TF2: Hairy Little Problem 19

Chapter 19: Abduction
Throughout the next week, Sniper noticed something odd during battle, he wasn’t being backstabbed nearly as much as normal yet he could feel that someone was watching him. What was more unnerving is that when Sniper was moving from vantage point to vantage point the enemy’s aim seemed off. It was as if they were trying to cripple him rather than kill him…At first Sniper dismissed it as poor aim or trying to get revenge for what he had done to the RED Scout yet it was persistent to the point it seemed too much of a risk to take for revenge…

When he talked to Handler about the RED’s odd behavior, she admitted something to him:

“Sniper when you killed the RED Scout you weren’t as beasty as you are after midnight, you were worse…”

“By how bloody much?”

“Like the night you revealed your condition to me…”

This had sent ice through Sniper’s veins as that form couldn’t be dismissed by anyone as a simple trick of the light or a fear-induced illusion and it was a scout, the most talkative of any of the mercs…

Following that discussion Sniper had been exercising his control over his form in the mirror when alone and at midnight until the changes were barely noticeable as confirmed by Handler, the person who knew his human form best besides Medic, who was cheerful at Sniper’s growing level of control.

Medic had thought about weaponing Sniper’s condition before the full moon due to his eagerness but , thankfully for the BLUs , his scientific mind wouldn’t let him till the observation period was done. Still Medic was working on creating a serum that would transfer the condition despite Sniper and Handler’s insistence that it was magical in nature. Magic was just a term for unexplained science and Medic fully intended to explain this “curse”.

However the test that had lead Medic to conclusively know that something was physically different about Sniper’s physiology also showed the biggest problem with any serum, it could not be blood based as it would cause a deadly reaction with the blood of any test subject… Though if Medic  did the injection under his medi-gun he could keep the subject alive till Sniper’s genetic material was accepted by the subject, just like he had done with the cross-species heart transplants…

That Friday was a capture the flag mission at Sawmill, a busy time where both teams had to attack and defend at the same time leading to a good amount of chaos even though this was not the first time either team had experienced this type of mission on this field.
Sniper had been doing rather well so far, getting headshot after headshot yet it seemed like something was off, as if some REDs were missing…

‘Bloody wankers are probably usin the rooftops…’  thought Sniper.

He looked towards the spawn room, he knew Engineer had a camp nearby and the K-9 unit would be within sight proximity to help spy-check so the intelligence wouldn’t  be left unguarded if he left his perch.

Lowering his rifle Sniper started to make his way to the rooftops yet he froze as he heard soft footsteps behind him. Turning around Sniper didn’t see anyone but switched his rifle for his Kukri as he backed up a step only to curse as he heard the rapid beat of a scout’s footsteps. Then there was the loud sound of metal on bone and Sniper fell to the ground.

Above him stood the RED Scout with his bat on his shoulder and a smug look on his face.
“Who’s the tough guy now, huh, tough guy?” taunted the RED Scout only to cuss as Sniper slashed at his feet with his Kukri, causing a large gash to open across his right ankle to the bone.

RED Scout fell backwards and clutched his ankle as Sniper moved up onto his knees, using his Kukri for support, as the world seemed to be spinning around him.

“Not so smug now, are ya?” said Sniper as he slowly got to his feet, till swaying as he put one hand to the back of head.

Sniper could feel blood matting his hair and as he looked at the RED Scout his vision was fuzzy, as he took a step forward he could feel his stomach turn...

Staggering he went to sit back down as a hand placed a foul smelling cloth over his face. Sniper growled and tried to turn around to slash at his attacker but his movements were slow and the sudden twist of his head made the world shake and spin around him. Closing his eyes to fight the dizziness and nausea he tried to stab at the person behind him but he felt a strong hand grab his wrist and twisted till the blade fell from his hand.

“No worries mate.” hissed a voice in his ear, the accent betraying the RED Spy’s identity as Sniper felt himself slip into darkness…

Handler was worried, she should have known something was wrong when Sniper went from kill after kill to nothing during battle. Yet she hadn’t wanted to nag him and thought maybe he was just making some jarate or was ill... When he hadn’t approached her after battle she knew something was off but figured he might not be feeling well and wanting to head back to Coldfront. Yet when she got to Sniper’s van the hood was as cold as the air around it and after a quick inspection, Handler realized not only was Sniper not in there but had not been there since that morning…

She had ran back to the spawn area and checked Sniper’s locker only to find  his weapons weren’t in it, so he hadn’t been in spawn since before the battle ended…

Handler looked around for the nearest person only to find that the team had left, headed back to Coldfront… She and Hound searched the battlefield for any sign of Sniper but the rain had washed away most scents and made tracks indistinguishable from each other. Hound couldn’t pick up anyone in the rain, even when using senses.

After making her way back to Sniper’s van Handler took out the key he had given her and unlocked the van. Hound jumped in and sniffed around only to whine as Handler shut the door behind her. It was clear something horrible had happened to her beloved during battle but he wasn’t around here so after sitting in the driver’s seat for a long moment she turned the key, starting the engine. With desperate hope, Handler honked the horn but no one came and with a heavy heart, she drove back to base. Handler used her communicator when she was within two miles of the base, alerting the team she was coming back without Sniper…

The team was waiting in the mess hall when she arrived; Handler had to fight not to cry as Engineer approached her with Medic, both looking solemn with Soldier walking ahead of them.

“Report private!” said Soldier which made Handler stand at attention.

“I noticed Sniper was missing when he wasn’t waiting for me in his van and it hadn’t been touched since morning. I went back to the spawn room to find myself alone and Sniper’s weapons were not in his locker. I attempted communications before searching the battlefield for Sniper, I found nothing…I then went into his van, looked for signs of struggle, found none before honking his horn, waited, then drove off before making communications with Engineer once in range.” said Handler as she tried her best to be professional.

“At ease.” said Soldier before he looked at Engineer and Medic.

“Explain your findings men.” said Soldier.

“Well I checked the respawn log and the only time Sniper died was followed by rifle kills on the RED Team. Plus there were successful respawns throughout the entire battle…So I highly doubt it was a respawn glitch.” said Engineer, trying hard to give Handler a soft smile.

“I checked over every man here, no one shows any abnormalities or claims anything odd happened vhich confirms zat respawn vas functioning properly.” said Medic, his expression professional but his eyes showed some hint of sorrow though if it was because a teammate was missing or because he was missing a test subject was not clear.

“So Sniper’s alive?” asked Handler.

“I vould say based on ze evidence it is most likely Sniper is alive.” said Medic.

“Then why ain’t the chucklehead here?” said Scout.

“Aye, Lass where ya and the lad havin any problems? Did he say anythin’ to ya?” asked Demoman.

“No, I mean we weren’t having any problems but he did say something to me a few days ago…”said Handler.

“Speak Private!” ordered Soldier.

“He told me the REDs were acting odd around him, as if they wanted to hurt him, cripple him, rather than kill him outright.” said Handler.

“Hope just paranoid.” said Heavy.

“Aye, let’s hope he just ran off.” said Demoman.

“How can you say that !?!” yelled Handler as she pounded her fist on a nearby table.

She then noticed that after her all eyes went immediately to Spy who straightened his tie before going over to Handler.

“Because mon ami, I was the last man those brutal savages captured…Through me the RED Medic learned how invulnerability was possible by keeping me alive as a decapitated head. Our fellows could not save me…I was only released from captivity by horrendously insulting the RED Medic till he killed me in a fit of rage.” said Spy his expression cold and his tone serious.

Handler looked at Spy with denial, she didn’t want to believe such a story and Spy sighed as he grabbed the bottom edge of his mask and pulled it up to show a circular scar that went around his neck.

“I awoke in respawn as a head, Medic had to fight to keep me alive with his medi-gun till Engineer could manipulate respawn to clone me, one piece at a time to avoid making a complete clone, another life…” said Spy as he moved his mask back into place.

“So underneath your suit…” said Handler as her eyes widened in horror as she imagined the jigsaw pattern of scars that must be under his suit.

“Oui, so if you truly love Sniper then pray he left us and you rather then that he is being held captive by the REDs.” said Spy.

With that Spy left the room and Medic followed…

Handler knew the rest also knew that it was highly unlikely Sniper would just leave, especially without his home which had everything he owned within it. Yet she also knew that they would all tell themselves that Sniper had just abandoned them because of what had happened to Spy…

Without eating Handler went to her room and retrieved her sketchpad and pencils before going out to Sniper’s van, where they had spent so many nights in each other’s arms. There she tried to sketch Sniper’s face from memory until she broke down in tears on his bed...

It was pure darkness without sense of time or thought for Sniper till he felt a power surge through him, like liquid energy. Slowly Sniper opened his eyes, his vision still fuzzy as he took in the lowlight conditions around him. As  he went to move his hands to rub his eyes he found himself unable to move them  and that woke him up quicker than the adrenaline. Immediately Sniper went to move his legs to find them stuck as well. Looking down, even though his vision was altered, he could make out handcuffs around his wrists, two pairs that hooked him to a metal chair which from the feel of it as he shook his body was attached to the floor. His ankles were probably handcuffed to the legs of the chair…

Before Sniper could yell in frustration, he realized he was not alone, he could hear
other people breathing around him and smell cigarette smoke. Squinting his eyes he looked around and saw two people on the side of the room, both dressed in red…

“I need to treat his skull fracture, he von’t be able to concentrate on vhat ve ask him.”

“Exactly doctor, the bushman will break sooner, not realizing what he is giving up. It will also make him easier to control. “

“He may die of zat vound if it is left untreated and nozing he says vill be creditable!”

“Doctor you are a man of science, just as an experiment needs physical proof so shall this. He needs not speak for us to confirm our suspicions.”

Sniper wanted to yell at them, to cuss and threaten them but he knew the moment they realized he was awake they would begin some sick mind game with plenty of physical torture….

“Vell you have a point I-Oh wunderbar he is avake.”

“Yes he is, you should have given him that adrenaline shot hours ago…”

As they two got closer Sniper could see what their voices had hinted at, they were the RED Spy and RED Medic, silently Sniper prayed as he saw the RED Medic’s eager smile…