In the early days of Project Freelancer, everything seemed exciting and thrilling. New weapons, new armor, new vehicles and new faces, and for the new kid known as Agent Washington, he thought it would be great and fun. However he was wrong. Only two months in and on his first major ops, he f**ked up big time. South Dakota yelled at him for what seemed like hours about being a dumbass after screwing up the while mission and nearly getting her and her brother killed. He felt like he deserved it.
It was nearly two in the morning on board the Mother of Invention, but he couldn't sleep. His big f**k up kept him up all night, he just sat there in the Rec Room with a bottle of Jack Daniels thinking about it over and over again. Carolina and South hiding behind a rail cart in a train yard as an enemy soldier was closing in. He picked up the rifle and took the shot before he could get close. He missed, and the enemy soldier alerting the whole base. His first major op, and he f**ked it up.
"Hey." He heard someone call the doorway. There leaning against the door frame was the red haired agent wearing shorts and teal tank top. "What are you still doing up?"
Washington quickly stood up and tossed the bottle into a nearby bin and started cleaning his face. "Ag, Agent Carolina. Sorry I didn't know you were there."
Carolina stood up and stepped back and out of the rec room. "New guy right? Its two in the morning new guy, what are you still doing awake."
Washington slowly began to walk out of the rec room. After his big f**k up, which nearly got her shot, he knew he was in big trouble. "Sorry Agent Carolina."
"Are you feeling tired Agent Washington? If so I suggest you head back to your bunk and get a good three hour sleep. We gonna start training at five." She stated firmly and aggressively. " The last thing I need is another mess like what happened down there."
Washington wiped the sweat from his face and quickly walked out of the room. "Your right. Sorry boss, it won't happened again, I swear." He said and started heading back to his room. Mid way down the hall however he heard her call out to him again.
"Hey." She said more softly this time. He turned around to face her and the look on her face was less stern She slowly started walking towards him. "Its not in my place, thats what the shrinks are for and i don't normally do this either. But, if you need to, you know, talk things out, you can talk to me."
Washington smiled just a little bit at her offer. "No its fine, but I appreciate it. Thank you."
"Are you sure?" She asked.
"Yeah, its fine." He said. "No need to worry. Tomorrow will be different."
After the mission to recover the sarcophagus, everyone was tired and exhausted from the battle. But Carolina, she felt like she had it worse then almost anyone else. What happened on the highway replayed in her mind over and over again. The Briefcase was right there, just across the street, but then Texas had to sweep in and steal the prize from her. And now she was sitting in the lounge downing shots of hard liquor alone while Texas was getting congratulated for her work.
"Hey, you alright?" She heard coming from behind her. She didn't need to turn around to know who it was.
"I'm fine Wash." She said, angrily and then down another shot.
Washington looked concerned for Carolina. She was never like this after a mission, not even after a failed one. Whatever it was really, it really had her down. "Are you sure? If you wanna-"
"I said I'm fine!" She shouted and then slammed her hand down on a shot glass. The glass shattered cutting up her hand and started to bleed. She didn't mind one bit, but Washington was to squeamish and decided to leave her and her bloody hand be.
"Okay I'm sorry. I'll just leave you alone then." He said and quickly ran for the door. However he stopped right as the door opened, he couldn't leave her like this. He walked back, taking some napkins and offered to clean her hands. "Give it hear." He said.
Carolina only huffed and then gave him her bloody hand. He started wiping it and trying to pick out the bits of glass and then wrapped it with gauze. Carolina's hand still stung a bit, but the alcohol helped numb the pain. "I'm sorry." She said. "I didn't mean to snap at you."
"Its okay. No harm no foul." Wash said calmly and then poured them both a shot. They clanked glasses and downed the hard drink together. "I'm still here, so talk. You know you can always talk to me?"
Carolina stayed quiet for a moment. She could feel the anger she felt for Texas build up, and not even the alcohol could help with that. She was certain not even Washington could either. "I don't wanna talk Wash. I'm not feeling it." She said.
"Are you sure he asked?" He asked.
"Yeah. I'll be okay. But thanks for caring."
It's been nearly a week since she found them screwing around in Valhalla. She still couldn't believe that Washington put up with these poor excuse for simulation troopers, they were all pathetic. Washington however thought differently, sure they were idiots, but they helped him hide out from the military police, so that was one good thing. Just that alone was more then anything his so called friends from Freelancer ever did for him, aside from betray him.
The day Carolina arrived in the valley, he was sort of happy seeing her alive, but he was majorly upset. After everything Washington went through, why couldn't she had just stayed away. Why did he have to follow her in finding the Director. He sat up over the edge of the large desert ruin looking over the Reds and Blues below asking himself, why he let himself get dragged into her wild goose chase. Why was he still fighting someone elses fight.
"What are you doing up?" He heard form behind. Speak of the devil herself, Carolina was approaching from behind and stood there beside him. "I'm taking first watch. You better get some rest before its your shift." She said and turned around waking away.
As she walked away she heard him give a deep sigh and then replied. "Yeah boss." He said almost heartless.
Carolina stopped dead in her tracks, he didn't even sound like himself. he sounded like a complete stranger. She turned around kneeled behind him. "Hey, whats the problem?"
He just nodded and said. "Nothing." Again with that heartless tone. Like a complete stranger.
Carolina didn't like it. She put her gun down and sat beside him on the edge of the building. "Come on Wash. Talk to me. Remember when we used to talk?"
"That was along time ago." He said, again heartless.
Just hearing him like this broke her heart. She knew about what happened, but she didn't know how much it changed him. She didn't know who he was anymore. "I'm sorry Wash." She said, which he though was completely unexpected. "I'm sorry I dragged you and your friends into this. But the truth is I need you. Not because your the only one I could find, but because your the only one I can trust. But I am glad to see you again."
Washington remained silent for a moment, but he did smile underneath his helmet. She was being honest with him, and he was glad. "I appreciate it. And I'm glad to see you too." He said.
Carolina smiled. There was the old Washington she knew. She gave him a nice pat on the shoulder. "Well, I shared, now what about you?" She said.
Washington stood up and gave her a hand to get on her feet. "Not now, I have watch coming up and I'd rather spend my last moments before hand napping." he joked. Carolina chuckled at his remark. "Seriously though, I don't want feel like talking. Maybe tomorrow."
He said and then started making his way down. "I'll be here when your ready to talk." Carolina said.
After the destruction of Armonia, and their armies in full retreat everything seemed as though their fight was falling apart, but after Kimball's speech, she gave everyone hope. Instead of running away in fear, the soldiers were ready to fight back and fight like hell. However Carolina was still concerned. In their years during the war, Carolina and Washington had seen many things, and the one thing they knew was that they wouldn't get far with Felix and Locus.
Felix and Locus, the two mercenaries were dangerous and very capable even against them. Thats what Carolina feared. She stayed awake late at night, thinking about it. When would they fight again, would they beat them, can they beat them. She was afraid they wouldn't stand a chance. She was afraid that all their fighting would've been for nothing.
"Now what are you up?" She heard Washington's cheery voice close by. "I thought we agreed that I would take first watch." He said jokingly and then sat beside Carolina.
"If your on watch, then why are you here with me are you?" She jokingly said back. Washington chuckled at her remark. He took off his helmet and rested it on his lap. "You seem pretty good." She said.
"Yeah I try to be." He said. He pulled out his water canteen and offered Carolina. She took a drink and then gave it back to him. "So whats going on? Why are you up?"
"No reason." She lied. "What about you. Whats going on with you?"
"If I'm being honest, I'm pretty f**ked up." He said. He still had the same smile, but now Carolin could see through it. He seemed afraid. "I know what are job is, and I know we can do it. But I'm worried for the other guys. Sure they've been through some tough sh*t, but nothing like this."
Carolina felt the same way. They were her friends too, she was also worried. But they had the whole army by their side, she was sure they would make it through. She had to hope they would. She lost enough friend already. She didn't want to lose anyone. "I just hope they make it through." He said.
Carolina put her hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure they will. They're survivors. Like us." She said and smiled but it quickly vanished. Sure the Reds and Blues had the whole army behind them. They were alone, all they had was each other. And she wasn't sure that would be enough.
Washington noticed her uneasiness. Her put his hand on her shoulder. "Come on whats up? You can talk to me."
Carolina didn't say anything. She just rubbed her eyes and started standing up. "Its okay Wash. Nothing to worry about. I'm fine." She said and started making her way back to camp.
Washington put his helmet back on and picked his gun back up. "If you wanna talk, you know where to find me."
Washington splashed cold water in his face and felt the cold drip down from his face. He had yet another nightmare. All the friends he had lost, all of their faces, screaming in his face. He felt like their deaths were all his fault. Like he was solely responsible. He saw the reflection in the mirror, his blue eyes were faded, and greyed. He figured that if he saw his friends ago, they wouldn't recognize him. he could barely recognize himself. He was a different man then when he first joined Freelancer so many years ago.
"You okay?" Carolina asked from the door of the bathroom. "You were kind of in a panic."
Washington didn't want to face her. At least not yet. He just grabbed a towel and wiped his face clean. "I'm fine." He said.
"No your not Wash. You were freaking out, nearly jumped out of bed." She said with much worry on her face and in her voice. She was right to be so, she had never seen him like this.
Washington put the towel back and then walked toward the door. "Carolina I'm fine. It was just a dream. Thats it."
"You sure?"
"Yes."
Carolina could see the bags under his eyes from so many sleepless nights over the years. He needed this one, so she decided to let him go. "Alright. Then we better get some sleep. Especially you, we have a big day tomorrow."
They walked out of the bathroom and were ready to get back to bed. Washington was pulling the covers when he heard the door slowly open. He turned around to see the frightened little three year old walking in with her blanket wrapped around her. "Daddy?" She called out.
Washington walked over to her and she immediately raised her arms asking to be lifted. Washington picked her up without hesitation and held her closely. "Hey there sweetness. You okay?" He asked. Emma, his little three year, slowly nodded no. She was shaking in his arms. "You have a scary dream?" He asked. Emma didn't respond, just kept shaking.
Washington walked carried her back to her room and sat on her bed, still holding her in his arms. By this point Emma was sobbing quietly into his shoulder. "Its okay Emma. It was just a dream. It can hurt you." He said softly.
Emma slowly pulled away and looked into her daddy's eyes. "It was a scary dream daddy." She said.
Washington stood up and tucked Emma back into bed. Her watery eyes slowly began to close as she began to fall asleep. "Its okay sweetness. I'm right here. Your safe." After a long quiet pause Emma was asleep again. "Bad things always go away. I promise." He said and placed a little kiss on her forehead. "Good night sweetness."
She whispered back. "Good night daddy."