"COME'N GET ME, LADS!"

"DEMO, WAIT, NO! NONONONONONO-"

KABOOM

.

They couldn't breathe. They couldn't see. Dust clogged their mask holes, and their hands scrambled to pull off the mask before they suffocated. They coughed out dust, closing their eyes and feeling around with their hands, already feeling claustrophobic. It was pitch black around them, and they could hear something shuffling in the dirt close to them.

A match flared into existence.

"Pyro?"

Demo stared at them with a wide eye. Now that they had light, they could see the area they were in was a cramped pocket of air under a pile of debris. They turned their attention back to Demo, who was trying to get a closer look at their face. They pulled back, trying to hide themselves, and Demo stopped moving.

"You alrigh', Pyro?" he asked, trying to pull himself into a seated position. He bonked his head on a piece of wood, swearing as he lay back down. "S'pose tha's wha' I get fer firin' off tha wrong charges." He sighed. He stared up at the ceiling, closing his eye. "Migh' as well get some shut-eye. We'll be 'ere awhile, I 'spect'."

Pyro nodded, lying down in the dirt. They closed their eyes just before the match burned out and they were plunged into darkness yet again. They could hear noise just outside their pile of debris, but couldn't make it out. It sounded like usual battle screaming, and mercifully it stayed that way.

When they woke up again, Demo had found a small piece of wood and had set it on fire. They went to it like a moth, forgetting that they didn't have their mask on. When they heard Demo gasp, however, they drew back into the darkness as quickly as possible.

"Pyro...yer a-"

They shook their head vigorously. He stared at them, confused. He had seen a man's face silhouetted in the firelight, he had seen their short blond hair and brown eyes. But why were they-he?-shaking their head?

"Whaddaya mean no?" He asked. They shook their head again. They were never going to be able to explain it to him like this. They put their face in their hands, wincing as they rubbed dust into their eyes.

"Don't cry, Pyro," Demo said, mistaking their tears for sadness. They tried to gesture to him, to show him he was mistaken, but he pulled himself towards them, wincing as he pulled on his ankle, which was stuck under a metal beam. "I'll keep yer secre'. Dunno why you'd feel like you'd 'ave ter keep i' a secre', bu' I'll do wo'I can ter 'elp ya. I trus' ya, Pyro. I'll 'elp ya figure i' ou'."

They smiled at him, wiping their tears away as best as possible. They crawled past the fire, hugging him tightly. He smiled. "There ya go." He patted them on the back, and they lay down next to him, as close to the fire as possible. Just knowing that they weren't alone made them feel a little better about their situation.

"Well it ain't no use to sit and wonder why, babe

Ifin' you don't know by now…"

They turned. Demo was singing to himself, trying to fill the silence with some sort of sound. They smiled, trying to get a handle on the tune.

"An' it ain't no use to sit and wonder why, babe

It'll never do some how…"

Outside of their little pocket, Soldier cocked an ear. He recognized that voice. "OVER HERE!" He barked from his place in the pile of rubble. The others rushed to his side.

"When your rooster crows at the break a dawn

Look out your window and I'll be gone

You're the reason I'm trav'lin' on

Don't think twice, it's all right."

Pyro started to hum along as Demo kept singing, until he was belting the lyrics and they were trying their best to keep up. It lifted their spirits, especially when they heard Sol's voice.

"THEY'RE IN THERE! SCOUT, THROW ME MY SHOVEL!"

Pyro felt Demo grab their head and slip something into it. He pulled his hat over their bare head just as Sol pulled a large piece of sheet metal off the top of their bubble. Demo squinted at the sudden light, but leaned over to Pyro. "Pretend yer asleep," he whispered. They nodded, going limp.

"PY!" Engineer yelled, sprinting over to where Sol stood. He looked at the hat over their face with confusion, but when Demo met his gaze and nodded, he nodded back. So Demo had seen. He grabbed the discarded gas mask off the ground, frowning at the dust clogging the filters. He stuck it in his pocket, stepping down into the bubble to lift Pyro into his arms. They tried not to coo too loudly as he held their body against his own, burying their face into his shoulder. He carried them off the battlefield and back to base, not saying a word.

Once they were safely back in Engie's room, showered and in a clean pair of pyjamas, Engie explained what happened. One of Demo's stickybombs had gone rogue and had blown up a gas tank, exploding the building he and Pyro had been in. The entire building had collapsed, trapping the two of them inside. Battle had been called off for the day so both teams could work on cleaning up the damage. While RED team had focused on finding Demo and Pyro, the BLUs had focused on cleaning up the wreckage and making it safe for the RED team to explore. Demo had gone straight to Medic's room after they'd pulled him out so they could treat his crushed ankle, which had been trapped under debris the entire time. It had been painful, but the Medi-Gun had done its job well.

Engie had just finished telling Pyro all of this when there was a knock on the door. "I's me," Demo's voice rang out. Engie looked to Pyro, who nodded. Engie opened the door, and Demo stumbled in, nodding to Engie. "Feelin' better, Pyro?" he asked. They nodded, pointing to him. He smiled. "Yeah. Doc fixed me righ' up." He wiggled his ankles as if to demonstrate, smiling when they started giggling.

"So," he said, turning to Engie. "Are you goin' ta explain wha's goin' on 'ere?" Engie sighed. "I guess I might as well, huh?" He pulled out his desk chair, gesturing for Demo to take a seat.

Over the next few minutes, Engie told Demo everything he knew about Pyro, with the mumbling merc popping in every so often with a sketched out visual aide. The Scotsman took it surprisingly well, nodding and conveying his understanding every few seconds. When Engie had finished his explanation, Demo turned to Pyro with a look of pity in his eyes.

"If there's anythin' I can do fer you, Pyro, lemme know. Tha way I see't, We've go' ta stick tagether if we're goin' ta survive ou' 'ere. An' tha' means takin' care've each other. There'd be no sense goin' out there, blowin' things up if I dinnae 'ave a Pyro at me back." He smiled, and Pyro returned the grin. Demo stood up, stretching. "Medic's makin' dinner tonigh'. 'E migh' bring't 'ere fer ya if you ask 'im. I'm goin' ta go ea'." He waved out a quick goodbye before leaving the room. Engie sighed again, sitting down in the chair Demo had just been occupying. "Medic, Scout, and now Demo. Soon enough the whole damn base'll know about you."

Pyro bashfully sketched out a drawing of Spy, holding it up. Engie groaned. "Spy too? I thought you wanted to keep this a secret, Py."

They shrugged. They had wanted to keep their fluctuating physicality a secret, and still kind of did, but a few people knowing wasn't too bad. They had been terrified that as soon as Engie found out, he would call them a monster, out them to the entire team, and get them kicked out, but he-everyone-had been nice about it. Would it really be so bad for everyone to know? It would make things a lot easier, and they wouldn't have to worry about wearing their suit all the time, but...what if the Administrator found out? What if the BLUs found out and used it against them? What if the other mercs started to wonder why they wouldn't talk? What if they actually ended up in worse relations with their team once they no longer had an excuse for silence? They didn't know how they wanted to move ahead.

Pyro's silence just irritated Engie more. Though he didn't want to admit it, he was a little possessive of Pyro. He liked being the only one who knew their secret. But it would probably be better if everyone knew, and they couldn't hide it forever. He was stuck between letting Py decide for themselves and giving his own advice.

"Py-" he said, trying to think of something to say, but at that very moment Medic opened the door, holding two plates of food and looking Pyro over with concern.

"They're doin' better," Engineer said before Medic could ask. The German nodded, setting the food down on Engie's desk. "Good. I vas vorried all of zhe dust vould be harmful to zheir respiratory system."

"Breathin' just fine. Right, Py?"

Pyro nodded. They had somehow managed not to breathe in an absurd amount of dust while they had been trapped under the rubble. It had been hell washing dust out of their hair, but they had managed.

"Good. Make sure you get lots of rest, okay? Ve do not want you falling asleep out zhere, ja?" He chuckled to himself, waving his farewell before popping back out of the room as fast as he had popped in.

Pyro hopped off the bed, picking up one of the plates of food and eating it while standing up. They didn't want to make a mess in the bed. Once they had started eating, Engie realized how hungry he was. Neither of them had eaten lunch because of the accident, but at least Py had grabbed a granola bar out of the cabinet on the way out that morning. He ate quickly so that Pyro could sit down, and once they had taken the chair he leaned against the wall, eyes closed in thought. He didn't feel as mad now that he had eaten, but he still felt his thoughts drift back to Pyro. Whether they told everybody or not, they needed to decide soon. At the rate things were going, the rest of the base was going to find out about them sooner or later. It wouldn't hurt for him to get used to the idea of not being the only one who kept Pyro's secret.

He felt Pyro tug on his shirt sleeve, and opened his eyes, blinking off the sleep that had crept in on him while he had been thinking. Pyro had stacked the empty plates up on the desk and had grabbed their drawing pad. They held it up, and Engie saw a cartoonish angry face on it, next to a question mark.

"I ain't mad at you, Py," Engie said, smiling reassuringly. "I could never be mad at you. I'm just...thinkin'. About what I said earlier."

They tensed up a little as he turned, kneeling down next to them. He took their hands in his, staring up at them with a sincere look in his eyes.

"Py, whatever you decide is fine with me. As much as I like bein' your secret-keeper, I'll be ok if you decide you wanna tell the others about...yourself. But you gotta figure it out soon, ok? Sooner or later, everyone'll know anyway, the way things're goin'. I just want to make sure you get enough time to make your own decision on this. Ok?"

They smiled, nodded. They hugged him, and he stood up, lifting them into the air. They giggled, kissing him on the top of his head. "Silly," he mumbled, smiling as he carried them over to the bed. They climbed in and scooted over so he could slide in next to them. They pulled one of his arms over them, burying themselves into his chest.

"Were you scared?" he said softly, a little above a whisper. He felt them nod, and pulled them in closer. "So was I. When you didn't come back in respawn, I thought...I thought you were trapped down there, in pain but still alive. It terrified me, Py, not knowin' you were safe. Wonderin' if you were hurtin', hittin' myself because I wasn't fast enough to help you. I don't...I don't want to see you hurtin' in a way where I can't help ya. That's what scares me the most."

Engineer was not an emotional man. He didn't talk about his fears or feelings often. It was too dangerous, and not vital to the job. But Dell Conagher was scared. Scared that something was going to happen to Pyro. Scared that there would always be something he wouldn't be able to fix, something they couldn't explain to him. Scared that he would lose the person closest to him, both physically and romantically. Dell Conagher just wanted to bury the little flame bug in his arms and never let go. But Engineer knew that he could never have them all to himself. For their own good, he would have to let them make their own decisions and reveal themselves to whomever they chose. Jealousy was an unfamiliar emotion, but Dell could handle it. If Engineer was going to keep Pyro safe, Dell would have to keep himself in check.

Pyro rested their head against Engie's chest, listening to his heartbeat. It was a calming rhythm that lulled them to sleep easily. They weren't kept awake with thoughts of what tomorrow would bring. Truthfully, they were exhausted from stress, and looked forward to getting a full 8 hours. They stayed conscious long enough to make sure Engie was also falling asleep, and then they let the exhaustion overtake them and push them into darkness.

/

"Doc!"

"Scout? Vhat are you doing up?" Medic looked at the clock, rubbing his bleary eyes. Even without his glasses, he could see it was close to midnight. He sat up, yawning. He had been asleep for a good two hours before Scout had crashed through the door, yelling. He squinted at the boy, who looked like he'd just run all the way here.

"Spy made me do da dishes, wouldn't let me outta da kitchen 'til I scrubbed every one, and then I couldn't sleep, 'cause I was thinkin' about-...Oh. Sorry to wake you. I can...I can go now if ya want."

"No, no, zhat vould be foolish. Vhat is it you vanted?" Medic rubbed his eyes again, this time grabbing his glasses off the nightstand and flicking on the light. He could see Scout's look of embarrassment now, and the way the boy was awkwardly shifting from side to side, trying to avoid looking at the bed. Medic sighed. "Spit it out."

"Well, I, uh, I just, since yer a doc'n all...IwantedtoknowifPyrosalright."

"Vhat?"

"Y'know, Pyro. Are they...uh...y'know…"

Medic smiled. "Ah, I see. Yes, zhe Pyro is doing just fine. Zhey and Engineer are probably asleep by now." He raised an eyebrow at the clock, and Scout gulped. "Vhy, vas zhe zhought of zhem being hurt keeping you awake?"

"No! No! Doc, it ain't...They just weren't at dinner, 'sall. I just wanted ta know if they were ok. I saw Demo, but I didn't see them, an' I thought they might be in here...guess they ain't. I'll...uh...I'll let you sleep." Scout backed towards the door, pale as a ghost.

"Good night," Medic managed to get out before Scout all but dashed from the room. Once the boy was gone, he sighed as he realized he had left the door open. He stood up and closed the door, fighting off a laugh as he realized what had spooked Scout. Heavy was lying in bed next to him, sleeping heavily. The blanket wasn't pulled over him all the way, making it perfectly obvious that he was there. Medic smirked, walking back to the bed and pulling the blanket over Heavy's shoulders and curling up next to him. He figured he could squeeze in another four hours of sleep before he had to get up and feed his birds.

[Author's Note: Gee, it's been awhile since I had a lightbulb chapter, right? Well, get ready for one more this weekend. And then probably another one next weekend. See, I have a lot of ideas of what to do with Pyro, but most of those ideas require Pyro out of the suit for various (story-related) reasons. So I'm slowly (re: over the next few chapters) going to give everyone who doesn't have one a lightbulb story. The only one who might not get one would be Soldier, partially because he'd be totally ok with it and wouldn't care, partially because I don't know how to write him and don't want to mess up. I have stories planned for Heavy and Scout, and then I'll start working on new ideas.

The cover of Don't Think Twice, It's Alright is by a band called the JSD band. I've never actually heard the song, I just did the research. I do a lot of research for these chapters. ;)

Next chapter has Sniper and a weird Pyro in it.]