Author's Note: Sorry for another late update. I was going to update yesterday, but I got called into work earlier than expected and didn't get home until around 1 AM. Things are starting to get crazy again with two performances in one week, a 15-page paper due on Tuesday and a group presentation on the 7th (which is also my birthday). After that, things should be settling down for a bit until finals.
Keep those reviews coming! I love reading them! Iz, I do apologize about the dialogue. How I write seems to depend on the mood that I'm in. When I'm in a very good mood, I've noticed that my dialogue tends to get the way that you've described it, especially for the not-so-epic scenes. I'll be sure to try and improve on that since that could prove to be a hindrance in future writings.
Enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 25 - Je t'aime
A ceasefire had been called for the day due to more snow having fallen overnight. Coupled with the rest of the snow already on the ground, it was near impossible to maneuver around Viaduct without being knee-deep in snow. After the morning meeting announcing the ceasefire and tasking Pyro, Demoman and Heavy with clearing as much snow around the base as possible, the team sat down, ate breakfast and enjoyed Spy's famous coffee.
Spy had a little bit of time to himself as Scout went to see Medic for a check-up (Medic requested a daily check-up since Scout's bout with pneumonia over the weekend). Spy chose that time to plot how he would spend the day with the man he loved. He paced back and forth in the hallway outside of the infirmary. He only stopped when he saw Red and Engineer walking in his direction.
"Hey there," greeted Engineer. "What's with the pacing?"
"Just trying to plan out my day with Scout while I wait for him," answered Spy. "What brings you two out here?"
"Medic's going to check my hand," explained Red. "I should hopefully be getting my stitches out today."
"I thought Medic was going to use his Medigun on it?"
"Yeah…that whole BLUs being unable to heal REDs thing? That still applies in this case." Spy chuckled a bit. Red cocked an eyebrow. "What's so funny?"
"Oh, nothing. You just sounded like your son for a moment, that's all." Red smiled slightly, scratching his temple with his index finger.
"I guess I'm picking up some of Danny's mannerisms and speech. And speaking of my son…" Red walked up to Spy and put an arm around his shoulders. He began to speak in a low voice. "…try anything funny with my son that hurts him and I will murder you in your sleep. Comprende?" Spy nodded, albeit nervously. Red patted him on the back and stepped toward Engineer. Spy scowled.
"How come I'm the only one to get that paternal warning?"
"Oh, I gave Sniper the same warning yesterday. As much as I like and approve of you two, I still don't want to see you two hurt Danny. He's been through enough already."
"I completely understand, Red," assured Spy. "The last thing I want to see is Scout getting hurt. I care too much about him to let that happen."
"Get the fuck away from me!" shouted Scout on the other side of the door. The three men in the hallway rushed into the infirmary in a panic. Their fears were abated when they saw Medic with a syringe in his hand and a stressed out expression on his face as he stared angrily at Scout, who was standing on the opposite side of the bed as Medic, gripping a pillow tightly as a shield.
"Scout, I need to administer zhis shot!" explained Medic. "According to your records, you're overdue for your booster shot, and you're vell enough to take it!"
"You freakin' stab, man!" squeaked Scout.
"Only because you don't hold still, Dummkopf! You are acting like a child!" Scout gripped the pillow tighter, his knuckles turning white. Spy calmly walked over to Scout and placed an arm around his shoulders. Scout looked up at the Frenchman as Spy took the pillow away. Spy guided Scout to the bed, motioning for him to sit down. Scout resisted at first, but eventually gave in and sat down. Spy took a seat next to him and gently placed a hand on Scout's cheek.
"Look at me," ordered Spy softly. Scout did as he was told and looked into Spy's blue eyes. "Just keep your eyes on me. It'll be fine." Scout nodded slightly, never taking his gaze off of him. As Spy caressed Scout's cheek and said soothing words to the boy, Medic carefully took Scout's arm and administered the shot. To Scout's surprise, the shot didn't hurt. Medic placed a band-aid over where the needle went in and ruffled Scout's hair.
"Zhere, all done," announced the doctor. Scout looked at his arm, then at Medic.
"Thanks, Doc," said Scout timidly. The boy frowned slightly. "And…sorry for how I acted. I just really hate needles." Medic cocked an eyebrow.
"You can handle being shot, stabbed and set on fire, but you can't handle a miniscule needle?" questioned Medic skeptically. Red cleared his throat.
"You'll have to excuse my son's behavior," he apologized. "He's always been bad around needles." Scout narrowed his eyes at his father.
"And how do you know this, Dad?"
"Your mother told me. She wrote me a letter when you were three that you locked yourself in the bathroom in the doctor's office to avoid getting a shot. They had to unhinge the door to get you out."* Spy snickered a bit, which caused Scout to hit him in the stomach with the back of his hand.
"Shush!" hissed Scout. Spy rubbed his stomach, but continued to grin at the Bostonian. Scout's expression softened when he looked at Spy. "By the way, thanks for helping me out. I owe ya." Spy's grin softened into a smile as he ruffled Scout's hair.
"How about we begin our day together?" he suggested. Scout smiled excitedly and nodded. The two stood up and excused themselves, heading out into the hallway. Spy was about to guide Scout to the living room, but Scout had another idea. He took Spy's hand and dragged him into the kitchen. "Scout, why are you taking me here?"
"It's almost lunch time, so I figured I'd make us something," answered Scout. Spy blinked.
"You cook?"
"Yeah. I started cooking in high school to help Ma out." Spy smiled tenderly as they entered the kitchen, watching Scout rummage the cupboards and refrigerator for food.
"Well, if it's coming from you, I'm sure it will be delicious." Scout laughed.
"I'm just making us some sandwiches! It's not like I'm cooking everyone dinner!" Scout stopped. "Come to think of it…that doesn't sound like a bad idea. I think I'll do that before we finally leave Viaduct. Kind of as a thank you to everyone for helpin' me out, y'know?" Scout looked over at Spy, who walked over to Scout and kissed his forehead lovingly, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Lapin, you truly are special." Scout wrinkled his nose.
"Could you cut the bunny crap already!" Spy chuckled.
"You looked like one when you wrinkled your nose like that!" Scout snickered.
"Yeah, and since we're on that, you still owe me a French lesson."
"Very well. How about we work on that now while we're eating?"
"I'd like that," Scout replied as he smiled.
As Scout made their sandwiches, Spy worked on teaching him the alphabet first. Spy couldn't help but laugh when Scout tried to pronounce everything with his thick Bostonian accent. He tried having Scout learn a few simple phrases as they ate, but his accent kept getting in the way again. Scout began to grow frustrated since he couldn't pronounce anything correctly, but Spy soothed his tension by seductively articulating romantic French phrases in his ear softly, causing Scout to chuckle and blush deeply.
Once the two finished eating, they began to clean up the kitchen. Spy looked out the window at the courtyard of the base where he could see Pyro, Demoman and Heavy clearing out snow. He motioned for Scout to come over with a grin as he saw Demoman and Heavy get into a verbal altercation over something. The two laughed as they saw Demoman flailing his arms about while Heavy put his hands on his hips, towering over the Scotsman. They laughed harder when they saw Heavy get angered enough to grab a snowball in his hand and chuck it at Demoman. In their hysterical laughter, neither saw Demoman duck. The snowball went through the window and hit Spy in the head hard enough to cause him to lose his footing, slip on a puddle of water that had spilled on the floor from the sink. He came crashing down onto the ground, hitting his head on the tile floor hard enough to cause him to black out.
"Spy? Spy! Wake up, man!"
Spy slowly opened his eyes as he felt something cold on the back of his head. He looked up and saw Scout's worried face with Pyro, Demoman and Heavy standing behind him with equally worried expressions. He then realized that he was lying on the floor in the kitchen in Scout's arms as the boy held an ice pack to the back of Spy's head.
"What happened?" he asked groggily. "How long was I out for?"
"Only a minute," answered Scout. "Heavy didn't realize that he grabbed a snow-covered rock instead of an actual snowball when he threw that thing at Demo. You got hit by it when it went through the window and you fell, hitting your head hard enough to knock you out."
"I am sorry, Little Spy," apologized Heavy. "It will not happen again. I will fix window and finish dishes."
"You might want me to do that, boyo," suggested Demoman nervously. "You might break somethin' else." Heavy frowned.
"I want to make up for what I did, though!" Spy sat up and took the ice pack from Scout, keeping it on his head. He looked up at Heavy.
"No need to worry about it, Heavy," said Spy. "It was a simple accident. Apology accepted." Heavy smiled graciously as Scout helped Spy stand up.
"We should probably put some clean clothes on, though," Scout suggested. Spy looked at himself and saw that his suit jacket was wet from the sink. He looked at Scout and saw that he had mustard and mayonnaise stains on his shirt. Spy cocked an eyebrow.
"How did you get that?" he questioned. Scout scratched his temple with his index finger and grinned sheepishly.
"I kind of pulled my dirty dish to myself when I jumped back in shock from what happened." Spy snickered, then placed an arm around Scout's shoulders.
"That gives me an idea. Come with me." Scout blinked as Spy guided him out of the kitchen, leaving Heavy, Demoman and Pyro to grin at each other, wiggling their eyebrows.
Spy made his way to his bedroom with Scout. He opened the door for his guest like a gentleman would, motioning for Scout to enter. Scout nodded to Spy and made his way in. He had been in Spy's room before, but he was always amazed at how clean it was. He watched Spy take off his jacket and put it in his hamper with the rest of his dirty clothes. He pulled out one of his other identical suit jackets from his closet and put it on, adjusting himself. He reached further back into the closet and pulled out a bluish-gray suit, matching vest and a white collared shirt, handing them to Scout. Scout took it and gave Spy a confused look.
"Put this on," ordered Spy kindly. "Feel free to use my bathroom to change." Scout just nodded timidly as he made his way into Spy's bathroom, shutting the door behind him. After waiting patiently for about five minutes, he was awarded by watching Scout open the door in Spy's gray suit. Spy raised his eyebrows in amazement at how great Scout looked in it. Scout felt a little awkward being in a suit.
"Um…how do I look?" he asked, unsure of himself. Spy smiled lovingly at him.
"Very handsome, Scout," he replied in a smooth voice. "But something's missing…" He made his way over to his dresser and pulled out a blue and gray striped tie. He walked back over to Scout and placed the tie on him, tying it properly and tucking it into the vest Scout was wearing underneath the jacket. He stepped back a bit and smiled once more. "There. Perfect. Take a look at yourself." He gestured over to the full-length mirror attached to his closet door. Scout cocked an eyebrow.
"Why do you have a mirror in your closet?"
"I have to look presentable before going onto the battlefield."
"Yup! You're gay!" Spy laughed, standing behind Scout and putting his hands on his shoulders as he guided him to the mirror.
"Look who's talking!" Scout made a face at Spy before chuckling himself. He finally faced the mirror and looked at himself in shock. He almost didn't recognize himself when he laid his eyes on his mirror image. Spy rested his chin on Scout's shoulder and smiled at his lover's reflection, rubbing his shoulders. "Like I said: very handsome. It suits you – no pun intended." Scout chuckled lightly, blushing once more and turning his head away. "What? You don't believe me?"
"I'm just not used to this kind of attention, that's all," admitted Scout. Spy blinked in surprise. "Growin' up, nobody else would even think of considering me in that kind of light. I guess it was because of how childish and immature I acted." Spy turned Scout around and caressed his cheek, looking him in the eyes.
"Then they are fools for not realizing how wonderful of a person you are. If they took the time to see what was in here…" Spy lowered his hand to Scout's chest and placed it over his heart. "…then they would know that they truly have someone special in front of them. They would see the kind, thoughtful, and beautiful heart that you have." Scout felt his face blush more as Spy said those words to him, causing a tender smile to form on his face. Spy leaned in to place a kiss on Scout's lips, but Scout put a finger up to Spy's.
"Wait," interrupted Scout. Spy gave him a confused look. "I want to see your face. Please?" Spy smiled once more.
"Very well. Only because it's you." Spy carefully pulled off his balaclava and revealed a handsome face behind it. Spy's blue eyes seemed bluer with his light brown hair that fell down around his eyes before he slicked it back with his hand. Scout brought his hand up to Spy's hair and combed his fingers through it, letting it fall back into place naturally over the tops of Spy's ears. He brought his hand down to Spy's face and placed it there gently, gliding his thumb along his high cheekbone. He slowly traced his hand down to Spy's jaw and around to his chin. He pulled his hand away a bit before Spy took it into his own and held it to his chest.
"Je t'aime, Danny," spoke Spy amorously.
"What does that mean?" asked Scout.
"It means 'I love you'." With those words, he closed his eyes and gently kissed Scout's lips, causing the younger of the two to close his eyes and return it. After a bit, the two pulled apart and laid down on Spy's bed, embracing each other. Scout rested his head on Spy's shoulder as the Frenchman ran his fingers through Scout's hair. Scout looked up at Spy.
"Hey, Spy?" Spy looked down at him.
"Theo," he replied.
"Is that how you answer people in French?" Spy chuckled, ruffling Scout's hair.
"That's my name, you goof." Scout laughed a bit.
"Ah. Theo?"
"Yes?"
"What do you plan to do after the war?" Spy looked up at his ceiling, deep in thought.
"I'm not sure, to be honest. Probably travel the world a bit until I figure out what I want to do. Enjoy being free from our insane boss." He looked down at Scout. "What about you?" Scout looked at Spy's chest, playing with his tie a bit.
"I was, uh…thinking about goin' to college. Not sure where yet, though. Ma's been saving my money for me, so I'm goin' to use it for tuition and books and stuff."
"That's a very good plan. Do you know what you want to study yet?" Scout smiled a bit.
"I think I've finally decided on criminal justice, so I can be a detective or go into the FBI or CIA or somethin'."
"What brought all of that on?"
"With all of this investigatin' and stuff goin' on, I found that I actually like that kind of thing. And…I want to be able to bring justice to those that have been wronged, y'know?" Spy held Scout closer to himself protectively.
"I do know. And I want to do the same thing for you. I want to protect you and make those that have hurt you pay for what they've done. I hate seeing you scared and physically and emotionally wounded like I have the past week, and I hate how I've contributed to part of it. I'm so sorry for that." Scout frowned slightly.
"Theo, it's okay. I don't blame you or Sniper – uh, Jack. I just…I want to be stronger. I need to be stronger. And you two are helping me get there, so…thank you…for everything that you've done for me." Spy kissed Scout's forehead and rubbed his back gently.
"Anytime."
*Based on a true story. My older brother did the same thing when he was two.