Chapter Text
It seemed like everyone had finally settled in on the RED team, except for one miserable outlier. An aging German Medic, that seemed to look over his patients with a stifled rage rather than any clinical curiosity. There were plenty of rumors floating around about him. Everyone thought he was an ex german militant that escaped after WWII thanks to his genius in medicine. As much as they hated having the RED medic around, there was no denying that the man was incredibly brilliant. It also meant that anyone who needed post battle healing would sooner bleed out than rap on the infirmary door. Even the bravest and most level headed avoided him.
The piercing silver glare the doctor could level towards someone who'd earned his ire scared even Heavy, who was way bigger than their Medic. The Medic didn't attend team events, meetings, even avoided meals with the team. Scout, who had the wildest imagination was now spreading all kinds of nasty rumors about the doctor. One that the doctor was a cannibal, and that was why he never left his room to eat. Two was that he was some sort of serial killer and not a mercenary at all. That the corpses that were 'shipped' to the medic for his research were hand selected and gathered by the doctor himself. The third got scout banned from setting foot in the infirmary at all. The Medic now had a disdain for Scout so strong he almost never healed the runner.
The rumor? That the Medic had a 'thing' for corpses. Even the team thought that was a bit too far. No one had ever seen the Medic's bedroom. It stood as a chained and locked door in the back of the infirmary that their Medic was very passionate about protecting. No one ever went in or out. Anyone that even dared to try risked an anesthesia free amputation. Some nights you could even catch a glimpse of the RED medic, pacing back and forth in front of the door as if standing guard. The Engineer did his best to at least be friendly towards the Medic, but every attempt was met with suspicion and distrust from the doctor. "Say, Doc. What are you doing tonight?" Dell would ask politely. "Working. Zhe same as every night. I zhought zhat vould be obvious by now." The Medic would reply coldly, leaving Dell staring after him as he disappeared down the hall.
"Anyone waiting on you back home?" Dell asked patiently, after meeting the Medic out in the hallway. "No. I don't vant to talk about zhis." Medic replied shortly, sidestepping the engineer and disappearing down to the infirmary. After a particularly grueling battle, Medic seemed more tense than usual. Eyes darting over the team as they returned to their base. He looked like a viper ready to strike out at anyone who got too close. Everyone practically tiptoed around him. Heavy, however, decided that he would not put up with the doctor's foul attitude today. He edged into the Doctor's space at every opportunity. Instead of a glare, the doctor looked over at him tentatively, catching Mikhail's eyes for a moment before the silver irises seemed to lose interest.
Mikhail followed him all the way to the infirmary, even inviting himself inside to test the Medic's boundaries. He offered his arm to the doctor, which had sustained quite a few cuts and scrapes from bullets that had barely missed. The Medic stared at the wounds for a moment before disinfecting them and bandaging them likely hoping that would be enough to get the man to leave. Still, Mikhail stayed put where he was. "Vhat is it you vant exactly. Surely if you're looking for coddling or praise you can find it just find from anyone else." The medic hissed out finally, breaking the tense silence. Mikhail didn't move, just continued to stare in a way that made almost all of his enemies squirm. "You have made everyone on team scared of you. You have even made them hate you." He said coldly.
"Zhat's fine. As long as the team functions I don't need to be friends with my covorkers." The Medic answered coldly, crossing his arms. Mikhail narrowed his eyes at the Medic. "You are sad broken leetle man. I am not afraid of you." He stated turning to leave. "You don't have to be afraid of me." The medic said softly, making Mikhail stop to consider those words. Mikhail slowly turned to look at him, evaluating the medic's tense gaze as it met his own. A soft noise came from behind the locked bedroom door. A pigeon? Here? The Medic looked over his shoulder at the door before turning towards it and pressing in a hidden panel that made a ten inch square in the door drop down inside of the door to create a window of sorts.
Then he did something that had Mikhail questioning the man's sanity. He cooed. Like a pigeon. Extending his hand into the darkness that awaited inside the bedroom. Just as Mikhail began to back away to try to make a run for it a tiny white dove landed on the Medic's hand. The Medic brought the bird close to himself, scratching the bird's head fondly. The bird cooed up at him affectionately. Maybe this bird was a poor judge of character. Mikhail took a step closer, carefully examining the little dove. "Archimedes. Zhis is Heavy." The medic said to the bird who looked up at the man before tilting his head a bit. "Erm Mikhail is fine." Mikhail said awkwardly causing the Medic to raise an eyebrow at him. "Zhis bird cant speak." The Medic told him, reaching out to press the back of a gloved hand to Mikhail's forehead to check for a fever.
"I know bird can't speak. You can call me Mikhail." Mikhail replied. "Oh. Vell zhat's a good name." The medic replied, silently cursing himself for such allowing such an awkward moment. He looked up to see that his guest was staring down at him expectantly, he almost pulled Archimedes away to protect him before he realized what it was that Mikhail wanted from him. "Ludwig." The medic choked out shying away from the man who was now in his personal space inspecting his bird. Mikhail stepped away looking up briefly at the hole in the door. He could swear he'd seen someone dart away from the light. Ludwig lifted his bird through the opening and shooed him back into the dark room before shutting the secret door. Mikhail returned his expression to a neutral one when Ludwig turned back to look at him.
"Is there anything else you needed?" Ludwig asked, looking up at Mikhail expectantly. "No. I will go now. Will come back later." Mikhail said, turning and leaving before Ludwig could argue. He could feel Ludwig's gaze burning holes into the back of his skull as he walked down the infirmary hallway. Dell seemed surprised to see him in one piece, rushing up to check him over. "How is he?" The engineer asked looking up at Mikhail. "He is fine. Strange. He has birds." Mikhail informed him casually. "That's swell son way to get him talkin'." Dell praised Mikhail, offering a little wave to Ludwig who hesitantly returned it. The engineer smiled at him, earning a softer look from their medic before he shied away from the windows of the door.
"Well. Ain't that somethin'." Dell said turning back to Mikhail. "Maybe our mad scientist is just a scientist." He said as he turned back to his workshop. That evening, Mikhail piled the dinner he'd prepared for the team onto two plates, each helping generous. The medic didn't answer the door at first, but Mikhail stood patiently on the other side of the door. Soon enough he saw the medic throw his bloodied gloves into the sink beside his desk, washing his hands before opening the door for Mikhail and standing aside so the man could enter. Mikhail noticed a chair had been dragged in from the hallway beside Ludwig's desk so he sat there, avoiding the scattered papers on the desk. Ludwig took his plate off the desk instead of sitting down, bringing it over to the door and revealing the door's opening again. Ludwig lowered the plate into the room waiting a minute before pulling his hand out without the plate.
Mikhail waited for the sound of wings or the sound of the plate shattering on the floor but heard nothing. Ludwig closed the opening, turning back to Mikhail after a moment. After hearing a soft rattle of porcelain behind the door Mikhail raised an eyebrow. The Medic came over to sit at his desk chair, shuffling the papers on his desk into a neat pile and tucking them into a drawer. "What is in there?" Mikhail finally asked. "Birds." Ludwig replied, folding his hands on the desk. Mikhail looked at him doubtfully, but Ludwig's demeanor didn't shift. He turned his attention to his dinner, eating it quietly while the Medic watched absently. After a moment, Ludwig stood from his desk, making his way over to the drawers behind the desk to start pulling medical implements from it.
Mikhail's eyes widened as more and more scalpels, forceps, pincers, and other miscellaneous sharp objects came out of the drawer, starting to sweat when the man stopped with a strange curved scalpel to examine it for a moment almost letting out a sigh of relief when the doctor tossed it aside. Finally the doctor found what he was looking for, a strange rectangular black box. Ludwig brought it over to the desk setting it down before them, waiting to look at Mikhail who's eyes were glued to the box in anticipation. Just as the anticipation became near unbearable, Ludwig undid the clasp on the front of the box and threw the lid open. Mikhail squeezed his eyes shut at the sudden violent movement, listening as the Medic took several items out of the box and set them up in front of him. They sounded wooden, that was at least somewhat promising.
After a moment Ludwig cleared his throat and sat back down at his desk. Mikhail peeled his eyes open hesitantly at first but they widened when he saw what Ludwig had placed on the desk. A chess set! He looked up at Ludwig expectantly. "Go on. I know I don't have to teach you." Ludwig said gesturing to the board. The statement gave Mikhail pause. How did Ludwig know he knew how to play. What else did he know? Mikhail slowly reached over to move a pawn. Ludwig evaluated Mikhail's decision carefully before moving his knight. No matter what move Mikhail made, Ludwig stared right through him as he moved a piece. What Ludwig didn't know is that Mikhail was quite a master at this game. Mikhail proudly declared a check, chest swelling with pride for one beautiful moment.
He looked down at Ludwig who's silver eyes stared up at him motionlessly before picking up his queen and silently capturing Mikhail's King. Mikhail had gotten too confident, moving his rook to put Ludwig's king into check without realizing he'd put his own in danger. The king dropped from the board and onto the desk behind behind the board as Mikhail stared in disbelief. Mikhail almost demanded a rematch right there but Ludwig turned around to look at the clock on the wall. Nearly ten-thirty at night. He groaned in disappointment, picking up his now empty plate and bidding the doctor good night and making his way out into the infirmary hallway, just as Scout rounded the corner the door was locked and the infirmary went dark. The clatter of metal implements being dragged back into the drawer caught Scout's attention causing him to look over at the infirmary, noticing Heavy lurking outside the doors.
"What are you doing hanging around that creep? I been looking for you all day." Scout said, narrowing his eyes at Mikhail. "He is not creep. Is just doctor." Mikhail defended. Scout looked up at him like he was crazy before speeding down the hall into the Engineer's workshop. After making sure Scout wasn't coming back to snoop around Mikhail went back to his room for the night. That night he dreamed that Ludwig was dissecting him alive, feeding his entrails to his birds. He jolted awake early the next morning, covered in sweat. Mikhail got out of bed and went to shower but stopped when he noticed a trail of blood that led from his door to the stairs leading to the infirmary hallway and Dell's workshop. He followed the trail down to the basement, noting that whoever had made the trail had stopped in front of Dell's door as well, once on the way to his door, and again when they returned down to the infirmary.
Mikhail knocked on Dell's door loudly trying to rouse the engineer and fearing the worst for their Scout. Dell yanked the door open grumpily, looking up at Heavy blearily. After waking up a little bit more he followed Mikhail's gaze to the floor and noticed the blood, letting out a curse. He shut his door to put on his overalls over his briefs, not bothering with a shirt before returning to the hallway piston in hand. The two of them slowly made their way over towards the infirmary which was emitting a strange red glow from the windows on it's doors and under it. They saw Ludwig's raise a scalpel before driving it into something. Blood splattered onto the windows, making the men jump back in surprise. Both of them rushed forward, trying the handle before Dell kicked the door open. The glow immediately dissipated plunging the infirmary into darkness.
Dell pulled a flashlight from his pocket, shining it into the infirmary, noticing a small puddle of blood before the exam table. He slowly stepped into the infirmary but to their surprise it was completely empty of any inhabitants. Dell followed the blood trail to the corner of the room but it ended there in two tiny droplets. Mikhail pulled him back suddenly, by the straps of his overalls backing them away from that corner. Dell struggled at first but a sudden wet splash of blood dropped down to the floor from the ceiling. He looked up to see the doctor glaring down at them from his perch in the corner of the room, near the ceiling one leg balanced on one of the rafters and the other on one of the cabinets, he was hunched over cradling his arm that looked to be covered in blood.
Ludwig stared down at them accusingly tilting his head a bit before dropping down to land on all fours, straightening up as his guests stared at him in horror. Instead of attacking them, Ludwig turned away to gather a roll of bandages, wrapping his bleeding wrist tightly. He turned back to the men after a moment looking between the two of them silently. "Can I help you?" The medic asked plainly, causing both Mikhail and Dell to look at Ludwig in confusion. "What the hell happened? Why is there blood everywhere?" Dell said sternly, coming over to pull Ludwig's arm into the light of his flashlight. "Miscalculation with a scalpel. I thought it was a lot worse than it was so I went to find someone, but everyone was asleep so I came back here to address the wound myself." Ludwig answered letting Dell inspect the bandage as the blood leaked through it.
"What about the Medigun?" Dell asked. "Charging." Ludwig answered. The engineer dragged Ludwig over to his desk chair and pressed him down into it before gathering up the supplies he needed to suture the wound. "Where's the anesthesia?" Dell asked. "I don't need it. Don't dawdle." Ludwig replied, unwinding the bandages. Mikhail watched as Dell made his way over to the medic to begin the stitches. After Dell got a quarter of the way up the long wound Ludwig looked down at the stitches. "You're good at zhis. Have you had a lot of practice?" He asked. Dell smiled a bit. "Cows come into the barn at night all the time with cuts. So yeah, I have plenty of practice." Ludwig nodded, watching as Dell worked on him. "I'll show you after we're done. I know a stitch that works up much quicker. It may help a lot with your squirming cattle." He offered.
"Sure. 'preciate it doc." Dell replied with a smile. A girly scream from upstairs startled the three of them. Well, at least Scout was accounted for. It sounded like Scout managed to wake the rest of the time. Footsteps came down the basement stairs causing Ludwig to bristle a bit. Mikhail made his way over to the doors to stop the men from barging in. Soldier tried to push the giant aside, but Mikhail picked the man up and dropped him on his ass. "Doctor is busy." He growled at the remainder of the team. Scout stood behind the Demoman, shaking in his cleats nearly hanging onto the older man for dear life. Spy leaned to the side to see the doctor having his wrist tended to by the engineer. "Was there a break in? Medic looks like he was carved into like a turkey." He asked earning a displeased look from their Medic.
Mikhail shook his head. "Medic had problem with scalpel." Spy looked unconvinced looking down at the larger splatters of blood. "It's a lot of blood for just one person." He observed. Ludwig looked over at the spy for a moment observing him for a moment before returning his attention to dell as he tied off the last of the stitches. Dell set the suture kit aside, straightening up and stepping out of the way when Ludwig rose from his seat. Ludwig examined Dell's work for a moment longer before he stepped around him to wrap a fresh bandage over the stitches. Before anyone could ask any more questions Ludwig disappeared into a room in the back of the infirmary, returning a few moments later with a mop and bucket. He didn't entertain any more questions from the team, simply cleaning up the mess he'd made.
As the team filed into the locker room to prepare themselves for the day's battle, they found the medigun, but the Medic wasn't there yet. Dell leaned out the locker room doors to see Ludwig making his way up the basement stairs, slipping a set of keys into his pocket. Mikhail knew the drill by now. Ludwig would follow him around the battlefield, healing his and the teams wounds before falling behind to use one of them as a shield. It didn't seem fair but that's just how it was. Red team had eight members as opposed to the BLU team's nine which also didn't seem fair. "I hope we get new member soon. Would be useful for team." He said to Dell who nodded in agreement. Ludwig tilted his head at the statement but straightened up when Dell turned in his direction offering a small smile.
Ludwig kept close to Mikhail at first, surprising him on occasion when he disappeared and reappeared intermittently. Mikhail ignored him, doing his best to take down as many members of the BLU team as possible. He stumbled upon the BLU Soldier And BLU Demoman who were teasing the trapped RED Scout who was low on health. "Still scared of your nurse?" The BLU soldier teased. "Shut up! I am not!" Scout said unconvincingly. "The RED medic is practically a defenseless little kitten and he's got you shaking in your boots!" The BLU soldier jeered loudly. Mikhail rolled his eyes and raised Sasha towards them. He noticed something red from the corner of his eye and looked up to see Ludwig standing on a ledge behind the BLUs. Ludwig stepped off the ledge and landed heavily behind them before the BLU soldier could turn around the BLU Demoman was decapitated. The BLU scrambled for his weapon before Ludwig thrust the saw into his chest, pulling it away just as quickly.
Scout watched as the BLU stumbled forward swiping weakly in the Medic's direction before falling in a heap on the ground. He looked back up at the Medic who was looking at the reflection in the bone-saw. Ludwig looked over at Mikhail and pointed up. Mikhail followed his direction to see the BLU spy sneaking over the ledge. He was quickly sent to respawn by Sasha. Ludwig looked over at Scout one last time before tossing him a health kit and absconding up the stairs. Scout looked at the health kit critically, but even if it was poisoned it would at least be a shortcut to respawn. He drank it, feeling his wounds heal near instantly. Great. Maybe the Medic was secretly nice and Scout was the biggest douche bag in 2fort. Scout groaned throwing the bottle aside and running up the stairs that the Medic had disappeared up.
Mikhail followed after Scout, also eager to catch up with Ludwig. They found him in hand to hand combat with the BLU Medic, both elegantly avoiding each other's saw blades. Scout took the BLU Medic out with his scatter-gun. Ludwig looked over at him before rushing off somewhere else. "Uh yeah You're welcome!" Scout shouted in frustration before running after him. They made their way down to the BLU intelligence room. Scout rushed forward to try to take the briefcase but Ludwig grabbed him by the back of the shirt, pulling him back just in time to avoid sentry fire. "How good are you at landing on your feet?" Ludwig asked scout. "Eh pretty good I guess?" Scout replied hesitantly. Ludwig pulled Mikhail so that he stood sideways. "On my mark, take out the sentry." He instructed before grabbing Scout by the collar of his shirt and his belt, throwing scout over the Sentry fire. Scout screamed but somehow managed to land on his feet, rushing forward to grab the briefcase. "Now." Ludwig demanded.
Mikhail nodded and wound up the minigun, taking out the sentry that was distracted by Scout. Ludwig patted Mikhail on the back as he ran past slowing down next to the BLU engineer who was somehow fast asleep in his rancho relaxo. He shook his head at the man before he ran after Scout. Mikhail tiptoed by the sleeping BLU engineer so that he wouldn't wake the obviously exhausted man. When he came around the corner that Ludwig and Scout had disappeared around, he saw that Ludwig had stopped. Mikhail came over to him to see that he'd stopped before the water. "Lets go." He encouraged the medic. "Nein. I'll go the long way you go ahead." Ludwig said quickly backing away from the questionable water's edge.
"You are scared? Of water?" Mikhail asked looking over at Ludwig incredulously. Ludwig looked offended for a moment. "Do you have any idea how many GERMS and PARASITES reside in standing water?!" Ludwig asked crossing his arms. Mikhail sighed heavily, throwing the RED Medic up over his shoulders, able to carry the minigun and the medic above the water easily. Ludwig trembled as he stared down at the water, trying not to do anything to make Mikhail loose his balance. Scout waited at the end of the tunnel with the intelligence, trying his best to stifle a snicker as Mikhail made his way over. "Germs in water." Mikhail explained, causing Scout to wheeze before he covered his mouth as Ludwig looked over at him. Ludwig looked desperately for somewhere for them to get out but it appeared the only way was through.
His eyes didn't move from the water's surface as Mikhail carried them through it. Meanwhile Mikhail wondered how the doctor had developed a fear of water. Maybe it was just water in certain contexts, but he'd never seen the Medic in the showers either. He seemed fine with mopping, but Ludwig was in control of the mop water. Soon they were in the tunnels under the RED base. Even when the water was only ankle deep, Ludwig remained perched on Mikhail's shoulders. Mikhail stopped once he stepped up onto dry land. Ludwig crawled down from Mikhail's shoulders looking relieved. "Meet me in the infirmary after the battle for a Tetnus shot." Ludwig advised earning an eye roll from Mikhail.
They trio made their way upstairs with the briefcase. Scout slammed it down on the intelligence room desk triumphantly, signifying the end of today's battle. The administrator announced the RED team's victory and the end of their losing streak. Mikhail cheered loudly, startling Ludwig, who usually wasn't involved in any part of the celebrating. Ludwig stared up at him for a moment before running off up the stairs to the residential side of the base. Scout and Mikhail watched him disappear before looking at each other confusedly. The team met up in the shower room. Mikhail looked for their Medic but didn't see him amongst the men showering. The smell of freshly cooked food greeted the mercenaries stepped out of the shower room. They wandered into the mess hall to see their usual three separate tables pushed together in the center of the room and sporting a feast fit for kings.
Turkey, Ham, a bucket of chicken, Mashed potatoes, bread rolls, roasted asparagus, a large bowl of mac and cheese, a casserole dish of sweet potatoes topped in marshmallows, A huge three layer cake covered in pink and white frosting, corn bread in a cast iron, a charcuterie board with various cheeses, meats, and crackers, and at the head of the table a tater tot hotdish. Everyone's favorite foods were on the table waiting for them, piping hot and smelling amazing. The mercenaries surrounded the food hesitantly. Mikhail rushed into the kitchen to make sure the ham he'd bought was still in the fridge. It was, along with everything else that had been in there this morning. He opened every cabinet, trying to figure out what had been used and what hadn't but everything was still exactly where he had left it. It didn't make any sense.
Dell returned from the walk in freezer after coming to the same conclusion. No one knew how the food had appeared. Soldier had already snatched up the entire tater tot hotdish and was eating it away from the table, hogging it to himself. They stared at him, waiting for any potential poisons to take effect. Soldier stared back at them making sure no one lunged for his hot dish. After determining the food wasn't poisoned, the team sat down to tear into the food. "Witchcraft!" Demo shouted suddenly causing everyone to look at him. "That's where the food came from. Dell. Take a bit 'o that corn bread. Tell me how it is." Dell chuckled. "Well witchcraft or not, no cornbread is better than my maw-maw's." He boasted, looking at the corn bread for a second before taking a bite. Dell turned pale and dropped the cornbread back down on the plate. "What is it Lad?!" Demo shouted, leaning over the table to look at Dell closer.
"It's… Its just like hers… Like she made it herself..." Dell choked out in shock after swallowing the bread. Everyone looked amongst themselves concernedly. "Oh. Yeah. This is magic for sure. My old roommate used to do this kinda stuff all the time." Soldier said casually. "No way. Magic isn't real… Is it?" Scout replied hesitantly. "There's a witch or wizard among us lads. An I'm willin' to bet it's that kook in the basement. " Demo said confidently. "So we shouldn't eat the food?" Scout questioned. "Go ahead, it's too late now anyways. Gifts like this don't come without conditions. I'm sure he'll make them known soon enough." Demo replied ominously. Ludwig wandered in just as the Mercenaries were finishing up the food. He made his way into the kitchen digging out a pint of mint chocolate chip ice cream no one else on the team wanted to touch.
Scout almost gagged at the sight of it as Ludwig walked by. "How can you eat that doc?" He asked the doctor. "With a spoon." Ludwig answered without missing a beat. Just as he made it to the door he turned around to return to the kitchen to grab a spoon. "Toothpaste flavored ice cream yay." Scout muttered sarcastically. Ludwig wandered back out of the kitchen, making sure to take a bite of the ice cream in front of Scout out of spite. After hearing Ludwig descend the stairs Scout looked back at the team. "Oh that guy is a witch for sure." He said with a nod. When Mikhail made his way downstairs to check on Ludwig, he noticed the strange red glow had returned to the Infirmary. He slowly made his way closer doing his best to sneak up to the infirmary windows.
Inside he saw their Medic, sitting in front of his bedroom door cross legged and levitating. Mikhail's eyes widened at the sight. Inside a little circle sat a gas mask and a small fire. Ludwig raised his arms up, bandage removed and stitches cut open. Blood dripped onto the mask and into the little fire causing them to raise up in the air in front of his face. The blood slowly warped into the shape of a person a bright flash on bright red light, flashed from the infirmary making Mikhail turn away and groan as the brightness stung his eyes. When he finally regained his vision he peeked back into the infirmary to see a young woman standing naked before Ludwig, face and neck covered in the gas mask and the rest of her skin sickly pale and covered in freckles.
Mikhail caught himself looking away and crawling away on his hands and knees to make sure he wasn't seen by either of them. He stood up once he was out of the infirmary hallway, turning to make sure no one from the infirmary had followed him, letting out a sigh of relief before turning around to come face to face with Ludwig. "Leaving so soon?" Ludwig cooed sweetly. Mikhail stumbled back looking at Ludwig with wide eyes. Ludwig waved a hand and suddenly Mikhail was in the infirmary sitting on the exam table. He felt a sharp pinch and let out a yelp turning to look at Ludwig as he injected him with something. "I wasn't kidding about that water. It's got enough lead in it to make you sterile and then some." Ludwig said, discarding the Tetnus shot.
Mikhail watched as Ludwig placed a band aid on him. "Alright. You have questions. Go ahead." Ludwig said, sitting down at his desk and swiveling his chair to look at Mikhail expectantly. "What are you? Who is she? What was the food for?" Mikhail asked every question he could think of. "Warlock." Ludwig said pointing to himself. "Demon." He said pointing to the girl who was now covered in a strange red fireproof suit exactly like the BLU Pyro wore. "And zhe food was just for fun. I thought you might enjoy it." The warlock continued with a chuckle. Mikhail looked between the girl and Ludwig nervously. "I suppose really I could use a thrall, but I don't really want to make that decision for you." Ludwig offered. Mikhail shook his head. The medic tutted at him in disappointment. "Zhat's a shame. I could have made you so powerful in battle. Oh vell." Ludwig said with a shrug.
Mikhail thought about that for a moment. Powerful enough to crush puny enemy teams easily? He shook that thought away remembering who it was he was dealing with. "I'll just have to ask you to keep my secret. Can't have the team going on a witch hunt." Ludwig said as a strange bracelet of runes curled around Mikhail's wrist like a bracelet before disappearing. Mikhail looked over at Ludwig suspiciously. "Lets go introduce Ruby to the team shall we?" Ludwig said excitedly. Mikhail followed the pair of them into Dell's workshop. "Dell! I have good news." Dell turned around to face them, nearly falling out of his chair when he saw their shiny new RED pyro. He stood up and made his way over to shake her hand. "Well hey! I knew we were just one win away from earnin' a new team member. Welcome home Pyro!" The engineer said happily, earning a muffled giggle from the RED Pyro.
"Well, I'll let you get her settled in." Ludwig said turning to leave. "Sure thing Hoss. Uh… Where's her luggage? Didn't she pack anything?" Dell asked looking a bit worried. "This is all she arrived with, but I'm sure she'll settle in soon enough." Ludwig replied, gesturing to Pyro's uniform. Pyro was honestly just happy to be included in her summoner's adventures. Dell nodded a bit feeling a bit sorry for the girl. He and Mikhail led her upstairs while Ludwig disappeared into the Infirmary. "So what's your name, y'know off the clock?" Dell asked Pyro. "Rhh Rh" Came Pyro's muffled reply through the mask. "Oh. Ruby? Is that right?" Dell asked. Pyro cheered at that making Dell smile over at her. "Nice to meet you ma'am. I'm the Engineer, but you can call me Engie or Dell." Dell introduced himself before they stepped into the mess hall, where everyone was still picking at the food at the table.
"Hey everyone! Look who's here!" The Engineer said causing everyone to look up from their plates. "Hah. Two miracles in one day." The Spy said cheerfully, standing up to go greet their new teammate properly. "Spy. This is Ruby. She's our new Pyro." Dell said. "A pleasure to meet you mademoiselle." Spy said politely. "Our new Pyro's a chick?! Sweet!" Scout said, standing up to look over at her. "She is a woman and you will treat her with respect." Spy scolded Scout sternly. "Yeah. Yeah. Totally. I'm Scout by the way." Scout said with a little wave. Demo grumbled something from the table but went ignored. "That's Demo, and the guy eating the turkey with his bare hands is Soldier. Sniper's outside, probably in a food coma or something. You'll probably meet him tomorrow." Scout informed Ruby helpfully. Ruby looked between the men before looking back at Dell.
"I'm gonna show her to her room. Then around the Battlefield. I'll see y'all later." Dell said ushering Ruby out of the room.