Soft voices. Neo opened her eyes to find herself back in the RED Base. Arthur was standing nearby and he saw her wake. "Ah, you're avake!"

"Of course I'm awake... How long was I out?"

"Vell... It's 1425 now... All morning."

Neo relaxes a bit. She hadn't worried them too much, did she? "Where did y' find me...? Who found me...?"

"Ve have no idea, ve found you near the entrance of ze Respawn, just barely alive. You didn't respawn once in ze entire match!"

Not once? Impressive... But that also meant that she was stuck in the RED Base with an injury that would've healed if she had went through the respawn. The Medic walks out of the infirmary, probably to tell her teammates that she was OK.

The silence following that was only broken occasionally by the coos of the doves in the ward. The Demoman took the opportunity to collect her thoughts. First, she tried to remember what had happened before she fainted. She had been hiding... The only things she could remember distinctly was the pain in her side, her labored breathing and the muffled sound of gunfire that gradually got closer... Then a tall figure ran inside, not noticing her at first... Then he spotted and recognized the injured wolf-girl... His identity falls into place. She sighs. She didn't need his help! Maybe he felt some debt towards her and decided to repay it then. It was his fault she was stuck in the RED Medical Ward now.

Then the entire RED team comes in at once, surprising Neo. She recovers and tries to fend off her teammates alongside Arthur and Fablotic. Eventually they settled down. Arthur insisted that the wolf need a bit more rest before she could leave, and the others reluctantly left.

- - -

The rest of the afternoon went by in a flash. By evening, Arthur stopped fussing over Neo and let her go out to be with her teammates. He also warned her away from roughhousing with Jon, which was something they tended to do.

She was greeted warmly and they sat down to a big game of cards. Eventually, Starfall got frustrated and accused Frice of cheating, which turned into an argument that several of us tried to stop, ending in a forfeited game and an irritated Spy and Soldier.

Neo grinned when she saw the death glares they gave each other. Just another typical night for Starfall and the rest of the crew.

Jon seemed to become involved in a heated conversation with Starfall and Tom over how they were going to fight without explosive defenses. Artemis eventually got bored with fiddling with a pencil and a piece of scrap paper. "So... Do ya think Doc's going to let you fight tomorrow?"

"Probably not," Neo replied, "You saw how he was fussing over me earlier." And she was still a bit angry for receiving unwanted help from the enemy Spy.

The Sniper reclined, "That's a given. We're going to miss you out on the field."

"And I'm going to hate being stuck inside."

They sit in silence, listening to Starfall map out battle plans for the next day's match. Soon, we turned in, one by one. Neo put up a few good excuses for sleeping in her own bunk, but finally she gave in to Arthur, who said that it would be better for her to stay in the infirmary that night. So she did, reluctantly. Her dreams were nothing but chaos.

- - -

Neo woke up early the next day. She was back on her old schedule, getting up at 0530. Nobody was up yet, not even the Medic, so she got up and examined her bandages. She had had a bad night- they had a bit of fresh blood on them. But they didn't seem to be paining her at the moment.

She slipped quietly into the kitchen and made herself breakfast. She didn't expect anyone to get up soon. The Demoman went outside. It was a cool morning, and it made her happy. Her ear pricked up slightly and she turned to go back inside. Frice was up now. Neo decided not to return to the infirmary until Arthur made her, which might be after he got up. She stayed and socialized with the rest of the REDs until Arthur finally got up. He was slightly annoyed at the wolf-girl, but he just said that he would check her before they left for the day. Apparently, they had two battles today: Sawmill and Viaduct, which nobody liked because of the alpine weather. Neo was just fine with it, but she couldn't go to any because of her injury. Jon protested quite a bit, saying that she would be fine, but Arthur managed to convince him otherwise.

So Neo stayed. By herself, since she put up a good argument stating that she could look after herself all day. The German changed her bandages, made sure she knew where everything was, then he left with the rest of the team.

Neo was grateful for the silence. She spent the rest of the morning finding what she could do and the limits. By noon, she had found most of her current limits. Then it got boring. She walked outside after eating, quickly climbed to the roof and sat on the edge, looking out towards the BLU base. It gave the wolf a chance to sort out her thoughts.

The she got the perfect idea. If, in fact, the entire of the BLU team was at the matches, then she could easily find out what the BLUs did in their down time. So she climbed down and headed towards the opposing base.

Neo was surprised at how similar the two bases were. It was a bit more untidy than the RED base, but it seemed a lot like home. Then she thought she heard footsteps nearby, so she ran back to her base as fast as she could. Maybe they had held one of their teammates back so they wouldn't have an unfair advantage? Or maybe Felix had gotten found out.

Either way, she didn't stop until she got to the entrance of her base. The wolf watched the BLU base for any sign of motion, but saw none. A decloak sound nearby. Neo turns around to see Felix, the last person she wanted to see. "Look, I-"

"You're sorry? Well look at me! I'm stuck here with an injury that would've healed if I had gone through the respawn!" She interrupts him.

He goes silent. Neo sees her mistake, "OK, we're even. I'm sorry. We've both been stupid. Now why are you here and not there?"

"Let's just say that I might have been seen during the last battle. But the others made me return after they noticed the decrease in the defensive part of your team." he said.

"It was going to happen someday..." huffs the Demoman. "But this was the last thing I was expecting."

They sit in silence for a little while. Neo dares to break the silence, "It's us against the world, eh?"

"Pretty much..."

Something was on the Spy's mind, she could tell. "What's wrong?"

He sighs, "Nothing."

She pressed him gently for something, "I can hear it in your tone."

Felix looks over at her. "I feel like I've forgotten something... Something about you."

"Something..." Neo thinks for a minute. There seemed to be a gap in her memories. A gap where she knew something happened, but she couldn't remember, like a dream. You feel it there, but when you reach for it, it runs away. "You're right... Something just isn't there..."

"Something must have happened... Are we the only ones affected?"

"I'll have t' ask... But someone might think somethin's up."

"We should try to avoid that."

"And that's coming from a Spy that was found out and suffering from selective amnesia." laughs Neo.

"You are too!" He retorts.

The Demoman's ears prick up. It sounded like the team was returning. "Quick, run!" She hisses to Felix. He jumps up and cloaks. Disembodied footsteps told Neo that he was running back to his base. She walked back inside the RED base.

The rest of the team was just coming back in. "How did it go?" She asked Jon.

"Pretty well. We only lost Viaduct. Go figure." the Scout replies. "Didja like having the base to yourself?"

"It was quiet." laughs Neo.

"I bet." says Starfall. Her tone sounded like she didn't like losing at Viaduct. She never liked losses. And it seemed like she knew something... Something bad. Something about Neo. Neo tried to push the worrying thought aside, but she couldn't. She only tried to keep a good poker face, hoping that it wasn't going to come out.

She walked out to where Artemis had her camper van parked. "Hey, Arty?"

"Wot is it, mate?" The Australian girl asks, "An' I thought I told you t' not call me Arty."

"Sorry, but do you feel like you've forgotten something? Something that happened a little while ago- A few months maybe?"

Artemis froze for a second, then turned to look at Neo. "There is... Something. A gap... Why do y' ask?"

"Because I have it too." says Neo.

Artemis jumps out of her van. "Do not ask anyone else, OK? It just doesn't feel right."

Neo nods, even though she was dying to ask someone else. She went back inside the base, the sharpshooter right behind her.

---

(this one is really long oh my god OTL)