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The spy was grateful for his fast reflexes. He owed his life to those reflexes. While deep in focus, watching the battle in front of him, the enemy before him and his base behind him, he heard the Engineer's sentry beep: it found a target. The Spy turned quickly, ready to terminate whatever enemy passed him, but instead he found the sentry aiming at himself. He dove behind a rock, but not before he caught some bullets in his left side. The bullets stopped and he turned his neck to peer at his team mate- the engineer stared in silence. The pain from the bullets burned hot where they tore into his skin and burrowed in the muscle, but equal to it was a cold prickling pain of isolation, seeing his teammate attempt to kill him.
The spy cloaked and pushed away from the rock to take cover in a place with more privacy- but moving was slow and almost unbearable. He glanced down at his wounded leg and saw a subtle trail of blood drops on the path he made.
Engineer stared a moment longer. His sentry shot off, as if it saw an enemy spy, but he was certain that spy was his own. He frowned at his equipment and tapped a tool on it, wondering how to work it out. But first, he shouted to the nearest team member, Bea, "Pyro! I think our spy was in cross fire! Send Medic over there!"
Bea, in full suit and mask, gave him a thumbs up, the only real way to communicate she’d heard him and agreed when she wore her mask. She went after the Heavy and Medic, trailing the familiar sound of the minigun. Once she reached them, she tapped the Medic on the shoulder and indicated that he should follow her. Katsu quickly let Marcus know and followed their Pyro across the battlefield, past the Engineer’s nest. Pyro pointed out the few drops of blood, taking her place behind Medic’s shoulder to keep an eye out for enemies.
Spy could not enter the open battlefield for a med-kit. He was moving slow and it would be simply too dangerous. He made an attempt to radio Greg, but the radio on his hip caught a bullet aimed at him. Lucky? or no? At this moment he could not decide. Instead, he found a secluded area to nurse his wounds in private. He became alert at the sound of heavy feet, and the hiss of gas for fire. He bit his tongue, frustrated to know Bea was sent to finish him off. To defend himself he needed to fight her off- but to a warrior like Bea, nothing but a fatal wound could stop her. He didn't like the idea of fighting his teammate, especially one he was so close with. But he didn't like the idea of being executed without a fight. He aimed his gun and shot the wall beside her. A dangerous warning. "Coming to finish the job, hm? Turn back, Bea!"
Bea put out an arm for the Medic, stopping him from walking out into further fire. Spy was yelling at them, to stay back. But she hadn’t seen someone over there with him. What was going on? She put her back to the wall and peered around the corner. Had Spy really shot at them? Medic gave her a confused look, but stayed behind the wall, waiting for some sign that they were safe to move.
Silence... at first it was what he wanted... but then it made him suspicious. Was Bea waiting for more of the team to arrive? If he waited for the whole team to corner him, he would never escape. Anxiously, the Spy peered around the corner, "Bea? IS that really you?" he demanded. "What do you want?"
Against her better judgement, Bea pulled off her helmet, calling back to him. “You’re hurt, aren’t you? I brought Medic. What the hell is going on?” Katsu pulled off his own face mask. As sensible as it was it was difficult to communicate through.
The Medic was with her! Could he believe the Medic came to help him? Or he needed to be safe and suspect the medic came to support her. A pyro with medical help was surely invincible against him. His muscles tensed and he groaned at the pain it produced. For a moment he became dizzy and he needed a moment to collect himself. "You know I'm hurt, but you want to pretend it's a mystery what is happening?" He chuckled with malice. "Okay- my own base recognizes me as an enemy now. The engineer's sentry shot me." It must be the entire base, he thought. Not just the sentry. Did this also mean that if he died, the respawn would not pick him up?
Bea exchanged a glance with Medic. Wasn’t that impossible? Sentries picked up colour, or something similar. How could a sentry go after a teammate? Engineer had been the one who had sent her to get the Medic. He wouldn’t have hurt Spy on purpose would he? “Engineer said it was crossfire. Just promise you won’t shoot and we’ll get you patched up!”
The engineer didn't see any of his team return to battle and now began to have some concerns. He checked a monitor on his tool belt and saw that the fighting was moving further away. Conagher carefully stepped in front of his sentry to determine it was fixed, and then he jogged down the path he saw Spy disappeared. "Did y'all find him? I think he went-" his voice was interrupted by the bang of a gun, and another bang and a third, and then an empty click click. Conagher was pressed to the wall with Bea and Medic before he realized his own instinct. He patted his body to check for any wounds and found a deep line in his hard-hat, where a bullet came very close. The spy was trying to kill him! "What is going on?! Is this a stand off?"
Spy now noticed he was sitting. It hurt less to sit, and he felt less dizzy, so he remained. He held his gun ready to defend his position and let the medic approach, but he heard the engineer instead. He aimed and fired on the Texan. The man retreated with his gun, but the spy exposed his deficiency now: he had no more bullets. The spy gripped his dagger and squeezed the hilt. He wasn't hopeless yet. "This is a large group to come see me patched up... Send Katsu here, alone!"
Bea shook her head, not wanting Katsu to go alone. Spy acting like this had set her on edge. What was he afraid of? Ignoring her, Katsu pushed himself off the wall and slowly approached Spy, hands held empty for his teammate to see. He’d never seen Spy like this, wild and cornered. “Please put the knife down,” he requested, feeling decidedly nervous about going any closer. He wanted to see his wounds, to pull the fabric of Spy’s clothes away from them before healing him; the medigun had a nasty habit of healing skin right over torn clothes pressed to injuries.
The spy scowled and glanced around the corner to where the other mercenaries hid. Reluctantly he sheathed his knife and removed his hand from the handle. He didn't like to be unarmed, but he trusted that he could get the knife free quickly, if the others approached.
Katsu carefully knelt next to him. Spy had taken a few bullets, two in his side and one in the thigh. It must’ve been agony, and Katsu couldn’t figure out why he’d reacted with violence towards his team. After pulling the torn cloth away from his injuries he aimed the medigun at Spy and flicked it on. Nothing happened. Katsu frowned. That had never happened before.
Cold dread filled the spy. The medigun worked on enemies and team members. This seemed impossible, it couldn't be an accident. He grabbed the handle of his dagger again and his other hand shot forward, reaching for Katsu and grabbing. Holding him hostage seemed like his only defense now.
Katsu was remarkably strong for his size but still had no chance against Spy’s vicelike grip. “Bea!” he yelled. He didn’t want to hurt Spy, but it was starting to seem like the only option. “Let me go, I’ll get a medipack, I don’t know why the medigun isn’t working!”
Bea stepped out, putting her flamethrower carefully on the ground. “What the fuck is going on?”
The spy scrambled on the ground to push further into his corner, dragging Katsu down to hold between him and Bea. Conagher followed Bea and, after watching her stow her torch on the ground, he puts down his gun.
Overhead, the announcer counted down and declared the end of the match. They won. Conagher was glad to not lose, with half of the team in this corner. "Boss is going to wonder where we all went. We should have some answer of what is happening for him when he arrives."
Bea sighed. “I’ll get Medic.” She was starting to think killing Spy would be the easiest way out of whatever the hell this was. “Spy, come on, we’re your team.” she set her helmet down too, sick of balancing it on her hip. “What’s wrong?”
Katsu stayed still, the dagger against his vulnerable neck. He could feel how tense and hurt Spy was against his back. “Just let me treat you.”
The spy was glad Katsu didn't resist. He had little strength and he didn't want to lose his position now. "The medigun doesn't work, how do you plan to heal me?" His head jerked to see Bea approaching. "I said stay back! I know what's happening, I'm off of the team, I'm supposed to die now, right?" He looked to the engineer, "What is the plan? I die from crossfire in battle? Some accident? Who knows?"
Connagher shook his head, "What? Hold on now! I'm not killing anyone on our team! I'm not trying to kill you!" He rubbed his head, "I don't know what happened with the sentry. Swear, I didn't try anything!"
Bea grimaced. Now that the battle was over, respawn would be shut off and not only was Katsu in danger, but Spy was bleeding pretty heavily. “Let’s get you to the infirmary and patch you up. Whatever’s going on, we’re not gonna let anything hurt you. Let Katsu go, alright?” She took another step forwards, showing him her hands. As she approached, Katsu suddenly grabbed Spy’s wrist and elbowed him in the side where he’d been shot.
The spy shifted anxiously when Bea stepped. He opened his mouth to argue, or maybe negotiate- but instead screamed and recoiled in pain. He released his grip on Katsu and the knife to hold his wound and for a moment lost focus of his surroundings. Spy looked around wildly, almost snarling now, reaching around the ground blindly for his knife.
Katsu turned and pinned Spy’s wrists. Luckily the larger man was in too much pain to struggle enough to break his hold. “Bea,” he said calmly. “Please hold him still until I can get a medipack.” He was bleeding slightly from his neck.
Bea grabbed Spy’s wrists where Katsu held him and sat across his legs to keep him fairly still. “It’s alright,” she kept her voice soft, listening to the Medic’s footsteps as he turned the corner and disappeared from sight.
The spy thrashed and clearly made a substantial effort, he lifted Katsu briefly off the ground, but collapsed again, groaning. He couldn't make sense of why the pyro was holding him down but not simply killing him now. He refused to believe it was only an accident. "This is how the team before us ended." He told her. "I investigated it, they're all gone, they turned on each other and started to kill their teammates." He shifted to try to watch her face and study her, "Don’t you know what is happening? I'm being executed! Get me away from here!"
“I won’t let anything happen to you, none of the team’s gonna turn on you,” she assured him. “We know you wouldn’t turn on us. Can’t you believe the same of us?” She kept his hands with one of hers and put the other hand over the wounds in his side, they were bleeding more than ever since Katsu hit them. He was getting pale and Bea was sure he was weakening, otherwise Katsu never would have taken him down.
Although the hand on his wounds pained him, he recognized the tenderness of the gesture. He was certain of danger and doom, and yet also so aware that Bea was helping him. Maybe she didn't plan to kill him, but he was certain that someone wanted him dead. Spy groaned, "Where is Greg?" He was sure his partner would get him away from anything dangerous. Or, if not else, Greg would fight anyone who wanted to kill the Spy. "Does he know they are killing me?"
Conagher became anxious. He didn't see Katsu appear again yet. "Where are the medical kits? They don't disappear so soon after a match..." But if every medical kit near their base was used, Katsu maybe ventured further out for a fresh kit. "Bea, tell me if we need to move Spy to the doc's office. I know he has something in there that can help." Conagher would not often decide to take action medically, without the Medic's own direction. He never pretended to know much about medicine, or anything non-machine. But the spy looked like a man from a hospital for sure.
“Greg was called away, mid-battle,” Bea frowned. She had to admit, that was abnormal, and taking Spy’s best ally was suspicious. “I don’t think we can move him,” she called back to Engineer. Even between the two of them, it would likely do more damage than not. Katsu usually didn’t move injured people and surely that was for a good reason. Not to mention Spy might struggle. “Spy it’s safe here, we’re out of the line of fire and no Snipers can see us. We’re going to get you patched up, find Greg and figure out who’s trying to kill you.”
Katsu came back panting, worn out from sprinting back to them. He knelt next to Spy’s injured side. He took out some tools from the medikit. “Stay still, please,” he said, “this will hurt.” He moved Bea’s hand and dug out two bullets within a minute. He smeared some medigel on the injuries and soon enough the bleeding stopped.
Conagher waited to see Katsu, and then returned to his station to find a better useful job than watching.
The spy was still now. He was alive, but too exhausted to move much. His stomach flexed and he groaned in grief as Katsu moved into his skin. The medi-gun was such a nice treat, to never endure this part of healing. He forgot how this hurt. Katsu hit a nerve and the spy seemed to come fully alive for a moment to scream. After that he was too disoriented to notice much, or to see he wasn't bleeding. After some minutes of being still, he began to notice the pain was not as intense. He released a shuddering sigh with relief.
Katsu continued working on Spy’s thigh, after giving him a moment to breathe and recover. “I’m sorry for hurting you,” he said softly. His hands were covered in blood by the time he was done digging out the third bullet and smearing a liberal amount of gel across his wound.
Bea sat at his side, giving him her own bloody hand to squeeze if need be.
The spy squeezed Bea's hand, glad to have something to grip during this. It took this much time for him to realize Katsu was helping him now, although he threatened Katsu with his knife already. "Why are you helping me? You know I'm dangerous." Surely the medic knew he overpowered him only because the spy was weakened.
“We’re a team. Respawn is shut off, I’m not going to let you die.” Katsu said, as though that were final.
The spy smiled at that. The statement was so factual. It was a list without any room for negotiation. And the list started with ‘we are a team.’ He nodded, accepting the answer.
“Good. You’re as good as I can get you here, I’ll wrap you up properly in the infirmary,” Katsu stood and offered Spy a hand up. Bea helped get him started with a little push.
The spy looked at the hand and sighed. He doubted he could walk well, and on an injured leg also. But with the boost from Bea, he got up to his feet and leaned on Katsu. "Is it safe to return to base?" Although, maybe there was no other option. He probably needed more medical care.
Katsu frowned, not entirely sure what a Spy was afraid of. But he held Spy’s arm over his shoulders and started towards the base.
Bea grabbed her flamethrower and moved ahead of them. She was starting to think Spy’s paranoia was right. Otherwise why call away Greg? Why injure Spy with his own team’s sentry, have the medigun no longer work? It was too much to be coincidence. Bea led the way, checking corners and ensuring the way was clear for them. No one was about, thankfully. The rest of their team was likely in the showers. Once they had Spy taken care of she intended to radio Greg and make sure he was fine.
Conagher disabled his sentry. He was certain it was properly working and yet he could not explain why it targeted the spy. It was a risk to leave the sentries down, but he hoped the other team might be too embarrassed by their loss to try to make any night time attack. Spy was glad to come around the corner and see the sentry down. He continued forward into the base. Before the infirmary, however, he grunted, "Wait. In my room I have a file, I need you to see it."
“Is your room unlocked?” Bea asked, shedding her suit now that they were safe by the infirmary. It was bulky and difficult to manoeuvre about in. “Engie, would you radio Greg? Get him back here?”
"Break the door down if it is." The simple doors to each mercenary's private rooms were no match for any of them. "The combination to my safe is 1789. Get the purple folder." Some part of his gut instinct made him cautious to simply share this information so readily- but if his team was loyal they needed to know what he thinks happened. And if they aren't loyal, then it is no surprise that they're expected to kill each other.
Engineer got his radio and considered for a moment how to call Greg for an emergency without making the intense situation more difficult. "Ram Horn, this is Blue Bull. We need you on base, how soon can you be here?"
Katsu nudged Spy up on the table to begin stitching his wounds. He gave him a quick injection for pain. Bea headed for Spy’s room at a jog. She had to break in the door but it wasn’t too hard. Upon reaching the safe she punched in the numbers and grabbed the file. She left it unopened and headed back to the infirmary.
The radio crackled and Greg’s voice came through. “Ram Horn here. I can be back in an hour or so, what’s going on? Over.”
Spy wanted to ask for alcohol, but knew it wouldn't help him. He needed a clear head. He needed more focus than he currently had. When Bea returned he almost sat up, but quickly remembered not to. He gently put himself down on the table again and nodded to Bea, "That file. I stole it from the administrator's office. I read it years ago, but it is the only thing I can think about right now. Please, bring it to me."
Engineer hesitated to answer, then responded with certainty, "Turn back to base now. Falc- er... WE need you here. Over."
Bea set it on his lap, opening it. Katsu grimaced, still stitching Spy’s thigh wound.
“On my way, over and out.” Greg was easy to convince of things and was always ready to help out his team.
The spy picked up the pages and started looking through them. "Here," He gave a dossier to Bea, "On the team before us, every member is dead. The Spy was the first. An accident from respawn."
Bea went through the pages slowly. “Fuck,” she muttered. It was true. They’d killed the Spy first, then the Sniper had had an accident. The rest of the team slowly turned on each other until finally only the Soldier survived. But not for longer than a few weeks, of a suspicious and unknown cause. Katsu skimmed over her shoulder after his stitching. He wrapped his teammate in gauze and taped it. “You’ll be fine,” he murmured, distracted by reading. He’d thought that Spy had perhaps had a head injury, but it seemed he was right. They were getting pretty old to be mercenaries.
The spy commented, "I see now that the administrator was careful not to reveal any involvement. It seemed to all happen on its own. But, I know Conagher. I know he doesn't get angry and try to kill a teammate. But maybe if he has an order to do so..." He sighed and pulled back his hood. His hair was becoming grey on the sides. A sign of his age. "But I don't want to believe he will kill a teammate, even with an order to kill."
“We’ve been together for two decades, Spy, no one’s going to turn on each other.” Bea assured him. “Greg’ll be back soon.”
Spy nodded, "If we're still a team, we need a plan. I don't want to work for a boss who wants us dead." He raised a brow and smirked, "Do you?"
“Not particularly,” Bea grinned back. “You know a safe place we can go?”
Spy chuckled, "Of course." He glanced to Katsu, "I do feel better, doctor, but not great. Am I well enough to go on the lam?"
“I don’t think we have a choice,” Katsu said, “So please take it easy.”
"I know about an abandoned Mann Co. base. We can hide there until we find something more permanent. Or until we have a plan." Spy suggested. "To be honest," he confesses, "Every escape plan I made was to disappear alone, if I need to. But if the administrator wants us to fight each other, it is important to be a team now."
Bea nodded, glad Spy was willing to share his escape plan. Otherwise it would have been likely that the team would split up, and she wasn’t sure what she’d do without them at this point. Katsu sighed. “We have the big supply truck that could carry the whole team. We’re going to have to wait for Greg anyway, so let’s pack what we need now.”
The spy nodded, "I can tell the others so they know what to prepare for." He carefully pushed himself up and stood beside the table. "I'll ask engineer to do something about the security cameras. The administrator will know we aren't following her plans for us if she sees us packing up."
“Spy, you are not to walk around quite yet,” Katsu scolded, pushing him back on the table. “I’ll tell everyone, Bea can talk to Engineer. You rest.”
Spy grunted but sat on the table again. "It doesn't feel like the right time to rest." But he didn't want to waste any time with arguing. "I'll stay here. But if I'm here, it's expected that you will see Greg first. Don't make him too worried when you tell him I am in the infirmary."
“We won’t, but I won’t lie to him if he asks.” Katsu said. They both left in different directions, gathering the team and things they’d need as Engineer messed with the video feed.
Engineer powered down the cameras as planned, but the administrator soon called him, "Why is there no video feed of your base?" Engineer hesitated, he simply had no talent for lying. "Just a routine power cycle of the equipment, ma'am" An uncomfortable silence followed, and then "Fine." She hung up. Engineer hustled through the base to search for Bea again and update her. "Cameras are down! But the administrator is suspicious, I think. We should hurry, and be twice as cautious."
The team was thrown into chaotic packing. Katsu finally got Spy to his room and helped him gather not only his things, but also Greg’s. It wasn’t long before they were ready to go, waiting only for Greg. Greg finally drove up in a truck, practically bolting to Spy’s side when he saw him wrapped up in bandages. “Are you alright!?”
Spy sighed with relief as he saw his partner. The timing was good, he feared that if Greg was told to find him in the infirmary, he might become dramatic. Standing with Katsu, even with blood on his clothing, Spy knew he did not look helpless. More important than that, however, he was glad to know Greg was safe. He didn't trust anything the administration asked now. Spy withdrew his arm from Katsu to lean on Greg. "I'll live. Our Medic took good care of me." He hugged Greg tightly, but gently so, to not pressure his wounds. "Listen Greg. Our employers are turning on us. They attempted to get rid of me, and they wanted it to look like an accident." He studied the Frenchman and asked, "Did you notice anything unusual during the mission they sent you?"
Greg was careful not to hold him too tightly, even if all he wanted to do was squeeze him. “I’m fine, the mission was hardly anything at all, I was called away to have my respawn code updated.” He hesitated. “If they’re turning on us... do you think they took me out of respawn?”
Katsu led them both to the truck, where they’d made a soft seat for Spy, not wanting the jostling of the truck to hurt him further. Katsu himself still had a minor cut across his throat and blood on his elbow from hitting Spy in the side. Greg sat next to Spy, settling him in carefully.
Spy's expression sunk, "I... don't know. Maybe they are removing us from the respawn, one at a time." The spy stepped into the car carefully, but also with frustration. "If I were healthy I could watch them and know exactly what is being planned." He leaned on Greg and rested a gentle hand on his side, "But, I can be glad we didn't lose anyone on our team today." He winced at the sight of the knife wound on Katsu, how very nearly they did fall into the administrator's plans to let them kill each other.