Saving Her: Chapter XII
Summary: Carter knows this is a good idea. She really does, because she's going to be saving Rosie, and anything after that just doesn't register. CarterxRosie
Author's Note: AHHH this is the last time I write a fic that has anything to do with the military! The jargon is harder to learn than Rosie's native tongue! Lols Anyhoo, OMG WE'RE FINALLY HERE! Next chapter is the big giant moment we've all been waiting for! But until then, enjoy this. :p
Disclaimer: I do not own Princess Rosalinda/Rosie Gonzalez, Carter Mason, or Princess Protection Program and all affiliated characters and environments. They are the property of Disney in conjunction with Annie DeYoung.
Rosie let out a hiss of air from her nose, shifting the weighty black weapon in her hands as she focused on her target.
"Steady." A soft voice echoed behind her. "Lift your right elbow—that's it. Now breathe, and release."
Suddenly everything was clear. The princess peered through the scope, zooming in on the moving figure in the distance, and a blanket of calm washed over her. Her back straightened, head tilted at the perfect angle as all tension seeped away from her and focused into the grip she had around her weapon. Her core tightened and she took in a slow, relaxed breath. The figure in the distance jerked, her heart thumped once, and then she squeezed the trigger.
The shaft of the arrow shot out of her crossbow with no noise, rustling a stray strand of her hair as it cut through the air and then sunk through the flesh of her target with a resounding 'thunk'.
"Nice shot!" A tinny voice cheered in her ear, and she smiled.
"Next, please."
"Twelve meters northeast."
Rosie blindly followed his direction, pivoting on her heel and shooting another arrow into the darkness. She heard another dull 'thunk' as her arrow sunk straight into her target.
"Next."
"Four meters south."
Rosie spun again, still crouched, drawing another arrow and releasing it into the air all in one, fluid movement. Thunk.
"Ten west."
Thunk.
"Three northwest."
Thunk.
"Seven direct right."
Thunk.
"Behind you!"
Rosie spun out of her crouch, releasing the head of an arrow dead into the forehead of her target only a few meters away. She didn't flinch.
"That…was awesome." There was a smile in that tinny voice now, one that she found herself reciprocating as the lights to the PPP indoor training facility whirred to life, illuminating the field where all seven of Rosie's enemies lay impaled on the ground. The white shaft of each arrow protruded from the chest of the thick wooden targets like a flag of surrender.
A door to her right swung open, and Ed came bounding over, an excited grin on his boyish features. Rosie grinned right back as she met his palm in a high five, pulling the small round radio bud out of her ear.
"Yeah!" He cheered, pumping his fist. "Who's good? We are!"
Above them, Majour Mason chuckled, shaking his head at the newest team of PPP agents. He leaned over the control panel, pushing a button as he looked down at them through the Plexiglas.
"Rosie, that was impressive."
The princess looked up, crossbow resting over her shoulder as she curtsied up at him.
"And Ed, very impressive."
Ed's boyish grin only grew at the praise.
"You two have scored higher in the rookie training exercise than most of our veteran agents." The Majour let out a low whistle, fiddling with a long strip of paper that was printing out of a slit in the controls. "100 percent!"
Ed looked down at his young friend, eyebrows up. "How'd you learn to shoot like that?"
"I told you I have extensive weapons training." She said simply. "It is also very easy to hit the targets when I am pretending they are all General Kane." Rosie's face darkened, jaw tense. "When I get my hands on him, I am going to k—"
"Whoa there, easy Lolita Lebron." Ed chuckled and pushed down her hands, agitated and tense as she mimed wringing his neck. "Don't go all 'political assassin' on us now. Princesses aren't supposed to have homicidal tendencies."
Rosie blew out a breath. "I am not a princess right now, Ed. Right now I am just an agent on a mission to rescue her best friend."
"With homicidal tendencies."
She pushed him lightly in the shoulder, smiling lightly. "Carter brings out many kinds of 'tendencies' in me, unfortunately. Or fortunately, depending on how you view it."
Ed stared at her for a moment, clearly imagining just what kind of tendencies she was talking about. Rosie blushed as she caught on, slapping him on the arm.
"Edwin!"
"Sorry! I'm a guy, what do you expect?"
A throat cleared above them, and this time there was red across both their cheeks as they looked up. Mason shook his head at them, clearly amused.
"Her father is still in the room, you two."
Rosie just ducked her head, hiding her eyes with her free hand as Ed laughed awkwardly next to her.
They had been in the facility for only a day, going through the Program's crash course in just about everything they needed to know. There wasn't enough time to train them properly; just barely enough to go over the basics before they needed to ship out. But Mason wasn't worried. Well, he was, for Carter, but after witnessing these two kids in action he knew they would do whatever it took to save his baby girl. And they would do it well. After all, nobody could teach them better than the School of Hard Knocks. Joe went down a set of stairs, heading out into the open field where Ed was yammering on about the infrared technology he had just mastered. Rosie was kneeled on the turf, locking in her Excalibur Phoenix crossbow and turning on the safety. He opened his mouth to speak when suddenly there was an entirely different sound slicing through the air.
The facility was drenched in red light, flashing as loud blaring horns echoed through their ears. Mason's eyes went wide as the alarms went off, and the Director's voice sounded off over all of headquarters.
"Attention all personnel, we have entered Stage Red. Team Alpha report to the hanger for immediate departure. I repeat, we have entered Stage Red, report to the hanger for immediate departure."
Rosie and Ed stood to attention, dread swirling in the pits of their stomach as Mason's face turned white.
"Majour Mason," Rosie's voice was fearful, yet a little bit soft; she didn't want to startle him. "What's going on?"
"We have to go." Joe spun on his heel, his two charges hot on his trail as he led them out. "S'a real FUBAR situation now, kids."
"FUBAR?" Ed questioned, stumbling a bit over his boots.
"Military slang, son. Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition."
It would take almost fourteen hours to reach Costa Luna, even in the Program's finest and fastest aircraft. Rosie still had no idea where the headquarters were located, but it was too far away for her liking. Especially after that.
Another video. They had been rushed into a transport aircraft, thirty to forty men of self-loading cargo, heavily armed and ready for combat. The princess suddenly felt tiny, her skills insufficient in comparison to these men. She had no idea The Program even had a use for such heavy militia, much less a need. They had been in the air but thirty minutes—which meant thirty minutes of maddening worry and panic, and thirty minutes spent entirely with Ed's hand in a vice grip so strong his fingers were turning purple, upon which she apologized but couldn't bring herself to be apologetic—when The Director herself climbed back into their space. She was armed and ready as well, a very grim frown pulling her thin lips so far downward it creased her face. Wordlessly she switched on the display, and the screen lit up.
It was painful. Purely painful as Rosie and the others watched General Kane's telecast. Rosie couldn't watch, but she couldn't tear her eyes away from the sight of her mother, bruised and bound, face etched with only the deepest kind of torment. She couldn't tear her eyes away from the angry, outraged faces of her people, the grinning, sadistically proud faces of her Guard. From General Kane's twisted victory, from Dimitri's smug betrayal.
And then there was Carter.
Carter. No amount of makeup or clothing could hide just what they had done to her best friend. Rosie felt as though someone had ripped her entire being into two, broken pieces. She could see the bruises, the cuts, the raw redness on her skin. She could see her usually strong friend's body shrink into fragility, trembling with degradation, her bones—Oh god, Rosie could count every single one of her ribs through that dress. Her eyes stayed glued to her sweet, dear Carter's face as she was shoved into the stone railing, as chaos broke out around them, as the capital square was drenched in shining red liquid life. Her eyes stayed on Carter as she struggled, as she tried to fight back, and as she finally disappeared into the chaos. Her eyes stayed on Carter until Carter was gone.
Carter was gone, and all she could see was red.
It was at that point she stumbled away, sobbing, to empty the contents of her stomach into the nearest waste bin.
A gentle hand on her back and she looked up into Majour Mason's watering, soft brown eyes. She fell into his chest, gripping his weapons' vest with white knuckles, crying apologies into his embrace, halfway to hysterical. The Majour didn't say a word. He simply held her until she calmed, but even through the desperation that had gripped her mind, she could feel the tears dripping into her hair.
Hours had passed since then, how many Rosie wasn't sure of, but she hadn't said a word since. The princess was near catatonic, throat inflamed and raw, limbs bogged down with sand, heart swelling up and down as waves upon waves of helplessness pierced through her like the tide. She sat and she watched Mason and his men plan the attack, devise their strategies and map out their reconnaissance. Rosie watched them silently as they poured over the sandbox, frustrated.
"We can't afford to screw the pooch on this one."
There was a murmur of agreement, the heavy silence in the air only reinforcing the nature of the situation. The carrier engines high pitched whine was the soundtrack to their attack.
"There's an airstrip on the south side of the island, sir." Ed had been pouring over radar scans of the island. They needed to land silently, away from detection, and so far nobody could see a way to do that without plunking down right in the middle of the ocean. "Even if you get far enough away, the island is so small we're still visible."
"The northwest portion of the island is all dense rainforest. Untamed tropical underbrush. If we land there the aircraft will not be detected. I am able to navigate you to the palace from there."
Mason looked over at her quiet words, smiling proudly. "You heard her then, boys. Once we land you are all under Agent Gonzalez's direction. Clear?"
The command was echoed through the men, and with a satisfied nod, Joe wandered over to her, sitting down with a world weary sigh. Ed joined them on Rosie's other side.
"You alright, pal?"
Rosie couldn't look at him, knowing that she was the reason his daughter, his only family, was so injured. She didn't understand why he had been so patient, so kind with her when this was all her fault. Didn't he see that this was all her fault?
"I don't blame you, Rosie."
Her head snapped up of its own accord, eyes wide. Could he read her mind? Mason smiled, patting her on the knee.
"This is not your fault. You didn't ask for some dictator to overrun your country and hold prisoner your mother. You didn't ask to be taken into The Program—in fact, if I remember correctly the only thing you asked for was to be taken out of it." He chuckled at the first appearance of a small, albeit timid, smile. "And you mostly certainly didn't send Carter into danger. She went because she loves you, just as much as you love her."
Both Rosie and Ed started at the knowing look on his face and in his words.
"I-what?" She squeaked, and Joe shook his head.
"I know my daughter Rosie, and anyone with eyes can see that she is very much in love with you. I'm pretty sure I know you well enough to see that her feelings are reciprocated. Back me up here, Ed."
"I told you!" Ed burst excitedly. "I told you she loves you!"
Rosie buried her face into her hands, bright red as the two men around her laughed. Mason pat her knee again.
"You don't need to be embarrassed, Rosie. It's okay."
She looked up at that. "It is?"
"Of course it is."
"You do not care that I am a girl?"
Mason waved it off like it was nothing. "Is that what you were worried about? No, all I care about is Carter's happiness. And I haven't seen her this happy in a real long while. Anybody who does that for my baby girl is just fine in my books." He made a face. "I'd much rather have her with you than that Donnie boy she was crushin' on. Boy reeks trouble stronger than week-old bait."
The Majour's words warmed her heart, steeling her resolve to bring Carter home safely. At any cost. Ed slung an arm around her shoulder, grinning.
"See? Told you you were worrying for nothing."
It was nearing eight AM as Elegante wandered around the empty palace halls, watching the early morning light slice through the sea brought fog in a way that was beautifully disturbing. It reflected the somber mood oppressing the nation, oppressing his heart with such a heavy dread and remorse he could barely breathe.
This was to be the morning the 'Princessa' was to be executed. He felt a twinge in his chest again. Carter was to be executed, in but a few short hours, and he felt all hope had died that she could be saved. He could do nothing to help her escape, he could go to no one for help, and because of that an innocent girl was to be murdered. A tear crawled down the designer's sallow face. He should not have agreed to the plan. He should not have let Carter sacrifice herself, let her get hurt, let her be killed. He should have found another way to keep his princessa safe. And to keep Carter safe, too. He should have.
Should have, would have, could have, but there was nothing now to do.
Simply watch. And wait.
If only it were that simple.
He had not seen Carter since she had been ripped from his side yesterday. He had looked, searched tirelessly in every room, every chamber, every nook and cranny of the Fiore Palace but the girl was nowhere to be found. The most unsettling fact was that the General was gone too. He had locked Sophia in her bedchambers and left two burly men guarding the doors, and had simply vanished into air as thin as that which Carter had also disappeared. And he was not allowed to visit with the former Queen, if the new bruise he sported was any indication that his clearance had been revoked.
Now, with his chest as empty as the halls that surrounded him, he had no hope.
Elegante rounded the corner, nearing the large staircase leading into the backwoods of the palace grounds. He had just reached the mezzanine when a flash of black caught his eye, accompanied by several loud clicks, and he whirled around.
A mass of black clad soldiers stood at the ready, weapons trained on his form with unwavering focus. It was the smallest figure at the head of the unit that restored all his faith into life. For that one moment he felt unparalleled joy.
"Princessa—!"
Rosie cut him off, tackling him to the floor with a fierceness he hadn't known she possessed. Her heel dug painfully into his chest as she knelt on one knee, the tip of her crossbow digging into his nose. Her face was hard, stony impasse with the brightest, most wildly enraged eyes he had ever seen. The sea of agents stood behind her, weapons drawn down to follow his descent to the floor. His impossibly wide eyes opened wider still as she spoke, voice deep and filled to the brim with steel.
"I will ask only once, Elegante." She pressed the tip of her arrowhead harder into his nose, almost breaking sin. It was not a question.
"Where. Is. Carter."
Author's Note: Jeez, I'm getting nervous…XD Tell me what you guys think? We're finally done going back and fourth, now everybody's in the same place and we're almost there! It's the moment you've all been waiting for: is Carter going to be saved?
