Author's Note: Thanks again for the wonderful reviews, everyone! And Ranger: you're welcome!
To my readers, I leave...an on-time update!
Chapter 36 - The Past Returns
Spy groggily woke up to the sound of Engineer's alarm clock that the Texan quickly shut off from his spot on the floor. The Frenchman stretched himself out as he yawned. He looked down at Scout and smiled tenderly at the sleeping teen. He brought his hand up and ran it gently through his hair. Engineer got out of his sleeping bag and stood up, walking over to the two.
"Mornin'," he whispered. Spy smiled at him.
"Good morning," he replied quietly.
"Did you two sleep okay?"
"I did. And judging by how he's still asleep, I'm going to say he did, too."
"If you want to get cleaned up and change into some clean clothes, I can watch him." Spy shook his head.
"I'll shower and change after the match. I have a feeling I'm going to be working up a sweat keeping up with Danny."
"Do you think it'll be okay getting him fully back onto the battlefield?" Spy looked back down at Danny.
"I think so. It'll help boost his courage and confidence in his skills. Besides, we're all watching out for him, and I plan on sticking with him."
"Well, you'd better wake him up. We've got to eat breakfast before the match in two hours." Spy nodded as Engineer made his way out of the room. He looked down at Danny and lightly shook his shoulder. Scout groaned, snuggling more into Spy.
"Nnngh…five more minutes," he groaned. Spy kissed the top of his head, shaking his shoulder again. Scout slowly opened his eyes and yawned. He looked up at Spy, who smiled lovingly at him.
"Bonjour, mon amour," greeted Spy. Scout smiled slightly.
"Morning," he yawned.
"Are you ready for your first full match in a while?"
"I'm ready for some of your famous coffee. It's been a while since I've had that." Spy looked up at the ceiling, placing his hands behind his head as he nestled himself further into his pillow while smiling mischievously.
"I think I need some motivation to get out of bed, though…" Scout yanked the pillow out from underneath Spy's head and smacked him with it.
"You ass!" he scoffed as he climbed over Spy to get out of bed. Spy laughed as he followed behind Scout. Scout grabbed his clothes for the day and went into the bathroom to change. Spy readjusted his tie and fixed his suit. He was about to put his balaclava back on before Scout came out of the bathroom and stopped him, planting a quick kiss on his lips. "There. Better?" Spy pulled his balaclava over his head and adjusted it on his face, giving Scout a pleasant smile.
"Quite."
Scout felt invigorated on the battlefield after having been out of the heat of the battle for so long. Though he felt nervous being out in the open, he felt reassured having Spy at his side watching his back. He felt even more alive when it was he who captured the central control point for his team as he successfully defended it against a Soldier-Medic combo. Instead of feeling perturbed when RED captured the central control point shortly after he did, he felt inspired to fight harder to help his team to victory after the previous day's stalemate.
He did feel frustration, though, when he and Spy were mowed down by RED's Heavy. When they reappeared in respawn together, they were relieved to see each other. They decided to laugh off their deaths as they exited respawn together, heading back out toward the battlements. Engineer waved from the final control point.
"Hey, you two!" he shouted. "How's it going out there?"
"Time has been added!" blared The Administrator over the speakers. Scout smirked.
"Great!" he answered gleefully. "We're mostly fighting over the central point, but right now we're winning!" Engineer grinned.
"Always good to hear! Keep up the good work, Scout!"
"Thanks, Engie!" Scout gave him a thumbs-up before he and Spy ran back outside, taking out RED's Demoman in the process. The two decided to go around the long way around the rocks to attempt a sneak-attack on any unsuspecting RED by the center point. Spy stopped Scout for a moment to cloak himself and peer around the rock formation. Scout whispered, "See anything?"
"Medic-Heavy team on the point," he explained. "It sounds like their Medic has an ubercharge ready."
"Who from our team is there?"
"Soldier, Heavy and Med – never mind. Medic just got sent back to respawn. And Soldier is dueling RED's Demoman while your father is protecting his Medic's rear." Scout pondered for a moment, then placed a hand on his headset.
"Scout to Jack: do you copy?"
"Loud and clear," replied Sniper.
"Can you get a clear headshot of RED's Medic?"
"There's a wall blocking 'im. If 'e moves toward th'window, I can get 'im."
"Gotcha. Heavy, do you hear me?"
"Da!" answered Heavy. Scout poked his head around the rocks, eyeing the Medic-Heavy combo in question.
"If you can, charge around their Heavy at their Medic. He's skittish, so even while ubercharged, you might be able to get him within Snipes' scoping range."
"I will try!" Spy and Scout hid back behind the rock formation as they heard their Heavy's battle cry. The two grinned excitedly at each other as they heard Sniper's rifle go off and the other team's Medic let out a death cry. Scout was grinning from ear to ear in excitement of his plan succeeding.
"Yes!" he shouted excitedly.
"Excellent job, Danny!" complimented Spy. "Not only have your shooting skills improved, but so have your tactical moves! How are you feeling right now?"
"I'm feeling great! Honestly, I haven't felt this great in a long time!" Spy looked Scout in the eyes, reading them like an open book. As excited as his lover was, he could still sense an aura of uneasiness within him, though it was diminishing with every passing hour. Spy smiled happily, knowing that Scout was genuinely having a good time and not forcing himself. Scout smiled at Spy. "I owe a lot of it to you, Theo. Thanks for helping me through everything and sticking by me."
"But of course." Spy's jovial expression was quickly replaced by a vacant one as he was instantly killed by the bullet of a revolver. He collapsed face first into the snow awaiting respawn. Scout gasped in shock.
"Theo!" Scout looked up from his fallen lover at the source of the shot. Stepping out from behind a tree was none other than Bane. Scout's eyes widened like that of a cornered animal as he raised his pistol, aiming it at Bane's chest. "Stay back!"
"Hello, Daniel," greeted Bane as he took a few casual steps forward. Scout placed light pressure on the trigger, not pulling it back fully.
"I said stay back! I'll shoot!"
"Then why do you hesitate?" Scout remained silent, standing his ground as his hands began to shake. Bane smirked. "You're afraid of permanently killing me, just like you killed those men in the base yesterday or that man in Boston…yes, I witnessed both acts. Yesterday's was by far quite a sight. Such skill…such bravery."
"Shut up! If you were there yesterday, and if you really do care about me, then why didn't you do anything?"
"I wanted to see what you were capable of. I can see that you are quite capable of taking care of yourself…or are you?" Scout glared at him hatefully. "It pained me to merely watch you in the state you regressed into. How I wanted to take away all of your pain."
"Bull shit! You'd only make things worse!"
"Then how about I make things right starting now? Allow me to alleviate some of your burdens."
"Don't you dare! Don't come near me!"
"Remember that man in Boston? The one that you allegedly killed?"
"I said shut up! Why are you even bringing that up? What do you mean by 'allegedly'?"
"Like I said; I was there when it happened. I witnessed the whole thing." He slowly removed his dark purple balaclava, tossing it aside as he revealed a handsome, tanned face with a stubble goatee on his chin and jaw line and long, dark brown hair pulled back into a ponytail. Scout's skin paled as his eyes widened in horror. He dropped his gun in the snow, taking a few steps backwards.
"No way…there's no way! You…you're the guy I killed! How did you survive?" Bane took the opportunity to take a few steps toward Scout, pulling out a gold pocket watch.
"Isn't the Dead Ringer a beautiful thing?" Scout's heart was racing as he felt another panic attack coming on. His mind was brought back to the night before they left Viaduct when Bane confronted him in the training room. He remembered Bane's hand up his shirt feeling his scar. He suddenly realized that Bane was admiring the permanent mark he left on Scout's body forever to remind him of not only the sin he had committed, but now of every single thing the man had ever done to harm him.
Taking advantage of Scout's paralyzed state, Bane closed the gap between them as he grabbed Scout's wrists, attempting to pin him to the rock formation. Scout snapped out of the state of mind he was in and struggled wildly, desperately trying to get away. Bane managed to cross Scout's arms in front of him as he pulled him close with the boy's back against his chest. He successfully wrapped one hand around both of Scout's tiny wrists as he brought the other one to glide across Scout's stomach to rest on his left hip. He brought his head in close to Scout's ear, his hot breath blowing on Scout's neck, causing him to shiver. "Just as the Dead Ringer took me away from the hands of Death himself, so shall I take you away from this wretched place."
"N-No!" Scout dug his heel into Bane's foot, causing the man to loosen his grip. Scout managed to free himself enough to elbow Bane in the stomach before fully pulling himself out of Bane's grasp. Bane tackled Scout to the ground, wrestling with him a bit until he had the boy underneath him, pinning his wrists to either side of his head while straddling his stomach. "Get off me! Let me go!"
"Don't make me do this to you, Daniel!" threatened Bane. "Don't make me hurt you!"
"Get away from him!" screamed Red as he rushed to the scene, The Ambassador in his hand aimed at Bane's head. Knowing full well that Red wouldn't hesitate to shoot him, Bane quickly got off of Scout and backed away as Spy arrived, hurrying to Scout's side as he helped the man he loved into a sitting position. The two clung to each other as Red stepped in front of them protectively, keeping his gun aimed at Bane. "Theo: get Danny out of here! I'll cover your tracks and meet you at your base soon!"
"I'm on it!" affirmed Spy. He held a panicking Scout close as he scooped him into his arms and stood up, darting away from the scene. Red continued to glare at Bane hatefully, keeping the gun aimed at him.
"As easy as it would be to kill you right here and now," began Red, "I'd rather you suffer a slow, excruciating death, feeling the pain that you've caused my son tenfold!"
"As afraid as I should be by that threat, I'm really not," retorted Bane. "To be honest, I don't really care what you think of me. I have no desire to kill you, though."
"What?" Bane gave Red a serious look.
"I'm sure you're well aware by now of Helen's true intentions and what she's really after." Red nodded slowly. "Regardless of my past actions, I do care a lot about your son, and I want to keep him not only for selfish reasons, but also out of her grasp. Knowing you, if she got a hold of him, she'd succeed in getting you to do whatever she wanted and then some. As long as Daniel's out of her reach, not only are you free, but so is the world. The rebelling governments will be able to fully break free and regain their own sovereignty, thus making her and the Mann Brothers like any other CEO of a private company: an ordinary, powerless citizen. She wouldn't be able to harm anyone else dead or alive." Red gave him a skeptical look.
"Why do you suddenly care about the welfare of my son and that of the entire world?"
"I only care about Daniel. I say screw the rest of the world! Though you say you only care about the wellness and safety of your son, I know that deep down, you care about everyone else and what she's doing and want to stop it. You want to be the hero that these leaders need." Red remained silent. Bane ran a hand over his hair, slicking back the loose strands that framed his face. "Keep in mind what I told you the next time you think about killing me."
"Bane, wait!" shouted Red as he took a step forward, but it was too late: Bane had already cloaked himself and fled the scene. Red stared in deep thought at where Bane once stood. After a few moments of silence, he narrowed his eyes in determination and ran as fast as he could toward the BLU base.