A/N Thanks for reading.
I finished season 10 in this chapter. :D
And thank you for reviewing! :D
Disclaimer - I do not own Red vs Blue.
Warning - LOTS and LOTS of swearing.
Tucker was still getting used to Washington being there, then started calling him Wash because he didn't want to say 'Washington' every damn time. There were times when he scowled at seeing the former Freelancer wearing his friend's armour, but he couldn't really do much. Caboose still almost destroyed everything he came into contact with, and there were times they just lazed around without any drills. Caboose loved the drills, which came as no surprise when they didn't even make him break a sweat. He was a fucking tank.
There had been a time, when he had been sleeping, that he could hear panicked screaming. Tucker didn't know what to do, he had just frozen. Kept his breathing slow and even and stayed still, like he had actually thought he didn't need to go check if he didn't move. He heard movement, and then running before all he could hear was the screaming.
He didn't get much sleep that night, even after the screaming stopped.
Tucker remembered that Wash had went on patrol, because the guy didn't know the first thing about relaxing, when their radios crackled to life. He had scowled and opened his mouth to tell Caboose to stop playing with it when he could hear yelling from the other side. Caboose, who had been coloring, had looked up and glanced at him curiously.
The shared channel.
It was after they had thought they were in the future.
They thought that since they were being forced to work with each other, why not make a shared channel? So that had been what Simmons did, made an encrypted channel only they could access. Tucker had thought it was dumb, but there were times it was useful. Like making fun of Grif.
"Blues!" Simmons. "Are you there?! W-We need help—!"
"Get yer keisters over here!" Sarge had snarled before he heard gunshots. "Grif—!"
Tucker didn't even think about it. He yelled at Caboose to get ready and grabbed his gun and ran out of the base with the blue tank behind him. Wondered where Wash was, who the hell was attacking the Reds, and who the fuck thought it had been a good idea to come here.
He ran in and surveyed the situation, tensing when he saw Sarge pointing his shotgun at the intruder with Simmons right behind him. The intruder had teal armour and was holding Grif hostage, gun pointed right at his head. He could hear Grif muttering and cursing before he held his gun up and pointed at the stupid asshole. Caboose may not be smart, but he knew this was a serious situation. Maybe. He did get his gun up, but he was pointing it at Grif. Tucker quickly took a moment to point it at the intruder.
"I don't know who the hell ya are," Sarge had said, shoulders tense and not moving an inch. "But get the hell away from Grif." Tucker had actually been surprised. Was Sarge actually scared Grif might be kill—? "The only one that gets ta hurt my men is me!" Never mind.
"I'm looking for someone," A woman. Of course it was a woman. Only a woman can kick their asses. "Someone you saved."
Simmons made a confused sound. "We haven't saved anyone."
"We don't know how to save people worth shit, but when we have our little missions we might have saved some people but people we didn't know." Tucker couldn't help but add. He smirked when he could feel Simmons give him an irritated stare.
"Even if we did save someone, we wouldn't tell ya," Sarge had brought the attention back to the intruder. "Ya think ya can just come in here an' make demands an' we'd just tell ya?"
"Tell me where Agent Washington is."
That threw everyone off, though Caboose had perked up excitedly. "You know Agent Washingtub?!" He was about to step forward until Tucker held up his hand and held him back. "Are you friends?"
"Yeah..." She drawled, which made Tucker narrow his eyes. She sounded... cold. "We're old friends."
They were all tense, trying to decide whether or not that was a lie, when they heard Washington. "Except you're supposed to be dead," They turned to see Wash walk in with his gun pointed at the intruder. "How did you survive that fall?" Tucker could see, from where he was, that Wash's hands were shaking. If he could see it, then everyone else could. "What are you doing here?"
She was silent for a moment, and seeing as she had five guns trained onto her, she removed her weapon from Grif. The orange soldier got up and stumbled away with his own weapon. That was apparently enough for Wash to lower his, because who cared if she was about to shoot someone to get what she wanted? Tucker rolled his eyes and did the same.
They decided to let her say what she wanted and they would decide to make her leave or not. She started talking, with everyone staring at her in tense silence. Sarge had yet to relax, his grip on his shotgun tight while Simmons quickly murmured a question to Grif. When she was done everyone was left in stunned silence, while Caboose started shaking with excitement.
Fuckin' hell.
Church can... Church can be saved? Was this was trick? Was she kidding?
Everyone could only stare while Wash listened to everything Carolina had to say. Sarge had his arms crossed, nothing but suspicion in his pose. Wash had even asked one time, his curiosity too much, why Sarge wore his armour all the time. Truth was, Tucker didn't know. So Tucker had asked Grif, one time, if he ever took the armour off.
"Only when he's in the base," Grif shrugged and didn't seem to care. "You've see him, how paranoid he is. Doesn't trust anyone to be completely off guard."
After Carolina was done, and said why she needed to rescue Epsilon, everyone had frowned and glanced at one another. Find the Director? Weren't they done with this crap? Tucker scowled and gave the woman a glare—even if she was attractive. Hell, he didn't know if she was, but she had a nice body. He silently muttered his phrase and glanced at Wash when he stepped forward.
"That's it? That's all we need to do?" Wash gave her a warning stare.
"We might need to do more than that," Carolina didn't sound like a nice person. She sounded cold. "But we'll see."
Wash gave a small frown before he glanced at the rest of the group. They had a silent conversation, this lady might have even realized it, trying to decide what to do. Caboose had smiled excitedly, so his answer was clear. Wash was protective of the big guy, and he must have been wary of this woman, so he decided to go. Which prompted Sarge to agree, since he couldn't let a Blue get the best of him, and glared at Grif and Simmons when they hesitated. Tucker stared at them all, seeing them staring at him, before he sighed and shrugged. Which was pretty much a go.
Besides... they were going to rescue Church.
She was mean, they all learned right away. Caboose didn't care, didn't even seem to notice the way she addressed them all. Like they were... tools. Tucker followed her orders, but only because she was attractive and she might kill him. Mostly because she might kill him. So when she was in the other warthog they had taken he grumbled and glared.
"Somethin' wrong, son?" Sarge asked, driving after Grif calmly.
"Don't call me that," Tucker said, slipping further into his seat. "What if this is a trick? What if she kills us? What if she's getting our hopes up for nothing and Church can't be saved?" He pushed himself back up and glanced back to see Caboose spinning around with a gleeful 'whee.' They should switch on the next stop just in case Caboose decides to get trigger happy. "Besides, she said she needed an engineer to work on the damn thing. We don't have an engineer!"
Sarge scoffed. "Ya have one."
"We do?!" Tucker turned and gave him a disbelieving look. "But Simmons works on computers."
Sarge turned and gave him what he assumed was a glare. "That 'lil lady said we'd have three teams, one for extraction, one for guarding, and the last for gettin' yer blue buddy out," He grumbled and looked forward. "Caboose might be a stumbling blue idiot, but he's a master with his hands. He can open that unit an' I'll take a look at it."
"Wait, you and Caboose?!" Tucker gawked at the Red leader. "You? Really? You think you can get him out?!"
Sarge growled under his breath, which made Tucker duck his head sheepishly. "Yes, I can...! Is that so hard to believe...?!" Did he ever mention that Sarge can be scary when he wanted to?
Tucker waved his hands. "Uh, no! I was just...!"
"Looks like we're stoppin'," Sarge commented, slowing to a stop and glancing back. "Hey, blue! We're stoppin'! Get out an' stretch yer legs!"
"Yes, sir, mister sergeant!" Caboose saluted and jumped down from the gun and started stretching.
Tucker got out and frowned in consternation. Sarge and Caboose can get him out? Well, Sarge was good, not great, with machines. So maybe? He thought back to all the times he saw Sarge tinkering with something, remember he had built two bodies. Three, if he counted Lopez. Had converted a warthog to use sunlight. Repaired the warthogs multiple times. Had done countless of things. He seemed to be better at robotics, and that was a shocker. Tucker looked at him in a new light... kinda. He never thought Sarge capable of something like trying to get an A.I. out of a prison, but... maybe he can do it.
They rested up, with Sarge refilling the tanks because the guy was a workaholic, and they were on their way.
When they got to the facility... well... let's just say getting in was easy. They were loud, something that Carolina didn't like. They went crashing through the gates, yelling all kinds of things. He didn't even remember, he just remembered sitting in his seat with a wide grin and shooting in the directions of the soldiers. Made sure not to wound anyone.
Then Sarge and Caboose jumped out, and the rest of the Reds and Blues stared after them before Tucker, Carolina, and Wash held their position at the entrance. From where he was Tucker could still hear Sarge as they got further away.
"Just remember ta aim for the door and not towards me! Ya know what?! Don't look towards me at all while I work!" Sarge yelled as they ran down the hall. He heard gunshots. "Yeah, that's the spirit! Scare those bastards!"
"Thank you, mister sergeant!"
They were out there for fifteen... maybe twenty minutes before Carolina went inside. Tucker stared after her. She might be a bitch, but she had a hell of a body. Not that he'd ever hit that. It wasn't long after that that Wash went inside, telling them to make sure no one got past them.
He ran across the compound to head for Grif and Simmons, seeing them waiting for the signal for the extraction. And he was that signal. He jumped in with Simmons, ready to get the hell out of there. Tucker soon frowned when Simmons drove like an old lady while Grif floored it and took off. Seriously? He turned and gave Simmons a flat stare, one that Simmons chose to meekly avoid. When they arrived he sighed in relief and smirked when he saw Wash was feeling embarrassed by Sarge and Caboose and opened his mouth to unleash some sass.
Except he froze for a second when he saw who was with them.
Church...
Standing there... with a glowing body. That actually threw Tucker off for a moment before he decided this was probably what an A.I. looked like without a husk to occupy. He jumped out and went towards them, but they didn't have long before they were leaving.
"They fucking did it," Tucker said in awe, sitting in his seat while Grif turned his head to stare at him in question. "Sarge and Caboose got Church out."
Grif shrugged. "...Eh, it wasn't impressive. Something was bound to get that bastard out. He doesn't know how to die."
On that, they could agree on. "B-But... this probably means that if Sarge and Caboose actually looked closer at that thing we could've saved Church earlier!" He waved his hand towards the other warthog Sarge was in and to Caboose, who sat behind them and perked up when he was mentioned. "We wouldn't be here right now with her!" He pointed at the woman on the mongoose. "We could've been back at the bases right now, trying to negotiate our flags!"
"Uh, yeah, but we were already doing that," Grif didn't sound like he cared, and he probably didn't. "And just so you know, Sarge was pissed every time we lost." He grumbled to himself. "Had Simmons stop working with any technology for a day and took all my snacks away."
Tucker was silent before he started snickering. "He's your dad."
Grif paused and shuddered. "Don't even joke about that, dude! What if he was here?! He'd kick your ass!" He sounded more pissed off when Tucker started laughing louder.
They switched off the next time they made a pit stop, with him and Caboose riding with Wash and all the Reds in the other warthog.
Church, or hell, Epsilon, had floated over to Sarge and said something, which had made Sarge chuckle. Tucker was watching, seeing Church grumbling and acting like his old self. Just a little depressed, it seemed. He had muttered something about making a hard choice in the unit. Something no one bothered to ask, because while they may hate each other that also meant respecting privacy.
Caboose was happy.
He was talking more faster, and didn't want to leave Church alone.
So Tucker knew that Caboose was probably wondering where he was when Church wandered over to him and said they were going to eavesdrop. That didn't bother Tucker one bit, so he did what he wanted and snuck up on Carolina and Wash, hearing them talk to each other quietly. Except he couldn't fight the urge, the urge to yell his phrase the more innuendos that left Carolina's mouth.
Which pissed off Church when he gave away their position, but he couldn't help it. It was like a reflex. He just didn't think she'd fucking shoot at him!
...Bitch.
So he was sent away, bristling when he heard her say they were her squad(like fuck they were), scowling when Church kept mocking him. They walked around, keeping quiet and just making sure nothing else would happen. It always seemed to happen to them. Tucker stared at Church, hearing him grumble like he usually did. Sometimes, when he talked, he sounded like he was mixing things up. Remembering something he wasn't supposed to remember. So he asked him as they walked over to the Reds and Caboose. The tall Blue perked up when he saw him and practically started jumping around when he saw Church appear in his miniature form while Church tried to explain that he had multiple memories and didn't even know which were his.
"So, are you, like... going to stay that small?" Grif was staring at the tiny member of their misfit group.
"Too much energy goes into trying to stay your size," Church had said, crossing his arms and huffing to himself. He sounded like he had more of a grasp of his computer self. Which sounded really, fucking retarded. "Besides, it's easier this way to stay in your helmets, when there's space." At this, he turned to stare at Tucker. "...Still really fucking gross, dude."
"Shut up, you deleted my porn." He was still sore about that.
Then Sarge did that thing.
Where he shook his head and muttered 'kids' under his breath.
They were off, going to places they had visited previously when they had been on their mission. Tucker smirked when he heard everyone on the shared channel, one that Carolina wasn't aware of, complain about the heat when they were in the desert. And Church may not be their Church, the original one, but he had the channel and still said a comment every now and then. It was when they were standing around, waiting for Carolina and Wash that Sarge popped out from behind the big vehicle and said that he wanted a truce.
Seriously?
Tucker had smirked and rolled his eyes when Church yelled at him that they accept. And his smirk only grew when Sarge blurted out his usual weird sentences about 'friendenemapanion' or something. They all agreed that Carolina was a crazy bitch, so they needed to make sure she wasn't going to... yunno, kill 'em or something after she was done with her mission.
So Simmons had the most awesome idea of putting Church into the Mongoose, which would let him hear whatever Carolina had planned. Fuck yeah. Once he was inside, thanks to Caboose(who knew he was an expert on machines), Tucker and Grif jeered at him while Caboose continually ran his hand through him. The plan almost got ruined when uptight Carolina asked for Epsilon to answer some questions, but thankfully he was able to answer them on his own, along with Caboose. Though she was more pissed with him. Then Carolina took Church, and soon they would know what she was up to. Whether or not she was going to kill them after her damn mission.
But then Wash said she'd be gone for about a day. A whole day of waiting around this place. Tucker hung his shoulders and groaned before he followed everyone else into the temple, wondering why Wash said it'd get dark soon... since the sun never set. Ah, forget the damn sun.
Caboose settled in while Wash said he'd be going on patrol, even though he said they should all sleep. Tucker just groaned as he sat down and turned to see Grif and Simmons sit beside each other and start bickering already. Sarge exchanged some words with Wash and nodded before he settled down. Except they couldn't sleep, too much on their minds and wondering what Carolina had planned. It couldn't be good, right? She was a cold bitch, what if she slit their throats while they slept? He shuddered and reached back to rub his back. It wasn't easy to sleep in power armour.
Sarge may be the commander of the Reds, but it seemed he valued space. Tucker laid on his back with his head leaning against the wall. He idly thought he must look stupid while he observed the Red leader, seeing him sit farther away from them all. Didn't he even trust his own men? One would think he'd be beside them making sure the 'malicious' Blues weren't trying to poison them.
His mind was taken away from Sarge when he heard something crinkle, and turned his head to see what that was. He did a double take when he saw what the hell Grif was holding. The fuck?! Where'd he get chips?! He continued gawking while Grif took off his helmet and started eating.
"Seriously?" Simmons asked dryly, staring at said chips.
"Shuddap, let me eat."
That's how they spent the night, trying to sleep and only getting a few hours. There was a while spent in silence when Caboose went missing, but he happily walked back in, which made them all sigh with relief. Good, maybe he didn't do anything stupid. Or he did. He usually did. When they woke up they were lethargic and he only mildly noted that Sarge was gone and Wash was with them.
When they stood up and stretched he let out a loud, exaggerated groan and walked outside to relieve himself. Along with everyone else, it seemed. So... it was really embarrassing to see Sarge walk by and give them a blank stare when he saw them all doing their business against the temple's walls. Granted, they didn't need to stand next to each other, but they just kinda... fell into a line.
So yeah... awkward morning of everyone just standing around and feeling weird about that. Now all they had to do was wait for Church and he'd tell them what Carolina had planned for them.
Which is what he was supposed to have done.
Tucker was still pissed off, when they came back and they were suddenly buddy-buddy.
So, begrudgingly, they followed with everyone else wondering why Church was suddenly in her helmet. Tucker was muttering under his breath when they were on the road again, with Wash and Sarge. He could hear Simmons and Grif telling Caboose, no, he couldn't go back on the gun. Then they were in Valhalla. Tucker observed the bases in silence while Caboose rattled on that this place was amazing, but then sighed in irritation when he saw Carolina and Church walking away. Then the Reds walked away. And Caboose. And he was left alone in the valley by himself. So fucking much for sticking together. Assholes.
So, sighing angrily he turned and went after Caboose with tense shoulders. The base was... well, it was shitty. Not really a one-up from the last one. So he wandered around while Caboose happily commented on everything. That was where the fire started when he tried turning on Epsilon. That was where he tried cooking. And where another fire started. That was where he caught on fire... for no reason.
He was surprised it was still standing.
Simmons sent him a message, and he opened it on his HUD while he tuned Caboose out.
Low and fucking behold... Donut was alive.
Donut was fucking alive.
This entire time, he had... he had thought he was dead. Doc was with him, but still... Donut was alive and greeted them happily, Simmons had said... and almost got punched for trying to hug Sarge. Tucker stared at then 'lol' on his screen.
The group was finally together. It could've been better. Tex could've been alive, Lopez could also be there but he was a fucking head, and Church—Epsilon—whatever the fuck his name was could stop being a dick. Then, oh, that's not all that happened! Church was on her side, all the time, stopped listening, stopped seeing her as the enemy. Tucker got aggravated when Church started talking to them like... like they were idiots for not seeing something he didn't try to explain, as if he stopped caring whether or not they survived. Why the hell didn't he fucking care?! And they were all leaving already because someone didn't know how to fucking rest.
They went down into the holographic room, and Tucker was highly doubtful that they built it and started to believe them when they said Lopez built it. But they had completed their mission. Carolina and Church found the Direction. Good, right? Nope, not for her. Tucker was silent when she tried telling them the plan, and couldn't help but agree with Grif and Simmons. And fighting any guards! Was she fucking nuts?! Wash was cool, he tried telling her as such that they couldn't do shit by themselves and that he should be with them. Against one man, they can do that. Except if that person was Tex. But a whole bunch of people? No. No fucking way.
Then Church... fucking Church was an idiot. And then Tucker was reminded how much Church didn't give a shit about them. Didn't care that they almost actually died trying to save his holographic ass. Hadn't seen how Grif almost got shot in the facility, or how Sarge had to tackle someone that tried to shoot Caboose.
Tucker grew frustrated when Church got angry enough to insult them. Then the crazy bitch started getting angry when Grif tried to leave, which, he had the right to do with how they were being treated. And Sarge was right. They shouldn't be trying to throw their lives away because these two wanted to get their fucking revenge on this fucking Director. Carolina ordered them around, like they were under her leadership, like they were fucking tools, to do whatever she wanted. So he did what he thought was right, standing up to the one trying to get them to end their lives by doing something they probably couldn't even do. Then she pulled a fucking gun on him, which he had to admit almost made him shit himself, and had them all jump and try to point their weapons at her. But then Wash, Wash who had been following every order she gave, pointed his gun right at her, as well. Wash and Sarge tried getting Church to calm down when they realized he was getting mad, and only got further confused when he started to blame them.
Blamed them.
Blamed them all.
Not in a joking matter, this time.
He meant every damn word.
Tucker stared up at the giant holographic A.I. in shock, eyes wide behind his visor before he frowned. They were a problem, huh? Forget this. With a scoff, he turned and walked away, hearing the others walk after him. He was done with all this crap. Caboose was the last one to leave, and that said a lot. He was done with this. The Freelancers, sim troopers, the facilities the stupid project had. He was done with all of it. Carolina and Church left. But they didn't care. They went back to their 'vacation' before Carolina ruined it and gave them false hope. They were taking a break before they started a game of 'capture of the flag.' Maybe they wouldn't feel so pissed off if they had a small break of doing nothing.
Yeah... right.
Tucker grumbled, kicking a stone he saw and huffing when it saw it roll a couple feet. So he grabbed it and threw it into the water as hard as he could. It made a big splash at least.
He heard footsteps and voices, turning his head to see Sarge walking away from... Wash? He furrowed his brows in confusion and didn't do anything when Sarge noticed him. He expected him to walk right past without a care, it was what was expected. Sarge hated Blues, after all.
He never thought he'd see Sarge walk right towards him, willingly.
"Whatcha doin', Blue?" Sarge asked casually and stared at the small lake Tucker had been walking along.
"Throwing stones," Tucker crossed his arms petulantly. "...It's more fun than this stupid game."
Sarge hummed lightly. So when he thought that Sarge was going to head back to his base, and he was about to grab another big stone, he gave a start when he heard a loud grunt and saw a large rock fly past him and into the water. It made a big splash. Tucker stared at the water and turned to see Sarge wiping his hands.
"Yeah, bit more fun," Sarge agreed, tilting his head and shrugging when he noticed Tucker's confusion. "Best ta blow off some steam every once in a while."
"Yeah... though it'd be better to punch Epsilon in the face," Tucker huffed, hearing a snigger from the Red. "If he had a face to punch."
"Eh, if he ever comes back, I'll ask 'im if he wants a body. I'll tell ya when 'm done so ya can punch 'im." Sarge sounded like he was smirking. He could hear it. And there it was again. Reminded that Sarge had built bodies for Tex and Church, and had built Lopez without much trouble. Well, a lot of trouble he had heard, but still.
Sometimes he wondered if people knew what a genius Sarge was.
Tucker was silent for a few moments before he scoffed. "He probably wouldn't. Too comfortable in Carolina's helmet," His words were mocking. He was pissed. He had a right to be pissed off. "Would probably get offended at any offer of a body. Stupid, little glowing body of his..." He sounded like a kid. He knew he did, but Sarge didn't comment on it.
All he did was shrug. "Probably," He paused and reached over to pat Tucker on the shoulder, which made him tense for just a second before he relaxed. It wasn't often that Sarge initiated any contact with him. Usually he wanted to punch and shoot him. "Well, get ready, son, we're about to start out next game—shit, match." He grumbled and turned to walk away. "Stupid Grif."
Tucker snickered when he walked away and turned to head for the blue base.
They were bored, which was no surprise, when they negotiated the flag. And Grif was right, this was depressing. And the Reds had nothing else to negotiate, so... wait... they had a what? Fifteen minutes later they were staring at the Meta's weapon. Tucker gawked. They had it this entire time? On a wall?! He was about to comment when Doc started talking.
A speech... he truly never expected to hear one from Doc, of all people.
Sure, they... did some things they were proud of, but... Well... He had to give up his son for this stupid thing... This... Tucker sighed when he heard Caboose's comment and stared at the ground for a moment. They had a connection, he can see that, sure, but they were also really shitty soldiers. But, even though he was still pissed at Church, he can at least do something fucking awesome.
He pulled out his sword with a confident pose, smirking when he heard everyone else was with him. Sure, they weren't great, but they were still going. His smirk grew when Sarge started talking, another speech, another reminder that even though they sucked they still managed to beat some of the Freelancers by themselves and they still had each other to rely on.
...Didn't mean they liked relying on each other, or something.
But Wash was in. Fuck yeah.
Before they could even come up with awesome plans on how to reach Carolina and the asshole, they were ambushed by the UNSC. Everyone gawked at the three Hornets. Wait, they really were criminals?! He then watched as these UNSC soldiers commented that the airships were easy to pilot, had enough seats for all of them, and then fucking landed. Seriously? Was everyone an idiot?
It didn't really take much to subdue them, but Sarge had used unnecessary aggression on them by pinning one of them down and almost dislocating a shoulder. That's when Wash had to step in. Soon they were piled in and on their way to go save the fucking day!
It hadn't even occurred to Tucker that they had left Doc behind.
They weren't fighters, that much was certain. They were more... 'hide behind crap and hope to hit something' fighters. So it confused the fuck out of Tucker that they were always in these stupid intense fights. Why couldn't someone else get that luck instead?
When they got the facility Caboose had commented that they had been there before. The only clue they had that Carolina and Church were there was by the open door. They ran in and instantly got ready. Carolina had said they would be dealing with the forces, anyway. They crept inside, growing more relaxed when nothing popped out to shoot them.
"Where are they?" Wash murmured lightly, enough just for them to hear.
"Simmons, move ahead." Sarge ordered, receiving a surprise stare from everyone before the maroon did as he was told.
Simmons looked around the corner and gave the all clear, all running around the corner and down the hallway. It was clear no one was here. It was when they got to the teleporters did they hear the yelling and grunts. Wash was the one to determine which one to go into, and when they did...
They all froze and widened their eyes when they saw a ghost.
...A lot of ghosts.
They all winced when they saw Carolina fly through the air and hit a large crate hard enough to put a giant dent in it. Donut was the only one who reacted, running forward and throwing three grenades. It surprised her, they could see that, to suddenly see grenades appear out of nowhere. She jumped towards him and Tucker scowled lightly when he saw Church appear right beside him. But fuck, Church may be an asshole, but he was still a member of their group of misfits. They got ready, seeing all the bodies of their former friend face them.
He knew it was coming, but his jaw still dropped when he saw Caboose run forward and fucking knock aside every damn Tex in his way. A grin worked its way onto his face when Caboose punched and kicked their... friend left and right to send them flying. And this is why Tucker called him a fucking tank!
They all ran forward and started fighting. Not as fast as Wash or Carolina, but they did what they were doing. Shooting and slicing and punching their way through their old friend. Tucker stabbed one of them, and jumped when Caboose came by and knocked some more down. They all sucked, they could all agree with that, but right here, right now, Tucker never felt more awesome than he did with his group of idiots. He was grinning the entire time, even when Grif got punched and kicked in the crotch. Again. It had to fucking hurt. He sliced down the two that hit Carolina, turning his head to make sure she was okay and smirked at Grif when he stood up with a groan.
Tucker backed up towards Wash, noticing that everyone else was getting into a circle the more they were surrounded. They were coming from everywhere. But they couldn't stop. If they stopped they could get killed, and like fuck he was going to let a single idiot die now. Not now. Not again. Not after Tex.
He froze when he heard Wash talk to Church and saw something fly past him. When it did, every single Tex in the room froze. He, along with everyone else, did, as well, and looked around in confusion. Tucker jumped when he heard a gunshot and turned, along with everyone else, to see Sarge kick another downed Tex.
He muttered something angrily and held up his shotgun, just in case. Everyone else did the same, held up their weapons, in case whatever Church was doing wouldn't work. It probably took... two minutes. Two minutes of waiting anxiously and standing back to back. Then every single robotic body of Tex's fell.
Huh...
He was going to be honest, he didn't think Church could do it.
They stood around when they saw Church appear, and Tucker smirked when he heard Grif complain. Hah. And for some reason... he almost felt... envious when he heard Sarge praise Church. Even called him by his name. No 'blue' or 'dirtbag.' Just called him by his name. Lucky bastard. Except Sarge ruined it by saying what he usually said. Tucker continued to smirk and straightened up when Wash mentioned the Director.
Everyone watched as Carolina and Church left, went into some hallway with determination. As soon as they were gone everyone groaned and all practically collapsed to the floor. The only ones still standing was Sarge and Wash.
"That was... intense," Tucker muttered, turning his head to see Caboose panting harshly. Caboose had more energy and strength than them, but even he was tired. He was tired. Hungry... and thirsty. But... he was grinning. "That was..."
"...Fucking epic." Simmons finished with a grin in his voice.
Tucker couldn't disagree.
Sarge chuckled while Grif groaned and leaned forward. Oh, yeah. He had been kicked and punched in the tenders. He couldn't really help the laugh that bubbled from his mouth. They were all tired. Slowly, they got back up and started making their way outside, with Wash staying behind to wait for Carolina to tell them where they were. Caboose was already jogging down the hallway and looking back at them like he was blaming them for being slow. Tucker rolled his eyes when they got outside and instantly sat on the ground with a groan. Everyone else did the same and just stayed quiet.
Tex... He didn't think he'd see her again, to be honest. She, uh... she was bitch, for sure, but... he was hoping. Really hoping. That she could rest after this ordeal. He wasn't religious, by any means, but... C'mon, if there's a god he's gotta stop putting her through this. Tucker leaned against a tree and just breathed calmly while everyone else did the same. He turned his head when he caught movement, along with everyone else.
And they saw Carolina, looking down at them from a perch. He kind of wanted to know what had happened, but it was their business. Besides, all he wanted to do was dance in victory and go to sleep. And some coffee.
"All right, kids," Sarge could be heard over their groaning and need to relax, but they all paid him attention. "Time ta rest up and figure out what to do next." Like that wasn't obvious.
But they all sat on the ground, even when Carolina showed up, and just rested. After that, however, he just nodded along to whatever they were saying. Find a place to call home. Huh... If he was honest, he didn't really know where home was. Mom and dad were... they hadn't really cared when he joined the army. He had no brothers or sisters. Didn't have anyone. All he had was his sword, his son, and these idiots.
So, when they left... relocated... going 'home' he just nodded along and did what they wanted. They were thanked, put in the news, called heroes for bringing down the organization, and were sent home. He couldn't help but pose when they took the picture and had looked at it when they were on the ship. He still had it. Something to remember by. All the shit they went through, and they were finally going home.
They just didn't count on fucking crashing on some stupid planet.
Everyone that had been in the crew, besides the Red and Blues, and Carolina, died. He... might have done a part in crashing the ship, but that pilot had been hot! It wasn't his fault.
When he woke up, after the crash, he had groaned in pain when he felt his ribs hurting. Ah, fuck. He really hoped his ribs weren't broken, and were just cracked. Please just let his ribs be cracked, it's better than broken bones. This ship was huge. He let out a loud groan and pushed himself up, taking his time and not pushing himself. He could hear yelling... it sounded like... Wash... When he looked up, he saw Wash moving aside a piece of metal. He called out and felt relief when Wash saw him and began moving towards him quickly.
"You seen Caboose?" Tucker pushed himself up with Wash's help and bit back another groan.
"No," Wash made sure he was able to stand on his own before he removed his hands. "Everyone I've found is dead." And for a terrifying moment Tucker's heart stopped at the thought that anyone in their group of crazy idiots was dead. "I haven't found the Reds, or Caboose yet, or Carolina... We should move."
Tucker couldn't find it in himself to disagree.
So he limped after Wash while holding his side, trying to keep in the hiss of pain. Crap, crap, crap. What if everyone was dead? What if it was just him and Wash? What if...? What if he never heard Grif complain again, or Simmons trying to get all technical and shit, or Sarge yelling at them and calling them no good dirtbags, or Caboose trying to help them and utterly failing, or never seeing that idiot Church again? He didn't realize he was hyperventilating until Wash grabbed his arms.
"Tucker, I need you to listen to me," Wash, his ever calm voice, sounded tired but he stared at Tucker through his cracked visor. "They are fine. They are not dead." He paused and then gave a small chuckle. "Nothing ever kills you guys, anyway."
Tucker paused and realized... yeah, nothing ever did kill them. All the crap they went through and they only got hurt. None of them were dead yet. But, that fear was still there. He was about to start hyperventilating again when they heard a low moan.
They whipped around and saw Grif trying to push a big slab of metal off, but unable to. Tucker sagged with relief when he limped over, seeing the orange soldier turn his head to see them approach. He probably would've relaxed as well in relief if it wasn't for the slab trying to crush him.
"Hey, guys." There was a little bit of sarcasm in his voice, mixed with relief and exhaustion.
"Your fat ass need help?" Tucker asked with a grin, helping Wash grab the side and try to lift it.
Grif actually tried helping and started pushing, but it was too big and wouldn't budge. If they had one more person...! His hands were shaking, and told Wash so they could put it down for only a second and try again. They were about to set it back down slowly when another pair of hands reached under the slab and started trying to lift it. Tucker turned to see Simmons lifting the slab, and then all four of them attempted to remove the slab. And succeeded. They all let out sighs of relief when they pushed it off of Grif and felt the surface shake from the impact. Grif groaned in relief and pushed himself up, with Simmons' help.
"Where's, uh..." Grif took a deep breath "Where's Sarge?" He sounded like he was trying to hold his breath to keep the pain back. Tucker winced in sympathy. He was lucky nothing had crushed him.
"I-I haven't found him," Simmons was shaking, mostly his arm, trying to lead Grif in one direction. "But I found Caboose and it's bad."
Tucker's heart jumped and he quickly started limping after them. They all paused when they were about to round the corner, hearing a southern accent. Tucker's shoulders fell in relief. They didn't have to worry about Donut, he went somewhere else. Lucky son of a bitch didn't have to deal with this. When they walked around the corner, they saw Carolina standing behind Sarge as the Red leader spoke calmly to Caboose. Tucker wasn't worried about her, she can take care of herself. What he was worried about at this moment was the fucking pipe sticking out of Caboose's shoulder.
"Holy fuck!" Tucker stumbled forward when Caboose's head lolled in his direction. "Is he high?"
"Hi... Tucker!" Caboose said slowly, and yep, the big guy sounded like he was on a trip.
"Yeah," Church let out a snicker. "Can't wait to see if being high makes him smarter or... well, I dunno, more destructive?"
"Be quiet, boy," Sarge said, examining the pipe closely. "...Who can move without much pain?" Carolina, Wash, and Simmons said they were hurt but not as much as the others. "Good, I need ya guys to hold Caboose down."
Tucker stiffened, along with Simmons, when Caboose shook his head and tried pushing the Red leader away. Ah, shit. Simmons timidly handed Grif to him, and crap, now he had to hold him up while trying to ignore his ribs. Wash and Carolina didn't question it, they did as Sarge ordered and held Caboose back while Simmons hesitated and did the same. Tucker noticed the kit Sarge had, and saw why Caboose was drugged. Where did Sarge find the med kit?
He couldn't ignore the pained yell Caboose made when they removed the pipe and closed his eyes when he heard whimpering before the big guy passed out. Sarge managed to close the wound with some biofoam and told Wash and Carolina to carry him out. Before they could question why he wasn't helping Sarge told Simmons to remove his helmet. He did, and noticed the shocked jolt from Carolina when she saw Simmons' upgrades.
"...I'll need to look more closely after we get outside," Sarge muttered, examining Simmons' cybernetic parts and turning to see everyone staring at him. "Well? We ain't gonna make much progress if we stay here!"
So they slowly made their way outside. The irony wasn't lost on Tucker when they got out. They started in a canyon, left it, only to crash into another one. Fucking great. Tucker scowled and helped Grif settle on the ground. Carolina and Wash said they'd patrol, paranoid Freelancers, while Sarge helped them with their injuries. Sarge had no medical training whatsoever, but he turned Simmons into a cyborg and actually put some of his organs in Grif and they weren't dead. So yeah, he'll let him look him over.
Tucker stayed still while Sarge examined his ribs and said what he suspected when he said they were cracked. Caboose was passed out, groaning every time he shifted, and Grif was breathing slowly. He even commented that the sun was down and seemed relieved. Simmons was instructed to take off his armour. Sarge had said he noticed that Simmons' movement seemed off when he was pinning Caboose down.
The Red leader may be a paranoid son of a bitch that had crazy plans, but he knew when something was off.
It took several days before they were able to move without too much pain. Hell, it only took three days until Caboose was running around the canyon with Wash yelling after him to be careful. Wash was like a mother hen to Caboose, and the big guy didn't even seem to care. He actually reveled in it and stared at Tucker with something akin to smugness whenever Wash fussed over him.
All Tucker would do was roll his eyes.
And while they may work with each other, that didn't exclude the fact that Sarge was a paranoid son of a bitch. He decided that there would be two bases. A red and blue base. No one bothered to argue with him when he started dragging some scrap metal to the other side of the canyon. They all knew him by now. Simmons had to help, and Grif was instructed to drive the scrap they put in the warthog to their base.
How the hell a warthog managed to survive the crash is beyond him.
Never mind a warthog, a fucking tank survived that crash.
They weren't there for long, probably two or three days... and then Carolina and Church were gone.
...Assholes.
I spent all day rewriting this part and editing... and writing. It's approaching 55 pages and I'm still not done. O_O