goneawayworld | Better not cry...

It's been literal years since York has had to fight without Delta covering his bad side, and the AI has left a gaping wound in his mind that's going to throw him off his game... also he's extremely unprepared for snow goons. Like what even, is he right?

He sighs, then rallies, and quite literally dives in, landing in a snow kraken and standing up spreading his arms to explode it from the inside out.

One down, thousands to go. This is going to be a long, cold fight, and he can't see on his left... what could go wrong?

South's cold, frustrated, and getting really tired of this fucked up place's... well, everything. Whatever happened to good old-fashioned aliens or even just human soldiers? Ugh.

Delta's only doing the bare minimum to keep her from getting into trouble they won't get out of, as usual, so she's more than a little surprised when he seems to perk up out of nowhere, starts getting more involved. At first she's too occupied not getting overwhelmed by animated snow to question it, but...

She finally realises the reason behind the sudden change when he directs her to barrel through another snow goon and she comes out the other side to... York.

"Oh of fucking course that's why you're suddenly fucking helping, you little—"

York decimates another snow goon when there's an implosion of white cold fluff on his bad side that startles him -- then South's voice.

He perks up instantly, knowing she's talking to Delta. A smirk curves his lips at her comment, knowing that his buddy wants to help him.

"Hey again, South. Maybe you should be nicer to the guy hanging out in your brain." As if he didn't call Delta a cockbite a few times, back at the beginning. But it's been years since then. Now there's affection and respect even when they sass each other, that he knows isn't present with South. Another snow goon dives for him and York kicks its face into oblivion, spinning to face her.

"Unless you're ready to hand him over, of course."

"In your fucking dreams," she spits back, pivoting to punch another snow goon through the head that Delta deliberately didn't point out until it was right upon her. "Seriously, Delta?!"

Delta doesn't acknowledge the exclamation. "I believe it would be in your best interests to cooperate with York."

"Yeah, you fucking would, wouldn't you? I'm not yanking you out of my head in the middle of a fucking battlefield. Same as before." Not that she's planning on doing it off a battlefield, either, but that's not the point.

"That is not what I was referring to," Delta says. "However—"

"Nope. Don't even finish that sentence."

"Before, you mean when you disappeared on me abandoning a couple dozen people in line to get tortured? Before, like then?" He shoots her a Look, before ducking under a goon's swipe and taking it out. "You doing okay in there, D? It seems like a pretty toxic environment."

Antagonizing South won't get him his AI back any faster but he can't help it when she's being such a stubborn jerk.

"Agent South's head is a different environment to that which I'm accustomed to. However, whilst on the rig I am hosted in a specially designed puck, which is much... quieter."

South rolls her eyes so hard her head rolls with them. "I like you better in the puck too, dickshit."

Delta directs her attention to another goon on York's bad side and she almost doesn't hit it out of spite, but she does—even if it's with an annoyed huff.

"I left because I knew you weren't going to let this shit go, and would you look at this, I was fucking right."

"I'm not letting it go because he belongs with me and you stole him in the first place."

Maybe not off his corpse, but practically off Wash's.

"Wash told me what you did to him, someone who cares that little about other people shouldn't have one onboard. Having an AI is a partnership."

He doesn't know about North but that would just make him more determined to get his little buddy away from her.

South's shoulders drop, but tense before it's obvious. Here we fucking go, she thinks, because she knew this was coming. Not that she cares what he thinks of her, not that she cares what any of them think of her (or that's what she tells herself, at least), but that doesn't make it any less annoying.

"I didn't steal anything. Wash fucking told him to get in my head and I did what I had to do. We both would've died if we followed through on his plan," she retorts.

That last part isn't necessarily true, but it was the kind of risk she wasn't willing to take.

"So your solution was shoot him in the back and leave him for dead?"

York punctuates 'shoot', 'back', and 'dead' with punches at snow goons, getting increasingly more intense.

"That's not the decision of someone capable of being responsible for someone else. Which is part of having an AI. Right now he's dependent on you."

There's a lull in the attack and he turns to face her properly, expression serious.

"Do you actually give even half a shit about the being in your head right now? Besides for your own benefit."

There's nothing she can say to that which makes her sound better. She stares back at him in silence for a long, uneasy moment, utterly bristling with frustration.

"I'm not going to hurt your AI," she says, her jawline tense, because that's all she can say. She has no intention of actively hurting Delta, it's not a lie, but it's not enough either.

York grits his teeth; he hates that they're arguing over Delta like he's a thing. Like he isn't listening right now. The only saving grace, in York's eyes, is that Delta himself said he wanted to transfer.

What South says isn't enough, no. It's not enough to not actively hurt, there was also the option of standing by letting them be hurt. Leaving them to be caught, alone and unable to even try to run themselves.

But what South herself just admitted, if unconsciously, that she also thinks of Delta as "his." He holds up a hand in frustration.

"Listen to what you just said. Not 'yours.' If he didn't necessarily want to come back to me, I wouldn't be bothering you. But you're keeping him against his will too."

South throws her head back with a groan. "Fucking— I'm not fucking stupid, York. Fine, sure, I know he's not my AI, he's certainly not the AI they fucking promised me, but that doesn't mean I'm going to just hand him over to you!"

She went through too much to get him. She sacrificed too much to get him. Even if North is alive back on the rig... everything she did still happened, she still spent months playing the long game, waiting for her chance, waiting to either cut loose or get her AI. An AI.

"You want him back, you're gonna have to fucking give me a damn good reason that isn't just wishy-washy feelings or fucking wait your turn to fight me," she sneers. "Pretty sure Wash still holds the front of the line."

"Then consider this me cutting in line," he tells her, because there's really nothing he can use besides their feelings to argue. Freelancer has no power here, and D being designated his means nothing when they'd take him away the second they could.

Recovery.

He shudders, hitting another goon with his full strength. He can't deal with his own death and the raw wound in his mind at the same time. The death bullshit, and Delta choosing to stay with him, York had picked that up just before losing consciousness, just has to wait.

"Are you going to keep running from me?"

Edited 2020-12-24 21:13 (UTC)

"I'm not scared to fucking fight you, if that's what you're implying," she says, a kick punching straight through a goon's torso. "But you keep picking this fight in the middle of bigger shit."

She considers using her power to get away again, but she imagines York isn't going to be so careless as to let her stay out of his sight this time, even with Delta focusing all of her attacks on goons coming up on York's bad side.

That, and she's not even sure if it'd work on these goons. She barely understands how it works on things that are clearly people, let alone whatever the fuck these things are.

"Because that's the only time I can--" he's knocked back with a soft 'oof' then redoubles his efforts against the goons, wanting this battle over with so that he can fight South instead. He doesn't care that he's exhausting himself faster. "--find you. You'd better stick around after this."

"Maybe you should fucking look harder," she sneers, as if she hasn't been avoiding him since the mission to Disney. As if she hasn't been avoiding everyone she knows whenever they're on the rig.

She doesn't comment on if she'll stick around because well, she couldn't make any promises even if she wanted to. She just turns her attention to another wave of attacking goons and does her best to capitalise on the assistance Delta's willing to give her so long as she stays in York's vague vicinity.

God, this assignment sucks.

York doesn't rise to the bait, just lets out a displeased grumble and keeps killing goons. They actually agree on that -- this assignment does suck. But she's not trying to disappear into the seemingly infinite number of creatures, so York will take it. And keep his eye on her, as close as he can.

Eventually, Jorgmund's forces triumph. One on one the snow goons weren't especially difficult to destroy, but the sheer volume of them has pretty much wrecked everyone.

Still, York approaches South (visibly exhausted, rolling his shoulders and neck tiredly) because he doesn't want to risk her getting away.

"Okay. You and me."

"Really? Right now? After all that?" she says, feeling the weight of the exertion herself. It's a weak attempt at deflection, one she's not exactly expecting to work, but she tries nonetheless. "You're way too fucking persistent, you know that, right?"

At least he isn't Washington, who's fighting skills have far outgrown his sixth place slot on the board since she last saw him. Since York died right before she got the damn AI, she can at least assume he hasn't gotten years of extra experience out of goddamn nowhere to use against her.

And, well, he doesn't have Delta.

If South is flinging being persistent at him as an insult, York doesn't seem to take it that way. He tilts his chin up as if to say 'damn right' and makes a come on gesture at her despite his obvious tiredness.

"I can't trust I'll find you again later, now can I? You're not giving me much of a choice."

“Ugh,” she rolls her shoulders and drops into a fighting stance, bouncing lightly on the balls of her feet, “I forgot how much of a pain in the ass you are. Fine, let’s get this fucking over with.”

If you so much as fucking think about interfering in his favour... she warns Delta, internally. He doesn’t respond, but she feels the non-response, and hopes that means he understands the threat.

He wouldn’t help her here and she doesn’t need his help, anyway. She just needs him to stay out of the goddamn way.

York is at a disadvantage here, unaccustomed to fighting without Delta covering his bad side. South also has height on him but he's pretty sure he's faster as long as he sees her attacks coming.

There are a few assumptions he can make. She'll stick to his bad side, try to tire him out worse, and strike at full strength whenever she thinks she's got a hit. He can use all of that against her.

"Wish me luck, D," he says softly, before rushing forward to meet South.

York's assumptions are correct: South immediately moves to come at York from his bad side without shame or hesitation, not only to attack but to force him to turn, to follow her movements.

Her fighting style hasn't changed in the years since they would have last trained opposite each other, that would have been as obvious back in Disney as it is here. Momentum, force, speed—any strike that hits will hit hard, but those that don't exert more energy than she can afford to waste.

So she's relying on those that do. Kicks and punches and targeted jabs coming from his blind spot. An attempt to sweep his legs from under him.

It's not as vicious a fight as it probably would have been if they were both at full strength. York is aided by the fact that he pegged her absolutely correctly -- the hits that he can't dodge hit hard but South is exhausting herself faster than he is and he's able to avoid the worst of it just because she telegraphs her moves slightly. It's the same as she always did, he doesn't need to see her 100% of the time to know what she's about to do. He did always watch everyone train, after all.

Still, it's close, and takes awhile before he's got her down in the snow, a knee in her back to keep her down, one arm twisted up behind her. He's panting and feels leaden, but he won. He fucking won.

"Had enough?"

South jerks around in a futile attempt to pull herself free and get back to her feet. But, the last of her energy exhausted and panting heavily from the exertion herself, even she can't deny that she's lost the fight.

Fuck. Washington was one thing, but now York too?

Still, knowing and admitting are two different things. Oh so maturely, she twists her head back and spits at him. "Fuck you."

...was this all for nothing? York scowls, leaning more of his weight on her, pressing her down into the snow deeper.

"Come on, South, give him up."

He's not willing to go full Meta and pull Delta out of her head, so if she doesn't... well. This is a bluff. She can probably tell.

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