Chapter Text
She would like to say that after she fixed the teleportation cubes, it was smooth sailing from there.
Donut smiled as he made his way over to Kaikaina. She looked up at him from her spot on the ground.
“Hey Donut.”
Donut smiled back, remembering his strict instructions from Sarge. Sarge was a little disappointed that Grif and Simmons didn’t show, but decided Donut would do just nicely. However for Sarge’s plan to work, they still needed help.
Which was where the Blue team came in.
Sarge had told Donut it would be easy to ask help from Kai because she was friends with Donut. So Sarge instructed Donut to get Kai in on the plan while he handled Tucker, Doc, and Caboose.
“Hiya Kai.” Donut sat down on the ground next to her. “Can I ask you for a favor?”
“My brother told me not to accept favors from men.” She pouted. “But I’m sure it’ll be ok.”
Donut nodded. “Thanks!”
Kai smiled. “What do you need help with?”
“Why should we help you?”
“Because if you don’t, I’ll blungeon you to death.”
“That’s not a negotiation.”
Sarge huffed. “Yea, well my negotiator didn’t show.” Sarge paused. “So I’ll have to resort to violence!” He barked.
“That’s not very nice.” Doc pointed out.
“Nice Shmice! There is no nice in war, son!”
Caboose nodded with a smile. “There is, when you have a best friend.”
Sarge growled. “Will you help or not?”
Tucker rolled his eyes. “We’ll do it, but we want something from you.”
“What is it?”
Tucker smirked. “You have to admit that Blue team is awesome and Red team sucks .”
Sarge gasped. “How dare you! You good for nothing blue! I would never disgrace my team like that! You should be ashamed of your dirty Blue self!”
Tucker nodded. “Alright then. Guess we won’t be helping.” Tucker grabbed Caboose’s hand and turned to walk away.
“Wait!”
Tucker turned back around, dropping his teammate's hand. “Yes?”
Sarge sighed. “...Blue team is awesome.” He muttered.
Tucker smiled smugly. “I’m sorry what? I couldn’t hear you.”
“I said. Blue team is awesome.”
“Aaaand?”
“Red team sucks.” Sarge said irritably.
Tucker nodded in approval. “Good enough. What do you need us to do?”
“Wash!” Donut cried running up to the adult. “Help!”
Washington looked down at the small child. “Donut, what’s wrong?”
“I think Kai’s choking!” He cried.
Washington looked up at the grass towards Kaikaina. She had her hands on her throat and looked panicked. Washington quickly got up. “What’s she choking on?” He asked.
“Hurry Wash!” Donut grabbed his hand and pulled Wash over to where Kaikaina was.
Washington crouched down next to Kai. She was coughing constantly. She wasn’t turning blue, but her panic seemed severe. He didn’t believe she was choking or had no air. If she was rhen she wouldn’t be able to cough.
A leaf or a piece of grass probably got caught in her throat, and she must have panicked trying to get it out, ironically preventing it from coming out. Washington moved behind her and took his fist, placing the side of his thumb against her abdomen. He grasped his fist with his other hand and pressed into her stomach. He tried to be gentle, considering her age but he needed to make sure to add pressure if something was caught in her windpipe.
She let out a few breathy coughs before breathing out. “I think you got it.” She stressed.
Donut looked behind him and then quickly glanced back to Kai. Washington probably would have noticed the suspicious behavior if he wasn’t busy making sure Sister wasn’t dying.
Washington quickly let go. “Are you ok?” He asked worriedly.
Even if it was probably nothing, Kai scared the ever-living shit out of him. He suddenly understood parents a little better. He’s never been more terrified in his life than when Donut said Kai was choking and he looked over at her and it looked like he was right. He never thought the Reds and Blues would be the ones to make him understand a parents situation.
But, to be fair. They acted like children now, and when they were “adults”
“Yup. That was scary.” Kai said with a smile.
Washington nodded, letting out a sigh of relief. “Ok, well then if your alright-” Washington began to get up and Donut quickly stopped him.
“Wait!”
Washington eyed him. “Yea?”
“...What if it’s still stuck in there and she chokes while you’re gone?” Donut quickly asked.
Kai shot Donut a frightened look. She agreed to help Donut and be a distraction but, Washington was really strong and it hurt her tummy when he gave her the Heimlich.
Washington looked back to Kai and she quickly changed her expression. “Please don’t let me die.” She begged in the saddest voice she could muster.
Washington nodded. “OK, um. Here.” He kneeled in front of her. “Open your mouth.”
Kai glanced behind Washington to Donut who was looking behind him. Donut glanced back and made a low dial motion with his hand. Kai took it as the hint for her to slow things down and keep stalling.
Sister opened her mouth slightly.
“Open wide.”
Kaikaina responded by opening her mouth more by the slightest bit.
“Wider.”
Kai opened her mouth wide as Washington inspected her mouth and down her throat.
He was relieved there was nothing caught in her windpipe and that she wasn’t going to die. But, even if there was nothing wrong he didn’t want her to be afraid that something could happen. So he might as well give her a quick check-up to ease her mind.
Upon further inspection, everything seemed ok.
As predicted.
She didn’t seem to have anything lodged in her throat. There was slight swelling on her nasopharynx, but that was probably from all her coughing. He put his two pointer fingers on the spot under her ear on each side of her face. There was no heating or swelling. Washington outstretched his hand and cupped the side of her throat gently. Again there was no swelling.
All in all, she seemed to be ok.
“You’ll be fine.” He told her. “As far as I can see, there’s nothing caught in your throat.” Washington turned to get up and out of nowhere Donut quickly moved in front of his vision and grabbed his face, turning him back to look at Kai.
“Are you sure? What if you leave and you’re responsible for her death?” Donut blurted out.
Washington shook Donut off of him. “Yes, I’m sure. What is up with you? It’s like-” Washington paused and looked past Donut.
Holy shit.
Tucker, Sarge, and Caboose were gone. Washington froze.
Oh shit.
Oh SHIT.
OH SHIT.
Washington turned back to Donut in shock. “Where is everyone?!” He asked worriedly. Suddenly everything came together. Kai wasn’t choking, she was stalling. They were distracting him. How did he let a bunch of 5-year-olds trick him?
Donut chuckled nervously. “What do you mean?”
Washington stood up. His worry was quickly replaced with anger.
Why would they do that?
They have no idea what Sarge was capable of. He was a wild card, his plans were unpredictable and irrational. And most of the time, they were also dangerous. Now he’s dragged 4 kids into it and two of them are missing.
Washington looked down at Donut. “Donut, I need you to tell me where they went. This is serious, they could be hurt.”
“I don’t know where they went.”
“Donut please! This is serious.”
Donut looked down. “I’m not lying.” And he wasn’t. Washington looked at Donut and believed him. His anger washed away and he sighed. Now what?
“Ok, Donut and Kai follow me.” His best course of action was to gather the remaining children, see if they saw anything, and keep them all together. Kai and Donut followed as Washington began walking over to Grif and Simmons. If anyone knew about Sarge’s crazy plans, it would be them. After all; they’re on Red team.
Washington walked up to Grif and Simmons. “Grif, Simmons?”
Grif sat up from where he was laying on the ground. “What?”
“Do you have any idea where Sarge, Tucker, and Caboose went?”
Simmons looked down at the grass and began pulling on it nervously, remembering that Sarge had a plan.
Grif shrugged. “Don’t know, don’t care.”
Washington eyed Simmons. If there was anything he learned by being with the Reds, it was that Simmons got nervous when he was guilty. (He got nervous for practically anything) And when he was guilty, he let Grif do the talking for him.
“Simmons? Do you know anything about what Sarge was planning?”
Simmons looked away from the adult. “No.”
“Simmons?” Washington said in his warning voice.
“I don’t know. He just told me to gather supplies and meet him back here in twenty minutes. But, when I got back, he was already gone.”
“When you got back from where?”
“Uh I- I mean. Did I say got back? I meant um-” Simmons stuttered.
God Dammit. He should have leashed the kids and then duck taped them to the couch. What the hell was he thinking when he told Carolina he would be able to watch them? They were the Reds and fucking Blues. He should have known this was a bad idea from the start.
So not only was he getting played by Donut and Kai. But he was also being played by Simmons and every other child that lied to him about where they were going. He honestly had no idea why he expected something different.
“Why does no one listen to me?” Wash stressed.
“Because you’re a doormat.”
Washington glared at Grif.
“Too soon.” Simmons whispered to Grif.
Washington sighed. “Alright, both of you get up and follow me.” Washington turned as the children reluctantly followed. “Maybe Doc saw something.” He said hopefully.
Washington walked up to Doc. The child was playing with the grass. Tugging at it and proceeding to drop it back down onto the dirt.
“Doc.”
“Yes?” Doc asked quietly sounding more like ‘O’Malley. Doc cleared his throat before speaking again. This time sounding more like himself. Doc looked up at Washington “Yes?”
Washington raised a brow. “Doc?”
Doc nodded with a smile. “Yea?”
Washington examined Doc more carefully. If it was ‘O’Malley he would have made himself known, just for the spite of it. Doc’s body language and voice was enough to convince Washington it was him. The child did tell him he was trying to keep his other persona out.
But he was still going to keep a close eye on the child, just in case.
“Do you have any idea where Sarge, Tucker, and Caboose went?”
Doc looked around until he stopped in the direction of where they came. “They went that way.” He said pointing in the direction of the Blue base.
Washington nodded. “Ok, that’s good. That means they didn’t go far.” Washington leaned down to pick Doc up and began leading the kids back to the base.
“You guys are gonna be the death of me.” He mumbled.
With a few more tweaks to the wires, she would be done. Hopefully, this would work. It was honestly the only chance they had. She had tried to adjust the wires to prevent as much collateral damage as possible. It wasn’t easy. The Teleportation grenade was severely broken. So fixing it served to be both dangerous and tedious. But at least now you could use it without electrocuting yourself.
Carolina sighed, closing the cube back up. All she needed now was all the kids in one place. That and a lot of hope that it doesn’t kill them all or get them lost somewhere in the multiverse abyss.
Carolina sat up, stretching for a minute before grabbing the cube. She held it carefully and made her way to the door. Simmons had said the kids and Wash were outside so she would check there first.
She walked out of the room and down the hall and practically collided into Wash.
“Shit sorry, didn’t know you guys came back in.” She said taking a look at Wash and the kids behind him. She backed up a bit and felt something was missing.
She took another look and counted the kids. Doc was in Wash’s arms, and then there were Kai, Donut, Grif, and Simmons. They were missing a few.
“Where’s the rest of them?”
Washington looked up at her. “They wandered off, Doc said they came back here.” He admitted nervously.
Carolina nodded. She wasn’t that mad that Washington lost three kids. To be honest, the only reason she tasked Wash with the job of watching them was because she would not be very good at babysitting and she was sure they would be able to find them.
Although If it was up to her she’d put leashes on them and duck tape them to the couch.
“Ok, then you watch them, I’ll go track down the others.”
Washington nodded and began seating the kids down. Carolina left the room and began searching around the base.
They weren’t in the bathroom, kitchen, or bedrooms. She searched the base up and down. Taking it as far to go up on the roof. But the kids were not in sight. They couldn’t be hiding. She searched the place pretty well and these were the Reds and Blues. They were terrible hiders. They were also loud as fuck. If they were in the base, she would have found them already.
Which meant they weren’t in the base.
Carolina swallowed her worry and headed back into the room Wash was in. “So no need to freak out, but they’re not in the base.”
“What do you mean they’re not in the base?” Washington asked his eyes widening.
She rolled her eyes. “I mean they’re not in the base. Doc must have been wrong about the direction they went.”
You know, she must be getting rusty from her Freelancer days because she almost didn’t catch Doc smiling out of the corner of her eye. It wasn’t just any happy kid smile either, it was a sly smile.
Carolina looked away from Doc and brought her focus back on Wash. “Can I talk to you for a minute?” She asked.
Washington nodded. “Sure.”
“Alone.”
Washington raised a brow but stood up and they made their way to the corner of the room, carefully keeping an eye on the kids as they did.
“What did you want to say that you couldn’t say in front of a bunch of toddlers?”
Carolina ignored his remark. “Has Doc been ‘O’Malley recently?” She asked in a hushed voice.
Washington shook his head. “No, why?”
“I think he’s lying to us.”
“Who? Doc? He wouldn’t lie to us.”
Carolina shook her head. “Not Doc, ‘O’Malley.”
“Doc said he had been working on pushing him away.”
“He was smiling Wash, like how ‘O’Malley does.”
Washinton frowned. “You think ‘O’Malley is posing as Doc?”
“It’s possible.” Carolina turned away from Washington and made her way back to the kids. She kneeled in front of Doc as Washington followed, standing behind her. “Hey, Doc?”
“Yea?” Doc asked, nervous from the new attention.
“Are you sure the kids went this way?” She asked.
Doc nodded. “I’m sure.”
Carolina looked Doc in the eye. “Has ‘O’Malley been in control recently?”
Doc shook his head. “No.” He said quietly.
“Sure about that?” She asked. “Because if he has then we need to know.”
Doc whimpered. “I, I-” Carolina was sure he was about to spill. She had interrogated professionals before and they always had certain reactions right before they cracked. Also ‘O’Malley loved to make himself known. “I don’t know you fool!” ‘O’Malley barked. “Muhahahaha, you thought you saw the last of me!” ‘O'Malley grinned.
Doc was pushed to the back of his brain. Only this time, it was willingly.
Washington looked like this was the first time he had heard ‘O’Malley’s voice and Donut scooted away from the scary child.
Carolina frowned. “Where did they go, ‘O’Malley?”
“Where did who go?”
“You know who! Sarge, Tucker, and Caboose.” She said, her patience running thin.
‘O’Malley shrugged with a smug grin. “I don’t know.”
“Tell. Me. Now.” She said raising into her interrogator voice.
Washington put his hand on her shoulder. “He’s just a kid.” He reminded her.
Carolina sighed. “If you know where they are, ‘O’Malley you need to tell us. It’s dangerous for them.”
‘O’Malley smiled. “I would love to watch those fools get themselves into danger.”
“‘O’Malley.” Carolina warned. “Where are they?”
“You fool! I don’t know where they went.” ‘O’Malley lowered his voice. “But Doc does.” He said, a smile playing on his lips.
“Then put Doc back in control.”
“I refuse. Muahahaha.”
Carolina frowned, she was about to lose it when Washington spoke. “Leave it.” He told her. “They’re not here which means they’re still outside. Let’s start there.”
Carolina nodded. “OK. Everyone follow me then.” She said getting up from her spot. The kids complied and ‘O’Malley followed closely as she made her way out the back entrance of the base.
They made it outside and Carolina turned to look at Washington. “Where were you guys playing? We can decide where to go from there.”
“They weren’t there last time I checked but…” Washington trailed off.
“But what?”
“There is a place that they could have gone.” He admitted.
“Where’s that?”
“Red base.” He said with a sigh.
Carolina looked around the grassy area before returning to look back at the children. “Ok.” She thought for a moment. She didn’t want to take all the kids the whole way over to Red base. “You stay here and watch the children while I go over to Red base, then we’ll take them out to the field so we can-”
“Wait.” Washington interrupted urgently.
“What?”
“Do you hear that?” He asked.
Carolina paused for a minute. “Hear what? I don’t he-”
“YEE-HAW!” Sarge roared as the warthog drove off the hill by the base and flew off the ground.
Polka music.
Simmons looked up at the vehicle that was about to crash onto him. He froze and started screaming. Carolina looked over to the kid and quickly lunged to scoop him up and move him. She pulled him out of the warthog’s way and tumbled off to the side.
“Simmons!” Grif screeched as the warthog collapsed to the ground.
Carolina let Simmons go as the dust from the landed warthog faded away.
Upon being ok, Simmons was immediately approached by Grif who pulled the child against him in a hug. “Holy crap! Are you ok?”
Simmons nodded. “I think so?”
Carolina glanced back towards the warthog that was now doing involuntaril donuts in front of them.
“Tucker! Turn right!” Sarge ordered from his spot on the warthog.
It was truly a sight to see. Tucker was seated at the front seat and Sarge was planted in the passenger seat, clutching on the seat with one hand and his flower crown with the other. The only kid not accounted for was Caboose, who she didn’t see on the warthog.
“Why are there 6 pedals if there are only four directions?!” She heard Caboose yell.
So he was probably working the pedals than.
Washington looked just as shocked as she did. “Stop the car!” He kept yelling at them.
The rest of the kids had scattered behind them in fear and backed away from the unstable vehicle. Washington was way too busy yelling at the kids in the vehicle too worry about the ones not in it.
“Church!” Caboose yelled as the helmet flew out of the vehicle.
How the fuck did this even happen?
How did they even access the Warthog?
Who gave them access to the Warthog?
She would need to have a talk with Lopez about not letting a bunch of toddlers drive a military class death machine.
Carolina quickly pulled out her gun and aimed for the Warthog’s tires. She fired a few times before the car slowed down and came to a complete stop.
Her and Washington instantly ran over to the car and got the kids out. Carolina stood them in front of the Warthog as Wash gave them hell.
“What the hell were you thinking?!” Wash yelled. “You guys are insane! You could have gotten hurt.”
“But we didn’t.” Tucker pointed out.
Carolina glared at him.
“It doesn’t matter. Let’s get them to an empty space and fix this mess.”
Washington nodded. “Come on guys!” He called to the other kids.
“Wait!” Caboose cried. “We can’t go anywhere without Church!”
“Where is he?”
Caboose held back tears. “I- I do not know. He fell out of the Warthog.”
Carolina raised a brow. “Church?”
“Caboose found Church’s helmet.” Washington informed her. “Caboose made friends with it.”
Carolina nodded. “Then let’s leave the helmet and get this done.”
Caboose smiled and ran over to the side of the Warthog. “Church!” He cried picking up the helmet. His smile quickly faded as he realized the visor on the helmet was shattered. “Church?” The child sniffled.
Washington saw the broken glass and took the helmet from Caboose and placed it into the Warthog. Caboose sobbed, tears flowing down his cheeks. “Church no. Give him back!”
“Caboose listen, Church is broken. I will fix him and give him back later.”
Caboose shook his head and sat on the ground in protest. “No! You can not tak
e him from me. He is my best friend and best friends stick together.”
Carolina began gathering the rest of the children as Wash talked to Caboose.
“I know you guys are best friends, but right now Church needs to be healed. When he is done healing I’ll give him back. Ok?”
Caboose frowned “Ok.” He whimpered quietly.
Wash nodded. “Thank you.” He kneeled down in front of Caboose and picked him up as Caboose sniffled into his shoulder. Washington turned to see that Carolina had all the kids in a line.
“Ready to fix this mess?” She asked him. Washington nodded. He was ready the moment he was put in charge of watching the 8 crazy children.
“Ok let's walk them out to the field a bit.” Carolinas said as she began leading the children away from the base.
The children stood in a group out in the field. Washington backed up behind Carolina. “Are you sure about this?” He asked her.
Carolina shook her head. “Nope. But, it’s our only plan.”
Washington nodded as Carolina pulled out the teleportation grenade. It seemed more stable than when he saw it last.
Carolina backed up and tossed the cube. It absorbed the children and the cube laid motionless in the grass. Carolina sighed and picked the cube back up, she turned back to look at Washington who nodded at her. Carolina backed up once again and activated the cube. It zapped orange and spat out the items stored.
“Ugh, what the fuck happened?” Grif groaned. He was seated on the ground with Simmons standing next to him.
“What in the hell!?” Sarge growled looking down at his hands and then at the group of people around them.
Carolina almost laughed. Holy shit it actually worked.
There standing and sitting before them was 8 adult Reds and Blues. They looked about the same as when they were children, but older. Sarge still wore his flower crown, Kai wore a tee and sweatshorts, and Tucker was wearing nothing but Washington’s sweatshirt and a pair of boxers.
Washington would have commented on it but he knew Tucker was shameless. He let his vision linger on Tucker for a minute longer before turning to look at Grif. “You don’t remember?” He asked.
Tucker frowned, rubbing his head and sitting criss-cross on the grass. “We used the future cube and then Wash brought us back and-” Tucker frowned. “Then we were…”
“Children.” Simmons finished, with a shocked expression.
“How long were we in that state?” Doc asked.
“Oh, about a few days.” Caboose suggested.
Washington shook his head. “It might have felt that way because you were kids. But, it was only three hours.”
Donut gasped. “I can’t believe I spent 3 hours in a child.”
“Don’t say it like that.” Simmons groaned. “You spent 3 hours as a child.”
Carolina rolled her eyes. “Alright, shut up! We should get you guys checked out before we send you bac-”
“Lopez!” Sarge yelled.
Carolina paused. “-uh, what?”
“He has no idea what happened to us! I bet he’s worried sick.”
Carolina nodded. “Right. I’m sure he is, but first we ne-”
“Simmons, Doc, and Donut follow me, we’re heading back to Red base.”
“What about Grif?” Donut asked cheerfully taking Doc’s hand, as they got ready to head back to their base.
Sarge sighed. “I guess he can come with.” He muttered, glaring at Grif.
Grif rolled his eyes and stood up from his spot on the ground. He followed the rest of the Reds and gave Kai a pat on her back as he walked by her.
Carolina sighed. “Alright well, then we still need to check you guys up. We have no idea what cou-”
“Nah, you have fun with that.” Tucker said with a smile as he sat up. “I fucking reek. I smell like dirt and sweat.” He exaggerated walking past Carolina. “I’m taking a shower.” He mumbled.
Washington watched Tucker walk towards the base and nodded towards Carolina before following him.
Carolina dropped her hands to her side in exasperation. “Alright then, Caboose and Kai come inside with me. We’ll work out side effects.”
“You really should let Carolina check you out.” Washington commented as Tucker collapsed on his bed.
Tucker sat up and leaned against the bed frame. “I feel fine, stop worrying.”
“Tucker. You go zapped up into a teleportation grenade and spent a few hours as a toddler. I wanna know if there were any side-effects that I should know about.”
Tucker could have died with their little stunt. And then after that on several occasions, such as the warthog incident. He was entitled to some worry.
“Besides the killer headache, I’m fine.”
“Are you sure?”
Tucker sighed. “Yes, Wash. I’m sure.”
“Ok.” Washington raised a brow at him. “Get out of my bed.” He said a few seconds later.
“What? Why?” Tucker complained. “I’m in your bed more than mine.” He reasoned.
“Because your dirty and half naked.”
Tucker smiled. “How is that different from every other time I’m in your bed?” He asked slyly.
“Bow-Chicka-Bow-Wow.”
Washington rolled his eyes. “At least put on pants.”
“How about you get in bed and I’ll take my boxers off.” Tucker said, winking at him.
Washington smiled at him, half-amused. “Glad to know your ok.” He said before heading towards the exit of the room.
Tucker sat up and called after him. “Hey, you can’t walk away from me half naked in your bed!”
Washington smiled as he grabbed the doorknob. “Take your shower!” He called back, shutting the door on his way out.
“Donut and Doc bring me Lopez!” Donut nodded vigorously and him and Doc started walking down the hall. “Simmons and Grif you go search the base. Who knows what those notorious blue bastards did while they had us in captivity!” Sarge barked.
“That’s fine, I’ll go alone.” Simmons said quickly running off before anyone could respond.
“How dare he leave me alone with Grif.” Sarge mumbled angrily.
Grif frowned, watching Simmons leave. “Is he ok?”
Sarge raised a brow. “You talking to me dirtbag?”
Grif looked over at Sarge. “No, just. Nevermind.” He said before walking in the direction Simmons left.
Sarge shook his head. “Lazy bastard, can’t even think in his head properly.”
“We found Lopez.” Doc called, coming down the hall with Donut.
“ You didn’t find me. I walked in on Donut messing with the broken warthog and asked what the fuck you guys were doing.” Lopez said annoyed, in Spanish.
“You’re welcome Lopez.” Donut chirped happily next to him.
“Kill me please.”
“Lopez!” Sarge grinned. “Have you gotten my Warthog up and running yet?”
“Not since you’ve broken it, dumbass.”
Sarge laughed. “Very funny Lopez, but now is not the time for telling jokes.”
Lopez sighed and walked away, heading back to fix the broken warthog that he had to go out and get from the field.
Sarge nodded towards Donut and Doc. “He’s one good little compandre.”
“Find anything out, side-effect wise?” Washington asked coming into the front room where Carolina had set up with Caboose and Kai.
Carolina looked up at him. “Yea, no side effects too major. The worst of it is a minor headache.”
Washington nodded and collapsed next to her on the couch. He watched as Kai and Caboose talked on the floor in front of them.
Carolina scooted back onto the couch so she would be able to get a better look at Washington. She turned to look at him and swung her arm over the backside of the couch.
“What happened to the TV?” She asked.
Washington let out a breathy laugh. “That’s a long story.”
She nodded. “What about the mess in the kitchen? There’s some white goo on the microwave.”
“That’s a longer one.”
Carolina laughed. “Sorry for putting you through all that.”
Washington smiled. “It’s fine. As exhausted as I am, the whole experience was kind of fun.”
Carolina raised a brow. “Really?”
“No.”
“Hey nerd?” Grif called from the doorway to their shared room.
Simmons looked up at him from his search through his drawers.
“Why are you being weird?” Grif asked.
“Uh, I- I’m not being weird.” Simmons poorly protested.
Grif raised a brow at him. “Yes, you are.” Grif shrugged as he leaned lazily against the doorway. “That or you’ve been avoiding me.”
Simmons said nothing and continued rifling through his drawers, although Grif wasn’t fully convinced he was actually doing anything.
Why was he acting like this?
It wasn’t his typical weird or nervous self. It was something entirely different. And even if it was his normal weirdness, he wouldn’t avoid Grif. He never did that. Even when he was pissed off at him.
Was it something he said?
“Why are you avoiding me?”
Simmons bit his lip and stopped rifling through his dresser. He stood in front of it and looked down at the items in the drawer. “I’m not avoiding you.” He said quietly.
“Then what is it? You haven’t talked to me at all since we got fixed.”
Simmons shrugged.
“Is it about what happened when we were kids? With the warthog?” Because if it was about that, he didn’t know what to say.
He didn’t expect to be so impacted by the fact that Simmons could have died. Thinking back to it as it became clearer, there was no way Simmons could have gotten hurt. Even if Carolina didn’t pull him away. But to a child, a giant machine bulldozing at another child seemed like certain death.
Grif just didn’t expect for him to react the way he did. He was honestly, completely terrified of losing Simmons when the warthog showed up. He definitely didn’t expect for himself to yell out Simmons’s name or hug him as he did.
He doesn’t regret it though.
If Simmons was weirded out about that then, he didn’t really know what to say. He still hadn’t worked out his...feelings about Simmons yet.
But he did know that he cared about him.
“Is this about the hug? Because we can call no homo if you really care.”
Simmons frowned. “No. I mean. We don’t need to do that. It’s not really about that…” He trailed off.
“Then what’s it about?”
Simmons moved away from the dresser and rubbed his arm nervously. “It’s when the warthog came crashing through. I wasn’t scared because I could have died, I was scared because I would never-” Simmons sighed. “-get to tell you something.” He said quietly.
Grif moved closer. “What did you want to tell me?”
“Just that, I. Um…” Simmons nervously twiddled his fingers. “That I-”
Grif let out a breathy laugh.
“What are you laughing at? I’m trying to say something serious.” Simmons snapped.
Grif smiled, grabbing the front of Simmons’s shirt and pulling him forward. He smashed their lips together and kissed him softly.
If Simmons wasn’t man enough to say it, he was gonna do it. Actions speak louder than words, right?
Simmons froze for a second and he was afraid that he had made the wrong choice, but then he began kissing back. It was soft and full of love and didn’t last nearly long enough before Grif pulled away for air. He looked at Simmons who was blushing profusely.
“Nerd.”