disclaimer: I don't own anything, names were added for identifications post/pre-war

warnings: mispellings, typos, grammar mistakes, AU life pre/post-war , blood, gore, probably mispelled cannon names, implied accent that was not typed, OC children for family representatives who will only appear on certain points of the story and I'll add more later on

XXOXXOXXX

The spy staggered with as he could observe: several broken ribs, multiple bruises and cuts, a gunshot wound on his left leg and a broken left hand to boot. He had barely escaped Gray mann and his league of machinery with only the help of his invis watch that was barely clinging to his left wrist. Gray mann had made sure and ordered a medibot to take any assault type weaponry and that sad excuse of a robot didn't even bother with his invis watch but had retrieved his dead ringer instead. Catching his breath and leaning on a metal wall to somewhat balance himself, the Spy spared a quick glance to the manor to which he was previously imprisoned. He didn't feel any guilt of leaving his team behind and it was part of his job tehnically; he was aloof and silent as he took out the other team or at least that was what he wanted to believe. Blast his last shred of humanity in him for building a tiny foundation of camaraderie in his ice cold heart which was now leaving a pang of guilt for abandoning his team and a certain interest for the sake of self-preservation. He recalled grimly how he had woke up strapped in some sort of operating table that put medic's own devices to shame. He was trapped with the Medic and Sniper of his team as much as it was ironic, he could tell Gray mann most probably categorized his captured mercenaries by their action on their team.

As he could recall, the spy glanced around the pristine white room and fully accepted the fact it was just truly the three of them in the support faction strapped or rather restrained in the room. It was dead silent save for his teammate's breathing as they were still unconscious and well, very much alive. Out of instinct, the Spy quickly formulated ways to escape while trying out the restaints limits. He didn't bother checking for his weapons, surely anyone who abducts dangerous mercenaries are well aware to disarm them when fully restraint. Funny how he still had his invis watch that he only noticed when he checked the time which was as much as he could turn and see, it was already 1:30am or so. The spy hopefully thought that at least Gray mann would be human enough to either sleep or busy himself like their engineer who often locked himself in solitude whenever the engineer was busy designing new stuff on his sentries. Now was the best time to escape and he did not plan on staying any longer to observe the trend when he looked like he would be sliced open for experimentation soon. The spy however didn't expect 'soon' to arrive a few minutes after constantly squirming; the white doors slide open to reveal the very essence of his hatred at the moment. Gray mann stood with his head high and a maniacal grin perched on his lips.

"Now is not the time to dwell on it" He told himself as he close his eyes and tried to breath deeply, the spy pushed the memory out of his mind. He needed to focus and get away further with Gray mann on his tail even though he was already out of Gray territory. It wasn't once or twice did he thought of going back to his team due to what he deemed as his last shred of humanity but logically thinking of the situation it was impossible to even return to Gray manor when he was injured like this and much less help his teammates escape. He wasn't even sure if the other 6 mercenaries where alive considering he only saw the Medic and Sniper. The Spy felt a dipper stab of guilt when he recalled how Mundy was the first to be subjected in whatever Gray had planned for them. He didn't and wouldn't want to know what Gray mann did to his Sniper, surely it was something he would dare fathom even on his enemies.

The spy slid down the wall, his legs couldn't bare his weight along with the bloodloss, injuries and exhaustion he was currently enduring. He would let out a sarcastic recognition with how long he had manage with a gunshot wound on his left thigh if it wasn't for the fact the potential of a permanent death would happen at any moment for him. 'Was it the end?' The spy thought bitterly with his vision swimming in between reality and darkness. Death shouldn't feel far from respawning but at least with death he'd only feel it once and be done with it. The spy was no pessimist, he was just being logical as much as he loath how he only managed to get away this far. He mustered whatever strength he had left to lift his gaze towards the sky to stare at the vast sea of stars along with the full moon.

However it wasn't the sky that greeted his gaze.

It was that damn wizard.

The spy was far too tired to contemplate on why was the master of lore was staring back at him from his 45 degree angled gaze and why in the heaven's name would this being be near Gray manor. He noticed how the annoying wizard was moving his mouth and muttering things he didn't understand or care for the moment. The spy simply shut his eyes in somewhat of an acceptance of his end; badly injured with a crazy wizard infront of him already told his odds for survival. Death however felt strangely far better than expected and it was certainly unlike respawning; He felt as if he was floating in mid air and his injuries slowly disappearing along with the sensation of pain. A burst of warm and cozy feeling swam through out his being almost in a comforting manner like a buzz from an ubercharge. The spy didn't plan on leaving the warm sensation till he fell unceremoniously on the grassy ground by the wall he once leaned for support earlier. The spy's eyes opened in shock and he let out a short groan as he started rubbing his lower back that cushioned his fall with his left hand.

The spy froze from his back soothing.

"how in the world..."

"I, Merasmus, may be the master of destruction and chaos but a weak healing magic certainly wouldn't be too hard for me" The wizard spat as he dust off imaginary dust on his brown cloak as a floating book behind him snickered. The spy tried to hide his shock as he was a master of hiding emotions but anyone would be utterly surprised to see a wizard who would endless cause havoc in hallow's eve to be healing a mercenary. Muttering a 'Thank you' to the wizard the spy slowly stood up inspecting his clothing and his being; He was fully healed minus the fact his pinstripe suit was now tattered to bits. "Prey tell why are you assisting me wizard? surely you have other beings to bother with your time." Merasmus cocked his head towards Gray manor before speaking in his less booming voice "I require your assistance, as much as I prefer to just destroy everything to shreds... I lack the power to do so at the moment" The Spy's expression turned into confusion at the wizard's statement as he look through his pockets in hopes of having a quick smoke which ultimately failed. "So what exactly does a master of lore gain from healing a Spy and freeing 8 mercenaries? I doubt you care if Gray mann takes over this damn earth"

The Spy found the wizard fidgeting, playing with thumbs in a childish manner after he spoke and from what he could tell the wizard wasn't planning on divulging the sensitive information anytime soon. Technically, the Spy was the one who would gain from cooperation the wizard was offering which he didn't mind so he simply changed the subject. "Why couldn't you just mow down that god forsaken factory?" The wizard could heal a man on the brink of death so charging at the manor should be relatively an easy task as well. "As much as I want too, I would still need the power from 5 full moons or halloween to come up to harnest the power I need" Merasmus spoke with a tinge of embarassment. The Spy would laugh mockingly if it weren't for the wizard healing him but the floating book behind the wizard did the deed for him before being swatted by the wizard's wand. With Merasmus and the book which the spy didn't bother knowing the name of, started arguing which was amusing and nearly comparable to 2 brats fighting over a tattered toy.

"Ahem! gentlemen, would both of you knock it off before we are discovered" The spy hissed as he pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance; it was amusing for the first 2 minutes but it left nothing more than an ire of annoyance. Surprisingly, both of the participants of the mini argument stopped and finally gave their stare at the third member of the party. with the attention of both the book and the wizard, the Spy gracefully started marching away from the manor as he beckoned the two to follow in his steps. He considered just cloaking away since he hasn't accepted the terms of cooperation but he could tell the wizard was going to permenantly bother him till he agreed. "Look here wizard, I don't mind having your assistance but with your status of being power drained and myself missing my tools for work would simply leave us as walking targets. We might as well leave for now." The look the wizard gave honestly spoke that he didn't want to leave but he knows they should. The spy tried to stop himself from snorting; the wizard was surely easy to manipulate with how he bought his expressions with such honestly.

"Oui, I could work with this" The spy muttered which made the wizard stare at him with a slightly confused look before the wizard started following after the spy. The first agenda was to find a decent suit followed by a nice balisong, sapper, other cloaking devices and a revolver. Attacking could wait, considering one magical being, a floating loud-mouth book and a devilishly handsome rogue doesn't pull their chances of winning. The spy needed information and he was the best person to obtain it; he just needed to know why and what was Gray's intentions and plans to actually counteract properly. The Spy wouldn't admit it but he was damn curious as to what had happened to their sniper, not like he could help at all at the moment.

XXOXXXOXX

Several days of information scavenging had gone quite well but the data he had gathered was despairing to say the least. The Frenchman was now disguised as a pyrobot, no one really bothers with the silent firebugs. However when Gray had called and beckoned his army to gather at hanger 21 the spy could tell he was going to have a painful migraine. He dropped the disguised and switched to his cloak and dagger which he would never divulge the source of his tools and how he retireved it. Watching the hanger fill in with thousands of those robot abominations were getting on his nerves. It was odd to notice how verbally loud Gray's robots have becomed as if they were chatting about in excitement of the announcement.

"Glad to see some of you are are getting used to your... new profound knowledge and rationality" The spy stared at Gray mann as he spoke. The old man was pacing on the stage with utmost tension before he stop just infront of a spybot "Except, maybe for you" The mann brother patted the spybot with such affection similar to a mother who knows her child was left out. The old man then resumed his tirade of goals and plans to achieve the said goals with a voice coated with beaming confidence

All be damed, Gray mann wasn't just after his brothers, the land his brothers owned or the mercenaries; Gray wanted the whole picture, the comical world domination plot. The Mann brother had also abducted the mercenaries to basically on what the Spy assumed, photocopy their capabilities and hell even personalities to further enhance his robotic abominations. It was a tacky and disgusting plan if his assumption was correct but he had considered no one could truly outmatch them in the first place. The next question that popped into the frenchman's mind was when Gray was done with his brethren, what did he do after? dispose of them? The Spy would have lost his mind but thanks to a lonely wizard who had used his 6000 years worth of wisdom and lore to detect life forces, Merasmus had confirmed that all 8 of his brother's in arms were very much alive although in terms of the exact location of each mercenary would be a different story.

The Spy immediately left the vicinity. He had heard enough of Gray's plan and it wasn't at all pretty. Escaping the manor was now easy with how many times he had to sneak around to gather information. The Spy had made his way towards his temporary shelter with despair slightly gripping his being. Robots where everywhere now, taking over towns and cities; the news blastered nothing but the blasted robot army and their achievements. Having a wizard as a partner had plenty of benefits in terms of protection which he was thankful for. On his way to the castle the Spy had expected to see several robots on the way however he was careless at the time when he alerted a heavybot nearby

The first time the Spy encountered one of the improved robots was a heavybot; it was skulking around the now abandoned park near the castle from the recent machine assault. When the Spy activated his cloak and dagger in an attempt to escape an encounter, he noticed something odd about the heavybot. The robot look around as if to scout the area before cuddling the minigun and wiping the tip of the said minigun with a rag it produced from it's metallic pocket. The spy couldn't help but stare with his mouth agape while cloaked as the heavybot then proceeded to verbally praise and compliment it's minigun with it's deep static voice. There was no doubt that if it wasn't for the static vocals and the metalic clacks of the robot's body, the spy would be tricked into believing Misha was the one standing there with his beloved sasha or it was an amazing spy that could reach his level of skill in terms of disguise.

This was Gray mann's version of the mercenaries and they came in thousands.

After his quick observation the Spy immediately left to return to Merasmus' castle which was made as a temporary shelter. Surprisingly enough, Gray mann had yet shown intentions of any aggression to the master of lore. Granting himself entrace, the Frenchman waltz in as graceful as always as he decloaked in the safety of the magical castle. The Spy was greeted by a pleased wizard who had worn a excited expression combating his grim emotions.

"Mortal, I have great news!"

"Well get on with." The Spy withdraw a cigarette from his case; a habit that was never planning to die any earlier than himself. When Merasmus shared his great news, the Spy found himself in one of the corners of a scottish tavern not expecting his eyes would linger on a drunken Scottish one-eyed barkeep, a passed out German pediatrician and a sleepy Texan engineer.

XXOXXXOXX

Eavesdropping conversations without being too obvious was one of the basic skills a Spy could ever have and it came to be helpful in the blasted tavern. Originally he had planned to approach the barkeep; no one would miss or forget a black one-eyed beast, it was obvious that it was the Demoman of their team. When the Spy stood from his sit to finally approach the drunkard he was once again interrupted by none other than another teammate, the Medic no less. Lady luck was on his side and it was unbelievable that for one he had found 2 of his teammates and the Medic was verbalizing patches of memories about the Gravel wars. Slowly, all the pieces of information he had gathered had now somewhat fused in to a small portrait.

Their abduction...

Human interaction, abilities and reaction of the robots...

The odd 'amnesia' his teammates were facing along with their false lives they were currently living besides the spy.

The Frenchman was right all along. Gray mann had somehow transfered his teammates memories along with the skills gained from those memories to his abominations and for some reason the spy couldn't decipher Gray didn't dispose his teammates but had let them live false lives. Perhaps it gave Gray power over their lives that the old man had probably enjoyed.

"It's only the beginning doctuer, you will soon realized who you really are and where you belong"

When he muttered those words, the Spy didn't expect himself to sound hopeful. The Frenchman was certain their temporary memory loss would be easily resolved with a few nudges here and there; hell even their team's Medic had already started the recall process without his prompts. This could work in his favor and goals which mainly involved putting that disgusting excuse of a connard and his robots in their proper place, 6 feet under the topsoil to be exact. Activating his cloak and dagger, the Spy started following the three mercenaries as they escorted the sleeping German to what seems to be a truck under their Engineer's name. A frown surfaced on the Frenchman's features as Dell bid his farewells to Tavish. The Spy wanted to start his 'gathering' with the Medic as Klaus had already started recalling who he was. He deactivated his cloak behind a corner in the tavern and had patiently wait for the return of the barkeep who had started swaying back to his tavern; typical Demoman, always drunk and rar-never sober. Originally he had plan to disguise as a fair damsel but perhaps he'll push his luck for now and even try to trigger the memories of the Demoman with his appearance Gray wasn't even hunting him down or maybe Gray thought he had killed him at the manor. The Spy let the Demoman return to his bar counter before casually sitting infront of the barkeep. His presence was quickly acknowledged as the Scottish barkeep immediately went to his direction.

"Wha' can I get yah?" Tavish greeted with his drunken grin. It was common for him to have customers in expensive suits but not someone who also wore a balaclava with the said suit.

"Hmm, why don't you take a guess with that bartender" Casual talk was a nice start for gathering info. His conversation with Tavish was jumping from weather to types of whiskeys. As much as he had 'enjoyed' his conversation with the barkeep he wanted the location of the Medic as soon as possible. It would be easier to convince someone to assist him in his plans when that someone had started the recall process; the Demoman and Engineer can wait. The Spy was also being rather careless in his opinion, going to the obvious wasn't his style but perhaps the drunken Scot would be more accomodating to his interrogation.

"Pardon me but the gentleman earlier... was he a physician?"

The Scottish barkeep's lone eye narrowed for a second with suspicion but the look disappeared as he spoke "Ahh the German? yup, he's te local kid doktah here but trust meh he can fix enyone. If you hav' enyone sick of aney age, he can treat em!" Tavish let out a drunken laugh before continuing his statement "He can be a little weird though, don say I didn't warn yah."

The look of suspicion didn't escape the Spy and for that second he felt he was already exposed but thankfully the drunken black cyclops had surprisingly let it slide. The Frenchman reminded himself Tavish was a sharper mercenary the more he drank. Returning his focus on the task at hand, he merely let his left elbow rest on the bar counter and leaned on his left palm in a relaxed position. "I have a very rare condition you see, no one in France could fetch me the cure I need." The Spy pointed at his red balaclava for emphasis "I even had to hide it behind the public's prying eyes. Do you think the Doctuer could assist me?"

"I wouldn't kno' lad but you can try visiting his clinic, The kid doktah lives quite clos' from here" The Scottish barkeep had proceeded to produce a piece of crumpled paper and a jet black pen before doodling the map of the location of the German Pediatrician. The Spy stopped himself from smirking at how his interrogation was going so smoothly. Although he might have been too hopeful as the Demoman offered badly drawn Spy was about to critique the horrible artwork of the Demoman when his thoughts were interrupted by none other than the Demoman himself. "Listen carefully lad, I won't be repeatin' myself" Tavish proceeded to verbally tell the directions to the clinic as the Spy took note of each word with much concentration.

"Much appreciated" The Spy stated as he stood from his sit. Mundy had always pointed out how it was only 'professional' to thank anyone for their assistance and the very reminder of the Sniper had bought a sense of heaviness on his chest. Now was not the time to be worried, he was on a mission that would ultimately save them all anyway. "leavin' so soon? you 'aven't tried me house special!" The Spy raised his hand in a negative manner "Thank you but It's getting rather late and I have other matters to attend too. Adieu" Not hearing the response of the Scottish barkeep the Spy left the establishment with much poise. Today was truly enlightening in the Frenchman's opinion but he would much rather retreat to the wizard's castle for a much needed sleep.

XXOXXXOXX

It was one of those visions or dreams again but unlike any of the previous blurry visions, it was clearer and somehow he felt like he was honestly been 'here' but everything was at the back of his mind and as much as he wanted to just interrupt the memory or whatever he was seeing, he couldn't do anything but be in an almost 'autopilot' state as Medic. Klaus was in as he would describe it, a snow field barnyard accompanying a burly man towering over him. The sound the 'minigun' made by his 'companion' was so loud that it had drowned the screams of numerous men clad in a shade of blue as they die from the endless bullet shower. The German had also took note of the fact he was once again utilizing the gun-like healing machine and with how vivid the 'memory' he could now see the machine was connected to some sort of backpack slinged on his shoulders and it had several switches and levers beside the main lever that his right hand was currently on. His tall companion turned to him with a huge grin plastered on his features before his companion stated 'You are a great doctor!' in which Klaus had returned with a bow of sorts.

However their thanking exchange was interrupted by a missile barely missing them. Klaus felt fear grip him as his eyes landed on dozens and dozens of men in blue clutching rocket launchers and other weaponry who were gathering nearby. The fear he felt immediately melted away when he felt the gun-like healing machine had started to be surrounded by something similar lightning. before he could fathom what that even meant and it could have been a breakdown for all the work the machine was doing, he heard himself inform his companion that he was fully 'charged'. The statement his dream self 'Medic' stated was utter nonsense to his 'present' ears; why would anyone even say that to fellow soldier and in the military survival situation no less. Klaus watched as his 'companion' gave a stiff nod and leaping towards the numerous men clad in blue. In Klaus' opinion it was suicidal, no matter how miraculous healing 'Medic' did with the machine he had his hands on, no one could survive the continuous rain of bullets, rockets, arrows or whatever projectile the opposing team slinged at them. In the back of his mind however he could tell he was about to do something as 'Medic' to turn the tides of the battle. As if on cue, his companion roared the words in what Klaus could now tell in a thick Russian accent 'Now Doctor!" Klaus or rather 'Medic' then flipped a switch that had a label of Ubercharge on it which he had just noticed. Klaus suddenly felt a odd red energy coat his whole being along with his companion who was under the rays of the miraculous healing machine. 'Wunderbar' was the only word that came to him when he tried to describe the red energy that serge and coated him and his ally. He felt warm, comfortable, unstoppable and nearly god-like as the projectiles that targetted them merely bounced off similar to a soft beach ball. They had turned the tides with the mysterious healing machine along with the minigun that roared bullets endlessly. Before Klaus or 'Medic' could do anything else he started feeling the ground disappear beneath his feet and everything washed in the darkness

The first thing Klaus took note of was the fact he wasn't in the in the snow drenched barn, clinic or the tavern he had decided to drown his sorrows in but it was still a remotely familiar place to him. His recognition of the place was interrupted by a pulsing hangover which was nothing the Doctor couldn't handle. The German slowly steadied himself to a sitting position before finally absorbing the place he had awaken was no doubt in his mind that he had woken up on a brown couch under Dell's roof. The Doctor lifted his gaze at the wall clock to note it was only 5:34 am; damn his insomnia and his weird visions, it could even bypass his drunken state for some miraculous reasons unknown to the German pediatrician. Klaus felt terrible bothering someone as busy as Dell. the Engineer was up to his ears with projects that popped out daily and employers that demanded so much from the Engineer. The German pediatrician had somehow let his mind wonder to the lucky facts he was still the commander of his clinic with no one to constantly bother him about his paperwork lagging besides a certain Secretary. His workaholic Secretary and desk clerk, Ms. Pauling would bring her clipboard to a total smackdown on his crown whenever she had caught him experimenting on something else rather than his current career. It was against the new law to go against the flow of work chosen for each individual by their level of skill which he had found ridiculous but Gray was a dangerous leader and the German had no current plans to be sent to death row. Klaus hadn't noticed as he was busy with fleeting thoughts that the very head of the household was standing infront of him offering a glass of water. the German pediatrician finally snapped out of his trance when Dell placed the glass of water on the coffee table and promptly gave him a light shake on both shoulders.

"Oh gott" Klaus lifted his right hand to put slight pressure on his right temple. The light shake had made his migraine deal a sharp pain that bounced in his skull.

"Maybe next time you wouldn't drunk yourself silly without some company." The Engineer once again picked up the glass of water and offering it to Klaus who had happily taken the offer. Dell took the available sit beside Klaus before relaxing in the presence of his now sober buddy. "You know I don't go meddlin' in your business but what got in to your head to drink yourself this down again?" The question nearly caught Klaus off guard if it wasn't for the fact he was reminded that he hadn't confided with his friend in regards with his visions his been having the pass few days due to schedule constraints. The German pediatrician had already planned to inform his close friend in regards with his profound dreams but It was only in these ungodly hours that their schedules actually worked out. "Danke Dell, although you probably heard my problem from herr Demo" Klaus paused his statement as he tried to read the Engineer's expression which had turned from unreadable to worry as he continued with his confession."recently, I have been having odd dreams my friend, dreams that I star as a military doctor of sorts" The German took a quick sip of the water he was offered earlier before he started speaking once more "I... I was healing other mercenaries with this gunlike machine that I'm sure you would like to study." Klaus could tell he had snagged Dell's attention with the mere mention of anything he could tinker his hands on "With the miraculous machine on hand, I could heal and close any type of injury and sometimes I would be granted with an amazing power to raise the dead and be god-like to the point nothing could harm me"

To the Engineer, he had hoped that Tavish was just being his usual drunken scottish self and was just joking about the Doctor's story about dreams of being a military doctor. A machine that could make one god-like was a nice distraction but with his dear friend now spouting more details on the 'drunken tale' had made Dell more worried and he couldn't hide it without his googles and hardhat. He was a man of science with 11 phDs, a husband to one spouse and a father to one daughter and yet he couldn't come up with any solution as his dear friend babbled on visions of being a 'Medic' and being god-like. "Hold a god darn minute mister, did you just say Medic?" Dell couldn't stop himself as he nearly shouted his statement. 'Medic' sounded so familiar, it was almost akin to relief and yet it sounded so foreign on his tongue at the moment. The German pediatrician gave a short nod before continuing from his interrupted tale.

The Engineer tried his best to listen to his friend's problems but there were so many keywords that kept hitting him with the annoying feeling of de ja vu. First it was just Medic but it was followed soon by Dispenser, Control point and many other key terminologies that he was sure that he had never encountered in his entire life until now and yet all of them sounded so familiar and close as family. Dell knew he had to get those odd ideas out of his head and Klaus' mind; it wouldn't do well if both of them can't do their jobs chosen to them by the leader of the new world. Any misfire or misalignment in the eyes of Gray mann was prison and worse, death row. When the German pediatrician was done with his litany and had exhausted himself, Dell merely gave a comforting pat on the shoulder of the German. "That's quite a talltale Klaus, but you know better than to bother yourself too much on your dreams." The Engineer scrambled for a better phrase as his first statement sounded quite rude in his opinion. "I mean, just let it be Klaus. Perhaps your imagination got bored with treating patients on a daily basis and wanted to give you a taste of adventure" Dell recieved a light laugh from Klaus to which Dell joined in.

"Perhaps you are right Dell, it's merely my imagination"

XXOXXOXXX

Author's gibberish:

I didn't check whether my quottations turned to && since I saw the last line was alright

Fanfiction is still prompting my gallery for my word document for some reason and I'm taking the heaven's for the copy-paste option.

Anyway, if you haven't gotten the gist of the story Gray mann has finally started his world domination and the mercs have to live through it.

next on the agenda is the Spy, he knows all of the mercs first names and of course the implied Sniper/Spy

The healing abilities that Merasmus has came from the author of Lethal mistake (Merasmus/Soldier - Soldier abuse fic I loved dearly)