TF2 - A BLU Haired Medic Ch.16

Engineer silently whistled to himself as he placed his spare uniforms in a modified toolbox he used as a suitcase. After folding up his last overalls and placing it gently next to his extra pair of boots, the Engineer slowly closed the toolbox, shifting his Helmet a bit as he took a small glance over his shoulder.

"I know yer there, Spy, so why dontcha come in already? It's not like your tryin' to stab me... right?" Engineer said, the Spy taking a deep breath from his cigarillo, exhaling a small cloud of smoke afterwards, grinning a bit.

"I'm not the only one here... Laborer..." The Spy said, Engineer turning to face Spy, his goggles hiding his confusion.

"Oh? Then who else is..." Engineer began, until Spy stepped to the side, Miss Pauling coming into view. "Miss Pauling... I didn't realize you'd be back so soon… So… did Miss Mizuno leave already?"

"Miss Mizuno left ten minutes ago, although I'm not here for that…" Miss Pauling then showed Engineer the manila folder she was holding, the words top secret emblazoned upon it.

Engineer nodded, "So… what do I have to build? Another one of 'dem confounded ray guns?"

"Not exactly… but before that… your teleporter is still working, right?"

Engineer looked at his desk, four toolboxes on top, each one labeled differently. "Well… I have it packed… but I can unpack it for ya, if you want."

Miss Pauling nodded, "We only need the entrance. I have co-ordinates for you to plug in for the teleporter's exit."

"Co-ordinates? Never tried that way of teleporting in a while… so what's it for?" Engineer asked, the Spy interrupting Miss Pauling before she could answer.

"I simply need to be teleported… to Harvest's train station," The Spy said, adjusting his new fedora on his head, "Is there anything else you must ask of us?"

"Well…" The Engineer began rubbing his chin.

"Anything besides the hat?"

"Nope... except that I know that the train that Miss Mizuno's probably riding on will stop at Harvest for a short refuel. Ah…. probably nothing, right?" Engineer then walked over to his desk and grabbed the toolbox labeled 'entrance', and setting it on the ground, the toolbox opened up, the teleporter entrance slowly unpacking, Engineer grabbing the PDA in his overalls' pocket. Soon, the teleporter began to slowly spin, the Engineer looking back at Miss Pauling, "So, Miss Pauling? What's the co-ordinates?"

Miss Pauling, looking at a note card, repeated to Engineer the co-ordinates, the Texan swiftly punching in the numbers in the PDA, before finally pressing the last button, the teleporter beginning to spin faster, a glowing light beginning to form on top.

"Heh… it worked!" Engineer said, chuckling a bit as he turned to Spy, "Alright-y then, just step on top and we'll send you to Harvest!"

The Spy began walking towards the teleporter, but stopped before stepping on top, turning to face Engineer, pointing his Cigarillo at the teleporter. "I won't die if I use this… right?"

"Oh, heck no, Spy! Why, what you're seeing is my new teleporter! Didn't get a chance to use it today, but I'm certain I have all the glitches fixed up this time! Although…" Engineer took off his helmet to scratch his head, the Spy sighing.

"I should've brought my dead ringer…" Shaking his head, the Spy gave a strained smile, "Well… au revior, laborer…" Stepping on top of the teleporter, the machine gave a small beep before the Spy was engulfed in a flash of light. Once the light faded, the Spy was no longer there, the only trace that Spy was ever in the room was the smell of smoke. Pressing a button on his PDA, the Engineer watched as the teleporter spinning screeched to a halt, the Engineer smiling at his work.

"So, Miss Pauling, can I see what I got to build now?" Engineer asked, holding out one of his hands, ready to grab the manila folder.

Without saying a word, Miss Pauling placed the folder in Engineer's hand, the engineer quickly opening up the folder and taking out the blueprints inside, Miss Pauling smiling with each gasp of surprise that the Texan uttered.

"But these blueprints… they're not supposed to exist anymore! They were supposed to have been burned down with the old Mann Co. company headquarters in the fire of 1904!" The Engineer exclaimed, shifting the blueprints constantly, in complete awe on what was drawn on it.

"Nope, they were moved a day before the building burned down. It must have been fate for them to be spared so that you could work on them." Miss Pauling said, Engineer smiling, lowering the blueprints to look at Miss Pauling.

"Never thought I would actually get the chance to see the original Mann Co. Zeppelin blueprints, let alone BUILD one. Those Zeppelins were masterpieces…"

"Good… the Administrator wants one built in one hour."

The Engineer's smile disappeared. "An hour?" Miss Pauling nodded, "I've only just begun to appreciate this historical piece of engineering and now I gotta build one in an hour? Why?"

Miss Pauling only chuckled, "Because, we're shipping your team to Japan."
----

"JAPAN?!" The Soldier shouted, slamming his hand into the table in front of him, staring at the monochrome television screen, and the administrator's face on the screen staring back at the Soldier, letting out a cloud of smoke from her mouth. "Of all places, why that! We've already had to deal with one Jap, and now you want us to deal with a million!"

"Well then, Mister Doe, if you don't like what I'm saying, I will take that as grounds for insubordination," The Administrator replied, shrugging, "Although I cannot make you go to Japan, I will have to deal with insubordination. If that is the case, I will have to take your team to the nearest Gravel Pit and then…"

"Ooh, yes, that sounds much better than Japan!" The Soldier interrupted, the Administrator groaning as she continued.

"…have you all executed on sight and your bodies thrown into an open pit to be burned."

"Uh… on second thought…" The Soldier said, trying to find the words to say. "Well… then why Japan?"

The Administrator grinned as she grabbed a stack of papers off her desk, "The recent intelligence that your team has recovered from the enemy has lead to some startling discoveries, and the most startling is what appear to be plans for a RED attack on our installations in Japan... now, I am not one to take most RED attacks on our installations with much alarm… but an attack on our Japanese installations is something I cannot ignore."

The Scout then raised his hand to get everyone's attention, "Uh, yeah, question. What's so important 'bout our bases in Japan? Why ya need us to defend it? Ain't we got guys up there to protect it?"

"Well… to be frank… we have no mercenaries in Japan." The Administrator exhaled another cloud of smoke through her nostrils, "Besides, it's not like we need any mercenaries there before. Either way, your team is going to Japan. No exceptions. Now is there anymore questions, or can I end this feed and let the man who has a television strapped to his chest leave in peace?"

"Da," Heavy said, "I would like know how long we have until we ship out. I like to have time to pack Sasha for long trip."

The Administrator remained for silent for a few seconds before giving her answer, "You have one hour to pack before you're shipped to Japan."

The Medic then began to scratch his head, "Vait… vun hour? It takes vun hour to arrive here by train from ze base, and you expect zat ve can make it to ze airport in vun hour?"

"Of course not, what would make you assume that? Instead, I have your team's Engineer working on a suitable mode of transportation for you all." The Administrator then shook her cigarette, removing the excess ashes on the end. "You found this to be helpful. Good day, my mercenaries." Finally, the Administrator was seen pushing a button off-screen before the feed went dead, the man who the television was strapped to quickly taking his leave, leaving the mercenaries alone in the mess hall.

After a few minutes of awkward silence, the Demoman sighed as he stood up, shaking his head, "Well…" the Demoman then took a swig from his bottle, "Best read up on Japanese phrases…" Letting out a small belch, the Demoman walked out of the Mess Hall.

"Yo, wait up!" Scout jumped out of his seat, running after Demoman, the Medic standing up as well and walking up to Heavy, the Russian eating away at his sandvich.

"Heavy… vuld you be so kind und help me get ze bodies prepared for ze trip? Vun hour is not long enough to get mein corpses in zeir body bags," The Medic said, the Heavy nodding.

"Da, I will be pleased to help you, Medic," The Heavy then smiled, "Maybe we meet little Medic in Japan, da?"

Medic gave an uncertain strain, glancing at Soldier, glad that Soldier didn't overhear what Heavy said, "I hope not, Heavy… for Soldier's and her sake… vatever… come, please… ve must vork quickly."

Nodding, Heavy followed Medic out of the Mess Hall, the Sniper sighing as he leaned back into his chair, lowering his hat over his eyes.

"Sniper, aren't you going to pack?" Soldier asked, the Pyro nodding in agreement.

Raising his hat a bit, Sniper rolled his eyes as he lowered his hat again, "Already did, mate."

"Really, when?" Soldier asked, the Pyro also wondering as well.

"Actually, never unpacked my stuff. Alright, can ya be a pal and wake me up when we gotta go? I need to catch up on my sleep," Sniper then stretched his arms, yawning widely before closing his eyes and falling asleep.

----

The loud whistle of the train slowly woke Ami from her rest, the young woman squinting, her eyes adjusting to the bright sunlight creeping in from the windows. Although Ami tried to get some peaceful rest, memories of what happened at 2Fort still haunted her memories, the smell of blood still fresh in her nose.

"A-hem…" The voice of the train's conductor startled Ami, almost jumping in shock. Looking to her side, Ami saw the conductor standing in the hallway, holding a slip of paper with the BLU logo emblazon on the top, the conductor reaching for a pen in his pocket.

"Ah…" Ami gasped, looking at the paper, the Conductor sighing.

"Don't worry; I'm not here to hurt you. I just need to ask what you want for lunch," The Conductor then held out a pen to Ami, the young woman slowly taking the pen and slip of paper in hand, the text below the BLU logo saying 'last meal card'. Seeing Ami's confusion, the Conductor sighed, "It's just there for formality. And technically this will be your last meal that BLU will provide you... just filled in the request and I'll try to have my chef complete it for you."

Nodding, Ami slowly scribbled down her request, handing back the pen and paper to the Conductor who took a quick look.

"A Sandwich?"

"Hai, I'm not very hungry…"

"I see…" The Conductor then stared down the hallway, raising his voice. "Nevermind! She just wants a sandwich!"

"A what?" A voice replied, Ami presuming it was the chef's.

"A Sandwich!"

"A Sandvich?"

"No! A Sandwich! Sand. Wich!"

"Witch?" The voice then became frantic. "WITCH? WHERE!?"

The Conductor then groaned, turning back to Ami, "I'll be right back… I need to snap some sense into this idiot…" The Conductor then walked down the hallway into the next car, Ami sighing as she looked outside the window again, seeing that the train had stopped at another train station, the station looking in much better condition than the one back at 2Fort. A faint crash sudden caused Ami to look into the distance, the noise sounding like thunder. Ami then heard the sound of one of the train doors opening and turned around, expecting to see the Conductor but only saw no one else.

"Hello?" Ami said, slowly looking around, feeling uncomfortable, and knowing that she hadn't just imagined that noise. "Is anyone there?" Feeling her uneasiness grow, Ami continued to slowly look through the train car she was in, before finally staring at the corner of the train car directly across from her. With a nagging feeling in the back of her mind, Ami stared closely at the corner, as almost seeing the shimmering outline of a man.

"A-hem… your sandwich and water, Miss?" The Conductor interrupted, Ami turning back to see the Conductor holding a bottle of water and sandwich.

"Arigato," Ami then took the sandwich and bottle of water in hand, the Conductor checking his watch for a moment.

"Hrmm… we'll be heading out if you have nothing else to ask for, of course, we are an hour ahead of schedule…" The Conductor then looked back at Ami, "If you want, we can get off for now, you know, stretch your limbs, get some fresh air, watch a few arena fights, and maybe get a chance to make some money."

"No thank… I'm perfectly- arena fights?" Ami tilted her head in confusion, "Arena fights as in people fighting each other for sport?"

"Well… technically it isn't really a sport, still haven't gotten past the obvious legal issues, but man is it fun to see those mercenaries duke it out to the death to see whose better. I've made quite a profit off the informal betting that goes on," The Conductor chuckled for a moment, "Fighting's ought to be pretty fierce by now, and well, quite a few trains deliberately stop here just to watch the fighting. So, wanna watch? I can get to the best seats in the house!"

Ami was silent, completely disturbed by what the Conductor said. "No! Isn't that wrong, watching people kill each other, like it was some sort of a game!?"

The Conductor shrugged, "What? It is pretty much a game, with all the rules and regulations. Heck, people get killed but no one dies, so what's so bad about it? The Romans did it, so why can't we?"

Ami could only shake her head, "No, it's completely wrong!" Ami's voice grew louder, the Conductor only sighing.

"Fine, fine… if it disturbs you so much, we'll just get you to the airport already…" The Conductor then pulled out a radio from his pocket, flicking a switch to turn it on. "Hey, Engie, start up the train again! Miss Mizuno wants to get to the airport already!"

"Already? But I wanted to watch the fight!" The Train's Engineer replied, the radio making his voice somewhat distorted.

"Don't worry, once we drop off Miss Mizuno, we can catch the fighting at Nucleus. My treat!" The Conductor soon walked out of the passenger car that Ami was in, the train's steam whistle letting out a few sounds, the train slowly beginning to move forward again.
Staring out the window next to her, Ami watched as the train station began to slowly fade away in the distance, the sound of explosions fading. Taking a bite of her sandwich, Ami returned her gaze to the corner of the passenger car, disappointed that the shimmering outline was no longer there.

------

"Oh! It is so huge! Even bigger than Sasha!"

"Amazing, comrade! Vat a vounderful piece of machinery!"

"Whoa, nice job there, hard hat!"

"It's bloody brilliant!"

"Mrprf mppf mrr!"

The Engineer blushed slightly, chuckling as he heard the compliments. "Aw, shucks, it was nothing, really!"

"If that's nothing, mate, then I just want to say that she's a beaut."

"Yes, it is a fine example of a zeppelin fit for WAR!"

As the rest of the mercenary team stared at awe at the great zeppelin built by Engineer, Miss Pauling slowly walked into view, holding her clipboard close. Upon seeing the zeppelin, Miss Pauling gave Engineer a small smile. "I see that you were able to finish the Zeppelin in time."

"Well, after reading through the blueprints, hardest part was gettin' the stuff, piecing this baby together took no more than five minutes." Engineer grinned with pride, as Miss Pauling continued to examine the Zeppelin, the Zeppelin hovering gently over an abandon field.

Miss Pauling then pointed to the two cannons that was attached to the Zeppelin, one mounted on the top and one mounted on the bottom. "Artistic liberties, I assume?"

The Engineer shrugged, "Just me being bored. And I say it gives my Zeppelin a certain… charm to it." The Engineer then took out his PDA, "But that's nothin' to what I did inside!" Pressing a few buttons on the PDA, the Engineer smiled as he showed it to Miss Pauling, "This fancy thing is fully automated, and my handy gizmo here is wired directly to its CPU. All I gotta do is put in the coordinates…" The Engineer then continued pressing a few more buttons, "And then I press this button…" The Engineer pressed a button labeled 'execute', "And then the computer does the rest of the work!"

The Scout soon interrupted Engineer, "Uh… hardhat?"

"What now, son? Can't you see I'm explaining how my Zeppelin works to the lady here?"

"But… but…"

"Not now, I'm busy, can't you tell?"

The Heavy soon pointed at the Zeppelin, "Oh no! What is Zeppelin doing?" The Engineer then turned around, looking at his Zeppelin and then gasped.

"Dang it!" The Zeppelin's engines began to hum loudly, the fins starting to make adjustments, and soon the Zeppelin was slowly starting to ascend. "No, no, no!" Bringing his PDA up, the Engineer quickly began pressing buttons, trying in vain to stop his Zeppelin. "No! I don't want you to go already! Why aren't you stopping! Aw… hell, I forgot to install the kill switch!"

"Where is Zeppelin going?" Heavy continued, the rest of the team staring helplessly as the Zeppelin continued to ascend, the Engineer continuing to press buttons on his PDA, still hoping that he could stop it somehow.

"Come on, hardhat! Can't you think of somethin' else to do to stop that thing?" Scout asked, the Engineer groaning, tapping his head constantly, deep in thought.

The Soldier then picked up his Rocket Launcher and began aiming it at the Zeppelin, the Zeppelin's rate of ascent increasing. "If you can't stop it, Engie, then I will! Prepare to eat ground!" Aiming at the center of the Zeppelin, Soldier fired a single rocket, the rocket racing towards the Zeppelin, moving closer and closer until…

…It missed, the Zeppelin flying above the Rocket. Soon, the Zeppelin was nothing more than a speck in the sky before fading into the sun, the Engineer falling to his knees, crying out to his zeppelin.

"Come back! Come back!" The Engineer cried out, tears slowly dripping from under his goggles, the Engineer trying to reach out towards where the Zeppelin flew off, before sobbing loudly, the rest of the team unable to respond. "Please… come back…"

Miss Pauling let out a nervous chuckle as she looked at the team. "Well… I guess I'll get a plane ready then…" Miss Pauling soon walked away, the rest of the team following behind her, the Engineer the only one left in the dried field.

"She was just a level one…" The Engineer mumbled before falling to the ground, mourning the loss of his Zeppelin.