Helen smiled sadistically as she stared at the latest financial report regarding the televising of Fort Bumfuck. It had now been a few years since the pony had appeared, and sales and ratings were beginning to drop off. She had anticipated this. As cute as Fluttershy was, she was only that: cute. After a long enough time, even cute lost its sale value if there wasn't variety. And that had been one thing lacking in the footage of Fort Bumfuck. The mercs would go through their day, fooling around with their weapons, visiting the firing range to practice, or stuffing their faces, and every so often Fluttershy would join them and do something adorable that made them melt. Even that didn't provide an infinite source of funds when nothing changed.

Fluttershy hadn't even fussed when they changed from baby food to solids for her. She was just too accommodating a child for her own good, or more specifically, the show's good. Which, as it turned out, was her own good.

Helen was actually glad of the letter Ms. Pauling had left on her desk. She didn't have what it took to do what needed to be done for the good of the company. Helen knew that the moment she saw the Fluttershy plushie in Ms. Pauling's bag. She wouldn't be able to bring herself to do what was necessary. She'd be too concerned for the filly's well being. That was fine for the audience to be, but not the director. Only Helen could do what was needed to truly turn that small saccharine sapient into smooth, sibilant simoleons.

Her preparations were already well under way. While RED team had been playing babysitter, she had been continuously sending BLU team against Grey Mann's last remaining strongholds. Ever since his powerbase and hold on Mann Co had been broken, she had been determined to break his will completely, and force him into a position where he would negotiate on her terms. Smart as he was, he underestimated the value of dumb muscle...but she would never underestimate the value of intelligence.

Negotiations were already under way via one of her many puppets. So she could freely reassign BLU team now to another mission. She still found it hard to believe that the two teams so readily believed the story that those who had originally contracted their services - Red Mann and Blue Mann - were somehow alive again. It had been too easy to restore status quo where all power was in her hands. She almost pitied them.

However, with BLU team on the move, she had no time for such things. The real emotion on the faces of RED team had made huge sums of money. Well, anguish was an emotion, too. Smiling grimly, she attached the cords to her control panel that would allow her to broadcast through every RED receiver...and spoke.

Scout smiled as he stepped off his moped at the rendezvous point. He could already see that the one he was meeting was already there. "Hey, Ms. Pauling!" he called out happily.

The woman in question smiled as he approached. "Hey Scout. I have to say, I was surprised at your request. Didn't seem like the sort of thing you would think of."

Scout shrugged. "I guess I've changed. I suppose we all have." He glanced away. "Heard through the grapevine. Is it true you...quit?"

Ms. Pauling nodded. "Yes. You say you've all changed? Well Helen has, too. She's gotten worse. I...can't be a part of her plans anymore. But if I act against her, I know she won't hesitate to eliminate me. And I'm not like the rest of you. I can't fight against her. So...all I can do is remove myself. At least then she has to work around my absence, which will slow her down a little."

Scout sighed. "We're all gonna miss you, ya know?"

She smiled. "I know. I guess in my own way, I'll miss all of you, too." She held out the suitcase she had been holding in one hand. "Here's what you requested. I prepared it myself."

Grinning widely, Scout accepted the briefcase. "Thanks, Ms. Pauling! This is gonna be so great! Whoops!" He managed to catch it as it fell from his fingers before it hit the ground.

Ms. Pauling chuckled. "Don't worry, Scout. That case has some of Engineer's best shock absorbancy designs built in. You could beat someone to death with that suitcase and the contents wouldn't shift so much as a nanometer."

Scout chuckled. "Good thinking, Ms. Pauling." He set the suitcase on the moped. "See you around, maybe?" he called out to her as he gunned the engine back towards the fortress.

Ms. Pauling smiled as he drove off, but then sighed sadly. "I'll see you," she whispered, before turning to leave.

Scout happily drove back the fortress before heading to the Intelligence room. He wanted this to be a surprise, and no one would even think twice about an intelligence suitcase in the Intelligence room. Laying it carefully on the table, he then slipped back out. Now that that was prepared, it was time to find the subject of his attention.

However, it seemed that subject would find him, as the revving of wheels and a metallic "Arf!" informed him he was in for a visitor.

"Big Brother!" Fluttershy shouted happily as she leaped from her scooter, using the momentum to launch herself into Scout's arms. "I missed you! Where'd you go?"

Scout chuckled as he hugged her. "Had something to go do. An old friend to meet up with."

Fluttershy sniffed the air. "Do I get to meet her?"

Scout blinked, stunned anew at the effectiveness of Fluttershy's nose. "Probably not. She's going away for a while."

"Aww!" Fluttershy pouted, scrunching up her face.

Scout laughed, booping her on the nose. "You're just too cute, you know that?" Fluttershy giggled.

It was at that point Scout - and the rest of RED team - heard something that made their blood run cold. The voice of the announcer filled their ears from their comms.

"BLU team is invading. Protect the Pegasus."

Author's Notes:

Pretty sure I'm playing a little loose with the continuity of TF2 with what I've set up in this chapter, but I hope any die hard fans of the series can forgive some minor edits for the sake of a more enjoyably compelling story.