I do not own RvB or RWBY
A/N: Thank you for your continued support.
For those of you wondering, as questioned by one of my reviewers, the timeline for RWBY is set between Vol. 2 and 3.
After a long, long walk, Washington, the Blues, and Team RWBY finally arrived at Outpost 17-B, Valhalla, the base where Tex's ship crashed.
Everyone was glad that the trek was finally done, all of them a bit winded from the long walk. It would have been a lot more bearable if Washington didn't insist on keeping Team RWBY in his line of sight at all times, arguing that he 'didn't trust them' and he 'wasn't an idiot.' That latter argument was something that Yang almost commented on if Weiss hadn't thrown the blonde a look to tell her not to start anything. So the four were glad when Washington said that he had to go ahead of them.
"You wait here," Washington said to the others. "I'm going to talk to the guards and get us in." He then walked over to the soldier stationed as a guard for the entrance.
As Washington left, Ruby turned to Church and Caboose. "So, how have you guys been?"
"You're seriously asking that question right now?" Church declared, incredulous.
"Well, we do have to wait here," Yang shrugged. "And we're finally out of sight of Wash's constant glare. Might as well catch up with each other."
"That sounds fun!" Caboose cheered. "Since you asked, I have been doing great! I was sad that me and Church got separated after we got transferred, even though we were playing hide-and-seek."
"Hide-and-seek?" Weiss asked, daring to hope for a sensible answer.
"Yes," Caboose said. "Church tried to hide his transfer orders from me so I would not know where he was, and when I asked if it was like a game of hide-and-seek, he said that that was right. He was going to hide from me, and the only way he would win is if he dies without ever seeing me again."
After Caboose's explanation, the four girls turned to look at Church accusingly.
"Don't look at me like that," Church defended. "If you've been with Caboose for as long as I have, you'd do the same thing."
"But now we are back together and everything is great again!" Caboose cheered. "Also, I won at hide-and-seek!"
"'Great' isn't the word I'd use," Church grumbled. "And besides, like I already said earlier, everyone got transferred out."
"What about your armor?" Ruby asked. "They look really different."
"Before we left, we had to pick new armor and got upgraded!" Caboose stated.
"I've already told you Caboose, that's not an upgrade," Church said. "I'm wearing Mark Six armor, you're wearing Mark Five armor. This is an upgrade."
"In a top ten list, five is better than six," Caboose simply said.
"We're not a top ten list!" Church snapped. "You know what, forget it." He then turned back to Team RWBY. "You know what happened next. We got transferred, and I was sent to another base, where I was fine until I got pulled into doing this shit."
"Didn't you already agree to go with us?" Yang pointed out.
"I only came along because of Tex," Church replied. "Not to have a Blood Gulch reunion."
"Do you even know if Tex is even alive?" Weiss asked.
"Weiss," Ruby said, chastising her teammate for her blunt question.
"I'm only saying the truth," Weiss continued. "You said the ship exploded. It's unlikely that Tex survived it."
"That's not true!" Church shouted. "Tex is the toughest person I know. If anyone can survive from a ship crash, it's her. She's alive. She has to be! She has to be..."
Everyone went silent at Church's words, words that even he needed to believe.
"Awkward," Caboose said to break the silence.
Before anyone could say anything else, and make this conversation even more awkward, Washington had returned to the group.
"We have a problem," Washington told them.
"I hope it isn't a math problem," Caboose said.
"Or anything else depressing," Blake muttered.
"They've got the crash site locked down, and they're not letting anyone in," Washington explained.
"Oh that's just great," Church complained. "We couldn't have found that out on the radio instead of walking here?"
"What do we do now?" Weiss asked Washington.
"They said we could use this base if we want," Washington said, referring to the base beside them.
"Wow, the empty concrete base?" Church said sardonically. "Is it our birthday?"
"I want cake," Caboose said.
"If we're asking for food, I'd like cookies," Ruby added.
Weiss just facepalmed, not bothering to say anything to her partner.
"You all just stay here. I'll draw off the guards," Washington said. "When I give you the signal, use that grav-lift in the base."
"The what?" Weiss asked. She and everyone then turned to look inside the base and saw a device inside streaming a transparent blue energy upward.
"How do we use it?" Chuch asked.
"Just step in to it. It'll do the rest," Washington explained. "Meet me at the ship."
"What's the signal?" Ruby asked as she turned around. "Wait. Where'd he go?"
Everyone, except Caboose, turned around and saw that Washington was gone.
"God dammit," Church cursed. "I hate when they do that."
Caboose finally turned and faced Church. "When they do wha- Hey! Where's Agent Washington?"
"A guy that quietly disappears? Huh, sounds like you Blake," Yang commented. "Blake?" They all then realized that the bow-wearing girl was also absent.
"Um guys," Ruby said. "Where did Blake go?"
After he found a way past the quarantine, Washington made his way to Blue base, already having an idea in mind for the 'distraction'. Piece of cake, he thought.
Unfortunately, the idea of this being an easy task went out the window when he heard the sound of a gun cocking behind him. Washington slowly turned around and saw the same soldier who had stopped him from entering the crash site.
"I don't know what you're doing in here sir, but I can't let you go any further," the soldier said.
"Look, I need to see that ship," Washington said to the soldier. As he spoke, he was slowly reaching for his handgun. He knew that doing this would get the soldier hurt, but he was pretty sure he could survive it.
"I can't let you go in sir," the soldier said. "I already warned you earlier, so now I have to- Ugh!"
He failed to finish speaking as Washington watched the soldier collapse to the ground down in front of his feet. Washington looked up and saw who his savior was.
"Your welcome," Blake said.
"What are you doing here!?" Washington hissed in a hoarse whisper, as he was trying not to attract any more unwanted attention. "I told you to wait back at Red base."
"I decided to tag along and help," Blake replied . "Which you clearly needed."
"I had it handled," Washington insisted.
"By killing him," Blake accused. "I saw you going for your gun. As long as my team and I are around, let's try to keep that to a minimum.
"I wasn't going to kill him," Washington argued. "It was just going to be a flesh wound. Beside, I'm soldier, killing is part of the job description,"
"We're not here to kill people, we're here to create a distraction," Blake said. "Which we should be getting on with."
"The last thing I need is to be lectured by a girl who isn't willing to do what needs to be done," Washington growled.
Blake's Faunus ears twitched under her black ribbon. 'What needs to be done'. Those words reminded her of terrible memories from the White Fang, which made her even more wary of Washington.
"Let's go," Washington ordered. He then turned around and continued moving as Blake followed. She would keep an eye on him, and if he does anything that would endanger her teammates, or the Blues, she would be sure to stop him.
Back inside the Red base, Ruby, Weiss, Yang, Church, and Caboose were still waiting for Washington's, and now apparently Blake's, signal to head to the crashed ship.
"What do you think they'll do for a distraction?" Caboose asked.
"If it was Blake, probably knock out a couple of guards," Yang guessed.
"Maybe something with her shadow clones," Ruby guessed as well.
"Or that Agent Washington might just shoot some people," Weiss said, although not very enthusiastic about her idea.
"Yeah probably," Church said. "Besides, they might just do something small. Like, I don't know, make some noise, or throw a rock. That's what I would do."
They all got their answer a few moments later when they saw a huge explosion from the distance, as a vehicle was blown upward. Sirens then began to sound in response.
"...Or they could do that." Church said flatly.
"I think they are better at distractions than you are," Caboose said.
"Yeah," Church said, not arguing on that point.
Ruby's Scroll began to ring.
"Blake?" Ruby said as she answered the Scroll and put her on speaker, while Church and Caboose heard her through their radios.
"You guys are good," Blake said. "Come on out."
"But come quietly," Washington said over the radio. They then ended the call.
"Alright let's go," Weiss said. They all then headed to the grav-lift
"Um, yeah, I don't want to," Caboose said, shifting uneasily. "Uh, you see I am scared of the thing that I don't know what it is."
"Oh don't be a baby," Church said as he stepped in front of the grav-lift. "How bad could it beeee-"
The moment Church stepped in to the grav-lift, he was immediately flung upward. Caboose, Ruby, Weiss, and Yang looked up and watched as Church was hurled towards Blue base, flailing and screaming through the air.
"Yeah, I think we'll take another mode of transportation," Yang said.
"Yup," Ruby said.
"Agreed," Weiss said.
"Wow, I did not know Church could fly," Caboose said, still looking up and marveling at his friends apparent flying ability.
Washington and Blake were hiding behind a large rock, waiting close to the position where Washington calculated the others would land after using the grav-lift.
"Are you sure this is the right spot?" Blake asked. "They aren't here yet."
"I'm sure," Washington said. "Let's just hope they get here soon."
As if on cue, the two of them saw Church fall from the sky and hit the side of a jeep several feet away from them with a loud thud.
"That was fucking bullshit!" They heard Church shout.
"Church," Blake called him through her Scroll. "Are you okay?"
"'Am I okay?' What kind of question is that!?" Church shouted. "No, I'm not okay! I almost died."
"He's fine," Blake said. "He wouldn't be able to complain otherwise."
"Fuck you!"
"I said come quietly," Washington said on his radio. "What part of quiet don't you understand?"
"What part? How 'bout the part where I got thrown eighty feet in the fucking air, by the God damn throwing thing!?" Church shouted.
Fortunately, as Blake noticed, no guards were heading to Church's direction, meaning their cover was still safe. No matter how loud Church's complaining was.
"What about Caboose and the others, are they on the way?" Washington asked.
Suddenly, they saw another figure in the sky. Blake recognized it as one of Weiss' glyphs, though a larger one. On top of the glyph were Ruby, Weiss, Yang, and Caboose as they rode the glyph through the air.
"Okay then," Washington said, a little caught off guard by the sight.
"Impressed?" Blake asked with a smirk.
"Stunned," Washington replied, still staring at the sight. "And concerned. I don't remember the reports saying you four could do... magic."
"It's not really magic," Blake explained. "In our world, we all have-"
"Later," Washington interrupted. "When we're not trying to hide from military soldiers... and when my head finally wraps around the idea of flying people."
The glyph soon descended and disappeared as it landed on the ground.
"We're here!" Ruby cheered.
"Be quiet," Washington reminded them.
"Yeah, yeah," Yang him waved off. "So, what's the next step?"
Washington sighed. He was already getting a headache from dealing with these people. "Someone just get Church and we'll head to the ship."
After grabbing Church, and avoiding any more guards, and more importantly tanks, they finally reached the crashed ship.
"Do you recognize this ship?" Washington asked.
"Yeah, this looks like it," Church said.
"Man, it looks messed up," Yang said, seeing the damage the ship sustained.
"It's a crashed ship, what did you expect?" Weiss said.
"Sheila!" Caboose suddenly started shouting to the ship. "Sheila, are you okay?"
"Um... what is he doing?" Washington asked.
"He's checking if Sheila's okay," Ruby said, as if it was obvious.
"Who's Sheila?" Washington asked.
"Oh yeah," Church remembered. "We um, we transferred our tank's training program into the ship so that it could help us repair it."
"Did you inform Command that you moved the program to the ship?" Washington asked, though he probably already guessed the answer.
"Yeah, we're not really big on paperwork," Church said.
"For the record, neither me nor my team were participants in that if it's illegal," Weiss stated.
"That's actually a good thing in this case," Washington said. "If they don't know it's there, they may not have tried to activate it." He then walked over to the ship and opened a panel from the side, revealing a diagnostic screen. "Okay, here we go." He then pressed a switch on the screen, activating it.
"Hello," Sheila's voice came from the panel, though it was fluctuating and not very clear. "Thank you for activating-," here the voice seemed to pause, as if taking in its surroundings, "Wait, where am I?"
"Sheila, is that you?" Caboose asked.
"Program. Instruction," Washington addressed Sheila. "Run a full diagnostic, and load the logs from your last flight."
"Affirmative," Sheila responded, her voice partially static. "Excep-exception: the system has taken dam-taken damage. I am function- I am functioning at minimum capacity-ity-ity-."
"Program. Instruction," Washington repeated. "Override exception and-"
"Do not talk to her like that!" Caboose suddenly shouted at Washington. "She is not a program!"
"Whoa. What?" Washington said, shocked by Caboose's sudden burst of anger. "Calm down."
"Oh right," Blake remembered. "Caboose and Sheila have a... history."
"That's just weird," Yang commented.
"There's nothing weird about it!" Ruby defended. "Love goes beyond what society says. Who cares if he's in love with a tank!?"
"Ruby, do not bring in your own odd obsession with your weapon into this," Weiss said. "This is already weird enough."
"Hey I'm just gonna, stand behind Caboose, for a couple minutes," Church said as he stepped behind Caboose. "You know for safety... reasons."
"Okay. I only want to replay the logs from the crash," Washington explained. "So can you please get it-"
Church started stepping back some more. Team RWBY stepped back as well.
"I mean her," Washington corrected. "To do that."
A moment passed as Caboose seemed to consider Washington's words.
"Sheila," Caboose turned to the panel. "Um, would you go ahead and do that thing that he just said, to me?"
"Begin-beginning playb-playback," Sheila said. The log then began to play.
There were several sounds of sirens wailing and the sound of things hitting each other.
"Warning, warning, system failure," the Sheila recording said.
"Sheila! damage report, now!" Tex's voice shouted.
"Rear stabilizer offline. Navigation, offline. And my system clock does not match interior records," Sheila listed.
"Did Gamma get loose!" Tex asked.
"Negative," Sheila said. "But I do not know how much longer I can contain him."
"Computer, what about there?" Tex asked. "In the canyon, can we land?"
"Analyzing data," Sheila said.
"Just tell me, can you get us there?" Tex voice was insistent.
"I am unable to calculate-" Sheila said.
"Sheila, give me manual control, now!" Tex ordered.
"Acknowledged," Sheila said. "Manual control, activated. Warning: decompression. Rear doors, open."
"Where're they going?" Tex asked.
"Close the hatch!" Tex shouted.
"Rear doors open," Sheila said.
"Wait!" Tex said.
"Acknowledged," Sheila said. "Warning."
"What happened to-" Tex voice said in a panic.
"Altitude critical," Sheila announced. "Brace for impact. Brace for impact."
"Hold on everyone!" Tex shouted.
"Brace for impact," Sheila continued to say.
"Hold on!" Tex shouted. "Everybody just hold on-"
The recording abruptly ended with a sustained beep as the words 'End of File' was displayed on the screen.
Everyone went silent as the logs had finished. Team RWBY were disturbed at what they heard, knowing that those may have been Tex's last words.
"Okay," Washington said. "So after that, the ship crashed-"
"Seriously!?" Blake said incredulously.
"What?" Washington said, confused.
"We just heard what could have been Tex's last words and you just want to get back to business!" Ruby shouted, shocked at how callous Washington was acting.
"That's not relevant right now," Washington sighed. "We have a mission to do, so we can't be affected by every little thing."
"What a cold way to look at things," Weiss commented.
"And that's coming from you," Yang added, receiving an elbow from Weiss.
"As I was saying," Washington continued, ignoring Team RWBY's judgments of him. "The ship crashed here, and from what the survivor told us, the Blues got here first and offloaded the bodies and equipment. Then they started to get infected."
"Infected?" Caboose said. "What were they doing with the bodies?"
"Oh gross," Church said.
"Caboose, that's disgusting," Weiss said. Both Blake and Yang also made disgusted faces.
"I don't get it," Ruby said, not understanding the implication.
"No really, what were they doing with the bodies?" Caboose repeated, honestly wanting an answer.
"We were informed that the Blues started acting erratically," Washington continued. "And for some reason they destroyed all their radios and their own comm tower."
"Okay, that was definitely Omega," Church said.
"Makes sense why they wanted to destroy their communications," Weiss said, remembering how Omega could jump and infect people through their radios.
"You had a similar experience?" Washington asked the group.
"Similar? How 'bout exactly the same," Church said.
"We almost killed our friends because of him," Blake said.
"And got major headaches," Ruby added.
"It all adds up then," Washington said. "Omega was the one who inherited that trait. During training they discovered he could move from suit to suit. For some reason he preferred Agent Texas. They tried to reassign him but he always made his way back to her somehow."
"Where's your A.I.?" Ruby asked curiously.
"I was wondering about that too," Weiss said. "I thought you Freelancers always had an A.I."
"Not everyone in the program got one, and I don't have one. Anymore," Washington said cryptically. "It's a long story but it's why I was chosen for this job."
"Okay, okay, I knew I heard your name before," Church said. "You're that guy that went nuts, right?"
"Wait what?" Ruby said. Her teammates were also confused by Church's words.
"Tex told me some stories about Freelancer, and I remember that Agent Washington here had an A.I. put in his head, and the second after that, it killed itself and made him go bonkers," Church explained.
"Yikes," Yang said.
"I didn't do anything," Washington argued. "My A.I... lost control of itself."
"Riiight," Church said, clearly not believing him. "It just so happened to do it while it was inside your head."
"Right," Washington replied, ignoring Church's sarcasm.
"We have a lot in common Agent Washington," Caboose said.
"How do you have anything in common with him?" Weiss asked.
"Probably because both their heads got messed up," Yang suggested, which led to her getting elbowed by Blake.
"No we don't," Washington said to Caboose, and after a moment added, "And don't ever say that again."
"Where's Tex body?" Church suddenly asked.
"Is it still in the ship?" Ruby asked.
"No," Washington said. "According to the prisoner, it should be in Blue base."
After a moment of consideration, Church spoke up again. "Take me to it," he said. "I want to see it."
"Now that's gross," Yang commented.
"I don't think so," Washington said. "That's their main-" Washington's words were cut off as a beeping noise began to sound. He then received a call on his radio. "I need to take this." He then turned away from them. "I have you Command."
"Well, that's just rude," Ruby said.
"Washington, what's going on?" Blake asked.
"Yeah, what was that about?" Church asked.
"That was my recovery beacon," Washington explained. "It means an A.I. somewhere is in jeopardy and I have to find it before- ...something else does." He then got back to his call from Command. "Receiving coordinates Command. Do we have an ID?"
"Affirmative," the voice of Command said on Washington's radio. "It's from the A.I. Delta and-"
"Agent South," Washington finished.
"Roger that, Agent South Dakota," Command confirmed. "Vital reports look bad. She's in trouble Wash."
"Yes," Washington said darkly. "Yes she is." He then ended his call with Command and turned back to the others. "We're moving out."
"What?" Church said. "But what about Tex?"
"We have more important business to take care of," Washington said. "There's an A.I. out there that we need to get to, before we lose it to the Meta."
"The Meta?" Ruby said.
"It's the thing that's been killing Freelancers," Washington said. "And now it's attacking another one. So we need to go now."
"But-" Church began to protest.
"He's right Church," Blake said. "As much as you want to see Tex, we can't let someone else get killed."
"Grrgh, fine," Church relented. "Let's go."
Church, Caboose, and Team RWBY then began to head out of Valhalla.
"Don't worry Agent Washington," Ruby said to him, cheerily. "We'll definitely rescue your friend."
"Right," Washington muttered, mostly to himself. "Rescue her."