Kidnapping Caper - A Tf2 Story

1 - Graveyard Shift

Deep in the cavernous warehouse of the Red Base workshop, Engineer sat at his dimly lit workbench, almost completely oblivious to the world around him. Equations and diagrams swirled around in his head as he poured his entire being into the blueprint laid on the table before him. He sat nestled in a pile of crumpled paper, scribbled out drawings, and dozens of iterations of the same design stacked high above him on every flat surface of the workbench. Furiously, he scrawled notes around the diagram on the blueprint he was presently working on with a fervor he'd not worked with in years. Engineer had been working so long, he was still in uniform, even at this hour. He was dressed in a company issued red button down and overalls covered in grease and oil. A caution-sign-yellow hard hat sat crookedly atop his head, resting awkwardly on the black goggles that covered his eyes.

The room was filled with the faint sounds of his scribbling on paper and quiet mumblings of notes and equations as he wrote. Engineer was so engrossed in his work, in fact, that he hadn't noticed the soft clicking of footsteps coming down the corridor to join the chorus. Nor did he notice the clicking of those boots growing louder as they exited the linoleum floored hallway and crossed into the metal floored workshop, echoing around the large space. Engineer hadn't even noticed when the clicking had ceased, as a figure now loomed over him, watching as he slaved tirelessly over the blueprints, waiting for the opportune moment to attack.

Finally, the figure struck, dropping a gloved hand on the hard-hatted man's shoulder. "Herr Conagher?" it spoke.

Engineer leapt out of his chair, and quickly swept everything on the desk into an empty oil barrel sitting beside him that had been serving as a trashcan. In a flurry, he snatched a large wrench from the workbench and prepared to use it as a weapon against the intruder. However, he stopped just before striking his opponent, as an expression of recognition washed over him.

"Darn it, Doc! Didn't your mama ever teach you to not sneak up on a man while he's working?" Engineer shouted angrily, shaking the hulking tool in Medic's face.

Medic looked Engineer up and down, completely unfazed. "Jumpy tonight, are we?" he asked sarcastically with an arched brow, delicately pushing the wrench away from his face with a finger, "Or should I say the last few nights?"

Engineer let out a sigh. Setting the wrench back down, he leaned against the workbench with crossed arms. "Sorry Doc, I guess I have been pretty high strung. The Admin's been on my tail like a coon dog on a lame rabbit wanting blueprints and it's got me stressed," Engineer explained.

"Yes, well Admin or not, it is 3:35. AM. For the fourth night in a row. You cannot keep working yourself like this, Engie, you're going to work yourself to sickness," Medic explained.

Engineer shook his head. "Wish I could let up, Doc, but I've got a deadline to meet. It's real important. This ain't just any dispenser or sentry. Most of all, the Admin wants it done, so done it shall be I suppose," he replied with a disingenuous chuckle.

"Well what are you working on that is so important?" Medic asked, attempting a discreet peek over Engineer's shoulder. Engineer, however, moved to block his view.

"Nothing you got to worry about, Doc, I'll be showing all of y'all when it's finished anyway. Think of it like a surprise!" Engineer insisted, putting an arm around Medic and turning him away from the bench.

Medic pulled away from Engineer, turning to face him. "Fine, I will not press further, but you need to go to sleep, Herr Conahger. Staying up so late this often is not good for you. Plus, you are not a fitting subject for experimentation when you are this tired, and I cannot have that," Medic demanded, "Now go to bed."

Engineer began to protest, glancing over his shoulder at his work, but stopped himself when the heaviness of his eyes caught up with him. What Engineer had thought was focus had actually been the stress of the project's deadline forcing him to stay awake. His eyes burned from hours of strain over the blueprints and his back ached from sitting hunched over the desk for days with almost no breaks. He'd barely left the desk all week and he was turning to stone as a result.

Finally, Engineer caved. "Alright fine," he sighed hesitantly, "Just for you and your sick experiments, Doc."

Medic nodded in satisfaction. "Good," Medic declared, "I will walk you to your room."

"I appreciate it, Doc." Engineer gave a tired smile as he heaved himself to his feet from where he'd been leaning on the table. "Say, now that I think about it, if you're fussing at me for staying up so late, what's got you up at such an ungodly hour?"

"Ach, well to put it in your own words, 'nothing you got to worry about', mein freund. Think of it as a surprise," Medic giggled cheekily.

Engineer chuckled at his friend's clever reply. "I suppose that's fair, ain't it?"

The two left the workshop laughing together about each other's secret keeping. In all the conversation, Engineer had almost completely forgotten about his stack of blueprints which now rested in the repurposed oil barrel, surrounded in trashed ideas and previous failed designs. 

Little did the pair know, they would only remain there for a short time– waiting, festering, lurking in the darkness.