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 Eleven:
C.T. was technically supposed to be out on patrol, though her mind was admittedly elsewhere. She knew it shouldn't be, especially with the tournament preparations well underway. But, since when the hell did she always do what she was supposed to do?
The town of Rat's Nest was located close to Orcish territory. So, it had always been rather lively, especially in the simply-look-the-other-way variety. That had been why Rat's Nest had appealed so much to the Insurrection as a hideout. With the added bonus of the nearby and surprisingly still intact ruins, Rat's Nest was an ideal location.
Now, though, with Charon promoting their tournament through their own channels? Rat's Nest had become too damn lively and noisy. It almost had the air of a festival about it, to the point where C.T. was starting to have trouble just thinking.
Which sucked since there was plenty that the former Freelancer needed to think about, the least of which was actually the security for whatever pointless recruitment drive Charon was gunning for. After all, she also had to think about the kidnapped Magic Users, or Charon's continued interest in Relics and Remnants. The brunette had a feeling that neither of those things would lead to pleasant outcomes.
C.T. sighed, her eyes going over the busy comings and goings of Rat's Nest. The townspeople were definitely in the mood to celebrate despite whatever seemingly trivial-to-them concerns were busy floating through her mind.
It made her sick to her stomach in a way, especially since she knew that she should be planning to make a move of her own. Soon. Whatever move she ended up deciding upon, that is. So lost in her own thoughts, the brown-armored female hadn't even noticed that she had already made her way towards the outskirts of the town.
"Well, well. If it isn't good ol' C.T." A familiar voice suddenly spoke up from behind, "Isn't this a pleasant surprise."
C.T. spun around, hand drawn to the throwing knife at her side. Her eyes, however, belied her surprise at finding Florida of all people standing in front of her. There was another all-too familiar face with him too, a face that belonged to a blonde with violet tips at the end of her short hair. C.T. was perhaps even more shocked to see her than Florida given the woman's abrupt departure from a certain program long, long ago…
"Florida?" C.T. questioned, hand still lingering over her knife hilt just to be on the safe side as she'd rather be cautious than dead. She'd be so pissed at herself if she let an old comrade's face still her survival instincts for just a second, "South?"
The man in blue simply smiled at her good-naturedly, though C.T. knew Florida well enough to know that the older man was just as prepared to use a weapon against her as she was should the need arise regardless of whatever possible pleasantries he might otherwise say.
South, on the other hand, seemed oddly relaxed. Her face was the picture of confidence with an I-don't-really-give-a-fuck-what-you-do expression as she smirked in the brunette's direction, "What's the matter, C.T.?" She taunted a second later, "You look like you've just seen a couple of ghosts."
York was currently at the Guild Headquarters, having just returned from getting Delta something to eat. The brown-haired man sighed as he walked through the building's halls, remembering the recent ordeal. Getting food into Delta once he was focused on a task at hand was always a test of will.
The green-wearing man would lose himself in his work and would forget to eat otherwise. …Which didn't seem all that logical to York, but what did he know? The former Freelancer narrowed his eyes, recalling how Delta had insisted that York go back to the Guild Headquarters first "In case we are urgently needed. Let's not forget who insisted on the break in the first place."
Truthfully, York suspected that his partner had some ulterior motives for suggesting that he head back without him. Mainly, Delta had a soft spot for the kabobs that they had been snacking on, so York not being around meant there was more for him to enjoy. Besides that, the dark-haired man was probably hoping that York would run into Carolina while by himself.
…The little shit was always a bit more meddlesome in York's life than he'd probably ever admit out loud.
Honestly, York would have loved to tell Delta that his plan had been for naught. But, unfortunately as he turned a corner in the building, he spotted the red-headed woman in question talking to Tex.
Both women turned at the sound of his footsteps on the wooden floor, and York couldn't help but grimace awkwardly at the fact that he'd been spotted so damn quickly. He was so going to give Delta a piece of his mind for this. Later.
For a moment hesitation flared in Carolina's green eyes, and York sighed. He knew that it should be him to make the first attempt to communicate after what had happened earlier between them. He hoped Carolina wouldn't leave before he could at least make the effort. Or before she kicked him somewhere that would really hurt.
Those thoughts spurred York on into action as he rubbed the back of his head rather awkwardly, "Hey, I would have thought that you two would be on the move by now." He stated casually enough.
Tex raised a blond eyebrow at his antics, "The first group just left, but North will be sending us along soon."
He nodded, attempting to play it cool but most likely failing miserably since that was always the case when Carolina was around, "I just wish we could tag along as well."
Carolina frowned at his almost wistful tone just then, "It wouldn't be wise to leave Doyle unprotected, and with the prince still missing…" She began before trailing off, figuring they could fill in the blanks.
He held his hands up in mock surrender, "I know, I know." He assured her, grinning slightly, "Still can't blame a guy for wishing, right?"
That only caused the redhead's frown to deepen, a sight that caused his smile to falter. Right. Those words were a poor choice on his end. After all, his last attempt at "wishing" and "trying" with Carolina hadn't exactly gone too well.
York's mind started reeling for a way to take back what he had said, and Tex seemed to expertly pick up on the tension in the air. She glanced between the two of them before nodding to herself, "Right." She stated quickly enough, "Well, I should probably go and see if North and Theta are ready for us, so…"
Carolina nodded curtly and Tex walked off, though not before giving York a rough sympathetic pat on the shoulder. Following her departure, silence resounded in the hallway. Carolina stood rigidly still as if waiting for him to fill it. She never was the best at small talk.
The tan-wearing man let out a deep breath that he hadn't even realized he'd been holding in, "So," York began in an attempt at being conversational, "Your cousin showed up, huh?"
That was definitely not the line of questioning that Carolina had expected from him, and it showed on her face as she nodded just as awkwardly in response. York could relate since he was inwardly feeling uncomfortable as hell.
"Bet that was a shock." York carried on with the conversation though as if he wasn't the biggest idiot in the world just then, which took a lot of effort on his part.
Carolina frowned as her green eyes narrowed and her jaw clenched, "So, are we just going to ignore what happened before?"
Damn. Leave it to Carolina to get straight to the point. But, that was just one of the things that York admired so much about her.
He sighed, "If I said I was sorry, would you believe me?"
"Would it be sincere?" The cyan-armored woman questioned, crossing her arms over her chest as she regarded him with a now carefully placed neutral expression on her features, "As far as I can tell, you're still against the group splitting up like we did."
"Because we were fractured enough already!" York felt his voice rise in pitch again, the same frustration building up inside him as it had before when they'd gone down this line of discussion, "You didn't have to leave so soon after everything was said and done."
…After they'd just started picking up the pieces again. After Wash, C.T., South, Florida, Wyoming, and Gamma had all scattered too. Remnants of Freelancer spread across the world with no sense of direction or purpose.
Carolina stepped over to a nearby window that overlooked the rather busy Armonian city street below. Glancing out the window himself, York could spot Junior, Tucker's young son, playing with his babysitter, the Guild healer called Bones.
Moments passed and York figured Carolina wouldn't respond, but she was always full of surprises, "I think I did." She finally stated quietly, continuing to stare out the window and not at him, "I needed to remove myself from the situation. I needed to think."
Maybe she had said that before too. Maybe York had been too stubborn then to listen. Too hurt, too desperate, and too selfish all at once.
York sighed, standing next to her, "So did you find what you were looking for?" He wouldn't have asked that question before, and it was as close to an apology as he was liable to get now.
Carolina seemed to take it as such, seemed to understand why he couldn't say more. She pried her eyes away from the window to glance over at him, "I'm still trying to figure that out."
In a way, the same could be said for all of those left in the aftermath of Freelancer. He sighed once more, his good eye glued onto the pyrotechnics display going on outside, "I really missed you, you know." He mumbled more to himself than to her.
Carolina picked up on it, however, glancing over at him with a knowing expression on her features. She leaned over so that her shoulder slightly touched his own, "It's important that we keep a clear head until this business with Charon is settled." She finally stated at length.
He nodded, though a glimmer of hope sparked in his chest at her proximity, "But maybe a cup of coffee every once in a while wouldn't kill us, you know?"
Carolina smirked playfully, pretending to take a long while to deliberate on what he had said, "I suppose not."
It was a start, and York couldn't help but grin. That was all he could hope for right now.
When Filss brought Matthews back to his cell, it was obvious that the Seas boy was still shaken up by what had happened. Still, Matthews was a bit more talkative to the other prisoners now. For their part, his fellow captives seemed at least grateful to finally find out the young man's name.
"I would advise rest." The diamond woman told Matthews gently as she reluctantly locked him back inside, "You have been through a very traumatic event."
Matthews nodded, once more curling in on himself on the floor of his prison, "Th—thanks."
She nodded, smiling back at him as reassuringly as she could.
"I'm just glad we have you in our corner." Kaikaina Grif spoke up, spitting off to the side of her cell, "Since I think we can trust you more than that dye job asshole who's usually on guard duty."
The dwarven pilot Four Seven Niner raised a dark eyebrow at her fellow prisoner: "I thought you were colorblind. How can you tell his hair is dyed?"
"Please, all those different shades of gray?" Kai responded, "Even I can recognize a bad dye job when I see one. Dude's hair is fucked up."
Filss frowned, casting a knowing glance towards Matthews. The auburn-haired Seas seemed to perk up slightly at the mention of Bitters, even if the yellow-wearing girl had referenced Bitters in an insult. "He—he's not so bad." Matthews finally muttered lamely.
Seconds later, Filss stated, "I believe that guard might be more trustworthy than you think."
"Huh. I feel like I just missed something important." Kai said in response to both of them, regarding the two curiously. The half-Orc looked over into Katie Jensen's cell for confirmation, but the brunette simply shrugged her shoulders unhelpfully in response.
Four Seven Niner raised her hands to the bars of her cell, "Regardless, you being in our corner seems like a sure thing. So," she informed Filss before raising a black eyebrow in the woman's direction, "What's your story?"
Filss frowned at the question, "My story?"
"You obviously don't agree with all of…well, this." The dwarven airship pilot gestured around her, "So why are you working for Charon?"
The diamond woman frowned as the other three prisoners leaned forward expectantly just then to listen to her response. Filss bent her head down a fraction, eyes suddenly glued to the stone floor beneath their feet, "No one's ever asked before."
"Chalk it up to boredom if you want." Four Seven Niner shrugged, "You don't have to answer if you don't want to."
Filss shook her head suddenly, "No, it's all right." She reassured the other woman, "I—!"
But, the door to the dungeon area opened at that exact moment, and the aforementioned Antoine Bitters entered the space. His brown eyes flickered to everyone in the area, lastly lingering on Matthews as if to make sure that the other boy was as all right as he could be given the circumstances.
"There might be something we can do to help you guys out further." Bitters stated without much preamble a mere second later.
Kaikaina frowned before fixing the dark-skinned human with a suspicious glare, "What the fuck are you talking about?"
Bitters glanced behind him as if making sure that the hallway beyond that he had just walked through was clear of any passersby. Matthews, Jensen, and Four Seven Niner exchanged curious looks with each other, unsure of what to make of the guard's actions.
"You guys might be able to get out of here thanks to a huge ass distraction that's coming up," Bitters hurriedly informed the prisoners before gesturing between himself and Filss, "And the two of us are going to help you do it."
"Oh, wow. Thanks a lot!" Franklin Delano Donut stated cheerfully to the Guild contact who had thrown the Teleportation Orb close by the town of Rat's Nest for their traveling party, "You're just as good at tossing as North is!"
It was probably no surprise that the poor guy excused himself as quickly as he did following that, though Richard "Dick" Simmons suspected his also being undercover had something to do with it. He never even had a chance to learn the guy's name.
…Not that Simmons really saw much of the unnamed Guild contact beyond his feet scurrying away from the pink-wearing Donut since he was on the fucking ground yet again. Seriously, while he knew that instantaneous travel was something of a boon for an organization like the Guild, couldn't they maybe, just maybe use an airship for once instead?
"Donut, do me a favor and never say any of those words ever again." Dexter Grif said from somewhere close by, but standing up. The bastard.
"Apoyado." {"Seconded."}
"Ow. The back of my head!" Simmons muttered out loud to no one in particular as he glanced around their surroundings.
The brown-wearing Lopez was helping to steady Sheila nearby, the crystalline woman looking over at her longtime friend Simmons in mild surprise at his predicament. "Do you need help, Simmons?" She asked him not a moment later.
"Sucede con tanta frecuencia, estoy seguro de que está acostumbrado." {"It happens so frequently, I'm sure he's used to it."}
Whatever Lopez said seemed to cause Sheila to relax slightly, though she shot Simmons a sympathetic and encouraging smile all the same.
"That does seem to happen to you a lot, huh?" Frank "Doc" DuFresne supplied oh-so-helpfully, sounding almost amused by the predicament. If the flower crown-wearing man offered an orange juice solution, Simmons would probably scream at Doc about how that wasn't a scientific solution.
As it were, Simmons felt his face start to burn up in embarrassment at the attention that was being placed upon him being laid out flat on his back on the ground once more.
"Hey, now. Look on the bright side!" Lavernius Tucker stated, a grin suffusing his Beast Folk features, "At least this way we know that you and Church are definitely related!"
Sure enough, as Simmons turned his red-haired head to the side, he saw that his cousin was flat on the ground as well. The black-haired human promptly gave Tucker the finger as Caboose and Andersmith raced over to help him up.
"Oh, fuck you, Tucker." Leonard Church muttered under his breath to his friend.
"Hey, you've got to look on the bright side of things when you can!" Tucker replied, continuing to grin.
"I take it that Junior is still with Bones, sir?" Volleyball inquired after assisting Charles Palomo from his sitting positon on the ground.
The dark-haired rookie had taken that upright position before North had sent the party on their way, and Simmons couldn't help but wonder if that was a good Teleportation Orb travel precautionary measure. …Then he realized he was thinking that Palomo of all people had a good idea and began to contemplate what had gone wrong with his life to get to this point.
Tucker's smile faded slightly, though he covered it up well enough with his usual bravado when he replied: "Yeah, he's hoping we'll kick ass though."
It must be hard, leaving a child every time a mission came up. Simmons felt a tinge of sympathy for the Beast Folk then.
"Boy's close to my own heart." Sarge muttered fondly at Tucker's statement.
Tucker smiled proudly, "He's a trooper, all right." He stated quickly, turning around so that his back was pretty much to everyone.
The dark-skinned man took a step forward, only for Washington to stop him by putting a lingering hand on his arm, "Stay on guard." He advised the Beast Folk, "Rat's Nest is no place to let yourself become distracted in."
Tucker pulled a face towards the Seas, "Dude, I know."
"Preaching to the choir, son." Sarge declared haughtily from close by.
"I'll be here to tend to all wounds should the worst happen!" Emily Grey cheerfully stated, as if eerily eager at the prospect as her Beast Folk fox ears twitched slightly at the top of her head.
"Oh, me too!" Doc couldn't help but chime in, clearly enjoying the whole situation way too much.
"Remind me to stay healthy." Grif muttered under his breath to no one in particular.
"You can let go now, you know." Tucker stated to a rather overwhelmed-just-then-looking Washington.
The Seas blinked at his statement, realization slowly seeping into his features when he stared down at his hand. It was still gripped steadily around the Beast Folk's arm. He blushed slightly, the appearance showing even on his gray-tinged skin, "R—right." Then the blond quickly removed his hand, albeit with an oddly reluctant look in his gray eyes that nearly bordered on unreadable.
But, that was about all Simmons saw of the exchange before an orange-lined hand was shoved directly in front of his face. He blinked up into Grif's apathetic features, not entirely sure what to make of the appendage.
"Need help or are you going to lie there for the rest of the day?" Grif asked him, a sudden smirk crossing over his tan-skinned features, "Not that I can't understand the desire, really."
Simmons felt his freckled face warm in embarrassment again as he took the proffered hand, Grif helping to lift him up with ease. He forgot how strong the Orc really was until situations like this happened.
"Th—thanks." Simmons mumbled under his breath, feeling more awkward and self-conscious than usual for some reason as he let go of the chubby man's hand.
Grif simply shrugged before moving off to talk to Tucker and Washington about something. Simmons distantly heard "Where's some good beer and food here?" coming from their direction, with a long-suffering sigh that sounded like it came from Washington.
However, he missed the rest of their conversation since Church sidled up to his cousin at that exact moment, "So, do those orbs fucking suck or what?"
Simmons couldn't help but wince in agreement, "Tell me about it." Talking to Church again caused another thought to cross his mind, and he frowned slightly before voicing it, "It's just too bad that Carolina couldn't come too."
"Eh, I wouldn't worry too much about it." Church informed his cousin matter-of-factly, "I have a feeling all three of us will get the chance to play catch-up again soon." He cast a blue-eyed sideways look over towards the red-haired young man, smirking, "But what I want to know right now is what's going on with you and your magic-linked Orc over there."
Simmons knew his face was as red as Sarge's outfit just then as he tried to sputter out a response: "Tha—that's, umm…!"
Church's smirk only widened at the Magic User's stuttering, and a panicking Simmons wracked his brain for a way to get his nosy and teasing relative to back off. He grasped desperately at the one thing that came to mind, "Wha—what's going on between you and Tex?" Simmons countered.
Church's face became slightly red at the mention of his girlfriend's name. At the sudden turn of events, he looked over towards his cousin rather approvingly. "Damn, I should have seen that coming." Church muttered under his breath before slapping Simmons affectionately on the back, "Oh, well. Guess I'll figure out another way to embarrass you later."
Thankfully, with that the cobalt-wearing man took his leave to go check on Caboose and Freckles. Simmons was breathing a heavy sigh of relief just as Grif came back over.
"Hey, I thought I felt a spike of nervousness just now." The orange-wearing Orc stated without preamble, glancing over the redhead quickly, "Everything okay?"
Shit. Simmons had almost forgotten that Grif seemed to be infuriatingly better attuned with this "Linking Magic" than he was. Simmons could feel the blush once again spread over his entire body, not enjoying the sudden focus back on him.
The maroon-wearing man laughed nervously in an attempt to try and cover up his nerves even though he knew it was pointless thanks to the Linking Magic, "Um, yeah, everything's fine!" Simmons tried reassuring the Orc, "Just…just a little nervous about this mission, I guess."
Grif's shoulders slightly relaxed, and he looked mildly amused at Simmons' confession, "You do realize that you've got the easier job of things, right?"
Simmons frowned at the reminder that Grif was to be part of the group that would be participating in the tournament. They still didn't know the details of what it would entail entirely. Personally, Simmons hated not being as prepared as possible for any eventuality. Now, with that in mind, the redhead felt anxiety starting to build up inside him for a very different reason than before.
Subconsciously, he reached for his scarred ears. His fear must have registered on his face and definitely throughout the rest of his body, because Grif frowned slightly at the redhead before gripping Simmons' shoulders tightly in a reassuring grip. …Oh, right. Fucking Linking Magic.
"Simmons." The Orc's voice was emphatic when he spoke, drawing the other man's attention away from just how warm his hands were, "Things are going to be fine."
Simmons couldn't help but swallow down on empty air and nod his head weakly in response, hoping that Grif was right, "Thanks, fat-ass."
They would find Kai and the others. They just had to.
Grif looked over Simmons' face carefully one last time before nodding himself, almost hesitating a moment before letting go of the human's shoulders.
"Hey, guys! You better hurry up or you'll be left behind," Donut yelled helpfully from farther away where everyone else was now gathered, "And you'll have to push through even harder when going through the rear!"
Simmons and Grif glanced at one another one last time before each nodded slightly in reassurance to the other. Then they joined the rest of their Guild traveling party as they started to make their way towards Rat's Nest proper.
"Donut, do me another favor," Grif said to the dirty blond as they walked, "And add that entire last phrase to the list of words you should never say again."
Author's Notes: A bit more set-up this time around, but that's kind of necessary for the next part of the story! Things will definitely be picking up in future chapters as all of the individual characters start making their moves. Still, I enjoyed writing out a lot of the character interactions in this part! :)
I hope that everyone stays safe and warm if you're stuck with snowy weather currently! Thank you to everyone who read this! :D