Chapter 1

Sniper walked along the halls of the Red Base, feeling quite alright with himself.
A crazed gunman his father had called him once...an assassin was more like it, and he made sure his parents got that.
He fished his wallet out and stared at their picture together and almost instantly, he was brought back to the good old times: when his father told him kick ass down-and-under stories, and when his mother would make his favorite dessert.
But he had to leave them for this job...it's a good job, yes, but he can't help but miss them from time to time. Sniper was lost in his own little reminiscent world when he heard the unmistakable holler Engineer does when he gets excited.
Going closer to the source of the sound, Sniper found Spy trying to hush not only Engie, but the entire room this time.
"What did I miss, mates?" he finally asked, popping from the doorway.
Pyro tried to tell him, but as usual, only muffled sounds were heard; Muffled but irrefutably happy sounds. Something tells the Aussie that whatever was going to come is gonna be something good.
Engineer tried to tell him next, when Demoman pushed him off and yelled:
"Spy is going to have a little young un'!"
"Bloody no!" Sniper exclaimed loudly, "Get out! Since when did you found out?"
"Me and cherié just found out yesterday," replied the Frenchman, who couldn't stop smiling himself, "she started feeling different, so I took her to the clinic."
"Where, of course, zhey met me," added Medic from behind, "I was an assistant to one of zhe doctors zhere."
"Huh..." Sniper managed to say, too awe struck to say anything else, "well, blimey, that's just great!"
"Medic, you're almost going to get that medical license, am I right?" asked Tavish, chugging on another bottle of beer.
"I'm quite excited about it- I'll be getting it in less zhan a year," the doctor declared, looking proudly at the files he is arranging at the moment, "just imagine: your very own medic, wiz a license, healing mercenaries in zhe battlefield-"
"And kick butt at the same time!" Engie butted in, swinging an arm in excitement.
"Yes," Medic continued, "and kick butt at zhe same time."
"Thanks to Ms. Pauling, who makes sure none of us end up in jail." Spy added, taking another stick of cigarette and bringing it to his lips before lighting the tip with moderate fire.
"Speaking of Ms. Pauling," began Sniper, turning to Spy, "are you planning of telling her and the Administrator about... "
He paused abruptly.
"About your little one?"
The question made Spy froze on the spot. Underneath the red, skin-tight mask, Sniper and the others could make out Spy's brows furrowing slightly in disturbance.
"They don't need to know." he whispered gruffly and quietly puffed out some smoke.
"What if they will?" Engie asked, removing his helmet. A heavy atmosphere filled the room and people looked awkwardly around each other, clearly anxious of Spy's reaction.
Sighing, Spy stood up as his brows were practically knitted together now. He took the stick of cigarette, extinguished the fire, and placed it on an ashtray.
"Then they will," Spy answered, grabbing the BLU team's intelligence and his coat, "but I won't let them harm my family."
They nodded and didn't bother ask more.
"I, uh, will need the information by tomorrow." Engie said quietly.
Spy looked warmly at him, nodded and went out of the door, leaving the seven to themselves.
"Do you think the Administrator would dare harm a child because it has a connection with one of her mercenaries?" asked Sniper, who started feeling worried himself, "I mean, they will not hesitate to take things to the highest measure just to make sure our secret stays safe."
"I think Spy is aware of that," Heavy pointed out, "especially after director suddenly disappeared."
"I'm pretty sure Spy could handle being both a mercenary and a father to the wee child." added Demoman confidently.
There was a lot of stress in the room for Spy.
"I'm pretty sure Spy wouldn't want us to worry men!" Soldier exclaimed, standing up, "he's told us good news, he wants us to feel the good news- so we should quit all this worry-yapping!"
Everybody in the room stood up with a sigh, they took their uniforms off, hung them in their lockers and went to their respective rooms, calling it a day.
Soldier was right. Spy wouldn't want them to worry. Underneath that seemingly cold and austere face, his teammates knew he cared about them; they're all he has left.
That is, until he met the woman he knew he'd love forever, which, to their delight, gave the young man unequalled happiness that added glimmer-glow in his eyes.
He didn't care what her history was; he knew she had six other sons, but he still didn't care. Spy liked children, and even though three of them already lived their own lives, the Frenchman couldn't help but act like a father figure to all of them whenever he'd visit.
He loves her...and he wants to keep it like that- forever- especially now that they'll be expecting a new member of the family.
He positioned his car near her gate, looking forward to getting an embrace or a kiss after that tiring day of getting Intel from the BLUs, but instead, he found two police cars parked right outside.
Spy saw uniformed policemen walking back and forth her house's premises. He quickly took his mask off and went to confront a passing staff.
"What is going on in there?" the Frenchman asked urgently.
The policeman looked nonchalantly over Spy's figure. "Who's asking?"
"I am...her fiancé." answered Spy, knowing that they were never going to get married anyway- he was a mercenary after all.
But he wasn't in the mood to find the right words. He needed to know what was up right now. "What's happening?" he asked once more.
"Your fiancé called 911...saying that something disturbing was sent to her this afternoon."
Fuck. Spy and felt his throat close. He can't breathe. His lungs shriveled...did the Administrator do something? Just fuck.
"What disturbing things?" Spy whispered, barely able to speak.
"Somebody sent photos of stolen shots of her and her sons taken between yesterday and earlier today," the police replied firmly, "and sir, I must say, your image has been spotted on one of those photos...I knew you looked familiar."
"Who sent those photos?" Spy asked, tone rising, teeth nearly gritting.
"We still don't know sir," the police replied, keeping his cool composure despite the tone his client now has, "but the thing that really weirded us out was on that particular photo with you, sir. At the back, the words 'I'm watching you' are written in bold, blue ink."
Spy wasted no time and rushed in, only to find his cherié at the verge of tears, surrounded by her sons, trying to calm her down. At the sight of him, the woman rose to her feet and embraced him tight, letting all the tightness in her heart out.
"Love..." she whispered, "I'm scared."
"Sshhh...it'll be alright, mon petit lapin," He assured lovingly, "I'm here...don't worry, please. Our baby..."
The woman tried to straighten herself up and trusted Spy. She knew well that he was a mercenary...but he was more of a gentleman than most of the men she had met. At first, she was shocked, of course, but she loved him, and that feeling stood out to help her see the wonderful person Spy really was.
When the policemen left, Spy brought his beloved to the room to help her get the rest she needs the most.
"Mon amour," he whispered and kissed her brow as he laid her onto bed, pulling the blankets up so she wouldn't get cold on this seemingly chilly night, "I don't want you to worry...I will protect you. You know that."
The woman started to chuckle at this man's romantic behavior. "You don't have to worry about me...I was just shocked awhile ago, that's all." she said in her unmistakable Bostonian accent.
This strong woman in front of him started to close her eyes, too tired to stay up any longer, and prepared to sleep when her gaze shifted to the window and she let out a frightened gasp.
She pointed outside and as soon as Spy spun to see what it was, a flash of light appeared and a black figure ran in a blur, the two events happening in a second.
"Hold on cherié." Spy said, reaching into his coat. He got his revolver out, jumped off the window and carried on his pursuit for the stranger that seemingly haunts his beloved and her family.
Running through the thick bushes in the dark of night, Spy couldn't find a trace of the mysterious stranger anywhere. He just vanished.
After a few more runs of searching the perimeter, Spy gave up and placed his revolver back in his coat, assuming the bastard was gone. He entered the house and went straight to her room once more, planning of working on that Intel Engie needed for tomorrow. If the man knew what the other team was up to, he could easily make modifications to his machines applicable for oncoming situations in the next field fight.
To his relief, his cherié was finally asleep; she looked troubled and tensed but at least, now she'll get rest.
Propping himself onto one of her chairs, he turned the table lamp on and decided to get this job done as soon as he can. Maybe he could get a few hours of rest afterwards...right next to his cherié, of course. Clicking the pen, he finally proceeded to work.
Somewhere, a lone figure walked the sidewalk leading to the house Spy was now in. In his hands, he kept shuffling and looking at pictures while smirking to himself. At last, he arrived in front of her gate. Looking to see if nobody was around, he slipped the pictures into an envelope and into the owner's mail box.
Walking away, he fished out a stick from his cigarette container and lit up the tip. He looked one more time towards the house, chuckling.
"I'm watching you." he whispered coldly and raised his head up into the light, away from the shadows, letting the blue mask reveal its shades. He tipped his fedora a but to the side before walking away, that mischievous glimmer still bright in his eyes.