Engineer was camped out in his corner of the living room, surrounded by tools and broken scraps of metal. He hummed as he worked, the low noise fading in and out of notice though it remained forever in tune.

Demo lay slumped in the opposite corner, drinking down enough moonshine to kill a normal man. He was only mildly buzzed. If his one eye kept darting to the door, it was just a side effect of the alcohol.

Soldier was busying himself in the kitchen. The counter that separated the two rooms was strewn with rations dating back to World War One. With no-nonsense efficiency he organized the tin containers in the cupboards based on how much hot sauce it took to make them edible.

Scout was in what counted as the BLU supply room, residing between the main entrance and the living room. A large empty crate was laid on its side. He swung his bat with precision and sent a dozen makeshift baseballs flying into it before gathering them and starting again.

Sniper was holed up in the small crawlspace above the front door with his coffee mug and mason jars. His scope was not focused on the enemy base; instead it swung left to right and back again across the wasteland in between.

With the possible exception of Scout, none of them would ever admit that they were waiting up for their absent Spy. Their unspoken worry was fitting, as it was the unexpected soft spot Spy had developed for them that led to his capture at the hands of the RED medic. Things never end well when you care.

Except for those times it does just to prove you wrong.

I staggered in on still-weak legs somewhere around four in the morning.

I ignored the slight sounds of Sniper making his way out of the crawlway above my head; I was too tired and shaken to fight off whatever retribution he'd have in store if I suggested he gave a damn, so I kept my mockery to myself. I passed the open supply room doors without Scout noticing, the boy too intent on trying to knock the bottom out of the crate with his swings. When I stepped into the living room, Demo and Soldier tried not to look too interested in my safe return and both failed miserably.

Though I never would have thought it when I met him, Engineer is a very perceptive man. He could tell something was very off as soon as I entered his line of vision, but he said nothing. Instead he looked at me the way he'd look at a difficult piece of malfunctioning machinery as I sank to the couch and pulled out my cigarette case. The soothing smoke filling my lungs helped calm my nerves and my confused mind, though not by much.

"Okay, Spy," Engineer said at last, the slightest hint of concern creeping into his voice, "what happened out there?"

"I... am not sure." I replied. The look on his face said that wasn't nearly good enough. I took another long drag and tried to collect my thoughts.

Sniper must have tipped off the kid for Scout was suddenly bounding into the room with far too much energy for such a late hour. He flopped over the back of the couch and grinned at me.

"See, Engie? I told'ya he'd be back."

Engineer was still waiting for my answer. I still didn't know how to respond, so instead I removed a few dented and cracked components from my jacket and rolled them across the floor to him.

"Our Sniper did some damage today. These were left out on the medic's desk." And how much of a buffoon was I to not realize until I was climbing out? The whole ordeal could have been avoided... though I'm not entirely sure I would have wanted to avoid it. My hands still trembled.

"Did you get laid or somethin'?"

Were I not the suave and steady gentleman that I am I would have dropped smoldering ash into my lap. Appearing suddenly, quickly, and without warning, thus is the way of Scout's fighting and his insights. He and Engineer were fully aware of my suppressed reaction. Soldier's clanging about with our rations decreased somewhat so he picked up on it too. No telling whether Demo was paying attention or if Sniper was still lurking within earshot.

With a long sigh forming a cloud of wispy white smoke before me, I decided to hell with it.

"The medic does not remember his dreams."

"Aw man," Scout exclaimed, slipping towards the front of the couch. "You mean it didn't work at all?"

"No, he remembered the 'dreams' I caused. Just not any others in his lifetime."

Engineer's grip on his wrench tightened.

"Yes," I nodded in confirmation, "he discovered me."

"Whaaaaaaat?" Scout asked in disbelief as he fell forward onto the taped cushions. He righted himself and looked at me with flabbergasted disbelief. "He caught you!? How'd that happen?"

"He figured it out. Formulated a counteragent. Child's play really."

"So how'd you get away?" Scout asked with his copyright enthusiasm. "Get him in the kidneys? Pop him one on the back of the neck?"

It was only then I realized that his heart monitor must have been off for our activities to go unnoticed. I should have killed him when I had the chance.

Ah well, spilt milk. And they were waiting for an answer. "He... let me go."

A long silence. "Come again?"

I frowned into the distance beyond those concrete walls, still incredulous myself. There was no possibility of my leaving that room alive and yet there I sat. Still breathing, still intact, unharmed aside from a few shallow lines on my skin. Were it not for those cuts I might have thought it all a dream.

Still too scattered to evade the question, and too tired to care, I simply told them what happened.

"Fag," came Demo's slurred conclusion when I reached the... 'fun' part. I was tempted to throw in a few juicy details just to see the look on his face, but decided against it. That memory was mine and mine alone.

"Well," Engineer said gruffly, cutting through my pondering, "he was still gonna kill you, right?"

I lit off another cigarette and considered the question.

"I can only guess why he let me go," I said at length, recalling the odd look on his face when he told me to get out. "Perhaps he was still raw from the realization that his feelings for their sniper would never be returned and clung to whatever he could." Finally regaining control enough to be the bastard I am, I looked over my shoulder at Demo. "Or maybe I was just that good of a screw."

He said something unintelligible, and Soldier answered in agreement by banging around the ration tins and little harder than he usually did. I turned back and smiled to myself; I really was fortunate to be in this collection of lunatics. No other party had ever been as tolerant of my 'deviances.'

"So, Spy, how was he?"

I laughed out loud. There'd definitely never been a team as openly accepting. Scout asked the question as if I were just another member of his hometown baseball team, drinking a beer and talking about their girls in less than gentlemanly terms. He never ceased to surprise me.

"It was..." I said with some flourish, recalling the events to mind with the slightest hint of a lecherous smile, "It was the best of my life."

"Ain't that a disappointment?" Scout asked as the others drifted off to their own tasks and sleep. "If you're never gettin' any better than that?"

I tapped my temple. "Videographic memory." The reason why I was drafted into the espionage program. A helpful tool, both in the professional and personal worlds.

"Hah. Got ya own porn studio in your head, huh?" He leaned back and yawned sleepily. "You would get off on a giant saw."

"It's a fair sight better than getting off on baking skills."

"You've obviously never had a good home cooked apple pie."

"What, better than sex?"

"Ehhh... they score the same."

I rolled my eyes, added another burn to the armrest, and stumbled off to my own room to recover. Tomorrow would be another day in BLU, with the added bonus of a pissed off German wielding toxic chemicals and jagged metal. I had no doubt that the momentary lapse in judgment that allowed my escape would not be repeated, and I would return with equal violence.

Besides, the affair would lose all its magic if any silly feelings appeared. It was nothing more or less than a gloriously lustful and honest meeting of two desperate bodies. Twisted, to be sure, but that's what made it perfect.