No one's POV
It's been a few months since Zero was shot in the throat and was taken to the hospital at Chorus by Maverick and Scarlet. Carolina, Wash and One had been informed that Tucker and the others had taken down Temple, along with the Blues and Reds. Currently, Carolina is with is with Zero as he begins the final stages of his recovery, as the two of them are sitting on a ledge with their helmets off.
Zero: Have I ever told you about me and One's friend back in the military? His name was Buck.
Carolina: Buck? No, I don't think you did.
Zero: We met him when we were moved to the AO2 unit. He was paired with his girlfriend, Dare.
Carolina: Oh no, I can already tell where this is going.
Zero: The four of us got close, over time. They even invited us to go on vacation with them when we were not on tour. But Dare did something, I honestly see you doing.
Carolina: What?
Zero: Dare essentially dared Buck to marry her.
Carolina: Oh noooooo.
Zero: Yeah. Honestly, I can see why she did it. She knew that he would never propose if she didn't do something.
Carolina: Good woman. What did he do?
Zero: He said yes, obviously.
Carolina: Smart man.
Zero just rolled his eyes and chuckled.
Zero: Of course you'd say that. Dare is a lot like you.
Carolina: Hey, she's a woman who knows what she wants. Can't fault her for that.
Zero: Uh huh.
Carolina: How's the head?
Zero: Better. You were right about the fresh air. Dr. Grey tell you about this place?
Carolina: There's a training course nearby. It's where I like to keep in shape.
Zero: Oh? Show me.
Zero and Carolina walked up to the nearby training course, with several different obstacles. Front and center is a set of wooden monkey bars and a wooden climbing wall.
Zero: Oh ho! I haven't seen one of these since Basic! You wanna race?
Carolina: Come on, Ad! You're on the mend. You are not in any condition to compete.
Zero: I'm fine, Nat, trust me. Or are you scared because you already know I'm going to beat you.
Carolina: Hah, you didn't stand a chance before. [Teasingly.] Before you got... old.
Zero runs up to the bars, and leaps up to grab ahold and begin crossing.
Zero: I swear, you better not be giving me a-
Zero looked up to see Carolina walking casually across the top of the bars.
Carolina: Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, Ad. Today is not the day that you beat me.
Zero: Oh? So that's how we're doing this?
Carolina leaps off the last bar, doing a flip in the air and landing on one knee. Zero takes advantage by springing off her shoulders and onto the wall obstacle, as Zero was getting ready to land, his vision began to get fuzzy, making him miss the jump and grab the ledge.
Zero gets one hand over the top, but Carolina is already there. She kneels and extends a hand.
Carolina: No shame in asking for help, Mr. Copycat?
Zero: Oh? Nickname throw backs?
Both Zero and Carolina leap down from the wall, Carolina cartwheeling with her hands behind her back like a kung-fu grandmaster and Zero backflipping, both of them landing and rolling to their feet and running for the next obstacle, and inclined balance beam. They are neck in neck, but just as Zero reaches the top of the incline, his vision blacked out, and his beam snaps, and he falls.
Zero: Wah!
Carolina: Adrain! [She rushes to his side.] You okay there?
Zero: [Looking up, confused, holding his head.] W-What happened...?
Carolina: Your beam snapped. You... took a tumble...
Zero: Beam...?
Zero looked around and saw he was in the training field.
Zero: When did we-
Carolina: We went out for a walk.
Zero didn't say anything and just held his head.
Zero: But we ended up racing...? That's just my best guess...
Carolina: Yeah. I thought it be fun, but you're still aren't in any condition. I'm sorry...
Zero: No, it's fine... I... I just think I wanna lay down for awhile... My head is on fire...
Carolina: Right, of course. Come on, I'll help you back.
Zero: Thanks...
As Carolina began helping Zero back, he spoke up.
Zero: Hey, did I ever tell you about me and One's friend Buck?
Carolina didn't say anything for a few seconds and spoke up.
Carolina: No, you haven't.
After dropping of Zero back in his room, Carolina ran into One and Wash.
One: How's my brother...?
Carolina: He had another lapse...
Washington: Another?
One didn't say anything and looked down saddened, as Wash put his hand on her shoulder.
Washington: It's going to be alright, Emily. It's Adrain we're talking about. He'll bounce back.
One: Right... I-I'm going to go keep an eye on him...
Washington: Are you sure? You've been pulling a lot of all nighters watching him. You should get some rest yourself.
One: No, I'm fine...
One walked into the room, leaving the two of them.
Carolina: I'm going to talk to Dr. Grey. Maybe she can shed some light on something we can do.
Washington: Right.
(Timeskip)
Currently with the hospital, Dr. Grey and Carolina were a medical room.
Grey: Physically speaking, Agent Zero's recovery has been remarkable.
Carolina: I'm not concerned about his body. He's... still suffering from these... lapses...
Grey: Mmm. Not uncommon for someone with an injury like his. How frequent are the episodes?
Carolina: Hard to say.
A high-pitched drill sound fires up.
Carolina: ...-_-... ...You know, if this isn't a good time, I can always come back.
Grey: Nonsense! It's just an autopsy.I didn't figure you for the squeamish type!
In front of them was a pair of bare legs visible on the table in front of Dr. Grey, the rest of the body obscured by a tray of medical instruments in the foreground. Suddenly, Maine walked into the room carrying 5 body bags.
Maine: (Growls)
Grey: Oh, just sit them over there, Honey!
Maine looked over at Carolina.
Maine: (Growls)
Carolina: Hey, Maine. He's... getting there, I hope...
Grey: Please! Continue.
Drilling sounds continue.
Carolina: Adrain is perfectly normal one minute, then... seemingly at random, he... you know. There has to be something else we can try...
Maine: (Growls)
Carolina: Our suits armor lock were disabled to free us. So there was no way to stop the bleeding then and there.
Grey: Hold this, please. [Squelching noise.] You know, the brain is an organ. Like any other part of the body, it will repair itself! To a point. What that point is, only time will tell.
Carolina: Wait and see. That's not very comforting...
Grey: Really! As it happens, I'm not especially known for my bedside manner. You, on the other hand, have made a wonderful nurse! Agent Zero is a lucky man.
Carolina looked down saddened.
Carolina: No... A lucky man would've had a better partner. Someone keeping an eye out for him....
Grey: Pfff, phooey! He's a soldier. He shoots, he gets shot. That's the whole design! You can set that down anywhere. [More squelching noises.] I... take it you still haven't told him. The other me was extremely adamant about telling him.
Carolina: No. Not yet. I believe it will slow the recovery...
Grey: And what of his other siblings?
Carolina just sighed, looking at Grey.
Carolina: I'm not surprised you knew it was them...
Grey: I was born at night, not last night. As well as given how Felix is dead, Locus is no where to be found, so it's only best to assume that they brought him. But back to the matter at hand, for my patients, I prefer to lay everything out on the table.
Carolina: [Glancing at the table in front of Dr. Grey.] I can see that... But Adrain was the strongest Freelancer.... Stronger then me... Stronger then Tex... If he would have actually tried, he would have been at the top during Freelancer... But now when he moves, they're no longer quick and sharp, they're sluggish and delayed... If we tell him he's a... broken man... It's better this way. I think. Oh... I don't know!
Grey: Quite the paradox you've found yourself in! I'm not envious.
Carolina: Thanks...
Grey: Dare I ask... have you heard any word from our wayward sheep?
Carolina: I'm sure the Reds and Blues can handle themselves. Wherever they are...
Elsewhere, within the hotel everyone was staying at, Zero was sleeping in his bed, with One sitting by his bed side, extremely tired an nodded off. Walking into the room, Wash saw this, and sighed.
Washington: I swear...
Sometime later, One stirred awake and saw she was laying in her bed.
One: Huh? What?!
One quickly made her way back to Zero's room and saw Zero still sleeping, while Wash was sitting by his bed side, pulling the stickers off a rubix cube and making it look like he solved it, and he looked over at One.
Washington: One! This... This is unfortunately exactly what it looks like...
One: What are you doing?
Washington: Giving you a break. You needed it. And you look a lot better too.
One: Oh, thanks...
One walked in and sat next to Wash sighing.
Washington: Hey, it's going to be alright.
One: It's just... My brother always took care of me... I just need to be there and do the same for him...
Washington: And I understand that, but you can't neglect yourself too. When we got here, you refused to eat or sleep, after the four days we were stuck in armor lock. You passed out for two days.
One: ...
Washington: Look, Zero is one of my best friends. The other being you.
Wash put his hand on One's hand.
Washington: I'm here for you. The both of you.
One just looked at Wash and smiled at him, holding his hand.
One: Thanks, David. You always somehow always know what to say. For a dork.
Washington: Why must you always add that part...?
Suddenly, the Rubix cube was dropped on Wash's lap surprising him, as they both looked back to see Maverick and Scarlet, both decloaking.
Maverick: Are we interrupting?
One: Jason? Alyssa?
Wash looked at the Rubix cube and saw it was solved without removing the stickers.
Washington: Really?!
Scarlet: Your welcome.
One: I thought you both left.
Scarlet: No. We've just been keeping an eye out form the shadows. It's not like we're welcomed guests here.
Maverick How is he?
One: He's having lapses in his memory... One minute he's fine, the next he's just repeating something like it didn't happen...
Maverick: Not all that surprising. He lost a lot of blood on the way, plus we needed to preform CPR a few times before we got here.
Scarlet: But does he know about his condition?
One: No...
Maverick and Scarlet: No?
Washington: Carolina decided it might be beneficial if we didn't tell him. At least not yet. It may do more harm then good.
Maverick: I think you have that backwards.
Scarlet looked at Zero and then One.
Scarlet: What about you? Do you want to tell him?
One: Of course I do... But Carolina is right. It may do more harm then good...
Suddenly, the all heard the door open, and saw Carolina walking in, and was surprised to see Maverick and Scarlet.
Carolina: What are you two doing here? I thought you left.
Maverick: No. We never left, we we've been keeping an eye on him from the shadows.
Carolina: Right... It's pretty jarring that you were just trying to kill them a year ago, now acting like loving siblings.
Maverick: Whatever.
Carolina looked at the phone communication device and saw several voicemails from Dylan.
Carolina: Dylan?
Washington: What is it?
Carolina: It's Dylan. She's been blowing up the lines.
One: Is something wrong?
Carolina: We're about to find out.
Carolina proceeded to call Dylan, who immediately answered.
Dylan: Carolina, finally.
Carolina: [Tiredly.] Hi, Dylan. What's goin' on? You found the guys?
One, Wash, Maverick and Scarlet all walked in.
Dylan: You could say that... Hold on. I'm gonna send you something. You might want to sit down.
Dylan transmits an image of a gold-framed baroque painting of a King and two adoring women... except the central figure is Tucker, in full armor under robes and a gold crown.
Washington: Who in their right mind made that...?
Carolina: That's uh, interesting. Did you find this on the internet?
Dylan: The Guggenheim, actually. This painting is apparently 2000 years old.
Carolina: Bullshit.
Dylan: It's been carbon-dated. It's real. And apparently Tucker isn't alone. [Another image loads.] This one's Mayan.
Scarlet: Isn't that your Spanish speaking robot?
Dylan: [A third image loads.] And this is Egyptian. The inscription is 5000 years old.
One: Is that Caboose...?
Washington: Oh dear God no...
Dylan: I've been thinking: "Dylan Andrews! You've lost your damn mind." And then I thought, Loco built a time machine. I saw it work! Right after that, the Reds and Blues went missing, and now they're showing up in history books! Guys...
Washington: Please don't say it.
Dylan: I think the Reds and Blues--
Carolina: Don't!
Dylan: --are lost in time.
One: Eugh...
Maverick: ...-_-... You guys are sighing as if this is something that happens on a daily basis...
One: ...-_-... You'd be very surprised...
Dylan: The situation is very strange...
Carolina: Understatement of a lifetime.
Washington: We were worried when they didn't show up on Chorus- obviously! but... it's not unlike them to get lost, just—oh god, not this kind of lost!
Dylan: Normally, when confronted with something I don't understand, I consult the experts: scientists. But time travel isn't a science. I checked and proceeded to get laughed out of the building. But I do know one person who might help. Seems to know more about time travel than anyone living. Problem is, he's on location. You'll have to go in person.
One: Us?
Dylan: For the sake of my career, and sanity? I'm sitting this one out.
Carolina: Any chance it'll fix itself? The Reds and Blues might get un-lost in time... right?
Dylan: Possibly, but that's leaving an awful lot to chance. I mean, Caboose with a time machine?
One, Carolina and Washington: ...-_-...We're heading out now...
(Timeskip)
Currently, Carolina, One, Wash, Maverick and Scarlet were standing outside.
Carolina: You sure you'll be alright, One?
One: Yeah, I'll be fine. Just make sure those idiots don't bring back Hitler or something...
Scarlet: ...-_-... I don't even know them that well and I can just picture them doing that...
Zero: Heading somewhere?
Everyone looked back at and saw Zero walking out.
One: Adrain!
Carolina: How are you feeling?
Zero: Better. I just needed some sleep. What's going on?
Washington: Well... We have some news about our multi colored friends...
Zero: No, don't tell me, let me guess. They're somehow lost in time and we have to figure out where how to save them.
Everyone: ...
Zero: ...-_-... There's no fucking way...
Washington: Yeah...
Zero: You know what, it's whatever. I was starting to get bored anyway. When do we lift off?
Carolina: Wash and I were going to have Maverick and Scarlet take us. One, Dr. Grey and Maine said she'd keep you company while we're gone. It should only be a few days.
Zero: Wait, what?
Zero looked over and saw Maverick and Scarlet.
Zero Alyssa? Jason? You're still here?
Scarlet: Yep, we are.
Zero: And you're still helping us why?
Maverick: Well, it's not like we have anything better to do. Plus, I'm curious to see how they ended up getting lost in time.
Zero: I see. Well, we better get going then.
Carolina: You're on the mend, Ad.
One: You need to be resting.
Zero: I'm fine. More than anything, I need something to focus on. All this sitting around is making me feel fuzzy-brained.
Washington: They're right, Zero. We're just going to talk to Dylan's expert. Nothing serious.
Zero: Then it's all the more reason. It's nothing serious like you said. I'm fine, I've been through worse.
Carolina: Right...
Zero: That reminds me, have I ever told you about One and my friend, Buck?
One: Buck?
Carolina looked at Zero and sighed.
Carolina: ... Nope. You haven't...