Dell Conagher (AU)

Foreword: This is my headcanon/AU for the canon Engineer from the storyline of the TF2 comics. I label it AU because of the amount of content that is my own, however, nothing specifically infringes on canon, and everything is viable and possible within what canon provides, so technically this makes it a very elaborate headcanon.

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Dell was born and raised as an only child in Bee Cave, TX by his parents, Fred and Mabel Conagher. Given that his paternal lineage was made up of engineers, it was no surprise that Dell had the mindset required of an engineer from a very young age. He showed himself to be incredibly intelligent and ahead of his peers, with the desired mindset of being both practical, logical and creative. He was similar to his grandfather in that regard, and Fred knew that his only son would grow up to be something special, so he devoted all he could into helping Dell meet his dreams (it helped that they were a very wealthy family-- mercenary work pays a lot, especially when you're an engineer). Dell always worked very hard throughout school, being consistently the top of his class throughout grade school AND college, which was quite a feat. When Dell got his first degree, a BS in mechanical engineering, his father helped him to get employed by BLU. He worked with BLU on an oil rig for ten years, whilst working on graduate degree(s) by night.

Dell always knew that BLU's oil rigs were part of the company's puppetry for the feud they kept behind closed doors, but that didn't stop him. It was still a necessity and he was getting paid. In fact, he eventually was put on duty for designing battle artillery for the war, leading to modern designs of the sentry guns, dispensers and teleporters. Blutarch Mann saw his skill and knew about his past connections, so he called Dell in, asking him to fix Blutarch's life extension device that was created by Dell's grandfather, Radigan. Dell claimed he would be unable to fix it without Radigan's notes, as taking the device apart to reverse engineer it would be impossible while it was currently in use, to which Blutarch responded by showing that he had looted Radigan's corpse for the notes and gave it to Dell. Dell was, reasonably, extremely perturbed by this information, and said some not-so-kind things straight to Blutarch's face. He obliged anyway, not wanting to lose his employment and seeing no other option. Dell worked tirelessly to fix the life extension machine and was eventually successful. He also continued to work on improvements for his sentries and what not, inspired by Radigan's notes. But with his success at fixing the life extender, Blutarch took this as his cue to fire Dell. He had exhausted his usefulness and he didn't wish to tolerate the man's behavior any longer.

With that, Dell immediately had a plan on what to do next. He had all of BLU's valuable information and designs, not to mention, knowing the inner workings of the life extension machines. So when the company he had invested years of his life on turned on him, he sought out their rival, RED out of spite. He knew they'd love all this valuable information. RED gladly accepted Dell's plea for employment as he had expected they would, offering to him what BLU had taken advantage of, and showing him more respect. But Dell noticed one thing immediately off the bat. The Administrator that worked for Blutarch Mann also appeared to work for Redmond Mann. Which could only mean that this woman was working both sides, something she dearly would want to keep secret. She threatened Dell, he would not tell anyone of her role in all this, and he agreed. IF she would employ a certain relative of his. You see, Dell's uncle had a twenty-something year old son, with a particular affinity for fire. Dell was quite close to him, knew his talents would be useful to RED, and considering this individual was also having trouble getting a job, Dell wanted to help him out. And to his gratitude, the Administrator accepted this offer.

A year or so later, the Administrator again personally reached out to him, asking him to become an actual combatant for RED, and not just an engineer. They had a shortage going on, and Dell was perfect for the job, having family lineage in the business. Dell saw the pay raise, and knowing it was impossible for him to permanently die due to the Respawn systems, accepted. For several years, he worked hard at this new role and naturally became a very competent fighter. It was like he was born for this role, and he performed it exceedingly well, being a top performer overall. So in 1966, when RED was forming a new team of their most elite mercenaries, he was the first engineer they reached out to. He accepted in a heartbeat and went on to be the renowned engineer of Team Fortress.

The first half of the year went relatively smoothly, until a false report that the teleporters were creating tumors in the users. This terrified Dell that his work had such a fatal flaw that he overlooked, however it ended up being false much to his relief. When the second half of the first year of Team Fortress rolled around, the team was finally provided with their tactician, who had previously been finishing the contract with her old team. Team Fortress was immediately effected by her arrival, seeing a soar in performance, and finally being on par with the enemy, if not better. But none of the team was effected as much as Dell was. Dell immediately hit it off with Irene, as he learned her name was. They had to initially speak a lot over business since Dell had been juggling the role of tactician before her arrival, but it turned out they had much more in common, having comparable educational backgrounds and an overlap of interest. It surprised nobody when they eventually hooked up.

Eventually, with Gray Mann's acquisition of RED and BLU, the Machine Wars rolled in, and Dell, in addition to his nine teammates, were all immediately recruited to fight against the machines. They would now be under Mann Co, and they were given a lot more freedoms in addition to a fatter paycheck. But the wars ended as quickly as they began, leaving the mercenaries jobless by 1972, including Dell. The Administrator goes into hiding, and immediately the Administrator reaches out to Dell to work for her. He agrees as long as Irene may come as well, and she accepts his conditions out of desperateness. For six months, the three of them stick together, Dell helping the Administrator stay alive while Irene is tasked with locating the remaining australium on the earth. 

I wanted to describe the next events instead of citing a source, but unfortunately comic 7 has not released so this one sentence paragraph regretfully has to exist.

After the wrap up of the Australium Rush, Dell proposes to Irene and they decide to settle down and start a family. Dell observed their aging however and knew that both of them were relatively old to have children, both being in their forties at this point. He prepared for this, having a secret unmarked cache of australium that he kept in a safe beneath his house. He used what he learned with his time with the Administrator to deage himself and Irene twenty years, allowing them ample time and youth to raise a family, in addition to being able to watch them grow up. They had three children: Abby, Nate, and Nick Conagher.