#the sentries have guns on them

[rottmnt-residuum]

Alternate roof scenes (tw: major character death)

(instead of the update i didn't draw (￣▽￣)" )

If leo decided to jump off:

If leo had just blew past bishop when she started talking to him:

If leo had taken three (3) seconds longer to follow bishop:

[heavysighing-dreamyeyes]

How would AK!Jason go with the fact that Y/N got kidnapped by Harley Quinn’s thugs while he was busy on a mission with his Militia. Love your stories by the way!

Abducted

Hi, nonnie! Thank you! Fair warning, this gets angsty. ~2.3k words

The Arkham Knight is surrounded by the dead bodies of nine of his most trusted and skilled men. It's not a mystery how they got that way. He shot the ones that were still alive himself.

Number ten is cowering on the ground, it's pathetic, really. They were supposed to be the best of the best.

That's what he was paying them for. So why the hell aren't you in the safe house he left you in? He unloads the rest of the clip into number tens leg, voice flat as he seethes, "Where are they?"

Number ten cries out. Jason doesn't really care. "They're– Harley! Quinn's gang got 'em," number ten chokes out, shaking and sobbing and weak.

"And where, exactly, did they take them?" Jason asks, reloading his gun.

"I don't know," number ten wails, and if Jason wasn't so pissed he'd roll his eyes. But he doesn't. This is serious. You're missing, and he's on the verge of blowing Gotham to hell.

"Guess," he hisses, pressing the barrel of the gun to the man's forehead.

"I don't– they said something about a carnival," number ten chokes out.

"Anything else," The Arkham Knights asks. Number ten shakes his head vigorously. Jason pulls the trigger and watches the body slump to the floor. He turns to the rest of the men, watching as they stiffen and shift under his gaze.

He's already stalking past them, "What do you have?"

"Sir, Harley Quinn hasn't been in Gotham since the Joker died," one of the men starts. Jason wonders if they notice the way his hands clench. "But there's rumors about a separate cell of Joker apologists, fanatics trying to keep his name alive."

He grits his teeth. Fine, that's not new information. But why would they go after you? "And," he forces out, "What does that have to do with them?"

His men follow him uneasily, "GCPD flagged a shipment to ACE Chemicals that went missing a few days ago. They– it was mentioned the truck was carrying chemicals similar to the ones used in the Joker and Harley Quinn cases, sir."

If he was any less trained, any less used to the hell that is Gotham, he would have stumbled, let out choked sounds and anguish and fear.

"One of the techs has a theory it's a revenge kidnapping," one of the sergeants continues, "for taking over Joker's old hideouts last week. It looks like they used a form of the laughing gas on the sentries outside."

"They're all going to be dead by the end of the night," He snaps, gesturing towards one of the lieutenants, "Get the men to set up a parameter. No one leaves the area. And no one moves in until they're secured. Understood?"

They nod vigorously. "Bring the fear toxin," the Arkham Knight grits out. He's out of the safe house and sprinting over Gothams rooftops without another word.

He knows Gotham better than most. Knows to take a shortcut over city hall, knows to jump in three... two... one... to land perfectly on a passing train. Knows when to shoot his grappling gun for the quickest route to the abandoned fairgrounds.

His heart is racing. He can see the number tracking his pulse steadily rising. He glares at the little number on the corner of his screen with a vengeance. He doesn't get to be scared. Doesn't get to panic until you're back at the base, warm and safe in his bed.

There's bile in his throat as he stalks through the shadows of the carnival. It rises with each thug he leaves crumpled and lifeless in the dirt. He's only acting on his training now, on the drive that he has to get to you, has to save you.

He slips past decaying attractions, clenches his fists at the abandoned ACE Chemicals truck crashed into a rotted ring toss booth. He follows the laughter and taunting voices to a ripped and decrepit tent.

There's not many places to hide, but Jason's the best at what he does. He thinks he might have been born to stalk the filth of Gotham.

His eyes narrow at the sight of you. Arms tied behind your back. Bruise forming on your cheek. Dazed expression, likely a concussion. Balanced precariously on the seat of a dunk tank over a pool of neon chemicals.

His fingers twitch over his gun when one of the goons throws a ball at the target, barely missing as the others laugh.

He counts the number of Joker fanatics in the room. Thirteen men. Eight women. Six posted close enough to you where they could hit the target if he's not fast enough. Seventeen with visible guns. All with visible weapons. There's more voices outside the tent.

He eyes the woman swinging a bat covered with barbed wire a little too close to the dunk tank, too close to you. Jason wants to get you out first. There's too many variables. You could get shot. He's not fast enough.

Someone throws another baseball. It's a perfect toss. He shoots it out of the air.

"You have something of mine," The Arkham Knight drawls, stepping out of the shadows. He would smile at the way most of the room flinches at the sight of him. He would if you weren't teetering over a vat of bubbling chemicals.

One of the men steps forward. Stupid of him, really, "Finders keepers." He says it like it's a game. Like you're just some toy they picked up off the street.

Jason laughs. It's funny, that they think just because they stole you, it makes you any less his, "I'm going to give you two choices. One, you drop your weapons and leave. Two, you stay and you learn exactly what the chemicals in that vat can do."

More people leave than he expected. Huh. Guess they aren't so loyal to the clowns' legacy as they said. "I'm not scared of you," Goon number one spits. Goon number one gets a bullet in his stomach.

"You will be," The Arkham Knight murmurs. It's quick work. They're untrained, inexperienced. Half of them are high. It becomes increasingly clear with each body that hits the floor gasping that someone paid off his men to get to you.

He's pulling you off and out of the dunk tank as the last thug hits the floor, "How bad is it?" Jason's hands do not shake as he unties your wrists. (They do.) His breath does not leave his lungs when you say your head hurts. (It does.)

His eyes dart over your face and he picks you up to cradle you against his chest, "I'll have a medic look over you when we get back." He tries to sound soothing, the modulator makes it sound emotionless. You don't even acknowledge it.

He carries you out of the tent. The Joker fanatics that left are kneeling in the dirt and his men have their guns trained to kill. The Arkham Knight nods to them, "Use the Fear Toxin. Inject them with the highest dose we have. Drop the freaks still alive in the tent into the vat."

"Yes, sir," his men echo. Jason ignores the begging that starts up behind him as he carries you to the armored truck. He maneuvers you inside with him, settles you on his lap as his hand brushes the bruise on your face.

"Boss," the soldier behind the steering wheel prompts.

"Take us back to base, sergeant," The Arkham Knight says evenly, gloves still tracing your bruise. He doesn't ask questions, doesn't make any promises. The only comfort he offers is his hand gripping your waist tightly, paired with the gentle caressing of your face.

He knows it's not kind, the way he's holding you. He sees it in your eyes, even through the exhaustion and headache you're feeling, he's overbearing. He can't bring himself to care. All that matters is that you're safe in his arms.

The rest he can take care of later. It'll be simple for him and Deathstroke to pick through the rats in his ranks. Scarecrow's always in need of new test subjects, after all.

His grip tightens on you as the truck stops. The Arkham Knight picks you up easily, pushing the door open and carrying you inside the base. His soldiers are quick to move out of his way. They should be. Anyone with a brain can tell he's angry.

He's livid, at the way you hardly move, barely react to him. A medic files after him quickly as he sets you down in his personal quarters.

It's not a room he ever uses, preferring to sleep at whatever safe house you're in, but you're safer here until he can weed out the traitors. He watches you shift slightly in the chair, eyes unfocused.

Jason steps back and studies you with sharp eyes as the medic talks to you quietly, taking note of each wound and stumbled answer you give.

"Mild concussion, some scrapes and abrasions. Nothing that won't heal," the medic decides, "They shouldn't sleep for the next hour and need to be monitored for any worsening symptoms."

Jason motions them to leave. He hates to leave you alone, even for a moment, but there is one more order he needs to give. He follows the medic out the door.

A group of squad leaders stand rigid outside his quarters. Good. They should be on edge. "Make an example of any Joker or Harley Quinn sympathizers," he says, tone an unquestionable command, "Anything that's theirs, is a part of our operations by the end of the night."

He doesn't bother to stay and listen to their replies, already turning back into the room where you're waiting. Jason locks the door behind him, crossing the room in three strides and kneels at your feet.

You blink down at him. He hates the distant look in your eyes. You should be here. With him. He tugs his helmet off, "Does your head still hurt?"

You nod a little, the only proof you're really listening. He takes your hand in his brushing his thumb over your knuckles, "Say something." It's a command. It makes you jolt a little. He hates himself for it.

"I thought– they were gonna kill me," You stumble out, voice weak.

He nods, there's no pretending that's not true, "They can't kill anyone now."

He thinks you would have looked alarmed, if you didn't know what he was now. Relentless. A monster. A killer. But you do know, he's made that more than clear since the moment he got you back by his side.

You look resigned instead. Jason wishes you'd look relieved, "Do you need anything," he asks instead, reaching up to brush the bruise on your cheek. He can't help it, it's his fault that it's there.

You shake your head. He hates how quiet you're being, "Say something," he prompts again. He knows he shouldn't, knows you're in shock and you're hurt and you're tired and you're probably scared and he's not helping. But, he squeezes your hand anyway, a silent demand.

"What do you want me to say, Jason?" You breathe out, eyes finally focusing on him.

"Anything. Ask me for anything. Yell at me. Curse me out. Tell me you hate me. Hit me. Give me a bruise to match," He says almost desperately, pressing himself closer between your knees.

There's something wrong with him. He realizes that. The Arkham Knight is well aware that something inside of him is twisted, that you deserve better than this, especially after what you just went through, but he doesn't stop himself.

"I don't wanna hurt you," You murmur, "You came for me."

"I'm the reason you were there in the first place," Jason protests, both hands moving to cup your face, "I would deserve it, welcome it, if it was from you."

"I want," You start, and Jason leans forward eagerly, ready for whatever punishment you deliver, "I want to lay down. I wanna feel safe."

He falters, but doesn't move from between your legs, "You can't sleep for at least another hour."

"I know," You say quietly. Jason stares at you. You're the only thing that makes him unsure now. You always manage to knock him off center, never doing what he expects.

"Okay," he relents, scooping you up just as easily as he did in the tent. He carries you over to his bed. It's unused, perfectly made. He only ever sleeps wherever you are.

Jason carefully places you at the edge of the bed and digs through a drawer, handing you a shirt. He tugs off his armor, and frowns when you don't move.

"You don't want to sleep in that," it's not a question, and maybe he should frame it as one. Try to get nicer. But he thinks he might have forgotten how. You nod and slowly change. His eyes never leave you.

There's a few more bruises than he expected, and it makes rage coil in his chest. There's nothing he can do but crawl into bed at your side. It makes him uneasy, how little he can do for you.

He tugs you against him, he's not as gentle as he means to be.

You curl against him, fingers tangling into his shirt. He should comfort you here. Tell you it's going to be okay. Promise to protect you. He should rub your back and kiss your forehead and ease whatever pain you have in your heart.

But he's not gentle. He's not good. You're like this because of him. He holds you tighter when tears start to soak his shirt, lets you tangle your legs with his.

He doesn't manage to find the right words to say, doesn't manage to do the right thing before the hour is up, and you drift off to sleep. He doesn't think he ever will.

[prettyboypistol]

How to Seduce the TF2 Mercs

Scout

Pay attention to him. Give him genuine compliments and honest feedback. He wants to feel loved and like he's worth someone's time.

Kisses and physical affection. Mans thinks about the time you put your hand on his shoulder for weeks.

Just say you love him, man. He's been overlooked his whole life.

Soldier

Take him seriously- don't belittle him or make jokes about how he views the world. He knows he's a little crazy but he is genuinely trying his best to make the world a better place.

Defend him!!! If someone shit talks him, punch that motherfucker in the jaw!!

Honest discussions with you asking a lot of questions, take the time to get to know him and you'll have a defender for the rest of your life.

Pyro

Much like with Soldier, defend them and take the time to get to know them.

Gifts, gifts, gifts!!! Give them gifts!

Be a little flirty ;> don't baby them! Treat them like the adult they are!

Demoman

Bro just ask to fuck. He'll probably say yes.

He loves a bold mf that knows how to take what they want. Come on to him, buy him a drink, and ask if he's got any company for the night.

If you're going for something a little more long term, just remove the sleeping aspect. Just say you're interested in getting to know him you'll most likely get a date and see how things go.

Engineer

He's a sucker for practical use gifts (i.e. mechanical oil, a new wrench, etc) or sentimental gifts (photograph of you two, love letters)

Call him handsome! Call him pretty and a gentleman! Appeal to that cowboy energy and treat him all respectful like and you'll definitely catch his interest.

If you're not the type to do all that song and dance, go the opposite route. Stump him with a logistic problem and tease him about it. He'll nonstop think about you for months and bitch about you to his sentries.

Heavy

Mikhail likes hotheads and determined people, someone who's not afraid to fight if the situation comes to it.

Ask him about general things and slowburn that mf about nice conversations until you two can talk about personal things.

Ask him to help you clean your guns! Ask him weaponry questions about what would suit you better in the field!

Medic

GET THIS MAN SOME ORGANS. GET HIM SOME FUNDING!!!! get him a lil lovebirddddd

Take the time to get to know his birds and if the birds like you, Medic automatically likes you more.

Take an interest in his medical discoveries and his life! He's a prime yapper and wants to t a l k. That's why he never shuts up when doing surgery.

Spy

Romance him traditionally, to be honest. Keep it classy and court him like the romantic he is. Roses placed in his locker, prime dinners delivered to his door, BE A ROMANTIC ABOUT IT.

If you can't dance, ask him to teach you "for a mission" (He will know that you're the one behind all the flirtatious gestures bc he's SPY)

Butter up that man like he's a piece of toast. Handsome young man who captured your heart and holds it hostage. Classy gentleman that could get away with world domination with gorgeous eyes like that.

Sniper

Don't come on too strong, he's a bristly one. Be calm and casual. Hit him with that friends to lovers.

He's more of a tough nut to crack and insecure of if you actually like him, so be sure to flood his mind with ambiguous hints when you think you see signs of him showing interest in you.

To really seal yourself in his heart, spend a lot of quality time with him! Go camping, hunting, fishing, driving, anything that gets the both of you alone and quiet.

[artbyblastweave]

I’ve been vaguely following TF2 comics (I’ve read 6 and 7 and know a few plot beats and the general storyline) and from the outside it seems like Engineer and Pyro have gotten way less “screen time” than anyone else

Pyro makes sense, there’s only so much you can do with them but Engineer feels way to engaging to be left out like that

so am i wrong or is Engie just not shown to much, and if so why?

Engineer is noticeably out of focus in the comics, and there are two important throughlines in his characterization contributing to this.

The first is that out of the nine mercenaries he's always been the most plugged in to the backstory- the comic where we learned his real name is the one that introduced the backstory, he's the only one of the mercenaries to have actually canonically met one the Mann brothers, the only one who for sure knows what the gravel wars are ostensibly being fought over- and that level of involvement with the background plot, coupled with his genius, level-headedness and comparatively high empathy, makes him difficult to position front-and-center as a protagonist without breaking a bunch of things.

The second thing setting him apart from the rest of the mercenaries is that while he's enough of an eccentric to rise to the challenge of the setting's gonzo insanity, he's almost never the instigator of any of it. His Meet the Team video consists of him sitting and relaxing while his sentry guns mow down waves of assailants, monologuing about the measured practicality of his escalating response. His response to the teleporter tumor problem in Expiration Date is a grounded and practical approach to a ridiculous situation (that's exacerbated by Soldier.) He's minding his own business when a rocket full of space guns lands on his back acre on Christmas Eve, he spends the entirety of Loose Canon flummoxed by Blutarch's amoral insanity (though importantly, he's nonetheless willing to take the man's money for services rendered.) He's a fantastic straight man when the narrative needs such a figure, but his isn't a flashy insanity. He's not Soldier, he's not Medic, he's not even Heavy as far as out-of-pocket gag behavior goes. Almost all humor involving the Engineer has to do with his reaction (or lack thereof) to the bizarre carnage around him.

These factors are reflected in the role he ends up playing in TF comics 6 and 7. He's kept in the background of the plot in a reactive role, doing his professional best as an Engineer to maintain the Administrator's life extender- a frustated care-provider to a deeply unwell patient who doesn't always take his advice, a grounded, practical facilitator of what ultimately turns out to be the most deranged behavior of the entire story, seeing his contract out to the bitter end. And this is the way in which his apparent groundedness wraps back around into a distinct brand of crazy, no better than anyone else. The Administrator's real plan is something he's a reasonable enough person to disapprove of in the abstract. He's clearly aware something is rotten at the core of all this- he describes Miss Pauling actually managing to recover more Australium as her having created a problem rather than having solved one, he was on some level relieved to realize this was all drawing to a close. But none of this was something he was willing to break his professional obligations over and thus something he (and two generations of his family before him) deliberately kept themselves in the dark about so that they wouldn't have to reckon with it or make that call.

This passivity and level-headedness allow him to play an extremely important narrative role once everything is out in the open- he's the only member of the main cast who can present Miss Pauling with her Road-to-Damascus moment over what to do with the remaining Australium with any credible gravity. He's the only character left in the main cast besides Pauling herself who's plugged in enough that his analysis of her situation carries any weight. He's the only one of the Mercenaries from whom "If you keep it, I won't help you" means anything at all or is even a believable ultimatum- the rest of the mercs might have been freaked out by The Administrator specifically, but do you really think they wouldn't have just kept following their friend Miss Pauling if she kept signing their checks? He does what he's always done- he examines the situation, lays out the available options, and leaves the final call up to others. The only thing that changes- and, to some extent, a sign of his off-screen character development- is this time is that he finally draws a line in the sand as to what course of action he'll lend his expertise to. He threatens to finally, finally remove himself from the situation unless Pauling decides that she wants him to help her finally, finally solve the problem once and for all.

[solarmorrigan]

Something is Out There

For the @steddie-spooktober day 2 prompt: Woods Rating: T | Words: 935 | CW: None | Tags: established relationship, sleepwalking, Eddie Munson takes care of Steve Harrington, spooky!, open ending Divider credit: @steddiecameraroll-graphics

Eddie doesn’t know why he wakes up, but he finds that he’s alone when he does.

Steve’s side of the bed is cold, and Eddie struggles out from under the sheets and rolls to his feet with a curse. This hasn’t happened in weeks; Eddie had thought they were past it, but maybe it’s had more to do with the fact that they’ve been spending more nights at Eddie’s place than at Steve’s.

Then again, Eddie thinks as he pads down the stairs, maybe he’s jumping the gun. Maybe Steve is using the bathroom, or getting a glass of water, or couldn’t sleep and is sitting up somewhere with the book Dustin had recommended that Steve’s pretending he’s not reading.

He turns the corner into the living room and then moves for the sunroom, breathing a sigh of relief when he finds it empty.

Then the cold hits him.

His anxiety comes rushing back when he sees the back door hanging open – and through it, a pale silhouette against the dark backdrop of the woods, is Steve.

Eddie curses again, low and hissing and fearful, because when Steve had started sleepwalking, Eddie had only found him standing sentry at the windows, staring out into the trees; if he’s escalating to leaving the house, they really might have to address this.

The concrete is freezing beneath Eddie’s feet when he steps out onto the back patio, and a shudder runs up through him. At least he’s wearing a shirt; up ahead, he can see Steve standing stock-still in nothing but the sweatpants he’d worn to bed.

The picture he makes reminds Eddie uncomfortably of another time in their lives, when Steve had been barefooted and exposed to the elements amidst the twisting limbs of a dark forest, and Eddie has the same urge to cover him now as he’d had then.

“Steve,” Eddie calls out as he draws closer.

Steve’s head jerks, turning briefly in Eddie’s direction before his attention snaps right back to the woods. As Eddie draws up at his side, he can see that it’s the same as every other night he’s found Steve out of bed: his eyes are trained on the trees, hazy and half-lidded, his brows furrowed like he’s concentrating on something – something Eddie can’t see.

“Steve,” Eddie says again. “Hey, it’s freezing out here, honey, why don’t you come back inside?”

Slowly, Steve shakes his head. “Can’t,” he murmurs, just like every other time. He never agrees on the first try.

But Eddie persists. Close as he is now, he can see the goosebumps raised on Steve’s bare skin, can see him trembling in the cold. He reaches out to lay a hand on Steve’s arm and hisses to feel how chilled he is.

“Steve, come back to bed,” Eddie says, gentle, but firm in his order.

“Can’t,” Steve says again. “There’s something out there.”

He says it with the same certainty he has every time Eddie’s found him like this, and even though Eddie knows it’s just some kind of fucked up dream, it gives him chills that have nothing to do with the temperature.

“No, Steve, there’s nothing out there,” Eddie promises, leaning in to wrap his arms around Steve, trying to share what warmth he has. “We’re safe.”

“I heard it,” Steve insists, but his voice is fainter this time. “I saw something.”

“There’s nothing there, baby, it’s just a dream,” Eddie says, rubbing his hand up and down Steve’s side, as much in an effort to ground him as to warm him up.

“I saw something,” Steve mumbles, beginning to flag.

“Come back to bed, Steve.” Eddie pulls back, catching Steve’s hand and giving him a gentle tug.

After a moment, Steve turns and allows himself to be pulled along.

Eddie leads him back up to the bedroom, slow and careful on the stairs to make sure Steve can navigate them, before helping him back into bed, tucking the covers in around him.

He’s about to join Steve beneath the blankets, ready to make sure he warms up properly, when it occurs to him – Had he locked the back door?

“Damn it,” Eddie mutters, slouching down in frustration. He lets out a harsh sigh and leans down to press a kiss to Steve’s cold forehead. “Stay,” he orders, though Steve seems to have slipped back into normal sleep. “I’ll be right back.”

He takes the stairs two at a time and rushes back to the sunroom, not so much worried about Steve getting up again as he is eager to be back in bed himself so they can put this incident behind them. Eddie flicks the lock into place, turning and tugging the doorknob to be sure, and then glances up to look through the glass door.

The woods rise up behind the house like a sweeping wave in the dark. He can see the higher branches swaying in the late fall breeze, giving the trees the appearance of having taken on a life of their own. From here, it’s hard to tell for sure if there’s anything among them, moving through the shadows, calling out–

Drawing back with a bit of a start, Eddie shakes his head. He’s letting Steve’s dreams get to him. It’s damn spooky when he finds him staring out into the woods like he has been, but that’s all it is – a bad dream.

Eddie turns away and leaves the sunroom behind. He’s just shutting the adjoining door when he hears it, loud and unmistakable– a bang– a knock on the outer door. Eddie goes cold.

Something is out there.

[help-the-horse]

TF2 Backstab Models and What They Mean for the Mercs

In my travels in the TF2 meta, I've noticed that when using an Australium or ice themed weapon, such as the Spy-cicle, each Merc has a few different models for their "frozen backstab" pose. I thought this was interesting and decided to take it upon myself to document the different models and extrapolate what that might mean for each merc as a character. Keep in mind the "canon" of TF2 and the characterization of the mercs is very much up to interpretation but I think this can give us some insight at least into what Valve thinks of each character and how they react to injury, particularly the backstab.

Let's get into it.

SCOUT

Scout with his quicker speed assumedly has a faster reaction time compared to a lot of the other mercs, so it tracks that in many of his poses he is almost completely turned around/facing back. I don't think he necessarily expects to be back stabbed but his fast reflexes makes it so that he is one of the mercs who is closer to actually catching the Spy before the stab. Clearly he isn't always fast enough if he gets stabbed though. On a side note I personally find his poses to be some of the most unnerving ones.

SOLDIER

Clearly Soldier's slow speed catches up with him when it comes to backstabs. Being one of the slower classes in the game, and one of the more burly/stocky characters, it makes sense that he would have trouble catching a Spy before a stab. In a few poses you can see that he reaches behind himself, but you never see him trying to turn his torso or head around to catch his attacker. It's also interesting to note how he reaches to his lower back, either because of how he holds his rocket launcher on his shoulder, or because of his lack of physical flexibility,

PYRO

Pyro's poses are all rather similar, so I don't find that I have much to say about them. Given what little we do know of Pyro, it's reasonable to assume that they probably don't notice Spy's through their pyro-vision very well, so it would make sense that they wouldn't be prepared for a backstab. They also don't need a particularly fast reaction time for their weapon/attack style so they don't show the same reflexes as Scout or Demo. Pyro just be silly with their pose.

DEMOMAN

Demo is very dramatic to say the least. I find it very interesting how he seems to be very close to actually grabbing the knife/Spy relative to some of the other mercs like Solly, Medic, or Pyro. This supports my personal theory that Demo plays up his drunkenness on the battle field/in general. He clearly has a good degree of flexibility as well looking at the curve of his spine, and a reasonable amount of balance shown by his repeated "one toe on the ground" style stance.

HEAVY

Unfortunately I wasn't able to get many screencaps of Heavy, but all his poses are essentially this with little variance. He is probably one of the least flexible out of all the mercs, which makes sense given his body type and how built up his shoulder/back muscles must be from carrying a 300 lbs gun around all the time every day. You can see that he probably doesn't expect a backstab and has a slower reaction time than others, which is in line with his in game movement speed.

ENGINEER

This man really just always be on his knees. I would assume that this is due to the fact that most of the time you would see an Engie crouching behind a sentry or dispenser, in game and in the character sense. It also reinforces Valve's mocking of his VERY NORMAL AND AVERAGE height. I also like to think Spy kicks his knees out from behind as he stabs. The models also tend to have effed up hands for Engie for some reason which I find very funny. Arguably his right hand tends to be the more messed up one, which is also his mechanical hand/Gunslinger. Food for thought, perhaps a mechanical malfunction/short when he dies?

MEDIC

Medic's poses are all very similar as well unfortunately. What stands out to me the most is how INCREDIBLY TALL Medic is compared to all the other mercs. You can see that he also doesn't work to turn around or even reach behind him to any large degree, which I think shows how unexpected a backstab is for Medic. He's usually busy chasing some screaming Scout or hiding behind a corner to pocket a Heavy so it would make sense he wouldn't expect a backstab as he usually has some power class with him to protect him. We stand with our Medic's though, no hate only love. Stay strong Medic army.

SNIPER

Sniper is the most interesting to examine for me, as he and Spy tend to have a rivalry in every sense, from the Spy v. Sniper update/event released by Valve way back when, to in game play, to in the comics/canon media we have of the mercs. It's clear he is the most prepared for a back stab most of the time, and arguably the closest to actually stopping Spy. I think he generally has an average reaction time if the in game movement speed is anything to go off of, but the fact he is so close to stopping the attack just shows how used to the backstab he is. He also has a higher degree of flexibility on par with Scout and Demo.

SPY

And finally, we come to the man of the hour. The tl;dr is he's a drama queen who's holier than thou attitude and cockiness causes him to not expect or prepare for another Spy's backstab, which ends up being his ultimate downfall. The long version of it is that he is a drama queen who's holier than thou attitude and cockiness causes him to not expect or prepare for another Spy's backstab, which makes him a little bitch boy who's pride gets hurt more than the actual pain of the stab. All of his poses are pretty similar, showing he has a good amount of flexibility but a piss poor reaction speed if he's able to get beat at his own game.

ANYWAY, if you've made it this far in the post thank you very much for reading it all and indulging my TF2 brain rot. I have no idea if any of this deeper reading was intended by the devs or Valve, but I think it's interesting to explore what little we get in regards to any hints about the mercs as characters and what they might be like on and off the battle field in a story sense. Would love to have more discussion in the comments and if anyone has any other niche requests for me to overanalyze TF2 game play/lore please let me know and I'm sure I will find more than expected to talk about.

Stay strong TF2 fans.

[averagebioweaponslover]

“He and I were close but I wouldn’t say we were freinds… I don’t wish to speak ill of the dead…your father was a good man in a bad crowd.” cmedic wasn’t sure if dell wanted to hear that went on, cmedic wasn’t even sure how he felt about it. Quinn quickly switches subjects not wanting to linger on his team and the mixed feelings he had. Quinn always respected Fred but at the end of the day he turned a blind eye to a lot the worst behaviors. “That may have been one of the prototype blueprints for the emp gernades- your dad was a mess when it came to organization. So bad infact I ended up pestering him for the copy of my medkit- just in case something happened to him.— if you ever want to take a look over of it I could send you a copy of the blueprint!”

Sending my condolences

" Thanks, Mister. " Dell’s voice held a note of surprise, his eyes studying his dad's old colleague. He hadn’t expected the man to track him down in the workshop, let alone to send his condolences for his late father — a subject he had barely touched on since he got the news.

He hesitated a moment before asking, " So, er— what was workin’ with my dad like? " The question felt odd on his tongue. Growing up, his dad was often a distant figure, always busy with mercenary work, rarely home for more than a few days at a time. Yet, Dell had been happy every time he returned, excited as any kid to see his father walk through the door, even if the moments were brief. They'd have spent time tinkering with junk they found by the side and went camping together. He'd considered himself luckier than a lot of kids, he'd considered himself lucky for having a 'father figure'. He looked up to him, and wanted to be like him.

Yet as the years passed, his dad’s absences became longer, and their once-easy closeness turned to a comfortable silence, then to something else — distance, he supposed, though he’d never labeled it. But it felt comfortable. Mr. Conagher had been a presence Dell didn’t question, the kind of man who stepped in and out of his life but who left a big enough shadow for Dell to feel like he still had a father. But thinking back now, Dell realized just how little he’d known about him. That was something he’d never thought too deeply about. It had been easier not to.

Their time together had been enough.

" Ahem, wanna come inside and have a drink? "

[paper-mario-wiki]

scout how do i get into tf2. i want to play but i'm intimidated

u can choose one of the 9 guys, and theyre all fun to play.

first guy is the fastest and jumps twice, but has low health. he has a strong shotgun as his primary that can kill people from full health in 2 shots if youre close enough and aim well enough

second guy is kinda slow and has a rocket launcher, which does a lot of damage (but not enough to kill anyone in a single hit like other FPS games, unless you get a crit), and hes got a lot of health

third guy is my favorite one and is one of the more mechanically complex. u can do a lot, but for now think of it as area denial. not very much range, but high output and leaves them on fire

fourth guy is like junkrat: he launches grenades that explode on impact with a target, but if they hit a wall or the ground they wait out their natural timer before exploding. he can also leave bombs that he can detonate at any time. hes also pretty slow but has more health.

fifth guy has the most health and the strongest gun, but is also the slowest and one of the easier guys to pick off from a distance. hes got a big gatling machine gun

sixth guy specializes in utilities. he can deny an area by putting down a sentry that fires automatically and be upgraded twice (faster firing + rockets with levels 2 and 3). he's not great in 1v1s but he can hold is own if you play smart.

7th guy is the main healer. you point at a guy and click on him to heal, but after youve connected to him you dont need to keep looking at him the whole time; as long as youre within a certain distance and you keep holding down the mouse button you'll keep healing. he also passively regenerates health slowly, but as the worst offensive options in the game

8th guy is broken. you can instantly kill anyone from any distance as long as you click on their head. not super great in close combat but has optional weapons that can enhance his survival rate when he's rushed down

9th guy goes invisible, can disguise as enemy teammates to fool them, and can instantly kill anyone with a backstab, but he's also easy to kill and has poor defensive options if he's caught out by himself.

the game is free to download, and once you do i suggest queuing for casual selecting any maps that look good

i suggest Harvest, Badlands, Sawmill, and Viaduct for King of the Hill

i suggest Badwater, Upward, Frontier, Snowycoast, and Borneo for payload

i suggest Turbine, 2Fort, Double Cross, and Landfall for Capture the Flag

go have fun. dont worry about being bad. just play and find joy in any way you can.

[jcwdrawskinda]

My first time playing Fallout 4 has been awesome! Sometimes you're on a super serious mission and suddenly you're dragged into helping robot pirates. It's great! That said, this was the first time I've disappointed my entire team because I sided with Ironside and, uh, killed all the scavs :(

But listen, Vault Boy here has a soft spot for sentry bots like Ironsides, he used to serve with them back in the day! It was nice to be treated like a fellow soldier again, and yes, the added bonus of them being pirates helped sweeten the deal.

So it was all worth it. And now I have a cannonball gun for Boe the Vault Boy!

[cheemscakecat]

How each Tf2 merc would act if they were alone at Fazbear’s Frights.

Inspired by watching FNAF vs Tf2 Ep 2 [go watch it]

Engineer:

>Ignores the phone call. Fixes the faulty ventilation and security system in like 15 minutes [if it even takes that long]

>Notices Springtrap moving on the cameras as he’s double checking that he fixed them.

>Builds an Engineer nest out of whatever was in his toolbox +the box in the security office.

>Ignores the hallucinations after the first one.

>Springtrap gets gunned down by a sentry in the doorway to the office. Alternatively, if Springtrap tries going into the office through the vent, he’ll be A. Gunned down via shotgun, or B. Tore up by a newfangled building that Engineer built inside the vent. [It depends on how much scrap Engie had to work with]

>Engineer proceeds to leave Fazbear’s fright now that the danger has passed.

Sniper:

>Ignores the phone call. Uses the security panel out of curiosity and notices Springtrap move.

>Decides to make a blockage in the vent using the box of old parts in the office. That’ll slow the “buggering old mold rabbit” down and make a commotion if he goes that way.

>Aims the rifle at the doorway, with the Kukri ready in case Springtrap tries to get in through the vent.

>Tries to slash one of the hallucinations, realizes it’s a hallucination, and proceeds to ignore them in favor of watching for Springtrap.

>Springtrap is shot in the knees and then chest as he tries to come through the doorway. If that isn’t enough to “kill” him, Sniper will proceed to slash him up with the Kukri. The fight goes about the same if Springtrap comes through the vent, but Sniper will probably lead with the Kukri to gain some distance before aiming with the rifle.

>Sniper makes sure to saturate Springtrap in pee before leaving Fazbear’s Fright and drinking in the clean night air.

Soldier:

>Listens to the phone call until he decides the caller is a hippie and hangs up. [Approximately 2 seconds]

>Messes around with the security cameras until he sees Springtrap move.

>Decides to leave the office because he doesn’t respect hippie instructions, or the faulty security panel.

>Soldier proceeds to lob grenades and crockets at each of the hallucinations. The structural integrity of the building is questionable, and there’s smoke and rubble everywhere.

>Springtrap tries to sneak up on Soldier in the smoke and kill him, but is thwarted by the fact that Soldier is built different. He doesn’t do nearly as much damage as hoped.

>Soldier either wrecks Springtrap with a grenade/crocket, or decides to get naked and beat him up. Springtrap ends up “dead” either way.

>Soldier leaves the building, which only crumbles after he leaves because funny.

Heavy:

>Listens to the phone call while also tapping on the security panel to see how it works.

>Notices Springtrap moving on the camera.

>Decides to get Sasha and leave the office to investigate.

>Jumps at one of the hallucinations before realizing it’s not real and proceeding on his way.

>Springtrap sits down at his spot and pretends not to be alive, hoping Heavy will be dumb enough to get close so he has a shot to bite him.

>Heavy shoots Springtrap with Sasha to see if he’s a hallucination/real “zombie cartoon”/a disguised Spy. Springtrap reacts to the pain and gets properly gunned down.

>Heavy decides to take the Freddy prop head as a souvenir and leaves Fazbear’s Fright.

>The prop head turns out to be haunted, but that was expected. After passing hands on the team for a while, Pyro ends up keeping the mask and having tea parties with it.

Scout:

>Tries to talk with the guy on the phone before realizing it’s a recording and giving up.

>Messes around with the security system, but gets bored of the camera before Springtrap moves.

>Decides to root through the box of props in the office just to see if there’s anything cool/interesting in it.

>Gets spooked by a hallucination while he’s playing with old props.

>Checks the camera again. Springtrap has moved.

>Panic

>Remembers he has a gun and a metal baseball bat.

>Remembers he has bonk.

>Scout drinks the bonk and bolts for the exit. The door is locked, so he starts trying to break it down with his body/the bat.

>Springtrap arrives, acting extra spooky because he assumes Scout is nothing more than a scaredy-cat man-child. And as someone who literally targeted defenseless children, scaredy-cat man-children are the next best thing. [William is pathetic fr]

>Scout responds by pulling out his gun and unloading every bullet into Springtrap’s chest and face. He then starts beating the everloving tar out of the ”weird freakin sewer rabbit” with the bat until it stops moving.

>Scout decides to run through the building so he can find the freaking keys. Once he finds them he leaves as soon as humanly possible.

Pyro:

>Listens to the phone, realizes it’s not Ms Pauling, and stops listening.

>Dumps out the box in the office, takes all the cute masks and desk toys, and wanders out into the attraction.

>Wanders through the attraction and plays with the props, hallucinations spring up to try and scare him. But he just waves and acts happy to see them.

>Springtrap, watching from afar, decides to trick this overgrown child like he tricked so many real kids all those years ago. After all, if this strange masked man-child is so keen on the hallucinations, it must mean he’ll look like a friendly rabbit again.

>Pyro stops frolicking as Springtrap comes up and tries to act nice. At first, Springtrap assumes he must just be surprised, but the seconds drag on and he is still just standing there, motionless.

>Pyro pulls out his axe and starts charging at “the bad man”. Springtrap tries to run away, but finds himself in a dead end.

>Springtrap is cut up with the axe and then set on fire.

>Pyro leaves the flaming building with arms full of old masks and toys.

Demoman:

>Answers phone, then hangs up and looks through the security panel.

>Doesn’t notice Springtrap moving and closes the camera.

>Starts drinking whatever alcohol he has with him.

>Gets spooked by a hallucination. Decides to look back at the cameras for other supernatural happenings.

>Notices Springtrap. Gets annoyed.

>Leaves bombs in the doorway and the vent, stands far enough away to avoid the explosions.

>Springtrap walks into bombs and explodes into chunks. Demoman realizes the air is getting too thick soon after and leaves the building.

Spy:

>Answers phone but gets annoyed listening to the phone guy’s voice and hangs up.

>Looks through the security panel and runs the ventilation because the building reeks of mildew and mold.

>Ventilation system breaks immediately afterwards. Gets annoyed and decides not to even try lighting a cigarette.

>Looks through the security cams and notices Springtrap moving.

>Decides that getting “Black mold mascot” material on his gloves, much less suit, is off the table. There will be no backstabbing this thing.

>Turns invisible with the revolver in hand. Creeps out into the attraction.

>Hallucinations appear but don’t get a reaction because he’s trained himself to be quiet. Hallucinations decide he’s no fun and give up.

>Sneaks up to Springtrap, identifies the smell of rotting meat and realizes there’s a zombie in the costume.

>Springtrap is shot in the exposed hole in his back and then in the head. Spy unloads all of the bullets in the revolver just to make sure this thing stays down.

>Spy leaves Fazbear’s Fright, making sure to get far away before attempting to light a cigarette. He decides to go into the nearest gas station to wash up, because the feeling of having Fazbear corpse air stuck to you is worse than a badly cleaned men’s room.

Medic:

>Answers phone, gets bored and then hangs up.

>Plays with the security system and notices Springtrap moving on the camera.

>Interest piqued, he leaves the office to go investigate.

>Springtrap gets knocked out with a tranquilizer dart and wakes up in the security office.

>The security panel has been strapped to Springtrap’s chest and allows him to talk via text. Medic asks how he became a zombie glued to the costume out of genuine curiosity.

>Springtrap decides Medic must be equally evil as him and proudly reveals that he’s a child murderer.

>

>William wakes up in Hell. Medic sold his soul to the devil to make sure he stayed in the ground.

>Medic leaves Fazbear’s fright and walks to the nearest bar so he can get out of the frightful bad mood he’s in.

[thewadapan]

Insane that the last Team Fortress 2 comic came out, and perhaps more insane is how effectively it resolves the themes of the story, considering the whole thing spun out of some silly gag comics for a first person shooter, which had a bunch of lore back-ported onto it, with this particular issue having spent nearly eight years in development hell...

I love video games, and I love trying to rationalise the insane logic of how they work using fiction. Or not even to rationalise, just to kind of like... take it at face value? There's a great bit in one of the Team Fortress 2 comics where the mercenaries are going to be fighting an army of robots (in the game's PVE mode) and, at that point in the story, Mann Co. is bankrupt, so they're not getting paid—but they're mercenaries, so why are they fighting? And Ms. Pauling just comes right out and says, "For reasons I can't comprehend or explain, the robots run on piles of money. Destroy them and whatever falls out is yours." Risk of Rain has a similar conceit, where the aliens explode into currency, something that's diegetically acknowledged in the in-game logs.

The comics also deserve serious credit for genuinely pushing the limits of the comic medium, by explicitly using the fact that this is something people are reading on their computers. You see Webtoons currently are doing something similar, optimised for phones with their infinite scrolling. Well, here everything's landscape, and you advance through the comic using the arrow keys or whatever, and there's all these little gags that rely on hiding a speech bubble at first, or tweaking a panel, or doing a jump-cut, which are borderline impossible to replicate in print (the closest thing traditional comics have as a tool is the page-turn, which some writers do use to great effect).

It might just be that Team Fortress 2 was one of the things that heavily informed my sense of humour at a formative age, but I still come back to it and think it's the funniest thing in the world. And a big part of what makes the humour work, for me, is that it is just barely grounded in the real world. When someone gets their hand cut off and it's played for laughs, they've still just had their hand cut off. All the blood and guts is right there to see. Characters like Spy and Ms. Pauling frequently ground the story in these bureaucratic material concerns—like, someone is having to go around burying all the bodies.

Which means that when the story takes something which genuinely started as nothing more than a joke, and uses it for pathos, those beats can actually hit home. The big example is the joke about Spy having sex with Scout's mom, which in the comics morphs into this running thread about Spy probably being Scout's father, which in turn plays into these themes of regret and cycles of violence... and that was obviously never planned from the start, even the early examples in the comics are very much within the realm of plausible deniability, but over time they're clearly like—well, what if that was the case? What then? It's such good yes-anding.

Certain characters—the Pyro and the Engineer—do get pretty short-changed, which I think is mostly because the other characters just lend themselves much better to the extremely dialogue-dense style of comedy. The Engineer spends most of the numbered issues completely sidelined, looking after the Administrator; I mostly played Engineer when I played the game, so I do find that a bit disappointing. I don't think the Sentry Gun even gets a look-in! But still, nine playable characters plus the supporting cast is a lot to keep track of, and I think they chose the right ones to focus on (Scout, Soldier, Spy, Heavy).

Part of what made Team Fortress 2 always appeal to me above and beyond any other first-person shooter was its obvious awareness that the fighting is not, in fact, good, or just, or meaningful, or anything other than a pointlessly cynical greed-fuelled slaughter over nothing. It's just these drab industrial sites and bodies being thrown at one another, on repeat, forever. I think if you want to take a multiplayer game like this and build up a narrative on top of it, it's kind of the only honest approach you can take. Seeing similar stories in this and in RoosterTeeth's Red vs. Blue around the same time left a big impression on me as a teenager.

Contrast Overwatch (of course), which always billed itself as a superhero story, which had clearly-defined good-versus-evil flavour, which purported to depict a global conflict of world-shattering stakes, where every single piece of fucking tie-in media was a saccharine sentimental little snoozefest where characters will say things like "Oh no!" unironically. In Overwatch, the playable characters come from all over the world, they're these collar-tuggingly direct stereotypes, and it's like... wow, the military-industrial complex is so inclusive, you guys! Meanwhile, Team Fortress 2 has stereotypes of its own, but the intent is so completely different. Sniper, Heavy, Demoman, Medic, Spy have these clearly-defined national backgrounds, but they've shed all nationalistic ties, civilized human society would shun them, and now all they can do is kill for money they will never have cause to spend.

And the supporting characters invented for the comic all support this theme of bitter, cynical hate, of pointless bickering and petty feuds. Brothers Redmond and Blutarch turn themselves into monsters trying to outlive each other solely out of spite, not even just to enjoy their lives for as long as possible! When Gray Mann offs them, his characterisation sees their mindless, stupid schemes replaced with cold rationalism, to match the Administrator's own ruthless efficiency, but the substance of their conflict is no different. Wait, is the moral of the Team Fortress 2 comics just... old people bad? Look at the Team Fortress Classic guys...

I don't know. Overwatch was heavily billed on the quality of its worldbuilding and writing and characters (I was always like, what worldbuilding? What writing? What characters?), and like the many, many MCU films which nobody thinks about or talks about or cares about any more, I don't think I've ever seen someone actually talk about that media as art, except to point out its shortcomings. Nobody will remember any of it. Oh god, I just remembered about all the Overwatch porn. Okay, people will remember it, just not for the right reasons.

Meanwhile, I've known people over the last eight years who routinely joked about the final Team Fortress 2 comics never coming out. For something so ancillary, so inessential, to have made such a big impression on people, is something that in this case speaks to its success on a creative level. If anything, I wish it was less of a transmedia narrative, that this was just a single book I could pick up off the shelf and give to someone like "read this!" and that's all they'd need to know. Maybe I should try to compile some sort of reading list, hmm.

[jellyfishoreo1206]

hey dude! really like ur work lol :3 can you write a tf2 medic with a fem or gn reader who is alternative (like punk/goth?) it can be headcannons or a drabble or whatever u want :) thanks bud!

Medic with an Alt! Reader (gender-neutral)

Notes: Of course! Again, I'm sorry if it seems like I ignored your ask! For that, I'll attempt to make it extra long :3 Please correct me if I get anything wrong about the history of Alternative fashion/music, I mostly referenced Wikipedia, but I don't think there was enough information for me to go on. I didn't know if you wanted this to be a romantic pairing or just platonic, so I'm doing both!

So coming back to this, I realized that the first half of this is talking about Alt Reader, but then the next half it's literally just romance head cannons that have nothing to do with the ask. I've been carried away by the amount of ideas that have been flooding my brain at night that I completely forgot what I was doing in the first place. At this point, I'm just rolling with it, I'm sorry Anon

Warning(s): Medic being medic, cussing, mentions of reader smoking, slight spoilers for the TF2 Comics.

M/C = Merc Class

---

Platonic

Considering that this is the late 60's (and alt becoming a thing somewhere in the 1970's or 80's), Medic would take a keen interest in you.

Whether you take interest in Emo, Goth, Hip-Hop (which apparently is a form of Alt fashion! Good to know), Punk, Rocker or Grunge fashion; all of them have a few things in common, they all stand out from the mainstream fashion going on in that time, some are more artistic and attention-grabbing, and some coming to be as a break from beliefs.

I'm not going to lie to you, at first he thought it was some type of disorder

"I want to find out what's wrong with them" That's what's going through his mind 😭

He's so curious, you're going to be his new subject of interest until he has studied every inch of you

Whether that be operating on you or studying how you behave from afar.

---

Several days have passed since you've joined the mercenaries. You seem to be adjusting well enough to the team, getting along semi-okay with your teammates (if you ignore how the on your first day Soldier nearly killed you because he mistook you as a demon, shouting absolute nonsense). Engineer has been one of the most welcoming out of your teammates, offering to show you around and letting you know what to watch out for.

But there is one teammate that you can't even bring yourself to being around. The Medic.

God, you would think that the Engineer would at least warn you about him and his behavior, dude is seriously all kinds of creepy.

Ever since you got here, he's been watching you like a hawk. Always seeing him out of the corner of your eye, conveniently always being in the same room as you; Hell! Even following you out in the battle field. You even think you woke up to him crouching menacingly in the corner of your room, watching as you slept with a creepy smile on his face and an insane look in those eyes of his. (Desperately wishing that it was some kind of paranoia-filled nightmare and praying to whatever god that is up there that it wasn't real.)

"I swear! Was it something I did??" You decided to express your concerns to the Engineer, considering he is one of the more reasonable one's out of the mercs, and being the first person you hit it off with when you first arrived. He hummed in thought—putting down the sentry gun that he was tinkering with—turning to face you as he pushes his hard-hat back into place.

"Medic is a strange fella, I know tha'. But I don' think I've ever heard him act like this..." His response only seemed to add on to your distress, sitting yourself on the floor of his workshop with a loud groan. Great, so even he doesn't know what's going on either. "I'll hafta talk with him la'er, see wha's up with 'im."

"I appreciate it, Engineer."

"Please, call me Engie."

---

When the Engineer brought up the Medic's behavior to him, he just laughed it off

"Oh Herr Engineer, you must know as a man of science that this is simply an observation!" "...What exactly are ya' observin'?" "Haven't you noticed? How they dress! Is it a form of trauma? Or a type of disorder! I must find out!" *Cue him holding a bloody hand saw in the most menacing way possible* "Then..why don'tcha jus' ask them up front?" "I like my methods better."

Yeahhhh, he has a really bad case of autism

When Engie told you what the Medic told him, you just got even more confused.

What would the way you dress have anything to do with your mental state?

I mean, yeah, you've turned heads whenever you went out to do mundane tasks back home (such as picking something up from the store or returning something to a friend), and you had several people tell you that'll they will pray for you, but you've never had someone assume that it was straight up a disorder??

The thought itself just confuses you

Engie was right about him being weird..

---

A month has passed, and it seems like the Medic's behavior has calmed down a bit. Emphasis on a bit.

He stopped following you around out in the battlefield as much and seems to be getting back into his regular schedule of being the medic for the team; but you're starting to notice something else...

It seems he's attempting to talk to you! The whole entire time you've been here at the base, you two never actually had a proper conversation (mainly it was because you were attempting to avoid him as much as possible at the start, and Medic because he just saw you as another subject). The first time it happened was late at night, almost the early hours of the morning. You were in the kitchen, making some coffee for yourself and the Engineer (who has yet to go to sleep). You were pretty sure it was only the two of you awake at this time, since you didn't hear anything else other than the distant clinging and clanking of the engineer's machinery.

With both hands occupied with a mug of hot coffee, you were about to make your way out of the kitchen when you felt your heart drop. Jesus FUCKING CHRIST, HOW LONG WAS HE STANDING THERE????

Might as well be called The SPY instead with how fucking quiet he was.

You both made awkward eye-contact—awkward for you anyway—he seemed tired, but that didn't stop him from smiling at you—teeth and all.

"Ach, guten morgen!" He offers a small wave, his voice cheery despite his obvious exhaustion.

You didn't say anything, you bolted out of there.

Nope nope nope nope nopenopenope-!

---

The Medic didn't seem to take that reaction personally

If anything, it made him more curious

So he attempts to strike up another conversation, but this time with company around, since he was scolded by the engineer the very next day

Whether it was during dinner-time, before a match, or even game-nights (as chaotic as they can be); he always attempts to strike up conversations, whether you don't respond or you give one-word responses.

Going on to long rants about any topic that comes to mind, whether you want to listen or not; most of them are usually about the human biology or his previous experiments

You wish you could erase the memory when he told you he got a man pregnant with baboons.

When you asked why he wanted to talk to you, he merely gave a shrug and a almost sheepish smile

His response?

"Oh for no reason, I just got bored when I realized there were no results in my observations."

Yeah

You kept your distance as much as possible, still feeling a bit uncomfortable around the man

Though it eventually started to slowly fade away when he kept attempting to talk with you, a big part of it was also due to his birds perching themselves on you whenever you needed something from the medbay, cuddling up to you in a mass of feathers

You actually started to enjoy the conversations when he asked why you dressed the way you did

---

"Let me give you a brief summary," You start, sitting on the worn-out couch with the Medic on the far-end, a freshly lit cigarette in-between your fingers, "-there's a small community of us, people who also dress like me. But like I said, small community, not many of us." Taking the first drag of your cigarette, you see from the corner of your vision Medic holding a scolding look, eyeing the cigarette in your hand with disgust.

Blowing the smoke out in small puffs, you continued, "But, the reason why we dress the way we do, there's several and it varies from person to person."

"It could be a way of self-expression, a break from the mainstream style, or...damnit, I always forget the last one's. But there's many reasons why is what I'm trying to get at."

"What was your reasoning?" The Medic finally spoke, crossing his legs as he (un)discreetly takes out a notepad, writing down the information that you have just stated. The question processes in your brain, taking a long drag, repeating it over and over until an answer formed.

"Mm, nearly everyone dresses the same, no variety in their fashion." Finishing the last of the cigarette, you put it out in the ash tray atop the coffee table, leaning back into the couch with a stretch. "Everyone is always expected to dress the same. I wanted something different."

"Interesting..."

---

Romantic

Now for the romantic part of the relationship, it would take him FOREVER to figure out that he likes you

YEARS if nobody brings it up

He would just brush it off as excess adrenaline from the battles (even if there was a ceasefire)

He would also began to show a certain type of favoritism towards you (his birds especially)

Whether that be storing a jar of lollipops in his office for you to take from (and only you), telling you a in-depth explanation/step-by-step of his experiments before anybody else, scolding you whenever you do something that's unhealthy, or just treating you like a normal doctor whenever it comes time for the yearly check-ups (like not experimenting on you/doing a random surgery or injecting random chemicals into your body to see what effects it'll have on the battlefield.)

---

"Aye, doc! How come you only give M/N loli's!" For what seemed to have been the tenth time that day that Scout has complained about the same thing—over and over again—it was starting to get on the doctors nerves as he attempted (emphasis on attempted) to rescue his beloved bird that has somehow snuck his way inside of the scout and got himself tangled in the intestines while the Medic was preforming surgery.

"And for the last time, Scout." A sharp snap fills the tiled-room, a small piece of the Scout's rib cage in-between the Medic's gloved fingers, throwing it somewhere behind him without much concern for it as he continues with his current task at hand, "They aren't such a nuisance, unlike you."

---

That's his only excuse whenever someone asks really :/

He always seems to enjoy your company the most out of all the mercs and is seen with you more times than anybody else on the team

It's until one of the mercs bring up his favoritism from another point of view that he begins to think...differently

Not a bad differently, but a "What do I do" differently

Like that's the moment when he begins to realize his affections for you

Personally, I believe that man has never been in a romantic relationship/had romantic feelings for someone

So him being in love for possibly the first time in his life, he's stumped

Like what does he even do in a predicament like this???

Would probably go to Engie or Heavy about this predicament for some sort of guidance.

His behavior around you would change a bit

He would still act like his regular self

But with you around he could be seen fidgeting with whatever he has in his hands and stumbling over his words more often, maybe even calling you pet-names in German

There will be times where he'll have a red flush seen on his normally pale face whenever you do something he sees as attractive/adorable (whether that be ruthlessly killing the other team, laughing at something one of the mercs did, cooing at Archimedes, etc.)

Like, flushed to the tips of his ears down to the nape of his neck type of blushing

You can tell he's blushing whenever his glasses fog up <3

---

"Who's a pretty bird? You're a pretty bird!" Said blood-covered dove cooed at the various praise he was receiving from you, flapping his wings in a joyful matter. You came to the medbay to ask Medic for something that the Engineer needed but quickly got sidetracked when a certain dove flew down from his perch and decided to greet you.

Bringing a finger up to the dove, you give him small gentle scratches atop his head, continuing to coo at the bird with a big smile stretched across your lips.

Medic watches as the whole thing happens from his desk, a look of adoration in his eyes as he watches the on-going interaction between you and his bird. A feeling of warmth began spreading across his face, the beating of his heart increasing just from the sight alone.

He's absolutely clueless on what to do—the well-composed Medic, the man who has made a deal with the Devil and tricked him, sowing 8 souls to his very own, and has done many experiments that should be impossible to achieve—is confused on how he should proceed with his arising feelings for someone he considered a colleague and friend.

What a very troublesome situation.

---

He would probably be a bit straightforward when he decides to confess to you, probably in a private space like in the Medbay or when it's late at night so nobody is awake to walk in on the two of you

When I say "a bit straightforward", I mean like he'll beat around the bush for a brief few seconds before just going for it, and keeps eye-contact throughout the whole thing

If you accept his feelings; he's ecstatic! But he doesn't know how to act, to say.

'What do couples do??' 'How does one act when they are in a relationship?' Mainly the questions that are going through his mind

If you reject his feelings; he'll become quiet and distant around you. He might even be a bit mad at himself, whenever he's by his lonesome; staring at his reflection on his bone-saw as his birds attempt to comfort him

Like, you guys will still talk, but it'll just be awkward—a tension between the two of you

Okay moving on.

Once entering a relationship with the Medic, it's best if you take things slow; discuss boundaries with one another, what to do and what not to do, etc,.

Would probably become a bit more touchy? Like, small brushes against your hand or one of your limbs, holding you hand or just linking pinkies with you whenever the two of you are alone

Like those kind of touches, soft.

Kisses would probably start off small too; small kiss to your knuckles or a kiss to the palm of his hand to bring a flush out of him (Though he prefers both of these in private)

Would absolute want to attempt to do your hair and make-up

I feel like he's either the kind of person to keep his love life private, but also not? Like, he would drops hints that he's in a relationship with you, but they are so subtle they fly over a few of the mercs heads

---

Again, Anon, I'm sorry for going off-topic

[mrsalwayswrite]

Snow & Fire (Buck Cleven x reader)

Summary: What began as admiring the first snowfall turns into something much more as Buck joins her outside, threatening to melt the surrounding snow with the growing heat between them. 

a/n: reader is female and from Georgia, USA. those are the only defining factors.

This was inspired by the prompt 'snowfall' for @creators-club 24 Days of Christmas Writing Challenge.

Warnings: none really, couple swear words and mild spicy

Words: 2500

Even through the despair and suffering, through the biting cold and the empty stomach, she was helpless but to stare in wonder. 

While everyone else hid away inside the mediocre warmth provided by their bunkhouse inside Stalag Luft III, she sat on the step outside. It was dangerous and foolish. It was asking for trouble. Nazi soldiers patrolled the compound, guns and dogs by their side, itching for a fight to break up the monotony of the days. The temperature dropped as winter descended and with the Red Cross packages delayed in getting to the prisoners of war, or confiscated by the Germans, winter clothing was lacking amongst the prisoners. All excellent reasons for her to remain in the bunkhouse with the airmen. Safety. Warmth. Survival. 

Yet she stayed on that step, staring up at the gloomy, gray sky, the sun hidden by thick clouds, unable to drag herself away. 

The snowfall was beautiful. 

Little, delicate snowflakes drifted down to the ground like glistening sugar or feathers from angel's wings. So slowly they fell, as if gravity held no meaning. A graceful dance to the hard, cold ground. 

What surprised her the most was how silent it was. An almost sacred hush hung over the compound as the snow fell, as if this was a holy occurrence. Perhaps it was in a way. For as time passed, those delicate snowflakes, easily melted if caught on a finger or tongue, gathered on the ground and buildings. What used to be a compacted, dirt ground transformed into a gleaming field of white. The dull buildings glistened with the coating of snow on them, giving them a cheer never meant for them. Even the trees surrounding the compound, sentries guarding the otherside of the fence, appeared less menacing. Those that lost their leaves within the past months now appeared less like skeletons standing watch over those who dared to oppose the Third Reich. The evergreens seemed to embrace the snow, just missing the candles and bobbles to create a holiday cheer. Something certainly lacking in the Stalag Luft. 

Unaware of the eyes watching her, she held her hand out, marveling as the snowflakes fell on her skin. The pinprick of iciness was no longer noticeable with how cold her hands were. 

“What're you doing out here?”

That smooth, gravelly voice was easily recognizable, particularly from those in the 101st Bomb Group. Tipping her head to the side, she could see the man standing in the doorway. “Afternoon, Major.”

Buck Cleven hesitated for a moment before stepping outside and closed the door behind him. To her surprise, he sat down on the step next to her, their thighs almost touching due to the short width of their perch. His sharp gaze scanned the area around them, eyes lingering on the security tower with its Nazi occupants as he adjusted his signature blue scarf around his neck. 

“It's not safe for you to be out here alone.”

“Yeah…I know.” She could feel his gaze, feel the unasked question. Needing to occupy her hands suddenly, she tugged her coat closer around her body. The coat was about two sizes too big for her, meant for a man and not a female navigator. She was lucky to have it. 

She was even more lucky to have miraculously earned the friendship of Buck Cleven. When others argued and fought that a female navigator was an abomination, he stood resolutely by her side. That simple act was enough for many of the airmen at Thorpe Abbotts to eat their words. They may have grumbled amongst one another but as time passed and she showed her exceptional capabilities as a navigator, those remarks lessened. Another element that cemented their friendship was their sobriety amd thus their shared trials of corralling their other friends after a night of drinking. 

Never would she breathe a word of the crush she had developed as time passed. It was almost impossible not to fall for him, with his dashing good looks, charming and kind personality and his aura that seemed to draw people in. She was helpless against it, yet that truth never dared touch her lips. 

“I've never seen snow before.” She murmured, breaking the silence. 

“Really?” He asked in response to her quiet admission. 

She hummed, sticking her tongue out to catch a snowflake on it. 

“How have you never seen snow?”

“I grew up in Georgia on the coast. I've lived through hurricanes and blisterin’ summer heat…” she shrugged, “but it's never snowed.”

“Huh. I guess I didn't think about that.”

“Well, not all of us can grow up with snow capped mountains in our backyard.” She teased. 

He huffed a laugh and knocked his shoulder into hers.

“It's beautiful though. Like… I don't know…. Reminds me of that powdered sugar my Ma’d use to make frostin’ for Christmas cookies.”

He hummed in agreement. “I can see that…guess I never thought of it that way. It's always just been snow to me, even as a kid. Always cold and wet.”

“That's a shame. I'd have loved to build a snowman as a kid.”

“I did once…behind a bar.” He hesitantly said, as if dragging the words from the depths of his memories, his blue eyes clouded with the dark memory. “My father lost his bet. He came out mad…and drunk. He kicked it over and said I was too old to make childish things like that.”

“I'm sorry. That's…” Words failed her, unable to decide on a word strong enough to show how terrible his experience sounded. Her heart broke for a young Gale, his innocent joy destroyed by the anger of a parent.  Silently, she reached over and squeezed his hand, hoping he understood what her voice failed to convey. 

“Christ, your hand is freezing.” He quietly scolded. Immediately, he folded his hand over hers and reached for the other one in her lap. With both of her hands clasped between his larger hands, he tried to rub heat back into them. “You'll likely lose fingers if we don't warm you up.”

“Sorry.” 

“You need to take care of yourself. We'll see about finding some gloves for you. I will ask around.”

“That's not–you don't need to do that.”

“We can't have you losing your fingers. I heard they are vital for our navigators.”

She snickered. “Yes, sir.”

A small, intimate smile blossomed on his face as he brought her hands to his mouth and began to blow warm air on them. 

As his breath touched her skin, sparks zipped up her arms to her heart, making it flutter and dance like a startled bird caught in a cage. A near silent gasp slipped from her lips at the sensation. She stared wide-eyed at him, spellbound by the man next to her. Even if she had any inkling of pulling away, she would have been unable to with the sheer intensity of his blue eyes, pinning her in place even more than his hands around hers. 

It was overwhelming and thrilling. 

What possessed her next, she would never know. Perhaps the cold had addled her brain or it was his intense gaze, making her feel like they were the only two people in the world, that made her lose her inhibitions. Perhaps it was the sparks dancing along her nerves endings, making her want to draw closer, to give into the sensation completely. For she allowed her finger to reach out and gingerly trace his bottom lip. 

She remembered how some of the women back at Thorpe Abbotts would gossip and guess about what kissing Major Buck Cleven would be like, since he was quite chaste with his attention even though he was single. He was friendly enough with the women but never sought certain…affections, like others did. 

Although now, she could rationally say that even slightly chapped, his bottom lip was still pillowy soft and probably would be spectacular to kiss. Even the new scars on his cheeks only enhanced his features, appearing like lines on a runway, directing towards his plush lips that were begging to be worshipped. 

He stilled at her movement, neither pulling away or drawing closer. Yet with that single action, the air surrounding them shifted, like a heavy fog curled around them. His eyes…their intensity doubled. His gaze transformed to heavy-lidded and piercing in the blink of an eye. 

Feeling emboldened, her thumb slowly traced his upper lip. His eyelids fluttered shut as her thumb moved to trace the seam of his lips. She could feel his shaky exhale, feel the faint tremble in his hands under her touch. 

Thinking she had taken it too far, she gently started to tug her hands back but his grip only tightened, refusing her escape. Instead, his eyes snapped open, a heated gleam in his gaze, a naked want unmasked as he stared unabashed at her. 

Eyes pinning her in place, he kissed the finger still in place to caress his lips, then slid down her knuckles. Somehow the simple action, those gentle kisses held an edge of indecency to them, of temptation, that stole the very air from her lungs and made her core clench. 

“Buck?” She breathed out, unsure what she was actually asking for, just needing to say his name, to somehow ground herself instead of floating away in the heady moment. 

With a faint groan, he turned her hands over and placed a tender kiss on each of her palms, making the skin tingle. As if that was not enough, as if each touch of his lips to her skin loosened what chains of propriety held him back, he surrendered, diving in for more. Those perfect lips followed a trail from the palm of left hand down to the inside of her wrist, pushing back the edge of her coat with his nose. At its destination, he placed a hot, open-mouthed kiss there, branding her with his lips. 

Her breath hitched in her throat, liquid fire pouring into her veins with each press of his lips to her sensitive skin. Unable to move away, unwilling to remove her gaze from this fantasy before her. Even with the thin winter coat covering her, she felt laid bare before him. 

Without pause, his mouth moved to her right palm, repeating the action. Those delectable lips caressing her skin to press an open-mouthed kiss on the inside of her wrist. 

“Buck.” This time his name came out in a needy whine. A desperation for him. An exquisite need for more. For him to quiet the burning fire he began or allow it to build until it consumed them both. She wanted to taste his lips, to feel them pressed against hers and become drunk on him alone. 

Yet somehow the utterance of his name broke the spell surrounding them.   

A sudden tension caused his body to stiffen before he slowly sat up ramrod straight. His beautiful eyes focused on her hands clasped between his but now on his thigh instead of against his mouth, where she would much rather them to be. 

“I'm sorry, I shouldn't have…” He softly spoke, his voice almost hoarse like it pained him to speak. 

“S'alright, I–” she gulped audibly, throat dry and mind reeling from the desire still causing her body to ache for him, “I didn't mind.”

“We're too exposed out here. Anyone could walk by and see.”

“Oh…right.” 

“Not that I don't…” He paused, as if reevaluating his words. “When I kiss you for the first time, I'd rather it not be somewhere where a Nazi could walk up and interrupt.”

She slowly blinked, his statement bouncing around within her head. “When?”

“Yeah, when. I've been thinking about it for some time now.”

“Oh, ah, yeah…that's…probably a good idea. I'd be upset if we were interrupted.”

He smiled with such sweet adoration yet laced through with undeniable hunger, it threatened whatever was left of her resolve to melt away like snow. 

They sat outside together for several more minutes, stealing shy and longing glances at each other and holding hands. The heady fog lifted from around them, allowing her to breathe again and not feel like her heart was beating out of her chest. An air of anticipation replaced it, planting a sense of yearning that bound them. An almost tangible desire for a shared kiss. To cement whatever this was between them, this newfound fire they both wished to drink from. 

Delicate snowflakes continued to drift down around them, causing the Stalag Luft to look like a snow globe. 

“Hey, what are you two dodos doing out in this damn cold?” Major Bucky Egan asked, leaning against the doorframe behind them. 

“Aren't you from Wisconsin?” Buck teased, glancing back at his best friend. 

“Yeah, and it's damn cold. Why aren't ya inside?”

“Just watching the snowfall.”

“Uh huh, is holding hands helping you see the snow better?”

She felt a flush heat her cheeks at Egan's comment, but spoke up, hoping it would distract the other major. “D’ya think there'll be enough snow to make a snowman tomorrow?”

“Uh…” Bucky squinted up at the gray sky. “I guess if it keeps falling at this rate. Are you planning on making one?”

“I've never made one before.”

“So a prisoner camp is the best choice?”

She shrugged, undeterred, especially when Buck squeezed her hands in his. 

“Well, if you don't want frostbite, I'd say you two should come inside, crazy idiots.” Bucky murmured the last two words. He rapped his knuckles on the doorframe, staring at the two before stepping back inside the bunkhouse. 

In silent agreement, Buck and her stood up to return inside, but not before he stole a quick kiss to the inside of her right wrist once again, making her insides turn to jello. He held the door open for her, allowing her to retreat from the cold, then followed her into the long hallway which divided the many rooms overcrowded with bunk beds for the downed airmen. 

With the click of the door closing behind them, she reached out and snatched his hand before he could move away. Tangling her fingers with his, her heart hammered in her chest as she whispered her request. 

“Want to help me build a snowman tomorrow?” 

“Sure.” He replied without hesitation, a beaming smile on his lips and delight in his eyes. “It's a date.” 

With a cheeky wink and squeeze of their fingers, he slipped into his room, which was closest to the door. 

Attempting to smother the silly smile she could feel on her face, she took a deep breath and walked past Buck's room, only to lose the battle against her smile as she overheard Bucky giving him shit about being outside in the cold and asking if Buck was finally admitting to his pining for her and if that was why they were holding hands. 

With a heat warming her inside and out, she walked further along to the room she shared with the surviving men from her plane. She could not wait to play in the snow tomorrow for their date…and perhaps she could orchestrate something for that desired kiss. Neither snow nor Nazis were going to keep her from kissing Buck Cleven if she could help it. 

[bcdrawsandwrites]

[ID: A Team Fortress 2 fic banner featuring a silhouette of Pyro using the stock flamethrower and setting things on fire. Pyro is light gray with darker outlines, with its class symbol and canister markings in orange, and its lenses yellow-white. They are on a dark gray background with faint gray text behind them reading numbers from 999,996 to 999,999. The title is in the top right in yellow-white text on a darker background reading, "CHAPTER ONE: PYROMANCY." /end ID]

Flickering

Fandom: Team Fortress 2 Rating: K+ Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Friendship Characters: Spy, Pyro, Engineer, Medic, Sniper Warnings: General references to trauma, TF2-typical violence Fic Description: After the events of the comics, the mercs try to go back to how things were, but it’s never that easy.

Spy can see his teammates going through their own struggles… but something seems to be very, very wrong with Pyro in particular.

And since no one else seems to be doing anything about this, Spy makes it his mission to get to the bottom of what is troubling Pyro. For no particular reason. Beta Readers: @mechmolar, @gonturan0, @junuve Notes: I have no idea what was supposed to happen in the final comic, so for the sake of my sanity I'm going to have the mercs go back to business as usual, somehow.

---

Chapter 1: Pyromancy Summary: In which Spy takes on a new mission.

---

After everything was said and done, the scars they endured were more than physical.

Sniper had been the first to admit it, quietly mentioning during the chaos between rounds the fact that he sometimes still felt the pain of bullets long-gone, and not the ones they endured from their usual matches.

(The matches had resumed, even after the death of all three Mann brothers. It was a touch of normalcy that they all needed.)

Heavy made frequent trips to Medic's office, not for any treatment, but just in case there was still some Australium left in that brute's veins and he came after them again.

Spy, meanwhile, had escaped unscathed and had absolutely nothing to hide from anyone.

But as for the others, this was, of course, all very normal. They'd all been through a lot of strange events—or stranger than usual—and a bit of lingering trauma was to be expected. Nothing to be concerned over.

Except for one thing.

Spy had noticed it during a match. An enemy merc had been preparing to sneak up on Pyro, who was removing a sapper from a sentry. But the second they got too close, Pyro swung around with its homewrecker, striking the merc again and again until they despawned. On the surface it had seemed little different from how Pyro usually handled things. Even so, something about the incident felt... off to Spy.

So he decided to keep an eye on things. During matches, whenever he could, he would take a moment to observe Pyro. He observed it charging into battle, firing its flare gun with impressive precision. Efficient, and yet...

Another moment he caught was when it had a brush with an enemy spy. The spy had just attempted to backstab Pyro when it swung around, striking with its ax and slashing, again and again. When the bloody remains disappeared, Pyro stared blankly at the red stain they’d left behind for a few uncomfortable moments before moving on.

At this point, Spy wasn't even sure what he was looking for, or why he cared, beyond the fact that it was his part of his job to study people's behavior should he need to imitate it later. No one else had taken notice of any of this—or if they had, they said nothing of it. If he just dropped the matter, likely no one would care, and they could continue to move past the mess from the past six months.

...But a little poking around wouldn't hurt. It wasn't like the Administrator was sending him off on any high-profile missions right now.

Engineer's workshop was meticulously organized, and a place Spy did not typically set foot in, for good reason. Instinctively he cloaked the second he heard the beep. The sentry's gun was trained on him anyway, but, recognizing a friendly merc, did not shoot.

"I'd say it's funny seein' you here, if I could see you," Engineer said, following his sentry's eyeless gaze.

With a snort, Spy de-cloaked.

Engineer's gaze darkened as he rested the Gunslinger over the top of the machine. "You ain't here to practice with those sappers of yours, are ya?"

"What? No. I have no need for that."

"Huh." Withdrawing his prosthesis, he relaxed slightly. "What can I do ya for?"

"I seek... information." Spy strode closer, idly lighting a cigarette. "You often work with Pyro, no?"

Engineer shrugged. "Well, sure. Don't need to explain to you how we collaborate on the battlefield. Sometimes collaborate here in the workshop, too. That fella's got a knack for makin' new flamethrowers, and it'll sometimes ask for my input." He tilted his head. "Why? You lookin' to partner with it for something?"

"Ugh, no." Spy shuddered. "No. I was wondering if you had... noticed its behavior on the battlefield as of late."

At that, Engineer leaned forward, rubbing a finger against his chin. "Lately? Mumbles's been doing pretty well on the battlefield. Better than I can remember, even." Shrugging, he sat back. "Guess it's been missin' the usual matches, pointless as they are, same as the rest of us."

Exhaling a stream of smoke through his nose, Spy looked the Engineer in the goggles. "And outside of battle?"

"Dunno. Haven't seen it much."

"Do you find this... concerning?"

"Nope." Engineer looked away. "I know I was pretty much out of the fray for all of that, but it sounds like all y'all had it pretty rough. Don't blame anyone for wantin' to take a bit of time to themselves. I'm sure it'll come around."

"Perhaps." Sighing, Spy turned, heading back toward the door. "I'll leave you to... whatever sort of contraptions you have here."

"What are you worried about?"

Spy stopped in the doorway. "What?"

"You ain't the type to come in to ask about someone for no reason."

Spy glared over his shoulder. "I worry about nothing."

"All right," Engineer replied, and resumed tinkering with the sentry. When the fellow merc said nothing more, Spy went on his way.

No, he was not worried. But as his mind wandered back to their short time imprisoned in Gray Mann's base, he was wondering. And there was someone else who might be able to satisfy his curiosity.

Medic's lab, in contrast to Engineer's space, was cluttered and chaotic, not helped by the doves nesting and perching wherever they could find space, nor the young baboon scampering around the floor. The sight of Heavy sitting on a chair made Spy pause, wondering if he was interrupting something, only to realize that the Heavy was only reading a book. He did not look up when Spy entered. The baboon, meanwhile, scampered up to Medic (who was studying something at his desk) and tugged on the hem of his coat.

"Ah, Aristotle. Did you find it?" Medic asked, bending down to accept a small red vial from the baboon's paw. "Let's see..." Adjusting his glasses, he peered at the vial's label, only to frown and toss the vial aside, where it shattered on the floor. "Aristotle! I told you I needed an O-positive blood sample, not another B-positive!"

The monkey, evidently named Aristotle, gave a sad chirp.

"Now, now, try again," he said, and shoo'd the monkey off. "Unless you want this experiment to fail, anyway." He watched the monkey scurry back across the room and run past Spy, and did a double-take. "Ah, Spy! I didn't hear you come in."

"I should hope not, or else I'd be doing my job poorly." He sidestepped the broken glass as he approached.

"Are you recovering well from your emergency blood transfusion?" Medic asked, flipping through some papers at his desk.

"Actually, I had a question about that."

The Medic's face lit up. "Ah! You're in luck!" Setting the papers down, he gestured excitedly toward a series of vials lined up in front of him. "I'm currently working on a method of separating different blood types that may have gotten—hmm—mixed together, by some means, and I needed a human test subject to—"

"No."

Medic's expression immediately soured. "Oh." He turned away, flipping through the papers again. "Well what do you want? I'm very busy."

"You also performed an emergency transfusion on the Pyro, did you not?"

"Oh, yes!" Medic smiled as he held up a paper; Spy was able to spot the Pyro's class symbol on it. "Yes, it's always fascinating working with that one."

Spy didn't have to ask what was fascinating about the only non-human mercenary on their team. "Did you notice anything... unusual when you performed the operation?"

At that, Medic scratched his head. "Well now... I was quite busy at the time, trying to prevent everyone, including you, from dying from blood loss, you know. I didn't have time to focus on the details."

"But you did open Pyro's suit to slice it open and fill its chest cavity with blood."

"Yes, yes. Your point?"

"And you didn't see anything strange when you did this?"

Medic clicked his tongue. "I told you, I had no time to focus on the details!" Sighing, he turned back to his desk. "Besides, it's hard to notice anything past all that soot."

Spy paused. "Soot?"

"Yes, it gets everywhere," Medic replied, as though that had answered the question. "Anyway, why do you ask?"

Tempted as he was to ask about what on earth lied beneath that suit, he held himself back, and very nearly shot back a "classified" at the doctor. However, something else struck him, and he hummed. "You worked with those other mercenaries for a time. Were you familiar with their pyro?"

"Oh, Beatrice?" Medic chuckled. "Yes, she was an interesting one. Quite sadistic, I would say. But what does this have to do with—?"

"She interrogated our Pyro for an extended period of time, and I am wondering if this may account for its strange behavior."

"Strange behavior?" Medic echoed, then laughed, the noise grating on Spy's ears. "No, our pyromaniac is just as crazy as it ever was, in case you haven't noticed! Perhaps you could do with a head examination." In one swift motion he retrieved a clipboard. "I could put you in for next Tuesday—"

"No, thank you." And with that, Spy strode out of the lab, nearly stepping on Aristotle's tail on the way out.

As he crossed the base, he tossed his cigarette to the ground and stomped on it as he passed.

This was ridiculous. Was it not obvious to anyone else? Or was he really just looking for something that wasn't there?

He found himself glaring out a window, staring out at the desert. It was growing dark, now, and he had no reason to be hanging around here—several of the other mercs had already gone home, or to whatever hole they slept in.

The hair stood on the back of Spy's neck, and he whipped around to see someone staring at him from the other end of the hall. He shuddered. "Don't do that."

"Am I not allowed to look at people without a scope up to my eye?" Sniper asked, approaching Spy. He held a cup of coffee in his hand that fogged up his glasses as he brought it to his mouth. Nonetheless, he joined Spy in looking out the window. "You're here late."

"As are you." Spy glared out into the darkening twilight. "Don't you have a van to sleep in?"

"Don't much feel like sleeping," Sniper answered, taking another swig of coffee.

"Then go somewhere else to produce your jarate."

The Sniper only heaved a sigh. "Went to the phone again."

"Yes, very exciting." Spy continued to glare out the window before it struck him what the man was talking about. His annoyance quickly melted. "...Oh." He hesitated for a moment before glancing at Sniper. "My apologies."

"Been a minute since I've done that," he said, and shook his head.

The two stood in awkward silence for a moment.

"...Since you're here," Spy said, "perhaps you could help me with something."

With a lifeless shrug, Sniper did not look away from the window. "Shoot."

"Tempting as it would be to kill you right now, I must decline," Spy said, eliciting a chuckle from the other merc. "Have you paid any attention to Pyro on the battlefield?"

"Some. It watches my back sometimes. Why?"

"Have you noticed anything... strange about it?"

"Hmmm." Sniper turned to face him, and Spy nearly got his hopes up. "Why, have you?"

Spy grit his teeth. "At this point, I'm starting to wonder. Its behavior seems unusual to me for some reason, but no one else in this stupid base seems to think so."

"Everyone's been actin' different, mate. Including you."

Something snapped, and Spy pounded a fist against the windowsill. "Can you answer the question or not?"

Sniper was silent for a moment before he tipped his head back, draining the rest of his coffee. "If somethin's up with Pyro, it hasn't said anything to me about it."

"You—!" Spy sputtered, but Sniper was already leaving. He glared after him, fuming, before spinning around and storming toward the base's entrance.

But as he neared the door, he froze.

It hasn't said anything to me about it.

That was it.

The next day, during their match, Spy kept a closer eye on Pyro than before.

The merc was charging through the map, blasting its flamethrower at anyone and everyone who came near it. If a fellow merc was ever on fire, it quickly put them out before going straight back to setting everything else on fire.

Months ago, when committing such atrocities, it would typically be giggling and laughing and whooping in glee as it stormed through the burning destruction.

Now, it was dead silent, its movements sharp and hurried as it set every enemy in sight ablaze.

Spy, who was cloaked, nearly gave himself away, laughing as his suspicions were confirmed. Yes, something was for sure wrong with Pyro, and he was not going crazy. Satisfied, he resumed his role in the match as normal, decloaking and backstabbing a soldier that the Pyro had missed.

But as the match came to an end and the team returned to their base, it dawned on him: Yes, he'd confirmed that something was wrong with Pyro.

But he still didn't know why.

[boredzillenial]

Kat und Maus

A spy has gone slightly rogue on her mission, low and behold her team bites off more than she can chew.

Themes: f!main character, 3rd person perspective, spy fic, flirting, SFW (wait wtf this never happens)

A.N: trying something a bit different with this one. Not feeling super confident in my writing atm so lemme know what y’all think ~

“I’m in the compound” She whispers into the mic hidden in her bracelet.

“Remember, The nephew is the target, agent. It’s too dangerous to go after V directly.” Her boss’s voice clips in her ear.

“But -“

“Too. Dangerous.” The tone in his voice left no room for interpretation.

She rolls her eyes, continuing her quick strides up the mansion stairs. “Waste of my time and yours.” Her words come out in a puff of chilly night air. “Good evening - The party is this way yes?” Her well rehearsed German accent trills up to the sentry waiting by the front door. “I still don’t understand why he insists on his guests parking their own damn cars.” She makes a point to huff and roll her eyes as she tosses her jacket in his face.

In a quick succession of movements she slams her heel on his foot, muffles his scream with the thick fabric, and twists him around till her arm snakes around his neck. “Sleep tight…” She coos as his body goes limp.

She drags him into the nearby bushes and rewraps her coat around her bare shoulders. “Told you the jacket trick works” She whispers a little smugly into the receiver on her wrist.

“That should be the last armed guards outside. V doesn’t like guns flashing around his guests - unless he’s doing the flashing.” She trys not to roll her eyes again, oh the egos of men . “Nephew should be on the balcony. Go straight there, secure him and over the edge. The extraction team’s waiting in the water at the base of the cliffs.”

“What is it with the ridiculously wealthy and putting their homes on cliffs.” She whispers, admiring the ornate paintings and museum worthy pieces along the walls and small tables.

“Agent, stay on task.”

“So impersonal. I know you know my name might as well say it.” Her tone clips short to match his.

“Also, what’s with the pseudonym, his name is -“

“Anselm tell that story again!” A mans voice booms from the open doorway just a few feet ahead. A chorus of affirmative chatter rises along with it.

“Oh please, you are embarrassing me. It’s not that entertaining.” Anselm’s raised, singsong German accent rings out like a siren song.

“Agent - stay on-“ Those are the last words she hears before she slips the the earpiece out and down into her brazier.

She rounds the corner slowly, getting the layout of the room and those within. The booming voiced man is standing, drunken smile across his reddened face along with four more strained faces with ingenue smiles across them.

And there, seated at an imperial looking dark wooden desk is her target, Anselm. Seeing him in person struck something different within her. She’d studied the far lensed slightly blur photographs along with his laundry list of a rap sheet- he’s a crime boss, an international thief, a kidnapper, a murder. But the man before her seems, well not all that scary.

Cheers and claps fill the room until Anselm relents “Fine fine - I was down in South America, meeting with some less than friendly constituents when - Why hello there.” He stops as he eyes her leaning in the doorframe “And who might you be my dear.” He stands, never taking his eyes off her.

“Anselm darling I am offended -“ Her accent mirrors his “Have you forgotten our time in Munich already? I know it was years ago and we were both so intoxicated but -“

“Everyone, please leave.” His tone is light despite the unknown expression on his face. Creaking and squeaking fills the space as he makes his way to her.

“But sir -“ The large man begins and quickly halts when Anselm looks his way.

The slight squint of his eyes is all it took, sending everyone else in the room scattering. “Now - yours is a face I would not forget.” He sat slowly on the leather couch, adjusting and patting the empty space beside him. “What is your name madam.”

She rolls her alias with ease “- Do you remember now?” She walks slowly, lengthening her steps to sway her hips. His eyes land perfectly on the motion. “Or perhaps you’d remember, other things about me.” She lowers her voice as she sits beside him.

“I don’t believe -“ The beginning of his question is cut short with the sharp ringing from an old style telephone on his desk “Apologies my dear, duty calls” Once again his voice is light but the slightest moment of concern crossed his features before he stiffly stands.

“No need, I need to powder my nose. Be right back.” She coos over her shoulder. Though she keeps her steps slow with purpose her nerves are alight. She really thought he would be so much more imposing or terrifying given his reputation. But he’s just a man, and the look in his eyes makes something she didn’t care to admit stir low in her belly.

She clicks a little quicker down the back hall and onto the patio, where only silence awaits her. While she glances cautiously around for her original target she digs into her dress.

Already she can hear the soft buzzing of a scream as she retrieves the ear piece from her cleavage and puts it back into place. “-AVE YOU GONE MAD! THERE’S A TEAM HEADED YOUR WAY IN LESS THAN 5 YOU BETTER GET YOUR ASS OUT OF THERE!” He screams.

“I made contact with V, I can take him. The nephew is gone.” She hisses.

“ENOUGH! GET TO THE EXTRACTION POINT - THE SECONDARY TEAM WILL RETRIEVE HIM.”

She sighs, shakes her head and carefully jumps over the railing to shimmy down the lattice. “So not worth it, shit.”

She makes her way down the dark expanse of grass and rocks to the extraction team who also look intensely displeased by her change in plan. “Target acquired, heading to base. Ready by 0600 hours for interrogation.”

“Agent, in light of your insubordination. You will remain awake and interrogate the asset once you return.” His words cut into her bruised ego.

“Sir I haven’t slept since -“

“Does it sound, like I care…” his words struggle past his teeth into her ear.

“No, sir.”

“Then sign off. Stay alert….” She pulls the earpiece out and grips it so tightly she snaps the delicate tool into pieces. As she heads off with the team she readies her mind for interrogating the initial target. Some silver spoon punk who was probably kept around as more of a decoration than an asset. Breaking him should be easy enough, but her thoughts stray back to Anselm, the intensity in his gaze and how sure he carried himself, despite the brace…

0600

She walks groggily down the empty hall, gripping onto a hot cup of coffee. This time dressed in casual civilian clothes of Jeans and a Tee she keeps stashed away for emergencies in her locker.

“Can’t believe he’s making me interview this little punk first thing.” She yawns.

“Alright kid - we can do this the easy way or -“ her words cut short in her throat. The slumped form of Anselm tied to the chair in the center of the room.

“Sir,” She clips into her new ear piece “I think you need to see this…”

The minutes pass like lifetimes until finally her boss rounds the corner. “You’ve got to be fucking -“ he growls, whipping the door open, taking a good look, and closing it softly “kidding me…” his final words come out in an exasperated sigh as he rubs his temples. “And this wasn’t you?” He asks without looking up at her.

“Absolutely not sir, I got outta there before the team hit… Did you want me to still do the interrogation?” Her tone shifts to something softer, not wanting to piss her boss off more than he already is.

He whirls on her, “I’ll take you at your word this wasn’t you… But it’s still on you for not containing the original target when you had the chance. When the higher-ups come down on our asses for catching this fucking shark instead of his stupid little nephew, I’m pointing them in your direction unless you get something usable out of him. Understood?”

She nods once “Any limitations?”

“Keep ‘m alive.” He growls before stalking off, a heavy invisible weight on his shoulders.

She steps calmly back into the interrogation room, closing the door a little harder than necessary. Anselm jolts in his chair, eyes squinting as they settle on her. “You again, dangerous little Maus, where have you whisked me to.” He tisks while taking in his surroundings.

“Sorry to disappoint, we don’t have any better accommodations at present.” She sighs and sits a couple feet away in the singular opposing chair. “So tell me Anselm, you feeling okay?” She puts on a saccharine smile.

“Oh my dear you know the ropes aren’t very comfortable.” He wiggles a bit to test them. Looks like the team had decided on simple restraints on his ankles, torso and wrists. “And you’re american? Such a pity.” He tuts.

She crosses her legs and takes a long sip of her coffee.

Anselm eyes the cup, licking his lips for a moment then meeting her gaze again. “Uncomfortable chair, no refreshments, not even a table to negotiate.”

“Oh well see that’s where you’ve not quite caught up. We aren’t negotiating, this is more of well, let’s call it a knowledge seeking interview.”

“Darling, I think I know what an interrogation room looks like. But why bring me here hmm?” He quirks up a brow “I do say you would’ve gotten whatever you wanted in that slick little number you were wearing in earlier. But, you Americans do love your Blue Jeans…”

“I don’t think my clothes will prevent me from learning what I wanna know.” She takes another long sip, enjoying that little lip lick of his again. “Thirsty?”

Anselm chuckles softly, “Very, would you mind?”

“Oh not at all,” She stands slowly “You help me, I’ll help you. How’s that sound. Little quid pro quo.”

“What do you want to know my dear.” He eyes her as she makes her way to him. That dark gaze grazes over her.

“Well for starters, that mansion of yours.” She queries casually “Why along a cliff?”

“This is what the American Goverment wishes to know?”The lilt in his voice coaxes the faintest smirk to her lips.

“This is what I wish to know. Consider this the quid” she encourages.

“Well, for the view of course.” He shrugs.

“Huh… how boring.” She sighs “but fair is fair.” She takes her coffee cup and brings it to his lips “I’m sure you don’t mind sharing.” In reality, this was a test, just how far she could get away with him. If he would share a drink with her, there may be some trust. Trust leads to answers.

“Not at all,” He murmurs as she tilts the cup, he drinks deep for a moment before she pulls it away. “Thank you my darling, in fact I prefer it. You know how it is after people try to poison you. After the first few you only eat or drink after others have, ahaha.” There it is again, that strange little giggle.

“Can’t say I do, but good to keep in mind.” She shakes her head a moment, setting the coffee cup on the floor beside his chair and getting comfortable in her own. “Now, I’ve got a few questions if you don’t mind.”

“Anything my dear.”

“Tell me about the weapons trade, how’s everything going hmm? I hear the Russians have really been giving you a hard time.” She eyes him while crossing her legs, foot bouncing casually.

“Okay, almost anything.” He coughs, “You understand I cannot discuss such matters with you my dear. Despite your beauty and statuesque figure.”

Is he still flirting? Is he serious? She decides to test it. “Aww Anselm, you’ve disappointed me.” She tuts as she stands, walking past him to a nearby table laid with all sorts of instruments to help loosen one’s tongue. “I thought you’d make this easy for both of us.”

“My darling, nothing with me is easy. You’ll come to enjoy that I hope.” He try’s to turn, unable to get her into his peripheral.

“I’m not one for puzzles, or games,” she comes around to face him, twirling a set of pliers in her hand “And to be brutally honest I’m not the best when it comes to patience.”

He eyes the instrument in her hand for a moment before his gaze roams over her body again. “Now that is truly a use for me. Teaching you patience, it is one of life’s greatest pleasures.” His tone shifts low, sultry.

She decides to lean in, a hand on either arm and her face just inches from his, “Do you think you’re in much of a position to teach me anything right now?” Her tone drops low to meet his.

“My dear, things can change so quickly you know.” His eyes flicker down to her lips, “It would make things so much easier for you to play nice.”

She leans back and barks out a laugh. “You can’t be serious right now. You are in a hidden bunker in for all you know the damn ocean. I pull out pliers and you don’t so much as bat an eye?”

“Don’t let my own handsomeness fool you, you must not know who you are dealing with to think such a simple tool would frighten me.” Anselm is deadly calm as he speaks. Somehow, despite him being the one tied to a chair authority radiates from him. “I do urge you, untie me now and save yourself some trouble later feisty maus.”

She’s about to put her tool to work when the door behind her bursts open. In an instant someone is on her, choking her from behind and lifting her high enough her feet no longer touch the ground. She claws and kicks to no avail as two more men sweep in and quickly release Anselm from his bindings.

“Don’t kill her, I like this one.” His words cut through her choking gasps and for a moment the grip around her throat loosens. “A little lower.”

The arms around her lower till they are face to face again. She’s clinging onto consciousness by a thread, her ears ringing and limbs going limp.

Anselm drags his thumb over her lower, “beautiful feisty maus, rest up. When you wake it will be your turn to help me.” He gives a quick nod and that grip tightens again. The last thing she hears is indistinguishable words in his short tone. The final sensation is the gentle brush of fingers across her cheek as her world fades into darkness.

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[pastlivesandpurplepuppets]

[...]Winters was informed about the patrol. “Damned fool,” he muttered. He turned to Welsh. “This sounds like an ego trip, Harry. Alert Fox Company. Have them be on the lookout and not to get trigger happy.” “Yeah, right,” Welsh said. Then he forgot. That night on the lonely, darkened Rhine River, Leach’s patrol was spotted by alert American sentries. Machine gun fire from Fox Company’s 2nd and 3rd Squads raked the water, sweeping the hapless soldiers, some with the words “don’t shoot” screaming from their lips, from their bullet-riddled boats. Six days later the bodies of Leach and his four men were fished from the Rhine downstream, at Sturzelberg. In his heart, Winters held two people responsible for the senseless tragedy. Mainly he blamed Leach for taking out a patrol that was a high-risk venture for little or no purpose. He also found fault with Welsh who, as he had when Moose Heyliger was wounded six months earlier, failed to alert those most in need of alerting. “He heard me,” Winters later said of his friend. “But sometimes he didn’t absorb what he was hearing.”

~ Larry Alexander