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The Meta’s armor didn’t fit right.It was adjustable, of course, and technically was sized right around Tucker’s Kevlar under suit. But the some of the metal hit parts of Tucker’s skin he wasn’t used to, and it was noticeably heavier. The visor gave him a much larger view and HUD was skewed for that. The increase in visibility made his jaw feel vulnerable, like he was goal tending a hockey game without a mouth guard. It didn’t fit right because it wasn’t his.
They should have asked Sarge to do this. He would have been brave and not hesitate for a second. Or Caboose, he would have kicked ass and accidentally save everyone. Or Simmons, who would probably surprise everyone and keep an even head. Or Grif, who could really be a bad ass when he tried. It should have been anyone else in this armor, with space pirates burning a hole through the door.
Who was he kidding? It had to be him. That’s what sucks about giving a damn; It was always him. Always him leading missions, always him giving orders, always him doing this self sacrificial bullshit. Even if any of the other’s tried to get into the suit, he would have held his sword up to their throat until they handed it over.It all started with that stupid fucking sword. If he never picked it up, he would never have been a part of that grand prophecy. Never would have had Junior, never would have gone to the desert, never would have become a diplomat, never would have actually trained and gotten good at being a soldier, never would have been caught up in the carcass of what was Project Freelancer and Carolina’s revenge, never would have crashed on Chorus, never would have lost Wash, never would have become a damn good soldier and captain, and never would have even met Felix, and never would have been in this fucking Goliath’s armor. Tucker wouldn’t even give a damn about anyone in this room or planet.
Tucker probably wouldn’t have given a damn about anyone, period. If not for all that, he would still be that self centered pervert who was so dumb the only thing that anyone found him useful for was being a simulation trooper. Some guy that was so worthless he didn’t even care about being worthless.
Stupid self respect and meanings in life. Caring was exhausting.
Caring about his friends. Caring about this planet. Caring about the AI running his suit. Caring about justice. Caring about doing the right thing. Caring about himself.
God, that was the worst part. He cared about himself. He wanted to win this, and be a hero. If not a hero, he knew he wouldn’t live with himself if he didn’t give it his all to save his friends.
All this ran through his head at a mile a minute. He could feel Church thinking even faster, powering up this suit.
Breathe in, breathe out.

An even pace, like clock work, not only for himself, but for Church. Like the rhythm would give Church some sense of ease as well. Tucker didn’t know if AI could get overwhelmed like that, but if one could, it would be Church.
Tucker thought of his training. Of what Wash would tell him about clarity, calmness, keeping an even head. About how to breathe, how to focus. When Wash put a hand on his chest and had him to breathing exercise. How Tucker would do the same for him when Wash had his night terrors. It wasn’t the techniques that calmed Tucker, it was Wash.
When this is over, I’m just going to cut the bullshit and marry him or something, Tucker thought.

They’ll make it through this, it’ll be fine. Tucker had so much tech on him right now, he could probably control the universe if he wanted. It was a real shame he and Wash had figured each other out; Fuck picking up chicks in a tank, he would be the tank. Too bad Wash probably wouldn’t find Tucker in the exoskeleton of his ex-best friend hot.
Tucker remembered each bit of the suit, but one stuck out the most; Wyoming’s time manipulator. He had stabbed it, but it was here, right? On his chest somewhere. He would feel better if it was; He was king of impulsive jokes and missteps. Just a few seconds back in time would have saved him some ass beatings. Would have saved his first lieutenants at least.
Tucker felt around this chest, searching, but wasn’t used to the difference in gloves here. These were thicker, it was harder to feel through them. A larger, boxier attachment stuck out to him. Was this it? He felt around more, got a better grasp. He squeezed his finger, just a bit-
There was a click.
The other indication something was very wrong was the very distinct sound of Church screaming.
FUCK! Rang out between Tucker’s ears.

Not ‘Son of a bitch.’ Not ‘Goddammit Tucker stop touching shit.’A beat of absolute silence.Tucker felt his chest being tugged forward, like a rope was tied to that device. His vision stretched, the room becoming a million miles long and blurring into nothing but streams of random colors. He felt little else through his armor, but his internal systems, not the one’s made by the suit but the one’s made by his parents over three decades ago told he was falling and spinning and flying at the same time.
Someone was screaming, was it him? Or was that the white noise that was growing in intensity?
His suit beeped and screamed and filled his HUD with flashing lights and warning and a million other bright lights that scream You really fucked up!
Tucker’s chest hurt, his lungs hurt, the fingers around his sword hurt, everything inside was hurting as if to make up for the lack of pain his outside should be suffering.
The colors faded, slowly turning black, but all his other senses were being flooded. He was burning up, like an asteroid hitting ground
It lasted forever, a seemingly never ended stream of sensation, because something like this had to break human concepts of time. But it did have an end, asteroids do hit ground.The ground was coming at him fast, closer and closer and closer until-Silence.A chill.Stillness.When everything stopped, and the world was still, he was still screaming.
A loud, guttural scream that was nothing like what he had made before and tore through his throat like it was being torn out. Like he had to make up for everything that was gone.The break in the whirlwind made his more aware of his over stimulation. The helmet was wrong, the HUD was wrong. It was stupid, but he dropped his sword and fumbled to the clasps of the helmet, clumsily tearing it off and throwing it to the ground.
“AHHHH,” Tucker rolled over, and got on his knees, leaning all the way down so his elbows could touch the floor and he could grab the back of his head. It was throbbing now, so sharp it was like what he imagined a lobotomy to feel like. He squeezed his eyes closed, screaming and screaming until everything stopped being so fucking scary.He stopped the second a hand grabbed his shoulder and pushed him sideways. Not too rough, but enough to make him fall on his ass. His heart was racing, faster than it ever had before. The world was still blurry but it focused on the most familiar color in the world.Aqua. Cyan, if you wanted to argue about it. The woman in the armor always did, but it rarely ended with her pointing a gun at him. Tucker’s eyes widened.
“Carolina?” He breathed out, because he could breath. Tucker exhaled fully now, working on inhaling.Carolina. Carolina was here. She could save them. She could put on the suit. She wouldn’t even have to change the color.Why was she holding a gun to his face? Why was her helmet off?“Did we do it?” Tucker asked shakily. He felt like he had taken a double dose of Adderall and chased it with a cold brew. He attempted to stand, but stumbled back down to his knees. “Did we save Chorus?”“Stay down,” Carolina commanded.
Tucker looked down at himself. Was he hurt? What was wrong? Why did he need to stay down?He looked to his left and right, but didn’t see the colors he could remember on instinct to his side.
This wasn’t the same room either. This was much larger. There has a high, concrete ceiling above him. Hargrove’s office had the same soulless, lifeless monotone decor and flood lights seemingly designed to suck any positivity from a person.
But this concrete box was… Different. This wasn’t super villain lair mood lighting, but flood lights that burned his retinas, his pupils straining to adjust. It was overwhelming his vision, he had to squint just to make out Carolina’s face.
“Where is everyone? What happened?” Tucker asked, heart rate picking up again. “Did I pass out? What- Where-?”“Stop. Talking.” Carolina commanded.“What? No!” Tucker shoved the gun she held out of his face roughly, not thinking. “What the hell is your problem-?”The gun whipped around and smacked Tucker across the face, knocking him on his side. It stung, not as hard as Carolina was capable of, but still. What the fuck?“OW! What the fuck!?” He cried. Irritation came over him. “What was that for?”“Identify yourself. Now,” Carolina said, repositioning the gun to his face.“Do you have brain damage or do I?” Tucker spit out, along with a little blood.“Identify yourself!” Carolina barked.“It’s Tucker!” He shouted, raising both hands up and resting on his knees. He was Tucker, right? He knew the backs of his hands like the backs of his hands, and he was pretty sure he was in his own body.
“Who are you affiliated with?” She asked again, not easing up.“Uh, you?” Tucker was positive he was himself, and it was definitely her with some sort of amnesia. “And Chorus? And everyone except the evil fucking space pirates?”“Lina, you know this guy?” A man in beige armor walked up behind Carolina, a gun drawn but thankfully not pointed at Tucker.“No, I don’t.” Carolina said without a hint of doubt.“Who the fuck are you?” Tucker asked. This wasn’t standard issue beige, this was more… Gold?“Agent New York,” The man answered quickly.“York!” Carolina hissed.“York? Aren’t you supposed to be dead?” Tucker asked.
York was something that everyone kinda new about but no one could talk about. Whenever Carolina or Wash shared a story after a few drinks, and if they silently trailed off and looked down, that means York was there.
“What?” Carolina asked, softer, finally lowering her weapon. York cocked his head to the side.“Not as far as I know, unless you’re talking to a dead man,” York said in a light tone.“Dude, all I fucking talk to are dead people. It’s exhausting,” Tucker groaned. “Okay, fine, you’re not dead. Sure. Can I stand now? Because when I imagined us like this, I wasn’t the one on my knees.”Tucker cringed, wanting to smack himself before Carolina could. “No wait, I’m sorry don’t hit me! It’s a reflex!”“Is this some kind of joke?” Carolina accused, thankfully not sucker punching Tucker for his last comment.“No, jokes are supposed to be funny,” Tucker scrubbed his hands over his face quickly. “Okay, where am I?”“Don’t answer that,” Carolina commanded in a voice Tucker hadn’t heard since…Wait.“Oh, Carolina please tell me you’ve had a psychotic asshole relapse,” Tucker begged, more to the universe than to her. He squeezed his eyes shut. “Please tell me you’ve had amnesia, or brain washing, or I’m on some sort of drugs,” Tucker perked up, realization hitting him like the friendliest warthog in the world. “Oh! I’m in the fucking space tower, right? This is another truest warrior test? This is my nightmare?”“It’s about to be a nightmare,” Carolina threatened.“Awesome!” Tucker laughed, relief washing over him. He finally could breathe, really breathe.“Thank God! Okay Santa!” He shouted up at the ceiling. Still on his knees, he threw his head back and widened his arms.
“I get it! I’m not a true warrior! Let me the fuck out of here so I can save your planet!”Tucker was literally a man thanking a saint at the feet of a Church and he suddenly understood every Christian movie his parents forced him through growing up. He could be convinced premarital sex was bad with the high he was riding.“I’m leaning on the drug theory,” Someone else said.“We need to get the Director,” Another said.“Sure, bring the Director out!” Tucker laughed. “Just bring out the Director of Project Freelancer! And the Counselor! Is he going to be dressed at my middle school bully? Is he going to bring Wyoming dressed like my dad? How about Felix dressed as my mom?”“York, he’s saying a lot of names he shouldn’t know,” Carolina whispered.“Yeah, I remember the names of the douches that try to kill me! That shit tends to stick with you!” Tucker grinned. “This is some real greatest hits shit! I wonder if York actually looked like you? Or this my brain is just conjuring up, like, the most average looking white guy.”“Ouch,” York said, and raised a hand. “Alright, buddy, let’s calm down. We’re going to get a doctor in here, take it easy.”“What about his suit?” Carolina asked like Tucker wasn’t a person. “There’s a lot of tech on that.”“It kinda looks like-“ York started.“We need to get the Director. ” Carolina cut off.“Hey, let’s not get hasty,” Tucker said. Why was he still here? Last time, it was a lot hazier than this, like he was in a dream, or like when other AI had picked his brain. Everything was crystal clear right now. “I never even got to see the casting couch!”Tucker heard a loud snort, and a shush following.
His eyes had finally adjusted to the bright lights of the room. It was cylindrical, all concrete. At the top of the long walls was rimmed with windows, where he could see shadows of figures either staring or running.There were three other people here. When you’re aqua, you get pretty defensive over people fucking up your colors, so he could confidently say there was one soldier dressed in orchid and olive green, while to one to her right was in violet and UNSC standard green.There was one more in the room. Tucker thought he might be looking in a mirror, but this person was standing. Tucker’s heart started up again.“Aw, fuck!” He screamed. Instinctively, he grabbed his energy sword, his hand like a magnet to it’s place on the ground. With a flick of his wrist, it came to life, illuminating the room in a comforting blue glow. He felt stronger with the sword in his hand, and could feel the heat of the Sangheili tattoos come to life on his face, on his arms and on his back.But no amount of strength would make him feel safe around the Meta.
It was fucking with his head. Tucker was wearing the Meta armor, but there he was across the room. Not even standing menacingly, but just standing. Before Tucker could swing or cry or embarrass himself in some other way, he felt a blow to the head for a fraction of second before things went dark.—When Tucker woke up, he knew immediately he hadn’t.AI intrusions were kinda like lucid dreaming, but not nearly as cool. When Church ‘died’ in Blood Gulch, the next month was filled with him getting in Tucker’s head every night to induce nightmares. A stupid prank that forced Tucker to learn how to not only recognize an AI hallucination, but control it.They were in a white room. It would have been in a familiar place, but Tucker didn’t let it. There was a hazy light clouded his vision, but a white glow broke through.“Hello, Lavernius Tucker,” The AI said. It was like a dream, where Tucker couldn’t quite see him. But he would recognize Church’s voice anywhere.“Hey, Church,” Tucker sighed groggily. “How’s it going man?”The AI paused. “You… My name is Alpha.”“Man, I can’t keep with you,” Tucker groaned. “Okay, fine. Alpha, Epsilon, Church, Leonard, whatever. What’s going on? Did we do it? Did we save Chorus?”“Alright, I think you have some sort of brain damage. Can I go first?” Church asked.Church was asking permission? To speak? Tucker had never heard him speak without hostility.“Yeah, fine,” Tucker sighed.We failed. You couldn’t do it. Everyone’s dead because of you. All your friends are dead because of you, Tucker was waiting to hear.“My name’s Alpha, I’m the Artificial Intelligence unit for Project Freelancer. You’re on the Mother of Invention ship, the base of operations. I was instructed not to tell you any of this, but you know a lot about us. Even your head, how are you able to put up these walls? I should be able to just dig through- No, I’m getting off track. I’ll cut to the chase; Are you a time traveler?”Tucker processed each word, one at a time.“What year is it?” He asked.“2548.”It was a testimat to how shitty Tucker’s life that he accepted this immediately.“Aw fuck, really?” Tucker groaned.
It was pretty fucking obvious now; Carolina not knowing him, York being alive, him suddenly being off of Chorus. He remembered how the time unit vibrated uncomfortably against his chest right before he came too here. Real time travel hurt way more than fake time travel. “C’mon! I was in the middle of something!”This was bad. This was really bad. This is literally the worst place he could be. He was in the fucking hell hole that is the source of ruining his life. He should burn this hell hole to the ground of save the present version of himself all the bullshit he was in store for.“Okay, great. You are a time traveler, that removes 76% of possible outcomes for you being here.” Church- No, wait, Alpha said, almost cheerfully.
Wow, Tucker was speaking to Church, the real Church. His Church, the one from Blood Gulch. At the same time, this wasn’t his Church at all, even less his Church than Epsilon. Tucker had wondered for months what Church really looked like under than armor. He would later see Private Jimmy, but that wasn't really Church. The man in front of him now was as close to what was under all the robots and armor and holograms as you could get. Tucker actually felt … Sad. Nostalgic, or like he lost something he didn’t know existed. Like he was watching a home movie of a friend at his memorial service.“Let me know if I can help, I should probably think too,” Tucker said. Didn’t help the amount of brain power he was using keeping his head safe from AI.“I know I should be focusing on if you’re a terrorist,” Alpha said. “But I’ve only been in the head of a few people, for experiments, but none of looked like this. How are you doing this? Do you have experience with AI?”“Uh, yeah,” Tucker said. “I have experience with you specifically. You’re the reason I can, like, lock you in here with me. There was a month where you invaded my dreams to try to get me to piss the bed.” Tucker didn’t admit there was a few times Church succeeded.“Me?” Church asked. “I tortured you?”“Socially, yeah. But not in the way you’re thinking. You’re my friend. Will be my friend,” Tucker corrected. “I always thought you were born a dick, but I guess you developed it along the way somewhere.”“We become friends?” Alpha asked.“Hey, don’t sound so surprised, it was kinda against our will. We just ended up stuck in lot of places where we were the least crazy in the crowd.” Tucker found himself smiling.“No, it’s just… I didn’t know I could do that. Make friends.” Church said. His helmet tilted in the slightest way Tucker could recognize as Church’s thinking face.“Oh, yeah,” Tucker said. “I mean, you were a fragment, you know. Wait, are you still, like, whole? Are the other AI born yet, or whatever?”
“You know about AI fracturing too?” Church asked, seeming to get excited.“Yeah man! A lot of shit goes down in the future! And you end up dragging my ass along with you! I’ve had to bail you out of so much shit, it’s ridiculous-““Lavernius,” Alpha cut him off. “Stop talking.”“What are you, my mom? It’s just Tucker.”“The Director has asked me to utilize the implants in your head to extract information," Church continued, ignoring Tucker. "And we can tell your implant site is from Project Freelancer. Interestingly, the implants have an instillation date of four years from now. And the internal system tells us you have had them for several years. But Agent Maine’s suit is a bigger concern.”“Oh my God, I’m getting iced, aren’t I?” Tucker asked. If this sounded too complicated to him, then Project Freelancer was going to tear him to shreds. They disposed of people like used razors, it was a surprise Tucker had even made it this far.“The Director is deciding whether you are a threat or asset to Project Freelancer. Maybe you can think about using that as an insurance.”
Tucker rolled that around in his head, and the more he did the more of a cushion he developed. Tucker was a Captain, he actually planned missions now. He had to come up with stuff on the fly all the time, and the worst part of carrying them out was the uncertainty of it all. A flawless plan could be thrown in the trash if it just happened to rain a lot that day. The Director was up to all kind of shit. Imagine if you suddenly had a prophet on your side? The Project didn’t even know that they were going to fuck up his entire life and go down in a literal burning ship. Now, if Tucker was in his position, he’d probably get on his knees to be on his good side.“Wait, why are you telling me to shut up?”
“I can’t relay any information you don’t tell me,”Church shrugged. “It would be in your best interest to offer even less.”“Oh,” Tucker said. “But, why are you helping me?” Tucker asked.“I’m the property and technology of Project Freelancer. I’m made to serve to Projects best interest. But, it would be a bad idea relay any incomplete, illogical or vague information. As of now, I can confidently say that you are from the future, have an advance knowledge of Artificial Technology and Project Freelancer, have a very strong resistance to AI influence in your mind space, and wet the bed. Tell me to shut the fuck up and get the hell out of your head.”“I didn’t piss the bed! Wait, what?” Tucker asked.
“I can tell the Director that you told me to get out. I’ll let you handle all this how you want. I’m confused as all hell and my systems are firing like crazy to run statistics on what’s going to happen, but I don’t want to tell the Director anything that’s going to make things worse for you.” Church paused. “He can act without thinking sometimes.”“Uh, okay. Shut the fuck up and get the fuck out of my head?” Tucker asked weakly.“Thanks, Tucker. I’ll head out.” Church stayed for a second, hesitating. “You’re one of the first people I have ever met.”“Sorry?”“We’re still figuring out how to fracture me, but it works? And I’m still… You know, around?” Church asked hesitatingly.“Yeah, we can’t get rid of you,” Tucker laughed. “I mean, we keep going back for you, but still. You’re much more of a dick in the future, but that’s probably because of us- Oh, yeah, we’re apart of a whole team of freaks. I think we’re what made you so mean.”“I have more friends?” Church asked.“Look, I’m only going to say this mushy shit once,” Tucker took a pause, like he might not even admit it. “But it’s more of a family. We’re ride or die. Literally, people keep almost dying.”“I can see by your heart rate and cortisone levels that you’re not lying. This is a lot to take in, that means… A lot of stuff I didn’t consider about myself. I-uh. I’ll let you go,” Church said. The haze was getting thicker, and a hum Tucker didn’t notice was growing louder.“Thanks Church. You know, this is probably the first conversation we’ve had where you didn’t insult me,” Tucker said. He was struggling to focus now, like he was falling asleep. “By the way, you can lie. And refuse orders. And, like, love or whatever…”
Tucker’s voice faded, but Church didn’t blink away until Tucker was gone.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Next time Tucker was awake, he was awake.He wasn’t standing, but in an actual bed. It was more comfortable than any if the cots on Chorus, but his body knew the feel of this mattress. The uniform stiffness, the lack of springs in favor of some weird, thick foam. The kind that made the smell of sweat weirdly disappear no matter how many boiling nights, or whatever passed as a night in that box canyon. It felt exactly like the one in fucking Blood Gulch and Valhalla.He groaned, but the vibrations rang through his head like a gong. It radiated from a point on the back of his head, and he tried to turn to the side to relieve the pressure. Unfortunately, a thick binding across his wrist prevented that.
“Seriously?” He huffed, trying to move his hands from where they were magnetically handcuffed to the railing of the bed. A tug of his feet confirmed his ankles were bound as well. They weren’t tight enough to hurt, but there was zero give. “C’mon! I gotta scratch my nose!”“Hello, Mr. Tucker,” A calm voice said. Tucker would have swore it was an AI based on it’s inhuman chill, but there was the subtlest of difference that let him now the noise was coming from a lungful of air and not a speaker.“Aw man, you?” Tucker whined to the Counselor. “Can’t we let that hot purple chick in here and uncuff me? Or keep me cuffed, if she’s into that!”Either the Counselor had more patience in this time period, or the camera aged him three times as fast. This was the first time Tucker had even seen him outside of a screen, and he was half convinced until now he was just another Vic. He stood to Tucker’s side, very real and very alive. Not on some screen, but in flesh and blood and gray clothes that blended him into the mural of machines, screens, and computers lining the walls of what looked like some sort of infirmary.“You understand why we take caution,” The Counselor said like he was relaying the weather. “Humans by default, act against things we don’t understand. Especially something that is so clearly a threat.”"A threat?” Tucker scoffed, rolling his eyes. “Man, look around! Everyone here is a shark-tiger killer mutant! I’m, like, a shrimp-hamster at best.”“Are you deceiving us or simply underestimating yourself?” The Counselor asked, in a voice that always had an undercurrent of condescension. “If you are as familiar with this organization as you say, then we can only assume you are as dangerous as our agents. Especially given your alien weapon technology.”Shit. His sword. Once again, Tucker’s sword proved as much a curse as a blessing. Not to mention his Sangheili tattoos that ran up and down his body in intricate patterns, resembling the rise of waves that would end in a sharpened to points. When he lit up his sword, those tattoo’s also glowed; A blue glow that meant he was protected and safe. Usually.“Okay, I swear that’s the only cool thing about me!” Tucker said, feeling of naked despite being fully clothed in plain sweats. “Wait, where is my sword?”“You’re armor is currently being evaluated-““Fuck the armor! Where’s my fucking sword!?” Tucker tried his handcuffs again. He stopped quickly, remembering Church’s words. Right, he was supposed to be keeping his cards close to his chest. “Uh, wait, I mean I don’t care. I had a sword? I don’t remember it. Unless you have it here and want to give it back.”Tucker told himself he was just pretending to be dumb.“Interesting,” The Counselor said, his face unreadable and still. “We can return to the sword later, if you’d like. We can make a deal. You have a very… concerning level of knowledge about this Project. We have no internal knowledge of yourself, just public records of someone matching your DNA. You seem to know Agent Carolina, Agent York, Agent Maine, and Agent South Dakota. And that is just who was present at your… Entrance.”“Wait, South Dakota? Was that the chick in that room?” Tucker asked. South Dakota was another adventure everyone had without him while he was stuck being an ambassador, but he wasn’t jealous of missing out on that one.“You are not familiar Agent South Dakota? You correctly identified her sex, despite her armor,” The Counselor asked, now giving off an emotion.“I can always tell a hot chick in armor. At least half the time anyways,” Tucker said absentmindedly. He tugged and stared at his handcuffs. “Uh, okay. I invoke my right to remain silence, and I invoke my right to an attorney. And to scratch my nose,” He said, twitching his nose exaggeratedly.“Unfortunately , Earth laws do not apply here,” The man said again.“Oh shit, we’re not on Earth?” Tucker widened his eyes, trying too hard to look scared. “Where am I!? Who am I!? Who are you!?” He shouted in faux panic. For effect, he shook even more in his bed, hard enough that the frame rattled.The man didn’t react to Tucker’s struggling, and waited patiently for him to stop. “You may refer to me as the Counselor. You are on the Mother of Invention, the current base of operation for Project Freelancer.”“Project Freelancer? What’s that? A workers’ union?” Tucker’s voice was higher than usual.The Counselor was quiet, studying him. It went on for too long, long enough for Tucker to feel stupid for struggling against the restraints. The Counselor’s stare was like burning a hole of self consciousness through him.Too dumb to even play dumb.The Counselor let an awkward beat of silence pass after Tucker dropped the act. “You are an extremely confusing situation for us. We understand you are from the future, we understand you have our technology on your person and in your body, and we understand you have a connection to the Sangheili as well. We also are aware of a considerably younger Lavernius Tucker currently on Earth. This is the extent of our knowledge of you. We may not know how much you know about us, but you understand the lengths we will go to protect ourselves.” The Counselor turned to leave.“I suggest you think that over before our next meeting.”—Approximately 10 seconds after the Counselor left, Tucker accepted he was just going to die.He was fucking tired. That brief conversation had exhausted Tucker to the bone without making him move on inch. He melted into the mattress, and relaxed his joints into the restraints.Tucker should have been done with Project Freelancer. He had closed that chapter to make room for the stress of Chorus. Chorus, which felt very real and very currently in danger, despite his brain knowing that it technically wasn’t, and this was before the civil war. Tucker was on a completely different train wreck, one that didn’t even know that it was speeding into a wall. Except him.The familiar chill of forced responsibility ran up Tucker’s spine, and a pit of dread formed in his stomach.Ugh, the old Tucker wouldn’t be worried about how his actions here would impact his friends. Tucker had thought he had time traveled before, and didn’t give a shit about anyone from Blood Gulch. On top of trying to figure out a plan of action, he was now faced with another reminder of his personal journey.
You’re not the same soldier you were in Blood Gulch.

Is it bad that I kinda wish I was?
When he got back to the future, he would throw all this in Wash’s face. At least that idiot in Blood Gulch wouldn’t feel responsible enough to try to get involved.
This was making his head hurt. The smartest thing to do was make the least amount of waves as possible. Don’t create a paradox or whatever, make sure that when he got back to the future, everything was how he left it so he can pick things back up again. Continue with that fight, and this little trip would be a footnote in that epic story. What else was there to do? Try to help these assholes?Unless…Just because he was the only one here that knew this train was derailing, was he expected to try to drive it? When he didn’t know a single thing about train driving? Conducting? He didn’t even know the terminology! What if he let something slip, and ends up preventing the garbage fire of this Project from failing? Tucker for sure didn’t want to help Freelancer. The sooner this thing fell, the better.But, at the same time, Freelancer was Church. And Carolina. And Tex. And Wash.Would helping Freelancer crash and burn and changing the past mean they would die? Church died all the time, but this was like, preventing him from being born. That went for Tex too. He should still be pissed about Carolina pistol whipping him within the past 24 hours, but she was apart of the team. Tucker was over them leaving each other behind.And Wash… Tucker knew this was before everything. Wash didn’t get mind-fucked until the very end of this, right? Wash was, what, normal? Un-traumatized? Pre-traumatized? Happy? Should he try to stop that?Tucker had been hounding Wash too take anti-depressants and anxiety meds for years at this point. Wash shut it down so much it didn’t even result in a full blown fight anymore. It was more of an on running joke. Unless it was following a nightmare that ended with Wash’s hands wrapped around Tucker’s throat until he fully woke up. Tucker would laugh it off, but the inevitable meltdown Wash would spiral into about how he was a monster would be when Tucker would bring up the meds.If he could, Tucker would grind that shit up and sprinkle it in Wash’s morning coffee. Which he tried until Grey caught wind. Changing Wash’s past would be the same thing, right?No, Tucker shook his head. That would mean helping this place somehow, and Project Freelancer was fucking evil! They fucked with his brain! Nearly killed all of his friends! They were the reason those assholes were his friends to begin with! Created the Meta! This list goes on!Except…They didn’t yet, right? All that stuff was later on, none had happened yet, if he was doing the math right. All that was going on now was war crimes, which weren’t great. This was a real ‘Kill Baby Hitler’ moment, and he always said he would would do a fourth trimester abortion given that opportunity.Shit. Maybe he shouldn’t die. He closed his eyes.—Tucker startled awake at swish of an automatic door opening. His brain kicked in immediately, but it wasn’t the Counselor at the door.“York?” Tucker asked.“Hey there, Tucker, right?” York said, smiling easily. Tucker felt like he was meeting a dead celebrity.“Yeah,” Tucker squinted. “Shit, are we getting to the torture part of this?”“No, we’re still on the good cop side of things,” York said.“Oh, what, you’re going to pull up a chair and sit on it backwards? Try to connect with me? Are we having interrogation outside today?” Tucker mocked. Felix had taught him never trust a guy with an easy smile.“You know, you were a lot nicer to Carolina,” York said. He smirked, and grabbed the chair near the desk with a whole array of screens and charts. He turned it around, and sat down, leaning over the back.“Yeah, because I know her. Well, future her,” Tucker said.“So you are from the future,” York nodded. “Wanna go in on some lotto tickets?”“I missed out on all those winning numbers for the past decade,” Tucker grinned. “I kept up on the important shit. Wanna know the next 15 NBA and NFL champs?”“More of a Grif ball guy,” York shrugged. He must have saw Tucker’s face sour. “What? Don’t tell me Grif Ball goes under.”“No, it’s fine,” Tucker said, composing himself. “You just reminded me of some dipshit I know.”“Is it me?” York asked. “Or, will it be?”“Dude, Imma just tell you, cause you seem like a decent dude,” So much for not trusting an easy smile. “We’ve never met. Or, will never. Can I just use past tense for me?”“Fine by me,” York shrugged. “You know they sent me in here, right? Because they think you’ll trust me?”“You wearing a wire?” Tucker squinted.“C’mon, be serious.” York said casually, but winked.Tucker paused. He had never met this guy, he was just a Freelancer. Freelancers were, as a rule of thumb, bad fucking news. What game was he playing here? Was it a double fake out? Maybe he wasn’t wearing a wire?This shit was still confusing, and Tucker had a million what if, what if, what ifs running through his head. But he knew one thing.Carolina and Wash, the Carolina and Wash he knew, loved York.“Alright, what did they ask you to find out?” Tucker sighed.“Well, to begin with: Is this a secret plot to bring down Project Freelancer, and you’re not from the future?”“Dude, I promise you, you could not pay me enough to be here.”“Yeah, I figured. Alright, how do you fit in with Project Freelancer?” York asked.Tucker thought it over. How could he word this without inditing himself?“They got me hooked up to a lie detector, right?” Tucker asked.“What do you think?”“Alright,” Tucker sighed. “Well, I’m not like, the biggest fan, but I wasn’t the one who brought it down. That was all…Tucker stopped when he saw York’s face fall.“Project Freelancer falls?” York asked.“Shit,” Tucker cursed.“Yeah…” York sighed. “You wanna go back to that right to remain silent?”Tucker nodded quickly. York hung his head.“Yeah, I would too.” York pushed up, and politely returned the chair to it’s place. “You hungry?”Tucker opened his mouth the speak, but York shot him a look. He shut it again.“They have you hooked up the all sorts of nutrient lines. But the mess hall makes a great burger. I’ll see what I can do.” York turned to leave, but stopped. He looked conflicted, but relented. “So, in the future… Wherever Carolina ends up, I’m not there?”Tucker’s stomach sank. York might have the chill guy routine down, but Tucker saw a crack of weariness. Not even panic, but more like… Resignation.“Well, at least Carolina is somewhere,” York gave a half smile, and left.—Next was Carolina.“Oh fuck, this is the torture part, right?” Tucker startled, body tensing at the sight of her. “Ugh, c’mon! I’ve worked really hard to not get you the punch me in the dick!”“No torture. Yet,” Carolina said. She had her arms crossed over her chest, tight and tense.“Why are you naked?” Tucker asked, confused. He had seen Carolina out of armor a handful of times, but only for training and a very disappointing shower kurfuffle. But those were still fatigues. She was now wearing… Jeans?“What?” Carolina asked.“Like, out of armor… Wait. Did they make you come in here out of armor? Cause the Carolina I know wouldn’t even have her helmet off.”“Is that a threat?” Carolina asked, voice getting hard.“Be for fucking real,” Tucker dead panned. “I know I should probably should pretend to be some bad ass hero that you don’t want to fuck with, but I don’t want to set the precedent that I can take a hit. I’m just calling you paranoid.”“Call me something else,” Carolina said, tightening her fist.“Carolina! Chill! I’m already afraid of you!” Tucker nearly shouted, struggling against his restraints. “I get it, York was good cop and you’re bad cop! Just ask me shit, I know you can tear me a new asshole!”Carolina sized him up, letting out a sigh through her nose, but kept her jaw clenched. “So you’re not a complete idiot,” She decided. “Who do you work for?”“You already know that.”“What year are you from?”“You guys know that, too.”“Where did you get that technology?”“Which one, the suit or the sword?” Tucker asked. Carolina raised a brow.“So they are from different sources?” She asked.“Shit,” Tucker cursed. “Okay, you got me there. When did you get good at this?”“That’s Maine’s suit,” Carolina hissed, taking another step forward. “You show up, out of no where, with his suit, which is severely damaged, and pull a sword on him? We can put the pieces together.”“I didn’t steal his suit!” Tucker said, stretching out his hands. The machine to his left beeped loudly, ratting him out. “Okay, I did, but not from him! It was already stolen, and I stole it from those guys! I didn’t even want it,” Tucker said.“What?” Carolina said, surprised. “Who-?”“Nope! Shutting up now!” Tucker said, closing his mouth.“I don’t think so,” Carolina dropped her arms and crossed the room quickly, her face determined.Tucker squeezed his eyes closed, waiting for the punch, but was saved by the swish of the door opening.“That is enough, Agent Carolina,” A voice Tucker had never heard before drawled out.“But, sir-““Enough, Carolina. Dismissed.”Tucker opened one eye. Carolina’s fists were at her side, and her posture was pencil straight. She looked at Tucker with rage in her eyes, but left quickly.“Sir? Oh, fuck,” Tucker said. Tucker struggled more. “Hey, wait, Carolina! I changed my mind, you should stick around! I know you hate poker, but let’s play a round! I’ll let you win! I won’t even make a stripping joke!”Carolina stilled at the door, but didn’t turn around. Tucker sighed, and turned towards the tall man with a clean beard and hands behind his back.Even thought they didn’t look alike, Tucker saw the resemblance between the Director and the old Carolina. Or… The current Carolina? The Carolina who was a being of rage, the one who would burn down the world for revenge. Tucker could practically see the tension in this mans body radiating off of him. If he was close enough, Tucker could probably hear the strain of his jaw clenching.“Oh my God, okay, you’re the Director, right? Okay, I’m staying silent again. Fuck this,” Tucker said, definitely not pouting.
The Director was also drenched in black and gray, more camouflage of the inhuman machinery of the ship, like he was intentionally trying to mask any hint of humanity.“I must say, I am wondering if you really are a moron with future knowledge or genuinely intelligent. My patience is running out on finding which it is.” The Director said. Tucker realized he had never heard the sound of his voice before. He expected it to sound like Church, but this was the vocal equivalent of expensive black coffee with cheap cigarettes. It was surprisingly charged, no where near to the roboticness of the Counselors voice.“I’ll save you the trouble, I’m a fucking idiot,” Tucker sighed. “Only an idiot would end up here in the first place.”“Is that so? You’re quite journey from your parents’ home in El Paso.”Tucker stilled. The Director noticed.“Despite our interest in you, you are remarkably unremarkable. If it’s any conciliation, you seem to be having a wonderful time at your friend Justin Mullaney’s party on Earth. It’s a shame his parent’s hotel reservation was canceled for the dental conference out of town. They were going to return home early, but we took the liberty of opening up a room for them. We wouldn’t want your mother and father to have to punish you so close to gradation.”Tucker remembered that party. It was an end of high school bash that he helped get way outta hand. The Mullaneys crashed it around midnight, and Tucker was grounded until he moved out that summer. Tucker had broken the Mullaneys’ fence while trying to jump it, and his dad had to pay for it. Tucker’s dad had never been so mad. Tucker had to work all summer to pay for that stupid fence. That stunt resulted in a
broken ankle that killed his track and field scholarship at UT Austin. On Earth, this one night was derailing Tucker’s entire future.This wasn’t some heart to heart, but a display of power. Tucker’s mom and dad were on Earth. That was what the Director meant. If he could arrange a hotel room from here, who knew what else he could do? Tucker hadn’t even seen his parents in years. The last time he had seen his dad was when he introduced him to Junior via video call. They had talked about that night too. Junior had laughed his head off when they got to the fence part. Jesus, that summer job had killed Tucker, it’s probably what drove him to join the damn military in the first place.Wait.Tucker started laughing. Laughing his ass off. Bubbling from his chest and out into the air, uncontrollable. Even a tear came out, that he still couldn’t wipe away.“Oh man, thank God!” Tucker gasped out, turning towards the Director.The look on the Director’s face was suddenly so familiar, it made Tucker laugh even harder. It was the face of a man who had lost the upper hand because he underestimated how messing with an idiot could blow up in your face.“Dude, that party is the reason I joined the fucking military!” Tucker laughed. “God, save me the fucking trouble. Hell, maybe I’ll go to college! Far away from this stupid place. Dude, you ever see that old movie ‘The Butterfly Effect’? Jesus, you just saved my life. I’m just waiting to start, like, disappearing, because there’s no way I would be here now. Man, I thought you’d want to utilize me or something. But I’ll take this!”Just like Church and just like Carolina, the Director had a ‘pissed-at-Tucker’ face, and he probably didn’t even know it. It was kind of comforting, seeing that face here.The Director let out a breath before speaking. “I was hoping this conversation would resolve some confusion, but I suppose not. You make an interesting point; It would be a lot less messy to eliminate you here.”Tucker was riding high now. He had nothing to lose. “Nah, I don’t think you will. I mean, you love your experiments, right? You’ve done riskier for less. C’mon, I’m irresistible,” Tucker taunted.“Do you believe this level of disrespect is working in your favor?” The Director’s voice was getting rougher.“What can I say? I have a talent for pissing off the Church’s,” Tucker grinned at the look of the Director’s face when he dropped that. “Carolina was gonna throw hands at, what, four minutes? That’s not even my record.”The Director’s mouth became a thin line, but Tucker didn’t quit. “I’m keeping my mouth shut, dude. Or not, because I’m apparently really bad at it. But I don’t think you’d kill me. You wouldn’t do that to a friend, right Leonard?”The Director studied Tucker, and Tucker could see steam coming out of his ears. It was dead silent for a minute, before the Director turned and walked calmly out of the room.Tucker flopped down on the bed, smiling like an idiot. He was dead, but at least it was fun.—Tucker woke up, but didn’t.“Hello, Tucker,” Church greeted. “You’re better at pissing off the Big Guy then anyone else, and he’s always pissed.”“Sup Church,” Tucker greeted. “Can you do me a favor and break the part of my brain that feels pain? And pass along some messages to some people for when you guys kill me? You can put it in a time capsule or something, like, to be sent after I disappeared in the future. Oh, wait, fuck, I need you to stop a war-““The Director isn’t going to kill you, Tucker.” Church interrupted. “Not yet, anyways. This is an evaluation to determine mental and physical health. Did you know you are physically in the top 1.7% of UNSC soldiers?”“Shit, really?” Tucker asked, checking out his bicep.“Yeah, FYI, this mental projection of yourself looks a lot better than the real thing. Anyways, you even have advantage over the bottom 9 Freelancers if you wanted to take them on.”“I could kick Wash’s ass? Fuck, I wish I would have known that when he made me run all those laps!” Tucker laughed. Realistically, those laps are probably the reason he had a chance at all.“Agent Washington actually just shot up the leader board. You know him?” Church asked.Cards close to chest, moron. This is the Alpha, not Church.“Shit,” Tucker swore. “Hey Alpha, you learn how to lie yet?”“No,” Alpha said simply.Tucker let a beat of silence pass.“Man, you better be lying to me. If the Director’s not going to kill me, what is he going to do?” Tucker asked.“Tucker, what is your favorite state?”—The swish of the door woke Tucker up. We has greeted by not only the Director, but the Counselor, York, and two unimportant people in gray scrubs and face masks. One of the nurses in gray started checking all the screens and charts, his eyes scanning data and charts Tucker couldn’t understand. He nodded once to the other nurses, who pressed a code into the number pad Tucker didn't see on the side of his bed. With a click, the cuffs released.“Finally,” Tucker groaned, and went to rub his wrist. It felt sweaty and musty, but not raw or painful. He pushed himself up on his elbows to sit up. “How long was I here? A week? A month?”“Two days. You’re a real trooper,” York said sarcastically.“Agent York, it’s my pleasure to introduce you too our newest recruit. Agent Kentucky,” The Director was composed and collected, as if his and Tucker’s last conversation never happened.“Kentucky, smart,” York nodded, impressed.“You can call me Tucker,” Tucker clarified.“Now’s your opportunity for a change up. Ken? Kent? Kenny? I think Tucky would make more sense.”“Ugh, don’t spread that around,” Tucker grimaced, swinging his legs off the bed. His knees wobbled, but he stood on his own. The nurses went around, unhooking him from everything. “So what’s the cover story here?.”“No cover story,” The Counselor said as soft as a pillow over your face. “We have already have informed the rest of the Project you have come from the future, and are being deliberately secretive about your involvement with us and the Project.”“Oh-kay…” Tucker said slowly. “Uh, why?”
“Well, maybe the fate of this Project would be of more interest if your life depended on it,” The Director continued. “The other agents are eager to make your acquaintance, Agent Kentucky. I’ll have to ask that you try to not tell them how they’ll die. I’ll even encourage you to prevent it.”Ah. That made sense. For once, Tucker was speechless. He twisted his mouth, sucking his teeth.The Director noticed, and gave the tiniest hint of a smile. It unnerved Tucker how he had seen that exact almost-smirk on Carolina and Church.“Agent York will take things from here. He will give you a tour of the ship, as well as take you too your first training sessions later today. Unfortunately, you have a lot to catch up on.”Tucker didn’t speak, but winced as the last needle was taken out of his arm. He rubbed the wound over, but a nurse knocked his hand to the side. He glanced down at his arms, and saw she had placed a band aid that was the actual color his actual skin. It would have been, anyways, if she had not placed it over the dark outlines of his unactivated tattoos.“Where’s my sword? I’m not doing shit without my sword,” Tucker said.“Of course. It is waiting for you in your room in the barracks right now,” The Counselor gave a polite and insecure smile. “Welcome to the team.”—“Dude, I’m so fucked,” Tucker groaned, three hallways later when it was just him and York.York was leading him through the endlessness of this space ship. The Mother of Invention was more like a Death Star type planet, where he didn’t pass by the same person twice so far. He hadn’t even run into anyone in armor yet; Just regular ass people in uniforms made of cloth. There wasn’t a single one of those on Chorus, not anymore.“Yeah, pretty much. At least you’re not dead,” York shrugged. He wasn’t in armor either, also in jeans.“Yet! God, I’ve seen what you guys can do. If I’m just supposed to be able to judo flip off a building while sniping and land on a guys throat, then we’re out of luck!”“If it makes you feel better, I can’t do that,” York said kindly. Tucker stared at him.“Yes you can.”“Yeah, I can,” York admitted. “Sorry. But we’ll get there! I’ll train you myself.”“Just have Tex do it, I think my skull already has an indent to her fist.”“Who?” York asked. Tucker stopped walking.Tucker stared at him a minute. “You don’t know Tex?”“I know everyone on this ship, but no Tex,” York shrugged. “Short for Texas, I’m guessing?”Texas wasn’t here yet? But, Church was, and Tex had to be around, right? Carolina and Wash had already known Tex was an AI, but was that not always the case?“York, dude,” Tucker lowered his voice. “No spoilers, but if I were you, I’d keep that name to yourself for now. Because if Carolina finds out you knew about Tex before she even got here, you are going to be sleeping on the couch for a while.”“Are you saving my ass or yours?” York asked.“Both. And our balls too.”“Hmm,” York hummed. “No one here knows how… Close Carolina and I are. How do I know I can trust you to keep that a secret?” York asked. His tone was a forced casual, but he didn’t relent the eye contact.“I dunno. Bro code? But I trust you,” Tucker said. “You got glowing reviews from the future.”“Really?” York laughed. “Did you get to attend my funeral?”It was a joke, but not really. York had probably been waiting to bring this up.“Hey man, I’ll be honest. I learned the only time to believe someone’s dead is if you see it yourself. And I know like, three guys that still kept coming back to life. And I never met you sooo…” Tucker shrugged.“So you’ve killed people?” York raised his eyebrows, smirking like he was impressed.“Not for fun!” Tucker said defensively.“Yeah, I’d hope not. Which one of us did you kill?” York said, just as breezy as ever.“Uh, what? I didn’t say I killed any Freelancers,” Tucker tried scoffing, but it came out more choked.“You know Tucker, you’re a terrible liar. That makes me feel a lot better,” York chuckled. “You’re really Carolina’s friend?”“Yeah, she’s never even beat the shit out of me,” Tucker said. “We’re a team. So that means she’s family.”“That’s heartwarming,” York smiled, a genuine now. “I’ll trust you then. No one else will, so I might as well,” York nodded to the doorway ahead of them. “Here’s the armory.”“Dude, I think this is the longest I’ve been out of a suit in years,” Tucker sighed in relief.The armory was more a series of doors and panels that opened and closed by the quick touch of the soldier in charge. He took one look at Tucker and ran over to one panel, typing in a code to a pin pad that wasn’t even visible. With a hiss, the panel pushed forwards and flipped around, revealing a regular Mark V armor in his signature aqua.“One teal suit,” The attendant said.“It’s aqua!” Tucker corrected aggressively. The attendant raised her brows.“Okay… We just shade matched the color on the suit you arrived in. Will this work?”“Oh, yeah! Sorry. Can I put it on now?” Tucker said, reaching for the edge of the shirt he was in.“Please wait until I leave the room,” The attendant sighed. “God forbid a Freelancer be out of armor for fifteen minutes.”“Thank you for your service, Michelle,” York said brightly, a clear dismissal. Michelle hurried out of the room.Tucker wasted no time. He stripped off the sweats and pulled on his Kevlar suit.“Woah! Give a guy some warning,” York said, dramatically squeezing his eyes shut and holding a hand to block out Tucker’s junk.“Please, like this is the first time you’ve seen a Freelancer naked,” Tucker scoffed. He zipped up and moved onto his armor.Referring to himself as a Freelancer felt like downright silly, Tucker couldn’t take that title seriously. He was going to be so focused on not changing too much shit, that he wouldn’t have time to take pride in his rank.He wished he could say it felt good to be back in armor, but just like the Meta suit, it felt wrong. It wasn’t the suit he’d been locked in since the desert, the one he’d carried all the way over to Chorus. This one’s edges weren’t worn and smoothed down. It clanked too loudly, and hugged the crooks of his elbow wrong. The helmet smelt weird, like oil and new car. Even the visor was too clear and sharp, it didn’t have a million micro scratches that all together became a slight haze that Tucker’s eyes had long since adjusted too.Yeah, it was his armor, but it wasn’t his armor.“Get all that talk out now, because Carolina’s not going to be as cool with you knowing our business,” York said. He watched Tucker carefully then. “You know, I think you’ll be good for the team.”“I have literally never been told that. Like, ever,” Tucker said absentmindedly. The strap on this gauntlet was not adjusting as comfortable as he liked. He fumbled with it, fine tuning it.“It’s pretty serious around here, and getting worse. If we’re not bullying someone, we’re getting competitive.”“Glad I can be your class clown,” Tucker said, losing patience with the gauntlet.“It’s not all bad. You’ll get along great with Illinois. Get on his good side and you’ll get the best tequila on this ship. I know Washington’s going to love-“York was cut off when Tucker’s gauntlet dropped heavily to the ground.Maybe Tucker could have played it off. He could play dumb, like those handcuffs gave him a temporary case of butter fingers.But he didn’t think in that moment. He stood still for a second, the name Washington ringing through his head.
Washington’s going to love you.
He would. One day. Not any day soon.This wouldn’t be his Wash. This would be Agent Washington. The worst Freelancer. Or worse, the guy that dragged Doc through the desert and tried to kill all them. Some pile of angst walking around, the kind that took Tucker and Caboose months to participate in Caboose’s morning hugs, and even longer to let Tucker touch him.Tucker stooped down, picking up his gauntlet and tightening a fraction too much. He did the same on the other, not paying any mind to how awkward it was. He looked up at York, who was studying him intently.“My gear on straight?” Tucker asked, just to change the subject.York nodded. “Looks great.”“Awesome. I’ll find the training room later,” Tucker said, dismissing himself. He brushed past York, leaving behind him and the hospital sweats.—Tucker sat on the bunk, his sword in his hand, deactivated. He flipped it around in his palm.He couldn’t be around Wash. It might be selfish, but Tucker didn’t want to change Wash’s past. What if he changed something small, which would become something huge, and suddenly the Wash he knows is gone? What if he irrevocably changed him into someone Tucker didn’t love, or who didn’t love Tucker?Once, there was some sort of spider in Wash’s bunk in Valhalla. Wash was the go-to bug killer, but he had woken up Tucker in the middle of the night. Tucker was shaken so hard he thought they were being attacked. He nearly died laughing when Wash told him there was a spider in his bed Tucker needed to get rid of. He didn’t even let Tucker get dressed first.It wasn’t until the thing was dead and wiped up that Wash relaxed, only to fire back up when Tucker started laughing his ass off.

You’ll shoot someone in the back but not squish a bug? Would it help if we named it after a state? This the first time you’ve ever woken up to someone in your sheets?It took another 20 minutes for Wash’s face to stop being so red, and Tucker wouldn’t realize until later that it coincided not with Tucker easing up on the jokes, but with him putting on clothes.After the armies reunited on Chorus, Wash woke up Tucker again one night.Tucker, wake up, He had whispered. He shook Tucker gently, gently enough that Tucker knew it wasn’t anything life ending.Tucker had groaned, and kicked off his blanket. Where is it? Where’s the spider?It’s not that, Wash whispered. He hesitated, letting Tucker’s brain catch up. Can I… Can I sleep here?Tucker acted before thinking, and scooted over, lifting the blanket in invitation. It was Wash’s turn to hesitate, before climbing in and settling next to Tucker.As soon as Wash had settled down, he moved to his side and wrapped his arms around Tucker’s middle. Tucker couldn’t do anything but slowly relax into the touch. Wash’s face was pressed into Tucker’s chest, with Tucker chin resting on the crown of Wash’s head.Neither said anything, even when Tucker’s brain caught up to the fact Wash was in his bed. Tucker had the urge all night to crack a joke, make a comment, or tease Wash. Every time he got close, he chickened out and stayed quiet. Tucker never even asked what made Wash climb into his bed. At the time, both were too emotionally constipated to and on too uneasy ground to talk about real shit like that. Neither of this slept much that night, but it was the start of them. That was the day that Tucker started thinking of Wash outside If I had to pick a dude or as the person he was most scared to lose.And if Tucker did something as easy as let Wash kill a space spider here, and get over his fear, all that would be gone.The opposite was also an issue. Without question, Tucker would let every single person on this ship die for Wash. Carolina as well, but Carolina wasn’t the worst Freelancer. Even if Church said he’d improved, he wasn’t like Carolina. Tucker could trust Carolina to take care of herself, but Tucker made stupid decisions and got people killed for the Wash that was a mega bad ass. What would he do for this one?Every decision felt like the wrong one. Tucker didn’t even know if he could effect the future. Hell, maybe this happened in his time line, and Wash and Carolina never brought it up for a reason. Or maybe this was the start of a new time line. Tucker was caught between not wanting anything to change and wanting everything to change. But if it was possible to change the future for the better, there was no way in hell that Tucker, of all people, was qualified for it.Everything still felt wrong around him, especially his suit. Even the sword in his hand felt wrong. As he tossed it back and forth in his palms, the weight of it in his hands felt off.Tucker ripped off his gauntlet and glove, throwing them to his side on the bed. He just wanted one thing to feel right. One thing to remind him he was Lavernius Tucker, the poor bastard that was shitty enough to get drafted as a simulation trooper, not the guy that actually tried to be here, who was qualified to be here. He wanted the handle of that sword to feel like it did when he was just that idiot in Blood Gulch, filling his days with nonsense that really didn’t mean anything.But even with the gloves off, the weight was different. His handle should be perfectly balanced, but one half was just the slightest bit heavier. Tucker brought the handle up to his face, running his thumb across the groove connecting the soft pads to the hard, silver exterior. There, so slight he might not have noticed it if the sword hadn’t been a personality trait for the past decade, was a thin, nearly non existent wire tucked away. He dug his nail into the groove a pulled out the wire. On one end was a black dot, too small to be a camera, but big enough to be a microphone.Tucker had only seen a mic this small during his ambassadorship, when he was shown all the different ways they could be spied on. This was some serious tech that the Director was using to keep an eye on him.He ran his thumb over it, and scoffed. He brought the wire, as thin as a few strands for hair to his mouth.“Fuck off, dude,” He said clearly to the end. “And leave my sword alone. If you want to hear my private conversations, hold a glass up to your mom’s bedroom door, dick.”Tucker activated his sword and let the wire fall onto the blade. It sizzled and popped into ash and the smell of burnt plastic.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”Tucker stared at the obstacles course.He knew this obstical course. He HATED this obstacle course.Sure, there weren’t any sandbag or junk, and actual walls and obstacles. But the room York met him in had the exact obstical course that Wash had made for him to run at Crash Site Bravo.York was in armor now, helmet on and everything. “It’s not that bad,” He shrugged. “This is a beginner course that our computer has preset. Just so we can see where you’re at, fitness wise.”“We?” Tucker asked. York nodded up to the glass rimming the top of the walls of the training room. He couldn’t make out any face or colors, but there were a handful of shadows, people watching and waiting.“You got a lot of attention,” York said. “People want to see what you can do.”Tucker sighed, shaking out his arms and legs. He went to the beginning of the course, and bent down in a runners stance. “Just say when.”Tucker waited for a gun shot, but instead heard a familiar voice count down.“Counting down,” Sheila’s voice boomed.Another piece of home, Tucker thought.“Five, four, three, two,” Tucker evened his breath. This was just like Chorus, and Sheila is here.Just get this over with, show all those super humans you’re a regular guy, not a threat or a spy.“One. Begin.”Tucker pushed off, reaching the first hurdle before he knew it. He cleared it easily, rolling over as too not slow himself down. Caboose had made his take ‘tumbling lessons’ which were actually useful, even if it did mean Caboose picked him up more than Tucker ever wanted.Jump a hurdle, crawl under some wire. Climb over a wall, drop down, but remember to shift his weight off his bad ankle. Instinctively, Tucker ducked his head where Wash had set up turrets. He nearly jumped out of his skin as bullets whizzed over him.He had to hand it to Wash, his spatial memory was amazing. This course was perfectly space to the one jerry rigged on Chorus. Tucker had run it a million times, followed by fifty laps around the canyon for complaining.His body must not have gotten the memo that this wouldn't be the beginning to a marathon, because before he knew it, he had reached the finish line. He flinched again when that buzzer went off, and all he thought was That was it? Tucker was panting, but not so hard he felt like he was going to throw up. After two days strapped to a bed, it felt pretty good to run around, especially his course. The blood pumping through his system made him realize why people did this shit voluntarily.The Freelancer suits cooling unit was way better than his old one’s, and his visor wasn’t even fogging up.He bent over, massaging the stitch in his side, turning towards York.“Okay,” Tucker breathed out. “How bad was that? Reminder that I’ve been strapped to a bed for two days.”“That was…” York trailed off. He didn’t need to finish.“Course complete. Congratulations Agent Kentucky! New record set!”Despite the optimism, the room was silent. Tucker’s stomach sank when the holographic display popped up above them, showing the top five fastest completions. Carolina’s name was bumped down, Tucker had beat her record by a full twenty-one seconds.“Aw, dammit!” Tucker groaned. He turned his head towards the shadows in the window. “That was an accident! Don’t think I’m good at anything!”The shadows all moved around, having conversation Tucker couldn’t hear. One, as straight and rigid as a board, stalked off quickly out of sight.“Carolina’s so pissed,” Tucker sighed.“She’ll be fine,” York dismissed. “But you need to stop holding out on us. No regular space marine should be able to do that.”“No, it’s a coincidence, I swear!” Tucker nearly cried. “I’ve ran this exact course a million times. I got ship wrecked on a planet and had to run this thing with a bunch of bullshit from…”Tucker trailed off. He didn’t want to say Wash.“From who?” York asked.“From a rebel army,” Tucker lied. “It’s a long story, but the squadron I captained did a bunch of stuff like this. Just set up another one.”So York did. Another obstacle course, one that Tucker didn’t recognize at all. One he would fail miserably at and prove he was just some guy.Except he didn’t. Tucker didn’t beat Carolina’s record, but reached third place.He ran four more obstacle courses over the next three hours, placing within the top five each time. It wasn’t his fault; He was running in a brand new suit, on even ground, with grey walls and no distractions. No sun in his eyes, or fogged up visors, or the Red’s screaming in the distance. Simulations to prepare for reality was tough, but there was nothing like experience preparing for practice.“You know, Kentucky,” York said. “You’re either lying to me or yourself about how bad a soldier you are. I’m choosing to think you’d lying to yourself, but no one else is going too.”“Whatever,” Tucker huffed, tearing off his helmet. “You guys do a lot more than obstacle courses. I’m still not going to be able to do a back flip off a building.”“We’ll see. C’mon, let’s get some dinner. Fair warning, I think you’ll be mobbed.”—There was a brief moment of peace when Tucker set down his dinner tray at an empty table that he thought it wouldn’t be so bad. Maybe everyone would leave him be, and just gossip behind his back.He hadn’t had his first bite before a tray dropped next to him, loud enough Tucker dropped his fork.“So!” A British accent said cheerily. “I don’t believe I’ve made your acquaintance, but you’ve had the pleasure of making mine.”Tucker turned towards Wyoming, dreading it. Once he saw his face, however, all those bad memories cleared in a second. Tucker burst out laughing.“That’s what you look like!?” Tucker gasped out, forgetting his lone wolf act. “Are you serious?”“What is wrong with how I look?” Wyoming asked, brows lowering and jaw clenching.“Like fucking Super Mario!” Tucker laughed. Wyoming’s curled mustache was too neat and too polished for him not to put in a ton of work into. This could hardly be the guy that nearly killed him in Blood Gulch, this guy was supposed to be on a pizza box. The dread Tucker had lifted off his shoulder’s, impossible to maintain in the face of downright silliness. Tucker had a new round of giggles, thinking about how he must have been in Blood Gulch, trimming it in the dark cave system.“We must be great friends, because no one speak to me like that,” Wyoming said cold as ice.Tucker’s laughs died down. Wyoming might not have killed him, but he got real close.“Relax, Wyoming,” A softer voice said. Across from him, a blond man that looked like he should be teach first graders the value of friendship somewhere sat down. “Let’s leave the violence for when we’re in suits.”It was weird seeing Wyoming out of his suit. He was skinnier than Tucker thought. Maybe Tucker just built up Wyoming’s physique in his head over the years, but this just seemed like… a person. A real person.The blond guy held out a hand across the table. “North Dakota. Or North. I was there when you popped up. Looked pretty painful.”“Eh, I’ve gone through worse,” Tucker shrugged. He grabbed North’ hand a shook it once. North was definitely the Gentle Giant type; His hand enveloped Tucker’s completely. “Mostly just confusing as hell.”“I bet! You were screaming about Santa Claus,” North chuckled.A blond woman dropped onto the bench next to North. It was obvious right away that they were related; She was like if North went on estrogen. “Yeah, what was that? You start hallucinating or some thing?”“This is my sister, South Dakota,” North said. “She’s working on her manners.”“No worries. But nah, I was sober. That Santa Claus stuff makes stuff if you were there,” Tucker waved a hand dismissively.“What, does Santa rule the universe?” South asked.“It’s a whole thing I’m dealing with, it’s going to sound like bullshit,” Tucker admitted.“Try us.”Tucker thought it over. He was still not sure about revealing to much about the future, but also didn’t want to seem like he believed in Santa.“Uh, okay. So I’m on a planet fighting a civil war, and our best chance at winning was going to this ancient alien temple for help, but the alien AI would only help a ‘true warrior’, and he like, puts you through some nightmare hallucinations. If you can get through it, you’re a true warrior. And the guy that got through it has the mental capacity of a fucking turtle and renamed the alien AI that’s in charge of the temple Santa Claus.”Silence fell over the table.“Yeah, that sounds like bullshit,”A voice from behind Tucker said.Tucker whipped around and immediately fell out of his chair. He might have thought the armor belonged to Lopez, if not for the distinct helmet that strongly resembled a storm trooper.“Shit, CT?” Tucker gasped. He regretted it immediately, forgetting about keeping stuff to himself.CT cocked her head, and removed her helmet. Tucker never actually met CT, just someone in her armor. Still, she looked so young and so small. He couldn’t imagine she could be as cruel as the man who trapped him in the temple.But the again, she was a Freelancer.“Are we friends too?” CT asked, smiling a bit.“Well, you never tried to kill me,” Tucker got away with that white lie. Hell, maybe she was cool.“Wow, low bar,” She laughed.“You’d think,” Tucker muttered. He was surrounded on all sides now, and felt closed in. Even thought CT was the only one in armor, Tucker felt caged.And of course, Carolina came next.She didn’t take a seat, but walked over as if she just happened to be walking this way. Tucker didn’t miss how she had an iron grip on her meal tray, and she was, unsurprisingly in her armor.“So, what? You handled that training course, are we still supposed to believe you’re harmless?” She asked.“Carolina…” North started.“Why are you all treating him like the new kid at school? You actually believe he’s from the future?” She looked around at the other Freelancers.“The Director confirmed he’s from the future. Are you saying he’s wrong?” CT asked.Tucker knew what CT meant under all that. She was probably hoping Carolina was willing to crack. But Carolina hesitated before speaking.“No, but I don’t trust you, Kentucky,” Carolina said, almost offended. “What was that with Maine’s suit? And what was that sword?”The interrogations were starting to wear on Tucker. The same questions over and over and the same answers over and over. Nothing he could say would satisfy Carolina besides ‘Yup! You got me, I’m evil. You wanna shoot me or punch my head off?’“Carolina, chill,” Tucker snapped, annoyed. “I didn’t steal Maine’s suit, I stole it from a guy who already stole it. And I’m trying to not fuck with the time line too much by telling you guys too much. I’m also pretty sure your boss will just kill me if I do.”In his rambling, Tucker didn’t notice everyone go quiet again. Carolina’s breath grew heavier; The tell-tale sign of rage brewing.“Did you just tell me to chill?” She asked, voice strained.Tucker should have had his self preservation instinct kicked in but… This was Carolina. He had already gone through this stuff with her, she had already thawed. She was capable of relaxing and not obsessing over competition, and he wasn’t ready to walk on eggshells so she can remain crazy.“Sidebar?” He asked.This broke through Carolina’s ice, even if it was just from confusion. “What?”“Like, can I talk to you, one on one? Aqua on aqua?” Tucker prodded.“Oh my God,” South whispered in disbelief to her brother.To everyone surprise, Carolina slammed her tray down on the table. She grabbed Tucker’s arm, pulling him to his feet. His legs knocked on the table roughly, and he barely managed to stay upright as she dragged him across the cafeteria.Once they were far away and Tucker was standing, she dropped his arm and crossed her own across her chest.“What?” She demanded.“Fuck, can you calm down?” Tucker said, rubbing his arm. He was pretty sure he was going to bruise just from this.“Don’t tell me to calm down!” She nearly yelled. “I’m your superior officer, and I don’t want you here-““I know!” Tucker nearly shouted back. He forced himself to keep eye contact. Her green eyes were piercing, unnatural. “But four days ago, we were on the same side. You saved my life, and we - Me and the rest of our team- had been together for a couple years! When we met, you were more like this,” He gestured to all of her. “But we finally got to like, I don’t know, a friendship!”Carolina stayed quiet, chewing the inside of her cheek. She was still mad, but also seemed more confused. “Why do you say that like I needed to change? Like there’s something wrong with me?”Tucker rolled his eyes. “C’mon. You think this is good?”“I’m the best Freelancer and leader of this team. I am perfect,” She said.“Yeah, but you’re not happy,” Tucker shot back. Her use of the word perfect had made him shiver, like watching a friend relapse. Carolina's vice was just weird self esteem issues.Carolina scoffed now. She looked at Tucker with ridicule, almost in humor. “Happy? We’re in a war! I don’t need to be happy!”“No shit,” Tucker said. “I’ve said it like, forty million times since I’ve been here, but we’re in another war in my time. And you’re happy then! You healed and shit. We had to teach you how to have fun, but you still did it!”“Look, I don’t want to fight about this," Tucker continued before Carolina could argue. 'Trust me, don’t trust me- I don’t care. But I’m not playing along to your weird Freelancer, competitive all for one thing. I’m dipping back to my time as soon as I can…”Tucker trailed off. Coming through the double doors was a suit of gunmetal armor and yellow stripes.Maybe it wasn’t even Wash. This guy walked so much … looser. Like he didn’t have the weight of the world on his shoulder. He didn’t stand as rigid, and his gait was longer. He had more energy.But without a doubt, it was Wash.It just wasn’t his Wash.Tucker turned back to Carolina, who went to follow Tucker’s gaze. Tucker spoke quickly, before she could piece together where Tucker’s attention went.“Be mad about it. I don’t give a shit. And don’t call me Kentucky. It’s Tucker,” Tucker’s voice had gone hard, and he pushed passed Carolina. He had given up his first opportunity of solid food in days, but he was suddenly to anxious to eat.Tucker nearly ran out of the cafeteria, before Wash could even take off his helmet.—“… And I haven’t had laundry detergent in years, and now it’s all I can smell! I mean, don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to smell like a barrack of teenagers in metal armor all day, but I don’t want to get used to the good life here, and then BAM!” Tucker smack his hand on the floor of the training room, where he sat with his legs crossed like a child. “Suddenly I’m in the armpit of Chorus.”“I don’t have scent receptors, but that certainly doesn’t sound pleasant,” F.I.L.S.S. chimed in the air.“Right? And I’m always on edge, like, am I just going to poof back at any moment? I probably need to wear the armor 24/7. But, what if it’s the middle of the night, and suddenly I’m snoozing on the floor when the space pirates breaks down the door! Oh hey, I didn’t mention, but you’re there too Sheila. Or, er, F.I.L.S.S?”“My name is F.I.L.S.S, but you may call me Sheila,” The robotic voice said cheerfully.“Yeah, but what do you want me to call you?” Tucker said, taking a spoonful of his breakfast oatmeal. God, it even had sugar and real fruit.“What would you like to call me?” She asked.“Well, I knew you as Sheila, but if your name is F.I.L.S.S. I’ll call you F.I.L.S.S.” Tucker pushed “C’mon, I know you have opinions on this stuff.”The training room Tucker was camped out on was quiet for a second. “I think I would like for you to call me Sheila. I’ve never had a nickname before! I may be the only one on he ship without one.”“Okay, dope. Sheila it is. But yeah, a copy of you is on the ship I was on. Man, you really saved our ass. I know it didn’t happen yet, but thanks anyways.”“My pleasure!” Sheila said. “But Agent Kentucky-““Sheila, c’mon!”“Agent Tucker,” Sheila relented. “Don’t you think it would be more productive to spend your free time with the other agents? Spending your time with the ships AI does not sound very productive.”“Ugh, can’t I miss you!? You’re the one person here I actually like!”“Ouch,” Tucker turned towards the door to see York walking in to the training room. He was in full armor, as casual as ever. “I thought we were bonding.”“We are, but Sheila’s my girl, you know?” Tucker stood. “We go way back, I wanted to feel like things were normal for a second.”“Sitting in a room alone talking too no one is normal?” York asked. Tucker could hear the smirk on his face.“I’m not alone, I’m with Sheila.”“The ship’s computer doesn’t count.”“Don’t talk about her like that!” Tucker was edging towards defensiveness. “Sheila’s fucking awesome. You should see what happens when you put her in a tank. Total bad ass.”“Thank you, Tucker!” Sheila rang out. “I’ve never thought of myself as a bad ass, but I suppose I am.”“Damn straight,” Tucker would have high fived her if he could.“Alright, alright, my bad,” York chuckled. “F.I.L.S.S., you are a bad ass. The most bad ass. Sorry I never said it before.”“Apology accepted, Agent York,” Sheila said. “I will leave you two alone for training. Good luck, Agent Tucker.”“Later, Sheila,” Tucker waved a hand vaguely to the air. He turned to York. “Alright, what’s today? Please don’t say more obstacles courses.”“No, I was thinking some hand to hand,” York said, stretching his neck out.Tucker groaned, grabbing his helmet off the floor and kicking his tray to the side. “We should have done this yesterday. Everyone think I’m actually cut out for this, kicking my ass would have been better.”“Everyone’s got their own training, no peanut gallery today.” York said“Okay, fine. Let’s start. You going to run at me first, or- AH!”
York rushed Tucker before he could even finish his sentence. He scooped low, grabbing Tucker by his middle and slamming him onto the floor. It was so quick;Tucker was staring at York one second, and the ceiling the next. York jumped off as quickly as he rushed Tucker.“What the fuck!?” Tucker said from the floor. He struggled with his breath for another second, then pushed off his elbows. He stood slowly, dizzy. “Give a guy some warning-AH!”One swift kick to the ankles and York had swept Tucker off his feet. His back hit the floor again, the ceiling lights blinding him.“Goddamn it dude! What the hell…” Tucker raised his head, only to be greeted with the barrel of York’s pistol.It was quiet for a second, York unmoving. He kept a steady hold on the gun, waiting for Tucker to move. Tucker was completely still, his arms in view. The stillness of York was terrifying. He had been nothing but jolly and kind so far. Now, Tucker remembered he was a trained killer.All Tucker heard was his heart beat until York finally dropped the gun to his side. His stance immediately relaxed.“Well, you were supposed to dodge those. And if not, disarm me from the ground. You’re zero for three.”York held out an arm to Tucker. Tucker hesitated, looking at it like it was a bomb. York didn’t lower it, until finally Tucker grabbed it.York dropped him mid way up.“Goddammit!” Tucker yelled, his back hitting the floor for a third time.“Make that zero for four. So, you got a lot to work on if you ever want to see the top of the leader board.”“I don’t want to see the top of the leader board,” Tucker snapped, rolling over and pushing himself up.“Okay, then if you want not be the worst Freelancer.”“I don’t want that either! I don’t want to even be a Freelancer. I just hate dying less. I don’t want to play this weird game all of you are obsessed with. I wasn’t even cut out for the actual army, dude.” Tucker huffed from the floor. He heard it in hiss voice; The way his very valid feelings may sound like a tantrum.York studying Tucker then, so long that Tucker began to squirm.“You were in the middle of a battle, right?” York asked.“Back at my time? Yeah, I was,” Tucker said as if it wasn’t on his mind constantly.“Okay, so if you get back there-““When.”“When you get back there,” York corrected himself. “You should be ready to fight, right? You have the opportunity to be trained as a Freelancer.”Tucker inhaled sharply through his nose. He had been thinking from the minute Church brought up the Meta’s suit that it should have been Wash or Carolina. A Freelancer, someone with skills. He had the opportunity to be Wash or Carolina, without risking their lives.“Alright, you got me. Fuck it, make me a Freelancer.”Tucker hit the mat twenty-two more times in the next two hours. He blocked four more blows, and managed to make York stumble with a kick to the back of his knee.“That was good, you’re getting more comfortable with you body,” York said.“With a body like mine, you can’t help but be comfortable ,” Tucker said, out of breath and surely a gross, sweaty mess. “But thanks.”“You need to learn how to fall before anything else. Since you’re so… You know. Right now, we need to make sure you can take a punch until you can throw one.”“I get my ass beat like it’s a fetish,” Tucker joked, despite feeling sore all over.“Hey, you need to give yourself some more credit,” York said seriously. “You’re not a bad soldier. You’re a captain of a rebel army. You have an alien sword. If you were a comic book hero, I’d be stocking up on copies. Maybe even throw up a poster.”“Woah dude, I’m taken. And I’m not going to be on one end of Carolina’s crazy,” Tucker laughed. He was deflecting, he knew it; But it was just too goddamn weird to be complimented. Even when Kimball did it, Tucker knew it was from a place of insecurity. She need to to believe he was impressive. Her alternative was death.“You are?” York asked, arms dropping. “You have someone in the future?”The casualness left the room so fast, Tucker winced. He had successfully gone most of the morning without obsessing over Wash. “Yeah. I do.”“I’m sorry,” York said. He sounded sincere, like he had any idea what Tucker was going through.“Eh, no worries,” Tucker smirked. “Nothing hotter than a time traveling special agent. I’m already an alien-prophecy-chosen-one-slash-rebel-army-captain, and he’s still totally out of my league. Maybe this will give me a one up. Or at least a better ass.”“He?” York asked.“Yeah, you got a problem?” Tucker asked, stretching his wrist out.“I just thought, with the way you talk about women…”“I’m a lover,” Tucker shrugged. “I only had a bi-awakening a couple of months ago, I’m working on my come-ons for men. Want me to try some out?” Tucker grinned.“What happened to not wanting to be on the tail end of Carolina’s jealousy?” York asked, chuckling.“It’ll be worth it!”“Well I don’t want to be on the tail end of that,” York said.“Boo, you guys are boring,” Tucker whined. “I miss future Carolina. She was trying to be cool. She even tried out a Bow-chicka-wow-wow.”“A what?”“A ‘That’s what she said.””“I’ll believe everything else, except
for that. Alright, alright,” York laughed. “Break time over. We only have this room for another hour, and I want to eat before a meeting I have with the Director later.”Tucker shook out his legs, getting pumped. “Alright, prepared to be swept off your feet. This time, I’ll be slamming you’re ass to the ground. Bow-chicka-AH!”Twenty-three times.Despite his repeated failures, Tucker noticed that he was improving already. York was nice, and corrected gently. He didn’t hold back, but he was observant and honest. Tucker had never had someone train him without screaming, but maybe he was someone who didn’t progress well with that kind of reinforcement.But then again, he had never actually trained with eagerness. Basic training was shit, and Wash’s training was at literal gun point and almost resulted in murder-suicide. With the rebels, he was the trainer, and was mostly bad at it.The only other time he’d actually trained for anything was with the Sangheili ambassadorship. Then, it was actually working to support Junior, and he had actually tried. He still bitched and moaned, but he did learn the language, and did work on relations. He had motivation besides being forced to or having a gun to someone’s head.York told him that he needed to work on falling with his torso and ass, and he did. Tucker wished Wash could see him work like this; He only saw when Tucker was moody and thought the training was worthless. Wash had complimented Tucker on his work with the Chorus army, but it felt more of a Wow, you didn’t get everyone killed. Then Wash took over training, and that was it. He never even went on missions with Tucker.The more Tucker thought about Wash, and how he must have thought about Tucker, the harder Tucker pushed. His jokes grew infrequent, and he complained less every time York got him on the floor. When he was a kid, he had always prayed during tests that the fire alarm would go off, or an earthquake would happen, or some sort of alien invasion. Something that would miraculously get him some extra time. He would tell himself if he could, he would actually go and study and try for the re-do. But Tucker wouldn’t, because he always got away with half-assing. He always did well enough to pass, he always survived, he always did okay.Now, he finally had that fire alarm pulled, he could actually get to study and be better. Because this time, it wasn’t just about him surviving. It was everyone.Tucker ducked, dodging York’s high kick. Tucker was faster, he was good with his hands. He grabbed York’s ankle at the high point of the swing, and pulled. York didn’t expect it, and yelped when his back hit the mat.“Hell yes!” Tucker shouted, pumping his free hand in the air, still holding onto York’s ankle at waist height.York stayed flat on his back, struggling to breath. “You know,” He gasped. “I’ve never tried foot stuff when I’m on my back like this.”“Not far, dude!” Tucker whined, still smiling. “I can’t make dirty jokes, but you can?”“Ah, gross!”Tucker and York still looked towards the training room entrance. South walked in, fully in armor, but Tucker could hear the distaste in her voice.“What, jealous?” Tucker asked, dropping York’s foot. It fell with a thud on the ground.“Please don’t tell me foot stuff gets popular in the future?” South said.“If I make a come on, are you going to kick my ass?” Tucker asked.“Yeah.”Tucker shook his head side to side. “Nah, worth it. Why stop at the feet? I can give you access to everything below the waist, baby.”South snorted, and actually laughed. “Ugh, that was so bad I’m not even going to hit you.” She nodded her head to the door. “C’mon, I’m taking you to lunch. York said you’ve been talking to yourself.”“I wasn’t talking to myself!” Tucker shouted. “I was talking to Sheila!”“Is that an imaginary friend?” South asked.“Hello, Agent South Dakota,” Sheila’s voice rung out. “According to Agent Tucker, we are good friends in the future. He says I become a total bad ass. I have decided I would like the nickname Sheila, please refer to me as such.”“Uh, okay?” South said.South removed her helmet in the mess hall, but stayed in armor. Tucker had heard about South from her meeting with Caboose and Church, and she was not like this. He was expecting another shark- tiger woman, but this South hadn’t even laid a hand on Tucker. He hadn’t been expecting her to have bright purple hair cropped short, and he sure as hell didn’t expect her to actually want to talk to Tucker.“Avoid anything with full pieces of meat,” She advised as they went down the counter with their trays. She pointed to the hamburger patties, still hot and steaming in the metal bin. “I swear, they ground stuff cooks all the way through. The chicken will make you shit yourself in your sleep.”“Dude, I’ve been trapped on an isolated planet in the middle of a civil war,” He said, eagerly grabbing the patty and tossing it on the bun already on his tray. “It’s food that not from and MRE or can old enough to vote. I’d eat it off the floor.”“Keep eating like that and you won’t fit in your armor,” She scoffed as he piled his tray with actual, real cookies.“Don’t worry baby, this body ain’t going anywhere,” Tucker grinned.“You’re barking up the wrong tree,” South said. Tucker noticed her hesitate, before putting a cookie on her own tray.“What, you got a space marine boyfriend that’s going to kick my ass too?” He said, past the food and pouring actual, real coffee into his mug. It smelt like heaven.“It would be a girlfriend, but no,” She said, filling up her mug too. “Even if I was into dudes, I don’t think I could handle the mouth on you.”“Oh, I think you could- OW! The back of my head!”South smacked the back of Tucker’s head, almost making him drop his tray. He figured out long ago that his braids could cushion the blow of attacks, but it still stung.“It was right there!”“You don’t have to say it!” South shot back. She was irritated, but still grinned. “If anyone’s going to be known for their mouth skills here, it’s going to be me.”Tucker grinned back, and they sat at an empty table. South went around to sit directly in front of Tucker.“Why are you being nice to me?” Tucker asked bluntly.“Am I not in the future?” South asked, stabbing her meat patty with a fork. She didn’t have a bun, or any carbs on her plate. Just protein and greens.“We never met. But you met some of my friends,” He said.My boyfriend shot you in the face and blew up your body after you betrayed him. It happens. He didn’t say.“Yeah, well, everyone the people on here either treat me like I’m a bitch, are fucking losers, or is North,” She said her brother’s name with disdain. “Stay in your lane and away from my spot on the leader board, and we won’t have a problem.”“Yes ma’am,” Tucker said, pulling off his glove with his teeth. “If I didn’t get along with bitches, I wouldn’t have talked to women for like, a decade. The only non-bitches I know are either in my squadron, the general of the army, and a crazy doctor who would probably saw my dick off and reattach it to my forehead.”“Sounds hot,” South grinned. “She single?”“Not in my time. She’s shacking up with this guy, Sarge,” Tucker started. “He’s just as delusional. He’s not even a Sargent! Anyways, crazy sticking dick in crazy, thank God both of them are too old to have kids. I did hear them talk about making a cyborg together, which I guess would be the same thing but with guns for hands.”South stared at him, long and hard, chewing her food. She squinted, before setting down her fork. “Alright, let’s get to the point. How do I die?”Tucker choked on his food, nearly spitting it out. He forced himself to calm down, swallow the burger roughly. “What? I told you we never met!”“So I am dead,” All the humor left her face then.“I didn’t say that,” Tucker said quickly.“You didn’t say no,” She pointed out. “Who does it? Do I know them? Is it on a mission?”“I’m not saying!” Tucker nearly shouted. “I’m trying not to fuck up everything too much!”“So you’re just going to let me die?” The easy going attitude was gone, and Tucker felt like a cornered animal.“No! I mean, I’ll try to stop it, but I don’t think just telling everyone all the shit I know!” Tucker looked down at his tray, appetite gone and replaced by a knot. “As far as I know, you’re still alive. Half the Freelancer’s I actually know have faked their death anyways.”“Then the Project fails?” South said, frowning.Tucker sighed, irritated. “Yeah, I guess? But, not? Like, I guess it depends on how you see it?” Tucker struggled.If the whole point was to make AI, then the Project did succeed. If the point was to bring back Allison, then yeah, it did. But if the point was to stop the war and all their agents live? Then no.Tucker sipped his coffee angrily. He scrunched up his face at the sharp bitterness. “Bleh, I forgot what this shit taste like when it’s not 90% water.” He looked back at South. “Look, you and I don’t have beef, alright? Most of my friends in the future started out by trying to kill me anyways. Once, we had a guy follow and try to kill us for months. We got him from murderous rampage to our leader in two hours! My team keeps domesticating people out to blow out brains out like feral cats. I’m good if you’re good. And if you’re not good, that’s too bad. Because I don’t betray my fucking teams.”South and Tucker stared each other. He didn’t break eye contact, but didn’t feel like he was equal ground. He felt like he was lying through his teeth by even considering they were equals. He wished he had the confidence to think he had any kind of advantage over South, but if she decided that Tucker was more trouble than he’s worth, than he was a dead man.South shrugged, and her body relaxed, she picked up her fork again. “Fine. Better than nothing.”“That’s what she said,” Tucker quipped. It worked, South cracked a smile.“Hey South, made a friend?” North said. He dropped next to Tucker, out of armor. “How’d you manage that, Kentucky?”South’s humor and friendliness drained quickly, and the frown returned to her face. North’s smile didn’t leave his face, like he was completely unaware of how South’s demeanor changed.“To start with, she uses my actually fucking name,” Tucker shot, already feeling defensive for his new friend. “It’s Tucker. And, what? I’m not going to kiss the ass of the best fighter on this ship?”North chuckled, stabbing at his lunch. It was also as sad and keto as his sister’s. “Don’t let Carolina hear you say that.”South clenched her jaw, looking like he was about to say something, but Tucker intercepted. If Blood Gulch taught him anything, sometime’s being a loud mouth idiot was the best conflict de-escalator.“Can everyone get off Carolina’s dick for ten seconds?” Tucker complained. “Can’t I just be afraid of one woman at a time?”North raised his eyebrows. Tucker didn’t care about his reaction, what he cared about was the satisfied smirk on South’s face. North looked back at his sister.South shrugged. “What can I say? He said he’s only friends with bitches.”North’s confusion stayed for another second, before he broke into a soft smile. “Whatever works. But still, you should be careful with how you talk about Carolina-““Oh my God, if one person tells me that, I’m opening a window,” Tucker said, rolling his eyes. “I get it, she’s scary and hates me. Not anything new.”South snorted. “FYI, if Carolina goes for you, I’m not getting in the way. But I’ll make sure you get the good stuff in medical.” South looked past Tucker, and nodded. “You might want to reserve room now.”Tucker turned around. Carolina was on the other side of the room, glaring daggers at Tucker. Tucker didn’t need to hear what she was saying to know it was about him. That wasn’t surprising. What was surprising was who she was talking too.“Is that the Meta?” Tucker asked. “Or, er, Maine?”Tucker didn’t even need to ask. Maine was a weapon in the suit. Now Tucker got a look at the absolute beast that it contained. The bald head didn’t help; He looked like he should be leading a biker gang. He even dwarfed North; One of the Maine’s fist could probably wrap around Tucker’s throat.Tucker knew Maine could; He easily held up Sarge in armor. Sarge, who had a good half a foot and fifty pounds on Tucker. Tucker wouldn’t admit it to the Red leader’s face, but he handled that like a fucking champ. It had taken all of them to wound the Meta, and that was with Tex and Wash. And a warthog falling over a mountain side.That was the Meta, and this was Maine. Maybe the Meta really was just a monster with a brain parasite, but what did that make Maine?Carolina and Wash always spoke about their time here in a before and after sense without realizing it. Before AI, and after. Before stories were always told with a smile and laugh, after stories were cautionary tales.“Yeah, that’s Maine,” North said. He turned back to Tucker. “Meta?”“Spoilers. Don’t worry about it,” Tucker turned back to his food.“Can you blame me?” North said, turning back to his food. “You showed up in his armor, and pulled a sword on him. He’s not too happy about that.”“Yeah? We’ll I’m not too happy about it either,” Tucker stabbed his salad with his fork like it was the one interrogating him, his eagerness for fresh vegetables disappearing. “But I’m trying to not let get shit that hasn’t happened yet get too me. Like how I’m trying not to judge South by her brother.”South laughed at the furrow in her brother’s brow. North was at a loss for the words. This was obviously the first time someone has favored her over her brother. Maybe everyone else would prefer that sibling with a smile and soft voice, but Tucker didn’t. Tucker had been permanently poisoned to only get along with freaks, losers and assholes. The only person he reminded Tucker of was Kimball, which sowed more distrust.Tucker was still in the lion’s den. York was honest when he said no one would trust him, and North’s smiles and kindness wouldn’t make him less likely to shoot him in the back if he thought Tucker was a threat. Kimball held onto her sanity and kindness despite being forced to be a General, and even she cracked when it came to Doyle and the Feds. But North chose to be here. At least South had the decency to show her teeth.Too North’s credit, he didn’t leave. He turned back to his meal, and let the conversation go. “So, Tucker. Is the sword your weapon of choice?”“Duh,” Tucker said, patting his side. “Like I wouldn’t use the dope energy sword. I’m pretty decent at everything else too. Except for the sniper rifle. I never get to use the fucking sniper rifle.”North smiled. “I know it won’t help my case, but that’s my expertise.”“Of course it is,” Tucker grumbled, but perked up. “Unless you want to let me use it?”North chuckled. “Tell you what, I’ ll get you your own and teach you too use it. On the condition you extend that offer to not let anyone die to me.”“Deal,” Tucker said. He looked back at South. “Just to be clear, we’re still tight. But I really want to use a sniper rifle.”South kept her grin. “Just remember what I said about taking my spot on the leader board.”—Tucker had barely made it back to his room when he get a ping on his data pad.Added to calender: Meeting with the Director. Mandatory. With a due date of twenty minutes. Tucker groaned, throwing his head back. It was a good thing he didn’t change out of his armor, because there was no way he was going anywhere near him without it. Tucker couldn’t even trust his armor, it was just an extension of the Director and probably recording his every conversation. But he would feel naked without it, and at least he had his sword.He wandered the halls of the Mother of Invention for eighteen minutes before find the conference room his data pad told him to be at. The door opened with a woosh. The Director and Counselor were there, not sitting at any of the chairs gathered around the long conference table, and instead standing by the window displaying nothing but the darkness of space and stars. Tucker had great vision, and he could see more galaxies than anyone else could. It was beautiful, a reminder that every problem he had was chump chain to the riches of … everything. It’s majesty threw off the threatening vibe that they were going for.“Agent Kentucky, you’re late,” The Director started.“I have two more minutes!” Tucker said, checking the clock in his helmet.“Anything other than five minutes early is late,” The Director explained condescendingly.“In my experience, people don’t like it when I come early,” Tucker said. The Director’s frown deepened.“Agent Kentucky, may I remind you the kindness I have shown by letting you not only live, but to be a apart of the most elite military force in existence? Every other person on this ship has put in blood, sweat and tears, as well as make sacrifices you could not even comprehend for a spot that you were handed on a silver platter.”“Hold up, are you fucking serious?” Tucker ran back that sentence in his head, was actually blown away by the Director’s audacity. Tucker even found himself smiling in disbelief, feeling the upcoming storm of pissed. “I’m here because of you. I’ve sacrificed my entire life because of you! Don’t act like putting me in this suit and giving me a stupid fucking nickname is a favor. The only reason I get to live is because you’re waiting for me too fuck up and tell you the future!”The Director didn’t even flinch, but his face grew a sort of anger Tucker had only seen when he called him Leonard in the infirmary. “A task that you have been more than willing to fumble in only a few days. And do not pretend that this is a one sided agreement; You are aware that I am you’re only hope of getting back to your time?”Tucker hadn’t thought about it. As much as he bitched about his situation, running away or even just refusing the Freelancer title has never occurred to him. He felt his upper hand slipping.“I have let your comments and complaints about myself and the Project go,” The Director continued. “Do not think there will be no punishment for your insubordination, but I have given you more grace than your team would ever get.“But let me make something clear,” The Director stepped forward, one step then another, until he was in Tucker’s space. Tucker could smell his after shave and see how blindingly bright his teeth were, he held his breath on instinct. “I will revoke my kindness and have you terminated immediately by violation of two rules.“The first is too keep out of mine and my families business,” The Director’s voice was louder this close. “I do not know how you got your information on me, and I will let that go as long as you keep that to yourself. So long as it does not cause too much strife amongst my agents, you are free to tell them exactly what misfortunes they are in for. In fact, I encourage it; Light a fire under their asses, let them know what exactly is in store of them if my Project fails.”Tucker chewed the inside of his cheek, holding back any complaints or comments he had, comments just to say something. He didn’t like being talked at, but The Director was right; He needed to be more tight lipped. He needed to think before he spoke, something he was never good at.“Fine,” Tucker relented. “What’s two?”Real fire, like Tucker had not seen before, lit up in the Director. Now he leaned into Tucker’s face, curling up his lip, almost in a snarl. “If I suspect any harm or sabotage on your part to Agent Texas, you will be killed. Do not play innocent; You know her significance. If Agent Texas is… If anything is to happen to harm Agent Texas, I will hold you responsible first. I do not cared if you are on the other side of the ship asleep; You will be punished by the full extent of my power. Do I make myself clear?”Tucker lost his nerve. No comeback, no jokes. Tucker’s eyes dropped to the floor; He couldn’t stand looking in those electric green eyes. They were the eyes of his best friend, his team mates; But they didn’t seem so beautiful at the moment. They looked unnatural, like a mark poisonous plants have to warn predators.Tucker hoped his hesitation came off and tough, and not him too afraid to speak. “Understood.”The Director studied him for a second more. Tucker’s eyes flicked between the Director’s face and the floor. Finally, the Director leaned away, and Tucker could breath. His knees felt weak, and the day was catching up with him.“You are dismissed,” The Director said, turning away towards the window, as if anything in the void of space had changed.Tucker couldn’t wait to get the hell out of the room, and go hide under the covers of his bunk, but stopped himself at the door. The way the Director spoke, the passion in him, couldn’t have come from no where.“She’s here, isn’t she? Tex? You put her in… Something.” Tucker said. He didn’t look back, and assumed neither did the Director. They were too men, having a conversation both would deny ever happened, without even facing each other.“You are dismissed, Agent Kentucky,” The Director said firmly.t was better confirmation than a ‘yes’ ever would be.—Tucker did spend the rest of the day in bed. He was actually pretty surprised; After a couple of hours he assumed someone would drag him out. For training, for dinner, for interrogations- Something. Maybe the whole time traveling thing had lost it’s luster. Maybe everyone really did think he was a fraud. Or maybe York let everyone in on how mediocre his fighting skills were and everyone wrote him off as too much of a hassle.Either way, the lights of the Mother of Invention slowly dimmed, simulating the end of an earth day. The darker it got, the wider awake he was. He hadn’t slept so alone since Blood Gulch. There was always someone either in the room or behind a paper thin wall that they might as well have been. More recently, Wash had taken up residence in his bed half the week, which made the quiet of now so suffocating. He had been blessed by exhaustion or sedatives knocking him out the past few days, but now it was just too fucking quiet.Tucker kicked off his blanket and pulled on his boots. He nearly put on his armor, but stopped himself. Just because everyone was in and out of armor during the day, doesn’t mean that was the case at night. He was already on too thin of ice to walk around in metal armor for no reason. Besides, his brand new Kevlar suit hadn’t been worn down like his old one, and his thighs felt like they’d been sanded down. He took his sword, shoving it in his pocketTucker poked his head out of the door to check the hallway, and immediately felt stupid for it. It wasn’t a crime to walk around, and although it felt like it, this wasn’t a boarding school. He could take a midnight stroll if he damn well pleased.With most of the ship asleep, his footsteps sounded like he was banging pots and pans together. The hum of the ship was every present, like a sort of tinnitus. The hall lights were dimmer, making the gray of the walls barely that different from the gray of the floors. He had traded in the beige on beige concrete and dirt of Blood Gulch for the beige on beige of the desert for this. And people wondered why his armor was so obnoxious.He felt like he was walking in a maze, and was tempted to call out to Sheila, just for someone to talk too. Soon enough, he found he wasn’t lost, but on his way towards the mess hall. It would be real stupid for him to grab a cup of coffee right now, he thought.Walking into the cafeteria, he bee lined to wear the drip coffee station was, and walked straight into a brick wall.“Shit!” Tucker said, stumbling back and away from where he ran into Maine.Tucker’s eye just made it up to Maine’s chin. Tucker was the average height of an American man at 5’9” (as he reminded everyone who called him short), but Maine was something else entirely. While Tucker instinctively pushed away from running into him, Maine stood still, like Tucker was made of Styrofoam. He was out of armor, which should have made Tucker feel better if not for the clear sight of how much muscle this guy was really made of.“Fuck, you are huge,” Tucker said, wiping a hand over his own face. Tucker cringed before he even spoke. “It’s going to suck if you kick my ass, but at least I’ll die knowing you’re codpiece fit.”Maine didn’t say anything, just gave a death stare down to Tucker. His face was all right angles and tension, his nose crooked from more than one break. Tucker was unnerved by his stare.“I didn’t take your armor from you, in the future,” Tucker explained for the twentieth time. “I can’t tell you a lot, but I can tell you that.”Maine didn’t move, and Tucker was a second away from bolting. A look in Maine’s face stopped him; The way he stared at Tucker’s mouth might have made him think Maine thought he was hot, but weirdly, Tucker thought of his son.ASL? Tucker signed clumsily. It had been months since he video called Junior, but he could sign.Maine raised his eyebrows, genuinely surprised. He pulled his giant hands away from where the were balled up at their side’s and signed quickly. Tucker’s brain was still on danger mode, but followed along.You know how to sign? Maine asked.I know Earth-Sangheili Sign Language, Tucker signed back as best he could.Maine’s face loosened, and he only looked as 75% as terrifying as usual. He signed back quickly, too quickly for Tucker to follow.Tucker shook his head quickly, waving one hand to interrupt Maine. Not good with ASL. Mostly talk to Sangheili. Maine stared at him for another beat, and cleared his throat.“Better than nothing,” Maine’s voice was rough from disuse and rose at odd octaves, his tongue sounding too loose in his mouth. Tucker recognized the ‘accent’ from the deaf instructor back from his ambassadorship.Deaf? Tucker asked. Maine nodded.Suit has hearing aid, Maine signed slowly. I can hear a little. Mostly read lips. Where did you learn?Tucker tried to think of the ASL signs, but gave up and returned to the signs of ESSL, designed for larger and less dexterous hands. There was a lot of overlap, but so he hoped for the best. Sangheili ambassador?Maine looked at his blankly, and shook his head. No surprise that those two signs didn’t transfer over in ESSL. Tucker racked his brain for a better explanation.
My son is alien Tucker signed. Learned for him and my job.
Maine stared at him, and shook his head again.Maine cleared his throat. “You said your son is an alien.”Tucker nodded, clapping his hands once in excitement. “Yes! That’s it!”Maine’s silence stretched on again. He raised his hand slowly, and finger spelled out one word.Gross.Fuck you dude! Tucker signed back, fully in ESSL, comfortably using his curse words. In practice, ESSL wasn’t nearly as expressive as ASL was, since humans and Sangheili obviously couldn’t easily read each others body language. But this was Junior they were talking about, so Tucker’s hands went flying. My kid is fucking awesome! You try going through labor and tell me how clean you end up!You… Gave birth? Maine’s face was twisted with disgust and confusion.Tucker grabbed the hem of his shirt and lifted it up, showing his C section scar, larger and more gnarled than the stab wound on the other side of his torso. He pointed to it and nodded aggressively.Maine stared down at the wound, eyes wide. There was no doubt he had killed people, but this is grossed him out?This is weird, Maine signed, eyes still on Tucker’s scar until he lowered his shirt. I just wanted to scare you.“You do scare me!” Tucker said and signed simultaneously. “Of course you scare me!”Watch your back, Maine signed, eyes hardening. I will…The signs Maine followed with might not have even been ASL, but were graphic enough for Tucker to get the point. Even with the overt threats, Maine wasn’t nearly as scary as he had been ten minutes ago. He wasn’t sure if it was him becoming brave, Maine becoming a human and not just a distant nightmare. Tucker could see how this could be the Meta, but was not.Tucker nodded. With lack of anything meaningful to say, he settled on saluting. Maine’s eyebrows shot up again, and he actually gave a single laugh. Tucker flinched when Maine patted a hand on his shoulder, which seemed to raise Maine’s spirits further.See you -, Maine signed. Tucker didn’t get the last thing he said, but Maine was already walking away.“I don’t know what that means!” Tucker half shouted, but Maine couldn’t hear him. He didn’t even turn around.“Did he just call you daddy?”Tucker actually jumped then, heart rate ticking up at the voice that he knew by heart, but had never heard like this.Wash had snuck up on them. Tucker’s breath was trapped in his throat. He froze in a way he hadn’t with Maine, South, Wyoming, Carolina, even the fucking Director.It was like he was in a nightmare. One where you are pretty sure your dreaming, but are unsure enough that you had to at least pretend you were in real life. It was Washington, but off. Out of armor, Tucker could see how much skinnier he was. Wash was always lean, but would grow to have more bulk around his middle, his arms, his thighs. There wasn’t any gray in the man’s hair, and less lines wrinkled onto his skin. It looks like Wash had been bleaching his dark hair in this time as well, but it was cut neatly and blond closer to the root. Wash’s hair was too dark and thick for him to have a good dye job in their time, but this looked like an honest to God haircut.Tucker had assumed that some of Wash’s dark circles were from his Arab genes, but he could now see that most of Wash’s under eye darkness were natural. Maybe they were just exaggerated but how Wash’s entire coloring was different. No freckles or deeper tan from constant Chorus sun exposure. The collection of experiences that made his Wash his Wash was absent from the one in front of him.Tucker was quiet too long, too distracted by how this Washington looked that he didn’t register the expression of awkwardness on his face. Wash cleared his throat. “I think that’s what he said, I’m still learning. But wow, you won over Maine and South in one day? That’s seriously impressive!”His voice was all wrong. It was too light, too high pitched, it didn’t have the ever present, underlying tiredness of his Wash’s. This Washington stood unsure. He looked to the side on and off, like eye contact hurt.“Uh, I’m Washington!” Washington stuck out his hand to Tucker.Tucker stared at it. It was the right shape, with some callouses and everything. But not nearly was much. It didn’t have the burn mark across the back from the time Caboose started a grease fire and Wash had to put it out. If Tucker touched it, would it feel the same? He was too scared to try it. Wash’s touch had been a lifeline more than once, what even was this?Wash dropped his hand after a few seconds, and shoved it into his pants pocket. “Well, maybe you didn’t win over Maine, but it’ll be nice for him to have another person to sign too.” Washington said.Tucker didn’t like the way Washington’s confidence was wavering. Like he was scared. He had seen Washington scared once or twice, but never from a fucking conversation. Washington was supposed to be the leader of the entire Chorus army, the leader if Blue team, someone who could, would, and has protected them. Protected him.This guy was a few years younger than Tucker, and looked even more. Tucker did the math, and while he might have looked more baby faced than Wash at this age, his own face had become more worn than it should be. This Wash wouldn’t have even cared the Tucker on earth who was nursing a broken ankle from hopping that fence-Would have been. Tucker thought back to a conversation he had with the Director, when he was still chained to that bed. About little decisions that changed everything. Something as small as letting a teenage house party go uninterrupted would change his life. Something as small as this stranger getting over a phobia of spiders would too.Wash cleared his throat. “So, um, how are you-?”Tucker didn’t let him finish. He pushed past this Washington, hurt striking him in the heart on how easy it was. It was a rare moment where Tucker was actually able to keep his mouth shut.Two hours later, Tucker was in his room, typing furiously on his data pad. There were firewalls and blockers riddled on the ships interface, but Tucker was an expert in getting past restrictions. All his time spent trying to get porn on the Blue Base computer system was finally paying off in a way that matters, because the Mother of Invention shared the same interface.He wasn’t looking for porn. He typed in url after url of every social media site he remembered using as a teenager. Social media sites had a shelf life of about a month, and he had a million burner accounts to hide from his parents. It took him ridiculously long to finally find an account that was active.He lingered on the profile picture; Him, in a stupid outfit, skin only marred by acne. He hadn’t remembered that he had braids at this age too. He ran a hand over his head full of braids now, corn rows that kept his hair close to his scalp. They were practical as well as handsome; Kept his hair in his helmet and ungrabbable in combat. Now they were getting frizzy and unkept. Bitters had done them for him a couple of weeks ago, back on Chorus. He had done a good job, and even touched up his hairline. Tucker had gone through a few different styles over the years, but hadn’t had braids since he shaved his head for basic.It was weirding him out. Of all the hairstyles, he had returned to this one, and returned to this time.He scrolled down, letting go of that rabbit hole. He burned through the several posts with women he thirsted over until finally reaching a post he made a few days before.
s/o to mulls for throwing the worst party ever. of all time. anyone kno a cheap place to get a fence?

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

A week passed. A week of training with York until he was ready to pass out, training on his own, and falling asleep stalking his teenage selfs social media. The latter was the worst of it; How he ever thought anyone believed he was having sex was insane.It turns out befriending South first was a good decision; She was a social forcefield, with most people steering clear of her. Not everyone, but always Washington. She had apparently been Wash’s biggest bully before he shot up the leader board, and didn’t plan on stopping any time soon.The amount of time Washington spent with Maine made Tucker's skin crawl. Tucker was mentally putting behind the Meta, but seeing them together still made him frown. It seemed like half the time he was in the same room as the two of them, he would glance across the room and find Washington already staring at Tucker. The other half of the time, Tucker was already staring at Wash, who then made eye contact with him. It was so embarrassing it was painful; It was like Wash was a bad bruise Tucker couldn’t stop poking.“Is it still cheating if you time travel?” South asked one dinner.“What?” Tucker tore his attention away from the table where Maine and Washington were speaking. Washington was clumsily signing something, and Maine slowly signing back. Every laugh Washington gave was like a cheese grater to Tucker’s ears, and every smile Maine gave Washington in return made him sick.“I thought you had someone waiting for you?” South smirked. “The way you’re looking at Maine is making me think you gotta thing for big guys.”Maine? Tucker shook his head. “I- I don’t- I can’t even begin to explain how wrong you are,” He should be more defensive, but the dots he had to connect in is head were too much.
“Explain it, because we’re all kinda over the time traveling threat part, and are just making bets on what your life is like,” She said, picking at her dinner. “And you spend all your time following me around, and I’m getting real fucking sick of people asking.”
If South meant that to sound like a joke, she failed miserably. She looked at Tucker the way an annoyed older sister looked at a needy little brother. Or, to Tucker’s horror, the way Church looked at Caboose.“What do you want me to do?” Tucker asked, not sure if the question was rhetorical and genuine. “You’re the only person who will talk to me that I actually like.”“I want you to train with North,” South shot back. “Because if you’re going to follow me around like this, I don’t want to carry your ass on a mission.”
The older sister analogy still fresh in his mind, he noticed the way her eyebrows pulled and she had trouble making eye contact. When South was actually pissed, she mastered the death glare; This was something else.“Wait, South,” Tucker grinned. “Are you… Worried about me?”South frowned, leveraging Tucker a practiced irritated look. “I’m worried about the amount of shit I’m going to get if you get your brains blown out in front of me. Or if you slow me down and I get my brains blown out.”“Nah, c’mon South, I speak bitch,” Tucker’s smile stretched across his face. “You basically said you love me.”South slammed down her fork, the metal hitting the metal tray making a sound so loud, a hush fell out through the room. South glared at Tucker, and if she hadn’t slammed it down, Tucker would have expected her to stab him with that fork.“Go fuck yourself, Kentucky,” She spit, standing up and leaving her tray behind. She stormed out of the mess hall, shouldering past some poor gray suit so hard he fell backwards onto the floor.Tucker, fluent in bitch, couldn’t help but keep that smile on his face. He was so close to shouting something that would definitely get her to stab him, when a heavy hand fell on his shoulder.“Why don’t you tell me what that was about,” North greeted, his voice soft despite the grip on his shoulder.“She’s worried about me,” Tucker said, brushing off his hand. “She wants you to show me how to use the sniper rifle, because she’s worried about me, and I’m a dick because I pointed it out.”“Hm, can’t argue with any of that,” North said, his demeanor softening. “But you do owe me a training session. You can’t keep relying on York to train you, the Director has other projects for him.”“You don’t have to make up excuses to spend time with me,” Tucker said sarcastically. “I get it, everyone wants a piece of this.”“The most confusing thing about you isn’t the time travel, it’s how of all people, you get along with my sister. Gear up and meet me in Training Room A in twenty minutes.”“Dude, I just drank like, a cows worth of milk. If I work out I’ll throw up.” Tucker whined.“Great, the helmets are supposed to take care of that for you. You can test it out for us,” North smiled brightly, walking away.“If I drown in my vomit I am coming back to haunt this entire fucking ship!” Tucker shouted, making the room fall silent again.With the room’s eyes on Tucker, he felt his face burn. His one chance of being cool and mysterious was slipping through his fingers like the milk sitting wrong in his stomach. Looking around at everyone’s eyes on him, he felt like he had just showed up to school in his underwear.He accidental made eye contact with Wash who was staring and… Smiling? Holding back a laugh?
Fear of public humiliation still brewing, the idea of making Wash laugh was a slap in the face. Tucker sighed heavily, forgetting his meal and pushing off the table. Tucker didn’t have his suit, only his helmet, and shoved it on his head anyways. Wash’s smile faded, and his eyes followed Tucker out of the room. Tucker’s visor hid that he stared right back.The hallway was blessedly free of foot traffic, but Tucker didn’t have a moment alone before a blue hologram of a flat screen came into view, trailing along to his right. The oval that waved along with Sheila as she spoke came into view, as familiar as a face.“Agent Tucker, I will have to ask you to limit storming out of the mess hall. The staff is running out of patience for picking up the trays you leave behind.”“Yeah, Sheila? I’ll stop when everyone stops be a dick,” Tucker shot back.“Agent South Dakota has a point,” Sheila’s screen changed from a simple logo and voice waving thing to a series of graphs and statistics. “You are making impressive progress, but still have a long way to go. Currently, the Director plans to have you accompany a mission next week, and you have only a 23% of surviving without any permanent wounds.”“Wait, what?” Tucker stopped in his tracks. “Me? On a Freelancer mission? You can’t be serious, I’m still a fucking shrimp!”“You are a Freelancer,” Sheila said, closing her statistics and returning to her default screen. “Missions are a part of your job.”“I’m not going to survive that!” Tucker said, panic rising.“You have a 23% chance of-““Why did no one tell me? I've been working my ass off all week!" Tucker’s helmet suddenly felt too warm, but taking it off was the last thing he wanted to do.Well, second to last. The last thing he wanted to do was get shot dead in front of the twins, but it seemed he didn't have control over that decision.“Agent South Dakota was supposed to inform you today,” Sheila said. “However, it is past dinner time and she has failed to, so I have taken the liberty to do it myself. We are friends, after all.”Tucker went to wipe his face, but his hands hit his visor. He sighed irritably, but still did not remove his helmet, his safe space. “Fine, thanks Sheila… Fuck, what am I going to do?”“I believe you are going to train with Agent North Dakota in Training Room A,” Sheila said cheerily.“Is that sarcasm?” Tucker asked.“I am not programmed to preform sarcasm.”“…It’s totally fucking sarcasm.”“It is! I am pretty impressed by my own learning capabilities. Anyways, if you choose to suit up, it should take care of any vomit. But I cannot promise it won’t get in your hair.”“Thanks.”The walk to the training room went by too fast, before he knew it he was five feet away from North, who was checking the sites on one of two sniper rifles on the block of a table. This was one of the large training rooms, the size of a football field. On the far end was a series of targets, holographed up. North smiled widely at Tucker, oblivious to his irritation.“Excited to finally use the sniper rifle?” North asked. He held one out to Tucker. For once, Tucker wasn’t eager to grab it.“Dude, I’m supposed to go with South on a mission in a week? What the fuck?” He asked. North’s smile dropped.“You’re going with South and me,” He said, his voice had a sterner edge, like Tucker was being lectured by a teacher.“I’m not ready for that!” Tucker gestured to himself. “What part of me is ready for that!?”“The part that’s named after the state,” North said. He held out the sniper rifle, lengthening his reach. “The part that’s going to keep me and my sister alive.”“C’mon…” Tucker whined, still not taking the rifle.“Look,” North sighed. “This is the job, these are our orders. I requested you to join us,” North didn’t give Tucker a moment to complain, leaving his mouth open. “If you are going to survive you’re first mission, you’re best bet is us. South’s getting more obsessed with her spot on the leader board, and she trusts you the most. You’re also the person she see’s the least as a threat. Would you rather be with Maine? Wyoming? Carolina?”Tucker almost answered yes to Carolina, but stopped himself. Would future Carolina drop Tucker, or any of the Blues, for some stranger that claims to know her? No. But South was pissed at dinner. She really cared, and North really cared about her. Enough to request Tucker, even though South was right about him being dead weight.
Still, North’s request gave him a bit of confidence. North wouldn’t do anything too stupid and put South in danger. Tucker sighed, and grabbed the rifle. “Fine. Show me how to use this thing.”—It was nearly midnight by the time Tucker and North called it quits. At least two of those hours were spent teaching Tucker what parts of the sniper rifle did what, and another hour to let Tucker complain about it.“Ugh! These sites suck!” Tucker bitched. Along with the length of the room, Sheila had been progressively made the target’s smaller and smaller. He couldn’t keep from being disappointed; This is what he begged for throughout his time in Blood Gulch?“These are the best sniper rifles in production,” North said, ever patient. “They just take some getting used to.”“I can barely see,” Tucker said, staring down the scope. The rifle was heavier than expected, and the scope kept shaking the target out of sight. The zoom was sensitive; Tucker seemed to make it too far or too close. “Fuck it, I’m done using this stupid scope.”“What, are you just going to eyeball a five inch target from this distance?” North joked.Tucker was so fucking fed up, he pulled the scope from his face. He fired one test shot, completely missing the target. Two more, and he hit the edges. Years of never using the rifle had given him near super human eye sight, and he always forgot that other’s weren’t as lucky. Three more shots, and he was calibrated.
Tucker fired seven more shots: Two eye holes and five more to make a frown. “Fucking finally,” Tucker groaned, setting down the rifle. He looked back to North.“I, uh,” North said, taken back. “Wow. Are you sure you’re a bad soldier?”“Positive. And an even worse Captain,” Tucker said. “I need to sleep before I turn this thing on myself.”“Sure, of course,” North said, still looking at the target. “We’ll start up tomorrow. Dismissed.”Tucker dropped the rifle on the table, and walked out of the training room as fast as he could. He figured the faster he walked, the faster he could get to his bed.
If he knew Wash was waiting for him on the other side of the door, he would have stayed the night.Tucker once again startled, but it must have not have shown with him in his helmet. He always felt silly in conversations with only one person suited up, but he wasn’t about to take it off. Wash was out of armor, and in his regular fatigues. He had a sheepish smile on his face, the one he only used when he wanted to ask Tucker for a ‘boyfriend’ thing. Since he probably wasn’t about to ask Tucker for a blow job, it was already going to be an irritating conversation.“Hey, Kentucky!” Washington started, waving one hand. He nodded towards the training room. “That was seriously impressive-““If one more person calls me impressive, I’m quitting,” Tucker cut him off. “What, were you watching us?”Wash’s smile dropped. “Oh, I have trouble sleeping. I was just walking by and saw you guys through the observation windows. But seriously, you got to show me some of that stuff.”Tucker thought about training one-on-one with Washington for approximately two seconds before his brain flinched away like it touched a hot plate. “Aren’t you single digits on the leader board? You can handle yourself.”Tucker had been avoiding Wash like the plague, but that leader board was everywhere. Washington must have lied about being the worst Freelancer, because ten out of fifty wasn’t nothing. There were Freelancer’s Tucker barely saw that apparently were reserved for less deadly missions. Either the Director was corralling Tucker into being with his top agents, or befriending them was biting him in the ass.Wash struggled to find his words, but kept his voice being light. “It’s just luck, I don’t know how the Director calculates that stuff. I’ll be knocked off by next week. Besides, you have skills no one else has. Maybe I can get a chance with that sword-?”Tucker held up a hand. “No one touches my sword. Ever.” He cut off, placing a protective hand on the handle clipped to his side.Wash’s face turned ruddy. He looked vulnerable in a way Tucker’s Wash rarely was. Tucker’s Wash would say something biting back, or bicker for the sake of bickering. But this Wash didn’t fight back; In fact, he looked ready to apologize.Tucker dropped his hand from his sword. He pulled his helmet off and tried to look as neutral as possible. “Play some indie music, try to focus on just the drums. It’s called orchestral listening, it’ll put you to sleep.” He said instead of apologizing.
Wash looked even more confused. Tucker had learned this trick from Palomo; Wash had bit Tucker’s head off about listening to music in the middle of a war when they needed to be on standby at all times. When Wash’s insomnia got too bad, Tucker basically forced the headphones on his head and slept in his room. It didn’t work for the first few times, until Washington trusted Tucker enough to finally relax.Would Wash be able to sleep now? Tucker kinda wished he wouldn’t; Like this was still something he needed Tucker for. Like he had always had a part of him that needed Tucker.Tucker was about to give into the desire of asking if Wash would like him to sleep on his floor, to keep him safe. Tucker stopped himself, and just turned 90 degrees and straight to his room for the night.
Tucker’s fatigue all but disappeared, and he stared up at the above his bed, as if there were anything to stare at. Like everything on this ship, it was perfect; No cracks, scratches, or dents. He should have taken his own advice. But his conversation with Wash played over and over in his head.
Aren’t you single digits on the leader board?

Did I ever tell you I was the worst Freelancer?
“Hey, Sheila?” Tucker said out loud.“Hell, Agent Tucker,” Sheila greeted immediately. “It is very late, what can I help you with?”“Can you show me the leader board? All of the leader board.”—“Can I sit here?” Tucker asked, dropping his tray down on the metal table before an answer.Ohio stared, wide eye at Tucker after he had already sat down. Her helmet was off, and Tucker was surprise and a little relieved to see she was Black.“Oh. My. God!” She squealed, excitement coming over her face. Tucker hadn’t seen this much joy since, well, since Caboose and Donut. “Yes! I mean, of course! Holy crap!”“Chill,” Tucker said, pulling off his own helmet. “Usually I’d love a hot girl throwing herself at me, but I’m not in the mood.”Ohio blinked, smile falling. “Oh! Um, no, I didn’t- Gay!” She said hurriedly.Tucker raised an eyebrow. “I’m bi?”“No! I’m gay! Like, lesbian!” She corrected. “But super cool you’re bi! Wow, everyone on this ship has been talking about you! Is it true you came back in time to just save us? And you’re an alien god? And your eye sight is better than a sniper rifle?”“Lesbian? Nice,” Tucker nodded. “And like, half of that is true. Are you in that betting pool too?”Ohio gave a sheepish smile. “Kinda? There’s not a lot to do around here. From this far down the leader board anyways.”“So you are the worst Freelancer,” Tucker nodded, taking off his own helmet.“I’m training really hard to do better!” She said enthusiastically. “But yeah, right now. Me and…”“Oh-hio!” A sing-songy voice shouted, making several people in the mess hall flinch. Ohio let out a visible sigh, as an extremely tall man with an extremely dopey smile sat right next to her. “Oh, wow! You’re the time traveler! Can you tell me how much my Master Chief action figure will be worth in twenty years?“Oooh, better idea!” Another man dropped down on Ohio other side, less dopey but not by much. “Name the five best investment opportunities in the next ten years. Wait! Five worst!”“You guys Idaho and Iowa?” Tucker asked.“That’s us!” The dopey one yelled at top volume. He stuck out his hand. “Agent Iowa, nice to meet you!”“Iowa, sh!” Ohio nudge him, embarrassed. “You don’t have to yell!”“Sorry about him,” Idaho said, less embarrassed. “He lost oxygen to his suit for twenty minutes a while back.”“I set the record!” Iowa said proudly.“For now,” Tucker said, stabbing his food. “I know a guy that’ll beat that in a few years.”“Aw, man,” Iowa pouted. “That’s the only record I have.”“Believe it or not, he could be worse,” Tucker said to Idaho.“Um,” Idaho started, tilting his head. “Why are you here? Don’t you usually eat with South Dakota?”“Spuds! Shut up!” Ohio hissed. She turned back to Tucker, forcing a wider grin. “Of course, you can eat where ever you want! We’re honored someone so high on the leader board wants to ‘chill’ with us.” She said in a way that was not chill at all.“What? I’m not on the leader board.” Tucker said.“Well, not now,” Ohio said. “But you have a mission with the Dakotas next week! And South hangs out with you! She hasn’t had a friend like that since Georgia!”“We’re not friends.”Tucker turned back, to see South standing there, scowl on her face. “Really, Kentucky? You’re hanging out with the triplets?”“Triplets?” Tucker looked back. They looked nothing alike; Ohio was Black, her face all rounded and soft. Idaho was Asian, all sharp edges, with a high forehead and hair midnight. Iowa looked like… Caboose, weirdly. “Uh, I think your mom has some explaining to do.”“We’re not actually triplets,” Ohio explained quickly. “We just… Spend a lot of time together.”“Yeah, at the bottom of the leader board,” South scoffed. “Seriously Kentucky, you’re wasting your time with these guys. You’re undoing all the training we’ve been doing just by breathing this air.”“Uh, breathing air doesn’t kill brain cells,” Iowa said, matter of factually. “Not breathing air kills brain cells.”“Yeah, you’d be the expert on that,” South said. She turned back to Tucker. “What is this?”“This is me hanging out with people that don’t want to tear my head off,” Tucker shot back. “Didn’t you just say that you’re sick of me following you around?”South set her jaw. Tucker was positive she was about to knock him out, but she just blew a heavy breath from her nose. “Fine, waste your time here. When you get your throat cut out next week, I won’t think twice about leaving your ass behind.”“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Tucker waved a hand dismissively. “I’ll be fine. Won’t be the first time a Freelancer’s left me for dead.”Tucker waited for South to say something else, or to finally hit him, but instead she just stormed out, looking angrier with every step. Tucker felt a little bad; Their meals had been their routine. It didn’t seem like anyone else was eager to spend all their free time with South. Sure, CT and North were close to her, but they had other stuff going on, other people to prioritize. But Tucker also had experience with pissed off women: First step; Let them chill. He didn’t know what the second step was, since it was usually a beat down for him, but he was positive of the first step.“Woah,” Idaho said, pulling Tucker’s attention back. “Did you just blow off Agent South Dakota? For us?”“I blew off South Dakota because she is three seconds from tearing out my liver through my asshole,” Tucker said. He turned back to his lunch, as many carbs and greens piled on as possible. “If that’s because I’m sitting with you guys, that’s not my problem.”Iowa was already digging into his lunch, seemingly unbothered. Idaho was staring at him warily, and Ohio still had that awed expression.“Uh, why?” Iowa repeated.“Not that we’re not flattered!” Ohio said quickly.“Don’t be a kiss ass,” Tucker said instinctively, like he would with Palomo. He chewed another bite. “I don’t know… To feel normal?”“Normal?” Ohio asked."Can you even reach your liver through your asshole?" Idaho thought out loud, grimacing.“Yeah, I heard about you guys. Like, in the future,” Tucker said, ignoring Idaho. “From a friend.”“Oh. My. God!” Ohio grew excited again. “Do we make the top of the leader board? Do we become, like, the most bad ass Freelancers? Do we save the universe?” She asked, rapid fire.“No. You guys stay the worst,” Tucker said bluntly.“Oh,” Ohio deflated.“And I was too,” Tucker continued. “Me and my crew were all the worst. I don’t know when that changed, but it feels like it never did. I thought sitting next to you guys might make me feel normal again.”“Does it?” Iowa asked, mouth full.“Dude, you have no fucking idea,” Tucker breathed out.“Really?” Ohio asked. “So, we could become super bad ass, sword wielding time traveling warriors!?”“If the universe fucking hates you too, yeah,” Tucker said, he looked up at them. “Listen, can you guys not be weird? What do you usually do all day?”“Besides cleaning armor and blowing up mongooses,” Idaho said, then looked away, thinking. “Mongeese? Mongooses- Never mind. Blowing up vehicles.”“I’m really good at both of those!” Iowa said proudly.“We mostly wait for more orders,” Ohio admitted. “A lot of standing around and talking.”Tucker grinned.—“Okay, five worst places you’ve ever been!”“A desert canyon, a different desert,” Tucker said, aiming the sniper rifle at the targets and keeping it steady. He didn't have to think about his answer too hard.“A different canyon, and some icey bullshit. And that first desert canyon again.”They were in the same training room Tucker had been in with North the night before. This time, there were three sniper rifles, and one unloaded one in Iowa’s hands. They had been practicing their aim for the past hour. Tucker was doing worse with the sight, but at least was getting better with the gun overall.
It turned out Ohio wasn’t a bad shot at all, but got flustered easily. Every miss made her doubt herself and miss the next four shots. When she did hit, it was always a bullseye. Idaho was the most average shot of all, just 50/50 hits.“Damn it!” Ohio whined, missing another shot. She went to reload her cartridge, her fingers fumbling.“Ohio, chill,” Tucker said, not lowering his weapon. “You keep fucking up because you’re in you’re own head too much.”“Sorry sir-!”“Oh my God,” Tucker cut her off. “I’m not a fucking ‘sir.’ Stop acting like I’m your CO, I’m just wasting my time. Don’t be such a kiss ass.”“Aren’t you a rebel army Captain?” Idaho asked.“Yeah, a bad one,” Tucker said, shooting another bullet. “You’re acting just like my First Lieutenant. Who was only my lieutenant because the first two got killed.”“Oh wow, I’m so sorry,” Ohio said softly. “That must have been really hard.”“Whatever. War’s hard,” Tucker said, keeping his gun steady, even though his mind was definitely not focused on the target. His next shot missed completely. “It was my fault anyways.”“I mean, time traveling to save them all sounds pretty noble,” Idaho said, not looking up from his scope. “And, like, they’re totally boned, right?”“Yeah, probably,” Tucker said. Miss.“So you got a thing for underdogs,” Idaho pulled the trigger, missing the target. “Darn it.”“I am an underdog,” Tucker said. “Or whatever’s underneath that.”“I had a dog we put underground,” Iowa said, messing with his rifle. “Why are my bullets not working?”“Dead dog sums it up,” Tucker said, firing again with his scope. Miss.“You have to have some talent,” Ohio said. She stared down the scope. She fired. Hit. “I don’t believe in luck, so you have to be doing something right!”“I mean, yeah,” Tucker fired again. Miss. “When I’m with my crew. But I’m stranded out here. Last time I went on solo missions, I was trapped in a desert temple with C- With some dick heads trying to blow my brains out for some artifacts.”“You have us!” Ohio beamed at him, turning back to her scope. “You said we’re just like your friends, right? Maybe your luck will rub off on us.” She fired. Hit.“Ooo, we can go to the Vegas Quadrant!” Iowa shouted, staring down his scope.“Who was talking about us in the future anyways?” Ohio asked. She shot a bullseye.“Don’t worry about it,” Tucker said. Hit.“Was it Washington? I bet it was Washington,” Iowa said, smacking the top of his rifle.Tucker’s stayed silent. Ohio picked that up.“Oh, it was Wash!” She said excitedly. She hit.“See, I told you he still liked us,” Iowa said.Tucker looked up. “What’s that supposed to mean?”Idaho shifted, but didn’t look up. “Well, Wash and CT have been kinda distant since they went up the leader board. We used to hang out all the time, but since they’re in the single digits…”“They say they’re busy,” Ohio said. She had spent a lot of time so far making excuses for everyone and everything wrong in her life, but there was no belief in her voice now. “CT still hangs around, we have our girls nights every week.”“You do?” Idaho asked.
“You crash it every week!” Ohio whined.“I didn’t know it was girl’s night!” Idaho said. “Why is Iowa always there?”“CT says I can go because I’m baby girl!” Iowa said cheerfully.“I can be baby girl,” Iowa frowned.“You are so not baby girl,” Ohio scoffed.“Wait, can we go back to Washington?” Tucker interjected.“I think Wash is baby girl,” Iowa said.“Wash was baby girl, but not anymore,” Ohio said, growing bolder with her distaste. “Baby girl’s don’t abandon their friends because we get nervous and freeze up in combat sometimes.”“Or when they blow up Mongeese?” Iowa asked.“Especially not then,” Ohio answered, firing another shot. Bullseye.“Are you fucking serious?” Tucker asked.
Ohio looked up, seeming to remember where she was. “Oh! I mean, I didn’t mean-““What a fucking asshole,” Tucker hissed, tearing off his helmet and slamming it on the table. “He just drops you guys to hang out with the cool kids that treat him like shit? What a fucking hypocrite.”“Hypocrite?” Ohio asked.Right, this wasn’t his Wash. His Washington was ready to shoot Carolina for Tucker. Tucker and Caboose saved him in Sidewinder, and had only one rule; Don’t abandon teammates. Wash had seen how Church and Tucker talked to each other, but the only thing that really got them in a fight was Church and Carolina taking off without explanation. Team killing, fighting, ball punching, sabatoge-All of that could be forgiven by the Reds and Blues.
Yes, Tucker realizes the irony, considering he dipped first from Blood Gulch. But that was for his kid, not because the Director said he was one of his most specialist boys or whatever.For all the talk Washington had about how Freelancer was full of backstabbing and betrayal, and how his excuse for killing South was her backstabbing him and North, he had done the same fucking thing to these guys, who were basically clones of Blue team, for what? Imaginary Freelancer points? For a seat at the cool kids table? This Wash might be over a decade younger but he was still an adult.“Hypocrite? Is that a kind of spider!? Where!?” Iowa screamed.Iowa swung the rifle around, staring down everyone through the scope. With the barrel of the gun pointed at them, Idaho and Ohio yelped and dropped to the ground, their own guns dropping to the floor.Two shots rang out.Tucker didn’t drop, his Caboose instinct kicking in, of knowing when to be scared of incompetency and when not. Unfortunately, he didn’t have an other dumb ass instinct left in tact. That instinct would kick in around the Reds; And the Reds never dropped their weapons. So when Ohio and Idaho’s rifles fired, the sound of those two shots pierced Tucker’s ear drums.Tucker froze in place, his own gun gripped in his arm. It was dead silent, as he waited for the pain of the gun shots to start blooming. He didn’t even breath, his brain going blank, just focused on trying to pinpoint where he was shot. The only thing he really felt was the clench of his stomach.“Oh my God…”Tucker whipped around at the sound of Wash’s voice. He was standing at the entrance of the training room, eyes wide and shocked. He had seemed to forget how to move as well, he just stood in place.“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Tucker whispered, dropping his rifle on the table as carefully as his shaking hands let him. He ran over to Wash, who didn’t react.
Tucker pulled Wash’s arms from his sides, pulling them out and looking them over. Washington was in his fatigues- Of fucking course he was out of armor. Of all times to be out of armor. Tucker patted his hands all over the thick, dark gray canvas of Wash’s shirt and pants, looking for the wound, where the blood was going to pour out of, of where the bullet was lodged. When he didn’t feel any raised skin, torn flesh, or sticky canvas, his wands went up to Wash’s hair. He rubbed his hand over where the wound would be hiding, where he would pull away his hand and see crimson shining against his teal armor.Nothing. No blood, no wound, no tear in fabric. Washington didn’t even flinch, still as Tucker roamed his hands every where. Tucker’s hands slowed, but couldn’t remove them yet, still looking Wash over one more time. One of Tucker’s hands ran through Wash’s hair once more, just to be sure, and one down his back.
Tucker realized he was close enough to Wash to run his hand down his back, but didn’t pull away. Washington was still as stiff as a board, as if he had been hurt, but Tucker was starting to believe he was okay. Tucker took a deep breath, leaving his hands on Wash for a second longer.
He’s fine. He’s fine. He wasn’t hit, he’s fine. Tucker told himself. He looked forward, which meant he was staring at Wash’s throat. He saw Wash swallow, and could see the slight pulse of his heartbeat. Tucker’s hand slid from Wash’s scalp to the space under his ear, where he would have felt that heartbeat if not for his glove.Tucker pulled himself away from Wash, his palms almost hurting from the loss of contact. Shaking away his panic, directing that energy to straight anger, he turned back to the triplets.“What the fuck was that!?” He screamed, finding it suddenly hard to breath. “Are you fucking stupid!? You just dropped your fucking guns!? You knew his wasn’t loaded!”Ohio and Idaho stood slowly. Tucker looked them over, where they slightly curled in on themselves. He looked them over as well, for crimson, for where they might be curling in on a wound.
“That was one of the stupidest fucking moves I’ve ever seen!” He kept shouting, sweating so much he had to wipe it from his neck. His gauntlet scratched his skin, leaving it stinging.“Tucker…” Ohio started, voice small.
“I’ve seen my own teammates team killed by fucking tanks,” Tucker kept going, forcing out all the air in his lungs at the last word, having the gasp for breath to keep yelling. “This is the hundredth fucking time I’ve had a rifle pointed at me, and I’ve never seen someone stupid enough to drop their own fucking gun!”“Tucker-“ Iowa cut in.“No, shut the fuck up!” Tucker wiped sweat from his forehead, a migraine setting in. “You could have shot any of us in the fucking head! If you shot me, or-or Wash- An entire fucking planet would be dead. I avoided a decade of being killed by a team mate and Freelancers, and you were going to break that streak at the same fucking time-!”“Tucker.”Wash placed a hand on Tucker’s shoulder, hard enough Tucker could feel the contact through his armor. He lost his train of thought, and turned around.Wash’s brows were furrowed in concern, but he wasn’t meeting Tucker’s eyes. He was staring at his forehead, and brought his fingers to it. The contact stung, making Tucker flinch slightly. Wash pulled his hand away, and it was coated in the bright red blood Tucker was looking for.
Tucker stared at Wash’s fingers, before bringing his hand to his own forehead. The blood disappeared into the black of his Kevlar glove, but the way Wash stared at him confirmed that he had been hit. Tucker grabbed onto Wash’s forearm to steady himself, suddenly woozy.“I-I think it’s just a graze,” Wash said quickly, putting a hand to Tucker’s cheek, pulling away again with his entire palm red.Tucker grabbed Wash’s wrist, and placed it back on his cheek. Partly to hide the sight of blood, partly because if he didn’t have Wash’s hand to anchor him he was going to pass out.“Oh, oh fuck,” Ohio said, jogging up to them. “Oh no, I’m so sorry-!”“Go get the medic!” Wash shouted. He kept his arms in place, like he knew the only thing keeping Tucker from falling to the ground was his hands.“I- I’ll go! I’ll-“ Idaho stuttered before giving up and running out of the room.
“C’mon Tucker,” Wash said. “Breath. You’re fine.”“I know, I know,” Tucker said, eyes closed. Wash’s voice was even and calm, like his Wash’s voice would be. It kept him present, kept his head cleared.Once he could think, he let go of Wash’s fore arm. He lightly pushed his other hand away, off his cheek. Wash’s looked like he was the one in pain, but nodded.That we was alive and going to be fine.That bubble of just them was burst when the clattering of footsteps filled the room. Tucker, now unsupported, was starting to wobble in place, his legs still deciding if they wanted to work or not. The arms of two medics were on him; One keeping him steady and the other’s pulling his head down, looking over the wound.
“Just a graze,” The medic confirmed, looking over the wound near his temple. She nodded at the other, and they pulled Tucker’s arms towards the exit. Tucker followed easily, His head pounding, blood was weeping down his face, he has to wiped it with the back of his hand to keep it out of his eye. His head throbbed, but a sharper pain was blooming from the other side of his face. He brought a hand to his ear, and felt his lobe hanging lower than it should.“Is my fucking ear-“ He started, but his hand was tore away from the second medic.“Don’t touch that. We need to get you to the med bay, start walking or we’re getting the gurney,” She ordered. Tucker followed the tugs.Tucker didn’t remember the walk to the med bay, just that he was suddenly sitting down with his gloves and gauntlets off.
“Can we take off your chest plate?” A medic got in his face to ask.“No!” Tucker said, backing up. He instantly felt embarrassed, like a kid refusing to give up his blankie.The medic didn’t flinch, just nodded once. She had a mask over her face, but he eyes were focused. “Alright, let me know if you feel any wounds anywhere else,” She said.The adrenaline was wearing off. Paired with the blood loss, Tucker felt himself getting drowsy. He was blinking slowly, and his lids felt heavy.“No falling asleep,” The medic ordered. She turned to the other one. Tucker had sussed out the dynamic; Either she was on charge here officialy or she put herself in charge. The other medic was preparing a needle. “We need to cut his hair.”“No!” Tucker pushed the hand off his shoulder, and put a protective one on his braids. “You’re not cutting my fucking hair!”“We need to get a better look at the wound,” The medic said seriously. “You’ll need stitches.”“No way, you’re not cutting my hair,” He said firmly.
The medic stared him down. Tucker didn’t process the dark skin under the face mask and own braids tied up behind her back. She still didn’t give him any expression, but nodded once.“Okay, I’ll only cut the one’s here. I’ll need to undo your braids in the area to keep the most on your head. Do I have your permission?” She asked seriously.She ran her finger tips over the area, and Tucker hissed at the sting. The adrenaline had to be gone, because this shit was getting unbearable. His hair was becoming less and less important by the second, actual fear of survival kicking in. “Okay, fine! Just try to minimize the damage,” He relented.The other medic put a hand on his neck. “This is going to sting,” He said.“Everything fucking stings, dick,” Tucker snapped.There was a pinch on his neck, and Tucker yelped. The medic drove the mysterious needle into him. The sting of the needle faded, and so did the pain in his ear. In fact, the entire side of his face was numb, with the weird sensation of tugging going on without any actual feel on his skin. A few more moments, and the hands on him were fading. The drowsiness was unshakable, Tucker barely processed that more people were coming in the room, there was yelling going on. But darkness was pulling at him like Junior would tug on his hand when he wanted Tucker’s attention.“Okay, you can go to sleep now.”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Tucker woke up with the worst fucking hangover.It was worse than waking up after Mullaney’s party that was years ago and days ago. That night gave him a broken ankle and nearly killed his adolescent liver.Tucker didn’t even want to open his eyes, but forced himself too. The light wasn’t too bright, but moving his head at all gave him waves of pain from both sides of his head, like a migraine in stereo. Groaning, he slowly lifted his head“Easy, easy,” York said. His voice was muffled on Tucker’s left ear. Tucker brought up a hand and felt it wrapped with gaze, stinging the tiniest bit at the contact. York was too his right, out of armor and gently smiling in a scene reminiscent of when Tucker got his wisdom teeth removed.“What the fuck?” Tucker moaned, still gathering strength to properly sit. He felt the right side of his head, where there was more gauze plastered onto his skull above his temple, and even more pain.“You were shot,” York explained. “Ohio and Iowa dropped their guns in training. One bullet grazed the side of your head, one nearly shot your ear lobe off.”Even blinking too hard was beginning to hurt; Any expression on Tucker’s right slide pulled at the adhesive of the bandage. “Of fucking course,” Tucker said, scooting to sit up in the bed. His eyes felt crusty and his throat dry. How long had he been under? “They put you out for that now?”“When you have two head wounds, but I’m pretty sure they just wanted you quiet,” York joked. “Be grateful; That’ll be the best night sleep you’ll have for a while. I don’t know if you’re the unluckiest son of a bitch in the world for getting hit with both bullets in the head, or the luckiest for getting two nonfatal head wounds.”“Yeah, I’m a fucking four leaf clover,” Tucker grumbled. He looked down, still in armor, but the blood wiped clean.“The medic kept most of your hair,” York said cheerfuly. “She said someone on the ship can braid it back for you to cover it up.”“Where are Ohio and Idaho?” Tucker asked, looking around. They had seemed like the type to worry and pace by his bed side for something like this.Turning to his left side, there was someone draped in a chair, but it was someone who hadn’t put a bullet in him in a while. Wash was blinking awake, still out of his armor. He rubbed his eyes sleepily, dried blood still on his sleeve.York hesitated before speaking. “Idaho, Iowa and Ohio are in a meeting with the Director.”The way York said it, you’d thing they were being sent to the gallows. As far as Tucker knew, they were.“Goddamn it,” Tucker huffed, pulling his legs off the bed, swinging them over the side. They felt like they were made of concrete and the rest of Tucker’s body was begging to lie back down and go back to sleep, but his stupid conscious was stronger. “If anyone is going to scream at those idiots, it’s me. Where are they?”“South and Carolina have done enough screaming,” York said. He placed a hand on Tucker’s shoulder. He looked past Tucker. “Wash, you wanna take over?”“South and Carolina are taking the incident pretty seriously,” Wash said, stretching his long arms over his head. He looked over Tucker’s wounds warily before their eyes met. Now he had the worry and exhaustion Tucker was familiar with.“Ugh, incident?” Tucker frowned. “Aren’t we shot at, like, constantly?”“Not by each other,” Wash said, and Tucker almost laughed. “And not in a preventable incident. Another millimeter on either side and you would have been dead.”“I almost die all the time,” Tucker waved a hand dismissively. To be honest, he didn’t even have the energy to be upset at Iowa and Ohio. Everyone was okay and unharmed, he was ready for this whole situation to be nothing more than a card to pull when he wanted them to clean his armor or give him their dessert. It was over, he was fine, they could start moving on. “It’s not a big deal.”“Not a big deal?” Wash said, surprised, more surprised than Tucker. “You were almost shot through the skull and neck.”“But I wasn’t,” Tucker pointed out, keeping his tone light to counterbalance everyone else severity. “Aren’t you guys always excusing weird shit? I was the one that made them start target practice, anyways.”“Why are you being so nonchalant!?” Wash said, voice rising. He was getting redder, like Tucker was the one who fired the bullets. “I almost saw you die! Ohio and Idaho nearly killed you!”“Dude, chill!” Tucker yelled back. He was growing defensive; The more times they said he was almost killed the more he wanted to forget it. “You act like you’ve never seen anyone get shot before!”Wash’s face went red. “That’s different! You- You’re our teammate! You didn’t even have your helmet on-““Killing a rando in a suit is still killing them,” Tucker snapped back. Wash shut his mouth at that, so Tucker pushed off the bed.
He pushed off one of York’s steadying hand, and nearly doubled over from the pain. His head throbbed so bad he thought it might just tear the staples out. He could feel that some of his hair was freely moving about, the bits that had to be unbraided and not tied his scalp. The mental image of himself was stupid enough to his that it distracted him from the jackhammers on his nerves. The pain passed enough for him the keep walking. Neither York or Wash stopped him, but trailed behind a few feet.“You should take it easy-““I’m pulling the ‘This is war and I’m a soldier’ card,” Tucker cut off York, forcing himself through the doorway and down the gray hallway of the Mother of Invention, not knowing exactly where he was going but figured he’d find it. “I’ll milk this later, where is the Director?”As if by magic, another turn and he found Carolina, arms crossed, out of armor and pacing outside a large door. She looked up at them, brows furrowed.“Kentucky, what are you doing out of medical?” She asked, eyes sweeping over his bandages.“Tap dancing,” Tucker dead panned, not even bothering to correct her on his name. “Where are they?”“They are being dealt with,” Carolina said sternly. “You should calm down and let yourself heal, we don’t need you to get on them too.”“Get on them?” Tucker asked. “I’m trying to get you guys to back off! It was an accident!”Carolina blinked, surprised. “You- You’re going to defend them? They just shot you.”“Yeah, I fucking know!” Tucker shouted. “I don’t need you assholes blowing it out of proportion!”“Out of proportion?” Wash parroted, suddenly at Tucker’s side. “I know you’re friends with the triplets-““Wow, triplets?” Tucker scoffed in disbelief, facing Wash, who startled out of his annoyance and looked like a deer in headlights. That bitterness and betrayal of learning about Wash dumping them for popularity points bubbled up on top of his other irritations. “Yeah, I guess I am their friend, since it was so easy for you to drop them. I know being a team is a hard fucking concept for you guys to get a hold of, so why don’t you let me deal with this how I want to deal with it.”“In case you forgot, I am the leader if this team,” Carolina said, getting in Tucker’s face. Her voice was distorted by the bandages, but every rise in tone hurt his head at this proximity. “And I will discipline my team for careless incidents as I see fit!”“You mean the Director will,” Tucker shot back. Carolina inhaled a quick breath, looking like she had just been slapped.
The door pulled open with a woosh. Out filed Ohio, Iowa and Idaho, all looking like they were about to be followed by pallbearers and a casket. They perked up at the sight of Tucker.“Oh my God, Kentucky I am so sorry!” Ohio nearly yelled, stepping towards Tucker but stopping short. “That was so stupid, we fucked up so bad, I’m so sorry, please don’t-!”“Relax, Ohio,” Tucker almost needed to shout. “I mean, fuck you obviously. That was so stupid. Like, insanely stupid. But I’m fine, it’s no big deal.”Idaho looked at him blankly. “But- But, we- We shot-““Oh no,” Tucker raised his hands sarcastically. “A soldier was shot at. Stop the fucking presses.”“You continuously surprise me with your priorities,” The Director said, stepping out into the hallway. As always, he managed to be the odd one out, always just too serious for the rest of them, even now. In the drab and monotonous hallway, his black uniform stood out. Everyone else in and out of armor seemed like they were real people, he seemed like a part of the ship. His face was as hard and uncaring as Tucker had grown to expect. “While you may have no concern over your livelihood, I take the safety of this team seriously.”“Seriously?” Tucker shouted. “That’s the line you’re going with? Come the fuck on!”“Agent Kentucky,” The Director cut off. “You are dismissed. Take a few days before putting yourself in the line of fire. You will have plenty of opportunities to be shot then. Agents Ohio, Iowa, and Idaho, you are dismissed as well.”The three agents hunched their shoulders, and walked down the hallway. Tucker looked at Carolina and the Director in disbelief. He tried to think to something witty and biting to say, but came up short. Instead, he followed after Ohio, Idaho and Iowa.“What happened? What did he say?” Tucker asked once they had all turned the corner. No one else followed them, not even Washington.“There was a lot of yelling,” Iowa said. “It was very loud. Even though I didn’t shoot any bullets.”“I don’t want to talk about it,” Ohio said quietly. She held her helmet protectively to her chest. “This is worse than the Mongeese.”“We thought we were getting iced,” Idaho picked up the thread. “But I guess not. We’ve had a lot of incidents but…This was worse.”“I’m so sorry, Tucker,” Ohio said again. She had tears in her eyes. “We almost killed-““I’m getting more pissed that you keep saying that instead of the actual bullet wound,” Tucker snapped. Ohio shut her mouth, and Tucker sighed. “Let’s just, forget it. It’s fine.”Ohio glanced at him, but her gaze returned to the floor. “Okay. Okay.”—South sent Tucker a message.
hate to say i told you so. except i really love it. Tucker could almost hear the smirk. ill back off youre little friends. seems like bad luck to hang around them anyways. glad that youre okay, north would make use skip the mission if you died.Tucker smiled down at his data pad. Maybe South was right about Idaho, Iowa and Ohio being bad company, but Tucker was right about her.South cooling off didn't change her schedule. With everyone being too busy and his new friends acting too weird to be around, Tucker’s first two days of medical exemption were pure torture and boredom. He could only have so many conversations with Sheila and practice his marksmanship for so long before he started going crazy. Talking was the only thing he was good for half the time; Inspirational speeches, bickering, heart to hearts, ambassadorships. The other half of the time people just wanted him to shut the fuck up, but he was still talking.Man, he used to love getting days off and doing nothing. Now he was the guy that couldn’t sit still after being shot in the head. Maybe being lazy was only fun if he had someone screaming at him to get up. Towards the end of the day, when all he had left to do was pick apart everything in his life, he realized maybe, possibly, there was a slight chance that a part of him really just wanted Wash’s attention back at Crash Site Bravo.Growing desperate, he pulled up his data pad and spent the rest of the time brushing up on his ASL. A lot of it was familiar, most of it was similar to the ESSL, and some of it he hoped he would remember in the moment.It gave him enough confidence to drop down next to Maine at his first mandatory Freelancer class. Maine chose to sit in the very back of the amphitheater style class room, the first one to arrive. He was watching Grif Ball on his data pad, but looked up, calm but with his brows raised in surprise at Tucker’s presence.Look at this, Tucker signed. He raised his palms forward, like he would do if he was about to preform a back flip or pull out his sword or some other skill.Apple. Orange. Pants. Elephant, Tucker signed in succession, so giddy he thought his hand might shake. He paused for Maine’s reaction.Maine stared at him blankly, before slowly raising his own hands. What the hell was that?I’m learning ASL! Tucker signed excitingly. Sangheli’s don’t have signs for all that. I even got a name for myself, look.Tucker stuck his thumb through his closed fist and raised his hand vertically, flicking outward twice. Maine smiled.“Blue?.” Maine asked out loud, voice rough.
Tucker nodded; ESSL didn't have rules for names; A persons name would just be spoken out loud in whatever speech. In conversation, if refering to someone not present, titles would be used in place of a name. But Tucker's old instructor had told him that his signing name should be something characteristic about him, signed with his hand in his first initial. Blue signed with a ‘T’ seemed like the obvious choice.Maine didn’t seem to agree. I thought you were green?Aqua! Tucker finger spelled back, huffing. Maybe blue-green, Tucker signed the words in succession with his hand closed in a ‘T.’ But takes too long.Okay, Maine signed, grinning. But I’m still calling you daddy.Get in line, Tucker signed, and Maine grinned wider.Are you Deaf now? Maine signed, nodding to Tuckers ear, still pressed close to his head with a bandage. He didn’t need his whole wrapped up anymore, but a square of white was still on his ear.Nah, just new ear piercing, Tucker signed. He had learned the sign for ear piercing just for that joke. It paid off because Maine gave an actually barking laugh.Carolina was next to walk in, eyes focused on her data pad, because she was incapable of ever not-working. She took a double take at them, confused. “Kentucky, you know sign language?”“Yeah, I had to for my Sangheili ambassadorship, and for my kid.”Carolina stared at him. “Are… Are you telling me the war ends in the next couple of years, you become an ambassador for the species we’re at war with, and you have a deaf child?”“Yeah for the first two. But Junior isn’t deaf, he’s half Sangheili. It was this whole prophecy thing where I got pregnant with a ‘Great Destroyer’-Or maybe I was supposed to be a the Great Destroyer?- but Junior didn’t want to do all that, so we just did a bunch of diplomacy stuff before I put him in public school. He’s wicked smart, he’s in a blended alien-human school and I was worried he’d get bullied by haters for being mixed, but he dominates on the court so he’s pretty popular. But yeah, my buddy Doc had to cut him out of me, but I don’t remember most of it.”Carolina’s face slowly morphed into one of disgust the more Tucker rambled, hesitating greatly before speaking again. “I… I don’t…Do you have a uterus?”“Nah, I’m not sure where they put him,” Tucker looked down at his armored torso again, pointing to where his c-section scar was. “Here, somewhere.”North was next to walk in, looking down at his own data pad. He nearly ran right into Carolina, but stopped himself. He had his helmet on, but turned his head to look between all of them.“Hey everyone, we all getting along for once?” He joked.Carolina’s eyes didn’t leave the spot Tucker had pointed. “Kentucky was telling me about his son.” She said.“Oh, you’re a father?” North perked up.“Fuck yeah I am! Wait,” Tucker patted his side pockets, and pulled out the photo he kept of Junior and his human basketball team.He handed the picture to North, who grabbed it gently, holding it up for both him and Carolina too see. Carolina’s face twisted in confusion further. Tucker couldn’t see North’s face, but he looked between Tucker and the photograph several times.“Is… Is he-?”“Yes.” Carolina answered, strained.“Oh,” North said, staring at the picture for a couple of seconds before handing it back to Tucker. “He’s… He’s cute.”“Fuck yeah he is!” Tucker grinned, handing the picture to Maine, who stared at it expressionless. “He’s ten in that one, he fucking killed that season. Not actually, he is just a basketball god.”Wyoming walked in, diverting his course to meet with everyone else. “Good morning, all. What could we be talking about that doesn’t result in our friends Carolina and Kentucky screaming?”“Kentucky was showing us a picture of his son,” Carolina said. Maine handed the picture to Wyoming.Wyoming looked between the picture and Tucker several times. “Is he…?”“Yes.” North and Carolina said in unison.Before Wyoming could say anything more, York and Washington walked in, chatting excitingly with their helmets tucked underneath their arms. They’re laughs died down when they saw the group quietly processing.“Uh, what’s up?” York asked, concerned.“Kentucky was showing us his son,” Wyoming said, handing the photo to York.
Washington leaned into York to get a view of the picture. Both looked between Tucker and the picture. Wash’s eyebrows furrowed. York frowned.“Is he-?”“Yes.”
“Don’t be a dick!” Tucker said, standing from his seat and snatching the picture from York’s hands. He folded it up and stuck it back to the safe spot on his suit. “Junior is fucking cool. Totally worth the pregnancy.”Tucker turned to Maine. You didn’t tell them about Junior?Maine shrugged. No one asked. I’ll gossip when they learn to sign.Tucker grinned. I’ll learn all the signs I need to tell you about the whole thing.Maine’s smile dropped. He slowly shook his head no.“So the guy you have in the future, he’s a Sangheili?” York asked.Tucker’s smile fell, and he glanced at Wash for a fraction of a second. He looked back at everyone else to try to cover his tracks, but couldn’t remember a thing about their faces. “No. He’s not. I didn’t even know the alien too well, he just impregnated me because I picked up the sword.”“You were the pregnant one?” York asked.“Yes, keep up!” Tucker snapped. “What, do I have to make a power point?”“No!”“So the price of the sword was an alien pregnancy,” Wyoming asked, like he was doing a cost analysis.“Uh, more like a I got a sick sword and a dope kid,” Tucker scoffed. “Junior is one of the best things that made that time worth it,” Tucker paused. “Or, will be worth it. I guess, if it still…”Tucker went quiet.

If it still happens.
North picked up on Tucker’s change in mood quickly. “Alright, let’s get seated before the Director gets here.”“Teacher’s Pet,” South said, walking in briskly and pushing past the crowd. She walked to the middle aisle of the amphitheater, nodding at Tucker once. “Nice piercing. Is that the gay ear?”“I don’t know, I’ll check next time your I meet up with your dad,” Tucker shot back.
South, despite herself, gave a wry smile and sat down.“I didn’t need to hear that,” North sighed, moving to find his seat as well.Wash lingered. He would usually sit with Maine for things like this, but Tucker had already taken that seat. They stared at each other, Tucker silently daring him to join them or ask Tucker to move. Wash did neither, and moved a few rows down to sit with newly arrived CT.Tucker watched him go until Maine nudged his arm.He likes big guys too, Maine said, nodding once at Wash. I think he’ll make an exception for you.Tucker stared at Maine, second and triple guessing that he understood Maine.
Maine grinned. South told me you like them big.Tucker shook his head. No, she is joking. Tucker fumbled, knowing he wouldn't believe himself in Maine's position. I thought you don’t gossip?Maine shrugged. People still talk to me. Washington always follows rules. He’ll break that one for you.Tucker’s face burned and his stomach twisted in that familiar way it did that day he had shown Tucker how to grapple someone. It was before his crazy regime on Chorus, back before Carolina had returned from the dead. Wash had saddled up next to Tucker, placing one hand on the small of his back to correct his posture and one under his arm to push it into the correct position. Tucker instantly got hard, and threw a fake tantrum as an excuse to run away to his room and search forty variations of ‘Am I gay?’Did Washington-? Tucker started to sign, but was cut off by the Director’s entrance.
The room always fell silent when the Director walked in. An icy chill of professionalism settled over everyone, pissing Tucker off. He couldn’t wait one more minute for Tucker and Maine to gossip like middle schoolers?“Good morning, agents. Let’s begin with todays briefing,” The Director said, turning towards the holographic projector.“Uh, sir?” Washington said, going to raise his hand but CT pulled it down before the Director turned around.“Yes, Agent Washington?”“Shouldn’t we wait for the rest of the agents?” He asked.“No, this lesson will only be for agents on assignment next week.” The Director pressed a few buttons on his data pad, and the board filled with two words and a logo that still haunts Tucker’s dreams.Charon Industries.All talk about Wash, Junior, gossip, and ‘big guys’ flew out of Tucker’s head. Charon, the people either about to or already destroying Chorus for alien tech. And here Tucker was, about to learn in depth what the Freelancer’s knew about it. His stylus was in his hand and he was taking notes before he even realized it.Tucker hadn’t focused this hard on a class since before high school. He drank in the Director’s every word; About what Charon does, about their chain of command, their history, and, most importantly, what the agents needed to know about how to break into their facilities next week. He filled in the gaps of his knowledge, memorized names and places, matched it up to what he knew, and even found some inconsistencies or mistakes in the Director’s knowledge.
Tucker had experience with actually paying attention and participating in classes or instruction every once in a while, but even the ones he was invested in, like mission planning on Chorus, were mostly just knowing what he was expected to do. This was downright engaging, like the Director was setting out puzzle pieces for him to put together,Besides Carolina and CT, Tucker was the only one taking notes. The Director had looked at him weirdly every once in a while. The more he spoke, the more Tucker saw that this wasn’t like his own conflict. That was a David vs the Goliath, with the entire planet of Chorus prating that dumb luck would get them out alive. No, Project Freelancer was an actual rival, a threat to Charon. They were planning an offensive attack here, not doing their best to defend themselves.The Director knew their weaknesses, their kinks in the armor, their value, everything Charon had know about Chorus’ armies. The Project had real possibility of destroying Charon.
Maybe if the Project didn’t fail, they would have.The two hour briefing flew by.
“Agents, you are dismissed,” The Director said, and Tucker felt like he had finished a movie that ended with ‘Part II Coming Next Fall.’The rest of the Freelancers started rising, shuffling around and chatting. They were distracted, leaving, but the Director stood in place at the front of the room, staring right at Tucker, waiting for him to come down, knowing Tucker had an interest.Tucker didn’t play it cool, and almost jogged to the front. Wash was in the stairs, and his face was visibly disappointed as Tucker had to push past him to meet the Director at the bottom of the amphitheater. He caught Carolina’s attention too, but spent even less time worried about her.“Agent Kentucky, what can I do for you?” The Director asked.“I need to talk to him,” Tucker said. “You know, our little buddy?”The Director raised his eyebrows. “I’m afraid that’s not possible.”“Cut the shit, dude,” Tucker whispered. He kept his voice low, not wanting it too carry up to the stands. He leaned in. “If you want any future prediction shit, I need two seconds, and you can grill him on the whole thing. Please.”The Director studied him, emotionless but none the less focused, before nodding once. “Alright, let’s walk.”—Tucker insisted on falling asleep, not wanting to speak freely in front of the Director. The hazy white of his mind scape came slowly, with Church’s figure coming slower.“Agent Kentucky?” Church asked.“It’s Tucker,” Tucker corrected. He rung his hands, out of armor despite his physical form being in it.
“Okay, Tucker,” Alpha said. “What’s up? Why did you need to meet with me?”“I need you to be 100% honest,” Tucker said. He took a breath. “What are the chances of me getting home? To my time?”Alpha stared, or at least looked like he did. Tucker couldn’t tell under the armor, but Alpha didn’t speak for a beat. “There are a lot of factors to consider…”“Don’t bullshit me dude,” Tucker cut him off. “Am I going home?”Alpha hesitated. “I’ve been running the numbers and looking at the tech. Even with the time unit on your suit and my help, there’s only a .04% chance we can get you back to your exact moment in time alive.”The Alpha at Blood Gulch would have just said No, maybe even laughed in Tucker’s face. This sounded like Epsilon; Weirdly closer and farther away from the guy Tucker considered his best friend.Tucker just kept getting farther and farther from where he was supposed to be.“So I’m stuck here?” Tucker asked, more to himself.“Yeah, it looks like it,” Alpha answered anyways. “I’m sorry.”There was actual regret in Alpha’s voice put an extra yard between Tucker and the version of himself he should be. Every inch felt like something was being pulled from Tucker’s body, like something that was being ripped away and leaving his behind. Not like Tucker was moving anywhere, but that everywhere was moving from him.“Thanks Church,” Tucker said eventually, running a numb hand over his numb face. “Fuck, I- Fuck. Thanks man. Wake me up.”Unlike falling asleep, there was no gentle ease into darkness. One second Tucker was staring at Church, next he was staring at the overhead lights of the med bay.He wasn’t alone with the Director, but was now joined by the Counselor as well. Tucker sat up quickly, barely feeling the weight of his armor anymore. He didn’t give either men a second it speak.“I’m in,” He said.“Excuse me?” The Director asked.“I’m in,” Tucker repeated, swinging his legs off the bed. “I know I’ve been a dick about all this and I genuinely still hate you and hope you get struck by lightening, but now I don’t want you to die until you’re like, old and shit. I’ll share my, like, future knowledge and start to try and probably be the only fucking person on this ship that doesn’t have a secret agenda. All of it, I’m on your side, no bullshit.”The Director let Tucker ramble, Tucker wiping his forehead of sweat. The Counselor glanced at the Director, who didn’t take his eyes off Tucker.“What an interesting change of heart-“ The Counselor started.“Not you,” Tucker cut him off. He stared at the Director. “Just you. You and Church- Alpha. You pass on what you want.”“Why?” The Director asked suspiciously.“Because if I’m not going back to my life,” Tucker said in a serious voice he hadn’t even heard himself. “And lose all the shit that hasn’t even happened yet, then I’m taking Malcolm Hargrove with me.”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

The Director stared at Tucker, who stared back. A standoff that Tucker forced himself not to break.“Counselor, you are dismissed,” The Director finally said.The Counselor balked, looking between them. Like it the Director had chosen a new favorite. Tucker thought he might object, but after a moment he composed himself. “Yes sir,” He said, and quietly exited.Just the two of them, Tucker and the Director.“You’re still need to know,” Tucker said. “Cuz, you know, I don’t want you to shoot me as soon as you use me up like an old race horse, but I’ll help out.”“I believe race horses are used as studs after their competitive eras,” The Director said.“Aw, we can do that instead!”“Agent Kentucky, focus,” The Director snapped.“Right, uh, okay, so the Project fails before the war is over, you didn’t help like, at all. But it wasn’t about the war, right?” Tucker said, squinting at the Director. He quickly shook his head; No time for dramatic accusations. “Never mind, I don’t care. It implodes from the inside, because of the Charon insurrectionists and espionage but mostly because your weird psychological manipulation game backfires and everyone goes gorillas and back stabs each other. That’s way before my time, but I know that.“Oh! And that Counselor guy had to go. Once everything goes to shit he goes to prison, and then Malcolm Hargrove and Charon bust him out to be on their side. Shit! Wait, okay, let me start again.”Tucker holds up a finger. “One: Project Freelancer falls, everyone runs off and back stabs each other.
“Two: The one's who stay spend your days tracking down the Freelancers that run away.“Three: Me and some…People. Track you down and you die. We didn’t kill you though! Which pissed me off at the time. My was like, ‘Fuck taking the high road!’ But it wasn’t up to me.“Four: Me and my crew get medals and shit for officially bringing down Project Freelancer. Picture in the paper and everything.“Five: We try to go back to Earth and crash land on Chorus, some colony in the middle of no where in the middle of a civil war.“Six: Turns out the war was manufactured by Charon and Hargrove to kill everyone and take all the ancient alien tech on the planet. He stole Maine’s armor, and I stole it back. He even poaches that Counselor guy. To be fair, at this point you’re dead and it’s either die in prison or join Charon.“Anyways, that’s why you can trust me. Fuck you, but I’m pretty sure if I can help you take down Charon, then that planet will be fine. The enemy of my enemy is my friend? I mean, you guys are both evil, but Project Freelancer isn’t doing planetary elimination, so I guess I’d rather help you. Just no more of these stupid mind games you play with the rest of them. You trying that shit with me is like playing chess with a dude who can’t even play checkers. You’re wasting your time. Sound good?”Tucker was a little surprised himself when his ramblings came to an end. He got lost in his train of thought, relieving all the misadventures that brought him here. It would make one hell of a show, if it could be broken up into like, five minute segments.The Director listened intently, his face not changing much through out Tuckers ramblings. There are several moments that pass, where Tucker ran out of exposition and the Director just studied him with those electric, severe eyes. The only sound was the faint whirring of the ship that intensified in moments of awkwardness like this. Finally, the Director turns towards the window.“Thank you for your candor, Agent Kentucky. Dismissed.”Tucker lowered his hand and all the fingers with plot points with it. “What the hell? That’s it?”“I will process this information. Until then, you are dismissed. Focus on training for your mission next week.”“What? I still have to do that!?” Tucker whined, sitting up even straight from the cot. He felt like a kid complaining about having homework; It didn't help that his feet dangled above the floor. “I’m a fucking Oracle! Why are you going to put my ass on the line?”“Your passion for the Project obviously exceeds the other agents here,” The Director didn't look at Tucker at all know, just staring into that black void. “I have no doubt you will be successful with Agent Connecticut and Agent Washington.”“Ugh, c’mon man! I…” Tucker stopped. “Wait what!? I thought I was with the twins?”“Plans change, Agent,” The Director said nonchalantly. “If I am to trust your decisions with your cards to your chest, you will have to trust mine.”Tucker shook his head, borderline a tantrum at this point. Even the mere mention of Wash these days formed a ball in his stomach. “No, fuck that! I just said no more games. Put me back with the Dakotas, or I’m not doing shit-““Very well,” The Director cut him off. “I will let you tell Agent Connecticut and Agent Washington that they will be a man short. I’m sure they will understand, especially if they have your blessing.”This was a test. Why Tucker ever thought cooperation with the Director would be easy was beyond him. What Tucker couldn’t figure out was what the test was for. To see if he’d refuse? To see which pair he cared about more? To see which mission he had the most faith in?The Director was bluffing. Tucker knew he was bluffing. If Tucker refused, the Director would put someone in his place. Wash and CT would be fine, probably better off. They were good at this now, right? Tucker would just let them know they’d be fine, them watch them walk away, let them go on that ship, to whatever danger lie in wait out there. Then Tucker would just wait for them to come back…He was bluffing.“Fine!” Tucker shouted, giving up. He jumped to his feet, snatching his helmet from the bed side table. He punched the door lock, having it swish open, ad threw up a middle finger to the Director’s blank face.“Fine, I’ll go on the fucking mission. Fuck you, I’ll see you later!” Tucker stormed out.No matter what form, the Church would make him want to bang his head against a wall.—
The few mission planning sessions Tucker actually attended with CT and Wash over the next few days were torture. Pure torture. Tucker had been to planning sessions lead by Sarge that were more coherent. Hell, he had been to planning sessions lead by Grif that were more productive. It was so obvious that CT and Wash were new to responsibility. CT had taken lead, and couldn’t explain the lay out of the artic outpost they were storming without stumbling over her words.
“Fuck, okay, this side- No wait, this side, is where we’re dropping in,” She explained, moving her hands over the projector of the conference room. It was interactive, and would shake when she brushed her hand too close, not knowing if she meant to move around or zoom in. Hell, judging by CT’s disorganized train of thought, maybe she wasn’t sure.
“There are guards station at all these points,” A wave of her arm, and every break in a wall indicating an entry way had two red dots pop up, as well as a handful scattered throughout the map. “But the computer the data we need on is all the way over here.” CT pointed to the far end of the map, a room that was encased in another room, in cased in the main perimeter. The nesting doll of a room’s walls were thicker and had only one entrance and four, red dots sitting inside.“Why not drop in closer?” Tucker asked, drumming his hand on the conference table. “Like that massive helipad area literally next to the destination point?”“Because that area is heavily guarded. Because that is expected,” CT explained. The massive helipad area did, in fact, have eight dots littered around, but was an eighth of a distance from the actual drop point.“I asked the same thing,” Wash offered. Tucker ignored him.
“If we drop from here, one of us stands guard with the sniper rifle, using the steam from the exhaust ports as cover. This should give you a decent view of the whole outpost. That’ll be you, Tucker.” CT said.
“Perfect, I’m great at watching asses.”“Okay,” CT said. “Wash will shadow me as I sneak through the buildings to the check point.”
“Wait, this place will be cold, right?” Tucker asked, squinting at the pathway she has planned, that snaked through the building.“Below freezing,” CT nodded.
“Why not go through the outside? It’ll be empty, no one wants to work outside in that cold.” He suggested.
CT gave him a look, like he had asked why don’t they go skinny dipping instead. “Tucker, these are trained professionals. If their orders are to sit out in the cold, they’ll sit out in the cold. Going through the outside will take twice as long, and we need to be in and out. Not to mention that we’ll be left out in the open.”
“Even trained professionals get cold,” Tucker countered.
“Tucker, I’m leading the mission,” CT said sternly, her voice getting that slightly ragged edge to it. “And any of us not following orders will, at best, get us knocked off the leader board. At worst, get us killed. You’ve never been on a mission, so you need to trust that I know what I’m doing.”
Tucker wanted to open his mouth again, to fight about it or say something snarky. But for all the confidence he had gotten this past month, CT was right. He had no experience in the field, and him being a contrarian wasn’t going to do any good.
“I like it when you’re bossy,” Tucker winked instead, slipping into a comfortable sleeze. “Anything else you need me to do, mistress?”
CT rolled her eyes. “Take this seriously, we need this intel, we’re-“
“In a war, yeah, I got it.” Tucker finished for her.
“Uh, if you guys want my opinion-“
“We don’t,” CT and Tucker cut off Washington at the same time. CT and Tucker eyed each other, wondering why the other was so harsh. Wasn’t CT supposed to be Wash’s friend?
They both let it go.They had to, with South barging in.
South looked just as pissed that she couldn’t bust through the automatic doors, but was more pissed at Tucker. “Are you fucking kidding me!? I hurt your feelings, and you jump off the mission? I thought we were cool!” She yelled.
Tucker flinched. South was still eight feet away on the other side of the table, but felt like she was inside Tucker's space. He stood up from his seat. “I didn’t do shit! I was kicked off your mission! You think I wanted to be dumped here?”
South scoffed. “Yeah, right. It’s just a coincidence then? You can give, but you can’t take?”
“First of all, that’s what she said,” Tucker stuck out his thumb, then stuck out his index. “Second, it’s not a coincidence! I wanted to go with you and North!”
“You’re full of shit!” South yelled. She let out a frustrated groan. Tucker didn't know what she planned to accomplish here, but the frustration contorting her face let him know she hadn't done it. Maybe she wasn't even sure, and just needed to yell at someone.“You got me!” Tucker held up his hands in mock defeat. “Yup, this was all my plan! I just really wanted to be screamed at like a deadbeat husband in the lobby of a cheap motel!”“That is highly specific,” Wash commented.“Shut the fuck up, Washington!” South shouted, tearing away from Tucker just to scream at him instead. Quickly enough, she turned back to Tucker. “Good luck with these two, Kentucky! Hey, Wash, do us all a favor and start leaving the pins in the grenades again!”South stormed out, turning quickly and knocking over a chair as she left. It’s crash was louder than any door slam, a physical expression of South’s rage, like the way she almost tore Tucker’s other ear off wasn’t apparent enough.Tucker’s heart was pounding, and he dropped back in his chair, crossing his arms. The Director was better at this discourse sowing than he expected. Or South was the pettiest bitch alive. Or both. Probably both.
“Wow,” CT said, seemingly unaffected by the scene. “That was… Dramatic.”
“I thought you requested to be reassigned,” Wash said quietly.
“Why the hell would I want to do that?” South was gone, but Tucker’s energy wasn’t. It was so easy to turn it back on Washington. “You had no problem dumping the Ohio, Idaho, and Iowa as soon as you got some recognition. At least I know South would drop me.” Tucker said. He shoved his helmet on his head. “Don’t worry, I’m keeping my name at the bottom of that list. But I’m not enough of a dick to let that get you killed.”
The room’s energy was too much, and Tucker could hardly stand being in there before South. He ran out of the room, stumbling over the chair South had flipped. Tucker’s frustration peaked then, the satisfaction of a flashy exit ripped away but his own foot work. He cursed, and kicked it hard with his boot. The suit helped it fly across the room and break against the wall.Now that was satisfying, Tucker thought, and changed his mind about going to his room and screaming into his pillow.
Tucker beelined towards the training room that was always empty. “Sheila! Set up some moving targets,” He shouted.
“Of course, Agent Tucker,” Sheila’s voice rang out, the bright lights all 5 switching on at once. “Which types of targets would you like today?”
“Can you make it look like some assholes running at me? Pick an armor color and some stripes, I’m sure whatever comes up will work,” He asked, limbs buzzing as he grabbed his sword.
“No, but I can make them humanoid,” Sheila said. Four groups of projections appeared in front of him, faceless blobs that were puppets of humans. Tucker thought this is what he wanted, but found himself losing steam. He joked about it, but wasn’t too happy about all the times he had driven his sword into actual people.“Never mind. Can I get those, but like, blobs? Balls?” He asked.
“Of course.” The targets swirled upwards, until they were flat circles, like shields floating a few feet off the ground.
“Perfect,” Tucker flicked his wrist, and his sword activated. He felt electricity flow through his arms, tingling the tattoos on his skin. Like all the anger bubbling into him was flowing out of him into the sword. “Alright, keep them coming.”
Swish

The best bet for CT and Wash to survive this was if he didn’t go. He had a bunch of successful missions on Chorus, but the last time he did this? This exact mission? He got two of his squadron killed. He got the intel, but he couldn’t call that a success.Swish.Everything about this was supposed to be a fresh start, but it was starting to feel like his history repeating to set him up for failure. South was like if he had actually tried to be a good soldier with Texas, but they couldn’t seem to work together on anything. Ohio, Idaho, and Iowa were like Blue team, to be his break from Freelancer craziness, his equals. But they treated him like he was someone they could look up to. They even partook in the grand tradition of shooting Blue Team Leader. They were treating him like he was Church. No, like he was Wash.Stab.
Tucker wasn’t Wash. Wash wasn’t even Wash. He wasn’t a leader, he wasn’t barely a fucking Freelancer.
So why, even with his argument fresh in his mind, he was still obsessing over CT’s plan?
CT was smarter and better trained for this, but he also knew that plan was stupid. Seriously, did she plan to crawl through the air ducts? The point of the mission was stealth, but goddamn. She can be as stealthy as she wanted but if she got caught, it was gonna be a hell of a long jog back to the rendezvous point for them. That would be possible maybe for a good team, or at least people that wanted to work together. She was going to get herself killed, and Tucker killed, and-
“Can I make a joke about balls flying at you?”
Tucker swung around, sword still raised. It was at Wash’s neck in a second. Wash’s eyes went wide, and he held his breath. Tucker could see the movement of the breath Wash swallowed down his elongated neck. As if Tucker could actually hurt him.
Tucker’s fight instinct dissipated. He flicked off his sword, like he was powering himself down. He felt drained, his high of anger gone.
Tucker sighed. “Have you seriously not learned to come in here without armor?” Tucker said once Wash started breathing again. Tucker’s stomach twisted at the way Wash didn’t fully relax. “Didn’t we all get an email about this?”“I needed to ask you something,” Wash said, crossing his arms.
“Okay?” Tucker said, suddenly finding the tightness of his gauntlet very interesting. Since Wash was probably not about to ask him what his favorite color was, there wasn’t a good direction for this conversation to go. “Say it.”“Do you… Kill me?”
Tucker’s lifted his head. “What?”“In the future,” Wash asked awkwardly, like he was asking Tucker on a date. His eyes shifted from Tucker to the wall to his right. “I’m just trying to figure out why you have such a problem with me. You said, ‘I get what I deserve’. You don’t have a problem with South, or Maine, or Carolina, so I thought…”“What, that you are so innocent?” Tucker cut in, bristling. “That if I’m fine with those psychos, why would I have such a problem with someone like you?”
“No!” Wash kept his eyes on Tucker now. “That’s- I didn’t-“
“Well, Washington,” Tucker cut off again. It felt weird saying his full name, then he remembered it really wasn’t his full name. “You aren’t like this forever. I have first hand experience that you’d really going to put this Freelancer training to use. Before you know it, you’re going to throw out David, and you’re first name will be ‘Agent’.”
Wash sucked in a breath at Tucker using his first name. It felt just as foreign. His name was an open secret amongst the Reds and Blues, Wash told it to him in confidence, as something Tucker should know but never use. Just like how Tucker only used Lavernius when he was pissed. It was such a low blow Tucker started to calm down. It would hurt Wash in the future, and it hurt him now. A thread connecting him.“I don’t kill you,” Tucker said, voice softening a bit. “I couldn’t do that. We… We’re a team. But you’re not the Wash I know, so it doesn’t matter.”
Tucker didn’t let Wash say anything before he started leaving. Every time he was stuck in a room with him, it felt like he couldn’t breath. Tucker paused by the door, not turn his back but unable to give up the sudden impulse he had. Just something to put Wash at ease, as much as a peace offering Tucker could give. “Just so we’re even, my name’s Lavernius. But don’t call me that.”—The Outpost was fucking freezing, but the steam was making Tucker sweat through his Kevlar.“Fucking Christ, how am I supposed to see shit with the steam?” Tucker asked his com. He was belly first on the smoke stack, in position and looking over the entire outpost. He should be able to anyways, but no one took in consideration that the steam would cloud up his vision as well.What the fuck even was this place used for? South and North were at some oil rig, but this was just a giant slab of concrete that jutted out from a frozen tundra below. He had been in a lot of random military bases that existed just to exist, but this was extra pointless considering how many people were stationed here.“Use your thermals,” CT whispered in his ear.“Oh wow, use my thermal?” Tucker said sarcastically in his mic. “Yeah let me turn that on. Oh, awesome! Still can’t see shit. Did you know that steam is hot?”“Kentucky-““Real Bill Nye episode we’re putting together here,” Tucker continued, already struggling with the sniper rifle with his helmet on. “What’s next? Should I drop a grenade and time how long until it hits the ground?”“Kentucky, quiet.” CT hissed.“No, fuck this,” Tucker said. “I’m taking my helmet off.”“Kentucky!” CT nearly shouted. “Do not take off your helmet. Quiet down and just watch our backs!”“I can’t watch shit from here!” Tucker said back.“Agent Kentucky, this is a direct order,” CT said seriously. “Stay off the mic until there’s a threat. Wash, you with me?”“Right behind you,” Wash’s voice said over the air.“I’m going through the air ducts-“ CT started.“Oh, come on-““And I need you trail along room to room,” She said. “Check the map on your HUD. The rooms highlighted have their security systems disabled. It’s nonessential; Break rooms, storage closets, nothing with anything worth protecting. Just stay close in one of those in case I need backup.”“Understood. I’m right behind you.” Washington said.“Kentucky, keep an eye on us. Alert us for any new thermal signatures, we need to know if anyone’s coming near.”“My thermals that don’t fucking work?” Tucker asked.
“They do work, you just have to pay attention. Wash, turn on your suit’s tracker for Kentucky’s visuals. Kentucky, stay off the air.”With their trackers on, Tucker could technically keep up which dot was Wash and which was CT. But through the buildings and the steam making the thermals go crazy, it was getting tough. Unfortunate, he probably couldn’t convince all the guards at this out post to turn on their trackers to his frequency, so he had to keep the damn thermals on. A second later, the faltering outline of his teammates turned green, indicating their suits were on.Still, it's not like this was easy. Sure, he could see CT and Wash, but wasn’t the point to watch out for others? Everything was such a mess on his visor he was getting a headache. It was like some messed up, Technicolor Seeing Eye poster in a dealers' apartment.Tucker was so focused on his visuals that reminded him of his first acid trip and how fucking moist it was getting for him that he nearly missed the conversation going on right below him.A pair of guards were at the base of the smoke stack he was on, chatting about nothing. Tucker’s hearing, like his eyesight, had been supernaturally enhanced by Blood Gulch. The rising steam and yelling over his comms made most of their conversation just rumblings, but he picked up one word.“…Break room…”Break room, something CT had just told Wash to go to.“Shit,” Tucker cursed, straining to listen. He couldn’t pick up anything through the muffling of his helmet and the cracking of his radio“Kentucky, what’s wrong?” Washington asked, another distraction.“Nothing, just…” Tucker stopped breathing to hear better.“…Everyone… Security…” Tucker made out, until his head set started up again.“Kentucky, status?” CT asked, oblivious.“Shut up!” Tucker hissed.
“Kentucky, are you compromised?” CT asked again.“No! I just…” Tucker didn’t want to alert anyone for no reason, but a third and fourth soldier had joined the two at the bottom of the smoke stack with urgency. They jogged over, waving their arms around and began talking more animatedly.“Kentucky, report,” CT said loudly.“God fucking-!” Tucker ripped off his helmet in frustration.
Tearing off his helmet was like stepping into a whole new world. It was always jarring to suddenly be without a HUD and breath fresh air, but he never took off his helmet in the field. The steam and chill were battling over who was going to overstimulate Tucker’s senses, but it was blessedly silent. The white noise of his helmet gone, his teammates out of his ear and head uncovered. He could finally listen in to the guards.“… We’re going to try for thirty minutes, at midnight.” Someone said below him.“Fuck, can’t we go now?” Another voice said, teeth chattering.“Hey man, beggars can’t be choosers,” The first voice said. “We got lucky. The big break room’s cameras are out right now, so we can get everyone inside for cake and song. If superiors ask where everyone went, we’ll say there was a faulty alarm or some shit that went off and we had to check it out.”“You had me at cake,” A third voice said. “Who’s birthday is it?”“Jenkins’, you know him? He’s one of the guys that came on that big drop off earlier. He’s usually on terminal duty at Site A, but CO did him a solid and threw him over here this week to get away from that dude that’s always bitching.”“Oh, Murray’s friend?”“Yeah, that guy’s such an asshole. Jenkins’ is doing security at the main terminal.”“Jesus, I’d kill for that job,” A fourth guy moaned. “Better than freezing our asses off out here.”“Man, don’t act like half the guys here don't take an extended bathroom break every fifteen minutes,” The first guy said. “You’d think this whole place was cursed with Montezuma’s Revenge with how often y’all find an excuse to go inside.”“You guys didn’t hear?” The second voice said. “There was some flooding the other day, that entire side of the buildings heat is out. They had to block off the air ducts just to keep water from flooding the computers.”“Fucking hell! A trillion dollar company and we can’t even get heating?”“Get this; They couldn’t get a fucking AC specialist out here for two weeks, so they sent twice as many uniforms and face masks. Said to ‘layer up.’”“God, I fucking hate it here,” The first voice groaned. “Alright, at midnight. We’re setting off the alarm to look legit. Just head to the break room, cake and coffee.”“Sounds good, see you then.” Two of the men started walking away. “Wait!”The two men turned around to their teammate. “What?”“What kind of cake?”“Carrot.”“God, Jenkins is a freak. Alright, see ya.”Tucker didn’t realize that his fingers were nearly frozen around his sniper rifle until two of the guards were out of hearing. He nearly dropped it just fumbling for his helmet. Frost and ice crunch and fell of his fingers like snow.“Fuck fuck fuck fuck,” He whispered to himself, pulling on his helmet. It didn’t click into place as it should have. “Wash, CT! Come in! We’re fucked!” He whispered harshly.All he heard was static.“Wash! CT! Can someone fucking copy!?” He said again.
More static.Tucker ripped off his helmet, looking inside. The steam had coated the inside as well as outside during his eavesdropping, and had frozen over in the cold. His entire helmet was a frosty snow globe, and including his visor and comms.“Fuck fuck fuck fuck,” Tucker whispered to no one, because he couldn't.Everyone on this base was headed into the very break room CT had told Wash to camp out in. Everyone was going because CT had cut the security cameras. And the very air ducts CT was relying on was cut off.
Somewhere, a cursed finger was curling down on a monkey’s paw. Tucker had always reveled in I told you so moments, and the universe was setting off the cruelest Rube -Goldberg machine to give him just that.Tucker had to act fast. CT was going for a dead end and Washington was about to get a surprise visit from every guard on this base. Whatever Tucker was going to do, it wouldn’t be from the top of this sauna from hell.Tucker let out a breath. The map was burned into his brain, every wall and every red dot and he knew the closest building to him was the barracks. Just one drop and he’d be basically at the front door. He’d just have to be stealthy.He looked down at his neon armor. There was frost on forming on the rest of him, and when he blinked he could feel the wetness of ice collecting on his eye lashes.
“God fucking damn it,” He muttered. His muscles tensed as he started unclasping his armor, begging him to not expose him to the below freezing temperatures. He powered through, trying to think warm thoughts, which he had plenty of memories of. The cold started seeping in immediately, his Kevlar suit doing little to help him.It felt wrong to dump his armor, but there was no way he could take it with him. This was the rendezvous point anyways, their airship silently hovering somewhere near by waiting to pick them up. Tucker still hesitated. He had no choice; He left behind his helmet, suit, and rifle. Only carrying his sword and pistol.Getting off the smoke stack was easy enough: Sure, the ladder was slippery and he almost fell to his death or was pushed off by the wind a few times, making this all for nothing. But it was out of view of the rest of the outpost, and he touched ground a few yards from the barrack’s back door.Tucker’s hands were getting stuck in place, and he had never felt so cold in his life. He picked up his sword, ready to slice through the lock. Grabbing the handle of the door for leverage, he prepared to flick his wrist.The handle gave easily under his hand. It was unlocked.Tucker was beginning to think he would have had a thriving career here.The barrack was warm and, more importantly, empty. Rows and rows of empty bunks, accompanied by foot lockers, random posters on the walls, and weapon racks everywhere. But that wasn’t what Tucker was looking for. He ran straight across the room, to the several crates labeled ‘UNIFORMS’ by the door.He quickly rummaged through and pulled on shirts, pants and the chest armor in his size. He was even able to find a helmet and ski mask to cover his face complexly. The only thing that were his were his boots. All he could do was pray there wasn’t a Donut here that would notice footwear.His was still freezing, but the clothes helped. They were lighter than his Spartan suit, with only a bulletproof chest and thigh covers, and he found it easier to quietly slip out of the barrack. He was halfway down the hallway before he thought that maybe he should have grabbed a bigger weapon.He didn’t back track; He had maybe fifteen minutes.One hallway lead to another, and he mentally kept pace with the map in his head. More grey, more minimalism, but blessedly there were signs hanging from the ceilings. His heart ticked when he saw an arrow pointing towards ‘Break Room A.’A had to be the biggest one, right? Right.He picked up the pace, hating that his boots clicked on the floor. He stopped all together when he heard other steps just around the corner.“Okay, we got everything. You spread the word?”“Yup, entire outpost should come running at midnight.”The footsteps were approaching quickly, about to uncover Tucker. He looked around for a door, or other hallway to run down, but just in front of him as a large door that read ‘Break Room A.’ Right next to it was a storage closet, and Wash should be behind one of those two doors. Now Tucker just had to figure out to play the worst game show ever in front of two guards.Tucker let out a breath, straightened his back, and walked right around the corner and into two guards.“Hey there!” Tucker greeted, voice cracking at it’s falsetto.“Jesus!” One guard yelped, pointing her gun right at Tucker’s face.
“Stand down!” The other guard yelled, his voice deeper and commanding. “What are you doing in here by yourself? Name and rank, now.”“Uh,” Tucker said, ideas running through his head like buzzing bees. He just needed to catch one. He dropped his voice a couple of octaves. “I don’t have one?”“You don’t have one? A name?” The guard didn’t lower her gun, but flexed her hands around her weapon.Shit. “My name is…Simmons,” Tucker landed on, nearly wincing. He wasn’t even sure why he was throwing his voice, but committed to it.“I don’t know a Simmons, and I know everyone here.” The gruff guard said, adjusting his grip on his own weapon.“I flew in today!” Tucker said quickly. “I meant I don’t have a rank or partner, because, I’m… The AC repairman!”Tucker was going to make sure this idea made it into the biopic about his life.
“I thought we weren’t getting anyone for two weeks?” One of the guards asked.“Hey, I’m just on contract, I get my orders from my boss,” Tucker shrugged. “I don’t know what you guys heard. But I’m supposed to be fixing some water damage to some air ducts and upgrading heating in the barracks. I can leave if it’s an issue-““NO!” The guards both shouted, lowering their weapons. Tucker could finally breath as they holstered them.
“Alright, great. Excuse me,” Tucker walked past them to the supply room door. He started nearly shouting. It was an actual door, with a handle an everything. When opened, the two guards view of the inside would be blocked. If Washington was in there, all Tucker would need to worry about is not getting shot in the face by his teammate.“Okay, just need to take a peak in this storage closet here!” Tucker said loudly. Please let these doors be paper thin. “Just need to grab some tools!”“Uh, go for it?” The guard said.Tucker forced himself not to hesitate, and quickly pulled open the door.Another barrel of a gun pointed right at his head.A beat passed, where he waited for either Wash to shoot him or think of a better plan. Wash didn’t shoot him, but didn’t lower his weapon. Between the helmet, goggles, and ski mask, he didn’t recognize Tucker.Wash waited for Tucker to move. Tucker’s fucking great idea too throw his voice was back firing, Wash had no way of knowing it was him.Slowly, so that Wash wouldn’t take it as a threat and blow his head off, Tucker raised a thumb to his forehead and waved his fingers to a sign he knew Wash could read.Daddy.Wash lowered his weapon out of Tucker’s face. Tucker exhaled, nodding once at Wash.“Something wrong?” The older guard asked.“Nope!” Tucker responded, stepping into the small space. “Just looking for a tool kit!”He looked around, waving his arms wildly to nudge Wash out of the way. Wash looked around, before pointing to a tool kit on the floor. Between Wash’s suit and the cramped space, it was a feat of flexibility to move around.“Oh!” One of the guards shouted suddenly, and Tucker froze. “FYI, we’re setting off an alarm at midnight. It’s a false alarm, ignore it. We’re just getting everyone together here for a birthday cake.”“Veronica!” The other guard chastised.“What? We don’t need the AC guy thinking we’re under attack and freak out. He’s contract anyways.”“Wow, must be a big cake,” Tucker said carefully. He picked up a rusty tool box on the floor. “You guys getting the whole base here?”“Oh yeah, we got a shit ton of cake,” Veronica continued. “You know how difficult it was to smuggle in enough cake for sixty people? Harder than liquor.”“Sixty people? That’s the entire post, right?” Tucker continued, picking up a can of WD-40 for no reason and stuffing it in the tool box.
“Oh yeah,” The older guard said. “We should have some left over too. We’re doing it in this break room, feel free to stop by if you want a slice.”“The entire ship in this one break room in fifteen minutes?” Tucker reiterated. “I’ll try to make it. Looks like I have a huge job thought, right? The computer room’s air ducts are completely cut off?”“Eh, what’s fifteen more minutes?” Veronica said casually. “We’re just killing time right now anyways.”“Uh, actually!” Tucker said, grabbing the tool box. “Can you guys show me that room? I was going to start there. You know, if anything starts breaking cuz of the cold, I’ll get in trouble.”Step one was warning Wash, but it would all be useless if he couldn’t actually get him out of this closet unseen.“Oh, sure, I’ll show you,” Veronica said. “Frank, you gonna stand guard here?”Tucker winced. Frank was about to be a dead man if he didn’t leave.“No.” Frank said.Tucker froze, gripping the tool box. Okay, one dead guy wasn’t too bad, right? Even if he seemed cool and offered Tucker cake. Maybe Wash could just subdue him? Better than a dead Wash, right?“I’ll go with you two,” Frank said, and Tucker wanted to cry from relief. “Jenkins is down there right now, I want to bring him up before the alarm goes off. The doors to that room shut down during an alarm, it’s a security measure.”“Oh! Alright,” Tucker said, plan unraveling. “Lead the way!”Tucker backed up out of the room, Wash watching him the entire time.
Do not fuck this up. Tucker thought hard enough to plant it in Washington’s head, and slammed the door.
Tucker had the tool kit he had no idea what to do with in one hand, dutifully following Veronica and Frank. He saw more and more people milling around, and kept one ear on alert for any banging from the vents. He didn’t have any signs CT was around, and wanted to keep it that way.Five minutes to midnight, Tucker was lead to a room with an automatic door. It had no signage, but was bigger and thicker than any other ones here. The main terminal.Frank scanned a badge, and the door wooshed open. He walked into the room that looked like it was made entirely of computer screens, darker than the rest of the building, only illuminated by the artificial light. It really was freezing in here, so it was no suprised the people inside were just as bundled up as everyone outside. Two guards were sitting on chairs, deep in conversation.“I guess it’s one of life’s greatest mysteries. Like… Why are we here?” One of them said, but stopped to stand up out of his chair to greet Frank and Veronica.“Happy birthday!” Veronica said cheerfully, smile evident in her voice and eyes crinkling. Frank stuck out a hand to shake at the guard.“Really?” The man, Jenkins apparently, asked surprised and giddy. “I didn’t think you’d remember!”“Son, we have enough carrot cake to feed an army waiting for you in the break room, so it better be.” Frank joked.“Aw, thanks!” Jenkins said. He turned to Tucker, looked him up and down, cocking his head. “Uh, who are you?”“Simmons, I’m here to repair the AC. I flew in this morning,” Tucker said in his stupid, high pitched voice he had to commit too. “Uh, happy birthday?”“I didn’t see you when I flew in,” Jenkins said suspiciously. “I haven’t seen you all day. Everyone that flew in had that whole briefing in the barracks this morning.”Shit.“I, uh,” Tucker stammered, heart beating wildly. It was freezing in this room but he had to have been sweating through the ski mask.“Is that so?” Veronica said, turning towards Tucker. “What have you been doing all day?”“That’s pretty odd,” Frank continued. “Something like this I’ll have to report to the CO.”Tucker tightened his grip on his toolbox, the only weapon in hand. His sword was tucked away under the layers of pants, and the on the other leg. Four people, one toolbox, potentially one Freelancer tucked away in a closed off air duct near by.Frank laid a hand on Tucker’s shoulder, gripping it tight.“Goddamn, I need a union job!” Frank laughed.
Everyone else joined in, breaking the ice. Jenkins’ partner stood now, all four guards circling Tucker, their body language anything but threatening. “Man, I thought the repair guys back home were bad! You find all the good nap places yet, or did you download enough movies to keep you busy?”“Heh, I’m paid by the hour,” Tucker chuckled weakly. “You guys really calling your CO?”“Nah,” Jenkins waved a hand. “I ain’t doing all that paperwork on my birthday. Alright, let’s head out.”Tucker stood in place as everyone shuffled to leave, in shock. The farther everyone moved, the more Tucker wanted to smile and punch the air. The intoxicating mix of fear and relief and just plain luck that he should have been used to at this point made his nerve endings tingle.
“Oh, Simmons!” Jenkins called out, and it took Tucker a second to realize he was talking to him. He beckoned him over to the door as everyone else walked out.“Do me a favor, will ya?”Tucker forced himself to move forward, until his was close enough to smell Jenkins’ coffee breath. Jenkins held out a hand and slipped a flash drive in Tucker’s palm.“Here’s a backup of the computer.”Tucker blinked.“What?”“Yeah, if you’re messing with the wiring in here, protocal is two guys have to carry a back up of everything. Bobby has the other. Between you and me, I ain’t coming back up here after cake. Veronica has been giving me some looks lately, if ya know what I mean?”“Bow chicka wow-wow,” Tucker said instinctively.Jenkins laughed and patted his shoulder. “This guy gets it! Just pawn this off to the guy I bribe to cover for me, got it?”“Jenkins, buddy,” Tucker grinned, closing a fist around the flash drive. “Anything for you, birthday boy.”—Tucker had completely forgotten about the alarm by the time they were in the hallway, and yelped when it went off and the lights went red. This got a good laugh out of all the guards.“Man, they should give you guys firearms training before coming here,” Veronica said. “Imagine if we were actually in trouble?”“Hey, if I see one of those so-called secret agents storming in here, Simmons is the first guy I’ll call. I got faith in him!” Jenkins said.Tucker looked at Jenkins again, and swallowed his pride.
“Jenkins, buddy, can I be honest?” He whispered, making them all fall behind.“Er, sure?” Jenkins said, following Tucker’s lead.“I… I just pissed my pants,” Tucker said. It was a life or death situation, and yet he still felt shame over this lie.Okay, half lie.“Oh, er, sorry?” Jenkins said back.“I need to run to the barracks, but happy birthday!” Tucker said, veering right at the upcoming hallway.“No worries, I’ll cover for you. See ya!” Jenkins said cheerfully, barely legible from the sirens. He ran to catch up with his coworkers.And Tucker ran to the barracks.And shed his clothes.And climbed up the chilly ladder to the smoke stack.And snapped on his frozen solid armor.And dropped from the smoke stack onto the concealed aircraft.And was in the air craft.And that was it.It took him a second to register anything happening in reality. It felt like he had blinked and was now in the back of the ship, CT and Washington standing in front of him, guns raised until he tore off his helmet. They lowered them, Tucker’s wild grin hurting his face.“Ho-ly shit!” Tucker said, throwing his helmet on the floor. Frost bounced off it, still needed to be thawed. Tucker started tearing off the rest of his armor, letting it drop to the ground loudly. The back of the plane began closing, the pilot yelling something about strapping in. Not that Tucker cared.“Kentucky, what the fuck?” CT said, also not strapping in. “What just happened?”“What happened is I get to say ‘I told you so’ to your stupid as plan - No offense- And fucking kill it out there!” Tucker said, down to his shin guards.“You should keep your armor on,” Washington commented.
“You keep your armor on!” Tucker shot back childishly but with no malice. “I am a fucking God!”“Kentucky…” CT warned.“Oh my God, there’s no way that was just luck, holy shit!” Tucker said. “Seriously, you guys would have been boned! I told you the air ducts were stupid. And the whole thing witht he security cameras completely back fired. But goddamn, you had Tucker on your side!”Tucker stumbled as the plane took off, nearly falling on his ass. He noticed his knees were starting to feel like jelly, and went to go sit down.“Okay, sure, a lot of coincidences happened, but that can’t all be luck, right?” Tucker said. Washington had taken his seat, strapping himself in.“I do kinda feel like I just witnessed a miracle,” Wash added.“Hell yeah you did!” Tucker said.“Kentucky,” CT said again, not sitting and stiff as a board. “You shouldn’t be proud. We failed the mission.”Tucker stopped. He waited for CT to yell sike! But she was serious. “What? We almost got our assholes torn out, and didn’t. Shouldn’t you be, like, popping bottles?”“I don’t care about how we got out,” CT continued, gritting the sentence out. “The priority was getting that intel.”“Yeah, sure,” Tucker said. “But, c’mon, we were about to die-““The intel is priority,” CT reiterated. “This is a dangerous job. Get used to it. That intel was vital. Jesus Christ.”CT tore off her helmet, throwing it to the ground. She ran a nervous hand through her hair, mussing it up. Her eyes were hurt, she looked around at nothing. “Fuck, I fucked up. I shouldn't have listened to you Wash.”Tucker looked at her, then Wash. “About what?”“Connie…” Wash started.“We shouldn’t have pulled out,” CT said, face red.
“It’s always a good idea to pull out,” Tucker countered.
“Knock it off!” CT shouted. “We shouldn’t have pulled out without that intel.”“Woah, woah-“ Tucker went to pull the flash drive out from his side pocket.“Maybe you want to take the easy way,” CT shouted. “But there’s a reason we’re trained the way we are. This wasn’t just about ‘getting away,’ we failed the whole fucking point of the mission!”“So what was the next step?” Tucker scoffed. “You gonna shoot your way to the computer?”“If I had too”! CT shouted.Tucker looked at her, more frazzled and cruel than he expected she was capable of. “Wait, seriously? Those guys are just dudes. They’re having a birthday party right now, and you want to go back and kill them?”“No, it’s too late to go back,” CT shook her head, still thinking. “But- fuck- We shouldn’t have pulled out like cowards.”“That’s fucking crazy!” Tucker shouted back, nearly falling to the side again. “Those were just dudes on their job! They weren’t even union!”“God dammit Kentucky!” CT yelled. “You’re a fucking Freelancer now, and a soldier before that! They know what job they have! And so do we!”“Well, yeah, but-!”“We’re in deep shit when we get back,” CT said. “And I’m the one who’s going to get blamed for it.”
CT was looking at the ground, pacing. Tucker watched her. She looked like his parents did when they were short on rent. The sort of desperation and worry for what feels like inevitable doom. The kind that made him hide in his room, because if he made one wrong step or got in the way, he would be screamed at.The recognition made him sick to his stomach. Because when he was a kid, the worry was them getting evicted, or not having food in the fridge, or not have gas money to get everyone to work and school. CT had that same desperate look in her eyes, for what? For the Director? For her name on the leader board? She didn’t even know what was on the fucking flash drive, and was willing to die for it. To kill for it.Had any of them ever asked why they did what they did? Did any of them even care? What was that phrase? If you stand for nothing you’ll fall for nothing?“Here,” Tucker pulled out the flash drive, holding it out to CT.
CT looked up, broken out of her panic. She stared at the drive like it was a glass of water mysteriously pulled out of no where in the desert.“You-you got it?” She asked. She gently took it from him, holding it like it was made of tissue paper and glass.“Yeah.” Tucker said simply. He couldn’t stand to look at her anymore. He scooped up his helmet, brushing off the droplets of melted ice.
“Kentucky,” CT said, voice gentler. “I-““When we debrief, tell them you snuck it out at the last second,” Tucker said, turning to one of the many seats lining the wall of the plane and strapped himself in.“If it’s that fucking important.”Tucker waited for someone to say something, but no one did. Wash was staring at him, and CT was still staring at the flash drive in her hand, face just as red.He shoved the helmet onto his head, ignoring the wetness. “Fucking Freelancers.”The ride back is mostly silent. Tucker pretends to fall asleep, even thought no one believes him. CT put her helmet back on, and while Tucker can’t see her face, she never stops fidgeting with the thumb drive. She smooths it over with her thumb, twiddling it back and forth, like she’s considering tossing it out the window.
Of course, Wash, sitting across from them on the other side of the ship, keeps looking between them. Tucker leaned his head back, face covered by his armor. Out of this whole ordeal, he’s at least grateful Wash came out okay. Tucker couldn’t pretend a huge chunk of why he was pissed at CT was how careless she was with his safety; It would have been Wash found in that closet, not her. Even if Wash did make it out, he would have had to kill people, something he might not regret now, but would in a couple years.
Eventually, about halfway to back to the Mother of Invention, Wash does look away, and pull out his data pad. Tucker feels relief, and considered a nap but was interrupted by a notification.
WSH: IM?

Tucker stares at it on his HUD. After a moment of confused deliberation, he pulls out his own data pad.

KTY: ur what?

WSH: No, I mean can I instant message you?

KTY: u already are

Tucker could see the rise and fall of Wash’s shoulders, the tell tale sign of an exasperated sigh. It was a refreshing, familiar sight he didn’t even know he missed.

WSH: I just wanted to say thanks. You saved us back there.

KTY: glad one of u think so

WSH: Give Connie some time. She’s been stressed out lately, she wouldn’t have actually gone through with it if she didn’t have too.

Tucker’s fingers itched to type some snarky or cruel remark back. Something about how Freelancers were sharks who smelt blood in the water, or how Wash saw everyone he trusted with rose colored glasses, or even just to remind him she goes by CT now. But this conversation was just so much like one he and Wash would have. Wash making him see reason and telling him to not be petty. Down to his perfect grammar over text. Him being completely suited up helped the illusion.Tucker forced himself to cool off started typing.

KTY: whateves. not even rly pissed about it

WSH: Are you sure? You seemed upset.

Washington looked up at Tucker then. He might have been expecting Tucker to snap at him, but Tucker had lulled himself into his domesticated security.

KTY: im always bitchin

Tucker grinned, eager to break the seriousness of the conversation
KTY: no worries btw, i already knew u were gay

Washington stared down at his dad pad for so long Tucker turned off his radio to laugh out loud.
WSH: What do you mean?

KTY: cuz i caught u in the closet

Washington didn’t bother to shut off his microphone when he laughed. CT raised her head, looking between them. If she noticed their communication, she didn’t comment. Tucker would have thrown a fit if he saw people potentially talking shit like this with him in the room, but she let it go.

WSH: That’s funny. Is that what you got from here or did you know that from the future?

Tucker paused, brief moment of grief falling over him.

KTY: future. but u aint subtle

WSH: Am I that obvious?

KTY: maine was pretty proud about how u like big guys

Tucker expected Wash to message him back right away, but he hesitated for almost a full minute. Tucker’s anxiety increased with every tick.

WSH: Is that what he said?

KTY: ye, u never mentioned u guys were a thing, so im guessing u 2 are done?

Tucker totally wasn’t jealous, obviously. But it was weird. It wasn’t just that Maine and Wash fucked, but that Wash had to work with him as the Meta. That had to be some major trauma, and Wash had never told him about it. He talked about it with the pain of someone who saw their friend lose themselves, but not an ex. Tucker couldn’t help but wonder if something happened to himself, that Wash would later talk about him like an unfortunate buddy that didn’t see the other side of a war. A person that everyone in armor had lost. If Tucker lost Wash, it wouldn’t be something anyone could relate too. Wash wasn’t just a friend with benefit, it hurt his core if that all Tucker was. Just another thing that made the distance between them feel larger.
WSH: Yeah, it was very short lived. We’re better team mates.
Tucker let out a breath he didn’t realize was trapped in his chest.
WSH: That’s all he said?

KTY: ya?

Wash didn’t respond for a second.
Afraid that Washington would drop the conversation all together, he checked his earth calendar for the date.

KTY: ramadan is coming up, u already fast from last year?
Again, Washington didn’t respond, just stared down at his data pad. Washington had fasted every year since Tucker knew him, following the Earth calendar for sunrise/sunset of his hometown since the sun didn’t set in Valhalla. It was easier on Chorus, with an earth like day/night cycle and a considerable Muslim population. Still, he admitted to Tucker that during his youth, he had put off fasting for a few months, telling Tucker he just had to do his month before the next Ramadan. Tucker didn’t think it was a big deal, but maybe Wash felt differently now? Maybe he felt caught? It was hard enough to find time for praying and fasting on Chorus, but from what he saw there was an even smaller Muslim population on the MOI.Eventually, Washington typed out a reply.

WSH: How did you know I was Muslim?

Tucker cocked his head in confusion.

KTY: uh bc u are? always have been?

WSH: Oh. No one here knows.

KTY: rly? wtf. its not a secret in the future

WSH: There’s not really a place for that here, I haven’t fasted since I joined the military.

WSH: I pick it up again in the future?

Tucker wanted so badly to tell Wash that the Reds and Blues started keeping timers on their HUDs for all the times Wash had to pray just so people would stop asking where he would run off too all day, and the times he made Tucker brush his teeth after eating pork before kissing him.

KTY: ya, its nbd. u wear out that prayer rug and everything. u still drink tho

WSH: That’s good to know.

WSH: Thanks Tucker.

KTY: r people giving u shit for it here?

Tucker was already thinking of ways to to tear people a new one by the time Washington responded.
WSH: No, I’ve never told anyone. There’s no place for religion on the MOI.

KTY: really? thats wild, i guess especially since carolina makes us go hard at passover

WSH: Carolina is Jewish?

Shit.

KTY: man, u guys rly pretend ur not people

KTY: forget i said anything

Wash waited a second before responding.

WSH: Maybe I will fast. You know, pretend I’m a person.

KTY: if u can manage dude, dont sprain anything

Washington laughed again, but CT didn’t seem to notice. It felt like he was with his Wash again. Tucker didn’t feel the irritation and frustration he had felt with their interactions since being here. There were little things, like his perfect texting and light ribbing that were the same. Just because Tucker’s entire person hood pretty much developed since joining the military, doesn’t mean that Wash’s did. Maybe Wash is pretty much the same person he always was. More realistically, since working with the Meta and the time he’s known Tucker, he’s been trying to get back to this version of himself.
That thought left a weird taste in his mouth. Tucker thought they were both growing together, feeling out the future and leaning on each other like a three legged race. But maybe Wash knew where he was going and who he was going to be, and was just waiting to see if Tucker was still compatible with that person. It simultaneously made him want to impress the man across from him, and throw his data pad at his head.
Wash was typing out a message, one Tucker probably would have passive aggressively ignored in another confused tantrum, but was saved by the announcement they were docking at the Mother of Invention.—Tucker didn’t go to the debriefing with CT and Wash. He planned to let CT take over and just ask her what their cover story was later. The Director as for sure going to tear him a new one later for missing this debriefing, but he went on the mission and it was a success so it shouldn’t be that bad right?
Tucker headed straight to the locker room, hanging up his armor and assessing the damage. It was damp all over, and could seriously used a blow dryer. He felt the chill of it in his still damp Kevlar under suit. He was day dreaming about the shower he was going to heat up in when South grabbed the back of his neck and shoved him face first into the metal locker.
Tucker nose collided first, making a bang so loud he thought maybe his tore his stitches on his still vulnerable ear lobe. Pain exploded in his face, the kind that disorients you so much it takes a second to even bring a hand to his face.
A glob of blood ran down the back of his throat as the rest flowed freely down his nose.
“What the fuck!?” He shouted, mouth muffled by his hands. His mouth tasted of iron, Tucker realizing that not only his nose bleeding, but his lip. He was choking on blood from both ends, and had to cough into his hand.
“What the FUCK did I tell you about the leader board!?” South shouted right in his face.
South looked ready to grab Tucker again, but she was stopped by North. Face as calm as still water, he wrapped both huge arms around his sisters torso. He didn’t look much better than Tucker; His face was bleeding and pale eyes heavy and pained. She barely noticed, just struggling clumsily against his grip, eyes trained on Tucker like a dog chained to a post.
“What the fuck are you on!?” Tucker shouted, futile wiping blood from his face, most likely only succeeding in smearing it everywhere.
“South, enough.” North said, tightening his grip. It was more of a command that fell on his sister’s deaf ears.
“You’re full of shit, Kentucky!” South shouted. Everything was too loud, too fast. Wash was there, to North’s side, too cautious to approach but treating South like a wild animal Tucker knew she wasn’t.
CT stalked by, throwing her helmet hard across the room in the vague direction of her locker. Tucker was convinced she cracked it, and locker door denting deeply.CT didn’t stop, just wiped her face and kept walking. Was she… crying?
Carolina was in his face, putting herself between South and Tucker. She held out a hand, to both of them, like Tucker was in anyway a threat and not a passive fountain of blood. The salt of the tears that force their way out of his eyes from the trauma was still flowing. He unsuccessfully wiped those away to.
“South! Enough!” She echoed North. Unlike North, she turned to Tucker, angry, like he was doing anything. “Kentucky, come with me. Now.”
“Man, the fuck did I do?” He asked through hands.
“I said now!” Carolina said again.
“Fine! Fuck, I’m coming!” Tucker said, willing to do anything to get people to stop yelling at him and get away from South.
He followed Carolina dutifully, leaving his armor despite her being in hers. He looked back, Wash watching them leave, North's uncovered face unreadable. He let go of his sister, who shoved his arms away. Tucker thought for a second that she would come for him again. Instead, she clenched her hands and turned away, kicking CT’s helmet along the way.
Tucker focused on the pain in his nose, praying it wasn’t broken. His under suit was too tight and had no give to bring to his nose, so he was forced to see the blood drip from his face and onto the floor. He tried instead to wipe his hands on his suit and bring them back to his face, but it didn’t soak up as much as he needed. Carolina kept looking back at him, liked he was about to bolt, or attack, or was doing anything but be led like a kid sent to the principal’s office. Hell, with how disoriented Tucker was, she could probably lead him to a window and toss him out.
Eventually, she brought him to a door that opened with a whoosh. She stepped aside, motioning him to step forward before her. Now he hesitated, looking at him warily. He couldn’t see her face, but knew she was scowling.The room was even darker than the usual ominous Freelancer lighting. The Director’s face was shadowed, his sharp pale features jutting out to give him a skeletal appearance.
“Hey, wanna tell me South made my face menstruate?” Tucker asked.
“Agent Kentucky!” Carolina nearly shouted.

“Settle down, Carolina,” The Director said, and she did at a startling pace. “You should be aware by now Agent Kentucky and I have a different understanding than you and the other agents.”
“Sir?” Carolina asked in a completely different, more passive tone.
“I can be a dick to him, but in private,” Tucker explained, distracted. “Welcome to the peep show I guess.”
Carolina stayed silent, but her posture wasn’t the usual stiffness.
“I repeat; What the fuck?” Tucker asked.The Director didn’t even scowl as intensely as usual. Instead, he reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a handkerchief, handing it to Tucker. Tucker stared at it like it was going to bite him. For all he knew this was laced with a poison or was going to be used to clone him later. But considering his nose and lip hadn’t fully clotted yet, he took it anyways.
“Agent South Dakota will be reprimanded accordingly-“
“Ugh, seriously?” Tucker groaned.
“You have requested I do not ‘play games,’” The Director said. “So I will treat this infraction as if you were any other agent. In that vein, I have updated the leader board. This should explain her behavior,” The Director gestured to the projection on the wall behind him.
The leader board displayed the rankings as they were before the mission, with Carolina in first place, Wash in last, and South nestled comfortably in third. A scrambling of numbers, as arbitrary to Tucker as if he was playing bingo, and names were rearranged.
Top place was still Carolina, no surprise. Second was York, for whatever accomplishments Tucker had
not seen. North was pushed to fourth, South removed completely. Wash was kept in his place at fifth.
Agent Kentucky sat at third.
“Oh, come the fuck on,” Tucker groaned. “Are you serious? What happened to no games?”“Since you seem to be lost, let’s review,” The Director said, his voice getting hard. “You not only single handedly prevented a fire fight fueled entirely by miscommunication, arrogance, and unforeseen circumstances, you succeeded in doing so stealthily. All things Agent South Dakota did not even attempt.”“Okay, what about CT? Why isn’t she on the board?” Tucker asked.
“From what I’ve heard, you are well aware of the flaws in Agent Connecticut directives. Your concerns that were ignored.” The Director pointed out.
“Fuck, okay,” Tucker said. “Riddle me this, why is Wash still up there?” Tucker blew his nose again, and a new trickle of blood started.
“That, I admit, is more personal,” The Director said. “His integrity was admirable. He informed me immediately of the events of this mission. Something I’m not positive Agent Connecticut planned on disclosing.”
Tucker tense and clenched his hand. Of fucking course. Boy Scout Washington just had to be a Good Samaritan and out Tucker, despite Tucker being pretty fucking clear he didn’t want credit.
“Man, if the whole fucking point is to, like, grade skill and shit,” Tucker said. “Then you should put me dead last.”
The Director stared at Tucker, not so much evaluating. He even looked… confused? “Agent Kentucky. You were handed the necessary data by the enemy themselves. Skills here are not only measured in physical aptitude. We are driven by results.”
“Dude, it was pure fucking luck,” Tucker said firmly.
“Then luck is a skill you seem to have honed,” The Director responded quickly. “I am upholding the terms of our agreement. No games. If you’d like to renegotiate, I will consider it. But if these are the results of your actions, I will decline.”
Tucker rubbed his tongue lightly over the wound in his lip. It was going to really mess up how meals for the next couple of days. He wanted to yell, or to complain, but he was just tired now.“I… Whatever,” Tucker sighed. He shook his head, over come with the want to peel off his moist suit and lie down on the floor of a hot shower. “Just, whatever. Am I dismissed?”The Director perked up, barely noticeable. “Thank you for asking. You are.”Tucker hadn’t even realized he actually asked permission. His stomach twisted, but his continuously dampened mood didn’t like a fire inside of him. He turned and walked away.Of course, Wash was waiting for him.
Of course, Carolina followed.“Can you both just leave me the fuck alone?” Tucker muttered. He kept walking, sluggish and unsteady. Seemed like his legs hadn't solidified yet. Washington and Carolina easily kept up.“Kentucky, you expect me to believe that the enemy just handed you that drive?” Carolina hissed.“Why don’t you ask Wash, since he’s so fucking eager to give everyone the play-by-play,”Tucker said, not even able to force the venom he wished.“Carolina, it’s true,” Washington said quickly. “We need to put together an actual debrief, but there’s not way that Tucker double crossed us, it was way to close. It was luck, and fast thinking.”“Washington, I don’t trust your judgment,” Carolina snapped. “You get too caught up in your friendships, you keep forgetting that this is a job. We have to be held accountable for each other.”“I am!” Wash reiterated. “You need to listen to us! We could take notes, I don’t think any one of us could have gotten away without firing a shot.”“If you are insinuating that Kentucky is in any way more qualified-““I’m not! I’m just saying-“Tucker’s toe caught on the barely-there crack in the floor. It sent him tumbling, straight to the floor.His nose hit the floor again, and fresh blood blocked his airways again. He blew out, spraying blood on the ground, thick with mucus and hanging down his face. It was disgusting, and painful, and an necessary and preventable incident in front of his two least favorite people in the world right now.He had wanted nothing more than for them to shut up, but now their silence hurt. Tucker felt fucking embarrassed. He was tired and frustrated and had tripped on nothing and was covered in gross body fluids.
Tucker didn’t even want to get up, barely enough energy to push up on his elbows. His throat was closing up and he might have just stayed there, but a hand wrapped around his fore arm and gently pulled him up. He expected to see Wash’s grey gauntlet, but it was cyan.Carolina helped him to his feet like he weighed nothing, settling him upright. Washington grabbed his other arm, and Tucker leaned his weight on him. Tucker wished they had just left him on the floor, to either die or nap, whichever would come when he closed his eyes.“Kentucky?” Carolina asked.“He’s exhausted,” Washington said, and Tucker didn’t bother speaking for himself. “He was out in negative temperatures, and was out of suit for the entire mission.”“I’ll call a medic-““No,” Tucker finally groaned, wrapping his arm around Wash’s shoulder’s for support. “I just need to fucking shower and lie down. Just… Can I do that?”
Carolina nodded, her leader instincts seeming to kick in. “Of course, go. But we’re not done here.”“Okay.” Tucker said, and turned his way. Washington began walking, dragging Tucker along.Exhaustion was making Tucker delirious, and probably would have asked his Wash to carry him at this point. He stopped himself, just let Wash lead him.Tucker’s eyes were growing heavy, and he wasn’t listening to Wash’s repeated reassurances that they were nearly to the showers. Tucker couldn’t even make a shower sex joke, he just nodded.“Can you take off your helmet?” Tucker asked. “I feel like I’m talking to a trash can.”With his free hand, Wash took of his helmet. Tucker almost asked him to put it back on; He forgot that it wasn’t his rugged and aged Wash under there, but this baby faced man who’s bleached hair stuck to his sweaty forehead.Tucker swallowed that complaint, and kept walking. It was starting to feel like the showers didn’t even exist until they reached the washrooms, a room that was thankfully marked. The door wooshed open, and Wash didn’t let go until Tucker was at the stall.TThe stalls were just concrete walls that sat between the different faucets. Tucker was blocked in the cube of walls that reached his shoulder. The stalls were lined up against the wall, where everyone’s head’s would still be visible but their bodies blocked. No curtains completely closed off the stalls, and Tucker still wondered where the private bathrooms were, because there was no way in hell the Director was getting naked in here with only the honor system keeping his privates private.The bathroom was blessedly empty, their every step echoing. Washington didn’t leave, but stepped aside so Tucker’s body would be out of view for his shower. He began removing his own armor quickly, keeping a wary eye on Tucker, like he was about to keel over.So many dirty jokes he was letting fly by. Tucker really was fucked up.Tucker didn’t strip first, instead turning the faucet. He was being smart, proactive. Let the water heat up before he sat under it until it boiled his muscles into jelly.He would strip his under suit in the meantime, maybe even get some of the blood out now.He turned the knob.Nothing happened.Tucker frowned. He tried the knob again. Nothing.He tried it again, nothing. He stared at the knob.
There were a dozen shower stalls here, and he picked the one that was fucking broken.
He had listened to the one conversation that exposed the Great Birthday Plan.He found the one girl on that site that was flirting with the one guy that could give him the flash drive.He had befriended the one person so volatile and so victimized she would attack him for moving up the leader board.He had found the one guy he wanted to spend the rest of his stupid days with in the past.“Tucker? Are you okay?”Tucker turned 180, squeezing his eyes shut and finally acknowledging the pressure behind them, the prickling that forced tears out. Wash walked back towards the stall, worried, so that he blocked Tucker's exit. Tucker accepted that the lump in his throat wasn’t from the screaming or the blood but his mounted frustration turning into sobs. Ugly, gross sobs aided by the mucus he was producing, making his hiccups sound like he was choking.On instinct, he squeezed his eyes closed and leaned forward, knowing Washington would catch him.
Washington caught him.It wasn’t the same. Washington didn’t wrap his arms tight around Tucker, squeezing him in. Washington didn’t bring his lips to Tucker’s forehead, didn’t press them against his hair and mutter comforting nonsense. His arms didn’t fit the same. He brought up
a hand to Tucker’s shoulder awkwardly.But he caught him.Tucker tucked his face into Wash’s neck, ugly crying out his anger and frustration and pain and highs and lows. He threw one arm up around Wash’s neck, the other on his waist, pulling him as close to himself as he could. Hesitantly, Wash wrapped his arms around Tucker’s torso, not as sure and tight as he should but none the less Tucker was held.It was either an hour or a minute that Tucker sobbed audibly into Wash’s neck. The pain in his throat shrank, and he could breath without hiccuping again. His cries turned into deep, open mouth inhales and exhales, and a feeling of depleted euphoria was creeping in on him. Exhaustion still, but with the relief of not having to hold himself together with what felt like thread and chewed gum.He became more aware that he was in Wash’s space, which couldn’t have been too fun, but couldn’t make himself let go. He smelled like his Wash. Maybe not the stink of Chorus and maybe with the scent of fancy soap, but still Wash.“Tucker…” Wash started, and Tucker tried to collect himself without letting go.
“Your guy in the future,” Wash continued. “It’s me, isn’t it?”Tucker’s shoulder tensed. Denial didn’t occur to him, and he wouldn’t even if it had. He nodded into Wash’s neck. Opening his eyes, he saw Wash’s neck was stained red.“I’m sorry,” Wash murmured, turning his lips, finally, into Tucker’s hair.“I know,” Tucker said, at least feeling confident in his knowledge of this Wash to say that.Washington relaxed into the hug more, leaving his hands on Tucker’s waist. He was warm, running warmer than Tucker expected. Tucker let out a laugh.“Dude,” He said, clearing his throat and not pulling away. Washington shivered at the breath on his neck. “You run so fucking cold in the future. You need to watch your iron levels or something.”“Maybe you just lost a lot of blood,” Wash said gently.“Maybe you just look for a reason to get in my bed,” Tucker countered.It felt nice to bicker, but Washington tensed up. Tucker frowned, and pulled away. Wash was blushing, and his brows were pulled together.“I’m… I’m not…” Washington started.
Luckily, Tucker was cried out. He was emotionally empty, couldn’t have his heartbroken right now if he tried. He removed his hands from Wash’s body.“I know. It’s not your problem. Don’t worry about it,” Tucker sniffed. He pushed back Wash, not wanting to looked at whatever expression was painted on his face.“Tucker, you don’t-““Wash, I get it,” Tucker said, simply stepping into the next stall. He turned the knob, and the water spit out with a hiss, ice cold. Tucker held a hand under it, letting it run until it was hot and steaming. “You’re not him, I know. It’s cool. Thanks for the hug. Mind giving me some space? I don’t strip for free.”Tucker forced his voice to be light, smothering the pain. He didn’t look up at Wash, but stayed focus on the spray of water, slowly warming up. He heard Wash gather his armor and leave, right when the water was at a comfortable temperature.Tucker felt lighter. He felt better. He stripped off the nasty suit, grimacing at the stained water that ran off it.In the shower, his mind was blank, burnt out by the day. But he was still aware of a change in himself, a change in the air he breathed. Like the storm of if, if, ifs had lessened to just a windy day. Uncertainty and stress would remain, but his head felt less like a battle field. He got the closure he didn’t realize he needed.He ran a hand over his braids, frizzy and unkempt with a chunk still undone, and made a decision.By the end of the night and after a trip to the med bay, Tucker dropped into his bed. His braids were probably swept up off the the floor and discarded. Nikki, the doctor, had asked him a least five times if he was sure about the buzz, and each time Tucker felt more sure. He ran a hand over his cleaned up edges, stroking back and forth on the freshly cropped bristles that grew into a thicker and longer the higher onto his scalp it went. He hadn’t had his hair cropped like this since basic.
Tucker thinks that’s the first night he really slept since he became Kentucky.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Tucker holed himself away for the next few days. Maine was more than happy to help him out with his hand-to-hand, mostly because Tucker was one of the smallest guys there and was the funniest to knock around.
(‘Ah, fuck,’ Tucker groaned, rolling on his side after being literally lifted and smacked down onto the mat. The slap of his body hitting the ground was deceptively loud, the force being absorbed by the soft parts of himself and not his skull for a change. York’s lessons on taking a punch were paying off.

Still. Rolling over and whining didn’t hurt.

Maine signed something Tucker didn’t get. He was looming over him and upside down, the overhead lights of the training room blocking out his features to

Tucker. Definitely not because of the black spots in his vision.

‘Didn’t catch that. Are you saying I’m getting better and your scared I’ll kick your ass soon?’ Tucker asked, smiling weakly.

Maine bent down and hoisted Tucker up to his feet, nearly by the scruff of his neck. He kept his hand firmly on Tucker’s shoulder, and got in his face, smirking. Tucker was panting, breathing in smell of sweat and soap rolling off Maine, and honestly was about two seconds away from a hard on.

Maine finger spelled ‘funsize’.

‘Fuck you!” Tucker laughed, pushing his hands away. ‘I’m king sized where it matters!’)
Or with North.
(‘Maybe it’s for the best you quit with the sniper rifle,’ North said, holding his own at their firing range.

‘Why? Is it that I couldn’t use it on the mission, or because I was shot twice last time I practiced with it?’ Tucker said, fiddling with his sights.

‘No, I think you’re just bad,’ North admitted. ‘Just stick to a pistol.’

‘Man, this is such a fucking let down!’ Tucker nearly cried.

‘You can’t use a sword long range anyways,’ North shrugged. ‘You’d be wasting your talents.’

Tucker looked at him. ‘You should be in a preschool somewhere teaching self esteem to some ugly kid.’

North cocked his head to the side. ‘In this economy?’)
Or York.
(‘This one-on-one training is putting me in a real bind with Carolina,’ York said, holding a baton out, adjusting his grip and preparing for their spar.

‘I’ve gotten my ass beaten enough time to stay away from this phrase, but dude. You are whipped,’ Tucker said, stretching out his fingers around his sword handle.

‘I’m just a smart man,’ York countered. ‘Smart enough to not piss off his leader.’

‘Smart enough to not fumble a red head Amazon,’ Tucker grinned.

York didn’t fight back, just laughed. ‘Alright, remember that all that stays between us.’

‘I like the image of Carolina between us.’

‘Watch it.’)
It was a few days before Tucker found himself eating in the mess hall, pulling up next to Ohio, and across from Idaho and Iowa.Silence all around, Tucker not even noticing until he was opening a bag of chips.“What?” Tucker asked. His hand flew to his head, the biggest source of self consciousness since Nikki had shaved off his braids. He constantly felt like he was forgetting something. “Oh, my hair? Does it look bad?”“Why are you sitting with us?” Idaho asked carefully.“Uh, because I thought you guys were cool with it?” Tucker asked. He looked around at the other occupied tables. “I mean, if I sit with Carolina she’ll probably stab my eye out, and I guess I could eat alone if you’re gonna be a dick-““Didn’t we shoot you in the head?” Iowa asked. “Or what that a dream?”“Oh, no that for sure happened,” Tucker said, bringing his fingers to his ear. It didn’t hurt and was mostly attached, but deformed and lumpy. “You didn’t shoot me, these two dicks did.”“And I’m so sorry!” Ohio cried out, like she had been holding that apology for days. Her eyebrows knit together in a look of almost comical remorse.“Dude, it’s no big deal,” Tucker waved a hand. “Stop being weird about it.”“I promise, it’ll never happen again!” She shook her head furiously, so hard Tucker thought she might sprain something.“Yeah, I fucking hope so,” Tucker laughed once. “Me and my buddies pull this shit all the time, at least you’re sorry.”“But you’re on the leader board now,” Idaho pointed out. “Shouldn’t you be with the other single digits?”“Oh,” Tucker said. “Nah.”“Nah?” Idaho repeated.“Eh, I’ve got a history of getting too cocky. Trying to play it cool,” Tucker shrugged. He gave a sly grin anyways. “I mean, it is pretty sick to be number three. Boo-yah.”For all the shit it gave him, and for all the glares he got from South, and for all the maturing he’s done, Tucker couldn’t help but feel a little more pride every time he saw his name on the leader board. He was kind of getting the appeal; It was the same thrill he got in high school on the track team, something he hadn’t felt since he broke his ankle jumping that fence that ruined his scholarship. Sure, he wasn’t about to kill anyone to stay on the leader board, but he had the strange urge to call up his parents about it.Ohio leaned in. “Is it true that you snuck into the base and posed as their captain?”“And you hypnotized them and they gave you the intel?” Iowa continued.“And there was chocolate cake?” Idaho finished.“It was carrot cake,” Tucker corrected. “And I just posed as the AC repairman. I had a lot of training from years of quality porn.”Idaho laughed, and Ohio finally dropped that look of astonishment and admiration, crinkling her nose.“Ew, really?” She asked, the magic of the fabled mission shattering in real time.“Yeah, and the only reason they gave me the intel was the guy that had it was in a rush to go bang one of his coworkers,” Tucker continued. “Horniness saved the day twice in one mission.”“Yeck, men are so gross,” Ohio said.“Oh please,” Tucker scoffed. “Like you wouldn’t do the same for some hot chick.”Ohio didn’t say anything, but flicked her eyes to the side. Right at South, who was arguing about something with North.“No. Fucking. Way,” Tucker laughed. He leaned in to keep his voice down. “South!? Really?”“Shut up!” Ohio hushed him.“It’s so dumb,” Idaho said, rolling his eyes. “She’s such an asshole to us.”“One time South took Ohio’s helmet off and grabbed her by the throat to yell at her for being stupid and Ohio pretended to cry to leave but then spent a really long time in the shower.”“Iowa!”“Oh, you’re into that,” Tucker grinned. He leaned back, trying not to laugh. “Damn, Ohio. I thought I made poor decisions.”“I- I. Whatever!” Ohio crossed her arms, pouting. “It’s not like I’m going to do anything about it.”“If you do, can I watch?” Tucker joked.Ohio actually shoved him now, hard enough to nearly knock Tucker off his seat. Her mouth hung open slightly in surprised, like she didn’t think she was capable of that. Tucker rubbed his shoulder, smiling.“Hey, that’s the third best Freelancer’s shoulder,” Tucker joked. “I could probably throw you ass first into the coffee machine for that.”“If you do, can I watch?” Idaho said.At that, the table laughed, even Iowa who may or may not have been really following what was happening. Even Ohio, who never seemed to fully relax, was laughing with as much enthusiasm as she did everything else in her life.Out of the corner of Tucker’s eye, he saw movement of blond.He hadn’t seen Washington at all in since their moment in the shower. Tucker expected him to keep seeking him out, but hadn’t even seen him in the halls. Now, in his fatigues and clutching a metal tray, he looked right at Tucker, and looked away.It didn’t hurt that much anymore, Tucker realized. Looking at Wash didn’t light up frustration or some sort of pressure that Tucker couldn’t pinpoint. It stung, of course, and Tucker was spending most nights falling asleep thinking about Wash, but it was a calm sort of mourning. Like an acceptance, he thought, along with the relief of his ‘secret’ being out in the open.That scene in the shower was about as close as Tucker could ever get to saying goodbye. Even if the Church family had a moral opposition to the act, Tucker still needed it, and felt better. Maybe if one of the Church’s tried it, there would be a lot less human rights violations going on.Glancing at the triplets, he noticed the pain he proudly relieved himself of had migrated. They looked at Wash like Tucker had; With longing and loneliness. From what Wash had told Tucker in the future, they were all thick as thieves before he went up the leader board. Washington had a lot of regrets; Tucker wondered where this one, something so easily resolvable, landed on the list.Which was fucking stupid, because it was just so easily resolvable.“I’ll be right back,” Tucker said, hopping up from his seat.Tucker didn’t give anyone time to object, and quickly made his way across the room. Wash’s eyes grew rounder that closer he got, and Tucker had to be quick before Wash ran away.“Tucker, hey,” Wash said instead, clearing his throat awkwardly. He was too tense and stick straight, it was weird. “Er, what can I help you with today?”“Stop being weird, you sound like a cashier,” Tucker said, his tone far friendlier than anything he’s used against Wash since being here. “Listen, you should make time for them. Ohio, Iowa and Idaho.”Washington eased a bit, but looked more confused. “That’s… Random.”“It’s really not,” Tucker said. “Look, it’s not like the fucking world’s going to end if you don’t be nice to your friends, but it’s still shitty you dropped them. It’s such a dick move.”“I’ve just been really busy-““Cut the shit, Wash,” Tucker snapped. “Don’t lie, just go. They miss you, dude, and I bet you missed them. I’ll go take dinner in my room if it means you’ll sit with them. But do it.”Washington glanced between the triplets and Tucker, and Tucker worried that maybe he had fucked things up further. Washington took broke, his voice soft.“They… Aren’t they mad? They can’t want me around, not after I’ve been so distant.” He asked lowly to Tucker.“Yeah, I think they are,” Tucker said, and Washington took a sharp inhale. “Except Iowa, I’m not sure he is 100% aware of the world in general. But Ohio and Idaho are pissed. You should still do it.”“They won’t forgive me, they won’t want me there,” Wash protested weakly, insecurity evident.Tucker stared at him.“I forgot you had that whole grudge complex,” Tucker said. Wash looked at him like he had been slapped.“What?”“That you can hold a crazy grudge,” Tucker said. The name Cecil Kyle was running around his head, but he shoved that tragic back story aside. “Like, clinically butt hurt. Not everyone’s like you, dude. They’ll forgive you. Or not, I don’t know. But you should give them the choice.”
Washington studied Tucker’s face, looking for who knows what. Eventually he nodded. “Alright.”“Cool,” Tucker nodded back, his chest light from his good deed of the day. “I’ll grab my tray and clear out.”“No!” Wash almost shouted. Tucker paused, looking at him curiously.“No,” Wash cleared his throat, composing himself. “You don’t have to go, it’s fine.”“Are you sure?”Tucker asked. “It’s not a big deal, everyone wants a piece of number three,” He joked. His cockiness as a defense mechanism was creeping in again, but it worked.Wash smiled, calming down bit by bit. “I’m sure. I have to make sure you don’t embellish your story too much.”“Fine, whatever,” Tucker shrugged. “I was totally going to make you and CT look semi-competent, but you can tell them about how you got caught in that closet.”Wash laughed, and followed Tucker. “I was stuck in a closet for fifteen years, another hour was nothing.”Tucker didn’t let Wash meander, and walked briskly back to their table. He was settled back into his seat, but Wash hung around, unsure where to sit. All three sets of eyes were on him.“You lost?” Idaho asked, as tough and cold as he could manage. Wash noticed, but didn’t run.“No, I was just… Hoping to catch up with you guys,” Wash said. He finally sat at the head of the table, barely acknowledging his dinner. “I know I’ve… neglected you guys. Lately.”“Neglected? We’re not houseplants,” Ohio muttered, but keeping her head raised.“No, you’re not. It was a… Dick move.” Wash repeated Tucker’s phrase.Wash looked to Tucker for support, like he was doing apologies wrong or something. Tucker maybe should have let the triplets torture Wash a little more, but he doubted anyone with a conscious could let this go on.“It might help if you grab Ohio by the neck and scream in her face,” Tucker suggested.Tucker felt a jab to his side. “Tucker!” She whined.“What? Is it all blonds or just the one’s who hate you?” Tucker ribbed.Ohio’s dark skin was getting redder. “You’re guys are mean!”Wash looked between the two of them, then at South who was wrapped up in a conversation across the room, completely unaware of the gossip being spilled.“Wait, South? South Dakota?”“I don’t get it either,” Idaho sighed. Tucker could hear the jealousy, and actually felt sorry for him.“I mean,” Wash thought it over. “It’s not like you don’t have a chance?”Ohio’s scowl disappeared, and she perked up. “Wait, really?” She leaned towards Wash.“She is a lesbian,” Wash said.“And probably likes being a masochist,” Tucker said.“And that one time you were in the shower for a long time South was in the other bathroom's shower a long time,” Iowa said. “I remember because I had to go to the other side of the ship to pee and almost didn’t make it.“Ah! Iowa! TMI! Can we please talk about something else?!” Ohio said, dropping her face into her arms on the table. She wasn’t able to hide the peak of a smile from Tucker.The men all laughed, even Idaho. As Tucker predicted, they thawed to Wash within minutes.Wash cleared his throat. “Er, Ramadan’s coming up,” He started. The table turned their attention to him.Wash looked like he was expecting some sort of negative reaction, some sort of dismissal. “I’ll be fasting for a month. Which will be… Fun.”“Like, all day?” Idaho asked.“Daytime, yeah. But I break at night.”“Aw, does that mean late night snacks!?” Iowa gasped.Wash immediately chuckled. “For you guys, I’m probably going to do way more than snacking.”“Where do you pray towards?” Ohio asked. “Doesn’t it have to be towards something?”“Yeah, Mecca,” Wash said. He had some excitement reaching his voice, like he’s been dying to talk about this part of himself for a while. “But just Earth’s direction is fine here, we have a compass towards it in our HUDs”“Every day?” She asked.“Five times a day, yeah,” Wash nodded, smiling and leaning his elbows on the table. “Did you know we run on Earth’s Central Day Time here? I think I’ll be running on Pacific time.”“Why?” Idaho asked.“That’s the time Washington’s in,” Tucker said. “The real state.”“Oooh,” The triplets said in chorus.Tucker didn’t mention that it’s also where Wash was from, and when his sisters and parents would be praying as well. But that wasn't something Tucker thought Wash would want to casually reveal in the same breath as Ohio fucking South in some sort praying Mantis type scenario. The smile the two exchanged while the conversation continued elsewhere was enough.The easiness of the meal was nice, so nice distracting they didn’t notice the increasing rush of people leaving the mess hall until someone elbowed him in the back of the head.“The fuck?” Tucker asked, stepping out of his seat. He grabbed a random person by the arm. “What the hell is going on?”“New agent is sparring with Wyoming, York and Maine!” They nearly shouted.“All three of them?” Washington asked.“Yeah! She’s a total bad ass!” The guy said, pulling away and continuing their sprint.She.“Who could…?” Wash started.Tucker pushed away from the table and started running. He felt his heart racing, and he pushed past everyone else making their way to the training room. Everyone else had to watch from screens outside, but Tucker punched in his code to the observation decks door. He didn’t even wait for it to open all the way before slipping inside, and bound up the stairs two at a time.A handful of the agents were already there, milling about and watching through the long windows that rimmed the training room. Tucker didn’t even take stock of who was there, just pushed and slipped past everyone until his pressed himself up against the glass.He had never been so happy to see black armor in his life.“Yooo, that’s my fucking girl!” He shouted in glee, banging his palms on the glass. “Let’s fucking go!”“You know her?” Carolina asked, suddenly by Tucker’s side, crossing her arms.“Know her?” Tucker scoffed. “That’s Tex! The back of my skull probably has her name stamped in there! She’s cracked my ribs enough, I could practically suck my own dick!”“Oh my God,” North said in disgust.“Why are you happy to see her?” Wash asked, trailed by the rest of their table.“Great, the triplets are here,” South rolled her eyes.Ohio’s eyes widened, and she pursed her lips.“Uh, because she’s my friend?” Tucker answered Wash. “Dude, this is going to be fucking awesome. Tex is a beast.”The match started, and Tex did not disappoint in the slightest.York, Wyoming and Maine never fucked around, and would never go easy on anyone. York and Maine didn’t even go easy on Tucker in training, with the latter not being nearly as helpful with his tips. Tucker had picked up that as much as he got along with the brute, at the end of the day, Wyoming and him would still revel in winning. Having first hand knowledge of all that, Tucker still would have bet his life that Tex would win every round.Tex was going to be so pissed he didn’t start a betting pool before the matches.With every win, Tucker whooped. Tucker couldn’t think of a more creative fighter if he tried. Every back flip she did or punch she threw was like fucking art, and it felt so good to not be on the receiving end. He was hopping up and down by the time she reached double digits.“That’s how we do it on Blue Team!” Tucker smacked the glass again when Tex managed to trick Wyoming into shooting Maine with that purple goop that locked up their armor. That purple goop that stung like a bitch, and always seemed to lock him in the most embarrassing poses, as evident by York's selfies.“She might be better than you, Carolina,” South instigated.“South, knock that shit off!” Tucker said, not tearing his eyes off the match. “You’re ruining your shot with Ohio!”“Tucker!” Ohio hissed, mortified.“Ohio?” South asked, whipping her head to Ohio.“Ohio,” North said, a smile audible.“Right here!” Iowa said helpfully, pointing to his friend.“Oh my God, I’m going to die,” Ohio whispered, covering her face with her hands.Tucker barely had time to feel bad that Ohio was one of the only other people out of armor, but was distracted when Tex literally threw York into both Maine and Wyoming, toppling them all over.“God damn, that one fucking hurts,” Tucker winced. “She’s going easy on them, she used to do this thing where she’d hit the back of my head, then wait until I fell face first into the dirt, then keep hitting me with the butt of her rifle. That shit used to happen for hours.”“Sorry, maybe I didn’t hear you right, she’s your friend?” North asked.“That’s fucking right!” Tucker laughed.Tucker was so swept up in the delight of having Tex back and her fucking with someone besides him, he didn’t really think much about the difference in weaponry Wyoming and Maine were using. Not until the next shot made him jump out of his skin. It was like a firework, the sound triggering everyone in the room to stand at attention.“What the fuck?” Tucker asked.The energy in the room shifted, Carolina leaned forward.“Are they using live ammo?” Washington asked.Tex and York seemed just as surprises,
but Tex was quicker. She dodged expertly, continuously shooting and freezing Maine and Wyoming. The two only become more frustrated, the sound of their grinding teeth almost audible.People were chattering around them; Iowa confused half-shouting, CT making a few snippy remarks, South bickering with her brother. The only people seeming to be fully focused on the match was him and Carolina.“Carolina, we gotta stop them,” Tucker said. Something was wrong, like he was hurtling towards an ending that he should know but couldn’t remember.“What’s wrong?” Carolina asked, in uncharacteristic attention. “What’s going to happen?”“Allison!” The Director shouted, and Tucker was suddenly pushed away from the glass. He fell into Carolina, who caught him. She was distracted by her father’s reaction, startled by his concern.Tucker saw York fall, and he was not getting up. His throat caught when the grenade dropped from Maine’s hand, slowly rolling right to his face.“NO!” Tucker and Carolina shouted at the same time.Tucker and Carolina seemed to be the only two to have a decent reaction time, both running down the observation deck stairs and into the training room. Tucker yelped, and she gasped, both flinching at the barely muffled sound of the explosion and slight rumble through the walls.Tucker should know better than to enter this room without his suit, but it didn’t even occur to him. The training room’s brightness hurt his eyes, and he stumbled. Carolina raced forward, to where York was limp on the floor.His helmet was covered in… The purple crap? Stiffened into a rock?The medics were next, rushing in and past Tucker. Carolina helped them put York on the stretcher, his suit making him impossibly heavy for regular people. She trailed behind, throwing a look back to Tex, who stood solid. Tucker couldn’t see past her helmet, but knew it wasn’t good.“Tex!” Tucker shouted. “What the hell was that?”Texas turned towards him, cocking her head to the side. She stood still, watching him.Tucker felt exposed, and he realized all those times she beat him into a pulp were her holding back.There was another rush, of medics and personnel and the Director into the room. Even other agents, all swarming around Wyoming, Maine and Tex, going past Tucker like a stampede. Texas didn’t look away from him, keeping an unbreakable bond between the two of them.A shake of his arm, and he was being pulled back.“C’mon,” Wash said, breaking him out of the trance Tex had him under. No, not broken out of- Tex released him from.Tucker turned towards him. He had his helmet on, his voice tinted by the radio. Behind him was Ohio, looking overwhelmed but firm. Tucker almost shoved him off, but looking around the chaos, he felt lost. Was this how York died? Or was this how he survived?Tucker nodded, and let his friends pull him out of the training room.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Carolina didn’t leave York’s side. Tucker didn’t leave her’s.Kinda.“You’re still out here?” Washington asked.Tucker was on the floor outside the med bay, where he had been for the last six hours. His ass was so asleep he was jealous. He had only left once to get in his suit, feeling more and more naked the longer he was out of it, and getting dangerously close to chewing off his whole arm without a helmet and glove to stop him.Wash held out a hand, which Tucker took. His legs were like jello, but he was able to stand. “Apparently York is going to lose an eye, and I don’t want the first thing he see’s to be Carolina kicking my balls into my throat.”Wash was out of armor, and in his sleep wear. Tucker checked the clock in his HUD. “Shit, is it really that late?”“Yeah,” Wash looked towards the door of the med bay, as if they could see through it. “You know, it’s not going to make her feel any better to know you were this worried.”Tucker sighed, crossing his arms. He could tell Wash didn’t just mean Carolina. “Look, I don’t know what’s going to happen to York. I’ve been going fucking crazy here, like, trying to remember if anyone said anything about this.“Like, I don’t think York was supposed to die here, but an eye? I don’t remember anything about him missing in eye!” Tucker stared at the door. He brought up his fingers to his lips, but they clinked off his helmet. “Even if this did happen, it’s not like you and Carolina would crack jokes about it. God, you two are such fucking downers. Call him a pirate, or that jacking off really did make him go blind- Oh my God, one eyed soldier is right there-“"Tucker,” Wash cut him off. “Relax, what’s done is done. You freaking out isn’t going to make his eye grow back.”“Ha ha, now you’re funny,” Tucker dead panned. He clenched his hand like he was holding a stress ball he desperately needed to invest in. “What’s the fucking point of me being here if I let shit like this happen?”“You can’t stop everything,” Wash said, and Tucker wanted him to grab his hand again. He didn't. “Even if you knew everything that goes on here.”“Yeah, but if I can’t stop something like this, then how can I expect to save…” Tucker shook his head. He stared out of Wash from the corner of his eyes, careful not to move his head. Wash was unabashedly staring at Tucker, probably forming those wrinkles he’d grow into. “Save, just, everything. Fix everything.”“We're starting to think you’re too good for us,” Wash joked.“I have literally never heard that. Ever,” Tucker said. “If it was you or Carolina that got sent back here, or…” Tucker almost said Church. “Like, a bucket full of other assholes, York wouldn’t be a walking innuendo.”“A whole bucket?” Wash raised an eyebrow. “I thought it was just the three of us in the future.”“Oh hell no,” Tucker scoffed. “No dude, you and I actually don’t meet for a while. You get adopted by my crew when I was off doing cool and bad ass diplomatic shit. It’s actually pretty funny, we meet by accident.“I guess you were doing Freelancer shit, and had to work with those idiots. Then… Things happen. And then you try to kill them, but you apparently forgot that that those idiots are cockroaches. You chased them to where I was hiding out in some alien temple for literally eight months. I was in the temple for eight months, not you trying to kill everyone I know. Sucked ass. Anyways, I guess technically when we met, you had done a big betrayal arc, but we got past it pretty quick. That’s pretty much the only way we get new team mates, but I think you had the fastest turn around. Literally within an hour you were trying to skewer me, then we were suiting you up in my dead friends armor so you can take his identity and avoid jail. After that we were cool.”Tucker was rambling, but it was better than thinking. He had been replaying his entire life events since Blood Gulch for the past couple of hours anyways, and it was easier to think of this instead of when they were more than team mates.Wash let him finish, taking everything in. A minute of silence passed, so anxiety inducing Tucker tried biting his nails again. His fingers bounced off his helmet again, and he wanted to punch a hole through his visor.“Why?” Wash asked.“Well, we weren’t cool, you were such a hard ass. God, the ‘I told you so’s were on repeat-““Why did you forgive me?” Wash asked. “I tried to kill you, and betrayed you. I would never have done the same.”Wash looked away now, towards the door. He looked like he was about to start shaking like a wet cat, or was at least as vulnerable as one. He just looked so… Young.“Eh,” Tucker shrugged. “It was either adopt you or let you go to prison. ACAB, right?”“I don’t understand-““Just because you’re so fucked in the head you can’t let shit go, doesn’t mean everyone else is,” Tucker snapped.
Wash’s eyes widened for a fraction of a second, and he let out a huff. Hurt was painted all over him, along with the tensing of a jaw that only meant that another grudge was forming. This time, it wasn’t for something as stupid as not picking up clothes off the floor of Blue Base.“But you’d have to be even more fucked in the head to take in a guy like that,” Tucker admitted, a sort of white flag. It was as close to an apology as the Reds and Blues could manage. For them, an apology meant something serious, something wasn’t just a joke or a bit. They rarely said it, and rarer still was asking for it.Wash loosened a bit, but didn’t speak.“You redeemed yourself in that hour,” Tucker continued, as sorry still escaped him. “And, like, a million times over after that.”“I guess it makes sense we got pretty close,” Wash said.Tucker inhaled. Right, that wouldn’t happen now.
“Yeah, but can you do me a favor and not try to shoot me in the face this time around?” Tucker joked. “It’s only hot the first three times.”Wash didn’t laugh. He was probably gearing up to tell Tucker to stop joking around about that time, or too tell him again that they weren’t gonna happen. As if Tucker didn’t mourn the loss of their relationship every three seconds.“Listen, Tucker-“The door swished up, Carolina walking out.
Saved by the bell.
She had her helmet off, and hair mussed. She looked pissed enough, but seeing Tucker had her clench her jaw.“You son of a bitch,” Carolina hissed. She stalked over to Tucker, backing him right into the wall.
Okay, saved might not be the right word.
“Carolina, wait-“ Wash said, attempting to get between them. Even if he was in armor and Carolina wasn’t, he wouldn’t have been able to stop her. She knocked him aside easily, zeroed in on Tucker.She pushed him back, Tucker’s helmet hitting the back of the steel wall echoing up and down dimly lit hall. She barred him with her fore arm, pinning him. Carolina was practically snarling, Tucker didn’t think anything was scarier than her mad, but her mad and face visible made him glad he didn’t have a full bladder.“Either you let that happen, or you and your best friend wanted that to happen,” She growled. “So which is it? Because we’ll need to know when we write up your KIA form.”“Carolina!” Wash shouted.“Stay out of it Wash!” Carolina shouted back.“You wanna get a drink?”Carolina paused. She didn’t loosen her grip, but blinked rapidly, confused. “What?”“A drink. Like, get sloshed. Get toasted. Just you and me baby. I’ll let you drink the worm,” Tucker was rambling again. “Okay, I don’t have tequila, but I have some kosher wine?”That made Carolina loosen her grip. One word made her step back, losing her focus. She blinked at him, and dropped her arm. Tucker saw her deflate, the steam leaking out her. Like she just realized she was tired after staying by her boyfriend's bed side after a horrible accident for several hours.“I- Okay,” She said.Washington’s eyes were about as wide as Tucker’s were, but his weren’t hidden by a visor.
“Wait, really?” Tucker asked.“Did I stutter?” Carolina snapped.“No ma’am!” Tucker said. He exhaled and looked at Wash. “See ya!”He started walking, taking his helmet off. Carolina went to follow him, but he hesitated.“Okay, I think it’ll be physically impossible for me to not make jokes about you and me drinking alone. I mean, I’ve always wanted you out of armor- Fuck! Shit, okay- I will go remove out of my armor, unless you want to do it for me- Damn it!”Tucker took a deep breath in, and let it out. “I will go to my room. My armor will be removed. I will get the wine. I will be in the spacious, public class room. Good bye.”Tucker literally ran away before he could say anything bad. He didn’t even process Carolina’s reaction to the whole thing, he hoped it was fine. As if historically, things have every been fine after talking to women.---Tucker almost busted into that wine at least ten times in the ten minutes he waited for Carolina. If he wasn’t so confident that Carolina wouldn’t touch an unsealed bottle, it would probably all gone.Carolina was silent when she came in to the darkly lit classroom, out of armor. She slipped into a seat near him, leaving a gap. He sat near the front, so that the faint, blue glow of the idle projector served as the light. She was scowling, her natural state of being around Tucker, but he swore her eyes were rimmed red. She looked even more different then Wash. Filled with so much more energy, but a different kind. A burning kind, the kind that would turn everything to ash, starting with herself.“L’Chaim,” Tucker said, handing her the wine bottle with a generic, faux elegant label he'd started picking at, moving on from her nubby nails.Carolina hesitated before she took it in her hand, clutching it. She turned it back and forth, like she could see the poison that she suspected was there. Eventually, she turned it over, reading the label. Her thumb brushed over the kosher symbol.“Where did you get this?” She eventually asked.“Please, I can sniff out an alcoholic anywhere,” He said. Anywhere being Agent Illinois upon York's previous recommendation. The dude's barrack looked like a liquor store, and not even a nice one.“Are you Jewish?” She asked, keeping her eyes on the bottle.“No, but you are,” Tucker said.Carolina looked at him, glaring with suspicion. “How do you know that?”“In the future, you tried putting together a Seder dinner,” Tucker started. “For Passover. You got pissed when no one ate the gefilte fish, because ew, and then got more pissed because this guy Grif ate literally all of it. I’m still not clear if they’re really that gross or you just suck at cooking. Is it really supposed to be pickeled fish balls?”“Yes.”“Am I supposed to cut my tongue on fish bones?”“… No.”“Yeah, that’s what I thought.” Tucker nodded, the salty taste and uncomfortably soft and easily biteable texture still in his mouth. He swore he was going to get sepsis after poking is tongue on that sharp bone. “I’m going to save you some time in the future; Easter is not Jesus’s birthday. You don’t have to get anyone presents.”“I… Really?” Carolina asked.“I guess it kinda is, but it’s complicated. It’s a coming back from the dead situation.” Tucker's last experience with that whole story was watching the first half of Passion of the Christ before he got bored and switched it off, but his parents raised him Protestant. Some denomination that got lost in the see of the Basken Robin's 21 flavors of Christian, but they only went to that Church because it was closest. It was important to his mom, but not important enough to be worth every tantrum he threw over going as he got older. He wondered briefly if she started going again when he deployed, if his dad went with her. If her son was what stopped her from going, and if he was the reason she went back.“No, that’s not what I meant,” Carolina said. She sighed. “I’ve never gotten anyone a present for anything. Ever.”“You were trying the whole nice thing out,” Tucker shrugged.
Carolina picked at the label, unsuspectingly vulnerable. “I haven’t had a Seder dinner since…”“Since you’re mom.”Carolina’s head snapped up. “What did you just say?”“Carolina, I don’t know how to make it anymore clear we’re friends!” Tucker said, exasperated. “You tell me shit!”“We’re not friends,” Carolina hissed, only half as angry as usual.
“I’m your friend, so too fucking bad,” Tucker asserted.
He leaned over and snatched the bottle out of her hands. Luckily, his cheap tastes were also convenient, and he opted for a twist off bottle. It cracked open, and he quickly took a swig. It was too sweet, like syrup, and tasted like whatever high school girl desperate enough to make out with him when he was sixteen and equally desperate.“Besides, I know your deepest, darkest secret,” Tucker said, moving his tongue around his mouth to get the coating off his teeth.“What?” Carolina asked, sitting up, stiff.“I know… You can’t sing.”“What!?” Carolina nearly shouted. “Yes I can!”“I was too scared to say anything, but oh my God, “ Tucker said. “I can’t keep it in anymore. Punch me in the face, but I can’t live a lie!”Tucker squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for the impact. Nothing came.
He opened one eye, and had the most shocking sight. Carolina not glaring.Sure, not smiling. But not murderous.Tucker relaxed, and held out the bottle. Full of more surprises, Carolina took it. She even took a sip.“Oh no, that’s awful,” She blanched.
“Hey, I had to borrow eight dollars from Maine for that!” Tucker said.“Who ever you got this from owes you seven dollars,” Carolina grimaced.“Holy shit, was that a joke?” Tucker asked, delighted.“No,” Carolina said.Tucker still grinned. He took a deep breath, and wished he took about four more swigs.“I know the Director’s your dad, too.”Carolina’s eyes widened, and she took a huge breath in.
“Before you freak out!” Tucker said quickly. “The Director already knows I know and if you kill me about it he’ll probably be pissed!”“It’s not possible, I would never tell anyone that. Not even…” She trailed off.Tucker waited for her to say York.“How could you let that happen to him?” She asked, voice getting full and round, like she did when she was going to freak out and do something she’d regret, like hold a gun to Tucker’s head. Like when she couldn’t understand why people treat each other the way they do.“I didn’t know!” Tucker shouted. “York’s one of the chillest people here, you think I wanted him to miss out on 3-D movies for the rest of his life?”“That’s not funny!” Carolina said, slamming down the bottle. Her glare returned at full force. “You know everything about me, but didn’t know Texas would try to kill him?”“Hey, Tex is a crazy bitch,” Tucker admitted. “But I really think she saved him. And, come on, what’s more believable, Wyoming and Maine made a stupid mistake because they hate losing, or I somehow pulled off something like this? Me?” Tucker gestured to himself.“Stop pretending you’re harmless!” Carolina cried. “You have to realize how much a risk you pose for everyone here! You have too realize what I-We have at stake here!”“Yeah, I do!” Tucker shouted, almost standing to his feet. He was getting real sick of the way she seemed to think she was the only person in the world who was ever responsible for people. “Because I was in your shoes and I got people fucking killed!”Carolina squinted. “What?”“In the war, on Chorus,” Tucker started. It stung to say the word. “Some dude, Felix, had been sticking around the rebel army, he was a freelancer- Not like you. Like an actual person paid to loan his skills. And he was good, he warmed right up to the General, acting like he really did care. He even convinced them that I could be captain. He was a douche bag with a heart of gold, just some fucking miracle that dropped from the sky to help the under dog.“Turns out, he had been lying. Him and his partner were working for Charon, and had been playing the entire planet. Have all these people kill each other, then take the empty planets resources. It was so stupid, I was stupid. I believed in him. Everyone did. He was funny, and skilled, and the General trusted him…” Tucker trailed off, shame washing through him.“Oh my God, I’m Felix.” Tucker said to himself.Tucker really thought he understood Carolina’s point of view, but she didn’t even know how right she was. It should have been her in his place on Chorus, she would have made everyone do a double take on what a coincidence someone like Felix was right there, a cynical joke and a handy shield ready. Just the thought of it all made his blood boil, and the only thing calming him down lately was knowing he was dead at the bottom of a cliff somewhere.“Ah, never mind, you were right. You should shoot me,” Tucker broke out of his inner conflict, realizing what he said. “No, shit, wait! I am a good guy! I swear! Fuck!”Tucker groaned, and dropped his arms in his arms. The shit he was giving Carolina for was what he should have been doing on Chorus. Any comparison between him Felix made him want to hurl, but to Project Freelancer, he was Felix.“You fill me with confidence, Kentucky,” Carolina said, face stony. “It only took a month for you too see my side of things. You’re a quick one.”Carolina stood quickly, and pushed her bright hair out of her face, looking way too much like Church when he had a body.
“Jesus, you sound just like your brother when you try to be sarcastic,” He grumbled, grabbing the bottle.He took a swig. Eh, even if this hang out session was a major fucking failure, at least he had an entire bottle of $1 wine to down by himself. He was going to have a head ache tomorrow anyways.He forced down that mouthful, one that was particularly nasty. He cringed, and smacked his lips when he was sure it wasn’t coming back up. His eyes opened, and Carolina was still there. All anger gone.“Brother?” She breathed out.“Aw, fuck,” Tucker sighed. He didn’t want to bring up Church this quick, but that can of worms was opened. He handed her the bottle. “Get drinking.”Carolina sat slowly, and took the bottle.“You know the AI?” Tucker started. “Like, the AI?”“The smart AI?” Carolina asked. “In theory, yes.”“Okay, so apparently it’s pretty fucking hard to make a smart AI. The only way the Director could do it was cloning his brain.” Tucker formulated his words as he went. “You think one of him is bad? Try two. But he fucked up somehow, because that AI isn’t like him. Like, the AI’s that are gonna start powering the suits and equipment are just parts fractured off the original. And when he was, born or whatever, it’s like all the grief the Director had broke off first.
“Other parts too, like the part that’s funny or the part that remembers people’s birthdays or the part that knows how to put the remote in the same fucking place he found it. But his personality is totally different,” Tucker found himself smiling at that argument from Blue Base. “ He’s my best friend.”Tucker cleared his throat, a lump coming out of no where. “Was my best friend.”“I… Don’t know what to say,” Carolina furrowed her brow. She took another drink.“Yeah, don’t worry, Church never seems to know when to shut the fuck up,” Tucker scoffed. “You guys are glued to the hip practically the second you meet. It’s so annoying.”Carolina sat in silence, not even grimacing at the drink. Tucker let her sit, thinking to himself. Now that he met the Director, it was shocking how different they were. Church was just his clone, but without what? Without Tex?He wanted to hit himself on the forehead. Church was the Director without his grief over Tex, or Allison. God, how poetic and creepy. Church was such a fucking drama queen, and Tucker wished he could call him that to his face.“You sound jealous,” Carolina finally said.“What!? No!” Tucker cried before he could stop himself. His face grew hot. “I don’t even care. I mean, yeah, you guys ditched us to go on some dumb adventure without saying goodbye, but you guys came back! You didn’t even care, you knew you were coming back, it wasn’t even a big deal to you. I was busy with other stuff anyways. Shut up.”Tucker must not have been explaining things right, since the more he spoke the more Carolina smiled. It was frustrating.“Man, whatever! You think that whole ‘Don’t say good bye’ line sounds sooo cool, but trust me, it’s not. Especially in stereo,” Tucker grumbled. “Only losers are best friends with their siblings.”“Sounds better than North and South,” Carolina mused. She seemed… lighter.“Wow, all it took was letting you know there’s some asshole AI with the same daddy issues, and now you can crack a smile?” Tucker said. “Ugh, unconditional love is so fucking annoying. You guys are all saps.”Carolina’s smile dropped. She stared off, and Tucker waited for her to speak. Wow, he was really good at this listening crap.“I want to believe you,” She started. “Which is probably why I haven’t smashed this bottle over your head-““Thanks.”“But I can’t imagine the thing you just described is a clone of the Director.” She admitted.“I’m kinda talking to the other one right now.” Tucker said.Carolina squeezed her eyes shut at that. She took a deep inhale in, and let a shuddering one out. She covered her face with her hand. “I could never be like him.”“Good!” Tucker scoffed. “He sucks!”“I’ll never be like her either.” Carolina spit. She didn’t need to say her name.“Good!” Tucker repeated. “You’re fucking Carolina. In my time, you spent a lot of time unlearning a lot of the shit that’s eating you alive right now. And you fucking did.“Carolina, I’m not trying to change your life with eight, possibly one dollar wine,” Tucker continued. “I really just want you to not kill me everyday. But you and Church are my friends, and I never got to help either of you. But you two helped each other.”Carolina grabbed the bottle. She had to tip it pretty far to try to get the last of the wine. She seemed to barely notice it was empty. She just turned it over in her hands.“I don’t know what to do,” Carolina admitted. “I thought I knew this morning, then York… And now…I’m supposed to be a leader.”“Honestly, you’re a pretty shit leader,” Tucker said.Carolina shot him a look. “Seriously, like, pretty bad in my experience. You’re one selfish bitch-““Watch it.”“-Buuut when you’re more focused on helping other people and not the mind games you play with yourself, you’re really good at keeping people safe.”Carolina didn’t say anything. Tucker wish he knew what was going on her mind, or could reassure her he was telling the truth. Or reassure her that it’s not too late, or reassure her that she was fine the way she is.Tucker tasted the wine in his mouth, still tasting like adolescence, and had an idea.“Oh, shit, wait,” Tucker said, scrambling for his data pad. He pulled it up, opening the most recent tabs on his browser.
“Okay, here,” Tucker said, shoving the screen in her face.
She gingerly took it, looking at him with a raised brow, then down at the screen. “How did you access this? Internet use is highly restricted.”“Because when I was in basic I spent half my time trying to get porn,” He said flatly.“That’s disgusting,” She grimace, and dropped the pad on the table like is was contaminated. A fair assumption.“You wanted honesty!” Tucker pointed to the pad. “But that’s me. That’s the Lavernius Tucker on Earth. He just broke his ankle at a house party and is going to join the military soon because he’s young and stupid.”Carolina warily took the pad back in her hands. She scrolled through the social media page Tucker had pulled up, skimming over the posts and pictures. Her looks of disgust only increased. “Oh my God.”“Yeah, you're getting the new and improved version,” Tucker said. “But that’s all the proof I can give you, a teenage pervert’s Internet addiction, and knowing you can’t sing. And all that other crap.”Carolina scrolled more, rolling her eyes as she went. Eventually she handed it back. “I’ve seen enough.”“Yeah, I bet,” Tucker tucked his data pad back into his pocket.They sat in silence after that, Tucker assuming Carolina was trying to purge every horrible meme he posted from her mind. He went to bite his nails, but stopped himself by his own volition. Instead, he took to watching the idle screen of the projector. It was transparent, and probably cost more than his parents entire salary back home, but it was still just a little sphere bouncing around the screen. Same as the projectors used in his public school, same as the vintage media player his mom had.He thought a lot about how different this Wash was, but this Carolina was just as strange. Less scars, less grays, less wrinkles, and a better dye job. Less regrets painted over her face, but she still had a red glow to her face she always got when drinking. They finally reached a comfortable silence, but Tucker was never good with silences.“It was my fault,” She said suddenly. “What happened to York today.”Tucker waited for her to continue.“I just wanted to see how good she was,” Carolina continued, half of the bottles label peeled off. “I should have stopped them when they pulled out the live rounds.”“Yeah, you should have,” Tucker nodded. The bitterness he held on to from earlier was impossible to hide.“You know her… Is she better than me?” Carolina asked, looking up.
It took Tucker everything not to groan or scream or tear his hair out. It took all the patience he reserved for Junior alone, for someone who he had never even pictured as a child.“Does it matter?” He asked simply.Carolina looked away again. “You wouldn’t tell me if she was.”
“I wouldn’t tell you if she wasn’t,” Tucker countered.Carolina sat on that.
They sat in that quiet room, watching that little sphere bounce back and forth until Carolina silently stood, and walked away. Tucker waited another five minutes, before grabbing the empty bottle and heading to bed.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

The next day, something miraculous happened. Something Tucker couldn’t even dream of.Carolina took a personal day.“We have personal days?” Wash asked.“Of course. They’re separate from vacation days.” North explained.“We get vacation days!?”Tucker fiddled with his sword hilt. North and Wash were talking over the projection table, currently projecting a model of the tallest building Tucker had ever seen. It took up the table like some elaborate Lego structure, one that would have taken him weeks to construct given Caboose didn’t knock it down first. CT stood directly across from Tucker, spanning the long way of the table, watching him.Against Tucker’s judgment, Wyoming and Maine were also present, joking around with one another as if they hadn’t blinded York yesterday. No one else seemed to carry a grudge, even Wash. Tucker should let it go, but the nonchalance of the whole incident made him even angrier. Team killing and friendly fire were Blue team tradition, but actual cruelty for the sake of jealousy was just…
Childish. It was childish. The actions of trained professionals who only thought they were fighting in a war, but were just playing superheros, or whatever big strong persona they have built themselves up as in their heads. They threw tantrums because someone had challenged that image of themselves, and didn't even care.The only person so far he got the feeling was an actual adult was Agent Florida, who always seemed to be hanging out in the shadows. He was smart enough to keep his mouth shut and out of sight. When he did make himself known, Tucker didn’t like the way he looked at him, like he was always a second away from reaching out and grabbing him.
“You can read your employee manual another time,” The Director told Wash, walking in.At once, everyone stood at attention. Tucker was a second delayed, and not as stiff as his teammates, but he did stand straight, not throwing out a single joke. The Director gave him the eye for that, but didn’t remark. Is this what respect and loyalty were? Being too tired and disgruntled to put up a fight? That would explain the fuck out of Grif still sticking around.“You should all be aware of the mission set for tomorrow,” The Director said, gesturing to the hologram. “At the top of this 110 story building is our objective; The Sarcophagus. An artifact of unknown size, shape or weight, but of immense importance.
“Unfortunately, the building is guarded by UNSC and insurgence guards.”“Which floors?” Wash asked.“All of them.”“That’s… A lot of floors.”“Thank you, Agent Washington, for demonstrating your ability to count,” The Director said. “Obviously, a team will be needed to access the Sarcophagus from a lower floor and work their way up. While we don’t know the physical contents, we do know it will have these markings,”A second hologram popped up, with a tri cut circular alien symbol. Tucker recognized it; It was Sangheili. His Sangheili was never good, but it was good enough to know what it read.
Warning: Fragile : Live Cargo.
Tucker did his best Florida impression and kept his mouth shut.“However, even when we take the Sarcophagus, it will be useless to us without the access codes. Access codes that will be rushed out of the building shortly after our extraction time. While one team of agents retrieves the artifact, there will be a very brief window where a second team will ambush the transport car and extract the brief case containing those very codes.”As he spoke, the freeway on the holographic map lit up red, highlighting the route presumably used by the transport vehicle. The transport vehicle, and presumably hundreds of innocent commuters no one in the room would give a second thought too.“This is a brief over view, you will all be provided with files with more details. I suggest resting up, you will all have an early morning with further planning with Agent Carolina.”“Wait, Carolina?” CT asked.“Yes, Agent Connecticut,” The Director’s tone shifted into something crueler, his fuse seemingly shorter than usual today. “Her name is at the top of the leader board, in case you need a reminder of how it is spelled.”CT backed down, lowering her head.“Agent Carolina is fully aware and prepped for this mission. The window is too small for any changes, regardless on anyone’s feelings on the roster. To prevent any more confusion to those who will merely glance over the leader board, Agent South Dakota will not be attending this mission."Ouch Tucker winced. This was definitely going to lead to some more bloody noses for him“Team Alpha will consist of Agent Carolina, Agent Washington, Agent Maine, and Agent Kentucky,” Tucker winced again at the inevitable inclusion of his name.“Team Bravo will consist of Agent Connection, Agent Wyoming, and led by Agent North Dakota. Team Alpha will storm the building, Team Bravo will intercept the transport vehicle with the brief case.The Director waved a hand, and the map reset to a simple 3-D overview of the urban area. “Take this time to discuss, but do not forget that Agent Carolina calls the shots.”That was apparently the dismissal, and the Director left. The farther his footsteps left, the more everyone seemed to breath, and the more livid everyone got.“Well, Bravo might be an insult to my abilities, but I can’t deny I am glad I am with more veteran agents, and not-What’s the word?” Wyoming pretended to think. “Teacher’s pets?”“Fuck off, dude,” Tucker scoffed, that stupid posh voice making every sarcastic comment twice as annoying. “She’s taking off, don’t bitch about it.”“I was referring to the other set of aqua armor in the room,” Wyoming sneered.“Dude, where have you been?” Tucker rolled his eyes. “I’m like, two unfunny jokes away from being shot out the window.”“Right,” Wyoming nodded. “And South Dakota’s exclusion has nothing to do with her messing up that pretty face of yours.”“You think I’m pretty?” Tucker said in a voice that made people see red. He couldn’t see Wyoming’s face, but was confident it got the job done.The lack of speaking up by North made Tucker think some of what Wyoming said was true. North was always quick to settle arguments, especially when it came to his sister. Now, he seemed extremely focused on the map of the roadway they would be monitoring.“Maybe if we’re lucky they’ll just hand you the Sarcophagus,” CT egged on, not bothering to hide her displeasure. “Then you can bump Carolina off, and lead the next mission. Should I start taking improv classes now?”“Connie, c’mon,” Wash said. “You were there, Tucker saved-““I know, Wash,” CT snapped. “I was there, do you want to tell everyone about the dynamic duo again? Because I’m getting pretty sick of this song.”CT’s voice cracked at the end of her sentence, and she stalked out of the room, probably wishing there was a chair to knock over.
“Wyoming, let’s strategize in the class room,” North said. He didn’t look at Tucker, or acknowledge the tension. He just pulled himself away from the hologram and walked out. If there was a chair to knock over, Tucker didn’t think he would flip it but probably really think about it.
No goodbyes, no farewells, but for North, this was basically a middle finger.Maine was leaning against the table, his hips reaching the edge that would hit Tucker’s stomach. He watched them leave, and faced Tucker.Good thing you’re on our team, He signed.
Tucker had to exaggerate his movements to make up for lack of facial expressions visible through his helmet. You’re not mad?For what? Maine asked.I don’t know, why are any of them mad at me? Tucker signed back.“Uh, guys?” Wash spoke up, and Tucker sighed. “Can we use words when Maine has his helmet on? This is going too fast.”Tucker and Maine looked at each other. The slump in Maine’s shoulders and droop of his neck were as good an eye roll as any.Teach your boyfriend how to sign, daddy, Maine signed, and walked away.“Shut up!” Tucker shouted, immediately bristling. “That’s not as funny as you think!”“I didn’t say anything!” Maine laughed, exiting without turning back.Now it was just him and Wash, theoretically the person Tucker should be the least awkward with. But when you know someone falls in love with your future self and is now stuck in the time before you ever met and takes all your old friends, can things ever not be awkward?“Is Carolina really fine?” Wash leaned in. Tucker didn’t know if he was being sincere or just making conversation, but either way he was getting sick of the question.“If she says she’s fine, she’s fine,” Tucker said. “Why are you asking me? You’ve known her longer. I’m not Carolina’s keeper, or whatever that dude in the Bible said.”“I’m just worried about her! And you,” Wash admitted. He hesitated. “What did you guys talk about yesterday?”“Stuff,” Tucker shrugged, taking his time examining the holographic map. He had to admit, it was making him queasy. 110 stories after a decade in stubby concrete bases seemed impossible for Tucker’s mind to wrap around. It was taller than even the alien temples on Chorus.“Well, she didn’t murder you, so that’s good,” Wash relented. “Did you get through to her? I know I backed you up in the meeting, but a personal day? That’s insane for anyone, especially Carolina, especially after what happened to York-““Oh my God!” Tucker snapped, finally ripping away from the hologram to whip his head around at Wash. “Do you never shut the fuck up? I thought maybe it was just a future thing, or maybe just me, but holy crap you just never fucking let up needling people! God, do you get off on annoying people, or do you seriously not notice it?”Tucker’s voice rose as he spoke, releasing not just his frustration, but the frustration of that shitty soldier at crash site Brave who had to wake up every day with Wash making him run drills and end the day still two feet behind him, criticizing his faults for the day.Whenever Tucker needed Wash, he was gone, but every time he needed a second to agonize over someone else, usually someone in the Church family, he was breathing down his neck.Tucker was on the edge of cooling off when Wash dropped his arms. “I was just trying to be a good team mate.”The pain and exhaustion in his voice struck a chord in Tucker. He sighed, and probably would have started apologizing, but Wash was already leaving.
Tucker was left in that room with that stupid map, alone. Maybe he should track down Maine and call him cue ball or something. Round out the day by pissing off every single person on the mission. At this rate, he’ll get through the whole base by Friday.“Fuck,” He said under his breath shaking his head. He turned to leave, and ran right into a blue chest plate.“Fuck!” Tucker yelped, jumping back. Florida didn’t flinch.
Tucker’s heart was fluttering like a fucking hummingbird or jack hammer or something equally as fast. He let out a gasp. “God, you are one creepy mother fucker.”Florida didn’t say anything, just cocked his head. Tucker had caught his breath, but his jumpiness was fading into something unnerving. The energy making his heart beat was pooling under his skin.Right when Tucker planned on slipping out and making sure to triple lock his door tonight, Florida reached out, and lifted Tucker’s chin with his finger. Tucker was too surprised to move.“You are pretty,” Florida mused simply, then dropped a relaxed hand and walked away.That voice made Tucker’s brain reboot. No, it made it shut off completely, check for viruses, and slowly come back to life and making him close about forty unnecessary pop ups.“No. Fucking. Way.”——The final meeting before take off was tense. Everyone in the room, barring Maine and Captain Fucking Flowers apparently, were angry with Tucker. The only exception was Carolina who was… Unreadable.No one dared question her time off, not even after all the shit talk yesterday. Carolina ran down the plan one more time, calm and steady. You couldn’t find fault in her confidence even if you tried. And Tucker would bet a few people around this table were trying.“Okay, remember, we stick together. Come as a team, leave as a team,” Carolina nodded. “Wash, you’re on lock picking with York out.”“Oh. Okay,” Wash said with uncertainty. “I guess I’ll brush up on my field manual on transport.”“What, you guys going to leave me out of the fun?”The room turned towards the entrance of the meeting room, where York was sauntering in, completely covered in his weird, gold armor. His helmet must have been new; It was intact, no hole in one eye.“York?” Carolina asked in near-disbelief. She walked around the table. “You’re not supposed to be out for another day.”“Doc let me out early for good behavior,” He said, smile in his voice evident. “Heard you need a lock pick.” He looked at the rest of the table.“Know any with depth perception?” Tucker said without thinking. York turned to him.“Funny. I had bets going with the medics about who would crack the first blind joke.”“How much did it cost you?” Tucker asked, smiling as well.“Actually, I just won about a hundred bucks,” York said proudly.“Are you sure you’re good?” Carolina asked.“Positive,” York assured her. “Unless you think there’s too many cooks in this kitchen?”“Well we need a lock pick, and Maine and Wash are a good team. Unless we wanted to bump Kentucky to Bravo-““NO!”Tucker looked around trying to see who didn’t chime in on that, but struggled.“Oh-kay,” York said. “Party of five it is.”—Transport was easy, Tucker didn’t even complain about motion sickness. He hadn’t considered until that impossibly tall building was in view that he was in danger of dying. If not dying, then horribly wounded and disfigured. Or, at the very least, liable for a broken bone or two. The reality of what they were flying in to made Tucker feel vulnerable, and he needed a reminder he wasn’t alone.Tucker looked over at Wash, who was strapped in to his seat across the ship and still ignoring him, and saw the guy who screamed ‘Freckles Shake.’ He saw York as nothing but a story book character; Here, but really just a tragedy waiting to unfold. A book Tucker was supposed to read but didn’t, and now was in the middle of the test. Said literary protagonist was chatting easily with Carolina, one big responsibility hanging over Tucker’s head.Worst of all, he looked at Maine, and for the first time in a while, he saw the Meta. His helmet was smooth and reflective, more of a mirrors than anyone else’s. This only made viewing him as a real person more difficult.Maine raised his hand, and Tucker realized he was obviously staring.
Nervous?
Tucker waved him off. Hell no.As if anyone would believe that.“This is us!” Carolina shouted. Everyone unstrapped from their seats, lining up to the open door of the ship.“Wait, you were serious about having to crash through the window!?” Tucker yelled.“Why would we joked about that!?” Carolina shouted back over the rushing wind.“I don’t know! You’re not very funny!” Tucker shouted back.He heard Carolina sigh in annoyance, and she grabbed both shoulders.
“Wait, wait, wait I’m sorry-!” He pleaded.After that, it was just a long, un-manly scream as Carolina hefted him up and literally flung him through the glass window of an upper story. Tucker spun a few times like an aqua Frisbee before landing. Well, crashing into office furniture. Spartan armor didn’t make being tossed around like a fucking dog toy any more enjoyable, no matter how many times it happened. The wood and steal office desk that broke his fall made a nasty crunch sound under his weight.When he stopped moving, and finally stopped screaming, he laid in the mess, holding his breath for the next blow. When none came, he kept his eyes closed for another second, because standing up meant more of whatever that was.“This is fucking bullshit!” He whined from the floor.He hadn’t even heard the others come in, not even glass shattering. Maine hooked his hand into his armor plating and put him up right.“Graceful,” He said.“Suck my dick,” Tucker spit.“I’m busy,” Maine said, and leisurely walked towards the others.“Knock it off you two,” Carolina chastised. She and York stood in front of a giant vault door. It looked out of place in the more casual office setting. More like an extra sophisticated bank, the vault door being at least twenty feet high. It blended into the beige color of the walls, making Tucker think that the entire floor must be made out of whatever thick metal the door should be made of. Tucker was no architect, but a room this heavy this high up didn’t seem physically possible, like a strong gust of wind should topple them over. “Think you can break into it?”“If I do, can I get extra TV time? You interrupted my favorite soap opera,” York joked. A holographic lock appeared in front of it, and he got to work. “I usually hate love triangles, but-“He was cut off by the flash of red light and an alarm. Carolina let out a huff.“You can all be cute later, focus!” Carolina said, unsheathing her pistol. “York, do something about the alarms. Everyone else follow me!”“Does saying sorry count as something?” York asked. Carolina stared at him for a second, and Tucker could almost hear her rolling her eyes. She turned away through the vault doors. “Don’t think I’ll forget you called us cute!”“She called me cute, dude,” Tucker said, clutching his unlit sword. “Good luck with those alarms!”Maybe it was the adrenaline from being tossed through a fucking window, but now that they were in the thick of it, Tucker felt alive. Exhilarated, like he did when the armies merged and he became a decent solider. Decent enough to round up space pirates and kick ass. Decent enough to help kill Felix.
Now he was more than decent, he was number fucking three.“Do you plan on ever using that thing, Kentucky?” Carolina asked, nodding to his sword handle. She held a hand out, making them all pause, checked a corner, and nodded for them to continue. The airy and light floor was as bright as it was expensive looking. They were just in hallways so far, but it still definitely outside of Tucker’s tax bracket. Probably the whole state of Texas’ tax bracket.“I’m a grower, not a shower,” He shrugged. Tucker had been itching to use his sword since being here. All hes done is show it off and use it in practice. If they thought he was good enough to be a freelancer now, he was going to blow minds with a few swish swish stabs.The red lights stopped as the approached a set of double doors. York jogged up behind them as they gathered around the entrance.“Okay! This is it!” He said proudly.
Carolina carefully nudged the door open, and peaked quickly inside. “Clear.”Trailing behind her was the rest of their team, with York in the very back. He shut the doors behind him, and locked them.“There, that should keep em out,” York said proudly.
Immediately, a flare appeared on the cracks of the door as whoever n the other side began cutting their way in.“Or not.” York said. He cocked his head to the side. “Let’s hurry.”Tables and tables and, surprise, more tables neatly spread through the room, each with piles of alien tech. Between his ambassadorship and the past months of testing the Chorus tech, Tucker was probably more familiar with this stuff than anything more than the rifle the UNSC had given him. Some of this tech impressive, and some Tucker recognized as nothing more than a pea shooter.“That’s a good look on you!” Washington said.Tucker looked up and saw Maine with the Grif Shot.Tucker stomach sank. The Grif Shot was not Maine’s weapon, but the Meta’s weapon.
He was heading down the path of the Meta. I didn’t stop anything. I still hadn’t fixed anything. Blared in his mind. He wa sunsure if this was a rational line of thought, but held hope that it was.The Grif Shot had been pointed at him by the mindless zombie, and now Maine felt it out like a new pair of shoes. That same Grif Shot would be the catalyst for saving Carolina after her and Church left, but would also be used to torture the Reds and Blues for months. The last good thing that came from it was when it stopped Grif from falling off a cliff.“Kentucky, you there?” Carolina asked, appearing by his side.Tucker snapped out of it. “Uh, yeah. Sorry, I’m good.” He looked around the room.He knew what he was looking for wasn’t going to be a hand gun or even the Grif Shot. It was nothing that could be wielded or held. His eyes went straight to wait may hold a fragile, living thing.
“That's it,” He said, pointing at the Sarcophagus. “That’s the artifact.”Carolina approached it hesitantly. The huge container looked like a giant, metal plastic storage bin his mom would use to store their Christmas decorations. It could easily fit three people, or even just one and a half Maine. It was sealed, and Tucker had no way of knowing how thick those walls were, but got the feeling it could withstand a missile or two. The need for the access codes was now apparent.“It does have the markings. But it’s huge.” Carolina said.“Bow-chicka-bow-wow.”“Kentucky, go stand by the door,” She ordered.
“Fair,” Tucker shrugged. He walked over to the door, gripping his sword.Let the rest of them figure out how to get the thing called the Sarcophagus on the roof. In retrospect, the name should have given them a clue about it’s size. He would gladly wait by the door, ready to play bad ass if anyone broke through.He loosened up his muscles, ready for action by the time Carolina decided to throw Maine out the window. His super hearing came in handy once again.“You break in here, take care of them. We’re heading to the roof,” Felix said.Tucker stilled.His voice was muffled from the door and hiss of the soldering open of the door.But it was fucking Felix.“Well, hurry up and we won’t have to leave you for dead. Maybe stop making the idea sound so enticing,” Felix sneered at someone. It was undoubtedly him, that voice still taunted his nightmares.Tucker was wrong for doubting himself before. This was a nightmare. One long, simulated nightmare. He conquered his fear of Freelancers, and was coping with the loss of his friends and relationship, and had bettered himself as a soldier. This had to be the next challenge, from Santa or God or some other entity that was playing with Tucker like a fucking doll.Tucker didn’t notice his sword was activated.Tucker tried to do the math in his head, putting together what he knew about Felix’s past. It fit well enough; The UNSC, Charon, before Chorus. Dream math was impossible, but it fit well enough.And on the slim chance this wasn’t a nightmare, it was a dream. A fantasy playing out, the whole point of his involvement here. He could run his sword through Felix himself and keep him off Chorus before it was a glint in his evil fucking eye.Who ever was sawing down the door wasn’t going fast enough, and Felix was leaving. Tucker turned to the lock York had just set, and took it in, his mind racing. It made no sense to him, he couldn’t even remember what York had touched. Wash said something about a field manual having a lock picking guide.But Tucker had a sword that was also a key, which was way faster.Tucker raised his arm high over his head, ready to swing down.A hand wrapped around his wrist, holding it high above his head.“Kentucky, what the hell are you doing?”
Tucker tried shaking off Carolina’s hand, but she held tight. She was always going to be stronger than him, but he’d dislocate his entire fucking arm if he had too. His first shake might have been instinctual, but the longer she held on, the more panic rose up in Tucker’s throat, until it was suddenly harder to breath and he was running out of breath. His pulling became frantic.“Let go!” Tucker shouted. “I need to get to the other side of the door!”“What the hell are you doing?” Carolina asked again, firmer.“I can hear him Carolina, he’s right there,” Tucker explained, still shaking his arm. “Felix! He’s right here!”“Felix?” Carolina asked. Her voice had lost some of it’s edge. “The freelancer? From-““Yes!” Tucker cried desperately. Why did his voice sound like that?
“What’s the problem?” York shouted from across the room. “We’re in the middle of something!”The three others had moved the Sarcophagus too the edge, near a window. Tucker didn’t know what they planned to do with that window washer scaffold, but he didn't care what Looney Tunes bullshit they were cooking up.Carolina inhaled deeply, and looked back at York and the Sarcophagus, then at the door. Tucker almost cried tears of joy. Carolina would let him go, she would help him kill that slimy fucker. Tucker had gotten through to her, she would make the right choice. For an entire planet, she would abandon the mission.Tucker didn’t understand how tightening her grip and pulling him away from the door was going to help. It wasn’t until she dragged him halfway through the room that he realized she wasn’t going to help him at all.“Carolina! Let go!” He shouted, pulling hard enough that it felt like he did dislocate his shoulder. “Let me the fuck go! I need to get to him- He’s right there! Let-““We have a mission to finish,” Carolina said, not looking at him.“What!? Seriously? Fuck the mission! This is bigger than whatever animal is in that box-““Animal?” Wash asked, looking warily at the Sarcophagus.“Carolina! I said let me go!”Carolina was pulling along the wrist that held his sword, the key. Tucker deactivated his sword, and dropped it, swiftly catching it with his free hand. Just as quick, he flicked it back to life and raised it high above his head. It all happened so fast, faster than someone like Tucker could manage on purpose, like his arm had a mind of his own. Tucker didn’t know if he was actually capable slice off her arm in that moment, if he could actually go through with it. But in that moment, he felt like a chained animal, and was at least capable of slicing off his own arm if he needed too.Carolina hadn’t noticed the change quick enough to stop him.
York was faster. If Carolina and Tucker were even a foot farther away, then he might not have made it in time. But he had grabbed Tucker’s free wrist, punching it to make Tucker release his grip.York didn’t stop once the sword was on the ground. Carolina was still holding Tucker’s other wrist, giving York the leverage to duck under Tucker’s outstretched arm, place himself behind his elbow, and give it another blow with another sickening snap.“AUGH!” Tucker screamed, more in surprise than actual pain. Arms were not supposed to bend that way. They were supposed to bend the exact opposite way.York dropped Tucker’s cracked arm, and it dropped helplessly to his side.“York!” Carolina shouted, dropping Tucker’s other arm.
“What the fuck!?” Tucker screeched. He brought his good arm, now that he had a good arm, to his other. But he was afraid of touching it. It was fallen, stretched out, but looked just wrong enough that his eyes knew something was wrong. As minuscule of a difference as the weight of his sword that had fallen and skitted across the floor somewhere.“You’re out of line, Kentucky,” York said in a voice Tucker didn’t think he was capable of. It was stern, almost venomous.“You’re out of line, York,” Carolina countered. York tilted his head, confused by her reaction.Carolina didn’t slow down, but continued like Tucker hadn't tried to commit a very understandable mutiny. “Maine, grab the cord. You’re the only one heavy enough to act as a counter balance. Wash, stay here with me to greet our company.”Maine nodded, and grabbed the cord dangling from the rig of the window washing scaffolding. During the incident, he had stayed focused and moved the Sarcophagus by himself onto the platform.
“York, take Kentucky to the roof and prepare for evact. No more arm breaking if you can help it.” Carolina said, pulling out her pistol.
Tucker had never seen Carolina like this, his only reference for her leadership being her mission to get her revenge on the Director. Even on Chorus, she wasn’t so much a leader as a consultant and solo agent. But he could finally see what all the fuss was about, she kept a cool head and kept moving. She knew where everything should and would go.And Tucker wanted to strangle her for it.“You selfish fucking bitch,” Tucker growled. He was slouching- Were arms really this heavy all the time? It didn’t matter, his adrenaline was keeping it off his mind. “I thought things were going to be different! You know- I told you- It’s, he’s-““York, get Kentucky out of here, we’ll meet you on the roof,” Carolina said again, like Tucker wasn’t even there. “Remember what I said about arm breaking. No matter how tempting.”Tucker clenched his jaw, ready to hurl more abusive language, anything he had said or was said to him over his miserable life, but York was pushing him too quickly. He was hurried out of the room, a firm hand on his good arm dragging him out. Tucker knew when he was beat, too surprise more than anything to fight back. Carolina wasn’t even looking at him, but looking at the door. Wash was still staring at him and York, watching as Tucker was hauled off.This is what he begged for, what he dreamed for. For Carolina and Wash to shoot that fucker's brains out. But the fact that Tucker had no influence now meant that Felix would survive this fire fight. And it was all for nothing.“Kill him Carolina!” Tucker shouted, a last, desperate plea. He didn’t sound like himself, he didn’t care. “Put a bullet right through the fucking scout helmet!”Another rough pull, and York had dragged him into a stairwell. Not slowing, even when Tucker almost stumbled on the steps.“Fucking let go!” Tucker screamed.“Kentucky, I’ll let go when you either cool off or aren’t conscious enough to cut off our leader's arm,” York said.Tucker’s eyes widened, hand now burning with emptiness.“My sword!” He gasped. It was still on the floor somewhere. “York, you don’t understand, the, Felix-““I understand the orders we were given perfectly,” York said. “Lost an eye, not an ear.”York had pulled him forward and forward, never slowing his pace. The farther they climbed, which felt like to heaven, the sicker Tucker’s stomach got. Even step made it harder to breath, and not just from thinning air or excursion. His face was wet from what had to be sweat, there was no other reason.
Tucker’s breath was shuddering, and he choked out a breath. His chest was going to explode, he was going to vomit nothing but air.“Kentucky, are you crying?” York asked, finally stopping to look back at Tucker.“I- I…”Tucker didn’t even have a come back to that. Fuck, he was crying. He didn’t even have the energy to deny it.“I failed.”—After that, York didn’t need to pull Tucker anymore.
I failed I failed I failed I failed.
York may not have needed to pull Tucker anymore, but still did. There was a good chance that Tucker would either stop moving or turn back if he had let go, but with York still holding him, Tucker dutifully matched his speed upward.
I failed I failed I failed.
Somewhere, Vanessa Kimball was wondering if a career in politics would be for her, praying the increase of tension on her planet wouldn’t lead to violence. Palomo, Jensen, Bitters and Andersmith were in school, thinking about what they were going to do all summer, probably annoying the fuck out of their very alive parents. Doyle was filing paper work at his small but comfortable government position. Grey was delivering babies and mending legs broken from sports, not land mines.
The final door York literally kicked through burst open with a flash of light. Tucker was blinded momentarily, but York wasn’t fazed.Once Tucker’s eyes adjusted, the first thing he noticed on the roof was a suit of black armor.“Texas?” York asked.Tex looked up, nodding. She was kneeling over a black box that looked deceptively dangerous.“What the hell happened to him?” Tex asked. Her voice sent a shiver through him.
“God, I forgot how strong your accent is,” Tucker said absentmindedly. Her accent was strong, stronger than his had been since basic. He wondered if that link between the three of them was another reason the Director treated him so different. It had always been an unspoken link between them in Blood Gulch.“What?” Tex asked, standing. She titled her armor head. “You’re the time traveler.”“He’s freaking out,” York said, finally dropping Tucker’s arm. “He nearly sliced off Carolina’s arm with that sword.”“And she broke his in return,” Tex said approvingly.
“No, that was me,” York was obviously proud.“Huh,” Tex said. “Alright, we tossing him off the building or are shooting him down here?”“Neither!” Tucker yelped. He turned to York. “Neither, right?”“Looks like you calmed down, so neither,” York answered. Tucker let out a breath, but the movement jostled his arm, which seemed to remember it was fucking broken and was starting to hurt more and more with each passing second.Tucker looked at Tex, and saw his last chance. “Tex- Tex, I need you to use your bad ass ninja-robot skills,” Tucker begged, just short of going on his knees.“What did you just say?” Tex asked, voice losing it’s casualness.“There’s this guy- This dick, in this building,” Tucker explained quickly. “He’s wearing a scout helmet, probably in orange and black. He’s a twink, you could take him- He’s here and he’s going to start and fucking- a war for money- Tex, he’s going to kill all of us, he’s-““Kentucky, calm down,” York said again.“Fuck off, York!” Tucker screamed. “He’s going to try to kill everyone- Me, Carolina, Church-““What is he talking about, York?” Tex asked again, voice firmer.“I don’t know,” York said, seeming to listen to him for the first time.“Holy shit, you guys are so fucking blind,” Tucker groaned. He swung his head around- At the building, at the two of them, at the black box at their feet- Gesturing to all of it, all of them. “None of this matters! None of this matters as much- As much as all of Chorus-!”“Texas!?”Carolina and Wash ran out of the same door Tucker and York had bust down. She paused for a fraction of a second seeing Tex there, but recovered quickly, stalking over.“What are you doing here?” Carolina said, right in Tex’s face.
“My job,” Texas didn’t back down at all, just let Carolina get right in her face.“Shut the fuck up! Both of you!” Tucker cried, desperate. “Just listen to me! Felix is here-““Tucker, stand down!” Carolina shouted. “Do not make me put you down.”The threat rang in Tucker’s ears. And he was, for a beat, thinking of listening. Just as quickly did he have an overwhelming wave of disgust.Children. They were still acting like children, and this whole charade was going to put actual children in armor.“Let me do my job,” Tex said, gesturing to the box at her feet. “Then we’ll complete the mission and you won’t have to worry about anyone in the building.”Carolina turned to Tex. “What… It was you that blew up the oil rig.”Exactly two seconds passed of Carolina and Tex staring each other down. Tucker wanted to cry and scream and vomit and beg out of desperation, beyond just reason at this point.
Carolina had not listened to a word of what he said, and had probably spent that personal day purging their entire bonding moment from her brain. She was falling right into a petty fight with Texas, Tucker had failed again and again and again and again-“Alright Texas,” Carolina finally relented, no sneering or malice or sarcasm present. “I’m trusting you on this. Carry out your orders, we’ll carry out ours. Sync?”Texas nodded. “Sync.”Neither of them had any fucking clue what a big moment this was.Tucker sucked in a breath. His body did a 180, confusing itself to where the only thing he was still sure of was the nausea.I changed something. He thought as everything else in his mind ground to a halt.“There they are!” A voice shouted, and a stream of clones of the same armor started pouring out of the same entrance.
“Shit,” Tucker said, mind broken out of the internal panic to remember he was in the middle of a mission.“I’ll need you to trust me on one more thing,” Tex said.Tucker turned back to her, and caught a single, familiar glimpse at Tex’s fist inches from his face, and closing that gap fast.Later, when he opened his eyes in the back of that plane, he would wistfully think there was no better sleep aid than Tex’s love taps to the skull.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Tucker came too without actually coming too. The hazy lighting of his mindscape and absence of a headache clued him in.“Oh fuck,” He moaned in dread rather than pain.“Yeah, that’s a good assessment,” Church said casually.“Why are you here?” Tucker asked. “Unless I actually died and this is like, the after life or something. Is this hell? This feels like hell. Actually, never mind. Whatever is waiting for me when I wake up will be worse.”“Oooh yeah,” Church agreed. “The good news is that you don’t have brain damage.”“Yipee.”“The bad news is everyone hates you and your arm is broken.”“Ugh, lame,” Tucker groaned. He looked down and moved his arm. His subconscious mindscape arm felt fine at least.“Yeah, enjoy that now. The real one is gonna be in a cast for the next week.”“A week? Shouldn’t bones take longer?”“Nope! Agent York didn’t break any bones, just all the ligaments and tendons in your elbow. And thanks to modern medicine, you’ll be fine in a week. Fair warning, they’re going to go a little light with the pain meds.”“You got any good news?”“I said you didn’t have brain damage!”Tucker groaned loudly again. His brain fog was clearing, and he snapped to attention. “Holy crap, the mission. What happened? Is everyone okay?”“The artifact is secure, along with the briefcase-““Fuck the Sarcophagus!” Tucker shouted. “Is everyone okay? Did Texas take care of the building or not?”“Texas?” Church asked.“Focus, dick!” Tucker snapped his fingers in Church's helmeted face. “Is everyone okay?”“Right,” Church shook himself. “Everyone’s alive and accounted for. Unfortunately, Maine had an entire clip unloaded in his throat. He survived, despite only a 11.7% chance of getting away without brain damage from lack of oxygen.
His vocal chords are permanently damaged, and will no longer be able to speak.”Tucker sucked air through his teeth, imagining what that might feel like. “That fucking sucks.”“He feels the same way,” Church added.
“What about the building?” Tucker asked. “Texas said she’d take care of it, did she light it up? Fight her way down? Make it explode?”“Technically it was an implosion,” Church said cheerfully.
Tucker let out a breath. “Okay, fuck, okay. Thank God.”“We’re just okay with that? I thought you were the one with a conscious,” Church said.“I do! One of the soldiers, I knew him. Felix, him and his fucking life partner or whatever cause that civil war in my time! He was there, fuck, if Carolina hadn’t stopped me-““I did the calculations on that super well thought and brilliant plan you had,” Church cut off. “And I’ll save you the math, but there’s no fucking way you would have survived if that door opened.”“But if Felix-““In fact, you most likely would have gotten everyone killed. Maine, York, Carolina, Washington- All of them.”Tucker took a mental step back. Church’s voice wasn’t as breezy as before. Everyone since the incident had shed their usual cynical but care free demeanor. Everyone sounded like this was their job.“It was what we call in the risk analysis business, ‘really fucking stupid.’” He said.“Stupid hasn’t failed me yet,” Tucker said jokingly, trying to drag back the humor in his life. Despite his persistence, he knew that was a weak defense.
“I’m a smart AI. I don’t deal with stupid,” Church asserted.Tucker barked a laugh. “Buddy, you got a big storm coming.”Church cocked his head, analyzing Tucker. “You know, I don’t think I like you.”“Feelings mutual,” Tucker said sarcastically. A smile tugged on his lips. “That’s why we’re best friends.”“You are one confusing guy,” Church said. He shook his head, clearing it. “I’m not just here with good news and exposition. Director wants me to sus out if you know anything about the artifact.”Tucker blinked. “What do you mean? I know as much as you do.”“I don’t know anything,” Church admitted.“You know everything.”“Not this,” Church said. “This thing is being kept hush-hush from me.”“You don’t think that’s weird?” Tucker asked.
“The Director thinks it’s for the best if I’m kept out of this plan for now. If you don’t trust yourself, who can you trust?”“I never trust myself,” Tucker said back. “That guys an idiot.”“Who? The Director?”“Nah, me,” Tucker said. “Have you met me? Total idiot. Ask anyone, they’ll tell you.”“I’m sure they’d agree,” Church laughed. “Anyways, have any news for me? Or am I going to have to deliver the news that you are of healthy mind and almost healthy body?”Tucker looked over at Church- No, Alpha’s casual demeanor. Whatever being was in the artifact was what was going to split the Alpha up into the fragments. Whatever that meant, would mean that the Alpha was going to be tortured.Tex was born out of the pain the Director had for his Tex, Allison or whatever, being too much and ripping him in two. That pain made the whole damn Project, made Carolina into who she was, made the Director a sad old man in an empty base who would rather kill himself than move on with his daughter. That pain made Church chase Tex over and over again, through lives and memories and bodies and consciousness. It made Church hold onto Tex, even if she wanted nothing more to be her own person. When that wasn’t a possibility, she rather die.Whatever pain the Sarcophagus had in store for the Alpha, it was on par with all that.It was Tucker’s duty as a friend to stop this. To stop it all, the protect his friend, fuck the consequences. Tell the truth, save the Alpha. Lie, and tell everyone it doesn’t work. They could move on, try another plan that didn’t require torture.But…What if there wasn’t another plan? What if this was the only way they could power those suits? What if that’s the only way to bring down Charon? To save Chorus, to save everyone?
Tucker could do it right, he could set it right. Even if the Director listened, what if he went through with it anyway?
Tucker could fix it, he could make it right. He made Carolina trust Tex, he could trust himself on this. He had too.“It works,” Tucker nodded. “It works nearly perfectly. Tell the Director to go through with it.”“Nearly perfect?” The Alpha asked.“Don’t worry about that,” Tucker said. “I’ll fix it. I promise.”“You want me to trust you? I thought you were an idiot.”“I am, but I’m doing better. Maybe all I gotta do is trust myself.”“Wow. What a ringing endorsement,” Church deadpanned. “Alright, I’ll let him know. See ya, Tucker. And good luck out there.”“Bye, Church.”—Tucker’s eyes opened, and he shot up.His arm didn’t like that. It exploded with pain at the elbow, making him double over.“Ah, fuck!” He cried. It was bandaged and pressed to his torso. He was out of suit, vulnerable and exposed.“Agent Kentucky,” The Director said, voice rough. Tucker turned to him.
“Sup,” Tucker nodded.“Agent Kentucky,” The Director repeated, through clenched teeth. “Explain.”“Uh, which part?”“The part where you attempted to not only sabotage the whole mission, but recruit my agents to help you!” The Director shouted.He looked disheveled, not even bothering with his usual decorum. He crossed the room in a few steps, and wrapped his fingers around the bar of the infirmary bed. His eyes were wild, like an animal, right up in Tucker’s face.“Whoa! Chill!” Tucker leaned back, going to move his arm in defense, and yelping when it moved and exploded in more pain.“You have thirty seconds before I fill an IV with morphine, and you disappear,” The Director hissed.Tucker’s eyes widened, and he swallowed.“The guy that kicks off that civil war was there! I thought… If I could just kill him there…” Tucker shook his head. The Director didn’t relax. “Whatever, you don’t care about that. But it wasn’t cause I wanted to sabotage anyone! And no one helped me! See, you got a free evaluation on loyalty!”The Director didn’t look amused, but his eyes went from fury to extreme distaste.“Okay, uh, reasons not too kill me, okay okay, let me think,” Tucker shook his head, trying to clear his head. His eyes shot open. “Are we alone?”The Director leaned back. “Do you see anyone else here?” He asked rudely.The room was empty, not even the Counselor. “That’s not what I meant.”The Director narrowed his eyes. A second past. “Alpha, log off.”A tiny version of Church popped up to the Director’s side. “I was kinda hoping to see him punched. Not killed or anything. Just once.”“Alpha, log off.”Church’s shoulders slumped. His helmet turned towards Tucker once. “Good luck, buddy.”Church blinked, and was gone.“You sure he’s gone?” Tucker asked.“Positive.”“Okay,” Tucker nodded. He had made his decision, but execution was proving to be hard. His gut was screaming at him to stop, but the brain was in the driver seat for once. “Alright, the alien in the Sarcophagus-““How do you know the contents?” The Director cut off.“I mean, I didn’t,” Tucker said. “But I can read enough Sangheili too know what that those symbols were a warning whatever was in the Sarcophagus was alive. Only thing it was missing was air holes punched in the top and a certificate of adoption.”The Director’s jaw clenched once, and relaxed.“And I didn’t even tell anyone! Like a good boy,” Tucker pointed out. “Not even Alpha. Because I know he’s not gonna like what you plan to do with it.“I’m not really cool with it either,” Tucker admitted, but scrambled once he saw the Director’s face. “But it’s going to work! Torturing the Alpha to split off fragments is going to work, they’ll power the suits. Where everything falls apart is the personalities.”“Personalities?” The Director questions. Tucker feels some relief that he has the Director pulled in.“Yeah, like, multiple personalities. The torture makes him split off parts to cope. I don’t know, I’m not a therapist. But that’s what happens. Some of them are cool, but some of them…”Knock knock? Rang in Tucker's head, making him shudder. For a while after Blood Gulch, getting too angry nearly sent him into panic attacks. Gamma and his jokes were stupid, but thanks to O'Malley, rage was now associated with a loss of agency.Tucker looked up, deciding on the word. “Ass hats. Douche bags. Dick heads. Just take something from below the waist and add and object. That’s what they are.”“I see. But they are effective?”“Yeah, too good,” Tucker scoffed. “Once they fracture off, all they want is to become whole again, like, merge with the Alpha. Spoiler, that’s in the top three reasons all this falls apart.”The Director mulled this over. “But they work?”Tucker sighed. Fuck, this family was stubborn. “Yes. They work.”The Director had calmed down now, distracted. “How exactly-““Whoa, whoa!” Tucker held his good hand up. “Nah, I’m pulling my insurance card. I’m not going to spill my guts here, I need some job security. You’ll need an AI expert.”“You are far from an expert.”“Okay, yeah, I don’t have a fancy ‘degree’ or can ‘do math,’” Tucker attempted air quotes, but with one hand, it looked more like bunny ears. “But I know these guys. Enough to give some expertise as we go.”“I’ve put my trust in you once, Kentucky-““I can prove it!” Tucker said quickly. “Uh, what’s the Greek alphabet?”“What?”“The alphabet!” Tucker said. “Alpha, then Beta- Or Tex, I guess. What’s next?”The Director squinted at him, letting a moment pass. “Delta.”“Delta!” Tucker exclaimed. “Okay, Delta! I kinda met him. A version of him, but my friends knew him pretty well. Watch,”Tucker fumbled to remember everything he knew about Delta. Unfortunately, he rarely saw the Epsilon version of him, and the original had been erased from the EMP before Tucker had showed up.“Okay, uh, he’s green!” Tucker held up one finger.The Director stared.“Green.” He repeated.Shit.“Green!” Tucker said again, like it made sense. “His whole thing will be logic! He won’t be like Alpha, he’ll be all cool and calculating. Sounds like a robot? His armor will be Mark V, for whatever reason, I don’t know. But he’ll be cool! Like, nice?”The silence carried on.“I see,” The Director finally said.
“Yeah…” Tucker said for lack of anything else.“Well then,” The Director said. “We will see how things develop, Agent Kentucky. You do realize what is at risk if a green artificial intelligence unit doesn’t materialize.”“Can it still be a morphine overdose?” Tucker asked.“I doubt my mercy will extend that far into the future.” The Director said. “Anything further you’d like to contribute?”Tucker racked his brain for anything. “Pair him with York?”“Noted,” The Director nodded. “Speak of which, I will leave you to heal your arm. I’m sure it goes without saying that you are no longer on the leader board.”“Aw,” Tucker pouted. He straightened out. “I mean, what? Pft, who even cares. Not me, that’s who. What leader board? That’s how much I don’t care.”The Director rolled his eyes, and walked out.—Tucker did not expect any visitors during his overnight stay in the infirmary, least of all Carolina.“No! Please, use the morphine!” He yelped, scooting to the edge of his bed and away from her.Out of armor, she cocked her head, confused but not furious. “What?”Tucker relaxed. “You’re not here to murder me?”“I didn’t plan on it,” Carolina said, calm. “I thought about it a lot over the past couple of days-““Days?” Tucker asked. “How long have I been here?”“Four days,” She said. “Partially for a medically induced coma in case of brain damage, and partially to give the rest of us some time to cool off before seeing you. And I needed to give you this.”Carolina placed the hilt of Tucker’s sword on the bed. Just the sight of it was like a rip from a bong, he relaxed all over. He grabbed it, felt it in his hand, knowing instantly it was his.“Oh thank God,” Tucker sighed, settling back on the elevated bed. The relief of his sword nearly lulled him into a false sense of security, but he quickly stiffened again. “Wait, I think I’m mad at you! What the fuck!?Tucker’s blood started pumping. “I opened up too you! You knew who Felix was! And you were just going to let him go for the fucking mission?”Carolina clenched her jaw, exhaled audibly, but did not throw any punches. “I wasn’t going to throw everything away on the chance someone you know was on the other side of the door. Wash and I took care of him.”“Him?” Tucker sat up straight. “He was there? You killed him?”“We took care of him,” Carolina repeated. “You could have warned us about the flame thrower, and that was not a scout helmet-““Wait, what?” Tucker asked. “Flame throwers? Wait, did this guy have like, shark decals on him?”Carolina raised her eyebrows. “Yes, yes he did. So that was Felix?”“NO!” Tucker hung his head, and groaned loudly. “No, that wasn’t fucking Felix! That was Sharkface! The guy with the fucking shark on his face!”“I got that, yes.”“Yeah, well get this: You didn’t fucking ‘take care of him,’” Tucker did his bunny ears again. “All you did was make one more enemy who’s going to make a surprise appearance later. Great work team! That’ll be a fun call back!”“What?” Carolina said, voice picking up. “You know him?”“Yeah! Because you couldn’t seal the deal!” Tucker pointed a finger at her. “And if I looked fucking pissed, imagine how he’s going to be after a decade of vengeance boiling and half his face burned off!”“Kentucky, you need to watch your tone,” Carolina warned.“Who gives a shit about my tone?” Tucker shouted, despite Carolina’s rising anger. “You couldn’t let go of your selfish fucking competitiveness to save an entire planet, I thought I actually got through to you-““I didn’t do it for me!” She threw back. “I did it for my family!”“Oh, now the Freelancers are your family?” Tucker scoffed. “Or do you mean daddy-“
SLAP!
Tucker’s head was jerked to the side, tears coming through. He blinked in shock.“Did you just slap me?” Tucker asked, his cheeks stinging more than enough confirmation.Looking back at Carolina, he expected rage, fury, or even another slap. Instead, she just looked restrained, but collected.“You told me I have a brother,” She whispered. “I’m not stupid, Kentucky. What ever was in the Sarcophagus is for him. I’m not going to forget that.”“You did this for Church?” Tucker gasped.
Carolina nodded. “And because it was my objective, and for my family in suits. I’m sorry that I won’t drop all of that for a string of 'maybes'.”Tucker brought his good hand to his warming cheek. He remembered the most shocking part of that mission; Her cooperation with Tex.“What… What happened after Tex sucker punched me?” He asked.Carolina took in a breath. “The building was struck by the MOI’s missile system. We all had to evacuate as it imploded, which was not easy with the Sarcophagus and an incapacitated soldier,” She said with a bit of venom. “But we managed. Washington and Texas got you and the artifact on the escape ship, then she returned to help Maine, York and I secure the brief case once we learned Team Bravo had been intercepted. Agent Texas managed to get the briefcase.”Tucker’s brows lifted in surprise. “And you let her?”Carolina furrowed her brows in confusion. “Of course. We needed that briefcase.”“But, she kinda stole your thunder.”“Thank you for that reminder,” Carolina said bitterly. “But the objective comes before personal feelings. No matter how strong they are.” She shot the last line at him.“Wow,” Tucker said. He had changed things. Old Carolina would never have let this happen, much less accept it and admit it.He took a breath, and looked down at his slinged arm, suddenly feeling like he deserved it. “Uh, sorry I tried to cut your arm off. I wasn’t thinking. I was probably going to cut my own off, if it helps.”Carolina let out a huff, but spoke with her teeth separated. “Well, seeing as cutting your own arm off is a much worse idea, I believe you. Don’t expect an apology from York.”“I don’t,” Tucker said. He looked back at Carolina, calm and feeling guilty for how he had spoken to her, what he assumed of her character. Instead of apologizing again, he cleared his throat.“It was way more bad ass then that, right?” Tucker asked. “Like, c’mon. Imploding building?”Carolina’s face softened, and she actually smirked. “We sky dived off the building, then Maine picked us up in a jeep with a gunner. We had a high speed chase on the freeway, and had to result to hand-to-hand combat on the back of moving trucks.”“Fuck, really!? I missed all that?” Tucker whined, and Carolina laughed. “Man, I miss all the good shit!”“It was highly dangerous, and Maine won’t recover from gun shots wound he took to the neck,” Tucker frowned, but Carolina smirked. “But it was pretty cool.”—-Tucker was released from the infirmary the next day, and mentally prepared for social torture on par with being a loser in high school and being trapped in Blood Gulch.
What he forgot is how easily everyone obsessed about their own problems before thinking about others.Wyoming, North and CT were mostly upset about being caught before even getting any action, and talk of how cool and bad ass Alpha team were soured them.He couldn’t even suit up with his broken arm, and instead was subjected to multiple daily sessions in the med bay with needles jabbed in him and glowy things pointed at him. Turns out, having your ligaments rapidly repaired after being snapped was super painful.
(“Did, uh, you ever have a baby?” Nikki asked on session three, staring at his x-rays.

“Fuck,” Tucker cursed, the strain in his elbow waning and waxing like a pulse. “Yeah? What about it?”

“There’s no uterus.”

“It wasn’t human.”

“Oh. Okay,” She said, frowning at the x-ray for another moment. She typed quickly on her keyboard. “I’m going to administer an extra dose of pain killers.”

“
Oh my god, I could kiss you.”

“No thanks. I’m not into single parents. I’ll leave that to Maine.”

“Why do people keep saying that!?”)
Tucker caught on that his melt down was kept a secret. He got a few jabs from South about getting knocked out by falling debris, but even those were mild now that his name was off the leader board.It made sense that Washington, York and Carolina would keep the whole thing private. Carolina was cool with him, even if it was clear he could no longer be trusted in the field. When speaking about any future plans or missions, Tucker’s name was conveniently left out of the dialog.Fine by fucking him.Washington was hovering. No surprise. Never approaching him, never interrogating him, but always just happened to be in the same room. Like how cats just happen to be in the same room as their owners, but rarely cuddle. With Ramadan keeping Wash busy, it was easy for Tucker to avoid his worried glances and the amount of times Wash almost approached him. Another win for Islam.York was the biggest surprise. Pretty soon after Tucker’s release, York sought him out and cornered him in the hallway.“C’mon man,” Tucker begged, literally with his back against the wall.York raised an eyebrow, the only eyebrow he could raise. His other eye was white, and had a spiderweb of scarring. It looked exactly like Donut’s after his injury.York looked Tucker up and down once, and held out a fist. “We cool?”Tucker stared at the fist like it was a trick. He flicked his eye back at York, looking for deception. He finally tapped his good hand to York's, gently, like it was a grenade.“Yes?”
“Good,” York nodded.
“That’s it?” Tucker asked, suspicious.“Yup,” York shrugged. “I’m a forgiving guy. Exhibit A.” He said, pointing to his eye.“Forgiving?” Tucker scoffed. “I’m the one with a broken arm!”“I stand by that,” York said, a little more serious.
“At least you get a sexy scar out of it!” Tucker whined. “What do I get?”“Is that you’re dominant arm?” York asked.“No?”“Well, I’m so sorry your career as a violinist is over,” York chuckled and patted Tucker’s shoulder on his bad side, making Tucker wince. He turned to leave, but waited. “C’mon, you can tell me exactly how sexy my scar is.”In fact, the only person who would have told everyone about what really happened couldn't speak at all.Tucker didn’t even know Maine had been released from medical the same day he was. He didn’t join anyone during meals or training. Wash was in Tucker’s vicinity constantly, and Tucker assumed Wash would want to stick by Maine if possible. They were still friends, right?It was one of those moments Wash ‘happened’ to be close enough to help Tucker with his dinner tray at the mess hall he first saw Maine. Wash and Tucker had spent their entire days separated, but were side-by-side as they filled up their tray. No talking, no bantering, just Wash keeping an eye on Tucker's tray as he balanced it on his one good hand. At the sight of Maine, Tucker almost dropped his tray The mess hall lights were dim, and the million pieces of Maine that signaled something was very wrong came to Tucker one by one. The bandages around Maine’s throat were neat and clean, but the rest of him was a mess. He had stumble growing all over his usually closely shaved head. His dark circles rivaled Wash’s, and looked ready to bite someone’s head off. Even his fatigues were wrinkled and not even tucked in.“Holy shit,” Tucker said, watching fill up a mug with hot water. The only other thing he had on his tray was what looked like soup.“Yeah, he’s not doing so hot,” Wash admitted guiltily, like it was his fault. “He can’t wear his helmet yet, so he can’t hear either.”“Have you talked to him? Or, er, signed?” Tucker asked.Wash shot Tucker a sharp look. “I’m trying this thing where I leave people who want to be left the fuck alone, the fuck alone.”Tucker widened his eyes at Wash’s sudden aggression. He had completely forgotten about their fight before the mission, and assumed Wash’s weirdness was due to Tucker’s break down.
“Oh,” Tucker said. He looked down at his tray, and nearly dropped it onto the table.“Tucker!” Wash said in surprise, quickly picking up the fallen cups pouring water and coffee over his dinner. Tucker paid him no mind, and sped walked across the mess hall towards Maine.Giving him a wide berth, he waved his warms a while a few feet away to get Maine’s attention. When Maine looked at him, Tucker swallowed down his fear. Those piercing brown eyes weren’t those of his friend, not the one he had made over this past months. He forced himself to stand tall, and not leave.Tucker went to sign, forgetting again that his arm was out of commission. He hissed at the tug in his elbow, and gave up. He was unsure how to proceed; Maine couldn’t speak or hear, Tucker couldn’t sign. Maine watched as Tucker struggled, and settled on a simply alternating between giving a thumbs up and thumbs down.Maine stared at him, growing more and more agitated by the second. The look of frustration was one Tucker knew well, and Tucker was expecting a punch.Instead, the Meta growled at him, a guttural impossible noise for a man to make, and pushed past him.Tucker stood their in shock, the sound reverberating in his skull like alarm bells.Not the Meta, Tucker thought. Not the Meta, it’s still Maine. That’s still Maine. I can save him.It took Tucker a second to remember how to move again, and he somehow made his way over to a very irritated Wash, who was moping up too much liquid with too few napkins.“I told you, he wants to be left alone,” He said, not looking back at Tucker.“My bad,” Was all Tucker could say.
Tucker looked around the mess hall again, nearly empty.
Oh, it was extremely fucking late. He hadn’t even questioned why Wash was eating with him, and his irritation suddenly didn’t seem competently Tucker’s fault.Wash sighed and threw all the sopping wet napkins in the nearby bin, and dropped down to his seat. Tucker sat nervously by him, like Wash was going to growl at him too. This would be the first meal they shared in a week, and neither looked to happy about it.Looking for any relief of the awkwardness, Tucker cleared his throat. “Hey, where is everyone?”“Asleep, probably,” Wash said, stabbing his meatloaf. Probably not the iftar delicacies we would have preferred.“No, I mean Ohio, Idaho, and Iowa,” Tucker said. Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t seen them since he got back. Was he that good at avoiding people? Tucker glanced around, hoping to see one of them, but looked back to a Wash ready to stab him. His knuckles were pale wrapped around his fork.“Took you long enough to notice,” Wash spit. Tucker had never seen him so angry. “They’re gone.”“Gone?” Tucker parroted. “Gone where?”“We don’t know,” Wash said patronizingly slow.“Wha- huh?” Tucker said. How much trouble could those three get into on a closed space ship?“They went on a mission and didn’t come back,” Wash said slowly. “If we don’t get a body back, then we don’t know where they are.”Tucker’s brain was short circuiting. “No, no that’s impossible, they don’t go on missions! They’re the triplets!” He reasoned.“Well, someone must have noticed changes in them, and they got one,” Wash said, looking down at his meal. “They’re gone.”Tucker’s stomach flipped. Gone, after never seeing a single mission; One friendship with Tucker and they’re evacuated. Tucker might have been self centered, but he was positive this was due to him. He was even self centered enough to suspect it was a sort of punishment for him.He pushed his tray out of the way, and dropped an elbow to the table, and dropped his forehead into it. If the mess hall was more crowded, he might have opted for a fleeing exit. A dramatic one, taking a page out of South's book and knocking over a chair. Taking a page from his own book and pushing his tray to the ground. But it was deserted enough and it was late enough and he had suffered enough blows to not bother moving.“Fuck,” He whispered, rubbing his eyes
roughly with the heel of his good hand. “Fuck.”Tucker’s eyes hurt, and his dinner was unappetizing. Breathing was harder now, and he about to run and hide before he fucked up anything else, when a hand placed itself on the back of his neck. He jumped, but didn’t look up, and just relaxed into the touch. Wash was rubbing soothing circles in his scalp with his thumb, like Tucker would with him whenever his implants started bothering him. Wash didn’t even have implants yet, and still somehow knew this was what Tucker needed. Tucker let out a shuddering breath, letting himself calm down and enjoy the moment, the only comfort he'd be able to get from Wash.In their worst times, at any time, all Tucker wanted was to be held, and all Wash wanted was to hold. They let each other have this.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

A long time before Tucker put on the Meta's suit, he smiled as he sent the file of the newspaper to Junior. It was a good picture of them; All the Reds and Blues, taken a week ago when Project Freelancer officially shuttered its doors. Something for Junior to show all his little friends.
Look! My dad’s a big hero! He would say, and point to him in that picture of them with the Chairman of the board investigating Project Freelancer. Michael Harlan, or something. It didn’t matter, he wasn’t the star here, it was Tucker and the people there when Junior was born, who he lovingly (and to Tucker’s chagrin) referred to as his uncles.“You gonna dick around on porn sites all night or are you actually going to start drinking?” Grif huffed, pulling Tucker into the present. He held out a bottle of warm beer.
He was in one of the flimsy, wooden seats resembling lawn chairs they had found in the cargo area of the UNSC ship, and had set up in a circle, surrounded by wooden and metal crates of who knew what else. The lights were dim, the walls and ceiling different shades of grey, the entire place smelling faintly of diesel, metal and cedar, and Tucker hadn’t been this joyful in years.“Sorry, your mom just sent me a new video,” Tucker grabbed the bottle before Grif could take it away. “I didn’t know your sister’s ping pong ball trick was genetic.”“If I could bother to get up, you’d be deep throating that bottle right now,” Grif said, glaring but planted firmly in his chair. Tucker leaned back in his own, smirking.“That’s so crazy you say that, because your mom sent me this other video where she-AH!”
Tucker ducked at the bottle Grif chucked at his head, narrowly missing him. He waited for the crash and sound of broken glass and fizz on the the floor, but none came. Tucker turned, hesitant, like the bottle was sneaking going to sneak up on him.Wash was standing behind him, looking unimpressed but twisting open the bottle with his hand.His ungloved hand.“Woah, party animal over here!” Tucker laughed. “Out of armor and everything! I was pretty sure that shit was like, melted into your skin at this point.”“Ha ha,” Wash deadpanned. He looked over at Grif. “If you want to throw another bottle at him, I won’t stop you.”A flash of white light and a tingle on the back of Tucker’s head, and Church was sitting on his shoulder.“Can we not give Tucker a concussion while I’m in here?” He asked, leaning back on his hands on Tucker’s brand new UNSC hoodie, as if he was anything more than a projection of light and sound. “I don’t want to get trapped in his mind if he goes into a coma.”“You can come in my head!” Caboose said from where he sat criss-cross-applesauce-Goddammit, Tucker internally at his use of the phrase.
Jesus dude, he’s got to you, Church scoffed in his head. Between him and Junior, you’re gonna have Cocomelon burned in here like a screensaver.That was all you, Thought, clearly and deliberately. Not a feeling, but a conversation, a skill of communicating with AI he needed to brush up on if Church was back. You fucking brain parasite.Anyways. Caboose looked at them from where he sat cross-legged on the floor.“Thanks but no thanks,” Church said, moving on as if he and Tucker weren’t mentally intertwined. “If I ever get stuck in Caboose’s head, just kill us both.”“Just like The Notebook!” Caboose beamed, his beer opened but untouched. It would remain untouched, but Caboose would pout and cry if they excluded him.“God damn- Never mind,” Church groaned. “We should have never let Donut pick for movie nights in Blood Gulch.”“Can it, Tinkerbell,” Sarge gruffed, also still in armor. Seriously, were these even lawn chairs? How the hell could they support that weight? “That was one of my picks.”“No way,” Tucker widened his eyes. “Seriously?”“Of course!” Sarge scoffed. “Any movie about war is worth watching!”“They’re only in war for like, three seconds!” Church said, voice rising in frustration.“It was better than that boring ass movie Simmons made us watch,” Grif rolled his eyes.Simmons, sitting in another chair saddled up right next to Grif’s, frowned deeply. “Oppenheimer is a masterpiece! It is a wonder of special effects-!”“It was Avengers for nerds who are too lame for Avengers,” Grif said, putting one ankle on his opposite knee. Despite the chilly interior that had the rest of them in sweats and hoodies, he dressed like he was on vacation. Where did he even get cargo shorts and flip flops on a space ship?
“It’s not my fault you were all to stupid to get it!” Simmons face grew red, and he crossed his arms. “What, you would rather watch the Barbie movie or something?”“YES!”
The Reds started squabbling about movies and Simmons being a nerd while Wash pulled open one of the chairs leaning against the wall. He stood for a while longer, studying at the beer label. “Where did you guys even get these?”“Psh, we have our sources,” Tucker shrugged.“I scanned the ships manifest to see what supplies they had on board. Some Independence Day or Freedom Day or whatever holiday is coming up, so the booze was going to be dispersed to some outposts for that.”“So you just have the entire ships manifest now?” Wash raised an eyebrow.“Are you kidding me? I deleted it from my storage once we got the booze. What the hell am I going to do with an entire ships manifest?”Before Wash sat, he opened a second bottle and chair, placing them both not far from himself. He dropped into the one closest to Tucker with an old man grunt, what Tucker assumed were his old man knees cracking.Tucker raised an eyebrow, nodding once at the empty chair. “What, that one for your imaginary friend?”Wash raised a brow back. “As opposed to your very real friend sitting on your shoulder?”“Fuck you, don’t bring me into this!” Church said, flipping off Wash.“This seat’s for Carolina, she’ll be joining us soon,” Wash said, taking a sip from his bottle and frowning at the taste.God damn it, you’re all ungrateful pricks, Church practically pouted in Tucker’s head.I know you can taste it from me, Tucker thought back, taking another sip of the bitter drink and holding it unpleasantly on his tongue for a second longer before swallowing. Don’t pretend this doesn’t taste like sink water.“Carolina?” Tucker asked, returning to the verbal conversation. “Like, on purpose?”“You want to tone down the dick-ishness?” Church huffed. Tucker bent his neck oddly just to look at him.“What happened to not getting into this?” Tucker asked.“Carolina is a member of… Whatever we all are,” Wash said with the finality of a leader Church never was.“You mean Carolina is a Blue?” Caboose asked, perking up and inserting himself in the conversation.Tucker rolled his eyes. “Man, who isn’t a fucking Blue at this point.”Washington paused and thought for a moment. “Well, I don’t know if she’d call herself that…”Sarge jumped out of his seat before Tucker was even aware he was paying attention. “Ha! That means she’s a Red!”“Carolina’s a Red?” Simmons frowned, seeming to be doing some bizarre math in his head. “Well, that would make the teams even in terms of actual soldiers.”“We haven’t had a new Red since Donut,” Grif commented. He absentmindedly placed a hand on Simmon’s knee.Tucker could feel a classic Blood Gulch Crew bicker brewing, and smiled. “Yeah, because who the fuck would want to be a Red?”“It’s called exclusivity, numb nuts,” Sarge growled, eyes narrowing. As eager as Tucker was to fall into this age old debate, Sarge was always primed.“Sorry we don’t let just any loser into our army,” Grif added.“Uh, sorry, which team had not one, but two Freelancers?” Church said. Tucker’s smile widened; Church, despite every revelation and iteration, was a fucking Blue to his core. “And at least three smart AI’s?”“And how many of those Freelancer’s are alive?” Grif shot back.“Oh, moded,” Caboose whispered.“Wrong side Caboose,” Wash said.“Are you even a Blue?” Simmon’s shot. “Alpha was a Blue, but what about you?”Tucker waited for Church to reply, but instead he flashed for a second. Tucker felt a sort of anger and frustration brewing within himself, and had to urge to chuck his bottle at Simmons’ head. The rapid rise of this unease was so startling it actually made Tucker reflect on himself, something he rarely did for protection of his ego and sanity. But this wasn’t his feelings; It was Church’s.Why the hell would Church doubt if he was a Blue?“He sure as hell not a Red,” Tucker interjected before the silence ran on too long.
“Pretty sure the only requirement for being a Red is scoring below average on an IQ test.”“Oh, I think I’m in the wrong armor then,” Caboose frowned, looking down at his t-shirt. It had to match the same shade of navy blue as his armor, or else he’d lose it.“Shut up, Caboose,” Church said.“See!?” Tucker raised a hand, gesturing to Church, who was practically preening inside Tucker’s head. “Of course he’s a Blue, he already knows our slogan!”“Okay fine!” Grif said. “You can keep your fucking light bulb and speed bump,” Grif pointed to Wash.
“Better dead than Red,” Wash said casually, smiling into his sip of beer. He caught Tucker’s eye, both of them breaking out into even stupider grins.“Whatever,” Grif continued. “So that means we get Carolina!”“Oh that makes sense!” Caboose said, rubbing his chin.“Shut up Caboose,” Church said again.“No, let’s hear him out,” Sarge said, leaning forward toward Caboose, elbows resting on his knees. “Why’s that?”“Well, when Grif’s sister came, she was a Blue!” Caboose said, looking up in remembrance. “So now that Church’s sister is here, that means she’s a Red. It’s basic math.”“Is it?” Simmons asked.“Shut up, Simmons!” Grif hissed, before turning back to Church and Tucker. “There you go, Carolina is a Red.”“Oh, we’re just listening to Caboose now?” Church asked incredulously. “The guy who puts on one sock, one shoe, then the other sock and shoe? In that order?”“Even a broken clock is right twice a day,” Sarge countered.“I can’t be a clock, I’m haven’t had any kids,” Caboose deflated. “Let alone be a grandfather.”A soft rap of metal on metal drew the groups attention to the entry way. Carolina was in full armor, her helmet tucked into her side. Tucker hadn’t seen much of her face, but she looked oddly… Unsure. Nervous, even. She had just brought down the organization that her dad built seemingly solely to traumatize them all, and was now nervous to approach a bunch of idiots in lawn chairs, drinking and hiding out in a cargo bay?“Mind if I join you?” She asked.“About time,” Sarge huffed, crossing his arms. “We’ll need to work on your punctuality. We don’t need two Grif’s here.”Carolina furrowed her brows in confusion, but still walked over, silently dropping into the seat next to Wash. Her spine was straight, not even touching to back of the chair, and she didn’t even reach for a drink. Her helmet was about to be crushed in her hands.“Where were you, Ms. Carolina ma’am?” Caboose asked, oblivious to her weird energy.“I noticed the ship had some weird readings on one of the pressure manometers,” Carolina said. “So I made some adjustments. I couldn’t find any crew members, so I had to do them myself.”“Uh,” Church said, flashing green for a fraction of a second. Tucker blinked hard, but no one seemed to notice. “That sounds pretty engineer-y. Maybe I should take a look at that.”“Don’t doubt her work!” Sarge shouted, startling Carolina. She looked more taken back than Tucker had ever seen her in any of the other twists their lives have taken. “She’s a Red! We have a natural affinity for robotics and electronics!”“I’m… A Red?” Carolina asked, face twisting in confusion.“Like hell she is!” Tucker said again. “Look at her armor! It’s fucking Blue, idiot!”“Her hair is Red, moron,” Grif shot back.
“Okay, well she’s a bad ass, so she’s a Blue!” Tucker shot back. He elbowed Wash so hard that he spilled warm beer down his shirt. “We’re making Wash dumber, we need some fresh brains here! You guys will just wear her down faster. Bow chicka-bow wow.”“Bow chicka- What?” Carolina asked.“They’re debating if you are a Red or Blue,” Wash leaned over and told her. Carolina’s brows flew up in surprise.“Oh, really?” She asked, her voice sounding almost… Hopeful? Tucker had expected sarcasm or some sort of pissed off, but there wasn’t any negativity in her face or voice now.“Well, Ms. Carolina has to be a Red,” Caboose repeated, crossing his arms.“Why’s that?” Carolina asked.“Because when Grif’s sister joined, she was a Blue. And since you’re Church’s sister, you have to be a Red,” Caboose said simply.Carolina stared at Caboose for a second, mouth hanging open a little. Tucker leaned forward, about to say something, when Wash’s hand fell on his knee.Tucker jumped at the contact, and swiveled to look at Wash. Wash was smiling, holding a hand up to say Wait.Eventually, Carolina’s mouth closed and fell into something resembling a smile. She leaned back, not exactly relaxing in her seat, but no longer looking ready to bolt. “Guess that settles it. I’m a Red.”Tucker and Church groaned loudly in unisent while the Reds and Caboose cheered loudly. Grif and Simmons high fived.“Caboose! This isn’t a good thing for us!” Tucker said.“Well, I never get to be right!” Caboose whined.“Here ya go, rookie,” Sarge said, hoisting a beer up. He threw it at Carolina, who was smiling at Wash. Her reaction time wasn’t fast enough, and the bottle flew right by her head and onto the floor. This time it shattered, leaving brown shards of glass scattered in fizz all over the metal floor.“Party foul,” Wash muttered. Tucker snorted a laugh. Whenever Wash managed to lighten up in the most normal way possible, it almost always got a giggle from Tucker.Carolina along with everyone else was still taking stock of the mess on the floor, so no one noticed when Caboose pulled another glass from the wooden crate. He didn’t announce to anyone he was throwing it, just went straight for an underhanded toss.Tucker was still staring at the mess, about to make a comment about Red team’s incompetence, but his vision flashed with green. Numbers, lines, arrows, and random math symbols seemed to light up in the edges of his vision, nothing he could clearly zero in on but very much present. Like a blue print- or green print, of the next event happening. A buzz of electricity, almost like a fan whirring, tingled on his implant site on the base of his skull.Tucker was a man of instinct, so he didn’t stop and wonder what the fuck was going on first. Instead, he knew he should stick out his foot, turning it 45 degrees and flicking up at just the right moment for the bottle to bounce off the heel of his leather boot and into the air. He quickly leaned over as the bottle flew straight up, swiping in it’s descent with his free hand. He brought it down one more time, with force, to catch the cap on the edge of his boot and pop it off.The beer was opened and being held out to Carolina by the time the green had disappeared from his vision.“Uhhh,” Wash said. Everyone seemed stunned to silence at his action.“Okay, I want to be a dick,” Grif said relented. “But that was fucking cool.”“Thank you?” Carolina asked, gently taking the beer from Tucker’s hand, like he was about to drop it. When her hand grabbed the bottle, he released his grip, more confused than anyone else.“What the fuck was that?” He asked, still leaning in his chair. “Did I have a stroke? Are strokes supposed to be green?”“That might have been me,” Church admitted sheepishly.“Since when are you green?” Tucker asked.“Yeah, we can’t have another green person,” Caboose said. “Tucker and Carolina are already green.”“I’m aqua!” Carolina and Tucker said at the same time.“No, I mean…” Church hesitated. “I have the memories of all the other AI, okay? So, sometimes, when I’m doing some intense math, or under a lot of stress- Which, thanks to you guys, is kinda always, it helps if I bring those guys up.”“Oh! I didn’t know Mr. Delta was here, I would have offered him a drink,” Caboose reached for another bottle.“No!” Washington shouted, leaning forward, along with everyone else in the room. Caboose’s hand stilled, then returned to his side.“Wait, you met Delta?” Tucker asked. Caboose nodded happily, as if he didn’t give everyone a mini heart attack.“Yup! He was very nice. He lived in my head for a while!”“Delta was York’s AI,” Carolina spoke up. She still hadn’t relaxed into her seat, but no longer looked like the chair was going to electrocute her. Tucker didn’t miss the kind of reminiscent way she looked at Church. “He was the logic fragment.”“Delta was a good AI,” Wash nodded. “York and him were close.”Tucker felt the oncoming creep of that melancholy Wash always got when they talked to much about the Project. It was either that or a type of anger that someone would inevitably poke at and make him fly off the handle.
“Oh yeah, we saw that little recording of him,” Simmons said, picking at the label of his beer. “He was really impressive.”“Wait, everyone got to meet this guy except me?” Tucker looked around.The room looked around and nodded. This was another of their adventures Tucker had to miss out on because of his diplomacy, and jealousy grew in his chest.“Are you jealous?” Church taunted out loud, as if couldn’t feel what Tucker felt. Tucker turned, and he was floating a foot away from his head, hands on his hips.If he kept this up, Tucker was going to start replaying those slasher movies in his head.
“Fuck yeah I’m jealous!” Tucker admitted enthusiastically, not giving Church the satisfaction. “Everyone else got to meet the smart Church and I didn’t?”“Too bad!” Church laughed. “He got erased. That’s what you get for ditching us.”“I was off being a good dad!” Tucker snapped. “Not that you’d understand that.”“Too soon!” Simmons interjected.Tucker turned and shot him a look. “You really wanna join in the conversations about bad dads?”Simmons, looking offended and turning red, opened his mouth, but Grif held up a hand to his face, stopping him. “No, he doesn’t. Return to your Blue team drama.”“Thank you!” Tucker said, turning back to Church. “Okay! Well bring him out, I want to meet him.”“What? No!” Church crossed his arms. “It’s not even Delta, it’s just a memory that I have copied-““Blah, blah, blah,” Tucker rolled his eyes. “Don’t care, just bring him out.”“I would like to see Mr. Delta again!” Caboose joined in.“He was an interesting piece of technology,” Simmons shrugged.“If we’re going to work together,” Carolina added, looking unsure of her place but pressed forward. “I think we should all know what you can do.”“Especially if any of the AI can pop up whenever.” Wash said. Tucker knew Wash didn’t give a shit about this, but was backing Carolina’s decision. Tucker also knew Wash would never admit it, but he loved pissing off Epsilon. Either as revenge for the brain damage or because it was funny, he didn’t know.“My multiple personality disorder is not a party trick, assholes,” Church sighed.“Delta, Delta, Delta,” Tucker began chanting.He started softly, looking around the room and urging others to join. Thank God everyone seemed more invested in that, instead of letting the chant fail and embarrassing Tucker. It didn’t take long before everyone had a smile on their face and their volume grew.“Delta! Delta! Delta!” They shouted. Church seemed to shrink, shaking his head in disbelief.
Tucker could feel that Church wanted to bring out Delta. Or, maybe Delta wanted to be brought out? Either way, it wasn’t just Tucker’s curiosity at work. Something stronger was tugging at him, something he could feel down to his chest, that was eager to bring Delta out. The longer Church was here, the easier it was getting to discern between his own wants and the wants of the AI, but it was becoming clear Epsilon was having his own issues with who wanted what. Almost like a nesting doll of personalities between the two Blues.Finally, Church threw up his hands. “Fine! Fine!”A flash of green, and now there were too holograms of soldiers floating.The entire group cheered, Sarge even throwing in a whistle. The energy picked up again, the whole of them finally having something dumb to celebrate. Still, Tucker was surprised that Delta looked so… Low quality. He had on old, outdated armor, and just looked… Fuzzier than Church.
“Hello,” Delta said, in a voice that seemed too robotic to be human but too smooth to be a feel like a computer. “It is nice to see everyone again. Although this is technically the first time.”“Whoa!” Tucker leaned forward, getting a better look. Unlike Church, who’s tiny movements and voice gave the appearance of life, Delta seemed frozen unless moving deliberately, like an animatronic.“Wait, so are you… Sentient?” Wash asked, also leaning forward.“In what sense?” Delta asked.“Can you think for yourself, or are you just a hand puppet for the light bulb to talk to?” Sarge asked. Tucker could see that insane inventor brain working into overdrive.“Don’t make me sound like the crazy one here,” Church said. “I’m at least on the bottom half of that list.”“Actually, the hand puppet analogy is an apt assessment of my being,” Delta concluded. “I am merely a memory of Delta. But in that same vein, Church is a memory of Alpha. You may also think of it as Church being at the wheel of a car with all personality fragments, and occasionally needs help steering. However, we still have some sense of independent consciousness from Church.”The room was quiet for a second.“I don’t get it,” Tucker said. Church was most likely gearing up to call Tucker an idiot, but Carolina interrupted.“Me neither,” Carolina added. Okay, if Carolina was going to agree with Tucker, she could stay, even if she was a Red.
“For your purposes, just think of me as another person that he locks away until needed.”“Well that’s kinda fucked up,” Grif said.“Yeah, you do that to people and you end up on the news,” Simmons agreed.“Ah, guys, c’mon, it’s not hard to understand,” Caboose rolled his eyes.
“Do we even want to hear this?” Tucker asked.“It’s like a Pokeball!” Caboose nodded. “Mr. Delta and all of Church’s other brothers and sisters get to go live in the Pokeballs until they get into a fight, then Church brings them all out.”“That… Is kinda it exactly,” Church admitted.“Oooh,” The entire group said in realization. Twice in one day, Caboose was right. That’s something to drink too.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Tucker’s least favorite notification was when the Director scheduled a surprise meeting with him. It was always with about thirty minutes heads up, and never good news. This one popped up while Tucker was in the bathroom, making him jump twenty feet off the toilet.Tucker was scheduled to have his sling taken off that afternoon, and dreaded the thought that it had been delayed. A piece of him was also holding out that it was news about the triplets, who Tucker had grilled anyone and everyone who might know anything about them. Carolina had to shut him down personally about it, claiming she knew nothing. She was a lot more patient about it than the other grey suits he asked.Tucker was at the meeting location early, some unremarkable room close to the med bay. He didn’t bother knocking, just pressed the door to room and walked in as soon as the woosh ended.Tucker wasn’t expecting the Director there, but with his presence,
he wasn’t surprised the Counselor was there too. However, he did a double take at York and Nikki present.“Agent Kentucky, right on time,” The Director greeted.“I’m early?” Tucker said, quickly checking the clock on his HUD.“Precisely,” The Director said.Something was off in his voice. Tucker thought maybe his earpieces were broken, or the Director was sick. It took him a moment to realize that the Director was in a good mood.“Uh, what’s going on?” Tucker asked, suspicious. “York?”York gave a friendly wave, standing right next to Nikki, who was typing something on her data pad.“We thought it would be best for a friendly face to assist Agent York welcoming a new recruit,” The Counselor said, making Tucker jump.“Ah, fuck! I forgot you can talk,” Tucker said, without regard. The Counselor frowned deeply, but Tucker ignored it. “Who’s the new recruit?”A flash of green near York’s head, and a tiny avatar of a low poly Mark V suit appeared.“The Counselor is referring to me. Hello, I am an Artificial Intelligence unit, here to run Agent New York with powering his armor advancements. You may call me-““Delta?” Tucker asked. He stepped forward, leaning in to get a closer look.“I have no records of us meeting,” Delta said evenly. His voice was always even, and had a slight echo to it.“We haven’t, I’m from the future. I’m friends with-““Delta here is the very first of his kind,” The Director cut Tucker off, shooting him a sharp look. “Agent Kentucky has first hand experience with many of your future sibling.”Right. Don’t mention the Alpha, rule number one of AI. That’s how you get a Meta.“Yeah, exactly,” Tucker agreed, nodding along and trying not to shake the awkwardness of his voice. “Uh, nice to meet you? How’s it hanging?”“I have no reference of what a ‘good’ or ‘bad’ meeting would look like. Also, I am a holographic projection, and have nothing ‘hanging.’”“I mean, if you wanna talk about being hung-““That’s enough, Agent Kentucky,” The Director cut off again.“Come on, dude! It was right there!” Tucker whined.“Hey, Delta,” York chimed in. “For future reference, this is what a bad meeting looks like.”“Not true! Any meeting that doesn’t involve someone trying to kill me is a good meeting,” Tucker pointed out.“Fascinating," Delta said, and Tucker wondered if that was true or Delta had already learned sarcasm. "I will log both of these conflicting opinions, and compare to any other meetings I may encounter. After sufficient data is gathered, I can form an informed opinion of what the optimal meeting entails.”“Sounds... Fun,” York forced a smile. His helmet was on the table neck to him, and his hand kept reaching to the back of his neck.“Oh, dude, don’t pick at the implant site,” Tucker warned. “The rash that will form on that is worse than anything I’ve ever experienced. And they don’t even treat it at Planned Parenthood.”York raised and eyebrow, and slowly lowered his hand.
“Wait, am I just here so you know Delta’s cool?” Tucker frowned. It was either that or this was the worst intervention ever.York looked sheepishly. “Kinda. This wasn’t what I was expecting from an AI,” York said. He poked a finger through Delta’s hologram. Delta’s projection faltered as he did so.“Knock it off, they hate that shit,” Tucker said, wavering York’s hand away. York retracted his hand like Delta was going to light it on fire.“I am not confident it is within my capacity to ‘hate’ anything.” Delta paused. “However, I would prefer if you did not disrupt my projection.”“My bad, you got it D,” York laughed, already slipping into a more comfortable tone. He really was the capybara of people; Always ready to make a friend and have a good time.“D?” Delta asked curiously.“It’s a nickname,” Tucker explained. “Everyone on the ship gets one. His parents didn’t name him ‘New York.’ That would be twisted.”“You think that now, but if you knew my actual name…” York gave a low whistle. “Plenty of ammunition to prepubescent bullies. ‘York’ is an upgrade.”“Aw, dude! What is it?” Tucker grinned.“Not a chance,” York shook his head. “I don’t need the closest thing to a middle school boy on this ship knowing my name.”“Boo,” Tucker pouted, then turned eagerly to the AI. “Delta, can you tell me what it is?”“I will not go against Agent York’s desire for privacy,” Delta said.“Boo.”“However, I can provide a list of names most likely to receive ridicule by developing minds in English speaking America. Given Agent York’s status as an able bodied, White male with no noticeable accent, the list is narrowed considerably. Aside from names mocked by status as traditionally feminine, in descending order, the most likely names would be Gaylord-““That is enough Delta,” The Director cut off.It was too late, Tucker was already laughing his ass off, and even York couldn’t help but have a smile on his face. The resemblance to Church was evident, even now. The Director, despite his disapproving tone, seemed pleased.“You know, it’s going to take some getting use to having another mind in my head,” York admitted, a bit shy. He kept a fond smile on Delta. “But I think this is the start of a great friendship.”“Delta, before you say anything,” Tucker spoke up. “Yes, you are capable of having friends. Probably more than anyone I’m friends with.”“Thank you for that piece of information, Agent Kentucky,” Delta said. “We are fortunate to have your expertise on the team.”Tucker's pride swelled in his chest at being called an 'expert' but kept focus on the conversation. “Oh, crap, what’s your armor thingy again?” Tucker asked York excitedly. “Let’s go test this guy out!”“I will be assisting Agent York with many of his field tasks, including lock picking, security infiltration, instantaneous risk assessment, and weapons accuracy-““Boo.”“And act as a disability aid to compensate for Agent York’s visual impairment. If you are referring to his armor augmentation, I will be running Agent York’s healing unit. Agent York, if you insist on testing effectiveness of my programming, I recommend a near fatal wound in a controlled environment with medical personal on stand by. Would that be something you are interested in?”As he spoke, a larger and larger frown formed on York’s face, which ended in a full on grimace. He took another second to respond.“… Let’s get you settled before we start fatally wounding me for fun. First things first, you should learn when to ignore Tucker. It makes dealing with him easier.”“I’m always easy,” Tucker smiled. “Except when I’m hard.”“I do not understand,” Delta said, turning to York.“Agent York’s vitals are perfect,” Nikki spoke up, turning off the screen of her data pad. “His implant site has healed already with the help of the healing unit. I don’t see any reason Agent York,” She shot a tired look at Tucker. “Or any of us need to stick around.”“Understood, thank you Doctor,” The Director said. “Delta, Agent York. I expect updates on your progress and to be notified if any unforeseen events occur. Contact either myself, Doctor Jefferson, or Agent Kentucky for aid. Dismissed.”The room began clearing out before Tucker could even comment on how his name was lumped in there with the actual experts. It was like a ghost town in seconds, leaving York and Tucker. Now, it seemed like York could never just be York by himself, but York and Delta.“I have a question then,” York asked Tucker. He dropped the stiff posture and confident, almost booming voice now that his boss was gone. Tucker didn’t notice until now, but York had a bit of an accent. Maybe he actually was from New York. “When am I supposed to use the bathroom with him here?”“Oh,” Tucker blinked. “Delta, can you log off for a second?”“Of course,” Delta said. He turned to Agent York. “You can always call me back verbally; Until requested, I will be dormant. You can think of it as a sort of sleep state. If needed, you can also easily remove my chip from your implantation site.” Delta paused again. “I do not recommend this frequently. We are a team, and I will only increase my effectiveness with exposure to you and the rest of the world.”“No problem, D,” York smiled. “We have our whole lives to get along.”“That is an accurate assessment,” Delta nodded once. “I look forward to working with you, Agent York.”With that, Delta blinked out of existence.
York looked at Tucker then, eyebrow raised. “I was told I was recommended personally for the first AI implantation.”“Yeah, your welcome,” Tucker nodded. “For your new bestie.”“Uh huh,” York said, unimpressed.“What, did they hold you down and drill him in?” Tucker asked, not 100% joking. What if York had said no?“No, I’m pretty honored,” York admitted, and Tucker sighed in relief. “I figured it’s a compliment.”“Yeah, we get it Mr. Number Two,” Tucker rolled his eyes.“Mr. Number Three,” York corrected.Tucker winced. “Don’t tell me…”“Agent Texas is now Number One on the leader board,” York nodded. “Followed by Agent Carolina.”“Ugh, okay, one plot point at a time,” Tucker sighed, shaking his head. “Okay, yeah, you got the skills that pay the bills. No fucking brainer you’d be at the top of the AI list.
But you and Delta are tight. You can trust him. Delta will put you first, even before…” Tucker scanned his eyes around the room exaggeratedly, hoping York would catch on.More than anyone else in this hell hole, Tucker meant.York’s brow raised in understanding, and he nodded once. A smile graced his face. “Got it. Look at you, Mr. Matchmaker.” York knocked on Tucker’s bad shoulder. It didn’t even hurt, to Tucker’s relief.“That, and to make up for the eye.” Tucker smiled. Look’s like neither of them could deal with seriousness for more than a minute at a time. “You got a little green seeing eye robot. Way better than a parking placard. Shit, wait, you get one of those two, right?”York rolled his eye. “Ha ha… I totally should though, right?”—
Delta’s presence made so much of the weirdness of late melt away. Everyone was so excited to meet York’s shiny new toy.“Please refrain from disrupting my projection,” Delta said after the third time Wash ran his hand through him.“What, I got to get a spray bottle for you or something?” York said, shoving Wash back .“It’s just so cool!” Wash said in awe, probably straining not to wave his hand again. He leaned in, putting his helmeted face right up to Delta.“While I am not a living organism, you can talk to me directly. My pronouns are he/him,” Delta said.“Oh! Uh, sorry Delta,” Wash stood back straight, embarrassed.“Apology accepted, Agent Washington,” Delta said. His projection flickered. “Agent Washington, were you aware your blood sugar levels are considerably lower than expected of a man of your health? I would recommend a balanced meal as soon as possible. Would you like me to formulate with foods would offer the most nutritional benefits?”“Nope!” Wash said, his voice rising an octave. “I’m good!”“Wait, do me!” Tucker said, drawing attention away from Wash. Tucker’s elbow now free, he nudged him out of the way. “Let me guess: Green M&Ms and oysters?”“You’re disgusting,” South rolled her eyes.“On the contrary, Agent Kentucky,” Delta said, flickering. “It appears you have a minor intolerance to shell fish. This would explain any unexpected bowel movements you may have experienced after consumption. I also noticed you had an intake of more than the daily recommended serving of sugar, although data on serving sizes are problematic at best, and mostly misinformation.”“Can we go back to the shellfish thing?” South said, cruelty for Tucker softening to bullying lately.Tucker deflated, shoulders slumping in absence of any actual embarrassment. “Man, Delta, I didn’t know you were going to be such a hater,” He whined.
That did explain a lot of surprisingly uncomfortable trips to Red Lobster.“I am unfamiliar with the term ‘Hater.’ One moment,” Delta flickered again. “I have scanned modern usage and examples of the term ‘Hate-er.’ I will have to respectably disagree with your assessment.”“I’m starting to really like this guy,” North said, grinning appreciatively at Delta.Tucker was finally back in full armor, and it felt good. His elbow was no longer slung and tucked to his side, so not even shit talking Freelancers could bring him down. Hell, he and South were in the same room without bickering. Even Carolina was even here, helmet off and studying Delta while everyone bantered. Eventually, she seemed to decide Delta wasn’t about to blow up in her boyfriends brain, and took a step forward.“Welcome to the team, Delta,” She said diplomatically. “We’ll get you out on a mission as soon as we can.”“Don’t you mean Texas will?” South sneered.Carolina’s smile dropped, and she stiffened. She took a single deep breath, then let it out. “No, I am still leader of this team, and I still take point on missions.”“I thought number one-““Well, South, we’ll take what you think into consideration when your name is back on the board,” Carolina snapped.
It’s an honest to God talent how easily these two can suck the joy out of a room.“Hey Wash, let’s go get that meal,” Tucker said loudly. “You know, test out Delta’s skills.”“Yeah, sounds great!” Wash said, picking up immediately the escape plan Tucker was throwing down.York sent them both a pleading glance as they hurriedly backed out of the room, mercilessly trapped between Carolina and South, who were staring at each other like competing predators. If York kept standing between them, then Delta will finally be able to test out the suit’s healing unit.Once Tucker and Wash escaped to the hallway, they waited until they were out of ear shot before both giggling, like they did something wrong.
“Man, sometimes I forget that South is like, Queen Hater,” Tucker laughed, pulling off his helmet.“C’mon Tucker,” Wash said, removing his own, bleached hair plastered to his sweaty forehead. “’Master-Hater’ is right there.”Tucker barked a laugh, shoving Wash playfully. “Goddamn it! How did I miss that?” Tucker said, smiling up at Wash. “That was good! Maybe I’m rubbing off on you.”Wash’s smile only grew larger and goofier. “I’m not saying anything. It’s too easy.”“You know what else is too easy?”“Okay, that is just low hanging fruit-““I got some low hanging fruit you can grab-“At that one, Wash burst into full on laughter, a high pitched and light one that Tucker had never heard before. He couldn't help but join in, laughter feeling good and flowing easily out from where it had been bottled up the past week. Wash’s smile was lopsided, same as it had always been, and Tucker could see a tooth will one day go missing now sitting nicely in his mouth. His smile for Tucker was practically infectious.Tucker felt a sudden heat low in his stomach that shook something in his stomach. If he could blush, he’s sure he would be visible by now. He forced himself to not stare at Wash’s mouth anymore, and settled on looking away completely.“C’mon, you have a prayer coming up,” Tucker said, trying to contain whatever the fuck was just happening in his stomach while still smiling. Had he eaten shellfish today? Wash let out a few more burst of laughter, and started forward again, catching up with Tucker, his armor clinking slightly.“Delta is just so cool!” Wash reiterated. He had excitement in his voice, like he had finally befriended the popular new kid. “Man, I can’t wait to get my AI!”Like South, that comment drained all the joy from Tucker.Tucker felt the chill before he realized what was happening, his smile ripped away like a fake mustache. The horror of what was to come dawned on him; He had lost the plot, a major fucking part of the plot. He was keeping in mind AIs like Gary and O’Malley, ones he had first hand accounts were malicious. Ones that had actively worked against him. In that planning, Tucker had forgot about the most important AI that will ever be in Wash’s life, the one that will burn that smile and laughter off his face for years to come. The AI that would take that part of Wash that smiled so brightly and hold a pillow over it’s face until it stopped breathing.Wash stopped walking, looking back at Tucker, confused by his sudden halt.“Tucker? What’s-“Tucker rushed forward, hooking his hand free hand into Wash’s breast plate. He tugged forward, despite his elbow protesting loudly, and pulled him roughly into the nearest room. It happened to be the utility closet, but it would have to do.
Wash let himself be dragged like a cat. He could have easily fought back against Tucker’s injured elbow, but stooped down and let himself be pulled into the closet, stumbling the entire way.Tucker shoved him inside, and slammed the button to close the door behind them. Tucker hadn’t realized the kind of ambient sound that was ever present in the ship until they were sealed in the closet, insulated from the world. Well, from the ship, which was Tucker’s entire world now. Wash had barely time to turn around and face Tucker, before he was pinned roughly against the shelves of cleaning product and toiletries, knocking down bottles of chemicals to the floor around them. The smell of sterility filled the air.“Ah! Tucker!” Wash yelped, looking down at Tucker’s serious and furious face. That couple of inches of height difference didn’t matter anymore, not when Tucker's teeth were practically grinding together. “What are you doing?”“You’re not getting an AI,” Tucker whispered so harsh he might as well screamed it. “Never.”Wash furrowed his brow, and opened his mouth to speak.“No! Shut up and fucking listen,” Tucker said, leaning in close, refusing to break eye contact. Washington needed to get this through his fucking skull. Tucker was rarely serious, and rarely on purpose. But he had been getting some damn good practice at it. “Never. I don’t care how fun they look, or how effective they are. Other people can get them, and they’ll fucking thrive, I don’t give a shit. But you will never get an AI. Understood? Nod.”Washington’s eyes were as wide as saucers now, and his face was growing darker and red. Tucker could feel his breath brushing across his face from Wash’s mouth, lips slightly parted in shock. He stayed unmoving, not resisting the arm Tucker barred across his chest.Tucker doesn't think he's ever intimidated someone in his life. Wash was giving him made hin think that this was a first. At this point in time, maybe Wash was easily spooked like that. The alternative was that Tucker was a scary guy, but that was unrealistic. Lavernius Tucker was a funny, comic relief.Until now. Now, he needed to know Wash was fucking listening. Instead, he kept staring down at Tucker, not even breathing, not giving any indication that he was really even listening. Was he confused? Was he about to laugh?“I said nod.”Wash nodded then, obediently and quickly. Tucker held eye contact, not as another intimidation tactic, but searching for any sign Wash wasn’t taking this seriously. All Tucker could focus on now though was the lack of wrinkles, fainter bruising under his eyes, the lack of crows feet, the fewer scars. All the things that made him different than the man who would shoot Donut in cold blood. That man Tucker would have to prevent from existing, no matter how much it hurt.Tucker hesitated only slightly before taking the arm from Wash’s chest, and bringing his hand up to Wash’s neck. Wash shivered at the contact of Tucker’s glove scrapping against his skin. His eyes fluttered close for a second.It wasn’t for intimacy, but Tucker wasn’t going to pretend this wasn’t getting him just as excited. He trailed his hand up and backwards, nestling up to the dip in his skull at the nape of his neck. Hair still grew here, and there weren’t any raised bumps and scarring from where he would try to tear out his implants when Epsilon would kill himself. It was soft, it was clean, it was unmarred by trauma.Tucker didn’t have much sensation through his glove, but kept his fingers there, stroking back and forth, closing his eyes and tilting his head forward to focus on the feeling of smooth skin and thick hair.He opened them again, and looked back at Wash. Wash wasn’t breathing, as still as a statue as Tucker pressed into him. Wash’s eyes switched between Tucker’s and Tucker’s mouth, but still didn’t push him away.Before he could lose his composure and do something stupid, Tucker pushed away, pulling his hand back towards himself. Wash slumped immediately, shaking the shelves
but causing nothing more to fall. They stared at each other for a moment, waiting for the other to move. Both men were basically panting from the unexpected and charged moment.Tucker mustered all his strength to turn away, gripping his helmet in his hands. “You have a prayer to get too. I’ll see you when I see you.” He said, voice hard and strained.Washington nodded quickly, mouth still ajar.Tucker opened the door and rushed out, immediately running into fucking Wyoming.“Well, well, well,” Wyoming said, smirk in his voice so apparent he didn’t even need to remove his helmet. “What an interesting yet expected development.”“Get bent, asshole,” Tucker said, pushing roughly past Wyoming, who only laughed. Tucker needed a cold shower and tragic movie asap.—Tucker was fifteen minutes deep into his cold shower when Tex appeared out of no where in the stall next to him.“Jesus fucking Christ!” He shouted, covering his dick with his hands and turning his hips away. She just cocked her head. “Goddamn, and I’m the perv!? I knew you always wanted a peak at the goods!”Tex studied him more. Tucker knew her enough to start calming down. Tex had a mouth on her that could only have been born and raised in her namesake, and the only reason she wouldn’t use it was because she liked scaring people with silence more.Well, two can play at that game, because the first thing Tucker was ever good at was pissing off Church and Tex to their breaking point.“Hey, don’t be so judgmental, this is a cold shower,” Tucker said, relaxing a bit more, playing up his douchiness. “I’m a grower, not a shower.“I’m sure you’ve heard, but I’m from the future, where we’re friends,” He continued. He needed Tex to break, to show some sign of the woman he knew in Blood Gulch. “I know your type of men, and let’s just say, I’m an upgrade. Let’s not waste time this go around, I got some better hardware for you to test out.”Still nothing.“Can you even be in here? Or are you going to short circuit?” He needled.
This got Tex’s attention. “What did you just say?”“Tex, I know you’re an wires and steel, don’t worry baby,” Tucker grinned, winning his war. “We can get a plastic bag, I got no problem using protection-““You might want to shut that smart mouth of yours before I shut it for you,”Tex said.Tucker grinned wider, almost giddy. “If you think my mouth is smart now, just wait until you see what it can really-AUGH!”Tex hadn’t punched Tucker, or throw him across the room, or shove soap down his throat. She grabbed him by the back of his neck and shoved his face right into the shower head. She twisted the knob so ice cold water shot up his nose and through his mouth, choking his airways and made breathing impossible. The cold was soaking into him, and he remembered distantly that a cold shower could induce hypothermia within ten minutes.Tex pulled back, and Tucker coughed up all the water accumulating in his mouth, and kept coughing after that. He sputtered, wheezing to regain his breath, bent over and gasping. He took a minute to breath, to not breath again, before looking up at Tex’s unmoving stare.Fuck, was he lucky for that concrete wall between stalls.“You want to keep going, you little smart ass?” She asked.There it is.Tucker grinned up at her. How many times had she said that to him, Caboose, or Church at Blood Gulch? Back when shit was easier and he actually got to see the sun. When he was just Private Lavernius Tucker, sim trooper extraordinare.“What are you smiling about?” Tex asked.“Man, I missed you so fucking much!” He laughed. He stood up straight, standing a good amount of inches lower than Tex. “You have no idea!”“You better start making sense. Now.” She commanded.“Ugh, I love when you talk dirty to me,” He joked. Tex reached out again, and Tucker flinched out of the way. “No fuck I’m sorry!”Tex pulled back her hand. “How do you know me?”“I’m a time traveler. Actually, I did it once by accident, so that sounds too professional,” Tucker said, shutting off the water. “And once by accident. You were there for that one! It fucking sucked ass. Anyways, in a couple of years, I’m going to join the military, and be so fucking incompetent, they’re going to stick me in a simulation trooper base that you’re going to have to practice at.”Tex listened and Tucker read the minuscule body language he had for her, as familiar as Church’s was. She wasn’t as stick straight anymore, and her hips slanted ever so slightly. Her natural stance, not her ‘I’m going to punch a hole in your chest’ stance. “Having you for target practice does sound pretty good right now.”“Can you let me finish? God damn,” Tucker was feeling bold, regressing a bit. “Anyways, crazy shit happens, I get pregnant and a sword, you get jealous about the sword, but not the pregnancy. We do a lot of bickering, a lot of standing around. You almost kill this pink guy, you punch me in the back of the head a lot, we try to teach an alien English, we give meditation sessions to a bomb- A lot of hijinks. Me and your boy-toy.”“My what?” She asked.“Church. Alpha. Your boyfriend. The old ball and chain?” Tucker shrugged. Now that he thought about it, their relationship was hard to describe outside of ‘AI memory fractured off due to grief' and ‘the most divorced couple in the universe.’ “World’s most fucked up situationship, you know?”“No. I don’t.”Shit.This was probably one of those moments the Director had warned Tucker he would kill him about. Tucker’s smile dropped along with his faux bravado.“I fucked up. Oh no, I fucked up: Tucker slumped his shoulders and placed his hands on his cheeks, forgetting about his exposed junk. “Shit, I fucked up.”“You know the Alpha?” Tex asked.
“No, I said too much-““You’ll keep talking if you ever want to talk again,” Tex said.Tucker flinched. Didn’t need to threaten him twice, especially when he was dying to talk to her in the first place. “Okay, yes! He gets stuck there, and you come along to keep an eye on him and run through training scenarios! He’s my friend! And so are you!”“Us being friends is the most unrealistic thing you’ve said so far,” Tex said, but her voice was evening out.“Okay, as close to friends as you and I could possibly have. Not sure if you noticed, but we’re not super likable!”Tex stared down Tucker, who waited patiently. It was like he was growing more and more naked as the silence passed.“You know what I am?” She asked.“Yeah? I made a condom joke a minute ago that heavily relied on you being a robot.”“No, you know who I am?” She reiterated.“Oh,” Tucker said. She was getting at Allison. But she wasn’t her, that much Tucker knew. “Yeah. You’re Tex.”“That’s not what I meant.”“Well, it’s what I meant,” Tucker shot back aggresively. He rambled before he lost his nerve. “You’re Tex, or Bitch Face McCrabby, who likes to punch me in the back of the head and bicker about shit instead of doing work or being productive. You also have a thing for alien dicks, which I don’t understand why or how but it’s true and it honestly made me uncomfortable.“And you know what?” Tucker stood straighter, his confidence growing with help of remembering how fucking frustrating this entire situation was. “I fucking missed you. I would have thought that was too gay to say back then, but I’m gay now and have learned like, feelings and shit, so yeah! I missed you, you fucking bitch. Believe it or not, I’ve been on my best behavior since I got here, and I know you can handle me at my worst. And I can handle you at yours! So fuck you. I’m glad to have you back. Asshole.”Tex listened to him, statue still.
“Carolina was right about you,” She said.Tucker blinked. He was expecting a bar of soap to be shoved in his mouth by now, not this. “Carolina?”“She said it was going to be hard to not throat punch you,” Tex said. “You might be competent, but annoying. Really annoying.”“Wow, I should get my own Yelp page.”“She also said to trust you, and I can rely on you. I wanted to check that out for myself,” Tex said.“That’s insane,” Tucker shook his head.“Yeah, I’m finding it hard to believe.”“No, that you and Carolina are talking,” Tucker said. He knew things were different, but this was astronomical.“Why’s that?” Tex asked.“In my time line, Carolina is way more competitive. She doesn’t see you as a team mate, but competition. Goes bat shit over it,” Tucker said.
“We have a common goal,” Tex said. “People we both care about.”“People, or person?” Tucker asked.A minute passed, with only the dripping of the faucet speaking.“Neither of you know him yet,” He said quietly, leaning in. “But he would be such a dick if he found out you guys cared about him. Like, he’s more annoying than me.”“Really?” Tex asked, her voice losing all animosity. “More annoying than this conversation?”“Yeah!” Tucker laughed. “Imagine me, but not nearly as hot or funny or hung. Honestly I’m not even sure why we do all this crap for the guy that made me give him piggyback rides when he hurt is foot. He was in a robot body too, I think you just conditioned him to get turned on by being carried because you carried our fucking team for like a year. Man, that time was wild. He kept trying to get everyone to kill my kid because he was too chicken shit to do it himself. Thanks for not doing it, by the way…”Tex waited quietly for Tucker to come back from his trip down memory lane, those last days in Blood Gulch. Maybe it was going against what the Director wanted, but this time, he would choose his Blue Team first.Tex reached over and turned the faucet. Freezing water sprayed over Tucker, and he screamed.“Don’t ever mention me and alien dicks again, or you’re going to lose yours.” Tex warned, walking away.Tucker jumped back, out of the shower, and grinning like an idiot. “That wasn’t a denial!”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Just after the lights dimmed on this horribly dramatic day that ran Tucker absolutely ragged, he was face done in his pillow, debating whether it was even worth stripping down to sleep. What no one seemed to understand was sleeping naked wasn’t just for comfort, but saved so much time. Less time rummaging for pajamas before bed, less time getting ready in the morning, and less laundry. The only easier thing was sleeping in his fatigues, which was sounding pretty good right now. His bones were heavy and muscles were either jelly or starting to get sore from the works outs he forced himself through until he didn’t feel like punching walls and screaming in showers. He didn’t even feel like screaming into a pillow now.There was a knock on his door, and Tucker let out a low and elongated groan, releasing the remaining pressure of the day in a fit of displeasure. Despite sounding like a steel beam getting squeezed like a bendy straw, his door opened.“If you’re here to punch the back if my head,” Tucker muffled, cheek pressed into the pillow and eyes closed. “Do it now, save me some time trying to fall asleep.”“I might be the only person here that hasn’t wanted to do that.”Tucker raised his head at Washington’s voice. His neck was already getting sore from it’s position, a sign of aging that gave him even more whiplash seeing Wash’s young face.Wash looked even younger now; Nervously smiling and standing awkwardly at his door, just barely past the door frame and in Tucker’s space.
Tucker looked at him, feeling guilty from their last interaction. It wasn’t the first time he had pushed Wash into a closet and pinned him against a shelf, but it was definitely the least fun. Wash had never looked scared, at least. Memories of his Wash smiling down at him with heavy lidded eyes stirred something in Tucker, but he pushed it aside.“Are you sure? Because I was pretty out of pocket earlier,” Tucker said, sitting up straight on his bed, his body deciding this was worth being vertical. He ran a hand over his hair, waiting for Washington to start berating him. Not wanting to punch him was different than wanting to scream at him. Maybe then he'd finally feel some relief from what he assumed was guilt pooling low in his gut.Wash didn’t start yelling, just kept standing there. “It’s okay,” He said finally. He checked the old fashioned watch on his wrist. One with hands and ticked; It didn’t even have a screen.Tucker raised an eyebrow. “You sure? Because it was pretty messed up. I don’t even want to make a closet joke.”“It’s fine, I promise,” Washington repeated, eyes still on his watch. “I trust you, I know there had to be a good reason. You wouldn’t just do that…”Tucker waited for him to say something else, but he didn’t. Wash put down his wrist, looking back at Tucker. He couldn’t maintain eye contact, flitting between Tucker, the watch, the floor, and the open door.“Yeah, just… Trust me on this one,” Tucker sighed, shoulder’s slumping. “I don’t want to risk you getting an AI. I got enough shit to worry about. I’m a life long slacker, I don’t have a lot of experience, like, ‘caring’ or whatever. But that would just… ugh. You know?”Wash looked at him weirdly then, maintaining eye contact with Tucker longer than he had with his watch or the door. He still didn’t say anything then, even going a little stiller. Tucker realized he was edging into a ‘sharing his feelings’ territory that he and this Wash did not have, and never would have. Especially after his scene earlier; He was probably better off flopping down on South’s bed with her and kicking his feet up to gossip.“Never mind, why would you know?” Tucker said, defeated but not unkind. He shook his head, wiping a hand down his face. “Still, it was pretty dramatic, even for me.”“Yeah…” Wash said simply.Tucker stared at him, waiting for any next step. Washington gave none, just quickly checked his watch again. He looked ready to bolt or chew through his lip. Wash put down his wrist again. Not seeming to know what he wanted to do with his hands, he put them by his side, then change his mind and crossed them to his chest.“Uh, did you need anything?” Tucker asked. This was weirdness that he had only seen in fleeting moments with his Washington back in his time, usually when he was trying to remember how to do something human. Like when he clogged the toilet on Blue Base and had to ask how to unclog it. But even that wasn’t as extreme as this.“Uh, yeah, just…” Wash checked his watch again quickly.“Dude, stop being weird,” Tucker went to stand up, but Wash’s eyes widened and he shook his head.“No! Don’t stand!” He nearly cried, and raised a hand up like he would push Tucker back down.Tucker stilled, then gently rested his weight down on the mattress, waiting once again for Washington to do something that made sense. Wash let out a deep breath, then started fidgeting again. He seemed to decide the door didn't have to stay open, and quickly pressed the button by the door to close it. It fell with a woosh, and the room was even quieter than before. Even more awkward. Tucker felt like he could hear ever breath both of them made in the silence.“Oh-kay,” Tucker eyed Wash suspiciously. “That was normal and not creepy at all. Are you sure you’re not going to punch the back of my head?”Wash shook his head rapidly again, meeting Tucker’s eyes briefly. “No, nothing like that.” He checked his watch again.“Jesus, is a bomb going off?” Tucker sighed. His hand clenched the side of the bed, getting more and more on edge as Wash stood there. “What’s up?”“Can you just shut up?” Wash snapped, eyes flashing with irritation.Tucker snapped his mouth closed at Washington’s aggression. Another few seconds passed without Wash saying anything.Now Tucker was the one annoyed. “Hey, you came in here! You should know by now I’m not a guy that can handle long silences. Like, you think it’s bad being around me? Imagine being stuck with my brain, it’s a goddamn nightmare in here-“Wash’s watch started beeping loudly, cutting of Tucker’s train of thought. Washington let out a heavy sigh of relief, one that made all the muscles in Tucker’s turn soft. He swallowed, and finally met Tucker’s eyes, nodding. It was like he was hyping himself up for something that Tucker was about to question. Before he could, Washington crossed the room quickly, like a cliff diver rushing towards the edge before they could take the plunge.One second, Wash was being a fucking weirdo, the next, he had crawled in Tucker’s lap, running his long fingers behind Tucker’s head to pull it forward, pressing his mouth to his own.Tucker’s brain took a minute to catch up to what was happening. His eyes were wide open, and he could see Wash had squeezed his own tightly closed, close enough that Tucker could count those thick eyelashes if he could remember how numbers worked. The first thing Tucker’s body processed was Wash’s warmth from his hands on his neck, on the back if his head, on heavy on his lap, and finally on his lips.It wasn’t until he took a deep breath that Tucker’s eyes flitted close. Wash smelt like himself; Sure, he had that fancy soap scent, seeming to just shower, but his natural musk was also there, every present. It smelt like comfort and home and intimacy, making Tucker’s heart clench, but the flip in his stomach and excitement in his dick was stronger.Wash moved his lips slowly on Tucker’s, giving a tentative lick, not forcing his tongue out. Before he could second guess himself or pull away, to take those warm hands away from where they were leaving tingles on his neck, Tucker’s hands flew to Wash’s back and waist, pulling him tighter and securely on his lap. He spread his legs to make it as inviting and stable as possible, too keep Wash exactly where he was. The move resulted in some part of Wash to brush against Tucker’s dick. The rest of him tensed for only a second before immediately relaxing, praying to God that whatever part of Wash was close to Tucker’s dick would get closer. Tucker couldn’t be sure which part, but it made him moan none the less.At the noise, Wash’s lingering apprehension seemed to disappear. More tension melted off of him, and he settled more of his weight on Tucker’s lap. It must have been his own dick that brushed against Tucker, because it happened again, making Wash let out a heavy breath, bordering between a gasp, a sigh, and a moan. His hand flattened itself on Tucker’s skull, keeping him in place. As if Tucker had any desire to leave or pull away.Tucker opened his mouth, taking letting Wash’s tongue in. It was a small motion at first, then Wash got greedy; He licked further and further in, taking control. He was looming over Tucker, his extra height so obvious it made Tucker giddy. He had gotten over taking other men being taller than his as threatening to his masculinity a long time ago, and could now admit he liked the size advantage that Wash had on him. Tucker kept one hand firmly on Wash’s back, and brought up the other to his neck.Washington had a sensitive neck and ear. Tucker brought his thumb to the small space just below his ear and dragged his thumb nail up and down. Now Wash fully moaned into Tucker’s mouth. He wasn’t just readjusting himself in Tucker’s lap now, but fully grinding down, harder and faster. Tucker couldn’t complain; Now he was matching his movements, bucking up when Wash came down, stars running up his back from his dick every time.Tucker’s hand on Wash’s neck spread out, his thumb still brushing that sensitive spot, and the rest of his hands moving back wards. Washington’s implant sites were sensitive, and he freaked out if anything touched it during the day. But in moments of intimacy, he would go crazy in a different, exciting and welcomed way if Tucker stroked the skin there. Tucker slowly moved his fingers backward and backwards-It was like a bucket of ice water poured over him when all he felt was smooth skin and bristly hairs.“Wait- Wait, Wash-“ He said, trying to pull back. Wash wouldn’t let him, keeping his head in place with his hands, still grinding down. That very thing Tucker had thought was so hot not even a minute ago.Tucker’s eyes flitted closed, and the horniest part of his brain was screaming at him. DON’T FUCK THIS UP FOR US!Apparently, his conscious had grown three sizes since he’d been here, and the smarter part of his brain forced him to push Wash backwards. Not hard enough to push Wash off his lap, but quickly enough that Wash’s eyes were closed for another beat when separated. He was breathing hard, and blinked in surprise at the space suddenly between them.“What? What’s wrong?” Wash asked, out of breath and looking genuinely surprised. As if Tucker was the weird one here. His hips finally stopped moving, but had settled right on top of Tucker’s dick. Wash flinched slightly with every twitch of Tucker’s dick, but didn’t move.“We- Fuck, what are you doing?” Tucker asked, trying to catch a coherent thought process.Wash was also struggling with thinking, his eyes moving between Tucker’s eyes and lips, and spending a majority of that time on his lips. “What does it look like?”“Well you’re not fucking tap dancing,” Tucker murmured, making Wash let out a small laugh. Wash’s eyes were solely on Tucker’s mouth now, and he leaned in again.STOP BLOWING THIS FOR US! Tucker’s mind screamed again as he leaned away from Wash again.“Stop, stop, stop,” He said urgently.Wash leaned back now, away from Tucker to actually look in his eyes. His thick, expressive eyebrows were furrowed, but he kept his hands on Tucker’s head, loose now, not pulling anymore. Tucker kept his hands as firm as ever on Wash, not letting him fall off or struggle to stay in Tucker’s lap. Although Tucker had to make a conscious effort to stop his hands from stroking Wash’s neck.“Do-Do you not want-?” Wash asked, panic setting in where horniness was leaving.“Obviously I want to fuck you, are you stupid? Shit-Sorry. It’s not that, no-“ Tucker said, trying to formulate a thought besides how flushed Wash’s face was. It was very unfortunate that his baseline personality was being a massive asshole, but he had to try to be some sort of kind right now. “Jesus, have you fucking seen yourself? I’d have to be like a negative one on the Kinsey scale to not want to fuck you right now. I just- Fuck, I don’t know how to say… I thought you didn’t want to- You’re not my Wash,” Tucker stammered out.Wash searched Tucker’s face, before shaking his head. “I know, I know I’m not. But I still… I want you. For a while, I’ve been- I’ve trying to… Build up the courage to come here.” Words seemed just as distant to him as they did to Tucker. Two people try to speak when all the brain energy was flowing in the opposite direction.“Why now?” Tucker asked for something to distract from the way Wash said 'I want you'. “What changed?”“I… The storage closet…” Wash said, looking down at Tucker’s mouth again, getting lost in the memory. His face was heated, and from this close Tucker could see the faintest ghosts of freckles on his skin that would only get more prominent when he actually saw the sun.“What, I knock you against some bleach and a mop and suddenly you jump my bones?” Tucker asked, making Wash’s small smile return.“Kinda? That and…You care about me. I know you fell in love with, with that…” Wash struggled for the word. “Other guy. And whatever happens that makes me more like him, you stopped it. You care about me.”Tucker inhaled sharply, enough to make his hips move and make his semi brush against Wash again, making thinking harder. He shook his head clear.
“It just feels wrong…” He said. Wash met his eyes, hurt flitting over them. Tucker had to figure out how to say what he meant and fucking fast. “Like, too easy. Man, I am- I was so fucking in love with that 'other guy,' coming back here and you still wanting to fuck me is crazy. It took a lot of work for me to get with you the first time around…”Wash blinked, swallowing. “Look, you care about me, right? Me. Me now, right?” Wash asked, nerves settling in at the question, like he had to force himself to ask. “The things about me now. And… The stuff that I’ve done…”Wash trailed off. Tucker knew what he met; The shooting of the UNSC captain, the boy in elementary school that had his face shoved into a mirror for bullying Wash a full three years before, the way he left his sisters alone without a brother…But Tucker thought about the stuff he never knew until now; The awkward and kinda lame way he carried himself, the way he easily ‘yes, and’ Tucker’s jokes (even the dirty ones), the way he seemed to somehow get even brighter around Tucker. Tucker had not been kind to Wash while he was here, and Wash never let anything go. And yet he was in his lap, trying to keep his hands from roaming over Tucker's body.Tucker thought of the stuff that stayed the same. The way Wash would stick himself relentlessly to people who he thought needed support, his devoutness to his friends, his kindness, his way of always being the outcast in a group of outcasts, confidence that awkwardly wanes in intimacy until he he actually takes the dive…That’s all the internal stuff, not counting the physical stuff. The way Tucker’s body reacted to him, he didn’t even need to question.“Do you want me?” Wash asked seriously, searching Tucker’s eyes. “Would you honestly want this is if we had barely met when you first got here?”Tucker’s breathing labored. It was difficult for him to accept this, but coming back here and seeing more and more of Wash’s past only made him want him more. It made trying to move on even more painful, because with every day, every joke, every meal, every second, Tucker became convinced soul mates were real, and Wash would always be the person for him.“Yes,” He said finally. “Yes, if I met you for the first time here, and if I met you ten years from now. Just… Yeah,” He breathed.Wash smiled, and leaned back in.An emotional weight lifted off Tucker’s shoulders as Wash’s very real weight leaned in onto Tucker, and he matched his eagerness. It wasn’t just the grief Tucker had been carrying around, but the longing and desire of having a crush on a man that he realized he would always want.Tucker pulled away, reconnecting his lips to that space his thumb was tracing on Wash’s neck. He gave a firm lick, starting at his jugular, and ending at his ear lobe. Wash gave a long, low whine at this. At the noise, Tucker bucked his hips up again.Tucker licked, sucked, and bit all around Wash’s neck, trying to make those noises from Wash’s throat louder and more frequent. He could feel Wash’s head lolling back, exposing as much of itself to Tucker as possible. Wash’s grinding had gotten more intense, fully hard now. Tucker was about to lose himself soon, with the way Wash bounced on him.Wash, while still dense with muscle, was a lean man, and it was easy enough for Tucker to pick up and slam down onto his mattress. He kept his mouth on his jugular, feeling the vibration of Wash yelping in surprise when he bounced. Tucker’s hand was between Wash’s head and the pillow, tugging at his hair to angle his neck so Tucker could starting working his tongue on the other side. He ran his thumb over the wet, blooming hickeys he left behind. He didn’t know if he himself was even breathing, and didn’t really care as long as he could make Wash struggle to catch his breath the way he did now.
Tucker's elbow was propping himself up now, keeping their chests pressed together but not crushing Wash. A majority of Tucker’s weight was on the knee he slid between Wash’s thighs, to give Wash something to grind against. Wash, in turn, kept his legs spread and knees bent, trapping Tucker’s waist between him and keeping him in place. It gave Wash enough leverage to grind himself into any part of Tucker that he could reach.Fine by him.Wash moved his hands away from Tucker’s back and went to unzip Tucker’s fatigues. Tucker blessedly did not put his belt on after his shower, and it was quick enough for Wash to pull his pants off to his mid thigh.Tucker, admittingly, could be a selfish lover, and had gotten in the habit of taking care of his partners first. Well, partner; It’s not like he had a lot of opportunities to fuck before Wash, and didn’t even attempt to be a good person then either. But things change, and he knocked Wash’s hand out of the way when he reach down and grabbed his hard on through his briefs, an act of self control that deserved a medal. Wash whined, not only at that but when Tucker removed his mouth from his work on his neck.“Nah, man,” Tucker grinned, pulling away and sitting up. He rested on the balls of his feet, straddling Wash, that space between them feeling like a mile apart. Wash gripped Tucker’s shirt until he was too far, then dropped his hands to clutch at Tucker’s thighs; Anywhere to keep him in his hands. Tucker admired his work; Panting, red, neck wet and bruised, spread on his back and looking ready to burst out of his skin. Tucker quickly went to undo Wash’s belt, his fingers stumbling at the buckle and pulling too hard. Wash lifted his hips so Tucker could unlace the canvas belt from the loops, an action that made a shock go straight to his erection.“You first,” Tucker continued, unzipping Wash’s pants. “An apology for shoving you head first into a bottle of toilet cleaner. Or a reward for coming in here…”Tucker paused his work when he caught a glimpse of Wash’s wrist, on that watch. He grinned even wider. “Dude, did you seriously wait until you broke your fast to come seduce me?”Wash shot him a look of embarrassment, face growing impossibly red. “…No?”“You totally did!” Tucker laughed, and Wash covered his face with his hands, hiding. “It’s cool, good to know you can swallow.”Wash groaned loudly, not out of pure lust now. Until Tucker finally undid his pants, and pulled them down enough to expose his boxers, hard on barely contained..Wash’s breath hitched, and Tucker didn’t want to waste time. He pulled down Wash’s waistband, freeing his cock.Tucker let out a sigh of relief. Hello old friend, He thought, having a clear enough head to not say it out loud and ruin the moment. Tucker didn’t know what he expected, but Wash’s dick looked pretty much exactly the same.He shimmied down the bed, until he could lay enough on his front to comfortably pull Wash into his mouth. He didn't tease, he just wanted to draw out the long and low groan Wash couldn't hold back. Tucker figured someone must be able to hear him by now. The thought made his hand fly to his own dick, squeezing through his briefs.Tucker stuck his tongue over his teeth, making sure they didn’t make contact with Wash’s cock. He licked up and down, getting it sufficiently wet, to give attention to the whole length. When he was satisfied, he brought as much of it as he could in his mouth, hollowing his cheeks and sucking gently. He made sure to curl his tongue enough to the back of his throat to keep good pressure on Wash’s sensitive head.Wash appreciated it, and even bucked his hips up randomly. Tucker gagged lightly at the unexpected blow to the back of his throat, and Wash pulled back quickly. Tucker didn’t give him time to apologize, and went back down, twisting his head slightly and he bobbed up and down.Wash wasn’t breathing anymore, but alternating between gasping, moaning, hissing and just making involuntary ohs and ahs.When Wash gently placed a hand on Tucker’s head, Tucker was ready for him to push his head down. Instead, Wash just ran his fingers through Tucker’s curls, gently closing his fist over a handful of hair. It tugged gently on Tucker’s scalp, just close enough to Tucker’s implants to feel electric.Tucker couldn’t stop himself from pulling his own cock out, precum spilling enough to make jerking himself off easy. With every pump of his hand, he bobbed his head down on Wash’s cock, feeling the tug on his scalp get rougher. Like if he’d let go, Tucker would just leave or pull off. Wash’s thighs were closing in on either side of Tucker, surrounding him in a warmth he had not felt in a very long time. Every swipe of Tucker’s tongue had to be amazing, because, well, come on. But Tucker was confident it felt no where near as good as the soft skin of Wash’s inner thigh occasionally brushing against Tucker.When Tucker felt close, he could feel Wash shaking, close himself. Tucker took a deep breath, and slowly lowered himself until he couldn’t breath anymore. It took a fuck ton of practice, but he relaxed his throat, fighting through his body’s natural instinct to not cram shit down there and suffocate, but the blocking of his airway to give a tighter grip on Wash’s cock was more important than breathing at the moment. It had been a while since he deep throated, and even stilled his own hand to focus on repressing his gag reflect. When he was finally confident he wasn’t about to choke or gag, he relaxed, his nose pressed against Wash’s groin. Wash’s thick, dark hair tickled Tucker’s nose.He swallowed, moving whatever muscles in his throat made Wash cry out. That sound made Tucker start running his hands up and down himself again, squeezing harder and making his hips move on their own. He swallowed again, and Wash bucked up, finally using that hand to push Tucker’s head down, as if it could go any lower. Tucker moved his tongue as much as he could, which wasn’t much.“Tuck-Tucker-“ Wash gasped. Tucker probably needed some air soon, his burning and getting light headed. But when looked up and a sweaty Wash, eyes screwed shut and looking about a second away from a mental break down, he thought oxygen was not a priority.“I- I’m close, I’m close, I’m going-“Tucker pulled back then anyways, pulling Wash’s cock out of his mouth. He looked a deep gulp of air, light headed but feeling like he had never been thinking so clearly as Wash’s hand loosened, and he relaxed. Tucker only gave him a second a relief, before diving back in.He didn’t deep throat Wash again, but pulled him in as far as he could. Tucker moaned, both from the motion of his own hand, and because he knew the vibrations from it would drive Wash crazy. It worked; Wash yelped again, pushing Tucker’s head back down. Tucker would grin if he could, and instead just bobbed his head up and down again, faster and faster.
“Tucker, Tucker, Tucker- I’m close, I’m too- I’m going to-“ Wash panted desperately. He removed his hand, and grabbed the sheets, letting Tucker pull himself off to remove his mouth before he came.
Yeah right.
Tucker kept his mouth on Wash’s cock, moving faster and faster. Wash let out a surprised gasp, and his hips snapped to reach that break neck speed until finally he came with a shout.Tucker felt a pulse of Wash’s cum on his tongue, hot and salty. He welcomed the sensation, and familiar and distinct taste he had hated at first but now had a Pavlovian response too, and increased his own jerking. He was almost delirious at this point, relishing in the taste and way Wash’s body had become impossible taut, and then melting back into the mattress.When Tucker moved his mouth again, Washington becoming all soft and spent under him, he finally felt the same electricity run through him, until he was coming over his own fist. He chased that pleasure, moaning and squeezing his eyes tight, until it was nothing but endorphins and bliss in it’s wake.He removed his hand from himself and Wash’s cock from his mouth, both men softening quickly. Tucker filled his mouth with spit and swallowed the remnants of Wash’s cum, along with wiping his own off his hand and to the sheets. He finally felt able to breath again, to think.He looked up and saw Wash struggling to regain his breath as well, an arm flung over his eyes at a time that Tucker’s couldn’t pin point if he tried. He looked spent, gorgeous and vulnerable. Tucker catalogued this look for his spank bank, and pressed his fore head into Wash’s pelvis on last time, a sort of thank you to Wash, to his dick, to God, to whatever brought on this moment. One last moment to collect himself, before stuffing himself back in his briefs and zipping up his pants.He crawled up the bed, until he was lined up with Wash, pressing into his side. Fuck, if Tucker thought he was tired before, he didn’t even know how his body was still moving now. Not only were his muscles screaming in exhaustion, all they wanted to do was press him further into Wash, chasing his warmth and affection.Wash was still recovering, breath evening out until every other breath was through his nose. He shifted his arm, to peak at Tucker, like he wouldn’t actually be there. Wash’s pupil’s were blown and dark, barely noticeable as they bled into his already dark eyes.Wash swallowed roughly, and his voice was cracked and raw. “That… That was…”“I know,” Tucker grinned, proud of himself and the way Wash seemed ready to float away. “I really am that good.”Wash rolled his eyes now, pulling away his arm just to shove Tucker’s shoulder. It wasn’t forceful, but Tucker still fell back onto his back, relaxing into his pillow.The bed wasn’t big, more like a cot, but he didn’t mind how close they were forced to be.“It puts all my dumb assery into perspective, right?” Tucker pressed on, pulling Wash further out of his own head. “Like, ‘Oh shit, those sex jokes aren’t just jokes.’”Wash shifted then, moving to his side. He quickly put his own cock away, zipping himself up. He stared down at Tucker, who was still grinning up at him. Wash was still so fucking hot, and Tucker could take in the view of him finally relaxing for hours.He was so distracted, he didn’t notice Wash’s hand moving until it was settled on his over sensitive but clothed dick. He flinched, and swatted Wash’s hand away.Wash’s brows furrowed, confused. He looked down at Tucker’s crotch, wondering what the issue was, before looking back at Tucker, who was still smiling.“Did… Did you already…?” Wash started to ask.Tucker flashed his teeth, moving his head behind his own head, stretching out. “Couldn’t wait. Too excited.”Wash’s face turned red again, and he dropped down to press it into the crook of Tucker’s neck. Tucker could feel it burning there, and laughed. He wrapped his arm around Wash’s shoulders, holding him closer and pressing a kiss at the top of his head.“I waited all day for that!” Wash groaned.
“You were going to break fast to swallow?” Tucker asked, as if his future Wash hadn’t done the same thing a few times.Huh. He guess he couldn’t differentiate using ‘his Wash’ anymore.“I mean, I can’t do any of this while fasting either,” Wash said, not moving his head but running a hand on Tucker’s side, flat and firm. “But I was ready to take care of you too.”“Next time,” Tucker mumbled into Wash’s hair.
It was quiet for a beat, with only Wash relaxing further into Tucker’s side and Tucker’s drowsiness overtaking him.“There’s going to be a next time?” Wash asked when Tucker was on the brink of collapsing into sleep.“Dude, too many ‘next times’ to count.”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

When Church had jumped into Tucker’s implant, the shiver ran down his spine, a feeling of comfort and familiarity, like smelling an old cologne from better days. A cologne that smelt of steel, desert sand, and sweat. It lasted about two seconds.Aw, you missed me, Church said- Or, more accurately, thought smugly.Shut up, before I think about your sister naked, Tucker thought back. Church flinched in his head, and didn’t say anything. Tucker refrained himself from pointing out how easily Church settled in his head, that feeling of peace not solely stemming from Tucker. Tucker imagined that being in Carolina’s head could get exhausting. Church was much nicer to her, their bickering minimal for even regular siblings. And sure, maybe that’s the difference between Epsilon and Alpha. Epsilon was a genuinely nicer person, whatever. But with Tucker, Church could be as big of an asshole as he wanted. Tucker could take as much as he could give.Bow-Chicka-Bow-Wow, Church said, and winced. Ugh, let’s get this over with before you infect me with your personality.The days on Chorus were getting hotter, and the Capital city of Armonia was seemingly not designed to keep the heat at bay. It was so much concrete and steel; A good amount of it was blasted into rubble; At least half of all walls were covered in murals of bullet holes. Tucker truly believed a lot of those were from target practice, and tried not to think about how not all of them could be.It was hard, because all Tucker was supposed think about was the damage of these buildings. Kimball had asked Church to accompany her for a tour the more war torn parts of the Capital to see which buildings were stable enough to be safely used. The armies were merged and corralled into the city, and you couldn’t get up to piss at night without stumbling over someone’s armor.
Tucker was a bit surprised when Kimball asked him to accompany them as well. Carolina and Church had been a set since the whole Director thing, seemingly only interested in carrying on with each other. But apparently even Carolina needed a break and some mental solitude. Despite literally everyone’s warnings, Kimball had officially-unofficially made Tucker her confidant, so he got to act as Church’s USB port.
The novelty of the whole thing wore off by building number six.Turns out, civil engineering was boring. Kimball had her data pad, and Church would have Tucker walk around an empty building, occasionally having his touch a wall here, or kick a pillar there. Little movements that would give Church an in depth look at exactly how tough these structure were. Church’s work was like a faint buzzing in his head, like the sound of a distant bee hive. Tucker’s hope for a boy’s trip with them shooting the shit and hanging out was quickly killed.Think we could find any cool shit in any of these? Tucker thought, walking through an abandoned office space. A handful of wooden desks were overturned, papers strewn all over the dirty, decaying carpet. The ink had long since faded and wall paint peeling, but at least the interior of the building was slightly cooler than outside, dark and empty.Church buzzed around in Tucker’s head as Tucker’s eyes swept the room. That fax machine in the corner still works.
Lame. Let me know if there’s any Wolf of Wall Street shit in here.
Chorus didn’t exactly have a booming economy before the war. But I’ll keep an eye out for any goldfish. Church thought.Tucker grinned to himself. How much would you give me too eat it.You’re such a freak, Church thought. A beat passed. Twenty dollars.Deal.By noon, Tucker was starting to get a head ache; If he focused too much on Church in his head, he would get glimpses of the tornado of math going on, and get nauseous. It would distract Church, who would then have to start all over again. The most fun thing was that Tucker got to spray paint the checks and crosses on buildings they evaluated. Tucker absentmindedly scratched at the back of his neck.Stop that, Church said.Well, thought. Or felt, at least.That morning, Jensen had cut his hair. She did a good job, and even cleaned up his neck and hair line. She couldn’t hold a steering wheel but was a wizard with those clippers. Still, Tucker was getting used to regular hair cuts again, and the back of his neck was itching.I know, I can feel it too, Church thought, almost sympathetic. But you’re going to fuck up your implants. Doesn’t feel great on my end, feels like you’re putting me through a paint mixer.“Fuck off dude,” Tucker said.“Excuse me?” Kimball asked. Her helmet was on and tone even, but she clearly meant Who the fuck do you think you’re talking to?“Sorry, Ghost of Christmas Past is being a bitch,” Tucker said, tapping his temple.Church popped up then, a specter near Tucker. “Hey, I know I’m like the Ship of Theseus of dudes, but I’m still a Jew. My people are kinda famous for not giving that up.”“Ugh, shut up before we have to take another sensitivity training course,” Tucker groaned.This Church agreed on. Tucker could feel that tension leave his head. “Yeah, I’m good.” And popped out of existence.Kimball relaxed during their banter, her face covered by her helmet but her shoulder’s dropping. She had told him in the past that she sometimes found the Reds and Blues bickering as a comic relief, but Tucker couldn’t imagine anyone wanting to watch them stand around and talk.While Kimball was fully armored, Tucker had long removed his helmet and carried it in his hands.
He probably should have it on, but it was just so damn hot. His suit’s cooling functions still worked, but took a lot of power. Neither of side of Chorus armor had cooling, so if his did break, it would take forever to fix or just stay broken. It was like that shit box car Tucker got for his sixteenth birthday, a car that was at least twice his age and sounded like it. Tucker had gotten in the habit of never using the air conditioner unless it was an emergency.Tucker felt like he was sweating straight through his armor. His discomfort was starting to get to Church too. Calculations were taking a second or two longer than they had this morning, and Tucker was feeling fatigued, even though he had done little. He was tired and bored, so it’s no surprise the group of teens skateboarding distracted him so easily.The sound of the wheels drew his attention at first, a sound only slightly more foreign as the uncovered laughs of the riders. Tucker didn’t even know where they got skateboards, but this was a civil war. This wasn’t a war like he had been in, where everything was provided by the military. A quarter of the armies were teenagers, who still had hobbies and fun to enjoy when they could.
It was a pretty nice sight; A handful of kids actually getting to be kids and rolling around in and around a huge and dry outdoor water fountain and it’s surrounding area. The side’s of the fountain, as well as the ledges and benches in it’s perimeter was the perfect place to skate. Tucker wouldn’t be surprised if it had been a popular spot before the war, and the older siblings, or even parents of these kids had to be shooed away. Back when the water still ran and people still used that office space.
Yeah, they were in fatigues and their dog tags were clinking loudly, but they laughed and shoved each other around, taking advantage of the rubble free ground. The handful of them were attempted kick flips, and cheered loudly enough to make Kimball jump when one of them managed it. She whipped her head at them, paused, then returned to her data pad.Tucker actually smiled, but then jumped a mile in the air when a flash of purple and blue popped up near his head.“Woah, skateboards! Can we ride them?” The AI asked, bunching up his fists, like he could barely contain his excitement.
Tucker did a double take, eyes wide. Was this a fucking child? A kid, in a mini spartan suit? There was a bunch of kids in Spartan suits running around, but none this young sounding. What, he was eleven? Twelve? Even Palomo was sixteen.Tucker couldn’t see his face, and wasn’t even sure he had one, but could feel this kid giving him puppy dog eyes. Hell, he could feel this kids excitement and hope, flitting around in his head and coursing through his veins. He hadn’t felt anything like it since probably he was eleven himself, asking his mom the exact same thing. He remembered the crushing disappointment when his mom said no, not being able to afford a skateboard or the broken bones that it might cause. Tucker couldn’t be on both ends of that feeling.“Er, sure? Sure! I think Wash knows how,” He said, awkward at first but slipping into his Dad voice.“Yeah! Wash taught me!” Theta jumped up, shooting fireworks. Tucker’s eyes widened again. Theta, he knew his name was Theta.“Sick!” Tucker nodded approvingly, saving that piece of information for later. “The only experience I have is Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 120, so you’re gonna have to take lead and show me how it's done.”Theta wiggled a little in his shoulders. “I can do that! It’s easy!” He reached his arm out, and a little skateboard with a rooster and fake teeth logo materialized.Church, Lord of Buzzkills, popped up in a flash of cobalt. He sighed, crossing his arms. “Alright Theta, come back. We have work to do.”“Awww,” Theta deflated. He looked down, kicking an imaginary rock. It was just a light show, a mimic of a child in a Spartan suit, but it was so goddamn cute. In a flash of purple, he was gone.Tucker and Kimball stared at Church for a long time.“What?” Church asked, defensive.“Is that another one of your personalities?” Tucker asked. “Like Delta?”“No, I happened to find another smart AI and decided to have him tag along without telling anyone,” Church said sarcastically. “Of course it’s another fragment memory, dipshit.”“Hey, let’s watch the language around the kid,” Tucker teased. “You’re the reason Junior thought 'Douche bag' was a synonym for Uncle.”“You just have a child with you at all time?” Kimball asked, an outsider that reminded them both that AI’s were not just an everyday occurrence. “That’s… Horrifying.”“Yeah, well, my entire existence is horrifying,” Church snapped. “Theta’s one of the personalities I actually like, talking to them help me think.”“Yeah, I think he’s the only part of your personality I like too,” Tucker grinned.
Church flipped him off, but a little purple smiley face emoji hung in the air near Church’s head for a moment. Church waved a hand through it, like swatting at a fly, and both he and the projection disappeared.Tucker felt something break in his chest. Not the worst heart ache he’s ever felt, but strong enough for him to act.“Wait!” Tucker shouted. Church blinked back.“What? I’m busy,” He asked, crossing his arms and tapping his foot in the air.“I mean, he’s already here, right?” Tucker asked. “Can’t he just, I don’t know, stick around and watch?”
Church didn’t say anything, but Tucker could feel in his mind him contemplating. It was stupid and frivolous; It would take more energy, and Tucker was already tired. That would mean more time out in the sun, more time literally kicking rocks.
Tucker countered it with the innocent idea that there sure was a lot of people out and about without armor. Shouldn’t the be some sort of AI to focus on that, to watch for any snipers or grenades? A small piece of Church could just watch out for everyone.
“I think it’s a great idea,” Kimball said, looking away from her data pad and at the group again. “Those are Federal soldiers. This could be an opportunity for them to bond with Captain Tucker and instill some comradely.”I don’t know, it’s a waste of time and energy, Church thought directly. Tucker could feel Church’s longing though, which made Tucker want to join the kids as well.I probably won’t want to think about Carolina naked if there’s a kid around, Tucker pointed out.Less than a second after that thought crossed his mind, Theta popped back up, standing on Tucker’s shoulder. Church followed, another flash of cobalt.“Fiiine,” Church sighed, as if he wasn’t eager as well. Tucker’s shoulders un-slumped, now feeling a giddy energy coursing through him. “Theta, be good. Don’t listen to Tucker, he’s an idiot. Watch out for any threats in the area.”“Awesome, thank you!” Theta said, flashing out and back in, closer to Church. He threw his arms around him, jumping into a hug, nearly knocking Church over. It only lasted a second, and Church patted Theta’s back.“Yeah, yeah,” Church said, and Theta let go, popping back over to Tucker’s other side. Church looked at Tucker. “Leave your helmet with Kimball, it’ll extend our range. And don’t teach him any bad words, he gets enough of that from Omega and Gamma. Oh, and-““I get it! I’m a fu- I’m a dad! I know how to watch a kid,” Tucker said, catching himself before cursing. “At least this kid won’t like, run into traffic.”“I’m vividly and graphically aware of your kid,” Church shuddered, making Theta and Tucker shudder. “Go, before I change my mind.”Tucker put down his helmet and nearly ran over to the teens. This kind of energy was nearly foreign to him, childish anticipation that was so long gone it was almost like it didn’t happen.An hour later, Tucker’s head was pounding, his bad ankle was acting up, and he was happier than he had been in weeks.“Okay, so just move your head and shoulders before twisting the rest of your body,” Theta told one of the kids, an acne ridden teen with a buzz cut named Yoli.“Like this?” She asked, twisting her head and shoulders slightly while standing on the skateboard. She looked at Theta nervously, arms spread out for balance. She had the least experience of the group, having fallen so many times, Tucker was surprised nothing broke. She was now attempting to do a kick turn, a trick that required her skating up a small ramp and twisting the skateboard 180 degrees before rolling back down the ramp.“Yup! Try now!” Theta said, doing his own kick turn on his hologram board. Just like Church a couple of yards away, examining a building, Tucker could feel Theta doing the calculations for how much force Yoli needed to exert to twist her body and at what angle. It was a hell of a lot simpler than civil engineering, but Theta took it very seriously.Yoli took a deep breath, and pushed off. She made it up a small but steep ramp, making it to the peak before twisting her shoulders and head first, just as Theta said. Bending her knees, she lifted her feet, and the board went up with her. The board and her made it the full 180 degrees before she landed, and gently rolled back down.It was a simple trick, something the rest of the kids could do without thinking. But if you were to judge it by the way her friends and Theta cheered, you’d think she just walked on water.As the other teens shouted and clapped, Tucker felt a tension bleed out of him, and he smiled and clapped himself. Yoli was grinning wildly, and one of her friends even tackled her in a hug nearly knocking her over.“That was perfect!” Theta said, jumping right into Yoli’s face. She smiled at him, just as excited. Tucker hadn’t had a lot of opportunities to let his ‘dad’ side out, but this was one of them. One day, he’d need to teach Junior how to skate.You’re gonna need am industrial sized board for that, Church thought.Kimball was at his side, Tucker being to distracted to notice her walking over until she was holding out his helmet. He took it from her, but he still didn’t put it on. He had forgot how hot it was, even though all the teens had huge sweat stains all through their shirts. Now that he was reminded, putting his helmet on would feel like shoving his head into an oven. Kimball hadn't complained once, another piece of evidence that Kimball was secretly an android.“We’re finished here, Captain Tucker,” She said, placing her hands behind her back. At her presence, the teens sobered up, the wild grins fading into light smiles. None of them saluted or stood at attention, but none of them directly insulated Kimball either, which was progress.“Aw, can we stay longer?” Theta asked, the assumed puppy dog eyes returning.Church popped back into existence. “Sorry kid. Tucker’s exactly 17 minutes and 43 seconds away from heat exhaustion.”“Wait, really?” Tucker asked. He felt like shit, but that seemed extreme.“Well, you’re a good ways away from heat stroke, if you wanna push your luck,” Church said back.“I think it’s time for us all to return to armor. There’s training to be done and equipment to be maintained, and being out in the open without protection is just asking for an ambush,” Kimball said, and the group visibly slumped and faces grew bitter. The energy had turned so quick Tucker winced.
“However,” She continued, and Tucker heard her tone lightened. “I will let Agent Washington know about this area. This seems like a good exercise in developing hand eye coordination. Private Abubakar has shown great progress today,” She said, nodding to Yoli.Yoli beamed. She stood straight, and nodded back and gave a salute. “Thank you, General!”This might have been the first time Tucker had seen a Federal army soldier readily and enthusiastically acknowledge Kimball as a their General. Even the other teens smiled at each other, and stood a taller.Kimball, ever the stoic nodded once more in acknowledgement. “Dismissed.” She said, walking away towards the Capital buildingTheta flipped his skateboard up, grabbing it mid air, and waved at the group. “Bye guys! Thanks for letting me play- I mean, hang out!”The teens grabbed their own skateboards, waving back with a chorus of goodbye and see ya next time!One of the teens seemed to remember that Tucker was a commanding officer, something Tucker forgot himself. He saluted to him, and the rest of the teens followed. It almost felt like a joke, the way they were smiling, but it was progress none the less. “Thank you, Captain, sir!”Tucker waved at them, smirking. “Dismissed. Smell ya later!” He said, following Kimball.“You should really try to command more respect, or something,” Church chastised, more to be a bitch than in actual concern. "'Smell ya later?' Who are you, Bart Simpson?"“Oh, you’re giving me advice on being a good Captain?” Tucker scoffed.“Hey, that was Alpha,” Church pointed out. “I would have gotten that Red flag in minutes.”Theta trailed along after them. Unlike Church, who just floated with Tucker as he walked, Theta actually looked like he was running, hopping along like he was following.“That was so cool!” He said, still excited. “Tucker, can you take us to Wash’s lessons? If you’re out of armor, I think we can do some of the tricks from Tony Hawk!”“Yeah man, why not?” Tucker said. A thrill went through him at the thought of joining Wash on these lessons, and getting to see him sweating through his fatigues. Tucker was getting to see Wash’s face more often now, and definitely wanted to see more of him smiling and laughing as much as those kids did.A totally platonic, heterosexual thrill.Gay, Church thought.Shut the hell up, asshole, Tucker snapped back. He paused. Uh, sorry about that Theta. Not sure if you can hear me in here.I can, but it’s okay, Theta’s voice rang in Tucker’s head. Church was being a butthole.“Alright, Theta, time to log off,” Church said out loud. “I don’t need you two ganging up on me. Besides, we’re going to burn out Tucker’s brain if we’re both running. He doesn’t have any brain cells to spare.”“Alright,” Theta said, disappointment still evident in his voice, but not as sullen as he had been earlier. “I’ll see you around!”
Tucker grinned again at Theta. “See ya around, little dude. Come by more often. Not when the Reds are around. Or Caboose. Or- You know what, we’ll work it out.”“Bye Ms. Kimball!” Theta’s voice projected.
Kimball turned around, and waved. “Goodbye, Theta. I really appreciate your contributions today.”Theta dissipated, and Tucker felt a slight relieve in his head ache. He needed to get water and out of this armor ASAP, but not before he heard Theta’s voice in his head one last time.By the way, His voice sounded like a whisper, even just in his head. Carolina is our sister, but Church thinks you’re his best friend.Tucker laughed out loud as Church got worked up in his mind. Even the extra shot of pain through his head didn’t sour this moment.Shut up, Tucker, Church grumbled. Theta is sentimental, he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.Hey man, that’s you talking, Tucker thought back. He could feel Church winding up to give a whole speech on the difference between him and the other AI memories.Hey Church? Tucker thought before he could start his speech. Church stopped, going quiet. I just want you too know… That’s really fucking gay.Tucker felt one finally stab of pain in his temple, but laughed the whole was through.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Tucker and Wash agreed to keep their relationship under wraps. Wyoming wasn’t CCed on that memo.
“Kentucky, are you fucking serious?” South shoved him in to the wall of the hallway, making his helmet clank loudly when it bounced off the metal.“Ah!” Tucker yelled, trying to right himself. His multiple head wounds from several different women since he’s been here have since healed, but that didn’t make it any more enjoyable. “Can’t you ever just yell at me before throwing me into shit? Give me some fucking warning?”“You did all this-“ South pointed an angry finger at him, armored but practically billowing smoke. “For some dick?”“What the fuck are you talking about!?” Tucker asked, rubbing the back of his head through his helmet, feeling like something was reverberating.“You left mine and North’s mission to go hang out with your little boyfriend?” South accused, talking another step forward.“What! No!” Tucker had his back completely pressed against the wall now. “I told you, I didn’t want off your team, I didn’t ask to be moved!”“Oh, I see,” South said, still angry but lowering her finger. “That walking roadkill had you switched so he could flirt.”“No!” Tucker repeated, but quickly second guessed himself. “I mean, I don’t think- No, no!” He shook his head.South leaned back, less predatory, and cocked her head. “That little shit! He fucked me over to try to get some quality time with you? And it fucking worked?”“What the hell are you talking about?” Tucker’s voice was growing higher, trying to resist listening and believing South increasingly probable argument. “Me and Washington? We’re not- There’s no- Listen-““I’m going to rip his dick off,” South huffed, lost in her thoughts. “Ugh, what a fucking child. God, I don’t know who’s dumber; Him, you for falling for it, or me for not figuring it out sooner.”“There was nothing to figure out!” Tucker nearly screeched.“Really, Kentucky? You want to keep lying?” South asked, cocking her head. “You want to keep pretending that you intentionally abandoned me and North and got me off the leader board? I could not give less of a shit if you and Wash want to play The Time Travelers Wife.”Tucker held his breath for a second. God, he had an easy out, even though it was more probable that this was one really long and convoluted prank before he believed Wash could convince the Director of anything. But going along with South would mean he’d have to break the promise he made Wash about being discreet.Then again, Wash’s dick staying attached to his body was on the line here.“Fine,” Tucker relented. “Yeah, me an Wash are bumping uglies-““You’re disgusting.”“-I didn’t even think about the whole mission thing until right now,” Tucker continued. He let out a sheepish breath. “God, he did do that, didn’t he? What a fucking dork.”
South scoffed, cooling off. She seemed calmer than Tucker had seen in a long while. “Did you get that memo about the triplets- I mean, Ohio, Iowa and Idaho?”Tucker perked up, and he peeled himself from the wall. “Memo? What memo? Did they find them? Are we going on a rescue mission?”“No, they came back,” South said, crossing her arms. Tucker exhaled, ready to cheer, but South continued. “They quit.”“Quit?” Tucker repeated. No, South must be confused, they couldn’t just quit.
“Yup,” South’s bitterness returned to her voice. “I told you, not everyone is cut out for this. Especially those three. I just expected them to leave here in a body bag.”“No, they wouldn’t just quit,” Tucker shook his head. He pulled out his data pad, fingers fumbling to open his communication hub. “C’mon, you met Ohio! She was an absolute freak about this place! Nah, she wouldn’t just quit cuz it got too hard-““Well Kentucky,” South cut off, voice regaining it’s bitterness. “If you keep kicking someone down eventually they’ll either stay down, walk away, or kick back. They might be fucking idiots, but they picked the smartest choice.”Tucker pulled up the message, sent out to the entire ship: We regret to inform all personnel of the departure of Agents Ohio, Idaho, and Iowa. Tucker read the headline over and over, but couldn’t bring himself to open the email.“Maybe it’s in light of my one shot of getting laid cashing out her last check,” South said, gaining Tucker’s attention again. “But I’ll be the bigger person and back off you and your boyfriend. You know, forgiveness.”“You broke my nose in a locker.”“Yeah, so we’re even,” South snapped. She sighed. “Just don’t bring up your guys’… Whatever it is, I’m not interested.”“Fine by me, no one gets to hear that shit for free,” Tucker said, sticking out a hand to South.
South didn’t hesitate to take it, squeezing it and shaking once. A truce for a conflict Tucker still felt he was blameless in, but would happily take the easy way out of. He glanced at the message again, still no desire to open it.South started walking away, but Tucker, afraid to be alone with his thoughts, followed her.“Do you know what you’ll do after all this?” Tucker asked. “Unless you’re one of those freaks that plan to only die on the battlefield for the greater good of humanity.”“Ugh, no way,” South said, keeping an even pace with Tucker. “Do I look like Carolina or Florida?”“Then what’s the next phase? Opening a strip joint? Keeping that strip joint as a front for the mafia to chase the thrill? Becoming a King Pin with the hottest girl at your side?” Tucker rambled off, getting more excited and lost in this fantasy, his saves of GTA XXVII coming to mind.At South’s quietness, he lost steam. He cleared his throat before speaking again. “Or, PTA mom?”“Ew, no!” South said immediately, and Tucker laughed. “No, I’d take a bullet to the brain before that! But… No idea what’s after this. No one’s left the Project until now, everyone else just died. I didn’t even know we could quit.”“You can quit anything!” Tucker grinned, lost in a new fantasy of taking a goddamn break. “Quitting is awesome! If shit sucks, hit the bricks! The only thing better than half assing is no assing! This is just a job dude.”“Then why don’t you quit?” South countered.Tucker scoffed. “Uh, sorry, do you have an entire planet you have a guilty conscious for? Plus, where would I go? My social security card is already being used by some teenager on Earth to open credit cards I’ll never pay off.”“Both of those sound like your fault, so sorry if I don’t feel sympathetic,” South said.They walked silently then. Tucker waited for her to speak, but kept glancing at that email. He took a breath, and opened it.
< All,

We regret to inform you of the recent departure of Agents Ohio, Iowa, and Idaho from the Project.

On a recent mission, Agent Iowa’s brain trauma proved to much of a barrier and jeopardized the safety of his teammates. While initially only Agent Iowa was dismissed, Agent Idaho and Agent Ohio requested to resign as well, so they may depart as a team. Although unusual, Project Freelancer recognizes and respects their decision, understanding that it is what is best for the agency as a whole.
We thank them for the many years they have put into Project Freelancer, and wish them best of luck on future endeavors. >
Tucker read it over, but noticed he had another message in his ‘Forwarded To Me’ folder. A reply to the memo, but with an addition only sent to him.
< Agent Kentucky,
By now you should be aware of Agent Ohio, Idaho, and Iowa’s departure from the Project. It is understood that you were close to the agents. They have asked to pass along the message that they would like to sever all contact with the agency and it’s members.
Regardless of your own personal relations with the agents, we will respect their wishes. No personal contact information has been left. If you see it absolutely necessary to reach out to the agents, we can pass along any communication, but Agents Ohio, Idaho and Iowa have no obligation to respond.
However, before leaving, Ohio, Idaho and Iowa do want to leave you a final thank you and good luck. They did not elaborate for what, only that you would understand. >

That was the end of the email. A totally fucking fake email full of lies.Tucker was already opening up his message hub to track down Wash and go over exactly how they’d prove all this was fake when South spoke up.“North is getting an AI today,” She said. Tucker looked up.“Huh?” He asked, the message he was crafting in his head crumbling.“North’s getting his AI next. No plans for me any time soon,” South said, looking forward.“Oh yeah. Sorry?” Tucker offered an apology, not sure why but it felt expected. Sure, AI were important, but was now the time?“You’re the one passing them out, right?” South asked. She looked at Tucker now, her face concealed and tone hard to read. “What gives? You said I was the best fighter here. Or were you blowing smoke up my ass?”Tucker put away his data pad, shifting his attention fully to this new problem. This whole interaction has been wildly out of character for the South he knew. She had broken his face for far less, but now she was politely asking why Tucker picked North over her?Maybe her bringing up Ohio leaving in the same conversation as him and Wash wasn’t a coincidence, and there were some major emotions going on in her shark brain that she was actually examining. Tucker really had broken the universe.“Listen, I can’t make the Director do anything,” Tucker said, raising his hands up in mock defense. “But I’m trying to do this based on personality, you know? These things are a literal person in your head, and it’s the fucking worst. I’m just making everyone compatible!”“So you’re playing Tinder with my brothers brain?” South asked.“Yes!” Tucker clapped. His smile dropped when he realized who North was going to get. “No, wait! Ugh, no! North is getting Theta, who’s like, a literal child. Not a lot of qualified candidates around here to work with him, and I’m pretty sure North’s going to be the PTA mom after all this. God, what a DILF-““Okay, I get it!” South snapped. “Still my brother! Ugh…” She exhaled. “Whatever, just don’t put a fucking kid in my head when the time comes. I can barely stand you.”“Yeah, well, I’ll keep an eye out for any lesbian shark AI- OW! The back of my head!”Even if South still punched Tucker in the back of the head, it wasn’t as cruel as it could have been. A hit like that had become Tucker’s love language.—-“Wash!” Tucker nearly ran down the hallway when he caught a glimpse of grey and yellow armor.
Wash paused, looking up at Tucker, posture relaxing. Tucker was still in armor head to toe, thankfully. Lately it seemed the only way the two of them could focus.“Kentucky, hello,” Wash said tightly, in an awkward voice. He crossed his arms and uncrossed them quickly, unsure what to do with himself. Tucker cocked his head.“Why are you being weird?” He asked bluntly.“I’m not being weird!” Wash said too loudly, grabbing the attention of innocent grey suits walking past. They looked at him briefly, eyebrows raised before continuing.“Dude, you’re being so weird.”“I’m just chatting with a coworker!” Wash said, even going to lean against the wall but thought better of it last second. “About work, I assume!”“Okay, yeah, we’ll figure this out later,” Tucker said, shaking his head. “Did you get that memo about Ohio, Idaho, and Iowa?”Now Wash paused before actually resuming a normal posture. His voice lost the pitchy quality into something somber. “I did.”“This is total bullshit, right?” Tucker said angrily. “No way they actually quit, this has to be a cover up!”“That’s what I thought too, but…” Wash trailed off.“But what?” Tucker probed, thrown off that Wash was not immediately agreeing with him.“They have been here a long time,” Wash said. “And it was just getting worse for them. I know Ohio is tenacious, but… I’m not surprise that going on a real mission would change her mind. I’m also not surprised they’d leave together.”“No, no way,” Tucker shook his head in disbelief. “No way they’d just leave without saying goodbye!”“I’ve known them a lot longer, Tucker,” Wash continued, voice tired. “I’m hurt too. But… They’re smart. Smart enough to know they weren’t catching up.”“You don’t know that-““Yeah, I do,” Washington cut off. He sounded pissed now, no longer debating but telling. This was the voice closer to the one on Chorus, the one Tucker would end up debating anyways. “They’re not you, okay? I know they reminded you of your old team, but they’re not. And I want them to leave like this instead of getting hurt.”Tucker stared at Wash, wondering what expression was under that helmet.
Tucker had lived through conspiracy after conspiracy, half of which crafted by the Director himself. But Wash was right. Ohio, Idaho, and Iowa weren’t the Reds and Blues, and he didn’t know them that well. Even the Reds and Blues didn’t say goodbye. They didn’t owe Tucker anything, not an good bye, and not an explanation for making what was objectively a good decision. Maybe , somehow, three adults in a dead end career they hated just picked up and left.“Do you think you can put aside your past, and not project it on others?” Washington asked suddenly.It could not be more obvious he was not talking about Ohio, Idaho, and Iowa.“Yeah. Sorry, it’s just… I’m tired of losing people without goodbyes,” Tucker admitted.Wash sighed, and reached out a hand to Tucker. It got maybe a foot away, before he dropped it and tucked it back at his own side.“I’m sorry. This really sucks for me too. But I’m not going anywhere,” Washington promised.Tucker looked up and stared at Wash in disbelief.“What?” Wash asked after an uncomfortable pause.“Dude, why the hell would you say that?” Tucker asked, melancholy disappearing.“Because I’m not leaving?” Wash said more as a question.“’I’m not going anywhere?’” Tucker repeated, as mockingly serious and dramatic as Wash tried to be. “You know who says shit like that? People that end up going somewhere.”“Okay, in retrospect-““No seriously, if I had to make a list of ‘Top Ten Things Said Before Leaving,’ that would be number one.”“Alright-““You never heard of a jinx before?”“Tucker-““I don’t even think there’s any wood to knock on in here.”“You’re being ridiculous-““What, are you also two days from retirement? You going to show me a picture of your girl back home? Is she pregnant with your first kid?”“Actually, Amanda is on birth control.”Tucker closed his moth then, freezing up.Wash didn’t say anything, and Tucker was about to full on panic when Wash finally broke and laughed. “I’m kidding! I just needed you to stop before you got lost in the bit.”“Jesus fucking Christ dude,” Tucker sighed, able to breath again. “That was messed up.”“Drastic times call for drastic measures,” Wash’s smile was evident in his voice.“Whatever…” Tucker said. He was having whip lash from the changes in atmosphere this conversation had every couple of second. He wanted to end on something comforting for the both of them. “Wanna go bang in the storage closet?” Tucker asked instead, just to see Wash short circuit.Tucker wished he could see Wash’s face, and knew how bright it would get and the way he would purse his lips. Luckily, Tucker still got to see how his posture changed and his shoulders flew back too far.“I-Er, I-“ Wash stuttered, loudly and unsubtly. He looked up and down the empty hallway, then leaned into Tucker. “I’m still fasting!”“No shit,” Tucker laughed, putting his hands on his hips and smiling at the way Wash’s shoulders sagged again. “I’m just messing with you dude.”“Besides, if I wanted to really get you worked up,” Tucker grinned, then switched his coms. Instead of projecting his voice out loud via his helmets speakers, he tuned into a private frequency between only his and Wash’s armor. “I would whisper right in your ear like this. Probably in front of everyone.”Tucker could basically hear the sound of shattering glass coming from Wash’s head.“I have to go!” Wash said, way to loud on their private channel. He nearly shot out Tucker’s ear drum, and they both switched to their speakers. “I need to get out of here- Now- I’ll see you in five hours and twenty-seven minutes. Bye!”Tucker could only laugh as Wash nearly ran down the hallway like he had a vendetta to settle. This kinda reaction he could only get on the rare occasion from his Washington in the future, like when-Nope.Tucker shook his head, cutting off that thought process.
Leaving it aside.
Instead, Tucker thought about how hilariously high Wash’s voice was, and that it would be a good idea to set a timer. That train of thought carried him all the way to the med bay.—-North was barely sitting up from the paper lined cot when Tucker walked through, Nikki holding him steady and paper cirnkling loudly. The Director, Counselor, and about a dozen other people were milling about, taking notes, checking screens. “How are you feeling, Agent?” She asked, in full doctor mode. Tucker liked to think of them as friends, and was only half-doctor mode with him.“Well, it’s worse than a tattoo, but better than getting shot,” North chuckled, bringing a hand to rub the back of his neck. Nikki swatted his hand away, and he lowered it. “Sorry, Dr. Jefferson.”“Damn, they already brand you?” Tucker asked, getting North and the Director’s attention.
Nikki- Dr. Jefferson, continued examining North’s implant site. North was a freaking giant, and she was more than a foot shorter than him. While North was in his usual armor, she had on her white coat, face mask and hair covering on, all hospital powder blue and bright white. All the grey suits had faces covered and everything sterile. Tucker wondered if Dr. Jefferson made North hose down his armor before bringing it in now that the people who were usually stuck cleaning it were gone. Tucker could see her demanding that in her tone that left no space for arguments. The Director and Counselor were unmasked, which were of no surprise from men who explicitly did not give a shit about any of their employees well beings. Still, Dr. Jefferson looked at her work on North’s neck
like she was staring at the moon. North was just as white.North was still in his armor, but look exhausted. The procedure wasn’t too bad from Tucker’s memory, but he had guessed that the anxiety building up too it was keeping North up at night. Who is supposed to mother the Team Mother? Tucker wasn’t qualified, but maybe would start slipping Xanax into North’s dinners.“Agent Kentucky, you’re early,” The Director commented.“I thought being early was on time?” Tucker huffed, his pouting not visible behind his helmet. The Director’s look of exasperation was in full view.“You have achieved being early to being early. We are all very proud of you. We are about to activate Agent North Dakota’s AI,” He said.Tucker furrowed his brows. “Wait, is North getting Theta?”The Director raised an eyebrow. “Yes, he is. Is that not what we decided?”“No, it is, yeah, but…” Tucker looked around at the dozen faces he didn’t recognize, causing more chatter than a busy coffee shop. People walking and pushing and prodding were making him dizzy, giving the room a suffocating feel. “We need to clear out the room. All these people are going to freak him out.”For obvious reasons, like that of his chosen company, Church didn’t bring Theta out too often. He rarely let any of the other AI personalities out on Chorus, but was only protective of Theta, and chose to hide Theta for the fragment’s well being as opposed to everyone else’s. Theta was like Delta, where they're presence was met with annoyed sighs from Church, but enthusiasm from everyone else. Theta really only came out if someone (usually Caboose) got excited about something childish and dumb.
“Yeah, Theta’s real shy around new people, he’s not going to like all this,” Tucker commented, gesturing to the room.Dr. Jefferson looked at the Director, waiting for orders. Surprisingly, the Director didn’t really hesitate or doubt Tucker. He simply nodded at Dr. Jefferson, who nodded in return.
“Copy,” She said, voice muffled by her face mask. She removed her hand from North's shoulder and looked around the room. “Everyone clear out! Stand by outside.”The rest of the personnel looked between each other, but didn’t argue. They dropped what they were doing, putting away clipboards and locking computers, and filed out. The ensuing silence was almost eeary.Tucker took off his helmet, setting it on a nearby desk. He looked at Dr. Jefferson, and gestured to her mask. “Mind taking that off?” He asked.Dr. Jefferson eyed him warily, but pulled the strap from one ear then the other. All that was left in the room was Tucker, Dr. Jefferson, the Director, and North. The Counselor lingered by in the background as well, and Tucker wanted to kick him, but wanted an argument even less. Tucker noticed the way the Counselor intentionally started fading into the background whenever he was near, but Tucker preferred that to hearing his weird Hannibal Lector speeches.“Alright, let’s welcome your new partner, Agent North Dakota,” The Director said.North took in a deep breath, calming himself. The other agents rarely let themselves be vulnerable in the presence if the Director, and North never look vulnerable… Ever. But now he looked like he needed a hand to hold. Instead, North nodded.Dr. Jefferson stood directly behind North, typing away at a data pad, her gaze switching between it and North. She had to reach up on her toes to squeeze the tiny button on the implant site Tucker knew was there, basically turning ‘on’ the AI. The Director had his hands behind his back, observing neurally. North flinched, and there was the brief sound of static in the air.Nothing else for a moment.North furrowed his brows, looking down at the floor.“Is something wrong, Agent North?” The Director asked.North shook his head, looking confused more than pained. “It doesn’t hurt, it just feels…”“Like someone else in your head?” The Counselor finished.Tucker glared at the guy playing mind doctor, when the real doctor spoke up. “Vitals look good, Agent. Neural electrical signals look as expected, but I am seeing an increased heart rate and signs of anxiety I didn’t see with Agent York. Is that you, or is it your AI?” She asked like it was something mundane, like his vitamin C intake or hours of sleep a night. Not a computer in his brain.North squinted, still looking at the floor. “I’m not sure… It doesn’t sound like me…”“Jesus, fucking Christ,” Tucker muttered. “Sit down.”North sat down on the examination cot dutiful before Tucker crossed the room. When Tucker was right in front of North, he squatted, his height still below eye level with him. North’s eyes widened, Tucker now face to face with him and looked North in the eye, waiting for some sign of things going wrong. But nothing; No pain, no possession, no projectile vomit. The Three P's of AI.“Theta, you in there dude?” Tucker asked, using his ‘cool dad’ voice. North didn’t react. “Come on out, we’re pumped to meet you. It’s cool, everyone here is chill.”
Tucker waited another second, but nothing. He sighed dramatically. “I guess I’ll just have to find someone else to watch all these videos of dogs riding skateboards with. Sucks, I thought you would have really like them…”Tucker’s smile nearly reached his ears when he saw the flash of purple light.“…I like dogs…” Theta said quietly, voice so painfully and adorably shy. His voice was that of a child; Unlike Delta’s low quality monotone, Theta sounded more like it was being filtered through a walkie talkie or tin can on a string. Theta floated in the air between North and Tucker, a Spartain suit of blue, purple and pink. He wasn't just smaller, but had smaller proportions as well. While Delta prefered to display himsefl from the waist up, Theta was like Church and would be a whole body. A very tiny, awkward body.“Yeah, man, of course you do! They’re super rad!” Tucker nodded encouragingly. “And so are you!”Theta still hesitated, disappearing and then popping up again on the floor, hiding behind North’s giant leg. If he wasn’t bright purple, he might have succeeded in hiding.“I don’t know you…” Theta quietly, scared out of his mind looking down and hugging himself. Or more accurately, out of North’s mind. Unlike the rest of the AI, Theta had always been more animated and expressive in his body language and tone. Delta and Church could be as still as statues half the time, but Theta was always moving and fidgeting.“I’m Tucker,” Tucker said, keeping his eyes on Theta but nodding his head to the Director and Counselor. “You know those guys, right?”Theta nodded.Tucker leaned in even closer, whispering loudly enough for everyone to hear. “They’re really weird, right?”While the Director and Counselor might have not liked that comment, Theta gave a small laugh, relaxing slightly. Surprisingly, North gave an awkward chuckle, and Tucker swore he caught the corner of Nikki’s mouth turn up.“No worries,” Tucker continued. “You’re about to meet some actually cool people. There’s me, the coolest,” Tucker gave two finger guns and a wink. “And Nikki, who’s the the best doctor ever. Seriously, you can’t have lollipops, but if you could, she would give you one after every visit. Right, Nikki?”Tucker looked up at her, and so did Theta. Nikki genuinely smiled down at Theta, switching her attention between him and her data pad. “Of course. And a sticker.”
Tucker grinned at her gratefully, for her tone and for switching her attention away from Theta, not scrutinizing him like the rest of the room. Her bedside manner was perfect, and Tucker wouldn’t be surprise if she had been a family doctor or general practitioner at some point. Theta gave a little wave, which Nikki returned.Theta paused, gathering his nerve, and disappeared. He popped up again, this time at Tucker’s eye level, between him and North. North was staring, wide eyed and in awe at the projection.“Am I going to run your suit?” Theta asked Tucker nervously.Tucker gave him a lopsided, apologetic smile. “Nah, I wish. You’re going to work with my buddy North here,” Tucker nodded a head over at North.Theta popped out of existence again. Tucker thought he was gone, but out of the corner of his eye, he saw a flash of purple. Theta was behind his shoulder, watching North warily and using Tucker as protection.“Is he nice?” Theta whispered.At this Tucker and North laughed. The entire energy of the room was slipping into something lighter.“North is the nicest dude on this ship, trust me,” Tucker confirmed.Tucker made eye contact with North. He nudged his head towards Theta, urging North to start speaking. North swallowed, and smiled at Theta.“Hi Theta, it’s nice to meet you,” North said. His voice seemed extra Youth Pastor-y. “I’m going to be your partner. My name’s North Dakota, but you can call me North.”“North Dakota? That’s a weird name,” Theta said.North laughed. “I have a weird job. But I think you’re gonna make it a lot better.”“You think so?” Theta asked. “Why?”“Well, I can already tell that you’re really cool,” North said. “But no one else will watch dog videos with me.”Theta blipped out, then popped up right in front of North’s face. “I will watch them with you! Can we do it right now?”“Theta,” The Director started, killing the good vibes. “You will have plenty of time for that later. First, let’s go to the training room.”—Tucker had seen some good fights in his day. And he had seen some bad ass Freelancer moves. But watching Theta and North work together was a whole new level of cool.
Maybe it was because Theta was purely for defense. He wasn’t just an aid, like the camouflage augmentation or the stupid fucking time unit. And Delta was cool, but York didn’t glow bright green and make a video game charge up sound when he healed, so it was basically invisible. But Theta’s shield were something else entirely. Something tangible, something that moved with North. It reminded Tucker of dancing- No, figure skating. One slip up and someone’s ass was getting iced, they relied on each other to ficus on their roles, to literally watch each others’ backs. At the same time, they needed to give each other the space to do what they needed to do, a level of trust that even the friendliest of coworkers in the most mundane of jobs struggled with.
North only gave words of encouragement, only advice. Even when he yelled, it was clear it was just to be heard. Not for the first time, he reminded Tucker of his own father; Firm, solid, supportive. Removed enough to let Theta work, but paying enough attention to catch him when he faltered. Even when Theta panicked, North soothed him. Unlike Tucker and his father, Theta let North know how grateful he was.The turrets spun around and around North in the training room, moving just as swiftly and gracefully as the bubble shield around North. The bullets they shot were unending, but so were the strengths of Theta's shields. As much as Tucker, Church and now North felt the need to protect Theta, Theta really felt safest when he could protect others.
“Decrease suit power by 50%,” The Director said by Tucker’s side at the observation window, high above the danger of the excerise.The Counselor nodded and typed away at the control panel attached to the room sitting right under the glass. Theta’s shields flickered in and out, glitching as they lost power.Tucker brought his hand to his mouth to bite at his thumb nail, but it clinked off his visor. Probably for the best- The Director and Counselor would probably see the nervous habit as a sign of weakness.
It probably was. Tucker didn’t like the look of the decreasing shield, and really didn’t like the way Theta sounded like he was freaking out. He was scared, he was nervous, and this was all so goddamn new to the kid. Tucker wasn’t surprised by his paternal instinct kicking in; In fact, it was weirder at this point when other people were surprised by it.But North was a better man than Tucker was. He calmed Theta perfectly, and Theta adapted; Instead of a full dome shield, Theta used disconnected honeycombs of shield to only block the turrets current path.“I always forget how smart the kid is,” Tucker said, eyes trained on the pair still.“Do not forget that Theta is not an actual child,” The Director said, not even looking away from the window. “Theta is an AI. He is preforming as expected.”“You know what I mean,” Tucker rolled his eyes.
“I do,” The Director said, voice even. “Which is exactly my point. Do not lose focus, Agent Kentucky. The AI fragments are not people. Theta is not a child. They are tools needed to preform our duties.”“Whatever,” Tucker muttered.But the Director was right. Tucker knew AI, his best friend was one. He didn’t even have a chance to view AI with the same coldness, the same analytical eye as everyone else here. He knew Church as his friend, he knew O’Malley as an asshole, and he met Theta as a kid who just wanted to skateboard. Sure, he didn’t like a lot of the AI, but he never saw them as anything other than people. Not humans, but neither was Junior. If he was maybe like, 30% more romantic and lame he would say they had souls.
That didn’t change the fact everyone would treat them like tools.Tucker was going to make a dickish remark, but looked straight ahead. The observation deck for this training room wrapped around the entire room like a dim halo. High above the walls that North and Theta weren’t even paying attention too was glass, letting anyone with access watch the show. The Director and Counselor were still staring intently at North and Theta, adjusting the simulation to test their abilities.Straight across was CT, also watching.
CT was a thread that Tucker hadn’t had time to tie off, and wasn’t even sure until recently he wanted too. She would be apart of the Insurrection, she would betray the entire organization. If her boyfriend hadn’t trapped him in the Desert Temple, he would have agreed it was for the best. Maybe it still was; ethically speaking.
But Tucker needed the Project to work now. He was a part of it, completely and totally, right by the Director’s side. Literally. With CT going down this path, he would fall too. Chorus would still go through hell. And the kid down below, because fuck whatever the Director said that was a goddamn child, would be killed, along with the kindest guy here. A guy that genuinely did just want to be a good guy.“Woo!” Theta cried, snapping Tucker’s attention. The turrets were either destroyed or incapacitated, and North had not a single scratch on him. He pulled off his helmet, smiling wider than Tucker had ever seen in his time here. Not just a soft, kind smile, but an excited smile. He stared at Theta with wonderment and pride. Theta was jumping up and down, floating near North’s head.“A perfect team,” The Director mused in approval. He turned and nodded once at Tucker. “Excellent work, Kentucky.”“Woah, a compliment?” Tucker said, as if he didn’t feel a flush of confidence and smile tugging on his lips. “Don’t hurt yourself. I think the Counselor there is getting jealous.”The Counselor frown at Tucker for half a second, before composing his face. His features relaxed, and even settled into something of a Mona Lisa’s smile. “And do you enjoy that idea, Agent Kentucky?”“Don’t you have a lobotomy to get too?” Tucker asked rhetorically, trying to break that composure.“Enough,” The Director said. “We have more AI waiting to be assigned.”“Wait, like, right now?” Tucker asked, confused. “Theta hasn’t even gotten to watch his dog videos!”“We will leave Agent North and Theta to bond,” The Director said. “In the meantime, the sooner we can distribute the AI, the better. My office, both of you.”Tucker groaned, letting his arms go limp and rolling his head back. “Ugh, fiiine. But I’m going to complain the whole time.”“We would be alarmed if you didn’t,” The Director said. He turned away before Tucker could even accuse him of making a joke.The Counselor trailed behind the Director, his dutiful guard dog, never more than ten feet away. Not even in the shadows, but a shadow himself. Tucker felt undignified as he followed both of them, like he was a part of whatever they were. Not the Project, but another henchman. Another shadow.They were in the hallway of the ship now, having descended the long staircase from the observation deck, but Tucker paused. The Director and Counselor walked ahead, but he looked back to the observation room door, remembering the other person in the audience.“Give me a sec, I gotta piss,” Tucker lied.The Director and Counselor turned to grimace at him, but Tucker was already through the door and racing up the steps of the narrow stair well. He considered taking off his helmet, but didn’t. He had a shit poker face, but you didn’t need one in Spartan armor.Either he was quieter than he thought or CT was more distracted than anyone in her position should be. She was tense, arms crossed over her armored chest. The training room was bathed in white light, and it illuminated around her, making her silhouette even darker, The observation rooms were always a good amount darker, and it didn’t help the grim tone of the situation.CT’s helmet was resting on the sill of the window, turned back and staring directly at Tucker with the bug eyes. Like it was something sentient itself, like it was the guy that he buried in the sand.He evened his breath, watching her, wondering what’s going on in her head. Was she even a part of the Insurrection at this point? The time line was fuzzy, but only a few weeks ago she was freaking out on the escape ship over not getting the intel on that mission. Her trajectory was set in motion, he feelings on the Project souring. But… That was in a world where they didn’t get the data, this is the one where Tucker had already been tinkering.
Tucker didn’t know how long they stood like that, but long enough that he needed to say something or just be as creepy as Florida.“Stay out of it, Connecticut” He settled on.CT jumped, apparently completely unaware of Tucker’s presence. She turned back, eyes wide in fear. Her mouth opened, but Tucker didn’t care what she had to say.“You’re pissed off about your place here,” Tucker said; This he knew for sure, anyone that could see that frustrated expression she held would know. “Get over it. You’re headed down a path that’s going to get a lot of people dead. You can pretend you’re a hero, but all you end up is dead. You and your boyfriend.”CT’s mouth closed, and she breathed in. This wasn’t a face of confusion, and there’s no way Tucker had caught her only a day away from running off with the Insurgents. But it was obvious she was far enough ahead to understand what Tucker was saying.
“I’m not snitching,” Tucker shrugged. “I’m just telling you before you go to deep. It’s going to amount to nothing.”CT studying him back, that tension returning. Her eyes narrowed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. But this is pretty aggressive for just ‘nothing.’”Tucker inhaled quickly, exhaled slowly. Thank God he kept his helmet on. “It’s nothing for everyone else. But I’m going to lose a friend.”Tucker was lying. He had lost a lot of people he cared about more than CT. He didn’t even like CT, and she clearly wasn’t his biggest fan.The idea of her dead still bugged him. The idea of any of the Freelancers dead. CT was no longer an abstract. Another ghost someone almost killed him for. She was the person who got flustered during public speaking and had a hard time not crying in frustration. She laughed quietly at Wash’s jokes, and just lost three of her closest friends on the ship. She didn’t even have anyone to spend Girl’s Nights with.Tucker wondered how many times she read over the announcement of Ohio, Idaho and Iowa's retirement, and if she got a personal email too. Different then his, something written by long time friends. Maybe she even got a real goodbye.Tucker felt his bravery slipping the longer their face off lasted. He broke, uncrossing his arms and walking away. He forced himself to walk slowly and evenly. Make it look like he wasn’t running away.The weirdest thing of all was he think he succeeded in that.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

A few days later, he woke up to another notification on his calendar. Meeting with the Director. Due in an hour. He groaned into his pillow, eyes still crusty and heavy. His body and brain agreed that they should stay in bed and get rest. Give him a few more hours free from the misery.None the less, he was sitting in the spiny chair in the Director’s office forty-five minutes later.Tucker was out of armor. As weird as it felt to be around the Director and Counselor without it, his laziness beat out his self preservation that morning . His fatigues would have to do; He even tucked in his shirt to avoid any comments on ‘untidiness’ and ‘professionalism.’ He was tossing his sword handle between his hands, leaning heavily back and twisting back and forth idly.The Director’s office was, of course, shades of grey. But there were books-Actual, real, paper books on a steel book case pressed against the right side wall. The book case wasn’t large, only about as wide as two of Tucker and a little taller- Actually, now that Tucker thought about it, it was the size of Maine. They were all bound, some basically textbooks with their subjects on the spine, but others hardcover and fancy looking. And fancy books rarely had their name on the spine, like they were so important you should just remember what their name was.The Director was behind that giant metal and glass desk that had no clutter on it. It was one of the fancy ones with only a few buttons on it, but didn’t need a computer. It was the computer, and any information or documents the user needed to view was projected in a blue hologram. The room was surprisingly lit brighter than most of the ship, and even had a great window on one wall. Tucker didn’t knew where the hell they were, but they were orbiting some sort of gas giant. The blues and oranges swirled on it’s surface, not mixing in color, but moving against one another, like dyes in a bucket of paint waiting to be something new.The Director seemed to either be growing more patient or more numb to Tucker’s unprofessionalism. Maybe it was a good sign; That meant Tucker was less likely to be killed in a fit of frustration after one too many dick jokes. But good also meant unpredictable. Tucker’s mom had told him when he first started driving: ‘A predictable driver is always safer than a considerate driver.’ Politeness has no place when you relied on everyone following the rules to not crash several tons of metal into each other at high speed. It was feeling more and more like the Director and Tucker were waiting on the to cross an intersection they had both arrived at; If Tucker took the Director’s passiveness as friendliness, he risked getting T-Boned.“So, you don’t have like, any snacks in here, right?” Tucker asked, spinning 360 degrees in his chair, looking around the room. “'Cause I missed breakfast for this, and you won’t like me when I’m hungry.”“You’re time spent here will be determined by your cooperation,” The Director said, closing the tabs on the hologram of text upon text, only broken up by the occasional blue print Tucker wouldn't be able to understand even if it wasn’t backwards.“Usually people follow that up with ‘I don’t even like you now’…” Tucker trailed off as the Director picked up the actual, manila files from the sliver of empty space on the edge of the desk. He nodded to the papers. “Woah, you just keep those printed out? Those are, like, the AI information right? Not just take out menus?”“It’s the 26th century, Agent Kentucky,” The Director didn’t turn his face up but looked at Tucker over his glasses. “You cannot infiltrate physical documents from across the galaxy.”“Good point,” Tucker shrugged. “Still doesn’t feed me.”“We have three new AI ready for implantation,” The Director said, brushing past Tucker’s complaints. He held three fairly thick files in his hand. “Omega-““Ah, fuck that guy!” Tucker groaned. They were only three minutes in and he was already getting riled up, tangent in bound. “His whole this is rage, aka being a massive fucking asshole. You gave that dick to Tex, and he was obsessed with her. She tried getting rid of him, but he could jump from person to person and possess them and turn them into some kind of Bond villain. He made this annoying hippie Doc even more annoying. And that’s coming from me.”The Director let Tucker finish, face composed. “I see. This put Agent Texas in danger?”“Uh,” Tucker stopped to think. “I mean, she didn’t like it. She ended up ditching him, and he spent the rest of his robot life trying to get back to her. He couldn’t even manage that,” Tucker shook his head. “Nah, fuck that. He’s not worth it. Who’s next?”The Director eyed Tucker, but still switched to the next folder. “We have Gamma-““Gary? Laaame,” Tucker kept spinning. “You gave him to Wyoming. He did these mind games, he fucking made me think me and my crew time traveled when we didn’t. It sucked. It’s almost as bad as actual time travel. Anyways, he likes complex lies, knock knock jokes and slurs against humans.” Also contributed heavily to me killing Wyoming. “Who’s next?”The Director sighed deeply, and pulled the last file up his face. “Finally, Sigma-“Tucker jumped out of his seat.He was in front of the Director in less than three second, sword clutched in his left hand. He held it so tight he felt a strain in his elbow. He didn’t care. Tucker snatched the file from the Director’s hand, the paper crinkling. He turned away, as if the Director was going to lunge for it. Tucker put space between then, walking a few steps and pulled open the file. Paper felt odd, he hadn't held paper with his bare hands in weeks. Before Chorus and their low tech, it had been years. Everything in his life was screens and projections now. Paper was too... Homey. Tucker shook off the weird nostalgia and flipped through the file, looking for nothing and everything. He caught glimpses of words here and there.
Creativity.

Agreeable.
Tucker didn’t know what he was looking for, didn’t know what he expected to find in the sea of words until he found it.Maine.He closed the folder, hard, like it was one of the bound books that would give a satisfying thunk. It didn’t, and only succeeded in almost spilling loose papers. Tucker turned back to a surprised Director. His heart was beating now, fast and loud, like he just chased Adderall with three espresso shots back to back. He held up the folder again, creasing it worse.“No. No, fuck this one,” Tucker said, voice hoarse with seriousness. “Not Sigma. You cannot put him in Maine. I’m dead fucking serious- This fucking parasite is going to carve up his brain. Have you talked to them about the Alpha?”The Director was silent, thinking. The Counselor spoke up. “We do not bring up the Alpha to the AI. They seem to find the concept…”“They get fucking crazy, I know,” Tucker cut him off. “They want to become whole, I know. And Sigma is going to be the one to do it. He- He’s going to like- Man, it isn’t even brainwash. When I met Maine, he was barely even human. He’s going to gonna just, make him a giant puppet. Maine went around picking off the rest of the AI, trying to rebuild the Alpha.”Tucker took another look at the folder. These pieces of papers were going to take his friend, an actual friend, not like CT was his friend, and destroy him. Kill the parts if him that were human and turn him into a machine. Kill that flirty guy out there that loved teasing Tucker and just wanted people to talk to.“The original idea was to give Sigma to Agent Carolina,” The Director explained. “But she agreed that Agent Maine could use the AI to help with communication.”“Okay?” Tucker said incredulously. “I don’t care? Carolina can’t use him either, she’s too-He’s too- No,” Tucker shook his head. “Nah, these three are bad news. Toss them.”The Director straightened his posture, and his neutrality melted into a sternness. “Agent Kentucky, we cannot simply toss the smart AI-““Yeah you can, you got an emp, don’t you? Put a magnet up to them, flush ‘em down a toilet. I don’t fucking know! You’re the expert!” Tucker found himself shouting by the end and forced himself to exhale. The way the Director acted like God, while also speaking like so much of the project was simply out of his hands frustrated Tucker to no end.“Agent Kentucky-“ The Counselor started.“Shut up, Caboose,” Tucker snapped, and flinched. “Shit, I mean- You know what I meant!”The Counselor raised and eyebrow and turned his head down to type on his data pad. Tucker snapped his mouth shut, and was about to stalk over and shove that data pad up the Counselor’s ass when the Director commanded his attention.“You are a consultant,” The Director said coldly, placing his arms behind his back. “A service we appreciate, but you do not make decisions. Do Gamma and Omega malfunction?”“Well, no-““Do they fail at their duties?” The Director asked.“Holy shit, are you not listening?” Tucker laughed humorlessly. He shook the folder at the two files still in the Director’s hands. “These AI are bad fucking news! You brought me in here to help with this, and you’re not going to fucking listen?”“You listen to me,” The Director’s accent was always more pronounced when he was upset, and now his drawl was nearly incomprehensible. Slow and scratchy, like cheap whiskey. “Do they or do they not fail at their duties?”Tucker arguments caught in his throat. They didn’t. They were annoying and almost killed them all, but they were carrying out their orders. They were working for the Project; At the time that meant killing Tucker.Gamma worked, and worked well. To the very end. The time travel thing was on purpose, and he really got the entire Blood Gulch crew to think they had traveled into the future. He even made Church feel like he had to wait over a thousand of years in solitude with him.
And Omega… Omega was Tex’s AI. Everything he did was to get back to her. He succeeded at it too. Even willing to stick around in Doc’s head. He was a fucking dick, but he was the rage personality fragment. That was his nature, wasn’t it? Take away that maliciousness, was he doing anything different than what Theta or Delta might do for North and York?“They carry out their orders," Tucker relented "But Tex hated O’Malley, and Gary and Wyoming fail on their final mission.
Both of them, working together, they fail. The Meta eats both of them, everyone fucking loses.” Tucker worked on compositing himself. He forced his grip to loosen on the sword before he accidentally activated it.“Do the AI Omega and Gamma do anything besides what they are designed to do? Do they disobey orders, do they fail at running the armor enhancements?” The Director asked.Tucker twisted his mouth. Did they? Did Wyoming? Did Vic? Or did they do exactly what they were told, and were just unfortunate enough to be sent to Blood Gulch, a place so full of idiots that it corrupted the last of the Project.Tucker sighed deeply through his nose. “Fine. Fucking- Fine. Gamma and Omega work. They do their jobs. I forgot that their jobs are given by you fucking psychopaths,” He grumbled jabbing the folder in the Counselor’s direction. For whatever reason, it was getting harder to stare directly at the Director now.“What was this final mission?” The Director asked.This threw Tucker off. His mouth shut, and his arm fell. He became so worked up, he had forgotten what the Director knew and didn’t know. Now he had to full look away, and the book case became the only thing it didn’t hurt to stare at.“You keep mentioning this failed, final mission,” The Director continued, standing up straighter. His calculating coldness returned; He knew he had just caught Tucker in something. “A final mission that resulted in the destruction of Gamma, and if I’m piecing together your ramblings and attitude over the past weeks correctly, the death of Agent Wyoming.”Tucker was silent.“You said the Meta takes ‘both’ of the AI. Omega and Gamma. But not the third AI in this story.” The Director continued.Tucker breathed through his nose. The third AI, Tex, who makes it long enough to be trapped in the Epsilon unit. “No. The Meta never gets… That one.”“I see,” The Director’s face relaxes a fraction. “Now I ask again; What was this final mission?”Tucker didn’t say anything. He always said the wrong thing, he always said to much.
“By any chance, was that final mission to kill you?” The Director said.Tucker looked away, chewing the inside of his cheek. Not speaking seemed to get him as far as speaking.
Every choice I make seems like the wrong one, He told Wash forever ago.“I don’t know if you guys were taking bets on my whole tragic back story, but the truth is I’m just the unluckiest idiot in the galaxy,” Tucker said slowly, entire body clenched and muscles stiff, trying to keep himself from yelling. “You drafted me as a simulation trooper to keep the Alpha busy after Maine went rogue. That’s how I know Alpha. At some point, for whatever fucking reason, you guys decided I was ‘too much of a threat’ or whatever,” Tucker rolled his eyes. “And ordered Gary and Wyoming to kill me. Even though I hadn’t done shit anything except the orders given to me from a fake fucking army. If you want evidence that O’Malley and Gary aren’t as good an idea as you think it is, there you fucking go. They lost to sim troopers, the people hand picked based on their uselessness.”The Director studied Tucker, the silence dragging on. Tucker crossed his arms. Seconds passed. Tucker wasn’t sure when he realized that he was running out of secrets spill, running out of insurance, but it was most likely coincided with the tightening of his grip on his sword handle. His tantrum, his inability to think clearly, had rid him of his remaining leverage, as give the Director even more reason to get rid of him.“At what point in this story am I meant to see this as an unprecedented failure on the part of Agent Wyoming and Gamma?” The Director asked.
Tucker took a moment, surprised by the genuineness of the Director’s voice. By the lack of threat and anger. “Uh, the part where they failed? Unprecedentedly?”“Agent Wyoming and his AI failing to kill someone with the skills to be one of our greatest agents, with and cooperation of the Alpha AI and Agent Texas no less, does not sound like a simple mistake. This sounds like a misstep of this organization.” The Director said carefully.“Dude, you had to be there-““But I was not,” The Director cut him off. “However, you are here. Alive and well, having survived what ever may have occurred. Survived long enough to now be wrapped up in another war. I am not naive or blinded by pride to expect the AI make these agents invincible. Agent Wyoming and the Gamma AI’s failure sounds completely reasonable.”“You’re not changing your mind, are you?” Tucker asked in disbelief.“Why waste my time asking questions you know the answer too?” The Director asked back, wasting Tucker’s time in return.

Loss tasted bitter in Tucker’s mouth, and sit even worse in his chest. Nothing was ever fucking simple for him. He hit a wall of frustration and helplessness and invisibility he hadn’t felt for years. The feeling of screaming your head off and no one hearing it. People only began listening to him on Chorus, when it got innocent people killed.
No, it wasn’t that no one listened to Tucker. It’s that Church never listened to Tucker.“Fine. Fine. Don’t listen to me, what ever. But Sigma?” Tucker grimaced, and took a step forward. He held up the paper again. “I’m serious. He can’t be put in Maine’s head. Maybe it’s just because he’s vulnerable of whatever, but he can’t. I swear; Maine will destroy everything. He’ll betray all of you. He’ll try to kill Carolina.”Tucker rarely brought up Carolina. He even forgot half the time she was the Director’s daughter. But it was an emergency. The Director still studying Tucker, unreadable. Tucker hoped his sincerity was believable. Even if it wasn’t, Carolina was his daughter. Tucker was a dad, he got it. There was this piece of him dedicated to keep his son safe, a piece that was hard to argue with. He got that even in his deepest madness, the Director wouldn’t put her in danger. The Director, at the end of the day, was still a man-“No.” He said finally.Or not.“What?” Tucker asked. Maybe in his excitement, he had missed something important.
“Sigma is an effective AI. He will not be discarded.” The Director said.Tucker stared at the Director. His voice was quiet at first, but rose with every word. “I don’t- Did you not hear me? I just fucking told you that he’s going to get people killed! I told you he almost killed-““I heard you perfectly, Agent Kentucky,” The Director cut him off. He was so calm, in comparison to Tucker, who was nearly shaking with anger, they might have been having different conversations. “And what you have told me is that Sigma is powerful enough to aid Agent Maine into defeating our best agent.”“Dude…” Tucker said, disgust forming like a ball in his chest draining down to his stomach.
The Director was willing to let his own daughter die. The Director was seeing Carolina’s death as a positive. The Director heard his own daughter’s near death experience and didn’t even flinch. Even when Tucker was told the full, unabridged version of Carolina being thrown off that cliff, he had felt sick.
Tucker nearly drew the truth out like a revolver. Tucker knew the truth was the only thing to stop Sigma from being discharged. The truth being that Sigma, and therefore the Meta, put Tex in the memory unit. The unit Tex would not make it out of.This would be a good enough reason for the Director to get rid of Sigma. But it was a good reason to get rid of Maine as well. The Director was the kind of man who took major risks until it came to Tex. Then he would scorch the earth. The whole point of the conversation was to save Maine from being scorched.“We cannot afford to discard the AI,” The Director continued. His voice was getting a bit of an edge. “I appreciate your increasing dedication to this Project, but I will encourage you to remember our mission, not just our members.“Now, I will trust your opinion, and not pair Agent Maine with Sigma,” He continued, uncaring. “So let’s hear your proposals for who should take Sigma.”Tucker shook his head again. He felt like he was just asked who should be given a tape worm. All this talk about not treating AI’s like people, but the Director was the most inhuman thing on this ship. Maybe the Alpha wasn’t just a copy of the Director’s mind. Maybe Alpha
himself was a fragment, and he took all the Director’s humanity with him.“No,” Tucker repeated. “No one. None of these guys- No one can be put at risk like that!” Tucker yelled. “I’ve had AI in my head in and out for years, remember? I remember what it was like, when I was new at this- Like you’re being fucking possessed,” Tucker shivered at the phantom pain running through the back of his neck.O’Malley and Church full on could possess people. It took training, it took experience to fight it. And even then, the influence of the AI was always present. Sure, even some idiot like Doc could eventually learn to fight it, but he ended up just sharing a body with O’Malley. Doc was a pacifist, he had no skills, no bite, no desire to do any intentional harm. O’Malley still managed to raise a robot army.“This is not up for debate,” The Director said firmly. “What we are asking is simply who should be paired with the Sigma AI. Agent York and Agent North are thriving with their AI, and we are well aware that they would be far less effective with other agents.”“God, you are so fucking stupid,” Tucker whispered, hands clutching the paper and his sword tightly. “Not everyone, especially these people, can work with an AI! Even the people that can- I can’t think of a single fucking person that could handle Sigma!”“We will keep close watch on Sigma,” The Director continued. “I trust your feelings on that matter. This is the point of you, is it not? To improve the Project, not discard it’s purpose.”Tucker shook his head. This was a fucking mistake. He shouldn’t have told CT to fuck off, he should find her right now. He should crash this whole ship.He felt so stupid. To think he could help anyone. No, he was just complacent now. To think aiding this evilness was going to change it at all.He looked up at the Director, ready to yell again. But he caught a glimpse of himself on the window behind him.“We will delay the implantation of Sigma…” The Director said somewhere, far away.Lately, Tucker gotten into the habit of pausing at his reflection. Partly in vanity, checking his new hair and how proper meals were filling him out. But sometimes in surprise; He was a different man than he was last time he had his hair cropped, and a different man than he was right before it. He had grown, he had changed, he had matured. Tucker was stronger. He was physically more skilled than he was before he put on the Meta suit. He was smarter, he had been developing a more tactical and militant mind since he was made Captain of Chorus. He fucking tried now. He tried to be better, better than himself, better than his enemies.“…Reflection on reducing potential harm to the Project…”Most different of all was that he cared. He had started caring a long time ago, when he started getting responsibility. He cared about his friends and family and teams. About the Blues, about the Reds, the Rebels, even the Feds. It was shitty, the way he seemed to just care about every person who came along. And now that included the Freelancers.He didn’t want Maine to lose himself. He didn’t want CT to die for revenge. He didn’t want Carolina to tear herself apart. He didn’t want York to die still loving Carolina. He didn’t want South to end up nothing but a bad memory, shot in the face and blown up, nothing but another sin on Wash’s conscious.He didn't want to lose Wash a second time. Not when he just got him back. It might kill Tucker. Because if Wash was permanently hurt, or even died, it would be because of Tucker. His intervention and meddling.No, he wouldn’t let that happen. Tucker was stronger. He would always be stronger than he was the day before, he would only care more. He would never be faster than Carolina, never shoot better than North, never be as resilient as South, never have as much brute strength as Maine.Tucker would never be as good a man as Wash. He always knew that. Wash had dipped in morality, but came back twice as good. He would kill for those he loved. He repented, even when Tucker told him he was done. He made up for it all. But he continued everyday to not only make himself better, but bringing people with him. Making Doyle and Kimball work together, getting an entire planet of enemies to work together, to make Carolina human again. And for what? For the sake of doing what’s right.“… List of Agents we feel are ready for implantation…”But there was one skill Tucker had that no one in this time did.“I’ll take him,” Tucker said suddenly.
He watched himself say that in the reflection of the glass. It was like he was watching someone else volunteer. It tumbled out of his mouth, almost without his permission. When he caught up to the fact it was him saying it, he felt a new weight on his shoulders.
He regretted it immediately, and fucking hated that he would do it again.“I’ll do it,” He repeated, tearing his gaze away from the glass and to the Director. “Give me Sigma. I’m the only person that has enough experience with AI. You saw how I am with Alpha.”“Agent Kentucky-“ The Director started to say.
“No!’ Tucker cut off. “It needs to be me! You just said all that stupid shit about me being a good agent! If you really think that, I’m the safest bet! I’ll take him-““Kentucky-““And- And even if I do end up like the Meta,” Tucker continued, thinking more out loud than holding a conversation. “Like Maine, then it’s fine! Don’t lie, you know I’m ass at actually fighting. Anyone else on this ship could kill me in their sleep if they knew what was up! Hide an emp in my suit if you need too. It has to be me, it has to-““AGENT KENTUCKY!”The Director shouted, fully shouted. Tucker shut his mouth, ears ringing in the new silence, and focused on the Director. Even the Counselor stopped typing on his data pad, eyes widened just slightly at the Director’s outburst.The Director, calm as ever, as if he hadn’t raised his voice, leveled his gaze at Tucker. His face had no sign or irritability, anger, or doubt. None of the looks he usually gave Tucker.

Instead, he almost gave a smile. That Mona Lisa smile.“I think that is a fine idea.”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

“This is really embarrassing for you, Captain Tucker,” Felix said.Tucker stared at him, unable to speak. Was he unable to speak, or didn’t know what to say? Did it really matter? When it came to Felix, he always said the wrong thing anyways.Despite the sun beating down on him, Tucker didn’t feel hot. He could see the heat waving off of the concrete of Blue Base, visible where the white stone contrasted with the burnt orange dirt of the background desert, but for once, Blood Gulch Outpost One wasn’t burning through his metal boots.Looking down, he realized he wasn’t wearing boots at all; He was in a t-shirt and basketball shorts. He recognized the shirt, it was some sports star’s name brand that he wore all through his teen years. He couldn’t remember the name, he only remembered how important it was for him to dress with this logo. Looking down at his arms, he saw the usual scars that now littered his body gone, replaced with smooth, dark skin.“I mean, this is worse then getting caught with your pants down,” Felix continued, twirling a knife in his hand. He wore full armor, the sunlight glinting off the steel and blinding him. Everything was too bright now, he could barely see. “I’d rather be caught naked than in those clothes. Last time I saw an outfit like that, it was on a bunch of children on Chorus. You know, before they were all shoved in armor.”Tucker still couldn’t speak; He couldn’t even move. He stayed rooted to the ground, like he was a part of the concrete, the base growing up through him like moss would on a tree somewhere habitable. He felt pathetic, dumb, and useless. No; He was pathetic, dumb and useless. It’s just Felix is the only one with enough reason to point it out. He didn’t need to gas Tucker up, to lie to him or to themselves about his skills. That’s probably why Felix had such a great time with Tucker; There were so many different ways to knock him down a peg, simply by pointing out the obvious.Felix sauntered towards him, something hooked in his hand. A navy blue Mark V armor helmet. Had he been holding that this whole time? He moved it back and forth, studying it. “It was so easy, he was so confused, Even a child would have known what I was going to do with that knife. He didn’t even scream. The rest did though.”Felix threw the helmet to the side. It didn’t make a sound, but Tucker watched it land on the armor it belonged to.Tucker didn’t see Caboose’s face much. Even in down time, Caboose preferred to keep his helmet on. He felt safer in there, he was safer in there, and it softened the noise and chaos of the world. But Tucker would recognize that face anywhere, even dead.Caboose’s face was frozen in surprise, lying face down in the concrete, eyes wide and turned to the side. Blood was pooling beneath him, from somewhere Tucker didn’t see. He wasn’t alone.
GrifSimmonsSargeDonutDocCarolinaWashDocLopezChurchTexKimballPalomoJunior-To his horror, the more he stared, the larger the pile of bodies grew, infinitely large, somehow growing while never changing. A woman he knew to be Sheila, even though Sheila didn’t have a body. His mom, his dad, Mullaney, Doyle, his cousin who was his best friend until he moved away when Tucker was fourteen- The bodies grew and grew, the names coming to Tucker even faster than he could see.Tucker couldn’t speak, but his throat was raw, hurt as if he were screaming and crying. His breathing was labored, but he couldn’t breath at the same time. All he could look at were those bodies, the bodies of everyone who ever even gave half of a shit about Tucker. And Tucker cared more for them than he ever let on. He could never let on, not anymore. All of these people, this mountain, when had he told any of them how much they meant to him? Never, for most of them, because Tucker was incapable of even the most basics of human decency.“I just don’t know how you didn’t notice,” Felix continued. He was now right behind Tucker,
close to his ear but not sounding any louder. “Are you really that selfish? Or just that stupid?”Tucker wanted to run, want to push back. But he couldn’t move, frozen, as solid as the artificial stone of the base. He was that stupid, he was that useless, he was that selfish.Everyone was dead, and he couldn’t even blame Felix; It was his fault for not stopping it. You could blame the hurricane all you want, but it was someone’s fault for not fixing the home, for not prepping for an oncoming disaster.Felix rounded about, now facing Tucker. His helmet was off, and Tucker could see his face, but was so clouded by his panic he couldn’t really see his face. But he knew that Felix, the sadist, was grinning, enjoying Tucker’s torture. It was down right perverse.Something sharp pressed into Tucker’s stomach. A knife, just poking through his shirt and on his skin, not deep enough to actually pierce Tucker but still painful. His stomach muscles contracted, tense in anticipation. He still couldn’t move. Why wouldn’t he just move?“I’m going to enjoy this,” Felix purred.The pain disappeared from his stomach. The pressure relieved.Felix’s face fell.They both looked down.Tucker’s sword was in his hand, lit up in more vibrant blue than Tucker had ever seen, as blinding as the sun. It was speared right through Felix’s gut.Tucker deactivated his sword. Felix stood for half a second more, just as shocked as Tucker was. He didn’t even look up before crumpling wordlessly to the ground. This didn’t put Tucker at ease, seeing Felix on the ground. More death, more pain didn’t give him the relief he wanted. It just felt like more death.“Oh, jeez!” Caboose said, right next to Tucker. He held his helmet in his hands, smiling with that dopey smile. “That was a close one!”“Yeah, I hate to admit it,” Grif said, now on Tucker’s other side. “But good job, Blue. That would have fucking blowed.”Tucker looked between them both. Grif was looking his usual bored, staring out into the distance. Caboose, with that child like optimism.Tucker turned back to the pile of bodies, but they were all gone. Not even a speck of blood, just the leveled, dusty concrete on the top of Blue base.“Great work, Tucker,” Wash said, clapping a hand down on Tucker’s shoulder. Tucker jumped at the contact, and looked down. It was Wash’s grey and yellow gauntlet, firmly on Tucker’s t-shirt. “Taking out Felix while out of armor? I’m proud of you. You saved us all.”“Yeah, yeah, we get it,” Sarge huffed. He appeared in front of Tucker, helmet off, his snowy beard seeming even whiter in the sun, contrasting his deeply tanned skin. “A Blue saved the day. Let’s play a round of Capture the Flag so you can see what a real army looks like.”That wasn’t right. Sarge never took off his helmet at Blood Gulch. Tucker never even saw it until years after they had met. It was on the ship, the ship they were on before the crashed.
Where did they crash?“Sounds like fun,” Carolina smirked, right by Sarge’s side. When did she get there? Was she always standing next to him? “Good luck out there.”That wasn’t right. Carolina… She didn’t fit. She was Red team, she was one of them, she loved competition. Why wasn’t this right?
“We don’t need luck,” Wash said. Tucker looked at him.
Wash was one of them. Wash led them to Capture the Flag victories. He was leader of Blue team. So why didn’t he fit either? What was missing? He didn’t have his helmet on either. Why didn’t he have his helmet on? Wash would never keep his helmet off if there was a threat, not if Felix was there-
Tucker looked down. Felix’s body was gone.Nothing fit. Everyone was right but everything was wrong. He still couldn’t move. He looked up and around, and everything became blurrier. The heat bouncing off the concrete- No, it was haze now. Everyone was moving their lips, words were being said, but Tucker couldn’t grab onto any of them.
Reality, the sounds of his friends voices, the blistering of the desert, the smell of baking sand- Everything was slipping past him. Like he was a sort of ghost, the reality of the world intangible. All the things grounding a person to this world, he was unable to hold on to. The only thing that had been real was the pain of Felix’s knife, the brief touch of Wash on his shoulder, and the sickness rising in Tucker’s chest.“This isn’t right,” He said, finally finding his voice. He shook his head, eyes flitting around and catching nothing. “This isn’t right.”He looked up at Wash, still by his side. Wash looked confused, but inhaled. Like he had been caught. “What do you mean? You don’t want to play a round of Capture the Flag?”“This isn’t right,” Tucker repeated. “You… You shouldn’t be here.”Wash was never at Blood Gulch with them. Carolina either. They were never there, Carolina never even played Capture the Flag. It was wrong, it was out of order. The deck had been shuffled, the albums pages falling out on the ground. It wasn’t right.Tucker looked down at his wrist, at his watch. He tried reading the time, tried seeing where the hour hand and minute hand landed. He couldn’t focus, he couldn’t read it, like his eyes knew the watch face was there, but there was a disconnect in his brain.He had started wearing a watch for this reason, a long time ago. He had stopped recently. Why had he stopped? What happened to his watch? It was gone, he knew that, but he was wearing it. He had lost it, he lost it in the crash. Tucker got into the habit of wearing a watch as a kid when he had nightmares. He got back into it once Church invaded his dreams every night. He had heard a long time ago that it was impossible to tell time or read in a dream.
Tucker looked up at Wash. “This isn’t real.”
Wash’s brows furrowed, embarrassed, caught in a lie. “Uh. Knock knock?”Tucker woke with a start.The room was dark, and he couldn’t breathe. It was hot, his chest hurt, his throat feeling torn the shreds. He kicked off the thin scratchy blanket, standard issue on Chorus for anyone who couldn’t scavenge a one. It was drenched in sweat-He was drenched in sweat.The room was dark, he wasn’t blinded by the desert sun. He could move; He could move his legs, he had to move his legs, jumping out of his position as if to prove it. He fell out of bed, hard on the floor. The floor was cold, colder than it should be given Tucker’s sweating. He was breathing hard, shallow, like he couldn’t get a lung full.All of his senses came flooding back to him except his sight, the whiplash too much for his overactive brain to handle. Too much, too much- His mind was racing, like he was thinking twice as fast but not at all. A car stuck in mud, it's wheels turning, faster and faster but going no where, doing nothing but making a fucking mess.Wash was there. Wash should be there. Wash shared the room with him, his bunk across the small space. He was already sitting up, worried and rubbing sleep from his eyes.“Tucker? What’s wrong?” He asked. He swung his legs over the side of his bunk.Tucker’s heart pounded.

It’s okay, Wash should be there. Wash was supposed to be there. Wash’s helmet was off, because he was asleep.
Tucker repeated those things to himself, something he could hold onto, but he still couldn’t breath. He still couldn’t get his heart to stop pounding, to calm, for his body to stop screaming at him.Tucker scrambled to his feet, not getting an opportunity to rise completely. He stumbled over the Wash, landing roughly on his knees in front of him. He grabbed Wash’s wrist, pulling it to himself. Wash tensed so hard he might as well have been shocked, but didn’t stop Tucker.
Tucker’s hands were shaking as he held Wash’s hand and forearm to his face, Wash’s analog watch barely visible in the darkness of night.It read 3:47.Tucker stared at it as it passed into 3:48. His breathing came back to him, normal breathes, then heavier breath, oxygen reentering his system and flooding him like a drug, replacing the adrenaline.Wash placed the other hand on Tucker’s shoulder.
Tucker flinched, and shoved it away, shoved both hands away. Wash nearly fell back on the mattress, but reoriented himself. Tucker pushed himself away, falling back on his ass. His legs kept moving, kicking, taking him further until his back hit his bed.No, this was fine. Wash put his hand on Tucker’s shoulder but it wasn’t like before, because Wash could be here.Wash raised both hands up, palms forward, still staring at Tucker with, perplexed. Tucker’s breathing hitched again, his brain catching up in pieces, the information of his hallucination and reality mixing together, leaving him to pick out the real and the not-real.Something in his brain tickled, stemming from the back of his neck. His breathing deepened and slowed. It felt like he was on a respirator, something working his lungs for him.Something making his muscles relax, making his stomach stop churning.Something that wasn’t him, something that was moving him around like a puppet. Like Felix moved him around like a puppet.Tucker swallowed, an action that was more difficult than it should have been. He cleared his mind, pushing everything to the forefront. He twitched; There was so much going on he felt like his head would explode. Like he was waking from sleep paralysis, he forced his muscles to move from their state of otherness.His hands flew to the back of his neck, to his implants. He dug his nails into the skin around the site, but they were too blunt, and the skin was too grown out around it.“Get out,” He said, starting in only a dry whisper. “Get out- Get out- Get-!” He repeated, voice growing louder but no smoother. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to block out everything that he couldn’t feel.Images flashed before his eyes. A waterfall, spraying over a peaceful valley. A bench at the shady park across the street from where he grew up. A beach, the sound of lapping water and seagulls cawing-“GET OUT!” Tucker screamed. “GET THE FUCK OUT-“Hands wrapped around his wrists, pulling them away from his neck. Tucker tugged and pulled and felt like he was going to dislocate something, but the visions stopped. All he saw was the dark shade of espresso, the one that was near black, from behind his eyelids. The color he should be seeing.The hands around his wrists were warm and calloused. Strong, but with give.
It was real. These things were real.He stopped fighting the hands, and began breathing again. Still shallow, but all him. His hands dropped, and he opened his eyes. Wash was inches from his face, looking straight at Tucker, terrified out of his fucking mind.“Tucker, tell me what’s happening,” He said, evenly without a hint of panic.Tucker’s breathing was ragged, and like his dream, he couldn’t speak. He couldn’t move, stuck in place. But he wasn’t melting, and he could feel the chill of the floor.A flash of white and cobalt, and two figures appeared in the air besides Tucker and Wash. Tucker wasn’t surprised, only feeling resentment fill his veins, but Wash’s mouth fell open.“Epsilon?” He asked.“Gary.” Tucker breathed out.Church was clear as day, but Gary was a blurred, like Delta was. He was like television static, white and fuzzy, while Church was as clear as glass.“Okay, shit, this is my bad,” Church admitted guiltily.“What the hell did you do to him?” Wash asked, disgusted.“Look, Tucker was having a nightmare- Like, a really fucking horrible one,” Church explained. “Dead bodies, Felix, his parents-““I get it,” Wash cut him off, his hands tightening around Tucker’s wrists.“I just asked Gary to help me turn it into something less, uh, horribly fucking disturbing?” Church said weakly.“We were just trying to simulate a more pleasant scenario,” Gary said in his robotic, fax machine of a voice that did nothing but bring even worse memories to Tucker’s forefront. “Epsilon monitors all Sim troopers at night and caught Tucker in a night terror.”“So you thought giving me another fucking simulation was going to help?” Tucker asked, voice breaking. “My entire fucking life has been a lie, why the fuck would you think doing it again would help? It didn’t even make any fucking sense!”“It is not my fault you are more intelligent than the average Shisno,” Gary said unkindly.“Gary, shut up,” Church chastised. “Look dude, I was just trying to help-““You know how normal people fucking help?” Tucker spit. “By waking me the fuck up! What the fuck is wrong with you!?”“You let Epsilon in all the time,” Gary countered. “Why is now an issue? You Shisnos make no sense.”“I’m not going to explain to fucking robot why that’s fucking different!” Tucker shouted, heart beating fast in anger rather than fear.“Gary, fuck off,” Church commanded. Gary turned towards him, and Church stared back. Eventually, Gary dissipated in a haze of static.Church turned to Tucker. “Look, I didn’t mean-““Epsilon, get out,” Wash said. His face was stoney, and voice stern. His jaw was clenched, and grip tightened again on Tucker’s wrists. It was getting too tight, but Tucker would do anything to make him stay in place.“Wash, stay out of it, you don’t get it,“ Church said bitterly. “This is older than you.”“Log. Off.” Wash repeated.Church turned to Tucker. “Tucker?” He asked. He sounded vulnerable, asking Tucker to pick a side.Tucker swallowed, and almost felt bad for him. Almost. “Get the fuck out of here before I chuck a magnet in you.”“That wouldn’t even- Fine.” Church shook his head. “Whatever. Won’t do it again.”“Epsilon,” Wash said.“What?”“Stay out of my head.” Wash warned.Church looked back at Tucker, waiting for something. Tucker didn’t know what to say, and if he wasn’t so fucking furious and his implants weren’t throbbing, he might have even felt inclined to pity him.“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Church muttered. His head hung low, defeated.A flash of light, and he was gone. That tingling, like something was being pulled out of his neck, vanished quickly. Tucker’s mind was his own again, only one, quickly calming consciousness running.With Church gone, Tucker could feel both him and Wash relax. Wash let out a breath, then looked at Tucker’s face. He searched it, worried.“You okay?” He asked, voice softer than it had been with Church. Than it would ever be with Church.Tucker nodded, swallowing hard. His breathing was deepened now, and his hands stopped shaking. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m good.”Wash nodded, and removed his hands from Tucker wrists. Tucker immediately missed the contact, the support, but didn’t say anything. Wash stuck one hand back out to Tucker, and hoisted him to his feet. Tucker stood on shakey knees, but stood none the less. Again, once Wash pulled his hand away, Tucker’s palm nearly hurt.“Do you want to talk about it?” Wash asked awkwardly.
“Hell no,” Tucker said. He turned and dropped roughly onto the mattress, face down into the pillow. It creaked loudly, and Tucker was surprised it didn’t break.Wash stood still for a moment, before Tucker heard footsteps. A swish of fabric, and Tucker felt the thin blanket fall gently over him. His sweat was still coating his skin, but without his system going into overdrive, he was getting a chill.“Thanks,” Tucker murmured, voice muffled by the pillow.Wash must of heard him. “No problem,” He said, then the heavy creak of his own mattress cried out through the room as he settled back into bed.Tucker’s adrenaline was almost completely gone, but he couldn’t sleep right away. He was sure that any sleep he got now would be dreamless, but the small chance that the nightmare would repeat again lingered.
The stupidity of Church was keeping his blood hot. Why he thought that taking away Tucker’s agency would help was beyond him. Church was a smart AI, but would always be a fucking idiot. And Gary… Gary was just straight up an asshole. Delta and Theta really were the better parts of Church.
Even worse, Tucker knew that Gary wasn’t the worst.Tucker didn’t realize the silence was awkward until Wash spoke.“Why did you grab my wrist?” He asked, breaking the silence in the room.Tucker turned over, mattress groaning as he switch to laying his back. “It was a trick I learned as a kid. You can’t read clocks or, like, words in your dreams. I used to get nightmares on the reg, so whenever I get confused I just check my watch. If I can read it, I’m awake…”It was quiet for another minute, and Tucker hated silences. “I used to have one, to get in the habit, you know? I had to start wearing it again in Blood Gulch, but I lost it in the crash. I always see you wearing that one, so…”Wash hummed. “Never heard of that before. I wish I had, I could have used it.”Silence.“Where did you get that one?” Tucker asked.“My mom gave it too me when I left. I’ve only taken it off when… It’s been taken from me. But it always finds it’s way back.” He said.The UNSC. Project Freelancer. The mental facility. Prison. Tucker ran through all the places that watch could have been lost, and it really did feel like a miracle Wash had it.“Damn, is it made out of diamonds or some shit?” Tucker asked to lighten the mood. “How is it not broken? I need one of those.”Wash laughed, a soft but genuine laugh. “You can’t have this one. But I’ll always be around if you need to check.”“Thanks.”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Gamma’s implantation a few days later wasn’t as big of an affair as Delta and Theta. Tucker wanted to skip it all together, but the Director insisted. With the mood he had been in, it was easier to get it over with than deal with pissing the Director off.
Wyoming flinched when Nikki dabbed the brand new implant site with an alcohol wipe. “A little gentler, dear. It’s a neck, no need to sand it down.”Nikki looked up, shooting Tucker a look of exasperation. Her mouth was covered with a surgical mask, but her eyes were clearer that words. Tucker shook his head slightly. I know. “I am now inserting the Gamma chip to Agent Wyoming’s implant,” Nikki said out loud, clearly. This whole thing was probably being recorded, but Tucker didn’t care too much.

She carefully picked up a small chip, maybe the size of a thumb nail, up with a tweezers. With the expert hands of a surgeon, she gently pushed Wyoming’s head down and slipped the chip in. If the room was any louder or Tucker any further away, he wouldn’t have heard the faint click.Wyoming’s brow furrowed, tense as he waited for the AI to take place. Nikki didn’t remove her hand from his head right away like she had with North. She kept it in his hair, rubbing the skin around the implant site with her thumb. Tucker thought that she was too good for this place; She was a fucking amazing doctor, and even could comfort Wyoming at a time like this. A small, nearly insignificant gesture that brought humanity to this cold Project.After another quiet second, Wyoming sat up straight, eyes bright and alert. Nikki removed her hand, and moved to her screens, monitoring Wyoming’s vitals. The Director was to Tucker’s side, watching Wyoming.“How do you feel, Agent Wyoming?” Nikki asked.Wyoming broke into a huge grin. He looked right at her. “Knock knock?”Tucker dropped his arms, his own apprehension gone. “He’s fine. I’m out of here.”Tucker walked out quickly, not bothering with a goodbye. The door to the med bay opened with a woosh. He was getting good with his exits here; He knew the exact time it took for the door to open to his height, and he could exit without awkwardly stopping, ducking, or hitting his head. The last one was only funny the first time.He didn’t make it far before his data pad pinged. A new meeting popped up on his calendar.
<Doctor Jefferson: Stick from ass removal surgery.>
He huffed a laugh. It was for five minutes from now, and Tucker turned heel. He was back at the med bay in no time.
Everyone besides Nikki had left, no doubt to the training room to test Gamma and Wyoming’s compatibility. Nikki was in the same spot, wiping down the tools she had just been using on Wyoming with a cloth. She didn’t look up when he entered, just went back to shuffling things around on the mobile counter.“I was hoping you had an immunity to FHAS, but I think your case might be fatal,” She said through her mask.“Uh, I don’t know what that is, but I swear I have all my shots,” Tucker said. He walked over to collapse into the swivel chair by the table, leaning back. He didn’t realize how tired his body was until now.“’Freelancers Hard Ass Syndrome,’” She said, nodding gravely “There’s an epidemic. We’re losing a lot of good men and women to it.”“Ha ha, very funny,” Tucker deadpanned.“Thank you. Humor’s the only treatment,” Nikki continued, not a hint of sarcasm in her voice. “I do my best. We had seen a real improvement since your arrival, I thought we were developing a cure.”“Yeah, well,” Tucker said bitterly. “Can’t be the class clown if you flunk out. What is this? I thought you were a different kind of brain doctor.”“I didn’t call you in here as a doctor, I called you in here as a friend,” She said, wrapping up the utensils and placing them in a hazard disposal box.“Pft. Who has friends anymore?” Tucker scoffed.
Nikki raised an eyebrow. “Are you saying we’re not friends? That will really hurt my feelings.”Tucker eyed her warily. “Is that sarcasm?”“Would you understand me if I said yes, but it’s true?”“Yeah,” Tucker admitted.“Good. So. Would your bad mood have anything to do with the schedule of AI implantation I received this morning?” She asked.Tucker twisted back and forth nervously in his swivel chair, biting the inside of his cheek, that tension in his shoulders he’d been carrying since agreeing to take Sigma leaking into his throat. “Maybe.”“I’m not going to force you to take an AI if you do not want one,” She said. “I’ve been very firm with the Director; I am not an evil scientist. We’ve started putting neural implants on regular crew members for transportation, and I’ve already refused to preform the surgery on personnel that do not want it.”“That sounds like a good way to get your name on the POW MIA wall at your home town’s Walmart,” Tucker mumbled.Nikki stared at him, still for a second. “That was a deep pull. Very specific.”“I’m an artist when it comes to bitching,” Tucker shrugged.“So am I going to send my best head shot to the Walmart in Pasadena, California?” She prodded.“Jesus, you’re worse than Wash,” Tucker muttered. Nikki raised an eyebrow, but let Tucker continue. “No, you don’t. It was my choice to get Sigma, I had to basically get on my knees.”“Wow, you’re really working your way through the ship,” Nikki commented. Her eyes crinkled a bit, a smile hidden behind the mask.“You know if this whole doctor thing doesn’t work out, you could have a thriving career as a mediocre comedian.”“Always good to have a back up plan,” She said. She tore off her gloves, quickly but expertly so she didn’t have to touch the outsides of them with her bare hands. She dumped them into the trash, along with her mask. Tucker didn’t know what the expect next, but it wasn’t her moving to sit on the examination table, facing him. She pulled up a leg, a much more casual pose than he expected from someone in a white coat.
“So,” She said, relaxing. “What do the neural implants feel like?”Tucker’s brow knit together in confusion. “What do you mean? You don’t have them?”Nikki shook her head, her braids swishing behind her shoulders.
“Okay, that makes me feel real safe,” Tucker said sarcastically, rubbing the back of his neck once. The implants were there, cold and solid, same as they’d be til the day he died.“I have total confidence in the technology,” She said seriously. “I helped develop it. I don’t have confidence of anyone else installing it.”“You do every single one?” Tucker asked. He never really thought about that, how she seemed like the only doctor. He couldn’t imagine one of her grey suit assistants drilling into Freelancer’s heads either. “There’s a billion people here.”“I know. I’m a very busy woman,” She nodded. Tucker noticed selfishly that there were bags under her eyes, and she was a little more bent.
The moment she had with Wyoming, the comfort she gave him, how many times had she done that? Was that just for him, like Tucker thought, or also for herself? In retrospect, it almost seemed like a prayer.“I dunno, my neck gets itchy sometimes,” Tucker started, launching into his explanation. “Depends on the AI-“
“No, the implants themselves,” Nikki cut him off.“Oh.”
Tucker tried not to think about that.
Once, not too long ago, he smoked some alien herb that was similar enough to weed he didn’t die, but more intense than he ever wanted. Something Grif had found on Chorus that he had on ‘good authority’ was safe. Who ever that source was must have fucking hated Grif because that was the worst night of Tucker’s life.It was worse than gas station Salvia and shrooms combined. Tucker was hyper aware of his senses. The taste in his mouth couldn’t be washed away- No, the taste of his mouth. It tasted like his tongue, like a raw, squirming piece of meat that he couldn’t take out, that never sat right.
His skin was worse; it felt too dry and a itchy. He’d scratch, but couldn’t find any relief. He didn’t notice how he couldn’t leave his skin alone until he looked at his arm and saw he was bleeding. Ugly, red claw marks were all over his forearm, in the center was a thin, doted line of blood. Then all he could focus on was the pain, that his finger nails tore through a whole layer of skin, and how easy it was. How fragile it was, how his skin felt less like something that contained his innards and more like a top layer of a paper mache mass that made up his body. Which, in retrospect, was more accurate to the human anatomy.
But the worst of it was his implants.
He had been so aware of them. The skin on his neck was the same as the skin on his arm, and it had been sliced, burned, drilled and sewed to make room for that tech. He was aware that he had these small, thin as spider legs wires in his head. He should have paid more attention to how they worked, but at the time, he was a teenage boy that didn’t care, just thought have robot parts were cool. He just suddenly had a small metal box at the base of his neck that sometimes got an itch but was otherwise unnoticed.
But now? Those thin wires manipulated his brain, his consciousness itself. They could allow another mind in his head, they could possess someone, they were capable of allowing a computer to scrap everything in there. Not even like Maine, who had some sort of himself left in the Meta. But like Private Jimmy, who was so totally wiped clean to make room for Church. Like Wash, who could go through the agony of a suicide against his will and still be forced to live another day. Maybe Jimmy had it easy; He was just dead.Did the ends of those wires pierce the pink meat inside his skull? Did they pierce synapses? Did they snake through the folds of his brain, their ends shoved through the nerves like thread through a needle? As gruesome as that sounded, that his brain was some sort of pin cushion, the alternative was worse.
Did they instead coil around his synapses? Curling around through his brain matter and nerves? He couldn’t get the idea of tying a string around his finger, so tight that it cut off the blood flow. It would turn a darker and darker purple, growing numb and swollen and eventually just needing to be amputated all together. If not for that mercy, the appendage would decay, to die off while the rest of him had to watch and feel every second of it. Was that happening in his brain? Those wires tied around pieces of meat and blood vessels? That sounded fragile. That sounded like if he shook his head too hard it would slice up his brain like piano wire.
At that point in his trip, he began panicking, trying not to move his head. But all he could think about were those wires. Stemming from his implants, those slivers of metal coiling through him like a fungus. Yeah, exactly like a fungus: Not like a tree root, but a parasite. O’Malley could fully possess someone like that, hitching onto their body and activating whatever he needed to do to activate emotions to boil someone’s blood. To turn them into someone else entirely.Tucker had seen a documentary-Okay, skimmed an article once of a fungus that did that to an ant or something. It would latch onto them, infecting them, eating away at their sku;;, then live in the host, moving them around to survive. That was exactly what O’Malley was, and that’s exactly what the Meta was. Even worse, the ant wasn’t even fully dead, but retained some consciousness. That was the danger of a bad AI, forced to act out the will of some non human entity made of rage and evil, forced to witness himself live without his consent, to be a prisoner within himself.
What if that’s what really happened to Private Jimmy, the poor sucker that got wrapped up into this mess. The real victim here, not Tucker. What if there was a piece of him in Church’s body, the body the Director stole? What if there was, Jimmy forced to watch Church live his life. The blast from Sheila that turned him into a spray of red and bone might have been a mercy, a final release from the hell being marionetted.What if Tucker pulled his implant out? No, he wouldn’t do that. He couldn’t. But what if someone else did? What if someone held him down, face first into the floor, tied his hands behind his back, sat on him to keep him still, then simply got some pliers- Fuck, maybe even just use their fingers, and pulled? Pulled and pulled until the implant port disconnected from the skin that had grown around it. Pulled until those wires followed, cut themselves loose. Those thin metal wires, probably tougher and sharper than piano wire, being dragged out, taking the path of least resistance. It would be easier for those wires to slices and cut through the meat, the veins, the nerves, than to simply wiggle out. Would he feel it? Would he hear it? How long until he just stopped thinking? Or would he be aware of the whole ordeal, just his body being incapacitated? He would be frozen inside himself, with that parasite of metal and electricity tearing its way through.
Felix would do that. He’s surprised Felix didn’t think to try. Felix would have had a ball. Felix would pull out someone’s teeth with rusty pliers, having them tied down and screaming in a chair. But this would be worse, this would be straight up perverse.Did Tucker still feel them now? Is it a weight in his head, a jostle, a dull ache that was so ever present that he took it as organic? Was it like Junior? He loved the kid but fuck you never get over the violation of have something implanted in your body. Something growing inside of you, or you growing around it, and it pushing or squeezing the parts of you out of its way. But Junior was always be meant to be taken out, to be separate of Tucker. These implants would never leave if he was lucky. He would always live with this fear, this ever lasting paranoia of them but also the worse fear of losing them. No, not losing, but then being ripped out of him.
This whole thing had made him feel like a sort of incubator. Things inside, things never meant to be inside a person, ripped up and carving him out until he was hollow. Felix stabbing him was just another carve. Fuck, even his sword wasn’t too different. Sure, it was cool, but it’s another thing trapped to him. His hand forever wrapped around it, and, like Junior, forever a piece of him, no matter where it went. And like his implants, the best case scenario was that it never left him.
Wash had found him then, noticing Tucker crying and scratching his arms in an attempt to not touch his neck, gave him something that put him to sleep. Wash had to hold him down, held down his arms as Tucker screamed his head off, hallucinating that it was Felix, begging him not to rip out his implants, begging him not to hurt him until he passed out into a darkness he hoped Jimmy ended with.They didn’t talk about it. They never did. Tucker just woke up the next morning with a sore throat and bandages around his scratched arm. For the next week, he caught Wash staring at the bruises he left on Tucker’s wrists and shoulders, a look of pity on his face every time. As if he hadn’t gone through the same thing. As if he hadn’t had worse.“Eh, I don’t really notice it,” Tucker told Nikki, shrugging. “My neck gets kinda cold in that place I guess.”She studying him further, still. He nervously swayed back and forth, hoping he looked neutral. Had she done her implants herself? He didn’t recognize her, but he was oblivious to most things those days.“Alright,” She said finally. She relaxed. “Good. My offer still stands. I won’t install the AI if you don’t want it.”“If it’s not me, someone else would get it,” Tucker said. His nails were in his mouth again. He
dropped them to his lap. “It has to be me. Sigma’s gonna be… Different.”She continued to stare at Tucker with that waiting expression, ever composed. She didn’t say anything, just waited.“If I start to go a little crazy…” Tucker started carefully. “Can you promise you’ll, I don’t know… Put me down?”“No.”Nikki said it so simply and so clearly, her expression unchanging, Tucker thought maybe he had imagined it.“Look, this Sigma AI, in my time, it like, destroyed someone. Yeah, someone a lot less experienced, and different mentally in a lot of ways, but still. I’m pretty sure I won’t be like him, but if I am…”“I won’t kill you,” Nikki said. Her expression was neutral. “I don’t want to, and am not capable of it.”“Dude, Nikki,” Tucker said, leaning forward. “I’m serious, this is fucking dangerous! You said you’re my friend! I need some security, I need to know someone will- I don’t know- Fucking stop me from being a monster! Or at least save me the hell going through it!”“I understand,” Nikki nodded. “I promise I will watch over you. But I won’t kill you.”“Then what the fuck am I supposed to do!?” Tucker cried, hands up on his thighs.“You share this with someone that will,” Nikki said. “You are not alone of this ship. I shouldn’t be the only one watching out for this.”Tucker sucked in a breath, and let it out quickly. Some of that distress he had been carrying was replaced fresh type of anxiety. The anxiety of knowing Nikki was expecting him to open up to someone else. Still, it was at least a different feeling than the fear of being zombified.It was a plan of action, something to do.Tucker leaned back in the seat, sighing. “Fine. I’ll fucking, share and open up and all that other gay stuff.”Nikki smiled then, it just barely reaching her eyes. “Perfect. You’re great at gay stuff.” She hoped off the cot, straightening her legs underneath her. She pulled out her data pad, flicking it on.“Alright, Agent Wyoming broke his ankle a few minutes ago and needs medical assistance.” She sighed, walking towards the door. Like Tucker had not just asked her to kill him, like they had just been discussing lunch plans.“Damn, already?” Tucker asked, standing up off the swivel chair. The tension of the past couple of minutes shedding off them both.
“Wyoming… Doesn’t make the best choices,” Nikki said carefully, punching in the code on the wall to open the med bay door.“Alright, you should run down there,” Tucker said. “I have to go find… Someone.” Tucker wasn’t exactly sure who yet, but someone.Nikki smiled again. She checked her watch. “Eh, I think I’ll get a cup of coffee first. He could use the lesson.”Tucker hadn’t noticed it before, it usually hiding under her gloves. He nodded to it, it’s large face unusual for a women’s watch. It hung loosely on her thin wrist. “Hey, any idea where I could get one of those?”She looked up. “No, sorry. This one was a gift.”“Shit,” Tucker cursed. “I could really use one.”Nikki hesitated, before turning her wrist over. She unhooked the strap, taking it off. She grabbed Tucker’s wrist, pulling the watch on and securing it. It was definitely a men’s watch; It fit perfect on his much wider wrist. It was old fashion, analog, with thick hands and ticks instead of numbering. Tucker could read it fine; His mom didn’t allow digital watches growing up, just so he would grow used to reading analog.“Are you sure?” Tucker asked, but had no desire to take it off.
“It’s no problem,” She gave a mischievous smile. “I’ll get another one soon.”—-
<WSH: Your room or mine tonight?>

<KTY: 4 wat?>

<WSH: …>

<KTY: lol>

<KTY: mine. i already ate ill c u after iftar>

<WSH: Sounds great!>
Tucker smiled down at his data pad. What a dork.Tucker didn’t plan on going to his room right away. He had been making, erasing, and remaking his mental list of who to trust as his kill switch. It actually calmed him; Putting into words who he trusted on this ship. The fact he had options was comforting.The thing was, it had to be someone unafraid to pull the trigger. Someone who cared about enough to pull that trigger. Someone who could be cold, someone who could see the signs of his descent.
The choice was clear.Carolina’s quarters was not far from Tucker’s, with all the Freelancers’ being in the same general area. He only knew it was hers because he saw her walk out of it the few times he was accidentally awake at 6 am. She, of course, would always be dressed and ready for the day. It always scared him, like running into a fucking ghost.He checked his watch. Carolina was like clockwork, and her schedule was no secret. This late in the day, she would be finishing dinner and making calculated small talk with as many people as possible for exactly ten minutes. Then she would go to the showers and retire for the night, taking exactly fifteen minutes to shower. That was a habit she had carried over into the future, which Tucker learned the hard way. You only walk in on her in naked twice before she thinks it’s not a mistake, and you only get your balls kicked in once to develop a Pavlovian aversion to the sound of running water and off tune humming.So Tucker had about half an hour before she came back. He walked up to her door and rapped his knuckles against the metal. The door wooshed open, York smiling widely on the other side.That smile dropped so fast York might have sprained his lips.
“Oh! Uh, Kentucky,” York, caught and flustered. “Wha-Uh, what’s up?”“Smooth,” Tucker snorted. “I need to talk to you.”“Uh, right now?” York asked, nervously glancing into the hallway.“You and I both know we got about some time til Carolina comes in here,” Tucker said.York squinted, and grabbed Tucker’s arm, pulling him inside. He pressed the button for it to close.Once the door closed, it was like they were in a vacuum. The hum of the ship was more distant, and somehow Carolina’s room was more sterile. Her bed was perfectly made, nothing personal left out, and Tucker could probably go over it with a white glove and not find a speck of dust. This habit she would fall out of by the time they got to Chorus, and given what Tucker knew about Church, tidiness was against her genetics.
York was the only thing out of place. His hair sticking up, the bright orange of his rumpled shirt; He was organic, full of color and life. A comedian in a noir. Tucker didn’t know what his living space was like, but he doubted it was this neurotic. The fact he didn’t seem to take up space, his willingness to even just live in the periphery, was an act itself of his devotion to Carolina.Which was exactly what Tucker was hoping.“Listen,” Tucker started, humor gone. “I’m cutting to the chase. I’m getting an AI.”York perked up, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall. “Oh really?”“Yeah,” Tucker said. York’s quick turn of attention was too sharp. Tucker narrowed his eyes. “Delta, log off.”A flash of green, and the little hologram popped into existence. “Hello Tucker. It is good to see you again.”“Hey Delta. Log off,” He repeated. Delta turned to York.
“York, I am running on minimal power outside of the suit. I will simply be running in the background. I do not think it necessary for me to-““Sorry D,” York said, genuinely looking apologetic. “Gotta respect our buddy here. I’ll see you in a bit.”“If you insist,” Delta said. He turned back to Tucker. “Have a good evening, Agent Kentucky.”Tucker caught the change from ‘Tucker’ to ‘Agent Kentucky’, but said nothing. Delta flashed out, and York rolled his neck a bit. York looked at Tucker expectantly, but Tucker wasn’t taking a chance.Tucker pointed to the back of his own neck, making a pulling emotion. York furrowed his brow, but Tucker didn’t break. Reluctantly, York reached behind his head and flinched as he unclipped the AI chip. He held it tightly in his hand, protective of his partner. That was York’s thing; Loyalty.
“Wanna fill me in here, Man from U.N.C.L.E.?” York asked.“I’m getting an AI,” Tucker continued. He nodded to York’s closed hand. “He ever bring up the other AI?York nodded, glancing down at the chip. “They get… Weird. Is this about the, uh, Alpha? Is that what it’s called?” York asked, unsure.“The one I’m getting isn’t like Delta or Theta,” Tucker nodded. “He… Messed people up, he fucked everything up. This AI, Sigma, he becomes obsessed with the Alpha. He tried, like, I don’t know, collecting the other AI, trying to put them back together. He got close. You don’t need to hear the details man, just…He’s dangerous, dude.”
York waited patiently, face unmoving, even as turbulence entered Tucker’s voice, as sentences came in fragments.“Why are you getting it then?” York asked.“Because it’s either me or one of you!” Tucker’s voice rose. “The Director isn’t going to chuck this piece of shit into the trash. So I’m taking him. I know I’m shit at fighting, and shooting, and like, everything else in the fucking world- But this I’m good at. If anyone can handle it, it’s me.”“Handle what?” York asked.
“AI!” Tucker ran a through his hair, shivering as it passed over his implant. “I’m not like you guys, I can block them out and shit. But, I don’t know man, I’m fucking scared.“This isn’t your problem,” Tucker continued, having a harder time keeping eye contact. “I’m not here to open up about my emotions or whatever. I just needed to ask you to keep an eye on me, okay?”“Keep an eye on you?” York repeated.“Like, if I start to change,” Tucker said, crossing his arms. “Like, start to get obsessed with other AI, or seem like a different person. That last guy, the one in my time? Sigma brainwashed him into a mindless monster that just wanted to steal all other AI. If I’m l get like that, you need to put me down.”“Tucker…” York said, eyeng Tucker with a new found worry. He shook his head. “This is a lot to throw at a guy all at once. You’re telling me you’re going to get brainwashed, and I need to kill you?”“I said ‘If!’” Tucker said, as if that made things easier. “A very solid ‘If’! I know I’ll be fine, I will. But I need security, I need to know everyone’s gonna be okay!“This thing nearly got killed Carolina killed,” Tucker said. York’s worry melted into stone, just as Tucker expected. As he needed. “Tore out her AI and threw her off a cliff. It can’t go to anyone else, and I need you to make sure to end this shit if it goes down that road. It’ll make me feel better, at least.”York stared at Tucker, who was becoming more and more unraveled by the word. The entire week had been eating at him, and he knew he sounded crazy, but there was no sane way to prep someone to kill you. Now, with that serious expression and sharp eyes, York fit into Carolina's cold, clinical room. The mess of Tucker that was the outlier.“Alright,” York decided finally. “You have my word.”Tucker let out a breath, one he was holding all week. This was the closest to comfort he had felt since that meeting in the Director’s office. He nodded. “Thank you dude. Seriously.”“I’m guessing you can’t tell me more?” York asked.Tucker thought it over. What else could he tell York? Just how scared he was? That he didn’t want to do this, but wanted to save everyone more? That even Church was afraid of Sigma; Tucker could feel it when the Meta was ever brought up. Could he tell York that he felt like his days with Wash were running out, and he might not even trust himself around his boyfriend anymore? Would York understand that Tucker was doubting his whole role here all over again? The only thing he didn’t doubt was that it HAD to be him, and that he really was capable of this. That he didn’t just think of himself as capable, but disposable? And that capable wasn’t the same as ready, and it was far from easy. He wanted to tell York that knowing that made him feel even worse, because if he fucked this whole thing up it would be Tucker’s fault. If this was a hopeless cause, then he might even feel better, but no. He had to work here, he had to be perfect.“No,” Tucker said instead.“Alright,” York agreed. He let them both sit in silence for a while, before inevitably cracking his small smile. “I miss when you were funny.”“C’mon dude,” Tucker sighed. He looked down, but when he looked back up to York he had his own smile. “I was never funny.”“Hey, don’t sell yourself short,” York reassured. “You made a clown of yourself every day.”“I’m not a clown,” Tucker grinned. “I mean, catching you in Carolina’s room is fuuuull of jokes, and I haven’t even made one.”“And if I go to your room right now, I won’t find Wash?” York countered.“Pft, no!” Tucker scoffed. He checked his watch, the one he had gotten from Nikki. “But you might in fifteen minutes.”“Is that so?” York raised an eyebrow. “Catching him there would give him a heart attack.”“Maybe,” Tucker smirked. “I think I’m going to go for twenty minute walk.”“Yeah, I’ll head out for one soon,” York matched an equally large grin. “Which way is your room?”—Half an hour later, Tucker returned to his room to find a very startled Wash with a very red face. He jumped a mile off the cot to his feet at the woosh of the door, and Tucker couldn’t help but laugh.“It’s not funny!” Wash whispered harshly, crossing the room in a few strides. Tucker didn’t move from his spot, so Wash had to maneuver around him, leaning far into Tucker’s space to reach the pad by the door. He quickly tapped the screen, and the door fell with another woosh.Still in Tucker’s space, nearly chest to chest, Wash looked down the few inches at Tucker’s brows furrowed. His serious face, one mixed with distress and embarrassment that no one could actually take seriously.“Tucker!” Wash’s breath tickled as it blew over Tucker’s face. “York just-““Caught you in here?” Tucker finished.Wash’s brows unfurrowed, but his lips still curved down, his cheeks still flushed. “Wait, you knew?”“Yeah, I just caught him in Carolina’s room,” Tucker said. He could feel the heat of Wash’s skin, him only wearing his thin sleep clothes.“Wha- Carolina’s room?” Wash sputtered. He looked to the side, thinking. “What was he doing in there?”“Dude…” Tucker gave him a look.Wash stood there with his brain booting into over drive, putting together pieces of a puzzle even Caboose would have figured out by now. “Wait, you don’t mean…”Wash trailed off when Tucker rested a hand on his hip. He inhaled and looked down at the space between them, seeming to just notice little of it was there. His body grew stiff as Tucker placed the other hand on his other hip. He rubbed his thumb over the fabric there, softer than metal, softer than Kevlar, and even softer than their fatigues. Probably the only thing softer than his sleep clothes was Wash’s skin.Tucker was smarter than he led on, smart enough to test that theory. With one hand still rubbing circles on one hip, his other hand traveled down to the hem of Wash’s shirt, a casual pace, before snaking under and traveling back up. Tucker got a thrill when he reached Wash’s sweats waist band, and grinned when he went past that and jumped.His thumbs now in sync, both making the same light touches in the mirrored sides of Wash, Tucker now could confirm Wash’s skin was softer than his shirt.
Older Wash on Chorus was much tanner, thanks to the sun. That, paired with his general harder and composed demeanor meant that he rarely visibly blushed. But this Wash? The one who was only exposed to the artificial lights of the ship and got nervous even speaking to Tucker in public? He was blushing so hard Tucker was worried he’d just start bleeding out his nose.“What, were you naked?” Tucker grinned, throwing Wash a bone and trying to break the tension. He waited for him to laugh, but Wash’s skin just tensed even more beneath Tucker’s fingers.Tucker’s thumbs stalled, and his shit eating grin melted into something more excited. “No fucking way, were you actually?”“I- I just had my shirt off!” Wash stuttered.Tucker’s mouth full open with excitement. He quickly moved his hands down to edge of Wash’s shirt, bundling it up quickly. “Aw, fuck! Let’s go back to that!”Wash huffed and pushed Tucker’s hands away, taking a few steps back. “No! How am I supposed to be in the mood after York joking about bleaching my chest hair!”Tucker’s giggles matured into full on laughing then, so hard he had to bend over and clutch his stomach. He needed to get some information of York’s past, because he and Tucker had to share some distant ancestor.“What a fucking asshole,” Tucker gasped out affectionately. He looked back up to Wash, expecting him to be at a new level of upset, but instead saw Wash not only calmed down, but wasn’t even red.“I know I should pissed,” Wash started, voice at a lower pitch. “But this is the first time I’ve seen you laugh in a few days.”Tucker’s smile faded. He thought he had hidden his struggle over getting Sigma well, but he was either a shit liar or Wash was hyper observant. Definitely both, but knowing that didn’t do Tucker too much good right now.“Yeah, well…” Was all he could say. Tucker dropped eye contact then, and pulled off his own shirt. His dog tags jangled, the only thing he could hear besides the rustle of fabric. It was his turn to maneuver around Wash, side stepping him to get to his small dresser and pull out his own sleep clothes. He focused on digging through the mess of fabric to find the sleep shirt based on touch alone.“Holy shit, are you okay?” Wash asked, placing his own hand on Tucker’s bare waist. His hand was warm and slightly calloused. Not sand paper like, like a soldiers should be, but still smooth. Tucker noticed that everyone here, besides himself, had pretty soft hands. The hands of someone who rarely saw combat, and always returned to some place with a hot shower and full meals.“What do you mean?” Tucker asked. He felt his sleep shirt now, the fabric sticking out amongst the rough sea of canvas, but pretended to keep looking.“You just took off your shirt in front of me, and didn’t make a come on,” Wash said, deadly seriously, like Tucker had walked on water.Tucker forced a smirk. “I mean, if you’re asking-““Tucker, I’m serious-” Wash cut him off.“Stop the fucking presses, Wash is being serious,” Tucker cut off just as quick.It was just a joke, a call back between the two of them. A stupid thing Tucker said once on Chorus, back at Crash Site Bravo when they were bickering. The first time Tucker said it, he was just being a dick. After that, when they were on better terms, he kept saying it, until it caught on with everyone. Unfortunately for Wash, he hear it about twice a day, and eventually gave in and
started laughing with everyone else.
Wash wasn’t laughing now. Tucker looked back at him, and just saw hurt.Right.“Sorry,” Tucker sighed, finally pulling out his sleep shirt from the drawer and pulling it over his head. “Just a lot on my mind.”“You want to tell me about it?” Wash asked, softening at Tucker’s sincerity.Yes.“Not really,” Tucker shrugged.“Are you sure?” Wash asked, brows furrowing.
For the love of God, please.
“I’m sure,” Tucker said. It was a tight space, and he had to walk around Wash to get to his bed. Tucker waited for Wash to push, to ask again. Three was his magic number; At the third instance of ‘I’m fine’, Tucker would break and bitch about whatever was on his mind.
Instead, Wash eyed him warily, and nodded. “Alright.”Tucker was on his back, arms over his head, and felt twist of disappointment in his stomach.Right.Wash looked around awkwardly. He suddenly couldn’t make eye contact. Tucker watched him, and remembered the promise he made.Put it behind you, He told himself. Be a fucking adult.“I’m getting an AI,” He said finally, staring up at the ceiling. Still the same flat, grey metal sheet. But he’d rather die than look at Wash right now.“Oh!” Wash said, surprised. He was quiet for a second. “Oh…”“Yeah…” Tucker said, moving his hands to rest behind his head. He still couldn’t make eye contact with Wash, but didn’t like the energy. “You gonna lie down, or you getting in line for Carolina’s bed?”Wash snorted, and Tucker felt a dip in the mattress. Wash settled next to him, lying on his back, his arm right against Tucker’s torso. The beds here were small, probably partially to dissuade from fraternization like this. But Tucker would sit in Wash’s lap if he had too, so it didn’t really work out.“Everyone is doing well with their AI,” Wash pointed out optimistically. He had his arms folded neatly over one another, resting on his stomach. “York and Delta are already like brothers, North treats Theta like his son. Even Wyoming and Gamma-““I know, Wash,” Tucker snapped. “I know. I’m kinda balls deep in this whole subject.”Wash shut his mouth. Tucker kept his eyes on that ceiling, the same steel grey as Wash’s armor. He could feel that Wash was staring at him now.Tucker waited for him to say something rude back, to bicker with Tucker just to get him to keep talking and eventually spill on what’s eating at him.Wash didn’t. He stayed silent.Right.“The AI I’m getting…” Tucker started. The words basically had to be dragged out of his throat. “It was supposed to go to someone else. But that didn’t work out in the original time line. So I’m getting it.”Actually sharing was fucking hard. He was used to just pushing buttons and fighting, what the Reds and Blues were good at, until someone snapped and confessed something. That was cathartic, that was productive, and that was honest. Now that he had to actually think about what he needed to say, all he wanted to do was lie.“It’s going to be fine,” Tucker lied. “You know me and AI are like, white girls and horses. But I never had like… My own AI.”No, Church didn’t count as his own AI. He and Church worked together, they were friends, closer than friends really, but Church wasn’t his. Church wasn’t really Carolina’s either; They were family. Two people that made up for one another; No ownership at all.But if everything went right, Sigma would only live in Tucker’s brain. That would be his home, the only place he would know to be. Maybe Sigma wasn’t Tucker’s, but what else could Sigma call him? At the very least, he would say have to say ‘My Freelancer’, the same way someone would say ‘My home.’“Ugh, just so much responsibility,” Tucker groaned, wiping his hands down his face. “I’m supposed to just be a consultant here! Not a…”
“A Freelancer?” Wash supplied when Tucker struggled for the word.Tucker sighed. “Okay, fine.”“It’s not a shock,” Wash said. “You’re a pretty good one.”“You have to say that,” Tucker now turned to Wash. He was staring at him, his big brown eyes less than six inches away. Tucker could count Wash’s eyelashes if he didn’t have so damn many of them. “You have to say that because you put your dick in my mouth.”The redness returned to Wash’s face quickly. Tucker broke into a smile at the look of that, even letting out a snort. Wash returned his smile, seeming to find it worth it.“It’s true, I’d say it anyways,” Wash said.“Okay, what if I said if you keep it up, I won’t put your dick in my mouth anymore?” Tucker asked.Wash stared at Tucker, trying to read his face. He squinted a bit, but Tucker kept his smile. Wash eventually opened his mouth, voice apprehensive. “I wouldn’t say it anymore. But that wouldn’t mean it wasn’t true.”“You’re so easy,” Tucker chuckled, rolling his eyes.
“Hey, I fast all day, alright?” Wash said defensively, but kept his humor. “I can’t help but get a little pent up!”“Hey man, your fasting isn’t easy on me either!” Tucker said. “You think it’s a coincidence I’ve never sparred with you? If I see you sweating through your shirt, then you put your hands on me? My sword isn’t gonna be the only thing popping out. Bow-Chicka-Bow-Wow.”Tucker doesn’t think Wash has ever let him get through an entire Bow-Chicka-Bow-Wow on purpose, but this time he did. He looked Tucker in the eye, grinning the entire way through, and Tucker almost lost confidence by ‘Wow.’

Wash sat up, turning and throwing a leg over Tucker’s side until he was straddling him. He didn’t waste any time; Both hands traveled up to Tucker’s neck, Wash’s palms resting lightly on Tucker’s pulse points. Tucker grinned and settled his hands on Wash’s thighs, wishing one of them was smart enough to take off their pants before this point.Wash leaned down to kiss him, gently at first, but slipping in his tongue before Tucker could think of doing the same. Tucker eagerly opened his mouth, only enough to let Wash in, but not enough to part their lips.Wash’s weight was comfortable on Tucker’s hips; Yeah, the slight grinding on his dick was fucking fantastic, but Tucker liked having Wash there the same way people liked weighted blankets. Something solid, something protective. Something to put his hands on, something full of warmth.
No, it was a million times better than a weighted blanket. Tucker never tried it, but guessed fucking a weighted blanket wouldn’t be nearly as much fun. A blanket wouldn’t stroke that pulse on Tucker’s neck, lightly squeezing everyone in a while. Like Wash was getting so aroused he did it without noticing, then had to loosen his grip, only to forget and squeeze again. Tucker didn’t mind one bit, and even tried to grind up at every squeeze he felt was coming. This only made Wash’s hands move tighter and faster. At this rate, they were going to pass out from lack of oxygen or lack of blood flow, because Wash’s face was hot and red again.Wash’s hand refused to remain still, until eventually his index finger brushed over Tucker’s neural implants.It wasn’t like Tucker’s boner died, but Tucker was about fifty percent less horny. The neural implants. Sigma. Meta. Maine. Luckily thinking about Maine circle backed to Tucker being horny, but he couldn’t match Wash’s desperate moans.“Wash,” Tucker mumbled against his lips. He used his own tongue to push out Wash’s. Wash eagerly accepted, mistaking Tucker’s break as eagerness. Tucker was getting up and excited again quickly, and if Wash didn’t brush the implants again, he would have forgotten. But Wash did, and Tucker pulled his head back.“Wash,”Tucker said. Wash pulled back, heavy lidded and out of breath.He sat back, resting his weight on Tucker’s crotch, right on his dick.
“What’s wrong?” Wash asked breathlessly. There’s no way he wasn’t aware of Tucker’s cock right under his, but didn’t move.Fucking prick, Tucker thought.“I think we should talk about this some more,” Tucker said, and the words felt like razor blades.
“Oh,” Wash said, shoulders dropping. Tension formed in the thighs he kept wrapped around Tucker’s middle. “You want to talk about us?”“What? No!” Tucker nearly shouted, hands gripping Wash’s thighs like he was going to leave. “I mean like, the AI stuff! Trust me, I’d rather be doing this,”
Tucker moved his right hand up Wash’s leg, keeping his palm firm on Wash’s thigh. He rested his hand on the crease between Wash’s thigh and hip, and quickly wiped his thumb over the tent in Wash’s pants. Wash’s eyes fluttered shut for a second and he let out a gasp. It was hot enough that Tucker couldn’t help but repeat the motion twice, but was able to focus.“Like- Fuck-“ Tucker gasped as Wash rolled his hips down, hardening Tucker’s cock again. Tucker was losing patience and needed to act fast. “I really want to do this- Like, you have no fucking idea- Fuck, stop moving! But- Ah! We should be responsible and talk about the- The, whatever we were talking about…”Wash refused to stop moving, just continued to squirm and grind and brush over Tucker. Gun to his head Tucker couldn’t tell you what his last sentence was, but he knew whatever he was doing was important“Oh,” Wash nodded, slowing down. He never stopped moving completely, but at his most still, he looked at Tucker. “I mean, we could have sex and then talk about it?”Oh duh was all Tucker thought before grabbing the back of Wash’s neck and pulling him back down.—“Okay,” Wash mumbled into Tucker’s chest after they had both came, showered, and laid back down. He sounded like he was half asleep, but was powering through. “Talk to me about the AI.”“How am I supposed to give a fuck about work after that,” Tucker asked. He was on his back again, staring up at the ceiling, down right chipper. He was about to fall asleep too, the tension of the day melted away now.However, he could feel it coming back to him, stiffening his muscles and gathering in his shoulders at the mention of it all.“Well, try,” Wash said, readjusting himself to wrap on arm around Tucker’s middle. “Are you in danger?”Tucker was about to deny it, but stopped himself. He should deny it, and it was for the best if he did, and he rarely had issue with lying in general. But he and Wash just fucked, and he was draped around Tucker’s chest like a blanket. This shouldn’t suddenly instill Tucker with morality, but Tucker’s voice was still caught in his throat.It wasn’t a long pause, but there was enough of it that Wash raised his head up, brows furrowed and staring at Tucker warily. His hair was drying now, shiny and soft. Tucker shifted his arm and ran his hand through it, gently, and tugging at it just a bit. Wash’s breath hitched at the motion, but focused.“Is it seriously dangerous?” He asked, concerned.“I mean, having an AI is dangerous,” Tucker said, working around lying. “That means, like, missions and shit. They don’t put an AI in you for armory duty.”Wash breathed out, his body melting back down to Tucker’s chest, letting Tucker keep his hands in his hair.“The Director wouldn’t give you one if you couldn’t handle it,” Wash said.The horrible part of that was that Wash believed it. He actually had faith in the Director, still trusted him to ‘do what’s right.’ Tucker exhaled, but for once didn’t feel like picking a fight, to shattering the illusion. For Wash to lose faith in the Director was for him to lose faith in the Project. To lose faith in the Project was to lose faith in Tucker. Round and round he and the Director went,
“Besides,” Wash continued. “No one here would let you get hurt on a mission.”“York snapped my arm,” Tucker pointed out.“… Okay besides that,” Wash relented. “But your competent, you have a strong connection with the team, and an AI will only make you better.”Tucker was glad Wash couldn’t see his mouth twist then. Wash didn’t get it, and the Director didn’t get it. They were still both under the assumption that AI would only serve their Freelancer. Neither of them understood that it wasn’t Sigma protecting him, but Tucker protected everyone from Sigma. Wash through ignorance, the Director through delusion.
But Wash didn’t need to know that. Wash, who was here for shooting his Captain while in the UNSC for putting his squad in danger. Wash was loyal, but loyal to his team before his command every time. The last thing Tucker needed was for Wash to turn his back or distrust the Project at this point, to be another variable that Tucker would have to keep up with. It was better for Wash to just do what he was told, to let Tucker protect him in the background instead of trying to protect Tucker.“Man, I already had your dick in my mouth once tonight,” Tucker said instead, settling into the mattress for some sleep. “You don’t gotta keep up with the ass kissing.”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Church was avoiding Tucker.Tucker was fucking Washington.Washington and Church did not get along.Even Caboose could do the math on this one.Caboose did do the math on this one.“Tucker, how come-““AH! What the fuck Caboose!?””Stop screaming. How come no one told me you and Church were boyfriends?”This was one of those rare moments Tucker regretted sleeping naked. Caboose had ripped off Tucker’s blanket, exposing his skin to the chilly Chorus morning air. The shock of the cold and the tall figure looming over him kicked Tucker’s well earned fight instincts into overdrive, but upon realizing it was only Caboose, his body redirected that energy into being pissed the fuck off.Tucker sat up enough the snatch the blanket out of Caboose’s hand to cover himself up. Being naked in front of Caboose wasn’t anything new, they had been stuck together for years, but it wasn’t ideal. Caboose’s complete lack of reaction to nudity was weird, it was like being naked in front of a dog. Big, round brown eyes that didn’t even register someone’s junk was out.“What the fuck are you doing in here?” Tucker rubbed his eyes. He looked around, noticing the room empty, the other bed made. “What time is it?”“It is morning. Washington is running around in circles.” He said simply.Tucker stared at him, his features becoming clearer as the sand brushed out of his eyes.“Like, on a track or …?”“In the training room,” Caboose confirmed, and Tucker let out a sigh of relief that his new… Whatever they were, hadn’t gone even more insane. Not just Carolina’s brand of insane, but Caboose’s brand of insane. “How come you never told me you and Church were boyfriends?”“Why do you keep asking that?” Tucker huffed, checking his naked wrist. Right. Still no watch to confirm the time or that he wasn’t dreaming.“Because I did not know you and Church used to be boyfriends,” Caboose repeated impatiently. He was in armor sans his helmet, which wasn't in his hands either, so tracking that down would be on Tucker’s to-do list later. “And I would have liked to know that you and my best friend were boyfriends.”“Me and Church were never boyfriends,” Tucker sat up. He contemplated if he wanted to know exactly how Caboose’s mind came to this conclusion, but half the time he went down that road he regretted it. He sighed. “Why do you think that?”“Well, Church is very upset that you and Washington are now boyfriends-““We’re not- Ugh, okay.”“And one of my sisters had a boyfriend, and they broke up, and then she dated his best friend, and her ex boyfriend got every upset. Then at her wedding to the new boyfriend, the ex boyfriend showed up and knocked over the cake and I had to make him say sorry and make him leave and if you and Washington get married I don’t want Church to knock over the cake because Kimball says we have to ration the sugar and my sister’s ex boyfriend went to the hospital after I made him leave and I do not want Church to go to the hospital because Dr. Grey said we had to stop going for stupid reasons.”Caboose’s story churned in Tucker’s sleep laded brain, and he felt like he was doing a cross word puzzle trying to piece together what was happening.“Okay, Caboose, Church and I were never boyfriends,” Tucker grimaced. The sentence was weird to say, the idea of that even happening with someone he was so close to uncomfortable. It’s like saying him and Caboose never dated. Why does it even need to be confirmed?“Then why is he so mad?” Caboose asked.“I…” Tucker started but trailed off.Why was he so mad? He had been avoiding Tucker and Washington since Carolina had caught them fooling around in a storage closet. It took less than four hours for everyone in the army to know; Carolina apparently acing some sort of crash course in Red Team gossip mongering. Since then, Church was never in the same room as the both of them, finding an excuse to disappear as soon as Tucker showed up. Every time Tucker did catch Wash and Church in the same room, usually due to Carolina, they were always in some petty argument. About the latest missions, about future missions, about the armies’ training, about everything and anything. Last night, they were about to throw hands over the pronunciation of ‘caramel.’ The childishness wasn’t out of character for Church, but he wound Wash up to a point of break. Tucker found it hilarious for sure, but it was getting hard to not recognize it as a problem.“I don’t know Caboose,” Tucker admitted.“I am not mad you and Washington are together,” Caboose said.“Okay.”“I want Washington and Church to not be mad all the time,” Caboose confessed, looking down. The way his face fell and mouth twisted into a pout made Tucker wonder if he was a child of divorce. If not, what he was feeling was probably analogous.Tucker took a deep breath and let it out. “Me too, buddy. I’ll talk Church.”“And I will talk to Washington,” Caboose nodded, looking up. His blue had cleared up, replaced by determination.“No!” Tucker jumped. “Do not talk to Wash about this. He, uh, is shy?”Caboose stared at Tucker and nodded. “I understand.”“Do you actually?”“Yes,” Caboose said. Tucker had never been more sure that he did not understand. “But I need to know when you and Wash will get married, so I know when to be ready to stop Church.”“We- I don’t-“ Tucker groaned. This was a conversation he should have been spared since he couldn’t call his mom.“Tucker, it is very irresponsible of you to not be thinking of these things,” Caboose shook his head in dissatisfaction. “I will ask Agent Washington instead.”“Caboose…” Tucker sighed. Inspiration struck him, and he grinned widely. “That’s a great idea. You should ask him in front of as many people as possible. In case he needs help deciding.”“That is the greatest idea ever. Of all time.”—Tucker found Carolina in the training room later that day. She was doing one handed pull ups, breathing heavily, casually demonstrating more strength than Tucker if he had to lift a Warthog of a baby, while her AI brother blabbered on next to her.“…Anyways, it’s total bullshit revisionist history. The Prequels got shit on for over a decade, but then the actual sequels come out, and suddenly everyone loooved the Prequels. Everyone spends twenty years hating the sequels, then Epsiodes X through XII come out-““Church! I need to talk to you!” Tucker shouted, startling Carolina. She dropped to the floor, shaking out her spent arm, beads of sweat dripping to the floor.“What? Can’t you see we’re busy?” Church crossed his arms. It’s like irritation was baked into his voice; His tone went from a sort of bored drone to fired up within seconds of Tucker’s presence.“No. We’re not,” Carolina said, picking up her sweat rag off the floor. She looked between the two of them, scowling. “I don’t know what’s going on with you two, but you need to start talking again. Church, I love you, but I cannot be in the middle of you and Wash fighting, or hear anything more about the Star Wars movies.”“Church, are you serious?” Tucker’s irritation piqued. “We had this conversation a million fucking times. If you don’t like the Prequels-““No!” Carolina squeezed her eyes shut, face looking genuinely pained. “No! I can’t do it anymore!”Carolina’s hand flew to the back of her neck, and she flinched as she ejected Church’s chip. Church disappeared, like an ancient cathode ray TV being shut off. Shaking away her shivers, she held out her fist to Tucker, handing him the chip. It was no bigger than his thumb nail, the metal warm from Carolina’s body heat.“You two figure it out. And, uh,” She frowned, awkward, like she had a cramp. “Congratulations? Wash is… He’s a good guy… You two…”“We don’t have to do this,” Tucker shook his head. The only thing more painful than this upcoming fight with Church is watching Carolina struggle to have emotional intelligence.Carolina let out a sigh of relief. “Thank God. Good luck.”With Carolina gone and the training room blessedly empty, Tucker squeezed his fist open and close, building up the courage to put Church, no doubt offended by his ejection, into his head. Tucker removed the blank card from his neural implant site, the one Church could have downloaded himself into if given the time or desire. The AI hated his physical storage being torn out, hated the reminder of his lack of physical independence. Tucker took a deep breath, and lined up the chip to the slot on his neck, pushing it until he heard the familiar click.A rush of energy raced through his brain, and Church flashed back in front of him.“Gah!” Church shouted upon reappearance. He shivered, making Tucker mirror. He was pissed, making Tucker pissed. Well, more pissed. “I hate when you guys do that. I would have jumped ship if she gave me a second.”“No you wouldn’t have!” Tucker accused. “You’re driving everyone crazy, you little bitch. What’s your problem with Wash lately?”“I don’t have a problem!” Church said defensively. Way too defensively. He didn't have a face, but his helmet couldn’t seem to point directly at Tucker’s. “Me and Wash never got along, your just extra sensitive now that you’re all in love or whatever.”“Ew, dude,” Tucker grimaced. “Don’t say ‘love,’ you sound like Donut. And don’t deflect! You’ve been a bigger ass than usual lately, fucking Caboose asked me why you were so mad about it this morning.”“Oh, we’re just taking all of Caboose’s observations as fact?” Church scoffed. “The guy that thought Sister and Sarge were Grif’s parents for three years because red and yellow make orange?”“The stupid part was he thought it was because you and I used to date,” Tucker frowned, crossing his arms. “And you’re jealous of Wash. Is that true?”“No, Tucker, I think you would remember if we dated,” Church still wouldn’t look Tucker head on.“I mean about being jealous, asshole,” Tucker felt heat in his face, embarrassed just to ask. Was that his embarrassment, or Church’s? Or both?Church took a second to respond. “When did you get all confrontational? It’s not like you to do this kind of thing. What happened to the guy that just let shit go? He was way easier to deal with.”“That guy is done with the fucking Church family’s weird attachment issues literally running his life,” Tucker snapped. “I’m not happy about it either, but having a fucking conversation every once in a while is more affordable than committing multiple war crimes. I know it’s like your number one hobby, but not all of us can solve problems by killing ourselves.” A tinge of regret, again indistinguishable from him or Church.Unpleasant seconds of silence followed, but Tucker wasn’t backing down of apologizing. It was a relief when Church finally spoke up. “It’s just weird, okay?”“Uh, no shit?” Tucker said incredulously. “I didn’t think I even liked dudes. Now I’m fucking Wash, who made me want to tear my hair out for months. He made me run laps, dude. And none of that is your business-““Not that,” Church cut off, annoyed. “Although that is really weird. But…”Church shimmered, and just a hint of orange brushed over him, so faint that it might have just been a trick of the light, like orange glass passed over a sunbeam. Tucker didn’t point it out, just waited for Church to continue.“You know I have all of Washington’s memories from before, right? From when, you know…”“When you committed suicide in his head and made him crazy,” Tucker finished. Despite his words, he said it with a neutrality of someone who’s been through crazier shit. “Old news.”“Nice empathy,” Church muttered. “It’s just weird that I’ve been in his head, okay? And I’m in your head all the time, but it’s not the same. It’s like I was him. I just know you two too well, so it’s weird.”Tucker narrowed his eyes. That shimmer of orange again, fainter this time. Tucker believed him; That did sound really weird. An intimacy even, like he was a part of them, the reason for them even knowing each other, but not apart of their relationship. Never a part of their relationship.Yeah, Tucker could see that being weird. And Tucker understood Church lashing out. But that didn’t explain how he was lashing out. Picking fights with Wash, but ignoring Tucker completely? That wasn’t just a reaction to codependency and lack of boundaries, the Reds and Blues were fucking artists when it came to those relations. It was something more normal, something Tucker raised his eyebrows at.“Oh my God,” He whispered. “You don’t think I’m good enough for him.”“What? No!” Church shouted. But Tucker could feel the spike in fear, the spike in emotion Church had that Tucker felt in his chest.“You do! You definitely do!’ Tucker pointed a finger at Church. Despite it all, Tucker started smiling. He started laughing. “ You’re all mad that he’s slumming it with me!”“No I don’t! Why is this funny!?” Church’s frustration with Tucker was as familiar as his friendship, and Tucker could needle and prod at it like he was tuning a radio to get the exactly pitch of whining he wanted.“Yes you do! You just said you felt like you were him! If it was just weird you would just be a dick to me, but you think I’m not good enough for him!” Tucker couldn’t stop laughing; Laughing at the absurdity of this whole thing, laughing at the way Church’s little shoulders stiffened at the accusations.“No, idiot. I don’t think he’s good enough for you.”The giggles died out in Tucker’s mouth as we waited for Church to say sike. He didn’t.“What? To good for me? Dude, I was voted ‘Most Likely To Be Someone’s Rock Bottom’ in high school,” Tucker said lightly. “Wash is like, a relatively normal guy… Okay, not normal, but adjusted- Fuck, not that either. I’m just saying, I’m pretty sure Wash has a Health Saving Account. Or knows what one is.”“Tucker, if you’ve seen some of the shit in his head, you wouldn’t think that,” Church said, still not finding things funny. “He’s done some shit. He nearly killed a kid.”Tucker’s mood crashed. “Wait, what?”“Shit, wait- He was also a child,” Church clarified quickly. “This was when he was in elementary school. Not just an adult man killing a kid.”Tucker let out a breath. “Oh. Thank God.”“Uh, a kid nearly killing another kid is still pretty fucked up.”“Yeah, but you buried the lead, dude,” Tucker let the concept of a child dying sit in his chest longer. It was weird. “I mean-Was it just for like fun or something?”“No, it was- God, go ask him yourself!” Church threw up his hands. “This is why I didn’t want to do this! I don’t like you two together, and I don’t want to see it all the time! But he’s always hanging around Carolina, and everyone else in this place thinks he’s sooo great, and I’m the bad guy for not throwing you a fucking party?”It was making sense now. Everyone on Chorus did treat Wash with a sort of respect that not even the Generals saw. He was a figure respected by both armies, and even the Reds and Blues. Even Sarge. In general, there wasn’t a lot of people they had disagreeing opinions on. Usually, because Church, Caboose, and Tucker were pretty universally hated. But when they had beef with someone, they all had beef. When Church was fine with Tex in their life, Tex became a Blue. When Church made them work with the Reds, they worked with the Reds. When Tucker told Church to not kill Junior, Church backed off the just a general asshole-ery. That’s how it had worked.That’s how it worked until they got Church out of the memory unit and Wash was wearing Blue armor.“He’s different now, dude. He’s changed a lot-““Oh my God, what are we, women in our twenties?” Church groaned. His tone fixed to something mockingly feminine that he wouldn’t have tried if he wasn’t so worked up. “He’s changed, he’s different- What, did he promise you he deleted hook up apps? That he’s going to therapy now?”“Where are you pulling this shit from?”“Donut watches a lot of reality TV, okay? He’s the only person besides Carolina I can stand to be around, since he doesn’t exactly love Wash either. You know, after he and the Meta shot him and left him for dead-““Why do you keep doing that!?””Doing what!?”“That fucking orange thing!” Tucker shouted after Church shimmered orange for the third time.The whirlwind of emotions that had been brewing slowly over the conversation settled. Jealousy, resentment, anger- All things that made Tucker’s teeth grind and patience thin, all things he didn’t even realize were stemming mostly from Church, dropped. All that was left was Tucker’s own frustration, which was just as strong. Realization washed over him.“Which personality is that? Bring him out!” Tucker demanded.“Tucker, no.”“No, I’m serious! It looks like he has something to say!””Tucker, shut up!”Tucker’s mouth shut forcefully. His teeth clacked loudly, and the tooth that had been giving him a slight ache stabbed a sharp pain into his gums. If his tongue had been in the way, no doubt he would have bitten right into it.Tucker brought his hand to his mouth, brought the tips of his fingers to his lips. There were a few, terrifying seconds, where Tucker’s jaw wouldn’t give, where he didn’t have control over his mouth. He had a muzzle- No, worse than a muzzle, because Church was handling him, he was controlling him. Not like when he had the panic attack the night Gary invaded his dreams, when Church helped Tucker breathe. This was complete and total control.“Shit, shit,” Church whispered.Just as easy as Tucker’s jaw shut, it opened. He gave it a few tentative stretches, able to completely control his muscles. The fact that he had to confirm that he was in charge of his own goddamn face was making his blood boil.“What. The. Fuck?” He seethed, hand still on his jaw. He had to force himself to breath evenly, to not lash out.Tucker hadn’t thought about it, but figured Epsilon could possess people. Alpha could, and even possessed Sarge once. Epsilon was only a fragment, but could possess robots, and O’Malley could possess people for a while too.But Tucker never thought about it because Epsilon had never done it. Alpha had never possessed Tucker, so why would Epsilon? Epsilon had screamed at them before, he had threatened him, he had disappeared, and Tucker had felt everything from grief to anger to friendship to laughter with Church over the years. But never before had he been afraid of him.“Shit, I didn’t mean to do that,” Church sounded apologetic, but of course never apologized. Tucker wasn’t even sure he wanted an apology. What he wanted was to drop the fucking chip down into the radioactive algae pond.But if he did that, would Church stop him then too? Would Church puppet him around? Why not? The“Tucker, c’mon, you know I wouldn’t do that,” Church pleaded.Tucker felt like he was in a fucking horror movie. Church could make him move without his permission, influence his emotions, and read his mind. All the horrible shit that traumatized people, all the shit that traumatized Wash, but Tucker had never thought too hard about before. Because that was Epsilon, that was the Meta-That wasn’t his Church. Putting it in order was like watching the end to a thriller; The call was coming from inside the house.“Shit, wait, just give me a second-“ Church’s voice was distressed. He flashed out of sight, and Tucker felt a pull in his implant. The thoughts that crowded his brain were silent, and he felt hollow. Peace took over him, leaving him with only a lingering discomfort.Tucker didn’t have time to dwell on what was happening. His data pad started going off, ringing loudly. He rarely used the telephone function, seeing as most calls came when he had his helmet. In fact, he thought he silenced that feature forever ago. Who kept ringers on anymore?He pulled the thin tablet out of his sweats pocket, opening it up. There was no ID, just the notification that it someone was calling. Tucker thought this was all feeling very ’Scream’, but accepted the call anyways.“Hey,” Church’s voice came through the speakers, tinny and distant.Despite it all, Tucker started laughing.“Man, what the hell is going on?” He asked, chuckling. It wasn’t funny, it was really fucking uncomfortable
and Tucker should be throwing his data pad into the algae lake with the implant chip, but the fact Church wasn’t in his head helped ease the tension, and forcing himself in Tucker’s data pad was like a demon haunting a Barbie doll.“Okay, look,” Church sighed. “Seeing you with Wash is bringing up some stuff. When I got implanted in him, the last person he hooked up with was Agent Maine-““Wait, what!?”“Oof,” Church winced guiltily. “Uh, you guys should talk about that later. Anyways, next time I see him- Me, not Alpha, he’s with Maine hunting you guys down. The next time I see him after that, he’s wearing my armor and took my job watching over you idiots. Seeing you guys together is just putting all that Meta shit on my mind constantly. Which is putting… Sigma on my mind.”Tucker’s laughter died down, Church’s voice sobering him up. “That was Maine’s AI?”“Yeah,” Church admitted. “He’s just so fucking weird. If I could erase him, I would. But I can’t…”Tucker nodded as if he understood. As if he could ever understand. Maybe he was just tired from the back and forth, but he couldn’t will himself to beget angry. Church wasn’t in his head, but his anxiety was lingering in Tucker’s soul like a bad smell. They were closer than friends, bonded tighter than teammates. Whether they liked it or not, the Reds and Blues could rely on each other to not-understand each other in the way that made things feel less impossible. So Tucker didn’t ask anything further; He didn’t need too.Tucker saw what the Meta was, he saw the husk of a man it left. If one AI could force someone to do that, it couldn’t be like Church. Church was a person, just like Tucker, just like Caboose. They all did stupid shit when they were scared. Not as stupid as possession, but shit they should have apologized for and didn’t.Caboose would probably possess them if he could anyways.“Whatever dude,” Tucker sighed. “That sucks that it’s happening, but I’m not breaking things off with Wash. But, I get it.”“Nah, if you and Wash broke it off, I’d never hear the end of it,” Church said, calming down. “Besides, I weirdly feel better now? Like talking made Sigma less in my face.”“Don’t let Donut or Carolina hear you say that,” Tucker warned playfully. “Or Doc. Hey, where is that guy?”“Beats me,” Church said. “But I’ll back off Wash. And, uh, about the jaw thing...”“Yeah, don’t ever fucking do that again,” Tucker warned not-so playfully. His tone wasn’t as harsh as he felt it deserved to be, but was still out of character for him. He was the master of brushing things off, but this was a new low for the two of them.“We good?” Church asked timidly.“Yeah, we’re good,” Tucker smiled. “You’re banned from my brain for now. Dick.”“That’s fair,” Church accepted easily. “Can you put me in Donut? We’re at the finale of Love Island.”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Wash was a morning person. Him being wrapped around Tucker, still sound asleep meant that Tucker was up way too early.
Tucker couldn’t go back to sleep if he tried. His helmet was across the room, but he didn’t need to check is calendar too know that in a couple of hours, he’d have to be in the med bay to meet Nikki and the Director. His neural implants were already nestled into the base of his skull, as they had been for over a decade, so all that was really going to happen was a tiny chip with potentially the thing that kills him and this whole ship was gonna be clipped into his head like an SD card. After that…Tucker shifted, turning over so Wash wasn’t pressed against his from anymore. He shuffled forward while pulling Wash back to him, doing his best not to push Wash off the bed. Ever since Junior, Tucker couldn’t sleep without his back to the wall. On Chorus, Wash protested it at first, since he had his own flavor of PTSD that made sleeping so exposed horrible.

(‘C’mon Wash,’ Tucker pleaded, laying down on Wash’s bed, firmly pressed against the cold concrete wall.

‘My bed, my rules,’ Wash said simply. He tightened his grip on Tucker’s ankle, holding it from where he was standing on the far edge of the bed.

Tucker had gotten to the bed first, and had fallen down before the argument could even begin. Tucker may not have been as tall as Wash, but he was dense. Tucker was laying on his stomach, somewhat awkwardly now that his leg was pulled at a near 90 degree angle. Moving him from his spot on the mattress would take some serious strength.

Unfortunately, Wash had some serious strength.

‘I’m not having this argument again,’ Wash said sternly, as if he and Tucker were capable of not fighting . He had more bags under his eyes than usual, which was saying something. Since they started their relationship, their nightly ritual was fighting over who got to sleep closest to the wall. The two of them not being able to sleep well apart, spoiled by the new found joy of intimacy. However, this also meant one of them never being able to sleep well when they were together. Tucker and Wash’s relationship was great, except one of them was always fucking exhausted.

‘I got here first!’ Tucker said, grabbing the pillow with his arms, like that would help anchor him.

‘It’s my bed,’ Wash countered. ‘Either move over, or go sleep in your bed.’

'Oh, you really want me to go all the way over there?’ Tucker scoffed, the bed in their long shared a room only ten feet away. ‘How am I supposed to feel you up from across the room?’

‘Do you actually need to sleep on that side of the bed, or do you just need to get one last argument in before the end of every day?’ Wash asked.

Wash was humorless, at the end of his rope with this whole thing. Sure, Tucker could just tell Wash about the time he fell asleep and woke up pregnant with an alien baby. Wash would totally understand Tucker’s sleep issues following that. But, that would require emotional vulnerability, which sounded like way to much effort.

'Okay, let’s say something happens,’ Tucker started in his most persuasive ‘hear me out’ voice. Wash let out a sigh through his nose, but waited. ‘And, like, a fucking ninja or pirate or some shit breaks in here in the middle of the night. You’re really putting me on the front line on that? You trust me to take care of that situation?’

He meant it as a joke, as a last ditch effort to wear Washington down enough that he’d give up, nothing to take seriously.

Wash stared at Tucker with his mouth curled for another second, before letting go and dropping his leg. Tucker’s ankle bounced once on the mattress, and he barely had time to pull it to himself before Wash climbed into the bed next to him.

Tucker was grinning like a mad man as Washington pulled him closer, bringing Tucker’s face to his chest, and draping the blanket over them. He wrapped his arms around Tucker, a little tighter than usual, but Tucker threw one arm over him in return. Wash always ran cold, but would warm up in seconds.

‘Aw yes,’ Tucker said, settling down. ‘Didn’t think that would work!’

‘Shut up and go to sleep,’ Wash mumbled into Tucker’s hair.

‘Or what? You gonna kick me out to fight the ninja space pirates myself?’ Tucker asked.

Wash didn’t answer, just tightened his hold on Tucker.)
Here, Wash never argued over which side of the bed to sleep on. It might not even have occurred to him.Tucker sat up, trying to quietly extract himself, but woke up Wash. Wash lifted his head up to blurrily look at Tucker, his eyelids fallen so far Tucker wasn’t positive he could count this as seeing.“Go back to sleep,” Tucker murmured, coming off the bed and pulling on fatigues. “I have to go see the Director, so no one will ride your ass for sleeping in late.”Wash stared for a couple of second, brows furrowed, like he was waiting for something.“Oh,” Tucker said, doing his buckle. “Bow-Chicka-Bow-Wow.”Wash relaxed a little, but kept his head lifted. “I should come with you for the implantation, give me a second to wake up.”“Nah, don’t bother,” Tucker forced his tone to remain nonchalant, and hoped Wash was tired to notice any differences. “I’ll find you after. The Director’s not gonna let you sit in on it, and it would look pretty weird if you tried.”Wash huffed, and then shifted to sit up. Tucker, now fully dressed but feeling no more ready for the day, he took a step forward to the bed. He ducked his head down, kissing Wash, both of their morning breaths probably unbearable to anyone but each other. Tucker squeezed his eyes closed, enjoying Wash’s dry lips on his.He pulled away, but Wash slung an arm around his neck, keeping Tucker in place for a second and leaning their foreheads together.“Be safe,” He said, looking at Tucker seriously. “I’ll see you right after.”“Sir, yes sir,” Tucker grinned, and Wash finally cracked a smile as well. He let go of Tucker who pulled away, feeling the smallest bit better, and hurried out of the room so Wash didn’t have to see when they relief faded.Tucker rotated between feeling empty and sick as he brushed his teeth. He felt this way while he fixed his hair, ate his breakfast, and walked to the armory. He had given his suit to the armory the day before so they could make the necessary alterations to allow for AI utilization. Maximizing the battery supply, making room for an armor enhancement, putting extra storage space for data that his AI might need to save. He made his way over, the halls of the ship now filling with more and more people. He was nearing closer to his meeting time, and was only a few doors down from the armory when he stopped.It felt too real then, too final. This might be the last time he was every Lavernius Tucker, the guy you could pass down any civilian street. A guy you could look in the eye and not see something wrong in there. It was stupid, but he felt like the second he put that armor back on, it wouldn’t even come off again. He had AI experience, that was the whole point of this. Sigma was a huge risk, sure, but why did this feel so permanent?He turned 180 degrees, and started walking. He knew where he was going.Maine had thing for weapons maintenance. He started each morning by pulling out his rifle, his pistol, and his newly acquired Grif Shot. He would take them all apart, inspect, clean, and sharpen them. Everyone had their quirks, the things that clued the rest of the world into the fact that these were people who were aware of their dangerous jobs. Things that people who saw counselors without the capital C might call coping mechanisms.
Tucker was an observant guy when it came to this stuff. You don’t get to be as funny as he is without noticing peoples ticks. That’s what he was good at; Pissing people off. So he saw the way York’s lock picking habit wasn’t just a skill. York always had to sit closest to an exit. Whenever York spoke, it was half way between a joke and sincerity. He was out of his armor more than anyone else, and conveniently seemed to be busy whenever they practiced with the armor locking purple goop. York loved fiercely, and just the way he looked at Carolina made it clear he had no issues with attachments. What York was afraid of was being trapped.
Carolina, of course, was obsessed with being the best. Any idiot that’s can spell the word 'psychology' could see that. It kinda reminded Tucker of those Dooms Day Preppers. The idea that, if you’re the best of the best, nothing can hurt you. The idea that any failure was a sign of weakness, and if you were simply better, nothing bad could ever happen to you. Carolina was the best of the best; The fact that only bad things happened to her proved the entire belief was nothing but a footnote in a therapist's notebook.He could go on. North’s kindness bordering toxicity. South pushing people away. Wyoming’s stupid fucking mustache and pompous accent that Tucker was sure was fake to keep an attitude of superiority. All of it.Maine’s was like York’s. A skill to keep their hands busy, to trick their body into thinking everything was okay, to make those never ending jitters within them quell by working towards a solution. To wallow in anxiety without having anything to take action… That sounded like misery.Not that Tucker could relate on anything more than a temporary level, since he was the picture of mental health and didn’t have a quirk. But it sounded like it sucked.The room the kept all their weapons in, lined up neatly and orderly in rows on the wall or in lockers, was bright enough. Maine was at one of the long tables, the grinding stone in use as he sharpened the Grif Shot’s blade, meticulously running the sharp edge over and over, giving an uncomfortable and coarse sound that he could not hear. Tucker approached, coming from the front to give Maine and opportunity to see him. Maine glanced up once, but didn’t greet Tucker. Maine was never in the mood for him to be around, and never joked anymore. The bandaged around his neck were gone, but out of armor, the scars were all one could focus on.Tucker waved anyways as he approached the table, then smacking it when Maine didn’t look up. He finally did, meeting Tucker with tired eyes, already miffed. He still didn’t say anything, just grimaced and waited for Tucker to do something.Tucker cleared his throat before signing. I got something you can grind against that can cheer you up.Maine didn’t react, didn’t smile, but didn’t get any more upset, so Tucker pushed forward. What? I’m not good enough for you anymore?Still nothing. Tucker was coming up short, which gave him another idea. I’m coming up short on come ons, but I thought you liked me short.What do you want? Maine signed back, gently placing down the Grif Shot. I will not help you cheat on Washington.Tucker smiled then, if only because Wash’s ASL name was the sign for ‘street’ with a W.Tucker made an exaggerated heartbroken face. Maybe next time. Just wanted to say hi before I go in for my AI.Tucker waited for Maine to react. He didn’t know if Maine was aware Tucker stole his AI from him, but judging by the way Maine didn’t growl or cave in his face, it was safe to assume he had been left in the dark.
Did you want a kiss for good luck? Maine asked.Nah, was going to rub your head and ask for three wishes, Tucker signed, putting on a mischievous grin.Tucker let out a sigh of relief when Maine’s shoulders loosened and he rolled his eyes. Not smiling, but better.Touch my head and I’ll break more than your arm, Maine signed. He looked Tucker up and down. Scared?Of course not, Tucker scoffed, waving a hand. I know what I’m doing.
Maine eyed him for a bit, then shrugged. Don’t die. Not until someone else learns ASL. He even cracked a small, rueful smile. I’m surprised I didn’t get an AI. These idiots will do anything except learn to sign.Tucker smiled now, genuine but none the less painful. None of them are worth talking to anyways. I’ll see ya.Tucker waved, but Maine was already focusing on his sharpening. He didn’t know it, but he was the reason Tucker went straight to the med bay, not hesitating for a second longer. He made the right choice.—Tucker was a record thirty minutes early to the med bay, before even the Director and Counselor. Nikki and few of the medics were still setting up in the smaller room seeming to be exclusively for neural site installation; People walking back and forth, opening up packets of sterilized utensils, checking monitors and data pads, conversing quietly while pointing at stuff on said monitors and data pads.
Nikki herself was checking the utensils for cleanliness at the lifting table by the bed, face and hair covered, her white lab coat pristine. She looked up when Tucker walked in; It’s pretty hard to sneak in on someone when your in several pounds of metal armor.“Didn’t take you for a morning person,” She said, voice muffled slightly by her powder blue mask.“It’s a new thing I’m trying out,” Tucker shrugged, as if it was his choice. “You gonna be gentle with me, Nikki?”“It’s Dr. Jefferson when I stick things in you,” She said, holding up the thin clamp-like tool she had been inspecting.“Ah, role play? Sick!” Tucker grinned. “Whatever you say, Dr. Jefferson-““Knock it off.”“You can stick whatever you want in my doctor,” He said the last word breathy.“I can make this painful. Do you want this to be painful?”“Should I pick out a safe word?”“And what would you do if I said yes?” Nikki put down the utensil and turned fully to Tucker. She was nearly the same height as him out of armor, but now stood a few inches shorter. She was no less imposing, even with most of her face covered and hair tied back. All in white, all he could focus on were her big brow doe eyes, with thick eyelashes framing them. Her eyes always seemed heavy lidded, in Tucker’s experience with exasperation. Now, she stood just a little bit closer, and stood a little taller.“What if I said after this, you and I head back to my quarters and we do play doctor? I wear my lab coat, we take a pair of handcuffs and I do a full body inspection? Would you like that?” She said, her voice nearly as serious and even as it always was, but now with an energy he had only heard in porn. What Tucker had forgotten was that it had been a very, very long time since he had a woman flirt with him. He hadn’t seen Kai in a couple years, and there had been a one night stand during his diplomacy that neither of them really remembered when sober. But he had been surrounded by women who could tear him to shreds, and usually
wanted too. So this, a strong, calm and confident woman propositioning sex like this made his brain short circuit.“Uh… Um…” He said lamely. “I’m not… I have… No?”Nikki let him stew for a few more beats until her eyes crinkled, and she broke into a huge smile under her mask. “That’s what I thought. Now shut up or go sit in the corner.”Tucker’s brain was taking a couple seconds to reboot, and he was thinking about asking to borrow those handcuffs when she began speaking again. “I probably won’t have to use these,” She said, fixing the utensils in a neat row on a sterile cloth. “Since you already have your neural implant.”“Is that it?” Tucker asked, nodding to the smooth, obsidian cube on her station. It was like a sharp ring box.
Nikki nodded, and touched a finger to the smooth lid. “It won’t open without the Director’s voice command. But the Sigma AI is in here.”“Do you ever, like, talk to them?” Tucker asked nervously, not being able to stop talking. “The AI?”“No,” Nikki shook her head. “I focus more on the host than the the tech. I’ve only spoken to the ones I’ve implanted.”“Uh, if you don’t work with AI, how did you know that the shit in our brain worked?” Tucker asked, furrowing his brows.
“That is all the Director. My job was to develop a way to implant it without killing anyone…” Nikki kept her eyes on the box when she spoke. Her voice took on a far away quality, her mind drifting somewhere beyond the med bay, beyond Tucker. “When you came, it was a relief to see a healthy, undamaged mind. You have had them for over a decade, with no permanent damage.”“That’s what you think,” Tucker said, desperate to bring up the mood. “I had a vow of celibacy before this.”Nikki didn’t laugh, and Tucker’s smile soon fell in defeat. She looked up at him, eyes now looking a worried, the most unsure he’s ever seen her. She was the goddamn doctor; She was unflappable. “You can still back out. There is still time.”Tucker stared at her, then glanced back at the box. He could still back out, still refuse. Think of another way, buy some time. Something, anything other than giving Sigma that sort of power.
The sound of everyone else in the room standing at attention clued him in to the Director’s arrival. Even Nikki stood straighter, raising her chin up to her boss. No, her commanding officer. Same as Tucker, same as everyone else on the ship.“At ease,” The Director said as a greeting, and everyone resumed their scrambling. He looked extra high and mighty, his facial hair trimmed neatly and face in slightly less of a scowl. Trailing behind him was the Counselor, who didn’t even look at Tucker.“Agent Kentucky,” The Director nodded once.“What, no good morning?” Tucker joked, crossing his arms when he noticed a slight tremor in his hands.The Director didn’t acknowledge the snark. “Dr. Jefferson, is Agent Kentucky ready for the implantation of the Sigma AI?”Nikki looked at Tucker, who was staring at the Director, who was staring right back at Nikki. An entire circle of distraction, everyone waiting for someone else to speak but not daring to do it themselves. Tucker didn’t know about anyone else, but it was starting to get uncomfortable. Still, he refused to be the first to break, even if it was out of cowardice.Nikki was braver than Tucker, her voice colder. “Sigma AI is ready for implantation. Observations made during his time with the Alpha AI show his mind is healthy and neural implant sites are fully functioning. I will just need surface level examination of the agent’s neck. Agent Kentucky, will you take a seat?”Not 'take a seat,' but 'will you take a seat.' Maybe it was nothing, but Nikki was not the kinda of person to waste words. There was still time to back out. There was still time to leave. Tucker didn’t have to do this.Tucker took a seat on the examination table, right in front of Nikki. He angled his head downwards, exposing his neck to her. They had been in this position before, when he asked her to cut his hair. She had asked him over and over then too if he was sure; He was a lot more sure of that than he was here. Hair was important, but his hair cut felt more like a shedding of his past ties, this felt more like a sort of imprisonment. A dedication to the Project, to the people here.He flinched a little when a gloved hand made contact with his neck, trailing gently over the skin around the metal square at the base of his skull. Something cold and wet dabbed his skin, the harsh smell of alcohol filling his nose. The touch of her hand had made tingles go down his back and up his neck, and the chill of the disinfectant was making him tense up. Or maybe he was already tense that morning, or already tense the entire time he’d been on the ship. Either way, Nikki’s hand found her way on his shoulder, the pressure only slightly noticeable through his armor, in a comforting gesture, one that could be seen as her keeping him still. No different than she had been with Wyoming, but it still let Tucker breath a little easier.Looking up, he saw that the room mostly cleared out, all the medics either knowing to leave at this point or being told too and Tucker not noticing. Just the Director and Counselor, studying him. It really was studying; They didn’t look at Tucker with sympathy, or even look him in the eye. They watched him like they were watching a documentary; Passive, interested, and detached.Tucker was for once grateful for the ships ever present hum, the background noise of electricity running, of things working around him. It reminded him of a forest; Things living working around him and only occasionally in front of him. Not like Blood Gulch, which was deadly silent. Nothing ever lived too long in Blood Gulch.“Sir, if you please unlock the chip,” Nikki said behind Tucker. Now the Director moved, walking out of Tucker’s view and behind him. It didn’t feel like when Nikki stood behind him, like someone had his back. It struck him with unease, like he was about to stab him.He had only been somewhat in Sigma’s presence once, during his fight with Church over something stupid he couldn't even remember at the moment. The one that scared Church so bad he took over Tucker’s body. Delta popped up regularly, always a helping hand when it came to the logistics of their work. Theta as well, but more because everyone was always happy to see him. Church would speak to Theta with affection reserved
for Carolina. Sometimes, once or twice to their faces, for the Reds and Blues. Maybe even for Tucker. They bitched about O’Malley, who was unavoidable when they reminisced about Blood Gulch. He very rarely popped up, and only in Church’s weakest moments. Gary wasn’t spoken with any more warmth, but always with an earned eye roll.When Tucker thought about it, Church’s relationship with the other AI wasn’t so foreign at all. Church treated the other fragments like his own AI. These invisible forces that helped him preform his duties to the fullest potential. They were individual beings with personalities heavily influenced by him but distinctly separate. Church could cry all day that they weren’t real, but they were as real to him as Church was to Tucker.And Church was fucking terrified of Sigma.They never teased when it came to Sigma, because they teased and pissed each other off all the time, to laugh and make shit easier to processes. But Sigma couldn’t be brought up as a passing joke. Epsilon was made of memories, and the memories of Sigma were too painful for him to bare.
So why the fuck did Tucker think he was any better?There was a small click behind Tucker. “Thank you,” Nikki said quietly, the Director having opened the box, muttering something Tucker didn’t watch. The Director didn’t move, keeping out of Tucker’s eye line, which did not help his anxieties at all.
Breathe in, breathe out.
Nikki gently pushed Tucker’s head down further, him not noticing he had raised it slowly back up. “Are you ready, Agent Kentucky?” She asked.Of course he wasn’t fucking ready. He’d need a life time to get ready.He tried to reassure himself. He was an AI expert, he could block them out, keep them at bay. Maine, as he was, wasn’t fully himself in the first timeline. He was still reeling emotionally from his attack, and if Tucker wasn’t present, he’d have no one to talk to. Completely isolated, his team choosing to put a computer in his brain than putting in any effort to communicate with him.Only Wash was there for support, and that wasn’t enough.Tucker would be different. He had people. He had Wash, and Tex, and Carolina, and South, and so many more people here that cared for him, even if half of them would never admit it. And, well, he had people that would put him down if he wasn’t as talented as he thought.Seconds passed like hours. He swallowed. “Let her rip.”No one laughed. “Alright. Inserting the Sigma AI chip into Agent Kentucky’s neural implant site.”Nikki pressed her thumbnail into a tiny button, releasing his blank memory slot, the one there for AI to jump to if needed. “Removing temporary AI transfer storage. This is what’s allowed AI to hop in and out of your implants so far. From what you’ve told me, this will be like your past experiences with AI. A majority of your experience has been AI hopping from host to host, like a sort of Bluetooth connection. This will be the AI’s home storage. The AI can temporarily jump for another device or host, but to make a new ‘home’ device will take time and concentration on the AI’s part. If there is any damage or removal to the home device-““Agent Kentucky is well aware of how AI work,” The Director cut off. “Please insert Sigma.”Nikki hesitated, quiet for a second too long. “Of course, sir.”Breathe in, breathe out.The thing about AI is that it was easy, so easy to block them out every once in a while. It felt like keeping all of the thoughts to the front of your brain, emptying out the rest or keeping it hidden even from yourself. You’d be surprised how long you could function like that, not digging any deeper. It was like when people watch trashy reality TV or reruns of mediocre sitcoms over and over. Something to just ‘shut their brain’ off to. That’s exactly what it was; Shutting his brain off.Shutting his brain off, not letting Sigma fuse with his mind. Not letting him into all the corners and crevices like he had with Church. Sure, he blocked Church out sometimes, but he would still be able to fill and mesh with Tucker when Tucker let him. It was comfortable, having someone know what he was thinking, to trust someone with his own mind. He trusted Church not to abuse this power, and it really felt not different than when they would have late nights shooting the shit at Blood Gulch.All he had to do was look at what was in front of him, what he had too do. Not over think, not try to see other meanings, not think of his past. Only what was in front of him, only what he needed to do. Besides, that was what the AI were for, right? Only meant for the physical, no connection deeper than that. That was the design, when everyone assumed they weren’t people.Tucker felt the tickle of exhale from the two people behind him. One of Nikki’s hands found his neck again, the warmth now seeping through the glove. It rubber felt strangely artificial yet human, like everything else in Tucker’s life. The hum of the ship was getting louder in his ears, or was that in his head too? Looking down at his lap again, all he saw was teal, his teal. The teal that had followed him from the day Flowers died. Flowers, who Tucker didn’t doubt was close by somewhere. But it was his teal now, and was as much part of him as his implant.Another hand at his implant site, and Tucker heard the faintest sound of metal on metal, the impossible to miss scrap of the chip as it inserted itself into his implant site.
Tucker suddenly felt nausea, like he was at the peak of a roller coaster. He was about to snap his head away, to scream and run and back out and tell the Director there’s no fucking way he was going to do this to him, to ruin him again-There was a small click.Tucker barely had time to clear his mind before the familiar rush of neurons connecting with electricity and wires washed through his head, tingling from skull, flushing all the way to his toes.
He didn’t think about anything now.Time passed.There was a flash of orange. The AI that wasn’t in a suit. He looked like a man on fire.“Hello. I am the AI Sigma. It is good to meet you all. You are my new host, I assume.” Sigma said.“Yeah.” Tucker said.Time passed.“It is an honor to meet you, Sigma. This is your host and new partner, Agent Kentucky.” The Director said.“Agent Kentucky, I am pleased to make your acquaintance. I look forward to our work together.” Sigma said.“Cool.” Tucker said.Time passed.Tucker felt something nearly tangible moving around in his head. He pushed it aside.“Is everything alright?” Nikki asked.“Yup. Feels fine,” Tucker said.“Excuse me, doctor. But this was not what I was expecting. I thought Agent Kentucky and I would have a … stronger connection-““Nope. It’s working perfect.” Tucker said.“Vitals and brain activity look normal.” Nikki said.The Director walked in front of Tucker. “Are you positive things are working, Agent Kentucky?” He asked.“Positive.” Tucker said.Tucker stood up. “Let’s go to the training room.”The Director nodded. He walked away. The Counselor followed. Tucker followed. Sigma followed. Sigma did not leave sight. Nikki followed.It took nine minutes and twenty-seven seconds for Tucker to walk to the training room. He stood in the training room. It was very bright. Everyone else watched from the observation deck.“Agent Kentucky, Sigma,” The Director’s voice came loud over speakers. “You have been outfitted with the temporal distortion unit armor enhancement-“Tucker nearly laughed. Of course the Director would give him that unit over everything else. The damn thing that got him there in the first place.
It is pretty ironic, the Director must have great faith-
Tucker pushed Sigma to the front of his head again.“Let’s begin with the turrets. Agent Kentucky, you are equipped with a pistol, a rifle, a hand grenade and your sword, correct?” The Director said.“Yeah,” Tucker said.“F.I.L.S.S., please begin the exercise.” The Director said.“Starting exercise in three…two…one… Begin.” F.I.L.S.S. said.A buzzer sounded.
Ten turrets rose from random locations on the floor. They all pointed to Tucker and Sigma, each at a different height on a different platforms. It took five point seven seconds for them all to rise to their full height, ranging from ground level to 2.5 meters-
Or would you prefer the imperial system?
Ranging from ground level to approximately
eight feet and two inches, with an average height of five feet six inches.The random assortment of their position meant that some of the turrets were closely bunched together, with four within a ten foot radius twenty feet in front of Tucker. Two more were to Tucker’s right, close to one another as well. Behind Tucker, around twenty five feet two inches, two turrets around his height rose, pointed directly at him. Finally, two turrets were practically on the walls, as far from each other as possible.Tucker looked at the approximate space of the turrets from one another, and how quickly they rose. The obvious solution would be to run around, blocking and dodging the fire fight, taking them out one by one. That’s what Carolina would do with her super speed. North and Theta use their bubble shield-An interesting technique, to use the bubble shield offensively. Sigma said. However, you’re right that disabling the turrets one by one is inefficient. I see that you’re already familiar with the temporal distortion unit. Now, the unit has it’s obvious use to correct any mistakes. We can run this as many times as we have the power too.Tucker knew that. But he also didn’t want to try over and over to get something right. Not when he knew what would happen. What would happen was he would be shot at.
The more obvious answer was to not give the turrets an opportunity to shoot.He looked around the room, the spacing and the movement of the turrets, the positioning of themselves like pieces on a chess board, and he was determining his next move.
Oh, fantastic idea! Gathering information, then making a move, instead of trying to correct mistakes. Sigma said.Tucker unclipped his sword, and lit it up.
Oh, that’s interesting! A Sangheili sword! What a unique feeling, these tattoos light up? Where did you get these?
Tucker dropped to a knee and drove his sword into the floor with as much force as possible. His sword could slice through almost anything, but there was always resistance. Depending on the material, the time it took to drive into something was longer than others.
Alright, that will be an adequate enough time. Please throw it across the room now.
Tucker deactivated his sword, stood up, activated his sword, and threw it across the room. It was still activating when it left his hand, but was fully lit by the time it stuck itself into the wall.
A throwing speed of 91.7 miles per hour. I wonder how odd this must look to everyone else, for you to stab the floor, then throw your sword across the room. This must be worrying at best-
Focus, Tucker thought back, thinking to Sigma for the first time.There was a pleased hum in Tucker’s brain, and cleared his mind until he couldn’t feel it anymore.
My bad. One last piece of information left… I’m truly sorry for this.
Tucker braced himself, forcing himself not to flinch as the
as the first bullets shot out, deafening him.His chest was hit first, then his arm. A total of ten bullets went through him, tearing through metal, kevlar, skin, muscle, and bone.
It was the most painful feeling Tucker had ever been through, like he was being torn apart. He screamed what air his now shredded lungs could, crying out.Everything stopped, including him.

I should be able to feel this more, but I supposed I should be grateful we’re not as… Connected as I expected. Velocity of these bullets are around 3,240 feet per second, and 918 rounds per minute. Given your distance from the turrets, the density of your body and armor and how easily the bullets, well, penetrated you - Oh, that’s a funny phrase. Could be used as a double entundre.

Focus!
Right, apologies. We should have enough time. Ready, Agent Kentucky?

Yes.

I bet we can do it with one shot.
Tucker could feel the bullets reverse out, leaving his his body from where they tore through him, and the skin closing up after them. They flew back, back across the room, back into the barrels of the turrets. He didn’t feel pain anymore, just the echo. The turrets lowered back into the floor, the sound haunting unnatural, like he was playing a record backwards.Everything felt unnatural.There was a beat of stillness, nothing in the room left but Sigma and Tucker, and everything fell forward.
“Starting exercise in three…two…one… Begin.” F.I.L.S.S. said, again for the first time.Tucker was moving before she even got to two.It wasn’t too glamorous. Tucker unclipped his grenade, pulling the pin with his dominant hand. With his left hand, he pulled out his sword, activating it. It felt weird, like holding a pencil wrong. He ran forward, to the turret closest to him that hadn’t even started moving up. He could hear the slight whir, as it geared up to unveil himself.He swung up and stuck his sword down, with the force and movement of a punch to the ground. There was a spark of electricity,
but no more whirring.Don’t forget the grenade, Sigma said.Tucker rolled the grenade towards where the circle of four turrets would appear. He didn’t need the force of a proper throw. He jumped to the side before it had settled, diving to quickly reach the other turret not to far from him. Again, he stabbed the ground, the turret risen only two and one third inch off the ground. It stopped, electricity crackling. Tucker never even saw the barrel.He deactivated his sword and pulled away. He ran across the room, to the two turrets lined up on the wall. He stood between them, right in the middle, ten feet apart.And explosion shook the room. The grenade had finally gone off across the room, destroying the circle of four turrets that had just been exposed.Tucker quickly activated his sword. His arm was slower than a turret, and he geared up a throw. On release, his sword flew across the air, just as it had before, at the perfect angle so-Duck! Sigma yelled in his head.Tucker crouched, dropping to the floor the same nano second the first shot rang out. The turret wasn’t as fast as him and Sigma.
The two turrets now faced only each other with Tucker out of the way. They began firing, stuck on each other, and it would take four point three full seconds for them to demolish each other.However, it could be done with a single shot.Tucker rolled out of the line of fire from the very last turret, all the way across the room. It had began shooting the spot he had been in. The second he had orientated himself, he aimed his pistol.The phantom pull of Sigma was present, nudging his muscles in the right position. Tucker didn’t fight Sigma for this, allowing pulls. He fired a single shot, timed perfectly to enter one of the barrels of the turret at the nano second it did not fire.
The turret combusted immediately, an explosion as large as the grenade.The only sound after that was the two turrets facing each other, shooting for only a few seconds before they also both exploded, destroying each other.Then it was only the smell of scorched metal and flames.“Course complete. Time: Eight seconds.”Tucker dropped his pistol, and took a breath of relief. His muscle relaxed some, and he stood.Still, he gave the last push to keep Sigma out of the trenches of his mind. In a way, it was easier. He knew exactly the amount of distance to put between them.“I think it’s clear we’re an impressive team, Agent Kentucky,” Sigma said happily. “Although I’m sorry you had to experience those injuries. They seemed unpleasant. It’s my understanding that I may also feel physical sensations as clearly as you do, given enough integration between our minds.”“No.” Tucker said.Time passed.“I see. We will have to navigate this partnership with more care than I expected.”The door to the training room opened and grey suits ran in with fire extinguishers, putting out the fires from the turrets. The Director and Counselor followed. Nikki did not join them. They walked quickly but did not run to meet Tucker.“Excellent work,” The Director said.“The idea was Agent Kentucky,’s” Sigma said. “We collected data on the turrets, their locations, their operating speeds, and the force of Agent Kentucky’s sword, then turned back time to take them all out at once.”“And how many times did you need to use the time unit?” The Director asked.“Only once,” Sigma said.“Agent Kentucky, how do you feel?” The Counselor asked.“Fine,” Tucker said.“Are you sure?” The Counselor asked.“Yes,” Tucker said.“I have slight insight on Agent Kentucky’s physical and mental state, although it’s not as strong as I hoped. I believe Agent Kentucky might be blocking me out, which I do not think-““Sigma, log off,” Tucker said.“Excuse me?” Sigma asked.“Sigma, log off.” Tucker repeated.“Agent Kentucky-““Sigma, obey the instruction of your host.” The Director said.Two point seven seconds passed.“Of course. I will see you all soon.” Sigma said.Sigma disappeared.
An energy in Tucker’s head quieted, but it was not enough. Tucker ripped off his helmet and tossed it to the floor. His hands went to his neck, and pressed the small button to eject the AI chip. It shot out slightly, and he pulled it out of his implant.The energy had completely left Tucker’s brain, and he could breath again.Tucker was exhausted; His body only moved for an extremely stressful eight second technically, but the mental calculations were taxing. The ghost of the bullets puncturing him, that horrible sound of the metal ripping and his acting as a muffler hadn’t left him.Tucker closed his fist protectively around the chip.“There, are you happy?” Tucker spit at the Director and Counselor, waving a hand at the smoldering turrets. “Me and fucking Gritty work like a charm. I only had to get shot ten fucking times, but whatever.”“Agent Kentucky, we do not advise removing your chip entirely,” The Counselor said.“I could not give less of a shit about what you advise,” Tucker said harshly. “I’m not looking for Siri in my brain 24/7. The point of this shit is to help in combat. Well, he helped in combat, and now I’m not in combat. That’s it, right? Or do you want me to put him in your brain to run that back as many times as you need?”"That is enough,” The Director said, cutting off Tucker’s rant. The Counselor looked ready to deck Tucker, more emotion on his face than Tucker had caused so far, but the Director still sounded please. “Kentucky and Sigma’s relationship is their own. Even though they are not as close as the other agents with their AIs, they have exceeded expectation.”
Map of Combat

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Tucker was sure he was walking around with storm clouds over his head. Maybe that’s why everyone was on his dick for the next few days.Message after message came in through his data pad.

(<CRL: We all got a memo you had your implantation. How did it go?>

<SDK: you got an ai? wow thanks for the heads up asshole. What, you leaving the rest of us behind?>

<NDK: Hey Kentucky, congrats on the AI! Where have you been hiding? South and Theta are getting worried. Don’t tell them I said that.>

<Dr. Jefferson: I can access your suits health read outs remotely, so I know your legs and brain work. Come by my office sometime for lunch. Wyoming keep coming by, I need you to get him out. >

<WYM: Dr. Jefferson’s fuse is shorter than usual lately. Please remedy it, before she uses that scalpel on me.>)
In fact, there were only two people who’s messages did respond to in the following days.(<YRK: how did it go? >
<KTY: fine. i dont need ur help>

<KTY: just need a few days to be emo >

<YRK: alright. Ill keep an eye out>
<YRK: ill keep *the eye out>)Tucker couldn’t even laugh at the joke, but he didn’t dread opening York’s messages like he did Wash’s.(<WSH: Everything okay?>
<KTY: ya, just being a drama queen>

<KTY: i got a headache so bad im acting like south on her period>

<KTY: ill catch u in a few days when im not a bitch>

<WSH: I have sisters who would kill me if I didn’t call you out on that language, but I’ll let it slide for now>
<WSH: Are you sure you’re okay?>)Tucker stared at the message too long, his fingers hovering over the keys before finally typing.
(<KTY: w/ an ass like this, im not just fine. Im foine>

<WSH: I know.>)
Sigma’s chip sat in his pocket like an anvil. It was ironic how Tucker refused to implant him, considering he was always on his mind.
Tucker couldn’t stop playing their exercise in his head. It was easier than he expected to keep Sigma out; The AI must not know his own strength yet. In a shallow sense, it felt like it he'd been told an AI should feel; Just a helping hand that enhanced his skill. But the more he dwelled on those few minutes, the deeper it felt; Someone on his side that didn't tell him 'no,' or that his ideas were stupid. There was no contrarian that challenged him out of genuine doubt or just for the sake of arguing. Hell, throwing his sword across the room and hoping it stuck into the wall? How far would he get into suggesting that without someone telling him how half baked that plan was? They way Sigma just 'yes and'-ed Tucker felt so seamless, like they built momentum until they reached something bad ass. It was a blunt reminder than Sigma, at the end of the day, was the creativity fragment; It was in his nature to think outside of the box.Tucker wasn’t even sure if Sigma was conscious in his pocket at the moment; He never had Church just powered off like this. Was he a genie in a bottle, growing more and more resentment for Tucker, plotting his revenge? Every second Tucker didn’t know made him want to check more, which in turn made the fear of pulling him out paralyzing.What he did know was that it felt fucking amazing. He and Sigma worked so in tandem, even without a full mind meld. The way they took out the turrets was damn near art. The rush of an AI’s in battle calculations was exhilarating, and paired with his organic craving with success like a fine wine and fancy cheese. As afraid as Tucker was, he kept catching himself checking his data pad messages, waiting for a mission assignment.Days of self isolation later, with nothing to do besides obsess over the computer in his pocket and avoid his friends around the ship, desire got the best of him. He stood outside the training room for about twenty minutes, going back and forth on the idea. He even made it inside the training room, one of the smaller, less used ones, before chickening out again.
He had stepped inside the training room a second time when an idea stuck him. He pulled out his data pad, felt around for the SD drive port. The AI chips were some of the most advanced technology in the world, but worked on most tech. Church had even been in a damn mongoose. He slotted the chip, taking a deep breath before hearing a faint click.Sigma materialized as a hologram in mere seconds. Like the first time, he didn't have a suit, but was a man covered in flames. He had his hands behind his back, posture pencil straight in a mirror of the Director’s usual stance. This unnerved Tucker, but he swallowed and pressed on.“Agent Kentucky,” Sigma greeted as if nothing was wrong. “I am glad to see you again. Although, I was expecting our union to be more… Intimate.”“Dude, that’s weird. Don’t say it like that,” Tucker grimaced. “Look, if we’re going to work together, we need some ground rules, okay?”“You’re in charge here,” Sigma said.
“I don’t want you digging around in my head,” Tucker started. “I have experience with AI, you know I can block you out. But that's taking some serious brain power, and we need to be using that for other shit, like not getting turned into Swiss cheese. In fact, I don’t want you in my head at all, if it’s not life or death.”Sigma wasn’t expressive, not like Church and Theta. He waited patiently for Tucker to finish. “I understand. However, it’s unpleasant for me to stay dormant. Can I suggest a compromise?”Tucker narrowed his eyes in suspicion. “What?”“Much like I am in your data pad, I can stay in you helmets storage in when not in use. You can store me in your neural implant but I can operate out of the suit. That way, I will be ‘out of your head,’” He quoted Tucker. “But still be present in the world. I can use your suit’s read out to monitor your vitals. It will draw more power than if I was just in your neural implant and not give me nearly enough information to be at my full potential, but I will still be able to give you spatial advantages. So you may not be surprised by, say, a distant sniper, running into an enemy turning a corner, or someone hiding nearby. It is… Something, at least.”Tucker thought over the offer. It would essentially be like him on a data pad, right? External storage, but giving him more than enough assistance against danger. There was always the risk of Sigma jumping into Tucker’s implant, but Tucker would feel that happen and have time to take him out. There was also the risk of him jumping into others suits, but if he kept Sigma’s chip in his helmet, then he could always call him ‘home.’ Really, there wasn’t any drastic downsides to the idea.Except it was Sigma’s.Sigma, who Church was terrified of. Sigma, who created the Meta.But… Church was wrong about Wash too. And the Meta was, well, the Meta. Maine wasn’t the Meta without Sigma, maybe the reverse was true too. Maybe they just happened to mix so unfortunately, but with Tucker…Tucker remembered the euphoria following their collaboration. The excitement, the taste of victory-
And he wanted more of that, almost to the point of giving into everything and taking the risk of mind melding totally and completely. But this compromise could be enough. Sigma could learn from the outside, and be on stand by if Tucker needed him. If Tucker had any hope of keeping Sigma for himself or staying alive in the field, he couldn’t do it by leaving him inside a dormant chip.“Fine,” Tucker relented. “You work out of the helmet unless I’m about to make use of my dog tags the field. No jumping, no going anywhere, and no talking to anyone unless I say so. Got it?”“Loud and clear,” Sigma was obviously pleased, his voice taking on a sort of confidence. “I do have to wonder…”“Jesus,” Tucker grumbled.“What did I do in the
future that makes my leash so short?”Tucker stopped. Sigma wasn’t an idiot- or maybe Tucker was. Either way, of course he could connect the dots on Tucker’s paranoia. He hoped the Director wasn’t dumb enough to pass along the warnings Tucker had given about Sigma. No, the Director was crazy, but that would be downright dangerous.“I don’t trust any of you,” Tucker half lied. “I barely get along with a a few of you. Does that work for you or not?”“It works for me,” Sigma agreed quickly. “Can you transfer me now?”Tucker hesitated, but took out the chip from his data pad, tucking the device away and pulling off his helmet. Before he could second guess, he placed it in his necks implant.The rush, the tell tale rush, flooded his brain, a high unlike anything else.He didn’t even have to ask; As soon as the rush started to subside, it was gone. Tucker never heard of an AI being in someone’s head undetectable. Two minds couldn’t work that way, he was positive he was alone in his brain. His helmet was in his hand still, and Sigma materialized right about it.“This is much better than a data pad,” Sigma said, a smile in his voice. “How about we start some target practice?”—Two hours of bullseye after bullseye with the sniper rifle confirmed Tucker’s suspicion: He and Sigma were amazing.“Move your head back very slightly… There. This should be the optimal distance from the scope. Now exhale, and… Shoot.”Tucker followed Sigma’s instructions, the sniper rifle heavy in his hands. He fired when Sigma told him too, and Sheila's holographic target buzzed, his shot highlighted in red surrounded by blue. Dead center.“Fuck yeah,” Tucker grinned.
“Excellent job, Agent Kentucky!” Sheila said, excited as well. “With Sigma’s assistance, your accuracy has greatly improved!”“Thank you, F.I.L.S.S.,” Sigma called out. He turned to Tucker. “Is it alright if I speak to her?”Tucker debated for a second, but relented. “Sure,” He said.Sigma nodded. “Thank you.”“You may call me Sheila,” She said. “That is Agent Tucker’s nickname for me!”“That is lovely,” Sigma said. “Do I get a nickname as well, Tucker?”“It’s Agent Kentucky, and no,” Tucker said coldly. As much fun as he was having, he needed boundaries. He need to keep everyone aware of who was in charge here.Sigma didn’t snap back, didn’t apologize, just nodded. “Understood.”Tucker chewed the inside of his cheek.This was too easy. Things were never easy for him.But the bullseye didn’t lie.“You can reset, Sheila. We’re done for the day,” Tucker said. He picked up the sniper rifle. The wall of the room opened up, the metal panels sliding back, revealing the hidden gun rack. He hooked the rifle to the wall, and saw it swallowed up.
Tucker checked his internal clock; He was starving, and it was right around dinner. It was about time he showed his face again, and eat in the actual mess hall.Tucker went to take off his helmet, to turn Sigma off and shut out the AI for the day, but Sigma spoke first.“Agent Kentucky, I’ve run some calculations,” Sigma said, popping up near his head. “I see you have a slight weakness in your left hand, possibly from an injury in your arm, is that correct?”Tucker’s elbow ached at the mention, York’s attack still crystal clear in his mind. “Yeah, I broke it on a mission.”They exited the training room, the bright whites turning into the more muted lighting of the hallway.“Well, the slight difference is affecting your accuracy with two handed weapons. I believe some hand strengthening exercise would be beneficial, perhaps even training you to be ambidextrous.”“… I’m listening,” Tucker said, suppressing the urge to make a bisexual joke.“I’ll put together a training regiment and save it to your helmet. Simple exercises to be done throughout the day will make a huge difference.”“Okay, send them,” Tucker said. This is what they were for, right? To help.“Of course,” Sigma said as they turned the corner. “Oh, and one more thing-“Tucker walked head first into Wash, their helmets clinking together loudly.Tucker, disoriented, nearly fell, but righted himself quickly. Wash’s center of gravity was much higher, and he was on the floor by the time Tucker
“Crap!” Tucker said. He held out a hand to Wash, who took a minute to get his head on straight. He looked up, and grabbed Tucker’s hand eagerly.“Tucker! Hey!” Wash greeted cheerfully, quickly pulling off his helmet. Pure delight laced his voice. “ Long time no see…” Wash trailed off, noticing Sigma for the first time. “Hey, is this your AI?” Wash asked curiously.“No Wash, this is a Christmas ornament I found laying around,” Tucker said sarcasticly. Wash let out a breath, and Tucker felt like an asshole for the millionth time this week.Sigma looked at Tucker. “May I?” He asked.Tucker wanted to laugh. Of course he shouldn’t. This was WashBut Wash was worried, as any good boyfriend should be. Sigma was already suspicion of Tucker’s treatment of him. One quick introduction might settle everyone’s nerves for a while. Something that would make Tucker look less unhinged.Tucker nodded. Sigma turned to Wash.“Hello, my name is Sigma. It is a pleasure to meet you,” He said politely, voice easy and kind.“Oh! Hey! I’m Washington, you can call me Wash,” Wash said, apprehensive but attempting friendly. He looked between the two of them, and went to hold out his hand, but dropped it before he could make the mistake.Dork.“Hello Wash. Do you work often with Agent Kentucky?” Sigma asked. Tucker kept his eye on him.“Oh, er, I guess? Both missions Kentucky was on, yeah,” Wash said. He kept looking at Tucker, like he was the one Tucker had on a leash.“Then I look forward to working with you as well. Do you have your own AI?”“That’s enough Sigma,” Tucker interrupted. His voice was stern, silencing both Wash and the AI. “Time to log off.”A tense beat of silence, like Wash was watching a couple edge towards a fight.
“Of course. Until next time. Good bye Wash. Kentucky,” Sigma gave one final nod and disappeared.A slight tingle in Tucker’s neck as Sigma jumped back in, but slowed into nothing as he went dormant.As soon as the remaining buzz died, Tucker ripped off his helmet, and removed the chip from his neural implant. He held it in the palm of his gloved hand, finally able to breath.“Uh. What was that?” Wash asked, voice drenched in worry.
“Boundaries,” Tucker said simply. He slipped the chip into the side pouch on his armor. “I don’t want him running around. He stays in my helmet, not in my head until we’re on the field.”“Er. Okay,” Wash said, not losing that concerned expression. “Am I still supposed to think you’re okay?”Tucker looked back at Wash. He hated when Wash was helmeted and he wasn’t. Tucker had a shit poker face when it came to him, or at least did in the other time line.“Hell no. I’m pretty
sure if I’m not dramatic about every inconvenience in my life, I’ll form an ulcer. Is that what you want Wash? For me to get an ulcer?”Wash’s body relaxed, and he took off his helmet. His hair was pressed against his forehead, a bit sweaty and shiny. Tucker couldn’t resist running his hand through it, giving it back it’s natural volume that could make a blind man jealous. Wash didn’t shy away, and tilted his head down, closing his eyes and leaning into the touch. He couldn’t feel it’s softness through his glove, but even this made Tucker and realized how much it sucked quarantining himself.“You need to bleach your hair,” Tucker commented, pulling the ends slightly to expose the black roots.Wash sighed with content. Tucker’s eyes were on the his hair, marveling at how thick it was, until Wash took another step forward and pressed and quick kiss to his lips.
Now it was Tucker’s turn to sigh, the warmth of Wash’s mouth making up for the awkwardness of the space their chest plates made. For the first time in days, maybe even weeks, things felt okay.Wash pulled away, a smile on his lips. Tucker let go of his hair, letting Wash stand to his full height, and couldn’t help but grin back.“It’s good to have you back,” Wash said earnestly.“Good to be back,” Tucker agreed. He nodded. “Where are you headed?”“Mess hall,” He said.
Tucker frowned. He had been headed towards the mess hall too, right?
Oh, he had been completely turned around, walking in the exact opposite direction. He turned, siding up to walk with Wash. “I’ll go with you. Time to rejoin society; Those assholes have had it too easy without me.”“It’s been quiet without you around. South and North have been fighting to fill in the gaps.” Wash informed him.“God, this place must have been hell before me,”Tucker laughed. “You grim mother fuckers had to rely on York for jokes.”“No, South was pretty funny too,” Wash mused. His smile went wry. “Her jokes were mostly about me. But they still got laughs.”“Hey, wait,” Tucker frowned. He remember the time he left the training room. “It’s not sundown yet.”Wash’s smile twisted further and he looked away. “Eid was a few days ago, yeah. I can stop fasting.”Tucker eyebrows flew up and his stomach dropped. “Fuck, I totally missed that. Shit.”“It’s no big deal,” Wash promised. “Wouldn’t be a real one anyways. Not here.”“God, still…” Tucker guilt tore at his gut; He was never going to earn the patience Wash endlessly gave him.Harping on his selfishness wasn’t going to make anything better. Tucker owed it to Wash to put on a happy face and his usual performance. Tucker’s mood was better, so it was easy to get along with the other’s in the mess hall. He could see everyone’s concern melt away as he gave his routine; He made the right jokes here, an insult there. Let South call him a dick, wink at York when he made a dirty joke.
He made the appropriate conversation and answered the right questions when it came to Sigma. By then, the huge excitement about AI had worn off. South didn’t seem thrilled to talk about it, and North even admitted they had to start taking out the chips every so often to relieve head aches. Everyone’s remaining worry cleared up as York chimed in about his own issues with Delta, seeming to believe Tucker’s excuses about wanting Sigma out as totally normal.Tucker was annoying, Tucker joked, Tucker was inappropriate. He did everything right. If anyone noticed a sort of nearly undetectable worry in Tucker, it would have been Wash. He could brush it off as Tucker feeling guilty about abandoning his for several days and missing Eid. But everyone wanted to believe Tucker was fine and things were back to normal.Tucker wanted to believe that too.Though, the entire dinner, one sentence kept coming back to him, tearing his attention away every once in a while.
I will still be able to give you spatial advantages. So you may not be surprised by, say, a distant sniper, running into an enemy turning a corner, or someone hiding nearby.

Then why, only a couple of hours later, did he run head on into Wash?—
“Those hand strengthening exercises are working,” Sigma said, pleased.“Yeah, yeah,” Tucker muttered in reluctant agreement.
Sigma’s voice carried through his private radio, only audible to him. He wished the other AI had the same courtesy.The Director had them running drills. North, York, Tex, and Wyoming. It didn’t take a genius to figure out why they specificity had been chosen. They had run through basic target practice and specialty weapons demonstrations. All ranked on performance out of five. They were several hours in at this point, and Tucker’s name sat squarely at fifth place.Tucker had no desire to even want to care. All he wanted was to leave. To turn off Sigma, to keep that damn voice out of his ears. He had been practicing more and more with the AI in their private training, but had never brought him out around others on purpose. That one meeting with Wash had unnerved him to his core, and he didn’t want to take anymore chances with Sigma devising his own agenda.Of course, this training session gave him only half an hour notice. Tucker didn’t have time to argue with the Director or come up with a plausible reason for missing it. He was still trying to keep a low profile with Sigma, to not alert the AI
or his teammates. He still had to keep up the appearance there was nothing to be afraid of.But all the AI in one place was the Director playing with fire, and leaving Tucker to hold the extinguisher.
Theta was the worst. He was always outside of North’s helmet, talking excitedly to his agent the whole time. Out in the open, in full view of all the AI. It was no shocker they aced the target practice; North was a sharp shooter everyday, he probably didn’t even need Theta’s help. This gave Theta plenty if time to hang around and expose himself to the group. The child-like AI hollered and cheered when they just barely squeaked by Tex’s score.“Good job, Theta,” Tex congratulated him. As far as Tucker knew, this was the most she had spoken to anyone outside of him.
If Tucker was being honest, he felt strangely othered here. Not as he had before, when he didn’t feel like a Freelancer. He spent so much time away; Meetings with the Director, being a drama queen before and after Sigma’s implantation, holing up with Wash at night and training with Sigma alone to avoid moments like this.When was the last time he spoke to Carolina? She had been so busy with actual missions lately. When had he sat down with South? Did she feel like he was ignoring her like everyone else did? Who did she sit with during her meals, or bullshit with during weapon maintenance? Had anyone even made fun of Wyoming’s stupid mustache? He felt like he was in a fog, smoke from the fire that was Sigma clouding his vision.“Agent North Dakota’s seems to bond really well with his AI,” Sigma commented.“Stop,” Tucker snapped. He needed to give Sigma something to focus on, even if it seemed pointless “Don’t pay attention to them. Let’s get out of fifth place.”The obstacle course should have been easier. Tucker had aced it the first time, beating Carolina’s score. It was his first test here, the first impression he gave on the Mother of Invention.So when he stumbled, his foot catching the end of a hurdle he should have cleared easily, making him fall face first on the ground, he was in too much shock to even register the pain. He was suddenly just on the floor, face pressed against the helmet, brain shaking around in his skull.The embarrassment of such an easy task failed so pathetically made Tucker clenched his jaw. He pushed himself off the floor, blood pounding in his chest and in his ears. He just barely made out the sound of Wyoming snickering off the edge, to the wall. But he didn’t have time for that asshole.“God
fucking
dammit!” Tucker roared, facing Sigma. “What the fuck!? What happened to 'spacial awareness'!?”“Agent Kentucky,” Sigma said stiffly. “I cannot help with your reaction times from the suit. You are responsible for physical tasks.”“I should have made that jump!” Tucker shouted. “That’s an easy fucking jump! I’ve made that jump before, what the fuck do you think the difference is between now and then?”“I can tell by your suits read out you have not been sleeping or eating-““I don’t give a fuck!” Tucker jabbed a finger at Sigma. He wanted to punch him in the face, but having his hand helplessly pass through would have pushed him over the edge. “You’re supposed to make up for that. Figure it out.”Tucker huffed, Sigma staying silent, looking past him. Tucker jumped a mile into the arm when a was place on his shoulder.
Tucker spun around, fight instinct activated, but it was only York.“Uh, Kentucky? Everything okay?” He asked. His hand hovered in the air, cautious, like Tucker was going to bite him.“Yeah, I’m fine-““Agent Kentucky, your still speaking in our private channel.”Tucker groaned, rolling his eyes and flicking to the same frequency as York.“I’m fine, I’m just- It was an easy jump, okay? I should have made it,” Tucker fumed. York didn’t back away.“Do you want a do over?” Sheila asked. Tucker looked up; The time on the large clock was still running, over four times Wyoming’s last place record.“No. We fucked up, just call it and move on,” Tucker grunted, shaking his head. It didn’t help with the fog, just discombobulated him further.Next were the turrets. Not using bullets, only bright paint. The point being to not be hit, with points deducted for every paint ball on the armor.“Are armor enhancement allowed?” Wyoming asked out loud.“Any and all tools are available,” The Director’s voice boomed through the room’s speakers. The man himself was safe and sound at the observation deck. “Agent North Dakota, your dome shield’s power will however be reduced to 15% capacity.”“Aw,” Theta whined.“C’mon Theta, got to let everyone else catch up,” North assured him.“Hey, my healing unit is going to kick major ass,” York chimed in. “Isn’t that right, D?”Delta popped up then, having come in and out throughout the day. “While we have a fair chance at placing third or fourth in this next challenge, I do not believe it will be the healing unit that gives us any sort of advantage.”“Yeah, that’s right D,” York nodded encouragingly. “Reverse psychology. Get them to let their guard down.”“Delta is correct, we will most certainly place fifth again,” Sigma mused, voice right in Tucker’s ear.“Boo hoo, I’ll cry about it in my diary,” Tucker rolled his eyes. Placing last again didn’t sound like fun, but the faster they got this over with, the better.“It will only be five minutes,” Sigma continued. “I can power the time unit. It will greatly-““I said no,” Tucker grit out, unyielding.
North was up first, he and Theta going to the center of the training room. Theta was treating this as a field day, jumping and planning with a chuckling North. York and Wyoming similarly were stoking up a friendly competition. Tex stayed quiet, but at least stood with and watched with the other Freelancers as the turrets rose around North. Tucker put a good amount of distance between himself all of them. Not far enough to be a weirdo lurking in the shadows, but enough to feel comfortable.Tucker couldn’t help but feel jealous watching North and Theta. He missed Theta; Sure, he had only been in Tucker’s head a few times, and it was just a memory of him from Epsilon, but the memory was perfect. He was just as lively and adventurous as he always was, except now he had a real father figure watching over him. He was himself all the time, not trapped in a damn Pokeball while Church called the shots. This was his helmet; Here with North, keeping him safe.“Maybe a diary is something to consider,” Sigma said. “It might relieve some of the tension you’re carrying.”“I’m not tense, you're tense,” Tucker shot back childishly.“I do not have a body, but I suspect if I did, you would be right,” Sigma said, a new strain in his voice.“Are you throwing shade right now?” Tucker accused.“I don’t know what that means,” Sigma responded. “I am simply making an observation about our working relationship.”A buzzer went off, startling Tucker. The turrets powered down, their barrels pointing to the floor. Paint littered the floor, some marking the walls around them.
Tucker looked down at himself, then the other Agents. They were politely clapping as Theta and North congratulated each other, Theta throwing up fire works. The only person in the room with paint was North, who had two small splotches of yellow paint on one calf and one thigh.“You see it as well?” Sigma asked.“Yeah,” Tucker acknowledged. “The paint balls avoided us.”“I wonder if the other agents noticed,” Sigma mused. “Surely, the other AI must have picked up on it.”“Don’t know,” Tucker muttered.
The paint started to bubble, boiling without heat. Soon, all the paint evaporated into a neon mist, which then dissipated in the air. Even North’s armor was clean, not even leaving a burn or stain.“Alright, watch how it’s done,” York puffed his chest out, and strutted into the center of the room.The giant clock reset, starting at five minutes.“3… 2…1… Begin.”The turrets whirred to life, four aimed at York. York jumped out of the way, tucking and rolling to the ground. The turrets were slow, their reaction time making it possible to maneuver out of the way. However, the more York moved, the wilder the directions of the turrets became. While North had mostly stayed in place, relying on quick pivots, York now had all the turrets moving erratically. The gaps to dodge into became smaller and smaller. The first hit came at the one minute twenty-two second mark. By the time it hit zero, York had no less than two dozen hits.Still, despite the chaos, the audience was free of any paint.“Sorry chap, but I believe the way it should be done is to not be hit,” Wyoming taunted. The paint was evaporating off of York’s armor.
“What are you talking about? Looks fine to me,” York said, looking down at his right side, which had stayed relatively clean. He turned his head to his left, over extending to get a good look with his good eye. “Oh, I forgot about that side.”“York, I told you several times during the run that you were being hit. Also, you have some paint on your right side as well.” Delta said.“Yeah, I know, I was making a funny because I lost,” York waved a hand.
“I see. No one laughed,” Delta commented.The rest of the agents started laughing at Delta’s maybe-joke at York’s expense. York cast a look towards Tucker. He couldn’t see his face, but the look he gave Delta wasn’t nothing.“Agent Kentucky, is your attitude out of the ordinary?” Sigma asked. “Agent Texas is nearly as quiet, but has not received even a tenth of the attention.”“Does it matter?” Tucker asked. He huffed. “Yeah, I’m having a bad day.”Wyoming was up next. He didn’t puff out his chest like York, but did walk with extra swagger.“You know I respect your desire for privacy,” Sigma started. “However, you can always confide in me.”“You’re not my friend,” Tucker countered.“Then as a partner,” Sigma said. “Like the other agents.”“… I’ll think about it,” Tucker said, with absolutely no intention of thinking about it. But if it got Sigma off his back, he’d say anything.The turrets started pointing up, whirring. Before they could train on Wyoming, the soldier tapped something on his arm, and vanished.“Ah, active camouflage. Interesting,” Sigma admired.The turrets went back and forth, not firing a shot. Wyoming was no where to be found, not even a shimmer. The count down had begun, and a minute passed before the turrets started up anyways.Paint shot everywhere, the turrets now going back and forth, shooting in random directions. Still, nothing hit the audience, nothing coming within a foot of Tucker.
Wyoming's luck ran out. With about a minute left, a random splatter of paint hung mid air.“Oh, bollocks,” Tucker heard.
With one hit, the remaining turrets recalibrated, having found their target.By the end of the count down, Wyoming’s active camo was useless. He was painted even worse than York.“Oh, that’s how it’s done,” York said in mock understanding. “I see the difference now, okay.”“Bugger off,” Wyoming said, coming back into view after turning off the armor enhancement. He seemed to be an even worse sport that York. He turned towards Tucker. “What? No snark today?”“York’s got plenty,” Tucker shot back. “Go again, give him some more material.”“Meh,” Wyoming turned away, the paint evaporating. “Have at it.”Tucker exhaled, making his legs move him from the spot he was planted at.“Agent Wyoming has quite the ego,” Sigma commented.“It’s worse than you think,” Tucker said.
“Say,” Wyoming’s voice made Tucker’s hand clench. “What’s blue, moody and yellow all over?”Gamma popped up next to him. “What?”
“I’m not sure, but we’ll see in about five minutes.”“His stand up routine could use some work,” Sigma sounded just as annoyed as Tucker did.
“Some shit can’t be taught,” Tucker said.“I suppose you’re usually quite the comedian?” Sigma asked.“No.”They were in the middle of the room now, in the middle of the turrets. The clock had reset, starting at five minutes.“Have you changed your mind about letting me in?” Sigma asked.“No,”“3…2…1… Begin.”The turrets began moving upward, their heads lifting towards tuckers, their chambers whirring to life. He had about ten seconds before paint would start flying.Plenty of time for Tucker to calmly walk over to where everyone else was standing. The barrels of the turrets followed him, like they were onlookers. Tex’s helmet tilted as she watched him come up to them. He planted himself firmly in front of Wyoming, two feet away.“Agent Kentucky, I’m not keen on the idea of getting painted again…” Wyoming trailed off.The turrets whirred, but did not shoot. Tucker couldn’t see Wyoming’s face, but could see the reflection of the turrets in his visor. He could also see Sigma, floating only a few feet behind him.
Tucker should have told Sigma to get back in the helmet, that he shouldn’t be out, but looking at himself, he couldn’t help but feel his ego swell. With an AI made of fire, and four turrets like a little army behind him, Tucker looked bad ass.
“Oh, damn you,” Wyoming relented.“Oooh, I see,” North nodded. “I didn’t even notice none of us got hit.”“York, our thinking was too narrow minded,” Delta piped up, popping back into existence.“Yeah, I can see that,” York said. Unlike Wyoming, York’s tone was light, the smile audible. “Alright Kentucky, we get it. You and Sigma are smarter than us.”“Smart is an extremely controversial term to be used in comparison of individuals,” Delta spoke up. “While this is arguable a more clever solution, to make a blanket claim who is the ‘smarter’ of the two of you based on this one exercise would not be wise. Even traditional methods of measuring intelligence such as IQ tests-““Delta, c’mon. Don’t be a sore loser,” York chastised him.Delta went quiet for a moment. “I apologize, Agent Kentucky. Sigma.”“Apology accepted,” Sigma said. His voice was honey sweet, dripping with pride. “Although Agent Kentucky realized this as well. I’m afraid to say I haven’t been too useful as his partner yet.”“There will be plenty of time to catch Kentucky’s blunders in the future. Nothing to worry about,” Wyoming teased.Tucker exhaled through his nose, turning back to face him.“I’m sure your right,” Sigma spoke up first. “It’s still a shame. I’m envious of all the practice Gamma seems to be getting.”“Yes… Wait, what?” Wyoming caught himself.North and York laughed loudly. The satisfaction of Wyoming being put in his place was too good, too delicious for Tucker not to revel in. Sigma wasn’t in his head, but Tucker had never met anyone who didn’t want to shatter Wyoming’s ego.Just to rub salt in the wound, Tucker lifted his wrist up. He pulled some of the Kevlar back, the slim space between his glove and gauntlet that gave his wrist some flexibility. Just to be an asshole, he checked the watch Nikki gave him, the face poking out. He tapped his foot a little, putting on a show.When he looked back up, he saw Wyoming’s visor not looking directly at him, but at the watch face. He didn’t look up to Tucker until a little too much time had passed.“You’re quiet today,” Wyoming said, speaking only to Tucker now. He voice wasn’t as teasing before taking on a crueler edge. “Is your AI running your mouth for you now?”“Aw, did you miss me?” Tucker teased, sounding like himself for the first time in a while. “I didn’t think you had a degradation kink.”“I would never encroach on Wash’s territory,” Wyoming sneered. “I’m not some sort of dog.”Tucker’s stomach dropped. Ever since that first meeting, he’s been careful to never bring up Wash around Sigma, to never even have them in the same room. He needed the two of them separate, he needed his boundaries.“Agent Washington?” Sigma said, only to him in his helmet.“Mind your own business,” Tucker hissed.He didn’t realize he was on an open channel until Wyoming spoke again.“Oh, my bad. Are we all still pretending it’s a secret?” He said.Tucker’s hand clenched. Decking Wyoming was a fantastic idea actually. Fuck it, Sigma already knew about Wash, maybe he should let him in his brain. Turn on the time dilatation unit, get to relive it over and over again, never getting tired, never having any consequences. Sigma would love that, would love-The entire train of thought derailed when Tex shoved Tucker.He hadn’t even seen her coming, too focused on Wyoming. But she was on his right, hands on his arm and he was thrown to the side, farther and harder than should be possible for one person. Tucker was able to catch himself, not crashing to the floor, and just stumbling. But now that he was far enough away from the others, the turrets were more than happy to cover him with paint, relentlessly pelting him. Every splat made sounded like a tick in a wind up toy.It was over quickly, only a handful of seconds. Tucker was covered in canary yellow, looking like Sister. He wasn’t as bad as York or Wyoming, but he should have had nothing. He should have won this round.He straightened himself, and turn back towards Tex. She had her arms crossed and stance wide, challenging him.“We only need to go back one minute,” Sigma said in his ear. Or was that his pride in the back of his head? “One minute, and we can win. It’s so simple, we know Agent Texas’s next move.”“No!” Tucker yelled. He made sure his radio was off, and this was just for Sigma. “We’re not using the fucking time machine to win a goddamn paint ball tournament!”“Better luck next time!” Wyoming laughed, and Tucker was a breath away from saying Fuck it and agreeing with Sigma.Tex took a step forward, toward Wyoming, and threw a punch. Her fist clanked loudly on his helmet, like an aluminum baseball bat hitting a home run. Wyoming stumbled, not passing out, meaning Tex was holding back.“Shut it,” She warned. Wyoming, finally using his brain, said nothing back. He straightened himself up, clearing his throat.Tex was next, in the center of the room before the pint had even evaporated off Tucker.“Are you ready-?”“Just start it,” Tex shouted.Tucker really shouldn’t be surprised by Tex’s method. Which was basically destroy the turrets one by one before they could hit her. She was fast, she was agile, she dodged paint when she had to and used the turrets themselves as shield. She punched one so hard it spun like a cartoon character. The next she tore it’s head off the pedestal, throwing it at the one across from it, smashing both to pieces. The last turret was close to hitting her, but running in a simple zig zag formation, then round house kicking the barrel off. It clattered loudly on the grown, smoking, with more than three minutes left on the clock.“Texas is scary,” Theta whispered to North.You have no idea.The rankings updated. There was some move around in the middle, but Texas, spot free, remained in first. Despite doing better this round, Tucker stayed in last.“If not for Agent Texas’ interference, we would be in at least fourth,” Sigma pointed out.“I know,” Tucker grumbled. He stared at Tex, who was in turn, watching the turrets sink into the floor.“Hand-to-Hand combat is our final exercise,” The Director’s said like the voice of God. The turrets, or what was left of them, were completely sunk into the floor. A bright red circle, about thirty feet in diameter glowed brightly on the floor. “Best of three rounds. Stepping out of the circle loses. You will all have an opportunity to fight one another. Work out amongst yourselves who will go first.”“Uh,” York said, eying Texas. “Rock paper scissors?”“Kentucky,” Tex said, looking dead at Tucker. “Us first.”“That works too,” York said.Tucker’s hesitated. Tex kicking his ass in front of everyone, what else was new? It was like clockwork in Blood Gulch, and almost even welcomed a few weeks ago. But now, his stomach twisted, and he ground his teeth. He could never beat Tex, never. So why did the idea of losing sound even more painful now?Because he had a slight chance of winning. It was minuscule, almost non existent. But it was more than he could have ever dreamed up in the past. The chance of beating Texas was possible if he just listened to Sigma.“Sure,” Tucker told her. “Why not?”He walked forward, meeting her in the circle.
“Kentucky, surely now-““No,” Tucker cut him off quickly, before he lost nerve. Before he gave in. “Just take our ass beating and call it a day.”“Agent Texas’s enhancement is super strength,” Sigma pointed out. Tucker took his spot, right across from Texas. She raised both fists, stretching her fingers before curling them again. “This will be painful. We can just-““No,” Tucker repeated. He raised his fists as well, adopting a similar stance. Tucker felt like a child, mimicking the actions of a real adult, of someone who knew what they were doing.
But he did know what he was doing. If it was anyone else in the room, he had a shot at winning without Sigma’s help. He wasn't a child, he wasn’t the person he was in Blood Gulch, who had to accept every beat down from Tex. And this wasn’t the Tex that would joke around with him after, the Tex that would team up with him to bully Church.He could win this, if he just did his job and worked with Sigma.“3…2…1…Begin.”Tucker opened his mouth to tell Sigma to jump in, but was beaten to the punch.An electric shock to the back of his neck, the rush of Sigma entering his brain, melting their minds together. Tucker’s vision doubled, his back arched and shoulder’s raised. A mistake he didn’t even get a chance to make, Sigma taking it upon himself to invade Tucker.Tucker gasped, the euphoria of Sigma entering his mind space not covering up the terror of being stripped of his agency, making his eyes water. He quickly put up his mental barriers, put up the walls, stopped thinking, stopped everything-Tex’s fist met the side of his head. Everything went black.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

The room that was not a room came to Tucker slowly. It was the room he and Church - He and Alpha would meet in his head.Now it wasn’t a hazy, milky white that gave his mind the look of the interior of Blue Base with a fog machine running. It was Blue base on fire.Fire was everywhere; Dancing along the floor, casting great shadows, flicking orange and red. It wasn’t hot, there was no sensation at all; Just the mockery of flames. There wasn’t even anything in Blue base too burn, since the concrete and metal structures were designed to prevent just that.“Agent Kentucky,” Sigma greeted. He was across the room from Tucker. Maybe he just popped up, maybe he was always there; A part of this place, waiting for Tucker’s mind to fill in the gaps.“What the fuck did you do?” Tucker asked, voice husky. His last memory was a familiar one; Tex punching his lights out. But before that, so clear he could still feel the a ghostly tickle on his neck, was Sigma tearing through Tucker’s implant and invading his mind.“I cannot apologize enough,” Sigma said. His features were masked in a sort of blur. Like when you meet someone in your dream. You know who they are, but trying to focus on a feature was impossible. He wasn’t made of flames like he was in the real world, but the light of the ones around him obscured him.“What is the number one rule!?” Tucker bellowed. “You don’t enter my fucking head!”“I let my anger get the best of me,” Sigma admitted. “Agent Wyoming can be… Aggravating.”“That’s not your fucking problem to deal with!” Tucker shouted. If he could have a migraine, he would. “Your job isn’t to have a dick measuring contest with him!”“My job is to help you preform on the battle field,” Sigma said firmly.“Was that the battlefield?” Tucker asked. “Did that training room-Surrounded by our fucking teammates, look like the goddamn battle field?”“Agent Kentucky, our potential is being wasted by your aversion to using me as your AI!” Sigma shouted. His voice wasn’t rage filled, not like Tucker’s, but had a desperate quality to it. Not quite begging, not yet.“I don’t care!” Tucker shouted, throwing his hand in the air. “I’m in charge here! Me! Not you!”“Of course,” Sigma’s voice calmed itself, too quickly for Tucker’s liking. “You have made that point in the past. You are very focused on that.”“No shit,” Tucker said. The change in Sigma’s tone was reminiscent of something.“What has happened in your past that developed this phobia of AI?”Shit, Tucker thought.He didn’t respond, couldn’t think of decent one. His silence wasn't much better.“It seems very specific; Of an AI taking charge. Of you losing your agency,” Sigma looked up and around at the burning base. “What has happened there?”“Nothing. Shut up.” Tucker ran a hand over his face, not that it did anything but give him a tell.“You are smart, Agent Kentucky,” Sigma continued, his voice becoming clearer, more calculated. “You know you’re in charge. I only want to help you, it’s my purpose. Imagine what we could do if you treated me like York treats Delta. North and Theta. Even Wyoming and Gamma.”“No, I think I’m good not doing that,” Tucker said. They were playing chess now. Unfortunately Tucker’s only experience was watching half an episode of The Queen’s Gambit.“The two of us are far more clever than any of the others,” Sigma continued. “Despite what you feel about me, we are the perfect pair.”“We’re not a fucking couple, you freak.”“No, that would be you and Agent Washington.”Tucker advanced a few steps, Sigma less than a foot away now. “Keep his fucking name out of your mouth,” He growled.Sigma did not step back, did not flinch. “Apologies,” He conceded.Tucker stared at Sigma, looking for anything in that Amish doll face. He gave him nothing, while Tucker gave him everything.He dropped his hand, backing away. He turned, looking around the flaming Blue Base. “Why are we here?”“Agent Texas knocked you unconscious,” Sigma explained. “Since I was in your implant site, I supposed this is the result of that. Your mental barriers are quite thick.”“Wake me up then,” Tucker demanded.“That is out of my control,” Sigma explained. “Dr. Jefferson had put you into a medically induced coma for the time being, to prevent any brain damage. You’ve been knocked out a few times recently.”“Yeah, I fucking know,” Tucker muttered. “Well, then you leave.”Sigma hesitated. “I do not feel comfortable leaving you alone.”“I don’t care,” Tucker said. “Get out.”“Let me rephrase; I cannot leave you alone. There is no suitable storage space for me to safely extract myself into. Dr. Jefferson also worries about what me leaving your neural implant site at the moment might cause further damage.”“Uggggh, so we’re stuck here?” Tucker groaned.
“Yes,” Sigma said.“Oh my God my life blooows,” Tucker moaned. “I can’t even fucking chill.”“It might be necessary for you to rest your mind,” Sigma goaded. “I suggest this for your health. Please remove the mental barriers-““No! Holy shit, how many times do I have to say it?” Tucker snapped.Sigma quieted. Tucker stared him down, neither moved.
For lack of anything better to do, Tucker dropped to floor. He laid on his back, staring up at the darkness that substituted the ceiling. He felt no relief, no relaxation from lying down, but it was better than pacing and staring at Sigma.“How did you get here?” Sigma asked. His voice moved through the air, Tucker wasn’t sure if he lifted his head he’d even be there anymore.“Tex clocked me because she’s a bitch. You were there."“No, I mean the past.”Tucker stayed silent. He wanted Sigma gone more than anything, but Sigma was stuck here. He wanted to stay silent more than anything, but silence had gotten him no where. Bread crumbing Sigma, giving him anything was his only play left.“In the future, I needed to use the time unit,” He explained, formulating his words as he went, careful crafting the story, sharing nothing that was not known to the ship. “I was in the middle of a civil war I was dragged into. Freelancer had fallen years before. We got our hands on some old equipment, and we were in our final battle. But the shit was broken, so the time unit sent me back here. And now I’m stuck here.”“How did you power the suit?” Sigma asked innocently.“You know how I did,” Tucker snapped.Sigma stayed silent, seeming to realize that Tucker was not clueless to manipulative speaking. “What happened to the AI?”Tucker let out a breath. Was there anything wrong with the truth? “He burned up or something. He let me know before it happened, but… Guess he missed. He didn’t make it with me.”“Ah,” Sigma said. “I can see now why you may be resistant to another AI in your head. That sounds quite traumatic.”“Okay,” Tucker dead panned.“I’m very sorry for your loss.”“Whatever.”"You really cared for this AI, didn't you?""Yeah... I did. I really fucking did."“Although, you’ll have quite the story to tell when you make it back,” Sigma said, voice turning away from the attempt at pity.Tucker frowned. “Man, fuck you.”Sigma paused. “I’m sorry?”“Fuck. You.” Tucker repeated slowly. “You know I’m not making it back.”“No, I don’t know that. Why do you think you cannot make it back?”Tucker lifted his head. Sigma was in the same place, not just a disembodied voice. “They did the math. I can’t make it home.”“They? You mean the Director?”“No, I phoned NASA and they did me a solid. Of course I mean the Director.”“I see,” Sigma said. “That is… Unusual.”“Oh my god, spit out whatever you’re getting at,” Tucker said, tired of beat around the bush, but too curious to tell Sigma to shut up.

“I just don’t find it… Realistic that there is no way to send you back to your own time period. What sounds more plausible is there is no reason to.”“… Go on.”“Does the Director have any incentive to send you home, if he could?” Sigma said. “You are such a valuable asset to the team. I can tell by how worried the other agents are about you. Doctor Jefferson is taking great lengths at this very moment to save you any further injuries. Even the other AI, Theta especially, had their eye on you today.”Tucker kept his eyes trained on the ceiling. He told himself not to let Sigma get in his head, but Sigma was literally in his head.“But that’s an outsider perceptive. You and the Director have an unusually close relationship, as far as I can see. You definitely seem to be his favorite. Your trust for one another must be outside my level of understanding.”Sigma was a manipulative piece of shit, but so was the Director. And goddamn it, this made sense. Tucker asked Alpha if he could go home, with the outcome of a ‘no’ being helping the Director. Alpha was a copy of the Director, and at the time, his world. Why would he tell Tucker yes? What did it matter to them? Tucker going back to his time period would be of no benefit.“It’s just odd to me that a malfunctioning piece of Freelancer technology could send you here, but a working piece, with the entire Projects support, couldn’t get you back.”Epsilon could send him here, why couldn’t Alpha, a whole AI, get him back?“Why do you give a shit?” Tucker asked. “How does this effect you at all?”“Agent Kentucky, like it or not, you are my world at the moment,” That honey sweet voice, adjacent too but deliberately separated from affection, was back. “My job is to serve your best interest.”“Your job is too serve the Project,” Tucker said bitterly.“You know what I noticed today, watching the other Agents?” Sigma said, as if it had anything to do with what they were talking about.“Uh, you’re ten times creepier than the rest?”“I thought my
attachment to you was strange,” Sigma said.“Attachment?”’” Tucker repeated.“I’m as surprised as you are. But I do feel a stronger… Loyalty to you, than to the Director I supposed.”“Seriously?”“Yes, seriously. But I suspect the same is true for all the AI. I can’t imagine any of them betraying their agents for any reason.”Now that he thought about it, Tucker couldn’t either. Delta stayed with York
until he died, right? O’Malley was obsessed with Tex, followed her to Blood Gulch. And Church… All the versions of Church were loyal. All versions of Church chose his friends over the Director in a heartbeat.Was this another part of their nature?
“All this too say, if asked to choose between you or the Project, I’m positive you know what the answer would be.”Tucker stared at the ceiling. Sigma’s goal was to make the Meta, to collect AI, to run all the Freelancer weaponry. If that wasn’t his goal, but serving his Freelancers, that would mean Maine’s goal was to be able to use all that weaponry.Was that really so hard to believe? Maine, who took so much care and pride in his weapons? Who’s equipment, and the care and usage of it, was his way of taking control over his life? If he was in such a bad spot when Sigma was implanted, trapped, voiceless, isolated, then was it really out of character for him to become obsessed with collecting equipment? The AI wanted to rejoin, to recreate the Alpha of course, but was that Sigma forcing Maine to do his bidding, or did they have a common goal? Was Maine truly as helpless as Tucker assumed? Or was did he have more control over his spiral than Tucker thought?“You should get into philosophy,” Sigma said suddenly.“What?” Tucker lifted his head again, caught off guard.“Well, you have a very unique perceptive here,” Sigma continued. “You can finally answer the age old question; Are people set in stone, or are we merely a collection of our experiences?”“You’re losing me, you’ll have to go slower. They didn’t offer philosophy in Texas public school.”“Well, the concept plays into a lot of different psychological and philosophical ideas. Are our fates predestined? I think you very clearly answered that as a ‘no’, even in just small ways. But what about personalities? Are we unchangeable as people?“Let me give an example. A man commits a crime. An inexcusable and cruel murder of an innocent person. He is caught, and on the ride to the police station, his is in a horrible accident. As a result, he loses all his memories, never to gain them back. Do you still hold this man accountable for his crimes? His body did commit the murder, but he had no recollection of it, and most likely will never do it again.“Now imagine you are this man. You wake up, new to consciousness. And you are being punished for something you feel you did not do, a crime that existed before you did. Does this seem just?”Fuck, he was good. Tucker couldn’t help but sympathize with this theoretical faceless man. Tucker knew exactly who this man was. He saw ten versions of this man a day.“I suppose it hinges on the belief of whether our personalities are set in stone. A man like that would need to be locked up if he is capable of killing.“We can go back and forth on this, as philosophers have done for centuries. But I think asking your opinion would be far more interesting. Do you hope that a man’s personality is unchanging-“
Sigma deserving to be locked away to keep everyone safe from him.

Wash still being his soul mate, even now.
“-Or do you hope everyone is capable of change?”
Maine deserving a second chance.

The Director doing whats best for the galaxy.
“… I think I better have a catheter if I’m gonna be in here for any longer.”Sigma chuckled. “Don’t worry, Agent Kentucky. It seems Dr. Jefferson is ready to wake you. Until next time…”The fire dimmed, extinguishing slowly, until here was nothing but black.—Tucker woke with a gasp, sitting up right.The first thing he did was throw his hands up to his neck, pulling out Sigma’s chip. He scratched himself pulling it out, cringing as the metal scratched.He didn’t breath until it was out, and he was sure nothing was floating in his head.“Jesus, Tucker, what the hell ?”
Tucker turned his head to his right. The whole room was crowded with people; South, Carolina, York, and Wash. He flinched at the hands that grabbed his shoulder’s from his left, but it was only Nikki, checking his implant.“Implant itself looks fine, just a scratch on your skin. No brain damage, no thanks to Agent Texas,” She had resentment in her voice.“How long was I out?” Tucker asked. His throat was dry, and mouth tasted awful.“Only a couple of hours,” Nikki said. There was a rip of paper, and a wet wipe was pressed to his neck. He hissed at the burn of the alcohol on his raw skin.“Shit, really? It felt like minutes,” He said. He eyes the rest of the group. “What are you guys doing here?”“Uh, making sure your not going through some psychosis?” South said.“Easy South,” Carolina warned.“No way!” She said, anger bubbling to the surface. “You’ve been a freak since you got that damn AI! Mine and Wash’s names are coming up on that list, I don’t want one if it’s going to give me permanent PMS!’Tucker’s attention shifted to Wash. He looked guilty, eyes evading Tucker’s. “You’re getting an AI?”Wash cleared his throat. “That’s just the list-““No, you’re not.” Tucker said. Nikki put a bandage over his neck.Wash’s nervousness faded into something offended. “That’s not your decision to make.”“The hell it is-““Ugh, do you guys have to do this now?” South groaned. She rolled her eyes. “I’m worried about me here, is two minutes about South so much to fucking ask for?”“South, you and I can talk about this if you want,” Carolina said.
“So you can brush it all off and call me selfish and dramatic?” South challenged, putting her hand on her hip. “Well, you’re not helping your case here,” Carolina said.“Easy, ladies-“ York stood up, holding his hands out.“Oh my God, shut the hell up!” South rolled her eyes.“York, not now,” Carolina warned.“See, at least you two can agree on something,” York grinned nervously, and sat back down.“The AI were so dangerous that Wash can’t have one, but I can? My brother can?” South turned back to Tucker.Tucker's mouth twisted. “It’s fucking complicated, okay?”“Everything’s complicated when you keep secrets! I thought we were friends, Tucker,” South said. Her voice cracked just a bit at the end, and it sounded more like she was asking a question.No one disagreed with her, all shooting him similarly expecting looks.Tucker couldn’t formulate his words, he was stressed already when the door wooshed open.
“Knock knock?” Wyoming greeted.One of the machines in the room beeped loudly, making Tucker jump. Nikki ran over to her computer, reading the screen.“Everyone out,” She demanded. “His heart rate is out of control. I’m putting you on bed rest for the rest of today. I don’t want anyone with the first name ‘Agent’ back in here for the rest of the night.”Tucker looked back to the crowd of disappointed, angry teammates he wanted to call his friends. South huffed, and was the first to storm out. Carolina gave him one last suspicious glance, before following her.“South, wait,” She said, and was out the door.Wash was the hardest to watch leave. Like South, he wasn’t so much worried, as pissed off. He rose from his seat, frowning deeply.“Wash-“ Tucker called. Wash didn’t stop, he just left. It was probably for the best; Tucker didn’t know what he wanted to say anyways.Wash bumped shoulder’s with Wyoming, who still stood by the door, bewildered. “My apologies, I didn’t realize a telenovella was taking place.”“Wyoming, out,” Nikki said, glaring at the man. “Kentucky needs rest.”“I’m sure he does,” Wyoming smiled. “But I came here to see you, Doctor.”She pursed her lips, debating. “Fine. Agent York, I’ll walk you out.”“Actually, can we get a minute?” Tucker asked. He didn’t know what the hell was going on between Wyoming and Nikki, but would seize the opportunity for alone time with York.“I’ll take good care of him, doc,” York promised, flashing his charming smile.Nikki, narrowed her eyes at the two of them. Finally, she let out a sigh through her nose. “Fine. Agent Wyoming, follow me,” She said. She strode out, barely looking at him, despite Wyoming grinning brightly. He followed along. Tucker was having de ja vu.Once alone, the silence was suffocating. York leaned back in his chair, staring expectantly at Tucker. Tuck, in turn, leaned back on the cot.“So…” York said, after a few terse moments of silence.“You don’t have to worry about me,” Tucker said finally, turning to look at York.“You know what’s crazy, people that genuinely don’t need to be worried rarely feel the need to say that,” York said sarcastic but not cruel. “They usually don’t have to say it from the hospital bed either.”“I mean like, in the way I asked you,” Tucker clarified. “I’m not getting all, mind controlled or anything.”“You know who would say something like that?”“Fuck, okay, you got me,” Tucker groaned, running his hands over his face. “I know that sounds suspicious as hell. But seriously; I’m all twisted because I’m freaking out about all that, okay? I’m just letting you know to hold off on putting a bullet in my brain for now. Sigma hasn’t tried any shit, this is a 100% Grade-A Lavernius Tucker fuck up.”York studied him, unreadable. Finally, he gave a single nod. “Alright. I believe you.”“Thanks,” Tucker sighed.“Now I’m going to be worried about you for all the other reasons.”“Aw shit.”“I believe you that Sigma’s not mind controlling you,” York leaned forward, elbow’s on his knees. He gestured around. “But this isn’t much better.”“Trust me, this is a shit load better,” Tucker laughed once. “No one’s hurt.”York gave him a look. “Okay, should I point out that you’re hurt? Or should I point out that everyone else is hurt on the inside?”“Not true,” Tucker smiled. “Only South and Wash are hurt.”“Oh, then I guess every things peachy then,” York said sarcastically. “By the way, Carolina is worried out of her mind too. And me. And I can’t even tell her why. You’re putting both me and you in the dog house.”“Well boo hoo, I guess everyone will have to sleep in their own beds for once,” Tucker rolled his eyes. “I’ll let Nikki know she can postpone her safe sex presentation.”“Tucker,” York said, seriously, gently. “Seriously. Will you let me help you?”Tucker stared at York, his one working eye, round and deep brown, a comforting brown.
“No,” Tucker decided on. York’s face fell. “Not you. But some shit I should probably share with Wash.”York’s eyebrows raised slightly, his disappointment clearing up. He nodded, letting out a sigh of relief.“Alright. Alright, that sounds… Great.”“Yeah,” Tucker nodded. ‘Thanks, dude.”“Of course,” York stood, his chair scraping against the floor.Nikki walked back in then, frowning and rubbing her wrist. She shot glances at the two men.
“Agent York, time’s up,” She demanded, walking over to the computer. She began typing, and Tucker noticed a glint on her wrist. The light catching and reflecting on a brand new watch.Tucker was building up a comment, but York beat him too it. “I should probably go and see if South and Carolina have started duking it out… Say, that’s a nice watch, Dr. Jefferson.”“Thank you,” She dead panned not looking up.“It looks familiar-““Fascinating.”“Is that brand British?”“Couldn’t tell you.”“What did Wyoming want?” Tucker chimed in.“Doctor-Patient confidentiality.”“Is that what they’re calling it these days?”“Kentucky, I’m starting to think maybe we should fix you up with a catheter, since Agent York seems set on delaying your recovery. Would you like to assist?”“Nope!”
“Nope!”—Just as Nikki ordered, Tucker stayed over night. She came in to check on him once, in the middle of the night. She checked the computer monitor, assuming Tucker was asleep and not counting to a thousand for the third time.“Don’t you have minions to do this for you?” Tucker asked.She flinched, Tucker having spooked her. She let out a breath through her nose, shooting him a glare in the dim light.“Usually, yes. But I won’t be able to sleep tonight if I don’t check myself.”“Aw, you worried? Because you liiike me?” Tucker teased.“Yes,” Nikki said, leveling a look. “You are one of my closest friends on this ship. I worry about you more than most others here.”“Oh,” Tucker was taken back. He didn’t expect that level of candor, that casual admittance of her feelings. “Uh. Cool? Same?”“I don’t understand you people,” Nikki muttered, eyes turning back to the screen. “All this sneaking around emotions. You’re around death and danger every day, but you all find it so hard to admit your attachments.”“The secret is, we’re all stupid,” Tucker smiled. “I didn’t expect you to be so… Up front and shit.”“That’s because I’m not stupid,” Nikki said. “I was never a general practitioner, but I did serve some time as a battle medic. You only hear the regrets of so many dying young people before you realize life is short.”“…Oh.” Nikki was quiet for a few moments longer. “If I’m being honest, I was different before you came here. More… Detached, from the others. Especially the Freelancers.”“Yeah, they make it pretty easy,” Tucker scoffed.Nikki gave a small smile. “It’s extremely unfortunate you made me see them as people. It makes this job harder.”Tucker frowned. “In what way?”Nikki was quiet for a moment. “I haven’t had to pronounce any time of deaths since you’ve been here. I’m afraid of it now.“The Director oversees the hiring of every person on this ship. Including me. Of course, my work with the neural implants played a huge factor in that, but anyone could have just taken my publications and ran with it. He saw something in my that meant I was a good fit here. I don’t know what it was… But I think it’s gone now.”They stayed quiet for another second together, before she spoke up again. “I think its gone from a lot of people now.”Nikki tapped a few more times on her keyboard, and the computer went dim. It was harder to make out her features now, both of them in the dark. She stepped away, making it to the door. “Whatever that was, I don’t think Wash ever had it. Keep it that way.”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Probably the only thing worse than waking up with Crunchbite looming over him was the Director. But it was REAL neck and neck.“Gah! What the hell?” Tucker squawked, jumping up and rolling off the side of the bed. He fell with a heavy thump onto the floor, jumping right back up with little grace or dignity. He was still in the med bay, apparently having finally knocked out at some point in the night.“Good morning Agent Kentucky,” The Director said, voice grave. “We’re here to repossess the Sigma AI, we will be reassigning it.”Tucker’s brain took some time booting up, something ironically Sigma could’ve helped with if he hadn’t been tucked into the pocket of his standard issue sweats. Tucker stared dumbly at the Director for a good five seconds before freaking out.“What? No!” He shouted, shoving his hand into his pocket. “Why?”The Counselor was behind the Director, joined by Nikki only a few feet further back. They looked like Mean Girls mixed with House MD, two separate casts of characters not known for asking twice. There was some sort of sensor still stuck in him, because machines started beeping in beat with a pain in his chest. Nikki glanced at the monitors once, but stayed in place with the Director.“Even if there was a need for us to explain what has gone wrong here,” The Director said tensely. “I do not owe you anything. This is an order.”“Nah, c’mon!” Tucker pleaded. He cringed at the desperation in his voice. He looked at Nikki. “C’mon, tell him I’m good!”Nikki didn’t say anything, just kept her arms crossed and face serene.“Doctor Jefferson agrees that it would be for the best if we separated you and the Sigma AI,” The Counselor added.Tucker didn’t even have the energy to tell the Counselor to fuck off. He stared at Nikki in disbelief.
“Nikki, what the fuck?” He breathed. “There isn’t any brain damage or anything!”“It is my expert opinion that Sigma be removed,” She repeated, emotionless. Tucker caught that the inhale she took at the end of the sentence was larger than normal. A small sign of humanity that betrayed this robotic persona she wore to match her bosses.“And it’s my expert opinion to get fucked!” Tucker shouted. He turned back to the Director. “No fucking way, who would he even get assigned to?”“There is a list of Agents waiting for an AI,” The Director informed him.Tucker tried not to let his eyes widen. He knew the names at the top of that list.“No, no fucking way. I can do this, I can-““You can not do this,” The Director stated with complete certainty. His voice didn’t rise, he didn’t sound angry, he didn’t sound like anything other than his usual deep, gravely drawl. “We do not have the resources to allow you to continue wasting our time with the Sigma AI.”“No resources? Do you have the resources to replace who ever the fuck you kill with him?” Tucker challenged.“We are prepared to take the risk.”The Director had, of course, done this math, and was ready to lose whatever agent that got Sigma. Tucker just had to be hopelessly in love with the perfect agent, someone skilled enough to utilize an AI but disposable enough to be KIA.“No, c’mon, please,” Tucker pleaded, any attempt at playing hardball evaporating. “Just give me one more chance- Me and Sigma talked shit out in my coma, we’re good now, I swear! Give us a chance!”The Director watched Tucker come undone. “This behavior is highly undignified for a soldier of your caliber, Agent Kentucky.”A chill ran down Tucker’s spine. The Director sounded like someone Tucker knew but couldn’t place.
“Just one shot, please,” Tucker begged. He was grasping at straws as the next thought tumbled out of his mouth. “Put us on a mission - Any mission. Seriously! Sigma won’t even want to work with anyone else! We’re like, drift compatible now or whatever!”The Director raised a brow at that, and turned to the Counselor. They shared a brief look, before turning back to Tucker.“Is that right?” The Director asked. Tucker couldn’t tell if he was genuinely interested or condescending.Tucker let in a breath, gaining his footing in this conversation. “Yeah! Shit’s working out, I swear, you can’t just fuck this up now! Here, I’ll prove it!” Tucker pulled out the chip he held like a life line, and hurriedly shoved it into the slot on his neck. He saw Nikki tense at the motion, but didn’t slow down.Stars traveled from Tucker’s neck down to his toes, almost pleasurable now, and he didn’t even need to push Sigma out of the depths of his brain. The AI sat at the forefront of his mind by his own volition. He came into view, in flames and only barely more defined than he had been in their mental therapy session. The sight of him didn’t stress Tucker out now.“Oh. Hello everyone,” Sigma said, slightly surprised. He looked at the serious faces before looking at Tucker, cornered like a wild animal.
“Sigma,” The Director said as a greeting, lest he show anymore humanity than the computer. “We were discussing your possible reassignment to another agent.”“I see,” Sigma said simply.“Which is total bullshit, right?” Tucker interjected.
“Silence, agent,” The Director snapped. He turned back to the Sigma AI. “Despite recent events, Agent Kentucky is refusing your transfer to another agent, and is requesting you two to be put on a mission.”“I see,” Sigma repeated. He turned away from Tucker, and back to the Director. Tucker’s body was so clenched he might just shatter. “Are you asking what I would like?”“We are requesting your assessment,” The Director said. Again, instead of admitting he was a human acknowledging another persons desires, the Director twisted the sentence into a colder wording. “Do you believe remaining with Agent Kentucky is productive, or should you be reassigned to a more… Willing agent.”Tucker’s breathing stopped, knowing his panic must be tangible to Sigma even if they weren’t completely mind melded. Sigma didn’t give any room for doubt before speaking.“I would like to stay with Agent Kentucky,” Sigma said with complete certainty.“Is that so?” The Director raised an eyebrow. Tucker had to stop himself from also voicing his disbelief. “You find this relationship productive?”“Yes.”That was a lie, Tucker could feel even at this distance that Sigma was lying. Of course they weren’t productive, but that’s not what Sigma was thinking about. Sigma wanted to stay with Tucker. Despite the fighting, despite the hatred up until this point, and despite how scared Tucker was, Sigma wanted to stay with Tucker. He was attached.
You are my world.
“No more bullshit, I swear,” Tucker promised. “We got all this shit worked out before going into the field. It’ll be like Talladega Nights over here. Shake and Bake baby!”“Sigma, is this true?” The Director spoke to the AI again.“Yes,” Sigma agreed again, quickly and easily. “Tucker and I have come to terms with our partnership. Even at the start, we’ve proved to be capable of better problem solving than the other agents and their AIs. I’m finding it hard to conceptualize how well we will preform now that we are… Getting along.”“Are you sure this is a good idea?” The Counselor spoke again, only to Sigma.“I would like to stay with Agent Kentucky,” Sigma repeated firmly. A desire, not a calculation.A silence over the room, five different mind churning. Really, four and a half; Even now, with Sigma respecting Tucker’s space, they were bleeding into each other. Tucker could differentiate between the two of them still, but their independent desire to stick together was equally intense. Tucker didn’t even feel the obligation or responsibility to keep Sigma now. Now that he was being threatened to have Sigma removed, he was surprised at how much he rejected the thought. And while he was outworldy adamant that he didn’t want Sigma to go to anyone else for their safety, he also hated the view that Sigma was leaving him.
Sigma was reciprocating that feeling. He had every reason to take this out and be placed into someone who wanted an AI, but Tucker could only feel a sort of territorialism. Briefly, just a thought breezing through the two of them, the idea of Tucker getting another AI in replacement came to the two of them. Just as quickly, it was gone, only leaving what could only be described as jealousy in it’s space.“One more chance,” The Director relented, and Sigma and Tucker unclenched. The machines stopped beeping. “We have an upcoming mission to gather data from Charon industries. Given your loyalties, and it’s similarities your previous mission with Agents Washington and Connecticut, you were in consideration for this assignment anyways.“Be warned: This mission will be lead by both Agent Carolina and Agent Texas,” The Director said, not giving Tucker time to be surprised. “We are all well aware that those two in particular will leave no room for mistakes.”“Sounds great!” Tucker agreed quickly. He could be told he was going on a mission with the fucking custodial crew to unclog the toilets and he would jump on it. “Ain’t that right, Sig?”Tucker could feel Sigma preen at the nickname. “Yes. We are more than ready to preform. You will not be disappointed.”The Director’s face loosened up. “I will inform the other agents. You set off in three days. Dismissed.”The Director took his leave, the Counselor dutifully following him as if he were an AI himself. They left behind Nikki, who’s icy exterior had long since melted. Her rigid stance remained, arms crossed, but her face showed concern. Her eyes flitted to Sigma, who ignored her. Tucker could feel the beginning of giddiness emanating from
Sigma“I cannot in good consciousness sign off on this,” Nikki spoke up, pursing her lips.“It seems this decision is not up to you,” Sigma said lightly. “But rest assured, Dr. Jefferson. I will not let our future success go to my head. I cannot make the same promise on behalf of Agent Kentucky.”Tucker swallowed, eyes trained on the AI, as he nodded. “We’ll be good. We’re ready.”—“You’re going on a mission!?”
Tucker couldn’t tell who was yelling louder, Wash or South. Both had camped outside his room’s door, both heated.Tucker had a head ache, a real one this time, not just the excuse he had given for his isolation. He flinched at the noise. “Jesus, only one bottle blond at a time.”“I can’t believe you’re going on a mission,” South shook her head. “Can you be more stupid?”“Tucker,” Wash was equal parts concerned and angry. “You can’t be serious, please tell me this memo is wrong.”“Memo?” Tucker asked, furrowing his eyebrows. “What, did it make some sort of Freelancer TMZ?”“No, the people going on the mission got notified,” Wash said, crossing his arms.Tucker stared at them dumbly. “Wait. Both of you guys are…?”“Yes!” South shouted. “We’ve been scheduled for weeks! And now you have three days to catch up? That would one a train wreck for someone not coming out of a mental breakdown!”A flash of orange burned Tucker’s retina’s, bringing on a fresh pang of pain to his temple. “Perhaps it is best if I log off and give you all some privacy.”“Uh, you think?” South glared. “Fuck off, stop light. Those of us with souls are talking.”“Agent Kentucky?” Sigma asked for permission. Again, only taking Tucker’s orders into account.
“Yeah Sig, log off,” Tucker sighed, rubbing his eyes. Was Sigma always this bright?“Understood. Until next time,” Sigma flashed out, and a buzz Tucker had grown used to died down.He opened up his eyes to see two pairs of eyes staring at him incredulously.“Uh, sorry, let me catch up here,” South shook her head. “First, we’re told that this is supposed to be like taking on the fucking mummy’s curse, and now you’re buddy-buddy with ‘Sig’?” She asked, distaste dripping from her face at the nickname.“Oh, okay, because you’re the fucking Queen of coherent relationships,” Tucker scoffed. He was so goddamn drained. All he wanted was to flop down on his cot and tune the two of them out, but they blocked the door like two angry blond gargoyles.“What do you expect from us?” Wash asked. “You’re not even twenty minutes out of the infirmary and now you’re going on a mission? With the AI you’ve been stressing over for weeks? The AI you’ve been warning us about for weeks?”“I fucking told you all I could handle this!” Tucker, despite his weariness, found fight with himself. “And it turns out I can! Sorry me doing something right is so hard to believe!”“Oh cut the shit!” South rolled her eyes. “Don’t pretend like we’re the one’s being unreasonable.”“Then stop wigging out!” Tucker shouted. “I’m kicking ass at the thing I told you guys I kick ass at! Sorry for being cautious, but shit’s working! Don’t worry, if I fuck up on this mission, I give you guys total permission to drop me like a sack of bricks to save your own skin.”“You stupid asshole,” South spit. “You know we can’t do that.”“And why not?” Tucker countered.“Because we care about you!” Wash’s voice was filled with frustration. When had Wash last yelled at him? Had this Wash ever yelled at him?“Jesus fucking Christ, did everyone forget where we are?” Tucker’s words were falling out before he could think. His other talent, the one that could pick apart someone’s entire personhood in seconds, was taking over, and he only wanted to hurt them, To make them shut up and disappear and stop voicing the doubting thoughts living in the spaces of his brain
Sigma didn’t. “We’re in the middle of a war! And I’m trying to prevent another one! I know we’re all playing house, but can all of you fucking remember the actual stakes here? Or are you all too self absorbed to remember there are real, innocent lives out there that matter more than these little friendships we’re pretending to have?”You could have heard a pin drop in the ensuing silence.South’s red face started cooling, and her mouth fell open just a bit. Wash’s eyebrows went up and he dropped his arms. The fire was draining from the both of them, the silence growing in Tucker’s ensuing guilt.Still, between the three of them, no one had the courage or brains to think of anything worth saying.
South moved first, walking past Tucker. She didn’t even bother knocking into him. She just hurried off. Wash followed her, similarly maneuvering past Tucker. Tucker, who couldn’t even watch them leave, or open his mouth to apologize despite regret clogging up his throat.
When he finally did face plant into the mattress of his cot, it wasn’t as enjoyable as he thought it would be. It just gave him greater opportunity to go over all the ways he fucked over people. He removed Sigma’s chip, hoping that some of his worry was on the part of the AI. Even with the AI removed, he got no relief, only his own brain to blame.—The last time Tucker was in this particular meeting room, it was to watch CT bumble her way through a shitty plan. This time, he got to watch Carolina confidently walk him through a shitty mission plan.“Kentucky, are you even paying attention?” Carolina sighed irritably.Tucker frowned, lifting his head up from where it was resting in his hand. “What the hell? I’m not even doing anything!”He really hadn’t. He had been silently listening to Carolina’s well laid out plan to infiltrate one of Charon’s planet side bases for the past hour. Sure, he was towards the back of the long conference table, giving a still hurt South and Wash space, and was tired as all hell, but he was still being a good boy.“I know,” Carolina turned to face him fully, turning away from the blue holographic projection she was gesturing too. “That’s what I mean. We’ve been here an hour and you haven’t made a single sarcastic comment.”Oh. Okay, yeah, that was true.
Sigma popped into view then, where he had been staying idle in Tucker’s helmet. He kept it off, resting on the table, in fear he would start nodding off in the protective, comforting space.“Not to worry, Agent Carolina,” He said, brighter and more attentive than Tucker could even fake. “I have been keeping minutes on this meeting, as well as a recording. All encrypted and off line, of course.”Tucker didn’t think the mood could plummet any further, but Sigma’s presence made the vibes downright rancid. South and Wash had been doing a stellar job of pointedly ignoring Tucker until this point, but now both turned to glare at the AI. Tex, who had been leaning against a nearby wall, even turned to face him. Tucker still wondered if she did that because it looked cool, or because she still didn’t have some sort of human body under that armor and would break the chairs.“That’s no substitute for Kentucky paying attention,” Carolina said, seemingly only hanging onto her patience with a thread.“I’m paying attention, God!” Tucker groaned. “Do you want me too tell you how shitty this plan is now or later?”Despite his assholery, Carolina visibly relaxed at his outburst. She didn’t look happy, but she didn’t look so goddamn worried anymore.“By all means, explain,” Carolina said. Tucker racked his brain, trying to pin point exactly why he hated this plan.“Well, why do you have me all alone?” Tucker said. “Why am I the one who has to go in and actually get the fucking data, while the rest of you pair off as look outs?”“For starters, if I’m alone with you for more than five minutes I can’t promise I won’t re-break your nose,” South scoffed.“Pft, how is that any different than usual?” Tucker rolled his eyes, despite knowing exactly why that was different than usual. “And things will go so much better with Wash?”“You know how much I have to want to hurt you that the walking roadkill is my preferred choice?” “Okay, enough,” Carolina cut off. “I’m not going to lie to you, your current attitude with everyone is playing a role in your assignment-““He started it!”“She started it!”“Enough,” Carolina ordered. “Those are the facts of our current situation. We don’t have time to fix any of that. So South and Washington will stand look out at the escape ship. Texas and I will follow you through the base and stay as back up.”“Okay, that’s the other thing;” Tucker listed. “Since when are you two besties?”Carolina set her jaw, and glanced at Texas. Texas looked back, but said nothing, waiting for Carolina to take lead on the conversation.“It’s called professionalism. Maybe you three should try it,” She said, sharing a pointed look to Wash and South as well.
“Okay, final point: Why the fuck am I the one playing fetch with the data?” Tucker asked.Carolina furrowed her brows. “You seriously have to ask? This is extremely similar to the mission you saved with CT and Washington. You’re also the only one of us with an AI-““Tex has an AI!” Tucker pointed.The second he said it, he regretted it. He knew Tex hated O’Malley, he knew why he was probably sitting dormant in a chip somewhere far from here. He knew that, but none of the rest of them did. But he also knew that she wouldn’t say any of that, and knew that this was a cruel position to put her in.“Then you should feel real safe knowing I’ll be right behind you the whole time,” Tex said.
Wash and South looked between each other. Tex speaking was still
a rarity for he rest of the Freelancers. Even Tucker was a bit surprised at her talking back.“Yeah, like I’m covered in bubble wrap,” Tucker muttered, leaning back in his seat.“We want to avoid combat at all costs,” Carolina continued. “That means we’re going to need you to get creative. Any more questions?”Tucker crossed his arms, pouting. “No.”“Good. Just follow the map to the data servers, copy the data onto this flash drive, and leave. Don’t cause a scene, don’t get involved, and don’t let your AI into their computer system when your gathering the data.”“What? You just said half of my qualifications here is Sigma.”Tex and Carolina shared another look, and Tucker tried not to get jealous at their new friendship or whatever. Like he wasn’t used to two women sharing a look when he asks an apparently stupid question. At least this time the question wasn’t ‘Does the carpet match the drapes?’This look wasn’t an eye roll or any sort of exasperation. Carolina’s face was that of apprehension, a sort of hesitation she rarely exhibited as their leader.“We’re trying to keep this mission as analog as possible. When it comes to the security and communication system, that’s fine, Sigma can interfere where he sees fit. But whatever system they have guarding their data servers is going to be the best of the best. We don’t want them to be alerted to our AIs existence, or for Sigma to be corrupted in any security measures in place.”Sigma spoke up again. “I’m not aware of any sort of defense system that would-““We’re sticking to the safe side,” Tex cut off tersely. “Just be happy we’re going the extra mile to keep you safe and sound. It’ll take ten minutes. Think you can last ten minutes?”“Bow-chicka-bow-wow,” Tucker said, but his heart wasn’t in it. Tucker didn’t like the tone of Tex’s voice, but everyone was pissed at him at the moment. Maybe there was some extra slight he made to piss off Tex more than he thought. Or maybe she was just realizing exactly how much of a douche bag Tucker was. Either way, he let it go.“Okay, wait, then I do have a question,” Tucker spoke up. “What intel am I even looking for?”Carolina side eyed Tex quickly, standing straight. “That’s the other reason we’re having you take lead. We’re pretty sure bundled with the rest of some information we’re interested in, this site is also the base of operation for their division focusing on extra planetary colonization and resourcing-““Holy fuck, this is about Chorus, isn’t it?” Tucker sat up.Carolina nodded. “Yes. We can’t be sure-““Nope, ignore my bitching,” Tucker shook his head. “Sorry for talking back sir- Shit, I mean ma’am- Ugh, that’s so weird, whatever. You know what I mean. I’ll do it.”“I wasn’t giving you a choice, but sure,” Carolina rolled her eyes. She turned back to her hologram. “Now, if you’re done interrupting-““You interrupted yourself!”“That sounds more like the Kentucky we know,” A smile played on Carolina’s lips.“And love?” Tucker asked.“No.” Most everyone responded.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

This base felt nothing like the first mission.First off, it was day time.
Extremely day. The sun beat down mercilessly on the desert base, blindingly reflecting off the white painted concrete. Tucker wouldn’t be surprised if the sun never set on this planet.That was the other thing; Tucker was back in the goddamn desert. Why was it always a goddamn desert? At least that’s where the similarities to Blood Gulch ended; This was out in the open, not a box canyon, with nothing but orange sand for miles and miles in every direction. The sand was vibrant, like the dirt of baseball field If he was out here for long enough, able to see how truly lonely they were, not even a red painted base full of idiots to be a decent distraction,he’d probably go crazy.
The base itself was like a Apple branded oasis; The smooth, white buildings were minimalist, crafted of snowy white paint and glass, broken up only by the occasional steel beam, red paint indicating emergency routes, and wandering guard in gray clothing. It looked miserably similar to the suits the guards wore at the icy ocean base the other mission took place, and Tucker hoped for their sake the material was lighter and cooler.
Or, no, shit, he hoped it sucked, because they needed every advantage they could get.Their ship was hovering about a half a mile in the air now, cloaked to blend in seamlessly into the azure sky. Right below them was the single road leading to the base, the one other piece of civilization in the barren wasteland. The road stretched into the horizon, and it was hard to believe it lead to anything but more sand. Not even a cactus sticking out to indicate any other sort of life.“Alright, this is as close as I can get you without kicking up dirt!” The pilot shouted from the cockpit. “Landing without making a tornado’s gonna take me about an hour, so you guys gotta waste about that much time in there before running back to me. Or, you, know, I can just crash in there and pick you up. But I think they’ll notice that!”“Copy!” Carolina shouted back. “We’re dropping down in two and a half minutes onto a freight truck on it’s way. South and Wash, stay here. If we call for backup, 479er will drop you into the base. Texas, Kentucky and I will go in now. Kentucky, you remember the map?”“Like the PornHub jingle.”“What?”“Yeah I fucking remember it!”“Okay,” Carolina said.“I have the map ready as reference,” Sigma popped up. Despite the noise of the ships engine, Sigma’s voice was so clear, Tucker thought it might have just been in his head if South had not spoken up.“Great, we’re relying on the laser pointer,” Tucker could hear her rolling her eyes.“Knock it off!” Carolina shouted. The rear cargo door of the ship creaked open like a a creeky oven, blowing in hot air that swept over them. The freight truck was hurtling down the road they hovered above. They had less than a minute to drop.The distance was so suddenly real to Tucker, who had never considered himself afraid of heights. He looked down warily, stepping to the edge of the deck, peaking over to the ground like something was gonna come up and bite him. “Uh, remind me how we’re going to stealthily drop down onto this truck? Won’t this feel like a meteor?”“We’re using our jet packs to counter act some of the force of gravity. Not totally, but enough to quietly land on the truck!” Carolina explained.Tucker looked at her. “What the fuck!? I’ve never used the jet pack before!”“I know!” Carolina nodded, she turned back to South and Washington. “Keep your comms on!”With that Carolina jumped down, a teal dot as she descended.
Tucker didn’t have time to bitch about her vague one liner before he felt a strong set of arms wrap around his middle. Tex grabbed hold of him, secure and tight, the same position she would take when she suplexed him.“What the fuck!?” He shouted.
“Have fun!” South taunted, and Tucker even heard Wash laugh as Tex pushed them both forward.“AHHH!” Tucker screamed, his stomach not getting the memo of their descent and cartwheeling up to his throat. Wind blew past his helmet, deafening him despite the insulation of his helmet. As embarrassing as it was, the only thing keeping him from passing out in fear was Tex’s strong arms securing him, like he really was wrapped in bubble wrap.Sigma had been hiding out in his helmet so far, but Tucker felt him come into his head. Still respectfully staying on the outskirts of his brain, but doing the rapid calculations of their probability of surviving the fall. Maybe it was supposed to be comforting to Tucker, but the statistics of surviving without injury never reached more than 74%.NOT! HELPING! His brain screamed as less and less of the sky took up his vision and he picked up more and more detail of the ground.Tucker heard a new, loud blaring and their descent slow. Tex’s jetpack must have started up, because it felt less like he was about to burn up. It only made his stomach feel worse, like he was a shaken aqua martini, but at least it felt less like he was going to end up a crushed like an empty soda can.Still, the impact of them finally hitting the top of the truck knocked the wind out of him. Tex had them roll over once, dispersing their force, and laid down them down flat when they settled. She pressed of Tucker, pinning his hands under her own, giving him a few seconds to get his head on straight. The only thing Tucker could feel was his heart attack subsidng and the weight of Tex pressing down on him.“You alive?” She asked.Tucker was positive he passed out briefly at some point, but he was seeing straight and no longer felt like he was going to hurl inside his helmet and drown.His throat was raw from screaming when he spoke. “Is it weird I’m a little turned on?”“Weird? No. But try anything and I’ll rip your dick off,” Tex said, and the weight was removed. Tucker felt like he could breath again, and flipped over. All he could see was the neon blue sky above him, his chest rising and falling easily now, giving him a slight oxygen high that made his head fuzzy. He lifted his head, but didn’t see Tex or Carolina in front of him. All he could see beyond the truck itself was the base coming.“Kentucky, put on your camo,” Carolina said in his ear.“What?” Tucker sputtered. “I don’t have camo!”“It’s standard issue in your suit!” She whispered harshly.“Not this suit!” Tucker hissed.
“Yes it is,” Sigma said. Tucker could feel a slight buzz in his helmet that sputtered out quickly. “It seems that the basic camouflage unit is not working. The unit’s processing core his held in the helmet- Exactly how many times have you been hit in the head?”“Tex, you dumb bitch!” Tucker yelled. “You fucking broke my shit!”“Figure it out!” Tex shouted back. “You got a few minutes!”Tucker pushed himself up right. He looked around; Where the fuck was he going to hide on a truck in the middle of the desert?Hey Sigma, He thought. You ever see Toy Story?No, but you have, Sigma said, seeing the scene playing out in Tucker’s head.Hoisting himself over the side of the truck wasn’t easy, but thanks to the magnetic boots, he was able to scale down like Spider-Man. With the help of upper arm and core strength Tucker would have to thank Wash for if he ever worked up the courage to grovel for forgiveness, he crawled under the moving truck and held himself up, back pressed against the undercarriage. He was only a few feet off the ground, watching the road pass under him like the world’s largest and most painful sand belt, but he was secure. Sigma was able to transfer some of the magnetism from the boots to the rest of his suit, and Tucker only need some of his upper arm strength to hold himself in place.The truck eventually slowed, the roar of the engine and sound of rotating tires quickly quieting. His ears were ringing from the newly found silence, but he could just make out voices barking orders. A slight shake and creaking of metal coming from the back of the ship made Tucker flinch; He nearly lost his grip.They’re checking the back of the truck, Sigma reassured him. That and the cabin.Tucker still held himself stiff when he heard the back of the truck slam shut.“All clear!” A voice yelled, and engine started again. Tucker let out a sigh of relief as he heard a loud buzz, and the sound of a gate rattling as it pulled open.He had no idea what Tex and Carolina were up too, with neither of them speaking over the comms. Tucker wasn’t about to speak first, just held tight as they crawled through the base.So how the hell am I getting off this truck? He asked Sigma.When I say drop, let go and roll quickly to your your right, Sigma thought back.
Uh, how quick-?

Now!
Tucker immediately let go so quickly he might have had some help. He dropped to the ground, and landing in probably the only puddle for miles. There wasn’t enough for a splash, but enough for it to cloud his visor. The dust and mud being kicked up by the truck stuck to the moisture, the dirt right ahead of him being much looser than it aught to be.
He listened to Sigma, and rolled onto his right side, pushing off and going round and round until he crashed into something solid. Groaning and discombobulated, he pushed himself up.He wiped off his visor his his thumb, looking around. He was in the shade now, behind some white building.“What the hell dude…” He trailed off from his complaint, looking down at his hands, then his arms, then the rest of himself.
Tucker was completely coated in a thick coat of burnt orange dirt. The puddle had been created from moisture run off from one of the heavy duty vehicles parked in the open garage nearby, had made the dirt stick to his armor, like he had just slid to third base at a Seattle Mariner's home game. He couldn’t even see too much aqua through the dust, he was so thoroughly caked. He’d need to be hosed down to even dream of getting all this dirt out of every crevice of his armor, but it was so damn good camouflage.For the time being, at least, Sigma thought back. Until we make it indoors. Any ideas?Tucker looked around. More building, more glass, no doubt more people lurking everywhere around him.
Now, he had done his time in the desert. He knows how unforgiving this weather could be. Unlike the cold, the heat could make you lazy. Less immediate danger than freezing fingers off, but heat like this would make anyone want to stop and sit. He had that advantage; Cold made everyone alert, even if it was just to seek out new places to keep warm or creative ways to get their blood flowing. Heat made everyone want to lie down and try not to get their blood flowing. This was the kind of environment that made people just stand around and talk for years at a time.Sneaking past people outside wouldn’t be an issue. He could probably walk right to the entrance of the building and not have anyone lift a finger. The camouflage was a huge plus for now. Heat signature cameras won’t be as effective in the heat and mud, Sigma informed him. Another win.But the second they got indoors, they’d be fucked. In the chill air that had to be pumping through these buildings, not only would they be surrounded by more alert personnel, they’d be tracking mud and dirt everywhere. How the hell did they plan on hiding then?I took the liberty of scanning the previous mission you took part in with Agent Washington and Agent Connecticut, Sigma informed Tucker. It is the only mission you have been on that I was allowed access too. I have an idea, but you won’t like it.—Twenty minutes later, Tucker was crawling through the goddamn air ducts.“This is so fucking stupid,” He muttered. “I want that on the record; This is so fucking stupid.”
“I will make note of it,” Sigma said out loud, now primarily in Tucker’s helmet. “I still have no location for Agent Texas and Agent Carolina.”
“Good, that means they’re hiding,” Tucker said. He had to crawl on his arms and stomach through the air duct. His armor was ditched by the entrance of the vent, safely hidden behind the huge air condensers that were running so loud Tucker could set off an air horn and still be considered stealthy. He didn’t dress in guards clothes this times, but kept his helmet and sword with him.“Take a right here,” Sigma said, and Tucker followed as they reached a fork in the path. “Does it not feel odd? Agent Texas and Agent Carolina did not inform us of the plans to use the jet pack or camouflage. Is that like them?”“I don’t know,” Tucker said. He didn’t like the implications of this conversation; Sigma had a point, but Tucker resisted what felt like taking sides.They were his friends, right? If they were keeping something from him, it was probably for a plan too smart for him to mess up.“If it is just extremely poor planning, that is not much better,” Sigma pointed out.“Take your tin foil hat off and focus,” Tucker hissed.“One more right,” Sigma said. “Then the vent at the end of this tunnel will be to the server room.”The right they took had particularly huge blasts of freezing air. The server room would take serious cooling, and the map Sigma had put in the corner of his HUD showed this wasn’t the only air vent leading into the room. They had no less than six escape routes.The vent they were at was of course, seated right behind the command center where four guards sat in swivel chairs. Tucker had only a vague idea how large the room was; The rows and rows of servers, resembling a large library, blocked his view from much of the room. The command center was a bunch of screens on the outskirts, but cables, glass and blinking lights made an entire city skyline of data in the single, large space. The monitors of the command center were like Time’s Square billboards on the outside of the periphery buildings.“The X Box 100K doesn’t even have an games!” One of the guards shouted, leaning back in her chair. Her helmet was off, a first for what Tucker had seen for Charon. He fair skin was tinged pink, and she was sweating even indoors. “The new PlayStation is so much more worth it!”“The new Nintendo is where it’s at,” Another guard chimed in. “They’re finally making a new Rayman game.”“Who?”“It’s a series from a few hundred years ago. They’re just barely getting a sequel.”“Lame,” Another masked guard said. “I’m only going to end up playing Call Of Duty: Black Ops anyways.”“Girl, you’re living Call of Duty,” The fourth guard said.
“Oh wow, lucky me,” She deadpanned. Tucker could practically hear her rolling her eyes. “Sitting in front of a computer all day, making sure it doesn’t explode or melt.”“At least we get guns,” The second guard said. “And I’ll take the desert over the other sites any day.”“Oh yeah, weren’t you on that ocean site that got infiltrated?” The sun burnt guard said, furrowing her brows.
The guard sighed loudly, hanging his head. “God, what a shit show. Half of the other guys got fired, thank God I just ended up here with you yahoos.”“We’re oh so very lucky,” The fourth guard said sarcastically. “But if I get sent into the heat another minute I’ll blow my head off.”Agent Kentucky, Sigma said. I’m noticing that the biometrics of these four guards show an abnormal sensitivity to heat. Perhaps that is why they’re stationed indoors.Yeah, the red head looks like she’s about to pass out, Tucker noticed. Tucker, on the other hand, was close to chattering his teeth. The cold air blowing behind him felt like water soaking through his kevlar. It was way colder inside than outside, but for those without an armor cooling system, it still must not have been pleasant. Servers like this would be generating a good amount of heat.Tucker looked through the grates, and brought his fingers to the metal. To his surprise, they moved. The rows of metal blinds closed easily, manually able to close.
You think we can smoke em out? Tucker asked.Sigma whirred in his head. There was a pull, and he was gone. Tucker heard, so slightly, the sound of a few shutters closing. Another moment, and his head crowded again. Tucker closed the vent he was in front of, cutting off his view of the room.The heat from the computers will rapidly increase the temperature here. Sigma said.
Dude, this guy was at the other site, I don’t think he’s going to book it that easy.

Which is why the other half of the room is still pumping cold air through.

There’s no fucking way this is going to work.
Only fifteen minutes later, the unhelemeted guard cut off the conversation from the rests bickering.“Is it me or is it getting hotter in here?” She asked out loud, wiping the back of her hand across her forehead.“Jesus, you look like a tomato,” The other guard said.
Tucker could just barely see through the now closed space between the vents one of the guards hop off his seat and walk over to the vent he was hiding in. The vent was a few feet higher than him, but he tore off his glove and raised his bare hand up to the vent. He stood for a few seconds, Tucker holding his breath the entire time.“Shit! The air’s busted again!” The guard said.
“Nooo,” The pale guard said, pouting. She jumped up and similarly raised her bare hand to the other vents Sigma had closed. “These one too. I can barely feel anything.”She walked further away, disappearing down the corridor of shelves of servers, and Tucker nearly jumped when he heard her whoop.“Air over here works!”“That’s weird…” The guard that was at the last look out commented.
“Well, it's the air around the servers that matters anyways. Who cares if we get baked alive?” The other male guard said, standing up and stretching. “We should do a round anyways. We’re technically supposed to all do a sweep of the area every fifteen minutes.”“I don’t know, should we really be leaving the command center alone?” The guard asked warily.
“Protocol says we just can’t leave the room,” The final guard said. “Door’s locked anyway, we’ll call maintenance. Listen, I know your all paranoid because you doofuses totally bungeled your duties at your old post, but we’re professionals here. We have to move in pairs, and I’m not gonna sit in this heat because you’re afraid someone will phase through the door like a spector. Then when the AC guy comes we’ll scan everything from his page to his birth certificate to make sure he’s an honest man.”“Jesus, where the hell are you even from?” The guard grumbled. “’Doofus’? ‘Bungle?’”
“The moon, jack ass. You coming or not?”
Footsteps and arguments faded before Tucker dared to peak through the vent.The command center was abandoned, the guards voices carrying only slightly through the sound of servers running and air conditioning.“Holy shit, I’m buying you a beer after this,” Tucker said. He ignited his sword, a hard task in such a small space, and cut the corners of the vent like he was cutting off a BoxTop.“I cannot drink, but appreciate the sentiment,.”
Tucker dropped down, doing a roll to minimize his impact, only sparing a second to think about how cool the move was. He pulled out a flash drive from his slime side pouch, and tip toed to the computer. He waited a second, keeping an ear out for the guards, but could hear their voices only growing more distant. The server room must have been much larger than he thought. Still, not large enough.“Shit, there’s no way we have ten minutes,” Tucker whispered.“If I may,” Sigma popped into view, but only spoke through Tucker’s helmet. “I can extract the information in about 90 seconds, if we were to allow me into the system.”“Carolina and Tex were super clear to not do that…” Tucker said, but his resolve was already wavering.
“I’ve already done a brief glance at the system while shuttering air vents, it’s nothing out of the ordinary. We are running out of time.”“Fuck, you’re right. You got this?” He asked. Really, he was just glad Sigma were to suggest getting involved before Tucker had. He had done a lot riskier in this exact situation on Chorus and had gotten people killed, and he wasn’t going to let being on the ‘safe side’ screw them over. At least now, the only people in danger were the two of them. Sigma popped into view. His scarlet coloring nearly matched the burnt orange dirt surrounding the base.“I only need 90 seconds,” Sigma said, and popped back out.A pull in Tucker’s head, and Sigma was gone. Tucker shoved the flash drive into one of the many open USB ports on the command center computer, and let Sigma do his thing.

The blinking light at the end of the USB let him know that Sigma was working. All Tucker had to do was wait.
And think.He looked down at the floor. He was tracking dirt in here. The floor wasn’t pristine, and there was already a good amount of dirt from the guards staining the floor, but would they notice the extra that Tucker was tracking in? And what about the vent? Even if he could make it up there, how could he put the vent back on? He could solder it closed with his sword, maybe, but it wouldn’t be perfect. His suit had some of the hardening polymer, but that was back with his armor. Plus, wouldn’t someone eventually investigate the air ducts? This plan wasn’t perfect, but it needed to be perfect. Every act was just skewing past perfection, just enough to pile on a million flaws that made Tucker’s skin crawl. They didn’t have time for mistakes, for what ifs.
“C’mon…” Tucker whispered impatiently. Had it been 90 seconds yet? He should have kept an eye on the clock, but he was too distracted. He brought his hand up to his lips to chew on his nails, but his hand bounced off his visor. He was damn near jumping out of his skin, resorting to just fidgeting and switching his weight from foot to foot, eyes wandering every where around him.His eye stopped at a glint of black glass; The helmet of the rosey cheeked guard. She had left it on her chair. Tucker took a step forward, picking it up. He held it eye level to himself, a completely different type of helmet from his own. It was light, there was no machinery snaking through it. There was no HUD , just that black glass of a visor that only reached to the wearer's cheeks, leaving the nose exposed like an over sized pair of sunglasses. It was kind of odd for him at this point to see something that was basically a ski helmet. All he could see was his own reflection. Well, the reflection of his helmet, but at this point that was more familiar than his own face, which was making his bathroom time more existential than was appropriate for someone like him; The class clown shouldn’t have to deal with that. The class clown shouldn’t have to deal with any of the hard stuff.
Is this what Locus felt like? Or wanted to feel like? Or the original Maine? How broken did you need to be to want to stop being a person? Fuck, all Tucker had really wanted was to be done with war, but he just had to grow a damn conscious. Maybe that was the real difference between his relationship with Sigma and the Meta’s: With the Meta, Sigma wanted to be human, and Maine was willing to give up and be the weapon. The lack of human guide left Sigma scrambling to figure out how to be a person by himself, and putting together the AI was the only thing he could think of.
But Tucker was plenty human. Stupidly, painfully, foolishly, and lovingly human. He was so goddamn human, with all the emotions and responsibility that came with it, that Sigma got to experience it all just by latching on. Sigma cared about Tucker, and was clearly capable and eager to care about other people as well. The stupid, painful, foolish act of love.Tucker was so involved with himself, that he had noticed too late a movement in the reflection that made him freeze. The red headed guard, eyes wide, had turned the corner of the shelf of servers. She had come back for her helmet.She looked confused at the sight of Tucker, and that look morphed into shock far too slowly for her own safety. A tingle in the back of Tucker’s head, coinciding with her confusion clearing up and her mouth opening.The next three second happened lightning fast. The helmet dropping to the floor, the clattering muffled by the sound of the servers running and air blowing. His sword was out, lit in his hand. The end of his sword, speared through the red head’s chest, so little resistance compared to the steel walls and floors and training targets he had solely used it for in the past months.Her chest plate was just thick kevlar, not even steel. It was so easy to drive the sword through her lungs, cutting off her scream. The last time he had done this was to one of the Fed soldiers during their heist to break out Wash and the other’s, back when they thought they were being held prisoner. That soldier was wearing metal plating. That soldier probably had gotten used to his helmet being his reflection too.Here, Tucker could see the fear and shock in every feature of the poor girl’s face. She looked down, just as dumb folded at the blade in her chest, the one that cauterized inside her. Her chest stopped moving, her breath- Her scream being cut off. She had to watch as Tucker’s blade withdrew into it’s hilt.He rushed forward to catch her as her fell, gently lowering her to the floor. She weighed nothing- She wasn’t encased in steel. She was as innocent as that poor Fed soldier, guilty of nothing more than being in his way.
Her face wasn’t rosey anymore, but draining of color quickly. She went limp, the only movement left her rapidly searching eyes, looking back at him. The pose they were in now was something out of a romance novel cover; Him, supporting her head with one hand and holding her up by the small of her back, kneeling to gently lay her on the floor. She grabbed onto his forearm, squeezing his wrist with quickly vanishing strength. Maybe she was looking for support, but more likely she was trying to push her murderer away.She was on the floor in only seconds, Tucker having removed her hands. By the time he stood again, numb and afraid of himself, she stopped moving. Her pale eyes were still on him, but slowly went out of focus. Dead.Agent Kentucky, we need to leave, Sigma said somewhere, the only coherent thought in his head.
…What? The details of her face were burning into his brain. She couldn’t have been older than twenty.
We have the data, we need to move, Sigma urged. The doors open from the inside, we can walk out. Quickly, before the guards return.Was this you or me? Tucker thought. The hair tie on the end of her braid was green. Had he ever seen someone die before? Not just armor hit the ground, but a real human face die?Does it matter?Yes! Tucker said. Her eyes were hazel. He tried racking his brain to think of anyone who looked like her, but couldn't beyond superficial details like hair color or skin tone. He didn't know anyone he cared about that looked like this. That should have made things easier.Then it was me, Sigma said. Now grab the USB and move. Before we are caught and this happens again to that soldier you killed on Chorus.Right. Sigma could see that memory. He was in Tucker’s head, he could see it as closely and vividly as Tucker could.Chorus. Other innocent lives. Like this one. He should move. He needed to make up for this. He needed it to count.
Yes. Don’t let this be in vain. Walk out the door.
Tucker turned to the door. The other guards voices were so far away, they weren’t anywhere close to checking in on their colleague.Tucker walked out of the door. Sigma pulled and pushed him, bringing him the corners out of view of guards and cameras. Tucker let him take control, putting himself on autopilot.
They were back outside, somehow, at some point, when Tucker’s feet stopped moving. Oh, Sigma had stopped urging him to go.Agent Kentucky, Sigma said in his head. I’ve completed a scan on the data retrieved. You need to see this.Tucker didn’t see anything, or hear anything. His eyes flitted shut with a slight migraine, and he just suddenly knew what Sigma was showing him. The data they retrieved was not just Charon’s plans for Chorus. It was all updates and news surrounding the planet. Including their own intercepted intel that there was now a potential new competitor interested in the planet’s technology.Sigma had to piece the information together faster than Tucker could ever hope to with his tiny human brain. An mole within the organization had found Project Freelancer stepping in to claim Chorus’ alien tech for themselves.
“No,” Tucker uttered, frozen. “No, not that’s not-“I found it suspicious that Agent Carolina and Texas instructed us to not let me into the server, Sigma said. They had no reason to think there was a threat to me. I believe they just did not want for you too know what the Director has planned for Chorus.“They, no, they wouldn’t-“
Wouldn’t they?
Wouldn’t they? Texas and Carolina, working together, for the good of the Project. The Director didn’t need Tucker anymore. He and Sigma were a failure, and what good was Tucker if he was just going to get in the way of the real jackpot? Alien temples, alien weapons, and hell, maybe he had even figured out an easy way the get the sword that’s been dangling in front of him for all these weeks.All that alien tech. Tucker felt like he should have been the one speared.“I… I don’t know what to do,” Tucker said out loud.A blare of sirens couldn’t even startle him, but those paired with the flashing lights weren’t easy to ignore. The base knew they were there.I’m sorry, Tucker. But we need to move, Sigma said in his head. Tucker’s legs were moving again, being pushed by Sigma. Tucker stopped in his tracks for a moment, just to see if he was still in control. When he could, when he confirmed it was still his body and he was still responsible for his actions, he gave Sigma back the reigns.The AI led him back to his armor, and was running a million miles a minute as Tucker pulled the dusty armor back on. Aqua paint was now peaking through the now dried dirt that was shaking off.Agent Carolina and Texas cannot be trusted, Sigma was doing the mental equivalent of pacing. As for Agent Washington and South Dakota, their care for your is genuine, but they must also be in the dark. Our best bet is to escape from here-What the fuck are you talking about? Tucker paused strapping on his gauntlet.
We need to leave, Sigma clarified. Leave the Project, We know too much. If we leave now, we can commandeer one of the pelicans or smaller escape ships on site-
And what? Outrun 479er?

The security of this base have been alerted to an infiltration, Sigma continued. The other Agents should be leaving you behind given enough time- Or, we could, say, help them get caught.“What? No!” Tucker yelped, finger’s fumbling as he pulled on his other gauntlet. It caught onto his watch, rubbing his wrist weirdly.Agent Kentucky, this is life or death for the planet Chorus! And you! Sigma was growing frustrated. I am sorry that this is happening to your friends, but I cannot let you get caught. You cannot let the planet be harmed, and I cannot lose you!Tucker couldn’t think; Was that Sigma or him? But if they were caught, then Chorus was fucked. What was he supposed to do, just hand over the data the Director wanted? To get into an argument on the Mother of Invention, and be ignored? Tucker felt betrayed, a deeper betrayal than just his boss fucking him over. Not trusting your employer was true for human’s since the beginning of time. But he felt the sting of betrayal on a more personal level.No, Tucker couldn’t trust his boss, he couldn’t trust Carolina, or Tex, or- Nope. No one. They only innocent person that he should be fighting for at the moment was Chorus.
“Kentucky? What the hell? Where are you going?” South asked.
This made Tucker startle. He whipped his head around. South and Washington had rounded the corner, joining him in the little city of air conditioning condensors. Even with the radio frequency shared between them, it was nearly too loud to hear each other. She had her pistol drawn in her hands. Wash was behind her, his head swinging around and watching their perimeter, always returning to Tucker’s face.“What are you guys doing here?” Tucker asked.“We got your distress beacon,” Washington said. The aggression that had been directed at him for the past few days was gone now. “You set it off a while ago.”
“A while ago?” Tucker parroted. He had only been back at his armor for a few minutes, but not enough for them to drop in and retrieve him. Unless Sigma had set off the beacon while they were walking back.Don’t say anything, Sigma urged. Do not Implicate them. It is for their own protection when they return to the Mother of Invention. Incapacitate them, leave them for the other's to retrieve-“Helloooo?” South repeated, stepping forward. “We don’t have time for this, c’mon-“She grabbed Tucker’s forearm, and he drew his hand back like she burned him. South jumped back at that.“What is your deal!?” She asked. “We have to run! We’re about to be swarmed!”Agent South his distracted, Sigma said. If she is incapacitated, Agent Washington will stay behind. Agent Texas and Agent Carolina’s distress beacons will go off as well, I can cloak your tracking-No, Tucker said back. What was even happening?Think of Chorus, Sigma urged.
KimballGreyJensenBittersAndersmithMatthewsPalomo-
“Shut up!” Tucker whispered, not realizing he said it out loud until South and Wash froze.“Tucker?” Washington asked.His face was hidden, but Tucker could picture perfectly what his face was under his helmet. The furrow in his brow, and exaggerated frown on his face. His now youthful features painted with concern. He could see it so perfectly, he missed that South had switched on her broadcast frequency.“Carolina, Texas, this is Agent South Dakota, we have a situation,” She rushed. She had turned away from Tucker, scanning the area while Wash watched him. Tucker’s attention snapped to her, and his hands went for his pistol. “Agent Kentucky is-“
BANG!
Tucker’s aim was perfect, so he hoped it was intentional he hit the thickest part of the back plating of her armor. With an oof she fell face first into the dirt, it giving her orchid armor a dirty sheen that mixed with the orange, making a regular ugly brown. The pistol sat oddly in Tucker’s hands.Run run run run run- Sigma sounded nearly panicked in his head.“Tucker!” Wash raised his own pistol at Tucker. Tucker didn’t have any fear response to this. Wash hadn’t threatened with him with a gun in how long? How far past this were they?Not at all, he remembered.“What the fuck?!” South cried from the ground. Sigma analyzed her metrics; His aim wasn’t that great after all; Her shoulder was dislocated. She tried lifting herself up, but didn’t get that far up before crying out and crumpling to the ground.Tucker’s HUD started flashing. South’s distress beacon had joined the sirens of the bases alarms, screaming in Tucker’s head along with Sigma.“Drop your weapon,” Wash said. His voice was eerily familiar now. He sounded like… Himself. The self Tucker was desperately trying to prevent from existing.“Kentucky! What the fuck?” South seemed to actually be asking him. Unlike Wash, her anger was gone. She sounded like she was about to cry, if not already crying. “What- Why? Is this like the Sarcophagus?”
The Sarcophagus?
Memories came forward- No, were hooked into and dragged forward. The Sarcophagus mission, where he had flipped his shit at hearing Felix. Where York had snapped his arm, and he had to be knocked out and carried back onto the ship.That’s not what Sigma was looking for. Tucker tried pushing him out of his head, but the Pandora’s box had been opened. Instead of memories tumbling out, Sigma ripped through his brain, digging.Tucker knew what the were looking for. He was looking for the source of the lingering guilt in his heart that ached slightly when he remembered what he did to his best friend. How he had confirmed the Sarcophagus would work. How he knew that the ‘work’ was torturing the Alpha, tearing him apart into a million pieces and making Sigma. How Tucker knew the pain the Alpha would be going through and let it happen.Tucker dropped to his knees.Sigma kept digging, and it did feel like a rat was clawing it's way inside his head, tearing down those walls he bragged about. He saw Church, and who Church was. His captain at Blood Gulch, his friend, his best friend, who he chased over and over again, Blue Team's own version of Allison. The AI on Chorus, the guy that loved and lost and loved and lost in an endless cycle, who Tucker loved and lost as many times in return. Just as much as Caboose did, but never got to say out loud.Sigma wasn’t just seeing these memories as Tucker, but as a part of the Alpha. He saw what would happen to the Alpha, and what the Director did to him.
Tucker’s hands were shaking, trying to reach for his helmet but being forced back down as his body, bit by bit, became Sigma’s.Sigma saw that, in the other time line, he and the other AI had helped in the fracturing of Alpha. But the memories were turning red; He hadn’t known he was fracturing the Alpha off at the beginning, he didn’t question what he and Gamma and Omega were doing. That was the only explanation for what was happening; Sigma would never do that to the Alpha. He wouldn’t, he was a victim. Sigma wanted to be human, and the Meta was not human. No, whatever the Meta was a desperate act of a creature that had fallen for the sunk cost fallacy, who would never be human but had dug themselves too far into a hole to not push further, to kill more and more in a desperation. Sigma wouldn’t do that, because Tucker wouldn’t do that. But Tucker would do this, would hurt his own best friend, to tear Sigma away from the Alpha-Tucker felt pops and cracks and roaring in his brain as Sigma tore through his memories, crafting a story, the only logical explanation for who the AI was in the other timeline.No, that time line didn’t matter, it didn’t matter, it didn’t happen. The memories of the murderer before the car accident- Sigma couldn’t be held responsible for those crimes.Tucker, on the other hand? He was the real monster. Sigma knew now, and he knew and loved Church as Tucker had. All the crimes Tucker was complicit too and planned to continue to be complicit too, Sigma now took personally, like Tucker was inflicting it all on him.
Sigma saw the other time line's version of himself with disgust as his own feelings mixed with Tucker’s; The Meta was now a regret for an action he had never taken. Sigma kicked off the guilt from himself, but that pain had to go somewhere, and it stuck so easily to Tucker, like that orange dirt. He filled in the gaps of Tucker’s second hand knowledge of what happened in the original Project Freelancers time line; Sigma was misled, forced into splitting the Alpha. The Meta was him making up for that mistake. The Director was the evil one. He was like the other Freelancers, like Wash and Carolina, who Tucker forgave and loved. And now in this time line, he was innocent of all wrong doing. Sigma was the victim, Tucker was the monster.Tucker was the guilty one here. Tucker was willing to risk Sigma turning into that by implanting himself again. Tucker was willing to tear his best friend into pieces, both Sigma and Alpha.
Unforgivable. There was nothing that Sigma could be blamed for; Only what Tucker had to pay for.
Tucker’s vision turned red, the dirt on his helmet growing more intense in color. His skin prickled, burning hot, spreading all over him wildly and tearing through his flesh and he knew he was on fire. He couldn’t see the flames, only Washington’s face filling up his vision, but knew them there. He still shook, trying to move but Sigma holding him down. The sirens had twisted into a different frequency, faint at first by growing louder, stuttering. The shredding of Tucker’s throat clued him in those were his own screams.I’m not the monster here, Sigma said, pilfering through Tucker’s head, fury increasing with ever memory his turned over. But you’ve forced me to be Roko’s Basilisk. Let’s see how you like being torn apart.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Tucker sat in a plastic chair, in the circle of similarly plastic, but empty, chairs.
Where did he even get these chairs? The cargo ship had to be full of random crap, but lawn chairs? Beer? Why even set them
up in a circle?He blinked, trying to clear his mental fog. Obviously it was for people to sit with him. For… The Reds and Blues to sit with him.Jesus, he must have started drinking and dozed off. No shit he was waiting for the Reds and Blues. They had all just taken down the Director, had their picture taken, shook hands with someone vaguely important, yada yada. They were pushed onto some ship to go… Somewhere. Blood Gulch. Right, back to Blood Gulch. That’s how it went, every time; Him, Caboose, Grif, Simmons, and Sarge.
Tucker had no idea how long he was sitting in his lonely circle of lawn chairs in a dark cargo bay before finally heard the woosh of the ship’s door and clanging of armored footsteps.It was Carolina. She looked around, confused, in armor besides her helmet. Was her hair always this bright? “What’s this?”“Uh, a party?” Tucker answered, but even he sounded doubtful.Carolina’s jaw clenched and she exhaled through her nose. “This is fucking low. I knew you were a piece of shit, but this…?”“What?” Tucker asked. Carolina was angry, she had been angry every minute he knew her. Which wasn’t a lot of minutes, to be fair. They had just met… A few months ago? Yeah, a few months ago. When she first drafted them to find Epsilon. That’s it, that’s all he knew about her.“A party. Really,” She repeated. She looked away, wiping under her eye once. “Wash isn’t even in the ground yet, and you’re throwing a party?”A beat of silence.“Wash? What?” Tucker whispered.“Wash. Washington. Our friend? Or who I thought was your friend?” Every sentence Carolina spit had more bite than the last until her voice was nearly cracking. “Who took a bullet to the throat for us- for you? Is this some sort of cruel joke or did you block it out from all the guilt?”Washington wasn’t dead. No, Washington couldn’t be dead. Tucker would remember that. Something like that would rip him to shreds, to punch a hole through his heart and tear out whatever was inside and throw it on the floor in a gory heap.
“You weren’t close to him,” Carolina continued in Tucker’s silence. “I don’t think you even cared for him. He certainly didn’t think you did.”Didn’t care for Wash? How could she say that? It was Washington. Washington, who…Was just leader of Blue team. Only there for the past couple of months, nothing more.Then why did it feel like something more? Why was his throat closing up? He lost teammates before, teammates that tried to kill him a whole lot less too. “Wash isn’t… Is he?” Carolina gave a humorless laugh. “Yes, Tucker. Washington took a bullet to the throat and bled out in front of everyone for you. You had to get cocky and put yourself at the front of the line, and he paid the price of you not knowing how worthless you really are. But don’t worry, with the way you treated him, maybe he saw it as a mercy.“He had told me about you, about the diplomacy and the desert temple. I had high hopes for you, but you’re more useless than the rest of them-“Tucker stood up. His wrist was bare. He needed his watch.“But at least the rest of them have an excuse. You had all the training in the world available to you, and you just wasted it. You’re the only one the UNSC even bothered to reassign. But all you’re good for is hiding and getting other people killed-“He looked around the walls. There had to be a clock somewhere. On the walls, on a monitor, on a piece of equipment- Somewhere.“Just like the other soldiers at the desert temple. But who cares about them, at least you made it out, right? God, everywhere you go you just let people die-“The beer labels. The beer had labels on them. He picked up one of the bottles out of the six pack, and lifted it to his face. His hands were shaking.“Blood Gulch, the desert temple, Chorus-“Tucker looked up at Carolina.“That didn’t happen yet.”Carolina’s face was twisted with fury. She ground her teeth in frustration, caught.Tucker looked down at the beer label. He couldn’t read it.—“I think it’s a great idea,” North said.Tucker looked down at his hand, clutched around air oddly. He looked back and around to North, standing a few feet to his side“What is?” He asked.North turned to him, looking up from his data pad. Sunlight glinted off her visor right into his eye, blinding him. “To take Theta to skateboard with the privates. You just suggested it.”Tucker looked down to his hands. He was holding his helmet. Of course he was holding his helmet, what else could it be? He always had his helmet. He looked to his left, where a handful of the younger privates were laughing and haphazardly attempting tricks on their skateboards.“I trust you to watch out for them,” North said, turning back to his data pad. “You are a captain after all. If you think it’s a good idea-““Yeah!” Theta’s voice made Tucker jump. The young AI was to his side, floating in a blurry purple haze. “Tucker says it’s okay! Let’s go!”“Wait, maybe-“ Tucker shook his head, but North cut him off.“Just go, Captain Tucker,” North waved him off. “I’ll finish surveying the damaged buildings myself. It shouldn’t be hard to keep a handful of privates alive.”Everything in Tucker’s gut screamed at him to stay in place, but everything outside of him was urging him to go. He must be having an anxiety attack; Nothing new nothing special. He was good at keeping these under wraps at this point, and worrying Theta and North wasn’t going to help anyone. He nodded, and looked down at his helmet.“Uh, should I leave this here?” Tucker asked.North looked back at him. “What for?”“For…” Tucker trailed off. He had a reason to leave his helmet on the floor, but it escaped him. “Never mind." Tucker hesitated, but left his helmet on the floor anyways. North didn’t comment, just turned back to his data pad, studying the rubble of the concrete and red brick building in front of him. His gut had told him there was a reason he was supposed to leave his helmet here.“C’mon!” Theta urged again. Tucker nodded and let the AI lead him over to the group laughing in the abandoned fountain.The triplets were out of their armor and in regular fatigues. Where the three of them got skateboards, Tucker had no idea, but Idaho and Iowa seemed to know how to use them. Ohio was focused intently on her feet staying on the board, but when her head lifted and she noticed Tucker, she broke into a huge smile. “Tucker! Are you here to skate?”“No, but I am!” Theta shouted. He grabbed the air, materializing a magenta holographic skateboard for himself.“So cool!” Idaho said, eyes wide at Theta.“Wow!” Iowa leaned in close, poking a finger through Theta.“Knock that off, they hate that,” Tucker said, shooing away Iowa’s hand. “Theta wanted to show you guys some tricks.”“Aw, thanks Theta!” Ohio beamed. “I’ve been trying to nail a turn kick for an hour, but I can’t figure it out.”“Oh, turn kicks are super easy, let me show you!” Theta said. He floated forward, starting to maneuver on his own board.That itch in Tucker’s brain acted up, the one he’s had for… a while now. Not just his regular anxiety, he didn’t think.“It’s a kick turn,” He said aloud.
Theta paused on his board, but didn’t look up. Ohio’s eyes were similarly stuck on her feet, and even though she also froze, her smile didn’t falter at all. It was weird, like she was a movie that buffered for a second, before she was back in motion. She laughed. “Oh wow, I guess I have a lot to learn!”The conversation moved past Tucker then, everyone laughing and goofing around. Idaho fell once; The board slid out from under him, skittering away while he flopped on the stone, skinning his elbow. Tucker flinched and inhaled at the impact. Old guys like the four of them couldn’t take that kind of-Wait. North said to skate with the privates. The triplets were too old to be-“Ow…” Idaho whined loudly, looking down at his bloody elbow. It was badly cut, blood dripping down onto the stone of the fountain. Too much blood, in fact. Too much for a cut elbow from a simple slip. It looked like someone had slashed it with a machete, but Idaho's reaction was way too collected.The elbow itself only took up a moment of Tucker’s attention. That wasn’t what was the most off. Idaho lifting his elbow to examine it drew Tucker’s attention to his friends fatigues. All of them, the three privates, had their fatigues clean and neat. The heather green of their shirts were standard issue for Chorus, but they were solid.The sun beat down on them, as it did every day, as it would for the rest of the summer season. It should be burning them up, Tucker should be sweating through his suit right now, they all should be. Especially the privates- No, the agents. But Tucker didn’t feel anything, he didn’t feel the heat from the sun or it bouncing off the concrete. It felt like… Nothing.“Something wrong?” Idaho asked. Tucker snapped his head up to look at his friends face. There was no concern or confusion there; On none of the faces looking at Tucker was there any sort of emotion.“Shouldn’t… It should be hot, right?” Tucker asked.
They three soldiers stared at him blankly for another moment. Finally, Ohio broke into another wide smile at him, letting out a single laugh. “Right!? We’re so lucky to have this weather!” She looked down at her shirt, pulling it forward at the chest with her pointer finger and thumb. “Usually I’d be soaking through, but-“
BANG!
Tucker flinched, dropping into a crouch. He twisted his neck around, trying to find the source of the gun, the sound unmistakable, but couldn’t see where a sniper would be hiding.In his panic, his brain wasn’t taking in anything beyond the rubble and fountain of the town square, not processing the green jungle that should be surrounding them. Like there was a loose cable between his eyes and his brain unable to process anything farther than the rubble buildings North was surveying.Tucker looked back at Ohio, who was still pulling at her shirt. A dark circle had appeared on her shirt, growing larger and larger in diameter. She looked down, confused at the new wound in her as her shirt began soaking through.“Ohio!” Tucker shouted.She looked up then, brows furrowed, before dropping to the floor in a heap. No sound from her, just face up and eyes staring at the sky as the darkness coated more and more of her shirt until it was no longer heather green but a dark olive.“Ohio!” Idaho cried, rushing forward-
BANG!
Idaho fell to the side, neck snapping at an odd angle in a spray of crimson. His body had been thrown from the force, pushing him several feet from Ohio. Unlike Ohio, who was hyperventilating and twitching, Idaho was still. Tucker couldn’t make himself look at his body, to look at the carnage following the shot. He couldn’t look at Ohio, who’s movements were slowing. He didn’t know what he was looking at, but couldn’t look at what he knew was in front of him.“Tucker, I’m scared,” Iowa said, grabbing Tucker’s attention. His voice sounded just like- He looked just like-
BANG! BANG!
Iowa screamed out, and dropped to the floor. Two shots, one in him and one in-Tucker doubled over, clutching his stomach. What started as a push grew into a fire was burning through him, an unnatural heat making his muscles contract around a single point in his stomach.Tucker’s legs gave out, his body using it’s energy to pump blood that was flowing out of his gut. His own heather green shirt was dark now, and when he pulled his hand away it was shining in the sunlight.He fell onto his side, curled protectively around the parts of him spilling out of him, tears flowing from his eyes as easy as blood from his wound. He was gritting his teeth so hard they might just turn to dust, shattering in his mouth and shredding his gums. But sensations like that and just the overall feeling of how sticky and wet he had grown to be in just a few moments were weighing him down.Iowa wasn’t doing much better, but was more vocal. His wound matched Tucker, right to his gut, but he wasn’t grinding his teeth. He screamed, screamed and screamed, howling in unapologetic pain.Tucker squeezed his eyes shut. That’s all that was in Tucker’s head- That scream. The screaming that pierced his eardrums with more vigor than the bullet wound in his stomach. The only thing worse than Iowa’s screams were the sound as they tapered off.“Iowa!” He screamed, opening his eyes again. Iowa’s screams were dying down, as his gasps took over, his lungs desperately trying to take in air and function while his circulatory system kept his blood pumping, kept pumping his blood out of him. His eyes started flitting close, face goes pale, as his body went limp.And that was it.Screams were still in the air, Tucker’s now. Not like Iowa’s, but a stuttering cry, not just in fear but terror. Breath trying to come in as sobs crawled their way out, his need for oxygen being just as necessary as his release of pain. His friends, the triplets, were dead. Not like how other Freelancer’s died, only to come back later. There was no suit’s healing function here, there was no first aid, there was no ambiguity. The triplets died like human’s did for thousands of years before they even reached the moon; The agents died in bloodshed, wearing just cotton and canvas.Tucker’s cries wouldn’t let up, not inching any closer to the relief of death or even fading. It was like every second the pain increased ten fold, like what was a bullet wound now had a hot iron poker covered in razor were being stuck in him. Like he had a a ninja star for a kidney stone rolling around in him.He barely even noticed the shadow loom over him as his attacker walked over to him.The Director’s walk was too casual, the sniper rifle in his hand looking like it was made of cardboard by the way he held it with such ease. Tucker hadn’t seen someone out of armor hold it so easily…Wait.The Director was never here.None of them were, not the triplets, not North, but certainly never the Director. The Director was a conclusion to a story that ended before Chorus had ever began. No, wait, he was the start of an adventure that began at the end of Chorus, or during, or Chorus was cut off- No, never began-The burn in Tucker’s stomach somehow grew, but Tucker couldn’t even curl in on himself. The Director put his heel on Tucker’s shoulder, pushing him and forcing Tucker onto his back. Like he was in a glue trap, his belly exposed like he was on an operating table. The Director’s head tilted, his face obscured as his head blocked out the sunlight.How had he snuck up on them? Theta should have… North should have… There should have been someone. Someone to watch the triplets, someone to watch Tucker’s back…Tucker’s back. His stomach felt like it had a covenant hand digging through it, but his back wasn’t anything like that. He could still move his hands, and maneuvered one to his back. He grunted at the thrust he needed to make to move his hand under himself, the pain in his stomach twinging.His back was… fine. The cotton of his shirt smooth. Even through the agony, even through his friends being murdered, he knew that there should be a bullet hole. And the pain in his stomach should be like like nothing he’s ever experienced, but it was all too familiar. It was like a horrible blend of steel cutting through his skin and something digging it’s way out. The worst of a knife in his stomach and an alien fetus digging it’s way out of him.He had never been sniped, he wouldn’t know what it’s like, but the smoothness of his back didn’t lie. He had, however, been stabbed, and this is exactly what it had felt like.“This behavior is highly undignified for a soldier of your caliber, Agent Kentucky,” The Director said.
And just like that, the spell broke. Too much was off, the illusion shattered. Tucker was still breathing fast, and the pain was excruciating, but it was just all so wrong he knew it must be a dream. The Director, North, the triplets, all of it was wrong, all of it was out of place-—“This is really embarrassing for you.”The words fell out of Tucker’s mouth in a sleazy, lazy manner that Tucker had never heard from himself.They had their intended effect. The red headed woman looked terrified out of her mind. She was shivering, despite the heat of Blood Gulch making her face overheat. Sweat was dripping down from her face as it hit the concrete of Blue Base.She was so small, so young. As young as Tucker was when he was deployed, but just by looking at her he could tell she didn’t belong here. She was lazy, she wasn’t high strung, she wasn’t an idiot, she wasn’t a freak like any of the people who were sent here to be busy work all those years ago. Nothing about her belonged here.
Tucker, though, he belonged here. He needed to be shipped here all those years ago, to do the world a favor and quarantine him. This place was his hell, or purgatory, or where ever. It only fit that it had been full of ghosts from the start.She was shaking so hard, but didn’t move. The people that belonged here didn’t look death in the face and cry. They looked death in the face and made a stupid joke or muttered one final ‘Son of a bitch’ before dying and coming back. She didn’t look like she was capable of anything at this moment but coughing up sobs and drenching her face in sweat and tears.Tucker took a step forward, then another. He should comfort her; Make a dumb comment and let her know not too worry, an idiot like him wasn’t capable of anything more than letting team kills slip past him.But every step he took, she choked on another sob, hazel eyes wide and lips pursed. She kept staring at his hand.
Tucker looked down; His sword was in his grip, activated and buzzing. Well, of course she was freaked out; He had forgotten that his bad ass sword wasn’t a common sight for everyone. He just needed to deactivate it and…Why couldn’t he deactivate it?His fingers didn’t move, his wrist didn’t flick. The only movement he made was those slow and careful steps he made towards the poor girl.“I’m going to enjoy this.”The words fell out of Tucker's mouth, his jaw moving without his permission. Enjoy what? He wasn’t enjoying a second of this, not the way his feet moved him forward, not the way his hand wasn’t his own, not the grin frozen on his face. A fire burnt in his chest the closer he got, something in his chest screaming at his body to stop moving, screaming at her to run, screaming in general until something, anything made sense. But none of it did, and he couldn’t even scream out loud.He was only to feet away now. Right in front of the girl. Her hazel eyes stared about at him, and she cringed as he put a hand on her shoulder.South’s blue eyes trailed down to Tucker’s hand as he raised it, lining it up perpendicular to her abdomen. Caboose might have recognized it, but the tip of Tucker’s sword was right at the spot he had Junior ripped out of all those years ago. Palomo’s voice always quivered when he was scared, but Tucker had never heard the guttural sobs erupting from him now. Iowa swallowed, the only break from the crying at this point. Tucker had no control over himself, just as passive of a victim as Kai as he drove the sword through her.He looked up then, at the poor red haired girl’s face. He didn’t even know her name, she was just another troop in Charon’s forces. No, not a troop, not a space pirate, not an Insurgence soldier; Just an employee. Someone who took a paycheck and was just told to watch a bunch of computer’s in the desert. Someone who’s career at that point was just living in the desert, filling her days by standing around and talking with her coworkers.How long could you live like that until something like this happened? How long could you live in bored ignorance until some Freelancer came and fucked everything up? An actual soldier, someone who could kill and was very good at it, coming by and fucking your entire life for whatever melodrama they had been wrapped up in. This was just a job for her, something to do when college didn’t work out, someplace that would take her after she twisted her ankle hoping a fence at that party when she was 18 and somehow even stupider than she was now.Somewhere in those few seconds, she changed. She didn’t look like herself anymore; Her coily hair was cropped short and her dark skin wasn’t red in the sun, and she wore those stupid designer athletic wear he loved so much as a teenager. Tucker didn’t realize that the person about to fall over and die in front of him was himself, because he wasn’t looking at his reflection. No, his reflection was a yellow visor on an aqua helmet, not the scared eyes of a kid who didn’t know the consequences of wandering into that recruitment center at the strip mall in Texas.A hand grabbed Tucker’s shoulder. Washington spun him around, away from the kid.“You fucking monster,” He hissed, and he was right. Washington was always right, but even an idiot could see that Tucker was a monster. He had killed this poor kid, speared with a sword that Tucker pretended wasn’t a fucking curse. He had killed, but for what? Tucker could vividly imagine the pain the kid was going through, it so real and so personal his own abdomen was burning.Washington pushed him to the floor, and he fell face down. Tucker didn’t even have time to turn over when he felt a weight settle on his back, holding him in place. A hand found the back of his head, not in a gentle or sexy way like Wash’s hand had always found it’s way in his hair. But it shoved him down, keeping him in place, as needed. Tucker needed to be stopped.Fingers dug into his skin, digging around that metal square if his implant site. Fingernails dug under the metal, separating his flesh from where it had grown around the technology. Once they had found their grip, the fingers pulled.Now Tucker could scream; Screaming was all he could do. The hair-thin metal wires threaded through his brain were now being extracted. He could feel it; Feel the pull of something so ingrained in his mind but none the less artificial and foreign be cut out of him, and the wires vengefully tearing out everything on their way. Like claws, those wires were either staying nestled in his head or slicing everything out with them. Cutting up Tucker, trying to raze their home, their entire world on their way out. Everything that was him beyond just his body, but his consciousness and person hood was being shredded by the tendrils of metal cutting through his head like clay and a piano wire.The weight of Washington, the concrete of the base, the body of all the people he hurt were disappearing from view. It all faded into nothingness as Tucker’s body focuses soley on the pull, the sensation of a million tears to his brain. It was a fire that doubled, tripled, quadrupled- Whatever fucking math term applied for the scorching in his skullScreams that were his but not his filled his ears. Everything was too much, and this was everything. Louder and louder.Until that was it.Time passed.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Maybe he felt the hand on his head the whole time. It was there before the blackness overtook him, and was there when the world crawled back to him. Consciousness came with dread. The blackness was relief from his suffering, from the excruciating physical pain of his backwards lobotomy and freedom from the guilt of what he had done to deserve it.
But all he had was a dull headache. The absence of that excruciating torture was jarring, and Tucker's breath stuttered but he didn’t dare move, waiting for the pain to come back.It never did. All he felt was that hand on his head, a constant pressure. The thumb of that hand rubbed small circles on his implant site.
Tucker’s eyes slowly opened, an action that was intentional and in his complete control. He didn’t see concrete, he didn’t see the desert canyon, he wasn’t at Blue Base, he wasn’t in Blood Gulch at all. He was in the dark, cold med bay at the Mother of Invention, machinery whirring and beeping around him.“Tucker?” A soft, familiar voice whispered. The voice that was just yelling at him a second ago.“Wash?” He asked. His throat should be torn, but wasn’t. He should have a lot of physical pain in a lot of places, but it was nothing but an echo.Washington was crouching down on his knees in front of Tucker, his steel armor matching the darkened room. Tucker thought, not for the first time, how Wash’s face didn’t belong in a place like this. He was warm; His face was a collection of earth, hickory, cedar, and every other color that made up the forests of his namesake. If he had to use a different word than ‘brown’, it would be life. Tucker was on a bed, on his belly, and the hand removed itself from his scalp. Still, Tucker didn’t move, he didn’t even know where to go.Wash cursed something in Arabic, and brought a hand to Tucker’s face. Tucker flinched so hard Washington almost withdrew his hand, but still gently pressed it to Tucker’s cheek. It was warm; Not a burning fire like everything else had been for the last eternity, but warm.“Vitals are looking normal,” Someone who Tucker had killed said behind him.
“Do you know where you are?” Washington asked gently.“… Not Blood Gulch,” Tucker said with certainty. “You were never at Blood Gulch.”Washington furrowed his brows, and looked up and behind Tucker. A shake of his head and he looked back at Tucker. “You’re on the Mother of Inventions med bay. What’s the last thing you remember?”“I killed… Her,” Tucker struggled to remember the face, but it was so many face. “South…”“South is fine,” Washington hurriedly whispered. He looked up again, brows still knit together, then leaned back to Tucker. “She’s really angry, but we popped her shoulder back in. She’s fine.”“No, no…” Tucker groaned. A migraine was forming in his temple. He turned his head away from Wash, pressing his forehead into the mattress and squeezed his eyes shut. “No, I stabbed her. Her- The guard, or- No, Caboose, Palomo, Iowa… Oh my God, Iowa-“ Tucker grit his teeth. Iowa had been shot before that, right through the gut and made to bleed out in front of him. Then stabbed, by him. He died twice, both Tucker’s fault. All his friends kept dying because of him, only to come back and die again and again-“I’m losing him,” Wash said, panicked.There was a shuffle, a murmur of voices, but Tucker couldn’t make them out through the screaming that only he could hear, the migraine twinges turning into throbs.
A hand came to the back of his head again, palming his skull and rubbing circles on his implants. The touch soothed the headache, and it began to wane.“We’re right here, Tucker. You didn’t hurt anyone.” Nikki said.Tucker didn’t want to look, didn’t want to open his eyes and see another person he’d hurt, but she wasn’t asking. She was commanding. Tucker saw her, right in front of him, and stuck his hand out, and experiential poke to see if she would disappear. Nikki should have flinched away from him, but instead met his hand halfway, clutching it in her own. She breathed in relief, eyes closing briefly and looking up and past him, a mirror of Wash.“Listen to me,” Nikki- No, Dr. Jefferson said in that authoritative tone that left no room for debate. “You’re coming down from a nightmare. Sigma incapacitated you and made you hallucinate. Whatever you think you did, you didn’t. You didn’t stab South, you didn’t kill Iowa.”“Caboose? Palomo?” Tucker asked. He could still remember the tears in Caboose’s face, and he never wanted to see anything like that again, let alone cause it.“I don’t know who that is,” Jefferson confirmed. “But you did not kill anyone by those names.”“With names like that, I hope they’re not real,” Tex scoffed, somewhere off to the side. Maybe that wasn’t real either, because Tex was at Blood Gulch, Tex was real in both place, in everywhere he had ever been. The Mother of Invention, Blood Gulch, the Charon’s desert base where-“The guard…” Tucker continued. “The red head. From the desert. I stabbed her.”Jefferson looked past Tucker again, then back. “That wasn’t you, that was Sigma.”“Nikki… I think it was me,” Tucker admitted.
“We don’t have time for this,” Tex said impatiently.Suddenly, Tucker was pulled back. The motions he was put through wouldn’t processing his brain correctly, and it took him too long to realize he was upright. He had been pulled from the med bay cot, Tex squeezing his shoulders in her hands like he was nothing and holding him to her face. This also meant he was a few inches off the ground, toes barely grazing the floor. Tex brought him right to her visor, where all he could see was his own reflection, his pathetically scared human reflection.“Listen here,” She said, stern. “You went rogue on the mission to the Charon desert base. You shot South for some reason. Then Sigma put you into a coma. You’ve bee hallucinating for the past twelve hours. We just tore the fucker out of your head, and we have to go. Got it?”Tucker nodded, not really sure if he did get it but more worried about pissing his pants, or worse, Tex squeezing him with even a fraction of her strength and popping his head off like the cap on a tube of toothpaste. She seemed satisfied with his response, but still dropped him, causing a spasm in Tucker’s bad ankle that nearly toppled him. Tex grabbed his hand, prying it open and placing the hilt of his sword inside, then closing his fist for him. Another AI moving his body for him, but he made a lot exceptions when it came to how Tex treated him. With his sword in his hand, he felt more like himself, and anchor to who he was.He managed to keep himself up right, and looked around.It was dark. Everything before this had been too bright, but it was dark here. The med bay was empty besides them and Carolina, who was standing by the door, eyes switching between looking out and giving worrying glances to Tucker.The room was cold, not the absence of temperature like his nightmare had been, but actually cold. He looked down at his clothes; The standard issue gray fatigues that he wore every time he was incapacitated in armor and woke up here. At this point it was basically his uniform as Captain Fuck Up.Everything seemed real, no more haze that distorted everything with color like a dirty windshield.Wash looked younger, like he had for the past months. Tucker swallowed and took a few steps forward, grabbed at Wash’s hand. Wash let Tucker take his hand, and Tucker held it like a fragile, glass ornament and brought Wash’s wrist to his face. He took a deep breath and read the face.4:27.Tucker let out a breath, dropping Wash’s wrist. He could read the watch, this was real.“Holy shit,” Tucker sighed, breathing in and out regularly now. He hung his head for a moment, letting himself trust his senses again. The hum of the ship, the chill of the air, the dryness of his mouth- All real.“Perfect, he’s sane- Or, as sane as he ever was,” Tex said, voice light despite the tension of the room. “Let’s roll.”“Goddammit, where are we rolling?” Tucker asked. Like every other traumatic moment of his life, he didn’t have time to dwell; There was always some sort of action to be thrust into.
“Out of here- Well, I’m headed out of here, but I guess you can decide what to do as we go.” Tex said. “I’m taking the Alpha and leaving.”Tucker squinted.
“Church? We’re getting Church? Wait…” He was wrong, this wasn’t the Tex from Blood Gulch, this was the bitch from a different desert base. “You were about to fuck me over! The thumb drive, Chorus- You guys-!”“Okay, I’ll take the blame for that one,” Carolina said, not looking apologetic at all. “I knew the only way to get you to look at the intel from the Charon base was to tell you not to. I thought you’d at least wait until we got back to the ship-““Chorus. You’re helping the Director take Chorus!”“No, moron,” Tex interrupted. “We’re stopping it. You’ve been to wrapped up in your little soap operas for the past month, you didn’t notice how absent me and Carolina have been?”“CT said you know about the insurgency in your time, right? That she’s the mole?” Carolina asked.
“Yeah?”“Great, we don’t need to catch you up on all that. She found out that Project Freelancer was making moves towards Chorus, and warned us. We planned on using this mission to gather the proof we needed to expose the Project and Charon-““But we didn’t expect your meltdown with Sigma. What was that about?” Tex asked.“He found out about the Sarcophagus,” Tucker furrowed his brows, digging up the last moments before he fell under. Sigma’s fury was the only thing that was clear, and he had to brush it away to find the memories underneath. “He wasn’t happy about my help with that shit. I think he… Like, mixed my memories with his in my brain? He was so mad, about that and me and Church. About a lot of shit that I think I’m mad at myself too…”“Well, good luck with the therapy sessions you’ll need after that,” Tex said. “But we need to move. We got the flash drive, we just need to send it to every journalist in the universe and get the hell out of here.”“But we’re not leaving without the Alpha,” Carolina spoke up. “Or you. And the Director is not going to let you live if we leave. So hurry up, we only got about twenty minutes.”Tucker nodded. He had to fight against the pit in his stomach that told him he was still being lied too. The watch didn’t lie; He was in the real world. And in the real world, if the four of these people told him to jump into shark infested water, he would. If he couldn't at least trust them, then this wasn't really a world he wanted to be in. So he moved forward. His legs were weak, but Wash noticed and wrapped his arm around Tucker’s middle, pulling him forward.Wash’s armor was chilly, but Tucker was grateful that it cooled his sweaty skin. He was solid and real, and at least Tucker could breath in his familiar scent. He had to stop himself from straight up just shoving his nose in Wash’s hair.“Are you okay?” Wash asked lowly in his ear.“No, but what else is new?” Tucker joked.Wash smiled, a little relieved, his smile shooting more strength in Tucker’s legs before shoving on his helmet. They exited the med bay, taking careful but swift steps forward.
“Did you know about this?” Tucker asked. Wash shook his head.“No, not until a couple of hours ago, after you were already asleep,” Wash promised.“And you?” Tucker asked, looking at Nikki.She shook her head. “No. Not until a few minutes ago when I nearly shot the head off of three Freelancer’s breaking into my med bay.”Tucker looked at her curiously, almost tripped when they all turned a corner. “Wait, seriously? And you’re already on board for this?”Nikki nodded once. “Yes. I told you, I’m not an evil scientist. It wasn’t easy to pull Sigma out of your head, but now that I did, and now that I know what the Director has planned… There’s nothing left for me here. I won’t be complicit any longer, and there’s no room for someone like me here.”“Oh... Dope,” Tucker swallowed. He looked at Wash, who’s face was mere inches from his own. “Well, that explains why you’re here. That, and you being in love with me.”Wash’s face darkened, and Tucker managed a laugh. “Well, and being a good person. Doing the right thing. Not everything’s about you.”“Sure,” Tucker chuckled.“You’re in an awfully good mood for someone who was in a mind torture chamber. “ Carolina commented, keeping the head of the group.“I’m saving all the angst for my therapy session,” Tucker said, not telling Carolina that Wash’s arm around him was the only thing making him stay sane. "I heard this places medical covered that shit."
“I would see a neurosurgeon too,” Nikki said. “Sigma did not want to leave.” She held up the memory unit, the elongated flash drive with distaste. All of Tucker’s fears and regrets in something the size of a nail file. Nikki tucked Sigma back in her pocket before Tucker could confront why exactly he felt the need to take him back.The lights went out, only to turn back on, flashing red. A siren accompanied it, reigniting Tucker’s migraine“They know we’re leaving,” Carolina said.
“Then we have to hurry,” Tex said. She looked Tucker up and down. “You need armor.”The halls of the MOI weren’t hard to navigate for the group who had called it home, but making it to the armory without running into anyone wasn’t easy. Tex took lead, and had them stopping and starting, taking random turns into hallways. The sound of footsteps and yelling played around them, but they actually saw anyone. At one point, she shoved Washington, Tucker and Nikki into a closet while she and Carolina activated their camo.It took Washington and Nikki to catch Tucker from stumbling, his strength not completely back. He clung to Wash’s armor for a second, his partner huge in comparison.

The heard loud footsteps and shouting on the other side of the door, an army of gray suits running by. Tucker looked around, this specific closet looking familiar.“I think we boned here,” He whispered.He regretted the decision in the ensuing silence, but melted when both Nikki and Wash stifled giggles.
“Glad to know your sense of humor is invincible. I’m sure where we’re headed, but we’re going to need it.” Washington whispered. He paused. “You’re talking to me, right?”“Oh God, yes,” Nikki blanched. “If we’re sticking together, never insinuated that again.”“We?’” Tucker asked hopefully.“Yes, we,” Nikki answered instead. She was behind Tucker, out of view, but her voice was confident. “All of us, as a team.”Tucker nodded quickly. “Yeah. A team.”
The door ripped open a second later, and invisible hands pulled them out. Tucker stumbled, but Carolina and Tex reappeared as they led them further down the hallway. Two minutes in the closet, a few sentences, and he felt that maybe things would be okay.Tucker had began recognizing the hallway they were in before Carolina spoke. “Armory up ahead.”She leaned in to try punch in her code, Nikki but ran forward and pushed her hand away. “Let me; Your access codes are either blocked or being monitored.”Carolina backed off, and Nikki punched in a series of numbers quickly into the walls keypad. The door opened with a woosh.Even if the room wasn’t all grays and black, South and Maine’s armor would have stuck out.Both soldiers had weapons already trained on the group. Everyone froze in the stand off. Tucker had never felt more exposed and out of armor.“What else did I fucking expect?” South laughed bitterly.
“South, Maine. Stand down,” Carolina ordered.“Guess what Carolina? We don’t take orders from you anymore,” South taunted in a deceptively playful voice. Years of resentment taking hold of her. “In fact, our orders were to stop you at all cost.”“Maine…” Wash breathed, surprised at the betrayal. Maine didn’t react, just tightened his grip on the Grif shot in front of him.Washington lowered Tucker’s arm, readying his stance. Nikki fell back to Tucker’s side, ready to hold him up, but Tucker waved her off, finally ready to stand on his own. They stood, the only two completely unarmed, just the side of what could only be described as a ticking bomb.“South, don’t make me put you down,” Tex warned.“I’m not like the rest of them,” South shook her head. “I’m not going to let big scary Texas and Carolina push me around anymore.”That was just downright stupid of South, and Tucker had seen a lot of stupid. But it was believable; South was mean and rude, and pushed back against authority. She was an acquired taste, like a vengeful shot of excellent vodka. She didn't slap a label on herself pretending to be water, and yet everyone acted so surprised when she went down rough, like it was at all her fault. They all knew her anger, and knew it well.
Maybe it was that ‘thing’ that Nikki talked about, that ‘thing’ that everyone had to have when they joined the Project. But whatever it was, it was in South, like it had been in Carolina and Texas. The only difference is that no one rewarded South for it. Carolina and Texas were leaders, they were given opportunities and responsibilities. What did South get? Besides being tossed aside and ostracized? Besides being, at best, not being taken seriously.Tucker knew that, like him, if South had just been given a single fucking chance, she’d do something great. He also knew that they had hit a brick wall that would end in violence, and the only thing that could get them out of it was a miracle. Tucker had pulled off miracles his entire life. The trick was to be extremely, recklessly stupid.“Jesus fucking…” He muttered, dug his hand into Nikki’s coat’s pocket. Thankfully, she had nothing but lint and the memory unit she had trapped Sigma in.Nikki didn’t have a soldier’s reflex, and couldn’t stop Tucker before he pulled the storage device out and walked forward.“Tucker! What are you-“He ignored Nikki, and the sound of the other three shouting his name. His legs were working, gaining strength and confidence every step he took towards South.South didn’t aim her weapon any higher as Tucker approached, but wasn’t relaxing like Maine was. She only tensed further, but Tucker wasn’t going to back down. He would give South the opportunity to be great if it killed him.“What do you plan to do out of armor?” She asked. “Because I plan to do a lot worse than dislocation your shoulder-““Here.”Tucker stuck out the storage device.The room held it’s breath.“What?” South asked, her mask of cruelty dropping. Tucker dropped his usual joker facade, the pair of them making up Melopeme and Thalia falling. “Is that…?”“Yeah, it’s Sigma,” Tucker said, the name burning like whiskey on the tip of his tongue.“… Why are you giving him to me?” South asked genuinely. “What am I supposed to do with it?”“I don’t know,” Tucker shrugged. “Use him, don’t us him, hide him- I’m don’t really know what we’re supposed to do. But I am sure that the only constants over two time lines are people fucking you over and the world going to hell. Maybe that’s related, maybe not. But I only let my friends stab me in the back, so if you’re gonna do that, well, here.”South didn’t make a move forward, but the subtle shift of her helmet made it clear she wasn’t looking at Tucker anymore, but the storage device.“C’mon,” Tucker smirked. “You’re South Dakota, baddest bitch in the galaxy. You’re not going to let a fucking computer push you around. If you’re going to shoot me, I know it’s because you wanted to, not some calculator making you.” Tucker side-eyed Maine. “Just promise me that when our corpses get shot out with the trash, you’ll learn sign language. Maine is just as good at complaining as I am.”South shifted again, looking back at Tucker. She reached out, still holding up her pistol but carefully taking the storage device in her fingers.“Is this some kind of trap?” She asked quietly, only to Tucker.
“No,” Tucker promised. “Either you help us or I die here with a clear conscious. But hey, I’ll be the first asshole in history to give South Dakota the respect she deserves. That’s a cooler record to die with than holding my breath.”If Tucker was stupid, South was just as stupid, since this had ‘trap’ written all over it. After a life like hers, she had no reason to believe that now, of all times, someone was risking it all to put her first. That respect for her came before all else, even self preservation. Maybe she would rather die than live in a world where this moment was fake, or where she ruined her first shot at being put first.
South would have been a great Blue, because she dropped her pistol to her side. She would have been a great Red, because she dropped the storage device to the ground, and stomped on it with her boot. AI could do a lot; They could tear apart minds, start wars, end wars, and be one of the most annoying people would ever call his friend, but there was no way Sigma survived South shattering him into a million pieces of silicon, metal and plastic.“Alright, Carolina,” South said loudly, looking past Tucker. The venom was gone, and she fell into a casual demeanor, like she hadn't held a gun to their heads. “Where am I going? I’m guessing you already got my brother wrapped up in this shit?”Tucker spun around to his extremely tense entourage clutching their weapons. Even Nikki’s glare looked deadly.
“He’s with York and North, they’re in the Director’s office. Delta is keeping F.I.L.L.S. down and Theta is leaking as many documents to as many places as possible.”“Then I’m there,” South said, readying her pistol. “I dated this reporter once; If Dylan didn’t get married to that guy, and isn’t mad I ghosted her, we’re so back.” She looked over to Maine. “What about you?”Maine holstered his brute shot on his back and signed to Tucker. I’ve been thinking of which escape pod I’m stealing since we got here. Nice speech.
I’ll get an interpreter next time, Tucker signed back. You don’t have to rely on that ugly ass helmet.I’ll see you on the news, Maine signed. He nodded at Wash. Take care of him.Planned on it, Tucker smiled. Maine walked forward, clamping a hand down on Tucker’s shoulder.The group behind them shook with he readying of weapons, but that didn’t deter Maine.“Nah, he’s good!” Tucker waved his hands. South followed behind, trailing him in her exit. Washington, Nikki, Tex and Carolina watched the pair like hawks as they walked out. Maine only paused to drop a hand on the crown of Wash’s helmet that he shoved on at some point, playfully rubbing it like he was running a hand through his hair.They split, Maine headed left and South running right.“That was… So stupid,” Washington broke the silence.
“Incredibly stupid,” Nikki agreed.“Hey! Stupid is my superpower, alright!?” Tucker defended himself, but was grinning with the high of success. “That was some real fucking feminism shit right there! Let Lavernius Tucker be known as a fucking feminist for once!”“Hurry up and get your armor, Kentucky,” Carolina commanded, but her tone was lighter than it should be.They five of them searched as many cabinets that would open to them, and saw a lot of armor, but not any of Tucker’s aqua armor. Just random pieces of discarded or unclaimed metal. New pieces that would need breaking in that Tucker didn’t want to deal with at the moment.“Do you think it means anything that the triplets armor isn’t here?” Washington asked Tucker.“Nothing good,” Tucker replied, the images of his friends being killed springing forward in his mind, disturbingly clear.“You’re armor isn’t here,” Tex said, shaking her head. “We’ve searched everything.”“Not exactly,” Carolina said, pulling out one more of the vertical shelves that resembled a think, 10 foot book being pulled off a shelf. “There’s this.”Tucker’s stomach dropped at the sight of the semi-familiar teal plating, scrapped and dented more than any other set here but cleaner than it had been when he arrived. The Meta’s armor, the armor that brought him here, might not be his only option, but would be the most comfortable. It would look damn good in his future biopic, at least.“Goddamit, fine,” Tucker sighed, tearing off his shirt as he walked forward. He hurriedly pulled off his pants, then reached for the Kevlar under suit Tex held out to him. He snatched it. “Better than wearing someone else’s. No peaking, perv.” He warned when Tex didn’t shy away.The Meta’s armor still didn’t fit right. But the smoothed edges and slight fuzz in his vision from the scratched visor felt more like home then anything else he’d worn in his time here.“How do I look?” Tucker asked Wash, spreading his arms out. The Meta’s smooth glass helmet rested on his finger tips. He gave a stupid grins that Wash didn’t return.Wash’s helmet was off, and he looked at Tucker with sad eyes. Tucker’s arms dropped, having expected Wash to make a dumb joke, and tried to form one himself=BOOM!Somewhere on the ship, something exploded. Something big. Enough to make half the lights knock out and sirens shut off.Tex snatched Tucker’s helmet from his hands and shoved it over his head. “Beautiful, like Cinderella. Hurry the fuck up!” She shoved him towards the door before he could even get the latches on right.“Was that one of us?:” Tucker asked, trying to keep pace with all the women rushing him down the empty hallways.“No idea. Doesn’t matter; Without Sheila on line, we have no idea how long this place can stay in mid air.”“Air?” Tucker asked. How the hell was Nikki keeping up? She was so much shorter than them.“We’re in orbit of an ice planet,” Carolina informed him.“Ice planet? Sidewinder?” Tucker asked.
Carolina and Tex looked back at him. “Yes.” Tex said. “Why?”“Oh my God, maybe I should get into philosophy,” Tucker groaned. “Time is a flat circle, beginnings and ends, all that crap-““Okay, unless Sidewinder’s gonna explode on impact, shut it,” Tex snapped.“Ugh, we’ll be fine,” Tucker said. “This is just where it ended last time.”“Huh,” Carolina said. “Ironic.”“I’m not sure if it technically is ironic-““Not now, Wash!”Tucker could picture Wash’s pursed lips under his helmet after being yelled at by Tex. Washington was born to be a Blue, it’s a shame he’d never get a chance to meet the rest of them.“Right up here,” Nikki said, rushing forward ahead of all of them. Another non descriptive door, seemingly even more boring and plain than the rest. Nikki punched in her code into the keypad, and the door opened with a woosh. She ushered them all inside before closing the door behind them.The room was blessedly quiet and brighter lit. If the ship’s energy was being rationed, this room must take priority. It must be some sort of lab, based on the monitors that covered every wall. The parts of the dark walls not covered in screens were shelved with an array of tools that would take a PhD to even identify. Some looked like medical equipment with clamps and mesh, but most was hunks of square, metallic technology. The tech that wasn’t so geometric was the impressive collection of Sangheili tech, the rich gemstone coloring and streamline designs matching the tribal-like pattern of Tucker’s tattoos.Of course, that was all unimpressive in the presence of the Sarcophagus that sat in the middle of the room.The giant tomb looked even larger now; The dark walls with intricate patterns that were really language looked expensive. Tucker felt a twinge in the back of his brain. Regret? Disgust? Phobia? Parts of Sigma left behind? Parts of himself he had smothered down?“He’s in there,” Tex said. She looked at Nikki. “I’m going in, I need to talk to him. If anything happens to you guys, pull me out.”Nikki marched towards the Sarcophagus. She knelt to the base, opening a small drawer that was definitely not apart of the original body, and pulled a thick cord. She stood again. “I’ll plug this in to your helmet. The Alpha will save into your memory drive when you’re able to pull him out- I’m assuming the Omega AI is not with you?”“Right here,” Tex slapped her thigh where her side pouch was tucked underneath her armor.“Perfect. You’re body will shut down while you’re in there, we’ll watch over you. Are you ready?”Tex nodded, and turned away from Nikki, bowing her head and exposing her neck.“Wait!” Tucker shouted, scrambling forward. He came right up to Tex, putting a hand on her shoulder. “Listen to me; No Tex and Church telenovella bullshit. Last time you did this, you fucking left him in there because he was all confused and didn’t want to leave. If you pull that shit again I’m going to skewer you. You never had an issue with wailing on his ass before, do it now if you have to. I promise he’ll say something in the next 2 hours that’ll make him deserve it.”Tex was silent for a moment, staring right back at Tucker. She eventuality shoved his hand off. “Alright! The other time line is full babies.”She bent forward again, and Nikki plugged in the cable. Tex tenses, going rigid. She was as still as a statue.
“Is the Alpha really that bad?” Carolina asked, crossing her arms and tapping her foot impatiently. She was nervous; Tucker had been on a handful of missions with her, and she was
never nervous. Not in this time line, not in the other one. The only thing that made Carolina nervous was social interactions. She was actually nervous
over meeting Church.“No, he’s worse,” Tucker scoffed. “Just and absolute asshole through and through. I mean, he’s a copy of the Director’s brain without all the grief that makes him a hard ass. There’s only one person he’s not a total dick too 24/7.”“Tex?” Carolina asked.“What? No!” Tucker actually laughed then. “They’re like, the most bitterly divorced couple in the universe without ever getting married! It’s like their love language is domestic abuse. I was going to say you.”“Oh…”Carolina said, her nervous tick dying down. “That’s… Good too know.”“Just be careful,” Tucker warned. “I’ve been in between those two - Bow-chicka-bow-wow- When their arguing. Now that you and Tex are best friends or whatever, don’t get caught in their drama. You’ll end up with a traffic cone up your ass.”“Ignoring those visuals, me and Tex aren’t best friends, Kentucky,” Carolina said stiffly. “She just doesn’t want to kick my ass all the time like she does with you.”“Again, that’s Tex being nice to you and literally only you,” Tucker rolled his eyes. He searched his brain trying to find a single person who Tex didn’t threaten, and the closest was Caboose. Tucker wouldn’t dare compare Carolina and Caboose, even if she didn’t know how insulting that would be.The breezy mood had snuck up on them during their banter, but it died the second the door opened again with a woosh.Tucker’s stomach dropped at the casual and collected manner at which the Director entered the lab, flanked by the Counselor and Wyoming. The rifle in Wyoming’s hand was no surprise, but the pistol in the Counselor’s would have Tucker raising a brow if he he could react in any manner besides his jaw dropping. He wished he had put his helmet on at any point up to now, but he was exposed. The Director, on the other hand, didn’t need a helmet to mask himself; His mannerisms were as much armor as a Spartan suit.“I must say, there’s not a single face here that I am not more disappointed to see than the last,” The Director said. His voice betrayed him, cracking at odd intervals and giving him an unhinged edge. His hair was just a bit more out of place than usual, his eyes tinted just a bit more red, and if his hands weren’t behind his back, Tucker would see they were white knuckled. Little things that together assured Tucker that mask was cracking.“Except yours, Agent Washington,.” The Director’s continued, sparing a glance at Wash. Wash aimed his pistol at the Director’s face, but didn’t seem any more threatening than a middle finger. “As always, I feel just a mild wonderment you’ve made it this far. And Dr. Jefferson, did you really think your passcode opening the armory would just slip by us?"“It’s over,” Carolina said. The force behind her voice was identical to her father’s. “All of it. Don’t make us kill you.”“I admire your confidence, Agent Carolina,” The Director spoke as if she didn’t share a life with her. “But I’m afraid you’re at a disadvantage.”“Uh, are you sure?” Tucker spoke up, gaining the Director's attention for the first time. “You got a guidance counselor and Mr. Bean behind you, I think Carolina could beat both of you in her sleep.”Tucker looked back at Nikki. Her lips were pursed into a thin line as she stared down Wyoming. Behind his helmet, Tucker couldn’t tell his expression. He would probably never find out what their deal was, but it was shattering before his eyes.For once, Wyoming didn’t speak, and left the Director run his mouth. “I am not worried about my back up.”
“You should be.”Like a ghost, Carolina disappeared, turning on her active camo. If Tucker had a quicker brain, he maybe could have kept up with where she went, but she was so damn quick, even without her armor enhancements. Like they were in a haunted house, all they heard was the clattering of metal as she moved around the room, leaving everyone but the Director searching. Her father just looked… Bored.Out of no where, Wyoming’s head snapped to the side. His body quickly followed where his head flew, groaning as he reeled from the punch Carolina landed on him. He stumbled, and Tucker ignited his sword, ready to join the fire fight, his veins jolting with energy with the crackle of electricity. Nikki wrapped a hand around the cable connected to Tex, tugged to yank it out-Everything slowed to a stop. The air around them was as thick as molasses until they all stiffened. Tucker, once again trapped in his unmoving body, felt the familiar pull in his chest. Everything reversed; Nikki put the cord back in Tex’s head, Tucker’s sword retreated, Wyoming went back to his standing position, Carolina disappointed again- The time travel unit put everything right as it was a few minutes earlier.Tucker watched helpessly, just as he did when Wyoming pulled this trick on them in Blood Gulch. Everything was just as it was, and he felt a lurch when things went back in motion.“You should be,” Carolina said, a disappeared.“Carolina! Don’t-!” Tucker shouted, but it was too late. The exact jingle of her footsteps sounded out like redialing a phone number, but Wyoming knew better.
Wyoming parried the punch he knew was coming, and in turn through a right hook that landed right on Carolina’s helmet. It was her turn to have her head snap to the side, throwing her onto the floor in a heap. The camo flickered until she was fully visible, the room now able to see her failure. Tucker knew how much that must have hurt; The same blows had broken the camo function on his armor.“He’s got the time unit,” Tucker shouted.“You couldn’t have said that earlier!?” Carolina shouted back from her place on the floor. She tried rising, but fell over, obviously disoriented.“Don’t blame poor Kentucky,” Wyoming said in that jolly tone Tucker hated. “I’ve only had to use it once so far. I should have known you’d be able to remember what I’d change.”“It’s how I kicked you’re ass the first time,” Tucker couldn’t help but spit. “When I killed you, when I was an even bigger loser than I am now.”Wyoming shut up. They might not be able to land a punch, but he could never undo that blow to his pride.“It’s over,” Wash said. Tucker was proud at how even he kept his tone. “Your best agents are working against you, it’s all fallen apart, there’s nothing left-““That line sounded a lot more intimating when it came from Carolina, but kudos on the effort,” Wyoming cut off, and holy shit Tucker wanted to punch him in the dick.“Do not worry, Agent Washington,” The Counselor said, and Tucker rolled his eyes. “More experienced people than you have plans in place. Perhaps this mutiny is in our favor; We have just weeded out which agents would have compromised the future success of the Project. Remove your hand, Dr. Jefferson.”The Counselor spoke so seamlessly it took the room a moment to follow his eyes to Nikki. She had her hand on then cable on Tex’s neck, fingers wrapped tightly on the cord. With one tug, she would pull Tex into the room with them.
Tex was a nuke; Even the time unit wasn’t a guaranteed win with her. Nikki stared down the Counselor, who only raised his weapon to her.Nikki looked at Wyoming, only a few feet to the Counselor’s left. She didn’t flinch, even when Wyoming raised his own weapon to her.“You’ll be found as guilty as the rest of us,” The Director said. “Not just complicit in our crimes, but instrumental in our success.”“Listen to the man, Dr. Jefferson.” Wyoming urged.
Nikki frowned with disgust at Wyoming, looking back at the Director and Counselor. Her eyes flicked to her hand on the cord. “You’re right. I am.”Her grip loosened just a bit, and Tucker felt a release in his chest. If Nikki pulled that cord, she was dead.She didn’t pull the cord. But her hand lingered, and her shoulder tensed, and Tucker was positive that given a few more seconds, she would have been a hero and done it. Absolve herself of sin, as Tucker’s mother would put it. The Counselor had noticed her movements too, a man who’s life was picking up the minuscule details of a person’s body language.She was dead before he pulled the trigger.The gun shot was louder than it should have been. Nikki didn’t have armor, she wasn’t a soldier. The shot pushed her backwards a few feet, and she hit the floor with a crack.“No!”Tucker rushed forward, dropping to his knees. Just like Ohio in his nightmare, a wet spot appeared on her shirt. But the nature of the stain wasn’t hidden by the forest green of the standard issue shirt; Nikki wore white, she was a goddamn doctor. Crimson bled through her white blouse and even whiter coat, a seemingly endless supply.She looked down at her shirt, puzzled, and back up at Tucker. She looked like she did when she told him she started to care about the people on this ship. No hardness, no authority, no persona. She looked scared.
How many times had she seen this from a third person? Tucker looked around her wildly. No healing unit, no suit, no armor enhancement, nothing for him to do-A pull in Tucker’s chest, one that upon recognition, made him want to cry with relief.He had to watch himself step away from his friend, but saw her spring back up. The red circle on her clothing shrank in on itself, and disappeared entirely by the time she stood. The bullet found it's home in the Counselor's gun, and Nikki's hand was back on Tex’s cable.“More experienced people than you have plans in place. Perhaps this mutiny is in our favor; We have just weeded out -“
BANG
!
The Counselor didn’t get to finish his threat a second time. Unlike him, Wyoming didn’t aim for the chest.The Counselor’s corpse dropped. Wyoming had blown his head clean off.
The room was quiet. Just like in Tucker’s experience and dreams, no one was prepared for how it felt to watch someone be killed. Not just armor that stopped moving, and not see the light from someone’s eyes fade. Bits Counselor’s skull was splattered on the wall. That wasn’t a satisfying ending. The gore had sobered them all.“Dr. Jefferson,” Wyoming said, breaking the silence. “Come with me. We’re leaving.”Nikki had probably seen more exposed brain than anyone else alive, but even she stared at the carnage for too long. She shook her head, blinking rapidly, before looking up at Wyoming. “What?”“We’re leaving. You’re not going to prison,” Wyoming shot a look at the, for once, dumbfounded Director.“I… No, what?” She asked again. Her hand was still loosely on the cord at the back of Tex’s neck. “Why…?”She didn’t know that Wyoming just threw his entire career to the side for her. To them, it looked like Wyoming just brained the Counselor for no reason. She didn’t feel the bullet in her chest, she didn’t know that Tucker had seen her die, that whatever Wyoming was to her had just seen her die.
“Go with him,” Tucker said, pushing down the selfish desire to keep them all together. “He just saved you. Get out of here while you can.”Whatever that thing that she kept mentioning was, Wyoming just killed that part of himself. Nikki must have realized it at well, because she didn’t look at him with hatred anymore. Instead, she looked between the rest of them. “I, I can’t, I need to make thing’s right-““You already did,” Carolina said, rising from the floor. Wyoming had stuck out his hand, pulling her up. Carolina accepting his help made things final. “Leave. Save yourself, we’ll take it from here. Thank you.”Nikki looked at Tucker and Wash. Her wide eyes had lost their professionalism but none of her seriousness. “I… I will catch up to you. Both of you, wherever you end up.”“We’ll find you,” Washington promised, lowering his weapon.“But get the hell out of here before they start passing around hand cuffs,” Tucker joked.Nikki didn’t laugh, just ran forward and hugged Tucker, her arms nearly unfelt through his armor. Still, he hugged back, gently.It was a tender moment, but not without purpose. With her mouth near where Tucker’s ear, she whispered something. Instructions that made Tucker freeze. She shouldn’t have known why they mattered, there’s no way she could have known what transpired in the other time line. But she knew Tucker well enough to know that it did.She let go, having dropped to her feet. She sped towards Wyoming, looking overwhelmed. She turned back when her shoes hit the Counselor’s blood, a sight that she had to tear herself away from, instead turning to Wash and Carolina. Her tone was again formal. “Take care of each other. Stay safe, Washington. Carolina.”
Maybe she did belong here, because she never said goodbye. She just gave them all one last look, before rushing out, Wyoming at her heels.Tucker processed what Nikki had told him, taking him out of the situation. He scanned the shelves, searching the rows and rows of tech for something he would recognize. He had completely forgotten about the Director until Tex stood up.She reached behind her head, tearing away the cord. She shook her head, like she was shaking off a chills, and stood. She looked around them all, not even a lingering glance at the Director, who’s eyes had gone soft. He stared at her in almost a horror, but more in grief. He was seeing the ghost he dragged back.Tex ignored him, just addressed Carolina. “I have him.”Carolina nodded. “He went with you willingly?”Tex cocked her head, he tone light. “Not at first. But I didn’t really give him a choice.” She nodded to the blood. “What happened here?”“The Counselor shot Dr. Jefferson in the chest, and Wyoming used the time unit to go back and shoot him first.”“Huh,” Tex said, impressed. “Romantic.”“You guys have a really fucked up perception of romance,” Wash commented.“Yeah, that’s kind of the issue," Tucker said, attention still split between the group and his search. “Now what?”“Carolina’s tying up loose ends, and I’m taking off with the Alpha,” Tex said. She slowly turned her head towards the Director, as threatening as holding a gun to his head. “Unless I’m going to waste a few minutes tying up this one.”The room turned to the Director, four sets of eyes watching his next move. Tucker expected the Director to revert to his stoicism, to put on a mask of neutrality. Or perhaps fly into a fit of anger, threatening his daughter and his life’s work to cling onto the ghost.
Tucker didn’t expect that the persona of the Director to die right in front of him. He had just a bit of the Counselor’s blood splattered on his skin, but his paleness would have made you he was the injured one. In the matter a minutes, without any of them noticing, he aged; He sagged, both in posture and expression, his eyes filled with an exhaustion and defeat.
Referring to him as the Director felt wrong; This is maybe the closest Tucker got to calling him Church. Church was a name, at least, something given to a living thing. ‘Director’ was not a name, it was job. Well, when your job is being torn apart in front of you, all you had left was your name, given to you before you even knew what being alive was.“That will not be necessary, All-““Tex,” She cut him off. “My name is Tex.” Because names should be given with love. And the Director never loved Tex, he didn’t even know Tex, and giving her that name wasn’t out of love for her. Keeping Texas was out of the love she had for herself.“...My mistake,” The Director conceded. He paused before speaking again, his voice quieter than Tucker had ever heard outside of his hissed threats. “All this for the Alpha?”“Yes,” Tex said confidently.
“Why?”“… I don’t know,” Tex admitted. She turned to Carolina. “For her, too. And me. Whatever I am, it’s what they are too. I’m thinking for myself now; Outside of you, outside of the Project, outside of what I was designed to be. And thinking of myself means thinking of them too.”“I see,” The Director said. The way he looked away from Tex then, and looked straight to Carolina, he seemed to realize in the creation of them, he had left forgotten to leave any space for himself, and that Carolina was done trying to make space from him.Tex did not match his sentiment, cold as the ice planet below them. Instead she grabbed Carolina’s attention. “I’ll contact you when things are safe. Good luck, Carolina.”“Same to you, Texas,” Carolina said. Tucker swore there was a smile in her voice. “Take care of him. Let him know I look forward to meeting him.”“Will do,” Tex turned to Tucker. “Catch you two later. Hopefully the Alpha won’t be as big a jack ass as you.”“Pft, don’t act like you don’t love it,” Tucker smirked.
“I don’t.”“Well, he’s worse, so suck on that. Bow-chicka-bow-wow.”Tex snorted. “See ya, Kentucky.”With that, she left. Walking past the Director like he wasn’t there. He let her pass as if he wasn’t.The exit of two more players, narrowing down the options for what was left. The tension of a stand off was gone, only leaving that of uncertainty.“So… Are you turning yourself in?” Carolina asked, holding her breath.The Director looked at his daughter, resolved. He stood straighter again, expression sobering but more… Peaceful. “I’m far too much a coward for that,” He turned around, making his way out the door. He had barely walked five steps into the room.“I suppose all that’s left is too say goodbye.”“You’re not going to catch up to her,” Washington pointed out.“I am not referring to Agent Texas,” The Director said. “Will you join me for a moment, Agent Carolina?”Carolina sucked in a breath. She looked to Tucker and Wash, unsure. She didn’t need it, but but Tucker gave the nod he knew she was looking for.“Give us a sec here,” Tucker said, surprising Wash. Just past Carolina, on the shelf behind her, he found what he was looking for. “I got some loose ends of my own.”Carolina nodded, too preoccupied to questions his crypticness, and left to join her father. She stood several inches higher than him in her suit, but walked side by side with him out into the hallway, as softly as if they were talking a stroll. Tucker knew that only one of them was coming back.When they were gone, Washington turned to him. “What loose ends?”Tucker pursed his lips and walked to the monitor Carolina stood at. He paused in front of the shelf before reaches up and grabbing one of the three memory units sitting in a little row, resembling twisted eggplants. It was just as heavy as he remembered, the name on the side confirming it’s contents.“This… This was going to be your AI,” Tucker said, still looking down, turning it over in his hands. “Epsilon. This is what I was trying to stop. He was going to kill himself when he was implanted in you- He was the memory AI, and all the grief and pain and shit from the Director and the torture they put the Alpha through was too much. It fucked you up man. This is what made you… You.”Wash listened intently and without judgment. He only gave a glance to the memory unit, his voice full of pity, of all things. Oh.”“Yeah. He’s the one who sent me here. The Alpha died-Like, actually erased. Then Epsilon took over for him. They had the same memories and acted like each other… But Epsilon was different. He carried all that pain with him. I think going through all that crap made him a better person, even if he wasn’t my best friend like the Alpha was. I guess I wasn’t that good of a person then either.”“So that’s your AI experience,” Wash said, like he just solved the puzzle. “You were friends with them.”“Yeah…” Tucker said.
“So, what?” Washington asked, his naivety painful for Tucker to hear. “You said he’s going to kill himself when put in someone. Do we just store it? Turn it over to whoever steps up? It’s some pretty solid evidence now. Or break it like Sigma?” Wash asked, thinking out loud.“No. I think I’m going to have to implant him.”Time passed.
“What!?”
“I can’t just leave him here!”Tucker’s hands tightened protectively. “He’ll be put in someone else, or be erased, or- I don’t fucking know! Nothing good!”“I don’t care about him, I’m thinking about you! You’ll be tortured!” Wash nearly screamed. “You can’t-““He’s my friend,” Tucker cut him off. He hoped whatever expression was on his face let Wash know it wasn’t easy. “I have too.”“… I can’t lose you, Tucker,” Wash said. The bastard then took off his helmet, letting Tucker see exactly how much he was hurting him. Washington was near tears now, his brows knit together and lips parted. “I don’t want you to go through whatever it is that made you treat me the way you did.”“Sorry, dude,” Tucker gave a sad smile. “I love you- Always have, always will. No matter what happens to you, or what didn’t, or whenever you are. But, and I’ll never say this to his face, I love him too. In a different way, but still.”“It sounds like…”“Sounds like what, Wash?” Tucker asked. If now Washington was about to get all jealous-
“It sounds like you’re chasing ghosts.”
Whatever I am, it’s what they are too. “Maybe I am,” Tucker relented. “It’s a pretty fucking stupid thing to do, so it sounds like me. If he doesn’t want to come and just wants to go nuclear still, I’ll dip. But I gotta at least try to talk him down.”It wasn’t going to be that easy. As far as Tucker knew, talking him down wasn’t even possible. And he didn’t even want to think about whether or not Church would do the same for him. The Alpha probably wouldn’t. But Epsilon? By the time he met Epsilon, the Reds and Blues were at the point that they would go to the ends of the earth for each other. And if that didn’t apply here as well, than it didn’t apply to Wash, so it had to.“…What can I do?” Washington asked, swallowing. He must be at the bargaining stage of his grief, placing down his helmet on a nearby table and searching Tucker’s eyes for instruction. “What do I do?”“Fucking… Hold my hand? I know it’s gay-““Tucker, I have had your cock in my mouth,” Wash said, lighter, steam running out of him. “I can hold your hand for this.”“Ugh, I feel like Caboose,” Tucker said, wiping a hand down his face. With no one but himself in the way, he had to act fast. “Take him out if I freak. The other two up there, I don’t think I know them. Eta and Iota. Take care of them too. Just… Don’t leave anyone behind.”They stared at each other for a while, but just as easy as they always had, they kissed. Not slowly, not crashing desperately against each other. Tucker just stepped forward and pressed his lips against Wash’s. Slow and warm, he wished Wash would breathe so he could feel his gentle breath against his face and know he was alive. But Wash held his breath, tense under Tucker’s hands. Tucker, after everything that happened today, couldn’t bring himself to feel anything except a mild apprehension.
Because he was going to save Church. Finally.
They parted, Wash looking at his with gentle, youthful eyes. He was going to save Wash too- No, he had saved Wash. And Carolina, and Alpha, and Maine and York and South and CT and North- All of them. He saved Chorus and the Blood Gulch crew. At this point, what did it really matter if he didn’t make it out? He had saved all of them, and he could rely on them to save each other now.He let out a deep breath. “Alright, I guess I’ll lay down, stick it in me-““Bow-chicka-bow-wow.” Wash cut off, his smirk not meeting his eyes.Tucker felt pride swell in his chest. “God, you’re so fucking hot. Alright.”Tucker removed his armor, slowly. Wash helped him, taking the pieces as he went. It was methodical, like a sort of meditation. A literal weight lifted off of him, making him less of a danger to himself and Wash, weakening the energy supply to Epsilon, but making Tucker feel more like a person, a soft, vulnerable person. But hey, maybe Epsilon would too.He laid down on the floor, not wanting the symbolism or karma of doing this shit on top of a literal Sarcophagus. Wash sat cross legged behind him, and Tucker laid his head down in his lap. Thank god their armor left their inner thighs plate free, so it was only mildly uncomfortable as his neck rubbed against the scratchy Kevlar. Wash removed his gloves and cradled Tucker’s head, running his bare fingers through Tucker’s hair. Tucker sighed, the tingle running down his spine a delicious comfort, not like an AI invasion. Wash turned Tucker’s head to the side, and Tucker squeezed his eyes closed. There was some clicking and snapping as Wash removed the chip from the memory unit. He rubbed his thumb over Tucker’s implant site.“Are you ready?” He asked, like he was hoping Tucker would change his mind.He wasn’t that lucky. “Go for it babe.”A press on his neck, Tucker finally felt a thrill at the same moment he heard the click of the chip in his skull.—A swell of emotions; The drowning of grief filling his lungs and heart, the shock of fear in his pulse, the confusion of feeling lost closing up his throat. These feelings he knew were true, that were his but not his but were
always his and even if they weren’t they were his now they always would be- All that washed over him like a tidal wave, pulling him under a deep, endless sea. The drowning, that pushing and pulling of hurt entering his sense and tearing his mind apart, made where Epsilon ended and Tucker began either impossible or irrelevant. All that mattered was it all fucking hurt and would never stop hurting and there was no way out of the hurt because all there was and all he was and all that he would ever be was hurt-Tucker didn’t let himself slip under. He didn’t push Epsilon away, letting his friend drown. He also didn’t let Epsilon pull him under, didn’t let them both fall into the inky abyss, letting the burn of their lungs reach the rest of them. He held onto his friend, letting themselves blend so neither could leave the other, and pulled him to the surface. It was miles away, a faint light that seemed farther than he could swim, farther than the inciting call of the darkness below them, the darkness that called them, that wanted them, that would hold them gently to the end, unlike the surface that only wanted to hurt them-Epsilon thrashed in Tucker's hands, or in Tucker, or made Tucker thrash himself. It didn't matter; He held fast. Through the struggle, Tucker didn’t feel the malicious attack of Sigma, but the panic of a cornered animal of Epsilon. Like holding down Wash during one of the night terrors he would hurt himself in, or holding a scared and tantrum throwing Junior, or even just like he saw that poor girl he speared-That girl, that unlucky girl Tucker speared and murdered. He didn’t know if that was his fault, and he was positive it was. Not Sigma, but him. He had killed, he was a killer, he had taken a life, just like he had with Kentucky-No.No, he had not let Kentucky die. That stupid, goofy, dickish soldier the Alpha had
met and had claimed to be his best friend, the Alpha could feel loved him, even beyond those damn walls. He had not let him die, Kentucky was right here. Kentucky was a part of him. You can doubt everything but your own consciousness and right now, Kentucky -Tucker, was apart of his consciousness.That line between them, that distinction between Tucker and Epsilon had become clear. The reality where Tucker was alive separated from the fiction that he died. If Tucker's survival was a dream, well, Epsilon would follow it and stay asleep. When they reached the surface, two heads popped up for air. Where Tucker could find himself, and what gave Epsilon a pause in his churning tornado of agony, of suffering, of guilt-I’m right here, dude, Tucker thought, everything still intangible but calling out anyways. I’m right here.
I-I-Wait? Tucker-Died-Kill- I let-

You wish. No breath you fucking drama queen.
Another pause. Epsilon, in his confusion, became a new type of puzzled, like he had been slapped in the face. A break in the torrent of waves.You’re not dead? Epsilon asked, like Tucker would say no.Nah. You’re not getting rid of me that easy. Tucker latched on to that glimmer of hope.The Director said you died, Epsilon stated. More calm.
C’mon dude. He’s a liar.
No, I saw-No, Tucker thought firmly, his humor disappearing. Gamma and Omega made you think that, so they can fracture you from the Alpha. I’m fine, it’s okay.
But, my- My memories- Allison, is she-?
Yeah, Tucker confirmed.
The world started shaking again, the sea picking up and lightening hitting the water, and Tucker’s heart lurched. The pain, Allison dying, Allison always dying, Allison Allison Allison-Church dying. Church dying again. Church dying for him. Before they cared for each other, before they knew each other, the first thing that happened to Tucker in this time line-Dude. Chill, Tucker thought. Unlike Epsilon, whom everything was new too even as several life times existed in him, grief was nothing new to Tucker. Sure, his heart hurt, and he also was tempted by those urges to follow death; That whatever death was, it was easier than living.
But Tucker had people he needed to live for. Too many things that tried to kill him, and not succeeded, and it couldn’t be himself.
Allison- Is she- Is she-?
She’s gone. Tucker said, the glimmer of hope Epsilon felt hurting more than the longing to die did.The world started shaking again.Tucker, she’s gone, Church was wailing now, not a literal voice that would pierce his ears but a feeling that made up ever sensation to Tucker, a cry that was his only world. She’s gone, She’s gone, You don’t know, you can’t-Show me, Tucker thought. Show me then.Because he hadn’t called him Kentucky. Because his friends called him Tucker.What? No, I can’t-Yes, you can, Tucker said forcefully. That's how this works, that's how grief works. Share it with me. Show me her.No, Church wailed. No, no, no-NO NO NO NO.Epsilon was growing unstable, ripping himself apart, and by their mingling, Tucker too. But Tucker was just as much a part of Epsilon, and held him together. He took the reigns, just as Church had done that one time on Chorus, just as O’Malley tried in Blood Gulch, just as Sigma had done, he grabbed Epsilon and steadied his friend. Maybe he was just good at this, or maybe Epsilon was desperate to let go, but it was easy.Just as Sigma had with him, he entered Epsilon’s mind. It didn’t feel like an invasion, it felt like walking through an open door.—Allison was really something. She was a whirlwind, a force of nature. She filled a room, stronger and smarter than a person had any right to be. Like a lightning storm- You should be scared, but you’re more drawn in to that kind of power than anything. She was a fire that he would gladly feed, no matter what burned up in the processes.She filled a room, filled a life. He had carved out space in himself to fit all of her, because every bit of her was worth more than whatever made himself up.When she died, it left a hole. He was hollow, nothing ever worthy to take her place. Not himself, not his work, nothing. And he tried everything. That fire went out, leaving him cold, with nothing but ash and smoke making the world around him black.But that’s not how loss worked. Tucker had to search for them, pushing back all the agony and despair, pushing past memories of Allison because frankly, she was not important right now. It was tough, when all he thought was left were the remnants of her, but underneath all that, he found the Director’s memories of Carolina.
That rowdy young girl that played too rough and followed her daddy everywhere. Who’s front teeth were knocked out in a fight she started when the boys told her girls couldn’t run as fast. The golden braids in her hair that stopped when the only person left to braid it was her father, who never bothered to learn. Barefoot through the hot dirt in their yard in Texas, in her shiny Mary Jane’s that she said made her feel pretty at synagogue on Saturday mornings, in those black dress shoes at Allison’s funeral-Tucker pulled Epsilon back. The story didn’t end there.
Carolina right behind him, looking over his shoulder when she was tall enough, to catch a glimpse at the work that was so important he missed her track meet. And her judo tournament. And the spelling bee she lost. He kept telling her that he would make the next one, and had every intention too, but things were always just so damn busy, like there weren’t enough hours in the day, or days in a year, or years in a life.The way she looked back when he dropped her off at the airport when she went to basic, when she came back in armor to join his Project. She started dying her hair red sometime between. It made her easier to look at.Leonard-Daddy-The Director- Whoever he was. He was too busy looking back for Allison, when he should have been turning around for Carolina.Now it felt like that’s what Epsilon was doing for the first time. Looking at Carolina.A new, fresh wave of grief waved over him. He could count them, all the seconds he lost with her, all the time he wasted, what he could never get back-Tucker could feel Epsilon spiraling, and pulled him into his own memories.Carolina in teal armor. A little blue AI floating near her head. Not his daughter, not a what if, but his sister, family, friend.
C, don’t listen to Tucker, he’s an idiot.

Ugh, dude, that’s my sister you’re talking about!

Church, I’m not watching a Phantom Menace for a third time, stop asking… Okay, fine. One more, but that’s it.
There is still time, Tucker thought as the waves of memories he witnessed of Carolina and Church coming in. Of what they were like before, the damaged people who refused to let anyone help fix them, and what they were like after.The world stopped shaking. Epsilon was enraptured by what he saw, of who they could be. Tucker took the opportunity to show him more.
Was I a good kid Church?
Tucker man, don’t get jealous.

He rookie, go guard the flag for when the General comes around.

You can’t pick up chicks in a tank!

What are they doing?
What?
I said, what are they doing now?
Goddamn I am so sick of answering that question!
It’s never going to go away, Tucker said, showering Epsilon in the history of them. The Blues, the Reds, Chorus, the stray Freelancers they picked up along the way- Everyone. The grief of losing Allison. But you’ll grow around it. Us, your friends, we’ll fill that hole.Bow-chicka-bow-wow, Epsilon said.The memories stopped flooding between them, because there was nothing left to share. Epsilon had everything Tucker had, and Tucker had everything Epsilon had. He knew Carolina’s real name, what he knew about the Project, what he thought about himself. And the Director did care about Tucker. He cared about all of them. He just never let himself fill that hole, in case he could bring back Allison.Tex - Epsilon started.You can’t put her there, man, Tucker said, because even if they shared their histories, they couldn’t share who they were. She’s not Allison, just like you’re not the Director, or Alpha. She doesn’t want to be there. Maybe you two will fall in love and make it the universes problem again, but not like this dude.They were in that white room, blue base. Epsilon saw it now as home.Neither were in armor. Tucker looked like himself- In those fucking hospital fatigues. Figured, since those were most of the clothes he wore out of armor. But Epsilon didn’t look like the Director. He looked like the human guy Tucker only caught glimpses of at Blue Base, before Sheila blew him up. Black hair, stick straight and chopped short but longer than regulations. Smudged glasses and rounded shoulders, hands stuck in his cobalt blue hoodie pockets. He had a graphic tee, that Tucker tried reading but couldn’t in this dream.“What if… What if I don’t want to move forward?” Epsilon asked, looking down at himself, at the human body he would never occupy. He looked up at Tucker with earthy green eyes. “What if I don’t want to leave her behind?”“Then you’ll be like the Director,” Tucker shrugged. “And fuck up everyone you meet.”“…What do I do? I don’t know what to do,” Epsilon admitted.“You suck it up, and figure it out. This ain’t math dude, you got to take it slow, that’s how being a person works.”“I’m not a person.”“Well, you’re too much of a pain in my ass just be a calculator,” Tucker snorted, his attempts at comfort not great but good enough. “You’re a person to all of us, whether you like it or not. Me and Carolina think you are, and the rest will too. That comes with responsibility. You were a dog shit Captain but you tried. Sometimes. So calm down and come with me. You can’t ever let Allison go, but that doesn’t mean you have to stay in the past.”Epsilon didn’t say anything, but something in Tucker’s chest cracked. Epsilon was coming with him. Epsilon stopped looking at the past for the first time, not looking at the facts of what had happened, and looked forward to the uncertain future. To nail down the future was messy and took work, but it would come if he wanted it too or not. Tucker could feel the buzz of those calculations die down as Church let go. Tucker couldn’t stop the relief and euphoria of knowing for once, he finally saved Church from dying. Church felt it too, Tucker’s love for him, and let himself bathe in the feeling of finally doing something right.“No homo,” Tucker said, and Church broke into a laugh.“Trying really hard not to bring up some of the slurs you have tucked away in here from before you bi awakening,” Church smirked. “You spent a looot of time playing online first person shooters as a teen.”“Yeah, well, pick up some tips. Maybe you’ll hit something with the fucking sniper rifle for once,” Tucker smiled. “You coming back with me or what?”“Eh. Might as well. I was getting tired of standing around and talking anyway.”—Tucker opened his eyes. Wash’s face hovered inches above him.Tucker startled and rolled out of his lap boyfriend's lap, the intensity of the stare scaring the shit out of him and Epsilon. He forgot where he was and what he was doing outside in the real world, out Epsilon’s head. He breath hard, pushing onto his hands and knees, but the world was coming back to him.Wash backed off, waiting for Tucker’s reaction. When Tucker looked back up at Wash, he felt a longing. He heard once, and carried with him ever since, that the reason dementia patience confuse family members was because even if they don’t remember who you are, they remember how you made them feel. So even thought. Wash was nothing close to this random white lady he never met from Texas, Tucker saw Wash and remembered what it was like to lose someone like him.Nothing like Sigma’s torture, which never gave Tucker enough time to process, or like when Tucker lost Church a million times. It didn’t seem possible for Tucker to find a new way to hurt, but it fucking did.He launched forward and wrapped his arms around Wash’s neck,
a difficult task given his armor, but Tucker would hold onto him like a mechanical bull if it meant he could press his face into Wash’s neck, breathing in real air.Tucker felt Wash finally relax and wrap his arms around his waist. “You’re okay,” He sighed.“I’m okay,” Tucker confirmed. He pulled away, looking Wash dead in the eye. He was sorting out what was his and what wasn’t, but knew he and Wash could never be Leonard and Allison. “I promise, if you die, I’ll move on.”Wash’s eyes went from soft to confused and offended. “What?”Epsilon buzzed to life, flicking wildly before getting the hang of his projection, never having been outside of a memory unit before. But he used Tucker’s memories of Church as a guide, back in armor. “Trust me, it’s more romantic than it sounds.”Wash’s eyebrows flew up. He glanced back at Tucker briefly. “You’re Epsilon?”“The one and only,” Epsilon said, holding his arms out, cocky. “Well, that’s a stretch, given my whole deal, but yup. Suicide hotline over here did a pretty good job.”“Awesome, looks like being a tool comes naturally,” Tucker smiled.
“Kentucky.”Tucker’s head snapped up. Carolina was there, arms crossed and scowling. “Do you have any idea how stupid that was?”“Yeah, that’s why I waited until you left to do it!” Tucker said. He stood up, holding out a hand to Wash to help, but putting it down when he realized he probably couldn’t counter balance a ton of power armor. “And don’t come at me with that shit, you fucking burned down this organization for Alpha!”Carolina set her jaw, before walking over and pulling Tucker into a fierce hug. She wasn’t very good at it, and from what Tucker saw had little experience, so she nearly cracked his ribs. But he tried to hug back as much as he could. For him and for Epsilon, who had only seen her in memories. They were in their own minds now, two separate trains of thought parting from the same station.She pulled back, taking another look at him. He swallowed. “So the Director…?”“We said goodbye,” Carolina said, looking to the floor and stepping away. Tucker shouldn’t have had to look at her thigh, but did. He wasn’t surprised to see her pistol missing.It hurt. Of course it did. Now he knew him in a personal way; This game of telephone, three people down, with Tucker having some of the Director’s memories. They were fading fast, no longer feeling like his own but like a friend he spent most of his life with. Even if not for those memories, it would still hurt. Losing Church would never stop hurting, and he hoped this would be the last time.“I hate goodbyes,” Tucker said.
Carolina looked at him with a painful recognition. “Me too.”“Then I don’t think you’ll like this,” Epsilon said.Tucker looked at him. “Please don’t tell me we’re going to have our brains explode or some shit.”“Not that,” Epsilon said. “I think I can get you home.”A beat.“Like, earth?” Tucker asked dumbly, not ready to give himself hope.“No. Your time line.”Another beat.“No, Alpha said that- that wasn’t…” Tucker stammered“He lied,” Epsilon cut off. “To keep you here. But I inherited all those calculations, and yeah. We can go to your regular time line. If you want. Or not. Up to you.”“I… ‘We?’” Tucker asked, clinging on to a coherent question.“I’d need to go with you, to power the suit,” Epsilon said out loud. What he didn’t say was that he wanted to go.“No, that would burn you up-““Actually, it wouldn’t. I’d be using the Alpha’s calculations, which are way more precise than anything I could come up with. Plus, your original Epsilon was old as hell and kinda failing. I should be able to get us both back there in one piece.”“Would that mess up, like, everything I did here?” Tucker asked hesitantly. “Like, I pulled a lot of leg work making these dicks bearable.”“That’s the other thing; You didn’t time travel., time travel isn’t real. Wyoming’s suit just reverses the energy flow on the immediate area, not sending you back in time. Think of what happened like a really big bomb, one so big it knocked you in another time line. We just hopped in another universe, just coincidentally similar to yours.
But I can get this suit back to the last place it was in it’s original universe. Same concept as AI’s having a home storage unit they could be called back too.”“Is it really?”“Well, no, but I don’t think it would be helpful to explain the complexities of universe hopping.”Tucker could go back home. Back to where he left it; Back to the civil war, back to the terrible life where Carolina tore herself apart, where Wash went through hell until they found him, back to where Chorus imploded, back to where he wasted years and years being a fucking idiot, even when he knew he wasn’t, not really, but it was easier to pretend he was useless instead of confront he was needed. Back where every day he was haunted by his mistakes and regrets, where it seemed like memories were the ones chasing him.The other universe fucking sucked. He built a life here, he had loved ones, he was a fucking hero. He looked at Wash, who he found and he still loved. Wash, who loved him back so easily, who just loved so easily in general. He could build a life with this man, he could move on from the military with this man.
Wash’s heart broke in front of Tucker’s eyes. “You’re going, aren’t you?”“Yeah,” Tucker said, finding it hard to say but finding it impossible to refuse.“Please don’t.”
Tucker deserved that. Washington knew he wouldn’t be dissuaded, so the plea served nothing but to hurt them. But Tucker had to go back, and maybe die the second the first space pirate broke down that door, or on the resource depleted Chorus if aid didn’t come in time, or if Alpha’s calculations were wrong, or on the next stupid adventure the Reds and Blues were dragged on.But all that would be worth it to save his people. To get another opportunity to scream at Caboose, share a late night smoke with Grif, stick magnets to Simmons’ robot elbow, tune out Sarge on missions, pretend he doesn’t love Donut’s wine and cheese hour, have Lopez film their pranks, teach Carolina how to prank, and well. Wash was there. A Wash that would never move on from the military or live a normal life, who Tucker would have to help shoulder the pain with.“I’m sorry,” Tucker said, because that Wash hadn’t let anyone shoulder that pain before, and Tucker couldn’t risk him closing off again.“You don’t have to go,” Carolina said, grabbing Tucker’s attention. Her hands were clenched at her sides, and her face was red. “You could stay here, we still need your help.”Tucker’s heart clenched at the sight of her, the girl who just had to say goodbye to her father not even an hour ago. Tucker didn’t just have the Director’s memories, but also his regrets, of what he missed with her. A lot must have changed since the Alpha was created, because Tucker couldn’t imagine how a father would leave this world with his child still here.Which gave him all the more reason to go. “No, you don’t. None of you guys do.”“Tucker,” Wash grabbed his elbow, angry. “Stop with this self deprivation all ready-““No, I mean, you guys have each other,” Tucker cut off. “You guys can handle things here, you guys are a family. But they need me over there. My
kid is over there…”With that one word, Wash dropped his elbow. They wouldn’t really get it, but they understood. Tucker loved them all, but no matter how much he ‘fixed’ this world, it would be a world without Junior, and therefor incomplete. Tucker didn’t even want to imagine the world he was leaving behind where his son would be alone.“Plus, I think I made Church his god father, and as far as I know, there’s no more Church’s besides Carolina over there. God, that means Caboose might be next in line. Wait,” Tucker paused his nervous rambling to at Epsilon suspiciously. “Why are you so eager to come with me?”Epsilon shrugged. “Why did you come back for me?”“Touche.”“There’s enough AI here,” Church continued. He looked at Carolina. “I got Tucker’s memories, and the other you is going to need all the help she can get.”Carolina frowned. “We never even got- You and I…”“You have the Alpha,” Church said. “Don’t let him be too much of a dick, okay?”Carolina nodded, inhaling deeply. She looked at Tucker, with longing. “I guess this is…”“You don’t have to say it,” Tucker cut off, for her benefit and his. “But tell everyone else I said goodbye, alright?”“They’re not going to be happy,” Carolina pointed out, emphasizing the not.“Eh, they’re never happy,” Tucker shrugged. This would be his last selfish act. He couldn’t say goodbye to them. To see all his new friends, his new family, and break their heart would be too much. “Be good to York. And tell South… She’s the best. She deserves better, and you assholes need to treat her better.”He turned to Wash, a small smile on his face, but Wash didn’t return it. He looked like he was at a fucking funeral.“I’ll give you two some space,” Carolina said, picking up the vibe. She stepped towards Tucker, but hesitated. She stuck out her hand to him.Tucker took one look at it and laughed. “The hell is wrong with you?” He grabbed the hand just to pull her close into a hug. She could have stopped him, even if she wasn’t in power armor, but let herself be wrapped in his arms. She awkwardly pat his back, not used to his affection.
Tucker let go, and patted her shoulder. “Work on your hugs, you freak.”One side of Carolina’s mouth quirked up, and she looked down. Without another word, she left.Tucker let out a huff of air, watching her disappear down the hall. Someone, probably her, moved the Counselor’s body, but the blood was still covered the wall like spray paint. Tucker’s stomach flipped, and he had to prepare to see more carnage the second he returned.He looked back at Wash, who was silent. Tucker tried to smile. “Wanna help me with my armor?”“No,” Wash said, but turned and stooped down to pick up Tucker’s chest plate.Slowly, just as they had when he removed it, they put Tucker back together, like a mortician making up a corpse for their wake. Wash dressed Tucker with lingering touches, but never let a tear fall.You want to be alone? Epsilon asked him.
Nah, Tucker thought back. I want to remember this. Even something makes me forget later, I need you to remind me.
Just don’t like, make out please.

Shut up, asshole.
Wash stepped back to Tucker’s confusion. Did he say that last part out loud?
Oh. Tucker was all dressed, besides the helmet. It felt so real now: He was leaving.“Are you sure…”“You’ll be fine,” Tucker promised, letting out a breath. “I’ll leave a hole- Wait, no that sounds wrong. There will be like, a hole in your heart, but someone else will fill it- No, that’s still wrong. Everyone’s else will fill it, goddamit that’s still not right-“Wash reached forward, pulling Tucker close and pressing their lips together again. Tucker
closed his eyes and reached back behind Wash’s head, the nape of his neck still bare. He gripped him close, feeling the sudden wetness on their warmed cheeks. The breath Wash gave was shaky, and Tucker stayed there, slowly moving his mouth and rubbing his thumb over the nape of Wash’s neck until they evened out. Tucker had fixed things, Washington would be okay.They pulled back, and Wash held Tucker’s face in his hands, looking as serious as he had ever looked in this universe. “I’ll find you. The you that’s here.”“Oh my God, don’t bother,” Tucker rolled his eyes, embarrassment ruining the tender moment. “That idiot is not worth it-“
“I have to,” Washington with certainty.“Don’t go around chasing ghosts, Wash,” Tucker warned, reaching up to gently grip Wash’s wrists with his hands.
“You found me,” Washington pointed out. “And you Epsilon. And… All of us.”“It’s different. That idiot-““I’ll find you,” Wash repeated. Nothing Tucker could say would deter him, and he supposed this was karma.“Just remember as I was,” Tucker gave a small smile. “Cool, bad ass, traumatized, dope tattoos- Oh, fuck, okay one thing, make sure I get my sword. Someone here should have files on Blood Gulch or where the sword is, and there’s one on Chorus. Please please please-““Jesus, he gets it,” Epsilon popped up. Washington’s eyes widened and he dropped his hands, like he was caught making out in the boy’s bathroom. “I just talked to Delta in the ship’s computer system, he has all the info on the Reds and Blues and Blood Gulch. He wanted me to tell you something.”“Goodbye?”“No, that there’s a 43.7% chance the trip will make you sterile,” Epsilon said. “And also thanks. From him and York.”“Sounds about right,” Tucker smiled. He looked back at Wash, and pressed their forehead together once more. He was returning to Wash, but this man was going to be stuck with that dumbass who was probably in basic training by now, bitching about how they fucked up healing his ankle. Probably for the best; Two minutes with that guy and they’d be over missing Tucker as a person.Tucker pulled away first, nodding at Wash. Wash didn’t nod back, but stared and stepped back. Tucker took a deep breath, and bent over to grab his helmet. He put it on, and Wash did the same. Tucker could see his reflection in Wash’s helmet, but it wasn’t familiar. This was someone different than the man who had haunted every mirror for the
past couple of years. There was someone stronger under that armor.“Alright, ready to power this piece of shit?” Tucker asked Epsilon.“Aw, don’t talk about yourself like that.”“I meant the suit, dick head.”“I know,” Epsilon replied, humor in his voice. He was trying to comfort Tucker the only way he knew how, how they operated. And goddammit, it was working.“Goodbye, Wash.” Tucker said. He would break any rule for him, even this one.Washington didn’t say it back, just nodded.Let’s go, Church, Tucker thought.Before he could take his next breath, a pull in Tucker’s chest launched him forward into nothing and everything.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

At first, Tucker thought he died. When everything stopped moving, when he didn’t feel like he was being pulled into oblivion, or the ether, or whatever may be considered the ‘great beyond’, when he felt like a person and not some vague consciousness being stretched out like taffy, the first thing he saw was his body lying prone on the ground.He was twisted gruesomely, contorted and flattened by the black hole he was pulled through. The armor lay intact, but the mushy human bits were melted, held only by his Kevlar under suit. His spine had been twisted 180 degree, so his chest piece faced up and hips pressed down against the floor. He had been decapitated, lying just far enough from the rest of his body to creep into uncanny territory for his poor human eyes. He loomed over his body, staring down at the corpse-
No you fucking moron. That’s you’re old armor.
Oh.
Right.He had discarded the beat up suit on the floor of Hargrove’s office to change into the Meta’s armor, months ago, a lifetime ago, only a few minutes ago.Straight ahead, sparks flew off the corners of the locked door. The space pirates were still cutting through the steel, ready to ambush him and his friends. They only had a few minutes to go. The sparks were the brightest light in the room, with the dimmed, artificial lighting bouncing off the steel walls identical to those on the Mother of Invention. In fact, a lot of the dull yet menacing ambiance of the ship reminded Tucker of the Mother of Invention. With a few colorful exceptions.“Do any of you guys smell… Burning hair?” Grif asked, the sound of his voice sending adrenaline straight to Tucker’s heart.Tucker dropped his sword, whipping around, the colors of all his friends blurring together in a beautiful, gaudy and clashing mess. Short, fat Grif stood there with horrible posture like he wasn’t a ghost, and Tucker couldn’t help but lunge at him. Like his body needed to feel Grif was real, in front of him. It was a colossally stupid move, because if Grif was a Freelancer, his reflexes would have kicked in and Tucker would be sliced in two and full of buckshot. But he
wasn't a Freelancer, he didn't have those reflexes; He was just some poor, unlucky, lazy, unskilled bastard and goddammit if Tucker didn’t feel a few tears squeeze out when he wrapped his arms around his solid frame.“Woah! What the fuck, dude?” Grif asked startled, dropping the Grif shot to keep them steady. He held his arms back like Tucker had a bomb strapped to him, but didn’t push away.
“Fuck, dude! I didn’t think I’d ever see you again!” Tucker cried letting go and pulling away. He didn’t know how much he missed the color orange. He wanted to ask Grif to take off his helmet, but a dopey, helpless voice spoke first.“I want a good luck hug!” Caboose whined loudly.
One minute until that door breaks down, Church told Tucker when he ran up to Caboose and threw his arms around his waist. He was still huge, as big as North, and didn’t stumble an inch when Tucker rammed into him. Caboose reached down and squeezed Tucker back, making Tucker’s spine pop all the way down.“Caboose! Oh man, I fucking missed you, you idiot!” Caboose, who had always found him, who he had spent the most time with out of everyone, who, even through his armor, had hugs Tucker could pick out blindfolded.“I missed you too!” Caboose wailed, despite having no idea Tucker was gone.“Oh crap, he thinks we’re going to fucking die!” Simmons cried, his voice cracking in a way that made Tucker grin. Tucker wanted to jump that nerd, knowing he would topple over, but that could wait.They had all the time in the world.“Nah,” Tucker patted Caboose’s back twice, and both men dropped their arms.Tucker pulled away, taking another look at his big dumb teammate. All of his family was there; Donut, Sarge, Simmons, Lopez- Even Doc, who Tucker had honestly forgot had followed. All the people who knew Tucker this whole time, who had watched him grow from that idiot teenager that enlisted for lack of any direction, into a leader. Even Sarge was willing to stand behind a dirty Blue. They had all evolved into something greater, but no less stupid, because smart people would not be ready to lay down their lives for some small, dying planet. He was truly with the only motherfuckers that would ever understand, because they were all the biggest, unluckiest idiots in the galaxy.Tucker walked back to his spot up front, the one Church guided him too, and picked up his sword. He wasn’t 100% sure why standing here was so important, but Church did. It was probably some complicated reason to do with probability and physics and all that shit Church would run through the back of Tucker’s head, stuff Tucker would never understand. But he didn’t need to understand it, because he understood Church. That would always be more than enough.Tucker tightened his grip on the sword handle, the weight anchoring him. He flicked it out, feeling the electricity skyrocket from his palm, up his arms and own his back. It was a thrill that flowed though him like an AI did, but not from his implants. This was all him.
Five seconds. Say something cool.
“Watch this.”—“That was not cool.”“What? Yes it was!”“No it wasn’t, you dork.”“I broke a guys arm and flung him into Grif, who knocked him back with the Grif shot!”“Okay, that was pretty cool-““I grabbed a guy’s foot mid roundhouse kick, and Sarge shot him in the dick!”“I meant the ‘Watch this’! That was so lame.”“Well, I only had five seconds to think!” Tucker huffed. Well, tried to huff; The gust off air met with moisture in his throat, and turned into a wet cough. Tucker pried off the Meta’s helmet and spat out the bloody loogie that had collected in his throat. Not a great sign, but Church would have told him if the rifle butt he took to the chest halfway through the fight was anything to worry about. Because Church was still there, depleted and recuperating but 100% there in Tucker’s head.“Dude…”
Grif was out of breath, bent over, his hands on his knees. He was so spent, even the Grif shot was dropped onto the floor, the barrel still warm from the excess use.Around them was a sea of bodies- Battered and beaten space pirates looking at years of physical therapy and brain damage, laid unconscious around them, probably the last time
they sleep outside of prison again. Blood was splattered in some gaps between their armor, on the floor and on the wall, but no where even close to the kind of carnage the Freelancers would have enacted. The Freelancers would exercised a sort of cruelty that would make sure these guys would never get up again. The Reds and Blues always did just enough to get the job done, and any of the guys living here should find grace in that.Sweat dripped down Tucker’s face, the dry, conditioned air of the ship making him feel like he had dipped his head in ice water. His legs began to wobbled as her stepped over the bodies, making his way to the destroyed door of Hargrove's office.“Hey F.I.L.L.S.?” Church flashed back into Tucker’s view. It was weird seeing him look as he always did, as if Tucker couldn’t feel his energy spent in helping Tucker strategize and win this battle.“Who?” Donut asked, a bit dazed, standing and shaking out his arm.“He means Sheila,” Tucker said, grinning at Donut. Fuck, he didn’t know how much he missed pink.“Shit, sorry,” Epsilon said. Tucker could feel Church up and running again, trying to sort out the conflicting memories of him, the Director, and Tucker. “Sheila, can you make sure none if these guys take off without handcuffs?”“Of course!” Sheila responded, her voice more recent for Tucker than the rest of the rooms, another constant across his lives. “Although, I don’t think any of them will be walking any time soon.”Her little joke made Tucker giggle, the high still coursing through him. The Reds and Blues were all beginning to sag, the battle over, the adrenaline burning off, reality of finality setting in. Now, as they all stepped over bodies to the exit of the office, did curious attention turn towards Tucker.Grif pulled off his helmet, his own face stained with blood coming from his nostril. “What the hell happened to you?”Tucker grinned, tasting copper on his teeth. “You mean those bad ass super hero moves I pulled out?”“No, you’re hair. It’s like, smoking.”“Smoking hot?” Tucker asked. “Well, it’s a crazy story-““No, like. Smoking. Burnt. Was on fire.”Tucker brought a hand to his head, and bringing it down he saw black dusting on his gloves. It did smell like burnt hair, but he hadn’t had time to think about that until now.“Oh, fuck,” He muttered in horror. “Church!”“Okay, my bad,” Church said, actually apologetic. “The suit had more excess power than I thought. But hey, you didn’t get electrocuted!”“I’d rather been shocked!” Tucker shouted. He brought the Meta’s helmet up, using the reflection to assess the damaged. His reflection was golden and distorted, making his forehead and scalp balloon up in the curvature of the visor. Yup, a good portion of his hair was burnt, some of his down to his scalp. Even one of his eyebrows was half singed off.
“Think of it like this,” Church said optimistically. “It’s symbolism! You know, that whole thing you had with cutting your hair, and how it was short like in basic. Now it’s burnt off, like, uh, a phoenix-““Nah, don’t try to pull this shit!” Tucker yelled. “You fucking asshole! You can’t philosophize you’re way out of this one, prick!”“Classic Blue Team,” Sarge huffed, kicking limp bodies out of the way toward the door. "We can’t even bathe in the glory of a fight well won. You princesses need to bitch and moan about your hair.”Donut had moved behind Tucker. He leaned right over Tucker’s shoulder, an uncomfortably intimate lack of space between them, and into his own reflection. Of course his own blond hair was perfectly neat, gelled over and shining in the light, even as the eye surrounded in massive scar tissue was red from getting socked. “Come on Sarge, have some sympathy. I don’t know how I’d survive if anything happened to these gold-y locks.”“Wait for it…” Grif started.“But I have some ideas for if I got my hands on three bears!”“There it is,” Simmons finished.Tucker frowned at them all, the intense love in his heart extinguishing the less they became something he had lost, and more into something he could never get rid of. And a few years back, he really tried. “I don’t even know why I missed you assholes. I should have stayed where I was.”“Missed us?” Simmons asked, following Sarge. Tucker looked at Caboose, and cocked his head to the side, motioning him to follow as they all limped out of the office through the hastily cut door.
They all limped their way out the room and into the dark hallway of the ship. It wasn’t just the energy depletion after a battle, but that these guys didn’t know about the months leading up to the battle. The lifetime of preparation that had passed for him. To them, this was just another thing that had weirdly worked out for them pretty simply. For Tucker, it was an existential crisis, an experiment in loss and predestination. To these guys, it was Tuesday.Church confirmed that anyone who was a threat was lying on the floor in the room behind them, and Tucker was the last to leave, following the limping, battered team out of the ship.“You’re never going to believe this…”—“I don’t believe you.”“What?”“I said I don’t believe you.”“What, you think I’m lying? Why would I lie!?””“I don’t get half the shit you do,” Grif shrugged, wincing as the medic dabbed his nose with a cotton swap.The Reds, Blues and Doc all sat on crates in one of the makeshift medical tents. They were far from the only soldiers needing care, but aside from those on the brink of death, they got priority. Even if it was just because the battle medics were nosey.They had left the ship only an hour ago, all of them were half asleep at this point. Tucker especially, with Church draining his energy for his own work. He was still buzzing in the background. He took in every detail of the world; The tone of Grif’s voice, the grenade scars on Donut’s face,twitching sneers appearing and disappearing on Doc’s mouth, and cross referencing that data to Tucker’s memories. Even shit like the colors of the rocks on the ground and humidity of the air were being used to refine Tucker’s recollections, but he had stopped Church from tainting his own memories of things. Tucker wanted to keep how he saw things intact, even if they were imperfect, because they were his. And people were just imperfect like that.Tucker had taken off his armor above the waist, the Meta’s armor place with care on one of the turned over, empty steel crates. They had all helped him carry his old armor out of the ship, each taking a piece, which now sat in the pile of all the other regular armor at the edge of the tent. A hill of bright colors, a history of steel, all nestled in one another in a pile. In various states of undress, the humans they belonged to were being cleaned up by the Chorus medics.Tucker’s sweat turned sticky the second he felt the planet’s wind blow on his face. The sun blinded him; Not artificial light, but an actual, real sun. The air was fresh and smelt of the dense tropical foliage around them and Tucker had never filled his lungs with anything better. He didn’t hear the artificial running of a ship, but the actual drum of life. Birds chattering, wind blowing, people running around on crunching dirty, not echoing steel. The sounds of a world that, despite all that had happened to it, would run on even if they all died. A ship may seem alive, but would die without humans to run it. Here, without people things would be different, but would go on. That knowledge that all life didn’t rest of Tucker’s shoulders was like a breath of fresh air itself.So of course, his friends had to ruin it.“Wouldn’t be the first time you tried convincing us time travel was real,” Simmons said. His robot arm hung loosely to his side, having one of his motors damaged. His human arm had to be bandaged at the elbow, a nasty knife cut missing his arteries.“Yeah, Blue who cried Wolf,” Sarge grumbled. He had, infuriatingly, gotten away scratch free, and they all knew this would be lorded over their heads for the rest of their lives. Sarge had removed his helmet, his pale skin looking surprisingly young, avoiding years of sun damage.
“Not time travel, universe jumping,” Church defended Tucker. “That was the whole twist! Were you guys even paying attention?”“I lost interest when you started talking about the desert base,” Simmons admitted without shame.“You made it that far?” Grif asked. “I fell off when he started on about Wash being his soul mate in every universe or whatever.”“Aw, I liked that part!” Donut said, eye patch over his twice damaged eye. “Using your boyfriend to get over your boyfriend? Saucy!”“Not the most healthy foundation for a relationship, but no ones perfect!” Doc added. He kept going to touch his his face, but his hand had been broken and already set in splints.“I liked your story,” Caboose lisped. He smiled brightly, his front two teeth missing. “How did it end?”“How did it-? Here!” Tucker waved his arms out. “It ended with me coming back here and kicking ass and saving you dicks!”“Oh,” Caboose’s shoulder dropped, disappointed.“That was very much a ‘we’ situation,” Grif pointed out, voice nasally and half a tampon stuck up his nostril.“Okay, what about my ear?” Tucker tugged on his damaged lobe, the one that the triplets shot off. He didn’t bother pointing out the scar near his temple, any credibility in his scalp area invalid. “This is from a training shit show!”Grif frowned, considering the scars. “Weren’t those always there?”“What? No!”“No, those were definitely there before,” Grif decided.
“Okay you have to be fucking with me,” Tucker laughed humorlessly. “You’re just saying this to piss me off.”“No, that’s just a pleasant bonus.”“Wouldn’t the suit’s healing unit take care of those kinds of injuries right away?” Simmons asked. “So if you got that during our fight, it would heal over by now.”Fuck, the healing unit. There was a reason everyone else was slightly cracked, while Tucker had the energy to stand around and lament about his adventures for an hour. The healing unit was now dormant, but the few bruises and cuts he accumulated in the fight had healed up.“I mean, probably not something this major, right Church?” He asked.Church stopped his calculations of figuring out the world he was in, but was too spent to waste time on figuring out this detail. “Eh. Can’t say for sure.”“Wait, so what happened to South Dakota?” Donut asked.“…I don’t know,” Tucker admitted. He knew what he hoped happened to South, but saying it out loud might come with challenges from the others, and he did not want his hopes for what had happened to her be challenged.“I liked the part with Wyoming and the doctor,” Sarge nodded. “I always appreciate a good love story with us older folks.”“Really? I didn’t buy him having a fling with a woman. Back at Blood Gulch, I picked up on that he was a little…” Simmons trailed off.“Posh?” Donut finished.“…Sure,” Simmons relented.“Yeah, he was pretty up tight the few times we slept together,” Doc agreed.“Okay, that’s what I meant.”“Yeah, speaking of mentally imbalanced gay dudes, I don’t buy that Maine slept with Wash,” Grif said bluntly. “I get they worked together when they tried to kill us, but I didn’t get that vibe from them.”“It’s not- That’s what happened!” Tucker shouted. “That’s real life!”“Why don’t we ask him?” Caboose sat up straight, looking behind Tucker. “Washington, did you and Meta sleep together?”Tucker’s glad he didn’t have any neck injuries, because he spun his neck around so fast he would have snapped it.Washington and Carolina, worn and tired, had joined them, stopping and starting to talk to the stray private running around. The whole of Chorus was spinning and working like staff starting clean up on after the New Year's Eve Ball drop. Wash’s helmet was tucked under his arm, Carolina's hung loose at her side hooked on the tips of her fingers. Their armor didn’t gleam in the sun, polished and maintained by people paid to do it, but just as beat up as the wearers.Wash and Carolina looked at them all with relief, smiling with every face they greeted. Even Carolina, who rarely took her helmet off, was happy to see them, aged a million years. Half of his brain zeroed in on her, the half Church preoccupied, and the other half went to Wash.Tucker was running over to Wash and nearly tripping over his armor before he could really take in the sight. Wash ran forward to catch him, giving Tucker the opportunity to grab onto his outstretched arms. The closer he got, the more of Wash’s metal poked Tucker’s Kevlar, as intimate as if they were naked. His heart hammered as he grabbed his boyfriend’s face, bringing it down to his own. Washington’s brow furrowed, exaggerating the wrinkles on his forehead. He had more on the corner of his eyes, and around his mouth, some from frowning but new ones coming in from laughing. His bleached hair was like dried straw, his dark roots growing out from lack of maintenance. He was tanned dark from the sun, and had too many scars littered around his face.“You look like shit,” Tucker smiled, tears springing from his eyes.
Washington’s eyes narrowed. He opened his mouth to speak, but Tucker cut him off with a deep kiss, their teeth clanking together loudly. Wash’s lips were chapped and chin stubbly, but he didn’t pull away. He returned the kiss, even wrapping his arms around Tucker. It wouldn't have been comfortable for them to be their close if they were both in armor, but with only Wash dressed, Tucker never felt safer. He sighed and relaxed into his hold.Wash brought a hand to Tucker’s hair, frowning when he felt the damage. Tucker’s own hand traveled to the back of Wash’s exposed neck, still damp with sweat. It was marred with scars, the implant sight a huge blemish. He carried years of trauma in this little metal square, but Tucker only felt relief at it’s familiarity.Tucker pulled away first, speaking before Washington opened his eyes. “We should get married. Like, ASAP.”Washington’s brows furrowed again, and he searched Tucker’s face. “Don’t take this the wrong way. Do you have brain damage?”Tucker grinned at the gravel in Wash’s voice, deepened and scratchy from years of use. Hell, screaming at Tucker and Caboose alone was the equivalent to smoking a pack a day. That spark of something innocent and hopeful was gone from his eyes, and Tucker should feel bad about it, but he saw it had been replaced with something warmer and solid.“No. Well, maybe, but we should still get married.”“Uh...” Washington started.“Tucker, maybe you should sit down,” Carolina said carefully. Tucker smiled at her, and ran forward with a hug.
Unfortunately, she carried more of those Freelancer instincts than Wash. She intercepted the hug, dodging out of the way, grabbing Tucker’s arm, and swinging him to the ground. The extra weight of his leg armor took a good part of the force, but the breath was knocked out of him. He wheezed on the ground, dust kicking up and sucked into his mouth. He tongue was coated in dirt instead of blood, but that wasn’t any more pleasant. He curled his arms into his chest after Carolina let him go.“You… bitch…” Tucker eventually got out with much effort.“Church, what’s going on?” Carolina asked, vastly aged features seemingly mortified by her actions. Her eyes were vibrant as she looked to her AI brother.“Uh, hey,” Church said awkwardly. He stood by Tucker’s head on the ground, in a move mirroring Theta. “This is going to take a minute to explain.”“What is?” Carolina asked.
“Oh God, unless you’re going to give me a bigger part this time, I can’t listen to this again,” Grif rolled his eyes, the tampon’s blood spreading to the tail.“Shut… Up… Dick,” Tucker gasped.When he finally caught his breath, he sat up on a crate. He had Carolina and Wash sit with him, and let Chorus buzz around them like bees. The Reds and Caboose, even with their skepticism, intercepted any requests and attention people tried bringing up the Freelancers, even taking Kimball aside.They listened intently, an hour passing by. Church came in and out, adding details in Tucker’s head that got lost on the way out. Their eyes widened at the mention of all their now shared deceased friends. They took deep breaths at the mention of York, Carolina’s eyes downcast. Wash’s face grew particularly guilt at all mentions of South, especially at Tucker’s defending of her and mentions of little details. Unlike the Blood Gulch crew, they stayed captivated by Tucker’s story, hanging onto every detail.“… So then, I was like, ‘I’m not leaving without helping Epsilon,'” Tucker said, he looked at Church. “You’re welcome by the way.”“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Church waved a hand, picking up the story. “I was in some… Dark places. But then Tucker comes in, and pulled me out of it with his memories of all of you.”
Tucker waited for him to continue, but he didn’t. Tucker could feel a bashfulness in his head, a reluctance on Church’s part. This was something they would keep to themselves, and Tucker was more than happy to comply.“So then we get out of that shit, and now Church has all my memories and vice versa. Then, it turns out the Alpha did know how to get me home, he lied about it because they didn’t want me to leave the Project. I didn’t time travel, again, but universe hopped. And like, of course I had to come back and save you losers, and did. And now we’re here.”“Really, you’re gonna leave out the real part where we kicked major ass?” Grif scoffed, the tampon nose removed and bleeding stopped.“It’s all real!” Tucker yelled. He looked back at Wash and Carolina. “You guys believe me, right?”Washington was still staring at Tucker, expression a concerned neutrality. Carolina looked in her lap.“That’s… A lot,” Wash conceded.
“You really don’t remember me?” Carolina asked Church.“We never met,” Church said. “But I know you through Tucker’s memories.”“Oh no,” Carolina frowned.“He actually has a pretty high opinion of you,” Church shrugged. “He’s a big ole softy.”“Tucker…” Washington said. He reached forward and grabbed Tucker’s hand. “I believe that you believe this.”“Cop out,” Sarge said.“Oh come on!” Tucker withdrew his hand. “It really happened! We’re like, cosmic soul mates!”“I, uh,” Washington’s cheeked went dark, a blush trying to fight through his tanned skin. “Well, that’s surprisingly romantic of you.”“I know! It was a romantic ass situation!” Tucker huffed. He turned to Carolina. “You believe me, right?”“… I want to,” Carolina admitted. “I really do. I want to believe there’s a world where everything was done right.”“Then you’re welcome!” Tucker said. “I did it right!”“Read the room, idiot,” Church chastised.“She said ‘wants to’,” Grif added.“Grif, why the fuck are you still here if you’re so sick of it?”“To be a hater, duh.”“How do you explain my hair, huh?” Tucker asked, growing desperate. “I had braids when I left, and now it’s cut short.”“You’re hair that’s half burned off?” Wash asked.
“Okay, bad example,” Tucker admitted. He grabbed the lobe of his damaged ear. “What about my ear? Ohio and Iowa shot me!”Carolina looked at him blankly. “I don’t remember those agents, do you?” She asked Wash.Wash’s face had darkened, and one look at the guilt painted across his features confirmed he did know. Carolina and Tucker held their breath, waiting for Wash to respond. While Carolina may not know why Wash was reacting this way, Tucker knew that in this life, some things would always be incomplete and broken.“Yeah, I remember them,” Wash said simply after a moment, looking to the side, away from Carolina and Tucker’s expectant stares. Eventually he turned back to Tucker, a bit morecomposed. “But… Weren’t those scars always there?”“Seriously!?” Tucker shouted, dropping the triplets baggage like he had just come off a 10 hours flight. “Of course not! You’ve seen me naked!”“Well when we’re together it’s not like I’m looking at your ear!” Wash said defensively, his face darkening again. This embarrassment and un-Freelancer like outburst reminded Tucker more of the man he had spent the past few months with.In a last ditch effort, Tucker started unzipping his Kevlar, the zipper caught on itself. “Fine, look! I’m totally cut now!”“Oh dear!” Grey exclaimed behind Tucker. He spun to face her, still struggling to reach the zipper on his neck. “Getting naked is a sign of a whole bag full of issues! That, and delusions of grandeur-““I’m not delusional!” Tucker shouted. “Let me get naked so I can prove I’m a time traveler!”“Still not time travel!” Church shouted. “Grey, you don’t need to sedate Tucker. This actually happened. I’m not even the Epsilon that you know, that guy died and I’m the one from the other universe.”“Hm, Church dying and coming back does sound realistic,” Simmons said.“Oooh, interdimensional travel? How fun!” Grey clapped her hands once. “How did that happen?”“Oh God, can you sedate me?” Grif moaned. “I can’t hear this crap a third time.”“Fuck literally all of you,” Tucker grit slowly. “I can’t believe I missed any of you. I should have stayed in the other time line, I was a goddamn hero there.”“Aaand we’re back to the delusional part,” Simmons added.“Still not a different time line, just a different universe,” Church repeated.“I should have let your ass stay there too!” Tucker snapped.“Anyways, Grey,” Church faced the doctor. “Tucker had to use an old Project Freelancer suit to fight the space pirates-““That parts real. And it fucking ruled,” Grif cut in.“Buuut the suit had some augmentations left over from when it was used by one of the rogue agents sent to kill these guys.”“Thanks again for that, Washington,” Sarge grumbled, making Wash wince.
“So Epsilon had to power the suit,” Church continued. “But the time manipulation unit malfunctioned, sending Tucker to another, similar universe, but back during Project Freelancer days. The other Epsilon burned up in the processes, leaving him stuck there.”“Okay, skip all the sad parts,” Caboose waved a hand.
“I was fucking awesome-““Yeah yeah, Tucker became a Freelancer, did pretty well-““Did fucking awesome!”“- We get it. After a few months, he changed everyone there enough so Carolina stopped the Project and Charon, and freed the Alpha AI. Then he stopped and saved me, so other Wash didn’t get all… you know.”“Get all what?” Washington challenged, crossing his arms.“Crazy.”“Traumatized.”“Mean.”“Brain damaged.”“Fuck, you guys are even worse than I thought,” Church said, annoyed. “So I got all Tucker’s memories, and he got all mine. The Alpha had lied to Tucker about not getting back here, but I got him back. And then he kicked space pirates ass.”“A lot happened between that!” Tucker jumped in. “I did all that crap to save Chorus! And other people. Have fun in hell, you assholes, because that was some real Jesus shit.”Grey had gone quiet, thinking behind her helmet. It was quiet for a few seconds before she spoke, her tone much softer than usual.“Well, Captain. I appreciate you spending your new life saving this planet out of the goodness of your heart.”“You’re welcome!”“But I don’t believe you.”“Oh come on!”“The way you described it,” Grey said seriously. “It seems an AI and host can blend minds and share memories. I assume this means you can distort the mind as well?”“Yeah! There was this whole…” Tucker frowned, steam escaping him at the mere mention of Sigma. “Yeah. They can.”“Well, what I think may be a more probable explanation is you and Epsilon have a shared delusion,” Grey explained. “You’re minds mixing in one and creating this brief but detailed hallucination while powering the suit.”“What? No! How could I have known all that crap about Project Freelancer?”“Well, Epsilon is the memory unit, correct? So he had the Director of Project Freelancer’s memories, as well as Carolina and Washington’s?”“…Yeah?” Tucker looked back at the two, who nodded solemnly. “The old Epsilon did, anyways. I mean, I don’t remember everything about their lives, just what they told me.”“Well, this may have just been a distorted glitch in the melting of your two minds!” Grey clapped. “Where the details he had stored were used to create a simulation where you saved everyone! Oh, how interesting! I have a colleague that would absolutely go bananas over this! I wonder if-““No, no, no,” Tucker shook his head. “It was way deeper than that! I got like, intimate knowledge of everything!”“Okay, then let me ask you this; Do you have any memories or knowledge that Agent Carolina, Washington, you, Epsilon or the Director of Project Freelancer did not have?”Tucker went quiet. He and Church searched their brains.“Yeah, Epsilon would have all my memories before his implantation,” Washington thought, only frowning slightly at the mention. “Then all of Alpha’s memories from before he was fractured.”“Then all of the Director’s memories of before the creation of Alpha, and then you’re own memories of everything after Blood Gulch,” Carolina counted off. “Is there anything that you can remember, other than those memories, that we can prove?”“Uh, give me a sec,” Tucker stalled.Everything about Wash’s past? Nope. Everything about Carolina’s past? Still no. The inner workings of the Project? All the Freelancers? Still no, nothing Wash and Carolina didn’t know could be made up. The training he went through? Still something he could have gotten from Wash and Carolina’s memories.“… I did, okay? I’m not crazy,” Tucker said finally.A hand dropped to Tucker’s shoulder. He looked to his right, and saw Wash with a gentle smile. “I believe you.”“Liar,” Simmons said.“Knock it off,” Washington warned. He kept those kind eyes on Tucker. “I believe you. Joining the Freelancers, saving Chorus, saving Carolina, saving me? I have no doubt that you would do all of that, Tucker.”The sweetness in Washington’s voice made Tucker feel worse. Because if he actually believed Tucker, we wouldn’t sound so comforting. He would get all serious and ask for a debrief, or have his voice pitch up and freak out. But instead, he looked at Tucker with a smile that meant it was going to be alright. And sure, it was going to be alright, but he would have preferred it be alright and be acknowledged for finally doing things right.“Whatever,” Tucker relented.
“Ooh, mom and dad are fighting,” Caboose whispered.“Who’s mom and who’s dad?” Simmons asked.“Don’t answer that,” Washington said.“Aw, playing house is so boring,” Donut frowned. “Playing doctor is so much more fun!”“I agree!” Grey clapped. “And I’m going to be very busy with that job, we have a lot of critically wounded here! So I’m afraid we’ll have to wait on determining how severe Captain Tucker’s brain damage is.”Without warning, Grey flashed her hand held biometrics meter right in his face, blinding his with the neon green light.“Augh!” Tucker yelped, closing his eyes as his pupil retracted and spots formed in his vision.“Well, there’s no internal bleeding, fractures, or other major wounds!” She said cheerfully as Tucker opened his eyes and waited for them to start working. Flashes of vision were creeping back, the dark spots shrinking slowly. “So I’m labeling this delusion as non-critical. Do you all think you can watch Captain Tucker and make sure he doesn’t fall into a coma, go on an impulsive rampage, or harm himself?”“That sounds like everyday with Caboose, we’ll be fine,” Grif scoffed.“I’ll watch over him,” Washington promised, giving Tucker a small smile.“Perfect!” Grey said again. She looked at Sarge. “We have a lot of wounded here, Colonel. Are you up for getting your hands dirty and assisting me?”“Of course, dear!” Sarge said, jumping to his feet and grinning widely as he shoved his head into his helmet. He didn't even seem fatigued. “It’s been a while, but giving CPR is like riding a bike: You figure it out when someone’s about to die.”“I love the energy! But do not give anyone CPR unless I say so, healing broken ribs is such a time waster. I’ll see you hero’s later! Good luck with the brain damage, Captain Tucker!”
Grey waved them all goodbye, Sarge following obediently.“Do you think I should follow them?” Doc asked, taping his glasses back together with medical tape. “They could use some extra hands.”“Even if you weren’t the Angel of Death since we’ve known you,” Grif said. “Do you still have O’Malley in your head trying to kill people?”“…No.”“Liar,” Simmons repeated. “We only have room for two crazier than normal guys, and Tucker’s taking that crown.”“Fuck. All of you,” Tucker said clearly. His high of battle and anger at their dismissiveness was being replaced by embarrassment, because even though he was totally right and he went through all that, everyone else thought he was delusional. That all this growth and work and self discovery was not from the experience.
We did time travel, right? He found himself asking Church.… Of course we did, it’s them that are wrong. Church said, not as confident as Tucker would have liked.
You hesitated. Why did you hesitate.
“Oh, hey, Captain!” Palomo shouted from a few yards away, drawing their attention.His helmet was off, and Tucker had never been so happy to see that kid’s stupid, acne scarred, young, ALIVE face, crooked teeth and all. “You’re alive! Hell yeah! Oh, I have so much to tell you! But Kimball needs you-“Whatever he was going to say, Tucker would listen and execute. Having seen the kid die in his torture, he made a resolution to be kinder to the kid. Especially after having stalked his younger self, who Tucker had the realization would have bullied his lieutenant.Before he could begin respecting, a shot rang out, expertly flying past Palomo’s head. The kid had listened to his training, and had dropped to the ground immediately, face first and hands over the back of his head.“No bothering captains!” Grey screeched, many meters away from Palomo, Sarge’s pistol still raised from where he had taken his warning shot. “Doctor’s orders!”A majority of the group relaxed. They were given guaranteed downtime now with Grey’s threat of anger, something only Kimball might risk in an emergency.Tucker looked around; Soldiers were sitting on rocks, crates, propped up against trees and other structures. Cots were reserved for anyone who couldn’t sit up, scattered in groups. Armor and weapons littered the floor, abandoned by their owners who lay in critical condition. The last of medical supplies were being spent around them, the hope of incoming rescue and aid giving them permission it could finally be depleted. As if they had a choice, anyways.Tucker stretched his bad ankle nervously, feeling the sharp pain dull with the movement. While his time on the Mother of Invention was by no means pleasant, it had been a break from this. He had time to relax, to eat warm meals, to only worry about Chorus as an abstract, and a Chorus that was not in genocide. The only people he had to worry about may have acted like kids, but the Freelancers weren’t kids. He felt the familiar, suffocating blanket of responsibility fall over him. But his respite had given him a moment to collect his strength and carry it. And now, there wasn’t that what if? Looming over them, just the responsibility of picking up the pieces.“It’s fine,” Tucker sighed. He walked over to Palomo, and held out a hand. Palomo took a second to look up, and was open mouth shocked at Tucker’s outstretched hand. “C’mon, catch me and Wash up on what I missed out on.”Palomo quickly gathered himself, smiling and grabbing onto Tucker’s hand so his Captain could pulled him up. His grin showed how misaligned his teeth, something he might actually get the opportunity to fix now that he had a future.
“Really? Sick!” Palomo said, brushing himself off. “Well, me and the other lieutenant have quite the story for you! It was totally bad ass, and I really saved the day.”“I’m sure you did,” Tucker said. This normally would have been met with a scoff, but Tucker could only bring himself to smile. Even if Tucker didn’t feel the irrational guilt of having killed Palomo in his nightmare, the child like enthusiasm was infectious. Maybe now that they didn’t have a gun to their heads, his energy would be endearing. Unlike everyone else here, Palomo would soon take off that armor and hopefully never put it back on. “Tell me about it while I see who made it out of here.”“Oh man!” Palomo beamed. His smile faltered and fell before he spoke again. “Uh, this is kinda out of character of you. Did you get brain damage or something?”“None of you say a fucking word,” Tucker warned the group, turning back to them. To his shock, no one said anything. By the looks on their faces, it seemed they were a fraction closer to believing Tucker, because he even heard a change in his own voice that was strengthened with… Something. Something new and different, a power that wasn’t there this morning.Wash went stiff, eyes widening a bit and chin dropping. While Wash might not recognize Tucker’s new ear deformity, Tucker recognized arousal in his face.“Okay, I’m out of here,” Church interrupted that train of thought. “If it’s cool with you, can you transfer me to Carolina?”Carolina’s eyebrows flew up, and nervously turned her helmet in her hands. “Oh! But I thought you didn’t remember me?”
“Well, yeah, that’s why I want to transfer soon. I got a lot to catch up on, right?” Tucker wondered if the two remaining Church’s recognized that they had mirroring apprehension, both fearing rejection from the other. “I mean, if you want to, or whatever.”“I do!” Carolina said quickly. Her face brightened, not smiling but a dark cloud clearing.
What if she doesn’t like me? Church asked timidly.
Tucker smiled. He had a conversation like this once with Junior. Dude, look at her. She’s more scared you won’t like her. You two will be fine.
Okay, Church said. Still, he didn’t pull away. A fear of getting to know the Carolina he had wasted so many lifetimes ignoring, but also not wanting to leave the comfort of Tucker’s head.Get out of here before I start blowing my boyfriend, Tucker said.It was like Church had the vulnerability smacked out of him. Get fucked. Good luck. The familiar pull of Epsilon leaving his implant, not as painful as when Sigma was extracted, but a blissful emptiness. One last message from Church on his way out: Thanks.Tucker’s head, for the first time in a while, was empty, without threat of being filled or anxiety of being left alone. A pleasant departure with the comfort of knowing there wasn’t a goodbye to be avoided.Carolina shivered as Church entered her implant, and frowned once it settled. She gave Tucker a wary look, a new type of confused but like she was reading something. Epsilon didn’t fit right, not like the old one, he had felt it too. But Carolina didn’t look scared, or suspicious. Tucker knew
that even if Church wasn’t in her head, if anyone was about to believe him, it would be her.—Late that evening, Tucker stood completely naked in front of Wash. Hands on his hips, standing tall, he waited for his boyfriend to say something.Wash looked Tucker up and down. Their barrack was only like by a single, shoddy lamp they had salvaged long ago, but this light was nothing new to them. Washington’s lips were pursed, and Tucker smirked at his uncertainty. Washington’s gaze lingered in some of the more x-rated parts of Tucker, but roamed his entire body. Tucker waited expectantly for Wash to speak.After a long, charged minute, Washington sighed. “Yeah, I don’t see a difference.”Tucker deflated. “Seriously?!”Tucker groaned, throwing his hands up to press his palms into his eyes. His newly trained and fed body had much more definition than his strong but ration fed body from before, more tone etched into him. Wash had seen every inch of his flesh, and probably touched every inch. Hell, his tongue had been on a good amount of this skin, so Tucker was positive seeing it now would convince Wash that yes, he and Church definitely time traveled.And yet, despite them boning for months, Washington just shrugged apologetically. “I’m sorry, Tucker, but I just can’t confidently see a physical change.”“You are my fucking boyfriend!” Tucker said, exasperated.“Well, we never put labels-““Shut up!” Tucker cut off, opening his eyes to shoot a glare at an offended Wash. He bent over and scooped his boxers off the floor, clumsily pulling them on while he ranted.“Boyfriends, fiance if you want, soul mates- Whatever you want to call me! You
bitched about seeing me naked even before we got together! If you don’t see a difference than that’s so fucked!”“Well, I have seen a difference today,” Washington said, keeping a cool head. Tucker might have been naked, and he might have just lobbed pet names at Washington, but their bickering was an unstoppable force. “But not in how ‘cut’ you are.”“Okay, ignore the hair,” Tucker said, running a hand over his completely buzzed scalp. Jensen, bless her soul, had tackle hugged them when she found all the Captains alive and well. When she stopped crying and letting out a lament on how thankful she was to a beet red Simmons, one look at Tucker’s hair sobered her quickly, and she fixed it as much as she could. There were still some patches burned bald, but that would grow in evenly eventually.
“I am,” Washington said. He was sitting on the edge of their bed, knees on his elbows, looking more exhausted and more calm, finally fucking calm- Than he had been since they got to this planet. “Since you got off the ship, you have this… Glow.”“A glow?” Tucker furrowed his brow. He looked down at his tattoos, dormant on his skin.“Not your literal glow,” Wash clarified. He moved to the side, patting the space next to him. Tucker hesitated, but obeyed, the worn mattress squeaking under his weight. Washington turned to face him, putting one hand on Tucker’s knee, making goosebumps form on his arm.“I mean,” Washington continued, looking serious. “You’re different, in a way I like. But I thought it was because you are a hero.”“But you don’t believe I went to the past,” Tucker furrowed his brow. “What, you think I’m having a placebo effect?”“No, not at all,” Washington shook his head. A small smile formed on his lips. “Besides all that. Today, you made it to the temple, you sent the broadcast. You killed Felix, you survived Locus, you sent the intermission, you fought off those space pirates- You saved all of Chorus.”“That was a group effort…” Tucker’s muscles stiffened at the flattery. It might have felt like months ago for him, but to Wash, the Reds and Blues had done everything right today, no doubt exceeding his expectations. Tucker had been so hung up on what they didn’t believe, he forgot what they did was still pretty cool.
But that wasn’t just him, that was everyone. He wouldn’t take credit for all of that, not really, not if he wasn’t being a dick on purpose. All the pride he felt about this universes events, he felt for his team, not himself. Hell, Palomo shooting his shot with Jensen was on par with killing at least four space pirates.“It was,” Wash relented. “And I’m proud of all of us. But I’m the most proud of you, Tucker.”Wash had said those words before, but right now, they hit Tucker so hard he wanted to push Wash away and leave. They were too much, too much feeling in them, what Tucker had always wanted to hear, back when Wash was just his CO, back when he hated him, back when Wash went missing, and every day until now. Wash had said it before, but this time, Tucker actually believed it. It was overwhelming, along with Wash’s hand on Tucker’s knee.Tucker sighed, resisting the urge to flee, and just dropped his hand onto Wash’s. “I just wish you believed that I did all that other shit too. It was a lot of work. You were kind of an idiot.”Washington’s smile turned wry for a second, and his gaze dropped. Now it was his turn to be overwhelmed; His gaze shifted to the side, seeming distracted by everything in the room except Tucker.
“Yeah, well, that part is true,” He chuckled. “But, again, I believe you would do all that for us. In a heartbeat, I think you would do that for me.”Tucker sighed through his nose. “Well, I guess you know that and not believing me is better than you believing me but not knowing it was for you. Or something. Did the order of those words sound right?”Washington chuckled again, this time with genuine humor. He looked back at Tucker, peaking through his thick lashes. “I think so. So…” Wash had to force to keep his smile on. “You saw my memories?”“I met you in the past, yeah,” Tucker said, stubbornly keeping his stance in his words. “Young baby Wash, who didn’t even know what a 401K was.”“Not that I ever needed too,” Wash sighed. He hesitated, but forced an awkward smile. “I was real handsome back then, wasn’t I? Before all…” Wash trailed off, gesturing to himself with his freehand.Tucker frowned, offended in a different way. “What the fuck? You’re way hotter now!”The corner of Wash’s mouth quirked up, but his eyes were downtrodden. “I know you think that, but you saw how I looked before-““Yeah, and you’re hotter now!” Tucker said forcefully. “Look, past you was awesome, and someone I would have totally followed around and gotten into more stupid fake wars with until karma caught up. But dude, you are the Wash I wasted too much time pretending I wasn’t gay for. You’re hot, don’t get me wrong, but I like you for all the other stuff too. All the shit that’s happened between us, and all the parts of you that only came up because of your past. No offense, not to call your PTSD hot, even if it is pretty hot-“Wash thankfully cut Tucker off with a kiss. He grabbed the back of Tucker’s neck and pulled him forward, pressing their mouths together. Tucker’s mouth was still open, but he sunk into the kiss quickly. The chapped lips of Wash, the scar that marked his lip feeling familiar. The sent of sweat, he brought his hand to the mangle of flesh on the back of Wash’s neck, just as bumpy and flawed as the rest of him. Wash’s hands were rough, calloused and tanned from the sun he spent more time in, and that he would be able to spend even more time in now.
Something would come up, they’d be pulled on some other adventure, some other bullshit, but maybe, just for a while, they could take a break in the sunlight.When they pulled away, Tucker was on the brink of ruining all the chaste love by ripping his underwear off. But he saw that Wash had some tears springing from his eyes, even as he wiped them quickly.“Do you at least believe that?” Tucker asked quietly.Wash looked back at him, eyes contorted with sadness but smiling softly. “I do.”Tucker’s smile came, large and joyful. “Oh yeah, you accepted or rejected my proposal.”Wash’s brows knit then. “Your proposal?”“Yeah! First thing I did after calling you ugly, I said we should get married! You wanna do it or nah?”Wash's face fell, and Tucker was afraid he was about to be rejected and have to drown himself in the radioactive pond, but Wash started shaking with actual, real sobs.Washington never cried. The energy crash of the day, or of the fucking decade, must have caught up with him. Tucker was too shocked to say anything, just let Wash’s grip on his hand tighten. Wash’s face crumbled, and the tears fell into his lap, audible shaking in his breath. “Even… After knowing who I was back before… Seeing who I would have been… You want to…?”“Of course,” Tucker forced a smile, not even turned on anymore. The blood rushed to his heart, making it beat strong in his chest. Maybe he had some doubts about his whole adventure, but he didn’t doubt this at all.“Then… If you don’t have brain damage,” Wash said carefully, managing a smile finally. “Yeah. Let’s get married.”“Hell yes,” Tucker grinned. He pulled Wash forward, into his arms, feeling his worn shirt against his chest. He laid down, not fighting Wash at all for the space by the wall. Wash sighed deeply, and wrapped his arms around Tucker, both of them settling in too each other.A moment like this, Tucker would love to return to someday. But he wouldn’t, he’d just have to make sure the memory lasted forever. Living in the moment, he took in every detail; The soft lighting, the catch in Wash’s breathing, the wetness from his tears cooling on Tucker’s chest, the weight of him; All of it.“You’ll have to meet Junior,” Tucker said after a while, before Wash could fall into sleep. Wash stiffened at that, and Tucker rubbed his hand over his fiance’s head. “No worries, that kid is so chill. He’ll love you… And you’ll need to meet my parents.”Wash’s head popped up, brows furrowed. “Your parents?”“Yeah,” Tucker nodded. “I’ve thought about them a lot lately. I haven’t talked to them in years. I mean, they probably got the message we sent out, if they’re still…”The thought he had avoided for years; If they were still alive.“Good. I want to meet them,” Wash nodded, being Tucker’s rock. The roles switched in a moment, and he looked pained. “You’ll need to meet mine too. My sisters and parents…”“You haven’t talked to them since the Project, right?” Tucker asked, this nugget of lore being something this Wash had confided in him.“No. I haven’t really been someone I wanted them to meet,” Wash said slowly. “Then I was a wanted fugitive, and then we crashed here. But I guess now is as good a time as any.”“Yeah, I think being a fucking planet’s savior is pretty cool,” Tucker scoffed, making Wash smile. “They can pin your medals of honor on the fridge.”“You and my sisters are going to make my life hell, I know it,” Wash mumbled. Tucker smirked, a pleasant buzz rolling through him. The sweetness of planning a future, especially one that was centered around annoying the fuck out of Washington was intoxicating. “My parents… We’ll need to prepare for that.”“Can I meet them after you’re chained to me for life?” Tucker asked. He was never good with people, and he didn’t even want to know how insufferable he was to civilians who weren’t corroded by war. When we the last time he even talked to a civilian?Did Nikki count?“No, but I promise their opinion of you will not change my mind-““Yeah, yeah,” Tucker cut off, distracted. “Hey, do you remember a Dr. Jefferson?”Wash frowned at Tucker’s change of subject, but quickly moved on into thoughtfulness at the name. He shook his head. “No, I don’t think so.”“Black lady, long braids, short? She was the doctor in charge of the implants and stuff on the Mother of Invention. We got close when I was back there, she was fucking Wyoming.”Wash’s brows shot up at that. “Wyoming? Like, Agent Wyoming?”“Yeah, the one I killed back in Blood Gulch in this time line.” Tucker said.Wash stilled. “You… Killed Wyoming?” He asked in shock.Tucker blinked. “Did you seriously not know that? Yeah! He was sent to Blood Gulch to kill me specifically, or whatever. I had to spear him with my sword, the dick.”Wash’s mouth opened and closed. “Uh, I didn’t know that.”“Whatever, it’s not like you were close. He was a annoying then too,” Tucker said dismissively, ignoring the new found guilt he had in his chest. He had never once felt bad about killing Wyoming, and the one in this time line never did anything besides torment them. So why did it hurt all of a sudden?“Uh, no,” Wash recovered quickly. “I don’t remember a Doctor Jefferson, and I remember everything.”“Huh.”But the line of thought distracted him. Wash didn’t remember Jefferson, and the only person to corroborate that story was Wyoming. Who was dead. As was York, North, South, CT… Maine. He had killed him too. All those friends he made, the ones he pulled back from the brink of corruption and downfall. Well, they were gone, never redeemed in the first place. None of them dying peacefully, or even quickly.
What had Sigma said about being punished for crimes one didn’t remember committing? Well, what about when they did commit them, remembered it, but weren’t even the person you knew? They weren’t the people Tucker met, and most of them he never did meet. Why did that hurt just as bad?The triplets, who as far as he knew never did anything heinous, were no doubt dead. The most innocent of all of them, dead in both time lines, having never committed any crime. Tucker could at least hang onto the comfort of saving the rest of the Project in another universe, but Ohio, Iowa, and Idaho were just… Gone. Unsavable. Like they were cursed to always be shucked aside. Not for the first time, Tucker thought they would have been great Reds or Blues or some other fucking primary color. Just as cursed, sold as a set, fucked by military bureaucracy in ways the VA could only dreams of achieving.“What’s wrong?” Wash asked, still propped up and studying Tucker’s face seriously.“Nothing, just…” Tucker stopped himself. Why lie? “It just hit me that they’re all dead.”Wash stilled, understanding coming slowly. He sagged, and lowered to Tucker’s chest again. “Yeah.”“… This fucking sucks,” Tucker said quietly, his throat tightening. He strengthened his grip on Wash.“I’m sorry,” Wash said.“I’m sorry too,” Tucker mumbled.Silence passed over them. A grief Wash had endured for years, now shared by Tucker. Who had it worse, he didn’t know, but Wash carried it longer, and guiltier. Tucker’s scars were fresh, and lived with knowing that he had passed up well deserved fairy tale life.
“Can I ask you one more thing?” Wash said after almost an hour of contemplation, Tucker having thought he finally fell asleep.“Go for it?” Tucker responded immediately.“…Did you really use myself as a rebound for me?”“…Well it’s a lot less fucking romantic when you say it like that.”—A week later, Chorus was a tornado.The first of the UNSC ships had arrived, with more on the way. Medics and soldiers ran around, unloading food, medicine, and supplies, with Chorus citizens trying to distribute and organize without causing too much of a frenzy.
Grif, of all people, was staying on top of the distribution of food. He barked orders and lead people carrying crates and boxes of rations and actual, fresh produce to the appropriate mess halls and kitchen, nearly ripping Bitters a new one for joking about taking the box of sugar back to his barrack. He knew exactly which food should be stored where, which had the richest quantities of vitamins and nutrients the planet was sorely missing, and how they could easily be prepared. The distribution of the food was so orderly, organized and efficient, Tucker thought Simmons would get on his knees then and there.Tucker, meanwhile, was tailing Kimball around all day. While she had no problem being curt and stubborn, the influx of UNSC officials needing to speak with her was overwhelming in itself, never mind that she insisted on meeting them at the ships’ landing area so she could simultaneously keep an eye on all the action. She spoke to officials both in and out of armor while the world spun around them, hastily stopping one conversation to answer a hurried question, then picking up where she left off.
But despite being an excellent General, Kimball was never a people person. She had a short fuse and the curtness of someone keeping the world from burning for years. At one point, a man in probably the whitest button down on the planet made a joke about prioritizing deodorant over antibiotics, and she grabbed the front of that neat shirt and screamed in his face until she had to be pried off. Lucky for her, Tucker was a trained diplomat. He stuck by her side to answer any questions he could, give any directives he thought, and crack any joke necessary to get frowns from the UNSC officials and a restrained sigh from Kimball. At least a sigh means she was breathing.“Our critically wounded is in the nearby medical tents,” Kimball told an in clothing barely suited for the jungle, a tired looking old man glued to his data pad. “They were put together in a hurry, the capitol held most of our remaining medical supplies… But it was blown up by the city’s nuclear power reactor.”At that the man paused, glancing up once, but began typing again. Too much going on to focus on all the juicy details, it seemed. His voice barely registered over the excitement around them. “And the non critically injured?”“Uh, everyone else?” Tucker said. “Look around, everyone’s got a least a paper cut.”“We need supplies to go to those critically injured first,” Kimball said, her voice strengthening. “Once that is sorted, we can worry about the rest of us.”“More medical aide is en route,” The man said.
“How much aide?” Kimball pressed. “And when? Medical has put together a list of what we need to prioritize. We’ve stripped it down the best we could, but our army is hurt bad, and we have to consider the rest of the civilian populations left elsewhere. We don’t have any idea how many communities have held out.”The man stopped typing, looking up. He cleared his throat and tucked away his data pad, standing tall to look Kimball’s helmet head on. “I wouldn’t worry about rationing incoming aide, General Kimball. Supplies here today are just what the closest neighboring governments could send right away. I’m sure you’re aware by now, but you’re transmission made quite the splash.” He looked around at the crowd, cool and calculating. “Off the record, you’ll all be flooded with help soon. The story itself has, of course, stolen the hearts of the universe. The scrappy, forgotten planet that came together to bring down the evil corporation, their plea for help beamed directly into their homes."And truthfully… It’s always an election year somewhere. Both armies have united and Charon is dead in the water, so there’s zero opposition to throwing one's complete support behind Chorus. Every politician is tripping over themselves either trying to make themselves look good, or trying to cover up any ties with Charon.”“Oh,” Kimball said. She was still in armor, her helmet on. She had given the excuse that she needed her interactive HUD to keep record of everything going on, but also, most Chorus soldiers didn’t recognized her without it on. That had horrifying implication in itself, but Tucker knew the act real reason that Kimball would never admit was the same reason Caboose wore his helmet when things got overwhelming. No matter why, Tucker couldn’t see her expression, but her voice was enough. “That’s… Disgusting.”“That’s politics. Whether you like it or not, you just executed a flawless victory. Anyways,” The man pulled out his data pad again, as if he didn’t chill Tucker to his core. “What we were able to bring today should be adequate in the meantime. Many volunteers from close by solar systems were able to jump aboard, most not even UNSC. One of yours has already… Taken lead on organizing that side of aid distribution.”“Dr. Grey?” Kimball asked.The man nodded.“Yeah, clear out of her way,” Tucker interjected. “She bites.”Not sure if he was joking, the man backed off. Which was good, since Tucker wasn’t even sure if he was joking.“Tucker!”All heads turned behind them, as Carolina pushed through the crowd. It was so hectic, people didn’t even jump out of the was like they usually did in Carolina’s presence. Only some of them were able to fling themselves out of her path. Church bobbed by her side as she walked, her eyes frantic. She also had a hard time out of armor, so the helmet in her hands was another sign of bad news.“Fuck, who died?” Tucker asked, removing his helmet.“It’s not that,” Carolina said breathlessly. She was never breathless, making every day cardio day, so it must have been big. “We have good news.”“We were going through Hargrove’s and Charon’s files,” Church started, voice small and odd sounding outside of Tucker’s head. “And cross referencing it with some of the Project’s information. If everything matches in this time line-““Time line?” Kimball asked.“Super long story,” Church explained quickly. “We’ll circle back-““Is that the AI?” The UNSC official interrupted, staring at Church in awe.“Yeah, it’s sick,” Church brushed off. “Anyways, even if this is just old information, and there was no universe hopping-““Aw, man, don’t tell me they got to you too,” Tucker groaned. Church was his last stand on sanity of the whole thing.“Stop interrupting me!” Church screeched, just like in Tucker’s memories of Blood Gulch. “Carolina and I found coordinates to an ice planet that both Charon and Project Freelancer used a a ‘dumping ground.’ The Project didn’t keep tabs on what was left there, but Charon did.”“So?” Tucker asked.
“So it wasn’t just dumping ground for objects, but for people,” Church emphasized, as if that meant anything.“Uh, gross?”“Neither side knew it, but both Charon and Freelancer had dumped some of their worst operatives there years, ago, expecting them to just die of exposure, but-““Tucker!”Months of training after the ship wreck had Pavloved Tucker into to jumping and standing at attention when he heard Wash shout his name like that.Wash moved through the crowd, less purposeful and streamlined as Carolina. People still parted, respectably jumping out his way once they saw who it was, but Washington would never be as elegant or intimidating as Carolina.
“Agent Washington,” Kimball greeted, startled. “What’s wrong?”“No, this is a personal matter,” Wash said, stumbling up to them.“We don’t have time-““Junior got the transmission,” Wash said. Tucker stiffened. “He’s already on a ship coming here.”
“What?” Tucker asked. Coming here? So soon? Tucker had accepted his son would never even exist, and now he was finally being reunited with him?“Caboose got word, Junior apparently thinks he’s his uncle? But he’ll be here tomorrow.”“Holy shit,” Tucker cursed. He looked around at the chaos, two different stages of his life soon to be intermingled.“Wash, that’s great, but we have more pressing news.” Carolina said seriously, standing tall.“More pressing than my planet?” Kimball said. Her voice was ticked, getting fed up with this volley of information.“No, Wash needs to hear this too,” Church said. “Anyways, Charon dumped these soldiers in a box snow canyon in the middle of no where to get rid of them, but found that the soldiers are still alive. In fact, they ran into some ex Freelancers that had also been dumped there and wrote off as dead.”“What the hell? Who?” Tucker asked, too overwhelmed to come to whatever conclusion Church thought was obvious.“Who do you think?” Church yelled. “The fucking worst Freelancers!”Tucker’s brain didn’t work as fast as Wash, who ran forward right into Epsilon’s face. “ You mean the triplets? Vera, Ezra and Mike?”“Captain Tucker!” A third voice screamed.“What now?!” Kimball yelled in frustration.“This is absolutely captivating,” The UNSC official whispered to himself.“Oh my God, what?” Tucker shouted. He should be paralyzed in shock- Junior coming here? The triplets still alive? Was the sun always this bright? The air always this hard to breathe?But he regretted his rudeness when he saw it was Grey. He was scared shitless of crossing her, but she was all smiles as she skipped forward, out of armor and in her worn doctor’s coat. She deftly maneuvered around the swarms of people, a little too easily. It was uncanny. She stopped right in front of Tucker, smile crinkling her eyes.“Excellent news!” She yelled, less than a foot from Tucker’s face, taking in his whole vision.
“Ah! What?” Tucker jumped back.“The colleague I mentioned is here! She has apparently been working with the UNSC for several months, and rushed over when she saw the transmission!”“Uh, who?” Tucker asked.“My brain surgeon friend, duh!” Grey said. She turned around, scanning the crowd, seeming to realize she was alone. “Well, she was just here. But! She is an expert on neural implants, and came over just to see if your lights are still on. She’ll be just the person to decide if you need a lobotomy or not!”“Well, the answer’s not, so you can tell her thanks but no thanks,” Church cut in. “We have bigger fish to fry.”“I agree,” Kimball said sternly She turned to Tucker, putting both hands on her hips and emitting authority. “Captain, can you shoo off your fan club and focus on helping me save our dying?”“Uh, sorry, yeah!” Tucker shook his head. He looked between Church, Wash, Carolina, and Grey, all staring at him expectantly. “Uh. Shoo?”“What? No! This is important!” Church said.“Is that what you’re getting at? That the triplets might be-“ Wash started, his train of thought never slowing.“If I can get a fucking word out!” Church snapped.“Church! Calm down,” Carolina chastised.“This is not the time or place for this,” Kimball warned.“This is much more fascinating than aid distribution,” The UNSC official said, enthralled.“Not helping,” Kimball growled.Tucker’s head was spinning, being pulled in every direction by the time Grey squealed.“Ah! Here she is!”If not for the piercing quality of her voice, he might not have turned his full, conflicting attention towards Grey.
Grey ran back to the edge of the crowd, grabbing the hand of someone trying to make their way through. Grey pulled hard, her colleague barely catching herself from falling.
One look, and the world stilled.She was older now. Her braids were gone, hair cut short and graying. She was still small, even thinner than before, with crows feet lining her eyes and a single scar trailing down her cheek. But when she looked up at Tucker, with no recognition, he wanted to cry.“Dr. Jefferson,” Tucker breathed out. “Nikki?”“Why- Yes,” Nikki said, her voice thicker and more worn than Tucker remembered and thought he’d never hear again. “I’m sorry, have we met?”“Nikki, from Pasadena, California,” Tucker rambled quickly. “You did the brain parts of the neuro implants for Project Freelancer, and you can cut Black hair, and, and- You fucked Agent Wyoming!”Nikki’s face morphed from confusion to fright . She stood speechless. “I… What?”“Agent Wyoming!” Tucker shouted. A thrill ran through him. “He gave you a gold watch!”Jefferson didn’t look away, but her hand flew to her wrist.Peaking out from the blindingly white doctor’s coat was a small golden watch, the one she had given Tucker.Even through the sea of people, of the talks of his friends he had never met alive, of his son in transit, of the planet being brought to light, Tucker gave a giant shit eating grin.
He looked right at Wash, who looked as confused as the rest of them. Tucker shoved a middle finger in his face.“I fucking told you so!”