And We're All Falling

There Until You're Gone

I have to tell him now. Just do it, Delilah. Just say it.

"Wash?"

He looked up from the book he was reading on the other side of her bed. It was a fairly lazy afternoon; Tau was curled up between them, Della was working on a report (or, at least, that's what Wash thought) and he was finally finishing his book. But now, he was slightly concerned.

"Yeah?" he replied

She hesitated.

"We, uh, we need to talk," she said, avoiding his gaze as she shut the laptop.

Wash's heart seemed to skip a beat.

This is where she either tells me she never wants to date or that she wants to, isn't it?

He tried to keep his slight panic down as he carefully sat up, avoiding Tau in the process. The kitten noticed the motion and crawled over to Della. She sat him in her lap and sighed. Wash mirrored her position and waited not-so-patiently.

"Okay, I'm listening," he said.

She sighed again, clearly trying to find words.

So she never wants to date and she can't figure out how to tell me.

"Did I ever tell you the story about Mr. O'Malley?" she asked, biting her lip.

"Uh, no, I don't think so," he replied, confused.

"Well, around the time I met everyone and when I started dating North, Mr. O'Malley came to my office for a meeting. I thought he'd just want to know the new pairings for his mares," she started.

"But he didn't," Wash filled in.

She pressed her lips into a thin line.

"Wash, I got offered a job in New York for his farm."

Silence filled the space between the two. Wash took a second to process the information.

"Are you gonna take it?" he asked, biting back everything he wanted to say.

"I don't know," she said softly. "But what I do know is that Stonehill wants to trade me if they get a deal out of it."

"They would give you up?! After they spent so much time trying to get you?!" he sputtered.

"I chose them, Wash. I had twenty other farms asking for me, and I chose them. They didn't have to get me. Of course they'd be willing to give me up. It's all about money! Haven't you gotten that? When CT looked at those two foals and she said surgery could be an option, I didn't bat an eye because, chances are, the CEO's aren't gonna care because as long as they're breeding sound, they're making money. Money's no object and, apparently, neither are geneticists!" she shouted, causing Tau to jump.

Wash waited for her to calm down. She didn't cry, but he knew that she was close and that she probably needed to. However, he needed to know the full details.

Are you leaving? Where at in New York? What's the farm's name? Will they pay you well? Do they have another horse like Charlie? Will you be safe? Can you take Tau and Kappa? Will you stay in touch? Will you be happy? Will you be happy....without me? Without all of us?

"Stonehill's sending me up there for a trial period. Three weeks," she said, breaking the silence. "I already have a place to stay, a flight and a car rental. I've not exactly been honest when I've said I'd been working on breeding reports. They gave that to Lylla."

Wash looked back up and snapped out of his thoughts.

"So they want to replace you with Lylla," he said, connecting the dots.

"Yep. So glad I taught her everything I know," she said with a sigh.

Wash hesitated.

"When are you leaving?" he asked, dreading the answer.

"Next week. Wednesday. Flight's at 10am," she answered.

"I'll take care of Tau and Kappa while you're gone. I assumed you were going to ask that," he assured.

"I was going to say that you could stay here if you wanted to. Bring Phi?" she suggested.

"I'll keep everything safe," he assured, not giving her a clear answer either way.

She smiled and looked down at the blankets on the bed.

"Carolina already knew."

Wash tensed.

"You told her first?" he asked.

"I was a mess, Wash. I didn't know what to do. I called her up and I was crying and I explained it to her and then she spent an hour on the phone with me trying to calm me down and when she did she explained what to do and how to do it and....and when to tell you," she explained, tracing a pattern on the blanket.

"Oh."

She bit her lip. There was one more thing she needed to ask. Well, actually there were two more things but she was only going to say one. The other was on such a long shot that she couldn't ask him. She didn't have the courage to ask him.

"One more thing, Wash?"

He turned his attention back to her.

This is it! She tells me she wants to date or she doesn't!

"Can you take me to the airport on Wednesday? I don't wanna go alone."

His face didn't fall because he wouldn't let it.

"Of course. I'll be there until you're gone."

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(Disclaimer: I do not own the characters from Red VS Blue, they are owned by the lovely people at RoosterTeeth:))