A/N: If you're coming to this because I posted something at long last, here's my apology for not updating anything else. This story isn't why, though! I haven't abandoned any of the others!

If you're just coming across this from TF2 in general, welcome! Enjoy!

He was six hours late. Six hours late, and a dead man.

Scout's mother sat in her living room, twirling a glass of wine in one hand and thumping an envelope against her leg with the other. She was antsy. Had been for the last three hours. It was too long for an ordinary flight delay. That, and he hadn't called to say he was changing his plans. No boy of hers would dare be so rude unless it was an emergency. They were a wild bunch, sure, but she raised them better than that.

A glance at the clock confirmed it had been six hours. The thing was still ticking. No chance it'd stopped at an odd time. That only strengthened the worry in her gut. Call it a mother's intuition, but she knew something was wrong.

She downed the rest of the wine, pushed herself up from her armchair, and started for the phone. The wineglass was abandoned on the counter. She kept the envelope clutched in her hand. East Coast time was different from New Mexico time. Odds were, somebody would be up to answer the phone. And if it was him, oh boy, would he get an earful.

Taking care to dial the number she'd memorized for emergencies, she held her breath and waited. The phone rang once. Twice. Three times. She was about to hang up and redial when she heard the receiver click.

"Hello? Uh, Miss Pauling?"

It wasn't him, but she did breathe a sigh of relief. Somebody answered. "No, no. Sorry, but is Jeremy there? The uh, Scout, can you put him on?"

There was quiet on the other end of the line. She could nearly hear the frown on the man's face.

"No ma'am. I'm real sorry, but he left for Boston this morning. Hopped right out the door at five A.M."

Her fingers tightened around the envelope. So he'd made it out the door but… Somewhere along the way something had happened. Maybe between the base and the airport; maybe he'd already landed and had run into trouble in town…

"…ma'am? Ma'am are you still there?"

She took a deep breath and answered. "Yeah, yeah I'm still here. You sure he left? He ain't home and he said he'd be here by five as long as he made his flight from DFW. Jeremy wouldn't do this- he wouldn't change his plans without callin' or nothing. Something had to've happened."

"Whoa, slow down Mrs... Uh, ma'am just hang tight for a second. Can you hold while I go ask around the base? Some other folks left about the same time as him. I bet somebody knows where he went."

"…Sure thing." She held tight to the receiver. Other people had seen him leave. Somebody could tell her where her boy had gone and how.

"Alright, I'll be back in a jiffy." There was a clack as the phone was set down. She could hear somebody moving around over there. The receiver picked up voices on the other end, but she could only understand so much.

"Hey Doc, you see who all left at the crack of dawn this morning? I know 'bout Sniper and Scout, but did anybody else go with 'em?"

"No, I do not think so. Heavy did not leave until after lunch, and I don't think Solider is truly leaving... Why do you ask?"

"There's a lady on the phone askin' after Scout. I reckon it's his mother. Says he didn't show up when he ought've."

The voices started to move off. She was beginning to wonder just how long it was going to take to get some answers, when there was another sound. Someone else was picking up.

"Hello?"

"It is you, is it not ma petite?"

That was a voice she hadn't expected to hear.

"He didn't make it home, Frenchie. My boy didn't so much as call."

There was a pause on the other end. "You are sure he did not just neglect to mention a change in plans or take some asinine detour…"

She huffed. "Frenchie. Jeremy wouldn't. He wouldn't do this."

It was quiet again. But that was par for the course. A man like him was always a little too quiet. He was probably thinking. Goodness knows why he was at the base or where he'd been before that. She hadn't heard from him in years, but right this moment there were bigger things to worry about. All she needed to know was that he was there. He would help.

"I'm coming down there. It's late but Dave from the office can book me the next flight to Dallas."

"Ma belle-"

"Don't you 'belle', me, mister!" She nearly crunshed the envelope in her hand. The man could also be infuriating. "My baby boy is missin', and I'm gonna go find him even if I gotta tip every cow in the state, you hear me?"

"Spy, what're you doin'? Is she still on?" It was the man from before.

"Very well, ma belle, I will see you there." In a louder voice, he addressed the other man. "You know it is rude to leave a woman on hold for so long, laborer. I thought those of you from the South had manners."

She stifled a chuckle as the phone changed hands. Leave it to Frenchie to be ruffling feathers.

"I'm sorry for makin' you wait, ma'am. I asked around the base, and Scout definitely left for the airport with somebody else. We're gonna try and get ahold of him that way. Do you think you could give me a good number to reach you by when we hear something?"

She smiled into the black plastic. It was plain Jeremy had made some friends down there. It warmed her heart to hear somebody so eager to look after her boy. Two somebodies. They could hold her back when she went for the kid's throat.

"Well, you can look me up in Dallas tomorrow. I'm booking the first flight."

/-\

"Drive me to Dallas."

"Spy, are you really askin' me to-"

"I am not asking, laborer! You will drive me to Dallas."

Hand still on the receiver, the Engineer took in a breath, held it, and then released it slowly. For someone who puffed up his chest with talk of class and high-society tastes, Spy sure didn't have any manners.

"I will not." Engie responded evenly. "I can see plain as day she's upset, but this is Scout we're talking about. He probably-"

Spy cut him off. "Not to his own mother. 'E may talk like nothing can phase 'im, that caring is for 'chuckleheads not worth his time', but when it comes to his maman..."

He had a point. Scout was a Mama's Boy, and everybody in the base knew it. He called home near as often as Sniper, and for longer periods of time to boot. The Engineer had been in Scout's room all of once, but the photograph of the kid, his Ma, and all his brothers stood out amongst the cans of BONK!, baseball memorabilia, and dirty clothes. The frame was worn smooth on the edges from handling, but the glass was always smudge-free and clear as crystal. Scout talked tough but reflecting on this, Engie couldn't believe he would change his plans without making sure his Ma got wind of it.

"Well, if'n you're so worried, why not drive out there yourself? Make a night of it?"

Spy flicked the ash off the end of his cigarette. He wasn't looking Engie in the eye. "Driving is more your kind of work, laborer. If there was a cab in town, I would pay someone to do this tedious job for me."

Engie was no fool. He could rub two ideas together and get a spark, no matter how obtrusive the backstabber was being.

"What you're tellin' me is that you can't drive."

Spy tossed down his cigarette and stomped it viciously. He would not lose face in front of some West-Texas roughneck. So he angrily changed the subject.

"Judging by the well-kept state of your vehicle, one can assume you wish to keep it in this condition. Therefore, you will not get us killed in a fit of road rage. I would ask the bushman to do it, but 'e is the one that drove Scout to the airport, so that is not an option. Solider has a license but I trust him no farther than I can throw him. Lastly, Medic..." Spy paused. "Let us say Medic is like with the car as he is with the Bonesaw."

Engie read that loud and clear. Despite the roundabout way Spy seemed to be asking him about getting a ride, there seemed to be something else fishy about this. Something he couldn't quite put his finger on.

"I'm not driving you to Dallas."

"Laborer-"

He held up a gloved hand. "Scout's Ma sounded mighty upset on the phone, and I'm not one to argue with a mother's intuition." Engie grinned. "I'll drive you to Fort Worth. Never liked the Big D that much anyway."