Note: Daaaaamn, this turned out to be a long chapter. The end seems rushed, I know, but I think it would've been worse if I overcomplicated things. Because of certain qualities this chapter has, I had to switch the genre to General. Enjoy!... or not, whatever.
"A... A respawn?"
"That is correct, mister Conagher. A humanoid restoration unit. Only seventeen exist in the entire world. We are lucky to have one. Did you know that the Soviets have four?" Doctor Laszlo explained to the Engineer.
Laszlo and Stein brought him to The Team Fortress Organization HQ early in the morning. Still drowsy from his sleep, he couldn't keep track of where they took him, but he guessed that they were in the middle of the desert somewhere in New Mexico. He was in the laboratory, looking at a machine which, ironically enough, resembled a big futuristic coffin. He had heard about these. They emit omega-rays which can produce brand new cells and organisms, and are capable of creating a human in a matter of seconds, with his memory intact. The only things needed to be provided were a DNA sample, and an identification number.
"The identification number is needed to resurrect only the people employed by us. A billion dollar technological masterpiece isn't for just anyone, you know." said Stein. Dell kneeled to look at the matrix of the machine. He found it strange that they asked him to fix it. He found it even stranger that his wife didn't ask too many questions about him leaving the house with two strange men at five a.m.
"So, what seems to be the problem with it?"
"Well… we could tell you…" Laszlo intertwined his fingers fiendishly, "…but instead, how about we demonstrate?" He clapped and called out a name Dell couldn't quite hear. Very soon, an intern walked through the automatic door. He was a twenty year old man, wearing a navy blue T-shirt and constantly scratching his goatee.
"Yes, Doctor?" he grinned.
Doctor Stein took out a gun, shooting the poor man in the head. His brains splattered across the sterile room, leaving Dell in shock. Doctor Laszlo wiped off some blood off his face, while Stein nonchalantly put his gun away.
"Don't worry. He will come back soon enough."
And at that very moment, the small specks of blood began to turn pale. His entire body was disappearing right before Dell's very eyes. This was nothing like he had imagined it would be like. Suddenly, a figure jumped in front of him. It was the reconstructed intern, clutching his head. He opened his mouth to speak:
"Ma, jebem ti mater, koji kurac?" he spewed at doctor Laszlo.
Dell listened closely, but he couldn't understand the word that boy was saying.
"That keeps happening. Don't worry, mister Conagher, he can understand us just fine. However, his brain seems to be rewired, and he now speaks in a strange language. Possibly one from the Balkan region."
Dell looked at the poor intern, his eyes wide opened.
"Hoću li ostati ovakav?"
"What's he saying?" asked Dell.
"Don't worry, Ichabod, Conagher will fix the bug soon enough. Then we will just kill you again, and you will be as good as new." Doctor Stein ignored Dell.
"Yay." Said the intern sarcastically. "Yay" means "yay" in any language, Dell supposed. As he looked at the pair of strange doctors, his mind wandering off to one question he had to ask.
"Why did you choose me? Surely there are other men who are more qualified…"
"Because, mister Conagher, " Laszlo said, "we have done a small check on all the people in the area. You had the highest IQ score. 216. That is quite impressive for a Texan."
"Thanks?" Dell was puzzled.
"216? Mamu ti šarafcigerom, jel' ovo neki Einstein?"
"Besides," continued Laszlo ignoring his profane employee; "you know nothing of the respawn. So you will do whatever we say. Some people familiar with it try to tweak it. They make it worse in the process. You just stick to the blueprint." He pulled out a schematic from a closet next to the respawn. He stretched it over the contraption. It was a beautiful up to scale drawing of the God among machines. Dell struggled not to touch it as the three men of science drooled over it. Dell soon snapped out of his brain deadness. He shook his head and looked closely at Stein.
"How come you can't fix it?" The two doctors looked at each other in shame.
"We, uh… we haven't reached the mental capacity to, uh… reconstruct… the…" Stein looked at Dell who grinned at the doctors, after being put down by the two as soon as he walked in.
"Because…" mumbled Stein.
"Because we're very busy during recruitment season!" finished Laszlo. "So, when can you start on this?"
"Well, uh… I have work tomorrow, so I can make it in the evening… But I tell ya, it ain't gonna be easy or quick."
"We understand. We are grateful for your help." Stein smiled at Dell for the first time. It felt unnatural. "Come on. Let us show you around."
They stepped out of the laboratory and onto the field. It was a large dusty plain, with a couple of buildings under construction. Dell noticed a few billboards marketing BONK! Atomic Punch. The fine print concerning the side effects took up most of the board. A couple of workers were putting up large plate shaped objects, with colored points in the centre. Laszlo spoke of the history of The Team Fortress Organization, its first team established in 1850. Dell got dizzy from all the buildings. They looked like wooden cottages that would break down at any moment, but they were so beautifully constructed, that they could easily withstand anything. And, according to Laszlo, this particular territory was the attack/defend territory for their future employees. To him, it was the least impressive field.
"Welcome to Dustbowl." He announced to Dell, spinning his arms around like Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music. Stein shook his head, unable to compensate how Laszlo could be such a drama queen.
Dell was very impressed. Manufacturing this field so well must have taken months. The small canyon leading to a tunnel from the first plate shaped object, or "control point" as Stein explained, was imperfectly made, but quite functional. The Texan inspected it a couple of times, as Laszlo blabbered about the years of optimizing the battle fields for the teams. As far as Dell understood now, two brothers were bickering about the track of land left to them by their father, and now used small defense forces to solve their arguments for them. The fallen members were revived by the respawn.
"Wait a sec." Dell stopped Laszlo from listing another "fun fact" about the use of omega rays in modern medicine and combat; "If those fellers who fight can't die, why don't you just use the original team? Recruitin' new members sounds like too much work."
Laszlo and Stein looked at each other, as if the Texan had asked them about the Pythagorean Theorem. Everyone knows that one.
"Mister Conagher…" Stein spoke slowly, in a manner of explaining something to a small child; "This organization is not exactly available to the public eye. Sure, some information leaks, some hippies get beaten up by Saxton Hale, but in the end, no one besides us should know about the respawn." He leaned over to Dell. "So, having immortal mercenaries would be a small problem for keeping our secret safe."
Dell nodded. He started to think about how immortality would be like a punishment to a person. Sooner or later, he would be alone in the world, and there was no greater punishment than seeing your friends and family die while you live on.
Suddenly, something caught Dell's eye. It was just in front of the final control point, in a larger space. A couple of wooden human shapes, placed on random locations. Dell had a good idea on what these were.
"Are these…?" he began to ask Stein, who looked at him smugly.
"Yes, mister Conagher. Those are practice targets. We use them to test our candidates."
Dell remembered those warm summer nights he spent shooting cans in the desert. But there were different. These were lifelike, and you could shoot them from every angle. Stein noticed Dell's wishful look.
"We haven't been getting a lot of answers from people interested in the job, so we haven't had a chance to use these yet. But, as long as you're here, you are quite welcome to try."
Dell's eyes sparkled. "Really?"
"Of course!" Stein ran to a small wooden shed. He opened the door with a loud squeak, and opened a small medicine cabinet. In it was a shotgun, two packs of ammo and two emergency medipacs. He grabbed the ammo and shotgun and closed the cabinet. Upon returning to the Texan, who pretended to listen to Laszlo, enthusing about the construction of the control points while making another Julie Andrews type spin, he presented him with a shotgun, smiling.
"Do you know how to use this, sir?" Dell grabbed it greedily and chuckled.
"Is bacon delicious?"
"I wouldn't know." shrugged Abraham Stein, staring at his feet. The Texan felt slightly awkward.
"Just…just watch, son." He said, loading his shotgun in a swift motion.
Laszlo and Stein stood behind Dell, who just cleared the training field. He let out a victorious shriek, shooting up in the air as the last wooden figure steamed up to the sky. Stein has never seen someone shoot a wooden target in half with a single bullet. A couple of small cartridges lay around the field. Dell turned around proudly, and practically burst out laughing as he saw the doctors' dropped jaws.
"But…how?" Laszlo managed.
"I'm Texan."
Suddenly, a skinny figure appeared behind him. Her hair looked like a puff of grayish smoke, circling Dell's head. She wore a purple suit and flat shoes. The doctors froze as they saw her, but didn't say anything. The Texan stared at their terrified faces. He smiled at them, before he flinched at the piercing voice of the woman behind him.
"Are you the man in charge of fixing the respawn?" Dell bent in his knees slightly as he quickly regained his composure. They were now at eye level. He reached out his hand to greet her.
"Yes, I am, ma'm. Dell Conagher, at your service." The woman looked coldly at his stretched out hand.
"Helen. But you may call me The Administrator." She walked away from him and proceeded to the doctors, a patch of completely white hair bouncing as she did.
"We…we just let him… uh… he'll be back to work shortly." Laszlo tried to explain, but was interrupted by Helen.
"Save it." She raised her right hand close to his face. "Tell the workers to put up more targets for him."
"For him?" Stein blinked at her. Helen turned slightly to the side, looking at their new engineer. Dell thought he noticed something odd about her face. It changed it, not necessarily in a good way. Maybe it was a smile? Or the hot New Mexico sun finally took a toll on him and made him hallucinate. He shook his head just as she formed another serious frown.
"Yes. For him. He has good aim." She leaned over to Stein and whispered, just quietly enough for Dell not to hear. "He may be useful for something other than fixing things." She then turned to Dell, looking him straight in the eyes.
"Take the DNA sample, Laszlo." The doctor reached deep into his lab coat pocket and pulled out a small razor and a cotton swab. He walked up to Dell and held out his arm.
"Ouch!" he shrieked as a small scratch appeared on the surface of his skin. Laszlo quickly swabbed the crimson blood and put the swab into a small plastic bag, which he then put back into his labcoat. The Texan looked at Helen, who was now definately smiling.
"We want all of our workers to be in our respawn database. We wouldn't want something to happen to our brave engineer, now do we?" she said, slightly leaning her head to the right. Dell couldn't argue with that logic, so he continued to silently grasp his fresh cut.
Dell watched her walk away slowly. He noticed that it was already noon. He felt his stomach rumble.
"What, are you hungry?" Laszlo asked; "We'll get you something in the canteen. Then we can start on fixing the respawn." He put his hand on the Texan's back and slowly guided him back to the tunnel at the end of the canyon.
"So, how was work today?" asked Irene as soon as Dell came home. Sarah happily ran to her dad she hasn't seen in over 12 hours, almost knocking him over.
"Sorry I was gone so long." He apologized with a grunt as he picked up Sarah in his arms; "Most of the time I was on tour of the location. I actually just started fixing the thing around two."
"Oh." Irene returned to cutting up carrots for dinner. She wasn't happy about her husband being gone for a full day on a Sunday, and she was even less thrilled upon realizing that he slacked off for most of it. Dell didn't notice her discomfort, so he continued talking:
"Turns out that a bug got in the system. The lil' thing died inside, and it messed with the matrix. We managed to clean the most of it out, but repairing it will take a bit longer than expected."
"Mmmm-hmmm." Irene ignored Dell, keeping quiet, but burning with anger on the inside. Her mother always taught her to keep her mouth closed, and her family's stomach full at all times. Her mom didn't, and she had to bear the shame of being a small town divorcee at the age of 30. Living without a father was tough for Irene, so she made a promise to do everything her mother didn't. She remembered the day her mother came home late from another unsuccessful date. She sat next to her, reeking of gin. She patted Irene's head, tears running down her cheeks.
"Next time your man is doing something stupid, let him. Don't talk and make it worse."
And Irene listened to that piece of advice, never straying from it. But it was hard sometimes, just like today. She listened to Sarah ask her dad about the job, but gave little, if any, effort to listen to his answers. Dell put Sarah on the ground and told her to go play outside until dinner was ready.
"So, what do you think about your new project?" Irene finally asked, as she let the water shut itself off automatically.
"I recon it's good. They will pay me well, and I can come by and work on it anytime." He got in front of her and hugged her. Irene was too worried to let the hug go any further. As she wiggled out of his embrace, she looked up to the ceiling.
"But don't let this interfere with your other duties."
Dell smiled and shook his head.
"Don't worry. I called the folks down at the rig. They understand. Mikey will cover for me. And I'll still go to work, don't you worry." He pressed his wife's cheeks with his thumb and index finger, which made her look like a puffy fish. He then casually strolled away to check the roast in the oven.
"I meant," she said, rubbing her cheeks; "don't forget your fatherly duties. Sarah hasn't seen you all day. Try not to let that happen again." Dell was slightly irritated by her remark.
"Don't worry. It won't." he flashed her a big ol' Texan smile.
Though you don't have to be such a bitch about it.
Dell still couldn't sleep. It was around midnight, and he rolled in his bed, staring at the moonlight shining behind the curtains, making them seen lighter. He thought about that one thing that popped into his head. Never, in all 19 years of being married to Irene, he never once considered her to be a bitch about anything. She was a good wife, she did as she was told, but still had a mind of her own. Not many women were like that, and that's why he loved her. He never called her a bitch, not even in their most fearsome arguments. She wasn't a bitch today. What she said made complete sense, and was completely reasonable. Yet he still couldn't shake the slight anger he felt towards her. He was slightly angry at everything. Maybe spending Sunday away from home hit him harder than he thought. Working on a very hard project for hours is a nightmare, but it was no excuse to be that upset once you get home. All the things he thought that day were returning to him, harassing him as he tried to fall asleep. He felt like he was attacked by a dozen bees, stinging him one at a time, in no particular order. He tossed around in bed with a strange mix of guilt and confusion. Everything was exactly the same as it was yesterday, two weeks, or three months ago. So why did it start bothering him today?
He got absolutely no sleep that night. He woke up puffy eyed, and couldn't focus on eating his breakfast. Sarah was continuously asking him why he didn't sleep well. Dell was too tired to listen to her. He was extremely close to telling her to shut up. Irene cautiously gave him an Aspirin and a glass of water. More and more uncomfortable thoughts piled over Dell's mind.
"Are you still going to try and fix that thing? I doubt you'll even function at all today."
Somebody has to, you idiot. Somebody has to pay for all those oven mitts you've been buying.
Dell shook him head, and looked at Irene with a reassuring smile. "I'm fine, darlin'. Don't worry about me." But it would take more than that for Irene not to worry.
Later that day, while Dell was fidgeting around the leaking boiler down at the rig, he simply couldn't concentrate. He listened to the water boiler hiss, and no matter how hard he tried to open it, the big red valve was stuck.
"Con 'sarn it…" he cursed. A glimpse of hope came when he finally loosened the valve, only to be gone forever, as hot water poured from the small opening onto his small cut Laszlo made the day before. Dell screamed, moving out of the way.
"God dang it!" His arm was now red, and little pink boils started to jump out. He cautiously stepped out of the boiler room, cursing the white water heating tank as he did. His arm was throbbing, so he grabbed it and ran to see Lisa, completely forgetting to check the pressure of the drill engine. Not his finest maintenance round he ever did, but it was all he could do today. Everything began to annoy him, from the long truck drive to work, to Mikey, who constantly kept asking about Pepper and ogling his guitar. He needed to get a hang of himself. He can't be this irritated later, when he's fixing a billion dollar piece of technology. He ran off to Lisa, who was eating a banana. She dropped the peel on the ground, took one look at his hand and sighed.
"I'm gonna need you to sit down for a bit." Dell did as he was told, and watched Lisa stride over to a small wooden case. In it was her lunch and a medipack she kept inside for emergencies. She bent over to pick it up, and Dell couldn't help but look at her round, perky posterior. He never realized before how sexy Lisa was. When she took out the medipack, she turned to Dell, who was now nervously crossing his legs. He reached out his boiled arm.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk." Lisa commented; "You still manage to get burned after ten years, huh?"
Dell kept quiet. His mind, though, prepared about a billion insults to that.
She took out a bandage and some alcohol. Pouring some ice cold water on the burn, she disinfected the area, just in case. She then rubbed on some of her hand crème, apologizing for not having any medical balm at the moment. She finished by wrapping his arm and hand with a bandage.
"There." She cut off the excess bandage with a pair of scissors from the medipack. "Now, you be careful, OK." Dell was disappointed in himself for letting a woman half his age patronize him. He gave her a wry smile before he stood up and left, without saying much as a simple "thank you".
He told another worker that he was going home, and at that very moment, he was jumped by Mikey.
"Going so soon, Dell?" he asked with a disappointed frown. "That's too bad. Did you get any letters from Pepper?"
Dell didn't look at him, but he was tired of everything that happened today. And now he needed to get to the TF base to continue working on the respawn. All the hard work he was in for made him irritated, and the last thing he needed was a worm pestering him.
"If I were you, I would stop obsessing with Pepper. Or my guitar, for that matter." He looked at Mikey, who was now extremely confused.
"You ain't getting your grubby little hands on either one of 'em, boy."
And with that, he left Mikey. The poor floorman continued to stand there, told off by the man he considered his idol.
For some reason, Dell enjoyed fixing the respawn. He would casually drop by, be greeted by Laszlo and Stein, work on the strange coffin-like contraption, which bemused him and fascinated him beyond belief. Every day, he stayed there, fixing the darn thing for hours, until he finally got to the point where he thought it would function normally. He only felt bad for poor Ichabod, who kept being killed over and over again. Though he had stopped cursing in Bosnian, one time he was completely mute, and the other he turned into a woman. Though Stein begged Laszlo to keep him that way, Laszlo demanded the respawn be fixed, and Ichabod be returned to his previous, less graceful form. Then Dell would go out and shoot a couple of targets, being constantly praised by the doting Administrator. He liked it at Dustbowl. So much, in fact, that he began to return home much later than usual, and as soon as he got to his loving family, he would go to bed.
"Why didn't daddy kiss me goodnight?" Sarah asked again. It was almost midnight, and she had stayed up to see her dad. When he walked in and saw her, groggy and reaching out her arms to greet him, he just nodded to her. His own daughter looked more and more like a friendly acquaintance. Dell went upstairs, and Sarah went in the dining room, where Irene was sitting. Irene didn't sleep much in the last few days. She spent her nights in the dining room, holding her head with both of her hands and sometimes sobbing softly. Sarah walked up to her, clutching her oversized teddy-bear close to her tiny body. Irene sighed upon looking at her confused daughter.
"Daddy…" Irene tried to find the words to explain mid-life crisis to a seven year old.
"Daddy is just tired, that's all. He's tired of a lot of things right now, and I shouldn't blame him. So he goes around acting strange, and he doesn't come home before ten, and he acts really silly. But soon, he'll realize how silly he actually is. And then it will all be good again…I hope." Sarah didn't get any of it. Irene hopelessly told her to go to bed.
Meanwhile, Dell wasn't happy about himself either. He knew that he was too cold to his family. But suddenly, everything began to annoy him. Sarah talked too much, and Irene was always nagging. The mailman never arrived on time, and the Rodney's next door never mow their lawn. The worst thing about it was that nothing changed for Dell. He was still doing the same old job, living in the same old town, doing the same old thing. And ever since he started working with TF Industries, life was better. It was more exciting. He could finally have a decent mental challenge worthy of his 11 PhDs. His life would've been so much better if he stayed in California after his studies. There would be so many opportunities. He felt like he was an awful person just for thinking about it. Would a good person question their entire life, hastily rolling in his bed at 3 am? The longer he worked on the respawn, the easier it was to fall asleep at night. His dreams weren't peaceful, though. They were mostly nightmares, about his family abandoning him, or pushing them away himself. Sometimes, only sometimes, he dreamt pleasant dreams. They were usually about TF Industries, the joy of shooting wooden dummies. And Lisa. Lisa popped into his head more than once, and for Dell, it was quite a pleasant dream. The fact that the dream was so enjoyable made it harder for him to work with her on the rig. Heck, it made it harder for him to concentrate at all. He didn't check the engine pressure in a whole week, and he only fixed objects if it was a dire emergency. The other roughnecks weren't happy about it, but didn't say anything. As long as the whole rig didn't blow up, it was alright with them. But things kept getting worse at the Conagher household.
One day while Irene was cleaning Sarah's lovely pink room, she found a letter. It was addressed to Claus, Santa and Mrs. ; North Pole; Rudolph Avenue 2512. Irene laughed at her attention to details, but was confused about why her daughter was writing a letter to Santa in August. She slowly opened the envelope and sat on her daughter's bed. Expecting a wish list dominated by Barbie dolls and ponies, she almost got a heart attack when she read her letter.
Dear Santa,
I want a new Daddy.
My Daddy is ok, but he gets very grumpy and doesn't want to do anything with me. I want you to use a magic spell on my dad to make him happy again. If you can't I want a new one. I'm writing this early, because I know how long it takes to get a new Daddy. Susan's Daddy left in March, and her mom got her a new one this month. She doesn't like the new one that much, but this one is much happier than her old one. I've been a really good girl this year. I think I'm not asking for much.
Love, Sarah
Irene ran into the bathroom and locked the door, reading the letter over and over again. She sat on the toilet and cried for the first time in years. She bit her fist so no one could hear her. The white porcelain bathroom seemed to melt in front of her very eyes, as the hot tears dripped from her face.
"Mommy?" Sarah knocked; "are you alright?"
Sarah quickly put the note in her pocket and ran to wash her face. "Just a minute!" she tried to sound as calm as possible. She wiped her face with a clean towel before opening the door, smiling at her daughter.
"Have you been crying?" Sarah asked.
"No…no… I was peeling unions."
Sarah frowned at her mom. "I hate unions."
As Sarah walked down the hall, Irene called out to her nervously.
"You…you still love Daddy, don't you?"
Sarah nodded softly. "Do you?"
And the worst thing was, Irene couldn't answer that.
"Alright! I think it's fixed." Dell stepped back from the respawn. Laszlo and Stein followed.
"Do you think it'll work this time?" Stein asked.
"Only one way to find out. Ichabod!" The poor intern walked inside, dragging his lizard tail behind.
"Good God, man. You look horrible."
Ichabod grinned to Laszlo. "Likewise."
He was right. Both Laszlo and Stein were severely beat up yesterday by a man named John Doe. They were already starting to recruit new members, and this one didn't take it very well.
"But we got our revenge, you see." Laszlo leaned over to Dell, softly touching his broken nose; "We changed his name to Jane Doe in all his documents. We even hacked into the main archive and tweaked his birth certificate." He laughed maniacally.
"Alright, it's time!" Stein announced, hoping to shut Laszlo up. He pulled out a gun, and Ichabod flinched. About a few seconds later, his poor body disappeared into thin air. Dell got used to the brutal murder of Ichabod on a daily basis. He wiped off the blood off his chin only to see it disappear before his very eyes. Seconds later, Ichabod stood before them. He wasn't speaking Bosnian, he didn't resemble a reptilian, and his y chromosome was intact.
"Oh my God, it's hideous!" screamed Laszlo.
"This is how I normally look." Ichabod said nervously.
"That's what I meant," smiled Laszlo, showing his chipped tooth. Dell was proud of what he had done, even if he didn't know what exactly he was doing. At first, he carefully categorized every single chip, and carefully calculated all possible outcomes of screwing each nut. But after three weeks of hard work, and possible caffeine poisoning, he used a simple technique he picked up from Sarah.
"Eeenie, meenie, miney…"
And this mo finally earned him his salary. Stein and Laszlo clapped as Dell humbly smiled. TF has become a second home to him. Sometimes he thought of it as his only home. Irene would kill him if she knew that.
"Bravo, Mister Conagher." Helen appeared out of nowhere. The Texan didn't know how to react to Helen's praise, so he mumbled something under his breath. Helen looked at Stein.
"I would like to take out Mister Conagher for a walk. Are you alright with that?"
This was, of course, a rhetorical question. If they said anything other than "yes, your imperial highness", they would never be heard from again. Helen gestured towards the door, and walked towards it, her arms tucked behind her back. Dell followed her like a puppy.
They walked side by side near the training field, the twilight sun shining warmly on their faces. Dell looked at a man standing in the middle of the field, clutching a shovel.
"Umm, yello, there, buddy!" he spoke without Helen's permission, making her frown; "Are you lost or summin'?"
The well built man looked at him under his large helmet.
"Lost? Lost?! Where I'm from, lost people are DEAD people! I am simply waiting for the next mission! At ease, maggot!" With that, he turned back, facing the sun.
"Mr. Doe fails to understand that the mission is in five days. He has been standing there since yesterday." Helen explained. Dell laughed at his stubbornness, but still admired his discipline.
"I see you've started recruitin'." Dell smiled.
"Yes. And we would like to recruit you, mister Conagher." She said, as she was just saying "hello".
After Helen's proposal, Dell couldn't think straight. For the next four days, he wondered about what it would be like to work for TF Industries. He would be away most of the time. He would have to quit his job. Could Sarah handle him being gone? He didn't want to disappoint his family, but he couldn't handle being here. It was so similar, day after day. TF was interesting. TF was exciting! He sometimes started driving to the laboratory after work, just because of impulse. Then he would return home, and hated that he had to go back. Dell felt guilty because he was thinking all that. He didn't enjoy barbecues anymore, and cancelled the hunting trip with his dad. It just wasn't the same. He couldn't enjoy anything. He found himself on the rig, thinking about what he was going to do with himself. TF required fighting. He wouldn't take any tests, because he has already proven his high mental abilities and good aim. His monthly paycheck would be a yearly one at the rig. Maybe he wouldn't even be thinking about it if he could change one thing about his life. Just one thing, and life would make sense again. And then he saw it.
Or, more specifically, he saw her.
Lisa stood in front of him, drinking her sixth cup of coffee. She flashed him a delightful smile. God, she was sexy. Lisa came up to him, offering him some Irish coffee from her flask. He didn't want the flask, so he slapped it out of her hand. Lisa looked at the brown liquid pour over the dirt they stood on. She held her hands out in protest, only for Dell to grab them, forcing his lips onto her.
"Dell, what the hell?" she struggled.
"I'm sorry!" Dell said as an impulse, though he didn't feel sorry about it at all. He pressed himself on her again.
"Dell, I'm serious. I'm counting to three…" she wasn't amused. She was mostly angry. Dell continued to run his hands over her back.
"One…"
And just as she said that, he pressed his hand against a small lump on her overalls, which he guessed was her breast.
"Three!"
Dell was catapulted into mid air. Everything was in slow motion. He saw Lisa's clenched fists and stiff facial expression. Her work boot was lifted up in the air. She lowered it, just as he fell on his knees in pain. He fell on the dirt, clutching his family jewels. He looked at her with a painful expression. Lisa's boot appeared in front of his face again, as she stood in front of him.
"What the hell were you thinking?!"
Dell buried his face in the dirt with shame. Lisa's tone softened, but her stiff face remained.
"I know how fucked up you are now, but think about poor Irene! Think about Sarah! Don't you dare compromise that, and don't you dare come close to me again." Dell listened to every word she said, the truth stinging him like a wasp.
"If you want to jeopardize your family and life, that's fine by me. But keep me out of it." She growled. And just like that, all feelings Dell had for that woman were gone. Still, the shame remained. He spat out some blood and managed to stand up, with a loud groan. Slowly, he stuttered to the drill. Lisa was there, but couldn't look at him in the eye. Mikey tended the drill, cleaning it.
"Oh Dell, as long as you're there, can you get me that wrench?"
Dell was conflicted. On one hand, he had a family that loved him, and great friends. On other hand, he just wanted to get as far away from them as possible.
"Seriously though, it's right there. I really need that wrench." Said Mikey.
If only TF gave him a clue. Something that let him know that he belonged there.
"Need that wrench here…"
Maybe, maybe if he could finally talk to Irene about it… Oh God, will that kid stop talking?
"Need a wrench here, need a wrench here, need a wrench here…"
"Fine!" Dell screamed at the prepubescent boy destroying his eardrums. He picked up a wrench from the ground and threw it at the drill. It clanged, making everyone look at him.
"God, you are annoying!" Dell clutched his head. Nobody knew what had just happened, but they all knew that Dell would break down sometime. Dell looked at them with judging eyes.
"What are you looking that? Is it a surprise that I'm yelling? Is it a surprise I'm annoyed? It should be a surprise you sons-a-bitches didn't get this from me earlier!" The roughnecks were silent.
"Is the world going to break if ol' Dell isn't there to fix it? Is it a problem if I need something? I shouldn't be helping a worm! The worm is at the bottom of the God damn food chain!" Mikey hid behind the large drill.
"You are weighing me down, you know that?" his voice softened. "I would be better off without you anyway. I would be better off if I never met you, and may the Lord strike me down if I'm wrong!"
Much as the pressure was boiling in Dell's head, the pressure was boiling inside the engine. The steamy engine room clanged and jittered and the steely contraption couldn't stay together much longer. The pressure no one has checked for three weeks was being a bit too much, and had to be released. With a loud fiery explosion, the engine room burst into smithereens, sending out shards of metal to harpoon through the air. The roughnecks screamed in terror as the entire site caught on fire. They all rushed into their vans, cursing. It was a terrible site. A large metal shard flew straight for Dell. It cut through his windpipe and came out through the other side. Dell blinked heavily. All he could see was whiteness and pain. Even though he was in a burning site, he felt cold. And then he felt nothing.
Stein was reading a status report on Dustbowl, and was very satisfied. Everything was in place, and they can soon begin the operation. He had his feet on the desk, and took a sip of Coca Cola. Suddenly, Dell jumped in front of him. Stein almost fell from his chair.
"Sir, what are you…?"
Dell was holding onto his desk, breathing heavily. He felt like he was hit by a truck. He had no idea what happened, or why his throat was intact. Stein knew. He had just been respawned. He put a blanket over him and guided him to his car, ready to take him home. The ride was long and Stein didn't ask him much about his death. Dell listened to the radio in the backseat. His head was still pounding and he felt weak. He had a new respect for poor Ichabod.
"Chaos still havocs in the former Bee Oil drilling site. Most workers have made it out alive, except for one worker who remains unidentified. The incident was caused by an overloaded engine, which exploded, leaving…"
"I did this." Dell's mind had a moment of pure clearance. "And Team Fortress saved my life."
It took a lot of convincing to reassure Irene that Dell was not a ghost and that she could safely put the frying pan down. When she stopped crying, she kissed Dell. Then she slapped him, telling him what an idiot he was, and how miserable he made her. Then she kissed him again. Sarah didn't know about anything. When she came home from school, her parents were setting up the table for dinner. She was just glad her dad was there.
"I've been offered a job at TF Industries. I'm…I'm thinking of taking it. I would be gone for most of the week, but I'll still come to visit on the weekends. Heck, I'll visit you whenever I can. But, um… I will have to be away most of the time." He announced at the dinner table. Irene and Sarah looked at him. They weren't worried, but relieved.
"I think it's for the best." Irene said. Separation seemed better than divorce. After talking things out with Dell, it was clear to everyone that he was just stuck in a never ending routine. TF showed him that, and if it wasn't for them, he may have still been the good ol' Dell everyone knew and loved. But something else may have rustled his routine eventually. And it was better sooner than later.
"So nothing would really change then, would it?" Sarah said, trying to make a joke. But all it did was made things a nuance sadder. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Dell stood up to open it. The man knocking was Mikey, his hair falling over his freckled face as he bowed his head down in concern. He held a bouquet of red roses, and almost dropped it as he saw Dell.
"You! What…but…how?"
"Long story." Dell shrugged as Irene walked up behind him. "So, what's up?"
Mikey, still not being able to comprehend that Dell was alive, and quite well, spoke in small sentences.
"Well, I… The rig is gone. Nothing's left. Yeah. We're all fired. Not sure if that applies to you. Because… We thought you were dead. But, uh… I doubt you'll still be employed. Even if you are alive… If you are alive…" Mikey pressed his skinny finger against Dell's chest.
"'Course I'm still alive, dummy. Now why don't you just run over to your mama and don't worry 'bout me." Irene smiled at the boy, who was now completely baffled. He gave Irene the roses.
"Ignore the card. I figure you can still have 'em." He then ran off, figuring out how a person can recover after being pierced by a 10 pound piece of sharp metal. As soon as he left, Irene took out the small white card. On it was a note written in cursive:
Send Pepper my condolences.
"At least he didn't add "dibs on the guitar"." Dell shook his head.
Only two days later, Dell, The Engineer, was sitting in the resupply room. He took his guitar with him to remind him of home. He tuned it as he was waiting for the RED's next mission. He was one of the few members to be employed by the Administrator herself, and that was an enormous privilege.
"I love you too, mommy." said a young man to his mother on the phone before walking back to his bench, embarrassed. Dell found it endearing. It reminded him of Sarah, who waved at him as he stepped into the car taking him to the base. The last thing he saw was a postman, arriving late again. The last thing he heard was Irene explaining something to Aunt Millie on the phone.
"Yes he's alive…No, he's not injured… Well, would you like to talk to him?... No, I won't use an Ouija board..."
And then he was gone. He wasn't nervous about joining RED. His family wasn't sad that he was leaving. Everyone was just relieved. Sarah kept talking about how in a year or so, both Dell and Pepper would be back home. She couldn't wait to see her again. Dell smiled thinking about it. For the first time in a long time, he was relaxed.
"Hey, you!" the young man yelped at him.
"Yeah?"
"You's Texan, right?"
Dell was baffled by this question. "Yes?"
The young man turned to a tall man wearing yellow aviator glasses.
"Told ya's I could tell nationalities. I could since I was five."
"Oi stand corrected, momma's boy." Teased the tall man while picking at his stubble. Dell liked this place. It was just so delightfully casual. Unlike at Bee Cave, you never knew exactly what would happen. Suddenly, the phone rang. The RED members looked at it. Dell carefully picked up the phone after short hesitation.
"Y'ello?"
"Dell?" it was the unmistakable voice of his wife.
"Irene? What's going on."
"I just wanted to tell you…" she gulped; "Pepper isn't coming home."
"What? Why?" so many questions came to mind, but he certainly wasn't expecting her following answer.
"I won't let her." The phone line went dead.
Nope. You never knew what to expect at TF.