Yeaaah... I'm not too proud about this chapter. You're probably gonna go "Huh?" while reading it... multiple times. The characters might be off, and then I ran into trouble with the ending and my mind just went completely blank. Sorry folks, I tried. =(

Anyway, as for a class name, I just had to go with what I've always called her from the beginning- the Afflicter. Why? I don't know. Probably because she afflicts enemies with poison (and other methods of physical distress, but I'll get to that later). Hopefully the name's alright, it's what I've always known her by and I couldn't think of anything better.

So, a few things happen in this chapter. Well, actually... you'll have to find out.

Also the perspective changes to the Scout near the end of the chapter, just a heads up.

Enjoy!


The room was quiet as 9 pairs of eyes (Technically 8 and a half, since the Demoman only had one eye) stared in bewilderment at the young woman standing before them.

Nobody said a word until Soldier slapped the Spy on the back. "Ha! Good one, Frenchie. I didn't know you had a sense of humor."

He started to laugh, the Heavy and Demoman joined in. The Sniper and Medic just shook their heads at the new recruit. The Engineer watched the Pyro piled together a bunch of old, worn-out, and extremely flammable things. The Scout just stared.

"So…" Heavy said. "Where is new team member?"

"You're looking at her." She replied, looking up at the Heavy.

He stared straight into her eyes, scowling. "Ha. Funny." He pushed her back.

The Spy cut in before any sort of fight could break out. "Do not underestimate her. She's actually more deadly than she appears."

"Well, why don't ya tell us about her then?" The Engineer spoke out, sitting in one of the benches. "I'm listenin'."

The Spy cleared his throat. "Anyway," he began, "she's a professional bullfighter from Spain, so she's incredibly quick and acrobatic. She knows how to fight and can shoot a gun with upmost precision. But her most dangerous skill…"

The woman grabbed a dart from her sash and started spinning it between her fingers.

Spy continued. "…is her poison darts. They do not seem like much, but if any of that stuff gets into your bloodstream, you'll be dead in seconds."

The Medic and Engineer eyed her curiously.

"Gentlemen, I give to you… The Afflicter!"

The pile Pyro put together burst into flames. Everyone stepped back a bit in shock from the sudden fire. When the fire died down a bit, they all turned back to the Afflicter.

"Oh my god…" the Scout whispered. "She's… gorgeous…"

Her eyes narrowed at him.

She faced the team. "The Spy filled me in on everything. He told me about our missions, our objectives, and what I'll be doing. He even told me about all of you. For example," she pointed to the Engineer. "You're the Engineer. I hear you have some interesting machines. I'd like to see them sometime."

The Engineer was taken aback. "Aw well, thank ya." He twiddled his thumbs. "I'd be happy to show them to ya."

Afflicter hid a smile, and then started to walk around, naming them off one by one. "You're the Soldier… Heavy Weapons Guy, or just Heavy for short… Demoman, unless you're sober, stay away from me." She eyed him suspiciously. The Demoman just shrugged, a little puzzled.

"Sniper… Medic, don't you have a gun that can heal almost any wound?" The Medic nodded.

She clasped her hands together. "¡Fascinante!"

"Danke, Fräulein." The Afflicter nodded, appearing to understand a bit of German before continuing.

"Pyro, who seems to like fire too much… and Scout." She stopped and glared at him before disdainfully saying his name. The Scout didn't seem to notice and kept looking at her with a love struck look in his eye. "I look forward to fighting with you all."

A moment passed.

"So… where is new team member?" The Heavy repeated.

"Still not convinced, I see señor." Afflicter put her hands on her hips. "After everything the Spy said, you don't think I'm up to the job?"

Heavy grunted. "You're just leetle baby. You can't do anything."

"Baby?" she raised her eyebrow. "Well then, how about a demonstration? Have you seen a baby do this before?"

In a matter of seconds, she fired several short jabs at the Heavy's arms, shoulders, and elbows. He balled his fists, shaking them uncontrollably. Then his arms went slack and he howled in pain. "MY ARMS! I CANNOT MOVE THEM!"

Some of the REDs gasped. She faced them all.

"Now, do you think I'm not qualified? If you don't, you might end up like your friend Señor Grande." She pointed to the Heavy, curled up on the floor.

Sniper stepped forward, not intimidated by her threat. "Look girly, you had your fun. But there's obviously been some mistake."

The Afflicter tilted her head up. "Hmph! Is there now?"

"Yes, there is." The Sniper looked down on her. "We were expecting someone who could actually fight. In case you don't know, we have another mission coming up in 3 days, and we're not going to let some dart-slinging petunia get in our way."

"Is that so? I'll have you know I got things confirmed with the higher powers. If you don't believe me, then maybe you'll believe them." She smirked, turning to the rest of the RED Team.

Her voice was dangerously threatening. "Like it or not, I'm your new teammate. Would you rather have me as an ally, or an enemy? Because I don't think you want to know."

Crossing her arms, she turned her back and walked away.

The Scout sighed. "Yep… she's a knockout."

•●•

Mealtime for the RED Team was usually very lively at the dining hall, bustling with conversations and laughter at mediocre jokes as everyone sat together. Not today, however. With the arrival of the Afflicter, the air was tense. She sat at a separate table with the Spy and Engineer while the rest sat together in their own group. The Engineer brought some blueprints of his inventions to show to her. He pointed to something interesting, and her eyes would briefly light up or she would nod in agreement as she took bites out of the casserole on her plate. The Afflicter was so intrigued that she didn't notice the Scout strutting up and taking a seat at the table, scooting right next to her.

He casually wrapped his arm around her. "Hey there, hot stuff. How ya doin'?"

Startled, her eyes widened for a split second before she sighed in exasperation. "Oh great. It's you."

The Scout flashed a smile. "'Dat's right, it's me. Y'know, ya really showed the big guy who's the boss."

Afflicter rolled her eyes. "Yes, I know. You don't have to tell me." She tried to push his arm off, but he just wrapped it around her again. The Spy and Engineer just watched, wondering what would happen.

"So, you're the Afflicter, right? Mind if I call ya Flicks?" Scout beamed as if he were some sort of genius.

"Ugh, whatever." She groaned. "Weren't you listening to anything Spy was saying?"

"Nah, I was too busy lookin' at how beautiful you were." His smile turned seductive and he brought his face closer to hers. Panicked, Afflicter tried to push him away, but he wouldn't budge. Instead she grabbed Scout's arm and twisted it into an awkward position.

"Aaagh!" Scout flinched. She then used her foot to push him off the table as he landed on his rear.

"A word of advice when you're hitting on girls you just met, muchacho: DON'T!" she spat at him. The Afflicter looked up and noticed that everyone was staring at her, both in amazement and fear. Slowly, the Scout got up, bringing his hands up in surrender. He walked back to the other table, as if nothing ever happened.

Everyone returned to what they were doing. Afflicter poked at her food with an embarrassed look on her face. She no longer paid much attention to what the Engineer was showing her.

Realizing that he didn't have an attentive audience anymore, Engineer noticed she was staring off into space, looking a little glum.

"Somethin' wrong?"

"What?" The Afflicter came to her senses, and then shook her head. "No, I just… lost my appetite. This casserole tastes weird." She pushed her plate away from her and left the table.

•●•

"I hope you know that during missions you're supposed to attack the BLUs, not your own team, no matter how much they get under your skin." The Spy warned her as they walked down the hallway.

Afflicter sighed. "I know. Things will be different when I step on the battlefield." She thought back to her little scuffles between the Heavy and Scout. She didn't need to make any new enemies, especially on her own team. Although, she didn't know if the Scout would even consider her anything other than a pretty face.

The Afflicter had to admit, the Scout's personality was rather… colorful, unlike another certain admirer. Then again, at least Enrique knew the meaning of the word, 'personal space.'

"I don't understand. He hasn't known me for even an hour yet, and he's already making it known that he… likes me." She made a face.

"The Scout? He acts that way anytime he sees a pretty girl. He does it all the time with Miss Pauling." Spy said.

"Miss Pauling?" She couldn't recall where she had heard that name. Then she remembered that when she first arrived in the Badlands, a young woman had been there to greet her. Miss Pauling was rather surprised when she discovered that Afflicter was a girl. But at least she was friendly to her, unlike some of the other mercenaries. Thinking about it, Miss Pauling definitely seemed like the kind of woman the Scout would hit on.

"So, not only is he a terrible flirt, but he's also desperate?"

The Spy chuckled. "Well, I guess when you put it that way."

A small, yet genuine smile appeared on the Afflicter's face, which she then tried to hide with her hand. Ever since she had accepted the mercenary job, the Spy had noticed she had been acting… strange. Usually, she was more upbeat and cheerful than how she was acting now.

He led the Afflicter to a door. "This is where you'll be staying, at least for now, anyway. For some missions, we're too far from the main base, so we relocate there until another mission that's closer. But most of the time, we stay here."

She nodded. Opening the door, she walked into a small, single-person dorm room. It wasn't too run-down, aside from a few cracks in the walls and window. To the right of a small closet was an ordinary desk with a red-cushioned chair. A simple nightstand stood right next to a bed, covered in bland bed sheets. If she ever got the chance, she might spruce it up a bit. Afflicter saw that her things had been placed on the bed, most likely by Miss Pauling. She also noticed the case holding her revolver was still missing. Spy had to take it so it could be 'approved for use' by Mann Co., according to him. For now she was told to use one of the stock revolvers.

"By the way," the Spy pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to her. "Show that to the Medic sometime before the day of the mission. He'll know what it means. For now, we have free time until dinner. You can go anywhere you'd like, maybe even see the Medic, just as long as you don't go past the boundaries. I'll see you then." He closed the door.

"Wait!" The Afflicter quickly re-opened the door and looked down the hall. But the Spy was already gone. "You didn't tell me where the Medic is…"

Her shoulders slumped and she sighed. "Agh! ¡Muy Bueno!" she said sarcastically. "Now I have to spend my time wandering around like a headless chicken."

•●•

Fortunately, the Afflicter didn't look like a headless chicken. But it still didn't change the fact that she was lost. Looking around the hallway, she accidentally bumped into the Demoman, who was with the Soldier.

"'Ey! Watch where yer goin', ya little-" his eye widened when he realized it was the Afflicter. "Oh, it's just the lass. I'm sorry! I wasn't payin' any attention! P-please don't hurt me like what ya did with Heavy."

The Soldier jumped in. "That's right, Demoman! Isn't she soooo scary and threatening?" he started to laugh. "As if she'd really be our new teammate!"

Demoman glanced at the Soldier, letting out a few half-heart laughs. "Good one, mate…" he glanced back at the Afflicter, his one eye begging for mercy. So her little fight with the Heavy had scared at least the Demoman.

She gave him a serious look. "I wasn't going to hurt you anyway, Demoman."

"Oh, ya weren't?" he scratched the back of his neck. "Well, alright then. So watcha' doing here?"

The Soldier pointed at her. "Yeah! What do you think you're doing? You're not supposed to be here!"

Demoman waved him off. "Don't listen ta him. He's just upset his new comrade's a girl."

Her eyes narrowed, partially glaring at the Soldier. "I could tell. But anyway…" she showed the Demoman the paper. "Señor Spy told me to give this to the Medic. Do you know where he is?"

Soldier crossed his arms. "Ha! Like he'd ever tell you that! Well, I bet-"

"End of the hall, take the stairs down to the infirmary. He's probably in there." Demo said, pointing behind him.

The Afflicter nodded. "Gracias, señor." She headed off on her way.

"Demoman, you traitor! You do not reveal information to the enemy!" Soldier shouted, whacking him in the head. He turned to Afflicter, her back turned to him. "And don't think you've won the battle just yet, she-maggot!" He raised his fist in the air. "You'll be wallowing in pain when I'm through with you in tomorrow's training!"

Afflicter just kept walking. "We'll see about that…" she muttered smugly.

When she was gone, the Demoman spoke out. "Y'know, I don't see what yer makin' such a big deal out of. She isn't that bad."

"Don't you argue with me now! You never send a boy to fight a man's war, but a girl's even worse!"

•●•

From the waiting room, the Afflicter could hear a maniacal laughter echoing behind the doors to the infirmary. She shuddered, and was about to turn around and wait until later when she finally decided to toughen up. Taking a deep breath, she knocked on the door.

"Come in!" the voice of the Medic sang as she stepped inside. Afflicter couldn't believe what she saw. Strange machines, some splattered with blood, surrounded a single exam table. Near the ceiling, she noticed several doves flying around; she lost count of how many there were after 6. She could only imagine how many dove droppings they left. The smell of blood lingered in the air. When was the last time this place was cleaned? She thought. A gun-like thing (which she assumed was the medi-gun she heard about) hung from an attachment connected to the ceiling. At his desk sat the Medic, who was looking over some papers that appeared to be x-rays. Why he was laughing at someone's broken bones, she didn't know.

"Umm… excuse me? Médico?" the Afflicter said nervously.

The Medic wheeled around, facing her. "Ah! Hello, fräulein!" he stood up. "It's nice to see you!" Taking her hand with both of his, he started shaking it with enthusiasm. "Now, vat can I do for you?"

First he's cackling like insane, now he's acting friendly? She pushed the thought out of her head and handed him the paper. "I was told to give this to you."

"I see…" He skimmed over the paper, muttering to himself and adjusting his glasses every so often. "Ah, yes! Of course! You need a heart transplant!"

"Right…! Wait, WHAT!?"

The Medic's mouth curled into a sinister smile. "Oh, don't worry, fräulein. It's not as bad as you think." He pushed her onto the exam table. A giant light above her turned on.

"I think I'm perfectly fine with the heart I have right now!" Afflicter retorted. The Medic began to get his tools together. "Hold on, are you doing this right now?" she clutched her chest.

He shrugged. "Vell, why not?"

"Aren't major procedures like this usually… scheduled? Can't this be done tomorrow, when I'm more prepared?" the Afflicter asked.

"Ze sooner, ze better, wouldn't you say?" Medic grinned.

"Oh no…" she moaned. The Medic didn't seem to notice.

Taking his medi-gun, he flicked it on and pointed it at her from a distance. Red particles floated onto her body and she felt a faint, odd, yet comforting sensation. Then the Medic grabbed a saw. "Ze first part of the procedure is usually ze most painful. You'll feel some…" his expression turned iffy. "eh… minor discomfort." He sliced into Afflicter's body and even her clothes.

At the sight of her own blood, she winced and turned away. The pain was so intense, she started to struggle.

"Stop moving!" Medic said. "Hold still, fräulein. It vill only make things harder."

The Afflicter could only let out a groan. Everything went numb and her vision turned fuzzy, feeling light headed. She felt something land on her head. It was a dove, with blood splotches on its pure white body.

"Wha-? No! Shoo!" she waved her hand. The dove flew off.

"Zat's Archimedes." Medic said, still cutting into her flesh. "He likes to pester ze patients." Finally, he put the saw away. "Zere! First part is done." He stared at her internal organs for a moment, and then frowned. "Well… zis isn't good."

"H-huh?" she managed to say.

"It's just vell, you're so… small. I don't think a mega baboon heart will be able to fit in you, and I barely managed to get it to fit in Scout." The Medic tried to explain.

"A mega… what now?"

He closed his eyes to think. "Hmmm… vat to do?" he muttered, making his way to a refrigerator. "Maybe ze loch ness hamster heart vill work…"

"Did you say… loch ness hamster?"

"Yes." Medic nodded. "They're quite hard to find, and even harder to kill and salvage its heart!" He started to laugh crazily. "I'm sure it vill work…" Taking a heart out from the fridge, the Medic jammed a strange device into it. Holding it in front of the medi-gun, the heart beat rapidly. The Medic laughed maniacally again as the heart slowly changed color.

"Wha…what kind of doctor are you?!" the Afflicter wailed as he continued to laugh in front of her.

Immediately, Medic stopped laughing and looked at her. "Well technically speaking, I'm not actually a doctor. I lost my medical license a while back!"

She looked at him funny. "What?!"

"Vell, would you look at zat? The heart's ready!" The Medic exclaimed. The heart had changed from its normal pinkish color to a pure, blood red.

"Wait…" Afflicter mumbled, trying to come to her senses. "Not only are you giving me the heart of a hamster, but you also stuck something else into it?"

"Loch Ness Hamster." Medic corrected her. "And yes, with zis device, you vill be able to respawn, I can heal you with my medi-gun and also activate ze übercharge on you."

"It can do what?" she asked, still out of it.

"I'll explain when we're finished." He picked up a knife. "Now say good-bye to your old heart, fräulein. You won't be needing it anymore!" He cut the Afflicter's heart out and she yelped in pain. Throwing her heart away, the Medic replaced it with the new one. Finally, he pointed the medi-gun straight at her and let it do the rest. Afflicter watched as her large incision rapidly mended itself, even her clothes too.

"Zere we go, fräulein. The procedure is complete!"

She lay there for a moment. She didn't feel any different than she had before the surgery, aside from a slight uncomfortable chest pain. From what the Afflicter could tell, she was just fine… hopefully. Glancing at a clock on the wall, she noticed that half an hour had passed. It had taken the Medic only 30 minutes to perform a heart transplant.

She sat up. "So… not only can your medi-gun heal giant flesh wounds, but it can also repair clothing as well?"

The Medic was cleaning his tools as he turned to her. "Yes. I don't exactly know why it does that though… But as you said before, it can heal just about anything. Although, there are some things it can't."

"Like what?" she asked.

"Well, it can't fix Demoman's lost eye, most likely because it's cursed."

"A cursed… eyeball?" despite the confused look on her face, the Afflicter shivered.

The Medic laughed. "But zat's only a rumor!" Then his face turned serious. "The medi-gun also can't bring people back to life. Once they're dead, there's nothing I can do about it."

She nodded. It would make a lot of sense. To have a machine that could bring someone back from the dead, something like that would be inconceivable.

"Can it heal poison?" she asked.

Medic paused for a moment. "You know… I have no idea. I've never had a situation like that. I'll have to find out sometime."

Afflicter grabbed her wrist. She didn't want to know what would happen if the Medic got his hands on her poison darts.

"Anyway, zat device on your new heart lets me use the medi-gun on you, and it vill let you respawn or in other words I guess… save you from dying."

She was puzzled. "So even if I die out there in battle, I don't actually die?"

The Medic shrugged. "You just end up back at the RED base. It's a mystery. No one really knows how it works. Now then if you'll excuse me, I have some… business to attend to." His sinister laugh came back.

"R-right." Afflicter stuttered. "I'll just be going then…" She cautiously walked out the room.

•●•

Dinnertime was pretty much the same as with lunch. The Engineer and Pyro had teamed up to make steak for the RED mercenaries, although the Pyro had overcooked it a bit. But at least it was still edible. The Scout stared at the Afflicter, unaware of the dopey grin he had on his face. He didn't make another attempt to hit on her. Scout wouldn't admit it, but he was a little worried that she would just kick him off the table again. Beautiful and tough, she was his type of woman. And she was definitely going to be his.

He watched as she talked to the Spy for a bit, then the Medic asked her about something before he left. The Soldier made some slicing motions at his throat directed at her, but she didn't seem to pay any attention to it. Finally after finishing her steak, she got up and started to head back to her room. Now was his chance. He started to follow her.

"Yo Flicks, wait up!"

Afflicter turned around to see the Scout running to catch up to her. "What do you want?" she sighed before walking faster in an attempt to get him off her back.

Scout kept up right with her. "Geez, I just wanted to talk for a bit."

Her expression was hard. "Really, now…?"

He nodded. "Yeah, dat's all. I promise, I'm not gonna try and make a move on ya. I think I learned my lesson."

"Hmph, you'd better have." She muttered.

Scout just ignored her comment. He wasn't actually telling the full truth. He was just taking a different approach. "So as ya probably knew, we're startin' training sessions tomorrow. And I'm just gonna tell ya right now, you ain't ever gonna see a bunch of men fight as well as we do. You'll be impressed." He gave a confident smile.

Afflicter's expression turned smug. "You mean the whole team, or just you?"

"What?!" she had seen right through his little scheme to show off to her. The Afflicter seemed to take delight in the look of shock he had on his face. He wouldn't have that. "Oh, a smart alec are ya? Well, I'll have you know I'm da fastest guy on the team. None of those other slowpokes can even keep up with me!"

"I'll bet your wits don't match your quick feet…"

Scout beamed, totally missing her insult. "You bet they do- Hey!" Afflicter snickered. She was definitely not making this easy for him. But he wasn't going to give up yet. "Not funny. I'd like to see ya do better tomorrow."

Afflicter smirked. "I'm sure I will, and you won't like it."

Her comments were starting to get on his nerves. The Scout almost lost it. "I've had about enough with your clever comments!" Then he thought of something. "But ya know what…? I forgive you. Ya don't have to act all tough in front of me." He winked at her.

Her face turned red as she clenched her fists. "What? Why you…!" She was about to throw a punch at the Scout when he grabbed her wrist.

He managed to turn the tables on her. He smiled. "Ya know you're cute when you get flustered."

Afflicter gave him a steely glare as she struggled to get him to let go of her wrist. Finally she just shook her head and smirked. "So maybe fighting with you isn't going to get you off my back. But I still have more smarts than you, and I've got many tricks up my sleeve." She calmly slipped her wrist out of his hand and went inside her room.

Now Scout was stunned. "Don't think you can shake me off that easily! No matter what ya do, I'm not giving up yet!"

"I think we're done here." She slammed her door.

"Aw, come on!" Scout stomped his foot. One way or another, he was going to win the Afflicter's affections.


That ending... I really couldn't think of anything. It all just left me. And I'm not even sure what I'm going to do with the next chapter.

As for the Loch Ness Hamster heart, I don't really know if it would work with the medigun, but let's just say it does.

I really don't know what else to add other than this chapter is probably going to bring me embarrassment in the future... and that I don't wanna go back to school.

Go ahead and review this chapter if you'd like.