Title: Ghosts of Hallowe'en Past.

Author: Canonisation

Part: 1/1

Rating: 12

Synopsis: Oliver's working late on Hallowe'en when he gets an unexpected visitor...

Sorry - I know this is a bit late for Hallowe'en, but I've never been good at writing to a deadline :)

As ever, thanks to Team Frenny for inspiring me!

1

Oliver Valentine flipped the folder shut and added it to the immense pile already sitting on the desk. He sat back in his chair and sighed heavily, rubbing his aching eyes. Jac Naylor, his mentor, had once again set him a pointless, but extremely time intensive task to do. He was finally finished, but it had taken him long past the point at which his shift should have ended. Jac, of course, had not stuck around to see it completed and had left to go do whatever she did when she wasn't at work - running kittens over on her bike, torturing puppies or something similar, Oliver reckoned.

He had used her desk and office to finish the work - she'd be annoyed that he'd used it, but he didn't want to sit out in Darwin in full view of everyone, further reinforcing the view that he was Jac's lackey and would meekly do everything she told him to, no matter how lengthy or pointless. Of course, he himself had to grudgingly admit that he totally was her lackey, but he didn't want everyone else to think that too.

Darwin was pretty empty now anyway - the night staff were on, and the ward itself was fairly empty of patients, for a change. This was good - it meant he could slip out fairly unseen, so people wouldn't know quite how late he'd been here. He glanced at his watch and frowned. It was Hallowe'en tonight, and even though he didn't have any concrete plans, he'd still been planning to head out somewhere. Being here this late was putting a serious crimp in his plans, vague as they were. Luckily he wasn't really the dressing up type - at least, not anymore.

As Oliver was tidying up the desk, he thought he heard someone calling his name. He looked up, but the door was still closed and there was no-one but him in the room. He frowned and shook his head - he was so tired he was starting to hear things. Then it came again - his name, called out. The voice was one that sounded familiar, but he couldn't quite place it. He walked over to the door, opened it, and peered out into the corridor. It was empty.

"Oliver!" Oliver's head whipped around as he heard his name again, clearer this time. It was a woman's voice, but he still couldn't figure out who it was. He also couldn't tell what direction the voice was coming from.

"Who's there?" he called out, but no-one answered. He gave a annoyed grunt and walked down the corridor to the nurse's station.

Greg Douglas was there, feet up on the desk, chatting in a flirty manner with one of the nurses. He looked up as Oliver approached, and frowned. "What are you still doing here, Valentine? Naylor cracking the whip as usual?"

"No," said Oliver crossly. "I just...had some stuff I needed to finish..."

"Stuff that the Ice Queen made you do, right?" At Oliver's glower, Greg grinned. "Knew it. She's keeping you in line, right? Though frankly, I bet you really like it. You seem like the sort of guy who gets off on being dominated."

Oliver opened his mouth to protest, then decided it would be pointless. "Look," he said levelly. "Did anyone here call for me...or did you hear anyone calling my name?"

Greg and the nurse shared a glance and both shrugged. "I didn't hear anything, and no-one here called you - we didn't even know you were still here."

Oliver looked around and threw his hands up. "Fine. Someone's obviously decided to have a bit of Hallowe'en fun at my expense, so just...pretend you know nothing and I'll get out of your hair."

Greg grinned. "Honestly, Valentine, we're innocent. Obviously, the ginger ninja's got you hallucinating now. I'd ask what you're hallucinating, but I'm not sure I want a glimpse into that mind of yours. Could be scary."

Oliver gave a petulant glare at Greg and stormed back to Jac's office, the Irishman's laughter ringing in his ears. He walked in and slammed the door behind him, rubbing his eyes wearily. Maybe he was just tired and imagining things. He really needed to get out of here.

"Hello, Oliver."

Oliver looked up and actually gasped in shock, not believing what he saw in front of him. He tried to speak, but his mouth was suddenly dry and all he could do was move his lips uselessly, making incoherent sounds. He broke out in a cold sweat as he tried to process what he was seeing standing in the office.

It was his late sister Penny, standing in front of Jac's desk, her arms folded, looking almost exactly as she had the last time they had spoken - right before her death. She was dressed in the scrubs she'd been wearing that day. However, she was much paler than he remembered, and her eyes were jet black with no white visible.

"Surprised to see me?" said Penny with a small smile.

Oliver finally managed to croak out a weak protest. "But you...you're..."

"Dead? Well done, Oliver - good to see you have a little medical knowledge, at least."

"What...what are you doing here?" mumbled Oliver. Beads of sweat dripped down his forehead, but he could not find the energy to move his arms to wipe them away. He was frozen in fear.

"I gave you a task to do," said Penny calmly. "Just a small thing, really. And you couldn't even carry out your poor sister's final request before departing this mortal coil. That wasn't very nice - especially after all the work I've done for you."

"I...I tried," protested Oliver weakly. This was impossible, surely? There were no such things as ghosts, right? He'd never believed in them before.

"Did you?" Penny raised an eyebrow. "Because it sort of seems like you're still working as a doctor. Which is odd, because - correct me if I'm wrong - you aren't actually qualified. So...that would mean you're practising medicine illegally?"

"I told Malick! I told Hanssen! They persuaded me to keep working...I tried to leave, but..." He realised he was babbling and took a deep breath. "It's...it's not my fault!"

"It never is," said Penny bitterly. "Did they force you to keep working? Is there some form of coercion going on here? Are they actively preventing you from leaving?"

"No, but..." Oliver paused. "It's complicated...I mean, I want to...to...preserve your memory...and I need to be a doctor to..."

Penny cocked her head to one side and fixed him with a sceptical look. "Oh, you're doing it for me? How sweet! You're violating most medical laws and ethics under the sun and it's somehow benefiting me? Hmmm...no, I don't see how my memory is being helped by this."

Oliver could feel his heart racing at an extremely unhealthy rate. He had no idea how to react to this, no idea what to do. All he could do was whimper a weak: "What do you want me to do?"

Penny looked at him, a sad expression on her face. "All I've wanted you to do was tell the truth. And not in a private, contained way where you can weasel your way out of it. In a public way, where everyone knows what you did, and where you can finally take some responsibility for your actions."

"I...I can't..."

"You mean you won't."

"It's just...cruel! Everyone will hate me...and Mum and Dad will..." Oliver managed to wipe the sweat from his face. "You're being unfair."

"I'm being unfair?" Penny's raised voice to Oliver to shrink back involuntarily. "Oliver...I've never wished you harm...I've never wanted to do something just to hurt you. You did a terrible thing, and I just want you to own up to it. You can't live a lie forever."

"And if I...I don't?" whispered Oliver.

Penny gave a half-smile. "Well...who's to say I won't be back at some point to check up on you?"

Oliver mustered all the courage he could and tried to stand up straight. "I...I don't believe you," he said weakly. "I don't think you're even real. I've just been working too hard...and...I'm just seeing things."

"I see," said Penny thoughtfully. "So you think I'm just the manifestation of your guilty conscience?"

"I don't have anything to be guilty for," protested Oliver unconvincingly. "I'm sorry for what I did...and...I've owned up...to some people at least. The people that matter..." He didn't quite believe all of that himself, but he needed to wrest control of this situation somehow.

"Oh, I disagree," said Penny firmly. "I think you have plenty of things to be guilty for...and still quite a lot of people to tell."

"You're just a figment of my imagination!" hissed Oliver. "You can't do anything to me!"

Penny did a slight double-take at that and gave a small smile. She slowly walked over to Oliver - who found once more that he couldn't move out of fear - and gently grasped his hands in hers. They were ice-cold, but definitely solid. "Can't I?" she whispered, her smile now dripping with menace.

Oliver's eye went wide and with a cry of fear, he suddenly found that he could move quite quickly if he put his mind to it. He burst out of the office and ran down the corridor in a panic, not even noticing that there was someone in his path. He violently collided with them and they both went sprawling to the floor.

"I'm sorry!" Oliver staggered roughly to his feet. "I didn't see you there..."

"What's wrong?" It was Chantelle Lane - dressed in a skimpy witch's outfit, complete with pointy hat. "Why were you running down the corridor like that? Was it Ms. Naylor? I know she seems scary sometimes, but I bet she's really nice when you get to know her..."

Oliver glanced nervously back towards Jac's office. "I saw a ghost," he said quickly, before he could stop himself.

Chantelle picked herself up and brushed down her clothes. "Well, it is Hallowe'en," she said brightly. "I mean, I passed about ten on my way up here."

"A real one!" said Oliver, again before he could stop himself. He mentally cursed himself, but it wasn't easy to remain calm - his pulse was pounding and he was still sweating.

Chantelle looked at him for a moment, then her eyes went wide. "Really?" she squeaked excitedly. "I've never seen a real one before. I mean, I think I've heard them, but I've never been able to find them afterwards!"

Oliver stared at her, mouth agape in surprise. "Aren't you...scared or anything?"

"Oh no!" said Chantelle. "I mean, why would a ghost want to hurt me or anything? It's not like I've done anything to them, is it? And I bet you hadn't done anything to that ghost either, right?"

After an awkward pause, Oliver tried to smile and didn't quite succeed. "No...of course not..."

"See? Nothing to worry about! Now, was it anyone you recognised?"

"No," lied Oliver.

Chantelle thought about this for a moment. "I wonder if anyone died here?"

"This is a hospital," pointed out Oliver. "Lots of people have died here."

"No, silly!" Chantelle resumed looking thoughtful. "I mean, with unfinished business or anything..."

"Probably still a lot of people."

"Yeah..." Chantelle beamed. "I know - let's go ask it!"

"What?" Oliver's stomach lurched. "I don't think that's a..."

"It'll be fine," said Chantelle dismissively. "Was it Ms. Naylor's office?"

"Yes, but..."

At that, Chantelle turned and strode down the corridor, walking into Jac's office with seemingly no regard for her own safety. Oliver stood, frozen in place. He really didn't want to see...whatever had been in Jac's office again, but at the same time, he didn't want anything to happen to Chantelle. As he was trying to summon up the courage to follow her, she popped her head out of the office door. "There's no-one here!" she said brightly. "It's safe!"

Oliver took a deep breath and walked over to the office, peeking inside gingerly. The office was indeed empty - there was no sign of Penny. Maybe it had been a figment of his imagination, brought on by stress and fatigue. On the other hand, he remembered the feel of Penny's cold hands against his. That hadn't been imaginary, had it?

"Oh well." Chantelle sounded disappointed. "Maybe it'll come back at some point. It's okay - you shouldn't be scared. I think ghosts only want to harm people who have harmed them, and you wouldn't have done anything like that, would you?"

"No..." lied Oliver again. He decided to quickly change the subject. "You don't seem particularly shocked about me seeing a ghost."

"It's nothing out of the ordinary for me!" Chantelle beamed again. "I had an aunt who was totally psychic, and she used to see them all the time - and apparently there've been witches and stuff in our family in the past. I used to hope I'd get powers too, but it hasn't happened yet. Mind you, I'm still young, so there's plenty of time yet..."

"Oh." Oliver didn't really know what to say to all that, so he decided to change the subject once more. "So, what's with the outfit?"

Chantelle struck a pose. "Since it's Hallowe'en, I thought I'd dress up. So, I'm a sexy witch! Mainly because of the hat, to be honest. I was thinking about sexy vampire, but the teeth hurt. Then I thought about sexy zombie, but you can't really have a sexy zombie, can you?"

"I can't say I've ever thought about it. Why didn't you go as a sexy nurse? You already have the outfit..."

"Yeah, but it's Hallowe'en! You're supposed to dress up, and I'm a sexy nurse every other day of the year." At that, Chantelle giggled a bit. "Actually, that's sort of why I'm up here."

"Oh?"

"Well, I'm going to this party, you see...and they said I could bring someone." Chantelle paused nervously. "And I know you said that it would be a bad idea for a doctor and nurse to date, but this totally wouldn't be a date. I just know you've been working hard, and...you could just use a break, I think."

Oliver glanced nervously back inside the office. Still no sign of a ghostly sister anywhere. "Yes," he said quickly. "Yes, I think that would be a good idea." Anything to get him out of the hospital at this moment.

Chantelle clapped her hands together in glee. "Yay! Come on, then - we're going to have a great time, I just know it!"

As Chantelle lead him out, Oliver gave the place a final glance. Maybe it had been a hallucination. Maybe it had been real. Maybe he would never know. One thing he did know, though, was that it was going to be pretty unsettling working here from now on.

2

A short time later, across town, Frieda Petrenko had just finished her own shift and had arrived back at her flat. Normally she'd have been keen to go out on Hallowe'en, but tonight she'd planned for a quiet night in. Besides, she was getting incredibly annoyed with people complimenting her on her 'scary' makeup, with her having to explain that this was how she looked all the time.

The thought of glamming herself up conventionally and telling people that that was her costume appealed to her on an ironic basis, but then she'd realised she'd actually have to go through the whole day like that, so she quickly abandoned that idea.

As she closed her door, she heard a noise coming from her bedroom. It sounded like there was someone else in the flat. "Hello?" she called loudly. "I'm not in mood for games, so if you are here, show yourself."

After a brief pause, the door to her bedroom swung open and a pale figure strode out. It was Penny Valentine, clad in a long, flowing black robe.

"Penny!" gasped Frieda. "What...how...you're here!" She swallowed nervously. "You came back..."

Penny nodded and a small smile came over her ghostly face. "I came back, Frieda. I came back for you."

"Oh, Penny..." breathed Frieda. "So...what do we do now?"

"We do what we should have done a long, long time ago." Penny opened her robe and let it fall to ground, revealing a set of extremely revealing bra and panties. "Ravish me, Frieda..."

Frieda stared at Penny for a few moments in silence, then burst out laughing.

Penny frowned. "What? Why are you laughing?"

"Ravish me?" Frieda tried to contain herself. "Is that your idea of being sexy?"

"I thought it sounded pretty sexy..." pouted Penny. "Hey, this was your idea, I'll remind you..."

Frieda shrugged. "Well, was your idea to pretend to be ghost tonight, so I thought some sexy role-playing would be fun. Now, I know is not really your forte..."

"You're one to talk. What was that gasp? I've seen better acting in school plays..."

Frieda shrugged. "I can't argue with that." She smiled. "You do look amazing, by the way..."

Penny smiled. "Thank you...I hope you didn't mind me borrowing some of your make-up. I needed to look as pale as possible for Oliver."

Frieda hung her coat up. "Is fine. So, how did it go with brother?"

Penny sighed. "Well, I admit it was pretty satisfying to scare the hell out of him - and he did look pretty terrified - but I don't think he's any closer to confessing. I figured this would do it...you know - being so rattled by my 'death' that he'd finally do the right thing and confess...but he isn't any closer to doing anything about it."

"I heard he told Hanssen and Malick, but they're not saying anything..."

"How do you know that?" asked Penny with a frown.

Frieda grinned. "Walls have ears, Valentine. Anyway, is that why you did ghost thing tonight? To give him a little push?"

"I suppose..." Penny looked glum. "Also, because I'm childish, and I wanted to give him a fright - which was pretty easy. All I had to do was put on some white make-up, wait until he wasn't looking before slipping into and out of the room, and hold my hands in a fridge for a bit so they'd be nice and cold - just so I could make sure he'd be nice and spooked. That wasn't very nice of me, was it?"

"Wasn't very of him to ruin your life, steal credit, and practise medicine illegally, was it?" Frieda shook her head. "Trust me, you are well within rights to spook him a little."

"So Hanssen and Malick both know? Wonder why they haven't done anything?" Penny shook her head. "Never mind..."

"You could always report him yourself," suggested Frieda.

"I wanted him to do it himself...finally take some responsibility, but...maybe that won't happen. Maybe I will do it one day, maybe I won't..." Penny gave a small smile at Frieda. "I'll admit, I quite like the world at large thinking me dead - apart from a few select people, of course. It's given me a new lease of life, ironically enough, free from the burdens of my past."

Frieda walked over to her and slipped her arms around Penny's neck. "There are some areas of your past I'm glad you've held onto..."

Penny stroked Frieda's face gently and kissed her lightly on the tip of her nose. "I could never walk away from someone like you..."

"You're only human," said Frieda softly, gazing into Penny's eyes with a small smile.

"Hold on a sec," said Penny, slipping the black contact lenses out of her eyes. "Ah...thank God for that. These things hurt, you know?" She slipped her arms around Frieda's waist and pulled her closer. "Now, where were we?"

Frieda stroked the back of Penny's head gently. "Have I already told you that you look incredible at the moment?"

"You did...but feel free to say it again..."

"You look beautiful," said Frieda sincerely. "In fact, you are most beautiful person I've ever seen."

Penny gently pressed her forehead to Frieda's. "You're in a flattering mood tonight. Which is okay, because I am too. You're wonderful, Frieda Petrenko. Smart, beautiful, supportive - I couldn't have managed the last year without you."

"Least I could do for woman I love," whispered Frieda.

"Love you too." Penny pulled back slightly and looked into Frieda's eyes. "You know, I'm standing here in my underwear...it occurs to me that this is slightly unfair, and that you're wearing far too much."

Frieda quirked an eyebrow. "Got an idea to take care of that, have you?"

"I just might," said Penny seductively. She and Frieda shared a smile, then fell into a passionate embrace, all other cares in the world forgotten for the moment. Oliver, the hospital, any other problems - they could wait. All they needed right now...was each other.

The End (For Now...)