Okay, this is new for me. Normally, I never write Freelancer stuff without the Reds and Blues being a pivotal part of the story, but reading a few of them I didn't want to be left out.

So background information: This will be an AU, with little to do with the actual show's plot line. I'll be sort of making things up as I go along so I when I her things like "That never happened" I will laugh and point to the AN. Now, how about that first chapter?

Chapter 1

Flick it on, flick it off. Flick it on, flick it off. The tiny dancing flame of that little lighter was the only real interesting object of interest to York's semi-drunk mind. He'd stumbled around the club trying to find his lousy excuses for friends. But after about fifteen minutes he realized they'd taken off. It had happened before, sometimes he and his friends drank a little too much and forgot someone in their group, but he hadn't ever been on the receiving end.

But it couldn't have happened in a nicer place. Club Errera, one of the high rise class dance clubs/bars in New Alexandria, the crown jewel of Reach itself. The pulsing neon lights of the dance floor and the walls and the tables had given him a headache quite early on and he had decided to retreat to the less well lit bar area. He'd quickly sensed the very depressing feeling of being alone after he'd called his friends up on his cell phone and had reminded them they'd left him. They said they'd be there in about half an hour, so he'd tried his luck with some of the ladies, and had struck out. The bar tender was an alright guy to talk to, but he was a bit too busy and distracted for any meaningful conversation.

So he was left to this little lighter he'd had in his pocket. It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing. He knew he looked fairly dejected, maybe that was why he heard the unmistakable clicking of high heels coming up behind him. He grinned to himself, and began to turn around to try and lay some moves on whatever fine lady had decided to join him up at the bar. But when he turned he was absolute dumbstruck at what happened next.

"Hey!" he yelped, seeing a redheaded woman with piercing green eyes looking right back at him. In her hands she holds the lighter, and her pink lips form an entertained smirk as she watches him look at her.

"You seem a little lonely," she says looking at the lighter in her hands, "What's the matter?"

"Oh not much, just hanging out," York grinned.

"By yourself? Sounds like a good time," she replied sarcastically, not to impressed.

"Well when your buddies have a bit too much to drink and move on without you the good times don't tend to last," York said.

"Well then, I suppose you don't have to worry about them for now. Which means you can buy me a drink," the redhead replied gracefully sliding into a bar stool next to him.

York couldn't help but grin to himself at how easy he thought this potential hookup might be. He let his eyes take in the white spaghetti strap top she had on all the way down past the blue miniskirt to the brown high heeled boots that reached nearly to her knees. Her body was lean and toned, with curves in all the right places. She had on a little bit of eyeliner, as well as a tiny amount of blush applied to her cheeks.

"Well, since I'm buying you a drink perhaps I could know your name?" York said, tapping the bar as he called for a round.

"Carolina," she said, taking the tequila in her hand as she looked back at York.

"Carolina huh? Seems like a…unique name. You can call me…"

"Agent New York," she said, cutting him off abruptly.

"E-excuse me?"

"Your new codename. Apparently you've caught the interest of some people in high places, and you've been offered the spot."

"A spot? A spot where?" York asked, "What is this?"

"Project Freelancer, a subdivision of ONI Sector Three. You've been selected for a very exclusive club. Question I have, are you in?"

Several Years Later, Present Day

Oh he got in alright, after a few more drinks and a visit to the ONI building where the Project was just getting its feet under it he'd joined Project Freelancer as Agent New York. After a hard and drawn out series of specialty training schools and combat courses he'd been sent off to his current posting, the UNSC Mother of Invention. The perks of the job were pretty damned cool, he got a bigger paycheck than most military personnel, and he had been outfitted with a state of the art suit of armor which he had colored to his choice of course.

But on a more personal note, he now had daily contact with the lovely and fiery redhead known as Agent Carolina. She'd been there every step of the way, from training to his current posting. There were other lovely ladies of course, but York had begun to feel something quite special between him and Carolina, although whether or not this feeling was mutual was yet to be determined. But there was only one way to find out now wasn't there? He was currently sitting in the mess hall eating a late dinner after some training with a few of the higher ranked Agents; Maine, North Dakota, South Dakota, Washington, and of course Carolina.

"Well I'd say that went as well as could be expected," North said as he sat down across from York.

"If by expected you mean Carolina beating the hell out of us, then yeah, it went pretty well," Washington said as he sat next to South.

"I still say she cheated with using that chameleon thing of hers," South growled as she stabbed her fork into her baked potato with enough force to make an audible noise of metal hitting porcelain echo in the nearly empty mess hall.

"In combat there aren't any rules South," Carolina suddenly spoke up from behind South, "The enemy won't play fair and neither should we. That's something we should all remember."

She circled around and sat next to York as Maine came around with three plates stacked with every food item that was available at the line and sat next to her.

"Hey I'm not complaining, I was on your side that last round," York grinned, flashing a smile to Carolina who just smirked.

"I am," Maine said, "Every time I made a move a blotch of that damned paint was stuck to me."

"You just need to watch your corners Maine," Wash said trying to offer some advice but got an evil eye from Maine as he shoveled half a burger into his mouth.

"You didn't do much better either Wash," York chuckled, "I'm fairly sure you didn't beat me once that entire session."

"Yeah I did," Wash snapped defensively, "Remember when you tried to jump over that block in the first round? That was me who shot you right in the face."

"Oh whoopdee doo, one point to Wash," South groaned.

York smirked and stole a glance over at Carolina who was listening detached from the arguing and banter going on between what was effectively her team as she ate. All she had grabbed was a pair of sandwiches and a bag of baked wheat chips and a glass of water. She'd never been a big eater, that much was for certain, but she was always in the zone of train, combat, class, repeat. She never seemed to loosen up, not even amongst her closest friends.

"Hey Carolina something on your mind?" York asked, steering conversation away from how Maine hated being teamed up on by the Dakotas.

"A new batch of Agents is arriving tomorrow. Some of them are apparently from the ODST's, so the Director is wanting to put them through some tests so we'll be off duty. But I want you all to be there. See who our new team mates will be."

"Why is it always business with you Carolina, loosen up. We're off the clock."

"Soldiers are never off the clock," Carolina responded.

"But we are off duty. Come on, let's just chill out in the rec room and have some fun," York chided, trying to get her to loosen up.

"There's a few new movies that just came out that Wash got last time we were at space dock," North offered.

"You get movies?" South scoffed.

"Of course, the selection here sucks."

"I'll get the popcorn," Maine said, "Just no chick flicks."

"No problem," Wash chuckled.

"Where'll you get popcorn?" South asked.

"I have my ways of…convincing the mess hall staff."

"So that's why you get three plates," North chuckled, knowing the implied meaning to Maine's answer.

"Come on Carolina, who knows when we might get another off day," York pleaded.

He could see her scowl at first, then her expression started to soften as the idea stewed in her mind. She was clearly considering it, this might be York's time to try and take their friendship to the next level. He'd wanted more than friendship with her, he'd tried all manner of things to try and spend time with her, but being aboard a ship on deep space patrols with the occasional stop at a supply station with leave coming around maybe once every few months there wasn't ample opportunity to try for that one moment that could take a relationship to the next level. And this was it.

"Alright, but I do want to meet the new Agents before I take the day off."

"Sweet, you see? It's not that hard to take a breather and let yourself relax."

York, in his exhilaration, tried to wrap and arm around Carolina's waist. She hadn't seen it coming at all, and she was able to predict many things. But when she felt York's arm around her waist, she felt her chest tighten up, and her eyes momentarily widened in surprise. Then she realized what it was York was doing. She fought viciously to keep a slight blush from creeping into her cheeks as she contemplated what to do. The gentle warmth around her side wasn't unwelcome, but it wasn't asked for. She wanted to pull away, but she didn't want to at the same time. It was a conundrum that seemed to loop over and over through her head as the conversation moved on to what movies Washington had.

"Hey Carolina you ever seen The Drop? That movie about ODST's fighting the Covenant on Earth?" South asked.

"Huh? What?" Carolina stuttered, her attention still primarily on what to do about York's arm that was wrapped around her waist.

South eyed her and then caught a glimpse of tan on the opposite side of York and the two women subtly came to understand what exactly was going on.

"You okay Carolina?" York asked, mercifully removing his hand.

"I'm fine, just zoning out is all," Carolina said, finishing her glass of water, "It's late, I'm uh-gonna shower and grab some shut eye. I'll catch up with you at the rec center tomorrow."

"Alright, see ya," Wash replied.

"Damn, so close," York grumbled to himself, but then realized he'd said that out loud.

"York? What was so close?" North inquired.

"Oh-umm…nothing."

"Oh bullshit, I saw where you so conveniently placed your arm. You've got the hots for Carolina," South snapped, grinning maliciously.

"Hmph," Maine chuckled to himself as he continued to shovel in food, "You trying to hook up with Carolina. You'd have better luck convincing the sun not to rise."

"Oh I don't know about that. I'd say tomorrow will tell."

Well, first one done. I'll try to have another one up when I can. But my main goal is to have two chapters always not present. One done, another in the making. That way, when one chapter takes a long time I can upload the buffer to hopefully buy time to keep your interest.

Next Chapter Preview: Movie Night! A good day to try and get to first base.