Just a random drabble. Includes nightmares, Simmons getting his hand stuck in the warthog, pancakes, coffee, and all that jazz. Hope you enjoy.
"Caboose! NO!" Church screamed as he, again, watched Caboose being killed. Last time he had been shot, the time before that it had been a flood spore, and the time even before that he had fallen off of the building. There were hundreds of other ways Caboose had died, most of them violent and gory and they left Church's heart aching. But this was the worst as he watched Tex stab Caboose through the gut with an old, rusty knife, slowly pulling the knife back out and letting Caboose fall dead to the ground. Church's knees buckled and he hit the ground, staring at Caboose's dead body. "Why Tex? Why!" Church screamed, his voice cracking. He gasped as Tex grabbed him by the throat and lifted him into the air, aiming the knife at his throat.
"Because I hate you," she said, in that deep O'malley voice that he never thought he'd hear again. "I hate all of you!" She stabbed Church in the gut and tossed him to the ground. Church gasped for breath and reached for the knife, trying to pull it out, but not having any progress. He let out a loud grunt as Tex yanked it out in one go and pulled him to his feet. "Goodbye Church." Church tried to protest but found no words as the knife made contact with his throat.
Church sat up quickly in his bed, sweat covering his entire face and his blanket tangled around his figure. He looked down at his legs as the blanket curled around them and trapped them inside. He let out a sad sigh and reached down, tugging on the blanket and pulling his legs free. Once the untangling was done Church tossed the blanket aside and twisted so he sat on the edge of his bed. The nightmares got worse and worse as his team always died, always in different ways. Sometimes Church watched them drown, sometimes they got attacked and were murdered, and sometimes someone came along and used them for some twisted experiments.
Church sighed and pulled on his combat boots and put a blue shirt on over his bare chest. He stood up and ran his hands through his hair, getting rid of his crazy I-totally-just-had-a-nightmare bedhead he always had in the morning. He looked over at the small piece of broken glass that he used as a mirror to make sure his hair was in order before walking out of his room and down the hall to where he could smell Caboose making pancakes. He took a moment to give a tiny smile and take in a deep breath. Pancakes where the only thing Caboose knew how to make, and boy were they good! But of course Church could never admit that he thought that.
He wiped the smile off his face and tried to erase the image of a blood covered Caboose from his nightmare as he walked into the kitchen. But seeing Caboose with syrup smeared all over him didn't help the image go away and Church flinched at the sight of it, his head forcing him to remember the horrific vision he had tried to shove away from his thoughts. Tucker looked over at him from where he sat by the counter, he tilted his head and gave Church a confused look. Seeing your leader looking scared and white as a ghost was something to be confused about.
"Hey, Church. Are you ok?" Tucker asked him, getting Caboose to look over at his friend. Church shook his head violently, grunting in response to Tucker's question as the blue soldier got some coffee. Caboose and Tucker shared a curious look. "Uh, Caboose is making some pancakes, you want some?" Tucker was the only one who knew of Church's secret love for Caboose's pancakes, and somehow had managed to keep it a secret between them. Church huffed as he got his coffee and walked out.
"No thanks," he grumbled as he walked down the hallway. Tucker gave a worried look and glanced over at a confused Caboose. Both shrugged and continued about their morning as Church walked outside the base, taking a sip of his coffee and looking out into the still sunlit canyon. He sighed and looked down at his coffee as he swirled it around in his cup. He glanced up as he heard a shotgun being raised. He was unsurprised to find Sarge aiming the barrel of his gun at him. Church sighed. "It's eight am Sarge, it's to early for this shit." Sarge put the shotgun down and Church noticed that he was wearing normal everyday clothes as well.
"Agreed," he said, letting the shotgun rest by his side. Church raised an eyebrow, why the hell was he here? Church sighed and shook his head a little bit, setting his mug down on a broken piece of the base.
"Sarge, why did you walk all the way across the canyon in sweet pants, sneakers, and a T-shirt with your shotgun and no plan of shooting me?" Church asked. Sarge blinked once, taking in the lengthy question for a moment. Church sighed again and picked up his coffee, taking a sip. He stopped and stared down at it. He shrugged and held it out to Sarge, who took it from the blue leader's hand and took a long sip before handing it back to Church, who set it back down.
"Simmons got his hand stuck in the Warthog's engine, I was wondering it we could borrow some grease or something to help slide it out," Sarge asked. Church snickered and shook his head in amusement. That was just to funny. He nodded and gestured for Sarge to follow him inside. The two soldiers walked down the hallway until they reached a small room with shelves filled with tons of stuff. Church dragged over a box and stood up on it to reach the top shelf, from which he took down a tiny bottle of grease.
"Here ya go," Church said as he climbed down. Sarge nodded and the two walked out, passing the kitchen and getting Tucker to spit his milk all over the counter as he saw them. Caboose raised an eyebrow at Tucker, wondering why he made such a big deal out of it. Church chuckled a bit and shook hands with Sarge.
"Thanks for the assistance," Sarge said before turning and jogging back towards his own base. Church grabbed his coffee and took a long sip until what was left of it was gone. He looked down into the empty cup for a very long time before going back to the kitchen and putting it in the sink. He walked out and into his room, where he sat down on his bunk and stared at his piece of broken glass, staring at himself. His eyes were tired and weak, his hair seemed to have lost some of its color, and he hadn't shaved in a long while. He sighed and leaned back against the wall. As he looked at himself his eyes started to close, and he drifted off to sleep.
Church ran as fast as he could through the burning forest. Caboose ran by his left side, looking terrified as Tucker ran by his right. The reds ran up ahead, going as fast as they could. All Church could think was that he had to run, and keep running. That his life depended on it, and that if he stopped even for a second it was all over. He gasped and came to a halt as Grif was shot and a grenade exploded by the reds, sending all four flying. Caboose yelled in surprise and Church turned to see two Texs behind them. Church ducked as a bullet whizzed passed him, but another hit Tucker in the heart.
"Tucker!" Church screamed, trying to grab the man before he hit the ground, but was to late. He looked over as Caboose got something in his neck, making him groan and topple over. Church rushed over and tried to help him, but Caboose let out a snarl, lashing out at him and getting to his feet, standing like an animal stalking its prey. Church backed up and turned to run, but wasn't fast enough as Caboose grabbed one of his legs, making him fall to the ground on his stomach. Church whirled around so he lay on his back, looking at Caboose as he pulled him closer and he took out a knife. "Caboose, no! Please, no." Church screamed as the knife made contact with his left thigh and moved up towards his stomach.
"Church? CHURCH!" Caboose's voice screamed. Church looked frantically everywhere, and screamed again as Caboose pulled Church up towards him, snarling and jabbing the knife into his gut. The whole world shook and someone called his name again. Church pried himself away from Caboose and felt something pound against his back, though he ran into nothing by what he could tell. He screamed yet again as Caboose tackled him to the ground, something banging into the side of his head, but again Church saw nothing. "Church, wake up Church! CHURCH!"
Church shot into a sitting position, screaming as he did so. Caboose knelt over him and gave Church a look of concern. Tucker leaned in the doorway, but once he saw Church was awake he turned and walked away, obviously not really caring all to much. Church lay on the ground in the corner of his room, and his hair was all over the place again. The side of his head hurt and he looked around, almost in a haze. Caboose must've been calling to him in his sleep.
"Church?" Caboose said softly. Church couldn't look up at Caboose, the image of him full-on attacking him was still fresh in his head, and it had been terrifying. His fists clenched and he gritted his teeth. No, he wasn't going to cry, there was no way in hell he was gonna cry! "Church? Are you ok?" Church wanted to answer, but he knew for a fact that he couldn't out-right lie to Caboose. He had tried, and it didn't work when it came to emotions. Caboose was very good at reading those. Church's gritted teeth parted as a sob forced its way through, and two more followed it.
Caboose wrapped his arms around Church and held him close. Outside Church heard Tucker yelling at Grif, telling him to get lost and that he could have anything he wanted later if he just left. After a moment or two silence ensued outside the base as Church held tightly to Caboose and gritted his teeth even tighter than before, but it was no use, the sobs came whether he wanted them to or not. Caboose let Church cry on his shoulder for the next five minutes. When the sobs finally stopped shaking his body and the tears stopped Caboose held Church out in front of him, smiling a bit.
"You want some pancakes?" he asked. Church couldn't help it, he smiled at his friend and nodded with a quiet 'yes please.' Caboose smiled and pulled Church up to his feet. The two walked down the hall towards the kitchen and Church sat down as Caboose put two pancakes on a plate for him. Church smiled at Caboose and thanked him as he had his pancakes. The rest of the day was pretty uneventful, Grif and Tucker arguing, Sarge insulting them, and a few bullets sent between the teams. Though seeing Simmons and Grif slapping each other was pretty funny.
As the day came to an end, even though the sun was still shining, Church yawned and walked into his room and removed his armor as always and put on his blue shirt, jeans, and combat boots. He stared at himself in the broken piece of glass again, thinking. He knew another nightmare was coming. How could his mind have Caboose die tonight? Would he drown, be strangled, perhaps burned to death? Church didn't know. He sighed and looked over as Caboose poked his head in, smiling a bit.
"Night-night Church," he said cheerily and pulled his head back out. Church smiled a bit and lay back down. He curled up under his blankets and let out a sigh as he closed his eyes and went to sleep. But most surprisingly the nightmare he expected, never came.
Well, there you have it. Hope you liked it.
Thanks for reading and please review.