Disclaimer: I don't own TF2 or the classes or Mann Co. I only own Robin and the OCs that appear, minus Match. He belongs to my friend, Doc.
Welcome, welcome, my darling chickadees! How is yous?! Good, I hope. I am happy to bring you the next installment of Little Bird. So soooo sorry for how long it took to update! What with school and a new job, I have had no time at all. Thank you for all of your lovely reviews and cheeps. :) One with the show, then!
The hallway stretched out before them, seemingly endless. Robin groaned, pouting at the distance they were from food. The Medic walked beside her, peeking into rooms and glancing around. He appeared more interested in the rooms than in Robin's apparent suffering. The young woman sighed and began bouncing from foot to foot as they walked, growing agitated.
"Calm down, Robin. You're getting yourself all vorked up." He spoke gently to the woman. She snorted and continued bouncing, the tips of her shoes barely touching the floor. They made their down the hall until they heard voices coming from one of the rooms. The words were mumbled, but Robin could make out two voices, one low and gravelly and the other much higher and softer. The Medic and his young companion passed three more doors, the voices getting louder, and turned into the one that was open.
It was well-lit, the room, and Robin noticed that it was definitely a kitchen. A fridge sat in the left corner, flanked by a stove, a sink, and a counter top on top of which a toaster sat. To Robin's right, there was a small television surrounded by a chair and two couches. Everything was blue. In the middle of the space, there was a long table, like one in a cafeteria. Two men sat at the table, across from one another. Both wore the colour navy, but their outfits were very different.
The first man, the one on the left, wore a pair of sunglasses, though they were indoors. A wide brimmed hat sat next to his elbow. Part of the brim was turned up and a long golden feather rested in the belt of it. The man wore a leather vest, as well, with a long sleeved blue shirt underneath. The sleeves were rolled up to his elbows and Robin could see the long scars that crossed over his muscled forearms. His face was as rugged as his clothes and he grunted as the two newcomers approached.
"Well, well. Look at what we 'ave here. New doc and his lil' nurse?" His accent was thick, but understandable. Robin almost instantly figured out who he was from the files she read.
The Sniper leaned back in his chair, chuckling lowly. The man across from him, matched the sound before bringing a black cigarette to his lips.
Robin noticed that this man wore a mask of some kind, which creeped her out. It was thin cloth with a hole cut out from the mouth piece and around the eyes. It almost looked like a ski mask. She couldn't make out much of his features other than his smooth-as-cream cheeks and his stunningly bright hazel eyes. He wore a very lovely pressed suit, dark blue and a pair of black gloves. His eyes slid to hers, something unreadable glinting in them. He exhaled a cloud of white and spoke as he did so.
"Yes, zis must be Dr. Heinrich Schafer and his petite avian, Robin." The doctor bowed his head briefly, laughing lightly at the man.
"Ja, you vould be right, Monsieur." The last word was spoken in the same accent as the one the sharply dressed man's. 'French.' Robin thought. The man dragged another hit on his cigarette, expression one of amusement. The Sniper yawned and kicked one foot up onto the table, much to the disgust of the Frenchman.
"Mon dieu, you animal. Get your filzy boot off of ze table." The masked man swatted at the offending appendage. The Kiwi laughed and removed it.
"So, kid." He spoke, addressing Robin. The young woman met his gaze, wary. "Wot you here for? You don't look like a doc."
"I'm here to start as a nurse. I've received...a small amount of training. So, I hope not to disappoint you, Mr. Darke." At the use of the name, the man laughed loudly. Robin almost flinched at the sudden sound.
"Well, ain't that nice! You know me, then?"
"I know you are the Sniper for the BLU team. I know you are from New Zealand. That's it, though."
"More than I know 'bout you, kiddo." He laughed again and motioned to the kitchen. "Go ahead and eat, you two. No point in comin' in here and not grubbing."
At that, Robin and the Medic wandered over to the fridge. The young woman opened it and peeked at what it held, trying to find something she wanted. There was a watermelon, bottles of water, cheeses, grapes, bread, peanut butter, and a few packages of sliced roast beef. Robin withdrew the bread, some cheese, and the meat and began making a sandwich. The German medic was pulling out a thing of crackers and was already munching on an apple.
The young brunette sat down a few seats from the Frenchman after she finished making her meal. She ate quickly, but tried to hide it so she wouldn't appear rude. The sandwich, while simple, was savory and Robin bit down on the moan of happiness almost as hard as she did the food. Medic smiled at her as he noticed her reaction. She smiled, sheepishly, and continued chewing. Soon enough, her sandwich was gone and she ducked into the fridge for something else to eat. Robin nabbed the grapes and popped one into her mouth as she turned. Almost instantly, she froze in place.
The masked man was standing directly behind her, his eyes steely as they met her own. Robin swallowed the grape and smiled shakily.
"H-hello." She stuttered, meeting his gaze. The man smiled, the expression a bit creepy, and reached around her to open the fridge door. Without bothering to ask the girl to move, he withdrew and bottle of water, not removing his eyes from hers.
"Bonjour, mon petite." His breath smelled of mint and cigarettes. With that, the man left the kitchen entirely, waving to the other two men though it was more of a wiggling of the fingers. Robin sat back down, feeling more than a bit on edge. The Sniper and the Medic were chatting amicably with one another, but the German spared her a sympathetic glance as she approached.
Robin ate her grapes quickly, careful not to choke on the little fruits. Once she plucked the last one off, she whimpered to herself, ate the grape and tossed the vine in the bin. By the time she finished, the Sniper seemed to be following the Spy's example of vacating the kitchen, rolling his shoulders and tipping his hat to the Medic.
"Nice chattin' with ya, Doc, but I gotta go. See you around the compound."
"Of course, Herr Sniper. See you." The German waved and watched as the man left. Robin breathed a sigh of relief, feeling content now that it was just her and the Medic in the room. Not introverted in any way, Robin was a stranger to wanting to be alone. It was foreign but she did not fight it. The Frenchman really put her off and made her cringe.
"Are you alright, Robin?" The Medic asked her from where he was now standing. The woman looked up and met his gray eyes with a large grin.
"I'm fine! Peachy keen and all that." She took to her feet and moved to his side. "I don't want to be a downer, but would it be alright if I went back to my room? I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed and need to take a breather."
"Absolutely." The man said softly, touching her elbow briefly. Secretly thanking him for not prying, Robin turned and almost fled the kitchen, her steps quicker than they needed to be.
The long boring hallway greeted her once more and she nearly panicked, thinking that she wouldn't be able to find her way back. Swallowing once and biting down on her fear, the woman began to jog, the pace extended and eating up the floor. The cool breeze in the fort almost felt like wind and Robin smiled, imagining being outside with nothing to confine her. Clouds of pure white and skies as blue as the wall before her. 'Wait... wall?' Her mind snapped back just in time to notice that she was about to run into something, or rather someone. With a screech, the little woman tried to put on the brakes, but with little avail. Her speed sent her crashing into the 'someone', who 'oofed' in response.
Never in her life had she hit anything that felt that hard. It was like concrete on steroids. Slamming onto the floor and wincing, Robin fought a blackout. 'How hard did I hit the floor?' She wondered, battling the stars and darkness dancing on the edges of her vision. There was a sound, now, like that of drums, and she placed her hand over heart, thinking that the beats were just overly loud in her ears. The sound continued and now the blue wall was kneeling before her. Her gaze shifted upwards until she caught the deep set eyes. Her thoughts were sluggish, now. She did the only thing that came to mind and that was speak.
"You're big." Was what she said.
"Da, and leettle ptitsa is very small." The drums formed into words and Robin blinked. The wall was a man and he was speaking to her. The poor woman giggled and shook her head.
"Yeah, not that small." She defended, lamely. The large man, who she now recognized as Yuri, the Heavy on their team. The behemoth smiled at her and held out a hand. "What...?"
"I am sayink hello. Shake my hand." He offered, chuckling deeply. She did as he asked, slipping her much smaller hand into his tentatively. Suddenly, she was off the ground and on her feet once. The Heavy lifted her without so much as batting an eyelash. This set the woman into a fit of laughter. She bent over, covering her mouth. The big Russian seemed unsure of the source of her humour so he merely stood and watched.
"Somethink... is funny?" He asked, "Or did the tiny one hurt head?"
"No, no! I'm fine! I'm just... wow! You picked me up like I weighed nothing at all!"
"Da. You don't. Not compared to Helga." That shut the woman up and she cocked her head.
"Who?"
"My weapon. Her name is Helga. She is beautiful."
"Oh..." She didn't quite get it, but accepted the answer. Patting the Heavy on the shoulder, she moved to continue down the hallway to her and Medic's quarters.
"Nice to meet you, Heavy!" She called over her shoulder, not bothering to wait for his response.
Seeing that little door with the little number 14 on it was such a relief to Robin. She kissed the glass, hoping no one was watching and slid in quietly. The room was empty and quiet and she relished in the tranquility of it. She moved to her room and flopped onto the bed with a long sigh. 'What a day!' She thought. 'So many things to remember and people to deal with. Let's see..." She began to list the team in her head starting with the offensive members and ending with the support. The act of counting them out made her drowsy and the woman didn't try to stop herself from dozing off. Her body seemed to be filled with lead and her eyes held down with rocks. 'Just a few minutes..."
Robin was dreaming.
The house, with its billowing curtains, appeared once more. There was the sound of laughter and the smell of waffles and syrup and the two filled the dream with light. It felt happy. Voices wafted through the room, almost making words, but not quite. Then, there was a crashing sound. The floor boards fell away, as always, to reveal a boiling sea of crimson. There was little toddler Robin, standing precariously on the edge and looking down into it with glassy eyes. Now, a single word could be made out. 'Come.' 'Come!' It said, thick with malice. The tentacles swung up out of the blood, swiping at her like greedy hands. Dream Robin's mouth opened to scream as her feet carried her off into the sea. Just as she fell, she turned and shouted one word. Her hand stretched out, reaching for the person that now stood above her, watching her descent. She could not see his face. Only hear him repeat the same word back to her.
'Father.'
Wow, oh my gosh! That chapter was hard for me. I know it was short and rushed, but the next will be better, I promise. This was mostly an intro to the mercs and stuff. If you are still sticking around, the next chapter will have an actual battle! :O Stay tuned, chickadees!