Ohhh Boy I Love Fanart!!

ohhh boy i love fanart!!

With the announcement of the PREVIEW of the finale or comic 7, for those who had boots on the ground during these weeks, a little reminder this is a win. We can consider it a win for a battle. However just because we won the battle doesn’t mean we won the war.

Now valve should have updated this comic AGES ago. We all know that. And with all the poor press around them as of late, and it COULD be effecting the sales on their infinite money machine which is Steam, and whatever that funko thing is, they needed some GOOD PR.

Getting rid of the bots? GREAT! Keep that going. That’s what we asked TWO YEARS AGO.

Finishing the comic? People have been waiting nearly a DECADE.

They are fulfilling things they should have been doing. And it’s because of pressure from the community and the public. I would even say those who went killtf2 helped.

What won’t help is people going “Welp. That’s done.” Or being dicks and being like “WE FIXED YOUR GAME” with the #fixtf2 as part of their name. We still need to keep this movement going. And hopefully with these wins more people join.

And I REALLY hope they send the petition in soon. I haven’t heard that they have yet? I may be out of the loop due to being sick with heat exhaustion.

You guys are amazing, please keep fighting… maybe if we do.. Heavy Update.

If you have Spotify reblog this and tag what your number one song on your “on repeat” playlist is.

happy holidays from the mercs 🎄🎁

I headcanon she's transfem + nonbinary, aroace, and just a silly little schizophrenic creature.

She isn't constantly in pyroland in my opinion, she just calls her delusions/hallucinations pyroland.

so tf2 community.

what's everyone's headcanons on pyro?

New Life. New You.

Mercenaries x Teen!Reader

Word Count - 3.8K

Warnings: OC-insert. Written accents. Allusions to murder. Swearing. Child Abuse. Child Neglect.

Status - Not Beta Read

A/N: Egads, a hundred followers already? Thank you all so much, and to celebrate, have this beefy fic I've spent two months working on. This poor thing went through so much. It started off as a little introduction to Ana at about 1300 words, but I came back and deleted it, and THEN I changed my mind and rewrote it all in one go, somehow doubling the word count. Looks like "We Will Never Leave You" is no longer my magnum opus. Y'know what? Fuck it we ball.

Home because this song was the only thing that kept me going while writing this behemoth. Y'all are spoiled.

There was a corpse on the ground.

There was a corpse on the ground.

This is 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. Well, it shouldn't be surprising to her, she's seen dead bodies before. 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 all that stable), or... whatever psycho who had 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 helicopter her sister was partying up in crashed already. The gash on her head was so incredibly sore, but she tried to ignore the pain.

She rolled the corpse around to try and find a weapon. A pretty, 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 it sounds. She was numb and dehydrated, but not suicidal. 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 (excellent craftsmanship on the wood), and spun the weapon like a fidget toy, then throwing 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 if today couldn't get any weirder. He seemed just as surprised to see her here, as she was to see him there.

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 'ave 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 'ere, 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. She shook her head and said,

"Ma ei räägi võõrastega."

Despite the baklava over his head, the stranger's face contorted into one of nothing but confusion. He began muttering something into the earpiece, as Ana absentmindedly touched the gash on her forehead. She grimaced as her fingers flinched away, the wound still very sensitive and not appreciating the sand she flicked into it to slow bleeding.

The stranger turned back to her, 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? Ana begrudgingly explained that she was with her sister in a helicopter, when she felt a force act on her back, and she suddenly dropped. It was a miracle she was still alive. But nonetheless, his face became murderous. Was he mad at her sister or just happy to have new prey?

He summarized her words in a clipped tone, 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 with a mountain of muscles and a Texan Bob the Builder.

Ana didn't know if Engineer and Heavy were just nicknames, titles, or actual names; but at this point 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 asked 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 a 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.

══════════════════════════════════

"I say we blow the sissy tuh 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 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 'ave new information,"

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

"She woke up and ate a bit. She thanks 'ou for zhe 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 'ad nowhere to go. It seems zhat her being abandoned by her sister into zhe wild iz quite common, zhough zhis iz zhe first time it 'as been so critical. She doesn't believe her sister will retrieve her,"

All collective pairs of teeth grinded viciously.

"What about her guardians?"

"Deceased."

"Any relatives?"

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

"So..." Scout mused, "She's basically got nobody except her piece o' crap 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 'ourself a brother figure and not a father 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 could escalate 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 his head 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.

"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, "But, my sister'd probably hate me if I tried to learn..."

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 it, Liebchen! Vhat do jou say?"

A determined grin spread across Ana's face, her tooth gap showing charmingly, "I said it already! 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 her," 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, thoroughly empty.

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

══════════════════════════════════

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. Even at sunset, to her surprise, the Badlands remained sweltering hot. She'd scratch and scratch at her skin, craving the momentary coolness from her nails brushing along her flesh, but at some point she 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? Or, at least, part of the military. She's seen military men before, and these guys certainly looked the part. They had to be military; the official or a militia, she didn't know. Ana just knew they were loud.

Loud was bad. Loud meant she was bad. Loud was Maria when she was angry, when Ana fucked up and spilled stew everywhere because Olev was being impatient and weaving through her legs. When Aleksander kissed her bruises after the fall and mopped up the stew. When Maria took her by the wrist and threw her into the basement because she was a fucking idiot and didn't deserve supper that night. When Ana cradled herself in her arms and kissed her own bruises because she didn't deserve Aleksander's affection.

Maria would only do that if she was bad. She isn't bad. Maria screams and screams. But she isn't bad.

She had to come home, right? She didn't really have a choice. If she stayed here, she'd leave behind Aleksander and Olev. She wouldn't be able to protect them from Maria. They were her brothers. They're lucky she loves them so much. She's not gonna leave them behind.

The more Ana thought about it, the more it sounded 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.

She didn't know the soldiers. She knew they killed people because that's the military's job, kill the bad guys and then some. But she didn't know how loud they can get.

The wall ended. Ana looked at the ground, uneven and gritty and stained. She stuck one foot behind the other and moved like she was walking on a tightrope.

She didn't know that the fundamental rule in 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 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 fine 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'd be fine to hit her because she was in their way, 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 gave them a once-over and gulped. She hoped they weren't loud.

"Vabandust!" The word jumped out of her mouth, before she stammered, "I- uh, I'm so sorry- for hitting you. I wasn't paying attention and, I-, uhm..." The last of the words blurring together.

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.

"Do you... understand me?"

They nodded. At least it wasn't a language issue.

"Okei, um... are you with the soldiers?" They tilted their head to the side. "I mean, like the Spy, the Engineer... those dudes?"

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 gentle touch. When was the last time someone cradled her so delicately? Aleksander was always too caked in bruises for her to cuddle him without causing pain. She sometimes wonders if Maria really does treat him that horribly.

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

"Hudda ha!" they exclaimed. 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 the 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 both ornately carved or neon-colored lighters. There was also a faint smell of singed fur and melted plastics, but nothing seemed to be burning, and nonetheless Ana would've been too starstruck to react anyway.

"Is this... your room?" she turned hesitantly to the masked person. When they nodded enthusiastically, a genuine, gleeful smile stretched across Ana's lips. "It's real pretty,"

They mumbled a happy sound, and suddenly she found herself with an armful of unicorn plushie 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 smile morphed into a wide, happy grin.

It had been too long since she could last cuddle a plushie. Maria had used the last of her plush toys as fuel for the fire when she turned twelve. So seeing someone older than her hoarding them like a happy goblin without any care of being judged as "childish" 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 began beeping insistently like a shrieking alarm clock. With a muffled grumble, they seized it and a garbled version of Engineer's voice played through the speaker on the device.

"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 shrank 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 scattered, distant cheers of relief Engineer hushed. 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 profusely, a hodgepodge of Estonian and English variants of 'sorry' leaving her unintelligible, but Engi 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 still being a tad weary, 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 to 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 'our enthusiasm, unless 'ou wish to be kicked out of 'ere,"

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

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

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

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

Oh, I don't know, maybe killing your sister's parents because of a stupid sibling prank gone too far and making her live in terror for the rest of her life. Ana paused and gulped, "I... I don't want to talk about it.."

A grim air wafted around the room, and a shared gut-feeling of tragedy wormed its way into the each of the Mercenaries like a parasite as they watched her twiddle her thumbs and stare at the floor. As the Mercs expectant stares softened, she mumbled out, "Like, really bad stuff happens sometimes, and sometimes I'm the fuck that has to deal with it. 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 that 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 iz trying to say with his usual lack of tact–" ("Hey!") "–iz zhat we would be more zhan happy to provide 'ou shelter, should 'ou wish to escape 'our... 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, my sister's gonna find me sooner or later. If it isn't her, it'll be my brother. She's stubborn, and Alex cares a lot about me, y'know? He'll end up helping her. What she wants, she gets, I guess,"

"Honestly, Ah can't tell if yer talkin' 'bout a person or a dog," Engineer remarked.

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

"Leetle gurl don't need to vorry. Ve protect you. Ve help."

Ana felt everything prepare to crack; eyes filling with the pain of forcing herself not to hope, despite how much she wanted to. And yet, her voice still wobbled.

Please, don't.

"How? Unless–" she choked on the word, "Unless you can get my brothers away from her, it'd be like she's still hurting me," My brothers are my everything, please.

Heavy made a dismissive gesture with his hand. There was a certain fire in his eyes that reminded her of a mother bear protecting its cubs.

"Pauling has vays to keep brothers safe. For now, you stay, ve protect, дa? 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. Tears meant she was giving Maria what she wanted. Tears meant she was making Maria feel good. 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 past years broke free. She could feel her nails sinking into his vest, clinging onto him trying to weather the storm. 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, cheríe," Spy ordered as he gave her handkerchief. The lacework was so pretty Ana almost felt bad for ruining it, but she felt icky and exhausted after bawling her eyes out for the second time that day, so she thanked him and felt a bit better once her face got cleaned.

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

"Yeah. I'd like that,"

The Mercenaries all whooped in victory, and their joy was contagious as Ana couldn't resist the smile tugging at her lips.

"Sweet, I'm not the youngest anymore!" Scout exclaimed, enveloping Ana in a bear hug before pinching her cheeks, "Aaawwww, look at our new baby sister! You're so tiny, baby sis! What are yah anyway, fourteen, fifteen?"

"Sixteen, actually," she said casually, "I'm Ana, by the way,"

This is going to turn out just swell.