Chapter 1: " I came to say I'm sorry."

After Carolinas breakdown, Tex finds herself on the training floor in a moment of reflection. A restless York just happens to be watching her in place of the resting Carolina. For reasons she won't admit, Tex invites him down on the floor. Not to fight, but to talk. She doesn't expect to end up enthralled in the conversation, nor does she expect it to help as much as it does.

(A/N Do review my dear readers.)

You should've done it. Got it over with.

Omega was easy to ignore when Tex was focusing on the force and power of her

fists. The results were different when she had her finger on a trigger. Or her hands

on an axe...

She set the paint gun she was idly twirling back on the table provided. Immediately,

F.I.L.L.S had it swallowed back into the training floor for future use.

She's asleep. It would be quick and quiet. A pillow will work.

She thought back with as much venom as possible, I'm not killing her.

And why not?

Why should I?

I'll bet she wouldn't think this hard if the decision was reversed.

A bet isn't a fact, Omega. Retire. Now.

At last he granted her peace and withered from existence in a silver flash. But even

without being visible his scratching death threats were still peeling at the very corners

of her mind.

Clearly, there would be no training tonight. As the director was so cautious about

hinting at, Omega was obsessed with the hope of taking over. Taking over what she

wasn't sure. She wasn't sympathetic in any large measure. All Omega was really

doing was taking the cap off the gas can and dousing a fire that already existed. The

little cock-bite.

She turned when she heard a heavily muffled clink above her head. Her chin rose to

meet the window overlooking the training floor. Corner to corner she noticed nothing

unusual. And then, there was York, trying to sit up in his seat, leaning with an obvious

exhaustion on one of the desks by the glass. A full mug of coffee was beside him,

fogging the glass and distorting his reflection. He yawned. Sat up. Rubbed his eyes,

blinked, and yawned once more before their gazes finally met.

Neither had been previously aware of the other.

She was bemused.

He seemed nervous.

She raised a hand to assure his attention belonged to her and when he waved back,

she bent her finger toward herself. Any company but Omega was good company.

"Come down!" She called up.

He pointed to himself then pressed his hand to the glass and Tex could see him mouth

an incredulous, "Me?"

She curved her hip and put a hand on it with a confirming nod.

He left and seconds later, the doors hissed open and out stepped the unarmored York

and his scolding coffee cup.

Tex sat down, her back to him,"Hey, York."

It wasn't that she wasn't happy to see him. York was actually one of the freelancers

she was able to pretty easily tolerate. His caution around her wasn't as cold as

Carolina's or as awkward as Wash's. It wasn't the misguided animosity South nurtured

or the distant acknowledgment of everyone else. She wasn't just a big secret to York,

it seemed. There was no riddle to unravel or some plot to be exposed. At least not

with her. He was suspicious of the project itself, but when it came down to it, she was

just one of them.

She wasn't sure how she felt about being 'one of them' yet.

He stayed standing, waiting for an invitation she guessed. She just sat there, smiling

in her helmet, not giving him the permission he seemed to need. One day she would

ask him how he managed to retain manners in a field that demanded nothing short of

no mercy.

She would have preferred to keep training but the experience was soured by Omegas

constant malicious suggestions. Each punch and jab had become more and more irate

until she was nothing more than flustered and annoyed.

Why couldn't she have a normal, or at least calm,AI like everyone else?

Were any of the AI's normal-at all?

She peeked up at the observation rooms glass windows, pointedly ignoring York's

impatient shuffling behind her. No one was watching today.

No freelancers (Sans York)

No Carolina.

No Director.

It would've been embarrassing if anyone but York had found the badass Texas,

relaxing like a shy teenager on a picnic blanket, sitting cross-legged in the

middle of the floor. She didn't even have her weapons on her, no gun to pretend to be

cleaning.

"York." She acknowledged again, trying at last to insert the invitation into her tone.

She heard him chuckle behind her, then a rustle of casual clothing as he came around

to sit, cross-legged as well. With black sweats and a stupid graphic sports shirt he

appeared ready to retire, as if he had caught her image in passing and decided to say

goodnight. He used his arms as support and leaned back.

"Hey, Texas."

"Tex." she said.

"Huh?"

"Just Tex." She repeated and with a childlike admiration added, "I like it better. Rolls

off the tongue."

He rolled his shoulders back a bit, "Does make it a lil' easier to say, doesn't it? So,

what's wrong, Tex? You seem a little off."

She exhaled, "A little. Eh- it's just the AI thing."

"You sound like Wash. He's pretty nervous about his implantation too."

She laughed, with no humor present, "Yeah...at least he doesn't have one yet." She

froze and looked at York, hard.

He was the one with no armor on, so why did she feel so vulnerable? He had a

perpetual ghost of a smile on his face as he listened to her.

At her sudden attention, he set his coffee aside and shot into a stiff sitting position.

Frantically, his hands roamed his body. When he found nothing out of place, he looked

back up with a wry smile.

"Not a fan of Grifball?" he patted the logo on his shirt.

She smirked, "York, you dork. I was just wondering. Since you met me, you've been...nice."

She put a hard emphasis on the 'N' in nice.

"Oh. I thought you were looking at my eye."

"Nah," She looked at the scarred white tissue when he said it. Luckily, York couldnt follow her gaze through her visor as long as she didnt turn her head. She stretched her armored legs out, "Well, that too. You didn't have to try to help me in that paint match."

"Well," He shrugged back into his original position, "You didn't have to stop when

Carolina went down. Honestly, I thought you were gonna go in on her while she was

screaming."

"So you came to say thanks?"

York pressed his lips together and squinted as if trying to pinpoint an answer. Tex

accidentally snickered aloud. She couldn't help it. Without his helmet on, without their

helmets on, the other freelancers emotions were so interesting. The only expression

she didn't like was the anguish on Carolina's face when her AI wouldn't stop.

She didn't like that face at all. The red pieces of hair that fell around the straining

mouth and the tightly squeezed eyes. But then, just as Omega had started whispering

in her ear...

End her. Do it.

Win.

You know you want to.

DO IT.

That was when Carolina's expression changed. Much like York's, her lips had pressed

together, holding back the painful moans, and her green eyes had all the exposure

her voice never held. She was hurt and no one was going to help her. No one could.

The only person with the power to had denied her.

York finally spoke, "No Tex. I didn't come to say thank you, but I do wanna say that

too. I came to say I'm sorry."

"Sorry?"

"Sorry," York crossed his fingers and placed the hand over his heart, "I'm sorry for

how I judged you. I should've known you wouldn't kick her while she was down.

You're not a dirty fighter."

Tex could've raised her own eyebrows as a flower of guilt bloomed in her chest, oddly

outside of the armor. She almost checked to see if York could see it. She had killed

C.T just for calling her a shadow, taken the credit from Carolina for retrieving the

package, and abandoned both Carolina and York to get the sarcophagus back to

command. Washington was only spared because he had been riding the package at

the time. She may have lost to her anger, or Omega or whatever, those times. But

Omegalost during her and Carolinas match. She considered that a TKO.

"It wasn't an easy decision. Omega wanted her out- for good."

York snapped his fingers, making an echo in the empty training floor behind his voice,

"Funny you'd say that. Ya know, Delta was runnin' probabilities for you killing her that

night and he came out 50/50. I guess that means you wanted her alive. You don't

hate her."

"Of course I don't. Carolina has beef with me."

There was a silence for a moment. Tex looked away, towards the huge doors and then

back up at the observatory room. Still no eavesdroppers.

"Oh, shit."

She turned to York and found him looking at Omegas silver hologram. Deltas green

glowed to life in front of him like a watchdog.

"Omega, I am sure you are aware of the protocol of AI appearing to those who are

not their host."

"S'alright, D. I'm sure Omega's just curi-"

"Omega, offline." Tex snapped. The AI blinked away with a growl. "I'd rather he not

interrupt this conversation."

"He's creepier than Sigma. Retire, D." He caught her eyes as he turned from Delta,"So

I take it your enjoyingthis then?"

She ignored his dumb grin, "A little. Apology accepted, by the way. And you're

welcome for my notpummeling Carolina."

He gave a mockingly crisp bow, bending at the abdomen, "Thank you. And you're

welcome...also, by the way."

"What the hell should I be thanking youfor?" Tex asked, rocking her left foot back and forth.

"Well, we understand that here at Project freelancer you have many choices in

running your mouth and we appreciate that you have chosen York's suh-mooth

hotline services to-"

She tipped her foot enough to tap his knee," Oh, shut up...thanks, York."

A little relief trickled out in her tone, but she didnt mind. Especially when he stretched

one leg out and tapped her back, house slippers against armor.

"You're welcome, Tex."