Author's notes: Apologies for the delay, still in exams and whatnot. Hadn't really planned much about this chapter, was a little surprised by how it turned out, but I think it came it pretty okay in the end. Was pretty hard to bring myself to write, it's been boiling as of late and I've been frequently exhausted.
On a separate unrelated note, passed my driving theory test and I've got a lil' humble side fic going on too now, for those times where I gotta write but don't feel up to writing something epic ;)

Chapter 22: We Leave No Man Behind

Dell wearily opened his eyes, blinking a few times before getting to his feet, glancing around as he found his balance. The rest of the former members of BLU were nearby, a few already on their feet whilst others were slowly starting to come around. The Engineer slowly made his way over to the Medic, Pyro, Sniper and Demoman, all of whom seemed quite shaken.

And rightly so, that...whatever it was, had snapped them out of whatever link the Life Sparker had established, then shook the earth itself and knocked them all flying. It didn't take 11 PhDs to wager that it was probably the other Engineer who was in part responsible. Hopefully their unexpected ally had survived whatever madness he had performed...

Dell held that thought as he caught up to the others, noticing that Nils appeared to be muttering something under his breath, lost in thought. He glanced over at Ashley, who merely shrugged, not bothering to vocalise a response to the silent question. The Medic's perplexed state was understandable, no doubt the Medigun had not fully been tested and the results were hardly something anyone had been anticipating. Speaking of the life-saver, where had it gone in the chaos and confusion?

It was Jack who nudged the thoughtful German, pointing to a still lazily floating cloud of dust. If one squinted you could just barely make out some still shapes cast in shadow. The others slowly came to and gathered together, Nils finally snapping out of it to check them over. Some minor injuries had been inflicted, mostly headaches, stiffness or bleeding from shrapnel, none of which would be any issue if the good doctor had access to a Medigun. Unfortunately, they were left to slowly explore the destroyed landscape, careful of their step.

Large craters had formed throughout the earth, cracks spread out far and wide, with more significant fissures here and there, showing only the abyss. The dust seemed oddly persistent and nobody was willing to venture too far into the cloud for fear of falling down the crevices and never being seen again. Nobody at least, except for the ever enigmatic Pyro, who strode forward almost carelessly, suddenly activating the enhanced compression blast, using the powerful puffs of air to clear the lingering particles away.

Ashley coughed a few times, the sound seeming oddly choked beneath the gas mask, before returning to the rest of the group, who looked out into the distance where a familiar figure lay: Isaac.

The former RED, although not all too clear from this distance, nonetheless seemed to be in a pretty poor state. He didn't appear to be moving, was surrounded by debris and appeared to be lying in a pool of his own blood. The almighty utility that was the Level Four Dispenser was spitting out dangerous sparks and his sword stood upright at an angle, peeking out of its own crater.

The rest of Team Fortress would have no doubt rushed to his aid were it not for a few minor points. Firstly, a great chasm stood between them with only the occasional pillar of earth to bridge the gap. Secondly, the patch of intact earth holding their team-mate was itself looking fairly unstable, a small gap separating it from a truly massive crater, the bottom of which could not be seen. Thirdly, a blinking and slight glow attracted the attention to another larger patch of land which held the once again upturned and damaged trailer...but more importantly, the Life Sparker was dangerously close to the edge of the abyss.

The team one by one turned to face Kevin, the Scout clearly being the best amongst their number for the task, although his ability to bring Isaac back (especially considering the armour and other equipment) was certainly questioned due to his own small frame. Any doubt regarding his suitability for the task was solidified when the boy, attempting to do a little jog on the spot to prepare himself, ended up falling to one knee, breathing harshly. A glance over revealed a shard of metal embedded into the runner's leg and based on recent events...even without the shrapnel, Nils was uncertain if the Scout was up to it, although alive he was hardly in peak condition right now.

A small rumble brought their collective gaze back to the chasm before them, noting as rocks began to break away from the island the former-RED was lying upon and the Life Sparker started to fall towards the edge. Eyes flickered between the ally that had held off Hale to buy them time and the irreplaceable prototype device to which they owed their lives before they glancing over one another.

###

Elsewhere, the Administrator tapped her fingers on the table impatiently as Miss Pauling finished her report. Resisting the urge to roll her eyes at the content of the report (did the employees always have to be so incompetent all the time?), the woman in purple instead took a relaxing drag on a cigarette, ignoring her underling who lingered.

Time passed with only the static of monitors behind them and the ticking of an unseen clock to provide relief from the painful silence. Eventually Miss Pauling, avoiding the Announcer's gaze as best she could, found her voice.

"...um, we also have yet to receive any word from Mr. Hale regarding the termination of the mercenaries formerly in the employ of RED and BLU."

The most powerful woman in the world snorted, tapping the ash off the cancer stick into a nearby ashtray before turning her chair away from her assistant and looking into the static as if it held answers. The underling was left to sweat and considered leaving when her employer's voice finally made it's cold presence known.

"I would not concern yourself with the actions of that brutish oaf. Hale may be amongst the richest and most powerful men in the world, as well as recently-crowned King of Australia, but he remains a complete and utter imbecile. In the past when we have required him to perform tasks for us, he has been easily sidetracked by other idiotic matters, such as bar brawls, hunting endangered animals and purchasing random businesses."

Helen rotated her chair back to face Miss Pauling as the screens behind her flickered and displayed various assorted images of Saxton Hale: one showed him swimming in what appeared to be the sea alongside an aircraft carrier, another depicted him lifting an elephant above his head as a lion flees, and yet another displayed the Australian climbing some frozen mountain in nothing but his hat, shorts and boots.

"I have received from other, more competent employees of mine that Hale once again was displaying his unnatural talent for idiocy. Rather than taking one of his private jets to reach the United States, he instead saw fit to run across Australia, getting into random fights and causing extensive property damage before then reaching the ocean and deciding to swim the entire distance. In the wrong direction, might I add! He was then further delayed by several battles with sharks, a giant squid, punching through a submarine of unknown origin and boarding a battleship before reaching the right continent."

She took a slight pause, picking up her cigarette and pulling deeply from it again, exhaling before shooting an annoyed glance into the shadows, as if she held them to blame for the stupidity of the man she nonetheless had to rely on.

"He was last spotted heading in roughly the right direction as the rogue mercenaries' last known location, but any information beyond that is unknown to me. See that this...error...in our surveillance and espionage is rectified immediately."

And with that the Administrator swivelled back to watch the monitors in disgust, Miss Pauling wisely taking this as her cue to leave lest she suffer the Administrator's wrath. As for the woman in purple herself, she merely stared unblinkingly at the array of manly images, quietly asking herself what she ever saw in the man, the embodiment of everything Australian.

###

Dell realised that there was little time and that from the way things were looking (and knowing their luck), it'd be a choice of who and what to save. Kevin was in no shape to bound over there and at some point in the confrontation with Hale the jetpack had been lost. Grigori, Ewan and Jane were likely all strong enough to carry Isaac and all of his equipment that could be recovered from nearby, but the Heavy, Demoman and Soldier were hardly known for the speed...and in the case of Jane, rocket jumping across the chasm was probably not a good idea.

The Texan took a deep breath as he came to a realisation. As the ground shook a little more, the tremors minor but potentially fatal all the same to their other team-mate, he stepped forwards, accepting what he'd have to do. Right now, the cause of these after-shock tremors didn't matter, nor did the exact medical status of the men around him. Nothing was immediately life-threatening to them after all, but for their comrade who had beaten them, brought them together and risked everything to buy them some time...there could be no doubt as to his focus.

The rest of the team suddenly silenced any mutterings or discussion regarding what to do as the short American took a step back before charging forwards, throwing his body off the edge. Ignoring anything else, he tried to make his shape as aerodynamic as possible as he flew through the air, briefly activating his thrusters to give him the extra push to reach the first pillar.

He didn't waste time, for as soon as he landed he kicked off again, narrowly avoiding a fatal accident as his boot slipped on the loose earth and the ground collapsed away beneath him. Going through the air once again, albeit at a less than optimal angle, Dell activated his own overdrive, the thrusters roaring into life as he soared at the next stepping stone, briefly considering whether to land on it. Another tremor rumbled below and instead he found himself flying low, narrowly avoiding chunks of rock falling upon him as he kicked off the pillar back into the air, speeding towards his fellow Engineer.

He wasn't aware as the rest of his team watched in awestruck silence as he deactivated his overdriven thrusters for a moment to recover, sliding onto the next platform, the top layer of earth slipping away from the rest with him still on it. Acting as if he'd barely noticed the issue, he instead waited on the patch of crumbling rock and dirt until the last moment.

It was at this point that with a spinning motion and a good blast from his boot-thrusters that he exploded the remaining earth beneath him, spiralling through the air in a parabolic arc before disengaging the overdrive and rolling to a halt besides Isaac, kicking up a cloud of dust as he did so. Cracks formed below his armoured feet and he glanced around him, quickly calculating his next move as the land started to crumble away at the edges.

Not sparing a glance for the impossibly large crater in the oddly stable ground nearby, he instead pulled his comrade's battered form, still dripping with blood, bits and pieces of metal falling from his frame, onto one shoulder. A quick check was made sure that the LFD was still securely attached. He picked up the abandoned shotgun and pulled the bloodied blade from the ground, gathering up the weapons in his other arm as he tried to balance and remain stable.

With a quick look around in him in all directions he hoped that his predictions were right and ran as best he could on the unstable rubble towards the large patch of ground that held the damaged trailer and the Medigun...teetering closer and closer to the edge of the seemingly bottomless void, rocks falling down the impossibly steep slopes and fading away into nothing.

The remainder of Team Fortress could only watch, slack-jawed, as they traced Dell's progress, the whole affair seeming as if in slow motion. The Engineer's armour glowed with an odd light reminiscent of the orb produced by the Life Sparker and seemed to vibrate as somehow, despite the near-depleted overdrive and the extra mass and air resistance, the duo still fought their way across the gap. The conscious Texan didn't dare to look down, his eyes firmly set on their goal.

It was all the team could do not to fall over as one final wave rippled through the land, tearing the previous pillar of land clean into two chunks that cracked off and fell to their doom. Stumbling backwards from the edge at their feet as more cracks zig-zagged through the once again dry earth. It was of course the Medic who was first to release the truth as he stared at the form of the former BLU, adjusting the position and angle of his legs as the pair struggled across, the thrusters spitting and sparking as they did so.

Dell had barely been injured and yet had still received the Life Sparker charge. That energy had to go somewhere, it was a simple law of Physics that energy cannot be lost or destroyed, it merely changes forms. It would appear that Dell's own combat armour had retained some of the charge and, so long as he hadn't completely drained or overworked the system on his initial series of flights to Isaac, a brief pause (such as collecting their comrade) combined with the residual energy could allow for a second (and more internally destructive, from the look of things) final thruster overdrive. He just hoped it would be enough to take them all the way to the...

The Medic could not help the gasp that escaped his mouth as he stared at his prototype Medigun, just barely balancing on the edge, rubble around it breaking away and the life-saver itself wobbling so precariously...

With an almighty thud and sputtering and smoke from the thrusters, the two Texan's crashed into the island that carried the modified trailer and the Life Sparker. Dell tried to take the brunt of the impact and prevent his fellow Engineer from sustaining further damage, but it was unfortunately still a painful fall, the thrusters having died whilst still in mid-air. Blinking, his eyesight landed on the Medigun...

The Medigun that slowly, ever so slowly, started to tilt over the abyss. The Medigun that, even as he reached one hand out in vain, slipped away even after the tremors had stopped. The Medigun that glinted in the sunlight as it span and fell, vanishing into the eternal darkness, never to be used again, leaving a trail of sparks and smoke behind it.

A small muffled explosion and a brief glimpse of blue-white rays piercing out from the darkness was the only sign the miracle device had ever existed at all.

###

"Merde..."

Gabriel was the only to speak as one of their two hopes had vanished and perished. Coughing and turning to his colleagues, he absent-mindedly searched his suit for cigarettes before giving up and sighing.

"I can only hope, Monsieurs, that we do not ever regret the Labourer choosing the Demon over the Miracle. The power to revive those from the edge of ze Grim Reaper himself..." The Spy fell quiet, feeling the rest of the team's burning glares before coughing again and shrugging. "...not, of course, zhat I was trying to imply that leaving our ally behind would be the preferable action, just that we may someday wish in the future that things had gone differently."

Jane was the first to recover and walk up to the Frenchman, clasping one hand on his shoulder and looking him straight in the eye.

"Regardless of tactical importance, the life of one of our men outweighs any bases, equipment or weapons at our disposal. We leave nobody behind Frenchie, nobody."

The Soldier paused for a moment before turning to face the rest of the team, his booming voice echoing across the fractured landscape and piercing through their hazy minds:

"DO YOU MAGGOTS HEAR ME? WE LEAVE NO MAN BEHIND! NEVER SHALL WE STAND ALONE IN THIS WORLD THAT TRIES TO CRUSH US! WE ARE MORE THAN A TEAM, WE ARE MORE THAN MEN, FOR WE ARE THE ONES THAT DARES TO CHALLENGE THE WORLD TO THE ART OF COMBAT AND BEST DAMN WIN! I DON'T CARE FOR EXCUSES, I DON'T CARE FOR SILLY HIPPIE TALK LIKE SANITY OR COMMON SENSE, I CARE FOR VICTORY! AND I NEED EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU SONS OF BITCHES TO WIN THIS!"

Jane grinned as the team flinched back for a moment before slowing nodding, some degree of fire returning to their blood as they looked back at the twin Engineers in distress. Dell had managed to get to his feet and put Isaac back into a stable position on his shoulder and was looking doubtfully at the gap back to the rest of the team. Admittedly it was shorter than the distance between the team and Isaac had been originally, but all the same, there was no "stepping stones" to make use of and his thrusters were dead.

It was Ewan who stepped up besides Jane, a crazy grin on his face as he pulled out the Fusion Pipebomb Launcher. Immediately the Soldier mirrored the Demoman's own smile, the American figuring out the Scot's insane plan immediately.

"Oi laddie! You get as close as you can an' be ready to jump, aye? Rest o' ya, be ready to reach oot an' catch 'im if need be!"

Doubt crossed the Engineer's features but nonetheless he complied, slowly and cautiously approaching the edge before he was halted in mid-stride by the voice of the Medic.

"Halt bitte! Herr Conagher, zhere should be a spare stock Medigun in ze supplies we brought along with ze vehicle, please get it for me!"

The short and quickly tiring man did so, awkwardly carrying Isaac, the demon's weapons and the stock Medigun, trying his best not to drop anything as he got as close to the edge as he dared. It took all of his effort not to drop everything as he fumbled, startled by the sight of a pipebomb rolling to a halt just behind him. Before he had time to react, the Demoman was calling out something to him he didn't hear and on pure instinct, he tensed his legs and leapt forwards, the explosion behind him scorching his armoured back and punching him through the air.

But...it was not enough. He felt gravity tug him and saw that his current arc would fall short of the others and try as he might to stretch forward, he would descend into his doom. Dell shut his eyes, the burning in his blood finally fading away. He had tried his best...he had failed. But he had no regrets. That was his last thought...

###

Ashley, eyes wide beneath the lenses of the gas mask they constantly wore, found themselves running to the edge, dropping the flamethrower and crying out for the pair:

"Engie, nuuuuu!"

...that was Dell's last thought before the Pyro's cry opened his eyes and he found his worn hands being clasped in the gloves of the firebug who simply stared at him, eyes somehow full of emotion even with the mask and suit in the way of seeing the person behind it all.

The Sniper, having seen and reacted to the pyromaniac's mad dash first, found himself also airborne, his tall frame reaching out to grasp onto Ashley's legs. He then felt a strong pair of hands grip onto his own legs, looking back to see a single eye smiling at him as the Demoman fell with them, forming a chain.

The Medic was behind the Demoman in less than a second, against all odds the Spy pulling up behind, with each person making the tip of the chain closer to the edge. The Scout leant over and grasped onto the Spy, sliding over towards the chasm himself, only just stopped as the Soldier leapt onto him and caught his chest in a powerful hug, pulling back with all his might. Finally, the Heavy held onto Soldier and after some slight further sliding, there was finally an abrupt halt to the descent.

Muscles straining, the bodies rocking slightly in the wind, faces red both due to orientation and strain, slowly the chain was pulled up. Bit by bit it rose as aching limbs screamed for release, as sweat cascaded down their bodies, as legs slowly slipped from the sweaty palms. Bit by bit the team endured the burning pain and enormous pull of gravity. Bit by bit another member was brought back to relatively safe ground and with a few deep breaths, went back to work pulling the others up.

Only when the Pyro dragged the two Engineers up did the mercenaries collapse onto their backs, gasping and panting for air. There were tears, there was sweat, there was frantic hugging and jumbled babbling. They spoke of close calls, of unity, of what the loss a single member of the team would have done to them all, the damage it would have wreaked.

The Soldier's earlier message was understood.

###

Narrowly avoiding a brush with death, stranded atop the darkness, plagued with hardship after hardship, the reunited mercenaries finally realise their bond.

Their comrade, the sleeping demon, is given space and respect as the bringer of life attends to the bringer of death, some slight spark still available as their souls together fight for the demon's continued existence.

The device of miracles is lost to eternity, their vehicle stranded away and their current location still at risk. The one who stayed behind to save them all may yet not recover and their own mortality is once more made all the more obvious.

But...through it all, the message rings true, even as it brings them pain and bitter tears:

"WE LEAVE NO MAN BEHIND!"