You woke up with a slight headache. Thankfully, it faded the more you got ready for the day. You slipped the dress on over your underclothes and did a little twirl. It was still as perfect yesterday. Well, you certainly hoped it would be. It would be weird if it changed, wouldn't it?

You laughed slightly and figured now would be the time to be as fancy as possible, as you would say. You placed your hair in the most elegant style you could, one that would really match the dress. With a smile, you decided today would be the day you'd wear a little bit of makeup. Not much, mainly just a red lip to match the dress. You laugh at how you hadn't worn any since before school ended.

You took a good look at yourself in the mirror, grateful for how much you've changed, and in awe of how nice you looked. This was amazing. You were amazing.

After a few more finishing touches, such as your gloves and boots, you slowly stepped out of your room. This was it. You let out a sigh and couldn't help but smile.

You walked down the hall to the living room and stopped in the entryway. You watched as your team slowly turned to look at you with awe on their face.

"Good morning," you laughed slightly at them. Hell, Demo's jaw had dropped. You watched as Scout popped his mouth back into place and Demo glared at him, rubbing his jaw.

They were all wearing some kind of formal attire. Heavy had a white button down and red vest, Spy was in his usual suit, Scout had a nice button down on (and looked like he hated it), Pyro... wore a tie, Engie was in a red suit, Soldier also had a nice button down on (and also looked like he despised it), Demo also wore a red suit, Sniper had a button down with brown suspenders on, and Medic... you stopped and looked away. He was just wearing his normal uniform with nicer pants, shoes, and his red vest.

The others muttered out their good mornings, and you couldn't help but laugh a little more. Speechless, are we?

Inside the truck, you munched on a protein bar. Just like my mom used to. Demo insisted you sat next to him, and so did Scout, so now you were squished in between them. You did your best not to make eye contact with Medic, but it was hard. You hated to admit it, but your teammates have become your best friends, and Medic was included in that sentiment. It hurt to feel so... you didn't know how to put it. Something just disturbed you in a way you didn't know how to explain.

It took all day to get to the estate the Mann brothers wanted your team to head to, to which Scout happily filled your ear talking about random..., well, shit really. He was going on about how cool he was in past battles, and the others scoffed and laughed at him. Eventually led to an argument.

"I promise dat's what happened!" Scout exclaimed. Demo laughed at him.

"Oh really? I rememba that ya squealed like a little girl when that Pyro chased ya," Demo mimicked the scream that came out of Scout, causing the truck to erupt in laughter.

"Dere's no way! I'm too cool for dat," Scout crossed his arms and pouted slightly.

"Well, I guess this means you can show off more in the next battles like you got to in the last one," you shrugged and let your feet sway slightly. Scout pointed at you in a "See? She gets it" kind of way. It made you laugh slightly to watch him try to prove a point by looking the mercenaries in their eyes with a goofy expression.

Your team continued to talk about whatever came to mind. Demo was proud of his new tricycle, Scout was gloating still, and the others just seemed to listen. At some point the topic of what the Mann Brothers wanted came up.

"Do you think they're upset with me?" You asked quietly, the dress lightly grazing your shins as your legs continued to rock back and forth like your thoughts.

"I don't think so. After all, you technically won the first legitimate battle," Scout shrugged and you looked at him with wide eyes.

"Didn't think you could use such a... fancy word there, Scout," you stifled a laugh as Scout acted offended.

"Maybe you're just rubbin' off on me," he elbowed you slightly and you smiled. Your eyes flashed to Medic instinctively. You quickly looked away once you realized there were daggers in his eyes. Why can't I figure out what's wrong?

"I guess so," you said quietly, your head turned from Medic. You sighed a little. "I guess a small part of me is concerned for the BLU Strategist. She broke a lot of rules doing what she did..." You looked up to see Demo shake his head.

"As if ya should be! Lass, that menace hurt ya real bad. Hell, after that day, we all thought we lost ya," Demo pointed out. You nodded slightly.

"I don't know... seeing her scream in terror, begging to not be erased, it hurt to watch." You held your arms.

"It hurt ta watch you die at her command, Lass." You sighed and nodded, understanding his point. You didn't know why you felt any sort of compassion for this girl. Maybe you two were connected or something. Who knows?

The conversation fizzled out after that, and you stared at the ceiling for what felt like hours, which it very well could have been.

Eventually, the truck came to a stop. You hopped out only to look at the building in front of you with wide eyes. Yes, it was a mansion, but you have never in person seen something so grand. It made you stop in your tracks. One half of it was red and the other half was blue. You had to hype yourself up to follow the others inside, feeling slightly intimidated. You, intimidated by a building, or were you really intimidated by what was inside?

You followed behind Spy, lined up in class order with Scout at the front. He did not seem to enjoy being line leader.

Heading inside the building, it was almost as if your breath caught in your throat. The walls were tall and the ceiling stood above you in a way you felt threatened by. It was like you were in your favorite novel. Crazy.

As the line stopped in front of these vast double doors, you peeked behind Spy to see what was going on. You watched as butlers seemed to struggle to open the doors, and what they revealed was a large dining hall. It looks like the ballroom from Beauty and the Beast... Your thoughts trailed off as you followed the line to a dining table that seemed almost too large.

On the left end sat Scout, and the mercenaries lined up towards the right. They sat down almost like a wave and you sat toward the right... next to a large chair. Oh shit. Thankfully you weren't the only one sitting next to a Mann Brother, Scout sat next to the other rather large chair.

Suddenly, doors on the other side of the room opened and you found yourself sitting there wide-eyed as you watched the BLU team walk into the room. That when you saw her, your counterpart, wearing a blue suit. You quickly felt awkward being the only one in a dress. You always hated standing out, but you reminded yourself that your worries were nothing but intrusive thoughts. You looked nice, end of story.

With a deep breath, you watched as the BLU Strategist sat down in front of you. She had a smirk on her face reminiscent of Spy's. In an instant, you did not feel sorry for her anymore, well, maybe you did in the way you'd feel sorry for a bully, but still. Fancy seeing you smirk after you lost the last battle.

Still, you were going to have dinner in front of your boss. You had to remain civil. Thankfully, it seemed your counterpart had the same idea. You hated how good you looked in a suit.

"How was the drive?" She asked, propping her elbows on the tale and clasping her hands together. You cleared your throat slightly.

"Well, y'know, Scout being Scout," you laughed nervously in response. She nodded, still studying you. Get yourself together. You're better than her! Show it!

After she didn't say anything more, your eyes trailed down the line to the BLU Engineer. As if he had the same idea, he was looking at you as well. You didn't dare smile. No one knew of your friendly talk with him, and you wanted to keep it that way. To keep it subtle, you gave hima slight, knowing nod to which he returned. You had to fight to keep a smile off of your face.

Without a moment to think, the doors on either end of the ballroom burst open, revealing... an old ass man in a wheelchair. Out of all of your envisions of your boss, you did not expect an old wrinkly man attached to tubes that led to a giant machine on his wheelchair.

As he was wheeled towards you, in his red suit, you turned to find a twin version of him on the opposite side of the room in a blue suit. Butlers helped them into their respective chairs, and it was almost as if you could smell the dust off of this guy. He creepily looked at you and smiled. In an effort to look agreeable, you smiled in return. He nodded and opened his mouth to announce something.

"I'm glad to see you all here!" His brother said instead, your boss being beaten to the punch. He scowled. "Now before we begin the meal, I have a few announcements. I'm am Blutarch Mann-"

"And I am Redmond Mann, but I'm sure you all knew that," Redmond cut him off, smirking. They stared each other down for a moment. Geez, these two are definitely siblings.

"As I was saying," Blutarch said through a clenched jaw, "We are here to formally welcome the Strategist to our cause."

"During this meeting, there are some things we need to discuss."

"And they will be over food."

"So, let the dinner commence!" The door glared daggers at each other and you had to keep yourself from rolling your eyes. He was your boss, y'know.

Butlers started wheeling in carts of expensive-looking food. They quickly and efficiently laid them down on the table and whisked themselves away as if they had never been there.

Once the brothers started eating, the teams took that cue to gather food for themselves. The first half of the dinner was eaten in what you perceived as uncomfortable silence. It made you shift in your seat slightly.

"How is the food?" The BLU Strategist asked you. You forced a smile.

"Wonderful," you responded in a curt way, sneaking a glance at Redmond. He looked pleased.

"So, brother, care to explain why your new recruit snuck into my team's living base?" Redmond asked casually.

"I haven't a clue," Blutarch responded and you watched with a slight smirk as the BLU Strategist's blood drained from her face. You took a sip of water to hide your smirk.

"Surely you'll do something about that?"

"Of course. I wouldn't want to forfeit the land to someone as inept as you." Redmond scowled once more.

"As long as something is done..." He responded ominously. You watched as your counterpart stared at her food in fear. You had to stop yourself from snickering. Like they say, karma's a bitch. "Well, Strategist?" Redmond motioned to you. "How did you come up with your plan to win the latest battle?"

"Purely by learning from my last battle and exploiting weaknesses. I suppose you could say in that regard, I had some help," you shot a knowing look at Spy, causing him to smirk slightly. Redmond nodded.

"I see, and how are you liking your new upgrades?"

"They work beautifully." You smiled at the BLU Strategist, and she looked up at you with malice in her eyes.

"I'm glad to hear it."

The dinner continued and finished with the brothers arguing and being pulled away from the table by their respective butlers. Then, the teams had a chance to talk.

"How does it feel ta be the uglier Scout?" Scout asked the BLU Scout.

"You're thick in da head if ya think dat's true," the BLU Scout crossed his arms, defiant. You couldn't help but laugh at the two. "Hey hey, aren't you a cutie?" He elbowed the BLU Soldier, who nodded in agreement.

"Watch it, runt," Demo snarled at the BLU Scout, who held his hands up in an act of surrender.

"Just sayin' what we're all thinkin'."

Demo stood up and walked out of the room, sending a knowing look at you. Scout went to follow him.

"You better watch yer mouth, son, before Ah wipe that smirk off yer face," Engie threatened and then followed Demo. Sniper silently stood up and left the room as well. Pyro, looking around like a lost puppy at seeing his teammates leave him, left as well.

With more... suggestive comments from the BLU Scout, eventually your teammates left in anger except for Medic, Spy, and yourself.

"It iz amazing how dense 'ou are," Spy commented towards the BLU Scout, leaning back in his chair.

"Dat's rich comin' from you," the Scout retorted. You couldn't help but roll your eyes despite how uncomfortable you felt.

Pushing the chair back as he did so, Medic stood up. Without saying a word, one look at the BLU Scout wiped the smirk off his face as it paled. Medic turned around and marched off.

"Yeah, I think we're done here," you stood up, followed by Spy.

"Good to see 'ou, gentlemen," Spy waved at them as he followed you out of the door.

The others were already in the trucks, not speaking. Heavy, as silent as he was already, stared at the road with anger as he drove, not daring to comment on what was said.

"Ah blast them!" Demo cried out, his fists balled in rage. "That bloody Scout's on my list..." He stared at the ground in rage. You gently placed a hand on his shoulder, understanding why he was upset, but also not at the same time.

"Demo, it's okay-" you tried to say.

"As if it is, Lass!" You sighed. You've never seen him this upset. The others grumbled in agreement. Yes, the Scout was... not so enlightened with his choice of words, but it wasn't like you weren't used to this kind of language directed towards you. You knew they had the right to be upset, but all their anger seemed to do was make you more uncomfortable. If anything, you wanted to forget it ever happened and just beat him in the next round.

"I understand." You left it like that. The tension was thick in the truck the whole way home.

The anger in the air hadn't let up either as the truck pulled into the garage. Desperate to escape the situation, you quickly hopped out and sped walked to your room. You could deal with this later.

Ignoring the calls of your name, you closed and locked your room door. You had to get out of this dress. What was once beautiful to you felt nothing more than wretched on your skin.

You did not come out of your room for the rest of the night.