The New Project

Lancelot

A door slams shut.

"Honey, is that you?"

Silence.

"Lance?"

Silence for a few more seconds, then footsteps. A man comes around a corner and stops. He is wearing jeans and a tan shirt. His brown hair is shaggy as always, and his brown eyes are restless. Troubled, even. They scan the room, taking in everything. Its a standard living room, connected to a standard kitchen. A couch, TV, bookshelves (some with books, some with movies). All the walls are painted either a deep cocoa brown, or a light minty green. A strange mix, to be sure, but not so strange as the people that live there. If anyone walked into the house and simply glanced at the occupants, they would be frightened. But if they got to know these simple souls, who know more troubles than they would like, they would find that this family is simply extraordinary. Literally. The man hears footsteps coming from the upstairs portion of the house, and his lips twitch into what could almost be a smile as he thinks of the person making the noises. Then his eyes finally come back around and settle on the woman standing in front of him. And a spark of anger slips into those brown eyes.

"Azetha, what were you thinking?" Lancelot/York asks wearily, trying to keep control of his emotions. He doesn't like to fight with his wife.

Azetha looks confused for a second, then pieces together where Lance must have gone. She had been wondering why he had been gone for so long. It wasn't like him. Unless it concerned Indi. He would do anything to protect his son. She should know.

"Before you say anything else Lance, just hear me out. This is the best thing for Indi. He came to me after you told him he couldn't join the project, and he explained some things I didn't know. Did you know that he actually doesn't like school? He said he hates it there. I thought he was doing okay, but I guess not. Anyway, I was worried about him, and he's never behaved like this before, so I thought letting him join the military would be good for him. He wanted it so badly too. I can't imagine why, after all the horror stories we told him about your past. But, I signed him up anyway. I didn't want you to find out like this, but I also didn't want to tell you until he was already initiated. I knew you would go try to take him away, so I thought it would be best if you found out after he was already enrolled," Azetha explains. 

"I wish you would have told me though. Then I could've talked to him before he left and if he still wanted to go, I would have been fine with it. Instead, I went down there and yelled at him and found out the Director is a lunatic, who apparently knows me, and I still got the same result I would've gotten if i had yelled at him here at home. Because you're right, he is really determined to stay at the New Project, so I left him there. Fortunately, I was able to strike a deal with the Director so that I can go check up on him every now and then. Also, this Director. Her name is Agent Carolina, which makes me think that she was in Project Freelancer, but I don't remember enough about that to say for sure. She knows me really well though, judging by her reaction to me coming in to see Indi. She froze for a little while, and then when I said I didn't know her, she had a total bitch fit," Lancelot complains.

"Sorry, sweetie. I didn't know it would go like that. Next time, I'll make sure I let you know," Azetha says apologetically.

"No, there won't be a next time. Penny is definitely NOT going into the military. We'll be a little more lenient with her, so she won't feel the need to explode like Indi, but she will be kept away from the military at all costs, is that understood?" 

"Yes dear."

Lance watches as Azetha pads past him to the couch, sinking onto it gently. His eyes study her figure, taking in her violet eyes, aqua hair, and mint green skin. She is very beautiful, especially for her race. Azetha isn't human. She is a Cyv'ilt. The Cyv'ilt are an alien race that was enslaved by the Covenant. After the Covenant were defeated, the Cyv'ilt were freed and decided to move to Earth to join their saviors. Unfortunately, people mistakenly believed that they were a subspecies of the Covenant for a long time. This led to persecution and mass-murdering of the Cyv'ilt. Eventually, the Cyv'ilt were able to gather evidence of their slavery, and proved that they hated the Covenant as much the people of Earth did. This ended the killing of the Cyv'ilt, but they still faced a lot of discrimination and segregation. This situation has improved as time went by, but not by much. Because of this Azetha doesn't leave the house very often. Lance can still remember the day he met her. Strangely, he can't remember much past that day. Oh well. 

They met at a bar on a distant planet. Well, outside a bar. Lance, who was still called York back then, was walking past the bar, and heard some commotion in the alleyway. He peered down the alleyway, and saw a massive human with a petite Cyv'ilt. The human was holding one of the Cyv'ilt's arms behind her back and had a gun to her head. York crept closer, and heard the man telling the poor girl to fish her wallet out of her purse and then he would leave her alone. York guessed that she was being mugged, and that then no matter what the man said, she would probably get shot. York decided he couldn't let that happen, and so he stealthily jumped the man, disarming him and knocking him unconscious in a matter of seconds. The girl, shaken, watched York cautiously, trying to decide if he would try to harm her as well. People can be deceiving, as she well knows. York reassured her by smiling and asking if she was alright. She introduced herself as Azetha Vysha, and thanked him. Azetha called York her savior, and asked what she should call her rescuer. York had to pause for a minute. Eventually he had told her to call him Lancelot, for several reasons. First of all, that definitely sounds like a name a savior should have. Secondly, and more importantly, this new name would give him a fresh start, without totally forgetting his Freelancer past. Free-lancer, Lance-lot. It seemed clever at the time.

Azetha had insisted on meeting her hero again, and the newly named Lance agreed. They began hanging out, which turned to dates, which led to their marriage. Twelve years later, they have a son who takes after his dad and a daughter that looks just like her mother. Both children were delightful, and Lance couldn't be happier. He just wished his memory didn't fail him all the time. Then maybe he could remember if he had seen that pesky director before. Agent Carolina... The more he thinks about her name, the less he seems to remember. That fiery orange hair and those piercing green eyes though... How could he forget those? And based on her reaction, they must have been close. Well, he will just have to try to make amends, and admit in a kinder way that he doesn't remember her for some reason. Then he can worry about his son.

Azetha watches Lance wrestle with his thoughts. She knows him so well she can predict what he is thinking most of the time. Actually, she knows him more than even he realizes, she thinks to herself, the corners of her mouth pulling into the beginning of a smile as she fingers the key on her necklace. Better that he doesn't know the key exists.

☼☼☼

Hey my dear readers. I am so so so so so sorry for the long wait. My schedule kicked up, and honestly I kind of forgot that I started writing a book. I promise I will try to do better. Scout's honor. Except that I wasn't a Girl Scout... Oh well. Cross my heart and hope to die. There we go. 

As I think I mentioned before, I have some things planned for this story, and although there are still some details that need to be straightened out, I will get there eventually. The other Red vs. Blue characters will have their lives explained eventually, and after this chapter the New Freelancers will be in the story more. In the meantime, as usual, please leave comments and tell me what you think so far. Comments are much appreciated. Any comments at all (subtle messaging for comments, check!). Thank you for sticking with my story so far!

-Mysti