Welp, looks like I even managed to mess up namefagging.

This is why I shouldn't post stuff at 1:30 in the morning.

Hey, looks good so far!
I like the interactions between Engie and Solly - gives the fic a nice tone.

Thanks, I'm gonna try to flesh out the team more instead of just Scout and Soldier. Hell, I even have one or two sidestories planned for a couple of other characters :U

I like this. The character interaction is really good. Do continue.

Man, this part turned out much longer than I expected it to be. Ah well, here goes.

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Meeting the team

"Sooo uh… where’ we goin’ exactly?” Scout asked the man walking beside him. “To the lounge! These yellow-bellied maggots are always lazing about in that place after battle.” His soon-to-be superior responded matter-of-factly.

“Oh, so there was a battle earlier?” Scout’s interest sparked instantly. “Yes. One that we LOST! Yet this team insists on taking it easy every time!”
“Well… battles like these must be hella’ stressful, right? And… everybody needs some time relax I guess…”

Soldier glared at him like he’d just shot his dog. “Relaxing? This is a WAR, Private! Time not spent on the battlefield should be used to devise strategies! To improve your weapon-handling skills! Not watching bad tv and pigging out on sandw-Ah! There we are!”

Somehow, Scout felt relieved. The older man sounded exactly like one of his old highschool teachers about to give out a long and tedious lecture.

Soldier pushed two big flapping doors and Scout followed suit. This particular room looked very different from the rest of the base. For one, the ceiling wasn’t as high the one in the long metallic corridors he’d been walking in moments ago, it had a small kitchen with a counter(and several benches) in the right corner and there was a big round table in the middle. On the left, several couches of varying sizes were all positioned around a big blaring tv and a small table which held a bunch of alcohol bottles. And most of all, this room was a lot more lively, Scout thought as he looked at the men occupying it.

In the kitchen, a small man in a red full-body suit and a gas mask seemed engaged in a debate about stir-frying with a stern-looking man wearing a long white coat. He quickly assumed them to be the team’s pyrotechnic and medic respectively. There was also a large bald man happily enjoying a plate(or rather, a pile) of delicious-looking sandwiches on the table.

The bigger couch was occupied by two other men, one wearing a brown cowboy hat(with animal fangs on it, too) and large aviator glasses. The other man had dark skin and was wearing a black beanie along with an eye patch. Both men seemed rather absorbed by what was on tv, not saying a word and occasionally taking a sip from their beer bottle.

The last man, whom Scout immediately identified as the spy, was leaning on the wall at the far end of the room with a cigarette in hand, gazing outside through one of the windows while fidgeting inside his pocket, probably looking for a lighter.

“ATTENTIOOOOOON, TEAM!” Soldier’s yell pulled Scout away from his thoughts and caught everyone’s attention. “This rookie here’s going to be our new scout from today on! I expect every single one of you maggots to show him the ropes and turn him into a killing machine by next week!”

Scout what kind of at a loss of what to say, so he just went with his usual “Yo, what’s up?” and tried not to sound too nervous. The doctor, the pyrotechnic and the large man all walked over to greet him, while the two men on the couch simply waved to him with a “Hey” and the spy, having finally found his lighter, merely nodded in his direction to acknowledge him while lighting his smoke.

“HELLO, LEETLE SCOUT! I AM HEAVY WEAPONS GUY! I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO VORKING TOGETHER VITH YOU!” The large man said in a thick Russian accent as he shook his hand with an iron grip. “Y-yeah, same to ya, big guy”

“Plmphhh to memphhh ymmph!” The pyrotechnic mumbled beneath his mask. Scout wasn’t sure if he had heard him right, but it sounded like a greeting so he returned the politeness.

“Aaaaah, so you are our newvhest recruit! I am glad you are finally here, I vhasn’t sure when you vhere supposed to arrive! I 'ope the trip here was not too hard on you. Vhe need to check a few things vit you though, so come see me in my office later, ja?” The medic seemed nice enough, but for some reason, pissing him off was the last thing Scout ever wanted to do. Call it a gut feeling, if you will.

“Uh, of course, doc. I’ll drop by later no problem!” “Gut, I shall be expecting you in the evening, then!” Medic replied before going back to his conversation with the pyro.


Scout’s attention was now focused on the mouth-watering, perfectly triangular sandwiches on the table. “Ahaha, is leetle man hungry? Vould you like sandvich?” Heavy asked him in a playful tone. “Well gee! Sure! I thought you’d never ask!” The boy replied in a tone that betrayed his eagerness. “Ah, no problem! Doktor says eet’s not good for me to eat too much anyways! Plus, the REDs are my friends so I do not mind sharing! The BLUS on the other hand…”

“They ain’t your friends?” The boy replied nonchalantly while taking a bite of the sandwich he’d just picked up.

“NO! THE BLUS ARE NOT! THEY ARE THIEVES! SCUM! THEY DESERVE TO BE CRUSHED! EVERY LAST ONE OF THEM!” Heavy replied angrily. “You know vhat happened vhen their leetle Scout tried to steal my sandvich?”

“…No?”

Heavy proceeded to savagely gnaw at his sandwich, just like a grizzly bear would feast on its latest prey, pulling at the meat with his teeth.“…I-I think I got the message, big guy…” Said Scout before gulping.

“But eet ees different for you! You are RED! So you can have as many as you want, da?” The large Russian said with a grin before returning to his pile of sandwiches.

Scout added Heavy to his mental “People not to piss off” list(which as of now included Soldier, Medic, Heavy and his second-eldest brother Dan) before walking over to the tv. He slipped behind the couch the two men were sitting on, and held himself on its back with his elbows and looked at what was playing.

It was an old cowboy movie in black and white, with your typical badass lone wolf hero with dual pistols facing off against an army of thugs.

“You’re dead meat now, Johnny QuickSilver! We’ve got ya cornered!” One of the thugs barked. “Ah’ don’t think so, pally.” “Johnny QuickSilver” casually replied before quickly un-holstering his guns, firing several shots at the thugs, then fired at some chains hanging from the ceiling, which in turn dropped several big oil lamps on the remaining thugs.

In the space of a second, all the thugs either had a bullet lodged in their skulls or were knocked out by the lamps

“Y’see that, mate? That isn’t shooting, that is ART.” The man with the cowboy hat said to his friend. “Aye, but ah bet yah could do better!” The other man merrily replied while taking a swig from his bottle.

“Aww shucks, demo, you flatter me!” The aussie replied, his face turning slightly red. “Naaah, really Sniper, when ya nailed that BLU rocket-jumping bastard in the head while he was in mid-air the other day, ah was mighty impressed!”

“Hahaha, Oh yah, I remember that one-“ The Sniper stopped mid sentence and turned to look at Scout. “Can I help ya with somethin’, son?”

“Oh don’t mind me, I’m just watchin’” Scout seemed captivated by what had just transpired on screen that he didn’t even look at Sniper.

“Ah, I see. You a fan of ol’ Johnny too?” The man asked. “Nah, never heard of him ‘till now. Is that guy for real?”

“Oh ya bet he is! He might be just doin’ it for show but the talent IS there. There was a behind the scenes special where the tv crew lauched about a dozen of tin cans in the air and he got them all! Bloke’s so awesome that I didn’t miss a single episode when it first aired.”

“Speaking of that, is there a shootin’ range around here? Aside from the battlefield, I mean.” Scout had seldom fired a gun before(he went to the local shooting stand with his brothers several times in the past, but that was a while ago so he had probably lost his touch anyways) so he figured he needed to practice a bit before the real thing.

“Yah, there’s one on the opposite side of the barracks right next to the entrance. Nobody here really uses it, though, it’s usually just me n’ Sniper in there.” Demo continued in Sniper’s stead, the latter having returned his attention to the tv.
“Oh cool, because there’s a couple of guns I’ve wanted to…”

Scout continued shooting the shit with his new teammates until well into the afternoon, where they were joined by Engineer, who had just finished his routine machinery checkup.

“Good afternoon, laborer. Did you find anyzhing unusual today?” Spy asked before puffing on his fourth cigarette.

“Well, I did run into a strange little rodent earlier, but aside from that, nothing out of the ordinary happened.” Engie replied with his trademark grin. “I see…” Spy gave Scout an amused look. “He is a strange animal indeed…Although he reminds me more of a Magpie so far.”

“Heh, I can see where you’re comin’ from…” He glanced at Scout, who was now engaged in a crude conversation(with accompanying gestures) about the opposite sex with Sniper, Demo and Pyro. “But it can’t be bad, ain’t it? I mean the team morale’s been pretty low lately…”

“Hmm… I guess you are right. But sometimes getting too attached to your team-mates can be a problem on ze battlefield… But I guess as long as he can keep his emotions in check he will be fine. Oh, and speaking of problems, where is ze soldier? I ‘ave not seen him since he left after introducing ze boy.”

“Ah well… You know Solly, he’s probably sitting in the briefing room thinking of another plan for the next battle. He took that last defeat pretty bad, ya know.” Engineer replied sadly. “We ought to be seein’ him soon, though, since it’s almost dinnertime…”

Before the smaller man could finish, Soldier burst into the room yet again, looking more energetic than ever.
“ ALRIGHT, LADIES! IT’S TIME FOR AN AFTERNOON WORKOUT!” This elicited a collective groan from everyone but Scout and Engineer.

“Nothing gets a man hungry like running ‘till they drop! Oh, and by the way, the first who falls behind gets stuck with potato-peeling duty!”

“Aww c’mon! Can’t ya give us a goddamn break already? We won’t have any more battles ‘till Monday! What’s the goddamn point?” Sniper retorted. “What’s the point, you ask? The point is that today’s battle was a COMPLETE DISGRACE! I’d never seen such poor team coordination before today! Don’t you remember how they walked all over us? In fact, where the hell were you when they all paraded in there like it was their own base?”

“Oh, ah’m sorry mate, where was I? Oh I don’t know, I was too busy being ambushed by their spy AND their bloody Scout, ya half-baked strategist!” Sniper got up from his spot and turned to face Soldier.

As usual, Engie was there to get in-between the two men before the squabble escalated into a brawl. “Now now, let’s not fight amongst ourselves, shall we? That’ll just give the boy a bad example. Just let me handle these ‘taters, ‘aight? I’m pretty feelin’ sluggish today anyways. Sniper, I know you ain’t a fan of runnin’ either, but just go with it this time, okay? Think of it as some kind of trainin’ for the boy.”

“Tch, fine, but ya better pour some damn good gravy on these ‘taters!” Sniper grumbled, briefly looking at Scout, who avoided his glance.

“Alright then, it’s settled! You boys get ready and meet me in the courtyard in five!” Soldier barked before marching out of the room. The rest of the team followed shortly after, Pyro and Heavy still feebly trying to protest.

“Shit uh, does that mean it’s my fault now?” Scout asked himself out loud. “Do not worry about it, petit, we are used to it.” Replied spy, who had been walking next to him.

The unexpected response startled Scout a little, but piqued his interest nonetheless. “Ah, I see. Is he always that hard on everyone? And where are we gonna run anyways, in the desert?” The boy asked the older man.
“Unfortunately, yes. Ever since zis… Ape got promoted head of zis base, things have been quite insufferable. And no, we will not train in ze barrens, we are going to ze other side of ze base.”

“The… other side?” Scout asked. Did it even matter? They were in the middle of a wasteland. “Yes, you shall see pretty soon…”
Soon enough, the team arrived in front of a big steel door almost identical to the one Scout had first entered through.

What he saw on the other side of it, though, was completely different. They seemed to be on the other side of the rocky outcrop, which looked like a big valley completely enclosed by the rocks.

“Wow, this place just keeps on getting bigger!” Scout exclaimed. “And it’s totally diff’rent from the outside!” That was true, as the place felt a lot cooler, and the sand was replaced by a smooth rocky surface. To top it all off, not too far in front of them stood a rather large river, along with a small bridge going over it.

“That is rather impressive, ja?” Medic asked the boy, amused by how awed he seemed to be at the moment.
“Fuck yeah it is! Much better than the other side, that’s for sure! There’s something I don’t get, though, how the hell can there be a river like this in the middle of nowhere?”

“Hmm, I am not sure, but I vhould say that it probably comes from an underground source, probably in BLU territory. Vhe have not totally explored this place, as it is quite huge.” The doctor replied thoughfully, his hand on his chin.

“Wait, ya mean the BLUS are somewhere in there?” Asked Scout with a tinge of worry in his voice. “Ja. But they are much farther in this valley.” The bespectacled man gestured toward the bridge. “And anyway they never come around here during a ceasefire. Or the vheekend.”

“Wait, why the weekend?” “Vhe do not do battle during these days, vhe only rest and train. Or else we would get overvhorked pretty quickly, and in this kind of job an exhausted man is pretty much a dead man.”

“PIPE DOWN, ALL OF YOU!” Soldier’s booming voice pulled the two from their conversation. “To make up for today’s failure, we’re going to do laps until we’re bluer than those bastards from across the battlefield! First we’re gonna run over this bridge and keep going forward until we get to the top of that upward slope alllll the way over there, then turn left around that big rock until we reach the shallow part of the river, which we’ll follow back here.” The officer explained while doing intricate gestures with his arms. “Any questions? …No? ALRIGHT THEN! Let’s get going!” He said before running off.

The team immediately went after him, except for spy who had stayed behind to pull his pant legs up to his calves. After all, those fancy suits of his weren’t cheap. He caught up pretty quickly though, Scout noted.

He made sure to stay in the middle of the pack for the first few laps to conserve his breath and to get accustomed to the terrain. It was time to show his team how much of a fuckin’ speed demon he was. Soldier, with Medic and Spy hot on his heels, led the team without slowing his pace while Sniper, Scout, Demo and Pyro made up the middle group, and Heavy, followed by Engineer, trotted behind rather slowly. Only Heavy seemed to have a hard time, though.


On the fourth lap, the Texan casually separated from the group and started making his way toward the base. “’Imma go make the grub now, you folks hang in there!” He encouraged them. This seemed to put some life back in Heavy, but it didn’t stop the Russian from collapsing halfway through the sixth lap.

Pyro gave up near the end of the the eighth lap and Demo just ran straight to the base after they reached the ninth, his bladder having become a ticking time-bomb.

On the eleventh lap, Spy slowed down to Scout and Sniper’s level and began conversing with the latter. “What is zis, mon cher, already at ze end of your rope?” The frenchman said teasingly.

“Oh *huff* can it will ya, mate? I shouldn’t even be doin’ this, I’m a *huff* Sniper! I don’t need no runnin’*gasp*, all I hafta’ do is kick back and take out wankers from afar!” The Aussie snapped, his voice sounding very wheezy. “You seem rather out of touch with your wild side, for a former hunter. Could it be that you have grown lazy? How shameful!” He continued with that mocking tone of his.

“Ya shouldn’t be throwin’ words like *wheeze* shame around when all yer job entails is attacking people from *gasp* behind and running away!” Sniper retorted, his fatigue replaced by anger. “Oh, please! I merely chose a more…discrete approach in battle. A monkey such as yourself cannot even ‘ope to understand ze finer points of a spy’s job!” “And yer the proverbial monkey on my back that won’t leave me alone!” The Australian jeered. “Ha! With zis kind of endurance, you couldn’t even catch a monkey!”

“Oh if ya want I’ll prove you how wrong you are right now!” Sniper said, noticing that Scout had sped up and wasn’t in between the two anymore. Spy snickered, then darted off in a different direction from the rest of the group, a fuming Sniper on his tail. Two more down.

“HEY, GET BACK HERE YOU TWO!” Soldier boomed. “Ach, let them be, Soldier, they vhill regret going off once they get stuck vhit left’overs.” Medic interjected.

“Man, I knew getting out of the way was a good idea. What’s with those two anyway, are they always like this?” Scout asked, now running alongside Medic and Soldier. “Fortunately, not alvays, but they act like such children sometimes!” The doctor sighed. “But how about you, Scout? You ‘ave barely spoken up since vhe started running. How are you feeling?” “Ah, no problem, I’m not even winded! And I can run better if I’m not bein’ distracted by someone.” “Aaah, gut. It is good to know that there are still considerate members on this team.” “Heh, thanks. It’s no big deal, though!”

In truth, it was a big deal. I mean a fuckin’ doctor , with years of knowledge under his belt and a bunch of PhDs and shit had just called him, a lost cause according to many “specialists”, considerate. It wasn’t something he ever expected to hear in his life, that’s for sure. It felt pretty damn good, too.


Medic politely stepped out of the race at the 15th lap, claiming that doing any more was detrimental for his health, which left only Scout and Soldier remaining.

“Looks like it’s just you and me now, maggot. What do you say we pick up the pace?” “Hell yeah! Why do ya think I saved my breath all this time? Now I don’t got nobody to slow me down…but you.” Scout said with a grin.

“Getting cocky, aren’t we? Let’s see how you keep up with this then! The older man darted forward with a speed that surprised even Scout. He didn’t falter, though, and went after Soldier, making sure not to let him get anymore distance between them.

The 18th lap passed and they were still going at the same speed, both too focused on their running to speak. The Soldier had started breathing more heavily, though, Scout noticed.

When the 20th lap hit, Soldier was panting and struggled with his uniform’s buttons to undo them, as it was getting hard to breathe.

“What’sa matter, Solly? Getting’ tired already?” Scout teased. “Sh-shut it, maggot, I could go on for hours if I had to! And do NOT call me Solly!” He replied, trying to keep his composure.
“Really now?” The boy replied, slightly increasing his speed.

He normally would feel intimidated by the soldier’s mere presence, but seeing him in this state while he had barely started to hyperventilate made him feel like he could take on the world(the fact that he wasn’t carrying any firearms was a pretty big part of the reason as well). “We’ll see about that”. His smile got even wider when he heard the soldier mutter “Damn, that maggot’s a fast one!” under his breath.

Soldier was officially out of breath on the 23th lap, where he couldn’t find the strength to climb up the slope and just dropped to the ground, panting heavily.

“Well well, Solly, looks like I won!” Scout squatted down next to the defeated man, showing him his best shit-eating grin. After regaining his breath, Soldier finally spoke up. “Alright, alright, I give up. You’ve got some potential…for a maggot!” Being called a maggot over and over was starting to irritate Scout a lot. “Thanks! And you’ve got some nice stamina for an old man, Solly.” Scout made sure to emphasize on the Solly part.
“Would you stop with that stupid nickname already?”

Soldier got up to Scout’s face in an instant, their bodies mere inches away from each other. “Why should I? It’s short, simple and it sounds funny!” “No, it sounds stupid, and it’s already irritating enough to have the Engineer call me that every day, so I don’t want someone else picking up on it or else before you know it the whole team’ll be using it!”

“Eyy, now look chucklenut, how do you think I feel about you calling me a maggot all the fuckin’ time? At least your nickname’s in good humor, maggot just sounds fucking condescending and that pisses me off more than ANYTHING! Got it? I don’t get how the others put up with it.” Scout snapped at Soldier, a defiant look in his eyes.

“Hmmph, I guess you’re right…I hadn’t really thought about it before. Maybe I should try a different approach with the team…” “Yeah no offense dude but if you almost get into a fight with your own teammates every day there’s somethin’ wrong with your method, don’tcha think? …Look, let’s make a deal, alright? You drop the whole maggot thing and I’ll never call you Solly again. Hell, I’ll even call ya Sarge, how about it?”

“Hmmm… I like it. Its short, but powerful! Alright, you’ve got yourself a deal, magg-erm, Private!” “Glad ta hear it! Now let’s hurry back before Heavy eats our share, I’m starvin’!” Scout said before sprinting off toward the base.

“Would you slow down? Let me remind you that I just ran a marathon, here!” Soldier yelled. “No worries, Sarge, I’ll make sure to keep you a plate!” The younger man yelled back.

Soldier started making his way back to the base, when a voice came up behind him. “Man, how the ‘ell can a kid like that have so much energy inside ‘im?” It was Sniper, who seemed to have lost the chase. The Australian was still breathing hard, leaning against nearby rock.¸

“Oh, it’s you. Did you catch that damn spook?” Soldier’s previous frustration against the Sniper seemed totally gone, which took the Aussie aback. “Uhh… Nah, he led me around a buncha big rocks and disappeared after turning a corner. That fuckin’ frogface’s prob’ly already back in the base cackling like an asshole while eatin’ our share.” Sniper said wryly, taking his steamed up glasses off to clean them a bit.

“Is that so? …Well then, if you see him, tell him that if he ever pulls shit like that again he’ll get stuck with toilet-cleaning duty for a month!” Soldier replied with a malicious grin.

“Heh, I'm down with that!" Sniper paused for a moment. "…Did I miss something, though? Ya seem to be in high spirits now, especially compared to earlier, mate.” “Ah… It’s nothing, I’m just feeling good, is all. And um… Sorry for snapping at you earlier, that was a bit harsh on my part.” Okay, now Sniper was POSITIVE something was wrong with Soldier. He’d never admit something like that openly. “I… s’no problem, really! I let my frustration get the best of me as well…”

“Ah, let’s just let bygones be bygones and kick their ass in the next battle, alright? Let’s get inside before it gets cold.” Said Soldier while resuming his march. “Y-yeah! Of course!” Sniper replied before going after him.

He had no idea what made his superior change his mind like that, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to complain. If anything, Soldier had started changing for the better and living on the base with him was going to be a lot more pleasant if he stayed this way, the ex-hunter pondered while looking at the setting sun.

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Alright, I guess that's it for now! Sorry if I get too wordy sometimes, I tend to get carried away when describing things. :D

I'll start developping the two more in the next installment, now that you're all properly acquainted with the time.(I've also gotten a bunch of ideas for a certain pair, but that's for later...)

And again, crit is appreciated so don't be afraid to dish it out, I can take it!

Pretty good so far; I only noticed a few errors. But Scout and Soldier seemed a bit out of character. They were too nice, I guess.

Yeah that was my main worry. Especially since I kind of wrote the last part while I was pretty burned out so I went a bit too fast I guess(I had so much fun writing the other characters that I kind of forgot that Scout and Soldier were the main focus of the story for a bit. I wonder what that says about me as a writer, ha).

But worry not! Now that Scout's well acquainted with his team his cocky brat side should resurface pretty soon! And I guess Soldier just had a moment of weakness after his little race/talk with the former. But yeah don't worry I'm not gonna write him as some super nice woobie, he's... just gonna learn that you can't always be right/be a colossal dick about everything, or something like that.

Man its been a while since I updated this thread, sorry you guys(yes, all three of you), school was really eating away at my life so I had to take a break(and I almost had to rewrite the entire chapter thanks to the update too FFFF)

Anyways this chapter is more about PLOT PLOT PLOT BACKSTORY than HoYay but I swear it'll start in the next installment.

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" Hhnnngh… Jesus my head… Where the fuck am I again?“ Scout looked around, massaging his temple. He was in a rather small room, with nothing but a bed, a closet, a small desk and a couple of shelves. His things were still stuffed in his case too, thankfully.

“Oh yeah… the base… I guess I’m in the military now…” He tried as hard as he could to remember what had happened last night, but he drew a blank. That is, until a familiar pain in his left arm brought him back to reality. He brought it out from under the cover only to see a ball of cotton taped to his arm.

“…Son of a BITCH!” It was all coming back to him now! Him coming back to the base to Engineer’s delicious cooking, Demo insisting on getting him drunk to celebrate his enrollment, Sniper beating the shit out of Spy for eating his plate then him accompanying the latter to the infirmary, since he needed to see the doctor himself anyways. Then the fucking Nazi(Spy had told him about the doctor’s origins on the way, probably to mess with the boy. He noticed that Spy was kind of a dick when he wanted to be, but that’s what he liked about him, seeing as he was a bit like that himself and he wouldn’t have to pull his punches if the frenchie ever decided to piss him off.) pulled out a syringe on him. Apparently he needed a blood sample from Scout.

Scout remembered vigorously protesting, because needles were one of the two things he hated the most, the other being water. But Medic didn’t listen, saying it was “important” and shit, in his overly (and really irritating) patient tone. Scout had started to struggle when the German grabbed his arm, but Spy also restrained him, pressing the fact that whatever Medic was gonna do to him was indeed “important” and that “Le docteur” had more important things to do, namely taking care of “his” injuries, that backstabbing frog.

He cursed them both, but Medic took the chance to slip a pill down his throat and that’s when everything went blank. Any further thoughts were interrupted by loud banging on his door.

“Rise an’ shine, laddie! It’s a bright day out!” Scout rolled back under his covers. He certainly didn’t feel like leaving this warm cot right now. “Hnn…I don’t wanna! Don’t we have weekends off an’ shit? And what time is it anyways?” “Yeah we do, but yer gonna miss breakfast if you laze around! It’s almost nine ya?”

“Aight… Be right there…” The boy stretched and yawned. He could stay in here all day if he wanted, but it wouldn’t make his headache go away, so at least moving around was the best option. As he got out of bed, he noticed a pile of neatly-folded clothes on his desk; a tight red shirt, some cargo shorts and a pair of white socks. And to top it all off, a pair of black and white sneakers had replaced his old worn out Nikes at the foot of his bed.

“Cool, brand new swag!” Scout lost no time getting dressed and got out of his room to meet his comrade. “How da I look?” He said with a cocky grin. “Lookin’ sharp, lad! But yer uniform ain’t complete wifhout these!” The scruffy man said as he pulled two dogtags from his pocket and dangled them in front of Scout. “Engineer’s made ‘em last night, fella told me ta hand ‘em over to ye since I was gonna go and wake ya up.” Demo dropped the tags into Scout’s hand, who quickly put them around his neck. “Now yer a REAL soldier, lad! Heheheh!” “Those’re awesome, thanks man!” Scout replied while fidgeting with his new tags.

“Can we go grab some grub now, I could really use some water...” “Sure thing! This way, boy-o!” Demo started walking toward a staircase and motioned Scout to follow him.

“Speakin’ of water, how’s yer head? Not too hungover?” Demo asked, a tinge of guilt in his voice. “Meh, I’ve had worse. And I should be the one askin’ that! Ya drank a lot more than any of us last night! Seriously man the last time my bro drank that much he was in a coma for two days!” The Scotsman responded with a sheepish grin. “Ahaha, no worries lad, a lil’ ale ain’t gonna kill me, as ya said, I’ve had worse too.” The older man paused for a moment, looking deep in thought, but then his smile reappeared, now bigger than ever. “Plus am’ pretty sure ol’ Snipes already has a cuppa full o’ scaldin’ hot coffee ready for me at the range.” Scout gave him an odd look as they climbed the remaining steps.

“Eeeeh? He’s already there at this hour? Maaaan, he’s really into his whole sharpshootin’ business, ain’t he?” The American stretched himself, trying not to think about his aching skull. Maybe the Aussie could give him some tips on shooting?
“Aye, he’s pretty passionate about it, about as much as the ol’ Sergeant is about the war. I reckon the old fella’s been in this whole business fer much longer though. Or so he says.” For some reason he couldn’t explain, the Bostonian was really interested in Soldier’s past whereabouts.

“Really, for how long?” He asked quizzically. “Er… if I remember correctly, I’d say about twenty five years, give’a take.” Demo replied while rubbing his chin. “Holy crap, that’s like a third of your life! Why tha hell would he waste it in the army? How old is he anyways?” Realizing he’d sounded more vehement than he intended to, Scout felt a bit embarrassed and avoided Demo’s gaze. “Over forty, that’s for sure! Eh’ probably started when he was yer age. How old are ye, again? Twenty?” “Nah, eighteen. Signed up as soon as I turned legal. I… just needed a change of pace, yeah... I ain’t plannin’ on spending my life here, though.”

Demo’s usual jolly expression turned stern all of a sudden. “Ah see… Ya got a family to return to?” Scout hesitated for a moment before replying. “Nope. No real family. I just don’t wanna be stuck doin’ the same shit all my life, ya dig?” That was a complete lie and Scout knew it. Demo didn’t look completely convinced and stared at him with his only eye. “Mmhmm… Well if ya say so, lad. Just remember that all of us are there if ya ever wanna talk about it. Not many of us have much family left here either. Personally I’ve only got me mum left back in ol’ Scotland an’ I’m pretty sure Soldier’s got no one.”

“Eh, thanks, but I’m fine, really!” Scout lied. “And how do you know he ain’t got family?” “Well, in all the years I’ve spent here, I never saw him write or get a letter from anyone. Plus he refuses t’talk about his life before he got enrolled. That an’ he stays at the base most of the time instead of takin’ the train with us when we have some time off. Engie n’ Pyro usually go to their families, Medic has a relative down south so he an’ Heavy go stay at his home, Spy always goes to one of his old girlfriends place an’ I just follow Sniper to wherever he decides to go I guess. We went bar-hoppin’ with him a few times before, but during th’ day he’d just read a book or watch TV all day.”

Scout felt like he understood Soldier and his short temper a bit more, because he was like him, in a way. Sure, Scout had a big family, but his brothers all treated him like shit and his mom never cared much for him, so he didn’t really consider them his family. Hell, he didn’t even tell his mom about joining the REDs. When he left, he just got up at dawn, quickly grabbed his stuff and left a note wherein he called his bros a bunch of shitheads and said to his mom that she wouldn’t have to deal with this little brat ever again. He wondered what she was doing right now, was she crying, or partying? Oh well, no use worrying about it now, he though.

“Aaaan’ here we are!” Demo said as he pushed the doors to the lounge. It was much quieter in the morning than in the afternoon. The only other people in the room were Pyro, who was cooking happily while humming god knows what under his mask, and Engie was busy reading a newspaper.

“Howdy, fellas. So, how’s your head, champ?” The Texan asked Scout. “Meh, I’m hangin’ there. I’ll be better once my stomach’s full.” The boy sat at the table expectantly, his stomach audibly growling. “Heh, I see you recover pretty quickly. Keep going like that and you’ll be perfectly accustomed t’life here in no time!” Engineer encouraged him while taking a sip from his coffee mug.

“Wait, ya mean you guys have crazy drinkin’ parties like yesterday all the time?” Scout asked half-jokingly. “Well, that’s not really what I meant, see…” “Oh lad ya don’t even know.” Engie was cut off mid-sentence by Demoman, who had placed a hand on Scout’s shoulder and was nodding frantically. The Engineer glared at him through his goggles before sighing and returned to his article.

“Well, I’m gonna go to the range now, so I’ll see ya later!” Demo said as he started making his way to the door. “What, right now? You ain’t gonna eat?” Scout turned to eye the scrambled eggs Pyro was making.
“Naaah, had a piece o’ toast right before I went to getcha’. All I need now is some burnin’ black coffee and I’ll be rarin’ an’ ready to go!”

Shortly after the Scot left, Pyro handed Scout a plate and mumbled something incomprehensible. “Wow, that was fast!” He quickly thanked the Pyrotechnic before wolfing down on his plate in a way that would make Heavy’s table manners seem gentlemanly in comparison. Engie waited for him to finish before speaking up, to make sure he’d be ready to act if the boy choked. “Yeah I…asked ‘im to start cookin’ something up after Demo went to get you.

“Yeah yeah, thanks Hardha-*BUUUUURRRRRPPPP*” Acting like he totally didn’t let out a ground-shaking burp the moment before, the youth held out his plate to Pyro, smiling unashamedly. “Yo Pyro, can I get seconds?” The two older men couldn’t help but burst out laughing and Pyro gave him a thumb’s up before taking his plate and cooking some more.

“Ah, what I’d give to be yer age again, boy.” The Engineer spoke up after regaining his breath. “Oh c’mon, you’re what, thirty? Ya don’t look THAT old to me!” “You’re flattering me.” The Texan replied with a grin. “Thirty-five?” “Close, but no coconut!” “Forty…?” “Ding ding ding!” “Maaan, ya really don’t look your age! You’re lucky, gettin’ laid must be a cakewalk for you!”

Scout’s grin became wider when he noticed how much Engineer was blushing. “Ah well… Y’know what they say, looks ain’t that important, it’s what’s inside that counts! And all of that doesn’t matter really, I’ve already got a lady waitin’ fer me back home.” Engie said with a dreamy sigh.


“Cool, is she hot?”


Two more servings and four embarrassing conversations later, Scout thanked Pyro and asked Engineer the way to the shooting range. After giving him directions, the southerner handed him his pistol so he wouldn’t have to confuse the boy further by making him take a detour by the supply room.

Fortunately, Scout didn’t get himself lost this time and managed to reach the courtyard rather quickly. It was nowhere near as wide as their side of the battlefield, but it was still pretty big. The young Bostonian made his way to the barracks on the other side of the court, and picked up his pace when he heard a loud “BULLSEYE!” coming from behind a big stack of barrels.

As he suspected, Sniper and Demoman were there, the latter watching the former while sipping his coffee. The Australian was wielding a bow and was aiming at a bunch of targets pinned to the barrels and some haystacks. Unsurprisingly, Sniper’s target only had arrows around its center.

“Yo.” Sniper placed his bow on the firearm counter next to him and turned to greet the boy. “G’day. Didn’t think you’d come by this early. Especially after last night…” “Eh, a little partyin’ ain’t gonna bring me down, I’m kind of a big deal, you see.” Scout boasted.

“Plus I have to get some practice in before the real thing starts and stuff.”
“Knock yourself out, then.” The sharpshooter said as he picked his up his bow and fired another arrow. Scout placed himself next to Sniper, drew his gun forward and removed the safety before taking aim and firing a shot.

…Which ended up hitting near the bottom-right corner of his target. Scout swore under his breath and fired another shot, which was more accurate than his last, but nowhere near the center.

“Lost yer edge?” He turned around and saw that Sniper had discarded his bow again in favor of watching him shoot, a shit-eating grin on his face. “Yeaaaah, I’m just a bit out of practice, I’ll hit the center next time just ya watch!” He fired two more shots, narrowly missing the middle section each time, which almost made him throw the damn gun in frustration. “God DAMNIT!” “I’m still watchin’” The Sniper said in an amused tone. Scout shot him an angry look and was about to say something demeaning but Demo spoke up before the words could come out of his mouth.

“Ease up a bit, will ye? Why don’t’cha give the lad some pointers, he’s still a rookie after all.” “Yeah cowboy, why don’t you show me how to fire a REAL gun instead of playin’ around with that flimsy bow like some fagass injun?” Yeah okay so he DID say something mean after all. Sniper didn’t seem offended though, and instead snatched the gun from Scout’s hands.

“Aight, aight, I’ll show ya that accuracy has NOTHING to do with the firearm you’re usin’, love. Let’s do it, Demo. Just like we practiced.” The European frowned briefly, then pulled a half-finished bottle of beer from behind the haystack he was sitting on. “Awww, already? But I’m not finished yet!”

“Then git’ on with it! C’mon, bottom’s up!” “Aye aye!” Demoman quickly brought the bottle to his lips and finished his drink in one swig. “Okay here we go, you ready?” “Whenever you are!” “Alright, you better step back a little, lad.” He motioned to Scout, who obeyed and took a few steps back. Demo then threw the bottle straight into the air as hard as he could, and Sniper confidently raised his gun, took a deep breath then fired upward.

The bottle shattered as soon as it reached the peak of its throw, and both men stepped back to avoid being punctured by shards of glass.

Scout’s jaw dropped as he watched Sniper blow on the barrel of his gun. “That was… Holy SHIT that was… fuckin’ amazing man! How the hell did ya get this good?” “Concentration an’ practice are the key, here I’ll show ya my technique, mate.”

Sniper gave his gun back to his younger teammate and made him assume his previous position. “First of all, ya need to stiffen your arms like this, ain’t gonna hit your target if yer shakin’ like a leaf.” The Aussie said as he took a similar stance as the younger man, only his arms were more stretched out in front of him. “Now take a couple-a deep breaths, and concentrate on where ya wanna shoot.”

Scout did as instructed and, surprise surprise, didn’t hit the center. He was only two inches apart from the very center of the target, so that was already an improvement.

“Well there we go. You’re a decent shot, mate, keep it up and you’ll be more than ready for yer first battle.” “Hell YEAH! Told ya I was a Force-a-Nature!” Sniper snickered. “If ya practice as much as you boast, you’ll make one heck of a sharpshooter later! Don’t let it get to yer head, though.” “No worries, I’ll get that goddamn bullseye today even if I have to spend the whole day here, mark my words!” Scout said proudly.

“Heh, try to be done by lunch at least, we’ve got more trainin’ this afternoon.” Demo said as he took another sip of his coffee. “What, we’re gonna run around some more? I hope you guys’ll last longer than last time.” The youngster replied with a grin.

“Nah, today’s the first of July, that means we’ll be doin’ some summer trainin’.” Sniper said, returning the grin. “It’s gon’ be much more fun let me tell ya. Especially since ya put “Solly”(he snickered when he said that) in his place yesterday. He’s gon’ be a lot less overbearin’ now that someone’s beat him at his own game.” Scout shrugged. Summer training? He wondered what it could be, seeing as there wasn’t much to do in this place.

“Well, he’s okay in my book. He’s just a bit scary sometimes but he’s alright with me.” The boy replied nonchalantly. “Aaah, but that’s cuz you’ve only known him for a day! Bloke’s acts like a goddamn pissed off Gorilla sometimes, ain’t that right Demo?” He glanced at his friend, who nodded in approval. “And I don’t know what ya told him to make him change like that, but keep that up! You might make him into a decent human being someday, who knows!”

“…Sure, whatever.” A few questions lingered in his head as he kept on practicing. Was Sarge really that bad? Did he pick a fight with the rest of the team every day? Was he always like this? The more he thought about it, the more he wanted to know about the old veteran. He soon shrugged off these thoughts, as noon was fast approaching and he wanted to get a few more bullseyes before that special
summer training or whatever.
------------------------------

Annnnd that's it for now.