"Scout, ya awake?"

Scout groaned and blinked open his eyes to see the behatted form of Engineer standing over him. Pyro kneeled beside him and was tentatively poking the recumbent class.

"Am now. What the freaking hell dya want?" He grumbled, sitting up. His ankle had stopped hurting, he noticed.

"Ah reckon we should go an' check the fuse box now so we can report in ta Pauling when she's on. While the other team's asleep."

"And why the freaking hell do ya need me? I was asleep too!"

"'Cause you know where it is. And ah don't quite trust that the other team's gonna respect the ceasefire."

"Ya got Pyro. Ya don't need me."

"Scout, do ya realise how stupid that would be? No respawn means we ain't in-vul-nerable to our own fire."

"Wut?"

"He'll set us all on fire."

"Oh." Scout reached for shirt, only to find it still wet. "Aw shit."

"What now?" The Texan sighed.

"Still wet. An' I ain't wearing this if it's wet."

"Why not?"

"Why not? I'll freaking freeze, that's why!"

"Didn't ya pack extra clothes?"

"No…"

"Scout, ya ain't going out there half dressed. Ya gonna need ta put that on."

"But hardhat…" Scout whinned.

"Mrhphm!"

The duo turned their heads to face Pyro, who had deposited a blue chest on the floor.

"Py, ya aint helping." The Engineer said through gritted teeth.

"Whoa! What the hell's this?" Scout demanded, pointing at the box. "Why's it got my...picture thingy on it? This aint mine!" he opened the chest, curiosity overcoming whatever cation he might have had.

"Scout, ah don't think…"

"Hey! I found grenades!" Scout squealed with excitement, holding aloft a blue concussion grenade. "And a nail gun! This is so freaking awesome!"

"Scout, put that down!" Engineer grabbed the grenade out of scout's hands. "Ya don't know-"

"Hey look!" Scout brought out a blue camouflage patterned jacket with blue bands on it.

"Fine. ya have a top. Can we please get going now?"

"Fine. ya can go. I'll catch up."

"Scout...ah don't even know what ta say…"

"Why? 'Cause I look so freaking awesome?"

From behind its mask, Pyro let out what possibly sounded like a snigger.

"Ya look ridiculous. Can ya even see with that thing?"

"What? This?" Scout pointed at the pair of blue, reflective sunglasses covering his eyes. "'Course I can! An' its also kinda like some sort of...tactical visor! I can see your health an' my health an' hey! A leaderboard"

"Scout, ya need to focus. We 'ave a job here."

"Right, right, a job. Oh man, I hope we find some RED bastards so I can use this!" from a holder on his hip, he brought out a nail gun.

"Scout," the Engineer sighed. Scout was really starting to test the limits of his tolerance right now. "Put that away."

"Why? I mean, what if we encounter some…"

"This is meant to be ah simple maintenance task Scout. Not a full on assault."

"Then why the freaking hell do ya need me?"

"Ah need you to do ya job."

"Ta hurt people ya mean? I kinda need a gun to do that. An' why not do it with this?" he waved the nail gun to prove his point.

"Ah mean you need to scout ahead."

"Wait, wait, wha?" the Bostonian took of the visor and stared at the Texan blankly. "What'dya mean 'scout ahead'?"

"Yes Scout. Why dya think ya called 'the Scout'."

"I thought it was 'cause the Admin said I looked like a Boy Scout when she iner-viewed me."

"Look, ah need you ta go ahead an' see if there's any of them reds hangin' about. Ya dont shoot 'em or whack 'em or even annoy 'em Scout. Ya just go in an-"

"Christ, I know how to do my freaking job Engie! Ya don't need to tell me like I'm some kid! Don't engage 'em. Unless it's a Spy. Got it."

"Don't engage tha Spy either Scout."

"Seriously? Fine, I won't hurt Spy." he snapped the visor back over his eyes. "Tactical visor activated an' let's go!"

Spinning around to face the yard's main building, Scout broke into a run forwards.

It had stopped raining sometime earlier during the night, but the ground was still a wet plane of mud churned up by the wind and rain. While his speed was slightly slower than usual due to the weight of the boots he now wore, their grip on the slippery terrain was infinitely better than what his standard trainers would've given him.

His vision – which was tinted blue by the visors lense – was overlaid with information. Scout didn't even know how the thing was still working after having sat in a box somewhere for nearly a decade, but he wasn't going to question it. That was a question for Engie to ponder, not him.

Most the dialogues were greyed out with the words 'OFFLINE' written in white, rendering the thing almost useless. A few blue boxes were still active however, stating the Scout's health and ammunition levels.

Slowing down slightly, Scout reached the site of where he'd found the fuse box last night. The box was still embedded in the ground, but the rain had washed away all trace of his fall.

Looking around, he saw no trace of the other team on this side of the building.

"Yo Engie!" he called, putting a hand to his ear to activate his headset. "This thing workin'?"

"Ah can hear ya just fine Scout. No need ta shout." came the staticky reply from the earpiece. "Ya done checkin' tha area?"

"'Course I have hardhat. An' I ain't seen a single red shirt."

"Alright. I-"

**click**

"Don't even freaking breath, ya undead son of a bitch."

"Scout? What the heck is that?"

The Scout remained silent though as the cold barrel of a gun was pressed into the bare flesh of his neck. He knew that a single shot from a gun at this range would put a bullet through his head and instantly kill him.

And this time, there would be no respawn.

"Oh Jesus Christ…" he breathed, breaking into a cold sweat.

"You broke our freaking respawn, didn't ya you bastard?"

"What?" The Scout turned his head around partly to try and face his assaulter, only to have the barrel of the gun pressed harder into the nape of his neck. "What the freaking hell are ya talking about pal?"

"Wait, ya ain't the Classic Scout." The BLU Scout felt the gun being lifted from his neck. "Dude, why are ya dressed like that Nate?"

"Dressed like this? 'cause it looks pretty cool! An' the rest of my stuff is wet." He turned around to face his red and lime doppelgänger and lifted the visor.

"Man... sorry pal. I thought you were someone else. What'dya doin' out 'ere?"

"Respawn's down an' hardhat wants ta check it. You?"

"Same."

"Hey, can ya wait a sec, I need to do somethin'."

Nate turned away from the the other scout and turned his attention back to his headset.

"Ya still there hardhat?"

"Yup. What in tarnation happened?"

"Bumped in ta the other scout an' he thought I was someone else. It's all sorted now."

"It better be. Ah sent Py over ta see what was goin' on over there."

"Mkay. Hey hardhat?"

"Mmh?"

"Rick said that their respawn is down too. Ya think there's a connection?"

"Maybe. But that ain't our problem now Scoots."

Scout shrugged and turned back to the other Scout.

"Hey, I gotta go back to my Engie too. Before he-"

"Scout, what are ya doing?" The red Scout spun around to find his team's Engineer standing behind him, arms crossed. "Ah dis-tinctly told ya no firearms!"

"Uh…" the scout looked from his engineer to Nate, searching for an excuse.

"An' I'm sorry Nathaniel for our Scout's behaviour. Ah 'spose we've all been a little anxious since...since what 'appened."

"Uh…" Nathaniel said, unsure of what the Texan was talking about. "Ok."

"An' what are ya doing out so early? Ah don't think the match starts for another hour or so pardner."

"BLU's respawn is down." The RED scout cut in. "Same as ours."

"Well ain't that mighty strange. Oh, hello Py."

The pyromaniac paused as it rounded the corner, obviously surprised by the situation before it. The red coloured Scout spun around again, only to come face to face the blue suited thing.

"Christ!" He yelled, jumping back several feet. "Ohdontkillmepleasedontkillme!"

The Pyro tilted its head head inquisitively at the cowering American before it, before sheathing its axe and patting the Scout on the head.

"Alrighty then." The BLU Engineer said, rounding the corner. "What in tarnation is goin' on?" He caught sight of the other engineer and nodded. "Morning Linus."

"He started it!" Nate exclaimed, pointing at the other scout.

"Py, don't set anything on fire. Frederick, Nathaniel, stop fighting. We both 'ave a job to do." He turned to face his blue coloured teammates. "You two. Ya comin' with me."

"Fine."

"Hrrmph."

The two followed engineer as he lead them over to the discarded fuse box.

"Well...looks like yah weren't exsag-er-atin' Scout."

"See! I was freaking right!"

"Hrmmm…" Engineer said, ignoring the Scout and examining the box. "Ah don't understand 'ow this happened. Ah mean, what the heck has that much power? Ah reckon not even 'eavy could rip that off…"

"I dunno. Can we get back inside now? I'm freaking hungry."

"Didn'tya bring ya breakfast?"

"Nah. I kinda figured I'd just nick a sandvich from Heavy or somthin'."

"Well, ah can't fix this. Ah need some serious help here. Py, Scoot, we need ta go back an' tell Pauling about this."

"Dude, how are we gonna do that? We ain't got power remember? An' that means no freaking 'phone."

"Ah reckon we can sort something out."

You found:

The Tactical necessity

Level 17 sunglasses

Equipable by Soldier, Sniper and Scout

"We are ALL soldiers now MAGGOTS! Yeah, yeah, whatever makes ya happy pal."

"...An' that's why Captain America is the best freaking Avenger..." Scout concluded, opening the door to the base. "...an' not Iron Man. Any questions?"

"Scout, ah stopped listening or carin' five minutes ago." Engineer lazily drawled, his attention on his PDA. "In fact Scout, ah re-OMPH!"

Pyro, who had been listening raptly the whole time gave the Texan an elbow to the stomach.

"Errnmph!"

"What py?"

"Ymhp mrrmph hmph."

"Py, ah want 'im ta shut up, not ta go on."

The pyromaniac shrugged and muttered something unintelligible to even the Engineer, obviously peeved at him.

The trio walked into the now active base and instantly settled back into the normal morning rythm of activty.

At least, Scout did.

By now, everyone was awake and up. Demo was hovering next to Medic, trying to get some aspirin off him. Medic himself sat leaning against the wall, eyes barely open as he tried to desperately keep himself awake after yet another sleepless night. Heavy, Sniper and Spy were gathered by the window, all of them focused on a game of cards. Soldier sat in the middle of the room, ravenously devouring an out of date can of soup.

Scout's stomach rumbled in a painful reminder of when he'd last eaten. Walking over to where had deposited his bag, he pulled out a can of soda and a bar of chocolate out of it.

"Vhat a healthy breakfast." Medic dryly commented.

"Hey pal," Scout replied though a mouthful of chocolate. "'least I don't eat rotten shit like you do." he lifted his visor and smirked.

"Everybody! Ah have an announcement." Everyone's heads snapped up and turned to the e

Engineer. "We ain't fightin' today. Tha respawn's down an' ah need time ta fix it."

"Quite right Dell."

Everyone turned their heads to see the purple form of Miss Pauling entre the base, a clipboard in hand as she walked to the centre of the room.

"In light of the recent turn of events, the Administrator has decided to pull you all from not only today's match, but the current mission. You will all be sent back to Teufort where you will then receive further instructions. Any questions?" Scout raised his hand and the assistant rolled her eyes. "Is it related to the issue at hand Scout?"

"Kinda. How the freaking hell didya know about respawn bein' down an' shit?"

"We have known since last night when you checked the system. How we knew is not of your concern. Now, are there any other questions?"

"Hold on a second woman." Soldier barked. "We are ALL members of the GREAT american army! We have ALL fought without the technology of respawn before and we DO NOT need its bosom! We are ALL brave men and we will FIGHT for america to the FINAL death!"

"Mr Doe, there is a difference between being brave and being reckless. While I am sure that at one time you would have been able to fight off the RED team without the help of respawn, you have all since grown dependant on such technologies and the Administrator does not wish to be forced to find your replacements just yet."

"Eh?"

"The Administrator does not want you to die just yet men."

Changelog 15-6-16

+ Added chapter

/ Nailguns are awesome. There is nothing else for me to say on this topic.

/ Scout dressed as classic scout won't be a permanent thing, I can assure you that. Can't say the same about the sunglasses though...speaking of these 'sunglasses', I've called it a 'visor' throughout this partly for consistency and partly because half scout's actions would make no sense if I said sunglasses.

/ I had no idea Scout's VA was called Nathan before writing this. huh.

/ Finally, calling the classes by their 'given' names is something that will be restricted to chapters involving dialogue between both teams so that you don't get confused. Outside of that situation though, they'll just be called Scout, Engineer, Medic, etc, etc unless the story calls for it.