Chapter Text
Spy sat quietly in his designated seat as the administrator spoke over the recording. Spy's brow is at a permanent crease as cigarette smoke curled round his hidden facial features.
“You are to retrieve Intelligence from an off the grid facility; based in Australia. You are to not damage or look at the intelligence's contents and bring it directly back to the R.E.D headquarters you currently sit in. If all is clear you and your partner in this transaction depart tomorrow's noon and get on a Mann.co private plane to Australia not a moment later.” The video ends and Spy scowled.
Miss Pauling pulled her laptop back to face her and cleared her throat, “Do you understand your assignment?” She asked neatening her bun and Spy made an obviously disapproving snarl.
“Very clear, Mon cher.”
Miss Pauling nods in approval, not picking up on his irritation, “Who are you taking with you? I’ll have to keep Medic from you as usual, he is the only doctor allowed on Mann.co owned property like this.”
“No one. I don’t need help.” He said rather bitterly before Pauling looked up with an equally stern look at him.
“Pick a partner, Spy.” She pouted.
“Non. I don’t need someone dragging behind me or giving my position away-”
“Fine. I’ll choose for you.”
Spy folded his arms with his own moody pout knowing he wasn’t getting out this now.
“You’re going to Australia. Luckily you have a team mate with experience with that terrain.” She said as she packed up her things. The spy sat up looking worried as he spoke, “No…”
“Go tell Sniper to pack. Good luck, Spy.” With that Miss. Pauling leaves quickly late for a meeting and Spy just slumped in his chair in a grump.
Sniper was snoring, laying face down in his sad looking bed, drooling slightly. There's a Kiwi plush under his head as a makeshift pillow and he looks like he wasn’t planning on waking up early that morning. When he does wake he jumps awake to a knock on his van door.
With his eyes still closed he pulled his small window at his bed side open before yelling, “WHAT!”
“Mon dieu, Sniper. It is 12PM. Let me in.” Spy’s irritated voice called out. The van rocked a bit; signifying Sniper was moving about. He opened the door rubbing his eyes as he turned around rummaging around his van looking for his vest. Sniper doesn’t fully acknowledge Spy at all and does his own thing.
Spy stepped in and held his posture in his usual perfection before clearing his throat. When Sniper still didn't turn around he rolled his eyes. “Sniper. I need your attention for this one.”
“Yeah! I’m listenin’” He grumbled as he pulled out his vest and shrugged it on. Spy moved and sat at Sniper's small table puffing out some smoke as he did.
“Eh… want a coffee?”
“Can you make one in this box of parts?”
“No…” Sniper had his same blank expression not really thinking further than Spy saying no. Spy sighed and carried on, knowing Sniper was bad at starting a conversation; let alone keeping one. “We are being sent on an intel retrieve mission and they want you to accompany me.”
“That means I can’t sleep in…” Spy’s brows raised in a surprised manner, it astonished him how lazy one man could be. “No! Of course not!”
“Oh” Sniper was still rather deadpan as he twiddled his thumbs. “Why me?”
“Cause the base we need to sneak into is in Australie.”
“Wha-”
“Your god forbidden home.” He verbally huffed, rolling his eyes, hoping it would wake the aussie up faster.
“Ah…” Sniper sat there for a moment before standing and sighing. “Shame really. I was hoping to go for a drive.” He began to remove his shirt and vest again and Spy scowled.
“What are you doing?”
“Going back to bed.” Sniper said simply before Spy stood and left, “Be ready at 10… AM!” The spy then leaves.
Sniper yawned as he had a duffle bag on his back and his rifle slung over his stomach. The spy on the other hand simply had what was already on him, a few cigarette boxes, his disguise kit, cloaking watch, knife and gun. All neatly hidden in his suit. Sniper scratched at his stubble as the door to the plane dropped for them both to climb in.
Spy sat on the opposite side of the plane compared to Sniper. Not that it made much difference because Sniper wasn’t gonna bother him while he was still half asleep anyway.
Sniper clearly had something on his mind, Spy had taken enough lessons to know when a man was panicking or not; and Sniper had a tell. It was subtle, not one any agent would pick up on if they were just meeting the man. When worried or under internal stress, Sniper often went distant behind the eyes. Looking off somewhere while whatever he was thinking would probably flood his mind; He always had such a pitiful expression when he did this certain tell. The type of tell when the man put the phone back on its rest after bickering with his parents again.
Yes, Spy had spied, no fuckin’ surprise there. But he often wondered how a killer of Sniper's status could still be so sentimental over his mommy…
…
…
He often wondered if it was weird he didn’t miss his family too. I mean the evidence points to himself as the outlier. The Russian sent postcards. The boy visited his mother once a month. But this same thought always made Spy think the same things.
The Man misses his parents→ He mocks him quietly→ Wonders if he's really the odd one→ Remembers there's nothing waiting for him after this but more service in espionage…
No family. The flight was mostly uneventful and Sniper was either snoozing or fiddling with his rifle.
When they do eventually land, Sniper breathes the air in with a grin, “Nothin’ like home!”
The spy scowled, already feeling how hot those sun rays were. “An oven?”
“Cheer up, Mate. Think of this as a big playing field you need to tame.” Spy simply scowled before chucking his cigarette bud aside and starting to walk towards the car. Sniper chucked his bag into the open topped range rover in the back seat.
Hopping in with the joy of a man who felt in his element. The spy sat in the passenger seat and went to light another cigarette.
“What’s wrong, Spook? Forgot to have your breakfast ciggy?” He laughs out as he turns the key in the car making it roar to life, Spy sneered, rising to the argument with arrogant confidence.
“Don’t talk to me like you didn’t. Listen to that laugh!”
“Ooo hit a nerve did I?” The car springs into action and Sniper removes his hat to be sure it wouldn’t fly away, chucking it on Spy’s lap. The spy looked disgusted but rested his hand on top of it after a while.
They had been driving nearly an hour and Spy had undone his collar ready for the heat to hit him when they stopped. “Ya know. If you weren't so fancily wrapped up you wouldn’t be so warm all the time.”
“Excuse you but I’d rather keep my dignity in sweating suits than your rugged scraps!” The spy scowled.
“Blimey! If I didn't know better, I’d say you aren’t fond of me!” The sniper chuckled as the car began to slow. The spy just rolled his eyes as a response.
As the car stopped, they had come to a ghost town clearly no longer in use. “Hm perfect place to hide our get-away-buggy, no?” Sniper grinned, taking his hat back and plopping it back on. Sniper hops out the car and slings his bag over his shoulder again. “It is clearly just filled with his weapons because it rattled as he walked off. Spy pouted already feeling the sun, Spy walks up beside him and they once again begin bickering.
“So we can take the front, there should be some woods surrounding the area we can hide our approach in.”
“Oui, I know!” He grouched as he loosened his tie a bit. Sniper raised his brow at Spy before removing his hat and popping it on Spy’s head. “Bet that feels better on your head?” Sniper smirked and Spy tutted before speaking up in his usual elegant bitchery, “Listen! You are here as my bodyguard! So you follow me!”
“Am I now?!” Sniper grinned again as he leant over not taking Spy seriously at all.
Spy preferred sleep deprived Sniper more than this one…
After another hour of walking they reached a more wooded area and Spy leant against a tree taking Sniper's hat from his head and fanning himself with it. “Merde…” Spy felt his head go fuzzy, all he wanted to do was take a really cold shower, or lie on a cold tiled floor like in their respawn rooms. Suddenly, rough dusty hands holding a water pouch were offered to him. “Come on! Drink!”
Spy looked up and Sniper looked amazing, really in his element, he was probably sweating just as much Spy was shown by the sweat flattened hairline, but he still stood tall and ready to continue. Not to mention this was probably the most styling he had seen the aussies hair in, slipped back from constant tugging of weary hands. Spy took the water pouch in his hand and just as he was about to take a sip he paused and scowled at Sniper.
Sniper looked over before having to double take with a defensive, “What?!” It then registered what Spy may think, making him scowl with an irritated grin, “OH come on! I don’t feed my mates piss!”
“I heard what you did to the Blu Spy.”
“Yeah, that's different.”
The spy looked at him in pure disgust before sniffing the water pouch and taking slow sips.
“There we are.” Sniper smiled before being given the pouch back.
Not long after they reached they had reached an overlook on the base. It wasn’t too big but Spy knew not to underestimate his targets. Sniper was beside him fixing his rifle together and looking through his scope at the windows.
The base was clearly an intelligence base disguised as dam management. They were on the top of a medium sized dam surrounded by hot muggy woodland and beyond that desert like land scapes, then Sniper spoke up. “Hehe you gonna sneak in as a dingo?”, Spy rolled his eyes, “Non! You have the stench for a dog! You sneak in as a ‘DIN-GO’. I’ll write it on your tombstone!” They both held stubborn glares at each other, Sniper was always a little speechless when the Frenchman mocked his accent with cunning clarity.
“You are simply my cover. I go in, grab the case, and you shoot anyone who follows me out.”
“If you’re sure!” Sniper huffs as he lies down on his stomach and starts looking over the building.
“Certain!”
“Opening on the dam's edge, they have a loading door open. Enough room for your scrawny ass.”
“Must you be so crude!” Spy hisses, as he stumbles down the first ledge towards the opening Sniper identified.