A/N: Aaaand, here is the next chapter, folks! Two chapters in one day, will probably never happen again xD But Lanny-Sama kindly asked for the next chapter, so I decided to post it a couple of hours early. C: I also have not started the next chapter, so it may be a little while before it's ready, but hey, I'll try not to keep you guys waiting too long!

Also, I understand that sometimes it is a bit confusing to understand whether a RED or BLU team member is speaking, but I tried to keep it in such a way that before a RED team member it will either say "RED's -classname-" or "the -classname-" or "the RED -classname-" and BLU has it such that their class names are treated as their own personal name. I hope that clears things up a bit, if there was any confusion!

Also, I tried a bit of a P.O.V. switch down at the end - feedback on how that went/fit in would be greatly appreciated! Enjoy!

Dawn found Scout not in his room, but in the empty hospital wing, pushing the door open quietly so as not to disturb the RED team member asleep on one of the cots. As he walked in, though, he found the younger scout already awake.

"Mornin', asshole."

"G'mornin' to you too, prick." Scout realized that his counterpart was missing his headset, and it was nowhere to be seen. "What'd they do to your headset?" he asked, curious.

"Took it, the fuckin' idiots."

"'course they did. D'ya' think we'd be so stupid to let ya' talk to your team?" Scout asked, and at the expression he saw on the younger RED, the kid had thought they would. "Idiot."

"'ey didn' wreck it, did they?" he asked, suddenly worried.

"Doubt it. Heavy may've eaten it though," he added, smirking at the widened eyes he got for that comment. "Or given it ta' Soldier to listen to. Y'know, find out what you guys're plannin'. Pro'lly heard a ton more besides, though." Scout laughed then, shaking his head.

"My team wouldn'a said nuthin'!" the younger growled, glaring at him. His hands balled into fists, and he yelped as he tried to move his broken hand.

"D'ya forget you're injured, kid? Anyway, I'll get your headset back, don't worry. And I'll get ya' back to your team too. But if you so much as tell a soul, if you so much as smirk like you know you're gettin' away, I'll leave ya' here to rot. Or be tortured. Or both." Scout was serious, and his counterpart seemed to understand that.

"Fine, fine, man! I won't tell anyone. Jeez," he grumbled.

"Good. You're gonna slip out before Doc' and Heavy get here, 'kay? Hide somewhere till the battle starts. Then sneak out to where we fought yesterday. I'll have your headset when I get there. And if you get seen and killed, 's'not my fault." He shrugged, turning and leaving, heading back to his room to grab his gear. He had gone straight to the hospital wing after waking up, leaving behind everything except his clothes and shoes.

Scout had managed to find his counterpart's headset in the office by the hospital room, ducking out as quickly as he had slipped in to locate it. There was no one in the hallway – it was just after breakfast, after all – and he jogged down and away, until he was safely by the rooms, the other headset tucked into his pack. He ran up to the front door, awaiting Soldier's command, when the large metal doors blasted open. RED had attacked first today, it seemed. Scout jumped back from the flying shards of door and ran out through the smoke, slipping to the side of the field, hiding in the shadows. The smoke obscured the doorway still, though Scout could see Soldier and Demo tearing out, rushing to face the REDs.

Scout followed the edge of the battlefield until he reached the area where he had fought yesterday, and he spotted the edge of a rolled-up red sleeve behind a pillar. He pulled the other headset from his back and tossed it at the figure, watching his counterpart whirl to catch it. He slipped it on and nodded to Scout. The BLU runner turned to check the area, careful to make sure there were no enemies. The chatter in his ear and the sounds of gunfire drowned out anything the other scout could have said, though when he turned, he saw the younger's lips moving, talking quickly. The BLU team member shut off his mic for the moment.

"What're you sayin'?" Scout asked him, suspicious.

"Huh? Nuthin'! Just tellin' 'em 'at you guys didn't hurt me, and 'at I'm comin' back," the other replied quickly. Scout's eyes narrowed and he frowned, but he shrugged it off a moment later.

"C'mon kid, tha' coast is clear." He walked out, Scattergun in hand, sweeping the field for any enemies nearby. All of the REDs were occupied with Soldier and Demo. Scout flicked his mic back on, careful not to be seen, and edged across the battlefield, astounded he was risking his neck for this annoying brat. Perhaps he was reminded too much of himself four years ago. Trusting, needy, whiny. Arrogant. Annoying. Stupid. Ignorant. Wait - this kid reminded him nothing of himself, what was he thinking? "Soldier! Jump left!" he shouted suddenly, watching RED's Soldier aim and fire his rocket launcher at his enemy counterpart.

The BLU general did not hesitate or question the order, diving to the left as the missile exploded where he had been. A moment of hesitation, and he would have been torn to pieces. "Thanks, soldier!" he shouted over the headset, and Scout smiled crookedly, continuing his advance across the field. He glanced up, searching for their Sniper, or their Spy, and his roving gaze finally found the red shirt and gray vest of the former. Worse still, the hated bow was knocked with an arrow and aimed – straight at Scout.

"Shit!" he cursed, trying to jump out of the way. He managed to leap up just as the arrow was loosed, crying out in pain as the arrow embedded itself into his left thigh. He had avoided a headshot, just barely, he realized as he fell back to the ground, crumpling when his weight fell on his injured leg. He glanced up and saw the Sniper grinning, as if he had been aiming to hit the same place he had gotten before. "Fucker shot my leg!" he growled, curling over it, his hands gripping his leg around the shaft of the arrow. The sound of movement caused him to look up despite the flare of pain, and he saw RED's Scout crouching in front of him, blocking him from any more RED hits, and also hiding behind him to protect him from any BLU shots.

"Scout? 'Re you alright?" BLU's Sniper asked him, firing a shot a moment later, the distinctive sound of his rifle echoing through the channel.

"Rrgh…fuckin' idiot," Scout snapped, cradling his injured leg.

"Git out o' the field if you can, I'll cover you," the Australian told him, and the BLU runner did his best to push himself to his feet, groaning as he fell forward slightly, quickly putting his weight on his uninjured leg. He dragged the wounded one behind him, doing his best to keep off of it. He stumbled once, and was caught by RED's Scout.

"A favor for a favor, asshole," the kid grumbled, holding him up. "I owe ya' nothing."

"Hngh…fine, brat," Scout replied, though he smirked slightly, using the assistance to get out of the main field. "I hate your sniper."

"Serves ya' right. You're a terrible scout if you get caught by him twice."

"Shut up. You went down after a single hit, if 'ah 'member right," Scout retorted, quickly. His counterpart was silenced. The BLU runner stared down at the ground, careful not to trip or hit any rocks with his wounded leg. Because of this, he didn't notice that he was being pulled toward the RED base. When he finally glanced up, he stopped, pulling back with a wince of pain. "What the hell are you tryin' to pull? Let go 'a me!" he growled, trying to break away.

"You try an' get away, and Sniper'll shoot ya' down before you can crawl three feet. An' there's no way in hell I'm going back to your dump of a base."

"You fuckin' live on a fuckin' farm! At least we have air conditioning!" he snapped, still trying to pull away. He managed to break the other's grip on him…and his leg buckled underneath him, sending him to the dirt.

"Scout? Scout! Report!" Soldier yelled – perhaps he had seen the runner fall.

"You're making this harder'an it needs to be," RED's Scout told him matter-of-factly. He pulled his counterpart's bat from his pack and hit him solidly over the head.

"Ngh…" he groaned, the sudden pain sending stars dancing across his sight.

"Scout! Answer me!" Soldier snapped. The RED Scout hit him again before he could respond, knocking him out.

When he next awoke, his wrists were bound behind him, twisting his shoulders painfully. His ankles were also tied together, and the arrow was still embedded in his thigh. He blinked, dazed, and looked around. The walls were painted red, and there was hay scattered around on the floor. So he was stuck in RED's base...again. Further along the wall he saw his headset, half-hidden underneath some straw.

"Fuck," he cursed, knowing that he would have to smash his headset if he wanted to keep his team and their information safe. He would not make the same mistake that RED's Scout had made. He rolled onto his stomach, and pushed off the ground with his good leg, trying to inch along the floor toward the headset. The movement dragged his injured leg against the ground, and he bit his lip to stifle a groan. He paused for a moment, bracing himself for the next movement, stretching his neck and pulling himself a couple of inches further with his chin. His teeth tore into his lip the next time the pain shot up his leg, and the groan slipped out as a soft whimper.

Scout continued moving forward, alternating between using his leg and his chin, pausing every few inches. His breath shuddered out in an exhale, and he squirmed the last few inches – almost there! Just…one more pull. He finally reached his headset, grabbing the headband with his teeth. He turned his head, lifting it from the ground, when he heard footsteps creaking on the floorboards. Scout twisted his head, slamming the earpiece against the floor. He turned again, facing the wall, and thought he heard his name before smashing it once more against the ground. He turned to smash it a third time when a hand fisted in his short hair, pulling his head up roughly, causing him to drop the headset with a yelp.

"And just what do you think you're doing, maggot!" Scout would know that shout anywhere. He groaned, trying to pull his head away, earning him another tug. The soldier bent down, picking up the mangled headset, glaring at Scout from underneath his helmet. He dropped the BLU team member's head once he had the headset and put it on his head, listening. "Broken, huh," he grumbled, fiddling with the dials for a moment. "Static. God damn it, Scout, you said he'd be out cold for another hour at least!" The soldier shouted, tossing the headset to the side.

"'ey! I was out for longer when he hit me! And I hit 'im twice!" the RED Scout replied helplessly, looking at the discarded headset. "I'm no medic, man!"

"Useless. Now we don't get their channel!" and yet the RED Soldier did not sound as angry as BLU's would have.

"Whatever. At least I got my headset back. They can't hear us now." Scout managed to turn his head and look up in time to catch his counterpart pouting slightly. That would have earned him a rough slap with the butt of a gun back in their base. No wonder this kid was so soft, he was practically babied here!

"And 'e got us a prisoner." The scout and soldier turned to see who had arrived in the doorway. RED's Scout's face lit up upon seeing their Sniper, and he greeted him happily. The Australian grinned back, though his left arm was in a sling.

"Snipes! What happened to ya'?" the scout asked, staring at the bandages.

"Revenge shot. BLU's Sniper," he replied curtly, glaring down at Scout. The BLU team member glared right back.

"Good on him," Scout retorted, his lip curling. The RED Soldier spat on the ground to the side of his face a moment later and kicked him in the ribs for that. Scout jerked with a soft groan, his eyes sliding shut for an instant.

"Hey, Soldier, he knows what happened to Doc' last night," RED's Scout announced, looking down at his counterpart with an unreadable expression.

"…You say he was there?" the soldier kicked Scout again, rolling him onto his back. "Start talking, maggot!" The general placed a foot on the end of the arrow stuck in the BLU team member's leg, shifting it from side to side. Scout cried out, unable to bite down on his lip in time.

"Why should I tell you numbnuts anythin'?" he managed to say after a few moments, catching his breath.

"Keep in mind that we can kill yew whenever we want, and you won't Respawn back home," the Sniper informed him with a smirk.

"And you won't kill me, 'cause I'm all the intel you've got against BLU." Scout laughed in their faces then, and the soldier pushed down on the arrow, driving it further into his leg. The laugh cut into a cough, followed by a groan. "You kill me, and you've got nuthin'. No leverage, no info. No secrets."

"You'll wish we killed you when we're done with you, maggot!" the soldier barked, staring coldly down at him from underneath his helmet.

"I'll bet ya' that I won't," he retorted, smirking at his enemy. The soldier stepped harder on the arrow, forcing it to exit through the other side of Scout's leg. The BLU runner just barely managed to keep from yelling in pain, whimpering instead. The general leaned down and grabbed Scout's dog tags, pulling his head up with them.

"What happened last night!" Each word was shouted into the runner's face.

"Don't touch my tags!" he yelled in return.

"What. Happened. Last. Night!" The soldier was so enraged that Scout saw spittle flying from his lips.

"Why does it matter so much to ya'? Your Medic died, that's what happened!" he growled back. The soldier pulled so fiercely on his dog tags that the chain snapped around his neck, letting Scout fall back to the floor. The RED tossed them aside, and the runner's counterpart caught them, reading them curiously.

"This isn't your name. These aren't your tags," RED's Scout glanced down at him, interrupting whatever their soldier was going to say.

"Don't. Fuckin'. Touch. My. Tags!" he snarled, and his counterpart nearly dropped them where he stood, instead tossing them by Scout's headset.

"Mine are my dad's," RED's Scout said, shrugging. Their Soldier looked at him incredulously.

Scout finally answered him, "They're my brother's, alright?" He looked almost defeated at that, but wiped the expression away quickly. The soldier kicked Scout to bring the conversation back on topic.

"What are you maggots planning!"

"Oh, I dunno', man. Maybe blow up the world? Demo'd like that. Oh, wait, isn't that your team's job?" he spat.

RED's Soldier reached down and grabbed the front of his shirt, pulling him half off the ground. "You attacked first! What are you planning!"

"Would you like me better if I told you we were going to kill you all?" he asked, knowing the answer already. The soldier reached out behind him, palm up, and ordered the scout to hand over his bat. The younger counterpart pulled out Scout's own bat from where he had kept it, and the soldier took it gladly. He swung the weapon one-handedly at the runner, hitting him square in the chest, slamming the spot where the stab wound had been, the soft sound of a crack reaching his ears. Scout gasped in pain, his chest heaving.

"'ah'm startin' ta' think BLU sent us this kid to throw us off their trail," their sniper muttered, leaning against the wall by the door. "Maybe 'e doesn't know anythin'."

"Or maybe he has been trained in the arts of concealing information! Maybe he knows everything! He is a prisoner, and he will talk!" the soldier yelled, though the anger was clearly aimed at Scout.

"Or maybe I'm a Spy," Scout added, grinning. "Or maybe I'm a Heavy. We can play this game all day. It's startin' to bore me how much you suck at questioning."

RED's Soldier whacked him again for that, the snapping sound audible to all. Scout groaned, his head lolling back.

The BLU team sat in the war room, tense, silent, unmoving. Each was hearing more than silence, though. They were all hooked into the BLU channel and had heard near everything. Soldier had had them in this meeting since both teams retreated. Sniper remembered watching RED's Scout drag his teammate away, unable to do anything about it but shoot at his own counterpart in revenge. Even then, he did not want to kill him in case they did the same to Scout.

Soldier was ranting for some time when they all heard a slow shuffling over their channel. It had been followed by a muffled groan, and later a whimper of pain. Even Soldier had shut up then. Finally, a few agonizing minutes of silence later, they heard a crunch.

"Scout!" Engineer had shouted, but was cut off by another crunch. The crackling gave way to a yelp, and then the enemy soldier's voice had become audible. It sounded as if he had picked up the headset, for his muttering of 'it's broken' had been louder. And then the quality of the audio they were receiving had suddenly improved, before they heard another thud. From that point, they heard every word, every sound of pain, every curse.

Sniper frowned, his chin resting in his hands, when he heard Scout shout about his dog tags. He suspected that the BLU team hadn't known that they held any importance to the kid, though it wasn't unreasonable to assume so.

Even Soldier ended up admiring the kid for not breaking and telling them everything he knew. Though, of course, he did actually tell them the truth at one point – the general had planned to exterminate the enemy team from the beginning. Scout simply ended up giving that information in a way that they would not believe him.

Spy sat calmly, his expression blank, empty, closed-off. He felt sympathetic for the kid, sure, but it was his own fault he had gotten caught, was it not? The stupid brat had gotten shot again just two days after his first injury, and he was surprised? Certainly, it would cause a bit of a problem if he spilled any information, but Spy doubted that he even knew enough to endanger – or even inconvenience – the team. So he sat back and listened, curious, intrigued, and darkly pleased.

And when they all heard the snap, Demo flinched. He hadn't touched his bottle in the last few minutes, and seemed loathe to do so now, to make any sound. Grateful as he would be later for the multitudes of alcohol he had stored up, and as much as he wanted to miss whatever happened next to the poor laddie, he knew he had to hear it. Had to know what was happening.

Engineer looked up when there was nothing but silence, and he met Soldier's gaze slowly, quirking an eyebrow questioningly. They all listened, then, as the voices started up again.

"Look'it what yew did, Soldier! 'e's out cold." The Australian accent was heavy over the channel, and BLU's Sniper's frown grew at the words.

"The maggot'll probably wake up soon anyway!"

"Well, I'm hungry, so I'll see you all around later," RED's Scout interrupted the two, and the sound of a door opening could be heard.

"Sniper, you are going to stand guard here! I will come relieve you later!"

"Alroight, alroight," the sniper grumbled, and the door opened and shut twice more.

Engineer finally spoke up, breaking the long, terse silence. "'e didn' say anythin'."

"Because he is a soldier!" Soldier replied quickly.

Spy looked up at the men, folding his hands on the table and raising his voice slightly. "The real question, gentlemen, is, how and when are we going to get him back?"