Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Get up— now,”

The words filtered through the feverish and fitful sleep like a muffled voice in a room filled with music. It took a repeating of the request for Scout to shake himself awake and roll over, seeing a figure standing in his bedroom doorway.

He blinked. “Who’s there?”

“It’s me,” came the answer, and she walked in.

Scout grinned, rubbing his eye and sitting up. “Hey, Pauling. Heh, finally stopped by my room, huh?”

Pauling made it very clear, however, that she had no such intentions. Instead, she grabbed Scout’s shoulder, shaking him. “C’mon, get up. Now,” her voice was firm, low.

Scout was fully awake, now, and he rose, confused. “Hey, what goin’ on? Everything okay?”

“Just grab your things,” Pauling replied, hastily leaving the room. “Get clothes, whatever you need to go quick. Meet us outside,”

This was all very confusing…what could possibly be going on? Scout fumbled around in the dark, grabbing handfuls of clothing and underwear and stuffing it into his bag, along with his bat, a ball, and some randomly assorted trinkets from the bottoms of his drawers. He then slung the bag over his shoulder, kneeling and scooping up his dog, Frankie, who didn’t appreciate being awoken from his sleep, clearly.

Scout headed outside, and the world was all dark and cold. The sun was not up at all, but all of the mercenaries were gathered outside. Everyone was muttering to each other in confusion, and as Scout approached, Engineer called out to him, “Did she tell you what the deal was?”

Scout shook his head. “No…is somethin’ wrong?”

“We don’t know,” Medic answered. “She just told us to get up and grab whatever we could,”

Soldier was struggling to keep all of his raccoons around him, and he looked very unhappy as he cursed to himself about the situation at hand. Everyone seemed agitated, and really, who could blame them?

Just then, the travel bus pulled up and parked beside them, and the doors swung open. Pauling was at the wheel, and she made a gesturing motion. “Get inside, now,”

After more confused mumbling, the mercenaries entered the bus one by one, finding their seats and trying their best to settle in.

“Pauling, what is going on?” Spy wanted to know, disgruntled at having been woken up but rather concerned. “Is there something we should know?”

“Yeah!” Piped up Demo. “There’d better be a good reason for wakin’ us up this time of night!”

Sniper happened to turn around in his seat, and that was when he noticed her: the Administrator was sitting way in the back, wearing a big oversized coat and keeping a large, black bag at her side. Her eyes met Sniper’s, and she held eye contact with him for an excruciatingly long amount of time before he became uncomfortable and had to look away.

“Um,” Sniper swallowed, looking over at Pauling, who had put the bus into motion, now. “Is it…is it bad?”

“Yes,” was all Pauling replied with, and she turned the corner, driving for the road in the dead of night.

Chapter Text

At some point, Scout fell asleep against the bus window pane, and he had a strange dream about a snakelike creature following him around. He mostly forgot about it once the bus hit a bump and jostled him awake, and he blinked a few times, wiping the drool from his lips and staring out the window. The sun was rising, casting shades of pink across the landscape. They were somewhere very…unfamiliar.

“What time is it?” Scout asked, stretching up until his back cracked.

From the seat behind, Sniper replied, “It’s seven AM,”

“The hell are we?” Engineer grunted, rubbing his eye as he squinted out the window. “I don’t recognize this place at all…”

It was an urban area, not quite a city but big enough to be a tourist attraction. There wasn’t any indication as to where this place was on a map, or even why they were here.

“Pauling, why have you brought us here?” Heavy inquired, although he wasn’t the only one who’d asked during this strange trip.

“You’re gonna know soon,” Miss Pauling made a turn, where she pulled up near a grocery store. “For now—you guys are gonna want to buy things,”

“Don’t buy anything that would need refrigeration or anything needing to be frozen,” the Administrator spoke from the back of the bus, and it seemed as though everyone had forgotten she was back there—she’d been virtually silent most of the trip. She made a motion for the door. “You may leave your things on here, we will return for you. We won’t be long,”

Still confused, everyone started gathering money or coats or anything they would need for going out, and as Spy pocketed his wallet, he leaned over to the Administrator and asked in a low voice, “Helen, what is going on? You can tell me, I will keep a secret,”

All Helen replied with was, “She’s been found,” before she handed Spy a folded-up slip of paper and motioned for him to leave.

Scout stuffed Frankie into his backpack, apologizing, “Sorry, bud—I promise I’ll walk ya around once were off the bus,” Frankie yipped indignantly, but agreed.

One by one, the mercenaries stepped off the tour bus and onto the sidewalk. Everyone was sleep-deprived, still blinking from the new exposure to sunlight, and mumbling to one another about what could possibly be going on. Medic looked over his shoulder one last time to give Pauling a questioning look before she mouthed ‘sorry’ to everyone and closed the bus doors.

As the bus drove off, Demo remarked, “Hm. Well, I hope they aren’t abandonin’ us,”

“They wouldn’t,” Engineer assured quickly, still looking nervously to where the bus had disappeared. “…come on, y’all—I have some money if anyone needs extra,”

Scout took Frankie out of his bag and walked him around for a bit as the other mercenaries entered the store. Even though he was very hungry and anxious to eat, he still allowed Frankie extra time to sniff the new area and do business and such.

It was then, however, that Scout noticed a very petite blonde girl walk by on the sidewalk, and without hesitation, he approached her.

“Hey—hey, there!” he greeted, gripping her hand and shaking it. “How ya doin’, gorgeous?”

The girl gave him a weird look and kept walking, so Scout took her hand again. “Hey, listen! Can ya just tell me what town this is?”

Now freaked out, the girl jerked her hand away, snapping, “You a pothead!? You’re at the Adirondacks, dummy! Go do some tourist shit in the mountains,”

As she briskly strode away, Scout took a step back, thinking over what he had heard. “The Adirondacks…? The hell are we doin’ here!?”

He looked down at Frankie, but Frankie did not answer, as he’d become very interested in a piece of a bagel he’d found on the sidewalk.

In the grocery store, Spy watched Sniper pick out some coffee grounds when he remembered the paper the Administrator had handed him. He reached into his pocket, retrieving it and unfolding it.

A few lines of written words, ones which looked to be from a report of some kind, stared up at him, and they went as follows:

“This near-extinct animal possesses powers which scientists have hardly been able to study. It is elusive, dangerous, intelligent, and those who have had encounters with the creature say it has the ability to extend human life,”

Spy closed the paper silently and tucked it away, realizing somberly what this was all about.

Chapter Text

Breakfast was weird that morning. All the mercenaries gathered around a picnic table at the nearby park and ate random foods they’d picked out from the grocery store. Everyone was still tired and quiet, and Pauling and the Administrator had not returned.

Pyro mumbled something and played with their juice box straw absently, while Soldier threw potato chips at a squirrel a few feet away from his foot.

Engineer elbowed him lightly. “Hey, Jane— leave it be,”

“I’m feeding it!” Soldier defended.

Scout took a bite of the pastry he’d bought, and he gave a bit to Frankie. “Man…what the hell are we doin’ here anyway? Pauling just dropped us all here like a sack of potatoes!”

“Yeah!” Agreed Demo. “The bird at least could’ve told us what we’re doing here!”

Spy said nothing, but he could feel the note sitting in his coat pocket like a weight. He swallowed, wondering if the Administrator would mind terribly if he showed the others the note but ultimately deciding against the action.

“Hey, it’s not so bad,” Sniper interjected, gesturing to the scenery. “Nice out here, ain’t it?”

“Well, yes, it’s lovely,” Medic agreed. “But how do we know this isn’t part of some greater plot?” He gasped, realizing, “Maybe someone wants to take our precious bodily fluids!”

Sniper raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”

“Doktor,” Heavy patted his shoulder when he began to look upset. “Doktor, is okay,”

“No one wants our bodily fluids, I can assure you,” sighed Spy, taking another sip of coffee.

Scout turned around, looking over the hills and trees and up into the mountains ahead. “I wonder what Pauling’s doing right now?” He wondered, mostly to himself.

Elsewhere, Pauling sat in a cramped and dimly lit office meeting room, with the Administrator pressed right beside her. The silence was heavy in the air as Pauling had no choice but to breathe in the strong smell of the Administrator’s perfume, and she mentally prayed that the wait wouldn’t be too much longer.

The door opened, and a man in a suit walked in and sat at the table across from them. The dim light illuminated a scar across his pale forehead as he squinted at the two women.

“Helen,” he began, folding his hands. “Give me one good reason why I should choose to help you here,”

“Oh, shut up, Sterling,” the Administrator barked. “You know I have ties to people and resources you could never imagine— ask for anything, and you’ll receive it,”

Sterling pursed his lips together, and Pauling wanted to recoil in disgust when she saw the dead skin peeling from them.

“Well, Helen,” Sterling replied after a moment. “Once you have that thing in your possession, you have to promise to share it, then,”

The Administrator just shook her head. “No. And she’s not an ‘it’, or a ‘thing’— I know her, I respect her. She’s not a plaything, she’s a powerful resource,”

Sterling waved her off. “Fine, fine. But, if you really want my help, you will let me use at least some of her power. Understood?”

There was a long pause. After a moment, the Administrator took a deep breath. “Fine. Your employees can work with my men to find her, and you can use a fraction of her power. But after that, she will come back to my home, with me. Understood?”

“Understood,” Sterling nodded. “However, you do know who’s after her as well, right?”

“Of course, I do, I’m not an idiot,” Helen replied. “Why do you think I’m even involving the mercenaries and your employees here? I know what we’re up against,” she reached for a pendant around her neck, and she rubbed it between her thumb and forefinger. “I’m willing to do anything— I’m willing to fight for her,”

Sterling nodded again, out of understanding. “I can imagine you are,”

As Pauling left the building with the Administrator at her side, she noticed a misty, faraway look in Helen’s eyes.

“Administrator?” Pauling asked, keeping her voice soft.

“Let’s just go back for them, Miss Pauling,” The Administrator cleared her throat, her hands slipping into the pockets of her oversized coat.

Chapter Text

After breakfast, the bus returned and everyone was back on board, still without any explanation whatsover.

Miss Pauling followed the map she’d been given and drove through a path in the thick woods, where she explained, “There’s a real nice place waiting right through here for us— this is only going to be temporary, though,”

Sniper turned and stared out the window, his eyes scanning the thick forest. “Wow…this is gonna be great for hunting,”

“I would advise not hunting here,” the Administrator nearly hissed. “We want to keep this area the way we found it, trust me,”

Scout watched the scenery, and he noticed some strange animal run by. He only saw it for a moment, but he figured it was probably a deer.

They eventually reached the place: a large, exquisite yet run down mansion in the middle of the woods. The bus parked, and Miss Pauling instructed everyone to unload their packing.

As everyone obeyed the instructions, the Administrator stood up and headed to the front door of the mansion, where she knocked on the door.

A petite, curly-haired woman answered, her brow knitted in confusion. “May I help you?”

“Virginia, it’s me,” Helen greeted, shaking the younger woman’s hand in a business-like manner. “We spoke on the phone, remember?”

The woman gasped, opening the door wider. “Oh, yes! Hello, Helen! Can I help you carry anything?”

Helen shook her head. “No, my employees have everything. I trust you have everything set up for us?”

“Oh, yeah, come on in!” Virginia led Helen inside, adding, “My dad’s gonna be happy to see you!”

Engineer slung a bag over his shoulder, walking towards the house but pausing to take in the sight of it. “Damn…we’re gonna be stayin’ here? Almost seems shameful…it’s real nice, little too nice for us,”

“Nonsense, it’s fine,” Spy assured, looking rather pleased with the appearance. “I don’t mind it at all, personally,”

Eventually, everyone managed to get all their things inside, where Virginia greeted them immediately. “Hey, guys! Nice to meet you— I’m Miss Blanchard, but you can call me Virginia!”

“Hello, Virginia,” Medic set down a cage on the table, where he inquired, “Would you mind terribly if I released my doves in here?”

Virginia’s smile faltered. “Um…you might not wanna, I have a cat— I mean, he’s pretty old, you might be good, but…”

Before she could finish, Medic opened the cage door and released the doves. They flew above Virginia’s head, startling a sharp yelp out of her.

“Doc, ye can’t just release birds into someone’s house!” Exclaimed Demo, rather shocked. “Aye, ma’am, I’m so sorry—“

“Oh, it’s fine, it’s fine!” Virginia assured, forcing a smile while glancing nervously over her shoulder. “Um…just as long as the birds don’t leave any droppings in the kitchen, I think it’ll be okay…” she cleared her throat, smoothing her hair back. “Now, how about I show you to your rooms, hm?”

Miss Pauling dragged her suitcase through the hallway, where she stopped in the doorway to the living room. The Administrator was on the couch, sitting beside a very old man who was hooked up to some machine.

“There you are!” Pauling walked in, leaving the suitcase to sit beside Helen. “Uh…do you know these people?”

“Of course I do,” The Administrator watched herself in the reflection of her pocket mirror as she applied her lipstick, and then she gestured to the man. “This is Roland, an old neighbor of mine,”

“Oh, hey!” Pauling held her hand out to the man, greeting, “I’m Miss Pauling, it’s nice to meet you!”

The man did not answer, and he only stared blankly ahead. “Oh, I should have told you,” The Administrator clarified. “He’s in a vegetative state, he cannot respond to you,”

Pauling slowly lowered her hand. “…oh. Okay,”

The layout of the rooms was established quickly: there were three guest bedrooms, so the mercenaries would be forced to share particular rooms. Virginia would be allowing Medic to turn part of the basement into a temporary medbay, and while there was only a couch down there, Medic had made it very clear that he would most likely be sleeping down there instead of in a guest room.

As Scout let Frankie sniff around the hallways to get used to the new area, he began to roam a bit, where he noticed an old photograph hanging in the hall. Though it was faded, he could see a group of children sitting outside a schoolhouse. Beside them stood a woman Scout could only assume was the teacher, but she looked very familiar…

“Hey,” Sniper got Scout’s attention, nudging him with his suitcase. “You mind if we share a room?”

“Oh, sure,” Scout agreed. “Hey, Snipes…does this place feel creepy to you or is it just me?”

“It ain’t just the place, mate,” sighed Sniper, turning to look at a shelf of ceramic unicorns right beside him. “It’s everything,”

Chapter Text

Most of the day was spent settling everyone into the house and making sure everything was neat and set for the following days. It was then that The Administrator called everyone down to the living room to talk—there was something important they all needed to hear.

It was very unusual for the Administrator to hold a meeting herself with the mercenaries. In fact, under normal circumstances, they seldom saw her through the day and when they did it was because she had something to say that was vital to hear. Clearly, this was one of those times.

“I suppose you’re all wondering why you’ve all been gathered here,” she began, striding to the center of the room where she pulled a white curtain to the center.

“Yeah, ya think?” Scout muttered, mostly to himself, but shut up when he saw the Administrator throw a quick glare in his direction.

She cleared her throat and went on. “You’ve all been brought here for two reasons. The first reason is for your protection,”

“Protection?” Engineer spoke up, looking confused. “From what?”

The Administrator nodded at Pauling, who switched off the lights and began a slideshow of images. The first image showed a portrait of a red-haired woman with a birthmark just above her top lip, and the Administrator gestured to it, saying, “This is Regina Applegate, the CEO of a company known as Herbal Brewings. The company specializes in holistic remedies and alternatives to modern medicines, and they have made quite the name for themselves, especially in this area,”

Medic scoffed. “A pharmaceutical company? We are receiving protection from a pharmacy-- is that what is happening?”

“Hold your tongue and listen to me!” the Administrator barked. “This woman is a lunatic! She runs a cult out of her company, and her whole business is a front for illegal activity. She is building an army as we speak, and it’s all of us she’s after,”

“But why?” Spy wanted to know. “What does Ms. Applegate want so badly with us? Do we have something of importance to her?”

The Administrator went quiet, and she gripped the pendant around her neck again. “Not yet,” she replied, her voice softening. “That is…the other part of this mission, which you will receive instructions for later. For now, I ask only a few things of you,”

The slideshow flipped to a new slide, which showed a photo of a forest. “This is the surrounding forest. It has wildlife, a water source, and virtually no people other than us. You may walk around the forest, but do not hunt, do not set off explosives, and do not fire any weapons whatsoever,”

“What!?” Soldier sounded almost horrified. “How do you expect us to defend the territory, then!?”

“That will come later,” the Administrator raised her voice again. “Applegate and her army will find us eventually—and when they do, we will all be prepared. I will make sure of that,”

The lights came back on, and the slideshow switched off. Miss Pauling rose from the machine, where she remarked, “You guys are dismissed,”

Still confused, the mercenaries began to go their separate ways in the house, but Scout stuck around to eavesdrop as he watched Pauling approach the Administrator.

“Have there been many signs of her?” asked Pauling, her voice low. “I mean; besides the pictures we saw,”

“I have noticed some,” the Administrator sighed, smoothing her hair back as her eyes focused on the floor. “She’s not far,”

“How can you tell?”

“Take a look at the forest surrounding us, when you get a moment,” the Administrator’s hand went back to the pendant on her neck as she went on. “Notice how the woods are unnaturally green for this time of year, and how the flower growth is increased in more areas than others. Her presence is everywhere, and I see it,”

Miss Pauling only nodded, understanding. “All right, ma’am. I would never doubt your judgment,”

“I trust you wouldn’t,” came the reply, and with that, the Administrator turned and headed upstairs.

Scout approached Pauling once Helen was gone, and he tapped her shoulder gently to get her attention. “So…what’s goin’ on here?”

Pauling glanced at him, and she sighed, beginning to put the slideshow equipment away. “You can’t know that right now, I’m not supposed to tell you,”

“Aw, come on!” Scout pleaded. “I won’t tell, I promise! I can keep a secret,”

“Yeah? Well, so can I,” Pauling responded firmly. “And the Administrator has trusted me to keep this secret,”

Scout thought for a moment and then leaned down to talk to Pauling in a lower tone. “Y’know…you don’t gotta listen to that old bag of rats all the time—”

“That ‘bag of rats’ is keeping you alive, Scout!” Pauling snapped suddenly, glaring over her shoulder to stare Scout directly in the eyes. “My suggestion is that you trust her judgment right now, it’s the safest option for you and everyone else,”

There was a long pause, and Pauling realized she had upset Scout by speaking in such a manner. She swallowed, straightening up and smoothing her skirt out. “Hey…listen, its gonna be all right, I promise,”

She didn’t sound honest, but Scout decided to stop prying. “’Kay…hey, when’s dinner?”

“I don’t know yet,” Pauling turned back to the equipment, putting it into a large box. “But you might wanna take a shower,”

“Why?” Scout asked, raising an eyebrow.

“We’re all going out tonight,” she replied simply, lifting the box and carrying it out of the room.

Chapter Text

It was well into the evening and long after dinner when Scout saw it.

He was sitting in the living room in between Sniper and Virginia’s vegetable father on the couch when he saw the eerie, glowing light from outside through the window. It was a pale blue, and it flickered like a strobe light, and it was impossible not to notice.

Scout saw it, and he nudged Sniper’s arm. “Snipes…you see what I’m seein’?”

Sniper looked away from the TV, squinting out the window. “You mean that light?”

“Yeah,” Scout got up, going to the window to get a better look. “What is it?”

“Dunno, mate,” Sniper shrugged. “Could be a camper’s flashlight or a car,”

Scout stared outside for a moment longer. “But the Administrator said there wasn’t anyone else around, besides us…” he cast a worried glance at Sniper. “Can we go look?”

Sniper snorted. “No, are you serious? Today’s been crazy, I’d rather finish this program before heading to bed,”

They’d been watching a documentary about reptiles. It was cool at first, but Scout was starting to lose interest.

“Come on, Legs, please?” Scout pleaded. “What if it’s someone stalkin’ us? Like that’s their flashlight?”

“Listen, go tell Pauling if you’re so bothered,” Sniper took a swig of beer, looking back up at the TV screen. “It’s probably nothing,”

Scout turned back to the window to look, and he went quiet. After a moment, he spoke up again, “…Snipes?”

“What now?”

“Um…it’s some animal,”

Sniper processed this and then sat up. “An animal?”

Scout nodded, pointing. “Yeah…come see,”

Sniper rose, joining Scout by the window. Sure enough, the glowing light was closer than before, but now they could see that it was attached to some creature walking around on four legs. It was only a few feet away, but the dark of the forest and the night environment made it hard to see exactly what the thing was.

“Hm…let’s go look,” Sniper turned away, hands in his pockets. “Never seen a thing like that before,”

They both grabbed flashlights, Scout grabbed his baseball bat and Sniper brought along one of his knives, and they headed into the surrounding forest to look.

The light was just ahead, and Scout shined his flashlight in the direction where it came from. “Hello?” He called, apprehensively.

The pale blue light faded, and the sound of animal feet bounding away crunched against the forest floor. Sniper picked up his pace, shining the flashlight ahead just in time to see a tail which resembled that of a lion’s disappearing into the brush.

“Did you see that!?” Sniper exclaimed, turning to look at Scout.

Scout nodded vigorously. “Yeah, Yeah! What the hell is it!?”

Before they had time to ponder it further, they heard the sound of a weapon clicking behind them.

“Get inside,” a voice snarled, and they turned around slowly.

The Administrator stood there, her graying black hair out of its usual style and hanging on her bony shoulders. She had no makeup on and wore nothing except a ragged bathrobe— she looked like a ghost, standing there while holding a shotgun.

“Get inside,” she repeated, in a more menacing tone than before.

Sniper put his hands up defensively. “Whoa, whoa, we don’t mean any trouble,”

“I told you never to hunt out here,” she growled, glaring. “You’re deliberately disobeying me,”

“No, we weren’t hunting!” Scout tried to explain. “We saw an animal out here that was glowing at we were just—“

At the mention of this, the Administrator’s eyes went wide, and she began yelling, “You saw what?! Why didn’t you tell me right when you saw it!?”

The two were rather taken aback. “Um,” Sniper swallowed. “We didn’t think you’d want to know, or if it mattered,”

“It does matter!” The Administrator snapped, and she gestured towards the house. “Stop mucking around and get inside— now!”

Sniper and Scout exchanged glances, and they both headed towards the house in silence. Before opening the door, Scout turned around to see the Administrator staring into the woods, the gun hanging at her side.

“I know you’re out there, now— stay where you are,” he heard her mutter, seemingly to no one.

Chapter Text

Scout was bored out of his mind the next day. The only instructions he’d been given were to help Engineer set up some scanning device which had arrived in the mail early that morning. The contraption worked like a sentry, but it took photos and set off loud security bells, and while it was clearly a very high-end piece of technology, Engineer wouldn’t stop muttering about how he needed to make adjustments to it and how he could redesign it to work in a much better fashion than it did.

Scout knew he wasn’t the only one—the other mercenaries were also clearly disgruntled from having very little to do. Even more strange, no one had seen Pauling or the Administrator since early that morning at breakfast, and after that they’d seemingly vanished.

“Would you like any tea, Mr. Scout?” Virginia asked him sweetly, balancing a kettle against her hip. She’d taken to putting ‘Mr.’ before all of the mercenaries’ titles when speaking to them.

Scout shook his head, adjusting his position to press his back into the sofa. “Nah, no thanks,” he thought for a moment, reflecting on the events from the night before, and he asked, “Hey—do you know if there’s any, like…weird animals ‘round here?”

Virginia looked at him quizzically. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, like…” Scout searched for a word related to what he meant. “Like a bigfoot, or…a yeti, some crazy shit like that. Is there anything like that in those woods?”

Virginia suddenly fell quiet, and after a pause she replied, “Well…it depends,”

Scout’s eyes widened, and he leaned towards Virginia. “Depends? Depends on what?”

Virginia set the kettle down, wiping her hands on her apron while not making eye contact. “When I was a little girl, there were stories about creatures in the woods, of all kinds. There was a legend going on for years and years about a cult of witches that would use the bodies of cryptids for rituals and healing and such,” she cleared her throat, and shrugged. “The rumors stopped a few years back, but folks around here say that the temple of the witches is still standing, way back into the woods,”

Scout let this all sink in, and he nodded slowly. “Okay…well, thanks for tellin’ me, ma’am,”

“Of course,” Virginia chirped, picking up the kettle and heading towards the kitchen. “Got any other questions, just let me know!”

When she was out of the room, Scout couldn’t stop himself from squealing in glee, mostly to himself. Finally, something interesting! He remembered the Administrator’s threats from the night before, how upset she’d become when she’d found him and Sniper, but…it couldn’t hurt to look, and he wouldn’t be gone for very long, he reasoned.

The other mercenaries were off doing various activities throughout the house, and Scout could hear Heavy, Engineer, Demo, and Medic all playing Monopoly in the next room. They’d offered to let him join, but he’d declined since he never had the best luck with the game anyway.

He grabbed his bag, baseball bat, and a can of pepper spray just in case, and he began to head out before he felt Frankie trailing after him.

“Aw, bud, you wanna come too?” Scout knelt, stroking Frankie’s nose. After a moment of thought, he agreed, “’Kay, you can come. Just be careful!”

He hooked up Frankie to his harness and headed towards the woods, the sun shining down hot and bright on him.

Scout kept an eye out for any strange creatures, although all he saw were squirrels and birds. He scanned the floor of the woods for footprints of any kind, but instead of finding a footprint he found a strange clump of hair resting on a thorned berry branch.

“Whoa,” he picked off the hair, holding it up to the light. It was a shimmering ivory color, and it seemed to have traces of something glittery mixed into it. It felt very soft, like silk, and Scout remembered the white tail he and Sniper had seen disappearing into the bushes the night before. “Frankie, smell,” he gave Frankie a bit of the fur to examine, and Frankie sniffed it intently for what felt like ages before sneezing and tugging Scout towards a rabbit hole.

Scout turned and headed up a hill with Frankie, and that was when he found it: a clearing in the woods, with a stone floor and four pillars on each corner. In the center sat a worn, stone table, and when Scout got closer, he saw a dark copper stain on the surface.

“Wow…” he breathed, touching it as he realized Virginia had been right. This looked like something out of a horror film, and while he was fascinated, he began to feel rather uneasy…

Frankie started whining, getting Scout’s attention again, and he looked down. “Yeah, boy?”

A growling sound suddenly rumbled behind him, and Scout froze up, glancing over his shoulder. A wolf stood there, snarling at him while stalking closer, and three more wolves joined it from the surrounding trees, all slinking closer.

Scout scooped Frankie up, leaping on top of the table and holding the bat above his head, proclaiming, “Stay back! S-stay back, or you’re gonna get smacked!”

One wolf attempted to jump on the table, but Scout subdued it with a smack on the head from the bat. A second wolf leaped up and tried to tear the bat from Scout’s hands, but in a moment of extreme strength, Scout managed to pull back and rip it from the wolf’s jaws, only to see the deep teeth marks in the wood.

He dropped the bat, struggling to keep his grip on Frankie while also digging into his bag for the pepper spray, but one of the wolves chose this moment to strike. It sunk its teeth into Frankie’s leash, ripping him from Scout’s arms and startling a yelp from both.

“No!” Scout bounded from the table, kicking the wolf in the face and reaching out for the dachshund, only to have a wolf go for his throat. Scout fought back as hard as he could, pushing the wolf away by the throat while the other came in close behind him. Holy shit, I’m gonna die! Scout’s mind raced as he tried to think of something, anything to save himself.

But it all stopped abruptly. The wolves all paused, and then looked out into the woods, their snarls ceasing as they seemed to hear something. They then scurried off, leaving Scout and Frankie alone.

Scout tried to catch his breath, scooping up Frankie while shaking violently with fear. He looked around, trying to remember what way he came, but that was when he saw her.

She stood in between two of the pillars, her fur and silky hair glimmering white in the sun. Her gaze felt oddly human as she approached, her cloven hooves clinking against the stone tiles as her tail swung behind her.

Scout gripped Frankie tighter, sinking against the table behind him in a mixture of fear and awe as she got closer, her bright blue eyes staring directly into his.

She craned her slender neck down to examine Scout’s clothing silently, and in a bizarre moment, she opened her mouth and spoke.

“Why have you come here?” she inquired in an eerily calm and feminine voice.

Scout couldn’t speak. He couldn’t think, he couldn’t do anything—all he could do was scramble to his feet and bolt away, with Frankie still trembling in his arms.

Chapter Text

Miss Pauling was headed up the basement stairs when the door next to her banged open and Scout came staggering with his dog. He set the dog down and before Pauling come say anything, Scout grabbed her shoulders and started babbling on in what sounded like nonsense.

“There were these wolves and they were goin’ nuts and shit and then they stopped but then there was this thing and it was—!”

“Whoa, whoa!” Pauling put her hands up, taking a step back. “Slow down! What’s wrong!? What you are talking about?”

Scout swallowed, taking a deep, shuddery breath. “I saw something!” He panted finally, trying to articulate with his hands. “It…it talked, and it was…”

“What’s all the noise?” Engineer poked his head in the doorway, and Pauling realized that all of Scout’s yelling had attracted the attention of the others. “Why is Scout speakin’ in tongues?”

Scout shook his head. “No, no— listen, I saw that thing…that thing Sniper and I saw,”

Sniper entered the room, interest now piqued. “You did? What was it?”

“It…” Scout fell silent, his mind reeling as he tried to remember what the creature had looked like. His brow creased, and after a few seconds he replied, “…it was a unicorn,”

There was a pause. Everyone thought this over for a moment before Engineer suddenly scoffed. “No, no, it wasn’t. No way,”

“I’m serious!” Scout nearly screamed, wildly gesturing with his hands. “It talked, too! It had a lady’s voice and it was really tall and it was all shiny! It was freakin’ unicorn and—!”

“Why are you so scared of it, then?” Spy questioned, skeptical. “What, were you afraid it would cover you in magical barbecue sauce and eat you?” He snorted.

“No, I just— you would’ve freaked out too! It didn’t look like a horse, it was freaky as hell!” Scout spat in Spy’s direction, and Engineer intervened.

“Hey, hey— listen, it was probably nothing, right? Right, Pauling?”

Silence. Engineer glanced over at Miss Pauling. “Pauling?”

Miss Pauling was staring at Scout silently with a blank expression. “Scout,” she began finally. “Scout, when the Administrator gets back, we’re gonna have a talk,”

Scout’s heart dropped. “I…did I do somethin’ wrong!?”

“No, no. You didn’t— it’s just…” she shook her head, walking away. “Just wait in the living room for me,”

As she walked through the kitchen and back up the stairs, Demo approached Scout and put a hand on his shoulder.

“Hey, look: my mum saw a unicorn, too,” he assured.

Scout perked up. “Really? She did?”

“Oh, yeah!” Demo nodded. “When she was just a kid, a unicorn found her in the woods, and she said she tried to catch it with a rope,”

“Apologies, dear Tavish,” began Spy. “But isn’t your mother blind?”

Demo huffed. “Well, not then! She wasn’t always blind, y’know,”

“Scout!” Called Pauling from the living room, and Scout sighed, turning and walking out of the kitchen and to the living room.

The Administrator was sitting on the couch, her legs crossed and her makeup and hair done. She had a strange expression on her face as Scout approached.

“Hello, Jeremy,” she gestured to the armchair. “Have a seat,”

Scout swallowed, nodding. “Y-Yes, ma’am,”

Once he’d been seated, Helen extinguished her cigarette in the ashtray and folded her hands, making eye contact with Scout. “So…Pauling tells me you saw the unicorn,”

“Yeah, I did, I…” he trailed off, realizing what the Administrator had said. “Wait…the unicorn? Is it like…famous or somethin’?”

The Administrator shook her head. “No, no…but she is one of the last to exist in this part of the world. Tell me— did you touch her?”

“No, but,” Scout dug around in his pocket, pulling out the mass of hair and fur. “I got this…I think it’s her hair,”

“Give it here,” The Administrator held her hand out. “Let me see it,”

Scout hesitated but handed her the hair. The Administrator clutched it in her fingers, holding it up to the light and examining it. After a few seconds, she wrapped the hair around her finger, pressing it into the skin and waiting. A moment later, she uncoiled it and stared down at the finger, murmuring, “I knew it…”

Scout started to get uncomfortable. “Uh…ma’am?”

“You are dismissed,” she cleared her throat, but then reached forwards and anchored her hand on Scout’s knee. “But you must listen to me— this discovery of yours never leaves this house. You must never tell anyone outside of here about what you have seen. Do you understand?”

Scout glanced down at the hand on his knee, and he noticed that the finger the hair had been wrapped around was now youthful and smooth compared to the other gnarled, worn fingers on The Administrator’s hand. He tried not to look, swallowing. “Okay…you got it, ma’am,”

Chapter Text

Evening came again. Everyone stayed at the house for dinner this time, where Virginia served chicken and dumplings. Scout tried to forget the unicorn, but no matter how hard he tried he just couldn’t.

This eventually led to him lying near the stereo in the living room while listening to some music, where he sketched out what the unicorn had looked like on a piece of paper. Indeed, the more he drew her, the more he realized that she didn’t look like a horse at all, and instead looked more like a deer of some kind. It bothered him now that unicorns were often pictured as horned horses, and he wanted to tell his ma all about it but he knew the Administrator would kill him if he did.

“Hey,” a voice greeted, and Scout looked up. It was Sniper. “Is my rifle where I left it?”

“Uh,” Scout thought about it. “Yeah, it was in the room last I saw. Why?”

“‘Cause, y’know, we have visitors comin’,” he shrugged. “Just thought I’d have a weapon close by just in case things went bad,”

Scout stared at him blankly. “Visitors? What visitors?”

“Oh…did Pauling not tell you?”

“Tell me what?”

“We’re gonna be working with some local mercenaries, from here,” Sniper shrugged. “I don’t think they’re staying with us but Pauling said we’re gonna meet them tomorrow,”

Scout blinked, sitting up. “What!? What do you— we don’t need help! We got this, what do we need other mercs for!?”

“Look, mate, maybe it’s gonna be fine,” He sighed, although he clearly wasn’t happy with the decision either. “You never know,”

Scout huffed, crossing his arms. “Well…they’d better be cool, at least,”

As Sniper left the room, Scout leaned back over his sketch pad and pulled it closer to him. He stared at the unicorn for a moment, before mumbling, “Damn…who are you?”

The next day, Scout went out to the backyard and headed towards the surrounding woods. This time, he didn’t go deep into the woods and instead left an apple on a tree stump. He backed away from it, kneeling back in the grass and waiting silently. Nothing happened, and he began to wonder if unicorns enjoyed eating apples or if there was something else they liked to eat…

Just then, he heard some footsteps in the grass behind him, and he turned around. To his surprise, it wasn’t any of his teammates or anyone else he would have expected to see, but instead a girl about his age.

She was very small but lean, and she had long hair tied in a ponytail down her back. Her face was freckled and there was a small scar above her left eyebrow. She stopped just a few feet in front of Scout, and she greeted, “Hey!”

“Hi?” He rose up, a little confused but still going to greet her. “Who are you?”

“My name’s Molly,” she replied, shaking his hand. “And I’m your new teammate!”

Scout paused, remembering the new mercenaries they were supposed to be meeting. “Oh! You one of the new mercs?”

“Yep!” She answered proudly, grinning at him. Her teeth had a noticeable gap. “You’re the Scout, right?”

“Sure am!” He replied, flashing a grin right back. “The one and only!”

Molly clapped her hands together. “Great! Well, I’ve been assigned to you, and—“

“Wait, wait,” Scout cut her off, suddenly confused. “Assigned? Assigned for what?”

“Well…the mission,” she shrugged. “I’m supposed to help you,”

Scout blinked and then shook his head. “Kid, look, I don’t need help—“

Molly scoffed. “That doesn’t matter, bud! I’m getting paid to help you out during this unicorn mission,”

Scout let what she said sink in for a moment, and then he looked up. “Did you say…unicorn mission?”

Molly sighed, rolling her eyes. “Wow, you really are clueless, huh? Your Administrator didn’t tell you about this?”

“She didn’t tell us shit, okay?” Scout was just irritated, now. “What were you told?”

“I was told we had a to keep a unicorn away from a creepy cult!” Molly explained. “And my friends and I were sent to help you guys!”

Scout turned and looked towards the woods, where he’d left the apple. It was gone, now, no longer sitting on the stump.

“I mean…” Scout took a breath, looking back at Molly. “Do you fight?”

Molly nodded vigorously. “You bet I do! C’mon,” she took Scout’s hand again, leading him towards the house. “Let’s have drinks with everyone else!”

Scout looked one last time at the forest, thinking about what he’d just learned.