Team Fortress 2 and its characters belong to Valve. Most of this stuff remains canon; teams are portrayed in a more realistic manner (or as realistic as you can get with a game like this) while trying to stay true to the personalities of the characters involved. Have fun reading or simply close out of it if you don't.

Cheers.

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"G'day, mate!" The Red Sniper paused on his way to the hangar door, looking back to see a second Sniper jogging up to him. He decided to wait for him, turning back in his direction with a small smile and an attentive look on his face.

Though the man's uniform was similar, there were a few differences. This man was a bit more muscular, his hair a bit longer and dirty blonde, and he had a toothpick sticking out of his mouth. "'aven't seen you in the towers, lately."

"Heh.. Haven't been gone so long 'ave I?" They both approached the hangar together.

"Word 'round base is that you've adopted a Spy, izzat it?"

The Sniper groaned good-naturedly and cracked his knuckles with a grin, "Aw here we go.."

"So it's true then! Shocking business right there," the blonde said with a marveling tone of voice, "'ow did it happen, mate, you've gotta tell me."

"Same way you meet anybody else, I suppose.."

"There's rumors too, yeh'know?"

"Rumors?" he looked over, "How are there already rumors? Good gravy, it's only been a day.."

"Oh, Scouts I imagine.. You know how they are."

Indeed, he did.

The Red Sniper wrinkled his nose, quieting down as the two of them approached the door. The Engineer was busy clanging on the Sentry gun with his wrench. "Howdy, mate. Problems?"

The Engie looked up and wiped a bit of sweat from his brow, "Danged Spy slid a sapper in here when I opened up to let some of you boys back in. Had somebody peruse the area, but they didn't find nothin'. You boys had better keep a keen set of eyes."

"Can do, mate," said the blonde Sniper. He gave the Engie a hand up, letting the man go about unlocking and opening the door for them. As he did, the Red Sniper pulled his bow off of his back and loaded an arrow into it. He stared at the darkening scenery outside. A few search lights, a dull breeze, no rain however. The two Snipers decided to walk together though the blonde seemed more relaxed than his dark-haired companion. He drew his Kukri and glanced around while nudging the other Sniper's firing arm, "So, d'you fancy 'im?"

The Red Sniper stopped right where he was and lowered his bow as he looked with exasperation at the other man. "Do I fancy who?"

"That Spoy. Word is you attacked a Scout that said somethin' about it, and I wanted to know if it was true is all."

A gravelly grunt of annoyance left his throat. "Absolutely not," he said, pulling his bow taught once more and stepping ahead of the blonde. "Bloody pikers runnin' about flappin' their gums.. Do I look like a poofer to you?"

"Was only a question, mate, no need to get all a'mess about it."

"He took ill and almost died. Decided to help a teammate instead of leavin' 'im behind. There's your answer."

The blonde Sniper quieted down a bit at that, turning it over in his head. Well.. That was a valid reason. It still felt strange though. A Sniper aiding a Spy.. Hell, anyone aiding anyone and not being a Medic was news to him -- especially outside of battle. "Well.. you're a good man then," was all he could muster before parting ways to head across the field and toward his own post.

With him gone, the Red Sniper could focus on other areas of the battlefield. The tower was nearby but.. no. Tonight? Tonight he would prowl a bit..

He took to strafing again, his blatant red uniform liable to make him a walking target even as he stuck to the shadows. Huh.. Quiet night. With any luck, he could get to a fine vantage point in the rocks nearer to the Blu base.. Slowly, steady.. . His shoes pressed softly into the grass and dry dust beneath them, long strides taken with his limber legs as he hunched forward and held his bow sideways.. Pause. He heard a snap and quickly dropped to a full-on crouch. His glasses slid down his nose and he peered around cautiously...

After no sounds followed for almost three minutes, he slowly continued his creeping approach and shuffled past the very ruined crate that had helped to save the Red Spy those days ago. One foot in front of the other, keep your head down; he repeated the cautions to himself in a ritual fashion and pressed on. Past a silo, into an alley, a pause as he stared at a catwalk above him for any signs of enemy sentries.

He was getting close now.. The Blu Base loomed in the distance but he could easily see it from here. He also knew that if Blu's Snipers could hold a candle to Red's, he'd be dead in a matter of moments if he stepped into the open. Wiping some sweat from his brow onto his sleeve, the Sniper moved into a crouch again and took stock of his options. From behind him, a series of smooth clicks were heard. It was all the warning he required to jolt and push himself forward but not before a cold blade slashed into his shoulder, "GRAGH!"

His arrow released prematurely and entirely off aim, whizzing off toward the Blu base's roof and knocking the baseball right out of an enemy Scout's hand.

Back on the field, the Sniper had already dropped his bow and reached for his Kukri while stumbling forward to evade his attacker. He could hear a growl of distaste advancing upon him as he rolled onto his back and caught sight of the lanky Blu Spy pulling his pistol and preparing to fire. The Sniper panicked and rolled to the side just as the barrel leveled and ejected a bullet into the dirt. He wasn't going to take this laying down!

As the Spy got too close, he gripped the grass with his free hand and leveraged himself enough to kick the heel of his shoe into the man's nearest kneecap. "Agh!Merde!" the Spy cried, his leg twisting and failing him while the Aussie scrambled to his feet. Both men attempted to stand and gain the higher ground though it seemed the Sniper would get there first.

Fffshew!

Shit.

An enemy Sniper's arrow landed inches from the Red's head, causing him to back away from his opponent and give him the time he needed to roll to his feet. So he ran, darting around the silo with the Spy hot on his heels. He was invisible, he could tell from the scent of whirring machine smoke in the air. The plume smoke of re-entry appeared in front of him.

Damnit, damnit! The Spy had run around the other way and as the Sniper tried to skid to a halt, the Spy lashed his butterfly knife across his face.

It might have stung, but the adrenaline rushing through him disallowed any sensation of pain. He gripped his Kukri tightly and brought it swiftly across the Spy's chest and elbowed him forcefully backward. The man pinwheeled and grunted in pain, laying his knife arm across his torso though he managed to lift his pistol and squeeze off a shot as he fell. It struck a lucky target -- the Sniper's left ankle. "G'AH'W!" He stumbled then, grimacing and advancing on the Spy with wide eyes as blood dripped down his cheeks. "C'mere you li'le wanka!" he growled, slashing at the felled Frenchman with his Kukri. The Blu looked terrified, mouth wide open as the Aussie's sharp blade cut deeply into his throat and shoulder.

Blood gushed everywhere, staining the man's long knife and seeping into the ground as he grunted and ripped it free from the Spy's flesh. He took notice of a gold object in what should have been the man's knife hand. A gold watch? It shone dimly, the corpse in front of him sputtering from view and disappearing entirely as he stared at it. It wasn't invisible, it simply wasn't there anymore!

A feeling of dread crawled up his throat as he quickly stood straight and wielded the blade near his chest, turning around and around as he heard the Blu base starting to wake up..

"C'mon guys, they're attackin'!" he heard a Scout shouting.

"MM-MMPH!" screamed a Pyro. The Sniper was actually beginning to look a bit scared and decided to retreat.

He waved an arm wildly to capture the attention of any of the attentive Snipers, screaming as he ran, "INCOMING! INCOMING! BLOODY 'ELL, INCOMING!!"

He soon realized the wound in his leg, his run becoming a hopping limp as he struggled to find a position of cover and hold it. The warehouse doors of the Red Base flew open, a short staff of Soldiers and fiery Demomen prepared for duty while a Scout or two made themselves apparent with a straggling Pyro. The Sniper wasn't paying any attention, but one of the Scouts (with a bandaged head) glowered thick death at the Aussie. He immediately blamed him for the late night interruption, but that? That could be handled later..

As the Blu team's nightshift flooded around the silo, all hell broke loose.

The Sniper found an uncomfortable sniping position behind an open-backed pile of rubble, dropping his Kukri and taking potshots at anyone who got too close to the base. There was fire, gunning, running, screaming.. How could this happen? The other men had ventured toward the Blu base in the past few days -- the Spies had told him so -- so why him? Why tonight?? He cursed his distractions when an unexpected punch sent him flying to the ground.

He lay there blinking in disorientation as a shadowy form crouched next to him and plucked up his Kukri, "Haw haw.. Now it eez time to die, Monsieur Sniper."

Son of a bitch. That nagging rookie Spy!

He fumbled around for a method of escape, observing the hesitation that he'd called the Spy on last time. But.. he'd killed him hadn't he??

The Blu idiot wanted revenge, wanted to see the look of realization in the Sniper's eyes as he thrust his own knife through his heart. And just as he was about to get his wish, a baseball came flying in front left field (his own side) and clocked him on the temple.

The Kukri hit the ground right away though the Spy? He just teetered there for a little while the Sniper sat up grimly and grabbed the front of his suit. He then grabbed one of the man's arms and, in two steps, stood and flung him into the trench just past his crumbling sniping post as hard as his wounded body would allow. He then dropped back into work, fighting tooth and nail until the Blus were forced to pull back. It became apparent rather quickly that the Reds were not scaling an attack and so the Blus retreated. Already some of the Reds were toting upgraded weapons which only fueled the Blu motivation to get back to base.

The Sniper's breath came rough as the sounds of fighting died off, his jaw set with pain as he pulled himself to his feet and limped back toward one of the hangar doors. His glasses were gone, he realized. They must have been broken when that dirty Spy had come at his face with that knife. And just as he cleared the hangar door, he met another challenge.. The Scout.

He stood there, his bloodied bat tapping at the side of his ankle with his brow set low..

The Sniper paused to look at him, confusion apparent on his face as the Scout hefted his bat upward and took a swing at him. His first instinct was to throw up his arm and grab the damned thing, but the Spy had slashed his shoulder to the point where it would not rotate properly. This caused a slowing of the impact, but he was not fast enough to stop the Scout when he went at it again and hit him in the head so hard that he slammed against the wall and slumped down dazed.

"You like that, chucklehead??" demanded the Scout, standing over him with spite in his voice.

"Woah, woah, woah! What in tarnation is going on over here, boys??" It was an Engineer, his brows frowning over the edge of his goggles. "You're both Red, nang dabbit, open your eyes!"

The Scout grudgingly let up, slinging his bat up onto his shoulder and walking off, "My work here's done, hard hat," he grumbled angrily.

The Sniper sat there. He knew why that had just happened -- it took a moment to occur is all. That Scout had a bad case of injured pride from the mess hall incident. This little number with the Blus was just the cherry on top. But now he was down a bow, down a pair of glasses and.. well.. down for the count. As he tilted his head back against the wall, he looked up at the Engineer and gruffly asked for some help getting to the Medic's office. ..again.