*Updated 09-05-2018*

Chapter 43 - Movies and Regret

Digging into the drawers in their bedroom, Rosa put her hand to the very back and felt for the first aid kit.

She opened it up and pulled out some anti-bacterial liquid in a plastic bottle, some bandages, band aids and cotton wipes. She took this and sat in front of the mirror on the floor, wishing for better lighting. Pouring out some disinfectant onto the wipe, she held her breath and rubbed it along her wrists. She hissed in pain as her eyes watered; the anti-bac was stinging the cuts like a son of a bitch.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck." she whispered as she ran the wipe over it again, it soaking up the blood and cleaning it out.

She then quickly did the next wrist, until both were clean. The worst area was on the inner part of her wrist so opened out a band aid and stuck it on both sides. Reaching over to the drawers, Rosa grabbed some green paste that she had seen Vaas use and rubbed that into her skin on top of her wrist, to help it heal quicker.

She made quick work of trying to cover her hickeys as best as she could, before brushing her hair into submission and applying a light layer of makeup; Rosa was finally back to satisfactory standards.

"Fuck, you women take forever to get ready." Vaas chuckled.
Rosa just smiled and and started to pack the things away.
"I think that's the longest I've ever taken, you know. No thanks to your antics."

Vaas sat down heavily on the bed, re-loading his gun as Rosa pushed the medical things to the back of the drawers. Her hand ran across something cold and she brought out the camera.

"Hey, remember this?" she said, waving it in front of Vaas, who dropped his gun on the bed and rushed towards her.
"Oh god, yeah."
Vaas took it of her and pressed a few buttons. He breathed out of his nose, long and heavy and Rosa pulled the camera from him.
"Let me see."

Pressing the button to flick through the images, Rosa raised her eyebrows. Many shots were of her, posing seductively on the the bed.
"The most beautiful pictures of you, princesa." Vaas stated and Rosa smiled.
She kept going through the pictures until it stopped being her and turned into Jason and his friends. Rosa analysed each image, going through them slowly.

It was Jason and his friends at a bar, on the beach, in a boat. They all looked so happy and carefree. She took some steps back until her thighs hit the bed and sat down, her eyes never leaving the camera. A video was at the end of the gallery, Rosa hesitating before clicking play.

"To my brother Riley for getting his pilots license!" the video said.
Cheers were heard.
"From my fathers black card, to my black card!"
More cheering and glasses clinking.
"Where is that mother fucker, yo, Jason get in!"

Rosa saw Jason appear onto the screen, her chest getting tight. Then, the DJ, their scout, appeared; he was doing his job, having a conversation with them in an elevator about convincing them to go skydiving. That was the day that they had gotten captured. They all were so enthusiastic, excited to finish off their trip.

They all looked so happy and free.

The video came to a stop and Rosa sat on the bed, looking into nothingness.

"It doesn't matter anymore Rosa, they were nobodies." Vaas said quietly.
He sensed she was thinking about them.
"It doesn't matter? Of course it matters Vaas! They weren't nobodies; they controlled our lives for a period of time. They were just people having a good time on holiday and I swear, nearly all of them died."
"It's business though, Rosa. You know that, hermana. We needed the stock and we got some. You shouldn't feel bad, it's what we do. It was just unfortunate enough that Snow White had to fuck everything up for a little while. He's gone now, we don't need to worry anymore."

Vaas lit up a cigar and inhaled.
"Fuck everything up? He did more than that Vaas. I don't know, it's just weird looking into the past. He caused so much on these islands that I think people will always remember him. Everyone here remembers him. I hear his name mentioned sometimes. Do you ever wonder what his girlfriend and friends are up to now?"
"Princesa, I can't remember what I did last week, never mind remembering some inconvenient fucks that don't affect my life anymore. They should affect you either, Rosa. Gimme that."

Vaas took the camera off her and threw it back into the drawer. He then kissed the top of her head, Rosa sighing. Why didn't he think the same about it as her; Jason had nearly killed Vaas. Rosa rested her hand on Vaas' arm.

"Do you ever regret anything Vaas? Like killing people?" Rosa whispered.
"Ask me again when I'm high, princesa, then I'll let you know."
"Okay then. Do you want to go and fuck with the rejects for a while then? We've got nothing else to do." she asked.
Vaas chuckled.

"We could always watch a movie if you wanna?" Vaas suggested.
Rosa was surprised.
"You have movies, Vaas?" she asked.
"Yeah, I'm not a fucking cave man, princesa. I've got anything you could want, well, within reason."

Rosa smiled and pushed all thoughts of Jason and his friends out of her mind. She followed Vaas to the small desk of drawers next to the bed and watched as he opened it out. It was filled with a mountain of DVD's, earning a laugh from Rosa.

"Wow, I never knew!" Rosa bent down and dug her hand into the pile, "You've watched UP, Vaas?"
"Yeah, I liked it. That first part ... man." Vaas sighed and carried on rummaging.
"A Disney cartoon got to Vaas Montenegro?"
Rosa raised her eyebrows and picked up a DVD which couldn't have been more perfect.

"Vaas, Vaas! You've got Alice In Wonderland! We've got to watch it! Pretty please?"
Rosa stuck out her bottom lip and faked prayed. Vaas smirked.
"Fine. Give it here, I'll set everything up. You sit on the bed." he instructed.

She excitedly scrambled onto the bed, kicking off her boots and settled within the sheet of the bed. She shivered and shook herself in the sheet.
"It's cold when no one else is in it." she stated and Vaas grunted.

He was pulling in a TV set and a DVD player, huffing as he did so. It was positively prehistoric, making Rosa splutter with laughter.
"We really gotta order a new TV! Look at it, it's as old as Hoyt!" she exclaimed.

Vaas plugged it in and pushed the DVD in, grabbing the remote. He kicked off his shoes and lay atop the sheet, his legs outstretched. Rosa nuzzled her head into his arm until he brought it around her, so she was resting on him. Vaas pressed play.

"It's so weird doing this. Like normal stuff." Rosa said.
"I find watching movies fun. You can get a lot from them, hermana."
"Like how to kill people? What badass quote to say next?"
"Definitely. You know me too well, hermana."

Rosa smiled against Vaas and he tightened his arm around her. The film started and Rosa felt like Alice falling down the rabbit hole, only her rabbit hole was Rook; she would never be able to get out again, however hard she tried. But she didn't want to leave. She didn't understand why Alice wanted to leave Wonderland either. She mouthed some of the words along with the characters; it was her favourite story of all time and she just loved to do it.

A tinny sound came not from the TV but from all in the warehouse and Rosa jumped.

"Relax, princesa, it's just rain." Vaas stated and Rosa was a little surprised.
She hadn't seen or heard rain in a long time and she enjoyed the soft sounds it produced on the metal rooftop of the warehouse.

Towards the end of the film, she felt her eyes getting heavy and didn't even notice them closing. Vaas looked down at her and saw her snoozing by his side, so he managed to slip out, quietly turning the movie off to go and have some fun with the hostages, maybe make some videos to send to their parents.

He was in a good mood and decided to push Hoyt's words to the back of his head as he left the warehouse into the darkness that the rain brought onto Rook.

Many men were hidden in buildings and Vaas ran to the hostage area to get shelter, Rosa still soundly napping.

Happy Reading! :)