What a healthy marriage looks like

We're off to see the wizard

The mercs were as ready as they were gonna be and Miss Pauling called it. Engie asked, "Should we leave em' a note or somethin?" and Miss Pauling picked up the ransom note, "We already have one. Go get Caroline and we'll head out.", "Yes, ma'am." Engie moved over to the bench where Caroline was fast asleep, slumped over on Spy, who looked up at his approach, "Are we leaving?" Engie blinked at him for a moment and Spy narrowed his eyes, "You look like a fish with your mouth hanging open like that. Are we leaving or not-?", "How are you lettin' her sleep on you like that?", "...What?", "You just gonna let her drool all over your fancy suit?", "Your concern for my dry cleaning is admirable, but we have more important things to worry about." Engie raised an eyebrow at him, "...You really like her, don't you?", "A woman comes in, in tears, and I'm to do nothing about that?", "Spy, you treat her better than your own kid-", "Alright, alright! Shht!" They look at Scout from across the room, none the wiser, and Spy sighed out, "I do not- I don't like her, but I suppose I am weak when a woman comes up to me in tears, and asks for help." Engie gave him a look, but didn't argue, "Alright, it's none of my business. We are leavin', though.", "You could have just started with that..." Spy rolled his eyes, before shaking Caroline. She stirred a bit and Spy said, "Caroline? We're leaving." She sat up and looked around, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, "Where are my pants?", "-What?", "My pants! We gotta go!", "...You're dressed." She looked down at herself and squinted a bit, "Oh." and Engie quirked a brow. Spy just shook his head and Engie left. Caroline started to wake up more and she wiped her mouth, "Sorry. I didn't mean to fall asleep on you.", "It is fine." Spy said as he stood up and brushed off his suit, "Are you ready to go?" She responded by standing up, nodding, and they moved over to the vehicles that had been prepared. Miss Pauling met them at the back of a van and she put a hand on Caroline's shoulder, "Alright, we don't know what we're getting into, so I'm gonna have you ride with team B. Spy, I'm gonna need you to do some recon, so you'll ride with us in team A." Spy turned to Caroline, "Are you going to be alright?" She nodded and hugged him, "I'll be fine. Thank you." He smiled to himself and hugged her back before walking off. Caroline watched him go for a moment, and then Engineer came up beside her, "So, you got everything you need then?" Caroline adjusted the strap that was digging into her shoulder and nodded. He nodded too, "Great, just hop on in and we'll be on our way." He went to leave, but then turned to her again, "...and Caroline, if you need anything just tell us. We're a team, we stick together. Take care of our own." She touched his shoulder and smiled, "Thank you, Dell." He smiled, giving her a nod before moving around to the driver's side door. Caroline climbed into the back where Heavy, Medic, and Pyro were already sitting. Medic smiled, Heavy waved, and Pyro made an unintelligible series of mumbles. From the driver's seat, Engie asked, "Alright! We ready to go?" Caroline sat next to Pyro, buckling in and Heavy gave him a thumbs up. They started on their way and Medic asked Caroline, "So, you're first raid. Are you excited?" Heavy touched his arm, saying something in Russian, and Medic gasped, "Oh, right! I'm so sorry, my dear!" Caroline shook her head, "It's fine..." Medic turned to Heavy and they spoke, some in Russian, some in German, but either way Caroline couldn't understand them. She looked at Pyro and they mumbled something at her, which she also couldn't understand, so she just nodded slowly, then leaned back against the wall. With nothing else to do, she got lost in her thoughts. She wondered how Mick was holding up. Was he scared? Lonely? Angry? Probably more worried about her than his own situation, if she knew him at all. She sighed, still thinking about him when there was a tap on her shoulder. She looked over at Pyro, who mumbled at her and presented her with a stuffed unicorn. She raised an eyebrow at it, and Pyro hugged it before presenting it to her again. "Uh..." From the driver's seat Engie said, "Whatever they're showin' you, they said you looked like you could use it." She looked over at Medic and Heavy, who looked at each other like they found all this adorable. Caroline hesitantly took the stuffed unicorn eyeing it, and Pyro mimicked hugging it. She hugged it and it made a squeak. Pyro nodded, satisfied. She knit her brows together at this ridiculous exchange before looking down at the little stuffed unicorn, realizing Pyro was trying to comfort her. She was touched. Her eyes watered and she hugged the unicorn again, and again, it squeaked. Heavy leaned forward and touched her arm, "We will find Sniper- Then we kill Grey. I will crush his head into fine paste." She nodded and the lump in her throat made her voice wobble as she said, "Thank you..." At that, Pyro hugged her, then Heavy joined in, then Medic as he said, "It will be okay, my dear." They drove for a bit longer before finally getting to where they were headed. They got out and they were parked in a Mann Co. warehouse lot between warehouses No. 38 and No. 39. Engie said, "Team A is still doin' recon, so we'll wait for them-" Suddenly, there was an explosion and they all looked down the lot. Soldier and Demo were making a lot of noise as they fought a horde of robots. Engie touched Caroline's shoulder and said, "Stay here." before turning to the rest of them, "Alright, gang! Let's move out!" Heavy wielded Sasha as Medic supported him from behind and Engie grabbed his toolbox. Caroline shouted, "What happened to 'We're a team'?" Engie shouted back, "It'll be safer there! Trust me!" Before running in to join in the frey. Caroline growled, "What's the point of even bringing me then!" Pyro came out of the van with the unicorn and gave it to her before patting her head and running in themself. She looked at it, then shouted, "That was really patronizing, you know!" but they were gone. She sighed and threw it in the van, grabbing a handful of 7mm to fill the pocket of her dress. She got up on the roof of the vehicle and pulled out Mick's rifle, looking through the scope. It looked like all the action was two warehouses down, so that was probably where Mick was being kept. As she was trying to figure out what all was happening a voice behind her asked, "Staying out of the action?" She took a swing behind her and Spy dodged easily. She held her chest, willing her racing heartbeat to catch up to her as she exclaimed, "Spy! You scared me!" Unbothered, he stated, "Rule number 1- Always be aware of your surroundings." She blushed and scratched at her neck, "Yeah... You know what, that's probably why they didn't want me to come with them...", "Rule number 2-" He stepped off the van's roof, landing gracefully, "Don't shout if you don't want attention." He offered a hand to her and she put away the rifle before taking it. He helped her to the ground and brushed off her shoulders, "And rule number 3-", "You've made your point. I know I'm not cut out for this-" He covered her mouth, "Rule number 3- Never fight alone." She raised her eyebrows and he smiled. He moved his hand away and she asked, "You're not just here to babysit me?", "Oh, I am- but I can keep an eye on you from anywhere." He winked. She grinned at him and then he looked up. He quickly grabbed her and pulled her into him before taking out his Colt Python and firing two shots. When he stopped, her ears were ringing and she turned around to see that a robot had made its way over to them. She looked up at him, wide eyed, and he took her hand, pulling her away, "In fact, it would be better if we did not stay here." He led her down the alley between the warehouses to the other side, where it was quieter, despite the robots swarming around. He leaned down and whispered, "Your husband is being kept in warehouse No. 42. I managed to take out a few bots, so currently, he's only being guarded by one- which is positioned up on the catwalk. I did not have the opportunity before, but we might be able to-" A robot started coming towards them and he pushed her into the wall, covering her form with his own before turning them invisible. They stood there quietly as the robot went by, none the wiser, then after a moment, he uncloaked them and took a step back, "We might be able to get in from the top." He pointed and she looked up- and up and up and up at the warehouse walls that seemed to stretch infinitely from where she was standing. She swallowed down her mild acrophobia and nodded resolutely. He nodded too and held a finger to his mouth before turning invisible once more. She saw the air ripple around the corner, and then she was alone. She waited a moment, then crept close to the corner and went to look around, when she was suddenly pulled forward. She was very alarmed at this, but Spy said quietly, "It's just me." and she nodded, still alarmed, but more understanding. He pulled her into warehouse No. 39 and materialized in front of her again, then he pointed to the wall which had a ladder. She asked, "But how do we get across?", "There's scaffolding between the buildings, now get up there before we get caught!" She looked up at it, then took a breath remembering that she was doing this for Mick. She got on the ladder and started climbing up, but she only made a little progress before Spy called, "Wait-" She stopped, looking down at him. He gestured for her to come back and she climbed all the way back down before he got on the ladder, "I'll go first. Follow me..." She knit her brows together, frustrated that he made her come all the way back, just to go up again- but then she got back on the ladder and looked up, suddenly remembering she was in a dress. Oops. They moved up to a ceiling hatch and Spy pushed it open, climbing onto the roof before offering his hand for her. He helped her up and she whispered, "Sorry, didn't mean to flash you.", "Probably not the best attire for the occasion.", "Well, if I knew my husband was gonna get kidnapped, I would have thought ahead and worn pants." He smiled at that before they quietly moved across the roof to the scaffolding that connected this building to the next one. The wind hit her skin and she felt that cold fear claw her gut- the kind that made her very aware she was over two stories up, but her husband was in danger, so her fear could suck it. She took in a deep breath, carefully stepping onto the metal walk and walking across, trying not to look down. They both made it across and then moved to the next one, and she made it across that too. Now they were getting closer to the action, the gunshots and explosions were louder and Caroline could smell the sulfur in the air. Suddenly a plane buzzed overhead and Spy tackled her, turning invisible. The plane exploded and three figures jumped out. One of them yelled, "SAXTON HAAAAAAAAAAALE!!!" as he fell. Spy got up and offered a hand to Caroline and she let him help her up before he dusted her off, "Sorry.", "It's okay." She said and they moved to the next scaffolding. This time she did look down. It was chaos. Bots versus mercs- with Saxton Hale just punching shit. It was bonkers. Spy urged her forward and she moved quickly across the metal walk, right onto the roof of warehouse No. 42. He took the lead and moved around to the several roof hatches, opening them and looking around before closing them back and moving to the next one. Eventually, he found what he was looking for and said, "Give me a moment." Before he turned invisible once more. She heard him land on the catwalk and peaked over the edge to watch as Spy materialized right behind a robot holding a rifle. He stabbed it in the back, letting it crumpled on the platform, before he looked over at her and nodded. She hung down from the hatch so she could drop down... and down and down and down- her temporary bravery dried up as she looked down at the metal catwalk and then to the ground way below. He moved over to her and held her legs whispering, "You are fine. Let go.", "I can't-" She whispered frantically, closing her eyes. "Yes, you can." Her fingers were going numb with the effort of holding her there, but she couldn't will herself to let go. She was stuck. Spy said, "Caroline, you're fine." but she shook her head, still holding on. Let go. Let go- She knew all she had to do was let go and Spy would catch her, but that cold fear in her gut she'd been suppressing reared its ugly head in all its glory. "I can't-" but she had to. Not just for her own sake (and the sake of her poor fingers) but for Mick's too. He was still in danger- he needed her, now more than ever. She'd been so brave up to that point, now all she had to do was let go... She couldn't save her father, but she'd be damned if her hesitation stopped her from saving the love of her life. She stole herself, taking a deep breath, then she let go. Spy caught her and set her on the catwalk gently. She flexed her stiff fingers a couple times, letting the blood flow back into them before turning and hugging Spy, "That was a bit dramatic, sorry." He chuckled under his breath and hugged her back, "It is perfectly natural to be scared, but the worst of it is over. Now, all we have to do is wait.", "Wait?" She asked, detangling herself from Spy's embraced and pulling out the rifle to look through the scope. The wearhouse was practically empty, which made the sight of Mick sitting in the middle of it so jarring. He was just sat there on a metal folding chair. His shoulders moved like he was sighing and her heart ached for him. She wanted to just call out to him, to tell him everything was alright now, but she knew better. Spy moved behind her and she asked quietly, "Where's Grey? What does he look like?", "He's old and thin. Just skin and bone, but he's not here.", "What do we do then? Look around?", "No... He'll be back, just be patient..."