A/N: Entire thing co-written with Kirame90.

...

Engineer dashed out of the respawn, holding his hardhat so it wouldn't fall off as the stout Texan rushed up the stairs. "Dammit, dammit, dammit..!" He muttered to himself, panting and sweating already in his overalls as he tried to make it back to his beloved sentry in time. That blasted Demoman! Didn't he have any idea how much time and care he had took to build the nest all the way up there?! God, so many stairs. He was huffing like a fish on dry land when he finally made his way all the way up. His eyes widened behind his goggles when he noticed Pyro there, obviously busy with keeping rockets and grenades away from the badly suffered sentry.

Pyro turned upon hearing someone climb the stairs behind him. His stance first defensively blocked a weakly beeping and sparking sentry, but then he registered the character before him and relaxed, shooting a thumbs up and a muffled, "Huffa!" A split second later a finger went to his chin as he seemed to realize something, and without warning blasted the man before him with a good five seconds of open flame. Ceasing and seeing no burns, Pyro then reinstated his previous thumbs up.

"Now take it easy, pardner, it's just me..!" The Texan shot the firebug a crooked grin before rushing to repair the damage done to his buildings. He'd need to build the dispenser again; it was already a lost cause. The sentry was still up and running, but just barely. He dug his wrench and ran to do whatever needed to save it. "Thanks for your help, sir!" He took a moment to glance behind him and give Pyro the appreciation he highly deserved.

A giddy-sounding chuckle came from beneath that optical mask as Pyro bashfully clutched his flamethrower. The recognition seemed to invigorate him. He gave an eager little dance and pushed forward in front of Engineer, looking with practical hope for incoming projectiles while the other rebuilt.

"Need a dispenser here, need a dispenser here!" The RED rabbit bounced to the two, holding his bleeding arm and looking behind him nervously to see if he had been followed. "Son, Ah'm workin' as damn hard as Ah can!" Engineer replied, not being in the mood to hear any complaints right now, especially from the youngster. "Yo, they've got their Soldier and Medic comin' right this way! C'mon, c'mon, move your ass and just build it!" Scout ran in place, afraid to get a crit rocket right in the face. "I am fully charged!" the enemy's Medic announced not too far away. "Darn it..!" The Texan muttered and had to follow the kid's advice. They would need a dispenser as soon as possible.

And then the stickies came. The same Demoman that had wrecked the first nest seemed to have respawned as well, and learned a lesson to boot. Pyro took immediate action and airblasted them off the nearest ledge, but the drunken fire continued spamming. Time then froze as a buzzing critical landed smack in the middle of Engie's workspace. Pyro looked at it, looked to Scout, then Engineer's stressed face, and made a decision. He raised his flamethrower high and roared before leaping down to the stickies' source. A fiery struggle later and the threatening explosive crumbled. Pyro, lightly bloodied but none worse for wear, next turned attention to the oncoming Soldier and Medic. Before they rounded the corner he rushed forward with flames ablaze. Two screams were heard as an über was unmistakably popped prematurely, and two blue figures then chased Pyro in the opposite direction of the sentry nest.

Stunned, the Texan stared at the poor firebug running for his life and finally getting blown into small pieces by one of the glowing rockets. Gritting his teeth Engineer kept hammering the damned dispenser like his life depended on it. It pretty much did, too. "Why couldn't you do that? Instead ya just led them straight here," he scolded the boy who was now enjoying the healing glow coming from the fresh building angrily. Pyro had been such a huge help and Scout did absolutely nothing to get the job done faster. "Listen, boy, they've got two minutes ta get that darned bomb up here, so ya better get your li'l ass movin' right now!" the shorter one said, clearly upset by how Pyro had pretty much sacrificed himself for his sentry nest. In the end he had to kick the boy moving. Even with the respawn, seeing his friend dying was never easy. Engie never joined his teammates making jokes about how they had died or who had died how many times during the day. It was still dying, even though not permanently.

As soon as Pyro snapped into consciousness, he made a beeline for the battlements, pausing only to check suspicious corners. Reaching the top of the stairs leading to Engie's nest found the relieving sight of fresh new buildings holding the point. Looking down over the ledge found the corpses of an über-less Medic and Soldier team. Pyro sighed with relief and deemed the last one a life well spent. He turned to the man behind the machines and gave a bubbly tut of laughter over the BLU's fruitless attack on the sentry.

"Hey there," Engineer waved at his friend, not quite sure why the other man was laughing. "Thanks for your help, again. Ah wish all the others were as helpful as you." He took his hardhat off for a second to wipe his sweaty forehead. The battle was getting heated; it always did on the last minutes. The BLUs were pushing more aggressively and their spawning time was shorter than the RED team's. There was no room for mistakes. "Boys, we have a traitor!" came Soldier's voice from somewhere nearby. Engie's hold on his wrench tightened. God, he hated those bastards! Always lurking around with their sappers and disguises. "Mind givin' me a hand one more time t'day?" He smiled at Pyro again, hoping he could trust his protector once more.

Without hesitation, Pyro stood tall and made the exaggerated motion of blowing a kiss Engie's way before hoisting his flamethrower. This may have been his idea of a salute. Either way, he switched between his flamethrower and sledgehammer thoughtfully for a moment, then stuck with the flamethrower and circled the encampment. The flames only let up for intermittent refills.

Engie's face looked rather taken aback at the gesture. Shaking his head he forced himself to focus; there was no time to start wondering the masked man's strange behavior. If he even was a man? That thought had always been obvious to Engineer, since all the other mercs were men. But a flying kiss? He shook his head again. No, concentrate! No thinking such stupid things now, there was still time left and he couldn't waste any. The bomb was just around the corner. BLU Scout was working on it as hard as he could while his teammates tried to make way for him. The Texan grabbed his shotgun, getting rid of some of the stickybombs while Pyro took care of the rest. The whole RED team that was still alive soon joined them, giving their everything to keep the bomb from reaching its destination.

"Mission ends in thirty seconds!" The announcement was as tense as it was a relief. RED was so close to winning, but if BLU managed this push..! Pyro's head snapped to attention as he heard the unwelcome sound of electronic buzzing while he stopped to refill on propane. Whirling about, he bathed the area in fire and heard the satisfying scream of a Frenchman caught alight. Hurriedly he rushed forth with enough continued fire to finish the sneak off, then pulled out his sledgehammer and bashed the parasitic device from the sentry while the Texan kept his guard against sticky bombs. The sentry sprang to life as the BLU team approached the control point. Bullets and rockets alike burst from the machine and dropped the opposers as they pushed, but was it fast enough? The countdown rang out, "Five...four...three...two...ONE..!"

"...Victory!" Pyro opened the eyes he hadn't realized were closed and let out a cheer. "Hmmp mmuh!" he then yelled, turning and offering his hand high in a way that mimicked something he'd seen Sniper advertising in a magazine.

Nobody slapped his hand. Everyone was exhausted and some in such low health they barely noticed the firebug. The ones who did were either too tired or too afraid to touch him. All but one. "Nice goin', pardner." Engineer slapped the gloved hand with the old, friendly smile on his face. "Thanks," he said once again before turning to collect the machines back to the base. Everyone was tired but relieved at the same time. They couldn't be blamed; the battle had been surprisingly even that day. Slowly the Texan started packing his things up. It would have been easier to just blow them up, but in a strange way all his buildings were like children to him.

Pyro clapped and jumped like a small child. After his boyish fit he rushed forward and snatched up the freshly-compacted building Engineer was reaching for. With the toolbox hefted haphazardly over one shoulder, Pyro ran ahead of his slaggy, injured teammates and on his way to the base. Everything about this gesture exclaimed, "I'm helping!"

The Texan watched Pyro's back, shaking his head weakly with a quiet little chuckle. How could someone have so much energy all the time? The firebug was pretty much like Scout, always going and always all over the place. Not half as annoying, though. When they got back he led his teammate to his workshop where they put the toolboxes in one of the corners. "Thanks, mister. You've been a great help t'day." He reached his hand for the other's to show his gratitude. It was great to have someone guarding his constructions while the rest of the team was busy with whatever they were busy with.

Pyro tilted his head at the hand before him, first one way then the other; then he took it in both of his own and rubbed it against his cheek. "Hrrmmm..."

Once again the Texan couldn't hide his confusion. Even with his goggles and hardhat he managed to look like someone had just hit him in the head. "Uhhhh...so..." He carefully pulled his hand back. "Thanks again for the help. Ah have some things t'do, Ah hope ya don't mind. You can stay here if ya want to, but it's really not anythin' too interesting." His voice sounded a little apologizing. He didn't want to kick the other man out just like that but working alone was simply what he preferred.

Engineer was watched disappointedly as he proceeded to his workbench and began tinkering, working repairs on friendly Spytrons and the like. Pyro looked at him for a while, then appeared to make a resolve. He darted to the nearest stool, which was unfortunately stacked with scrap and made a horrible clatter as it was dragged across the floor. The stool was then stationed a respectable distance from the tinkerer's spot and Pyro hopped cross-legged atop it, face cradling admiringly into his hands.

"Holy cow?!" Engineer swirled around in his chair to see what had caused such a racket. Since the short man was used to working alone he hadn't gotten used to sudden noises. He was pretty sure he had just almost gotten a heart attack, at least according to how hard his heart was beating against his rib cage. Sucking in a shaking breath the Texan turned his back on Pyro again in order to continue his task. He felt the other man's eyes in his back. He tried to ignore it but simply couldn't. He leaned back in his chair and put the equipment down. "Ya know what? Maybe that's enough work for t'day, wouldn't you say? How about just havin' a nice, relaxing evening?" he suggested, hoping the firebug would actually give him an answer. "Ya drink, pardner?" he asked and stood up, heading for the mini fridge under the desk.

Perking, Pyro acknowledged, finger in the air, "Mmph! Mm-hmm hmm hum ph-phm." At the very least it was conveyed that he approved of the idea for drinks.

"Ah'll just take that as a yes," the shorter one chuckled, rolling his eyes as he grabbed two bottles of beer, tossing one to Pyro. Maybe this was going to be the day when Engie would finally see the mysterious person's face. He popped his own bottle open before giving the opener to his guest.

Pyro shook his bottle before accepting the opener. As the cap was popped a spout of foam burst from the nozzle, the firestarter sighing in awe as if he was watching fireworks. He glanced to the engineer and seemed to ask for his shared opinion. "Mm-phn't mph hmph-mm-phmm?"

"Man, you're really makin' a mess, aren't you?" the builder asked with another little laugh. He almost felt like a babysitter. He reached the masked man a piece of paper so he could wipe his flame suit of the foam. "Reckon ya won't need your mask if ya gonna drink?" he notified, pointing Pyro's head and the mask covering it.

"Hrm?" Pyro looked at the beer bottle's nozzle, then felt the mouth area of his mask. "Mm!" Excitedly, he pointed from one to the other to indicate they were the same shape. He then proceeded to down his beer through his air filter.

"W-Wait, what're you doin'?" The Texan wasn't sure whether to rush and stop the other man or watch him make a mess even bigger than a moment ago. Surely Pyro wasn't thinking of drinking that way? Was that even possible? "Umm, listen, don't ya think it'd be just easier to take the mask off?" He tried again, hoping to get his point across.

Pyro finished a mighty swig and wiped the drips from the filter with a refreshed sigh. A thumbs up was shot Engie's way as a muffled question seemed to pose, "Why would I want to do that?"

The Texan couldn't help chuckling at the amusing sight. The poor guy was so determined to keep his mask on he didn't even drink normally. "Do ya ever take that thing off?" he asked, mostly meaning it as a joke. He was curious, yes, but the firebug was the one deciding if he kept it on or not.

As a response, Pyro merely ran his hands lovingly over the facial coating and made a kind of purr. He loved his suit. It let him hug fire. Engineer must understand; didn't he wear that glove to pet electricity? He picked up the other's hand and offered it to its owner to show his meaning.

"Well, Ah just use this so's not ta get hurt. Ya know, it ain't too nice ta get a shock, Ah learnt that the hard way," he replied, assuming that's what Pyro meant. "But now Ah don't really need it, there's nothin' ta be afraid of now when we're here. Reckon Ah'm just so used ta wearin' it Ah forget ta take it off after the day's match," He added before pulling his glove away. His hand felt almost naked without it. Maybe Pyro was feeling the same about his suit.

An intake of breath came from Pyro. His fingers curled at his cheeks as he stared at Engie's exposed hand. If one could see his face, it'd be red. That glove was as permanent as any undergarment, and there Engie was just whisking it off in front of him! Pyro felt he really shouldn't stare, but couldn't help it. Quickly, he chugged some more beer just so he wouldn't look awkward.

"Yeah, Ah know. Suppose the glove suits me better, wouldn't ya say?" The shorter man shrugged casually. He hardly ever took his goggles off, either. He wondered if the firebug even knew the color of his eyes. "Ya were good out there t'day, pardner. Ah wish ya wouldn't have needed ta take that crit rocket." He gave a weak half-smile at Pyro. They had all been there but knowing it was coming was the worst part. It didn't really feel that bad since it usually killed them immediately.

"Hrm?" A tilt as Pyro tried to recall what Engie was talking about. "Mmmm," he remembered, and then cheerfully shrugged it off. He didn't think much of death. Death tickled; it was shiny, full of sparkles and balloons. What was wrong with that other than it forced you to leave your friends?

"Well, guess you're right. It ain't permanent but Ah still don't like it. Ah mean, it don't matter as long as it's quick but mah God, tryin' ta find your way to the med kit with your back full of grenade shards..." The Texan shivered with a grimace. "Nope, that just ain't for me," he finished before taking another swing from his beer.

"Awmm..." Pyro sympathized. Seeming to him the only proper action, he came to the other's side and wrapped his arms tightly about the engineer's shoulders.

"Nah, it's not that bad, pardner..." The man in the overalls convinced and patted the firebug's back gently. He wasn't used to that kind of physical contact. He wasn't afraid of it but it felt strange receiving a hug after such a long time. He gave an awkward laugh. "Hey, ya wanna help me with somethin'? Ah always plan where Ah'll put my sentries beforehand. Whadda ya say, mind givin' me a hand deciding the best place for t'morrow?"

Still having not let go, Pyro cradled his head against the other's neck and mumbled an eager affirmative, squeezing tighter briefly to express it.

"Ahh, Pyro...Ah can't breathe..!" Engineer chuckled again, with slight difficulties to speak. He wasn't really choking, at least yet, but if the other man kept this up it was only going to be a matter of time.

He was released promptly. Pyro's stance was guilty, fingers twiddling as a series of quiet mutterings emitted from him. He did that sometimes. As far as anyone cared to guess, he was arguing with himself.

"Hey, no worries there. Ah was just jokin'." Engie gave the firebug's shoulder a gentle nudge, trying to cheer the other one up. He dug out the map of the place where they were supposed to have a battle on the next day. "Whadda ya think?" he asked, spreading the big paper on the desk so Pyro could see it.

Pyro looked at the map interestedly. After a moment a perk of inspiration hit him and reached across Engie to snatch a marker. A few scribbles later he had turned the layout of the control points into a bunny. Chortling, he clapped and looked expectantly to the Texan beside him.

"Well...Ah suppose that could be a plan, too..." The Texan couldn't help an amused grin playing on his lips as he looked at the masterpiece the masked man had made. Even more amusing was the other man's reaction. "Actually, Ah was thinkin' of putting mah sentry nest over here." He tapped a spot near the bunny's left ear.

Pyro gasped. Hurriedly he shook his head no and rushed to explain something as he traced the ear, which led from the enemy's spawn to the point. The route was one popular with Demo, as Pyro apparently illustrated by pretending to shoot stickies and miming an explosion. He finished by cutting his own throat with a finger and pointing to Engie.

"A horde of explodin' cactuses are gonna kill me?" The short man raised a suspicious eyebrow before finally getting what the firebug was trying to say. "Oh! Ya mean the BLU Demo, don't ya?" He guessed again, this time getting it right. He rubbed his chin with a thoughtful frown on his face. "Darn, you're right...forgot about him..." he mumbled, taking another look at the bunny. "Where would you put a sentry?" He turned for the masked man, hoping he wasn't going to draw a unicorn this time.

Pyro tapped a finger on his cheek for a moment, then took marker to map once more. In an out of the way corner by the bunny's right whisker he drew two pointy ears to illustrate a sentry's coverage, two eyes to show the dispenser and teleporter behind it, and a smiling cat mouth to represent Engie. "Mrr?" He checked with the expert as he added on whiskers and a collar for no real reason.

Engineer rubbed his face with a sigh. This was obviously not going to work. Then something popped into his mind. Maybe Pyro didn't understand English. Maybe he didn't have a clue what he was supposed to do here. The Texan took the marker from the firebug and quickly doodled a crappy little sentry in the corner of the paper. Then he ripped it off and held it in between his thumb and index finger. "This, Gravel Pit." He spoke slowly and pointed at the map. "This, sentry gun." He held the piece of paper out for Pyro. "Where a good place?" he asked, setting the small piece in the middle of the map.

Holding the little scrap, Pyro looked at Engie and rolled his head with an exasperated sigh. He slapped the picture of the sentry on the kitty face right below the ears and then mimicked shooting sounds as he demonstrated the ears' purpose. Gesturing to the kitty, he seemed to ask, "Now do you get it?"

"Well there certainly are better ways ta get your point through, mister." Engie crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow at the masked man, but he couldn't bite back a weak grin. How was he supposed to know the cat face had really meant the sentry nest? He had never been the one to solve riddles; he was only good at solving practical problems.

"Hm-mm-mm..." Pyro agreed half-heartedly. He didn't see the point in drawing battle plans if they couldn't be cute drawings. Still, he understood that Engie wasn't much for thinking outside the box and gave him an affectionate pat on the head.

"Alright, Ah'll build the sentry over here first. If it gets blown apart, then Ah'll go straight to the point C. Does that sound like a plan?" He asked, hoping the other man would agree. Of course it pretty much depended on which point the BLU was going to cap first but to avoid a rush the Texan wanted to make sure the last point had proper defense when the time came.

Doodles of hearts surrounded Engie's sentry scribble to express a positive response. Pyro then glanced between the marker and Engie before straightening and quickly scrawling more hearts on the man's helmet. He chuckled with amusement when the other naturally backed off in surprise.

"Hey hey hey, this ain't art class!" The Texan protested and yanked his helmet off to wipe it clean. He didn't even dare imagining what the others might say if his hardhat was suddenly covered in hearts next morning. "Watch it or Ah'll do the same to your mask!" he warned playfully.

"Mm?" Eagerly, Pyro brandished the marker at the man and leaned forward expectantly.

Engineer looked a little taken aback but he took the marker from the firebug anyway. The mask was dark and the marker red, so nobody was probably going to notice. With a quiet hem he drew a couple of tiny hearts on his teammate's head.

With a loud and happy laugh Pyro ran for the nearest mirror, lazily leaned against a counter wall behind more clutter. There he bounced giddily before taking to twisting bashfully, hands to his cheeks again. Then something buried to the side of the mirror caught his attention. Held aloft in the light it turned out to be a teddy bear sporting goggles and a plush hardhat. Pyro let out an excited yell and immediately crushed the thing in his arms. Engie owned something this cute? Since when?

"Oh, that one...it's just some old teddy mah friends bought me when Ah graduated." Engie murmured, adjusting his hardhat to hide his weak blush. It brought him luck, at least so he believed. Pyro's reaction was like a little girl seeing a pony.

Pyro skipped back to the man and happily plonked the teddy into the empty gun holster on his belt. He then clasped his hands and said something that sounded darned close to, "Precious!"

"Oh? Ya think it'd be good there?" the Texan asked with another grin when the firebug was decorating him like a Smissmas tree. "Dunno about precious but Ah sure could use some extra luck out there," he thought aloud. At least it wouldn't hurt, if anything someone was probably going to laugh at him but that wouldn't hurt.

"Hm-hm, yuh phuhphus," giggled the masked man, booping Engie's nose. He'd never had this much fun spending time alone with any other class. Engie was just...cool with everything. He put up with it all, and didn't want to start playing that kind of tag where it didn't matter how many times you tagged the person you were chasing because they just kept running.

"Ah like you, too," the Texan replied, gently poking the mask's filter. That was the closest thing to a nose Engie could find so it had to do. "So, do you have any plans for t'morrow or are ya just gonna go where the BLUs are?" he questioned, gesturing at the map again.

Pyro was busy muttering in a flurry to himself, rather flustered over being booped. Catching the question, however, he turned his attention back to the map of Gravel Pit. Taking another marker, he tapped it to his chin before tracing a heart-shaped pattern between the three points over and over to show repetition. Engie's nest was on the outer rim of this path, and was subsequently outlined with a re-traced heart pattern as well.

"Alrighty then," Engie replied, having absolutely no idea what the other man was really about to do. Perhaps he was just going to run here and there, wherever he was needed. The masked man probably didn't have a plan like the Texan did. His job required more moving, after all.

After doodling some flowers in for added flavor, Pyro just kind of stared at Engie for a bit. Then without warning he snatched the man's helmet and darted out of reach.

"Wha-hey!" the stout Texan exclaimed and dashed after him. Dear God, perhaps there was a five-year-old girl under that flame suit. A five-year-old girl with some serious growing problems. Engie hadn't played tag in years and his workshop was definitely not a place for that.

Pyro evaded the swiping hands as he hid the helmet from view. The chase only lasted the lesser part of a minute before Pyro stopped rather suddenly and plopped the helmet down on its owner's table. He tapped an imaginary watch to indicate lateness, tossed the marker back to the table and pranced away with a mad giggle, leaving Engie to find the tiniest of hearts drawn on the inside brim of his hat; a place he hoped wouldn't need erasing.

Looking more confused than ever Engineer was left in the room alone to stare at the door. What had that been all about? With a weak shrug and hem he walked over to get his helmet back. Just when he was about to put it on he noticed the hearts on it. "Awww, Hell..." He smiled at them warmly and was happy he was alone since he was now blushing weakly again.