Agrowl came out as he he pushed himself straight. The medic was next to him. The guys might have taken him back to the base where the doc was called for fast but efficient medical attention. And it've worked pretty good because now he was feeling absolutely wonderful ! Nothing better than a little medigun wave to go back on the battle. Without losing any more time, the young man jumped on his feet, trotting to the base's door with a quick "thanks" launched above his shoulder.

The building they were in was of bricks and wood only. An old factory from the thirties if you believed the old and broken sign on top. But at the moment, the accuracy of this fact wasn't the scout's first preoccupation.

With a fast pace he could keep for long, he jumped once again on the battlefield. The combat zone was an old railroad loading area and despite some trains crossing time to time it was totally unused. Well until Mann co decided this place could be of a good use for mercenaries' confrontations. Surprisingly, and thankfully for the warriors, the abandoned wagons stayed together despite the numerous impacts of explosions, bodies and gunshots, and offered descent protection against sudden death. Their massive rectangle shapes were the only motionless things in this real hellfire all around. Screams, of battle or of pain, shots, from light pistols or heavy weapons, detonations, a whole new and noisy life for a place who've been deserted for so long.

But the scout wasn't paying any attention. Newcomer in the base he was despite everything the one finishing most part of the missions. Speed and precision. Those were the only important things and he had both to offer.

He jumped the space between two wagons, shooting few bursts to people's general direction rather than trying his best to take down someone. He crossed the battlefield, back and forth to search for the briefcase but it was nowhere to be found. And he didn't have time, or even the real possibility, to stop someone to just ask for it. Beside, the diplomatic talks were not his first quality. He sprinted through the whole place again, jumping above the rails to join the Blu side again briefly catching the sound of their team's Heavy walking over with his mini-gun already rolling. He jumped behind one of the greyish blue wagons, turning around to observe the giant and his usual shadow, the medic, crossing the area. The scout smiled. What better diversion could he ask ?

The blu soldier suddenly landed in front of him, too focus on what was coming in front of him to care about the small man hiding on the side. A large smile stretched the scout's lips. This was so beautiful...

"Hey Dummy !"

A burst lead sinked in the rocketer's back, making him stumble over with a scream of pain quickly covered by the younger merc's laugh. Still laughing, the scout charged the blu base, leaving the soldier on the ground.

Oddly enough, the two buildings weren't that different. The global layout was still the same and only the construction material was different. The scout was not complain about it at all. Without searching for too long, the young man crossed the corridor leading to the central room of the factory, the one used to stock and protect the objective. As he jumped in the said room, he caught a light beeping sound and instinctively jumped back. A bullet gust marked the ground right on the spot where he would have been standing. The young man let out a quiet curse. The engineer's toy was back up already. He shook his head with a grunt and went off to cross the corridor in the other direction, searching for the best way to reach the objective. He could still go up but it meant risking to run into the sniper. He could still take down the guy but it would be a loss of time. If only his own team could be more efficient... As he was jumping out of the short corridor, his trott was stopped when he bumped into someone. The two made a step behind, weapons lifted and keeping the other one at gunpoint. A mix between relief and frustration made the scout escape an annoyed sigh.

"Damn it Spy ! The hell is in your mind to loom like that !"

In front of him was standing the suited man. Slightly taller than him, with an impeccable posture, his tailored clothes were fitting his light but existing musculature like a glove. His face was covered for the most part of it by a mask, except his eyes and his the low part where the lips were stretched in an amused smile.

"I wasn't expecting you to be here...", he observed with a calm tone.

The scout shrugged as an answer at it.

"Eh, what do you want, that's my job. Beside, if you could do yours and make some cleaning that could be useful" added the young pointing the room behind him.

The spy raised his eyebrows, having a look over the scout's shoulder. He nodded. Keeping his smile, he lifted his sleeve to push the switch on his watch. In a blink, the man wasn't here anymore. The scout pressed himself on the wall to free the way, getting ready in case he would have to run away.

The waiting was short, thankfully for the young man who was already trampling on his spot, feeling a horrible itch to get this over with.

"You can go"

The voice came from next to the door without anyone in sight.

"Finally ! I've almost waited" launched the young one, making his way through the entrance.

The room was big enough to contain approximately fifty cars. It was made in three floors communicating with metal stairs. A real factory missing the whole mechanical furnitures that have probably been folded up, cleaned away or scrapped. And replaced by a giant rocket and launch station probably big enough to blow the whole United-States.

The scout climbed the stairs two by two to get on the platform under the reactor. The It was a blue mallet with a white line was really here. With a smile, the young man seized it.

"Hello again sweetheart. Hope I didn't let you hanging for too long" he apologized, grabbing the handle.

Without further ado, he jumped back down on the floor, discharging the stairs and crossed the corridor with the same large smile on his face. Job well and quickly done. It would have been done even faster if only his team have been doing anything but at least he was pushing his own weight. He shoot out on the battlefield like a rocket. He ran passed someone of his own team, dodging him by the right but as he was reaching the middle of the map he saw something in the corner of his eye and threw himself back just in time to avoid the explosion of the trap. The demoman set himself in his path way, pointing his thumb down. The scout's eyes widened.

"Yo a little help here?" He called out to his teammates.

As he finished his sentence the sound of a grenade bouncing toward him forced him to move. The explosion shook the ground on which he was standing.

"Ah Geez. Guys I'm dyin' here !" he screamed in his communicator.

"I'd say you ain't seen dis one little guy ! Ah ah !" taunted the demoman, jumping from out a wagon to cut the red's escape way.

The scout's legs moved by themselves. He veered on the right, dodging another grenade who exploded right behind him and used the blow to the young man propel himself above his enemy, hitting the one eyed man in the face.

"Is that all you've got moron ?!" He launched before catching a sound somewhere in front of him.

A loud signal, one of the rare and only thing still functional from this area's old industrial life. A train was coming. The young man raced straight to the central tunnel. After this point he would have nothing more than few meters to cross to make it to the base and end the mission. He rushed inside the tunnel, taking momentum to jump above the metal rails. He caught a move on his right and turned around, gun up but found nothing. With a curse, he focused forward again only to find himself face to face with another figure was standing in the opening. The light created by the small flame on the weapon was reflecting in the black hollow glass eyes of the gasmask. The boy didn't even had the time to be scared. By reflex he let go of his gun and raised his arms to protect himself but instead of fire swallowing him he felt himself being pushed back with a suffocating smell of gas only to land directly in the arms of someone. He opened his eyes and look behind him, discovering the smiling face of the spy. The young man straightened on his feet to get away from the pyro, opening his mouth to yell something at his teammate but his voiced stayed stuck in his throat.

The blade sunk in his back with just one swift move. He felt his grasp on the handle of the intelligence tighten at first but the metal in his flesh moved, forcing him to let it slowly lose. As he was slipping down the floor he gritted his teeth. No way he would get knocked out that easy. He took hold of his pistol and lifted it to aim at the spy. With a little kick, the suited man pushed the scout down on the track.

"Amateur"

The last word made the young man frown. He gritted his teeth and pushed on his elbows to stand up and get back the intelligence, sending an electric shock to fire up his spine. He gritted his teeth in pain and then only noticed that the metal of the rails was shaking. His eyes opened wide when he slowly perceived the sonorous signal screaming at his ears. He didn't move for a moment, eyes glued on those rusted rails now vibrating as if alive. Strangely, he felt himself wanting to watch it. Why ? No idea. His blood was pulsing at his temples and he could feel the warm wetness of it soaking his shirt. He shrunk his eyes and forced his body up despite the sparks of pain from his back. There was a high whistle. He was almost on his feet. He just had to make one step. Juste one. He turned his head on his right.

"A crap..." He murmured as he saw a single blind eye glow in the tunnel at the end of the track.

Suddenly the world seemed to turn both silent and deafening. The train was right in front of him. His mind was blank, erased from any survival reflex. This thing was really big, lake a caterpillar or a giant sandworm like the movies. It would be done quickly. Well at least he was hoping for it…

But then, his sight suddenly changed. The enormous shape of the train disappeared from his vision to turn into something else. There was a moment where nothing happened then he felt like he was flying, his eyes fixing something of a lighter shade. Moving as well but in a different way from the train. It was not the one moving, he was. He wasn't able to understand how but somehow he was moving. The sounds were muffled, the universe around him blurred while his mind got lost in a painless daze and started to drift away. The thing he was looking at was streaming really far away below him. It was like being on the back of a horse without controlling anything. Well, at least that was how he was imagining the thing because he never tried to ride a horse. The light turned shadow after a moment. How long ? That was an excellent question. His sight became fix too on something flat, immobile and clear colored.

There was a sound at his side, like a continuous humming... He was could hear it ? And now that he was really paying attention, his vision was starting to be better as well and the mix of numbness and pain was quickly fading. He turned his head to locate himself. He was back in the base apparently, more precisely in the 'spawn' area where weapons and material were stored. The medic was once again next to him but this time Heavy was here too, standing one step behind. The giant had his eyes over the door, wearing a concerned. The scout frowned and with a hiss sat up on the bench he've been set on.

"Thanks Doc." he forced out, reaching out to his back to find where the blade had stabbed him.

The young man clear his throat before starting to cough. His head was ringing like a church's bells on a wedding day. With a groan he slid his legs on the side of the bench, setting his head in both hands. He was feeling worse than hangovered. The humming of the medigun stopped as the doctor put a knee down to check him up. He forced the young boy to raise the head, making his vertebrae crack.

"You've been really lucky we saw you on our way." said the doctor with his usual german accent, which sounded stronger than usually to the scout.

The remark made the boy laugh. Or at least that was what he was aiming for but what came out of his mouth sounded more like the croak of a ill frog.

"Would have done a nice puzzle for your long night..." Commented the younger merc, clearing his throat again.

The medic had a strange smile, curious mix between relief and amusement with maybe a small bit of something else. The man focused back on what he was doing until the door of the room opened to let enter the "chief" of their mercenary group. T

The soldier, junkie of shooting, rocket powder and bloody fights, appeared in all his anger. His face, or at least what was able to be seen, was almost as red as his uniform and the blood staining it. With quick steps he went directly to the group, stopping right in front on the scout still on the bench.

"Are you in a big fat hurry to die son ?!" yelled the man with his usual authoritarian tone. " I won't tolerate any failure in my team ! Did I made me clear ?"

"What the heck is wrong with you ! What d'you think ? That I choose to get shooted down each time I pass the door ?!" the boy answer jumping on his feet with a wince but straightened himself as much as he could to answer the soldier's straight poture.

"You have weapons don't you ? Use them ! You kids today don't know how to dominate !"continued the man, shoving the scout's shoulder.

The strength of it almost pushed the young man back on the bench but he had no intention of letting himself being treated like nothing.

"You guys just have to do some cleaning ! I almost get exploded with grenades and that's the second time a pyro jump on me ! It's a real cut throat area there damn it!" Yelled the scout back.

"Listen up boy," added the soldier pointing a finger on the young man chest. "We're not supposed to be constantly in your back to say where to go ! If you want to have someone to open the way for you ask the spy !"

"Oh yeah ? Well first we gotta be sure he won't backstab us after throwing us in the arms of a fucking pyro !

The sound of someone clearing his throat stopped temporarily the argument. The mercs turned their attention to the entrance where a man with a strict pose and a lit cigaret was observing them.

"Didn't it come to your mind that I wasn't the only spy ?" remarked the man, setting his eyes on their younger teammate.

The masked man took a long breath of his cigaret and made few steps toward them. His body wasn't that impressive, especially compared to the soldier or heavy but this man was forcing a respect tinted with a certain apprehension by the way he was moving. A promise of a silent threat that reminded everyone around him that this guy could disappear in less than a second to appear right behind you and make you pass to the other side before you had registered he had vanished. The scout clinched his fists, glaring at the suited merc to show him as well he wasn't scared.

"If you'd been there in time, Maybe I would not had to wait for someone else to clear the way" hissed the young man with a bad look.

The spy took another breath, taking the time to observe the smoke float up lazily before setting his grey eyes on the team's cadet. A neutral look who let place to a lot of different interpretations...

"I am enough paid and qualified to know what to do when I have to", he answered. "Mistakes made by others are not my responsibility. Everyone has to prove he's worth his price." He continued, tossing his cigaret on the floor and stepping on.

"By the way... I wonder what is the amount of your pay..."

It took a second to click in the scout's mind then he felt anger burst, turning his body hot. Without a warning or controlling himself, the young man jumped forward, shoving the soldier out of his way to run straight to the spy. He swung the pickaxe he had grabbed at the soldier's belt but cut nothing but air. With an enraged growl the young man started swinging the weapon around him, screaming insults in his attempts to touch the invisible spy. His dance of violence was forced to a stop when two gigantic arms closed around him and lifted him off the ground. The scout let go of the picaxe to thrash and flail his legs to try to set himself free but the strength of Heavy's arm held tight. Incapacitated, the young man used the only capacity he still had.

"HEAVY ! GOD DAMN IT PUT ME DOWN ! I'M GONNA POLISH OFF THIS FUCKING SON OF A..."

"I think not."

A click from the empty air made the scout cut his sentence before he could finish. No one moved for few instants, waiting in tensed silent until the soldier decided to put an end to it.

"Ok ladies, let's man up a little, ok ? We already have enough men to shoot outside without starting to do the same on each other, don't you all think ?"

Heavy nodded in agreement and looked over the scout who humphed in frustration. The young man was set back on the floor and continued to search for the spy until their chief forced his attention to focus on older man set himself in front of him once again and pointed the door for the others.

"Move up" he ordered, keeping his gaze on their cadet.

The giant man ran directly to the battleground without a word, the medic behind him. The scout hesitated. He looked at the tandem as they disappeared behind the door and took a step back to go get his equipment again when he caught the soldier muttering to himself.

"Never send a boy to fight a man war."

The scout blinked and turned back to look at the soldier again, taking a minute to understand the words were for him. He crossed the soldier's cold eyes and swallowed hard. The anger the man had showed earlier had turned into cold observation as if judging if it was worth or not. The young man had a short and nervous laugh but his smile shrunk as his teammate's expression stayed the same.

"Wait... It's a joke right ? You can't fire me ! I signed a contract with the...What do I do if I can't go on the field ?" panicked the younger merc, his voice escalating quickly.

That was right though. The soldier might be the one in charge of directing the team but he could not fire him. It was the administrator's work ! Not his !...Right ?...

The scout tensed up when finally the man in front of him started to move again. With awfully slow moves, the rocketjumper leaned down to get his picaxe back and moved it to point the scout.

"Defend the briefcase. You have things for right here." He ordered, moving the weapon from the runner to the weapon racks."If I see you outside I'm sending you home with a mark of my boots, understood ?"

The boy feel his heart drop. He stood frozen while the soldier marched toward the door, trying to find a solution.

"Y...YO Y'ALL NEED ME TO GET THAT FRICKIN BRIEFCASE ! IT'S IN THE CONTRACT ! YOU CAN'T GET ME OUT OF THE FIELD LIKE THAT ! How...YOU CAN'T EVEN KNOW IF I'M OUT OR NOT !" cried out the scout in a last resort.

He received no come back. The door close behind the soldier, leaving the scout alone in the weapon storage, mouth dropped in disbelief. He could just not believe this. He've been put on the sideline...Like that...without any available reason ! When HE was the one who almost died twice in a row and each time with the intelligence ! Twice in a row by a pyro, a spy and almost by a train and he was the one getting the blame ?! Was it even his own fault to begin with ?!

A yell of anger rose in his throat but he forced it to stay in it. There would not be anyone to hear it anyways...Not keen enough...At this simple idea he felt the envy to laugh but didn't managed to let out any sound. His body throbbed in frustrated rage, shaken by little spasms, but not a single sound came out of his lips.

With straight moves, he went to his locker to get himself ready again. Dispersion rifle, pistol and his baseball batt. The contact with its cold aluminium made him smile. Keeping the same gestures he exited the room, stopping in front of the door to look at it. His eyes drifted up to a corner where a camera have been set. Right… He've forgot about those.

The young man clenched his fists but turned away, crossing the corridor to their own intelligence room to follow his orders.

'A boy on a battlefield'...

They could try to get the objective and finish the mission themselves then so they'll all know how 'easy' it was...