This is a collaborative fic between myself and GamerNamedCody. Let's see how this goes!
Scout had been having a great day. He'd dominated the battlefield and led the team in each flawless point cap. After, he'd managed to get to the largest shower in the locker room before anyone else. Then, to top it all off, Miss. Pauling was waiting for him in the mess hall. Things couldn't have been better, until she handed him a letter. Instantly, he knew something was wrong. Instead of smiling or giving him an annoyed eye roll, Miss. Pauling handed him the letter with a very serious and almost grim look on her face.
Silently, Scout took the unmarked letter and broke its wax seal. From within the confines of the envelope, he pulled out a folded piece of paper. Carefully, he opened it to see the logo of a cemetery stamped on the letterhead. His heart stopped and he refused to let his eyes travel further down the page. It was for a funeral, that much he could assume, but for who scared him. Was it Alph, Benny, or worse...no, he couldn't bear to think of the letter referring to her. With a deep breath, he allowed himself to read the letter.
Just before he reached its end, he stopped. There was no way that what he'd just read was actually on the paper.
He read it again.
No, it was there. It was real, yet still, he couldn't bring himself to believe it.
"Oh look, Scout got a letter."
Scout jumped as Spy ripped the letter from his hands, "Hey, give that back!"
Spy darted forward and punched Scout in the neck, causing him to double over and start coughing.
"Let's see, Dear Mr. Jackie Rayneer," Spy gave a short snort of laughter, "That's your name? Ha, it sounds like you took it from the back of a cereal box."
"Shut up Spy," Scout croaked.
Spy took the opportunity to knee Scout in the gut before continuing, "We here at the West 5th cemetery regret to inform you of the death...of..."
Spy looked up at Scout with the sneer gone from his face, "Oh...I had no idea your mother was-"
"Yeah, yeah, I know," Scout said as he snatched the letter from Spy's loose grip. He turned his back so Spy couldn't see him wipe the tears from his face.
He felt Spy's fingers touch his back, "Scout, I'm sorry, I-"
Scout slapped his hand away, "Get away from me. I don't need your freakin pity."
Before Spy could say anything more, Scout sprinted away from him out onto the deserted battlefield, and up to the tall, flat roof overlooking Granary's middle point. There, he collapsed against an air vent protruding from the roof and curled up to bring his knees to his chin. Then, he allowed himself to fall to his side so he could sob softly against the gravel coating the roof.
This couldn't be happening to him. There was no way his ma was dead. No way. She was too strong to just die. But, her name was right there on the funeral notice. That notice that meant he'd never get another hug, or a kiss, or a shoulder to cry on when life sucked too much. All of that, gone along with the only real love he'd ever received from another person.
Then, to make matters worse, the funeral was in three days. He'd have to pack, get a hotel room, fly to Boston, and come back all without arousing suspicion amongst his teammates. If they found out about this, there was no telling how they would shame and ridicule him for his feelings.
He groaned through his sobs. Spy already knew what happened. If he knew, then it wouldn't take long before everyone else knew as well so he wouldn't even be able to mourn in peace.
Scout flopped onto his back as the sun began to set. Sometime during his thought process, he'd stopped crying. Now, he just felt empty, like someone had taken a piece out of him and burned it. Part of him wanted to just lay on the cooling rooftop until he faded away. Yet, in his mind, he knew he had to go back to the team so they wouldn't grow suspicious of his absence.
Shortly after the sun dropped below the horizon, Scout picked himself off the ground and drug his protesting body off to dinner.
