HUUUUUGE thanks to Lily for being my beta and for helping me improve the story greatly! :3
This is my first fanfic...I hope you enjoy it!
I do not own TF2 or any of the characters in it.
"YOU! WAKE UP AND PAY ATTENTION!"
The Sniper opened one eye to peer at the Soldier. Unsurprisingly, the color of the Soldier's face matched the color of his uniform: red.
"I never said I was sleepin', mate," the Sniper said calmly. "And I'm payin' attention."
The Soldier just grunted. "You didn't look like you were paying attention."
The Australian opened both eyes. "But how do you know whether I was or wasn't?"
"SHUT UP OR I WILL STUFF A GRENADE DOWN YOUR THROAT AND GET THE PYRO TO SET YOU ON FIRE!"
The Sniper sat up a little straighter. He knew that the Soldier was fully capable of carrying out his threats. "Roight…roight…don't get all riled up, mate…."
The Soldier looked satisfied. "Anyways, as I was saying, the BLUs will head towards the Payload cart expecting sentry guns, sniper rifles and sticky bombs. I still want you to do that, but this time, target the Heavy and the Medic. Last time, they CRUSHED US BECAUSE WE WERE NOT PREPARED. Spy," the Soldier said, jabbing his finger at the Frenchman. "I want you to…."
Soon, the American's long battle plan became a dull buzzing in the Sniper's ears. He didn't need to pay attention, as he never had a significant role, except for picking off powerhouses and making sure his outpost wasn't revealed. Hopefully, that would change, but the Aussie somehow doubted that.
The Sniper was suddenly aware of chairs scraping against the floor and people moving about. The meeting was adjourned. The Sniper got up and stretched. He vaguely registered the Engineer saying good night to him as he began to walk out of the base, heading towards his camper van. He yawned as he opened the door of the van and climbed inside. After a moment of scrambling around items strewn around the floor, he collapsed onto a small cot he considered a bed. The Sniper fell asleep almost instantly.
Before he knew it, he was wide awake at Badwater Basin, hearing the familiar cold voice of the Announcer.
"Mission begins in 60 seconds."
The Sniper ran up into a building as his fellow teammates began to set up for the beginning of the match. He loaded his rifle clip and scanned the area.
"Mission begins in 30 seconds."
The Engineer was upgrading his sentry gun. The Sniper never figured out how the Texan managed to work while guarding against the BLU Spy, being under enemy fire, and protecting his buildings all at the same time. Once, he had asked him about it, but the Engineer just shrugged and said that he worked well under pressure.
"Mission begins in 10 seconds."
The Sniper adjusted his position slightly. He saw the BLU Heavy trailed by the BLU Medic. The Medic was close to a full Übercharge. The Sniper could tell by the slightly glowing Medigun. The Sniper raised his rifle and aimed at the sliding gate. The sound of the RED Demoman planting sticky bombs was heard. A glimmer of red passed by and hid behind a rock.
"5."
The RED Scout was taunting the BLU Scout. The BLU Scout looked extremely irked.
"4."
The Soldier was tense, aiming at the Payload cart itself.
"3."
The Sniper took a quick sip of coffee.
"2."
"MAGGOTS!" the BLU Soldier yelled. The RED Sniper hissed in disgust.
"1."
The gate slid open. The Sniper fired his rifle. There were the screams of the BLU Medic and Heavy. The Australian chucked.
A bullet whizzed past his ear. The Sniper immediately turned to see his BLU counterpart, taking shelter behind the Payload cart. He snarled and pulled the trigger. The BLU Sniper fell to the ground.
Despite the RED Team's efforts, the cart began to move forwards. The Sniper heard the Engineer cry, "Sentry do-!" and the strangled cry of the Texan:
"SPY!"
Goosebumps rose on the Sniper's arms. Oy, not that spook…don'tlethimfindmedon'tlethimfindme….
"THE CART IS NEARING A CHECKPOINT!" screamed the Announcer. The Sniper groaned. How had it taken only a couple of seconds for the cart to reach the first checkpoint?! Quickly, he tried to pick off the Scout-
"The enemy has received additional time."
The Sniper cursed under his breath. There was the soft sound of something metal landing on the floor….
He looked down. A blue grenade sat innocently on the floor.
There was an explosion, and then the Sniper was floating in a black void.
"Ah, piss…." He cursed. A few seconds later, he respawned. He looked around the room and was surprised to see many team members also in the room.
"THOSE BLUS MUST NEVER REACH THE END!" the Soldier screamed. "MEN, FIGHT LIKE YOU'VE NEVER FOUGHT BEFORE!"
And with that, the Soldier ran off. The other teammates roared and also ran forward. The Sniper was left behind. He ran out, dodging bullets fired from the BLU Heavy's mini gun.
Somehow, the Sniper managed to get to another building unscathed. He quickly loaded his clip and aimed at the Heavy and Medic pair. The Heavy suddenly said, "CHARGE ME, DOKTOR!"
The Sniper gripped the trigger more tightly.
The floorboards creaked slightly.
Instinctively, the Sniper took out his Kukri and whirled around to stand face-to-face with the BLU Spy holding his butterfly knife. They glared at each other.
"You," the Sniper growled, gripping his machete.
"Yes, me." The Spy took out his revolver. "Now stand still."
"Not on yer bloody loife," the Sniper spat. He lunged and slashed downward. By accident, the Kukri caught the Spy's revolver and knocked it out of the Frenchman's hand. The Sniper stumbled forward as the revolver clattered to the ground. Quickly, the Spy took out his butterfly knife as the Sniper recovered.
The two circled each other like wolves. The Spy took a step forward. The Sniper took a step back.
The Spy continued to advance. The Sniper continued to walk backwards…until he nearly fell out the window. The Spy chuckled leaned forward. He grabbed the Sniper's Kukri, wrenching it out of his hand.
"My weapons do not have to be big in order to kill you," the masked man said. He raised his knife.
The Spy's eye involuntarily twitched. His eyes widened and he tackled the Sniper sideways.
There was an explosion. Shrapnel flew everywhere. The Sniper landed on the floor on his back, winding himself.
"What th' hell was that fer, ye bloody wanka?" the Sniper spat. "Get offa me!"
The Spy got up and ran off, picking up his revolver along the way. The Sniper brushed off his clothes and looked around to find the explosion's source.
The remains of a rocket lay amongst the chunks of broken wood and splinters. The Australian's eyes widened. The careless trigger-happy American had accidentally misfired, and the Spy, the BLU Spy, had saved him. The Sniper became oblivious to the noise outside of the building. Even when the Announcer screamed at the RED Team for failure, he didn't move. A small question formed in his mind.
Why?
He walked back to respawn in a daze. The Soldier was yelling at everyone for being incompetent cowards. The Sniper walked back to his camper van and drove back to the base, barely thinking about his actions. All he thought about was the BLU Spy.
The Australian ate dinner with his mind on the Spy. He sat through the Soldier's lecture on battle tactics thinking of the Spy. He went to bed thinking about the Spy. It was only when he fell to sleep did he stop thinking about him.
The Sniper woke up to a bugle being blasted in his ear. His eyes snapped open and he clamped a hand to his ear.
"OW!" he yelped. He turned to look at the Soldier, who was badly playing some sort of army tune. The Australian glared at him. "Was that really necessary, mate?"
"YOU! GET UP AND MEET OUTSIDE OF THE BASE NOW! THE ENTIRE TEAM IS RUNNING TEN LAPS AROUND THE BASE AND DOING 100 PUSH-UPS!" The Soldier paused to take a breath. "OUR PREFORMANCE YESTERDAY WAS A DISAPPOINTMENT! I DO NOT WANT TO SEE THAT AGAIN!"
He marched back out the door just as suddenly as he had appeared. The Sniper felt a twinge of guilt. He could have easily headshot the Medic and Heavy pair, but instead, he dealt with the BLU Spy.
And the Spy! The Sniper had been bested by the shape-shifting rat like an amateur. The only reason the Spy didn't kill him was to save him from an explosion. The Sniper became annoyed. HE, a professional assassin, had to be saved by a lowly, backstabbing, cowardly-
"I DON'T HEAR YOU MOVING, MAGGOT!"
The Sniper quickly walked out the door.
When he was outside of the base, he noticed seemed unusually cold for a day in October. But that was probably just the Sniper's Australian blood and how he favored warm climates. The bushman spotted the Engineer fiddling with his Gunslinger, waiting for the Soldier to come out and drill them. The Sniper walked over and greeted him. The Engineer looked at him.
"Gettin' mighty cold for a day in October, don't ya think?" the Texan asked. The Sniper agreed.
"Do ye have any idea why we failed yesterday, mate?" the Aussie inquired. The Engineer frowned.
"I take it you didn't listen to Solly, either, then, eh? I don't know…the BLUs didn't seem that different. Maybe we just ain't usin' the right strategy," the Engineer answered.
"Oh, no," the Sniper groaned. "Don't bring up strategy when Solly's around. He'll go on a rant about Sun Tzu, or whoever he always talks about."
The Engineer gave out a short laugh and continued to fiddle with his robotic arm.
There was the crunching of gravel. The Sniper glanced up to see the Scout being chased by the Soldier. "I think we best get runnin', mate."
At noon, the Sniper was lying in his camper van, ignoring his lunch. His muscles had never been sorer. Even the Scout was tired, but that was probably due to the push-ups, not the running. The Soldier had drilled them, all right. While doing his laps around the base, the Sniper dared to ask the Soldier why he wasn't doing the drills with them. He ended up getting two extra laps.
He tried to roll over into a more comfortable position, but that just made it worse. Maybe the RED Spy-
A flash of anger came as he remembered the BLU Spy as well as the RED Spy. He couldn't believe how he had failed to do his job yesterday, how the Spy, the BLU Spy, had to save him from an unfortunate death, how easily the REDs were crushed.
The Sniper felt worthless.
Like an extra piece to a puzzle that didn't fit.
A knock came at the door. The Sniper stared at the door for a second before getting up, his body protesting at every movement. He stiffly walked over and opened the door. The Pyro was standing there.
"Mmphm myphrr!" the Pyro mumbled happily. He—what gender was it, anyways?—had avoided doing the drills by threatening to set the Soldier on fire if he forced him to do the exercises.
The Sniper smiled. "Hullo, Pyro."
The Pyro kept mumbling on. The Sniper frowned, deciphering it. He realized what the Pyro was saying.
"You were worried about me? Why?" the Sniper asked.
"Mmph, ymr umphmmy mmph't smmph sm mmpch tmmph mmm ymr cmmphhr vrrn," the Pyro mumbled.
"I…usually don't spend…so much time…in my camper van?" the Sniper suggested. The Pyro nodded vigorously. The Pyro mumbled something else and held up a crude picture.
"Uh…thank you, Pyro," the Sniper said, taking the picture. The Pyro gave a thumbs-up and began to walk back to the base. Once the Pyro was out of sight, the Australian examined the picture. There was a Spy on fire with a Pyro standing off to the side. The Spy was obviously the BLU Spy due to the hastily splotched on blue paint.
The Sniper was thankful for his friend's thoughtfulness, but the picture made him a bit upset. Even the damn Pyro has to take care of my problems for me. At least in this picture.
The Sniper folded up the picture and, after pausing for a minute, hid it underneath his small bed. There was a battle tomorrow, and he didn't want to get sidetracked while driving to 2Fort.