M.O.C.M. TF2 chapter 3

The Medic woke up early the next morning. He stretched his limbs far out to warm him up. In this frigid cold, it was easy to lose body heat. The only warmth you did get was either from the central heat of the base, exercise on the battlefield, heavy clothes, sleeping in bed, or starting a fire. The base's furnace heating was often lousy, and the exercise would have to be on hold, since they obliterated the entire BLU team granted one BLU Scout. His lab coat did provide some warmth, but it overheated him. Sleeping was his sanctuary from the cold. His feet got warm, which never happened, because of his poor circulation. It was the only time they did warm up.

It was five o'clock when he got out of bed. The bedside table clock ticked quietly. The night was hard to sleep through, and he doubted that his BLU friend had it any easier. He thought of what it must have been like. Even he hated sleeping in there. She must have not had a speck of sleep. Being trapped in the enemies medical ward. Afraid of everything around you. Thinking in the back of your head that maybe . . . just maybe the enemy helping you could kill you at any moment. When he was younger, if the German man was sleeping in an unfamiliar place, when he woke up the next day, he would sometimes not remember exactly, what he was doing there and forget where he was. It took a moment for his brain to catch up to remember the day before. That was when he was younger, though. Still he hoped that she didn't have the same problem.

He couldn't do this! It was too much! Something like this was not normal, nor did it happen often. He was just supposed to be the one in charge of healing the RED teammates. Yet this chaos ensued. He could not hide her forever, could he? He couldn't just let her out of the base, and see how far she got till his team shot her down. He promised he wouldn't let anything happen to her. Still, she was a human being trapped in his working space. This was between life or death with both of them. She was not simply a puppy, or a kitten, or a canary that a child hid from their parents in a closet, or anything like that. She had to be free eventually.

As he got up out of bed, he slipped on a black sleeveless top, and grabbed his glasses. He walked over to the mirror in the room, and started brushing his hair, putting every lock in place. He freshened himself up, nicely, and ran to the kitchen. There was not much food left in the fridge, but he could manage. He made eggs, bread rolls, sausage, and a few pieces of fruit. He poured a glass of milk, and orange juice. Whichever one she didn't like he would drink. He figured he might as well eat with her, to make her feel less frightened. So, he cooked two servings of each. One for him, and one for her. After all was done, he ran straight to his medical ward. As he fiddled with the lock, he kept a nervous eye out for any early birds that might be strolling about. He knew that as long as he kept her, he would be jumpy.

Opening the doors, he smiled at what he saw. His little BLU friend was sleeping with the blanket wrapped around her. She was sleeping on her side. He noticed it as the side that didn't have the bruise. So it was evident it hurt. She was being surrounded by the doves in his ward. He saw them all sort of gather around her. They must have taken interest in her overnight. He noticed that one of them was nesting on the blanket. It was in a bowl shape probably by her making it like that. She cooed when he closed the door, and put the tray on the table. He knew now would be a good time to check out that bruise. It was either now or never. Had she woken up now, she would slap him so hard he wouldn't be able to see straight. But she wasn't that strong, so he didn't mind right now.

Swallowing a heavy lump in his throat, he shooed all the birds away, and gently pulled the blanket down, below her waist. She stirred a bit, and he froze like a statue. Once she stopped moving around, he continued. Good thing she wasn't sleeping on it. He lifted her shirt up, and took a look. He felt a warm blush upon his face. He might have been a doctor, but he never had a female patient before, so he felt a bit weird about this. Up close it was much bigger. It was the shape of a fist, and looked like it was painful. Between the middle and ring knuckle, he saw where her ribs started. They weren't broken, but they could have been. This looked pretty bad. He didn't understand. How could something like this happen to somebody like her. She didn't seem like a bad person to fight with anyone. She wasn't a bully, and surely wasn't a thief. Who could have lost their temper with her?

He then covered her back up as he saw enough. She probably had scars elsewhere, but he didn't think he wanted to see anymore. He sat down, and waited for her to wake up. It took longer than he thought. He waited for an hour or so. She sure was tired. Or maybe things just seemed that way, since he woke up so early. He waited a bit, and made time pass, by reading a few pages of his novels. The doves were getting close to the food, so he thought it would be best to put it in the fridge for now. He had a microwave if he needed to reheat things. After an hour or two, she was twitching in her sleep. Probably having a dream, he figured. That's what happened during dreams. Animals too. He wondered what it was about. He watched her flinch, and dig her fingers into her blanket. She thrashed her head from side to side. Whatever the dream was, it didn't look very pleasant.

Now seemed like a good time to wake her up. "Grace," She jolted awake, gasping from his voice. "Easy, easy! It is just me." He said raising his arms. He gave off a smile to show her he meant no harm. She looked off to the left. It seemed she was trying to catch up on all the things that happened.

"Oh . . . right." She said slowing her breathing. She looked up at him. "I am sorry. Please forgive my actions. I have had a rough night last night." She said laying back down. He didn't blame her. The ward was a tough place to take a nap. He smiled and brought her tray over to her. She took it smiling and sat up from her lay on the table. The two sat down and ate together. Grace looked at the clock surprised at the time. Medic nodded with a sigh. When she reached for her glass of milk, she looked a bit stressed. That's when she glanced up at the Medic who was eating a bread roll. "Hey, you would not mind if I traded your drink for mine, would you?"

He looked up at her a little confused. "Vhat?" He said handing her his drink. She grabbed the juice, when he grabbed her milk. "Vhy vould you vant to trade vizh me?" He asked as she took a sip.

She looked down embarrassed by her answer. "I am lactose intolerant." She said looking at him with a smile. "I cannot drink milk. It does horrible things for my stomach." He understood. After all lactose intolerance was a common thing in Native American people. When he came to the battlefield, he had to do a lot of research on different ethnicities, in case he ever had to come across certain conditions. Once Grace had her juice, she opened up the bottle the Medic gave her yesterday, and took one pill for the pain. As they both ate without a word, Grace sighed. "Listen, doctor. I am sorry." He looked up from his eggs. "I wanted to apologize for all those nasty things I said to you yesterday." He smiled to her putting his plate down on the tray. "I guess, I just assumed that my team would be here to save me by now." She said "Or that I would at least have been able to run out of here."

When she said this it pained him all the more. She still hadn't realized that her whole team was dead. He didn't really want to tell her, so he changed the subject. "Don't vorry about zhings. It doesn't bozher me. Trust me. Compared to our own Scout you are a very sveet young lady." She gave off a chuckle or two. He was glad to know she had definitely simmered down from yesterday. He decided to make some small talk with the young girl. He was always very isolated from others considering his usual tendency of keeping people out of his ward, and definitely out of his room. So as he got older, he felt a bit lonely. Thus he understood the value of company. "So . . . " He said fidgeting his fingers a bit. "Vhen I came in vhile you vere sleeping, I saw you vere having a Alptraum ." She messed with her hair clips a bit, not quite understanding what that meant. The look on her face told him that she didn't exactly pick up any German terms from her own Medic. He tried to figure out the correct term. "Sorry. I meant to say zhat I zhink you vere having a nightmare." At this she nodded, and looked down.

"Yes. I was indeed." She said fixing her hair right.

"So . . . " He said crossing his legs. " . . . Vhat vas it about?" He asked. He was half expecting an answer that had to do with their daily battles.

Quickly her head started shaking. "It is not important. I was just dreaming about my boyfriend. We had a bit of a fight before we went out onto the battlefield yesterday." He hated the concept of the two fighting and not getting a chance to make up before he died. He quickly tried to think of which class he could have been. "We were talking about me and other classes." The German man had heard this old story a few times before. Usually when a female joined the battlefield, when they had boyfriends, the boyfriends usually got intensely jealous. She chuckled a few times. "He thought I had a crush on your team's Scout." Her snickers increased.

He glanced at her blankly. He then looked down at his lap. "Do you have an attraction to zhe young man?" He asked smiling, and raising a slight brow. He knew that women had the tendency of keeping their attractions a secret. "If you vant to know a bit about him, I can tell you, he does love zhe occasional compliment."

A head shake answered his question. "Oh, no, doctor." She laughed. "I can tell you right here and now, that I am in no way attracted to your Scout." She said grinning at the mere suggestion of it. She then shook her head staring into his blue eyes. "You know how our class can be." She said showing him that she was ready to speak the honest truth. "We are loud, obnoxious, and in everybody's face all the time." At this, she looked down to the floor. "I honestly do not know why you would want to save me."

Rolling his eyes. The doctor looked at her as if she was joking. "I'm sure zhat isn't zhe vay all Scouts are. Sure zhey can sometimes seem a bit like attention seekers, but I don't zhink zhat is all zhat zhey are." He said trying to sound courteous. "Like you for example. You may have been a bit loud vhen ve first met, but you are not obnoxious in any vay." He said nodding his head . Grace smiled to him in a way that meant thank you to him.

She smiled at the compliment, which made the good doctor return a smile. "Thank you my German friend." She said as she grabbed his large hand in her small one. "I have to ask you." She started as her eyes were resting in his baby blues. "I know for a fact that you know my name, yet I do not know yours. What is your name." She asked looking at him in a way that showed her curiosity.

He smirked a little bit. He never told his own teammates his real name. He was never even asked. They just called him doc or doctor. So of course he was happy to give his name to her. "My name is . . . Alexander." He said looking at the ground turning a bright pink. He was no doubt shied by his own name. "You can call me doctor, doctor Alexander, or Alex if you vant to be more casual." His grin then faced her.

"Wow" She said stroking her hair slowly. "Alexander, huh?" She turned to the side as if analyzing his name. She slowly pulled up a smirk. "That's . . . that's a nice name."

She might have smiled longer, and even have said more, but they were interrupted when Archimedes flew down to their level. He perched right next to her side. Alexander didn't mind it at all. Grace however suddenly gasped. Her face was in terror. She leaned onto the side of the table, and grabbed onto the sides of his black sleeveless top. "Oh, my God!" She breathed. Archimedes just sat there. He lightly pecked what was left of Grace's bread roll. "You have never told me that you kept birds in your ward." He looked at her smirking at her fear. And to think that Scouts always looked so brave on the battlefield. She was cowering over a harmless little bird. "Carry me over to the door or to someplace safer, please!" She said covering her eyes.

The good doctor could hardly believe this. Was she honestly frightened of something smaller than her? "Oh, Grace, really?" He chuckled lightly. "Tell me you are not serious!" She wasn't moving her hands away from her face. The fearless bird perched on his shoulder, and he held his hand up to him, and let him jump to his hand. "Are you honestly afraid of zhis little guy?" He held him up to her. She held her hand away a moment, and saw he was still there. She then backed away. She nearly fell off the side, when the Medic grabbed her. He rolled his eyes. "All right. Up ve go." The Medic wrapped his arms around the young lady, and lifted her up bridal style. Her eyes were shielded by her hands. "I have to say. I'm surprised you didn't notice zhem before." He said raising an eyebrow. He carried her over to a chair, but then he thought of sitting down himself. So, he sat down with her in his lap.

Grace stared at him, as if he were joking. "Vhat. I felt like sitting down too." He said looking at her the same way. "By now you probably have regained your strength to valk, so give it a try." He said.

Looking down at the floor, she glanced back at him a bit nervous. "If I fall you will catch me, right?"

"Of course. You are my patient." She nodded pursing her lips. She gently took a step down, and put both feet on the floor. She slowly stood up, and noticed that she felt perfectly fine. Not only that but she felt great. She glanced at the doctor smiling. To make sure she could walk freely, she did a full circle around the chair the Medic was sitting in.

"Wow. I guess I just needed a little bit of rest. I feel great!" She said smirking to the doctor.
He smiled back at her optimism. He felt like he had done good. He had to admit. Yesterday she looked like she wouldn't make it, and today she looked as good as new. "I suppose you are. You are just as vibrant as I zhought you vould look on zhe battlefield."

Grace smiled to him. "Yes. I suppose you are right. I can walk freely." She glanced at him for a moment. The way she stared at him made him a bit uneasy. "Which means . . . " She switched her gaze from the confused Medic to the door. Before the Medic could speak she made a fast dash over to the door and started to try to pull the saw out to make her run out.

The moment had happened so fast Alexander could hardly believe it. His reflexes kicked into overdrive, and he got up running towards the young lady, before she could open the door. "Nein! Not good! Not good!" He ran over to her, and grabbed her swiftly. His large bare arms wrapped around her, restricting her back against his chest. Her arms were pinned down to her sides as he refused to let her go. He lifted her feet off the ground. Being taller than she was, he could easily lift her off of her feet. When he did that she started kicking the air. She certainly didn't want to be here.

"Let me go." Grace said thrashing about. "It's nothing personal. I just don't belong here!" He didn't let go. "You're not listening to me. If I'm found here, we both die. Let me go you crazy son of a bitch!"

The doctor spun her around, in his arms, holding her by the shoulders above him and stared at the younger lady straight in the eye. "Do you zhink zhat valking out zhat door vould make zhings any better?" He shouted to her. He gently laid her on the ground but still kept her grip on her. "Valking out zhat door vould kill you in seconds." He said pressing his big nose against her smaller one. "Don't get me vrong. Vhile I vould like to set you free, I cannot allow meinself. Zhe hallway is surrounded by sentries. Opening zhe door, zhree vould greet you by filling you with bullets.

She snarled at him "You are a liar. I don't know why you want to keep me here, but for some reason you do, and that's why you won't let me leave. Trust me. It's much better for the both of us that I leave."

Alexander simply shook his head. "You vant me to prove it?" he shouted. "Fine. I vill prove it!" He grabbed the bloody shirt he had in the waste basket that she was wearing when she was brought here. "Sentries are designed to recognize dna bio signatures. Anyzhing zhat has your dna vill be shot at." He rolled the shirt up in a little ball, and quickly opened the door, and tossed it out to the hallway. A loud barrage of shooting sounds emanated from the hallway. It caused both of them to cover their ears. Once the firing stopped he moved out to the hallway, and came back with a shirt that was full of holes. He held it up to her, so she could see. There were hardly any spots that were missed. Her face got a bit paler when she saw it. He then sighed. "Now do you believe me?" he asked tossing it into the biohazard waste once more.

When she realized what was truly happening, she figured it out. She truly was trapped here. Had any of her teammates tried to save her now, they would die! The Medic could have let her run out there to be shot to death, but he stopped her. She was almost dead. He honestly cared. The Medic stood there waiting for his answer. She started forming tears in her eyes. She then ran up to him, bawling. The Medic was quite surprised to say the least. She put arms around his waist, and started crying from genuine fear. She was really scared. Her face was buried in his chest, and the front of his black sleeveless top starting to dampen. When this happened, his eyebrows raised slightly. He never had to comfort a crying girl before. She did not deserve this. He didn't know quite what to do, so he just went with what he knew. He wrapped his arms around her gently, and let her cry.

He held her close, and stroked her hair. "Shhh. All is vell. You are safe vizh me." He said comfortingly. He lifted her into his arms, and carried her over to the chair they were in earlier. He sat there with her in his lap, and held her body close as to make her feel safe. He wiped her tears away, and held her tightly. When she looked up into his eyes, he brushed her hair back. "I have saved countless lives. More zhan you could possibly imagine. Trust me as zhey have trusted me." He said whispering to her. "I vill keep you safe." Had somebody told him a week ago that he would be cradling a BLU team member in his arms, he probably would not have believed them. It almost made him laugh on the inside. One thing was for sure though. In the days to come with her being hidden, he would have to deal with a lot of drama.