The cast and characters of Team Fortress 2 present:

Time and Time again

Or

Spy in, Spy out.

Chapter One: A mystery, and champagne.


Saturday night. An end to the fighting… for now. The Announcer had granted both teams a ceasefire for the weekend, and already the BLU team had plans; mostly involving Demomans secret stash of scrumpy and my secret stash of champagne.

What? It's not like I ever authorise them to steal it.

I look around the room. Soldier, ranting at anyone who would listen about how atrocious they all were, and how they were a bunch of effeminate maggots who belonged in a nursery instead of a battlefield.

Sniper and Engineer, not listening to a word the Soldier was saying, playing chess in the corner.

Scout, doing whatever Scout did. I don't really take an interest in him.

Heavy, on the only sofa large enough to accommodate his bulk, fast asleep. He always fell asleep after a battle.

Medic, absent. Most likely fixing up Pyro, who'd suffered a knife wound in the leg.

Demoman, drunk in the corner. As usual.

And… me.

Spy.

The untrustworthy, backstabbing, scoundrel. Usually that description filled me with warmth; it meant I was doing my job properly. Not today, though. I'm beginning to lose the point. Why are the two teams - RED and BLU - fighting? What is the point of killing one another, over and over again?

The suspicion that we were being manipulated grew when I managed to sneak a talk with my RED counterpart. He, too, was questioning the motives of his contractor.

After Scout caught me unawares, talking to him, though, I had to stop.

Even now, the members of BLU occasionally look at me as if to say; 'You're up to something. I'm keeping my eye on you.'

I stand up, out of the shadow I'd been sitting in. Scout glances at me, and Engineer sends a quizzical glance my way.

I twitch my head in answer, and walk out of the room. I never really feel a part of the ceasefire festivities. Plotting, planning, thinking up new ways to outsmart my RED counterpart – it's all in the job description. I never rest.

It's not like I don't appreciate the ceasefire… Only that a Spy's job never ends. I live for the battle. I have no home to 'return' to, when my contract runs out. It's just… me.

Spy.

Now wandering aimlessly down the long corridors of whatever base we were currently using – after years of wood, and steel, and concrete, it becomes a blur – I end up in the Intelligence room. Again.

Settling in the chair behind the desk, I stare at the briefcase. "if only I could see what is inside of you… Maybe I would find out what exactly what we are fighting for…" I mutter, and pull the case towards me, fiddling with the combination lock.

"Yo, Spy!"

I glance up and scowl. Scout had followed me. He never could resist the urge to taunt me…

"What is it you want, Scout?" I put all the venom I can into that sentence.

"Uh… You got a letter." Scout crosses the room and lays the purple envelope on the desk. I glance at it briefly.

"I never get letters. You must be mistaken."

"Uh, no… Unless your name isn't Aleixandre Espion?"

I scowl again at Scout. I'm now regretting telling him my name. "Fine. I do have a letter. Now go away. I'm busy."

Scout shrugs. "Oh, yeah… Soldier says 'you'd better get your French ass down here with your champagne this instant, backstabber, or I'll ransack your room again'. His words, not mine."

"I'll be down later. Now leave me alone."

Scout shrugs again. "My headset's on, and it's still linked with your earbud, so if you want anything, just call."

I stand up swiftly, trying to control my temper. "Fine. Fine! Now leave, or my knife will find itself embedded in your back!"

Scout raises an eyebrow at me. "You wouldn't."

"I certainly would. Get going."

Scout leaves the room, leaving me to puzzle over the briefcase again. I don't even look at the letter. I think, now, that if I had then I wouldn't be in this perilous situation.

It's funny how, even though it is supposed to be our Intelligence, No-one on the team knows what's inside… I doubt even Soldier, who pretends to lead us, knows.

I fiddle with the buttons on the Intelligence again. I know the combination isn't the same as the door lock… That would be pathetic.

My fingers trail over the buttons. If I was the lock, what would my combination be…?

Something simple enough to remember, but hard enough to figure out. That rules out the 'all four numbers the same' trick.

Usually a name, a birth date. A name with four letters, perhaps?

I glance around the room for inspiration. A name with four letters and it must be prominent and memorable…

My gaze hits the purple envelope lying forlornly on the desk. As well as my name, which is worrying in itself, I notice a scrawl in tiny writing on the corner.

"Mann?"

I shrug and decide to give it a try. Converting letters to numbers, 'Mann' is 13-1-14-14.

That won't fit on the nine-number keypad. So I add the numbers that have two digits together.

4-1-5-5.

I key the code in, and the Intelligence – what both teams are fighting for – opens up.

I take out the topmost file and scan through it. And the next.

These files are gibberish! One file contains the phrase 'The cake is a lie', over and over again. Another phrase seems to be a crudely drawn figure of a man in a hood, crouched as if to pounce and strike.

And then one file catches my eye. It is addressed to me.

'Open the envelope'

I look at the letter. It seems so sinister, just lying there.

I pick it up, and pull out my butterfly-knife to slit the flap. Overkill, yes, but my letter-opener is back in my room.

The envelope contains one small piece of purple notepaper, with two words.

'Behind you.'

I turn, but not fast enough. Something heavy from behinds thwacks into my skull, and though my hair beneath the mask cushions the blow, it is still enough to send me unconscious.


O.o What is the motive behind this mysterious attack on BLU spy? Who set him up, with the code on the envelope and the file in the case?

Is the cake really a lie?

Will the Demoman get drunk? (yes)

Will Pyro take off his mask?

Find out the answers to these questions and more, in the next instalment!