Dr. Engel heaved a tired sigh as he closed the door to his quarters. The last of the day's battle-wounded patients were finally tended and off to bed. It was beginning to seem to him that he was always the last to get any sleep in the place. His aching body shivered with relief as he sank onto his cot, leaning his shoulder against the comforting coolness of the painted block wall. Engel smiled faintly to himself, knowing that, though he was always last to bed, the team as a whole was getting more sleep since their 'arrangements' with BLU… an agreement to not kill members of the opposing teams.

The selective armistice had allowed everyone to breathe a little more easily, but it certainly didn't dim anyone's competitive spirit. It became a contest to find creative ways to harass the opposing team, to bloody them up, without ending their lives. That was two months ago, and it felt strange to Engel to finally be with a RED group long enough to make it worth knowing their real names (though he still rarely called his allies by them). It was a pleasant surprise to him that many of his teammates also bothered to learn his name, though he was still 'Medic' during battle.

In the dim light of the single bulb in his quarters, the RED Medic smoothed his lab coat, as though restoring his usually-clean appearance might ease the tense feeling in his muscles. His gloves crinkled faintly as he gripped his medigun and raised the barrel of the instrument upward. Even through his gloves he could feel the soothing warmth of the device, driving away some of the chill so prevalent in the poorly-heated base. Engel rested his chin on the barrel of the medigun, and slid one hand slowly along the glorious contours of his healing companion before letting it rest on the trigger lever. He glanced briefly back to his door, and, seeing that it was indeed locked, he gave the lever a gentle flick.

An ethereal, faintly-glowing red plume issued from the barrel of the gun. The warm caress of its healing energies against his skin caused Engel to shudder with delight… and anticipation. His eyes slid shut, and he parted his lips, as though in preparation for a lover's kiss. The Medic inhaled a deep, slow breath, feeling that glowing warmth rush down his throat and fill his expanding lungs. That delicious heat spread rapidly, carrying with it an almost electric tingling sensation. Engel's eyes lazily slid open to a different world.

The light from the bulb hanging overhead seemed shattered into a million different colors that cascaded over everything in the room, giving each object its own sort of strange texture. The dancing lights created a kind of indescribable music, a symphony of discordant and beautiful melodies. Every throbbing beat of his heart caused the swimming colors in Engel's vision to ripple and pulse. A fly buzzed by so slowly that the doctor could see its individual wing beats, and the wake of colors it trailed behind it in the air. In his state of euphoria, Engel found even this repulsive, unsanitary insect to be beautiful. The words "mein Gott" escaped his lips, a barely-audible whisper.

After a too-brief moment, the Medic exhaled. A few faint red wisps of vapor curled away from his nostrils and slightly open mouth like smoke before gently flowing away into oblivion. The vivid colors drained away from his vision; replaced by the drab dullness of reality… at least the pain in his muscles had faded as well, exactly as he'd hoped.

Engel unbuckled the harness that lay across his chest and waist, and allowed the heavy pack that the medigun was fed from to fall free from his back, onto the bed. He placed the entire device on the floor at the foot of his bed with a satisfied smile. One more day of battle, and then he could enjoy the relaxation of the weekend ceasefire, which couldn't come soon enough as far as he was concerned.

The doctor stripped to his boxers, neatly folding his clothes before gently placing his glasses atop them. He noticed that, in the afterglow of his 'indulgence,' he seemed to be able to feel every thread of the sheets against his skin as he pulled them over himself. Engel couldn't help but smile again as his eyes slid shut. He would not get to rest as long as the rest of the team, but it would be a damned good sleep…