Chapter 2 guys! It's on its way! Well by the time you guys read this it will already be done and all that but this is more for me. The Authors Note is for me to enjoy and express myself whether or not any of you guys read my notes. I can honestly say, for the most part I do not read Author's Notes unless it is a story of one of my friends or I know that person will have something interesting, important, or funny to say. That being said I can honestly understand why people just kind of brush past the Authors Note and I do not take offense if you guys don't read this. However if I do say something important to the story and you miss you, it's your fault.

Anyway I think I'm done with the introductions for today, I have also decided to make at least one flashback per chapter maybe even more depending on the situation in the chapter. Hopefully in the later chapters the flashbacks won't be needed and I could just continue on with the story line.

Well enjoy! Review Please!

!~!~!~!~!~!~!(Chapter 2)!~!~!~!~!~!~!

It has been several day since their encounter outside out of their quarters. Life went on, they hung out with their teammates went on low level missions and continued from there. Carolina tried not to go too easy on Wash when they would spare, if she couldn't treat him like her brother, she wouldn't. Yet it was hard. David was her little brother, which she always wanted to protect and care for. If kicking his ass meant that, then that was what she would do. Carolina swiftly moved to the other side of Wash and gave a kick (as soft as she possibly could at that) to his side. Wash doubled over with a shout of pain and then received another to the shoulder. After a few more kicks and hits Wash was done, leaving to go sit down while another took his place. This time it was York, and much like Wash took some heavy hits. Unlike Wash, however he dealt some of his own and soon the two were in a sparring match between equals.

"She really gave it to you rough." North said with a soft smile as he sat down next to the blonde. Both had removed their helmets and were now sucking down some water after long training sessions. It was almost ironic, Wash was sparring with his sister, and North with his. No one knew about Wash and Carolina though.

"Yeah but doesn't she always. I doubt she even knows what 'going easy on people' means." Wash complained but knew that North had no idea where he was really coming from. They didn't grow up with her like he did. They didn't understand that competitive spirit and her inability to give up. If there was one thing that Wash admired the most about his older sister, was that she was fighter.

!~!~!~!~!~!~!(FLASHBACK)!~!~!~!~!~!~!

"Davey guess what Dad signed me up for!" Carolina said with a proud and smug smile on her face when she entered their house. The thirteen year old David looked up from the book he was reading at his sister who had her medium length red hair into a bun. Wash was wearing a gray sweater and a pair of black skinny jeans, along with thick framed glasses and a yellow beanie. Carolina would always joke and call him a hipster and of course David would deny it, but it was sort of true. Carolina was wearing a light blue tank top and some cargo shorts. The sixteen year old had semi short hair that was pulled back into a pony tail.

"What did I say about calling me Davey?" David pouted, setting his book aside. He honestly hated when Carolina called him any of his undesirable nicknames. The only nickname he had for her was Car (pronounced Care) and she actually liked that name. Carolina had several nicknames for him such as: Davey, Dave, Davi and anything else that was a shorten version of his name. She still managed to come up with new nicknames, despite how short his name already was. They weren't big on generic nicknames like buddy or sis. It just wasn't them.

"Oh hush now David. What I'm about to tell you is so much more important than your problems." Carolina said with a sly smile, there was no malice in her voice. Wash rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, "Well then, what's so important?" He questioned sassily.

"Dad sighed me up for self-defense and martial arts classes. Soon I am going to be the best fighter on the planet." Carolina declared proudly. She had begged their father for many years to put her in these classes. She wanted to learn to protect herself and be strong like her mother once was. Maybe then she would be strong enough to protect David, and her father if she needed to. Carolina would do anything for her remaining family at this point. Anything.

"That's great Car!" David said with a huge sincere smile, he knew exactly how much Carolina wanted this. She talked about it for years and almost obsessed about it. "When do you start classes?" David asked.

"Next week. I have self-defense two times a week and marital arts once. I think it's going to be Wednesday's and Friday's for self-defense and then Thursday's for the martial arts classes." Carolina explained. She was a very busy girl throughout the week. Leonard had them home schooled considering he didn't trust public education to protect his children. They had school Monday's through Thursday's and the rest of the week was free. The studies were from 9am to about 4pm. While Carolina was about average when it came to her studies, David was excelling. The younger was much receptive to the information they learned daily. While he was smart, he wouldn't go as far to say he was a genius. He wasn't like his father was, who was admittedly a genius.

"I'm glad for you Carolina." David said with a smile before returning to his book, Carolina giving his a kiss on the head before moving on to her bedroom to write in her journal. Leonard had bought it for her so she could express herself in secret, knowing that she would never do it in front of other people.

"I will protect us David. I promise." Carolina whispered to herself once she made it into her room and shut the door behind her.

!~!~!~!~!~!~!(END FLASHBACK)!~!~!~!~!~!~!

"That's true Wash. But I guess it's a good thing. At least we know she would never stop fighting for her life if a situation came up. Hopefully we could all say that about ourselves. It's that courage that makes us strong. Not our actual physical strength. Try not to feel bad about getting beat up by her." North said reassuringly. Wash wasn't surprised that North approached him and tried to comfort him after getting his ass kicked by Carolina. It was one of the things that Wash admired the most about North, his brotherly instinct. He was much more kind and more understanding then his twin sister, South. Now that South was a bitch. She was mean and impatient and plain out rude. Wash couldn't stand her to be honest. Connie wasn't as bad as South, but she could be when she wanted.

His male teammates were so much better than the girls. York was funny and charming, and yet very strong and protective. North was well…North. Wyoming was okay, he could be quite the jerk when wanted but for the most part he just told bad jokes and had a weird mustache. Maine was the quiet type, but did communicate when necessary. Wash would be the very first to admit that he was scared of Maine. In fact, he was terrified of him. In reality there was no real reason to be afraid of Maine, he was a nice guy and their teammate, but he was really big and really tough. He was more intimidating then he was scary, but either way, Wash was apprehensive about him. Now Wash knew very little of Freelancer Florida. Not many people knew that much about him, maybe that he was Florida at the very most. Wash had never seen someone as secretive as he was. Although, that wasn't his business and he wasn't about to stick his nose where it doesn't belong.

"Thanks North but I'm okay. I gave up being embarrassed to get my ass kicked long ago. After all I have been told that I am the worst fighter on the team and I have accepted that." Wash murmured rubbing the back of his neck. It was the truth and there was no denying that. He might as well accept it and continue on with life. He wasn't going to be like Carolina or York.

"Who told you that?" North asked with his brows up high. He had heard people talking about it several times, however each time he would shut their conversation down and defend Wash. Nobody deserved to be talked about like that. Besides Wash may not be the best fighter, but he certainly wasn't the worst.

"People. I'm not to say any names though. It really doesn't matter North. I'm okay with it. I'm fine." Wash assured him and stood to leave. He had cooled off some and was now on his way to shower off the dried on sweat and grime from the days training. It was about time for dinner time anyway. When he entered the Showers, nobody was there, either still training or have already showered. Wash quickly stripped, stopping to admire his lean muscles that he was ever so proud of. He may not be overly buff like Maine, but Wash thought he looked pretty good with the muscle mass he had. Plus he was pretty thin and had a nice skin tone color. Since it was pretty hard to get tanned in space, Wash stuck with his paleness and pulled it off better than anyone else did. Maybe that was the slightly conceited part of him talking. Wash quickly cleaned and dried off.

Once dry he put on his regulation sweatpants and a regulation wife-beater. Wash then pulled a thin jacket over his bare arms and headed back to the training room to tell everyone that food would soon be done. Those who were still training, Carolina, York, South and Wyoming all stopped to confirm that they had heard them. Those who hadn't been training moved to the showers first, only to be followed by those who had just stopped training. Carolina removed her helmet and threw her brother an apologetic smile, as if to say sorry for the beat down earlier. He shrugged it off and moved on to the Mess Hall to eat. Grabbing a tray and whatever muck they severed here. He sat his tray down and waited for his friends to pile around him. In only a few minutes York and North sat next to him. Maine sat by himself, as well as Carolina. Connie was noticeably missing while Wyoming and Florida were sitting together.

"How did the training with Carolina go?" Wash asked York, stuffing what seemed to be lasagna into his mouth, turning to look at the brunette. Both North and York were helmetless, showing off their handsome faces. Wash was also without his helmet, which was surprising considering he normally also wore his armor and helmet around.

"Pretty much how yours went. Only I lasted longer." York said with a teasing smile, and North smacked him on the shoulder.

"Leave him alone." North scolded. York raised his hands up in defense.

"Sorry, sorry. You know I don't mean that, right Wash?" York asked with a soft expression. He liked to tease Wash every now and again, but it was just for fun. He didn't mean anything by it. It was just playful teasing.

"It's okay York. Really." Wash waved him off. York seemed relieved to have heard that and they continued on eating. That was until the Director came up, all the Freelancers stood in attention before the door even shut.

"Agents North and South Dakota, Agent Washington, Agent Wyoming, put your armor on and come with me. We have a work to do. Counselor, go find Agent Connecticut. Everyone else, dismissed." The Director said before sending a look over to Carolina. York looked at North and Wash before sitting back down and wishing them luck. Everyone that was called on left the Mess Hall after throwing their food out. Those left continued to eat. Shortly after they left, Carolina stood up and followed after them.

In the mission room, North, South, Wash, Connie, and Wyoming all stood around the holographic table. The Director explained that they would go on separate missions. It was North and South's job to go and receive some data from an oil rig. It shouldn't be that hard of a mission, a quick in-an-out. While they did that, Wash and the others were responsible for taking care of… a 'ball'. Wash wasn't really sure the whole point of the mission but he had Wyoming and Connie to help out. The Director trusted him to get things done, but that didn't mean he would actually get it done. The Director then dismissed them to head out on their missions. On his way to the hangar he was stopped by Carolina.

"Be careful David." Carolina told him.

"I will. I promise."

!~!~!~!~!~!~!(End)!~!~!~!~!~!~!

Well guys this is it for this chapter. I know the end seemed a little rushed but I was getting bored of typing and was trying to watch the Blood Gulch Chronicles plus I'm sick with allergies. However those are just excuses and I will continue on with this story late. Until next time!