"Just... need a minute. Hhng!"

"Administering field stint and analgesic."

"Wait, Tex, don't... don't let him..."

"York is now unconscious. Alarm: target Alpha has reloaded."

"How bad is it, Dee?"

"York will not survive."

...Without medical attention. All is said and done. It is quiet again. Tex has left, chasing after Omega. Wyoming has woken up and slipped off to warn his employer. (To prepare another trap.) The only people left are the dead and the nearly dead.

And for the first time in their partnership, Dee seizes control. York is not responsive. The analgesic and the pain have done more to knock him out than anything else. He is bleeding heavily. A lung is punctured. Blood vessels have burst. His BPM is dangerously low.

It is all an AI can do. York's body staggers to its feet. This feeling is... alien. Strange. (There are pathways here that have been smoothed over. Erased. An echo lingers: nightmares of things that only his subconcious remembers. This will have to be examined at another time.)

And Delta staggers on unsteady legs to find help.

It takes one small thing to change the flow of time. Where one person might fall, if they were a moment slower, they might otherwise be fine. There have been examples of this throughout the multiverse: a boy getting off a plane before it explodes. A woman blocking traffic before a horrible accident happens. A man missing his flight that later plunges into the ocean.

And while most of these examples don't apply in this case, they can be taken as a sign. Time is malleable. And interaction with the Nexus and its citizens can often lead the timestream awry in ways that could never be expected. Fate is what you make of it. And in this case, fate changes.

Tex arrives with a job offer. York accepts. (Payback.) They head to a base once owned by a certain computer program. They are ambushed. York is shot dead. Tex chases after Omega and, eventually, dies as well.

That's how it's supposed to go.

But it doesn't go quite that way this time.

UNSC Database
Project Freelancer General Files
AI Division: Procurement
Subject 04 Delta

Video Log: Apprehension of Candidate North, Derek
Lt. F Alonzo, Office of Naval Intelligence

Begin playback...

A door opens somewhere off-screen. A male voice, speaking into a chatter. "No. No no, I understand." A pause. "Yes. Tell him that the test went well. ...Uh-huh. Yes, it's been calibrated. The telescope should be fully operational by next month. ...Huh? No, Weathers is the project leader, I'm sort of second in command." Silence. "Yes. Yes, I'll see you in the office on Tuesday. Have a safe weekend, Benjamin."

The target passes into view and sets his chatter headset down on the counter. His brown hair is cropped close to his head, very utilitarian-looking. He pushes his tortoiseshell glasses up to pinch the bridge of his nose for a moment. A radio is turned on, set to the local news affiliate. Glasses clink. His back is turned to the camera.

The three-man team moves in. North turns, a startled look on his face at the intrusion. He seems to grow slightly taller. "Excuse me! What are you gentlemen doing in here?!" Guns are drawn. Tranqs. He backs away with his hands help up in a placating manner. "What is it you want? I recognize your style of dress-" Here he looks at the man with the hidden camera- "You're UNSC, yes? No. No, you must be with the Office of Naval Intelligence."

Alonzo speaks up, his voice carrying a slight Spanish accent. "How would you know about us?"

North smiles without an ounce of mirth. "Rumors abound about you gentlemen. About your programs and your subterfuge."

Alonzo barks an order. There are the hollow "pock" noises of three silenced guns firing at once.

The camera must have been blocked by a man's arm, because when the view clears, North is lying on the floor of his small loft. His glasses are fractured along the left lens.

There are a few moments of silence before the recording ends.

End of recording. Replay? Y/N?

N.

It'd been a while since any of the old crew had gotten in contact. Kentucky had called a few days earlier, asking about meeting up again. (He was a father now, York remembered. He'd met them once shortly before he had wound up in the Nexus. Kentucky had a daughter. Cute little kid with some of her daddy's endurance.) Missouri had dropped a line and they'd agreed to meet up to feed ducks and get coffee. It seemed like every time York turned around, the other states were there to talk to.

"Hey! Long time no see, Wash!" York grinned to himself as he talked on his chatter line. "Well, not quite see, but you get the gist of it." Washington. Mister Serious About the Mission. Who'd have thought he'd be getting back in touch? He'd been a bit touchy in the old days, ever since his AI complications. Epsilon had been just another AI until it went rampant. It didn't survive for long after that.

But oddly enough, Wash seemed... almost jovial on the line.

"Hmm? Yeah yeah. Same old same old, you know. Not much call for a former infiltrations op these days. So what's up with you? You hear from North and South recently? Kentucky has a kid now, can you believe it? And Missouri's studying pre-law. She's going into ONI." The team was going on their own ways.

"...Recovery, huh? Cool, cool. Like the med corps?" A pause. "...Oh. AI recovery." An uncomfortable silence. "...No. No, I don't have Dee- Delta, sorry. Old habits."

"No, no. I'm okay. Got in contact with Allison. ...She's sane. Looks like Omega's been deleted." He looks up from his seat to see Dee standing nearby, watching with an oddly melancholy look on his face.

"..Yeah. Yeah, if Dee shows up, I'll let you know. Take it easy, okay, Wash? Yeah. Yeah, later, man."

Friends stick together. So do partners.

Just got my DVD today. Whoo, reserves in advance! Anyway...

Tex sounds freaked out after Church is snapped back to normal. I don't think it's entirely what she had in mind when she made that deal. Or did she even make that deal? Poor Church.

We have a canon ending. Repeat, we have a canon ending! It's... the Alarm ending. The one that echoes Season 1, Episode 1.

Kind of fitting, really. And sad. I'll miss those crazies in the Gulch a lot. At least Sarge got to build his Mongoose.

...Out of Mind. We have names for the faces.

Sean Duggan. The man in tan and silver.

Mark Bellman. The only sane one out of 49 siblings.

I think I found two new actors that I like. :)

York wakes up screaming, and he doesn't know why.

It's been a cycle, the same dreams over and over again. He dreams of home. Of the Nexus. Of training and so many different places he's seen in his life. Once he dreamed of a place with grass and trees, and a smiling woman who called him by his real name. He doesn't know why. But he dreams on anyway.

He dreams of old friends and enemies (those dreams are always the worst). He dreams of Carolina and her soft smile. He dreams of Tex. He dreams about Bob and Caboose and Danni and everyone he's ever met in the Nexus, even those he only met in passing. Sometimes he asks questions. But he never hears the answers; they're always muted, like voices through a solid door.

He's come close to surfacing. Twice, he stirred. He had heard a girl, talking about Dee. And somehow, that had gotten through enough for him to understand. For a moment, he was close to the surface. But it was easier to stay asleep and dream. Maybe when he woke up, he'd be himself again.

And so he dreams. Until he understands. So when he slips off the wall again, he doesn't accept it. He doesn't merely sink back down and sleep. A hand shoots out to latch around the edge of the wall. He grits his teeth, hanging on for dear life. And then he looks up, up at the sky. And he hears someone.

It's just a dream. Wake up. Wake up!

He reaches up with his other hand and grabs on. And then he hauls himself up. The layers peel back, and suddenly it's so bright...

And in the back of his own mind, York wakes up.

"I HATE SIDEWINDER!!!"

For the umpteenth time since waking up, York screams at the sky and mentally pictures himself strangling the jerk who apparently stole his armor, his stuff, and his face. It had been one rude awakening, hands-down. How often do you expect to wake up face-down in a snowbank without your armor? Not often, in York's case.

And worse still, there's nobody around. This must be one of the Sidewinders cleared out by the Reds and/or Blues during their crazy escapades. Neither of the bases are occupied; York's checked them already. Which is why he's sitting on a rock, huddled against the cold air. And sniffling like he's got the worst cold ever.

Which he probably does, poor guy.

"I fucking hate Sidewinder," he grumbles before turning his back towards the wind. "Geez, you'd think Dee would notice I'm gone by now." He rubs his nose with his arm and sniffs again.

"Maybe he sent a rescue party? That'd be nice." He stands up, brushing the snow off of himself. And then he starts shouting for the third time in an hour.

"HEEEEEEEY! ANYBODY HERE? HELLO!"

It's quiet when York gets home from the Nexus. He's still a little confused by everything that's going on in his favorite hang-out spot in the universe. Or is it "universes"? Honestly, the logistics confuse the heck out of him. And the current state of things doesn't help that confusion any. Between Captain Harkness acting wonky, people being naked, and the Singing Incident, it's a wonder anybody's sane in there.

"Dee!" York pops off his helmet and sets it down on a footstool near the door. "Hey Dee, you're lucky you got to stay home today! The Nexus is completely fucked up, and-" He cuts off when he sees a sillouette standing near the couch. "Uh... Dee?" York steps closer, looking confused. Since when did Dee's holograms look so solid? "Dee? Hey man, did you up the power on the projector again?"

The person turns around. It definitely isn't Dee. But who it is just can't be possible. The man breaks out into a completely familiar smile, give or take that evil twist to it.

"Hello, Henry," says York number 2. "Welcome home."

"Oh, son of a..."

Tex is here. Allison, but don't call her that inless you're one of the few people who can get away with it. (I'm one of 'em, whoo!) Heh. Looks like Omega was lying when he said she's bitten the big one. I'm just glad to see my old buddy back and in her usual form. Namely, slightly grumpy. But hey, she's a nice gal underneath it all.

It's funny, but... having her arrive here, now, well.. it makes it feel like old times again. As much as my eye hurts, and as much as I know the unit's broken up, it's good to see a familiar face in these parts again. Maybe I should invite her over to reminisce about stuff. (and to find out why she's hunting Omega. Boy, that's gonna take some explaining.)

Allison? Good to have you around. :)

BEEP!

"Hi there! You've reached the base of York-"

"-And Delta-"

"-located in sunny dusty downtown Middle of Nowhere. We're not in right now, so leave a message and we'll get back to you ASAP. Oh, and if you're one of the old 49 States Program guys, then I'm Bob Newbanks and you've dialed the wrong number."

"York..."

"Later!"

BEEEP!

York is chilling out in his base. Actually, he's more like dozing in his base. He moved the most comfortably squashy chair he has across the room so it's under the skylight/giant fan in his roof. He's just reclining in the sunshine, drowsing comfortably. His armor is piled neatly next to the chair, along with a rag and a container of armor polish. He sneezes once in a while, but the allergy pills he received from Fiona have done their job. Unfortuantely, they're also the cause of the drowsiness. Who knew he would have a reaction to them?

He turns his head slightly to one side to look at his base's terminal. "Hey Dee," he says sleepily.

"Yes, York?"

"Do a favor, will ya? If I doze off, you mind waking me up in about an hour?" He yawns, stretching his arms above his head. "And if Mort or Caboose or somebody pops by, let 'em in. I'll wake up when the door opens." He grins slightly before breaking into a larger yawn. "Well, at least it's better than sneezing."

"Understood, York. I will wake you if someone arrives to visit."

The only problem with being sleepy? It dulls your reflexes. It makes it harder to concentrate. And it's when you're the most vulnerable.

Like now.

My name was Derek North. Computer programmer.

I'm Delta now. I'm glad that I know my history now.

I thank you all for getting me this far.

((I found this name in some old scribbles I had. And yes, I finally got off my lazy butt to give him a name.))

Wooooooooooooah. RvB 93 was, uh... craziness. Wow. Gary, Wyoming, and mention of York! And Vic! And jeez it got complicated all of a sudden and yowza. Although I think who the mysterious "interior decorator" York mentions in OoM 3 is. Hee, good to know Roosterteeth didn't forget about lovable old York and Dee.

But wow. So now I know what York can do. All of a sudden, I'm thinking of Austin from that one Heroes comic. Why? Well, go see for yourselves. Talk about supersoldiers. Heh.

Right. Back to your regularly scheduled York-ness!

Jersey? Can I say just how awesome Durga is? Honestly, she and Dee are so alike, it's a little spooky. I mean, he's him and she's her, but... yeah. You get what I mean. They grow up so fast, don't they? The similarities are spooky. Both names start with a "D", and NY and NJ are, what, right next to each other in the USA? You can't just shrug that off, right?

It is good to meet a... I suppose that Program Durga counts as a 'cousin' of sorts. Not the same program, but she and I are AIs. If family terms can be applied (as they often have been between programs), then 'cousin' is the closest term that can sum this up. I thank you for bringing her to the Nexus, Jersey. After the deletion of my... brother... it was good to see a family member.

See? Even Dee likes having her around! Bring her back to visit soon, 'kay? Just keep her out of my chatter system. I got stuff in there that's for me only. :P

Whoo! The Nexus rocks!

You learn something new every time you go the Nexus, I guess. Weird stuff, but it's still new stuff. Like apparently there's a dude somewhere whose name is "Doctor". Wonder what that means, but eh. Whatever. I shouldn't talk about weird names, considering the whole codename thing and all. Gonna keep an eye out for the guy anyway. Just so I can see who else in the Nexus struck out on the name area besides us 49ers.

You meet neat people just by wandering through without armor. Captains (still don't know why that Captain Harkness guy is looking for that 'Doctor' guy), regular random people, AIs (both good and bad), and even giant talking trees! Er, maybe. Haven't met any of those yet, but I'm sure some'll pop up in that place eventually!

Never a dull moment in that place. Nope.

So York got a visit from the friendly Nexus mailman today! And he's got letters! Letters he... really wasn't expecting. Especially since his own letter looks startlingly familiar. Almost unwelcomingly so. It's a postcard, simply enough. But it's the whole thing that really spooks him out.

The front of it is a simple snowy landscape. If a normal landscape has a military fort in the background of it. The place would be recognizable to most of the civil war-era Spartans: it's Sidewinder. The picture's definitely not a normal postcard panorama. Somebody shot this photo, and they didn't do a half-bad job of it. The writing on the back is in tiny, neat letters.

"Knock knock. Who's there? Lettuce. Lettuce who? Lettuce in, it's cold out here. Is the infiltrations training going well, York? Hope to see you and Allison soon. Save me a seat at the reunion. Cheerio, Wyoming and Gamma." This certainly eplains why York is currently as far on the other side of the Nexus from the letter as he can get. It also explains the alarmed look on his face. He looks like he's seen a ghost.

The other letter is for Delta. And just like York's letter, it's a postcard. Only it's more like a photo. It's a man with feathery-blonde hair and green eyes, wearing horn-rimmed glasses. He's not looking at whoever took the photo; instead, he's staring off into the distance. His shoulders are hunched up towards his ears, almost as if he were trying to hide.

There's just a line of text on the back. A name and a single message. "Prospect for 49 States Program, AI Divison. Codename: Delta"