Random Insanity

 Yet another mission shot to hell, but Carolina's having a hard time staying mad at York. What with his flowers and awkward flirting.

(This story was originally written in 2018 and has been updated for composition and clarity in 2020.)

She was going to kill him. And she knew a lot of ways to do it. Long and painful ones. He’d totally deserve it, too.

Carolina paced the alley, grumbling to herself. They had a timetable to keep. She’d calculated it down to the minute. She didn’t have time for a delay. For York to be late. They were supposed to be professionals. She checked the time on her HUD. If he wasn’t here in the next sixty seconds, she was going on without him. It wouldn’t be as easy, but she could manage. And then they’d leave his ass here.

“Maybe it would teach him a lesson.”

“Teach who a lesson?”

She spun, ready to clobber him for making her wait, but then, she noticed the flowers in his hand. That was new. “Where have you been?”

“Got tied up. You know how it is.”

They spent enough time together that she could picture the exact stupid, cheesy grin York had on his face. She ground her teeth, forcing the image out of her head. “And are those supposed to make up for being late?”

He shrugged. “It is tradition.”

Carolina let out a frustrated growl and grabbed the flowers from him. “We don’t have time for stupid traditions. We’re working.” She stomped past him to the only door on the side of the warehouse she’d been staking out the last hour. “There are three inside, four on the roof, and two in a car down the street. And your tradition has cost us precious minutes.”