Gabriel sighed, pushing the papers aside and stretching. *More useless legal tape. Why is it harder for someone to do good than bad? And people wonder why the country is in the state it is.* He stood and entered the file room. His hand automatically when to the 'A's, and he found Amelie's file on reflex. He opened it again and frowned. It had changed and was now almost completely blocked out. *Amelie redacted. Relationship status, married to redacted. Everything else is gone. Well, now I know what's happening with her. Who's she 'married' to? Oh, it's probably Gerald. I should talk to him not in an interrogation room. I want to learn more about this French family, but first, I need to drop off my paycheck, and call Madre. It's her 54th birthday, right?* He glanced at the calendar and groaned. *F***, that was yesterday…she's going to officially kill me now.* He quickly left and entered a car, yawning. He saw Amelie walking inside the building and paused. *Why is she so interesting to me? I've met other people like her-no, that's not right. I've met other spies: usually on the other side. She's something else. Now all I've got to do is get her to talk to me.* Amelie turned at locked eyes with Gabe, and he smiled, waving. She scoffed and entered, but Gabe saw a slightly darker purple tint spread on her cheeks. *Why is she blushing? That's confusing. Right, Madre, paycheck.* He started the car and slammed on the gas, wanting to go fast. As he tore out of the parking lot, he continued thinking. *Maybe I just imagined her blushing. She doesn't seem like that kind of girl, not that I mind. Everyone who tries to 'woo' me is like that, and it is so annoying. Why do people even like me? I'm a total d***. What's this?* He slowed down as he passed a scratched up sign. It used to say 'Welcome to Deadlock Gorge', but now it read 'Deadlock Gorge: Go Away'. He was tempted to stop, never having been big on orders, but thinking of his mother and the bank made him ignore the urge. When he got to the bank, it was a lot less crowded the usual, but just as worn-down: just the way he liked it. He did his business quickly, then stepped outside to call his mother, wincing in apprehension.

"Hola, Madre?"

"QUE NO TE LLAME (Why haven't you called)?!" He held the phone away from his ear to protect his hearing, and slowly put it back to wild Spanish cusses and shouts.

"Lo Seinto, Madre (Sorry, mom.) …" He heard a deep breath on the other end.

"No te preocupes (No worries), if you tell me what the f*** you have been doing!"

"Well, I've been going through paperwork, trying to figure out who to hire."

"For the section you're working on that you won't tell me about for some reason, probably because it's illegal?"

"Si. It's slow, boring, and exhausting." Gabriel said, rubbing his head.

"And? What else?"

"More training."

"Because you were held back due to your disrespectful manner."

"Si. I met someone interesting."

"Oh? Who is she?"

"How do you know it's a she?" Gabe joked.

"Because you don't think any guy is interesting except Jack."

"True. She's French."

"Oh? At least she's not a Brit."

"Madre, plenty of Brits are nice." Gabe corrected softly, not wanting to upset his mother.

"Hey, you don't respect men, I don't respect Brits."

"Fair enough. Her file's redacted."

"Natural spy, then."

"Si. She's purple."

"Que? Oh, you mean she's green, new, si?"

"Nope. Literally purple." Gabriel heard guns firing, and asked, "Madre, where are you?"

"The firing range. It was your birthday present."

"Oh…"

"So actually purple. I've heard of black, red, even white, but never purple. Is that some kind of sexual prefer-" Gabe shouted,

"MADRE! No! Her skin is purple. That's it. She might be. She's French…"

"Now who's the racist?"

"It's an observation, not a judgement. How was your birthday?" Gabriel said, trying to change the subject.

"It was fine, though I missed you. Margret is here. Oh, look. Says she can beat me in target practice any day and she misses 4 out 6 shots. She's so good."

"She's 70."

"She's senile. I swear, ever since she was promoted to Captain and I was still a private, she's been unbearable."

"It happened 27 years ago."

"Yet she brings it up every time we meet. Anyways, I'm about to beat her a**." Gabriel saw an all too familiar car pull up and groaned. *That man keeps coming to pick a fight.*

"D*** it."

"Watch your language. f*** and s*** is fine, but we do not use that word."

"Si, Madre. I've got to go. Someone's about to pick a fight."

"Try not to bust your nose again."

"I haven't done that since I was 12. Adios."

"Adios, mi hijo. Llameme (Bye, son. Call me)."

"Si, si." Gabriel hung up and faced the sore loser from blackjack a few weeks ago. "What?"

"Ya'll're gonna pay for ya'll cheatin'."

"You aren't from Texas, idiota." The fake drawl disappeared.

"I've gotta new gang, so you better stop cheating, or your head will end up on my wall."

"That's terrifying." Gabriel walked away. As much as he wanted to flatten the guy, he was still a member of Overwatch, and every action he did in public would affect the organization, so he resisted, going back to the base. He walked to the catwalk, figuring Amelie would be there. She was, and he smiled at her. "Hola, mujer." She scoffed, rolling her eyes at him. He began the process of trying to climb up again, being denied every time. He'd done this every day for the past 2, almost 3 weeks, ever since he first saw Amelie. If he remembered correctly, it was the 29th day of trying. She was stubborn, but so was he. When he reached up again, she didn't react, scowling. "You're almost as stubborn as me." She didn't respond, looking at her finger nails. *You are as stubborn as me.* "You're letting me sit next to you, but not talk to you?" Not a single word, and when he moved closer, he felt a finger pressing against his kidney. He scooted a little farther away until he was 2 feet from the icy woman. "You're letting me sit on the ledge. Glad that's clear. Your file was removed. I'm guessing you got 'fired'?" Amelie looked at him in confusion for the emphasis. "I bet your husband is happy about keeping his job." She made a mental connection and looked away, the look of hate replaced with interest. "Well, I've got to go. Adios." Gabriel climbed down, looking up again with a grin. "See you tomorrow, mujer." As he left, he thought to himself, *I will get that woman to speak to me.*