Breakfast Bonding
By: Tour Guide62
Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to RVB.
Caboose started his day like he always did. He got up out of his cot, put his armor on, turned around, tripped, fell flat on his face, got back up, and cheerfully exited his room. Out in the hallway, Caboose paused. Blue Base was unusually quiet. There was no Church yelling at him, no Tucker imagining pretty girls, no Tex attacking anyone who moved, and no Reds attacking the base.
Caboose looked at the display in his helmet. While his armor was not as advanced as the other Blues, Caboose did have the standard calendar and clock functions in his HUD. Not that Caboose knew how to work the display in his helmet.
Caboose didn't know why it was so quiet. It was 5:12 AM, after all. Everybody should be awake by now! He wondered what he could do to pass the time.
He was saved from using what little brainpower he had when his stomach growled. I'll get some breakfast! he thought. With his new goal in mind, Caboose walked off to the kitchen. He paused outside the doorway when he saw that the light was on. Who else could be up?
He walked inside and was greeted with the smell of coffee. He looked at the table and saw Washington sitting and drinking out of a mug. Caboose forgot that Wash came back to base with them after the last fight with the Meta. Glad that he was not the only one up anymore, Caboose made his way over to the ex-Freelancer.
Washington looked up from the table to see Caboose walking towards him. He sighed and berated himself for waking up so early just because he had another nightmare. Or was it memories? Wash found it very hard to tell the difference. Either way, he rubbed his eyes and prepared himself for the onslaught of stupidity that was bound to spew out of Caboose's mouth.
"Good morning, Agent Washingtub!" greeted Caboose.
"Caboose, I told you. It's Washington. And I'm not an agent anymore. Just call me Wash." Washington said. He was already beginning to feel a headache coming on.
"Sorry." Caboose replied. He sounded a little sad.
Wash sighed and waved the apology off. "Don't worry about it." He hoped that none of his annoyance was showing on his face. He didn't want to hurt Caboose's feelings just for saying good morning. "What are you doing up so early?" he asked.
"Church told me to go take a hike yesterday! I woke up early so I could go on one today!" Caboose said happily. "But I needed some breakfast first."
Washington shook his head at Caboose's misunderstanding. It was extremely likely that Church had known that Caboose would take the saying literally so he could get a few hours peace from him. Wash just hoped that Caboose would stay away from the Red base. Caboose may annoy him, but he didn't want him to get killed.
Caboose decided to break the silence. "Why are you up so early, Agent George Washington?"
Rolling his eyes at Caboose's mistake, Wash decided to keep his answer short and simple. "Nightmare." he said.
Caboose was silent for a few moments. He walked to the pantry and grabbed a box of cereal. As he poured himself a bowlful of some chocolaty-flavored breakfast, he asked, "What about."
"It doesn't matter." Wash said quickly. The last thing he wanted was to talk to Caboose about Epsilon's memories. He felt awkward enough living with Epsi- Church, Washington reminded himself. "Just something from the past."
Caboose grabbed his bowl of cereal and sat down. He took off his helmet and stared at Wash for a moment before he started eating. Washington sipped more of his coffee and grimaced at the bitter taste. He didn't really enjoy coffee, but it was the only thing that could really make him alert in the morning.
As Caboose slurped and crunched his breakfast, Wash drained the last of his drink. He got up and moved toward the sink to rinse off his cup and put it in the dishwasher. He walked back over to the table to grab his helmet.
"You know, I have nightmares too." said Caboose suddenly.
Wash looked over at the private. Caboose had finished his cereal and was staring at Wash. It wasn't Caboose's usual blank stare into space, but a serious and focused stare.
"Sometimes I have nightmares about how things used to be." continued Caboose. "I have nightmares about how things were before I became a Blue. I didn't really have any friends back then. I-I don't ever want to feel that lonely again." Caboose paused, then continued, "But when I wake up from those types of nightmares, I remember that I have friends now. I think to myself that the past doesn't matter, because it is in the past. It might hurt, and it might feel sad, but it just doesn't matter because I'm in the present, and I'm not alone anymore. I have lots of friends now: you, Church, Tex, the Reds…and Tucker too, I guess." Wash's gray eyes were locked onto Caboose's blue ones. "I think what I'm trying to say is that you shouldn't let your past bother you now, because you have a lot of friends to live for in the present."
The two of them stared at each other for a moment. Then Caboose smiled and said, "Other times I dream about my parents having sex and I get really mad for some reason."
Washington shook his head again, and put on his helmet. After Caboose had put his dishes in the dishwasher and put on his helmet, he turned to Wash and said, "Well, I'm going to go on my hike now."
Caboose turned away and walked towards the door. Wash watched him go for a few seconds before clearing his throat and asking, "About that hike…do you want any company?"
Caboose turned and, even though he was wearing a helmet, Wash could've sworn he saw him smile.
I actually wrote this in the middle of Season 9 and put it up on a RVB fanfiction site. I figured I should put it up here too.