Rosie now sat on the room's bench, General Carter sitting across from her in a chair that had just been brought in (General Carter could sure make things happen quickly) in a position where she could observe both Rosie and the still form of Marcus with just a slight swivel of her head.

Marcus hadn't moved in the slightest. Rosie had of course refused to leave the room, which General Carter had acquiesced to, deciding that the conversation she needed to have with Rosie could take place right here. The medical machines still made their noises and Rosie took more comfort in that than anything. They meant that Marcus was still alive.

General Carter had silenced the radio on her left hip so she could speak to Rosie without distraction and she now held Marcus's pistol in her hands, promising Rosie that she wasn't going to take it away from her permanently. She looked at the firearm that still had the slide locked back with a gleam in her eyes of someone replaying a distant memory.

"When they found Mark, Senior that is, this was what he had in his hand," Carter said, turning the small pistol over in her hands and examining it more closely. "It was just like this. He had used or handed out to others every single round of ammunition for all three weapons he had on him, including this, his second sidearm."

"You knew Marcus's father?" Rosie asked, glancing down at the pistol in Carter's hands, and back up at the woman's despondent face.

Carter smiled a little, her gaze seemingly miles away. "Of course I knew him. He was my Chief."

Rosie cocked her head slightly in confusion and Carter laughed; it was a most pleasant sound.

"I guess Marcus didn't tell you much, did he?" she observed. "He wasn't known to talk much about anything he went through, so I'm not exactly surprised."

Carter breathed deeply. "When the Battle of Honolulu took place, I was the commanding officer of the defense. I was the Security Forces squadron commander for a long time and Mark was my chief enlisted supervisor. We worked together in that capacity for nearly three years, but I knew him since the moment he got here. So, given all that, when the Column hit us we were right there together on the front lines, along with Marcus."

Sighing, Carter looked at Rosie. "In the early stages of the fight, I stuck my head up a little too far, trying to get a good look at the enemy's position."

She tapped her left collarbone. "Took a bullet right here. Didn't stay awake for long after that. And this kid," she gestured to Marcus, "was the one that carried me out. He hauled me all the way to the nearest medical evacuation point. Then, after that he went right back in after his Dad."

She pulled the empty magazine out of the pistol and ratcheted the slide forward before slapping the magazine back in place. "Anyway, this pistol was something that Mark had on him at all times. His father bought it around 2010, so Mark told me, and he gave it to Mark before he passed. It was Mark's most treasured possession. Now it belongs to Marcus. The only reason we let you hang onto it was we understand what it means to Marcus. The fact that he handed it to you in the first place says a lot about you, I think."

Carter smiled ruefully. "Anyway, I haven't seen this pistol, or Marcus, in a long, long time. I'm not sure he ever left Iroquois Point after he moved there. Well, I guess he did, since you were there, but I'm sure you understand what I mean."

"I do," Rosie whispered, looking at the ground.

"Mark was one of the best friends I've ever had. And Marcus is like my own child; I watched him grow up," Carter said quietly. "I wish I had made more time to visit him, but I'm not sure that's what he wanted."

Carter turned to Marcus and gazed at him warmly for a few moments, before she turned back to Rosie. "So, Rosie, what I need for you to do for me please, is to tell me everything that happened at the house."

"I didn't see anything," Rosie said quietly. "I was in the upstairs bedroom closet for the entire time."

"Well, what did you hear?" Carter pressed. "Please... Any details you can give me will be incredibly helpful."

Rosie didn't see the harm in being honest here, so she told Carter as many details about what she had heard as possible, calculating what was likely for a human to hear under those circumstances and sharing anything that qualified.

General Carter listened with rapt attention and Rosie could tell that the woman, not unlike a quantum computer, was thoroughly absorbing every single detail that was relayed to her, only interrupting when she had a question of vital importance to ask.

It took Rosie nearly ten minutes to convey to General Carter everything she deemed worthy to mention, before she concluded her retelling with the slight lie that she had gone downstairs to investigate after things had been quiet for a little while, only to find Marcus unconscious and nearly dead.

"Sergeant Jimenez told me that she lost contact with you," Carter stated. "Were you disconnected?"

"Yes," Rosie nodded once. "And I was so distracted and worried, I didn't think to call her back."

"It was very brave of you to go after him like that."

Rosie shook her head. "No, not at all. I hadn't heard anything in a while; no gunshots, no voices; just the alarm system. I didn't think there was any danger left. And when Marcus didn't come back... I couldn't not go... It was brave what he did for me."

Carter smiled a little at this. "I'm not sure Marcus would agree with you. He doesn't consider himself brave."

Rosie tried to return the smile, but her lips wouldn't cooperate. "Yes, I suppose. He told me that's just the way he's programmed."

Carter gave a laugh. "He had that conversation with you too, huh? Yeah, him and his 'programming'. He refuses to take any credit for anything he's accomplished. We had to pretty much force him to accept his Medal of Honor; he said he didn't deserve it. Utter nonsense; of course he deserved it."

"What exactly did he do?" Rosie looked up, meeting the General's gaze. "You said he saved you. What else? He hasn't told me anything."

"Are you sure you'd like to know?" Carter asked, softly.

"Yes. More than anything. Whatever happened to him irrevocably changed him, I think. I just... want to know why."

Carter sighed. "Okay... Well, in the first stages of the fight, Marcus did what he was best at: he set up a sniping position and began picking off any enemy target he could find. He was one of the best marksmen I've ever seen; a natural with a rifle. So, he did that for a while."

The General glanced at Marcus's still form for a moment, before she returned her gaze to Rosie and continued. "Then things really began getting chaotic. After I got hit, with the wounded piling up, Mark took command and ordered Marcus and a few others to begin evacuating the wounded out. He put Marcus in charge of that. According to reports, we thought we had the battle in hand. Turns out, the Column's most vicious assault was yet to come... Marcus carried me and another six wounded people out, one at a time. That's when he took the first bullet; a hit to his left forearm. Mind you, this is all what was reported to me by eyewitness accounts and by Marcus himself; I was long out by this point. Marcus could have allowed himself to be evacuated out after he was hit, but he refused. He wanted to get back to the line; back to his father. After carrying the first six of us out, he tried to get back five more times, but always found someone else who needed to be carried out first. One of those was Sergeant Sullivan, who I believe you've met. Then, Marcus was shot again, in his stomach this time. He hid the extent of that one, apparently, so no one really knew. He just kept trying to get back to the line."

Tears were beginning to form in Rosie's eyes and Carter noticed.

"Do you want me to stop?" she asked quietly.

"No," Rosie whispered, wiping the tears from her eyes before they could fall on their own. This was in the past and Marcus had survived it. Why was this affecting her so much? "Please continue."

Nodding, Carter sighed again. "By this point, everyone other than Marcus who had been assigned to the evacuation mission in the first place were either dead, or too injured to continue. No one was left to tell him to stop. It was all pure, unbridled chaos. On his last trip back to the line, Marcus ran into four Column fighters that had gotten through and he killed them all, but he got hit twice more, in his right leg and the left side of his chest, which punctured his lung. That bullet had just missed the armor plate in his vest, too. Another quarter of an inch over and it wouldn't have touched him."

Carter paused for a moment, to rub her eyes. Her tone made it clear that she wasn't terribly fond of talking about this part of the story, especially.

"We don't know how he was still moving, honestly. What he couldn't have known was that if he'd waited five minutes, reinforcements would have arrived and he wouldn't have been allowed to continue. He was never about waiting... Anyway, he made it within twenty feet of Mark, who was gone by then. Then an RPG hit right next to him; the shrapnel tore into his back and his left leg and shredded them horribly and that was it. A few minutes later they found him, barely clinging to life and they managed to get him back here in one piece, more or less. He died three times on the operating table but they kept bringing him back. Everyone who was there that I spoke to about it told me that they'd never seen anything like it. Four bullets, a ton of shrapnel, a collapsed lung and extreme blood loss. We didn't have the resources to help him make a complete recovery, obviously. He still has shrapnel embedded in his body and he's in constant pain. So, he loses his father, and is permanently hurt. Then, to make matters worse, what was left of his life collapsed soon after."

"His fiance," Rosie sniffled a little, wiping another tear away.

"I'm surprised he told you about that," Carter stated, raising an eyebrow slightly.

"He didn't at first," Rosie said. "I walked in on him sleeping. He was having a nightmare. I laid down next to him, just because I didn't want him to be alone, and..." She trailed off, not at all sure why she was sharing this with General Carter.

"Oh, I see," she responded knowingly. "Are you okay, Rosie?"

"Yes. He didn't hurt me very much. He thinks he did, but he didn't."

"Either way, that likely devastated him," Carter replied sadly. "He told me that he never wanted to do that to anyone else... I was a little hesitant when Governor Inouye approached me about making a decision for Marcus to live out on Iroquois Point, but after I talked to Marcus about it, I couldn't in good conscious block it from happening. After everything he's done and everything that's happened to him, I couldn't refuse him something like that. Neither could the Governor."

Carter sighed again. "So, we let him live out there and we let him drink as much as he wants and that's where he's been for three years. Who are any of us to tell him how to live? He's earned to right to do as he pleases as far as I'm concerned, even if I don't exactly approve of all of it. I am glad that he met you, Rosie. He needs friends, even if he doesn't think he does. I'm sorry about what just happened."

"Do you know who it was who attacked us?" Rosie asked.

"Yes," Carter nodded. "One of them survived. He was unconscious when we found him, but he's stable. We woke him up a few hours ago and he's been... quite cooperative. It was the Fifth Column Remnant. They've been quiet for years; decided now was the time to pick off certain people. They were going to start with Marcus and then make an attempt on the Governor."

She smiled broadly. "And on myself and other military leaders, apparently."

"But how did they know he was there at all?" Rosie asked. "I thought it was a secret?"

"Oh, it certainly was," Carter's voice adorned the icy quality that was her first impression. "He was sold out by one of our own. We have him in custody now, don't worry."

"Who...?" Rosie whispered disbelievingly. "Who would do that? Why...?"

"I'm afraid that's all I can tell you at the moment," Carter said. "Rest assured, there will be a reckoning for what's happened tonight."

There was a moment of pause as Rosie reflexively glanced at Marcus, before she turned to the floor in front of her.

"General..." she began. "I'd like to stay here with Marcus, please. I don't want to leave him."

"Are you sure that's what you want?" Carter asked, glancing around the room. "It won't be terribly comfortable here."

"I don't care. If at all possible, I won't leave him."

Thinking on this for a moment, Carter finally nodded. "Very well. I'll have them bring you clean clothes and a cot that you can sleep on. I'll also make sure you're assigned a Security Forces escort. Any time you need to leave the building, they'll be with you. There's also a room for you at the base's lodging facility, if you choose to stay there. At the very least, it's available to you when you need to shower. Meals will be provided for you whenever you're hungry. I'm afraid, given all that's going on, you're not going to be able to leave the base for a little while. If you think of anything you need from the house, let someone know. We have a full contingent out there now and there they'll stay until Marcus wakes up."

"Will you let him live out there after this?" Rosie asked.

"No, we can't," Carter's eyes illustrated her sadness at this. "Soon, everyone will know what happened. His secrecy and therefor his security is entirely compromised. I'm not looking forward to that conversation with him, but he'll understand. We'll let him live just about anywhere else he asks; he just has to figure out where that is."

Carter stood up, and straightened her already perfect uniform. "Unfortunately, I need to be off. I just wanted to stop by and check in."

She laughed again, only slightly this time. "It doesn't look like I'll be sleeping much the next couple of days."

"I don't think I will, either," Rosie muttered, the irony of her statement not lost on her.

"Well, do try. I know Marcus would want you to be comfortable."

General Carter moved to the foot of Marcus's bed, held the pistol in her left hand and snapped to full attention, rendering the most crisp salute Rosie had ever seen.

"God speed, kid," she said, before turning back to Rosie. "Try to relax. He's through the worst of it."

"General Carter," Rosie said.

"Yes ma'am?"

"Thank you so much. For everything."

Carter just smiled. "Any friend of Marcus is a friend of mine. And a friend of the United States Air Force. It was lovely meeting you, Rosie, though I do wish it were under better circumstances."

And with that Carter handed the pistol back to Rosie, grabbed her radio from her belt, turned the volume up and began speaking into it as she left the room.

Even though the woman was walking away, Rosie heard a substantial part of what she said.

"Major Watts? I need another volunteer five minutes ago to keep an eye on our civilian. She'll be staying with him. Someone you trust implicitly. We'll discuss babysitting shifts shortly... Oh, and we need to talk about Sergeant McNeil..."

Before too long, her voice was too far out of range for even Rosie to hear. But that was just fine; Rosie had really liked General Carter.

Dragging her chair to Marcus's bedside, Rosie laid his pistol next to him and pick up his left hand with both of hers and held it for nearly an hour before she realized how strange that probably would look sooner or later.

So, she laid her head down next to him, but continued steadfastly holding his hand with one of her own. She closed her eyes and pretended to sleep, as nurses came in and left at irregular intervals to check on Marcus.

Before too long, the cot that Carter had said was coming arrived, delivered by a pair of Airman. Despite that, Rosie stayed at Marcus's bedside, her head laid next to him, and pretending to sleep for the remainder of the night.

Even over the noise of the machines, she could hear his heartbeat perfectly.

She had never heard such a comforting sound.

Author's Note:

Codex, by Radiohead