Snow was falling from a pale grey sky, tiny crystallized flakes dancing in the brisk wind. The same wind, which blew a women's dark hair behind her, the coldness biting the skin of her face, as a flurry of snow pelted her porcelain skin. She smiled, the motion causing crinkles beside her soft green eyes, as each delicate, unique snowflakes melted against her still warm cheeks leaving droplets of water speckled across them.
The man smiled too, as he watched her follow their daughter who was trampling through the snow, her blonde hair escaping her woollen hat, leaving a collection of hurried footsteps in her wake.
"Come on, mama!" The little girl chimed as she hurried towards the other side of the park where a half decorated snowman stood.
The women caught up with the child and knelt beside her as the little girl emptied her pockets showing the fruit of her foraging.
"What did you find?" The women asked as she peered down at the collection of things that her daughter had found.
The little girl smiled up at her mother, "I found these two big stones for eyes. I found these small ones for his smile," She explained, pointing at each item as she explained its part, "But I haven't seen anything that could be perfect for his nose," She pouted, her blue eyes sad as she pointed at the assortment of leaves, sticks and rocks she had collected.
The man looked up from where his daughter knelt and looked around till his eyes fell on the climbing frame and he saw what he was looking for.
"What about this?" He asked her as he walked towards the climbing frame and motioned towards the glistening icicles which hung from its bars.
The little girl got up and rushed over so she stood beside her father.
"Yeah, that's perfect papa!" She exclaimed, smiling widely at the man. Her father chuckled and reached up to wrap a gloved hand around the longest icicle and carefully snapped it from the frame.
The girl giggled excitedly and reached up to take the icicle from the man's hand and hurried back to her mother, waving the piece of ice around as she went.
"Mama! Mama! Look what papa found!" She cried, grinning all the while. The women smiled as the child presented the icicle to her.
"That's going to be the nose?" The women inquired as she scooped the little girl up into her arms, making her squeal in laughter.
"Yeah!" The little girl beamed rolling the small rod of ice in her palm. The man wandered over to them picking up the stones his daughter had collected.
"Should we start decorating then?" He asked grinning at his little girl as she chirped approval and they began to construct the snowman's face.
It was not long till the snowman had two eyes, a smiling face and an icy nose.
"Don't you think something missing here, cher?" The man asked his daughter as she cuddled up against her mother. The little girl pondered for a moment before smiling at her father.
"He needs a hat, scarf and gloves!" She gasped looking at her father waiting for his approval.
He nodded to her, watching her smile grow.
"Yes, mon cher. Should we each contribute an item each?" He asked her, and she nodded pulling off her red hat and tugging it onto the snowman's head. The mother carefully unravelled her black scarf, making sure not to drop her daughter before she handed it to her so that she could wind it around the snowman's neck.
The man slipped off his red leather gloves and slipped them onto the snowman's stick arms giving him the illusion of having hands.
"There we go," he commented as he stood back with his wife and daughter and looked at the finished snowman.
The little girl giggled in delight and wriggled till her mother set her back onto the ground and ran off in direction of the frosty swings. The mother smiled fondly at her daughter, slipping a hand into her husband's ungloved one and pressing a gentle kiss to his stubbly cheek.
"Thank you," she whispered against his cheek as she laced her fingers with his.
"For what, mon amour?" The man asked, his grey eyes twinkled in amusement as he looked at his wife. Her smile grew more as she watched their daughter stare in fascination at the tiny snowflakes drifting from the sky.
"For getting time away from work..." She explained, seeming bashful for a moment, "and for not wearing that mask..." She added tearing her gaze away from their child, looking at him, pride mixed with happiness burning in her bright blue eyes.
The man's lips curled upwards in a soft smile as he gently pulled her towards him, cupping her frozen cheek in his palm.
"You're both worth it." The man murmured pressing a loving, yet brief, kiss to her lips.
When he opened his eyes and pulled back from her, he saw her eyes widen suddenly and a small gasp escape her lips.
"Melissa?" He asked as he watched her lips part wordlessly and then she fell into his arms.
"Melissa!" He cried, trying to support her, noticing how crimson blood seeped from a familiar blade protruding from the centre of her shoulders, "S'il vous plaît pas..." he exclaimed as he laid his wife gently to the ground, seeing how her once vibrant eyes were vacant and lifeless.
He looked around hastily, his eyes searching for his daughter seeing her stood near the swings.
"Elza!" He called, rushing towards her his eyes darting around for any sight of movement. The little girl looked away from the sky just as the man scooped her into his arms, clinging on to her as he continued to survey the area.
"Elza, you need to listen to papa, ok?" He began as a small movement caught his eye and a figure materialised, dressed a dark blue suit and a matching balaclava, "Run. Go hide in the woods, the ones now far from here." He explained one eye watching the look of terror on his daughter's face, the other watching the man in blue walk closer.
"Go amoureux, don't look back," he ordered her, setting the little girl on the ground and gently pushing her to move.
"But papa, what about mama?" She cried softly, as she looked at her mother lying in the snow and back at her father.
"Mama's not with us now. You remember what we told you to do in this situation?" He pressed seeing the masked man coming closer.
"Listen to you and mama..." She answered looking at her father. The man nodded and gently pushed her back.
"Run," he told her and this time she ran, kicking up the powdery snow as she went, her blonde hair flying in the wind.
The man in blue darted after her, just as the man expected. The man threw himself into his masked enemy and threw him to the ground dealing a swift punch to his face causing the masked man to be temporarily disarmed, before leaping to his feet and following Elza to make sure she left the park safe before watching her disappear out of the park's parameters.
He then turned his attention to his enemy seeing the masked assailant spit blood and stumble to his feet, another blade in his hand. The man looked around searching for anything that he could use as a weapon.
His eyes fell on the snowman and its icy nose.
An idea sprang into the man's mind and he ran to the climbing frame grasping the sharpest icicle he could see in his bare hand and snapping it away from the metal. He turned just in time to stop the other man's bailsong from impaling his back, but ended up falling back first into the snow the man in blue towering over him.
"How dare you attack my family!" The man hissed as he fought to keep the masked man's blade from stabbing him, keeping a tight grip on the slippery icicle. The man in blue just laughed cruelly, trying hard to slam his blade into the man beneath him.
"Just because we aren't on the battlefield, mon cher Red, doesn't mean I can't make your life hell!" The blue suited man grinned darkly.
"Not if I get you first!" The man yelled as he managed to push the masked man off him and buried the icicle's sharp tip into his throat. Hot scarlet blood splattered from man neck, staining the pristine snow red.
The man gasped for breath, scrambling up from the snow and staring down at his enemy who was now lying in a pool of his own blood, "BLU is going to need a new Spy..." He gasped raggedly, staring at the ice sticking out of his enemy's throat.
Maybe I could use that as a weapon back on the field he though briefly before remembering his wife's body lying a few feet away.
He walked towards her with a heavy heart and knelt before her and stared at he blue eyes once more before gently closing them.
"Goodnight, mon amour. I'll watch over her." He whispered brokenly pressing a single kiss to her pale forehead before getting up and running to where he had last seen his daughter, leaving the bodies of his enemy and his love to be encased in snow.