Disclaimer: I don't own RvB. The alterations to the personalities of various characters... yeah, that's on me.
Episode 59: Grif Love
Training that day started just like every other day, proceeded like any other day, and looked as though it was going to end like any other day. Except Steel had the bright idea of pairing Kai with Dex for hand-to-hand training. "Honestly, everyone else is too scared of what you'd do to them if they hurt her to fight her seriously," Steel told the large Hawaiian. "The only one who isn't is Marley and she's..."
"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH! PUT THE SCAPLE DOWN! I'M A PASSIFIST!"
"DOES IT LOOK LIKE I CARE?! YOU'RE A BATTLEFIELD MEDIC AND THAT MEANS THAT EVEN IF YOU DON'T PUT IT TO USE, YOU NEED COMBAT TRAINING!"
"... Busy," Steel finished while Dex winced in sympathy.
"Yeah, no kidding," he muttered before sighing and rolling his shoulders. "Right. Guess we should get started. Oi! Sis! You ready for a round?!"
"I'm always ready for... wait. What?" Kai called, abruptly stopping as she realized it was her brother asking for a fight. Dex decided to ignore the implications... for the moment. He was going to have words with whoever her previous sparring partner was.
"Since I've apparently become the canyon bogeyman, I'm going to be your training partner while Marley is..." he began but a wail like a stuck pig made him pause.
"STOP SQUEALING OR I REALLY WILL HURT YOU!"
"THIS IS REALLY VIOLENT!"
"DO I LOOK LIKE I CARE? COUNTER ALREADY!"
"Ahem. Busy," Dex finished delicately. Kai nodded, though Dex could tell his sister wasn't too happy with the arrangement.
"Right. Okay. Sure," she said, sliding into a passable ready stance. Dex inwardly sighed; this was going to suck if she didn't get her head in the game. Her form was full of holes and going from what he'd seen of her spars against Tucker her reaction time was abysmal.
/*/
Kai had been surprised when, instead of the wisecracking Tucker, her brother had called her over for a spar. Still, she didn't see it as anything special and determined not to treat it as such. Dex rolled his shoulders, though Kai thought that they'd dropped slightly for a moment, before he launched into action. He hit her stomach first then drove her down to her knees with a double hammer fist to the back of her head, catching some of her neck as well.
"Come on, Kai. You're not even trying!" he taunted, knocking her onto her side with a roundhouse kick to her shoulder. If she hadn't been wearing armor, that kick would have left a massive bruise or possibly even broken something. As it was, enough force was transmitted that Kai let out a hiss of pain, sure she'd have a large dark mark on her shoulder in the morning. She rolled out of the way of an ax kick, coming to her feet at the end of her sloppy backwards roll. Dex was bouncing on the balls of his feet, hands up in an easy guarding position, but Kai wasn't fooled. Her brother was coiled and ready to strike, like a cobra waving in the air just waiting for its prey to make a move. She pushed off with both feet, throwing herself at Dex and leading with her right shoulder. He ducked down slightly and caught her round the middle, her shoulder curving around so that her back ended up pressed against him, then he hoisted her up, twisted, and slammed her back down onto the ground. She growled and rolled sideways, pushing herself up on hands and knees. This proved to be an unwise decision as Dex's foot caught her in the solar plexus, which had been left completely unprotected aside from her armor, and launched her a half foot into the air before a side kick hit her and sent her flying a good foot away. Dazed, she tapped the ground three times. She heard a heavy sigh and then someone falling to the ground beside her. "Kai... I know you can do better than this. You trained with Marley and Red, didn't you?"
"You're... different," Kai forced out. She felt like her lungs had gotten bruised. "Hit. Like. A. Nalu." Dex laughed, the jerk.
"I've been told, though the guys usually use words like 'train' or 'tank,'" he said with good humor. Kai scowled in the privacy of her helmet.
"Everything hurts," she growled out. Dex hummed.
"Yeah... I remember when I'd get beaten like that. Marley isn't really a hand-to-hand fighter, neither am I to be honest, but she's pretty good at it and doesn't believe in pulling punches. I guess I learned that from her," he said. She heard a faint creaking and assumed he'd turned his head. "See, thing is, I really do think you're holding yourself back. It'd be better if you didn't, but hey, why listen to me?" She sighed and forced herself to her feet.
"Big Bro... What exactly have these guys been teaching you?" she asked, finally up right. Dex tilted his head curiously.
"Nothing. No... wait... Marley taught me first aid and forced me to take my training somewhat seriously, but that's about it really. Anything else you've been here for. We're getting the same training now," he answered. Kai shook her head.
"Your guilt trips are far more subtle now," she said. "Someone had to teach you that." Dex chuckled.
"Is that so?" he asked with a fond hum. "Well... did it ever occur to you that I am actually a highly sarcastic person? Or that I hadn't believed subtly would work with you?"
"You? Sarcastic? As if!" Neither noticed that the screaming from Marley and Doc had stopped. They didn't notice Eagle vanishing into the base. Rick pulling out a notebook and pencil was likewise missed. Al's chuckles and the click of a camera didn't even register as the Grif siblings shared a stare down.
"It. Is. ON!" Dex declared, sinking back into a ready stance. Kai swallowed, but mirrored him.
"Anyone ever tell you... you've got mood swings?" she asked, mildly nervous. Dex chuckled and Kai could almost picture the grin on his face. His teammates hissed, being truly able to visualize the almost cruel baring of teeth their Weapons Master was no doubt displaying behind his helmet's visor.
"Mood swings? Nah. Anger issues? Ye~s~!" he hissed in a sibilant manner, beginning to close in on his little sister. "You're the one with mood swings, sister mine~!"
"Really? And I thought I was mostly stable," Kai said with a tilt of her head. Dex's left leg swung out, lightning fast and wholly unanticipated, his shin catching the back of her calf. A right cross to the shoulder where her guard had faltered and Kai found the ground rushing up to meet her.
"Stable? Sis, even your form makes Al look like a paragon of stability. And he's literally fragmented!" Dex taunted as she hit the dirt.
/*/
A collective 'Ooooh~!' rose from the watching Agents and money was exchanged while Eagle munched on some popcorn, his legs dangling off the roof of Red Base. Kai growled as she pushed herself back up. "Like you're one to talk!" she growled, launching a wild haymaker toward the left side of his face. Dex ducked under it and rammed his shoulder into her solar plexus, once again bearing her down to the ground.
"I, Little Sister, do not make any claims to sanity and quite cheerfully admit that I am completely bonkers," the Weapons Master declared, holding Kaikaina in a head lock.
"Dang~!" Al whistled.
"Hey guys... what are we betting on here?" Ed asked.
"Who wins. Duh," Marley said. "I put two more on Dex."
"Well, yeah, but like... which fight: the physical one or the verbal one?" Ed clarified.
"It's... kind of a given Dex will win the physical fight," Flowdie admitted. "The verbal spar though, that's debatable."
"Right. Three on Kai for me then," the lock smith decided. Meanwhile, Red was having an internal struggle: cheer on Kai for at least attempting to beat up Grif or stand by Dex who had saved his life on more than one occasion.
"GAH! Darn Grifs!" the beserker bellowed, shaking a fist at the heavens.
He was ignored by the rest of the canyon, though Dex did huff out something similar to a laugh.
/*/
Surprisingly, Dex was actually having fun sparring with his little sister. Sure her form wasn't all that great and she could stand to work on her speed but Dex felt they were finally bonding. After years of separation, both spatial and emotional, the Grif siblings were reconnecting. Kai struggling out of his headlock brought his attention back to the spar at hand. "And yet, you still get mad at me when I try to follow your example," she remarked, crawling out from beneath his arm. Dex hummed, leisurely backing up to allow her time to get her bearings.
"See, this is where the saying 'do as I say, not as I do' comes into play," he said. Her punch connected with his chest but she hadn't put enough force into it to move him. If he hadn't been wearing armor though, Dex was fairly sure it would have winded him. Meanwhile, Kai was shaking out her hand and cussing up a storm. Her brother was fairly sure he heard a few impressed whistles from the peanut gallery, which he'd finally noticed. "Language~!" he sang as he once again swept her feet out from under her.
"HA! You're telling me off for language?!" Kai huffed out, highly amused and a bit incredulous. "You taught me most of those!"
"Yeah... but I never wanted you to use them. As your big brother I am perfectly justified in knocking you flat for swearing worse than a Freelancer grunt," Dex countered.
"But not a Freelancer?" Marley called somewhere to their left.
"Marley... I've heard you when you're sewing someone up. In fact, I accidentally came across footage of you sewing yourself up. You've got one of the foulest mouths I've ever heard. And I'm from the poor district of Honolulu!" the orange Agent shouted back.
"... Withdrawn." Flowdie chuckled fondly at the woman while Kai and Dex began circling each other.
"And why am I a grunt?" Kai asked, moving around her brother with a bit more caution than before.
"Because you aren't a soldier, much less an Agent," Dex answered evenly. Kai hissed and moved to attack him only to be met with an elbow to the face and a boot to the back of her knee, sending her crashing to the ground.
"I've been through enough to be called a soldier!" she protested. "I was at Command! I was at Sidewinder! I raided Sandtrap with you! Don't you dare tell me I'm not experienced enough to be a soldier!"
"Well... you might have a point," Dex allowed. Kai might have grinned as she came back in for another attempt. "But you still aren't a soldier," Dex countered, once more redirecting her attack away from him.
"Gah!" Kai screamed, throwing her arms up. "I give!" she cried. Dex sighed and Flowdie laughed.
"Called it!" he said.
"The verbal match is still going!" Marley declared. Dex took off his helmet and shook out his short amber brown hair. Kai removed her helmet as well, allowing a long tail of messy honey blond hair to cascade down her back.
"What verbal match?" she asked. Dex shook his head and looped an arm around her shoulders.
"I do believe they thought we were engaging in what is known as 'verbal sparring,'" he told her. "We usually call it 'banter' though."
"Oh. Wait... what were we talking about?"
"Uh... before the whole verbal match thing?"
"Yeah."
"How you weren't a soldier," Dex answered. Kai nodded then glared at him.
"And I was telling you I've had the experience..." she began but Dex cut her off with a raised hand and a fond smile.
"You're not a soldier like I'm not a soldier," he said. Kai gave him a look. "We're fighters, not soldiers. We don't actually run drills, we don't have a rigid hierarchy of power and authority, we don't have designations beyond specializations and even then we can cover for each other from time to time. Project Red is made up of rejects and with the Blues being for lack of a better term annexed if's even more of a rag-tag bunch! Red, Rick, Eagle, and I may work best with each other and in that way we might be more military but... we're not Freelancer, for all that we've been taught by some of their best. We're rebels, survivors, and vigilantes. We are not soldiers. We're Agents... but we are government agents. We aren't military agents. We aren't even from an organization. We're illegal guerrilla fighters. Our group can just barely be call militants! Kai... if it weren't for the fact that Marley, freaking Marley, is freaked out and torn up about what's coming up in the next couple of months I wouldn't even be in armor, much less working as hard as I am! Sure I'd probably still spar with at least Rick and I'd sleep with a knife under my pillow and keep escape routes in sight at all times but... I'd at least attempt to transition back into a more civilian lifestyle." Kai wouldn't look at him and he sighed. "You remember when you started training with Marley?"
"When I came back after the first session... you were scared of how I'd react to you being Agent Orange," she said softly. Dex nodded.
"And that's why I don't want you to be a soldier. Or an Agent. It's why I wanted to send you back home. Because this life? It messes with your brain. The sane responses your brain and body get programmed with in the insane circumstances even our fake war put you in... they start to look less sane when you leave the insanity behind. I didn't want to do that to you."
"And then you went cold and dark and left me with Marley and the Blues," Kai countered, eyes flashing. Dex's lips quirked up into a sardonic smile devoid of positivity
"Because I recognized something, Kai," he said, turning to her with tired eyes. "You don't listen." She flinched before glaring at him.
"I listen just fine!" she argued back. He shook his head.
"I'm not too sure about that, Kai," he told her. "At least... you aren't listening with your ears." A heavy gauntlet-ed fist rapped against her shoulder guard. "You learn better by doing than by hearing." That sardonic smile took on a wry edge. "In that, you're just like me. Object lessons work better than lectures. And I'm sorry I didn't realize that sooner."
"I... I don't think that's... a hundred percent accurate," Kai said, licking her lips nervously. Dex turned and quirked an eyebrow at her. "My words... they hurt you." Tears started to gather in her eyes, shocking Dex and activating all his Big Brother instincts to fix it! "Stop. Just... you listen now," Kai said, stepping back. Dex frowned and may have let out a sound strangely similar to a trodden on cat but stayed where he was, frozen in front of his baby sister. "I'm the reason you withdrew. I'm the reason you stopped surfing. I'm the reason you took to removing dad's stash... by drinking it yourself. I'm the reason your self-esteem took a nose dive, why you lost sight of your own worth. I'm the reason you lost interest in the world. I'm the reason you became such a slacker that you got shipped out here instead of literally anywhere else! I'm the reason you became the soldier Sarge hated the most! I'm the reason you darn near killed yourself! I'm the reason you had to go to war to start living!" Kai ranted. By the end, tears were streaming down her face, her breath was hitching with repressed sobs, er body was shaking with emotional pain, and her throat was so choked up it was amazing that she managed to shout her last sentence before falling to her knees. The heavy armor dragged her deeper into the ground than she had expected but at that point, Kai didn't care. If she'd fallen through the grass to the caves down below she wouldn't have cared. As for Dex, he was gobsmacked.
"Looks like we might actually win that bet," someone muttered in the background, not that either sibling paid it much attention. Slowly, deliberately, Dex approached his trembling sister.
"Kai... look at me." Shaking, clearly wishing she wasn't, Kai obeyed her brother's softly spoken order. While her face was a mess, splotchy red and covered in tears and snot, Dex's was resolute. He could have been carved from marble though his eyes were burning with the focused fire she'd only seen once before; when he was planning Operation: Sandman. "That is why I left you with Marley and the Blues," he said sternly. "Because what you just said... I could say almost all of it right back to you and mean it."
"Oh... critical hit from Dex!" someone hissed from the sidelines as Kai gave a choked sob and fell forward against the weapons expert's shoulder.
"And that's why I want you to give it your all here, Kai. I want you to find your worth. I want you to become someone who's wasted out here. I want you to get clean and sober. I want you to stop running to men for vindication. I want you to grow out of the mask you crafted so expertly you can't even see it as a mask anymore. I want you to fight for yourself. I want you to be my sister again. I want you to live for more that the next rave, the next high, the next boyfriend. That's why I threatened the Blues with a fate worse than death if they hurt you. Why I sent down ground rules. Why I stopped being your brother for a time. I want you to stand on your own and face the universe and not bow!" Dex said before taking Kai's head in his hands and lifting it up so he was once again looking straight into her eyes. "It was Marley who made me realize that us Grifs? We're forged in fire, not academia. We're street smart, not book smart. We're made for action, not bureaucracy. It just took a little longer for me to accept that you're as much a Grif as I am and that I needed to let you fall into the fire." With a wry smirk he brushed a tear from her cheek with his cold gauntlet. "Believe me, it's hurting me just as much if not more than it's hurting you. And apparently I'm still shielding you from the flames since everyone is too scared to turn up the heat against you. And for that... I apologize."
"And the hits just. Keep. Coming!"
"I... I'll take it seriously," Kai whispered. Dex snorted and rocked back.
"Now I'm really worried," he remarked dryly.
"That was what you wanted... wasn't it?"
"Yeah... but when you get serious... Well. I think the Jelly Indecent is a good example," Dex said with a smirk. Kai's face went red.
"Kaikua'ana!" she whined. "I thought we agreed never to speak of that again!" Dex just smirked at her.
"Ah but pōki'i, all's fair in love and war~!" he sang. Kai glowered at him.
"I hate you right now," she growled.
"Then work it out," Dex said, popping his helmet back on and standing. Kai shook her head.
"I don't hate myself that much," she said, rolling away from him and taking her helmet with her.
"Well then, I guess both matches ended in my favor," Dex mused before turning to Marley. "Oi~! Bookie Surgeon~! Don't forget my cut!" he called.
"Yeah, sure!" Marley called back, moving around the rest of the group and collecting her winnings. Dex chuckled and headed back inside for a shower.
/?/
A/N: So... the Grif Siblings didn't want to do what I had in mind. They wanted to give you this. So... this is what you get. And it's been a ridiculously long time since my last post back in... June 2018. I just finished this Halloween, 2018 Wow. Hadn't realized it was so long.
Anyway! It's here now. Hope you enjoy!