A/N: I'm BAAAACK!
"Where'd ya find tha grub, mate?" Sniper asked whilst slurping his cold beans off his spoon. They weren't something a 5 star restaurant- heck, even a 2 star- would serve but the soldiers weren't the kind of men to be picky about what they ate. Except Spy, who had been fiddling with the beans ever since a can was handed to him.
"Nuna'ya business, bushman! There's a strict code of confidentiality binding me from disclosing any information on where these beans came from!" Soldier turned his back on the Australian and hunched over his food, protecting them from being eaten from the others.
Sniper rolled his eyes and looked at Spy who in turn shrugged and scowled at the American. A smiled curled on his face and shifted his gaze back to Sniper and jibbed, "Zee Soldier 'as a stash of zem in 'is locker. Zheir is a leetle barbed fence guarding zem. It iz very—"
"YOU SCOUNDREL! INTRUDING ON A FELLOW SOLDIERS PRIVATE STORAGE!" Soldier carefully placed his can on the bench he sat on and flung himself at the Frenchman. In turn, Spy stood and quickly sidestepped, causing Soldier to tumble over his seat and land upside down against the wall.
Scout howled in laughed, spraying his meal over the floor and his lap. Even Sniper had a small look of amusement but shifted his feet from the oncoming spray opposite him. The sight of Soldier scrambling to look proper was like seeing a cat trying to escape the wetness of a bath. He finally made it to his feet but decided it was best not to repeat what he had just done. Instead he kicked Spy's half-full but discarded bean can so it spilled on the floor and stormed back over to the other side of the room.
Meanwhile, Medic and Engineer had just entered to see the meal pitifully knocked to the ground in very childlike behaviour. "Seems we missed some sorta party." Soldier grunted and returned to eating.
Medic was leaning heavily against his Texan friend, being lead over next to Sniper as the man was offering a freshly open can. He plonked down heavily without so much as a sound and sagged forward to cup his face in his hands. The last 24hours had not treated him too kindly and Medic dreaded to think what the next couple of days would bring him. He felt a gently tap on his arm and looked up. Sniper had a pressed smile on his face and was holding his beans. "Come on, mate. Ya need somethin' in ya." Medic only nodded and accepted his breakfast.
Engineer sat on the other side of Medic, sitting too close to be socially acceptable if it were anyone else, and happily dug into his beans. "Boy howdy, Solly. These must be tha finest sprouts I've munched inna long time." Try as he might, the mood of the room barely registered Engineer's attempt to lighten it. He frowned. "Come on fellas." For all his arrogance on the battlefield, Engineer hated to be in a gloomy room.
"Just shut up, hardhat." Scout sucked in a deep breath of oxygen, preparing himself for a monologue that he oh-so enjoyed. "What are we even doin'? We're just sitting here and not even killin' tha BLUs coz they're all dead and we have nothin' to do besides kill strange lookin' guys with weird gun and wearin' black. I dunno 'bout chuu but I only like killin' guys who are wearin' blue coz maybe I've been here so long but mostly coz I don't like the colour blue anyway but you see what I mean about them wearin' black though. They ain't BLU or RED, they're-"
"BLACK! Good work, Private!" Soldier slapped Scout on the back as if the boy had given him an epiphany. Sniper and Spy exchange confused glances whilst Engineer just raised a brow. Well, one must assume he did under his hat and goggles. Medic just appeared to be more interested in devouring his food than what was happening. "Gentlemen, we are off Black Mesa!"
"Oui, Monsieur, but do you even know where zey are?"
Soldier contemplated this question for a brief couple of seconds before pointing a finger to the ceiling and exclaiming, "No! So we are now going to scrap that ridiculous notion that Scout has given," the said runner cracked his mouth open in protest, but Soldier's loud megaphone of a mouth drowned him out, "and we are now off to Headquaters!"
Spy slapped a hand to his face and shook his head. They didn't even know where Headquarters was. Well, except for him, but he was under strict orders never to reveal this information. "Do you know where zey are?"
Solder huffed. Thankfully, Medic decided this was a good time to enter the conversation. "He does not, but you do, Spy." Medic knew he had exposed Spy and gave an evil smile in doing so.
Spy in turn glared daggers at the doctor. "And 'ow vould you know, Doctuer?" His voice was straining to hold his anger.
"You have a habit of mumbling locations venever you are under morphine, Herr Spy."
"Right, Frenchie, you will show us the way. And none of this French funny business you like to do!"
"Alrighty then. We gotta move out. Don't wanna wait til the Sun goes down, do we?" Engineer clapped his hands together, causing the other room occupants to stir into motion. "Spy, you and Sniper might wanna be tha ones to grab provisions, seeing as ya know how long the trips gonna be." Spy nodded at Engineer's request, a frown still plastered firmly beneath his balaclava and walked out with Sniper in tow towards the bases pantry. Sniper had grabbed a massive duffle bag that was wedged inside his own locker.
"Right, Solly, ya mind getting' all tha weapons over to the loading dock?"
Ever since everything started going to pot and Engineer placing himself as the level-headed leader, Soldier had begun to feel a bit emasculated. "No, you piece of Canadian Syrup! You go get the truck, and I'll get the weapons, you hear me!"
Engineer scratched his helmet with a finger, thinking it best not to rebut. Instead, he smiled. "Alright, pardner." He watched behind tinted goggles as Soldier yanked Scout up by the arm and dragged him out.
Turning around, Engineer softened his smile when he spotted Medic over at his locker. He was busying himself in gingerly slipping his arms in a replacement coat that he didn't even register Engineer next to him until he started helping him with the coat. Medic shivered as the bulky but cold coat hugged his body and began to button it up. "Herr Engineer," Medic captured the Texan's attention with a low gravelly inquisition, "do you trust Spy?"
Engineer contemplated for a bit. "Ah got no choice, Doc."
This answered seemed to satisfy Medic for the time being, not wanting to talk at length right now. He walked away from his friend and began to rummage through each locker, as if on a mission of his own. Engineer watched for short while before informing that he'd be at the garage if he'd care to join. "Ja just a moment." Medic quickly shoved various items from Demoman's and his own locker, as well as Pyro's before following the shorter man with a limp in his step. "You know zhere ist no petrol in zee cars, ja?"
"Ah know. Ah'm the one who syphoned them. We were gonna be here for a while, didn' wanna rust tha trucks by havin' all that gas in em, now did I?" Medic nodded in amusement.
"You right there, Doc?" Engineer had noticed as they were making their way down the steps and around the bend that his German companion was starting to hobble even more. "Somethin' wrong with ya leg there?" Medic grabbed his coat and pinned his coattails closer to his body, confirming.
"Nein."
Engineer frowned at Medic's blatantly obvious lie and stopped the man with a hand on his chest. "Now listen here, Medic. Ya gotta trust me. What's with you?"
Looking past Engineer into the distance, not quite registering what he was looking at, Medic replied, "You know I don't really follow zee oath," Engineer nodded, knowing all too well what sick practises the doctor got up to, " but I am zee medic of zee team zo I must treat all others above myself. I know my limits, Engineer, zo I must save all our medical supplies for everyone else." Medic sniffed and pointedly looked down at the American.
In turn, Engineer smirked. He had never such a noble side of Medic before. "Ah know what ya mean, Doc. But if you go down, where does that leave us?"
"I…" Medic stopped, knowing his friend had won and not overly interested in getting into a debate. "I vill treat myself on zee way." Medic swung his arm around Engineer's shoulder for support and restarted their trip to the garage. Muffled gun shots rang from a short distance away.
A large hole smouldered through the wired fence that blocked the Fort from the outside world. A dozen shotgun shells lay at the base of the gate. Seems Soldier wasn't in the mood to be patient for bolt cutters. Engineer shook his head. He walked past the grumbling American to retrieve the jerrycans and help Medic into the first RED truck.
Dry heat and the desert air had lessened the supply of petrol by almost half, Engineer pondered. The cans weren't in the same place he had put them and 2 were already missing. He looked around and saw Scout struggling to dump the fuel in the second car's tank. "Son, what d'ya think ya doin'?"
The Texan stormed over to the young boy and snatched the can away. "Hey-"
"Ya dribblin' it all ovah the ground, city boy. You never learnt how to do something' like this? Or were you tha type to take tha fuel out?" Scout growled, throwing his arms in the air and raged off; muttering how Texas was full of nothing but cow droppings. Engineer just chuckled to himself and continued loading the trucks up.
In the meantime, Medic sat with his legs out of the truck and roamed his eyes over the now busy yard. Scout seemed to be trying to rub fuel off the front of his shirt. That wasn't going to get him very far, mused Medic. Soldier, on the other hand, was winning the award for most loudest. He had seen a curious shovel lying discarded on the ground and was in the middle of soothing it and reassuring it that he'd be there for it during all seasons of the year.
Medic rubbed his eye in puzzlement and decided best to just look away and not question the man. Sniper and Spy had made quick work of the pantry and shared the duty of hauling Sniper's duffle between them. It appeared that they were sharing a friendly conversation. Medic smiled at the sight and looked over to his own slice of friendship.
Engineer was capping the fuel tank and loading the last 2 full cans on the back of Medic's truck when he felt eyes on him. His goggles stared back at Medic and an awkwardly toothy grin sprouted on his lips. If all went to plan, he and Medic could share the trip alone.