Chapter 1: Don't Let Me Down - Lean On Me
Disclaimer: The popular series Red vs. Blue belongs to Rooster Teeth Productions. Not me.
Authoresses Note: I've recently gotten into Halo and Red vs. Blue so I decided to give writing a fanfiction on it a shot. Oh and in case anyone is wondering this is not a slash fic. I have nothing against slash, in fact I enjoy some slash fics, but I just thought I'd point out that bit of info in case anyone is wondering. There is something I should point out in case anyone is confused: This story is AU which stands for Alternate Universe in case you were wondering. The plotline of this story will have differences from the real RvB plotline. The characters will be kept in character to the best of my ability. Thanks for your understanding and please enjoy.
A cobalt blue armored soldier ran through the dank and dark corridors. He seemed intent on finding someone or something in the jail cells that lined the walls. He checked every cell he passed but grew more and more dismayed to find nothing in them. In fact they were completely empty save for bits of debris that littered the floor. He grew frenzied as he neared the end of the corridor.
Slamming his fist on the wall savagely he shouted out into the silence.
"Damnit! They said that they were holding you here!"
He rested his gun against the wall and fell to his knees. He held his helmet covered head in his hands. His armor showed signs that he had been in a fierce battle. It was scratched and dented in places. The blue paint was peeling in places, showing the brown colouring underneath.
He had just come out of the biggest battle of his young life. He and his teammates had been called out of Blood Gulch to aid their Blue allies in taking out one of the main red bases. They had camped out with a large group of Blues when an equally large group of Reds had performed a sneak attack at night. The Reds took many Blues prisoners for whatever reasons. He himself and two of his other teammates had avoided capture or death but the fourth, the youngest and most inexperienced, had been captured.
When the Blue team as a whole had managed to pick itself up off the ground they all managed to take down the Red base they had originally targeted. However the P.O.W Blues were nowhere to be found. After some elite computer and file hacking every individual Blue team was able to find where there missing teammate was being held. The Reds had been holding them in about 10 different jail facilities, each facility held about 50 Blue prisoners.
When the Reds at the said facilities heard that the Blues were arriving they either killed off some of the prisoners or fled. The prisoners who survived the Reds experimentations or killing spree were now left alone until they could be rescued.
Private Leonard Church finally lifted his head. He was beyond weary of what had happened in the last couple of days. And now after coming all this way to find his captured teammate the facility was deserted. Not a soul was around. Minus a couple of Reds that ambushed them on their way in but the others told him to go in and they'd hold off the Reds.
He couldn't figure out why the facility would be deserted. The prisoners were supposed to be here. Well the ones that had survived anyways. There was no explanation as to why the facility was empty. There was simply no trace of anyone ever being held prisoner here.
He got up and grabbed his gun once more. How was he supposed to tell the others that they had come all this way for nothing?
Church started walking back the way he came when something caught his eye. In the nearest cell there was a filthy mat lying on the ground. However it wasn't the mat that caught his eye, it was what it was half concealing that caught his attention.
He walked cautiously towards it and moving his foot forward swiftly kicked the mat out of the way. The mat revealed a wooden trap door. Church looked around to make sure no one was following him before kicking the door. The door's weak hinges gave way and it collapsed inwards revealing a staircase.
Church tentatively raised his gun and slowly made his way down the stairs case. As he reached the bottom he looked around to see he was now in a roughly crafted underground hallway. He kept his finger on the trigger of his gun and moved forward. He didn't have to go far to find out where the tunnel led.
Church gasped in horror at what he found. He resisted the urge to vomit as best he could. Various torture instruments lined the walls. Blood was present on every one of them. Tables with thick leather straps, presumably for holding down a person, were present. Blood was also present on these.
Once again Church could not find any indication of anyone being here. He gave the room a once over and turned to leave feeling grossed out and disturbed at the measures the Reds had taken. As he was leaving he heard something move in the corner. He whipped around and raised his gun and kept his finger on the trigger. In the shadows of the corner he saw the outline of a body. He moved closer cautiously and turned on the light built into his gun.
He gasped in shock at what the light was showing him. A Blue soldier, darkish blue armor, lay there. His armour was broken and cracked in many places revealing his skin underneath. Blood seeped through these holes. He gave no indication that he was still alive except for the shallow and ragged breaths he was taking.
Church felt his heart plummet into his stomach.
"Cab-Caboose?" He asked in a shaky voice.
Caboose did not answer. He gave a small moan and curled up into a tight ball. Church was stunned for a minute but realized that he had to get his teammate to safety, far away from this hell.
He laid his gun down and crawled over to Caboose. He gave him a gentle shake.
"Come on Caboose. It's me, Church. Come on, I can't move you if you don't tell me what's wrong." He said gently.
Caboose gave a small shudder and inclined his head slightly. There was a large crack in Caboose's visor and Church could see an eye lid open up to reveal an unfocused blue eye.
"Ch-Church? Is that you?" Caboose wheezed. The eye that Church could see had a cut beneath it.
"Yeah it's me. I'm going to get you out of here." Church whispered. He rose to his feet and looked to see how far he'd have to carry Caboose. He was in no condition to walk. He felt an arm grasp his foot. Church looked back down to see Caboose looking up at him with his one visible eye. Tears were welling in it.
"Please…don't leave m-me." Caboose gasped as tears started pouring down his face. His voice was terribly raspy.
Normally Church wouldn't have the patience to deal with Caboose's emotional moments but he didn't have a choice.
"I'm not going to leave you. Now I need to know where you're injured. It's important you tell me exactly where so I can get you out of here without hurting you even more." Church told him.
"The right side of me hurts a lot. My leg doesn't work either." Caboose pointed to his right leg which slightly twisted.
Church sighed. This wasn't going to be easy.
"Now listen to me Caboose. I'm going to lift you up slowly. I'll try and do it as painlessly as possible but it may still hurt. I need you to help me as much as possible by putting some of your weight on your left leg. Your left leg is alright right?"
"Y-yes." Caboose stuttered nervously.
"Ok. Now I'm going to lift you up now. You'll be out of here soon enough." Church kneeled down and moved his arm underneath Caboose's shoulders so that he could lift him up by the underneath of his arms.
"Ok Caboose now I'm going to lift you up slowly. When you get into a standing position I need you to put your left leg down. This is important. Are you ready?" Church asked.
Caboose made a small whimper like noise but made no objection. Church raised Caboose as slowly and carefully as he could so that he didn't hurt Caboose.
Caboose gave a cry of pain when Church moved his arm to Caboose's waist in order to better support him better. Church relocated his arm to underneath Caboose's arm so that he didn't hurt him.
Caboose did as he was told and put his left leg down. It shook slightly under his weight but didn't collapse.
Church was beyond relieved that Caboose actually followed his instructions.
"We're going to go up the stairs now Caboose." Church told him gently.
They made their way up the stairs and when they reached the top Church leaned Caboose against the wall gently.
"Don't move. I'm just going to go get my gun. If anyone comes yell." Church told him sternly.
"No-no please don't l-leave me Ch-Church. Wh-what if they co-come back?" Fresh tears started pouring down Caboose's cheeks.
Church was about to yell in frustration at his teammate but refrained since Caboose was clearly traumatized enough as it was.
"No one will come back. Tucker and Tex are standing guard. Now I need my gun just in case anything happens." Church patiently told him.
Caboose let out a sob of anguish. Church couldn't help but feel bad for his innocent minded teammate. He suddenly felt a rush of anger towards the Reds. How could they do this to Caboose? He'd never hurt anybody. God knows why he decided to join this goddamn war. He didn't deserve this.
"I won't leave you." Church whispered. Caboose stopped sobbing but still sniffled now and then.
Church could only hope and prey that the next people to come by were the rest of the team. As he looked around the empty cells a thought suddenly dawned on him.
"Hey Caboose? Where is everyone?" Church asked curiously.
Caboose opened his eye wide in fear. Church was suddenly sorry he asked.
"They're…all d-dead." Caboose said fearfully.
"But there's no one here." Church pushed. "No bodies or anything."
"I TOLD YOU THEY'RE ALL DEAD! THE REDS KILLED THEM ALL! THEY TOLD ME TO HIDE SO I DID AND THEY ALL DIED! IT'S MY FAULT BECAUSE I COULDN'T HELP THEM BECAUSE I WAS UNARMED! THE REDS TOOK ALL THE BODIES AND DIDN'T COME BACK!" Caboose shouted in anger and misery.
Church was shocked. He'd never heard Caboose shout like that. He'd also never heard Caboose get mad at anyone like that before either. He felt bad he had pushed him to snap. Caboose was now crying all over again and muttering things like 'my fault' and 'couldn't save them'.
"I'm sorry Caboose. But it's not your fault. There's no way you could've saved them, they wanted you to save yourself. Besides if you had tried to save them and gotten yourself killed how were Tucker, Tex and I supposed to feel? You're our teammate Caboose." Church told him sincerely.
Caboose looked at Church hopefully. The tears had left a trail through the blood caking parts of his face.
"Do you mean that Church?" He asked hopefully.
Church looked at his teammates face. The blue eye visible no longer sparkled with the innocence it once had. It looked dull and full of sorrow despite the hopefulness Caboose was expressing right now. Church felt sadness for his teammate.
"Yes Caboose. Every word." Church said gently.
Caboose was about to say something when footsteps started coming from down the corridor.
Church made to grab his gun but realized that it was still downstairs.
"Shit!" He swore angrily. He got up and shielded Caboose with his body. The only way they were getting Caboose was over his dead body.
The footsteps grew closer and Church raised his fists in front of him. He had no other way of fighting.
Two people rushed around the corner and Church launched himself at the nearest one. Church rolled around with the person on the ground before he had him pinned.
He heard Caboose and a familiar female voice shouting at him.
"Church what the hell are you doing?" The female asked.
Church turned around to see Tex standing there beside Caboose. But that could only mean…
"Gerroff me." A muffled voice came another familiar voice from underneath Church.
Church looked down to see he had his teammate Tucker pinned beneath him.
Church got up and grabbed Tucker's hand to lift him up. Tucker 'hmpth'ed and brushed himself off.
Church turned to Tex. "We've got to get him out of here. He needs medical attention now."
Tex was hoisting Caboose up. "Yeah I know. The Reds are all gone and we've got backup outside with a warthog. They'll take him to the medical base."
Church felt some of the weight lifted off his shoulders.
Tucker spoke up. "Come on. He's in terrible shape. We can't waste anymore time." He grabbed his gun and started to lead the way down the corridor.
Tex started helping Caboose along. Church grabbed her gun and took up the rear, hoping that Caboose was going to be alright.
Authoresses Note: That was chapter one. I have gone through every chapter and combed out the finer details. I also detected some mistakes I missed the first couple of edits. So this chapter is fairly short page wise but the word count for it is pretty high. The next ones will be longer.