(Originally written August 19th 2014)

Wash couldn't help but feel like he was in his own bizarre re-telling of "Old Yeller." He knew how this was going to play out, but he wishes this situation would end more like "Homeward Bound" instead.

Washington was facing Caboose, almost mirroring the placement of how they were standing when Wash had handed over Freckles not a day before. This was not going to be pleasant, but, for some reason, Wash was the only one able to deal with...emotions in his team, especially emotions as volatile as Caboose's. The man felt everything fully: if he was happy, then he was exuberant, but if he was sad then he was broken...and that was something Wash was really trying to avoid.

Carolina was being taken care of by Dr. Grey, her stitches having been pulled out by the suddenness of her movement. She wasn't there to deal with Caboose, and even if she were then she wouldn't know how to. She was a capable leader, but she was efficient almost to the point of being sterile. She would get straight to the point, do things quick, and would push aside her feelings and Caboose's in order to do it. She wouldn't do it to be cruel, but she was a professional. She wouldn't let one person bring down a mission or put everyone else in danger if she could help it. She was getting better, but she was more likely to make demands than conversation.

Tucker knew Caboose the longest out of all of them so he knew how Caboose dealt with things better than Wash did and, Wash guesses, if he weren't there to "be the bad guy" then Tucker would be the one handling their current situation, but Wash was there, so the minute Wash had brought up the impending discussion, Tucker had thrown up his hands, backing away from the other.

"Nope, not happening," Tucker had said, shaking his head, "Last time Caboose and I had a heart-to-heart, he got angry and went and sat in the corner for two hours. It took stealing one of Grif's candy bars and promising to let him play with some old machinery to get him to quit sulking."

Wash wasn't sure he wanted to know what had caused all of that, but he could understand how that had blown up in Tucker's face. They may have know each other for a long time, but their friendship was awkward and strained in places that should have torn apart years ago. That and, despite Tucker caring about his friends, he wasn't exactly know for his tact.

So it came down to Washington. Always the bad guy, he supposed.

"Why do you need Freckles, Agent Washington? Is he going to the vet? He doesn't like needles so I don't think taking him would be a very good idea."

Wash sighed quietly, already questioning why he was the one to deal with this. He had already thought through why he was the logical choice but, as his grandmother one said, the least smelliest turd in the pile was still a piece of shit at the end of the day. Wash wasn't good at this. He didn't do emotions, not anymore, at least.

Caboose had his head tilted, his visor an expressionless mask, yet it still displayed what was going on beneath the surface, confusion mixed with an innocent quality that Wash was still surprised hadn't been wiped out before now.

"I just need to see him for a while, Caboose."

"But it's his nap time, he doesn't like when someone interrupts nap time. It makes him cranky. Kinda like when I wake up Tucker by throwing pillows at him, except with less shouting and more lasers...does Freckles still have lasers? Oh, tiny lasers! Just, wow, and here I thought Freckles couldn't get cuter than that one time with the hat. I should take a picture of Freckles' tiny lasers for Base Book!"

Caboose started to run off, but Wash grabbed him by the elbow, making the other turn back to him. He titled his head again, a movement that was starting to remind Wash of a puppy. "Do you want to be in the picture too?"

"I – I think the picture can wait, Caboose. Besides, I think Freckles needs to take a walk."

"Really? But we've already taken a walk today. To that big tower with the big lights, remember?"

The tower with the big lights that got overrun with guards with one hitching a ride back when they used the teleportation cube and almost stabbed Caboose in the back? Yes, Wash remembered it.

"Yes, I remember. I just thought that maybe Freckles needed another walk. Pets do need their exercise, after all."

Caboose seemed to be pondering that, or maybe he was daydreaming. It was hard to tell with Caboose. It was a while before he said anything, almost to the point where Wash was thinking about going back to their makeshift camp and trying again later, but then Caboose nodded his head, reaching back to where he had been storing Freckles.

"Yeah, you are right," Caboose said, stroking the little chip absentmindedly, "I really did want to go take that picture though..."

Wash walked up to Caboose, placing a hand on his shoulder comfortingly. "Hey, I've got an idea. How about I take Freckles for his walk, and you go look for a camera?"

Wash couldn't see Caboose's face, but he had no doubt the other man was smiling, "Okay! Thank you, Agent Washington," He then placed Freckles into Wash's hand, running off toward their temporary base, calling out as he ran, "Take good care of Freckles for me! See you when you get back!"

Wash sighed as he watched the other go, flipping the chip over in his hand a few times before turning around and walking into the forest around them, keeping an eye out for anyone else that may have teleported with them.

This was for the best, Wash reasoned as he walked further and further from their campsite, gun clutched in one and chip held in the other. Freckles was like a rabid dog, dangerous and not to be left around until someone got bit. That someone was almost Caboose, the serrated blade that had been moving towards him made to bite like teeth.

Freckles couldn't stay.

Not that it really was Freckles anyway. Epsilon had taken the liberty of scanning "Freckles" while Caboose had his back turned, the A.I's analysis having shown that even though it was the Mantis' "brain", it had been gutted and refitted to be a tracking device, all the while looking like a circuit board. Wash had been able to recognize it as being the robot's "brain" on the outside, what with having had to deal with technology like that during his early days in the military, but he had neglected to realize that just because it looked trustworthy on the outside, didn't mean that the inside wasn't corrupt.

Wash thought he should have learned that lesson by now.

After a few hours of walking, far enough that he felt safe enough to do what he had to do, he stopped in front of what looked to be a green lake, its surface glowing unnaturally and reflecting off the rocks that surrounded it. Wash watched as a leaf fell into the lake, sizzling before being disintegrated into a puff of smoke.

Wash looks down at the chip in hands, feels a pang of regret for what he's about to do, before snapping the chip in half, throwing the pieces into the lake with a splash.

Wash made his way back to camp, doing a perimeter check on his way. Caboose was sat on a rock, camera sitting on his lap. It was purple with some stickers on it. He probably borrowed it from Donut.

Caboose was looking down at his feet, but perked up when he heard Wash coming, "Agent Washington! I got the camera. How was your walk?"

"Uh, Caboose, we need to talk."

It took a while, but Wash thinks he was able to get Caboose to understand. He didn't tell him that Freckles hadn't been Freckles, didn't tell him that keeping him would have been a danger to them all, but instead told him that Freckles had to go away for a little while. When asked why, Wash told him it was for protection, though he neglected to say whose. Caboose interpreted it as being for Freckles' protection since he was so small now.

Caboose had sounded sad, maybe even a little angry at Wash, but he said that he understood, his head tilted down and looking at his boots. It was a dangerous place to have a pet, he had said.

Caboose then had asked where Freckles had gone and, channeling a book Wash had read in high school, Wash had said that he had gone to live on a farm, one with lots of bunnies that Freckles could chase. Caboose seemed to perk up a bit at that, saying that bunnies were very nice. Wash had agreed, saying that Freckles would be very happy there and that Caboose shouldn't worry about him.

Caboose had nodded after that, standing up and saying he was going to give Donut his camera back, and then ask if Donut used to have bunnies back on his farm. He walked away then, with considerably less enthusiasm than he had when he had run off before. He wasn't happy, not at all, but he wasn't quite saddened enough to completely shut himself down for hours like he had done when Church had left.

Wash sighed, sitting down and leaning against the rock Caboose had been sitting on. He had hated "Old Yeller" when he was a kid, he had thought it cruel that Travis had to of been the one to shoot his own dog, had hoped that someone else would have spared the boy from having to do that, but no one did. It had been Travis' passage into adulthood, but forcing Caboose to see what, in Caboose's mind, was his pet be killed in front of him wasn't something Wash was willing to do.

It was his fault for taking that chip from Locus in the first place, his fault for not realizing that it was a trap, his fault that they had been ambushed, and his fault Caboose's had almost gotten hurt, almost gotten killed, so if the price of keeping his friends safe was having to shoot a metaphorical dog, then so be it. He could handle having his friend be upset with him, but having another friend die? Not so much.

The book Wash was thinking about was "Of Mice and Men." It's a very good, very sad book. I recommend it. "Old Yeller" is a 1957 Disney movie that acts like it's just a nice story about a boy and his dog but is deceptive and sad and I think Wash wouldn't like that and would prefer "Homeward Bound", a 1993 Disney movie, that was about two dogs and a cat and their journey home towards a happy ending.

I hope this was interesting. Thanks for reading!