9:20 am, Tuesday.
It was a quiet mid-morning on a hot summer day. The kind of heated day that made you want to just leap into the crisp pond and not care of the shocking cold you received the moment your skin hit the surface. A mechanical "moo" from a cardboard cow behind the crisscrossing fence broke the still silence. The two worn barns facing each other whispered with dust kicking up through the windowpanes, howling with the now-picking-up winds. The only way to get from one to another was to cross a roofed, rickety bridge over the murky pond six feet below, but that was just a part of the daily routines. Nothing ever exciting happens around here, apparently. Nothing exciting happened at all, up until now.
BAM! BAM!
"Scout! Scout are you there, missy? Can you hear me!" the radio cracked and sizzled, the broken transmissions struggling to clear, "Darn it, Scout, do you copy!"
"I'm fine Engi," a Boston-accented young girl responded a few moments later, the frequency still poor, "I just had a bit of trouble with that Pyro. Lil' bastard tried sneaking up on me but I got him. I got him good, Engi!" The sound of a shotgun reloading was then heard on the other end,
"Mother hubbard, girly, dontcha give me a heart attack like that!" The Engineer gave a big sigh of relief over the receiver, "You remember the coordination, missy?" The Scout pressed the earphone closer to her ear,
"Duh, Engi, you and the would-be general went over it half a dozen times! I got it, chief. Besides, how difficult could it be to get a simple Intel briefcase?" a smirk curved on her slender lips, her eyes scanning her surroundings on the second floor of the barn.
"Don't underestimate the opposing team, Scout. This is not close to near training. Just remember your basics." The Engineer could not stress enough about that cursed Red Team, "Remember what happened to your brother." Silence came across the other line, "Scout?"
"I know; I'll never forget." Her hand lifted and gripped onto the pair of silver dog tags that hung from her neck. Scout: 1982-2008 it read. She took in a deep breath of anticipation and took a few steps back to the wall, still seeing nothing in sight.
"Scout, get going!" her distraction was broken by the Sniper who was just setting up his rifle, checking the scope to ensure it was in focus and placed his eye into view,
"You have about two minutes to get to the other side before the other team emerges. I'll cover you, love." She glanced over at him before giving a single nod. He gave the signal with two fingers forward and she darted as quickly as her legs would allow. Dashing to the edge, she leapt, legs kicking in midair and she crashed on the tin roof that covered the bridge.
"Go, go, go!" the Sniper shouted after her, and with no hesitation, she charged across, only to be halted by whizzing bullets flying past her head, followed by her team members shouting and cursing below.
"Sh-shit!" she cried, dodging this way and that, almost losing footing on the slippery slope. She fell once again, sliding down but catching herself on the edge of the roof, the dirty bandages wrapped around her palms giving some grip. Clenching her teeth, she used what strength she had and pulled herself up, swinging her body until she kicked up a leg over to give herself leverage to pull her body up. Her eyes glanced upward and saw a Sniper in red aiming right at her chest and moving up, the red dot tracing to the middle of her forehead. She froze there, her eyes wide,
"Dagnabit, Scout, move yer ass! NOW!" She heard the Engineer scream from below as he built up a sentry just barely outside the barn. Scout gasped and quickly rolled to the other side just as a fourth bullet fired, ricocheting on the roof of the barn. Leaping to her feet, she sprinted toward the sniper, dashing left and right, careful of her footing this time and brought out the aluminum bat. She knew she needed to save the shotgun shells for later.
Giving a slight grin, she jumped off the edge of the roof and folded her legs backward, bracing for impact. In midair once more, she raised the bat high, catching the light of the bright sun and brought it down as hard as she could on the side of the Sniper's temple, hearing the cracking of his skull. He collapsed in a great big heap before her and she panted hard as she stood there, the stinging pain remaining in her legs. Suddenly, Scout held her breath,
"Sniper…?" she turned the limp body over with her foot and noticed… he looked just like the one on her team! "The hell?" her eyes widened, the bat in her hand loosening. Scout looked back at the barn she came from, seeing her Sniper waving his hat at her in congratulations. Scout was taken back in awe, just standing there out in the open,
"Scout? Don't just stand there, keep going! Hurry! We haven't much time before-" the line broke off. Scout's eyes widened more, hearing nothing but the scrambling static, "Engi!" Scout felt her heart shudder to that distant silence, dropping the bat and holding the radio closer, "Engi…? Answer me, please!" Her cry became desperate and as the grief overcame her, so did something else. She felt a gloved hand shove her forward hard against the brick wall by the recovery center. She gasped, the hand sliding over her neck and tightening. Scout's eyes shifted back, meeting gaze that of the blue eyes of the Spy.
"Spy…what are you-", she choked, that cigarette smell irritating her nostrils. The Red Spy drew his cigarette away from his devious lips and blew smoke in her face, before spinning her around, forcing her to face him,
"Silly little Scout. You think you can waltz right in here and do what you will? Well, miss, I think not!" he shouted in that thick, suave French accent and reunited the cigarette to his mouth before drawing his switch blade, opening it and pressing the blade's edge to her cheek,
"Your smart-mouthed brother was witty as a fox, but his best advantage drew him to my best kill. Do you wish to know how he died?" tears filled her eyes as his words ravaged her ears. Scout, winced, gripping onto his arm, struggling to push him off, "Perhaps I shall do the same to you… such a shame…such a waste to dispose of a pretty little lady." His eyes filled with that sense of lust, the kind you can only, truly feel when you haven't seen a real woman in such an amount of years. He parted her legs with one of his own and brushed up against her, spitting out the wisping cig and brought that masked face to her neck, taking in her scent,
"Such a sweet aroma you possess, ma cherie…" his voice softened, tracing her neck up to her jaw and along her ear with his dried lips, "you know how long I've waited to hear the sweet sound of a woman? To feel and taste her all at once? Lucky I bumped into you, no?" Scout wanted to scream, but his hand was so tight around her neck, she only managed a weak gasp. How in the hell had he snuck up on her? As she can recall, her Spy let her in on a few secrets, the secrets of being a professional spy, just in case she ran into one on the opposite team. It scared her; not just the fact this spy was harassing her, no, but how he sounded and looked just like the spy on her team. Same with the sniper. What in God's name was happening here? Nobody warned her about this. Scout couldn't think straight, she just wanted to get away,
"Scout ?" her radio was back online, and the Engineer's voice sounded, giving her the relief she needed, "Scout, what's going on? What happened? I thought I lost you!"
"He…help me…," she whispered into the radio but the Spy yanked it off her and threw it to the side,
"No, no, ma petite, you shall not be in need of any one's help." The Spy grinned down at her, tracing the knife's tip down the center of her shirt. This sort of behavior disgusted her. No one on her team ever did this to her, ever. They treated her like family, like someone to look over. Most times, she felt like she were treated as a kid, but others, she felt she played a big role on her team, never giving the members disappointment. She loved to watch the Doc study different serums and such, or enjoy hearing the Soldier scream his head off at some of the new recruits.
She was new at one point, and she knew most of the routines, but this sort of thing; stealing the Intelligence and dealing with an opposing team that looked similar; she had no idea it would be like this. Then, she remembered what she received that fateful Sunday morning when the Doc gave her the sad, dreadful news of her brother's demise. She knew that it was indeed the Spy from the opposing side that did him in.
"Get…off of me…!" she pleaded, but he moved in closer, the warmth of his pants feeling up against her bare legs. "Bastard!" She gripped tightly onto his arm, digging her nails into his sleeve. He grimaced to the pain, clenching his teeth before giving in and sliced her hard across the stomach with the knife. Scout wailed, stumbling to the side, clutching to her fresh wound, blood trickling through her fingers. The Spy glared at her, professionally handling his knife, waiting for a perfect moment to jab at her,
"Ah, oui, show me what you got, ma petite!" he grinned at her, watching her wince to the pain,
"Wanna see what I have to offer? I'll show you what I got!" Scout shouted at the top of her lungs and threw a fast, hard punch to his face, causing him to stumble back. He turned and looked, seeing a blue dot aim for him. Immediately, he cloaked himself, smirking at Scout, but as he started to fade, she ran towards him fast, bending forth to retrieve her bat, and as she brought it up, she swung it to his head.
His cloaking device was knocked out of operation and he revealed himself again. Falling to the side with agony, he kicked up his leg to trip her but she leapt over him, kicking him in the face and landing behind.
Scout then spun around on one heel, and gazed down at the man who she despised most. With one free hand, she reached for the pistol, twirling it back then forward on one finger and took aim,
"Killing you won't bring my brother back, but it would sure make me feel better." She grinned and pulled the trigger. Click. Nothing. No ammo. Scout glared at the gun, her eye twitching,
"Damn it!" She chucked the pistol at the Spy's head, knocking him out cold with the final blow.
"Scout!" the radio fizzed with the Engineer's voice and Scout went to pick it up. Placing it back on her head, she spoke, "I'm here, Engi. Having trouble with the Spy." She did not dare mention that the Sniper and Spy looked similar to the Blues,
"Scout, we haven't much time left. Just go!"
The female announcer reminded both teams they had about five minutes to retrieve each other's Intel and bring it back immediately. Scout took in a deep breath and darted towards where the Intel was to be found. Leaping down the steps into the Intelligence room, she heard various beeping. Sentries. Scout peered over a wall and a small sentry in the corner by the desk picked up her presence and began firing at her. She ducked as several bullets shot up the wall she was hiding behind. Taking in one more deep breath, she sprinted, ducking and dove for desk. Only then did she realize an even larger sentry against the opposing wall took aim at her. She rolled to the side and ducked under the desk, bullets and such bombarding her.
"Engi! I'm stuck! I'm in the Intel room, but I can't move while being shot at. I need Demo!" she shouted over the shots firing at her still,
"Copy that, Scout. He'll be on his way." The Engineer reported. Moments later, a rugged Scotsman could be heard, laughing insanely while charging and shooting grenades at the sentries.
BOOM!
Flames emerged and Scout peered up over the desk, blinking, staring at the Demo Man who took a swig from his bottle of whiskey. Thinking nothing of it, she grabbed the briefcase and darted past him in a hurry without a word spoken. She ran hard and she ran fast to get back to the others, desperately running against time itself. Scout brought out her shotgun and checked for ammo. Good, it was loaded. She was not going to take the front way out; no, instead she was going for the sewers. It would lead her back to the pond and she could swim her way back up to her side. Yes, that was a good idea, she thought.
She maneuvered her way around until she came to the pipelines leading to a small room, then back outside. Scout skidded to a stop, seeing the Engineer working on a sentry.
"Engi! I got the Intel!" she gleefully announced. The Engineer stopped in mid-progress and looked up, tilting his helmet back slightly,
"Well now, missy, that's just fine and dandy but…that's our Intel." He frowned at her and brought up his shotgun, "I'm afraid you haven't a choice. I'd ask you to return it, but then I wouldn't be doing my job properly, now would I?" he clicked the safety off and took aim,
"Engi…" Scout's eyes grew wide with shock, "No, come on, it's me…Scout. Why…why are you on the opposite team?"
"What you talking 'bout, Scout? I've always been with the Reds." He spoke without hesitant, and that was when it hit her. He wasn't her Engineer, oh no. Fiddling for her bat, Scout quickly dove to the side, crashing into the wall just as the Red Engineer fired and kept firing, reloading and fired repeatedly at her, blasting holes in walls all over.
"Darn it, missy, hold still!" he shouted. Scout was lucky to avoid each shot, though a few times, one or two just scraping her.
"You look badly hurt there, let me finish the job!" the Engineer grew more and more frustrated until he finally ran out of shotgun shells. Reaching for his own pistol, he quickly came to a halt, giving that dumbfounded look and dropped to his knees. Scout looked over and saw the Blue Engineer standing behind with his wrench raised up after clobbering his counterpart. He gave her his crooked smirk, but saw her distress,
"Thought you could use some help, missy." He approached her but she quickly ran from him, back up the pipeline and to the steps leading out to the front of the barn. She saw both teams fighting one another. She caught her breath, gazing around, unbelieving what she was seeing.
"Look! Their Scout has the Intel! Attack!" a red Soldier shouted, firing rockets at her. Screaming, she ducked down and ran straightforward across the bridge back to the original barn just barely missing the exploding rockets. She didn't stop. She panted hard until the announcer claimed there were only seconds to spare. Scout ran back to the Blues' Intel Room, her team cheering her on and dropped the Reds' Intel onto the desk, claiming it for her team. She then dropped to her knees before the desk, hands pressed flat on the floor, staring down at it, gritting her teeth,
"I got the Intel...I got it..." she gazed at her wound the Spy made on her stomach and clutched her eyes shut. The Blues won this round and that was all that mattered.
At the victory party, the Blues toasted one another, having laughs and conversations to themselves. The Sniper and Soldier were going through the private documents, discussing what to do with the blueprints for new weaponry. Perfect, it was just what they needed.
Scout was there too, but wasn't joining in the celebration. She sat on a dusty old crate, holding onto a can of soda, thinking with her arm across her freshly healed stomach. Scout looked up at her team members, the Heavy laughing so hard, he nearly fell over on top the Demo. Although a small smile emerged, it left as quickly as it came. Doc came over, touching her shoulder,
"Your wound is feeling better, ja?"
"Yea, thanks Doc." She managed to say. At least the Reds didn't have their Medic. He was important to her. The Medic did so much for her and her brother when it came to training and battlements.
"Why aren't you happy, mein freund? We have the Intel. We'll be getting more weapons, danken to you." It was almost funny to her, how the Medic used both English and German in his sentences.
"It isn't that." She finally looked up, meeting his eyes. He gave her that sympathetic look,
"Is it your brother?" he made it a question, as to why, she didn't know. It didn't all have to do with him. It was…,
"No, it isn't. It's complicated Doc."
"Ah, little girl! You did good job today!" The Heavy came up to her, a proud smile on his face as he picked her up with no effort and sat her on his shoulder, carrying her to the party, "You celebrate with us, now!" the others raised a toast to their Scout, cheering all at once. This was an important task, and she did it with little to no trouble. So why didn't she celebrate too?
"I'm sorry, guys." She interrupted them, "I…I'm tired. I had a big, long day." She forced a smile, hiding the disturbance on her face, "You all did a great job too." She slid off the Heavy's shoulder back onto the ground and left to her private quarters.
Shutting the door, she took off the dusted blue ball cap and laid it by her headset. She then undid her long, brown braided hair and finally collapsed on the firm, squeaking bed. Scout buried her face in the pillow before looking over at a picture frame. She saw her older brother and herself as kids at a ball game practice, long before he decided to join the Blues. She did in the end herself, thinking it would be great to work with her brother.
Scout sat up and picked up the frame, staring down at it. What the others failed to realize that the hat, radio and bat she used were really...all of his.