I was very tired and stressed and wound-up and then this just happened. So I guess you could call this a vent fic.

You think you let me keep my mask because it was the kind thing to do. Trust me, Monsieur, I know you better than you do.

You let me keep the mask because I look less human to you that way. It's easier for you to believe this little delusion of yours with one less reminder of my humanity.

I should just rip it off. Let you see me. All of me. Force you to accept that I'm a real person. But I can't stand the thought.

You've already seen all my scars. All my flaws. But my face is still one last poorly kept secret neither of us want to reveal. In this alone our interests coincide.

So I let you keep up this charade.

But don't you think, even for one second, that I am complacent.

In taking away my knife and my gun and my sapper and my watch and my suit, you thought you'd de-clawed me.

Oh, Monieur, oh dearest RED Sniper, how you are wrong.

No matter how many times you call me 'pet' it wont turn me into the little stray cat you mistook me for. You should know by now from the look in my eyes that you've caught yourself something far more wild. More dangerous.

Oh of course, I calmed down after a few days. Started acting malleable. But you certainly haven't tamed me like you think you have. The only reason you believe in this facade is because it's exactly what you want to see.

And you are exactly the madman your father claims you to be. I'd tell you that if I could talk.

I must admit here that I have to accept some responsibility for this situation. I certainly never meant to encourage you to act this way, but I was lonely and you were there. I never intended to befriend an enemy, but when there's no one on your team to turn to, even spies make mistakes. My mistake was trusting you. Ignoring the little hints. The pet names. The accidentally-on-purpose moments of contact.

There's no one else on either side who's ever treated me like a human being, so I guess that made it harder to spot when you stopped doing so too. Maybe you never did in the first place. Maybe all the times you were staring down at me through your scope, you just saw a little feral BLU cat. Oh yes, I know about those times. Long before you ever started talking to me. Why else do you think I avoided you to begin with? But as I said, loneliness won over in the end.

I'm lonely now. I miss you when you're gone. I hate you but I miss you. How contrary. I don't know is this is Stockholm syndrome kicking in or merely boredom.

It gives me lots of time to think though. Time to plan.

You say my team has already replaced me. Given up the search and got someone in who's new and better. Taken me out of respawn. That without your care I'll die for real this time, and that the same will happen if I cause you too much trouble.

Well, I can tell you, Monsieur, that I don't care anymore. I can't stand to live like this a day longer. I'm not your pet. I'm not your plaything. I'm a human being and a spy and my sharpest weapon is my mind. You haven't de-clawed me, you've just backed me into a corner. And this is when both animals and humans fight back the hardest.

I'm waiting for you, Monsieur. I'm tugging at this collar and waiting for you. I've been a good boy. I hope you've got a treat for me because oh how you deserve what I've got for you.

Hurry back, dear Sniper.

I'm waiting for you.