"Hey York...?"
"Yes my love?" York asked looking up from the paper football he was about to flick at Carolina who was standing in his door.
"Did you happen to put dye in the locker room showers?" Carolina asked.
"Why would you assume such a thing?"
"Because you have been on a pranking spree lately and soon I'm going to tell them all who's doing it," Carolina replied raising an eyebrow at him. "Did you?"
"Depends, are you going to make me clean it up?" She narrowed her eyes at him. "Yea, it was me. Who'd I get?"
"Diaz and Miller," Carolina sighed.
"Wait..." York guffawed, "I got two of them?"
"Yes...why?" York started laughing. "York..."
"I only did one of the shower heads," York manage to spit out as he tried to catch his breath.
"BOW CHICKA BOW-WOW!" Tucker yelled from across the hall.
"Oh dear lord..." Carolina dropped her head. "Remind me why I fell in love with you?"
"Hey, at least I am specifically avoiding anything that would involve you and Emma," York pointed out.
"Yea! The asshole got me this morning!" Tucker yelled.
"Oh come on, you knew it was coming!"
"Revenge is sweet my friend!"
"Where are you getting all this dye from anyway?" Carolina asked.
"Pops," York shrugged. "Do me a favor?"
"What?" she asked narrowing her eyes at him.
"Either step farther in to my office or out into the hallway away from the door please," he said motioning with his hand.
"Why…?"
"Tucker and I are playing paper football between our offices," he smiled at her.
"Do you seriously have nothing better to do?" Carolina asked doing as he asked. She watched him set up the triangular piece of folded paper and flick it, sending it sailing through the door.
"Dammit!" Tucker yelled.
"Ha, I'm winning! I think that deserves a victory kiss from my wife," York stated smiling up at her. She raised an eyebrow at him. "Or not."
She walked over to look out his office door, "Hey Tucker, question."
"Sup?"
"Can you help Wash cover my class tomorrow?"
"Yea, no problem. Why?"
"I have my appointment in the morning and then York and I have a meeting at Ally's school."
"Oh crap, I forgot about that," York huffed. "What's this thing about?"
"Just a general informational meeting that all the parents have to go to," Carolina sighed.
"Great. Sounds like it's going to be so much fun…"
"Oh and Tucker," Carolina looked back at him. "I will need you and the guys for Friday as well."
"Why, what's happening on Friday?" Tucker asked.
"Do you not read the memo's we send out?" Carolina asked.
"Yes I do and I didn't get any memo," Tucker replied sounding smug.
"Lina, you didn't actually send a memo out," York chuckled.
"Yes I did."
"No, sorry," York replied. "Got mine open right here and there's nothing about your 'mock hostage simulation training' you want to do with the recruits."
"I swear I sent one," Carolina replied reaching up to scratch her head. "Hey Church?"
"No you did not send one," Church laughed. "Baby brain strikes again, C."
"God dammit…" she muttered before stomping out of York's office.
"Where are you going?" York called after her.
"To send a stupid memo out!" she yelled back.
"That's the third thing she's forgotten about today," Church informed him.
"Oh man, that's gonna put her in such a lovely mood tonight," York sighed. "What were the other two?"
"One was a report to Kimball that she actually had done but never sent and the other was a follow up on the equipment Mei's getting in," Church replied.
"When's that supposed to be coming?"
"Friday actually."
"Good. So we can hopefully get some answers this weekend then," York sighed.
"What kind of equipment we talking?" Tucker asked coming to lean in York's doorway.
"Something to clear out whatever blockage is near South's implants," York answered. "Mum's hoping that's what wakes her up."
"And what's this mock thing she wants to do on Friday?"
"You and the guys are going to be bad guys and have some hostages that you've taken and the recruits have to get them back with as little casualties as possible. North has paintballs for it."
"That sounds wonderful," Tucker sighed. "And painful."
"Hey, could be worse. You could be using lockdown paint," York chuckled. He pointed at his left eye, "And look how well that ended for me."
"Point taken dude."
"You look frustrated," Wash commented as he walked into Carolina's office.
"You don't," she growled back at him. He shrugged at her as he sat down across from her. She huffed, "Apparently I have forgotten how to hit send on my computer."
"What didn't you send?" Wash asked curious.
"A report, a follow-up, and the memo for the thing on Friday," she grumbled. "So far. I'm not sure about anything else."
"That's not like you to forget things."
"Yea well that was before I had something the size of a peach in my abdomen sucking the life force out of me."
"Sucking the life force out of you, really?" Wash chuckled.
"Shut up, you know what I mean," she growled. "What do you want anyway?"
"Can't I just come talk to you?"
"You can, but normally you have an issue you need help with," Carolina replied.
"No issue, just figured we haven't chatted in a while without shop talk and everything and I wanted to come see how you were," Wash shrugged.
Carolina narrowed her eyes at him, "Ok…"
"So how are things? Other than pregnancy brain that is," he chuckled.
"Things are fine."
"Ally seems to like school."
"Told her she would," Carolina shrugged still giving him a suspicious look.
"Her friends aren't bad either," Wash leaned back in the chair.
"Did they come again this past weekend?" Carolina asked.
"Yup. Ross and Diaz were helping out again."
"How's that going?"
"Great. The kids have fun and surprisingly listen pretty well."
"That's good. Ally always talks about how much fun she has."
"She's an awesome kid, that's for sure," Wash nodded. "She's really excited about being a big sister too."
"Yea she is," Carolina agreed. "Which I'm glad for. So how about you, how are things?"
"Can't complain."
"Still seeing that girl you took home from the bar?" Carolina asked. Wash paled and stared at her. "Oh come on. You know the first thing my husband did was run in here and tell me after he left your office."
"He's such an asshole…"
"So…?"
Wash glared up at her before rolling his eyes, "We have an arrangement…"
"An arrangement, huh?" Wash raised an eyebrow at her. She put up her hands, "Alright fine. You don't want to tell me more, then so be it. Just trying to look out for you."
"Thanks," Wash smirked. "It is unnecessary though."
"You say so," Carolina shrugged. "She going to be your plus one for family dinners?"
"No."
"Not part of the 'arrangement' I take it?" Carolina teased.
"Sometimes you are as bad as your husband," Wash huffed. "I come in here to have a nice conversation with you and you start asking me questions I don't really want to answer."
"I'm teasing you, stop being dramatic," Carolina smiled. "You always get yourself so worked up." Wash huffed at her. "So do I know her…?"
Wash glared at her, his face reddening, "Of course not."
"Sure?"
"Yes I'm sure," he screeched.
"Alright," Carolina relented giving him a look that made him think she knew otherwise. "Last thing I'm going to say on the subject is to just be careful. I'm sure you know what you're doing, but sometimes things happen we don't expect no matter what kind of 'arrangements' have been made."
"Thanks mom," Wash rolled his eyes. "Shouldn't you save these talks for when your own children start dating?"
"Eh, figured I should practice on you," Carolina shrugged. "You know you're like the little brother I never had and I'll always watch your back."
Wash shook his head at her, corner of his mouth lifted in a lopsided grin, "Thanks and I'll try to keep all that in mind, sis."
"I can never get over the growth three weeks does," Emma said astonished as they stared at the picture on the ultrasound machine.
"Would you rather be pregnant for longer?" Mei chuckled.
"Hell no," Emma chuckled as North squeezed her hand. She looked up at him, "That's our peanut."
"Yes it is," North chuckled lifting their hands up so he could kiss the back of hers.
"Are you feeling anything yet?" Mei asked. "Any little flutters or anything that feels like gas?"
"Maybe?" Emma replied uncertain. "It's hard to tell. If they're there, I've barely felt them."
"And the morning sickness has settled?"
"Thankfully," Emma nodded.
"She also has a ton of energy now," North pointed out. "Though I've still caught her napping in the afternoon."
"Nothing wrong with a nap," Mei smiled. She looked back at the screen, freezing it before removing the wand. She pulled over the screen and pulled up the notes section. "Now it's still too early to find out what our little friend is, but is that the route you want to go?"
Emma looked at North who gave her a smile. She looked at Mei and nodded, "Definitely."
"Good. George would never let you hear the end of it otherwise," Mei chuckled. "We can certainly try to see if someone will cooperate at your next appointment. It might still be a little early, but nothing wrong with trying. So three weeks and start looking out for those little flutters."
"I will certainly start doing that," Emma nodded pulling her shirt down and sitting up.
"Any news on the equipment you were waiting on?" North asked as they got ready to leave.
"Should be here on Friday. George is going to go get it and then I'll be over after my shift here," Mei sighed. "I swear, I'm working more now then what I did before I retired."
"Well we're glad to have you, that's for sure," North chuckled.
They said their goodbyes and headed out of the hospital. North wrapped an arm around Emma as they walked.
"So, think the recruits managed to survive Sarge this afternoon?" Emma asked looking up at him.
"Eh yea, I'm sure they'll be fine," North answered. "He knows what he's doing even if what he does sometimes doesn't make sense to the rest of us."
"I'm really glad you have faith in everyone," Emma smiled.
"Have to," he shrugged. "They're not a bad bunch to have faith in."
"You're not wrong," Emma agreed.
"So I hear you, Carolina, and Ally are going to play hostage on Friday?"
"Oh yes," Emma nodded. "I am very much looking forward to things."
"Yea?" North chuckled.
"Yup. Carolina and I have been having fun discussing a few things."
"Nothing that's going to put the two of you in the line of fire, correct?" North asked giving her a pointed look.
"We'll see," she shrugged. "I mean, come on. They're paintballs and if we were to do something crazy, do you really think the recruits would hit us in our stomachs?"
North thought about it briefly before nodding, "Just as long as you give York a heads up. I could see him freaking out."
"Knowing him, yea. We'll see," Emma smiled bouncing up on to her toes to kiss North on the cheek. "I'm hungry."
"What are you hungry for?" he chuckled.
"Pizza."
"Whatever your heart desires," North winked.
"Alright, so what's the plan?" Tucker asked as Wash joined him out on the Floor.
"First I need to get over my shock at your eagerness to be here," Wash chuckled.
"Ha, ha. It's boring here some days."
"You can always come run drill in the morning," Wash pointed out.
"Not that boring," Tucker rolled his eyes. "So what are we doing with them?"
"Thought with just us here, we'd work on some knife fighting," Wash shrugged. "Throw in some various size blades and everything."
"Great," Tucker huffed. He gave Wash an eager look, "Should I get my sword?"
Wash shook his head, "We're not using real blades. Practice ones."
"But where's the fun in that?" Tucker asked. Wash shrugged before stretching out his shoulders. Something caught Tucker's eye that made him reach out and grab the neck of Wash's shirt and pull it so he could see it better.
Wash yanked away from him, "What the hell are you doing?"
"Dude, you got a wicked ass scratch," Tucker chuckled. He gave Wash a curious look, "Where'd that come from?"
"My cat," Wash stammered, face reddening slightly.
"Yea sure. And I didn't give birth to a half-alien baby," Tucker rolled his eyes before something else caught them. He grinned wider, "Goes along pretty well with the hickey."
"T-the what?"
"That," Tucker pointed at a spot near Wash's collarbone that was now showing from when Tucker grabbed his shirt. "Or did your cat do that too?"
Wash fixed his shirt and grumbled under his breath before stalking off to the locker room. He could hear Tucker laughing at him from where he stood in the middle of the floor. He opened his locker and pulled out his under armor, setting it on the bench behind him to change quickly before walking back out.
"Self-conscious much?" Tucker giggled.
"Shut up."
"Sooooooo….wanna talk about it?"
"No I do not."
"Oh come on. Really?" Wash glared at him. "Dude, you're getting laid and you don't want to talk about it with me. You know how unfair that is right now?"
"Never said I was getting laid, Tucker," Wash grumbled crossing his arms across his chest.
"Then I may have to look into my own pussy," Tucker smiled wiggling his eye-brows at Wash.
"That was grossly untasteful," Wash rolled his eyes.
"Eh, worth it to see you squirm," Tucker laughed patting Wash on the shoulder.
"You're an asshole," Wash muttered as the first group of recruits walked out from the direction of the lunchroom. "Afternoon. As you see, we have Captain Tucker here with us today in Agent Carolina's absent. So today I thought would be a fun day to show him your knife skills. We'll refresh some quick basics and then put it to use in Program Assassin. Sound good?"
The group nodded in agreement and went to work. The hour seemed to fly by and before he knew it, they were taking a quick break and the next group came in. He saw the look of glee on Ross's face when he told them the plan and laughed like hell when she put Tucker on his ass in five seconds.
"I bet if you ask her nicely, Ross'll show you something other than swish-swish-stab with your sword," Wash chuckled helping him up.
"Smaller knives are more my forte, but swords are fun too," Ross smiled. "Piper's more your guy if you want sword work."
"I'll keep it in mind," Tucker huffed.
"Alright recruits. Let's put what you learned to work," Wash said as he activating the program. "Captain Tucker and I will be dispersed somewhere inside. Goal is to try to sneak by us before we find you. If we find you, you'll have to get us into a kill position before we get you in one. Understood?" They all nodded in agreement. "Alright. Sound of the bell, two at a time. If you manage to get out, hit your AD to alert the rest of us."
They all nodded as Tucker stalked off mumbling under his breath about why he agreed to get his ass kicked. Wash rolled his eyes at him before heading off into a different direction. He found a spot to perch at so he could see some of what was going on and waited. Five minutes in, he smirked when he caught sight of Ross. He waited until she was below him before jumping down to catch her by surprise from behind. What he wasn't prepared for was for her to flip him over her shoulder. He rolled quickly as one of the practice knives they were using came down where his chest had been.
"Knew you were there," Ross smirked as Wash stared up at her from his crouch. "You say to always be aware of your surroundings, sir."
"I do," Wash agreed before lunging at her. She blocked his strike before countering with her own. "By the way."
"Yes sir?" she replied ducking under his swing. He grabbed her knife arm and locked it behind her back.
"New guideline."
"Contributing now sir?" she chuckled as she switched hands and broke out his grip. She swiped a foot under him, sending him onto his back before pressing a knee into his chest to try to keep him down. He grabbed her and pulled her down, rolling on top to immobilize her.
"First, advice. Make sure you keep arms immobile if you can. A stray limb can easily put you on your own back," he smirked.
"Shall I insert a comment on that or..."
He rolled his eyes, "Secondly...how bout no marks in easily visible places?"
An evil glint crossed her eyes and she grinned up at him, "Oops."
"Yea, oops," Wash scoffed as he stood up, holding a hand out to pull her up. He wasn't expecting her to knee the hand that he was holding the practice knife causing it to fly upward into the air so she could catch it and put both of them up against his throat like a pair of shears. He put his hands up, relenting.
"Way to let your guard down, sir," she smirked.
"Yea, yea," he grumbled scratching at the back of his neck. "And I'm serious about that new one. I'm getting enough questions asked so as it is that I'm trying to avoid."
"I figured that if you brought it up that you were serious about it," she winked.
Wash narrowed his eyes at her, "Sometimes I really don't know about you."
She just grinned wider at him before jogging off in the opposite direction. Wash shook his head and rolled his eyes.