Alright, so maybe I lied. I had waaay too much fun writing the first chapter of this story, so I decided to put my other two on hold until I have this second chapter out. Actually...I have a feeling the other two stories will be updated in very close succession of this one. Meh, whatever. Enjoy, guys.

2

Lily's green eyes went wide. The RED Team had cornered her, blocking any exit she could possibly have. The only one without their weapon pointed in her face was the Scout, who was still in complete disbelief that a girl had stumbled out of his locker. So this is how it would end. The young woman couldn't decide which way would be the least painful to die by: an arrow from the Sniper, or a knife jammed into her gut, or even her body blistering in an inferno at the hands of the Pyro. She backed up against the locker, whimpering when her back met the cold metal surface. If there was any reassurance within her to say that this was a dream, it had just been extinguished. Her eyes squeezed shut in fear. Oh god, maybe I should've listened to Bianca...

Yet, to Lily's surprise, no blow, bullet, or blade came her way. The first thing she heard was the Spy scoff. "Tell me, Scout," he said in his smooth tone, "how truly desperate are you to not be a virgin anymore?" He slowly got down on one knee, using his blade to gingerly nudge Lily's chin up. She opened her eyes, and found no relief in the Spy's cold, blue orbs. "She is certainly a pretty one, I'll give you zat."

The Scout spent a good several seconds stammering, trying his hardest to create a comeback without having to resort to his usual method of a loud outburst. However, that was just in his nature, and it never failed him. "You honestly think I would stick some random broad in my lockah, ya dumbass?!" he countered, before taking a look back at the girl. "Eh, she doesn't look like anythin' special."

A rather annoyed-sounding scoff passed Lily's lips. Standing up rather abruptly, she reached out, grabbing the Scout's shirt by the collar and pulling him in closer to her face. Her glare was the equivalent of what most men referred to as "pure evil." "Listen, you punk, you'd be lucky if you ever got anything remotely close to me," she hissed at him. She mentally debated on whether or not to spit in his face.

Yet, she was stopped. Stepping up, the Soldier slid his shotgun between the two, giving Lily's side a rather hard nudge to the stomach. "Alright, that's enough outta you, little lady," he said. While one hand adjusted the helmet on his head, the other pulled the weapon back up, pointing right at Lily's heart. "Now listen: if you're a Spy, I suggest you surrender right now, before this locker room becomes decorated with your own insides."

Lily quirked a brow. "...You think I'm a Spy?" Letting out a nervous sigh, and ready to explain herself, she looked up at the Soldier to meet his eyes, but of course to be intercepted by the dulled face of his helmet. "Listen, I don't know how I got here either. I was back at my dorm, using my computer when I ended up blacking out and finding myself in the Scout's goddamn locker! Go ahead. Search-"

But Lily was unable to finish. Grabbing one of her bony shoulders, the Soldier spun the girl around and forced her against the locker without a word. "What the- what are you doing?!"

"Quiet..." Palms pressed to the metal, Lily let out a groan of embarrassment as the RED 'militant' patted her down. Soon, he came to her pockets, and Lily felt one of them empty. She gulped anxiously.

"What in the world is this thing?" the Soldier asked sternly. His large hand held her MP3 player carefully, as if he were afraid it was some sort of detonation device.

Lily turned around, spotting her Zune being held captive for inspection, and sighed. "That's my MP3 player."

"And what would that be?" Pressing a button, the Soldier watched as the screen lit up. The album art from Jethro Tull's Songs from the Wood album covered the screen, while on the bottom it read 'Cup of Wonder.' The Soldier growled, knowing instantly who the band was, and who was associated with them. "What is a hippie doing with this kind of techno-"

"Gimme that." The Engineer walked over and took the Zune, looking it over. Without taking off his goggles, he gazed at the small box-like contraption, making several 'hmm' sounds as he went along. He was also familiar with this band, having heard a song or two. Yet, this album was fairly new to him, and Jethro Tull had only just been introduced to the public eye. "Anyone know if that there Tull band came out with two albums this year?"

Lily sighed. "Songs from the Wood doesn't come out until 1977," she said. "You still have close to a decade before you hear anything from that album."

The Engineer's brow furrowed. Stepping closer to Lily, who had turned around, he held the MP3 player up. "Mind tellin' us where you got this thing, and what it is?"

To this, the young girl let out a soft laugh, shaking her head. "Like I said - it's an MP3 player. I use it to play music." She saw the stout man's large hand extend to her, inviting her to retake her possession, which she did gratefully. Pulling on the wire at the end of her headset, she stuck the jack into a hole at the bottom of the Zune. Pressing a button, the team soon heard the muffled sounds of a flute being played, causing them all to let out various noises of intrigue. "And trust me, Engineer. If I told any of you where I got this from, and where I happen to come from, I'd be locked up in the wacky-shack."

"Well, you might as well try us," he said, his concealed eyes darting toward her headset. It was so much different from the one the Scout owned...

Lily laughed again, then sighed. "Alright, might as well. I'm not from this time, or even from this world. In my world...you all are fictional characters from a...computer game." She flinched, fully prepared for the outbursts of laughter she was about to get.

"No doubt she's a hippie," the Soldier piped up after a minute of silence. "She has to be on some kind of substance."

The girl groaned in aggravation. "Alright, listen." At this point, if she was going to go down, she wasn't going without a fight. "One, just because there's some Tull on that device doesn't mean I'm a hippie. Two, I don't do drugs; programs at school kept me from that. And three...goddammit, I am telling you the truth! I know I sound crazy, and I don't expect you to believe me right off the bat, but I am not lying."

The Engineer took hold of the Zune once again, looking at the thin side of it where the headset was attached. Noticing the empty slot brought him to ask his next question. "...Where do you plug this thing? Is this where you put...whatever chip or disk has your music?"

"No, you plug the device into a computer using another wire," Lily explained. "You get your music off a computer, song by song, and place it on the MP3 player. It then organizes the songs by title, artist, genre, and album alphabetically. That MP3 player can hold up to 10,000 songs, but I know some that can hold-"

"Whoa, whoa." The Engineer chuckled, putting his hands up to silence her. Deep down, something to him seemed...off, but he'd keep his uncertainty to himself for now. "You mean to tell me that you use a computer to put all of 10,000 songs onto this lil' contraption here? Honey, I have eleven PhD's. I know for certain that no computer on the market, includin' the ones in other countries, can do that. What model do you own?"

"Lenovo T500 ThinkPad. My model was built in 2009."

Several gasps.

"Mrrph, mrh mrph-mrrmph mrph-mrh-mrrph!" the Pyro exclaimed, scratching its head in confusion.

Lily raised her brow, somewhat confused. "Uhh...what?"

"He said it's 1968," the Medic answered rather courteously, pushing back a stand of his black hair.

"Oh, right. Thanks. See what I mean? Devices like my MP3 player won't be released until the 1990s, and those will end up being very expensive and very low-quality compared to this. Come on, at least believe me on the whole time difference thing!"

With a sigh, the Engineer found himself staring back down at the device in his gloved hand, rolling it over again and again between his large fingers. At this point, he didn't know who or what to believe. The proof was right in front of him that this girl wasn't from his time, and he had a damn good feeling that if he took both the headset and Zune apart, he'd find even more things that wouldn't even be in consideration for construction in 1968. He reached under his helmet to rub his temple, and let out a sigh. After today, he was going to need to lie down and sleep late into the next day.

"...I believe her."

The others struggled to protest, or at least get one word in edgewise. They knew deep down that the Engineer was right. Yet, at the same time, they all refused to believe it.

"Engie, are ya kiddin' me?!" the Demoman exclaimed. His hand tightened around his bottle of scotch. "Are ye supposed to 'ave us believe that this li'l lassie magically poofed into our base?! How d'ya know she ain't workin' for the BLUs?"

"One, my sentries would have taken her out if she was, both at the front and back of our base. Two, all these lockers here are secured when they're closed. Three...I'm holdin' the proof in my hand."

Lily smiled softly. Finally, she had someone on her side. "Thanks, Engie," she said softly. "I...hope this isn't too much for you to take in."

"Honey, you have no idea," the Engineer countered, laughing weakly as if he were on the verge of passing out. "Now, as for that thing about us being characters in a game...save that for tomorrow."

"Yeah, mate. You look like you need a bit of a sleep."

Lily froze, turning her head in the direction of the voice. Her eyes landed on the Sniper, who had his hand resting in a friendly gesture on the Engineer's shoulder. Only one image popped into Lily's head: a cartoon version of herself, eyes bulging out of their sockets as she let out an excited wolf howl. Being in an alternate dimension, Lily wondered if actually doing that could be possible. What she didn't know is that she was staring, and her face had just turned cherry red.

"'Ey, girly." The Scout, sporting a crude grin, reached his Sandman over, prodding Lily's arm with it and instantly receiving her full attention. "What's with the doe eyes? Got a crush on Snipes heyah?"

Once again, Lily gave the young man a glare. "Piss off, little-league." She looked back over at the Sniper, who had one brow raised in both confusion and intrigue. "Sorry about that..." Her gaze traveled to the floor. "I'm still a bit in disbelief about the...whole...time and space thing."

After a moment's silence, the Sniper chuckled, shaking his head. "It's alright, little sheila," he said warmly. Though Lily was rather intimidating to him, he knew to be polite to a young woman.

Hearing this only made Lily blush more. Lily, you are standing face-to-face with one of your favorite fictional characters, and he just smiled at you and called you 'little sheila.' How are you not fainting by now? Shaking her inner voice away, Lily giggled a bit, before hearing the Soldier clear his throat and abruptly stopping.

"So...this young girl on our side?" the Heavy asked, looking over at his comrades.

"Well, I was playing as RE-" Lily stopped, and cleared her throat. "Sorry. Well, if I appeared here in your base, and not the BLU Team's, I guess I kinda am. Or, I pass as someone on your team...right?"

The Soldier let out another sound, this one sounding more like a 'hmph,' followed by, "For the time being. There's still a good deal we need to figure out about you, little lady."

Lily's eyes narrowed a bit. "Lily," she said rather sternly. "Sorry for the tone, Soldier, but my name is Lily. And no, that isn't another possible indicator that I could be a hippie." The girl grinned when she spotted the man's mouth open mid-sentence, unaware that she would be able to beat him to the punch. He quickly snapped his jaws shut once again, before clearing his throat.

"Anyway, we need to find some place to put you before we can find out more tomorrow," he said. "We just got back from work, and technically, we're exhausted." Looking around the room, the Soldier grinned as he landed on the Scout. "You can handle a job like this, right, son?"

The Scout gawked at him, completely flabbergasted. "A-are you freakin' kiddin' me?" he quipped. "You really think I'm gonna share my room with...a chick? And one who will probably wring my neck before the night's out?"

"If zhe dummkopf can't handle ein syringe in his neck, zhen I doubt he can handle zhis young fräulein," the Medic finally said, grinning wickedly toward the brat who constantly was on his last nerve.

"Watch it, Nazi-boy..." the Scout growled, before throwing his hands up in defeat. "Alright, alright! She can stay with me. I probably won't be gettin' to sleep anyway..."

Lily rolled her eyes. "Please, you're not worth it. I'm not too wild about staying...wherever you're staying. I just want to go home."

"Well, it's gonna take a while to get ya back to wherever ya came from," the Engineer pointed out. "But, either way, once we get the details down straight, I'm willin' to help ya out."

"Thanks, Engie- er, I mean Engineer." Lily scratched the back of her head, blushing once more in embarrassment.

"Don't sweat it, honey." Dear god, man, what are you gettin' yourself into, the Engineer thought, already going through enough mental strain. You're probably not gonna get this girl back to wherever she came from. Why make a promise like that? "Scout, just take Lily to your room in the barracks. She'll sleep on whatever bunk you're not usin'."

"Aw!" The Scout scowled, which almost appeared to be a stubborn pout. "That means I gotta actually clean my room. Son-of-a-bitch!" Looking over at Lily, who by now was trying her hardest not to crack a bigger smile, he motioned with his hand. "C'mon, I guess..." By now, the Scout sounded nothing short of disappointed, which deep inside, Lily was savoring to the fullest extent. As the two pushed by the rest, Lily dodged the stares, keeping her eyes locked on the ground. When they were finally out of the locker room, the Soldier looked over at the Engineer.

"You think we can trust her?" he asked.

"Well, I have this," the Engineer replied, holding up the MP3 player that Lily had never taken back. "I'll have to take a closer look at it, just to double-check and make sure her story is solid. By tomorrow, we'll know what's up."

Lily cringed as the Scout unlocked his barrack room and kicked open the door. He had started to cool down on the walk back, but he was still a rather reckless young man. "Alright, this is where I live for the time bein'," he said with a discontented sigh, throwing his bag off his back and tossing it in a nearby corner, causing a wooden-sounding 'clunk' to ring through both young adults' ears. The room itself was rather orderly, though things covered the floors, including several pin-up and adult magazines. There was a bunk bed, a table, and a cushioned, wooden chair. Almost reminded Lily of the freshman dorms back at her college.

"You get the top bunk," the Scout continued, taking off his hat and throwing it on the table. "I'll clean my stuff up latah'. Right now, I gotta go showah', so you can lounge on the bottom bunk or at the desk. Just...don't touch any of my shit, alright?"

The track rat rolled her eyes, before sitting down on the edge of the bottom bunk with a sigh. "Fine, fine..." She looked beneath her feet, spotting an old-fashioned copy of Playboy lying near her right foot. Moving away with a sound of disgust, she looked back up at the Scout. "Yeah, I am definitely not touching any of your stuff. God only knows what doesn't have remnants of your damn seed on it."

The Scout glared nastily at her, before grabbing a towel hanging on a hook on the back of his door, and leaving, a quick mutter of the word 'bitch' being his only response. The second the door closed Lily pressed her face into her open palms, letting out a sigh. One of feet bounced lightly yet nervously on the hard floor below her, making her leg move rather rapidly. Every nerve in Lily's body told her to let out some emotional response - to cry, to throw a fit, to go into absolute hysterics - but nothing came to her. Reaching into the pocket that hadn't been searched, Lily pulled out her cellphone, which was surprisingly still functioning. Hmm, that's a shocker, she thought as she began to flip through each one of the photos she had used her phone to take. It was like having a walk down memory lane after years of just forgetting everything. She saw her family, her friends, even a picture of her beloved cat that would wait for her to return home during breaks from classes. She laughed weakly to herself, unable to tell whether she was living in a fantasy or a nightmare. Hopefully, after she let the Engineer get another good look at her MP3 player - she didn't care if it was taken apart in the process anymore - things would be a bit better, and the whole team would know her story was one-hundred-percent authentic. All she was able to do now was hope...

...but even she knew that that wouldn't be nearly enough to get her back home in one piece.