Legal Disclaimer: I do not own Red vs. Blue or any of the show's characters. They are the rightful properties of Rooster Teeth.
Chapter Eight:
"I really don't fucking get why all of us are heading over to Donut's right now." Lavernius Tucker muttered under his breath for what seemed like the umpteenth time.
Dexter Grif would know, having heard his childhood friend say the same thing over and over again in the span of five minutes.
It was like they were stuck in some sadistically diabolical loop that Sarge had created just to torture the orange-wearing driver. Grif wouldn't put it past the crazy old guy too, since by default it was torturing a "damn dirty Blue" in the process as part of whatever the hell that imaginary "Red vs. Blue" thing was that Sarge would always rant on and on about. Grif had started tuning him out, just as he was currently trying to do with Tucker.
The dark-skinned man was pretty much right dab in the middle of all of his coworkers save Matthews, who Grif had a sneaking suspicion might just be at The Big Gulp already, and Doctor Grey. Tucker looked thoroughly miserable, as if this was a walk of shame. Not that Tucker had any.
Grif almost felt bad for him. Key word there being almost. For the most part, the chubby man was just amused.
To Grif's credit, his apathetic nature allowed his inner glee to not show on his features, unlike some of their friends. Leonard Church, from where he was sandwiched into the group between a happily rambling Michael J. Caboose and a nodding Andersmith simply grinned at his friend's misery.
"Come on, Tucker," Church began, "Carolina kicked us all out of the garage for some kind of business meeting, and this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see you humiliate yourself. Again."
"How can it be 'again' if it is 'once-in-a-lifetime,' asshole?" Tucker groaned and gave his cobalt-wearing coworker the finger, "I seriously hate you."
"Details, Tucker," Church said as he grinned back at his friend, looking for all the world like a kid in a candy store, "Fucking details."
Not going to lie, the creepy smile on Church's face was starting to freak Grif out a little. He was beginning to wonder if most of the people at the Project Freelancer Garage were sadistic assholes.
But, hey, Sheila had been nice enough to offer to buy coffee for everyone as they waited for the all clear from their boss to come back to work, and who was Grif to not take the brown-haired woman up on her generous offer? Which was of course why he was here, and not because he was trying to sneak in a nap somewhere else.
The second that the motley crew entered The Big Gulp, Grif could already tell that the coffee shop was a bit more crowded than normal.
Sarge and Doctor Emily Grey both moved off to a quiet corner of the café after offering some words of encouragement to Tucker, who ended up turning rather red as a result of whatever "advice" the couple had given to him. Grif could only imagine, given the sources, it was colorful advice to say the least.
Caboose found a table and chairs with some magazines on the tabletop, exclaiming loudly at the find as he pulled along with him both Andersmith, who accompanied the blond with a far too enthusiastic "Yes, sir!", and Church, who scowled with a "Geez, I'm fucking coming already!"
Sheila smiled good-naturedly at everyone before walking over to the counter with Lopez hot on her heels. More than likely, the brown-wearing mechanic wanted to help Sheila with the drinks once the orders had been placed since it gave him an excuse to socialize only with her and not the others.
Glancing in their direction, Grif sighed.
The blonde barista working behind the counter was someone that Grif was now quite familiar with, as was the tan-skinned girl sitting near her at the counter.
"I don't have any classes today, so don't fucking start." Kaikaina Grif stated in way of greeting her older brother.
Grif rolled his eyes before responding: "Just don't fucking embarrass the family."
Sitting at a table close by the counter were Jensen and Palomo, the two coffee shop workers evidently on break at the moment. They had been holding hands, although it seemed as if it was a subconscious gesture. Grif doubted the two college-aged baristas were even aware of it.
Jensen's brown eyes lit up at the sight of so many people in the café at once, "I'll bet Matthews is going to be surprised to find all of his co-workers here when he comes back with Bitters!" She exclaimed before hopping up to go around the counter to assist Volleyball.
Palomo snorted as he reluctantly followed the brunette with the braided pigtails, "If he's stopped making googly eyes at Bitters enough to notice." He joked good-naturedly, laughing when Jensen playfully hit his dark-skinned arm in response.
Unsurprisingly, Doc was already in The Big Gulp with Junior. The two were busy waving Tucker over to where they were sitting exuberantly, as if Junior was afraid that his father wouldn't see him otherwise. Tucker grinned widely at the sight and walked over to them, laughing as Junior raced up to him the rest of the way and leapt into his arms.
"Hey, kiddo, what's up?" Tucker inquired as he ruffled Junior's hair a bit, much to the small boy's amusement.
Junior's quiet remark about what he and Doc had done earlier that day was lost on Grif's ears as he turned his head slightly to see Kai smirking at him.
"What?" The older Grif sibling asked with more than a bit of trepidation in his voice since that particular look on the younger girl's face usually meant trouble.
…Not that most of Kai's looks didn't mean trouble.
"Nothing." Kai's grin only widened, "Save you'll never guess who's here too."
Grif raised a dark-haired eyebrow at her comment. He was about to inquire what she meant and, more importantly, why he would even care, when Donut's exuberant voice came drifting out from the back of the establishment.
"That's when I told him: you have to try to relax and take it all in to get the full release!"
The pink apron-wearing café owner was exiting the backroom, his hands animatedly moving along with his story. But, it was the man standing next to him, the one with a face as red as his hair now thanks to Donut's penchant for wording, that really caught Grif's attention.
"Simmons?" Grif couldn't help but blurt out a second later.
David Washington was a nervous, sweating wreck as he stood outside the familiar doors of the woefully named The Big Gulp.
He was on his way to a real date with Tucker. Not only that, but he was going to be meeting the teal-wearing driver's son for the first time as well.
The blond supposed it was only natural then, given the circumstances, that he would be a ball of nerves.
Unfortunately for the security guard, Tex saw him take a shuddering breath with barely concealed amusement in her brown eyes.
They had both been given the day off together. Tex had said she would walk to Donut's café with Washington since she was apparently going to meet Church and the others from his work there.
Felix and Locus had also been given the day off, though not surprisingly neither had divulged their downtime plans. Washington had decided not to ask seeing as how the two mercenaries had walked off together, shoulder-to-shoulder.
…Of course, that left Vanessa Kimball as Hargrove's sole bodyguard, though he knew that she was more than capable. It was just a matter of whether or not the dark-skinned woman could stomach being around the head of Charon for a whole day by herself.
"Do you want me to hold your hand?" Tex couldn't help joking, teasing evident in her tone as her voice brought back focus to the matter at hand.
Washington sighed at the blonde's taunting before steeling himself and entering the café.
Tex's earlier remark about meeting everyone from the Project Freelancer Garage there seemed to be proven true, as Washington was caught off-guard momentarily by the myriad of familiar faces all around him. But, after nodding a tense greeting to everyone, he spotted Tucker easily enough.
The dark-skinned younger man was holding onto a small boy, his eyes lighting up at spotting Washington still standing in the doorway.
Tex gave the former Freelancer a gentle (for her, at any rate) push from behind to get him to move forward, moving past Washington to join Church at the table where the dark-haired man was currently sitting with Caboose and Andersmith.
Washington made his way over to Tucker and his son, hoping his steps were steadier than they felt.
"Hey, look who made it!" Tucker joked the second they were within earshot of one another, a look of relief flooding over his features.
Had Tucker been nervous too?
Washington couldn't help but send him a sympathetic smile, "Wouldn't miss it." He mumbled out himself, surprised at the sudden earnestness in his voice.
Tucker grinned, looking down at the small boy still tucked in his arms, "Wash, I'd like you to meet Junior." He stated proudly, "Junior, this is Wash."
The boy was regarding him carefully as Tucker put him down on the ground once more, and Washington couldn't help but feel somewhat self-conscious at the scrutiny. What if Junior didn't like him, or…?
Washington waved his hand shakily, trying to get that particular train of thought out of his brain right then and there, "H—hello, Junior." He began, "It's nice to meet you."
Junior still said nothing, but Tucker shot Washington an amused look that clearly stated "Chill, dude, he's not going to murder you."
Finally, after what seemed like an uneasy eternity, Junior opened his mouth, "Are you Daddy's friend?" He asked, before trying to wriggle his eyebrows in a way that left no question as to who his father was.
Suddenly, all of the unease and nervousness peeled off of Washington at the child's innocent enough question, and he couldn't help but laugh. The gray and yellow-wearing man noticed Tucker watching him expectantly along with Junior and, with effort, he stopped himself in order to answer the question.
"Er…" Washington's face felt a bit hot just then, "Y—yes, one could say that…"
He saw Tucker's look of momentary surprise morph into a look of what almost looked like happiness while Junior nodded his head as if the security guard's answer was completely expected.
"Oooh!" A chorus of voices from all around them said at once, reminding Washington and Tucker for the first time that they were far from the only people in The Big Gulp.
Tucker glared at his friends and co-workers, a bit of a blush forming on his cheeks to no doubt match Washington's own, "…Maybe we should get our coffee to go." He muttered under his breath.
At the sight of Donut, standing nearby next to Doc, giving the two men an encouraging thumbs up, Washington couldn't help but nod his head quietly in agreement.
They made their way over to the counter since the barista Volleyball had already made their usual drinks for them. Washington was a bit surprised to see Simmons standing close by in conversation with Grif, but he thought nothing more of it once he stepped outside of the café with Tucker and his son.
The little boy surprised him by taking hold of both of the adults' hands.
"So, tell me, Junior," Washington began as they started to make their way to the park, "Do you like cats?"
"Hargrove had some business to attend to with your boss, Carolina." Richard "Dick" Simmons informed Grif after Washington, Tucker, and Junior left the café and everyone went back to their normally scheduled lives, "So, he gave me a small break during their meeting."
Grif nodded his dark-haired head in understanding. Well, that certainly explained Carolina's earlier kicking them all out.
"So you figured that you'd catch up with Donut in the meanwhile." He surmised.
Simmons nodded, though the frown and sudden glance down towards his watch seemed to indicate that break time was almost up.
Grif sighed, not really wanting to go back but oddly reluctant to part ways with the nerd all the same, "Come on," he began, moving to the door, "I'll walk you back."
There was another chorus of "Oooh!" following the chubby man's statement, though Grif chose to ignore the assholes in The Bug Gulp like a pro.
"A—are you sure?" Simmons, on the other hand, had become red-faced at the sudden attention that was thrown their way, "I—I wouldn't want to…!"
Grif raised an eyebrow lazily, "I wouldn't have said anything if I didn't want to, Simmons." He informed the redhead matter-of-factly, "You know me, I don't take something as exhausting as walking lightly."
"Fat-ass." Oddly, Simmons said nothing else in reply, though his face became even redder as he nodded his head in quiet agreement.
The only noises that could be heard when they stepped outside were sounds of yelling on a nearby Rat's Nest street.
Both voices were very familiar to Grif, especially the one that belonged to a certain kiss-ass intern.
By the time the two had reached the corner in companionable silence, the sounds of shouting had rescinded to a dull echo. The two men found a forlorn-looking Matthews standing there, all alone.
"Oh! Grif, sir!" Matthews looked taken aback at having been seen in the tail-end of an argument by one of his superiors from the garage.
"Something happen, Matthews?" Grif asked disinterestedly, though he saw Simmons' face lighting up in curiosity about what they had obviously stumbled into.
Matthews deflated even more as soon as the question was asked, "I got into an argument with Bitters."
"Oh, I see." Grif figured that would be the end of the conversation, his capacity for caring officially having reached its limit.
Unfortunately, Matthews evidently thought his remark was some kind of encouragement that meant he should continue, "He…he street races. The pay is pretty good for that, you know? He has been thinking of…of quitting the café to focus on racing."
Of course, it could never be something simple. Grif sighed.
Matthews shrank back even more, "I may have…I may have given him the keys to your car." The auburn-haired young man admitted sheepishly, "Just so Bitters could try something that involved driving safely."
Grif felt a sudden headache looming. Of course, Matthews had done that. The orange-wearing driver exchanged an apathetic glance with Simmons then, who oh-so-helpfully shrugged in response.
Grif sighed, "It's fine, Matthews." He finally said at length, "Just be sure to ask beforehand next time."
"Y—yes, sir!" Matthews perked up at Grif's remark, returning instantly to his suck-up ways, "Thank you, sir!"
Grif couldn't help but sigh yet again, though the consoling pat and sympathetic smile he got from Simmons just then almost made it worth it.
The three men were just about across the street from the Project Freelancer Garage when all hell broke loose.
First, there was the loud noise of an engine revving up. Then, suddenly Grif's car was speeding out onto the road with Bitters behind the wheel.
Matthews stared at the sight, unusually pale, "He—he doesn't usually drive like that!" The bespectacled intern insisted shakily, obviously nervous at the prospect of his boss' car getting damaged along with Bitters.
The door to the garage opened at around the same time with Carolina, Kimball, and Hargrove racing outside to watch the sight. Out of the corner of his eye, Grif couldn't help but notice that there was an odd, rectangular device in Hargrove's hands.
"You've made your point!" Carolina all but loudly hissed at the elderly businessman, "Turn it off!"
However, Hargrove looked just as shocked as she did, though he managed to purse his lips together into a thin line of indifference all the same, "I didn't account for an actual driver." He informed both women matter-of-factly, "I have no more control over the device."
It looked as if Bitters couldn't get the car to slow down or stop. Just as Grif was registering that it was coming directly at the three of them on the sidewalk, the barista tried a last ditch effort to turn the wheel.
It worked somehow, though the car ended up crashing right into the vacant building next to them instead with the sickening sound of twisted metal.
Matthews was already heading to check on Bitters as Carolina and Kimball were racing over to see if everyone was all right. Grif turned to the redheaded kiss-ass who had been standing by his side the entire time only to see a pool of red liquid on the ground before his brain registered the person lying in it.
"SIMMONS!"
Author's Notes: I think the ending of this chapter might be too rushed, but I was trying to go for a very intense ending point so hopefully that came across still. I am sorry for the massive cliffhanger, but there are only two more chapters left of Just Drive before we reach the ending! I hope it will be a satisfactory one for everyone. :)
Thank you very much for taking the time to read this story! :D