A/N: Chapter nine. Opening up with a flashback from Project Freelancer for this one. Hope you enjoy!

Paradox Effect

Summary: Dying sucked. Dying and being killed by the same teammate again? That sucked even more. Dying and being thrown back into Blood Gulch as a girl? That REALLY sucked. Now, Leona Church will have to put up with Tucker's perverted looks, Caboose's stupidity, and worst of all, Tex's laughter…

*Chapter 9*

Three years ago…

Agent Texas rolled her eyes in annoyance as an alarm went off and she glared at her partner in crime. "Great job, York."

"Hey, I swear this never happens," York said defensively, continuing his intrusion into the Mother of Invention. "Fucking assholes must have been expecting us. I promise you that I'm much better at this than I look. Doubt you brought me along because I'm handsome."

"Look, we don't have the time for you to—"

"Got it. Alarm is disabled." York sent her a grin and pulled his shotgun from the back of his tan armor. "I'll do what I can to keep them off your back and cause as big of a distraction as possible."

"Thank you, Charles. I owe you one." Texas went to go on when York grabbed her hand, his eyes serious.

"Allison, be careful," he warned. "The Director is already onto the both of us. We won't be able to meet up like this again."

"I know." Texas let out a frustrated sigh, her hand lingering on his for a second too long for someone who she was just friends with. "Not until we take him down and expose him. I'll see you when we get out, okay?"

"Promise. Scout's honor."

The last thing she saw before the heavy doors closed behind her was his smiling face.

"Wait, so you and York went after the guy who ran the special forces program you two were in?" Church asked in surprise. "And just the two of you managed to bring down the entire fucking ship onto Sidewinder?"

"Yes." Tex nodded, her back still turned from her. "York and I found out what he was doing to the AI, Alpha. He was torturing him, forcing his own fragments to turn against him. Omega and Sigma would create scenarios in which he failed and got the people he cared about killed. It was sickening. We couldn't let it go by without acting. So we devised a plan for us to sneak onboard the ship, grab Alpha, and kill the Director. We failed."

"What happened?" Church managed to free herself from the handcuffs currently binding her wrists and rubbed them with a wince. She'd had those red marks for awhile even if she put cream on them.

"The ship crashed and threw Carolina out. I went to save her, but it was too late. She was already dead." Tex's shoulders shook. "York and Carolina were…together for a long time. It was because of me that she died. If I didn't try and take down the Director, she'd still be alive."

"Tex, you can't blame yourself for that. You had no idea that all of that shit would happen," Church said quietly. "It isn't—"

"I caused one of my few friends to lose the love of his life, Leona," Tex interrupted. "Do you have any idea what that did to him? He went from one of the best security specialists in the military to a petty thief, helping the Director steal from the UNSC. It broke him."

"So what do you want him to do if you meet again?" Church asked.

Tex looked her in the eye and Church could see the pain swimming in those bright blue eyes of hers. "I want him to do what I know the Director wants him to do. Better that someone I trust does the deed, rather than some shithead who tortured and manipulated us for his own fucking purposes."

"Tex, you can't—"

"The hell I can't. I cost him the one person he loved more than anyone. Even Washington and Massachusetts got to be together after they escaped Project Freelancer."

"Massa? You mean that girl who you said was your team's scout?"

"Yeah. Great shot with a sniper rifle, but was god awful at close quarters. Can't count how many times I kicked her ass in one on ones." Tex laughed a little at that before getting serious again. "Pity what happened to her."

"…do I want to know?" Church sighed. This was how things usually went with Tex. She could be miserable one second and happily reminiscing the next. Having as aggressive of an AI as Omega implanted in her head really fucked over her mental state. Bastard definitely fucked with her head for far too long unchecked.

"She pushed me out of the way of a plasma grenade explosion during a mission on Arcadia. The flare of it going off permanently damaged her eyesight and she was forced to get surgery to keep herself from going blind. Hasn't been the same since. Good thing she has someone to keep an eye on her to make sure she doesn't do anything stupid. Girl had a habit of taking on too much by herself. She was the one we all thought of as the big sister of the group. Got involved with Washington romantically after she came back from that surgery and he was the first to welcome her back."

"Washington…isn't he the one who went nuts during AI implantation?"

"Yeah. Poor son of a bitch. Pity I don't know where he and Massa ran off to after Project Freelancer. They'd probably be down to fool around for a bit." Tex's eyebrows wiggled a little and Church wasn't sure whether to blush or sigh. She settled for both.

"You are a shameless pervert," she muttered, shaking her head. "I honestly cannot believe I'm agreeing to sleep with you again."

"Ah quit bitching. You love having the most complicated girlfriend in the galaxy." Tex thumped her on the back and shoved her onto the bed. Church let out a yell of surprise only to stop as Tex's lips smashed onto hers with all the grace of a freight train.

It hurt, but at the same time it just felt so fucking good that she was able to ignore the pain. This was something she definitely missed about being with her ex. Sure, they constantly bickered and tried to rip each other's throats out, but by God was their sex life very satisfying. At the end of it, they were usually both left completely breathless and satisfied. Sometimes, all one needed to relieve some stress after a shitty day was have a good fuck.

Church knew that from experience. She couldn't count the amount of days one of them would come back in a shitty mood only to find the other already in bed with a seductive look in their eyes. It was one thing for the two of them to look forward to.

'Ah fuck it. I could use some stress relief. I've had a shitty few weeks. Got teamkilled twice and turned into a girl.' Church wrapped her arms around Tex's neck and kissed back.

She'd definitely enjoy today.

A/N: So, I decided to bring in an original Freelancer for this story. Followers of my Agent Reach fic will know who Massa is.

Also, I have done an author interview! The link to the video is up on my profile, so feel free to check it out! :D

C. Strife #5371