Disclaimer: Red vs. Blue belongs to Rooster Teeth, not me. I make no profit from this, and no copyright infringement is intended.
Chapter 22
Kaikaina would have liked to say her 15th birthday dawned bright and clear, with perfect waves for surfing breaking on a clear white beach. She kept her eyes closed a little longer and wondered if she could will the scene into existence. Instead, she got the door to her and Girlie's room slammed open loudly.
"Up and at 'em, kid! If you slacked off while I was recovering you'll regret it!" Girlie's voice came from the hall.
"You're back!" Sister flung herself from her bunk.
"Just docked ten minutes ago," Girlie replied with a grin. "Sven updated me on what you've been up to. Now get your armor on and your ass to the gym."
"Yes, boss!" Sister grinned happily and pulled on the armor undersuit she wore constantly now. Girlie was a welcome reprieve from Nate, who would pendulum between ignoring her completely and coming across full-on mad scientist. She jogged down to the lab to suit up. Nate was already there, along with a large man she didn't recognize.
"Hey, Girlie's training me today if you want to - do whatever it is you do - Nate."
"Not now, Sister," he said brusquely. "I have other projects to attend to," he said as he moved toward the armory side of the lab. She shrugged and turned toward the man she had seen before.
"Hi! I'm Sister. Who're you?"
"Terrence," he said after a moment's hesitation.
"Did you get back with Girlie?"
"Yeah."
"Were you in recovery too?"
"That tends to happen when you get a building dropped on you, yeah.'
"Ugh. That's rough, dude. Welcome back." Sister finished adjusting her armor and turned to go. Terrence turned away, joining Nate where he was taking down a rifle. She noticed that when Nate spoke to Terrence he whispered.
Girlie was impatiently waiting when Sister arrived in the training room, and she wasn't alone.
"Sister, meet Demo. Demo, meet Sister. You're gonna spar to help Demo adjust to his new appendages."
Demo raised both hands and wiggled robotic fingers at her.
"Oh cool! You're Sven's cousin, right?"
"Yeah, and you're his girlfriend?"
"Umm…." Sister was surprised to find herself blushing. She was fairly certain everyone knew she liked Sven, but everyone also knew she was lying about her age. They tended to ignore both facts, mostly because it was questionable which side of the law these people were on, but also because everyone knew Sven was weirdly noble for their crew, and wouldn't touch her until she was at least legal. Which meant having her crush pointed out was new, and weird.
"Ugh, don't encourage her," Girlie said and rolled her eyes.
"Where's your sense of romance?" Demo chuckled.
"Maybe the same place as your arms," Girlie shot back.
After a rigorous sparring match with both Demo and Girlie, Sister took off the armor's helmet and wiped her sweaty bangs out of her eyes.
"What next?" She asked.
"Sven wanted to see you. He said something about working on that junker ship of yours."
"Okay, cool." Sister turned to go.
"Hey kid," Girlie called after her.
"Yeah?"
"Good work today. I actually broke a sweat. You may eventually get good at this."
Sister stared in shock at the statement that was, coming from Girlie, glowing commendation. "What? Get out of here kid," Girlie huffed.
Sister grinned and continued on her way. When she got to the hangar and onto her ship, she saw nothing but a tarp over several crates.
"Sven, you in here?" she called. A sound behind her had her whirling around and drawing one of her knives.
"SURPRISE!" Happy Birthday!" Her friends stood at the bottom of the cargo ramp, grinning. Cookie held a brightly frosted cake, covered in a hodgepodge of candles as she, Doc, Cody, Kandyse, Tomoko, and Sven sang to her - in three languages, no less. Sister squealed happily and tucked her knife away.
"Aww, you guys! You're amazing!"
"Just think, only one more year of lying about your age," Tomoko said with a dry smirk.
"Ha! I'm sixteen! No matter what you say!"
"Sure you are. Again."
"But seriously, you guys didn't have to do anything. Thank you," Sister gushed.
"We get little enough to c-celebrate," Cody said shyly.
"It's nice to have someone to spoil again." Cookie sighed, with a pointed look at Sven, who rolled his eyes.
"Have to keep morale up," Doc Arts said cheerfully.
The cake was set down, and Sister took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and wished as hard as she could as she blew out the candles. Cake was passed around and the team enjoyed the hour to relax. When things settled, Sven stood and opened one of the crates.
"For you Kaikaina. From all of us," he said. Sister peered inside and her eyes widened.
"A rifle?! Really?!
"You're getting reasonably good. We know you like to help, but we'd all prefer to keep you out of the line of fire. It seemed like a good compromise."
"I - thank you. All of you," Sister breathed softly. It took her a moment to identify the fluttering feeling she was experiencing. She hadn't felt like she was with family in a long time, and was surprised to find that's what she felt now - one part of a whole.
"Of course, there are ulterior motives here, before you get all sappy about it," Girlie's voice sounded nearby. "We've got a mission. You get to be backup." Girlie sounded smug.
"Suit up people," Girlie called. "Break's over." Sister grinned happily as the group returned to their duties. Cody prepped the ship as the others gathered their gear.
"I'll keep everything ready to go while you're planetside. Tomoko's c-coming with too. Sh-she's going to be s-scrambling s-security systems while you and Girlie are backup for Rick and Sven as they go after a new lead," Cody explained.
"I've got a map for you kid. Memorize it by the time we land and you may be able to keep up." Girlie handed over a datapad. Sister read the mission briefing and memorized the map and emergency extraction plan while she got her armor calibrated and familiarized herself with her new rifle. At the last minute, Rick joined them, going over the mission with Sven and Girlie while Sister and Cody maneuvered the albatross out of the hangar. Tomoko had strapped herself in and began tapping away at her computer, ignoring everyone else.
Planetside, Sister sat on a rooftop looking through her rifle scope at Rick and Sven on the wide street below. So far, being on a mission was incredibly boring. Girlie was on the rooftop diagonal, set up similarly. Tomoko was behind Sister, hooking into the city's hardline of security. Everything was going well as their source approached. They claimed to have information regarding Connie's defection from Freelancer and stolen data as well.
A woman approached in nondescript clothes with just a hint of a limp. Sister narrowed her eyes, suspicious. She remembered the green-armored Freelancer limping. Maybe she was paranoid, but …. She promptly tried to radio Sven - and nothing happened.
"Tomoko! Are comms on the fritz?" Sister demanded.
"Hang on … Fuck … Yeah, I've got interference. Look for bogeys."
"Shitballs, that's a Freelancer down there. This is a setup!" She swung her rifle up and scanned building tops until - "There! Sniper!"
Sister spotted a figure - too large to be properly hidden - on another rooftop. She took aim but hesitated. Could she really just shoot a person? Sister let out a shaky breath and pulled the trigger. Two shots echoed across the air.
"Fuck, who's hit?!" Tomoko shouted.
Sister swung her scope around in time to see the possible Freelancer duck for cover, along with Rick and Sven. Sister's first shot had missed, she knew, but so had the other sniper's. She lined up on the sniper again, heart pounding. She breathed - fired again. It hit just inches shy, making the gunman flinch.
"I've got comms up!" Tomoko shouted. Sister heard another shot and a thud behind her and glanced back to see Tomoko on the ground.
"S'okay just grazed, get the fucker," she grunted and turned to gather her equipment. Sister spun and took aim once more.
The gunman had given up being subtle and was standing on the ledge - aiming for Sven. Sister stopped hesitating and fired. The other sniper toppled back as Sister watched a spray of blood spurt from his knee. She looked down and saw Rick on the ground on top of Sven. He had seen the sniper and tried to push Sven out of the way, but Sister could see blood on the ground around them, and neither of them had gotten up.
"NO!" Everything seemed a blur for a moment as panic overtook Sister's senses. She refocused a moment later to a ruckus over the radio. Sven, Rick, and Cody were talking over one another - Cody was flying directly to them. Girlie wasn't answering on the radio. Sven was bleeding and pissed about it, and Rick was telling them to enact emergency protocols.
Rick sprinted away to find Girlie. Hopefully, she was still alive. Cody arrived and lowered cables for the three of them. Sven managed to get hooked up, and Cody reeled him in. Sister hooked up Tomoko, noting the amount of blood as she did - much more than a graze - then pulled herself up last, all the while processing what she had seen.
Nate - whispering to Terrence and handing him a rifle. The man on the roof matching Terrence's build. The woman Sister suspected was the green Freelancer, ducking and running as if she was the one being attacked. Everything Sven had told her about Nate….
She shoved Cody out of the pilot's seat.
"Take care of them," she snapped. "I'll fly." She tore off her helmet and disabled the link to the Staff of Charon in the armor - the first thing she had taught herself to do with the armor. She scrambled everything on her ship as Tomoko had taught her - even so that their own team couldn't find them - and reset her coordinates.
They'd been set up, and not by Freelancer. There was no way she was taking them back to the Staff of Charon or their safehouses. She took them into the black.
xxx
Girlie sprinted up the stairs to where the sniper had been trying to take out her team. She kicked open the door to the roof, ready to fire - and froze in her tracks.
"Terrence?" she asked, shocked.
"Hey Barb," Terrence grunted as he wrenched a tourniquet tight above his knee.
"What the actual fuck?! Why are you here? Why are you shooting at our own team dick face?" Girlie snarled. Terrence sighed and wiped his bloody hands on his pants.
"Nate's orders. He says the kid is a spy, and Sven is compromised."
"The kid. A spy. That is laughable, Terrence."
"Maybe you're compromised too," Terrence said petulantly, reaching a hand out toward her.
"Seriously? I'm the one who's been training her for months. You just got back, and Nate is a psycho," Girlie argued as she grabbed his hand and helped him up.
"Too late now I guess," Terrence shrugged.
"You're right about that," another voice echoed from the stairwell. Girlie and Terrence whipped their heads toward the voice. The woman Rick and Sven had been meant to meet stood in the stairwell, pointing a large gun at them. Girlie moved in front of Terrence, to cover the injured man. Before either of them could raise their guns however, the woman fired, and a stun net hit them both, knocking them to the ground.
"By order of the UNSC, you are under arrest."
xxx
Sven woke in a hospital bed under a bright, sterile light in - a warehouse? He grunted as he sat up, wincing at the pain in his leg. The bullet wound had been professionally tended, but he had no idea where he was. The only reassurance was that his pistol lay on the table beside him - still loaded.
He picked it up with one hand and grabbed a crutch that leaned beside it with the other. He hobbled out of the little room made of plastic curtain and looked around cautiously. Across the makeshift "hallway" he looked through a viewing window in another plastic curtain and saw Kaikaina sitting in a chair, turning her helmet around in her hands thoughtfully. She looked exhausted. In the bed beside her, hooked up to half a dozen tubes and machines, lay Tomoko, unconscious, looking pale and weak. Sven staggered into the room, and Kaikaina looked up with red-rimmed eyes. After a moment she spoke.
"Gutshot," she croaked weakly. "She's stable. And your own bullet missed any bone or artery."
"Where are we?" Where are the others?" Sven asked
"Cody's sleeping - on the 'tross. We're … at a friend's place."
"A friend?" Sven pushed, suspicious. He didn't know Kaikaina had any other friends out here. The curtain rustled behind them.
"Ah, you're awake. Excellent." Sven turned to the man in a white lab coat behind him, gripping his pistol a bit tighter.
"Sven, this is …." Sister hesitated, realizing she had never learned the man's name when Brennan brought her here before.
"Doctor Henry Edward Grey, at your service." He grinned widely.
"He's patched me up before," Sister said weakly. Sven's eyes narrowed, assessing the man.
"Before. When you were with -"
"Can we not do the overprotective thing right now please!" Sister snapped. Sven sighed, nodded, holstered his gun.
"We were set up, Sven! From the inside! It was that guy Terrence on the roof!" Sister continued as Sven turned back toward her.
Sven frozen.
"How do you know?" he asked, his voice full of quiet danger.
"I can't prove it. But I'm sure it was him, Sven," she said stubbornly. "Nate sent him. It isn't safe to go back to the Staff of Charon," Sister insisted. Sven looked taken aback.
"No." He slashed his hand through the air between them defiantly. "Not Terrence."
"What? I saw Nate whispering to him and handing him a rifle before I left!" Sister said, incredulous.
"Of course you did," Sven sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Nate runs the armory. Everyone gets their weapons from him. Terrence is back on duty, so of course -"
"Don't you patronize me, Sven! Not after you told me to be on the lookout for exactly this!" Sister snapped.
"Terrence would never endanger Girlie. They are - together."
"They're - what." Sister's eyes widened at this news. "Holy shitballs, I shot Girlie's boyfriend? She's gonna fucking murder me. Oh. No. Nononono - she was in on it wasn't she?" Sister whispered in shock, half to herself.
"Wait, what?"
"I kneecapped the sniper after he shot you and Tomoko. I mean, I wasn't aiming for his knees, but at least I hit him."
"Kaikaina, Terrence would have no reason to shoot Tomoko -"
"He was aiming for me!" she shouted over him angrily.
"Terrence does not miss," Sven growled.
"Well, maybe he does when he's recovering from a building being dropped on him," Sister snapped viciously.
"But Girlie -"
"Didn't check in afterward." Sister snapped, cutting Sven off. Fraught silence filled the space between them.
"What?" Sven asked after a moment, voice full of shock. Sister huffed and glared back at him. She had left the chair at some point, and stood toe to toe with him.
"She fired no shots to defend any of us," Sister continued, quietly seething. "She stayed radio silent. And when we left she wasn't on the roof. She's either dead - or Bad."
"And Rick?"
"Went to find her. I scrambled the signal after that."
"And what about the woman," Sven demanded. "The one we were supposed to meet for intel?"
"Pretty sure that was actually that green armored Freelancer from before. She hightailed it out of there as if she was the target - which means Nate's power grab cost us valuable intel!"
"Or, it was a trap set by Freelancer. Girlie brought us the info for the meet. She hates Freelancer. She wants to take them down. And she cares about you Kaikaina. She wouldn't endanger you or Tomoko."
"Oh, sure, and a mercenary spy can't fake it?!"
"Girlie is loyal!"
"To who Sven?! To Charon? The organization that Connie didn't trust, and now she's dead?" Sister screamed. Sven flinched, hard.
"Oh! Yeah! I said it! She's dead Sven! She's not coming back! She didn't trust Charon any more than she trusted Freelancer, but she died trusting me - that I could figure it all out! She told me not to even trust you! That you get too attached, so you can't even see! You're not Insurrection! You're not UNSC! You're not fighting aliens or corruption! You're just a pawn in someone else's game! What are you fighting for Sven? Why are you even here!?" Sister cried.
She stormed out of the warehouse, hot tears streaming down her face. Sven leaned on his crutch as he watched her go, then sat down heavily in the chair Sister had vacated, dropping both crutch and gun, and put his head in his hands. He barely glanced up as Dr. Grey put down Tomoko's medical charts and quietly left the room.