The ship-wide alarm woke York from his dreamless sleep at 8:00; the normal wake up time for all Freelancers. He hadn't even realized he had fallen sleep, yet he felt fully rested.

"Good morning to all Freelancers," he heard the Director say on the intercom.

Good morning? When has the Director ever said good morning?

"The arrival of the Sarcophagus yesterday will not have an immediate impact on your training," he continued, "so we will continue with regular training procedures. Agent Maine, however, will not be joining you until he is fully recovered. This will cause some changes in your training schedules, which will be updated on the panel next to your room doors. You may download this to your helmet's HUD, as I recognize you will be unfamiliar with this new schedule, and I do not want anybody wasting their time, simply because they did not know where to go. I expect you all to adapt quickly to this the same way you would adapt to changes in the battlefield. Have a fine day."

So he wants us to have a good morning and a fine day... Something's definitely not right here. And what the hell happened to that rest he had promised us?

He decided not to give it much thought, and went to get ready. He went to the bathroom where he brushed his teeth, washed his face, and shaved. When he finished shaving, he looked in the mirror, and his attention turned to his eye.

Doesn't look that bad... besides, women love men with scars don't they?

As soon as the thought occurred to him, he put it in the back of his mind.

Hold it together York. You're a Freelancer, there's no time for romance here.

He really hoped there wasn't. Getting involved with Carolina as anything more than friends could have any number of implications, and he couldn't let that happen. He got dressed in the simple black body suit all Freelancers wore under their MJOLNIR armor, that covered everything except their head. He went to his dresser to pick up his helmet, which all Freelancers took with them to their rooms, and went to check his schedule. He had target practice at 9:30 with Carolina.

Well... this should be interesting.

He exited his room, helmet in hand, and walked to the armory. He was the first to arrive, so he stepped up to the platform in the middle of the room, and let the technicians do their job. They began like they always did, attaching the two pieces that made up the torso. They continued by putting his leg armor, and then finishing with the arms.

"All right, you're good to go," said one of the armor technicians.

He step off of the platform, and decided it was time to eat some breakfast. As he left, he saw some of the Freelancers arriving at the armory, all dressed in the same black body suits they all wore under their armor. When he arrived at the mess hall, he picked up a plate, and walked to the serving station, where he was served his breakfast.

"Scrambled eggs again F.L.I.S.S.?" he asked.

"I apologize Agent York," came the reply from the computerized voice. "We have not yet had time to land on a non-hostile planet to buy ingredients for better food. Also, there has been some problems with the funds, but I assure you the Director is doing the best he can to get you the food you deserve."

"You sure you weren't programmed to say that last bit?"

"I am sorry, was that sarcasm?"

"Would that get you mad?"

"I am an A.I., I do not feel anger."

"Good to know," he said, and went to get a table. He found Washington sitting on a table, and he was the only one in the mess hall, so he decided to sit with him."

"Morning, Wash," he told him.

"Hey York," replied Washington. "Any luck with Carolina?"

"Yeah she'll be fine. She just needs some time to cool off. She's pretty mad at Tex, but other that I'm sure she'll be back to herself in no time."

"I hope so... we've already got Texas to deal with."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I don't know if you've noticed, but Texas is a bit of a umm..."

"An angry pissed off bitch?"

"Yeah that... And for some reason she's always hanging around the Director."

"I've been thinking about that for a while now, and to be honest, it worries me."

"And haven't you noticed that she's not even here?"

York looked around, seeing that in the few minutes they had been talking, the mess hall was already filling up with all the other Freelancers coming from the Armory. He looked for the black armor Texas wore, but didn't see it anywhere.

"You're right... she's not here."

"And I'm betting you didn't see her at the Armory either."

"Hey, I was the first one there. I didn't see anyone. Speaking of which... is there any particular reason why you're still not in your armor?"

"I'd rather come get my food before the line forms... and this way, by the time I've eaten, there'll be nobody in the Armory, and I don't have to make that line either," he replied, smiling a little at his clever plan.

"You do know that the Armory closes at 9:00 right?"

"You're point being?"

"It's 8:55."

"WHAT?" he yelled, getting up from the table "But I always manage to get there on time!"

"Do you always talk to someone during breakfast?"

"Well, no but..."

He stood there thinking for a moment.

"Umm... Wash? It's 8:56"

"SHIT!" he yelled, running for the door, and leaving his food behind.

"Ooo, more food," York said to himself, reaching for Washington's plate.

When he finished eating, York sat up and started walking towards the shooting range. It was 9:15, so he had some time to sit down and think. Out of habit, he put on his helmet, and let his thoughts roam free. He thought of Carolina again, and of the way her hair looked yesterday when he went to her room. York had always loved red hair, and he found Carolina's hair was exceptionally beautiful. He thought of the way they talked, and how out of the blue they laughed.

Come to think of it, they have never really had a conversation like that before. It had always been small talk: a little bit of chatter when they were bored on recon missions, some small talk on the way to a mission, a sarcastic comment from York... but they had never had an actual conversation. He found himself longing for more. He wanted to have some time to talk to her, about her; nothing else. He found that he wanted to know more about her. He wanted to get to know her...

Suddenly, he was in a meadow, the same one from back at home, where he used to take his old girlfriend Ashley to spend their time together. The place he'd take her so they could be alone. So they could be far away from the rest of the world; where they would just sit and talk nonsense all day long, and that nonsense would lead to other more pleasant things.

She was sitting cross legged with her back against the tree. York was lying down, resting his head on her legs. He looked at her eyes, beautiful as ever, but then he started noticing something. This wasn't Ashley...

It was Carolina.

She was playing with the long hair he used to have before joining the military, just like Ashley used to to, and she was smiling. She was smiling the same way she had when that day he had left her room. He couldn't remember when that was, but it didn't matter to him. He was here, now, in a timeless place, completely disconnected form the rest of the world.

He felt her fingers move along his head, just toying with his hair. Pulling on it gently, wrapping it around her fingers. She placed her hands on each side of his face, stroking his cheeks with her thumbs. They looked deep into each other's eyes, and York couldn't help but smile back at her.

"I love you," she told him.

"I love you too," he found himself saying back.

She leaned down to kiss him, and he lifted his head a bit to kiss her back, but just as his lips were about to touch hers, he fell.

"OW!," he yelled as he hit the floor. He looked up to see Carolina standing over him. He was back at Mother of Intervention.

"Bad dreams York? Really? What are you, five?" said Carolina.

"You didn't have to push me down," he replied.

"It's your fault for falling asleep. I told you you needed some rest," she said, as she offered her hand and smiled playfully at him.

"All right, you win. You were right, I did need some sleep," he said as he took her hand, and she pulled him up. "Now can we please get to training?"

"Not if you're too tired," she said.

"Ha, ha," he said sarcastically. "Now if you're done mocking me, let's go train."

"Not that I really need any, but sure," she said.

"Cocky, are you? That's not gonna help you get back up to number 1," he replied jokingly. When he saw the look on Carolina's face, he knew she hadn't taken it as a joke.

"Too soon?" he asked.

The moment he said this she threw her fist toward his face. He grabbed it, twisted it around, and held it behind her back.

"We're here for target practice," he told her. "Unarmed combat isn't until 14:00."

"Let me go," she said through gritted teeth, "before I break your arms and knock you unconscious."

"You're being a little extreme," he told her.

"Maybe," she replied, and before he knew it, he was on the ground. "You still should have let me go," she said as she walked away.

Great going York.