Disclaimer: I don't own RvB.
Episode 32: Storm's End
Back with the Reds, Dex was already up and out of the hole when they ran into Church and Tucker. "Outta the way, I got a medic to pound and a sister to berate," Dex growled, shoving past the pair, only to be stopped by Tex.
"Why?" she asked, gripping his arm. Dex growled, turning to glare at the woman... robot... A.I... man his life had gotten weird.
"He took advantage of her naivete and got her to undress and get into several... poses," he informed the ex-Freelancer. Tex shook her head and released him before pointing toward the caves.
"Doc and your sister went in there, along with Tucker's alien baby, apparently. You'll have to catch them there," she told him. He gave her a curt nod and took off running for the caves.
"KAIII! WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT EMBARRASSING THE FAMILY!?" he bellowed as he ran. The others all watched him run, a little amazed.
"Wow. Protective much?" Eagle asked, eyes wide.
"Dude... you didn't hear him when he delivered Kai to us," Tucker said, then gave a full body shudder. "Scariest thing I've ever heard... exempting Tex of course."
"Don't bother lying," Tex said seriously. "That man... he's given me chills," she told them, staring after the soldier. Rick whistled, regarding her with open curiosity. Not that it mattered as no-one could see his face at the moment.
"Ho boy, sounds like I missed out!" he said. Tex shook her head.
"I'm not sure..." she began, then Rick rolled his head and asked, pointedly,
"What color is my armor?" Tex recoiled a little, then inclined her head. Tucker was mystified, but Church understood. Project Red had that effect on people.
/*/
In the Caves, Kai was having a grand time talking with Doc. "So by the time I got home it was four AM, and when my mom asked where I was, I told her I was riding the train all night, which I guess is technically true..." she rattled on. Doc swallowed heavily, though it wasn't picked up by his mics, and said,
"Uh, yeah. We don't have to talk about stuff any more. Let's just walk. And not talk. Ever again." Kai shrugged, though she did wonder what his problem was. She turned to look at Tucker's kid, who was trailing behind.
"Come on little guy, hurry up!" she called, waving him on.
"Hnnnk!" Junior noised loudly. Kai, already looking forward again, gasped.
"Oh my Godiva, head," she said, unable to say anything else for the shock.
"Okay, please, really, no more stories," Doc pleaded. If he hadn't been wearing a helmet, he'd have begun massaging his forehead. As it was, he closed his eyes for a moment.
"Seriously, it's a head. Look!" Kai said, stopping and pointing. Doc opened his eyes and followed the line of her arm, finally seeing the dull brown head of Lopez the Heavy.
"Huh?" Doc asked, blinking. How had he gotten down here?
"Hola," Lopez droned.
"Oh. It's you," Doc sighed, the deadpan Spanish confirming it for him.
"Whatever. Some way to treat your sidekick," Spanish!Lopez drawled, "gone for days and you don't even look for me." Kai looked from Doc, to Head, to Doc, to Head, and back to Doc before asking,
"You know him?" Doc blinked and turned to Kai.
"You speak Spanish?" he asked, surprised.
"Uh, of course I do, it's the year twenty-five hundred and I'm from America," Kai answered, rolling her eyes at the stupid question.
"Aoh, cool. Tell him O'Malley is gone," Doc requested, apparently forgetting that Lopez understood English... and could, under the right circumstances, speak English.
"O'Malley no esta aqui ya fue," Kai told the head.
"Your Spanish is horrible," Spanish!Lopez told her. Kai ignored his comment and turned to look at Doc again.
"Who's O'Malley?" she asked. Doc sighed. He really didn't want to tell her about that guy. He really wasn't a nice A.I. Not to mention he drew out the darker aspects of Frank DeFrunse the medic had painstakingly buried in his subconscious. 'I can't go back. I won't go back. Not now, not ever!'
/*/
By the time Kai found Lopez and asked about O'Malley, Dex had reached the mouth of the upper cave system. "KAI!" he yelled, plunging in, running the twists and turns with a certainty born of long hours spent training in secret. He didn't worry about bats. He didn't think about snakes. He didn't consider spiders. All he was focused on, was finding his baby sister. His baby sister that didn't think twice about just about any request and would do just about anything. Actually, Dex was fairly sure that even if most people found it impossible, Kai would do it. Or at the very least, try. Even if it meant hurting herself. That thought made Dex push himself even faster. There was no telling what she might get up to in these caves. "KAI!" he bellowed, dread welling in his chest and threatening to choke up his throat. He forced the building panic down, funneling the fear and anger into speed.
/*/
Meanwhile, Rick, Red, and Eagle took up defensive positions around the Base. "You're not getting this totally important Base, Blues," Red yelled at the 'assembled' Blues.
"Uh-huh. Not gonna happen," Rick added, pistol aimed right at Tucker, being the only living member of the attacking force. Seriously, when had they begun fighting nothing but crazed Artificial Intelligence units?
"Why are you over here anyway?" Eagle asked, not bothering to aim at the Blues. Seriously, not even the ex-Freelancer really seemed to want to fight. Tex shrugged and pointed at Church.
"He's the leader," she said by way of explanation. Church turned to her with what Red was fairly sure was supposed to be a glare, but was reduced to a stare by the helmet he was... inhabiting.
"We were told to attack. Also, you have the only vehicle in the canyon capable of hosting the training A.I from our tank. A training A.I who happens to know where O'Malley is. We need it," Church said, having finally turned back to his 'enemies.' The Reds shared looks. "You know where he is too, don't you?" Church asked, resigned. They shrugged.
"Well, we do... and we don't," Rick said. Tex twitched, causing Church to look over in concern.
"Black, huh?" she asked. The Reds nodded and Tex sighed.
"Just so. Way I hear it, there's also a conspiracy with Tucker's kid," Rick said, motioning for them to all sit down. And that... was where things got a little... Wyoming.
/*/
While Dex was running through the caves, Lopez had finished telling Kai and Doc about his misadventure, which ended with him down in the caves, waiting. "So that's how you got here Lopez? What a strange, yet totally believable story," Doc said, operating under Blood Gulch Logic, which wasn't really Reason at all, but Omnisphere. That was when Dex barreled around the corner and glared at them.
"Get. Your hands. Away. From. my. Sister!" he growled, stalking toward Doc, who squeaked and quickly scrambled away.
"Dex! What are you doing?" Kai asked, blinking. Seriously, why did he have to do this every time? They weren't even doing anything! They were just walking along, talking. Oh, and they found a severed head. That could still talk. And had been host to an evil A.I that had also infected Doc, who seemed to have been the A.I's preferred host for a while. But he was harmless! A pacifist! Non-combative. Sure he could be a bit sarcastic, but hey, so was Dex! And Dex wasn't pushing... okay, so maybe he was pushing her away, but it was probably for a good reason! And not because of the sarcasm thing... she was pretty sure about that.
"You," Dex growled, ignoring his sister for the moment and stalking up to Doc, who was still backing away.
"Me?" Doc asked innocently, pointing to himself... pressed up against the cave wall.
"Yes. You. You took advantage of my sister, didn't you?" Dex growled, rolling his wrists. Doc was now very uncomfortable with the situation. As if he wasn't uncomfortable enough before!
/*/
It was a stand off. Reds on one side, Blues to another, Ex-Freelancer growling somewhere in the middle but closer to the Blues than the Reds, and current Freelancer staring them all down with a gun pointed at them. "How did you escape from Black, Wyoming?" Rick asked, sounding far to conversational.
"Ah... how do you know about that?" Wyoming asked, turning his gun more fully on the maroon soldier. Said soldier tilted his head slightly and chuckled.
"What? Black never told you about her students? I'm insulted," he said, pulling out a knife that was shaped like a claw and spinning it about. "Seriously, it should be obvious... if she mentioned us at all. Then again, Black does like to be a bit of a witch, so~! Yeah. Perhaps I shouldn't be so surprised after all."
"Would you stop that?! It's annoying," Church barked. A different knife went sailing toward his head, narrowly missing. "GAH!" the cobalt soldier screamed, jumping back. Rick snorted.
"Boy, I don't think you're in a good position to tell me what to do," he said, still spinning his short, claw like knife. "Now, Wyoming, why are you here?"
/*/
Back in the Caves, Doc and Kai were surprised, but relieved, when Dex froze and raised a hand to his ear, clearly hearing something important. Or... important to him. A few moments later, Dex growled and shot a look toward Junior. "Right. Rick, keep him occupied. Doc, you and Kai hold this... kid... here. Stay away from bigger aliens, don't trust guys in dark blue armor, and don't you," he pointed at Doc, "touch my sister at all! Unless it's to knock her out of the way of bullets or equally deadly things, like big falling rocks. Or bats. I need to head back to Red Base," he told them before he turned around and ran out of the cave.
"What was that about?" Kai asked. Doc shrugged. How was he supposed to know? He was just glad he survived with his life, a very common thought when faced with an angry Agent Orange.
/*/
Meanwhile, Rick was busy transmitting Wyoming's goal to Dex... and doing his level best to freak at least one of the intruders out. "That's not important," the Freelancer remarked with an air of indifference. Rick threw one of his knives. "Watch it!" Wyoming snapped.
"Oops! Sorry. Hand slipped," Rick said, clearly unrepentant. Wyoming growled and shot at the knife wielding Red. Rick dodged while throwing three more knives at the Freelancer. "That wasn't very nice of you, Wyoming," Rick chided, waggling a finger at the white sniper.
"Who are you?! And what are you doing at a Sim Base!?" Wyoming asked, coming back up from his dodge roll, confused by the skill the maroon one displayed. That was when he noticed that Tex had phased into invisibility. "Oh no, Tex has gone invisible. Whatever shall I do. Fretting, worry," Wyoming drawled, back to his usual confident self.
"Dude, I wouldn't sound so smug. She kicked your ass last time, and you weren't even outnumbered like ya are now," Church remarked as Agent Orange came running up. "Oh, and here comes the Calvary. How do you like that Wyoming? We even have Project Red on our side!"
"Project Red?" Wyoming echoed, helmet turning from what he saw as an orange Sim Trooper to the Blue.
"Yeah. I figured, if I'm turning Project Freelancer's Red Team against them, and I considered it a side project, why not just call it Project Red?" Marly's voice remarked lightly from behind Wyoming. The white Freelancer spun around and fell to the ground.
"Oregon?!" he asked from his prone position on the ground. A figure in gunmetal green armor with dark purple accents and an ODST helmet stood in front of him.
"So glad to see you recognize me now, Reggie," she drawled, pulling two sticks off her back and connecting them with a crackle of electricity. Wyoming started scooting backwards. "Ah~! So you finally realize it huh?" Creepy, all too familiar laughter came from the figure before she muttered, "It's kind of sad that you can't use your time-displacement unit. So many live training dolls~!" Oregon said, eyes not leaving Wyoming. It was then that the others noticed... her visor was set to clear.
"Man. Now I want one of those," Rick muttered. "It would make my glares so much more effective."
"Now, as loth as I am to steal a really cool scene from the Reds, as well as Tucker, I'm going to have to show you what happens to those who try to double cross me. So sorry, dear Reginald," Oregon drawled, ignoring Rick's comment and kicking Wyoming's gun away. Dex roughly rolled him over, disconnected his time-displacement unit, and wrenched his arms behind him.
"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you to the fullest extent of the law," the Agent told him, hauling him to his feet. "I expect you to be behind bars for a very, very, long time, former Agent Wyoming," the weapons master growled before marching him into the waiting Pelican. "All yours... Agent Oregon," Dex told his mentor, wondering why she'd gone back to being Oregon. The woman sighed.
"Thanks. I just hope... I just hope this helps. Ya know... in the long run," she said before walking onto the Pelican's ramp. "Oh and, just so you guys know, relocation orders are in the near future. Project Red... I'll be letting you know what I want you to work on before you ship out. And Tex... I have O'Malley with me. He's contained. For now," she said in parting. Tex ran forward to join her on The Phantom and that... was that. They were gone.
"Well... that happened," Tucker said. This set Rick off laughing, almost manically. Dex sighed and shook his head before pushing the time unit into Rick's arms and walking off.
"Well, back to threatening that stupid not-a-medic I go," he said, giving the other Reds, along with the Blues, a lazy wave over his shoulder.
"Think we should help the poor guy?" Rick asked Eagle. The burgundy sniper held up both hands and shook his head.
"Hey man, no way. I'm not getting in Dex's way when he's like this. I'm not suicidal," he said. Rick considered this, then nodded.
"True," he conceded, then turned to the blues. "Eh, don't feel like fighting you guys right now," he said, then walked into Red Base. "Nap time~!" he sang cheerfully. Burgundy nodded and trudged after him.
"Now that... is a plan," he said. The remaining Blues shared a look, shrugged, and went back to their base. They didn't have anything better to do after all.
/*/
"You sure you're okay with this?" Marley asked. Flowdie scoffed, already locking Wyoming into his seat.
"Would you stop that? Yes. I'm sure," he said. Tex growled.
"Can we just go already? You two are starting to get on my nerves," she said. Marley sighed, dropping her head.
"Fine. Just... promise me you'll be careful. We're all wanted by the UNSC," she said. Flowdie shook his head and drew her close, arm around her shoulders and forehead resting against her helmet.
"You worry too much, M'lady. We'll be just fine, you'll see," he told her before whirling around and closing the bay door of Kai's Pelican. Marley let out a weary sigh as the ship lifted off.
"I sure hope so," she muttered, watching them go with worried eyes.
"Marley?" Rick asked softly from the back ramp of Red Base.
"Yeah?"
"I made some tea, thought I'd offer you some." She smiled and turned to the slender soldier.
"Thanks Rick. I'd love some," she said, entering the Base. Rick followed silently, giving her some space. The living area fell silent as she entered, helmet under her arm, and headed for the kitchen. Red's eyes followed her and Eagle looked toward Rick. The I.T. Specialist shook his head and the sniper sat back. Tea in hand and helmet on the counter, Marley turned around with a sad smile to see her Agents all hastily looking away. She chuckled. "Come on guys, I'm not about to snap. Relax!" They shared uneasy looks, saying nothing. Marley scoffed, sat on the couch, and turned on the T.V, settling in to watch the latest Grifball match. Slowly, the men relaxed and before too long, they were all shouting at the athletes and calling fouls, enjoying the show to the fullest. Marley sat back with a happy smile as she sipped her now-cold tea. She felt blessed to have been accepted so fully by a team like this. Two hours later, Dex came back from threatening Doc and went straight to the fridge for a cold root beer.
"Better?" Rick asked with a quirked eyebrow as the larger man relaxed in his armchair.
"Much. Doc received new orders and left," he said, though the predatory gleam in his eye said there was more to it.
"Think he'll faint if he ever sees you again?" Marley asked. Dex chuckled evilly.
"I don't think he'll even have to see me," he said. The others sighed and shook their head at him while Marley cackled and clapped him on the back with a creepily wide grin.
"I've taught you well, my student. I've taught you well," she said. The others edged away from them. Slowly. A few rounds of Spades later and Marley waved the Reds good bye, there was another Grif she had to see.
/*/
Kai was staring out at the canyon, thinking about how her life had changed, when she heard someone come up behind her. "So... Dex's little sister right?" Tucker's voice asked. Kai turned, putting on her usual cheery manner.
"Yep! That's me!" she said, turning around. She was rather glad to find that Tucker had removed his helmet as Church was standing beside him. They both looked a little anxious.
"What was he like? Before he joined the army?" Tucker's asked, shifting in a slightly nervous manner. Kai blinked.
"Why?" she asked.
"Because he's one of the scariest soldiers in this forsaken dust bin," he told her. She took off her helmet to play with her hair while she bit her lip.
"Well... He... he always looked out for me. Especially after Mom left to join the circus," she said, missing the look the two men shared at that. "He... he was lazy, and a total slob, but he kept on me. Made sure I was home by ten, going out to hunt me down if I wasn't and drag me home if need be. He wouldn't let me do a lot of the things he did. Told me he didn't want me making his mistakes. Said he meant to stop when he didn't need those habits anymore. But he didn't stop. He did it all more. More cigarettes, more beer, more theft, more over-eating..." she trailed off with a slight shiver. "And he was always rude, and loud, and acted like he didn't care... but I know better," she stood up a bit straighter and looked her new teammates in the eyes, "I know that he's smarter than he acts, that he cares deeper than he shows, that if it was between him and me... he'd choose me. I know that he'll always look out for me. I know that, no matter what I do, he'll always love me and pick me back up. He'd do his best to save me, even if it meant he'd get hurt." There were tears trickling down her face now, she could feel them. Tucker was starting to look alarmed, shock the only thing keeping him in his place. "So what if he's scary? Maybe... maybe he has to be! Maybe... maybe... he's found someone in this canyon he wants to protect. My brother... he's a big brother through and through, with all the protective instincts of a bear!" Kai declared heatedly. The men took a half step back.
"Wow," Tucker breathed, staring at her, "you really love your brother, don't you?" he asked, though he didn't seem to require an answer. Kai felt her face flush, and quickly slammed her helmet back into place. No amount of hair twisting would justify showing such vulnerability.
/*/
Tucker, for all that her brother scared him witless, found himself completely enamored by Kai. She was happy, perky, excitable... and yet, she held such deep feelings for her brother. She loved like no-one Tucker had ever met and he found himself wishing to make her look at him the way she had as she described her brother. He wanted to make her smile that beautiful smile she wore when she spoke of how much Dex loved her. 'And I bet he doesn't even know how lucky he is, crazy Red,' Tucker thought, still staring at the drop dead gorgeous Grif. She had slightly wavy light brown hair and mesmerizing amber eyes, a tint darker than her brother's. "So... we need to make sure you can tell who's who around here," Church said as a black figure came bounding up to them.
"Ah! Sorry for the intrusion mates! I'm just here for Kai!" the figure said, clearly female.
"Marley," Church said with a nod, though Tucker thought he sounded a little... irritated. The newcomer tilted her head.
"You seem tense, Church. Problems in paradise?" she asked, voice lightly teasing.
"Just... just take the girl," Church said, turning away and heading back into the base.
"So... you're Marley huh?" Tucker asked, looking her up and down. Her armor looked a lot like Tex's, only with a gray visor and maroon accents. "What did you do to Church to get him to react like that?"
"What do you mean? Isn't that how he always is?" Marley asked, tilting her head. Tucker chuckled, but shook his head.
"Yeah, but he usually argues too. This time, he didn't. What's up?" Marley hummed.
"Ya know... I can see it," she remarked, sounding almost pensive as her helmet tilted down then back up.
"Huh?" Tucker asked, totally confused. "See what?" he added, taking another half-step back. What was with the girls in this canyon and putting him off balance?
"How you could actually manage to become a decent soldier," Marley said before turning to Kai. "You, on the other hand, need some serious work young lady. Your brother asked me to train you, to teach you everything you need to know, and that's just what I promised him I'd do. Follow me, and we'll get started, Miss Grif," she said, motioning to another Pelican that had just decloaked.
"WHOA!" Tucker shouted, jumping back and bringing his rifle up. Marley chuckled, causing his face to heat. "Not. Funny," he grit out.
"Ya-yeah, it is. You should have seen how high you jumped!" Marley laughed, then dragged Kai aboard the ship and flew off. Tucker was left staring in shock. What the heck just happened?! It was like there was some sort of Blood Gulch Law, 'All women must make no sense and throw Private Tucker for a loop.' Oh, and don't forget the, 'All women must hate Tucker' law that seemed to be in effect just about everywhere. Now dispirited as well as totally confused, Tucker went inside to see if they had any ice cream. Heck, he'd settle for some cookies.
/*/
Meanwhile, Kai was staring at Marley. "So... you're telling me... you trained my brother?" she asked slowly, back firmly to the video screen that was showing her brother's first meeting with Marley.
"Yes," the woman said, nodding firmly.
"And you're the reason he's all weird now?"
"I wouldn't say weird, but yeah. I'm the one who broke him out of his apathy. Lit a fire under him, so to speak," Marley answered with a shrug and a smile.
"And he asked you to train me?"
"Among other things, yes."
"Can you go over the explanation again?" Marley sighed. Heavily.
"Ya know what? How about we just run some of the training vids and read over a few mission logs?" she said, then pulled up one of the aforementioned logs. "This... was your brother's first mission with me. He was a month out of basic, and I needed some back-up on a low-risk mission. I picked him up, carried him off, and gave him a refresher on weapons maintenance before we landed. He killed seven Grunts, three Banshees, and helped me bring down a Phantom class dropship. Of his seven kills, four of them were head shots. He said he hated me when we were done, but before he left, he thanked me," she summarized as Kai read the log. There were two pictures that Marley had pulled up to accompany the log. One at the beginning, when Dex had ripped off his helmet, and one when he was passed out on the floor, sweaty and bleeding.
"He did?" Kai asked, looking up at the nodding Marley.
"He did. This is the next time I picked him up," she told the younger girl, pulling up the security feed from when Dex received his armor. Kai noticed that her brother seemed more... confident, more comfortable in his own skin, than he had in the first pictures. "And the second mission." A fresh mission log appeared on the screen and Kai read about how her brother saved a platoon of stranded marines. A video of Dex learning First Aid. Pistol training. Staffs. Rifles. Knives. Mini-guns. Jeeps. Tanks. Even the Pelican. He failed, he fell, but he got up and tried again. And again. And again. And again. And he got better... no. He got great. He saved marines, he saved Freelancers, he blew up bases, he lead other Agents, and he even trained other Agents. And then the recording of when Dex called Marley played. Kai was crying, she could feel the tears streaming down her face... but she couldn't stop.
"He..." she gasped out when the call was done. Marley came up beside her and laid a hand on her shoulder. She didn't say anything, she was just there. "He thought... I'd be scared of him? That I'd h-hate him?" Kai asked, turning to the woman beside her. Marley nodded solemnly.
"I told him he was an idiot, but he didn't believe me. But I think, in the end, he decided that, even if you feared him, even if you hated him, he wouldn't let how much it hurt him show. Not to you. And he'd keep on looking out for you, the way he has practically all his life. I could have told him you were coming, you know," she said.
"Then why didn't you?" Kai asked. Marley shrugged.
"I wanted to see how he'd react. And, I gotta be honest here, he actually reacted better than I thought he would. I had honestly thought he would just knock you out, put you on the ship, program the auto-pilot to take you to Earth, and send you on your merry little way," she told the young girl.
"Maybe he should have," Kai whispered, looking away and through the window. Marley smiled softly and wrapped an arm around the girl's shoulders.
"Maybe, but then again... maybe not," she said. Kai turned to her sharply, eyes wide. "Remember, he said that this might be just what you needed. It was what he needed, as you can plainly see," Marley went on, motioning toward the last video, which was looping without sound. It was the day Marley had given her Agents the day off. They were all sitting around the table, eating chips and playing cards. Dex was laughing, looking completely at ease and natural around the other men and in his armor. Kai had to admit, it was the happiest she'd ever seen her brother. "So, what do you say? You want to give this whole soldier thing a try?" Kai grit her teeth and straightened her shoulders, turning to face Marley with sharp, fierce determination burning in her eyes.
"When do I start?" she asked. Marley gave her a sharp smile, one that promised pain and suffering, and said one word. One word that sent shivers of fear and panic and exhilaration down Kai's spine.
"Now."
/*/
Church sighed as, for the third time, Tucker sighed longingly, staring at where the Pelican carrying Kai had vanished. "Tucker... stop. Please," he asked. "What's so different about this one anyway?"
"Aside from the fact she has a scary big brother who would do anything for her?" Tucker asked, turning to his Team Leader. "She's beautiful, she's spunky, she's genuine, and seems like a caring girl." Church stared at him for a moment.
"Yeah, she's also a female Caboose who says the craziest things," Church said. Tucker sighed and turned back to staring into blank space.
"Maybe, but... she's nice. Compared at all the other girls I've come in contact with lately." Church couldn't help agreeing. Marley was cool, but could be just as scary as Tex. And that was on a good day. What he didn't know was he'd met her when she was on a sort of vengeance high and it wasn't exactly a good day. He didn't know he had yet to see a good day for Marley. But, that's a story for another time. Onward!
"Fine. Just... please, stop staring at nothing. If you need to stare, stare in the direction of the caves. We've already been invaded from that direction," Church said, turning to leave.
"Hnnk!" Tucker Jr. noised.
"Oh, and keep your abomination out of my way. Wouldn't want my finger slipping and accidentally shooting it in the head," Church added, shooting the alien a look before continuing inside. Tucker sighed, dropping a hand on his rapidly growing son's head.
"Don't take it personally, Junior. He's always like that," he muttered absentmindedly.
"Blarg," Junior noised, rubbing his head into his father's hand. They're relationship was odd, considering their differences, but Junior actually did feel love for his father. His Sanghillie parent was a non-entity, even if Junior didn't know how to form that as a word, but his human one was alright. A little flighty, but at least he cared. Tucker looked down at his son and smiled slightly.
"I sure hope Kai likes you," he said softly, before he returned his attention to the rest of the canyon.
"Blarrrg!" Junior enthused, butting his head against his father's hand again. He liked the strange yellow one, and he thought she'd be good for his silly human father. Yellow made Daddy happy, and Junior liked it when Daddy was happy. He hoped Yellow would come back soon.
/?/
A/N: Yeah. It's kinda short. But... yeah. I just... couldn't drag this out further.
On another note, should Dex use Wyoming's Time-displacement unit, or hang it up?
A/N 2: Okay, so, several edits were made to fit a new continuity that makes things a bit better, as far as story goes. Also, Junior is still in Blood Gulch. As for the time-displacement unit, Dex is going to hang onto it and learn how to use it, but only as a last resort, like someone close to him dieing last resort. When they reach the Freelancer off site storage he might pick up a different armor enhancement. That's a ways in the future though, so I have time to decide if he gets one and if he does, which one. Drop a review on your way out with a suggestion! 8/25/16