Disclaimer: I do NOT own RWBY, Red vs. Blue, or any of its characters

Note: I will be using -0-0-0-0- or a horizontal line as a line break

Hey guys! Back after... too many months (sorry!)! I hope you guys weren't waiting too long for this! Since I have a bit more energy to be productive nowadays, I hope to get a few more out on a much less frequent basis. Of course, university is destroying me, but let's not focus on that! Here is Chapter 18 of the Rvb and RWBY crossover.

Chapter 18: Between the Lines

"Tucker."
"Not now, Mom."
"Tucker!"
"I'm not going to school today."
"TUCKER!"
"Gah!" The aqua soldier opened his eyes and nearly fell out of the cot.
"Jesus," the blue holographic A.I. hovered above him, "About time you woke up."

Tucker groggily sat up, wincing as he did. He looked around and found himself in what appeared to be a clinic. He was laid on a cot with a few other injured young teenagers either asleep or reading on cots around him. One female student was being treated by what appeared to be a young male nurse, who was checking her reflexes and reaction time. A white fluorescent white blinded Tucker from above, and a few "Get Well" cards accompanied a small table next to him. "What… where are we?" Tucker winced again, holding his stomach. He tried moving to get up but could only exclaim aloud when he tried. The nurse perked up, observed Tucker for a moment, and continued his treatment on the girl.

"Hey, hey," Church said in a worried tone inside his helmet, "Slow down. Your stomach isn't exactly completely healed yet."
"My… stomach?"
"Remember the guy who shot you?"
Tucker went silent for a moment. "Oh... WASHINGTON, YOU BITCH! OWWWWW!"
The blue soldier suddenly heard footsteps and was relieved to see all of the Reds and Blues, including Carolina. They filed in and crowded around the "Hey! Tucker!" Simmons smiled from inside his helmet, "You're okay!"
"Barely," Tucker replied, "But Wash won't after I kick his ass."

"Hold on," Donut perked up from behind everyone, "How do we know Wash is actually a bad guy?"

"He shot me," Tucker complained.
"Beat the shit outta us," Grif muttered.
"Didn't he shoot you as well, Donut?" Doc asked.

"I mean… all of those are good points," Donut said hesitantly, "But what if he's just faking it? I mean, we fought together against a bunch of Texes, Chorus, Felix and Locus. He wouldn't just abandon us right?"
"Yeah," Grif surprisingly added, "Wash punches like a bitch but the guy always got our back."
"Then why didn't he tell us?" Tucker complained, clutching his stomach.

"You've been awful quiet," Sarge suddenly said gruffly, looking back at the other Freelancer. "Whatcha thinking about, Agent Carolina?"

The Reds and Blues found Carolina, leaning against the wall. She appeared to be in thought. She looked up and sighed, "I'll be honest. I don't think Wash is faking it."

"That is not a funny joke, Carolina," Simmons spoke in an annoyed tone.

"Well, I'm sorry, but I'm trying to be serious," she replied, "If Wash was faking it, he would have told us. This is Wash we're talking about, wouldn't he have told you about his grand plan beforehand? We've always talked about plans as a team." She gave them all a stern look. "Together as a team, since the beginning."

"Right..." Doc said in a small voice.

Everyone still looked doubtful, with some, like Simmons and Tucker, even confused.

Carolina sighed again and whispered to them all, "Look, the fact of the matter is that Wash also willingly came to the enemy with an A.I. We all taken specific A.I. fragments from Epsilon, and now he has one of those aspects. Think carefully about what I just said."

"That's… a good point," Sarge replied, suddenly looking enlightened.
"That's a weird choice of words," Caboose nodded along, "Thinking carefully about things you said. Sounds hard."

"Not mention, think about the things he told you Tucker, before his betrayal," Carolina then urged the aqua soldier. She gave him an intent and patient look.
Tucker slowly nodded, beginning to understand, "Right."

Carolina stared at him as if trying to confirm his understanding.

"No, Carolina. Seriously. I got it." Tucker winced again, adjusting himself to a more comfortable position on his cot.

Carolina looked down and nodded to herself, "Until we see him again, it might be best for us to leave him alone. I don't think he's brainwashed, but he needs to do what he needs to do I guess."
"So what?" Sarge demanded, "We just leave that dirty Freelancer traitorous bastard alone? I say we kill the traitor! After an embarrassing song and dance, and a baking of some apple-"

"Look," Carolina interrupted, "We'll capture him if we can and get some answers. But right now, Wash is a traitor. He is now as distrustworthy as Doc is a good medic."

"Hey!" Doc moaned, "But that's fair I guess."

Everyone looked expectantly at Sarge, who still appeared confused and doubtful.
"What?" Sarge asked, looking back at everyone, "Why's everyone looking at me like that?"

"We're seeing if you're on the same page, dumbass," Grif said to his superior in an annoyed voice. "I'll have you know I understand exactly what's going on! Wash is a filthy traitor!" The red leader quickly glanced at the expectant faces again. Finally, he spoke, "Fine, we'll just capture him. But just him as an exception!"
"Riiiiight," Tucker said doubtfully.
Lopez rolled his eyes, "Idiota. Gamma, no hay necesidad de traducción."
Gamma appeared for a moment to give Lopez a thumbs-up.

The Reds and Blues soon left the clinic, deciding to allow Tucker's wounds to heal. Immediately, Carolina bumped into a short red figure. "Oof," Ruby said in a small voice, looking up at Carolina.
"Ruby," Carolina replied in a suspicious voice, "Were you eavesdropping on us?"
"Uh…" Ruby began sheepishly, "Nooo?"
Carolina gave her a smirk, "Alright. Then we'll have no problems." Surprising everyone, the Freelancer gave Ruby's hair a ruffle, "Just know our problems, aren't yours."

Ruby pouted back, "But Wash is my friend too! Of course, it's my problem now!"
"No, it ain't little red," Sarge said in a gruff voice, "Agent Washington isn't our friend. He was a comrade. A brother-in-arms."
"Umm, yeah," Simmons continued, "Plus, he might kill you."
"Don't worry about us!" Doc pitched in. Omega soon possessed his body, as he started laughing immediately, "We will exact our revenge with pleasure!"
Ruby, still looking worried, glanced at Caboose, who waved at her.
"You can trust us, Ruby!" Caboose shouted with glee. The red huntress fidgeted for a moment, before finally nodding to herself, "Okay, okay. Fine. I leave it to you, I guess."
"C'mon," Donut exclaimed, "You could give us a bit more credit than just an 'I guess'."
"Yeah," Grif said in a sarcastic voice, "Thanks for the vote of confidence, Ruby."
The Reds and Blues, even Carolina then began to jokingly berate her with criticism towards her comment.

The little huntress student giggled at that, "Alright, I trust you! Jeez!"
"We cool?" Carolina smiled under her helmet, offering Ruby a fist bump.
"Yeah," Ruby nodded, returning her fist bump.
"Sorry to interrupt, but classes are about to start Ruby…" Doc advised.
"Oh crap!" Ruby looked at her watch and sprinted down the hall. Leaving the Reds and Blues in the empty hallway.

"What an energetic little girl," Sarge mused, "Learn a thing or two from her Grif!"
"Umm, Carolina?" Simmons suddenly whispered. Along with Carolina, Simmons also got the attention of his other friends as well, "I almost forgot to ask but what happened to the A.I… aside from Gamma? I haven't seen them in a while."

"That's because," Epsilon suddenly appeared alongside Beta and Delta, "We were busy trying to sever our connections with Wash and Theta."
"After all," Beta began, "we don't want our enemies to know where we are or what we're going to plan through Wash and Theta."
"I hope Washington is okay," Caboose said solemnly, "I miss him."
"Do not worry, Caboose," Delta assured, "I'm sure with Theta, Agent Washington will be safe."

-0-0-0-0-

"There, happy with that?" Washington muttered. The Freelancer was currently tied up to a chair, his weapon far from his own reach. He stared at Emerald and Mercury, who had just finished listening to a captured recording of the Reds and Blues conversation.

"I'll have you know I understand exactly what's going on! Wash is a filthy traitor!"
"Fine, we'll just capture him. But just him as an exception!"
"Wow," Mercury smirked, "Even with the fact that you shot one of your own men in the stomach, they're still willing to let you live?"
Washington scoffed back, "Wouldn't be the first time I shot one of them."
Emerald rolled her eyes, "Alright, so it looks like you pulled a fast one on them. But you aren't telling us everything."
"Yeah?" Washington retorted, "So what if I haven't?"

Bang!

Unfazed, Washington looked straight ahead, a smoking hole in the wall next to his head. Mercury stood with his boots pointed straight at the Freelancer.
Emerald walked up and unsheathed her kamas, pressing one underneath his helmet towards his chin.
"You know exactly what you haven't told us," Emerald threatened, "Those holographic things. What are they?"
"Alright, calm down," Washington retorted back, "You and I both know you won't kill me because your boss wants me alive. And I was going to tell you all anyway. So get this sickle out of my throat and untie me."
"Or," Mercury fired back, "We could just beat you until we get the information out of you."
"And what is easier?" Washington replied calmly.
Silence overcame them all. The dark warehouse became tense with anticipation. Emerald brought back her kama and instead raised it towards Washington. The Freelancer activated his glove, glowing a purplish-blue.

Emerald brought her sickle down, slicing the ropes that tied Washington to his seat.
Mercury chuckled, "You are one ballsy guy, I'll give you that."
Wash stood up and rolled his shoulders, a few cracks echoing throughout the warehouse.

"Alright, talk," Emerald took a seat on a chair and folded both her arms and legs.
Washington nodded and looked slightly up, "Yo, Theta. Come and show yourself."
Mercury and Emerald frowned in suspicious until a purple, blue, and indigo hologram appeared. They both stood up and looked in curiosity. "This is my A.I." Washington began, "Codename: Theta. Theta, say hi."
"H-hello?" Theta spoke nervously, "M-my name is Theta."
"A kid robot?" Emerald frowned, "Not impressed."
"Yeah," Mercury agreed, "Kinda puny. Was thinking he'd be more… robotic?"

Washington scoffed, "Theta is more than capable of being useful."
"Really?" Emerald said doubtfully, once again crossing her arms, "How so?"
"Theta, being an A.I. helps me in combat," Wash relayed, "Opponent statistics, equipment micromanagement, in short, makes fighting easier for me."
Emerald also made a face of indifference, "Doesn't sound too useful."
"Sounds nerdy," Mercury insulted, "A useless light show."

"Call it whatever you want," Washington fired back, "The fact of the matter is, that's the thing we've been keeping secret." He looked at Emerald, "Our A.I. have been through a lot, horrible experiments and the like. So we like to keep them a secret, so that certain people don't reclaim them."

"Empathetic much?" Emerald suddenly said, suspiciously, "You don't sound like someone who would shoot their own friend."
"If you think keeping my A.I. a secret is what you call 'empathy,' then you are sorely mistaken," Washington turned to her with a hint of annoyance, "Theta is my partner, we mutually benefit from each other. I hide him, he helps me out occasionally. What you find suspicious, I find completely logical."

Emerald kept her frown, "Then, what about your 'friends'? Do they also have A.I.?"

Washington rolled his eyes from under his helmet, "Gamma is an example. But he's mainly there for translating for one of my former partners, Lopez, who speaks in a different language. Omega also is present, but mostly keeps one of the guys with a personality disorder in a stable state. Or an unstable one depending on how you see it."
"What about Aura and Semblances?" Mercury suddenly stated, "Do you guys have those?"
"We do," Washington informed, "Slightly different but more or less the same idea."

"So what can you do?" Mercury asked.

"Electromagnetic pulse," Washington announced, "Disables electronics aside from my own." The Freelancer sighed in indignation, "Any other questions? You know, I'm getting pretty tired of the whole interrogation bit. I've already proven I'm a capable soldier, seeing as how I kicked your ass a few nights back." Washington glared at Emerald, who also gave him a venomous glare.

"Alrighty," Mercury butt in. He walked over and stood in front of the Freelancer. While Mercury was tall for his age, Washington in armor still towered over him. The gray assassin clicked his tongue, "We're done with the questions anyway. Right, Em?"
"For now," Emerald continued to glare at the Freelancer, "But until you can enter the inner circle, you're going to have to do a few jobs for us."
Washington walked over to a table where his rifle was placed. He promptly picked it up and put on his back, "What's the assignment?" "You'll be working with her," Mercury nodded towards the dark area of the warehouse. Washington, though already knew, and waited for the person to reveal themselves.

"This is Neopolitan," Emerald introduced, as the air seemingly shattered. A girl with pink and brown hair, along with a parasol and a white jacket, walked towards them, tapping the ground ominously with every step she took. "Until you've proven yourself, you'll be working with her."

"Hello," Washington greeted, "A pleasure to meet you."

The ice cream lady bounced over and gave him a smile too sweet to be genuine. Much like the others, Washington towered over her.

"You're the one that beat Carolina, right?" The Freelancer mused, letting go of the handshake, "I can respect that kind of strength."
Neo immediately looked at him with interest and nodded.
"Oh," Emerald called as she and Mercury began to leave, "And she's mute. Just to let you know."
"I can see that!" Washington thundered back. Under his breath, he whispered to himself, "Assholes."
Neo nodded again, this time more slowly as if to agree. "You have problems with them too?"

Neo shrugged.

"Meh," Washington replied, "I'll hopefully get used to them."
Neopolitan sighed and beckoned him to come along. Washington followed her to another table with a few objects on top, including a few pistols, magazines, dust crystals, and a folder. She promptly handed him the folder.

Washington hesitated for a moment, before taking a look at the files inside. After a quick skim, he closed it and looked at the mute girl.
"So, basically, I'm your secretary?"

Neo shook her head, waiting for a better answer.

"Partner?"

She shook her head again, this time moving outstretched arms as if to say "not there yet". She then gestured him to follow him and paused for a moment to look at Washington with a newfound curiosity.

As if he already knew from her expression, Washington chuckled, "I had a comrade who was a mute a couple of years ago. He's… gone now, unfortunately."

Neo gave him a sympathetic nod and continued to gaze at Washington, as if she just discovered another interesting thing about him.

Washington, once again, chuckled, "Oh, and the guy was a lunatic too. He tried to kill me one time."

Neopolitan grinned and stuck out her hand. Washington promptly shook it, knowing fully well the girl was, without a doubt, a killer.

And that is the end of that chapter! I hope it was worth the wait, and if not, I am very sorry for holding this off. After the last chapter, I was really wondering where I was actually going with this story, and after some thinking, I kinda realized I didn't quite like the way the story was going. Thus, I had to take a step back and essentially start back from the ground up. I didn't want to rewrite the whole thing though, so I just kept the chapters I already had and tried to figure out a better story. So, from now on, everything in the story, starting from this chapter, is written with a purpose and has at least some degree of subtlety in the chapter for the tones and story to come. Also, as always, the chapters are going to be rather slow, since my brother and I are planning on making a new original series and story. In fact, we are working towards a pilot with the skills (and lack of skill and personnel) we have right now. So wish us luck!

In other news, while I am continuing this fanfiction until it is over (cause I'd feel guilty if I didn't), I have lost my interest in RWBY specifically and to be honest, I have for many volumes now. I am still going to watch it anyhow, but I find myself complaining more about the show than complimenting it. The action and animation has improved in terms of quality, I will admit, but the ballistic action that made the show interesting in its fight scenes is lacking. I honestly don't like the music much, the character designs (while thematic) are stale or strange, the old characters are getting stupid (except Weiss who is the best character and had the best character development so far) (and new characters are forgettable), and even the mentality and processes of how the creators make the show is something I have doubts with. Much like I imagine of many other previous fans, for me personally, RWBY had potential but lost it along the way. I was going to have the Reds and Blues essentially follow the RWBY story, but I know I am going to make at least a couple of major changes to the story since I really didn't like the way it was handled in the last three volumes. Now, before anyone gets salty, just know I have no opinions of the people who watch and like the show, I think that's perfectly okay. You may disagree and you may argue over that, but this is simply my own opinion. I don't care if you like or dislike the show, I don't care if you love or hate it. And in fact, I still love RWBY, but as I have told many of my friends "I love RWBY like a mother loves their disobedient child." I cannot like what the show is doing or where the story is going, but I still do respect and love what RWBY has inspired me to do and the potential it had before it. And I still want it to be good, so I can only hope and pray that something will eventually turn for the better for RWBY.

So, that's all I have to say for the author's note. Criticize and review if you want, but I guess I should stop trying to get people to criticize since apparently there's not much to say anyway. I'm still surprised people still read this fanfiction to be honest, and it's especially heartwarming since it was my first instance of writing for a public audience. And its honestly been keeping me going, the sheer fact that people actually favorite this story and wait for another chapter to be posted. So, I just genuinely want to say thanks for dropping by and for sticking around (for those of you who do). See you all in the next chapter!