Work Text:
“Hold still, Soldat,” Medic chided gently as he wound bandages around the stump that used to be Soldier’s arm. The day’s battle had just concluded and as per usual it was Medic’s job to pick up the pieces of his team, sometimes literally, until they were dismissed through respawn and sent home. How long that took could be anywhere from minutes to several hours, for whatever reason the Administrator did not make the team privy to.
Reason or not the burden of trying to keep his ailing teammates comfortable during that time fell heavy on Medic’s shoulders, and there was only so much the medigun could do off the battlefield.
All is to explain why Medic was in the midst of trying to wrestle a tourniquet and bandages onto a squirming Soldier. He was sat on a hunk of debris with Soldier pinned between his crossed legs, trying to keep the patriot’s writhing to a minimum. He had shucked his bloodied overcoat and gloves as soon as the battle had ended, attempting to limit the effects of the oppressive heat the New Mexican sun was beating down on them.
Medic shifted Soldier in his grasp as the American flailed once again, cringing as the doctor tightened the bandages around the remains of his arm. Medic separated the bandages from the roll, tearing through them with his teeth. The roll, once freed, tumbled down into the hot, red, New Mexican sand. Medic groaned, frustrated, knowing there was no salvaging bandages packed with sand. He let Soldier go, deciding he was decently treated enough. He watched as the patriot stumbled off, delirious with blood loss, to rejoin the greater group of their teammates.
Medic placed his head in his hands with a sigh, trying to gather himself before getting up to tend to the rest of the group; keeping them comfortable and his hands busy.
The doctor had never thought it possible to care this much for a group of people. He’d found himself largely apathetic to those around him in the early years of his life, and he’d never imagined that taking a job in the middle of nowhere would change that.
While he was grateful that he was able to experience the love and trust he’d been denied living in a war torn country for a majority of his life, he was shocked to find just how taxing it was to care for others. It surprised him how painful it was to see the people he cared for hurt and ailing, even if he knew the suffering was brief and temporary. And there was one teammate in particular that Medic cared for the most.
“Doktor!!”
At the shout Medic reared his head, frantically searching the desecrated battlefield for his partner, hoping he’d not been too grievously injured. To his relief, Heavy seemed to be mostly fine, minus the odd bruise and mild cut. He was standing over a pile of enemy corpses, waving the doctor over. Medic rose to his feet and shambled over to his lover. A smile making its way across his face despite the pain shooting through his ankle, an injury he’d neglected to treat in favor of tending to his team first.
“Yes, mine schatz?” Medic asked as soon as he was within talking range of Heavy. He took the hand that Heavy offered him, stabilizing himself so he could take the weight off of his injured leg. He couldn’t help but smile seeing the way his hand was dwarfed by Heavy’s palm.
“Have something for you,” Heavy replied softly, a smile splitting his face despite the black eye that was starting to form from where he’d taken the enemy Scout’s baseball bat to the face.
“Oh?” Medic chimed. On most occasions that meant a kiss, which the doctor could certainly use right now, but Heavy had his free arm tucked behind his back, indicating a different kind of surprise.
Heavy drew his arm from behind his back, showing off his gift to his partner.
Cradled in Heavy’s great palm was a human heart which Medic immediately recognized as a Soldier’s. He’d grown so accustomed to tending to his teammates' internals, their hearts especially, that he’d learned to identify them at a glance. It was clearly from the enemy Soldier they had faced on the battlefield as it had a purplish hue, indicative of a recent Uber-charge. That Soldier had given the duo hell, particularly when under the effects of an Uber-charge. Seeing his heart ripped from his chest and presented as a spoil of victory appealed to Medic’s most vindictive side. A wicked, yet all the same genuine, smile coming across his face. He picked up the heart and inspected it briefly before tucking it close to his chest, near to his own heart.
“Would give Doktor my heart, but he already has it.” Heavy hummed, looping his arms around Medic and drawing him in closer.
“Oh, Heavy,” Medic cooed sweetly, leaning in to kiss his lover.
Usually they would keep things chaste in front of the team, but with the day Medic had he simply couldn’t deny himself or Heavy the pleasure of deepening the kiss. Easily parting his lips as soon as Heavy prodded them with his tongue. Medic swooned at the attention, huffing a breathy sigh when he and Heavy broke for air.
Before Medic could lean back in for more of the pick-me-up he so desperately needed, Heavy scooped the doctor up, raising him into the air with a bright grin. He twirled Medic around in a lopsided circle, his injuries keeping the gesture from being one smooth, sweeping motion. But Medic didn’t seem to care, breaking out into a brilliant smile as soon as his surprise had cleared.
Heavy laid Medic against his chest, keeping him hoisted off the ground. Medic had to admit it felt rather nice after running around all day on an injured foot.
“My, Heavy, vat has gotten into you today?” Medic hummed giddily, lightly smacking Heavy on the shoulder in playful faux chiding.
“Can not help myself after watching Doktor tear through enemies, covered in gore. Is very attractive.” Heavy replied in a low rumble, nuzzling against Medic’s neck affectionately as he did. “And yet he is still so sweet, caring for teammates.”
Medic couldn’t help but giggle gleefully at the praise, kicking his feet joyfully at the attention. He knew his job was a thankless one and he had made peace with that years ago, but he was never the kind to turn words of praise away, especially not ones from his beaux.
“Oh, Heavy,” Medic cooed again, at a loss for what else to say, overwhelmed by his partner’s love. Instead he let his actions do the talking, lunging forward to shower his beloved’s face with a myriad of kisses. Sprinkling them across the bridge of Heavy’s nose, up to his forehead and back down to his eyelids. He was particularly careful when kissing the blue-black skin around his lover’s left eye. While Heavy usually quite liked masochism this wasn’t exactly the time or the place. He pressed kisses to the corners of his mouth and just above and below his lips in light teasing before ending on a long passionate kiss to his lips.
After a long few moments Medic pulled away with a deep and satisfied sigh. He cradled Heavy’s face in his palm, admiring the smile he loved so much. He noticed then with a giggle that he’d accidentally left small smears of blood behind with every kiss he’d pressed to Heavy’s face, likely from the split lip he’d long since forgotten about.
“я тебя люблю,” Heavy rumbled from deep within his chest, soft and so sincere.
“Ich liebe dich, auch,” Medic mirrored back in his own language. He pressed his forehead against Heavy's, closing his eyes and enjoying the rare moment of peace shared with his partner, beaming with joy all the while.
But, of course that could only last so long.
“Ay! Doc! Can yah quit swappin’ spit wit Heavy an get ovah here already!?” Scout’s petulant wining broke through the pleasant silence. “Some of us are dyin’ yah know!!”
Heavy turned to glare at Scout, but before he could, Medic tilted his head back to the side to meet his gaze, decidedly not giving Scout the time of day.
“Oh, Scout, zat is vat ze respawn machine is for. You vill live, I guarantee it,” Medic replied, as he shooed Scout away, not even sparing him a glance. Today, like most days, Medic was feeling petty and had suitably decided this to be his hill to die on. Truthfully Medic had done all he could for his team with what little he had, they were just accustomed to him flitting around them, doting and attending to every little thing to keep himself busy. To distract himself from the ache he felt seeing them in pain. So, he didn’t feel too guilty for leaving his unnecessary extra duties unattended for one day. Especially when he had a distraction that was far less worrisome, holding him tenderly and peppering his neck with kisses.
Scout wasn’t pleased with the answer, huffing and turning on his heel to stomp away. He wasn’t going to provoke them further, though, as he didn’t want to sit around for god knows how long in more pain then he already was… which admittedly wasn’t much, but if Scout was anything he was wont to complain.
Scout stormed off back to the rest of the team, kicking up plumes of red desert sand as he did.
“Man, da hell’s his deal!?” Scout griped as he flopped back down into his spot under the weak shade of a piece of debris. Pyro was sat beside him, their hands clasped together as she hummed admiringly at Heavy and Medic’s displays of affection. More than happy to watch the couple as a distraction from the heat that was currently cooking him alive in their suit.
“Oi don’t know, Roo. But if oi had a handsome hunk twoirlin’ me around, tellin’ me oi look beautoiful when oi blow people’s heads off, oi wouldn’t be racin’ ta tend ta us schmucks oither.” Sniper replied. He was perched atop the debris that Scout and Pyro sat in front of, laid out in a relaxed manner. He’d shed a couple of layers of his clothing so he could soak up the blazing rays of the sun, likely the only one enjoying the sweltering heat that the sun was beating into their skin and the land. It was really no wonder why he looked two decades older than he was when he so eagerly laid out in the sun to be shriveled like a raisin.
“Sniper is right! Love on the battlefield is a beautiful thing!! It should be cherished!! There is nothing more American than looking longingly at a photo of your sweetheart while you bleed out in the midst of war!!” Soldier barked from beside Sniper, seemingly too affected by blood loss to find the harsh weather bothersome.
“Man, you ain’t one tah talk Solly. You're in da middle of bleedin’ out cuz Doc and Heavy are too busy humpin’ each othah tah care!” Scout bit back, more than a little irritated that no one had agreed with him yet.
“And that’s their god given right as American citizens!!!” Soldier declared dramatically, saluting and failing spectacularly on the account that he no longer had an arm to salute with.
Scout rolled his eyes at the patriot’s theatrics, turning to the other half of his team, figuring that Solly, Sniper and Pyro were decidedly on Heavy and Medic’s side.
“I just don’t get why dey’re all ovah each othah, an like, more den usual,” Scout complained. Truthfully he didn’t care that Heavy and Medic were together, in fact he might even say he was happy for them. But gay or not he still found it gross to watch his coworkers flirt and dote on each other. Perhaps it was because he saw them in too much of a paternal light; seeing that the feeling was strikingly similar to the strange sick feeling he got watching Spy and his mother do anything remotely romantic whenever they visited her together over breaks.
That, and he was decidedly in a bad mood, sitting out in the heat, sore and covered in blood, sweat and dirt; on the hunt for something interesting to complain about.
“I don’t know either, son,” Engi replied. He was bent over, trying to construct a dispenser with only his non-dominant hand, seeing that his gunslinger had been blown off during the day’s battle. He was bearing the heat better than a majority of his teammates but he didn’t enjoy it nearly as much as Sniper. “Maybe Doc changed his brain chemistry or somethin’.” The theory wasn’t that much of a stretch considering that the Doctor had pulled off much stranger things before.
“Nah, the big guy’s always been a bloody dope for the Doc.” Demo commented, nodding his head in the direction of the pair that were now dancing together. Between Medic’s injured leg and Heavy’s compromised depth perception they weren’t putting on a very graceful display, but despite it they were both still all smiles. Heavy was singing some kind of Russian love song while Medic hummed the melody, unable to mirror the slavic words.
“It ez because it ez zere anniversary,” Spy suddenly spoke up in a rasp. He was the most grievously injured out of the bunch, rapidly losing blood from a wound that had been carved into his side by the enemy Sniper’s kukri. Despite this he seemed rather unperturbed, visibly calm, but steadily smoking through his stash of cigarettes. Demo was kneeled by his side applying constant pressure to the wound. Medic had gathered articles of clothing off the other team members, most already shed under the pressure of the sun, for Demo to hold tight to Spy’s side. The pile now consisted of Medic’s overcoat, Sniper’s vest, Soldier’s under shirt and the most recent addition being Demo’s beanie. All of which were adequately red, but Medic made it abundantly clear to not remove any bloodied garments, only to add fresh ones to the top of the pile. Something about coagulation or some such thing that Demo was too drunk to worry about the details of.
“Wait, for real?! Dey have an anniversary!? But dey’ve been together since freakin’ dinosaur times!” Scout exclaimed.
“Yeah, now that yah mention it, I don’t remember them ever declarin’ their relationship to the team. It's just kinda… understood that they’re together,” Engineer added, his face scrunched in consideration.
“They have done an excellent job sticking to the do not ask, do not tell policy!!” Soldier declared proudly.
“Ah, Solly, I don’t think that’s how that works, son,” Engineer tried correcting lightly before being cut off by Sniper.
“Well, hold on a second. How in the bloody hell did they get into a relationshoip woith alla us knowin’ but not notoicin’.” He asked incredulously as he fanned a steadily melting Pyro with his hat.
“It likely ‘appened incrementally. Ze did somezing tame like ‘old ‘ands and when no one on ze team cared ze kept pushing ze envelope until we are where we are today,” Spy managed through labored, rasping breaths. He gestured weakly to the couple in question who were now exchanging slow, soft kisses as they swayed back and forth in a poor replica of a ballroom dance.
“Huh,” Scout muttered, baffled by how something like that could even happen. The team grew silent for a long moment, observing the two as they continued to dote on each other. Amusedly watching as Medic stood on his tip-toes to reach his hands over Heavy’s head in order to spin him around, just as the bear had done for him. Heavy ended their dance when he brought Medic into a low dip, pressing a passionate kiss to his lover’s lips.
At the display Pyro exploded into thunderous applause, clapping wildly with muffled cheers. Their joy was infectious, encouraging their team to cheer as well, if not for lack of anything more interesting to do. Soldier and Engi made due with stomping as each of them had a hand that was, well… missing. Scout rolled his eyes but participated as well, giving his best wolf-whistle when he noticed that even his father bothered to join in the celebration.
At the exuberant cheering the pair broke from their kiss, red in the face and not just from the heat.
“Oh, goodness, I did not know ve had an audience,” Medic said bashfully, as he and Heavy meandered over to the rest of the group. However, the coy attitude was mostly for show seeing that Medic was always fond of being the center of attention.
“Aye, well there ain’t really anythin’ better tah be watch-”
Demo was cut off when the team was sent through respawn. The administrator’s announcement of their dismissal being the last thing the team could hear before waking up in the base locker room.
Demo looked down at his hands to see the wads of reddened fabric were missing. Beside him Spy stood perfectly fine, no longer a gash torn through his side. All of the makeshift bandages were back on their original owners without any signs of tarnish.
All former injuries vanished. Soldier and Engi’s arm and hand respectively were back to their original state, good as new. Heavy’s black eye had vanished before it had even fully formed and Medic was no longer limping. However, to the doctor’s dismay the heart Heavy had gifted him had vanished as well, likely when the rest of the enemy Soldier’s body had despawned.
“Do not worry Doktor, can always play with Heavy’s heart,” Heavy purred, drawing pleased giggles from his doctor. The bear drew his beloved closer to whisper in his ear, “besides, there are other spoils of victory to enjoy.”
Scout groaned at their dirty talk, wishing for once that his half headset was a full one as he trotted out of the respawn room.
