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 Six:
Despite the argument that had been looming between them earlier, Leonard Church almost missed Carolina just then, especially with his ever growing exasperation over all of the distant chattering going on around him.
His friends, as he supposed he could call them now, just really didn't know when to be quiet. Most of their conversations seemed to still be on the lingering mystery of the blackout and, while Church did almost think that warranted some concern, being in a position to hear what they were actually saying instead of just muffled bullshit would be nice.
The proceedings were certainly not helpful in regards to his desire to maintain an apathetic mindset, that was for sure. How could one not get somewhat annoyed with Sarge and Grey, along with Sheila and Lopez, making googly eyes at each other from the clinic's interior? Or with both Donut and Doc trying to be polite and involve him in some kind of conversation he was barely paying attention to while Caboose loudly tried to monopolize his first best friend's attention in the background of the warehouse near the clinic entrance?
Not only was Church yet again quickly developing a headache, but the current situation made him nearly yearn for even the tense standoff he'd been having with his sister over what had happened to his other siblings and Tex.
The irony being that the arguments that started because of those particular topics usually resulted in even more headaches further down the road, particularly in regards to that last subject. It wasn't like he was in anyway less upset with his ex-girlfriend's decision to just walk away without giving any form of closure to anyone.
It was just such a her thing to do that he didn't see the point of harping on it. But, still, even Church could acknowledge that it stung way more than he'd care to ever admit.
With the way things were going now? His yearning for their complicated off-and-on-and-off-and-maybe-on-again relationship was saying something. Something that his brother Delta would have no doubt described as "completely illogical."
The dark-haired man took in a deep breath, about to tell everyone to go fuck off and leave him alone, just as an unfamiliar voice threw itself into the dinge nearby: "Well, it certainly gets lively here, huh?"
Caboose, momentarily stopping in his rambling concern for his gun, turned around to greet the newcomer behind them, "Hello, new friend from before!" he shouted loudly into the hallway.
"Caboose, remember your inside voice," Doc gently chastised the blond while acknowledging the newcomer's presence all in the same breath, "And hello again!"
"Hey, Felix!" Donut said in way of greeting as well, "What brings you here?"
Sarge had joined their group by the doorway as the others in the clinic were still apparently holding back to discuss something more amongst themselves. It seemed that the newcomer's arrival had piqued the leader of Red Team's curiosity.
"There isn't another reclaiming mission, is there?" The older soldier asked the man in steel-and-orange armor, tilting his head and looking disapprovingly at the trim of the man's clothes, "Or are ya wanting help in choosing a less disappointing color for your armor?"
"Um, no? I make this work." Felix's response to Sarge's comment was immediate, and it finally clicked in Church's brain that he was one of the new mercenaries.
"Well, we're always here should you ever come to your senses." Sarge responded bluntly.
Felix looked at the older man strangely, before shrugging his comment off a second later to address the group, "…Right. Hope you don't mind that I let myself in. No one was by the entrance."
"We have a very open front door policy," Donut assured him, smiling brightly, "And a really open back door one too!"
For the sake of everyone's continued sanity, Felix wisely chose not to comment.
Instead, he grinned, "Since it seems like a certain scary lady isn't here at the moment," Church bristled at the description of his big sister since just because it was fucking true didn't mean that just anyone could say it as the mercenary continued, "I figured this would be my best bet to get that tour. I'm pretty curious about this place."
"Oh, sure, we'd love to give you the grand tour." Donut seemed thrilled at the prospect, as did Caboose and Doc, "If it's okay with you, Sarge?"
The older man shrugged, "Fine by me, so long as you don't forget where the booby traps are this time."
"Booby traps?" Felix raised an eyebrow at Red Team's leader, not sure if his comment was meant to be taken seriously.
"A soldier's always got to be prepared to defend his home base to the death!" Sarge stated matter-of-factly before nodding his goodbyes and turning to rejoin his doctor girlfriend and the two robots inside the clinic, obviously deciding that the mercenary wasn't a diabolical threat at the moment.
"Here's to hoping he didn't add any new ones he's forgotten to tell us about. Like that last time!" Doc commented brightly, crossing his fingers as he did so.
"The sleeping darts were not a fun surprise." Caboose chimed in.
"You guys are a colorful bunch, huh?" Felix laughed, seemingly a bit unsure about his three tour guides.
Church could care less though as he turned to leave in the opposite direction down the hall. Even without Carolina's earlier lecture, personal experience had taught him it was best to not get too involved with strangers.
He muttered under his breath as he walked away, "Yeah, well, best of luck to you and prepare to be bored."
"You wouldn't happen to be the scary lady's brother by any chance, would you?"
The mercenary's question caused Church to stop in midstride. Felix was looking at him acutely just then, apparently overhearing his comment despite how low the cybernetically enhanced man had said it.
Church turned around slowly, back stiff and suspicions raised, to glare at the steel-and-orange trimmed mercenary with a withering look that would have made both his sister and Tex proud.
Felix took a step back, hands in the air in a pacifying gesture, "Hey, relax." he told him, "I'm not saying it's a bad thing. It's just that your sunny disposition reminded me of her." The mercenary looked thoughtfully at Church, "For some reason, she hadn't wanted us to meet yet."
"Oh, that's because Carolina likes to be cautious." Doc informed him.
Before Church could end the conversation there, Donut stated helpfully, "Also probably because Church isn't exactly a people person."
Church admirably resisted the urge to hit his head against the wall. No, seriously, he really believed he deserved a goddamned medal for having to deal with this shit.
Felix stared at him a moment longer, brown eyes glancing over the slightly visible lines of circuitry on the sides of Church's skull, before smiling and shrugging, "She probably had her reasons."
"Yeah." Church muttered once more, "I'm going to go now."
As he walked away thinking that he probably needed new friends, he overhead Felix saying, "So, about that tour?"
Church gritted his teeth. Fuck it. He couldn't help but think that Donut was probably right about him not being much of a people person.
With the little amount of time that Vanessa Kimball had taken since getting her cup of coffee to so much as look down at it from the reports she was engrossed in, let alone to actually drink it, it wasn't much of a surprise that when she brought the mug to her lips it was already ice-cold.
The genetically engineered soldier made a face while taking a large gulp anyways. Hot or not, she'd need all the caffeine boost she could get to make it through today. The reports from the previous day were certainly energy-draining, to say the least, which wasn't even putting into account every other thing she still had left to do on her agenda.
"Really," Cass had come over the second she had made a face at the cold liquid in her cup seeing as how the dark-skinned woman was the only customer currently in her bar at this hour, chastising her friend gently while topping off what remained of Kimball's coffee with gloriously hot liquid straight from a steaming pot, "You can't even put those reports away for two seconds?"
Underneath the question was an undertone of concern that often came up in the conversations that the two had regarding the Chorus leader's work as Kimball smiled gratefully for the top off and waved her hands at the myriad assortment of datapads surrounding the counter, "Clearly not. Besides, if I left Doyle in complete charge for an entire day, let alone for a few hours? Chorus would likely be a burning hole in the ground."
The brunette frowned, shaking her head slightly, "Come on. You know that last part at least isn't true." Cass told her, "He's always done a great job with all of the administrative tasks we both know a certain someone here doesn't have the patience for."
Kimball sighed, knowing far too well the truth in that statement whether she wanted to admit it or not. She didn't have the patience or knack for that sort of thing, whereas Doyle took to the challenge with aplomb. It was something she could be almost envious over, perhaps even admire a little. Not that she'd ever admit it to him.
"I suppose I'm a bit like your husband in that regard." She noted to her friend instead.
The bartender smiled wistfully, fingers ghosting over the ring hanging around her neck as she reminisced softly, "He never did like having to do those sorts of things, did he?"
It occurred to Kimball just then that, just as she had with military endeavors, Doyle had helped the previous leader in much the same capacity as he was helping her currently. He had been rather beneficial to Chorus back then too, which had largely been the reason for both of them being labelled as his joint successors following his untimely passing.
She couldn't help sighing again. Clearly she was capable of recalling and recognizing strengths in her co-leader, so she couldn't figure out why she nevertheless tended to always get so flustered with the older man still.
No matter. It wasn't like there weren't other issues at hand to take her pick of rather than fixate again on Donald Doyle of all people. Going back to the readouts from the other night would maybe help keep her mind from dwelling on the matter too much.
Her coffee was quickly becoming cold once more. Just as Cass had decided to pour the distracted woman another cup, the door to the establishment opened and a familiar voice sounded out incredulously.
"Tucker, why are you taking your son to a bar for breakfast?"
Kimball turned in her seat, seeing Agent Washington standing perplexed in the doorway. The blond seemingly poised to go into lecture mode yet again at the drop of a hat while glancing at the menu pinned to the wall next to the doorway. Apparently Wash had never been here outside of evening hours before. Standing next to the Freelancer was Lavernius Tucker and his ten-year-old son.
"Because it doesn't become a bar until nighttime? They have the best pancakes here, hands down." Tucker replied as he and Junior both waved a friendly greeting to Cass as she left to go to the back to make their regular meals.
Both men seemed surprised at the sight of Kimball by the bar, though Junior simply smiled and waved, a gesture that she couldn't resist reciprocating.
"It's rare to see you outside of Armonia or not out on the field." Wash remarked to her in way of greeting.
"I could say the same of you." Kimball tilted her head with a knowing smile, "Tucker's making sure you're eating?"
"You know it!" Tucker grinned, both men seemingly ignoring their faces heating up as Junior and Kimball both shared a conspiratorial look, "Still, surprised to find you here. Wouldn't peg this type of place as your type of restaurant."
"Normally you'd be right." Kimball smiled, "But Cass is a good friend of mine. Besides, it's usually pretty quiet here in the morning."
It was then that the adult males noticed the datapads surrounding her. In particular, their attention seemed to be drawn to the one directly in front of her that displayed some kind of list.
Kimball noticed their regard, "I'm looking into the power fluctuations from last night, along with fine tuning how to best utilize our new mercenary friends."
As expected, both men paid special attention as she continued, "Locus gave Doyle further suggestions on how to best use their unit, so I'm reviewing that to offer my own input."
"Makes sense." Tucker said, appearing to visibly relax with the knowledge that that was all she was doing. Wash still seemed on edge, but managed to cover it up well enough by not saying anything.
"There may be another salvage mission soon too, so better enjoy those pancakes while you can." She advised the dark-skinned man before turning curiously to Wash, "How has my idea with the lieutenants been working out so far?"
Wash couldn't help but grimace slightly at her reminder, "Well, we haven't heard that anyone has died or gotten into a major fight yet. So, there are at least some positives going for it."
If he had to stick around Kaikaina Grif for much longer during this training exercise, then Bitters was seriously going to contemplate shooting himself. He was immensely grateful given that they were finally down to checking on their last two checkpoints.
Matthews was bad enough to deal with considering his kiss-ass attitude and everything, but the youngest Grif sibling was definitely someone who could drive him up a wall quicker than even most others could. Which was really saying something, all things considered.
"Hey! Since you're both being about as fun to hang around as a boring orgy without any smoke machines or rave music, mind if I check this one out by myself?" Kaikaina asked, motioning with a tilt of her head to the next nearest bulkhead.
Bitters shrugged, not really caring a ton either way as he glanced around the wall and shielding that protected Chorus. Truthfully, it would be an excuse to leave her presence for a few minutes and his brain could certainly use the respite.
He didn't even focus on her insult from earlier, "Knock yourself out."
"Cool. Yell if you need me!" With a friendly wave that was directed more towards Matthews than him, the young woman turned to jog over to her destination. Once there, she opened the bulkhead to wave her diagnostic scanner over the shielding mechanics inside.
In every bulkhead, there were output posts for power flow outside the walls, and input posts on the insides. Somehow, the wavelengths and circulation of both was what created the energy shielding of Chorus. Bitters supposed someone like Jensen could explain it in better terms, but so long as it worked he didn't really give a shit about the technical lingo.
Of course, the tan-skinned girl's absence left just him and the extremely nervous guy in yellow trim to check out the bulkhead that was farther away. The genetically engineered lieutenant sighed, shifting the heavy equipment used to open the bulkhead with in his hands while the bespectacled Matthews held the lighter scanner.
"Let's go." Bitters stated in a voice that just dared someone to try and argue with him before turning to the younger man.
"Y—yes." The scared kiss-ass replied, scrambling to keep up with Bitters.
Truthfully, their assigned task was a fairly easy one. Besides, they had already done several checkpoints now, so they had developed something of a system. Bitters had done several similar activities when he had been even younger as well. Too young, really, to be trying to check something over with the looming threat of getting shot constantly on his mind.
While he was caught in something akin to melancholic nostalgia, the two rookies finished checking the bulkhead. As expected, they found there was nothing wrong with this one either.
Bitters sighed in exasperation while Matthews did so more in relief, resealing the bulkhead in welcome silence. The genetically engineered soldiers then turned to rejoin Kaikaina. Finally Bitters could call this waste of a training exercise quits.
They had only taken a few steps when the auburn-haired lieutenant fidgeted awkwardly next to him, "S—so, the weather is…ah…" Matthews glanced at the ground, at the sky, at the wall—anywhere but at Bitters, which annoyed him to no end for reasons he couldn't quite identify, "The weather around Chorus sure is nice, isn't it?"
Bitters did not exactly feel like chatting at the moment, and certainly not with his overachieving comrade. He still couldn't figure out why the younger rookie was even here in the first place, but assumed that maybe an uncomfortable reminder of their differences would get the other rookie to leave him alone, so he scoffed, "It's the same type of weather you'd find anywhere." Bitters told him, shrugging indifferently, "I've slept out in the open in much worse."
That certainly seemed to do the trick. Matthews was silently looking straight ahead, and Bitters couldn't help but smirk that his guilt trip worked. It would make working with the kid a lot easier.
That is, until Matthews surprised him: "Me too."
The admission was a quiet one, and Bitters stopped in midstride to glance questioningly at the other youth. Honestly, at first, he was about to call bullshit. But, the haunted, reminiscent look on Matthews' face halted him.
"Volleyball, Jensen, and I…." The rookie continued, "On our way to Chorus and even before, we'd sleep out in open fields even in pouring rain or sleet. To keep a clear view of things."
There was a shudder through Matthews' frame, and Bitters could almost picture the three adopted siblings huddled together for warmth and support while out in a lonely and cold place somewhere.
A part of him was angry that they'd had each other when he'd had no one, that familiar rage which was always his base gut reaction to things. But another, less familiar part of him felt guilty that he had assumed things about Matthews before that clearly weren't all that true.
"Hey…" Bitters trailed off, about to at least attempt to start a proper conversation for once in his life just as Kaikaina came into view, waving the two over in a bored manner.
"Are the lights supposed to be different colors or what?" She called out as they approached, "They're all gray to me."
Bitters felt his aggravation rising once more. Seriously, why did she suggest their group split up in the first place? She should have known her colorblindness would be a goddamned issue!
As they rejoined her, Bitters risked another glance at an unknowing Matthews while the auburn-haired rookie engaged Kaikaina in conversation, deciding that now he might be curious enough to learn more about his teammates if nothing else.
Dexter Grif headed back to the warehouse, hoping to check in on Simmons and possibly sneak in a third or fourth breakfast while he was at it. He doubted Doctor Grey or Sarge had gotten permission to electrify the fridge yet.
The steps he took to get there were so familiar by now that he didn't really need to see where he was even walking to get there. Which was probably a good thing, as his mind was focused on one person in particular who so happened to not be resting in bed at all like he should still be doing, but was instead standing with Carolina of all people by a public information terminal. The two were fitting an odd-looking rectangular device into the machine's inner workings.
Grif did a double-take and swore. The fucking kiss-ass couldn't even stop being a damn nerd for two seconds when he really needed to!
Even forgetting that Simmons might be mad at him for having told Doctor Grey about what had happened during the blackout, Grif stalked over to the two. Carolina noticed his presence out of the corner of her eye, but the redhead didn't comment on it beyond a slightly raised eyebrow.
"Is helping Carolina out right now really the smartest thing to be doing given what happened earlier?" Grif managed to make the question sound like a joke despite the terseness in his words.
Simmons stiffened at the sound of his voice, the flesh portions of his face going red in embarrassment before that apparently was replaced by anger a second later as his thoughts caught up with him. As the cyborg stood to face Grif, Carolina took over with whatever they had been tinkering with, giving Grif the distinct impression that she did so simply to give them a moment to themselves. He couldn't tell if he was grateful for that or not.
Simmons let out an annoyed huff, "I'm fine now, Grif! You can even check in with Doctor Grey to make sure if you want," the anger in his voice was unmistakable by this point as he pointedly narrowed his eyes in Grif's direction, "Especially since you told her about what had happened before even though I asked you not to."
"So what if I did?" Grif countered defensively, "Excuse me for being concerned about your fucking health!"
"I told you I was just tired and didn't want to bother anyone!"
Grif only managed to avoid rolling his eyes with immense effort, "It's not a fucking bother if it's about your health, Simmons!"
Simmons blinked, apparently taken aback somewhat by how adamant Grif was being though he still wanted to prove his point, "But—!"
The redhead was cut off by nearby movement. Carolina had finished whatever it was that she had been doing and stood up. The green-eyed woman must have noticed that Grif and Simmons were currently standing directly in front of one another on the street, only a few centimeters apart.
Before their shouting match could escalate into even larger territory with such close proximity, she looked at them both in fond bemusement while taking a deep breath in and cutting over their argument with her own sharp voice, "You two can continue your lovers' spat on the go. We're finished here."
Carolina shot Grif a look before he could so much as open his mouth to protest, "Grif, since you're so much more energized than usual and are obviously concerned for Simmons, you'll be a great help too."
Both Grif and Simmons cursed under their breaths and turned somewhat red in the face once more, this time from something other than just frustration. The genetically engineered man tried to get Simmons to look at him just then, but the redhead refused to meet his gaze rather doggedly.
That conversation could have gone worse, but it could have gone better too.
He was still mad at the redhead for not resting and taking it easy when he should be, but at least now the slightly older man had the chance to observe Simmons to make sure that the cyborg was all right. Even if the opportunity meant skipping out on more breakfasts and having to do actual work.
Hopefully, soon enough he would be able to make sure that Simmons was now in fact okay so as to quiet his own worry on the matter and to make it worth all the of the effort he so rarely liked to exert.
With that notion firmly in mind, Grif didn't even complain more.
Author's Notes: Next up, Grif and Simmons talk, only to get even more awkward together while Carolina continues to be amused by their antics. XD Plus, two familiar faces make their plot important introduction that will also have a lot of significance for future story updates! :D
I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It was fun to write! :) As always, thank you very much for reading! :D