Team Fortress 2
French Class Behind Tinted Windows
Chapter 20- Apprehensions
By, the Unlucky-Charm
Breakfast was eerily silent. Not the silence that reigned over them on hung over mornings. Not the awkward silence nobody dared break after two teammates had a row. The silence in the cafeteria was heavy and stressful, a bone crushing weight on everyone's shoulders. No spoon dared clink against plate an no cup was bold enough to hit the table in any other way but gently. That morning, noise was a sin and the members of BLU were saints. Uneasy and filled with irrational doubt, hardly any had enough appetite to touch their food. Something was wrong and they would share their fears, if only they could track their origins. Something was wrong, but what? When in war, one could not waste time with assumptions or gut feelings; the more tangible, the better. And so, no one spoke.
Engineer, smart enough to label the feeling as a premonition rather than just "weird", leaned to the side to nudge Soldier who always sat next to him during breakfast. Engineer's disturbance of the frozen atmosphere sent a ripple through the air, turning heads throughout the cafeteria.
"Solly. Something's gonna happen." He whispered, catching the attention of his other teammates sitting at nearby tables.
Soldier gave him a warning look, as if Engineer had just broken an unspeakable look.
The Texan leaned in closer, uncomfortably close even. If Soldier hadn't been speechless and disbelieving at the bluntness with which Engineer had approached the situation, he would have sent the most homophobic shove in Engineer's way.
"Something's up." He whispered, his mouth so close to his ear that his stubbly chin scratched against Soldier's shoulder.
"I don't know what you're talking about, private." He said solemnly before turning around.
It was in the calmness in his voice and in the replacement of 'Engie' with 'private' that lay Soldier's lie. He knew exactly what Engineer was talking about. Besides, if he didn't, he would insist on finding out, rather loudly too.
Engineer was not a violent man by nature, but he knew his friend well. If Soldier didn't want to listen, it was the only way to capture his attention. His fist took hold of the front of his uniform, twisting him around and forcing him to face him.
"Yes. Yes you do." He hissed through clenched teeth.
Soldier's frustrated gaze watched him from underneath his helmet. He was considering him, which was a good sign when the other option was utter indifference. Engineer pleaded with him without a word, trying to get the silent message across to him so he wouldn't have to risk the rest of the team hearing.
It was Soldier's turn to lean in, although reluctantly, and whisper.
"What do you know." He pronounced each word like they were individual sentences.
"Nothin'" Engineer shrugged, but made sure Soldier caught the wink. Right eye meant his quarters, which was rare, but left eye set the meeting place in his workshop.
The attempt at being discreet failed when they both got up at the same time to leave, stared awkwardly at each other, sat back down in unison and then looked away. Engineer made a mental note to create a signal for timing too. Maybe a flick of fingers to designate the number of minutes that would make for a proper gap, or a classic round of rock paper scissors to decide who would leave first. They ended up just nodding to each other and walking out together, seeing as there was no more suspicion left to raise. In the hallway, Engineer began to speak to a mute Soldier, protesting the transfer of information with silence; the walls could be rigged, according to him, you never know who could be listening.
Soldier started barking the second the workshop door was shut.
"Next time you decided to make a scene, think twice about –"
"Solly, what scene? No one was saying a word and hell, you could cut the tension with a knife."
"Yeah! What the hell was that about?!" He said, as if the worrying atmosphere was the Texan's fault
"I don't know, but something's up." He went to his desk and started pushing through stacks of paper to find the right one. He could find files easy, but when searching for a single sheet, the task was near impossible for anyone other than Engineer.
"How do you know?"
"I don't. I mean, I'm not sure. If it weren't for the mood in the caf, I wouldn't be bothering you about this." He said, pulling out a sheet of light blue stationary paper with a loud sigh.
"Spy gave this to me." He continued, handing the paper to Soldier, who tore it from his grasp and pretended to read it.
"What the hell does the Frenchie even want?"
"It's not what he wants, Sol, it's the questions he's asking. He says he needs to know to decipher some pieces of Intel, but..." Engineer was hesitant about continuing, scared he'd lose his friend in all the mechanical talk.
"But what?"
"They're weird questions. A whole lot about remote control, some stuff about battery power, it's like he's going to make toys for kids."
"What's the range of a high tech remote controlled device?" Soldier read out loud.
"I don't even know how to answer them properly. He has to specify what he device in question. I mean, anybody can just say something is high tech and still be correct." Engineer said, pushing back his hard hat to scratch the top of his head.
"Example?" Soldier said, flipping the page over to see if its back was also filled with words he wouldn't bother reading.
"The advanced technology the government has access too? Well, they can control missiles, for example, from half the planet away." Engineer explained. "On the other hand, you have high tech children's toys that can be controlled from only half a mile away, which still an impressive distance for a plastic car running on double A batteries."
"So what are you going to tell him?" Soldier asked, tossing the paper aside.
"Nothin'. I'm gonna ask him what the hell he wants this stuff for. Or at least show me the part of the Intel he needs help with."
Engineer picked the paper up and shook his head, like it contained some very bad news.
"I don't get it, Sol. Look at this one. 'Where would be the nearest and best place to recharge an electric vehicle?' What the hell does he need to know that for?!"
"Maybe one of our enemies has an electric car and he's trying to find a place to ambush him." Soldier shrugged and let his helmet fall back over his eyes.
Engineer blinked at his teammate through his goggles because for an extremist nut job, his theory was not an insane one.
"Maybe." He said genuinely, for once, instead of it being a polite way of dismissing his ideas.
"I say ask him after battle anyway!" Soldier regained character and began shouting once again. "Spy doesn't tell me shit, maybe he'll talk to you!"
"I don't know..." Engineer said, getting real tired of using those words he hardly ever needed to utter. He usually knew. He didn't like not knowing. "He seemed pretty... suspicious. Like, kept snapping his head left and right, like someone would be listening in."
"Hmm... that so...?" Soldier expression darkened, as he rubbed at his stubbly chin. "I still say you need to go and find out. If the Spy is up to something sneaky, we need to know!"
"But Sol –"
"SO I CAN WRING HIS NECK IF HE IS, THAT'S WHY, DAMN IT!" He bellowed, bolting up onto his feet and slamming his hands against the desk. "I'm tired of his secrets and his damn 'necessary distraction' excuse!"
For the record, Engineer wasn't even going to ask why, but Soldier had entered crazy mode once more and all chances for civilized conversation were thrown out the window in consequence. He didn't say another word and left his workshop in search for either Spy or some peace, secretly hoping that the latter would appear before the first. He needed to clear his head for long enough to be able to convince himself of a reasonable explanation for Spy's question. Reasonable and harmless conclusions would be best to come to, but when he wasn't too busy lying to himself, Engineer was fully aware of all the obscure occurrences that happened within the base. He didn't know what they were or whom they included, except that Pyro wasn't the only mystery around.
/
BLU Nurse
Behind the shed on BLU territory was the best place Nurse could think of to drag her bleeding Demoman. The hut looked like someone had super-glued its wooden planks together and would collapse at any given moment. Nurse couldn't help but keep one eye on the shabby construction while she worked on her teammate.
The gash was a deep one and it ran right across his thigh. Judging by the cut, she guessed the work of a Sniper wielding a kukri, unless the opposing Demoman had decided on going Persuader crazy for the day. Either way, the wound was not fatal and definitely not worth wasting Medi gun juice on. Nurse sewed it up quickly enough and was about to snip the excess thread with her teeth when the explosion went off.
They were both propelled backwards, her back bouncing and scraping against the ground like a stone skipping on water. The sound was deafening, even more so when impact had been so close. The burning, but still standing, mess of a shack that had been their temporary shelter form the battle told her rocket launcher, not regular bombs. The RED Soldier would be blowing them both into oblivion any second now.
She braced herself when she heard the final shot being fired, but was surprised when the collision fell short. The explosion blasted in front of her, painting the back of her eyelids red. When she opened her eyes, she found herself trying to keep her breakfast down as parts of her Scottish patient rained down around her. While she had experienced gore beforehand –she didn't have much of a choice in her profession- she still hadn't quite gotten used to seeing it on daily basis and most certainly did not appreciate it landing on her. Finding a piece of earlobe stuck in your hair later in the showers was all kinds of unpleasant that Nurse did not need.
She coughed out the smoke from her lungs and spat it to the ground. She needed to get up and get the hell out of there, to her team or at least escape from the Soldier. Nurse stumbled with her own aching body and was about to let herself fall back to the ground when through the shambles and flying dust, appeared a hand that she immediately took hold of by reflex. By the time she noticed the red sleeve, she was already gasping on her own two feet.
"Watch yerself." The RED Soldier growled as if it physically pained him to say it and left in a jog, off to destroy the rest of her team.
It was the last she saw of the righteous American for the day, but she did end up meeting up with the BLU Demo once more, in safer situations. Inside their base, in the corner of one of the more narrow and secluded hallways, Nurse crouched over the Scot with a pair of surgical tweezers.
"Is it bad?" He asked.
"Not at all." She reassured him. "I can see it, just gotta..."
"Ow!"
"There we are." She smiled, dropping the bullet to the floor with a clink.
"Thanks lass." He grinned and pet the top of her head. "Hope that Soldier didn't cause ya' too much trouble."
"He let me get away." She shrugged and realised how good it felt to be actually telling the truth for once. Besides, she saw no point in lying, at least not about this.
"The Soldier? Seriously?"
"Yup. Even helped me get up." She said, actually getting up and helping him to his feet as well.
"You're kidding." He towered over Nurse and had probably humored her when she tried to pull him up. "Why?"
"That's what I'd like to know." She muttered, thinking of a few other REDs.
/
RED Nurse
The insane, he had assured them, he could deal with, but the plain stupid? That was a whole other story. Pacing in the rec room, RED Nurse had to quite literally bite his tongue to keep calm, at least, seeing as 'composed' was an impossibility at this point. While his teammates tried to read his expression –even they could tell something was wrong- Nurse was still having trouble wrapping his head around what he had just witnessed on the battlefield and realised how difficult his task was turning out to be. He could not even begin to fathom what on earth was going through the heads of his so called teammates at the time.
"Gentlemen..." He tried, but that was as far as he could go without bursting into an angry rant, something that was openly frowned upon by the higher ups.
"What's the matter, captain? Bad performance? Any plans go wrong?" The Scout taunted him, clearly satisfied with the way his supposedly foolproof plan backfired. The young man's derisive smirk and the way he arrogantly held himself, high and mighty, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest aggravated Nurse enough to consider abandoning his mission and strangling each and every moron in the room with his own two hands. Then again, Mr. Conagher and himself alone on an active battlefield would be highly unpractical.
"Gentlemen, I don't know what to tell you." He went on, ignoring Scout's snort and Spy's eye rol.
"We did well, yes?" Heavy asked.
"Uh... Not exactly." Nurse hissed, remembering how ridiculous a scene Heavy left when when he shot every single soul on the field to a pulp, leaving a confused Nurse standing alone, all too miraculously, in the middle of all the carnage. "See... when I said be polite, I was not referring to your actions within battle."
He knew the team had not taken it too fondly as a frown settled on each of their faces simultaneously.
"With all due respect Nurse," The Engineer spoke up, putting no effort in hiding the sarcastic undertone of his words, "where the hell else are we supposed to be "polite"? It's not like we take her out dancing on Saturday nights."
A few grunts of agreement ran through the group and Nurse realised that maybe even Engineer would have to be on his imaginary hit list.
"Yes, yes I'm aware, but where's the logic in openly aiding her in the middle of a fight when you had blown up her teammate only moments ago..." He stopped himself there, having become painfully aware of the mistake he had just made.
"HEY! IT'S NOT OUR DAMN FAULT YOU FAILED TO BE CLEAR!" Soldier barked, probably offended by the fact that Nurse had been indirectly referring to him. "I DON'T TAKE ORDERS, SON."
"You helped her up, for God's sake man! Spare her if you feel you must, but not so obviously!"
"Then what the hell is it you want us to do, lad?"
Nurse shut his eyes against the headache that was stirring in his cranium. The entire team of dimwits was now shouting complaints at him, but the only voice that rang loud and clear in his ears was the obnoxious laughter of the Scout in the background. He could not see him, but he guessed he was doubled over himself, maybe even holding onto his ribs. The bastard... he had no idea what he was doing. He had no idea who he was dealing with, who he was up against. They all thought him a mere Nurse, but they'll be regretting this when their fates rest in his capable hands. Especially him. However, he knew he had to hold back, only silent blows for now.
He opened his tired eyes to stare each of them down. This was the opportunity he was waiting for in this entire mess. The chance to turn the tables and regain their trust... by stealing it from someone else, of course.
"Well, Scout and Sniper seemed to have the right idea..." He shrugged, folding his arms over his chest. He spared a glance in the Bushman's direction and felt some guilt at his pleading gaze, but Scout's glare was all too satisfying for him to stop there. He would regret hurting the Sniper, but then again, he really wouldn't. "How come they got the idea and the rest of you lot didn't, hm?"
And the nominees for best ice cold stares directed at the RED Nurse were Sniper and Scout for their flying daggers and telekinetic efforts to get him to spontaneously combust. Nurse could not quite tell which was sending him which, though.
"What the hell did you two goody students do?" Soldier growled, sensing that some fraternizing had taken place behind his back. He turned his attention, as well as the rest of the team's onto the two helpless REDs.
And so it began. Questions, accusations, shouts, insults and explanations from the two victims that went unheard, flew across the room. Well then, he thought, time for my exit.
"Hate to leave you in the spotlight, men, but I gotta run." He shouted over all the ruckus and winked before disappearing through the door.
"Divide..." He yawned. "And conquer."
/
The phone rang exactly twenty two minutes after he had left his systematic mess to the Sniper and the Scout. Hearing her voice, even through all the static , was like hearing the melody of a harp after a day of only drum beats. He let her know that, because a gentlemen should always take every given opportunity to compliment a lady. He explained that to her as well.
"That's the dumbest thing I have ever heard, especially coming from a creep like you." She snapped. "I know you were behind all of this. Whatever this is. Tell me prince charming, why the hell did your drunken Demoman APOLOGIZE to me after having almost cut my arm in half today?!"
He loudly let out the breath he was holding. "You're angry."
"Damn right! Now listen here, I don't know what it is you're playing at, but you leave me alone, okay? I fight on that battlefield like everybody else, I DIE like everybody else, got it?" She spat.
"Alright, I will admit that what happened today was partially my doing, although it did get way out of hand, see, you weren't exactly supposed to notice..."
"I did."
"Yes, yes, I understand, but that's their fault." He pinched at the bridge of his nose; he could feel that headache waking up again. "Cut me some slack, will you? I had a long day."
Silence. Great, he was going to get it now.
"Cut you some slack? You want me to cut you some slack?! Don't you think I'm holding back enough with the questions. Oh you know, about what the fuck you were doing in my room, why you were spying on me, where the hell my pillowcase is! Don't even get me started on the robot thing, since apparently, you're related to that too now!"
"Oh." He was pleasantly surprised. He didn't think the Intel would get to her that fast. The Spies usually didn't share the information. "So you figured it out. I was hoping you would."
"Not me. Scout. He deciphered the Intel with Spy. It said that we should be questioning you." He could practically hear the sneer she wore through the phone, but decided against advising her not to disfigure such a pretty face with such a horrid expression. He reckoned it would make his situation worse.
"Not quite, my dear." He cleared his throat. "I sent you the Intel and let me tell you, it was not meant to be seen by either members of either team."
"They were like short messages. Commands."
"Reports, I believe. They are suspicious of me and are aware that we have communicated."
"Who is? What the hell do they care?" She sounded panicked.
"Two completely different parties outside of RED and BLU." He explained. "And I don't know why they care or what exactly they're up to, but one thing I am certain of about one of the sides."
"They're not human." She finished his sentence and quite correctly too.
"You are truly brilliant, you know that? Wasted as a Nurse!"
"Shut up." She snapped, but the waver in her voice told him their relationship still held the trust he needed.
"Sorry, I am still getting used to a lady that does not like compliments." He sighed. "But tell me, how did you figure it out?"
"Doesn't take a genius." She chuckled humorlessly. "Get attacked by a robot and then get sent pages of binary code as Intel? I can make the link, thank you very much."
"Well, you're an intelligent girl..."
"Yes, we established that. Can I go now?"
He sighed with great exaggeration. "As you wish, love. Your pillowcase should be arriving shortly."
"Wai-"
He hung up, leaving her hanging, like he always tended to do. A part of him knew that it was what kept her interested.
/
BLU Engineer
He felt ridiculous, using his wrench to hold him to the wall. He held it at his neck, pressing down as hard as he could without completely cutting of his breathing. It was no menacing blade to threaten him with a trickle of blood down his neck, so choking him was the next best option, next to knocking him out completely.
"You better have a damn good reason to be here, boy." He growled.
Right of the bat, Engineer could tell there was something wrong with the young Bostonian. No RED, not even the most arrogant of Scouts, would ever dare step foot into an enemy base after hours and even if the unique occasion were to rise, they would at least try to be discreet about it instead of strutting through the halls like they owned the place. The kid wasn't even trying, which sparked some worry in the Engineer. This could just be a distraction, a small part of a greater plan. He didn't look scared either, in fact, he looked quite the opposite; practically asking Engineer to kill him. If it weren't for the mystery object in his hands, he would have.
"I don't." He shrugged, the ends of the wrench brushing against the ends of his collarbones.
"Well then how about you tell me what the hell you're holding in your hand." Engineer spat, volatile saliva hitting Scout straight in the face. He didn't even flinch. "I'm warning you, if I don't like your answer, you're a goner, son."
"It's a delivery." He said, the words flowing out of his mouth with a calmness that was so outside character that Engineer had half a mind to send him straight to Medic, not for torture purposes, for once, but for a brain scan.
"If that thing's a bomb..."
"It ain't." He said and flung it straight onto Engineer's head. The Texan's face morphed into several different reactions in the matter of two seconds, rather impressively too. Surprise, rage and finally confusion, as to why on earth was the RED Scout carrying around a pillowcase and who it was meant for. Engineer clutched the linen in his fist, sharing his glances between both it and its sender; was there something he was missing? The Scout's silence and blank face made him even angrier. He didn't like not understanding things. With eleven PHDs, neither would you.
"Is this some kind of joke?" He asked, not rhetorically, but at this point, genuinely.
"You tell me." He snorted, much like the Spy, but him being a Scout made it so much more infuriating.
Engineer ended up just dropping the pillowcase to the floor and retightening the pressure on Scout's throat using both hands.
"Now listen here boy, you're lucky enough I didn't kill ya' the second I set eyes on ya' and I don't care how suicidal you're feeling, I know you wouldn't like me very much if I took you to Medic. He'll make sure you live a long and not so prosperous life, if you know what I mean."
Engineer was more than pleased of the drastic change in attitude on the young man's part at the mention of the doctor. In fact, Engineer was slightly reassured as well, to know the kid hadn't completely lost his mind. Only a little.
"Lemme go." He squirmed, his voice higher than it was before. His obnoxious self was slowly resurfacing, the obnoxious self Engineer already knew how to deal with... somewhat.
"Tell me what it is you want, exactly and depending on your answer, I'll think about it." He said, bittersweet, tilting his head to the side and adding pressure to the wrench for emphasis.
"That's not very convincing."
"Medic."
"Right, right, okay." He held his arms up defensively. "It's for Nurse."
Engineer puffed out a sarcastic chuckle. "Son, when courting a lady..." His smile fell as he realised what a pillowcase might mean and this time, the pressure was enough to choke him.
"Were you seriously going to kidnap her? Really?! You think a pillowcase was going to hurt her? You know she's armed right?"
Despite having asked the questions, Engineer didn't bother loosening his hold on him to allow him to answer. Instead, he let Scout frantically nod and shake his head left and right, up and down –depending on the question – while he choked out incomprehensible pleas.
"What's that? Didn't quite catch it."
"Akh! Akkkhh!" Scout pushed hard at the wrench, but his arms were no match for the Engineer's.
"That's what you get for being the runner." He laughed and then removed his wrench completely, only to watch the boy fall to his knees, coughing. He held onto his throat, hacking desperately for air.
"I... I wasn't gonna..." He wanted to speak, but his lungs disagreed. Every word came out breathless, no matter how much air he took in.
"Wasn't gonna kidnap her?"
He nodded.
"Then what the hell's the pillow cover for?" He asked, still suspicious.
"It's hers..." He whispered and then went into another coughing fit.
"Her what?"
"Akh! Hers!"
"Her what?"
His coughs became more violent and then came to a dead stop. Still on his hands and knees, Scout looked up at the Texan with a furious glare.
"It's her fucking pillowcase!" He spat, voice still hoarse.
Engineer sneaked a curious glance towards the heap of fabric he had tossed aside and did, in fact, recognize it as Nurse's. He hadn't been in her room more than once, but he believed that yes, the pattern did match her sheets.
"I'm just returning it." He added, now from a sitting position.
"Why did you even have it in the first place?"
"I didn't." He stared up and flashed him a lazy grin, pink bubblegum between his teeth.
"Kid, I swear to God –"
"I didn't. Somebody else did. I'm bringing it back for that person who forced the task upon me." He spoke loudly over the Engineer, rolling his eyes as if the explanation had been obvious from the start.
"Does this person have a name?"
"Come with me and you'll find out." The Scout smirked maliciously. He gave Engineer the feeling that he did not particularly like this mystery person. Engineer made the link, that maybe it was because this person had somehow ended up with his crush's pillowcase.
"Come with you? Boy, what makes you think I'm letting you go there at all?" Engineer chuckled humorlessly.
"What?"
"I think I'm being kind enough, sparing your worthless life an' all. I'm not letting you wander off deeper in the base. Hell, in my head, this still might be some kind of ploy. So no." He said, picking up the pillowcase from the ground and stuffing half of it into his front pocket.
The RED simply snarled at him before getting to his feet.
"Fine." He muttered through clenched teeth.
"You better scram before anyone else catches you."
He didn't say anything else, but just stood there, arms crossed over his chest.
"What. Delivery have a message too?"
"Yeah, tell her she's a slut."
Engineer blinked, very much puzzled. "Um... okay."
Once the RED Scout was out of sight, a confused BLU Engineer made his way to his Nurse's quarters, where he found her mopping the floor of her infirmary with so little enthusiasm that she looked like she was on the verge of falling asleep in the middle of the task.
"Ya' shouldn't leave your door open like this." He said as he knocked.
"Oh. Hey." She looked up, surprised, until her features melted into a tired smile. Nurse pushed the stray hairs out of her face, tucking some of them behind her ears while the others continued to lay loosely on the top of her head. "What's up?"
"Nothin'. Can I come in?"
"Sure." She looked down and frowned. "Is that my pillowcase?"
"Yup." He nodded, awkwardly pulling out the fabric from his pocket. It was wrinkled; he looked to see if she was upset about it, but found that she was still frowning. "RED Scout brought it over."
"RED Scout... ?" Her frown deepened and then disappeared under the palm she slapped over her face in realisation. "Aw, god damn it!"
"Says you're a slut."
"UGH." She grunted, dropping the mop to the floor and falling back into one of the more comfortable chairs. She leaned her head back and shut her eyes as her hands massaged her temples.
"Guess he found out, huh."
"No. He just thinks he did... the idiot."
"Oh."
There was silence during which Engineer had a thorough debate with himself about what to do next. In the end, his curiosity got the best of him, as it always did.
"Mind explainin' what the hell is going on?"
A disgruntled Nurse raised her head and stared daggers right at him. Although, Engineer was pretty sure the daggers weren't aimed at him specifically. Nurse seemed smart enough not to kill the messenger. Well... in this case, the messenger's messenger.
"You wanna know what's going on? Really? Well, basically, some RED stole my pillowcase and I didn't think anything of it until now because, apparently, he used it to freak the shit out of their Scout, who now thinks I SLEPT with that person, when I didn't!" She snapped, her face reddened from both anger and embarrassment.
"Okay... and this mystery person both you and Scout mentioned is...?"
She seemed to consider his question for a second and Engineer was pretty sure she was formulating her answer, trimming off pieces of it, so whatever she wanted to keep from him stayed hidden.
"I don't know, but my guess is the RED Spy or the RED Nurse." She blew air onto her forehead, pushing away the strands again. "Both are pretty slimy."
"Yeah, I guess so..."
"Can I ask a question now?"
"Sure?"
"Do your companies offer therapy?"
"I um... I don't think so." Engineer wasn't sure if it was meant to be a genuine question or just a spiteful one. If it were the latter, he felt awful foolish answering.
"What a shame." She huffed and rolled her eyes.
He understood that she had just taken a shot at them and that she was implying that they were all out their respective minds, but he also understood that she was upset and would later on regret saying such things, no matter how much of a truth they were. He didn't say anything else. He walked up to her and dropped the pillowcase into her lap. When Soldier was upset about losing a battle, when he was disappointed not only in the team, but in himself as well, Engineer would pat his back and promise him a better battle tomorrow. He tried the same with her (cutting out the part about battles), but she didn't seem to even notice his touch. Nurse kept her eyes shut, interested in nothing else but the back of her eyelids. He wasn't sure if she was deep in thought or had actually fallen asleep, but either way, she looked like she had just been abruptly roused from a nice nap when the Spy burst in, looking like he'd been through a meat grinder, bleeding through every single layer of his three piece suit. He held onto the doorframe with both hands, giving him an awkward stance. His hands were dripping blood, making the wooden surface of the frame slippery; his grip was failing, his knees were giving in and Spy could barely keep himself up. He held himself like a beginner at an ice rink, falling all over himself.
"What the hell?" Nurse and Engineer shouted in unison.
"Oh good. I thought I heard your voice." Spy spoke to the Engineer. "I need your help."
"I think you need Nurse or even Medic before anything, partner." He paused and stared him down. "If it's for another dispenser, I'm afraid..."
"Non." Spy cut in urgently. "I need you to look at something for me."
"You're a mess!" He shouted.
Spy frowned, now irritated with Engineer's concern. He seemed to be in quite a rush and did not appreciate the Texan stalling, even if it was for his well being. Then again, a single look down at himself explained his reluctance.
"Fine! Fine!" He waved his hand about, dismissing the Engineer's worries. "Nurse will look after me, while you look after..."
Spy's gaze floated over to Nurse and the two shared some very unsettling looks. He had never seen the Nurse so scared, even during her first battle. As for Spy, he had never seen him scared. Period. Engineer's glances flew from Nurse to Spy, back and forth. Whatever had happened that left Spy beaten to a pulp, the two teammates were clearly very aware of its gravity and danger. They both knew to be terrified and Engineer found himself wondering if he should be too.
A/U: This story is nearing its end. There are only a few more chapters to go. Reviews will bring inspiration to write. Thanks guys!