Caboose woke up still sad. He looked on his nightstand there was the photo and bunch of white roses he picked for his sister. He smiled and went into the main room.
Tex was there and for some reason being nice to him. The others noticed it to, she talked gently to him, answered his questions and completely wasn't the Tex they all knew. This treatmeant continued everyday for two months until she revieced a message from Serenity. She wasn't coming back, she couldn't without hurting him again and again.
Serenity sat by the window of the medical bay watching him sleep. Caboose had shot himself and apparently suffered intelligance loss. "How is he?" Florida or Flowers as he was otherly known as asked coming in handing her a coffee.
"Still the same" she replied. "He did this because of the Director faking my death for a stupid program" she guiltly sighed.
Not your fault if you had known-" she cut him off outraged.
"If I had known I wouldn't have agreed to this! To any of this!"
"Okay okay calm down" Flowers said.
"York and Wash say a new freelancer is coming in and is called Washington, definately going to get teased" she said calmly.
"About what?" Flowers asked.
"Being related to Gorge Washington or being mistakingly called Washingtub" Serenity answered.
She wastched him worried. Was Michael still going to continue this insane quest to kill himself if she continued being dead?
Was he even still her brother? Serenity didn't know the answer and was afraid that she would be all alone when he found out, how much she had changed. She hated change. It meant having to move on to something different. Something she wouldn't like.
Serenity continued to watch him sleep before working up the courage to go inside the room. She smiled at him and planted a small soft kiss on top of his forehead.
"Sleep tight brother, you deserved it" she said holding his hand like he did for her so long ago.
She smiled bitterly pretending to be happy. "Agent you are leaving, your pelican has arrived" Fillis said over an announcement.
"Thanks Fillis take care of him for me" she said.
"Will do" come the AI's response.
"Oh and one last thing, tell him…tell him it's okay to want something, just make it's in your reach because that's where I am going" she responded.
Tex shook her head. Nothing ever good comes from saying goodbye. Serenity had said it but never meant it so she was just not there.
Caboose looked at the flowers again and went to find his friend Donut who was setting up a Christmas tree at red base.
Surprisingly no one had seen him come so that gave him an advantage of not being shot by Sarge.
"General Éclair I wanted to say happy Christmas" Caboose said.
"Oh hi Caboose, want to set up the Christmas tree?" Donut asked. Caboose agreed, they pulled out baubles and set up the tree with lights not knowing they were being watched.
Serenity sat letting her legs dangle off the top of the cliff as she watched through the sniper rifle. They were setting up a Christmas tree; she remembered when they did that together. They always had so much fun for the two.
She continued as a red soldier found the two and chased him away. Caboose entered the blue base and she heard typical yelling at him from their cobalt leader Church.
She saw them lighting up their own Christmas tree, singing and actually not bugging each other. It looked so happy. She smiled, should she go down there? Would it be a good idea? Caboose would see her and the others would surely not mind from what she gathered on them.
A voice interrupted her thoughts.
"We'd like to see you down there" Tex said looking down on her. Tex stood behind her while she sat, Serenity placed up the sniper up.
"Would he though?" She returned the question.
"He loves you and apparently doesn't have memory of you supposedly 'dying' so no he wouldn't" Tex said.
"Texas, the memory might come back. You never know" She countered.
"Exactly you would never know so it's okay" Tex recounted her argument.
Serenity stood up and faced the black clad armoured women. She was either really brave or really crazy for even coming here, she had strings pulled and had practically gone MIA. They would find her only when she wanted to be found and yet…that wasn't enough for her.
That was never enough. Because for some strange reason she wanted to stay and be with her brother, fight the idiots on the other team, argue over the name of the warthog and just be…left behind.
"I think I like it better from up here, you'd better get back down there they would want to see you" Serenity bit her lip.
"Okay but we have a spare seat if you change your mind" Tex responded.
"We? Who are 'we'?" She asked.
"Apparently the blues and reds have decided that they want to have Christmas in peace so we are celebrating it in the middle of the canyon along with Wash, you remember him right?" Tex asked.
"Texas I said to York and North, to call him George so yes if that's what you looking for" She said.
Tex left without another word. Serenity sat down again and watched them eat. She must have dozed off because she was awoken from a weird dream a few hours later.
Caboose was sitting in front of her watching her. Caboose had a basket and rug on the top of the cliff with some other various things. He had a picnic set up for her, he knew she was here somehow, and she joined him.
"Hey Michael" she said.
"Hey Serenity" He said.
"Merry Christmas" Serenity said.
"You too" he said hugging her.
"How'd you know I was up here?" she asked.
"Tex told me," he said, Serenity mentally made note to play some sort of revenge on her. "And then gave me this which is odd, she's been really nice to me" Caboose ignorantly said.
"I know I've seen" Serenity whispered.
She stood and kissed his forehead again before turning to leave. He caught her wrist just in time before she slipped out of his reach. "Stay please" he asked.
She whispered her response "I can't" she said.
"Please?" he begged his blue eyes pleading.
Serenity wanted to say no and how unfair it was, she wanted to scream and yell at him saying that it wasn't okay, it was her fault she wanted to stay, to scream she was sorry. But that wasn't fair on him either.
If she said those things he wouldn't forgive her, Serenity barely forgave herself for it.
Serenity was selfish. This is what she chose and now she had to live with it, if she couldn't, then that was her fault. It was a plain fact.
She looked at his face and remembered all the times he had made her laugh, cry and be happy just to be in his company. The day he promised to take her everywhere he could think of and came home with a bunch of French stuff just to make her happy.
He wasn't selfish he was plain brave where she couldn't be. Caboose was everything to her when she had nothing and became the thing she needed when sh was lost and alone on a mission with no way of winning.
"Okay I'll stay for as long as I remember to" she said sitting back down with him.
"And as long as it takes" he added.
"Yeah" Serenity smiled.