Chapter Text
Past
An anxious Scout sat in the meeting room, glancing around as a few mercenaries filtered into the room. All equally looking as cautious as the young man felt. The quiet scraping of metal chairs on the floor as they pulled out their own seats. A few of the mercenaries began chatting amongst themselves. A man with short hair and small, rounded glasses speaking with a real big guy, who had a bald head.
All of them began chatting, all except for one, who sat in a far corner. His hat curved up at one side, darkening his face and features in shadow. He wore yellowish shades that only further concealed his features. Scout nonchalantly stood from his chair, cringing a bit as it loudly scraped against the floor. Glancing around before he sauntered his way over to the man.
”Yo, what’s up?” The air that surrounded the other was oppressive. Scout held out a bandaged hand for a handshake, and was left hanging. Ouch. He slowly retracted it. The man only slightly turned his head to look at him. “I’m uh…I’m gonna be the Scout for our team. And you…?” His confidence quickly shattered to pieces.
“‘M the Sniper.” His voice was low and gravelly, only adding to his intimidating appearance. The way he pronounced ‘Snipuh’ told Scout immediately where he most likely was from.
“Cool, cool..dat’s cool. Uh, well, it’s good ta meet ya, Sniper. I look forward…ta workin’ with ya.” Scout uncomfortably edged away. The Sniper turned his gaze to look at him fully then. Only humming in response. Scout was quickly turning on his heel, heading back to his chair with his shoulders tense.
”What a jackass…” he mumbled under his breath. Though he could feel a certain someone’s gaze lingering on him, which he avoided at all costs for the rest of the meeting.
Present
A new day, and a new mission. The fresh air was exhilarating as they rushed onto the battlefield, quickly approaching the point where BLU would be exiting in around 30 seconds. Scout held his scattergun to his chest, the dog tags lightly clinking against the metal.
That day, he had woken up a bit more tired than usual, but didn’t think much of it. As he dashed out ahead of the team, he found himself getting fatigued faster than normal. Man, he really had to get good sleep, he figured. Either that, or do better stretches before matches. All of it was shrugged off effortlessly, because he wasn’t too hindered by it.
His eyes caught on a red dot that lingered on the door of BLU’s entrance. The way it stayed steady, not shaking or waving around. Just still. He glanced over his shoulder, trying to see if he could make out where Sniper was holed up this time. He couldn’t see him, but he knew he was there.
His eyes darted back forward as the announcements started counting down.
10.
9.
8.
7.
He made sure his gun was loaded, planted his feet, ready sprint.
6.
5.
4.
3.
2.
1.
The siren sounded and the doors opened, inviting the other team to spill out from the base. The sound of rockets, gunshots ricocheting off metal. The quiet beep of a sentry before it locked onto a target, filling them full of lead. Scout did good work covering the rear for the team, since there wasn’t a way to get behind yet.
Protecting the team from the opposing Scout, picking off the Medic every time he saw that pesky white coat. Things were going well. Until they weren’t.
Scout was focusing a door, maybe a little too hard when suddenly there was a breeze behind him. The quiet click of a butterfly knife before Scout was spinning on his heel, raising his gun. Before he could get a shot off, the enemy Spy sliced his arm, creating a gash that quickly spilled forth blood.
Scout yelled out in pain, his scattergun dropping to the ground as he raised his arms to defend against the proceeding swipes and slashes from the blade. Falling hard on his back as the tussle continued. Normally, he wouldn’t struggle so much against a Spy. They weren’t all too strong, but today, his fatigue was really kicking his butt.
The knife slowly lowered down toward his chest as he tried to fight it off, straining, eyes widening. There was a sudden voice over his communicator.
”Duck.” And he did. A gunshot ripped through the air. Warm blood rained down on Scout’s face, and he quickly shut his mouth and eyes. Feeling the body go limp on top of him. Panting heavily as he rolled it off to the side. God dammit. He could see the Sniper dot lingering on the floor next to him. He looked up into the distance, only able to see the glint of the rifle through a window.
Scout gave a quick thumbs up, watching as the Sniper turned his attention to other targets. Why hadn’t he been able to fight him off himself? If it was a Heavy, or maybe a Soldier, it made more sense. But Spy? That was nothin’. Scout stood carefully to his feet, sweat and blood mixing together.
He ran to join back with the rest of the team, his mind still lingering on his near slip up.
He took a deep breath as he sat on the bench, listening to the other mercenaries pack up their things for the day. Scout had already long gotten his things, his duffel bag slung over his back.
He was lost in deep thought when Engie approached, placing a hand on his shoulder,
”You doin’ alright, son?” Scout leaped from his thoughts, looking to the other man. His eyebrows furrowed a moment before he relaxed.
”Yeah, I’m fine, why?”
“Just wonderin’. Ya seemed a little tired out on the field today. Sniper mentioned that ya had a close call with the BLU Spy.” Scout frowned before shifting a bit. Why was Sniper telling his business like that? It turned out fine.
”Yeah I was a little tired, ‘s no big deal! Snipes shouldn’t go mouthin’ off about me. It was a small slip-up!” Engie looked at Scout for a moment before nodding.
”I don’t think it was like that, son. He seemed concerned. But if you’re alright, I’ll stop naggin’ ya ‘bout it.” He patted his shoulder, turning to walk away. Scout crossed his arms defiantly. Though he felt unsettled, the team had also noticed how fatigued he was. Whatever.
He was sure that tomorrow would be a better day.