I'm back! Just doing my best to chip away a little every night, but I'm still managing :) Hope you enjoy!

IMPORTANT: In this chapter we see a lot of both teams, so if I refer to a class with a capital letter (Scout, Spy, etc), they are the RED version, if I use the and the class with a lower case letter (the heavy, the spy), they are the BLU version. I also sometimes state which team they are on. Hope that makes it a little less confusing...

"Hello? Helloo…Is this on?" Pyro blinked at the darkened screen in front of them, considering their options. It had been 15 minutes since the RED team had discovered Scout's abduction, and the firebug was rewinding the surveillance footage in the control room while the rest of the team tried to figure out what to do.

Calling out for the team would be useless, they would not understand a word the Pyro said. Answering the BLU soldier over the communication system would likely have the same effect.

Thinking quickly, the firebug pressed the alarm button, causing the system to shout in the Administrator's voice: "Attention! The BLU soldier is in the control room!"

"What's that noise?" came from the screen, but Pyro didn't answer.

A moment later, the entire RED team, sans Scout, came crashing through the door, weapons drawn.

"Where is BLU man?" Heavy demanded, looking ready to shoot Sasha at every surface in the entire room. In fact, Pyro's location was the only thing keeping him from doing so.

Pyro pointed at the screen wildly, trying to express their dilemma.

Engineer, as usual, was the most level-headed and assessed the situation first. "Are they on the line, pardner?"

As if in answer, the voice came over the speakers once again. "Knock, knock, who's there? Me, is the right answer."

Medic calmed down a little. "Oh…zey are on ze communicator. But where is ze picture?"

"Crap! They can't see us?" some scuffling was heard on the other end of the speakers. "Hey, smart boy, come take a crack at this!"

The RED team stood in silence, occasionally glancing at each other with raised eyebrows as they listened to their enemies bicker over how to fix the camera. Finally, with a few flickers, the BLU engineer, soldier, and spy came into view.

"How about now?" The engineer asked.

"Yes." Spy answered simply.

"Good, now zhen gentlemen, to business: we have your scout." The BLU spy said.

"We know." Heavy answered, arms crossed.

The spy looked amused. "Do you? Are you sure? Normally, one would ask for some proof…"

"We know 'e left with you and did not come back, where else would 'e be?" Spy answered his counterpart with disdain.

"Fine zhen, do you want to see him? I never said he was alive…"

Sniper pushed to the front of the group, shooting daggers at the man on the screen. "What did you do to him?" he growled in a dangerous voice, glaring daggers at the man on the screen.

The spy seemed to relish in his anger. "Ah, zis is who I want to see! You are a constant thorn in our sides, especially today! We have wanted to be rid of you for a long time, but we didn't know how, zince you are a professional…nothing really gets to you. Nothing…except for him."

The BLU spy shooed the others out of his way, barking: "Move zhat chair!"

The black computer chair was pushed out of the way to reveal Scout, sitting tied to another chair. Blood was dried to the side of his face, and his posture was slumped slightly, but he was awake, eyes darting angrily around the room. When he saw who was on the screen, the runner perked up a little.

"Oh, hey guys! Looks like I got myself into some trouble, huh?"

"Are ya alright, Bun?" Sniper asked gently, his eyes never leaving Scout's.

"Oh yea, I'm fine." Scout said, as though he wasn't tied up and surrounded by their enemies, one RED in a sea of BLU.

"There is blood on your face." Spy observed, hands clenching and unclenching subtly.

"That's from when this asshole-", Scout jerked his head at the BLU scout, "-knocked me out! It doesn't hurt though."

The BLU scout cracked his knuckles. "Guess I didn't hit ya hard enough, lemme fix that…"

The BLU sniper's voice could be heard off screen. "Let me get in on this, I owe the little wanker a beatin' after taday!"

Spy and Sniper immediately looked worried, but the BLU spy stopped his teammates firmly.

"Enough! 'E is NOT our primary interest, would you get that through your skulls? You-" he gestured dismissively at the scout "-are a petulant child, and you-" his gaze turned to the sniper "-are angry because you allowed yourself to be beaten by one!"

The two BLU mercenaries looked offended, but backed away slightly. Something like relief flashed through Scout's eyes, but only those who knew him well noticed it.

Spy perhaps noticed it the most, having spent years learning how Scout communicated with his eyes before he learned to speak fully. Scout's electric blue eyes, so similar to his mother's, held so much emotion if one just stopped to look into them, even for a brief amount of time.

When Spy looked at him now, looking so small surrounded by bigger men (aside from the BLU scout), he saw the little boy he had raised for 3 years in Boston. Jeremey had always been small, even for a toddler, and his mother worried about him incessantly. Although Spy had had no ill will towards Connie's other sons, Jeremey had always been his priority, so the boy had gravitated towards him. The little boy was always following him around and asking to be picked up, and Spy had a very hard time saying no to the little rabbit's cute face.

He would go to his grave denying it, but it had killed him to leave Jeremey, never knowing that he would see the boy again as a cocky, loud mouthed young adult. He hadn't wanted to leave, but his enemies had caught up with him, and he couldn't have his young son, his love, and her other children in danger because of him.

And now, the path he had put Jeremey on by robbing him of a father had put him in danger again. But this time, Spy had an opportunity to do right by his petite lapin, and he would do whatever it took to keep him safe.

"Did you call us just to bicker and state obvious facts?" the Frenchman hissed at the screen in a condescending tone.

"Obviously this is a ransom!" The BLU soldier called out from the back of the room, somewhere behind Scout.

"Alroight, what do you want for him?" Sniper asked, eyes still trained on Scout.

The BLU spy smiled, a cold, calculating grin. "First, let me tell you what will happen if you do not follow through." He paused for effect. "As you know, re-spawn for death by an enemy's hands is always on, but…we have shut his off."

Immediate worried reactions came from the RED team.

"What?"

"Can they do that?"

Spy turned to Engineer. "Go check zis out. Now. And take Heavy, it could be a trap!"

As the two sprinted away, the BLU spy laughed. "It iz the truth, which zhey will tell you soon enough. But in ze meantime, let's discuss our terms. We will let him go, unharmed and ALIVE, if ze sniper agrees to disappear…permanently."

"Wait, are you sayin' ya want Sniper ta off himself?" Demoman asked incredulously.

The spy laughed again. "No, ov course not, we will take care of that. Ze point is, if he comes to us, we will let the boy go, and kill him instead. We considered just having you leave Teufort, but vith your tendency to show up where you are not welcome, we cannot take zhat chance. Besides," he gestured to Scout, "I cannot see you leaving him behind here for long."

"Fine then, if ya want me gone so bad, we'll both leave. If he comes with me, I'll have no reason to come back."

"Excuse me?" Spy hissed, but Sniper ignored him.

"I'm literally from another continent, we can go back there, you'll never see us again. Just don't hurt him, he hasn't done anything to you!"

"Aww, isn't that cute…but we're not negotiating. Either you give yourself up, or he dies."

"Hey, yea, uhm, question?"

The BLU spy stiffened at the East Coast accent coming from behind him. "No questions!"

Scout ignored him. "But, why'd ya go through all this trouble with me an' all? Couldn't ya have just pretended to be me and led him here?"

Before the spy could answer, the BLU demoman piped up. "That was the idea, boyo, but then you two had your donnybrook, and ya wouldn't even speak ta him! So we figured, he wouldn't believe it if the chameleon came an' cuddled up ta him!" He punctuated the rant with a deep swig.

The BLU spy looked perturbed. "Thank you…for telling zem our entire plan." He put a hand to his forehead.

Spy nodded thoughtfully. "So you figured since Sniper was so desperate to talk to Scout, him trying again vouldn't be out of place…clever, but risky. Getting a hostage involved increases the risk for you zignifigantly, as I am sure you know."

His counterpart shrugged. "I believe it vill pay off in ze end."

Just then, Heavy and Engineer came hurrying back into the room as quickly as two large, middle aged men can run. Soldier turned to face them.

"Report!"

"The boy's respawn is down, but that's not all…your's is down too, Sniper."

Spy nodded gravely. "And by down, you mean…"

"Completely smashed. Beyond recognition." Heavy replied.

Engineer nodded. "That ain't going to be a quick fix." He looked up at the screen. "I get why ya destroyed the kid's, but why wreck two of them?"

The BLU medic snorted. "Are you not meant to be vone of the smart ones? Ve vant to get rid of the most dangerous player, ov course!"

Heavy looked puzzled. "You mean Scout?"

The medic laughed, joined by many of his team members. The sound caused Scout to shrink in on himself ever so slightly, but the enemies were too caught up in their gloating to notice.

"Ohoho, no…ve mean the Sniper." The medic finally said. "Ve are all dangerous people, ov course, but in the case of our snipers, the players are not…evenly matched. Yours has been increasingly lethal in matches, vhereas ours got beat to death by this one." He gave Scout's chair a little push with his foot.

The BLU sniper answered sharply: "Will ya stop bringing that up? I told ya, he caught me off guard!"

The corner of Scout's mouth quirked up. "Uh, no, you got the jump on ME, rememba? But ya still died. Honestly, I kind of feel bad for ya-"

"Scout. Shut up." Spy cut him off, seeing murder in the sniper's eyes.

Said man addressed the BLU spy, who was looking entirely fed up with everyone around him. "Are you sure we can't hurt this one, he's askin' for it."

"When did I say we couldn't hurt him?" The BLU perked up, but the RED team stiffened up, all looking nervous.

The spy carried on, drinking in their worry and frustration. "We're just not going to kill him, unless ze sniper doesn't give himself up of course. Tell you vhat, if 'e doesn't, you can kill the brat yourself, oui?"

The sniper grinned, a nasty showing of teeth that didn't resemble Sniper at all. The man didn't look vulnerable now, Scout thought. He tried not to let it show, but he was starting to get a little afraid, the BLUs clearly held a grudge and wanted to hurt him, Sniper or no Sniper.

As though he could read his mind, the BLU heavy leaned over Scout's shoulder, bracing himself on the back of the chair, and asked "Are you scared, little one?"

The runner glared at him as best as he could, snapping back. "No! I'm not scared, I'm fine." His eyes left the larger man and focused on the screen, repeating "I'm fine, don't worry about me", but with less force, and more of a persuasive tone.

The BLU medic chuckled. "I'm afraid that von't be enough to convince them you are alright after this…Scout, come here!"

The BLU scout's head popped back into the doorway. "What?"

"What are you doing?" The medic sounded confused, so Scout assumed that this was not part of their plan.

"I'm…eatin'." The scout answered slowly, as though he knew this was the wrong answer.

The engineer pinched the bridge of his nose. "Scout, why?"

"I was hungry, that's why. May I resume my chicken now, or what?"

The RED Scout laughed. "Yea, real scary guys!"

Some of the RED team seemed to find the discoordinated effort amusing as well, something that clearly pissed off the BLU spy.

"Scout!" He barked. "Put that disgusting excuse for food down and come here!" Grumbling, the BLU scout did as he was told, while the RED Scout turned to the screen again.

"What'd I tell ya guys, nothing ta worry about-"

"Break his legs."

Scout immediately stopped talking, staring at the man in the blue suit. "...what?" He hated that his voice came out sounding smaller than before.

The BLU scout, on the other hand, didn't hesitate. "Finally, somethin' ta do!" Taking his bat into his hands, the young man swung it experimentally a few times, stalking towards Scout with a smirk on his lips.

Scout desperately tried to backpedal, but it didn't stop his counterpart's sinister approach. "W-wait, wait a second! C-can't we talk about this? Ya don't-AHHHHGHH!"

The BLU scout's bat slammed into his left kneecap, causing a searing pain to shoot up his leg, cutting off his frantic words.

"You fucker, that hurt!" he shouted at his counterpart, who shrugged and rested the bat on his shoulder.

"Thanks man, I try. But I feel like one hit isn't going to cut it…" With that, the Chicago runner wound up for another swing, aiming directly for the same spot on Scout's leg.

"AHHH-FUCK!"

Through the screen, the rest of the RED team watched helplessly as the BLU scout continued to beat both of Scout's legs with his bat. After the first few blows, the Bostonian stopped crying out, but his body still spasmed in pain after every hit.

Spy was staring straight ahead at the screen, fighting to hide any emotions on his face. Medic's eyes darted about, following the path of the bat as though he was assessing it's damage. Sniper and one or two others looked away from the screen, unable to watch Scout being tortured when they were too far away to help him.

Sniper in particular was hardly able to bear listening to the small noises of pain that Scout let out, knowing that it was his fault the sweet boy was in danger. He could see Scout had been biting his lip, likely trying to muffle the sounds of his pain. But the boy had been fighting it for so long that his lip had burst and blood was beginning to trickle down his face in a thin stream.

When the sound of the blows stopped coming, the sharp shooter looked back at the screen, desperate to make sure Scout was alright. The runner was breathing very hard, and although his legs were hidden by his pants, one leg was now sitting at an unnatural angle. Even without medical training, Sniper could tell that it was broken judging by the high-pitched noise Scout made when the BLU scout poked his leg.

"Try an' run away now!" The scout taunted as he backed away slightly. Scout didn't say a word back to him, his face contorting in pain every time he moved slightly.

It seemed that the BLU heavy picked up on the tears forming in the corner of his eyes, as he took the opportunity to mock: "Whats the matter, going to cry for your boyfriend to come save you?"

The BLU spy took over once more, sauntering back in front of the camera. "So as you can zee, ve have no trouble hurting him, and ve will continue to do so the longer you keep us waiting. His injuries are not yet lethal, but I vouldn't want to test how long they will stay zhat way…"

Sniper stepped forward a little and braced his hands on the computer desks. "Alroight. What do you need me to do?"

The Frenchman smirked, knowing he'd won. "Come to our base-alone, and ze sooner, ze better. If you are not here in 2 hours…" he walked away from the camera, flicking open his knife as he did so. In a swift motion, he held the knife to Scout's neck and stared the camera down again. "...we will kill him and dump him in ze desert."

Sniper's hands slammed onto the desk. "You conniving little-if you hurt him-"

"Snipes, stop!" Scout cried, looking wary of the knife at his throat. "Don't do anything stupid."

The runner paused and addressed the RED team. "Ya know what, you guys don't let him do anything stupid, I don't trust him not to."

Spy nodded shortly at his son, relaxing a fraction as his counterpart lowered his knife. "Very well. Gentlemen, you will hear from at least one ov us within two hours."

And with that, the Frenchman ended the call, and his son disappeared from view.

As soon as Spy hung up, he had to spin around at the sound of struggling. Engineer had a firm grip on Sniper's right arm, with Demoman holding the other, while the sharpshooter tried to fight them both off.

"Ye can't be thinkin' a goin' over there!" The Scotsman shouted, dodging a fist flying at his face.

"You can't stop me!" Sniper shouted back, trying to violently shake off the much shorter Engineer.

Medic and Heavy exchanged a look, as though gauging whether to step in. "I think you vill find that ve can." Medic said calmly. He addressed Spy, who seemed relatively calm considering the situation. "Say the vord and I vill sedate him."

The Frenchman nodded dismissively and looked at the furious Australian. "Zere is no point in struggling, you are NOT going over there."

"So we're just goin' to leave Scout to die? Did ya see what they did to him, they WILL kill him!" Sniper stopped struggling to stare at Spy. "What kind of father are you?"

Spy crossed his arms. "My parenting is none of your concern. Of course we are not abandoning Scout, but we should not give in to zheir demands either, zhat will tell zhem we are weak. If zhey see they can get away with taking a hostage, zhey will likely do it again."

"Oh, come on! If one of us is goin' to die, wouldn't you rather it be me than him?"

The Frenchman put his hand to his head. "I know zhat I have made my…distaste for you quite plain, but I do not want anyone on zis team to permanently die." He turned to the rest of the team. "So, we are going to figure out another solution, agreed?"

The rest of the mercenaries nodded, expressions ranging from grave to determined. Engineer gave Sniper a wary look.

"If we let you go, you ain't gonna try to take off again, right?"

The marksman looked still upset, but begrudgingly nodded. As Spy whipped out a cigarette, as he was fond of doing before giving a dramatic speech, the Texan murmured "I can't really blame ya son, if my woman was in danger I'd do the same thing."

One corner of Sniper's mouth quirked upwards. "Don't let Scout hear that you called him a woman."

Engineer chuckled slightly, likely imagining the unholy rage that Scout would unleash if he was referred to as someone's 'woman'. "Good point."

"If the two of you are done socializing," Spy's sharp voice cut through Engineer's deep whisper, "I need suggestions-aside from yours, bushman, you are not abandoning my son zhat way."

His son. Scout. Sniper's mind immediately recalled the image of Scout, broken and alone surrounded by enemies, and Sniper's mind immediately began to race again. Seeing the runner, who was always so strong and independent, looking so helpless broke him inside.

Significantly outnumbered and with at least one broken leg, Scout didn't have a hope of saving himself. Even though Sniper knew it was a taunt, the BLU heavy had been right: Scout really did need Sniper to come and save him.

And every minute that went by while they remained in their base was a minute that Scout was alone with the BLUs, possibly being beaten further, not for manipulation purposes but their own sick entertainment. If he waited too long, Scout might think that they weren't coming at all, that Sniper was just abandoning him to his fate because he valued his own life more.

Sniper couldn't leave the runner to feel helpless and forgotten, especially after what he'd done to him the night before. Even if Scout told him afterwards that he never wanted to see him again, Sniper would never forgive himself if he didn't do everything he could to save his little bunny. Slowly, the sharpshooter tuned back into the conversation to listen to the team's ideas.

"Why not use their own trick against them? Pretend to be the Sniper just to get inside." Heavy said.

Pyro shook their head, serious mumbles coming from behind their mask.

"Yes. Yes, zhat is right, zhey will spy check right away." Spy said thoughtfully.

"Why don't we rush 'em then? Break in with the whole team and kill them all!" Soldier said loudly.

Medic rubbed his chin. "That would likely result in a scenario very similar to a match, vith both sides respawning after death. However, our respawn vould be much further away, and if Scout or Sniper vere killed, zhey vould not come back. It iz very risky."

"What else can we do then?" Sniper demanded. When no one spoke for a moment, he snorted. "Well if no one has any better ideas, I'm goin' over there." Medic moved to take a step, but Sniper held up a hand. "No. He's alone and he's scared, someone needs to do something."

Medic surprised everyone by answering: "I vasn't going to stop you, if you choose to sacrifice yourself, I think ve should let you."

Heavy looked hesitant. "Doktor, are you sure? It seems like you are…giving up."

"I am not giving up." Medic said firmly. "But if this is what Sniper wants, vhy should we stop him, it is a solution after all?"

"Non, absolutely not. I am sure you feel like zis is your fault, but you will not do this to my son, do you understand me?"

"Spoi, for the last time, I am doin' this FOR your son!"

Spy stepped threateningly towards Sniper. "And how do you think he will feel when he returns and cannot find you, hm? The only reason he went with that BLU scoundrel is because he wanted to reconcile with you! Are you really going to rob him of what you two could have?"

Sniper looked bewildered at this revelation, so Spy carried on. "And what if he saw them kill you? Do you think he would be able to live with himself if you gave up your life for his?"

There was silence for a moment as the sharpshooter processed this, the rest of the team standing awkwardly behind him. Then Sniper spoke, slowly and quietly. "If he dies, I won't be able to live with myself."

The rest of the RED team was silent at seeing this, possibly the most vulnerable Sniper had ever been in front of them. Pyro reached around Heavy to give Sniper's arm a sympathetic pat.

Then, Engineer snapped his fingers. "What about them tunnels?"

Spy raised an eyebrow. "What tunnels?"

The Texan looked slightly embarrassed. "Me, Demo, and Soldier found these tunnels under the base, turns out they're a good place to smoke a dart in peace. But we explored 'em one night, and they're connected to the BLU base, probably from back when this place was a mill. We blocked the entrance off after that, of course, but we could probably use 'em to sneak into the BLU base."

Unbeknownst to Engineer, both Spy and Sniper could have kissed him.

The Frenchman nodded slowly. "Yes…yes, that could work…"

"What exactly do these tunnels look like?" Medic asked critically.

"All rock an' putrid water!" Demo explained. "Tha ceiling ain't that high, but it'll be enough for us ta get threw! He took a swig from his daily bottle of scrumpy. "Ya know when you git to the BLU base because they store stuff in tha tunnel with their name stamped on!"

"I suppose zhey haven't discovered that it leads to our base if they haven't attacked us through the tunnel yet." The doctor said pensively.

"Then we will take advantage of that." Spy said firmly, already heading for the door.

"Hang on a mite!" Engineer called out, standing close to Pyro. "What's that, pardner? Oh, good point." He turned back to the group. "They want to know if we should bring Sniper, since he doesn't have respawn."

"Thassa good point! Even if we all go, they'll focus all tha fire on him!" Demo agreed.

Sniper was immediately defensive. "I don't care, I can't sit here by maself while he's in there. I'm comin' with ya."

Spy looked thoughtful. "We can't leave him here alone either, zhey could attack him once zhey figure out zat we have left him behind."

"Leave him in tunnel." Heavy said, in a joking tone, but Medic nodded.

"Actually, zhat is not a bad idea, Schatz. He vill be close by, and not vhere they vill expect. Also, he vill know almost immediatly if Scout is safe, vhich vill discourage him doing anything stupid…hopefully."

Spy gave a quick nod of assent. "Zhat should be fine, it vill be very hard for someone to sneak up on him. You-" he pointed at Sniper "-must actually stay in ze tunnel, do not be having any thoughts of self sacrifice."

Sniper brushed him off, but Spy crossed his arms. "I am serious. If you do not, I vill tell my son that you intentionally put yourself at risk of being killed and sic him on you. After zhat, your only hope will be to pray for a quick death."

A few chuckles came from the other mercenaries, but they immediately ceased as Spy pulled out his pistol and loaded it.

"Alright gentlemen, and Pyro, gather your weapons and meet at the entrance to this tunnel. We are going to rain hell down on zem, and, with luck, we will all live to see tomorrow."

Scout contemplated the concrete floor under his cheek with the intensity of only a person who has exhausted all other options of entertainment. He had no idea how long he had been lying there, in the tiny storage room, but the entire right side of his face was cold and numb.

He supposed he should be thankful for the tiny window high up on the wall, otherwise he would have been lying in the pitch darkness. Not the ability to see his surroundings was much help in this situation.

When the BLUs had removed him from the chair after the REDs had cut the call, they had tied his hands behind his back and gagged him with duct tape. His legs had been left alone, both were broken and completely useless. Scout was grateful they had the decency to carry him to the storage room rather than dragging him or trying to make him go there himself.

But now, on the floor that was barely 10 square feet in area, Scout had virtually no way of freeing himself. Any movement sent shooting pain through his legs to the point he could feel bile rising into his throat. The only thing that kept him from vomiting was the knowledge that the tape over his mouth would cause him to suffocate on anything expelled from his body.

The runner knew he was at risk of going into shock considering the battered and bloody state of his legs, so he tried to find something to focus on to distract him from the pain. He tried to remember what Medic had said about shock, and he was fairly certain that if he stopped feeling pain, things would not be good for him. But so far, the intense pain hadn't subsided, so he guessed he was okay. Keeping people who were at risk of shock warm was important too, he remembered, but there was no way that he could search the shelves in the room for anything to cover himself with.

He was helpless, and he hated it. Scout had grown up with a lot of people around him, but he had still learned to be fairly self sufficient from a young age. His ma did her best, but with eight children, she could hardly keep up with them all and their needs sometimes. As far as his big brothers were concerned, if he was still breathing, he didn't need looking after, and Scout grew to like it that way. People trusted that he could take care of himself.

But here he was now, relying on other people to decide whether he lived or died. In Scout's mind, there were four possible options for the RED team: Sniper could let the BLUs kill him, Spy could pretend to be Sniper and either attempt to rescue him or sacrifice himself, the entire team could come take on the BLUs and try to rescue him, or they could just leave him with the BLUs.

The first option was devastating to Scout, and he could only hope that the rest of the RED team had listened to him and wouldn't let Sniper try to sacrifice himself. The second option was unlikely, Spy was smart and would realize that the BLU team would be suspicious and likely check to see if the Sniper who came to them was really the sharpshooter. He had a feeling that the most likely two options were the last two: either the entire team would come, or no one would come at all.

Scout didn't doubt that if the last scenario happened, the BLU team would kill him. They seemed to really hold a grudge against him, and they only saw him as a means to an end anyways, not a person. Not even a threat.

Scout wasn't even sure that his team would be willing to come fight the BLU team just to save him. They had looked concerned for him over the communication system, sure, but would they be willing to take on the BLUs outside of an organized battle? Only Sniper would run the risk of dying permanently if he came to save Scout, but he still wasn't sure they would take the risk of fighting an uphill battle when they were one person down.

Staring at the small sliver of light filtering in under the door, Scout tried to console himself with the knowledge that if the BLUs did kill him, at least his legs wouldn't be throbbing in pain any longer. He wondered if taunting the BLUs would make them kill him faster, just to be rid of him, or would they take harsh words as a challenge to break him? Really, they already had if the ever strong willed and aggressive runner had resigned himself to his death.

But that was before he heard the explosions ringing out beyond his room. Loud blasts of payloads finding their targets echoed through the concrete hallway, and shots were beginning to ring out as well. Boots pounded the halls beyond Scout's door, and he could hear the BLU team shouting at each other.

"They all bloody came!" Someone who sounded like the Demoman yelled, sounding surprised.

Another voice, this one less distinct, called out "Someone guard that door!"

Scout guessed that meant they intended to guard him, and either keep the RED team away from the door, or keep his location hidden altogether. With his mouth and hands secure, he couldn't do much to make noise, and any attempts to kick at the door or walls were stopped when lifting his leg slightly brought a muffled cry of pain from his mouth.

He would just have to wait and hope that the BLUs guarding him made it obvious where they were keeping him to the rest of his team. Scout couldn't help but feel relieved, and a little happy that the REDs had actually come. He was glad that they cared enough to help him, and it would be nice to live to see all of them again, especially Sniper.

Hopefully the marksman wasn't too frustrated with him for failing to realize the sniper he'd left with was an imposter. Scout wasn't too concerned however; Sniper didn't know that he had decided to forgive him for the drugging incident the day before, especially now that the man had come to help him. At least, he assumed Sniper had.

Once they were all back on the base, he and Sniper could just apologize and move on, either as friends, or as he hoped, something more.

So Scout settled in as comfortably as he could and listened to the battle raging in the BLU base, comforted in the knowledge that sooner or later, he would see the handsome Australian again.

In the tunnels beneath the BLU base, Sniper was waiting, more anxious than he'd liked to admit. The rest of the team had slipped inside ten minutes earlier, and the sounds of war had been raging ever since.

He hated that he was standing in the tunnel waiting for the team instead of upstairs helping to find Scout. Partially because not knowing whether Scout was safe, or even alive was killing him, but also because he couldn't take out any of his anger on the men who had hurt the runner.

He just hoped that Scout would forgive him for not actually helping rescue him. But the runner had told him not to doing anything stupid, and staying in the tunnel was the safest option for him.

Sniper's thoughts were interrupted by the door to the tunnel opening again and Engineer dashing in. He raised his hands, shotgun holstered and looked at Sniper.

"We found him, the kid's okay. We're all heading back different ways so that they can't shoot at all of us. Spy cloaked him and Scout, so they're fine."

The marksman eyed him suspiciously. "How do I know that you're not the BLU spy?"

The Texan sighed. "Fair enough, ask me a question I would know, just hurry it up."

"Alroight, what did I throw against the wall on Monday?"

"Aw shoot, that was Scout's plate. You were mad because the doc said he'd already beaten you."

Sniper nodded, already moving down the tunnel. "I trust you, let's go."

The two men hurried along the dark tunnel, lit only by Engineer's flashlight, carefully avoiding the deep pits of toxic water dotting the tunnel.

Finally, they burst back into the light in the basement of the RED base. From above, voices could be heard yelling and feet were hurrying about. No one sounded frantic, but Sniper hardly cared.

Out pacing Engineer significantly, he ran up the stairs, sprinting towards the voices. When he finally found them, he had reached the spawn point, where Heavy, Medic, Spy, and Soldier were standing.

To Sniper's incredible relief, sitting on one of the benches, being healed by Medic's medi-gun, was Scout. A crooked grin crossed his face when he saw Sniper, and he moved to stand up, but was pushed back down by the doctor.

"One moment, Herr Scout, you are almost done."

Scout reached out one hand towards Sniper with a smile. "Hey, Snipes. Told ya I'd be okay."

The Australian smiled back, taking the bandage covered hand into his own. "Hey, Roo."

When the sounds of the battle started to ebb, Scout began to worry a little. He could still hear voices calling to each other, but the sounds of gunplay stopped soon after, and still no one opened the door to the room he was locked in.

Had the RED team been driven back? That was the only thing that made sense, since it was impossible to overrun the BLU base completely with respawn in play. Unless the BLU team had somehow been neutralized or restrained? Although Scout hoped this was the case, it still didn't explain why no one had found him yet.

When the door finally did open fifteen minutes later, Scout squinted, his eyes adjusting to the light, before his heart sank. Standing in the door was the BLU heavy and soldier, both very much alive and unrestrained.

The BLU heavy chuckled. "Good to see you didn't go anywhere, leetle man."

Scout winced a little as they ripped the tape off his mouth, then raised his head as much as he could off the concrete floor. "What happened? Was that my team?"

The BLU soldier nodded while the heavy grabbed Scout, lifting him easily off the ground and tossing him over his shoulder. The soldier followed behind him as the heavy walked out of the storage room, addressing Scout.

"Affirmative. They attacked, but eventually retreated and left you behind."

Scout gulped a little, trying not to think about where they were taking him. "And…Sniper?"

"He is still alive." The heavy said shortly. "For now…"

"What does that mean? You going to try to bait them back here again?" Scout demanded.

The two men laughed. "No, everything has gone according to plan. The Sniper will be dead within the hour."

Scout's eyes went wild, darting around wildly. "Did you get him too?"

As they began climbing a narrow flight of stairs, the heavy answered mysteriously: "In a way you could say that."

Despite Scout's attempts to bait them, neither man would say another word. After what felt like hours, the heavy pushed open a wooden door which led into a small room. Almost the entire BLU team was crammed inside, missing only the medic, spy, and pryo.

The BLU sniper was crouched by the window, watching something in the distance with keen eyes. The engineer, demoman, and scout were sitting on some of the boxes in the room, dirty and bloody, but still intact.

The BLU scout looked up. "Oh hey, he's still alive. Good."

"I didn't know you cared." Scout retorted back to his counterpart, who laughed.

"Nah man, after the Sniper's dead, we're gonna kill you. Kinda hard ta do if ya died in that closet."

"Whoa, what? Ya said ya weren't going to kill me!"

The engineer chuckled. "No, we said we wouldn't kill you if the Sniper gave himself up. He didn't do that, but we're still going to kill him. How's that going by the way?"

This was directed at the sniper, who didn't have his rifle. Scout couldn't understand how the BLUs were planning on killing Sniper from their position.

"See for yaself." The BLU sniper said, handing a pair of binoculars over to the engineer.

The older man knelt down next to him and peered out the small window with a grin on his face. "Yea, lookin' good so far, they're all just healin'-oh wait, wait, they're huggin'!" He laughed loudly. "This is too good!"

"Who's huggin'?" Scout demanded. "How the fuck are you fuckwads supposed to kill him from here?"

"Bring 'im over." Engineer said. "Might as well show 'im, it'll be over soon anyways."

The heavy deposited Scout next to the engineer, none too gently either, and although the runner tried not to let it show, he knew they heard the noise of pain he bit back.

Since Scout's hands were still restrained, he couldn't hold the binoculars himself, so he was relieved that the engineer had the decency to hold them for him. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the change in perspective, but once he did, he realized that he was looking into the RED spawn room. Most of the team was there, looking battleworn, but alive.

But his eyes focused on Sniper's tall figure, who looked like he had his arms around someone. Even though he was relieved that Sniper appeared safe, a small pit of jealousy burned in Scout's stomach that the Australian was hugging someone else when he wasn't around.

But that fire was snuffed out instantly as his veins turned to ice upon seeing who pulled back from Sniper. It was his own face looking up at the marksman, smiling and laughing as though nothing was wrong. And his team seemed completely fooled by the double, making things even worse.

"No…NO! Are you FUCKIN kidding me!?" Scout pulled away from the binoculars, eyes shooting venom at everyone in the room. "Is this the only trick you guys know-sitting back and letting the spy do all the work?"

"I mean, when it works, it works." The other scout said casually. "You guys suck at spotting imposters though, seriously!"

The sniper held out a hand to the engineer. "Give 'em back, nothing's going to happen for a bit, not until he gets him alone." He glanced at Scout. "Shouldn't be hard now that he thinks that he's got ya back."

The soldier laughed. "How do you think he'll feel when his lover stabs him in the back-literally?"

Scout's stomach twisted violently, forming a knot that he'd never felt before. The threat was real, if the BLU spy stabbed Sniper he'd be gone for good, and Scout couldn't even get off the floor to warn him.

"No, he'll…he'll know it's not me." The runner said, but it sounded weak, even to his ears. He has to, he added silently.

"Oi, I doubt that, boyo!" The demoman said merrily. "You didn't realize he wasn't tha sniper until it was too late, and thas what's gonna happen with your acushla too, I reckon."

Scout opened his mouth, but no fiery retort came out. The demo was right, he hadn't realized the BLU spy was next to him until he showed his true colours, so it was completely reasonable to expect the same from Sniper, and the rest of the team for that matter. But if no one realized they had rescued a fake, he would lose Sniper for good. Scout couldn't look anyone in the eyes anymore, knowing they were right. Sniper was most likely screwed, and there was nothing he could do to save him.

The BLU scout laughed mockingly. "Aw, look, he's speechless, 'cause he knows his boyfriend's gonna-"

The sniper's voice cut him off, sharp and surprised. "Wait, what's he doing…aw crap."

"What is wrong?" The heavy inquired, looking slightly worried.

The sniper sighed heavily, looking tired. "We're goin' to need to change the plan."

Am I about to leave you hanging for another week? Yes... Sorry if you thought the cliffhangers were over lol. Acushla: Irish word that can mean darling, but literally means pulse or vein, because they are the person your heart beats for

Donnybrook: Irish slang for a fight