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In most people’s estimations they wouldn’t exactly feel inclined to call Medic a sane man.
They weren’t wrong by any metric either, but it was still hurtful to hear from his peers. Though he’s learned a long time ago to not pay attention to those kinds of comments being thrown his way. He had his passion and who were they to deem the way he projected it as off putting?
No, he had his way of displaying his passion and he was far more comfortable sticking with that. It didn’t matter if others were scornful of how work or even afraid of him. He was doing something that he enjoyed, and that was what was important.
However, this passion for what he understood or appreciated was easier when it was just related to his work. It was his work. This was how he engaged with it. Yes it could be confusing to those around him. They may not be able to understand why he approached a topic like that or what knowledge he was pulling from when he did something, but it was still clearly something he knew about.
This was his era of expertise and he had the right to make it sound as strange as he saw fit. Or, not strange really. He made it sound logical to himself. He could understand what he was saying or reading. He was able to properly appreciate what he was doing when he was replacing someone’s regular heart with a ubercharged one. That was just his normal.
Though for most people, i.e. his teammates, he didn’t come off the best.
He had a lot of words to choose from, and he would often pair some together that made him sound more unhinged than he meant.
Yes, he was, by all means, unhinged in many facets of his being. He had long since realized this and accepted this about himself. If there was more joy in the world to be gleaned from his various projects of questionable origin, so be it.
Yet there was still always going to be the complication of expressing his thoughts to those around him. They were not necessarily going to understand his true meaning when he said a word, but they would take it at face value.
How was he meant to express his deeper feelings of another one of his colleagues in words that were accurate like this?
All they would give him for the use of more off putting language was a startled side eye. Maybe a look of disgust in a worst case scenario, but more likely they would nod along until they could escape the situation.
No, with a wide lexicon like his, and a proclivity for saying things out of the ordinary, there was no clear way for him to express to any of his teammates his more personal thoughts about their companionship. When he’d tried to, his wording was always- extreme.
Pulling from his history as a doctor, it was easy to bring up the removal of hearts as a metaphor or blood in the sense of understanding. Basically he had a tendency to say things that, to someone with a more normal head on their shoulders, came off a little more murder-y than he meant.
He could try and explain, and he had, his intended meaning, but by then the sentiment was already muddled. Explaining it could easily overwhelm someone or just add layers to the confusion and concern.
And he never intended for that to be the outcome.
So he kept to general platitudes when it came to praising his colleagues. General phrases that were easily understood and excepted by a more general public. Every now and then he’d break out a heart metaphor when around Engineer as he seemed to understand some of the more gorey details, but that was about it. Comparisons, compliments, and all other niceties were placed squarely in a general vernacular area.
Well, at least, until it came to Spy.
The enemy spy to be extant. The spy he worked with, Red Spy, had a weariness to his eyes that told Medic everything he needed to. They both mutually didn’t trust each other, and that was for the best when it came to their work.
Blu Spy though, well that was a bit more complicated than either of them would have anticipated.
To be fair, it started in a very messy way. Medic couldn’t exactly hold himself back when it came to pushing the limits with the Respawn Machine. His Medi-gun was one thing, but the Respawn Machine defied all logic that had been understood in the world.
It could bring the dead back to life!
It truly stood as a means to creating miracles, and he wanted to understand how to break it.
From everything he was able to learn on the battlefield when ever someone’s life was completely snuffed out only then would they go to Respawn. That was why he needed to have his Medi-gun on hand. It was needed to fix up any of the cuts or bruises that would be sustained but not cause someone’s death.
With that baseline in mind, how could he break that?
Figuring out how to keep someone alive after death was a good enough starting point. There were going to be complications within that as well. Especially since it, if it went as planned, would rob Blu Team of one of their members, but it was for science. And who was he to hold back when it came to an experiment like this?
When he found the Blu Spy unconscious after Sniper failed to kill him, he didn’t hesitate.
There was a small part of him that wondered if the Administrator would be upset with him over his choice of action, or if this would somehow mess up this great Gravel War they were fighting in. But he didn’t think about it for so long that it stopped him from lugging the lanky blue body back to his lab.
Things sort of blurred together after that. As some of his colleagues would say he got into ‘the zone’ as he deduced how best to go about the procedure. Though, with the help of his pre-existing medi-gun schematics, he was eventually able to figure something out.
Decapitation.
If he removed the Spy’s head and was then able to transfer it to a base with the materials used to create the healing part of the medi-gun, then the Spy would continue to survive outside of his body.
It was a complicated procedure, and an even more complicated thing to keep going, but he was able to pull it off. It led him to start wondering how else he could push the human body, and the plans for the Übercharge method followed shortly after.
That was a different project for a different time though. Since it quickly became apparent that there was no real end goal going on here.
He wanted to stop the Blu Spy from respawning, but what then?
If that goal was now complete did that mean he needed to return Spy’s head to his body?
Well, no, not necessarily. He certainly didn’t think so, at any rate.
If he was going to push the limits of how long a person can be kept from respawning, then it could extend to how long someone could last without their body.
With the medi-gun formula he didn’t expect there to be any issue, but it was a good enough excuse to keep the head around. He may have had the information he’d set out to glean at the start of the experiment, but there was always more to learn.
“The more you stare at those blueprints the less likely you are to get anything done.”
Even if he’d eventually let him go.
“I didn’t zhink you’d be stopping by today, der schatz.” It came out lower than he meant it to as his head was turned down toward the table.
He could just make out the footfalls of Spy as he approached. Though he didn’t expect to find two arms wrapped around his waist, he really should have though.
Touch was an easy way to get his attention. Spy had learned that from previous encounters, but it was also still a good way to startle him.
He and Spy certainly had this in common, they both were used to keeping people at arm's length. Though that was a lot harder to do back when Spy was stuck in his fridge.
It could be a contentious topic, the fridge, but Spy was in a playful mood it would seem.
If nothing else it had been a good excuse to build a bond, even if it had started out being one filled with malice. Though with enough time , and talking, more than a few walls broke down. Just enough for Medic to return Spy to his original body, and more than enough to get Spy to come back to RED Base of his own free will.
“I’m not one to miss a chance to say hello.” Spy let his head rest against the back of Medic’s neck. “I do need to ask though, what exactly are you trying to work on now?”
“Just an upgrade for the medi-gun. Nothing too special.” He lightly swatted his hand at Spy, “No peeking, it needs to be a surprise for zhose dummkopfs you work with.”
Spy rolled his eyes, “Everything in confidential between us, you know that.”
“Even knowledge zhat could give BLU zhe advantage?”
“If I wanted to give BLU the advantage I could have already told them about the far worse things that have been brought up during out conversations, mon amor.”
That got a chuckle out of Medic as he pushed the blueprints aside. “You are right about that,” his hand twitched slightly against the metallic table, “but I still have the impulse to slam you down on this table and start vivisecting you.”
This was the point most people would recoil in disgust from the description. He’d seen both Engineer and Heavy react that way when they’d gotten too close to him, and if any of his teammates over heard the comments they would surely have sided eyed him harder than normal.
“Of course, I’m sure you’d love to see my blood stain your coat again. That way there will always be a a part of me with you, even on the battle field.”
He did not have the problem when it came to Spy.
No matter how many times he’d pushed the proverbial boundaries other people would have, there was never any issue to be found with Spy. If anything, he seemed to enjoy the grim word play that would come from remarks like that.
And Medic wouldn’t lie, he enjoyed them as well.
“Zhat does sound nice. Being able to carry some of you around, and zhey would all be none zhe wiser.”
Medic felt Spy begin to smile into his neck. His lips felt as though they were moving intentionally slow so that he could pick up on ever little sensation they caused. It made his spine tingle with the second presence.
“It doesn’t have to be so big though. It could just be a small nick. A few drops on your collar, maybe?” One of Spy’s hands unlooped themselves from around Medic’s waist and moved up to his neck. “The kind of thing that only you would be able to notice.”
His breath shuddered as the fingers rolled over his neck. “You’re not wrong, zhose fräuleins out zhere aren’t the type to notice details. To focused on zhe bigger picture.”
“Like winning a match?”
“Somezhing like that.” Medic reached his own hand up and grabbed a hold of Spy’s. “Zhouhg, I doubt zhey wouldn’t notice you here.”
“I’m a for more obvious detail, yes.”
He placed a kiss on the gloved hand, “Zhen we need to start zhe procedure.”
“Of course,” Spy loosened his grip just enough for Medic to turn around and face him, “where would you like to begin?”
“I know vhere.”
Medic leaned in close until their lips met. A few times he felt his teeth run against Spy’s lower lip, and in return Spy provided him the same treatment.
Neither of them were surprised when Medic bit down on Spy’s lip. They moved away from each other just enough to let some of the blood dribble onto his coat, just as they’d discussed.
“Is the procedure finished now?”
“Nein, I still have to show you my bed side manner.”
Spy licked his lip off of his lip while he grinned, “I’d love to see it then.”
The flavor of iron flowed between the two of them as they started to kiss again. It felt fitting for the both of them though.
They were messy, sure, and had a tendency to draw blood from one another, but it made sense for them.
And in a word that seemed to ludacris all the time, it was the least they could ask for now.
Even if it meant having to make the occasional doctor’s visit at BLU’s base.