Been awhile since I wrote Eurobotes. Might as well get a bit in again...
"Repulse! Where are you damnit?!"
Victorious had been in a right foul mood ever since she had talked to Warspite, and the slippery battlecruiser was doing little to improve it. Where was Repulse when she needed her?
"Uh...Victorious? What's wrong?"
That was Barham. Warspite's little sister was on break from her duty in the Baltic, and staring at the carrier with more than a little confusion. Blue eyes followed Vicky's pacing, and the way her hands clenched in her uniform. If Barham didn't know better, she'd say that Victorious was going to tear her uniform with how she gripped it.
What in the world had gotten her into this mood?
"What's wrong is that I can't find Repulse," Victorious ground out, her head on a swivel.
Barham could only blink slowly, "She...she's at the docks. Talking to Hood about, y'know, the Germans."
"Of course she is. I don't have time for this..."
As Victorious rolled her eyes and wandered off again, Barham blinked once more. And shook her head, deciding that she would never understand aircraft carriers. It was probably something her sister had done. When in doubt, and when Victorious was in a sour mood, assume that Warspite was involved somehow.
Barham did have a couple thousand in the betting pool on 'when one of them pushed the other over a desk'. She was fairly certain that Furious was in the lead on that one.
Should probably follow her and make sure that she doesn't break Repulse's arm or something...
Rolling her own eyes, the Baltic Fleet flagship spun around and followed after the grumbling carrier. The clang of Vicky's helmet wasn't exactly hard to follow. Neither was her grumbling and complaining. A carrier was anything but stealthy, especially when a battleship could follow along unnoticed. Or maybe it was just Victorious was in such a foul mood it was a miracle she didn't have every destroyer on base attempting to run down and kill whatever had put her in that mood.
Considering that was her sister, in all likelihood, Barham was fine with the little murderballs not being on such a rampage. Pulling Warspite out of the fire wasn't her idea of fun.
"Repulse!!"
Barham's attention was, rather rudely, brought back to Earth by Victorious slamming open the door to the docks. That was going to make the Admiral unhappy.
"What in the bloody he---"
Repulse's shout was cut off, as Barham sidled into the dock. The bruenette battlecruiser was staring up at the similarly-haired carrier, with wide blue eyes. Hood was behind both of them, holding a hand over her bare- and rather large for a battlecruiser -chest. Apparently she had actually been in the docks when Victorious charged in.
Ooops.
"Repulse. You. With me. Now." Victorious ground out her words, attempting to spin around.
"Alright, hold up there."
Only to stop as Barham smoothly stepped into the doorway, to keep the carrier boxed in. Time to figure out what was going on.
"You aren't leaving until I figure out why you're trying to drag Repulse off like a cat." Barham held back a giggle, despite herself, at the way Victorious was holding the battlecruiser. By the scruff of her neck, like a cat. A particularly large and unwilling cat.
What would the Japanese say...nyan~?
With that charming image in mind, Barham crossed her arms over her chest and raised a single brown eyebrow. She was a battleship and could afford to sit here and wait Vicky out.
For her part, the carrier just grumbled and dropped Repulse to the floor. Ignoring the indignant squawk from the cruiser, she tugged at her helmet in frustration. "Blame your bloody sister, Barham." Victorious stopped playing with her helmet, turning sour eyes on the shorter girl instead. "She sprung, out of nowhere, that Sara was back!"
Barham blinked.
And then blinked again.
Before placing her face in her hands, and letting out a long-suffering sigh. And here she thought being away from the Swedes would give her a break from stuff like this...
"And why does that require--"
"Coming in here and trying to drag me off?!" Repulse had picked herself off the floor, adjusting her small top to cover herself properly. A distinctly annoyed look was on the battlecruiser's face, as she glared at Vicky. "Bloody hell, at least buy me dinner first!"
Victorious twitched, "Not my type, sorry."
"Well, you aren't my type either! Bloody carriers trying to be all assertive..." Repulse shot back, planting her hands on her bare hips as she glared up at the taller carrier.
Now, Barham wasn't sure what would happen first. The two would try strangling each other, or Repulse would actually kiss Victorious just to make the carrier shut up. It would be like her, the girl was an incorrigible flirt. And tease. And troll, as the young ones would say.
"Alright, calm down you two." Barham sighed heavily, rubbing her brow with the long-suffering expression only a flagship of Swedes could have. "Victorious, I understand you wanted Saratoga to come back. Why does this require dragging Repulse across the Atlantic?"
Maybe it was the 'flagship' voice. Maybe it was the fact that Repulse was clearly expecting an answer too. Maybe Vicky was just tired. Whatever the cause, the carrier's shoulders slumped as the fire left her.
"She came back as a battlecruiser," Vicky spoke softly. Her voice cracked, either from the shouting or from pain. "I don't know how to help her, now. I had thought, for the longest time, that when Sara came back I could do for her what she did for me. Teach her how to fight again."
Barham felt her own shoulders slump, as the answer hit her like a German shell. Victorious always did try and push back against things with anger...
"But I can't do that, because she's not like me now. That's why I came here, to grab Repulse." Victorious turned her head back, to look at the battlecruiser. Hood was long gone, leaving only the brunette to look at. "You can help me, help her. Right?"
Repulse raised an eyebrow, before gesturing down at her rather risque outfit. "Do I look like a bloody schoolteacher to you? Go grab Tiger."
"Tiger's in Australia, last I checked," Barham broke in. An evaluating look in her eyes. "Hm...this may work out. Last I heard, the Americans also had that other battlecruiser. Alaska, I think. If you were to go over there, both of you, they'd stop begging us for a carrier. And you could train two battlecruisers at once."
While Repulse looked like she wanted to complain, Victorious sent a--a grateful look at Barham. She even bowed her head!
"Exactly, thank you Barham." Raising her head, the carrier turned and sent a smirk over at Repulse. "Besides, the way I hear it, Sara's been attached at the hip to some guy. Don't you want to see that? Mess with them?"
"...you have my attention." Repulse replied, a dangerous gleam in her eyes now.
And Barham could only plant her face back in her hands, letting out a low groan. On the one hand, they weren't trying to kill each other anymore.
On the other, she pitied the poor man who was with Saratoga. Victorious and Repulse working together would be the death of him.
Not the longest. Probably not my best.
But I wanted to write something...so...yeah.