Team Fortress 2 and its characters belong to Valve. Most of this stuff remains canon; teams are portrayed in a more realistic manner (or as realistic as you can get with a game like this) while trying to stay true to the personalities of the characters involved. Have fun reading or simply close out of it if you don't.
Cheers.
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The briefing room wasn't as crowded as it should have been today.
Three Soldiers, three Spies, the blonde Scout, and the Red Sniper had all gathered subtly to discuss what would happen in light of new evidence that had been retrieved.
It was all laying out on the table.. Ashes, the equipment confiscated from the captured Blu Spy. A Demoman had even dropped by briefly to inform the group that the Tentaspy had just returned and was under medical care at the moment. Everyone in the room knew in their hearts that they had sent an innocent man to a holding cell though most were too proud to openly admit it. No doubt they were already building excuses to satisfy their consciences.
The short Spy was among those who chose to stand, peering across the table to where the Scout sat with his sneakers kicked up on the table and his arms folded behind his head. His chair teetered backward on two legs. "Jhentlemen, clearly with all of zhis information, we are going to have to make a new decision regarding how we proceed from here.." he offered openly though his gaze seemed to stay mostly on the Scout and the sullen Aussie who sat beside him with his arms folded on the tabletop.
The Scout smiled bitterly, staring right back at him until the Spy looked away toward the Soldiers.
They grunted and glanced between one another before the Soldier on the far left spoke up, "We've got our man. I'd say Sniper's free to go."
Another Soldier agreed, shaking his cigar at the pile of proof at the center of the table, "He's a good soldier and now we've got concrete proof!" The man tipped up his helmet with a thumb, looking toward the Aussie who had since put his glasses back on. His expression was fairly unreadable. "Hopefully we can put all of this mess behind us, boys. We've got a war to win!" he insisted.
"How long til it happens again?" the Scout asked suddenly, drawing the attention of the others gathered. He was the youngest one in the room, a few years shy of the younger Soldier who sat off to his right and as such, his bold question raised a few brows. "How long til you guys uh.. get your panties in a wad and toss some other schmuck in that room and fuck with 'em for no reason? Is it gonna be a Scout next time? Time-out for runnin' in the halls?"
The many-cigged Spy frowned and lit another while the Sniper's friend failed to reply.
It was the short Spy who eventually piped up, "We had reason, boy. I understand you might choose not to believe zhat however.."
"Yea.. You had reason.." the Scout said coldly.
"Boys? I will not tolerate fighting amongst ourselves. We've got enough enemies out there for all of us," a Soldier insisted.
"Are we finished here?" the Sniper asked suddenly, effectively hushing the Scout who looked about ready to spout off some nasty language.
The shorter Spy sighed gently, adjusting his tie uncomfortably, "..Yes, we're finished. Everyone? As you were.. Zhere is no conspiracy here."
People began clearing out of the briefing room, likely going out to spread the news to the rest of the team. They all left feeling haunted, though the Scout stayed behind with the Sniper. The man's Spy friend considered staying, but he eventually pushed himself out into the hallway and shut the door with a frown. He didn't feel welcome at the moment..
Pulling his shoes off the table, the Scout dropped his chair to all fours and tried to look the Aussie in the face, "You gonna be OK, dude?"
He didn't receive an answer at first, but eventually the man peered his way and nodded, "Yeh, mate.."
"Looks like they beat the shit outta you, man.."
"Oy'll see the Medic, it's no big deal."
The Scout knew better. He may not have wanted to admit it, but he was sensitive to the feelings of other people. He didn't usually act on it of course -- he usually didn't care how other people felt. But the Sniper? They'd gotten kinda.. OK with one another. The Sniper seemed to catch whatever worried look the Scout was trying to hide, a small smile gracing his weathered face.
"Patience, mate. Everything valuable takes time -- that goes for trust too." He lifted a hand to rub at his mouth while peering toward the door, "They learned their lesson about me, it just took a li'le while."
"Hey, Snipes.. Were you really on Blu once?" he figured he ought to ask as long as the truth was being told. They sat in the briefing room, supposedly the most secure room in the entire base when the vents were sealed properly. If it wasn't safe to talk about it here, where would it be?
The Aussie removed his hat, pushing a hand back through his hair with a relaxed sigh before looking at the boy and nodding curtly, "Oy was, yeh.. Didn't know what Oy was gettin' into. ..got out as soon as I learned."
"You mean like that Tentaspy dude?"
"He was tellin' me he iddn't the only one they were workin' on. Moy best guess is they moved someplace to hide from us. Maybe to keep it up.. make more just like 'im."
The Scout shuddered at the idea and rubbed the back of his neck, 'Wow.. Guess I didn't, uh.." The Sniper tilted his head. "Guess I never figg'ered a Blu dude might be all right.."
"It's only a color, mate," the Sniper pointed out as he put his hat back on and rose from the table, "A man is something entirely different."
The Scout gestured about with light embarrassment, "Well.. Well yea. I mean.. Heh, yea I know that."
"C'mon, Scout. Let's head for the infirmary. They said that Tentaspoy's back, roight? Oy'm sure he'd be glad t'see you.."
For the first time all afternoon, the Scout looked positive. A small smile of excitement lit up his face as he stood and shoved his chair under the table, "Ya think so? I mean hey if that's what the guy wants. I don't got anything better to do."
The Sniper.. smirked and shook his head as he exited the room with the blonde trailing behind him.
"Straight South.. eet looked like zhe entire team was with zhem."
The Sniper's friend had made it to the infirmary first, his brow furrowed as he stood beside the awakened Tentaspy and drew answers from him. The blue tint had since left his skin though he was still relatively cool to the touch..
"Our men included?" he asked.
"I could not get close enough.. zhe tracks veered too far from zhe water, you know?
The two Medics from earlier were still around; the German in his office filing paperwork and the Englishman rearranging the medicine cabinet while the two Spies talked. The captive Blu Spy across the room seemed to be forgotten, laying there aching and nervous when the mint-eyed Medic suddenly snuck behind the curtain partition and glanced back over his shoulder cautiously.
Suspicious, the Blu sneered at him. "What are you doing?" he spat quietly.
The young man came to bedside, lifting a syringe and flicking it gently, "They didn't numb you properly, did they?"
The Blu looked unimpressed and narrowed his eyes, "What do you care?"
Ignoring the man's arrogant stare, he pushed the needle into his exposed arm and pushed on the plunger. The Spy, presently shirtless due to the head Medic's removing of the bullets, shuddered against the feel of fluid pumping into his arm and ground his teeth until a pleasant and cooling numbness came over the areas which had previously ailed him. For a few moments he didn't look at the Medic as he patched up the entry point and set the syringe aside.
"Why?" he asked angrily though the feeling was obviously half-hearted.
"I took an oath to do no harm. .. at least not when it wasn't necessary," the Englishman admitted as he pushed up his glasses. The Spy looked toward him, glancing him up and down as if trying to determine something. "They say you're one of the Blu's newer recruits.."
"Oui.. And you would appear to be one of the Red's."
The Medic shrugged neutrally and laid a gloved hand gently on the Spy's shoulder as he leaned down to check the stitches. The Blu seemed utterly baffled by this show of care, frowning but not necessarily shooing the man away. "So.. do you have any plans to get free and kill us all or are you pretty much done?" the Medic asked as he reached for a bottle of rubbing alcohol and a small bag of cotton swabs.
The Spy scrunched his nose, arching an incredulous eyebrow at the man.
He only shrugged shyly and wetted one of the cotton balls before cleaning at some of the stitches which had begun to leak, "It's a fair curiosity isn't it? I mean, you already tried with me." Shifting his jaw with uncertainty, the Blu blinked a few times and looked away. "Well?"
"Zhat eez a ridiculous question! You are zhe enemy!"
The Medic only smiled and discarded the swabs he'd dirtied through the cleaning of the man's wounds. His gloved hand graced the Spy's body again, this time laying itself over the man's recently-healed stomach which caused him to flinch and look down at it with light concern. "I'll tell you what, Blu. In my experience, we don't heal the enemy if we don't have a reason to do so."
"Torture," the man growled insistently as he frowned up at the younger man.
"Is that how Blu does it?" The Spy didn't respond to that which only added to the mint-eyed man's confidence, "Don't forget, you're in the Red base now. If you're not dead yet, it means things are probably looking up." He stood then, adjusting his glasses and slipping craftily from the curtained-off area without drawing the suspicion of the others in the room. It was then that the Spy glanced toward the cotton-covered needle point in his arm, baffled by the heart-patterned bandaid that held it in place.
As he moved back into the open, the Medic could see that others had entered the room -- a Scout and a Sniper to be specific. He saw that they were all speaking together and decided to stay out of their way for the time being.
"Heeeey, Tentadude!" the Scout said with a bright grin. He'd successfully interrupted the business conversation the man had been having with the Red Spy beside him, reveling in the look of disapproval he got from the hazel-eyed man of mystery who puffed seriously at a cigarette.
The Sniper wasn't far behind, walking with leisure through the infirmary doors as the Tentaspy perked up and smiled at the the Scout's energetic behavior, "Ah, Scout.. Did you miss me?"
"Thought you wasn't comin' back, dude! The fuck happened out there anyway?" he asked, looking between the two Spies with an utter disregard for the professionalism the Red Spy was trying to maintain.
Pushing himself up into a more upright position, the Blu Tentaspy smiled weakly at the Sniper as he graced the bedside next to the Scout. They exchanged understanding nods before he began explaining his river journey. From the trailing of the Blus to his fight with a bear, he laid it all out in simple terms.
"A fuckin' bear!" Scout exclaimed as he tensed up, "Aw man.. I fuckin' missed that?"
The Sniper and Blu seemed amused while the Red Spy checked his watch.
"Ah oui, Scout.. Perhaps we'll run into anozher bear together sometime?" The blonde didn't even try to contain his excitement, barraging the man with more quirky questions as the Sniper stealthily stepped around the table and pulled the Red Spy aside by one arm.
He followed quietly, a brow arched with some confusion once they got to the wall, "Yes?"
"You look like you're in an awful hurry to get out've 'ere, mate. Something the matter?" The Spy opened his mouth. "Don't lie to me now." And closed it.
He smiled and peered at the floor as he cleared his throat and blew a bit of smoke off to one side so that it would not hit the Sniper's nose as he looked hesitantly back up to him, "You are not upset?"
"Oy was, yeh.." the Aussie explained. He folded his arms loosely and leaned sideways again the wall, "Oy thought about laying you out, too. ..but then Oy realized that'd be too easy -- hardly satisfying then."
"Too easy??" the Red sputtered, calming sheepishly when he saw the Sniper grin. "..so zhis eez your way of telling me zhat I'm forgiven?"
"In a manner o' speakin', mate, yeh. Life's too short for grudges even if you did beat the ever-lovin' shite outta me."
The Spy shook his head subtly, chuckling with disbelief, "Well? ..all right zhen, I.. huh.."
He shrugged, speechless for the moment as the Sniper extended a hand and he shook it with silent understanding, "Now, go get me that Medic over there. You bruised my ribs, ya bloody spook."
"I'm on it."
