Scout didn't like his new situation. At least with Pyro he could see everything going on in the base; now he was trapped inside Spy's private room, isolated from everything and everyone, and Spy wasn't the kind of man who would talk to his pets. He just made sure he had food and water, cleaned his excrements and pet him a little, without getting hair in his gloves, before disappearing from sight. «Yeah, thanks for the favor, Spy!»
But there was one thing that hadn't changed: he was small. And when one is small, he can see a lot of things from the ground, unnoticed by all the tall guys.
What he was seeing from the box inside of Spy's private room was the same he was seeing from outside.
Everybody was doing the same things they did every day. The same tasks, the same conversations, the same boredom.
«As if I was never gone.»
Sometimes, he thought of escaping and trying to tell them it was him, but this thought had installed inside of his mind and was making him ask himself…what for?
«I think it's clear they're missing nothing…»
Nobody was searching, nobody was even talking about him…
Yeah, why should he try to make himself noticed by people who didn't care that he was gone?
He looked at the box around him and guessed now he had two options: escaping from this room and running away, wherever, or staying and accepting his fate as the team's pet. Since they seemed to care more about some random hare than their teammate…
Sniper always preferred to stay in his van for sleeping, eating and supervising his guns, but even lone wolves like him desired a little company, mostly when they are trapped in the middle of nowhere, with nothing to do, and weeks pass unnervingly slow. When he was at the base, he would walk around and read the atmosphere.
The men read, smoked, dismantled their guns to give them proper treatment and assembled them back, had long walks in the desert, chatted, drank…But there was something in the atmosphere, something that weighted and crushed their spirits, making their voices low, all conversations brief and distant, all actions be done distractedly.
It was the silence.
What a silence…, Sniper told himself, looking at every one of his teammates.
And everybody knew the reason for this gloom.
There used to be someone who filled the air with cocky comments, jokes, burps, loud Tom Jones music.
That used to annoy the hell out of him, and everybody else…but now…Huh! Funny how it was hard to live without…
That someone was young, was full of energy and optimism, and it was now when he noticed of how contagious that was…
He glanced at Medic, feeding his birds, though they have enough seed. It seemed he had lost interest in his abominations lately. He could be seen lost in thought, just not in some kind of evil calculation—no, when Medic was thinking of a new experiment, a new cavity to make on his patients' bodies and what to fill them with, his eyes sparkled and couldn't help smiling a bit. Lately, Medic had been ruminating something he didn't like. Regret? Medic was too proud to say sorry, Sniper didn't think he was the kind of a man who did that sort of things…But it seemed to him that he was considering a few things…
Talking about proud…
Spy could be seen near the Offense dorm very often now. He could act like he was just walking around the base, since he had nothing better to do, but Sniper knew better than to believe that.
He stopped by his side and watched the empty mattress by his side.
"…Isn't it taking him too long to come back?" He finally said.
Five days…Scout liked the attention too much to disappear for even a whole day.
Spy took a drag from his cigarette, taking so long to reply Sniper was about to walk away when he did:
"…I am sure he is all right…"
"How do you know?"
"…I simply know…"
Anyone who didn't know Spy could have bought it. Many in the team would have been convinced. But Sniper had come to read people after so many years watching all of their moves from the scope. And he knew that Spy had been smoking double lately.
He replied nothing and walked away, out of the base, towards his van. He grabbed a few things and drove away, telling himself that perhaps Scout didn't deserve it and would mock him if he found out, but he wouldn't feel right until he at least knew where he was.
As for Spy, after Sniper was gone, he went to a distant corner of the base and made a call with his watch.
"…Hello?" A feminine voice answered.
"Betty."
"Who is it?"
"It's me. Henri."
"Oh!" Some metallic clinking, like she was in the kitchen. "I think you've got something that's mine…"
Spy would have smiled, remembering the panties he was keeping inside of one of the pockets in his suit.
"How are you, princesse?"
"Missing you, always." Betty purred. "Last time was fantastic. And I am so bored…"
"Isn't Jeremy keeping you company for the holidays?"
"No, he's in that job he found in Albany, at the hat factory, and he told me he wouldn't get any free days. Unbelievable, don't you think? I've told him he should sue those exploiters, I've told him slavery was banned a long time ago! He's young but that don't mean he should let people take advantage of him! Could you do something, Henri, dear? Don't you know a good lawyer or…?"
"I'll see what I can do." Spy finished the cigarette he was smoking, took his case and took another one, which he lit, placing it on his lips and using the lighter with his free hand.
"Thank you. 'Cause those people are making me mad. They've got no phone to call him, I've gotta wait for weeks for him to have a second to call me…I guess I'm just sad that my baby's flew off the nest, but…I'm still his mother, I can't help feeling worried."
Spy did not reply to that. He humored Betty a little more, promised her to do her this and that when he came back to Boston as soon as he could, then hung up as quickly as she allowed him. Then, he headed towards his smoking room, took the hare out of the box and sat on his armchair to caress him for a while.
Sniper was always boasting about being good tracking people, tracking them and eliminating them—well, now it was time to prove it. Five days had passed and surely all traces had disappeared, there was no one around who could have seen anything, there was nothing. But there had to be something.
That was one of the few clues he had: there was nothing in miles around the base. What would a young boy like Scout do being angry? Maybe just walk around the desert, rant aloud, shoot at some cactus. Hm. Probably. But that could only take him a few hours. Then what? He wasn't going to stay in that desert. Not without food or water. Scout was someone who needed movement and entertainment: he wasn't going to watch the clouds for days.
He probably headed to town. The town was ten miles away. He doubted he knew how to find his way with the stars and a compass: he most probably just followed the road. So, driving his van, he followed what he thought were his steps that afternoon.
In town, he could have stayed at the local hostel—that is, if their terrible reputation didn't have him banned and had to sleep on some bench. Or maybe he took a bus and left somewhere else. Scout was a city boy and hated small towns, needed neon lights, movement, people…Nah, he couldn't have done something of the sort. He liked Miss Pauling too much to disobey her orders to stay in there until Mann took possession, all he did was to impress and please her.
The mates said he had to be there, somewhere, hiding from them, so they didn't lecture him and he could give himself importance. Sniper didn't think so. Something in his guts told him that Scout couldn't have kept that going on for this long. He wished he was wrong and he was acting like a little prick indeed.
He suddenly stopped.
Never mind the van staying in the middle of the road, there was no one to bother. He wouldn't have cared anyways. As soon as he spotted it, he tried to get out of the vehicle, a violent jerk reminding him that he had to remove the seat belt first. Once he did, he hopped off and ran towards a strange pile on one side of the road.
He didn't even stop the engine when he got to the base. He just got out of the van, ran towards the door and started to kick it, since he had his hands busy. He accidentally kicked Demoman when he opened.
"Wha…?" He tried to ask him what the matter was, but Sniper ran in as soon as he had green light.
"Everyone come here NOW!"
There was no need to say it twice, this attitude sure attracted their attention.
"Spy, Sniper's calling. And it seems urgent." Engineer knocked at the smoking room's door, breaking the peacefulness inside.
Spy was petting Scout again. He left him inside the box and walked out, faster than he wanted everyone to see. He met his teammates at the semi-burnt garage. Sniper had already dropped everything he carried with him on the floor.
He recognized them immediately, no need to examine it, like Soldier crouched down to do. Scout's shirt. His cap. His pants. His bat. His dog tags.
Soldier looked up, his eyes open wide looking for his teammates from a crack under his helmet. The mercenaries looked at one another with surprise and gravity.
Heavy opened his mouth to declare that he knew something bad was happening, but he said nothing in the end. There are times when all those 'I told you' were completely unnecessary.