Prelude for Losers?: Grif

Find out what happened before the events of When We Were Soldiers in the Prelude for Losers? specials!

In this prequel collection, you'll find connected character-specific introspective one shots that delve into the backstories of our favorite mismatched group of soldiers before they arrived in Chorus.

The fifth story is Grif's.

Main Pairing(s): Grimmons

Legal Disclaimer: I do not own Red vs. Blue or any of the show's characters. They are the rightful properties of Rooster Teeth.

Prelude for Losers?— Grif:

The drab, unadorned room they were standing in was created solely to be an efficient source of shelter and housing. Nothing more. It was cold. The room lacked any of the comforts one expected from a home. As such, its inhabitants held no lingering nostalgic sense of attachment to the space.

Behind them in the nondescript room, Dexter and Kaikaina Grif heard a shuffling of feet. Grif turned his head slightly to the side to see that their various batch siblings were being ushered out. For the first time in a long while, the older Grif wished that he was joining them.

After all, it was never a good sign when their "creators" singled someone out. It was especially bad that it was just the two Grif siblings.

Grif glanced down at Kai. She was far younger than he was, released from her tank earlier than most due to some unforeseen malfunction. Nothing was ever described as a "medical emergency" in the genetically engineered creation facility, thus Kai's early removal had only been viewed as a countermeasure against their owners potentially losing a future profit.

As a result, Grif had always felt rather protective and close to the girl. This was also because Kai had actively chosen to latch onto him the very second that she had been allowed to visit with the other tank-born children, the only one of his batch siblings to do so.

He could almost pretend they were "normal" siblings with their matching tan skin, dark hair, and brown eyes. That thought alone kept him grounded and gave him an actual purpose, even as the asshole grownups who created their batch began preparing them all for an incredibly shitty future life.

The idea of Kai one day going into that sort of situation made Grif's stomach lurch even more than his own eventual involvement in it did. It was no wonder he stress ate every chance he got. Surprisingly, he had become an expert at sneaking into the cafeteria when no one was watching.

Briefly, Grif wondered if that particular skill of his wasn't the reason why they had been held back. However, it made no sense to include Kai in his punishment, unless they had also found out that he sometimes snuck her snacks too. Maybe the jerks considered her guilty by association.

But no, judging by the way the two scientists before them were glancing at datapads and mumbling under their breaths, this evidently had nothing at all to do with his pilfering of rations.

Grif only picked up a few slivers of the discussion their creators were having amongst themselves. Occasionally they'd glance his or Kai's way to punctuate on a particular point, making it obvious something was up with the siblings.

"Defective" was a word that popped up with the scientists a lot, often along with "overweight" followed by a pointed finger in his direction and "colorblind" when the focus was on Kai. After a few minutes of conversation, the two grownups looked at one another as if reaching some sort of unanimous agreement.

That was when the topic changed to "cutting our loses" before bam! Suddenly, for the first time ever in their lives, Grif and Kai both found themselves outside of the facility grounds with nothing but the drab clothes on their backs.

Grif could only blink at the sheer rush of it all. His whole life, he had dreamt of leaving that shithole with Kai. He had imagined the Grif siblings finally being able to fucking choose what they wanted to do for themselves. Now, here they were and he was unsure of what to do. Grif was suddenly scared shitless of a world he actually realized he knew very little about.

The panicking part of his brain wanted to slam his fists on the cruel, unyielding metal gate of the batch facility behind them. He wanted to scream that they had made a mistake until his throat was raw and his lungs gasped for air. If not for him, then for Kai at least. How the hell could he take care of her when he had no fucking clue how to take care of himself?

The other part of his brain recognized that screaming would be fucking useless, and a dumb thing to do besides with the energy coursing through the gate and wall before them. Grif also knew what kind of life would exist for them behind those walls given what their batch had been created for, and he didn't want any fucking part of it.

"What…what do we do now?" Kai whimpered next to him, eyes wide as her normally cheerful and carefree tone came across as absolutely terrified instead.

Having Kai there, probably even more scared and upset than he was at the moment, helped to calm Grif down. He had to be strong right now. For his sister's sake, if nothing else.

"I don't know." He admitted shakily a few seconds later before he reached over to grab tightly onto her hand with his own, "But we should get moving."

There was a town in the far off distance. If nothing else, Grif figured that making it there safely was a good first goal.

Kai nodded her dark head of hair, giving his hand as tight a squeeze as her smaller fingers would allow.

Months later, the two siblings wandered the streets of a region they hadn't even bothered learning the name of. Not that it really mattered anyways. Inevitably, it would only be a matter of weeks before the fighting between the Reds and the Blues would engulf this area too. No place was safe from the war. Traversing in such a manner seemed to be the general pattern of their life now.

They had long since ditched their uniforms from the batch facility since people had looked at them funny when they had been wearing them, sometimes even refusing to interact as a result. All that had done was reinforce Grif's belief that most people were assholes.

The Grif siblings would travel to an area where the fighting was relatively light for the moment and Grif would do some odd jobs here and there to get them enough money for food and clothing. Then, when the never-ending war became too heavy to ignore in that particular region, the siblings would quickly leave.

It wasn't exactly what one would call an "easy" or "ideal" life by any stretch of the imagination, but it was theirs.

If he was completely honest with himself, Grif would sometimes watch his little sister try to make do and put on a brave face only to feel a wave of guilt wash over him. Kai deserved so much more than what her life had been so far, and he felt like he was a horrible older brother for being unable to provide it.

He knew what his body was capable of. Maybe if he just…

"You guys wouldn't happen to be looking for a place to stay, would you?"

Grif started at the unfamiliar voice that had just spoken to them, his hand tightening a protective margin around Kai's own as they spun around to see who it was who had asked the question.

Two brunettes leaned against the side of a rundown and abandoned building that looked as if it had once been a shop of some kind. One of the girls was very tall and looked to be about Grif's age, while the other one was dressed entirely in brown clothing and appeared to be somewhat older.

The younger of the two raised her hand in what was meant to be a friendly wave, "Hey! I'm Cass, and this is Connie."

"We happen to know of a place you can go," Connie, who Grif now knew was the one who had spoken up earlier, said as she nodded her head slightly in way of greeting, "If you're interested."

The "place" that Connie spoke of was actually more of a concept called the Insurrection, a group comprised of young people from various walks of life who had nowhere else to go. The way they interacted together felt more like an extended family, something that both Kai and Grif were unfamiliar with. Despite some mutual distrust on both sides at first, it wasn't long before the Grif siblings were accepted into the fold.

It no doubt helped speed things along that Connie was the one who had vouched for them. Connie was already well-known among their ranks for picking up strays. In fact, she had found Cass just a few months before, after the girl's parents had thrown her out because she was "no longer their son" or whatever bullshit reason they had said at the time. Cass didn't like to talk about it, so no one pried. The brown-wearing Connie had a pretty strong, unbreakable bond with the Insurrection's leader too, so he usually backed her decisions.

The Insurrection had a headquarters of sorts, and they participated in fighting for either the Reds or the Blues. It just depended on whatever side their region was currently on in any given moment. Grif was happy to help out, if only for the roof it provided over Kai's head. Admittedly, the added security of the base was also a great source of comfort to him. So long as he pulled his weight, they were provided with food to eat and clean bedding too. Everyone had their own lives to focus on, no one in the Insurrection ever judged the siblings for being genetically engineered.

Grif and Cass dated for a while since the girl was nice and always willing to look after Kai when Grif went out on missions, but ultimately decided that they were better off as friends. She still offered to help him with his "release" whenever Grif needed it, which was a welcome piece of news as that had steadily started becoming more of an issue for him as his body developed.

…Grif still worried about the future, and what would happen when Kai started experiencing the need for "release" that all of their particular genetically engineered batch developed too.

Beyond Cass and Connie, the one other person in the Insurrection who Grif most got along with was an older boy named Terrence. Terrence went by the nickname Sharkface due to the decorative touches he had put on his helmet, and he usually always had a kind word or a friendly pat on the head for Kai when they passed in the halls. The brown-haired teenager also looked out for Grif like he was his own little brother when they were out on missions together. He even taught Grif how to drive transports and how to properly shoot a gun.

It was a good life. Way better than either of the ones that the two siblings had known before. But, even still, Grif was not an idiot. He could tell that behind the smiles and laughter, there was stuff going on in the Insurrection that the others weren't yet willing to tell the newcomers in their midst. It was obvious there was decidedly heavy stuff going on behind closed doors and in hushed whispers. Stuff that he'd rather not know anything about, and that he definitely didn't want Kai to get involved with.

Grif wasn't the only one who noticed either. Cass had figured it out as well. It was evident in the frown on her face when she came to an area of the base they weren't allowed in. The brunette's frown only ever deepened with the passage of time. Eventually, she had enough and decided to leave.

"Maybe you guys should do the same." Cass suggested in a quiet aside to Grif after she had finished hugging Kai goodbye.

But, Grif didn't really know of anywhere else they could go, and he wasn't yet as brave as Cass was. It terrified him to think of heading off into a violent and dangerous world without really knowing what was going on, so he simply said nothing in response.

…It wasn't until a few weeks later that Grif was given the final push he needed to leave. He had been sitting in the kitchen area of the Insurrection's base, hands still shaking following a particularly nasty firefight. He didn't want to see Kai until they had stopped.

"Rough mission?" Connie asked him, quietly slipping into the chair across from his own.

"You can fucking say that again." Grif muttered, eyes glued to his trembling fingers that rested on the table's surface.

The brunette said nothing for a long while, contemplating his features silently. At length, she looked towards the door as if seeing if anyone would come in before leaning forward. Her voice was a mere whisper when she spoke next, "Soon, things are about to get far more dangerous around here, Grif." She informed him, "I think it's time that you took Kai and left, like Cass did."

He frowned at the intensity in her tone, "But…"

"Anything will be better than having Kai around for what is going to happen next." Connie told him succinctly, no room for argument in her voice, "Promise me, Grif."

Because she sounded so sincere and desperate, because protecting Kai was all he had ever wanted to do, Grif nodded.

Connie left the kitchen as if the conversation had never even happened. In the middle of the night, Grif snuck out with Kai firmly in tow.

Their travels took them to a region called Blood Gulch.

It was there that, through an unexpected turn of events that involved a battle breaking out suddenly and their ducking for cover behind a fruit stand, Kai and Grif ran into an odd, red-armored soldier named Sarge.

Grif was beyond certain that Sarge was verifiably crazy. The older man seemed not to be thrilled with Grif for some reason, but when he had looked over the scared and exhausted siblings he had let out a resigned sigh and offered to let them join his own mismatched family.

…Because Sarge had helped save Kai's life, and he saw how the younger girl's brown eyes lit up at the mention of the word "family" again, Grif agreed to give it a try.

As it turned out, "mismatched" was definitely the right word for Sarge's family. The older man's group consisted of war orphans, robots, and genetically engineered people like himself and Kai. There were even three "badass" super soldiers from some bizarre program called Freelancer. Fuck, there was even a baby in their midst too! Kai instantly took a firm liking to the kid, and even insisted on helping to babysit.

Despite his initial hesitation and reluctance to get caught up in such a familial unit again, Grif found himself warming up to them almost as quickly as Kai did. Unlike the Insurrection, there were no secrets to be found amongst Sarge's group. They were just a bunch of assholes banding together to try and survive. He could relate to that.

Grif got along with pretty much everyone in the group. Though one of them, a pale and freckled redhead named Richard "Dick" Simmons, rubbed him the wrong way at first.

The orange-armored Grif wasn't entirely sure why, but he always ended up feeling more tense and agitated when Simmons was around. It wasn't like the socially awkward nerd was doing anything to really upset him, but still...

The two wound up arguing. A lot. So much so that Sarge and the others often ended up pairing them up together on assignments for their own fucked up amusement.

Arguments eventually led into conversations, and Grif was surprised at how much he actually began to enjoy the other man's company. They just started naturally going out into the field together, and even began hanging out with one another in their spare time.

He became attached to Simmons in a way that he felt definitely went beyond the boundaries of the familial somehow. He found himself even going out of his way to do things with the maroon-armored redhead.

Grif fucking dreamed about him. And, oh boy, could those dreams get graphic in a way that would surely make Simmons blush if he ever learned of them. Grif would even look for Simmons in the mornings, right after he checked in on Kai, just to argue or to talk. Hell, Grif even did actual work if it meant spending more time with Simmons.

Such was the case right now, with the two of them supposedly on the roof for guard duty. For once it had actually been a quiet day with no conflict in sight, so Grif and Simmons had been allowed to sit down without their armor on. They had spent most of their guard duty time discussing what would be the lamest superpower ever.

After a spirited debate that had them both smiling and glaring at one another, Simmons had yawned and started to doze off. Grif knew the lankier man suffered from nightmares and didn't rest as much as he should due to his extreme workaholic tendencies, so he said nothing when Simmons' head had dipped down to rest on his shoulder.

The heavyset man closed his eyes, relishing the sudden flare up of heat that traveled up his body at the contact. While it was typical of his genetically engineered condition, it always felt more intense whenever the redhead was concerned. At the moment, Grif didn't want to ponder why exactly that was.

"Hey, Simmons?" Grif asked quietly as he opened his eyes to look towards his companion on the roof.

"Hmm…?" Simmons' reply was groggy as he turned his head slightly to get into a more comfortable resting position on Grif's shoulder.

If the redhead fully awoke, he would no doubt totally freak out about their proximity. Grif would then, naturally, have to tease him mercilessly about it. As it stood right now, Grif couldn't help but smile somewhat as he glanced down at the top of Simmons' head. With a whole lot of effort, he resisted the suddenly very powerful urge he had to run his fingers through the slightly younger man's red hair.

"…Do you ever wonder why we're here?"

It would take Grif a little while longer to realize that what he was feeling for Simmons was love.

Author's Notes: And here is Grif's (and Kai's!) prequel story! I hope you enjoyed it!

The next Prelude for Losers? will be Four Seven Niner's story! :) But, stay tuned for the next chapter of When We Were Soldiers first. Gotta get the ball rolling on the main story-line again since things were starting to get pretty intense in it! :D

As always, thank you for taking the time to read this! :)