#tftwo

There was a corpse on the ground.

There was a corpse on the ground.

Usually, this was the part where any sane person started freaking out, but Ana was so numb from crying her eyes out she just stared at the body blankly. Was it, like, super dead? The deep gash running across its throat was a dead giveaway, but she could be wrong. She reached out to poke it, hand shoving the body's shoulder.

No reaction. Not even a twitch. Welp, that confirmed her suspicions. But the blood was still fresh, despite the sun being halfway down already, so either mystery man in a fancy suit split open his own throat (and wasn't that stable), or... whatever psycho who has slaughtered him like a pig on the altar was still around, doing whatever murderers did once they got their knives out.

"Kurat," Ana cursed, and hoped whatever rental car her sister was partying up in crashed already. The gash on her head was so incredibly sore, but she blocked out the pain.

She rolled the corpse around to try and find a weapon. An engraved silver gun fell out of his pocket, and she kicked it away as though it were a venomous snake. She hasn't handled a gun in so long, and didn't want to shoot herself in the head by mistake—as nice as that would be. She was numb and dehydrated, but not suicidal. At least not yet. Instead, she opened the man's vest and found a gorgeous array of knives attached to several belts. So many pretty knives! The sharp blades shone like gems and Ana was a crow, fascinated with the shiny. She grabbed one at random, distantly realizing that the corpse was still warm, and decided to enjoy the knife before the imminent breakdown would rear its ugly head. Her throat was already tightening.

Focus on the pretty knife. Focus on the pretty knife. Don't think about Maria, or any possible child-murderers hanging around. She flipped the handle and spun the weapon like a fidget toy, then threw it in the air; training herself to catch it by the handle without hurting herself.

She didn't know how long she played like that, but she was alerted by a man materializing out from the rocky outcrops who was a carbon-copy of the corpse on the ground, except he was wearing red. As of today couldn't get any weirder. He seemed just as surprised to see her here, as she was to see him there.

Her brain wracked to recognize him, but she couldn't place who he was in the moment, much to her frustration.

Ana dropped the knife in the dirt. They stared at each other, Ana's mouth agape, and neither knowing what to make of the stranger in front of them. He then brought two fingers to his ear and regained the composure of a distinguished lord.

"Gentlemen, Miss Pauling, I have found our intruder. Non, not a member of zhe BLU team. It seems to be a lost teenager. May I inquire zhe reason of your presence here, miss?"

He had a French accent. That was strange, this was America. Why is he here? He's so far from home, but then again, she was too. Not really thinking too hard, she just shrugged and said,

"Mu õde jättis mu siia. Lihtsalt viskas mu autost välja ja sõitis minema. Päris hirmus kurat."

The stranger's face twisted in confusion. Ana rolled her eyes, annoyed, and reexplained her odd predicament. "My sister left me here, okei? And I have a cut on my head, I should probably get it checked," she added with some sarcasm, touching the aforementioned wound. She grimaced as her fingers flinched away, the wound still very sensitive and not appreciating the sand she flicked into it to slow the bleeding.

The stranger finally nodded in understanding, and explained that she was on private property and that he and his colleagues had been alerted of an intrusion; only to find her, all by herself. How did she even get here? That, she stubbornly refused to answer, getting snappy with him.

He conferred what info she had given him to whomever was on the other end, ended the communication, extended a hand towards her and invited her to shelter. Ana only agreed because she was allowed to keep the knives.

So that was how she found herself in an old military base, head bandaged by an eccentric doctor and sitting at a table with a bowl of hot soup laid out in front of her. Most of the grown-ups present had locked themselves up in an adjacent room and started shouting, leaving her alone with them.

Ana never knew if Engineer and Heavy were just nicknames, titles, or actual names; but right now, she was too tired to ask.

"Iz soup too hot?" Heavy asked gently. Despite his gigantic size, he was giving her space; sitting far enough so she wouldn't feel overwhelmed.

"Not hungry," she mumbled. She felt a bit bad, he had been so happy to cook her something, even though she didn't really know why.

"Yah wanna take a nap, hun?" Engineer asking in turn, and it wasn't actually a bad idea. This whole day had been a rollercoaster and it was nowhere near done, unfortunately.

As soon as Engineer pointed Ana in the direction of the couch, she crashed onto the piece of soft furniture and slept like a slab of concrete. Pure, uninterrupted, blissful darkness. And if they tried any funny business, she still had the knives stuffed in her pockets.

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"I say we blow the sissy to pieces, then blow them pieces into smaller pieces!" Demoman yelled, vibrating with rage.

"A proud American never leaves their family behind! That woman is a disgrace and offense to her country!"

"How's about we just let the doc have his fun and practice reverse necromancy on the sis?" Scout offered.

"That's just basic killin', mate," Sniper pointed out.

"Yeah, yeah, whatevah."

"Vell," Dr. Ludwig pondered with a pensive look, "I do have a need for fresh organs..."

"We are not killing her sister," Miss Pauling pinched the bridge of her nose with a weary sigh. "At least, not yet. We know nothing of her situation."

"On zhat subject, I do believe I have new information."

Miss Pauling didn't even flinch as Spy materialized next to her. She was used to his, and by extension, everyone's antics.

"She woke up and ate a bit. She thanks 'ou for the soup, Heavy, she considers it delicious."

The big man blushed with gratefulness. Spy took out his knife, deftly twirling it between his fingers and recounting what the lost girl told him with his usual professionalism.

"She was very sparse with her explanations, however, she made it very clear she had nowhere to go. It seems zhat such abuse by her sister iz quite common, zhough zhis iz the first time it has been so severe. She doesn't believe her sister will retrieve her."

All collective pairs of teeth grinded viciously.

"What about her guardians?"

"Zhe mozher iz deceased."

"Is her father around?"

"She did not mention him. I presume zhey also share a negative relationship."

"Any relatives?"

"Two brozhers, zhough she says zhey live with her aforementioned sister."

"So..." Scout mused, "she's basically got nobody except her piece o' shit sistah."

The men all looked at each other, then the same spark lit up their eyes.

"You are not keeping her!" Miss Pauling snapped.

"Oh, c'mon!" Scout protested, "I always wanted a lil' sis!"

"Zhe fact 'ou consider yourself a brozher figure and not a fazher figure speaks volumes," Spy said with a layer of sarcasm so thick it could be cut with a knife.

"Yeah, and what does that make yah? Her great grand-pop? Nah, that'd be too young for yah."

Engineer separated them before their bickering escalated into a fistfight.

"What would you do with her anyway?" Miss Pauling tried to argue, "She's not a puppy you can just teach tricks to, she needs a proper education."

"Oh, zhat is no problem at all!" Medic brightened, which heralded bad news. He stuck himself out the door and asked, "Liebchen, how do jou feel about learning medicine?"

Ana perked up like a confused puppy, which contrasted neatly with Miss Pauling's claim. A small smile twitched at her lips.

"What kind of medicine?"

"Vhy, some basics, but mostly surgery!"

"I'd love to!" An evil smirk flickered onto her face for a moment, imagining the gore of it all, but vanished as quick as it came. Her voice became hesitant, "But... it'd be too dirty," then quieter, "I'm already too dirty."

Since his back was turned to the rest of the team, everyone saw Medic petting the saw attached to his hip.

"Don't vorry about zhat, Liebchen! Vhat do jou say?"

A grin spread across Ana's face, tooth gap showing charmingly, "I said it before, old man! I'd love to!"

Medic turned back to Miss Pauling, his grin so wide his back teeth were showing, "See? She vill fit in perfectly among us!"

Miss Pauling looked around, witnessed everybody's hopeful gazes, and pinched the bridge of her nose, "And if she doesn't want to stay?"

Several long blinks. They hadn't thought about that.

"We could always ask 'er," Engineer proposed.

The Mercenaries all nodded happily and Scout wrenched the door open, ready to pounce on the girl and convince her to become his new sister.

Except the common room was utterly, completely empty.

"Nom de Dieu," Spy cursed, "where did she go?"

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The place was so gigantic Ana momentarily regretted taking off her shoes, but the concrete was so blessedly cool against her bare feet; after her stay in the desert, she wanted to gobble up every morsel of cold. Her snow-paled skin was poorly suited to the environment, red and raw and flaking after a whole day of exposure to the sweltering heat. She'd scratch and scratch at her skin, craving the momentary relief from her nails brushing along her flesh, but at some point she'd found herself dragging her nails along the walls as she walked instead.

Under her palm, under her feet, the building echoed with silence; in brutal contrast with the volume of the soldiers' voices.

They were soldiers, weren't they? That's what she always thought they were. Up close, they certainly looked the part. They had to be military; the official or a militia, she didn't know. Ana just knew they were loud. They were so much louder than the television made them out to be.

Loud was bad. Loud meant a storm was close. Loud was Maria when she was angry, when Ana got Papa kicked out. When Ana cried too much over what Papa did, and Aleksander kicked him out, because nobody was allowed to make Aleks' little siblings cry. When Maria said that Ana deserved what Papa did. When Maria said that she was a curse will full certainty.

No! She's not going to let bitchy Maria get so under her skin just by thinking about her. Ana sucked in a breath through her clenched teeth, trying to refocus on the sound of her feet slapping against the concrete floor.

She had to come home, right? She didn't really have a choice. If she stayed here, she'd leave behind Aleksander and Olev. Aleks would be devastated. And what is her little brother going to do if that was to break Aleks? Maria wouldn't care about him. It would be cruel to them. She's not gonna leave them behind.

The more she thought about it, the more she felt like she was trying to convince herself. But she knew her siblings better than anyone else, she knew how they acted. She knew how they were.

The wall ended. Ana gently placed her hand back by her side, and looked towards the ground, uneven and gritty and stained. She stuck one foot in front of the other and moved like she were walking on a tightrope.

She didn't know that the fundamental rule on tightrope was to look forward, not down. That was why she didn't see what was in front of her, and bumped into an immovable object and almost fell over, the close call jolting her with adrenaline.

The gloved hand which grabbed her was strong. So strong it could snap her arm in half like a twig, yet it held her like she was made of porcelain. Ana screwed her eyes shut, waiting for the reprimand to come. She hadn't looked where she was going, she was at fault here, they had every right to berate her for her stupidity, they...

Still hadn't said a word.

She blinked her eyes open, confused. The person holding her radiated confusion back, despite the fact they were covered in fabric from head to toe. A gas mask hid their face, but didn't hide the fact they were staring at her.

Ana gulped. She hoped they weren't loud.

"Vabandust!" she spat out, before stammering "I– uh, I'm sorry, for hitting you. I wasn't paying attention and, I–, uhm... vabandust," She mumbled the last word.

They said nothing. They kept staring at her. Nothing in their demeanor indicated they were angry. More like they had caught a little mouse and didn't know what to do with it. Suddenly, like a brick to the head, she realized just who was holding her. And that made her fear leave her.

"You're the Pyro!"

They nodded. Despite herself, her heart fluttered. The reality was finally setting in.

"So, um... you're with the soldiers?" They tilted their head to the side. "I mean, like the Spy, the Engineer... those dudes, ja?"

They nodded, more vigorously this time. They then realized they were still holding Ana's arm, and released her as if they were handling a butterfly. A strange feeling bubbled in her chest, missing their warmth and their gentle touch. When was the last time someone cradled her so delicately? Aleksander never tried to anymore. Maybe he was too tired.

She quickly changed her mind when they lifted her into a soul-crushing hug, like she weighed nothing at all. Then the Pyro took off, racing sown the hall so quickly she didn't realize they put her own in front of a door covered in sparkling and flame-themed stickers. With a flourish, they opened it and threw out their hands a "tada!" gesture. Ana blinked, completely lost, and took a peek inside.

Whatever she expected, it certainly wasn't this. The room was filled with unicorn plushies, oversized candies, and plush carpets that just begged her to sink into fluffiness. Tulle fabric was strung up on the ceiling, causing the room to closely resemble that of a five-year-old girl's princess bedroom. A shelf was filled with delicately carved or neon-colored lighters. There was also a faint smell of singed fur and melted plastics, but nothing seemed to be burning, though nonetheless Ana would've been too taken aback to react anyway.

"Is this... your room?" she turned hesitantly to Pyro. When they nodded enthusiastically, a small, but playful smile stretched across Ana's face. "Isn't it a bit girly?" she said.

They said nothing, but Ana suddenly had found herself with an armful of unicorn plushies that was almost as big as she was. She nuzzled into the synthetic, soft fur, not caring if it smelled a bit of burnt gas, and found herself relaxing as her smirk morphed into a wide, happy grin, her impish laughter being muffled by the floof.

It had been too long since she could last cuddle a plushie. She never felt deserving enough to snuggle with her plush toys after she turned eleven. So seeing someone such as them hoarding plushies like a happy goblin without any care put her mind at ease.

"Aitäh," she whispered, and she could tell that they brightened despite the heavy mask.

The gentle moment was interrupted when an object attached to their hip beeped insistently like a shrieking alarm clock. With a muffled grumble, they seized it, where a garbled version of Engineer's voice played through the speaker.

"Pyro! We need yer help. Spy found an abandoned girl but we lost her. Have yah seen—"

"I'm right here!" Ana quickly shouted into the speaker, flinching back hearing how loud she got. She shrinked into the fluffy plush mane. Were they angry at her for disappearing without telling them?

Instead, she heard a relieved sigh come through, and some mumbled blessings couldn't quite understand. She could've stumbled upon dangerous items in the base, but as long as she was with Pyro, she didn't accidentally risk stepping on a landmine or poking at a forbidden experiment.

Ana still ended up apologizing profusel, a hodgepodge of Estonian and English variants of "sorry" leaving her unintelligible, but Engineer waved it off and invited her to the rec room so they could have a talk with her. Pyro offered her a piggyback ride, and despite her still-looming sense of wariness, Ana gladly jumped onto the pyromaniac's back.

"So, are you guys like, military?" she asked later, sipping on hot cocoa prepared by Engineer.

Soldier immediately leapt up and began a rant about the duty of proud Americans answering the call of arms, but his voice was soon drowned out by everyone else's input.

"Nah, we're Mercs!"

"Battlefield experts!"

"Awesome guys, especially me!"

It got too loud and she automatically raised her shoulders to her ears like a turtle hiding in its shell.

"Gentlemen," a voice called coldly into the racket, and although he didn't speak it loudly, it was loaded enough to shut everybody up. That and the fact Spy was standing right next to her, arms crossed and spine so straight it made him look taller than everyone else in the room.

" 'Ou are scaring our guest. I would suggest 'ou mitigate your enthusiasm, unless 'ou wish to be kicked out of here,"

"Tänän," Ana whispered in gratitude. He didn't respond, but slightly nodded in return.

"Now," he continued, "we have answered your question. Does our profession bother 'ou?"

She shot him a confused look, "Ei? I mean, no, it's a job. There are worst things that killing people for money,"

"Oh? Please do tell," Medic asked with a wicked gleam in his eyes. He loved a good challenge.

Ana's breath hitched, thinking of a myriad of cruelties, but she tried to play it off. She crossed her arms, voice sharp, "It wouldn't mean anything to you,"

A grim air settled on the room, and a shared gut feeling of tragedy wormed its way into the Mercenaries like a parasite. As the Mercs expectant stares softened, she huffed and mumbled out, "Bad shit happens to me. It's simple and I don't need to tell you,"

It wasn't simple, but the Mercenaries were as messed-up as she was, which reinforced their conviction she would be right at home among them. Scout jumped right on the bandwagon.

"So, dat means yah got no problem settlin' here!"

"Mida–?"

"What Scout is trying to say with his usual lack of tact–" ("Hey!") "–is that we would be more than happy to provide 'ou shelter, should 'ou wish to escape your... situation,"

It took a few seconds for Ana to register the words, and even longer to understand their meaning. When she did, she deflated like a balloon and retreated into a ball; hugging her knees.

"That's really nice of you guys, but, there are people waiting for me back where I come from. It'd be really asshole-ish of me to just ditch them,"

"Yah don't have to go back though. Yer sister left yah behind, Ah can't imagine yer situation back there was very good," Engineer remarked.

She shrugged. Heavy took a step forward and kneeled before her so he was at eye-level.

"Leetle one don't need to worry. We protect you. We help."

Ana felt everything prepared to crack; eyes filling with the pain for forcing herself not to hope, despite how much she wanted to. And yet, her voice still wobbled. Please, don't.

"How? Unless–" she took a shaky breath, "Unless you can keep my brothers safe, it'll still be like she's hurting me," My brothers are my everything, please.

"Pauling has vays to keep brothers safe. For now, you stay, be protect, да? Sister can't hurt you here. I promise, дорогой,"

Ana couldn't help it. She burst into tears and flung herself at his neck, hiding her sobs and screams in his shoulder because she was ashamed of her tears. She was crying like a little kid, a little kid who couldn't do anything right. Tears meant she was wanting stupid and if and if she acted stupid she'd be laughed at. But Heavy didn't push her away, didn't mock her for crying; instead he cradled her with arms large enough to shield her from the world, and that was enough for her barriers to collapse, one by one, until the pain of the past broke free. She could feel her nails sinking into his vest, clinging onto him trying to weather through the storm, her heart pounding. She almost drowned in it, but Heavy's gentle rocking anchored her in the present.

"Vabandust," she said when she finally calmed down and leaned back, especially when she noticed Heavy's shirt was covered in snot.

"Do not apologize, mon chou," Spy ordered as he gave her a handkerchief. The lacework was so pretty Ana almost felt bad for ruining it, but she felt icky and exhausted after crying her eyes out for the second time that day, so she quietly thanked him and felt a bit better once her face got cleaned.

Engineer grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around her shoulders, as Pyro offered her the same plushie as before.

"So, whaddya say, darlin'? Wanna lay low and take a breather for a lil' while?" Engineer suggested.

"Are you sure I won't bother you?"

They all shook their heads vehemently. With such enthusiasm, she finally dared to hope things would get better.

"I... I'd like that,"

The Mercenaries all whooped in victory, and their joy was contagious as Ana felt a smile tugging at her lips. "Sweet, I'm not the youngest anymore!" Scout exclaimed, grabbing Ana in a bear hug before pinching her cheeks, "Aww, look at our new baby sister, you're so tiny, baby sis! What are you anyway, fourteen, fifteen?"

Ana smiled nervously in the hug, muttering "Fourteen," earning some poorly-concealed "d'awws." "Name's Ana."