As the truck pulled back into the base, Medic slowly woke up. He groaned, and grazed his jaw. He then tensed up when reaching the joint while Sniper wordlessly opened the door to the truck. Soldier and Scout followed after him. Scout cast a look back at you could only describe as a mix of pity and remorse. It was conflicting, and you didn't understand what was going on. Still, you had Medic to take care of, and you wanted to take him back to the MedBay to heal him. You stood up, getting ready to try to get him out of the truck somehow when Heavy appeared from around the truck.

"I came to help," he said as you watched Spy slip inside of the building. You let a thankful smile rest on your lips for a second until Medic tried standing. You guided him to Heavy and he took over, carrying the German with ease. "Where?" He asked you.

"Could you take him to the MedBay and lay him on a bed? I need to get Demo," you answered, and he nodded silently, walking off. You closed the truck door behind you, and jogged lightly inside. You made it to the living area, when Engie was sitting in the chair with his hat in his hands, staring off into space. No one else was around. "Engie?" You tried making your voice not sound as out of breath as you were. Slowly looked up.

"Yes Darlin'?" He looked up at you, looking completely exhausted. What were you doing last night?

"I didn't want to bother you, but I needed to check up on Demo. Do you know where he is?" You tried to remain professional. Like Sniper says... or something. A small frown appeared on Engie's face and his expression turned slightly sour.

"Yeah, Ah do. He's in his room." His voice turned blunt. What's wrong? No, not right now. You fought the urge to hug him.

"Thanks, Engie. I really appreciate it." You smiled and he nodded, turned away from you. Disregarding that for now, you made your way to Demo's room and knocked on the door.

"I already told ya ta I'm not going ta-!"

"Demo?" Demo opened the door.

"Oh! Hey Lass. Need anythin'?" Demo's attitude changed like flipping a switch and you forced an unconcerned smile. His eye had crusted blood around it and it looked like he hadn't bothered to clean up from the fight, still looking banged up.

"Will you come with me to the MedBay? I need to clean you up." You chuckled while looking at Demo's torn shirt. He smiled.

"Will do! Lead the way!" He shut the door behind him while you both made your way to the MedBay. Heavy was sitting outside, waiting for you.

"Doktor is asleep on table," Heavy stated, standing up. You nodded.

"Thank you so much Heavy. I needed it," you thanked him. He nodded before walking away to do who knows what. You opened the door for Demo and he walked inside. You located Medic on a medical table, somehow fast asleep on the cold metal. "My plan is to heal you and then go from there. I'll probably stitch your shirt up later." Demo was glaring at Medic while you switched on Medic's uniform.

"Hey Demo." You got his attention again. "Don't just go attacking him again after this."

"But Lass, he was goin' ta hurt ya! Wha'dya expect me to do?" He threw his hands at the defeated German.

"I think he's learned his lesson thanks to you." You offered him a small smile. "Besides, I think I can keep him away." Demo didn't look convinced. "Look, if he attacks me in the future, I will personally help you kill him. How does that sound?" The offer to do something that gruesome to your future friend made you want to gag. Still, it worked and Demo smiled.

"I'll gladly take ya up on that." Smiling in return, you turned on the Medigun until Demo nodded. Then, Demo walked over to Medic. You hesitantly followed. He gestured to Medic's broken body. "I sure did a number on 'im, huh?" It felt like he was showing off a prized deer, and you didn't want to agree with that.

"I-uh, yeah. You did." You fired the Medigun on Medic and started healing him. Demo laughed while you watched his jaw fix itself more.

"Still, I feel bad about it, though. I didn't mean ta scare ya."

"What? No, hang on. Demo, I have to ask. Why did you hurt Medic this badly?" Medic was still being healed in front of you. Demo looked down at you with a serious look.

"...Lass, what ya don't know yet is this man isn't right in the head." No kidding. "I mean that, we've only been fightin' together for about three months before ya joined, and during that time the only thing this man has wanted to do is experiment on us. Ya have ta understand I wanted to protect ya from that." You looked up with mild shock, completely seeing this as something that would have happened knowing Medic. "I'll be tha first ta admit it feels good ta be able to take all that out of 'im. I know it doesn't sound right."

"It's okay, Demo. Thank you for letting me know." When Medic looked like he was finished being healed, you switched off the beam. After waiting a few moments, it looked like he was still asleep. You grabbed his wrist to check his pulse and he was still alive. Well, I guess it wouldn't really matter if he was alive or not because of respawn. "Hey Demo."

"Yes?"

"Did you and Engineer have a fight? He seemed...off." Demo crossed his arms and sighed through his nose, glaring down at the floor.

"We did, yes."

Stolen story; please report.

"Can I... ask what happened?" He looked at you and shook his head slightly.

"Ya know I care about ya, but that argument was somethin' I don't want ta worry ya with, alright?" He had a small smile, but looked almost pleading.

"Hey, it's okay. I can respect your privacy, and I promise not to go trying to ask Engineer about it either." Demo smiled much more brightly.

"Thank ya, Lass." He offered his arms out like a hug and you accepted it. When you both parted, he laughed at something. "Am I free ta leave, nurse?" You laughed at the title and nodded. "Alright! I'm going ta clean up now. I'll see ya later." He waved and left.

When the doors closed, you sighed, running your hand down your face. You walked over and took off your gloves to wash your hands. This day has been insane. I really can't process it. Engie and Demo are fighting, Demo beat the shit out of Medic, and they're all hiding something from me. Or, maybe they aren't? They have a right to their privacy, but when it might include me... well, who says it did in the first place? I don't know what I'm doing. Will this plan work with Medic? Why did the others not want to help me earlier after their fight? Why did they leave me to keep him from dying there? Was what Demo said about his experiments true? Is that why they didn't want to help him? I should check on Engie afterwards. I feel like he wants to be around me.

"(Y/n)?" You snapped out of your thoughts to hear Medic's tired voice. Quickly drying your hands, you put your gloves back on and hurried over to him.

"Yes, Medic?" You placed your Medigun on the ground with ease. He stared at you for a second, looking remorseful. "Medic?" You asked more gently.

"Wha-? Jes, er, zhank you."

"Um, okay. No problem..." An awkward silence filled the room while Medic started taking bandages off.

"I... overheard jou and Demoman."

"So you weren't asleep?"

"Well, I vanted to be, but zhen it vould have been dangerous to vake up suddenly."

"You heard everything?"

"...Jes, I did."

"So you know what I'm going to ask you?"

"I know."

"Did you do what Demo said?"

"Jes... I did." You didn't know how to respond. That's a bit messed up.

"What did you do exactly?" Medic just shook his head slightly.

"Jou can ask zhe ozhers, but... I don't zhink I can tell jou."

"Why not?" Medic shook his head again and stood up. He started walking away when you held out your arm and stopped him by placing a hand on his chest. You looked at his shoulder, not wanting to meet his eyes. "Medic?"

"Ja?" His voice was soft.

"Why can't you tell me?"

"...I'm afraid jou'll be scared of me." How do I respond to that when the experiments were that bad?

"Medic,... I won't be scared of you." After a moment of silence, you looked up at him to find eyes searching for a lie. You smiled and patted him quickly. "Come on, let's get the rest of the bandages off so I can stop bothering you." He smiled in return and sat back down on the table. You grabbed a step stool to help your... vertical challenge. Medic laughed at you slightly and you shrugged, acting all fake proud of it. You both started laughing as a result. Medic took off his top layers of clothing and you grabbed the start of the bandage from his back. He could do most of the work unraveling it. "So, how did I go with your jaw?" You wanted to start a more happy conversation.

"Do jou vant my honest opinion?" He smirked and you laughed.

"Always."

"Vell, it vouldn't have been terrible for jour first time, but it vouldn't have lasted in zhe long run."

"Alright, well, it's not every day you have to set someone's jaw."

"Zhat's fair." Once Medic was done, he stood up and threw away the used bandages. "If jou'll excuse me," he said while making his way to his room. You nodded and sat on your stool while he closed the door behind him.

You tapped your boots softly on the floor and twiddled your thumbs. How am I going to approach Engie? Will he even want to talk to me right now? I'm worried about him. He's a grown ass man, why should I care? No, that's not right he cares about you and you needed to check on him. After you leave, just go ask to talk to him. After another minute or two, Medic emerged from his room with clean clothes on.

"Hey," you greeted him. "I have a question." Do I ask him about what he did or do I try to keep the mood light?

"Vhat is it?" Come on, make a choice here. "Strategist?" Just do it!

"U-uhm, remember how I said we could watch another movie again?"

"Vell, jes."

"Did you want to watch a horror movie tonight? I thought it could be a cool thing to do."

"I vould agree, but how do ve hide it from zhe ozhers?"

"Well... it might not be perfect, but my computer can still run movie disks and we can share earbuds if you want to." Medic smiled.

"Zhat should vork. Vhen do jou vant to start it?"

"Is nine tonight a good time after everyone's in their rooms?" Medic shrugged.

"It could vork."

"Okay! See you then. I'm going to leave so the others don't get suspicious." You quickly put on your Medigun to switch back to your class. As you started to leave, Medic stepped in front of you. "Yes?"

"Er, vould jou like a hug?" He asked nervously, holding his gloved hands out.

"Sure, Medic." You stepped forward into a hug and you both wrapped your arms around each other. This hug felt better when it wasn't in a dream. You took a moment to lay your head against his chest. Eventually, you both separated and smiled. "I'll see you later, Medic."

"I'll pick out zhe most gruesome vone!" Medic laughed and you left the MedBay. You laughed in return, but it was a confused one. What do I expect?

You made your way back to the living room when Engie still sat in his chair. At least I don't have to look for him. How am I going to do this?

"Hey Engie," you tried to get the Texan's attention. Thankfully it worked, but Engie looked even more tired than before. He let out an exhausted sigh.

"Yes Darlin'?" He droned on.

"Can I talk to you alone somewhere I don't have to worry about Spy?" You chuckled slightly. Oh my God what am I doing? Engie raised an eyebrow at you and nodded, standing up. You let one of your hands hold your arm while you led him to your room. He followed behind in a begrudging way. This was a mistake. You opened the door and he closed it behind him. You sat down on your bed and he did the same.

"What is it?" Engie asked, sounding annoyed. It threw you off guard and you fumbled with the words in your mouth.

"I-uh j-just wanted t-to ask how you were d-doing..."

"Why?"

"Because y-you seem... really t-tired...and then w-with everything t-that happened today... I just wanted t-to ask." Why do I feel so panicked? Engie looked like he was starting to get upset and it made you start to freak out more.

"How Ah feel right now doesn't concern you, so you should stop askin'." He spoke sharply.

"O-oh... I'm s-sorry I d-didn't know."

"Well, the world doesn't revolve around ya, now does it?" His words felt like each was one of Spy's knives stabbing you without remorse.

"I-I said I was sorry! If you didn't want to talk, that's okay-"

"No, because Ah have somethin' ta say to you." Don't cry. Engie crossed his arms. "Ah think you're a little girl who doesn't deserve ta be here. Yer always cryin' and whinin' like a little brat about stupid shit that doesn't matter. If you want ta stay here, you need ta grow up and start actin' like this is your job instead of your therapist. Don't dump your problems on me, because Ah didn't ask for it y'hear?" Don't cry damnit. Don't cry! You couldn't stop the tears pricking at the corner of your eyes. "Of course, there you go again. Go ahead, cry. It won't change nothin'." His words choked the air out of you, leaving you battered and bruised. I didn't know he felt that way.

"I-I'm sorry..." You wiped your eyes. Engie stood up and opened the door, barely bothering to turn back to look at you.

"As you should be for wastin' my time." He left, leaving you curled up on your bed wounded with no bruises to show for it.