It was a specially freezing day at coldfront, snow slowly and silently falling from the gray sky above and turning the scenery white. Regardless of that, the mercenaries still had to fight, it was their obligation, their job. Among them, one was less bothered by the weather, as he was used to it: the Heavy. Eating his Sandvich while they were waiting for the next round to start, the RED contemplated the landscape, which reminded him of his dear home, but, to him, something just didn't seem right.
During such a dreary day, the only thing that could make him happy was seeing his medic, or, as the Russian called him, "his doktor". The man in question, Ludwig, sat at the desk located inside the RED base's meeting room, along with his team's engineer and spy, discussing the strategy they would use, even though they knew that the rest of their team wouldn't follow it anyway. After the meeting had ended, the German met up with him, and they started to chat.
"How is your day, doktor?" heavy asked, adopting a cheerful tone as soon as he saw his boyfriend. Some would think of their relationship as unprofessional, but they didn't care at all, for that their love overcame others' criticism.
"Vell, zhe other team's spy has been annoying me, I have been backstabbed so many times lately." the medic protested, gesturing widely to emphasize his displeasure.
"Sorry for not protecting you. Next time I will punch him so much, he will never touch you again" the other affirmed, with a noticeable irritated tone, as if he was mad not only at the BLU spy, but at his own incapacity of protecting his lover.
Surely, the BLU spy was hated by the whole RED team, and even by some of his own teammates. Partially because nobody trusted spies, but also because of his cocky personality. Actually, he wasn't a complete douchebag inside, but the only one who knew this was his team's sniper. They weren't seen as really close friends by the other mercenaries but, in reality, they were more than that: lovers.
Their conversation was abruptly interrupted by the administrator, as the speakers announced "Mission begins in 10 seconds.". Ludwig prepared his Medi Gun and kissed his boyfriend in the cheek, wishing him good luck. Meanwhile, the other mercenaries prepared themselves to get out of spawn and run into the frigid snow.
"We will win this round, doktor! If you are with me, nothing can stop us!" assured Misha, embracing his significant other deeply and lovingly, just as he used to do before all the battles.
"Yes, I am sure of it." replied the man in a white coat, giving the other a light peck on his lips. "Let's kill them all, mein liebe."
"Eww! Get a room, you two!" the scout interrupted, feeling uncomfortable. The couple ignored him and the bostonian boy decided to give up.
Meanwhile, in BLU team's base, all of the mercenaries were also getting ready for the action. Sniper, sitting on a chair, was observing the battlefield, analyzing which positions would be the best for him to prepare his sniper nest. He was so focused that he didn't even notice that spy was looking at him with a lustful smile. Finally, he got up so that he could position himself in a good place, as the beginning of the battle approached. Soon after doing so, the Australian bumped into his French lover.
"Since when have you been there, spook?!" asked the man in shades, almost having a heart attack
"Ha, have you only noticed it now? I've been there for quite a time." a smug grin made its way to the man's face.
"And doing what, wanker?"
"Admiring my dear bushman, of course." spy winked and stole a kiss from his lover, catching him off guard and making him blush like mad.
"Piss off! What are you-"
"Five. Four. Three. Two. One." the Administrator declared the beginning of the battle.
"Uh... Snipes, you ok? Your face looks like a fuckin' tomato." scout questioned.
"...Sure, mate. I'm fine." sniper recomposed himself and looked around, searching for his boyfriend, but the assassin had already vanished like smoke.
Both teams ran out to the battlefield, heading to the control point in the center of the map, while the engineers placed their sentry nests at their respective teams' control points. It was, despite of the exceptionally cold weather, an ordinary day, with bullets, explosives and fire everywhere. And so the battle continued, blood splattering all over the ground and painting the snow crimson red.
While everybody was in the frontlines, spilling blood and sacrificing themselves so that their team would be able to advance, the BLU spy was armed with His Eternal Reward, infiltrating through the enemy base, sneaking so that no one would could see him. As he wore a Dead Ringer, he couldn't turn invisible, so, with extra carefulness, he waited for the chance of getting a disguise.
However, on his way to RED's headquarters, the Frenchman found the enemy medic by himself. From the man's appearance and location, it seemed that he had gotten separated from the rest of his team after being chased down by a pyro. The doctor soon noticed the Frenchman's presence and turned his attention to him.
"Spy! I vill kill you zhis time!"
"Oh? I didn't think we would meet so soon, mon ami. I still haven't wiped the blood of my knife from the last time I killed you." the backstabber mocked.
Furious, medic abruptly rushed forward in an enraged, screaming display and pierced through the provoker with his ubersaw, taking him by surprise. Quickly, the BLU activated his Dead Ringer and moved away, while hearing his attacker boast about his skill and laugh at his fake dead body.
Seeing his victim distracted, he took the opportunity and backstabbed him right at the bottom of the stairs in front of the RED control point. The light bulbs shining brightly at the ceiling were the only witnesses of the incident. As soon as he did this, spy heard a voice he knew very well. With an indifferent tone, it declared: "The respawn has stopped working. Try to keep yourselves alive, or else you won't come back."
Upon hearing so, the mercenary got paralyzed. He had killed the RED medic and knew he was gone forever. The French looked at his own hands and trembled: he was a murderer. Of course, he had already killed many people before, but this time it was... different. It felt wrong. The spy knew his victim too well to look at the situation impersonally, and, above all, he also knew how much the RED heavy loved the doctor. For the first time, he felt guilty for taking someone's life, for the suffering his actions would cause.
Then, suddenly, the RED heavy came running nervously through the base's door, scanning his surroundings and passing by the crates and barrels scattered around the place. Apparently, he was looking for someone. The only thing the spy could suspect was that the Russian had come to save his lover, alerted by his screams. The French pitied the man, as he knew better than anyone how painful it would be to lose the one you love. Then, turning to the fake German, the RED said:
"Doktor, I heard you scream, you are good?" he was panting and had a concerned look on his face.
"Oh, Heavy, zhere jou are, I am glad I found you, I was worried about zhis announcement too, but now zhat I am with jou, we are safe." Spy replied, hiding the remorse he felt. "I ran into spy, but now that dummkopf is finally dead, look!" He pointed at his own corpse, imitating medic's psychopathic grin perfectly.
"So you screamed because of this, heavy is happy doktor is ok now." answered the heavy in a relieved, unsuspecting manner.
In the meantime, everyone from the BLU base was searching for their teammates, frightened by the announcement that the Administrator had made. Finally, the whole group managed to meet at the spawn and gathered at the dimly lit meeting room, but when soldier was finally able to count the members and said that no one was missing, sniper contested:
"I think you forgot someone, mate. Dontcha miss the stink of cigarettes?" the sarcastic smile he always had on his face while badmouthing the spy was one of the reasons people didn't think the two of them liked each other very much.
Indeed, everyone seemed to be there, but spy. Even though he was disliked by almost all of his colleagues, he was still their partner, and they were afraid he could be actually dead, forever. At first they didn't think this was the case, as the Frenchman used to disappear often, but this assumption was confirmed by the fact that scout, while going back to his base, saw spy's body inside the RED base.
"Oh, so the bloody frog is finally dead?" demoman asked jokingly.
"Oh, c'mon, man, now that that fricking spy is finally gone, we won't have to suspect anybody else." scout replied.
"Haha, so we won't have to see that wanker again?" the Australian added, smirking.
"That's right, boy. Phew, this man really got on mah nerves!" engineer chuckled.
"Mmmph mmph..." pyro sounded upset by the fact, as if he mourned the death of his friend.
However, deep inside, sniper was heartbroken. His one and only love in his whole life was gone, forever. And the rest of the team seemed unbothered by that fact, and even happy, this was what hurt him the most. Besides that, he had to act as if he didn't care: he was a professional.
Both teams, thinking about the earlier announcement and the consequences it would have in their lives, stayed in their respective bases, afraid of going out and not coming back. The world seemed dark and ominous and the atmosphere was quiet and heavy. Immerse in their thoughts, a loud voice woke them up from their momentary calm moment, loudly speaking:
"Time to fight! Idling is not allowed. Get up and move!" the Administrator ordered, and so everyone did, not wanting to disobey her.
Very cautiously, the mercenaries got out of their respective spawns and advanced towards the middle control point. The BLU sniper took some moments longer to pull the will he needed to walk towards a high cliff, his sniper nest, and start working again. Taking a deep breath, he zoomed in his Machina and looked for REDs. In reality, the Australian wasn't attempting to shoot anyone, as taking someone's life wasn't his intention.
Meanwhile, the BLU spy, disguised as an enemy medic, was trying his best to pretend he was the real one. If heavy found out his lover was gone, and because of him, the French would certainly get killed, and that clearly wasn't what he wanted. He felt sorry for taking his German boyfriend's life away, and thus, continued acting so that the Russian wouldn't feel so lonely. As the impostor heard the Administrator saying that they would have to fight again, he knew he was in trouble. He had to escape, but wouldn't be capable of taking another life to do so, the guilt he felt was already overwhelming.
The RED heavy, followed by spy, was heading to the frontlines, ready for the combat. Looking for a chance to sneak away and run back to his base, the masked BLU waited at the RED spawn. Noticing how the fake medic was standing still strangely instead of following him, the heavy called him out:
"Doktor! Come help me!" his voice held the affection he had for his lover.
To avoid any suspicion, spy acted accordingly. At some point around the exit though, he pretended to be injured and tried to come up with an excuse to run back to his base.
"Heavy, go ahead, I vill just take a health pack over there and then meet you again." he lied, hoping that heavy would leave him alone so that he could flee.
"No, doktor, it is dangerous here, I will come with you." the bulky man answered. "I will not lose you." he then embraced the French gently.
And that's when spy's life went downhill. Heavy remembered the scent of roses and cigarettes he had smelt earlier and found out the true identity of his "teammate". At the moment the BLU's disguise wore off, he could see a long dagger embroidered with oriental ornaments in his right hand, dirtied with blood. The Russian suddenly realized his lover was dead, and the man in front of him was an impostor and murderer. The French tried, in a moment of despair, to pick up his Dead Ringer, but the other mercenary instantaneously took it off his hand. He grabbed the BLU violently by his collar and roared:
"Dirty spy, you killed my doktor?!"
"It was... not my intention... I'm very sorry for your loss..." spy looked down, as if he was trying to excuse himself of his actions.
"Why did you do that?! You know he will never come back!" heavy already was in the verge of tears. His anguish and suffering could be felt in his words. No physical pain he had ever felt before could compare to the one he felt inside him at that instant: All he could think was "Why?! Why him?!".
"It was right before the respawn stopped working, I swear I didn't mean to take his life away, forever." the endangered mercenary tried to apologize for what he had done, but it didn't seem to work.
Heavy knocked the BLU to the wall and started hitting him, expressing all the fury, bitterness and sorrow he felt. The French didn't even react, as he felt miserable and disgusting: he deserved it, he was a murderer. The RED was suffering, so he would have to go through it too. His mind was clouded and his eyes were empty, he just waited for his enemy to kill him, and then it all would be over.
The Russian couldn't ratiocinate, hatred and desire for revenge took over him. At the same time, beautiful recordations that had been shared with medic emerged from his mind, which only made his misery worsen: their fights side by side, their gentle, warm hugs and kisses, the sweet words they had once shared. These things would never come back, and he knew it. He knew it and it hurt.
Spy's consciousness was fading, his senses were weakening, but, in the middle of the chaos, a thought crossed his mind. What about sniper, his lover? He was surely waiting for him to come back, so that they could share kind words and gestures after the battle as they always did, so that they could hug each other and share a drink after a long, stressful day. If he never came back, how would he feel?
That thought was what gave him will to live. The one thing that made him struggle to survive, the only thing that still mattered to him. Spy tried to free himself of the bigger man, just so that he wouldn't get crushed against the wall.
The commotion the fight caused made sniper get up from his nest and head closer to the source of it in an attempt to find out what was happening. When he believed that nothing would be able to surprise him, he had a view that sent a chill through his bones. Seeing his lover pressed against the wall and getting fiercely punched by the RED, he quickly scoped his Machina and aimed it at the enemy's head, in hopes of saving the Frenchman. For the first time in his life, his hands shook as he held the rifle. Thousands of thoughts crossed his mind. He didn't understand what was going on and how spy was still alive, he just knew he had to act, and quickly.
Bang.
The shot went right through heavy's head...
... But also ended up hitting spy's chest.
Sniper rapidly walked down the stairs and runned towards his beloved, holding him tight in his arms. He felt the blood that had soaked the mercenary's blue suit and was flowing out of his body. Tears immediately filled the Australian's eyes as he looked at spy, who tried his best to fake a confident smile.
"What is wrong, bushman? That is not usual of you, 'cheer up, mate!'"
"You bloody spook, why d'you always have to be so careless?" he shouted.
"Sorry, mon cher, it seems I couldn't run this time, as the filthy snake I am, right?" the French replied sarcastically.
"Please, stop this, can't you take this seriously and be sincere for once? I-I'm so scared, please, don't leave me..."
"Before... before I go, I just want to tell you something." spy whispered, his words sounded honest and urgent.
"..........................................."
"What? I-I can't hear you."
Sniper leaned in to hear exactly what the dying man was trying to say, and, in that moment, spy pulled him to a passionate and tender kiss. Though the French's strength was fading, as he had lost a lot of blood, he still gripped his beloved firmly. Both stayed like this, enjoying the last moments they would have together. Then, spy loosened his hand from sniper's and closed his eyes.
"You bloody spook, don't you dare die, bloody hell!" panicking, the Australian couldn't do anything to help the other. His teammates were too far to help, the blood loss had been too significant.
"Au revoir, mon amour. We shall meet again."
Spy was gone.
He was dead and nothing could be done to change this. Sniper analyzed his situation. The one and only he had loved for his entire life was dead, by his own fault. Maybe if he wasn't so nervous when aiming at heavy, he wouldn't have hit spy too. If his hands weren't trembling that much, if the tears weren't blurring his vision... But none of this mattered anymore. The actions he had made couldn't be modified.
The Australian breathed deeply and tried to focus. What would he do now? The respawn was broken and he hadn't only killed one person, but two, one of which was his own teammate. He was a murderer, they would never come back. Heavy was, obviously, an enemy, who was attempting to kill spy, but he was still a human. And spy, oh, his own lover, was killed by his very hands. The French was the reason sniper laughed, cried, got angry and annoyed; he made him feel like he had a place in that world. Without him, he would be incomplete, his life would lose its purpose.
Sniper tried to imagine the rest of his life without his boyfriend. It would be dull, dreadful, and colorless, without the joy spy used to bring. And what's more, what would the rest of the team, if there was still a team after this bloodbath, think about what he did? They would be terrified by the fact that he had killed two men; he wouldn't, under any circumstances, be forgiven by his crimes.
He inhaled once more. There was only one way out of this. He reached for spy's revolver, which was right besides him, lying on the floor, and pointed it at his own head.
"So, in the end, I'll be able to meet you." those were his last words. Then he pulled the trigger.