Cracking The Commander (DJ x Commander)

CHAPTER 15

Since the news broke of Commander's healing, things have gone back to normal. Training sessions picked up in frequency, sadly, Commander was (still rarely) seen around the base, and the towers were getting used to being thrown around again. No grueling battles have been announced though, as everyone was fairly used to going on minor, scheduled battles that Medic directed, all without Commander.

Weekdays easily got exhausting with Commander finally returning to his typical behavior, but because of Commander's roughness on them before, it was only customary. Weekends still remain to be the team's favorite days.

DJ was a big fan of Sundays. Typically those days were break days, no enemy attacks, no training, nothing. It was great to finally kick back and relax just for a day.

He was lounging around with a handful of his teammates as he usually did on these days. It was quiet, many of them were dozing off or fiddling around with their own tools (like Electroshocker, who was busying himself with some weird ass contraption he built). DJ himself was messing with his laptop, not paying much attention to his surroundings.

The silence was great, maybe too great because it was soon interrupted with the rapid thudding of boots. The lobby door swung open with a disruptive slam, causing numerous towers to jump and whip their heads around to see what the issue was.

In came Scout, panting and very red in the face. It looked like he ran across the entire base just to deliver news.

"Guys, guys!" He shouted. "Dad- Commander told me we have a battle planned for next week!"

"WHAT?!"

Well there went DJ's relaxing Saturday...

Everyone's heads popped up, followed by outraged complaints and shouts.

"Seriously? Is he stupid or something? He just got bit during a battle!" Cried Demoman.

"I know, I was thinking that too. I get that it was months ago, but...come on, man. He's just looking for trouble at this point," another tower, namely Shotgunner, agreed.

Cowboy scoffed from his spot on the floor. "It wouldn't be the first time he made a stupid decision." He received a few glares at that. "Whaaat? I'm bein' honest! He ain't the brightest sometimes, yeah?"

Murmuring ensued, quiet agreements at his excuse. DJ rolled his eyes. A weird flare of defensiveness bubbled beneath his skin. Don't they know how much effort Commander puts into this team?

DJ huffed, "Come on, man. Commander's not stupid, I'm sure there's a reason why he's doing that."

"Why are you defending him?" Shotgunner asked.

"Of course DJ's defending Boss. That's his boyfriend we're talking about," Sniper snickered into his hand. As his typical response to his teammates' needless teasing, DJ felt his face flush hot.

"Can you guys be mature for one second?" DJ crossed his arms frustratedly. He hoped the warmth of his face wasn't visible. The looks of shock and bewilderment made DJ cringe — he definitely said something wrong. Whatever it was, he knew it wasn't going to slip past them very easily.

...

"What the hell has Commander done to you?" Mortar raised a brow, pausing his chewing on a bagel he had in hand. "You of all people asking us to be mature? Did all that time with Commander brainwash you or something?"

"One, you're getting crumbs literally everywhere. Two, I'm not brainwashed, I was just defending myself, dude!" The more he tried to excuse himself, the worse it got. "He's your guys' leader. You guys should have some respect...for...him..." He caught himself repeating the same silly phrase Commander himself exclaimed when he felt he was being disrespected. Shit. Maybe they were right; Commander was influencing him.