Shaun x Rosetta...this is gunna be a rollercoaster bwahahaha

Shaun was already in Desmond's room. He was slumped down in his chair, thinking. Seeing his cousin there only made his conflicting emotions worse. He heard the door, but figured it was a nurse, or the doctor, not expecting Amon and Rosetta to step through.

"O-oh, sorry." Amon said. "We were part of the same unit...didn't mean to intrude."

"No...it's alright...please come in..." Shaun said. His eyes fell over Rosetta, remembering the way he left her, remembering their hangout session. Jesus...

Rosetta ignored Shaun. She didn't realize recognize him, mostly because she wasn't really looking at him. She moved up to Desmond and put her hand in his, slumping down into the chair.
"I don't understand." She told Amon, tears trickling. "I got him out of the car, I took out the sniper. He should have been okay."

Shaun didn't know what to say or do. He had lost people before...knew what it felt like to blame yourself. He moved away, looking out of the window.

Amon went over to Rosetta and he placed a hand on her shoulder.
"There was a man in the building..." he said. "They had all areas covered...we weren't dealing with rebels, these were trained mercenaries. It's not your fault, Rose..."

Rosetta didn't respond. It was her fault. She should have kept Desmond with her, or something. When she heard the word mercenaries she finally looked up at him. Her eyes were dull, as though she was dead.
"Which group?" She asked him. They had dealt with some of the more radical named groups, was it one of them?

Amon shook his head.
"We don't have much of the intel..." he said. "Amalia, the woman that flagged us down, she was part of Blackwater for a few years, but after that she goes dark. Completely underground."

Rosetta stood and left the room, leaving the three men in it. She got back to her room and dressed in the fatigues they had provided, lacing up her boots. She didn't care how long it took, or how she would even manage it, but she was going to track down every last one of those motherfuckers and make them suffer. Suffer worse than Jones, worse than Sanders, worse than Wilton, worse than all of them combined. She'd kill them, their wives, their husbands, their children. She'd slaughter every last one of those motherfuckers or be slaughtered doing it. She didn't particularly care which.

Amon raised his eyebrows and he quickly as he could follow Rosetta. He pushed his through to the room and he placed his hands on her shoulders.
"Stop...what are you doing?"

"Don't touch me." She snapped, jerking away from him. "I told you not to fucking stop that humvee. I told you there was something wrong, and you didn't fucking listen. You may be my body-guard Sanders, but that doesn't mean I'm brainless." Oh God, she was so mad. She wanted to hurt him, to really fucking blame him, to wreck him so that he would let her go without a fight. "What the fuck do you think I'm doing? What you want me to sit here and mope?"

It stung Amon to hear those words from her. He knew he should have stopped, he knew he should have listened to her, but he thought...giving all of the raids on the locals...maybe he could do some good...show the people that the US Military was actually there to help them.
"You're right..." he whispered. "I should have listened to you, but you can't go off now. You need to heal. You need to think for longer than five seconds...."

Rosetta shook her head, feeling completely helpless. Her fingers shook as she tried to tie her laces, but it was like she forgot how to, like she had no control over her own body.
"I don't want to think." She got out.

Amon took her hands into his, kneeling down in front of her now. He shook his head and moved to caress her face tenderly.
"Then don't think..." he whispered. "But don't go out there...not now. Please."

Rosetta wanted revenge, she wanted to sleep, she wanted to fall apart. She buried her face in her hands for a moment before standing.
"I'll just go sit with Wilton." She told Amon quietly, compromising. When she got back to Desmond's room she noticed he had a visitor. "I'm sorry, I didn't-" She stopped. Was that Shaun?

Amon ran his hands over his face and made his way back to his room. He was tired...

Shaun looked back at the door when he heard Rosetta and he shook his head.
"It's alright..." he said, still looking out of the window.

"When I first met him, he didn't even know how to hold a gun." She said quietly, holding Desmond's hand. "He held it against his side like he was hunting video game zombies." She smiled, thinking of how innocent Desmond was. She had thought he was all wrong for the team, she couldn't imagine him sniping a fly much less a person. "How do you know him?"

Shaun smiled slightly as Rosetta spoke about Desmond. He was a regular fish out of water, he didn't understand why he wanted to follow in his footsteps.
"He's my cousin..." he said softly. "Thought he'd follow in my footsteps and join the marines when he finished up high school..."

Rosetta's face fell, feeling even worse.
"I'm sorry." She said quietly. "I tried really hard, I thought that if I could just get him and Amon out that it wouldn't matter if I made it. And now I'm okay and he's not." She whispered, looking at Desmond's face so that Shaun wouldn't see she was near tears, full of guilt.

Shaun finally looked over at her, but he couldn't see her face. He moved towards Desmond and he let out a long sigh.
"I know...I know you would have done everything you could have to keep your unit safe..." he said, trying not to think.

"I was going to tell you that I got called out, but it was so early when we got to the airport." She said quietly, and she finally looked up at him. She had some healing scars that were still visible, but even beat up and without makeup she was beautiful. "I have to be okay with knowing I tried. At least they're both alive. He's a strong kid, he'll make it." She said, mostly to reassure herself.

Shaun looked over her features, feeling his stomach twist into an uncomfortable knot. He nodded, looking back at Desmond.
"Yeah, he's to stubborn to let anything happen to him." he said. "When we were kids, he ran away from his home and came to mine. He stayed in a tree for three days. It was not a pretty sight."

Rosetta teared up, but she laughed, nodding.
"He told me that story. Didn't name you, but I heard about the Tarzan episode." She smiled, squeezing Desmond's hand. "I take it you were the rowdy cousin in all of his escapades."

Shaun chuckled and he nodded. He sat down on the chair and he glanced over to Desmond.
"Yeah...that's me." he said. "When we used to live in Appaloosa together we were inseparable. It was great..."

"I'm from Appaloosa." She said softly, smiling. "You guys are older me than me though. I lived out at the Oaks." She said, referencing the rich manor area of town. "So I went to private school. I wish I had known you both then, you were quite the hellraisers."

Shaun raised his eyebrows. He didn't think she lived there, mostly because everyone in the Oaks was into big business. Hardly anyone came out of there to join the military, but then he remembered their diner date, and in a way he understood better.
"Ah, yeah...we never went up there." he said. "Woulda been fun to know you back then. You were probably a hellraiser yourself."

"Just a little bit." She smiled slightly. "You know that huge fire out at the lumber mill? That was me." She admitted. "Totally accidental though." She said softly, but she shook her head because it was a lie. "Have the doctors said if he'll come out of this soon?"

Shaun smirked slightly. He could see it, it definitely would have been better to know her before...everything. When they went back to the topic of Desmond he shook his head.
"The doctors are confident." he said. "There was swelling, but it went down by a good chunk...so...I'm expecting soon."