begins doing what she does best. At the terminal she puts her fingers to work on the keyboard, to combat the Ice-X virus.
15% and still loading, I need to hurry, Root panicked.
Sameen on the other hand begins to explore Claire's massive office. She begins inspecting, there's a huge strange looking door, a door that she needs to open and inspect, the massive bookcase, Claire's own personal library, Shaw assumed. Continuing she eyes an object on the wall, that manages to distract her; breaking her stoic expression.
Shaw's meandering temporarily breaks Root's concentration, as the perky woman watches her girlfriend drag a chair across the room, and park it next to a large metal locker. "What are you doing, Sam?"
Shaw stands on the chair and marvels at the weapon hanging on the wall, her awe lasts a few seconds before, she regains the ability to speak. "Look at this, this dagger has to be 13th or 14th century. Root, I am totally stealing this.
Before Root can respond the metal locker door flings open and Nico sticks Shaw with the sedative. The short woman falters as Root lunges out of the desk chair, running towards Sameen. Without any hesitation the tall Psycho unloads a bullet in Nico as she drops to the floor to tend to the needs of the most important person in the whole world to her.
"Sameen, Sameen! Stay with me sweetie." Root's voice breaks at the plea.
Unbeknownst to her, though out from behind the mysterious door, the one Shaw deemed suspicious, Stefan slowly creeps up to Root and gives her the full blast of his taser, effectively rendering her incapacitated.
The Persian woman wakes up on a cold tile floor. Groggily she focuses on the bright lights. A massive headache and the after effects of being sedated hinder her senses as she struggles to make sense of the situation she's in. Once the sociopath comes too, her eyes lock onto Root zip tied to a chair a few yards away from her. Sameen quickly braces herself, and pulls herself upright. The room is some sort of make shift interrogation room, the kind you'd see on a television show. On the steel table the woman notices a taser and the medieval era dagger she was admiring earlier.
Looking at Root with utmost confusion, Root points her head in a direction which Shaw failed to look.
Sameen Shaw stares directly at the barrel of a fully loaded Glock being pointed directly at her from across the room. With a deranged, sadistic smile on her face Clair Mahoney stands with monumental confidence.
"Oh no, Shaw. Trust me, I'm not going to kill Groves. You are!"
