anothercontinuity | Red vs Blue pt 2

[...and the sword went back up.]

Soooo, you're crazy. That's cool.

[It was easy to repeat the name of the one person Tucker said, like a psychic at the bachelorette party. It was simple to make up the stupidest story ever told, especially after Tucker had already dealt with Time Travel. Sort of. Kind of. Look, it was complicated and those early days didn't make a bunch of sense.

His hand tightened on the sword hilt, his jaw tight. What the fuck was he supposed to do with this guy, huh? Really?]

You don't have a set of handcuffs on you, do you? I mean, you strike me as a BDSM type, so hey, maybe.

I know it sounds crazy. I know it does. I know...

[ The desperation was rising in his voice, those exhausted eyes staring pleading at Tucker, who had no real reason to trust him. Who could only go on his word.

Would Wash have listened, if the tables were turned?

He sighs, eyes sliding shut for just a moment, that weariness washing over him in a wave. How to convince him? ]

This was the only chance we had at saving you guys. I let you down once. I'm not gonna do it again. Just...hear me out. And if you still feel like stabbing me afterwords, that's fine, I don't care, just. Please.

[Man, this guy looked tired. It was heavy and across his face, not like a mask, but like the mask had fallen off and this was all that was left. It was desperate and just...sad.]

God, when was the last time you slept?

[The sword dropped again, not turning off but just hanging there. He sighed a little, those aqua shoulders rolling in a shrug, and fine, he could have a few minutes; Tucker had a feeling that the guy would uphold his end of this bargain, anyway. Stabbings would be had if it was bullshit. This guy wasn't the only one that was exhausted.

Tucker took a step back, sizing him up.]

Go ahead. It better be good, though.

[ Hearing just that much, that old familiar refrain, needling him about sleep...he feels something inside crack. He's missed him. God, he thought he knew how much he missed him until this moment.

But now isn't the time to reminisce. He doesn't know how much time he has. So he steels himself and nods. ]

I can't tell you everything. I don't know what will change, what will screw things up irrevocably. But a few years from now, on a backwater planet in the middle of nowhere, you and your friends...the Reds and the Blues...you save an entire population of people.

[ There's a pause, and when he continues, a quiet hitch in his breath. ]

And you give your lives to do it.

[It sounded like a tagline to a movie, some melodramatic telling, hopefully by Morgan Freeman. He could picture it in his head in a way, but also...couldn't.

Because--]

Okay, you make us sound like heroes. And we're not. At all.

[Had this guy met them? Really?]

Like, I'm a badass, sure, but they're not. [See: the sword. The fact that he's kept this alien temple safe for weeks now, all by himself. The Chosen One title.

See: absolutely nothing else.]

Are you sure you don't have us confused with another set of Reds and Blues? Because there are others.

[ He could understand the disbelief. Years ago, he wouldn't have believed it. He wouldn't have thought them capable. Yet they thrived on proving people wrong, doing the impossible.

They were just supposed to survive to enjoy that sense of validation. ]

Yeah. Pretty sure.

[ And he reached to his hip, drawing from the clip on his armor a familiar-looking sword handle. Tucker should recognize it instantly, and even now? He couldn't bring himself to turn it on. To confirm that finality in his head. ]

[Pretty sure. Yeah, okay, but then he was pulling out that--]

Hey! How the fuck did you get one? Do you have an alien kid, too? [There was a beat of a pause, before he reached out to take it. Turn it over. Look at one spot.

You see, because Tucker had always carved his initials into his toys, ever since he was a little kid. It was like dibs, but permanent, forever, steel-lidded and impossible to argue, a thing his mom taught him so he could get them back after he loaned them out to his friends. Did you think he wouldn't do the same to his favorite "toy" in the entire galaxy?

Fuck yeah he did.

And sure enough, there was a scratchy LT etched into the handle.

He shook it, but it didn't turn on. No hum. No blue light. Nothing but silence.]

What the fuck?

There's a trick to it.

[ He said it like it was a joke, but with no mirth, no smile. Watching him try to light it up with no success. ]

The sword is bonded to you, and only you. Until you die. Then, whoever claims the sword becomes the bearer.

[ Something stretched thin and tight in his chest, his throat threatening to close up as he cleared his throat in an effort to stave it back. ]

I never tried it, though, so. Maybe it just doesn't work now. I have no idea, really.

[This guy didn't-- He didn't try it? Then that meant--]

So, did you kill me, or just watch me die? I doubt I just tossed it to you then bit it.

[Tucker shook it again, like a remote with dying batteries, before handing it back to the guy. Stupid, probably, handing a weapon to a person who came in screaming his name and looking sad as fuck, but, eh, that's what Church was like too.

Could he start it?

Would he?]

Try it. Like, turn it on.

Red vs Blue pt 2

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