Hey guys, sorry that I took so long to write this, life kinda kicked my ass for a while.

But anyway, before you continue with this chapter I would suggest reading the last chapter again (if you haven't already), since I did some major editing.

If not, then read ahead and enjoy :)

oOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Reliable Excavation Demolition Headquarters, Teufort, New Mexico
August 13th 1969

As is the case with many ceasefires in the past, it was quickly made apparent after the first few days that there was not usually much to do for the mercs of RED. Outside the heat of battle and the travel between bases, it became fairly dull and the longer the ceasefire was, the more restless the team became. After all, there was only so many times one could catalogue the equipment or clean and arrange the weapons, no matter how many times Soldier insisted that it was one of the most important jobs they could have.

Therefore, the majority of the team began to hunt for entertainment. Of any kind.

To that end, when the sound of an explosion followed by Sniper shadowing the doorway of the lab within the span of ten minutes of each other, Medic couldn't help but sigh in indignation. He didn't even need to ask what was wrong, instead just grabbing a medkit- and his medigun just in case- and followed Sniper out the lab. After a short journey through the corridors of the base to the rec. room, the German scowled upon seeing the aftermath of obvious carnage.

It appeared as though nothing around the area came out unscathed, as there was a decent sized black scorch mark in the centre of the sitting room with scattered metal and shrapnel spread out in a giant circle. Any furniture within range had been torn up, while the makeshift coffee table was completely destroyed. Heavy was the first person Medic noticed when he entered, as the large Russian was standing against the wall by the poker table with his beefy arms crossed. The second person he noticed was Soldier, whom was stood closer to the table watching Scout and Demoman- who were obviously forced to sit in separate seats- like a displeased drill sergeant. The Scot and Bostonian both were nursing injuries, thankfully none that were life-threatening but still looked fairly serious. It was clear what exactly had happened.

Medic sighed as he left Sniper standing near the doorway, acknowledging Heavy's greeting as he approached the table. "I suppose it vould be prudent of me to ask vhat exactly happened?" he said as he place the medkit and medi-gun pack on the table top.

Soldier turned his head toward Medic upon hearing his question, his sour look immediately changing into one of pride. "Ah, it was magnificent!" he exclaimed happily. "Quite the display if I do say so myself! A true display of American justice!"

Sighing with a roll of his eyes, Medic clarified. "I meant ze explosion, not your so called 'justice', Herr Soldier."

As predicted, the first one to throw the accusations was the Bostonian. "It was all Cyclops' fault!" he insisted, but before he could say any more, the Scot cut in.

"'Ang on a minute, ye wee gob-shite!" he yelled with a bit of a slur to his undertones, indicating that he wasn't entirely sober. "Ye bloody well know dat playin' with dat ball a'yours near me explosives is dangerous. It's yer own fault dis 'appened!"

"Is Demoman's fault for leaving bombs on table." Heavy clarified. "But is Scout's fault for hitting bombs with baseball. His fault explosion happened."

"What?!" Scout yelled at Heavy, jerking forward as though he wanted to jump upon the bigger man and beat the shit out of him. Thankfully for all involved, both his injuries and Medic himself kept the lad back as he winced and fell into the chair again. "Ah, fuck!"

"Keep yourself still, dummkopf!" Medic berated the young man with a deep scowl as he prepared his medigun. "Ze less injuries I have to treat you for, ze better! In fact, you both should count yourselves lucky, as I am certain ze last zing Miss Pauling needs to deal vith is finding replacements for eizer of you."

"Nah nah, s'all cool doc." Scout reassured unconvincingly as he held his ribs with a badly hidden wince. "Weren't even that big'a deal. Cyclops is losin' his touch I reckon."

"Oi, ye best watch yerself lad." Demoman threatened, shaking a fist at the young man.

"Or what, chucklenuts?" Scout taunted, fighting a grin on his face. "You gonna throw a sparkler at me?"

Now on most occasions Demoman wouldn't usually allow Scout's snarkiness get to him, as he tended to be fairly easy going. Now however, both because he was tanked with alcohol and clearly angry about his explosives being ruined, it seemed that Scout's attitude wouldn't be getting past the Scotsman this time. Therefore, in spite of his injuries, Demoman let out a strangled yell and bounded over the table, pouncing upon the young man and barrelling Medic over in the process. The German fell onto his back hard, his medigun flying out of his hands and his glasses going askew as a result since he didn't see that move coming, believing the Scot would have enough sense in him to keep still. Evidently not, as the two hit the ground hard and Demoman grabbed Scout round the throat and began roughly slamming him on the floor repeatedly, yelling slurred profanities as he did so.

Grumbling to himself, Medic- with the assistance of Sniper- had picked himself off the floor as he rearranged his glasses, briefly catching the sight of Heavy intervening on the fight. The Russian easily pulled Demoman off Scout, wrapping his muscled arms around the Scot to keep his pinned to his sides. Of course Demoman didn't take that sitting down.

"Le'me go!" Demoman shouted, drunkenly struggling to get out of Heavy's grip to absolutely no avail. "I'm gonna kill 'im, 'nd keep on killin' 'im til he's dead!"

"G-go on fatman, let-let 'im go!" Scout yelled back with a stutter to his voice as he lifted himself gingerly onto his elbows, clearly far too dizzy from the blows to his head to get up entirely as of yet, thankfully. "I can take 'im! I'll... I'll knock 'is damn block off!"

At this point, Medic had flicked off the dust that had clung to him and now wore a scowl that would make even a lion shiver. However neither Scout or Demoman noticed, as the Scotsman had finally given up in wrenching out of Heavy's grasp and was instead glaring icily at Scout with his one eye. Though it was made clear soon that the man still had some bite left in him despite his exhaustion. "Ha, ye talkin' mince lad. Ye couldnae 'it a broadside of a barn wit' that wonky vision a'yours."

That easily hit a nerve in the younger man, as he let out a yell of anger and went to jerk up off the floor. But again, his damaged ribs and his dizziness kept him back for a moment. That didn't stop the Bostonian from trying though as he struggled to get to his feet.

Seeing this, Sniper immediately sprung into action and pinned Scout to the floor. Unfortunately though he was finding it difficult to keep the lad still, and the last thing he wanted to do was sit on him to keep him pinned as that may end up causing more damage that Medic would have to fix. So as he struggled to keep Scout down, he shouted to Soldier. "Oi Soldier, 'elp us out won't ya!"

In response, Soldier huffed while crossing his arms. "This is the most pathetic excuse of disciplinary action I have ever seen in my life, privates!" he berated. "They never would have allowed this in a real American squad!"

Growling, Sniper snapped back as Scout jerked his body rather sharply which almost made him lose his grip on him. "Fucks sake, stop bein' such a bloody knocker an' pin 'im down already!"

Meanwhile at the outer walls of the base, Engineer frowned as he heard the commotion. It was rather hard for him to miss the explosion that went off earlier and then the yelling minutes later, even with the window to the rec. room being located at the inner courtyard of the base. He sighed before returning his attention back to the sentry in front of him, unconcerned for the participants as he knew the others would take care of it. Though he didn't envy Medic having to deal with Demoman and Scout.

With his focus back on the sentry, he powered it down before removing a panel on the side, picking out tools from the kit beside him to clean the inner workings of the turret. The buildings he created were always intricately designed with weather proofing in mind, though even with this foresight the machines- especially the ones that was able to stay active for a long period of time- tended to attract a myriad of sand and particles. It was quite an annoyance, since such things tended to clog the electronics within, so he made sure to thoroughly clean out the sentries that protected the headquarters, as the last thing the team needed was an unreliable defence.

While he was in the middle of carefully removed components to clean then replace, that was when Engineer heard the crunch of gravel as a couple of footfalls approached him. He tensed up at first, snapping reflexively for the wrench sitting within his tool kit, but he relaxed when he heard a familiar Australian drawl.

"Relax Truckie, s'only me."

Placing the wrench back into the box, the Texan sighed as he returned to work. "Glad ye said somethin' Stretch," he said in an amused tone. "Otherwise I woulda ended up beatin' ya head in."

Sniper let out a huff in reply, though Engineer still heard the underlying humour. "Yeah, wouldn't that be fun ta explain to Doc?" the bushman exhaled deeply then, and the following scent of tobacco instantly told the Texan labourer that Sniper had come out for a smoke. Even though it had been proven that nobody really cared if anyone smoked inside, the Australian still continued to go outdoors. Whether it was a hard-pressed habit or if the man simply preferred being outside wasn't entirely known, but nobody questioned it. Each to their own, as it were.

As Engineer dusted off and replaced the machinery, he spoke up again. "So what was with all the commotion earlier?"

Sniper let out a near silent growl before he replied. "Scout getting' in a tiff wiv Demo. Y'know wot he's like. Doc, Heavy an' Soldier's got 'em subdued now though."

"Good to know."

Silence then fell between the two as Engineer continued to work, though that wasn't entirely surprising as Sniper wasn't exactly the type to engage in small talk. Honestly neither was Engineer, having the belief that a conversation has to have purpose otherwise it would be a waste of words. Therefore, the two kept to themselves for the time being.

Before long though Engineer completed cleaning out the sentry, promptly replacing the machinery and snapping the panel back in place. Powering it back up, he put his tools away as the sentry came to life with the familiar beeping, pivoting back and forth in search of a target. "There we are, good as new." Engineer muttered as he rose to his feet and clapped his hands together as though he was brushing dirt off his hands.

"Y'know, I never understood yer fascination with that stuff." Sniper commented, which brought the Texan's gaze to him.

"It's my life's work Snipes, y'know that." he retaliated, placing a fist on his hip as he frowned. "Not ta mention my job. 'Sides, you know that y'all will miss it if my buildin's just disappeared on ya."

Sniper just let out a single laugh at that. "Yeah, you keep tellin' yerself that mate." he rose his cigarette back to his lips and inhaled, turning his eyes from Engineer and stared out over the rock wall that surrounded the base, his eyes squinting against the sunlight behind his aviators.

Engineer just shrugged in response to the quip, turning his gaze over the rock walls as well as the two once again fell silent. Though it didn't stay that way for long before Engineer broke it. "Speakin' of our jobs, surprised that the BLUs didn't put up much've a fight in the last one."

"That's cus we didn't give 'em a chance to." Sniper pointed out. "Soon as Doc and Heavy was on the point, there weren't no way they would get 'em off."

"Nah, I get that. It's just you'd think that they'd wanna hold on to Highpass, since it's the direct route ta the mines and all."

Sniper merely shrugged. "Well that's their loss an' our gain, innit?"

"I suppose. Just get's ya thinkin' though, don't it?" well at least he hoped it did. After all, with both the Mann brothers being kept alive by his grandfather's creation, it just begged the question of why either of the teams were fighting in the first place. It almost seemed pointless to him, since the brothers just refused to let themselves die because of a plot of land. He could never claim to understand why it is the brothers wanted the land so much, but he would have thought that after two years of this that the others would begin questioning it.

After another brief period of silence, Engineer broke it again as he leant against the railing in front of him. "Hey Slim, ya ever wonder why we're here?"

Hearing the question, Sniper let out a deep exhale, blowing out smoke as it did so, and shrugged. "That's a 'ell of a mystery ain't it? Why are we here? Are we all just a part of some big coincidence, or s'there really a God out there?" letting out another sigh, Sniper took one last drag from his cigarette before flicking it away and leant on the railing as well. "I dunno Truckie, but it keeps me up at night."

Confused at Sniper's answer, Engineer snapped his gaze to the taller man with a frown. "What in the hell are you on about? I meant why're we out here? In the middle o' this desert."

"Oh, er... yeah..." Sniper merely responded back, clearly having no words to say in response.

"Well, what was all that stuff 'bout God anyway?" Engineer continued questioning once he realised Sniper didn't know what to say. "Ya wanna talk 'bout it?"

"Nah, nah 'm good." the Australian replied, shaking his head with a simple wave of a hand before lowering his akubra to shade his eyes from the sun. The Texan only shrugged.

"Well, if yer sure." he straightened up then, turning fully to the tall lanky man before leaning his elbow on the railing as he continued. "But in all seriousness, why exactly are we out here? I mean I get that our employer wants ta own this land, but it's just a stretch o' desert in the middle o' nowhere with hardly any value to it at all."

"Uh huh." Sniper prompted with a nod.

"And, the only reason that we have RED bases at the Mann Co. sites, is 'cause the BLUs have bases there too. And the only reason they have BLU bases there is 'cus we have RED bases there as well."

Sniper nodded at that, gazing back out over the rocks as he replied. "Yeah, that's 'cause we're fightin' each other."

"Well yeah," the Texan conceded, continuing on with the hope that his point will be seen by the other man. "But I mean, if we were to pull out today and they come take over our base, what would that get 'em? They'd just have two bases in the middle o' a desert."

"Wot's up wiv that anyway?" Sniper straightened to his full height then, a speculating look on his face as he turned to Engineer. "I mean yeah, when I first signed on the pay check was ace, but next thing I know I'm fightin' a bunch o' guys wot happen ta be wearing blue, and there ain't no threat o' death hangin' over any of us. Kinda makes ya wonder wot the point is if there's no risk to it."

Engineer nodded in agreement of this. "Exactly what I was thinkin'."

The two of them now seemed completely engrossed in their conversation at this point, which was quite evident since neither of them noticed the blue spot that hovered around the wall behind them. From through a scope, a figure focused upon the two of them like a looming hawk, a finger twitching for the trigger of his rifle in a reflex action of seeing red uniforms. Slow breaths kept his weapon steady as he scrutinised the two from his vantage point upon the cliff's edge.

However, while he watched the two REDs converse, that was when the figure was snapped from his zone by a voice speaking with a New Yorker accent. "What they doin'?"

Jerking in surprise from the unexpected voice, his line of sight ruined, the man lowered his rifle as he snapped his eyes in the direction of the voice. The owner of the rifle was a rugged man of average height wearing a black beanie and a dark crop jacket with a blue shirt underneath, dark jeans and hiking boots.

His hazel eyes focused upon the young man that was with him, who nearly came up to his height but was much skinnier than him. He wore a blue t-shirt with a black bag slung over his shoulder, a blue ball-cap with the bill facing backward with a headset over-top, a pair of fingerless gloves, black hockey pants and sport cleats.

Glaring into the younger man's blue eyes, the BLU Sniper inquired indignantly in a thick Manchester accent. "You what?"

The BLU Scout leant forward slightly from the rock he leant up against, leaning more heavily on his baseball bat as he replied. "I said, what they doin' now?"

Sniper growled as his lowered his rifle and massaged his forehead. "Bloody heck, I'm getting' so sick ov answering' tha' question."

"'Ey," Scout argued back as he pushed himself off the rock and loomed over the kneeling Englishman. "You're the one wiv the fuckin' rifle, I can't see shit. So don't bitch at me, cus I don't wanna stay up here and play 'round with my dick all day-"

"A'right 'right, look," Sniper interrupted before the kid could go on a long winded rant, as the Brooklyn born lad was known to do. "They're just standin' there and talkin'. Okay? That's all they ever do, got me? That's what they were doin' last week, and that's what they were doin' five minutes ago. So if ya ask me again, then my answer's goin' to be: They're still standin' there like bloody lemons and chattin' a load ov bollocks!"

After his rant, Sniper took a breath as he watched Scout, seeing the wheels in the young man's brain turning and he knew right then that the New Yorker was going to come out with another annoying inquiry. True to form, Scout looked him in the eyes before speaking up. "So what they talkin' about then?"

Letting out a frustrated sigh, Sniper turned away from Scout and rose his rifle back up to his eye with the intention of spying on the two REDs again. "Y'know somethin'? I really fuckin' hate you."

Meanwhile, it seemed that the two REDs have yet to figure out that they are being spied upon, since their conversation had thoroughly captured both their attention. Which was surprising to Engineer in all honesty, as he never would have imagined that Sniper would bother to analyse the situation like he did, since he figured the Australian would be more interested in earning his pay check than questioning the higher ups.

Still, it was nice to see that he wasn't alone in his speculation and it was a welcoming change to talk to someone else about it.

"It ain't really hard to see that there's not a lotta value out here really." Engineer speculated. "So talk 'bout a waste of resources. I mean, what good is there fightin' over a desert that not got much ta offer, y'know what I mean? Never mind the other outposts."

Sniper just shrugged as he replied. "Well, wot good would it do us anyway? S'not like we got a say in the matter."

Engineer shrugged in return at the other man's comment. "I suppose."

The two fell silent, but it wasn't too long before the fire escape a little ways from them slammed open, surprising them. Looking over, the red suited form of Pyro emerged from through the doorway, his masked head inclined upward as he practically ran out. The two saw his head darting from side to side methodically as he came to a stop, as though he was tracking something, and heard incoherent but hurried mumbles filtering through the mask loud enough for even them to hear as he rose his hands up in what looked like a placating manner.

It was a surprise to see the pyrotechnist wondering about, as he tended to stick to one place- or drifted through the base- without being much of a bother to the rest of the team. It was even more surprising to hear something louder than withdrawn murmuring coming from the mystery man, never mind seeing him expressing any type of open body language.

Even still, with Pyro's sudden appearance Engineer sensed Sniper tense up. He could understand the reflex, as there was no telling what it is the arsonist would end up doing, but he still found it a little unfair to judge the man so harshly. Ever since the encounter with Pyro at his door more than a week ago, he attempted to treat the man a little more fairly in regards to his behaviour. The labourer hadn't bothered Pyro about his offer to him, understanding that he may have given the arsonist a tall order since he has yet to receive a visit from the masked mercenary. But he did have the feeling of eyes burning into his back whenever the team gathered together or when he walked the halls. With having to deal with Spies giving him such looks while on the field it unnerved the Texan a bit, but he knew it was just Pyro trying to work things out.

On top of that, over the past week he had discovered what a flighty little thing the Pyro is. Whenever he happened to catch sight of the suit clad man, Pyro would instantly flee the scene. It was almost cute in a way, with how Pyro attempted to hide himself around a corner like a scared child. It seemed silly to compare a person like Pyro to a child, since the man made a living setting people and objects on fire with no mercy, but there really wasn't anything else Engineer could think of to describe him.

As the two watched Pyro now, the arsonist had stepped down from the doorway, having yet to notice that he wasn't alone. The mask was still staring up at nothing and his hands still up as Pyro began to walk toward one of the sentries, though it seemed he didn't realise he was approaching it until he slowly looked down. Seeing the machine in front of him, he immediately came to a dead stop, a small gasp escaping the exhalation valve before he snapped his head up again and began whispering harshly.

When Pyro had begun to get closer to his sentry Engineer felt a little spike of protectiveness, as his buildings were essentially his babies and he put much time and effort into creating them. He always felt a pang of loss whenever the machines got sapped by the BLU Spy or destroyed by the BLU Soldier or Demoman, and if he happened to survive those encounters, regret filled him at having no choice but to leave them behind to save himself a trip to respawn. He squashed those feelings down now however, as he knew that Pyro couldn't possibly mean any harm, he had no reason to. Plus, it seemed as though Pyro was petrified of getting any closer to the sentry anyway. He kept whispering harshly though and shaking his head vigorously, as though he was trying to tell something- or someone- not to do anything.

That begged the question of how out of it the arsonist really is.

On his part though, Sniper frowned in confusion as he eyed the suited man, leaning slightly toward Engineer without letting Pyro out his sight. "Wot's he doin'?" he murmured.

Despite the fact that the Aussie had attempted to keep his voice soft, in the silence that surrounded them it seemed his voice was a little louder than he figured. As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Pyro visibly jolted in terror, a yelp escaping through the mask filter. At the same time, the arsonist whipped around to face them before he lost his footing, falling hard on his behind.

Not at all expecting that, both Sniper and Engineer jumped in surprise themselves, fixing their eyes squarely upon the pyrotechnist. Upon seeing them in turn, Pyro instantly froze. Oh no, why does Balloonicorn always have make trouble when he starts drinking? He knew he should've just left the unicorn to his own devices and dealt with the consequences later, but his guilty conscience begged him to keep an eye on his friend. It alarmed him when Balloonicorn was going to touch the sentry- as he knew Engineer was protective of his buildings and he really didn't want him to be mad- but the last thing he expected was to find anyone out here, believing that the rest of the team would be occupied with what happened in the rec. room. Now faced with his unexpected company, the arsonist began to feel panic creep within him.

Engineer was unaware of Pyro's impending panic, but he could still see that the suited man was uncomfortable. He also knew that Sniper would keep his distance in an attempt not to potentially antagonise the third party, so the Texan needed to get a grasp on this situation and fix it fast. To that end, he slowly stepped down from the foundation but didn't quite approach Pyro.

"You alright there, pardner?" he asked slowly, making sure to keep his voice soft so as to not startle the pyrotechnist any further.

His voice seemed to have an effect on the suited man, as Pyro jolted once again and his body tensed immediately. Shortly after, Pyro scrambled to his feet and instantly ran back toward the door, disappearing through it without bothering to close it behind him. Yes he left Balloonicorn behind but to hell with it, he can get in trouble with Engineer for all the trouble he's put him through for all he cares right now. His friend will be upset with him later, but he'll deal with that when he sobers up.

Pyro's sudden exit did startle Engineer, but it didn't surprise him. He really should have known that due to the arsonist's flighty nature, that any social confrontation would be too much for him, especially after he'd been spooked like that.

He looked back toward Sniper just as the sharpshooter began to speak up. "Wot the bloody hell was that all about?" he inquired with a frown. Pyro was always seen as both terrifying and odd to the Australian, but what he had just seen then just put the icing on the cake in terms of weirdness.

In response, Engineer shrugged. "Ah, he's just shy I reckon."

"Shy?" Sniper echoed in a tone that betrayed his disbelief. "Mate, shy don't cut it. That's Pyro, the same crazed loon who sets blokes on fire wiv no second thoughts."

"That may be so," Engineer retaliated, feeling the need to come to the defence of his suited team mate. "But you're also an assassin and I'm a builder of guns. None o' us are rightfully innocent people. Now look, I get your trepidation, and I get that he's not all there in the head, but it ain't fair to treat 'im like he's a monster. He's a person just like the rest o' us."

Sniper sighed at that, shaking his head as he replied. "A'right I get that. But ya can't say that Pyro's a safe person ta be around. I mean you saw 'im just now, waving 'is hands around and yelling like a lunatic. Ya carry on like this then he may end up 'urtin' ya, or worse."

"I know that Snipes." the Texan responded. "I know the risks, but I wanna give 'im a chance."

Seeing that he wasn't going to dissuade the stubborn labourer, Sniper just sighed again as he hooked his thumbs in his belt, looking the shorter man in the eye as he relented. "I sure 'ope ya know what ya doin' Truckie."

Engineer, in response, merely gave the Aussie a smile before he turned about to grab his tool kit and entered the base through the door Pyro had fled through.

As the Texan left, Sniper watched him until he disappeared through the door. Before long though, the sharpshooter let out a huff of air through his nose before heading back inside himself. However, he paused in the doorway when he felt the hairs on the back of his neck prickle and his instincts were suddenly screaming at him that there was something amiss. Never one to dismiss such feelings, Sniper whirled around and searched the area. His sharp eyesight meticulously studied the environment around him, attempting to spot what it was that suddenly put him on edge.

After double and triple checking the area, Sniper frowned. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but his instincts had never lead him astray in the past and helped save his life on multiple occasions. Therefore, nothing may be an immediate danger to himself or the team, but he made a mental note to keep an eye open as he turned back around and entered the base, being sure to securely close the door behind him.

Meanwhile upon the cliff, the two BLUs pressed themselves against the protruding rocks near the edge, putting them between themselves and the RED base. After a tense minute, the BLU Sniper carefully peaked over his cover and looked through his scope to see if his counterpart had spotted them. As he did so, Scout stared at him as he spoke up. "He didn't see us, did he?"

The Brit shook his head as he relaxed, slowly standing in case there were still threats present. "No, thankfully." he answered the younger man, letting out a relieved breath as he stood to his full height and lowered his rifle. "Say what ya like 'bout that Australian bastard, but he's a damn good sniper. Eyes like a hawk that one."

"Yeah, sure." Scout merely said in response, bending down to retrieve his baseball bat from where it had fallen when Sniper had pushed him down to hide them. Standing straight, the New Yorker turned his gaze toward the distant RED base. He inclined his head toward it as he packed his bat into his bag. "You wanna see if we can get in there? Maybe see if we can get into their records or somethin'?"

Sniper blew an amused raspberry at that, snapping his hazel eyes to the young man. "Oh sure, wiv all them sentries down there? I don't think so pal. But if you wanna go on down there and say 'ello, you be my guest."

"A'right a'right, no need ta be a dick about it." Scout scowled as he rose his hands up in surrender. Lowering them to his hips, he squinted at the base again, barely managing to see the sentries positioned around the place. "Gotta hand it to their Engineer, he's one paranoid bastard. Kinda makes me wish Spy was 'ere, he'd be able to get past them sentries no problem."

Slinging the strap of his rifle over his shoulder, Sniper crossed his arms as he faced Scout fully. "Yeah, but after what 'appened to our last Spy you can get why he's reluctant ta go in there."

Scout shuddered at that, grimacing at the reminder. "Yeah, poor bastard. You ever wonder what 'appened to him? Since y'know, respawn shoulda picked 'im up 'nd all."

"No I don't wonder." Sniper snapped back with finality in his tone. "I'd prefer ta sleep at night thanks."

The New Yorker nodded, replying in a way that gave away his insincerity. "Yeah, me neither." Just as he was about to continue on, that was when a muted beeping suddenly sounded out, causing the Brooklyn lad to wince as it pierced straight down his ear. It was an incoming call coming from his headset. Flicking it on, he pulled down the mouthpiece before letting out a grumbled: "Yeah, what?" Following that was a series of muted words that sounded chastising. Scout merely rolled his eyes as the voice died down. "Yeah yeah, a'right. So what's up?" he paused once again as he listened to what the voice said, nodding once it was finished. "A'right, we're comin' back now. Over 'nd out." he flicked off the headset as Sniper spoke up.

"What was that all about?"

Briefly pointing to his headset, the New Yorker replied. "It was Soldier. Wants us back at base soon as possible, y'know?"

Nodding in understanding, Sniper adjusted his rifle so it was more secure on his shoulder as he began moving toward the trail they took to get up the cliff. "Right. Well we'd best get movin' then, 'ey?"

"Yeah." Scout replied simply as he followed.

OooOoOoOoOoOoO

It wasn't long before the two members of BLU turned into the alcove that housed their headquarters, Sniper swiftly guiding his Chrysler Imperial into the base's garage. The Manchester born switched off the engine as Scout exited the vehicle, soon following after the younger man. Though it didn't take either of them long to see that they weren't alone.

Waiting for them was two figures. One was a slightly lanky man with shaggy ginger hair with a headband around his head- which was failing to contain the birds-nest on his head. He wore a blue jumpsuit with a bomber-jacket over-top, a white long sleeved shirt underneath and a pair of sturdy boots. The second was a much smaller person covered head to toe in a blue flame-proof suit, a black optical mask covering their head.

Scout smiled upon seeing them, giving them a wave and a nod each. "Sup Demo, Pyro."

"'Bou time ya got 'ere laddies." The Demoman exclaimed as Pyro gleefully waved at the two, his voice containing a thick Irish accent.

"What's goin' on then?" Sniper asked as he approached his two team mates, hooking his thumbs into his belt as he stood before them.

"Miffh Pawimgs gummah bee herr." Pyro answered him, voice completely muffled under the mask filter.

"You what?"

"Miss Paulin's turning up soon lad." Demoman translated. "Soldier wanted us all ta quit all the bolloxology an' be in briefin' before she get 'ere."

"Cripes," Sniper blurted out as he made his way around the two. "Best get to briefing then, hey?"

As the four made their way through the concrete hallways, Scout picked up his speed to walk by the Irishman's side. "Oi Demo, y'know why Miss Pauling's comin'? We got another mission or somethin'?"

"Aye, should tink so." the bomber replied as he slipped a small flask off his hip, flicking off the lid before taking a swig. "Far as I know anyhow's, don't tink anyone did someting wrong."

"Muurbeh shh's herr fu Scouu." Pyro muffled with what sounded like a teasing tone.

As this team had been together for two years at this point, they had gotten used to each other's quirks and such. So even though Pyro wore a mask all the time, Scout- unlike his other team mates, as he spent more time around the arsonist then them- still understood what they said and so gave his suited friend a half-hearted glare. "Yeah, screw you too buddy. And anyhow, y'know I gave up on her a long time ago. Classy dame like her will never go for a junkyard dog like me."

"Aye, ye are a pain in the arse laddie," Demoman commented with a smile as he glance over at the younger man. "But ya give yerself too little credit."

"Yeah," Sniper agreed. "But she's more attracted to her work than anything else. Mind you, the RED Scout has yet ta figure that out."

Scout huffed at that. "That's 'cause that piece of Boston trash is a dumbass. Got 'is own fuckin' head so far up his ass that he's a stupid blind fuck." Both Demoman and Sniper let out huffs of amusement at that while Pyro openly giggled, pressing rubber-clad knuckles to the mask filter as though they were trying to muffle their amusement. Scout himself let slip a smirk, feeling proud to have made his team mates laugh. "Well anyways, where d'ya think we're bein' put this time?"

"I'd imagine it'd be somewhere close." Sniper answered. "If we were 'eading up north then we woulda been notified, right?"

Demoman shrugged as he took another swig from his flask. "Y'never know, y'know 'ow finicky the 'igher ups are."

The group fell into silence at that, but it wasn't too long before they finally arrived at a set of double doors with smoky glass covering nearly half of them. Passing through, the Irishman held the door open to allow the three to slip in first before allowing it to shut. Their entrance was instantly noticed by the three people already in the room.

The first man was stood at the far end of the room, his posture straight but impatient with arms crossed. He had brown hair and well trimmed sideburns which was under a blue beret with a golden shield badge pinned to it. He also wore a well presented blue uniform, combat slacks and army boots. He was tall, imposing and emitted a commanding presence, though none of them felt intimidated even when his displeased grey-blue eyes landed upon them.

The second man, despite being seated at the table, was quite obviously a rather huge man; both in height and somewhat in width. He was heavy set with clear fat, but also possessed large muscles. His features instantly gave him away as being Asian, his squinting eyes a warm brown and what little hair he had was black with sprinkles of grey and pulled back into a dread knot. He wore a combat jacket with a blue shirt underneath, camouflage pants and steel-toed boots.

The final man was also stood, having his back to the door but had turned about when the four of them entered. He was tall and thin, dressed immaculately in a solid blue three-piece suit with a blue balaclava covering the majority of his features. Despite that, his mahogany eyes could clearly be seen, scrutinising them carefully as he brought a cigarette to his lips.

"About damn time." grumbled the man at the far side, clearly the Soldier, as the four got themselves situated in the room. His accent, while obviously British, was not the norm as it had a more rounder sound to it, indicating he was from the West Country of England. "I had expected the two of you to be a lot more timely than this."

"Yeah, well sorry that the RED's base is five miles out from 'ere Sol." Sniper quipped back as he found and slumped into a seat, slinging his arm over the back as he got comfortable.

"You best watch your tone boyo," Soldier snapped, pointing a threatening finger at his fellow Englishman. "That sort of attitude would never be tolerated in the army."

Sighing dramatically as he hopped up onto the tabletop, Scout spoke up next. "Blah blah blah, we 'eard this story before Solly. Army this, army that, we get it. Now what about dis thing wiv Miss Pauling?"

Quite clearly indignant about the New Yorker's less than respectful words, Soldier grumbled but answered anyway. "She will be arriving anytime now, I'm presuming with a new mission for us. No doubt another attempt to take more land away from those RED bastards."

"When ain't it?" Demoman muttered. "S'like all we do is take over RED territory and they take over ours again 'nd again."

"Not one to speak from experience," piped up an Italian accented voice, which was their new Spy, as he crushed his cigarette in the nearby ashtray. "But sì, your point is a valid one."

While Scout was slightly creeped out that Spy had actually said something, he still nodded his head. The Italian man had been with them for a good six months now, but he was still a mystery to the rest of them and he never made the effort to get to know any of them, or allow them to get to know him. Frankly, that's what made Scout feel rather fidgety around him.

Of course they're last Spy was just as mysterious, but they had known him for a good two years and had gotten an idea of what sort of person he was- of which he was an egotistical asshole with a fetish for revenge, but still. The current Spy was a polite man in contrast, always acted professionally and never had anything bad or hurtful to say to any of them, but he was a little creepy since the only words he ever speaks are ones he deemed worthwhile. Scout knew that he'll be less creeped out of the Italian the more they got to know him, but right now he would rather not be stuck in the same room as him, especially if he's on his own. May just be his paranoia of spies in general talking there, but whatever.

Warily eyeing the man in question, Scout spoke up in a slow and uneasy tone. "Yeah..." he dragged out the word a little bit before snapping his gaze away from Spy and glanced back over to Soldier. "Anyway, speakin' of the RED's..."

"Ah yes, how did the reconnaissance go?" Soldier asked, which just so happened to have interrupted Scout much to his annoyance.

"Same as always, pal." Sniper answered. "All those pricks do is stand around 'nd talk all day. I'm amazed that they get anything done really."

"Yeah," Scout piped up, sitting up straighter on the table and fidgeted, clearly impatiently wanting to spill the beans. "But, we found out they don't trust their new Pyro."

"Wot?" Demoman questioned as he glanced at the Brooklyn lad. "That gigglin' mutant?"

Hearing that, Pyro let out an irritated noise and crossed their arms, clearly displeased with Demoman's words of choice.

"Not you mate, the other mutant." Sniper clarified in a jesting tone to the short arsonist, though his joke didn't seem to placate them as they simple flipped him the bird. Ignoring that, the Brit turned his attention back to Soldier as he explained Scout's reasoning. "Well, we don't know for a fact that they don't trust it. I mean yeah, we saw that their Sniper didn't wanna approach it, but their Engineer seemed alright wiv it."

Soldier hummed in thought at this. "Well, if they don't trust one of their own, then that can be advantageous for us. A dysfunctional team is doomed for failure."

"Don't seem dysfunctional." Heavy piped up then, his Korean accented voice bringing attention to him. "Their Pyro seem capable of setting us on fire just fine."

"Yeah, no kiddin'. And that laughter..." Scout shuddered then, trying to push away the memory of that mumbled giggling echoing behind him as he screamed at the fire melting his flesh in one of the latest missions.

Demoman glanced over toward Spy then. "Oi, 'e ever bother you at all Spy?"

The Italian pursed his lips together before replying. "I will admit, with the other Pyro on the prowl it makes getting around fairly difficult. But it is unfocused, therefore easy to evade if you can avoid the flames."

"Yes, but we all don't turn invisible like you Spy." Heavy pointed out.

"'Ang on," Scout interrupted, pointing at the Italian man with a frown. "If you can avoid that freak, why don't you ever backstab 'im? D'ya 'ave any idea 'ow much easier it would be if that mumblin' psychopath weren't runnin' around shoving flames up our asses?"

Spy's eyes narrowed as he replied curtly. "I cannot possibly explain to you how difficult it is for me to get behind that thing when it's movements are unpredictable at best. It is fairly difficult for me to do my job as it is without having my disguise and cloak ruined by those flames. Simply put, there are more important matters that I have to attend to then dealing with an insane arsonist."

"Oh yeah? Like what?" the young man challenged.

"Like dealing with their Medic." Spy answered back without missing a beat.

"'E's got a point there laddie." Demoman exclaimed when it was clear Scout had no come back for that. Ever since returning to the battlefield after the long ceasefire, the RED Medic had been making their lives a living hell with that new healing gun of his. As soon as he was paired with nearly anyone and training the rays upon them, it had become highly difficult to kill that specific person. The most nightmare-inducing one was the RED Heavy though, since that Russian was hard enough to kill as it was, but when he was being constantly healed it became practically impossible to put him down. Needless to say, it was a brief but welcomed moment of relief whenever they managed to kill that German bastard but he was one hard nut to crack, clearly showing how much of a competent battle medic he was.

Either way, no matter how they looked at it they were at a major disadvantage and despite their efforts, it had cost them their position at Highpass.

It didn't take long though before the brief silence was broken, predictably, by Scout. "Oh 'ey, speakin' of Medic-" however he never got to finish that sentence, as it was at that point that the door opened up. Pushing her way unsteadily backwards through the portal, as her arms were filled with copious amounts of paperwork, was a short and slim young woman. She was dressed immaculately in a purple buttoned down dress shirt, a dark business skirt, a pair of black stockings and smart flats. Her black hair was pulled back in a tight but somewhat messy bun and as she pivoted around while she struggled with the door, her beautiful face was revealed to have a pair of glasses barely hanging on her nose and her green eyes searched around pleadingly.

As soon as he saw who it was, Demoman immediately sprung out of his seat and pulled the door open fully. "There ya go, lassie."

Letting out a relieved huff of air, Miss Pauling adjusted her grip on her burden and inclined her head to the Irishman. "Thanks Demo." once she was inside, she moved over to where Soldier was standing and gently deposited the paperwork on the table, letting out a sigh as she rested one hand on top of the pile to keep it steady as she pushed her glasses to their proper place. "Afternoon gentlemen." she greeted once she was situated.

The mercs greeted her back courteously, each taking a seat at the table now that their employer's assistant was here. As they did so, Miss Pauling glanced at each of them but frowned when she noticed the low number. "Where are Medic and Engineer?" she asked.

Glancing around himself, Soldier frowned. "Damn it all, I told them to be here!" he complained.

Sighing, Miss Pauling turned away from the assembled and approached the sophisticate PA system that sat near the rear of the room. Pressing down a large red button, the microphone immediately popped out of its cradle emitting a little bit of feedback as the system activated. Leaning forward, she spoke directly in the microphone. "Base-wide announcement, this is Miss Pauling. May Engineer and Medic please report to the conference room. I repeat, Engineer and Medic to the conference room immediately." Upon finishing, she deactivated the microphone and returned to the table to wait.

Not five minutes later the main doors opened, allowing the final two men of the team to emerge through. One was a stocky man with respectable muscles, with short dirty blonde hair, a full but neat beard and misty blue eyes- his eyes were clearly seen since his work goggles were hanging around his neck currently. He wore brown overalls that had a couple of stains upon them- as well as a pair of reading glasses hanging in the upper pocket- a blue shirt underneath with the sleeves rolled up, a tool belt with various tools and yellow work gloves hanging from it, sturdy steel-toed boots and a yellow hart-hat under his arm. Obviously the Engineer.

The second, being Medic, was a thin wiry looking man. His shockingly blonde hair was trimmed short and well presented, in contrast to the man's tired blue eyes. He wore a white shirt with a blue bow tie, a long medical coat which was slightly stained and his blue rubber gloves. Also a pair of combat pants that was tucked into well polished boots.

It was clear that the two of them had still been working before Scout brought them here, due to the stains upon their uniforms. As they approached, Medic looked Miss Pauling in the eye as he spoke up. "Ah Miss Pauling, my sincerest apologies." he began in a thick Swedish accent. "Engineer and I were in the lab and I am afraid time went away from us."

"Not a problem Medic," Miss Pauling dismissed. "Just try to be more punctual next time. Having said that though, how goes your project?"

"Going smoothly if I do say so myself." answered Engineer, his accent a thick Canadian one. "A few minor touch ups and I'd say it's ready for testing."

"Ah, yes." Medic continued as they all found their seats. "Though for that purpose I would need someone willing to allow me to use it on them."

"I will be happy to help." piped up Heavy with a gentle smile. In gratitude of the Korean volunteering, Medic gave him a small smile in return.

Seeing that the matter was settled, Miss Pauling nodded. "Alright then, now we have that out the way I think its high time we began." with that, she gathered a small stack of folders from off the pile she brought with her, taking one for herself before handing the rest to Soldier, knowing he knew what to do with them. He began passing them around as she began. "Now gentlemen, this is your mission briefing. As you will see, we have gathered some rather intriguing intel from RED Command. We found that they have been working with the American government to launch a rocket into space, with Australium on board."

This seemed to have intrigued the team as they reviewed the information given to them. Though upon hearing that Australium was a part of this equation was quite a shock to the team, as they had never heard of the element being found anywhere outside of Australia, its namesake country.

Australium itself is an incredibly sought after and valuable metal element, as a single ingot of the stuff is worth millions of US dollars. Since its discovery, the technological advancement in Australia had tripled in the last century, including many of the weapons and gadgets that the RED and BLU teams use in their war. Despite it being highly sought after however, the Australian government is very secretive of it, most likely to keep the element in high demand and value and therefore to continue outpacing the rest of the world in technology.

However, it had been theorised that the reason the Australians were so secretive of it was because of the benefit Australium had given them. Due to life long exposure, it had turned all within the country into the best and strongest fighters in all the known world. The best of them being the one and only Saxton Hale: President and CEO of Mann Co., the fourth richest man in the world, bear wrestler, inventor of Jarate and star to his own comic book series.

But for the here and now, the news of Australium present in America seemed to have surprised the team. To which, Medic politely raised his hand after reviewing the contents of the folder. "Miss Pauling, if I may? How is it that the American government got their hands on Australium? What purpose could they possibly have to sending it to space?"

Pursing her lips in thought, the young assistant took a couple of seconds to reply. "In regards to your first question, I cannot rightly answer. Your second however: we have reason to believe that the government invested in this launch with the intent of beating the USSR to the punch. They entrusted the funding from Mann Co. and TFI, but hired RED in the hope of guaranteeing the protection of the rocket. However in doing so, they practically delivered the full rights to RED."

"Preposterous!" Soldier yelled, slamming a fist upon the tabletop. "Those slimy, pencil-pushing yanks!"

"Oi!" Scout protested, though it was clear Soldier completely ignored him as he continued on.

"If those RED bastards get full rights to that rocket, you can guarantee that with that honour under their belt, they'll win this war in a heartbeat."

"Precisely." Miss Pauling agreed. "Which is why, BLU team, your mission is to take control of the launch at outpost Well, run the RED personnel out of the facility and take over the territory. It's likely that the launch codes for the rocket will be well hidden, likely nearby in Turbine. You must find that as well."

"We won't have any personnel to back us up?" Spy asked with a cocked brow.

"No, the Administrator deemed that far too dangerous. Because once the RED Command hear of this, they will be sending the RED team in to push you out. When that happens, do all you can to keep them at bay as you find the launch codes. Once you have them, head to the launch site and deliver it and the Australium to the pilot."

"Who is the pilot?" Engineer asked.

"All other relevant information is in these folders." she explained as she patted the pile of paperwork next to her. "Any other questions?"

"When do we leave?" Heavy inquired sensibly.

Sliding her gaze over all nine of the present mercenaries, Miss Pauling leant on the table as she answered. "Administration wants you all to be ready to leave in at least twenty-four hours, but sooner would be preferable. The faster you take over the site, the longer it takes for RED Command to hear the news."

"Well hell," Sniper piped. "We'd best get a move on then."

"Indeed." the young woman agreed as the team began to move. "Win or lose gentlemen, once the mission is done you will be paid accordingly. Good luck BLU team, you'll need it."

OooOoOoOoOoOoO

Okay, this chapter is a bit shorter than the last one, but I think right there is a good a place as any to stop. So now we are introduced to the BLU team. I know I said this story will be focused on the RED Pyro, but I can't just write a whole story just based around that, I do need some subplots as well to keep things interesting.

In regards to this chapter, it was all for the purpose of introducing my BLU OCs and showing that I'm trying to give the gametypes some sort of purpose to make things a bit more realistic and believable. Cus, y'know, having two teams of different colours fighting perfect clones of one another just doesn't really make sense to me.

Oh and some of their accents are self explanatory, but I feel I have to explain my Sniper and Soldier. If your from England, or know about the different accents, then I don't have anything to explain but for those who don't know, this is how I see those two.

For Sniper, there is a Youtuber who is from Manchester named FX GamerOffical. So just think of his accent but not his eccentrics.

As for the Soldier, as he's from the West Country, think of the stereotypical farmer accent. Or more specifically, just think of Hagrid from the Harry Potter movies as a drill sergeant, and that's basically my Soldier.

Anyway enough yammering out of me. Hope y'all enjoyed and hopefully the next chapter will be out much quicker than this one (fingers crossed).