Chapter Text
When the Blu medic woke that fine winter morning, he had fully anticipated another good day. It had been an excellent night's sleep, and he felt rather invigorated. So, with a cheerful smile and a good stretch, he made his way to the kitchen, oblivious to the somber mood of the rest of his team.
“Guten morgen meine Friends!" he said while pouring some coffee, "Oh! I mean good morning, oh well, at least I caught myself before Scout could correct me, ja!” There was an awkward silence among the group, but still no one said a word. “I am telling you meine friends, I have a good feeling about today,” he commented cheerily, pouring some creme into his coffee and stirring it, “we will finally push the Red team out of this wretched land, and perhaps the next checkpoint will be on the beach! Oh, that would be nice.” Once he was finished with his drink he turned around, and finally noticed the uneasy mood of his team. “Is everything alright?” Medic asked with a nervous chuckle, his smile growing smaller, but not disappearing. The Blu team looked around nervously at each other, Soldier looked to several corners of the room, scratching his neck, Scout rocking in his chair while fidgeting with his hands, and Pyro looking inside his flamethrower.
“Well, somebody bloody say something!” Sniper barked, and when no one did, he simply sighed dejectedly, and said, “Eh… look, doc, we’ve all been thinkin’ and uuhh…”
“That is very dangerous for men of your IQ levels!” Medic joked while laughing a little, but stopped shortly after upon seeing no one else, not even Engineer laughed with him. “Alright what is going on?” he asked, dropping his smile entirely now and crossing his arms after setting his drink down. “It’s Spy’s fault he started it!” Demo spat out abruptly, leading to Spy to shout back, “This was all of our idea you drunken idiot! Don’t make this difficult!”
“Make what difficult?” Medic asked, but nobody heard him over Heavy stating, “Well Spy did start it, so I agree with Demo, is Spy’s fault!”
“What?!?” Spy shouted in a irked tone, only for Soldier to butt in with, “You maggots! How dare you conform to this French pastry puff! Have your own damn opinions, like true Americans!”
“But Heavy is not American!” Heavy shouted. “Aye! And neither'm I!” Demo agreed, all while Medic just sipped his coffee, waiting for the cacophony to end. “That’s right, I forgot!” Soldier shouted, then exclaimed with a great passion, “YOU’RE COMMUNISTS!!!”
Thankfully for everyone involved a gunshot erupted over the chaos, and everyone turned to Engineer, who was still sitting, his shotgun aimed at the ceiling. “Are y’all done? We got somethin' important to discuss with the doc.” he stated wearily as if he were addressing kindergarteners, but to no one’s surprise it worked. Medic merely raised an eyebrow, still drinking his coffee, and when he finished, he asked rather gravely, “Make. What. Difficult?”
Engineer rubbed the back of his neck for a moment, then sighed wearily before explaining, “Well, ‘bout a week ago me and Spy got to talkin’, and soon the rest of the team got to talkin’, we got talkin’ about our lives, what we wanted done with' em’, just general stuff.”
“Ja, I remember you talking about that, though I mostly remember Scout saying he wanted to try getting first place in some great race.”
“It’s called a triathlon," Scout corrected with an arrogant tone, "and it’s actually a pretty big deal! And that’ll just be the starting point!” All eyes in the room went to Scout, who dropped his pompous attitude as he realized what came out of his mouth.
“What did you say?” Medic asked, dark suspicion starting to sweep his mind. “Uh… that I wanted to run a triathlon?”
“No, no you said that the race would be the starting point. Starting point for what?”
“Eeehhh… Hey Sniper you were doin’ real good at the start, why don’t you tell him?”
“Oh for fucks sake.” Sniper seethed out, but Engineer finally stood up, and said, “We’re all movin’ on with our lives.”
Medic stared at them all, his heart sinking as that dark suspicion in his mind slithered its way into his heart. “You… you’re quitting? All of you?” He desperately looked around the room, searching for one face that would tell him that he was staying, but found none. “You can’t be serious, this is our life! If we are not fighting, then what are we doing? We are mercenaries! Not some common man in the street. Spy, what on earth would you do?”
“That is none of your business.” Spy shot back, and Medic looked at the others for explanations, before he looked to Engineer desperately. However, Engineer only sighed again before saying, “Doc, listen, we’ve all been fighting this same fight for years, and though I can’t speak for the rest of the team, I always figured there’d be more jobs after this one. I didn’t sign on thinking I’d spend my whole life fighting the same people with the same men, and this is nothing against anyone on this team, I just want to move on with my life.”
“But this is your life! We are your life!”
“Doctor,” Heavy said patiently, “we are family, and family is very close, sometimes too close. Heavy thinks that he should learn more about Heavy, but it’s hard to do when there’s no change in people, place, or… uh… what is word?” he said looking at Spy, who sighed and said, “Experience.”
“That.” Heavy said. Medic just stared at all of them, a tightness forming in his throat as he struggled for words. “But we signed contracts!" Medic exclaimed desperately, "We said we would not stop until this war was won! We cannot abandon that! Think about what the Red team will say about you, the disgrace you will bring to yourselves! Besides, who would ever pay the lot of you! Guns for hire! Idiots! Basically illiterate!” Engineer sighed and said, “Doc, I know this feels sudden, and that this is all you know, but it doesn’t have to be that way. You can come with one of us ‘till you get on your own two feet and figure yourself out.”
“Did you not hear what I just said about loyalty to the contract! I will not abandon the Blu company!”
There was a long, terrible silence among the group, that was until Pyro stood up, cleared his throat and in the most assuring, caring, understanding voice, said this, “Hmmm hmHhmmm huddah, mmmm hhhh muumh hudum dhhhhh. Mhhhh uuuuuu hhhhhmmmmm dmmmmuh. Mhhhhhd hdhdh hhhhmmmhhh duh hud mmmmmddhh udddhhhh uhdu mmdduuhddu. Hud dhuuud dhd dmmm hhhdd. Hudduh?” The Blu team just stared in awed silence, having never before heard Pyro speak this much.
“I don’t even know what that means!” Medic cried out. “It was quite moving,” Soldier said, wiping away a tear, “maybe if you had actually listened, you would have taken something away from it!” Medic pinched the bridge of his nose in an attempt to keep his temper in check, slightly pushing up his glasses as he did so, before asking, “When will you all be leaving?”
“Within the hour.” Spy said, lighting a cigarette nonchalantly. “But we have a fight this afternoon, the Red team will be making a push!”
“Then I suggest you leave with us to avoid being slaughtered.” Spy said coldly.
Medic looked at Engineer, trying to make sense of everything, but the Engineer couldn’t even meet his eyes. “Like I said doc, you can stay with one of us while you settle into whatever it is you want to do.” he said, a hint of regret present in his otherwise even voice. Medic only shook his head, feeling the tears springing to his eyes as his throat tightened. “This is where I belong," he declared firmly, trying to hide his wavering voice, "if the rest of you want to go, then you’d better get on with it!” With that, Medic turned and stormed out of the kitchen, marching back to his own room and slamming the door shut. He stood in his room, staring at nothing and trying to compose himself. It was no use. Despite himself, he fell to his knees, holding his head and trying to control his breathing. “Das kann nicht sein, das kann nicht sein…” he muttered to himself, and he sat like that for a long time.
Medic wasn't sure how much time had passed when he heard a knock on his door, two quick raps. “Go already.” Medic said, and to his surprise he heard Scout say, “Yeah, thought you’d say that. Look, I know this isn’t what you wanted or anything, but I just thought I’d come and say goodbye.” Medic quickly wiped away his tears and got up, and after taking a deep breath, he opened the door. Scout didn’t have much on him, he carried his bat, guns, and whatever other odds and ends he’d collected. “Um…” Scout said, genuinely trying to find a good way to say farewell. “It’s alright Scout, I appreciate you stopping by.” Medic said to which Scout smiled sheepishly and said, “Yeah well, my Ma always made sure I had good manners, especially when it came to hellos and goodbyes.” Medic smiled and chuckled, “Ah yes, it certainly shows.” Scout laughed a little, then held out his hand with a bittersweet expression on his face.
“Until next time doc, ‘till then, good luck.” Medic smiled, and grabbed Scout's hand in a firm handshake. “Danke Scout, and bitte, know I’m not mad at you. You’re young, you get to be impulsive, and I’m sorry for my reaction towards you.”
“Heh, no hard feelings.” Scout assured, then he let go, adjusted his belongings, and with a quick two fingered salute said, “See ya round!” and headed out. “Abschied, Scout!” Medic said, truly wishing him the best of luck, before he was once again left alone. He watched Scout go until he was out of sight, then, with a quick breath, looked back at his clock. He still had hours until the match with the Red team, and if he wanted even the slightest chance at holding his ground, he’d need to prepare.
It was finally noon, and Medic was at the checkpoint, alone, a cold breeze surrounding him. “Mission begins in 30 seconds.” the administrator's voice echoed over the comms. Medic felt his heart pounding faster and faster, but still he stood firm. What else could he do? This was who he was now, a healer with no one to heal. Therefore, he could only fight. The administrator's voice echoed over the comms again, this time signaling the start of the fight. Medic stood firm, watching, listening, waiting.
He watched as the Red Scout barreled around the corner, and with his crossbow in hand Medic began to fire, running to meet the Red Scout. He pulled out his bone saw, and with a lucky strike, or more accurately Red Scouts overconfidence, he was able to cut him down. He knew this luck wouldn’t last, but he had to make the most of it. He waited, hiding in the corner, and watched as the Red Soldier and Pyro rounded the bend. With two quick strikes he was able to catch the Red Pyro off guard, finishing him quickly, but he wasn’t so lucky with the Soldier. The Red Soldier was able to get two good shots on him before Medic could take him down, but he was badly wounded. With care, he made his way back to the checkpoint, slowly healing himself. If he encountered the Red Heavy, he’d be dead, and he knew it.
Then, like music to his ears, he heard the sound of his Engineer's voice. “Medic!” the Blu Engineer called out, and when he turned around, he saw him running to him. He laughed with great relief, and began to run towards the Engineer, ignoring the pain his wounds were causing him. “Oh, oh Gott sei dank, you’re here meine friend, I-I thought I was alone!” When he reached his Engineer, he embraced him, tears streaking down his cheeks. “I’m so happy you’re here!” He exclaimed joyously, only to feel a sudden, excruciating pain shoot into his back. He felt himself growing weak, a cold, familiar feeling washing over him. Gasping for air, he clung to the Engineer as he managed to stammer out, “Eng-Engineer? Engi… nein… nein.” Before he was sent through respawn, the last thing he saw was a very confused Red Spy.