Chapter Text
The two RED mercenaries, Scout and Sniper were currently exploring the outside area of the base of Standin one night. The Aussie had told the runner that there had been a special place he wanted to show him out beyond the forest near the lake. Just shortly after the match and they'd gotten washed up, Scout tagged along to follow him.
It was a bit of a walk but they had finally reached it after trekking through the forest and over near the rocky surfaced lake.
Scout swore, nearly slipping as his shoes caught in the mud that was near the water. “Great. This better be worth it, man. My shoes are caked in mud. You're lucky they're not my Jays.”
“Trust me, it's worth it. A little mud on your pretty little shoes isn't gonna kill you,” Sniper said ahead of him, not looking back as he ducked under a low tree branch.
Scout glanced at the star scattered sky above, grumbling somewhat as they approached a low grotto between a hill. Shrubbery hung down and mud caked around the stone walls. He leaned down, hearing a low rumbling sound. It sounded like water splashing or echoing off the walls inside. “We're going in there?”
Sniper seemed somewhat amused by his disgust. “Yep. Just lean down, it'll get a bit cold. Hope you brought swimming trunks.”
“I didn't. Not that I'd swim in that gross water anyway. Probably has parasites or something,” Scout grimaced, watching the man walk into the shallow water.
“Do you listen to everything Medic tells you? You'll be fine, it's just a bit of cave water.” He seemed to have a good laugh at that.
The kid glared. “No.” He wished he had a comeback for that but he didn't. He often did listen to what Medic told him after he'd been tired of getting constantly scolded.
Eventually, he mustered up the courage to step into the shallow, murky water and followed after him with a sigh. He traced his finger along the rocky walls with mild interest. He rubbed a gooey substance between his fingers that clung to the walls. With a disgusted grimace, he wiped it across his red shirt. "So," he began slowly, his voice echoing around. "Anyone else know about this place?"
Sniper splashed through the shallow water they tramped through. "Nah, mate. Just you and me. Didn't really favor the idea of all the team making a mess of this place. Nature shouldn't be too disturbed after all."
Scout took a brief look around, observing a large group of stalagmites further in they moved pass. Stalactites and dolomite ran along the walls and ceiling here and there the further they went in, not that he knew what any of it was. It was somewhat interesting, not that he'd admit that out loud. He'd never been much for nature though.
"Hm, don't see what's so special about this cave," he muttered, tugging on his dogchains slightly as the cave got darker the more they went in. Thankfully, Sniper pulled out a flashlight as if on cue, shining it ahead at the water.
"Oh, you'll see, mate," Sniper grinned, signaling him to hurry up.
The runner sighed in boredom, quickening his pace and causing more water to splash their clothes.
"Whoa, what the – what are those? Radioactive crystals or some crap?" Scout questioned as they approached a larger, lit up area where the water began to deepen more. There were various crystals scattered along the walls. White, blue and red, all glowing a shimmering hue.
Sniper brushed his fingers lightly across one of the bright crystals protruding from the wall near them. "I don't know. They look like some form of Quartz with the body of it. Maybe a type of undiscovered crystal? Can't say I've ever seen one like it before. Regardless, they're bloody beautiful though, aren't they?" It felt smooth across the surface of it, the tip of it rather sharp to the touch.
Scout gasped, not as much out of awe though. "Really? Dude! Imagine if you could mine those out and sell some of these! We'd be so rich! Like, imagine we're the first people to find these, that'd be —"
Sniper turned to him tight-lipped. "Scout, we're not going to take these."
He scowled. "Why not?"
"Well, for starters, I brought you down here to appreciate and look at all of nature's beauty in here. Not for you to take it —"
"It's not yours."
"— and secondly, this is obviously TF Industries property, meaning the Administrator. Y'know mate, our boss? I'm pretty sure stealing crystals from this cave won't make her too happy if she found out where we obtained them. For all we know, she could be mining down here already, or —"
"She can't see us! We're out of her range down here."
The huntsman gave him another disapproving look. "And that's another thing, we're not even supposed to really be off-bounds anyway. I just came down here to show you this place real quick."
Scout folded his arms. "Well, you brought me down here. That's your fault if we get in trouble,” he muttered.
Sniper held his disapproving look.
The runner let out an exasperated sigh. "Fiiiine, I won't take the crystals. Not that I was gonna anyway."
Sniper rolled his eyes, adjusting his hat as he turned back ahead. He continued walking, the sloshing of water bouncing off the cave's surroundings. "C'mon, let's go. There's another part of the cave ahead I wanted to show you. There's this real beautiful water that shines with the moon, it's a bloody amazing sight.”
“Right, right,” he muttered, followed after the huntsman hesitantly. He seemed to linger though, looking back at the crystals a moment.
"Keep up, mate!" the older man called back, a few paces ahead of him.
Scout folded his arms. “I'm coming, jeez! This water is freaking freezing, you know.” He stomped after him. "I could easily beat you to wherever we're going if I wanted to anyway."
Sniper chuckled. "I don't think you'd beat me in a swimming competition. Ain't no running in this water, piker.”
“I can swim just as fast, the hell do you mean?” he challenged, catching up to him. The water level was up to their knees now as they continued along. He was fairly certain that it wouldn't get any deeper than this though.
They walked down a dark, echoing hall in the cave which was covered in staglimites. There were several areas they could go through but the Aussie seemed to know his way as he lead them through. The crevice was a bit lower though and more narrow as they inched through.
Scout grimaced, feeling a bit more uneasy as he moved through the smaller space behind him. The flashlight only did so much to help with how dark it was in here. The water was getting up to their waist now. His lower half was icy cold, it was not a pleasant feeling. And maybe he felt just a little claustrophobic. “Hey, Snipes, maybe we should turn back. Are you sure you know where we're going? I mean, what if this cave collapses or something? We're wedged between a really narrow space here.”
Sniper scoffed. “Aren't you a worry wart? We'll be fine. Been in here a couple times, the walls are fairly stable, even when a stalagmite or two have fallen in the water. Those made quite the splash, I was soaked to the bone.”
Scout shivered at a chill running up his spine. “Yeah, but I'm also freezing my balls off here! You didn't say the water would get this deep. I feel like I'm standing in ice water from— from the arctic ocean—”
"I did mention the swimming trunks,” he chuckled, “And what didja' expect anyway? A jacuzzi? It's an underground cave, meaning it's quite cold below the surface. Besides, you accepted the invitation to come along. You didn't have to, mate."
Scout stuck out his lower lip. "I didn't mean it like that. Of course I wanted to come but you didn't tell me I'd have to go swimming in— in ice! I would've brought my swim trunks along at least if that was the deal. My jeans are soaked."
"I thought you were concerned about parasites,” came the amused smile from the man.
Scout scowled again. “You know what I mean. This isn't the most ideal clothes for a midnight dive into a lake.”
“Heh, well, don't know if you would wanna wear trunks when there's creatures lurking in the water anyway. They'd be swimming around your body, trying to nip ya'. Those jeans will probably protect you from one of them munching up a leg or two. Or worse." He gestured to his lower regions. “Wouldn't that be a sight.”
A silence broke between the two shortly after that, the only noise the swishing water echoing off the walls.
Sniper eventually looked over in the narrow space, shining the light on the kid. He snickering at Scout's silence as the kid had apparently stopped walking. "I'm joking, mate.”
Scout blinked, seeming almost pale in the darkness. "Oh … right." He stared down at the water uncertainly.
Sniper raised a brow. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you there."
He glared. "I'm not scared! I'm just... just concerned is all."
"'About creatures swimming in your pants?"
"Shut up, man."
The huntsman laughed again, using his arms to move through the resistant water, striding through without difficulty.
Eventually they came out of the narrow space, much to Scout's relief. They came into a larger room of crystals with deepening water but they weren't quite to this glowing pool that Sniper spoke of yet.
After around five more minutes, they arrived near the large room with the sparkling water. Their heads were the only thing not immersed as they swam towards the body of water ahead. It'd gotten deep enough to the point they could no longer walk through. There had been a few loud complaints about that from the kid but he kept following regardless.
The Bostonian struggled to keep his head afloat as he followed after his teammate.
Sniper look back at him, easily staying up to his shoulders. He shone the flashlight in his direction that he held above water. "You alright?" he smiled slightly.
Scout glared at his amusement, squinting at the beam of light at his eyes. He just nodded his head slightly as he kicked his feet frantically. "'I'm fine," he huffed between clenched teeth as he fought the deep water.
The Aussie shrugged and continued to swim. "Alright."
Soon, they made it into the moonlight reflected water. Despite Scout's struggling, he was instantly in awe at the sight.
Around them were towering cave walls with a large crack above in the ceiling, letting moonlight stream onto the water. The full moon created a sparkling look to the dark blue water. The body of water between these walls was enormous, a vast pool sitting in the midst of the rocky shoreline around.
In addition, the most amazing of all was the colorful, glowing crystals from before that were scattered on the ceiling in clusters; creating an almost rainbow appearance to the water. These crystals were much larger, however, in various sizes in a beautiful display around the walls. Dangling seaweed, shrubbery and stalactites also decorated parts of the rocky walls.
"Wow." Scout couldn't deny, despite the cold and the effort to swim here, he was quite amazed. Maybe it was just a little worth it, just to see this glimmering room. It was enough to distract him from how uncomfortable he was as well.
"Amazing, isn't it?" The Australian said, looking at him. He smiled as he tipped his akubra upwards to look at the view. Even with his tinted aviators, he was still able to see sight just as well. He turned off his flashlight since it wasn't needed in this bright of a room.
Scout nodded, his mouth gaping. "Yeah. Okay, I admit, this is pretty cool," he laughed slightly.
Sniper elbowed him, splashing water. “I told you, didn't I? Can't say you've seen something like this everyday. We're probably the only ones to have.” They swam more into the water until they came directly below the moonlight's rays streaming down. They gazed up at the full moon from the hole above, listening to the echoes of the cave.
"Who knew something like this could be hidden near a base like Standin, huh?" Sniper asked.
The runner nodded again though he seemed distracted with swimming, his head bobbing down slightly.
Sniper raised a brow, amused. "You need any help there?"
He gave him an annoyed expression. "No, I'm okay."
"You sure?"
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"Really? Because you look like you're going under—"
"Snipes!" He slapped his hand on the water, the motion nearly making him lose concentration.
"Alright, alright." He held up his hands. "Just don't want to have to save you from drowning, mate."
"Haha, funny." He rolled his eyes, running a wet hand through his hair. "I'm not gonna drown, man."
"Well, I know you're not the best swimmer on the team. Not to make fun of you but I'm just tryin' to—" Suddenly, he gasped, moving closer to Scout. "Bloody hell!"
Scout paled, swimming a bit more frantically in place. "What? What!?"
"Some bloody, giant— thing just slithered across my back!"
Scout widened his eyes, gawking as he looked around. “What!? Where? Where is it?” He moved around in the water a moment before he slowed. He turned slowly towards him, eyes narrowing. "Waaait ... No, it didn't. You're just trying to scare me, aren't you?"
Sniper cocked a brow, baffled. "What? No, I'm not! I'm serious, mate! I just felt something moving down there.”
“This is just like earlier when you joked about creatures being in the water. We both know there ain't a freaking ten foot gator or something in here.”
“I didn't say it was a gator, you bloody— those wouldn't even be in this kind of water! It's a gator!” He shook his head, huffing. “That's besides the point. I think we need to get out of the water. It jus—" He yelped this time, thrashing around in the water backwards. "My foot! It's wrapped around my foot!"
The runner looked away with a scoff, folding his arms. "Yeah, okay, you can joke all you want! I'm not falling for it, Snipes. Nu-uh!"
The huntsman's head suddenly bolted under the water.
Scout jerked, staring at the bubbles surfacing. He was silent for a second. "What … Snipes?" His eyes darted around, his hands pushing through the water. "Sniper. This crap isn't freaking funny! Quit it!"
Sniper's hat came up up to the top of the disturbed water slowly in his place. Then his flashlight as it bobbed.
“Holy –“ The kid's jaw opened, shaking slightly. All earlier amusement melted away as fear replaced it. He swore, his hands frantically swimming, his legs kicking him away. “Sniper!?"
There was unfortunately no reply, only a few air bubbles floating to the surface.
"Sniper!?"
...
“Sniper!?”
...
"SNIPER!"
The dark blue abyss was all he saw as he was dragged under by some kind of limb wrapped around his foot. The freezing water rushed past his plugging ears, his lungs burning as he struggled to hold the little air he had grabbed. He kicked and clawed at the water in an attempt to free himself, but the thing kept its grip. He tried to dig his fingers against the thing, having a hard time bending down with the water rushing past him.
As the limb stopped its descent, two more appeared from the darkness and came towards him. The second wrapped around his arms and waist, and the third around his other foot.
He squinted in the dark water, quickly identifying these limbs as some sort of tentacles. They appeared rather similar to that of a octopus, with suckers lined along them that held him. The limbs had a brighter blue hue in the dark of the water.
He blinked rapidly, in a good deal of pain from the water pressure. He felt his head and chest pounding as he increasingly lost oxygen he was holding. His chest tightened in on itself.
This— isn't good, I'm gonna pass out, he thought. The tentacles held him in place as he wriggled and struggled though.
Just then, in the darkness, the creature connected to these tentacles began to come into view, and he was able to make it out. The limbs holding him were connected to a large bundle of even more tentacles. Above those was a smaller torso, human, in shape. Pinstriped, blue attire, looking to be a familiar suit with a tie. A suit he so dearly hated on a daily basis. Two arms and a head, also human— familiar.
A familiar face. A mask. The BLU Spy's mask.
Sniper's eyes widened, his mouth opening. The shock was enough to snap him more conscious. What the hell? He stared, making out the outline of the mask, that familiar face in the dark depths. Those nearly glowing, blue eyes. He knew those blue eyes. It was definitely him, somehow.
Am I hallucinating? No, this can't be real. BLU Spy can't be here. Can't be a … a bloody …
BLU Spy widened his eyes, looking just as surprised as he stared at Sniper. A moment of shock was shared between them as they floated there.
Sniper was torn from his thoughts when he couldn't hold his breath any longer. His lungs gave out as water flooded into his throat forcibly. He choked, his chest tightening painfully as he tried to draw in oxygen but only gulped down mouthful after mouthful of murky, cold water.
He struggled in the tentacles' grip as he shook his head as bubbles exploded around his face.
BLU Spy watched silently with an unreadable look on his face. Then the tentacles quickly released around his body and slithered a few inches away from him.
Sniper kicked his feet a bit, weakly trying to swim upwards once the opportunity arose. Water stopped flooding his throat at least but his epiglottis had closed over his airway. His vision started to feel darker than it already was down here. The moonlit surface looked so far away from above. His arm reached out to it, weakening and slowing in movement.
He blinked, starting to black out as he gasped. His lungs burned, his head feeling like cement. He could only float there silently, unable to find enough strength to move after a few moments of struggling.
The Spy stared at him, swimming closer to him with his tentacles help from behind.
Sniper found darkness closing around his vision as he opened his eyes weakly one last time. He numbly noticed a gloved hand clasp his cheek. Blue orbs stared back at him in the dark. He blinked one last time before succumbing to the darkness.
"Oh my god! You're— you're okay!" said a frightened, Bostonian voice next to him.
The Australian couldn't reply as he coughed up water while he held himself up by his hands and knees. His body shook violently, his chest and face burning. He retched and gagged, staring down at the water leaving his lungs, as well as whatever he ate earlier that day.
Once he got it all out of his system, he dragged in as much oxygen as he could gather. It felt awful to breathe but also relieving to a great deal.
He took raspy, wet breaths, coughing a bit in-between.
Scout watched with concern near him, sitting on his knees on the damp, rocky shore near the edge of the water.
Sniper flopped onto his side, continuing to breath laboriously as the young mercenary started to talk quickly.
"I am so glad you're okay, Sniper! I-I mean ... when I saw you go under, and didn't come back up, I started to think something ate you and I was next! Then you suddenly just floated to the surface unconscious and weren't m-moving!" He ran a hand through his hair as he paced the rocky shore, trying to calm himself.
"I thought you were dead but then I heard a faint heartbeat. You just weren't breathing. So, I swam you over to the small shore around the water— almost drowned myself trying to drag you. Then I gave you the Heimlich maneuver. Medic taught me that one actually – and because obviously, you know, no way I'm doing mouth to mouth. I mean, we're close but not that close, you know?”
Sniper made a low sound nearby, barely listening frankly.
“You didn't start choking up water until the fourth try, and—and now you're okay! I was so worried, man. I mean, what even happened? What took you?"
The huntsman lied there with his eyes closed, his breathing a bit calmer.
"Um, Snipes?"
"I'll... I'll be okay," his hoarse voice breathed out. "I just... I just... nee—need to ..." He trailed off, too tired to continue that sentence. Everything hurt. His head throbbed, his chest burned. Every breath stung as his ribcage shuddered. Honestly, he debated if letting himself drown and going through respawn would've been better.
Although, his body would've been in there until the start of the next round. That was always an unpleasant experience, as well as the mocking questions he'd receive about how one could die off the battlefield so foolishly. What BLU had he gone and ticked off this time? The BLU Spy?
And speaking of the BLU Spy... didn't he—
"I better get you to the doc," Scout interrupted. He glanced at the dangerous waters nervously. "But I really don't wanna risk going back into the water again."
Sniper could agree with him on that. He definitely did not want to go through that again. The drowning wasn't the only thing that had horrified him, it was that monstrosity below the depths. The BLU Spy. Or what used to be him anyway.
It couldn't have been him actually. That was just a hallucination, a side-effect of the water pressure or drowning ... right? It just felt so real. But even considering it actually happened was ludicrous, even far-fetched for Scout's crazy tales he often made up.
His expression creased. The way Spy looked at him though. It was as if he was saying he needed his help. Help from the enemy? Yeah, right. What a bizarre hallucination, regardless.
If it wasn't Spy though, it still didn't explain what had actually pulled him under. Maybe it was just a big blue octopus. A mutant octopus? It wasn't impossible, with the bizarre crystals and all.
"Snipes? You ... alright with that?" the kid asked, his tone a little shaky. He had been speaking before but Sniper was pretty absent concerning the conversation.
"What?” he slurred, staring at him blearily.
"I'm gonna go run and get Medic. Because Medic can probably carry your dead-weight ass with me together, it'll be a lot easier. I mean, I'm pretty strong, you know? But I was barely able to swim myself, let alone swim you over here when you were unconscious."
Sniper stared, appearing uneasy at that idea, being left alone with that creature. "You're gonna... just leave me—“ he coughed a bit violently, “— here?”
"I won't be gone long, man. Just for a little bit. I'll swim outta here as fast as I can, you're in no condition to be swimming again. You can't even move! I'm just worried drowning might have caused you like, head trauma or something. Crap like that."
Sniper shook his head, pushing himself up from the ground shakily. “No, you're... not going back in that water alone without me. Can't... have you drowning too or eaten—“
“Dude, sit down. I won't even be that long.“
“No, listen you— you bugger,” he spat, holding up a shaky finger. He was going for a swear but felt too tired to think of a word. It shut the kid up regardless. “Telling Medic... we were all the way down here, he'll wring our neck. I'd rather have drowned than get chewed out by him. We'll go back up to the surface together.”
Scout's mouth thinned. “You don't look like you're in any condition to swim.”
Sniper stumbled over to him, holding his head. He looked a little blue in the face. “I'll be fine, just … just help me over to the water.”
He sighed. “You're real stubborn, you know that? I'm surprised you even want to go in the water after what happened. I know I don't, but … I guess we got to get you out of here somehow.”
He wrapped an arm under Sniper's shoulders, stepping into the shallow part of the water at the shore. He swore, shaking his head from his nerves as he helped the disoriented man back into the water. “We'll just make a quick swim out of here and back up, right?”
Sniper nodded, not really seeming all there mentally.
Scout plunged further into the water where the deep end dropped down as he looked back at Sniper. Thankfully, the older man at least had his survival instincts intact to be able to move enough to swim. Scout had to mostly struggle to drag and swim them over to the entryway they came.
His heart hammered as they did so, ushering Sniper to hurry the hell up because he was going to get them eaten from moving this slow – but he knew the man wasn't feeling too great, so he let it mostly slide.
To both their relief, the monster from earlier did not drag either of them down and they were able to safely swim out of the moonlight pool and back into less deep water. “Close one, I-I thought for sure we might be pulled under,” Scout grinned nervously.
Sniper agreed absent-mindedly, coughing and holding his head as he pushed through the water at their chests.
“Come on, we'll get you to Medic and you'll be fine. And I swear, we ain't never going down here again. Not if the waters filled with man-eating monsters or some crap. I don't care how freaking pretty is is,” he huffed, looking back ahead as he pulled Sniper along.
Sniper at least, could agree with the kid on that.