You and Sniper were walking down the hall towards the MedBay when the doors seemed to hesitantly fling open. Medic stepped out, seeming to barely notice the two of you. He appeared to be rushed or rather something was on his mind as he tightened his tie, staring towards the floor. Immediately you could feel your throat seize up. Fucking Medic.

"G'day Medic! What's got you in a rut?" Sniper cheerfully greeted him and waved a friendly hello. Surprised by this, Medic snapped his gaze up and took a step back.

"Ah-," Medic cleared his throat. "Nozhing Sniper, vhy do jou ask?" After swiftly regaining his composure, Medic seemed to stare Sniper down as if daring him to ask another question. He glanced at you briefly with a raised eyebrow. Sniper did not want to fight that and instead shook his head.

"Oi...Oi was just tryin' be a friend is all. Glad ta hear you're doin' well!" He beamed at Medic in a silly way. After a short but noticeable glances at you, Medic left towards the kitchen. Sniper immediately let the smile fall off his face and mumbled something to himself. "Bloody well that went. Are you hungry?" He turned to you and you forced yourself to calm down.

"Yep," you responded, but you didn't have much of an appetite.

"Would you be able ta wait?" Sniper had a small smirk prancing over his lips and the small but present gleam in his eyes told you he was up to something.

"What's your idea?" You were intrigued, but had an idea of where this was going.

"Oh, just, y'know... Oi was thinkin' we should have a look around is all." Sniper gestured to the MedBay. Your eyes flashed open in alarm. Is this man insane? Medic already hates me as it is! Besides, we've already gotten caught for this kind of thing before and that did not go well! "Well?" Sniper was holding out his hand like Aladdin.

"Why would we do this? We've already gotten caught for this before!" You kept your voice hushed, but urgent. He waved it off.

"Oh come on! What is the bloody mongrel going to do to us if we get caught? We've already cleaned his entire work area!"

"We don't know what he'll do and he already hates me as it is!" Not to mention I was the one cleaning most of the MedBay.

"Not if we don't get caught! Don't ya want ta know what he was doin' in there? He was obviously suspicious and you know it!"

"To be fair, he's always suspicious-looking!" Sniper chuckled lightly and you smiled.

"You're roight, but still. This is our only chance and Oi want ta make sure you're not in any danga!" Sniper face flushed once the words came out into the open. "Whot Oi meant was... we need ta make sure he isn't hiding anythin' dangerous." You hesitantly smiled.

"Fine, but if we get caught, it's your head." You gave him a knowing smile to tip him off that you're joking. Thankfully, he laughed and scratched the back of his neck slightly.

"It's a deal." He looked around the corner towards the living room. No one was there. "Alroight, coast is clear." He stepped quietly towards the MedBay doors and gently pushed one open. He held it out for you. "After you, Strategist." You muffled laughter and bowed before entering. Sniper silently laughed while following after you. He took care in closing the door.

"What are we looking for in here?" You whispered.

"Well, Oi'm not entirely sure to be honest." Before you could protest he added: "Just look for anythin' out of the ordinary, even for Medic. You remember whot the MedBay looked loike, roight?"

"I guess I do..." You started scanning as Sniper dug his hands under a medical table to search for anything hidden.

"That's the spirit! Besides, if we don't find anything it's no harm done!" You nodded and Sniper turned back to what he was doing. What am I doing in here? Medic's gonna kill us when the others inevitably look for us. I wonder what they're doing right now. What are they thinking about?

You started scanning the room, looking for anything that didn't seem to blend in with the whole... sadistic vibe Medic can give off. The medical tables were neatly placed alongside beds, the birds were all doing their thing you guessed, and it's like nothing has changed. Granted you were never here a whole lot, but what's different? Is there anything different in the first place? You tapped your foot on the pristine, checkered floor. The MediGun mounted on the ceiling was fine along with the machines next to it. Am I missing something? The thought crossed your mind to go look in Medic's room but you shook your head out of the idea. Never going in there for as long as I live. As you were deciding to join Sniper in his search under the tables, Archimedes flew down from the pipes on the ceiling and sat on your shoulder. You turned to him, vaguely afraid of the bird poking your eyes out, but calming down. It trusts me. As the two of you made eye contact, you felt a shiver down your spine.

The dove tilted its head and cooed, nuzzling up against you before flying to perch on a curtain. There were multiple curtains covering something. Odd. Thanks Archimedes! You faintly heard a soft swish of the door and a flutter of flapping wings, but you threw it aside. This is more important to me right now.

"Sniper," You whispered his name. With a start, Sniper jumped and hit his head on the table.

"Ah! Whot? Whot did ya find?" He ducked out, holding his hat with one hand and rubbing the spot he hit with the other. You pointed to the corner of the MedBay being covered by the curtains. He turned his head with your finer and jumped up. You walked over to it and he jogged, beating you there. Without a second to hesitate he flung the curtains open to reveal- "Whot the bloody Hell is this?" He turned to you, throwing his hands out to gesturing to the pod-shaped machine.

This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

"Do I look like I have a clue? Is there a name for it on there?" You looked at him wide-eyed, unsure of why you were so upset by this.

"Well, Oi don't know! There isn't anything on there!"

"We need to leave before we're caught, close the-"

"It'z too late for zhat," a chilling voice cut through the air like a blade. You flinched and turned around. Sniper did the same, passin you an "Oh Shit" look. Medic stood there with his arms crossed, tense and quite possibly fighting anger. You really didn't want to know.

"Medic! How are ya?" Sniper tried to ease the situation

"Shut up! Vhat are jou two doing in here looking at my projects?" Medic was obviously trying to keep himself from raising his voice, but it came across more menacing than just shouting. You somehow managed to keep yourself from shaking, but you know you were giving the doe-eyed look. Why can't I control it? Get yourself together dammit! Sniper was stammering for something to say. Medic glared daggers into Sniper, despite being a bit shorter than him, but when he went to give you the same look, something about him visibly flinched.

"Look mate, w-we were only in 'ere ta-"

"Quite. I don't care, but jou're vasting zhe others' time. Ve need to go have dinner, so quite jour stammering and let's go." He waited for you and Sniper to lead the way before swiftly following as if to keep an eye on the both of you. Sniper mumbled an "Of course." You could feel Medic's gaze burning into your back, but something about it wasn't as intense like the last time you know he's done it. What is going on with him? Why is he acting like this? He's never...not blown up at me! I want to ask him..., but I know a part of me is too afraid to.

One you all made your way into the kitchen, almost everyone's head snapped up to see you all. You forced a nervous smile, noting that dinner was already prepped and put on plates for both you and Sniper and your seats.

"Sorry to keep you all waiting, Oi was searchin' for Strats here," Sniper nudged you and sat down. You chuckled and did the same.

"Well, where were tha two of you? We were worried!" Engie laughed, patting your back slightly once you had sat down.

"Zhey vent outside of zhe Arena or vhatever it iz," Medic answered, taking his place by Heavy.

"What were 'ou doing out there?" Spy, as always, wanted to know anything that could be considered a secret.

"Oh you know... Strategist just wanted some fresh air and we were talkin'. Obviously, we lost track of time," Sniper flashed a smile. After noting a slight frown from Engie you were left to your own devices... which usually meant you were going to spiral in your train of thought. This time however, you actually had something to consider.

Why didn't Medic rat us out? What could he have possibly gained from hiding our secret? Sure, it was less of a hassle to just go with the excuse, but he hasn't really done that before. What is going on? Was he afraid we would talk about the machine if he told the truth about where we were? What is hiding? Why is he hiding the machine? What's with the weird looks he keeps giving me? It's like he's been stammering over himself more since training this morning... oh my God that was only this morning. You felt an exhaustion fall over you. Why can't I logic myself out of this corner? What am I missing? ...Would it mean having to actually ask him? The fear and shame of what you did both attacked you at once and your train derailed. Back in the present, you noticed Engie looking at you with his eyebrows furrowed slightly and you felt your stomach seize. As if to act natural, you took a bite of your food. It was a well-made enchilada. Wow, this is really good.

"Thanks so much Engie-" you looked over at Pyro "-thanks Pyro!" Engie's eyebrows raised a bit before he smiled and Pyro muffled a thank you.

"Well, thank ya kindly darlin'," Engie's low, gentle voice made you feel more secure and less worried. A small, but confident smile found its way onto your lips in response to what he said. Seeing your reaction, Engie gave you a side hug and went back to eating. Your mind at ease, something pops into your thoughts.

"I forgot, um, after today I realize that we have five days left until my first battle, so... what will I be doing until then?" You looked around at the table. At the mention of the battle, some of your teammates looked...uncomfortable? You couldn't really describe it, but after a moment, it was Scout who managed to speak up.

"Oh yeah, well, of course you'll be runnin' with me and workin' out with Heavy over dere," Scout started.

"Da," Heavy agreed.

"And den I think the plan is ta show ya around some of da battle sites. Your first battle's already picked out!"

"Wait, really? What is it?" You questioned him, alarmed no one had told you sooner.

"Da name of it is Upward. Real dusty thing, but hey, whatevah."

"What will I be doing?"

"Oh! Since you picked da RED Team- the obviously better one, good choice -we'll be stopping da worse team from pushin' a payload- it looks like a big bomb -into the supplies we hold dere."

"That sounds...interesting."

"Oh yeah, it's real fun!" Scout went back to happily eating his enchilada while Demo cleared.

"Well, we have'ta show you around all the places and what-not ta make sure ya know whot ta base your plan around!" Demo jumped in. "We can't have ya goin' in blind now, can we?" He belted out a laugh that sounded a little too forced and the others, including you, awkwardly joined in.

"Ah'm sure you'll do mighty fine, Strategist," Engie reassured you..or himself and gave you another side hug. As Sniper patted you on the back, you noticed Medic glaring into his plate. Something wrong with the enchilada?..Ha..that wasn't funny. "Don't you boys agree?" Everyone except Medic did some sort of cheer, but you weren't the only one to have caught on to that.

"Aye, don'tcha agree, Doc?" Demo asked in a mildly provocative way. Medic mouthed something to himself before looking up, as stern and serious as ever. It made your skin crawl.

"Jes, I do agree, Demo," Medic shot a look at Demo. "I know she can do it, and if I know it, she knows it." You caught yourself to keep your expression from changing. Alright, that's the most suspicious thing I've heard from him. That sounds a lot like my Dream Medic. Now, that either means this weirdo is getting into my dreams, which would be creepy and insane, or I'm looking too deep into what he said. Demo nodded with biased approval.

"Thanks Medic," you managed to smile at him and he looked up at you in surprise, but only for a moment. Never quick enough to keep me from catching you. Does this have to do with that machine? Apparently you were staring at him for too long, because he raised an eyebrow at you. Shit I did the same thing. Well, maybe I can use this to my advantage to get him to talk now that he knows I'm onto him. You quickly looked away.

Despite Demo's aggravated question to Medic and the awkwardness that came before it, you all had a nice dinner you could say. Scout jokingly tried to fling beans at Spy and Spy's death glare that came with it turned his face white. Soldier joked about it, and you felt at home. Well, at least a little bit. Quite honestly, you were feeling nice enough to do the dishes afterwards and took everyone's plates when they were done. You say that, but Medic lagged behind. Odd, but not that odd.

You started scrubbing some of the grease off of the plates to help the dishwasher out while the rest of your team retired to their rooms or the couch. As you placed the final dish you had into the machine, Medic picked up his plate and brought it to you. Trying not to look awkward or have your face turn red from embarrassment, you took it from him and scrubbed it in the sink. He muttered an annoyed "Thank you." Classic Medic. It was when he didn't leave that you got more nervous.

"I-Is there anything else you need?" You cursed yourself for stuttering while trying to seem friendly. You put the plate in the dishwasher and started it, turning back to the sink to wash your hands. He scrunched his nose up a bit as if he was trying to find out how to word something. After a good ten seconds of awkward silence and you trying not to look that way, he opened his mouth to speak.

"Against how I vould... usually feel, I've been meaning to tell jou somezhing," he started, placing his hands behind his back. He looked more nervous than you've ever seen him.

"Uhm, okay... what would that be?" You tentatively asked, hoping it could give you some answers.

"Ive been meaning to... apologize."