Time to bring the ghost-hunting to a conclusion and solve the mystery. I'm not a 100% satisfied with the way it came out overall, but I'm happy I did these chapters as a way of trying out a bit of action. I'll go back to the main MvM action from the next chapter on, I'm also thinking of having shorter, more character-centric chapters to develop the TF2 characters as well as the OCs, what do you guys think? Do you want to see more action, more humour, or more character development? Are you happy with the balance between the characters, or do you feel that I focus too much on the OCs?

In any case, thanks for following this story, and enjoy your reading!


"A séance."

Demo's suggestion was only met with deadpan looks from his colleagues, half of them wondering how much he'd been drinking, the other half hoping he was joking, only to read in his only remaining eye how dead serious the man was. After Pyro had disappeared and Miss Pauling nearly got knocked off by Sniper's reflexes, the whole team had decided it would be more reasonable to gather in Spy's smoking room, where he was still going through the night's footage. Medic had set out to patch up Miss Pauling's bleeding nose while Sniper apologised for the third time; Heavy, Engie and Shield, who were probably the most cool-headed ones in the team just now, stood a bit aside, discussing Pyro's mysterious disappearance. Engie couldn't help but feel guilty for having left the little firebug out of his sight, and Shield was trying to reassure him about their friend's fate. Pyro was probably somewhere in the base, playing with their lighter. There was nothing to worry about. Engie stroke his square jaw, unconsciously rubbing his scruff, his eyes behind his goggles fixed on a point on the floor. He appreciated his colleague's optimism, but he knew well enough that with Pyro, things could sometimes get a little out of hand. Ectoplasm or not, there was an intruder in the base, and should anything happen to Pyro, he'd never be able to forgive himself.

Meanwhile, at the camera monitors, Spy kept looking through the surveillance footage. Hacker had taken a seat by his side and, for once, was joining efforts with him as they both silently watched the images, looking for the one detail that would lead them to the solution to this mystery. Standing behind them, Scout was nervously fidgeting. Demo's idea wasn't doing anything to help him relax, either.

"Nothing on this one." Spy said, switching to a new video.

"Nothing here either." Hacker replied, sitting cross-legged on the chair. "I'm starting to think we experienced some sort of collective hallucination." Spy thought to himself that it would not be too surprising. "Wait. Did you see that?"

Hacker paused the video, rewound it by one minute, while Spy was leaning in to look at her screen. When he was ready, she pressed the play button – behind them, Scout watched intently too, expecting to see the ghost jumping at the screen any moment. Instead, what he and Spy saw was footage from a corridor in the west wing. And nothing happening. Just an old, empty corridor.

"I can't see a thing, doll." Scout exclaimed.

"Because you are not looking, Scout." Spy responded coldly. "Even though I will admit, except for that loose sheet of paper on the floor, I do not see anything out of place. I wonder if the Doctor or the Engineer left it there."

"It's not the paper I'm interested in, love. It's what it does. Look more closely." She said, and pressed the replay button. Spy and Scout both focused even more. Spy raised an eyebrow. How did he miss that?

"It's moving." He noted, and looked at his new colleague's pale face, almost tempted to confess his being impressed by her eye for detail. Her green eyes were fixed on the screen, and judging by the look on her face, they had reached the same conclusion. Scout was growing impatient.

"Big deal! There's a draught, so what?"

"How could there be a draught when there is no window in this corridor, Scout?" Spy explained. Scout couldn't find a suitable answer, so he backed off, sulkily crossing his arms and mumbling.

"Do you know of any hidden door or passage here?" Hacker asked, leaning on the back of her chair.

"No. If there is one here, it escaped our attention. It would be surprising, but not entirely impossible. Our predecessors built a number of secret passages from one base to the other, and we have the plans and locations of most of them, but it is possible that one or two were not in the reports and maps of the place when we arrived." Spy admitted. He stood up and opened his cigarette case, tucking one between his lips and walking away as he lit it. "I am going to go and check. Are you coming?"

"Do I have to?" Her green eyes were lit with a snarky sparkle, but when she saw that Spy was completely unphased by her little provocation, she ostensibly rolled her eyes and reluctantly stood up. "Fine. But if we get into any trouble, you do the fighting."


The two of them remained silent, as they left the room and made their way towards the west wing. Heavy had offered to escort them, in case of danger, as neither of them qualified as a strong fighter, but Spy had brushed it off and reminded him that he too was a trained assassin, thank you very much. Hacker had just shrugged and followed on Spy's footsteps, pretending she didn't see Shield looking at her with a perplexed look. The relationship between Hacker and Spy had not improved one bit since their first battle: at best they would ignore each other, at worst Hacker would drop a snarky comment here and there, mostly when Spy was trying to give her instructions. Everybody took it as a sign of Hacker's notorious difficulties with authority. Her attitude to him was that of a teenager with a teacher they didn't like, and while it amused Scout or Sniper, the others found themselves slightly worried that this could get in the way of their efficiency at work. Occasionally, Engie or Medic would turn to Shield, asking her if she could speak to Hacker. And she did. And when Christina took the time to sit her down and talk to her, it usually meant it was very serious – Hacker knew she and Spy were good friends, but it wasn't the only reason she was trying to patch things up between them. Ever since that day, something had been broken. And Hacker was all too conscious of the problematic nature of her behaviour. She just couldn't help it. Like earlier, when she had asked him if she really had to accompany him – she could have abstained. Why couldn't she grow up, for God's sake? Walking a couple of steps behind him, she looked up, gazing between his shoulderblades. Looking for something to say, while her brain was screaming for her to keep her mouth shut. Torn between her resentment and the rational certitude that she had to let go of it.

Did Spy have a third eye behind his head? He turned around, his piercing gaze meeting hers.

"Are you thinking of stabbing me in the back? I would remind you that it is my specialty, not yours."

"Hilarious." She commented. Then, thinking of Christina and her request, she let out a sigh and mustered all her strength of will, before walking up to him and adding: "I… just wanted to say. I apologize about earlier."

Spy was momentarily taken aback, but quickly regained composure.

"About what? Your sarcastic comments anytime you get the chance to make one? Or supporting Scout's childish pranks towards me like last week?"

"… both, I guess."

Spy was unable to find an appropriate answer. He was wondering what could possibly be going on inside his colleague's head for her to apologise out the of blue, but he knew her well enough to assume that Christina had probably spoken to her – and that whatever she said, it had made its way to Hacker's brain. She had probably been thinking about it for days. Spy sighed, as they arrived in the corridor they had spotted on the screen. The sheet of paper was still there. Spy bowed down and picked it up, only to realise it was one of Scout's infamous sketches of him with the Eiffel Tower.

"Apologies accepted. May I take the opportunity to suggest we finally make peace?" He asked, folding the drawing and putting it into his jacket's pocket.

"Well, to be fair, you did leave me to die in that basement." Spy didn't need the reminder. He pushed the memory away at the back of his brain.

"You know the decision was not mine to make."

"I know. It's just a bit hard to swallow, even after two years. Even you can understand that, can't you?" For once, there was no contained anger in her voice. Just a genuine, resignated plea for his understanding. Maybe not his compassion, but for his patience. He looked at her as she kneeled to the floor and started pressing on the wall, looking for the thin opening or hidden button that would lead them to the secret passage.

"I will admit, we used to make a rather good team." He said, puffing on his cigarette. "I just wish we could have this back."

Hacker nearly stopped and turned around, not sure whether or not she should believe her ears. Such declarations from Spy were rare enough to be noted, even if she knew he was right, from a professional point of view. Her heart ached a little. She focused on the task at hand and didn't reply, trying to ignore the turmoil that was stirring up again in her head. Of course they made a great team. The Spy and the Hacker, the two sneakiest, most resourceful of mercenaries – employing similar techniques, complementing each other rather efficiently, one infiltrating the enemy from the inside while the other would infiltrate their information systems. She used to enjoy their missions together, when Miss Pauling would send him out of Teufort to lend them a hand. She used to believe they were friends. Sort of. Spy was her friend, at least.

But as usual, she seemed to have expected too much. She found that throughout her life, she had had a tendency to grow attached to people too quickly – and the feeling was seldom, if ever, reciprocated. She hated herself for behaving like a moody teenager most of the time, for pushing people away even when all she wanted was nothing more than to actually be their friend. But she couldn't help it. She had been disappointed one too many times, and even if she blamed herself for her failures, she had figured the easiest way to deal with it was to avoid bonding with people altogether. Yet, she failed even at that. She liked people. Despite everything, despite the attitude she was trying to portray, she could still feel that spark of interest and affection towards certain people who, she thought, echoed something in her. Spy had been one of them. Until that one mission, that for some reason when unexpectedly wrong. Spy had to make a choice: save her, or salvage the mission.

She knew it wasn't a real choice. She knew he had been right to act the way he did.

She knew she couldn't blame him. She shouldn't.

Still. It hurt.

It was Christina who had gone back in the building in flames, and had managed to drag her out of this hell. Spy wasn't even there when she had woken up, after several days in a coma. Had gone back to Teufort, as Miss Pauling had instructed him. Things had never been the same ever since.

Her fingers lingered on the wall, looking for the opening that was causing the draught. She knocked on the concrete, lightly, repeatedly, trying to find an echo. After five minutes, she raised her head to her colleague.

"I've got something here." Spy came closer and inspected the wall as well. Without a word, the two of them pushed hard against it – first to no avail, but after a few seconds, they heard a click, and the panel was drawn back, revealing a hidden door. Drawing his revolver, Spy slowly pushed the door open, revealing a staircase going down in the basements.

"Looks like we're in for an adventure." Hacker said, searching her pockets to find the tiny torch she usually used to looked at computer components.

"Let us get on with it. I am afraid our drunk Scotsman will start blowing things up if he keeps seeing ghosts at every corner."

Side by side, they went down the dark stairs, only guided by Hacker's mini torch and Spy's faint light coming from his cigarette. When they reached the end, they discovered a hollow corridor, in which their footsteps resonated. There was only one door, all the way to the back. A thin ray of light was coming from under it, and as they came closer, both of them could hear the faint sound of a human voice. Spy slid near the door and silently grabbed the knob, casting one last glance at Hacker, who nodded in return. After one short breath, he pushed the door open and immediately took aim at the intruder.

When he identified them, he lowered his gun, an air of surprise and exasperation on his mask.

"What is the meaning of this?" he asked with a sigh, as he and Hacker stood there, looking at Pyro and a tied up Merasmus begging for mercy.


"A wizard? As in, an actual wizard with magical powers?"

Shield could barely believe that Spy wasn't joking when he confirmed it with a nod. Twenty minutes after they had left, Hacker and Spy had returned, escorted by a visibly unscathed Pyro and carrying a new character who had been neatly tied up like a French saucisson. Pyro had dropped him on the floor, and the man had let out a small squeak before staring at all the mercenaries, half furious, half terrified. Shield had been surprised to see all her colleagues' expressions range from resignation to anger to downright exclaiming "Oh God, here we go again". Only Soldier had shown some sign of happiness, as he had exclaimed: "Oh, look! Merasmus is visiting!". Engie scratched his head under his helmet, quiet exasperated.

"Exactly like an actual wizard, pardner. Usually he comes an' try to stir up trouble on Halloween, dunno why we didn't suspect a thing… Who else could'a created a ghost to spook us off?"

"We were focused on our battles with the Mann robots." Spy pointed out, leaning against a wall. "If you think about it, it was actually a rather clever move. Some might say, too clever for an idiotic magician like him. Too bad for him Pyro saw him retreating to his hiding spot and followed him down this secret passage."

"You will pay for this, puny humans!" Merasmus shouted, before meeting eyes with Heavy. The Russian giant took just one step towards him, tensing up the muscles in his shoulders, a cold, deadly light glowing in his blue eyes. Merasmus gasped. "Alright, fine! You've won yet again against the Great Merasmus! Can you please let me go now?" He asked very quickly.

"Now wait a minute, you bleedin' eejit! Yer not goin' to get away with it! Not 'til I beat up yer ass proper and send ye back to the limbs where ye belong!" A very angry Demoman would probably have kept his word, if it hadn't been for the joint efforts of Medic and Hacker to hold him back.

"Hey, I agree with Cyclops'ere guys. Or maybe we should let Pyro roast the shit outta him!" Scout butted in, holding his baseball bat like he was ready to use it. Luckily for Merasmus, Miss Pauling had no intention of ending the day with a murder (even if killing Merasmus could turn out to be a service to humanity) that she would have to justify in her report. The young woman pushes her glasses back on her nose – winced when a sharp pain went through it, reminding her of Sniper's excellent survival skills – and spoke up:

"Nobody's is roasting anyone, guys. I'm going to take him with me back to HQ, and the Administrator will decide what is to be done with him. Sniper, I'm going to have to borrow you and your van to drive him there." She sighed as the Australian grabbed Merasmum and dragged him all the way out. "Jeez, when I think I only came here to deliver Hacker's and Shield's new uniforms. Talk about easy assignments."

"We're real sorry for all this, Miss Pauling. Things have been pretty crazy today, as you can probably tell." Engie apologised. At least the lights had gone back when Merasmus spell had ceased its effect, and the whole base seemed to be back to normal. The magician had confessed to creating the ghost that had almost killed Scout with a heart attack, and it seemed he had acted in his own accord – otherwise, the robots would probably have attacked when they were most vulnerable. But even this conclusion didn't seem to appease Miss Pauling, who grumpily walked to the suitcases she had brought with her – one visibly more massive and heavier than the other.

"Miss Pauling, Engie's right, and it would be a shame to end the day on such a distressful note. What about you staying with us for dinner?" Shield intervened, taking Miss Pauling by the shoulders. "I wanted to try a new recipe for a risotto tonight, it would be lovely to have you join us.3

Miss Pauling looked up at the imposing Scandinavian lady, who was all smile as she waited for her answer. How the hell could she have known that risotto was her favourite dish? Sometimes she wondered if Shield was not a mind-reading wizard. She couldn't even be mad at her. Miss Pauling briefly hesitated, then sighed in resignation.

"Alright, apologies accepted if the risotto is on the menu." The whole team let out a sigh of relief. Angry Miss Pauling was much more dangerous than she let on. The last time it had happened, she had confiscated all of their new weapons for a whole month. Which an awfully long time to be deprived of new weapons, when you were in the middle of an endless war, respawn or not.

"Hacker, here's your uniform. Comfortable and practical like you asked, and a bullet-proof vest in case of an intrusion while you're working on the computers."

Curious, all the mercs leaned in, trying to catch a glimpse at the outfit as Hacker was taking it. They all knew she wasn't a fighter – her role wasn't supposed to be on the battlefield, but she had to be able to move quickly if her presence was required outside, or if she had to flee the zone for any reason. Her uniform thus consisted of a pair of black jeans, and a red zipper hoodie, underneath which she would wear a white t-shirt and the protective vest. She had also inherited sneakers, in which she would be able to run more comfortably – and probably faster. Finally, she received a leather kit she could strap to her belt and her leg, to contain whatever electronic equipment she needed to hack into cameras, plant microphones, or sap robots. She looked very satisfied with the result.

"As for you, Shield – oh God, this is heavy." Miss Pauling dragged the bigger suitcase and opened it. "We got it made following your instructions. If there is any problem with the size, let me know and we can send it back for modifications."

"It looks perfect, Miss Pauling." Shield smiled, as she took out the detachable armour from its case. A thick breastplate, protections for her arms, stomach, back and legs made up for a solid cuirassier-type of armour, but the material seemed lighter and more flexible than the usual metal plated armours one could see on old paintings of knights and warriors. Bringing a modern twist to the knight in a shining armour, Shield's protections were equipped with a cooling system to prevent her from exhaustion due to the heat, and instead of the tradition mail mantle under the armour, she was going to wear long, black running tights and a red long-sleeved running top. She joined Soldier in the rangers boots club, and saw her arsenal, consisting until then of her trademark shield, completed with a short one-handed sword and a musket.

"Wicked! Hey Shield, ya should bring a horse on the battlefield and yell FREEDOOOOOM when chargin' the robots." Scout exclaimed, way more excited about this outfit than anybody else. Pyro clapped with enthusiasm. "Put it on, put it on!"

"Ah, if you insist, little monster." Shield sighed with a smile, everybody thinking that she didn't need a lot of convincing. "Charlie, come and help me, I might need assistance for the first try."


When they returned, both trying on their new uniform, Miss Pauling couldn't repress a very satisfied smile. Hacker looked like a stereotypical young nerd but looked very at ease in her streetwear outfit – she had an absolute freedom of movement and wouldn't be slowed down by any superfluous equipment, while have the possibility to carry her informatics an electronical gear around. As for Shield, she looked incredible in her red and silver armour, light enough for her to be quick on her feet, but resistant enough to take in damage for her teammates. Powerful. Intimidating. A crusader ready to take down the enemy heretics.

"That. Is. So. COOL." Scout exclaimed, jumping around Shield before turning to Hacker. "Hey, that's a cool outfit too! Look, we're kinda matching!" He added, grabbing his new friend by the shoulders to make her stand by him and compare their clothing. The others laughed at Hacker's facial expression as she was squeezed against the Bostonian and his lack of awareness of people's personal spaces.

"I gotta admit, that's mighty impressive." Engie said, visibly interested in the high-tech armour. "I gather I'm gonna be in charge of this beauty's maintenance, y'know where to find me if you got any problem with it."

"Hey Engie, dat's the lamest way of asking a girl to undress I've ever heard." Scout commented. Hacker punched him in the ribcage as Engie inevitably blushed.

"Quit it Scout, that ain't no way of speakin' of our new colleagues." He argued back.

"Alright, before we all start jumping at each other's throat, I would very much like to try out Shield's risotto." Miss Paulign intervened, unable to repress a smile blossoming on her face.

"Yes! I want the most glorious food to celebrate our ghost-hunting American triumph! Hurrah!" Soldier approved, raising his fist in the air. When Sniper returned after escorting Merasmus to the HQ cells, he found everybody getting ready for a promising and cordial dinner. The kind of dinner that hadn't had in a long time, and that would almost make them forget about the threat roaming outside, waiting to strike back.