Oh. Somewhere in there, Wash has hit a nerve. It doesn't take long for Chief to tell him just which one it is, but...
But honestly, there's a bit of faulty logic in there that Wash just can't get past.
"Wait, so you're ready to die because dying would be easy?" He pauses, long enough for that to sink in but not long enough for Chief to really reply. "Because that is easily the dumbest thing I've heard all week, and I had a conversation with Grif about shitty pizza toppings." Perspective is everything.
"For what it's worth, whatever your friend did was her decision." His tone softens a bit, because you don't speak ill of the dead to someone who's probably still grieving. "You don't get to decide your value in other people's lives. So if someone cares enough about you to make sure you make it out of a mission alive, or cares enough to yell at you to sit down because you have broken ribs and need to rest, that's their decision. They've decided you're worth that much to them, and you don't get to tell them they're wrong."
He takes a moment and sighs. Eventually, Chief is going to turn his words back on him, and the whole hypocritical house of cards is going to collapse. Might as well back away before that happens. "I don't think I've told you this, but everyone else from Project Freelancer is dead. They were all killed one way or another. At least, that's what I thought." For the most part, it still holds. He's not expecting any more miracles. "A couple of years ago, my CO showed up out of the blue. She was broken and angry, because that's what Freelancer did to all of us, but she was alive. I...don't have words for how happy I was to see her." Namely because he was also worried and a little scared as well at the time, which had soured the overwhelming happiness a bit, but that's not important to the story right now. "You may not think your team needs you, but I'd be surprised if they're not thrilled to have you back."
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But honestly, there's a bit of faulty logic in there that Wash just can't get past.
"Wait, so you're ready to die because dying would be easy?" He pauses, long enough for that to sink in but not long enough for Chief to really reply. "Because that is easily the dumbest thing I've heard all week, and I had a conversation with Grif about shitty pizza toppings." Perspective is everything.
"For what it's worth, whatever your friend did was her decision." His tone softens a bit, because you don't speak ill of the dead to someone who's probably still grieving. "You don't get to decide your value in other people's lives. So if someone cares enough about you to make sure you make it out of a mission alive, or cares enough to yell at you to sit down because you have broken ribs and need to rest, that's their decision. They've decided you're worth that much to them, and you don't get to tell them they're wrong."
He takes a moment and sighs. Eventually, Chief is going to turn his words back on him, and the whole hypocritical house of cards is going to collapse. Might as well back away before that happens. "I don't think I've told you this, but everyone else from Project Freelancer is dead. They were all killed one way or another. At least, that's what I thought." For the most part, it still holds. He's not expecting any more miracles. "A couple of years ago, my CO showed up out of the blue. She was broken and angry, because that's what Freelancer did to all of us, but she was alive. I...don't have words for how happy I was to see her." Namely because he was also worried and a little scared as well at the time, which had soured the overwhelming happiness a bit, but that's not important to the story right now. "You may not think your team needs you, but I'd be surprised if they're not thrilled to have you back."