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No. 6872
Thanks so much, all of you, for reading and leaving comments. There'll be a bit more Medic in this chapter, as well as more Sniper/Tentaspy goings-on.
And I will also forever love anyone who illustrates Medic getting his geek on-- or any part of this fic, really. But I just in general love Medic geeking out over SCIENCE!, so... yeah.
~~~Ch. 6~~~
The Sniper and the Medic meet in the hall outside the operating theater late that night.
"Ah. Herr Sniper. Can I help you?"
"Uh, no. Just... coming by to, er, offer my services. Just if you were having any trouble with him."
"He is not without reason, after all-- once I heard the message you recorded for me, I knew he had to be capable of some ratiocination!" The Medic grins, seizing the Sniper by the shoulders. "And he is! We made a bargain!"
"A bargain?"
"Yes! He got to kill me again, of course, but, a small price to pay. I've seen the camouflage reflex! Or, I've not-seen the-- I've seen him disappear! Oh, it was magnificent, the breakthrough this could mean! I trust he will still be there, where can he go, in the desert?"
The Sniper knows all too well there's nowhere he can go. Not so long as he's like that. "Look, Doc... now that you've got your answers... You can change him back, right?"
"Change him back? Why would I want to change him back?"
"Well-- It's not right! You can't leave him like that, you can't keep him around in that little tank, it's... it's cruel! I know this is a war, but there's... there's rules."
The Medic frowns suddenly, the open and friendly demeanor shutting down. "Cruel? This is not cruelty, this is progress. I didn't do it to hurt him! And he was so boring before! I admit the tentacles were a whimsy and not a necessity in the grand scheme of things, but I had them just lying around... It's a sin to be wasteful, after all, I think that's true. Catechism was a long time ago, but I think that's true."
"Whimsy?" The Sniper's mind reels. "Giving him tentacles-- That's what you call WHIMSY?!"
"Well... yes. Sort of fanciful. Unnecessary, fun. Whimsy."
"Look, you've had your fun and you've made your progress. Let him have his legs back. Let him have his life back."
The Medic shakes his head. "I could still learn so much more. I-- It isn't... Even if I were done with him, the serum... There is no way to just 'change him back'. The samples I have under lenses now are fascinating... But this is him now. It is what he is."
"He can never have a normal life? He can't... He can't ever?" The knowledge is slow in seeping into his conscious mind. The Spy won't be able to return to his base, to his team. He won't be able to return to his home, when the war ends. He won't be able to go anyplace with people.
"It is such a small price to pay, though, to be a part of something this enormous!" The grin returns.
"Bet you he doesn't think so! Fuck were you thinking, doing that to him? He can't spend the rest of his life in that damn little tank! Never crossed your mind that might be cruel?"
"This was not cruel. Cruel is... This is, as you have mentioned, a war. He is a combatant, a prisoner caught breaking the rules of engagement. Not an innocent. It is not as though I have snatched a child from its parents, it is not as though I have abducted some poor soul off the streets."
"What if he wasn't breaking the rules of engagement?" The Sniper mumbles. Hearing the words is like being shot, and he's left dizzy and half-feverish with the guilt.
"Then I would not have him." The Medic shrugs, confused. "I do not see what the issue is here."
"What if he wasn't? What if I was?"
"Then you would be prisoner to the BLUs, and Heaven help you then, for I do not know what they would do to you. Nothing near so brilliant. To start with, I have-- ah, had-- the only Giant Lake Octopus in this desert. I had a colleague send it to me in exchange for a crate of scorpions. What he wanted to do with those, I could not say, but it was murder gathering them all up!" He giggles.
"That's not what I meant. Forget it."
"I have written asking him for a second. He says it is impossible, I think he does not want to try. Possibly he has enough scorpions and thinks I have nothing he wants."
"What do you need another one for?"
Another high unbalanced giggle. "I need a female."
"For this serum nonsense?" The Sniper asks, skeptical. He's not sure how it would help any of the non-tentacle issues.
"No. To try and get them to mate."
"Go to bed." The Sniper crosses his arms and blocks the door.
"And who are you to keep me from my own workplace?"
"Get out. Now. Or I will fucking make it my business to keep you from your workplace any damn way I please."
The Medic adjusts his glasses and looks the Sniper over, then he raises his hands.
"I know when I am beaten. It is late. I will work more effectively with some rest."
Once the Medic has gone, the Sniper rushes into the theater, rushes to the tank where the Spy is combating boredom with little effect. When he sees the Sniper, he rises half up from the tank.
"What is the matter?"
"Nothing. I'm just-- That damn Medic-- I just-- I'm sorry." He wraps his arms around the Spy. "... When'd you get so tall?"
The Spy chuckles, one of the tentacles not supporting his weight coming up to flick a few drops of water against the Sniper's cheek. "I can stand up on them easily enough, if I fold them under to use the backs. I do not know how the octopus can stand it... it must be some problem in the mixing... some crossed wire of nerves."
The Sniper kisses the Spy's collarbone. "Okay, then."
"So what has the doctor done now?"
"Nothing. He says it's irreversible."
"I suppose that is not... not really news..." The Spy draws back, sinking down into the tank once more.
"I don't even care! I don't-- I just... I thought maybe if he got what he wanted, he could fix it. There aren't a lot of options for you out in the world, and... I am sorry for that."
"It's fine." He leans on the tank's edge, tentacle-tip stroking the Sniper's face. "If you do not care."
"I'm going to leave here with my clothes soaking again, aren't I?" The Sniper laughs. "Nah, I don't care. Just would've liked to make you happy if I could've done."
"You do. The doctor does not make me happy, but you always do..." More arms wind around the Sniper, drawing their bodies in close, stroking at his skin and pulling at his clothes. The tentacles are useless when it comes to shirt buttons, but very adept at slipping in through any gap.
"I still had the sucker marks when I went out onto the battlefield." He murmurs, kissing the Spy.
"Oh. Is that...?"
"Good. Try and keep 'em where no one'll see."
"Same rules as the teeth, then?" The Spy grins, then stops, lips clamping shut. "No more teeth, though..."
"A little's fine, if you're careful."
"The whole point of teeth is not to be careful."
"Just try it. Real careful." The Sniper urges, tapping his own shoulder, his shirt already pulled away. He shivers as he feels the points of the Spy's teeth close around his shoulder, pushing in, not so far as to break through, and within the ring of teeth, the Spy's tongue laving frantically across his skin.
The Spy pulls back. "Just don't let me in the heat of the moment. I would hate to forget." He presses his lips to the rising bruise.
"Okay." The Sniper strokes his back. "Okay."
One of the tentacles manages to pop the snap of the Sniper's trousers, but his hands have to slip down to struggle with the zipper.
"Let me try something?" The Sniper kicks his boots off and struggles out of the rest of his clothes. Climbing into the tank is a little tricky, but once the Spy realizes it's what he wants, there are strong tentacles half-lifting him over, and it's a big tank objectively speaking, but with the two of them in it together, it's certainly cozy. "There now. That's better."
"Is it?"
The Sniper smiles, wrapping his arms around the Spy again, letting his legs tangle in with the writhing tentacles.
They wind up splashing too much of the water out onto the Sniper's clothes, but it's worth it. He doesn't mind walking through the base sopping wet afterward, as long as it means the easy crush of their bodies together, hands free to roam anywhere, the effortless tide of kisses passing between them, give-and-take with no steady aggressor.
He wishes he didn't have to leave at all, but there's no talking his way out of it if he's discovered naked in the tank come morning.
"I'll come back soon." He promises, as the Spy helps him back out of the tank.
"I'll wait." The Spy smirks. He lounges back into the corner of the tank to watch his lover dress. "I must say, it's a good look for you..."
"What, wet?"
"Mais oui."
"Well... I'll have to let you get me wet more often."
"Cher, I can hardly wait." A tentacle rises lazily up from the tank to offer a final caress.
The Sniper takes it, kissing the back like it was a hand. "As soon as I can."
The Spy sighs and arranges himself as comfortably as he can for the night.
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