In Need of Assistance? (TF2)

Fifty-Six: Fired

        There's not a moment where you aren't interweaving between people and turning your body sideways. Shoulders bump each other and arms rub one another. I've probably stepped on five different people's toes trying to wade through the more condescended crowds. Iguatemi is still new since it opened five years ago in nineteen-sixty-six. I pop out on the other end and scan the food court, finding the table I was at with Scout and Salvador.

Tables are littered with trash waiting to be picked up by custodians, some just needing to be wiped down from the crumbs on top. Scout holds out an earphone for Salvador which he declines fervently, tying a bandana that someone from the team gave to him around his neck. I sit down. "Salvador, you're fucking grounded."

"I'm tryna get 'im to put in the earphone so we can hear each other through the radio, but he just doesn't want it for some reason," Scout sighs. "I don't have any other pairs of headphones lying around. I had to have Engie make this for me."

"I have to hear," Salvador argues, pointing to his right ear.

"You have two ears, dude, I don't know what you mean. Alpha's our eye in the sky, and you're the one who needs to hear her speak the most so she can tell you where you need to go."

"Salvi, he doesn't know. You can't expect him to know," I tell him, digging into my bag and taking out a plastic case. He groans as I stand up and open the case, taking out the small device and tilting his head.

"Uh, Accomplice? What is that?"

I gently nudge the plastic into his ear and let Salvador make his own adjustments and turn it on. "It's his hearing aid. That's why he wouldn't put it in, he's deaf in one ear." I tilt his head to the other side. "And grounded in the other."

"Oh," Scout accepts. He turns to the side and pushes on his headset, pulling the microphone down. "Yeah, you ready?... Got it. Hey, Accomplice, let's get a move on."

"Alright, Uba's got the van ready. All we're doing is waiting for Miss Campbell to give us the go-ahead once we head down to the main level. Salvador, you're getting your ass into that van right-fucking-now, I do not want to hear it."

He picks up his things. "But I can help."

"Get your ass in the goddamn van."

"Fine, fine," he dismisses, going on ahead before me and Scout and disappearing to the bus tunnel as we walk downstairs to get on the ground-level floor, Miss Campbell sitting on a bench next to a fountain. She sits tensely, holding a book that she's not really reading as she looks at our targets through darkly tinted sunglasses. Her elbows dig into her thighs and she lowers her book slightly when I stop next to her.

"I'm an anxious mess," she starts, causing me to smirk.

"You'll be fine."

"No, no, like-" she closes her book. "I'm not allowed to carry weapons." She whispers and lifts her sunglasses to look at me unobstructed.

"Technically, I'm not supposed to either. You and I aren't supposed to be here at all since we have a large team. It is what it is, and all I hear when I go on jobs is 'bonus,' so that's why I leave the fort occasionally."

"I just have to run to the car, right?"

"Essentially, yes. I can't have you working as a mercenary this time around, but I need you to get used to giving commands."

"No offense, but your team walks all over you," Scout adds.

"He's right. You need to take charge. When the time is right, I need you to tell them to take the shot and then have Erika and Scout do what they need to do. I'll leave with you."