dappered | (no subject)

(no subject)

[ So.

It'd been two days since Wash left Church in that empty city. Two days of blissful quiet (except it was never completely silent, not in his head, not with the echoes that Epsilon had left and the whispers that Wash still heard sometimes when he was on the verge of sleep) and he put them to use, moving fast and efficiently and reminding himself darkly the entire time how much Church hinders him, how he was operating with much less efficiency when he had to babysit, etc.

How could he possibly expect to go after the Director with the ultimate AI as his partner if his partner was a bitching juvenile manipulative little bastard. Who thought that abusing his trust was okay. Who thought that doing things like--

( kissing him, he remembers, the pressure of his mouth, his taste, the softness of his throat under Wash's fingertips )

--like that was acceptable. No big deal. Just proving a point, bitch.

It's almost enough to make him not want to go back, when he reached the crest of a cliff and suddenly recognizes the scenery. A shallow lake, a valley surrounded by mountains, one Blue base, one Red base, and one crashed black ship.

Valhalla. Which, now that he'd been reminded about it, did have some unverified accounts of dead zones and abandoned outposts attached to the file he'd glanced through. Valhalla was situated where it was because of this and now apparently occupied by the remnants of the Blood Gulch teams, and while it was a huge relief to have concrete proof of where he was (still not how it happened, still nothing to explain his jailbreak and Church's miraculous physical form, and the only theory he has getting progressively uglier), it meant he had some decisions to make now. The Meta and the recording devices inside Freelancer Command had seen Church's A.I. form, however briefly. Church needed to be kept hidden, needed to be kept safe, and Wash had no intention of waltzing back into a jail cell. It's not ideal, but they can hide here. Or around here, in the caverns that run underneath the cliffs. And know, at least, that their closest neighbors aren't going to jump at the chance to turn them in to Command.

Church doesn't see it quite so rationally. Church points out, in the tone of voice reserved for deepest atrocity, that what is being suggested is really the same thing as going to a place that is close to Caboose.

Wash privately winces along with him at the thought, but remains adamant. Blah blah hiding place, blah blah fugitives, blah blah finding Epsilon, blah blah just get your fucking gear and stop arguing.

Wishful thinking. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Whatever you say, man.

Look, you can knock that off anytime. You've been inside my head.

I've also been threatened by you.

[ Stop. Breathe. Don't strangle him. ]

What do you want from me, Church? A promise? A signed contract declaring my motives and intentions? Another chance to poke around inside my brain and figure out whether I'm telling the truth or not?

Believe it or not, I really don't get off on wiggling around like a fucking pervert in other people's brains. So, no, you can, uh, keep that to yourself.

Oh, but it's perfectly okay for you to grab me out of the blue and shove your tongue in my mouth to see if that'll make me more accommodating. Because that's not the same thing at all.

You really think that was me fucking with your head?

[ It's a good thing they're finally into the part of the caverns that have steel flooring and small blue lights affixed to the walls every couple meters, because otherwise Church might have missed the part where Wash just stops walking.

He can't believe Church just said that. He can't believe that Church would say that, like there was any other explanation when Church had pulled back with that fucking smirk he thought he was hiding, that smug tone of voice. ]

I think you're still very angry with me.

What the hell are you talking about now?

Apparently nothing you're prepared to accept past your comfort zone.

Why don't you tell me why you did it, then. If you can.

Why do I do anything? Because I wanted to. Why the fuck are you analyzing it?

That isn't why.

[ grimly ]

To protect yourself.

You seriously just piss me off, man.

So I've heard.

But since we're on this subject.

You said it would be easier if I just killed you to tie up loose ends. The same goes for you, too. You could run away and I could hunt you down. Or you could slip back in my head and put a gun barrel to my temple, and no one would ever be the wiser.

You could do it while I slept, and I wouldn't put any kind of resistance.

Right. Walk in the park.

[ Staring you down, bitch. If they're going to have this conversation they're going to have the entirety of it. ]

But you haven't done that.

Not an actual soldier, remember? Just a fucking computer in a field full of guinea pigs.

Edited 2009-10-05 05:59 (UTC)

You're not--

[ He stops himself. Church isn't going to listen to him anyway. ]

That would hardly matter to someone trying their best to survive. It's justified.

Are you seriously trying to have a conversation with me, or where is this going?

...

Come here.

Why the hell do I have to go all the way over there?

Don't be a sissy little bitch.

Okay?

[ so calm ]

Okay.

[ And then he decks Church as hard as he fucking can. ]