What Friends Are For

By Trick Steven

The RED base was having a party this particular night after stealing BLU's intelligence three times in a row. The Heavy was sitting in a corner, holding a bottle of half-finished vodka in one hand and cuddling Sasha with the other. A tipsy Sniper was challenging an equally tipsy Spy to an arm wrestling contest while Scout and Medic argued on which of the two men would win. Meanwhile, Pyro was sitting on the floor, listening to one of Soldier's old war stories; however whether Pyro was actually interested in what the veteran had to say was hard to determine.

Engineer was in the much quieter Intel-Room and was working on erecting a sentry or two. Earlier in the party, he had a couple of beers and shared some funny stories on when he used to work in the oilfields in Texas. As the party progressed however, he realized that with the wins, the BLU team would be even more determined to win. So he said his goodbyes and went to work.

As the Engineer was fastening a bolt onto a sentry, Demoman stumbled into the room, drunk as ever. Engineer looked up from his work and greeted, "Howdy Demo."

Thinking it was unusual for Demoman to be in the Intel-Room instead of drinking with the rest of the team, he asked him, "You lookin' for the restroom?"

"Na, I already went," replied the Demoman, taking a swig from his bottle of whiskey.

Then the sound of Spy's screams of disgust could be heard from down the hall.

"Mon dieu! This is disgusting! Sniper, did you do this?!"

The voice of the Sniper could barely be heard before the sound of yelling and the metallic clang of lockers being smashed into resonated throughout the base.

Demoman then gave out a hearty laugh.

"Oh that trick always gets ta me," he said, wiping a laughter-induced tear from his eye.

He then turned to the Engineer and asked, "Is it alright if I stay with ye? Normally I wouldn't miss a fight like that but I'm not exactly feelin' up to it today."

"No problem," replied the Engineer good-naturedly.

"Thanks mate."

Demoman then sat next to the Engineer and took yet another swig from his bottle.

Not a word passed from either of them for the next couple of minutes.

Engineer thought it was strange that Demoman was so quiet; normally when Demoman was drinking he was loud and crude and would be singing a Scottish ballad or two. But when Engineer snuck a glance at him, the Scotsman was staring at the walls like he was thinking deeply about something. Engineer could almost say that the look in his eye was…melancholic.

Demoman broke the silence. "Engi, I've got a question for ye."

"Shoot."

"Do ye have…a family?"

"Yup. Would you like to see 'em?"

Demoman nodded and Engineer pulled out a worn-out leather wallet from the pocket of his overalls. He handed it over to Demoman and he in turn, opened the wallet. Staring back at him was a photo of a younger Engineer with his wife and his two children, a girl and a boy. Handling the photograph with care, Demoman said, "You've got a lovely wife and your children are the spitin' image of ye both…you're a lucky man."

As he handed back the wallet back, Engineer replied, "Thanks. I don't know what I'd do without 'em."

"So do you have a family?' asked the Engineer.

"Well, depends on what you'd call a family," answered Demoman. "I don't have a wife or any wee ones. I had parents once."

Demoman continued, "Me da worked in tha' factory and me mum worked as a receptionist in this one office building. I would come home from school and Mum would come home from work and she would make tha' most wonderful food in tha' world."

"Like what?" asked Engineer.

Demoman beamed. "Oh only tha' best food you could imagine! Haggis, blood puddin', fish 'n chips, jellied eels, and her mutton pie…nothing was better then me Mum's cooking."

"And you know how mothers are. She stayed with me when I was sick, gave me kisses when I got bruises from rugby practice…she was the best mum in tha' world."

"And your Dad?"

"Oh don't get me started with 'im. I've already rambled enough already," said Demoman.

But Demoman saw that Engineer, who set down his tools to listen, was genuinely interested.

He then continued."Well me da worked a lot. He didn't get much for it but he wanted me and Mum to have a good life. And I think my fondest memory of 'im was when we would go to tha' football and rugby games together. We only could go when we could afford it and even then, most of tha' time we were seated so high that the players looked like itsy-bitsy ants. "

Demoman suddenly got a dreamy smile on his face. "Oh but when our team won… me and me Da would hug 'n cheer and later we would tell each other what was tha' best part of the game. Those were the real son-and-father moments."

Engineer nodded. "I know what ya mean. Me and my Pa did the same thing…only it was with what you'd call "American" football and the occasional rodeo or two."

"Ye Yanks got some weird sports."

"Ain't that the truth," replied the Engineer, chuckling to himself. He then asked seriously, "I know this question comes out of the blue, but I've always been curious…how'd you lose your eye?"

"Hmm? Well that…" Demoman took a large gulp of his whiskey, finishing it off.

"It happened at this boarding school I was staying at. I was about ten or so. I borrowed some chemicals from a mate of mine and some bullets from a bat-shit crazy World War Two veteran."

"Soldier?"

It took a moment for Demoman to register what the Engineer said. When he did, he laughed. "If he was a ginger and lived in ally that stunk of cat piss, maybe."

"But ta answer your question; I thought that it was a bright idea ta make a bomb that could shoot bullets when it made an impact. Well the shrapnel got ta me. Everything healed 'cept me eye."

He laughed and added, "I guess me mum was right; she always said I'd poke an eye out."

Suddenly Demoman's demeanor changed. His eyes became misty and he cradled his empty bottle close to his chest.

"You alright…?" asked Engineer in concern.

Demoman glared at him. "Of course I'm alright! Don't I look alright?!"

Demoman's body shook in rage and then he tossed his bottle across the room, sending shards of glass flying. "Fuck it! I'm not alright! Do you know what I did to my parents, Engi? Do you?!"

The Engineer shook his head numbly; he was too shocked at Demoman's fury to say anything.

"I killed them Engi! I blew them inta thin glue! I wanted ta prove that there was a Loch Ness monster so I could get famous and get money so I could help out me parents! But I fuckin' blew them up instead! I was a stupid motherfucker that didn't know a lick about explosives!"

He then collapsed on the floor and began to weep from his one good eye.

"I was so stupid…so, so stupid…"

At first the Engineer didn't know what to do. But he knew that he had to comfort his teammate somehow, so he walked over to him and gave a tentative hug.

"There, there now. You were just a kid, right? You can't blame yourself for what you did. You didn't know any better."

"Engi, ye don't understand! I knew explosives were dangerous. Mum told me ta stop playing with them, but I didn't listen!"

Engineer paused before he replied, "From what you told me, your parents seemed to have loved you very much. I'm sure from where ever they are now, they forgive you. Now you have to learn how to forgive yourself."

Demoman wiped the tears off his face with his sleeve and he then faced the Engineer. "How?"

Engineer shrugged. "Different people have different ways of doin' it. Some turn to religion or do charity work. Do whatever feels right to you."

Demoman nodded and reflected on his Texan teammate's words.

"I think I know what I'm going ta do."

The Scotsman got up and turned to the Engineer. "I'm going back home. Not for too long though. Just enough time for me ta visit my parents, leave a couple o' flowers, and just talk ta them. Ta tell 'em I'm sorry."

Engineer got up and said, "I hope you can find what you're lookin' for."

Demoman gave him a smile. "I hope so too. I'll be back before ye know it."

Before he went out the room, the Demoman turned to Engineer and said, "And…thanks for helping me out."

Engineer waved him off, saying, "Aw shucks Demo! No need to thank me. That's what friends are for!"

Demoman grinned. "Then thanks for bein' a friend then."