Chapter 11: Strength in Conversation

The gravity weighed heavy on Tucker's feet as they hung off the bedside like loose apples on a tree. The metal glare reflected in his clouded eyes as his dark toned fingers gently rubbed the engravings. He half-closed his eyes at the prospect of having felt the name underneath his fingers on the dog tag. Tucker bit his lower lip as the name revealed itself and the memories patiently waited by his side. He spoke in a whisper, "Mike..."

His gaze shifted up to what he could only imagine to be a clear day, brimming with heat and their only saving grace were the cooling units in their armours. Tucker walked amidst a mass grave of ash and the crimson. Back on the war torn planet, Tucker looked at the various destroyed buildings that once served as a place of settlement for several of his fellow humans. People who had lives, happiness, sadness and hope, until it was stripped away by the religious fanatics, the extremist Sangheilis. Tucker gently rested his hand against a jagged, rough metal part of what he could have only imagined to be once a panel for a building. He felt the heat of the smoke, slowly flying up into the sky, not helping his annoyance at the weather. Behind him followed closely an ODST soldier, Mike. He bent down to feel his left hand sink into the grainy grey sand, dust and ash, mixed and littered about all throughout this ghost settlement. Mike kicked the panel off to his side as he knew that something arose, something sharp, glaring and begging to scream. He felt a fury from the deepest wells of his heart. "This is the reason those bastards should be all wiped away."

"Can I ask you something?" Questioned the aqua simulation trooper as the words of the ODST caught his attention. Mike glared in Tucker's general direction and asked, "What?"

"Why do you hate my kid so much when you have never met him, why do you hate the Sangheilis so much?"

The ODST looked away from the blue soldier and towards the charred trees. He slowly made his way to the scarred one and gently rested a hand atop the blackened spots. From the simple contact, the outer wood of the tree peeled away. Mike took a deep breath as he gazed in Tucker's general direction, and said, "My brother...he was drafted just like me. He died fighting, or more like he was killed in action. He died protecting me, and the damned Sangheilis just went home, left me to mourn the corpse of my dead brother."

...Tucker closed shut his eyes as the memories overstayed their welcome. That was the first time you really ever opened up to me. That was the first time I felt that there was more to you than just your childish antagonizing, that something meaningful could grow between you and all of us. Tucker laid the dog tag to the bedside table as he breathed out a heavy sigh. He stood up with a quick stretch. His long, satisfied groan stirred awake his two companions. "Guys, stop making so much noise in the morning."

"Psh, man up dude," Church beamed in response. Tucker reached for his gear as he quickly suited himself after the morning pleasantries. Sigma burst out from the storage unit into a ball of explosion, and from the fire appeared the fragment. "Tucker, don't forget what you discussed with Junior, and the things you learned there."

"I'm going for my morning practice," Tucker waved back for them to quieten down. "I need time alone while I'm training, so don't go around making too much noise in my head."

Keeping things to yourself again? Church wondered with a sigh, as his vision shifted towards the dog tags. "Looks like someone woke up on the wrong side of bed today."

In the main area of the base, Tucker entered only to be met by the dumbfounded gaze of the dark blue soldier. Caboose stood upright, still like a statue and his visor was fixated all in the direction of the wall in front of him. Tucker shifted his view from the soldier to the wall, back and forth. He slowly shifted his way into Caboose's view and asked, "Caboose, why are you staring at the wall like that?"

Quickly Tucker arose a finger as he triumphantly claimed, "Have you finally killed off the last two brain cells you had left?"

"Tucker!" Caboose excitedly exclaimed, with a complete disregard for the words the aqua one slurred in his direction. Delta quickly materialized beside his host and greeted Tucker with equal enthusiasm. "I am helping Caboose with improving his concentration."

"Oh yeah?" Tucker's ears perked up at the thoughtfulness of Delta. "How's that going?"

Delta took a moment to himself as he thoughtfully lowered his gaze at the floor. He slowly began with a most monotone voice. "I can say with satisfaction that we have managed to avoid all the worse outcomes so far I had imagined from doing this exercise."

"That is great," Caboose mumbled off to the side. Tucker raised an eyebrow at the child within a man's body and then back down to Delta. "Yeah, I'm sure you were able to get very imaginative with those outcomes. I mean, with Caboose, this type of shit is easy."

"Precisely so," Delta replied as Tucker turned to leave. What should have been only one pair of feet were instead two. Tucker eyed Caboose who followed rather closely behind. "Why are you following me, Caboose?"

"I want to keep you company!"

"No homo dude," Tucker quickly replied as he hurried his pace. Delta looked back to the wall, and the distance grew, he felt the fruits of his effort rot and whither away. "You no longer want to continue our concentration practice Caboose?"

"Nah," Caboose answered his green companion as he hopped his way out of the base. "Bored now, I want to go to morning exercises with Tucker instead."

"Hey Delta," Tucker motioned for the green one's attention. "That training of yours certainly is doing a fine job."

"That type of sarcasm is entirely unnecessary, Tucker," Delta quipped back as he quickly logged off. The two of them left the base through the main door and found Marcus and Cholo already doing their stretches. Tucker rubbed his hands together as he too began his stretches. "I'm glad to see that you guys haven't slacked off on the morning routine while I was gone."

Cholo's eyes lit up like a bright star in the night sky as his nose flared with steam in the direction of Red base. His thumb held up high with an exceeding amount of enthusiasm, that was enough to make up for a lack of one from a whole ten man platoon. "Of course I would be, especially when there is a chance of me getting such a...pretty view every morning...of the sky, the sky of course."

Marcus to his side chuckled beneath the helmet as he got up from his push-ups. He stretched his shoulders back and forth and with a grunt, he said, "I can't wait to see what the outcome will be today of your morning excursions."

With a light jog, Tucker began to lead the pack. "We will do five laps around the canyon, that should be good for a morning workout."

"Ugh, five, really?!" Cholo nearly face planted at the number. "You know, we only bothered doing one if we were lucky while you were gone."

"One?!" Tucker felt his heart jump in his chest as he glared back at Marcus and Cholo. "How the hell did you guys get so lazy, did Grif's laziness rub off on you guys?"

"Hey-Chika-Bum-Bum!" Caboose screamed as he passed Tucker, leaving the aqua one to only shout behind him. "Caboose, stop trying to steal my thing, especially when you do it so poorly!"

Tucker then quickly looked back to the two behind him and asked, "So seriously, how did you guys get just as lazy as Grif, have you been talking to him?"

"Hard to talk with someone who hardly comes out of his room," commented Marcus as he noticed Caboose pass them by yet again. Damn, his abnormal superhuman speed never ceases to amaze me. Cholo agreed with Marcus' statement. "There is no way someone who we barely see now can rub off on us."

Caboose caught up yet again and slowed down beside Tucker. Just from watching the dark blue soldier, they felt their legs weaken with fatigue. Caboose looked in the direction of Red base and lowered his voice into a softer tone, as he said, "I want Grif to get better soon. That way, we can all eat chips and drink soda again like we used to!"

The Blues jogged past one of the windows of the Red base and Marcus noticed Cholo quickly fall behind. Tucker too was observant as he stopped to see the live show unfold. The Mexican man slowly and stealthily inched closer to the steamy windows. The fog only continued to build as a strong stream of water hit the ceramic floor tiles like heavy rain in a thunderstorm. Cholo gently rested his fingers against the edge of the sill with his pulse slowly ascending through every breath taken. He brought himself even closer and a with every motion, a blush gently wrapped his cheeks in a coat of red. His helmet touched the window and his eyes begged to break out of the confines of the helmet, and through the window. Come on, let me see it please. As the water continued its heavy trail down, he saw an outline form within the steam. His chest tightened at the well toned muscles and abs on the figure. Oh my, you can grind meat on those abs. The thigh that slowly revealed its wonderfully shaped muscle tones sent his heart aflutter. With the blood now following the pull of the gravity, his excitement peaked and his hands rubbed together into a simple wish. Show it to me, show me dat ass. As the steam further cleared, a chest puffed out and to the surprise of the Mexican man, it stood out as different. It seems off, like its too flat. His eyes trailed down nonetheless with an ever growing sense of hope. That hope however quickly dissipated.

Tucker and the rest watched his form shrink tinier with the passage of time. His fingers flexed back and his spine sent several chills down his body. His whole self shook with denial. Tucker leaned close and with a whisper he asked, "What's up dude? You are acting like you saw a ghost."

"It was no ghost that I saw ," Cholo started as he slapped the sides of his visor. "But something worse, something which can never be unseen."

"Huh?" Tucker slowly began a turn towards the window. "Oh come on, it can't be that bad."

But he was quickly stopped by Cholo in his tracks as he found the Mexican man violently shaking his head. "You don't want to make the same mistake as me Tucker. While the steam coated figure may look attractive, there is actually a dangerous secret. For in between the legs of the sexy, attractive figure I saw it, I saw a member. I can never un-see it now, I'm doomed with this visage for the rest of my life!"

"You saw a dude's dick, so what?" asked Tucker as he smirked at the overreaction, yet cute nonetheless. "It's not exactly uncommon to be open like this dude. It's not the middle ages anymore where you would be fucking castrated for being gay."

Tucker's eyes then lit up like a base on high alert. He leaned in close and whispered, "Did you manage to see who it was, it wasn't the orange one was it?"

"What does it matter?" asked Cholo as he pulled back from Tucker with his visor now completely covered. "I'm forever scarred."

"Just curious if it was someone orange," Tucker shook his shoulders with a growing smile underneath. "That would be an interesting image to be haunted by I'm sure."

"No, it wasn't Grif," Cholo quickly corrected, and his voice slowly began to die down upon the mention of the peep show model. "It was, Johnny."

"Oh great," Tucker helped Cholo up and quickly got him back into the group. "Now I will be stuck with the image of a naked Johnny in my head. Thanks for that, asshole."

"Sharing is caring!" Cholo shouted in return as he felt his eyes water. "Oh god, the very prospect of finding out that I can maybe swing both ways makes me want to cry!"

"Then we best keep on moving I suppose," Tucker ordered for the group as they now left the vicinity of the Red base, and back to their own. "I think I want to drown myself in booze when we get back to forget that this shit ever happened."

Inside Red base, Daisy and Bonnie had watched the whole scene unfold. The hallways heard their loud laughter bounce from wall to wall, and their lungs ran dry. Daisy gently released her helmet from the restraints on her head and wiped a small tear from her eye. "That should show those boys to keep on walking in the future!"

"Well, they might try again to be honest with you," Bonnie replied with her comment aimed particularly at Cholo. "They don't know when to give up."

"Heh, then we could just play this trick on them again, time and time again," Daisy confirmed. "I'm sure that they are going to fall for it every time."

"Agreed," Bonnie rubbed her chin piece in great curiosity. "I would love to study the effects of just how much trauma our local pervert can actually take."

Five laps later, Tucker watched both Marcus and Cholo slowly drag themselves to the finish. Lungs emptied and eyes desperate with victory in sight, the two slowly pulled forward, on the verge of passing out. Tucker stood upright as he felt a relaxing stretch echo from his back. The two finally made it to the finish under the watchful, disappointed gaze. Tucker slowly shook his head with his arms crossed in annoyance. "How is it that you guys could lose all that stamina while I wasn't here?"

"That's easy," Cholo whispered for his voice nearly left him. "A daily diet of standing around, eating like junk food kings and waiting for our inevitable end."

"That's dark," Caboose stated as his eyes trailed from one blue pattern to another in the sky. Church appeared to the rest and gently nodded his head in agreement. "Yeah, I gotta say, too dark."

"You guys need to aspire to be more like Caboose," Tucker pointed to the fine sculpture of a human in their prime. "Even after five laps, he looks like he can go for another five."

"With all due respect," Marcus slowly picked himself up as he leaned against his knees for support. "That's because Caboose has inhumane metabolism. In fact, I would love to dissect him and find out the reason behind that."

As if a danger alarm triggered in Caboose's head, he hid fast behind Tucker. The aqua soldier gently bumped his fist against Marcus's helmet and said, "Such thoughts are forbidden here. Keep yourself on the pill man!"

A small stretch of silence grew to cover the vast space they took with their mere presence. Tucker raised an eyebrow from individual to individual. Huh, did I say something weird? He pondered as Sigma quickly caught onto the blue one's motions, and voiced his thoughts, Wait for it, I believe you will find out soon enough.

" Hey-Chika-Bum-Bum," Caboose exclaimed with much vigour, enough to fill the entire canyon with his proud proclamation. Tucker felt a vein pop on his forehead, And there it is, Ugh, not again! He turned with the shift in his body weight and motioned in Caboose's general direction. "Dammit Caboose, how many times have I told you to not harsh my groove like this? Stop stealing my thing dude!"

"But everyone was expecting it," Caboose argued as Cholo and Marcus nodded in agreement. "I was only doing it for the audience."

"Leave the sex jokes to me," Tucker stomped his foot onto the hard rock with enough force to send unpleasant shivers up his knee. "You are not old enough!"

"And to me as well," Cholo interjected, yet he felt his presence suddenly shrink from the mere judgemental glare that originated from Tucker's direction. The aqua one could not help but let himself go with a loud laughter and said, "You haven't earned the skill level required yet to tell those types of jokes. Just stick to receiving the crotch trauma."

"Says the guy who has only ever seemed to fuck an alien," Marcus snickered with a grin most wide, that any sane human may mistake his smile for that of a strange creature in human skin. Tucker leaned in close with instant curiosity as he rested one hand by his earpiece. "What was that Marcus, you want to give me your lunch portions? Why, how generous of you, much appreciated!"

Tucker stood back up as he felt his stomach rumble. "In fact, I think I will help myself starting now being the primary key holder to the base and what not."

"No, my food!" Marcus quickly found himself on all fours, and his head hit hard against the ground. "Show me your mercy, it must be my symptoms acting up again. You know what, I will take your advice of taking that pill now!"

Church took notice of the satisfied grin on Tucker's face. "Don't go getting on a high horse now."

Cholo felt his body loosen as it could no longer hold together. His back hit hard against the ground and he finally passed out like a dog dying under the heat. Tucker stretched his back from one side to the next and Caboose's eyes quickly jolted up with excitement. Caboose took up his sword to the notice of Tucker. "I can't wait to play space sword warrior again!"

But he was quickly dissuaded as by Tucker's words. "Slow down Caboose, we aren't using real swords. Quit trying to change the rules!"

Tucker pointed to inside the base and motioned for him to retrieve their wooden practice swords. Tucker continued his stretches as the blue soldier was out of his sight. He looked back from one side, and then from the other. With every number achieved in his motions, he felt a weight grow from his back. A man free of physical restraints, yet one bound by past chains. A blurb arose, slowly, slowly, slowly it became clearer. Like fireworks in the sky, the explosions neared and his back weighed even heavier. The grains of sand covered his knees and elbows. His visor shined with the fire that arose from his left to his right, with a thick smoke that was born from the craters. The ashes that blew with the wind as the plasma rained down from high above their heads. The ODST, Mike, stood helplessly to watch his life flash, and in the blink of an eye, he disintegrated into nameless ash. Tucker lowered his head towards the dried grass. He stretched his arms one final time before his frown got the best of him and his head weighed heavy. Caboose came rushing back out with the wooden swords in hand and threw one in Tucker's direction. With his well trained senses, Tucker caught it and swung it from left to right. He held up the sword in Caboose's direction and Caboose did the same. Delta materialized in front of his host and beamed his stare in Tucker's direction. "Would you like to fight Caboose in his angry mode?"

Would I like to? Tucker pondered for a moment. "Meh, let's do it for the shits and giggles."

"Oowwwaaahhhh! My name is Caboose, and I'm here to wreck your world!" Caboose shouted in a fury as he charged forward with heavy footsteps. The very ground beneath his feet shook and cracked. The sword hung high with his arm to his side and Tucker quickly rolled to his side with his balance lost and a quick scrambled to gain distance. "Jeez Delta, cool it a little will you?"

Caboose swung the sword down hard, and a loud clack echoed throughout the canyon, to be heard by all. Tucker barely held his own against the force for his knees weakened. He quickly recovered however with the help of Sigma, who enabled his jets and allowed a fast tackle. Yet the effort was for naught. While Tucker was the beast charging forward, Caboose was the wall that stood strong, made of metal. Like an object traveling towards an immovable wall, Tucker slammed hard and was quickly flung up into the air. Shit, Tucker cursed as he landed on his butt. He quickly got up and felt the after effects of that throw. His legs shook with every step he took forward. Caboose swung once again, and put Tucker on the defense. Blow after blow, the aqua soldier was getting pushed back. Tucker finally saw an opening as Caboose pushed down with both his hands clamping tightly onto the sword. He promptly raised his knee and kneed Caboose in the stomach.

"How do you like that?!" Tucker smirked beneath the helmet as he caught his breath. He kneecap ached from that one single blow, and felt the pressure build up in the area as if it would blow off any moment. Damn, what the hell kind of material is he made of? Tucker stood strong. He strengthened his pose and composed his grip onto the sword. Caboose quickly recovered and looked up with an intense stare towards his target. Tucker didn't need Delta to tell him exactly what was going through Caboose's mind right now, or his anger levels. He could see the very rage radiate from his visor. Oh shit, quickly Tucker called upon his two companion fragments and asked, "Um, Church, Sigs, a little help?"

"Don't come whining to us," Church looked at his host with a most dismissive shake of his head. "You are the one who asked for this, deal with it."

"Unfortunately," Sigma chimed in as he studied the dark blue beast that stood only a few meters away. "We have no way of dealing with this as Caboose has become quite the literal super soldier."

"Oh great, thanks," Tucker remarked as he jumped out of the way at the very last second from a ground shattering swing of the wooden sword. "You two are a whole lot of help, I don't know what I would do without you lot."

"Wow, the sarcasm is so subtle," Church snickered with a laugh. Cholo slowly came too as his body stirred awake. Beside him he saw a red lawn chair, and his friend, Marcus, as its occupant. Cholo slowly stood himself up with the help of the arm rest from the chair. "Ugh, how long was I out?"

"A while," Marcus motioned towards the two combatants and said, "Free entertainment."

Cholo saw a beer in Marcus' one hand and took the initiative to join in. Cholo cracked open the liquid to meet the hot stare of the sun. He undid his helmet and quickly took a chug. "Ah, that hit the spot!"

Marcus held up a bowl of popcorn for his friend, who without hesitation took a handful. "Custom seasoning?"

"Yup," Marcus answered as he held one up, somewhat yellow in colour. "I made that seasoning you were talking about before that your cousin used to make."

"Oh, Mexican seasoning," Cholo replied quickly chewing down the handful. "Me like!"

Cholo took another hard swig of the drink as he nearly fell backwards from the simple motion. "God, that hit the much needed spot."

"Setup that chair," Marcus pointed to a folding chair beside him, on the ground. Cholo quickly set it up and he felt his butt plop down hard against the bottom. A blissful smile escaped his mouth for his body felt like it floated on a sea of clouds. Tucker dodged another sharp swing from his adversary, however he was quick to take notice of his surroundings, in particular his audience. "Oh god, help you bastards!"

"Hmm, I'm not so sure if I can," Marcus moaned as he tried to hold up his arms. A few heavy grunts escaped him and said, "My muscles still ache from those laps."

"Yeah," Cholo held up the backside of his right hand against his forehead, and slowly he rested it back against the chair. "I think I'm beginning to feel a little faint again."

Great, why did I even bother asking? Tucker wondered as his sword was quickly deflected by Caboose. The dark blue soldier followed up with a strong jab into Tucker's ribs. He jumped back at the sharp, sudden sensation that pierced his body. He held his side and noticed the beer amidst the audience. "Well the least you can do then is save me one of those bottles, you drunks!"

"Sure, only if you survive that is," Marcus stated with a huge grin, covered by the can. Tucker's eyebrow raised with suspicion as he stomped his foot hard against the ground and said, "Of course I'm going to survive. If I don't, what the hell would the team even do without me? I haven't appointed a successor yet."

"Don't worry about that," Marcus replied as he motioned towards the dark blue one. "You have bigger concerns right now."

Caboose delivered yet another arm crunching blow. Tucker's knees lost their gripping as the lock came undone and he fell down hard to the ground. "Ow, tone it down will you Delta? This is getting asinine now."

"You asked for this."

"Okay, don't you start with that kind of talk around here as well," Tucker replied as he then eyed Marcus to his side and asked, "So, what did you mean by not worrying about a successor, what are you planning?"

"Nothing major," Marcus answered as he finished his can. He gently rubbed his belly and already felt the effects kick in. "I just took the opportunity to smooth talk command into naming me the successor to this team next."

"What?!" Tucker just barely avoided yet another swing and asked, "Why the hell would they even agree? In fact, when did this shit even happen?"

"During your vacation," Marcus gently raised a finger with a clear voice and noted. "As my first decree for Blue team being its new ruler, I would like to make every Friday night a Blood party night. A party in which only a select few can have fun."

Tucker quickly kicked Caboose a few steps back as he quickly gained distance. "Like that would ever happen."

"Oh, I wouldn't be so worried," Marcus hummed out in a most reassured tone. "I already have every detail for my eventual succession planned out."

"Wh- What is that supposed to mean?"

"Don't worry about it," Marcus quickly turned his head away in the Caboose's direction. Cholo smirked with a wide grin and said, "That was real smooth there, Marcus."

"Want to know what else would be cool?" Marcus asked in a quick instant as he leaned in too close for comfort towards the Mexican. "Me chomping away at your precious burritos, because I know how you love them so. Man, I can even feel my mouth water from just thinking about them."

"You make a very good point," Cholo shifted back into his chair as his body shriveled up into a ball. "Great job, keep it up."

An hour later, Tucker felt his legs shake wildly from the pain in his nerves. He just barely dodged a yet another deadly swing from his formidable opponent. Unable to now stand, Tucker found himself on all four limbs against the hard rocky surface, that cracked under this very heat. He looked up at Caboose who still had enough strength and energy to be jumping from side to side in excitement. "Seriously dude, where do you get all this energy from to keep on going?"

"There are a great many things that Caboose is capable of," Delta spoke as he appeared besides Tucker. "Even if it may not seem as such at first glance."

Tucker slowly stood back up with multiple grunts leave his mouth. He did his best to control the shaking, however he was no longer the master of his body. The pain now ruled over him as the undisputed king. He conceded to Delta's point rather fast and said, "I can see that. That, and how the lady Dumb Luck seems to favour him every time."

In the seconds that passed, his fingers lost all control as his grip loosened on the sword. It fell against the ground with a loud impact and Tucker felt his whole body loosen like the lightness he would feel when floating atop water. His back fell down and a silent curse escaped his mouth upon making an intimate touch with the ground. "That's it, game over. I give in, you win Caboose."

"I won?" Caboose spoke up and instantly felt his confidence levels boost. "I mean, yay, I won! I'm the best!"

He jumped from one spot to another as a high of ecstasy showered above his head. But not before coming to a halt with a most confused glance at his opponent. "So, not like I forgot or anything, but asking for a friend...what is it that I won in exactly?"

Right, of course, Tucker felt his lungs rejuvenate from the cooled down air his helmet provided. Even in victory he is still pretty dumb. Tucker slowly collected himself with every ounce of energy that was left in his very fiber of being. He began to walk back to the cooler recesses of Blue base before being quickly stopped by the two subordinates. Marcus and Cholo gazed at one another, and then to their leader. "So, what should we be doing?"

"Just do whatever it is you guys normally do during the day," Tucker waved back as he leaned against the base for support. "I'm going to go get a cold pack and lie down for a bit. Don't bug me."

A few minutes passed with Tucker now resting quite comfortably in the recesses of his own room. Caboose stood at the opposite end of the canyon from Blue base as he gloated of his victory to the women of the canyon. Daisy clapped her hands and a strong enthusiastic vibe escaped her from the tone of her voice. "Great job, Caboose!"

Bonnie simply shook her head on one side as she heard the giddy, child-like laughter escape the dark blue's mouthpiece. How does he ever manage to operate in a functional state everyday like this? She pondered, but was quickly reminded on her own to not ask questions to the greatest mysteries of life and the universe, lest she wish to seek a path of continuous frustration. Sheila stepped forward closer to her blue comrade, with her big body gently sitting down, she looked around and agreed with Daisy. "But remember to keep on trying even harder for the next time Caboose, and you will eventually become the best with that sword!"

"Eh heh, heh," Caboose rubbed the back of his helmet as he felt his chest afloat from the encouragement. "You guys are awesome. I'm going to give you all a big hug before bedtime tonight!"

"By the way," Bonnie turned her attention towards the two atop Blue base and asked, "Where is Tucker? I don't see him outside anywhere, he hasn't switched into Grif mode has he?"

"Oh Tucker," Caboose grinned as his victory rushed back to him. "He is resting inside Blue base. He said something about sleeping off the bad touch."

Bonnie took a step back as her eyes raised with question. She turned to the giant mantis bot and asked, "Sheila, a translation please?"

"It was Caboose's overwhelming strength that caused some minor damage to Tucker's back muscles, hence he is resting."

"Thank you," Bonnie replied. "Sometimes I'm really glad you are normally tagging along with him. But why would you even consider that a bad touch, Caboose?"

"Oh, um...well," Caboose shifted back and forth in his spot as he quickly placed his hands over his pouches. "Um, you see, keep it a secret but I may have accidentally, not intentionally, taken some money from him during the sparring session."

Like a call to the wild Mexican of the bunch, Cholo released a very bemused scream. "I knew it, I was right that you had some way of getting all that money and why we were always broke!"

"You must have misheard me," Caboose let his hands rest behind his back as his fingers ferociously played with one another. A typical nervous reaction, thought Bonnie with a smirk. She turned towards Cholo and felt rather impressed. His hearing is very good. Cholo thought for a moment as the snap of his fingers finally clicked things into place. "So all that debt I owe you is a bunch of BS. Caboose, you smart weasel!"

"Oh what is this?" Caboose pondered as he slowly backed up. "I feel excited, yes, excited! And so, I'm going to run around the canyon now, come on Sheila!"

Marcus watched Caboose run around to the back of Red base and his light pockets did not help to ease the sharp rise he felt in his veins. "Cholo, I'm going to kill him in his sleep."

"Or we can just nick back that money," Cholo suggested. "You know, instead of committing man slaughter on a man-child."

A loud sigh filled the air as Marcus' shoulders dropped low and he said, "Fine, we will do it the boring way."

Cholo took out a bottle of beer from the crate in between the two and twisted it open. To his surprise, they were still cool enough. "When did Caboose get so smart about these things?"

"I thought he always was just smart about money," Marcus said as he reached for a drink himself. "At least, that's the way it seemed to me."

Cholo felt the drink go down the wrong hole as he held his chest tightly. As wrong as the path it took down, it came out of his nose like water dripping out from a leak. "Yeaaahhhh rrrriiiiiggggghhhht!"

Cholo quickly cleaned himself off as he then took another sip once his body had calmed. "I bet that it was probably Delta's idea. That little scamp has always seemed devious. I knew it the day I laid my eyes on him."

Cholo took a look at the crate as he finished his bottle. A loud sigh escaped him as he gazed upon the one lone leftover bottle, and the dilemma became real. To take, or not to take, that was the question running around like a wild, happy dog in his mind.

Bonnie gazed up to the two figures atop the rooftop of Blue base, that got bigger with every step forward. Cholo took notice of the approaching Red and in a quick bout of surprise, he nearly fell off the roof, only to be rescued by his partner. Cholo quickly holstered his gun and brushed off his armour, and he then jumped down to come face to face with their guest. "This must be my lucky day. It is so nice of you to come visit us willingly my dear Bonnie. Have you finally perhaps realized my charm?"

As he boasted with his head high up in the clouds, one could even say, higher than that. Cholo felt the very stars align above his head. "Perhaps you would like for me to show you my room, we can do some fun adult stuff there."

"Hah, with you?" Bonnie laughed with her one arm resting against one side to her hip, and the other holding her other side. "Not in a million years with a nervous, sorry excuse for a playboy like you."

"Oh, you just got roasted," Marcus laughed much to the dismay of his Mexican teammate. Cholo could do nothing but take the arrows from all sides as he quietly mumbled. "Shut up!"

"Where is Tucker?" asked Bonnie. A dejected Cholo pointed inside as his form grew smaller with every second. "He is in his room, lying down."

"Great, I'm inviting myself in," Bonnie walked past him. Marcus asked from behind her. "Hold on, you can't just go around walking in our base like that. What did you need Tucker for?"

"I need to talk to him about something very important."

"You could talk about it with me," Cholo mumbled as his voice grew weak. Bonnie once again laughed as her chest puffed out with great pride. "Um, I need to talk to someone with authority around here, and someone with balls."

"I have balls."

She quickly turned her head away at the mere thought of him having any. Her lips struggled to keep her mouth closed for a strong force ached to burst out. With a quieter voice, she noted to herself, "Maybe I should have worded that better."

Bonnie turned back to Cholo and said, "I need someone with common sense."

"Hah, as if there would be anyone with that around here," Cholo slapped his knee in a loud laughter. However, his words were not deaf to him for he realized his own statement. Bonnie took the silence as a means to escape this situation, but not before telling Cholo one last thing, "You need to work on your 'manly' act, boy."

Boy...boy? Boy?! Cholo's hands clung to his chest as if drawn by some magnet. Silent tears were wept for he found himself behind Tucker's old alone time rock. "How can she be so mean, does she not know that those words are like a wasp's sting to a man's heart?"

"As blunt as she is," said Marcus who bent behind him. "She got you good there, you gotta admit to that much."

Bonnie approached the pristine kept hallways. To her surprise, they were cleaner than she had originally thought of them to be. Partly to her shame as well, some areas seemed far cleaner than Red base. She approached Tucker's room, clearly identified by the name plate held up onto the door by two large screws. The door rested with an open crack into the world behind it. The aqua warrior sat atop his bed with the metal shine glare off the surface. Tucker gently rubbed his fingers on the engravings within the tags, held firmly in place only with a key chain wrapped around his hand. Bonnie slowly opened the door with a creak. With a fast reaction, Tucker stood up to take note of the new variable into his environment. He sat back down just as quick as he had gotten up with a small grunt. He rested the dog tags to his side, still tightly held in his hand. The closer she got, the more he tensed. He looked towards her and said, "It's nice of you to visit me here finally. Don't worry baby, I can show you a real good time."

"Ugh," Bonnie's eyes shifted to her side as she felt the un-welcomed chill travel up her body. I forgot while he was away that the biggest pervert in this canyon is him. Quickly having desired a change of subject, she pointed to the dog tags and asked, "Who do those belong to?"

Hmm, not going to leave so easily, are you? Tucker tucked away the dog tags into his back pocket. "No one you need to know about."

Bonnie's interest immediately peaked as her eyebrows raised in a bout of curiosity. Her hands clasped together behind her back and she straightened herself out. With an authoritative stride, she walked over and leaned closer to him. Her lips tug up from her right, as her voice echoed the sentiment that she could not be so easily fooled. "You do realize that I was a psychologist before jumping ship and joining the army, right?"

"A psychologist, and on Earth?" Tucker inquired as he recalled her background. "Your wallet must have cried for ages. Not much use for you guys over there nowadays I hear."

"I made enough to put away into savings," Bonnie replied with a stone-cold expression. "But forgetting that, how have you been holding up?"

"I have seen better days," he answered with the grit of his teeth. "Especially on days where I don't get my ass whooped."

"Yes, I heard all about it from Caboose, it was hilarious," Bonnie chuckled to herself as she cleared her throat to speak once again. "Easy to tell from how stiff your body seems right now. But you seem better than you were when I first came here."

"No duh, A lot of time has passed," he chimed in. Especially the time I spent in thinking and improving myself. He raised his eyes to meet hers at the visor level and asked, "What are you really here for, Bonnie?"

"Considering how you have gotten a tad more positive lately, do you think you can rub off some of those vibes onto Grif?"

"He hasn't shown any progress at all?"

Bonnie sighed with immediate frustration. And that was answer enough for him. Bonnie held her head high up towards the roof and grunted in near silence. "It is becoming more and more difficult to deal with him. He isn't even able to fulfill the basic duties of his position, let alone take care of himself. I can't put up with th-"

Tucker quickly stopped her with a firm grip on her shoulder. Underneath the helmet, he could not help but let out a wide smile vibrate from his lips. "If you are asking for advice, maybe I'm not the best person to ask since I have some shit to work out myself."

Her shoulders dropped, ever so slowly with her morale trickling out bit by bit. With a quick turn, she reached for the door, but found herself stopped at the mention of her name. Back towards Tucker, he gazed in her direction with a strong intent and asked, "What do you think about guilt?"

"In what context?"

"The guilt for surviving."

"This is related to your PTSD, isn't it?" she inquired, and earned his nod. "There is nothing wrong with feeling guilt. It's normal to do so when you think you did something bad. It's only human after all."

"Something bad?" Tucker asked as his eyes slowly widened with even more questions abound. "I wonder if I did something bad?"

He felt a firm grip on his shoulders and violently shook him out of this line of thinking. "Tucker, based on what we have heard about your involvement in the war, it doesn't seem like you have done anything wrong. You were all fighting to survive, living to see another day. You all fought to continue living another day for the sake of one another as a family. But unfortunately, your circumstances did not agree with your sentiments."

"While you are right to say those things," Tucker lowered his gaze towards his back pocket. "It doesn't help resolve my pain. In fact, it feels as if it continues to fester and grow. No matter how much of a pep talk people give me, it feels like the pain comes in and pushes out any positive progress I make. Junior especially tried his hardest, he most certainly did."

"Tucker, listen to me carefully. I haven't experienced PTSD, but I have seen what can become of people suffering from it. I know that this is what you have been hearing, but it's the best any of us can tell you. Remain positive, and continue to fight for self-improvement. Excuse me."

Outside, Bonnie exited Blue base with home in sight. Cholo watched the cold-hearted, yet ever so picturesque figure walk away. He shook the bottle in one hand, it was completely dry. He eyed the last one in the crate. Cholo nodded in silence towards his friend, Marcus and said, "I'm impressed that you managed to maintain your self-control and not take the last bottle."

"We promised didn't we?" Marcus looked down towards the inside of the base. "We would save him the last bottle. Anyways, I'm more impressed that you didn't get your fingers all over it."

"Oh, you just didn't notice, the struggle was real," Cholo mused as he picked up the bottle and headed inside. Indoors, he gently knocked on Tucker's door. "Special delivery, boss."

Tucker noticed the beer in Cholo's hand and smirked with a most appreciative nod. Tucker cracked open the bottle with the raw power of his palm and took off his helmet to his side. He took a small sip and quickly felt something amiss. His eyebrow instinctively raised into the air and asked, "Was this kept outside all day long?"

"Maybe," Cholo replied with several hesitant nods. Just as quickly he saw a flash of aqua, he found himself into a tight lock in Tucker's arm, that wrapped around Cholo's neck. "Sorry, I give, I give!"

"This is for making such a rookie mistake!" Tucker bumped Cholo's head against his fist. "You never feed a man beer that's been sitting out in the heat!"

"Take it easy on the bastard," Church quickly intervened. "It's not his fault that the sun is always out in this canyon, and that we hardly get any clouds here."

"That sounds like a weak ass excuse, even for you Church," Tucker replied as he gave Cholo yet another bump on the head. Church nodded his head with his shoulders slowly slumped. He turned towards the Mexican soldier and whispered, "I tried man, good luck."

As Tucker released Cholo from his grip, he quickly blocked his route out, gently locking them both in. Cholo found his feet scurry backwards with a large gulp. His face cracked under pressure from every direction as a weak smile grew from corner to corner. "I didn't know you swung that way."

"If you would like," Tucker felt a nerve pop out. "I can give you a first hand experience."

As quick as the wit came to Cholo, he found it abandon him completely. A single puppy squeal left him, most confused and terrified. Tucker inched closer, and Cholo had nowhere else to run for his back was already stuck up against the wall. Cholo tightly closed his eyes all the while the aqua form grew larger and larger, much larger than his own. As if Tucker's hands grew enormous, Cholo's form retracted into a much tinier being. He felt a strong grip rest on his shoulders and opened to find the aqua one lead him to sit down. "Relax, sit back and let your CO take care of everything."

"Okay, too homo for me!" Cholo reacted as he slapped Tucker's hand away and made way for the door, only to be stopped by Tucker who now burst out into a loud laughter. With the free hand, he took his beer and sipped down a few gulps. Meh, you get used to it I guess. After all, it's still beer. "Loosen up dude, it's not the 1970's or something. And I was just kidding."

As soon as Tucker felt Cholo relax, he quickly added, "Or was I?"

The tension returned into Cholo's body much to the amusement of Tucker. The aqua soldier walked over to the door and unlocked it. "I'm really just kidding, relax."

As Cholo stood up to leave, Tucker asked, "One question for you. It will sound strange, but have you ever had the thought that you didn't belong somewhere?"

"Belong somewhere...what brought on this question?" asked Cholo. This was a little too sudden for Tucker to ask something like that. Rather than answer Cholo's question, Tucker waited for an answer to his own. Cholo knew that this silence won't get them anywhere and hence said, "I felt like that almost all the time back in my home town after a certain point in my life."

"Care to explain?" Tucker inquired with a hearty chug of the beer. "I don't think you have ever talked about this before."

Cholo looked at the bottle rest at Tucker's thigh level and slowly said, "It was before I jumped ship to join the army. I was treated as an outcast sometimes and I didn't really feel like I was wanted, or rather that I belonged in that crowd, even if it was amongst my own people. Simple as that."

"So then," Tucker rested his chin against his free hand in thought and asked, "How did you come to accept that fact and improve your status?"

"I guess my cure was just in talking to people," Cholo held his head in his hand as they supported him from the back. "No one is perfect, but for me, talking to others is a great remedy. Plus, I have met some very interesting people in this canyon by doing that."

"Talking to people...," Tucker repeated with his eyes sinking deeper into the recesses of his mind. He gently laughed to himself and took the last drop of beer from the bottle. Junior was always saying that talking will help. I guess I finally now know what I need to do to overcome this shitty burden. Church appeared to his side as he crossed his arms in a matter-of-fact manner. Tucker knew what was to come next, but he was ready to accept it gracefully. "See, I have been telling you this all this time. If only you had listened, you would have known this ages ago."

"Yeah, yeah, you were right, I was wrong. Feel good about yourself?"

"Well, as a matter of fact, I do," Church leaned forward with his arms crossed proudly. "Thank you for asking."

Cholo looked back and forth as he could only imagine question marks pop up and populate all the free space around him. Tucker turned back to his subordinate with a thankful smile and said, "I figured something out. We should talk more often about these sorts of things, Cholo."

"Should we?"

"Yes, we should," Tucker replied with a far more resolute tone. He leaned closer to the Mexican soldier and rested an arm on his shoulder. "In exchange, we can always try and hook you up with some good stuff if you know what I mean, those shower photos are pretty enticing."

Cholo took Tucker's right hand and screamed, "We shall!"

In long, happy strides, Cholo left the room. Church looked up to his host and asked, "How will you give him those photos when you don't have any to begin with?"

"Church," Tucker looked at his young subordinate skip merrily back up to the rooftop and felt something lift off from inside him, and his chest weighed lighter. "Just enjoy the moment, just enjoy the moment."

A/N: That was a VERY long chapter. The longest I have written thus far in this story. It took me a long time to get this one out as I hit a lot of creative blocks along the way. I hope that finally it was enjoyable, and some progress for Tucker!

Do you find the bits with the new rookies enjoyable?

What are your thoughts thus far on the various elements to the story (ie. Plot, characterization, pacing, etc.)?

I would greatly appreciate the feedback. This story while not driven by an action-packed plot, it is something I have wanted to write for a long while with the Red vs Blue IP. Respectful feedback is always helpful!

Thank you for your continued support. Till the next chapter!

~ Monty