A/N. Now that I am officially done with my make-or-break presentation, hopefully things will pick up from here. By things I mean posting chapters. Hopefully.

Some battering and bruising later Axel and Horst were finally left alone with the Sniperbot once again. Gray had not come back to ask them about their choice yet, which gave them time to think about everything.

"Well?" Makina asked, keeping a respectable distance from either mercenary still. This time, he was not alone. He had made Medibot come with him to listen to what the mercenaries had to say. The shyer bot remained behind him, not saying anything and just listening.

"Well I don't suppose ve haff much of a choice, Herr. Ve're not entirely convinced, but it'll haff to do," Horst sighed. If Makina was physically capable of grinning, he would have. Neither mercenary seemed too happy with having to trust a bunch of robots who had no proof they were really going to keep to their word, but if they really followed through, then getting out was so much easier.

Makina nodded. "Good. Now the plan is, well- I don't actually have a plan. But what I do know is that your other friends are looking for you and they're planning to storm the place. If you can contact them, because they will kill me if I try, then you can tell them to just make a distraction while we get out."

"Wait. You're telling us you don't have a plan to get us out?" Axel hissed.

"I kinda do, but let's face it. This room is covered in security cameras. I can go disable them tonight and- wait. Wait this building has a security protocol that all locks are released upon activation of the fire alarm. No idea why that's installed but it'll work. If I can set off the fire alarm you two can just leave."

"…Zhat's actually a really stupid protocol but if it vorks it vorks," Horst muttered.

"I'll actually need to set a real fire so it'll be a good distraction so…"

"Just take a lighter and a can of hairspray. DIY flamethrower," Axel said simply.

Makina gave him a look. "We're robots. Why would we own hairspray?"

"I'm just giving ideas here."

"I'll think of something. As soon as the doors pop open tonight, Doc here will be around to cut off the ropes. Then get out. Anyhow."

"I still think you're all idiots waiting to die."

"Shut up Spy."

"Just speaking out loud." Spy puffed on a cigarette casually as the rest of the team geared up, preparing to storm the robot factory. They would have to pass the robot deployment ship first before actually getting to the factory, so they were ensuring they had enough firepower.

"Why da hell did they send a Spy anyway? What, ya gonna sap them and stab 'em all in the back?" Scout mocked, rebinding the bandages around his wrist. He made sure they were wrapped tight around the knuckles in case he had to punch anyone.

Spy smirked. "You're not as stupid as you seem. It actually is a tactic that works."

Scout rolled his eyes and ignored Spy. The man seemed to have everything already. Everything seemed to fit perfectly into his suit. Extra cartridges for his revolver, knife, extra knife, sapper, disguise kit. Everything was all there in that sleek red suit.

Scout chucked his extra magazines into the backpack he always had slung around his back, stuffing several cans of Bonk! into the bag as well. Spy watched with a scorn, as Scout dumped can after can into the slowly-filling bag. "Do you even need that much?"

The last can in his hand hissed as he popped it open, lifting it to his lips with a defiant glare at Spy. "Uh like, yeah? How da hell ya expect me to run through all those frickin' stupid bots without it?" He took a long gulp of the sugary drink that made Spy cringe internally. If he could, he would have smacked it out of the boy's hand.

The hooded assassin watch with disgust as Scout downed the rest of the can, crumpling it within his hand and throwing it away. It fell onto the floor with a clank, where it was to be left until Mann Co cleaners came in to sweep up. The thing about being a mercenary was that you didn't exactly have to care about cleanliness.

Typically at the end of every battle back in Teufort, when it was RED versus BLU and not RED and BLU against robots, the battlefield would be littered with Bonk! cans, bullet shells, empty magazines, broken glass jars, shreds of clothing, and of course, lots of blood and human parts. No one ever saw the cleaners, but the very next day the battlefield was almost as good as new, with only several faint bloodstains remaining behind.

Spy decided to leave the Scout to fidget as he waited impatiently for the rest of the team to get ready, with all that sugar running in his blood. Had it not been for respawn, and perhaps his Medic, the Scout would probably have died to heart disease, blood sugar levels, and a multitude of other problems related to too much sugar in his blood.

The Frenchman disappeared to go outside and have a smoke, ignoring the rest of the mercenaries inside the base. He did not enjoy speaking to others if he didn't have to, and he sure as hell did not have to speak to any of the mercenaries in the room.

In the cool, damp air of the outside Spy could let his hood rest on his shoulders. He lit a cigarette in silence, taking a long drag of it before taking the burning cigarette between his fingers and exhaling the smoke into the air. His mind flickered first to Pyro. Yes, he had seen his without his mask. Everyone on RED had. If anything, he was a handsome and charming man who could have easily managed to get a decent job anywhere else. But of all things he had become a mercenary. A curious decision, but one the Pyro refused to elaborate on. He spoke of many things and told many good stories. He had an attitude that seemed to attract people. Including Spy himself.

As a part of his job Spy always wanted to know things. He was naturally curious and liked to know everything he could know, even if he didn't have to. So it was with no doubt he had wanted to know the Pyro. Not in a friendly way, but it was good to know the men he was working with. Much to his surprise he had found the Pyro to be some good company, but only without his mask on. With the rubber mask on he was different. Not too different, but he acted a little differently.

Then his mind drifted to Scout. He knew everything and anything about the boy. He knew all his field tactics, how he would always take the route that was most inconvenient for any RED to chase. He was far more lithe and acrobatic than the RED Scout and could easily hide in small places or swing himself up onto rafters that wouldn't take as much weight. He knew how Scout typically remembered to watch his back but on occasion would forget to check and give Spy the chance to swoop in for a kill, after which he would come out of Respawn swearing at the top of his lungs. He knew the boy had grown up with a widowed mother who loved him more than anything else in the world and he knew Scout always sent home a letter and a portion of his pay every month, preferably on a Friday so that the letter would reach home by Saturday, or Sunday at latest, when his mother was sure to be at home. He knew that on his birthday, which happened to always fall on a weekend or a ceasefire day, he would let himself take the day off to call his mother, his brothers, his sister.

Coming from a RED, that was a scary amount of knowledge he held. But he was a Spy, and that was what Spies did. They knew things. They knew things they didn't need to know. With a deep sigh, he put the cigarette between his lips again and took a small pull, letting the smoke warm him from the insides.

The shutter gate rattled as a gloved hand poked out underneath it and pulled it up. Spy gave Engineer a side glance as the short Texan stepped out, readjusting his goggles so that they sat comfortably over his head. "Ain't ya cold?" The shorter, bald mercenary asked, coming to rest next to the Frenchman.

"I've gotten used to it. I've been to far colder countries," Spy replied simply. He reached into his jacket pocket and produced the box of cigarettes, offering one to Engineer in silence.

Normally Engineer did not smoke, but on occasion he allowed himself one, usually after a real hard day of working when he wanted to unwind, or when it was really cold. He muttered a thanks and took one, allowing Spy to light it for him before he clipped it between his lips, letting the smoke warm him up from the inside.

"Are the others done? They're taking an awful long time to prepare," Spy commented, keeping the box of cigarettes back into his suit jacket.

Engineer sighed. "Almost done. They're just checking to make sure no one's missed nothing. Wouldn't wanna, y'know, reach there and realise someone didn't bring extra mags."

Spy nodded. "Fair point. Any particular strategy? Or are we still going to just barge in and get killed? You must remember we will be far out of respawn range."

Engineer paused for a moment to remove the cigarette from his lips and tap away the ashes that clung to the end of the cigarette. The remaining embers continued to glow, a little brighter now that the ashes were gone. "I've wired up some radios so we can keep in touch. You don't need one, since I uplinked it with the mic you got in your watch. Plan is Heavy, Demo and I are gonna make a distraction, you and Scout explore the place, try to find out where Pyro and Medic are. If any of us get captured, the rest of us just keep moving. I think we're all smart enough to find our own way out. I asked Heavy to see if there was a map of the building somewhere around. Kinda remember Pauling mentioning it at some point."

Deciding the outside was too cold to stay in, Spy finished the last of his cigarette and tapped away the ashes, before dropping the butt to the floor and stamping it out. Engineer did the same, and they reentered the warmer base where Heavy was rolling out several sheets of paper he'd found.

"I don't know what map looks like. But I found several," the Russian stated, rolling out the three maps he had found lying in a dusty crate at the back of the store. Engineer's eyes lit up, approaching the table. He took a quick scan through the maps, before brushing away the two other pieces and spreading out the third properly.

"This is it. It ain't a very good map and all but it does show have an idea of where the vents are. If that's the case Scout can crawl through the vents, see where it leads. This map only shows the factory floor itself and not anything above or below it, but it'll do," Engineer said, more to himself than to any of the other mercenaries standing around.

"Ye know lads, Pyro and Doc ain't gonna be on th' factory floor, unless Gray's a total bloody idiot. I like ta think he is one, but he ain't that big of an idiot," Demo chimed in. It was true. Gray had not just blindly attacked Mann Co in obvious places. He had strategy and tactic, and it was becoming clear to the mercenaries.

"'S true. But we don't have much to work with, so let's just get there and… see what happens."

When Makina had sad 'tonight', he hadn't actually meant it. It was stupid, to try pop them out as soon as they got there. Gray would be onto them in an instant, like a leopard waiting for its prey to walk under the tree it sat on. He needed the mercenaries to seem like they were complying with Gray, even though it was pretty obvious that they weren't going to.

As soon as he and Medibot reached back into the small closet-office, Makina shut the door and locked it.

"Tonight?" Medibot asked, not having understood the plan in it's entirety.

"Not tonight. Gray will find out. If anything I think he has some recording application installed in me so anything I say is sent to him," Makina said. It was just a thought that had suddenly popped into him.

Medibot shook his head. "Nein. I checked last night vhile you were shut down. I'm not zhat stupid Herr Makina."

Makina paused for a moment before stiffly nodding. He had underestimated the Medibot. For now there was nothing much they could do but wait until Gray decided to start attempting to use the mercenaries. He had forgotten to tell the mercenaries to just go with it. They would have to sit through some of the more… experimental tests, but in due time they were going to get out.

Axel stared at Horst and Horst stared back. Deep within them there was still a very slight twinge of hatred at each other for having been from opposing teams, but the friendship - if you could call it that - that had been forged over the course of fighting robots and practicing abilities was a little more prominent now.

"So… you actually trust that bot?" Axel asked from his end of the room. His gaze occasionally flicked to his hat and mask lying on the table, occasionally making him feel a little nervous and twitchy and exposed.

"Not really… but vhat choice do ve haff? Zhe ozher mercenaries are probably already on zheir vay here but still, any help at zhis point is appreciated," Horst replied simply.

Aside from that, no words were spoken between them. Gray had not returned yet since his long speech about his plans. At some point they must have drifted off to sleep, because both of them were jolted awake when the door to the cell popped open and Medibot rushed in, sawing away at their restraints as fire alarms outside rang loudly all over the building.

Neither of them were ready and frankly speaking, Makina and Medibot hadn't been either. They had not planned for it to happen so soon, but if the opportunity had come, they were going to use it.

"I swear zhis vas not planned," Medibot said as he cut through the ropes binding Horst to the chair. Axel had already gotten out and was slipping on his mask and hat. The rubber gas mask was cut up too much to be able to wear it, so he just put on the steaming dragon skull mask and the red hat over it.

"Less talk, more running," Axel said, bolting out of the room, with Horst and Medibot following behind closely. Makina met them in the hallway, which was empty as all the robots had gone to find the cause of the fire alarm.

"Some Pyrobot's flamethrower backed up and exploded and the lobby is on fire. It's not that serious and it might prevent you from leaving the easy way, but if you're fast you could make it," Makina explained. He turned and led the mercenaries to the next best exit, which was a lift on the far wing.

Having no idea of what the layout of the facility was, Axel and Horst kept quiet and let the robot lead them, hopefully not into a trap. Makina seemed anxious enough to leave that they didn't question for now. They piled into the lift, Makina hitting the button for the third floor. They remained in awkward silence as the lift rode down.

Somewhere past the fifth floor the lift stopped, the lights going off. "Well shit," Axel hissed. A voice came over the intercom, and it did not sound happy.

"I'm really sad, Makina. You thought I didn't know what you were doing. And I put so much trust and faith into you," the voice said. Makina stared at the intercom. "But I have to say, I'm really amazed at how you managed to get the mercenaries on your side. And you even dragged you Medibot friend with you."

Gray watched them through one of the security cameras in the lift. "I'm afraid I'll have to do what I do to all malfunctioning robots then. It'll be too much of a hassle to drag you to the incinerator from where you are so…"

A gunshot sounded from upstairs, and the lift jerked downwards. Then something snapped, and the lift was falling down.

"I'll have to terminate all of you."

Crash.