A/N: Chapter 65, ladies and gentleman. Took me a little longer to do it, but hey, it's here at least. I was gonna somehow have Gamma show up, but I couldn't figure out how to properly do it without fucking up a lot of shit. So, that idea has been thrown in the trash and burned. Blame Carolina and her love of fire.
Also, I changed my username to reflect my love of NieR Automata. If you don't have that game, get it! It's fucking awesome!
*Chapter 65*
Reach was never what he'd consider to be a deep sleeper. The slightest sound of movement could wake him up and he would jolt out of bed, mainly on instinct from being woken up by a cattle prod in the Spartan III program.
However the more and more he fell asleep next to his wife, the more he was beginning to wish he was one. She was sound asleep next to him, one hand tucked under the pillow and the other hanging over the edge of the bed. Reach chuckled and scooted closer to her, planting a kiss on her cheek.
The blonde woman stirred a little, but she did not wake up. Instead, she buried her head further into her pillow with a weak groan of protest, pushing her back against her husband's body.
Reach felt his lips turn upward. Little things like this made him glad that he survived the Fall of Reach and took up the Director's initial offer of joining Project Freelancer. He met not only his wife, but people he fought alongside and became friends with. Maine, Wash, South, North, York, and Florida. He would have included Wyoming in the list, but after the British asshole murdered Florida, Reach no longer considered him a friend at all and had no qualms about taking his life.
Reach yawned and got up out of bed, being careful to not disturb Tex's peaceful slumber. He threw on a pair of sweatpants and strode out, closing the door as quietly as he could. 'Still got a little ways to go before we reach the spot. Suppose I could get in a few rounds at the gym.'
The corridors were eerily quiet. He had assumed no one else would be up at this time, with it being only four in the morning. Apart from him and Jun, maybe. Both of them being Spartans, rising in the early morning was something both of them were accustomed to. He couldn't count the amount of times he had woken up to being jabbed in the side by a cross instructor holding a cattle prod. It did teach him to wake up early, so he couldn't complain. Besides, if he did, no one would give a shit anyway. They'd just tell him to suck it up and deal with it.
Or Tex would kick their ass and drag him back to bed with her. He chuckled at that thought. If anyone on the ship besides him or Jun could kick a Spartan III instructor's ass while still half asleep, it would be her. At least before he got her pregnant. Jun was still giving him shit for that one.
"Hm. Being awake at this hour is usually not the best for humans," Eta remarked. "But you and Sierra Alpha -266 have no qualms about it."
'Because we're used to it,' Reach answered silently. 'When it's drilled into your head from the age of ten, you tend to learn how to wake up at this hour for training. Though it is nice to not have someone with a cattle prod standing over my bed.'
"Sounds like quite the story. Want to talk about it?" Reach could practically see Eta's smirk.
'No. And do me a favor and stop listening to Jun. Half of his stories from basic training are bullshit.' He rolled his eyes and proceeded to make his way down to the gym, where to his pleasant surprise he saw he was in fact not the only person awake. Carolina and Tucker were also up sparring in the fighting ring. Well, one said sparring, the other said Carolina beating the shit out of him without even really breaking a sweat.
'Tucker getting his ass kicked by the second ranked Freelancer is less surprising than I'd like.' Reach let out a sigh and let the doors shut behind him, picking up a set of weights. "Morning."
"Morning." Carolina looked in his direction and caught Tucker's fist in her hand without being fazed. She proceeded to kick him twice in the shins and sent him to the ground again. "Couldn't sleep or just woke up?"
"Just woke up." Reach raised an eyebrow and looked at the grumbling Tucker. "What about you, Aqua Boy?"
"Couldn't sleep," he muttered irritably, adding a line of swears that would've made a sailor wet themselves. "And this bitch decided to lay a beating on me and try to call it training. How the fuck does this even qualify as that!?" He was answered by a punch to the chest from Carolina and he winced. "Never mind, I take it back…"
Reach snorted in laughter and put down his weights. By the way Carolina looked, she could use some good stress relief and preferably in a way that didn't involve sleeping with someone. God knows he had enough of the jabs from Alpha about the team's less than secretive activities.
"Want to go for a quick spar or two?" he offered. "Could use some good warm-ups before I train Tucker more." 'And I want to see if she's still got those bad tendencies that she had back in Project Freelancer.'
When he observed her previously, he found that Carolina was always a difficult opponent with her skill in martial arts. She held the record for the fastest times in the timed circle targets, so she had the ability to hit multiple targets less than seconds between them with her speed. However, he always noticed that during those times she was calm and collected, always composed. In fights against someone like North or even York, she would win due to her calm head.
However, when she went up against someone like Maine or Texas, Reach noticed that she tended to try and end the match as quickly as she could. Both of them were as stubborn as a rock, refusing to budge and let Carolina get that blow. Whereas Maine could simply take the hit and not feel a thing thanks to his dense muscle structure, Tex was much more elusive. She'd bob and weave around every single blow. Both tactics had the same effect on her; Carolina would get frustrated with her inability to finish them off and as such it would rattle her composure. In turn, she would become sloppy and predictable, leading to a defeat.
Reach wanted to see how she would react to someone who could manage to both take hits and dodge them. It would be a good test and he could always use someone more intelligent to try and mentor. As much as Tucker was improving, he was still not the sharpest knife in the drawer.
"Sure." Carolina shrugged. Tucker crawled out of the ring, mouthing, 'Thank you' to him. Reach chuckled and slipped under the ropes, lightly bouncing on his feet in a boxing stance.
"Alright, show me what you got," he invited, beckoning at her. Tucker was wiping himself down and wincing as he patted the bruises, watching with wide eyes to see how the match between two of (in the Reds and Blues opinions) the scariest people onboard would go.
For a few moments, the two circled each other like two wolves ready to tear into each other. Eventually, Carolina made the first move. She feinted a punch to his chest and lashed out with her foot at the same time, aiming for his lower legs to put him on his ass. Reach merely stepped out of the way and planted his own fist straight into Carolina's stomach, making her double over for a moment.
"That looked like it hurt," he observed helpfully, an amused smirk growing on his face as he began his little game of toying with her. He had to get the notion of always fighting fair out of her head. Tex, Maine, Wash, and South already knew how to fight dirty if the situation called for it. Carolina, not so much. She was always about clean takedowns. 'Sometimes, you have to be a dirty son of a bitch to win a fight. Worrying about being clean can cost you on the battlefield. Better to learn it now during a sparring match than in the middle of an actual fight to the death.'
Carolina glowered at him and leapt at him with a growl, both of her legs coming at his smug face. Reach dodged each one of the kicks with ease and continued to elude her, his grin never leaving his face. "Come on, I thought I told you to hit me. What the hell is this?"
"Then stand still!" Carolina hissed in annoyance as two more attacks failed to hit the Spartan. "Goddammit!" She went to tackle him to the ground and he jumped back, letting her crash into the carpet.
Tucker cackled at the sight of the proud Freelancer on the ground, however brief it was. "Haha! How's the carpet taste, bitch!?"
"Shut up. You're next." Reach waggled his finger threateningly and that quickly shut up the perverted soldier.
Carolina was back on her feet in no time, performing an acrobatic flip. One of her kicks caught Reach in the chest and he grinned. "That's more like it. Still a little soft and weak though. That felt like silk. You know where silk comes from, right?"
"Shut up!" Carolina was seething and he was seeing her fall right into his trap.
"It comes from the ass of a Chinese worm," he continued, not listening. Carolina's next attacks were wild and furious, aiming for his face in an attempt to make him shut up. Reach let both of them miss with simple movements of his head and sent her right back onto the ground again with his robotic hand, flipping her over his shoulder.
Carolina spat out in frustration and tried to move, but Reach's foot in her chest meant she wasn't capable of doing anything besides glaring at him. "Goddammit! Are you just playing around or what!?"
"No. I'm teaching." Reach shook his head. "Did you notice that every time you get emotional and angry, you become incredibly sloppy and predictable?" The redhead bristled at the mention of her skill not being enough to take him.
Reach sighed and shook his head. "I watched the way you fight. Against someone like myself, or Maine, you try and take us down as fast as you can to end the fight on your terms. The longer it drags out, the more the odds become stacked against you. You also fight way too fair."
"The hell is that supposed to mean?" She glowered, still squirming underneath him.
"It means you have to stop. If you really want to become the best you can, then forget about always playing by the rules. You have to fight mean and dirty. Step on their feet. Drive your elbows into their sides. Talk all sorts of shit like what I did to you. Hell, throw dirt in their eyes if you have to. You'll find someone gets really pissed off when they do that. Just ask Tucker." He pointed to him. "He's learned how to fight dirty and he's doing better as a result."
"So…you're saying that in order to win, throw dirt in your eyes?" Carolina's eyebrow rose and she looked at the pile of dust that had started to gather on the ring due to a serious lack of cleaning.
"If you have zero survival instincts, then yes," he answered dryly. "A word of warning, though. Tucker already tried that and it didn't work out so much in his favor as he hoped. Isn't that right?"
Tucker nodded, looking at the pattern of bruises on his chest and arms. "Yeah…seriously man, your punches feel like a freight train."
"A nice side effect of the augmentations. Makes a really nice dent in things too." Reach smirked and looked down at Carolina again. He took his foot off of her and let her roll back to her feet. "Also, you need to learn to keep a level head during fights. You're way too damn emotional for your own good. Sooner or later, that will get you killed. You have to remain focused at all times."
"Like you are. Great." Carolina dusted herself off and cracked her neck. "What do you say we go one more time?"
"Gladly." Reach took up her offer and got to the other side of the ring. "Show me that you learned something from that fight. Tucker, if you will."
"Go." Tucker yawned in boredom.
Carolina launched towards him, springing off of her back foot with a fist aimed at his jaw. Reach stepped to the side and went to attack her, but both of her arms raised up and she went to elbow him just below the ribs.
Reach absorbed the blows, but he wouldn't deny that they definitely did hurt a bit. Girl packed a mean punch. 'Yet another thing you inherited from your mother. Both of you know how to hit someone to make it hurt.'
He countered by blocking the third attempt at an elbow to the sides and stepped on her foot. Carolina growled and swung behind her, the Spartan ducking and springing back to give himself more room to work with. 'Nice to see she's a fast learner. Good. Carolina always had the skill, but learning little tips and tricks like this can sometimes be even more of an asset in fights. But now it's time to see if she's learned how to talk shit.'
"So, how are you and Tucker getting along? From what I can see, it's only a matter of time before you two start sleeping together," he teased. He knew perfectly well Carolina didn't find him the least bit attractive; Tucker was far too much of an asshole for her taste.
But that didn't mean it wasn't funny to mess with her in another way.
"He's annoying, but apart from that?" Carolina shrugged and went to kick him, only for her foot to meet Reach's. "He's alright. Definitely not my type, though. I prefer someone who's got a rugged charm to them."
"Keep up this flirting and Tex will get jealous."
"Ha. In your fucking dreams."
"How would you know what my dreams involve? Invasion of privacy much?" Reach smirked and blocked another overhead strike. "Hey, out of curiosity, since Tex is technically your mother, wouldn't that make it incest?" Tucker spat out the water he was drinking and howled with laughter at that remark.
Carolina turned red in the face and stuttered, unable to come back with a retort for that one. Reach pressed his advantage, hitting her twice in the side of the knees to make her legs buckle and fall from underneath her. "Come on, what happened to all the shit talk you had just awhile ago? Don't tell me you've run out of material."
Carolina was back on her feet with a fire brewing in her emerald eyes. "To be fair, no one ever accused my mother of having decent taste."
A smirk grew on his face. "That's much better. Come on, show what else you've got. Are you aware that there's actually a drink named after you?"
"Oh really? Care to enlighten me?" Carolina struggled against him.
"Ginger bitch," he answered promptly, enjoying the game way too damn much for his own good. Talking shit to someone who could dish it back out was so much more thrilling than someone who'd falter at the slightest little jab like Sarge. Old man could talk shit, but for the life of him he couldn't take it.
"Been called worse by better." Carolina grunted and punched him twice in the chest, twisting her fist to drive her knuckles deep into the hard packed muscle.
"Hmm, don't know how you could say someone's better looking than me." Reach elbowed her away. "Even Sister tried flirting with me once. And she was sober."
"Didn't you say yourself that Sister was a total whore?"
"Not nice of you to say that about your new in-law." Tucker spat out his drink again in disbelief.
"Please. Like you'd stoop that low. I mean you already have by knocking up my mother, but still." Carolina huffed and went to step on his foot when he raised it up, taking her by surprise. Her eyes widened as she lost her balance and Reach caught her before she could fall on the mat again.
Reach gave her a smile and patted her shoulder. "Well done. You've learned from your mistakes in our previous bout. Now it's up to you to take what I gave you and keep running with it. When you find yourself getting heated, start talking shit to piss off your opponent. It helps not only rattle their composure but also lets you regain control of the situation."
"Thanks." Both of them dusted themselves off and Reach beckoned for Tucker to join him in the ring.
"So, ready for today's training?" he asked with a wolfish grin.
Tucker's only response was to sigh and resign himself to his fate of once again being baited in and getting his ass kicked. "Sure thing, coach. Just let me do something real quick."
"What?" Reach's eyebrows rose.
He didn't even have time to react before Tucker threw dirt into his eyes. 'THAT SON OF A BITCH!'
"Won't say I told you so," Eta chirped with a cackle.
'Shut up Eta.'
Tucker was so going to get it for that one.
Doc looked at Tucker lying on the bed and sighed. It wasn't even five in the morning and already he had a patient unconscious in front of him. He was beginning to wish more and more that he was left in Blood Gulch so he wouldn't have to deal with this kind of shit anymore.
"Do I even want to know?" he asked semi-rhetorically.
Reach was still rubbing dirt out of his eyes and grumbling a mixture of swears in various different languages. Doc didn't even think half of them were human at this point.
"Never mind…" Doc reached for his purple medical device and started to scan him.
He would need more than alcohol to help him get through today.
A/N: And that does it for chapter 65. It took a long ass time to write out, but good god was it a lot of fun to do. Especially the shit talking. Let's be real; whenever we see Carolina fight heated, she makes a lot of mistakes that end up biting her in the ass. I see Reach teaching her how to fight the way he does solving that flaw. I hope you guys had a good New Year, and I'll see you soon!
-A Lovestruck A2#5371