chiv-id: OK, so, this introduction has been deleted like...10 times already by bad internet connection, so Imma try do this quick:

1) So sorry it took so long for me to update this story, had a major case of writer's block the size of China as well as college, so...damn! Hi! Welcome! Wassup?

2) The poll results came in and it turns out you guys wanted Scout and Sniper to be the main two romances of the group, particularly Scout. Popular-ass motherfucker right there...

3) I have a new poll up for you guys to vote in, so please check that out on my profile page! It's for what new stories I should be making! So, if you see something you'd like me to write about, please, click three of the choices. I know, three? "CHIV-ID, YOU DIDN'T FINISH FUCKIN' ANY OF YOUR STORIES, WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU MAKING NEW ONES?" Well, if I have writer's block on one story, I normally turn to another, but since I have writer's block on nearly all the stories, I figured why not start on some new ones? So, if you guys could go to my profile and vote after the story, that'd be great!

4) If you guys are really hating my updating speed, please, go check out the other stories on my profile. I've got a whole bunch of Transformer stories, TMNT, AVP, Hellboy, Jak and Daxter, even a story on Halo which I just updated a week or so ago. So, if you're bored, I recommend looking at those. And always: REVIEW! Main thing, review.

So, that's pretty much the gist of it, hope you guys enjoy the next installation of "Odd Class Out"!


Chapter 7: Kids, Don't Try This at Home

"Raina, vake up Raina," a gentle gloved hand shook her shoulder to consciousness, "You've been sleeping a vhile fraulein, and Riley has been vaiting for qvite some time." Raina stirred slowly before looking up at the Medic, blinking groggily.

"Hanz…" she blinked again, though with more purpose, squinting, "Did…something…happen? You look like you got attacked by a cat." The Medic blinked back at her before retracting his hand to touch the right side of his face, four long lines the cause for her concern. He chuckled briefly before turning away from her.

"It's nothing, but zhere did happen to be a cat walking around in ze vicinity," the Medic put his hand on the scratches again, "Don't vorry, it's long gone by now." In truth, the scratches were her doing: in the midst of the panic attack frenzy, she managed to land a blow across his face that had it inflamed for the last hour. The swelling had finally gone down and was no longer a deep angry red, but slightly pink. It would heal, no doubt, with no scars whatsoever, but how frightened her face was would remain etched in the minds of the men who were present to see her as such that day.

"You…didn't kill it, did you?" she asked tentatively, seeing him reach for his face again.

"Nein, ve let it go," he reassured her, grabbing her hat off a rolling table and giving it back, "But more about you…how are you feeling, Raina?" She stretched a little, the terrible stomach pain and rawness in her throat was gone, allowing her to breath and talk normally. The headache was also gone, but she did feel a little groggy. Raina closed her eyes and breathed in, doing a mental check of what she was feeling when she remembered the terrible nightmare she had. She looked to the Medic who noticed her hesitance.

"Vhat? Is zhere somezhing wrong?" he asked, still looking as if she wanted to say something.

"I…well, it's nothing, really," she told him, looking away while picking at her nails. He looked at her pointedly, demanding with his eyes that she tell him if anything was wrong. Sighing, she looked down and stopped fiddling with her fingers.

"I was dreaming…something weird," she closed her eyes, putting a hand to her head, "It's all kind of fuzzy…but I was in a dark alley way holding someone's hand…a man's hand. It was really cold, but the man told me it was all right. I couldn't see his face, only his back. Then…he shoved me against the wall…I told him to let go of me, but he wouldn't, no matter how much I fought. Suddenly, more hands came at me and I was so scared, I was screaming and crying out for someone to help me! Then…it all went dark from there." The Medic noticed that she had put both hands on her heads as if trying to protect herself, her eyes scrunched together as if in mental anguish. Then, she released her hold and opened her eyes, glistening. His shoulders dropped a little, losing some of his formality and rigidness, sitting down on the bed. She was having a hallucination during her panic attack, in which her comrades had turned into the faceless man and the many hands of her dream.

"It was a terrible dream…a nightmare…" she held herself, her knees coming up as if to make herself smaller, "But something tells me it was more than a nightmare…" The Medic nodded slightly before putting a hand on her head. Raina immediately moved to be closer to him, letting him put one hand around her shoulders, the other on top of her head.

"I want to remember…I want to know who I was and where I came from," a tear slipped down her cheek as she remembered the awful dream, "But when I find out…I don't know if I'll be able to handle it…" The Medic pulled away and frowned at her, Raina taken aback a bit by the face.

"Everyvun has things in zheir past zhey vant to forget," he told her, "But ze important thing is to face zhem head on. Vhen you finally know ze truth of your past, you vill be zhat much stronger, fraulein." He released her and Raina contemplated his words, looking at him in a new light. The Medic let her view his back rather than his face as he jotted a few things down on his clipboard. She cocked her head as she thought. Raina had taken his kindness for granted, she didn't have any clue what he could have possibly been through, but as a military doctor, it must have been brutal and bloody. And being trained as a both a giver and a taker of life, she had just a smidge of an idea how conflicted his profession was as well as his past must have been.

"Come, Riley is vaiting," he reminded her, snapping her out of her reverie, "A Sniper might be used to vaiting long hours to get ze perfect shot, but even Snipers lose their patience some time." Raina looked outside the window and was surprised to see it was dark now.

"But…it's evening…" she was slightly confused, "Shouldn't we do it during the day?"

"He said it vould be good practice time," the Medic turned around to face her, "Now go, before I have to hold off ze Scout again. He promised zhat if you were still sleeping, he'd vake you up as usual." Laughing a bit, she got up as ordered and stretched. Before she left the Med-Bay, she halted and looked back at him, the gray-eyed German facing her with expectancy. She grasped the door way with her left hand.

"Even if it hurts me…I still want to know the truth," she told him certainly, "I'm not backing out of it, I promise." Then, she turned around fully to face him.

"Because…I'll be much stronger, right?" she asked rather than told him. Raina felt like a small child while asking this question, normally refraining from asking what seemed like 'stupid questions', but her determination and resolve was shaken. And the Medic could see that, so he took a deep breath and sighed, Raina again feeling like a kid talking to an adult.

"…Dummkopf, do I really need to answer zhat?" he replied, smiling lightly afterwards. Raina couldn't help but stare for a second, then laugh softly, running a hand through her hair. Of course she knew. Again, 'stupid questions' were something she hated asking, but to hear a confirmation bolstered her confidence. No matter what had happened to her, she would acknowledge it and move on, taking a page out of the good Medic's book. Raina smiled at him, the Medic waving his hand at her to get going.

"Thank you…Hanz," she told him quietly with the smile still on her lips, and ran to the Sniper's Nest, her 'origin' so to speak. The Medic knew that, while the truth may be terrifying, her personality would shine through and she would be able to handle it. He knew her well, and not just from observations or the conversations he had with her. The Medic picked up a cloth that had been administered to her forehead to clean it of the cold sweat that had accumulated due to the panic attack and threw it in a bowl filled with clean water, then walked out of the Med-Bay with his clipboard. As a Medic, he studied cuts, bleeds, bruises, sores, and other various wounds that told him so much more than a person would ever admit, even to themselves.

'And I've had much practice, especially with these dummkopfs,' the Medic thought wryly. When he first met the RED team, he had figured out quite a bit about his teammates, even before holding conversations with them. The Scout was brash, scraping his knees, hands, and even cheek every time he charged and fell, and loved baseball, due to old scars from strawberries and calluses on his hands. The Engineer had come in once when he clinched his arm in one of his machines, and upon further examination, the man had many calluses as well, although there was also a large bulbous callous where one would normally hold a pencil, showing that he was very well educated. The Spy rarely ever came in, thus, showing a careful nature due to the lack of visits, but when he did, it was something small such as a cut on his cheek or even a paper cut. Clearly, the man had no love for pain at all, despite his backstabbing nature and how he barely moved when he tended to the Frenchman's 'wounds'. The Medic chuckled when he remembered how he had to fix the man's nose when Raina had bashed it in with a baseball, under the supervision of the Scout.

'Zhat must have hurt,' he again chuckled, 'Zhat is ze first time I've seen him vith such an injury outside of battle.' So, when he treated Raina, he had guessed a few things about her nature. There were some calluses on her hands, not much, but enough to show she had worked before, and the musculature of her legs as well as her arms showed that she may have been involved in some athletic field, although it was also possible she may have been a dancer. Beyond that, he learned about her through true interaction, not just as a patient and doctor, but as friends. Raina was a brave girl, a fast learner, and honest. At times, she was quiet, far too quiet, and was led around by the Scout too easily, though she knew when the pranks were getting too serious. When asked to do something, she would comply and perform to the best of her abilities, but if having a hard time, she had trouble reaching out for help, preferring to deal with things alone. She would always ask about you, but never tell anything about herself. The Medic sighed and shrugged.

'She is vorking vith a team now. She vill need to learn to communicate or else she may find herself stabbed in ze back vith a butterfly knife,' he pondered silently. He honestly hoped that they weren't making a mistake with this. The team had decided to hold off putting her out in battle until the very last at the end of the month, meaning that she could observe at least. So, with this precious opportunity, the Medic hoped that she would learn enough to at least survive the first battle, because even he wasn't sure if the spawning machines would actually work, considering that she never received the same treatment as the rest of the RED team did.


"'Ey, was worried you weren't gonna show," the Sniper hailed her from the top, Raina breathing hard from running to the Sniper Nest, "C'mon up." She grinned at him and began climbing the stairs, slipping once in a while due to the worn down metal that had become smooth due to constant use.

"Sorry, I must've been asleep longer than I thought," she apologized as soon as she reached the top, "All I remember is Matt talking to me and then I blanked out…" While getting up into the Nest, Raina didn't notice the sudden stiffness of the Sniper, remembering what had happened to her after talking to the Scout. Shaking it off, he decided not to tell her, but instead stood up from his place on his bed and held up his prized rifle.

"Was thinking we could practice shooting in the day later, night's better for beginners," he told her, guiding her to the edge of the Nest, "Heard about your accident with the Spy a while back and figured you had some talent." She couldn't help but blush, she really didn't mean at all to hit him in the face, and the Sniper laughed as soon as she lit up. Really, it was going to be her one great embarrassment that she was going to remember for the rest of her life…unless she got amnesia again and could forget it forever.

"Don't worry, bloody spook had it comin' all right," he chuckled, then pointed out into the distance, "See those targets out there?" She looked and saw shining lights, some close and others distant, some red and some white. Raina glanced at the Sniper suspiciously.

"You didn't tell the Spy to wander out there, did you?" she asked, not wanting a repeat of the last time. The Sniper laughed again and touched his hat, shaking his head.

"No, but that would've been a great idea," Raina frowned and he coughed in his hand, "Just a joke there, no worries. Now, I'm gonna teach you accuracy with a sniper rifle as well as how ta handle one. Mind you, not everyone gets it the first try and it doesn't mean you have to be a Sniper. We're just teachin' you the basics here." She nodded and stared at the gun, a bit wary.

"First rule: don't be pointin' the gun at anyone unless you're gonna shoot, got it?" he told her, "And ta prevent accidental firing, keep your finger off th' trigger. Don't wanna be hitting teammates now do we?" The Sniper showed her how to hold a rifle soon after that, letting her hold the weapon so that she could get a feel for it. A bit nervous, she kept her finger clear of the trigger and imitated his posture, the man extremely stressing the placement of the butt of the gun against her shoulder. He decided to start her off standing, seeing how well she could do without having any support.

"Now, it seems like you're ready," he stood up and pointed to a target that was relatively close to the Nest, "I want you to try and aim for the target there, look through the scope and keep it steady. That'a girl. Take slow breaths and when you're about to fire, slow your breath to the point where you ain't even breathin' and keep your finger just shy 'f the trigger, it's a hair trigger so don't go touchin' it all willy-nilly. Try to block out all sounds, only focus on that target there, yeah? But the most important thing when handlin' it is to-" Before he could get out the last words, she had already begun to slow her breaths and put her finger on the trigger. And, just as the Sniper said, it was a hair trigger, meaning it was very easy to set off the damn thing. Her eyes closed shut in reflex as she heard the sound and felt the impact of the recoil, ramming against her shoulder and whacking her jaw which was propped against the gun to see through the scope. So great was the hit that she almost dropped the gun and stumbled to the floor, her left arm flailing to get under her to stop her fall, leaving her right to try and support the gun's weight. It smacked against the Sniper's face as he tried to grab her, leaving a red mark against his cheek.

"Well…what I was tryin' ta say was to brace yourself, but ya didn't listen now did ya?" he chastised her, taking the gun from her hand and helping her up. Gingerly, he avoided her right shoulder, Raina wincing when he nearly pulled her right arm.

"What?" she asked a bit loudly, her jaw going wide as if trying to pop her ears, "That thing was loud! And it hurt my shoulder!" He shook his head and set his gun down gently, then guided her to his bed to check her shoulder.

"Maybe I should've given you earplugs," he muttered under his breath, seeing as how she couldn't hear anything, then shouted, "How's your shoulder?" She winced as she moved it, but she nodded to say she was all right. Sighing, he got up and motioned her to stay put while he checked to see if she hit the target. He had loaded his rifle with fluorescent pellets, so that they could see where it had gone when she fired. However, while he had expected her to miss, he was surprised to see it so far from the target, at least 17 feet away from said target. After witnessing her agile movements around the base, he thought that she would at least be semi-good, especially since she hit the dot of the cigarette the Spy was holding with a baseball.

"Sorry," she told him a bit more quietly, having recovered some of her hearing, "But holding the gun felt so unnatural to me…I couldn't keep still and I was having trouble adjusting to how heavy the gun was." The Sniper nodded, understanding. After all, not everyone was born with a gun in their hand like he did. As a kid, his father had bought him a BB gun and nearly a week after he had shot their pet dog twice, a few birds around their house, and even a kangaroo that was nearly 30 feet away. Needless to say, his father was impressed, not thinking it would lead to the future that had been set for him.

"Tha's all right, we'll make a fighter outta ya yet," he patted her on the back as gently as he could before standing up, "Maybe you're not a big gun kinda girl. Let's see what you can do with a smaller caliber." He went over to his desk and searched around before pulling out a .22 caliber rifle. He motioned her over and she shook off the last of her daze, walking up to him and taking the gun, this time, listening to the man. When they were finally done, they had found that while having a smaller caliber gun did make her aim better, it wasn't all that impressive. The Sniper concluded that she just wasn't a gun girl in general, which made things harder for the team. If she couldn't even hold a normal gun, what would happen when the Demoman tried to teach her how to handle the sticky bomb gun? Or if Heavy taught her how to handle a machine gun? Sniper had let her take a break and she was staring out into her desert-like surroundings, once in a while sighing.

"What're you sighing for?" he came up to her, leaning on the edge of the nest with her.

"I just…you know, I've had a lot of time to think about what it is I'm doing here…and I still don't know. I've been trying to wrap my mind around it all and it just doesn't make sense. Anything that I come up with is…" Raina paused and shook her head.

"Crazy?" he finished for her and she nodded, "Don't worry, the situation here's the same. Thought it was just a quick buck, kill a few idiot soldiers and what not, and then they tell us that neither of our teams can die. And as if that wasn't enough, they regulate our battles. It's like we're in prison."

"Kinda harsh," she responded and he turned to her again, "I heard from Scout you could leave here and party in the towns around the area if you wanted to."

"Yeah, but we always have to return by the next mission," he set his mouth in a firm frown, "Not enough to even get a girl around here." Once he made the remark, however, his eyes widened and turned to look at her in apology, getting an eyebrow raised at him. She dismissed his comment in the end as she looked away, out into the desert.

"Don't worry, I get it," she crossed her arms and leaned further so that her upper body was horizontal to the railing of the Sniper nest, "We all have our needs." Raina left it at that and Sniper was content to let it slide, a rather uncomfortable topic to happen upon while they were alone together at the nest. In considering it, Sniper sneaked a glance at her while she was leaning against the railing like that. She wasn't bad to look at, certainly easy on the eyes as far as her body and face were concerned. Her age seemed decent as well, perhaps 20 or so, what with how mature her personality and curves were. Sniper wasn't the type of man to complain about his lovers, but he did appreciate when they had a fine ass and a lovely face.

"Sniper, I'm glad we can hang out like this," her words startled him a bit. He had spent the last few minutes contemplating her in complete silence and she suddenly just started talking again.

"Yeah, why's that?" he asked, shaking it off.

"I remember you…" she replied with a soft voice and he turned to her with a surprised look, "When I fell into the nest, you were there, telling me not to move. I remember it."

"Uh-huh…" he couldn't really respond any other way. What could you say to a woman who had a piece of bike embedded into her skull and tried to reminisce on the moment like a fond memory?

"It wasn't exactly a great way to start off, but…" she turned to him with a smile, "At least you didn't run away like Scout. He screamed his head off on the way back to the base while I was trying to reach for him."

"Sounds like the littler bugger," he chuckled, a hand coming up to adjust his hat. She touched his other arm and he glanced down at her.

"Thanks for saving me that day," she smiled again before withdrawing her hand, "I wanted to tell you that for a really long time, but…just that everything was just so crazy and I was concentrating on figuring out who I was that I forgot." He returned the smile with one of his own and placed a hand down on her brown head, rubbing gently.

"No problem Raina," she smiled and stood up which inadvertently made his hand drop to the small of her back, "Oh, sorry, I…" He took his hand away and made an attempt to look bashful, as was the polite thing to do when in the presence of a lady. Raina herself was a bit surprised when she felt the touch on her back, Sniper apologizing only confirming what she thought it was. However, despite not being a prude, she was still slightly shaken by the events from the last conference and shied away from him and approached the trap door that led down to the ground.

"Guess training's over?" she asked and he shrugged.

"If you want it to be, I was going to teach you how to handle the Kukri," he held up the giant machete and she stood up in interest, "Like it, do ya? I got this from my Dad after I wandered into the Outback to track some kangaroos and got in trouble with a gator."

"A gator?" Raina looked to him with another eyebrow raised.

"Yeah, mean one, decided to try an' bite off my arm," he revealed a small set of raised bumps on his right arm, just under the sleeve of his shirt, "Almost got me hadn't it been for my childhood hero, Saxton Hale."

"Saxton Hale?" she asked, Sniper handing her the Kukri.

"Yeah, the richest Australian in the world," he chuckled, seeing the metal shine in her eyes, "Happened to be roaming around for a new trophy and found me, rescuing me from it by smashing its head in with his own Kukri. After, he gave me a ride back to my Dad's and signed the same Kukri you're holdin' now."

"Wow, that's quite a story," she replied, looking at it in new light and seeing the S.H. initials clearly on its handle, "You ever hear from him again?" He shook his head, sitting on the bed.

"Nah, rich people don't bother the common folk," he chuckled again tilting his hat, "But I aimed to be like him when he I was a kid. Made me think about gettin' in the professional killin' business, first as a hunter for animals, then for people."

"I really hope you didn't start killing people when you were a kid," she gave a disapproving look and he chuckled again.

"I got formally introduced into it at 19," he explained and she sighed, "What, worried for my mental health?"

"I want to say yes, but I don't want to hide my head every second for the rest of my life," she smirked, giving him back the Kukri, "Maybe another time Jesse." As soon as she said the name, she covered her mouth and his eyes snapped to her.

"What?" he asked deadly quiet.

"I…I'm sorry, it just slipped out," she replied, backing away with her hands up, "I swear, it was an accident." He rose from the bed with eyes that had turned cold.

"Who?" he then asked, but she didn't want Scout to take the brunt of his wrath.

"Please, it was nobody, your medical sheet was the bed next to me and…and I thought it was OK to call you that, but Hanz told me not to and…and…" she had made a pretty convincing story and the Sniper backed off.

"Told that damn doctor to stop putting my name down on those things," he muttered under his breath, Raina breathing a sigh of relief that he wasn't going to throttle poor Scout, "All right, dismissed. Go say hey to everyone in the Rec Room, they were worried for ya last night."

"Yeah…" she replied before coming over and grabbing his hand, "Sorry about calling you that, I'll call you Riley from now on, OK? Hanz said it was OK." He stared at her for a second and nodded, accepting a quick hug before letting her leave. Sniper looked at his hand before glancing back at the trap door. That same hand gripped his hat and taking it off his head, scratching his head. She was a sweetheart for sure, but that wouldn't cut it for the battle ahead and in his assessment of her, she couldn't handle a gun well. However, she had the reflexes and speed; perhaps Scout would have better luck with her. A twinge of jealousy arose in his mind like a prairie dog when he remembered the feel of her body against his when she hugged him, her curves feeling mature and womanly. He wondered for a second, would it be so bad to see her as a woman as opposed to as just a girl?


"So, how vas training?" the Medic asked her as she peeked in, wanting to know if he was still in.

"All right…" she shamefully pulled her locks in front of her face, "I sucked at shooting though."

"I see, vell, that vill be a problem," she looked up in surprise, expecting him to comfort her at little at least, "All of ze men here on zhis team use guns." Raina looked disappointed and frustrated, causing him to motion her to the seat.

"Making a face like zhat vill not help you here, fraulein," the Medic stood up and stood over her, "In fact, I may be compelled to give you some pre-vaccination shots." She shook her head and lost the depressed grimace on her face.

"Sorry, but if I can't shoot…what else is there?" she asked, and he seemed to think for moment before he pointed to his Ubersaw, "What is that?"

"My melee veapon. If a ranged veapon is not good, use a melee veapon," he picked it up with care and smiled rather sadistically, "Zhis is perhaps my favorite of veapons. Ever heard of a Spinal Tap?" She shook her head cautiously, being sure not to set him off.

"Hopefully you never will," he grimly yet giddily replied, thrusting the weapon forward, its knife end sliding out with a wicked grinding wound before he retracted and the knife immediately jerked backwards, even jolting the Medic's arm, "It does vonders on your enemies. Now, Scout vill be training vith you in ze next day, and I vill inform him of your…disassociation vith guns." She nodded to him gratefully after she stood up again.

"Night Hanz, see ya in the morning," she yawned and went back to her room. Raina thought of the Medic's suggestion and remembered the lesson the Sniper was going to teach her in wielding the Kukri. She hoped that Scout wouldn't mind letting her finish Sniper's lesson first since she began to wonder about what other melee weapons she could use. Despite the obvious fact that she was going to be killing people in a month, she felt oddly calm about it. Raina figured that perhaps because everyone respawn, it wasn't killing. It was sending them back to a point where they couldn't hurt you. Or at least, that's what she tried to convince herself it was. Deep down, she knew she was still going to be killing people…and it didn't disturb her, which was the disturbing thing in of itself. What if this was apart of her past? What if she was a killer as well? What if the memory she had wasn't real? What if she was never hit by a truck, but just dumped here as an extra agent?

"Ugh, I'm confusing myself!" she grabbed her head and felt like ripping her scalp off to dig out all of the unnecessary information. Raina looked at her surroundings and found herself not anywhere near her room. While thinking, she had wandered around the base, past her room and more in the men's quarters of the base, far from the Medical Bay and the Medic's office.

"Too many 'what-ifs' and I get myself lost," she looked around more closely and found she was near the Scout's room. Raina couldn't help herself and walked in front of his door before realizing what exactly she wanted to do. Eventually, she remembered that the Scout had not been seen since she was put to rest, unusual for somebody who was her best friend. Raina knocked on the door a couple of times, hoping he was all right. He emerged somewhat groggily and he held up a watch. She noticed that he didn't have his hat anymore and was dressed in a simple T-shirt and some shorts, probably his pajamas for the night.

"Raina…you realize what time it is?" he asked, Raina blushing when she clearly saw the numbers 12:37 AM. Not having a watch had its disadvantages.

"I…I'm sorry, I didn't realize…" she turned around, "I'll talk to you in the morning." Instead of leaving, however, a large hand clapped down on her shoulder.

"Don't worry about it," his tone was more alert and gentler, another uncharacteristic gesture, "Come on in." She remembered him doing the same thing when she was put back into a hospital bed after puking her guts out. Raina entered his room nonetheless and saw the same baseball-themed walls that she had seen before, having come often whenever discussing baseball cards or games.

"I really am sorry Matt, I just…I was worried you weren't feeling too good. You were acting strange the other day and just now…" the Scout was surprised to see her picking up on his emotions like that, but he shrugged it off.

"Nah, it was nothing," he smiled at her, "Jus' didn't wanna wake you from your beauty sleep."

"Like I'm doing with yours? You'll need a lot more," she replied smartly, the Scout smirking at her.

"Oh, you got jokes!" he laughed, the same friendly and jovial atmosphere surrounding them as it always did, "Well, you'd think they were sawing a whole forest down in there when I came in!" They both chuckled at their insults and comebacks. Raina then smiled widely and leaned in closer.

"Glad you're feeling better!" she told him, and he froze somewhat before muttering back.

"Same to you," it was soft again and she frowned.

"Matt…what aren't you telling me? I feel like you're hiding something," Raina sat down on the floor, looking up at him. The Scout didn't reply, but it didn't mean he wasn't responding to her. She could tell by the crease in his forehead that he was thinking hard and he was struggling with something. Unbeknownst to her, Scout still felt like he was responsible for her mental breakdown the night last. He certainly didn't want to tell her what happened, unsure how'd she react and whether she would fly into another frenzy. Normally, he didn't have to deal with this much guilt, but when he saw the crazed look in her eyes and the tears, the Scout couldn't handle it. For most of the day, he had avoided the Medical Bay like the plague and was given strange looks by his teammates. Even the Medic had offered him to join him in a check-up, he declined and the Medic's eyebrow rose.

"Matt?" she was still staring at him and he looked at her. What was he supposed to do? He wanted to apologize to her, badly, but he couldn't. The Medic even advised against doing so.

"I…I just felt like…" he scratched his head before realizing she was just sitting on the floor, "Hey, c'mon up here." Now Raina was raising an eyebrow at him. Why was he being so uncharacteristically…awkward?

"Mom always told me to treat girls like ladies, so…" he tried to explain and she accepted it, sitting next to him on the bed. The Scout was still trying to figure out how to apologize without telling her what he was exactly apologizing for.

"Are you acting weird 'cuz of the meeting?" she asked, and his problem was solved like that. Thank God. It was like a miracle from heaven when she said those words.

"Yeah, just wanted to apologize about all of that…" he told her, turning to her finally, looking her in the eye. However, because she had chosen to sit so close to him in an effort to look at his face, they were almost nose to nose. The rest of the apology died on his breath when he looked into those lovely brown eyes and she into his blue ones. They both blushed and looked away.

'What was that?' Raina thought a bit panicked. She moved away from him a little, confused by the sudden blushing that spread across her face.

"Sorry," she apologized in a bit of a stumbling fashion, Scout waving it away. Her blush gradually disappeared, for which she was grateful, but was rather intrigued to see that Scout was blushing, too.

"T's alright…" he replied and he glanced over to her, "Anyway, you know we'd never hurt you, right Raina? Just wanted to say sorry since what Spy said…it was kinda over the edge."

"It's all right, it got the point across," she replied with a serious and soft tone, "I just can't believe sometimes the harshness of this environment, though…"

"I get what you mean, but nothin' we can do…" Scout glanced at her and leaned back slightly, feeling better about having at least confessed his apology, "So, tomorrow you and me, right?"

"Yup!" her stretched and stood up, "Guess I should go so we can both get some sleep." She began to walk away, but turned around.

"Thanks for thinking about me Matt, but I'll be OK," she smiled again, "You'll see." Then, she left and went back to her room, giving the Scout pause as he thought about the earlier eye-to-eye contact. He was always up close and personal with her, but never that close. And despite having many thoughts of actually hooking up with her, now that they were friends, it felt awkward to be that close. He closed his eyes and scratched his head again.

"I'm thinking too much," he turned off the lights and went under the covers, "So freakin' tired…" He honestly had thought about a real relationship with Raina, but was unsure how she felt. Besides, if he did ask her and she turned him down, it would feel more awkward than ever. The Scout fell into sleep with the thought of seriously asking her out weighing on his mind. Little did he know that there others in the group who were thinking the same thing…


chiv-id: So, how'd you guys like that story? Leave me a review and I'll definitely be reading it!