When Helmet Party meets Traitorgineer, nothing good can come of it. I haven't seen any fics touch on this yet, so I decided to give y'all a walloping of feels. Enjoy. -------- He didn’t understand. He couldn’t. Frankly, nobody had ever called Jane a genius with a straight face. He wasn’t known for being the brains of any operation, something he made up for with sheer grit, guts, and loyalty. That last one almost above all- if the BLU Soldier believed in you he damn well KEPT believing in you. This was a bit of a problem for Dell at this point. Jane kept running after him, and though the Texan couldn’t see the Soldier’s eyes he could picture exactly what they looked like. That stunning blue, sad and confused and wondering, but loving still, ever loving, never ceasing or changing in that fact. He stopped, turning on his heel and levelling the Frontier Justice at him. “Yer makin’ this harder’n it needs t’ be, Sol.†“I JUST WANTED TO WISH YOU LUCK, ENGIE.†“…what in tarnation?†“YOU ARE DOING RECON. THAT’S GOOD WORK. BALLSY. GRAY WON’T KNOW WHAT HIT HIM.†The smile on the Soldier’s face was wide and toothy as ever, though there was something desperate in it. Like the ‘recon’ bit was the only rational explanation he could think of and he wanted Dell to confirm it. And damnit, for a moment Dell considers doing so. Lying, just to spare the man’s feelings. But he can’t do it. It’d just make things worse on down the line, and at very least, he owed this man the truth. “…that ain’t what’s happenin’ here, Sol.†The Midwesterner shakes his head, tilting it to one side, not unlike a confused pup. Dell could almost see the gears in his head working full tilt trying to process information that just didn’t make any sense. “…they got to you somehow. You are not doing this because you want to. The robot bastards have a hostage! … You are an evil robot clone! … You are trying to take them down from the inside…? Something? Anything? … Dell?†The Engineer remained silent, expression grave. He shook his head. Jane grabbed his shoulders and gave him a little shake. Dell could feel that desperation spike. See his eyes beneath the brim of his helmet, luminous almost. Begging, please, give me something, something because I am running out of things, tell me what you’re doing, tell me you are not really… “…you can’t be doing this, Engie… I thought… I…†“GodDANGit, boy, stop it. You stop right now, don’ you dare be makin’ this harder than it is already. Ah’m there now. All there is to it.†“But… WHY?†“Y’wouldn’ understand, Jane. Jes’ let it go. Ah’m sorry, ah am, but this’ how it is, how it’s gon’ be now. Go on back, now. Do what y’all gotta do, an’ ah’ll do what ah have to.†“DELL, WAIT. CHRIST… STOP. JUST…†“Jane…†The Engineer’s voice has a tone of warning. Don’t say another word, don’t come any closer. Just turn around and walk away for once in your damn fool life. He tightens his grip on the modified shotgun. “Dell… I… I lo-“ BANG Jane gapes, staggering back. His shoulder is a mess of blood and pain, and the Soldier stares at it as if doubting its existance, then to the trail of smoke lazily drifting up from the barrel of the Frontier Justice, then to Dell’s stoic expression. The Engineer couldn’t make it any plainer than that. “That was a warnin’ shot. You don’t get ‘long, next one’s goin’ in yer head.†He is fighting to keep a quiver out of his voice. He is fighting against himself not to run over to him spitting out apologies, tending to that wound, the wound he himself had made. But he stays still as a stone. And Jane stares back in disbelief. For once he has nothing to say, no way to possibly articulate the absolute tangled mess in his head and heart. Dell nods him off. “Go on. Go to yer Medic an’ get that seen to. An’ next time, y’better be prepared t’ shoot back. Go on, git.†Jane opens his mouth once more- always had to get the last word, that proud Soldier- but has no last words, just a screaming mess of nonsense. The screams sound painful, in every definition. But he does turn. And he does go. And maybe more than any of it, what gets to the Engineer is the glimpse of liquid streaming from beneath his helmet. Soldiers never cry. His own lip trembling, Dell turns and walks in the opposite direction.
But why's Dell doin it?
MY HEART. There are rumors of a BLU engie showing up on random MVM matches. Maybe... you could... write a little more?
I just want to say, keep your tenses consistent. It's a little distracting for the reader to have one paragraph in the past tense, then the next one in the present. So just stick to one. Other than that, good job. Poor Solly.
oh noes, what is going on... not the helmets ;_; what happened? what happens? happy ending?
Namefag. Now. Stay here forever. I love you.