Sorry for not updating Yin and Yang. WORK YAY? So yeah I haven't been writing it. Apologies.

I finished this recently though, I hope you like it.

READ ON!

---

"Why do I have to go with you two?" RED's Scout groaned. He was finally out in civilization for the first time in a half a year and he was stuck holding groceries with RED's Sniper and Engineer! It just wasn't fair! "Can't I go take a jog through the park?"

"Scout, ya know we shouldn't be splittin' up," Engineer replied as he passed by a shop and stared through the window for a moment. The three stopped for a moment, the Texan shrugged, and the three continued down Main Street. "What're ya gunna do if yer on yer own, anyhoo?"

"Not be with you. That's reason enough."

Sniper sighed and turned to the Bostonian. "Look, Mate, sometimes ya gotta know when ta just lie low and do yer thing with the rest 'o us. Not like we want to go shoppin' fer tucker, either."

Scout grumbled under his breath, but trudged after them regardless. He watched as they inspected yet another store, and he looked away in a huff. There were plenty of people walking down the street, but only one, a young woman, was actually reading as she did so. Scout blinked; people actually read nowadays?

The young man had forgotten actual manners out of the base, so the moment the young woman walked by him, he grabbed her wrist and turned to stare at the title of the book. What was so enthralling about a bunch of words anyway?

"…What are you doing…?" Scout suddenly remembered what he was doing, and he looked up at the woman. She was looking quite indignant, and the young man coughed and released her quickly.

"Er, sorry, toots, I just, you know."

"No, I don't. Where did you grow up to have such horrible manners?"

Scout rolled his eyes. "Boston, can you believe it?"

The woman looked increasingly suspicious of the young man. "You don't sound it. New English, yes, but Bostonian?"

Scout laughed. "Man, you really know your accents! Yeah, I gotta have this accent 'r else everyone'll make fun of me. It's as if Boston's a horrible place to live!"

"I know what you mean," the young woman said, suddenly smiling, "I'm from Massachusetts as well, rather close to Boston, in fact."

"Get out of here!" Scout proclaimed. Suddenly the bags he was carrying weren't as heavy and the mission he had wasn't so important.

"I moved when I was six, so the accent isn't very prevalent, but…"

"Man, it's been freakin' forever since I saw someone else from Massachusetts! Hell yes! How d'you like it here in California?"

"It's alright," the woman said with a shrug, "It's all I really know, or at least remember." The two found themselves sneaking away from the sidewalk and towards a bench to sit on near a general store.

"So what's your name, toots? Oh wait, lemme guess. There were a lotta girls named Laura when I was growin' up."

The young woman shrugged. "It's Darel," she replied. Scout stared, and Darel looked rather put off. "Wh… is something wrong?"

"What the hell? Your name is Daryl? You really a dude?"

"Dar-EL. You put the emphasis on the last syllable."

Scout frowned. "Hell no, your name is Daryl. That's a freaking dude's name. What the hell is that?"

Darel looked away with a sigh. "Mom said that Darel could be either way. She said that the baby naming book said so."

"The baby naming book was freakin' WRONG."

"I've known that since I was five, okay?" Darel said indignantly. Scout opened his mouth, and when he looked at her again, realized that saying something wouldn't diffuse the situation. "What about you, anyway?" Darel asked, as if his name was any worse than hers, "What's your name, huh?"

"Oh, it's Ni-…" Scout cut himself off, and coughed into his hand. "Uhh… you can call me 'Scout'."

There was silence. Darel stared at the young man. "Scout," she said with a cluck of her tongue. Scout nodded slowly, and she suddenly smiled and began to giggle. "That's your nickname? S…scout?"

"What's so funny?"

"Oh, nothing," Darel shrugged lightly as she continued, "it's just that in 'To Kill a Mockingbird', the main character's nickname was 'Scout'."

Scout didn't get it. "…So?"

Darel gave Scout a half banked stare, "You haven't read 'To Kill a Mockingbird', have you?" Scout shrugged and she smiled. "The main character was a girl."

"Sooo…-?" Scout began to ask. It hit him about two seconds into his drawl, and he frowned, blushing brightly from embarrassment, "Man, guess it isn't the manliest nickname, huh?"

"I think it's funny," Darel said, "You're a man with a female nickname, and I'm a woman with a masculine name."

"Scout's a dude's name too, at least."

"Darel's a girl's name. Baby book said so."

Scout crossed his arms indignantly. He didn't even remember putting the groceries on the floor at his feet. "'To Kill a Mockingbird', huh? Was it some sorta movie?"

Darel wondered if he actually listened to her when she asked if he 'read' it. She sighed lightly. "…It's a book…"

"Oh. Right. Like the one you're reading." The Bostonian inspected the book again. "'The Hobbit'? Never heard of it."

"I'm rereading it," Darel said, "Have you read anything of J.R.R. Tolkein's?"

Scout shrugged with a leery smile. "Babe, I don't read anythin'."

Darel wondered if that was something to be proud of where Scout grew up. "I never would have guessed…"

"Scout! There you are!" The Bostonian gave a small choked sound as two men approached the two. "What're you doin', botherin' the nice sheila?"

"Oh, Scout's not a bother," Darel insisted, "He's actually quite charming."

Sniper gave a snerk, but caught himself before he laughed aloud. "Charmin', eh?"

Scout growled and pointed at Sniper angrily. "You keep that up and I'll rearrange your face, assssssss for you…!" He turned and pointed at Darel, "you wouldn't mind a drink, would you?"

Darel stared at him with a look that said she knew exactly what he meant to say. She looked at her book, and shrugged. "I… I wasn't going to do anything today, so…"

"Perfect!" Scout picked up the groceries and shoved them into Engineer's arms. "See you two in a bit. Come on, Darel, let's go!"

The young woman laughed lightly and closed her book. "I know an ice cream store that sells some nice malts. Do you want to try one?"

Sniper opened his mouth but Engineer elbowed him harshly. The Australian cursed under his breath as the teenagers walked off. "Piece of… Ffff…"

"Let the kids have some fun," Engineer said, "We'll finish soon anyway."

"Did ya hear that? Was that sheila's name Daryl?" Sniper asked. Engineer shrugged.

---

"So who were they?" Darel asked as the two sat together to share their malt. Scout couldn't afford two, and he absolutely refused to let her pay for her own. The woman wondered if there was an alternate reason for that.

"The others? They're my coworkers. We all kinda work at… Uhm…" Scout took a moment to think, and he shrugged. "The Badlands. Out there to the east a bit."

"Oh, wow, that's a long way out. Is there a reason you come here?"

"Engineer says this is the best place for gasoline." Darel looked at Scout, and he choked on his malt. "Engieeee… is the guy with the bags. That's his nickname. We kinda just call each other by… what we do."

"And you Scout? Survey the land for something? What for?"

Scout tried to remember what he was supposed to say. "You know, oil, new housing, stuff like that."

"Oh." The two sat in silence for a while. Darel was humming to herself as she sucked on her straw, and Scout stared at her. Her voice wasn't really extremely beautiful when she talked, but her humming wasn't all that bad.

As he thought about it, before he knew it, the malt was finished. Scout looked at the dead drink and blinked. "Well, that's that."

Darel cocked her head lightly. "That's what?"

"I asked you for a drink, and we're done. I guess that…"

"You're done now?" Darel interrupted. She opened her mouth, and looked down. "Oh, I see…"

Scout saw that the woman looked sad. Maybe this woman was stood up like this a lot? "Well, I mean, I…"

"You're fast, you know?"

Scout blinked.

"I mean, you're always running around. Just gotta be done and off to the next thing, I bet." Darel laughed and tried to hide her smile. Scout smiled when she laughed; she sounded really nice. "I mean, you really gotta slow down."

Scout frowned. Slow down? How did one do that, anyway? "Huh?"

"You know… Slow down, you're movin' too fast?" Darel said. Her voice rose very lightly, and it took Scout a moment to realize she was singing. "Ya gotta make the mornin' last just…"

Scout blinked. The song was on the tip of his tongue. "Just…?"

"Kickin' down the cobblestones?"

"Oh yeah, Feelin' Groovy."

"Yeah!" Darel smiled brightly. Scout nodded as she continued the song. Simon and Garfunkel wasn't necessarily his favorite, but he knew about them. And when Darel sang that song, it was like there was something special. Oh yeah, it was on key. Singing around a campfire with a bunch of tone deaf men made Scout realize just how important it was to actually have some sort of harmonic tone.

Darel reminded him just how beautiful music could be. He decided to take her advice and slow down for a moment. He listened to her as she sang, absolutely mesmerized not by her looks, but by her voice.

---

Sniper grumbled at the bags in his hand, and Engineer smiled good naturedly at the man. They were finished with their shopping, but damn if they couldn't find Scout and that Daryl person. It took only following a song to get to them.

"Oh now you citizens of Boston, don't you think it's a scandal how the people have to pay and pay?" Darel sang as Scout tapped his foot, "Fight the tax increase!"

Scout and Darel both shouted aloud. "Vote for Walter A. O'Brian!"

"And get Charlie off the MTA!"

Engineer and Sniper entered the ice cream parlor and stared at the two as they sang a Bostonian original. "'Cause did he ever return?"

"No! He never returned!"

"And his fate is still unlearned! (Oh, Poor Charlie!) He may ride forever 'neath the streets o' Boston, he's the man who never returned!"

The two teenagers cheered at the end of the song, and the elder men stared dumbly onward. What in the world were they doing? When the two children stopped laughing, they suddenly realized they were being watched and looked up at their visitors. Darel's eyes widened and her face exploded in embarrassed red when she saw their dumbfounded expressions; she covered her face with her hands. "Oh… oh my…"

"Don't worry, Darel. Freakin' these guys're all jealous of your voice." Darel peered through her fingers at the young man, and he smiled at her. "Well, I gotta go. I'll be back though, promise!"

"Should we meet somewhere?" she asked, her voice muffled from the hands in her face.

Scout scratched his sideburn in thought. "Uhm… Main and 13th. I'll be there next week at noon, I promise!"

Darel poked her head out and nodded, smiling brightly. "Alright, I'll be there."

The young man waved as the three left the shop, and Darel waved them goodbye. The blush that was still prominent on her cheeks wasn't just from embarrassment anymore…

---

"I don't even get this. What does 'dappled' mean anyway?" Scout asked at the dinner table.

"Vat are you readink?" BLU's Medic asked, thoroughly surprised that the child WAS reading.

Scout frowned at the words in the book he was reading. "It's this The Hobbit crap. Darel gave it to me."

BLU's Heavy was perplexed. "If is crap, why read it?"

"Because SHE does! How'm I supposta talk ta her if I dunno what's in the books she reads?"

"Why even bother? Her name's Daryl. Any family who names their sheilas a boy's name ain't one ya aughta be after."

Scout flailed at the others. "I told you assholes, it's Dar-EL. It's a girl's name; it said so in the freaking baby book. LOOK IT UP."

Engineer sighed. The kid had it bad. "So, yer comin' with us ta go shoppin', then?"

Scout didn't even look up from the book. "I promised I'd talk ta her tomorrow, so I'm goin'. Gotta problem with that?"

The Texan shrugged and sipped his coffee. That'd give him less work overall…

"So what's this Gandalf guy's problem anyway? He's got all these like super god powers, how come he doesn't just blow these trolls up? Woulda solved the problem RIGHT THERE."

Engineer sighed and rubbed his temples. Perhaps it just wasn't worth it…

Suddenly the sirens blared and everyone looked up. A sneak attack from the BLUs? The group leapt up from their table and rushed to collect their equipment. Scout smiled to himself as he tucked the book away in a corner, hidden under his hat. After this, he would be able to go meet with Darel again, and they could talk about that book all they wanted…

He pulled out his bat and rushed headlong into battle.

---

Darel did her best to adjust her skirt lightly. She had been waiting at the street post since eleven, but she would tell Scout that she had only been waiting for a bit. Truth be told, she just couldn't wait to see him again. She wanted to be able to talk to him and ask him how Boston was. It had been so long since she lived there, but it was still her home. She wondered if he felt the same way…

Suddenly she saw two of Scout's coworkers. They were the same ones she met before. She waved at them and smiled at the one whose nickname she knew. "Hello, 'Engineer'," she said, winking at them. The two looked at each other, and then turned back to her as she spoke up again, "Scout told me about how you give each other nicknames based on what you do. But I don't know your nickname. What do you do?"

Sniper didn't so much as twitch. "We're both engineers, Sheila."

"Oh, that's nice," she said. They all stood there for a moment, and the three shared a rather uneasy silence. She rocked back and forth on her feet, and after humming a tune she got stuck in her head, she finally she looked up at them. "Soooo… where's Scout?"

The men looked at her, and coughed. "Uhm… well…"

"He couldn't make it."

Darel's smile barely faltered. "Oh. Oh, I see. Any reason why?" Please don't let it be because of me please don't let it be because of me…

"Uhm…" The two looked at each other, and Sniper nudged Engineer. The Texan knew how to talk to girls better anyway. Engineer sighed and shuffled around in his backpack. "He wanted ta return this to ya…"

Oh no it was because of me why why was it because of me I'm not beautiful that's it, right, why did it… "Oh… thank you…" Darel looked at the book that the Texan offered her, and she took it with trembling fingers. "I was hoping he'd enjoy it…" she said softly, speaking to no one in particular.

"He did. He wanted ta talk ta ya about one o' the characters he liked." Engineer said quickly.

"Really?" Darel looked up with bright, shining eyes at the prospect. "Which one? I really like Balin. He's one of my favorites, and Bilbo is real nice too, but Gandalf is my absolute…"

"Look, Sheila." Sniper held up his hands to interrupt the young woman. "It was nice ta talk ta ya, but we really gotta go."

Engineer gave the Australian a look, but Darel nodded. "Oh yeah, I'm sorry. You must be busy." She rocked back and forth on her heels, and looked back up. "Should I come next week?"

Sniper shook his head. "Don't count on it." Darel hugged her book tightly as the Australian turned and sauntered off.

The Texan didn't move though. He had a feeling the young woman wanted to say one last thing. "W…what happened to him, Engineer…?" she asked when she finally regained control of her tongue.

"He… fell. It wasn't a pretty sight. I don't think you'd wanna hear anythin' else."

Darel bent over so she could cry without harming her precious book. "I… I guess not…"

The Texan placed a red cap on her head, and she blinked. She looked up and Engineer shrugged. "We figgured you'd like it. 'm sure he wouldn't mind."

Darel touched the brim of the hat that the Scout hid the book under. Her "thank you" was so soft that Engineer could hardly hear it. He waved at her and went to follow Sniper. She watched them until they disappeared into the crowd, and then, when she was sure that Scout wouldn't come bounding out of the crowds for some early April Fool's joke, she inched home, her tears falling all the way.

---

Friend: Forget spy
Friend: Spy's a scrub
Friend: SCOUT is the suavest dude
Charlett: Hahahaha
Charlett: Spy would be removing her top by now, in public and broad daylight, and no one would care
Charlett: THAT'S how suave he is
Friend: Man they would have done the deed 10 times by now
Charlett: they would be having sex ON THE SIDEWALK and it would be ART.
Friend: ART
Friend: "Oh god! What a horrific public d-- oh, wow, Spy~~"

... ... You know it to be true.

Also don't worry, the story ended on a low note here, but Darel eventually met a different engineer, settled down, and had three kids. The middle child ended up becoming a writer who may or may not actually be me.

They really all did end up living happily ever after. Except for the Scout, but I assume we can take solace in the fact that he probably died too quickly to hate himself before death.

Everyone wins!

Or not? Either way, I hope you enjoyed it.

Oh yeah, the song they sang is a Bostonian original. I'm the only one I know who really knows about it. Aside from Wikipedia. Look up "MTA song" or "The Man Who Never Returned". Voila!