Some Brave Heroes

No More Lies

I was sitting there eating dinner when Nathan slid into the seat next to me. James and David sat across from me.

"Nathan said you wanted to talk," James said.

I nodded and continued to eat.

"Hal, what's going on?" David asked.

I set my fork down and looked at them. They all seemed so concerned for me. Maybe telling them wasn't such a good idea, they were going to hate me. I needed to though, if I was going to prove South and Jersey wrong. I wasn't a horrible person.

"New Jersey didn't die in a training accident," I said.

"What?" David asked.

I straightened up, "He didn't die in a training accident. I killed him. I was tired of the way he was treating you so I took care of it. I went to the training room where he was. We fought and I won."

They all stared at me. Might as well tell them about South.

"And I'm the one who killed South. It wasn't Wash. It was me."

"What?" Nathan whispered, "Wash said he did it."

"He lied. It was me. You can ask Epsilon. He was there. I would say ask Caboose, but that won't get you very far. There was a reason I got stuck in Blood Gulch. The Director thought a bunch of Sim Troopers would mellow me out. I always acted before I thought. Got me in a hell of a lot of trouble." I stood up and grabbed my tray. "In the end, those troopers did mellow me out. So, that's good I guess." I started to walk away but paused, "I don't regret killing Jersey. But Nathan, I'm sorry about South." I walked away from them, trying not to cry.

***One week later***

I stood in the training center watching the captains and their soldiers running laps. Grif was slacking as usual. All the captains were.

"Captains!" I shouted, "You call that running?"

They flipped me off and continued jogging.

"Move your asses, Captains," I ordered, "That's an order."

They stopped running and glared at me.

"What the hell are you bitching at us for?" Grif asked, "This training is for the lieutenants."

Tucker put his hands on his hips, "Have you tried talking to them?"

"They don't want to talk to me."

"Oh my God," Grif groaned, "Are we on the receiving end of Freelancer drama?"

"Grif," I warned.

"Just talk to them," Simmons said. "Colonel," he added on almost sarcastically.

"You're all dismissed," I heard David say from behind me.

The lieutenants cheered and ran off.

"That means you too, Captains," David said calmly.

Once they left I turned to look at David.

"How dare you," I snarled, "How dare you come in here and undermine my authority."

He arched a brow, "Undermine your authority? I told them they could leave."

"And I told them they had to run."

"Well, tough shit. We need to talk."

"And if I don't want to?"

"You don't get a choice," James said walking in with Nathan. "You see Hal," he continued, "You ran off before we could talk about what you said."