Chapter 10

As the helicopter neared it made quite the racket, and consequently woke the occupants of the BLU fortress from their slumber. It surely interrupted the other team's sleep as well, but at that moment in time he really didn't care.

"Over here, mate!" he yelled excitedly, waving his arms joyously in the air. He knew that the aircraft knew where to land and definitely couldn't hear him, but he couldn't help himself; now that the reinforcements were here they could finally get back on their feet again instead of cowering in their own territory.

The relief flowing through him he booked it back inside, crazily throwing the supply room door open. He didn't need to say a word; they already knew exactly what was going on.

Had the demo man been able to walk he most certainly would have followed the sniper to the landing area. Looking to the spy he hoped that she'd at least join him, but she was still huddled beneath her covers, refusing to interact with anyone.

It was true that she was happy that the reinforcements were there, but it only reminded her of how someone could soon be replacing the medic that had twice saved her life.

Taking a swig from his beer the demo man told him, "Go ahead an' see 'em in without us, lad. Better ya give 'em a proper welcome than wait here for us, as it seems we ain't comin'."

He nodded. Tipsy as the man was, the demo man was right: there was no good in waiting for people who weren't coming.

Closing the door he went a little farther until he was standing on the ledge that overlooked the courtyard. There he waited until the helicopter was hovering directly overhead.

Backing away slightly he allowed the chopper room to land safely, though it really didn't need a few more feet space and was good with what it had. After surviving everything that had been thrown at them, he didn't want some sort of freak accident to bring this to an abrupt end.

Within moments the noise of the blades slicing the air was almost deafening, but still the sniper stayed rooted to the spot. He was the only one available to greet their new recruits, and he intended to do just that.

Soon the noise died down, the blades of the chopper coming to a stop a few moments after the craft touched the ground. For just a moment it sat there completely still before the sniper acted.

A warm and excited smile spreading across his face he made his way down the flight of stairs, happy that things might finally be turning around for the BLU team.

As he reached the bottom of the stairs the door of the helicopter swung open, a bulky man in a black dress suit clambering out. He was very unlike any of the recruits that were still waiting in the helicopter, a liaison of some sort most likely.

An importance to his stride he walked up to the sniper, nodding his head slightly to allow his sunglasses to slide down his nose, looking the expert marksman up and down. The sniper seemed to carry himself like the leader of the lot, so it was him that he'd debrief.

Pushing his sunglasses back up his nose he asked in a brisk voice, "Sniper, you are the leader of this station under the Builders League United corporation, correct?"

"I wouldn't say that I'm the 'leader', but I suppose I do keep these people on track…" the sniper started, though he wasn't allowed to finish; before he could the man in the black suit interrupted him.

"Good," he said blandly, "I'm here to inform you that your new recruits have officially arrived. There was some delay in their transport as SOMEONE decided to practice on the way here, but everything should be fine now."

A shout of "Hudda hudda ha!" could be heard from the inside of the helicopter, but they ignored it and continued on with their conversation.

"Well, as long as they're all safe and ready to–"

"OK, then; I'll send them out," he said abruptly, raising a hand in the air. With a snap of his fingers the door opened again and the five new recruits piled out. "They've all been filled in on the current situation, and are ready to take action on your command."

The sniper was about to open his mouth to say thanks but before he could the man walked away. He was left standing there with a blank look on his face as the man casually made his way back into the passenger seat of the helicopter.

Once everyone had steered clear of the chopper the blades came to life once again, slowly gaining speed until they began to lift the craft off the ground. Very soon the sniper and his new recruits were left shielding their eyes from the dust and debris that was being thrown about by the helicopter as it rose into the air.

They didn't see it leave for they were busy protecting their eyes, but they very clearly heard it depart. Eventually the winds died down with the noise of the rotors and they were free to go on with their business.

Before they could get started, however, a noise met their ears. At first it sounded like the helicopter was coming back, but they soon discovered that it was something very different. Raising their heads to the skies as the noise got louder they saw a red jet plane pass by. It was clear that it was meant for the RED team, as it was slowly dipping downward and losing speed.

Now with an added incentive to get things up and running again, the sniper turned to the new additions of the BLU team, smiling. Although the RED team was also getting their reinforcements, the BLU team might finally have an advantage in this battle, and now that they had the resources they might finally be able to retrieve that last intelligence.

"So, you mates ready to get started? We've got lots to do in a small amount of time, so we've got to get going on that as soon as possible," he told the new recruits.

They all nodded enthusiastically, raring to get going. They all hoped that this team would be the one to win this and get the last of RED's secret plans. If they did that then they'd surely go down in the history of the Builder's League United.

"OK, then. The heavy's been down in the intelligence room for a few days now guarding what we have last of our own plans. Engineer, would you mind heading down there so you can build us a turret? You know, give him a break," he instructed.

"Alrighty, partner," the engineer said, tipping his hardhat at the man. Without another word he gathered his things and left the group, wrench in hand, on his way to build a decent defence.

"Now, the rest of you… get to work on getting a plan together. Explore the base while you're at it to get a feel of the place. Meet in the intelligence room after to share what you've come up with," he told the rest of them.

They began to leave, but as they were he placed a hand on the medic's shoulder. Now that they were going to have a decent defence and people working on a plan, it was time to mend that which had recently been broken.

He asked the man, "Doc, I've got a couple of mates in waiting in the main room. They've been without proper medical attention for some time now, and could really use your help. You mind coming to patch 'em up?"

The medic nodded and separated from his group, taking a stand beside the sniper. Smiling solemnly the sniper moved to make his way back up the steps. Obediently the medic followed, his mind racing just a bit.

Stopping just short of the top half of the stairs he placed a hand on the sniper's shoulder. His voice nothing but serious he asked the man, "How bad are zey?"

The sniper merely shook his head, continuing forward; he'd see what state they were in soon enough. In no time the two of them were standing outside the closed door of the supply room.

Looking slightly hesitant in his actions he stepped forward, lifting the door open. As happily as he could he announced, "Hey you two, look who I've found!"

"Oi, Doc! Good ta see ya!" the demo man cheered, raising his hand to say hello. The can of beer he'd previously been drinking was already lying crushed on the ground, and had he been able to get his hands on any more booze he would have had another bottle of liquor in his hand. They'd recently tried to cut him off from that, taking all his alcohol away and leaving him only that one beer; he was already broken physically, so he didn't need any more help.

Immediately upon hearing him say 'Doc' the spy perked up, raising her head to see the man excitedly. Her disappointment was clear when she saw that it wasn't her medic, the RED medic, singing beneath her mass of covers once more.

"The demo man should be easy enough to fix… a few broken bones, maybe some torn ligaments. The spy, on the other hand…" he started.

"Ze girl has been through a lot. She will no doubt need mental help az well," he finished for the sniper. He knew exactly what was needed of him as he continued, "I vill operate on ze demo man first and zen attend to ze spy."

Seeing that his teammates were in very capable hands the sniper nodded, leaving the doctor to his business. He would be of no use there, so he would tend to matters that he could contribute to.

************

The medic removed his surgical gloves, which had become quite messy during the operation, and were now covered in blood and other things that were meant to remain inside the human body.

"Zat vent quite well, if I do say so myself," he said aloud, smiling to his patient, "All of ze bones are back in place – for the most part – and just have to heal properly. With ze help of my medigun, you should be good as new by tomorrow morning."

"Thank ya, doctor. I can't wait ta get back at the ones that caused this… they'll have to glue them back together… IN HELL," the black Scotsman growled. He couldn't wait to get back into the game and start fragging his enemies.

Putting on a fresh pair of gloves he retrieved his medigun, training it on the man. Soon he was engulfed by a light blue light, the concentrated healing medicine sinking into his skin and working its magic.

For quite some time he sat there, an hour at least. It took a while to get him back into working order, but the medic didn't care; considering his legs could have been shattered completely and were instead only badly broken, he was actually very lucky.

Half of him seemed to fall asleep as the healing beam floated around the man, and he was randomly jolted from his half-slumber by a loud snore from the demo man. Evidently the man had also fallen asleep during the healing process.

Deeming the demo man's treatment complete he released his grip on the handle of the medigun, the blue beam of light slowly dissipating.

Placing the gun down on the sidelines he yawned and stretched. Glancing at a nearby clock he saw that the glowing blue numbers read 1:39 AM. He hadn't realized that it was so late; nobody had come into the room since he'd gotten there, so he assumed they were all still hard at work making plans for the next day.

Taking in a deep breath he stood up, stretching a little more before doing anything else. He'd been napping in a somewhat uncomfortable position and found that as a result he was quite stiff.

Once he was again comfortable he thought for a moment. Now that he'd already slept and was awake again, there was no way he'd be sleeping for at least a little while. Now that he'd be awake, he might as well make himself useful.

Looking to the blanketed form of the spy he thought of what the sniper had told him. It was certainly clear that she'd need more than just a few hours attached to the medigun, for her psychological distress would stay behind regardless.

Walking slowly to her cot he pondered the matter for just a moment. He wasn't sure if he should try to help her now or wait until the sun rose.

Ultimately he decided it would be best to council her while the others weren't around; it would make for a lot more comfort and a lot less tension. His route of action clear in his mind he went about waking her up.

"Mizz spy? Are you awake?" he whispered calmly, trying to wake her from her slumber. If he were to wake the demo man too this wouldn't work out the way he wanted it to.

She didn't move, staying completely still and making not a sound. Determined to help her, the good doctor decided to try something else.

"Mizz spy, zere is something I would like to talk to you about," he whispered again, this time a little louder and insistently. Placing a hand on her covered form he shook her lightly, trying to wake her gently.

Her voice sounding depressed and unimpressed she snapped quietly, "What the hell do you want?"

::End of Chapter 10::

What happens in the wee hours of the morning on lots of TF2 servers? Less people are on, of course! That's pretty much what they just went through in the story, but now it's that time of day again where more people start to log on and play

As I've said before, trying to fit the gameplay mechanics into the storyline as much as I can while still making it make sense.

Anyway... sorry this took so long to get up. I really wanted to get it up sooner, but I've been busy trying to work out a video game plot and stuff, and I haven't been writing in class as much as I'd like.

BUT it's here now, so you all enjoy it, k?

Hopefully I'll have chapter 11 up sooner than later. I have it half typed out now, so within two weeks to be sure. And chapter 12 is about half done in written form, so I just have to finish that and type it up, which I'll do next week probably. After that I think it should only be a few more chapters.

TF2 (c) Valve