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Apr. 11th, 2010 11:52 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
strawberryknees posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
shutupwesleyTitle: I Hope Your Heart Runs Empty
Fandom: Red vs Blue
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Wash and Maine talk about their families and come to a mutual understanding of each other. [ For24hour_themes ]
Washington watched Maine from the door to the roof. The other man hadn't noticed him yet and he hoped to keep it that way for a few minutes. They were the only two left in the residence block for the next two days while the others were away on training missions. Maine had been unusually quiet since even before the others left and now that they had a quiet moment, Wash figured it was as good a time as any to confront him.
The only problem with that is it took him a while to find Maine. It shouldn't have been that hard-- the residence block was incredibly small and outside of that, the public places in command didn't number that many. And yet it wasn't until Wash was walking back from the mess that he noticed Maine on the roof, staring off into the distance, his head occasionally turning in the direction of the 1400 training runs.
With a nearly silent sigh, Wash left his place on the doorjamb and walked to sit next to Maine. It was a few moments after that when he spoke. “You okay?”
Maine glanced over him, expression clearly bemused. “Did you just ask me what I think you asked me?”
The comment pulled an exasperated roll of the eyes from the other man. “I'm not a heartless bastard, Maine,” he said. When Maine just gave him a look, Wash shoved him with his shoulder. “I'm not!”
“'Course you're not,” Maine said with a laugh. “And I'm fine. Just missing home a bit.”
“Mm.”
They lapsed into silence and stared out over the complex. It was a warm evening and there was a slight breeze that would come through and ruffle their hair every so often. After a few minutes, though, Maine drew Washington's attention away from the scenery. “Here,” he said, holding out a picture, “That's my baby sister, Paige.”
Wash stared at the picture with a small smile. Paige and Maine stood there, her arms around his neck as he gave her a piggy-back ride. It was easy to catch the familial resemblance in the two. They had the same color hair (though hers had obviously been dyed at one point if the darkening in color towards the ends of her hair was any indication) and the same bright eyes.
“She's the only family I've got. Our parents were both dead by the time I was twenty, she was sixteen. I got custody of her and we lived in this tiny apartment. I dropped out of college and was working two jobs to try to make ends meet. It was tough, but we made it work and she never held it against me that most of the time I would come home and just collapse until I had to go to work again,” Maine said quietly. “Just before she turned eighteen she got accepted to DePaul University on this massive scholarship. And she told me she wanted me to do something with my life. I ended up joining the military and a year later, here I am.”
There was another pause and Washington looked over at Maine. He was staring at the picture in Wash's hands with a soft, wistful expression. “We don't get to talk that often so I wonder how she's doing. I wonder if she safe, if she's hanging out with the right kinds of people... you know. Typical big brother stuff.” Maine looked up then, giving Wash a wary look. “Or... do you not know? D'you have siblings?”
“No,” Wash said and handed the picture back. “Well. Not anymore,” he amended.
“Sorry.”
“It's fine,” he said with a small shrug, looking back out over the complex. “I had two siblings. An older brother, Jackson, and an older sister, Mary.”
Maine chuckled a little. “You didn't strike me as the baby of the family type.”
Wash's face broke out in a wry little smile. “I wasn't. Not really. Mary was a little over a year older than me and for the first few years of our life she was in and out of the hospital. So she really ended up being the baby of the family, even though I was younger than her.”
He paused and looked out over the horizon again. “Jackson joined the military first. He was older than us by a few years and wanted to go be a big damn hero. Mary and I made a promise that once we were done with school we were going to follow him. And we did. Even though Jackson had been stupid enough to get himself killed a few months before he enlisted. After that, I didn't want Mary to join up. I didn't want to see her get hurt or worse but she wouldn't have any of it.”
Silence then reigned yet again. Wash was lost in his memories, remembering Mary's smiling face, her passion for life and her spitfire nature. He was so lost in thought, he almost didn't notice Maine's hand grabbing his. “She was KIA, wasn't she?” Maine asked softly.
“Yeah...” Wash dropped his head down to look at his lap. “Yeah, she was. I got the notice just before I caught the shuttle to come here.” He reached up with his free hand and took off the extra set of dog-tags he kept around his neck.
“So when Illinois asked if you'd had a rough week...?”
“Yeah,” Wash murmured, running his thumb over the raised letters. “Yeah, that's what I was talking about.”
Maine's hand left Wash's and then next thing Wash knew, he was being enveloped in a big bear hug. “I'm sorry, man. I'm so sorry.”
It took him a minute, but eventually Wash's arms came up to return the hug and grip that back of Maine's shirt. He wasn't a touchy feely by nature, but the embrace made him realize just how much he hadn't dealt with Mary's death. He hadn't allowed himself time to grieve. And while he didn't start weeping or anything of the sort, he did rest his head against Maine's shoulder and let the other man just hold him for a while. It wasn't awkward (this was Maine he was talking about. Maine hugged everyone. All the time.) just unexpected and very, very needed.
After that day, the two were closer than they ever could have imagined their partnership getting. Carolina called it something along the lines of a 'bromance,' whatever that was. All Washington knew was that Maine knew him better than anyone else in the Project and he could trust him. They were partners. And more than that, they were friends.
Which made it even harder when, years later, he realized who exactly the Meta was and what he had to do to bring him down.
Fandom: Red vs Blue
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Wash and Maine talk about their families and come to a mutual understanding of each other. [ For
24hour_themes ]Washington watched Maine from the door to the roof. The other man hadn't noticed him yet and he hoped to keep it that way for a few minutes. They were the only two left in the residence block for the next two days while the others were away on training missions. Maine had been unusually quiet since even before the others left and now that they had a quiet moment, Wash figured it was as good a time as any to confront him.
The only problem with that is it took him a while to find Maine. It shouldn't have been that hard-- the residence block was incredibly small and outside of that, the public places in command didn't number that many. And yet it wasn't until Wash was walking back from the mess that he noticed Maine on the roof, staring off into the distance, his head occasionally turning in the direction of the 1400 training runs.
With a nearly silent sigh, Wash left his place on the doorjamb and walked to sit next to Maine. It was a few moments after that when he spoke. “You okay?”
Maine glanced over him, expression clearly bemused. “Did you just ask me what I think you asked me?”
The comment pulled an exasperated roll of the eyes from the other man. “I'm not a heartless bastard, Maine,” he said. When Maine just gave him a look, Wash shoved him with his shoulder. “I'm not!”
“'Course you're not,” Maine said with a laugh. “And I'm fine. Just missing home a bit.”
“Mm.”
They lapsed into silence and stared out over the complex. It was a warm evening and there was a slight breeze that would come through and ruffle their hair every so often. After a few minutes, though, Maine drew Washington's attention away from the scenery. “Here,” he said, holding out a picture, “That's my baby sister, Paige.”
Wash stared at the picture with a small smile. Paige and Maine stood there, her arms around his neck as he gave her a piggy-back ride. It was easy to catch the familial resemblance in the two. They had the same color hair (though hers had obviously been dyed at one point if the darkening in color towards the ends of her hair was any indication) and the same bright eyes.
“She's the only family I've got. Our parents were both dead by the time I was twenty, she was sixteen. I got custody of her and we lived in this tiny apartment. I dropped out of college and was working two jobs to try to make ends meet. It was tough, but we made it work and she never held it against me that most of the time I would come home and just collapse until I had to go to work again,” Maine said quietly. “Just before she turned eighteen she got accepted to DePaul University on this massive scholarship. And she told me she wanted me to do something with my life. I ended up joining the military and a year later, here I am.”
There was another pause and Washington looked over at Maine. He was staring at the picture in Wash's hands with a soft, wistful expression. “We don't get to talk that often so I wonder how she's doing. I wonder if she safe, if she's hanging out with the right kinds of people... you know. Typical big brother stuff.” Maine looked up then, giving Wash a wary look. “Or... do you not know? D'you have siblings?”
“No,” Wash said and handed the picture back. “Well. Not anymore,” he amended.
“Sorry.”
“It's fine,” he said with a small shrug, looking back out over the complex. “I had two siblings. An older brother, Jackson, and an older sister, Mary.”
Maine chuckled a little. “You didn't strike me as the baby of the family type.”
Wash's face broke out in a wry little smile. “I wasn't. Not really. Mary was a little over a year older than me and for the first few years of our life she was in and out of the hospital. So she really ended up being the baby of the family, even though I was younger than her.”
He paused and looked out over the horizon again. “Jackson joined the military first. He was older than us by a few years and wanted to go be a big damn hero. Mary and I made a promise that once we were done with school we were going to follow him. And we did. Even though Jackson had been stupid enough to get himself killed a few months before he enlisted. After that, I didn't want Mary to join up. I didn't want to see her get hurt or worse but she wouldn't have any of it.”
Silence then reigned yet again. Wash was lost in his memories, remembering Mary's smiling face, her passion for life and her spitfire nature. He was so lost in thought, he almost didn't notice Maine's hand grabbing his. “She was KIA, wasn't she?” Maine asked softly.
“Yeah...” Wash dropped his head down to look at his lap. “Yeah, she was. I got the notice just before I caught the shuttle to come here.” He reached up with his free hand and took off the extra set of dog-tags he kept around his neck.
“So when Illinois asked if you'd had a rough week...?”
“Yeah,” Wash murmured, running his thumb over the raised letters. “Yeah, that's what I was talking about.”
Maine's hand left Wash's and then next thing Wash knew, he was being enveloped in a big bear hug. “I'm sorry, man. I'm so sorry.”
It took him a minute, but eventually Wash's arms came up to return the hug and grip that back of Maine's shirt. He wasn't a touchy feely by nature, but the embrace made him realize just how much he hadn't dealt with Mary's death. He hadn't allowed himself time to grieve. And while he didn't start weeping or anything of the sort, he did rest his head against Maine's shoulder and let the other man just hold him for a while. It wasn't awkward (this was Maine he was talking about. Maine hugged everyone. All the time.) just unexpected and very, very needed.
After that day, the two were closer than they ever could have imagined their partnership getting. Carolina called it something along the lines of a 'bromance,' whatever that was. All Washington knew was that Maine knew him better than anyone else in the Project and he could trust him. They were partners. And more than that, they were friends.
Which made it even harder when, years later, he realized who exactly the Meta was and what he had to do to bring him down.
