Regret
By: Tour Guide62
Disclaimer: I do not own anything from or associated with Red Vs. Blue. I don't even own an Xbox, for God's sake.
Note: This was written before it was revealed that Carolina was still alive, so please forgive me for saying she's dead in this.
York knew he was in trouble the moment he recognized Tex. She was always there at the worst times of his life: when his eye got hurt and when Carolina died. Her black armor seemed to almost always hint that somebody close to him was going to get hurt…or worse.
He should have just walked away when he saw her. She was offering a job and he almost convinced himself that he wanted no part of it. "Almost" being the key word. After years of breaking into stores and houses, just trying to find enough money or food to survive, the promise of the job that Tex offered was too tempting to bear.
Delta had advised against it. York knew that he should have listened to him, seeing how he was the smartest…well, not person exactly, but he was the most logical AI. York should have listened to him. But he didn't. Once he had found out that it was Wyoming that Tex was after, he had let his pride get in the way. York felt that, somehow, taking down Wyoming would prove something to himself. He wasn't sure what it was. Maybe to prove that he was still able to handle himself, that he was still okay even after all of his physical and emotional scars.
He should have left after he had gotten Tex inside Wyoming's base. But he couldn't just leave her. Even after all these years, he still considered Tex a comrade and a friend…of sorts. Besides, in some strange way, this felt right. He felt like he belonged here, watching Tex's back, just like the old days.
Unfortunately, it seemed like there was a reason that he referred to those days as a Freelancer as the "Old Days". He was out of practice, he wasn't used to being in a firefight. He wasn't used to D covering his bad side. He felt that Wyoming knew that, and he exploited that fact. All it took was a couple of bullets to bring York down.
He somehow knew that he would die on this little "adventure".
York's helmet display screamed alerts and warnings at him, but he was in too much pain to notice. As his blood pooled around him, he felt, rather than saw, D and Tex talking to each other. He somehow knew that Delta would leave him and go with Tex. He was prepared for it. However, Tex left after a few moments, and he still felt Delta with him. Delta would not leave him to die alone and would make sure that he died as painlessly as possible.
Still in a painful daze, he thought of all the times he had jokingly told Delta that he was almost human. Looking back on it, he corrected his past self. Delta seemed much more human than those in charge of the Freelancer Program, the Freelancers themselves, or any of the other people that struggled through their daily lives. Delta, though he most likely knew that York was dead already, would stay with York until the end. The thought calmed York down.
He may be dead, but he was not going to die alone. Comforted with this fact, York took a shuddering breath and closed his eyes…
I wrote this for another fanfic site back when Season 9 was coming out. Decided I should bring it here too.