Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Hello, Sniper.

I hope you are doing well and shooting lots of bad men in the head.

I don’t know if Misha has told you yet, but we are coming to visit! Me, Zhanna, Yana and Mother.

We will be there on October 21^st for ten days. I know. I wish it was sooner and more time, but I am very excited to see you again. It has been very long time.

I really hope you and I can get some time together, you know? Just the two of us. Maybe you will finally tell me your real name? It feels weird to call you “Sniper” even though you are boyfriend.

Will see you in less than two months! I cannot wait!

Love you and miss you,

Bronislava.

 ~

Hey love,

Hope you’re doing good, too. Hunt any bears lately? That’s a joke by the way.

Real pleased to hear you’re all coming over. That’s great. Soldier and the big guy must be excited too.

Not half as much as I am, I reckon. This whole long-distance thing just ain’t my style. I know we don’t have much of a choice, but crikey I wish we didn’t have to be apart for so long.

Already counting down the days on me calendar. We’ll have to try and make the most of it while you’re here, eh?

Don’t worry. I’ll tell you my name this time. Almost went stupid and wrote it here, but it’s a bit too risky doing it over letter. Maybe by the time this gets all the way over there you’ll already be packing your bags. Imagine that.

Miss you like crazy, Bronislava. Can’t wait until you’re in my arms again. The 21^st can’t come soon enough.

Love you too,

Sniper

Chapter Text

“Thanks for your help, mate. I put this off for way too long,” Sniper said, lifting his hat to wipe away the sweat collecting under the brim. Between the dirt and grease scattered across his hands and the dampness clinging to his shirt, he was a hot mess. It might have been October, but that didn’t mean it was cool in Badlands, especially in the middle of the day.

Even in the shade of the base’s garage, the air was thick with heat. Sniper had wanted to do this earlier in the day, but he stupidly slept in. Couldn’t catch a proper wink last night as he was way too excited about a certain someone’s arrival.

“Ain’t no thing,” Engie replied wholeheartedly, giving the torque wrench a light toss before catching it on the handle. They had just finished changing all four tires on Sniper’s van. Not a complicated job by any means, but the Aussie was no mechanic. Although he felt a bit sheepish when he remembered that Engie wasn’t either.

He cast another glance towards the road that led away from the base, hoping it wasn’t obvious. Heavy and his family were going to be here soon. Maybe in an hour; maybe in a few minutes. Either way he could barely wait. Every time he thought about Bronislava, he swore his heart gave a jolt he could physically feel within his rib cage. Hopefully it was just excitement, and not some kind of malfunction with the Uber heart beneath his chest.

Sniper hoped that she had broken the news to Heavy by now, but she hadn’t seemed so keen about the idea in their correspondence. She spoke about Heavy growing even more overprotective with her and Yana ever since Soldier and Zhanna started dating, and she was understandably nervous about what her big brother’s response would be.

Similarly, Sniper hadn’t told anyone else about them dating. He just didn’t feel ready for some reason, and he was never the type to flaunt his relationships in front of people. He could just imagine Scout or Spy making some kind of teasing comment. Although now that he thought about it, he wasn’t sure what that would even look like.

The pair had never intended for this to be a secret, but one thing led to another and it just sort of evolved that way. Even now, Sniper almost had to bite his tongue in order to stop himself from blurting out that he and Bronislava were in love. Out of everyone at the base, he trusted Engie the most. And unlike the others he was actually good at keeping secrets. Well, technically Pyro was too, but only because they were incapable of being verbally understood. Sniper had indeed considered telling his mute colleague just to get it off his chest, but never found the chance.

As Engie started packing up his tools, Sniper caught another quick glance out of the garage when he thought he heard a car coming. No, it was just a truck on the highway. Bugger.

“You alright there, stretch?” the Texan’s voice nearly made him jump; his mind preoccupied once again with the woman who would be arriving soon. “Oh, yeah…yeah I’m good,” he lied, dusting his hands off in a way that he hoped would seem casual. He never was much of an actor; that was Spy’s job.

“You just…seem a little distracted, if ya don’t mind me sayin’,” Engie continued, reaching up to adjust his goggles. The lenses were opaque and pitch-black, like two little holes, and yet he was always able to convey a surprising amount of feeling.

“Ah, yeah…” Sniper began, reaching behind to scratch between his shoulder blades. “Guess it’s the heat. I didn’t sleep good last night, either.” Not technically a lie, but it had nothing to do with how distracted he was right now. Hell, he wasn’t doing a very good job at hiding this. Hopefully Bronislava had told Heavy about it.

Hopefully he wouldn’t have to pretend for much longer.

“Dang, that’s rough. Sorry to hear that,” Engie replied before turning away again, and Sniper was relieved to have the attention off.

“It’s fine. Reckon I’ll sleep better tonight.” His heart trembled again when he realized he might not be sleeping alone tonight. For the first time in a very long time.

He was just about to thank Engie again before heading off to take a much-needed shower when he heard another rumble of a car engine – much closer this time. As Sniper turned to look, and he saw the “RED Bread” truck rolling up the hill towards the garage. As it came closer still, he could see Heavy behind the wheel, his massive frame comically squished into the driver’s seat.

His mother was in the passenger seat, and although he couldn’t see her yet, Sniper knew that Bronislava had to be in the back.

“Oh hey, they’re here!” Engie called enthusiastically, giving the truck a friendly wave. Sniper copied it, but he was almost too overwhelmed by excitement to remember how to properly behave.

Heavy parked the truck right behind his van, as it was still occupying the garage. He then went around to help his mother and open the back door to let the other passengers out – his sisters.

Sniper’s eyes were glued to the back of the truck, and he was thankful for the aviators that hid the truth of his expression. His heart rate began to climb at a staggering pace, reaching a crescendo as his love rounded the back corner of the vehicle.

Bloody hell, she was even more beautiful than he remembered.

Bronislava was wearing a yellow blouse with the bottom tied up at her waist, faintly showing a white tank top underneath. She also wore blue jeans and…were those cowboy boots? He just barely stifled an adoring laugh. While she wasn’t dressed like a Russian tourist, she didn’t exactly look like a local, either. She was clearly trying to replicate the looks she must have seen in popular American magazines; unaware that not everyone here dressed like that.

Still, she looked amazing all around, and as their eyes met, he had to physically stop himself from running over and tackling her to the ground.

There was just one problem. A very large problem in the form of a six-foot five Russian giant.

As the family joined back up and headed towards the shade of the garage, Sniper’s thundering heart sunk a bit as he realized the truth.

Bronislava hadn’t told Heavy yet. The fact that she wasn’t rushing over to him confirmed as much, and it was devastating. Having to stand there and greet each other like strangers or mild acquaintances at best was its own special kind of hell.

She was so close, and yet so far.

“Howdy, ladies! How was the flight?” Engie piped up. If he suspected anything before, he didn’t seem to now.

“Cramped. Hot. Too crowded and too long,” Zhanna replied, her tone of voice blunt and flat as it often was. “Where is Soldier?”

Not a second after she said that, the door connecting the garage with the rest of the base flew open with a bang. It was Soldier of course, making an entrance as though he had been listening behind the door this entire time. Maybe he had.

“ZHANNA!” he cried, sprinting past Sniper and Engie at an alarming speed that didn’t seem possible for his body type. If he hadn’t side-stepped at the last second, the Aussie would have surely been knocked over.

“Maggot-bear!” Zhanna called out with fondness and equal enthusiasm as they collapsed into each other. As they embraced with a flurry of kisses and pet names that only made sense to them, Sniper turned his focus to gauge the rest of the family’s reaction.

Yana, Bronislava and their mother looked pleased by the sight, if not a little startled. However, Heavy’s displeasure was clear as day. He gave a rumbling sigh before crossing his arms and looking away, obviously just waiting for the two of them to get this very public display of affection over with.

And while Sniper was happy for Soldier and Zhanna, he couldn’t deny the frustration bubbling in his core. It wasn’t fair. Why were these two allowed to prance about and happily show off their love to everyone without a care in the world? Why couldn’t he and Bronislava do that? Sniper didn’t even want to do it in such a big display, he just wanted to be able to hold her and kiss her without having to worry about anything else.

Heavy clearly disapproved of this relationship, but maybe he realized that he couldn’t stop Soldier and Zhanna even if he tried. And maybe that’s what was making him even more protective of his other sisters, knowing that for Zhanna it was too late?

Shit. How were they going to get around this?

“Sniper…” Heavy began suddenly, looking right at him without dropping his unamused stare. Fear prickled in his chest, and for a split second he wondered if the Russian was able to read his thoughts, or sense the truth in some way.

Before Sniper could even respond, or think of how he was going to respond if Heavy accused him of something, the larger man spoke again.

“Move your van out of the way. This is spot for RED truck.”

Oh, thank Christ. He was talking about the stupid car. “O-Oh, yeah…sure, mate. We were just doing the tires,” he replied, maybe a little too quickly as he dug the keys out of his pocket.

“Hm…” Heavy vocalized in response before leading his family inside the garage.

“Ugh, it’s too hot!” Yana complained as they passed by, fanning her face with her hand. “I hope there is air conditioning here.”

‘There is, but it’s not great,’ is what Sniper almost said, but thought better of it. Either way they would be more comfortable inside the base than out here. He had no idea how Miss Pauling and the Administrator could possibly be okay with something like this, and wondered if there was some kind of bribery going on behind the scenes.

Probably best not to ask unless he needed to.

As Bronislava was the last of the group to pass by, the two of them shared a very brief and knowing look when she glided past his shoulder. It was good that Sniper had an eagle eye, otherwise he might not have caught the moment she deliberately dropped a small piece of paper in front of his feet.

Thankfully, with everyone else facing the other way, he was the only one who noticed. He then pretended to kneel and give one of his front tires another look before subtly plucking the note from the ground. His heart rate spiked anew as he read the simple words scribbled on the paper, most likely in a hurry or even on the way here.

“Your camper. Tonight. After dark.”

And just like that, all of his frustration melted away like an ice cube over an open flame. Sniper couldn’t suppress a smile as he stood back up, tucking the note in his back pocket. He had waited months after all, what was a few hours more? At least now he knew she was here and safe. Even if they weren’t together all the time, he took comfort in knowing she’d never be very far.

With a little luck and careful planning, they’d see each other for each of these ten days. By the end of it, she’d know his real name, and who knows what else he’d learn about her.

And maybe, just maybe…by the end of these ten days they wouldn’t have to keep it a secret anymore.

Chapter Text

Sniper peeked through the blinds for what must have been the fifth time in one minute. As he looked at the dimly lit patch of land in front of his camper, there was still nothing and no one. He had parked a little closer to the base than he normally would. Still far enough away for anyone to suspect something was different, but hopefully close enough that Bronislava wouldn’t have any issue finding it.

‘After dark’, she wrote. But what did that mean exactly? How long after dark? And what time? If only she had been more specific, but he understood that she probably hadn’t thought that far ahead when she wrote it. Probably did so in a hurry so that none of her family members knew what she was up to.

Well, at least she had given him more than enough time to wash up and look presentable. Sniper realized much too late that he must have looked a mess when she first saw him today; sweating and covered in grime from working on the car. Or maybe that was the sort of thing that turned her on? Sheilas like the oily, rugged mechanic look, don’t they? Come to think of it, he didn’t really know anything about her preference in men, although clearly, he had done something right to garner her attention.

Either way, he was probably overthinking it. Obviously, she still wanted to see him, otherwise she wouldn’t have slipped that note in front of him. A pretty smart idea, he had to admit.

Although the camper had never looked tidier, he still found himself adjusting and rearranging things just for the hell of it. It gave him something to do during what felt like an endless wait.

And then, just as he was debating on going out to find her despite the risk, Sniper heard the knock. Somehow, in all his anxious waiting, she still managed to sneak up on him. His heart galloping once again, he practically ran across the short distance between the bed and the door before reaching for the handle.

‘No. Calm down. Don’t look too desperate,’ he thought, forcing himself to wait another agonizing moment to try and regain composure. Yeah, women just love a desperate bloke, don’t they?

Sucking in a deep breath, Sniper flexed his hand before opening the door, exposing himself to the cool night air.

And there she was. Lovely, beautiful her.

Bronislava stared up at him, looking far more pleased than when he saw her enter the garage that afternoon. More than pleased, even. It was relief that washed over her features. And for a second it looked like she was about to cry.

Sniper tried to say something, anything. But as he went to greet her, his mouth couldn’t form the words. It wasn’t just something people said when they were trying to be cheesy. Seeing her again really had left him speechless.

For a moment, it seemed like Bronislava would say something first. But as her mouth opened, and they continued to stare at each other for a few more seconds, it seemed that they mutually decided words couldn’t express what they were feeling right now.

Bronislava rushed up the steps, nearly tripping before barreling straight into his arms. She wasn’t large by any means, but the impact still caught him off guard as they plummeted down together. Thankfully, his body broke her fall. And although there was nothing to break his own, he didn’t care. He barely felt the pain of the camper floor hitting his back at full force, especially when their lips finally met for the first time in what felt like a million days.

God, she smelled so good, and tasted even better. His hat had fallen away in the descent which allowed Bronislava to brush her hands through his soft, recently-washed hair. Her lips were pure ecstasy as they moved against his own, pulling him into a deep kiss that felt so good it must have been criminal. And although he was about as far away from Australia as one could get, something about this was just like coming home.

“Heh…I-I’m sorry…are you okay?” she asked, amusingly late as her face broke apart from his.

“Yeah, yeah I’m good.” He nodded with a chuckle, breathing hard just like her.

Although he immediately wanted to dive back in for another kiss, he realized they should probably get off the floor. And with the camper door still open there was the small chance that someone could see them. Scout sometimes jogged in the evenings. And if he found out, it was guaranteed the entire base would know by sunrise.

“I missed you,” Bronislava said, soft and pouty before stealing another kiss. He would let her take as many as she wanted.

“I missed ya more,” he shot back with a chuckle, their faces mere inches apart, but never for long. It was like they could only last a few seconds before their lips needed to meet again, as though together was their rightful place.

“Mm…hang on…” Sniper said, and it broke his heart to put this on pause, even for a good reason. “Let’s, uh…at least close the door. Don’t want any mosquitos in ‘ere.”

“What? Oh, yes…the bugs that drink your blood. Sounds like something from scary film.” Bronislava giggled as she carefully lifted herself off of him. Sniper mirrored her chuckle as he got to his feet. He then shuffled past her in the narrow space to get to the door before pulling it shut with a click. He then locked it just in case before turning to face her again.

Bronislava had his slouch hat in her hands, about to offer it back to him. “Nice hat…where did you get it?” she asked.

“Was me dad’s. You can put it on the table,” he replied, gesturing to the small surface that could barely be classified as such.

As she did so with gentleness, he almost couldn’t believe she was really here. That they were really talking, in person, after all this time.

“Now…” he said, dropping his voice a little while removing the shades from his eyes. It was his attempt at being somewhat seductive as he placed them next to his hat on the table.

“Where were we?” he finished with a smile. And suddenly, he didn’t care so much about looking desperate anymore. And judging by the way she had literally crashed into him; he guessed that she didn’t either.

But as he started closing the gap between them, Bronislava glanced away, seeming reluctant. That excited smile had vanished, and he wanted nothing more than to bring it back as soon as possible.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, not taking another step despite how much he wanted to hold her. Shit. He had screwed up somehow, hadn’t he?

To his delight, she finished closing the space and moved to embrace him after all, leaning her head against his chest. “Nothing…it’s just…”

Between the gaps in her words, the camper had never felt so damn quiet before. A real ‘pin-drop’ moment.

“Would it…would it be alright, if…tonight…we didn’t…” her quiet voice trailed off, and it took Sniper an embarrassing amount of time to realize what she was trying to say. When he did, he wasn’t upset at all. Not even a little bit. Just to have her here, with him, in his arms; it was already perfect.

“Oh, oh yeah…of course, love,” he assured, planting a small kiss on the top of her head. If or when the time came, he’d be ready for it, but he completely understood why she wasn’t. He and Bronislava never had the chance to be intimate last time. He had been more occupied with a mission after all. And as much as he tried not to think of it this way, they were still partially strangers. She didn’t even know his real name.

“Thank you. I am sorry…I know we don’t have much time together…but…”

“Hey, you got nothin’ to apologize for,” he assured while gently stroking her hair. He felt bad for interrupting, but that was a train of thought he wanted to stop before it went any further. “I’m just happy you’re here. Really.”

The tension in her shoulders melted away, and he could practically feel her relief even before she thanked him. Maybe Bronislava had heard about how Soldier and Zhanna slept together the same day they met (a fact Scout had told him against his will) and thought he expected something similar?

Of course not. Soldier was a degenerate. And Zhanna appeared to move much, much faster than her sister when it came to relationships. Sniper was honestly glad that Bronislava was nothing like her. They were a tough, resilient family all around, but he was happy to still spot some differences.

Now that he thought about it, maybe going full speed ahead tonight would have been a mistake. Maybe slowing down was exactly what they needed, especially considering there was so much to catch up on.

“…Mick,” Sniper spoke into the silence, realizing that he finally could.

“Hm? What?” she asked against his chest before looking up at him. What gorgeous brown eyes; he had almost forgotten.

“My name,” he replied, smiling down at her. “It’s Mick. Mick Mundy.”

“Ooh…” she smiled back, and judging by her face he could only assume she liked the name, or thought it suited him at least.

“It’s like…Nick…but with M,” she pondered aloud, glancing at the wall of the camper with a small chuckle.

“Heh, it’s short for Michael. But no one ever calls me that, not even my parents.”

“Oh, Michael?” Bronislava echoed, tilting her head. For a split second he was worried that she was going to start calling him that. “It is almost like Mikhail…”

Sniper had to admit, he had never thought of that for some reason. His real name was very similar to Heavy’s. In fact, he was almost positive one was based off the other, although he wasn’t sure which came first.

“Heh, yeah. Guess you’re right.”

“Well…thank you for sharing, Mick. It’s about time.” Bronislava grinned, leaning up on her toes to kiss him again.

Chapter Text

“So…I’m guessin’ you haven’t told your brother?” Sniper asked, his back propped up on a pillow with one arm bent behind his head. Bronislava was cuddled up next to him on the bed, resting her head on his chest. They had both stripped a couple layers away, but only for the sole purpose of remaining at a bearable temperature. The evening had cooled down considerably, but they were still two warm bodies in a relatively tight space.

There was a bit of air flow from the camper window that was open a crack, and Sniper thought he could hear the first, faint chirps of crickets somewhere out in the dust of the desert. The distinct scent of an autumn night slowly wafted into the camper, but it was nothing compared to the lovely smell of the woman laying next to him.

“No…I’m sorry,” Bronislava said with a small sigh before placing a hand on his chest. “I wanted to tell him a couple times…but I could not do it. I was worried he would cancel trip or something.”

Hell, Sniper hadn’t even thought of that. Heavy seemed like a pretty reasonable bloke most of the time, but it seemed like Bronislava had good reason to be worried.

“It’s fine. I get it,” he assured before taking another drag of his cigarette. At first, he worried that she would be turned off by the smoking, but she didn’t seem to mind. He planned on cutting back, anyway, if only to appease Medic who kept bothering him about it.

“What are we going to do?” Bronislava asked, anxiety lacing her tone as she peered up at him. Her meek voice and the way she clung to his chest reminded him of a small child, and he wanted nothing more than to find a way to make everything right.

Sniper sighed, exhaling more cigarette smoke along with it. What were they going to do? They couldn’t keep this a secret forever. He didn’t want to, and he was pretty sure Bronislava didn’t either. Maintaining the lie for this long had been exhausting enough, and all he wanted was to be with her as authentically as Soldier and Zhanna were. Was that too much to ask?

Well, for Heavy, apparently it was.

“What if…” he began slowly, doubting his idea at first before deciding to just go for it. “What if we told him together?”

“Hm…” Bronislava hummed in thought, and it seemed that she wasn’t exactly enthused about the idea. “I…suppose we could.”

“Y’know, just a mature, honest conversation between three adults. What’s the worst that could happen?”

“Misha will say no,” Bronislava replied. “I’m sure of it, and he will be very angry that we kept it a secret. On top of that, he will probably break you in half like toothpick, and I will never be allowed to see you again.”

As Sniper fought not to picture the gruesome fate she was describing, he realized that maybe approaching Heavy with this point-blank wasn’t the best idea after all. But how else could they do it? Leave a letter for him? Continue to date behind his back?

And how long until he eventually figures it out? How long until someone really smart like Spy or Engineer picks up on their relationship and tells the whole base?

Shit. What if someone knows already?

Sniper gave a sigh that was more like a groan, reaching over to put out his cigarette in the ashtray on the bedside table. He didn’t want to think about this anymore. He didn’t want to spend his whole time with Bronislava stressing over something that wasn’t even a problem. They were two consenting adults in love.

How could that possibly be a bad thing?

A part of him just wanted to say ‘fuck it’ and make out with her in front of everyone tomorrow, baring the truth for the world to see and not caring for any sort of repercussions that might follow, spine-breaking or otherwise.

Sniper smirked at the idea, wishing he had the guts to actually do it, and knowing that he probably never would.

For now, he leaned down and kissed her again in the small, private space of his camper. That would have to be good enough for now. And indeed, it was.

~

Although sleeping together (literally) had brought them such bliss, Sniper and Bronislava were well aware that they would need to keep their distance in the coming days, at least where his teammates were concerned.

She couldn’t be sneaking around with the Australian all the time. She needed to keep up appearances at the base in order to ensure that her mother, sisters and especially Heavy did not suspect that anything was amiss. If she returned early enough, they wouldn’t even know that she had left the designated room that she was supposed to be staying in at night.

And so, in the vermilion-coated light of dawn, Bronislava had given Sniper one more kiss before quietly taking off from the camper van and back towards the main doors of the RED base. In case she did bump into Scout on his run, Soldier on his patrol, or anyone else who just happened to be up insanely early, the couple had created an alibi. With her internal clock still on Siberian time, she was simply trying to tire herself out with a walk in order to get some more sleep.

As Sniper watched her disappear around the corner, he hoped she wouldn’t have to lie about her whereabouts. And if she did, he hoped that she was a better actor than he was.

Chapter Text

When his shift was over, Sniper headed to one of the few places he could be found after work besides his beloved camper – the archery field.

Well, ‘field’ wasn’t exactly the appropriate word, considering that there was absolutely no grass here to speak of. But what else was he going to call it?

Before the match, Sniper thought he would swap the Machina for his Huntsman bow today in order to change things up. Boy, what a foolish mistake that turned out to be. He had missed way too many shots; shots that would normally be no issue with his usual rifles. A couple lucky headshots here or there when he wasn’t actually trying, but other than that it was a truly abysmal performance, and Sniper was grateful that none of his teammates noticed. Or if they did, they had done him the service of not commenting on it.

And so, there was only one way to make sure this egregious mistake never happened again. He clearly needed more practice, and that’s exactly what he set out to do.

The first arrow he released on the target…didn’t actually hit the target, and he cursed himself with how sloppy he had allowed his bow skills to become. He used to be so much better at this. What the hell happened?

But as Sniper continued firing arrow after arrow, he slowly but surely started to see some slight improvement in his aim. Before he knew it, almost an entire hour had passed and he was now getting extremely close to hitting the bullseye. Just a couple more, and he would head back. But he really, really wanted to see that arrow in the center, and the fact that it hadn’t happened yet was starting to drive him slightly mad.

In a twist of suspense, he only had one arrow left in his quiver, and he planned on this being the last shot of the evening. His wrist and forearm were starting to hurt, and if he kept at it just for the sake of being perfect, he would be in no condition to fight tomorrow. Well, maybe it was something Medic could fix with the medi-gun, but he wouldn’t count on it.

“Steady…” he whispered under his breath, drawing the bow string taut and concentrating as hard as he could. With careful aim, he imagined precisely where he wanted the arrow to land, and released it.

It hit the target square in the center with a satisfying ‘thwack’! A perfect bullseye.

Sniper grinned with pure delight. He probably wouldn’t use the Huntsman again tomorrow, but the next time he did, things were sure to go a lot better for him.

“Nice shot!” came a happy, familiar voice behind his right shoulder.

He had been alone out here for so long that it actually startled him. He gave a small flinch as he turned to look.

It was Bronislava.

Crikey, she had actually snuck up on him, and probably not on purpose. He knew better than anyone how important it was to watch your back.

“Oh…thanks,” he said, smiling faintly at her. Sniper then shot her a very quick, but hopefully clear ‘are you sure about this?’ expression. This wasn’t exactly a private setting. Anyone could come along and see them right now, and they were supposed to be keeping their distance. Although, he knew how hard it must have been for her to do so, because it certainly wasn’t easy for him either.

In response to his silent question, Bronislava gave a casual shrug followed by a wink. He could have taken that to mean any number of things, but it was then that he realized how overly paranoid he was being.

If anyone did happen to witness their interaction right now, as long as they kept things brief and professional, no one would suspect a thing. Bronislava had traveled a long way and was getting to know everyone on the base better. To see them together right now would be no different than her chatting it up with Demo, Spy or Engineer. Just a friendly conversation between new acquaintances. Nothing wrong with that.

Relaxing a little, Sniper gave his good shoulder a roll. Well, it was his good shoulder until he had shot about five dozen arrows.

“You are very skilled. How long have you been using bow?” Bronislava asked, quiet and innocent as she clasped her hands together at her waist. Sniper smirked, thinking about how cute she was being while pretending not to know him. It would be fun, in a way, to act together and pretend like this was their first meeting, or one of their first.

“Hm, ‘bout ten years, give or take,” he replied before walking over to collect the arrows that were still stuck in the hay bale target.

“How old are you?” Bronislava asked curiously while he was making his way back. It was a genuine question. He had never actually told her. Come to think of it, he didn’t know her exact age either.

“Twenty-eight,” he said, already knowing the surprised reaction that was going to follow.

“Oh!” she blinked in the shock that he expected. “You’re only two years older than me! I thought you were much older.” She then straightened up a bit and gave a cheeky sort of laugh. “Oh, um…no offense.”

“None taken. I’m used to it,” Sniper said, trying to keep his grin as small as possible. It was difficult to do so when she was around him.

“You know…” Bronislava started up again as he turned to face the target. “I’ve used a bow before, back in Siberia. No good against bear, but I use it for hunting smaller creatures like rabbit.”

“Really?” Sniper nodded, and now it was his turn to be surprised. Even if their interaction wasn’t entirely natural, the flow of the conversation certainly was. He loved how much they were learning about each other.

“Well, ya wanna give it a go?” he asked, holding the bow out for her with a smile.

“Oh, no, no…” Bronislava backed up, waving both hands dismissively. “I-I couldn’t. It has been too long, and I am out of practice. I would just embarrass myself.”

“Nah, c’mon…you got this,” Sniper encouraged, stepping closer so that she almost had no choice but to take the bow from him. If she really wasn’t keen on it, he wouldn’t push any further. But something told him she was secretly dying to knock an arrow or two.

Bronislava looked between him and the bow a few times, and when her beautiful doe eyes eventually settled back on him again, she smiled. “Well…alright. Maybe just a few shots,” she conceded before carefully taking the bow into her grasp, along with one of his arrows.

“There ya go.” Sniper grinned and stepped back to see how she would compose herself. He was curious to see what kind of stance she would hold; what kind of positioning she was used to. She was probably self-taught, just like him. He couldn’t imagine Heavy using a bow and arrow, and the thought of him trying to grip one with his massive, meaty paws nearly made him laugh.

Right…Heavy. Such humorous thoughts were quick to vanish when he remembered the predicament they were in.

Shaking his head as though to try and shake the thoughts away, Sniper watched as Bronislava faced the target and attempted to draw the bow. However, the arrow slid out of the string and she had to clumsily wrestle with it to get it back in the proper position.

“Damn it,” she hissed in frustration, drawing the string once more.

“Here,” Sniper began as he stepped over to her, hoping to be of some help. “Make sure you tuck your elbow in, yeah, just like that,” he said as he started posing her arms like a doll. Good thing she wasn’t actually a mere acquaintance, or else she probably wouldn’t be so receptive to this kind of touch.

“Right. Stand up straight. Feet shoulder width apart. Yep, you got it…I bet it’s all comin’ back now, eh?” he asked as he stood over her shoulder, maybe just a little too close.

“I think so,” Bronislava answered with a nervous laugh. She was clearly trying to show that she was listening, and he appreciated it.

“Alright, you’re all set. Just look straight at the target, and off ya go.”

A couple of tense, quiet seconds passed. With how close they were, he heard the absence of her breath as she was holding it in.

With a twang from the bowstring, Bronislava released the arrow. It landed between the inner circle and the bullseye, which was miles better than the first arrow he had shot out here today. Not bad at all. She probably didn’t need much practice to be just as good as him, if not better.

“Bonza! Good shot, love. I knew you could do it,” Sniper said with a smile as he peered down at her; his eyes tender with adoration.

“Thank you,” Bronislava replied, glancing up to meet his gaze. A curious expression swept over her features. “What does it mean? Bonza?”

“Oh…” Sniper chuckled with a slight shake of his head. His co-workers were used to his lingo by now, and it had been a while since he had to explain a term to someone.

“It’s Aussie slang. Means awesome, terrific, that kind of thing.”

“I see.” She nodded slowly and lowered the bow. Bronislava then looked at him again, and for a soft, beautiful moment it felt like it was just the two of them here in this world, with absolutely nothing keeping them apart.

Against his better judgement, Sniper found himself slowly inching closer and closer towards her face, longing for another kiss. She didn’t recoil, and actually leaned in as well, meaning that she also wanted it too and was feeling equally reckless in terms of keeping up their ruse.

‘Don’t do it. Don’t do it,’ Sniper’s mind was practically screaming at him as their lips almost closed the gap.

“Yo, Snipes!”

The pair broke apart so fast, it was like they had given each other an electric shock. It must have looked so strange, so obvious, but there was nothing they could do now except try to feign a casual energy.

It was Scout of course, half-jogging across the dusty earth to meet them. As Sniper turned to look, he figured that his teammate was probably too far away to realize just how close they had been standing next to each other only seconds ago.

Hopefully, that is. God, they had almost royally slipped up. This was not going to be as easy as he originally thought.

“Hey Yugoslavia!” Scout greeted as he skidded to a halt with a smile on his face.

“It’s Bronislava. Yugoslavia is a country,” she corrected through a bout of giggling. Sniper was glad she found it funny, and he was also glad that Scout, seemingly, did not suspect a thing.

He may not have been the brightest bulb, but Sniper also knew that he was smarter than most gave him credit for.

“Oh, heh…sorry,” Scout said sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his neck. As he turned to face his colleague, Sniper sincerely hoped that the heat in his face wasn’t as obvious as he thought it was.

“I was just, uh…showin’ her how to use a bow,” he quickly defended, perhaps a little too quickly, especially considering that the youngest merc hadn’t even asked.

“I already know how to use it! I just need practice,” Bronislava pointed out with a frown, crossing her arms in a more stand-offish way. Good. She was sliding into a less friendly demeanor. He needed to do the same thing if they wanted any success in pulling this off.

“Right, right. Fair enough.” Sniper shrugged, glancing back at the base like there were far more important things on his mind besides one of Heavy’s sisters.

“‘Kay, well…just wanted to let ya know that dinner’s ready. So, let’s go! I’m starvin’!” Scout ushered with a wave of his hand before turning around and leading the small pack.

“Great.” Sniper nodded as he turned to follow. As he did so, the Huntsman was suddenly thrust in front of his face. Bronislava held it out for him with a grin that was just a little too cheeky. Perhaps she enjoyed pretending that she wasn’t very close with him. If that was the case, maybe they could do this after all.

Sniper smirked and took the bow back from the woman he loved. “Thanks.”

Chapter Text

“It’s awful, man…it’s really fuckin’ awful!” Scout complained as the three of them slowly made their way up the stairs towards the mercenary’s private quarters.

“What’s awful?” Demoman asked, as he clearly wasn’t paying attention thanks to his near perpetual state of inebriation.

“Soldier and Zhanna!” The youngest whined as they turned the corner of the stairwell. “I could hear ‘em last night! I could hear everything! I even tried to play some Tom Jones to drown it out, but it didn’t help! It was like a frickin’ war-zone over there!”

Sniper couldn’t help but laugh, and was eternally grateful that he was in his camper van right now, and also that his room on base wasn’t right next to Soldier’s, unlike the youngest merc.

“I’m sorry, mate. That’s rough,” he managed to say after his chuckles had died down.

“No freakin’ kiddin’! And don’t even get me started on the dirty talk. Half of it didn’t even make sense! What the hell does she see in Soldier, anyway? It’s gotta be like havin’ sex with a caveman!”

This prompted even more laughter from Sniper and Demo as they reached the top of the stairs. The Aussie was really just coming up here as a courtesy, as he had no intention of sleeping in his room tonight, or any other night until the weather turned much colder.

He and Bronislava had made plans again for her to visit later, and as awkward and horrible as it was to imagine Soldier and Zhanna’s amorous activities, Sniper couldn’t help but fantasize about what he and his own lover might get up to when the moment arrived.

“Hey, Snipes…I meant to ask, what’s the deal with you and, uh…” Scout began as the trio lingered in front of the door with the winged foot emblem.

Sniper tried not to freeze or react in the slightest. Uh oh. Scout wasn’t catching on already, was he?

'God, please, no.'

“…Bronislava?” Sniper offered, barely stifling a nervous gulp.

“Yeah, her! Seemed like you two were gettin’ pretty friendly,” Scout teased with a wink, nudging the other man’s arm with his elbow.

“Ooooh, is that right?” Demo leered at him, and now both of his friends were grinning like gossiping high school students.

“The hell are you talkin’ about?” Sniper scoffed incredulously, hoping to everything that his acting was believable enough. “I was just showin’ her the Huntsman. We only talked for like two minutes. I barely know her,” he defended, trying to make the idea sound completely laughable instead of right on the money.

“A-huh.” Scout smirked, clearly unconvinced. “That’s what they all say, but I think she was more interested in the bowman than the bow.”

Much to his horror, Sniper realized something. The windows that were facing that side of the base; that were facing the archery field. Scout could have been watching the whole exchange right from the start, and it was definitely longer than two minutes.

Oh, bloody hell.

“Right. You’re imaginin’ things, mate,” Sniper dismissed with a small wave, fighting like hell to keep a calm composure. “Besides, I ain’t on the market right now. You ever heard of an assassin with a datin’ life?”

Demo and Scout looked at each other, shrugged in unison, and seemed to silently agree that he had a point.

“Yeah, true I guess,” Scout conceded before digging around in his pockets for the key. “Plus, you don’t really seem like the kind of guy who likes chicks anyway.”

“Oi,” Sniper growled, not appreciating the insinuation. Although, as long as his colleagues thought he was gay, at least it would throw off suspicion. He could live with that.

“And you’d be daft to go out with one of Heavy’s sisters, anyway. He’s right pissed about Soldier and Zhanna as it is,” Demo pointed out with a gesture of his scrumpy bottle.

“Right, exactly…” Sniper rubbed his forehead, wishing that he hadn’t just reminded him of that fact.

“What about Zhanna?” came a low, booming voice behind and above their heads.

All three men turned to look, immediately straightening up and shutting their mouths as though their mothers had just stepped into the hall.

Heavy was standing there, his massive, tree-like arms crossed over his chest as he wore a deep scowl of suspicion.

‘Fuck me,’ Sniper thought, his mouth going dry in an instant.

“Oh, uh…we were just talkin’ ‘bout how Zhanna seems to be enjoyin’ her stay here. Your whole family, in fact!” Demo tried to recover.

Smart move. Not technically a lie. If Scout’s stories were to be believed, Zhanna was, in fact, having a very good time.

“Mm…” Heavy grumbled with narrow eyes, and it was unclear at first whether he believed it or not.

“Da, things are going well so far. I only hope they stay that way,” he eventually added, and the words were a relief to everyone except Sniper, who wished he could just shrink away and disappear from the giant man’s gaze.

When it seemed that Heavy had nothing else to say, nobody was keen on sticking around for much longer.

“Right. Well, I’m gonna crash. G’night, guys!” Scout said in a rather rushed tone before unlocking his door, stepping in and quickly shutting it behind him.

“Aye. Me too. Goodnight, lads,” Demo shot them a casual wave before stumbling over to the fourth door in the hall with the bomb emblem.

“Night,” Sniper echoed. He then nodded at Heavy while barely meeting his gaze before turning away towards the stairs. It was an active struggle not to get the hell out of there as fast as he could, but that would only make him look even more suspicious.

“Sniper,” Heavy called out, although there didn’t seem to be any hostility to his tone. Even so, Sniper gave a nervous swallow before turning around to face him again. What the hell was this about? 

“Yeah?”

“I have not seen you much lately except for work. Where do you go all the time?” he asked. Sniper could have been wrong, but there didn’t seem to be any ulterior motive to his questioning. It felt more like he was making casual conversation than anything else.

Still, he had to play his cards right.

“Oh, uh…well I’ve been gettin’ a lot of practice with me bow. Cleanin’ the camper, workin’ on the truck…that sort of thing.” Just like Demo’s statement from before, none of what he was saying was technically a lie.

It just wasn’t the whole truth.

“I see.” Heavy nodded. “You value your alone time, don’t you, Sniper?”

A smile that wasn’t fake at all curved his mouth. “Sure do, mate. But that ain’t a surprise to you, I reckon. Or anyone else for that matter,” he added with an almost bashful chuckle as he adjusted his hat.

“Hmm. Bronislava is same,” Heavy began. To hear his partner’s name coming out of the man’s mouth was jarring to say the least, especially considering the precarious situation he had found himself in.

“She also likes her alone time. I think you two would get along well.”

Sniper tried not to read into it too much. This was not permission. This was not Heavy giving him his blessing, but Christ, he wanted so badly for that to be the case.

Furthermore, he had to pretend like the idea of him and Bronislava getting along was a completely novel one. He pretended to look curious (but not too curious) about the thought.

“Huh, maybe. I’ve talked to ‘er a couple times. She’s nice.”

“Da.”

Considering that it was just the two of them now, and Heavy seemed to be in a somewhat decent mood, Sniper briefly debated on blurting out the truth then and there. The words were loaded up in his throat, and it was just a simple matter of dislodging them.

Maybe not so simple. 

It was alarming how close he came to actually doing it, but as Heavy turned away to enter the fifth door in the hall, Sniper’s nerves got the better of him, and he missed his chance to say what he so desperately needed to.

~

When Bronislava entered the camper that night, Sniper could tell almost immediately that something had changed. Something was different; slightly off. He saw it in the way she carried herself and felt a new energy in the space. He wasn’t sure at first if it was a good thing or a bad thing.

“Hey…” he said softly before kissing the top of her forehead. “You alright?”

“Oh, oh yes,” she replied, staring up at him with a cute little grin. “I could not be better.”

Sniper smiled back. Although he knew that probably wasn’t entirely true given their situation, he wasn’t going to fight her on it.

“Glad to hear it. You seem, I dunno…different tonight,” he said, reaching down to clasp her smaller, far less calloused hands inside his own.

For a moment, he wondered if Bronislava had talked to Heavy and received good news, until he realized that couldn’t have been the case when he saw the man retire to his room with his own eyes. And even if that were true, she would have excitedly told him the moment she set foot in here.

“I do?” she questioned, glancing down at her feet before looking up at him again. There was such a schoolgirl bashfulness to her expression and it made him want to kiss her.

And so, he did.

As their lips broke apart, a desperate whisper emitted from her mouth, though it wasn’t in English.

“Я хочу тебя.”

“What’s that?” he asked, nearly whispering himself. There was no need to talk louder than that when they were this close.

“I…” Bronislava began, a pink hue blooming across her cheeks. Even before she spoke again, Sniper had a pretty good idea of where she was going with this, and he hoped he was right.

“I want you, Mick.”

God, those words were like warm honey to his ears, but he wanted to be absolutely sure of her meaning before taking this any further.

“Oh…you mean…?” he began, gently cupping her face with his hands so as to look her in the eyes. Those big, beautiful eyes that he adored so much.

“Yes,” Bronislava confirmed, desperation lacing her voice again as their gazes locked. “I’m ready.”

Sniper couldn’t help the giddy smile that cracked through his teeth, and he was suddenly made quite aware of his pounding heart and blood rushing to certain places.

“You sure?” he asked, perhaps stupidly, although in his defense he wasn’t fully thinking right now.

To that, Bronislava smirked and kissed him again, this time with more ferocity. She then put her hands on his shoulders and playfully shoved him down on the seat next to the table. Now she was in the rare position of being taller than him, and before he knew it, she was running her fingers through his hair again as her mouth hovered next to his ear with a tender whisper.

“Are you calling me a liar?”

He felt shivers race down his arms and back. Bloody hell, she knew what she was doing.

“Heh. Wouldn’t dream of it, love.”

Bronislava gave a small chuckle, perhaps impressed by her own flirting. Their lips met again, but not for long. Not when her fingers clasped his belt and began clearing away pesky fabric to find her prize.

As her head fell into his lap, Sniper fell into paradise.

Chapter Text

Sniper woke up, and it was the most content and well-rested he had felt in a long time.

A gentle, golden light was trying to softly penetrate the curtains of the camper. He could hear the sounds of faint birdsong and trucks roaming down the highway. Apart from that, the morning was quiet and still, although he feared that the woman sleeping next to him wouldn’t be doing so for much longer.

He reached for his watch on the bedside table, trying not to disturb her. It seemed the attempt was unsuccessful, for as soon as he grabbed it, he felt her stirring at his shoulder.

“Mm…” she grumbled, reaching up to place a hand over her eyes. “…What time is it?”

It was a bit hard to make out in this light, but Sniper was pretty sure it was quarter to seven. Damn it. The guys were all going to be up soon. To best avoid detection, she should have left an hour ago.

“Ah, shit. Almost seven,” he replied before plopping back down on his pillow. He didn’t want to get up either. How nice it would be if he didn’t have to. If they could stay in bed together and let the day pass them by.

Bronislava whispered a curse in Russian before sitting up in the bed. Sniper’s fingers started gently caressing her naked back.

“How’d you sleep?”

“Good…heh, maybe too good,” she replied, running a hand through her mousy brown locks.

“Yeah, me too.” He chuckled. Although it was risky for her to stay here any longer, he wouldn’t have traded last night for anything in the world, and he was willing to bet she felt the same.

“How was…last night?” he asked, the question slipping out of his mouth before he thought better of it. Was it rude to ask directly? Sniper was pretty sure she enjoyed it. He certainly did. In fact, he had to stop himself from doing something really stupid, like purposely being late for work so they could go for another round.

She looked over at him, flashed a sleepy smile, and nodded. “It was bonza.”

That earned a genuine laugh as he threw his head back. “Ha! Good one, love. Glad to hear it.”

They shared a small kiss, reveling in the mutual memory and silently wishing to make more just like it.

“Ugh…” Bronislava groaned before yawning. She tried to stretch her arms towards the ceiling, but it was so low they didn’t get too far. “I do not want to leave.”

“Yeah, me neither,” Sniper chimed in as she got up. His gaze scanned her bare, luscious curves as she started to slowly but surely dress herself.

He needed to do the same thing. He still needed to brush his teeth, make coffee, get all his weapons and supplies together. Damn it.

Rushed as it was, it was nice to share their morning routine together. There was something so comforting about domestic bliss. Sniper couldn’t quite put his finger on it. Maybe it was a lingering effect from last night, maybe it was whatever skin products she used, but Bronislava was practically glowing as she glided around him in the cramped kitchenette, making jokes and trying to smack his rear every chance she got.

Right now, all the little problems that came with this secret relationship felt so far away.

Right now, he was happy.

Soon, they were both dressed and ready for their respective days. After sharing one last kiss (and then another, and then another), Sniper had to practically shove her away and urge her to make for her room on base as fast as possible.

Still giggling, Bronislava darted off across the way and towards the massive doors of the building. Even as she disappeared from his sight, Sniper’s adoring smile still remained.

All he had left to do was grab his rifle and lock the door. Fortunately, his late arrival to the breakfast table was not an unusual occurrence. He barely ate breakfast, anyway. His co-workers wouldn’t suspect a thing.

Sniper gave a jovial whistle as he locked the camper door with a click of the key. With a spring in his step, he hopped off the metal ledge and started making his way towards the RED base, just as his girlfriend had done a few minutes ago.

However, the Aussie had only taken a few steps away from his little home when he heard a most unnerving sound that made his blood run cold. It was the very last noise he wanted to hear in the middle of a fight, and it wasn’t too comforting outside of it either.

A Spy de-cloaking.

Whirling around in alarm, Sniper saw a man who definitely wasn’t leaning against the side of his camper van a few moments ago. Except, he probably was, and simply couldn’t be seen at the time.

It was Spy of course. His team’s Spy. The Frenchman was currently examining the back of his hand as though he was able to peer through the fabric of his glove. It’s like he was trying to look as smug as humanly possible now that he was aware of a very scandalous secret. What an absolute bastard.

Spy knew. He knew about him and Bronislava.

There was absolutely no point in trying to deny anything, so Sniper did not. He simply waited until Spy spoke first, as he knew he would eventually. He was going to enjoy taunting him about this, wasn’t he?

“Well, well…somebody wasn’t cold last night,” Spy purred through a conniving smirk, locking eyes with him once again.

“Save it,” Sniper growled, trying to cut him his most razor-sharp glare. “None of yer business, spook. The hell are you doin’ out ‘ere, anyway?”

“Testing a theory,” Spy answered plainly, stepping away from the camper van. “I was out for an early stroll yesterday morning. Now imagine my surprise when I see our colleague’s youngest sibling coming from the direction of your…” his mouth twitched with a grimace. “…home. She did not see me, of course, but I was curious if I would glimpse the same thing today. Would you like to know the answer? Oh, I suppose you already do.”

“Piss off,” Sniper hissed, trying to take an intimidating step closer. Spy clearly hadn’t told Heavy yet, judging by the fact that Bronislava’s brother wasn’t currently beating him to a pulp.

But still, at this point it only felt like a matter of time. Fucking hell.

“If you tell anyone, especially Heavy, I swear to god…”

“Oh, relax bushman,” Spy rolled his eyes with a dismissive wave, as though Sniper’s suggestion was a truly unfathomable one.

“I admit, I have absolutely no idea what our guest sees in you…but I also have no interest in sharing gossip of how you spend your personal time. Your secret is safe with me.” Even as he said that, a small grin never left his face as he pulled out a cigarette.

Despite the clear insult that was being laid here, Sniper did find himself relaxing a little bit. Spy was a lot of things, but he too followed a strict professional code when it came to his line of work. Sure, he liked to know information, but mostly for himself because he was such a nosy bastard. And if he wanted to blackmail his own teammate for some reason, he would have made that clear by now.

He hoped, anyway.

“Uh…alright, then,” he mumbled slowly while scratching behind his neck. “Thanks, I guess.”

Spy took his first drag, held the smoke in for a moment, and then exhaled. “You’re playing quite a dangerous game, you know.”

Sniper sighed in annoyance, trying not to lose his temper. “Yeah. I know. We…we want to tell ‘im…” he began, pacing slightly to the side as he kicked a rock away.

“We just haven’t found the right time.”

He thought about the night before, when he was so close to telling Heavy the truth. God, he wished he had.

Mikhail was a good man. Sniper didn’t like lying to him. It wasn’t right.

“And when exactly is the right time?” Spy questioned, arching an eyebrow.

Sniper’s hands flopped to his sides. “I dunno. That’s the problem. We didn’t mean for it to be a secret. It just…sort of happened. You know how he feels about Soldier and Zhanna. We don’t want to make him even angrier.”

“Yes, and fucking his sister behind his back will certainly put him in a good mood.”

He squeezed his eyes shut, unable to suppress a groan. “Mate, you don’t have to say it like that.”

“Why not? It’s the truth.” Spy shrugged, that taunting grin still ever present.

What Sniper wanted to say was that there was absolutely no sex involved until last night, but that was hardly the point. It was still a secret they had been keeping for months. It was still dishonesty; dishonesty towards one of his most trusted allies. He could even say they were friends.

Except, what kind of friend was he to keep something like this from him?

As annoying as it was, he knew that Spy had a point. Enough was enough. They could not go on like this. He was even willing to take the full brunt of the reaction and tell Heavy by himself if it meant not having to stress about it anymore.

“I’ll…” Sniper sucked in a deep breath, trying to summon whatever courage he had. “I’ll tell him tonight. After the match. I’ve got to say somethin’.”

Spy nodded in what looked like approval. “Do you want me to be there when you do it?”

Sniper blinked at him, totally perplexed. It’s not at all what he expected him to say.

“You…you’d do that?”

“Of course,” Spy replied. “You’ll need someone to call for Medic after Heavy is finished with you.”

Sniper winced, but couldn’t help the laugh that shot out of him. Stupid of him to assume that his French colleague wanted to be there purely for emotional support. Spy was probably just curious and wanted to see how things would play out. That was why he was skulking around the camper van in the first place.

“Right. Thanks for the confidence, mate. Appreciate it,” Sniper quipped sarcastically while stuffing a hand in his pocket.

Spy tossed his cigarette butt into the dirt, and the pair started making their way towards the base.

“Anytime.”

Chapter Text

It was a brutal loss today. Payload on Goldrush. The RED team got absolutely steamrolled.

Sniper could have sworn the cart never stopped for even a few seconds, although he had been much more focused on trying to keep the BLU Spy off his back and his Sniper counterpart from tearing through his teammates non-stop.

As shitty as it was, a loss was a loss, and there wasn’t much they could do about it now. They would win again, surely. They always made a comeback eventually.

Sniper was honestly just glad to see the match over with either way. The thing that came next; the conversation that he was dreading after the fight was far more harrowing than any work-related failure.

The mere thought of telling Heavy the truth had been making him nauseous all day, and when he finally sought his colleague out, Sniper thought he might actually be sick if he didn’t do it fast enough.

A part of him knew that Bronislava should be there for it, but it felt like he was racing against some infernal clock and he didn't want to spend the mere few minutes it would take to find her first. Besides, she would be secretly grateful that he did this solo, right?

Sniper wasn’t quite sure where Heavy was at first. It wasn’t until he just happened to pass by the doors of the infirmary when he heard distinct shouting on the other side of it. He could hear the words as clearly and sharply as though he was part of the argument himself.

“Doctor is reckless! You cannot run out into open like Soldier or Pyro! No wonder you get killed so much!” Heavy bellowed.

“I can’t heal anyone else if I stay next to you the whole time, dummkopf!! What do you expect me to do??” Medic shot back.

It was the most upset he had heard either of them in a long time. The loss had clearly hit them hard as Heavy and Medic rarely fought in a serious manner. They were much more prone to playful bickering like an old married couple. Sniper sometimes wondered if perhaps they were more than mere friends or colleagues, not that it was any of his business. Spy or Scout could poke their nose into that one all they wanted.

Speaking of Spy, Sniper knew he had to be around here somewhere, invisible or otherwise. He did offer to be there for the conversation, after all. Or was he simply joking? Sniper’s sarcasm detector was often broken, but he really couldn’t tell with that one sometimes.

Well, if he really was about to get seriously injured, he couldn’t have picked a better room for it to happen in.

As his teammates continued to compete in a shouting match, Sniper raised his fist to the door, lowered it, and then raised it again. The timing couldn’t have been worse, but if nothing else, perhaps he could get these two to calm down.

Against his better judgement, Sniper knocked twice. “Hey, mates. Can I come in?”

Their angry voices hushed into silence. At first, he wondered if they were going to ignore him and just go right back to it.

However, Medic eventually spoke up in a tired voice, clearly feigning some level of politeness. “Ah, come in, Sniper!”

Sniper awkwardly and gingerly opened the door, shuffled in, and closed it behind him. It took all his courage to glimpse Heavy in the eye, even for just a moment. While Medic looked like he was calming down already, his most trusted colleague was still simmering with a rage that was just waiting to boil over again.

“Uh, sorry to interrupt…uh…I was just wonderin’—” Sniper began, his eye contact wavering as he really wasn’t sure how to start.

“I leave now,” Heavy cut him off and started heading towards the door, perhaps assuming that Sniper was here with a medical inquiry.

Wait, no. He couldn’t let him leave.

All he wanted was to just get this over with. He didn’t even care if Medic overheard.

“Uh, mate…can I talk to ya for a sec?” Sniper asked. God, he swore his voice had never sounded so timid as the shadow of his larger colleague began to eclipse him.

“Not now, Sniper,” Heavy growled, firm and dismissive as he nearly shoved past him to get to the door.

Heart galloping like mad, Sniper was scared to death. Somehow, he had the guts to try again.

“Heavy, look…I really need to tell you some—”

“NOT NOW!” Heavy roared over his shoulder, smashing the door open with enough force he was surprised it didn’t break right off its hinges.

Well…shit.

Message fucking received.

Sniper heaved a disappointed sigh, wondering if they had won today’s fight, that attempt would have gone a lot differently. Now when was he going to bring it up? He had been worried sick about it all day, and absolutely loathed the idea of going through the cycle of anxiety all over again.

“Ach…I’m sorry, Sniper,” Medic apologized, releasing his own little sigh as he adjusted his glasses. “He’s in one of his moods today,” he added with a somewhat dramatic roll of his eyes.

“Clearly.” Sniper scoffed, crossing his arms. “And it’s okay, doc. Not yer fault.”

“Well, I think he would disagree with you there,” the doctor replied with a half-hearted chuckle as he started tidying up the papers and records scattered across his desk.

“What did you want to tell him?” Medic asked suddenly, startling him with the nature of the question. Right. He should have anticipated that.

Should he tell Medic? The sharpshooter debated on it for a moment, and then realized it was probably best to keep it under wraps as much as possible.

Because if Medic knew the truth, and Heavy found out through him, then that really wasn’t going to bode well for Sniper.

“Uh…sorry, mate. I’d rather not say. It’s a personal thing,” he answered awkwardly while scratching the back of his neck.

“Ah, of course. I understand,” was all his German colleague said before resuming his task. Well, if he was as nosy as Spy, he certainly wasn’t acting like it.

“Anyway…hope you can patch things up before the next fight,” Sniper offered, trying to at least pretend he was more invested in Medic’s troubles than what was currently troubling him.

“Oh, I’m sure we will eventually. We always do,” the doctor said with a small smile. Somehow, it eased Sniper just a little bit. It told him that everything, eventually, was going to be alright.

Perhaps even for him.

“Alright, well…g’night, doc,” Sniper said with a small wave before turning and opening the door that now had a huge dent in it thanks to Heavy’s fist.

Well, at least the dent wasn’t in his head.

“Gute Nacht,” Medic hummed back as he went out into the hall.

Blowing his lungs out with another sigh, Sniper had only taken a couple steps away when he was suddenly made aware of the other man leaning against the wall.

Spy had come after all, and judging by the parts of his expression Sniper could glimpse, it seemed he had heard every word.

Well, impossible not to with how loud Heavy had been.

“I’m sorry, Sniper,” he said with a surprising dose of empathy that did not suit him.

“It’s fine,” he lied, both to the other man and to himself as he stared at the linoleum floor. “I’ll just have to…find another time, I guess.”

“Hm. Join me for a cigarette?” Spy invited, the un-lit item in question already between his fingers. For a man who often acted like he loathed his colleagues with every fiber of his being, he was surprisingly good at knowing exactly what made them tick.

Or in this case, what would make him feel better, even just a little.  

“Uh, well…I’m tryin’ to cut down…” Sniper began with a guilty wince, eyes darting everywhere but the cigarette as he was actively trying not to look at it.

Eventually, he gave up, and realized that he could really, really use a smoke. Now more than ever.

“Ah, what the hell?”

Chapter Text

Sniper decided to wait at least one more day before even thinking about trying to broach the subject with Heavy again. That seemed like a decent timeline. Even if they lost the next match, odds were he had to be in at least a slightly better mood, right?

The good news was, they did in fact win that match. King of the Hill on Highpass. It was a hell of a fight with good performances all around. Losses will do that to a team; they always had such a rebounding effect. It was even more thrilling than a regular win.

Sniper had secretly hoped that Heavy would come up to him at some point during the day, before or after the fight, to spare him the nervousness of doing so. No doubt he was wondering what the Australian had wanted to tell him the night before.

Except, Heavy never did, and Sniper wasn’t sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing. Perhaps in such a fit of rage the memory had somehow erased itself. No one can think clearly when they’re that pissed off, he supposed.

After the match, just when Sniper had gone to find Heavy and try to get this over with once and for all, he came to learn of a plan that should have made him a lot happier than it did.

The lads wanted to go to the pub tonight. Possibly to celebrate their victory, or just because they could. Normally it was the type of thing he’d be down for no matter what, but Sniper’s heart sank when he realized there would be no privacy between him and Heavy. And he definitely didn’t want to divulge the truth in front of the whole team.

However, his mood improved significantly when he learned that Heavy’s family was going to be joining them, which only made sense. It’d be pretty rude to go out partying and leave his sisters and mother at the base all alone.

And so, they drank, and ate, and drank some more. There were stories and laughter all around. Although Sniper and Bronislava couldn’t interact the way they wanted to, he still enjoyed being near her, and the two would exchange quick, loving smiles and bits of small talk whenever they could.

They were off the next day, and Sniper found himself torn between very different uses of his free time.

One was fear-inducing and crippling him from the inside out with terrible anxiety, and the other…

Well, the other was far more tempting. Maybe he wasn’t so torn after all.

“We should go tell your brother,” Sniper suggested, right in the middle of a rather intense make-out session on the bed. He knew he was killing the mood, but he just couldn’t stop thinking about the conversation that desperately needed to take place.

“What? Now?” Bronislava whispered from underneath him, looking quite dejected by the idea. Although he knew there was no way this wasn’t getting to her as well.

“Hm…” he vocalized in thought, glancing towards the camper door. They could go now. Heavy probably wasn’t doing anything too important, and he seemed to be in high spirits ever since last night.

But as he turned his head to face her again, and saw the intense heat of desire floating behind her irises, the decision was instantly made simple for him.

“Nah…later. We’ve got the whole day ahead of us,” he purred low with a grin.

“Yes, we do.” Bronislava giggled with delight as she pulled him down by the collar to kiss him again.

And just like that, they embraced in full passion, and the camper was about to get a lot warmer.

Suddenly, there was only one thing on Sniper’s mind, and he saw no harm in the small delay. They had put it off this long, what was another half an hour at most?

Okay, maybe forty-five minutes.

Maybe longer than that…

~

“Ugh, this fuckin’ hangover…” Scout grumbled through the hand over his face. He was attempting to eat a bit of cereal at the break room table, but even a meal as simple as that wasn’t appetizing in the least right now.

“Ha! I told ya to pace yerself! But did ya listen? Nooooo, Demo doesn’t know a bloody thing about drinkin’,” the Scot muttered with intense sarcasm as he happily took another swig from his bottle.

“Okay, okay! You don’t have to rub it in!” Scout barked back, but recoiled a bit as he seemed to regret the volume of his own shouting. “Ugh…”

Things were mostly quiet again, apart from Engineer and Spy making light conversation towards the kitchen area. Pyro was there too, reading a magazine while laying across the couch.

Scout wasn’t quite sure what made him look, but he found himself glancing out the window towards the desert plains and the small road leading towards the highway.

Off in the distance, almost too far for him to see, but not quite, he noticed something rather odd.

“Hey…d’you see that?” he asked as he slowly stood up from the table.

“See what?” Demo replied, trying to follow the younger man’s gaze.

“There! Snipe’s van! It’s like…rockin’ and shakin’ for some reason,” Scout said, getting right up to the window while putting a hand over his eyes to try and soften the glare.

“What’s that?” Engie asked, his curiosity piqued as he made his way over. Spy followed.

“Wait…you don’t…you don’t think…” Scout began, his face and voice growing energized as he started putting the pieces together – or thought he was.

“What?” Demo urged, squinting his good eye. “What are ya talkin’ about? I can't see shit!”

“Of course not. You’re blind as a bat,” Spy quipped with a smirk.

“Don’t ya see? He’s got a girl over!!” Scout nearly yelled through a laugh, bumping Demo in the shoulder. “Or…maybe not a girl. But he’s definitely got someone over if ya know what I mean.”

“Scout, uh…I dunno if we should be—” Engie began nervously, but Demo cut him off.

“You don’t know that for sure! He could be runnin’ around tryin’ to kill a cockroach or somethin’!”

Spy started snorting and chuckling like mad.

“Nah, man…that’s definitely fuckin’. Lucky bastard! I wonder who it is!” Scout continued.

“Fellas, uh…why don’t we go entertain ourselves with somethin’ else and give the man some privacy?” Engineer tried to calmly suggest.

“What? It’s not like we can actually see anythin’!” The youngest merc scoffed.

“I see it now,” Demo said, nearly pressing his face to the glass. “Aye, that’s exactly what ya think it is.”

Engineer gave a frustrated sigh, flopping his hands down defeatedly before walking away. However, he had only made it a few steps from the window when he saw their largest colleague striding towards them.

Spy noticed as well, and immediately stopped laughing.

“Gentlemen, I agree with Engineer. Let’s move on,” he tried to encourage, never taking his eyes off Heavy like he was a dangerous, starving predator. 

“What? What’s the matter?” Scout asked, turning around. He then smiled and waved at Heavy like absolutely nothing was wrong. To him, nothing was.

“Hey, big guy! You’ve gotta see this!”

“Scout,” Spy warned, not even trying to be subtle at this point. “Knock it off. Heavy doesn’t want to see something like that.”

“Something like what?” the Russian asked, totally oblivious.

It was then that Spy saw the chain reaction that was about to take place. He quickly and quietly slipped away to hopefully give Sniper as much notice as possible. He just hoped he wouldn’t be too late.

“Look at the camper!” Scout said, pointing out the window and still giggling like a small child.

Heavy peered across the way, gave a small, unenthused nod, and immediately turned around. “I see.”

“What the hell kinda reaction was that?” Scout frowned.

“I have better things to worry about,” Heavy replied simply. “Has anyone seen Bronislava? I cannot find her. I think she got lost in base again.”

Scout and Demo looked as though the plague had washed over them. As their gazes briefly met, they realized that they hadn’t even come close to connecting the dots until this very moment.

“Uh…sorry, lad…haven’t seen her. Maybe she’s out back with the archery targets?” Demo suggested, trying to throw him off course.

“…Archery?” Heavy repeated, frowning in confusion. There was something about that word that was puzzling him in more ways than one.

“Yeah! That’s right! She knows how to use a bow, right?” Scout offered, although his confidence was frail and starting to crack.

“Why are you two so nervous?” Heavy asked point-blank, clearly noticing. The pair could see the gears turning in his head despite their best attempts to jam them.

“Nervous? We’re not nervous!” Demo defended. He then gave Scout a very clear ‘we need to leave’ sort of look before scurrying around the edge of the table to retrieve his bottle.

It was then that Heavy turned around again, eyes narrowing at the not-so-distant camper. His expression changed, a deep scowl tightening against his features.

He made the connection, just as they had.

Scout gulped and regretted ever bringing attention to it in the first place.

“Oh, shit…”

Chapter Text

Panting and sweating, the two collapsed into each other against the rumpled sheets.

“…That was amazing,” Bronislava whispered, her voice soft and sleepy like she could go for a nap. Sniper had to admit, that sounded like a good plan.

“Yeah,” he agreed, unable to say much else as he was still getting his breath back. Sniper smiled warmly, held her close and kissed his love on the forehead. He certainly didn’t need words for that.

This dreamy, post-coitus high was only missing one thing – a cigarette. Sure, he meant to scale back, although he had successfully switched to one a day which was certainly more than could be said for his other colleague on support.

He reached over, fetched a smoke from the pack, and then felt around the table for his lighter. However, he was just about to flick it on when he heard three loud knocks rattle against the camper door.

“Oh no!” Bronislava gasped in a whisper, hiking the sheets up to her chest.

Sniper’s gaze whipped to the door. Thank God it was locked. Whoever was on the other side wouldn’t be able to get in without his permission.

“Who’s there?” he called out, not even bothering to mask his annoyance.

“Sniper, it’s me!” Spy’s voice came through. He sounded oddly fearful. It wasn’t like him, which alerted Sniper to the fact that he probably wasn’t trying to bother him for no reason.

“The hell?” the Aussie groaned as he peeled himself away from the bed, hoping that Spy wasn’t about to start begging him for a cigarette that he himself should have been enjoying right now.

“What is it? This better be important!” he called while reaching down to retrieve his boxer shorts.

“Heavy knows, Sniper! He knows! He’ll be here any moment!”

Ice water shot through his veins. Oh, bloody hell. It didn’t get more important than that.

“Fuck!” he gasped, now rushing to dress himself as quickly as humanly possible.

“What are we going to do?” Bronislava cried out in a whisper, now struggling to do the same as she frantically searched for her bra and panties.

Sniper practically threw them at her in the midst of his panic. His mind was racing a million miles a minute as he asked himself the very same thing.

They had waited too long. This was all his fault, and now he was going to pay the price for it.

There was no time to think. No time. No time.

“Heavy!” Spy called out again. At first, Sniper thought he was trying to repeat himself about who was coming, until he realized it wasn’t a warning.

He was addressing the man in question.

“Heavy, that is your teammate! Think about what you’re doing!” came Spy’s firm and slightly muffled words behind the door.

“Out of my way, little man! This does not concern you!”

There was some grunting and more shouting that Sniper couldn’t quite hear, but he knew what was happening nonetheless. Bronislava wasn’t saying anything anymore as she was too focused on trying to look even somewhat presentable in what little time they had left.

As he slid into his pants, Sniper felt like he was on the verge of a full-blown panic attack. Nearly hyperventilating.

‘He’s gonna kill me. He’s gonna rip me in half.’

Well, thank God for Respawn.

Still shirtless, Sniper made for the door. He didn’t have time to put on anything else.

His hand never reached it, however, as the entire thing was suddenly yanked open with a grating, metal shriek, exposing the camper to a flood of daylight.

Bronislava yelped. Sniper stood there in frozen shock. He watched as Heavy ripped the camper door off its hinges and tossed it to the side like it was made of paper.

A small surge of bravery flowed through him, but only because he wanted to protect Bronislava. Sniper was nearly certain Heavy would not hurt her, but then again, he had absolutely no idea what was about to happen.

Beyond his own suffering, that is.

“Now, mate…listen…I can explain…” Sniper began shakily, staring down Heavy’s fuming, bulging eyes like he was staring into the face of a seething bull who had been tricked by the matador one too many times.

“Замолчи!!” Heavy roared, taking a strong step into the camper. His weight shook the whole thing as he did so. “GET AWAY FROM HER!!”

Bronislava started shouting at him in Russian, but her words seemed to be falling on deaf ears. She was struggling to keep herself covered while getting dressed at the same time, but Heavy wasn’t looking at her at all.

“Heavy, please…I…” Sniper tried again, but didn’t get far.

Surprisingly quick, before he even had time to recoil or react, Heavy snatched him with both massive hands and literally threw his teammate out of the camper.

The fall was alarmingly fast. As the ground rushed up to meet him, the bare skin of his torso scraped against the dirt. Sniper couldn’t hold back the pained yelp that tore out of his mouth as his body tensed and curled with agony.

That hurt so damn much, and he feared it was only the beginning.

As he scrambled to get his bearings, the world was chaos all around him. Spy was there, somewhere. He could hear him yelling.

Meanwhile, Bronislava also continued to yell in her native language. Two more voices joined the fray, Scout’s and Demo’s, but they sounded a little further.

All slightly different versions of telling Heavy to either stop, or calm down. Neither command seemed to be working as their giant colleague exited the camper, cracking his knuckles as though he needed to look any more intimidating.

“Засранец! How DARE you take advantage of her!” Heavy yelled, his accent somehow growing thicker in the midst of his rage as his shadow loomed over the sniper.

Take advantage? Fuck. If that’s what her brother thought, he was absolutely done for.

“M-Mate, no…” Sniper tried to defend, lungs straining. Talking was so difficult as he started to slowly crawl backwards. “It’s…it’s not like that…”

“Quiet!!” Heavy bellowed, getting terrifyingly closer with each giant step.

“The hell is goin’ on out here?” he heard Engineer’s voice from somewhere behind, along with Soldier’s and Pyro’s. Jesus Christ, was the whole bloody team going to watch him get beaten to a pulp like some kind of spectacle?

This was a nightmare.

“Mikhail, please…” Sniper persisted, hoping to somehow get through to him if he used his real name. “Listen, I-I tried to tell you…but…”

“ENOUGH!” Heavy shouted. “You are liar and traitor. I will never trust you again!”

Sniper saw the moment his larger colleague rushed towards him, closing in for the attack. The pain and assault that he saw coming a mile away, and could have easily prevented.

In the sparse seconds he had left, all Sniper could think was that he deserved it.

Every hit, every break and fracture, every drop of blood and every ounce of pain rippling through his body.

In a way, he had asked for it. None of this would be happening if he had just done the right thing.

As Sniper flinched and looked away, just waiting for the first hit that would no doubt feel like getting squashed by a train at full-speed, he heard a familiar voice shout somewhere above him. Soft yet fierce. Familiar, but speaking a language he didn’t know.

“Прекрати!”

It was Bronislava.

Though he had never been more afraid, Sniper opened his eyes and forced himself to look.

She was standing over him, facing her brother with a hand raised in a ‘stop’ motion. And while Heavy did not look any less angry, his gaze eventually switched from his intended victim to her. That alone filled Sniper with some relief, but anyone could see this was far from over.

The siblings began to furiously argue in Russian back and forth. Back and forth.

Sniper, obviously, had no idea what they were saying, but even in such a heightened state he somehow managed to recognize the usual ebb and flow of a simmering debate.

Bronislava definitely sounded pleading, and was frantically gesturing back and forth between him and Sniper. Meanwhile, Heavy was clearly throwing in some rebuttals and possibly more accusations, to which she responded with even more sincere beseeching.

She had clearly picked her native tongue for a reason. Perhaps her words would come across better that way, and she wouldn’t have to waste even a single second translating in her head when she could just tell him how she really felt, or how things really were.

But also, maybe she didn’t want the entire team knowing what was being said. A glimmer of privacy in what was otherwise a very public and vulnerable display.

Meanwhile, Sniper felt glued to the ground, fearful to stand up or even try. He didn’t want to draw any more attention to himself than he already had, especially when it seemed like Heavy was maybe, finally starting to calm down.

This shy, soft spoken five-foot-six woman was his last line of defense. And hell, it was actually working. He knew she must have been utterly terrified, but if that was true, she showed none of it while continuing to tame her brother with what he could only assume was a very passionate argument.

Bronislava had far more guts than he ever would.

Sniper saw the moment when Heavy clearly asked a question, his expression far softer and more curious than anything else. Bronislava then turned and looked straight down at him, her eyes thick with emotion and perhaps even the gloss of unshed tears.

And then she spoke, first in Russian, but the next sentence was undeniably a translation. Somehow, he knew it.

“I love him…”

As their gazes locked, Sniper almost felt like he could surrender a tear or two. As they relentlessly stung behind his eyes, he swore he had never been more infatuated than he was in this moment.

‘Love you too,’ he silently mouthed, not feeling brave enough to say it in front of everyone yet. But with her looking right at him there was no way she could have missed it.

Indeed, it brought a small smile to her face before she stepped closer, offering a hand to help pull him up.

Hesitation bit into him at first, but he accepted. With a grunt and a wince, he brought himself back onto his feet with her help. Only now did he realize just how loose and disheveled her green blouse was; nearly slipping off her shoulders with how fast she had put it on.

If Bronislava had intervened even a second later…

He tried not to think about it. As Sniper risked a glance towards his larger teammate, he saw that Heavy didn’t just look calmer. He looked incredibly guilty.

Guilty and sad, like a dog that somehow knows chewing the couch is completely unacceptable. It wasn’t an expression he could ever picture someone of his stature making until he saw it with his own eyes.

Behind his shoulder, he heard Engineer mutter something to the others, clearly urging them to walk away and mind their own business. Whether they did or not, Sniper wasn’t sure. He was entirely laser-focused on the man in front of him.

“Sniper…I…” Heavy began, his eye contact faltering as his gaze skimmed the ground. Never before had he seen him so lost for words. It was strange and almost startling, like he was looking at a completely different person.

With a deep inhale, his colleague suddenly turned and started heading towards the doors of the base. “I am sorry…I must be alone now,” he threw the phrase over his shoulder in barely more than a muttering.

Sniper would have been lying if he said he didn’t flinch when Heavy started moving. However, as soon as he saw the trajectory of his path, the Aussie felt like he could finally relax again. The tight grip of fear and adrenaline that had been squeezing him to death for the last few minutes was slowly starting to release.

He and Bronislava didn’t say anything until Heavy was gone. And even after that, it was several seconds before anyone spoke – like it was forbidden to do so.

“Oh…Mick, you’re hurt!” she announced, drawing attention to the crimson scrapes on his chest and abdomen that were a bit more than such. It seemed the ground had cut him open when he landed, but in the chaos of the moment Sniper hadn’t even realized it. Feeling like you’re in a life-or-death situation tends to have that effect.

“Oh, yeah…I’ll be fine. Guess I should go see Medic,” he replied, looking down at himself.

“Already here,” came a French accent rounding the corner by the doors. It was Spy of course, followed closely by Medic and his medi-gun. The doctor looked wildly confused at best, having been the only one who missed the entire ordeal.

“What in the world is going on here?? Sniper, why are you half-dressed? Where is Heavy? And why is—oh…oh, hello Bronislava,” Medic greeted her with a nod after suddenly realizing she was there.

Sniper released an awkward chuckle, and it felt good to laugh even if Medic’s confusion was the only thing even remotely funny about all this.

“Uh, well…it’s kind of a long story, doc,” he admitted, reaching to scratch the back of his head.

“You know, Sniper…” Spy began, taking a drag of his cigarette as the warm beam of the medi-gun graced his colleague’s wounded flesh.

“When I said I would be calling for Medic after he was finished with you, I truly wanted it to be a joke.”

Sniper laughed again, a bit more genuine that time as he could tell that Spy was trying to make him feel better, in his own roundabout way.

“Yeah…me too, mate,” he replied, sighing and rolling his shoulders as he felt much better now. Physically, at least.

“What did he mean by wanting to be alone?” he asked, turning to look at Bronislava. Although he had successfully avoided being battered by the Russian, he still had no idea where Heavy stood in terms of his youngest sister’s not-so-secret relationship.

The cat was certainly out of the bag now, wasn’t it?

She gave a soft shrug with a sigh. “I am not sure. I think he wants time to think.”

“Hm…” Sniper nodded slowly. “I wouldn’t mind a bit of that myself.”

Chapter Text

The next few hours were strange, to say the least.

Sniper and Bronislava decided to part ways for the time being. That way she could explain what happened to her mother and sisters and he could start a much-needed debrief with his teammates. No doubt the incident had them freaked out and worried to varying degrees, whether they chose to admit it or not.

“Yeah, I didn’t know what was gonna happen!” Scout said between sips of his favourite ‘Bonk!’ beverage. “At first, I was thinkin’ we were gonna have to try and stop ‘im with brute force, but then I was like: how the hell are we gonna do that? It would take like…the whole frickin’ team to bring Heavy down, and even then, I don’t know if we could!”

“Aye…ya might be right, there. All I could think was, damn…I wouldn’t want to be Sniper right now,” Demo added with a hearty laugh and a big gulp of his own drink.

“Yeah, mate. I didn’t want to be me, either.” The sniper in question couldn’t help but chuckle. They had been sitting around the break room table for a while now, with every merc sliding in and out of the conversation at one point or another.

Sniper was currently staring down his half-empty coffee mug, just barely able to see his murky reflection within. He wondered how Bronislava was doing, and how the conversation with her family was going. If his nerves were shot, hers must have been too.

He just wished he knew what Heavy was thinking about, or what he had decided, if anything. Sniper assumed he was in his room but didn’t know for sure. And he sure as hell wasn’t about to check.

“I called it by the way!” Scout happily announced as he crushed the empty can with his fist.

“Called what?” Sniper asked, frowning in confusion.

“You and Bronislava! I knew there was somethin’ goin’ on! I frickin’ knew it!” he said, pointing at him with a big, cheeky grin.

“What are ya talkin’ about, lad? You said he was a bloody fruit! Ya can’t have it both ways!” Demo argued.

“Sure, I can!” Scout blew air with another laugh.

As Sniper groaned into his palm, he was suddenly rescued by their inane conversation when a yellow, gloved hand gently planted itself on his shoulder.

“Hey, slim…how’re you holdin’ up?” Engineer asked.

And just like that, Sniper felt oddly embarrassed. Of course, his friend meant well, but he was brutally reminded once again that the entire team had witnessed him in such a vulnerable position. He didn’t like being pitied or fussed over, and all of this felt like the epitome of such behavior.  

“I’m alright,” he said plainly before taking a sip of coffee. It wasn’t really the truth, but not like he was going to get into that right now.

“Oh…I, uh…went ahead and fixed the camper door for ya. Put it back on good as new, and it shouldn’t creak anymore either,” Engie explained with a small smile while adjusting his goggles.

Sniper’s jaw nearly dropped at the unexpected favor. “Hell, you didn’t have to do all that.”

“Nah, was nothin’,” the Texan replied with an almost bashful tip of his hardhat.  

“Well…thanks, mate.” Sniper smiled back.

“You take care, Snipes. If ya need somethin’, anythin’…just ask, okay?”

Sniper nodded and watched him walk away. As he did so, he wished he had told Engie about his secret from the beginning.

Actually, he wished he had told everyone from the beginning. How he wished he could go back and do it all differently. If only.

“Oh, by the way, lad…just wanted to let ya know we’re both real sorry,” Demo said, his expression softening as it was now his turn to place a hand on Sniper’s shoulder.

“Sorry? What for?” he asked, trying not to seem annoyed by how much everyone was touching him.

“Uh, well…we’re kinda the ones that tipped Heavy off about where Bronislava was…” Scout admitted, tapping his pointer fingers together as he sheepishly looked away.

"Huh?" Sniper frowned in confusion. 

“Well, I say ‘we’…but it was mostly his fault!” Demo accused, pointing at him.

“Yeah, well you were the one that brought up archery! Of course Heavy’s gonna think of Snipes when ya say that!” Scout shot back.

“Well, nobody woulda said nothin’ if ya hadn’t brought up the bloody camper in the first place!”

“Wait…what?” Sniper asked, feeling more confused than ever. “The camper? What about it?”

Scout and Demo exchanged cheeky expressions as they were both clearly trying to hold back a laugh.

“Ah, well…let’s just say…ya might want to park a little further away next time you and her, uh…well…y’know…” Demo’s voice trailed off, and when it did, it seemed that Scout couldn’t hold back anymore as he snorted with fierce laughter.

As Sniper looked out the window and saw the camper in the distance, it didn’t take him long to put two and two together.  

“Oh, Christ…” he groaned into both hands, red heat rushing into his face at full force. Idiot. How could he have been so careless? They would never let him live this down.

If he thought he was embarrassed before, it was nothing compared to how he felt now.

“Ooh, don’t worry about it, lad! We’re happy for ya! We really are. She’s a sweet lass,” Demo tried to assure, but it did nothing to make Sniper feel like the room wasn’t a million degrees.

That sensation didn’t cool off when he was suddenly grabbed from behind. It was Pyro of course, mumbling something into the side of his face as they squeezed his chest just a little too tight.

“Uh…th-thanks, mate. Yeah. I’m alright,” Sniper said with a small laugh as he patted their arm. It was hard not to find it endearing, even if he had told Pyro multiple times that he wasn’t really the hugging type.

When that was over, Sniper felt like he could really do with some alone time, the thing that Heavy himself knew he valued so much. What was he doing right now, anyway? What was he thinking? What sort of reflections or conclusions were flowing through his mind?

Sniper wished he knew.

Going back to the camper didn’t feel right for some reason. Not yet. And he didn’t want to go to his room on base and run the risk of bumping into Heavy before he was ready for it. So instead, Sniper found a comfortable chair in one of the lone corners of the first floor that hardly anyone frequented. Probably because there was not much to do there, but the more likely culprit was that the vending machine was broken.

Sniper didn’t actually intend to fall asleep. All he wanted was some peace, quiet and no obligation to talk or answer any questions. But after shifting his hat down over his eyes, he must have dozed off at some point. He didn’t even realize it. Then again, who ever does?

It wasn’t until he heard a voice in his dreams, a deep and thick Russian accent that made itself a part of whatever fantasy his subconscious was cooking up.

“Sniper.”

When the voice came again, and startled him awake and alert, Sniper lifted his hat to find the heavy weapons expert staring down at him.

“Sniper…can we talk?”

Chapter Text

The sunset had already begun, casting a flaming glow across the rust-red hills, sparse cacti and everything else in its path. It was still quite warm in the light, but almost too cold in the shade. The days were definitely getting cooler and crisper. Sniper figured it was only a matter of time before he migrated to his room on base.

He and Heavy were outside now, about to round the southeast corner of the compound. From here, they could almost see the hay bale target Sniper had practiced on a few days’ prior. It felt like a century ago.

Their conversation had started where he’d fallen asleep, but the Aussie soon found that he just couldn’t sit or stand still for some reason. He needed movement to get through this. He needed to walk. And although he had never known Heavy to be much of a walker (at least not for recreation), he was thankful when his colleague was agreeable to it.

Awkward as it was, the initial start hadn’t been so bad. Heavy asked Sniper almost right away how he was doing, and he gave the same automatic response as he had with everyone else. But he was glad to see he cared. After the obligatory comments had been made, it seemed they were about to move onto the hard part.

Or at least, Sniper assumed it would be the hard part, because there was absolutely nothing simple or easy about what occurred this morning, or the whole situation for that matter.

“Mate…I’m sorry,” he was sure to say, as soon as the mood switched to a point where he felt like he could. “I should have told ya sooner. I really screwed up.”

That was really the crux of what he wanted to say, and yet he felt many more words burrowing under the surface just fighting to break out. But he needed the restraint, and more importantly, he knew that Heavy probably had a lot more to say than he did.

He expected one of several obvious responses. “Yes, you did,” or “No, you didn’t,” or perhaps something in between. But to Sniper’s surprise, Heavy didn’t say anything at all. And when he finally did, it was like he was starting a new conversation altogether.

“Sniper…have I told you the story of my family? Of what we went through?”

A lump formed in his throat, and no amount of swallowing could make it go away.

“Uh…a little, I think…bits and pieces,” he said quietly.

“Mm…” Heavy vocalized as he stared straight ahead. Sniper was so grateful for them to be walking, because it meant he didn’t have to make eye contact most of the time.

“When father was killed…Bronislava was still very small. She barely remembers him,” he began. Despite what he was saying, Heavy’s tone remained clear and unwavering. If there was emotion in there, Sniper could not detect it.

“She does not remember much of the gulag, either. Flashes, I think. Small pieces of memory that feel more like dreams. Or…nightmares.”

‘Bloody hell,’ Sniper thought, feeling a chill arc down his back. What the hell had they endured in that place? He simultaneously did and did not want Heavy to answer that.

“When we were there, I spent whole time watching sisters and mother. I did not eat. Barely slept. I could not. I was too scared to close eyes. Too afraid of what might happen to them if I looked away even for a moment.”

As he continued to listen, Sniper was made aware of how fast his heart was pounding. He could practically taste the trauma in the air between them.

“There was one time…” Heavy started up again, his tone still strangely calm. It was almost eerie.

“I woke up in the night, and there was someone in our cell. A guard. He had Zhanna by the throat and pinned her to the floor. Her dress was torn. He was trying to…”

His breath hitched. There it was.

“I…I think I get it, mate…” Sniper said, not because he was trying to interrupt, but he wanted to spare his teammate the burden of having to continue with that particular detail when he didn’t have to.

“Hm…yes. Anyway, I killed him. I wish I could have made him suffer more, but I had to do it quickly. That was night we escaped. After that, I promised myself that I would do what I could to make sure evil men do not come anywhere near my family again.”

Sniper had clung onto every word so tightly that he didn’t even realize they had made a full loop around the entire base. Heavy didn’t seem to notice either, or at least, he didn’t comment on it. They just kept walking, starting another loop.

“I’m sorry…” was all he could think to say, stupid as it was. Apologies couldn’t erase the past. Apologies couldn’t bring Heavy’s father back to life or go back in time and keep them out of that hellish prison. But he said it anyway, because that’s what you’re supposed to do.

“Sisters are not children anymore. I know that. They can make their own choices,” Heavy said after a very long pause, and it seemed they were now, slowly, circling back to what had brought them out here in the first place.

“But I also know, better than some, what evil men are capable of. Sometimes I wish I did not.”

Sniper swallowed again, knowing that even for a moment, Heavy had mistakenly thought he was amongst these ‘evil men’. Sure, none of them were saints in the slightest. They were a team of killers. Contracted, but killers nonetheless. As for what Heavy was talking about…

Did he truly think he was that kind of person? After everything they’ve been through and how long they’ve known each other? It was hard not to be offended, or to show that he wasn’t, but deep down, Sniper understood.

“So, it’s…not just about Soldier and Zhanna, is it?” he asked slowly, realizing that he must have had it wrong from the beginning. At least partially.

“Hm?” Heavy arched an eyebrow. It took a moment for him to catch his meaning. When he did, the Russian actually gave a small laugh.

“Heh, do not misunderstand. I tolerate their situation, but I am not happy about it. I still do not know what Zhanna sees in him, but like I said…she can make that choice for herself. Besides, Soldier might not be most stable man, but he is not evil. Soldier is too stupid to be evil.”

Now it was Sniper’s turn to laugh. Heavy could be quite funny sometimes, intentionally or otherwise. “You got that right.”

They started walking again.

“So, uh…” Sniper began, feeling like he finally had the courage to ask this.

“About…me and Bronislava…uh…”

“I wish you had told me from the beginning, Sniper,” Heavy cut him off, his voice turning low and blunt as it often was.

He couldn’t pretend that didn’t sting him. He knew it already, but it still hurt to hear. Sniper was just about to apologize again and break the silence when the other man beat him to it.

“But I understand why you did not.”

Sniper blinked in confusion as they turned another corner. He was lucky he didn’t crash right into it.

“You…you do?”

“Da.” Heavy nodded. “When Bronislava and I were talking…well…more like yelling…she explained. She told me how you were scared of what I would think. What I would say. She said it made things difficult.”

Heavy glanced at him as they walked. “That is what you were going to tell me that night, wasn’t it? The day we lost match?”

“Oh…” Sniper adjusted his hat. That memory also felt far more distant than it was. “Y-Yeah.”

“I am sorry.” Heavy sighed with his whole, massive chest. “I was too angry. Did not want to listen. Things would have been different if I had.”

“Yeah, well…” Sniper rolled his shoulders with a modest shrug. “Things also woulda been different if I had just told you what was goin’ on from the start like I should’ve.”

“Does not matter,” Heavy was quick to say. “We cannot change it now. We can only move forward. But now I hope you understand…why I am the way that I am. I need to let go, and accept that sisters do not need me anymore. It is difficult. But I must try.”

His pace slowed just a little. Sniper wondered if he was getting tired, especially with the way he sighed again before speaking again.

“Like I said before, Bronislava does not remember father. Sometimes she thinks she does, but she is actually recalling a memory of me taking care of her.” A slow smile emerged as the words continued. “There is more than fifteen years between us. In a way, I am like her father. I raised her. I love her very much. I love all my family, and I…”

Heavy stopped again, but he didn’t look at Sniper that time. He was staring straight ahead towards the metal perimeter gate. 

“I do not want to see them hurt. Never again.”

“Of course…” Sniper said softly, wanting to make it clear that he understood and was not vilifying him.

“And…earlier…when you were with her…for a moment, I thought…” Heavy’s strong voice trailed off, and he gave a frustrated shake of his head when it seemed like words were failing him.

He then looked straight at his colleague, and placed a massive, weighty palm on his shoulder. Despite the size of his hand, Sniper was shocked at how gentle the gesture was.

“Sniper…I am sorry. I was not thinking. I was too angry. Too afraid. You would never do such thing,” he said, an enormous wealth of guilt and remorse in the hues of his eyes. “I hope that one day you can forgive me.”

He could have laughed, and was grateful when he had the restraint not to. Forgive Heavy? No, that was backwards. He was the one who needed to be forgiven.

But maybe this was a two-way street, and everyone involved had something to learn.

Well, except Bronislava. In his eyes, she was already bloody perfect.

“Mate…” Sniper smiled and reached over to do the same thing on Heavy’s opposite shoulder, but it was humorous just how small his hand was in comparison.

“Of course I forgive ya. And I hope you can forgive me too, for…uh…all the rest,” he added shyly, not really wanting to get into it all over again. Heavy knew.

“And you’re wrong about one thing. Your sisters still need ya. They always will, just maybe not in the way you think they do.”

The Russian smiled as well. He was never one for showing too much sentiment, they had that in common. However, he gave a soft, rumbling chuckle before shifting his hand to the top of Sniper’s hat and giving it a couple pats. It made him feel like a small child. Then again, doing almost anything with Heavy had that effect.

Sniper took that to mean that all was forgiven for him as well, even before his teammate said anything else.

“Da. It’s…what is saying…water under bridge?”

Sniper chuckled back as they broke apart and started walking once again. “Heh, yeah.”

It felt so good to be on these kinds of terms again. It was freeing. It felt like he could breathe properly for the first time in weeks.

“So, uh…you don’t mind if…I keep seein’ her?” he asked, half-knowing the answer already but wanting to be absolutely sure.

Heavy seemed to take an extra second to answer, like he was purposely trying to keep him on edge. Sniper could see him doing that, just for fun.  

“Da. Is fine. Besides…Bronislava could do much worse than you.”

He said it so bluntly that Sniper couldn’t hold in his laugh that time.

“What is funny? I mean it,” Heavy said firmly.

“No, it’s…it’s just…” Sniper gave another chuckle while shaking his head. “Never mind. We should probably head back in, huh?”

The larger teammate grunted in agreement.

As they went through the sliding doors of the base, Heavy mumbled something else over his shoulder. The casual tone and the weight of the words did not match.

“Bronislava loves you very much…”

Sniper stared at the back of his head as he followed. What on earth was he supposed to say to that?

Thankfully, he didn’t have to as Heavy continued.

“You should have heard how she defended you. I have never seen her so fierce. Not even while hunting giant bear.”

As Heavy pressed the button for the elevator, Sniper glanced off to the side, smiling fondly as he thought of his love. His hero. She might not have saved his life today, but she probably saved him a world of crippling and unnecessary pain, and spared Heavy the enormous regret of causing it.

“Heh, I…I bet,” he said, softly and bashfully.

“Now that I think about it…I am not surprised you two are together,” Heavy said as they stepped into the elevator compartment.

“No?” Sniper asked, arching an eyebrow.

Heavy nodded. “It is like I said before…you are similar and would get along well. Apparently, you get along very, very well,” he added with a small smirk as he stared down at him.

Sniper wrenched his gaze away, heat creeping back into his cheeks. He wasn’t sure how to react other than with nervous chuckling.

Heavy’s look then darkened as he took a step forward. With him being as large as he was, and the elevator being so small, Sniper really had nowhere to go.

“And Sniper, if you ever hurt her for real…” he growled low. Sniper kept anticipating a string of colourful threats should he ever break his sister’s heart, but they never arrived. Perhaps Heavy only needed him to imagine such horrors to get the point across.

“Uh, y-yeah…yeah, mate. I get it. A-And I won’t, I promise,” he said, and he meant it.

Heavy nodded promptly, and it seemed he had no trouble believing it.

“Good.”

Chapter Text

Sniper was so excited to reunite with Bronislava, it felt just as special as the first night she was here.

What excited him almost more than that, however, was being able to sit next to her during dinner on base that evening. No more sneaking glances from opposite ends of the table. No more watching her walk by in his peripheral vision and pretending not to care. No more hiding. No more secrets. No more fear. No more stress.

Just them, together, exactly as they wanted and needed to be. It was even more beautiful than Sniper could ever imagine. This was how it was supposed to be from the very beginning. And although he wished it hadn’t taken so long to get there, he loved that they were finally at this stage of the journey.

And to think their life together had only just begun.

He must have looked different to his team that night. He must have smiled more, laughed more, enjoyed things more, and all because of who was beside him. While they weren’t nearly as public in their romantic displays as Soldier and Zhanna (who seemed to always be aggressively making out at any chance they got), Sniper loved being able to put his arm around her or give her a quick kiss, regardless of who might have been watching. Something so simple shouldn’t have given him so much joy, and yet it absolutely did.

Bronislava looked happy as well. She was positively radiant that night. Then again, she always looked that way to him.  

When the meal was over, and the conversation was starting to lull and drag with how often people were yawning, Sniper and Bronislava started to slowly make their way back down the stairs and towards the main doors that would bring them to the camper.

At one point, he asked if she would prefer to spend the night in his room on base as it was far more spacious and actually had a proper bathroom.

“Hm…no, that is fine,” Bronislava declined, much to his surprise as she looped her arm around his. “I like the camper. I do not mind sharing such a small space.”

A grin curved her mouth as she winked up at him. “Besides…is more private.”

Sniper thought about telling her that it wasn’t quite as private as she thought it was, but decided against it. He’d be sure to take Demo’s advice and park a little further away next time. Hell, maybe even further than that.

“Heh…alright, love. Sounds good,” he said, more than pleased by her response. He never thought he’d find a partner who enjoyed the camper lifestyle as much as he did, although maybe that assumption was a bit of a stretch.

However, as they exited the stairwell and proceeded towards the doors, they were both caught off guard by who was walking in the opposite direction.

Her brother.

It was hard for Sniper not to bristle on instinct as he saw his teammate. He hated how that rush of fear still threatened to wash over him, even when there was nothing to be afraid of anymore.

“Hi, Misha!” Bronislava greeted warmly. As soon as his gaze reached her own, his normally hardened expression softened in an instant.

“Mm…you two are going to bed?” he asked, stopping just a few feet in front of them.

“Yes,” Bronislava replied through a yawn as she stretched her arms up. “Has been long day. I cannot believe we only have two more left before we leave…”

Sniper’s heart sunk, and he tried not to show it. Only two more days with her? Shit, where had the time gone?

“Da. Your trip went by fast. Will have to make the most of it,” Heavy replied before starting to walk past them. He then made another comment, presumably wishing Bronislava goodnight in his native tongue. She did the same.

As his colleague passed his shoulder, Sniper assumed at first that he was just going to look straight ahead and keep walking. However, he caught the exact moment Heavy made eye contact with him, and gave a small, knowing and oddly comforting smile.

Sniper smiled in return, basking in the knowledge of her brother’s approval.

Or the admittance that she could ‘do a lot worse’, anyway.

As the pair walked along the dusty road back to the camper, he was sure that Bronislava liked not having to do it in such a sneaky way anymore.

“Are you, uh…pretty tired?” he asked, stopping just before the door.

She cast him an amused, knowing look. “I could stay up a bit longer. Why do you ask?” she said playfully, reaching up to gently trace his collar bone with her fingers.

Sniper chuckled at the misreading of his intentions, although he couldn’t exactly blame her. There would be time later, of course, but he had something different in mind.

“I have an idea. Wanna get out of ‘ere for a while?”

~

If the RED base was out in the middle of nowhere, it certainly didn’t feel like it compared to where they were now.

After driving for about ten minutes down the barren, ghost of a highway, Sniper had turned to do a bit of off-roading into the desert itself. Not too far, just far enough that they wouldn’t have to worry about the noise or glare of any other traffic. Not that there was much to speak of, especially at this time.

“There, ya got it?” Sniper asked as Bronislava went ahead of him on the ladder. As her form disappeared onto the roof, he knew she must have made it up okay.

After pulling himself up and over the last rung, he saw her laying down a blanket to go under them. And above them? A vast, endless ocean of pure starlight.

While there was hardly any light pollution back at the base, it was completely non-existent out here in the desert. It was the kind of dazzling, shimmering night where it felt like if you stared up too long, gravity would reverse and you’d fall into it forever.

“Amazing…” Bronislava whispered in awe as she laid down, getting comfortable. But she didn’t seem perfectly comfortable until he was there beside her.

“It’s really somethin’, eh?” he asked softly as she nuzzled into his shoulder. It was a bit chilly, but not too bad yet. They could go in whenever it got too unbearable, or when his vest wrapped around her wasn’t quite enough to keep her warm anymore.

For a long while, they stayed there like that under the glow of starlight. Watching, thinking. Thinking, watching. Sniper wasn’t sure how long. It could have been seconds. Could have been minutes. He had done this before, just by himself, but he must have forgotten. Time felt so different out here.

“Can’t believe you’re leavin’ soon…” Sniper whispered eventually, and it took him a second to realize he had said it out loud into the night.

“Hm? Oh…yes,” Bronislava replied slowly and sadly.

“Sorry. I shouldn’t have brought it up,” he said with a slight shake of his head, wondering why he was bringing the mood down at a time like this.

“It is fine,” she assured, snuggling even closer to him.

Sniper heaved a sigh. He felt bad that they spent the majority of their time together trying to anxiously keep it a secret. He was trying to move on like Heavy had said, but for an over-thinker like him it was easier said than done.

“You’re all…goin’ to New York, right?” he asked, hoping that her plan hadn’t suddenly changed without him knowing.

“Mm, yes. Yana has found a place for us to live. I will miss Siberia…but we cannot go back. Too dangerous. Time for us to start new chapter.”

Sniper tried to see the positive side. Compared to where she was living before, it was relatively close. About two thousand miles away instead of halfway across the world. Still the same country, at least.

Despite these silver linings, he couldn’t quite chase away the sadness that hollowed his chest. 

“Wish you could stay in New Mexico,” he said selfishly. But it was the truth.

“I am sorry, Mick. I must stay with my family,” she said, and although she was undeniably disappointed, he could also tell it was truly what she wanted. And how could he ever keep her apart from that?

“Of course.” He nodded. “It’s just…well…never mind,” he said through a sigh, keeping his gaze upward.

“I know,” she whispered before kissing his cheek. “I’ll miss you too, Mick. More than you know.”

He sighed again, although there was some relief knowing that they’d still at least be able to communicate.

“You’ll write when you get there?”

“Yes. I can even call you! We will have a telephone for very first time. I’m excited to use it.”

“Heh, nice…” Sniper smirked. “Though it might be easier for me to call you. I don’t exactly have a number.”

She nodded. “Whatever you prefer.”

Silence resumed as they dwelled in the bittersweet nature of what was happening, or about to happen.

“I’ll come visit,” Sniper announced, trying to both perk himself up and the woman laying next to him. “Not sure when. We probably won’t get any time off until at least Thanksgiving, but…I’ll be there eventually.”

Not a suggestion. A promise. Although it suddenly occurred to him that he’d have to juggle what minuscule vacation time he had between seeing his parents and seeing Bronislava. He intended to take a trip back to Australia at some point.

Oh, hell…his parents. They didn’t even know about her yet. He’d be sure to mention it during the next phone call. No doubt they’d be pleased that he was finally dating someone as they never shut up about the prospect. His mother especially.

“Sounds good to me.” She smiled and released a sigh that sounded much more content. “Not so long to wait. It will happen before we know it.”

Sniper smiled at her optimism and decided he wanted to share in it. “I’m sure you’re right, love.”

A few moments later, his view of the sky was suddenly replaced by one even more gorgeous as Bronislava carefully shifted on top of him. With how bright the constellations were, he could just barely make out her features, and it wasn’t hard for his palm to find the side of her head.

“I love you, Mick…” came her voice, so soft but like she was only truly realizing it for the first time. “You are the best thing to ever happen to me.”

Sniper was alarmed at how tight his throat suddenly felt. The words made him want to cry, and not just because of what they meant for him specifically. His mind briefly flicked back to Heavy’s story, and all the pain and suffering his family had gone through to get to where they were now.

Bronislava deserved nothing but happiness, and if she had found that, even partially thanks to him, he wasn’t quite sure how to handle it. There were no words; none he could muster anyway amidst the hit of sudden, foreign emotion that was flooding behind his eyes.

He pressed his lips to her own, mostly wanting to distract her in case any pesky tears of his managed to slip out.

But mostly just because he could.

“Love you too.”

Chapter Text

Here they were again, out in the dusty driveway next to the garage under clear skies in the mid-afternoon.

Only it was much cooler this time around. Hard to believe the weather could change that significantly in just ten days.

Then again…a lot had changed in the last ten days.

Sniper stood off to the side, feeling like his heart weighed ten pounds heavier. He couldn’t believe Bronislava was leaving. In just a few minutes she’d be gone. In a few minutes, he wouldn’t be able to hold her or kiss her or tell her that he loved her right to her beautiful face.

In some ways, it felt like she had only just arrived. That was probably because it wasn’t until the very end of the trip that the pair felt like they could finally be themselves. It was unfortunate, but as Sniper kept trying to tell himself, there wasn’t much anyone could do about it now.

Damn it. His throat felt tight again. Or maybe that was just the dry air. Sure, he’d put the blame on that.

A noise to his right made him turn his head, and sure enough, Sniper saw the door open. It was Heavy leading the pack, followed by his mother and all three sisters. They were chattering in Russian as they dragged their luggage along. There seemed to be at least two different conversations going on at the same time.

Sniper was intrigued by Bronislava speaking her native language. She sounded so much more confident; like a completely different person. He supposed that only made sense. He was always so impressed by people who knew two or more languages (though he would never say it within earshot of Spy).

After helping Heavy lift their bags into the back of the ‘RED bread’ truck, Sniper was shocked by how many teammates were suddenly out here compared to just a couple minutes ago.

It seemed that everyone wanted to say goodbye, even those who weren’t particularly close with Heavy’s family. It was surprising. Heart-warming, even.

There was still time. Time for a bit of small talk before they took off to the airport. Sniper watched as the sisters went around the ring of mercenaries and said their respective goodbyes. He had only just chuckled at Scout’s very obvious (and unsuccessful) attempt at flirting with Yana when he was suddenly aware of the person standing in front of him.

It was Heavy’s mother. Sniper didn’t actually know her name yet, but he wanted to.

As the two locked eyes, he suddenly realized that because of everything that happened regarding her son, they never actually had a chance to talk about, well…much of anything. But especially his relationship with Bronislava. Sniper figured she had to know by now. There was no way she didn’t.

As she smiled at him, he was, in fact, certain of it.

“Um…Mick, is it?” she asked softly. Her accent was by far the thickest in her family, but unlike some of her children, she did not appear to have a single intimidating bone in her body. She was pure warmth.

“Yeah.” He smiled back, offering up his hand to shake even though it wasn’t an introduction. It felt right for some reason.

“Nadia,” she replied, gently clasping his hand with both of her own. Her sweet voice and light, frail touch reminded him of his own mother. And just like that, he was homesick.

“Bronislava has told me much about you. I am sorry we did not get to speak much during our time here.”

He flashed a sympathetic smile as their hands broke off. If certain words and certain situations had been different, that might not have been the case. He was partially to blame for that. “Yeah, me too.”

“She says you might come to visit?” Nadia asked, hope rising in her weathered eyes.

“Yeah. I will. Definitely,” he confirmed with a nod.

“Oh good. I look forward to it. You have made Bronislava very happy. And that makes me happy as well.” Her smile deepened.

Sniper glanced away, positive that he was flushing crimson from ear to ear. Hell, what does anyone say to something like that? This woman was too wholesome.

“Uh…g-great…yeah, uh…she means a lot to me,” he somehow managed to say, though it was only just the tip of the iceberg of his feelings towards her daughter.

“I am glad. It seems she has chosen well. You’re much more…hm…what is the word…”

Sniper braced for what he hoped was going to be a compliment.

“Stable? Yes, more stable…compared to, um…the other one…” Nadia said, subtly pointing to the side where Zhanna and Soldier were currently expelling very dramatic and almost Shakespearean farewells to each other. It was like something out of a movie.

Ah, so Nadia wasn’t a fan of Soldier either. Made perfect sense, but what could she do about it when her eldest daughter was so clearly and madly in love? She didn’t look too upset by the pairing, anyway. Even Heavy seemed like he was slowly warming up to it these past few days.

Very, very slowly.

Sniper couldn’t hide his laugh, nor would he dare to try. And he was thankful when she joined him in it.

“Heh, yeah…”

She then gave a nod that was almost a bow. “до свидания.”

He wasn’t even going to bother trying to say it back to her for fear of messing it up, so he didn’t. “Till next time,” Sniper offered instead, tipping his hat to her as she moved away to rejoin her family.

“What time is it?” Heavy asked, stepping in to fill his mother’s previous spot.

Sniper checked his watch. “Almost one-thirty.”

His teammate grumbled, possibly because he wasn’t looking forward to the drive, but no doubt he also didn’t want to say goodbye either.

“We should get going.”

Upon hearing that, Sniper’s heart sank into his stomach. Well, time to get this over with. He needed to say goodbye to—

“Hello,” Bronislava chirped, suddenly in front of him. Boy, this family moved around fast. It felt like he was in a revolving door.

“Hey…” he said, smiling down at her despite the turmoil raging within. He always hated saying goodbye.

Why did the people he loved most have to live so far away?

“I…I guess this is it,” she said, glancing down at her fingers as she started picking at her cuticles.

Realizing she had to have been feeling the same amount of despair, Sniper saw it as his immediate mission to try and lessen it. He took her hands into his own and stared deep into those beautiful irises that called him home.

“It’s just goodbye, love. It’s not forever,” he said, mustering a smile. He was trying to remind her just as much as he was reminding himself.

Fortunately, Bronislava smiled back, and he thought he caught the exact moment she started blinking her tears away. Oddly enough, as sad as he was right now, he didn’t feel like crying anymore.

“Yes. Not forever,” she repeated, nodding determinedly. “We did it before. We can do it again.”

“Right. And it won’t be nearly as long this time,” he offered, feeling their collective hope and optimism shining together.

“And it’s not a secret anymore,” she pointed out with a small giggle.

“Yeah.” He echoed his own laugh. The last few days felt like such a crazy whirlwind. It had all gone by so fast, but he was glad to put the conflict behind him.

After that, there wasn’t much left to say. What could they say? Well, there was one more thing, but it had nothing to do with words.

Just as Sniper started leaning in for a kiss, and watched Bronislava do the same, something made his gaze flick to the side, and the sight before him made him freeze with uncertainty.

Everyone was watching.

Well, maybe not everyone. But it was totally obvious that the moment he looked at his teammates, some of them cast their eyes elsewhere and were pretending not to pay attention to the couple.

Bronislava clearly noticed, and started chuckling nervously. Her family seemed to be half-watching as well. Were they really that interesting? Then again, this whole situation had been quite the topic of conversation lately, despite Sniper’s best attempts to never be the source of workplace gossip.

So much for that.

As his gaze shot back and forth between Bronislava and the group, a sudden idea crept into his brain, and he was shocked at how tempting it really was.

Sniper stood in the balance for a moment, half-nervous, half-excited and silently weighing the risks. But when he realized there were none to speak of, his decision came swift and with a mischievous grin.

They wanted to watch? He’d give them something to watch.

Bronislava must have caught the look in his eye. She started to smile nervously even before his hand slid around her back.

“Mick…what are you—”

In one, fluid motion that felt more suave than he was capable of, Sniper dipped her down with one hand, and slid his hat off with the other. He then planted a great big kiss on those heavenly lips, and held her there for a few seconds just to make sure that nobody missed it.

Sniper was sure at least three people clapped. There were various, vocal responses that he couldn’t quite make out, but he thought he heard Scout give a very genuine: “Woah” before he opened his eyes and tilted Bronislava back up.

When he did, the look on her face was truly priceless. A perfect mix of dazed, pure joy and ‘did that really just happen?’

The whole thing had given him such an insane burst of energy; he felt like he could take on the entire BLU team single-handedly.

“Heh…sorry, couldn’t help it,” he said, feigning a guilty look as he popped his hat back on. Really, he wasn’t guilty at all, and would do it again in a heartbeat.

“No, it…” Bronislava began, still looking like she was seeing stars. But then it seemed she couldn’t find the words, or any at all. So instead, she looped her arms around the back of his neck and hugged him tight.

“I love you,” she whispered in his ear.

He smiled as he said it back. If he could hold her any tighter without causing harm, he would.

“Come along, now…” Sniper heard Heavy say, at least to Bronislava if not the rest of the family. Fortunately, there didn’t seem to be any hostility in his tone, even if he had also witnessed their very public display of affection.

“Alright,” Bronislava said, exhaling a small, nervous breath before giving Sniper one last look.

“Goodbye…for now.” She smiled and nodded.

“Bye for now.” He did the same.

The next few moments passed in a blur. Bronislava was there one moment, and in the next, she was joining the small line-up as her family entered the truck one by one. He watched her for as long as he could, right up until her form disappeared inside the vehicle and Heavy shut the door with a small bang.

As he came around to the driver’s side, Sniper called out. “Drive safe, yeah?”

Heavy nodded, and it seemed he was now in his ‘business as usual’ type demeanor.

“Mm. Will be back from airport in two hours.”

When the car started, Sniper continued to watch, still and silent. Even as it turned around and started slowly puttering down the dusty trail, he watched. Even as the truck vanished from his sight line and he could only hear it, he watched the space where it had previously been.

His thoughts were muddled and mixed, but he wasn’t upset. Not as much as he thought he would be. Still, there was something about standing here and watching the spot where his love once stood that made him not want to leave. Like a piece of her was still here, drifting in the breeze.

“Ah…it’s hard to say goodbye, isn’t it?” he heard a gruff, American voice arise on his left.  

It was Soldier, of course, looking the most dejected Sniper had ever seen. And even then, there was something oddly funny about it. Cartoonish, even. Not that he thought he was faking it in the slightest. Sniper realized this was probably one of the few experiences they had in common.

“Yeah…” He gave little more than a mumble in response while adjusting his shades.

“Hey! Why didn’t you tell me sooner??” Soldier asked, his tone and expression switching dramatically as he stared at him in betrayal. “The four of us could have gone on a double date!”

Sniper couldn’t help but laugh. If that would have been the outcome, he felt like he just dodged a very serious bullet. “Sorry, mate. Guess it slipped my mind.”

“Ah, well. There’s always next time!” Soldier said, nodding to the horizon.

“Speaking of next time…I’m going to get Zhanna so incredibly pregnant. Maybe we’ll have twins!”

“Bloody hell…” Sniper muttered into his hand as he dragged it down his face.

“You know, son…I hate to tell you this, but you’re getting up there in years,” Soldier continued, placing a hand on his shoulder like he was giving him some essential piece of wisdom. “You might also want to think about fathering some children sooner than later.”

“I’m twenty-eight!” Sniper argued, nearly laughing at the absurd direction this conversation had taken.

“What? Really? No…impossible!” Soldier gawked, helmet waving slightly as he shook his head. “I’m going to have to ask Medic about that one.”

“Go right ahead,” Sniper said with a small wave, more than happy to have Soldier leave him alone, though he couldn’t hide his smile.

“Well, I’m off. Think about what I said, Sniper!” Soldier said, a prideful spring in his step as there often was as he started making his way back into the garage.

“Hm, yeah…sure thing…” the Aussie muttered sarcastically as he slid a hand into his pocket. He couldn’t help but release another small, incredulous laugh as he turned to face the road again.

Moments passed. Maybe minutes. How many? He wasn’t sure. But he found himself staring at that same, empty spot again, thinking about the woman who had previously filled it.

“Hey, Snipes!” he heard Scout call from somewhere behind. “You really gonna just stand there all day?”

“Ya know you get paid for doin’ that, right?” Demo joined in with a hoarse laugh.

Sniper turned to his friends, shaking his head with a chuckle. They were right to snap him out of it. He wasn’t sure what he was trying to accomplish out here other than making himself sad again.

“Yeah, yeah…” he mumbled through a small grin, making his way back over.

“We’re gonna go play poker. Wanna join?” Scout asked as the three of them started making their way towards the door side by side.

“Mm. Sure,” Sniper replied, thinking he could use the distraction. It might also be worth it to see the look on Spy’s face if he beats him again.

“What a week, eh? I feel like it’s gonna be a lot quieter around here now. Or, uh… knowin’ us, maybe not.” Demo chuckled as he held the door open for them.

“At least I’ll be able to get a decent sleep again now that Zhanna’s gone! I’ll miss ‘er, though. They’re nice chicks—uh, nice ladies,” Scout replied as he passed through the threshold. Sniper appreciated his clumsy correction and found himself smiling again.

“Yeah. They sure are.”

As he stepped into the base’s interior, Sniper was suddenly made aware of something in his back pocket. Something thin and square like a piece of paper. It wasn’t until he stopped walking to fish it out that he remembered what it was.

“Your camper. Tonight. After dark.”

Sniper smiled down tearfully at the wrinkled note, and was thankful for the aviators that hid the glossy sheen building up in his eyes.

He missed Bronislava so much already, but he tried to hold onto every memory and moment the two had shared during her time here, and the fact that it wouldn’t be too long until she was back in his arms again.

“Not forever…”

“What’s that?” Demo asked as his teammates stopped a few feet ahead of him.

He sniffed and shook his head, trying to regain his composure. But he was still smiling.

“Just a reminder. Let’s go.”

-The End-