BLU team won today. The defeat was utterly humiliating. Thankfully we have Respawn to help us redeem ourselves from our mistakes. However, that was not the case after this day's battle. As it seems, Respawn returns you to normal after you die, in other words, no missing limbs or disabilities. But we aren't exactly healthy by the end of battle due to the fact that we haven't died by then. The longer we stay alive on the field the more injuries we sustain. I can tell that everyone's gotten more careless about survival after the miracle machine came along and I can't say I haven't either. But it is important that you at least try to get out of harm's way.

For example, Scout sprained his ankle after losing his footing on the enemy's battlements today and fell onto his foot funny. He didn't die afterwards so he had to get it looked at in the infirmary. Demoman has a nasty slash across his chest from the BLU Soldier's equalizer. He also didn't die afterwards and had to see Medic soon after the brawl. As for myself I… I encountered BLU's Heavy. He caught me off guard as I was hiding in a shadowed corridor, picking a disguise. He didn't have his gun with him, only his fists. I want to say I would have preferred to be shot and killed than be beaten to the brink of death. I have purple-blue bruises on my cheek, my right shoulder, my hips and left thigh, and my lower back. I'm quite the mess.

So here I am laying on one of the infirmary cots along with Scout and Demoman. Demoman's shirt and usual decoration of pipebombs were removed from his torso to reveal his chest. It was gauzed up and patched with wraps around his shoulders and over his wound. He's asleep so I'll just leave him be. Scout was on the cot next to me, sitting up from it and examining his wraps which were firmly folded around his ankle. I decided to stay lying down in my bed and relax. If I were to tense my muscles and skin would sting from the injuries. I tentatively peered over at Scout as he started to huff in annoyance and cross his arms like a child.

"Da hell man?" He ranted as he pointed at his injured limb. "My freakin' foot's keepin' me from runnin' for tomorrow's fight!" He gave me an exasperated glance and threw his arms up in frustration. "I'm a Scout for God's sakes! All I do is run!"

Demoman stirred with a deep groan as he turned to his side away from me and Scout. I barely had enough energy to raise a finger to my lip to shush the agitated boy and whispered to him soothingly, wincing afterwards from the bruise on my shoulder. "Mon ami, we must lower our voices for monsieur Demoman no matter 'ow angry 'ou are. I'm not exactly giddy about getting 'urt either." I tried to keep a stable expression as I spoke. I'm kind of annoyed that Scout doesn't realize that Demoman and I are wounded too. He's not hyper or stubborn but apparently he can be a hothead.

"Yeah, no one is." He lowered his voice to a hoarse mutter, still irritated. "But what are we gonna do tomorrow? No Spy, no Scout… I mean, Demoman might be able ta go back out inta the field 'cause of Medic's healing gun thing, but still. We're important too!" If only Medic's medigun could heal bruises and ligaments.

"I'm going to fight tomorrow no matter what." I replied as I carefully turned my head to stare up at the bland white ceiling. I could basically feel Scout's eyes piercing through me with disbelief as I kept a stern air, still staring into nothingness. "I'm just a little marked up iz all."

I could hear Scout's legs swing off his bed and completely face me now. "Spyress… You were attacked by a mutant, shaved bear man!" He continued in his same rough whisper. "You can barely move without hurtin' yourself! Ya have ta stay!"

I sighed but didn't look at the sprinter. "I must. Eet iz 'ou who needs to stay. 'ou can't even stand on your foot let alone walk." I began to speak in a low murmur.

"Dat's not true!" He protested and hopped out of his cot only to hiss in pain and fall back onto the bed. I shook my head and saw out of the corner of my eye that he was rubbing his ankle.

"So," I lazily turned my attention back to the Scout. "eet's decided zhen. 'ou rest up tomorrow so 'ou can get better and I'll go into zhe field to do my job. Think of eet as a day off."

Scout rubbed his neck nervously. "But ya can't move…"

"Non." I corrected him. "After I get my rest tonight I'll be better enough to participate in tomorrow's brawl. Besides, eef I die my bruises will go away. 'owever, your ankle is anozzer story. 'ou can't just limp out into zhe field and hope for death. At least stay 'ere until 'ou can walk properly." I pointed out gently.

Scout finally sighed in defeat and threw his hands up in the air to sign as such. Laying back down I saw the boy pick at his fingernails worriedly. "Fine… But don't go gettin' beat up by that Heavy again or else I'll have ta go out there myself an' beat the crap outta him."

I giggled softly at his response and nodded. "Croyez-moi, I don't count on getting caught two days in a row."

"Well good." He finished sharply, his voice wavering subtly.

We didn't talk again after that. By looking outside the close-blinded window I could see it was getting rather dark so I assumed it was better to just go to sleep instead of making conversation. Scout was asleep anyway after a few minutes passed, I could tell by his heavy breathing. I stayed on my back so not to bother my unsightly bruises and tried my best to ignore the rhythmic throbbing of my body as I gradually fell into deep slumber.

3

2

1

RETRIEVE THE BRIEFCASE

Time to get to work. Demoman passed by me shouting battle cries along with Soldier who followed him in pursuit. Sniper was already on the battlements, I heard an ear-racking shot when we were queued to begin and I know from experience that it came from his rifle. Engineer was in our sewers, ready to defend it with his already prepared level three sentry and dispenser. Pyro glanced over at me and gave me a thumbs up before trotting off towards the bridge. I meekly waved back and felt a shiver go up my bruised spine. I finally took out my disguise kit when Heavy and Medic came rushing from behind me arguing over being late because Heavy was taking too long in the restroom or something. I shrugged and decided to spice things up today. I disguised as RED's Scout, the hologram overlapping my appearance made it seem as if I was carrying a bat. I ran as fast as my bruised body would allow me across the bridge that separated the two companies. BLU's Soldier slipped out from their base's entrance and shot a rocket straight at me. My entire frame burst into a pile of body parts. Or at least, it supposedly did.

Still running into the base I hastily changed my disguise to BLU's Sniper. I found a gap between the wall and a pile of junk so I hid in-between there and decloaked. Thankfully nobody came by to notice me so I casually stood up from behind the debris and glided through the enemy base as casually as I could. It was surprisingly quiet when I strode into BLU's courtyard and climbed up their steps. I guess they're all at our base trying to capture our intelligence. I heard the echo of multiple footsteps from the intel room. Maybe BLU's camping so there's no chance for us to get the briefcase at all. How cheap and low could they get?

WE HAVE TAKEN THE ENEMY'S INTELLIGENCE

Before I could even ask myself who was down there in the intel room I was suddenly wet. All over me is a strange, smelly substance. I couldn't figure it out at first because it didn't seem possible… But it is. I felt a scream catch in my throat along with my breakfast. "MON DIEU! Not jarate!" I basically gagged in horror as I turned to see the BLU Sniper himself at the other side of the courtyard. His glare was nothing compared to the disgusting liquid on my pinstriped suit and throughout my ebony hair. I returned the notion except more grim as I retrieved my revolver from my suit pocket. "'ou'll pay for zhat-"

An arrow pierced into my abdomen. I could feel that it was coming out of the other side of my body, stuck inside me. An arrow. I fell to my knees and coughed, gripping the object inside me but not pulling. Doing that would result in absolute pain. How? Where did an arrow come from? I felt blood trickle from the side of my mouth. I saw the Sniper approach me as calmly as I've ever seen him. Well, facing against me, that is. I couldn't bear the pain from the arrow or the bruises anymore. It was all too much. I had to bite my tongue and squeeze my eyes tightly to keep myself from whimpering. Ignoring the jarate is easy now that I'm in immense agony. I heard the Sniper's footsteps stop in front of me. I could barely find the strength to look up at him. He appeared calm but perilous as he took out his kukri and used its flat side to life up my chin. "Aren't you a beaut…"

"Dirty bushman…" I growled menacingly. I spit a wad of blood in his face, resulting in him wiping it off and staring back at me more intently. I smiled mockingly and snickered.

"Ya best stay down, sheila…" Sniper stated in a cold murmur. "Or else you'll be hurtin' more than ya are now." He pushed the tip of the blade ever so slightly against my neck. I felt my bruises from yesterday throb as I sat there on my knees. It was then I could feel myself reaching my breaking point.

"Iz zhat so?" I dared to reply sarcastically. It took a lot of determination to take my hands away from the object protruding from out of my body to reach for the gun I dropped earlier.

Sniper was faster than me as he swatted the weapon out of my hand and twisted my arms behind me. I couldn't stand the condition I was in. Covered in human waste with bruises and impaled with an instrument used in archery. I wasn't going to shoot the BLU. No, I was going to kill myself. This is incredibly humiliating and I never want anyone to see me like this ever, ever again. I am also in incredible pain and I just want it to end. Sniper pulled his kukri closer against the skin of my throat but I showed no retaliation as it scratched the surface on my neck, causing a trickle of blood to bead down my chest. I want to die. To get this all over with. "I'll be seeing you in hell, ya bloody spook." My throat was torn out in a second, leaving me to slowly bleed out and die there on the concrete ground as the Sniper simply strolled away towards BLU's battlements with a subtle skip in his step. I couldn't move from the shock my body just went through. So this is what it feels like to fade away…

Relief washed over me as I stepped out of the Respawn pod. I wasn't hurt or covered in urine. I was just fine. There was a couple seconds of wooziness as I came out, of course. Respawn had that side-effect. I lit up a cigarette for the first time in almost two days. I really needed this. I was feeling sick from the lack of nicotine. As usual I sauntered out of my base and restarted my life and my mission. I took out my disguise kit-

WE HAVE CAPTURED THE ENEMY'S INTELLIGENCE

RED TEAM WINS

Good, we won so now I don't have to hear Scout ramble on about how we needed him to win today's match. Sweet kid with his heart in the right place, but it's still annoying to hear him go on and on about something. Knowing that Scout would want to hear about today's events I headed back into the base towards the infirmary. Of course I'll leave out some parts of my little incident when I tell him…

"That's freakin' awesome!" He chuckled, his hurt ankle resting on the cot with his other dangling off the edge as he sat up.

"Oui, I'm just glad I died today… Hmm, zhat sounded odd." I rubbed my eyes exhaustedly and breathed out a sigh of smoke.

Scout raised a brow. "Yeah… So uh, what's up with that arrow? Did tha Snipers get a new weapon er something?"

I removed the drag from my mouth and held it between two fingers as I folded my arms. "At zhe time I was too panicked to think of eet but, eet's called zhe huntsman. Basically, eet's a bow and arrow."

The Scout scoffed and playfully waved a hand. "That doesn't sound like nothin'! 'Not menacin' at all!"

I inhaled my nicotine stick fluidly and returned to crossing my arms, exhaling a cloud of white afterwards. "'ou are wrong, mon cher. Eet's quite dangerous."

"How?" Scout asked, clearly confused.

"Eet's not like a bullet. Eet doesn't just pierce through 'ou most of zhe time or stay in your body with subtlety. Non, eet goes into 'ou and stays zhere. A long wooden object stuck inside of 'ou. 'ou can't just remove eet either." I gestured a stabbing motion towards his body as I spoke.

"Okay…" He looked more terrified now. "Maybe it is kinda dangerous."

I smirked at his naivety and went over towards the window to pull up its blinds up and lifted the pane to flick the ash from my cigarette outside. I closed it again and dropped the blinds back down, placing the stick back in my mouth. "So, when will 'ou be fully healed?" I asked Scout with a suave demeanor.

"By tonight, actually." He returned to his peppy self with a good natured chuckle. "I'll be fine tomorrow. 'Have ta get back at that Sniper for roughin' ya up."

I responded with an amused giggle. "Ah, ah, ah." I waved a finger at him. "Zhat iz my business. Do not get so worked up over something as typical as a simple death, mon cher."

"Yeah well, hopefully you're jus' sayin' that 'cause we have respawn." He laid back in his medical cot with arms behind his head. "Now ya have more of a chance to go back home and do whateva ya did before signin' up for da war."

I didn't reply. What have I to lose? Respawn or not I would not mind being whisked away by death. I have nothing to go back to after my contract expires. I thought I successfully erased the thoughts of my previous life from every recess of my mind when I came here. I tried to focus so much on what's going on now then thinking about my time before even fathoming of joining RED or training for RED. I wish Scout hadn't made that comment because now I'm riddled with my damn past. I wiped my face with a hand, now leaning against the wall with a cigarette hanging from my lips. Scout breathed, clearly relaxed, and closed his eyes with a carefree and peaceful smile. Finally I managed to forget everything and then he had to… Whatever. Now's not the time or place. I must focus on the war. That's the point of my existence here, fighting and working for a company trying to waste another company for complicated reasons.

"Yo, Spyress. You're kinda out of it ova there…" I jumped at the sound of Scout's worried tone that emerged from utter silence.

I forced a convincing smirk. "Eet's nothing. Just thinking iz all."

"Oh okay." Scout shrugged, believing me like always. I feel a little guilty lying to him but that's my job, to be secretive.

"…I'll be off zhen. Au revouir, Scout and goodnight." I said flatly and began to exit the infirmary.

"W-wait…" I was halfway through the door. "'Night…" I heard his faded reply as the door shut behind me.

I have no time for this. No time for any of those meaningless memories. I should just go down to the intel room and look over the papers Heavy and Medic managed to retrieve from BLU's base. I never actually did it before except maybe a couple times when Engineer was stuck in the infirmary from the shrapnel in his legs during a brawl with BLU. It's Engineer's job to look over the intel but the Spies are actually the ones who should be doing it. The mechanic on our team relieved me of that job, which I still appreciate to this day. Still, I need something to take my mind off things.

I met Engineer in the intel room, sitting in a dim lighted room holding one out of many papers in his hand and looking it over. He hadn't noticed me entering the room so I cleared my throat to catch his attention. I did, I could tell by the surprised jolt he produced as he turned around.

He laughed nervously. "Spahress, don't do that ta me. I thought you were the BLU Spah."

I chuckled softly and sat in the chair next to him. "Monsiuer, BLU's new Spy comes tomorrow."

"Oh yeah…" Engineer scratched his chin in thought, the important papers in his hand catching his attention for a moment. "So, uh, whatcha need?"

"Mind eef I take over zhe burden of researching BLU's intelligence?" I asked in a charming tone, only to have his full attention of course. "I'm so bored, so I thought looking over zhe papers would help both 'ou and moi."

Engineer laughed his rough laugh and patted me on the back happily, getting up from his seat. "Much obliged, Spahress. I was startin' ta get tired."

"Eet was nothing." I waved a hand reassuringly. "I will see 'ou in zhe morning, laborer." I stated with a nod goodbye.

"Alrighty then. Time ta hit the sack." Engineer said more so to himself than to me as he left the room, humming a unique tune you'd only hear from him on a daily basis.

The room grew deathly quiet and quite eerie after the technician left. I am the mistress of the shadows so of course I am not so easily frightened. But still, the silence is disturbing. I ignored my discomfort and began to scan over the enemy's intelligence. I noticed with each piece of paper that the information on it was mostly about weapons, plans, locations and for a few of the many sheets, people.

One paper out of all of them stood out. I pushed some sheets away with my hand to reveal a profile of a young, well groomed man. There was a photograph pinned to the profile so I removed it and held both the photo and the informative paper in my hands. Looking over the profile more carefully I noticed it revealed almost everything about the man. His name was Tristan Lambert. Age was twenty one. Born in France. Light brown eyes with dark auburn hair. Applied for BLU as a… Spy. I put the profile aside and looked at the photograph more intently and I couldn't help but notice that his hair was styled in a French crop. I will admit he looked like quite the charmer, but alas, I saw that he bore the same eyes as the BLU naïve Spy I accidently killed back in the sewers. Why would they put dead teammates' profiles in the intelligence? Perhaps this is why they call it intel? Random information… Hmph.

I continued looking over BLU's intelligence all night. I found myself getting more and more fascinated with researching as time passed. Maybe I'll take my responsibility to look over the intel back and talk to Engie tomorrow. Who knows what time it was when I collapse on the desk itself and passed out from fatigue and lack of sleep.