Ship Happens

Red vs Blue Fan-fiction - Freelancer Chronicles

Episode 4

Daddy Issues

"If you incompetent engineers fuck up one more time I will have your heads on spikes by the next morning..." As soon as the Director got back on board he had been shouting. Finally he has reached the end of the list, the engineers. He had been laying into them for about an hour now. York decides that he has heard enough and instead takes a trip down to the cargo bay. Carolina and Souths quarters had been taken out by the blast. Temporary bunks are set up down there but they weren't much. As York enters the lift he gets an idea. He knows its a long shot but he might be able to convince Carolina to stay with him. The lift doors open into the large grey room. On either side of the cargo bay there are little areas that have been roped off and had temporary beds set up. By these beds are a few boxes with a lamp on each one. Carolina is sitting on one of the beds in a t-shirt and jogging bottoms. She looks more depressed than usual as she cleans the visor of her helmet. Her cut has stopped bleeding but still looks raw and tender. York walks towards her and sits next to her on the bed.
"This was my fault." She says frustratedly, looking up at Him.
"No. It was those engineers, the director has been laying into them for about an hour now, if it was your fault, you would know by now." Carolina smiles at York. He always knows how to make her feel better.
"What's sleeping down here like?" He asks with a concerned look. Carolina's sighs.
"It would be fine accept its cold, the mattress is uncomfortable and... Well." York looks puzzled for a second.
"Well what?" He enquirers. Carolina looks awkward and scratches her neck.
"Dark..." York looks surprised but Carolina speaks before he can say anything.
"Before you say anything, I'm not scared of the dark, I just don't like sleeping in complete darkness okay." She crosses her arms defensively. York smiles kindly and puts an arm around her waist.
"You know, my room is warm and comfortable." Carolina huffs and brushes hair out of her eyes.
"I'm sure that must be nice for you." She says mistaking his offer for a taunt. York corrects himself.
"I meant that you should stay with me." Carolina looks surprised, York chuckles.
"You really didn't see that coming?" He says with a laugh. Carolina smiles and looks at the floor.
"I suppose I keep forgetting that you are not like the others." York beams at her as she stands and bends over to pick her positions up. Not that he doesn't respect her but he can't help thinking "and I keep forgetting how nice your ass looks." York stands up and takes Carolina's possessions off of her and they both walk to the lift.

York's room is the same size as the others but somehow it looks larger. Despite his personality his room is oddly undecorated. York steps in and places Carolina's possessions on the desk. Carolina looks around the room.
"There's only one bed." She says frankly. York turns to her with a grin.
"Well, if it makes you uncomfortable I can sleep on the floor." Says York. Freelancers have double sized bunks. Carolina looks at his mischievous grin and can't help but smile. York exits the room with a wink leaving Carolina alone. She walks to the desk to unpack her stuff but is distracted by a stack of sketch books. Gently, she picks up the top one and looks inside. In the centre is a neatly drawn diagram of a complex holographic lock. She studies the diagram reading York's annotations. Most noticeably "whoever designed this lock is an asshole." She continues flicking through the diagrams until she finds herself starring into her own green eyes. The drawing is in the same pencil as he others accept from the eyes which are coloured bright green. A smile creeps across her face. She turns through the pages of locks and finds another drawing of her, but this time she is in armour and holding two plasma rifles. Her helmet is off and her hair is blowing in an imaginary breeze. On the next page she is swinging a gravity hammer through a wall of troops who are flying backwards like a wave.
"Do you like them?" Whispers York into Carolina's ear making her jump. She turns around giving him an annoyed look. "How does he keep sneaking up on me?" She thinks.
"You change my face too much." She says. York frowns, clearly confused.
"In these you make me look...pretty." York's frown turns to a smile. Sometimes this was too easy.
"I think you are very pretty." Says York so quietly it's almost a whisper. Carolina smiles.

"Counsellor, you must be mistaken." Growls the Director.
"No sir, Agents Carolina and York have been staying with each other for the past few days." The counsellor replies attempting to gage the Directors next reaction.
"This is most interesting, I did not expect Agent Carolina to deviate from my predictions this much, in fact one main reason for having a leader board was to encourage her competitive side. It is up to us to break this little couple." The Counsellor looks surprised.
"And how do you suppose we do this?"
"I think it's time we pushed Agent Carolina out of her shell."

"The next match will be agent Carolina verses agents Wyoming, Maine and York." Chimes F.I.L.S.S. . The agents assemble on either side of the training room and gather there equipment. Wash, North and South assemble in the observation room as well as the Director and Councillor.
"Everything is ready Director." Says the counsellor who holds a clip board.
"Excellent, FILSS, begin the match." On the arena floor a few pillars rise up from the ground. Just before the match begins York shouts across the training floor.
"No hard feelings!" Carolina smiles as FILSS signals for the match to begin.
"Right, are you guys young to listen to me this time?" Asks York. Maine and Wyoming sprint into the maze of pillars.
"I guess not." There are two zaps followed by two splats that come from somewhere inside the pillars. York dives behind the pillar closest to him. He hears something and looks up to find Carolina looking down at him with her pistol drawn.
"Clever girl." Says York before receiving paint to the face.

"New round, agent Maine eliminated. Agent Carolina verses Agents York and Wyoming."
This time York grabs Wyoming by the shoulders.
"You are a sniper, cover me!" He says firmly.
"Alright mate." Replies Wyoming happily.
They pick up there fully automatic paint guns. The new round begins with York diving into the pilar field followed by Wyoming. York sees a flash of blue out of the corner of his eye and jumps behind a pilar as a shower of purple shots fly past him. Wyoming fires on Carolina but she dodges out of the way. She quickly spins and takes out Wyoming. York leaps from cover and shoots Carolina in the chest as she looks towards him. The paint hits, freezing her armour. She begins to fall but York catches her.
"Next time sweetheart." He says, knowing that she is fuming.
"I'm kind of glad you can't move. You would kick my ass." He can just imagine her nodding slowly and threateningly. The training floor is reset and the Director tells the two of them that whoever wins this will be ranked second on the leader board.
"New round, agent Wyoming eliminated. Agent Carolina verses agent York." The Director looks on as a cruel smirk creeps across his face. York picks up the pistol. It feels heavier than before. FILSS signals the start of the round. York pulls out the clip to find live ammunition. He throws the pistol down in disgust and picks up a baton from the still open weapons table. He turns to see Carolina running at him. York instinctively jumps out the way and blocks her electric baton. They duel. Carolina is fast but York manages to keep up, just. Truthfully, they are starting to have fun, almost rallying backwards and forwards. The Director sneers at the two of them. He fishes inside his pocket for a remote and subtly points it at the training floor. He clicks the little button. A turret slowly popes up Behind Carolina and begins to spin up. York looks up as he hears the turret about to fire, he quickly jumps on Carolina, pushing them both behind the pilar and having her electric baton pushed into his abdomen sending an electric current through his body causing him to convulse violently. Carolina pulls the baton away and stands up. The turret sinks into the training room floor and a pistol rises out of the floor. The Director presses the intercom button.
"Finish him agent Carolina." He commands. Carolina picks the gun up and walks towards York convulsing body. She raises the pistol. In that moment she can imagine York starring at her with his loving expression, she sees the drawings he does of her, but they are now distorted, instead of her being the war heroin he usually draws, she is an evil witch pointing a gun at a helpless man who just saved her life. She lowers her gun.
"Agent Carolina, finish him or you will be declared the looser!" Roars the Director.
"Director, I.." The Counsellor tries to argue but the Director turns on him.
"You will be silent Counsellor!" The agents behind the Director shrink back. The Director glares at Carolina who points her pistol at York. She looks at the leader board, then at York. Carolina throws the pistol down and it goes off firing a live round into the back wall. She helps York up and they walk out with York leaning on her shoulder.
"No!" Shouts the Director grabbing the counsellors clipboard before snapping it in two, throwing it on the floor and storming out the room, pushing Wash over.

"You should have seen the Director." Says Wash to York, who looks concerned but calm. Carolina is lying on York's bed starring at the ceiling. Wash senses the tension between them and decides to leave them to talk. Carolina speaks while still starring at the ceiling. "You can't deny that this is my fault." She says solemnly looking at York.
"If you can tell me what you did wrong I will think about it." He replies.
"We are not supposed to fraternise with other agents. And now he is going to hurt you." She says blankly. York turns and grins at her.
"All the pain in the world would be worth it, just to 'fraternise' with you." She smiles. Even when she gets him in trouble he is still nothing but charming.
"I don't think your dad likes me though." Says York sarcastically.
"He pushed one of my high school boyfriends out of a window and into a bush." She smirks. York laughs.
"Did you ever see him again?" He asks.
"No." York looks a little worried. Carolina hesitates.
"You mean allot more to me than than he ever meant." York smiles broadly.
"Agent York, please report to the briefing room." Says the Counsellor over the intercom. York looks nervously at Carolina.
"If I'm not back tonight, check the airlocks and firing range." Jokes York. Carolina's expression remains neutral.
"That was a joke." Says York. Carolina shoots him a worried look as he leaves picking up his helmet. Delta flashes up at York's side as he pushes his helmet on.
"York, I do not believe that agent Carolina is worth the potential danger you are putting yourself in." Says Delta. York grins nervously.
"Carolina is definitely worth all the Director can throw at me." He tells Delta. Delta blinks oddly. York frowns.
"What did you just do?" Asks York. Delta looks guilty.
"I was simply backing up myself in case..." York buts in.
"That was a dick move Delta." Says York jokingly. Delta pauses for a second.
"York, could you explain the psychology of using male genitalia as an insult. Like when the action I perform is designated a "dick move" or when not sharing information with you earns me the title of "cockbite"?" York smiles at his selectively intelligent companion.
"I honestly don't know the answer to that one D, but it's probably because girls assume guys always want sex when girls don't." Delta thinks for a second.
"But I put it to you that although your desires for reproduction with agent Carolina have been prominent from the beginning of your relationship this has not hindered your progress." York smiles.
"Firstly, I don't push her into anything, partly because I don't want to scare her away and secondly why does every conversation we have relate to me "reproducing" with Carolina?" Delta processes this information before replying.
"The chances of you scaring agent Carolina are minimal but I think I understand what you mean. Secondly approximately ten hours of a twenty four hour day, you spend thinking about agent Carolina and three of those hours are spent creating fantasies about her. Currently thirty percent of my mental capacity is information that you have taught me about "being human" and most of those examples involve agent Carolina. I believe that you have taught me far more than I could ever teach you." York smiles kindly at Delta.
"Well, it's nice to feel appreciated. I'm going to need you to log off though." Delta blinks out of existence as York enters the briefing room. The Director stands with his back to the door.
"Sir, you wanted to see me." Says York as politely as possible.
"Agent York, are you in love with my daughter?" Asks the Director bluntly. York is taken aback by this question.
"Answer the question York." Barks the Director.
"Yes I am sir." Replies York with a new found assertiveness. The Director turns to him and glares through the lenses of his glasses.
"The mere fact that you decide to meet with me after the other agents have obviously told you of my, outburst, shows you to not be cowardly as so many of your predecessors have been. In truth I would prefer it if she was not romantically involved but she clearly is. In the best interests of this project I will allow this relationship on these terms; This should not hinder her or your training and if you hurt her physically or emotionally I will hunt you down and rip you limb from limb. Is that understood?" York's eyes widen for a second.
"Yes sir, and may I say what an honour it is to be seeing somebody as intelligent and beautiful as your daughter." The Directors face remains stormy.
"Remember my terms, you are dismissed." York salutes and exits the room before getting an idea.

Carolina can't help but worry about York, he had been gone for thirty minuets now and she was starting to think about trying to find him when she hears a tap on the glass window of York's quarters. She looks up to see York floating outside in space.
"York!" She shouts. He points to the nearest airlock and pushes his way around the ship to it. Carolina opens the exterior door to let him in. Once the room is pressurised York removes his helmet to reveal the biggest grin she has ever seen. Carolina opens the interior door and steps inside.
"What happened?" She asks. York puts his hands on her hips and leans in, kissing her passionately. She pulls away after a few seconds.
"York, what happened?" She demands.
"Well, lets just say that there may be a threesome involved." For a second York and Carolina think about how wrong what he just said is.
"What I meant was that as long as it doesn't effect our training then we can do whatever we want." Carolina looks surprised.
"That's all?" She asks.
"Well, if I hurt you he will discombobulate me." He laughs.
"I don't know what you find so funny." She says.
"I could never hurt you Carolina." Replies York.
Carolina sighs.
"Out of interest, if you thought the gun was full of paint then why didn't you shoot me?" Asks York.
"To be honest it was those drawings I saw this morning, I like being the hero in you eyes."
York smiles and punches her lightly in the arm.
"Lets get something to eat, I haven't eaten in over two episodes, the writer is kind of an asshole."

THE END

A note from the author

Sorry about the wait for this chapter, if anyone has any ideas for more "Ship Happens" feel free to chuck them in my general direction.

Thanks.