[video]

[ownperson]

[ The woman on the video may look somewhat familiar; it's the shape of her face, the ice blue of her eyes, the blonde of her hair, her height. South and her brother aren't identical, of course, but the family resemblance is clearer than she'd like it to be.

(More than ever, these days; who wants to look in your own reflection and see your dead brother's features looking back at you?)

She's shoved the sleeves of her coveralls as far up her arms as she can get them, revealing a variety of tattoos up one of her muscled arms. There's hints of old purple dye in the front of her hair. Around her neck there's a puck, dangling from a chain, holding a chip of some kind.

She looks... pissed. ]

So this ████ing sucks donkey— [She blinks, then squints.] Oh for ████'s sake, I can't even ████ing swear? ████. ████. ████ing ████-████ ████████████.

[ There's a pause of a few seconds before South visibly decides to test this thing's limits. ]

████trumpet. Bull████. ████biscuit. Dip████. ████face. Jack███. Fuck██████— ha, ████ed that one up.

Ugh, whatever. My name's South. Yes, that's a ████ing codename, no, I'm not telling you my real name. Guess I'm stuck here with the rest of... whoever the hell you guys are. Which ████ing sucks.

[ Not that things didn't suck where she came from, but at least she was something resembling free and kind of in control of how much stuff sucked. Call her old fashioned, but she'd much rather ruin her own life than have someone else do it for her. ]

Comments

[parannoyed]

For once we can agree on something.

Too bad for you that I did.

[And then Wash attacks, running up and throwing the first punch. Even after all his injuries, even when he's still partly on the mend, he's fast.]

[Faster than he ever was on the team during Freelancer. Stronger than he ever was on the team during Freelancer.]

[He has extra years of experience all his dead former teammates didn't get to have by virtue of being...well. Dead. He's been drilled by Carolina. Practices with regularly with Carolina. Fights side by side with her, coordinated and competent.]

[And even though he can't remember parts of his memory, there are more parts to memory than chronological memory. The muscle memory is etched in there and still completely accessible.]

[Carolina had been number two on the board, right under Tex. Tex, who was something impossible and not human. Now? He's only a half step behind Carolina - a half step and no farther.]

[And he fights like it.]

[ownperson]

Shit.

[ When the hell did he get so damn fast?

The punch lands, catches her unprepared and out of stance. The force of the blow and the surprise are enough to knock her off balance, but there's nothing like the impact of a fist to spur you into action, either.

She barely ducks before he can strike again and tries to jam a kick into his chest, using the attempt to put what space she can between them. Jumps up onto the nearest piece of furniture, but only takes her eye off him long enough to spin on her heel to get momentum behind another kick aimed at his head.

Her style has always been about momentum. In a space like this, it's harder to use that to her full advantage; she has to take what she can get.

It's not going to be enough. She's lost her edge, she hasn't got those years of experience that she can see in every move Wash makes. Doesn't mean she's going to back down and just let him whale on her, not by any means, but she's quick to orient herself for defense, rather than offense. ]

[parannoyed]

[The kick connects but the parry he does with it lessens the impact. He ducks the kick at her head, and aims his own to try to sweep her leg.]

[It isn't just his speed, his fighting style has changed too. Hand to hand was never his strength in the past and he'd favored sharp economical movements. Some of that's still there, but now there's constantly movement. Whenever there are ducked kicks and punches, his momentum carries through and he uses it to parry and aim another punch or kick.]

[He's also gotten tougher.]

[It's not that she won't land any hits, but even though he sometimes grimaces - especially with any hits to places on his torso where he was previously injured - he doesn't stop coming.]

You should've stayed dead.

[ownperson]

[ All South can do is keep moving, keep blocking, make strikes where she dares. The way he just doesn't stop wears her down, forces her to block hit after hit before being able to make a single retaliatory move of her own that does nothing to slow him down.

South's a good fighter, hand to hand has always been her thing. The hits she lands aren't love-taps, they're backed by the same strength she's always used—but she's disoriented. Not just unprepared to fight a Washington whose abilities have so fundamentally changed since last they went toe-to-toe, but with everything he's said to her still at the forefront of her mind. ]

Funny, I was about to say the same thing.

[ It's all bark no bite. The accompanying kick is as futile as those before it in gaining her any real ground in this fight.

She'd actually be impressed, if she were a spectator, instead of feeling like a glorified punching bag for the guy she used to think of as the damn rookie. ]

[bothbarrels]

[ And that's when North finds them, and he immediately rushes into the center, grabbing for one of each of their wrists. ]

That's enough.

[ He knows that's likely to get him sarcastically called 'dad' again, have either (or both) of them hissing at him that he doesn't need to interfere, but he does, he really does. This needs to stop. ]

[parannoyed]

[Wash freezes in place, immediately stopping so that there's no risk of accidentally beaning North in the face.]

[Part of Wash's anger is rooted in what she did to himself, but the rest of it...yeah, he's pissed over what Delta told him about North. And that means he's not going to risk hurting North himself.]

Even if I stop, she won't. [It's a warning.] If she thinks it'll save her own skin, she'll shoot both of us in the back in a heartbeat.

[ownperson]

[ South stops dead as if paralyzed.

A part of her still didn’t believe it, believe that North could be here, be alive, but she knows that voice. It’s unmistakable even before she forces herself to look at him dead on, to be sure.

The sight of his face is more of a punch to the gut than any physical strike could ever be. Her hand starts shaking in his grip as nausea wraps its way around her insides.

She deals with the rush of conflicting emotions the only way she knows how: turning it into rage. ]

Oh fuck you!

[ She tears her wrist loose from North’s hold, but doesn’t try to take a swing at either of them, even as she glares at Washington. ]

You fucking hunt me down and start a fucking fight and you have the fucking nerve to— to— ugh!

[bothbarrels]

I can handle it, Wash.

[ He lets go of Wash's wrist and turns toward South. ]

We need to talk.

[parannoyed]

['We need to talk' instead of 'I'm furious with you' or something hostile. 'We need to talk' because he always coddled his sister in the past.]

[Wash doesn't know if North is going to lay down the law or not, so before he leaves, he opts to do it himself.]

[With one sentence, he makes it very clear he's no longer the Wash they knew.]

If you try to stab me or your brother in the back again, when I kill you I'll make sure it sticks this time.

[That was sure a threat of murder, yep.]

[With that, Wash storms out, not wanting to deal with North reacting to said death threat.]

[ownperson]

[ South blinks, then snarls and yells after him. ]

Oh you think you're so fucking tough now, huh, you stupid little—

[ The yelling devolves quickly into angry, indistinct muttering and she pivots on the spot, folding her arms and refusing to look at North.

She tells herself the threat is nothing but posturing, but after that fight, after everything Wash said... she isn't sure she believes herself. ]

[bothbarrels]

South.

[ He shakes his head a little, just briefly, and then gestures toward the door. ]

Here, let's head to my room.

[ Better that than broadcasting their business in a public area, he figures. ]

[ownperson]

[ South turns back to him, mouth open as if to protest, but all that comes out is an aborted noise. Her teeth grit, her jaw flexes, and she looks past him rather than at him. ]

Yeah, whatever...

[ She storms out ahead of him and only slows down to let him actually lead the way when she realises she has no idea where she’s going. ]

[bothbarrels]

This way.

[ She had started down the hall in the right direction, at least.

While they're walking, in the meantime, they can at least engage in small talk, he figures. ]

Just arrived?

[ownperson]

What do you think? Yeah, I just fuckin’ got here.

[ She flinches involuntarily at her own tone, head angled away from North. Every time she looks at him head-on her stomach turns.

(North, collapsed on the concrete with the Meta hovering over him like a predator over a fresh kill. That damn AI screaming. Then—)

She huffs, scuffing her feet as they walk. ]

Take it you’ve been here a while. Long enough to be all buddy buddy with Washington again, anyway.

[bothbarrels]

That is what I thought. Not really like you to wait a while before jumping on the network.

[ He shrugs. No way to break the ice when the situation is this contentious. ]

As far as Wash goes—in case you've forgotten, we were friends back in the Project.

[ 'We' meaning the three of them, though she may exclude herself from that in retrospect. ]

[ownperson]

Yeah, I know, but things have changed a lot since the fucking Project, North. The guy just hunted me down through this whole place, if you didn’t fucking notice.

[ She rolls her shoulders. She can already feel the aches where she’s going to find bruises, and from the exertion of trying to keep up in a fight she was wholly unprepared for. ]

[bothbarrels]

[ North frowns as they reach the room. He gestures for her to go in. There's no door, of course, but at least they should have a little privacy here. ]

All I noticed was that you two were fighting. He hunted you down?

[ownperson]

[ South huffs and heads inside. ]

Yeah, he fuckin’ did. He saw me on the fucking network thing and hunted me down. I didn’t seek the guy out, I didn’t even know he was alive, let alone here.

[ Or that North was, because she knows what she saw. She still won’t look at him head on, arms folded and head turned. ]

[bothbarrels]

[ North sits on his bunk and gestures for South to sit across from him. ]

I...

[ The hesitation is slight, but it's there. ]

I understand why he did that, but he shouldn't have.

[ownperson]

You fucking think?! He just threatened to fucking kill me! Again, apparently! That fucking—

[ Once again her yelling becomes vague, angry muttering and she drops ungracefully down to sit across from him. Finally, she looks him in the face, and she looks... uncharacteristically lost, under the rage. And a little like she's going to be sick.

She falls quiet, for a long moment, but speaks again before North can say anything that would just make her want to yell again. ]

Why are we even doing this, Drew? I know what he's fucking told you.

[bothbarrels]

[ He looks at her calmly. ]

Doing what? Sitting here talking?

[ Her expression, when he really gets a good look at her, tells him that she's afraid, that she's out of her element in a way that makes her incredibly uncomfortable. He shakes his head subtly. ]

First of all, the Project really fucked us all over and I know how much you hated that. The aftermath of it, the whole situation. You were given a raw deal and I know it upset you.

Second of all, from the way he tells it, you guys were between a rock and a hard place, and I know how you react in those situations.

Third—

[ He seems to lose his train of that when he gets to that point. He pauses, and stammers, and falls silent. ]

Besides, I know you wouldn't really let me die. Not in the way he meant it.

[ownperson]

[ South chokes on a humourless laugh. Fuck, why couldn't he just be angry? Why did he always have to be like this, be the calm one, be the better person?

This would be so much easier if he were angry. ]

Do you? [ Her voice is low, barely steady. ] Do you really, Drew?

[ No, it didn't go exactly like Wash claims; she remembers what happened, she remembers the choice she made, she remembers the second she decided that she was done. But North didn't even know that she was still working with the Project almost the entire time they were on the run together.

So how can he know for sure when she barely even knows herself, anymore? ]

[bothbarrels]

[ He looks at her steadily, unflinchingly. ]

No.

[ It's said very quietly. No, he doesn't know. He knows she's capable of making this kind of choice, were the circumstances just right. ]

But you know what? I don't even want to know. So don't tell me. I'd rather just...be the way we were. All right?

[ownperson]

[ South stares at him, unblinking and jaw slack, for a good ten seconds before she's on her feet and gesticulating wildly as she shouts loud enough anyone nearby could probably hear: ]

Are you fucking kidding me?! I can't fucking believe you, you— you—

[ She pivots and slams her fist against the nearest surface, barely even flinching at the reverberations of pain up her arm. ]

Be the way we were?! What fucking 'were' are you talking about, huh? How we were when in the months I spent following you trying to get you to give up that stupid AI so we could leave, whilst trying to decide if I should just cut my fucking losses and turn you in?! How we were during the years at the fucking Project where you fucking ignored every bullshit decision that went in your favour?!

[ The next burst of laughter is hysteric and dark at once. ]

I just all but told you I let you die and you— you—

[bothbarrels]

[ He rises as well, and catches her arm after the punch. ]

I said not to do that.

[ He pauses, gripping her arm firmly. They had spent enough time together alone in the aftermath of the Project's collapse that he knows she'll know the expression that flashes across his face next—he's having a quick and private conversation with Theta.

He looks her in the face after that and releases her arm. ]

You know? I don't—

[ A long pause ensues after that, another flash of that expression on his face. ]

Yes, Theta, I...

But I...

Fuck.

[ He sits back down on the bed, heavily. ]

Theta, that was an ultimatum. You can't give ultimatums.

[ He lowers his head into his hands. ]

Because you can't.

[ He knows South's still there...he just can't handle discussing things with both of them at once. ]