Author's Note: So by this point I hope you've realised that basically everyone not recognisable in the TF2verse is actually an OC of sorts. I'm making most of these people up on the fly so apologies in advance if they get repetitive or boring. They're only supporting characters. Mostly.
Forty-four years.
Miss Pauling tried not to think about it too much. Not from her own perspective, anyway.
A quick check in the garage beneath 2fort had unearthed one of the sedans, and Miss Pauling had made sure it still ran before loading the four teenagers into the car and driving towards Teufort.
"This place sure has changed since I was last here," Miss Pauling admitted as the car was stopped at a boom gate, "You keep track of everyone who comes in and out of the place?"
"When the wastes were deserted, apparently a whole heap of mercenaries came through thinking there was still Australium there," Amber explained, "They... killed a lot of people for stupid reasons. A sheriff from Texas took over, put the place under some sort of martial law. State and Feds didn't do anything, so it came down to the townspeople."
"How did they get around the chemicals in the water?" Miss Pauling asked.
"They cut off the water supply and everyone had to live on bottled for a long time. The sawmill was destroyed, and then a new reservoir was built. I don't know how he did it but Sheriff Hood managed to convince Mann Co, so big company, to pay for it all."
"Mann Co?"
"They're a mining company,"
"Oh," Miss Pauling figured that it was best to not say anything about that.
The gatekeeper spoke to Amber for a few minutes, before Miss Pauling was asked to step out of the car. Lying was a daily part of her job, so providing a home address and date of birth weren't too difficult. The gatekeeper took two photos of her face, informing her that they would be used to identify her when she left, and unless she wished to join the guest registry, all the information she had provided would be destroyed upon her departure.
"They take security very seriously here," she noted as they were waved through the gate.
Beyond, the small town she had once known was almost unrecognisable. Many of the old houses had been demolished with houses that looked almost Australian in design lined the streets. Front gardens appeared to be perfectly-kept, without even a blade of grass out of place, and Miss Pauling had to admire the nature strip gardens Amber explained as they followed the main street. The town centre had been totally altered altogether, the original planning torn up and replaced. Overall, the town looked almost... well, idyllic.
"Alex's Pop said there used to be a dump in the middle of town square," Jesse, the other boy, leaned forward, "Is that true?"
"Yeah, it was awful," Miss Pauling stated, "I can barely even recognise the place, now. How long has there been a high school here?"
"1998," Antonia replied, "It'll be twenty years old next year."
"Jacob, you still with us?" Miss Pauling looked in the rearview at the teenager. A few well-placed questions had determined him to be the younger of the two boys, being still fourteen while Jesse had already turned fifteen. The girls were both fourteen, with birthdays later this month. What concerned her was the fact that Jacob had been so quiet for most of the trip that she was worried he might be suffering from blood loss.
"Hey, the sheriff investigates all violence injuries personally," Antonia stated, "What exactly are we meant to tell him, and the doctors? I don't think they'd believe us about the whole... teleporting thing."
"You were at 2fort for a dare, right?" Miss Pauling asked, turning into the hospital car park, "Well, tell them the truth of why you were there. Antonia, you were the only one with him - you guys just need to say that you spooked one of the guards. It was an accident. I'll handle the rest of the story."
Miss Pauling led the group, including the shell-shocked Jacob, into the front entrance of the small hospital. It really wasn't much more than a glorified medical centre, but being a gated community probably meant that they preferred to perform most of their surgeries here.
Miss Pauling stood back as a nurse began fussing over Jacob, nodding when the doctor on duty informed her that he would have to notify the sheriff and that she needed to stay around to give a statement.
The most terrifying part was when she realised she'd have to meet with the parents of the four teenagers. Sheriffs and doctors, she could handle - hysterical parents were the next level of bad, and these parents immediately began fussing over their children more than the nurse had worried over Jacob. She was almost grateful when Sheriff Greene showed up. As if all of the technology surrounding them wasn't already a reminder of her sudden change in time period, the sheriff had to be the final shock to her system.
Sheriff Greene was a man probably somewhere between Scout and Demo's age, with neat brown hair and five-day stubble shadowing his jaw. Instead of a uniform, he wore a plain black shirt and jeans, and a badge dangled from a long chain hanging around his neck. There was no other jewelry, no ornaments, nothing - just a man with a gun on his hip and a badge.
"Miss Pauling, I believe," he said, offering a hand, "Sheriff Adam Greene. Welcome to Teufort, though I wish it were under better circumstances."
"Me too," Miss Pauling admitted, "Jacob's going to be fine - the doctor was just out-"
"He already updated me," Greene told her, "You're from TF Industries, then?"
"What's left of it," she nodded, "First of all, I'd like to apologise for the problems caused by the company's abandoning of the locations-"
"That was a generation ago, Miss Pauling. I doubt you'd have had any hand in the events that used to transpire in those old compounds. What I'm more interested in is what happened tonight."
He was a man who didn't waste time on the past, and Miss Pauling, more than ever, was able to appreciate that at the moment. "Well, recently it was agreed that TF Industries would survey the sites and determine whether they could be used for any purpose other than rotting and rusting. It was agreed that a team of our private contractors would clear out the places at night, so that the survey teams could do their work during the day. Unfortunately, tonight," she gestured, "We didn't expect anyone to be inside any of the compounds, and one of them twitched on the trigger."
"I'm not gonna lie, I'm pissed that these kids still do this," Greene admitted, looking at the teenagers sitting with their parents, "But... They're kids. Abandoned places have always been a major attraction to them, and I'd rather a kid with a buckshot pellet in his arm than a whole group with lead poisoning. The old dare was to camp in the old reservoir," he explained, and Miss Pauling stared at him in shock.
"Sheriff Greene, our contractors are skilled professionals," okay, it was only a half lie - barely half of the mercs were professional in any way. "It was fast reflexes on Jacob's part that saved him, from what our guy tells me."
"Then he's a lucky kid," Greene replied, "Look, Miss Pauling, you're a smart lady - anybody can see that. Those compounds fall outside of my jurisdiction. Nobody died, and a single buckshot pellet is nothing compared to what his ma's gonna give him when he's let out. I'll clamp down on these kids going your way, though - and if your guys find any more, bring them straight back home. Parents around here were young in an era when you don't trust anybody, not even your neighbours, so they're strict as hell. Now, you probably had to drive a while to get here, since nearest civilisation's about an hour away. I can set you up in a motel room before you head back, if you'd like."
Miss Pauling was slightly taken aback by the offer, and found herself smiling despite herself. "Uh, actually there's some accommodation in the compounds. I'd rather get back and keep an eye on the guards, make sure that they're well aware not to shoot first, in future."
"Miss Pauling," Greene grabbed her arm as she turned away, glaring hard at her. His smile was friendly and welcoming, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "I insist. You need to get some rest before you go tussling with those guards of yours."
"Oh, uh..." Miss Pauling glanced at the teenagers, then back at Greene, who was still glaring at her. "I... guess I could stay. I'll have to leave in the morning, though,"
"Great," Greene's smile and friendly attitude was back, "Gatekeeper said your car made a funny noise, too. I'll get someone to look over it."
"Oh, no that's fine-"
"I insist, Miss Pauling," he was still smiling, "Can't let a lovely lady like yourself go roaming about in an old tin can that needs a tune-up."
Miss Pauling wondered what exactly she had stumbled into as he turned to speak to the teenagers. She caught the worried look Amber gave her, and looked away. She needed to get back, needed to sort out the mercs. She hadn't exactly been honest with them - as usual - when she had told them Hale and his assistants were the only others to investigate. She could only hope that everyone who had gone searching for the mercs had come out at this other end.
"Miss Pauling?"
Amber had broken away from her parents and approached the older woman. "I... heard the Sheriff is making you stay. How long?"
"Just to rest, Amber," she replied, faking a smile, "I'm sure it'll be fine,"
"Yeah," Amber hesitated, "It's just... usually he can't get newcomers out of here fast enough. Anyway, if you stick around a bit longer, here's my number," she pressed a slip of paper into Miss Pauling's palm, "Me and Antonia can help you research anything you want - it might help you get up to speed on what's going on around here."
Miss Pauling looked at the slip of paper, nodding appreciatively. "I'm sure it'll be fine, Amber. If you want to help, your best bet is to tell others to stay away from the compounds."
"Oh yeah, I was gonna do that anyway," Amber rolled her eyes and waved a hand, "It'll be fine. But anyway, I should get back to my folks,"
Miss Pauling tucked the slip of paper into her pocket.
Greene had a deputy take Miss Pauling to the motel and even walk her to her door, since her car had already been picked up by the mechanic. She had a sinking feeling, as she looked around the room, that she would be staying for longer than a few hours.
Several hours later, she had showered, slept, and eaten the continental breakfast provided by the motel owner. A quick perusal of the television guide had shown that there was a remake of Ghost D.A. that had reruns during the day, and she killed another hour watching some talk show with a bizarre, short blonde woman who really loved dancing. Some of the things she said strongly suggested... well, that sort of thing couldn't possibly be so out in the open, could it? Not that she had a problem with it. If girls wanted to date other girls, that was fine, but-
A knock on the door startled her out of her thoughts, and she got up, looking through the peep hole first before unlocking the door.
"Sheriff Greene," she smiled brightly, "I hope you're bringing me good news,"
He was still in the black shirt and jeans from the night before, but had shaved. He waved a hand vaguely.
"I hope you got some rest. At the risk of causing offense, you looked like you needed it. I didn't want to mention it at the med centre. D'you mind if I come in?"
Miss Pauling opened the door wider, gesturing for him to enter.
"First of all, your car," he made a low whistle as he entered, "Mechanic's amazed the damn thing's even still running, there's so much wrong with it. The oil doesn't look like it's been changed in over a decade, fuel you were running was more lethal than diesel... I'd reprimand you for driving around my kid in that car if we didn't have something else to address,"
"Your kid?" Miss Pauling asked, "Wait-"
"Jacob," Greene nodded, "His ma and I split up just after he was born, and... well, same story as any other kid with separated parents, I guess. But divorce wasn't all that common in your old locale, was it, Miss Pauling?"
Oh. So he figured it out. Miss Pauling folded her arms and gazed at him coolly. "What gave it away?"
"Your car - 1969 model looking like it just rolled out of long term storage. Your "birth date" doesn't match with the age you supplied - you'd have to be born in 89 to be 27 still. And you look identical to a woman on record from 1972, who was only known as Miss Pauling. Moreover, she was also responsible for handling a group of contractors who did work in those compounds. Folk in this town are a lot smarter than they were in the seventies, Ma'am."
"Yeah, I noticed that," Miss Pauling sighed, gesturing. "Is that why you're keeping me here? Try and draw out the others so you can punish them in some sort of belated justice for something they didn't even realise they were responsible for?"
"What?" Greene laughed genuinely, a deep sound that would have been infectious if Miss Pauling wasn't already nervous. "No, I just didn't want you runnin' away on me before I could ask about it. And god knows you looked exhausted. Still do, if I'm being honest, but I guess that's just a permanent condition when you've got to babysit nine idiots."
"So, I'm not in trouble?" Miss Pauling asked in surprise. Greene shrugged.
"I mean, unless you'd like to be," he offered a small grin, "Look, everyone here knows that weird stuff happened around those compounds. Problem is the lead poisoning got most of the old ones before they really related their stories back. My dad, Sheriff Hood, did a lot to clean this place up and it really helped, but by then the stories about 2fort and the superhuman mercs that lived in those compounds was just ghost stories. Kids didn't pay any mind to them, and they still don't, and camping overnight in those places is seen as a rite of passage or something - but until last night, it never hurt anybody. So, while I'm dying to know how that changed, what I'm more concerned about is how it's gonna affect this town to have TF Industries operating in those compounds again."
Miss Pauling had sat down at the small table, and watched Greene pacing as he spoke. He was a man accustomed to physical activity, didn't like standing in one spot too much, and she found herself drawing parallels between him and some of the mercs. It occurred to her, not for the first time, that she had missed them since their disappearance. After the whole Gray Mann and Australium drama, Fortress were the only mercenaries she'd had to worry about under TF Industries' employment, and she'd spent the better part of a year around them. When they had all disappeared, her own world had suddenly become empty - so empty that she'd actually looked forward to a meeting with Saxton Hale.
Twenty minutes of catching up on events in 2fort last night was no time at all compared to six months of... dare she say it, loneliness.
"Honestly?" Miss Pauling shrugged, "I don't know. I'd like nothing more than for the compounds to stay under the radar, but that's probably not going to be possible in this day and age, is it?"
Greene was shaking his head. "If you really have come directly from 1973, there's a lot you're gonna need to catch up on. Now... I don't really want to send you back out there in your car, and it's gonna take the rest of the day to get sorted out. But I feel like if we keep you here too long, those friends of yours might just come looking. I don't want a shootout on Main Street, so how do you think they'd react to a messenger?"
Miss Pauling tried not to think about the last time the Administrator had sent a messenger to the mercs, and shook her head.
"I wouldn't recommend it," she told him, "But... Maybe, if I could call them-"
"There's a working phone over there?"
"No, but there's a functional conference room that will take video calls," she looked up to see Greene staring at her. "Ever heard of Australium? Most of that place runs on recycled Australium."
"Wait, are you serious?"
Miss Pauling stared at Greene's reaction. "I know it's rare, but-"
"Miss Pauling, the rarity isn't what makes Australium so valuable," he shook his head, pulling out one of those cellular phones, "Look, you're gonna need a crash course in physics and tech to understand the true value of Australium. I'll see what I can do about the video call, but you need to cram about forty years of technological innovation and human advancement into the next couple hours if you're gonna be sticking around."
