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 Nineteen:

The double doors to the tavern closed shut behind C.T. with a gust of air, and she crinkled her nose slightly at the far too familiar smells and noises that assaulted her senses. It seemed as if, no matter where you were exactly, the rowdy watering holes of any given town or village were the same and clearly the spot to be following a day of hard labor.

While not exactly her personal ideal spot to hang out in, taverns did serve as good places to conceal conversations or meetings you might not want overheard. Or they were the perfect places to be alone with your thoughts while appearing for all the world not to be. The brunette had made ample use of establishments such as this for both reasons in the past.

Though tonight, all things considered, that really wasn't the point of her visit to this particular one.

No, rather she was here for…ah-hah! There she was! C.T.'s expression tilted upwards into a slight curve of a smile when she spotted the tall, intimidating platinum blonde with orchid tipped hair hunched over a spot at the bar as if she owned the space. Other patrons were moving quickly away from the woman due to her "don't bother me" body language and the withering scowl that she no doubt sported. South Dakota, ever a people person.

South had not bothered sticking around after they had reached the inn earlier that night, claiming that the building was far too crowded with people she "didn't really fucking care to get reacquainted with, and others she didn't fucking want to attempt to get to know more than she already did." When South had caught C.T.'s questioning glance as she stalked off, she paused long enough to inform her former teammate that she would be "drowning her sorrows or however-else-people-described-drinking-a-shit-ton-of-booze."

Once things had stabilized over at the inn, at least as much as they were likely to considering that the innkeeper had been both alarmed given their party's condition as well as overjoyed at the prospect of the lucrative payment a group their size would pay, C.T. had stepped outside to find the wayward soul. If only because maybe, just maybe, she was also trying to avoid some awkward conversations for as long as she could. Yes, she could definitely understand South's reasoning wholeheartedly.

Making her way over to the bar, the petite brunette instinctively raised an eyebrow as she peered at the myriad assortment of empty bottles and glasses already stacked up in front of the other woman. "So, tell me, are you planning on actually staying at all conscious for the next few days?" C.T. couldn't help but tease considering that it had just been a little over an hour since she had last seen South, "Shouldn't you be pacing yourself?"

South's back stiffened slightly at the sound of C.T.'s voice, but she relaxed a second later when C.T. climbed up onto the stool on her left. In fact, a slight smirk pursed her lips when C.T. cast her eyes in the direction of the woman in orchid and green armor again, "Getting into a drunken stupor while being stuck out in the ass end of nowhere isn't actually such a bad idea."

C.T. rolled her eyes, having not forgotten the flair for dramatics that the taller warrior was capable of. She watched as the bartender silently placed a full glass in front of South once more following a quick hand gesture from the Freelancer to keep them coming. The brunette watched as the other woman tilted her head back as far as it would go to drown the liquid content of the glass in just one swig.

"You know," C.T. approached the topic in as casual a manner as possible while watching South set the now empty glass back down on the counter with a barely heard clink as it hit against another of the empty glasses, "If it weren't for you helping out like you did, we might not have gotten out of there."

After all, as the brown-armored woman had learned recently, it was South who had retrieved Simmons and Donut. Without the pink-wearing man's teleportation ability in particular, escape would have been all the more difficult for the entire group.

South grimaced at C.T.'s words, eyes glued onto the counter as she impatiently tapped out some unknown rhythm on its splintery surface, "You can save your thanks for someone who would actually give a fuck."

Well, she wouldn't be the South Dakota that she knew and, against her better judgement, loved if she didn't have that prickly personality of hers. C.T. had long ago figured out how to remain nonplussed by it. "Why did you do it then?" She asked instead.

South shrugged, ice blue eyes narrowing in frustration at nothing in particular as she downed another beverage, "Hell if I know. The whole thing fucking pisses me off to no end."

C.T. decided not to remark on that. Far be it for her to try and put motivations onto someone else's actions when they themselves weren't entirely sure what they were. Besides, she knew South well enough to know that such a gesture would not go over well with her.

The barkeep put two glasses of tawny liquid down this time, one clearly intended for her despite how she had not placed an order. C.T. assumed he was of the mindset that if one was occupying space in his establishment, then they had best be a paying customer.

The brunette kept her eyes fixed on the glass, hand ready to dart forward in case South was under the mistaken assumption that it was up for grabs once she finished hers, "Even without any healing magic speeding things up, Carolina should be more or less fine within the next few days."

"You know," South said as she snorted at this new spot of information, "Getting the chance to see a lovesick York play the part of a frantic nursemaid might just be worth sticking around for."

C.T. opened her mouth to comment when she caught sight of the orange-armored Grif making his way over to the opposite end of the bar. The Orc leaned over the counter to order something from the barkeep, catching her gaze and giving her a quick nod of greeting.

She returned the gesture. It made sense that she and South wouldn't be the only ones out of their party who might need some liquid courage following recent events.

C.T. turned back to South, a contemplative frown settling on her features as she took in the other woman's face, "You know that North will probably show up soon."

There was only a momentary glint of something decidedly sharp in South's faraway gaze at the mention of her sibling. She took another swig from her glass, "Which is all the more reason for me to drink myself into a damn coma sooner rather than later."

C.T. grinned at the joke, "Would you mind some company, then?"

South paused in bringing the cup back to her lips for some reason, her eyes slightly widening in surprise at the brunette's offer. Then, as if remembering just how often C.T. had been able to hold her liquor right along with her whenever they had gone out drinking together following hectic training sessions or missions despite her smaller stature, South shot her the first genuine smile that C.T. had seen on her face since they had met up again. The expression caused the brown-armored woman's breath to hitch momentarily in her own throat.

"Knock yourself out." South finally told her, raising her glass in the other woman's direction as if in a toast.

C.T. smiled right back at South, her own glass clinking strongly against South's not a second later.

Lavernius Tucker sat on a bench located in the hallway just outside of the room that their party had ushered Carolina into pretty much immediately after making it to the inn.

Given how small a village it was that they had wandered into, it was no surprise that the building was also pretty tiny as all fuck. There were only two floors even! Doctor Grey had nearly ripped the poor, befuddled inn owner's head off at the suggestion of taking Carolina to an upstairs room to avoid noise pollution.

The inns back at Blood Gulch had more rooms, and that location had originally been what Tucker would have defined as "in the ass end of the middle of nowhere." This inn's first floor only had three rooms to it, not counting the small kitchen and dining area, or where the innkeeper and their family slept. The upstairs wasn't much better, with apparently five rooms. Two of which, Palomo had exclaimed loudly when giving his report earlier, were "pretty fucking tiny, sir!"

Well, so, what if that meant things would be a little crowded? They were pretty damn fortunate this place had as many rooms as it did have, or that this small as fuck town even had accommodations for travelers in the first place. Besides, it wasn't like he hadn't shared rooms on missions before.

Tucker pointedly ignored how warm his cheeks got as he thought of Washington's webbed fingers running over his hair again, nicely massaging his ears even. Reflexively, his feline ears twitched ever-so-slightly at that particular thread of memory, as if he were still reliving the not-at-all unpleasant sensations. He squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head readily to dispel the thought completely.

When the heat finally started to dissipate from his face, the Beast Folk figured it was safe enough to open his eyes once more. He was greeted with the sight of the dwarven pair of siblings, Caboose and the oddly named Four Seven Niner, sitting on one of the beds together in the room on the opposite side of the hallway. The door had been closed before, so someone had probably stepped outside while he was busy having his internal freak-out over having woken up to Washington petting him again, and had decided to leave it open so as to discreetly sneak away before Tucker did anything even weirder.

Four Seven Niner was smiling slightly, no doubt in response to the huge grin currently plastered on the large blond's face as he showed off Freckles to his older sister.

Tucker felt his own mouth twitch upwards slightly as he averted his gaze. No doubt the family had some catching up to do, and he didn't want to play the part of an eavesdropping asshole just then. Which was part of the reason as to why he was even sitting on the bench in the first place. Andersmith and Jensen had taken over the other spare room on this floor for their own family reunion while everybody else who was not currently with Carolina were pretty much all around the inn. He had wanted to be close to the action anyways, so to speak. Bow-chicka-bow-wow.

This mission had certainly turned into a lively one though! He was already running over things again in his brain to try and figure out which parts would be the most exciting to share with Junior when they got back. The kid always loved hearing about his dad's heroic and badass exploits.

The door beside the bench opened then, an even more haggard-looking than usual Church stepping out. The goateed man cast a look at Tucker sitting in the middle of the bench and glared, "Move it."

Tucker made a face but complied anyway, sliding off to the side to make more room, "Don't tell me what to do, asshole."

There had been no bite in either of their remarks, just the usual routine the two friends always had with one another. Church slumped down onto the bench next to Tucker, closing his eyes as he did so.

Tucker waited a few seconds before the nervous anticipation became too much, "How's your sister doing?"

"Given how much of a fighter she is, Carolina should be fine in a few days." Church informed the Beast Folk without opening his eyes, "Even with Simmons being too drained of energy right now to throw his healing power into the mix."

Right. They had all noticed how strangely tired Simmons had been ever since he, South, and Donut had met up with their group again underneath the ruins at Rat's Nest. Doctor Grey had ordered him to try to keep his Healing Aura at bay until she could examine him more closely, lest the redhead make the situation even worse on all of them by attempting to help when his own body perhaps wasn't ready for him to do so. After all, she and Doc had everything under control at the moment.

"I'm glad to hear it." Tucker told the cobalt-wearing man sincerely, grinning reassuringly a moment later, "I bet it will only turn out to be two days or some shit because nothing keeps Carolina down for long."

Church snorted, "Nice try, Tucker. But, I know my sister well enough not to place a sucker's bet."

Well, at least Church seemed fairly positive that Carolina would make a speedy recovery then. He was fucking relieved. Mopey, gloomy, sullen, and stressed Church was definitely harder to deal with than regular old sullen and stressed Church was.

"So, you just couldn't wait to share the news then?" Tucker teased, now that he knew things with Carolina were about as okay as they were going to get.

Church opened his eyes only to roll them, "Hardly." He muttered as he shifted on the bench to get more comfortable, "Things were way too crowded in there with Grey, Doc, Simmons, Tex, York, and Delta all up in my space. I just needed a fucking breather."

That clearly hadn't stopped the dark-haired man from hanging around until he had been absolutely sure that his older sister was going to be all right though, Tucker noted. But, he knew enough about Church's personality to leave that particular observation unsaid.

There was a sharp bark of laughter from behind them, followed by a scary-as-all-hell voice: "Wow, I had no idea you were that much of a wuss."

Tex closed the door to Carolina's recovery room, not even bothering to cover up the smirk she was throwing Church's way.

The cobalt-wearing man sputtered indignantly, "I…you…!"

Tucker grinned at how red-faced his friend had become before turning his attention to the blonde, "Does that mean you're thinking about dumping him again?"

Church shot him an affronted glare he was quick to smirk right back at as Tex crossed her arms over her chest, "Maybe." She looked rather mock-thoughtful at the notion, "But I'd have to recheck the calendar to see whether or not I'd win the betting pool."

"Oh, fuck you both!" Church finally managed to heave out before looking pointedly in his girlfriend's direction, "And you're still voting against your own relationship?"

Tex shrugged in response, brown eyes glinting mischievously as Church groaned and put his head in his hands.

"Lighten up, dude!" Tucker patted his shoulder consolingly, "You have to admit that would be easy money to make."

Church didn't bother looking up from his bent over position, though he did free one hand to give Tucker the finger.

Tex laughed sharply again, taking the opportunity to grab Church's outstretched hand, "We should go somewhere private." She told him softly.

The frustration that had been steadily building up in Church seemed to melt away in eager, hopeful anticipation at her words. His blue eyes met her brown ones and he nodded vigorously.

Tucker whistled at the obvious atmospheric change in the hallway, "Well, I can totally take a hint when I'm not wanted."

He ignored the joint "You can?" that erupted incredulously from the pair.

…Washington was now conversing with Four Seven Niner and Caboose in the room across the hallway, the gray-skinned and yellow-tinged Seas trying awkwardly to get out of the younger man's insistence that he hold Freckles. Washington backed away from the doorway with his hands up while Caboose shoved the talking weapon in his direction while saying how "petting animals helps you feel better!" The scene was both absolutely hilarious and endearing somehow. The female airship pilot was laughing loudly at Washington's expense, clearly entertained by his discomfort.

Tucker's curiosity as to when that had occurred and why it was happening at all was piqued, but he wasn't sure if his intruding on the conversation would be all that welcome. Besides, he had learned the hard way that catching Freckles by surprise in particular wasn't the smartest thing to do, so the teal-wearing man figured that it was a safer bet to head outside for some fresh air instead.

"Dex!"

Dexter Grif stopped in his tracks in the doorway of the inn at the sound of his sister's loud exclamation. He let out a sigh before turning to face the younger, winged woman since he already had a sneaking suspicion of where this conversation would go. It was a pretty good guess considering he'd entered the building with two cases of bottled ale under each arm.

Kai had been sitting in the dining area of the inn with Volleyball, Palomo, Matthews, and Bitters. Poor Palomo looked slightly out-of-place amidst the group despite the goofy, good-natured smile that had been on his face as he had been in the middle of talking when Kai had noticed the Orc trying to sneak inside.

It wasn't all too surprising to see why Palomo might be the odd man out considering that Bitters and Matthews had, either subconsciously or not, pulled their chairs so close together their shoulders were practically touching on the opposite side of the table. Plus, the fact that Volleyball and Kai appeared to be sharing some kind of baked good together was not lost on the Orc either. After all, the sharing of food was one of the ultimate signs of affection a Grif could display, Dexter and Kai's mother had always said.

Nor was the brief but oddly lingering hand on the blond human's elbow as Kai practically flew from her seat over to her brother lost on Grif either.

"Where the fuck have you been, asshole?" Kai demanded as her feet set down on the ground once more. Her wings flicked back and forth behind her in an excited manner when her dark eyes landed on the cases of alcohol he was carrying, "Though I suppose I can forgive you if you're planning to throw one hell of a reunion party!"

She reached out eagerly towards one of the cases, grinning widely with dark eyes shining in anticipation, but her older sibling stepped back just out of reach with a roll of his eyes. "Nice try, but these aren't for you." Grif told her plainly.

The tan-skinned girl pouted before she shot him a rather knowing, assessing look that made the orange-wearing man regret having run into her while carrying these things all over again.

"I really don't think you need to ply the gray nerd with booze anymore to get to the next stage, Dex." Kai joked, a sly smirk crossing over her features as she waggled an eyebrow to further hit home her point.

Despite himself, Grif felt his face growing incredibly hot at the teasing remark. Damn it, why was his little sister so good at reading him like a fucking book! "That's not what I'm doing, Kai!" He let out in a hushed breath, "I just figured that his nerves are shot given what happened to his cousin."

It sounded just as lame and pathetic coming out of his mouth as when he had first thought up the idea upon heading back into town, his own nerves rather shot himself at having found the Relic Communicator.

The good news? He didn't think their group could be tracked through the device, but it was obvious an active search was currently ongoing. It would take a while for anyone from Charon to find them here though, given how remote the location was. Grif figured that he would let everyone catch their breath tonight before giving them the news.

Kai shrugged her shoulders at his surprisingly embarrassed reaction, "Hey, no judgement here." She informed the older Grif before nodding her head slightly in the booze's direction, "Though I do think you're a stingy asshole for not sharing."

There was a momentary lull in the conversation, Grif taking the moment to look his little sister over. There were torn patches on her clothes. Smudges of dirt and soot smeared the fabric as well as her skin. Some of the spots even dulled the yellow lines of her Orc lineage. Kai had some visible small cuts and slight bruising in various places too.

All in all, Grif knew she could have been in much worse physical condition. But, the sight was still enough to twist his stomach into knots, to feel all the more guilty that he hadn't been around to help. "How are you doing, Kai?" He finally asked her in an uncharacteristically quiet voice.

The young woman squared her shoulders, letting out a huff of air, "Oh, fucking please. I'm a Grif and we're strong!" Kai tried convincing him, but her false bravado only lasted for a second under the full force of Grif's knowing stare and she folded in on herself—delicate wings bending downwards with the motion. "The whole thing sucked major ass and I totally missed you, okay?" She mumbled under her breath, "Happy now, bitch?"

The return of the defiant jut of her jaw at that last question had him smiling softly, "I missed you too, Kai." Grif admitted, "I was really fucking impressed by how strong you were."

A momentary spark of disbelief flashed across Kai's face, but it melted away when she saw how genuine Grif's comment was.

The two siblings smiled at one another before Grif was caught by surprise when Kai lunged forward and wrapped her arms around him in a tight, warm hug. He hesitated for only a moment before dropping the cases of alcohol with a heavy thud on the floor to return the gesture.

As they pulled apart, Kai grinned mischievously up at her brother, "This calls for a celebration!" She exclaimed, reaching down towards one of the bottles.

"Not a fucking chance." Grif deftly pulled the cases out of her reach before lifting them up again. Thankfully, they were packed sturdily enough that the bottles had kept from breaking.

"Aw, you suck!" was heard all over the inn.

"I keep telling you, I am fine." Carolina insisted once again through gritted teeth as the door closed behind Doctor Grey and Doc.

Richard "Dick" Simmons sat at the windowsill, trying to contemplate how he could potentially avoid his upcoming checkup with Doctor Grey for just a little while longer. He was feeling too overwhelmed currently to want to dredge up what had happened again, despite knowing that what he had experienced could be important. Still, that didn't prevent a part of him from feeling extremely guilty. He wanted to help Carolina as quickly as possible, and a medical checkup was the only way he would get the Beast Folk healer's permission to do so.

Delta tried to make himself appear as inconspicuous as possible on the other side of the room while his human partner hovered by Carolina's shoulder as he had been doing ever since they had arrived here, save for when one of the healers had instructed him to do otherwise. Given Carolina's tone and expression at the moment, they had probably feared for the brown-haired man's safety.

York, however, snorted at Carolina's comment, arms crossed over his chest as he stared down at the heavy bandaging wrapped around her side now, "Sorry, Carolina, but even you can't bluff your way out of an injury like that."

Carolina's green eyes narrowed up at him before she tried switching tactics, "You know how good I am at bluffing, York."

"Well," the Freelancer male said as he raised an eyebrow, mouth curving upwards ever so slightly, "I do know playing cards with you is a surefire way to have to walk down a hallway naked."

The fond, reminiscent gazes of the two former Freelancers caused them to look deeply at each other as if to take everything in at that very moment. The action was not at all lost on either Delta or Simmons just then since it made the air in the room suddenly feel suppressively stuffy and all sorts of awkward.

Simmons knew that there were a lot of things that lay between York and his cousin from their shared past, and that there were undoubtedly emotions still lingering that needed to be talked about or explored in the present. Given the atmosphere of this inn room, it needed to be sooner rather than later.

Delta's green eyes, so much like his own and Carolina's now that he thought about it, met his own. The Fragment gave a curt nod and Simmons swallowed nervously before nodding back in response himself. They were in agreement then.

…Suddenly, the two younger men headed to the door at a very brisk pace.

Delta beat Simmons to the exit first, hand loose around the doorknob before he turned to face the pair at the bed, "I believe it would be prudent of me to check on the various statuses of the others, as well as see how Sarge and Lopez's preparations are advancing for North and Theta's later trip here."

York's good eye never left drinking in Carolina's face, "Sure thing, D."

Delta nodded slightly at the confirmation before making his escape.

Simmons frowned, trying to rack his tired brain for a good excuse to leave too. Should he go and get Carolina some water or something? No, he'd possibly have to come back to the room then and they could either be talking about really private matters, or in the middle of doing something he would rather not walk in on.

The redhead could try and find out where in the world Donut was currently hiding, especially since the two of them had a lot to discuss now despite how he sort of wanted to avoid thinking about all of that for a little while longer. Or, maybe he could see how Sheila and Filss were faring since his friends from the Unsc had reunited. But, what if they wanted the chance to catch up as a family by themselves?

Simmons sighed, figuring that maybe he just needed to go find Doctor Grey and get the medical examination over with. After all, she could possibly give him some more insight on what had truly happened when he had touched the Remnant.

The maroon-wearing Magic User had more or less resigned himself to his fate when the door to Carolina's room opened from the other side.

Grif popped his head into the room, blinking in surprise at finding Simmons standing directly in front of him. Simmons couldn't help but do much of the same, completely caught unawares by this turn of events given how he had lost track of his environment while simply pondering his own anxieties.

"Hey," Grif called out to the others in the room a second later, dispelling the odd air still hanging heavily around them as he did so, "Mind if I borrow Simmons for a little while?"

Carolina pursed her lips, a disapproving look crossing over her features when she noticed what the Orc was trying to hide behind his back, but she gave a slight nod of affirmation all the same when York squeezed her shoulder reassuringly.

"You two have fun, I'll keep your cousin company in the meanwhile." York said as he grinned over at Simmons and actually winked at him, as if he thought there was some deep secret going on.

Given the tension that had been in the room before, Simmons had no doubt that York would be true to his word. His face turned red as he tried desperately to get that train of thought out of his brain, wavering in indecision as he did so. He wanted to go and give the two some much-needed privacy, but what if Carolina needed something or…?

"Go on, Simmons." Carolina assured her cousin with the same soft, encouraging smile she had used around him and Church as kids when they had been scared to do something, "I'll be fine enough with York here."

Simmons left the room with a silent nod then, casting a thankful look over in Grif's direction once they were out in the hallway with the door securely closed behind them.

Grif shrugged in return, "It looked as if they could use a private moment anyways." He said with a knowing smirk, almost as if he could hear Tucker's "Bow-chicka-bow-wow!" in the distance.

Simmons felt his face heating up again at the reminder, "Oh…o—oh, yeah. Definitely." It was then that he caught sight of what Grif was carrying that had piqued Carolina's attention before, "I—is that liquor?" The human asked in disbelief, remembering what Grif had told him about why he had left the group earlier, "Wh—what happened to checking out the area?"

Grif looked down at the cases as if noticing them for the first time, "Well, the tavern does count as part of the area." He noted in his infuriating pseudo-sage voice, "And I got thirsty."

Simmons' mouth hung open as he pointed an accusing finger at the cases, "That's more than enough for a huge party, Grif, not just you!"

"I got really thirsty." Grif oh-so-helpfully elaborated before he raised an eyebrow in the redhead's direction, "Plus, I figured you could use some help unwinding too."

Simmons glanced up at the mischievous, almost hopeful look in Grif's brown eyes. He was momentarily surprised by a sudden contradictory wave of unease and guilt that he felt in that same exact instant, recognizing emotions that might not have been his own intermixed within them. Damn Linking Magic.

Maybe there was something that Grif wanted to tell him too…? Biting his lower lip in nervous anticipation, Simmons found himself nodding his head shakily in agreement.

Author's Notes: For a character I'm not as comfortable writing yet, South certainly shows up a lot in this story! :D It was fun getting to write out a C.T. narrative in this part too since I haven't done so in a while! :) Apparently the relationships of C.T. and South as well as Grif and Simmons are determined to die of alcohol poisoning before this fic is done! XD Always in moderation, my friends, always in moderation. :D

…I can so picture Caboose being a firm believer in animal therapy. Whenever he goes on Guild missions with Carolina, Church, or Tex in particular in this AU, he makes it a point to make sure they either hold or pet Freckles for a few minutes every day. :)

Apparently, I am getting sick. Fun times, that. 0_0; Hopefully it won't get in the way of me writing or posting too much since I am eager to update when I can to get all of my stories moving! After all, we're only two chapters away from the finale for Volume I, folks! Can you believe it? XD

Thank you, as always, for taking the time to read this chapter! :D