The Spy had helped Tracy clean the giblets of blood, bone and flesh out of her hair, only leaving her alone to find a new shirt. Sometimes she could swear he was a mother hen, but she appreciated it right now. Her throat was dry and sour, she had to brush her teeth two times just to get the flavor out of her mouth. Her head spun, the vision of Victor's desecrated body still in her mind's eye. Despite him being alive, she couldn't help but feel horrified by what could have been. Just as she stood from her seat on the toliet, the Spy came through the door and offered her a clean shirt.
"Thanks... Sorry about what happened out there." She sighed, taking the shirt. The Spy left the room as she changed, and quickly joined him outside. "Mind if I get a smoke?"
The Spy gave her a strange look, but said nothing as he took out his case and handed her one. She thanked him and the two of them walked into the living area, where the rest of the team sat waiting.
"So, what the hell was all that?" Scout called out, a look of shock on his face.
The Heavy dropped his large hand on Scout's face, smothering his words. "Is little man okay?"
"I'm alright, just a lil shaken up." Tracy smiled nervously, walking over to the Pyro. She gestured with the cigarette in her hand, Pyro didn't need to be told anything else and quickly lit it, happy for any excuse to ignite something. "That was Victor, an old classmate of mine..."
"What the hell did ya do to 'em to make him want to kill ya?" The Sniper asked, not turning from the window he was stationed. He was using a pair of binoculars to scan the area, just in case there was anyone else out there.
She took a deep inhale of her cigarette, sighing out a cloud of smoke. "Let's just say we got in trouble awhile back... and I didn't do the right thing. Apparently he works for one of the Manns."
"RED or BLU?" Scout pushed Heavy's hand aside, scowling at the larger man.
"I have no idea, but I'm sure we'll find out later." Rubbing her temple, she sat down at a chair and put her feet up on the table. The Spy had left the living room for a moment and came back, looking displeased. Tracy assumed she had dealt with the fake body. She had no idea how the dead ringer did that, but it gave a convincing show.
"I dealt with THAT, I suppose we're going to need someone to monitor the premises for the foreseeable future, at least until we leave this location." He grabbed a napkin from the living room table, wiping his hands clean. "As for his affiliation with the Manns... I will have to ask around."
"Maybe we should ask Pauling?" Tracy questioned, flicking the excess ash off her cigarette before taking another hit.
Spy snorted, "I doubt that she would be in any position to reveal what she knows, if she knew anything. Her role in TF Industries is far more important than our employment, and I very much doubt she'd be willing to risk it for our questions."
Tracy nodded in understanding. She had no idea how much Miss Pauling was being paid, but it had to be enormous compared to what she witnessed when she accidentally viewed the checks of her teammates. She was almost a little jealous, but it wouldn't really make sense to be paid while also being indebted to the person paying you, even if she was risking her life. Leaning back in the sofa, she stuck her cigarette between her lips and rubbed her wrist and arms, still sore from the tussle earlier. She was definitely going to have bruises later.
For awhile, she just let the heat of the roaring fireplace soak through her skin and into her bones, stretching out to let everything in her body relax. The crackling sound from the fire allowed her to ease her nerves, she'd been on high alert since that fight, she still felt like something could happen at any moment to disturb her peace. Puffing her cigarette, she turned to look at her team. Scout was looking through a sports magazine, which cleverly hid the real cover of the girly mag he was really reading. He threw a baseball with his left hand, surprising her with his ability to multitask. The Spy was sitting in an arm chair next to the Engineer, who was tightening some bolts on his Gunslinger, sending nervous glances her way now and then. Pyro sat directly in front of the fire, head in their hands as they stared deeply into the flames. Heavy sat next to the Scout on the sofa, slowly turning the barrel of Sasha while he stared at the door. Soldier and Demo stood near the door in the corner, whispering to each other while cleaning their respective melee weapons. Sniper was still at the window, eyes straining against the darkness, trying to find any sort of movement in the leaves.
"Hmm, how about we try to distract ourselves?" The Medic offered, walking past the couch and table to the massive television to change the channel. It was a rickety old thing, but it managed to work somehow. He fiddled with the knobs, turning the volume up as he settled on a channel that wasn't full of static. "Ah, here we are!"
The screen flickered to life and the screen displayed a news broadcast. The edges of the film warped and quivered, and the audio was distorted, but it was just intelligible enough to understand. Tracy leaned back in her seat as the Medic came to stand beside her.
"In other news today, three local heroes saved the children of Teufort at the local mall from Santa." Tracy raised her eyebrows, just now realizing how close it was to Christmas. Had she really been with these guys that long? Hell, she couldn't even remember how long it had been. Shaking her head, she turned her attention back to the screen. "Santa, calling himself Old Nick, invaded the shopping mall of Teufort to kidnap children to use as child labor. Three men calling themselves Soldier, Scout, and Spy managed to stop the mad Christmas tyrant before he could take any child. The two known as Soldier and Scout were originally charged with reckless endangerment and second degree manslaughter but those charges have been dropped due to their heroic efforts."
Tracy's face scrunched up in confusion, inhaling the last of her smoke before crushing it against the bottom of her shoe. That didn't make any sense, she didn't exactly know how long she had been with these men, but she could recognize the color blue on a black and white television. There was no way her Soldier and Scout could be all the way down at Teufort. She turned to the Soldier and Scout, but neither of them looked up or seemed interested in what the television was saying. Turning to the Medic, she asked, "How in the hell are those two down in Teufort?! That doesn't make any sense."
"Nobody told you?" Medic looked over at her inquisitively, "We're not the only BLU team."
Her stomach twisted, "What."
"Oui, the Manns have property all over the world. One set wouldn't be nearly enough to cover all of the locations." Spy spoke up, stepping into the conversation. "I'm surprised you thought otherwise. When we are transferred to a new location, the old location isn't just simply deserted."
Tracy's lower left eyelid twitched, her teeth grinding. "Alright, that's it. Spy, you got a phone on ya? Or is there a phone in here?"
The Spy and Medic shared a look, but pointed her in the direction of the kitchen. It was a small room with baby blue floor tiles and cornflower blue wallpaper, the fridge and oven were in surprisingly good condition, she could smell dinner that Pyro had been making before being interrupted by the whole situation earlier. Grabbing the phone next to the fridge, she pressed a single button near the handle. It was meant for contacting Miss Pauling directly during an emergency, but Tracy really didn't care. Tapping her foot impatiently, she didn't even wait for a greeting and started asking questions.
"When the fuck were you going to tell me that I had more than one clone running around? Didn't you think that was necessary information?!" Tracy practically shouted into the receiver.
There was a short pause before Pauling replied, "I'm sorry Richardson, it's been awhile since we've had any new employees that I guess I... just got used to it all. It was normal for me."
"How many? How fucking many are there?" Tracy growled.
"At least twenty-five locations, but even I don't have an exact number. The Manns have so much property, and the Administrator doesn't tell me everything." Pauling spoke calmly.
Tracy nearly dropped the phone. Twenty-five different versions of herself, maybe even more... Just one clone of herself was too much, and knowing that Tracy herself wasn't the true Tracy made her knees weak and her stomach turn every time she thought of it. Her hands trembled, her heart pounding. How could they do this?
"I really shouldn't tell you this, but not every team is as... equal as yours. The Administrator has a few... experiments going on. Some teams have extra members, some of them don't have all nine- I mean, ten. That's why I don't have an exact number." The voice was merely an echo as Tracy let that information wash over her. "Some have extra medics, some have extra soldiers, some are missing a spy... There was... one team that had two Thiefs."
She wanted to retch. Was that why RED Thief had said those things? About not being her? Tracy herself felt a cold blanket wrap itself around her, sending chills down her spine. How many of them felt that same pain?
"I really shouldn't have asked, huh?" Tracy muttered into the receiver.
Pauling sighed at the other end. "I'm sorry Tracy... was there anything else you wanted to know? I'm kind of busy sanding the fingerprints off of corpses and it's pretty difficult with only one hand."
Rolling her eyes, the Thief glanced towards the living area. The Spy and Medic were talking to each other in hushed tones, glancing towards the kitchen every now and then to check on her. It looked like most of the team had left for their rooms, except the Sniper and Pyro, who were still at their previous positions. Turning away from the door, she grabbed a glass of water before speaking again.
"I was attacked by a man earlier tonight, not a RED. He tried to kill me, but I'm alright. His name is Victor Lumen, an old... colleague of mine." She paused to take a drink of water before setting the glass onto the kitchen counter. "There was a scuffle, he grabbed Spy's Dead Ringer and managed to get away."
For a second there was no noise on the other end, then some rumbling and sounds of papers being moved until Pauling responded again, "Victor Lumen... I don't have his name in any of my files, at least not what I have on me."
"He said he was working for one of the Manns. If you don't have any information about him, then he must be lying right?"
"Anything is possible. Like I said, the Administrator doesn't tell me everything... hell, I'm pretty sure she shares less with the Manns themselves. I can try asking her, but she's not exactly an open book..."
"Thanks Pauling. I think I'm just gonna... go get extremely drunk now." Tracy replied, pinching the bridge of her nose to try and relieve some of the stress. "You have a good night."
"You too, Richardson... you too."
She hung up the phone, taking a deep breath before rummaging through the kitchen cabinets. She quickly found what she was looking for, a large bottle of whiskey just begging to be opened. Grabbing the bottle, she waved at Spy and Medic before walking to her room.
A couple shots, and Tracy was already fading away, her thoughts on blood... and death...
Thanks for reading so far, please leave a review! Reviews keep me motivated ;)
