Change in scene or O'Malley speaking
Disclaimer: Red vs. blue belongs to rooster teeth productions.
Chapter 4: Saving
Real Blood Gulch, Blue base……
Bold:
Italic: Thinking
Bold Italic: Flashback
Regular: Storyline
The sound of Caboose's shrieks sent Church leaping into the air and falling painfully on the ground.
"Son of a Bitch!" The blue leader yelled in shock. He got back up from the floor and sprinted to Caboose's room. Church had only stepped out of the room for a quick cup of coffee, (even if he was in the red's mechanic robot body he still liked to eat and drink). Because there was no change in Caboose's condition he thought he could grab a few minutes to himself.
"Fuck! Why is it that every time I turn my back something bad fucking happens?!" Church shouted angrily. Leonard halted in the doorway to stare at Caboose in his bed.
The rookie was tossing and turning violently as though he was fighting off some invisible fiend. His face was streaked with tears as he was sobbing uncontrollably. In two strides Church crossed the room and knelt down beside the bed placing one hand on Caboose's cheek and the other he slipped into the younger man's open palm and gave it a comforting squeeze.
"Come on Caboose….. Or O'Malley, I don't really know what you're calling yourself these days. Please, you gotta wake up. I hate seeing you like this. Hey, if you wake up I'll let you kill me again." Church added with a short laugh, hoping that might bring back the private.
"Church! Are you still here?!" A voice from outside called out.
"Tucker?! Yeah! I'm still here! Did you get that medic back?!" Church called back. A moment later a teal armoured soldier appeared followed by a purple armoured Spartan.
"Yeah, I got him back but it's temporary," Tucker replied sheepishly.
"How did you get him back?" Church asked curiously as the medic known as 'Doc' wordlessly went towards the bed to examine Caboose.
"Err….."
FLASHBACK
"I just want everyone to know… that I suck," Tucker sighed from his kneeling position outside the red base.
"And?" The maroon one –Simmons- said.
"And that I'm secretly gay."
"What else?" Prodded the orange one.
"And that Red rules and the entire blue army sucks. ….And I want…. To kiss…. All the boys in Red army." Tucker moaned. He hoped that Church would appreciate his sacrifice for Caboose.
"Good job Blue. Now all you have to do is kiss Private Donut and we'll loan Doc to you for 2 hours," Sarge said from his position on top of red base.
"The pink armoured chick? No problem. Bow chika bow wow!" Tucker smiled getting up off the floor.
"Err. Yeeaah. Riiiight. Chick." Simmons said slowly.
"Dude, should we tell him that Donut's-"
"Shut up, Grif."
END OF FLASHBACK
"Err….. They gave him to me out of the kindness of their hearts?" Tucker said lamely. "Hee, that pink chick soooo wanted me. She even used tongues."
"What was that Tucker?"
"What? Oh; nothing important."
"Riiiight. So Doc, What's the verdict." Church turned to the medic.
"My name isn't Doc, it's-"
"Yeah, and I told you can't pronounce that. So what's wrong with him?" Church snapped back.
"Well physically there's nothing wrong with him. It's just a nightmare," Doc answered truthfully.
"Are you fucking kidding me?! That's bullshit! There's no way it's a nightmare!" Church raged.
"I'm sorry but that's my diagnosis."
"Well why isn't he waking up then?"
"I don't know."
"That's it, you're fired. I want my money back."
"But you didn't pay me-"
"I. Want. My. Money. Back." Church said slowly. Doc sighed.
"I only have 20 Dollars," Doc said.
"Good enough. Now get out of my base!" Church turned back to Caboose who was still crying but silently now.
"Kid. What the hell is happening in that head of yours?" Church sighed.
In Caboose's mind…..
O'Malley had long since finished up and was now putting his armour back on. Caboose lay in the corner naked and numb; his eyes were glassy with a faraway look as tears slid down his cheeks. There was no pleasure only pain, he felt dirty and used. Well perhaps O'Malley took pleasure in it but he didn't care whether or not he hurt Caboose in the process, he just took what he wanted there and then.
The AI stood up with his helmet under his arm and looked down at Caboose. Omega reached out towards the boy and was rewarded with a flinch, he smiled at the reaction. Good he thought. At least it will be easier to control this body now that I've broken his inner self. Before he walked away from the blue private who had now curled up into a ball he spoke to him what he hoped was a gentle tone.
"You were very good Michael; especially since that was your first time. You could never compete with Leonard though but you were good either way. As a reward I'll reward I'll make sure the mental images of your friends find you. I've even opened your way out of this world so you can return to the real blood Gulch, wasn't that nice of me? But, you better not tell anyone what happened. Definitely not Leonard or the next time will be much worse."
Caboose blinked and looked up slowly at O'Malley. "N-next time?"
O'Malley smiled. " Oh yes. There will always be a next time."
With Church…..
The moment Caboose's eyes flickered slowly open, Church let go of Caboose's hand and stood up in mixture of relief and shock.
"Rookie! Can you hear me?" Church asked excitedly.
"Church…." Caboose murmured softly. As soon as his eyes were fully open he gently eased himself up into a sitting position, wincing as he did so.
"Are you alright Caboose? You seem kinda in pain," Church tried to keep the concern out of his voice.
"I'm fine. Really." Caboose smiled shakily but it never reached his eyes which remained empty and lifeless. Church felt like screaming at the lack of emotion in the Spartan's eye but didn't, only because he couldn't bear to scared the younger man anymore than he already was. Instead he reached out to touch him with a reassuring hand.
Caboose reacted instantly, his eyes lit up with fear and he shrunk away from the hand. Church almost felt his heart shatter when Caboose backed from him in utter terror.
"Easy Caboose, I'm not going hurt you. I would never hurt you." Church murmured to the boy. Caboose blinked confused.
"You shot me afew days ago in the foot," Caboose complained.
FLASHBACK
"I'm here Caboose. Where are you hit?" The purple guy asked in concern.
"Ow! Ow! Ow! My foot! My foot!" Caboose howled in pain.
"The left foot?" He asked.
"Er. Left. Let's see that makes an L with your thumb and-" Caboose muttered too himself as he made an l with each hand.
"I'm just going to assume it's the bleeding one," The purple guy sighed.
"Yeah! The red one. I-I can't believe church shot me."
"OH, DON'T EVEN START CABOOSE!" The blue Spartan leader yelled from across the canyon.
"Anything else?" The doctor asked his patient.
"Er. W-what?"
"You have a bullet wound in the foot. Is anything else wrong?" The Doc asked slowly.
"Er… Oh, I got one! Er, sometimes when I fall asleep at night, I think about my parents having sex and I get really, really mad for some reason." Caboose babbled happily. The doctor paused and starred at Caboose with a freaked out expression under his helmet.
"Okay. I'm just going to start with the foot."
END OF FLASHBACK
"Err.. Yeah. I did hurt you back then. But I'm not going to doing anything like that now." Church said embarrassed at the memory. Church sat on the bed beside Caboose and carefully put an arm around the younger man's shoulders and half-hugged him to his chest. "Do you want to talk about your nightmare?"
Before Caboose could answer, O'Malley's predatory growling in the back of his mind cut him off the idea. The thought of O'Malley hurting Church in the same way as he had been was much worse than the thought of O'Malley doing the same terrible things to him again. Caboose automatically shook his head.
Church sighed. "Okay then. You stay in bed for the day. I'll get back on duty."
"Okay Church," the Rookie nodded. Church sighed again and stood up without a word. He walked almost out of the room but stopped to linger at the doorway.
"Are you sure you'll be alright?" he asked in a tone that he hoped hid his inner concern.
"Yes Church," Caboose smiled shakily and tried to look brave and cheerful for his best friend. As soon as church saw the expression on the younger man's adorable face he felt a heavy blush flare up on his cheeks. What the hell is going on? Church thought in confusion. The only time I ever felt like this about anyone was with Tex. How can the Rookie that killed me, make me feel this way?
Church fought to remain calm and stop the blood flowing to his face. When it didn't work, the blue leader turned his head to out of the room; "Take care of yourself while I'm on duty, Okay Rookie?"
Caboose blinked in surprise at how gentle and serene Church sounded. He couldn't help but answer 'yes' in an awed voice. The older man nodded and disappeared from the doorway, leaving Caboose to sigh and fall back on his pillow. He only had to wait for a few second before O'Malley started talking to him.
"Good boy Michael. As long as you don't tell, I won't hurt Leonard," he whispered huskily. Caboose felt tears prick at his eyes before answering:
"Please O'Malley. Do what you want but just don't hurt Church…… He's my best friend."
***********************
Note from authoress: It would seem that my idea of 'posting the next chapter for the weekend' is waiting about a month before posting. To be fair, my dad banned me from the computer so I've been writing it in secret. Anyways, here's a clue for the next chapter.
Preview for chapter 5: "Caboose. I think I'm in love with you," Church said as he grasped the private's hands in his own. O'Malley smirked in his host's mind. It looks like things are about to get a lot more interesting for us Michael.
