Author's Note: As soon as there is a hint of things going badly, I guess overwhelmed with reviews! I guess I should just write misery and suffering, right? Ehh...maybe not. It'd get boring eventually. Many thanks for the guest reviews btw- I'm sorry I can't reply to you, but maybe you feel happier lurking without crazy writers pestering you.

Now, I think it's about time Scoutbot had something go right for him for once, isn't it?

Saving Private Soldierbot

Chapter Ten: Unexpected Allies

Slam.

Scoutbot paused outside the door to Dell's workshop and lent against the wall for a moment. Boy, it had felt good to give Hardhat a piece of his mind, hadn't it? Well...no, actually. He felt miserable and frustrated. Nothing ever goes right. Fuck it. I'm sick of this shit.

"Hey bro." A voice called cheerfully. "What's up?"

Scoutbot looked up slowly at the Scout strolling towards him. From the long hair and dark green jacket, it had to be Bobby or Rick, but he had never been able to tell them apart. The other Scouts had no difficulty telling which of the two was which, and neither, oddly enough, did the Pyros. While most of the clones had carefully chosen a unique look, Bobby and Rick had kept their identical apearances just to bug everyone. Or at least, that's what Scoutbot suspected.

"Oh, hey." Scoutbot said, pushing himself off the wall and joining the human. "I'm just, you know, doing stuff. Where's your other half?"

"Katie? I think she's chatting to Spy Marcus and Emily Pauling about some business takeover. It's boring as fuck. You know, the usual shit: telexes, death threats, board meetings, all that crap."

"Uh, right. I actually meant your..." Scoutbot did a quick sum in his head. "Other quarter."

"Oh! I was just going to go and see him. Hospital visits suck, but I couldn't leave Bobby in there getting bored, could I?"

"What?!" Scoutbot asked in concern, while mentally taking note that this had to be Rick. "What's wrong with him?"

"Oh, didn't you know? The stupid fucker's gone and got pneumonia. Seems he had a bit of a cold when we went for that snowball fight and, well, hypothermia and stuff's bad for that." Scout snorted. "Albrecht says he'll be fine and won't need new lungs. Creepy bastard seemed pretty disappointed 'bout that."

"Jeez." Scoutbot shuddered with a rattling noise. "I wish I'd known. I'd have come along and pestered him. Taken him some fruit or whatever."

"Come join me then." Scout said, punching the robot playfully on the arm. "Ow. Shit, I should know better than doing that."

Scoutbot gave a weak chuckle. "Just be glad I don't punch you back, dude."

"Eh, you punch like a girl!"

"Like Miss Pauling?"

"Ok...like another girl. A normal girl, not a totally hot one. Anyway, she doesn't punch, she scratches. Or bites."

"You know what? I don't wanna know." Scoutbot paused. "Actually, I do wanna know. I mean, there's two of you, and one of her...I mean...how?"

Scout gave him the glassy-eyed, goofy grin of the utterly love-struck. "Oh, you'd be surprised. Anyway, I thought robots weren't interested in sex."

"Hey, I might be a robot but I'm still a nosy asshole." Scoutbot pointed out.

Scout laughed, but stopped when he heard coughing. He pushed open the swinging double doors to the infirmary.

"Hey Bobby! How're you doin, bro?" Rick called.

"This...sucks..." Bobby replied, between hacking coughs. "Never...again..." He was sat up in bed, coughing wetly. He looked pale and clammy, with puffy, watering eyes. Scoutbot was surprised that he wasn't connected to a drip or a beep-beep machine or anything. Medic normally hooked someone up to one of those even if they had nothing worse than a hangnail. Bobby gave a final cough and spat something yellow and wobbly into the tissue.

"Now that there? That's just nasty." Scoutbot stated.

"Says the guy who leaves grease marks everywhere." Bobby replied with a tired grin. "Hey, you wanna see something awesome? Check this out:" He opened his mouth and stuck out his tongue, which was black and furry looking.

"Dude, that's wicked gross!" Rick said in alarm. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Nozhing to vorry about." Medic Albrecht said, sweeping past them and picking up a clipboard. Tiny Vlad was perched on his shoulder as always and peered down at the clipboard curiously. "Zhe high dosage of amoxicillin I have given him can cause a microbial bloom on zhe tongue. I took a swab and zhe cultures are fascinating!"

"Is quite pretty, all different colours." Vlad said.

"Ja, so it is." Albrecht agreed with a nod. "Zhe Aspergillus niger contrasts nicely vizh zhe Candida albicans, doesn't it? Black and yellow speckles. Shame about zhe smell."

"Dude, tongue-germs are not pretty. 'Specially my tongue-germs." Bobby grumbled. He shifted slightly and made an odd, huffing noise, followed by another slight cough. "So, can I have visitors?"

"If you didn't, your incessant chattering vould drive me mad. So yes. Fifteen minutes, but you must vash your hands aftervards. Bozh of you."

"But I'm not gonna catch it." Scoutbot protested.

"No, you vill just give it to everyvone else. I have better zhings to do zhan treat half zhe Institute for respiratory infections."

"Dude, you're a doc."

"And?" Albrecht shrugged, making Vlad sway and grasp his hair hurriedly.

"Ok, ok." Scoutbot grumbled. "I'm gonna rust. I know it."

"Fifteen minutes." Medic repeated, before nodding briskly and leaving.

"So, how're you doin'?" Rick asked, throwing himself into a chair and placing his feet on the bed. Scoutbot flopped onto the floor, folding his legs neatly.

"Better, I reckon." Bobby replied. "Doc says the fever's gone down. Last night it was really high, and hell, I was really high. I thought there were these, like, fingers, dripping from the ceiling. Nearly crapped myself. Bored, of course. Sick of eating soup, but it's all I can swallow. So what have you two rejects been doin'?"

"Ah, you know, the usual." Rick said airily. "Sending messages, running supplies, all that shit. Katie's bein' really strict 'bout not letting me off-site though, so no biking. Sucks."

"Yeah." Bobby replied, before pausing for a cough. He spat again. "Fuck, that tastes foul. Like Galileo shat in my mouth. So, what's the awesome metal dude been up to?"

"Huh, me?" Scoutbot said, looking down at the floor. "Oh...nothin'."

"Bullshit." Rick snorted. "Don't lie to us, bro, 'cos we got our intelligence network. Better 'n a Spy's, it is. I know you been sneaking off at night."

"I didn't, I was too busy coughing my guts up." Bobby interrupted.

"Scout Matt saw you." Rick continued smugly.

"Shit." Scoutbot muttered. "Who did he tell?"

"Oh, just us." Rick replied soothingly. "You don't grass on your own gang, right? C'mon, tell us what you're doing."

"I...can 't." Scoutbot said sadly.

"Sure you can! We're dyin' to know."

"Or just dyin'" Bobby complained.

"Don't be such a pussy, Bobby. C'mon, Scoutbot, tell us! Otherwise we'll just bug ya until you do."

"Ok, ok. This has gotta go no further, ok?" Scoutbot said a resigned sigh, and started to explain what had happened in the last few days. As he told the Scouts about Eagle, and the way he had changed, they listened with plenty of interruptions, but no judgement. Just surprise and awe. Scoutbot found it oddly freeing and a great relief to simply tell someone who'd understand, someone on his wavelength.

It got easier to explain the longer he talked, and by the time he got to describing his recent argument with Engineer Dell, he was waving his arms around passionately.

"So yeah, Eagle's stuck there, all on his own with nothin' but a radio for company." He finished. "He's alive, man, really alive, and nobody gives a damn about him 'cept me. I don't dare tell anyone else, 'cos they'll just say 'Woah, it's one of those murderous robots, destroy it!'. I mean, Eagle has never had a chance! Who the fuck locks a person away in a cupboard for a year?!"

"Well, we did." Rick said quietly. "Damn... I remember Engineer showing us that head. It was as dumb as a bucket of frogs, though, like, really dumb. Never thought it...huh, woah. This is some serious shit."

"I...guess this is partly our fault." Bobby admitted. "I mean, we were there and all. Never knew that robot was left switched on, though. That's harsh."

"You gotta understand, it was a crazy time." Rick explained, holding his arms out in a wide shrug. "We were so fuckin' tired, fightin' day after day, runnin' outta time. We were only stayin' awake 'cos the Doc kept us full of drugs- uppers and shit. I reckon Dell just forgot, 'cos the world was gonna end 'less we stopped it. We'd have done anythin' to stay alive. The weird science stuff Engie did saved us all, in the end."

"And this Soldierbot paid the price for savin' the world." Scoubot said sourly. "Nice."

"The world ain't fair, never has been." Rick said sympathetically.

"Don't you start!" Scoutbot snapped.

"Woah, what did I say?" Rick said, holding his hands up defensively. Scoutbot looked down.

"Sorry, dude. Just seem to hear that a lot right now. Mostly from people telling me that it's ok that my life is a big steaming load while they're doing fine."

"I reckon the smart thing to do is..." Bobby started, but broke down into a coughing fit. He waved at Rick.

"...to fix that robot properly. Give it arms and legs." Rick finished. Bobby nodded in agreement,his eyes streaming. "Being stuck just like that, as a head...well I know some else who went through it and yeah, wasn't good for his sanity."

"Jacques said somethin' about that, too. What did I miss?" Scoutbot asked.

"You not heard that story? Huh." Rick snorted and Bobby looked up from his coughing and grinned. "You gotta hear it sometime. It's fuckin' crazy. Kind of important, too."

"Ugh. Fuck my lungs." Bobby finishing coughing with a gasp. He swallowed and grimaced. "So, we gotta get Eagle a proper body, right?"

"Dude, you're not goin' anywhere right now." Rick said sternly. He frowned in thought. "Thing is, we need Engie to put together a robot. That's some complex tech."

"You're...you're gonna help me?" Scoutbot asked hesitantly. Bobby just snorted and Rick smiled.

"'Course we are. I mean, come on! We're bros, this is the right thing to do, it's gonna be fun and it'll piss a load of people off. Totally worth it."

Scoutbot sat up straighter, stretching his arms with a squeak. "The robots Gray Mann made all have parts that can be swapped about. Engie's replaced my legs a few times, and I saw what he did. It just takes a socket set and some screwdrivers. Smart design choice, that."

"So, we gotta steal robot bits from the basement. Cool."

"I can't do that." Scoutbot said bitterly. "If I went near Gray's old robots, someone'd see me and go off screaming, you can bet on it. Hell, imagine if Solly saw me: 'At last! The traitorous robot is showing where its true allegiance lies! He will raise a robot army to destroy humanity! Sun Tzu! Maggots!'"

"I bet I can grab the stuff you need." Rick said firmly. "All I've gotta do is..."

"Visiting time is over!" Albrecht suddenly declared, pushing a rattling trolley into the room. "Zhe patient needs to rest. Go on, out. Schnell!"

The three Scouts startled guiltily. Rick shrugged and stood up, absent-mindedly wiping his hands off.

"Well, uh, glad you're gettin' better, bro."

"Thanks for comin'. I'll be outta here soon, just you see."

"Thanks for...you know, stuff." Scoutbot said, getting up off the floor.

"Vash your hands in zhe sink before you go." Albrecht reminded them. The robot and the human grumbled, but did as they were told. Once they had left, Medic gave Bobby a quick examination, checking his temperature and then listening to his chest with a stethoscope. He didn't bother to warm it, since he knew Scout would complain no matter what temperature it was. As it was, the young man yelped at the cold metal, but Medic was pleased to note that the crackling noise from his breathing was much less than it had been. Bobby was quiet and thoughtful throughout it all, but Albrecht chose not to comment on this.

"Zhere, all done." He said finally, taking off his gloves and throwing them into the biohazard bin. "You are a lot better zhan yesterday."

"Yeah, I was totally out of it then. Thanks, Doc." He gave a wheezing sigh and buttoned up his pyjamas.

"Just doing my job." Albrecht replied with a shrug. "Ve vill leave you to rest now. Make sure you drink plenty of water, ja?"

"Yeah yeah. Sheesh, you're not my Mom." Bobby said, lying back with a small smile and closing his bloodshot eyes.

"Sleep well, leetle Scout." Vlad said from Albrecht's shoulder. The tiny man leaned in and whispered in Medic's ear, tiny puffs of breath tickling his earlobe. "He loves fuss being made of him, I am thinking."

Albrecht just nodded slightly and the corners of his lips twitched in a smile. He carefully stepped out of the room and closed the door to his office softly. He reached a hand up for Vlad and placed him down on the desk.

"Doktor should not have listened in to conversation." Vlad said, pushing a pathology book over and sitting down on it.

"Mm. You vere listening in too."

"Nnn. Is true." Vlad admitted. "So what do we do?" They looked at each other for a moment.

"I am zhinking ve do nozhing." Medic admitted.

"Da, I agree." Vlad said with a nod. "Is not harming anyone, and leetle robot needs friend."

"No one needs to know." Albrecht paused thoughtfully and drummed his fingers on the desk. "Maybe ve can tell Engineer...sometime. Vhen ve feel zhe time is right."

"Not now. Engineer will not listen while he is still mad."

"Nein." Medic drummed his fingers on the table thoughtfully. "If ve can help zhe robot, ve vill."

"Da." Vlad agreed with a smile. "Is good you want to help, Doktor."

"Hrm, vell. Scoutbot has my sympazhy." Albrecht gave a slight, sad smile, and patted Vlad's shoulder affectionately with one finger. "After all, ve know what it's like to be different, don't ve?"

"So we do, Albreshenka." Vlad turned and gave the finger a gentle kiss. "So we do."

In Chapter Eleven: It's time for Eagle to get a new body!

Translations:

Albreshenka - Ok, let's dive into the world of the Russian diminutive naming system! Russians use a number of shortened forms of their names, depending on a person's familiarity. There are four main ones: the normal name, the informal version, informal/affectionate, and informal/insulting. For instance, Heavy's name is Mikhail (the -kh, incidently, is a sound we don't have in the English language. It's the same sound as the German or Gaelic -ch, not a hard k. You often hear people pronounce this wrongly). His family call him Misha, which is the informal version of his name. Often this and the informal/affectionate version, Mish'enka, are used by very close friends, family or lovers. The informal/insulting one is Mishka, which can be used in an affectionate way as well, just as we might call someone we like by an insulting name, such as a father calling a son 'Squirt'. Now, obviously 'Albrecht', being of German origin, doesn't have a Russian diminutive, but Russians are entirely capable of making them up for a foreign name if they like the person enough. Hence, Albreshenka is an affectionate nickname for Medic Albrecht. Huh, that's a big description for a single word! I spent a short time living in Siberia, can you tell?