As the doctor sat in the small, broken down chamber, he heard the RED Scout in the chamber beside him huff.

"...It's about fuckin' time." He sighed. "Get me outta here, I ain't gonna fucking speak."

Medic blinked apathetically as he looked to his side. Beside him the wall had a meshed window of sorts - it was bug-bitten and tattered, but still hid the expression of the RED Scout rather well. All he could really see was the younger man's silhouette, and it seemed to be facing him, rather sure that he was the RED medic.

"Hello," Medic greeted him. "I am not your Doctor."

There was a surprised silence on the other end of the chamber. Maybe it was his calm demeanour, or the detached tone of his voice - but the younger man immediately knew who he was dealing with. He groaned. "You gotta be fuckin' kidding me."

Rolling his eyes, but otherwise ignoring RED's response, the Medic continued. "I am not, unfortunately." He heard another groan. "I understand zhe circumstances of your being here - it vas due to a suicide attempt, correct?"

There was a beat of silence. "...And what do you wanna know about it, deutschbag ?" Although the medic couldn't see his expression, he heard the clear discontempt in his words. He sighed. "Being uncooperative will only make zhe process longer. And more painful." He added. "I am only here to help you Junge, I do not wish to start a fight."

There was another beat. The silence felt tense, and in the brief quiet the Medic could hear RED's gears turning in his (hypothetical) brain. "...The Doc tied up my fucking arms and legs." He finally said. "At least get me outta these ropes, then I'll give up an' talk."

"And vhat vill stop you from running away?" He questioned the young man. "It's not like I have a guarantee zhat you vouldn't try."

The Scout sighed. "...Fine," He mumbled. "You have my word. I ain't gonna run. Just get me outta this." He said tiredly.

The Medic raised his eyebrows, but obliged. Coming out of the confession chamber he was in, he turned behind him to see the RED Medic, who approached him with his two doves on each shoulder.

"We vill be speaking in zhe open." The Medic addressed the other man quietly. "I suggest zhat you leave zhis place for now."

The RED Medic nodded. "He is being cooperative, I assume?" He smirked. "I may have… spiked his last drink, with a decent amount of CBD." The Medic blinked. That made sense then.

"Thank you." He replied curtly.

The RED Medic, picking up a briefcase with his equipment as he turned to leave, raised his hand in gesture. "It is no problem, mein brother." He laughed. "Just make sure zhat he is back in one piece. Nobody else has to know."

As he walked away to leave, one of the birds that nested on his shoulders flew towards the Medic. Flinching slightly asit honed in and landed on his shoulder, the RED Medic shouted sternly. "Hippocrates!"

The Medic, unsure of what to do, stood quietly as he saw the RED Medic's face turn from a concerned scowl, to a slight smile. "He must like you." He hummed. "Do not vorry, doves have incredible homing skills. He vill come back to me when he wants to."

Waving his hand as he left the small church's doors, the RED Medic looked back a final time.

"Good luck - and do be careful vith vhat you say." He chuckled quietly. "I trust you, but I hope zhe boy doesn't learn to trust you too much." There was a playful glint in his eyes. "Bonds may be shared here - but on the battlefield, ve are still enemies."

~oOo~

There was an awkward silence shared between the two opposing mercenaries, as they sat side by side within the decrepit church. RED seemed calm, but tired (an after effect of the CBD, Medic noted), and remained eerily quiet. Not a word was spoken between the two, until the Scout finally cleared his throat.

"So what, you're like my therapist or somethin' now?"

The Medic raised a brow. Unsure of what to say, he decided to say the truth. "I suppose so." He said monotonously.

RED stared at him, his eyes squinting in question. He was trying to figure him out. "... Aren't ya supposed to make me talk or something?"

"Well," Medic shrugged. "I vould like you to trust me before we begin digging into anything." RED's eyes widened, just a fraction. "I am not your enemy, Junge. I am only here to help you."

RED was quiet for a moment. Casting his gaze down thoughtfully, he kept his folded arms in their stiff position before his chest. Guarded, but intrigued by this odd doctor, he blurted out without thinking. "Man, you're nothing like that other doc."

Medic's brow rose, then furrowed. "...Please do not compare me to him." His voice was soft, but there was a darker tone that suggested something different. At that sudden, cold response, RED couldn't help but give him a surprised glance. Catching his almost fearful gaze, the Medic sighed, and adjusted his glasses. "I'm sorry - I'm too used to being compared to him for my comfort."

RED looked away. In a soft voice that the Medic almost could've missed if he wasn't sitting so close to him, he heard the young man speak. "...I get that."

Medic raised a brow in question. With the doc urging him to continue, the RED Scout sighed. "I get compared to that BLU fucker. A lot." He sighed, readjusting his still-folded arms. "The demo says it, the doc says it - hell, even Miss Pauling compares me to him." He huffed angrily. "Why can't you be more of a gentleman like BLU, why can't you be more sociable like BLU, yadda yadda, fuck off." He said mockingly.

The corner of Medic's mouth rose slightly in amusement. He didn't realize the RED saw his counterpart like that. Catching the Doctor's curious gaze, the RED Scout retorted angrily. "Look, it ain't my problem that I'm a hot-head. I had to be. To survive where I came from." Medic continued to smile as the Scout ranted on. "I was an only child in a piss-poor family. My ma needed the support. I never knew my fuckin dad. I was the only one she had. I needed to be tough for her, until -" RED paused. "...Until we stopped being poor." He muttered.

As another lapse of silence befell the two, Medic remained silent. Carefully choosing his next words, he spoke quietly. "You can trust me, Scout." As RED looked to him with a doubtful, but questioning gaze - the Medic continued. "I am here to help you. I have no interest in telling anyone of what you share here - and I will keep any secrets you need me to keep." He raised his left palm towards the boy - as if taking an oath - and said softly. "I swear on Hippocrates."

From the other end of the room, a certain bird heard it's name being called, and decided it was time to make an appearance. Flying towards the open left hand of the Medic, it missed it's mark and swooped on the exposed head of the RED Scout.

"Hey - ow, ow!" RED yelped as he jumped off his seat, the moment completely ruined. "Get off me ya damn bird!" He swung blindly as the dove took flight once again, this time landing on the Medic's shoulder and peering fearfully from it's perch at the young man. "I swear one day I'm gonna turn you damn birds into fried pieces of -"

Despite himself, Medic chuckled. His quiet chuckling caught the unruly RED's attention as he turned a bright, beet red. "...Please don't tell the doc I said that." He looked down.

"Not to vorry, I will not." The Medic said softly as the chuckling died down. "I know he vill do something worse than just turn you into fried Scout if he catches wind of what you just said." Medic smiled at him. "...And I took an oath. Remember?"

For a second, all the RED could do was stare at the doctor incredulously. Was he really being serious?

The Medic, cocking his head slightly to the side, gazed questioningly onto the Scout. "Are you alright?"

Catching himself, the Scout looked away. "...I'm just not used to decent people, is all." He huffed as the Medic raised a brow. "...And you seem like a decent person." He ended softly.

At that the Medic beamed, a genuine smile crossing his face. "I see you have decided to trust me?"

"Not with everything." The Scout promptly replied. "Not just yet. I'm sayin' I could give you a chance." He muttered, looking away from the Doctor.

Medic nodded. "That's a better chance than I could ever hope for." He smiled.

Things were off to a good start.

~oOo~

As the Medic and the RED Scout left the decrepit church, they left side by side, still talking with each other. On the Medic's shoulder was the white dove, taking flight once it sensed the coming night. In the sunset of the desert, nobody could see the two as they walked away into the shadows - but a pair of glinting binoculars.

In the wrong time, in the wrong place - a pair of sunglasses revealed a surprised face of an unfortunately oblivious Sniper.

"You have got to be kidding me."

~oOo~

"...And I ain't kidding here, sarge."

On his bed, the BLU Scout mumbled at a small cage - within it encased a small, yellow gecko. Munching happily on some sort of large beetle, the small hunter - named Srgt. Yellow by the Soldier who had found him - didn't seem to care much for what the distressed Scout had to say.

"What am I supposed to do? I ain't no fag or nothin' - I just love the Doc. And that's it. I can't be gay. Right?" The Scout flopped on his back. "It's not like I even like him cause he's a dude - I like him cause he's him. Ya know? Not cause he's handsome or anything. Not that I'm saying he isn't handsome as shit - but, ya know? I ain't into that. I think." He looked towards the small gecko.

"Help me out here sarge - you're the only one I can talk to. I swear to God, you're like the only one I can trust in this goddamn -"

"...Are you talking to that lizard again mate?"

If it was possible for a human's bones to jump out of their skin, that's what would have happened to the Scout at that very moment. He didn't even notice his door opening just a peek as the Sniper stared on, his eyes piercing behind his usual sunglasses. For his large figure and slow movements, the Sniper was surprisingly stealthy when he wanted to be.

"How the fuck- didn't your parents ever teach you to fuckin' knock?!" The Scout almost screeched as he instinctively hid the cage of Srgt. Yellow, as if he could hide the fact he was talking about personal subjects to a lizard.

The Sniper shook his head as he opened the door and let himself into the room. "Ya lonely bastard." He chuckled.

The Scout, now fuming, retorted angrily. "And what the fuck do ya want? You better have a good reason for being here at this time."

It was night by then, and most people had gone to sleep at that hour. Although the Sniper coming to his room was a surprise to say the least, it wasn't surprising that the notorious night owl was still up and about.

Scratching his head underneath his hat, the Sniper quietly closed the door behind him.

"...I saw something that concerned me today on the hunt."

Scout raised a brow. On the weekends, it wasn't uncommon for the Mercs to leave base and do their own stuff - hobbies, drinking, whatnot - to cool down after battles. Sniper often spent the weekends either on his hammock, or out hunting in the desert wilderness. What he would bring back at the end of the day was always a mystery. For him to say that something was concerning - the Scout assumed the wilderness was dying, or that the desert was freezing or something stupid like that.

"Yeah? And?" The Scout huffed impatiently.

Underneath his sunglasses, the Sniper looked at the Scout dead in the eyes.

"I saw our Medic. He was with the RED Scout."

For some reason, those words were enough to send a shock of electricity through the young man's body. Was it fear? Jealousy? He didn't quite know - but something hit him, and it hit him hard.

"...What's that supposed to mean." He grit his teeth as he said it, in a poor attempt to hide any intentions behind his words.

"I dunno mate," The Sniper said as he scratched his head - oblivious to the Scouts sudden change in tone. "I'm just worried that we got another Soldier and Demo situation on our hands."

Scout sighed. For some reason, that was the last thing he wanted to hear.

"Why are you telling me this anyway?" Scout questioned the Sniper, his voice barely above a mutter. "It's not like I'm supposed to care about this."

The Sniper shrugged. "You're my closest friend here. I supposed I should tell you before I told anyone else. I'm not really sure what to do about it either."

The Scout's eyes lit up. "...Don't tell anyone - yet." He added hastily. "I know the Doc - I could maybe talk him outta this before it bleeds into the battlefield." The Scout looked on at the Sniper. "Trust me."

The Sniper raised his eyebrows, then shrugged. "Sure mate." He replied nonchalantly. "I saw them at the church - if Medic does go again tomorrow, I reckon he'll be there."

As the Sniper turned to leave, the Scout gripped his hand tightly. There was… something that he didn't want to feel. Not knowing what to do - he shut his eyes, wishing the physical pain he felt in his palm would override any emotion that he felt.

Tomorrow was Sunday. It was about time he went to church.