Chapter Text
“Looks like the next battle is going to be a big one.” He ran his fingers through my hair, somewhat idly, exhaling smoke towards the ceiling of his van.
I took my cigarette back from him. “Yes, probably. Our number seems to have tripled.”
“Sounds about right.”
It had been fairly small-time for the past week—nine men on each side. Then they sent reinforcements, though what that action bodes, I’m never sure... no matter how many men are on the battlefield, it is always much the same. One team wins, one team loses—perhaps there is a draw—and in the end, there are no real consequences.
The main problem is that when we have large numbers, I am not necessarily the most senior spy. Right now, that would be Spy—he has no other name, he has no history that any of the rest of us have ever been able to ascertain, he is perhaps slightly older, or slightly taller, than most of us, but he is also an imbecile. Still, he was the one who showed most of us the ropes, when we first signed on to this bizarre venture, so if he is present, he is in charge.
“What do I have to deal with?” I asked, my hand sliding across my Sniper’s chest. “Tell me you did not receive a large shipment of pyros.”
He chuckled. “Am I allowed to tell you?”
“What can it hurt?”
“Right now we got three heavies, two medics, a few-odd soldiers... think we just got the one Pyro. Got a bunch of bloody scouts running around. How about you?”
“There are two more spies. An extra demoman, two more soldiers... we have a second sniper now. You’ll want to be sure neither one of them can see you. But not much you have to worry about.”
“Be glad when we get back to having just the teams of nine again, I don’t mind telling you.” He sighed.
“You too, eh?”
“We got three heavies. You have to know which is which.” He leveled me with a serious look. “One’s not so bad—he’s not so good, but he’s not so bad. Seems like he’s in charge o’ the other two, whenever they’re all together discussin’ strategy. You pretty much leave him be and he’s got no problem with you. He plays chess with one of the medics, and that’s about as much as he interacts with anyone, unless you bother him. Then there’s one who’s always slapping folks on the back, talking about teamwork, you know, he’ll drink with you or joke around or whatever, an’ he’s a good guy, and I don’t think I ever seen anyone get on his bad side. It’s the third one... he’s new, far as I know—I mean, normally we just have the one anyway,”
I nodded. “It is the same over there.”
“Anyway, this third bloke’s a raving loony. He’ll belt you in the jaw soon as talk to you. Sooner, sometimes. The scouts are all confused any time they’re in the same room as one of the heavies, just in case, they get knocked around the most. Probably ‘cause they can’t stop running their mouths. And he don’t talk to nobody. Ever. Psychopath.”
“Well, just avoid him, I guess.”
“Yeah. I figure ol’ friendly’ll just come up to me, and the others won’t.” He stole my cigarette again, taking another drag before placing it between my lips.
“It’s easier to sneak around when there are fewer people.” I admitted. “I barely got past the other spies on my way out to see you. If I don’t go soon, I’ll have to worry about dodging the soldiers.”
“You say that like you couldn’t dodge soldiers in your sleep.” He snorted.
“Maybe. Still, I prefer not to have to worry.”
“Yeah. Yeah, me too.” He took the cigarette one last time, stubbing it out in the ashtray by his bed. “Be safe, yeah?”
“I will.” I kissed him.
I will never get tired of kissing him. I will never tire of his hand traveling up my back and curling around the nape of my neck, never tire of keeping a tight grip on his shoulders and feeling his chest bump against mine with every deep breath snatched between long liplocked moments.
It is only the third time I have made it out to his van for our little assignations, and every time he has watched me dress after, with that look of lazy, spent lust tinged with a fondness I could almost call love.
I don’t, not in words, not yet. Perhaps never. It seems too dangerous to.
When I am completely dressed, I kiss him one last time, light and fleeting, before I go.
---/-/---
The battle is a bigger one, and I have been edged out of the intel-gathering, not by Spy-who-has-no-name, but by the third spy currently on our team. I do not know him, but I’ve known of him, and he has a name, Jean. He is slightly smaller, and perhaps faster. I do not know if he is any smarter, and I suspect he is not, but he is to get in and out, and Spy-who-has-no-name and I are to provide distractions, sap sentries, stab backs...
If Jean drops the briefcase, there are scouts scattered about the place ready to grab it and run, provided one of us is not nearby at the time. Then of course, there are the others, rushing in with guns blazing, or laying down cover fire, generally going about their jobs with less finesse and planning than my own class relies upon.
I take out a RED engineer and his sentry on my way to my Sniper’s roost. I shouldn’t... but even if I cared to play the game now that I suspect the same people are playing with both sides behind the scenes... It is not that I plan to distract him from his job; I have no qualms with watching him dispatch my teammates, I might even find watching him work enjoyable. I find watching him enjoyable in general. Mostly I just want to see him. To make sure he is all right. And to let him know that there is an angle he is vulnerable from. Traitorous, I know, but... I know where one of our snipers is set up, not the usual spot. Even with the respawn, I would rather he not get shot in the first place.
“Please tell me that’s you.” He tenses, hand hovering near the kukri.
“It’s me.” I uncloak. “He’s not focusing on you now, but there, between your nine and ten o’clock, is one of ours.”
He spared me a quick glance. “You sure you should be helping me out here?”
“Au contraire, I am certain I should not. I cannot help myself.”
I cloak again, sitting by his side in perfect invisibility.
“This is a bit weird.”
“Mm.” I reach out the little bit between us, my hand brushing his knee. “Perhaps.”
“No two ways about it, mate. Bloody weird.”
“Fair enough, then.”
He took a shot, chuckling softly to himself when it hit, and I de-cloaked when he turned to look at me, ducking down so that I would remain out-of-sight should either of BLU’s snipers look in.
“I take it you got one?”
“Scout.” He grinned. “Little buggers are hard to hit. Especially a good clean shot. He was just bending down to pick up the briefcase.”
I couldn’t help grinning back. “Oh. Poor Jean, he must have failed. Well, he’ll be fine in the end... I suspected I would have done the job better.”
“Jean?”
“Mm. One of our other spies.”
“You know his name?”
“I know most of their names. Not only the spies. Most of BLU team, at least anyone I have worked with. If they have a name on record—if they have a name at all—I probably know it. I know a few names on the RED team as well.”
“Y’ever learn mine?”
“No. Will you ever tell me?”
“Maybe.” He shrugged, looking through his scope again. “If I decide I like you enough.”
“You like me enough.” I smiled.
“Maybe.” He chuckled again.
There was a sound, from the ladder. I put a hand on his knee, squeezing hard this time. “Don’t move.”
“What—“
“Shh!”
Spy—he of the nameless, history-free variety—slunk in, a man-shaped puff of blue smoke moving at a good clip, and I was on my feet and stabbing him in the heart before he had the chance to stab my Sniper in the back.
“Damn...” My Sniper turned, jaw hanging open.
“Oui.”
“He saw you.”
I shook my head. “He would have been able to see me, even if I had been cloaked.”
“What are you going to do? He saw you. You stabbed him instead of me, and he saw it happen. Not like you can lie about it.”
“Yes I can.” I said firmly. “I was not cloaked. What he saw was a RED spy, disguised as a BLU spy, protecting you from being stabbed in the back, hoping that any BLU spy who happened upon the scene would pass him by without question.”
“... That’s a pretty good lie, actually.”
“Yes, I thought so.” I let out a shaky breath and reached for a cigarette. “It is not perfect, but it is as close as we can come, under the circumstances.”
“You should get out of here while you have the chance.”
“He will probably come back.”
“Deal with that when it happens.” He kissed me hastily. “Go.”
I went.