The warm sun of Valhalla bathed the inhabitants of the valley in it's bright light and heat. Carolina found herself smiling as she walked through the middle of the valley and down the path to the Red base.

Recently, the Reds and Blues had a short 'battle' which ended with Wash having a ceasefire between the two bases. Everyone but Sarge agreed of course. They were all glad to finally have a little break away from the fighting.

Very rarely did Carolina find herself in a good mood like this one.

"Remind me why I have to do this again?" Church's small holographic image flickered to life on Carolina's shoulder.

"Because. Simmons needs some help finding the rest of the stolen equipment. It won't take that long. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you would miss me."

Church picked up on the smug tone in her voice and scowled. "Once you're in someone's head for a while you aren't really used to leaving it."

"So is that a 'yes you'll miss me'?" Carolina smiled when all Church did was fall silent and glare at her.

"What ever. Let's just get this over with."

Church's figure vanished as they neared the entrance to the Red base. Outside it was Sarge, mumbling something about the "damn stacked teams…" and the "demonic blue army cheating…" Carolina was going to ask him if Simmons was ready but decided it against it.

Seeing a Blue was probably the last thing Sarge wanted to see after their previous defeat. So instead, she walked into the base and was met with Donut in the kitchen preparing a sheet of Cookies while Grif was sitting at the table, drumming his fingers along the wood impatiently.

Once the smell of cookies hit her, Carolina couldn't help but feel hungry. I gotta get some of those later… she thought.

"Hey guys, is Simmons around?"

Donut looked over his shoulder and smiled. "Oh hey, Carolina! Simmons is down stairs in the computer room." He then turned his attention back to his Cookies, placing them into the oven, while Grif merely grunted.

"Can't I just eat the dough?" he put his head in his hands while Donut began to criticize him for trying to eat the dough previously.

Carolina chuckled and walked down stairs and into a room with wires strewn all over the floor and monitors all on the walls. In the far end of the room was Simmons, typing into a terminal faster than she had ever seen anyone type before.

She stepped closer to the maroon armored man, who didn't seem to notice she had entered the room. "Simmons?" she called out, and Simmons immediately jumped, startled.

"Oh Carolina… It's you…" He muttered, embarrassment in his voice.

Carolina chose to ignore it and pulled Church out of her AI slot and held it out to Simmons, who took it without a moment's hesitation. "Thanks, Carolina." Simmons then turned his attention back to the terminal, but not without placing the AI into a free slot on the terminal's AI input.

Instantly, Church projected next to the terminal on the desk. "Alright… Let's get this crap started." he muttered.

"Alright, have fun you two." Carolina said nonchalantly as she walked back upstairs, happy to have the day to herself.

Suddenly, her radio beeped. "Carolina, you there?" Washington's voice was heard.

...Well, it was a good day off while it lasted.

Sighing, Carolina responded to the radio. "Yes, Wash I'm here. What's going on?" she couldn't help but keep her frustration out of her voice, something which Washington took note of.

The radio crackled. "Is this a bad time?"

"No Wash it's fine. Just tell me what you need me to do so I can do it and get back to my day off." she dryly responded.

"Are you sure?" Wash pressed on. "I could just have Caboose do it-"

"No God no!" she cut him off. "If you want something done, you may as well have it done right."

Washington's chuckle was heard. "Alright Carolina. Here's what I need you to do; about 30 minutes ago I sent Tucker down to the food storage to go do inventory, he hasn't reported back. Could you check on him?"

Carolina sighed once more.

Tucker… Of all the people she didn't want to deal with today.

"Alright, fine. I'll go check on the little…" she began but was cut off by Caboose getting onto the radio. "Can you bring me back some orange juice?"

"Caboose, for the last time, I'll pour you some orange juice in a second. Let me finish up with Carolina."

"Okay and can we make some cupcakes?"

"We don't even have the things we need to make any-"

Unwilling to hear anymore of this ridiculous conversation, Carolina shut the radio off, silencing the annoying conversation Caboose and Washington were having. Well I better get to it… The sooner I solve this the sooner I can get back to relaxing.

She slid past Grif and Donut who were currently arguing over something having to do with drapes and went out the door, beginning her long walk across the canyon and to the food storage. She wasn't really surprised her day off was cut so short. For once, she just wanted to sit back and finally relax from her stressful life.

It wasn't really any of the Sim soldier's faults, although they certainly didn't help but to add more unneeded frustration.

Finally, she reached the Blue base's food storage.

Carolina pulled her battle rifle off of her back and loaded a clip in. Can't be too safe. she thought. If Tucker hadn't reported back yet, there was a possibility that an enemy could have taken him out. It seemed unlikely, but being a freelancer, she was trained to take every possibility into account no matter how unlikely it seemed. A lesson which had proved itself accurate countless times since meeting the Reds and the Blues.

She slowly approached the metallic door infront of her, glancing over her shoulder occasionally incase of an ambush.

After waiting outside the door for a few minutes, she pulled the heavy door open and stepped inside the freezing cold storage room. The room looked pretty much as you would expect a storage room would look like. Filled to the brim with boxes and crates piled on top of one another.

The door behind her began to slide shut automatically. "CAROLINA WAIT!" Tucker suddenly ran into view, and Carolina instinctively raised her weapon in alarm and aimed it at his head, but didn't pull the trigger.

It was too late for the blue as the door behind her shut.

"Damn it…" Tucker sighed, before sitting down and sliding up against one of the boxes containing food.
"Tucker? Where have you been? Wash sent you down here half an hour ago." Carolina lowered her weapon, but still kept it unholstered just in case she needed it.

"Well I did come down here to check on the storage. What I didn't count on was the fucking door locking behind me."

Carolina froze for a second, allowing what Tucker said to register. Once it did, she threw her gun to the floor and ran to the door, pounding on it and desperately trying to pry it open.

"I've already tried that. Nothing will open it."

She didn't listen.
She continued to try to open the door, bashing at it but to no avail;she was as trapped as Tucker was.

Wait a minute… Carolina reached for her radio and unmuted, then opened the mic. "Wash, do you hear me? Anyone?" she called into the mic. No response. It seemed that the storage room somehow didn't get any radio.

Giving up, Carolina picked her rifle up from the floor and placed it back on her back. Then she took a seat on a crate near the door, burying her head in her hands. How the Hell did her day go from being a good one to being trapped in a cold storage room with the most annoying soldier ever?

It was apparent that she was annoyed, but this didn't stop Tucker from advancing on her. He started sliding up to her. "Hey Carolina, since we're trapped in here… Why don't we…"

"Come any closer, and I'll have to throw you into one of these boxes." She said through grit teeth.

Tucker held his hands up defensively. "Alright, alright sheesh." he slid away from her.

"This is your fault!" She growled, pointing an accusing finger at him.

"My fault? You were the one who just walked right in! Aren't you Freelancers supposed to take this kind of bullshit into account? It's not my fault!"

"You… Just… Ugh!" She threw her hands up in the air, fed up. She was fed up with it all. Fed up with Tucker, fed up with Caboose, fed up with everything. All she could do at this point was just accept defeat and bury her head in her hands again and hope someone would come find her.

Minutes ticked by, if Carolina had to guess, she would say maybe 15 minutes had passed. She wasn't really keeping track at this point. She just wanted this whole thing to end. The room was uncomfortably cold, and to add to it, Tucker was in it.

"Uh… hey…" Tucker was the one to cut the silence in the room. "You wanna… talk?"

Carolina raised her head from her hands. "Talk?" she cocked her head. "About what?"

"Well you just… Seem pretty annoyed is all."

Carolina chuckled. "And you seriously think I don't have a reason to be?"

Tucker shrugged. "Okay bad choice of words. What I mean is, you seem more pissed off than usual. What gives?"

Sighing, she shrugged. What harm could possibly come from telling Tucker about her problems? It is not like it mattered. She was stuck in here with him, may as well make the best of it she figured.

"It's just that… I'm stressed out as Hell. I have been running all over the place grabbing stolen Freelancer tech from idiot terrorists, not to mention doing it with Church talking in my ear and reading my thoughts, then I come here to a canyon filled with even bigger idiots. No one here seems to even grasp how I feel except for maybe Wash. I'd just like one day off. I haven't even slept for a day I've been so busy."

She finished with a heavy sigh. It actually felt good getting all that off her chest.

After a few seconds of silence, Tucker chuckled, catching Carolina's attention. "What are you laughing at?"

That chuckle soon turned into a hearty laugh, which spiraled on for a minute while Carolina looked on, confused.

Eventually his laughter began to cease, allowing Carolina to ask the question again. "What's so funny?" She questioned.

"Nothing… You sound alot like me during my first days in Blood Gulch. I was running around rampant, trying to keep up with Church and Butch's orders. It was a real nightmare. I understand where you're coming from."

That was… Surprisingly nice. Carolina couldn't believe Tucker had said something like that. Usually the only thing coming out of his mouth were crude sex jokes… Wait a minute she thought. Butch?

"Tucker… Who was Butch?"

"Oh… That's right! No one ever told you! Well, back in the days before Caboose came to the canyon we had another captain, his name was Butch Flowers… Poor dude died from a heart attack. Then Church decided to take on the role of captain… while I took his armor."

Huh… Could Captain Flowers had been… Agent Florida? Agent Florida's nickname always was 'Flowers'. She wasn't exactly sure where that name even came from… He was listed as KIA though…

"Carolina? You there?" She was pulled out of her thoughts by Tucker.

"Huh? Oh yeah, I'm here." she shook her head, banishing the thoughts of Butch. She didn't really know him, regardless if he was captain of the Simulation troops, it didn't really matter at this point.

"So, you wanna talk some more?"

Tucker was willing to listen to more of her problems…

"Hey Tucker, this wouldn't happen to be another attempt at getting under my armor, would it?"

Once again to her surprise, Tucker let out a chuckle. "Come on Carolina, not everything I do is to get under a hot chick's armor. I just wanna talk is all. Helps keep the thought of frost bite away."

Hm. He sounds sincere… Maybe talking a little more won't hurt.

"Well… We have plenty of time here." she huffed. "How was life for you before Blood Gulch?" Carolina asked.

Tucker stared off into space for a minute. "It's not something I've thought about in a while honestly. Well… Wow." He sighed. "I can barely even remember home." He sat up and popped his neck. "From what I remember-"

"Wait wait wait." Carolina cut him off. "From what you remember? You don't remember your own home?"

"Well I haven't exactly been there in a while… Blood Gulch just became the place I thought of as home. But anyway, what I remember is living in a small shitty apartment doing some web design. I had always wanted to be a soldier, and once the war came, it was a perfect chance for me to fulfil that dream. I just didn't think I'd end up being apart of a massive simulation. Life before living in the apartment I remember was Hell…" he sighed as he began to recount his memories. "I lived with a pretty shitty dad. Mom died when I was young."

That I can relate to.

"He used to drink and party alot, and once he came home at night, he'd usually beat the shit out of me for no reason. I'd always wake up depressed. I was only 10 fucking years old. Eventually, I hit the age 18 and I finally moved the fuck out. But not before beating the shit out of him." he concluded, sighing fondly.

"Sounds pretty rough… I can see where you're coming from, Tucker. My mom died when I was young too… And that sent my father into a depression." she fought back the crippling sadness which came when she thought of this. "and as you know… That started everything. The freelancers, the simulation, the Red vs Blue… All for her…"

She felt tears in her eyes. Fight them. She told herself. She didn't want to cry, especially not infront of Tucker.

"Carolina?" he spoke softly, as if sensing something was wrong. She didn't respond.

Tucker rose from the floor and walked over to her. "You alright?" Still no response. She had no idea what to say.

And that was when he hugged her.

She was frozen for real this time, not from trying to fight the tears previously, but this time actual shock. Tucker was hugging her. She should have felt disgust, but suddenly she found herself… Crying. Memories flooding back to her father laying in bed, occasionally, she would catch him sobbing uncontrollably.

How had that escalated to the Freelancers? How had it become this… Why did he have to die?

"Shh…" Tucker held her close. "It's fine." a noticeable hint of sadness was in his voice as well. Probably from the memories of his own childhood abuse. Or from sympathizing with her. Carolina didn't care. She was just glad someone was there comforting her, even if it was Tucker of all people.

Soon, her sobbing grew quieter and quieter until it was gone completely. Even though she had stopped crying, she didn't pull away from Tucker's embrace. He held her there, and he would hold her for as long as she needed him to.

"Tucker?"

"...Yeah?"

"Thanks…"

"No problem."

"You can let go now…"

"Oh… Okay."

And with that, Tucker released her.

Carolina felt… different. As if a weird weight had been lifted from her shoulders. It felt… Good to have let all of that off her chest. She must have been holding in her tears longer than she thought she had.

"Wow Tucker… I feel better."

Tucker stood there awkwardly. "Bow chicka bow wow?"

Normally, his bow chicka bow wow jokes would simply disgust her but this time, she was surprised to find herself giggling. She had suddenly found a new respect and appreciation for Tucker.

"Well Tucker, I do feel alot better now. Seriously. I don't know how it happened, but you're not so bad now that I know you." She said truthfully.

Tucker didn't say anything, he only shrugged.

"And I only think it's fair for me to do this." Carolina smirked under her helmet, before rising to her feet.

"Take the helmet off." She commanded, only for Tucker to cock his head at her as if asking 'why'?' to which she responded; "Take it off before I take it off for you."

Tucker did as she commanded, he flipped off the seals keeping the helmet to the armor and took it of, then he placed it on the crate next to him.

Carolina then looked at his face for the first time.

Wow he's actually… Kind of handsome. She found herself blushing, but waited for the blush to pass before taking her helmet off as well.

She released the seals to her helmet, and after taking it off, sighed as the cold air blew over her skin. She hadn't taken her helmet off in a while, it felt good taking a breath of fresh air. She then placed her helmet next to Tucker's.

"Why did you want me to take my helmet off?" Tucker asked nervously. "By the way… You look… Beautiful."

Carolina's only response was a smile. Some things will never change. "Close your eyes."

Tucker did as she said. "Okay seriously what the Hell are you going-" he was cut off by Carolina's lips brushing up against his. She felt him tense up for a second before melting into the kiss.

They stayed like this for a few minutes, enjoying the kiss, before Carolina broke it, bringing a new awkward silence between the two. They both sat down on the crate next to each other, both of their eyes on the floor.

"That was… nice…" Tucker broke the silence once again, a goofy smile on his face.

Carolina didn't respond, but she wore a smile matching Tucker's.

"Yeah…"

She wanted to go in for another kiss, but the door to the storage suddenly slid open. "There you two are!" Wash stood at the opening, holding the door open which prevented the automatic from shutting it. "Where have you been? What are you doing in here?"

Carolina jumped to her feet. "The door will jam; don't shut it!" she told him before he managed to release the door and step in.

"Jam?" Caboose popped in behind him. "Like peanut butter and jam? I want some!" he yelled, causing Wash to cringe.

"So that's where you've been… You've been stuck in here the whole time? And what happened to your helmets? Why didn't you use your radio?" Tucker grabbed his helmet and hopped to his feet, stretching.

"It's a long story, Wash." were his only words next to "And the radio doesn't work in here for some reason." He then walked out of the room. Carolina grabbed her helmet and followed closely behind.

"You were trapped for like an hour. How did you two not claw each other's eyes out in there?" Wash asked as they brushed past him.

Tucker and Carolina paused and exchanged glances, before Carolina pulled Tucker into a quick kiss, causing him to blush and return it. "Meet me in my room." she whispered to him before walking away, putting her helmet back on and leaving the three behind with Tucker grinning as he watched her leave.

Washington simply stared, dumbfounded at what he just saw. "Tucker… What the Hell was that?"

Tucker turned to Wash. "Like I said, Wash. Long story."