Remember, I have a poll on my profile so you guys can vote for whoever Tracy gets with in the sequel!
I will have to re-write "Unconventional Corporeal" a little bit, but otherwise it will be mostly unchanged as this fic will go into the sequel as the original did.
I'm also not going to have the time skip of years like the original did, since it was a rubbish ending and I want to fix that.
She must have fallen asleep before night had fallen. It was earlier morning, judging by the sun. What had been rain before had turned into snow, transforming the land into a snow barren wasteland. Ahead was a set of mountains ahead of them as they drove through the rock terrain.
"Good morning, sunshine." The RED Engineer greeted Tracy with a smile, noticing that she was finally awake. "Hope ya slept well."
"Oh shit, I'm sorry. You probably drove the whole way, didn't you?" She felt a little guilty, remembering what had happened the day before. The confession, the crying, his comforting her. Her face went red in embarrassment, not sure how to hold herself.
"Don't worry about it." The Texan waved her worries away with his free hand, the other on the steering wheel. "Didn't wanna wake ya. Figured you were tuckered out from crying so much."
If her face could have gotten redder, it would have.
There was a comfortable pause while Tracy studied the area. They were just breaching a hill when she saw buildings in the distance. The sun was peeking out from behind a mountain, just barely visible with clouds blocking its rays.
"Where are we going, anyways? No one could spare the time to tell me." Tracy asked. With all the commotion, she had been too distracted to ask.
"The place's called Coldfront. Since we ended on a tie, the Administrator thought it best to move us from capturing intelligence to capturing territory. Sort of a punishment, considering this place gets down to freezing temperatures often." He gave a slight shiver, and Tracy just then noticed it was getting a little nippy in the truck. Engineer turned a knob on his dash, the heat kicking on higher. "Been here before. Make sure to dress warmly before the matches or you might just get frostbite or worse."
She nodded, and then something occurred to her. "Wait, what's our teams gonna think when you drive up there with me?"
"They won't. If you don't mind, and I hate doin' this, but I was going to drop you off about a mile before your base. I'll make sure you're on the right path, and I'll wait back for about fifteen minutes before I drive up myself." He frowned a this, obviously not enjoying the idea.
"It's alright, I understand." She gave him a comforting smile, patting his shoulder. "You've done enough for me so far, only fair that you don't get caught for uh... aiding an enemy."
"Thank you." The RED smiled at her, and for a couple minutes they just drove in silence. Tracy was gathering some clothes for the trip from her suitcase. She didn't have a scarf, but she did have a winter jacket from her closet back at 2fort, and a pair of rubber boots. She layered on the socks and zipped up her old purple hoodie before slipping the jacket and boots on. Just as she was done, the Engineer pulled over.
"Awright, this should be close enough." Indeed it was. She could see her base from how close they were.
"Yup. Thank you." She opened the door, hopping out with her suitcase in hand. Just before she slammed the door shut, she looked back at him and smile, "For everything."
He nodded, giving her a little wave as she shut the door and began a light jog towards her base. The snow was thick and fluffy, and she slipped a couple times on the rocks and ice underfoot. It was cold as hell, like everything had frozen over. Using her free arm, she hugged herself close to try and retain some heat. Thank god the base was close, or she would have frozen out here.
Tracy entered a door, relieved it was unlocked and entered a pentagon like set of halls, walking briskly. It wasn't as cold in there, which she was greatly thankful for. She kept wandering through the halls, not exactly sure where the rest of her team was. Was she that late that there was already a match going on? No, it couldn't be. The rest of her team may have arrived earlier than she did, but probably only the night before.
Her stomach growled loudly, complaining about the lack of food. She hadn't ate the day before, and now it was coming back to bite her in the ass. Sighing, Tracy wandered for a little while, checking through doors and hallways for any signs of life. It felt like hours before she finally came across a door she hadn't opened yet. It was locked from the inside, so she banged on it, hoping to get an answer.
When she heard noise from behind it, she stopped and took a step back. The BLU Spy greeted her, looking her up and down before nodding. "Ah, it's a pleasure that you finally joined us. A little late, are you not?"
He was still in a suit, but different from his previous one. This one had a thick padded jacket that somehow didn't take away from his slim and tall form, with black fur trim that had to be real. Fur boots and similarly thick pants, he looked far warmer than she felt.
"Yeah, I uh.." She quickly came up with a lie, "I had to catch the next train, since no one woke me up."
"Well, at least you arrived before the next match." He didn't show any signs of seeing through her lie, so she let out a sigh of relief before following the Frenchman inside. It wasn't extremely warm inside, but it was toasty in comparison. They made their way down the stairs, entering a similar common room like the one from 2fort. The kitchen was just large enough to allow each mercenary a seat in the kitchen and for one to be preparing the meals. The living area had a small television set and a fireplace in the corner. The rooms seemed to be made small in order to contain the heat. Even the hallways were cramped, just large enough for two mercs (one, if you're the Heavy) to squeeze past each other.
Most of the mercs were piled around in the living area, shuffled close to the fire. Most actually looked to be in good spirits, passing around drinks and eating a warm meal probably prepared by the Pyro. Some looked up at her, yelling their greetings and shoving a cup of cocoa in her hands. From one sniff, she could tell there was some sort of booze in it. She took a gulp anyways, feeling the warmth flow through her limbs once more.
"Finally got here huh?" The Scout was throwing his ball up, sometimes throwing it against a wall to catch it once more, "I was wonderin' if you were coming at all."
"Hah, yeah." It just came to mind to her that she could have just ran away when she had the chance. But immediately she realized that someone would have just brought her back or been sent to execute her. A shiver went up her spine.
"Chilly?" He threw a blanket at her, noticing her sudden chill. She nodded anyways, stripping off her winter jacket and pulling the blanket around her back.
"So when's the next match?" Tracy took a sip of her cocoa.
"In the next day or two." The Bostonian shrugged his shoulders. He looked to also be in winterized gear. Gone were the knee-high pants and t-shirt, swapped for thick sweatpants and a blue sweater. He wore fingerless gloves and a woolen cap instead of his black baseball number, but still had that yellow headset. "I hate running around here. I always fuckin' slip on somethin'. I ordered some cleats so hopefully it gets here soon."
Tracy nodded, turning to look over the rest of her team. The Heavy, Medic, and surprisingly the Demoman and Soldier were all sitting together. Heavy was red in the face, either from cold or drink. Even the doctor, who usually abstained from alcohol from what she assumed, was a little pink and was laughing at something the Demoman had said. Beside their group was the Engineer and Pyro. They didn't really look to be talking, rather just enjoying each other's company. Pyro was staring particularly hard at the flames in the fireplace.
From around the corner came the Sniper, looking irritated with his face bright red from the cold. He hadn't changed his attire much aside from a thick winter coat and gloves. He took the gloves off with his teeth, flopping into a plush leather chair with a grumble.
"Yo, what's up?" Scout turned to the Australian.
"Can't stay in my damn van. Heater ain't runnin' right." Sniper grumbled, crossing his arms. "Guess I'll have to stay in the damn bunks we got."
"Or, you know-" Tracy began, but was interrupted.
"Yeah, yeah. Could ask the truckie." An almost physically pained expression crossed his face. Tracy got the impression he didn't want to ask for help, or his pride might be bruised. She rolled her eyes at him, taking another drink of cocoa.
They stayed like that for awhile, just basking in the heat of the fireplace. Tracy reclined on the couch, making enough room for the Scout to sit down as well. It had to be near noon when the Soldier stood up from his seat on the floor. He might have been drinking, but Tracy couldn't tell since he was always a little crazy.
"Alright ladies, time to assign bunks." He announced. Most groaned at this, too tired from the move or drunk to want to get up and start unpacking. Tracy got up first and grabbed her trunk, along with the Engineer and Pyro as the Soldier let the way down a flight of stairs. It wasn't as warm down here, but she could hear the hum of heaters kicking on.
There were five rooms in all, and Tracy was suddenly concerned that she'd have to bunk with someone. She had counted herself lucky that Miss Pauling had assigned her a room without a roommate, but now she had another problem.
"Sniper and Engineer, this one's yours. Medic and Scout, this one. Heavy and Demoman get this one." Soldier directed them towards their rooms. A few grumbled about their roommates, but otherwise didn't argue. "Spy, you're with me in this room. And you two!"
The last remaining was herself and the Pyro, who didn't react to the shouting.
"You get this one. Start unpacking! Training will start in fifteen minutes, so move your asses!" The Soldier yelled at them all, not exactly meeting the Thief's eyes.
Tracy and Pyro went into their room. It was cramped, with a bunk-bed and two dresser drawers. A small table with two chairs and a closet. No bathroom in sight. Tracy took one of the dressers and began unloading her things, trying to hide them from the sight of the Pyro.
Pyro didn't have many clothes, from her observation. Some shirts and pants, although she had never seen the Pyro out of their suit. They seemed to have a couple sets of flame retardant suits and spare masks though, stuffing the suits into the closet alongside some boots.
Tracy dumped her suitcase next to the door just as the pyromaniac had, turning to them and then the bunk. The Pyro was taller than her by nearly a foot, and seemed hefty than her due to the suit. Tracy was about five foot and an inch, by far the shortest out of the mercs. She hadn't heard any remarks about it, but assumed someone would make a joke eventually.
"Uh... can I have the top bunk?" She asked.
Pyro nodded, flopping down at the bottom. Tracy breathed a sigh of relief, having been worried she'd have to argue. Pyro seemed like a cheerful person, probably the happiest out of all of them. She even heard them giggle from time to time on the battlefield. Almost childlike, but it didn't bother her as long as they weren't a brat like one.
Tracy tested out her bunk. The blankets were much thicker than the ones she had at 2fort, and the pillow much fluffier as well. She felt like falling asleep in all honesty, the cold from earlier and her cocoa having made her drowsy. But she knew that the Soldier was bound to bust down the door at any minute, so she forced herself up.
She felt grimy, having not taken a shower for a couple days at least. Drinks with Heavy and the drive to Coldfront hadn't left any time for her to think about it. But there was no way she was going to take a shower and just get all sweaty afterwards. Combing her hair away from her face, she decided to just take one after.
She met the Soldier outside, who seemed pleased by her early arrival. No one else had crawled out of their rooms yet, although Tracy couldn't really blame them. Five minutes passed until the Soldier eventually began banging on doors and yelling for them to all march out and line up. The last few to give in was the Spy and Sniper, who had to be dragged out by their collars.
"Alright men, start jogging. You're lucky we have a recreation center or you'd be doing laps in the snow!" The All-American laughed at his own joke before beginning to jog around the corner. Reluctantly, everyone followed the militant, even the Scout who seemed less than enthused by the thought of running.
The rec center was a large spacious area with wooden flooring and fluorescent lights overhead, with heaters lining the walls. There was a basketball area and a few pull up bars and weight lifting areas as well, and what Tracy assumed was the showers in door to the right.
As they trained, Tracy noticed the Soldier not really commenting on her skill, or lack thereof. She assumed it was due to the last bout of training they had, and he didn't want to push her too hard like the time before. Despite this, she pushed herself as hard as she could. To the Soldier's credit, she could do the pull up bar without as much problem as before, although she could only manage about twenty-five before she needed a break.
People like the Heavy, Soldier, and Demoman had no trouble with weight lifting. Medic wasn't too shabby either, but he wasn't built for lifting as much as he was built for running from merc to merc acting as babysitter. Scout was probably the worst, having little muscle aside from his legs. Soldier zeroed in on him, growling that he was pathetic as Scout barely managed a seventy-five pound barbell.
While Tracy felt bad for him, she didn't want to have the attention set on her as she managed an eighty pound barbell with ease. While she had never been good at lifting herself, she had been surprisingly good at carrying heavy loads even before her training. Lifting things were something required when being a thief. When she had to climb up, she mainly just stacked things up and climbed on top of them to get where she wanted, or had just jumped on someone's shoulders.
The thought of her old gang hurt a little, but not as much as it had. Talking with the RED Engineer had honestly helped a lot rid her of that old guilt.
"C'mon maggot, what's wrong with you? Huh, baby gonna cry?" The sound of the scratchy voice brought her out of her revere, turning to see the Scout with his face twisted in a grimace and his cheeks red with the effort. Tracy sighed, dropping the weight and sending a booming noise throughout the room. Everyone turned to look at her, but she ignored this and stepped over to the Scout, crouching down to his level.
"Lift with your legs, not your back. You'll fuck up your back if you do it that way. You can also brace the barbell with your shoulders, if you want, and once you're standing lift it above your head." She explained, putting a hand on his side as she helped him lift it. When it finally got onto his shoulders, he stood up only slightly crouched over and lifted it just above his head before throwing it to the ground and just barely missing the Soldier's feet.
"Thanks." Scout gave her a small smile, while the Solder in front of them seemed a little miffed. Tracy was suddenly concerned he'd turn on her, but only quietly told the Scout to continue the exercise as directed. Tracy returned to her own, lifting the weight back up and doing a few curls. She smiled a little, but was also somewhat concerned.
What was the Soldier going to do about that? She had this feeling the Soldier didn't regularly get interrupted, and wondered if there was going to be any consequences.
TBC! Please leave a review!
