The gel was cold against Carolina's bare stomach while the nurse probed around with the ultrasound machine. She was trying her best to feel excited about the faint images she was able to see on the monitor in front of her, but the scowl she wore was deep despite her desire to smile. York was supposed to be there, but he had been missing for almost a month now. She seethed inside; no one knew where he was or what he was doing. The Director and the Councilor knew, but neither would tell her what was going on and it made some of her sessions with the Councilor end with her being almost dragged out by a couple of other agents. She could have easily taken them, but her anger was not towards them. She hated that some of her anger was projected towards York as well.

The ultrasound tech's voice echoed in her ear. "Sorry, what?" Carolina asked.

"I said that there's not much yet to determine gender. But baby is healthy and on time according to your charts." She noted something in the folder she had next to her. "If you want, we can set some time aside to do some bloodwork and try to find out earlier?"

"Maybe," Carolina sighed. "There's a lot that's been going on lately. So, I'm not sure I really want to know yet."

"Not a problem," she chimed. She was being way too cheerful for Carolina's liking. "How's the nausea been?"

"Fine, I guess." She did not want to admit that she felt like gagging on the apple she had with her breakfast. One of her favorite fruits, and she did not want anything to do with it. The flavors did not sit the same way on her tastebuds as they used to.

"Drinking plenty of water?"

"As if they offer anything else…"

"Cravings?"

"There is nothing to crave!" Her temper was starting to boil over and this innocent woman was going to be the one on the brunt end of it. "I'm sorry, but why is any of this even relevant?"

The nurse looked taken aback. "Well… y-you have to stay physically healthy for the baby."

"And how about mentally, huh? Where the fuck is the moral support? It's not coming from Project Freelancer! Not the Director, the Councilor, I can't even tell any of the other agents. The only people that know are those two assholes that sit up there on deck, you, and York. And who knows where the fuck he is right now! So, excuse me!"

Carolina took the paper blanket from her lap and wiped the gel from her stomach. She wished the doors were not mechanical so she could physically slam it shut. No one else was in the corridor when she left and she did not realize she was running. She reached her room and collapsed to the floor in front of the sliding door and pulled her knees as close to her chest as she could. Her sobs racked through her and she folded in on herself shuddering with every hitch in her breath.

Agent Carolina? The Councilor's voice came through the intercom near the far side of the room. It is time for our… Carolina sent a knife from her sleeve arcing through the room and lodging itself into the speaker that gave out in a fit of static. She crumpled over onto her side.

"God damnit, York! Where are you?"

Frigid air looped around York while he trudged through the knee-high snow. If not for his armor, the cold would penetrate his bones and keep him rooted in place not ten steps from the base of the platform to his pelican. The readout on his HUD told him it was almost sixty below zero. Though he could not feel it completely, seeing it physically made him shiver. It made trying to follow the location marker difficult. Before long, however, a small structure appeared through the thick white fog; a dark silhouette that almost looked like a larger pelican. A human from stepped out beyond the shadow and seemed to be gesturing for York to come in. Despite the snow, he made an attempt at running and almost fell face first into the white powder more than once.

He stumbled inside and the door was closed behind him. It took a few moments before his eyes adjusted to the darkness in the room. The man that let him in removed his coat to reveal his dark skin that protruded from his white lab coat. York went to remove his helmet but was stopped.

"Not yet," the man said. "Though the atmospheric pressure is not too different than what you are used to, it can still prove uncomfortable, if not fatal when taken in so abruptly." He led York to a chair where he connected a small tube into his armor's chest plate. "This will help ease you in slowly." He walked away to leave York in the chair.

The building seemed a lore bigger on the inside, but also very small. A small kitchen area stood near the far end where a table and two chairs sat amongst a slew of bookshelves. The next wall sat two cots side by side with a little more than six feet between them. Both had a footlocker sitting at the foot, but one was open and emptied. On the third wall sat a small work bench, and a door behind that. The only other door in the room minus the main entry. Maybe a bathroom since there was no evidence of a toilet or shower in the room otherwise. Then his eyes settled on the man again. He fit the description that was given to him, more or less. The man York was told to meet was a paraplegic, but this man walked on two legs like he had been for his whole life.

"Doctor Polendina?"

"Hm… oh yes, I am, and you must be Agent York."

"Yes, sir." York studied him a bit further then saw a glimpse of a mechanical exosuit strapped to his legs. "How long have you been here?"

"Oh, a few months. Not too terrible a time." Doctor Polendina went to work getting a pot of tea ready on the small stove that sat in the kitchen.

"Must get lonely."

"Oh, not at all. As a man who dabbles extensively in technology, I have the unique ability to create and converse with my own created artificial intelligence units."

"An AI unit?" York had only ever heard of them. Just then the main entry opened to admit a new figure. A robot. It pulled in a crate that York immediately recognized as his own.

"Ah, there you are!" he exclaimed. "You didn't have any trouble, did you?" The mechanical head shook. Two bright green eyes and close to no other features, York was amazed to see that it was able to pull the crate at all. It was essentially a metal skeleton. It looked at York and waved. "Agent York, meet my AI companion, Penny. First of her kind really, though she doesn't speak. It's easy enough to denote the code of ones and zeros she gives me. Morse Code in a numerical sense."

"Fascinating."

"Yes, your director thought so too… but I doubt he'll be able to crack the code as well as I have." The machine York was hooked into beeped, and the cable fell away with a hiss. "You can remove your helmet now." York removed his helmet and the AI robot took it from him. "The water for the shower should be warm enough now for you. If not, I do apologize. Snows from a blizzard are a lot more difficult to handle."

"Thank you," York said. He stood and removed a pair of sweats from his crate before retreating to the room in the back near the workstation. He could hear Polendina conversing with the robot.

"We will need to keep an eye on him," he said to it. "Who knows why Director Church sent him to us." A pause passed between them. "Don't worry, I won't let them have you."

A day late, but it took a bit for me to get this one figured out. I am having trouble with the split characters. And I am having a hard time figuring out how to turn a ten month timeframe into only a few chapters. I'm sure I'll figure it out eventually, but until then, I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you guys think! It is always appreciated.

Red vs Blue and its characters are owned by RoosterTeeth Productions