It had been a difficult battle for BLU that day. The REDs had fought hard and the match had ended in a stalemate. Each member of the BLU team trudged back to the base, exhausted and wanting Medic to heal them so they could flop down in their beds and sleep.
Medic walked back to the infirmary, intending to gather his cleaning equipment for the wounds that his colleagues had surely acquired that day. He had just rounded the corner when three of his doves came flying out in a hurry as feathers floated through the air. But how did they get out? He kept that door locked when they battled!
Each of them grabbed a bit of Medic's jacket in their beaks, tugging him back to his office. One of them, he noticed, was Hippocrates, who was usually the one who warned him about trouble. Oh no, this couldn't be good.
He sprinted back to his office, the three doves following closely behind. He skidded to a halt in the doorway, letting out a startled shriek as his eyes widening at what he saw, not bothering to turn on the lights before entering.
The office was a mess. The door, he now noticed, had been pulled off its hinges, his desk was actually broken in half, and each of the drawers were pulled out and emptied onto the floor. Papers and pens were scattered everywhere, the doves were fluttering around in panic, and the birdcage was dented and thrown on the floor, the broken twigs poking out of its bars. Archimedes finally noticed the doctor standing there and fluttered up to meet him, promptly grabbing onto the man's tie and pulling him forward.
Hold on minute.
His head whipped back to the ruined birdcage, his eyes widening wider than he ever thought they would as realization dawned on him.
Hyppolita and her chicks…
He raced to the birdcage, hoping to God that –
Oh no.
"HYPPOLITA!" he shrieked, prying the cage open so he could reach her. She was lying motionless on her back and pressed between the two sides of the cage, her wing crippled to the side. "Oh Gott…" He gently picked her up, feeling the lump in his throat grow as he tried to swallow it back down.
"…Hyppolita?" he whispered hoarsely, the tears now steadily rolling down his cheeks. "Geliebte, b-bitte…" He held the dove closely to his chest, stroking the side of her head softly with his finger as he felt his tears becoming uncontrollable. "…d-don't die, Hyppolita, bitte! Papa's here now, everyzhing vill be alright, I promise!" Medic knew for a fact that this was a lie. He knew that the chicks were dead, because the nest in the cage was completely destroyed from the force of impact. He knew that he didn't even want to look in the direction of the cage, because he was sure that he wouldn't be able to bear the thought of her baby doves crushed and killed somewhere in the ruins of their home.
Archimedes fluttered up to the doctor's shoulder, settling down under his papa's strong jaw and leaning against his neck, breathing softly, almost sadly. He wasn't nipping playfully at the German's hair, he wasn't hopping around like a Scout on Bonk, he wasn't constantly switching from sitting on Medic's head to his shoulders, he was just sitting there, unmoving.
Medic, however, was not like his usually hyperactive dove right now. He lost it when he could no longer feel the faint expansion and contraction of Hyppolita's lungs. When he knew that his beloved dove was lost forever, and there was nothing he could do about it.
The German couldn't bear to put Hyppolita down, so he sat cross-legged in the middle of the infirmary, sobbing and continuing to stroke his deceased dove's head. How could this have happened? From what he could tell when he walked it, the rest of the base wasn't wrecked. So why his doves? Why his precious babies over everything else?
"Doktor, ees time for check up, what are you…" Heavy said from the door, stopping when he caught sight of Medic. "Doktor?"
The Russian made his way over to his friend, taking in the ruined office, the feathers, the papers…
…and then Hyppolita.
He knelt down beside the doctor, putting a hand on his shoulder and staring in disbelief at the dove. He was wondering what the hell had happened in here, but from what he could gather, Medic wasn't going to be coming out of his room anytime soon.
As he studied the mother dove, he could feel an overwhelming rage build inside him. Whoever did this was going to pay, and they were going to pay with intense, excruciating, pain. How DARE anyone hurt Hyppolita! She was the most gentle, kind, and loving dove out of all the ones in Medic's care. How could someone even THINK about harming one feather on her body?!
The doctor winced a little bit now, though he didn't speak or look up at Heavy. The Russian glanced down and realized, to his dismay, that he had tightened his grip on Medic's shoulder in his thoughts of obliterating the person who caused this. He let go immediately, stroking the German's back soothingly and comfortingly instead.
He continued to look around the office, inspecting every bit of damage that had been done. How someone managed to break Medic's thick wooden desk in half, Heavy didn't know. He let his eyes wander until they finally fell back on the birdcage and the nest still stuck inside.
Heavy's eyes widened and he lightly shook Medic's shoulder. "Doktor?" he whispered. He received no answer, but decided to continue anyways. "What about leetle chicks?"
Medic had already figured out the answer to this in the time that he had been alone, and his bottom lip quivered before he turned around and buried his face into Heavy's shoulder, still holding Hyppolita close and Archimedes still in the crook of his neck as he let out many anguished sobs and wails. His body shook violently with every breath he took, and Heavy sat down, pulled the doctor into his lap, and wrapped his arms around him as he felt his own tears well up in his eyes.
Soldier stomped through the halls, arriving at Medic's door with a speech that he prepared to bellow out at the two. "WHAT ARE YOU LA…" he trailed off, lifting up his helmet to get a better view of the room and the bawling doctor in the middle of it. Soldier's look softened into one of concern as he eyed the two.
"Hey… Doc?"
"Just go…" Medic whispered hoarsely as he slowly got up, making his way over to his desk chair, which was now in the corner of the dark room. "…go."
Soldier and Heavy watched him for a while, neither wanting to leave the doctor by himself.
"Go! Raus! Schnell!" Medic ordered, pointing firmly at the door. His teammates hesitated for a moment longer, but eventually headed out of the room.
Heavy strode down the hall, a grimace forming on his face. Those chicks were his godchildren, and whoever hurt them was going to go through a hell of a lot of pain once he got their hands on them. The Russian growled dangerously and picked up his pace. Who would do such a thing?! Who would dare hurt Hyppolita and her chicks?! Who could be so monstrous as to kill a gentle mother dove and her babies?! Whoever it was, they were in for a whole world of hurt, and judging by the way Heavy's hands were clenching together, they wouldn't survive it.
The German turned back around, flopped down onto his knees in front of the chair, and continued to sob. He set Hyppolita down on the chair and stroked her wings, and Archimedes hopped off his shoulder and nuzzled up to his deceased mate's side, nudging her head every so often in hopes that she might wake up.
The doctor sniffed a bit, holding out his hand for Archimedes to hop onto. "She ist gone, junge." he whispered, petting his dove and holding him closely. He soon allowed Archimedes back onto his shoulder, and the bird hopped on, wedging himself inside of Medic's shirt collar.
He stood up, holding Hyppolita close to his heart as he walked out of the room, heading for the forest and a good place to bury her. He would never again stroke her immaculate feathers, see her perch on the coat rack with Archimedes as the two nuzzled together, let her feed out of his hand, or sit in the little nest that she and Archimedes had made in the bird cage, protecting her little chicks. She was gone… gone forever. And, unlike on the battlefield, he could do absolutely nothing about it. He was completely helpless, completely hopeless, and completely devastated beyond belief.
A strange, black figure watched him from outside the window as it held the three little chicks in its hands. They were so frightened that they shivered violently, and they chirped nervously and desperately, hoping that Medic might hear them.
But he never did.