The first waking moments were like an electric flow. He felt as if he had just awakened from a hundred year slumber, and then as suddenly as the shock had come on it shut off. A pounding headache hit him almost immediately. The sniper attempted opening his eyes, only to be met with harsh stinging and disoriented vision. He promptly shut them again with a hiss. Just breathed for a few minutes, he took in his situation. It smelled like antibacterial soap or something. His memory was kind of fuzzy, and his head hurt like hell. What happened? His head was not the only thing hurting he knew, his left arm and definitely his left eye was inflicting stinging pain on him too. He took a deep breath and struggled to a sitting position, which was much harder than it should have been. There was a brief yet slight pull on his arm. Having his eyes closed was disorienting, and his right arm, which he was using mainly as support, was quickly getting tired.
He pushed himself onto his knees, finding a stable enough position to bring his hand up to his eye, covering the eyelid and keeping it closed despite the pain in both his eye and arm. His good eye opened, squinting ahead at the bright room. At first his vision was blurry, but he already knew where he was, confirming his assumption from the soap smell. He was in the infirmary. His eye closed again, drowsiness beginning to claim him. He swayed a bit, and lowered himself back down into the bed.
The next time the Sniper awoke, he nearly jumped out of his skin after realizing he was surrounded by blurry blue silhouettes. He attempted sitting up, but ended up only being able to lean on the bedframe. The colors encircling him began to sharpen, despite having to squint to keep the damaged eye closed.
"No need to jump, pardner." A western accent chuckled to his left.
"Croikey..." He muttered in response, rubbing his temples.
"Howdaya feel?" The Scout's voice. It really just made his head hurt more.
"Like Oi was run over with a bus," the Bushman replied sullenly. He brought his arm in front of his vision, finding copious scars twining up his forearm. No wonder it was hurting.
"Any more anesthetic and you vould have become delirious." An irritated German accent echoed from his left, the doctor stride into his view, leering a bit at the figures crowding his stations. "I told them you vere not fit to be seen. Of course, nobody listened."
"Mphrph dfp wphp!" Pyro piped up, also to his left. This was disorienting.
"Yeah, Doc. We were just worried." The Engineer chimed in.
He sighed, a bit irritated. "Well zhen, say what you would like to and leave. He needs to rest."
The Engineer shrugged. "Well… I'm real sorry about what happened, Slim," He rubbed the back of his neck, looking away sheepishly. "Frankly I can't believe that damned Spy had the guts to pull somethin' like that."
Spy? He suddenly tensed on the inside, almost forgetting to breath. He couldn't remember any recent events. Everything seemed fogged, even inside his thoughts. Why would the Spy-
"Yeah," The Scout chimed in, almost snarling. "Next time that fucking RED shows his face it's getting' caved in by yours truly." The pyro nodded furiously, making it obvious that they agreed with the Scout's ideal.
Oh. The RED Spy. He exhaled slightly, still a bit shaken from the idea that his own teammate would have turned on him.
"The whole team's pretty worried, Snipes." Scout added. "Engineer made sure the Soldier wouldn't come near here for a while."
"Yeah, Solly can get a bit loud. Didn't think that would be good for ya. He's real worked up about this Spy business."
The Sniped nodded slightly, grateful. Good. His head was already hurting with the array of mildly quiet voices.
The Medic had been gazing at them impatiently, and the Scout finally noticed. "Uh… I think I'll hit the road Snipes, get well soon." He darted uncomfortably out of the room. Engineer and Pyro, exchanging similar relations with the Sniper, followed the Scout's train of thought. The Sniper slumped down slightly, the adrenaline of confusion draining away.
"Herr Sniper," He tiredly directed his damaged vision to the Medic, who had walked across the room and was now rummaging through a medicine drawer. "I vas light on zhe anesthetic because you have a decision to make, and I reasoned you vould vant to be… More sober to make it."
He waltzed over with the usual refined steps that suited his personality perfectly. "As you know, you have only one eye, and as you probably can tell, zhe vound has not yet healed completely, which is partly intentional. There are two relatively safe options to deal with your eye - Sewing it up or getting a glass replacement. You can change your mind later if you vish, but getting the stitches and then switching may damage the skin around the eye."
"… Then there's no way to fix it." The sniper's voice dipped into a soft tone.
The doctor sighed slightly. "At zhe moment, no." There was a sickening silence.
"… Croikey, It wouldn't feel right having a glass eyeball in my head." He murmured. "Better to just close it up."
The German nodded. "Very vell. I will leave you alone for now to rest."
Somewhere, many halls away from the infirmary, the mess hall was bustling with activity. The Soldier was the main attraction of the small gathering. Despite the Engineer's ordering for quiet, an opportunity for well-founded shouting and cursing was hard to pass up.
"THAT MAGGOT THINKS HE CAN JUST STROLL IN AND GET AWAY WITH MURDER?"
The Spy found the Soldier's ranting slightly ironic. They took countless lives every day- In a sense they were all murderers. Well-paid, (mostly) sane murderers. Not that the RED Spy's attempt on the Sniper's life was acceptable. Oh, no. It was incredibly far from just. So beyond far that he could not put it into words; so far that it made his body itch to feel his own knife in his opposite's heart.
The Demoman had become sober since the incident, for once in a long while deciding it was in his best interest to stay clearheaded. That however didn't mean he was immune to coming hangovers. "Ay…. Quiet down o'er there." He was currently collapsed on top of the table the Spy was sitting at, although he paid no mind to the Scottish man.
"NEGATIVE! This is no laughing matter!" He hissed between clenched teeth. "This is TRECHERY to the contract and to the rules of the contract. This can't go unpunished!"
"I agree, but zhat does not mean we have any authority to make a move. If zhe Administrator chooses to take action, zhe other Spy will be dealt with. If not…" The Spy trailed off into silence, looking away.
"If not, WHAT, Croissant?" The patriot sneered in response, pacing angrily and occasionally whacking his equalizer into the nearest wall.
"The Engineer is not going to like zhat." The Spy sighed, holding his head in his hands, obviously tired and irritated.
Completely ignoring his insertion, the Soldier yelled again. "THEY'RE GOING TO PICK US OFF, ONE BY ONE! THEY'LL RIP US TO SHREDS IF WE DON'T TAKE ACTION!" A perfectly placed equalizer hit broke through the wall's covering, and the Soldier left it there, whipping on the Spy with anger. His voice dripped poison. "This is WAR, sweetheart. They stepped across the line, and if that rule is not enforced, I will rip them to shreds until the damned world ENDS if they try to pull ANYTHING else."
With that the Soldier exit, still full of rage and spite. The Spy wished he could have the mindset of the Soldier sometimes. One of endless bravery and naïve justification for everything- A world of black and white. But yet it was not who he was. Making a preemptive move could cost them their jobs, or in extreme, their lives. The RED Spy could be corresponding on this with the rest of his team, or maybe he merely went for the Sniper out of personal spite.
Either way, it wasn't his place to choose how the battle would play out. It was the Administrator's.
Footsteps echoed from somewhere in the hallway. The Demoman suddenly laughed, causing the Spy to jump. He had forgotten the one-eyed alcoholic was there. "Solly's in fer it, ain't he?"
The Spy stared at the Engineer, Pyro, and Scout as they entered, then glanced to the wall. "...Oui."
The Engineer followed the Spy's gaze, jumping with a yelp at the torn up wall.
"I can explain," The Spy mused. "It was the Soldier's fault."
Wow guys, long time no see. Sorry for not updating; I really lost motivation with this, but I think writing this story is worth it. I hope my precious readers didn't die in the many days it took me to write this tiny chapter :p
