07-09-2018, 02:58 AM
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He wanted it all to go back to the very beginning. He didn't care if it meant that he would end up being betrayed again. It was better than whatever THIS was. At least to Washington. He wanted to go back to the early days of Project Freelancer. Other's probably would say differently, but it was during this time that he really did feel like he was making a difference and was allowed to be himself. He wasn't hiding the personality that he was hiding right now. Washington wanted to have the family that he once had back together again as they tackled the world that was working against them at the same time. It wasn't a whole lot of pressure to be put on their shoulders, because the majority of the time they were lucky on their missions. Lucky enough that half of the time because of that they completed their missions. if there were going to run into issues and there were only a couple of them in the field, then they were simply going to send in a lot more. It wasn't that difficult to understand how Project Freelancer actually worked once they got the hang of it. Washington knew that there were several operations where they would simply go out in teams of two.
Those types of missions were the ones that required stealth, and because of all the different missions that they went on none of them were every really certain if they were going to be coming back. And by the time they did come back from their missions they usually weren't able to talk about it. A failed missions usually meant that they were forced to meet with internals and explain themselves. Or being asked questions on certain things that had been happening in the program. He remembered the time that he had been called about some suspicious of certain radio signals that were beginning to leave the ship. Which of course was against protocol but someone was doing it. In it the end it had turned out to be one of their own, which was a huge struggle as there was so much confidential information that was on the ship, to begin with. Not only that, the things that were confidential were just to protect the Director from the crimes that he was committing. Hiding that he had only been given one AI fragment that had then turned into many over the course of the program. Which wasn't exactly legal or allowed, or even specified in the contract that they had with the UNSC. It was against their contract, and if it was against their contract then the Director could be arrested.
The man hid everything, and the only one that knew of his crimes were Alpha, him, and the Counselor, which had been the Director's right-hand man. A man that Washington would have liked to completely avoid. The Freelancer just wanted the family that worked together to get their job done and makes sure that they weren't going to exactly run into their deaths. It was because of CT that their lives had been put in danger, but he couldn't completely blame the female for what she did anymore. Project Freelancer had deserved to fall, and that was all there was to it. He was tired of dealing with all the strange things that were being said to him that he was refusing to comply with. He didn't want to listen to the likes of anyone else higher in the military if he didn't have to. Two heads were better than one in this situation, so he needed Carolina to be around to give him fresh eyes to work with on the plans that he had started to come up with. The issue that the Ascendant's didn't know about that Washington had never been on their side. He was manipulative. He had never been before, but when it came to his survival it was a trait that was going to be needed to put to good use.
He was only acting neutrally because if he didn't they would probably be driven out of this place and have nowhere to go. Which in theory would be okay with them, but figuring out what could be considered to be threats or not he wasn't sure. Washington wouldn't have really cared about killing off those that got into his way, even if the facade that he had right now wasn't exactly concrete it was enough to fool those that were around him. Would he betray Carolina if given the chance? In theory yes. But considering how much stronger she was compared to him that would only mean that he would threaten his own life in the first place. He needed Carolina's strength while he was regaining his strength back, and that meant that he was going to end up being on her side. Even if it meant sucking up his behavior so that it wouldn't be an issue later on. Washington was never really one to hold a grudge against someone, but there was definitely a huge loss of disrespect. He was a threat as much as Carolina was. But Washington also knew how to play his cards correctly. Although at the moment he was also fearing that he had just let out all of the cards out of his hand. He wasn't strong enough to deal with these animals that had the abilities he didn't know about. The armored smilodon was no longer looking at anyone though as he continued to stare at the ground.
He had no reason to really look at anyone right now, but considering how close Carolina was to him, he could see her out of the corner of his visor. Washington listened to whatever Bastille had to say, and he wanted to argue back so badly. But considering the fact that he was about to pass out from exhaustion and the trauma he was going through, he wasn't able to answer. Although there was a moment that he sounded like he was going to interrupt him, as one could hear his mouth opening, but slowly closing. He wasn't closing it because he thought Bastille was right. He was closing it because the male was wrong and he was too tired to argue anymore. This all could wait at a later date because they weren't about to start killing each other. One thing that concerned him why they seemed to be concerned about him almost out of nowhere. He was a soldier. He had always been expendable whether he liked it or not. He was only being. His death wouldn't have affected this place if Carolina had indeed killed him. Their own minds were different from the civilians that they were surrounded by. And it seemed like no matter what they said, they fell on deaf ears as they refused to understand the underlying intention of their words.
One thing that he certainly happy about was that the guy was going to force him to go to the medics. He thought about his options here. He didn't want to go. But if it meant that he could shut everyone else up and leave as well, then he was going to do just that. He could easily lie to the likes of a medic and leave whenever he wanted. Bastille obviously didn't say how long he was going to have to stay wherever their medics were stationed. He just needed a checkup. They could give him a physical and say that he was fine, because he was, and then leave. Carolina started speaking again, and his lowered head turned to look at the female. Washington let out an airy exhale from his jaws as she explained herself, his head turning to Bastille. "She has a point from her point of view." Washington would state in a tired tone. It almost sounded like he had never slept before in his entire life. Sleep wasn't a commodity that the Freelancer could acquire. He hadn't admitted until being a member until now. Meaning that he didn't belong to them until now. Just to say the word belong didn't sit well with him. No one was in charge of him except Carolina on occasion and himself. He wasn't about to start taking orders like he had done by the Director. Not again.
The headache that he had, more like a migraine, pounded right behind his eyes, causing a small twist of his head until his neck popped again. He felt Carolina press up further to make sure he kept his balance. Part of him appreciated, but the other part of him didn't. He should be strong enough to support his own damn weight. And yet he felt like a soldier that had just gotten out of stasis. Groggy. Unable to move his limbs right. And his thoughts were fuzzy. Washington would give another nod of his head in agreement to the next couple sentences that Carolina was saying. "The quickest way to fix this is just to give time. Let everyone cool down instead of trying to instigate things right off the back. We aren't here to hurt any of you." Washington would state, although he knew in the back of his mind that wasn't entirely true. Could he kill one of them? If the mission needed it then yes. Was in the right state too? Definitely not. Her next words were also correct. He could refuse. And the only way they could get him medically checked out would to physically force him.
But again that would cause more distrust then mend more bonds. A heavy sigh escaped his jaws as he wanted to just smash his head into the wall to stop all of the pain. "I know, but better to appease than to try to fight them right now. I'll talk to you later Boss." The Freelancer would say calmly, having raised one of his paws to at least nudge one of Carolina's shoulders. His head turned into the direction of the observatory, and he began to grind his teeth at the thought of the medics. He was doing this for the mission. That's all that he kept on telling himself. "I'll go to your damn medics then." Washington would say with a frustrated growl. He wasn't going to ask anyone for directions. If he asked a random stranger in the Observatory they would tell him exactly where he needed to go. He was glad that Carolina wasn't following him. He didn't know how much his mental state could hold at this very moment, but it obviously wasn't a lot. Agent Washington wasn't going to stop even if someone told him to stop and instead kept walking till he was out of view.
/OUT
"speech"
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