Chapter Text
As stains of orange and pink stretched across the darkening sky, it signaled that dusk was rushing up fast.
After chucking his cigarette butt out the driver side window, Sniper returned both hands to the wheel with a vocal yawn. What a long day it had been, but it was nearly over.
It was Wednesday, and that usually meant it was time for his weekly trip to the gas station. To get, well, gas of course, but also smokes and whatever else he needed or felt like grabbing on the day. And the drive was pleasant enough if not rather simple. Everything looked the bloody same out here in Badlands.
Sometimes Pyro or Demo came with him, and maybe Scout if he wasn’t being a pain in the arse (a rarity), but on this particular evening it seemed everyone had their own business to attend to. The solitude was fine. In fact, he often preferred it.
After pulling onto the final stretch of highway that would take him back to the RED base, Sniper noticed that the sound of the radio was starting to break and fizzle out again. It hadn’t been working properly all week, but right now it was being especially faulty.
“C’mon, you stupid, bloody…” Sniper growled a whisper as he began toying with the knobs on the device, trying to locate a better signal. It was no use; he’d just have to get it fixed. The Aussie tried to make a mental note to tell Engineer in the morning.
After a couple minutes, it was finally time for him to start slowing down as his usual parking spot was coming up on the left. Sniper saw the semi-permanent tire tracks that were etched into the dirt, even with what fleeting daylight still remained. And then, just as he turned the wheel and crossed to the other side…
THUMP!
Something hit the windshield hard and fast, causing him to jump from the sound and slam on the breaks. “JESUS!” Sniper yelled; the rest of his body frozen as his eyes darted around for the source of the collision. It all happened so quickly, but he was pretty sure he had caught a glimpse of something brown in front of the car before it vanished out of sight. He had absolutely no idea what it was, but one thing was for sure, he certainly felt more awake now.
Fortunately, he was basically in his parking spot already and wasn’t blocking the road. After putting the vehicle in park, he then unclipped his seat-belt and opened the door, hoping to find whatever it was that he hit. He supposed it could have been a bird, but he wasn’t positive. At least he knew it wasn’t a dog, unless there was a flying breed he didn’t know about.
Boots hitting the dusty ground, Sniper shut the door as his eyes immediately started scanning the environment for the anomaly. Even in the last few minutes it had already gotten darker, but thanks to the headlights from the van he was still able to get a good look around.
And then, as he rounded the hood of the car, that’s when he saw it. A sizable mound of grey and brown feathers sheltered right next to the tire, complete with a large head, huge, bright yellow eyes and long, thick talons. It was a bird alright, and as Sniper got closer, he knew exactly what kind it was.
He had seen them around here before, but never this close. A great horned owl. And even as it laid there in the dirt, its small frame barely moving, it was beautiful.
“Oh, hell…” he winced through his teeth, a tremendous shot of guilt coursing through his veins. Sniper hated when things like this happened, especially to wild, innocent animals that were doing nothing but minding their own business. Well, perhaps that was a tad rich coming from an ex-hunter, but even so, this was purely an accident – and he felt horrible. Why the hell was this owl flying so close to his car in the first place? But he knew any anger directed at the bird was severely misplaced. It wasn't its fault; it didn’t know any better.
“Hey…hey there, mate,” Sniper began, trying to keep his voice low and calm as he slowly crouched next to the bird. As soon as he did so, the owl gave a sudden lurch as it tried to flap its wings in the dust to get away. However, he noticed almost instantly that only one of its wings was mobile. It must have broken the other one in the impact.
“Oi! It’s okay…it’s okay…” Sniper whispered, trying to gently coax the owl into letting him touch it. The possibility of contracting a disease did cross his mind for a moment, until Sniper decided it was a risk he was more than willing to take.
And then it seemed whatever fight was left in the creature was no more. It didn’t even try to resist when he slowly, delicately placed his hands underneath the feathers to lift it up. It was surprisingly light, and Sniper almost forgot that under all those feathers there really wasn’t much to the animal at all. But the fact that it was no longer trying to get away meant that it must have been in bad shape.
Really, really bad shape.
‘Shit,’ he thought. With only one wing, this bird was as good as dead. It wouldn’t be able to hunt anymore, let alone fly.
For the briefest of painful seconds, Sniper considered putting the poor thing out of its misery. It wouldn’t be the first time he had to do something like that, not that he ever enjoyed it.
But as he looked back down at the owl in his hands, and saw its little chest just barely rising and falling, and its stunning, golden eyes fighting to stay open, Sniper knew there had to be another way. Or at the very least, he had to try.
“Hang on, mate. I know a doctor.”
~
His shoes squeaked against the tile floor as he made his way towards the infirmary.
“Medic! Medic!!” Sniper called, moving down the dim hallway as fast as he could while holding the ‘patient’ steady.
God, he hoped he wasn’t too late. The team doctor was usually still working at this hour, but what if this was the one night that Medic decided to turn in early? The owl only had a precious amount of time left as it was. Sniper couldn’t afford to wait until tomorrow, or even another hour. “MEDIC!” he cried even louder, voice straining with urgency.
Fortunately, as he rounded the corner, he saw that the lights in the infirmary were definitely on. Even better, Sniper watched as a humanoid shadow crept closer and closer to the door that was open ajar, before the German doctor swung it open in full force.
“Was ist los!? O-Oh! Herr Sniper…” Medic said, his alarmed expression immediately softening as he could now see that the RED team’s sharpshooter was not actively dying. Far from it, in fact. As his gaze travelled to what was in Sniper’s hands, the doctor adjusted his glasses to get a better look.
“Goodness…from all the shouting one would think you were in need of medical attention. But it’s only a…eh, what do you call this bird again?”
“An owl,” Sniper quickly replied, trying not to sound impatient. Did it really matter what it was called right now? They were wasting time.
“He’s hurt real bad. Broken wing and maybe worse. You can help ‘im, right?” Sniper asked, realizing afterwards that he didn’t actually know if it was a male or female. But once again, that hardly mattered.
As their gazes briefly locked, Sniper saw the exact moment Medic realized just how important this was to him. As a keeper of birds himself, it was hardly surprising. He just hoped they weren’t too late.
“Well…not the kind of patient I’m used to, but…” the doctor began, reaching for his opposite wrist to snap the glove tighter. “I’ll see what I can do.”
Offering the injured owl into Medic’s (hopefully) capable hands, Sniper then followed him closely into the lab like a child clinging to their parent’s every move.
Sniper then began to nervously pace back and forth as Medic started setting things up. It suddenly occurred to the Australian that he didn’t think he’d have the heart (or the stomach) to watch Medic cut the bird open and do whatever he needed to do.
“How exactly did this happen?” the doctor asked, gently placing the owl on one of the stretchers as he got the X-ray machine ready.
Another wave of guilt flooded through Sniper, more intense than the last one. “Uh, I…I hit it with my van.”
“What on earth did you do that for?” Medic frowned behind his glasses. Even if it was a joke, Sniper really wasn’t in the mood right now.
“I didn’t do it on purpose!!” he snapped, anxiously wringing his hands together. Meanwhile all he could think was that this poor bird was suffering, and Medic wasn’t moving nearly fast enough.
“Well…at least it doesn’t seem to mind holding still,” his German colleague muttered behind the screen as he started taking several X-rays. All the while Sniper kept his stare glued to the owl, watching for any signs of life fading more than it already had. Shouldn’t Medic be putting it on oxygen or something?
Then again, what did he know about medicine? He just had to hope that Medic knew more.
“Hm…alright, well, the good news is it’s only the wing that seems to be broken. No other breaks or fractures, or…” Medic’s voice trailed off, and Sniper’s pulse quickened with panic when he thought the doctor was now about to tell him the bad news. “What? What is it?”
It was even worse than bad news. Medic started full-on laughing as he brought a gloved hand to his forehead. “Mein Gott…what in the world am I bothering with this for? I don’t need to be taking X-rays!"
“You…you don’t?” Sniper asked, blinking in stark confusion. This was all happening way too fast for him.
“Nein! I have a better idea!” Medic happily announced as he raised a finger. He then walked over to his medigun that was currently off and affixed to the ceiling. As the device that had saved the RED team’s lives time and time again began to hum with life, Sniper thought he knew where this was going.
“You’re gonna use that to heal it?”
“Yes, I don’t see why not!” Medic replied with glee as he rotated the medigun so that it was now pointing directly at the owl on the stretcher. As he did so, it gave a soft, pitiful little hoot. Sniper couldn’t help but hear it as a final plea for aid.
“That’s…safe, right? It works the same on animals?” he asked, slowly and reluctantly as though afraid to know the answer, or the lack of one.
“Of course! I don’t see how size or biology should make any difference,” Medic explained with a shrug and a laugh that seemed just a little too casual. “No patient was ever healed to death, at least…as far as I know. Erm, could you bring the stretcher a little closer?” the doctor asked while making some adjustments to the medigun.
“Oh…yeah,” he said as he startled into action, trying not to focus on the obvious ‘trial and error’ approach that Medic was clearly taking. Sniper wheeled the stretcher a couple feet closer to the medigun, trying to get as close to where he thought the beam would connect as possible.
After locking the wheels into place, Sniper hovered over the injured owl with a sigh of trepidation. “It’s gonna be alright, mate,” he said, barely above a whisper as he reached out to softly stroke the side of its feathered head. At this point he might as well be talking to himself, as he truly wasn’t sure what was going to happen next. The owl made almost no response at all, and Sniper feared its time was nearly up.
“Any time now, doc!” the Australian snapped, whipping his gaze back to Medic and his healing device. Not a second after he said that, he heard that familiar, soothing sound as the medigun began to drone with its power. As the red beam made contact with the ‘patient’, Sniper made sure to step away so as to ensure he didn’t needlessly soak up the healing effects instead.
The following seconds were a true nail-biter, as Sniper couldn’t tell right away if the medigun was working or not. He hoped that a worst-case scenario meant no change at all, rather than the bloody thing exploding from ‘too much’ healing.
“Christ…I don’t think I can watch,” Sniper mumbled to himself, despite continuing to watch anyway with an unbroken stare.
However, after five, long seconds that felt like an eternity, he watched in awe as the owl’s injured wing slowly formed back into its natural position. They were watching the reversal of the break, as though time was actually going backwards but only for the animal in question.
“Haha! Yes!” Medic cried ecstatically with a loud clap. “See? What did I tell you? Nothing to worry about!” his eyes then darted back to the medigun as his voice lowered. “I’ll just keep this going a little longer.”
“Bloody hell…” Sniper nearly gasped, taking his hat off to run a shaking hand through his hair. For the first time since he found the poor creature, he didn’t feel like his heart was being continuously squeezed by the iron chain of anxiety. The owl already looked much better. Its brilliant yellow eyes had widened considerably, and it was starting to give little chirps and head movements.
“Alright, that should be more than enough,” Medic said after a time. With a click of the switch on the medigun the humming sound disappeared along with the translucent red beam.
He then walked around to one side of the stretcher, with Sniper on the other. As they peered over the bird they watched as its wings briefly fluttered trying to turn itself into an upright position. After a couple attempts it was successful, but Sniper had the very strong urge to guard that side of the stretcher to stop it from potentially stumbling off the edge.
With its great big eyes, the owl rotated its head to look at Medic, before rotating the opposite way to stare at Sniper, its body remaining completely still. The Australian couldn’t suppress his smile. He always loved watching them do that, it was so fascinating and had almost a robotic sway to it.
“Look at you, mate.” He chuckled softly with a surprised shake of his head. He had been so worried, but it seemed the worst was over now.
However, Sniper’s relief was threatened when the bird closed its eyes again, and did not open them. It stood completely still, as though frozen on the stretcher.
“What…what’s it doin'?” he asked, gaze darting up to Medic in a panic. The doctor then tilted to one side to examine the bird with a hand on his chin, before doing the same on the other side. After a moment, he looked back at Sniper with a knowing smirk.
“Well, I’m no veterinarian, but I believe the proper term is…sleeping.”
“Oh…” He sure felt stupid now. Of course, most birds sleep standing up. He should have known that, but fear seemed to be crippling his thought process. “Uh…I thought owls slept during the day?”
“I’m sure they do, but this one has been through quite a lot, wouldn’t you say?” Medic replied, crossing his arms behind his back. “The medigun would have healed any physical injuries without issue, but the animal has been under a terrible amount of emotional stress. No ‘quick-fix’ for that I’m afraid,” he explained with a small chuckle, laughing at his own joke. “Anyway, it’s only natural that it should feel exhausted. It will probably sleep for at least a few hours now.”
“Right,” Sniper replied, staring down at the owl again. Now that he wasn’t inflamed by fear, he could tell just by looking at it that the bird was clearly sleeping. Its chest was rising and falling slowly and he could almost hear every small breath it took.
“Speaking of which, you’d best go get some sleep, Sniper. I’ll take it from here,” Medic said, carefully reaching for the owl and picking it up gently. Even if he definitely leaned into the ‘mad doctor’ persona a little too hard, Sniper had to admit that he was definitely showing some real, genuine care right now. Just like Sniper, he had no obligation to help the animal, but he did it anyway. He wasn’t sure about Medic's mind, but at least his heart was in the right place.
“You sure?” He asked, sliding a hand into his pocket as he watched Medic place the owl in an empty cage on top of the medicine cabinet, one that was presumably for his own birds. In fact, Sniper had been so distraught and focused on the owl’s condition that he hadn’t even noticed the three doves that were staring down at him from the shelf in the opposite corner.
“Yes, yes. I’ll keep an eye on things, don’t worry,” Medic assured as he closed the cage door and locked it with a metallic click. Meanwhile the owl seemed mostly undisturbed and just continued to sleep. “I don’t anticipate there will be any negative changes, but if something happens, I will let you know,” the doctor finished, turning around and smiling at Sniper as he started taking his gloves off.
Medic had a point. Sniper would be absolutely no use to the team tomorrow if he didn’t get some shut-eye. Although with how frazzled he still was, he wasn’t sure how he was going to get even a minute of sleep. “Alright…thanks, doc. I’ll come by early, before the next mission.”
“Very well,” his German colleague replied, and it seemed that now that the predatory owl was ‘behind bars’, the doves felt safe enough to flutter around the room as they pleased. One of them (assumed to be Archimedes) even flew to land on the doctor’s shoulder with a soft, pleasant coo.
“Yes, yes…can’t bear to be apart for a moment, now, can you?” Medic teased the bird with a loving pet across its back. Sniper couldn’t help but smile at the scene before heading towards the door. As he stopped at the threshold, he also couldn’t help but give the owl one last glance before saying goodbye to the doctor who saved it.
“G’night, doc. And…thanks again.”
“Goodnight, Herr Sniper.”