"Dama, let's get something straight. They already started a year ago… without me?"
"Yes. As much as I hate to say it, we couldn't wait for you. That doesn't mean we haven't been searching though. It was actually quite hard to find you… but at least you're here now, right?"
"Si, esa es la parte más importante… pero, Dama, what on earth does that mean for me?"
Miss Pauling was silent for a moment, contemplating the words her companion had just said. Her eyes were focused on the road as she gripped the steering wheel a bit tighter, shuffling her free foot ever so. The ground was bumpy, rough, and ragged, but it helped them. It was a familiar roughness from a hard day of work, and it was only natural to their passengers on board.
She dared a quick glance to the passenger, seeing their elbow raised as their chin rested upon their palm as the arm rested on the window sill. Their jaw slowly moved as a far off look glazed over their eyes as they looked at the road before them, an apple in hand.
"You know," they began to say, straightening themselves out from their previously slouched position, "I shouldn't have expected it to wait just for me, but… Dama, you understand when I say it simply doesn't feel like it's been a year." The red fruit touched their lips again as they took another large bite from the sweet fruit, "It was as if it was only yesterday when you came around asking us… but it also felt like an eternity the moment I saw you again, after all this time."
Miss Pauling frowned a bit, their eyes glancing over towards the passenger who looked like they were in a daze. Their lips were sealed shut, a sound rumbling at the back of their throat, but no matter how many times they parted their lips to let the words slip out, it wouldn't come.
"Do-"
[? Noises]
A sigh was the only thing that escaped her as the sound came from the passenger side towards the bundle in their arms. The Passenger let a snort escape them as they laughed.
"Dios mio, didn't I tell you to be quiet Batatas?"
The sound that came from the cold bundle in her arms squeaked louder as the bill came forwards only for her to reach her hand in the pocket and begin to pet the softness of their being. "Well," she began to say, "Why did you name him Batatas?" Miss Pauling asked as she listened to the gurgling sound escaping from their side.
"When I came home for the first time in over a year, I had discovered that Monna had laid a clutch. There were two of them, a boy and a girl. I went to fetch some yams and found this cabrón in the crate. He had sat there comfortably as well as sat in the bucket of drinking water we have in the kitchen. Thus, he was named Batatas. Rosita on the other hand was smart. She liked the plants in the garden and she loved the cool water of the pond. Unlike this idiot."
Batatas rumbles even louder.
"Maldito cabrón."
She chuckled lightly at that, remember meeting the grouchy creature as his paw came out to grab her own hand, plopping it on his head demanding pets. The passenger lifted up the bundle looking directly at the little beady eyes that escaped the dark void.
"We should be there within a matter of minutes… ready to say hi to your new team?"
The Passenger lowered the bundle, it's hands grazing the fur of it as it rumbled subsided lightly. They pursued their lips, their eyes slightly downcasted as they sighed. A soft chuckling escaped their parched lips.
"De ningun modo, Dama, but... I feel like it's gonna be quite an adjustment for these men"
With a burst of air escaping their lips they then turned to look at Miss Pauling.
"Dama, what I'm more concerned about is how soon. This idiot needs some water."
Within a matter of minutes, the truck was pulled somewhat to the side and stopped, the engine cut off as a sigh escaped Miss Pauling's lips. "This is it. We walk the rest of the way to base from here."
The passenger hummed as they hugged the bundle closer to them. With a quick swish of their hands and a forceful pull to the door, it swung open with a creak and from there they took careful steps to the uneven ground below. They stumbled a bit at first, not wearing the proper shoes for the condition, however they adjusted quickly with a few stops. With a light hush to the bundle in their arms, they reached towards the back where she Miss Pauling was struggling to grab the suitcase.
They cleared their throat lightly, reaching over to pull the suitcase out themselves and with a light strain from their arm, the passenger easily pulled it out and placed it on the ground, eagerly nodding towards them with a smile. Miss Pauling smiled back a bit, climbing down again as they straightened out their clothing and the clipboard in hand.
The Passenger placed their sunglasses over their eyes as the wide straw hat was loveling tilted on their head again to deter the sun. With a quick nodded, they lifted up the suitcase again and they were off.
"It shouldn't be too long from here." Miss Pauling called out as she led the way. The Passenger hummed at that, "Hopefully so, this little idiot is burning up. Though, sorry if I do sound too rushed, Batatas is getting a little rowdy." Miss Pauling smiled at that. "I can imagine, we are in the middle of a desert after all."
"Dama, it just means we're gonna have to walk a little bit faster."
Within no time however, they could see the building over the ridge and with careful steps, they reached the concrete steps up to the entrance and with a sigh of relief, they both entered quickly after Miss Pauling unlocked the door. There, the Passenger looked over the insides of the hall. Their eyes bathed to the off white walls, to the cream and red tiles on the bottom. Everything was accented in a sort of crimson and red.
"Reliable Excavation Demolition… or RED…quite literally."
They let a low whistle out as they hugged the bundle. Looking down, the rumbling from the bundle was a soft hum of content, after all these concrete walls were much cooler than outside. But sadly they were not cool enough. The Passenger dropped their suitcase for a second, reaching towards the bundle till they heard Miss Pauling's light curse on her breath.
"We took a little longer than expected… well, I'll show you right to your room and then we can meet the rest of your team."
With that, the passenger quickly snatched up their suitcase and walked closely behind Miss Pauling, their steps clicking as they went. With tentative steps, they met the long hallway where most of the rooms were. Many of them had emblems posted by the door, each corresponding to a different class. There, down the hall however, different to the rest of the rooms, was a door with two labels, a brown bar to where the tags were placed. The top one was missing, a dusted dark brown wood below as on the bottom was another emblem.
Miss Pauling walked to the door, pulling out a set of keys as she proceeded to unlock the door. The Passenger walked forwards, gloved hands grazing the label staring back at them with a soft humm and a far off look in their eyes.
Miss Pauling cleared her throat, catching their attention as they blinked, turning to the taller individual. "These will be your keys to your room, and the other to the building." They stated as they dropped the keys into their open hand and with a smile, they pulled the door open, letting the new member in.
Walking inside, they looked directly across from them. The far wall had a bookshelf against the right hand side corner with a chest besides that and a nightstand against the left most corner. Besides the nightstand was a Queen sized bed, the sheets bathed in red with dust collecting on top of it if the particles in the light said anything. Right Besides that, tightly put, was the dresser with a mirror on top of it. In the Center of the room a large crate with the rest of their items.
Miss Pauling walked it, brushing a hand over the dresser as the dust coated it.
"I'm sorry it's so dusty, if I knew…"
The Passenger smiled, placing the suitcase on the floor by the bed as they placed the bundle on the bed unravelling it as they went.
"You didn't know, I didn't know...things happen Miss Pauling."removing the glove on her left hand, she lifted it to pet the creature as it emerged from the grey jacket.
"And that's okay."
There, a little platypus began to rumble in his unusual quake, yipping in happiness as it ran in a circle on the bed, plopping on it's back. The Passenger smiled again as a hand rose to their lips.
"It's time to get you some water, isn't that right Batatas?"
Author's Note
A TF2 Fanfiction. Yes. Now the weird part about writing this whole concept and just this whole idea is the utter fact that I've never played TF2. Blasphemy really. I discovered TF2 years ago due to the "Meet the Medic" short and I've been fascinated with everything since then. When I first discovered it, I created an OC, created so many things, and I loved it, but as time passed I forgot. As a girl back home, I wasn't really allowed to play video games, not like my brothers anyways, so I could never really consider playing the game. Even then, online games make me nervous and thus it never amounted to anything. Years later as I discover my old fan fiction and my old drawings, I remember how much I loved it and now I thought, maybe I should really give it a try. I downloaded the game, still too nervous to play it, but prepared to do stuff in order to actually make a nice story.
I was really inspired to write this fanfiction however because I came across a story called "This Is Where We ARe Now" and it's incredible. I found it originally on Archive of Our Own and then again on and I just love it. The Author is PurpleCompromise and I have to say, I read the whole thing up to this point a couple of days again and seeing as it was recently updated (2020-01-12) I was inspired and encouraged to write my own something something.
As a result of my inexperience with TF2 and even fanfiction in general, I encourage and beg that you please provide your opinions, good or bad. Criticism is what helps an author grow and improve in their fields and I would be grateful to hear anything you guys had to say. Thank you.