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Pre-Season 15, Distant moon of Chorus
Agent Washington couldn’t believe what he was watching. The large, spacious buildings in front of him were ablaze. Despite the sun being at its highest point, the fire still cast shadows against the high rock walls surrounding the canyon. The bases were burning down.
“Oopsie!”, called Donut. He was making his way up the hill towards Washington and the rest of the Reds and Blues. “Who knew those lavender scented candles were so dangerous! Guess this means we’re going to need a new place to stay. I’m thinking beach house.”
“Donut! How did your candles start both bases on fire? They aren’t even connected!”, Simmons shrieked.
“Uh, guys? Wasn’t like all of our food there too?” Tucker said as he looked between Washington and Grif. Wash met Tucker’s gaze, thinking quickly.
“Carolina and I stored about a fourth of the rations outside the bases. I didn’t think we would need those stores so soon,” Wash shook his head as he admitted it. “It’s good to be prepared for anything I suppose.” Wash looked to the bases again, watching as the fire slowly started to die out. It would take several hours for the flames to give out completely, and by then, evening had fallen.
The only option left now was camping. Wash took to organizing the saved rations, and designating areas for various uses. Sarge insisted that “Reds and Blues can’t share the same canyon! By God if they share the same hunk of dirt!” and took the Reds to their own camping spot. Tucker huffed as they stopped almost 40 feet away, and called it good.
“Sarge! There is no Red and Blue! It was all a lie! I’ve been telling you this for years!” Tucker laughed and Sarge spat back insults until Simmons calmed him down.
“It doesn’t do any good to rile him up that like,” Carolina smiled. She picked the remaining rations up, and started walking over to the Red camp. Wash wondered if that was more to placate Grif, or if she just found the Reds more entertaining these days.
With the makeshift sleeping bags they were able to make, Wash set up a triangle. Each head towards another’s feet. As he stepped back, Tucker moved in.
“Dude, I am not smelling Caboose’s feet all night. Besides, he’ll just yell louder if he can’t see us listening to him.” Caboose nodded sagely at Tuckers words. Tucker rearranged the bags parallel to each other, all facing the same way. “See? This is much better.”
“Oh! I am going to be in the middle! That is the best place to be for sleepovers!” Caboose yelled.
“Caboose! We get it! Stop yelling!” Grif shouted back in response.
Everything was finally quieting down by the time Wash laid down in his bag. He was exhausted. Tomorrow they were going to need to sort through the rubble to find anything salvageable. They needed new bases, or at least shelters as soon as possible. It didn’t rain too often on the Moon, but it was always a downpour when it did. Wash sighed to himself. He was already tired thinking about what had to be done. He rolled onto his side, looking over to Caboose and Tucker. Caboose was already fast asleep, snoring gently. Tucker also seemed to be asleep, he was breathing deeply. They all had nightmares these days, but it seemed like maybe tonight would be quiet. If only he could fall asleep. Wash kept turning over, hoping some position would help him fall asleep. His brain wouldn’t quiet down, still going over everything that needed to be done tomorrow.
Finally, with a sigh, Wash admitted he wasn’t going to be able to sleep. He quietly rolled out of the sleeping bag, and pulled his data pad from his neatly stacked armor. He moved to a small grouping of rocks, just far enough from the camps. He started creating a checklist for the next day.
Wash turned when he heard footsteps. Tucker was walking towards him, a drawn out yawn on his face. Wash smiled at the tired captain. “Shouldn’t you be asleep?” He called.
“Shouldn’t you?” Tucker responded.
“I’ve got too much going on in my head.”
“Don’t sweat it, what can I do to help?” Tucker slouched down next to Wash, their backs pressed into the rock behind them.
“I’ve actually just finished,” Wash lied. He still had a lot he could work on. But he didn’t want to keep Tucker up. He was Blue Team Leader. It was his responsibility.
“So then you’re coming back to bed?” Tucker gave him a sideways glance as he asked. Wash wasn’t fooling him.
“I’m just not tired! I just-- I don’t know. I have too much energy.” Wash scrubbed his face with a hand. He wasn’t getting his point across.
Tucker suddenly lit up. “We could spar then! Carolina has been teaching me that close combat shit. I’m basically a badass now,” he winked.
Wash rolled his eyes. “Training is only part of it. You are still going to need to familiarize yourself with how different opponents move. Not everyone is as fluid as Carolina.”
“So why don’t we spar! You and Carolina are totally different. She’s graceful as fuck!” He started gesturing with his arms, trying to imitate her punches. “Like a river that punches you in the balls. And you’re like, I don’t know, a rock. You just take it longer than the other guy,” Tucker shrugged as he finished.
“I am not a rock!” Wash’s voice shot up and it reached its pitchy tone. “You want to spar? Fine. Let’s go.” He stood up, setting his data pad on the rock. He offered his hand out to Tucker, who ignored it to spring up on his own.
“Fucking finally! An opponent I can actually beat,” Tucker winked again, bringing his arms up, and lowering his stance. Wash fumed in return.
They spent a moment circling each other, sizing the other up. Tucker was the first to move. He charged at Wash, trying to grapple him. Wash side-stepped, and cuffed the back of his head. Tucker spun, and kicked out at Wash’s knee, but Wash was faster. He pivoted on his right leg, pulled his left out of reach, then used the momentum to strike Tucker in the ribs with a sharp kick. Tucker dropped and rolled with the kick, rising to his feet. He feigned a left straight, and then uppercut with his right fist. Wash dogged the feighn, and blocked the right. He returned a few punches of his own. Tucker blocked or dogged all of them.
“See?” Tucker panted, “You aren’t as fast as Carolina. Easy.” He then charged again, this time catching Wash around the middle. He forced them both back until he had Wash trapped against the rock. Pulling back momentarily, he then swung again with his right fist. It connected with much more force than Tucker had intended, and he heard the crack of Wash’s head hitting the rock behind him. Wash seemed to sag, but he still threw out a sloppy punch of his own. Tucker quickly backed up, holding his hands out. Wash’s eyes were pinched closed, and he had one hand on the back of his head. “Jesus, fuck me, Wash? I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hit you that hard. Are you alright?” Tucker slowly approached Wash, watching as the other man leaned hard against the rock. He lowered himself down to a sitting position, hands still cupped at the back of his head.
“It’s nothing, just a lucky shot.” Wash was wincing, but he hadn’t opened his eyes.
“Bullshit dude, you can’t even stay standing!” Tucker tried not to gloat, but his ego got the better of him. “You totally didn’t see that coming! That’s a win for el capitán.” Tucker flopped down next to Wash, throwing a few mock punches as he landed.
“I was just tired is all. Your grapple was weak, I could have easily broken out. I’ve seen Simmons in better form than you.” Wash waved his hand in dismissal. He finally opened his eyes as he looked away from Tucker. He didn’t want ‘El Capitán’ to see his expression. He could have gotten out of the grapple, or even avoided it completely. He just wanted Tucker to have a win. It was Wash’s job to keep up moral for his team. No need to examine exactly what he was feeling so ashamed about.
“That’s a fucking lie,” Tucker retorted. “At least Carolina has the decency to acknowledge when I win. You’re just upset that a Simulation Trooper was able to beat you! Let me get a look at your head, you hit it pretty hard.” Tucker reached out towards Wash, but his hand was swatted away.
“I don’t need your help Tucker. I’m fine. I need to get back to camp. Somebody needs to keep an eye on things.” Wash stood abruptly, and stormed off back towards the Blue camp. Tucker just stared after him.
***
Carolina awoke to Tucker muttering under his breath. He was sitting near her sleeping bag, with his armor on and his helmet clutched between his hands. She slowly sat up, fighting her knee-jerk reaction to jump up ready to fight. It was something Grif had taught her. Take a moment to assess the situation; Don’t rush to any conclusions. She had to admit that the orange sim trooper made the whole exercise seem easier than it was.
“You want to tell me what you’re muttering about?” Tucker looked up at the question, nodding once they made eye contact.
“What else? Wash.” he replied with a shrug.
“Do you… want to talk about it?” Carolina offered.
“Hell no! I just want a sparring partner that isn’t an asshole.” Tucker stood up, and offered Carolina a hand.
“Right. So I’m not supposed to ask what exactly Washington did this time.” She took the offered hand and stood, stretching out her legs and back. “Have you been up all night?” Tucker flinched at the guess, but just shrugged again, fiddling with his helmet.
“Can we just do this, or what?” he turned to face the Freelancer. Carolina took in his dark, tired eyes and his shifting weight. With a sigh, she nodded.
“Let’s do this out of armor. Part of my laziness training with Grif. No armor if you don’t need it.”
“Exactly how is training at all lazy?” Tucker started the process of removing his teal armor. Wash had drilled the habit of armor in back at the crash site, but Tucker had chosen to keep it up on the Moon. He even got Caboose fully armored every morning. Just one less thing for Wash to worry about.
“It’s more about changing your lifestyle, doing a little bit each day to improve.” Carolina smiled at Tucker. “Sometimes that means training without armor, and sometimes that means talking about what’s bothering you.” Tucker huffed at the very pointed look he received.
He threw up his hands, “Fine! So Wash and I sparred, and I totally won, but he just won’t admit it.” Tucker moved to outside the circle of sleeping bags, then lowered himself into a fighting stance. Carolina followed suit. She waited just a moment, then lashed out with a strong kick. Tucker blocked, but was unable to return anything before two more kicks connected on his torso. He stepped back, and unfocused his eyes slightly, just like Wash had taught him. He watched the movements of Carolina’s body, flowing in smooth cascade of blows and kicks. Tucker took his time, dodging and blocking until he saw a brief opening. Her last kick had gone wide, leaving her slightly off balance. Tucker moved in, throwing two punches with right, and then a kick for good measure. The quick succession knocked the freelancer off balance, and the kick sealed her fate. Carolina landed on the ground briefly, before standing right back up.
“That was good! You used my mistake to your advantage, and you’ve gotten less impulsive. I’m impressed Tucker, you really are a quick learner.” Despite the length of the fight, Carolina was still breathing easily, while Tucker wasn’t as fortunate.
“See?! That’s what I mean! I feel like I’ve learned so much since the crash site, and Chorus, but Wash won’t even acknowledge it. He goes on and on about how I could improve, or how I’m sloppy, but he doesn’t see everything I do! He won’t rely on me for anything, not to watch out for Caboose, or organize rations, or hell! Even set up camp right.” Tucker could feel that he was ranting. It just felt so freeing to be able to share his frustration. Carolina nodded, listening intently to him until he had finished.
“I’ve known Wash for a long time, Tucker. He holds grudges for lifetimes, and remembers what others do to him. It may be misguided, but I think he just remembers trying to take charge in the canyon after Epsilon and I left. I abandoned him again, and he had to pick up the pieces. I think a part of him is waiting for me to leave, and he doesn’t want you to be left unprepared. Tucker, I think you should talk to him about it. Let him know you’re already so much more than you were in Blood Gulch. You’ve both grown.” Carolina looked away when she finished, and Tucker could tell she still had more baggage. Maybe she just wasn’t ready to share it yet.
“You know, you don’t have to make up for things you’ve done in the past. You just gotta, I don’t know? Keep moving forward?” Tucker rubbed the back of his head. “Jesus we are fucked up, huh?” At that, Carolina smiled again.
“I’m going to see what Grif has planned for today. I’ll talk to you later, Tucker.” She strode back towards the ruins of the bases, looking a little lighter than before.
With a sigh, Tucker walked back to his armor and pulled his helmet on.
TKR: hey wash, you got a minute?
WSH: What’s this about?
TKR: we need to talk dude
WSH: … I’m back at the rock pile.
Wash was right where he said, back pressed against the rock with his data pad in his lap. As Tucker got closer, he noticed a checklist pulled up, but nothing had been checked off yet. So Wash hadn’t gotten anything done either.
“Hey.”
“Hey.” Wash didn’t look up from his pad, but he stopped fidgeting. Tucker slumped down next to him again, like he had last night. This time, there seemed to be more between the two.
“Look, I know you’re trying to be the perfect ‘Blue Team Leader’ and all, but you don’t have to do all that shit alone. It’s just you, me and fucking Caboose now. We’ve always looked out for each other, and we always will. You can trust me Wash. I’m better than I was before.”
Wash finally looked at Tucker, really looked at him. “Tucker I,” he paused, looking for words. “I’m sorry. You are an amazing leader, and you already hold this team together more than I ever could. I know you get Caboose in his armor every morning, and you set Carolina up with Grif’s lazy classes, and even won our sparring match. You are so much more capable than I give you credit for, and I’m sorry I was too proud to admit it.”
Tucker was floored. Holy shit, here they were, actually talking about their feelings. “Hell yeah I beat you! I’ve gotten faster with Carolina’s help, and I picked up a few tricks on Chorus.”
Wash smiled, “I noticed. The grapple surprised me. We good?”
“Yeah, we’re good.” Tucker felt lighter too. It was good to be acknowledged for his effort. He had trained hard with Carolina, and had done so much on Chorus to make a difference.
“Best two out of three?” Wash offered. Tucker grinned.
“You’re on.”