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 Nine: The Freelancer Lifestyle
"I cannot believe that you would do something so reckless and foolhardy just because you were left alone for five minutes, Church."
Carolina was practically breathing fire as she testily spat those words out at her little brother. It was beyond apparent that the redheaded former Freelancer was more than just a tad peeved by Church's decision to create his own team of crime-fighting Specials without bothering to tell her. Even her body language as she glared at him was even more rigid and uncomfortable-looking than normal.
There was no mistaking that she was pissed as Carolina's arms crossed over her chest in what was a rather intimidating manner. She tapped an impatient rhythm into the ground so furiously that Lavernius Tucker was shocked a smoking hole hadn't appeared beneath her feet. The redhead looked for all the world like a cornered animal who was definitely leaning more towards the "fight" side of the spectrum.
Fuck. Carolina was terrifying even on the days that could have almost counted as her being downright cordial. As for right now? Well, Tucker had to really hold himself back from stepping away slowly and cautiously from the redhead. No sudden movements or eye contact though. That's when she'd probably strike.
Still, his self-preservation instincts didn't prevent Tucker from scoffing rather derisively all the same at her declaration, "Uh, are you sure about that, Carolina?" He joked rather uneasily, "Because that sounds exactly like something Church would go and do."
Church fixed Tucker with his usual death glare, an expression that wasn't nearly as intimidating as the asshole thought it was, "Shut up, Tucker, you aren't helping."
The dark-skinned man raised an eyebrow in mild amusement at his cobalt-wearing friend's response, "That's because I wasn't trying to, dude. Duh."
The joking camaraderie between them dissolved into a wall of sudden fear for both men as Carolina turned to Tucker. He let out a totally manly "Eep!" of terror then and did actually take two steps backwards because Carolina's death glare could very well melt someone's insides.
"Don't even start, Tucker." She told him rather emphatically, the muscles in her arms twitching as if she was resisting the urge to reach out and violently shake some sense into him too, "You are being just as phenomenally stupid as Church is. Even more so since you have a son to think about."
Tucker hung his head rather guiltily at that, having debated his decision to help Church out well and truly into the ground already, "…You think I don't know that?" he muttered glumly, his eyes suddenly glued to the pavement.
Carolina's expression softened marginally at his unexpected reaction, but whatever she might have said in response was lost by Church suddenly growing something of a backbone in his sister's presence as he rounded on her with his own rather-pathetic-by-comparison death glare still in place, "What about you, huh?" he demanded angrily, "How come it's okay for you to be constantly risking your life to pick up the pieces of goddamned Freelancer but not us?"
Carolina blinked, apparently taken aback by the obvious frustration that had bubbled out of the dark-haired male. She shifted her posture slightly, and Tucker almost got the impression that a part of her deep down was tired, but the frown that settled over her features a second later effectively masked her fatigue. "That's…different, Church." She managed to get out at length.
"Oh, yeah?" Church scoffed, "Just how is it any fucking different, sis?"
Green eyes narrowed dangerously just then, and Tucker instinctually took another cautious step backwards…
Only to end up with his back pressed right up against Agent Washington's chest. Tucker nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt the blond-haired man's hands no doubt instinctively wrap around his shoulders in a tight grip to prevent him from stumbling. The crazy ex-Freelancer dude had been so damn quiet earlier that Tucker had nearly forgotten he had opted to stick around for Carolina chewing her baby brother out.
"Moving things along," Washington started, and Tucker flinched slightly in his grip because the asshole's breath was tickling the back of his neck, "Who is the woman that you're with, Carolina?"
The question gave Carolina a momentary pause as she cast her eyes over to the outside of the alcove that the four of them were currently standing in. Her gaze went out to where the dark-skinned woman in question was no doubt chumming it up with the rest of Church's group and their tagalong Doctor Emily Grey as the group staked out the building that Grey was fairly positive their file thieves would be targeting next.
"You mean Vanessa Kimball?" Carolina asked Washington, not even waiting a moment for his barely perceptible nod before answering, "She's a private investigator who deals primarily with cases involving Specials."
"Huh. Sounds like someone you in particular might want to get in cahoots with." Sarge's voice informed Church matter-of-factly.
The small group of four turned back to the mouth of the alcove then. Washington's hands quickly fell from Tucker's shoulders, a blush appearing on his freckled face at having realized just how long he had subconsciously been gripping onto the dark-skinned man in teal.
Sarge was indeed standing there, arms crossed over his chest in a similar way to Carolina as he regarded the four people in his midst with rather obvious disinterest.
Church frowned at the older man in red's interruption, "Shouldn't you be on watch?"
Sarge harrumphed at the question, brown eyes glancing over his shoulder as he did so, "The other fellas have got that covered." He informed them, his mouth pressing into a thin line the second he turned his head back as he pointedly remarked, "Besides, all of the claptrap going on over here doesn't exactly leave much room for stealth, now does it?"
Washington looked surprisingly impressed by the older man's observation and mild admonishment, "You're actually right about that."
Sarge harrumphed once more, clearly annoyed by Washington's surprised tone, "Don't go acting all shocked now, son."
"Whatever." Church rolled his eyes in aggravation before directing his attention to Washington in particular, "We definitely don't need any input from a fucking stalker."
Washington let out a sigh of extreme exasperation, while Carolina raised a red eyebrow in his direction rather curiously, "What is that about?" She asked her former Freelancer comrade.
Washington decidedly ignored her query to fire back at Church, 'I am not a stalker, okay?!" Then he quickly elaborated further, "I just followed all of you out of concern. That's all."
There was a rather heavy, abrupt pause at the blond's declaration before Sarge broke it with an awkward clearing of his throat, "Son. That sounds like the very definition of stalking to me."
"I hate you all." Washington muttered under his breath, shoulders sagging in absolute defeat.
Tucker almost, almost felt bad for the poor guy, so he decided to at least show him a small modicum of mercy by changing the topic from his denial over his rather obvious lurking tendencies. "So, what are you guys going to do then?" He asked both Carolina and Washington following his own prolonged sigh, "Are you going to help us out, try to shut us down, or…?"
The man in steel and yellow frowned thoughtfully at his question, "My initial goal to keep an eye on you guys and make sure things don't get out of hand remains the same." He informed them, pointedly ignoring a cough from Church that most definitely sounded like "Stalker!" under his breath.
Still, Washington cast a grateful look Tucker's way, clearly relieved for the topic change. Tucker quickly averted his gaze away from the man's face to cover up his oddly sudden loss of breath because fuck, did that type of expression look good on the former Freelancer.
Carolina's posture softened a fraction as she seemed to relent on her position ever-so-slightly, "You have come this far already, so I suppose I can give you the benefit of the doubt just this once in order to see what your team is capable of." She gave a curt nod in the direction of their target building across the way, "Besides, I'm curious myself about who has been going after these files."
"Hmph." Sarge relaxed his stance considerably following this turn of conversation, "Seems like things are scheduled to go as planned then."
The red-wearing man promptly turned back around to rejoin the others at their stakeout, Tucker and Church hurrying to do the same not a moment later. However, Tucker halted in his steps only a meter or so away when two quiet voices continued conversing behind him.
Once the trio had left, David Washington took the opportunity that the subsequent blissful silence afforded him to regard his former leader.
If it was at all possible, Agent Carolina somehow looked even more haggard than he currently felt, which could only mean that she had been pursuing whatever it was she now viewed as her mission rather relentlessly and without fail.
Knowing that, especially in light of Project Freelancer's fall, was more alarming than Washington would likely ever care to admit.
The blond swallowed thickly, ignoring the sudden spike in his nerves at that realization as best he could, "What kind of leads are you following?" Washington asked, still assessing her carefully, "Because something tells me that you haven't just been chasing after Charon like Tex has."
Carolina stiffened once more, causing Washington to realize that he had been close to the mark with his estimate. He also wondered and hoped that he hadn't overstepped his bounds by mentioning Tex, knowing full well how complicated things were, to put it rather mildly, between the cyan-wearing woman and her brother's on-and-off-and-we've-already-lost-count-again girlfriend.
It wasn't enough to get the always cautious Carolina to completely shut the conversation down, at any rate. "You might be right about that, Wash." She admitted rather cryptically instead, evidently deciding not to elaborate any further.
Washington sighed heavily. He got it, okay? The rookie of Project Freelancer had always been left out of the loop before, especially in situations where it was probably vital he hadn't been. It had sucked back then more than he had ever wanted to admit to the others, and it had left him hurting more than he would ever let anyone else know now.
But now? Now, he damn well wasn't going to put up with it if he could prevent it.
"So I'm guessing that what you're going after has even more to do with Freelancer than even stolen tech or files do." He surmised, not batting an eye.
Carolina said nothing in response, but when her eyes narrowed slightly he knew that he had hit the mark again.
"You don't have to do everything on your own, Carolina." Washington told her quietly, "You never did."
…They were supposed to be a fucking team, after all. Even though looking back on everything now made him want to bitterly laugh over that so-far-from-the-truth sentiment, it didn't mean they couldn't at least try to act that way now.
"That's where you're wrong, Wash." Carolina's voice was so quiet that he almost hadn't even heard her, but the icy expression clouding over her features that contrasted so sharply with the sheer, burning hatred in her green eyes said it all, "Freelancer was his mess, and I'm going to be the one to pick it up."
Her voice left no room for argument or debate on the subject, and he found himself shakily nodding his head and even taking a step back out of reflex.
She let out a huff of air in frustration a second later, "Besides," she admitted rather reluctantly, "It's not like I have any definitive proof yet that it's around still, and…"
The way she worded her statement caused the growing knot of nerves that Washington had been feeling to grow into trepidation, "Just what are you searching for?" The gray-eyed man asked, knowing he would probably regret hearing the answer.
Carolina stared at him in a rather assessing manner for a few moments before responding, "You really don't want to know."
While he greatly suspected that to in fact be true, the other former Freelancer felt a sharp spike of frustration at how quickly Carolina had once again brushed him off. Hadn't any of them learned from what had happened back with Freelancer? He had actually tried letting go of some of his lingering anger and resentment too by reaching out to someone he felt he should still try to consider a friend…
Once again, all that had done was still leave him woefully in the dark and feeling immensely foolish. No doubt the other shoe would eventually drop, like it had so painfully done before.
Washington's mouth pressed into a thin line as he clenched his hands into fists at his sides, "I am beyond tired of people telling me that."
Carolina's face took on a momentary look of surprise at the bitter sharpness of his words before it morphed into an oddly regretful expression. The redhead opened her mouth to speak, holding out a hand to him at the same time.
"Wash…" The cyan-wearing woman began, but he was already turning his back to her. Whatever else she might have tried saying died on her lips as he saw her hand falling uncertainly back down to her side out of the corner of his eye.
"Yo."
Washington blinked, caught off-guard by the greeting to his right as he exited the alcove, not expecting anyone, let alone his new neighbor Tucker, to be waiting there.
He grimaced, wondering just how much of the exchange the teal-wearing Special had overhead, already feeling exhausted at the thought of having to explain or cover up for himself yet again.
But, Tucker surprised him once more, something it seemed he was always doing when least expected to, by moving away from the wall he had been leaning against and choosing to say instead: "We better get a move on if we want to catch up with the others."
Washington nodded, rather relieved for Tucker's incredible display of discretion at that moment. He stepped in line behind Tucker to follow him, his gray eyes never leaving the other man's back as an equally silent and rather tense Carolina followed suit a few seconds later.
Tucker waited a good minute before the dragging, infuriatingly heavy silence got the better of him and he let out a low whistle, "Well, this is going to turn out to be a fucking awesome team-up."
"See? We ended up getting the files in no time flat!" Idaho remarked happily as the Triplets made their way to the side exit of the building, a route that they had already determined was going to be their escape, "It was a fucking piece of cake!"
At the blue-with-white-trim-wearing man's remark, Iowa glanced up hopefully, "Oh, there was cake?" he asked with gleeful curiosity.
Idaho patted Iowa's arm, "Nah, but let's see if we can't score some after we make the drop-off." He replied condolingly.
"I just like to lick the icing off." Iowa admitted rather sheepishly, poking at the blue with white and yellow accents that covered his arm.
The tan-skinned man rolled his eyes before he reached over and grabbed his teammate by the elbow gently to keep his distracted mind from slowing his pace any further, "I know, Iowa, but that was still a dick move to lick the icing off of my entire birthday cake." Idaho told his friend matter-of-factly.
The brown-haired Iowa frowned in recollection of that particular birthday incident, "But I made you a new one."
"And you used salt instead of sugar, buddy." Idaho stuck out his tongue as he remembered biting into the replacement cake in question.
"It still had sprinkles though!"
Feeling as though the conversation had completely gone off the rails, Idaho sighed and glanced over his shoulder at their unusually quiet third partner dressed in cobalt blue with white and rubine. Normally, she would be telling them exactly what to try and do to make their exit as flawless as possible, even if the actual event never went the way she planned at all.
"You doing all right back there, Vera?" He called out to her, hoping to drag her back into the conversation.
She promptly made a face at his slipup, "Codenames!" Vera reminded him with a hiss of exasperation.
"Right. Sorry." Idaho rolled his eyes but seemed a bit relieved to have her momentarily back to her usual reprimanding self, "You doing all right, Ohio?"
The dark-skinned woman nodded in response, patting the inner pocket of her outfit where she had stored the data stick containing the files they had just pilfered, "Yeah, and I guess you were right about this job going smoothly too."
He nodded his head in agreement, "Helps knowing when places are going through maintenance."
Ohio really couldn't argue, especially since having only a skeleton crew of employees on the grounds made sneaking in and retrieving what they had come for that much easier. Not having to worry so much about what to do if they were caught was great, especially since Iowa hated knocking someone out and it wasn't as if she or Idaho were particularly keen to do so either. Plus, it really helped keep her mind off of the whole "Were they doing the right thing here?" debate for a little while longer. The trio vaulted down the emergency stairs about four at a time, eager to make their escape.
"Now we just need to focus on a clean getaway." The pink-haired woman informed her cohorts, praying that part would also be easy.
Idaho laughed as the backdoor came into view, propped partially open by a rock that Iowa had picked up earlier from who-knew-where, "Shouldn't be too much of an issue, I think!"
Ohio frowned, almost wanting to caution her friend against being too cocky. But, the general good mood swirling through the air right then was far too infectious for that. "That cake better be vanilla." She informed Idaho cheerily instead.
"Uh, forget you! It's totally going to be chocolate."
"Whoo-hoo! Cake!" Iowa cheered, eyes lighting up in eager anticipation.
They were down the stairs just a few moments later, Ohio noticing that the control panel next to the door was still sparking away as rivulets of water dripped down the plastered wall below it. They had left various other panels exactly like that throughout the building, a telltale sign of their entering.
"It was helpful disabling the security systems this time instead of just trying to sneak past them." Ohio noted, absentmindedly running a gloved finger through the small water trail.
"Yeah," Idaho wholeheartedly agreed, "That had been such a pain in the ass on our last gig."
"But it made us seem even more like ninja!" Iowa protested.
His two friends smiled over at him before patting his shoulders and making their way through the door. As they stepped into the back alleyway, Ohio's spirits soared even higher at the thought of a job well done and the prospect of cake. Maybe, just maybe, if they ran into them while handing over the data, they could invite those three guys over too.
There was a sudden warmth on Ohio's face at the idea of inviting Sherry in particular over for cake. After all, the last time they had discussed Iowa's baking endeavors, the other woman had said it was a shame that things hadn't panned out because she could totally lick icing off of the tip of her nose and…
"Hey! Stealing is a crime, you know!" An unfamiliar male's voice shouted just then at the trio, interrupting her thoughts.
Ohio's shoulders slumped at the sudden exclamation, "Dang it." She muttered under her breath. She just knew that operation had been running too fucking smoothly!
"Fucking really, Doc?" Church looked over at the purple-wearing man in obvious exasperation over his outcry to the three criminals they had just caught leaving the targeted building, "That's really the first thing you choose to shout at them?"
"Well, it is true." Doc replied back rather lamely, his face turning quite red in embarrassment behind his purple-framed glasses.
"He's right, you know!" Donut helpfully supplied from where he was standing close by, "And it's extremely important to really drive that point home until it hits that magic sweet spot!"
"I get it." Church grimaced at Donut's choice of words, while Doc simply looked both surprised and touched by the dirty blond's defense of his action.
"I'm talking about really driving it in repeatedly nonstop again and again, until they've become a quivering mess on the floor who are completely and utterly sated by your sheer prowess."
"Holy shit." Church said as he stared at Donut. It was really all Church could think to reply with. Dexter Grif just decided to stay as silent as possible, although he did mutter a "Phrasing, Donut." under his breath.
"Creo que perdió el hilo de esa comparación hace un rato." {"I think he lost the thread of that comparison a while ago."}
Whatever Lopez had said in response to Donut's continued defense of Doc's opening statement was lost when Kai decided to throw her two cents into the conversation. The tan-skinned girl raised an eyebrow, "Sounds pretty hot." She informed Donut before tilting her dark head of hair down in the direction of the three trespassers they had blocked from leaving the alleyway, "Does that mean we're having an orgy with these guys then or what, because I totally didn't bring enough condoms or lube for everyone in that case."
"Fuck yeah!" Tucker whistled appreciatively and gave her a triumphant high-five, "That's what I'm talking about! Bow-chicka-bow-wow!"
Washington stared over at Tucker incredulously, "Really?"
Grif felt his eyes starting to twitch at his little sister's antics, "Goddamn it, Kai!"
The yellow-wearing Special merely stuck her tongue out at him before grinning once more, "Oh quiet, bitch."
"Are we going to be standing here all day getting embarrassed by Grif's sister?" Sarge asked as he shook his head in surprising agreement with Grif, of all people, just then. The orange-wearing man felt his annoyance begin to rise even more at the distinct mumblings of how the world must be coming to an end soon, although he felt no desire to ask the older man to speak up since he was holding his shotgun close to his chest.
Tucker's only response was a cheeky grin and an eyebrow waggle, causing Washington to promptly groan and shake his head right alongside Sarge.
The dark-skinned woman who had introduced herself earlier as Vanessa Kimball gave an unsure, shaky sort-of smile to Carolina as the two women stood a little off to the side from everyone else, "They're a rather lively bunch, huh?"
The redheaded female merely frowned in response, definitely looking far from impressed by the group's antics so far, "That's putting it mildly."
"Well, considering that you evidently didn't bring along enough supplies to pass around to everyone, I'll have to ask you to put your orgy plan on hold for the time being." Doctor Grey added in to the conversation by giving medical advice to both Tucker and Kai, "Safe sex is extremely important from a health stance for a myriad of reasons, and…"
Grif sighed and shook his head, not sure how to process all of the craziness that was currently going on around him. Leave it to his sister to bring up an orgy of all things during a confrontation with potentially dangerous thieves, and for the subsequent way the conversation evolved from there to brain-break quite a few people—himself being dangerously close to being included in that number. Kai had a gift when it came to stunts like that, he thought with a sigh. Now if she could only use her talent wisely and not for evil.
His brown-eyed gaze landed on an extremely red-faced Simmons standing by his side, fidgeting awkwardly and apparently utterly fascinated with the drawstrings of his maroon hoodie at the moment. Grif couldn't stop himself from grinning at the sight. The cybernetic nerd was surprisingly cute when flustered, to say the least.
…Maybe Kai did have a knack for using her gift for good, now that he thought about it. Even if it was totally unexpected on her end.
It was, shockingly enough, Caboose who put things back on track. "But, Church," he remarked rather emphatically, clutching at his "best friend's" arm as he did so to gain his attention, "Stealing is a crime!"
"Aw, gee!" Doc almost looked as though he was going to cry at any second as he looked over at Donut and Caboose appreciatively for their support, "Thanks so much, guys! I'm just so—!"
"That's right, Caboose!" Doctor Grey was quick to get back to the matter at hand as she excitedly talked over Doc to tilt her head in the direction of the rather stunned thieving trio before them, "And those three are definitely the ones who stole the medical records from the hospital."
"Judging by how quickly they vacated this facility following the security systems going offline, I believe they have stolen from here as well." Sheila added in from where her translucent hologram of a body was floating above everyone else's heads.
That sobered things up rather quickly. Grif frowned, casting his gaze over to assess the three figures who were slowly starting to get over their own shock at the discussion they had just witnessed. They didn't seem all that threatening upon first glance, but Grif was well aware from personal experience just how much appearances could be deceiving.
He looked back at Kai to make sure that she was still a few steps farther back like she had been before just to be on the safe side. For some reason, his arm shot out a split-second later in order to get Simmons to do the same.
"Grif?" Simmons asked, the cyborg looking just as shocked and perplexed by the heavyset man's actions as Grif was inwardly feeling before he pointedly fixed his gaze back on the blue-wearing thieves when it became apparent the orange-wearing man wasn't going to address his question.
"Ah!" The female of the group, who was sporting pink hair just a few shades darker than what Donut wore, reacted first, her finger pointed wildly in Doctor Grey's direction as recognition fell across her startled face, "It's that crazy doctor lady from the hospital!"
Sarge frowned, stepping next to the dark-skinned woman in question with a surprisingly courteous tilt of his head in her direction, "That is no way to talk about a lady." He stated reproachfully, reprimanding the woman for her admittedly accurate description.
But the unknown woman was already fixated on others in their mismatched group, brown eyes widening as they landed on the goateed man in cobalt in particular, "Ch—Church?!"
Church looked just as stunned as she did, his eyes widening considerably in dawning awareness when he realized that he also knew who she was, "No fucking way." He muttered in a tone that practically screamed "Oh, fuck me."
"What are you…?" The pink-haired female's question trailed off as her eyes landed on the two Freelancers in their midst, "Carolina, too?" She gaped in recognition, "And…and Wash?!"
"Ohio." Washington's voice had risen in surprise as well. The blond took a shaky step forward as he inclined his head towards each and every one of the thieving trio, "Iowa. Idaho…"
Carolina stopped Washington by putting a hand on his shoulder. He cast a questioning, downright tortured look her way, but she merely shook her head as the apparently perpetual frown on her face deepened.
Grif raised an eyebrow at all of their shocked reactions, "So, are they friends of yours or something?" Figured they'd get pulled into Freelancer shit on their first mission.
One of the males of the trio, the black-haired man apparently named Idaho, scoffed at the question, "Or something." He repeated in answer with an angry, mocking sneer.
Washington looked absolutely stricken at the remark while Tucker frowned and glanced from the former Freelancer over to Church with a questioning look in his eyes that clearly demanded some more elaboration on what was going on.
"They're the Triplets." Church finally informed the Reds and Blues rather shakily, without further explanation beyond, "From Project Freelancer."
"Man, you know the weirdest people." Tucker told his friend succinctly before he remembered that Carolina and Washington were both standing behind him, "Uh, no offense."
"Offense, asshole." Church muttered to the teal-wearing Special.
"Yay," Caboose exclaimed, practically jumping up and down in obvious anticipation, "That means we will have even more new friends!"
Washington swallowed thickly, pulling away from Carolina's steadying grip, "What…what are you doing here?"
Ohio, the woman of the trio in question, glared angrily at him. The expression caused Washington to become even more startled and even take a half-step back, "Like you don't know what happened to us!" She yelled out, as if increasing the volume hit home her point.
As the Reds and Blues became further confused, the two former Freelancers and Church looked absolutely bewildered at Ohio's vehement declaration.
"M—maybe they didn't." The man in blue with white and yellow named Iowa stated in an unsure, shaky voice upon seeing their reactions, "Wash especially was never like that."
"Big deal." Idaho was glowering at the former Freelancers just as steadily as Ohio, "They should have been able to put two and two together, Mike."
"Codenames!" Ohio reminded him with what sounded to be habitual exasperation.
"What are you talking about?" Washington's voice sounded surprisingly urgent just then as he took two large steps forward towards the Triplets, as if he was hoping to understand them through proximity alone.
"Doesn't matter. We don't have time to talk now anyway." Ohio informed the blond, fists clenching tightly at her sides, "You guys just better get out of our way!"
Church, despite still being visibly shaken himself by this turn of events, shook his head emphatically at her warning, "Not until you tell us what you want these files for. Also, you need to hand them over to us."
The three former Freelancer agents known as the Triplets looked towards each other before sharing a brief nod as if deciding on something all at once. Grif did not have a good feeling about that shared gesture, and his grip on Simmons tightened momentarily in fearful anticipation. Not that he'd ever admit it to anyone.
"Fine." Ohio stated, raising her arms up over her head as she did so, "Have it your way then!"
Suddenly, a massive wall of water materialized between the two groups from apparently out of nowhere, crashing down onto the ground where everyone had been standing rather violently and causing them all to scatter.
Shit. Figured they were dealing with other Specials too if they had been connected to Project Freelancer.
Grif sighed to himself as he saw the newly made hole in the thick brick-and-concrete ground just a few meters away from where he had been only moments before, remembering just why it was that he always considered fighting to be such a hassle. Church was such an asshole for starting this group.
Author's Notes: Lol, I got a little carried away with the dialogue in the fourth part of this chapter: Donut and Kai just do that. :D Also, poor Wash is never going to get the guys to let go of the whole "stalker" bit. XD
This was only my second time ever writing for the Triplets, so I hope I continued to do their characters justice! I kind of want to adopt Iowa along with Caboose and Loco, not going to lie. :D
Next time in Specials: we get our first actual fight scene barring a sparring match in this story! :D Haha, it seems like that took a really long time to get to considering this is a Superhero AU but, oh well, I like my slow burns and setups too much, I suppose. XD Hopefully it will be a decent one! Also, more character interactions and some neat little relationship moments will be had too. I will also FINALLY be introducing Sherry, Darryl, and Terrill into the mix too. :D They are other characters I have never written for before but are quite fond of, so hopefully I will also do them justice! :D
I may actually be posting the next chapter next week since I'm wondering if it might be a good idea to write at least two updates for a WIP before switching over to another one since I know how long it often takes for me to finally update something. Since I have so many WIPs at the moment, it is always just a single chapter for before the whole cycle continues again and I feel like that becomes a long break in-between chapters for these fics. Plus, it might help my mind stay in one story's universe a bit longer too and help me with writing them at a better pace in general. I guess we'll see how it will go, but let me know if you think that might be a good approach to take from here on out!
Thank you, as always, for reading! :D