Author's Note: I do not own any of the "Team Fortress 2" characters or locations. This is merely for entertainment purposes, and I am not looking to profit off of this piece of fiction. All characters/locations belong to Valve. Sherry and Jenny belong to me.
**November 16th, 1976**
Jennifer, "Jenny" Sherry Conagher couldn't stand waiting! Here she was, five years old and waiting for her Daddy to come home!
"Grand-père, when will Daddy be home?" Jenny asked as she swung her legs back and forth in an impatient manner. Her hair was dark and hardly manageable, her eyes bright and blue. Emile looked up at her as he neatly spread peanut butter onto some celery stalk; no doubt, she inherited this taste from her late Mother; she had liked the same exact thing.
"He will be here when he gets here, petite princesse. Have patience." Emile said, giving her a small smile as he put exactly four raisins onto the peanut butter celery sticks. Although she had many traits of her Mother, she had her fair share of her Father's traits; namely, his intelligence.
Thankfully, she didn't speak in that accent of his…At least not yet. Emile had to wonder if Dell would be surprised to find out that while he was away, his daughter had learned some French words.
Jenny was such a sweet little girl; not a mean bone in her body. However, this made her prone to crying at the smallest things. She was Emile and Helene's precious grand-daughter; whenever Dell was away with Team Fortress, she would stay at their house, sleeping in what used to be her Mother's room. She got along quite well with her grandparents.
Scott, on the other hand…
"Hello, Uncle Scott!" Jenny chirped from her spot on the windowsill as Scott passed by. Scott paused for a moment before a wide and broad smile spread upon his face, instantly walking over to Jenny and scooping her up into his arms.
"Hey, kiddo! How ya been, huh? I only saw ya about ten minutes ago!" Scott said, planting kisses onto Jenny's cheek. Jenny, in turn, giggled.
Emile found this scene somewhat odd; at first, Scott had hated Jenny, since he was under the impression that Jenny was the one who caused Sherry's untimely demise. But any and all feelings of hatred left after several months, and he had grown extremely fond of Jenny.
"I'm fine! Daddy's coming home today!" Jenny said, wrapping her arms around Scott's neck. Scott grew quiet, and his smile faded slightly. Emile understood; once Dell came back from Team Fortress for three months, he and Jenny would go back to their own house until it was time for him to return to the Team.
In other words, Scott would miss Jenny terribly.
"Hey, that's cool! Did you send him a thank-you letter in the mail when he sent your birthday present to you?" Scott asked, a touch of sadness in his voice. Jenny didn't seem to notice (and it was for the best) but she did answer Scott as she nuzzled his shoulder.
"Yes, Uncle Scott. I did." Jenny answered. She suddenly leaped down from Scott's arms as she heard the tell-tale sound of a car door slamming.
"He's here! Daddy's back!" Jenny squealed as she ran to the front door. Helene intercepted the child before she could run out into the chilly autumn air.
"Coat, young lady! Then you can see your Daddy!" Helene laughed as Jenny struggled into her coat. Within seconds, she had it on and was bolting out the front door, jumping right into Dell Conagher's arms.
"Daddy!" Jenny chirped as Dell wrapped his strong arms around Jenny. Jenny buried her face into his shoulder and wept loudly as Dell pat her on her back.
"I'm home, baby girl. Don't cry. Daddy loves ya very much." Dell said as he carried the squalling child into the house, keeping his belongings in the back of his pick-up truck.
"Why are ya cryin', baby girl?" Dell laughed as he set Jenny down onto the floor, stooping to her level.
"I-I-I just m-m-m-missed yoooooou!" Jenny sobbed out, snot running from her nose as her little face turned red. With a small chuckle, Dell produced a blue handkerchief, wiping the snot off of her nose.
"Blow, baby girl." Dell instructed as he held the cloth in front of her nose. Jenny did as she was instructed, and Dell promptly tucked the soiled handkerchief back into his pocket. He couldn't help but smile when he saw Emile grimace at the sight.
"Did she behave for you?" He asked as he once more picked Jenny up, Jenny clinging to him tightly as if he was an anchor in a wind storm.
"As always! She's so well behaved, Dell. She didn't cause any trouble at all!" Helene said as she handed Dell a small suitcase with Jenny's belongings.
"Can you say bye, baby girl?" Dell said to Jenny. She had suddenly become shy, for she hid her face into his neck, not looking at Emile, Helene, or Scott.
"Well, I guess we'll be headin' home now. I'll call ya tomorrow!" Dell said as he lifted the suitcase up, Scott opening the door.
"See ya later, Jen! Draw lots of pictures for me, 'kay?" Scott said as he ruffled Jenny's already messy hair. Jenny said nothing as she clung tighter to Dell.
Once he was sure that Jenny was preoccupied with the latest episode of "Lassie", Dell proceeded to wander down into his basement. The usual smells of metal, wood, rubber, and all sorts of other mechanical objects greeted him, but he wasn't here to fiddle around with any of them.
He was making his way into the very secret part of his basement. Nobody knew of its existence; not even Jenny. It was a secret part that Dell kept only to himself.
He kept it to himself because what was contained within it wasn't quite complete yet.
With a quick glance behind him, Dell unlocked the heavy steel door, shutting it behind him as he walked inside.
The room was dark, save for the glowing tank in the center of the room. Dell wandered over to the tank, placing a hand upon it, a small and sad smile upon his face.
"I promise you, Jenny; you'll never miss me again once your Mama is done." Dell whispered as he pressed his face to the cool glass surface.
The woman inside had very long, chocolate brown hair, the hair occasionally moving inside with passing bubbles. Her eyes were closed, but if they were opened, they would be a most brilliant blue.
There was only one way to tell who this woman was inside of the tank. You would have to look at the nameplate, the name written in Dell's neat cursive.
"Sherry Conagher".
