The next morning you woke up without any disturbance. No one came to wake you up this time. Thankful for that, you spent the next twenty minutes getting ready for the day. You took at yourself in the mirror. You felt fine, but to no one's surprise you looked exhausted. At least one thing hasn't changed, heh... two days. I have two days until I have to prove my job in a real battle. This will make or break how I look to everyone regarding my skills. You decided right then and there to spend most of the day devising a strategy. What happens if Engie can't fight? What if something goes wrong? What if all I do is die and respawn without being any help? What if we lose and they blame me for it? What if my plans are terrible? What if.... What if I fail? You sighed, running your hands down your face in an effort to pull the thoughts out of your mind. Of course I'll fail if I think like that.

You stretched before stepping out of your room, intending to check on Engie and have breakfast before starting your planning. You took a right past Heavy's door and then all the way down the hall, but before you made it to the doors of the Medbay, you were shocked to find Soldier still standing guard... well, sort of. He was leaning on his rocket launcher fast asleep with his head leaning on his hand. Has he seriously been out here all this time?

"Uh, Soldier?" You called him. With no response, you walked over and tapped him on the shoulder.

"AHHHHH!" Soldier screamed as he pushed you back, toppling you over and pressing the side of the launcher against the top of your chest, effectively pinning you down. You tried to move your legs, but Soldier had pinned them down as well. You looked up at him, your heartbeat racing from the surprise which was only made faster by seeing his eyes stare coldly down at you from under his helmet. Holy shit.

"Soldier, it's me! Strategist!" You tried rocking your shoulders to get him to let go of you, but it wasn't working.

"How would I know you're not a BLU?" Soldier leaned into you, using a surprisingly lowered voice, though terrifying. Okay, now I'm actually scared.

"What? How would I know! Ask me something only someone from the RED team would know, something only I'd know!" Soldier nodded coldly.

"What do I call our Strategist only we'd know?" What?

"U-uhm... my name or.. or maggot?" You saw his eyes squint.

"Wrong answer." He rolled the launcher forward onto your neck. Fuck! You tried not gasp for air, knowing that would make it worse. Is this seriously how I respawn? Fuck cakes. Your eyes widened in realization. You tried to push the launcher away to speak.

"Cupcake! It's Cupcake!" You pushed out in a strangled voice. Soldier's eyes quickly switched from malice to panic as he ripped the launcher away from your throat and tossed it aside. Immediately you started coughing as Soldier unpinned you. I'm so happy he could understand me. As you started to get over your coughing fit, he attempted to help you up by placing a hand on your back and offering a hand. You took deep breaths in and shook your head, waving him off. You stood up on your own and started breathing easier.

"Hmph! You're strong, Cupcake." Soldier crossed his arms. You laughed slightly and picked up the launcher for him.

"You have good reflexes." Soldier nodded as a thanks after you handed him back his launcher. "Why did you assume I was a BLU?"

"I saw something suspicious last night after you left."

"What?"

"I saw you went to your room, but then I saw you dressed differently entering Engie's room coming from the kitchen! I could not confirm it was suspicious at the time of the incident, but looking back at it-"

"That wasn't me. Did they leave Engie's room?"

"I... fell asleep." You gave each other a look before rushing to his room. You made it there first, and discovered it wasn't even locked. You bust into the room. Shit, I don't have a weapon. Thankfully, Soldier pulled out his shovel and stepped in front of you protectively, holding an arm out to the side as a signal to keep back. Though you were grateful for it, it really blocked your view. You ducked under his arm and stepped through in order to see the room better.

"Oh no..." You saw his work bench. You weren't sure what a working water filter looked like, but this was smashed to bits.

"What? What's wrong?" Soldier's helmet wobbled as he quickly looked around the room.

"It's the water filter. The person you saw coming in here must have destroyed it. I'm guessing it was either BLU Strategist or BLU Spy." Soldier growled something under his breath. "Geez. Engie isn't gonna like this when he finds out. What was that, Soldier?"

"That nerd in the purple dress...uh, Pauling! She told us we are not allowed to infiltrate each other's living bases." Soldier started hitting the air as if he was still searching for someone invisible.

"So what do we do about it?"

"I, uh, regret to inform you that I was not paying attention. Ask someone else." You sighed slightly, but felt bad once you noticed Soldier catching you doing it. He went back to checking the room when you looked up at him. It was as if he didn't want to let you know he heard what you did.

"Well, um... thanks Soldier. You really helped us there." You rushed your words, making sure he knew how valued he was. "Who knows what else they could have gotten away with if you weren't there to catch them." He grumbled and nodded.

"Room's clear. I'm getting some grub." As he left the room, he patted your head almost passively. Why did I do that?

Once he was out of earshot, you shook your head and sighed. I should tell Engie. Softly closing the door on your way out, you made your way to the Medbay. Upon entering through the double doors, Medic looked up from some papers on his desk.

"Ah, hallo Strategist," he greeted before pushing his glasses back up his nose.

"Hey Medic...," you started. Wait. "Did you, uh, did you not hear Soldier outside attacking me?"

"Vell, yes, but I knew jou could handle yourself." Your expression morphed into somewhat of a "what the fuck?" expression as Medic smirked and chuckled to himself, covering his mouth with his fist. "It vas also pretty funny to hear jou scream 'Cupcake' at zhe top of jour lungs."

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"Medic!" You whined, causing Medic to burst out laughing.

"It vas adorable! Don't act like zhat!"

"He could have strangled me!"

"Of course he could haff, but jou can handle yourself! Ve all know of jour training and I saw the aftermath of what jou did to zhe Engineer. I vas not worried."

"I-uh- thanks?"

"Jou're velcome!" Bruh. As you sighed, Medic laughed some more. This made you smile. "Hoo, anyvay, what brings jou here?"

"I needed to see Engie. Is he awake?"

"Yeah, Ah am, and Ah heard y'all squabblin' back here!" Engie called from his bed farther back. Medic chuckled lowly and waved you to the engineer. You walked back there and saw Engie sitting up in the bed. "So, you came ta see little ol' me?"

"Of course I did. I wanted to see how you're doing." You crossed your arms and leaned against the wall.

"Well, Medic's treatment mixed with the Medigun 's been workin' wonders. Now Ah'm not so sure about whether or not Ah'll been fightin' fit for your first battle, but the Doc has high hopes."

"That's good." You smiled and Enge returned it instantly. You leaned in a bit closer to whisper. "So between you and me, what language should I take?"

"GERMAN!" Medic hollered his answer at you two, making you burst out laughing.

"Haha, well," Engie leaned in to whisper as well, his lips only about two inches away from your ear. "Ah'd go with a language that's not French or German, just to mess with them." He pulled away chuckling, probably imagining their faces. You nodded, contemplating the idea. "But, it's up to you of course."

"Thank you Engie. I just, I also have bad news," you shifted, not wanting to tell him.

"...What would that be?"

"It's the water filter. Someone smashed it to pieces." Engie snapped into shock as he threw back the sheets on his bed to get up. "Wait, don't get up!"

"This is bad, very bad. Ah gotta start working on a new one or-or something ta fix it." Engie started talking to himself as he painfully tried to stand up.

"Engie!" You scolded, pushing him by the chest and shoulder to force him back down onto the bed. He snapped out of his panic and looked at you. Nodding, he settled back into the bed, and you helped him with the covers. He shook his head.

"Either Ah'm weaker than Ah thought, or yer a lot stronger than I realized." You blushed slightly at the compliment. "Thanks for snappin' some sense inta me. Heck, what could Ah even do with it right now?"

"Exactly. Now, Soldier saw someone that looked like me heading into your room to destroy it. We checked the room together, and found the filter. There was no sign of them."

"That's not right. No BLU should be in our base."

"That's what Soldier said, but when I asked him what to do about it, I didn't get an answer."

"Ve should probably tell Miss Pauling. Zhis is not supposed to happen," Medic joined your conversation. He stood beside you while you were racking your brain for some kind of answer.

"A part of me thinks this was the BLU Strategist's plan to try to compromise our team before the battle," you admitted, slowly putting the theory together in your mind. "By destroying the filter, Engie would work tirelessly to fix it. Then, while everyone's trying to help him, the team wouldn't be in their best place to fight. It was only a chance that he would experience lead poisoning, but that certainly does no good for us. By destroying the filter last night, there was a chance to make all of us sick before the fight."

"Zhat vouldn't be a bad idea on her part, but it's not zhe most it could do thanks to zhe better Strategist."

"Ah can agree on that. If she didn't snap me out of it, Ah would have continued to keep tryin' to fix the filter for who knows how long," Engie added.

"Thanks you two, but we should tell Miss Pauling, right?"

"Right, but zhere isn't much ve can do about our condition. Our boss refused to push back zhe battles any further. Pauling said he vas getting angry," Medic rubbed his chin.

"What should we do?"

"Vhat ve can."

"Together," Engie concluded.

"We should tell the others what's happening if Soldier hasn't already," you told them.

"Right, and Ah want someone to check tha locks on this place. It bugs me how they got in here in the first place."

"Soldier said it was towards the kitchen." Engie nodded.

"Can Ah trust you to do that, darlin'?" Your eyes widened.

"What? Of course."

"Good, 'cause Ah need someone who can use my equipment properly if ya need to."

"Alright, vell, ve haff a plan. Strategist should go do zhat vhile I continue to take care of Engineer."

"Do you both want me to get someone to send breakfast your way, then?" You asked. Medic and Engie both looked at each other before nodding furiously. You laughed, and left the Medbay while they waved you off. As the doors swung shut behind you, you had to let out a sigh. Where do I even begin?

As you walked into the kitchen, you spotted Heavy doing some cleaning up. No one else was to be found.

"Hey Heavy," you greeted him. He nodded in response. "Um, can you do me a favor?" He lifted an eyebrow. "Medic won't leave Engie, and they needed someone to get them breakfast while I checked the locks on the door leading outside. Could you deliver it to them?" Nodding once more, Heavy started preparing two plates. "Thank you!"

Rushing over to the door, you looked over the locks. They seemed to be working fine. There were no visible damages. How could they have gotten in? To be on the safe side, you decided to ask Engie if you could add another one, but you had to think. Stepping outside, you turned around to look at the door. If I were trying to get into BLU's base, what would I do? The door looked plain, there were no low-hanging ventilation ducts or anything. No cracks in the wall where someone could hide the key could be seen. You started to kick over rocks out of boredom trying to figure this out, but then you noticed one by the door that had moved the sand underneath it. You've got to be kidding me. You picked up the rock to reveal a key sitting under it. Who would put this here? No wonder they got in when this is so poorly hidden. Slipping the key into your pocket, you headed back inside.

You met Heavy once in the kitchen. He handed you a breakfast plate.

"Aw, thanks Heavy. I appreciate it," you thanked him sitting down at your spot at the table. He nodded, taking his seat as well. He leaned forward a bit and clasped his hand together.

"So, a language class?" He asked.

"Yeah. How did you-"

"Spy does not shut up. Talking about special plan at breakfast." You had to laugh a bit.

"You're right."

"What are options?"

"Wouldn't Spy have said what they were?"

"He claimed only one option. Felt off due to him making plan."

"Yeah, he refuses to admit there's more than French. Well, there's French, German, Mandarin, Spanish, and Russian actually." His eyes widened slightly in surprise.

"I did not know they offered that in school here."

"That's what I thought. Russian really hard to learn, but then again so would be Mandarin."

"Has leetle girl made choice?"

"Well, no. I haven't. I've been more caught up with other things. Besides, Medic and Spy are fighting over which language I should learn. I'm not sure if I'd want to miss that." You both laughed.

"Hah! I would crush both of them."

"Wait, are you saying I should learn Russian?"

"Da." Heavy nodded.

"Is that why you made me breakfast?"

"No. You are a friend."

"Oh. You're my friend too. Thank you. I need to tell you about what happened this morning, though."

"Yes. I heard you scream 'Cupcake.' Very funny. Do not be ashamed."

"You too?" You groaned, causing Heavy to laugh.

"I have feeling I was wrong."

"A bit, yeah. One of the BLUs infiltrated our base and destroyed the water filter last night. Soldier saw them."

"This is bad." You nodded.

"We're taking care of it. Engie's recovering and Medic has plans to tell Miss Pauling."

"Good. Are you ready for battle?"

"I-uh, well. I'm working on a plan."

"It is okay to not be ready. Nervous is normal."

"Thanks Heavy." He nodded and you sat in silence until you finished your meal. Engie did say it'd be funny to pick a language that wasn't German or French. I can only pick one for school, but maybe I could spend time learning two others on the side? I mean Medic's right about German being easier, but Spy and Heavy would really like me to learn their respective languages as well. I want to. I guess the one I'd pick for school would decide who I'd spend most of my time with, because that's for a grade. You thanked him again after putting your dish in the sink. You decided to head back into your room to start working on the plan, but was blocked by Spy. I guess it's time for his "master plan."