Grif and Simmons have a conversation in the midst of their time traveling shenanigans.


Pairings Beyond Grimmons:

~N/A

Other Notes for This Story:

~SPOILER WARNING for Episode 09 of Season 17.


Legal Disclaimer: I do not own Red vs. Blue or any of the show's characters. They are the rightful properties of Rooster Teeth.

Background Convo

"So..." Richard "Dick" Simmons began as Sarge walked past them to get to Tucker and Donut, the odd duo currently chatting about who knows what.

"So." Grif added in helpfully, like a real douche.

Simmons bowed his head slightly, already preemptively regretting the question he was about to voice but still feeling compelled to do so, "How did things go on your end?"

"Honestly?" Simmons had spent long enough with the other man in full armor that he could tell Grif was frowning behind his helmet as he answered, "It fucking sucked, man."

"Yeah. No kidding." Simmons replied sincerely since he hadn't wanted to go back to his particular moment in time to "fix" it either.

"I mean, making it so that the Pelican crash still happened?" Grif shuddered at the memory, "It brought back way too many traumatic flashbacks."

Simmons knew that Sidewinder had been a tumultuous place for the both of them. The redhead was just immensely grateful that Grif hadn't had to relive dangling from that cliff, his stupid hold weakening...

Simmons sincerely hoped that there was never a next time for such a life or death event, but if they were that freaking unlucky he'd be sure to grab on with his fucking cyborg hand at least! He'd already made that mental note more times than he could count since, you know, he had a tendency to forget shit when he panicked, such as life-or death situations or taking a written exam.

"So did going back to Iris." Simmons finally admitted softly, realizing their conversation had ground to a halt.

Going back to Iris to convince Grif to stay true to his initial "I quit!" mantra had been downright painful. Simmons had always hated how the whole original scenario played out due to his own inability to communicate well. Being forced to let things play out just as they'd done before in order to fix the timeline sucked ass since that'd been the last thing he'd really wanted to do.

It just wasn't fucking fair, having to play their shittiest moments on repeat. He preferred bottling his sad memories in a box deep down inside, one that he'd open when alone and able to unhealthily punch bathroom mirrors. The maroon-armored soldier despised Chrovos and Genkins for putting all of them through this shit again.

The shared silence wasn't awkward since both of them knew better than to say anything more.

Sidewinder and Iris were two of the many things they simply kept buried. Like Simmons' mental boxes, or a bag of leafy green vegetables for Grif.

"I haven't seen Huggins in awhile." Grif muttered thoughtfully instead, "Think she's still mad?"

Honestly? Simmons didn't know Grif's new friend well enough to say one way or the other though he wanted to know, because any friend of Grif's, well, he should try and be friends with them too, right? Still, he knew what Grif needed to hear just then.

"I'm sure she'll come around." Simmons reassured the heavyset man across from him, truly believing that would be the case for anyone caught in Grif's orbit.

Grif tilted his head gratefully, "Thanks, man."

Simmons nodded, "Anytime." He muttered sincerely, because of time travel shenanigans.

"That was pretty fucking corny, Simmons." Grif told him matter-of-factly with his typical asshole smirk.

"Sh-shut up!" Simmons shot back just as typically indignant.

Grif merely laughed and Simmons couldn't help but let out a chuckle too. It was nice, getting to act like this despite the time-breaking situation they were still in. Sarge and Tucker had both wandered away from Donut, probably both off on new time adventures now. To be honest, Simmons didn't really care at the moment.

The maroon-armored soldier could tell that Grif was grinning from within the confines of his orange helmet, as the chubby man grabbed the back of Simmons' own and pulled them close enough together that the tips of their helmets nearly touched.

"Ready to go?" Grif asked Simmons, clearly enjoying the moment.

Simmons nodded, knowing what Grif was referring to. They had one more fix-it mission to do together before the final one that Donut had assigned all the Reds and Blues to.

The world became blurry for a moment, and suddenly Grif and Simmons were standing in a cave back on Chorus, the natural structure about to cave-in. Debris fell all around them, and Simmons recalled that this was when he'd been frozen to the spot in a sudden panic attack.

But this was also where Grif had grabbed him and touched their helmets together briefly in a way of reassurance as his orange-gloved hand found his maroon one and tightly held on, "Come on, Simmons!" Grif yelled then, urging the other man to keep moving instead of just abandoning Simmons to the cave-in so he could save his own skin, as though the thought to do so hadn't even crossed Grif's mind, though Simmons had never worked up the nerve to ask him about it later.

This moment had been sealed away in one of the cyborg's mental boxes, something decidedly intimate and theirs forever after.

"You ready?" Grif asked the redhead again, in this version of the timeline.

Simmons nodded, his helmet bumping Grif's as he did so as his hand gave Grif's a reassuring squeeze. They were both gripping so tightly to each other's hands that Simmons was sure they'd lost circulation to their fingertips already, but neither complained or lessened that hold.

"Yeah. Let's do this." Simmons told Grif, and then they started running through the cave, their still linked hands something that didn't need to be altered for the timeline. Simmons was just glad that he was consciously aware of it this time.


Author's Notes: There's nothing really else this story beyond that I was struck with inspiration for it after seeing how Grif and Simmons were chatting it up in the background of Episode 09 of Season 17 while Sarge and Tucker were speaking with Donut. :)

Hope you enjoyed, and thank you so much for reading! :D