Work Text:
New Recruit
Scout x Hacker :0
Scout was running, briefcase in his hand, panic filled through his veins and body as two amoreds were chasing him down. “Scout you’re close to the base, make sure you bring Patient Zero’s syringe sample and don’t let his minions catch up to you!", Dispatcher commanded him through his radio. The cyber city was dark, only neon lights filled through the streets, which is not helping him on this chase. As he was about to take a turn, he crashed into one of Patient Zero’s minions, Ghoul. The guy is twice as big as him, and looks like a hell of a mess of mutations. Scout falls back to the concrete from the size difference, his hand loses grip from the briefcase. With Scout losing the possession of the briefcase, the two armoreds took it with joyous muffled groans, celebrating their victory.
But that victory didn’t last long, suddenly a mysterious figure fired its weapon into one of the armored. The fired ray seems to mess with his mind and control him which results in him attacking his own friend. Then a drone flies above scout, creating a perfect clone of him that is able to take down the Ghoul with just a few shots. After the three minions are taken care of, Scout hurriedly secures the briefcase as the mysterious figure walks to him. Surprisingly, the figure lends a hand to Scout. “Hey there”, the figure said to Scout with a feminine voice. Scout takes her hand and gets back up on his own feet. “Thank you”. Scout replied. “Good job Hacker, welcome to the team.”,Dispatcher said through her radio. Scout was surprised when he heard what Dispatcher said. “So you’re the new recruit everyone has been talking about huh?, Scout asked, tilting his head a bit. “Correct, I am sorry for not giving a proper introduction. I’ve been tasked by Commander to watch over you silently to see my performance on the field, and to help you because he said you’re very clumsy.”, she replied as she took off her mask and hoodie. “I am Hacker”, she smiled as she offered Scout a handshake. “I am Scout, nice to meet you.” Scout replied back with a sheepish face, embarrassed from her remark about him being clumsy, “Thank you for your help, if you are not there, i don’t even know if I am still alive right now or not.” Scout adds up. “Just doing my job”, Hacker nods. “Well, we better hurry before more of that freak’s minions show up”, Hacker told Scout as she took the briefcase from his hand. “I'm keeping this though, didn’t want to lose it again now did we?”, Hacker teased him. Scout rolled his eyes in response, which made her chuckle a bit.
The ride back to the base is pretty quiet. No one said anything throughout the way, which made the situation awkward. Scout drives the humvee while Hacker sat beside him. After a while, Scout decided to spark a conversation. “So, uh, there are a lot of things I want to ask about you”, Scout said, his eyes still on the dark road. “Hm? What do you want to know?”Hacker asked, her eyes looking at Scout's face. “Well for instance, how come you make the two armoreds fight each other?”, his eyes finally met hers. “I use synapses rays to mess with their heads, which simply convert them into a friendly unit. You can call it mind control if you want to.”, Hacker explained. “That doesn’t explain alot though, how come such weapons even exist?”, Scout asked, his tone confused, eyes back onto the road. “I can explain it to you but I doubt you’ll understand a single thing i said”, Hacker teased him again. Scout only responds with a sigh which makes Hacker laugh a bit, She clearly enjoys this playful banter. “You make this weapon yourself, along with that cloning drone?”, Scout looked at the weapon on her hands and the drone on her lap. “Yeah. But this is just an early version though, I haven't tried it against stronger enemies or a better tower.”, She smirked with pride. “Better tower? Does that imply I'm not a good unit?” Scout looked at her, a bit hurt from her words. “W-wait no! That is not what I'm implying. I mean someone with a more complex machinery. Like, I heard a guy from the organization use a particle accelerator as his weapon. Yours is just a pistol, which is a pretty traditional fire arm compared to what I have heard the others use.” Hacker clarified. Scout only stays silent in response, which makes Hacker a bit worried. “I-im sorry okay? I'm not saying you are a bad tower. I didn’t mean it like that. I am sure everyone in the organization has their own way to contribute to the team.”, Hacker apologized, while also trying to cheer him up. After a while without a word from Scout, he finally replied back. “It's okay. It’s not the first time someone looked down on me anyway. I'm clumsy and can’t even fulfill my purpose for being a scout. I am supposed to be someone who can solve this type of mission easily. I'm supposed to be fast, agile, and precise, and yet I still need help from others, which knowing you are a new recruit only makes it even worse. I’ve been on the team since years ago, and yet there is no significant progress in me. I know my own cons so there is no need to point them out.”, He said with a soft sad tone, which only made her feel more guilty. Hacker didn’t know what to say, so she only stayed silent and waited until they arrived back to their base.
Arriving back to the base, Scout parks the humvee back and walks out of the vehicle, he took out the briefcase alongside with him and walked back into the entrance, Hacked followed behind him. Inside, Commander, Dispatcher, and Professor V (along with her little duck companion) are already waiting for them. Scout handed the briefcase to V. “Thank you! With this I will be the best scientist ever!!!” She thanked him excitedly as she ran off back to the lab, followed by her little professor. After they were gone, Commander looked to scout with a stern expression. “Scout, this is not the first time you failed to do a mission on your own. If you keep on failing and failing, it's better for me to let someone else take over your position.”, Commander scolds him with his usual strict tone. Scout knows deep down Commander told him that just so that he can improve to be a better person, afterall, Commander told Scout a lot of time that he is just like his own son, but still, it still hurts, but he decided to just dismiss it for now. “Well that aside, congrats for you two to make it back here just fine. And thank you for bringing the briefcase back safely, we appreciate it.” Dispatcher smiled, looking at both of them. “Remember Scout, this is the last warning. One more failure and you are off the organization.” Commander said strictly. “Yes Sir.” Scout replied back, his eyes looking down. “Well that’s all for now, you two are dismissed.” Dispatcher said as she calmed Commander down. Scout and Hacker give a salute before leaving the two leaders alone.
Scout is on his way to his room. He is really tired right now and his bed is everything he needs right now. But before he could reach his door, Hacker stopped him from behind. “Hey! Wait!”, Hacker screamed at him. Scout stopped his steps and looked back. “Yeah?”, Scout looked at Hacker, waiting for what she had to say to him. “Are you alright?”, Hacker asked him, her voice soft and comforting. Scout's face softened slightly at her concern. “Yeah, I'm okay. Thanks for your concern.” His face gives off a small smile. “Don’t take his word to heart, okay?, I’m sure he didn’t mean it.” Hacker reassured him. “I know. It’s just, I wish I can contribute more to the team, rather than just being a burden.” Scout looked down, he felt really vulnerable at the moment. “Hey don’t be like that, as i said before, all of us have our own ways to complement each other, even though you can’t really do your part perfectly, I’m sure you will be better as times goes on”, Hacked comforted him. Scout took off his hat, revealing his fluffy ginger hair as he sat down onto the floor, which made Hacker surprised. “Well that’s unexpected”, Hacker laughed softly as she sat down beside him. “It’s pretty nice though, seems pretty fluffy”, she adds, which makes Scout a bit nervous. He didn’t know whether it’s just one of her teases or an actual compliment, but either way it makes him feel a bit happy. “Yeah, everyone who already saw it says that”, Scout chuckled a bit.
They sat there for a moment, just enjoying each other's company for a while. No words came out from both of their mouths. Enjoying each other’s presence. Their silence finally broke out from Hacker. “You did a good job today.”, she praised him. “Oh c’mon, we both know I did a terrible job at the mission before.”, his voice filled with insecurity as he looked at Hacker. “Well for a guy who only brought two pistols and managed to get that far, I must say, I'm impressed.”, Hacker looked into his eyes, meeting his gaze. Scout thought for a moment. She does have a point. If the other units are in his posititon, he’s sure they won’t even have a chance. “Dang, I never thought about that”, his voice a bit uplifted, a bit proud of what he was able to achieve. Hacker’s hand suddenly went on his hair, gently stroking his hair, which surprised him. “Wh-what are doing”, he stutters, his face got a bit red. “I’m just curious on how it feels on my hand, can i continue?”, she asked for his permission. Scout only respond with a nod, clearly speechles from the situation. Her hand continues to go through each strand of his hair. Eventually, his tensed up body relaxed into her touch, his eyes closed shut. “Getting comfortable?”, she brought his head closer to her and continued to pat him. Scout only respond with a silent nod. Hacker chuckled a bit at the sight. “You’re cute when you’re like this.”, she teased. “Shut up.” he answered rather quickly, which only made Hacker laugh even more. “Thank you”, Scout opened his eyes as he looked up to her beautiful face, which is pretty close to his. “You are welcome”, Hacker replied back with a gentle smile.