Chapter Two
. . .
As the Engineer stood before his former-team mates with a beer in one hand and a crinkled, sloppily scribbled down speech in the other, he cursed the heat of the sun as it baked him mercilessly through his smartest suit.
"Well boys," he began, nodding to them with a smile that didn't reflect in his eyes. "We've fought bravely together in the past, and we've died bravely together in the past. An' found in each other a friendship that only men who've done the crazy-ass things that we've done can find. We've seen death an' sufferin' together, and we've celebrated glory and victory together. And although it's been years since we last saw one another, I still reckon I trust all'a y'all with mah life. Well, kinda." That earned a few chuckles and nods of agreement. "I'm proud to stand here to be able to say these words to ya'll today. But, today we experience somethin' that we've never had to before. Our friend Pyro has died, and this time he ain't comin' back. We all met Pyro ten years ago, and we fought alongside him for a long time. Now I know I speak for all'a us when I say he saved mah hide more times than I care to count." A few men nodded, others bowed their heads. "I'm gonna miss him dearly." He lifted his beer in a toast which the other men joined him in. "To Pyro."
"To Pyro!" No tears were shed, but every man present felt a shifting in their chests when the Engineers words finally sunk in. 'he ain't comin back.'
. . .
As they sat in the middle of the blazing desert surrounded by beaten up old cars and rental vans, the Engineer couldn't help but snort at just how out of place they all looked here in the dust and grim with their smart black suits and shiny dress shoes. They'd been downing warm beer like cold water since Engies eulogy to Pyro, but the Texan himself had been sitting quietly since finishing his first beer with a cup of coffee, just watching his teammates chatting away. That is until a shadow suddenly fell over him.
"Your age has certainly caught up vith you." The Engineer glanced up at the Medic who stood over him grinning, looking remarkably dapper in his funeral suit with his combed hair and round glasses. He looked like a real doctor, ironically enough.
"Heh, says you doc." He chuckled and motioned for the German to join him, which he did. They sat quietly for a time, until the rest of the mercenaries moved further away to watch the Soldier and Demoman lock in drunken fisticuffs. They were a sight to behold, rolling about the dust in their formal attire punching lumps into each other as the others cheered and drank. It must have been a long time since any of the boys had got to enjoy some good ol' fashioned violence, as back in the day when Soldier and Demoman began to brawl most of the team didn't even bother to look up from their food it was so common place back then. The brilliant flash of fresh red blood now on pale sandy ground sure did bring back memories though. Medic shook his head derisively at his rowdy former-team, a fine line creasing his forehead.
"I don't miss healing zhose two idiots every day." His voice was soft and distant sounding when he spoke, and a few moments of silence followed.
"I don't like it." The Tex spoke quietly, almost a whisper.
"Vhat?"
"This. The whole thing." He scratched the stubble of his chin and muttered something under his breath. "Listen, I know that it don't make much sense to say it but … I just didn't think that Pyro was gonna go out that way. I know that ever'one else thought that if he was gonna go out, then it'd be the way he did … but," he sighed "Pyro didn't start fires by accident, Doc. Never. I just … I don't like it."
"No, he didn't." Medic agreed quietly, nodding.
"The boys at the station said that Pyro'd been drunk. Now I know that ain't right because in all the years that we sat by mah ol' truck, with a fire goin' an' all, he never took a drink. Not one damn time."
"Hm. You vere clearly zhe closest to him," the Medic fumbled around in his jacket for something. "So you should have zhis." He handed the Engineer something small and slightly misshapen due to being exposed to extreme heat. Realisation dawning on him, Engie slowly raised his head to stare at the German apprehensively. It had once been shiny and metallic, with a sleek black tone rather than this solid blackness to it, but now it was horribly melted. Scared like a burn victim.
"This is .. Pyro's favorite lighter?" he spoke very slowly. "But … how?"
"From zhe body." Medic wore a hint of a smile but the Engineer gave him a dangerous scowl that demanded an explanation. "Fortunately for you, my curious friend, you vere not zhe only one who vas deeply suspicious regarding how zhe Pyro died. After you called me zhe other day, I took zhe liberty of arranging my flight a day earlier to visit zhe morgue Pyro vould have been held in. As it turns out, all you need is a vhite coat and a lot of chloroform and you can break into almost any hospital zhese days. Anyvay, zhere vas indeed a body - It's in a freezer in my van," Medic waved his hand nonchalantly as if that had been an afterthought "-but zhe point is zhat zhey said zhere vas no body, vhen zhere vas." His face turned serious. "Our suspicions vere justified, it vould seem."
"Doc, you crazy sonovabitch," Engie turned to face him, bewilderment dancing behind his blue eyes. "Y'all have just become mah new favourite person." He patted the German on the soldier with a widening smile before standing up and hurrying off without further explanation, making for the van that Sniper was currently napping in.
"Vhere are you going?" Medic called after him.
"You got the body," Engie stopped in his tracks, but didn't turn around "Now I need to look at this accident" he griped the written down address in his pocket tightly as he hopped into the van and started the engine.
. . .
"Hold on, back up." Sniper pinched the bridge of his nose and squeezed his eyes shut in an attempt to shift his post-nap grogginess. "Medics got Pyro in a bloody freezer .. in his van?"
"Keep up down under; it ain't that hard to understand."
"No s'not hard to understand, s'just these past five years I sorta forgot how bloody nuts my old teammates are." Sniper was in the passenger seat, where he'd been sleeping until the Engineer had got in and drove them away from the others without a word of warning "Can ya, uh, slow down a bit mate? The vans new."
"Heh, I liked your old one. Besides, needa get there asap, not riskin them doin' away with any evidence."
"Wait, wait, where're we goin'? Evidence of whot? Engie- slow down!" the Engineer swerved around a corner so abruptly that the tires screeched loudly on two wheels and the Sniper thumped into the passenger door, gripping onto his hat for dear life, eyes wide like a deer caught in headlights.
"Foul play. An' we're goin' to Pyros place." The Tex kept his eyes on the road. "Might wanna buckle up there, pardner."
"Ya bloody loon! Wait, whot? Pyro's place?" When Sniper realised what his shorter friend was getting at, his shoulders dropped low "Augh, piss." He pulled his hat over his face and slumped back in his seat. Why was he the only one that wasn't completely mad? He should have become a bloody wallaby groomer. They eventually pulled up after a few more miles, seemingly in the middle of nowhere.
"This it?" Sniper inquired in a monotone voice as he set his tired eyes upon the charred remains of the little house up the path. He was not amused.
"Sure is." Engineer hopped out of the van with Sniper hesitantly following behind as he cursed under his breath. Pyro had been living in a small two levelled house with one bedroom and no nearby neighbours. There was no plant life in the garden and no mailbox either. Sniper found it hard to imagine his late-teammate living a traditional life in a house as a 'normal' member of society, but the Engineer always claimed that the masked man wasn't quite as strange as everyone assumed he was. Then again the Texan had a healthy (or unhealthy) dose of crazy himself so perhaps he wasn't the best to make that judgment. The fire had caused the roof to crack open like a festering wound and all the windows were blackened over, running down the side of the building like ebony tears.
"What exactly are we lookin' for here?"
"Somethin'." The Engineer began to walk up the path to the house as Sniper begrudgingly dragged his feet behind, still grumbling. The door had already been torn off, presumably by the firemen first on the scene, so the two ex-REDs were able to walk in without obstruction. The interior was ruined – no, it was destroyed. Black was everywhere and the smell of burnt and decaying wood filled their senses; it was hard to even breath air this tainted with lingering smoke.
"Must'a been one helluva fire, t'do this much damage." Mused Engie.
"Y'know that Pyro liked fire, yeah? Had a penchant for burning things? Was called 'The Pyro'?"
"I know that he liked it, but ain't you just a lil' bit confused as to how a man who was forever in a flame retardant suit and gas mask was able to suffer from smoke inhalation? I mean come on Stretch! Pyro knew what he was doin', sure he was a few screws loose but can you honestly stand there and tell me that that man was capable of making a mistake with fire?" Calling the Pyro 'a few screws loose' was a horrible understatement at best, but the shorter man had a good point. Still, he just sounded like a grieving friend to Sniper. Sure Pyro knew what he was doing but accidents happen, don't they?
Tha-thump tha-thump
Suddenly, the torched house fell deathly silent. When Sniper opened his mouth the Engineer raised his gloved hand for quiet and the two mercenaries listened intently as the old house creaked and moaned. But that had been neither creak, nor moan. That had been footsteps.
Tha-thump
Someone was shifting about upstairs. If their ears had been any less keen, then maybe they'd not have heard it – but there was definitely someone up there sneaking about. Slowly, and as quietly as the ruined floorboards would allow them, Sniper and Engineer crept towards the stairs.
'Go that way' mouthed the Sniper as he made for the other direction. Engineer went to check out the bedroom but their smart shoes clicked on the floor indiscreetly. Every little movement they made seemed to result in exaggerated noise now that their ears were so focused.
Creeeeak
It was so very quiet, but the source of the noise was definitely coming from the cupboard in the hall. Peering into it, Sniper could barely see a foot in front of his own face, so he pulled out his lighter and flicked it open. Holding it above his head, he slowly made his way further into the large, dark space. The orange illumination from his lighter was sparse and it flickered even in his steady grasp, causing shadows to dance over the walls like demons at play. He could barely breathe; the stench of burnt wood was overwhelming. When he reached the end of the cupboard, there was nothing. Nobody was there. Just emptiness greeted him. And silence.
"Piss." He'd been so certain that the noise had been coming from here, and his ears were so rarely wrong. It was only when he closed his eyes to try to pinpoint any foreign sounds that the Sniper very clearly heard someone exhaling - right in front of his face. When he opened his eyes, he felt another set boring right back into him, mere inches away. He stiffened.
Suddenly, he was shoved back with such ferocity that he slide right out of the cupboard, long legs flying into the air. In a flurry of smoke and shifting shadows, the BLU Spy de-cloaked before him, eyes darting about the room madly in search for somewhere to go.
"Truckie!" Sniper scurried to his feet as if inebriated and grabbed the nearest solid object, a scorched plank, as a weapon. However, the ex-BLU didn't seem interested in fighting. When he heard the Engineer hurrying in from his right, the Spy darted immediately to the left, making for the window in the bathroom.
"Spah!" The Engineer roared as he ran in hot pursuit, his vision narrowing to that of a tunnel, hauling blackened debris out of his path as he went like a miniature bulldozer. Sniper joined the chase, though it was difficult in such a cramped building. The Spy just managed to dodge Engies well aimed punch and he kicked the shorter man back, though it wasn't enough to delay him. Spy quickly changed tactics and leapt downstairs. Catching up, Snipers long leg went right through the floor which had been left charred paper-thin by the fire. He felt blood trickling down his shin and hissed.
"Bloody-!" he clawed at his own leg and pulled at it to free himself, but then the whole floor moaned loudly before caving in completely. Sniper went crashing down into the ground floor – right in front of the BLU Spy.
"Sniper! Grab 'em!" The lanky man was quick but disorientated from the fall, and the Spy was quicker as he right-hooked the Australian back down into the rubble before leaping over him and throwing himself out of the kitchen window, disappearing immediately from sight.
"No! Damn it!" The Engineer punched a nearby wall with such fury that his right arm went clean through it and some splinters stabbed into his shoulder. Swearing in his rage, he tore his hand free and bent double to gain his composure, baring his teeth. As he struggled to catch his breath, he knew he'd allowed himself to get far too out of shape for this kind of thing and he glanced over at Sniper who was sitting with his arms resting on each knee, head down and equally out of breath.
"I'm gettin' too bloody old for this, mate."
. . .
"Listen here boys, now ya'll know I solve problems. But I'm afraid for this one, I'm gonna need all'a your help."
"Whits goin' on, lad?" Demomans face was swollen from his brawl with soldier that morning, but the whole team had came to greet Sniper and the Engineer when they'd pulled up to see why they'd left so quickly in the first place. The Medic stayed back, watching the Engineer carefully with an unreadable expression.
"I won't sugar coat for ya'll, so I'm just gonna come right out an' say it. I don't think Pyro died in an accident. I think that he was murdered. And I think that BLU were the ones behind it."
"BLU?"
"Are you serious?"
"Oh come on, Engie!"
"Lads, lads!" Sniper hushed the protesting group. "Let 'im explain, yeah?" When silence returned, the Engineer continued.
"Me an' Sniper went to check out the scene of the 'accident' an' while we were there, we found the BLU Spah creepin' around. He attacked Sniper, an' then he ran off in a mighty hurry."
"But … you are sure dis was BLU Spy? They disband five years ago, dah?" Heavy was not convinced, arching a thick brow and folding his bear-like arms across his bear-like chest.
"I'd never forget the face of the man who was forever sappin' mah contraptions. Sniper recognised 'im too, and he spent plenty of time lookin' at 'im down a scope."
"S'true," conceded the Australian "No doubts, was definitely him."
"That slimy sonovabitch! So he killed Pyro?" Soldier was red in the face with anger as he clenched his big fists tightly, more so probably because he held a permanently aggressive disposition than from any real enragement at the murder of his least favourite team mate. "This American boot will go so far up that rifle-droppin' cowards ass, I'll kick his teeth out at the same time!"
"So what the hell're we waitin' for? Those chumps think dat they can just be all like, killin' one of our guys and we'll just sit with our thumbs up our ass? Let's go kill us some BLUs!" Scouts overactive lust for violence hadn't dulled at all, it would seem. He spat out the gum he'd been chewing and cracked his knuckles loudly.
"Zhis is a Spy ve're talking about, ve don't have zhe means to track someone like zhat down." Medic was quick to point out. "And now zhat he knows ve're onto him, he vill likely be even harder to find."
"Doc, come on man! We can't just sit an' do nothin', we gotta catch dis bozo before he runs back to France!"
"Medic's right, we don't have the skills to find him. But we all know someone who does." The other mercenaries stared at him expectantly. "Boys, we need to find our RED Spah."
"But you said dat you tried t'find him, didn't ya? For Pyros memorial? He fell offa the planet or somthin'?" The youngest merc looked perplexed as he scratched his hair, shifting his weight to lean on his other foot.
"Truth be told son, I just didn't look that hard. Figured what with his type an' all, he wouldn't appreciate me hacking into REDs files to find him just for a memorial. But I think all'a this changes things. Now, I know how to access REDs files that hold the data collected on each of us, and that includes where our Spah-"
"Wait so, Why don't'cha jus' hack into BLUs then, genius?"
"Y'all don't think I would have if I could? I don't have the codes to do that kinda thing, but I helped build most of REDs terminals – so I know how to crack 'em."
"An' the only non-BLU who can access their terminals is our RED Spy?"
"That's about right."
"Then tell me," Heavy, who had fallen silent, now straightened up and cracked his thick neck "What are we waiting for, dah?"
. . .
Many thanks to you guys for the great feedback, I really do appreciate and encourage constructive criticism (and who's not a sucker for compliments too?) Hope you enjoyed this one, next chapter will be out within the next week - Des