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:

Richard "Dick" Simmons was fairly certain that he was going to puke, or faint. Or worse yet, but totally fitting for him, puke and then faint.

He couldn't even blame the situation in Chorus for his even higher than normal levels of anxiety. Actually, for the last few days the cyborg and Grif had been helping to check the energy monitoring devices as planned, and thankfully so far nothing seemed amiss.

The redhead's stress today was due solely to the fact that, after a few days of things seeming relatively normal, he had finally both reluctantly and eagerly agreed to Grif's continued suggestions regarding having a night out on the town.

Just the two of them. Alone.

Of course, that line of thinking did nothing but help bring up memories of what had happened unexpectedly another night when they had gone out on their own, promptly causing his stomach to do flip-flops again and even his pulse to quicken.

Grif's skin was feverish under his touch. Simmons couldn't help but moan himself when he heard the noises coming from the other man. He allowed himself to be pulled down onto the ground before his brain could list all the ways this could become awkward later…

The cyborg gulped, running a hand through his suddenly sweaty hair. Damn it! He was already a nervous wreck and the night hadn't even begun yet!

Besides, his brain helpfully reasoned, there was no reason tonight would play out the same way that particular past night had. After all, Grif had already gotten his "fix" pretty recently. So, theoretically, the genetically engineered man wouldn't be primed for that kind of escalation.

Simmons tried hard to make himself feel relief at that thought instead of the intense wave of disappointment he was currently feeling. Naturally, he was failing miserably. The redhead wanted nothing more than to be able to just tell that little voice inside of him, the one that was currently stating that he should be fine with them just staying as friends, to go shove it.

Instead, Simmons realized he had been having an inner debate with himself for over twenty minutes while standing at the closed door that served as the entrance to the Grif siblings' apartment. His face went red from embarrassment at the realization even though no one seemed to be around to witness his odd behavior.

Things could definitely go horribly wrong depending on what happened tonight. It was a notion that the cyborg was terrified of.

But, he could still hear a small, hopeful voice in his mind. It was one that he had often tried squashing when growing up because believing in it had always caused more hurt than anything in the long run. If he listened to it closely, he heard the words saying that there was the chance, however small and fragile, that something could go right tonight.

Taking a deep breath to try to calm his nerves, and failing miserably at it, Simmons knocked shakily on Grif's door.

Leonard Church really didn't need to guess as to who the perfunctory knock on his door belonged to considering that his sister walked inside a minute later. Evidently, the redhead had decided to not even wait for him to open the door or acknowledge her knocking in the first place.

"You didn't lock it again." Carolina stated without preamble, green eyes filled with disapproval at the apparent security breach she had just witnessed.

"Well, it's not like I'm expecting raiders to come in to steal my valuables or some shit," he rolled his eyes, "Though if they did, they'd probably shoot me on the spot for wasting their time."

Carolina glanced around the sparsely decorated room as if to verify his statement. Sadly, wealth was not a huge concern for Church. Or, really, for any of the assholes he called friends.

Besides, Church spent most of his time at the warehouse. The cybernetically-enhanced man didn't need a lot of personal shit filling up a space he barely spent time in. Beyond his life-giving coffee maker, the only other remotely "personal" artifact in the space was a black helmet with a cracked visor on one of the shelves.

Tex had once given it to him jokingly as a "memento" after someone had nearly stabbed her in the eye on a rescue mission for him. Even though she had left without so much as a word, he had never been able to throw it away. After all, she had always been so amused to see it when she would stop by his room while laughing at how "whipped" he was.

For a split second, given how Carolina stiffened at the sight of it, he thought she would get angry. Instead, with a greater amount of self-control than he usually gave her credit for, the former Freelancer turned away from the cracked helmet to once more regard him.

"Still, you should be cautious." Carolina advised.

"Normally, I am. But, I was getting ready to head out." Church sighed, happy to avoid another "overprotective sibling" lecture.

Of course, he then saw the redhead's deepening frown a second later and realized that the possibility of getting away without a lecture tonight had just flown out the window.

"I'm not so sure I like the idea of all of you going out will things are still up in the air." Carolina admitted quietly.

Church sighed again, understanding her mindset a bit. The mercenaries had settled into life here rather nicely, but their presence still set his sister and, if he was honest even himself, on edge. However, the black-haired man was just trying to chalk it up to the paranoia he always felt around newcomers and nothing more than that.

They had never found out the exact cause of the blackout either. While Church was rather grateful the incident hadn't repeated, as he got enough migraines being surrounded by assholes to last a lifetime, (thank you in the most sarcastic way possible), not knowing what had caused it in the first place also had him feeling a bit uneasy.

Still, he wasn't about to let Carolina in on that. She had more than enough on her plate to worry about as it was.

"You need to relax, sis," he advised her instead, "Nothing's happened in the last few days even with you and the others checking those energy readings daily."

It was true. She and Wash, along with Tucker, Grif, and Simmons, had been pretty consistent about monitoring the situation. So far, there had been no changes whatsoever in the power levels of the city since that one time. It had him almost wanting to believe it had all be some kind of big fluke before.

Carolina looked ready to argue further, so Church beat her to the punch. "Even though you know this is pretty much the last fucking thing on this planet I want to do," he began truthfully, "I'd rather voluntarily spend time out partying with Caboose and the others instead of being locked up somewhere for my own safety again."

He hadn't necessarily meant for his comment to dredge up memories of their past in Freelancer. After all, it wasn't like any of the shit that had happened to him back then was remotely Carolina's fault. The redhead being concerned now was no reason to make her think he even remotely felt that it ever had been, but the goateed man saw her stiffen once more and realized how it had come across.

"I'm—" Carolina's tone sounded apologetic when she spoke, which Church couldn't stand so he cut her off.

"Don't worry about it, Carolina." He assured her quietly, "I know you mean well."

She relaxed a bit, and looked ready to try to speak again. But, there was so much about what had happened in their shared past that was still too painful to speak of out loud for both of them, so Church decided to bring the topic of conversation back to the matter presently at hand.

"I'll probably call it an early night since the others will be there. Besides, this whole thing is more for Caboose than anyone." He informed her, "Andersmith's even tagging along, so he'll be in good hands," Church smirked then, "I know they invited you too. A night on the town might do you some good as well."

After all, if anyone deserved to relax, it was his sister. The former Freelancer shifted awkwardly, casting a glance over at the black helmet while her fingers absentmindedly touched a pocket where a familiar lighter was no doubt kept.

"I told them thanks for the invite, but I haven't been out too often since…" Carolina paused and trailed off, looking over at him with barely concealed sadness, "A lot of things."

Church knew, just as he knew that York's death was one of the major "things" she was referring to. The brown-haired man had always been the one to coax Carolina out onto nights on the town in the old days, with the only other person she ever shared drinks with on occasion beyond him being her missing pilot friend.

It was sad to think how something so simple and, in his opinion at any rate, so annoying could be so painful now to someone he cared for.

"I know," he smiled sadly, "But try to take it easy for once, all right?"

"I'll try." Carolina told him, voice quiet and eyes distant.

If he was being honest, Church wasn't too convinced by the redhead's tone.

"Remind me again how this is supposed to be a great idea?" Washington asked as he watched Lavernius Tucker emerge from Junior's room.

When Wash had come into the apartment earlier, the younger man had been helping his son finish up some homework and play a bit after dinner. Though neither of the two adults in the apartment had said so out loud, it had been something of a given that they would meet up with the others together.

That was their usual routine for these sort of events, at any rate. A routine of theirs that neither of them were in a particular rush or mindset to break. In a way, Tucker craved the routine. It often surprised him by just how much.

He grinned at the question he had been pretty much anticipating coming from the blond at least once tonight, "Um, because you barely do anything remotely fun or relaxing for yourself as it is?"

Wash shot him a dubious look, "I somehow doubt this will classify as that either, Tucker."

Tucker couldn't help but nod given Wash's whole stick-up-the-ass-when-it-comes-to-anything-remotely-fun shtick. The dark-skinned man had no doubt that this wasn't going to be an ideal situation for the former Freelancer, but a change of pace would do the guy a world of good.

So, Tucker would make sure the other man at least put some effort in. Besides…

"It's mostly for Caboose." He reminded the older man, "This is Donut and Doc's way of taking his mind off of what happened, you know?"

Wash sighed at the reminder of how depressed the younger man had been over what had happened during the blackout to Freckles and the others.

"All right," he finally relented, "I'll make an appearance. For Caboose."

"Hell, yeah! It'll be like you're a celebrity!" Tucker couldn't help but grin.

"…I could leave without you." The former Freelancer deadpanned, though there was an amused glimmer in his gray eyes that Tucker always loved to see.

"Nah, then you'd just miss all of my charm and wit."

Wash looked as though he wanted to say something in response, but a knock at the door stopped him.

Given the time, that was no doubt Junior's babysitter. Sure enough, Tucker opened the door to see none other than Kaikaina Grif standing in the doorway.

The younger Grif grinned and waved as she waltzed in, "What's up, bitches?"

Wash paled at the sight of her, though that was replaced a second later with a look of surprise as he regarded the young woman: "You're missing out on a party to babysit, Kai?"

In a way, Tucker supposed that Wash's shock made a lot of sense. Kai used to babysit Junior quite a bit, and had always been awesome at it, but she wasn't exactly one to voluntarily skip out on fun either. The reality was that she had a sense of logic that was all her own.

"Yeah, well, partying with old people is kind of lame," she informed the blond with a shrug, "And I haven't had some one-on-one time with Junior in a while."

She had grown fond of the little boy after helping to look after him all those years. Tucker couldn't help but smile at the notion, even if he bristled a bit at his inclusion as an "old person" in this case.

"He's playing in his room now if you want to say hi," he told her, "We've already said goodbye and everything."

She nodded, practically bouncing on the balls of her feet, "Cool." There was a pause and she looked oddly hesitant before asking, "If a friend were to drop in later, would that be okay?"

Tucker raised an eyebrow, "I'm fine with it so long as it stays G-rated and they aren't an asshole to my kid."

He trusted Kai to know who was safe to be around Junior after having helped to look after the younger female himself in the past, no matter how much of a wild child she could be.

"You've got it!" She grinned, looking relieved.

"Who's the friend?" Wash asked after Kai's reaction got an exchange of curious glances from the two men in the apartment.

"Oh! Um…" Kai actually blushed as she trailed off, and suddenly Tucker was eager to know who this mysterious person could be.

However, before he could jokingly pry into it more using his over-the-top but brilliant "adopted big brother" persona, Wash yet again showed off his tendency to a massive killjoy. "Never mind," the blond said quickly to help Kai save face, "It isn't any of my business."

She looked relieved, nodding her head gratefully in his direction, "Thanks, cop."

Wash sighed, promptly turning to Tucker with an obvious note of exasperation in his voice: "I'm ready to go. Now."

"Are you sure you don't want to join them?" Doctor Grey asked Sarge as they finished cataloguing some new parts that had been recently brought into the warehouse, "Lopez and the others, I mean?"

The older man wiped a bit of sweat from his brow, "Oh, for Operation Cheer-Caboose-Up-Without-Any-Explosions-Whatsoever?" Sarge scoffed dismissively at the memory of how the younger soldiers had all so readily vetoed his brilliant strategy before, "Not exactly what I'd like to do for my night out on the town." He sighed and smiled slightly before adding confidently, "I'm sure they'll be successful even without me tagging along."

Doctor Grey raised an eyebrow, looking amused. She pursed her lips thoughtfully before asking curiously: "How, exactly, would you like to spend a night out on the town?"

He thought about it for a moment before looking over at her and blushing slightly, "Going to one of the outdoor shooting ranges in a little while and testing out some high-powered weaponry oughta do the trick."

Doctor Grey shot him a flirtatious smile and touched his arm, "You're always such a romantic."

"I…I don't know how I'm going to get through this." Matthews couldn't help but whine, burying his face in his hands from his spot near Jensen's workbench.

His little sister was hovering over the auburn-haired man's seat worriedly, having been the one who dragged him over to the chair to sit when she had noticed that the lieutenant was starting to freak out more than usual. Now, the young woman patted his shoulder sympathetically.

"Well, you were the one who invited Bitters out in the first place." Jensen reminded him gently, trying to get Matthews to focus on how big of a step that was to begin with.

He gulped, burying his head deeper into his hands with his palms pressing against his skull, "B—but I didn't think he'd say yes!"

Jensen tried switching tactics then, "Look at it this way: Palomo and I will be there too," she informed him, "So think of it as just any other group outing with friends."

He stopped shaking a bit and took a deep breath. Right, okay. That he could do.

Instead of going by himself with a guy who unnerved him still, but who he maybe was starting to get a bit of a crush on now that they had been talking more, it was just any other outing with some of the other recruits.

…Except Bitters had accepted his invite, the mental reminder of which brought the glasses-wearing rookie back full circle.

As if reading his thoughts, Volleyball decided to thankfully interrupt her adopted siblings' conversation from where she was sitting on the couch.

"You do know Palomo is only going because he hopes something will happen between the two of you, don't you, Katie?" The oldest out of the three teased the other girl.

Jensen made a face and shook her head, "That's just your imagination running wild again."

That caused both of her siblings to look at one another in surprise. How was it that their youngest sister could still be so oblivious to the huge crush that Palomo had developed on her?

Deciding it was probably best to not go into that currently since Jensen had a stubborn streak a mile wide, Matthews looked to the blonde, "Are…are you sure you don't want to come, Volleyball?"

Safety in numbers and all that. Matthews had a feeling he would be less likely to make a fool of himself if both of his siblings were there.

She smiled and nodded her head, "Sorry, but I want to enjoy tonight and hopefully not be tempted to punch anyone."

He knew who she was referring to with that and sighed, burying his face in his hands once again and wondering what had possessed Bitters to say yes to his invitation in the first place.

Dexter Grif felt oddly queasy and a little nervous, though eager all at once.

If he didn't know any better, he would almost equate it to the usual signs that his body was nearing needing release again. However, the genetically-engineered man had long since come to accept the fact that his feelings regarding specially designed, more private moments with Simmons felt rather similar.

…For reasons that he probably shouldn't dwell on right about now given the soft knock on his door. Honestly, the cyborg was the only person Grif knew who would bother knocking on his door that politely.

Burying the sensation down as best he could, the tan-skinned man rolled his eyes at the nerd's perfunctory habits before hitting the panel lazily to open the door. Sure enough, an awkward Simmons was standing there.

"You could just come in, you know." Grif chastised him teasingly, "It's not like you don't have the combination memorized."

Simmons' face turned even redder at the reminder, "A—at least I have manners, jackass!"

"Of course you do. Goes hand-in-hand with being a kiss-ass." The slightly older man couldn't help but counter jokingly.

"Sorry, but I didn't want to barge in on something private!" Simmons huffed.

Maybe that was a bit too on the nose given what had happened before, because an awkward silence descended on the pair.

Grif sighed, hoping they could get past it quickly and bury it down like they usually did.

"Whatever, nerd," he told him, an oddly sincere note entering into his voice as he smiled slightly, "I'm just glad you decided to come this time."

The parts of Simmons' face that were still flesh and blood went to a shade of crimson that would make Sarge immensely proud, and he sputtered in a nervous way that indicated he was at a loss as to how to react.

Before he could begin to even start to formulate some kind of a response, Grif exited his apartment and grabbed the redhead's arm to pull him towards the lift to go downstairs. He lazily leaned into the warmth that flooded throughout his body just then at touching Simmons, a large grin on his face.

Author's Notes: More of a set-up chapter for the events to follow, but sort of necessary! There's going to be quite a few big plot points happening in the next couple of chapters, so look forward to them!

Ah, and it just occurred to me even though she doesn't make an appearance in this chapter that I have never said my head-canon for how Four Seven Niner looks. For some reason, I always picture her looking a bit like Josephine from Dragon Age: Inquisition. :)

Thank you for taking the time to read this chapter. I hope that, even though it was more of a set-up one than anything else, it was still an enjoyable read. :) I also hope that what's to come next in the story will not disappoint! :D