Chapter Text
Explosions. Always with the explosions.
Whether it was a Demoman's sticky trap finally paying off as an unsuspecting Scout rounded the wrong corner. Or that sweet burst of red when a Pyro's shotgun blast collided with an opposing Spy's fragile skull. Or an overconfident Heavy being blown to bits by a level 3 sentry placed in just the right spot.
Or a screaming American patriot.
It wasn't a secret the Soldier liked to wreak a little havoc in the way of explosions, it was his speciality after all. In the court of war, launching a rocket or two was the most reliable thing out there. Sun Tzu said that. Come to find out, these rockets were most effective at destroying sentries. BLU or RED, both opposing Soldiers and Engineers had an endless, unspoken rivalry between them. Who would fall first: the nest or the rocket jumper?
BLU Soldier found this task particularly exhilarating. While the madman was still always found on the frontlines of their assaults, there came a time in almost every match where Soldier would scope out each corner, room, and flanking spot to find that fateful RED Engineer's nest. The results would always change—either a wrecked dispenser or pieces of a BLU merc would scatter the floor—but nonetheless, these duels became a regular occurrence for the both of them. No second guesses, no friendly remarks, just annoyed scoffs and plenty of jeering remarks when they found each other yet again.
Until things got a little more personal.
-
Badwater Basin.
Both teams had arrived at their respective bases only a few days prior, with the first round of three already closing in. The air had an unbearable dryness to it as of late, dust mixing with the smell of gunpowder as if Death Valley itself was ready to attack the mercenaries. The day of the mission came around much sooner than comfortable, and so, with tensions high and a more than questionable battle plan, the RED Team was the first onto the battlefield.
To Dell Conagher, he had constructed the same gadgets so many times it was nothing more than a monotonous routine by now. As the rest of his comrades rushed to take their positions by the BLU Team's gates, the Engineer threw down a couple teleporters, built up his dispenser, and upgraded his sentry in only a few short minutes, all of which rested above a garage by the payload's first checkpoint.
"Mission begins in thirty seconds." The Administrator's austere voice sounded over the intercoms, interrupting any pre-battle chats the others were indulging in.
"Alright boys," Engineer called out with a vigorous smirk, "let's do this Texas style!"
Dell slung his wrench around in a showboaty fashion, his ungloved hand lightly tapping on the pocket that kept his trusty wrangler.
"Ten, nine, eight..." The Administrator continued. A couple final taunting comments from Heavy, Demo, and the like overlapped with the countdown until an unmistakable battle cry cut through from within the BLU base, strong and sonorous. The Engineer clenched his jaw and took out his wrangler, an annoyed but determined smile crawling across his lips to match the creasing brows that followed. BLU Soldier was sure to make himself a challenge today.
"...Three, two, one."
The battle erupted into a flood of bullets and corpses within a matter of seconds. Übers were rapidly exchanged, pushing both teams back and forth in an effort to gain mere metres of ground over the other. Both red and blue cloth littered the field, turning the ground into a morbid, mismatched dance floor in which the patrons of the battle fought to not become a part of. The Engineer, now closely accompanied by a cluster of freshly-resurrected companions sprinting from his teleporter, put his sentry to work by plucking off the handful of cocky BLU members attempting to force their way over the rocky hill.
As much as he ignored it, Engineer could already feel the shit eating grin tugging at the corners of his mouth, pre-emptively readying to point and laugh at his defeated foes. But of course, things would never come that easy for Dell.
Despite RED Team's best efforts, the cart was still moving at an alarming pace. Most of BLU was out of Engineer's range while they pushed through the tunnel, rendering him embarrassingly useless for the time being. Yet, just as he steadied his wrangler to shoot the first blue coloured bastard to come waltzing out of that tunnel, a bellowing shout made his hands fumble over the controller. His eyes grew wide, this was it. He and his loud, full-blooded American foe was about to come face to face. He had to admit he might've gotten a little too excited over their encounters at times.
His head swivelled to the cliff above, goggled eyes chasing the source of the cry. Unfortunately for him, instead of the Soldier, Engineer was met with a bomb-wielding, drunken BLU Scotsman already yelling slurred insults at him. His second foe of a sort: more destructive, more infuriating, far less coherent. A strangled gasp was all the Engineer could react with before stickies came flying towards his beloved sentry. Fingers raced to get a proper grip on his wrangler again, but it was a moment too late, and an explosion of metal sent the mann flying back. Both his sentry and dispenser had taken a devastating fall. He cursed himself for setting them so close together, but now was no time for dwelling on idiotic mistakes.
"Aye, they'll be gluin' ya back t'gether in HELL!" The Demoman laughed, raising his sticky bomb launcher yet again. Dell scrambled back on his elbows, still trying to recover from the blast. His shotgun. He really was an idiot! The Engineer reached for his holster and pulled out the weapon, firing two clear shots right into the other's chest. Demo coughed sharply, falling back onto the dirt with a satisfying thud. Thank bloody Texas for critical hits.
Catching his breath was out of the question, as not even a moment passed before more screams could be heard to the Engineer's right. That darn cart. He took to his feet, grabbing what little gear he still had remaining before darting around the corner. The best place to rebuild would have to be at the second checkpoint. So much for that ambush...
Once he had placed his teleporter in a safe corner, Engineer took out his wrench to finally begin rebuilding.
"DAG NABBIT!" he shouted, giving the checkpoint 'B' sign behind him a proper thwack. He was out of scrap metal. Engi turned, his eyes flashing around the area with a desperate grimace. A medium sized box and health pack caught his attention. Thank God. The cart was only seconds away from the first checkpoint by now, Engi knew that, so it'd have to be a mad race towards the small cove that held the supplies.
Giving a half-assed glance around the corner, the Engineer leapt up the steps and skated to his left, grabbing ahold of the equipment just as the Administrator's call broke through his cluttered thoughts.
"The enemy has received additional time."
A bullet flew past his ears. They were already here. Engi grumbled, taking out his shotgun to toss a few throwaway shots towards the bomb. BLU Scout, Pyro, Heavy, and Medic were all crowded around the tracks, trying their best to shoot back at the Engineer as they shoved the cart further.
"CHARGE ME DOKTOR!" screamed a familiar voice. Engineer ducked, ready to be the victim of a fully übered BLU Heavy and his Medic. But what came next was only weak cries and screeching cart wheels. An invulnerable RED Heavy rounded the corner, mowing down any enemies that had clung to the payload. Finally, a moment of peace. Dell shook his head with a chuckle and a grin, grabbing his equipment to head back down towards the second checkpoint.
An explosion. An ear piercing battlecry. FUCK.
Flying through the air came the long awaited rocket jumping lunatic—Jane Doe. He soared past the RED Heavy (who was technically already preoccupied with an irritating BLU Spy and Sniper). Soldier made sure to flash a devilish grin as his face locked onto the Engineer's, landing right on the cove steps with a loud crash. He then raised his rocket launcher, ready to let out another loud scream once he had destroyed the Engineer's-
He stopped, weapon still pointed right at the enemy's nose.
"..."
A long silence. The two stared at each other in bewilderment.
"Hello Engineer."
"...Howdy." He hesitantly replied, supply box gripped so tight he wouldn't be surprised if the shape of his fingers had moulded into it.
"Where is your sentry?" Solly took a brief look around, tilting his helmet upwards to accentuate his confused state. Engineer's brows furrowed for what felt like the 20th time today. It was unusual to see the Soldier in this 'calm' state (that is if calm only meant not trying to blow him up for once).
"Well er, yer Demoman took it out a few moments ago, actually."
"Oh."
More awkward silence. This was strange. Dammit, it was unbearable—what on earth was going on? Usually they'd have guns pointed at each other's foreheads by now, but there seemed to be something stopping the opposing Soldier.
"...Can you.. rebuild it for me?" The gravelly voice eventually spoke up again.
"What?" Engineer tilted his head, eyes narrowed.
"I wish to blow it up."
"You just want to... Destroy mah sentry?"
"Affirmative!" he smiled.
Engineer chuckled. Was this war vet really so dense? No, he was resolute. Maybe that was worse, yet Engi couldn't help but be amused by the whole situation.
"Well alright," he finally agreed, shaking his head. "But you're gonna have tah help me with it, soldier boy." Dell pressed a firm finger into the taller mann's chest. Jane's mouth opened slightly. He raised a hand to object, but before he could even get another word out, Engineer took him by the collar and dragged him back down the steps to his soon-to-be setup.
The RED Engineer dumped his supplies below the large B sign, nerves finally settled enough to get some semblance of logic knocked back into him. He used the scraps to make himself a shoddy dispenser, turning his body to lean against the structure and back to Solly. An overly interrogative stare of his directed itself towards the opposing merc. Said merc, noticing or not, only looked around aimlessly, trying to pretend he gave even the slightest care towards the fight still raging on behind the two. He was like a child waiting for his mother to finish shopping at their local grocery store. Strange, awfully moronic. Cute, if Engi ignored the fact that this mann had personally murdered him more times than he could count.
"What do ya get out of this here, boy?" Engineer finally spoke up again. His jaw clenched after each word, hip digging into the dispenser as he took out more scraps from the drawers. The Soldier paused for a moment, giving that iconic, half-pouting look of his as he thought.
"It is MY duty to destroy every toy you feel so entitled to place out here, MAGGOT! And I take that duty VERY seriously." Solly grit his teeth as his back straightened to attention, talking in that harsh, shouting tone he almost always carried. Engi only narrowed his eyes again. It was hard to believe such a brash and stupid reason, but then again, if this Soldier was half as smooth-brained as his own, it wasn't that far fetched. Shameful to say he was giving this BLU the benefit of the doubt.
"Fair enough... Say, go grab me that ammo pack up there, will ya?" Dell pointed to the small sniper's ledge resting beside them. He bent down to begin upgrading his dispenser, whistling softly. Of course, the battle had been continuing this entire time. It was kind of comedic the way that the other mercs would just scream past the two without a second glance. Bullets and shrapnel whizzed through the map, both teams throwing themselves at the cart as it eventually crawled past the heavily distracted duo.
"Ammo retrieved!" Jane returned, a lopsided grin accompanying him. He dumped the box by Engi's feet before sitting down by some abandoned palettes and returning to his strict expression.
"Much obliged, mister." He responded with a mix of sarcasm, hesitance, and further amusement. The air around them was still coated in a strange feeling. It wasn't every day a RED and a BLU merc would just sit down and hang out... or, you know, whatever the fuck it was they were doing. Still, it was nice to get a break from the endless fighting. The two stayed in that corner for far longer than necessary—Engineer was obviously slowed down by the odd chat or laugh with Soldier, but soon enough, he had managed to build a deactivated sentry for the patriot.
"Alright, son, mah sentry's ready for the takin'." The Engineer smiled as he wiped off a bead of sweat from under his hard hat, stepping towards his dispenser (which was luckily much further away this time).
"Thank you, grease monkey!" BLU Soldier returned the smile with an excited smirk, swinging his rocket launcher over his shoulder.
Still, his actions wavered.
Something buzzed beneath those sharp blue eyes... Engi couldn't quite read the mann's expression, but he knew something changed in him. While this Soldier was still an absolute mystery to him, the Engineer smiled, knowing the two had at least gained a little more respect for each other.
Jane eventually shook his head. He closed one eye from under his helmet and shot two rockets straight at the base of the sentry. The short explosion was followed by a hardy laugh of pride and achievement from the mann. Dell just stood on the sidelines, bringing up his gloved hand to cover the charmed giggle he gave from watching this motion unfold.
"We done now, buddy?" He chuckled again, arms resting on his dispenser.
"Correct! I'll be here to destroy your next sentry tomorrow." Soldier threw his fist into the air before stomping a foot to the ground and saluting. The Engineer flicked his hard hat in polite agreeance, mindlessly leaning on the dispenser with a hand cupping his chin. An understanding look crossed between the two, exchanging a wordless goodbye before a final blast sounded off the rocket jumping lunatic.
Guess this BLU Soldier wasn't so bad, now.
The thought passed through his mind, clearly undetected by the logistical side of his brain.
...Yer haven't done much this match, have ya?
Now that thought made it through. Ah fuck. Only a few minutes remained and the payload was already about to close in on the final terminus. Dell hauled his equipment away, sprinting to find an effective position in the little time he had. But obviously, not much could be done with a half dead team and a level 1 sentry. The Administrator's infuriated call of defeat crackled over the intercoms soon enough. RED organs sprayed across the cooling battlefield as the victors made quick work of picking off any remaining foes.
Even through all this, the Engineer's content expression laid unwavering. His day had totally been wasted—that was for certain—but for some reason, Dell didn't feel one bit disappointed by the loss. As the barrel of BLU Scout's scattergun pointed itself at his face, Engi turned his head, coincidentally meeting the gaze of that same Soldier (who had a petrified RED Medic at the end of his own shotgun). He gave the Soldier a large grin, to which the BLU merc just grinned back happily.
A mutual understanding seemed to have settled between them for the time being. But they were still enemies, were they not? The question made Engi's brows cross, a twisted feeling sinking deep into his gut. Finally, a loud bang put his wary mind to rest, ready to be respawned for tomorrow.
Things would certainly be getting a little more personal.