Six Degrees of Separation
A Red vs. Blue One-shot
"This isn't fair!" Grif shouted at Simmons. "What the fuck are you talking about? I've done nothing!"
"A likely fucking story." Simmons snarled. "I saw you sneaking out last night. Something's going on, Grif, I'm not stupid. It's not the first time, either." Grif started to tear up, now. Simmons and him had been fighting for almost an hour, and all over something that didn't even happen. Grif loved Simmons, and a hell of a lot with that. But Simmons was completely oblivious to the fact Grif was telling the truth – He had done nothing. Nothing was all he had ever done. The "Sneaking out last night" was just Grif getting some fresh air – he did that a lot nowadays. Simmons had put a lighter piece of mind into the Orange Spartan, and he was steadily getting healthier, too, but still, Simmons egged on Grifs unhappiness. Grif felt the tears threaten to spill, but he forced himself to not let himself go, and he took an uneasy step towards Simmons, raising a shaky hand to touch the Maroon Spartans armour, but he just slapped Grifs hand away.
"Don't even touch me." Simmons' voice was hoarse – it was obvious the tension between the two had gotten to him, too. "You're nothing to me anymore. You make me sick. I hate you." Grif couldn't hold his tears back anymore, and they spilt, but the orange Spartan raised his arm and wiped his tears on his sleeve.
"F- fuck you." He sobbed. Simmons hated seeing him like this, but the Maroon Spartan held his ground, despite seeing his lover break apart in front of him. "Y- you're such a f- fucking a- ass." Grif turned sharply, and ran out of the room, stumbling over objects lying around in the corridor as he fled from his emotions, leaving everything he loved behind, he ran outside into the dark. Simmons closed the door to their room and leant against it for a moment, before sliding down it and sitting against it, his head in his hands, tears slowly falling down his face and against his gloved fingertips. Why did it have to end this way?
Despite the two fighting, another relationship was breaking down outside the base.
"Hey, what?" A crimson Spartan asked. "What did you just say to me?" A bright red Spartan held a shotgun to himself tightly.
"I said that I don't think I can trust ya anymore." Sarge shifted into a position making his stance a little intimidating. It obviously worked, because Mina back away a little.
"What do you mean you can't trust me anymore?" She looked heartbroken, but Sarge just started to look pissed off. "What have I done?"
"I saw ya talking to that Caboose fellow in the middle of the canyon the other day." He took a step towards her. "How do I know you weren't just giving him our information?" Mina scoffed.
"What information is there to give?" She returned his annoyed gaze. "And besides, Caboose wouldn't even remember anything." Sarge silently admitted that she was correct, but his arrogance kept him going.
"That's not the point, Mina." His grip on his shotgun tightened, but then Mina took a large step towards him so they were chest-to-chest and gave him a hardy glare. Sarge then noticed that he'd deeply wounded the young girl, and it was likely that she wasn't going to forgive him.
"No, it never is the point, is it, Sir?" She sneered, but then her voice softened, and she began to step away from him. "You know, I really thought we had something. I really, really thought you loved me." She looked away and shook her head. "I… I guess I was wrong…" With that, Mina turned and walked away from him. Sarge lifted a hand, dropping his shotgun and went to call her name, but it was useless. No noise came out - then he realised he'd fucked everything up.
Mina passed the entrance to the base, placing her shotgun outside of it, and putting her sniper next to that. When she went to leave, an Orange figure ran into her, and she struggled to keep her balance.
"What… Oh… Grif?" Grif had stopped running after the impact, but he looked at her with sore eyes and turned away, heading towards the caves. Mina watched him, then followed closely.
"What happened, Grif?" She asked as they neared the caves. Grif and Mina had been good friends ever since Mina had been transferred to Blood Gulch, so after they entered the cave, Grif turned to Mina and embraced her tightly.
"Oh Mina, it's awful, everything's awful." He sobbed, and Mina returned his hug. "Simmons thinks I'm cheating on him, and he ended everything." Mina hugged him even tighter now.
"Sarge did the same…" She suddenly came to terms with what had happened, and she too, burst into tears. "He thought I was giving the Blues information because I was talking to Caboose, but it was in the middle of the canyon and in broad daylight, so it just doesn't add up. He said he couldn't trust me anymore and then…" Grif and Mina sat in each other's arms, sobbing into each other's shoulders for what felt like an eternity. Eventually, the two fell asleep side by side, holding each other for the comfort they could give. The emotion that had been drained from them both had impacted on them greatly, and all that was left was tiredness.
The next day, Grif and Mina returned to the base after noon, and sat on the roof of it, sitting closer than usual. Lopez joined them after a while, as he had sensed something had gone down.
"¿Qué ha pasado?" Lopez stated, and Grif looked at him, then looked at Mina who sighed.
"Sarge rompió conmigo, y Simmons terminó con Grif." Mina replied, and Lopez was silent for a moment, almost shocked at the fact she understood, and responded.
"Simmons es racista y una persona desagradable." He said bluntly.
"Sí."
"Pero usted todavía lo amo." There was a bleak silence between the three, and Mina lowered her head before replying.
"…Sí…" Lopez raised a robotic arm and placed his hand on Mina's shoulder.
"Se va a funcionar." Mina looked up at him, and he nodded once, walking away. Grif watched him leave, then looked down at Mina who was looking at the grass below them.
"What did he say?" He asked curiously, and Mina looked up at him, a small smile hinting at her lips, but her eyes showed doubt.
"He said… 'It will work out.'" Grif grimaced and looked at the horizon.
"I hope so." He grumbled. "I feel as though my world's been split down the middle." Mina put an arm around him.
"Me too." She sighed, and Grif put his head on her shoulder.
"You're my best friend, Mina." He said quietly, and Mina squeezed his shoulder. "Thanks for being here for me." Mina smiled, even though he couldn't see it.
"You too, Grif. We'll always be here for each other, no matter what."
Sarge and Simmons stood together far away from the base, watching Mina and Grif sit together, and Lopez walking away from them. Sarge noted the friendly gesture towards Mina from Lopez, and then Simmons noticed Mina had put her arm around Grif.
"What the fuck?" He questioned, and he swore he heard his heart break. "Already?" Sarge followed his gaze, and he cringed.
"Fuck." He said, and walked away from Simmons, who watched him before catching up.
"Where are you going?" Simmons asked. "Shouldn't we keep watch?" Sarge turned to him, but his helmet covered the tears that were silently falling from his eyes.
"I don't wish to watch the person I love fall for someone I hate." Sarge turned again and walked away, and Simmons had to skip a little to catch up.
"How do we know that though?" He asked. Despite his rant with Grif, the maroon soldier kept his heart out just in case the orange soldier still had feelings for him.
"Because I've fucked up, son." He sighed, not meeting Simmons' gaze. "I've fucked up real good this time." Simmons followed him back towards the base, but then stopped him before they reached it.
"Sarge, uh, Sir." He said, meeting the older Spartans gaze. "I think we should apologise." Sarge was silent for a moment, considering it for maybe the tenth time, before shaking his head.
"I've caused too much pain, Simmons." He replied. "I'm scared to hurt her again." Simmons put his hands on Sarge's shoulders, and stared right into his eyes through his visor.
"Then don't hurt her again." He said bluntly. "You can run away from this all, Sarge, but I'm going to tell Grif the truth and apologise. I'm an idiot for not believing him." Simmons stood straight, taking his hands off of Sarge's shoulders, and turning away, heading towards the base's ramp. Sarge watched him leave, and remained pondering about the next action he should make.
Simmons took a deep breath in ask he walked up the ramp, and stood behind Grif and Mina, before clearing his throat, watching the other two tense, and speaking up.
"Grif, I need to talk to you." He said, and Mina turned to face him. Grif, on the other hand bowed his head, in which Mina returned his gaze to him and whispered to him; "I'll let you talk to him. I'll be in my room, find me if you need me." Without waiting for Grif to respond, she stood up and walked past Simmons, and if looks could kill, Simmons would have been dead at that moment. Mina made her way down into the base, and nodded at Donut who was, to no surprise, cooking.
"You look down, Mina, my friend." He pointed out, and Mina forced a smile. "What's wrong, honey?"
"Sarge and I had a little… Disagreement." Donut shook his head.
"Simmons and Grif had the same." He was stirring some liquid in a pan. "Simmons told me all about it. You know where I am if you need to talk, sweetheart." Mina smiled at Donut thankfully.
"Thank you, Donut, it means a lot." She turned to walk down to her room, and when she entered it, she closed the door behind her and sighed. She hoped Grif and Simmons worked through this better than she had.
"Grif?" Grif didn't turn to look at Simmons. He still felt like shit. "Grif, please listen to me, I have something to tell you." Simmons walked up to Grif, and stood beside him - he didn't feel obligated enough to sit with him. Grif heaved a heavy sigh, and stared at the grass like it was the most interesting thing in the world.
"Grif, listen …" Simmons choked out, and Grif's head raised a little at the sound of his voice. "I'm really, really sorry… I should have listened to you, but I was too paranoid. I was an idiot and an asshole to do that to you. I understand if you don't forgive me, because no one deserves to be treated like that." Grif heaved himself upright now, but he didn't look at Simmons still. "I really am sorry … But it's okay if you don't forgive me. I just wanted to tell you that I love you one more time." Simmons' hand twitched against Grifs, but he looked away and turned, walking in the opposite direction. Grif had turned to look at him, and he suddenly launched himself at Simmons, squeezing him tightly.
"Is it not over?" Grif said quickly. "Are we still together? Forever?" Simmons looked at Grif in an obscure manner, noting that he appeared almost child-like, but he turned, embracing the smaller man and lifted Grifs chin up, placing a soft kiss on his lips.
"If you want to be, then yes." Simmons murmured, and Grifs eyes seemed to sparkle, and his arms shot around the taller man's neck, pulling his face down to him and kissing him again, deeper this time.
"Simmons, I love you." Grif cried, burying his face into Simmons' neck. "Don't scare me like that ever again. I thought you hated me." Simmons squeezed Grif gently, and smiled, his face against his shoulder.
"I love you too, Grif." He kissed Grifs' neck lightly. "I'd never hate you. Not even if you killed Sarge." Grif smiled against Simmons' neck, and looked over at the ocean behind him, wondering if Sarge had spoken to Mina.
Mina sat on her bed, scratching into some scrap metal she had found. As she wrote her regrets and what had happened, she began to tear up, realising she had begun to write about the good times she had had with Sarge. There were soft metallic noises willing the room as her tears fell upon her words, and then there was a small creak as her bedroom door opened and shut behind her. She didn't turn, though, she thought it would be Donut or Grif, maybe even Simmons, but the voice that spoke didn't belong to them at all.
"Mina..." Sarge spoke softly, nearing her. "Are you… okay?" Mina rubbed her eyes, and turned her head a fraction, putting the metal down in front of her, but she didn't look at him.
"I- I'm fine… Sir…" Sarge sighed, and sat next to her, but he was facing the opposite direction.
"You're not…" He leant forwards with his elbows on his knees, his head in his hands. "I've fucked up, Mina, I'm so sorry. I wish I could go back and change everything." Mina looked at him now, and her heart was beating so fast from the shock of him apologising. "If there was anything I could do to turn everything back again before I became so darn arrogant against you, I'd do it." Mina turned her body around to face him, and she felt a tear fall from her eye.
"I forgive you."
"W- what?" Sarge looked up at Mina, who was now in tears in front of him.
"I forgive you." She repeated, a smile hinting at her lips, but she didn't look happy at all. "I'll always forgive you. It was a misunderstanding." Sarge looked at the female he'd fallen in love with so long ago, and he sat up, and searched for some negativity or doubt in her eyes, but he found none.
"I'm so sorry…" He said again, and Mina put a hand on his arm, to which he looked to her and smiled a little. "I really do love you, Mina." Mina smiled, and Sarge leant towards her and kissed her, pushing her onto her back.
"Likewise." Mina breathed against his lips. Sarge smiled, and kissed her again. After a few moments, Sarge's tongue ran against Mina's lips, to which Mina obliged and Sarge deepened the kiss. Mina's arms wrapped around the red Spartans neck, who was tracing patterns on the younger Spartans stomach, but then …
"Ooh! Saucy!"
"GET OUT DONUT!"