Well, here it is. The final and very last chapter. The scene between Raimond and Lawrence about 3/4 in is the entire reason I wrote this story. I had that idea for a scene, then I built a story to suit it. This chapter presented a challenge because I wanted to get the emotions and characters feeling right, while still working in certain details and maintaining character.

Here's a fun fact. At one point, I considered ending with the death of Lawrence. I then decided that was too sad and it didn't feel right, so I changed it.

Anyways, I hope you all enjoy. As always, apologies for any grammar/spelling errors. I tried my best, but my usual spell check program isn't available right now.

Lawrence lay back on the hospital bed, pondering if it was possible to die from boredom. His job involved a great deal of sitting still, but even if he was hunting or on the battlefield, he had something to do. He could watch. Here, there was absolutely nothing to see. His door was closed, so there was no way to see anything outside his room. The window in his room only showed the sky. And as beautiful as the sunset was, it wasn't particularly entertaining. After a few minutes, he closed his eyes and tried to sleep. He found himself immensely thankful for the fact that he had grown accustomed to napping almost anywhere, anytime. Within a few minutes, he was asleep.

With a long yawn, Lawrence stretched, gritting his teeth as pain flared across his chest. He blinked his eyes a few times and glanced out the window. The sun was just above the horizon. Past dawn, probably at least 7:30am. He could leave sometime today, and finally go back home. It would be nice to see the rest of the team again, although he wasn't sure what to tell them about what happened. He'd have to think of something over the next few hours.

The rest of the morning passed by in a dreary haze of boredom. A nurse brought by a meal of eggs and a limp croissant. Lawrence stared at the meal. He couldn't help but imagine the fit Spy would've had if he saw the quality of the food. Raimond. He mentally reprimanded himself. It was strange to finally put a name to his mysterious teammate. He took an experimental bite, then quickly spit it out.

'How can you eat such a deplorable meal? This hog food is hardly even fit to be called edible.' It wasn't hard to imagine what Raimond would say. After some of the foods he'd been introduced to however, he found himself inclined to agree. This meal was nowhere near as tasty as some of the other things he'd eaten. He couldn't even bring himself to eat another bite.

Lawrence wondered where Raimond was. Probably enjoying some French oddity for breakfast. His thoughts traveled over the events of the previous few days. Every time he remembered what Raimond had done, a fresh wave of anger washed over him. Yet in the end, he'd come back, hadn't he? Even though he'd gotten shot for it, and knew that he could have died, he'd come back. In Lawrence's book, that counted for something. Now that he thought about it, what he said to Raimond yesterday wasn't completely true. Raimond was sorry, and he'd shown that through his selflessness. His anger receded slightly. Pissed as he still was over what happened, he could forgive him.

A couple hours after breakfast, Raimond returned. Despite his limp, he looked much better than yesterday. The miserable slump of his shoulders was gone, and he looked like he'd actually gotten some rest. He set a plastic container on Lawrence's lap.

Lawrence looked down at it. "What's this?"

"Real food. Hospital food is absolute drivel."

Lawrence disguised a smile as he opened the box. He peered inside to see a bowl of creamy soup with dark chunks of something floating inside. Normally, he would be wary, but it smelled decent, and after skipping breakfast, he was starving. He grabbed a plastic spoon from the box and shoveled it into his mouth. It tasted good, although that may have been because he was so hungry. Even the mystery chunks were edible, if a tad chewy. He swallowed the last mouthful of soup and looked up to see Raimond grinning wickedly at him.

"Aha! I knew I could get you to eat it."

"Eat what! What did I eat?" Lawrence demanded. He narrowed his eyes and glared at Raimond. "What was that?"

"Maybe I should just let you stew over it." Raimond chuckled. Lawrence threw the spoon at his face, smacking him on the forehead.

"If we weren't in a hospital I'd-" Raimond shot him a glare and let the sentence hang. "Anyways," he growled. "I ran into our favorite doctor before I came here. He said you're allowed to leave now. I got us two tickets, the plane leaves in a couple hours. But I have an errand to run before we leave, and you're coming with."

Lawrence squinted at Raimond. Errand? That sounded ominous.

"Don't bother to ask where we are going. I'm not telling." He tossed a bag into Lawrence's lap. "I brought some clothes. Your's were ruined and not fit to wear in public."

Lawrence pulled the clothes out of the bag and eyed them skeptically. The outfit consisted of a white dress shirt with a pair of dark blue jeans and fancy leather shoes, similar to the one's Raimond usually wore.

"Seriously? I have to wear these?"

"Would you prefer nothing at all?"

Lawrence scowled and stuffed the clothes back into the bag. He eased off the bed and hobbled to the bathroom.

"So what did I eat?" He asked after he was done changing, stepping out of the bathroom. The fresh clothes actually felt very nice, and far more comfortable than the hospital gown. Even the shoes were tolerable, although they still felt awkward compared to what he was used to.

Raimond grinned smugly. "We should get going. We wouldn't want to miss our flight."

Before he could say anything, Raimond limped out of the room.

"Hmph." Lawrence glared at his retreating figure. An amused grin tugged at the corners of his mouth. At least Raimond was seemingly back to his old self. He certainly appreciated the apology, but Raimond's demeanor as of late was a far cry from his usual irritating self. A week ago, he would have thought he was going crazy to be missing this side of Spy, but in some ways, it was almost a relief. Shaking his head, he hurried after his teammate.

He caught up with Raimond outside the hospital. "So if you won't say where you're taking me, at least tell me what I ate earlier."

Raimond glanced at him over his shoulder. "Are you familiar with the French word 'escargot'?"

"Sounds familiar..." he replied. The word was something he swore he'd heard Raimond say before. What was it what it meant? It was something weird. Frog? No that wasn't it. Something with an 's'... He grimaced involuntarily. Now he remembered. "You dirty little-"

Raimond wagged his finger in Lawrence's face. "You enjoyed it, did you not?"

"You gave me snail! That's... that's sea vermin! What if I gave you rat meat?"

"Rat is hardly a delicacy. Escargot is. You should be thanking me for introducing you to more refined cuisine."

"That's the last time I ever accept food from you, I don't care how hungry I Am." he muttered. Unbelievable. Still, it hadn't been as disgusting as he expected. Not that he wanted to admit the fact to Raimond. It would only make him smugger. But he still wanted to get back at him for all the terrible foods he'd been forced to eat. Maybe when they returned to base, he could catch a few rats...

"We're here." Raimond interrupted his thoughts. He stood at the foot of a bridge that stretched over a murky waterway. Hundreds of locks adorned the chain link fence on either side of the bridge. Lawrence stared at in surprise. It was the same bridge they'd been to earlier, and the one from Raimond's story about him and Ivon. "What are we-?"

"Wait. Don't say anything yet." Raimond nodded toward the bridge. "Follow me."

Feeling suddenly uneasy, Lawrence followed him onto the middle of the bridge. Raimond was scanning the locks carefully, turning a few over and peering at them. Finally he stopped, holding an aged bronze padlock.

Lawrence moved behind Raimond, peering over his shoulder. He recognized it as the one from Raimond's story. The names were worn down by time and weather, but they were still visible.

Raimond brushed his thumb across the faded engraving. "I told you about the promise I made here. This lock was supposed to be a symbol of the promise. Now it just reminds me of how I betrayed Ivon." He looked up at Lawrence. "I want a second chance. You said you don't want words, so I'm doing something." He reached into his jacket pocket and slid out a padlock. Neatly inscribed cursive script read 'Raimond & Lawrence'.

"I'm done being a coward. Before all this happened, I thought I never cared. That it didn't matter if people trusted me or not. I couldn't have cared less what people thought of me. But when Ivon had me down in that basement... I thought I was dead. For real. And while I was laying there, all I could think of was how much I regretted everything. How I treated the team, and especially for abandoning you. When you came back for me, I realized that I did care. It had been so long since I had someone I could truly trust to have my back, I forgot what it was like. How much it mattered." He swallowed and took a breath. "You don't have to agree to this but from now on, I promise to always have your back. No matter what." He held the lock out to Lawrence. "Do you trust me?"

Lawrence stared wide-eyed at the lock. Did he really trust Raimond? After everything he had done, what was to stop him from simply running away again? He glanced up at him. There was no hint of deception in his eyes. He had dropped his usual cool and detached countenance and his face revealed a mix of resolve and sincerity, though behind it he could see anguish and shame. If this was some kind of act, it wasn't at all like the kind he usually put on. But could he really trust a spy? Someone whose job literally revolved around deception and backstabbing? Yet... The fact remained that Raimond had come back to rescue him. He had given himself up, even at the cost of his own life. It was more than he'd ever done before.

"I trust you." Lawrence said finally. He took the lock, and hooked it around a link beside Ivon's and snapped it shut. Raimond held out his hand, and he shook it. Something small and metal was pressed into his hand. Lawrence looked down to see a small key.

"Thank you, Lawrence."

Lawrence nodded, then tossed the key into the river. It landed with a tiny splash, disappearing beneath the cloudy surface. They stood together in silence for a few seconds.

Finally, Raimond glanced at his watch. "Merde... We need to catch our flight." He turned quickly and limped off the bridge

Lawrence followed him, shortening his stride to match his teammate's limping gait. The entire walk to the airport, he thought about what he had done. A small nagging voice in his head asked the same question over and over. Did I make the right choice?

When they reached the airport, Lawrence took a seat on a bench as they waited to board the plane. Raimond said something about picking up a few things at one of the stores before vanishing into the crowds.

"I see you two didn't waste any time leaving."

Lawrence jumped and spun around. "Charles? Erec? What are you doing here?" he asked in surprise. The officer and his partner were standing a few feet away. Charles had his arms crossed and was scowling, while Erec wore a more friendly smile.

"I suppose I owe you a thanks." Charles said. "We might not have been able to deal with those criminals without your help. Although if it were up to me I would have kept your friend around for interrogation. What did you say his name was?"

"I never said." Lawrence replied

"Don't pay mind to Charles." Erec said. "He's just upset that he didn't get to arrest you. I'm glad you survived." Erec said.

"Me too." Lawrence said with a grin.

"Ah, so we meet again, Charlie!"

Lawrence turned around to see Raimond behind him, smirking.

Charles scowled at the nickname. "Look, just make sure you two stay out of the city. You might be free to go for now, but I'll be keeping an eye out for both of you. Especially you," he added, pointing at Raimond.

Erec held out his hand. "Just keep out of any more trouble." Lawrence nodded and shook it.

"As much as I love talking to cops, we have a flight to catch. It's been a real pleasure." Raimond said. He and Charles eyed each other for few moments before Raimond turned away. Lawrence watched him go before turning back to Erec.

"Thank you for everything. Both of you. I'd probably be dead if not for you two."

"You're welcome." Erec replied. He elbowed Charles. "You're welcome I suppose." Charles grumbled. "Just don't make me regret it."

Lawrence nodded before turning and hurrying after Raimond. Perhaps France wasn't such a bad place after all.

Lawrence stared out the window of the plane, watching clouds breeze by and bird's coast on air currents. His earlier doubts had faded quickly. Raimond had changed. Sure, he was still a spy and a master of deception, but he trusted him with his life. Raimond was a different person now, one that Lawrence was glad was on his team. With a sigh of contentment, he kicked back in his seat and closed his eyes.

Raimond settled into his chair beside Lawrence and leaned back, closing his eyes. For the first time, he felt relaxed and at ease. Even knowing he would return to the battlefield soon didn't feel as terrifying. A hint of fear still remained, but he knew he wasn't alone anymore. Lawrence had his back, and he had Lawrence's back. They would look out for each other, and protect each other, no matter what.

Ahhhh. it feels great to finally end this. It's my first time actually writing and ending a long piece of fiction. Definitely an accomplishment for me! Several months ago, actually at least two years ago maybe, I first read about a bridge in France where people would engrave their names on locks and attach them to the bridge before throwing away the key. (The bridge is called the Pont des Artes, for those wondering). Immediately, I thought of Spy, being that he was my favorite character. I loved (and still do love), the idea of Sniper/Spy as close teammates/friends who are like brothers. I really wanted to work in the idea of Spy in France, and having an emotional scene on the bridge. Naturally, I kinda played with the time line, since historically, the Pont des Artes wasn't exactly around back when Raimond was young, nor had the tradition started, as far to my knowledge. But I couldn't give up the idea. :)

Also, for anyone researching, I would like to make it clear that what Raimond did was supposed to indicate a promise and friendship, and nothing more. I personally wrote this because I really wanted a nice story about them as only friends, not romantically involved. There's plenty of nice fics out there if you want romance, but that is not whyI wrote this particular fic. (Disclaimer: I am in no way hating on anyone who wrote/writes them as such).

I am so happy that you guys liked it! In hindsight, I've grown a lot as a writer over the course of this piece. Also, since it died for a period, I probably accidentally left some plot inconsistencies. Still, it has been so much fun (and work!) to write this. I loved reading all the reviews, and I have to give a huge thank you to everyone who reviewed. Not only did you guys provide some awesome ideas and fun bits, but its because of every person who decided to read favorite/follow/review that I decided to reawaken this story and finish it. So thank you! I certainly would not have done it without you.

As for sequels, I don't have any currently planned, nor do I have anything in mind for further Tf2 stories (sorry!). However, who knows what he future could hold? I would love to possibly write more TF2 stories, and even have some fun with my takes on other characters (seeing as how Raimond is sort of my take on Spy, so to speak.) However, I do have a project based loosely on Pokemon, for any pokemon fans, but you may not see it for a very long time. If I post another story, I would most likely write it first, and finish it before posting. In the mean time, I'll likely just write short stories for fun, if anything.

Once again, thank you! It has been real pleasure. And hey, if you ever have ideas that you want to try and write, you can always message me! I don't make guarantees, but I always love hearing reader opinions!