/\/\/\/\

Scout decided to skip dinner that night. He wasn't particularly hungry, but that wasn't why he went straight to his room rather than joining the team to eat. Because even though Sniper usually ate in his RV, he didn't want to take the chance of seeing him.

He couldn't bring himself to do so much as look at Sniper, he was too embarrassed by what had happened earlier that day. Someone knew that Scout didn't have all the confidence he looked like he had. In fact, he had no real confidence, just a fake demeanor. And of all the people that had to find out, it had to be him.

Of course.

Well, there was another person on base that knew it was bad. Not how bad it was, they just knew that it was bad. Fake confidence.

He didn't feel like going to the closest town, mostly because he didn't feel like he had enough energy to do so. But he also couldn't find anything interesting to do in his room. So, he laid staring at the ceiling before finally falling asleep.

/\/\/\/\

The Sniper was a rather simple man. He wasn't one to really show emotion all that often, but he knew that he was worried about Scout. Sniper didn't really consider anyone on the base to be close. He knew that it was his own fault, for being distant, literally living in a vehicle, and it didn't really upset him until now. He had actually felt something, something rare. He couldn't ignore the voice in his head calling him towards Scout's room.

/\/\/\/\

He stood in front of the door with Scout's room on the other side of it. He didn't know why he was nervous. Sniper couldn't tell if Scout was asleep or not, he could tell the lights were off but maybe Scout didn't fall asleep yet.

Holding his breath, he knocked. "Scout?" he said, barely louder than a whisper. It was only nine o'clock, he didn't see Scout as someone who would want to go to sleep early. He wasn't experienced in deep conversations but he didn't want Scout to be left alone after the events of the day.

Only a mutter could be heard from the other side of the door. "Can I come in, Scout?"

"...fine."

He opened the door slowly, closing it behind him after stepping in. Scout was in his bed, under the covers. It looked like he was about to go to sleep.

Scout was the one who decided to finally break the silence. "What do ya want, Sniper?"

The bushman scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "Just wanted to make sure you're okay, s'all..."

He let out a quiet laugh. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Scout..."

"Why do you care all of a sudden?"

Sniper was taken aback by the comment, especially since Scout had been speaking at less than a quarter of his usual volume just before. "Whaddya mean, mate?"

"What you saw earlier was nothing. It rarely ever happens..."

"So it had happened before, then."

"Well, I mean, yeah. Sniper, it's nothing to worry about."

"How come I didn't see you at dinner earlier?"

Scout hesitated before responding. "I wasn't hungry," was all he said.

"You can't just not eat."

"Get off my back, man! Already told ya, I'm fine!"

Sniper didn't want to continue the conversation. Although the Scout was clearly upset, at least he seemed okay otherwise. That was all he had come to do. "Guess I'll be leaving, then," he said, standing up.

Scout didn't say anything back to him. He had just watched from where he was in his bed, until Sniper closed the door again on his way out.

He fucking regretted it all. Why did he push him away? When he finally had a chance to talk to the only person he wanted to talk to right now. He made that person hate him.

/\/\/\/\

Upon leaving Scout's room, the Medic entered. He didn't even knock, so it must have been a pretty common thing.

Not that he cared.

He had tried to help Scout; he wanted to help someone, to be someone's friend for once, but he was pushed away yet again. It had happened so many times that it didn't sting anymore. The pain was dull. He was destined for loneliness.

/\/\/\/\

At breakfast the following day, Scout didn't see Sniper. He appeared there more often than at dinner, but not today. Maybe he was still asleep, it was a weekend after all.

After excusing himself from the table and his half eaten bowl of cereal, he went back up to his room. But yet again, he found himself bored, similar to the day before. Only this time, it wasn't quite night yet, he had woken up at ten and it was almost noon by the time he absolutely couldn't stand laying there anymore.

Unlike the previous day, he had the time and probably the energy to go into a town. Part of him wanted to drive; apart from Sniper's van, the team owned two dust covered cars in a garage rarely used, but he decided against it, setting out on his run.

/\/\/\/\

He probably reached it around two o'clock. At his arrival, he was pretty tired, but he recovered fast and thought about where to go.

Maybe he'd go see a movie? What fun is a movie if you're watching it alone?

Grab a bite to eat? Surely you'll be the only independent one there...

It wasn't a city, just a small town in the desert. He had been close to it before, had seen it on the way to a mission, but never been in it, so he knew no one there.

He went to the bar.

For being a Saturday afternoon, it was surprisingly crowded. He wished he didn't look so out of place, in his basic red shirt, while everyone else looked like a drunken cowboy with a beard. In fact, they all were drunken cowboys with beards. And staring at him.

They weren't any bartenders, or anyone who looked like they worked. Just Scout and a bunch of men who looked ready to punch him to death at any moment.

"This one's mine," he heard one of them whisper to a couple others before he stood up and cracked his knuckles. He didn't look like the toughest one, but Scout had learned to not judge people based on how they look from past experiences.

As he threw a slow punch, Scout dodged it easily and quickly kicked his knees. This weak move caused him to go down.

"Anyone else?"

"Yeah..." mumbled another one. If they all came at him at once, he'd lose for sure, but he might be able to handle one at a time. The punches he threw were slow, so slow that Scout easily took him out like the previous guy. This continued, man after man, one at a time, until there was only one left. Scout threw the first punch, which was surprisingly dodged, allowing him to be kicked in the stomach. He landed on the ground as the man leaned over him menacingly.

"Nice work, Adam," said a voice from behind him. He tried to look over, but a foot was put on his chest and a blindfold over his eyes. The one called Adam grunted before roughly bringing Scout to his feet. The voice he heard was the one belonging to the first man to challenge him. Guess he wasn't really knocked out, then.

With the wind knocked out of him from that powerful kick, he no longer possessed the energy to resist being half dragged into a different room. He was thrown on the floor. The loud footsteps of the man wearing boots left the room for a moment, and a gunshot could be heard, followed by the sound of a body falling to the floor.

It didn't faze him at first, he was killed too many times to count. But the Scout never really died, no one at RED or BLU ever had. He didn't have the time to continue thinking about the wonders of respawn, the man reentered the room. He was suddenly and aggressively pulled to his feet. Before he knew it, his hands were bound to the walls and his clothes were all missing.

/\/\/\/\

Hey y'all what the Mcfuck am I doing?