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Apr. 11th, 2010 11:48 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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shutupwesleyTitle: Stay With Me
Fandom: Red vs Blue
Rating: PG-13
Summary: A mission in the desert brings about an unexpected surprise. [ For24hour_themes ]
It was hot. They were in a desert, dressed in heavy clothing that reminded York of a sari, the sun was beating down from overhead, they were carrying guns and ammunition disguised as camping gear and it was really fucking hot. He growled a bit as he wiped sweat off of his eyes yet again. “Remind me again why we're doing this?”
“Because it pays well and it was either this or end up babysitting Wisconsin again,” Tex said as she rolled her eyes. “Same answer as it was two hours ago, York.”
York pulled a face in her direction and was about to let out a less than nice reply when a hand on his elbow made him pause. “Let it go, Rick,” Carolina said softly. “We're all exhausted and miserable.”
He sighed and gave Carolina a wry smile. “How did someone like you end up in Freelancer?”
Carolina let out a small snort and started walking towards the front of the line they were in. “By growing up on a farm with five brothers, that's how.”
York chuckled and shook his head as he plodded along. It was only another mile and a half to their destination if the map he had was right. And then it was a relatively easy mission: get in, steal some data, prep the bad guys for the team that would arrest them later and get out. Easy as pie. The hard part was doing it all while blending in to the crowd. It would be easy enough to do with what people in this place wore. Carolina and Texas could cover their faces and York, well. He didn't exactly have the right skin tone to blend in perfectly, but he could pull off 'trader of mixed heritage' well enough. Or he would be able to, if he didn't keep complaining about how goddamn hot it was.
Once they got to the safe house that had been set up in town for them, York treated himself to a nice, cold shower. He could almost feel the grime and sweat on him from the day's travel and frankly, it was disgusting. When he realized just what he was thinking, he had to inwardly snort at himself. It looked like Maine's need for organization and cleanliness was rubbing off on him. Still, the cool spray against the back of his neck felt like heaven right then.
“York.”
However, Texas walking in on him in the shower was something that quickly made all the pleasure he'd been taking in the brief moment of peace fade quickly. “Yeah?”
Tex smirked and leaned against a wall as she looked at York, “Two things. One, you missed a spot in the middle of your back. I'll send 'Lina in to help you.” York's face was a mask of amusement at the comment combined with the leer on Tex's face. “Two, we've got twenty minutes until we move out. So hurry your ass up.”
“You sure you want to send 'Lina in here if we've only got twenty minutes before we need to leave?” he asked, unable to wipe the smile off his face. In return, Tex threw a back-washer at him.
1800 hours on the dot and they were moving in through the roof of the building. Tex and Carolina easily subdued the guards while York opened the locks he needed to and downloaded the data into the memory chip that Command had given them. “Part one down,” he murmured.
“Okay, here's how we do this,” Texas said as the three moved through the hallways. “You two, head for the brother's room. I'll take down the big guy himself as security should be light right now and I can move quickly on my own. Rendezvous on the roof at 1825. Sync?”
“Sync.”
“Sync.”
“Alright. Let's move out.”
York and Carolina moved quickly down the hallway, carefully avoiding any possible opposition and coming upon the brother's quarters within a few, tense minutes. When they were confronted with a sitting room and two closed doors, the two shared a worried glance. “Left first,” Carolina breathed into York's ear as the pair moved towards the door. It was an easy enough lock to pick and within a moment, they were inside.
The sight they were met with upon entering made both of them pause for a long moment.
“He's got a kid,” York murmured, incredulity coating his words. A glance over to Carolina and York could see the same slight bit of conflict he was feeling play out on her face.
“Take him and go.”
The pair whirled around at the voice and pointed their pistols at the man who stood in the doorway. York cursed himself mentally. They'd let their guard down for the moment and let this man sneak up on them. And it was just his luck that it was the man they were here to deal with.
The man put his hands behind his head slowly and knelt on the floor. “Please. Take my son and leave. The guards will not bother you on your way out. My brother is not right in the head. I know this. So I ask you to take him and leave. Kill me if you must. I must repent of my sins.”
York saw Carolina glance at the sleeping boy out of the corner of his eye and he swallowed hard. “Why should we take him with us?” he asked.
“Because he is an innocent.”
The comment called for another litany of mental curses and a small, frustrated sigh. Carolina placed her hand on the small of his back and traced out a small coded message with her fingertips. “Alright,” York said when she was done. “Here's how we do this. You and I go in the other room while my partner takes care of the boy. I do what I need to do with you, he doesn't see anything and we leave this place. If we run into any resistance on the way out, we leave the boy here. Deal?”
The man nodded and slowly stood. It took only a moment for York to guide him into the other room and get him kneeling on the floor in front of him. “Believe it or not, I'm not here to kill you. Just incapacitate you.”
“I do not believe you.”
“Assassination is still one thing that we don't do. We were sent here to make sure you and your brother would be ready to be arrested,” York said quietly. “Now can I lower my gun and secure you, or do I need to knock you out first?” The man simply smiled in reply and held out his hands so they could be bound.
When that was done, York moved out into the sitting room to see Carolina holding the young boy on her hip. “Come on,” he said quietly. “We need to go.”
The trip to the roof was significantly easier than the trip to the chambers, even with the added passenger. When they reached the rendezvous point, Tex glared at the two of them. “You do know the kid wouldn't get hurt if you just left him there, right?”
“Oh, that's total bullshit, Tex, and you know it,” Carolina spat out, making York look over at her in surprise. The anger that was behind he words was something out of the ordinary. She was usually the mediator when team members couldn't sort their shit out. “He would have been taken into government custody, interrogated for information and then put in the foster care system until he was legal. And then he'd likely end up on the streets. He can't be more than three right now and I've got a family with connections in both the immigration and child services portion of the government. This way we can make sure he gets a real home and protection. Let me do this.”
Tex stared at Carolina for a moment before sighing. “Sometimes I wonder how you can go from a speech like that to doing your job.”
'Lina smirked at Tex and readjusted the child on her hip. “And then you remember that I kicked your ass the first time we sparred.”
“Something like that.”
They were lucky enough to find a Jeep they could hot-wire and drive back to where they would be picked up at 0400 the following morning. Tex turned in early, stealing York's bunk room in the small building and leaving the other three with the remaining closet they called a room. A quick shove was all it took to make the two twin beds into something that resembled one big queen they could rest on.
Carolina gently put the sleeping child down on the bed and York agreed to watch over him for a few minutes while she made a call to her family. What they were doing to protect this little boy was breaking more than a few rules and, if he was honest with himself, York wasn't exactly sure why he was doing it. He knew about the system; his best friend in elementary school had been in it. But there was something else, something that made him want to make sure this little boy with the sad eyes was safe. “What is it?” he murmured quietly as his fingers trailed over the boy's cheek. “Why do I want to look after you so much?”
Arms slipped around his shoulders and he could feel Carolina's cheek pressed against the side of his head. “Maybe your paternal instincts are kicking in.”
“I don't think so, Laura.”
Carolina pressed a kiss to the top of his head. “Don't sell yourself short, Rick. If you wanted, you could be a wonderful father someday.”
York turned around and pulled Carolina down to sit in his lap. He studied her face for a moment, brushing a stray strand of hair out of her face. “Maybe,” he said quietly. Truth be told, he was avoiding thinking of what would happen when the war was over. At least for now. Which meant it was time to distract his girlfriend. “How are you doing? With both Pi and Ro?”
Her face split into a grin. “Good. Really good. It was... hectic at first. I thought I was losing my mind for a while there, but it's good. They're really two halves of each other so it's almost like just having one AI. Although, they're going to be implanting more information into their data cores, so we'll see how that goes.”
“Aren't they doing that to both you and Wash?”
“Yeah,” Carolina said as she moved to lay her head against York's chest. “I think it's because both of us seem to have clicked so well with our AIs. They're seeing if they can take it just a little farther with us.”
The familiar knot of worry made itself known in York's gut once again at those words. He knew that Freelancer was an experimental project and he knew that 'Lina knew that. But the thought of the woman in his arms being pushed even further when she had already been implanted disconcerted him.
“Be careful, alright?” he murmured into her hair.
Carolina smiled and leaned up to give him a soft kiss before moving to lay on the other side of the child. “I will be. Promise.
“And good news," she said. "My brother Andrew can pull some strings and he and his wife are going to adopt this little guy and give him a home. So he's kind of my nephew now.”
York looked down at the child and smiled softly. “They're probably going to have to give him a name. We never asked what his is.”
“I told them that I knew the perfect name,” Carolina said. Her tone of voice was peculiar and it made York look at her curiously.
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah,” she murmured. “I told them that I knew this guy they should name him after. Great guy. Brave, intelligent, handsome... and he's got a heart of gold. So they're going to name him Richard.”
York stared for a moment, completely dumbfounded. And then he leaned over and gave Carolina a kiss that took her breath away. “I love you, Laura,” he whispered against her lips. “You know that?”
“I love you too, Rick.”
A little while later, after Carolina had drifted off to sleep, York looked down at her and the newly named Richard. And his heart ached just a little to see the two of them, curled up in a bed with him. For the moment he imagined, just as he was drifting off to sleep, that they were somewhere else. Maybe on a farm somewhere, maybe in a flat in New York city. It didn't matter. For that moment, he was lying in bed with the woman of his dreams and a little boy who, if circumstances were different, could have been his son.
And for a moment, just for a moment, he felt at peace in a way he hadn't since before he enlisted. Peace and a melancholy sort of happiness that enveloped him as he drifted off.
Fandom: Red vs Blue
Rating: PG-13
Summary: A mission in the desert brings about an unexpected surprise. [ For
24hour_themes ]It was hot. They were in a desert, dressed in heavy clothing that reminded York of a sari, the sun was beating down from overhead, they were carrying guns and ammunition disguised as camping gear and it was really fucking hot. He growled a bit as he wiped sweat off of his eyes yet again. “Remind me again why we're doing this?”
“Because it pays well and it was either this or end up babysitting Wisconsin again,” Tex said as she rolled her eyes. “Same answer as it was two hours ago, York.”
York pulled a face in her direction and was about to let out a less than nice reply when a hand on his elbow made him pause. “Let it go, Rick,” Carolina said softly. “We're all exhausted and miserable.”
He sighed and gave Carolina a wry smile. “How did someone like you end up in Freelancer?”
Carolina let out a small snort and started walking towards the front of the line they were in. “By growing up on a farm with five brothers, that's how.”
York chuckled and shook his head as he plodded along. It was only another mile and a half to their destination if the map he had was right. And then it was a relatively easy mission: get in, steal some data, prep the bad guys for the team that would arrest them later and get out. Easy as pie. The hard part was doing it all while blending in to the crowd. It would be easy enough to do with what people in this place wore. Carolina and Texas could cover their faces and York, well. He didn't exactly have the right skin tone to blend in perfectly, but he could pull off 'trader of mixed heritage' well enough. Or he would be able to, if he didn't keep complaining about how goddamn hot it was.
Once they got to the safe house that had been set up in town for them, York treated himself to a nice, cold shower. He could almost feel the grime and sweat on him from the day's travel and frankly, it was disgusting. When he realized just what he was thinking, he had to inwardly snort at himself. It looked like Maine's need for organization and cleanliness was rubbing off on him. Still, the cool spray against the back of his neck felt like heaven right then.
“York.”
However, Texas walking in on him in the shower was something that quickly made all the pleasure he'd been taking in the brief moment of peace fade quickly. “Yeah?”
Tex smirked and leaned against a wall as she looked at York, “Two things. One, you missed a spot in the middle of your back. I'll send 'Lina in to help you.” York's face was a mask of amusement at the comment combined with the leer on Tex's face. “Two, we've got twenty minutes until we move out. So hurry your ass up.”
“You sure you want to send 'Lina in here if we've only got twenty minutes before we need to leave?” he asked, unable to wipe the smile off his face. In return, Tex threw a back-washer at him.
1800 hours on the dot and they were moving in through the roof of the building. Tex and Carolina easily subdued the guards while York opened the locks he needed to and downloaded the data into the memory chip that Command had given them. “Part one down,” he murmured.
“Okay, here's how we do this,” Texas said as the three moved through the hallways. “You two, head for the brother's room. I'll take down the big guy himself as security should be light right now and I can move quickly on my own. Rendezvous on the roof at 1825. Sync?”
“Sync.”
“Sync.”
“Alright. Let's move out.”
York and Carolina moved quickly down the hallway, carefully avoiding any possible opposition and coming upon the brother's quarters within a few, tense minutes. When they were confronted with a sitting room and two closed doors, the two shared a worried glance. “Left first,” Carolina breathed into York's ear as the pair moved towards the door. It was an easy enough lock to pick and within a moment, they were inside.
The sight they were met with upon entering made both of them pause for a long moment.
“He's got a kid,” York murmured, incredulity coating his words. A glance over to Carolina and York could see the same slight bit of conflict he was feeling play out on her face.
“Take him and go.”
The pair whirled around at the voice and pointed their pistols at the man who stood in the doorway. York cursed himself mentally. They'd let their guard down for the moment and let this man sneak up on them. And it was just his luck that it was the man they were here to deal with.
The man put his hands behind his head slowly and knelt on the floor. “Please. Take my son and leave. The guards will not bother you on your way out. My brother is not right in the head. I know this. So I ask you to take him and leave. Kill me if you must. I must repent of my sins.”
York saw Carolina glance at the sleeping boy out of the corner of his eye and he swallowed hard. “Why should we take him with us?” he asked.
“Because he is an innocent.”
The comment called for another litany of mental curses and a small, frustrated sigh. Carolina placed her hand on the small of his back and traced out a small coded message with her fingertips. “Alright,” York said when she was done. “Here's how we do this. You and I go in the other room while my partner takes care of the boy. I do what I need to do with you, he doesn't see anything and we leave this place. If we run into any resistance on the way out, we leave the boy here. Deal?”
The man nodded and slowly stood. It took only a moment for York to guide him into the other room and get him kneeling on the floor in front of him. “Believe it or not, I'm not here to kill you. Just incapacitate you.”
“I do not believe you.”
“Assassination is still one thing that we don't do. We were sent here to make sure you and your brother would be ready to be arrested,” York said quietly. “Now can I lower my gun and secure you, or do I need to knock you out first?” The man simply smiled in reply and held out his hands so they could be bound.
When that was done, York moved out into the sitting room to see Carolina holding the young boy on her hip. “Come on,” he said quietly. “We need to go.”
The trip to the roof was significantly easier than the trip to the chambers, even with the added passenger. When they reached the rendezvous point, Tex glared at the two of them. “You do know the kid wouldn't get hurt if you just left him there, right?”
“Oh, that's total bullshit, Tex, and you know it,” Carolina spat out, making York look over at her in surprise. The anger that was behind he words was something out of the ordinary. She was usually the mediator when team members couldn't sort their shit out. “He would have been taken into government custody, interrogated for information and then put in the foster care system until he was legal. And then he'd likely end up on the streets. He can't be more than three right now and I've got a family with connections in both the immigration and child services portion of the government. This way we can make sure he gets a real home and protection. Let me do this.”
Tex stared at Carolina for a moment before sighing. “Sometimes I wonder how you can go from a speech like that to doing your job.”
'Lina smirked at Tex and readjusted the child on her hip. “And then you remember that I kicked your ass the first time we sparred.”
“Something like that.”
They were lucky enough to find a Jeep they could hot-wire and drive back to where they would be picked up at 0400 the following morning. Tex turned in early, stealing York's bunk room in the small building and leaving the other three with the remaining closet they called a room. A quick shove was all it took to make the two twin beds into something that resembled one big queen they could rest on.
Carolina gently put the sleeping child down on the bed and York agreed to watch over him for a few minutes while she made a call to her family. What they were doing to protect this little boy was breaking more than a few rules and, if he was honest with himself, York wasn't exactly sure why he was doing it. He knew about the system; his best friend in elementary school had been in it. But there was something else, something that made him want to make sure this little boy with the sad eyes was safe. “What is it?” he murmured quietly as his fingers trailed over the boy's cheek. “Why do I want to look after you so much?”
Arms slipped around his shoulders and he could feel Carolina's cheek pressed against the side of his head. “Maybe your paternal instincts are kicking in.”
“I don't think so, Laura.”
Carolina pressed a kiss to the top of his head. “Don't sell yourself short, Rick. If you wanted, you could be a wonderful father someday.”
York turned around and pulled Carolina down to sit in his lap. He studied her face for a moment, brushing a stray strand of hair out of her face. “Maybe,” he said quietly. Truth be told, he was avoiding thinking of what would happen when the war was over. At least for now. Which meant it was time to distract his girlfriend. “How are you doing? With both Pi and Ro?”
Her face split into a grin. “Good. Really good. It was... hectic at first. I thought I was losing my mind for a while there, but it's good. They're really two halves of each other so it's almost like just having one AI. Although, they're going to be implanting more information into their data cores, so we'll see how that goes.”
“Aren't they doing that to both you and Wash?”
“Yeah,” Carolina said as she moved to lay her head against York's chest. “I think it's because both of us seem to have clicked so well with our AIs. They're seeing if they can take it just a little farther with us.”
The familiar knot of worry made itself known in York's gut once again at those words. He knew that Freelancer was an experimental project and he knew that 'Lina knew that. But the thought of the woman in his arms being pushed even further when she had already been implanted disconcerted him.
“Be careful, alright?” he murmured into her hair.
Carolina smiled and leaned up to give him a soft kiss before moving to lay on the other side of the child. “I will be. Promise.
“And good news," she said. "My brother Andrew can pull some strings and he and his wife are going to adopt this little guy and give him a home. So he's kind of my nephew now.”
York looked down at the child and smiled softly. “They're probably going to have to give him a name. We never asked what his is.”
“I told them that I knew the perfect name,” Carolina said. Her tone of voice was peculiar and it made York look at her curiously.
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah,” she murmured. “I told them that I knew this guy they should name him after. Great guy. Brave, intelligent, handsome... and he's got a heart of gold. So they're going to name him Richard.”
York stared for a moment, completely dumbfounded. And then he leaned over and gave Carolina a kiss that took her breath away. “I love you, Laura,” he whispered against her lips. “You know that?”
“I love you too, Rick.”
A little while later, after Carolina had drifted off to sleep, York looked down at her and the newly named Richard. And his heart ached just a little to see the two of them, curled up in a bed with him. For the moment he imagined, just as he was drifting off to sleep, that they were somewhere else. Maybe on a farm somewhere, maybe in a flat in New York city. It didn't matter. For that moment, he was lying in bed with the woman of his dreams and a little boy who, if circumstances were different, could have been his son.
And for a moment, just for a moment, he felt at peace in a way he hadn't since before he enlisted. Peace and a melancholy sort of happiness that enveloped him as he drifted off.
