In Need of Assistance? (TF2)

Sixty-Four: The Catalyst Before Smissmas

        Engie and I sit in anxiety. Neither of us wants to go out. Neither of us wants to leave. We both lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling, not knowing how to do anything. The heat from his crock pot of emotions radiates to where I can feel it, but he bubbles silently. The lid could pop off at any moment. Soft ticks from the clock remind us it's only a matter of time. We just have to wait. Speeding it up to get it over with makes it so, so much worse.

We just need to wait.

He's so hard to read. I know why Engie's mad, but I don't know which part about it makes him mad. All of it makes me mad; strangling Spy has never felt more justified. I slowly face him. He places his hands on his stomach, fingers intertwined. "Engie," I whisper. "What are you going to do?"

"It's Scout," he calmly says back, monotone and devoid of his sweet tone. "Not much you and I can do." He gets up and sits on the edge of his bed. "Not much sense in fussin' over what you can't control."

"But--"

"Not much sense," he starts, sighing with frustration, "in fussin' what you can't control. I know you wanna stop it and make everyone stay happy and such, but you gotta remember that's not your job anymore." He's right. "You're just Mona now. And besides, it's Scout. You can do just about anything on God's green Earth, but you can't control Scout. With that said, you're likely also to hold me off in a fight." He rises and grabs his hardhat from his desk, adjusting it to fit his head. "To make up for what I know I'm gonna do later today, I'll make breakfast."

"Engie, is it bad that I didn't tell him?" I question. I don't know what I want to hear from him.

"Spy's good at deception, and you've got a good heart. I wouldn't beat myself up over it too much if it were me." He finally looks at me and holds out his hand. "Gotta go get Salvador up and talk about finding ya someplace to stay."

"What do you mean?"

"I think it would be in everyone's best interest if you didn't stay with Miss Pauling anymore." He reinforces his hand. "We'll get ya a new home. There're some new development plots we can look at." I take his hand, and he helps me up from his bed. I still wear his sweatshirt, and I don't think I'm taking it off for the sake of comfort. "Go on ahead and check on Salvador. I need to get washed up real quick."

"Okay," I quietly agree. I can't see his eyes, I don't know what he's feeling. I don't know what he's planning on doing. When I leave, Salvador's up. Jeans and a hoodie from Iremborough.

"What's up?" He questions. "You don't look too thrilled."

"Ah, well, shit hit the fan," I scoff. "Did you brush your teeth?"

"Yeah."

I enter the bathroom and brush my own teeth, staring at myself in the mirror. I went about it all wrong. I shouldn't have listened to Spy. No... I shouldn't have trusted Witch. Magic laundering. I should've seen through their ruse as soon as I pointed out it was literally just the plot of A Christmas Carol. It's already established that I'm stupid, so I shouldn't put too much stock into it. It's their fault they dragged us to Spy's house in the night's dead. It's their fault they chose Scout for Smissmas Past. Stupid. Stupid.

Everyone involved: Stupid. Alpha knew, too. How long has she known? It was just a gathering of secret holders. All but Engie knew, and I don't know if he's mad at me because of it. It wasn't my secret to tell, but it's still unclear if he's mad at me. He should be. I wash my face while I'm at it. Anything to stall going out. Heavy opens the other door, and he yawns as he positions himself in front of his mirror. I take Salvador with me, and we walk into the kitchen. Engie and Medic both use the stove on their own sides as they get different things accomplished. Sniper uses the coffee maker. Alpha's sat at the table with her head on the wooden top. I sigh and sit down next to her with Salvador on my other side, and I pick up Medic's newspaper to look in the ad listings.