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ajremixTitle: Worth the Pain
Fandom: Red vs Blue
Rating: G
Word Count: 653
Characters: York, Carolina, still nameless daughter
Summary: Set in the same 'verse as Five Conversation. Their daughter finds out the truth.
You find out at school- specifically when you're looking up stuff for your essay on the controversial use of AI for your civics class in study hall and when you make the connection you're shocked numb. Then when it's finally processed you're mad and upset and you can barely go through the day without your hands shaking or teeth grinding. After school, instead of going to the locker room to change for practice, you go straight home even though you know neither of your parents will be there just yet.
The house is indeed empty and you're so sorely tempted to scour their room for any incriminating evidence but you don't because you should respect their space just like they do yours, just like many of your friends' parents don't. Dad is the first one back and when he sees you he looks confused but beams a greeting all the same. Then he really looks at you and asks, "Dee- what's wrong?"
"I need to talk to you and Mom."
Somehow he knows what it's about because his face gets serious in a way you've never seen before- not even when he confronted the neighbors and their boy about some cruel comments he made towards you and now they won't even look in your direction if they can help it. He calls up Mom and speaks softly to her. The only thing you hear is, "Get back as soon as you can. Love you."
It doesn't take much longer for Mom to come in and you wait, impatiently patient, as they settle their things and sit on the couch silently. You try to speak but your throat is dry and you wonder if maybe you're wrong- hope that you're wrong. Instead you hand them the article you found. The one with the picture and caption. Their eyes darken and you know you weren't mistaken and you don't know how you feel about that.
"You were Freelancers," you say, because you can't think of anything else.
"Yes." They look at you quietly, awaiting your judgment.
You don't think it's fair that something like this falls to your young shoulders- that suddenly you should be judging your parents who are the greatest, most loving people you've ever known and yet still be in the right in calling them monsters for the things they've done in the past. You knew they were in the military- that was how they met, after all –and accepted they never talked about it because it was traumatic. But this? This was a completely different beast. They volunteered for it- the experimental project, letting someone mess with their heads, training, possibly even killing their own people.
You had read everything you could about the Project, the trial, everything that happened after it and you still don't know what to think. How much did it mess up your parents? How much have they been regretting it in the years after? How much power did it still hold over them that they were afraid of being rejected by their own daughter over it?
You still don't know what to think or say so you just go over and throw an arm around each of them and hold them tightly. Mom is shaking and you think you hear Dad sob and you don't want to think about such proud, strong people being broken so thoroughly.
"Did anything worthwhile come of it?" You ask and neither say anything and it breaks your heart that finding each other- that you -may not be worth all the pain they went through. So you ask, "If you could go back, would you not have joined the Project?" Again they say nothing and that also breaks your heart, that they would deal with all that pain again just to find each other- for you.
You just hold them tighter and vow that nothing will ever hurt your parents again.
Fandom: Red vs Blue
Rating: G
Word Count: 653
Characters: York, Carolina, still nameless daughter
Summary: Set in the same 'verse as Five Conversation. Their daughter finds out the truth.
You find out at school- specifically when you're looking up stuff for your essay on the controversial use of AI for your civics class in study hall and when you make the connection you're shocked numb. Then when it's finally processed you're mad and upset and you can barely go through the day without your hands shaking or teeth grinding. After school, instead of going to the locker room to change for practice, you go straight home even though you know neither of your parents will be there just yet.
The house is indeed empty and you're so sorely tempted to scour their room for any incriminating evidence but you don't because you should respect their space just like they do yours, just like many of your friends' parents don't. Dad is the first one back and when he sees you he looks confused but beams a greeting all the same. Then he really looks at you and asks, "Dee- what's wrong?"
"I need to talk to you and Mom."
Somehow he knows what it's about because his face gets serious in a way you've never seen before- not even when he confronted the neighbors and their boy about some cruel comments he made towards you and now they won't even look in your direction if they can help it. He calls up Mom and speaks softly to her. The only thing you hear is, "Get back as soon as you can. Love you."
It doesn't take much longer for Mom to come in and you wait, impatiently patient, as they settle their things and sit on the couch silently. You try to speak but your throat is dry and you wonder if maybe you're wrong- hope that you're wrong. Instead you hand them the article you found. The one with the picture and caption. Their eyes darken and you know you weren't mistaken and you don't know how you feel about that.
"You were Freelancers," you say, because you can't think of anything else.
"Yes." They look at you quietly, awaiting your judgment.
You don't think it's fair that something like this falls to your young shoulders- that suddenly you should be judging your parents who are the greatest, most loving people you've ever known and yet still be in the right in calling them monsters for the things they've done in the past. You knew they were in the military- that was how they met, after all –and accepted they never talked about it because it was traumatic. But this? This was a completely different beast. They volunteered for it- the experimental project, letting someone mess with their heads, training, possibly even killing their own people.
You had read everything you could about the Project, the trial, everything that happened after it and you still don't know what to think. How much did it mess up your parents? How much have they been regretting it in the years after? How much power did it still hold over them that they were afraid of being rejected by their own daughter over it?
You still don't know what to think or say so you just go over and throw an arm around each of them and hold them tightly. Mom is shaking and you think you hear Dad sob and you don't want to think about such proud, strong people being broken so thoroughly.
"Did anything worthwhile come of it?" You ask and neither say anything and it breaks your heart that finding each other- that you -may not be worth all the pain they went through. So you ask, "If you could go back, would you not have joined the Project?" Again they say nothing and that also breaks your heart, that they would deal with all that pain again just to find each other- for you.
You just hold them tighter and vow that nothing will ever hurt your parents again.
