Chapter 8 - Insults to Injuries
The Red sergeant and his advisor replenish their ammo in preparation for the new mission. Before they leave, Tackle stops by Brenda's room where she still lies in the same spot. She looks up at him.
"Brenda, remember what Reid said about the rookie who died today?" he asks. She nods. "Well, he's actually alive and has been captured by the Blues. Reid and I are going to go save him."
Concern crosses Brenda's face. "Just the two of you?"
"Yeah."
She shakes her head. "No way. Let me go. I can help."
Tackle sighs. "Brenda, your arm is broken. You can't go."
"Bullshit! I'm fine!" She rolls over, stands up out of bed, and starts walking over to her pile of pink armor. The sergeant puts a hand on Brenda's shoulder to stop her.
"No." Tackle says sternly. "I don't want to see you get hurt worse than you already have."
"Aw, come on, Tackle!" she whines. "Please? We could kick Shane's ass together!"
"No," he repeats with finality. "That is an order."
"Damn it…" Brenda gets back in bed and glares at him. "You know, you weren't always so bossy. What happened?"
"I've had to make changes, Brenda," Tackle says. "Leaders should be able to adapt. That means doing things you don't want to do, or making sacrifices. I don't want to change, but I have to, for the sake of the team. That's what being a leader is about."
"You were cooler when you weren't my CO," Brenda mumbles.
"What? I'm cool!" he protests. "I just know when I need to put my foot down. How about this: if I see Shane, I'll fuck him up for you."
"Sure, but don't kill him," Brenda says. "He's mine."
"Deal. Anyway, Reid and I are heading out," Tackle tells her. "I'll report back to you later."
"Okay… good luck, Tackle. Don't die, or I'll kill you," she threatens.
He shoulders his rifle. "You won't have to worry about that."
Carbon and Wilson stand on the roof and watch Shane walk across the front of the base. He turns the corner and continues walking around the side.
"How many times is that again?" the aqua soldier asks.
Wilson holds up one hand, palm open.
"Jesus, five laps already? What's gotten into him? I mean, I might expect this type of behavior from Evans, but Shane seemed pretty normal."
His violet companion shrugs.
The rookie has been acting strange lately. Freaking out because he expected Evans to be logical, begging for praise after capturing a pathetic excuse for a soldier, and now walking in circles around the base, muttering to himself. Carbon wonders if Valhalla is cursed and whoever gets stationed here loses their mind. However, if that were the case, why wasn't he affected? He should keep an eye on himself, just to be safe, or at least have Wilson watch him.
"Hey, Wilson," Carbon says, "if I ever start acting weird, I want you to let me know. Okay?"
The silent soldier nods, then taps his teammate's shoulder and points at him.
"Ha, ha. Very funny."
"Hey, Blues!" someone yells from the trees in front of the base. "Come out here! I've got a question for you!"
Carbon and Wilson share a look. "What do you think?" the aqua soldier asks. "Should I get Evans?"
Wilson doesn't answer him.
"Ah, fuck it," Carbon says before raising his voice. "Just a second!"
"Take your time!" the voice responds. "There's no hurry!"
Carbon turns to go inside the base and nearly runs into Shane. He jumps and takes a step back.
"Holy crap, dude, don't scare me like that!" he says. "When did you get up here?"
"Just now. Let me handle this guy, Carbon." Shane sounds like he won't let the aqua soldier stop him.
"Uh, okay…" Carbon says cautiously. "Go ahead, then." He slowly retreats into the base. The rookie is acting strangely, indeed.
Shane stands at the edge of the roof and addresses the voice, "I'll talk to you from here, if you don't mind. What do you want, Red?"
"I just had a request: do you think you could release my man Rabid?" Tackle asks. "I would-"
The blue soldier opens fire, spraying the trees with bullets from above.
"God damn it!" The sergeant takes cover and turns on his radio. "Reid, Plan B!"
"Well, it was worth a shot," the crimson soldier responds. "I'm going in!"
On the roof, Wilson looks back-and-forth from Shane to the trees. He shrugs and takes aim as well.
Carbon runs out of the base. "What the hell, I was only gone for like two seconds!"
Evans follows him. "What's all this racket?" Watching closely, the sapphire soldier spots Tackle returning Shane's fire from behind a tree. "Oh, no," he breathes. "Not again…"
"I told you he would come back, you dumbass!" the blue rookie yells.
Carbon looks at his leader. "Uh-oh…"
Evans stands frozen, staring at the Red sergeant. The rifle in his hands starts shaking. "No… I trusted him… I trusted him! Why would he do this?! Why didn't he stay away?! I can't, I just… I can't trust anyone! It was a trick! A fucking trick! Oh my God. Just when I try to let people in, they pull the fucking rug out from under me! I was right all along, I never should have listened to Shane, that goddamn traitor. He-"
Bullets rip through Evans and he falls to the ground, his armor locking up.
"Oh, shit!" Carbon crouches down, grabs Evans's shoulders, and roughly drags him back into the base. Inside, he kneels and examines the Blue leader. "So much for never returning to the status quo," he mutters. "Crap, this is bad…"
As the sounds of battle fill the air, Reid slips into the enemy base from the side. He lightly steps up to and peeks around the corner; no one. He continues down the hallway and returns to the cell that was empty when he had last seen it. Now, it is occupied by Rapid who sits next to the iron bars, looking jittery. The rookie perks up at the crimson soldier's appearance.
"You came back for me!" he cries.
"Quiet!" Reid shushes him. He tries to open the cell door, finds it locked, and sighs. "Great. I assume you don't know where the key is."
"Actually, it's right behind you," Rapid replies, pointing.
Turning around, Reid sees a key dangling from a hook. "That's kind of cruel, putting it directly across from the prisoner," he remarks. Grabbing the key, he notices a piece of paper attached to the wall by a strip of tape.
In attractive cursive handwriting, it reads: "Dear Evans, please do not remove this key. It does not allow access to your room, nor does it open anything other than this cell. You possess the only keys capable of releasing the locks on your door. This is simply a reminder should it slip your mind again. Sincerely, Blue Command."
"I didn't know that Command cared enough to send you personal letters!" Rapid says. "I figured they dropped you off and never talked to you again, like they did with me."
"I wouldn't be surprised if they weren't the only people in your life to do that," Reid snarks. "Anyway, I doubt someone from Blue Command actually wrote this. I think everyone on the Blue Team is just insane."
Reid unlocks the cell and opens the door, releasing Rapid. The red rookie steps out and stretches. "So, how long have I been locked up? I passed out after you abandoned me, so I have no idea. It felt like days, though."
"Maybe a few hours."
"What?!" he exclaims. "No way!"
"Seriously, be quiet," Reid orders him harshly. "We're not out of the woods yet."
"Oh, right." Rapid lowers his voice. "Looks like the operation was successful, Agent Reid. Time to blow this joint."
"I should have broken your fucking radio."
The two of them hurry back down the hallway. They round the corner and see two Blues; the sapphire one lying on the ground and the aqua one standing over him. Without stopping, Reid shoots the latter in the gut, dropping him.
"Son of a bitch!" Carbon shouts.
The Reds keep running through the corridor and make it out of the Blue base.
Breathing heavily, Reid activates his radio. "Tackle, we're out! Let's go!"
"But I shot one of their guys and now it's three-on-three!" he protests. "Let's fuck 'em up!"
Reid decides not to tell the sergeant that he incapacitated someone as well. "No, that wasn't the plan and Rapid isn't even armed! Let's get out of here!"
Tackle groans. "Fine. Retreat!" he yells halfheartedly. Reid cuts the connection and starts heading towards Red base. Rapid lags slightly behind.
The rookie speaks up, "…You didn't tell him-"
"I know I didn't tell him," the crimson soldier interrupts, "I want to get the fuck out of here. Let's regroup back at the base and get you a weapon before anything else."
"What did you do with my gun after you took it, by the way?" Rapid asks.
"Put it back in the armory," Reid answers. "And Rapid, I have to ask, why are you so calm right now? Aren't you pissed that I willingly gave you to the Blues?"
"You came back in the end, and that's all that matters to me!" he responds happily.
"Only because Tackle found out you were alive. Jesus, how did you even get through basic?" Reid asks.
"I faked it until I made it," Rapid says. "That's how I know that anything is possible with a little confidence!"
"Right, like your hostile takeover of Red base. Speaking of which, has your leg healed up yet?" he asks seriously. Reid had did what he could back when it happened, but didn't expect the rookie to fully recover; he had landed on the shot leg after falling off the roof of the base.
"Yeah, I'm fine! Thanks for asking," Rapid replies. Now that he mentioned it, however, Reid notices that the rookie has a slight limp when he walks. Nice; a hopefully permanent reminder of the crimson soldier's first impression of Rapid. He certainly won't be going anywhere rapidly anytime soon.
