As the crew exited the Red base, Sarge paused by the door and waited for everyone to be gone. Carolina, being the last one out, stopped and looked directly at him, giving him a knowingly curious stare.
"I just need to check on something really quick, then I'll be right behind you," Sarge murmured, nodding at her. "Won't take more than a few minutes."
"If we get to the ship and Grif is there, we'll wait five minutes then we're leaving," she said firmly, then turned back to the others and began walking after them.
"More than enough time." he replied, then jogged back inside, clutched his shotgun to his stomach. "If you get into a firefight, be sure to keep two or three alive for me. I haven't had this much fun in months."
"What was that about?" Wash asked as Carolina walked past him, nearly closing the distance between her and the airship. "Where is Sarge going?"
"Don't know, don't care. All I know is that we're leaving in a few minutes. With or without him," she said quietly.
"Carolina?" Wash asked. When she kept walking, he walked up behind her and put his hand on her shoulder and cleared his throat.
"What's wrong, Wash?" she asked, not moving.
"You."
"What?" she inquired slowly, turning to look at the only one around her that she'd call a friend.
"You're the problem. At least, right now you are," he said instantly.
"What is that supposed to mean?" she asked irately, slapping his hand off her shoulder.
"I mean you're not the boss around here."
"Somebody has to be, otherwise we'll get nowhere," she snapped, beginning to walk away.
"Carolina, he has a point," Church grunted, appearing in front of her. "These guys aren't like regular soldiers, Carolina."
"You mean they're intolerable nearly all the time?" she asked, looking ahead at the rest of the Reds and Blues crowding around the ship. "Because I kind of figured that part out already."
"Well, yeah, that, but that's not the whole of it. As annoying as they are, they're people. You have to treat them with a little respect if you want them to do anything other than complain about you."
"I told you guys, I'm not here to be friends. I'm here to find the Director and do what needs to be done."
"Yeah, but you can't do that without them," Washington insisted, pointing at them as they walked back into the ship.
"I know you want to seem like you have everything in control, and that you're a super tough one woman army who can fend for herself..."
"I can fend for myself," she said. "I found my way into the unit by myself."
"Yeah, but you weren't so tough when I stabbed you in the fucking throat. Or do you not remember that part?" Church asked.
"Wait, what?" Washington fumbled, not having caught what Church said to it's full extent. "What did he mean by that?"
"Not now," Church hissed, then turned back to Carolina. "The fact is, you aren't in control, Carolina. You aren't the one woman army you're trying to prove to yourself that you are. And the guys? They may fear you, but the guys sure as hell don't respect you enough to do stuff out of the kindness of their hearts." Carolina began walking forwards towards them, anger rising, but Church shot back in front of her. "You can't run from me, I'm inside your head. I kind of know what's going on in there. Wash, mind joining the guys for a minute?"
"Right," he said with a confirming nod, then began jogging towards the Reds and Blues.
"I know you're hurting, Carolina. I know what anger and self-pity look like. The things you've done... you can't make up for them. Neither can Wash. Hell, neither can I. But keeping the way you're going isn't going to fix anything for you. It's just going to cause more problems, and you'll eventually turn into the monster you already think you are."
"You guys coming?" Tucker asked loudly as Wash walked inside with them.
"Yeah, just give us a second," Church yelled back, still looking at Carolina. "It's not too late, Carolina. While you can't fix your past, you can fix what's left of your future. I'm not asking to be their friends, I'm just asking you to consider your actions and not try to make them hate you."
Carolina simply shook her head as she thought through his words, then lifted her foot to walk towards the guys.
"If not for yourself, then do it for York," Church said, and Carolina held her foot in place, hovering a mere inch from the ground. "He wouldn't have wanted to see this, Carolina. He would have wanted you to put your chin up and keep going without him. It's what he loved about you. Your determination."
"I am determined," she said weakly, clenching her fists as she began to tremble with confusion.
"Determination and blind revenge isn't the same thing. You don't want to kill the Director for the good of mankind. At this point, I doubt you even want him dead because of the shit that's gone down with you and the other Freelancers. The only reason I think you're doing this is because it's the only thing you know how to do. That's the same reason the Director kept trying for Allison. He was so blinded by the idea of getting her back that he did what he could to get her back, no matter the cost. Don't go down the same path the Director did. Don't become so focused on the past and present that you turn blind towards the future. Don't become what you're claiming to hate."
For a few moments, she wasn't sure what do do. She continued to stand there, looking at the ground, memories coming back to her. She slowly unclenched her hands, looked up to Church feebly and nodded slowly. She then began to slowly walk back towards the Pelican. Church floated in place, looking at her silently. Sarge then came jogging and stopped next to Church, then glanced to Carolina.
"Where were you?" Church asked.
"That's none of your business. Just like what you and Carolina were talking about all hush-hush is none of mine."
"Done trying to get Blue intel now?" the fragment said with surprise.
"You're not off the hook that easily. I'm just done trying to meddle with Freelancer business. Especially that insane one. Your girlfriend was bad enough, and I can handle Wash. But this one? No siree, I'm not too interested in asking questions that'll lead to her shooting me."
"Personally, I think she's going to be fine from now on," Church murmured. "I'm hoping, at least."
"What makes you say that?" Sarge inquired thoughtfully.
"Just a feeling." Church paused, then looked at Carolina talking to Washington. "Come on, let's go to the ship."
Sarge and Church soon made their way to the others, only to find Washington talking to Carolina.
"What's going on here?" Church asked.
"Grif isn't here, and we're considering how we're going to approach the other base. We can't leave without him because he's the only one who knows how to get this thing off the ground," Wash explained simply. "There probably aren't that many left, so we could go in guns blazing. Pretty sure at this point they're all huddled together, so shooting them shouldn't be too hard."
"I didn't think cops just killed people for no reason!" a voice called out from the back of the Pelican.
Everyone in the cabin of the ship froze, then glanced back to see Grif standing next to a bright -- strictly in the armor color sense -- soldier.
"Is that... who I think it is?" Simmons asked quietly.
"Told you she wasn't dead," Grif said with a smirk under his helmet.