"Alpha, please don't make me go," I whimpered pitifully, as I sat on my bed.
A few days ago, the Director asked me to see him and the Counselor. They had scheduled for something and wanted to discuss it with me before further plans have been made.
I knew exactly what they were doing. I didn't want to, but it's not like I really had a choice. Alpha, on the other hand, did not know what the Director had planned for us, and I intended to keep it that way. It's not that I wanted to go through with this, I just didn't want Alpha to know that I knew. If he did, he'd know that I was just as bad as the Director.
Alpha sighed, running a hand through his hair, which ended up just gliding through his holographic head. "Cal, I don't know why you're getting so worked up about this. I know neither of us really like him, but we have no choice," he reasoned.
I sighed as well, wanting to waste as much time as possible before I had to see the Director.
"You're right, Alpha." I reluctantly agreed, realizing there wasn't much I could do to waste time.
Alpha nodded and disappeared, allowing me to walk to the Director's office in silence. As I was walking, I tried my best to avoid any other Freelancers, especially Wash. Since we began talking, we've gotten pretty close and comfortable with each other. I was the one who knew the most about him, but he began to open up to C.T. and York. Anyway, if I ran into him now I'd probably freak out on the inside and forget where I was going.
Smiling to myself, I arrived at the Director's office. As soon as I opened the door, my smile was replaced with a frown.
"Agent California, it's been a while," the Counselor said, smiling lightly at me.
I rolled my eyes, but smiled softly back. It had been a while.
"Now, Agent California," the Director started, getting right down to business (to defeat the Huns). "You must remember the process you went through when we created the Omega A.I."
I stared at him with the bitchiest bitch face I could muster. "No. I don't. Because you pissed me off so fucking much that I passed out and then I was unconscious for the next thirteen hours."
It was silent for a moment before the Counselor spoke up, "Well, then I guess you won't be too pleased to know that we're about to do it again."
That's what left me strapped down to a hospital bed with my back up. I was on my stomach so they could go through the neural implantation on the back of my neck during the surgery, and I was strapped down because I kept trying to fight back.
"You can't do this! You can't hurt me!" I yelled at the Director, not wanting him to go through with his plan.
The Director bent down to where he could meet my eyes. "We won't be hurting you."
I didn't believe him at first, but began panicking when I realized what he meant.
"You can't hurt him! Leave the Alpha alone, he never did anything to deserve-" my voice hitched when I felt a slight pinch to my neck.
"...to... t-to deserve...this..." My eyes began to droop and the world started to turn black as I drifted into unconsciousness.
Not again.
When I woke up this time, I felt exactly like I had the first time. The only difference was I actually remembered who I was, and I wasn't as nauseous.
It was also weird waking up in Recovery and finding myself being the only one in the room. Ever since moving closer with the other agents, we all shared the recovery room and there were at least two people in here at a time.
"Alpha," I said, my voice raspy and barely above a whisper.
I waited for a response, but it never came.
"Alpha," I said a little louder this time, feeling worried. They didn't...remove him, did they? No...no, they'd never.
"Cal...h-hey," Alpha's quiet voice came. He slowly appeared in front of me, resting on my stomach. He looked tired, and beaten, and hurt, and I felt myself get angry at the thought of my tiny human being in pain.
"Alpha what - are you okay?" I stopped myself from asking him what had happened. I already knew the answer to that question.
Alpha looked up at me, and simply shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. The Director told me that Agent North Dakota was in danger. He wanted me to come up with a way to save him really quickly, and I tried as best as I could, but he told me that North didn't make it."
I felt my heart sink. North? Dead? But, that's not possible!
"And then it just got really quiet, "Alpha continued, "and dark. And then I felt a lot of pain."
My heart raced, "'Pain?' Like, physical pain? But how-"
"I don't know." Alpha's voice was grumpy and cold, and it scared me a little. "I'm just...tired."
I nodded, "O-okay, well go offline, get some...rest," I told him.
Alpha disappeared without another word.
After sitting there for a couple of minutes, I decided to get up and find the Director. After everything that just happened, he had some serious explaining to do.
"Oh, Agent California, I see you're doing fine," the Counselor said as soon as I ran into him. I scowled at him and clenched my fists at my sides.
"Yes, I'm doing just fine, however, Alpha is not!" I said, ignoring my excruciating headache.
The Counselor stayed calm, like always, and laced his fingers together, resting his hands in front of him.
"The Alpha A.I. is bound to have some side affects, we just created...another A.I.," he said, ending his sentence quietly. I narrowed my eyes at him.
"I'll bet you North isn't even dead, is he? He's somewhere on the ship right now," I growled, pissed at what he and the Director had put Alpha through.
The Counselor leaned his head back a little, looking down at me through semi-lidded eyes. "No, Agent North Dakota is not on the ship, however he is not injured. Well, not that we know of."
I crossed my arms, "Then why did - wait, not on the ship? Then where is he?" I asked.
"He, Agent South, and Agent Carolina, are currently on a mission," the Counselor answered.
"Doing what?" I asked, slightly miffed that they had been sent on a mission without me.
"Well, they were assigned to infiltrate an Insurrectionist Research facility and recover a data file."
I frowned, what's on that data file?
Suddenly, voices came from down the hall.
The Counselor gave me a little smile, "I believe it is around dinner time. If I were you, I'd go change before eating." With that, he walked away.
Feeling embarrassed, I looked down at what I was wearing and died a little on the inside. They were really short white shorts, a baggy t-shirt (that I was 99% sure I stole from Wash), and some knee-high socks. Panicking as the voices came closer, I dashed down to my room, ignoring the pain in my head once more.
After putting on some sweats and shoes, I headed over to the mess hall, where I met Wash and York sitting at our table.
"Where've you been all day?" York asked as I took a seat next to him.
"Eh, sleeping, talking with the Director, and I saw the Counselor, too," I told them, ignoring Wash's complaining as I stole one of his tater tots.
I felt a little guilty for not telling them the truth, but I wasn't technically lying, either. I talked to both the Director and the Counselor, and I was knocked out for a good four hours.
"Is...that my shirt?" Wash asked suddenly. "I knew I was missing my favorite shirt." I glanced down at the grey t-shirt I was wearing and blushed slightly, giving him a small nod. Wash grinned, and I noticed his cheeks were covered in a faint blush as well.
Forgetting about his 'favorite shirt,' Wash began taking to York about the other agents' mission, and I just listened. I saw Wash give me the stink eye as I took more of his food, but I noticed him discretely scoot his plate closer to me as he munched on his corn dog. Eventually C.T. showed up and sat next to Wash, following my example as she stole a few of his tater tots as well.
Though I'd never admit it out loud, something bubbled up in me and I stopped eating off of Wash's plate. I even found myself narrowing my eyes as C.T. laughed a little too loudly for my liking at one of Wash's jokes.
What's wrong with me? C.T. and I are friends, so are me and Wash! Why is this bothering me? I asked myself, though I knew exactly why.
Despite how I was feeling, I couldn't help but sneak glances at David every now and then. It made me happy to know that he was getting more comfortable around everyone, and that he was able to take his helmet off. He had told me he was embarrassed and insecure about his heterochromia, although I never understood why. I thought his eyes were absolutely gorgeous, but I've never actually told him that.
Finding myself lost in the deep seas of blue and grey, my thoughts (rudely) interrupted as York shouted at someone behind us.
"Hey! Look who's back!" he called, grinning and waving. I turned around and saw a tired North, South, and Carolina come trudge over to our table.
Knowing Carolina wanted to sit next to York, I stood up and let her have my seat. Frowning, I noticed David had slid his helmet back on before the others sat down. I figured this was my chance to sit next to him, but North plopped down there as I was moving. Unbeknownst to him, I glared at North because he forced me to sit at the end of the table, which made me even farther from David then I was before.
Deciding that crushes were completely overrated, I placed my head on the table and silently cursed David Washington for being so darn cute.