The pelican landed in the hangar bay of the Mother of Invention with a welcoming party of none, as per usual on certain assignments. All things considered; their task was simply just another mission with minimal risks. Though it was not complete by their standards, they managed to return with the armor set they were tasked to collect. First stop, the director.
They stepped onto the bridge of the ship. "Carolina and York reporting, sir." He did not turn to look at them.
"Welcome back agents. I see that you have completed your task?"
"Yes, sir," Carolina returned. "Only minor complications ensued."
"Good. And Agent Georgia?"
Carolina and York exchanged a glance. How do they tell him? "Deceased, sir," was York's response.
"A tragedy I'm sure," the director said unemotionally. "You two have earned a bit of time off for your struggles in the Gamma system. Use it wisely. I expect full participation once you have fully recovered from your trip. Dismissed."
"Sir, there is more we have..." she didn't get a chance to finish.
"You are dismissed, agents," he deadpanned.
Carolina huffed. "Yes, sir," and they strode out of the room.
"Well, that could have gone better," York chimed. He looked over to Carolina who was still wearing the same emotionless expression.
"I'm sorry," was all she said before storming off.
"Carolina! Wait..."
"Hey, York!" An arm draped across York's shoulders. "How was the solo mission with Carolina?"
York looked away from Carolina's fleeing form. "Hey, North. Minor hiccups, but we managed."
"Why don't you tell me all about it over a decent meal. There's someone I want you to meet."
"Sure thing," York replied, and they walked off together, Carolina's behavior still scratching at York's brain.
The mess hall was just as lively as usual, which meant not at all. Granted, South was still up to her usual business.
"This is such bullshit! How is it he's new and already outranks me on the leaderboard?"
"Calm down, sis," North interjected. "Wash has worked hard to be on that list just like the rest of us have."
"That doesn't explain how he passed me up so quickly!"
"Really? How'd you score on your last eval?" South moved to respond and simply sat back down with her arms crossed. "Thought so," North added and she stuck her tongue out at him.
York did his best to follow what was going on, but he couldn't help but be distracted by the annoying pang in his head that was directing him to Carolina. He wondered where she was at the moment.
"Hey, York!" He didn't respond. "York?" Still nothing. "York!" North caught him by surprise with a slap on the back. "You alright? You spaced out there for a minute."
York shook his head clear. "Yeah," he responded. "I'm fine." He thought a moment and made up his mind. "I'm sorry, I forgot I had something to take care of." He stood up with his tray and moved towards the exit. "I'll catch up with you guys later," and he hurried off.
"Sheesh! What's his deal?" South groaned.
"I'm not sure. He hasn't been himself at all today. Sorry, Wash."
"It's not a problem. I'm just glad I got to meet him."
York ran throughout almost the entire ship trying to find Carolina. It was like trying to find a needle in a haystack. He checked all of her normal spots. The training floor, her bunk, he even went back to check the mess hall after everyone had gone, and still could not find her. It seemed like a lost cause.
"Where are you?" he muttered to himself. He decided to go looking for her tomorrow. That was until he saw the bounce of a familiar bright red ponytail out of the corner of his eye. Of course, why didn't he think of checking the weight room of all places. It had simply never occurred to him. He stood in the doorway and leaned against the frame of the bulkhead.
"I'm not sure that's relaxing," he chided.
Carolina yelped startled, and stopped the treadmill she was using. She turned to face him. "York! Jesus, you know not to scare me like that. Especially when I'm not in my right mind."
"And you know better than to exert yourself in your current physical condition."
Carolina blushed and sheepishly looked to the ground. "How did you...?"
"Well, for starters, how often is it that you get motion sick on a routine space flight."
"I said it was the food."
"Which I also noticed some of your favorite comfort foods have made you nauseous."
Carolina internally scolded herself. She was not one to wear emotion son her sleeve. "Anything else?"
"Once I plugged D back in before seeing the director, he made sure to inform me that you had two heartbeats."
She buried her face in her hands as tears began to well up in her eyes. It pained York to see her this way and he did the only thing he knew to do. He embraced her. He embraced her in his arms and stroked his fingers through her hair. That was when she let it all out, she cried into York's chest. Each breath heaving as she tried to control herself. He pulled her in tighter.
"It's okay. Everything is going to be okay," he cooed, but it was not enough.
"How do you know?" she croaked. She lifted her head from his chest and looked straight into his eyes. "How do you know it will all be okay?"
"I..." he couldn't think of anything.
"When I found out," she lifted an arm to wipe away her tears, "I got scared. Not knowing what happened to my own mother, not growing up with a mother, I feared that it would end up the same way. Even if I did decide to go through with this, I won't be able to hide it. A month in, I'll start to show and my armor won't fit anymore, and the director will find out. He'll separate us. I can't afford to lose you."
York took her hands off his chest and held them in his own. "You won't lose me. I was going to wait a couple of weeks to give this to you, but I guess a little before the holidays can't hurt anything." He reached into the pocket of his hoodie and pulled out a small box and handed it to her. "It's not much. Just something I picked up on Genesis when you weren't looking." Carolina opened it to find a black band with deep blue sapphires embedded in it. "The sapphires are embedded so it doesn't look as conspicuous in public, and you can still slip on your gauntlets with ease."
Here came the waterworks again. "Are you...?" she began to ask.
"I wish I could," he sighed, "but it's better than nothing."
Carolina wrapped her arms around York's neck. "Thank you, York!" She began to cry again.
"You're welcome, Carolina." He hugged her back and leaned down to whisper in her ear. "I love you."
She sniffled. "I love you too."
Welcome back and say hello to my latest project. This chapter is also featured in an earlier fic that I had worked on a while back, but I always wanted to write this story, although many have already jumped on the CarWash train instead, this will always be my #1 freelancer pairing in RvB. This fic takes place right after my other "What Happened to Georgia." If you haven't giving that one a look yet, you won't want to miss it. New chapter will go up next week! Hope to see you there! Don't forget to give this story a like if you feel it deserved and a follow for regular updates.
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