Legal Disclaimer: I do not own Red vs. Blue or any of the show's characters. They are the rightful properties of Rooster Teeth.
Chapter Six: Admire From Afar
Dexter Grif stood in his shitty apartment's open bedroom doorway, wondering why the hell he was up so early in the morning. Grif's brain was still trying to come to terms with the fact that it had taken so long for him to figure out that Simmons was a clone, let alone that Kai had snuck into Valhalla with two reporters no less. The chubby man supposed he should be proud of his sister's sneaking skills, as that had always been a trait their dysfunctional family excelled at when push came to shove. However, at the moment, that particular inherited Grif trait made his life about fifty times more complicated.
Just as Grif was about to drag himself through the short hallway to check on Kai's dozing form on the couch she had so unceremoniously crashed on last night, a message came through on his communication device from Simmons Senior. The communication was in its usual clipped manner, briefly addressing the events leading to the party being crashed, then noting that Simmons had not returned home that night before telling Grif to meet up with the nerdy redhead at the ASS Building. The jerk then ordered Grif to bring his interloping sister along too, as there were proper background checks that needed to be done.
Grif groaned at the added workload, ignoring how his stomach twisted upon the reveal that Simmons hadn't gone home after the party. He tried to unsuccessfully blame the queasiness on his empty stomach instead, but he knew that was bullshit since he was well aware of what hunger felt like. Instead, the orange-wearing bodyguard decided to focus on the fact that his little sister being in Valhalla was ultimately going to mean more effort on his end.
He headed over to the couch begrudgingly, throwing off the wad of blankets crumpled messily on top of it. Only, instead of a rather sleepy and indignant Kai, he simply found a note crumpled on the cushions. The note's contents were more colorfully worded and detailed than prudish Simmons Senior's rather curt message, but the gist of it was that Kai had already gone out to "explore the town" or whatever and get coffee for herself.
Grif sighed, "And she's already giving me more work." He said to himself, "Damn it, Kai."
He pulled out his comm device once more and went through his contacts, grimacing as he placed a call. "Good morning, Captain Grif, sir!" Matthews' way too cheerful-for-the-hour voice extolled, and Grif swore he heard Bitters muttering something from nearby in the background.
"Listen, Matthews. I'm running a bit behind schedule and need to head to the ASS Building pronto," Grif began without preamble as his mind wondered if he could still have breakfast beforehand, "So I'm giving you and Bitters the very important task of picking up coffee for me and Simmons." He paused only a moment to let that sink in, "Oh, and if you happen to find her, drag my sister back to the base with you."
More incoherent mumbling from Bitters, but Matthews dove into his suck-up ways quite readily, "Of course, sir!"
"I'm counting on you." As he ended the communication, Grif let out a tired sigh once more as he wondered just how this day was going to play out.
With Junior back at school and doing a whole fuck-ton better with the proceedings of the previous night than his dad had (Tucker was so totally proud of him!), Lavernius Tucker went to work feeling much better than he thought he would. …Which had lasted a total of ten seconds because Church ordered everyone save Sheila, who apparently counted as the only person who "actually got shit done," back out to pick up coffee. Tucker suspected that they'd been ordered to do so because Church was no doubt sporting one massive hangover and just wanted some peace and quiet, but he was all for the chance to not actually have to do work for a little while longer.
They'd been joined on their way out of the ASS Building by Jensen and Volleyball, who had been given a similar coffee assignment by Donut. The pink-wearing man apparently felt that the girls could still benefit from a chance to familiarize themselves with the city, but it seemed that Palomo in particular was over the moon with this turn of events. The dark-skinned young man in aqua and tan was constantly glancing over adoringly at Jensen, and Tucker couldn't help but roll his eyes.
Finally, he'd had enough, pulling Palomo off to the side once they'd reached the café, "Dude, just ask her out already." Tucker begrudgingly advised, not particularly at all interested in romantic entanglements not his own (bow chika bow wow!).
"I…I can't possibly do that yet, sir!" Palomo admonished, dark eyes going wide at the very notion, "I have a system I'm using, and that's nowhere near the stage I'm on!"
"But you were talking to Jensen last night." It was, surprisingly, a rather confused Caboose who pointed that out. Tucker hadn't even seen him and Andersmith approaching their small huddle, but he welcomed the opportunity for someone else to talk to Palomo.
"Y—yeah, but doing that moved me back a few steps." Palomo shakily admitted.
Tucker rolled his eyes again, "All right." He caved and asked, "So what step are you on now?"
The younger man from Chorus grinned sheepishly, "Admire from afar."
"Ah. It seems to me like you've been on and off that particular step every so often for the last two years." Andersmith noted with his surprisingly deep voice.
Palomo's cheeks darkened with a blush, "It's an important step!"
Tucker groaned. The kid clearly had a lot to learn. Their orders came up before Tucker could do something he'd probably regret, like helping Palomo out with his sage dating advice. As the two lieutenants went with Caboose to get the drinks, Tucker turned to the two females waiting just out of earshot of their previous conversation, "We'll meet you guys outside." He said, wanting out of this café and its romantic drama. As Jensen and Volleyball nodded and smiled back at him politely, the dark-skinned man took another second to wave to Kai as he walked past her table. Grif's little sister was also evidently waiting on an order.
As the rest of the assembled Blues joined Tucker, Andersmith frowned thoughtfully in the direction of a group of people across the street, "Isn't that Kimball?" He asked, "Along with Agents Carolina and Washington?"
"Yes, I think so too." Caboose chimed in quickly, "We should wave hello!"
"Huh. No wonder our training was cancelled then." Palomo stated at the same time, obvious relief in his voice.
Sure enough, Tucker also saw the trio across the street. They were huddled together conversing intently along with those two reporters who had crashed the party with Kai last night. He was about to stop and wave until he noticed the pointed glare that Washington threw his way. Well, fuck. He'd totally forgotten that his early morning training hadn't been cancelled.
Tucker whistled innocently, "I really should go and check up on Church and Sheila." He informed the other three men nonchalantly before promptly running away from the scene as fast as he could, Washington's dagger-like gray eyes piercing his back.
"I have to admit, I'm curious as to why exactly you requested a meeting so out in the open like this." Carolina informed Dylan Andrews and Jax Jonez, glancing down the rather busy street they were currently standing by before shooting them both rather assessing looks, "You do know you're in some pretty hot water considering how you snuck into Valhalla, don't you?"
"I've no doubt about that." Dylan's reply was rather calm and collected, all things considered, "Especially since we've been followed by a rather intimidating man since our arrival."
"I've got some really great shots of him lurking menacingly in the shadows!" Jax oh-so-helpfully brought up.
David Washington, in turn, cautiously glanced up and over at the figure in green and steel some distance away. The man wasn't even attempting to try and conceal his presence, "Yeah, that's Locus." Washington said, as if that explained everything. Which, if you knew Locus, it kind of did.
Dylan raised an eyebrow, "Is he a friend of yours?" She questioned, clearly alarmed that they were aware of who was tailing them.
Both Washington and Carolina glanced at one another before Carolina haltingly admitted, "That depends on your definition of friend." She took in a deep breath and let it out, wondering just what they had gotten themselves into by agreeing to this meet-up, "He does work for Chairman Hargrove though, which says something about how unsure the chairman is of you being here."
"I hadn't intended to cause any security issues." The female reporter frowned in thought, though there was a determined glint in her brown eyes all the same, "But I couldn't wait for the proper clearance to enter Valhalla since the story I'm working on could be long dried up by then."
"And what story is that, exactly?" Washington asked her, unable to hide his growing curiosity but also wanting to remain cautious.
"Two stories, actually." Dylan revealed, lifting up two of her fingers for emphasis as she glanced over towards Kimball, "I'm also certainly quite interested in how the exchange program goes."
"Which does explain why you contacted us." Kimball noted, understanding dawning on her facial features.
Dylan nodded, "And I'm also looking into the usage of clones here in Valhalla."
Kimball frowned, "I really can't say anything on that topic."
Her remark was cut short by Dylan adamantly shaking her head, "An outsider's opinion on the subject could be a veritable goldmine." She assured her, "Particularly since your native Armonia looks down on the practice."
Washington and Carolina both shared a look at one another again before Washington spoke up rather hesitantly, "Well, we aren't necessarily the most knowledgeable people on that subject either."
Dylan frowned at his statement, tapping her chin thoughtfully, "Valhalla is the only area in the world to have had a fully functioning cloning program, even if it is currently halted." She said, glancing at notes on her datapad, "In fact, many of the people who reside here now are transfers from other regions, or happen to be clones themselves." Her assessing gaze landed squarely on Carolina then, "Your perspective in particular would be immensely fascinating since records show you to be the last native-born person in Valhalla." She skimmed through some information, "That isn't even bringing up your connections to the man who helped set up the cloning program in the first place. Or the fact that you have a brother who is also—"
"I'd think carefully before trying to finish that sentence." Carolina cut her off curtly and Washington couldn't help but reach out and touch her shoulder lightly a moment later, though the redhead seemed to outwardly ignore the gesture. After all, she'd always been fiercely protective of her younger brother.
"I understand your hesitancy and I meant no disrespect," Dylan was not deterred in the slightest, however, and Carolina couldn't help but respect that about the journalist, "But I have reason to believe that Charon in particular is hiding something about the cloning program, even now when it is supposedly defunct." Her face became a mask of determination, "I want to get to the bottom of it and find out just how it could potentially impact the war. It's a story that works on a multitude of angles, and I'm going to be the one to tell it."
"And," Jax happily noted right after she had finished, "I'm going to get the eventual movie rights and tell the story all over again. With some creative liberties, of course!"
"What kind of creative liberties?" Washington asked Jax curiously, while both Carolina and Kimball regarded him in shock for seeming to skip out on the larger picture for the moment.
"Oh, Transformers always seem to do well." The young cameraman cheerfully stated.
As Washington considered this, Dylan sighed and shook her head before stepping forward, "All I need from the three of you is permission to remain on base and observe the exchange program," she explained, "I can handle the rest." Kimball in particular looked rather concerned given just how much she and the lieutenants had riding on the program, and the reporter was quick to assure her, "I will not do anything to harm the peace talks."
There was a tense moment of silence following her decree as the three looked questioningly at one another, as if searching for a response that wasn't quick to reveal itself. Carolina finally sighed and nodded her head slightly, "We'll see what we can do." She said determinedly.
Antoine Bitters and Matthews both walked into the café, one rather begrudgingly and the other rather happily, just as Jensen and Volleyball were exiting. Bitters merely inclined his head in way of greeting since it wasn't like they wouldn't be seeing them again soon, while Matthews exchanged a few quick "hellos" with them before heading to the register to place their order. Bitters scanned the café as he did so until he caught sight of Kaikaina Grif waving at him from her spot at one of the café's tables.
He paused in his approach when he realized that Kai was sitting with Tex of all people, who nodded her blond head of hair in his direction with a quick "What's up?"
"The usual." Bitters was fast to answer with his customary frown, "Have to pick up coffee for Captains Grif and Simmons." He turned to Kai as he remembered what Matthews had also told him what Grif had said, "And you need to go to the ASS Building for something."
Kai made a face, "Lame. She," here the younger Grif indicated Tex with a tilt of her head, "Just told me I need to go there too."
Bitters glanced over at Tex questioningly, and she nodded before noting, "Hargrove is insistent that Miss Kai here gets her paperwork in order."
"I bet he's just super-pissed that I crashed his dumb party." She declared loudly, "It didn't even have any strippers!"
Tex smiled wryly, "That's probably it."
Kai looked over at Bitters thoughtfully, "So does that mean my big bro's gonna be there?" She asked, clearly excited.
He shrugged, not really knowing or caring either way, "Probably."
Kai nodded, an eager glint in her brown eyes, "What about that hot blonde who was just here?"
Bitters knit his browns together as his frown deepened, "You mean Volleyball?" He asked, recalling that they'd just walked past her to get to the café.
"Oh, so that's her name?" Kai grinned, "Kinky. I like it!"
Bitters wasn't so sure that he even wanted to continue this dumbass conversation, glancing over instead to watch Matthews try to balance the coffee order with his hands full. The dark-skinned man couldn't help but think the endeavor was oddly cute somehow, despite how a part of him just wanted to exasperatedly tell the other young man to go and get a tray already.
Tex smiled even more upon noticing his regard and somehow that was all the scarier, "Go and help your boyfriend." She told Bitters, "I'll make sure that Kai gets to where she needs to go."
"He's not my boyfriend!" Bitters was quick to respond, his face heating up at the very notion.
Kai scoffed, "Maybe you shouldn't be standing there staring at him with bedroom eyes then."
Bitters nearly choked on empty air at that point, promptly running over to help Matthews but not before he heard the loud laugh that Kai let out at his blushing face's expense.
Dexter Grif entered onto the Red Team side of the ASS Building with an expectant nod, ready to greet the usual amount of chaos that went on there. All for nothing though, as it turned out that Donut was the only person present. The dirty blond greeted him happily enough with a cheerful, "Hey, Grif!"
"Where is everyone?" Grif ignored the friendly pink-wearing man's wave to look disinterestedly around the room, though his gaze lingered on Simmons' empty chair in particular.
"Lopez is off visiting Sheila. Isn't that sweet?" Donut beamed as he started answering Grif's query.
"Uh-huh." Grif had to try and tear his gaze away from Simmons' desk.
"Sarge is talking with Chairman Hargrove, Doctor Grey, and Doc about something super important in his office," and for the first time, Grif noticed a smirking Felix standing by Sarge's door, the mercenary mockingly waving at them when he became aware of their regard, "Jensen and Volleyball are checking on some stats from previous years in the archives for comparisons, and Simmons had to run to the bathroom." Donut looked to and fro nervously before leaning in closer to Grif and conspiratorially whispering, "Though I think he just really wanted some alone time."
Grif nodded, glancing over at Felix and the closed door again, "I can't imagine why." he muttered sarcastically under his breath.
As Donut nodded his head as Hargrove and the others stepped out into the area proper. Doctor Grey seemed upset by something and Sarge was touching her shoulder almost comfortingly. Or to hold her back, Grif couldn't really tell which it was. There was a frown on Doc's face as well, though that morphed into a slight smile the very second that his brown eyes swept the room and landed on Donut.
"And I expect future findings to be reported directly to me if you do not wish to be put under complete supervision or get your funding pulled." Hargrove said to Doctor Grey in his usual cold tone, "I've been extremely generous as of late in giving you as much free reign as I have."
Grey bit her lip to stop herself from replying with whatever she actually wanted to say in response, giving only a curt nod of her head instead.
"Good." Hargrove stated, turning his attention to Sarge next, "I'm expecting you to keep a close eye on the exchange program and to report regularly to me."
Sarge nodded, "Yes, sir!" The man in red quickly saluted, as was his custom for dealing with those of a higher rank than himself, "And might I say it is going much better so far than what I feared this hippie claptrap would!"
Hargrove merely twisted his lips in a disapproving frown at this observation, "We'll see." The old man turned to find Grif standing there, and he raised the spot where an eyebrow probably would have been on his face if he'd had any, "Where is your sister?" Hagrove demanded, "She and her journalist friends certainly caused quite the unwarranted commotion last night."
Grif was about to sarcastically retort when Kai herself, along with Bitters and Matthews and surprisingly Tex, entered the office as if she owned the place. "I'm here, I'm here!" Kai exclaimed loudly, "Don't go and break a hip now, old guy."
Hargrove's weathered face turned purple at the insult, "You need to watch your tone, young lady."
"No," the tan-skinned girl said defiantly, "You need to watch yours!"
Tex quickly stepped in-between the two before the standoff could escalate into anything further, "She doesn't mean anything by it. Sir."
Grif shot Tex a thankful look for the save as Hargrove relaxed a fraction, "That's true. It wouldn't do to get too upset by a mouthy little girl." He replied while Kai had to be physically held back by the two lieutenants to prevent her from violently reacting to his comment, "Besides, it is the reporters who are the larger disturbance." He muttered under his breath.
"We'll be sure to keep a close eye on them as well, sir." Sarge tried to reassure him.
Hargrove threw an indifferent look in Kai's general direction, "Just begin the background check on this one immediately." Without so much as another word or look directed at any of them, Hargrove left in a huff with Felix and Tex on his heels. The blonde offered a sympathetic nod in their direction as she went.
Kai let out a scoff, "What an asshole."
"You don't even know the half of it." Grey noted without trying to conceal the anger in her voice.
Sarge glanced over at the dark-skinned woman worriedly before turning his attention over to Grif and Kai as he motioned back towards his office, "Get in here so that we can get this over with quick."
Richard "Dick" Simmons sighed, having finished washing his hands for the umpteenth time in the bathroom sink. He looked down at them, noting that they were raw, musing to himself about possibly borrowing some moisturizer from Donut again. He was just grateful that Hargrove had dismissed him from his presence the second they'd entered the ASS Building. The maroon-wearing man wanted to wait just a bit longer before leaving to make sure that the man was truly gone.
Out of all of his father's family friends, Hargrove was the most difficult to get along with. It didn't help matters any that he'd been passed back and forth like a bag of potato chips between the two of them for as long as he could remember. Hargrove was like the distant, cold uncle that he'd never asked for in addition to his equally distant, cold father.
He was a grown fucking man, damn it! He shouldn't have to be putting up with this any longer. But Simmons looked at himself mockingly in the mirror and knew how false that line of thinking was. In a way, he'd been created to put up with this. He envied and was glad for Junior that, even though he couldn't leave Valhalla either, at least the boy had a parent who genuinely cared about him. Church had Carolina, and Tex was strong enough to handle being on her own.
But Simmons? He didn't have any of those things, and last night was a clear reminder. Along with just being horribly awkward and upsetting as he tried getting to sleep in the room at Hargrove's place that hadn't changed at all since he'd been a little boy. It had felt far too grown up and suffocating then without any real trace of him in it, and remained that way now. Simmons' own room in his own house wasn't much better, but he'd at least been allowed some decorating choices there.
Reluctantly, the redhead pulled himself away from those thoughts to head back to the office. Fortunately, he didn't' run into Hargrove on his way there. When he arrived, Donut was busy at work while Lopez was teaching Jensen and Volleyball something at his desk. How they seemed to understand what Lopez was saying was beyond him, but that did in fact appear to be the case. None of them noticed his entrance. Matthews and Bitters were both looking extremely bored, though Matthews stood at attention when he noticed Simmons standing there looking around the office, "Sir!"
Simmons searched for Grif, unsure of why exactly. After all, now that he knew about Simmons would he even want to continue conversing? "Where…?" Simmons began, but Bitters cut him off as if he already knew exactly what he might ask.
"He's helping his crazy sister with paperwork in Sarge's office." The dark-skinned younger man explained disinterestedly.
Simmons glanced over to the direction of Sarge's office, nodding his head in thanks for the information. Sarge had pulled the curtains back so that one could look into the room and, sure enough, Sarge and Kai appeared to be arguing about something over the older man's desk with Grif sitting beside his little sister and running a tired hand over his face. But when he pulled his hand away, the unguarded, affectionate, and ultimately proud look he cast his sibling's way caused Simmons' breath to freeze in his lungs. No one had ever looked at him like that.
The expression was oddly handsome on Grif's tan features. As Simmons felt the blood rush to his face at that particular train of thought, Grif looked up and caught his gaze, a questioning sort of awkward look plastered on his own face just then. Simmons quickly turned away from the sight, wanting nothing more than to pretend that the heavy thudding of his heart just then was simply due to his embarrassment at having been caught staring and nothing more.
Author's Notes: Here's the sixth chapter of my Workplace/Job AU written for the Dreamwidth comm whole_new_world using the "Admire From Afar" prompt. :)
I just want to apologize for the long wait in-between chapters for this fic. Rest assured that I've no intention of abandoning any of my WIPs, though I can't guarantee that there won't be lengthy periods of time between updates for them simply due to things going on and what is easier for me to write at a given time. But they will all get updated and finished! Eventually. XD
Still, I hope this update ended up being an enjoyable read, and hopefully the next update to this fic won't take nearly as long to get posted! Thank you so much again for sticking with me and for reading! :D