RED Team Base - Badlands, New Mexico, USA. Wednesday, April 4th, 1973.

Medic felt a hand clamp over his mouth, jerking him awake. In the darkness and without his glasses on, he couldn't see who it was. It wasn't until his attacker spoke that he knew who it was.

"Scream, and I'll put a bullet in your ugly face. Respawn's off; Fred took care of that."

He rolled over, finding the other Heavy staring him down, a sadistic grin dancing across his lips. A pistol was pressed right between his eyes.

"What's the matter, Frankenstein? Missed me?"

The man was the last person he wanted to wake up to see: Heavy, from Team Classic. Medic resisted making a face at the mention of his insulting nickname. He wanted Misha, his Heavy, but he knew he had no way of getting to him; he wasn't about to blindly guess if the respawn threat was a bluff. Of all nights, why did this have to be the night when they decided to sleep in their own beds? He could've had Heavy there to protect him but instead, he was helpless, especially without his weapons. He mentally kicked himself for being stupid enough to not have foreseen their retaliation to prepare himself for it.

Classic Heavy laughed darkly. "The look in your eyes. Pathetic. You've grown soft, nurse."

It pained him to know that he was right; trust had a way of making strong men weak. Medic tightened his hand into a fist and punched the man in the stomach as hard as he could. While being held down on his bed by the mouth, it was the best he could do. Classic Heavy didn't even flinch.

"Feisty, aren't you?" He snorted. "Feisty for the little girl you are, anyway." He dragged the man to his feet and grabbed his glasses off of the nightstand. Classic Heavy blindfolded him, gagged him, and tied his arms behind his back before forcing him to walk down the hall, roughly leading him by the arm. He felt Archimedes land on his shoulder, causing Classic Heavy to swat him away. He still held Medic at gunpoint with the barrel pressed against his temple.

Before long, he was shoved into the back of a van and the doors were slammed shut. Medic could tell there was someone beside him yet, in his state, he couldn't know who.

RED Team Base - Badlands, New Mexico, USA. Wednesday, April 5th, 1973.

Breakfast was ready, yet only half the team was seated at the table. A huge mound of bacon piled on a plate in the middle of the table seemed as though it was too much; Engineer, Soldier, Miss Pauling, Medic, and Spy were nowhere to be seen.

Everyone seated at the table took their share of the food and nibbled at it. They mostly pushed it around on their plates and no one dared to speak.

Spy burst into the room, panting and looking surprisingly disheveled compared to his usually well-put together look. He seemed exhausted, yet also too alert to consider resting.

"Woah, mate, what's gotten into you?" Sniper asked, getting to his feet.

He was ignored.

"Spy," he said, going over and giving the man's shoulder a shake. "What happened to you?"

Trying to catch his breath, Spy said, "They took her." He coughed, likely from the running and his years of cigarette use.

"Who?"

"Gray Gravel."

"Took who?"

"My wife."

Sniper's eyes widened. "Bloody hell."

Scout snorted, reclining in his seat with his arms crossed. With a smug grin, he asked, "Since when did ya have a wife, frog-face? Who the hell would marry you?"

He narrowed his eyes at him. "It doesn't matter. I'd suggest you start worrying if you want to see Miss Pauling again."

"Wait, what?"

"While you were hugging that stuffed squirrel in your sleep, I was searching the base." Spy tapped his fingers together, keeping his hands low where they were less likely to be seen.

Scout sat up and pointed an accusatory finger at Spy. "Hey, don't you be bringin' Chucklenuts into this. He didn't do nothin'." Sniper and Heavy smirked at each other and suppressed their laughter.

Spy exhaled sharply, his mouth a thin line. "Do you want to see your girlfriend again?"

"Uh, yeah. Obviously."

"Then I'd suggest you listen to me." Spy dusted off his already-clean-looking suit. "They've taken every one of us who isn't sitting at this table."

Heavy's eyebrows raised with concern. "They took Doctor?"

"I'm afraid so." Spy began errantly pacing around the room, becomingly increasingly impatient. "We need to come up with a plan, and quickly; my wife has no experience with the art of war."

Heavy held his forehead in his hand, elbow propped on the table. He picked up three strips of bacon and teared off a bite, chewing lethargically.

"Soldier is strong. He will be fine," Zhanna said. "Miss Pauling is dead. She will be missed."

Scout, clearly not having heard her, said, "Aw crap, we've gotta save her! How fast can we get there?" He tapped his foot and repeatedly folded and unfolded his hands.

"Are you daft, lad?" Demoman asked. "If we just charge in there guns blazing, they'll blow us to bits!" To drive his point home, he mimicked the blast of an explosion with his hands.

Pyro said something while wildly waving their hands about, yet no one understood a word of it without Engineer there to translate for them.

Sniper shook his head. "Sorry, Pyro. We can't understand you."

They said something else, sounding disappointed and hanging their head.

Spy took some food and everyone resumed their quiet munching. As Heavy left his food sit for the most part, Demoman said, "Aye, don't you be worried, lad. Your boyfriend'll be fine."

Heavy jerked his head up. "What?"

"Ah, don't be actin' like we don't know."

"Yeah, it's pretty freakin' obvious," Scout added.

He balled his hands into fists. "I do not know what you say. Is not true."

"I know you miss him." Demoman offered a sympathetic smile. "We'll get him back."

"Medic is good friend. That is all."

Demoman laughed. "Oh yeah. He's a very good friend of yours, big guy."

Scout chuckled and high-fived him.

Heavy slowly stood. "Is not funny." He stomped over to Demoman's side of the table, nostrils flared. "There is nothing between Doctor and I. Nothing."

"Nothing? Even after the way he screamed at the sky when you died yesterday?"

He swung his fist, connecting with Demoman's nose. The man cried out and covered it with his hands, swearing like a black, Scottish, cyclops sailor.

"Shit Heavy, what the hell?" Scout yelled, rushing over to check on his injured teammate.

"I was just trying to help!" he complained. "I wasn't making fun of you!"

Heavy stared him down, arms crossed. He then went to the fridge and took out one of his sandwiches. "This will help," he said, tossing it at him with such accuracy that it smacked him in the face before proceeding to stomp out of the room and slam the door behind him.

They met each other's eyes, yet no one said a word, almost afraid that speaking would make Heavy return. Demoman ate the sandwich, feeling its magic-like qualities gradually heal his nose.

After a few minutes, Sniper asked, "Are you okay?"

He waved it off and continued to eat.

"I'll check on brother," Zhanna said, stuffing the last piece of bacon in her mouth on her way out.

She knew that Heavy prefered to be alone when he was upset. He'd been doing it as long as she could remember, so she could be fairly certain that she would find him in his room. Zhanna tried the door, only to find it locked. She was about to break the lock with her metal hand before it was yanked open to reveal who she was looking for, fuming.

Zhanna raised her hands in surrender, offering a placating smile.

"Go."

Her expression hardened into a stern frown. "No. We talk about this right now."

With how stubborn she could be, Heavy didn't bother to argue with her and simply let her in with a sigh.

She sat on the end of his bed and, in Russian, asked, "Is it true?"

Heavy refused to meet her eyes, staying near the door. "Yes. It's all true," he answered in the same language, cheeks growing red.

"Why him?" Zhanna asked, continuing to speak to him in their native language. "What do you see in that man?"

"Medic is a good man. He can be a bit eccentric, but it's part of why he's just so… perfect." A soft smile settling across his lips, he said,"I love the excited look he gets in his eyes when he talks about his work, the way he rambles about his ideas, the way he talks to his birds like they're people..." He covered his face with his hand. "Why am I telling you all of this? You shouldn't even know about it. No one was supposed to find out."

Zhanna smiled slightly. "It's okay. I'm glad to know that you're happy. How long have you been together?"

Pausing to think for a moment, he soon answered, "A few weeks."

"Hmm, not bad. And he treats you well?"

"Mostly."

A frown tugged at her lips. "Mostly?"

"Yes."

"What do you mean?"

If he had the space to do so, it seemed as though he would have wanted to move farther away from her. "It's nothing. Everyone has problems in their relationships."

"Misha, what did he do?"

"It doesn't matter."

"No, tell me," Zhanna said, her tone making it clear that refusing to answer would be anything but acceptable. "What has he done?"

Admitting defeat with a weary sigh, Heavy said, "Something bad happened before we were together."

"Tell me about it."

"No. I've said all that you need to know."

She narrowed her eyes at him.

He remained silent for several moments, arms crossed. When he couldn't uphold his cold indifference under her glare any longer, he said, "Fine, I'll tell you, but you can't tell anyone what I'm about to say."

"I won't."

Reluctantly, he sat on the opposite end of the bed, causing the springs to creak as the mattress sank under his weight. "Remember the night that Medic and I didn't come to dinner?"

"Yes. I didn't see you all night."

"After the battle, Doctor asked me to let him experiment on me. I hesitated but I agreed to it." Seeing her shock, he explained, "We all do stupid things when we're in love. As I was saying, he usually keeps me awake, but this time he put me to sleep." Heavy folded his hands, resting his chin on them with his elbows propped on his knees. "When I woke up, I felt very dizzy and tired. I didn't even feel this bad when he broke my rib."

Before he could continue his story, Zhanna interrupted with, "He broke your rib?"

"It was a few years ago, back when we were first hired. I was helping him with my heart surgery and he asked me to hold my ribcage open for him. I snapped my rib."

"And you trust this man?"

"With my life. My rib is growing back like he said it would. Anyway, I never feel this bad after he's worked on me. I found out a little later that it was because he killed me. Medic said it was an accident, but it didn't help me feel better. I'm just a bit worried he might make another mistake; he might let himself get carried away again."

She snorted. "And you're dating this man after all that?"

"He's wonderful. He's a bit strange, but it makes him all the more special." Heavy smiled to himself. "I've never met anyone else like him. It can be scary sometimes, but seeing the way he smiles while he works is worth it. He brought me back; I trust him, even if it's hard to."

"You know what he's done, don't you?"

He raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Medic was working for the enemy," Zhanna said.

"I know."

"That's not all. He killed Sniper."

"What?" He raised an eyebrow. "When?"

"When Gray Gravel captured us. They shot him, and Medic did nothing to stop them."

Heavy frowned. "He never told me about this."

"I'm not surprised," she said, voice flat. "But, I see that he's back on our side and I can tell he cares about you. Just… be careful."

"I will."

An uncomfortable silence fell between them. His mind raced with questions he wanted to ask Medic mixed with concern for his safety. Heavy had hardly heard anything from Medic about his time with their enemy, only saying that he was glad to be back with his original team; he couldn't know how Team Classic would treat him.

"So," Heavy began. "You made up with Soldier?"

"Yes. He apologized for saying those stupid things about our family. He was going to apologize to you in person, but he didn't get a chance to."

"Mmm."

Zhanna placed a hand on his broad shoulder. "Is this why you haven't been talking to me as much?"

"That, Soldier is still an idiot, and because I was afraid of you finding out about me and Doctor."

"Brother, it's okay. I'm happy for you. And yes, Soldier is an idiot, but he's my idiot."

He finally looked her in the eye. "You're not mad?"

"No. How could I be mad about seeing you happy?"

Heavy smiled, feeling genuine relief flood over him. "Good."

Wrapping her arms around him, Zhanna gave her brother a tight squeeze, one that he readily reciprocated.

She let go and chuckled. "I guess this makes them brother-in-laws."

"Medic and Soldier as brother-in-laws?" He gave a hearty laugh. "That's true, but I can hardly see them acting like family."

"They'll have to figure out how to get along eventually."

"Maybe one day." Heavy sighed, clutching his forehead in his hands. "I miss him already."

Zhanna patted him on the shoulder. "Don't worry. We'll get them back.."

"I'll be okay." With a sheepish smile, he added, "I guess it was stupid to think no one would ever know about us."

"I understand why you were afraid, but we wouldn't make fun of you."

"Thank you."

Zhanna got up and walked toward the door, turning to face Heavy before leaving. "Take some time to calm down, then join us and we'll make plans."

"I will, but tell Scout to run. Tell him Heavy is very mad that he broke his promise to Doctor." Zhanna nodded and excused herself, leaving him to read his book. Quickly letting himself get lost in the fictional world, he forgot his nagging fears for the moment as he focused on the ones the characters faced.