Disclaimer: I don't own Red Vs Blue or any of its characters.
Title: we still got miles and miles to go
Summary: Carolina just wanted to keep her brother safe. Washington just wanted to have a family again.
Rating: T
Warnings: Potentially disturbing imagery
Author's Notes: The idea that Carolina and Wash are siblings was quite fascinating and it intrigued me. It also made what the Director did to Wash much much more horrifying.
When they are introduced to the latest agent Washington who was all smiles and silly introductions and looking out of place on a military ship, Carolina felt like breaking something.
" What do you think you are doing here?" she hissed after pulling him aside to another room, ignoring the curious looks of the other agents.
Washington took a step back, surprised by the venom in her voice. " What does it look like?" he shot back, a little defensive.
Carolina did not need to have his helmet removed to know that Washington's mouth was most likely pulled down into a frown and he was grinding his teeth, like he always did when he was readying for a confrontation of any kind.
Especially the kind from his own sister.
He shouldn't be here, she thought. He should be someplace safer and away from here. Did he not know how dangerous and unethical things would become with each growing mission?
" I asked you, what are you doing here?" she harshly demanded. This was not the time to be nice and soft. War was not a place for children after all.
Washington – not David, David was the name of the little boy who pleaded to bring home stray cats, always trying to make bad jokes to lighten the mood, who waited for years to get revenge on that one boy who bullied him and constantly left him with bruises on his face and split lips – refused to back down. " I'm here for the same reason as you," he finally said.
She should not have been too surprised.
Carolina joined because their father needed her.
Washington joined because he wanted to be with his family.
(it would take her some time but Carolina would eventually realize, what both her and Washington wanted and needed were two very different things)
~.~.~
" Where were you?" Carolina growled, slamming the palm of her hands against the table. " North, South, the two of you were supposed be at the set coordinates. Why weren't you there?"
North shamefully ducked his head. " We were distracted by – "
" Don't get your panties in a twist," South tetchily said. Her foul mood was at an all-time high since her ranking dropped further.
" Answer the question! Where were you? Washington was shot because of your negligence!" Carolina's voice rose with cold intensity.
" Why do you care so much?" South sneered. Her eyes bore into Carolina's, searching. " What, upset that your lover boy got hurt?"
For one wild moment, it looked like Carolina might hit South. North quickly stepped between them. " That's enough, South," he firmly said.
There was a brief flash of hurt in South's eyes but it was quickly replaced by fury. She left the room with a glare at Carolina and a kicked chair.
~.~.~
The other Freelancers could not help but wonder, after spotting Carolina by the unconscious Washington's bedside, brushing a hand across his cheek with such gentleness Carolina was not known for.
Carolina burned hot and cold when it came to Washington. At times, she was tougher on him than the others, pushing him to do better, expecting more of him. And other times, she softened like butter around him, smiling when he made a lame joke or calling out the others for teasing him.
And in return, Washington followed her heels like a puppy, quick to obey her commands, always wanting to please her. If Carolina told him to, he would have found a way to leap over the moon.
York watched them with quiet envy whenever Carolina and Washington were discussing tactics, heads bent close together. CT frowned inquiringly that time when Carolina was somehow able to know Washington's blood sugar was low and instinctively pressed a bar of chocolate into his hands. North raised his eyebrow when Carolina was particularly agitated after losing a mission against Texas, staying in the training room for over twenty-four hours, but only Washington was able to calm her down and bring her to her room.
South was fond of mocking Washington about it. She called him derogatory names and took delight in his mortification whenever she asked if Carolina took him to bed recently. She only did that when Carolina was not within earshot and South and the others knew Washington was too meek and passive to do anything about it.
" It's complicated," Washington tried to explain to North and York one day. And he wouldn't say anymore about it.
That only led to more questions. Just what exactly was the relationship between Carolina and Washington?
~.~.~
Carolina was not awake when Washington came into the infirmary to give York a reprieve. She did not hear him tell her that his implantation was due for tomorrow and he was hoping she would be awake by the time the surgery was finished. She did not feel the quick kiss on her cheek, the same kind that he would cheerfully give her from the times when they were a lot younger.
Carolina was not there when Washington started screaming after Epsilon was implanted in him. She did not know how he violently thrashed and clawed at his own head, digging his nails into his skin. She did not know that in an attempt to free himself from the agony, he managed to grab a scalpel and attempted to cut into his own neck.
Carolina did not know that the Director observed Washington's breakdown with quiet and detached coolness. She did not see how he stood there, watching and hearing his son cry out for his sister, his mother, but not for his father. She did not know about how he walked away when the doctors had to sedate Washington into unconsciousness in order to regain some control over him.
Because by the time Carolina woke up and Washington wouldn't wake up, everything went to hell.
~.~.~
" I realize it has been a while since we last spoke, David."
There was a pause, a slight hesitation on the Director's part, something Washington had never known the man to have. " May I call you David?"
" No. You cannot." Washington's voice was flat. The David that he had been was gone, long ripped and torn to pieces after the incident with Epsilon and everything that came after that. That David had been associated with favouring and admiring the Director and it now sickened him with how naive and stupid he had been. " You gave me my new name. The least you can do is use it."
The first conversation he had with the Director in years and this was what it came to. He supposed he was being petty and childish but he didn't care at this point.
" Do you realize what you are doing?" The Director's tone became stern, almost patronizing.
His fingers never stopped typing, preparing to deliver the final strike. " I know exactly what I am doing."
" I am sorry to hear that, Agent Washington." For a brief moment, Washington could have sworn he sounded ... regretful. " Program, disable interior shields. Kill him, Agent Maine."
As the bullet entered his body and a wave of pain threatened to engulf him, Washington shouldn't have been too surprised. The Director had always been harsh on him, trying to find ways to dismiss and belittle him, more so than the other Freelancers, more than he ever was with Carolina.
The fact that Washington was the last one left (out of the Freelancers, out of his own children) did not change the Director's attitude towards him.
But Washington took great satisfaction in revealing the one card up his sleeve that not even the all-knowing Director could predict.
" Hi there," the Alpha smugly greeted.
The Director was shocked into silence. Washington counted that as a victory, as he activated the EMP and watched as the Director's entire project collapse and burn.
~.~.~
" Wash?"
Her saying his name sent electricity sizzling through his entire body. It couldn't be. Because she was dead (but so was he, technically) and they all told him what happened after her bloody confrontation with the Meta.
But he had always hoped, always believed she would come back, come back to find him.
" Carolina?"
He sounded like a little child again, like the little boy who missed his sister.
And just like that, she crossed the distance between them and grabbed his shoulders, holding firm and steady.
He was still frozen, filled with a mix of emotions. At the corner of his eye, he could see Tucker pulling his sword out and Caboose moved slightly closer to him, perhaps thinking he was in danger. Even Sarge, Simmons and Grif tensed, guns raised a little higher. A rush of warmth settled in Washington's stomach, able to anchor him to reality – my team, my men.
" I checked all the records since the Mother of Invention crashed." Carolina's voice was trembling slightly. " I accessed all your files repeatedly. I thought you were dead."
" That's what they told me about you." He swallowed the lump in his throat.
I thought I was alone. I thought no one wanted me. No one needed me.
An uncharacteristic snort emerged from her lips. He couldn't remember the last time he heard her laugh. " I guess we were both wrong then."
~.~.~
" What comes next ... Carolina, Wash and I need to do alone."
Epsilon's words were like a dash of cold water, but Wash managed to suck in a slow breath.
He had imagined this for years, plotting and planning the exact moment when he would kill the Director. He fantasized about raging at him, throwing him to the ground, wrapping his hands around his neck. He envisioned being the one to put a bullet in the Director's head for Epsilon and Alpha, for Carolina and York, for Maine and CT, for Tex and his mother.
But now that the moment had came to destroy the Director, he felt nothing but an emptiness in the pit of his stomach.
A hand gripped his shoulder. " You don't have to," Carolina gently said.
She was giving him a way out and common sense would have him seize that chance. However, Washington was too far gone and in too deep.
" No," he finally said. " I – I need to do this too."
Carolina did not release her grip on him (it was a comfort, despite the fact they were marching in to murder someone) as the two of them, along with Epsilon, approached the door separating them from the man who started everything.
~.~.~
The Director did not need to turn around to know that it was his children entering the darkened room.
" Hello Director," they said in unison, like schoolchildren greeting a teacher.
" Hello Agent Carolina. Hello Agent Washington." He continued gazing at Allison's smiling form, transfixed by the grainy footage of the woman he loved dearly. " Would you like to watch this file with me?"
" No," Washington answered, for himself and Carolina.
The Director continued to watch the file however. He felt they deserved an explanation of some sort, as flimsy as it was. He alternated between insisting he would find a way and that he needed more time.
To try to bring their mother back.
Epsilon – and the rest of the fragmented A.I. – were quick to destroy his excuses.
Washington and Carolina looked at each other and silently, as if in agreement, they removed their helmets. This time, the Director looked at them.
Carolina's hair was a brilliant red contrasting the dim room, dyed crimson so that she would not see her mother every time she looked in the mirror. He told her several times when she was younger she was just like her mother, beautiful and strong and determined. (but if he had focused on her instead of her deceased mother, that she was one of his two greatest creation, things wouldn't have turned out like this)
Washington appeared older than he remembered, stress lining around his eyes and grey strands brimming across his hairline. He could not recognize the man standing before him, could not reconcile this person with the same little boy who couldn't stop smiling and who would always reach for him for a hug. (he tried to kill his own son in his blinded anger; he did not deserve to be called his father anymore)
Their green eyes, just like his own, pierced into his, accusing, demanding and wondering why it had to come this.
~.~.~
" It's over," Carolina sighed. It was as if a heavy weight was gone from her shoulders and in a way, it was.
Washington absently nodded. He never had trouble speaking with Carolina before, but after their confrontation with the Director, he found himself feeling awkward and uncertain. " What's next?" he asked instead.
" I'm – not sure," she admitted. He was surprised at that. She was always the one with the plan, always knew what to do next.
Carolina jerked her head towards the Reds and Blues in the distance. " You are planning on staying with them."
It was a statement, not a question.
He watched Caboose excitedly waving his hands, Tucker growing annoyed, Sarge loudly declaring war, Simmons sighing, Donut cheerily chattering away and Grif looking for some shade. " Someone has to look after them," he said. It's nice to have a family again was what he did not say, but Carolina knew him enough to know.
" Washington, I – " She hesitated. " David, I'm sorry."
The sudden switch of his name was unexpected. He could hear all the apologies Carolina was meaning to say, but didn't.
Sorry for not being there for you. Sorry for not telling you I was alive. Sorry for abandoning you. Sorry for attacking your friends. Sorry for hurting you.
It would be easy to say that everything was going to be all right, that things could go back the way they used to be.
He was still broken. And so was she. So was everyone else who got dragged into this mess. He could not stop thinking about all the deaths and pain and tragedy that could have been avoided.
But as Washington reached over to grab her hand, like he had done those many years ago when they had less worries in the world, and Carolina wordlessly, understandingly intertwined her warm fingers around his, he thought to himself, Carolina was alive, he was alive, the Reds and Blues were alive, they were all alive. They were going to make things better. They were going to try.
And that was a good enough start to a new beginning.