Ahoy, friends! Long time no see, but I got super busy with life and kinda left the story aside... but I'm back, and so are Christine and Charlie, aka Shield and Hacker! This chapter is longer than usual, has a lot of useless stuff, but it helped me get back in it so, well, thought I'd leave it like that. Hope you enjoy it though. As always, feedback is always appreciated, and thank you to those of you who follow this story!

"No."

"Oh, c'mon Engie!"

"I already said no, Scout."

"Pretty pretty pleaaase! C'mon I'm BEGGING you here!"

"I don't have time for your games Scout! In case you haven't noticed, we're at war with Mann Co and those darn robots, and while you're just runnin' around playing baseball, some of us are trying to work out a plan!"

"That's exactly mah point! If you built me a baseball machine, like, a sentry that throws balls instead'a bullets, or even an actual robot that could keep up with mah game, it'd save us sooo much time, 'cause I wouldn't have to run 'round askin' everybody and they wouldn't lose time telling me to fuck off!"

"What about Hacker? She grew tired of ya already?"

"I dunno where she is." Scout sulkily admitted, crossing his arms across his chest.

The Engineer let out a long sigh, putting down the blueprints he was working on in the common room. This was supposed to be his break, but he couldn't help it – when his mind was onto something, he had to work on it all the way through, even if it meant sacrificing the few precious minutes he had of free time. It was sunny outside, and not too warm for once – bless the beginning of Fall and its milder temperatures- so he figured everybody would be outside, practicing or wandering 'round or just minding their own business. And overall, he was right. Except for Scout. Who was bored. And to be honest, a bored Scout was even worse than a normal one.

"Look, she's probably somewhere outside, I heard her sayin' she wanted to go downtown to see the library. Why don't you go check it out? You guys could go play on the actual baseball field behind the building."

Scout's face lit up in an instant.

"You're a genius Engie. Thanks buddy, I'll see ya later!" he exclaimed before dashing off, while Engie shook his head and sighed again. He picked up his pen and was about to dug back into his calculus, but he heard the door opening again. As he was about to tell Scout to get lost, he looked up and held the words back.

"Hacker! Wasn't expecting you there. So you're actually running from Scout?" he said, raising an eyebrow.

"He's not here, is he?" Hacker asked, popping her head through and looking around the room.

"Haha! Nah you're good, I just sent him to the library, thinking maybe you'd be there. I expect he won't be in for the next hour or so."

"Bless you, Engie." She sighed as she entered the room, her shoulders relaxing. "Mind you, Scout's a great lad. But his constant babbling, that's too much to handle. One more minute and I'd have strangled him on the spot."

Engie couldn't sympathize more. He could see why she would find it difficult to be around Scout all the time – she was much quieter, and he suspected she was the kind of person who needed their own space from time to time. A luxury Scout hadn't really granted her ever since he decided they would be pals, and the team had seen Hacker coming up with surprising, and sometimes incredible tricks to avoid Scout when she couldn't stand him anymore. Engie was pretty sure she know the fort and its hiding spots better than all of them, and she had only been there for what, two weeks?

Engie reached for his mug of coffee and took a sip, only to wince when he realized he had left it aside for too long. Hacker noticed.

"Is it cold?"

"That's what happens when Scout monopolises your attention for too long. I'm gonna make some more."

"Let me. You stay seated and enjoy the few minutes of tranquillity you might have today." She headed to the kitchen counter and grabbed both the coffee machine and the empty pot. Engie looked at her while she was taking care of the refill. Neither she or Shield had received their uniforms yet, and were content wearing more or less red clothes to mark their belonging to the team. Right now, Hacker was wearing a red tank top and a pair of military trousers tucked in her boots. Until now she'd been mostly wearing hoodies, especially in the workshop or on the battlefield, and Engie hadn't really noticed that her muscles were actually showing when she moved: he thought she was too thin, too fragile for such a job, but now he could take note of her biceps, and of the narrow, but square shoulders. Her neck was thin and delicate like a ballerina's, but she held her head high and strong, like her Swedish counterpart. Engie realized he'd been wrong. He thought she was nothing but brains, to compensate for a weak, teenage-like body; he could see now that there was more to her than she let on. What he could see was the body of someone who clearly wasn't cut for the job, but had to adapt and worked hard to, anyway. He was about to say something, when the door opened again and Sniper stepped in.

"Well, I'll be damned. Is Scout leaving drawing all our lone spirits back to the base? How's it going, pal?" Engie joked as the Australian put his rifle on the table.

"Ran out of coffee. Thought I'd swing by and get some. Need ya ta have a look at my rifle too, if ye don't mind." Sniper replied in his low, soft voice.

"Hacker's making coffee as we speak, today is your lucky day, boy. Take a break and let me have a look at your gun."

Sniper didn't ask twice and sat across the table just as Hacker came back with the coffee pot and two new mugs. She poured the fresh coffee into Engie's mug, then Sniper's – he nodded at her, his way of saying 'thanks' – and she sat next to him, helping herself some hot coffee as well. Engie raised his mug to his lips, noticing for the first time how well those two fitted together. It wasn't that rare to see the Hacker finding refuge in Sniper's van when she grew tired of Scout's harassment, and Sniper shooting at him before they would drive away, probably enjoying each other's quiet company and her drinking coffee while he'd practice his already exceptional shot. At least that's what Engie had pictured in his mind. He grabbed Sniper's gun and started fiddling with it, when two voices grew more distinct as their approached the common room, only for Shield and Medic to make their entrance.

"And do not forget your stretching exercises, it iz very important for your arm if you want zhis nasty cramp to go away."

"Thank you herr Doktor, I really appreciate."

"My pleasure, fraulein Shield."

"How's your arm, Christina?" Hacker asked.

"Better now, this Spy-bot had hit a nerve. But the Medigun worked its magic, it would seem." Christina replied, carefully moving her arm around.

"Great. We're going to need everybody on board for the next wave, I don't expect Gray Mann to go easy on us after last time. But today, let's enjoy a bit of tranquillity and…"

Engie was never able to finish his sentence: a buzzing sound resonated across the base before all the lights went black. All the mercs in the common room froze. Engie handed Sniper's rifle back to him, while the Aussie straightened up and looked around, ready to aim and shoot; Medic looked confused while Archimedes popped in and landed on his shoulder; Shield felt her muscles tensing up, and Hacker was the first to open her mouth:

"What's that? Spy-bot again?"

"Nah, prolly more like a power outage. I'll go check the generator." Engie replied and stood up.

"I'm going with you." Said Shield. Engie was about to say that he'd be fine on his own, but he saw the determined look on her face and instead had a grateful smile, and nodded.

"WHY IS EVERYTHING DARK? WHO STOLE THE GLORIOUS AMERICAN LIGHTS? MAGGOTS!"

"We should probably go before Soldier starts breaking everything." Hacker remarked, rising from her chair.

"MEEEEEEDIC. I CUT ME FINGER WITH ME BOTTLE O'SCRUMPY."

"Ach. Dummkopf." Medic sighed grumpily.

"Let's all go before the whole base blows up."

The gang nodded in agreement with Sniper, and they all headed towards the generator room at the back of the fort. It was already dusk and the corridor didn't have any windows: the only light sources came from the windows inside various rooms they walked by. After their teammate's screams had ended, everything seemed very quiet. Unnervingly so, according to Hacker who walked close to Shield. The wooden floors creaked under their feet, and Sniper held his rifle a bit tighter. Something wasn't quite right, and he didn't like it at all. Should an enemy jump from the shadow, he wasn't equipped for close combat, and that wasn't a nice feeling. Engie and Medic walked ahead, silent, listening intently.

Suddenly, something rose from the shadows, and threw itself at their feet while letting out a loud, agonizing cry.

"WUAAAAAAZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH…"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAH" screamed the gang, Hacker jumping to grab Shield's jacket.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaah IT'S YOU MAGGOTS."

"… Soldier?" Engie said, aghast. "What the hell are you doing, wandering around in the base… Naked?"

"THE LIGHTS WENT OUT. MY CLOTHES ARE NOT DRY YET."

"Don't tell me you don't have another uniform?"

"PYRO BURNT IT. I GAVE IT TO HIM TO HE WOULDN'T BURN THE MIGHTY AMERICAN FLAG INSTEAD."

"… right, well, we're going to check the generator, see if we can bring the power back. If you're comin' with us, put on some pants. We have ladies here."

Naturally, Soldier ignored the request and decided to take the lead to the generator room – much to Christina and Charlie's embarrassment, although it wasn't the first time Soldier had showed up naked in the vicinity. This man seemed to have a natural tendency to exhibitionism.

Hacker was feeling uncomfortable, and not only because of the idiotic Soldier's outfit –or lack of thereof. She'd never been keen on darkness. Growing up in London, she'd always leave a small light on so that she could read under the blankets if the shadows in her room became too… threatening. Now a thirty-four year-old woman, she had learnt how to crack incredibly intricate codes, resolve complex mathematical problems, shoot a gun, and whack down any threat coming her way. Yet, she was still scared of the dark. Well, wasn't that embarrassing. Walking close to Shield and followed by Sniper, she kept an eye on Engie's yellow construction hat, like a reassuring anchor in this stupid corridor. The sooner they brought the light back, the better. Not to mention that it would be dark outside soon, too.

"Here we are. Just give me a sec." Engie said as they approached a heavy metal door with a red warning sign on it. The Texan searched his pockets, frowned, palped his belt looking for the keys, then let out a frustrated "Dang-nammit." He sighed. "Seems like I left the keys in mah workshop. If you boys – and girls – wanna wait here, I'll be right back."

"Wait, Engineer. Hacker can take care of it." Shield said, laying a hand on his shoulder and glancing at her friend.

"What, ya telling me that this girl can also pick locks?"

"What's so different between cracking a code and a lock? Besides, we weren't always in a war against robots. We had to find other ways to make a living, and she has a certain talent for opening doors."

"Well, you'll need ta tell us that story sometime."

"Yes, well, if you don't mind." Hacker jumped in, interrupting them. "I'll get cracking on it. And I need space, and silence."

Shield couldn't repress a small smile as Hacker was kneeling down, grumbling in the beard she'd never have. Soon she was focused on the task at hand, fiddling with her tools and listening intently for any indicative noise from the door. The rest of the group remained silent, as requested, while she worked it out – a couple of minutes later, a very recognizable click resonated.

"There we are, buddies." She said, standing up, only for her shoulder to bump into a giant, unknown, threatening volume. She couldn't help it and let out a scream while throwing a fist into the invisible enemy. The massive form didn't even flinch, but she felt an acute pain go up her fist and arm, all the way up to her shoulder.

"GODDAMMITBOLLOCKS." She yelled, holding her hand in pain.

"What did little girl do that for?" She immediately recognised Heavy's voice and blushed, realizing she had just made a fool of herself. A warm light appeared behind the Russian giant, coming from Pyro's lighter and letting her see Heavy raising an eyebrow, visibly unimpressed and slightly annoyed by what must have felt like a mosquito sting. She mumbled something and stepped back behind Shield, not even letting the good Doctor check her arm. She didn't want anyone to see how red she was. Of shame. And pain.

"I panicked." She grumbled. Engie found it difficult not to laugh, but figured she would resent him if he did – however, he looked at Shield and saw she probably followed the same train of thought. Great minds think alike.

"Alright, let's have a look at this bad boy." He stepped into the room, followed by Pyro and his lighter while the others stayed outside – in the distance, they heard the base's door opening, the noise of someone bumping into the metal lockers, and a very pissed "AOW. Who turned off the lights? Ya think you're funny, ha?". Scout was home. Engie had a quick look at the generator. Strange. Somebody had turned off the main command. But no one had the key save for him, and he hadn't been in there for days. Engie frowned. What was the meaning of this? Pondering on this mystery, he turned the generator back on and the lights immediately came back with a buzzing sound. The group let out a sigh of relief.

"Good. Woulda'been a hell of a problem if the bots had attacked us while the power was out." Engie remarked.

"So vhat happened? We never had an incident like zhis before."

"Wish I knew, Doc. The power was turned down, but I don't know who could have…"

Nobody expected what happened next. At the precise moment they all felt like things were back to normal after this short, but worrying interlude, a sound pierced through the air and made them freeze on the spot. It wasn't just a sound. It was a voice. A very terrified, high-pitched voice, that kept screaming for several seconds straight. And they all knew who it belonged to.

"Baby-man has trouble." Heavy's calm, but focused voice brought them back to their senses. They all rushed back to the common room ; Sniper kicked the door open and took aim, ready to shoot at any target that wasn't Scout ; Medic held his Medigun ready ; but all they saw was a very pale Scout who had fallen to the floor, shaking, and visibly scared to death. Hacker and Engie rushed to his side.

"Easy, pal." Said Engie, holding the unfortunate Scout by a shoulder while Hacker was kneeling by him. "What in Heaven's name happened? Don't tell me ya saw a robot in there?"

"N-n-n-n-n-not robot! G-g-g-g-g…"

"Take it easy Scout. Take a deep breath, and tell us what you saw." Hacker said, forgetting her own fright from earlier.

"G-g-g-g-g… GHOST."

He raised his finger, pointed frantically at the door on the other side, the one facing them when they entered the room. They all looked up, aghast, but saw nothing. Sniper, the only one of them who had his gun with him, carefully crossed the room, closely followed by Shield. Facing the door, they looked at each other, and when Sniper nodded, Shield opened the door. Quickly, Sniper scoped through the door, looking for an intruder. Slowly, he walked into the corridor, his eye glued to his rifle's scope while Christina walked right beside him, ready to jump between her colleague and any danger. But truth be told, they didn't see anything.

"That corridor is empty. Oi think ye just dreamt it, mate."

"I didn't dream nothing! It was right there! Ran when you guys barged in!"

Shield was about to say something when Sniper gave her a light push. Christina looked down at him and was baffled to see the usually composed, imperturbable Sniper had gotten dead pale. He tilted his head forward, and she followed his stare. For once in her life, Christina could not believe her own eyes.

"… My friends, I'm afraid Scout was right. It seems like there is a ghost in this base."

There we are, things are getting serious now! THE BASE IS HAUNTED. Or is it? How many ghosts? What will the gang do? Where the hell are Spy and Demoman? (tbh, 11 characters are a LOT so I just left them out but they'll be back soon enough). How are the mercs going to hunt the ghost(s) down? What pairs/teams would you like to see for the ghost hunting chapter(s) ?

Also, I have an idea for another story, which has been at the back of my mind for some time, about a young woman who wakes up in a pod after the mercs find her in an abandoned enemy basement. She is persuaded that she somehow landed in a videogame - but did she? Obviously expect a lot of Matrix inspiration, but just wanted to ask if this is something you'd like to read. See you next time!