Before BLU Spy could reply, his eyes widened as he saw the skull and crossbones forming on his RED counterpart's chest.

"Mon ami?" RED Spy asked.

"You better start running," BLU Spy said.

The RED Spy just smiled. "Sorry mon ami, but I'm afraid it's you who should run." With that, he stabbed his own comrade with his Big Earner. The mark transferred to BLU Spy, who recoiled in pain like a wounded viper. The RED Spy laughed maniacally and ran away with Ian.

"I'll get you for this!" the BLU Spy shouted.

It wasn't just BLU Spy and Daniel who heard Gem's scream.

"What? Gem is here?" Mikhail asked Jacob who was healing him.

"It seems so," Jacob replied with a thoughtful frown.

"She spawn?"

Jacob frowned deeper. "The fräulein's DNA is not even recognized by Archie's machine. She would most certainly die if someone kills her. Fortunately, she had not been harmed by Gage's or Sykes's bombing."

Gage rubbed his temples as he glanced at his scrumpy. Was he drinking too much? He swore he heard a certain lassie screaming.

Ethan chocked on his Bonk! Atomic Punch. Funny, he thought he heard Gem screaming, he reflected as he wiped his mouth.

Archie's jerked in surprise as he tried to tighten a bolt when Gem screamed. The sentry he had been working on fell to pieces. He looked around for Gem, wondering if perhaps he was putting on too much overtime.

Burns jumped, accidentally airblasting Fleigh. Fleigh landed on another patch of ground and stared at Burns. The Pyro walked to Burns and nonfatally hit the unfortunate Pyro with a Haduoken. Fleigh looked for the source of the scream, knowing who it came from.

Sgt. Cran shook his head after being punched by Sgt. Ryan. Damn, the man punched so hard he thought he heard ladies screaming.

Gem clung on tight when her prison ran while trying to climb. Sometimes the skeleton she was in ran so hard, she felt the footsteps jar her bones. It was hard, once she climbed up one rib, she had to stay until a the jarring subsided. Something caught her eye, it was the BLU Spy! She had to climb faster. She grew nearer, and nearer, and nearer. Until a haze of yellow flashed with a familiar sensation overcoming Gem.

The Horseless Headless Horsemann slowed down and began to brisk walk to BLU Spy.

"Mon dieu," the BLU Spy murmured. Shock made him slow down.

"No! Run! Run!" Gem shouted. Her lips moved but no voice came out.

Instead, the Horseless Headless Horsemann screamed," NNNHH! RAH! RAH!

The BLU Spy looked at the apparition oddly and resumed running. He activated his walkie-talkie. "Archie, I'll be meeting you at rendezvous, I may still be "It" or not depending on whom I chance upon. Over."

"Alright, I'll be making some Level 3 sentries then," Archie replied in his handheld.

Daniel felt conflicted as he saw the Horseless Headless Horsemann walking. Something in the back of his mind was disturbing him, but he didn't know what. All he knew was that if he shot the thing, it may burst back to its running gait and kill the BLU Spy. He pushed the disturbing thought his mind had formed somewhere dark and quiet.

"I see you're back," Silas said, he was still sitting down on his chair. The place looked as if she never left.

"I'm back. You killed Daniel," Gem said with gritted teeth.

"Does it really matter?"

"Of course it does, he'll never come back!"

Silas shook his head. "Helen never told you, did she?"

"Tell me what?"

"He'll come back. I'm sure of it."

"No one comes back from the dead, Mr. Mann. No one."

"You'll see."

Suddenly a tea tray complete with cups and a pot appeared on the table. "Have some tea, Gem. I never met a Brit here before after my brother died."

BLU Spy's mind reeled at the illogical. The thing was giving him a chance to run, but why? Besides the point he needed to find a scapegoat since he wasn't a willing victim. It was the stirring shadows that had suddenly tumbled into his path that gave his heart a momentary leap of joy. Sgt. Ryan had just dropped into his lap, or rather his path, and the BLU Spy was not going to miss this opportunity. Without hesitation, he stabbed the unfortunate Soldier and ran as the skull and crossbones disappeared on his chest and reappeared on Sgt. Ryan's.

"Come back here, croton!" Sgt. Ryan shouted but nothing was left of the Spy except a cloud of dust he had kicked up when he took off.

"Archie, I've transferred the curse. Are you ready?" Spy said through his piece.

"Wait." There was a muffled curse. "Ok, got it. Three ... Two ... One ..."

Thank God for disabling friendly fire, BLU Spy thought as the bullets passed through him. They rained on the Horseless Headless Horsemann like a storm.

Gem was about to sip her tea when she felt a hundred bullets riddling her body. She suddenly realized she was falling again, she frantically tried to grab for something to break her fall but her momentum made her grip slip through anything she held onto. There she felt her descent and seeing the glowing light above grow smaller and smaller.

Pain racked through her body and Gem opened her eyes. She was back in the room with Silas Mann.

"Well, you're back. You disappeared, you know, suddenly vanished and dropped my teacup. It broke," Silas Mann said conversationally.

"I'm sorry," Gem said dazedly," Am I -?"

"You're not dead. Just unconscious, I think."

"Hell's bells, I'm rather vulnerable. A stray bullet would hit me, a bomb would set off and maim me."

"You're rather pessimistic, aren't you, Gem?" He waved his hand yet again and another teacup appeared which he poured tea in for her.

"I speak the truth. How do I wake up?"

"We'll see." Silas sipped his tea and closed his eyes.

Gem saw two visions, one was in the room she was, the other was the battlefield. The arms were raised high with the ax over two figures brawling. Two Sgt. Crans?

Even though Gem never liked the Soldier, she stopped the arms from falling except ...

Daniel hadn't seen Sgt. Cran but he saw Sgt. Ryan with the Horseless Headless Horsemann's ax about to decapitate him. Daniel fired.

Gem lost focus again and only regained it to see the two Sgt. Crans split into two. She regained control over the prison and turned its head to see who was shooting her. That posture. That hat. That gun. Daniel?

Daniel felt chilled when the Horseless Headless Horsemann looked at him, the sensation particularly focused on his chest. He looked down and saw the familiar skull and crossbones. "Oh bugger."

He took off like the jackrabbits he used to shoot.