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 Four:

C.T. stood uneasily with the small remainder of the Insurrection. What once was a group that had hundreds of members was now reduced to a mere thirty.

She couldn't help but frown at the memory of how that reduction had come to be. Before its collapse, Freelancer had done a number on the Insurrection. Sometimes even she herself had been forced to participate in the Freelancer attacks in order to keep her cover.

Though C.T. had never resorted to using lethal force, it didn't make many of the Insurrection members particularly fond of the Freelancer spy. Not to mention that her decision to not kill often also penalized her position in the Freelancer ranks as well.

Also unfortunate for the Insurrection's ranks, they had met resistance from some exceptionally tough Plague Beasts when they had gone on retrieval missions for Remnants from various Outer Regions locales before either the Guild, Unsc Empire, the Coalition, or other groups could.

Things had only gotten worse following the death of the Insurrection's leader, a loss that C.T. still felt for far too personal of reasons. In-fighting over what the group should do next had resulted in either more death or just number losses in the form of deserters.

Not that C.T. could truly blame those who left. Try as she and Sharkface might, it did seem more often than not that those remaining in the group were currently drifting aimlessly.

Which she supposed was the main reason as to why events had led them here of all places. The brunette frowned, glancing over at the steel-colored mercenaries on the other side of the forested area.

The Insurrection were the ones who had suggested the two factions meet here, in what was neutral territory for both parties involved. It was a practical move from a strategic sense, but C.T. still couldn't help but feel ill at ease. After all, they were dealing with Charon.

Their reputation was even less stellar than what the Insurrection's was out in the Outer Regions, especially if you dug just a little bit deeper into their activities. …Which C.T. was always in the habit of doing: a habit from her Freelancer days. That natural suspicion was one of the reasons why she had even started questioning some of her own group's activities as of late.

Wash and South would both just say she had far too inquisitive of a mind for her own good and, with the pang she felt at the sudden reminder of her old Freelancer friends, the dark-eyed female realized their memory still hurt too much.

She glanced over at Sharkface, who was pacing impatiently nearby as they waited for things to get underway, "Still think this is a good idea?" C.T. asked him.

The Insurrection member paused, casting a dark-eyed glare her way that was noticeable even through his decorated helmet. Like so many of the Insurrection's inner circle, he had always had a hard time trusting her due to her time in Freelancer and the Unsc, though that distrust had mellowed somewhat due to the two of them being the only ones still standing. Still, suspicions died hard and C.T. had learned a long time ago not to take things like that personally.

"If you have a better idea," the brown-haired man told her snidely, "I'd love to hear it."

C.T. had to remain silent at that comment because she didn't have one. Not really. Merging with Charon was the only remotely sensible thing the Insurrection could do to remain afloat.

Sharkface snorted at her silence, "Didn't think so." He muttered before glancing over at their dwindled numbers and then back over at the numerous Charon members on the other side of the meeting area, "Besides, if it means finally getting revenge, I don't really care who we join up with."

That was always first and foremost on her teammate's mind these days. Not that the brunette could really blame the scarred man for it. Still, it did mean that it was a wasted effort to try talking to him about things like "the bigger picture" and C.T. desperately missed those types of idealistic conversations.

Her unease over the current situation only intensified when two figures strode out into the center of the field: one with orange mixed in with the steel of their armor, the other with green.

It seemed as if it was time to begin the meeting then. As the designated leaders of what remained of the Insurrection, C.T. and Sharkface walked forward as well.

"How's it going?" The brown-haired man in orange and steel asked jovially enough with a carefree grin on his face, "I'm Felix, and this is Locus."

His large comrade remained stoically silent at the introduction, making him virtually impossible for the brown-armored woman to get a read on.

There was a sharp, assessing glint in Felix's eyes a moment later when he most have noticed her tactical gaze that only intensified C.T.'s growing concern over what was taking place here, "Let's talk business!"

She crawled through the underbrush, trying to make herself seem as inconspicuous as possible. Katie Jensen had never been more terrified in her entire life, save that one horrible instant when she had lost her parents.

"Where'd the little brat go?" A voice called out from somewhere nearby.

"Don't know, but hurry the fuck up and find her!"

The brunette swallowed nervously, hands shaking as she reached a broken off section of wall in wherever-in-the-Outer-Regions they were. She dived under the wall for better cover, hoping that she wouldn't be staying in this unknown area for too long.

Her heart was hammering away in her chest despite knowing that, even if she was caught, she couldn't be physically harmed due to her invulnerability. It was her stupid, frustrating ability as a Magic User and the reason why she was in this predicament in the first place. The tan-skinned girl frowned at the reminder.

Years ago, Jensen had been the only one to walk away from a transport accident that had taken not only her parents from her, but Andersmith's family too. She hadn't gotten a scratch on her, but the others hadn't been so lucky. They had all died immediately

Andersmith, a family friend, took her in after the accident. He adopted her, treated her like family. He never blamed her, but even though she knew logically that she hadn't been responsible for the tragedy, the guilt had been too much.

So, Jensen had signed up to be a mechanic on an airship without even telling her guardian about it until it was too late. The freckled girl hadn't even had the courage to tell him face-to-face. Instead, she broke the news to him in the form of a letter.

It had been a stupid, childish thing to do. But, Jensen had needed to just get away from herself for a while. The Magic User needed to be away from Andersmith's unyielding kindness in the face of his own unimaginable grief.

She smiled self-deprecatingly at the memory because her luck was truly terrible. In an ironic twist, what should happen next after she made her decision on what she thought was going to be best for her? Well, the airship she was working on was attacked by these steel-armored jerks currently chasing her. Naturally.

The group had actually allowed most of the airship crew and passengers to go free. However, Jensen and the pilot, a dwarven woman simply known as Four Seven Niner, were taken into custody due to being Magic Users.

They had been brought to this secluded ruins area while the Magic User hunters awaited further orders. That was when Four Seven Niner had provided a distraction by punching their guard while telling Jensen to run, and she had. Which, of course, led back to the here and now.

Jensen looked from her hiding spot out into a forest several meters away. If she could make it there, then then odds were good that she could lose her pursuers and find some help.

"Hey, kid!" A loud voice called out, clearly addressing her.

Jensen froze, back going still against the wall rubble.

"Come on out, nice and slow! If you do, we won't have to do something that we'll all regret later."

"Oh, that's real fucking original."

The female voice speaking sarcastically just then was so familiar that Jensen couldn't help but glance beyond the ruined wall.

Sure enough, Four Seven Niner was being held by a man in steel with a sword to her throat. Judging by the bruising on her tan face but the heavier coloring on the man's own face, the dwarf had put up one hell of a fight before getting caught.

The man caught sight of Jensen and pressed the blade closer to Niner's throat, drawing blood, "You have three seconds to make up your mind, kid." He warned her.

"No!" Jensen shouted, running out from behind the wall. She couldn't go through that kind of guilt again.

Two others in steel were waiting for her, grabbing her arms and pulling her over to where the man in charge and Niner were. They forcibly dropped both females to the ground, this time securing their wrists behind their backs with lengths of rope.

As the grumbling men went back to business as usual, Jensen whispered to Niner, "I—I'm sorry! I just couldn't—!"

Niner sighed, shaking her head and cutting the girl off, "It's all right, kid. It was a pretty big gamble on my part anyways."

The two Magic Users sat in silence for a few minutes while waiting for whatever happened next before the dark-haired older woman sighed once more, "I'm just glad my brother didn't decide to ride with me today. That would have made this whole situation fifty times worse."

Jensen, knowing that the pilot was trying to cheer her up a little, smiled nervously and tried not to think about whatever might be in store for them.

Leonard Church woke up with a large groan, his blue eyes opening to a view of the rocky tunnel above him. His head fucking hurt.

"What happened?" Were the first words out of his mouth a second later as his brain started to process his environment once more.

"Someone tripped and a rock may have hit your head. Yeah, we don't know who did it." Caboose's voice came from somewhere nearby, "Right, Freckles?"

"AFFIRMATIVE." The blue-wearing dwarf's gun familiar stated, not at all convincingly.

"I think we can all agree that it was definitely not anyone's fault here," Caboose continued, nodding his blond head at what Freckles had said moments before, "Especially not mine."

Well, that answered that question.

Church glared slightly up at the dwarf, hating how tall he was comparatively. It made Caboose look as though he were towering above the dark-haired man, especially at this angle.

Truthfully, it was a major misnomer in the Unsc that dwarves were short. The only actual difference between dwarves and humans was that dwarves lived underground and, as a result, had keener eyesight and other senses.

Carolina, who had been ahead of him in the tunnel, had come back and was now peering over her brother with both an amused and concerned look in her green eyes.

"You all right?" She finally asked him, proffering a hand to help him stand up.

He took the help gratefully, "Fucking fantastic." Church muttered, rubbing the bruise that was sure to be on the side of his face just then thanks to Caboose's trip earlier, "Remind me again why we have to search for Remnants here?"

In the past, there had been several Remnants and Relics that had been found in the mining tunnels that the dwarves called home. But, most of the well-mapped veins had been cleared of them already.

Their little travelling party was currently in a recently opened up ancient tunnel surprisingly close to Armonia. In fact, the Church siblings were the first Guild members to officially investigate it. Though, beyond a few Relics here and there, it seemed as if Caboose's ancestors had done a fine job clearing the tunnel of anything remotely valuable before they had it sealed in disuse.

"You're the one who volunteered us for this kind of Guild work." Carolina couldn't help but remind him.

The goateed man sighed, "Don't fucking remind me."

It was better than doing nothing or fighting endless waves of Plague Beasts, a task he knew his sister would have no issue with. But, truthfully? Not by much.

In this case, the task at hand was made all the harder by their Guild-appointed guide. Every time they'd worked with Caboose in the past had been yet another headache for Church, in one way or another.

Carolina looked thoughtful for a moment, as if remembering something, "Any word from Delta or Theta?" she asked.

He frowned at the names, remembering the earlier sense of unease he had picked up from them both. Closing his eyes, he reached out with his mind again only to be met with similar sensations.

"It's the same as last time." He informed his sister, "Something is going on, but they haven't felt the need to communicate and tell us to get back quick."

Carolina frowned at the information, nodding slightly, "Let me know the second anything changes."

He nodded, knowing that it was best that they play it safe until they knew more about what was going on, "In the meanwhile," and Church couldn't help but groan here, "It's back to Remnant hunting, huh?"

The redhead nodded her head, smiling slightly as Caboose grinned and clapped his hands together, "Oh, yay! We get to explore more with two of our bestest friends, Freckles! I can't wait to tell Sis!"

At the dwarf's excited declaration, Church wondered just where exactly the loose rocks were when he needed them. Even being knocked unconscious seemed a preferable alternative just then.

"We think it's most likely Charon given the nature of the attack." The Seas man named Washington stated quietly.

"C—Charon?" Richard "Dick" Simmons frowned at the slightly familiar-sounding name, jotting it down in his notes all the same for future research.

Their group, save for Sheila, were still in the Guild's headquarters sitting around a large meeting table. Simmons' old friend was needed at the desk currently in case someone else came to the Guild Hall in order to place a request. Though the crystalline woman had been reluctant to leave her boyfriend and friends, Sheila did so with the promise of getting information from them about what they had learned later on.

They were currently getting statements from the two men who had come to Doyle with the initial report, though there wasn't much that either Washington or John Elizabeth Andersmith could tell the Guild members that they hadn't said already.

The two men were well-acquainted with both of the Magic Users who had been taken, and had even taken it upon themselves to interview the crew and passengers afterwards for more details. That part of the retelling was when Washington, obviously a man with some kind of actual military history as opposed to the simple guard position that Andersmith had held, took over the conversation.

"Charon is an organization of mercenaries that handle questionable business affairs." Kimball explained quietly in answer to Simmons' question.

From next to him, Grif stiffened visibly and a foreign feeling of unease crept over Simmons. He glanced at the Orc questioningly, only to find Grif staring at the ground instead of meeting his gaze.

"What makes you think it's them?" Sarge asked the Seas curiously.

The blond-haired man closed his gray eyes for a second, "Let's just say I've had run-ins with them before."

"Being cryptic isn't going to help us any, dude." Tucker advised him.

Wash snapped his eyes open to glare at the Beast Folk, "I'm not trying to be." He stated seriously, "It's just my disposition. I guess."

Tucker seemed taken aback by the honest answer from the other man, and for once didn't have a snappy comeback. Instead, his dark eyes looked the Seas over as if really noticing him for the first time.

"It does fit the MO of several of their reported attack strategies." Doyle supplied helpfully.

Kimball nodded in agreement, evidently already familiar with the group from Guild reports herself.

Given the not-at-all shocked expressions of everyone in the room, it seemed as if Simmons was the only one not very familiar with Charon. He hated feeling out-of-the-loop.

"Can't be them."

Simmons raised an eyebrow at the quiet voice that had spoken up just then next to him. All eyes in the area turned to Grif at once, but he was still staring at the floor.

"G—Grif?" The redhead couldn't help asking after a few tense moments of silence.

"There's no way it's Charon." Grif repeated, a bit more emphatically than before.

A wave of disbelief washed over Simmons just then. He blinked green eyes, unsure of where exactly that feeling had come from.

"What makes you say that, Grif?" Donut asked good-naturedly.

"Yeah, we all know that Charon takes on a lot of Guild-rejected jobs for all sorts of different groups." Tucker pointed out.

Grif looked up then, brown eyes sweeping over everyone in the room before landing on Simmons. When the chubbier man spoke, it was adamant, "They wouldn't target Magic Users."

"Que se sabe que debido a que ...?" {"You would know that because…?"}

Whatever Lopez had said was lost as realization lit up Tucker's face, "Hold up." The dark skinned man began, "That group you sometimes still take jobs for, don't tell me it's—!"

Chairs in the office creaked as people stood up slightly, but Grif was paying them no mind. He was still staring at a shocked Simmons, who was just now piecing together what everyone else in the room must have already realized.

Grif had worked for Charon. Maybe he still was. It just served as a reminder that there was a wealth of information about the Orc that Simmons still didn't know, that there were whole aspects of the tan skinned man's life that he wasn't privy to.

"Simmons." Grif was talking as if he knew just what Simmons was thinking, as if they were the only two people in the room, "They approached me when I was young. Desperate. I—we needed money. I still help them out from time to time…"

Simmons could only sit there, nodding mutely.

"But I'd never help hurt innocent people. You know that, right?" Grif's tone was bordering on panicked, pleading.

"Of course." The redhead was shocked at how strong his voice was then, of how sure he sounded.

But, Simmons knew. He knew enough about Grif to know he wouldn't hurt anyone like that, or work for someone he knew did.

"We all know that, Grif." Kimball stated quietly, cutting into the private moment that had been embarrassingly witnessed by a whole assortment of people just then.

"But that doesn't mean it wasn't happening and you just weren't aware of it." Wash stated, looking oddly sympathetic at the idea, "You'd be surprised at what can happen right under your nose."

Tucker once again said nothing, but he shot the Seas an assessing dark-eyed look all the same.

Grif looked ready to protest again, but seemed to think better of it. Instead, he nodded his head briefly with mouth turned downward defiantly all the same. There was so much that Simmons wanted to ask him then, but the Magic User knew it wasn't the time or place.

It seemed that there was a lot about Grif he still didn't know. He wondered if Grif ever felt the same about him. Subconsciously, his right hand went to the top of his ear to rub the scarred tissue there.

"Regardless of who is behind this, we have a rescue mission to undertake." Kimball remind everyone, bringing the matter back to the task at hand.

The planning then began in earnest with Grif still refusing to look at anyone as they talked.

They finally came to the conclusion that were two leads to investigate.

Doyle and Kimball would lead an expedition to the crashed airship to search for clues there, while the others would head to a town where there was a troubling rumor brewing about the Insurrection joining forces with Charon.

Hopefully, they would find some clues as to what was really going on in both searches.

Naturally, since their talk at the Guild Hall had originally been meant to be a brief one, Grif wanted to return to Blood Gulch first in order to check up on Kai and grab a few more items.

Simmons suspected that the dark-haired man also wanted to get away from inquisitive eyes, to be with his own thoughts for a while given all that had transpired at the Guild.

If the redhead was being honest with himself, he was just glad that the Orc had still wanted Simmons to come along with him.

When they met up with Volleyball and Palomo again in the town square, Simmons couldn't help but ask, "Who's going to throw the Teleportation Orb over at Blood Gulch?"

As far as he knew, Grif hadn't bothered to contact Kai to let her know to expect their return soon.

"Oh, don't worry, sir!" Palomo assured him, "We've got you covered!"

Before he could say that wasn't really an answer to his question, Volleyball threw the orb in their direction.

Suddenly, Simmons once more found himself on the ground with a heavy thud (seriously, what the fuck!?)—wincing as he opened his eyes to red, orange, and gray in his overhead vision and not a typical sunset-soaked sky. It was a second later that the smell of smoke filled his nostrils and burned his lungs.

It took the pale skinned man another moment to realize that the Grif household in Blood Gulch was burning, and that Kai was nowhere in sight.

Author's Notes: I apologize if this chapter was hard to read as it was a struggle to actually write. I have a better idea of what I want to have happen in the chapters following this one, but I sort of had to still write this part out in order for any of that to make a lick of sense. O_O;

At any rate, there were quite a few more character introductions in this chapter, plus a surprising reveal about Grif that will definitely be a major plot point later on in the story. :) Then I ended it on a massive cliffhanger to boot, which I do apologize a bit for. XD

At any rate, I hope that even with the issues this chapter may have had as I was writing it that it was still an enjoyable read for you. Next chapter there will be more things happening in terms of character interactions and relationship development, so hopefully it will be a fun one! Thank you for taking the time to read this. :)