//------------------------------// // Chapter 55 - "Hunting Season" // Story: My Little Caboose II: Friendship is Fragmented! // by DarkWing //------------------------------// Present day. For the past few days, Washington had kept himself alone in the room with the Epsilon unit, spending the entire time trying to open it. Doc and Donut had managed to find some food stored in the place, as well as many weapons and tools, but Washington had no interest in what the facility had, bar the object in front of him. The unit was lit and making noises, showing that the Director did fix the device, but since he left the trio by themselves, Wash could not ask him for help. It was at this point that Wash also realized that he was out of ideas and couldn't think of any other way to bring the others out, questioning if he could. Remembering what the Director said, Wash let out a sigh and held up the unit, remembering what the Director said about going in after them. "Are they out yet?" Doc asked from the other side of the door, interrupting his train of thought. "Doc, I told you, when they're out, I'll let you know," Wash growled in frustration. "Until then, just assume that they aren't." "Why aren't they out yet? I thought the Director fixed that thing." "He did, just... just shut up," he sighed, then glanced back down to the unit. Guess there's only one thing left to do, he thought. Taking a deep breath, Washington placed the unit near the back of his head, assuming it would put him into it so he could somehow find them and bring them back out. Before the unit came into contact with his armor, however, something came out and knocked him to the ground. Fumbling to get up, he saw a familiar coworker with an equally familiar holo-projection quickly getting up, back to him. "Carolina? Epsilon? You're out!" Washington said with a breath of relief, glad that his work had finally paid off. "Washington?" Church asked as Carolina turned around instantly. The first thing he saw was that Washington was wearing his old armor. Wash realized Church realized this as well, and they continued to stare at each other in a confused silence. "Washington, where are we?" Carolina asked, looking around the room. "We're in the offsite storage facility. I tracked down the Director to help get you guys out, and-" "The Director is here?" Carolina snapped, hand going straight to her pistol. "Not anymore," Wash said, holding up his hand, willing her to keep the weapon holstered. "He fixed the unit a few days ago, but I haven't seen him since." "He couldn't have gotten far in those few days," she said instantly. As Washington started to say something, Caboose then launched out of the unit and smashed into Washington, knocking him to the ground. As he began to curse at Caboose, Tucker flew out of the unit and crashed into the wall. "God damn it, I hate that fucking thing," Tucker growled as he rubbed the back of his head. "Think for once we could land on a bed or something..." "Get off, Caboose," Washington sighed, pushing the dark-blue idiot off of him. "I don't want you damaging my armor." "Okay," Caboose said, going on all fours, used to walking as a pony. "Don't you mean my armor?" Church asked as Carolina helped Washington off the ground. "About that..." "There are two of you! That means there is one for me..." Caboose said suddenly as he turned around on all fours to look at his best friend. He then glanced at Tucker and scowled under his helmet. "And another one for me, because Church is my best friend, not Tucker's." "Fuck that, dude, you can have them both," Tucker chuckled. In the following seconds, Grif was thrown out of the unit and into Tucker, then Simmons glided out and hit Grif, who was followed by Sarge who slammed into Simmons.. "Son of a bitch," they groaned as they picked themselves off the ground, feeling an odd sense of déjà vu. "Guys, they're out!" Washington yelled towards the door. Turning back to Carolina, he nodded at her. "I'm glad you guys are all safe. I was worried that I'd have to put myself into there and try to find you guys, but I didn't know what the hell it would be like in there." "It is filled with ponies, magic and adventure!" Caboose said happily, still running around on his hands and feet. "Sure it was," Wash sighed as the other Reds and Blues wobbled about, trying to remember how to walk on two feet, not bothering to tell him that Caboose was right. "Whatever, that doesn't matter now." The door to the room then opened and two more familiar helmets entered the room. "Donut?" the Reds asked in unison, a slight groan to each of their voices. "Hey, guys!" Donut said happily, waving at his old teammates. "How's it going?" "How are you alive? I saw you get shot by..." Simmons coughed, then sputtered when he saw Washington staring directly at him. "That one guy who isn't anywhere nearby." "Oh, that!" Donut chuckled innocently. "Well, I almost was dead, but then Doc came along and healed me right back up until I was better than new." "Doc actually saved someone?" Sarge asked dubiously. "Are you sure it wasn't someone else?" "No, I'm pretty sure it was him." "Well, what are you two doing here with him?" Grif asked, nodding at Wash. "Weeellll, Doc and I were living together for a while, then this guy came along and wanted our help tracking down the Director guy, so here we are." "No, I said I was looking for the Director and asked you guys if you had any leads. You invited yourselves along," Wash muttered disdainfully. "But yeah, they've been tagging along for the past few months while I tracked him down. Several agonizingly long months..." "You poor man," Church said, both a mixture of sarcasm, what with him stealing his armor, and sympathy, knowing what it's like dealing with idiots the entire time. "Enough with the small talk. Where did the Director go?" Carolina inquired, ignoring all the idiots around her. "I don't know. He kind of just went off to do something. It was either follow him, or try to get you guys out, and I have no interest in the Director anymore." "But I do," she said firmly. "Did he say anything that points us in the right direction?" "I don't know, he was acting pretty strange," Washington said with a shrug, and the others looked at each other. "How strange?" Tucker asked. "Really strange. When we got here and I brought the unit to him, he seemed sort of distant and depressed, but when he left, he seemed kind of happy. I told him that he wasn't really making any sense, but he kind of just laughed and asked me 'what fun is there in making sense?', then he left." "Sounds like both of our guys," Church said nervously, nodding to Carolina.. "Both?" Washington asked curiously. "What do you mean both?" "Since this is a Freelancer facility, I assume F.I.L.S.S is here, right?" "Of course I am, Director," came the computer's voice through a speaker. "I did not think you were here, however." "Ask her where the Director went," Carolina insisted, turning to where the source of F.I.L.S.S voice came from so she could hear every word. "F.I.L.S.S, where did I go?" Church asked loudly. "You're right here, sir." "I know that, but where did you think I went before?" he sighed, hoping the conversation wouldn't be going in circles. "You seemed interested in going to see the Chairman with the backup copies of Agent Texas," she replied simply. A cold shiver ran up the spines of the Reds, Blues and Washington. "You heard her. Time to track down the Director," Carolina said, walking towards the door. "Yeah, we did hear her," Simmons said matter-of-factly. "We also heard the part where apparently he has copies of Tex and is going to use them for God knows what." "And I guess that means I'm in charge of taking down both the Director, Tex and your guy. And if you don't follow along, I'm going to have to punish you for treason," she said, making it all to clear that she was not in a playful mood. "What do you mean by your guy?" Wash asked again, but was ignored as Carolina walked through the door and looked down the hallway. "Since this is a storage facility, I assume there are weapons and equipment here, right?" "Yeah, a lot of weapons," Doc said and Sarge glanced up, curiosity raised. "Weapons?" the red soldier asked with a grin under his helmet. "Great. Show me," she said, and Doc began walking out the door, quickly followed by Carolina and Sarge. "There's also food and a bunch of other tech stuff." "Really?" Grif and Simmons asked instantly, jogging out the door with Donut not too far behind. "Sounds like the Reds are on board," Tucker chortled, feeling the handle of the sword on his waist as he walked to the door. "Come on, Caboose. Don't want Church to go without you, do you?" "No. Why are you walking on your back legs?" Caboose asked as he and Tucker walked after the others, leaving Wash by himself. "And here I thought them being back would have made me feel more at ease," Washington grunted, then grabbed his weapon and the unit, then followed the others, knowing deep down that this trip would go downhill quick.