A/N: Take some advice from me: Never procrastinate! Yeah, I've been working on a bunch of summer homework this past week or so, which is why I haven't updated. School starts back soon and I really need to finish it up. Probably won't update again for a bit because of it.
Might have broken Miss Pauling's character a bit, but...does she really have a concrete one? I mean she is either harsh to the mercenaries or fearing/obeying the Administrator. You never get to see another side, like a more personal, really
Apologizes for any odd wording, stupid mistakes, things that might not make sense, or awkward things. I was really tired when I wrote this as well as when I went over it. I'll probably go back over it before I write the next chapter...whenever I finish my school work...sigh...
Chapter 26: It's Like Christmas Morning
"Just through this door."
Miss Pauling and May had walked in silence. Neither bothered to make conversation with one another, though this was mostly because of May's nervousness. Compared to the Administrator, Miss Pauling wasn't as intimidating, but from the comics she had read, the young woman could be, even enough to kill under orders without complaint.
Opening the fourth car door they had gone come across, the two stepped into yet another car that was filled with crates. The only difference was that there was some kind of set up in one of the corners. It looked like some kind of make shift shower curtain...or dressing room?
Miss Pauling set the ever present clipboard down on a nearby crate. She turned to May, hands clasped with a smile on her face.
"Alright May, what kind of clothes would you like? Remember these will be worn in tomorrow's mission."
A small chuckle came from May. She hadn't ever seen Miss Pauling portrayed so chipper. Most of her appearances either had her scared of the Administrator or stern and harsh toward the mercenaries.
"I'm guessing that you're the one who thought of this, since the Administrator didn't seem to happy about it."
"I thought you might want some say in what you wore. The Administrator was ready to just set you up with a standard mercenary uniform."
The thought of being in the Pyro's suit worried May. Knowing the Administrator, that's what she would have ended up wearing. Thank god for Miss Pauling.
"Well, I'm actually pretty OK with most of their clothes."
"That's good, then we can easily choose an outfit. These crates are filled with every piece of clothing our mercenaries own. I assume you are familiar with most?"
"If it's the same things from Team Fortress then yeah, I am."
Was she really going to get what she thought she was getting?
"Excellent. You can go through any crate you want and choose a few things. They have labels, so I'm sure you can figure out what's in each crate. Come back to me when you have found some items so I can fit them to your size, if possible."
With a smile of anticipation, May walked among the crates and read each label. They all had the class symbols on it, as well as a list of the contents, by name.
"Hey, I'm just wondering, but is there any reason why each thing has its own name? I mean, it's easy to identify them, but's kind of weird."
"We tell the mercenaries to name them, so, like you said, it's easy to identify them."
"I guess that makes sense..." she muttered, looking upon a box with the Medic's emblem.
The contents seemed to be the Foppish Physician, Doc's Holiday, and...
"Yes!" May screamed in delight.
Taking the lid off, with surprising ease, May stuck her hand down and felt around. Feeling the fur outline, she grabbed the fabric and pulled it out. In her hand was a winter version of the Medic's signature coat. The edges were line with fur as well as the cuffs.
"I love this coat!" May shouted with glee.
Looking over the coat, she saw that it was a bigger size, but nothing she couldn't handle. Feeling the fur, she realized something. They would be out in the desert, fighting in the blazing sun. A frown appeared, realizing it would be idiotic to wear this coat. She was about to put it back, when she heard Miss Pauling's voice.
"I see you have found the Der Wintermantel."
"Yeah, but it would be really stupid to wear this." she said, sadness in her voice.
"Normally, but the Medi Gun's healing ability also cools the user and the target down, so it wouldn't be a problem."
May's jaw dropped, "You kidding, right?"
"How do you think the Medictolerates that coat?"
How didn't she notice this before? Looking back, when she did have the Medi Gun equipped, she didn't feel the least bit hot. I guess it was just a small detail she skipped over.
"You can essentially wear whatever type of clothing and you will be kept cool as long as you have the Medi Gun on."
May squealed excitedly. This was like Christmas morning, except better. Who wouldn't want to have the authentic "costumes" of your favorite characters?
"If you'll just hand it to me, you can continue looking." Miss Pauling said, with an outstretched arm.
May walked ran over to her, threw the coat in her direction and ran back to the crates. Stumbling to catch it, Miss Pauling rush forward before the coat could hit the ground.
"Looks like someone is excited." she said, through a small laugh.
"Are you kidding?! This is like a dream come true!"
May continued to look at the contents of each box. Some had things she would never wear, while others had some that she was debating about. She came across a crate with a Pyro symbol, that had an item that interest her. Opening the crate, she saw a cage that was placed in the center. Brow furrowed, she picked up the metal cage and saw the cutest thing ever.
"Triboniophorus Tyrannus! This thing is alive?!"
The little slime squished around and made a small squeak of happiness.
"Yes, though I wouldn't advise placing it on your head."
"Why not?" she dumbly asked.
"Well, it is a brain slug. It would make you a mindless zombie if it came in contact with your skull. The Pyro is the only one who could, eh, wear it."
"Makes sense, but...this things so freaking adorable!"
She placed a finger in the cage and wiggled it around. The little slime inched up to it and rubbed it affectionately. Oddly, the creature felt like a hard slime substance mixed with rubber, but May enjoyed how the creature felt.
"Seems you like it quite a lot. Would you like to keep it?"
"Yes,yes ,yes!"
"Great. We have tons of these things. They breed like rabbits."
"Thank you so much!"
"Just remember not to let it near your head. Other than that, you can take it out and play with it."
Another squeal and May unlatched the cage door. Cupping her hand, she placed it near the cage's edge, allowing the creature to hop onto her hand.
"Gah! I'm going to die from its cuteness!" she said, petting it with two fingers.
The slime continued to rub against her fingers, purring much like a cat did, though higher pitched.
"I'm going to call you Chu."
It squeaked at hearing it's new found name, bouncing in satisfaction.
"Why don't you put Chu away and finish the task at hand." Miss Pauling sweetly said.
"Oh, sorry about that."
She placed Chu back into the cage and set it down on a nearby crate. Returning to her searched, she found a crate that was simply labeled 'Standard Footwear.' Opening the crate, she saw the mercenaries normal shoes organized neatly. Looking at the assorted boots, sneakers and what not, May realized how big some of their feet really were. The biggest pair seemed to be the Heavy's, which were two times the length of her own feet.
"If your looking at shoes, that won't be a problem. Just choose which ones you want and I'll take your shoes size and you'll have a pair by tonight."
Thinking that she could have anything she wanted, she closed the crate back up and searched through the other crates containing shoes. Opening a particular crate, she grinned. It wasn't the exact thing, but it was close. She pulled out a pair of white sneakers with two horizontal stripes that had a pair of grey socks stuffed in them. Strapped to the side of the sneaker, for transportation, were two flexible metal bars.
"I see you have found the Long Fall Loafers." Miss Pauling said, with some intrigue.
"It's the closest thing to the Long Fall Boots."
"Are you wanting the Long Fall Boots? We can get that for you if you'd like?"
"Really? How?"
"Well, we originally were going to give them to the Scout, but he refused, saying they were two girly. Instead we gave him a modified version, though they didn't negate fall damage like the boots did."
"Scout is an idiot."
"In every sense."
Both girls laughed, each laughing from a Scout moment they had remembered.
"Speaking of the Scout, how bad is the flirting?"
"Do not even get me started. That boy is just to desperate." she said, rolling her eyes.
"Your telling me...now you said you could get me some Long Fall Boots? Don't those belong to...uh, Aperture?"
"Aperture? I don't believe I know what you are talking about." Miss Pauling replied.
"Then that means...well OK then, guess the Portal Gun isn't real."
A slight hope was dashed in May. She had thought that maybe she could somehow get her hand on a portal gun. How, she didn't know, but the possibility still could have been there. Though thinking on it a bit more, if the Administrator and GLaDoS were played by the same person, then that would be like a paradox or what? No, that couldn't happen since the Spy and Pyro had the same voice actor, as well as the Demoman and Heavy. Though...seeing those two meet would be quite a spectacle.
"Portal gun?"
"Never mind. I was just thinking about something."
"OK, now if you could just tell me your shoe size, I can order you a pair of Long Fall Boots."
"Oh, its 9. Now does this mean that I will land on my feet every time and not break my legs when I jump from a high place?" she questioned.
"Precisely."
"That will be really useful."
She placed the Long Fall Loafers back into the crate and moved on. All she really had left was to find some pants. May thought that it would be a bit odd if she were to wear another persons pants.
"Uh, hey could I just wear the pants I'm wearing now?"
"Sure, I assume you would like them washed?"
"Please."
"OK then, if you would, just find something to temporarily wear. Oh, and if you would like, you can find some sleep wear. I'm sure there's something around."
"I'm pretty good with a the shirt I'm wearing. I just won't walk around the base...that would be awkward."
"Very." Miss Pauling said, laughing slightly, "It seems you have everything, but would you like a hat?"
"I'd love one, but it would fall off."
"Not to worry. All Mann Co. hats are guaranteed not to fall off, even if you jumped out of a plane."
"How the heck does that work?" she asked, wondering if it just grasped your head.
"Only Saxton Hale knows."
"Fine, then I'll just look around again."
Finding an crate that had the TF Industries logo, May opened it and found some of the classless items. Rummaging through it, she found a pair of goggles, one that had a colorful reflective lens. Looking at the familiar goggles, she decided to try them on.
"No! Don't!"
It was to late to head Miss Pauling's warning. The Goggles slipped on and immediately, the world was covered in a vibrant rainbow. Mouthing hanging in awe and slight confusion, May stared at the Balloonicorn that floated by. She looked around and saw a...small fat flying Miss Pauling. The odd creature flew up to her, giggling, and grabbed the goggles around her face.
May felt them slid off, past her eyes, and before she knew it, she was back to reality.
"I suggest not putting those on again." she said, throwing them back into the crate.
May was still awestruck. Her mouth still open, her mind couldn't come up with any words to speak. She knew what Pyroland looked like, so why was she so shocked?
"You should have seen the mercenaries when they first tried them on. I think it might have mentally scarred a few of them."
"I-uh...I-" she stuttered.
"Why don't you just tell me what you would like, so I can get them."
Brain scrambled, only two things came to mind.
"Th-the Merc's Muffler and, uh, the...German Gonzila..." she managed to say.
Miss Pauling walked off and gathered the items. Not having to look at the labels, it seemed she knew where everything was located.
Recovering from the Pyroland experience, May shook her head, trying to return to her normal mental state. A tap on the shoulder and May turned around to Miss Pauling holding the two items she requested.
Smiling at her kindness, May took the two items and placed them with all the others. Miss Pauling look at the pile and sighed.
"Well, it's incomplete, but why don't you go try everything on?"
"Uh, sure."
She gathered the clothes and looked at the makeshift dressing room. Proceeding towards it, she looked down into her arms and smiled at her collection. Pushing apart the curtain, she stepped behind it and into the small corner. the only thing in the blocked of space was a small pathetic looking stool that had its paint chipping off. Lying the newly acquired items down, she began to undress.
Miss Pauling was enjoying the fact that there was another female here, other than the Administrator. The old crone wasn't someone to socialize with and was someone she generally feared, yet respected. The power she held and her nature was intimidating, but she was her boss, so she had to obey her.
She patiently waited on the other side of the curtain. Nothing of interest to do, she began whistling. It wasn't a particular tune, but that didn't matter. It was just something that allowed her mind to wa-
Creak!
One of the cab doors opened, revealing the Engineer and Administrator. Miss Pauling ceased her whistling and straightened up into a position that screamed politeness. Hands clasped gently in front of her, Miss Pauling nodded at her passing employer.
All she received was a scowl of disapproval. She knew that the Administrator was not happy with her at the moment, and she was honestly scared of it. The young woman whimpered in fear, but stood her stance until the two entered the other train car.
"I'm guessing that was the Administrator." May said from behind the ruffling of clothes.
"Yes."
"She's not happy with you, is she?"
"Nope."
"Is she ever happy with anyone?"
"No."
"Then don't let it get to you. It's just her witchy personality. she doesn't seem to have anything personal against you."
Miss Pauling still turned away from the curtain, turned around to hear it fly open.
"Well?"
The coat was exceedingly baggy on May. It reached the ground and the sleeves covered over her hands. The muffler was wrapped around her neck, and reached the top of her chin. It hung down in front of her chest, down until her stomach. The German hat fit snugly on her hat, and Miss Pauling was right. No matter how hard she shook, the hat would not come off unless she took it off with her hands.
The costume incomplete, May lacked the shoes and correct size for the coat. She would have liked to complete the Medic portion with some rubber gloves, but trying to use her hands would be impossible. She would need something else.
"Not bad." Miss Pauling said, nodding her head in approval.
"It's pretty big." May said, flopping her arms around, showing the bagginess.
"We can fix that. Unfortunately, you chose one of the things I can't alter, so I'll just take your measurements."
Miss Pauling went to a small tool box near the curtain and took out a measuring tape. Wrapping it around May's waist, she took note and wrote the measurement down on her clipboard. Continuing to do so, May spoke, in order to relieve the silence.
"So, how is it working for the Administrator?" she said, stretching her arms, so Miss Pauling could measure her wing span.
"Not to bad. She's not so bad once you get to know her."
"We are talking about the same woman right? I mean, this is the one who hates friendships."
"True. This job pays well enough to where it's worth it to put up with her. I do respect her though. Being a woman in this time and having such power is quite an achievement. From what I've heard, women in your time are more respected."
"I guess you could say that. We can do pretty much any job a man can do. The world's a lot different back home than what it is here."
"I've heard these two worlds are entirely different."
"Oh, they are. Believe me they are. for instance, we don't have any technology like the teleporters, cloaking devices and especially not respawn."
"Really? That's quite a surprise." Miss Pauling said, wondering what all was different.
"Yeah. Really, those are just dreams and wishes. That's probably how this came to be."
"Your probably right...OK, all done." she said, placing the measuring tape back into the box.
"Good. These clothes were getting really hot."
Walking back behind the curtain, May took off the coat and put her normal shirt and hoodie back on. The muffler and hat, she could keep, since there wasn't any problem with it. Wearing the hat would be fine, but the muffler would be to warm. Taking off the scarf, she walked back out and handed to coat to Miss Pauling.
"You know, I was thinking...what about gloves or something."
"It would be wise to have some sort of hand protection. What did you have in mind?"
"Hm...what about the Scout's bandages, but a little modified?"
May knew what she was going for. It would be slightly different from the the Scout's, but still pretty much the same.
"That could be arranged. I would suggest asking the Scout about that though. That seems to be his own thing."
"Alright, I can do that."
Miss Pauling nodded, "I believe we are finished. You can return back to the mercenaries now."
"OK. Thanks!"
Grabbing Chu's cage, May walked up to the door and placed her hand on the handle.
"Oh, wait a minute!"
Turning around, May saw Miss Pauling walk up to her with a pair of goggles in her hand. they looked similar to the Pyrovision goggles, but thee frame and strap were thinner and it lacked the colorful reflection.
"I've been instructed to give you these. The Administrator wants you to wear them in tomorrow's mission."
With out a word or question, May took the goggles and continued on her way.
With the girl out of site, Miss Pauling gathered the left behind items and put them in the proper place.
Ring!
The phone she had placed on a random crate began to ring. Rushing over, Miss Pauling picked up the phone and answered.
"Yes, ma'am?"
"Miss Pauling, be sure to give the girl those special glasses. I have something special planned for her."
"Already taken care of, ma'am."
"Good. I will meet you back in the BLU's storage room. We have a few things we need to discuss..."
Miss Pauling gulped, "Yes ma'am. I'll be there right away."
Fashion police, have at it!
Goggles, glasses, same thing.
Tried to keep promotional items out of it, but I couldn't keep the Long Fall Loafers/Boots out.
Decided that Team Fortress is in its own little world, which is why they don't know about Aperture. So, basically the Half-Life universe is elsewhere.
Can anyone guess where the name for the brain slug came from?
Fun Fact:
The Administrator has one hour off a year and spends her time making birds fight. Can't you just imagine her bundled up, throwing bird seed everywhere and shouting commands at pigeons. Someone has to write a story about that!