Chapter Text
Caden Martin, AKA Scout for Blu team, was a young Bostonian with a violent streak. He was exceptionally fast, had little to no restraint when it came to fighting, and had taken the job the Administrator offered without hesitation, as his family, dirt poor with seven brothers, needed the money.
He was beginning to see why he had signed so many waivers and piles of paperwork, though. That whole incident with Dell and Jane and the Respawn acting up almost paid out for their families. Except that he knew Dell was without surviving relatives, Jane was unknown or abandoned, depended on the day and his mood what story you got. He was pretty sure if anything happened like that to him he stood to leave his ma enough so that she wouldn’t ever have to work again.
His buddy Pyro was a different story. Scout didn’t know anything about him. He never took off his mask, and claimed to see things that no one else could see.
Lately though, Caden had noticed that his friend was extremely accident prone. He still wasn’t sure if the kid had intended to jump across the ravine or actually land on him a few weeks ago when they were out looking for Dell’s soldier. Scout frowned, thinking. He also missed his shots more, and flailed around with his melee weapons a lot more, completely missing his opponent.
If anything happened to his bro, he wasn’t sure what he’d do.
He heard Pyro coming before he even saw him. Py was not near as stealthy as he was when Caden first joined the team. When Caden joined BLU, the first week the Pyro haunted him, it was like he was fascinated or something. Naturally, the Scout knew he was the handsomest on the team but he didn’t want some weird dude in a rubber suit tailing him everywhere.
It was only after Py had tricked him into playing tag, or playing rock/paper/scissors, or drawing with sidewalk chalk all over the outside of the RED base that he realized the guy was a kid about his age. Probably a little more touched in the head though, or ADHD or something. Caden didn’t care about whatever problems he had, he was worried about him getting into a situation he couldn’t find his way out of.
But the weirdo in the mask always had Caden’s back in the Gravel Pit Wars. That was what made Caden finally feel like an older brother to him. The Pyro was excellent at foreseeing attacks that Caden often missed when he raced through the zone. And Caden was fast enough to cover the Pyro when he was cornered. But now, he noticed that his little buddy was not seeing as well.
He waited after the day’s battle was done at five-thirty to ask Pyro what the heck was going on. The kid in the mask only looked at him, and replied, “Mrrph.”
“What. You gotta secret you can’t tell me?” Pyro cocked his head at him, shrugged, and turned around to leave. Caden got mad at him. “You ain’t the only guy to have secrets, pal! I got plenty of em!” But the Pyro wandered off, hit the wall, and then after recovery went around the wall with a hand out to the side, the fingers in his gloves trailing along the surface.
Caden’s brow furrowed. Why the hell was his buddy so nonchalant? And where did he think he was going? The Scout decided it was his business to follow the little Pyro and see if his directionless movements had a destination.
As he started to sneak along to follow the Pyro, he was suddenly jerked back by Soldier. Jane Doe smiled at him, but his brows were furrowed and his look fierce.
“Where do you think you’re going? It is Kitchen Detail for you, Private! We need to feed the troops!”
Ah jeeze, sorry Jane. I forgot-“
“You will address me as SIR!” Jane barked. “You are on duty until eight o’clock!”
“All right, all right, damn, man. I don’t need you screeching at me all the time. I thought we were buds, shit. I mean sir.” Caden frowned at Jane. Jane’s expression softened a little.
“Scout, you know we are. But I am not going to baby you in front of the team. If I do that you will look even less manly with your scrawny ass.” Jane confided. Caden shot him a glare.
“Scrawny? Just you wait. I will make sure you get scrawny in your plate when you come through,”
“I probably deserve that, soldier,” Jane waved him on.
“And you know what else? You better not be lookin’ at my ass to see how scrawny I am. I’ll tell yer boyfriend!”
Caden ducked before Jane’s helmet could hit him.
……………………………………….
At eight thirty, Caden had finished washing the dishes and putting up the dinnerware. He made tuna casserole for everyone and normally Pyro ate it with glee and asked for seconds, but after serving his pal, the Pyro tripped over his own foot and spilled his portion. Scout quickly cleaned it up and got him a new plate, and had even carried it for him to the table. But, Pyro just put his head down on his arms and never touched his food.
He was always so secretive about eating, but when Caden was there the Pyro would roll up the corner of his mask and take tiny bites under the cover of his gloved hand. When it was tuna casserole night he ate more ravenously. But there was no appetite tonight, and the Pyro left after sitting at the table for some time, head down on his arms.
Caden thought that he looked exhausted. Certainly there was more going on here that needed to be known, or what kind of friend would he be to his little buddy?
He turned off the mess lights and went out the door, heading for the barracks. The moonlight was streaming down and it lit his path pretty well. Caden wasn’t really tired, more bored in fact. He started to trot around the buildings, jumping off the walls when he came to a corner where two walls met. When he hit the side of Dell’s toolshed, the tin sides crackled and the music that was playing inside cut off abruptly.
The Engineer ran outside, with his shotgun at the ready. “Who’s out here?” He heard Caden before he saw him. The Scout was doubled over in laughter.
“Dammit, boy! Isn’t it past yer bedtime?”
“Oh my god, you shoulda seen how you busted outta that shed!” the kid gasped out. Dell wasn’t amused.
“This here is my relaxin’ time. You are really pushin’ yer luck!” Dell growled, pushing his yellow helmet up on his head. Just as suddenly, Jane and Lieutenant Butler came outside to see what the commotion was.
“Really? You two sweethearts got interrupted by lil’ ol’ me?” Caden smirked, holding his hands clasped in front of him and twisting around on one foot, swinging his butt and batting his eyelashes.
“No, we were having dessert,” Dell said.
“I bet” the Scout replied. Jane held out his bowl of ice cream he was eating. “It is delicious,” Jane said.
“You guys have ice cream??” Caden suddenly dropped the pose.
“Yes!” Jane said. “Peanut butter cup ice cream. With sprinkles.”
Caden swiftly found his lost manners. “Peanut butter cup? Uh, sorry guys…uh, sprinkles?”
“Yes. Sprinkles are for winners.” Jane puffed out his chest.
“Peanut butter cup….um, you guys know I was just kidding. Um…” he looked longingly at Jane’s bowl, and Jane loved puppy eyes. Dell was still frowning, but Jane welcomed the kid into the shed and had Butler fetch the ice cream from the little fridge in the back room.
Of course, it wasn’t likely that the good humored Texan would remain pissed for very long, and Dell warmed up to the Scout, while he finished washing his and Jane’s bowls. He didn’t turn the music back on though, as to be polite. Once Caden started eating the ice cream, it must have been the sugar content, because the boy started talking non-stop.
“I don’t know if you guys have noticed, but Pyro’s been running into walls and shit,” Caden said, talking with his mouth full. The spoon scraped at record speed against the bottom of the porcelain bowl. “Would you like some more, Private?” Jane asked.
“Yeah!” Caden took a second bowl from Jane. Dell smiled and shook his head. At least they would be making another run to civilization soon, he made a mental note to buy more ice cream.
“Anyway, he hardly touched his food tonight. I dunno what’s up with him.”
“Perhaps he needs ice cream,” Jane suggested.
“Nah, that can’t be it. He was actin’ like his head hurt. He didn’t touch my tuna casserole, and everyone loves that.” Scout finished the last of the bowl, gulping. ”Hey Jane, ya got anymore?” Dell looked over the Scout’s head and shook his head at Jane to cut off the boy.
“Affirmative” Jane handed Caden a third bowl. Dell sighed. Well, it was just as well, he didn’t need to gain any extra weight.
When Caden left the shed he was literally dancing in place. The sugar rush caused the Scout to speed off, bouncing along the ground and double jumping off anything in his path.
Jane closed the door behind the disappearing Scout and walked over to Dell, who was at his desk, busy drawing up blueprints for some upgrades. He put his hand on Dell’s shoulder and asked, “Would you like dessert, then?”
“Ya fed it all to the kid,” Dell said absentmindedly, scratching out calculations on the corner of a paper. Jane smiled.
“I meant dessert.”
…………………………………………
Caden blurred along the outside of the BLU base, throwing rocks and jumping ravines. His blood was surging with power. His ma always thought he was hyperactive, but mostly it was to escape the wrath of his seven older brothers when he pissed them off.
He was around the south side of the complex when he heard a blood-curdling scream coming from the Medic’s surgery wing. The windows were small and at least twelve feet above the ground, but Caden was bursting out of his seams with energy and he managed to catapult himself high enough up to grab the edge of the windowsill.
He peeked through the window and saw the tall doctor working over the table on someone. He couldn’t get a better look because a hanging ceiling light was blocking the figure on the table. The groaning from the table was awful enough. What was the Medic up to?
“You need to hold still for me to examine you,” he heard the doctor say. Caden heard the grumbling reply. Oh my god, what if this is one of the Medic’s sex kink things that I’ve read about? Caden thought. If it is I shouldn’t be up here tryin’ ta get a better look… It was no use, however. Caden could not see around the light fixture, and the whimpering didn’t let up.
“How long have you had this pain? What does it feel like? What exactly are you seeing?” The Medic was really drilling the patient in there. Caleb would have continued listening in, but the whining whimpers were driving him crazy. What the hell was the man doing, if not alleviating the pain?
He jumped down to the ground and thought there must be a better way to get in there. Caden trotted around to the entrance of the surgery wing and pushed on the door. It wouldn’t budge, no matter how hard he threw himself on it. The groans were almost too much to bear. He slammed on the entryway repeatedly with both wrapped fists.
The Heavy opened the door, and looked down at Caden. “What?” he rumbled.
“Hey, I don’t know if you guys are just doing whatever it is that you do after hours, but torture shouldn’t be one of ‘em. Let me in!”
The Heavy shut the door in the Scout’s face.
Caden threw up his arms. He hated being ignored. He started pounding on the doors again, demanding to get inside.
The Heavy once again opened the door and looked down, but Caden had already catapulted over the giant and headed for the room he had scoped out earlier. Scout looked in every bay but didn’t find the one with the light fixture. Unexpectedly, he ran right into the Medic.
“Oh!” Scout looked up into the doctor’s eyes.
“Ja, Scout?” the Medic asked, stepping out of a darkened room. He was certainly ruffled up over something. Caden decided to tell a little white lie.
“Uh, Demoman cut his hand on the glass from a broken bottle again and he asked me to fetch you?” Caden gave the doctor a look that said can you believe it?
The doctor sighed. “Let me get my Quick Fix,” he said, with an air of exasperation. He turned around and went to the bedside of the room and spoke quietly to someone. Caden realized it must be the room he was spying in, but the light was turned down. A weak whimper was the only reply. The Scout hid behind a table.
When the Medic stepped out, he looked up and down the hall but didn’t see Caden hiding, so he shut the door behind him and strode purposefully out to heal his charges.
When the door shut behind Medic, Caden came out from hiding, and opened the door to a darkened room. “Hello?” he asked. Nothing replied. The Scout, more than a little nervous, stepped into the room. “Hey. I know someone’s in here,” he stated, a little louder.
“Please…” a whisper in the dark replied. That voice was clear as a drop of water, and filled with such pain and wretchedness that Caden forgot all of being afraid and instead, reached out to flip the light switch.
“AAAAAGGGGHHH!” a scream pierced the room when the light turned on. “GOD! IT’s BURNING AAAAAAHHHHHGGGGHH!” Caden almost jumped out of his skin and quickly flipped the switch back off. There was panting in the dark.
“Christ, man, I’m sorry,” the Scout offered. When there was no reply, Caden slowly made his way across the darkened room to the bedside table. His eyes picked out a form on the bed. When he looked down at the table, he saw Pyro’s mask.
Oh my god. Py??” Caden said. He leaned forward in the gloom and could just make out a face in the dark.
“Caden,” the figure wheezed, as a hand gasped at the air. Caden grasped it. The hand was not covered in rubber. This meant that Pyro was exposed. Caden shut his eyes and thought, if he gets mad at me for letting everyone know what he looks like…