The BLU Soldier did not sleep. He spent several hours in agitated semi-consciousness, flicking the sights on his Direct Hit up, down, up, down, trying to keep the Voice out of his head.

He failed. A tactical retreat was necessary. No, that was quitter talk, he was marching forward! Not back! He would take his questions and go beat people with them until he got some answers!

Lacing up his boots, he clambered out of bed and marched off down the hall. The base was silent, everyone cramming their sleep in, maybe more successfully than Soldier, but he figured he could find at least one other insomniac in the house. Maybe not one that would listen to him, but find them at the very least. BLU had a bad habit of pussyfooting around where there was important fighting to be done, always wanting to hang back and make a strategy or wait one more goddamn second Soldier we're at 80% on Über or some crap like that. Soldier did his best to instruct them in the nature of war, but they were all frustratingly unreceptive. Oh well. That was why he was here, to lead them gloriously out of certain defeat, marching against an insurmountable enemy, like George Washington before him.

Engie's workroom was open when Soldier walked past, which he assumed meant the Engineer was available to talk to. To his surprise, not only was it open, but empty, and he scratched his helmet as he stood in the middle.

There were other hubs of late night activity he could check, though, and he made the short trip from the workshop to the infirmary. Here, he had much better luck, as not only was Medic still up, but Heavy was here too.

"Now doctor will go to bed?" Heavy was in the middle of asking.

Medic peeled off his bloodstained gloves, tossing them into the nearby sink and slamming closed a giant metal drawer. "Ja ja, just give me one more moment. I must write all this down now, so I do not forget in the morning."

Heavy's face took on the spirit of a long-suffering nursemaid, one that only grew more world-weary as Soldier pushed through the doors to investigate this hubbub.

"Ruskie! Nurse! Status report!"

"Very dead I assure you," Medic said without missing a beat. "Unfortunate, but it was not all fruitless. Many, many questions I would love to look into…" He began scribbling something down in an indecipherable German scrawl that Soldier could just make out as he approached Medic's desk.

"Soldier asks 'what are you doing'," Heavy said tiredly.

"Oh," Medic corrected. "Autopsy! Isn't it obvious?"

Soldier walked around one of the infirmary beds, coated in blood but clear someone had at least made an effort to sop some of it up. There was a little dish on the wheelie end table, one that was also rather bloody but not full of Medic's instruments. Soldier picked up one of the objects.

"Ah!" Medic enthused. "That one was lodged in Scout's medulla oblongata!"

Heavy's face grew more weary. "Soldier. Put down."

Soldier did not put it down. He brought the bullet closer, examining its odd shape, the fact that there seemed to be something green and papery inside, and a blossom of vindication unfolded in his head.

"Ha! Evidence!" he declared, holding up the bullet.

Heavy and Medic stared at him.

"Proof you maggots!" Soldier said emphatically, waving the still quite sticky chunk of metal in their faces. "This confirms it! Your doubts mean nothing to me."

"Confirms what Soldier?" Medic asked, genuine confusion wrinkling his brow.

"The Administrator is a robot!"

Despite the evidence being shoved right in their faces, the two mercenaries before Soldier shared a look. He waited, patiently, for their flurry of understanding to come, but was met only with blank stares.

"Voice is not robot," Heavy said slowly. "We have seen her. On little TV."

"Yeah, well." Soldier drew his hand downward, closer to his chest, mirroring his sense of diminishing hope. "Those boxes can lie."

"Soldier," Medic said, pen now leaving a black pool of ink where it'd frozen on his notes. "What on Earth has made you think the Administrator is a robot?"

"You heard it!" Soldier barked, hating how the uncertainty had crept back in, made his voice spike like that. "On the announcement! And again when Scout died! That was a robot speaking, a robot here to trick us out of our American jobs!"

Medic shot a look to Heavy out the corner of his eye. "Heard what?"

The bullet was now clenched in his fist, leaving a splattering of fluids that leaked in between the lines in his palm, but he couldn't make himself unclench. He pleaded, "It was wrong, you all heard it. You heard it."

He had been so sure, but now even that was lost to him. Heavy shot him one of those stupid, pitying looks and said, "All this is wrong. We all sleep now, think better in morning."

Soldier tossed the bullet amongst its fellows with a clatter. "Fine." He stormed out, not giving a backwards glance as he said, "You can live in your fantasyland all you want, but I will know the truth!"

He stalked through base, red so bright in his eyes he could hardly see where he was going. It was only after a half hour of stamping the same beaten paths that he realized he was looking for Scout, hoping to start a fight, which was his usual method for working off steam. Except he would never do that anymore. Scout was dead, just like in a real war, just like he could make the REDs if he really wanted to. Maybe that's why he couldn't convince anyone: he didn't actually want to be right. Because his thoughts—his brain thoughts, not those traitorous little worms that festered in the dark part of his helmet, looking for any opportunity to weaken his resolve—revolved around fighting. They revolved around war! And finally, finally this was his chance to prove himself, to make himself more than those stupid worms and end things once and for all and finally kill him .

He was breathing heavily, and he knew he was muttering under his breath but he didn't care, there was no one else awake. He'd forget what he'd heard and think about fighting one last battle with those godless, scum-sucking REDs, and not cave to doubts that wouldn't go away no matter how much he committed to keeping his mind sharp and where was Scout he could really use someone to break some knuckles on right about now-

A scuffling sound made him pause. Maybe he'd been wrong about no one else being awake.

In the armory, there was someone moving around, rooting through weapons crates and hissing quietly when the wooden lid fell on their thumb. Soldier pressed himself against the wall, watching as the stocky figure found what they were looking for, grabbed their toolbox, and made for the door.

"Deserter!" Soldier shouted, jumping from his hiding spot and pointing an accusing finger at the fleeing Engineer. "Trying to make off in the middle of the night! Turning from our solemn duty you cowardly snake, I will break both your arms for-!"

Engineer shushed him harshly, looking around wildly off down the halls in case the rest of the team had come at the sound of Soldier's alarm.

"I ain't deserting Soldier," he said. He sighed, shoulders slouched in a way that could only mean guilt! Then, with an air of great exasperation, he pinched the bridge of his nose and admitted, "I'm going to RED base."

"RED base?" Soldier looked out the armory exit, a great wedge of missing concrete that slowly rose into the night air. "You are…turning traitor then! Even worse! To think we fought all these years just so you could switch sides when you think you are on the losing team? I'll tell you what sister, we could lose a good 40% of the non-essentials on this team and still be better than those sissies!"

"I ain't going turncoat neither." Engie dropped his toolbox. "Spy's gone over there."

"Spy's a traitor? I'll break both his arms-!"

"Soldier!" Engie barked. "Hush up for one god dang moment." Soldier hushed up, content to watch Engie look forlornly over his shoulder. "He went over there to try and figure out what RED are up to. On his own. And it's been…it's been too long now, something must have happened, and I gotta go over there and find him."

"You?" Soldier crossed his arms. "You will not last a second against them! They will make soup out of your eyeballs! They will make your corpse listen to daytime television!"

Engineer grimaced. "I told you, I gotta go. None of that…none of that matters if I can still do something to help."

Soldier thought about that for a moment. Then another moment. Then said, "Then I am coming too."

"What?" Engie yelped. "No you ain't."

"Your pathetic civilian self needs my protection! You will die within minutes without a Soldier watching your weak and useless back."

"You really know how to endear yourself, don't you Sol," Engineer grit. "This is a stealth mission, you'd blow our cover as soon as we set foot in enemy lines."

Again, Soldier thought about that for a moment, and then said, "If you do not take me along, I will start yelling very loudly , and everyone will come down and see you trying to leave."

Engineer cursed something, something very colorful that Soldier didn't even know Engie knew, but then he turned with a defeated grunt. "Fine then. Better you than everybody else all at once."

"I have been told that frequently!"

"One condition." Engineer turned on him again, pointing one of his big, gloved fingers into Soldier's chest. "No shooting anybody, not unless you get a direct order from me. You hear me Soldier?"

Soldier remembered words inside boxes, of things that were real. He lied, "Yes."

"Good," Engineer said as he lifted his toolbox again. "We just want Spy, in and out. No use jeopardizing a ceasefire just because he…" His sentence ended in a growl. "C'mon then, if you already got your gear, let's head out."

" Not so fast ," came from somewhere in the dark of the armory, those shadowed places where the single emergency light didn't penetrate. It was a terribly mumbled, wheezing voice, but Soldier had enough years of practice deciphering the cant that he could make out the words.

"Aw hell," Engie spat as Pyro slinked forward. "How long you been standing there?"

" Ten minutes ."

"Christ," he hissed. "I suppose you want to extort me too, don't ya?"

" No one else is getting hurt on my watch. I'm coming along. "

"Hell," was all Engie had to say to that. "Might as well be carrying around a big sign that says 'shoot me'. C'mon you sons of bitches, let's go."

The RED Demoman didn't sleep either.

He was trying to, damn it all, had almost gotten the hang of it when Scout had woken up the whole base shouting about how they'd caught an intruder out by the sentries. Then the team meeting, then the other team meeting, and then Demo had drank a whole scrumpy bottle and bundled up underneath his covers. It was cold underground, and despite the blankets he'd heaped on himself, no matter how he rolled himself his nose was always frozen, not helped by the fact that the alcohol made it a bit runny.

If the chill and the constant interruptions were a nuisance, then they were nothing to the actual situation he was distracting himself from. Probably a fool for even trying: who could expect to sleep at a time like this when everything had gotten turned on its head quicker than you could say Claidheamh Mòr. Great job this turned out to be. He should have quit long ago, back when it was obvious it was costing him more heartache than the money was worth. Hell, he didn't even need the money anymore, the only thing still keeping him was…well, where else was he going to get legal demoman-ing done?

All good things come to an end, he supposed. They were going to have to fight BLU in the immediate future, that was certain, especially when keeping one of their own would draw BLUs to them like moths to a flame. Only a matter of time.

Just like sleep. If he just relaxed, concentrated on clearing his head, it would only be a matter of time until…

A fist wrapped thunderously against his door.

He sighed, regretfully extracting himself from the warm cocoon he had made for himself and putting feet against the icy floor. Not even bothering to check the door, he pulled on his boots again, wondering what the damn emergency was this time.

"Sorry to wake you," the Engineer said sheepishly when he finally pulled it open a few minutes later.

"Wasn't really asleep," Demo slurred. He hoped he was sober enough that the words came out the way they should. "Something you want?"

Engie nodded, so that was a good sign of Demo's legibility. "Wanted to go check on the BLU, but I could use some backup."

"Check on 'im? What on Earth for?" Demo narrowed his eye. "You aren't trying to involve me in a jailbreak are you?"

"No I am not," Engie persisted. Already he sounded testy, and Demo hadn't even really laid into him yet. "I still think our best chance is to send him back to BLU, send some terms along with him. You know, like a hostage exchange."

Demo unsuccessfully attempted to rub the sleep from his eye. "Isn't there usually a second hostage in a hostage exchange?"

"You know what I mean," Engineer said. "Point is, I need to talk to him first, see if he'll go along with it, but I don't want Spy walking in and accusing me of anything more than I'm doing. Man has it out for me now, seems like."

"Why don't you just make Scout come?" Demo yawned. So far, this was ranking pretty low on what he considered an emergency.

Engie's frown shoved up his goggles, nose wrinkling in a way that said exactly what his words did not. "Scout isn't interested in helping at the moment."

"What, you two have a lover's spat or something?"

If the goggles were displeased before, now they sparkled off the singular light from Demo's room with utter malice. "Don't like what you're implying there, son."

"Ach, it's just a joke you bloody toymaker, lighten up." Demo rubbed at his eye again. "Fine, fine, just let me sober up a bit first, then I'll come down with you."

After splashing some, predictably icy, water in his face and failing to dry it off with his sleeve, Demo followed Engineer down further into the bowels of RED's base, the burn of dry-swallowing an aspirin sizzling the back of his throat.

"You know," Demo said to Engie's back, "That man we're holding isn't exactly some innocent sod we have to protect. Bastard once carved out my other eye 'n left me wandering around the entire round before he came back to kill me. So, sorry if I don't exactly have a lot of sympathy for him."

"You think I don't got a thousand more grudges against that snake? It ain't about whether he deserves it or not," Engineer said. "It's the principal. What's going on down there…what I think's going on down there should be a last resort, not a first."

Demo grunted, but lapsed into silence. Sure he agreed with Engie on some level about not churning up mulch where there didn't need to be, but letting the BLU Spy go seemed like a fool's errand, if not only because then they'd all have to start sleeping with one eye open again. No, his main hang-up was that there would be no compromise with the BLU team, no matter how many tools of diplomacy Engie tried plying them with. Quiet, distant detestation was the best they could hope for so long as those nine mercenaries still stood. Demo knew the man on the other side of the canyon would never abide anything else.

So he didn't have much stake in the Engineer's ambitions. That is, until the infirmary doors opened, and showed what had been going on inside.

"Damn," Demo whispered. "Spy sure works quick."

Everywhere was coated in blood, all radiating outward from the crumpled form chained to the exposed piping, massive splotches that—despite the helpful drain in the center of the room—no one had bothered to wash off and had now dried into rusty puddles. It was so much damn blood, Demo wondered how anyone could still be alive after losing so much.

Engineer must have had the same idea. "Hell," he hissed as he ran forward, pressing two fingers against the BLU Spy's pulse.

There was a faint stirring behind Spy's eyelids. His lips moved, and the listless scratching in the air was so faint, it took Demo longer than it should have to realize he was speaking. "Repeating…yourself already? How…dull…"

Engie leaned back in confusion, but Demo's mind flashed back to the scene he'd briefly witnessed in this room, and thought he knew what that might be about. Awkwardly, he crouched next to the two, aware of the blood sticking to his shoes. "We're er…we're not Spy."

The BLU's eyes flickered open. They were oddly dull, taking a long time to scan over Engineer, his red uniform, then landing on Demo. "I see…then here to air out…grievances…personally…"

"Christ, no ." Engie looked sick, and Demo didn't blame him. The Spy was mostly face down on the floor, handcuffs wrenching his hands above and behind his back. Several of his fingers were missing down to the second knuckle, splattering both his bindings and the wall behind him.

But that didn't seem to be where the majority of the blood was coming from. If there was any part of Spy's formerly fine, striped suit that wasn't soaked in gore, it was because it had burned away. Thick stripes of blackened fabric were fused with his skin all along his legs, and edges of his mask too. Death by a thousand cuts Demo had heard once. At the time it'd seemed a pretty inefficient way to kill someone, but now he could see clearly that wasn't what everyone had on their mind.

"We wanted to talk to you," Engineer finished quickly. "That's all, don't want to hurt you none, just talk."

"…Interesting." A bit more of Spy's awareness was returning. He hauled himself into a sitting position. "That certainly is a change of pace. I suppose I have no choice but to listen."

"We don't like what's going on here," Engie went on. "Me, Demo, few of the others. I don't give a rat's ass about what you do and don't know, I just want us all to stop shooting at each other long enough to figure out how to get out of this place."

"A noble goal," Spy said after a moment. "However, you have approached the one man who no longer has any input on what decision BLU makes."

"We're going to change that," Engineer spoke with such confidence, Demo had to grimace.

"Don't go making promises we can't keep, mate," Demo said. Engineer shot him a dark look.

"…If you aid in my escape, I would be more than happy to help you organize a truce." Spy's eyes had widened as he said it, with an almost abrupt change in his voice. The hope in his shoulders was clear as day, and it unsettled Demo. Spy wasn't a person he should be able to read.

"That…ain't exactly what we mean." Engie clenched one of his hands. "We ain't jailbreaking ya, we're going to contact your team and get you sent back, show them we don't want to fight none."

A dull sheen crept back over Spy's eyes. "Ah, then I can already see this negotiation is pointless," he said. "As that is not going to happen."

"It might," Demo offered up, trying to be helpful. A wet, sickly feeling had begun to creep in the back of his spine, the urge to shuck off his complacency as he watched Spy barely able to move.

The Spy offered what might have been an attempt at a lackluster smile. "It won't, since it seems I know your Spy better than you do. Now that he has me in his clutches, he will not let me go. I believe his exact words were, 'I will be sure to return you, in pieces of course'." Spy closed his eyes and leaned back against the wall. "Charming man. Truly has a way with words."

Engineer leveled Demo a look, always hard to read, but this one Demo could infer.

"We'll outvote him, convince the others," Engie tried.

"Oh I've already heard how that went," Spy said drily, eyes still closed. "You are losing ground, not gaining it. What did you say to the Scout that scared him away, hm? Here I thought you had that boy wrapped around your little finger."

Demo could see Engineer's hackles rise. "Ya'll better watch what you say," he spoke through his teeth.

"Why should I?" Spy shot back with a surprise of defiance, his eyes snapping open. "Why should I pay any ounce of respect to you, two men who come down to my cell and pretend to offer me mercy while preening themselves on how benevolent they are. What exactly is your plan ? You think that sending me back to BLU after torturing me will gain you any good will? They will take one look at me and shoot you on sight."

Demo had no idea if BLU would be protective of their Spy of all people, but if it was a bluff it was a damn good one. He nervously offered, "We'll heal you up before you go."

"And what of my memories, hm?" Spy pressed. "I will simply tell them what has gone on, and the truth does not look kindly on you. I did not come here to do you or yours any harm, but I wish I had because I will not forget -" His rant cut off with a shudder.

"We can't help you escape," Demo insisted. "Team'll have our hides, we'd be just as bad off."

"It needn't be obvious, slip me a knife, a file, anything and I will see to the rest myself." Spy fixed them both with a look. "If you do this, I'll do as you ask. But if you try to use me as a bargaining chip , I will personally see to it that our factions will be at war."

"You're not doing a good job at this whole 'negotiating' thing," Engineer said as he crossed his arms.

"I only say that because my release was never really an option. I just hoped to cement that fact in your minds." When neither Engie nor Demo had a retort to that, he continued, "What must I say to convince you? Is it begging you want, Engineer? After all these years you finally have me at your mercy, and you want me to beg? Fine. Please, please , do not let me die here. I will do as you ask just help me, please ."

His voice had risen in such a desperate pitch that Demo couldn't bring himself to believe it was an act. Not the way he was pleading at the Engineer with his eyes, not with how Engie wouldn't meet them.

After several, long, agonized seconds of silence, the supplication went out of the Spy, leaving nothing left but a bitter aftertaste. "Fine then. Return to your high tower and your fruitless endeavors. Perhaps you will get your little toy back on your side."

"I told you to watch your mouth, snake," Engineer finally reacted, to this of all things.

"Or what, you'll hit me?" Spy let out a humorless laugh. "One benefit to this experience is that I can no longer find you properly intimidating. No, I think I will talk as much as I please about your proclivities -"

Engineer's hand reached out and snapped up the cord that bound the Spy's chest, a substitute for grabbing him by the shirt. He looked like he really might hit him, had not Demo put a gentle hand on the Engineer's outstretched arm.

"Engie," Demo said softly. "He's riling you up. Let him go."

Slowly, Engineer let the Demoman peel his hand away from Spy, whose apathy had returned in such a force that he slumped as soon as the fist stopped holding him up. He lay on his side again, cheek pressed to the concrete.

Demo helped Engie to the door, listening to him still muttering about wise-assed little dogs who would rather drown than let you help them. Instead of following him out, he stopped at the doorway, looking at the prone Spy who looked almost as lifeless as when he'd entered. He searched, hopelessly, for something that hadn't already been said, a way to promise he could help, but came up with nothing. In the end he left, doors swinging, windows too high to properly see the prisoner through.

When the REDs were gone, Spy cracked an eye open. The objects he'd managed to slip from the Engineer's pocket pressed tight against his palm.

"You lads busy?" Soldier heard the Demoman call into the common room.

He perked up. "Yes! I am instructing Scout in the art of paper-chain making." He held up the nearest end of his long and glorious chain, which now wrapped around both the table legs (and his own) and disappeared down the hallway on some grand adventure. Godspeed, you beautiful bastard.

Scout's paper chain was still a collection of rectangles sitting on the table in front of him, which he had not touched.

"…Are those the instruction manuals for your rocket launcher?" Demo asked, staring down at the bits of faded yellow print.

"Useless! I point and I fire! I do not need to listen to all this 'wind speed' and 'trajectory' crap ."

Demo shook his head, but quickly, more like he was trying to shake off flies than be disappointed. "Well if you don't mind me interrupting, I'd like to talk about that BLU again."

Scout sighed. "No one wants to talk about anything else." He was in the process of re-packing his hands, wrapping the gauze all the way up from his wrists to his palms, winding them over each other again and again.

"Well, it's kind of the biggest thing to happen since this whole mess started."

"He should be honored to have the opportunity to resist torture," Soldier voiced on the subject. "Any soldier should be so lucky to prove his patriotic duty by holding in classified secrets as his teeth are ripped one by one from his gums!"

Scout scoffed. "If that's how you feel, why don't you go get yourself caught by BLU?"

Soldier considered this for a moment.

"Soldier, don't go to BLU and offer to get tortured," Demo said with a sigh, and Soldier deflated. The Demoman rubbed his forehead and said, "I just think it's a bad idea to be keeping the Spy here."

"Agreed!" Soldier slapped his fist into an open palm. "We should move him to RED's high security prison! In Guam!"

"No," Demo groaned. "I mean letting him go. Getting him out of our hair."

"Are you kidding man?" Scout asked, looking up. "After all that work? We caught a freaking Spy man, that's our one advantage."

Demo shook his head, the slow kind this time, the one Soldier was more used to. "It's bad luck. I think his team's going to come looking for him, basically just a beacon of trouble."

Soldier thought he could probably make one of those if they really needed one. He had a big enough poster board somewhere around here.

"So?" Scout said. He'd finished with his wraps now, and even as he spoke he frowned at them, picking apart the knot on his left and starting all over again.

"So, all that fancy planning we're doing won't get us anywhere if we can't fight this on our own terms. Do we really want to be on the defensive here?"

"We are RED team!" Soldier marshaled. "We are always defending!"

Defending was what they were good at! Soldier loved the thrill of sitting atop a choke point, blasting maggots that dared to push his cart. It was always a glorious moment before BLUs came rushing in, and now it would be even more exhilarating knowing the battle was for real. Why, he could practically hear it now—the distant rumble of combat boots, the reverberation of pipes clanging together, the shake of the ground under his feet…

…Hm. That wasn't normal.

Both Scout and Demo were frozen in place, only their heads turning to the sound of a distant rumble below them, the direction of the base's workshop.

Scout asked cautiously, "You guys hear that?"

In the kitchen, Heavy paused from where he'd been stress-making sandwiches for the past three hours, ears picking up the noise that was nothing like machine gun fire yet just as deadly.

Engineer cut Medic off mid ramble, holding up a palm and looking at their feet. "Hell." Then he repeated, " Hell ," and grabbed Medic's arm, running for the door, thinking vaguely of archways and earthquake safety and dragging along the startled doctor as felt his body move so damn slow -

Distantly, but not so distantly that they couldn't hear the rumble reverberating off the canyon walls, three BLUs halted in their journey. There was a burst of mumbling, to which Soldier replied, "Go back ? We are on a mission Smokey, and no little earthquake is going to- Engineer! Get back here this instant maggot, do not abandon your company! "

Another BLU, this one deep in enemy territory, froze halfway through sawing through the cord around him, looking to where he'd heard the momentous noise, building like a growl in the chest of a giant animal. He'd already exhausted the other two items he'd lifted from the pocket of the RED Engineer, and now was down to a pair of tiny wire cutters, clipping through each layer of insulation in painfully small snips whose gradual progress did not stand up in the accelerating gurgle of the Beast. Spy looked at the door, whispered, " Merde ," and sawed even faster than before.

A tile of the common room ceiling broke loose, missing Scout by inches. He leapt to his feet yelling, "Shit! Shit we're under freaking attack!"

"Move!" Demo called, the closest to the door. "Whole base is coming down!"

His point was proven as the wall nearest Soldier began to crack, concrete flaking like it was drywall. Soldier could barely stand, toppling his way into the hall after Scout and Demo, gripping yet another crumbling wall for support. The entire base was underneath a giant concave divot in the earth: if it was falling apart, it'd collapse like soufflé, sinking everyone and everything on top of the floors below it. They'd need to get to the surface, and fast.

That apparently was not what Scout was thinking.

"Scout!" Demo shouted, grabbing his arm as he began to charge the wrong direction. "Where the hell are you going?"

"Yo! Yo, let go , that explosion came from the workshop," Scout said desperately, trying to tug free from Demo's grasp. "Engie's down there, I have to-"

"You'll do nothing for him if you get buried too!" Demo had to shout to be heard over the roar. Soldier glanced at the direction of the stairs. Scout still struggled. Demo tried again, "Scout, we'll come back for him. We'll come back, aye? But to do that we need to get out of here."

Scout fought for a moment longer, looking achingly down the hall. Then one of the (prop) fire extinguishers fell, along with the wall it was attached to, and Scout stood up straight. "Okay, okay yeah let's go."

Soldier had already been making his way to the stairwell on wobbly steps while those two wasted precious evacuation time. But when he yanked open the door, he found it didn't matter much.

"Dammit," he said as he looked up at where the next flight of stairs was supposed to be.

" Crap ," Scout agreed as the other two rushed to either of his sides. It was too high to jump, even for Scout, the stairs almost entirely crumbled to the floor below them. "Aw crap, aw crap what now?"

There was a heartbeat where neither of them answered, where the only sound was shattering as even more of the base fell apart around them, their escape routes narrowing by the second.

"…Follow me," Demo spoke suddenly, the most confusing display of eureka as he pushed past Soldier and went down the stairs.

"Are you crazy?" Scout called after him. "So we can have more building drop on top of us?"

"The tunnels!" Demo's voice was already growing fainter. "If we can't go up we got to go out , come on."

Soldier did not have a better plan, which was unusual since usually he was filled with loads of great plans. He charged after the Demoman, and with few other prospects, he heard the Scout follow, muttering a mix of prayers and curses under his breath.

The world continued to explode around them, dust choking, vision shrinking as they became more and more encased in the collapsing debris. Soldier was starting to think Scout was right, that Demo was crazy (and he didn't think that lightly), when he saw it. Demo disappeared into one of those weird tunnels, the ones Soldier had almost forgotten about. It was grotesquely scraped in the wall of the basement, tile littered on the floor around it like some giant worm had burst out rather than someone digging in. He ran for it, just as the supports of the base couldn't take it anymore. The entire weight of the building fell inward, and the three made it inside, the ragged opening closing behind them. They kept running, pieces of broken concrete chasing at their heels.

Finally, it stopped, the support of the hardened earth above them their only savior.