This is an idea I've had for a while, and I just wanted to put it out there. It's not that well constructed, but I like it.
I might not have gotten the timeline right, but still.
"Is that all you got, Church? Mighty shame. I was just getting started!"
If things continued the way they were going, Private Samson Jefferson was fully ready to drink Private Church under the table.
"You wish, cockbite! Us Texas girls can hold our beer!"
Church thought she could take him. This wasn't the first time they've been in this situation. The two were banned from every bar in a twenty-mile radius of where they went through basic.
Personally, Jefferson would prefer not to have to deal with the hangover that would likely follow. However, he knew that they were tied at this point, both in the current drink-off as well as the total victories between the two. He could deal with being hung over.
Luckily for Jefferson, there was someone who didn't want to deal with a hungover Church.
"Allison!" Her husband exclaimed. "Would you guys just cut it out? I don't want to drive your drunk asses home again!"
"Come on, Leonard!" Church exclaimed. "I can take him!"
"Yeah, Lenny!" Jefferson commented. "Let me and the lady have our drink!"
Leonard sighed. "I don't know why I even agreed to come out with you guys."
"Because you want to get laid, don't you?" Church commented.
"Not if you're going to be drunk off your ass."
"It's more fun that way!"
Jefferson watched the two argue. He actually liked the guy, whiney as he seemed. All of Allison's relationships seemed to fall apart when the guy realized she was always going to wear. the pants. Lenny, however, put up with Allison's shit and even held his own.
They argued all the time. Jefferson had never met a more loving couple.
As Allison tried to pour a beer down Leonard's throat, Jefferson silently prayed they never had a child.
"And who's that supposed to be, Caroline?" Jefferson asked the child.
"That's Daddy!" The girl replied, pointing at the drawing of her father.
"His head's big and blue." Jefferson commented.
"Yup!"
"Seems about right."
"Stop corrupting my daughter's image of me." Leonard commented, walking into the living room with a few mugs of hot chocolate.
Jefferson was an orphan, Allison wasn't on speaking terms with her family, and Leonard's father had died the previous year, leaving him the last member of his family. The three decided that they might as well spend Christmas together.
Well, the Churches decided that Jefferson was going to come over for Christmas. He realized he didn't really have much of a say in the matter, seeing as it was Allison's idea.
He had to admit, it was actually kind of nice. They got takeout since none of them could cook. The group consisted of three adults and one child.
Jefferson looked down at his god-daughter.
"Time for bed, little lady." Jefferson commented.
"Aww, I don't wanna, Uncle Sam!" Caroline complained. Leonard snickered at the name. He had gotten it drilled into her head that was Jefferson's name, so Jefferson just rolled with it.
That didn't mean he wasn't annoyed. He just decided he would get back at him with Allison on his side.
Speaking of Allison…
"You need to, Caroline." Allison said, walking into the living room. "Your uncle Sam and I have to go to work tomorrow, and we all need to be up bright and early."
"Ok, Mommy!" Caroline exclaimed. "Goodnight, Mommy! Goodnight, Daddy! Goodnight, Uncle Sam!" She ran up the steps.
Leonard sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I can't believe those assholes are seriously deploying you guys the day after Christmas."
"That's war, Leonard." Allison said. "Still, it was nice being able to have dinner."
"Since when did you get so motherly?" Jefferson joked.
"Since I became a mother." Allison replied. "Did you miss the pregnancy thing?"
"Neither of us are going to forget that." Leonard commented. "It was the worst nine months ever."
"Of all time." Jefferson added.
"Pussies." Allison commented.
The ship landed. The soldiers were slowly being processed out. All around him, soldiers were being reunited with their families. The joy was nearly infectious.
Leonard didn't care.
He was waiting for his wife.
"Daddy?" The seven-year old looked up at her father. "Where's Mommy?"
"She's coming." Leonard replied. "She would never leave without saying goodbye."
As the crowd of returning soldiers died down, he was starting to get worried.
When he saw Jefferson start to walk toward him, however, a part of him knew.
"Uncle Sam?"
The expression on the soldier's face was stony. The Staff Sergeant put a hand on Leonard's shoulder.
"I'm sorry."
He collapsed in grief.
A few years later, Jefferson was deployed to Reach.
Reach fell.
Jefferson came back a different man.
The Director read over the psych files of the soldiers that would be manned in the canyon the Counselor was sending the Alpha.
"What do you think, Director?" He asked.
"I think these men would greatly annoy Alpha." The Director replied. "They would annoy me."
"Well, I think they set up a perfect community for the Alpha to grow in." Florida replied. He had personally picked which soldiers would be sent to Blood Gulch. "I could see them becoming a beautiful team."
"I don't think we have a great track record of making good teams." the Director commented. "Are they really some of the worst soldiers in our forces?"
"Well, I would consider them the best of the worst." The Counselor commented. "If someone were to attack the Alpha, they wouldn't know what to expect."
"How so?" The Director asked.
"We are usually able to speculate what would happen if we sent a Freelancer into the simulation." The Counselor said. "However, when we tried to run these numbers, we have no certainty what would happen. All possible outcomes are literally chaos."
"I like to refer to it as 'the beautiful will of God.'" Florida commented.
"Hiding the Alpha in chaos." The Director observed. "I like it. One question, however: Who is the leader of the Red Team?"
The Counselor hesitated. "Sargent Samson Jefferson. His skills in robotics could be-"
"Why?" The Director asked, in a strained voice.
"Because he's my opposite!" Florida cheerily replied. "We need to balance out the chakra of the canyon, and who better to do that then someone who is-"
"Why?" The Director asked, this time more forcefully.
"Because if anyone asks questions, he's the only one who knows the real answers." The Counselor admitted. "Carolina is dead, making him the only loss end. Would you prefer we kill him?"
"...No." The Director said, after a pause. "There's already been enough death."
"...Very well, sir." The Counselor said. "Come, Flowers. We have work to do."
"Don't worry, Sir. I'm sure the Alpha will be fine." Flowers said. "What should I call him, by the way? I bet people will catch on if we just keep calling him 'Alpha.'
"Church. Call him Leonard Church."
Carolina looked down at the man who shared her eyes. He had such a defeated look on his face.
The freelancer sighed, leaned down, and kissed his forehead.
"Come on, Church." She said to the AI. "We're leaving."
"But-" Church began to exclaim, before he was interrupted by…
"Charge! Let's take down this blue dirtbag!" Sarge exclaimed, leading the Reds and Blues into the Director's chamber.
"We're going to make your death-bed, and I'm a professional fluffer!" Donut exclaimed.
"Let's show this guy we're real soldiers!" Simmons exclaimed.
"Not that we are real soldiers or anything." Grif added. "Although I don't think any real soldiers could handle that mob you had out there."
"Dammit, guys!" Wash exclaimed, stopping behind them. "We were supposed to leave this to Carolina!"
"Hey, she actually looks pretty hot under that helmet." Tucker commented. "Bow Chicka Bow Wow!"
"Hi Church!" Caboose said to Epsilon. "Hi, Church!" He said to the Director, who continued to look at them.
"What the hell is wrong with you guys?!" Church exclaimed angrily.
Sarge stopped bickering with the others once he saw the screen and the video playing on loop.
The Director looked at Sarge, before shamefully looking away.
"Sir, this is the group of soldiers that took down Project Freelancer." Carolina joked in spite of herself. "A bit ironic, if you think about it. Worst soldiers ever take out the best."
Sarge looked at Carolina.
"...You're a natural blond." He said.
"...Yes." Carolina replied, somewhat disturbed. "How do you know that?"
Sarge looked down at the Director.
He took off his helmet.
"...Uncle Sam?" Carolina whispered.
"What did you do, Lenny?" Jefferson said to the Director.
"...Sarge knows the Director?" Grif asked.
"...You know something, Jefferson?" The Director asked, not looking at the man. "I almost considered you for Project Freelancer. However, I realized your memories of Allison would affect the AIs. It was safer to keep you at a distance."
"Do you think she would want this?" Jefferson asked. "What you did to those people? What you did to yourself? What you did to Caroline?"
"I don't know what she would think, Samson." He replied. "I didn't find what I was looking for, but I think I got pretty close." He sighed.
"Sarge…" Simmons looked at his superior officer.
"We're leaving him." Carolina said.
"I never agreed to that!" Epsilon exclaimed.
"You don't get a choice, Church." Wash said. "Well, this was a bit eye-opening, Director. Nice to know I almost went crazy to help you get over a girl."
"Wait. I'm confused. Isn't Church a gay robot?" Caboose asked.
"Don't worry about it!" Donut reassured the blue soldier. "I know plenty about robot, and I bet Lopez has his secrets!"
"Sheesh. Love sucks. I'm just sticking to sex." Tucker commented. He noticed the others leaving. "Hey, Wash! Wait up!"
The other left, leaving Carolina, Sarge, and the Director.
"Jefferson." The Director asked. "Would you please leave me your pistol?"
Sarge hesitated, but left the pistol next to the man.
"Thank you, friend." The Director said.
Carolina hesitated, before turning to leave.
"It's been an honor, sir." She said, not look at the man. She left the room.
"She was my greatest creation…." The Director sighed.
"Was it really worth losing your daughter to get your wife back?" Samson asked. "I miss Allison too, but-"
The Director laughed bitterly. "No disrespect, Jefferson, but if you miss her as much as I do, you would understand why I went to the lengths I did."
"...My mistake." Jefferson admitted. "You know she'll kick your ass till it's bleeding blue when you see her in Hell, right?"
"I'm sure I'll deserve it." The Director said.
Samson couldn't think of anything else to say. He looked at the Director one last time, before leaving the room.
"...Forgive me, Allison…"
Sarge looked over Red Base, making sure Simmons, Donut, and Grif were doing their jobs. He didn't expect them to get anything done, but you never knew when the Blues might turn coat.
Dirty Blues.
"I thought you were leaving." Sarge said out loud.
"Sorry." Carolina said, revealing herself to Sarge. "I just wanted to see you before…"
"Why are you able to say bye to your friends, and I'm not able to say bye to mine?" Epsilon commented.
"Easy there, Blue." Sarge said. "I don't think I'm Caroline's friend."
"What happened to you, Uncle Sam?" Carolina asked.
"Some of us don't come out of war completely intact." Sarge said. "I just came out a worse soldier. I could ask you the same thing, but the answer's pretty obvious."
"I know that...the Director couldn't get over Allison's death." Carolina said.
"Why do you keep calling him 'Uncle Sam?' Is that some sort of joke?" Epsilon asked.
Sarge ignored the AI. "I don't think it was worth it. His own daughter won't even call him dad anymore."
"What are you talking…" Epsilon began to ask, before putting the pieces together. "Wait. No. What? No! What?!"
"Epsilon, go offline." Carolina said.
"Does that make me your dad or something?"
"Church. OFF."
"Fine, Fine." Epsilon said. "But we so have to talk about this later!" He flashed away.
"So I take it that means none of those fancy pants Freelancers knew either, right?" Sarge asked.
"Uncle Sam." Carolina said, looking at the soldier. "It's all over now. Just let it go."
"Well, that's easy for you to say." Sarge commented. "You knew what was going on the time. If I had known-"
"I would have told you if I knew it was you!" Carolina exclaimed.
"But would it have changed anything?" He asked
"Would it have to?" Carolina asked.
"I would have been there for you and Lenny." Sarge respond.
Carolina looked out over the field. "I was told you died on Reach. We were all told that."
"Well, that's a believable story. I might as well have been." Sarge commented. "Wanna know why I'm so good with robotics?"
Carolina looked at him, curiously.
Sarge knocked on his legs. "Both robotic. Lost them both on Reach. I wanted to stay a soldier, so I learned to support them on my own."
"That's...impressive." Carolina said. "Why would you be put in Blood Gulch?"
"Sometimes I would wonder why I was there. I was told there was a war that needed fighting!" Sarge exclaimed. "Although now I'm beginning to suspect there might have been something else."
The two stood there in silence.
"...I really should go." Carolina said, as she began to walk away.
"Watch yourself out there." Sarge said.
"I'm a Freelancer." She said. "You don't have to worry about me."
"I'm also your godfather." Sarge replied.
Carolina was happy her helmet was already on and she wasn't facing Sarge.
"I'll be fine, Uncle."
Otherwise Uncle Sam would have noticed the tears and would want to make even more of a scene.
This is my first Red vs Blue fic, and it is surprisingly hard to get everyone's voices right. Hope you all liked it!