"Come on vati you know I've been training for the past forever! Please let me come with you!"

"Nein, it's hardly been three veeks since I unveiled you, you are not ready yet. Vhile I don't like ze idea of leaving you here vith Herr Scout and Demo, you should be just fine vis my good friend. Now no more begging, ve must leave now!" Medic gave her a peck on the forehead from inside the team's van, their primary mode of transportation.

"Hmph, I'll just go shoot things or something," she pouted as half the team drove away. Coming into the recreational area of the huge building she was still familiarizing herself with, Scout, Demo, and Sniper were all sitting around a table.

"Yo Numba Ten, you do cards?" Scout called out. He figured he might as well call her something while she had yet to discover her talent.

"Cards? Yeah, I'll play. Not like I have anything else to do around here." She approached and sat in the empty chair furthest from anyone else.

"Alright alright, now we're talkin'! And hey, why don't we make dis interestin'? Let's play strip poker." He looked at the present faces to ignite their approval.

"Oh that Scoot's a crafty one he is! Alraight, let's get this show on the rood!" Demo took a swig of whatever was in his dark brown bottle and slammed it back down on the table, picking up every card on the table and skillfully shuffling them. Sniper grunted an approval. Scout gave her an ambiguous description of the rules and way they play, and the cards were dealt. Having never played before, Ten lost the first hand quickly. She removed her scarf. The game went on, and she lost the next two hands. She dropped her gloves and boots. The next round was long as she was getting the hang of it, but ultimately lost and removed her socks.

"I fold. You blokes 'ave fun with your game." Sniper laid down his cards and left the room.

"C'mon Snipe, you're gonna miss the best part!"

"Gettin' a little too heated for yer boots? Haaaahahaaa! Kitchen too hot for ye?"

The two remaining men shrugged it off and continued the game. Ten was determined to win the next hand, imagining them both as Spy, planning her gloat if she won. The victory went to Demo. As Ten shrugged, they leaned in closely, wide-eyed and curious as though to say is she really about to do that? As the first zip broke the silence, the pair of double doors behind them swung open.

Heavy walked through, sandwich in hand. "Comrades, half of team is on mission, we stay behind and-"

He stopped short, taking in the sight before him. "...and be bad men? No!" He dropped his lunch, bee-lining towards Ten. He grabbed her discarded clothing and hoisted her over his shoulder, shooting a glare at the cringing pair and walking out the same door he came through. When they closed behind them, he sat her down.

"You put on clothes, stay here, I will be back." Ten did as she was told. Almost comical yelling and thrashing sounded from the rec hall. As soon as she tied her scarf back on, Heavy returned with Demo and Scout, holding them by the backs of their shirt collars. The suspended two stared at a puzzled Ten for a moment, and Heavy knocked them together.

"Ouch hey come on fat man! Damn. Sorry Ten, dat was uncalled for."

"Ye big brute. Isnae what I intended, lass. Sorry."

Heavy released them, and they went elsewhere, popping their joints and rubbing sore spots. He knelt down to talk to her.

"It is not right way to do that to woman. Was leetle man Sniper playing too?"

Ten laughed and nodded, "It's okay, he left before the last turn. I can go talk to him. I don't know what the big deal is but that was really funny." She hugged his neck. He carefully hugged back so not as to crush her, and sent her off. Ten thought it was so nice of Heavy to be protective of her, and while he wouldn't admit it, he enjoyed it as it allowed him to revisit the feeling of tending to his three younger sisters back home.

Ten skipped down the rather small hallways, passing bedrooms, bathrooms, and miscellaneous rooms. How convenient, she thought, that personal rooms had huge labels on them matching the patches on the shoulders of their gear. Those were the first things she memorized. She passed up Pyro's room, but stopped and went back to it. They play together a lot, but she had never actually been in his room before. She had no fear of him like the rest of the team, and didn't care about how mysterious he was.

"Hmm... just a peek." She reached for the doorknob.

BANG

The noise made her jump back. Just down the hall from her pyromaniac's room was a balcony fenced by low metal bars. She made her way outside to locate the source of the gunfire. Down below was the Sniper, tossing rocks into the air and shooting them to bits through his scope. Her jealousy sparked a bit. While she'd been practicing shooting at paper targets, her aim was rather awful. There was no way she'd be able to hit a moving target, let alone a rock flying through the air. Ten decided to mess with him. There were plenty of stray rocks sitting up on the balcony. She picked one up and called out to him, mimicking his accent the best she could.

"Oi Snipey, think fast!" She pulled back and tossed it into the air. Before she realized it, he swung around and fired. The rock barely made distance as it burst, raining bits of granite all over Ten. She froze in place and heavily gulped, realizing that rock could have been her face.

He laid down his rifle and bent over laughing, slapping his thigh. "You oughta see the look on your face mate! Better think twice before tryna pull pranks on your mate Snipa!"

Ten recovered from her shock and dusted herself off, laughing as well. "I thought I could get you, I guess I'll have to try harder. You know, you're lucky you left when you did. Big papa bear came and showed them what for it meant! It was so funny." Ten developed a habit of saying things that didn't particularly make sense, but those who spent enough time around her learned pretty quick.

"Really now? I suppose that'll happen then, ahahah!" Sniper polished his rifle. As he did so, Ten hopped over the railings and safely landed on the ground. She proudly dusted her hands off and came up to him.

"Heeey, why did you leave anyway?" she asked.

He shrugged. "I dunno, guess I wasn't too fond of the atmosphere."

"Weeellll, okay. Hey..." She peered around her team mate the rifle in his hand. "You don't suppose I could maybe try shooting that, do you?"

"What this old thing? Go right ahead mate. I've 'eard your shootin' sucks, so I bet that scope'll help." He tossed it to her. She gave him a Soldier's salute and held it in firing position, peering through the scope. The distance at which she could clearly see far-away things astounded her.

"Wow... this is awesome!" Instead of shooting, she continued looking through the scope. Her instant favorite things to watch became wild animals.

"...Oi, it ain't a pair of binoculars, it's a weapon. And you're not even 'oldin it right. Give 'er 'ere." He stepped close behind her. Placing each respective hand over her own, he repositioned them into proper spots for utilizing the gun. This surprised Ten, but she didn't object. Sniper knelt a bit and managed to peer through the scope as well as Ten. Neither spoke as he moved the gun, searching for a live target. Their combined stance was stable enough for her to notice his heartbeat steadily thumping against her. Her face rose in temperature and she became incredibly frustrated.

Finally a lone rabbit sat in their line of sight. It was far enough away, but Sniper spoke quietly as though it was right before them. "Steady, steadyyy... fire."

A tiny burst of hot air grazed the side of Ten's face, slightly blowing her hair forward upon the word "fire." The sensation alerted her, and her trigger finger twitched, firing the gun and instantly killing the animal.

Sniper stood upright again. "You bloody did it! See, ain't that 'ard is it now?"

Ten immediately wriggled from her mentor's grasp. Her palm sat on the side of her face. "Yeah, I sure did." Her words were slow and deliberate. She stood there wordlessly, staring at his aviators.

Sniper decided to break the silence. "Well, you gonna go get it? It's your prize."

Ten shook her head, "Ah, no! I couldn't, it's too cute, I can't see it if it's dead. I'm going to go practice by myself now. Thanks Snipey." She turned and briefly waved goodbye, running off back into the base.

"Oi, you don't expect me to clean it, do you?!" Sniper called out, but she was already gone.

"Hohohh! Ain't that just the cutest thing ya e'er did saw?!" Sniper turned to find the Demoman sitting on the balcony, bottle in hand, resting his arms on the railing and dangling his feet.

"When the bloody hell did you get 'ere?!"

"Doncha worry lad, yer secret's safe with ol' Demoman. Can't wait tae see what happens next!" He raised his bottle up, pointing to the sky. "And I bet they can't either!"

"Who the hell are you... Aahhhh piss off ye bloody drunk."