1 . Name: Magpie @ 2011-09-19 20:27

I believe that I've sat on this long enough now. I didn't want to start reposting until I had some new content, but as it turns out school is keeping me from getting very far with the other chapters. The important thing is that I'm working on this monstrosity again.

Credit goes to Hybrid for beta-ing for me (original chapters were beta-d by Scrunchy).
Also I would also like to thank TwoRefined's Breaking Point for making me want to start finishing this up, and to the Anon who posted my original chapters in the post crash lost and found thread. I got a new computer and, for some reason, they weren't among the files that were transferred.

~~~


Chapter 1 - Training

They never warned him about this when they had shipped him off to the battlefield.

Granted they probably didn’t know anything about what was going on but that didn’t stop the Red Sniper from blaming the company that had sent him. He had hardly been here a week and the moment he stepped foot in the fort he hated it. The work was fine and the people seemed friendly enough when he first met them. That had quickly changed.

The daily battles were becoming something close to a personal retreat for him since they were the only time he had to himself anymore and today was no different. He watched the battle though his rifle scope from his perch high above the battlefield. It was a large old structure probably used as a part of an electric line or water tower at some point, he didn’t know or care. It didn’t provide much in the way of protection from the elements but it was high and hard to get to which was all that mattered.

Off in the distance, he caught sight of the Red Medic waving on the rest of the team to continue with the hard offensive he was leading. There was a surge of anger and hate that he held against the other man seething though his veins and wanted nothing more than to put one of his bullets though the man’s brain. It was an easy shot, all he had to do was pull the trigger and the man would be sent on an unpleasant trip to the respawn room. It would have been an easy shot, should have been an easy shot – if he could stop his hands from shaking.

Memories from only a few days ago rushed into his head - of being strapped down to a table while the good doctor carved away the flesh from his hand because he still had the courage to pull the trigger. The tremors in his hands were spreading to the rest of his body now, forcing him to set his rifle down. His hand moved to brush against the collar that was firmly fastened around his neck, only to jerk it away suddenly as though it had burned him. If the Medic caught him touching the collar it would only mean more punishment. Closing his eyes, he took several deep breaths until he had calmed down enough to hold his gun steady again.

This wasn’t supposed to be how things went. He was a professional, god dammit, not some mad man’s toy.

Setting up his gun again he could see that he still had a clear view of the Medic, but, around a nearby corner the Blue Spy was skulking about waiting for a good moment to take out the key member in the Red’s offense.

It was an easy shot.

Hands steady again, he went back to scanning the rest of the field. He had a job to do and he wasn’t going to let anything get in the way of that.

~~~

He cringed at the sound of the ceasefire siren ringing though the air, the voice of the Administrator drifting through the speakers to declare victory for the Red team.

The announcement meant little to the Sniper, except that maybe the Medic would be in a more forgiving mood. He could only hope. For a moment he contemplated staying up in his perch for the night but decided against it, he would have to come down at some point and the willful act would only mean more suffering later.

Slowly he descended the long ladder and dragged himself into the compound, pausing to look into what served as the team’s kitchen where everyone else had already assembled. He briefly glanced at the Medic before snapping his gaze away. It was downright embarrassing just how terrified of the German he had become and he was a god dammed grown man.

He could feel the eyes turning to look at him and the whole kitchen turned silent as they watched in anticipation of what the doctor would do. The Sniper could almost feel their disappointment when all the German did was instruct him to wait in the infirmary for him.

When the Australian didn’t move there came the sharp sound of the Medic’s chair being pushed back and the clack of polished boots against linoleum. The threat of facing the angry doctor made the Sniper flinch and hurry out of the view of the doorway. He continued walking slowly, his feet felt like they had a mind of their own. No matter how desperately he wanted to turn and run they just kept moving him forward. Behind him, he could hear the laughter and joking that had started up again after he had left.

Stepping into the coolness of the infirmary, he removed his hat and glasses and set them in the edge of an operating table before folding his vest beside them. He caught a glimpse of his own reflection in one of the idle monitors, only to look away. There was a hollowness to his eyes that he couldn’t stand to look at and his face was starting to pull itself tight against his skull from a lack of food. Last night he had to watch what was going to be his meal get scraped into the garbage, all because he hadn’t followed orders as expected. Two days ago there had just been a small plate of scraps for breakfast and the day before that there had been nothing at all. When he would be in the outback at home there were naturally a few days where he would have to go without food but there was always something that he could scavenge or kill so it would never be long.

Right now, he was almost ready to do anything if it meant that he would get fed, but only after the leash was brought out.

The item in question was sitting on the corner of the doctor’s desk coiled perfectly, and appearing to all the world like it was just a harmless inanimate object. He would love nothing more than to destroy the godforsaken thing to escape its control over him but, much like the collar, there would be severe consequences if he even touched it. At least it was better than...

No.

He wasn’t going to think about that.

For all the things that he was forced to do now, nothing was as bad as it had been before.

He was just going to sit here on the floor and not think about things while he waited for the Medic to show up.

By the time he heard footsteps approaching it felt like it had been ages. The first thing he noticed when the doctor entered the room was the smell coming from the plate of food he was carrying with him but just because the food was there didn’t mean that he would get to eat it.

The plate traded places with the leash on the desk. The Medic called him but he didn’t budge choosing, instead, to stare longingly at the food. A loud stomp of the doctor’s boot snapped the Sniper out of his daze and was quickly followed by another order to come. This time he got to his feet and cautiously approached the other man, stopping just out of his arms reach until he was urged to come closer.

A red rubber clad finger slid into the ring that was attached to the front of the collar and he was ordered to his knees. It was surprisingly difficult to not to comply immediately and there was an embarrassing twitch in his legs. Instead he turned his eyes back to the plate of food on the table, his mouth curling into as much of an angry sneer as he could manage.

This did not please the Medic, even if the twitch meant that he was making progress, there was still a long way he had to go with the Sniper. With a mocking sigh he ran the hand that held the still coiled leash against his captive’s cheek.

“Why must you bring this on yourself?” The doctor mocked before slipping his thumb inside the Sniper’s cheek and pulled hard. After the cry of pain had quieted a bit he repeated the order for the other man to drop to his knees. This time there was no hesitation and the Sniper was rewarded with having his mouth freed.

“There,” the Medic smiled as he clipped the leash onto the ring and adjusted the leash in his hands, “that wasn’t so bad now was it?” Rubbing his hand against the abused cheek, the doctor gave a small smile.

“Now, look at me,” the German kept his voice as neutral as he could when issuing the order and carefully watched the Sniper’s reaction, any disobedient motion would be punished quickly.

The Sniper kept his eyes locked on the floor for as long as he dared, slowly tilting his head up. His eyes darted around the various features on the front of the Medic’s jacket, but seemed to lack the courage to travel any further then the well pressed collar. The doctor repeated himself, the gloved hand on his cheek moved to his chin but waited. When it became clear that the Sniper’s eyes weren’t moving from their fixation on his tie, the threatening hand pinched the sensitive sink underneath his victim’s chin forcing the other man to look him in the eye.

“Why are you making this so difficult on yourself?” He asked, there was no answer from the man in front of him other than a frightened wide eye stare. “You do want to eat today, don’t you?” This was answered with a careful nod that pulled at the flesh in the doctor’s grip, and there was moisture building up in those beautifully terrified eyes. “Then you know what you have to do, don’t you?” Another nod, though this time the Medic was nicer and followed the motion with his hand before letting go. His hand still remained under the Sniper’s chin to make sure he kept his eyes locked on his tormentor.

When the next order came there was no sign of hesitation from the Sniper even if his hands shook as they worked at unbuttoning his shirt. He didn’t bother folding it, instead he rolled it into a tight ball before setting it aside. The fear in his face was now accompanied by a desperate plea as his stomach let out an ugly sound. The doctor made a quiet contemplative sound before ordering him to open his mouth, again there was no sign hesitation though there was an obvious quiver in the other man’s lower jaw.

“You are lucky that I’m feeling generous tonight,” the Medic scooped a grey blob of mashed potatoes onto his fingers. The food was so close that the Sniper could almost taste it just sitting there on the red glove as he was reminded not to bite, he didn’t need to be reminded of what would happen if he did.

The gloved fingers and food was pressed into his mouth, and in that moment those bland potatoes were the most delicious thing the Sniper had ever tasted. Wrapping his lips around the fingers he was sucking, licking and swallowing every last morsel he could get. When the hand pulled out of his mouth he attacked it again to lick away bits that he hadn’t been able to reach until the Medic said enough.

The Sniper snapped back to his previous position staring up at the Medic, waiting.

“You’ll get more later,” he promised, “on the floor.” When the leash slackened enough, the Sniper dropped to so he was resting on his hands and knees.

The Medic raised his boot to nudge it against the side of his face. This was a gesture that he knew all to well, and he knew that if he disobeyed he’d get his fingers crushed by those boots. If he listened though, he would get to eat.

He followed the boot back to the floor with his face, he gave a few tentative licks to the toe before running his tongue all along the thick black leather. There was the hope if he did a good enough job that maybe the Medic would also let him have breakfast, and as he moved over to pay the same attention to the other boot he wrapped his arms around it in what could have easily been mistaken for an adoring gesture. All the while the doctor was muttering small encouragements to him

There was a gentle pull on the leash to bring his attention back to the man standing above him. While his attention had been on the other man’s feet, the doctor had picked up a small piece of meat from the plate and was holding it out for the Sniper. Instinctively, he lunged for it only to find it whisked out of his reach and got a sharp pull on the leash.

The meat was offered again, and he moved slower as he went to take it from the Medic’s hand this time and being very careful to not even brush his teeth against the gloved fingers. Once it was in his mouth, he devoured it quickly.

The Medic reached for another piece, but before it was offered the leash was wrapped a few extra times around his hand leaving the Sniper very little room to move. He was told to wait as the food was placed right in front of his face, tormenting him with the smell. He was finally permitted to take the food and it vanished much like the first piece. The process was repeated until the doctor could dangle the temptation within the Sniper’s reach with the leash completely slack.

The Medic walked around to his chair, making the man on the leash scramble along the floor to keep from getting dragged. Once the doctor was seated the Sniper took his expected spot beside the chair, watching as the doctor retrieved the plate from the other side of the desk. He was told to wait again while it was set on the floor. When he tried to grab at it with his hands the leash was given another hard yank, and instead he leaned down further so he could eat straight from the plate.

The sudden rush of food made his stomach cramp, but he just slowed his pace hoping that it would adjust quickly. When he was done, he sat back and waited for the Medic to be finished with what he was doing. The food sat uneasy in his gut as though it knew the degrading things that he had to do for the privilege to eat it.

The Medic had peeled of his dirty gloves and was comparing some of his personal notes. He wasn’t the sort of man to brag, but he was making great improvements in his training procedures. His last pet had taken several more days to get to the same point he was now at with this new Sniper.

Flipping to the end of his notes, he picked up his pen to continue. He paused briefly to run a hand through his pet’s hair.

He was making considerable progress indeed.