Author's Note: Hello again! Just wanted to thank you again for the great reviews, especially Iz! I'm so happy I can make someone flail and brighten someone's day with my writings! XD
For those of you concerned with sexual content in this story, what happened in the last chapter is the worst it's going to get, so no need to fear for the rest of the story.
Chapter 10 - Recovery
After quickly summarizing the events leading up to his and BLU's current situation, RED's Spy eagerly awaited the rest of the team's reaction. He could see the looks of guilt and disgust in Spy and Sniper's expressions, a look of pure horror in Engineer's and Heavy's, and a mixture of confusion and outright anger in Medic's, Soldier's and Demoman's. Spy obviously couldn't read Pyro's face, but judging by his body language, the mysterious arsonist was visibly disturbed by the whole situation. Soldier took a deep breath, having calmed down, then faced his team.
"Alright, men!" he bellowed. "We have very little time to act and no room for screw-ups, so listen carefully! Demoman, Pyro, and Engy are going to remain here, hold down the fort, and keep a watchful eye on our prisoner!" Soldier turned to RED's Spy. "Against my better judgment, I'm not going to lock you up. However, you are not permitted to leave this building nor are you allowed in personal quarters or other rooms aside from the mess hall and public areas without authorization from me! Understood!" RED's Spy nodded.
"Yes, Sir," he replied respectfully. Soldier grinned.
"That's what I like to hear!" He turned to the rest of the team. "Heavy, Spy, Medic, and Sniper: you will be joining me on the rescue mission!" He eyed Spy and Sniper specifically. "You will follow my every order without question! Are we clear, Maggots!" Everyone nodded. "Spy and Sniper: remember that you're on thin ice with me right now for going through the intelligence without permission, so absolutely no screw-ups from you two! You hear me!" Spy and Sniper nodded once more, cringing. "Okay. Let's move out, men!"
Heavy, Medic and Soldier quickly left the room. Sniper and Spy were quickly following until RED's Spy stopped his BLU counterpart. BLU's Spy stopped and turned to look at him, growing concerned due to the man's pleading face.
"Are you okay, Spy?" asked BLU's Spy.
"Please tell me you have a cigarette," implored the man in red. BLU's Spy grinned and handed him one of his packs. RED's Spy immediately put one in his mouth. "Much obliged."
"Those should keep you calm until we bring Scout back." RED's Spy frowned.
"I won't be able to rest until I know Danny's safe. I hate not being able to join you." He suddenly paused. "What am I doing! I'm holding you back! Go! GO!" BLU's Spy nodded and quickly ran off, catching up with the rest of the team. RED's Spy reached for his lighter, but realized that he didn't have it with him. "Sonuva…"
"Mmn mah mght hmm n frh?" asked Pyro to Engineer. The Texan facepalmed.
"No, Pyro, you can't set him on fire," he replied. Spy suddenly got an idea. He made his way over to Pyro, taking his cigarette out of his mouth and holding it up to the masked man.
"You can light this, though," offered Spy, hoping allowing the man to set something on fire would be a good peace offering. Pyro seemed to perk up as he turned on his flamethrower and spewed fire at the man. Spy dropped the cigarette and ducked out of the way with a startled yelp. Pyro laughed evilly under his mask as Demoman and Engineer chuckled loudly. Spy groaned. "This just isn't my night…"
Soldier, Medic, Heavy, Sniper and Spy successfully made it into the base without being detected. Soldier took out the notes he scribbled when interrogating RED's Spy and glanced at them.
"Okay, according to this," he began, "Scout should be at the back of the base, and their Soldier and Engineer will be there at 0400 hours. Sniper, what time it is?" Sniper took out his watch.
"Three o'clock," he answered. "Plenty of time."
"Excellent. Let's keep going."
The team eventually made it to the back of the base. Spy cloaked himself and stepped out into the open air, looking for any hazards or enemies. Luckily, he didn't find any. He froze in his tracks when he saw Scout unconscious and tied to the gate with RED's Demoman standing by him. Spy frowned deeply at Scout's current state. His cloaking device ran out of energy and automatically uncloaked him. Demoman immediately pointed his Scottish Resistance at Spy, then lowered his weapon, realizing he was a BLU. Spy motioned for the rest of the team to catch up as he ran over to Scout.
"Keep your voices down, lads," ordered Demoman quietly. "You don't want to alert the rest o' the team." Medic made his way up to Scout as Spy and Sniper worked on cutting the thick rope around Scout's wrists. He checked the boy's vital signs and looked him over for any injuries. Heavy kept a look-out for the rest of the team while Soldier faced Demoman, giving him an even stare.
"DeGroot," he greeted in a monotone. Demoman nodded slightly.
"Doe," he replied in the same tone. Heavy could feel the tension between the two thicken, so he decided to distract himself. He looked over at Medic.
"Is Tiny Scout okay?" he asked worriedly. Medic frowned.
"He vill be fine, but he needs to get varm quickly before he catches pneumonia," he explained.
"Medic, hold onto him," ordered Spy. "We're about to finish cutting the rope." Medic nodded and wrapped his arms around Scout underneath his shoulders. He nodded to Sniper and Spy, giving them the cue to cut the rope. As soon as they did, Medic held himself steady as Scout fell limp into his arms.
"Someone is going to have to carry him back to zhe base," announced Medic.
"I'll do it!" volunteered Spy and Sniper simultaneously. The two instantly glared at each other. Medic cleared his throat and gave the two a scolding stare. Sniper and Spy frowned, then turned their heads away from each other. Medic turned to Heavy.
"Heavy, you vill do it. You are best equipped vith keeping him varm on zhe vay back to zhe base." Heavy carefully scooped up Scout and held him close. He heard Scout groan as he felt the smaller man bring his arms close to himself, turning into Heavy's chest and shivering violently.
"C-c-cold-d…s-s-so…c-c-c-old-d," moaned Scout, not exactly conscious. Demoman frowned.
"Poor lad," he uttered. He turned to Soldier once more. "I need to discuss somethin' with you, but this isn't exactly the best environment for it."
"Another time, you Scotch son-of-a-bitch," he replied evenly. Demoman nodded.
"Jus' do one thing for me before you leave." Soldier gave him a weird look. Demoman grinned. "Knock me out. Make it look like I actually put up a fight." Soldier grinned back, pulling out his shovel.
"I was just thinking about that." Demoman braced himself as Soldier swung his shovel, connecting with Demoman's head, knocking the man out cold. Soldier turned to his team. "All right, men: back to the base!" The others nodded and ran, making their way out of the base. Soldier followed behind, stopped, turned around and faced the fallen Demoman. Soldier stared for a moment, then slowly brought his hand up to salute him, a small grin forming on his face. He stared for another moment like that, then ran to catch up with his teammates.
The weather had gotten worse after the BLUs returned to their base, so a cease fire was called for the day. For BLU, it worked out perfectly, since nobody got sleep during the night, even after they returned Scout safely. Even though the entire team (plus RED's Spy) was in the infirmary, they were all too worried about Scout and Engineer to get sleep.
It was about mid-afternoon, and some of the team had left to their respective rooms to pass out on their beds. Pyro, Demoman and Heavy could barely stay awake on their feet, so Medic ordered them to go get some rest. Engineer was sitting up in his bed in the infirmary propped up against some pillows, but he had taken off his hat and goggles to get some shut-eye as soon as he saw Scout with his own two eyes when the others brought him back early in the morning. Scout hadn't woken up from the incident yet and was still unconscious in bed. Medic would check Scout's body temperature every half hour and place a warm wash cloth on his forehead each time he did so. Sniper and both Spies were sitting on stools by Scout's bed and watched over him as Soldier paced back and forth in the room. Medic frowned.
"Soldier, you should get zome rest," he suggested. "You've been pacing for hours, and, frankly, it's grating at my nerves." Soldier finally stopped, crossing his arms and staring at the floor.
"This whole thing with our boss also apparently being RED's boss is grating at my nerves," he countered. "I had my suspicions, but I couldn't really say anything."
"When did you start having doubts?" asked BLU's Spy.
"Around the time Tav—RED's Demoman and I got into that huge war with each other. I didn't think anything of it at the time, but now that I look back on it, the whole thing makes me sick to my stomach."
"You should talk to him, then," suggested Engineer, who had just woken up. Everyone turned to the Texan. "It sounds like we're going to need to get RED on our side in this issue if we're going to get to the bottom of this. Our boss sounds like a dangerous force to be reckoned with." Sniper scowled.
"She gets others t'do her dirty work for her, which is even more dangerous," he spat. RED's Spy looked back at Scout's sleeping form and gently smoothed his hair down, frowning.
"We don't want more casualties like we've had with Danny and Dell," he stated. Spy looked at Engineer. "You don't mind if I call you by your first name, do you?" Engineer smiled.
"Not a problem. We should probably get yours, though, since we've got two Spies in the building now." RED's Spy frowned.
"I'm not quite comfortable giving out my name yet, so if you'd like, you may call me Red," he suggested.
"Red it is then!" Sniper looked at Red.
"Didn't th'other Spy say that there were more of 'im where 'e came from?" he asked. Red nodded.
"Yes. Unfortunately, we're going to have to keep our guard up. The Administrator is still out for our blood." Everyone's attention soon turned to Scout, who began to stir. He moaned lightly as he slowly opened his eyes. Scout turned to look at everyone in the room.
"Wh…where am I?" he asked weakly. Red smiled.
"You're back in your base, Kiddo," he answered. "You're safe now."
"Yes, but you're staying in bed until you're vell enough to move around," stated Medic, coming to check his temperature once more. "Your body is varming up, but it's not back to normal yet." Scout coughed, turning onto his side so he was facing his father, suddenly feeling sick to his stomach.
"I don't feel good…" he whined. Red frowned and put the fallen washcloth back on Scout's forehead. He rubbed his head gently.
"What's wrong, son?" he asked worriedly. Scout glanced up at him with just his eyes, then back down at his pillow. He suddenly looked past his father and saw Engineer in his bed, looking at Scout worriedly. Scout sat up on his side slightly to get a better view.
"Engie…? You're alive…?" Engineer grinned.
"I don't go down that easily, boy," he gloated. Scout frowned.
"I…I thought…" Engineer's look softened.
"Hey, don't worry about me. You worry about resting up and getting well quickly." Scout could feel his eyelids drooping again. He laid back down on his side and clung to his pillow, growing cold again. Red immediately noticed this and pulled Scout's covers up over his shoulders. Medic made his way back to the bed and switched out Scout's washcloth.
"Now zhat you know Scout vill be okay," he began, "I suggest you all leave and let him rest." Sniper and Spy nodded, then walked out, going in opposite directions of each other. Red stood up, gave Scout a gentle kiss on his temple, rubbed his back gently, then exited with Soldier.
"How long until I can get out of bed, Medic?" questioned Engineer. "I want to get to work on my machines." Medic walked over and inspected his wound, changing the dressing on them.
"As long as you don't move your arm much, you can get back to vork tomorrow," deduced Medic. "You can leave zhis evening once I re-dress your injury one more time." Engineer grinned.
"Whooee! Thanks, Doc!" Medic simply shook his head and began to make his way back to his desk.
"Hey…Doc?" asked Scout quietly. Medic stopped and looked at the boy.
"Yes?" he responded. "Do you need anyzhing?"
"I…I'm sorry…for all the trouble I've caused…" Engineer's smile quickly faded as Medic stared at Scout, his jaw dropping slightly. He quickly regained his composure.
"You don't need to apologize, Scout. Just get some rest. I'll be back in a half hour to check on you." Scout nodded slightly as Medic walked out. Scout stared at his pillow, lost in his thoughts. Engineer watched the young man worriedly.
"Scout?" he hesitantly asked. Scout looked at him. "What's wrong?" Scout frowned, burying his face into his pillow.
"I don't want to talk about it…" he groaned.
"Can I at least ask why you were so upset when you left Sniper's van?"
"Y…You were right about them…about hating each other…" Engineer rubbed his chin with his gloved hand. "It's my fault…they hate each other because of me…"
"What did you do?" Scout shut his eyes tightly, the fake Spy's voice ringing through his ears.
You little slut. You have two men fawning over you!
"I-I heard them confess…they both love me…" Engineer blinked.
"That's news to me. I guess I should have seen it, though, with how they both treat you." His words didn't seem to make Scout feel better. Engineer frowned once more. "How do you feel about them?"
You whore.
"I don't know…I mean, I care a lot about both of them…but I…I know I have to choose one over the other…" Engineer noticed Scout starting to curl up into a little ball as he spoke, shaking once more. Engineer pushed himself out of bed and went up to Scout, rubbing his back and speaking softly.
"Hey, don't worry about it right now. I'm sorry for bringing this up. It's obviously troubling you on top of what you've been through tonight." Scout whimpered lightly, taking a deep breath and slowly exhaling to calm himself down. He didn't want to cry or show weakness, so he did his best to keep it all in and try to be strong.
Engineer tested his arm to see how far he could move it without pulling at his stitches. He smirked when he was satisfied with the amount of movement he needed for what he wanted to do. He walked over to the corner of the infirmary and grabbed his guitar (He had left it in there the other day after replacing one of the strings using one of Medic's tools), bringing it back to his bed. He started to play a soothing tune on his guitar. Scout looked at Engineer, who merely smiled softly back at him as he played. Scout smiled slightly, feeling his eyelids grow heavy once more. In a few short minutes, he was sound asleep, the music being the only thing on his mind.