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 Four: Time Travel

Richard "Dick" Simmons stared in stark disbelief at Doc and Donut after they told him what had transpired on Chorus, "Th—there's no fucking way!" He murmured, unable to think of anything else to say. They had to be wrong, right? After all, why…? His new appendages and cybernetic eye suddenly felt extremely uncomfortable and heavy.

"I'm afraid not, Simmons." Donut told the cyborg sincerely, he and Doc looking at one another as if trying to gauge the level of Simmons' disbelief.

"Chrovos wanted to destroy the world." Simmons repeated incredulously, "Wanted to kill everyone?"

"What Chrovos really wanted was to start Chorus over. You know, to begin again with a timeline before the humans showed up." Doc explained further, "Wiping everybody out was just a result."

"You knew about this?" A shocked Simmons asked, looking wide-eyed at both Doc and Donut.

"We may have helped. A little bit." Donut said at length, though he was quick to add, "Unwittingly, mind you!"

"My involvement may have been somewhat more wittingly." Doc amended for himself, though he threw his hands up in the air, "But I'm better now, I swear!"

"Yeah, you learned the error of your ways when I nearly killed you." Donut told him, his voice surprisingly fond as if he was recalling a warm memory and not an apparently homicidal moment between the two men.

"That was one way to bring me back to my senses." Doc's voice was equally fond, and Simmons could only think he was witnessing the strangest romantic banter ever. Of all time.

"Anyways, the reason that the timeline reset ended up not completely happening was because I tried stopping Chrovos." Donut informed Simmons, though he looked a tad sheepish as he guiltily added, "It didn't quite go as well as I'd hoped."

"But you did end up saving as many people as you could, Donut!" Doc assured the pink-armored man gently.

"Yeah, that's right!" Simmons exclaimed, as though it were important he jump in with reassurance too since, truth be told, the last thing anyone needed was a depressed Donut.

"Thanks, guys!" Donut cheered up, though his expression turned uncharacteristically serious a second later, "But the danger is far from over."

"Right." Simmons murmured, remembering what he'd been told about the current situation on Chorus and that there could be a second cataclysmic event at any time.

"Yeah, a new reset that will surely finish what the first one started." Doc surmised, as Simmons had apparently voiced his troubled thoughts out loud.

Donut nodded, "We have to try and stop it. Everyone's suffered so much already."

"Agreed." Simmons wasn't sure what he could really do, but he wanted to help in any way that he could.

"The best way to do that is to figure out how to activate the temples again and maybe find out how to defeat Chrovos once and for all." Donut muttered, as if he'd gone over this a million times before already.

"Fortunately, our friends here in Armonia are attempting to do just that. Reactivate the temples, I mean." Doc stated thoughtfully so that the newly awakened redhead in their midst wouldn't be totally lost.

"Aren't the Armonians trying to find Chrovos as well?" Simmons asked, "Maybe if we told them what you've just told me they could assist."

Doc and Donut looked at one another, than at Simmons, "I think we need to wait for the right time, Simmons." Doc said gently.

"Yeah, everyone here is pretty much united because they're looking for Chrovos. If they knew that Chrovos isn't the benevolent god that they though," the pink-wearing man paused to shrug helplessly, "It could get chaotic."

"You weren't around when this first happened." Doc informed Simmons, looking away as if reliving painful memories, "It was brutal."

Simmons thought of the others suffering as much as Grif had apparently, and he clenched his fists at his sides tightly, "Why do you think I was put into stasis beforehand?" He asked in a calmer sounding voice than he truly felt, "Why did Chrovos bother modifying my cybernetics instead of rejecting me as a failure?"

That had been what he'd expected. It would have been the logical choice. The one he had expected Chrovos to make.

"We don't know." Doc answered truthfully, "But the answers might lie in the tech of the temples."

Simmons nodded and Donut patted his shoulder sympathetically, "I know this is a lot to take in all at once," the dirty blond said, "But thanks for wanting to help."

The cyborg smiled weakly, "No problem."


Simmons had a massive headache when he walked away from the private area that Doc and Donut had brought him to, the lingering pain becoming larger given the new information he was trying to process about Chrovos' betrayal, the current state of Chorus, and his own new cybernetics. Everything was swimming in his head, and the maroon-armored man just wanted to sit down and feel overwhelmed for a good long while. Still, Chorus might not even have a good long while, according to everyone. That thought alone made him feel even more ill.

"Simmons!" He was surprised and oddly elated at the sound of Grif calling out his name, having been so lost in his thoughts that he'd walked right past the chubby man and Locus without even realizing it. Grif waved the redhead over, "Still trying to figure things out, huh?" He asked, easily picking up on the contorted expression clouding over Simmons' face just then.

"It's no doubt much to process." Locus stated in his gruff voice, though Simmons was surprised at how oddly sympathetic he sounded.

"Talking to Doc and Donut can break your brain." Grif continued, trying his best to look as indifferent as possible despite the curiosity lighting up his mismatched eyes, "But I guess there were some Servants of Chrovos stuff to catch up on?"

Simmons thought of his recent conversation with the pair in question and shakily nodded his head, "Y—yeah." He felt like maybe he should tell Grif what he'd learned at least, but he wasn't sure how the other man would react and he certainly didn't know Locus well enough to risk saying anything in front of him. What if they thought that Doc and Donut were really enemies? Or that none of the Servants of Chrovos could be trusted? Simmons glanced down at his metallic arm just then, wondering if he could be trusted, not catching the brief look of worry that crossed over Grif's features.

"I should get going." Locus excused himself, Simmons looking up sharply at his sudden exit.

"Sure, but don't forget to come by later for some food!" Grif told the leaving mercenary, shaking his head, "I swear that guy would starve to death if it weren't for me and Kai giving him meals."

Simmons blinked in surprise, "You're friends?" He asked, truly perplexed.

Grif nodded, and for a moment there was a dark look in his eyes as he muttered, "Locus saved my life before when my outpost…" He paused and shook his head, "Doesn't really matter anymore, but he sucks at looking after himself so we all take turns making sure the guy remembers to eat or take a break."

"I see." Simmons vaguely recalled the Reds and Blues doing the same thing back at Blood Gulch with Washington and Carolina.

Grif regarded Simmons then, "You should totally stop by for mealtimes now that you're here." He told him, "You look like you'd forget to eat if left to your own devices too."

Simmons blushed at how accurate an assessment that was, though he tried playing it off, "Th—that's not true!"

"Uh-huh." Grif didn't look too convinced, "Come to think of it, did you get assigned a place to sleep yet?" Simmons paused, now realizing for the first time that he actually hadn't. His expression must have revealed as much to Grif because he sighed and grabbed Simmons' shoulder, "Come on, but this is only temporary, okay?"


"So the nerd is staying with us?" Kai asked from the ratty couch in their equally disheveled living space, "Cool, as long as he shares your room and not mine." She raised an eyebrow, "Unless you want to be roomies, of course."

"Er…" Simmons felt his face heat up and he instinctively hid behind Grif.

"Relax. She already has a roomie anyways." Huggins assured Simmons as she draped her arms over Kai, winking conspiratorially.

"The best one!" Kai kissed her cheek.

"You live here too?" Simmons asked the brunette.

"Yeah." Huggins nodded, "Ever since Kai and Grif found me outside of Armonia with nowhere to go." She fixed him with a pointed look, "Those Grifs sure do like to take in strays, huh?'

"Um…"

Grif rolled his eyes, "Come on, you two. You're scaring him."

"But it's so much fun!" Kai said with a hearty laugh.

"Ignore her." Grif told Simmons, "They'll eventually tire of picking on you. Maybe."

"We haven't stopped picking on you yet, dumbass!" Kai informed her brother happily.

Grif rolled his eyes and showed Simmons to the room they'd be sharing. It was small, but thankfully there was a cot in the far corner currently covered in snack wrappers.

"It isn't much, but it'll probably beat sleeping on the floor." Grif stated, moving over to his own bed to wipe some of the wrappers and crumbs off of it.

Simmons sniffled, "Thank you so much!" Mentally, he was recoiling at the idea of sleeping in this slobby mess. Hopefully Grif wouldn't mind him doing a deep clean before introducing a chore wheel to make sure the place stayed relatively tidy.

Grif stared at him incredulously, "Dude, are you crying?"

"I…I am not!" Simmons hastily wiped at his eyes, hating how emotional he got whenever someone displayed some small consideration to him and also how emotional he got out of disorderly chaos and bad hygiene.

"Guess I'll go scrounge up some blankets then." Grif muttered, wandering off to do just that and to probably give Simmons some privacy.

Simmons sat down on the cot and gingerly wiped off the wrappers he'd be sure to properly pick up once he got his bearings. He was immensely grateful for the place to sleep, at least. He silently prayed the blankets Grif was getting wouldn't be coming from that massive dirty laundry pile he spotted in the living room.


Dexter Grif, Simmons, Kai, and Huggins woke up at a horribly early hour the following morning, at least in Grif's opinion. He didn't know who the asshole was that decided that they needed to meet up with the other Reds and Blues as well as their lieutenants at headquarters at the ass crack of dawn, but he definitely made a mental note to hate them. Forever. The bastard.

Grif wasn't surprised to find Carolina already suiting up, the red-haired woman glancing over at the newly arrived group of four, "Hurry up." She said with no room for argument.

"No debriefing first?" He asked with a yawn, deciding he'd argue anyways.

"That was two hours ago, fat-ass!" Tucker informed Grif gleefully, obviously hoping Carolina would kick his ass.

"Considering how you just had Palomo at the briefing taking notes for you, I wouldn't say anything, Tucker." Carolina wryly shot back.

"Hey," the teal-armored man shrugged, "I had to get my kid ready for school."

"You have a kid?" Simmons asked curiously, seriously wondering who the hell would procreate with Tucker.

"Yeah, his name's Junior." Tucker smiled proudly, "Want to see some pics?"

"Damn. Why didn't I think of having Matthews or Bitters take notes?" Grif muttered as Tucker happily shared pictures of his son with Simmons.

"Because Bitters wouldn't do it and you wouldn't have the patience to read a book if Matthews did?" Washington suggested jokingly.

"True, true." Grif nodded his head in agreement.

"Guys, as much as your ability to slack off is impressive, we need to focus." Carolina told them emphatically, "Kimball has a mission for us. All of us."

"So soon after the last one?" Grif groaned, glancing over towards Simmons. He'd been hoping that they could catch up without a life or death struggle so soon after meeting again, but it figured that wasn't in the cards.

"Oh, we really don't have time to waste, do we?" A familiar, snide voice remarked from off to the side, and Grif started when he heard it, "After all, if we keep delaying our attempts to activate the temples, we'll all go boom!"

"I should have figured you'd be the reason we'd have to leave again so soon." Grif muttered under his breath to the newcomer, ignoring the totally lost expression on Simmons' face.

"Come now, Grif. You act as if I'm doing this just to torment you." The man in sage armor with gold and teal trim chided, "I prefer to think of that as merely a happy bonus."

Simmons continued to look confused while the others all more or less had levels of exasperation radiating off of them at the man's presence, "Who is he?" The cyborg leaned in close to ask Grif, and Grif couldn't help but shiver slightly at Simmons' warm breath on his ear.

"Ah! You must be the sleeping cyborg I've heard so much about!" The man exclaimed, turning his attention to Simmons as Grif instinctively held out his arm to keep Simmons, Kai, and Huggins behind him, "Why, you're the very reason I suggested to Kimball that we give scouring the temples another shot."

"Why?" Simmons blinked in confusion as Grif's eyes narrowed at this asshole yet again acting as if he knew something others didn't, as though he could travel through time or something.

"My name is Genkins." The jerk told the redhead, ignoring the other's confused query entirely, "I'm sure we'll all get along splendidly!"


Author's Notes: The plot thickens and will continue to do so in the next update as things happen with the temples and Simmons learns more about Grif's past. :D Plus, shenanigans are had in general, of course! XD

Thank you so very much for reading! :D