Wash smiles from his perch in the ceiling as Silver takes down another hologram. Yttri had managed to get the new base's training room up and running a few days before, and with Rhodi's order that Silver should train for at least a day to make sure she's really better before the mission, she decided to take advantage of it. The room spawns another wave of adversaries, this time upgrading to ten.
Silver backs up a few paces, drawing two long-bladed knives from her back. Wash smirks at the clearly non-regulation weapons, another reminder of how far removed they are from the UNSC. The Director would have never sanctioned those for battle; he'd heard enough complaints from CT to be sure of it.
Wash sighs as he remembers his friends. CT had really liked knives, he thinks with a bittersweet smile. He also remembers York's collection of old Earth music, and North's constant attempts to keep South out of trouble, and South's three hour long 'discussion' with the Director about being allowed to dye her hair, and all the antics he himself had gotten up to, trying to fulfill his role as team rookie.
Wash sees a metal hand come into his field of view as Nick leans on the rail next to him. "Thinking about something?" he asks, noticing the odd smile on the Freelancer's face. Wash can barely detect the teasing hint in his voice.
"Just remembering something," he answers, not bothering to hide the sadness in his voice. He pushes the thoughts of his old team away and glances at the sniper.
Nick nods understandingly. "I thought you might have been thinking about Silver," he explains. "You two have been smiling a lot more than usual since your last talk."
"How'd you know?" Wash asks, not wanting to play this game.
"Tinu told me," Nick says with a grin.
"And how'd she find out?" he asks in mild annoyance. It's not like he and Silver had planned to keep things secret, but he'd hoped to have at least a day to get used to the idea of them being a couple before everyone else found out.
Nick shrugs. "Tinu always knows every good piece of gossip. I don't even know how she learns it all. By the way, she is in full support of you two. Apparently she thinks it was 'sweet and romantic' how you saved her before confessing your love."
Wash smiles at the description, though he expects it'd annoy Silver. "And what about you?" he asks, knowing the elderly-looking man's opinion carries a lot of weight with Silver.
Nick shrugs. "You seem like a nice enough guy. Not good enough for Silver, but in my admittedly biased opinion no one could be. You've helped our family a lot, and she seems to like you. I could give you the customary 'if you hurt my sister I'll kill you' speech, but I honestly don't think you'd ever do that, and besides, Silver can take care of herself."
"I'm glad to hear you think so," Wash says sincerely.
Nick simply shrugs again. "If it weren't for you, Silver would be dead," he says. "I figure you've earned your chance with her."
Wash looks back down at the training room, watching as Silver finishes off the last hologram with a leaping kick to the side of its head.
"Broken neck and a shattered skull," Nick said, eyes studious as he watches the same maneuver. "She is good."
Wash nods in agreement. "She's better than good. Even when he was sick, she was easily one of the best I'd ever seen in battle. I can't wait to see what she does once she's fully healed."
"Just be sure to watch her back until then," Nick instructs. "She'll act like everything's normal again, but she still can't do as much as she wants to. She nearly died. She needs to allow herself to heal."
Wash nods again. "Is Gold going to serve as her partner for the next mission?" There's something unidentifiable in his voice that makes Nick want to grin again. It's almost jealousy, but closer to fear. He's afraid he might get replaced.
Nick shrugs, feigning ignorance to Wash's inner struggle. "That's up to them. She and Gold work like a machine together. They're always at their best at each other's side. But she seems to work just as well with you. I guess it depends what she wants." He spares another glance toward Wash before adding, "Don't worry too much about what she chooses. She's going to think of a lot of different variables and how the mission is planned. It won't mean anything about if she likes you or not."
"I know," Wash says quickly. "Silver's not the type to let personal feelings affect her plans."
Nick shakes his head in agreement. It isn't entirely true, of course. He knows his oldest sister often allows her feelings to control her decisions. It's why he and many of the others in their family are still alive. Silver had always known when to be smart and when to do what was right, and when it came to her family, she always chose to keep them safe above all else.
"Oh, I almost forgot," Wash says suddenly, turning to Nick again. He hands the elderly-looking man a small data chip. "Carolina gave me this. She said it might be good for Silver."
Nick studies the device slowly. "It's an armor upgrade," he guesses, though he can't tell what type.
"It's a hologram unit," Wash explains. "It's designed to hold whatever pose you're in when you activate it, but for Silver and Rho, it could probably do a lot more."
"Why don't you just give it to her?" Nick asks, passing the item back.
Wash shrugs, though he grabs the chip. "I… thought she'd like it better coming from you."
Nick rolls his eyes at the nervous answer. "For a badass Freelancer, you can be really clueless," he laughs.
"What do you mean?" he asks in annoyance.
"Carolina could have given that to Silver herself," Nick explains. "They talked before she left. Why would she give it to you unless she wanted you to be the one to give it to Silver?" Wash simply gives him a confused look. "She thinks, and I agree, that Silver would like it best coming from you," Nick says plainly. "Because she likes you. And you saved her life. And she wants to kiss you or whatever."
"Alright, I get it," Wash says, cutting off Nick's teasing. "Just shut up."
Nick grins and runs a hand through his graying hair before looking down into the training room. He watches for a moment as Silver chokes out a hologram, only releasing it when it fades out of existence. She then stands and tells Rho to deactivate the program.
"Looks like she's done for the day," he says. "She's probably going back to the conference room to plan our mission. Now's your chance."
Wash shot him a glare as he tucked the armor upgrade into his pocket and began climbing the ladder back down.
"Good luck!" Nick called down after him, grinning when Wash shouted for him to shut up again.
-It is at this point in time that the author began smacking her head into the keyboard- This *smack* chapter *smack* is *smack* garbage. *Sigh* Sorry about this, guys. Writer's block is still kicking my butt. I swear, I will recover some day. For now, I guess you're stuck with this.