[ Wash hasn't thought much of Chorus in a while, so caught up in Barrayar and everything that's happening here, and it takes him a few moments to even realize what Tucker is talking about. With the Feds, he realized, when Tucker and the others had come for him and the Reds . . . Which hadn't been necessary, in the end, but damned if it wasn't a risk anyway, if it wasn't something that could have gotten them all killed. He'd asked Kimball for the brief, when things were calmer, but he'd never gotten the details. Not these were details, either, but it clicks into place.
It was Tucker. Of course it was Tucker.
The Reds and Blues have done a lot of dumb shit that's somehow managed to work, Wash has learned that firsthand. Things that should never go through that somehow always do. But god if he doesn't keep trying to stop them, trying to keep them in line, because one of these days that luck is going to run out. One of these days they're going to run face-first into the reality of war that they've still managed to avoid, and. ]
Luck runs out eventually, and I don't want you there when it does.
[ A breath, his eyes closing briefly as he squeezes his hands over Tucker's shoulders, before letting them fall back to his sides. ]
It's not going to work because I'm not going to let it, how about that? [ Pointedly, sharply, folding his arms across his chest. ] I want you alive, I want you safe, so I'm sure as hell not going to let you run off on your own and get yourself killed. You're part of a team here, you know that, right? I need you here. We need you here.
So does Sonia. What she'd need right now is for you to pull yourself back together and fucking think for a second instead of literally arguing to me that stupid shit isn't stupid, just because it's worked before. [ And here's that commanding officer tone of voice starting to kick in, something fierce in his eyes. ] You're going listen to me and stand the fuck down, Tucker, so that you'll still be here to take part when we're putting together an actual rescue, so that you'll be there to take part when we actually go to save her, and so that you'll still be here for her yell at herself for being such a goddamn idiot.
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It was Tucker. Of course it was Tucker.
The Reds and Blues have done a lot of dumb shit that's somehow managed to work, Wash has learned that firsthand. Things that should never go through that somehow always do. But god if he doesn't keep trying to stop them, trying to keep them in line, because one of these days that luck is going to run out. One of these days they're going to run face-first into the reality of war that they've still managed to avoid, and. ]
Luck runs out eventually, and I don't want you there when it does.
[ A breath, his eyes closing briefly as he squeezes his hands over Tucker's shoulders, before letting them fall back to his sides. ]
It's not going to work because I'm not going to let it, how about that? [ Pointedly, sharply, folding his arms across his chest. ] I want you alive, I want you safe, so I'm sure as hell not going to let you run off on your own and get yourself killed. You're part of a team here, you know that, right? I need you here. We need you here.
So does Sonia. What she'd need right now is for you to pull yourself back together and fucking think for a second instead of literally arguing to me that stupid shit isn't stupid, just because it's worked before. [ And here's that commanding officer tone of voice starting to kick in, something fierce in his eyes. ] You're going listen to me and stand the fuck down, Tucker, so that you'll still be here to take part when we're putting together an actual rescue, so that you'll be there to take part when we actually go to save her, and so that you'll still be here for her yell at herself for being such a goddamn idiot.