Chapter Text
It was yet another lengthy, arid day in the Badlands as Scout shot down the BLU soldier for what seemed to be the fifteenth time that day. With all of the BLUs at respawn, Scout sped back to the control point, placing his dented bat and shotgun on the dirt in the largest shady spot he could come by.
The administrator's voice blared through the speakers ``Mission ends in thirty seconds…” Scout could see that the BLUs had enough sense to keep their asses back in respawn after the brutal domination they had faced that round. “Five! Four! Three! Two! One!... Victory!” Medic and Heavy cheered with each other, pyro laughed maniacally and shot bursting flames in the air while Engie started square dancin' and hollerin' out southern nonsense. Snipes was nowhere to be seen, as per usual. He was probably trekking back to the point from his nest some three kilometers away.
Everyone was glad to finish the work day, the team making their way to headquarters with exhausting strides. Just as Scout kicked off his dirty sneakers, the administrator’s voice startled him, “Attention all, there will be a two-week ceasefire. All RED mercenaries are to travel to Mann Co. Headquarters by the end of the week. More information soon.”
Well, that was weird. Scout had never heard of a ceasefire lasting more than a day or two, and those were saved only for unbearable weather conditions. But hey, he wasn’t complainin'. Maybe he’d get a chance to visit his Ma at home once whatever business they had at the company was done.
Scout could feel the dirt caked on his feet from all the dust he flipped up whenever he bolted. Serving as an uncomfortable reminder, he picked out a loose tank top and some sweats and hit the showers.
After he was clean, he went into the kitchen where Medic and Engie were discussing the sudden ceasefire. Earlier, the Administrator came into RED headquarters and told the Doc that the company was impressed with the “results” of our latest matches, and was throwing together a party for the REDs in Teufort. Scout grabbed a Bonk from the fridge and made his way back to his room.
Well shit. I guess the boys at Corp are human after all.
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The next few days passed by quickly. Hardhat calculated that the journey to Headquarters should take 2 days with a night stop. But there was a problem.
Even though Scout was filthy rich, he didn’t have his license yet. Engie taught him stick shift and all that, but He never got a chance to take the actual exam. So there he was, stuck without a car.
Spy had his sleek black sports car to take, Engie was takin’ Pyro, Soldier, and Demo in his truck, and Heavy was goin’ in Medic’s cube, leaving Scout to go with Sniper.
Even though Scout was a bit of a chattabox, he was still friendly and had enough sense to dial it back when he was with the team. Over the past year, Scout had reached friendly terms with the others. Demo and soldier taught Scout to play poker, Medic asked Scout about his daily running routines with genuine interest and listened to him when he veered off into Scout’s many tangents, and Engie was like a father to him. But the one merc who always got away before Scout could approach was Snipes. The man is a total mystery.
When Scout joined RED, the only words he got from Snipes were a “pleasure, mate” and a very calloused hand shaking his. The only times he sees Sniper is during matches, team dinners, or miscellaneous gatherings. The Aussie always books it to his camper parked a quarter mile from the base. The man is more than a little intimidating to approach.
But during those tough matches, Scout would be rushin’ to a control point or pushin' the cart, and an enemy soldier or heavy will turn the corner. In that moment of desperation, Scout hears the shot crack off the walls before seeing a hole in the BLUs head, and the almost comical fall of their body. Scout always looks up at Snipes and swears he can see him staring straight at his eyes with a smile between a grin and a smirk.