Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Red vs Blue series.
"Some people fall in love over and over again while some people can only do it once." - Ann Brashares
I love you, he thought.
Once, twice. He repeated the thought in his head a third time, felt the raw edges of emotion - nostalgia, melancholy, bittersweet fondness. The kind of regret you only get from missing the chance to say something meaningful in the end.
I still love you, he thought.
It lingered.
Washington waited by the grave a little longer, the unfamiliar weight of Earth's gravity rooting him in the place. There was no armour to hide him. He's never been more self-conscious of his body language than right now, thoughts that aren't his calling out to a dead woman.
Allison T. Church nee Grace
That explained the fuck out of her name assignment in Project Freelancer. It also explained the fuck out of Carolina - "Gabriel is such a pretty name, you know?" "Well, it's actually a girls name for starters." "Oh, fuck off, Church is a pretty weird name for a guy." "I have to give you that one." - and her obsession with the leader board back in the day.
The sun weaved through the tree canopy, streaks of orange and pink touching the dark sky. A quiet morning on earth, alone.
His heart ached and his head hurt. The grass was green and Agent Washington (davidDavidLeonarddavidEp-) stood in the graveyard of fallen soldiers from the Great War, wondering what happens after you've loved and lost someone else's grief.
Allison T. Church nee Grace
I love you, he thought.
Every confession tasted like blood, iron, rust. Chemicals and metal. He did not breathe any easier.
I still love you, he thought.
He remembers the sharp scent of antiseptics and white walls, the medical ward, the burn of neural implants in the back of his neck. A woman in army camouflage with blonde hair laughing at him, promising she'd be right back.
She didn't come back.
She never came back.