Disclaimer: Red vs. Blue belongs to Rooster Teeth, not me. I make no profit from this, and no copyright infringement is intended.
Chapter 15
A loud clang echoed through the training room as a knife flew wide and hit the wall. Connie and Sven looked over from where they were sparring. Another clang.
"Sister, you're not straight." Connie called to her.
"Well, yeah, I thought that was obvious. What's your point?" She blinked innocently, and Connie laughed and made her way over to the girl.
"Right here, see?" Connie positioned Sister's arm. "You're twisting your arm funny right before you let go." Sister moved her arm back and forth, staring in concentration.
"How can you even tell? I can't feel any difference when I'm throwing."
"You've gotta pay more attention then, because that's definitely why your knives keep going wide," Connie assured her. Sister sighed dramatically.
"This is all Girlie's fault. She had to go jumping off buildings and flying around on jet packs the same week she started teaching me, and no one's had time for me since." Sister shot a meaningful glare at Sven across the room. Connie laughed again.
"Don't worry. Sven told me you learn crazy fast, and I have lots of experience teaching knife fighting." Connie picked up another set of training knives. "I taught Wash everything he knows about knives. He was hopeless before I got a hold of him." Connie's smile faltered as she glanced over to see the dark look on Sven's face. She looked at the ground and shifted uncomfortably.
"You're doing it again." Sister crossed her arms and sunk into a hip, giving Connie a scolding look.
"Doing what?" her head snapped up, eyes wide and guilty.
"Making yourself sad about them." Sister's tone was accusing, but she smirked.
"Oh. Sorry." Connie shuffled her feet anxiously.
"Don't be sorry, silly. They were your friends." Sister put a hand on the woman's shoulder.
"They're the enemy," Connie said, reassuring herself.
"No, they work for the enemy, because they're misguided idiots. From what you've said, this Director guy and the Counselor are the bad guys," Sister said matter-of-factly.
"Well … yeah, you're right. I just … I wish I could save them. I just couldn't figure out how," Connie said sadly.
"I know. And I think you have every right to make friends and miss them while you fight corruption." Sister nodded emphatically.
"I'm glad someone thinks so. It's good to finally have someone to talk to. No one else here trusts me," Connie sighed.
"Sven and Rick do," Sister corrected her.
"Yeah, but even they are being cautious. I don't blame them. They wouldn't be doing their job otherwise. Besides, I've been gone a long time. We were … very young … before," Connie said slowly.
"Relationship on the rocks?" Sister asked sagely.
"I don't know …. I guess so?" Connie halfheartedly let a knife fly at the target. It hit the bulls-eye.
"Well, you probably just need time to adjust to being around each other again."
"Yeah … Hey, why am I taking relationship advice from a kid?" Connie grinned and threw a punch at the girl. Sister blocked, and a sparring match began.
"You know, there is another reason Rick could be prickly," Sister said slyly. "He knows you got close to those people and that you want to save them. Maybe he thinks you've fallen for one of them."
"What!? Don't be ridicu – " Sister took Connie's moment of outrage to grab the woman and throw her over her shoulder. " – lous." Connie coughed out the end of the word as she hit the mat with a dull thud.
"Yay! I win!" Sister threw her hands in the air and did a little happy dance. Connie blinked in surprise.
"Girlie taught you those dirty distraction techniques, didn't she?"
"Hey, not all of us have fancy armor. We have to use other techniques." Sister batted her eyelashes and held out a hand to help Connie up. "What's my prize for beating you in sparring, super soldier?" Sister waggled her eyebrows up and down and the other woman.
"We're doing prizes now? Damn, I would have tried harder." Connie teased.
"Hey, don't downplay my awesomeness!" Sister complained. "Tell me more stories! I want to hear more about our adventures!"
"Allright, fair enough; let's hit the showers," Connie conceded. The girls threw their arms around each other's shoulders as they strolled out of the training room and Connie began story.
"So there we were, all the Freelancer Women – Carolina, South, Vi, West, Lou, and me – surrounded by Covenant Brutes …."
%
Later, Sven and Connie sat alone in the mess hall, speaking quietly.
"You and Kaikaina seem joined at the hip, cousin," Sven pointed out casually.
"Yeah, she's a sweet kid. She's really relaxing to be around. No agenda, you know?"
"You are her idol now, with all of your stories …. " Sven frowned, and didn't meet Connie's eyes. "I wish you would not encourage her. She is still young."
"That's exactly why I'm giving her every last gory traumatic detail, Sven. She needs to know what she's getting into while she can still change her mind. We were raised to believe this was the life for us. It never occurred to us to do anything else. We thought we would be heroes, but face it Sven. What we've been doing is petty competition and politics with weapons. I don't think its a life anyone would choose if they knew what it was really like," Connie said sadly. Sven sighed.
"She has a romanticized view of the soldier. That is hard to get rid of," he said.
"Exactly. I'm trying to de-romanticize it for her. You're making it a lot harder," Connie said, annoyance creeping into her voice.
"Me?" Sven scoffed.
"Yes, you. You obviously don't belong in this den of vipers, you chivalrous fuck. You only came to look out for me and Rick – and now her. Prince Charming came to her rescue and now she has dreams of being a romantic hero duo or something," Connie exclaimed in frustration.
"She has wanted to be a hero since she was child. It has nothing to do with me," Sven hedged.
"Yeah, but you're training her. And don't tell me that's basic self-defense. If she had trained with us as kids she would be better than us by now!" Connie lamented. "She'll be doing missions soon enough, and then it will be too late. She'll be in too deep. You're an enabler; that's what you are." Connie accused. Sven just shrugged.
"I think Kaikaina will find someone to enable her anywhere she goes. It is just her nature."
"What's that?" a bright voice called. "I heard someone say something that could be easily twisted into an innuendo, so you're probably talking about me, aren't you?" Sister practically bounced into the room. "Rick is looking for you Connie." Connie stood up.
"Thanks kiddo. Sven, this conversation isn't over. I'll find you later," she said. Sister watched Connie go, then sat down next to Sven.
"What was that about?" She leaned into Sven's side and pulled her braid over her shoulder to play with the end of it.
"Nothing, Solnyshka - just work," he said soothingly. Sister nodded, then looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to continue. Rather than discuss the conversation Sister had actually walked in on, Sven opted to explain something else. Something that might actually keep Sister safer, while giving her ear for gossip something to latch onto and listen for.
"Rick thinks Connie has become paranoid since she was with the enemy for so long. She does not trust anyone on board or our employer anymore." Sister pondered what Sven said for several moments, staring at the wall across from them pensively.
"What do you think?" she finally asked. Sven didn't answer for a while, just stared at nothing, the same as Sister did.
"I think Connie has always had the best instincts of any of us," he said finally. "If she no longer trusts our employer, she has a good reason for it."
%
Sven hadn't mentioned Connie's fears again after that day, but Sister hadn't stopped thinking about it. She was in her bunk, reading, when she heard the voices. Connie and Rick were in their room across the hall, arguing. They had been doing that a lot. Sister couldn't make out everything that was said, but she could tell that Sven was right – Connie no longer trusted their boss, and Rick thought she was paranoid.
Sister jumped down from her bunk and opened the door just a crack, the better to hear. She knew the only reason they were having a conversation loud enough to hear was because they thought the bunks were empty this time of day. Most people forgot that Sister spent a lot of her time there since she didn't have an actual job to perform.
"Connie, I never wanted you to take that mission," Rick was saying. "It changed you."
"No," she replied, "You're the one who's changed. We signed up to fight against corruption, not for the highest bidder. Since when do you blindly follow orders?"
"I'm not blind to anything, Connie. If you just had some solid proof – "
"I've shown you the files!"
"Freelancer files, Connie! You said yourself you thought they may have been on to you. That information could have been planted. They could even have intended to use it to make sure your team believed we were the enemy. You know Control said we were so deep under cover that it would be easy for people to say that."
"Listen to what I'm saying, Rick! That's what he wants us to think! Charon Industries isn't UNSC anymore!"
"We are not Insurrectionists Connie; you can't seriously believe the Director's lies!"
"No, not Innies Rick! It's like some sort of sick game between them. His only allegiance is to himself; he's got his own endgame. We're just the weapon he gets to point at his enemies. We're being used!" Connie's voice was taking on a desperate, pleading quality.
"Enough!" Rick shouted. "If you can't be trusted – "
"If I can't be trusted?"
" – to keep these delusions to yourself, and you won't talk to Doc – "
"I don't kneed a shrink, Rick!" They were talking over each other now.
" – then you are confined to quarters until further notice!" Rick finished breathlessly. "That's an order. I can't have you causing chaos on my ship. I have my team to think of Connie. I have to protect them."
"If you really want to protect them you'll fly as far away as you can, as fast as you can," Connie said quietly.
"Connie, if that's what you wanted – to be done with this life – all you had to do was say so. I don't blame you after what you've been through," Rick said gently.
"Do you really know me so little, Rick?" Connie asked sadly.
"I'll resign and we'll go away together. I promise," Rick insisted.
"I don't think you mean that," Connie said.
"I do. You'll see." The door slid open and Sister slid her own door closed so as not to be caught eavesdropping. After Rick's footsteps faded down the hallway Sister slipped out of her room and tapped lightly on Connie's door.
"It's open," came the soft reply.
"Hey," Sister said. She sat down on the bunk next to her friend. "You okay?" Connie sighed.
"How much did you hear?"
"Enough to know your boyfriend is a self-absorbed douche bag." Sister shrugged. Connie sighed again.
"He wasn't always like this." Her defense of him sounded halfhearted.
"You risked everything for this mission. Why wouldn't he trust you? You even showed him proof of … whatever it is that you found." Sister gestured vaguely at the woman.
"You're pretty bad at fishing for info kid," Connie chuckled.
"But not afraid to admit that I have no idea what's going on," Sister grinned. "You're the master spy here, after all."
"Ha! Hardly. If I was I'd be able to save them – all of them."
"Maybe you still can." Sister shrugged.
"I admire your optimism kid. Don't ever lost that. When you get cynical … it's like something breaks inside you," Connie said dully.
"I'll try to remember that." Sister said sincerely. That sat in silence for a long time after that.
%
Eventually, the Staff of Charon reached its destination and most of the crew disembarked at the planetside shipyard. Sister brought her own ship down into the huge hanger, and she, Tomoko, Cody, Kandyse, Cookie and Doc shuffled out of the ramshackle albatross.
"Now what?" Sister asked.
"Well, we've all got work to do, so …." Tomoko stared at Sister like a puzzle to solve for a moment before Cody spoke up.
"She can come with me. It never hurts to have an assistant."
"Great, you can show her the barracks later." Tomoko waved and the group scattered, leaving Sister feeling oddly lonely until Cody patted her on the back.
"Well, how do you feel about jet packs Sister?"
"They're impractical and dangerous," she replied emphatically. "I would much prefer some sort of teleportation device." Cody laughed.
"Well then, let's see what we can do with all the scrap parts from Girlie and Demo's last mission. Their report says they're certain they would have succeeded in stopping Freelancer if the jet packs hadn't been so hard to control."
Over the next days, Sister couldn't do much besides tinker with ships and jet packs and attempt to learn her way around the base. No one seemed to want to tell her where anything was, and she was being constantly scolded for going out of bounds.
Sven had eventually shown her where the training room was and introduced her to his robot-armed cousin Demo and the ironically named, overly-muscled, Sleeves. Sister convinced the hulk of a man to be her sparring partner, and was pleased at the new challenge the giant provided.
She hadn't seen Rick and Connie often, but they seemed to have stopped fighting and started looking a little more like two people who were trying not to be obvious in public that that were lovers in private. Sister watched Connie when the woman thought no one else was looking though. She would pace and chew at her bottom lip. There was a constant little crease between her eyebrows ash she frowned in concentration.
"You're gonna get wrinkles if you keep frowning like that." Sister said as she finished a set of pullups one day. Connie had been halfheartedly beating on a punching bag for the last half hour, and she looked up in surprise, as if she hadn't known Sister was there. The younger girl pulled the tie out of her braid and ran her fingers through her hair. Connie smiled.
"Do you want me to brush it out for you?" she asked.
"Sure." sister picked up her brush from her bag and tossed it to Connie. After a few minutes of brushing, Sister spoke.
"So, you're letting Rick think you've let it go … whatever it was."
"No one here trusts me. It would be too dangerous to keep bringing it up. There are more people here than just Rick's team. Actually, Sven and I have been thinking that … well, if things are as bad as I think then you – "
"I'm not leaving, Connie," Sister said flatly.
"They haven't found a good way to get you to your brother. There's no point in staying," Connie insisted. Sister spun around an looked Connie in the eyes.
"You're fighting corruption, Connie. Freelancer is supposed to be UNSC. Whoever illegally drafted my brother is supposed to be UNSC. This has to stop. I'm with you Connie. This is too important to go back to the moon and twiddle my thumbs!" Sister's voice was almost a shout as she finished her rant.
"Kaikaina, you're just a kid," Connie pleaded with her.
"No, I stopped being a kid the day they took my brother from me." Sister stared hard at Connie. Connie stared back.
"You're sure this is what you want, Sister?" Connie's eyes seemed to beg Sister to say no.
"More sure than I've ever been about anything," Sister said solemnly.
"And you trust me?" Connie asked cautiously.
"Yes." Sister's gaze didn't falter.
"All right … I'm still waiting on some information to come through, but if you're sure, I may need you to do something for me. You can't tell anyone. Not even Sven," Connie said.
"But Sven trusts you," Sister insisted.
"He also trusts Rick. You can't tell Sven until we're sure he's with us all the way. I love them, but this is bigger than us, Sister – way bigger." Connie threw her arms around Sister in a tight hug, then released her and backed toward the door. "I have to go, but we'll talk soon. Remember, not a word. Lives depend on this, Sister."