mun has a horrible fascination with problematic characters

[familytradition]

What exactly is the point of this?

I have... things will play out a certain way for me and we both know it. Given what happens I won't change that; things could end differently, possibly worse.

It's not that I wouldn't rather have had things be better; I'm just not willing to risk people on my behalf. I've known all my life what it meant to be a soldier and what might be expected of me, what was expected of my parents. I'm not afraid of that.

With all that said, if this is a chance to have a different life without endangering others because I'm not back there; I'd be lying if I said it isn't appealing.

If people can be safe, and that is nonnegotiable, I wouldn't mind being here.

Take some time, think about it, and we can talk.

Comments

I'm so sorry for Doc.

[greenissterile]

You should have more faith on your mun. After all things can only get better now, no matter where you are from!

aww Doc, thank goodness she's not dying

[familytradition]

I have faith once there's a reason to, she hasn't shown me anything yet one way or the other.

[iamworthy]

[Tom...looked as though he'd seen a ghost. He'd been feeling sickly and wan ever since the last time they'd gone into cryo but this? This was like getting kicked in the chest by a mule.

A mule who was dead and whose death would haunt him for years to come.] Some things just don't change, I suppose.

[familytradition]

That's a good thing, isn't it?

[She's trying to be level, calm. Hell she even tried to smile, Chyler knew Tom had a personal responsibility streak a kilometer across. Even if things were not his fault.]

[agent_washington]

That's very noble of you.

[familytradition]

It's what I signed up for, part of a team, a unit a military family. Those people became my friends and I grew to care about them. Corbulo Academy had a motto, Together we rise, together we fall. Today, tomorrow, forever.

I believed that.

[agent_washington]

If only it always worked out that way ...

[There's an audible sigh as his helmet lowers. Then, somewhere under that visor a smile tugs at the corner of his mouth.]

But then again, sometimes it does. Maybe not in the way that was expected, but ... yeah.

[familytradition]

It did for me, and I wouldn't take it back if it meant others died. You sound like you found your home too.

[agent_washington]

It took might have taken a while, but you could say that.

[It's a little hard to believe exactly where, or at times to fathom why it is he sticks around, but he wouldn't give the Reds and the Blues up for the world.]

[familytradition]

It doesn't matter how long it takes, home is home. And the people who make it that never really leave us.

[agent_washington]

No. No they don't.

[Well it looks like she's figured out what took him a lifetime of getting stabbed in the back to get pieced together. Some small part of him is envious of that, but you know what? Good for her. It sounds like it'd save her a lot of heartache if things weren't already supposed to go bad. Who knows, maybe it'll help out here.]

Even if they drive you completely insane sometimes.

[familytradition]

Sometimes the challenge is exactly what we need. People who make us see things differently force us to be better. I had a friend who was bullheaded in challenging orders, in the and he proved a creative and successful leader, but it drove the squad crazy.

[She grew up military and her parents died in service when she was young. She had to grow up fast and determine how to connect to people and not close herself off. She was a devoted soldier and student but it didn't make her an ice queen.]

[agent_washington]

I don't know if that necessarily applies here, the Reds and the Blues are ... unique, in a lot of ways.

[familytradition]

It may not, but it's good to keep in mind anyway.

[agent_washington]

Agreed.

But you know what ... you're not entirely wrong. It just wasn't the challenge that made the difference.

[familytradition]

I wasn't top in my class for being wrong often.

[agent_washington]

Top of the class, huh? Not bad.

[familytradition]

I was, I think I would have had an impressive career.

[agent_washington]

More than likely. Top of the class at Corbulo could probably get you any post you wanted.

[familytradition]

I never knew where I wanted to go, I wanted to fight, that was what I knew. I should have thought more about why.

[thisisspartaaaaaaaan]

Always good to have a plan.

[familytradition]

.. Yes sir.

[And there was a face that she recalled, briefly.]

[thisisspartaaaaaaaan]

Don't think that common sense applies to these things.

[familytradition]

I don't suppose it always does.

[thisisspartaaaaaaaan]

It never does.

[infinitycaptain]

[After a long debate with the mun over doing this... He at least manages a genuine smile. An almost anemically thin smile, but then it's not every day you get to meet a ghost from your past.]

Chyler.

[familytradition]

Captain.

[The movement was crisp and sharp. Her back was straight and she held the salute with her eyes not quite managing contact with the officer. But... there was something familiar there. Something in the tone and the fact that he knew her name at all. The recognition made the salute and poster soften if not fall completely.]

My God... Tom?

[infinitycaptain]

At ease cadet.

[He nods and his smile brightens slightly, taking on some of it's familiar lopsidedness. It's both good and painful to see her again but he makes the effort to focus on the good part.]

It's, good to see you again.

[familytradition]

It's good to see you too.

[Though it takes her a moment to truly relax, her head canted to the side with that appraising look she would so often give him before she pointed out something he had yet to admit to himself.]

You're a leader.

[She nodded, and frankly that sounded much better than the original thought of you're all grown up though both were clearly true now.]

[infinitycaptain]

Someone once suggested I give it a try, thought I'd take their advice.