Love & The Battlefield

by cassidy6

A story written for my friend, about my OC and hers, along with some familiar TF2 characters with names and personalities given by me. Plenty of drama, but sadly kind of predictable Enjoy anyways!

Cassandra knew it would be difficult. Years of waiting on a list in which she was certain she had been skipped proved this.

'Times have changed, women are allowed in the war now!' she thought to herself as she made her way to the enrollment office to fill out yet another form, hers had long since expired. She sighed when she thought about the possible long lines that awaited her as she turned into the driveway which, she noticed, was not as packed as she expected. As she parked in a nearby space, unbuckled her seat belt, opened her car door, and began walking towards the transparent glass door that housed her hopeful future, her heart sank. 'Oh, God..What if he's here..Again!'

She wasn't really one to hate, but she could safely say she absolutely despised the man. Every time she came in to register, he would be constantly belittling her calling her "woman" and "maggot" instead of her name, which she was positive he knew, since he'd seen her information a dozen times over. Long story short, as long as Sydney's anywhere near the counter, she knows her information isn't going anywhere. Her feeling receded, and she breathed a sigh of relief as she opened the door and Sydney was nowhere to be seen. There was instead a very nice young lady on the company computer, tapping on the keyboard, who looked up and smiled up at Cassandra.

"Good afternoon, Ma'am! How may I help you?"

She smiled,

"Oh, yes Ma'am, I was wondering if I could get an enrollment request form?"

The woman hesitated, "Um, yes, right there."

She motioned to the pile of papers on the counter, as Cassandra walked over to pick one up, the woman couldn't hold her curiosity,

"Excuse me, but are you signing up, or are you getting one for a brother or boyfriend-"

"No, Ma'am, it's for me, I've been signing up for well over four years now, but my papers always seem to get 'misplaced' "

The woman marveled at her, "Wow, that's amazing! It's only first day on the job, and I never expected to see another female in here, I apologize.."

"No, no, it's fine. I get it all the time-"

She stopped when she heard an all to familiar voice in the office behind the counter where the woman was stationed, Cassandra noticed she put her hand on her head and sighed quietly, she didn't blame her, for she knew who that annoying, high pitched voice belonged to, and she braced herself for the upcoming reunion with Sydney. He came out, laughing rather loudly at something someone in the office had said, Cassandra quickly sat down in a plastic blue chair and begins filling out her paperwork. Sydney puts his arms on the new woman's shoulders and rubs them vigorously, a look of disgust planted on the woman's face. "How you doing, you holding up okay? I know it's hard for women to keep up with us."

Cassandra glanced at the woman, she could see the fury in her eyes. She mouthed a silent sorry to her, to which the woman replied 'Thank You', rolled her eyes and forced a smile in Sydney's direction.

"No, I'm doing fine, thank you for your concern, Sir."

He smiled at her briefly, "I appreciate a woman with respect, they're so rare.."

She nods approvingly, "Yes, Sir."

Cassandra quietly wrote her information, hoping he wouldn't notice her, but the sudden loud throat clearing confirmed her fear.

"Cassandra Lynn, still haven't gotten in? You've been trying for how long? Why don't you just give up?"

"Because Sir, I want to join the battle more than anything, and these constant mishaps with my information isn't enough to keep me away from my calling."

It was subtle, but the corners of Sydney's mouth twitched, as if attempting a smile, and Cassandra could have sworn she saw an impressed look hidden in the wrinkles of his face, aged from the stress of war.

"Hm, you've got guts, if nothing else. Talking to me like that, knowing I'm responsible for all the paperwork here."

His snarky voice echoed through the nearly empty building, and Cassandra's anger festered and boiled inside her, but she refused to let it show, she was certain Sydney would view losing her calm a 'weakness'. Instead, she finished filling out her paperwork, stood up from her chair, made her short journey to the front counter, where Sydney's face was stone, and the woman was obviously extremely impressed with her behavior. Cassandra smiled and handed her papers to him, confusion crept up on the man's face.

"Well, since I had the honor of you showing up when you did, I can just hand you my information, have you look it over, and you can give this nice woman an early lunch."

She smiled at the receptionist, who was at an absolute loss for words, Sydney cleared his throat.

"I don't think you understand, Miss Lynn, but she was specifically hired to look over and organize-"

"Oh, you don't want her to do that, Sydney sir! Remember, we women aren't near as good at that as you men! If you want something done right, do it yourself!"

He said nothing, but instead snatched Cassandra's papers from her hands.

"Point taken! Mrs. Eubanks, go take an early lunch, you will not return until 1300 hours, is that understood!"

She quickly glanced up at the clock, only 11:15. She smiled, "Yes, Sir!"

She grabbed her car keys from her desk and smiled at Cassandra.

"Thank you so much, you're amazing! I really hope you get in, you'd be a wonderful addition!"

"Thanks, and you're welcome, enjoy your lunch!"

"I will!"

As the woman sped off in her car, Cassandra smiled at the good deed she just did, turned to Sydney, who was actually reading her information.

"Have a good day, sir, and I really would try my absolute hardest if enrolled."

With that, she gripped her own car keys and exited the building without another word.

A few weeks after that day, she found an unmarked manila envelope in her mailbox, she brought it along with the rest of the mail inside, setting the other envelops and coupons on her kitchen table, before pulling out the chair and sitting in it. As she carefully opened the envelope, curiosity overwhelmed her, she had no idea what to expect. The first paper she pulled out was an official-looking paper, with an insignia of a wrench and the word 'BLU' in the middle of it. Her heart fluttered as the next paper, she noticed, was a copy of her information with a giant red "Approved" stamp over it. She had done it, she made it into the war after all her patience and determination, she's finally a demo woman for BLU. The smile on her face widened when she saw the tiny note handwritten in the corner, it read "Thanks again for that day! Had them push your paperwork ahead, don't make me regret it! Good luck! ^.^"

Cassandra laughed to herself, 'It's amazing what one good deed can do for one's self '

She giggled again, and read her departure date, her plane leaves in 3 days. She sighed, 'At least they give me a heads up..I gotta pack!'

As she filled her bags with various clothes and other necessities, she began to think of what made her want to do this in the first place, every gun her uncle brought around she could fire and hit her mark every time, but what she really enjoyed was explosives. Rather it be rigging them up herself, or just watching her uncle attempt one of his many crazy experiments, she knew from an early age she was meant to do something with demolition, and since she's also an exceptional marksman, she figured war would be a breeze for her, it's been her dream, and now, it can finally become a reality. The training will be no problem, either, she studied the daily army routine, and does double that, everyday. After her bags were packed, she decided to read the guidelines:

"Do NOT discuss with anybody else what you're a part of , this is NOT the normal army! You have been chosen for your exceptional skills to be a member of BLU, the company of the future. Our enemy, RED, an evil, corrupt company based on taking over land and controlling the people on it, little by little until they control the world, so it's up to us to eliminate them and keep the peace, as secretly as possible. You have been selecting as one of the BLU's Demomen, they are a fairly vital part of the war, their understanding of explosives and where to set them strategically is necessary for a formidable defense as well as offense. We cannot stress the importance of this next part enough: Killing is Necessary! If you cannot kill, you do NOT belong with us! There are two copies of this letter, one has a line for the final signature we need from you, which you will give to your instructor upon arrival to the base, signed. Your signature means you give your life to us, and promise to uphold what few simple rules we have: Be responsible for you actions, Be respectful to your instructor, and the last and most important rule, Do NOT, for ANY reason, associate with the REDs! The only communication should be on the battlefield, and that is ALL! Failure to follow any of these rules, especially the latter, will result in a permanent nullification of this contract as well as a dishonorable discharge that will make sure you NEVER set foot on another army base. If the above seems too risky, then don't sign up, we don't need you! However, if you agree to the terms, sign on the dotted line provided and welcome to BLU!"

Cassandra scoffed and signed her name with hesitation, 'Not a normal army? Chosen for my skill? Excellent! Of course I'm not going to let this opportunity pass me by, I was top of all my marksmen classes and I join boot camps for fun! Maybe this BLU army can actually challenge me! I'm looking forward to it!'

She sighed and put her papers back in the envelope of their origin, then set the pale, creamy colored document container on her nightstand, and rubbed her eyes, she glanced at the digital clock hanging in the corner of her room, 6:30.

'Figures the one day I check the mail late something as important as this would come in. Oh well, a quick shower then it's off to bed.'

She grabbed a change of clothes and went into the washroom which connected to her bedroom.

Cassandra spent her last two days telling her parents and friends she's going to another special class, she hated lying to them, but she had to follow the contract. Other activities included get together with said family and friends, even a going away party for her, she loved everyone in her life, but in order to function properly on the field she had to try to keep her feelings in check, she can't afford distraction out there. Cassandra took another look at her passport and ticket, which was also enclosed in the envelope. She started collected her bags as the taxi she was riding in neared the Airport. She looked around the cab for the meter to determine the price for the ride, and still couldn't find it as the driver came to a smooth and silent stop in front of the airport. Cassandra sighed, "How much do I owe you, sir?"

"Don't worry about it, Ma'am, I'm one of the many agents working for the Administrator, she covered the expenses for everyone's trip, this isn't even a real taxi, see? No meter."

She smiled, "Yeah I noticed."

She pulled out a 20 dollar bill and handed it to the man, who didn't react immediately.

"Please take it, I know you were already paid, much more than this probably, but it just doesn't feel right to me, so please accept this for your trouble."

The man sighed, "Well, whatever makes you happy,"

He gently took the bill and smiled warmly at her, "Thanks, and good luck!"

"I appreciate the ride, thanks so much!"

As she grabbed her bags and opened the door, she realized she had NO idea where this base was even located! The letter never mentioned where they'd be going.

'This Admin seems to like to keep us in the dark..' Cassandra thought to herself as she made her way into the airport. Once inside, someone, she assumed another agent, guided her to an area where others with the same destination waited for the plane to arrive. She took a seat beside a smiling woman, which both surprised and relieved her. She was talking to a rather tall and lanky man who was standing up to stretch, he seemed very uninterested in what the girl, who appeared to be a bit shorter than average, was saying to him. She sighed loudly, and adjusted the gray baseball cap that rested backwards on her head.

"So, Snipes, what do you think about all of this? What do you think's gonna happen?"

The man sighed and sat beside her, and removed his gold tinted sunglasses so he could rub the ridge of his nose and eyes simultaneously, "Not sure, mate, but I reckon they'll fill us in when we get wherever it is we're going."

His voice was laced with a strong Australian accent, and sounded dry and scratchy. The girl sat back in her chair and sighed again, then gasped when she caught sight of Cassandra.

"Hello there! I'm relieved to see another girl here! My name's Jewels, I was hired as a Scout, but I also double as a Sniper, and yes, I may be short, but it just makes hiding all the easier. Unfortunately, for my good friend Snipes, he's the opposite and makes his job harder-"

"Oi, I've been sniping since before you were born, and I have no problems finding spots to stake out, you wanka!"

Jewels jumped up and hugged the man's waist, "No, don't be angry, I'm sorry! I already know you're an amazing marksman, that's why I asked you to teach me your tricks!"

She looked up at the man, the size difference was more visible than ever, "And I know you're a very kindhearted man because you agreed to do it!"

She hugged him tighter then let go as she heard him grumble incoherently, so as not to aggravate him further. Just then, a rather young looking man with short, brown hair, though it was mostly covered by a forward baseball cap that appeared to be more square on the top than Cassandra was used to seeing, and he had a single orange headphone covering his left ear, appeared with two cans of soda and handing one to Jewels, who had sat back down in her original seat, then kept one for himself. He sat on the other side of her and playfully pulled her cap off, her deep blue hair underneath messy and slightly matted with the shape of the hat, proof that she probably rarely takes it off. He quickly replaced it, and she sighed, "Ugh, don't do that! What was that for anyway, Jake?"

The addressed man smiled, "I wanted to see what you were hiding under there, that's all."

Jewels scoffed, "And what did you expect to find?"

"Nothing' really,but I did see something that made it worth it."

A short silence, then the man spoke again, with his Bostonian accent, "The most beautiful hair color I've ever seen."

She gasped quietly, Cassandra smiled and turned her attention to the Sniper, which, she noticed, hasn't sat back down yet, he seemed distant, lonely, and she hated to see someone upset like that, especially before a war, so she cleared her throat.

"Excuse me, Sniper? Pardon my asking, but are you alright?"

He slowly turned to her, his eyes staying stern and cold, " As fine as I've ever been, mate. Why? Did I appear upset to you?"

"Yes, a little. Do you want to sit down?"

The tall man just turns away from her, and stares into the distance, "Nah, I'm fine where I am."

Cassandra sighed quietly, she wasn't going to give up on him, but she couldn't blame him for not wanting to talk to her, after all, he doesn't know her. She suddenly perked up as she thought of something she could discuss with the loner.

"So, about Jewels, are you really going to teach her? That's awful nice of you."

He scoffed, "I just don't like seeing talent wasted is all."

When he heard yet another disappointed sigh escape from Cassandra's lips, he slowly turned back to her, she had her elbows on her legs and her hands were holding up her head, she was slightly hunched over in thought. The way she looked caused him to smile slightly, and even chuckle briefly.

"Oi, you look like a child that didn't get what they wanted for Christmas!"

Cassandra looked up at him, "Well I just wanted to engage conversation with you, because you appear to be alone and seemed to have a lot on your mind, I don't think it's wise to go into a war if you're not clearheaded, and I know you don't know me, but I try to help people any way I can, and I thought maybe I could help you, but you seem so uninterested in me."

The man stared at her, "Why would you want to help someone you barely know? Don't make any bloody sense, do you have any idea how many times I've been in battle, and how many people I've killed?"

Cassandra paused, "No, I don't, but I'm a very positive person, and when I see someone with a problem I want to hear about it and try to help them, it's just my nature."

The man laughed, and turned away again, "That kind of attitude will get you killed, Shelia, especially where we're going, if you see someone dying out there on the field, would you stop to give them some of your bloody 'advice' then?"

Cassandra's tone changed dramatically, "I'm a completely different person on the battlefield."

The man 'hmph'ed and turned to Cassandra for the second time, "Glad to hear it, I heard not many people get to go to the war we're going to. I'm not one to judge by gender, everyone's here because their the best, so what's your talent, mate?"

"Explosives, I'm a demolition specialist."

Sniper uttered an impressed grunt and put his hand thoughtfully on his chin.

"Really? Well now that you mention it, you do seem like the demo type."

She blinked, "How do you figure?"

"Well, you shoulders seem well toned, which means you probably work with you arms a lot. I'm assuming you have to be pretty good with firearms to get where you are now, so your muscle is probably from constant work with guns, a class or two maybe? And obviously with explosions, so you legs must be pretty lean, too, considering the sometimes surprising weight of most explosives."

Cassandra blinked, "Wow, you figured all that out just by looking at me?"

The man smiled at her again, "Aye, So I was right, then?"

She nodded slowly with a grin on her face, happy to be engaging conversation with the previously silent man,who chuckled at the sight of her again.

"Well, since you already know so much about me, why don't you tell me something about yourself?"

The Australian's smile faded instantly, "Nah, there's nothing to tell.."

She shook her head furiously, "Uh uh! You're going to tell me something! I finally got you talking, now please?"

It was obvious the man's discomfort grew, "Look, I like to keep my past where it is, but I can give you three main points that sum me up: " I'm not the easiest person to get close to, Every relationship I've ever been in ended in failure, and my parents hate me."

Cassandra absorbed what he said in the following seconds of silence, then she slowly walked up to the man, and wrapped her arms around his stomach and enveloped him in a warm, comforting embrace.

"What in the bloody-" "I'm so sorry that you had to go through those, and probably worse, things, but you got through and you're a stronger person because of it. Now you have at least two people that care about your well-being, Jewels and myself, so please don't shut us out. Like you said, keep the past where it is and try to move on, we won't ever abandon you. Thank you so much for opening up to me and telling me something so secret."

The Sniper says nothing, especially about the overwhelming feeling he had the second she touched him, then after a second or two, he gently removed her arms and turned away from her once again. The thought of someone in pain like the tough Aussie in front of her was, how someone could hate their own child, and how she wasn't able to help him was just too much, she began to cry quietly, softly, and she didn't think he could hear her, she was wrong. He whipped around, the sudden motion startling her and causing multiple tears to fall to the floor. "Oi,"

The man starts, holding out a complacent hand and wiping both her eyes and cheeks with it, then cupped the right side of her face, "No need for tears, mate. Cried enough a' those for us both. Really, I'm alright, all that happened years ago, and it's behind me"

He lifted her chin so she was looking in his obscured, golden eyes. "I appreciate you concern, and thanks so much for talking to me, I feel loads better now, Love."

Cassandra wasn't sure if it was the warmth of his hand or the look and voice he'd just switched to at the near end of his sentence that caused her cheek's temperature to slightly rise, she lightly cleared her throat and smiled, "I;m so glad I was able to help you, really, you have no idea."

Jewels walked up to the two just as the Sniper started removing his hand from Cassandra's cheek, she tapped her on the shoulder, "Hey, can I see your plane ticket? I'm curious as to where you're sitting!"

Cassandra snapped back to reality, "Oh yeah, sure.."

She walked back to her bag and pulled out her unmarked envelope , took out the ticket, and handed it to the mini snipette, who glanced at it quickly and gasped, "You're right next to me, how awesome! Snipes here is in the seat in front of us, so we're going to be together the whole plane ride! Isn't that exciting, sir?"

The much taller sniper walked over to the small group, "Sure, it'll be a bloody tea party."

Jewels face scrunched up slightly, "Ew, that sounds gross, dude!"

The three erupted in a brief enjoyable laugh, then Cassandra set her envelope in an empty chair, and sighed, "I'm really glad I could cheer you up, and who are you sitting with..I'm sorry , I didn't catch your name."

Assuming he was being addressed, he held his hand out, "My name's Richard, Rick for short, 'f you will."

Cassandra then returned the gesture and shook his hand firmly, "Cassandra, nice to meet you!"

The man then reached into his vest pocket and pulled out his own ticket.

"Well, if I'm sitting in front of you Sheilas, and I'm in seat 26 B, then-"

"Oh, then you are sitting next to me, Herr sniper."

A man with a German accent appeared and smiled, Cassandra could have sworn he was not there a few seconds prior. Rick breathed a relieved sigh, "Oh, well at least I'm next to a familiar face, how you been, Lorenz?"

The man shrugged, "Oh, I've seen better days, Rick."

His gaze goes onto Cassandra, his eyes look her up and down twice.

"Well, well, whose this?"

"That's our new friend Cassandra, she's- Oi, what in the hell are you doing!"

The dark haired medic, his position made obvious by his flowing white coat with medical crosses on both shoulders, had slightly knelt to her, his hand was holding hers, and he was kissing her knuckles.

"Nothing, just being polite, but you are extremely beautiful, aren't you?"

Cassandra blushed, and smiled at him, "Aw, thanks so much, Lorenz!"

A tiny giggle escaped her as he used her weight to get back on his feet, and wrapped her in a tight embrace, Rick sighed.

"You were always like this, even in high school, hitting on every girl unfortunate enough to meet you gaze!"

Cassandra opened her mouth to speak, but the German interjected first, "Oh, that was years ago, Herr Sniper! I am simply telling the young lady what she has probably been told her whole life," His eyes returned to hers, "Right, Mein Liebe?"

She smiled weakly, "Actually, no. You're the only person who has ever called me beautiful.."

The sniper cried out in surprise, but luckily the medic echoed his response far louder, and he went unheard.

"You have got to be joking, that's just horrible, Liebe! You deserve to have someone telling you that at least on a daily basis!" He grabbed her hands again,

"I heard what you said to Rick, and a woman with your unique personality and caring heart are rare nowadays, so if you're available, would you want to go out with me sometime?"

Sniper tensed at the question, "Wh- Lorenz, you're insane! You don't even know anything about her, and that's the last thing you want to the Sheila, especially right now, you selfish pika'!"

The medic turned his attention to the ticked off Aussie, a pleased smirk spread across his face, "Jealous?"

The single word was able to shut Rick up, except for a quiet, "Of course not, you bugger.." and caused him to turn away from the group yet another time, Cassandra's smile remained on her face, she gently removed her hands from the German's. "Thank you, Lorenz, I really appreciate it, and I'm flattered, but I don't date people I've only just met, I'm sorry. We can still be friends though!"

The medic didn't appear at all surprised, he shrugged, "Oh well, worth a shot, I suppose, and yes friends would be wonderful."

Cassandra nodded and walked toward the water fountain, the sniper burst into laughter,

"Oi, that was right pathetic, mate! You don't ask a woman out right before they go to war. They got other things on their mind, like survival, for example, and they don't have time nor the thought to waste on some bloke she just met trying to pick her up." Lorenz smirk returned,

"Zounds like your trying to defend her, Herr sniper. Tell me, why are you so quick to her defense?"

The Australian sneered at the man, "Because she's my friend, you whackjob!"

The medic put a hand on the taller man's shoulder, "Don't worry, Rick. I am on your side, and I am glad you can openly admit that she is important enough to you to call her a friend, considering all you've been through and the very short amount of time you've had to get to know her. It's amazing, I'm really happy for you."

Rick's eyes went over to the young lady, Jewels had joined her at the fountain, they were laughing about something, the sight of her smile filled him with absolute bliss, a feeling he hadn't felt in years.

"Hey, Lorenz? I'm not one to trust people so easily, but Cassandra, she wears her heart on her sleeve, you know? You have one conversation with the Sheila, and you want to know everything about her, I already trust her completely."

The German laughed to himself, the sniper sighed, "I guess it's been too long since I made a new friend."

Again the medicine man uttered a brief laugh, "From what you just told me about your current feelings, it zounds like a but more than that."

What in the bloody hell are you talking about, mate?"

"Okay, Rick, you may not want to hear this, but all those things are what you'd say about someone you care for-"

"Well, of course I do! I Already told you she's my friend.."

"No, not just as a friend. I'm sure it's been a long time since you've felt this way, so I'll explain slowly."

"Look, Aussie a child, so quit talking to me like I'm one and get to the bloody point, wanka!"

He pushed up his silver glasses and scoffed, "You're in love, Herr Sniper.."

Lorenz' words hit him hard, "Ha, good one, mate!"

As the Aussie tried to laugh it off, his eyes went back to Cassandra, she was giving Jewels a piggyback ride, his heart raced as he saw her look over at him, smile and wave to him. When he thought about the past few minutes, the words he said, and how he felt, and as he raised his hand in reply to her gesture, a sudden realization slapped him in the face. The medic was right.

"Ah, piss.." He said to himself as the agent called for them to line up and board the plane. Cassandra grabbed her bags and rushed off to join Jewels in line, leaving her manila folder in the chair. Rick immediately saw it and picked it up as he, too, entered the line a few people behind the women. They were near the front of the line when Jewels started fumbling around in her bag, she pulled out the tickets from earlier, "Sorry, I almost forgot to give your ticket back to you, you're going to need it!"

Cassandra reached for hers with a smile that almost appeared to be painted on she's worn it so often, "Thanks so much, Jewels! I look forward to the plane ride!"

Jewels' excitement grew, "Oh, me too!"

Her voice got the attention of the young Bostonian from before, who was just in front of them, and he turned around, "Oh, hey! Didn't notice you back here, so where are you guys sitting?"

His tape covered hands made a move for Jewels', which she accepted and held gently, then the man jerked his arm in a way that caused her to fall towards him. He quickly wrapped his arms around her in a startling embrace, she just smiled and nuzzled deeper into his chest, causing him to chuckle lightly.

"You're so adorable, Jewels."

She giggled, "Aww, thank you, Jake You're so sweet.."

"I know I am."

She looked up at him, "You don't have to be an ass about it."

They both laughed, then he pulled her closer, "I love when you pout, you are absolutely precious.."

He leaned down as she rose herself up, putting her arms around the scout's neck as they shared a brief but meaningful kiss. Cassandra eyed the couple and sighed happily as the line moved up and the people dispersed to their assigned seats.

Jake's seat was in front of Rick's, with 25B, Lorenz in 26A, Jewels and Cassandra I seats 27A and B, and a man Cassandra's unfamiliar with was sitting next to him in 25A, he dressed pretty formal, for someone who was on their way to war, with a black suit, pants, and a matching tie, she could have sworn he was going to a funeral, except for the gray balaclava he wore over his head, just his mouth and eyes visible. Cassandra's first impression? Stay the hell away from that guy! She shook her head as she pulled out her music device, Jewels saw it and had an idea.

"Hey, you guys, I just thought of something! Since we're still getting to know each other, Why don't we trade music devices? Since we all have one, I'll trade with Jake, and Cassandra can trade with Snipes!"

The scout shrugged, "Sure, why not?"

He handed his device to Lorenz, who exchanged it for Jewels' and gave it to the Bostonian. Cassandra laughed quietly, "Hey Rick? Let's humor them!"

the sharpshooter sighed, "Oi, may as well, and she's right, music is a great way to get to know someone."

He found his player and held it out, Cassandra soon did the same, and when they reached for them, their hands brushed past each other, causing Rick's heart to skip a beat, and little did he know, Cassandra's as well.

'What the heck..?' She thought to herself, but she quickly dismissed the feeling as nothing. Just as the four were about to turn on each others MP3 players, an announcement came on over the plane's intercom:

"Attention, I'm going to briefly explain a few things. First off, look around you. This plane is full, and this is the only plane that goes to the bases, which means exactly what you think; You're sharing a ride with both your future allies and enemies. Fighting, however, is pointless, since you don't know who belongs to which team, so don't so it, you will be removed form the plane, whether we're flying or not. Secondly, metal plates will descend over your windows momentarily to keep our route confidential, we can't afford any of you to remember landmarks and attempt to call anybody for any reason. And finally, try to enjoy yourselves the best you can, the trip will be approximately 12 hours in length, meaning we will arrive at our destination around 8:30 P.M, keep yourselves entertained until then, thank you."

As soon as the announcement ended, thick steel quietly descended over the windows, just as promised, and the talking slowly started building up again, the four turning on the other's device, curiosity in their eyes. Jake eyed Jewels' device screen, a variety of songs from different genres appeared, "Personal Jesus" by Depeche Mode, "Rebel Yell" by Billy Idol, and "Ain't That To Die For?" by Richard O'Brien, just to name a few. He smiled to himself, and put the device on shuffle. Rick's mouth dropped open when he saw Cassandra's was holding over 800 songs! She had SD cards with extra space inside it. As his eyes went over the artist's names, he was surprised and positive she had at least one song of every genre, but he could tell she favored classic rock and 80's one hit wonders. Her top three played songs were "Guitar" by Peter Nalitch, "Voices" by Chris Young, and "Land Down Under" by Men at Work.

'She's got excellent taste in music, doesn't she?'

He started from the top of the Most Played list and set the device down.

Jewels flipped through Jake's music library, 'Wow, the man likes his rap!'

Multiple songs from Eminem, T-Pain, and even Insane Clown Posse! She giggled to herself as the thought of the young Bostonian with clown makeup on, saying he was a 'Juggalo'. As she made her way through the list, a particular song she didn't notice earlier caught her eyes. She gently put her hand over her heart when she played a little of it to confirm what she thought, it was "Have I Told You Lately?" by Rod Stewart, one of her all time favorite love songs, 'Aw, he's so cute! Hehe..'

She decided to play the song by Date Added, starting with the earliest. Cassandra was excited as she realized she knew every song on the Sniper's, a fair amount of country and classic rock, from Johnny Cash to Jason Aldean, and Genesis to Rush. Her smile grew and she giggled as she came across 3 of the last songs she expected to see on the Australian's MP3 player: "lido Shuffle" but Boz Scaggs, "Rock The Casba" by The Clash, and "Play That Funky Music" by Wild Cherry. 'What a pleasant surprise!'

After about two hours, the group had returned the devices to their rightful owners, Cassandra and Jewels, and Jake and Rick were reading, The Bostonian a Baseball magazine, the Aussie sniper, today's newspaper. Jewels whispered something to Cassandra, who held a hand over her mouth to suppress her laughter. The small snipette sat up straight, trying to read over the man's shoulder, then she smiled at Cassandra, who started laughing all over again.

"Hey Snipes?" The man ignored her, as she thought he would, so she persisted,

"Hey Snipes? Hey Snipes, Hey Snipes? Hey-"

The man whipped around, obviously irritated, "Bloody hell, WHAT!"

Jewels smiled innocently, "What you reading?"

He just stared at her, absolute disbelief in his eyes, he knew she was doing this to lighten the mood, cut the tension, and make him smile, but little did she know all he had to do was look to the left of his petite disciple, and he would immediately feel content with this world that has done nothing but cause him pain since day one, yet he believes he's finally found something that is worth living for, and he will protect it, whether or not she ever finds out how he feels doesn't matter to him, the point is, in all his years of life, a person has never made him feel this way, and at that moment, he made a promise to himself: He's not going to let some stupid RED/BLU separation or anything else get in the way of keeping her safe.

He sighed, "Thanks, Jewels, I appreciate you two trying to keep the mood light around here."

She blinked, "Um, sure, no problem, sir."

He smiled and turned away from the confused women, back to his newspaper. Jewels got comfortable in her chair and tried whispering to her maroon haired demowoman who sat next to her.

"Wow, he sure changed dramatically from the few hours I met him, it's like he's a completely different person! I wonder if meeting you somehow altered his personality.."

Cassandra shrugged, "I Don't, maybe?"

The whispers did not go unheard by the man in question, however, and his smile widened behind his newspaper, 'you have no idea, Love. You have no idea..'

When the plane touched down, the two girls who were so lively only a few hours prior, were now passed out due to a combination of exhaustion and boredom. The scout and Sniper sighed and smiled when their eyes caught sight of them, Jewels' head resting against Cassandra's shoulder. Rick shook her gently, a slight start ran through her body and her eyes fluttered open. She stretched and yawned, then she noticed Jake smiling at her, she returned it, and blew him a kiss. He reached up and grabbed air, to make it seem like he was catching it, Jewels blushed. Rick repeated the gesture to Cassandra's shoulder,and she slowly regained consciousness. When her eyes finally did open, the first thing she saw was the sniper, looking directly at her, and for some reason beyond her, her heart had jumped the way it previously had and her face slightly flushed when she saw the amount of happiness and care directed at her.

'He's not wearing his sunglasses..' Cassandra noted as her senses slowly started returning.

"morning, Love."

She jumped at the word, then gently shook her head, 'Wait, he's called you that before..Calm down..'

"It's just a nickname, Cassandra, didn't mean anything by it, mate." He told her when he saw her tense state, she smiled. "Yes, I know."

"Well, Come on, the plane's landed, let's go stretch our legs." He held out his hand for her to grab, she gulped and hesitantly started collecting her stuff.

"Come on, Love, everyone behind you is waiting"

"Okay, okay!" She grabbed his hand, her heart jumped another time. He helped her out of her seat and she stood up, Rick grabbed her bags. "Go on, now! I got it. M' stuff is already outside, I just came back for you."

Her blush was slightly more noticeable, "Oh, thank you.."

Gripping his hand firmly, they exited the plane, Rick making sure to slip her forgotten envelope into one of the bags he was holding before she noticed, their hands still together. As Rick tried to free his gently, Cassandra laced her fingers into his, the unconscious act causing both of them to jump slightly.

"Sorry! I didn't mean to, I-"

The man laughed, "It's alight, Love, don't worry about it."

"Well, okay then.."

The two were looking in each other's eyes unknowingly, and they had the biggest smiles on their faces.

Jewels' attention went from the conversation with Jake, to her two friends, she studied them smiled, suddenly understanding everything. "Hey, Snipes, Cassandra! Over here!"

The sniper sighed, "Well, let's get to it, then!"

"Alright!" They slowly made their way to the couple, the same thoughts floating through their minds: 'Do they know how I feel, and if not, will I ever have the courage to tell them, and do they feel the same?' They both laughed to themselves in unison at the last thought, 'Yeah, right! What are the odds of that!'

When the four were reunited once more, Jewels brought all of them into a group hug. She seems completely oblivious to the fact that they are now standing on the very land where their fates will be decided.

Half a year passed, the teams had long since been decided, and it wasn't in the group's favor. Cassandra and Jewels were both on BLU, and they had seen Jake on the field, capturing points and pushing the bomb cart, wearing the enemies color, RED, and Cassandra hadn't seen Rick since they arrived, so she can only assume he, too, was on the opposite side. She sighed, as the thought of the Australian pained her heart. She loved him, she realized this the very day she met him, when he finally opened up to her, the mutual trust had to be more than coincidence, there's a reason one makes someone feel so strongly for another, the answer's simple; Their meant to be together, made to walk the twisting path of life with one another, and be forever bound by the indestructible ties of love happily, until their end, where they spend eternity together all over again. Cassandra gripped at her heart as it began aching terribly. She's had months to think about it, 'He's the one..The one I want to spend the rest of my life with, should I survive this war..'

She had told Jewels her feelings for the Aussie months ago, and her promising not to tell him, though she knew it wouldn't bother Cassandra, she wanted to be respectful and let her tell him when she's ready, just as she promised the sharpshooter when he revealed similar feelings to his protege about her best friend. Jewels sat beside Cassandra, she knew she was hurting, "Oh, Cassandra I know it's difficult..I can only see Jake on the field through my scope, Of course I never shoot at him, unless he's in danger of getting ambushed, in which case I shoot at his feet to warn him and tell him to run, but it takes all my strength not to abandon my post, run to him and hold him, tell him I love and miss him. I know you've loved Rick since day one and he doesn't even know, but trust me, if I'm looking out for my loved ones through that scope, I can assure you he's looking out for us as well."

Cassandra had burst into tears and was crying into Jewels' shoulder, a supportive arm around her ally and best friend, "War's hell, Cassandra, but we'll get through it, we signed up for this, not expecting to fall in love, but it happened, which, to me, means it was meant to happen. It's going to be okay, I heard the ceasefire week was going into effect tomorrow to replenish supplies. I'm going to sneak out with Jake, he had given me his cell number back in the terminal 6 months ago, but we had deleted each other as contacts, to not rouse suspicion, but we know each others' number by heart, so it's not really a problem. He agreed to meet me somewhere, do you want me to find Rick and ask if he would like to come?"

Cassandra sniffed and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, "No, I'm sure he wouldn't want to break his contract for me, I'll spend the day writing to my family or something.."

Jewels stared at her, 'If only you knew, Cassandra; He'd break a million and a half contracts to be with you..'

"Well alright, break is almost over, we'd better-"

A snobby throat clearing and a sudden appearance of a shadowy figure in the doorway of the room where the girls were resting caused them both to jump, considering their recent conversation.

"Am I interrupting?" The red suit the man was wearing was soaked in the blood of their comrades and infuriated Cassandra, who instinctively put her arms in front of Jewels and stood up, protecting the snipette, "What do you want? You can be dishonorably discharged, attacking during a break.."

The man snorted a laugh, "I have friends in high places, so I'm fairly certain they would overlook such an 'accident', but as it is, I 'have no intention of killing either of you, how could I," The frenchman cloaked himself by pressing a button on his watch, reappearing on the opposite side of Jewels, who gasped as he put his arms around her waist and rested his head on her shoulder, "When mon amour's back looks so much better without a knife in it?" He traced her spine with his finger, and smirked when she shuddered. Cassandra quickly grabbed the pistol she had hidden under her shirt and aimed up, but he had vanished again. Cassandra cursed herself for not drawing faster, she sighed, "You okay, Jays?"

The shaken blue haired girl nodded, "Yeah I'm alright. Damn that Robert, I already told him I was taken, why can't he just leave me alone?"

"Because you still haven't told me who I have to kill for stealing you from me."

The man reappeared in the exact place he was just seconds ago, he never moved!

"And you mispronounced my name, it is not 'Robert', it's 'Roe-berr', you know, like a teddy bear.."

As his lips neared Jewels', Cassandra cocked her gun, but the weapon was suddenly thrown from her hands as the spy got her in a hold, the frenchman's knife against her throat. "Oh, no I have NOT forgotten you, kitten. With the break now over I could kill you here and now,"

He threw her roughly on the ground and scoffed, " However doing so seems pointless, killing a woman wouldn't raise my honor any." The man then knelt down beside Cassandra, and swiftly cut her cheek lightly.

"A reminder that you only survived because I let you. Au revoir, Mon amour!" He blew a kiss to Jewels before leaving for good, Cassandra sighed, "I really hate that man!.."

She opened her satchel she keeps around her waist and pulled out a sterile cloth and began folding it. "Yeah, he's the absolute worst, are you okay? I would've intervened but I was scared of what he might do to you.."

Cassandra nodded, "I'm fine, Jays, and don't worry about it, nobody can trust those spies, I'm glad Claude's as refined as he is. Come on, let's get back out there." She ripped off a piece of transparent tape from her roll and taped the now folded cloth onto her face. They went back into the main base, picked up their weapons, and exited the building, going their separate ways with a parting nod, which means, 'Good luck, and don't die!'

Cassandra gripped her grenade launcher tightly, shooting off one every now and again to check ahead. A group of REDs charged toward her, she checked her surroundings, 'Of course they would, I am all alone..'

She retreated slowly, running back through the tunnel of Badwater Basin, right next to her base. She stopped in the middle and switched to her sticky launcher, she shot a few on the ceiling of it, some on both sides of the walls, and then two outside. She then switched back to her grenade launcher and back up against the wall, pretending to be cornered. She heard two shotgun shots outside, the REDs found her. The two pyros and soldier advanced on her slowly. "Ha, how did you get into this war, when that was your idea of a trap?" He pointed behind him where the now destroyed stickies lay. They advanced faster, 'Just a little closer..'

"Oh, I don't know.." She began, and the instant the three where she wanted them, she stepped back quickly, "Maybe because that wasn't my only trap?"

And detonated the rest of her stickies, the men exploded in front of her, droplets of blood splattered onto her sky blue demosuit, she sighed. This has been a daily thing for her ever since she arrived, it doesn't phase her anymore, and it never really had in the past. This was her calling and she loved it, she said a quick prayer for the deceased and moved on. As she was fighting, she ran out of ammunition and she made her way to the resupply shack nearby, then her mind suddenly drifted to Rick, ' I miss him so much..I know we never really got to sit down and truly talk to each other, but I feel I know everything I need to know to know he's- NO, I have to stop thinking like that! I mean I'm his friend, what if he found out and he thinks I'm weird and stupid for falling for him so suddenly? I wish I knew where he was..I guess it would be worth it to-'

Her thoughts were interrupted by the loud explosion, probably set off by an enemy demoman, of the ammo shack Cassandra was just about to enter, shrapnel of wood, metal, and bullets pierced throughout her body, and a second explosion suddenly erupted in the shadow of the first as the gunpowder from the extra ammo ignited. The sudden immense blood loss caused her body to shut down.

When she finally woke up, she was in a rather small, cramped shack with a single window strategically hidden. 'A stakeout spot? Oh, Jewels must have saved me!'

When the door to the shack opened, Cassandra just assumed who it was, "Jays! Hey than-"

"I've been called lots of thins in m' day, but that's a new one!"

Cassandra's eyes widened, as she recognized the voice instantly, she spun around, her heartbeat increased. "Rick! Oh my gosh! I haven't seen you in months, I'm so glad you're alive, I-"

She flinched as pain spread all through her body, "Ow.."

Rick put a gentle hand on her shoulder, "Oi, be careful, you'll open your wounds again!"

Cassandra smiled at her secret love,"It's alright, love. Nice to see you again, I missed you."

Her heart fluttered, "Heh, I missed you too..so what exactly happened?"

The man took a seat next to Cassandra, who was comforted by his warmth, she rested her head on his chest, he nervously cleared his throat, "Saw the whole thing from m' scope, Love. Our demo had rigged explosives in that, knowing because of its contents, the explosion would be devastating to anyone inside. I was going to warn you, but.."

The man trailed off, " I'm sorry, love, I could've stopped the whole thing from happening if I'd just not rested m' eyes right then.. I-"

Cassandra slowly held up a hand to silence him, "Rick, it's okay, you did what you could, and I know sniping's not the easiest job in the world. You deserve to rest every chance you get, I'm not your responsibility out there."

Cassandra sat up, and the sniper took this opportunity to take his gun off the stand pointing out the window and gently set it down beside it. "I know, but you still m' friend, mate, and I can't help but want to protect you."

He wiped his brow with his shirt sleeve, and it was only just then she noticed the color of it, red, just as she feared. "I understand, Rick, really I do, but if you're caught helping me by anyone, you'll be-"

"I don't care, love."

Surprise entered the demowoman's voice, "What do you mean you don't care?"

He looked at his shoes,and said, almost inaudibly, "Because I made a promise.."

"What did you say?"

"exactly how it sounds, Cassandra! I don't care what some bloody ink and paper says, I'm NOT gonna let you die! you too precious to me, now I know that sounds ridiculous because I haven't known you very long, but it's the truth."

Cassandra shook her head, "Oh, no, not at all, Rick. I feel the exact way you do."

The man chuckled briefly, "you sure about that, love?"

Her face flushed once more, and her heartbeat increased yet again, "Hopefully."

The Australian curiously eyes the injured woman he'd come to love, "Now it's m' turn to ask what you mean."

Cassandra said nothing, and her gaze hit the floor, "Well, it's kind of difficult to explain, or maybe nerve wracking is what I mean.."

"Out with it, love, you got m' curious now!"

She laughed, "Sorry. Okay, well, I'm going to tell you something that might surprise you."

" I'm sure it's not as surprising as what I'm gonna tell you, love."

She sighed, "Alright, that day, before we got on the plane and you opened up to me..When I embraced you, I felt.."

The marksman's gold tinted eyes widened, "Um, love? Are you saying..?"

"I'm in love with you, Rick! You're all I've been able to think about since I met you! I already told Jewels long ago, and she's been nice enough to keep it a secret, but-"

She was silenced when the hand of the sniper touched her cheek softly, "calm down, love. It's alright, you don't have to say anymore, I understand, you actually took the words out of my mouth, but I've had some time to think about it, and..Well, war isn't really the best place to start a relationship-" He stopped short when he noticed the disappointed look on her face and the pain in her eyes.

"Ii, I'm sorry love, but-"

"No, I can't believe this!"

At that moment, Jewels snuck in to the tiny window unnoticed.

"How can you claim to love me as much as I love you, and then just reject me because we're at war! In case you've forgotten , this war is the only reason we met!"

The increased heartbeat caused by her rage made the blood flow faster, red soaked through her bandages, and she gently grabbed her shoulder, where the pain was the most intense. The Australian man sighed, "Ii, love! You gone and reopened you wounds!"

Cassandra stood up, absolutely furious, "You should've killed me, we're enemies in this war you care so much about! I'm going to go see my medic!"

"Well go on! No one's stopping you ungrateful wanka'!"

Cassandra was surprised and hurt by , but she rushed past him with tears running down her cheeks, opened the door to the shack, and rushed onto the field toward her base.

Jewels looked like she'd just walked in on her parents fighting. "Sir? What's going on? What's wrong? What did you do!"

The Australian pulled his pupil close to him and soothed her, "Now, now," His voice was far comforting than it had ever been, " It's gonna be alright, Jewel, it's actually better this way, now she'll be able to focus on the battle and not worry about me."

Jewels sighed, "You know she will anyway, you two care too much for each other to just let the other die."

The sniper released the small snipette and rubbed the bridge of his nose, not even bothering to remove his golden sunglasses, "Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of. I risked both our lives leaving my post, hoisting the little Sheila up, bringing her back here, and patching her up, best I could."

"You know she didn't mean it right? She was probably just upset you're picking war over here, and I'm positive she's grateful, she just hadn't seen you in a long time, and really wanted to be with you, Rick."

"I understand and I share her pain, but I don't want her thinking about me, and then get killed because she wasn't paying' attention! I'm scared to death bout that..Better her being' mad at me and watching' over herself than not. I don't want to be the reason she gets hurt, I haven't felt this way about anyone in, well, ever, and I just want her to be safe.."

Jewels smiled at her teacher, "I'm so happy for you, Snipes, but insulting her like that might not be the best way to show your love. Oh, and before I forget, me and Jake are going to the town tomorrow, would you like to come with us?"

"Yeah, I know, and sure, I'd love to go with you and the twitchy hooligan..Well, you best be going, Sheila, appreciate you stopping by, I needed it. Thanks, and good luck out there."

The young woman smiled, "Yep, of course! I'm so glad you'll be coming along! See you later snipes, I love you snipes."

The man hugged her and smiled, "Love you too, little one."

She then snuck out the same window she entered, and the sniper was alone. He couldn't understand it, he's been a loner all his life, but right now, as he picked up his rifle from the spot he left it on the ground and positioned it out the window once more, achieving several head shots in a matter of minutes, he felt alone, and for the first time in a long time, it bothered him. He chuckled to himself, 'Heh, these Sheilas have managed to completely alter me in a few months..Perhaps it's for the best, I am happier with them in m' life..I'm grateful for them..'

The alarm suddenly sounded to mark the end of the session, the BLUs had managed to move the bomb cart into one of RED's many supply bases. The sniper couldn't help but smile, 'Good job, Sheilas..'

Cassandra had been waiting for the BLU's medic to see her for a little over half an hour, this was unbelievable! She stormed up to the door of the Medibay,

'Just what in the hell could be more important than doing his job!'

As she peered into the window at the top of the office door, her eyes widened and she put a hand over her mouth to suppress her gasp, 'Oh my gosh, How sweet..'

She slipped quietly back into her seat, tears forming in her eyes at the kiss she had just witnessed. A few minutes later, the door opened, and her team's medic was escorting a RED heavy out of his office, the Russian's strong, massive arms gently embracing the lean, fragile German, The medic was the happiest Cassandra had ever seen him, and the two shared another kiss, so passionate yet forbidden, Cassandra couldn't hold back the tears.

"I love you lots, Doctor.." He put a huge hand on the medic's cheek, he happily closed his eyes, losing himself in the moment. "I love you to, Viktor. Now go, I don't want you to get into trouble over me.."

The large man laughed, "It would be worth it, Hanz.."

They briefly laughed together, turned and saw Cassandra, they froze.

"Oh! I didn't see you there, um.."

Cassandra just nodded her head, wiping a tear from her face, "Oh, no, please don't be alarmed, really, your secret's safe with me. I'm also in love with someone on the other side, you guys are so romantic, I couldn't help but notice."

"Oh..Well, thank you, Cassandra. I've also noticed our Jewels seems to sneak out quite a bit, is it the same thing?"

"Yes, her and Jake, and myself with-" She cut herself as his words echoed in her head.

"Well, I love Rick, but he-"

The Russian gasped, "Oh, so you are one he talks about?"

Cassandra perked up, "What? He talks about me?"

"Oh, yes! He always talking with tiny girl, many good things, uses love word many times, but he not know I listen, so no tell him please?"

She smiled and had to hug him, "I won't and thank you so much, that means a lot to me!"

The medic smiled, then eyed her bandages, "Oh dear! I am so sorry! Let's get you looked at! Farewell Viktor, much love!"

"Bye-bye, lovely!"

As he walked back to his base, Cassandra laughed briefly, "He seems sweet."

"He really is.."

He gently removed her bandages, and his eyes widened, "My goodness! What did you get yourself into? And who did these bandages? They took their time and really applied them carefully.."

Cassandra blushed, "That shack that blew up? I was just about in the doorway, and I didn't realize it was rigged, I passed out from blood loss and when I woke up, Rick was with me and-" She began to tear up, "I really want to believe what Viktor said but, I don't think he cares as much as he says, we got into an argument, he called me ungrateful and-"

Tears overwhelmed her, "I just love him so much, I have since I met him and now I think he hates me.."

The medic comforted her, "Don't think that way, Rick is the sniper, nein? I'm sure you two will work it out, if he was the one that saved, he probably put these bandages on you, and he's no medic nor is he used to saving lives, but taking them. He went way beyond his comfort zone for you, I'm sure he wouldn't do that for someone he could throw away over one argument."

Cassandra nodded slowly, "Wow, thanks so much, Hanz, you're absolutely right, I hope.."

He sighed, "You need to be more confident, Cassandra. If Viktor heard it, and he's not one to lie, then he's made it clear to our Jewels that he loves you, remember, war has us all on thin ice, the constant thought of being killed, or in our case, caught, the emotional stress causes us to act out, just give him time, I'm positive you two will be okay."

He deep cleaned and disinfected the cuts and replaced the bandages with fresh, sterile ones.

"There, all done, and I cannot thank you enough for not saying anything about-"

"Say no more, that would be hypocritical of me. Thanks for seeing me, and good luck with everything!"

"No problem, and you too!"

The next day, Cassandra woke up early, she had nothing to do, so she's just going to relax..

"Cassandra! GOOD MORNING!"

Jewels hugged her with such force, she almost lost her balance, "Whoa, good morning Jays! You seem happy today!"

"Oh, I am! Me and Jake are going to the small town near the base for the day. The Admin made an announcement late last night, saying we had permission to leave the base, but we were to wear civilian clothes, in case member of the opposite team were in the same place at the same time, it's so perfect!"

Cassandra smiled, "Well that's amazing guys, I'm happy for you!"

As she started to walk away, Jewels slowly put her hands behind her back, "Rick also agreed to come."

She stopped mid-step and turned to her friend, "Oh no, you don't want to go too, do you?"

The petite woman looked at the floor, "It'd be nice.."

Cassandra bit her lower lip, "I don't know Jays, Richard and I aren't really on good terms. I'm not sure if you know but we-"

She shook her head, "I do, I was there for the entire argument, I snuck through the window and you didn't notice me. He told me why he acted the way he did, he didn't want you thinking about him and get hurt because you weren't focusing. He wants you mind to be clear on the battlefield, Cassandra, that's all, he really loves you, he tells me every time we're alone how he 'can't wait untill this bloody war is over so I can tell m' angel how I feel'." Jewels spoke with a pretty convincing Australian accent, Cassandra smiled, "Ha, that was impressive..That's sweet of him, and if you're sure he's not angry anymore, I guess I'll go-"

"You guess? What else were you planning on doing today?"

She said nothing.

"Exactly, now get dressed, I heard the town has a mall!" Jewels squealed at the thought, then left Cassandra to dress, she scoffed, picking a salmon colored top that tied around her neck, and her favorite pair of light brown pants, tight fitting, but comfortable. She adjusted her mini-glasses to the bridge of her nose, 'A mall? In this desolate place? Probably nothing too excited about..'

When the group arrived at the immaculate building, Cassandra's mouth dropped open, "Wh- how could this town afford to keep this mall going?"

Jake, who was sporting a white Red Sox jersey and blue jeans, put his arm around Jewels, who was wearing a bright red t-shirt and gray shorts, and smiled, "Well, do you see any other shops around here? I really think this is the only one."

Rick walked up behind them, wearing a white collared shirt with his usual brown vest and deep blue wranglers, and pushed up his sunglasses, "Yeah, every family in this town owns a store inside, which explains the size, this mall has made quite a name for itself, a very popular tourist attraction, so I'm sure they do alright."

Jewels whistled in admiration, "Wow, Snipes, I had no idea you cared about stuff like that, and it's good to see you again!"

The Australian smiled as she rushed to him and wrapped her arms around his waist in a hug, which he returned. "Hey little one, miss you, too"

His gaze then went to Cassandra, who was avoiding his gaze. As the two made the brief way back to the group, the sniper cleared his throat, "Hello, Cassandra, you look nice today, as always, I'm glad to see y-"

She turned to him slowly, and hugged him tightly, surprising the man. "I'm so sorry Rick! It was selfish of me to say all those things, please forgive me, I didn't mean any of it!"

He embraced her longingly, " It's alright, love you have nothing to be sorry for, you were absolutely right about everything and I apologize. I want you to know it's for you protection and nothing else, it hurt me to see you so ticked at me.."

"I know, Jays told me everything, and I completely understand where you're coming from, I'm sorry I caused you pain and I am willing to wait until the end of this war to start on our relationship."

The tall man slightly pulled her away to look at her face, she was smiling, but he could tell she was also very serious about what was just said, " I'm glad, love."

Cassandra held onto the man until Jewels cleared her throat impatiently, "Well, let's go guys! I'm super excited as to what's inside!"

She let the Aussie go, but gently grabbed his hand instead, "Alright, let's go!"

The four entered the mall, and were absolutely astonished, "It's huge!"

Shops lined the three floors, with escalators, elevators, and stairs all there for the convenience of the visitors, and an enormous, intricate fountain stood in the middle of the mall, greeting you as you walk in. Cassandra's hand twitched, "Oh, I'm sorry, I just kind of grabbed you hand, Rick.."

He laughed, "It's fine, love, you're entitled."

She smiled, and lifted up slightly in attempt to kiss the man, he gently grabbed her shoulders and set her back on her feet, "Not right now, love."

She blushed slightly and sighed quietly, "Oh, you're right, I'm sorry.."

The Bostonian opened his mouth to say something, but Jewels stopped him, seeing the anger in his eyes. She lowered her voice to a whisper, "Calm down, honey."

"How can you say that? He's upsetting Cassandra because he doesn't trust her enough with him yet, which is pretty damn selfish!"

"It sounds that way, I know, but he's never had a relationship work, he's just so afraid to lose her. Not everybody can be as lucky as someone else when it comes to love, honey."

The scout sighed, "You're right, I'm sorry, I just get mad at stuff like that, you know? She's trying so hard to prove herself.."

"Yeah, I understand. Let's leave those two alone to work on things together, they'll be fine, I believe in them."

He straightened his hat, "Yeah, alright,"

He turned to the two, "Hey, we're going to go upstairs, you two can come with us or go your own way if you want."

The two knew they wanted to be alone, so they just looked at each other and nodded, "Yeah, we can do that."

Jewels held Jake's hand and they made their way to the escalator, the Australian cleared his throat, "So, you hungry?"

"No, I ate before I came, thanks. Hey I'm sorry about coming on too strong back there, I just love you so much.."

She stopped her sentence there, there was nothing more to say.

"No, don't be, I'm being stupid, I've never felt this way about anyone, and now I'm about to lose you.."

She gently put a hand on his face, "Why would you say that? Because you wouldn't let me kiss you?"

"That ain't it, it's because I'm gonna tell you I've been scared to get too close to you. I've just been hurt so many times, and people have told me they loved me in the past, you know?"

She gazed in his eyes, and for the first time, she saw a hint of fear.

"Oh, you don't think we'll work out because of your past? I understand, don't worry about that, but please try to believe me when I say I won't leave you. You mean more to me than anything, and though our time together has been brief, I already feel we could really make it, trust me."

Suddenly, all his friends' words flooded his mind, Lorenz and Jewels, how they assured him of her feelings, as well as his own, when he told the medic how he trusted her with everything he had. She's obviously more devoted than anyone he's ever dated, that's when he decided it; One last time, for the last time, he'll put his heart on the line. So, as they were walking around the various shops, Rick had made sure to put his arm around Cassandra and keep her close, it both comforted and confused her. Upon visiting the food court after three hours of walking, they decided to take a break at a nearby table and rest their feet.

"I'm really having fun, Rick, I'm glad I decided to come." She rested her head on his shoulder and he laid his head against hers, their hearts racing and their hands interlacing together.

"Did my Vikky get full?"

Cassandra jumped slightly at the voice behind her, she turned and her smile grew inches wider. The Russian laughed, "Yes, Doctor! Sandvich was very good, many thanks, I love you."

"Oh, I love you too, my precious.."

They pecked each others lips with brief kisses, and Cassandra sighed, "Aw, There you two go again, being adorable as always!"

The two turned around and grinned at her, "Oh Cassandra! What a surprise! Is that Rick? I see things are going well for you two, that's good.."

Rick waved at the Heavy, "Oi, Viktor, how you doing? This the precious soul mate you always talking about?"

Hanz blushed as the wide man nodded, "Oh, yes! Dis is him, is perfect."

The sniper nodded, " I'm right happy for you both!"

"Thanks, so much! Well, we better go soon, we're still a good distance from the Circus, Vik wants to see some clowns before we go back to Hell.."

The Heavy sighed, "I don't like fighting against Doctor! When I see him Uber other Heavy, it hurts my heart."

The German looked absolutely heartbroken, and as though he said something he shouldn't have,

"Oh, Viktor, I'm so sorry! We said we weren't going to talk about that, we were going to have fun and not think about it.."

"No, it okay, please don't be sad, let's go."

The thin man nodded, "Yes, let's do, nice to see you two, good luck."

"You guys, too, and have fun!"

The couple gripped each others hands tight, "We will."

They stood up from their seat, waved to them a final time, then they disappeared in the crowd, Rick looked at his love, and concern entered his expression, "Oi, love, you're all glassy eyed, you okay?"

Cassandra nodded, "Well, it's just so sad, they love each other so much, and yet they have to fight each other, it's just wrong," Her smiled suddenly reappeared, "Plus, those two are just so precious,it just gets to me!"

The man pulled her close and kissed her cheek, she blushed.

"you so cute, you know that?"

She laughed, "Heh, thanks Rick, you're so sweet.."

After a minute or so, the sniper got up to stretch his lanky legs, "Well, let's go, dear, any other things you wanna see?"

She smiled evilly and whispered something in his ear, the man tsk'd her, "Naught, naughty. I meant mall-wise, Love."

"Yeah, just a little joke, honey. I'm glad you're getting used to me, it means so much."

"Well, I haven't had a relationship in twelve years, sorry I was hesitant, love. it wasn't fair of me to assume you'd be like the others."

She took a chance and kissed his cheek, he just smiled.

"It's alright, I can understand that."

"Another reason why I love you so much. Oh, before I forget, I want to know, why me? We were getting' on that plane to go to a war, wasn't some vacation, yet so many people found love on the battlefield. There were so many others, why, out of all of them, did you select me?"

Cassandra cleared her throat quietly, "Well ,my first impression was that you were either a loner or married, so I approached you as a friend in case the latter was the case, but the truth is, I felt something strong the instant I saw you, and I wanted to get to know you better. When you told me, a pretty much complete stranger, your personal past, I felt your barrier was down, and I decided to comfort you, hoping you'd feel the same way I was. I know I'm probably giving myself too much credit."

The Australian shook his head, "Nah, just enough, love. I felt what you did, and that's why I opened up to you, actually hoping the same thing, though it was kind of rocky at first, and I apologize for that."

'Eh, we both just weren't sure how the other felt, we won't have fights like that anymore, I promise."

The sniper hesitated, but then gently grabbed Cassandra's shoulders, she was looking him in the eyes, curious as to what he was going to do next.

'I've made her wait too long already..'

Cassandra's curious eyes widened in pleasant surprise as his lips locked with hers, forming the first official kiss of their relationship, then he held her tightly.

"I love you, so much.."

Cassandra was shaking in his arms from pure happiness, "I love you, too, Richard."

"Come on, let's go find the others and-," He stopped and eyed her bandaged cheek, "I' m sorry, but, what happened to your face? I've been meaning to ask. Even before you got injured, it was there, guess I'm just curious.."

She nodded as he reached for her bandage, and when he saw the light cut, which had healed quite well overnight, Cassandra could feel the anger radiating off of him.

"What in the hell! Who did this to you, love!"

She hesitated before looking at him once more.

"Come on, love, I'm not mad, just concerned."

She gripped onto the Australian's shirt front, "It was Robert, he was hitting on Jays again.."

"Argh, stupid bloody spies! I hate them so damn much, especially him, he's such a bloody pika'! If he wasn't on my team, I swear he'd be dead by my hands already..."

His voice became softer,

"So, why did he attack you and when?"

She held her cheek, "I had a gun pointed at him, he was harassing her during yesterday's break, he gave me this, saying it's a reminder of how he let me live.."

He stood up quickly, he was beyond pissed. "Oi did he now? I don't care that the bloody bastard's on the same side, as far as I'm concerned, the wanka's a dead man!"

"No, if the Admin finds out, you'll get into trouble! We just have to deal with it, with everything, until this damn war ends, now let's go find Jays and Jake, I'm ready to go.."

" alright, love, I won't do a thing, do you want to go back to you base?"

"No, I still want to spend time with you, just not here.."

"Whatever you want, love, anything for you.."

She kissed his cheek and grabbed his hand, "Thank you."

"For what, love?"

"For loving me."

He chuckled, "No problem, mate."

They found the scouts in a sports store on the third floor, Jewels was glowing and she pulled something out of one of the many bags that lined her arm, "Look what Jakey bought me!"

Cassandra smiled, "Aw, that was sweet of him, and it's your color, too!"

She squealed, "I know! It's a pink baseball bat, I wasn't even aware that they made them, he's the sweetest man in the world!"

The Bostonian pulled her close to him, "Of course babe, I saw this on the wall and I immediately thought of you, well, more than usual, I knew you had to have it, and I also had them engrave that on it while you were looking around the store."

He pointed to the underside of the bat, where the characters 'J&J' were lined in silver.

"Heh, you spoil me, Jake."

"You're worth it, babe."

They kissed briefly, then Jewels eyed the two's empty hands, "Did you guys not buy anything?"

They both shook their heads, "No, but my Mundybunny gave me the best gift he could ever give."

Her eyebrows raised, "M-mundybunny?" She giggled, "That's cute!"

Even the bushman was a good spirit and sighed, pulling her closer. "you so silly, love.."

They shared yet another kiss, to the surprise of the two onlookers.

"Whoa, when did this happen? What about waiting until after war to start a relationship?"

"Well, we kind of got a little impatient.."

Jake cleared his throat, "Um, I feel I should apologize to you, Rick."

"for what? Saying I didn't trust Cassandra, or for calling me selfish?"

When the only reply he got was the surprised look of the Bostonian, his smile returned, "No worries, mate, you were right, all this has got me thinking and well, I got an idea."

The three looked rather intrigued by this, "Ooh, what is it?"

His smile faded, "I'll discuss it tomorrow, when everybody's back on the base,and I'll have us all meet at a certain place, so we can discuss it, but for now, is there anywhere else you wanna go?"

He put his arm around Cassandra and kissed the top of her head, " I'm up for anything."

The group eventually decided to just walk around the town's park for the remainder of the day. Cassandra lay in Rick's lap, and Jewels in Jake's.

"So where did this idea come from and why does it have to wait until tomorrow?"

He looked down at her. "It has to wait because not everybody I want to attend is in town, and it started forming when I saw your Medic and m' heavy."

"Ah, I see.."

He looked up at the sky, and noticed a few stars becoming visible.

"It's getting' late, we should be getting' back."

The others nodded in agreement and stand up to begin their short journey to the bases, Rick making sure to get all their cell numbers on the way. When the road forked to separate the BLU base from the RED, the couples kissed and hugged each other.

"See you girls tomorrow."

"Okay, goodnight guys!"

The next morning, Jewels and Cassandra had a text from Rick on their phones: "Come to the town center as soon as you wake up, however that is only if you're willing to risk it."

The girls shrugged and decided to go, curious as to what risk he was talking about and how big it was.

When they arrived a few minutes later, they saw not only Rick and Jake, but Viktor and Hanz also.

"Hey, what's going on, Snipes?"

He exhaled slowly, "Everyone please follow me, I'll explain everything when we get to where we're going"

So the group trailed behind him, all but Cassandra, who had locked arms with him, "Good morning, Honey."

"Morning, love. Sleep well?"

"Yes, I did, thank you."

"Glad to hear it. We're here."

An old, abandoned building, medium in size, but still held alright stood up already, he turned to Cassandra, "Well, we couldn't risk being heard by anyone."

"How dangerous is this going to be?"

"Not very much, love. Just have to make a promise, that's all."

They all entered and sat in the chairs that lined the floor, in front of a small stage. Jewels blinked and looked at Cassandra for answers, but only got a shrug of the shoulders. Rick stood on the stage, looking completely serious, he began, "Can anyone guess why I've decided to join us together today?"

When he received silence, he continued, " alright, who joined this war because it felt like if you did, you'd be doing what you were meant to do, and it just felt right?"

Everyone's hands went up, including his own ,"Good, now how many of you fell in love with someone fighting the same war?"

The hands remained in the air, "right, and how many of you loves are fighting on the same side as you?"

All the hands instantly dropped, "Exactly, now, I don't know about you all, but every time we get out there, I'm looking out for each and every one of you, even though half a you are on the other side, because over time, I've created a strong bond, whether it's friendship, my student, or my true love, I can't hurt you, so I'm just a burden on the teams, which leads me to my next point,"

He took a breath, "I believe, the feeling I had when I put m' signature on that line, wasn't from the excitement of battle, but destiny's way of telling m' my osculate was there, but now that I found her, I don't want her to keep risking her life, nor do I want to continue to risk mine, so I'm leaving, I'm breaking the contract anyway. The only risk you guys are taking is knowing I'm going."

Protests sprang up the instant he stopped talking, "You can't go! If the admin finds you, she'll kill you!"

He held up his hand to silence them, "I know this is a surprise to you all, but-"

Viktor stood up, "I am with you! I am tired of fighting doctor, I want us to run away and be happy together without fighting!"

Hans grabbed his hand gently, "Alright, whatever you want, we'll leave as soon as possible.."

Rick interjected, "No, I already have a plan on how and when to leave, you two can come with me.."

Every stood up, "Two? What are you talking about, sir? We're all going, too!"

"Jewels? Are you sure, little one? The risks are-"

"Hey, you told us not to show up if we weren't willing to risk something big! I can shoot a gun at a firing range anytime, but you only get one chance at true love, if you lose that, in war or otherwise, there's no resupply or extra ammo for it. I'd rather him and all of my friends be safe."

He nodded, "Well said, mate, well said."

Cassandra got on the stage with her sniper, and they kissed passionately, "You can bet I'm going, too! I'm with you 100%, in anything and everything you do, my love."

He breathed a huge sigh of relief, "I didn't plan to have everybody join together' like this, and Cassandra, what about all the time you've been trying to get in?"

She sighed then smiled, "I've lived it, Rick, I've had enough war for a lifetime, now I just want to be with you."

Viktor suddenly started fumbling with something in his pocket, and smiled up at Hanz, "I was going to give dis to you long ago, Doctor.."

He got on one knee in front of the blushing medic, "Vat are you-"

His gasp was so loud, everyone turned to see what was going on.

"Will you marry me, Doctor?"

The German had tears running down his cheeks, "Yes, of course I will!"

The Russian gently put the ring on the trembling Medic, then they kissed each other, the group clapped for them, Cassandra had tears running down her face, "Oh good for them! I'm so happy for those two."

"Yeah, it feels nice to finally find the one you belong with."

She nuzzled into his arms, "Hm, yes does.."

He cleared his throat loudly to get everybody's attention, "Okay guys, as you know, we are in the middle of a week ceasefire, we should leave sometime before that ends."

"We should just leave now, the Admin apparently has her guard down, letting us outside after months of seclusion. We shouldn't waste dis opportunity!" The Bostonian paused, "Unless you think it's too risky, Rick.."

The Aussie shook his head, "Nah, you have a point,Scout. Alright everyone, go get you stuff from you rooms and come back here in about half an hour. "f anybody asks, say you going to go visit family or something equally convincing, I'm gonna go get the van ready."

As the group dispersed, the sniper sighed, 'Good luck to us all..'

The sharpshooter neared the RED base, his eyes suddenly caught sight of his old friend and his team's medic, pacing and wiping his eyes.

"Oi, what's up, Lorenz?"

"Oh, Herr sniper, nothing really.."

"you know I know you better than that, mate."

He sighed, "I just can't take war life anymore! I was just barely able to save my team last mission, and if I'm not perfect all the time, someone will die and it would be my fault..I wouldn't be able to forgive myself.."

The Australian just laughs, "Well, if you really serious, a group of us are planning on leaving this life behind and going back to our normal lives, and you're more than welcome to join us, just grab you things and come to m' van."

"Are you sure we wouldn't get caught?"

"Not sure of anything, but we sure as hell will try. Our reason for leaving is simple; We found someone we want to spend the rest of our lives with, and we just don't wanna Risk losing them."

Lorenz nodded, "Yes, I think I will go with you, Rick. Thanks."

"Of course mate! "After all, if it wasn't for you 'flirting with Cassandra', I probably wouldn't have realized I cared for her as much as I do."

As the group slowly reformed beside Rick's van, placing their stuff in the camper that was attached to it, some thought of home, others of the future with their love. The lanky Australian walked to the back of his camper where the group started a quiet cheer.

" alright, let's get on the road, got a long drive ahead of us, but we'll make it! I'll drive you wherever, you should probably call you families and consider relocating, no doubt the Admin will be after us. However, if all you need is each other, I know this really obscure place they wouldn't dream of looking for us."

Everyone cheered again, "Let's go there and hide awhile, then call our families after things die down."

The sniper smiles at Cassandra, "Good idea, love, as always. Alright,'s move out!"

He turned around, but quickly turned around, as if he forgot to say something.

"This might be where m' love started, but I'll be damned if this is where I let it end!"

Again, cheers of agreement as the seven runaways file into the van, opening the next chapter in their lives, and closing the one on war forever.

Cassandra eyes the clock and bit her lip nervously, 'Where is he?'

Ever since they ran from the war, she and her husband Rick lived on a small plot of land, going into town only when necessary. When the door opened and her rugged sniper walked in, her heart lightened and she rushed to meet him. He smiled at her, closed the door behind him, and enveloped his wife in a warm, loving embrace, "Good day, love, I'm back."

She absolutely adored his Australian accent and the way his strong but gentle arms felt around her waist. They kissed passionately, "What's wrong love? I can feel you shaking.."

"I was just so afraid the Admin had found you."

The Aussie laughed heartily, placing a hand on her soft cheek.

"I'm a few seconds late, and you assume the worst; Don't worry love, we'll be fine, I'm sure the crazy bat's given up on us by now."

"But nobody knows what she looks like, Rick! What if she, or one of her many agents, that she probably has stationed all over the world I might add, finds this town? We'll be killed for sure."

The bushman's grip tightened slightly on her face, wiping a forming tear from her eyes. He kissed her briefly, then sighed, for the pain of seeing his soulmate cry was immense.

"You're just being paranoid, love. Everything's going to be alright, no more tears now, please.."

She smiled, "Okay, you're right, I'm sorry. I love you."

"Love you, too, Cassandra, more than anything in the world."

They held each other close, both as a sign of never ending love for each other as well as protection, from the Admin, or anything else. She looked at the clock once more and gasped.

"Oh, Rick, if we don't hurry, we're going to be late for the reunion!"

"Ah, piss! Come on, love!"

The couple dressed quickly, the sniper in a casual version of what he wore in the war, and Cassandra wore a salmon colored dress that was very slimming and went to her knees, thin straps held the dress up on her shoulders. The Australian caught a glimpse of his stunning wife and whistled, "Holy Dooley, love.."

He wrapped his arms around her and started kissing her neck, she giggled.
"Rick, we haven't even put my makeup on yet.."

"You don't need it, you look more beautiful the natural way."

After more brief kisses, the two climbed into the van, excitement filled them both as the thought of seeing their old friends again entered their minds.

After the ten minute drive, the happy couple stepped out to the front yard of their closest friends, who were also a harmonious couple, and rang the doorbell of their country home. When Jewels saw them standing on the other side of their door, she practically tackled the two, and everybody's excitement bubbled up to the surface.

"Hey guys! I'm so glad you could make it! Dress looks amazing, Cass, and my teacher's looking good as always!"

The rugged bushman brought her into a hug, "You look nice too, mate! How are you and the twitchy hooligan been?"

She smiled at the man, holding out her left hand, a beautiful rested on her finger.

"What do you think? We got married two years ago, he's just been amazing. Saying yes to Jake was the best decision I've ever made.."

As if summoned, the Bostonian came up beside his wife and put a hand on her tiny shoulder,

"Oh, hey! What's up guys? So did you guys tie the knot yet?"

Cassandra began to raise her hand, but Jewels grabbed it first and put it down to her eye level, and, sure enough, a ring was on her's too.

"Well, that answered my question, congrats guys!"

"Thanks, you too!"

The couple nodded and moved to free the entrance, "Well come on in guys, you're right on time!"

They nodded and went inside, thanking them for entry; they were recognized immediately, which made them feel welcome, well some more than others. Lorenz shook Rick's hand, "Herr Sniper! Nice to see you!"

He playfully grabbed Cassandra's waist and pulled her close to him, "And it's very nice to see you again, Liebe.."

She gasped as she felt his breath on her neck, Rick quickly jerked her away before the medic could do whatever it was he intended, "Easy, mate."

The German smiled, "Oh, I'm only kidding, you should know this by now, Herr sniper."

The Aussie pulled her closer, "Yeah I know, but she's my wife now, Lorenz."

The addressed's mouth dropped and eyes widened, "What! Well congratulations, you two! I never thought I'd see you be married, Rick. I'm so glad I was there from the beginning to see all this happen, or I wouldn't have believed it."

"Thanks, Lorenz, you helped more than you think, mate. Appreciate it."

Cassandra cuddled into her man, who chuckled, "Love you too, babe."

Both REDs and BLUs were present, the war had not yet ended, but all their friends found ways, namely sustaining recoverable injuries, to get honorably discharged, within reasonable time frames of course, so their fight was also over. It was always such a treat to see their comrades again, sure they don't live that far from each other, but most of them have jobs to try to get some normalcy in their lives, but today is a day they ALL had off: July 4th. They sat around, talking about their war days, which seem so far away now, and the day most of the team disappeared. Sydney, now one of Cassandra's closest friends, took a margarita cooler from the ice chest and sighed, "You maggots scared the hell out of us all! We thought you were all dead! So I can speak for all of us when I say I was damn relieved to receive the letter explaining the situation a few days later."

The party all nodded in agreement, and Dennis, BLU's Pyro, stopped his meditation to speak briefly,

"Had a valid reason to leave, guys, you really did, and I'm glad you did, way to fight the man, you groovy cats, now we're all out here next to nature..gotta love it."

Nobody said anything, it was rare for Dennis to speak, and when he did, it was always like that, eventually conversation started again, and the nature loving hippie went back to his meditation. A few hours later, Ian, the demoman for RED, brought in a duffel bag full of brown bottles, everybody just sighed as he pulled one out and downed over half of the contents in a single drink, "Come on guys, this is our day! We fought and survived, so let's celebrate! I brought a bottle for everybody and no one's leaving until I see you have put a dent in at least one!" He pulled out similar bottles to the one he was holding and handed one to everyone, "Tastes like caramel, goes down smooth too. Cheers, mates!"

They all held up their bottles and took a drink in unison, delighted murmurs filled the room.

"Oi, Ian, mate, that's delicious! Where do you go about buying this stuff?"

Everybody turned to the Scotsman, their own curiosity wanting to be fulfilled.

"You can't buy it Rick, I make it myself."

It was clear everyone was impressed, "Wow, you're making money, right? Have you sold your recipe to any companies?"

He shook his head, "Nope, it's my special blend, and I only share it with the people closest to me."

Everybody uttered a playful 'aw' in unison.

"That's so sweet, Ian.."

Cassandra took a small sip of her bottle, the demo then grabbed one of her hands and held it, "Not as sweet as you, lass.." He kissed the hand, she laughed nervously and slowly reached back, out of his grasp, "Thank you, I'm flattered."

Rick didn't hesitate, "Hey, calm down now, mate.."

"It's all good, lad, I'm not after her, don't worry. I couldn't take her from you anyway, I'm just one of those people that don't bloody belong with anybody.."

"Aw, that's not true, Ian! I'm positive there's a girl out there for you!"

Jewels, with her positive attitude, earned a smile from the man, but he motioned for the petite scout/sniper to come closer, as she did he sighed, and whispered something into her ear. She gasped quietly and gave the now shaking Scotsman a hug, an inaudible 'I'm sorry' formed on her lips. She then rejoined her scout, and all eyes were on her. "What? It's nothing!"

Her eyes went to the person Ian had just told her he's loved since he first set eyes on them, she closed her eyes, 'I have to get them alone and ask, I hope things work out..'

The remainder of the evening progressed with no physical injury, but Ian did get on the table top, shouting "KABOOM!" at the top of his lungs and showing of his pelvic thrust to inflict some mental scarring on the party. All the veterans kept their promise to the inebriated demo, all but Rick and Cassandra, who drank a little, and then slipped the remainder of their alcohol into others' glasses periodically, they were too focused on reminiscing to notice their drinks being mysteriously replenished. Jewels laughed at some corny joke Jake had just told, then noticed Sydney sitting on the far side of one of their couches, one hand on his cheek, deep in thought. She also noticed her table was almost entirely filled with empty bottles of Margarita coolers, she stood up and walked over to the lonely soldier. When he felt the couch depress, he looked at the short, deep blue haired woman next to him. She put a gentle hand on his shoulder, he smiled. "Hey, what's up man? You're drinking way too much, you're worrying me.."

As fast as the smile appeared, it vanished, "I'm sorry, shorty, didn't mean to upset you. I think I know what Ian told you, he called me a few weeks ago and explained it," He lowered his voice, "I know he loves me, Jewels, and well, I've been thinking about it, and, I didn't realize it at first, but I feel the exact same way. Everything he told me, everything he felt, was identical to mine after I came to terms with the situation. I've always cared about him, and cursed that we ended up on opposite teams; it's almost like the Admin foresaw we would fall in love and did this to us on purpose.."

"So, are you going to tell him?"

He shuffled uncomfortably and tried to take a drink from his bottle, but Jewels took it from him. He sighed, "Well, I was, but look at him, he's so drunk, he probably wouldn't remember."

Even he had to admit, it was a lame excuse, knowing Ian, he probably get drunk like this twice a day. Jewels grabbed his hand, "Come on, let's go do this thing!"

"Wh- Wait! I don't even know what I'm gonna say, I-"

"Just say what comes to your mind, he'll just be relieved to know you feel the same way, you'll do fine!"

She gave him a gentle push in the relaxing Scotsman's direction, and walked away, towards her teacher and best friend. "Hey, guys, having fun?"

"We would, if everyone and their mothers weren't hitting on my wife.."

Cassandra smiled at her, "Yes, we're having a good time, thanks."

"I'm glad. I also came across another opposite team romance, they've been keeping their feelings from each other. Let's watch."

She gestured towards the nervous soldier talking to the smiling demoman. The three watched the actions of the two, the seriousness of the men's faces suddenly turned to excitement as they wrapped their arms around each other, and shared their first kiss. Cassandra and Jewels both squealed and Rick just closed his eyes and smiled, "Well good for them.."

When they opened, they were on his watch, "Love? It's almost midnight, we should be going soon."

"Alright, honey."

The snipette gasped, "You can't go yet! Lance and Hank haven't even shown up yet.."

The Australian yawned, "Those crazy twins are celebrating with family on their ranch, the last thing we need are those mad engineers drunk with their wranglers and sentries armed..come on love, I'm tired."

Cassandra grabbed his arm, "Okay."

She spoke up, "Goodbye, everyone! It was great seeing you all again!"

"What? Where you going, lass? Does Rick actually work tomorrow?"

The group started talking, "I pick my hours, don't know about anybody else.."

"No, I have weekends off.."

As they started discussing the various ways they control their jobs, the sniper grit his teeth and turned violently, swinging the door open, and slamming it closed after Cassandra, leaving the party in a confused, shocked silence. She put a caring hand on his cheek, and kissed him, the man's troubles couldn't help but melt away from the warmth and touch of his angel. The drive home was brief and silent, and when they got home, into their bedroom, and began to change clothes to nightwear, the sniper sighed, "I'm sorry if I embarrassed you, love. My envy just got the better of me, I hate that I can't be home with you more than a day or two a week.."

Cassandra rested her head in his lap, "Nonsense, you could never make me ashamed of you! And don't worry about your job, you just got there, I don't expect you to have much authority yet. It's what you always wanted to do, I support you 100%, and I always will."

"You're so good to me, love.."

He leaned down to kiss her, but when she saw the look in his eyes, she sat up and kissed him briefly.

"Uh, uh, uh Mister! You have to get up early tomorrow, so don't even think about it!"

He said nothing but grumbled into bed, "Alright, you're right. I love you babe, more than anything."

Cassandra giggled, "I love you, too, dear. Goodnight,"

"Goodnight." He turned off the lamp and they drifted off to sleep in each other's arms.

The next morning, Cassandra woke up alone, she looked at the clock and sighed quietly, 'Already nine, he's been at work for a little over three hours now..'

She felt the table for her mini-glasses and put them on the bridge of her nose, next to them a note lay there: "Morning Love! Can't wait to see you tonight, I love you so much!"

She smiled at every word, he leaves her similar ones every week, their brief but meaningful, she keeps them all in her bottom drawer.

Her day progressed like normal, until she heard what sounded like footsteps coming from the downstairs living room. It was only four, Rick shouldn't be home yet. She grabbed one of the many knives she had hidden around the house and quietly descended the stairs. When she saw nobody in the den, she started towards the front door to check the lock, and that's when the figure rushed from the kitchen, and put a liquid drenched rag over her mouth, she could just barely make out the pale red striped patterned sleeve on the assailant's arm, "Robert.." She uttered weakly before losing consciousness. When she finally came to, she was in a completely pitch black room, save a bright spotlight in the center. She blinked, her mind was still fuzzy, "Where..am I?" A familiar stuck up french accent pierced the silence to reply.

"Oh, location's not important, fille, not in the situation you're all in.."

A silhouette showed itself by stepping in the spotlight, "Bonjour, traitor."

She didn't know what to think, her two highest emotions were anger and confusion, she closed her eyes, "Robert, please, tell me what's going on, why did you break into my house and kidnap me? How did you even know where I live?"

"Don't flatter yourself, kitten, both teams have been captured, all of them."

She put a hand over her mouth and gasped, "What, why! I don't understand.."

The frenchman's voice rose, "Don't you! You were one of the seven that ran away that day, and keeping tabs on the rest of your team by sending letters to them, telling them where you were and convincing them to all get discharged so you can be reunited with your 'friends'? Awfully selfish of you, non?"

When she said nothing, the spy pressed a button on his watch, and bright lights switched on, illuminating the room, which she noticed was made of glass, so see could see all the other rooms, also made of the transparent material. She appeared to be in the very middle, and each of the other rooms on opposite sides of her had a single person in it, still unconscious. Her comrades who seemed so carefree and merry just last evening, are going to wake up confused and afraid, just as she did; and it's all her fault. The overwhelming sadness at this sudden realization was too much, and she buried her face and wept into her hands. Robert spit on the ground, "Oh, spare me, woman! This wouldn't be happening if you and your precious Rick would've just given yourselves up and faced your punishment, but no, you had to involve the others, who were free, though we did suspect them, of course. We knew where you were the whole time, we were monitoring your whereabouts until the Admin gave us the okay to apprehend you. She was being surprisingly generous, letting you spend some time with your family and friends, and WHAT DID YOU DO!"

He slowly made his way to Cassandra, who looked like a kitten in the pouring rain, and smirked at her helplessness, she was still crying when he grabbed her left hand. "You never contacted them, instead got married and acted like nothing happened!"

In one quick motion, he snapped her wrist backward, then forced it back to her original position, her scream was of excruciating pain, then he slapped her hard across the face.

"Shut your mouth, these rooms are soundproof, so your just screaming at me, which is very rude.."

She steadied her breathing, the pain in her wrist was immense, and she had never been this frightened in her life. "Robert, I know it was wrong of the seven of us, but why did you bring the others into this? They didn't betray you."

"Of course they did, you idiotic woman! By not telling us they knew where you were, or that you were alive and not showing us the letters, it was as if they were harboring fugitives, and by God, they'll be charged as such!"

"Where is Rick? Is he alright?"

"He's in the room next to you, but this will probably be the last time you see him."

Another voice, female, joined the conversation, they both turned to an elder woman wearing a violet colored suit and pencil skirt, her silver hair wrapped in a bun in the middle of her head. The Administrator. "You did a good job, Robert, I'm proud."

"Thanks, mother."

Cassandra's eyebrows raised briefly, 'What? She has her own son fight with us? Probably to keep an eye on all of us..'

"Do you recall the day you were conversing with Juliet, and Robert made his presence known? Well he was there the whole time, and we've kept a close eye on you ever since. Everywhere you two went, and he has, on camera, you and the sniper, her with the scout, and of course, the entirety of the meeting you the day you all went AWOL."

The Admin sighed, "Why, Cassandra? You were the best demoman I've ever seen, it broke my heart to see you go, and Richard, well he was my Robbie's only friend in school, I had a special place for you both, and you betrayed me. Why?"

Cassandra stood up and bowed briefly, "Ma'am I had no intention of running away! But you see, we started to see a pattern develop, people from BLU were falling for the RED's and vise versa, remembering the contract, we realized we couldn't uphold it, we were holding back the teams, ma'am, we didn't have the heart to harm the other. I know this means nothing but, most of our attractions happened before we boarded the plane, so we didn't know we were going to be enemies at the time. I have betrayed you, and I cannot apologize enough, but I am ready to take my punishment, as I am familiar with what that means, just please spare everyone else, Ma'am.."

The woman's face remained stern and she cleared her throat, "Do you know why you survived this long, Mrs. Mundy? It's not only what Robert said, but we also had to find suitable replacements for both teams! Now that we have done that, we really can't have you out in society, knowing about this organization's existence, the risk is far too great."

Silence, the Frenchman looked at his mother, something was different about her expression, only he could tell, he excused himself from the room, and Cassandra eyed the floor.

"Ma'am, we haven't said a word about it, and we don't intend to do so! You have to believe me when I say we're all trying to forget our war life, we're just trying to be normal again, and trust me, we're all very grateful to you."

The Admin appeared surprised, but didn't let it enter her voice, "Why do you say that, Mrs. Mundy?"

Cassandra smiled, "If you didn't send out contracts to who you did, we would never have met our soulmates. Thank you so much, Ma'am. I am fully aware treason is punishable by death, but at least you gave me the gift of true love, and for that I do owe you my life, we all do."

She was silent, the Admin looked into the rooms, most of the people were fully awake now, and they were all smiling, probably thinking the same thing the bright young woman in front of her is. She sighed, "Mrs. Mundy, I've never been shown the amount of respect in all my years of running this organization than you've shown me today, but the law is the law, I apologize.."

Cassandra's smile remained, "I understand, Ma'am. I will go calmly and quietly."

"I appreciate the cooperation, and for the record, I know you would not say anything about us, we just have to make sure.."

She noticed Cassandra was staring inside the room beside them, where Rick was starting to wake up.

"Go ahead."

"Thanks you so much, Ma'am."

She knocked on the glass, she knew he couldn't hear her, but desperation kicked in. He rubbed the back of his neck, confusion filled his face, then he turned and noticed Cassandra, he started talking to her but she made a sign saying she couldn't hear him, realizing it was hopeless, they both slumped down and sighed, eyes still locked on each other and threatened to shed tears. The Administrator quietly took the radio from her waist and pressed a side button, "Robert, you there?"

"Oui, mother, I'm in the control room."

"Good, could you release the barrier please, son?"

He didn't question her, he pressed the button immediately, "Thank you, Robbie."

"But of course. Anything else?"

"Yes, actually," She turned to Cassandra, "The sound barier's down, you may speak with your husband now." Lowering her voice, she spoke into the radio again, "Change of plans, we're going with 2B instead, so make preparations."

"What! Are you sure!"

"Yes, son, I am! Don't question me!"

"Yes Ma'am, sorry."

She sighed yet again, and watched the two, Rick's head was against the glass, pointing down as were his eyes, "I'm sorry, love, we never should have left, you were right to be worried, now everyone's going to die, and it's all my fault; I knew I was no good for you, but I proceeded anyway. I should've went alone, like I planned."

"No, Rick. We chose to go with you because all we believed the same thing, we knew the consequences, dear."

The Australian eyed her hand, he cried out, "What in the bloody hell did you do to your hand, love!"

"Robert broke it, but nevermind me, I'm worried about everybody else, I want to say goodbye to them, they all mean so much to me."

"Yeah, especially my Jewels, she was such a joy to have around, she was like a daughter to me, and now I've led her to her death..Bugger, I can't do anything right, can I?"

Cassandra gasped as, for the first time ever, she saw tears running down her husband's face.

"No, Rick, you aren't responsible for us going with you, we chose to, honey, this isn't your fault. I love you, I always have and always will, no matter what happens, I told you that many times over the years."

"I know, love, you too angel. So this is it, huh? Well maybe they'll let me get a hit or two on that spy bastard for hurting you before they do us in, eh?"

The Admin interjected, "I apologize, Mr. Mundy, but I'm afraid I can't let you hurt my son, rest assured he will be punished accordingly. I sent for her medic already."

At that moment, the door opened and Hanz walked in, Cassandra's eyes filled with excitement as she rushed to him, they hugged briefly, "Oh I thought I'd never see you again! Thank goodness!"

They kissed each others cheeks, "Now, let's have a look at that wrist.."

He held it gently as he felt the main swelling points, she jumped.

"I'm sorry, dear."

"ugh, that's fine.."

The German unhitched his medigun from his back and aimed it at her hand. Bright blue medicine radiated from the machine, the wrist was back to perfection in a matter of seconds, she hugged the Medic again, "Thank you so much, Hanz."

"No problem, dear. Hey, you okay?"

She had grabbed him tighter and was shaking again, "I'm so sorry, I love you, and I'm going to miss you so much."

He wiped tears from her cheeks, "I see, don't worry, I don't blame anyone. Love you, too."

"Oi, thanks, Doc!"

He looked behind him, "Oh, Rick, hello! Of course, It's my job."

The Administrator put her scrawny hands on her thin hips.

"You're dismissed, Medic."

"Yes. Ma'am, farewell you two!" He left without another word.

The marksman turned his attention to the older woman, "Excuse me, Ma'am, but I can't shake the feeling that I've seen you somewhere before? Do I know you?"

"I'm the mother of Robert, or Robbie as I used to call him when I visited him at his school."

Sudden realization hit the Australian, "That's the Robert that was my best friend all through school!

I haven't seen him since graduation, when he supposedly disappeared.."

"He wanted to work here as soon as he could, so I had to come up with something. He wanted to tell you for so long where he was, you were his best friends, and now.."

"Mother, everything's ready."

She pushed the button again, "Understood."

She then clipped the radio back to her waist, "Come with me, Mrs. Mundy. It's time."

Rick began crying again, "Goodbye, love. I love you."

"I love you, too, dear. Goodbye."

The door closed behind Cassandra and the Admin, she had to ask, "How's this going to happen, Ma'am?"

"You'll see, dear, you'll see."

She didn't expect an answer, so she followed the woman, and even though she knew she was following the woman, and even though she knew she was taking her to her death, she was smiling, like always.

'I'll get to see all of them again, and we can all spend eternity together..'

But when she arrived, she was put in a room with the rest of her friends and the Admin left. She was confused, "CASSANDRA!"

Jewels glomped her to the floor, "Oh, Jays! I'm glad all of you are okay!"

"Yeah, we were all put in here and told to await further instruction. I'm scared!"

She set her head on the taller woman's shoulder, "Me too, and so is Rick. He's already cried twice, and once was just for you, he calls you his daughter."

"Aww, that's so sweet..So he's alright, too? Thank goodness.."

The others were cuddled with the ones they love, awaiting the inevitable, with smiles still on their faces, "So everyone's coming to terms and found peace, huh? That's good."

Jake came up to Cassandra and his wife, "What's up, Cassandra? So you ready to die?"

Jewels elbowed him in the arm, "Jake, seriously!"

"It was a joke, babe. Hey, where's Rick?"

The Admin opened the door, and the bushman entered the room, closing the door after him and locking it from the opposite side. Cassandra rushed into his arms, they kissed each other longingly, and held each other close. "Oi, I missed you all so much.."

"What's going on, I wonder.."

"Maybe their going to gas us."
Again Jewels elbowed him, a little lower this time, "Ow! I'm sorry!"

Rick smiled, "Hey, Jewels, glad to see see you, mate!"

He held out his arms and she jumped into them, they really did resemble a father and daughter.

"Love you, sweetie."

She smiled, "I love you too, dad."

The man chuckled, "Thanks, mate."

Cassandra eyed all her friends, she prayed silently, if somehow they survive this, she has to rememebr to tell them all in great detail what they mean to her, she was positive their wasn't enough time to start now, so she decided she would also write it down and give it to them so they have it in writing as well, but that's a big if!

"Attention!, you all know why you're here, you were to be executed for treason, now if you would please turn your attention to the screen on your right, we will begin."

Everyone's heads slowly drifted to the instructed direction, and sure enough, a large monitor was staring back at them. The door opened another time, and again the Admin emerged, alone this time, and turned the screen on. She then, to everyone's astonishment, sat on the floor next to Cassandra, "Hello again, Mrs. Mundy."

"Ma'am, are you sure you don't want a chair?"

"No, dear, I'm fine. Watch the screen now."

A white room identical to the one they all inhabited appeared, expect it was empty.

"Okay, file in!"

At the command, every person in the room was in absolute awe at what they saw. It was themselves! Spies, they assumed, disguised as them and lined up against the back wall. When Cassandra saw the agents walk in with automatic machine guns. She hid her face in Rick's chest.

"It's alright, love. They're probably equipped with Dead Ringers."

"You'd be correct, Mr. Mundy."

"Still, I don't want to see.."

"I understand.."

The Admin quickly muted the screen, "It ruins the speakers if I don't."

The crowd watched themselves get barraged with bullets, they didn't understand. When the Admin turned the moniter off, Rick shook her gently, "It's over now, love."

"Alright."

She cleared her throat, "Anybody want to guess why I had you watch that?"

Silence

"I did so because I'm going to be showing the same clip to the officials that will be filling out your death certificates."

Everyone was silent still, so what exactly did this mean for them? Then it hit them.

:Indeed, when you leave here, you will be given new ID's with different information, and you will 'cease to exist'. This was NOT the original plan, however." She stood up and dusted herself off, "You will also live under one roof, spacious enough for everyone, of course. It will be paid for by us so you won't have to worry financially ever again. This is the only way we can be sure our secret won't be revealed."

Before she opened the door, she turned back to the group, "You all have Mrs. Mundy to thank for your lives. I don't know how she did it, and I didn't even think it was possible, but she was able to melt the ice around this old woman's heart and completely alter my view on life, just by having one conversation."

Rick just laughed and put an arm around her, "Yeah, she'll do that to you.."

The Administrator smiled, then exited the room.

Silence, then loud cheering erupted.

"So what did you do, Cass? Did you really just talk to her?"

She shrugged, "Yeah, I just told her how we were all ready to die for what we believe in."

"Well, thanks to you, not only are we alive, but we now live together, too!"

More cheers. The friends were always looking out for each other, regardless of possible outcomes, and now, for the first time since they met, three and a half years ago, the friends can protect one another, and the lovers can love each other without having to worry about the consequences. They were finally free.

END