Legal Disclaimer: I do not own Red vs. Blue or any of the show's characters. They are the rightful properties of Rooster Teeth.
Chapter Two:
Dexter Grif ended up scarfing down another plateful of food at the stall before he decided to head back to his home. After all, he had worked pretty hard today. Who knew what kind of hassles would be waiting for them in Armonia? So, damn it, the Orc felt like he had earned a bit of a snack without judgement!
Of course, that meant that it was quite a bit later when he finally left the stall to begin heading down the peaceful winding streets of Blood Gulch towards his home. The late afternoon sun was already casting long shadows in-between the buildings.
The glimmer of the Relic-powered barrier that protected the town from Plague Monsters was much more pronounced now than it had been earlier in the day. It was truly a sight to behold at night though.
Grif smiled inwardly at the sudden memory that came to mind of Simmons' green eyes lighting up in wonder the first time the redhead had seen the barrier all aglow on a starlit night.
The tan-skinned man meandered through the streets he called home, somewhat amazed at how the town had grown on him since his mother had transplanted their family there years before. Sure, the place had its problems, as all shitholes do. But, it was nowhere near as hostile an environment as their earlier homes located deeper in Orc territory had been, especially for a way-too-young Magic User or a half Orc, half Beast Folk child who would eventually be left to grow up all on their own.
As he reminisced, the Orc meandered towards his destination. The Grif house itself was a tiny but sturdy building designed to fit a family of three quite cozily.
It had always felt almost too big when it had been just him and Kai, but even Grif found himself a bit surprised at how the redheaded nerd's presence made it feel more comfortable. Having the Magic User there felt right in a way that Grif had a hard time describing in words.
As he entered the home, the dark-haired man was surprised to find Richard "Dick" Simmons in his room. The lanky kiss-ass was struggling in his thoughts regarding the amount of items that he had collected in his stay here over the months.
"What are you doing?" Grif asked, already knowing that the lack of Kai meant that she had no doubt gone to tell their friend Tucker the news as the Beast Folk would undoubtedly want to go back as well since Junior was in Armonia.
"What does it look like?" Simmons squeaked indignantly, gesturing to the items strewn about his usually immaculate room, "I'm trying to figure out what to pack!"
Grif glanced over at a paper nearby, raising a black eyebrow, "Did you seriously make a chart?"
The freckled face went red at the teasing tone in Grif's voice, "They—they help me get organized, all right?" Simmons muttered lamely.
"Just when I thought you couldn't get any nerdier." The Orc couldn't help teasing.
"Oh, bite me." Simmons looked away in embarrassment, mumbling, "It's not like I've traveled much."
Grif frowned slightly, knowing the truth in the pale man's words and feeling slightly guilty about teasing Simmons given how sheltered he had been before.
He sighed, tossing the chart out the hallway as he did so and ignoring Simmons' cry of protest over the action, "Pack minimally." He advised, "You'll see why tomorrow."
As he left Simons to ponder over his words, Grif couldn't help the smile that tugged at his lips as he picked up the discarded chart and headed towards his room. He loved surprising Simmons, and he figured their means of travel tomorrow would definitely do just that.
Suddenly, he was at least looking forward to going too if it meant he could show Simmons more of the life he had been denied before.
Lavernius Tucker was already waiting for the three of them in the town square early the next morning, arms folded across his chest and his foot tapping on the ground impatiently. There was an eager alertness in his brown eyes, along with the perkiness of his black-furred ears and the swishing of his tail. Though that could easily be explained by how long it had been since he had last seen his son face-to-face.
"It took you guys long enough." He stated in way of greeting, tilting his head slightly.
"Don't blame us." Kai stated matter-of-factly, looking pointedly at her brother, "Blame this chubby asshole for sleeping in. Again."
Grif yawned, as if determined to prove the girl's point for her, giving the finger towards her general direction, "I had plenty of time, Kai."
Simmons snorted, "Only because we couldn't leave without you."
Grif nodded satisfactorily, "See? The system works."
Tucker rolled his eyes, practically bouncing on the balls of his feet and definitely eager to see his son once more, "Whatever, man. Let's hurry up and go!"
As Kai fished through the satchel she had grabbed on the way out the door, Simmons looked around the rather empty town center in puzzlement.
"Are we traveling by foot?" The redhead asked due to the obvious lack of any nearby transports or pack animals.
At first Tucker seemed perplexed by his question, until a dawning realization crossed over his features. The dark-skinned man grinned, his ears perking up even more, "That's right! You've never traveled with these before, have you?"
"With what?" Simmons looked on in confusion as Kai produced some kind of odd-looking spherical object.
"They're called Future Cubes." Grif said in way of explanation.
"Dude, I keep telling you that name is never going to stick." Tucker sighed exasperatedly.
"Well, that's what they should be called." Grif muttered defensively.
"They're actually just referred to as Teleportation Orbs." Tucker explained to Simmons, "The name probably explains the rest."
"You just throw one of these at someone and they disappear. So, when you or someone else throws another one, they'll reappear." Grif added, "Pretty fucking sweet, huh?"
Simmons was staring at the one that Kai was holding curiously, trying to process what they had said about the device's ability, "But how does that even work?"
Grif sighed, "No point in wondering, Simmons. Just be glad it does."
Simmons frowned at the inherent lack of desire to simply know in that sentence, when suddenly another thought crossed his mind, "But if someone has to throw another one for someone to reappear, then…"
What happens if they didn't? It was such a disconcerting thought that he couldn't even finish asking the question out loud.
"Oh, don't worry about that!" Tucker assured him, "We've got that covered."
Simmons looked over at Grif then, "Is this why you told me to pack lightly?"
A dark-haired nod was the Orc's response, "Pretty much."
"Are you guys ready to go or what?" Kai asked, sounding bored, "I've got places to be. You know, people to do."
Grif frowned at her last remark, "Kai!"
The younger Grif stuck her tongue out at her brother, grinning, "I know, I know! No embarrassing the family. Or house fires. Again."
The chubby man relaxed slightly at her reiteration of his few rules.
"…That you'll know of." She added a split-second later.
"God damn it, Kai!"
The tan-skinned girl winked at Simmons, "Look after my dumbass brother for me, nerd! Okay?" Kai asked him right before she nodded slightly towards the whole group, "See you guys soon!"
Before the older Grif sibling could respond or yell anymore profanities, the dark-haired girl tossed the orb their way and suddenly the whole street disappeared, only to be replaced by…sky?
"Ow!" Simmons winced as the back of his head suddenly hit the ground and he realized he was looking up at completely different, much larger buildings than he knew to be in Blood Gulch.
Grif came into view a second later, holding his hand out to a still pain-riddled and groggy Simmons while Tucker appeared very nonchalantly a moment later.
"Sorry." He mumbled, "I forgot things can get jumbled when it comes to traveling through the cubes."
Simmons blinked and allowed Grif to help pull him up. "Where are we?" he asked, looking around.
They were in what appeared to be a pretty decent-sized city, especially when compared to the smaller town of Blood Gulch. Even though it was large, there seemed to be a sense of freedom and more space here than he had ever felt in the huge city of Valhalla.
"We're in Armonia." Grif told him, watching Simmons look around with a slight smile on his own face, "It's the capital of Chorus."
Chorus was one of the larger territories in the Outer Regions. Simmons had heard of it in his studies because it was an important part of the coalition, and also because it was the home of the Guild. As far as he knew, it was about as far to travel to from Blood Gulch as was possible for one to still be considered in the Outer Regions. The city also held a sizable Seas population, and had the closest airship travel to the Unsc Empire.
That last note in particular had him a bit worried if this visit turned out to be a bigger issue than Grif thought it would be.
"You okay?" Grif seemed to be reading his thoughts given how seriously he was regarding him then, his larger hand tightening in a reassuring grip.
"I—I'm fine." Simmons squeaked out, face reddening slightly.
"Whoa there!" A friendly, cheerful voice suddenly called out, "That was a bumpy ride, huh?"
The trio turned to see two younger people around Kai's age standing nearby. One of them, the dark-skinned young man who had just spoken up, was smiling sheepishly with his hand behind his head. The other person, a pretty blond-haired girl, looked at all three apologetically.
"We're so sorry, sirs!" The young woman stated quickly, bowing her head, "That wasn't how the landing was supposed to go."
"Hey, no worries!" Tucker was flashing a reassuring grin her way, "Those orbs aren't the most reliable when it comes to reappearances."
Simmons rubbed the back of his head and glared at his two friends. Shouldn't they have told him something like that so he could have been better prepared?
"Are you two from the Guild?" Grif ignored Simmons' glare, apparently deciding it best to cut into the conversation before Tucker could embarrass himself with flirting attempts.
"Yes." The blonde nodded, relaxing somewhat at now knowing they weren't in trouble due to what had happened, "We're Guild trainees."
Ah, so they were new recruits. No wonder they were acting so deferential to Grif and Tucker then.
"I'm Charles Palomo!" The young man said in way of greeting, motioning to his partner with a hand wave, "This here's Volleyball."
"Nickname." She assured them, "Don't ask."
"Well, I just figured it was because you kept volleying—!" Tucker was cut off when Grif hit him, "Ow!"
"We're to escort you to the Guild Hall whenever you're ready." Volleyball, to her credit, acted as though Tucker had not even spoken before.
"No time like the present." Grif muttered, catching Simmons' eye as the other man gulped and nodded nervously.
The giant but surprisingly humble-looking building that served as the Guild headquarters was in stark contrast to the imposing sight of the Unsc embassy just a few blocks away. Simmons had nervously walked past it with his head lowered and Grif shielding him from view despite the assurances from the others traveling with them that the redhead would be fine. As the group continued to head towards what was essentially the Guild's home base, Tucker walked over to the two trainees.
"So Bones is home, right?" The Beast Folk asked them, "I know it's usually her day off."
Palomo nodded, "That is correct, sir!"
"Awesome." He grinned, "Thanks for the info."
"Bones?" Simmons whispered over to Grif.
"A friend from the Guild. A healer." The Orc said in way of explanation, "She volunteers to watch Junior whenever Tucker has missions."
"I'm back now, so I'm definitely going to go and surprise my kid!" Tucker was grinning from ear to ear with anticipation, waving to Grif and Simmons as he turned to leave, "Hope the meeting goes well—!"
He stopped abruptly when he nearly walked into a blond Seas. The man with gray and yellow-tinged skin glared slightly in annoyance, his clothes the same gray and yellow tones as his body. Seas often wore same colored clothes as a form of camouflage for when they were swimming in their waters.
"Sorry, dude. Kind of in a hurry." Tucker remarked quickly before adding, "But, you know, it takes two to watch where they're going."
Gray eyes a few shades darker than the gray found on both the Seas' body and clothing widened incredulously, "That doesn't even make any sense. At all."
"Sure it does." Tucker waved again at the others before sauntering off, "Later, guys!"
With that, the Beast Folk was gone to track down Bones and his son. Tucker left the Seas man staring at where he had been before the stranger turned to the rest of the group as if looking for answers as to what had just happened.
All four of them whistled and tried looking as nonchalant as possible, leaving the blond to sigh in annoyed frustration and be on his way.
Currently, the head of the Guild was a Seas woman named Vanessa Kimball. The walk to her office was a quiet one since Volleyball and Palomo had both gone off to perform their other duties after leading Grif and Simmons to the entrance of the Guild's headquarters.
Since Grif had been here many times before, he naturally took the lead up the stairs to Kimball's room.
The door was already open, three figures standing in the middle of the office space and seemingly in the midst of a conversation.
"…That concludes our findings." A black-haired man stated with his back towards them.
A dark-skinned Seas woman with aqua tinges whom Simmons assumed was Vanessa Kimball nodded, "Excellent work, you two. As always."
"Well," the brown-haired man with a scar running across one of his eyes smiled at the praise, "It is always a pleasure to work for the boss lady."
Which meant that Simmons was right in his guess that the woman was Kimball. A fact that was further made clear to Simmons when Grif coughed, causing all three to turn towards them.
"You wanted to see me…us?" Grif asked into the sudden quiet.
The Seas' gaze went from him to Simmons and back again, a slight smile on her face, "That's right."
The two men standing close to Kimball looked at one another before speaking up.
"We'll see ourselves out. Maybe the trainees need some help or something." The brown-haired man stated, nodding towards Grif as they moved past the two of them, "Hey, Grif."
"Hey, York." Grif greeted back.
There was something vaguely familiar about the name, but Simmons was too busy staring at the man's partner to notice.
The black-haired man regarded Simmons curiously, "Can I help you?" He asked.
Simmons blinked, shaking his head. No matter how much he looked at him, Simmons couldn't help but feel like he was looking at a different version of Church.
But there was no way that could be true given how much lankier this man was compared to his cousin. Plus, there was the fact that he had glasses and that his voice was completely different. But still! For some reason, the man standing before him reminded the redhead an awful lot of Church.
"S—sorry!" Simmons finally managed to squeak out in embarrassment when he realized just how long he had been staring, "You just remind me of someone."
"D has that effect on people." York commented with a remark that seemed to be something of an inside joke between the two men.
"If it helps any, I can assure you that this is the first time we've met." 'D' stated quietly in a polite and friendly voice before nodding once more in farewell and exiting along with York.
Simmons shook his head once more, thoughts of his missing cousin disappearing when Kimball cleared her throat. She was sitting at her desk now, motioning for the two of them to also take a seat.
The second they did so, she began without preamble, "Grif, you really need to file reports in a timely fashion."
The tan-skinned man sighed, "I know, I know."
"Fortunately there wasn't a major incident that came out of this. But there easily could have been." The dark-haired woman looked exasperated, "Those reports help us keep facts straight."
"I was distracted." The excuse sounded lame even from him, and Grif looked over at Simmons subconsciously for a second.
Kimball regarded Simmons carefully just then as well, "So I see." She said at length, "Simmons, correct?"
"Y—yes?" The redhead sat up straighter under her regard.
"I finally received Grif's report the other day, but is there anything you'd like to add about what happened?" Kimball asked him, voice both serious and gentle all at once.
The parts that he could remember he really didn't want to dwell on. Besides, he had a feeling that Grif had covered them well enough. As for the others…
"How I got through the barrier without dying, I—I can't say." Simmons admitted apologetically, shoulders slumping, "It's mostly a jumbled blur."
"I see." She nodded thoughtfully, tapping webbed fingers on her desk, "That makes sense given how Tucker and Grif described your condition afterwards."
Her words from earlier came back to Simmons and he glanced at her curiously, "There really was no incident with Valhalla?"
Given what had happened, it would seem like protocol would have dictated some response, even if Simmons wasn't considered a top-tier Magic User by anyone in the Magic Division.
Kimball shook her head, frowning, "We haven't heard a peep from the Unsc over this."
"But that's—!" Even Grif seemed surprised by the admission.
"…Highly unusual, yes." Kimball's frown deepened as she interrupted, "In the rare cases when a Magic User can escape to the Outer Regions, the Unsc at least files a report with us. They often even agree to our request to grant refugee status, though reluctantly." The Seas stared at Simmons as she continued, "But they never so much as said a word about what happened this time," she smiled, "So I honestly just wanted to meet you to make sure you were real."
"It was a pretty big event. The Orcs were even all pissy about it at first." Grif frowned at whatever memory that comment dredged up in his mind about how his own people had reacted, "I don't get it."
"Neither do I." Kimball looked at them carefully, "If it weren't you and Tucker who were involved, I would swear this whole thing was planned on purpose."
As if Simmons would ever prove that useful to the Unsc. He smiled ruefully, remembering his father's face the day his magic ability had been confirmed before muttering: "Or maybe no one cared enough to file the report."
Silence filled the room following that, with Simmons unable to look at either person's face just then. Particularly Grif's, for some reason. Instead, he stared at the hands resting in his lap and willed himself not to cry in public.
After a few moments, Kimball spoke up gently, "Grif says you are trying to research Remnants, Simmons?"
He nodded, not currently trusting his own voice.
"We can always use Guild members who are interested in that kind of research." She stated, motioning towards Grif, "If you'd like, Grif could sponsor you as a member. That way, you'd have Guild backing for all of your ventures."
Simmons looked at her in surprise, "R—really?"
A dark-haired nod, "Really."
There was a brief buzzing of an Artifact Communicator on her desk, and the Seas woman suddenly glared at the square, metallic object. "I forgot that I have a meeting with the Unsc representative." Kimball muttered, nodding to the two of them dismissively with a terse tone to her voice, "You'll have to excuse me."
Grif tugged on Simmons' shoulder as he stood up, dragging the redhead with him, "Come on, nerd. We have some paperwork to fill out."
Simmons stared at the Orc questioningly, shocked that Grif of all people would want to voluntarily leave to go and do actual work.
Grif saw the green-eyed expression and rolled his eyes, whispering, "Trust me. You do not want to be in the room when Kimball and Doyle start talking."
The reason for the tan-skinned man's earlier remark was made apparent when Grif and Simmons brought the sponsor paperwork to the front desk. Even from where her office was located up on the top floor, they could hear two distinct voices yelling loudly at one another from Kimball's office.
One was that of the Guild's leader, while the other was a heavily-accented male voice that belonged to the Unsc representative named Donald Doyle.
Evidently, diplomacy could be a frightening thing.
Grif could tell that Simmons was about to ask if that was how all of their meetings really went when someone came up to take his Guild registry papers.
The person stopped, busy staring at Simmons incredulously with their clear, crystalline hand poised over the forms. "Simmons," the woman breathed out, eyes widened in shock, "Is it really you?"
Simmons paused, recognition flaring in his mind a second later, "Sheila?"
She smiled at both of them and the Orc recognized her as a Guild member from the Unsc.
"It is nice to see you again!" Sheila told Simmons, her crystalline body beaming from the light along with her smile and voice.
Author's Notes: This second chapter was difficult to write since I needed to create more set-up for future story happenings. I apologize if it seems written oddly given that! On the plus side, some more characters introduced into the plot (did anyone catch Washington?) and a few more familiar faces will be meeting up with Grif and Simmons in the third chapter too! :)
I hope that you enjoyed this chapter at least! Thank you as always for taking the time to read this story! :D