Three hours.
It had taken three hours for Scout to calm down, and even then, he was on the constant verge of freaking out again. It had take all of Medic's willpower, along with a healthy dose of drugs to get him into that state and the doctor was on the verge of collapse. First Soldier and now this? It was all too much.
The door opened and the Medic jerked his head off his desk. He couldn't fall asleep now, no matter how much he wanted to. These dummkopfs were always hurting themselves and leaving them for even a minute by themselves would mean…
"Mrmph?" The muffled voice of the Pyro asked as it walked into the room.
"Vhat?" The thing pointed at Scout. "Fine. Just don't...just be careful."
The Pyro nodded and walked over to the Scout
"Scmrph?"
The Scout didn't react, instead staring off into the distance, his eyes far away and unseeing. The thing tilted it head in concern and confusion, letting out a muffled 'huh' as it did so.
Pulling up a chair, it sat down next to the Scout. The runner was sitting up, one arm hugging his legs to his chest and the other awkwardly held to his side, constrained by the IV tube embedded in it. Beside Pyro, an unopened can of crit-a-cola and a half-eaten sandvich lay on a bedside table beside the Scout's bed.
Slowly, the seconds stretched into minutes and yet the Scout had not moved.
The firebug waved a hand in front of the scout, finally dragging the runner out of his trance.
"Christ!" He yelled, snapping his head to face the Pyro, a look of surprise and horror on it. The scout stayed like that for a moment, before looking away, his breathing now abnormally fast.
"I'm fine." He muttered. "I'm fine." Slowly, his breathing slowed. "I just need...a little time. I'll be fine." He let out a shaky sigh and turned to the Pyro again. "Uh...hey?"
"Ymm mrph?"
There was a moment of silence as the Scout tired (and failed) to make out what the masked figure was saying.
"Uh... I'm fine if that's what you're asking."
The Pyro sighed and patted Scout on the head, eliciting a small noise of annoyance from him.
There was another moment as silence as the Scout tried to ignore the Pyro, in the hopes that it might get bored and go away. Right now, he just wanted to be left alone and perhaps try and sleep.
The firebug sat silent for a moment, before pulling out something and putting it in front of the Scout.
The Scout looked at it for a few seconds before looking back at the Pyro with a look of disbelief.
"Seriously? A pony? Jesus, how old do ya think I am? Five?" He gave the blue plushie before him a poke.
The Pyro shoulders slumped as if hurt by the comment.
"Jeez...look, I'll put miss...rainbow butt here, OK?" He asked, putting the pony on the bedside table beside his half-eaten dinner. The Pyro nodded.
Behind the Pyro, the door to the room opened once more and the form of the Engineer walked in.
"There ya are Py. Ah thought ya would be asleep now. Ah mean, ah don't know what time it is in that little world of yours is, but it's runnin' late out 'ere. You should run along now while ah talk ta Scout 'ere."
"Enrmph…" Pyro sighed through its mask. "Lmmph hrm alrmn."
"Py...ah'm sorry, but that ain't an option right now. Ah need that information now.
"Nrm." The Pyro got up and folded its arms, blocking the Engineer's path to the Scout.
"Pyro, step away from Scout right now." After seeing that the Pyro wasn't going to move, he continued. "I've put up with enough of ya dell-u-sions for one night. Ya need ta move along ta bed while tha adults talk." The tone of his voice more sounded like he was telling off a disobedient child rather than a highly unstable pyromaniac. "Now ain't the time for ya little games."
"Dell? Vhat is going on here?"
The engineer jumped to face pale form of medic, who was looming over him like some sort of twisted guardian angel. He had been roused from his nap by the duo's arguing and was glaring at the two angrily. Archimedes was on his shoulder and the dove seemed to mimic its master's expression.
"Josef! Ah…"
"Do not 'Josef' me Dell. Vhat are you doing here? I told you very explicitly…"
"Look Doc, ah need that information an' tha administrator ain't gonna accept excuses. He's fine ain't he? Ah mean, he can talk, right?"
The Medic took off his glasses and muttered a long string of German curses before putting them back on and turning his attention back to the stubborn Texan.
"This situation is extremely delicate and I can not haff you barging in and risk doing any more damage. He is suffering from shock and–"
"Doc, he's a Scout. Them two are more darn resil-iant than an infestation of bunnies. He'll be fine. Ah guarantee ya, he'll bounce back ta his annoying self in tha morning. Ah mean, it's just ah leg fulla buckshot, right? Ya can heal that, can't ya?"
"Scout nearly died of blood loss Dell. He vill require more than just a few minutes with a medigun."
"Then why aren't ya doing these things?"
"Dell, vhat do you take me for?" The anger in the Doctor's voice had grown to an impressive level that scared even the Pyro. "A miracle worker?"
"A quark who happened ta stick a buncha junk an' a tube o' Australium together an' got lucky. A 'doctor' whose only qualifications come from tha same people tha thought it a good idea ta exterminate an entire religion."
The was a moment of silence as the Medic stared at the engineer in disbelief and fury.
"Dell," He finally said, his voice suddenly very quiet and very cold. "I vould think very carefully before you open your mouth again. I haff saved the lives of more people than you even know. I haff survived the front lines of the war on the losing side. I haff brought dead men back to life and I haff created gods. I am above your concepts of good and evil. I am the übermensch." He let out a grin that could only be described as evil and pulled out a bone saw from behind his back. "And above all, remember that I can end lives as easily as I can save them. Remember that I can change the tide of battle as easily as you can place a sentry. And remember that I, and I alone am the only one with the power to heal and resurrect here. So vhat vill you do Dell? Vill you let me do my work in peace or vill you foolishly question my abilities again?" Throughout his little soliloquy, the German had been slowly advancing towards the engineer, and was now directly in front of him, the bloodied and sharpened point of his übersaw at the man's throat.
"Look, ah don't want…"
"Get out of my office now." He growled, jabbing the Engineer's throat. "I vill do this if you do not comply."
The Engineer went very pale and quickly excused himself, leaving the trio alone.
"Vell…" The Medic said, adjusting his glasses and putting the saw back on his belt.
"Christ…" scout swore, unsure of what to say or think. On one hand, he was glad that the Medic had managed to intervene, but on the other, he was seriously starting to question the doctor's sanity.
The Medic went over to scout and the IV stand next to him, muttering something in German that sounded science-y to Scout.
The Pyro mumbled something that might've been an apology, only to have it dismissed by a wave of the Medic's free hand as he fiddled with the stand.
"It vasn't your fault – I should've been paying more attention. I shouldn't of fallen asleep…" He sighed. "You should go now. It's late."
"Wmph hbmph hrm?"
"I'll...I'll be fine. Like always." He finished with the drip and after making sure that the needle was still in Scout, turned to face the Pyro.
"Nrm." The Pyro sat down again. "Ymph grm slmmph. Ymph nrrmd mph."
"But…"
"Slmmph." The Pyro repeated, gesturing at the door.
The Medic sighed and gave up arguing with the thing. Going over to the desk to pick up his lab coat, he turned off the desk light and went to the door.
"Wait, wait, ya just gonna leave me here with...him? I mean, how dya know she aint gonna set fire to me…" He trailed off when he saw Medic's withering glare."
"She won't set you on fire. If Pyro wanted to do that, she vould've done so already. Godt nacht Scout." he flicked off the light switch and left the room.
"Good night…" Scout said, but the Medic had already left.
Between the events that still haunted his mind and the figure of the Pyro beside him, Scout wasn't entirely sure how he'd fallen asleep, but it had happened somehow as the next thing he remembered was opening his eyes to find the room lit with the dusty yellow glow of the new mexican sun and a plate of pancakes on his bedside table.
As he sat up, he noticed that he was now alone. The seat the Pyro had been in was now vacant, along with the Medic's desk chair. The only other living thing in the room was a pristine white dove that vigilantly watched him the end of the bed.
After managing eating one pancake (he still wasn't feeling that hungry), Scout managed to stretch over and grab the bit of paper from the chair, no small feat as he refused to just get up out of bed and get the thing.
One side of the sheet was littered with chemical equations and weird sketches in black ink that Scout might of been to identify at one point, had he actually managed to pass high school chemistry. Opening the paper up, he found that the other side was full of text that was written in a cursive hand to neat to be anyone but Spy or Medic, but in a pink pen.
Deciding it was too early to try and figure out just who had written the letter, scout turned his attention to its contents. Scout found that with his rather limited reading skill, the cursive was exceedingly difficult to read, but after several minutes of hard deciphering, he managed to read it.
Left early cause Engie wanted to have meeting and doc didnt want to wake you – sorry! Hope Nightingale is good enough company.
Snipes made you pancakes! Make sure you save some for 'dash. And me! I havent had breakfast! Or supper, now that I think about it.
Also, red Scoots popped by a few minutes ago – wanted ta see if you were alright. Said he was sorry he didnt come earlier.
Anyways, Doc said that if youre feeling alright, you should come over to the red meeting room – he said that there should be bandages for your arm on the desk and that your clothes are by your bag. Be careful with your leg though! And with the needle in your arm. Needles are sharp!
Also, can you save this? I was meant to do something with it, but I forgot what. Maybe set it on fire?
The Scout re-read the note several times, slightly bemused by its tone.
And alarmed by the fact that there was a giant freaking needle in his arm.
With a jerk, he removed the (frighteningly long) needle from his arm and got out of bed in search of some bandages. Finding them on the desk like where the note promised they'd be, he wrapped his arm thoroughly before using the leftover material to wrap his hands up in their usual bindings.
Trying not to look at the huge scar running down his calf, he quickly found his pants and shoes and put them on, glad to have something covering the deformity.
Feeling somewhat like his usual self again, he swung his bag on his back, only to pause and take it off again to put the pony doll in it. He'd have to give that back to Pyro as soon as he saw it again.
Shoving the note in his pocket, he picked his hat up from where someone had put it on the hatstand and left the Medic's office in search of the meeting.
Now loading ctf_2fort...
It took him longer than expected to find the room, mainly because no one had bothered to tell him that while their bases where exactly the same, they were mirrored in their design. After several minutes of trying to figure out why the corridors were going in the wrong direction, he finally managed to stumble into the meeting room.
The doors opened automatically, alerting the eighteen people gathered there to his appearance. There was a stunned second of silence, before someone reacted.
"Nate! Ya alright!" The RED Scout exclaimed. "Man, I was worried that ya Medic had done some sorta weird shit to ya…" he trailed off, suddenly very aware of the Medic in question's glaring look.
The RED Spy coughed, drawing everyone's attention back to him.
"As I was saying…"
"Ya weren't saying anything pardner." Linus drawled from his position on a red coloured dispenser. "We spent tha last ten or so minutes arguin' over whose fault tha breach was."
"Fine. we were discussing whose fault zhe breach was."
"Perhaps gentlemen, we should be discussing what we know about this trespasser before we discuss whose fault it was." Miss Pauling inputted from the corner of the room, "now that the entirety of RED and BLU is here…"
"...we should follow the itinerary?" the BLU Spy suggested, blowing out a cloud of cigarette smoke as he did so.
"Alrighty then." Dell said, getting up off the table and moving to the frount of the room. "Using tha information that ah extracted from Frederick…" He glared at Nate as he mentioned this. "Ah've managed ta conclude tha our trespasser was not from Aperture like Spah said, but from Black Mesa. Like ah said all this while." he smiled smugly at the blue suited Spy as he did so.
"Hah!" The BLU Sniper yelled, jumping up and pointing at the Spy. "I bloody well told ya so! I can't bloody believe ya thought I would…"
"Bruce, Bruce, can you zlow down and please explain to me what you are talking about?" The spy requested, a look of confusion on his face.
"Gentlemen!" Miss Pauling yelled, not wanting to have a repeat of what happened last time. "Settle down this instant…"
"...or else I throw this at ya." The RED Sniper threatened, pulling out a jar of jarate.
"...Lawrence, there's no need for that."
"Wot? It'll get these two buggers ta shut up."
Miss Pauling rolled her eyes and turned back to the Engineer.
"Please continue Dell."
"Right. As ah was sayin' it was Black Mesa who attacked us. More specifically, tha Mu Division…"
The Engineer's explanation was suddenly interrupted by the chuckles of the Scouts.
"Ya sure it ain't the moo division?" Nate asked.
"Ohh, were being attacked by cows! Vicious, man-eating cows!" Fredrick added.
"YOU TWO!" One of the Soldiers yelled. "QUIET DOWN THERE."
"As ah was saying…" The Engineer continued after the laughter had died down. "The Mu Division. Now, Black Mesa's divided inta a buncha parts, or divisions, each with their own thing. For example, tha Tau Division is in charge of ya energy weapons, tha Lambda Division's incharge of in-er-dimensional science an' tha Mu Division is in charge of…"
"...of intelligence gathering, to put it zimply." The RED Spy intervened, stealing the thread of conversation away from the Texan. "Zhis 'Commander' figure is one of zheir best agents." stirding into the middle of the room, he produced a notebook from his jacket pocket and began reading somthing from it. "I was unable to find zhe Commander's real name, or anything personal about him with the time I had, but I found out zomething else. Zhis man, whoever he may be, had strong connections with our predescessors. He was their annoucer and when Helen.."
"The Administrator." Miss Pauling quickly corrected.
"...was trying to find the next group of mercenaries to be RED and BLU, he was considered to for a hypothetical class called 'The Commander', but was ultimatly rejected, with zhe role altered and going instead to miss pauling here. He zhen disappears from the records I had time to zearch before this meeting."
"From all zhis, I can conclude two things. Zhat Black Mesa chooses zheir agents carefully and zhat zhey are after us."
"But why?" Lawrence impantaintly asked.
"Why? Zhat is easy. Zhey want zhe role of defence contractor, I do believe Linus explained zhat to you."
"I mean why the bloody hell now? Why the bloody hell didn't they do it before?"
"Ah. Well, zhere role of defence contractor is being...reassigned I believe the word is, at the end of zhis summer. Now, while the company know as Aperture Science Innovations have gotten zhe position in recent years, zhere has been a recent scandal involving astronauts I believe zhat would and has cost zhem their chance at the position. Zhat leaves only two companies left for the choosing. Us at Team Fortress Industries and Black Mesa. However, as zhe actual weapon company here, it would be logical to conclude zhat zhe American government would choose us to be the next defence contractor. However, if Black Mesa were to get ahold of our weapon designs, zhey could pretend zhat our technology is zheres…"
"Yadda yadda, cut ta the freaking chase will ya?" Nate interrupted irritability.
"Zhe 'chase' iz zhat we are no longer at war with ourselves." He turned away from the mercenaries, but continued his monologue. "Zhis is no longer RED vs BLU, neither is it mann vs machine. Zhe tables have turned and we shall band together once more time if we want to ever fight in our war games ever again. We must ztrike back as one against thiz enemy, if not for zhe contract, but for our pride men, our jobs and quite possibly our lives. So, zhe question now iz," he spun around face them once more.
"Are you with us?"
END OF PART 1
changelog 8-7-16
+ added chapter
+ changed story status
/ so here we are. my story has ended, but only for the time being. the next part - The fortress division - will be up within a week or so, so keep an eye out for that. in the meanwhile, I'll be going through and editing my chapter so they make more sense and so medic sound more like a german. sorry if this was a little...abrupt, but I wasn't really sure how else to do this. also, this second bit will very likely be much longer than the first one, so don't worry too much.
/ one last thing - reviews. you've managed to slug your way through fifteen chapters of my writing, so why not leave a comment? doesn't have to be much, just something to assure me that I'm headed the right way and that I'm not telling my story to an empty audience.
Edit - the fortress division is up people!