A/N: This is a Scout fic I've started writing up with Annacat101 out here in Turkey~ Without her help, this story would be a ton worse - if not completely unwritten -, that much I can promise you. She's been acting as my main contributer/reference/beta, so go give her some love too c:

Romances in this fic will be subtle and largely unimportant to the story except for character development, so if you are looking for a fic that centers on romance rather than plot, you won't find it here.

I hope you all enjoy, and drop a review on your way out~ Suggestions and criticisms will be taken with an open ear and seriously considered, I can promise you that.

In a dark, abandoned corner of the RED home base lay a man, curled up against the dark wall, his blue uniform in stark contrast to the red directional signs around him. He was stranded in an enemy base, unable to move, only able to push himself just a small bit closer to the wall behind him. He took stock of his wounds, as hazy as his mind was, anything to concentrate on and stay awake.

There was an arrow through his calf, given to him so kindly by RED's Sniper, stopping his run out of the base. What had he done after being shot? Had he really decided that going back into RED's base was safer than trying to get back to his own? Perhaps he had; limping across the battlefield would only have made him a bigger target, and would have certainly ended up with him dead, waiting for respawn. So he had gone back into RED's base – what then?

The briefcase; where had it gone? Had it been taken from him? That would seem probable, since he could not see it around him in the darkness, and he did not remember hiding it. But who— And then he remembered. He had been found by the RED Spy shortly after he had come into this room, and he believed it had been a chance encounter, for the Spy was neither cloaked nor disguised. So he had surprised him – perhaps this contributed to the fact that Scout was still alive. He thought he remembered the fight, and he certainly remembered the stab in his ribcage, though he was not quite certain if he had eventually killed the Spy. It would seem to make sense if he had, for why else would he still be breathing? But he did not remember overpowering his enemy, nor delivering any fatal blows. His bat was dented, but not quite bloody, and he doubted he had left anything more than bruises on the Spy.

So why had he not been killed, sent back to respawn? To keep him incapacitated so that he could not return to the battlefield? Or perhaps the Spy was in a hurry to return the briefcase to where it belonged. In so much of a hurry that he could not turn and shoot Scout in the head? Maybe he did not want to waste that last bullet –

"Herr Scout?" Scout was thrown back into focus by the tinny sound, and he searched for the source. Not from his headset – it would have been a clearer sound. Unless—ah, there it was, on the ground a few feet away. When had he lost it? In the fight? His hat was torn too, so perhaps the Spy had torn both headset and hat off of him and onto the floor, to keep him from calling for help.

"Medic…" he rasped, hoping that his mic would pick it up, doubtful that it would. After all, he kept it from catching too much sound, to keep from his teammates hearing every crunch and thud that his bat made.

"He's the only one who did not return—" Another voice…Engineer's?

"Could 'e have been killed before the fighting stopped?" Sniper. And that would explain why he could not hear any gunshots from outside.

"You think he was killed before RED's Demo?" That was Soldier.

"Could'a happened." That was Sniper again, answering the general.

"Leetle Scout not die so easily," Heavy answered them all, his thick voice loud enough to be easily heard.

"Medic—" Scout tried again, managing to raise his voice just a little more, the sound cracking halfway through.

"Spy, vill you go look for him? You will be zhe most easily missed out there – though I vould be surprised if zhey started shooting at you." Scout was surprised that Medic had just given orders, but he supposed that Soldier wouldn't complain — it was Medic's job to look out for the wounded.

"Very well." As Spy answered, Scout reached with the edge of his shoe, attempting to toe at the headset. He managed to just barely snag it, turning it closer to himself. He clutched at his bleeding chest with his right hand, his left still pressed against the wall, from where he had tried to catch himself as he slid down the corner of the dark room. What a sight he must have made, as he lost his footing during the fight, falling back against the wall. Was that why the RED Spy had left him?

Scout struggled to pull the headset just a little closer without disturbing his injuries, and he managed to pull it a little bit nearer. He attempted to clear his throat, and ended up coughing, feeling a dull pain spike in his chest. He saw the blood he had coughed up, and barely registered it.

"Doc'-!" he finally managed, and he heard all of the background conversation in his headset cease.

"Herr Scout?" Medic sounded almost surprised, though quietly so. "Herr Scout, you must not lose consciousness. Stay avake, vhatever it takes."

"That is an order, son! And do not shoot yourself to get back here! Do not even think about doing it! Do not even think about not doing it!" Soldier barked. Scout heard a flurry of movement, then.

"Should we tell 'im?" Sniper asked.

"Later," was Medic's reply. "Heavy, come vith me. Herr Scout, can you tell me vhere you are?"

"RED—" Scout managed, his voice cracking, followed by a cough a second later. "Underground…"

"The RED base? Medic, leave your weapons, and if you will not, do not be seen!"

"As you vill, Soldier."

"Herr Scout, hang in there. Ve are coming for you."

He did not know how long he lay there, half curled as if anticipating attack, suffering too much agony to attempt to change his position. All he knew was that nothing had ever hurt like this before. Usually the pain was too short, or cut off by a quick bullet to the head. But here, now, it stretched on forever, overriding any thoughts he could have entertained to keep himself awake. The pain did not cede to numbness, as it probably should have, and it most certainly did not cease in the slightest.

Scout heard the rush of boots then, and he was able to drag his gaze upward, staring out the doorway to the room, spotting the moving silhouettes of what he hoped were his teammates.

"Herr Scout?" The voice came from nearby, and Scout tried to answer, barely managing a groan.

"I heard voice. That way!" Heavy's voice was unmistakable. It sounded as if he was leading the way, and this suspicion was confirmed a few moments later when he emerged into the room, scanning the mild darkness. "Leetle Scout?"

"..Hey man. Whassup…?" Scout attempted to sound like his usual cocky self, but it was a futile exercise.

"Herr Scout!" Heavy was nudged aside as Medic pushed into the room, moving to kneel by Scout. It was but a moment later that Medic began to curse, and loudly. "Zhis looks bad. I have no idea how you managed to remain conscious for so long." One of the doctor's gloved hands replaced Scout's over the stab wound. The newly applied pressure made Scout groan. "Soldier, zis is Medic."

"Report." Soldier's voice was rough over the discarded headset.

"By all accounts, Herr Scout should be dead by now. Ve cannot move him as he is now, but it is too dangerous to remain here. I cannot help him vithout my medi-gun." Medic seemed almost hesitant at that, bewildering Scout. Why hadn't he used it already?

"Then use it!" Soldier barked. Medic nodded, though still he waited. "Dammit, Medic! Let's not lose our advantage over the RED team!"

"As you say." Medic lifted his hand from Scout's chest, and moved down to his calf, breaking the tip of the arrow protruding from his leg and pulling the shaft out. He then unhitched the nozzle of his gun from the side of his pack, standing up and flicking a switch. After waiting a moment for the gun to respond, he pulled back on the lever, beginning the healing process. The stab wound began to close over, and Scout squirmed at the sensation. The next injury to disappear was the shot through his calf. As soon as it had healed, Medic shut off the gun, hooking it back into its position by the pack on his back.

"Thanks, Doc'." Scout inhaled deeply, relieved at the lack of agony in his chest. He pushed up against the wall, standing quickly. The sudden wave of nausea surprised him, and he caught himself against the wall, yelping at the stinging in his palms. "Hey, Doc'? You missed a spot." Scout leaned back, pulling his hand before him to inspect the cuts.

"At least you are alive." Medic sounded irritated as he turned toward Heavy, waving him back toward the door. "Can you valk, or does Heavy need to carry you?"

"'m fine," he grumbled, bending down to pick up his bat and headset, slipping the latter over his ear. "Lead the way, man." Scout rolled his shoulders and neck as he followed the other two out of the RED base.

"Scout! Report!" Soldier sounded much louder now that he had his headset back, and he almost wished he could take it off.

"Yo, man. Whassup?" He did his best not to stumble as he walked.

"Return to base!"

"Already there." Scout gazed up at the walls of their home base. Heavy waited by the door until Medic and Scout walked in, watching the walls of RED's base for any guns trained on them. The battlefield was eerily silent. "Doc', what the hell's going on here? Why's everything so…quiet?" Scout glanced over his shoulder at the windows of the RED base, surprised not to see any movement.

"Zhe battle has been stopped." He sounded unusually brusque.

"What? But the match isn't over. I lost the intel, for crying out loud!"

"It is now." Scout stopped for a moment, quite certain that something was very, very wrong. He looked over his shoulder, hoping that maybe he could get an answer out of Heavy.

"What happened?"

"Move. Talk later," was the large Russian's response. Scout sighed, and followed Medic to their team room.

The entirety of the BLU team was arranged in various positions around the room when Scout arrived. Sniper was leaning against the far wall, Pyro sitting with his flamethrower on the table and his feet crossed beside it, Engineer was tinkering with…something, Soldier was pacing by the enlarged map, Demo was drinking from his usual bottle of Scrumpy by the door, and Spy was…nowhere to be seen. But Scout doubted he wasn't in the room. He was probably just hiding out in one of the darker shadows, like usual.

"There 'e is," Sniper grinned, looking up from under the brim of his hat. The team glanced up, a few offered relieved smiles, and the rest went back to what they were doing. Spy uncloaked himself – he had been somewhere in between the conference table and the wall.

"Scout. Would it be too much to hope that you read the intel before losing it?" Spy's sharp tone cut through Scout.

"'Course I didn'—"

"Oh, come off it, Spy! The kid almost died!" Engineer interrupted Scout's response, looking up from whatever he was tinkering with, and glared at Spy.

"So? I would'a just respawned." Scout frowned, looking at the rest of his team, certain they knew something he didn't. "What the hell is going on?"

"Respawn's down, and we're all," Demo gestured, slamming down his bottle, "screwed."

"What? You're sayin'…if I died…I would'a stayed…dead?" Scout was stunned, grabbing at his chest, where he had been stabbed. "No comin' back, no second chances, no health packs, no nothin'-!"

"That's about it, son," Soldier replied, cutting him off.

"So…that Spy almost killed me! But—"

"But 'e didn't." Sniper stood, walking up to the shocked Scout, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Glad you're still alive, mate."

"Thanks, man. How did you guys find out that Respawn's down?"

"RED's Demo is dead." Spy looked up as Sniper moved back to lean against the wall behind Scout. "I killed him." Scout was astonished that Spy seemed so unfazed with what he had done. But, he thought, Spy is a killer, and he loves it.

"So we cancelled the 'em some time to reorganize. Went lookin' fer you. And 'ere we are." Sniper shrugged. Medic looked up from where he was checking over his pack.

"I used about a third of vhat I had left in my pack healing Herr Scout, and I did not heal him completely. I have enough left for vun critical case, or a few broken bones, perhaps." Everyone in the room - save Demo and Pyro – tensed at that.

"You can't recharge your pack, Doc'?"

"Nein."

"Oh…"

"This changes nothing," Spy announced, glancing around the room. "Ask yourself this: will RED take advantage of this and wipe us out once and for all?"

"What are you saying?" Soldier asked, glancing over at Spy, a knowing glint in his eye.

"I am saying, that we should strike first, and strike fast." Sniper's eyes narrowed behind his sunglasses at Spy's answer, and Engineer abruptly stopped tinkering. Medic glanced up, Heavy following his lead, and Demo put down his bottle of Scrumpy. Pyro seemed unaffected.

"You think that we should kill them for real?" Engineer asked, frowning.

"Damn right we should!" Soldier pounded his fist on the table, "The rules haven't changed!"

"Only…now we can finish it, once and for all," Demo looked speculative.

"And with 'em gone, we can finally sleep with both eyes closed." Sniper seemed doubtful, even as he spoke.

"We can't just kill 'em! I mean, if they were thinking like you guys are, then they would'a killed me!"

"But they aren't! We can catch them by surprise!" Soldier grinned, as if excited by the aspect.

"It vould be a massacre if you decide ve should attack." Medic was frank, barely paying the others any heed.

"We've already killed one of them. Why not the rest?" Spy shrugged, a dark smirk playing over his features. "If we kill them now, you will have nothing to worry about. You could even go back to your life beforehand."

"We're all 'ere by our own choice, mate. Where else do you think we'll get this kind'a battle again?" Sniper frowned, disquieted.

"He's right. This is the one place in the world where you can kill all you want and not be marked a murderer," Engineer explained. "Besides, who knows what kind of consequences our broken Respawn system could have? We knew how our arena worked with it, but we don't know how it works without it. For all we know, Spy's cloaking and disguise system could be shot. My dispensers might not work at all. Maybe even my sentries are down."

"Engineer, go check out the system, see if you can fix it. Double time!" Soldier ordered, and Scout had to wonder if it was because he wanted the system repaired, or if he just wanted Engineer gone. The worker stood, shrugging and taking the contraption he had been working on, as he left the room.

"If we do not kill them quickly, we will find ourselves being the ones murdered," Spy stated simply. He let the words hang in the air, silent for a few moments. "If we do not want to die, then we will have to kill them. Since when has RED been merciful? Helpful?"

"Since today! Or else I wouldn't be here!" Scout was quick to reply, his teeth gritted in frustration.

"Did the RED team bring you back to us? No. They left you to die where you were. It is only because of yourself that you are still alive. You, and your team. Not theirs. Do not be grateful for their indifference." Scout's hands balled into fists at the words, and he winced slightly, uncurling them just as quickly when his nails dug into the cuts that were still there. If nothing else, they reminded him just how serious this was. He sullenly reached into his pocket and pulled out the bandages he always kept with him, wrapping them around his hands.

"I won't kill 'em, man."

"So you want us to die."

"No-!"

"Very well. Then we know we cannot count on your support, regardless of what we have done for you. Perhaps it would have been better if Medic had not wasted his pack on you."

"'ey! Just because he doesn't want to kill doesn't mean 'e ain't one of us. I don't like the thought of killin' neither, but I'll protect the team if I gotta'." Sniper was no longer relaxed, though it was hard to read the expression behind his glasses. Heavy had remained silent throughout the entirety of this argument, keeping watch on the door, but turned his gaze to Medic when the latter spoke.

"I am vith Herr Scout on zhis. Too much blood vill be on our hands if ve do zhis."

"You always have blood on your hands, soldier!" The general growled. "That won't change if they're dead or not!"

"Of course it vill. If zhey are dead, then zhere will be no more blood to find its vay to my hands," Medic grinned. "If I am no longer needed here, vhere else could I 'practice medicine'?"

"We will fight them, and we will kill them! That is final! You will receive orders soon enough. Dismissed!" Soldier turned away from them, facing the map again, staring intently at it. Spy disappeared quickly enough, and Pyro stood with Demo, the two of them leaving together. Pyro mumbled something, and Demo answered, though Scout wondered if Demo could actually understand him. Heavy followed Medic, and he could hear just a bit of their conversation as they passed.

"We kill everyone, Sasha have no one to play vith!" Heavy explained to the doctor.

"You are very right, Heavy. And I have no one to…heal," Medic replied in kind, his tone somewhat softer than it had been when answering Scout earlier.

"However, if Sasha protect you, then I will be glad to use her!" Scout could not hear Medic's reply to that, but he smiled to himself despite it. He turned to leave and saw Sniper waiting for him by the door. The pair walked out, leaving Soldier behind to plan his murders alone.

Sniper broke the silence with a quiet, "s'good to know you're alright, mate. For a while, I thought you were dead."

"Sounded like everyone did," Scout answered.

"So…you said that RED's Spy just…didn't kill you? You didn't chase 'im off, or beat 'im back?" The Australian was astounded.

"Yeah…maybe he wanted to take back the intel, or maybe he was ordered to leave me. I dunno', man. It seemed weird, y'know, to stab me and then just walk away. Usually, spies make sure their target is dead, don't they?" Scout hadn't realized he'd been digging his nails into the palms of his hands. He unfurled his hands with a wince.

"Y'alright?" Sniper glanced over, and then looked down at Scout's upturned hands, noting the reddening bandages. "What'd you do to yerself?"

"I…dunno'. They were like this since my fight with RED's Spy...maybe before." He turned his hands down, hiding the spotting cloth. "'m fine – they'll heal quick enough."

"How'd you get cornered in the first place, mate?"

"Got an arrow through the leg from the other Sniper," Scout grumbled, unhappy he'd been caught by a shot. Usually, snipers did not bother to aim for scouts – they moved too fast to even be worth aiming for.

They were approaching their rooms along the hallway, though Scout was unsure what he would do with so much time to himself; normally, they stayed in their rooms only to sleep. He doubted he could do so now. Scout stopped outside his door and turned to Sniper, but before he could say a word, the Australian pulled him into a tight hug, awakening an armada of bruises that Scout had not known existed. He hugged the man back for but a few moments, grinning up at him in his usual lopsided manner. "Take care of yourself, man. And sleep with one eye open, just in case."

"Will do. If I gotta' deliver some headshots to keep you and the others safe, then I will, consequences or no." Sniper smiled softly at him, raised his hand in a short wave, and walked away. Scout watched him for a few moments, before opening his door and stepping inside. He flopped on his bed, groaning at the bruises all over him. It felt strange to be in his own room, so bruised and beaten, with no Medic or dispenser to limp to. He would ache for days. Consequences indeed.