A/N Thanks for reading.

I'm sorry, I was busy with school and my sleep is all messed up. And I was editing and rewriting, as well. OwO

Disclaimer – I do not own Bleach.

Warning – Swearing.

Tucker was pissed, he wouldn't deny that. He expected Carolina to leave, she had eased up after her mission but was still a lone wolf. But he never expected Church to go with her. He then had to watch Caboose mope for a while. Which was irritating the longer it dragged on. And Sarge was doing everything it seemed to piss them off. It was working on Wash, when he borrowed the tank by asking Caboose. And then Wash was getting more controlling, to the point that it was working on Tucker's already short patience.

It seemed, to him, that Wash was trying to take over as leader to replace Church. He may have been a shitty leader, but Tucker knew Church didn't try making them do anything. So, this whole, 'trying to become a new leader' was wearing on Tucker's patience.

So, after becoming irritated with Wash's stupid drills he wandered around the canyon, muttering to himself. Stupid Church. Stupid Wash. Stupid mopey Caboose that missed stupid Church. Stupid tank that survived. Stupid Reds. Stupid Blues.

"That's a lotta 'stupid' there, kid."

Tucker jolted and turned to see Sarge walking on over with his trusty shotgun in his hands. He crossed his arms and huffed, turning away from the Red leader and pouting.

"Everything's stupid," Tucker was sounding like a kid more and more these days. A stupid, spoiled kid that didn't know how to shut the fuck up even if other people sent the parents looks that told them to shut the kid up. "What do you want?"

"Nothin'," Sarge answered with a shrug, moving to seeing where Tucker was heading to. Which was nowhere. "Just goin' fer a walk." He paused and sent the teal soldier a look of suspicion. "Yer not tryin' anythin', are ya?" Tucker rolled his eyes, which Sarge managed to pick up on. "Don't ya roll yer eyes at me, boy...!" He growled threateningly.

"Yeah, yeah," Tucker held his hands up and rolled his eyes, again. Just to spite him. "Whatever, dad!"

While Sarge growled again at the lack of respect Tucker had froze and widened his eyes. Holy fuck. And this was how he came to realize... Sarge was the fucking dad of their group of misfits. He wasn't the best, but he also wasn't the worst. Except when it came to Grif, then it was fifty-fifty. No way. He refused to accept it. He stood straighter and sent the red a glare.

"Whatever, get lost! Leave me alone!" He turned and stomped away, feeling better when Sarge didn't go after him to demand an apology... and fifty push-ups.

But he did hear 'emotional brat' and bristled.

So, he said. "Old, controlling fucker."

He then took off running when he heard Sarge start yelling at him. He was a shit, he can admit that. He was grinning when he ran away and into the base, which made the Red leader growl and shake in anger before he turned to head back towards his base. Tucker was still grinning when he watched Sarge storm away while muttering angrily, and was still grinning until he was ordered to do more drills. Son of a...

He ran through them, and came out exhausted. Caboose ran through them... and didn't even sweat. Lucky son of a bitch, with his super strength and stamina.

Why was Caboose so happy, anyway?

Tucker watched as Caboose ran away happily while he was there... dying. Fucking drills. He hated them. Church had accepted that he was lazy and didn't want to lead at all. Didn't try to change him. Just accepted. But the fact that Caboose ran right through and almost instantly came out on the other side shocked Wash enough to declare that training was over. Which was fucking awesome.

Then he was trying to help Wash cheer up. Wash was getting too pathetic for him, complaining about everything and feeling like he was being watched. He was trying to fix the comm. tower, and so far it wasn't doing anything. So of all things Wash told him to go down there and try to fix something. So he went down there and just started kicking random shit to see if it did anything.

No, it did not.

Wash soon caught on. Shouldn't surprise him. Wash seemed to fit right in with their group of idiots. Only he was much more competent than any of them.

Tucker was about to make a snarky comment when the Reds came on over along with the dad of the team—uh, Sarge! Holy crap, what the hell was that? He frowned and informed Wash of the Reds, because even if the Reds suck as soldiers they are quick and quiet. Wash didn't even notice until he said they had a situation. Tucker smirked when Sarge made the suggestion of converting the comm. tower to diesel and then mocked Wash since he assumed he liked everything green. Sarge may be a genius when it came to engineering, but he was so sad when it came to stuff like this. Tucker turned and jumped when he saw Lopez. Where the hell—?

Look at that! He had even made another Lopez!

So Wash told them that if they did anything—or Sarge tried to help—to stab them. Then he was about to say his famous phrase until he realized what that would mean. No thanks. He shuddered at the thought of ever thinking that way about Sarge. Or any other guy.

The highlight of the day—before Caboose ruined it—was when they connected to Donut. Fuck yeah! They cheered, shot bullets, and didn't stop cheering. It was enough to make Wash start to be optimistic. He was even happy when Caboose showed up with a happy greeting.

Then Freckles showed up.

...Yeah, it was enough to scare the Reds shitless.

As soon as the Blues were leaving the Reds sprinted back to their base. Grif just walked. Tucker stared at Freckles with nothing but fear. A big military weapon under Caboose's orders? Yeah, no. It was bound to blow up in their face. And what made it worse, is that it enforced the drills! Made sure he did what Wash ordered! He couldn't even try to sleep in before he could feel the floor shake when Freckles drew near. So he did it begrudgingly.

A couple days later, he frowned when he felt eyes on him and turned to see Grif and Simmons hiding poorly. Well, Grif was hiding rather well, it was Simmons that was sticking out. So, Tucker went on over to find out what they wanted and learned that Sarge thought they were planning something to kill them.

Yeah, he barely had enough time to himself to plan anything. Even when to masturbate, which wasn't a lot.

It sucked.

Then Simmons wanted to stay, so he did. And he would be fucking humming while they cleaned up and was happy. He was happy to clean.

When Wash came back it was to see an irritated Tucker because he had just been asked why he wasn't doing drills. Drills, drills, drills, drills! AGHHHHH! He couldn't help it. He whirled around, glared at Wash, and then started yelling and telling Simmons to shut up! Help them! HAH! All these useless drills were to help them?! Help them against what?! No one was attacking them!

Which was stupid, because right after he said that Sarge and Grif attacked. A two man team. Tucker groaned under his breath. For the love of...

The dad of the team was pissing everyone off at the moment, and Freckles wasn't making anything better. And... what?! Tucker lowered his gun when Sarge said he wasn't fraternizing with the enemy anymore! Enemy?! What enemy?! He almost hit his head when he realized that they were the enemy!

Tucker stared flatly when Sarge ranted about how he thought they could work together and become a little... purple. That was stupid. It was retarded.

Then they were accused of kidnapping the kissass!

Then arguments broke out, everyone was yelling at each other, Tucker got fed up with Wash and started getting furious with him, and Caboose was asking for a fucking newspaper so he could whack his stupid pet with it! They yelled some things, stupid things, and he now regretted ever yelling at Washington because that meant Caboose was the Captain now!

AGHHH!

Then fucking freckles shot Sarge and Grif! Tucker froze and stared in stunned silence when he saw Sarge getting thrown away from the warthog and hit the ground. Grif went somewhere behind the tank, but Tucker was too shocked that someone on their team—even if he was a robot—actually shot someone on the Red team. Sarge got up when Simmons ran towards him and asked if he was all right, though he waved him off and said he wouldn't.

And Tucker had to admit, that fucking scared him. Until Sarge opened his mouth and said he wouldn't be all right until he had his revenge.

Just when the dad of the team was about to enact said revenge everyone froze when they heard a gunshot.

For a moment, Tucker had thought Freckles actually shot Sarge, but it wasn't. It was... Donut! Tucker forgot all about the arguments and ran over with everyone else, too excited to be angry that Caboose was his commanding officer now.

Until Donut fucked up the day.

Beating up his ass just made it a tiny bit better.

They all went their separate ways, too pissed off to remain in each others presence. Tucker spent all day kicking everything out of the way and had to put whatever he kicked back to where it was because Freckles was monitoring. So he had to be extra careful, then he was given duty by Caboose to fix the comm. tower while Simmons whimpered pathetically beside him.

So, because he didn't want to die, he did as he was told. Tried to, in the beginning. Then he started pretending he was fixing it, because he didn't understand how to hell to even fix it. Stupid Caboose. Then Simmons made a stupid thing called 'Basebook' and got to the point of so pathetic he almost felt sorry for him.

Seriously, what the hell was with him and Sarge? He knows Simmons has daddy issues, but this is really, really sad. In a bad way.

When Wash walked up to him he ignored him and continued hitting the console, at first, and then tried following his directions, only to later realize that it was turned off. But talking to him... he calmed down and started talking to him. Sure, yeah... Wash was trying to help them... but he was trying to do it by turning them into something they're not. It was like... he expected them to act like real soldiers. And they weren't. He expected both the Reds and Blues to act like something they're not.

And that's what pissed Tucker off the most.

Tucker accepted it. That he would not turn into a badass like Tex. Like Carolina and Wash. Like any of the Freelancers. Sure, he was frustrated sometimes that he couldn't really protect himself against a single punch from Tex, but he knew that she trained hard to get where she was. That she was at a level no one could reach.

And he could never reach that position.

He was happy with it. Give them more work, and leave him relaxing and just do what he normally did when they were in the canyon. Except Caboose telling him to clean up the base. Where the hell did all that garbage even come from?

Wash apologized to Caboose... gave him a nice speech, he'd admit that. He had to agree, though, Church had abandoned them. Without a word. Fucking asshole. But, Caboose was happy with Wash, and even gave him back the leadership. Tucker was... well, he'd admit, that speech was enough to make him feel better. But being attacked ruined the moment. Stupid jerks. And just as the dad of the team appeared with the Reds Tucker froze when he heard a gunshot. They might not be the best soldiers, but they knew what a gunshot sounds like.

Then Felix appeared...

Wash was right to be paranoid. They should've never trusted that guy.

But they were confused and had no idea what was going on. They interrogated him, kinda. He seemed nice enough, and he sure gave everyone a scare when he said he was a freelancer, but they should have shot him. Tucker frowned while this guy told them that they were the greatest heroes in the galaxy. Was he serious? Was that how everyone saw them?

They were on Chorus, a backwater planet everyone forgot... fucking great.

He didn't really know what happened after that. They got ready, he fixed Caboose's helmet(how the hell he accomplished that, he'll never know), they fortified their position and Sarge ruined it by building a frickin' robot that wanted to kill them all. Apparently, their dumb robot put himself into it. Oh, and that's not all! He chose the time to attack the same time Locus did!

They were rushed, they did what they had to to survive and almost got a scare when Freckles went down. Never mind, they did have a scare when Freckles went down because when they hooked him up to the ship it was only to find out fucking Donut was downloading a stupid, fucking photo! He pissed everyone off right there. Except he heard the gunshot and Wash and Simmons calling for Donut...

Fuck it!

He ran towards Red base while cursing the pink soldier and dodged attacks at the same time. He was fucking awesome! He shut down Basebook when he arrived and almost relaxed that he was sure Freckles was getting power from the ship now.

Y'know, until he heard someone behind him.

His first thought was that he thought he was fucked and froze when he heard a gunshot. Except there was no pain. So he guessed it wasn't him that was shot. Turning around, he never expected to see Dos point 0 standing there... except it wasn't.

Tucker almost reared back when he realized it was Lopez!

He almost touched him to see if it was really him, but they needed to meet up with the others. He ran out of the base and heard Lopez heading after him. For a moment he thought they were going to survive. Except he didn't expect to see Wash go down when he arrived. He had to admit, his heart fucking stopped. He froze and called out for him and jumped when he heard a noise from Lopez and turned to see him down, as well. Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck!

He went for cover and called out for Lopez. He couldn't be, he had to be—

He almost relaxed when he heard Lopez shouting angrily in Spanish—they really needed a translator.

Tucker sighed in relief when he heard Sarge yelling angrily, like usual. Maybe they can still win, with the seven of them(Freckles included).

He froze when he heard a grunt and looked over to see Sarge gone from his post.

Where...?

He ducked back down and cursed when he heard more troops coming. Fuck. Fucking hell! Fuck this planet, seriously! He was pretty sure they were going to lose, and by losing that also meant dying, when Freckles went down. Caboose was obviously panicked because his pet was down, but they were going to fucking die now.

Tucker was actually about to jump out when they felt and heard a rumble. The hell was that? He then turned to see a hole suddenly appear in the wall with troops running out. That had to have been the backup Felix had called. All he had heard Felix say was that they had to go.

So that's what he did.

He was sure Grif and Simmons, or at least Simmons and Grif, would grab Sarge and Caboose was heft Wash on his back and someone would grab Lopez and Donut. They had to... Except when he got there, he only saw three run into the tunnel.

He saw Wash. He could see him, standing up. He was sure he was going to run for it, to make it, to lead them.

He never expected the idiot to tell Freckles to shake.

Tucker yelled out for him and the next everything was black.

When he woke up, it was to hear Felix talking to him soothingly... well, not soothingly, but in a way that didn't hurt his fucking pounding head. They carried him to base after a rock hit his head. Or rather, Caboose did. He took a brief look around and noticed the ceiling of a cave and didn't bother trying to notice anything else. They wouldn't be here long, right?

So he had to ask... Where Sarge was. Wash. Donut and Lopez. Freckles.

They had to leave them.

War, Felix said. No, fuck that. No, they couldn't be dead. Nothing could kill them! They were proof that nothing could kill them! They were the universe's worst soldiers and they were still standing! Tucker got pissed off, he had a right to be pissed off. He told Felix to fuck off, because no way was Wash and the others dead. Not them. Not Sarge, Wash, Donut, Lopez, and even Freckles. No way.

He grudgingly listened to Kimball when she introduced herself, too pissed off to even try hitting on her, and left when she recommended that he go see the others that made it. The only ones of their group that made it. He walked through this sad excuse of a base and ignored everyone that muttered to each other and openly stared at him, as if... as if he was the answer to all their prayers. Yeah, right.

He found Grif, Simmons, and Caboose looking at a canteen or something. Just them. The four of them... possibly the only ones that survived. They were in a cave in the middle of a jungle. Simmons and Grif argued, maybe to try and make it normal, to make it seem like nothing was wrong and it didn't affect them... but he couldn't get past the fact that it was only them. They all went quiet when they had to face it.

It was only them.

Felix called them, so they followed and stood in front of Kimball. He was too pissed off. Pissed off at this war, the rebels, the leaders, the mercenaries, because fuck everything. This whole thing was too stupid. Yeah, sure, the rebels needed their help, like it was going to make any differenc—... Wait...

Tucker stepped forward, along with the others, when he heard that the others were alive. They weren't dead? They were alive? They can save them? Sarge, Wash, Donut, and Lopez were alive! Except he didn't know if Freckles was alive, but they were alive!

Except it was a quid pro quo... or whatever that fucking meant. They needed to be in this fucking war to save their friends. They help these rebels and they save their friends. He heard Grif mutter "oh shit" under his breath and he agreed.

And they gave these idiots hope. Them. The worst soldiers in history. The problem was that they didn't know how to lead. Sarge may be... well, to be honest, he was a shitty leader, but he was still a leader. He gave orders and shit. And Wash was a leader. They never led anyone before!

They needed to try... Wash said he needed to try... Tucker frowned and could practically feel the reluctance from Grif and Simmons. They didn't even know if they could do this.

Stupid Wash... stupid Sarge... they all suck.

Now, Tucker was forced to be a leader to a bunch of people that didn't know how to fight. They must've gotten their info wrong, if they thought they know how to teach people shit. They can't fight, they can't do anything without screwing something up. Tucker liked to think it was a talent sometimes.

He was bunking with Caboose, which he hated. Hated hearing the big guy whimpering in his bed when they went to bed. Crying that he wanted Freckles, wondered what happened to Wash and the Reds. Tucker didn't know. He wanted their group back together and then they could leave. He didn't really care about this stupid civil war. He just wanted to go.

Find Junior.

Go back home.

Simmons and Grif were bunking together, which was no surprise there. They loved each other. Secretly married, whatever. He made the mistake of saying that out loud when they were having their lover's quarrel and had to run for about ten meters when Grif ran after him. Okay, sure, they were friends, but that was hard to distinguish when they were together.

It was the same routine. Try to teach the rebels and hoping that their friends were alive... Well, friends was stretching it, but still.

He had been sitting with Simmons and Grif while Caboose tried teaching the rebels some manoeuvres. They could barely keep up with the hyperactive Blue.

"...Do you think he'll accidentally teach 'em something?" Grif asked, leaning back with something in his hand while they were sitting on the stairs. "Ten bucks says he will."

Simmons was quiet for a moment. "...I want to switch teams."

Grif and Tucker turned their heads and frowned at him. "Why?" Tucker asked, staring at the man like he was crazy.

"Uh..." Simmons shifted in his seat and shrugged. "No reason, just want to."

Didn't Simmons have the team that consisted of only girls? Tucker rolled his eyes and looked back to Caboose as he did jumping jacks in his civvies. It was rare that they were outside their armour, it was practically melded to them. It made Tucker uncomfortable, if he was honest. People stared, the first time they were out of their armour. At Caboose because of his height and how fucking ripped he was, and him, because he was clearly awesome, at Grif because they hadn't expected his weight, and at Simmons because of his cybernetic parts.

But they were fucking awesome.

As soon as they were done with lunch they were getting back into their armour and continue this stupid training.

"So, uh..." Shit, he didn't know how to bring this up. "Do you think Sarge—Wash, Donut, and Lopez are okay?" He kept his eyes at the two Reds. He needed to make sure he wasn't the only one who saw Sarge at the dad of the team.

Grif rolled his eyes and huffed while Simmons sat straight. "He is, I mean... at least I hope so!" Simmons looked worried, glancing at his food with a frown, clearly thinking of only Sarge. "He... He's fine. Wash is fine, too, I'm sure." He gave Tucker an uncomfortable smile. "They're all fine." He sounded like he was trying to comfort himself.

"Yeah..." Tucker narrowed his eyes slightly. "So... what position would you say Sarge is... in our group of crazy bastards?"

Simmons and Grif turned to him with frowns. "What do you mean?" The orange soldier actually stopped eating to stare at him.

"Is he... like the crazy brother that builds stuff... or the grumpy uncle?" He shrugged lightly and continued to stare. "I'm obviously the cool cousin because I don't want to be seen with any of you."

"You're being seen with us now, asshole," Grif rolled his eyes and scoffed. "How the hell should we know? Why bring this up anyway?" He suddenly started eyeing him strangely, which Tucker didn't care for. He just wanted to know.

"Uh..." Simmons blushed in embarrassment and looked away. "W-Why?"

"Just 'cause." Tucker shrugged, trying to play it cool.

"We-Well, I—"

"I think mister sergeant would be a great dad," Caboose suddenly piped up, which made them all jump in surprise to see him panting lightly with sweat on his face and a wide smile. Tucker relaxed slightly. Oh, good, he wasn't the only one that saw him that way. Even if it was Caboose. "He was very nice to me, and doesn't act like my dad at all." Okay, now he just made them uncomfortable.

"Sarge?" Grif gave Caboose a flat stare, still leaning back. He still forgot about his food, wow. "...Sarge was nice to you?" Caboose nodded. "A blue?" Caboose nodded once again. "...Bullshit."

"But he was!" Caboose whined and even added a stomp to the ground.

"Until I see it, I'm calling bullshit," Grif wasn't moved and continued to munch out. He wasn't moved by the pout Caboose gave him. "I'd say he was more of the asshole uncle that said shit and our family doesn't speak to him anymore." He paused and frowned in distaste. "W-Why the hell are we even talking about this? Screw this, let's go train!"

Simmons piped up. "You want to willingly train?" He gave a flat stare.

"When I say train, I mean you assholes give 'em drills and I'll comment from the side."

"Of course." Simmons rolled his eyes with a smirk.

Then it was left alone, which satisfied Tucker.

He later heard, when they were getting ready to turn in, Simmons ask Grif the same thing. Grif responded with a snore, one that sounded to fake. Tucker was almost knocked aside by Caboose when he rushed towards the room and said he was going to go to sleep so the days went faster and that they could rescue their friends.

He hated Palomo. He was an annoying shit. The others on his squad were all right, they didn't piss him off. But Palomo... Ugh, if he wasn't looked at with respect he'd probably punch him. The man just got on his nerves by always seeming to mess everything up. He didn't know how the others were doing with their squads, but he had heard Simmons' entire team consisted of girls and he couldn't talk to them without his voice cracking up.

Grif and Tucker teased him for days.

He heard Caboose's squad could barely keep up, but Caboose couldn't make a plan in the middle of a war zone worth shit so they only exercised.

Grif... well, he heard that he made his squad do everything. So, no surprise there.

He and Caboose were getting ready for bed when one of Caboose's troops walked up to them, and Tucker had to stop as well because Caboose couldn't navigate through this cave worth shit.

"Captain Caboose," Did he mention they were promoted? Fucking awesome. Wow, this guy sounded macho. He just wished he dropped the goody act. Tucker rolled his eyes when he even saluted. "The team wished to know if you would be willing to train with us for another half hour."

"It's time for bed, Smithy." Caboose sounded tired and turned to acknowledge the smaller man. Small for him, this guy was taller than Tucker.

"It's Smith, sir. And yes, I realize, but—"

Tucker scowled and groaned when he realized that he would need to stay because Caboose wouldn't be able to find his way to the barracks. He turned his head when he saw Grif and Simmons heading for the barracks, and the orange soldier was actually power walking at the chance to sleep. Fuck that.

He waved them over, seeing them pause and hesitate.

If he had to suffer, so did they.

Since it was just them... out of their group... they didn't trust anyone. Oh, sure, they talked to people. But they didn't bother to get to know anyone else. Not without making sure that their friends were okay. They couldn't really relax since they've been here. They slept, they exercised, but they were too round up. Even Grif. Just knowing that it was possible to save their friends... but not knowing if they were being tortured.

In the end, the three of them sat on the ground while Caboose trained with his troops because he didn't know how to say no. Tucker sighed and rubbed the back of his head and glanced at the two Reds. He should probably be surprised they even agreed to sit with them, but... not really.

"...Did you know... that Wash... liked playing the game?" He tried making conversation and glanced at his two friends. "...Capture the flag?"

Grif snorted. "Game? It wasn't a game to Sarge," He waved his hand in the air and made a noise, something between a snort and a scoff. "He didn't know how to admit defeat, especially from a Blue." He sounded like he was grinning. "He'd sulk around the base for days until the next match."

"It was tough, trying to compete against Washington," Simmons said and shook his head, helmet off and holding a bottle of water. "I'm not surprised that Sarge marched over one day and started yelling at Washington."

Tucker looked at him and frowned. "What?" He didn't know this. "When?"

Grif turned his head. "Oh, yeah. Marched over one day with just Wash and Caboose outside and started yelling about how Wash wasn't giving us a chance to win. Then he...!" He started snickering and waving his hand. "Then he started scolding Wash like he was a kid!"

"Yeah, agent Washington was embarrassed." Simmons sounded like he was laughing, as well.

Aw, man, Tucker would have given anything to see that.

They didn't get anymore time to reflect on the past before Caboose was done and he wandered over with heavy pants. Tucker frowned to himself. This meant waiting for Caboose to finish a shower so he didn't stink up the room. But he walked towards the wash racks while Simmons and Grif headed towards the barracks.

Several months passed, and it turned out he was competent enough to go into the field, whereas Caboose, Grif, and Simmons still needed to do some more practice. Hah, suckers. They infiltrated some bases, had to retreat some bases, and blew up some bases. So far it was proving to be a waste of time. They hadn't heard anything about their friends—and at the same time not-friends—in months! Then came that same fear that they might be... dead. No, no, they still had information that they were alive, they just didn't know where.

Until they found information in one base, and like hell Tucker was going to let this opportunity go by. He got it, and in return he lost the lives of two people on his team. Which left Palomo... fucking loser. Tucker wanted to hit him every time he opened his stupid mouth. There were times he actually almost shot him. He didn't know why, he just hated that asshole.

When it gave Kimball the information they needed to save them, he was ready. He wanted to rescue their friends, all right, he could admit that they're all friends. Even if some of them them didn't see it that way(Sarge). They were ready, he could even sense some anticipation from Grif even if he tried to hide it. They could do it. Then Kimball said no. She fucking said no. Not enough resources. Okay, then. She said they could go, if they made an elite team. Felix sounded was about to prove him wrong, they will make their team the best damn team ever.

He just wished Palomo wasn't in the damn team.

Even if Felix didn't want to be their target, it didn't matter. They beat him, and they can go.

They just didn't count on him actually fighting against them. Well, he didn't do much, but it was enough to overwhelm them. It was humiliating, it was almost as if Felix was trying to humiliate them. It pissed Tucker off to no end.

So he had to confront the bastard and ask why he was making this difficult. Their goal was so close!

And Felix was right, as much as he hated it, if they took anyone else with them they might die. But he was starting to piss him off. He wasn't trying to be something he wasn't! All he wanted to do was save his friends and leave! That's what he's been trying to do from the beginning! He wasn't trying to be a hero or anything! He was a selfish son of a bitch that wanted his family and to leave this shitty planet!

Tucker inwardly thanked Kimball for stopping Felix before Tucker punched him... well, try to punch him. The asshole's good, he'll give him that.

He scowled when Felix had to make one last remark. So he said Felix doesn't care if anyone dies, which is true. He kept scowling when Kimball asked him to walk with her and talk. Fuck. He listened, and almost panicked when she said her predecessors were assassinated. Shit, it couldn't be good to be near her. He found out Felix and Locus worked together once before. Rivals. So Felix only joined this war because of Locus and rare artifacts. Huh. But he didn't really care about that, except he could kind of guess why Felix was such a hardass. And She was right, they were slowly making progress, but not fast enough. They had Wash's coordinates. They had their coordinates. They could go save them right now, but...

They couldn't go save them right now...

Felix was right, if they took the elite team they'd probably just get killed. But them, the Blues and Reds... No one had their luck.

No matter what they did, through all the stuff they went through, they were lucky sons of bitches. They got through everything they did through sheer luck. Sarge got shot in the fucking head and survived. Grif had most of his organs destroyed and lived. Tucker had to fend for himself in the fucking desert. They were in fights they should have killed them and they survived.

So, when he made sure Kimball left her office he snuck in and started looking for the data they needed. He found it, along with a few personal things of Kimball's he left alone because he wasn't a creep that snooped her stuff. He looked through them, and left just as quickly.

He went looking for the others and was definitely confused as to why Grif ran up to him and started saying crap that wasn't making sense. What did Grif even mean by not wanting a southern accent? He quickly shook it off and told him to meet him later. When they asked why he then told them they were leaving. They were all confused, when he said they weren't taking their squad, and soon understood when he explained why they were leaving the team behind. But they were still confused as to why they should even go, since they thought it might get themselves killed.

So Tucker told them.

Everything they've practically done has been dumb. They don't make plans, they don't use code names, they've just been themselves. Which is practically dumb.

Simmons was against it, immediately started protesting because they were going to have no plan. But Grif surprised the hell out of them. He didn't want to become a 'Sarge'... whatever that meant, but he didn't want to give shitty orders to a bunch of soldiers that would probably just get them killed. They sucked. But Caboose was in, so they all looked at Simmons when he remained the only one that didn't say anything. When he begrudgingly decided to come along Tucker grinned. They left a message and left, nodding to some of the soldiers that greeted them.

He had Simmons be on the lookout, since Caboose probably wouldn't even understand what to do, while they got the two jeeps ready. Grif filled them up and checked them over. And it was moments like these that Tucker realized that Grif actually had some training if he knew how to work practically any vehicle he came across.

They were soon leaving, leaving the Rebels and any chances of getting them killed.

Yeah, he'd rather not have that on his conscience.

So they went, with Caboose frequently complaining that he needed a bathroom break. Tucker kept snapping at him to hold it until they needed to refill. They weren't the best soldiers, but a short time with Carolina taught them that they could go for hours until they needed to stop. Not that they tried. They did stop every two hours until they arrived at the gas station.

They heard some sort of noise, one that made Tucker frown before he assumed it was the owners and told Caboose to go get them. Then he told Grif and Simmons to fill up the cars and scowled when Grif told him to do it himself. Okay, sure he had to go bathroom but he didn't need to be a dick. How haven't they died, yet? He had to guess pure luck.

Maybe spending some time with Wash made him paranoid or something. But he went to go investigate that noise, hearing voices and seeing Caboose round the corner. He grabbed him and gave him the signal to be silent, and of course he couldn't, so he crept to the edge and peered over with Simmons and Grif on his six. They stayed quiet, staring at the strange soldiers.

Who were they? Are they the Feds? He heard them mention Reds and Blues and almost jumped up. Did they say Locus?

He narrowed his eyes when they turned and went around the corner, so he got up and ran after them. If he could just find out which direction they were going in... When he ran around the corner he startled when he realized they disappeared. What the hell? Who were they? And he heard that noise again...

They needed to go.

They went back to the gas station and refilled the tanks and were on their way to the base. If that conversation meant anything... it probably meant that they were going to move Wash and them soon. They needed to leave, now.

"Where did our new friends go?" Caboose asked over their shared channel.

"Hell if we know," Grif said, leading the way since Simmons was navigating. "Why should we even care?"

"Maybe because we've never seen them before." Simmons said sarcastically.

Tucker rolled his eyes when they started bickering again, with Caboose commenting every now and then. Almost... They were almost there. He knew as soon as he noticed that snow was starting to surround them. He was almost reminded of Sidewinder. They drove for a couple more hours before they finally arrived, and they stood on one side of a wall.

Okay, now for their talent.

He asked for suggestions. Simmons' was just asking for them to get shot. Grif wasn't taking this seriously, as usual. They needed dumber. Something the enemy wouldn't expect. How...? When Caboose suggested that they melt it he rolled his eyes before he paused. Wait... it could work. They could go under! Grif and Simmons were instantly skeptical, but c'mon! They always made dumb plans! Now they just needed a way to melt the snow. Tucker grinned when he realized he had a way to melt it and stabbed his sword into the ground.

He paused.

Wait, this might take a while.

They stared at the sword in the ground for a moment and jolted when they heard a loud noise and felt the ground beneath them give.

They all yelped when they fell and hit the ground and pushed themselves up. It worked! Tucker grinned and froze when he heard a voice, and they all turned as one in the direction of the voice. They panicked, and he instantly felt irritated when he didn't plan this far ahead. Fuck! They couldn't just go running down the tunnels, there could be more guards. They panicked again.

Then... fuck, he still didn't remember how... but somehow... Grif built snowmen in record time and they hid inside.

He had to kill the soldier that wanted to play target practice with them but they hid the body, rather poorly, and he felt ecstatic when Simmons said there was nothing between them and the base. They were close! Except that wasn't quite what Simmons meant.

He stared at the open space, absolutely nothing to shield them from anyone. They couldn't sneak across. But... maybe they could. Nobody was there.

But as soon as he fucking said it out loud they heard a horn and suddenly people were suddenly there. Fuck. So he turned and wandered down the tunnel and stared at the pipes. Those had to be important, right? They could do this. Cause problems elsewhere and send the soldiers there and they can make a run for it. Hell, he was even ready to be locked up with Wash and everyone else.

But Simmons made a good point. What if Grif got shot. There was only three of them and they couldn't carry him, even with Caboose's help. He stared at the orange soldier, who wasn't even offended, and decided... fuck it. He told Caboose to do his thing and smirked when the Blue soldier jumped and immediately 'cleaned' the pipes by shooting them.

They could hear the alarms and Tucker frowned when he heard nothing. But when he heard something about the barracks all the soldiers ran away from the area. He ran towards the nearest entrance to the base and felt exasperated when he could already hear Grif panting hard.

Running through the tunnels and making it to the door... well, he can honestly say that none of them expected to see Wash, Sarge, Donut, and Lopez on the either side. Tucker had gawked when he saw Wash and almost shot him to see if he was real. Didn't know why that logic popped into his head, he might be hanging around with Caboose too much.

Simmons and Grif looked straight at Sarge and almost were clearly shocked, like they thought they would never see him again. Caboose was clearly happy to see everyone, but he scanned them and almost dropped when he realized that Freckles wasn't with them. Tucker relaxed when he saw that Wash was all right. He wasn't dead. He was alive. He looked at the dad of the team.

Sarge was already fighting with Grif.

Tucker smirked and rolled his eyes.

They hadn't even noticed anything off until Simmons pointed out that the alarms were off. This gave Tucker an uneasy feeling, which only grew when they ran outside to see that everyone was gone. What the fuck? He frowned and asked Wash what was going on. When they ran over the hill to catch up with Sarge, Lopez, and Donut it was only to see a man disintegrate.

Tucker didn't have a weak stomach, not as weak as Simmons', but he was close to losing his chunks after that.

Fuck.