( secretlystephaniebrown ) Carolina/Niner: Reunited after Chorus. Meeting the family gets awkward when Caboose turns out to be one of Niner's siblings.
A/N: Can I turn angst into cute? Probably not, but I attempted anyway! And as always, Niner Caboose is a headcanon that originated from goodluckdtective on tumblr!
Red vs Blue and related characters © Rooster Teeth
story © RenaRoo
You Again, Always You
"And here I thought I was never going to see you again."
Carolina meant every word of it. The last few months had been a harsh reality check, a difficult lesson in finally learning how to properly say goodbye. The one thing she had spent an entire lifetime learning to do the opposite of.
Chorus was a broken planet, mildly being brought back together with duct tape and glue where they could find to put it.
She had tried desperately to be some assistance in that effort, but of course it was hard to fix things when you also felt so thoroughly broken.
Another ship landing with possible UNSC aid, as it had been trickling in, had not initially been something to capture her interest. She was only at the dock to meet the ship because she was a good fighter, always alert, and they had had Hargrove goons attempt to sneak onto the planet before.
The last thing she was expecting to see was a familiar face.
Niner's face was all broad smiles and exuding over confidence. There was an excitement to her that Carolina hadn't felt herself since discovering that Washington was still alive.
"You should know me better than that," Niner said before reaching forward and pulling Carolina into a hug. "A good pilot doesn't leave anyone behind."
Despite herself, Carolina went all rigid and uncomfortable at the overly strong embrace of the woman.
She didn't know how to deal with… affection on a normal day.
And Carolina hadn't exactly had normal days since she had lost Epsilon.
"So, you've gotta tell me." Niner said, breaking the hug but still tightly gripping Carolina's shoulders. "What's the story behind how you ended up in the middle of bumfuck nowhere with my little brother!?"
That was when Carolina's brain went to a complete halt. "What."
Carolina watched with some distance between herself and Niner. She had heard, long ago, that Andromeda was Niner's true name, but she had never gotten a last name.
Even if she had given it thought over the recent years, she could have never predicted that it would be Caboose.
She watched the reunion between siblings and something deep, deep within her grew jealous and twisted. God, how she had no idea how much she had missed that closeness, that exuberance of family.
Until she lost it again.
Washington was not far from her, scratching his head and looking with confusion at the scene.
"Did you know about this?" Carolina finally managed to ask.
"Know about Caboose having eighteen sisters? Yes," Wash acknowledged. "Did I know that one of them was Four Seven Niner? No. How could anyone have predicted that twist?"
She stared at the scene of two siblings for what seemed like ages before Niner broke from Caboose's side and came toward the only two people she knew of the group beside her brother.
There was a hurt confusion on her face as she stopped by them.
"Who's Church? And why's my baby brother so upset about him?" she asked in that tough as nails, partially uncouth way that should have filled Carolina with longing for the good old days.
But all it did then was make Carolina somewhat sick.
"Ask Wash," she answered before the stunned look had vanished from Wash's face and then she turned and left the situation as quickly as possible.
She ignored how Niner's gaze bore into her back.
Time passed, Carolina did everything she could to keep herself busy. To keep herself as unapproachable as possible by piling on responsibilities onto herself – anything that Kimball needed help with, any chore the Reds and Blues wanted to shirk.
Normal people, people like the Feds and News, took the hint of her constantly determined face, and the brisk speed she walked as hint enough to stay far away from Carolina as she worked.
Niner, like so many of them tangentially related to Freelancer, was far from normal, and took exactly zero hints.
"You're working yourself to death," Niner pointed out while Carolina worked on patching up one of the outer walls for their temporary capital.
"I can handle myself," Carolina said without even looking to her. "Shouldn't you be with Caboose? He needs–"
"He wanted to follow around some kid named Andersmith," Niner responded before finding a seat nearby. "As much as I want to hold onto him and not let go for the rest of his days after thinking he's been dead for years, I kind of feel like it's more important right now that he's reminded that he still has friends."
"He does," Carolina replied courtly. She finished patching the wall and rested her forehead against it.
There was that rush of pain again – that pang throughout her being that reminded her he's really not there anymore.
Niner still wasn't leaving. "Still, you can't replace someone you lost when you loved them," she said in a voice that, for Niner, was unusually soft.
"I know," Carolina said thinly.
"Especially family," Niner replied.
Turning quickly on Niner, Carolina glared at her. "What are you doing here?" she demanded. "What do you want from me? To be friendly? To be like good ol' times? I can't. I can't go back. I've lost everyone from the good ol' times. And just when I was making new good times, I lose… I lose–"
Niner stood up to face Carolina. She was shorter – no match for Carolina in the height department. But it didn't make her any less intimidating somehow.
"I'm here right now because I realized that my brother isn't the only one who needs someone's shoulder to cry on," she explained. "And because I'm the only one on this planet who is both more stubborn than you and not even remotely scared of that infamous temper."
"You aren't?" Carolina asked with a glinting warning in her eyes.
"Never have been," Niner said. "Because you and I both know I'm scrappy. I'd kick your ass right back."
Carolina and Niner locked eyes for a long few, tense moments.
Then, almost despite herself, Carolina snorted. Niner then broke into a smile and laughed back.
They laughed – the first time Carolina had heard herself laugh in months – and soon enough she found herself with her forehead resting on Niner's shoulder, laughing, instead of against the wall with disappointment and anger.
It was the start of something different.
"I know what you're thinking," Niner said, fingers laced with Carolina's own as they walked through the outskirts of Chorusian territory. "Why, of everyone, is it me that keeps coming back out of the blue. Rebounding like a boomerang."
"You don't know me as well as you think you do," Carolina assured her. "What I've needed… What I'll always need, is someone in my life who comes back when I least expect it. When I might just be alone."
Niner's eyes look to Carolina, sharp and witty. She was full of surprises.
The kind of surprises that filled the pain she was feeling after so much loss.
"I'm your girl for that?" Niner asked curiously.
"You're too old to be anyone's girl," Carolina joked, receiving a punch to the shoulder.
"Speak for yourself!" Niner laughed.
Carolina laughed back, too.
She didn't tell Niner what she was really thinking. That of all the things, of all the support and of all the familiarity, what she saw when she was with Niner was the laughter that she had been missing since she lost Epsilon.
It was that same dry, sardonic tone that Carolina utilized herself. It was that same protective love of her own, and how "her own" kept expanding each day they were around the Reds and Blues.
She loved that Niner taught her how to love all those things about herself, through someone else.
And even if she couldn't bring herself to say as much, she hoped the kiss secured that Niner knew it.