Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

The leaves were turning orange and softly falling from the trees that dotted Teufort, a coolness saturated the gentle air. The word September danced at the edge of everyone’s tongues as they watched the seasons change around them- carried along the brush of autumn wind.
A car zoomed across the roads, heading deeper and deeper into the desert. It was absolutely packed with people- nine people forced to fit in not that big a van. Scout had somehow scammed his way to the front seat this time, so at least he wasn’t stuck in the middle like Pyro was. 
Some song nobody REALLY cared about was playing on the radio. At least it sounded nice as Heavy- who was driving- hummed along with it under his breath.

“-and that is how I single-handedly talked Coby down from bein’ evil and stuff,” Scout bragged to a Ms. Pauling who had long-since stopped listening. “It was so cool. You shoulda seen it.”
Scout could hear multiple mercs rolling their eyes, but he didn’t care. Maybe she wasn’t into guys and maybe he’d never ever have a chance. But that didn’t count out friendship, and he’d befriend her some day- he was sure of it.
He glanced back to the screen projecting an image of Miss Pauling, who was currently hacking apart a corpse. “And hey, Miss Pauling?”
“Hm?”
Scout flashed her a grin. “I think you two would get along.”
Miss Pauling paused, the hand holding the saw hovering a hair’s breadth over the corpse’s chest. She turned to the camera with kind eyes.
“Thank you, Scout. Next time I visit the base, maybe I’ll say hello.” She opened her mouth to say something else, but one of the bodies started to crawl away in the background. “Uh- but. For right now, I’ve got some more work to do.”
“See ya soon, Miss P.”
“Bye bye.”
“Later.”

There was an only slightly-awkward pause before Miss Pauling reached over and turned the call off.
Scout sighed happily as he leaned back in his seat, reaching a hand over to crank the music up louder. His hand found its way to drift out the window, surfing on the wind, as the car settled back into a comfortable silence.

It was another ten minutes, another few turns down the dusty road before the tarp hiding the base came into view on the horizon; it was rippling slightly in the wind. Heavy reached up, pressing a button on the dashboard, and it drew itself upwards; the cardboard cacti falling forward to let the van through.
The press of a brake, the slight screech of old wheels stopping, the pop of a car door opening; the noises of people escaping the van filled the air as the soles of shoes hit the sand-packed earth. Scout slammed his door a little too hard, and Sniper turned back to glance at him.
As everyone filtered their way through the front door, Scout went around the side; the screen from the backyard to the kitchen rough underneath his arm as he pushed it open.

Immediately he was hit with two different things.

One, the smell of food- along with the smell of something burning- that hung thick in the air as he stepped through the doorway. 
Two, the sight of Coby sitting on the countertop, engrossed in a book; black hair tied back in a bun and with a newly-dyed yellow streak through it. Their oversized sweater- the only part of this outfit that they were wearing this morning- settled at awkward angles over their fishnet stockings and boots.
The gills on their neck rippled with their every breath.

“Uh…” Scout spoke up, coughing awkwardly. “Hey. You look...different.”
Coby’s head snapped up in surprise. Their cats-eye pupils narrowed for a moment as they searched the room, then widened once more as they landed on Scout. They gave an awkward smile that flashed pearl-white fangs before bookmarking their page in their book with a scrap of spare paper.
“Yeah, um-! If you’re talking, um, about the pants? I invited Sam over and we hung out. Went shopping, he dyed a strip of my hair, uh. Hope- hope you guys don’t mind.”
“Nah, nah- they look good on you.” He looked away, his hand coming up to entwine in his own hair. “Y’look...nice.”
“...Thank you.”

“...Uh.” Scout began again, glancing to the stove. “Is somethin’ burnin’?”
“Oh!” 

As if an electric shock had sparked through the countertop, Coby pushed themself up and rushed over to the stove. They removed something from inside, immediately throwing it on the table; shaking the pain out of their hands where the bare skin had touched the pan.
Scout hover-handed over Coby’s arm, not entirely sure what to do. “You okay?”
Coby’s hand darted to the sink, turning on cold water. The lightly-burned skin started to turn a pale shade of green when the water hit it.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m okay. This is the largest problem I’ve had in a month or two and I think I'm overreacting,” they joked. 
“Do we need t’ go to Medic or somethin’?” Scout said with concern, his hand eventually making a landing on Coby’s shoulder. 
Coby shrugged. “No, no- don’t think so. It’s not too bad.” They glanced at their pan of charred material, a softness in their eyes. “Worst thing about it is that I burnt my brownies.”

Scout had no idea how badly things had to go wrong to turn normal brownie ingredients into whatever the hell was in that pan, and to be completely honest, he was scared to find out. He gave an uncertain smile, glancing between Coby and the pan.

“You’ll, uh- you’ll get it next time, though! I mean, this turned out better than the last time you tried to cook something.”
Coby broke out into a laugh, punching Scout lightly on the shoulder.
“Hey, one step at a time. Right?"
Scout grinned back, the burned brownies and hand almost entirely forgotten. “Right.”

Coby picked their book back up, tapping their fingers gently against the edges. It had a glossy cover with a map of Germany, back when it was unified- the book must be pretty old. It was pretty thick, but it seemed to have captured Coby’s attention. Scout guessed that if you tried to use it to stop a door, it would work pretty well.
“Whatcha readin’?” Scout asked, leaning back against the counter. 
Coby gave a shy smile, moving the book to clutch it to their chest. “This is going to sound stupid, really stupid, but...I’m...really interested in languages lately?”
Scout tilted his head, returning the smile. “Really?”
“Yeah. I learned English from, y’know, living near humans and from books, but! I also learned a little German when I was...uh. Y’know.” Coby glanced away awkwardly. “But, hey! The more languages the merrier. I guess I’ll be-” Scout watched them search for the word, “-trilingual?”
“Trilingual?” Scout said with some effort. “You spoke somethin’ before English?”

Coby responded with a hiss-click noise that no human mouth would ever be capable of making, exposing canine teeth that curved down into fangs. Their face twisted around the noise for a moment in what almost- if you squinted and lied to yourself- looked like a yawn before settling back into a normal expression.

They coughed. “Translated- yes, I do.”
Scout stood in amazed silence for a beat before speaking again. “That was a word? ”
“A sentence, actually. I-It’s not that difficult once you learn it,” Coby said, a defensive edge creeping into their voice, “not as hard as some German words.”
“I don’t know about tha-”
“ Freundschaftsbeziehungen ,” Coby offered. “Twenty-four letters in one word.”
Scout laughed. “The hell does it mean?”
Coby smiled sheepishly. “...Friendship.”

A comfortable silence settled in the air for a moment, at least before Scout spoke up again.

“Where’d you get this thing anyway?” Scout said, pointing at the book. He suppressed a smile as Coby’s eyes lit up, gingerly moving their book from over their heart to on the counter. They quickly followed their book up there, now on the same level that Scout was. 
“I found it,” Coby whispered conspiratorially. “Did you know that Medic has a secret stash in the back of his closet?”
“A wh- ”
“Textbooks!” Their slitted pupil dilated like a happy cat’s. “A bunch of his things from when he was a kid, or something- not a lot, but a surprising amount of his textbooks .”
They flicked open the book’s cover, eagerly pointing to the bottom corner. Scout had to squint to see it, but there- in tiny lettering and half-worn away pencil- was the name Ludwig Humboldt- Szymkowicz .
“Wouldja look at that.” Scout peered at it. “Guess all doctors really DO have bad handwriting.”
“Hah. I’m gonna give it back to him, I just...I’m borrowing it.” Coby paused, gaze dropping to the counter beneath them. “...I’ve stolen enough from him, I think.”
Scout put his hand on their shoulder. “Hey, hey, hey. All-” he paused, “-the majority ‘a us forgive you. What’s that shit that Demo always tells Spy…? Oh yeah. When your choice is t’ go left where nothin’s right or right where nothin’s left , you should go forward instead.” 

He put out his hand to take.

The shapeshifter sitting across from him laughed, still not looking at him as a hand flew up to wipe the side of their eye. “You’re butchering that phrase. I’ve heard him say it before.”
“When?”
“When we were drinking, dummy.” Coby’s eyes flicked up to his. “...Obligatory apology?”
“Obligatory forgiveness.”

Coby’s unburned hand, glowing slightly red, slipped into his.
And forward, indeed, they went.

“SCOUT! COBY!” shouted Demo’s voice from down the hall, tinged with excitement. “We’re discussin’, so you two better get over here!”
“YOU’RE GOING TO MISS THE DO-OVER COOKOUT!” yelled Soldier.
A chorus of shushes arose, but it was already too late. The two jogged their way over, turning the corner of the hall to find everyone just sort of hanging around, discussing as they leaned against the wall. Medic and Pyro waved them a friendly hello.
“I suppose the cat is out of bag,” Heavy said; he immediately glanced to Engie to check if he had gotten the expression right. The engineer nodded, and Heavy refocused on the two in front of him. “Last potluck, ending was...not so good. We try again, da?”
Coby’s hand found its way up to run itself through their hair. “I won’t mess it up this time, hah. Save me a slice of something? I’ll be with the birds.”
One of Medic’s birds, Her, settled on Coby’s head as if to prove their point. Spy regarded them oddly, then chuckled.
“You do realize you are invited? And even if you weren’t, none of us could really stop you from coming anyway.” Spy exhaled smoke from his cigarette.

Almost as if they were copying him, a tiny bit of smoke escaped from Coby’s mouth, curling underneath their lip. The dove on their head burrowed Her wings into their hair as She moved away from both of the plumes of smoke.

“No, really. I don’t wanna bother you guys, hah.”
Demo raised an eyebrow. “You wouldn’t be botherin’ any of us, lass. You can stick with me anyway- right sunshine when y’ve had a drink or two, you are.”
Coby laughed, face flushing as they squeezed Scout’s hand. “Thank you.”
“Suppose we know now why ‘Doktor’-” he said the name in air quotes, “-was such a lightweight that night.”
“Give me a break, I’d never had alcohol before! And I’d only had actual food for the first time a few days before that. Obligatory apology?”
Heavy nodded. “Forgiveness.”

Coby opened their mouth to say something else, but was interrupted by a panicked coo. Her- the dove in Coby’s hair- was trapped within a net of brown and yellow strands. She tried to flap, but every movement of Her wings just got Her further and further tangled in.
The shapeshifter stumbled, and the rest of the Mercs attempted to hold back their snickers with varying results. Pyro made a beeline for Coby to attempt to help, though unsuccessfully- Soldier stood with Demo on the side chuckling. 
Medic put a hand up. “Don’t worry- I’ve been in this situation QUITE often. Come,” he said, motioning for them to follow.
The other Mercs- Pyro and Scout excluded- started to clear out as the group of main attention left them to deal with other matters.

He led them down the hallway- a familiar path at this point, the details of it carved into Scout’s memory like graffiti carved on the concrete sides of the base (not like Scout would ever dream of doing that- or, at least, gotten caught). But there was no invisibility this time, no darkness-shrouded corners that trailed on his heels.
Just daylight. Just a red-tinted hand in his.
The door to the lab swung open without effort, and the lights snapped to life with a white-noise hum. The lab was near-spotless, as always- at least up to the point that Medic could reach. And disregarding pesky blood that still clung to and stained various surfaces around the room, but seeing as Medic always insisted that ‘‘didn’t count’’, Scout supposed he would let it slide.
He stood by the door, hand empty, as Medic took out a medical instrument and slowly, slowly began to untangle Her from Coby’s hair. Seeing as Coby had spent most of the walk down the hallway begging him not to cut their hair outright, this was the better outcome.
Pyro stood next to him, making a noise of happiness as Socrates the dove settled on their arm. Pyro had won that one over with the power of secret snacks of rainbow sprinkles. That shit was a mind-blowing accomplishment when you think about it- Medic’s weird bird army took a lot of coaxing to get along with anyone that wasn’t the doctor himself.

Not always, though.
Sometimes you just...clicked.

Scout glanced up towards an x-ray machine shuttled to the back of the lab. About three white birds sat there, viewing, but Scout’s eye was immediately drawn to the one with old blood splattered up its chest. Archimedes watched them detachedly, but that was fine. It looked happy.
They’d hang out some other time.

Scout’s attention flickered back and forth between where he was, Pyro & Socrates, and Medic & Coby. The doctor had gotten Her free, sparing as much of Coby’s hair as possible. Coby held the bird, gingerly holding Her in that same hamburger grip that Scout had seen a while back, a little too far away from their body and a little too weak of a hold.
“No no no,” Medic cut in, freeing Her from Coby’s hands. “Not like that.”
“Then how?!”
Medic positioned Coby’s arm until it was bent, presenting their forearm to the dove. The two uneasy creatures- the dove and the shapeshifting alien- narrowed their eyes at each other. 
“Just let Her move onto your arm. She doesn’t bite unless you do,” he joked. Or, at least Scout assumed he was joking; he could never really tell.
Coby made an uneasy noise as She hesitantly stepped onto their arm, both unsure about this idea but pushed on by the doctor. 

Scout watched as they waited a moment.

Nothing. Just a bird, existing on their arm. He watched as their eyes dilated again- if they had a tail, they’d be wagging it. Coby turned to the doctor in what looked like pure amazement.
Medic barked out a laugh. “See? I told you.”
“I...I guess you can be right SOMETIMES,” Coby admitted, not leaning away from the bird for once. The bird took a cautious step closer to Coby, and the shapeshifter gingerly petted Her head in turn. “Sometimes.”
Medic just responded by raising an eyebrow.

The rest of the day was a blur of sound and motion, colors and feeling as he and Coby dragged each other around the base; ignoring people asking to come help set up until Engie dragged him over by the ear to a table.
Coby puttered about, seemingly just appearing out of nowhere to help someone and then disappearing again. Scout stopped working as soon as Engineer turned his back, sitting down at the newly-set up table and tapping his fingers. Coby sat across from him, smiling softly.
“What’s up?”
Coby shrugged. “Nothin’ much. I made some cards for Heavy and Soldier, wanna see?” They handed over two folded pieces of paper, the outsides covered in messy scribbles that were labelled ‘you’ and ‘me’. “I borrowed some of Pyro’s crayons to write it.”
Scout flipped the cards open. Inside was a drawing of a stick figure with a frowny face, with “sorry for leeching on your lifeforce, we cool?” written over it.
He closed the card and gave it back. “Yeah, I think they’ll like it. Got anythin’ else?”
“Oh! Sam told me to give you this, but I forgot until now.” They put a can of Bonk! on the table, sliding it across until the aluminum hit the side of Scout’s hand. It was lukewarm by now. “Sorry.”
“Nah, nah, it’s cool.” Scout cracked it open anyway, taking a sip. “He stole it for me, didn’t he?”
“What are you, a cop?”
Scout laughed hard, the back of his hand darting up to cover his mouth. “Hell no! Actually, I really should tell ya about that time where Spy and I went on a mission for Miss Paulin’ where we had to pretend to be cops investigatin’ our own crimes-”
“What?!”
“It’s true! I was super cool and saved the day because of course I did, and Spy was over in da corner like ohhh, Scout, you’re so much better than me and the coolest ever , and I was like yeah yeah yeah, we gotta get back to the case ; ‘cuz I’m not the COOLEST even if I am pretty great. I know who the coolest is, and it’s one ‘a my brothers, I should tell you about him sometime, but anyway-”
While Scout ran his mouth, Coby shifted to rest their cheek on their fist. They listened to his every word with a smile, nodding and laughing when the story called for it. The scout puffed out his chest as he spoke, soaking in the attention. 
He hadn’t had someone actually listen to his stories for a while.

Eventually, the story reached a lull; a natural silence that hung in the air for a beat or two- it was half-filled by the sounds of the other mercs playing a card game at the other table. Coby had shifted again, their palm now supporting their chin; fingers curling around the side of their face. Their eyes studied Scout’s movement, bright and intelligent.
“Y’know,” they started, “ I think you’re the coolest.”
Scout’s mouth opened and closed for a moment in surprise- floundering- before he found his words again. “...Really?”
“Yeah.”
“...Thanks, man. I think you’re the coolest too.” He looked over to the other mercs, who were in the middle of a heated discussion. He saw the briefest flash of an Uno card before he turned back to the shapeshifter sitting across from him. “I’m glad you’re on the team.”

Coby’s face went completely blank.

“...What?”
“I said I’m glad you’re on the team, stupid.” Scout said, mind racing for a moment as he wondered if he’d said something wrong.

There was an uncomfortable silence before Coby shakily stood up, stumbling as they un-entwined themself from the table.

“I’ll. I-I’ll be right back,” they said in a voice that was almost a whisper. They sped off in a half-run that Scout recognized- the one you do when you want to run but don’t want to let other people know you’re running from something. Scout pushed himself up too, watching them go; feet faltering as he tried to decide whether or not to follow.
He looked at the ground, face feeling hot as the sound of flipping cards trickled back into his ears.
He and Demo spoke at the same time, though for very different reasons; two moments separated by what felt like an ocean but was probably only twenty-five feet at most.
“ Shit. ”

Scout stood there for a few seconds that stretched into minutes as the world kept revolving behind him. The trademark heat of a campfire sparked as Pyro drifted away from the Uno-playing rest, Scout’s shadow being pushed longer and longer as minutes stretched on.
His feet were attached to cinder blocks ten hundred feet under the Earth, they had to be, because moving one foot in front of the other was a herculean task that he eventually managed; moving one sneaker forward, then the other until he was stumbling, then running forward and then slamming into the screen door as he pushed it open.

“Coby?” His head swiveled around as he scanned the kitchen for them. “Coby, where are you?”
He traced back through the base, skidding into every room- calling the name of his shapeshifting friend.
“Coby? Coby, whatever I did, I’m sorry- just, what did I say?”
No response.
“Coby?”
Dust settled onto the hallway floor, steely silence filling empty air as he got further and further from the rest of the mercs.
“ Coby? ”

He eventually traced his way though that familiar path, from his room to Doc’s lab; breath catching in his throat as his memory played back that familiar gunshot on loop. 
The gunshot that started it all.
But no- no, no, no- Scout wasn’t going to let that one midnight gunshot keep his chest in a terrified grip; gunshots were a daily noise that had never set off his heart like this before. This gunshot didn’t deserve the ice that shot up his veins as his terrified heart beat faster the closer he got to the lab’s door.
He took a deep breath, forcing calm.
It was all fine.
Find Coby.

The door to the Doc’s lab lay open, soft noise and harsh light spilling into the hallway- Scout tiptoed his way inside and looked around, wide-eyed and almost desperate.

The lab was cleaner than it had been back then on that cold night.

The door to the closet was ajar.
Soft sobs found their way to Scout’s ears as he approached the closet, preparing for the worst; he lay a hand on the door’s edge as he hesitated looking in.
Three, two, one, go.
He looked inside.

Coby was curled up inside, unsuccessfully trying to stifle sobs with a sharp-nailed hand. Mascara that Scout didn’t even know they were wearing ran down Coby’s face in black tear tracks. They were shaking, leaning against the corner of the concrete walls; expression obscured by their own hands.
They made eye contact for a fleeting second. The shapeshifter’s breathing hitched as their eyes retreated to the floor. Scout let out a sigh as he deflated, feeling rather like he was sinking downwards.
“Aw jeez- Coby, I’m so sorry.”
The shapeshifter shook their head. “N-No, don’t- don’t be, I- I’m just-” Their palm went up to their eyes, wiping away tears that hadn’t even managed to fall yet. “...I used to live here. ”

Scout had never realized how small the closet was before now. It fit two people, sort-of; it was barely wide enough for Coby to lay down in. It was long enough to pace in, sure, but it was a closet .
There weren’t any windows.
There weren’t any lights.
Just grey concrete, the door, and a promise of maybe maybe maybe tomorrow.

“...oh.”

That was all Scout could really say as he considered living in this one tiny room, unfamiliar with human culture and with nobody around speaking anything close to the language you did.
Coby gave a shuddering laugh. “He d- he didn’t know that this was bad. How could he? I-I had no way to communicate that I wanted out other than screaming incoherently. It wasn’t his fault, but…” they swallowed back unsaid words. “...I’d only ever known the desert before this. I was in the desert, and then I was here .”
Scout put his hand on Coby’s shoulder in sympathy, holding his tongue for once as he let the shapeshifter speak.
“A-And. He didn’t know that I was smarter than a random animal. He didn’t...he didn’t think . And I don’t blame him, d-don’t get me wrong, but...when I saw the opportunity to escape, I took it. I showed him what it was like, even if I had to try to talk to you while I was still in shock. And g-d, the feeling of walking around free in the base was incredible,” Coby said, looking straight-up at the ceiling. “I shouldn’t have done it. I’ve apologized a hundred times, but I’m still sorry, and- and that’s not what my point was. The point of this actually was that- when you said I was on the team?”
Coby looked him in the eye, hand falling away from their mouth.
They were smiling as black tears traced down their cheeks and fell to their neck, tracing lines over their gills.
“It means that this isn’t my reality anymore. It never will be , and that’s…” They laughed again. “Everything in my life is just happening so fast, y’know?”
“Yeah, I get that.”
“I’m thankful, but…”

For a moment, Scout was terrified that they were going to say that they wanted to leave. That they wanted to leave, or that Scout was coming on too strong with this whole friendship thing, that they never wanted Scout to talk to them again.
But they didn’t.

“...but I’m just scared.”
“Scared? Whaddya mean?” Scout turned to them, eyebrows furrowing in utter confusion.
“What if it all goes back to the way it was? What if you decide that you actually DON’T want a ninth roommate, thanks, and it’s just...gone?” Coby breathed in deeply, their exhale shuddering. “I don’t…”

Scout took their hand, squeezing it tightly; trying to force every emotion he had into that one gesture.

“I don’t usually promise things, but listen t’ me- I promise that that’s not going to happen. You don’t have to be part of the team yet if you don’t want to be, and we won’t think any different ‘a ya. You’re our resident weird genderfluid alien shapeshifter friend thing, and we ain’t gonna give that up for the world.”
Coby wiped more tears away with their free hand. “Obligatory apology for being stupid?"
“Obligatory forgiveness, but you ain't stupid. Don't say that about yourself. Remember what I said on the bridge? You fuck with one ‘a us-”
“-you fuck with all of us,” Coby completed, laughing. “I want to be part of the team.”
“Atta boy.”

Coby pushed themself to their feet, shaking like a newborn calf- Scout steadied them as they left the closet behind.
(Coby would find themself never stepping back in there again, even as the years passed by.)

The shapeshifter took in a breath, exhaling through their teeth as they enjoyed the free space of the lab. “Y’know what I wish?”
“What?”
“I wish that I knew about human food. My species eats raw meat, mostly. You guys invented cooking. ” They leaned back onto the Doc’s vivisection table. “Do you KNOW how cool that is?”
Scout laughed a breathless, thankful laugh. “I don’t think I can really be ‘a much help there.”

“But I can,” said a voice from right behind him.

“JESUS FUCK-!” he shouted, whipping around to find Medic leaning against the doorframe, holding a phone’s receiver. “Don’t fuckin’ sneak up like that! Jesus christ!”
Medic gave a grin, the maniacal glint ever-present in his eyes. “I would say I’m sorry, but I’m not.”
Coby chimed in, shifting so that they were now laying on their side on the vivisection table. “Can you teach me how to make stuff like humans do? I...I want to be able to contribute next time, with the rest of the team. I want to help out and not fuck up.”
Medic gave the best gentle smile a guy like him could muster, gesturing out towards the kitchen. “I’ll teach you how to make Latkes. They are pretty hard to- as you said- ‘’fuck up’’, ja?”
Coby dried some final tears that had settled on their jaw, straightening their collar. Physically, emotionally, in that moment they had pulled themself fully back together. 
“That sounds like a great idea, Doc.”

Medic turned to Scout.
“Actually, the reason I came was that Miss Pauling is calling. You are the only one not participating in the cookout, so-” Medic thrusted the phone towards Scout, forcing him to take the plastic receiver in his hand. “-yours.”
“But-”
“Answer the phone, Scout.”

Scout fumbled the receiver to his ear, speaking clumsily. “U-Uh, yeah, um, it’s- it’s Scout. Hello?”
Coby appeared at Scout’s side, head leaning on his shoulder. “Hiii Miss Pauling!”
“Hi Scout,” Miss Pauling’s voice came in from the other side, “and, ah, that’s Coby, right? Scout told me about you.”
Coby winked playfully. “I’m whoever you want me to be, P.”
Scout pushed them away, laughing. “Hey, MY phone call. Go learn your latkes, dummy. Don’t let Medic put chemicals and shit in it.”
“I make no promises.”

They shared one last smile, warm and full of some indescribable emotion best summed up as togetherness and their moment. Their moment, minute, nanosecond of connection.
Their first of many.
Coby flashed their fangs once more, giving him a wink before turning on their heels and disappearing into the hall.

Scout swallowed and turned back to the phone call.
“Uh- anyway. Sorry Miss Paulin’. What did you wanna say?”
“It’s fine. I’m just getting reports of one of the members of BLU acting extremely strangely from the BLU Sniper- he says that the other members of his team don’t really believe him.”
“Huh,” Scout responded as he followed the phone cord back to where the hook on the wall was. He was closer to the kitchen now, so he could hear Medic and Coby talking along with the occasional crackle of the campfire outside.
“Yeah. But my question is- I don’t have time to investigate it, but you guy’s are, uh. Pretty nosy. But in a good way! I mean it in a good way. So...would you be interested in taking one of your teammates and investigating what’s going on with BLU tonight?”

Scout paused in time, listening to the noises of tonight .

The crackle of the campfire outside, the noises of an intense game of Uno. The laughter and sizzling and clattering of silverware in the kitchen.
The crickets chirping across the gravel, wind pushing along the ground like it always did.

He smiled.

“Sorry, Miss Pauling. We’re kinda busy tonight. Some other time?”
“Sure.”

He talked for a few more minutes before hanging the phone back on the hook, the soft click seemingly echoing throughout the base.
He hung there, suspended in physics and time, breathing.
Breathing. Isn’t it funny? He was not only still standing, not only smiling, but breathing too.
He heard a sharp bark of laughter from the kitchen, followed by the high-pitched giggles of someone who just made a mistake in a place where making mistakes was okay .
It sounded like music.
The tired, still-here still-smiling still-breathing anthem that was both of their laughter, quickly joined by a chuckle finding its way out from under Scout’s breath.

One foot moved in front of the other, and forward he went.

And indeed- maybe carefully, maybe stumbling along the way- maybe having to help each other up once in a while. 
But despite it all, indeed, forward they all went.