“Get security out of the building,” Aiden says. “All of them. They can walk the lawn for a bit. They don’t have to leave the grounds, but they can’t be in here.”

“I-” Coburn hesitates, anxious. “Is that really necessary? All of them?”

“He doesn’t want to send them outside,” I tell Aiden, who sighs.

“Alright. If we have to set up a casualty collection point later, well. We’ve had to do it before.”

“Casualty collection point!” Coburn blanches. “Is this going to be dangerous?”

“It could be,” Aiden says pointedly. “The more people who are around, the more dangerous it becomes.”

Coburn fidgets his fingers together, then lurches to his feet. “Stay here. I’ll just go - yes, I’ll handle it.”

Aiden waits until Coburn opens the door, then adds:

“Calmly, Mr. Coburn. Nothing’s wrong. Understand? Find a good reason to get them out. Don’t make them worry.”

Coburn stares at Aiden, then nods once and hurries into the hallway.

I go to the door and peek around the frame, watching until Coburn disappears down the stairs.

I whip around to face Aiden, slumping back against the wall.

“Holy shit!” I whisper, my fingers shaking. Aiden gets out of his seat and comes right to me. The facade-face falls away, and he smiles brightly, his real smile. The sight of it instantly soothes my frayed nerves.

“You’re doing so great!” He taps my nose. “Did you get the camera?”

“Yes, but I guess I didn’t have to. We could have just gotten it back right now!”

“We could have, yeah, unless Coburn had called the real authorities and then refused to leave us alone in his office.”

“That’s true.” I bite my lip, staring up at Aiden. There’s a silence, and then we both burst into hushed laughter. “This is so fucking ridiculous!” I groan. “I keep thinking I’m gonna laugh, but I’m also in full panic mode.”

“I know. Me too.”

“I mean, Cross-Realm Defense Administration!” I press my fingers to my forehead. “For fuck’s sake!”

“Doesn’t matter how wild it sounds, he bought it.” Aiden pokes his head through the door, checking that Coburn isn’t coming back. “Kasey was right. People’s first thought when they see a badge is not to question whether it’s real.”

If a police officer flashed you a badge, Kasey had said, would your first thought be, is that badge real? Or would it be, shit, they know about my stash? And consider that you’ve actually been haunting Coburn. It’s already real, already possible, to him.

“I’m gonna have a meltdown,” I tell Aiden. “Or I really am gonna start laughing. You looked so serious, saying all that complete fucking nonsense-!”

“You’re doing just fine!” Aiden presses a kiss to my forehead. “I know, it’s fucking absurd, though. I nearly busted out laughing when you said-” He breaks off, listening. “Shit. Thought I heard something. Anyways, just hang in there, you’re doing way better than I thought you would. No offense.”

“Well, I was all prepared to feel terrible about this, until he compared his own daughter to a horse that needs breaking, or whatever weird fucking thing he said!”

Aiden grimaces. “Yeah, next mission should be rescuing Coburn’s daughter, hey?”

“Seriously!” I nibble my lip, something unfortunate occurring to me. “I do feel bad, though - the security guards are all gonna have to wait outside in the cold, in those super thin jackets…”

Aiden stares at me for a second, then lets out a quiet, huffing laugh.

“What?” I ask, and he shakes his head, smiling.

“Nothing.” He takes my hand, lifts it to his mouth. Brushes a kiss onto my knuckles. “I just love - the way you think about things.”

“Oh, god.” I drop my forehead against Aiden’s chest. “I’m never going to make it through this. We should have had Raj do this, not me. He’s an actual actor.”

“Okay, and we should have had Ralph do this, instead of me.” Aiden gently pushes me back and steps away, casting a nervous glance at the door. “He’s an actual liar.”

“Ralph and Raj, together? They would literally kill each other before they could get one thing done.”

“Well, good thing we’re here, instead of the R Team,” Aiden says, right as Coburn reappears in the doorway.

“What’s the R Team?” he asks, clutching at the door frame.

Aiden and I exchange a look, frozen to the spot. Weirdly enough, I’m the one who lands on an answer first.

“You don't want to find out,” I tell Coburn, and his eyes widen. “Did you get everyone out of the building?”

“I did. What’s next? Do you need to tell someone what we're doing? So people know what’s going on, in case something-” Coburn swallows. “Something bad happens?”

Aiden glances at me. “Call it in, would you, Sutton?”

This was not part of the plan, so it’s a good thing I happened to bring the handheld radio. I reach into my pocket and pull it out.

The stopwatch catches on the radio’s short antenna. I keep my grip on the radio, but the stopwatch comes tumbling out of my pocket.

It falls to the ground and clatters to a stop right between my feet and Coburn’s.

A wave of cold horror rushes through me.

I bend down and pick it up, but it’s too late - Coburn already saw.

“Wh-?” He stares at it, his forehead furrowing. “That's what you were using to scan my... is that - is that just a stopwatch?”

I have like, two seconds to come up with an answer.

I do my best approximation of a knowing smirk. “It looks like a stopwatch, doesn’t it? You’d never suspect that it’s anything else.”

Aiden sees what I’m trying to do right away. He lets out a little laugh and takes his phone out of his pocket. It’s turned off, and the screen stays dark when he holds it up.

“If that’s a stopwatch,” Aiden says, “then this is a phone.”

We both chuckle, like the suggestion is hilarious.

Coburn looks at the phone with obvious interest. “What is it, really?”

“We can talk gadgets all day,” Aiden answers, tucking it back into his pocket, “But I’d rather we get started. Will you have a seat?”

Coburn hustles around the desk and sits back down. Aiden sits again, too.

“What now?” Coburn asks, and Aiden falls right back into his rhythm.

“Now I need you to tell me everything that’s been happening to you, Mr. Coburn. From the beginning.”

I step out into the hallway, gesturing to the radio like I’m going to make the report. The moment I get out of sight, I sink against the wall, trying to get my breath back.

The fucking stopwatch! I can’t believe that happened. My whole damn life just flashed before my eyes.

It’s a minute or two before I feel okay enough to go back in. By the time I reclaim my chair, Coburn is halfway through his story. Aiden is listening in stoic silence, as if he doesn’t already know all of this information.

“Well,” he says, when Coburn falls quiet. “It’s a good thing we’re here, wouldn’t you say?”

“Yes.” Coburn actually looks relieved, but only for a second. “I had - started to wonder if I wasn’t…” He touches a finger to his temple.

“Not so, I assure you.” Aiden sits back and looks at me. “What do you make of this story, Sutton?”

I hesitate, pretending to consider. “This haunting is definitely targeted at you, specifically, Mr. Coburn.”

“Yes, I agree.” Coburn presses his fingers to the bridge of his nose. “Oh, god, but why me? What did I ever do?”

“Maybe it’s not something you did.” Aiden runs a thoughtful hand over his beard. “Maybe the spirit isn’t trying to punish you, maybe it wants something from you.”

Coburn smacks a hand to his forehead.

“Oh - I forgot!” He unlocks his desk drawer, then pulls out the two notes we left him. “This one I confess I tore up, in a moment of... it said give it back. And this one, look, it says - it’s mine.”

Aiden leans forward to examine the notes, then taps his finger on the paper.

“Well, here’s our answer, Coburn! It’s what's called an object-driven spirit. You’re the curator at this museum, aren’t you? You probably brought in a compromised object.”

“A compromised - what!” Coburn draws back, offended at the accusation. “What kind of-?”

“We see it all the time," Aiden interrupts. "Matter of fact, Sutton and I just got done dealing with some cursed dolls.”

Coburn gapes at him, then turns to me. “Really? No!”

I mean. Aiden dealt with them by putting them in a drawer, but.

“Quick work by Foster on that one,” I answer. “He didn’t even need my help.”

Coburn turns his attention back to Aiden, who is folding up the intact note and gathering the pieces of the ripped one. He tucks both into the inner pocket of his jacket.

“We’ll have to keep these,” he tells Coburn. “You understand.”

“Fine, fine, keep them, take them as far away from here as possible, but - how do we resolve this?”

“Well, next we’ll have to identify the afflicted object. Then Sutton and I will remove it. We’ll bring it to a secure control facility, where we’ll dispose of it.”

“Dispose of-?” Coburn blinks, startled, as if this is the wildest statement that someone has made in his office today. “You don’t mean - taking an object from Albert’s collection and - handing it over? To be destroyed? I can’t do that!”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.” Aiden lifts his hands in a calm-down gesture. “We don’t even know what object we’re looking for, yet.”

Coburn lapses into thought, then jerks upright.

“I know! We have a Winchester repeating rifle. Excellent condition model. Don’t they say that the Winchester family is haunted by the spirits of everyone killed by their invention?”

Aiden nods. “They say that, yes.”

“Is it true?” Coburn leans forward, all confidential. “Do you know?”

“That’s classified,” Aiden answers firmly. I drop my head, pretending to rub my eye; in reality, trying to bite back a laugh. “But these things don’t often relate to weapons, Mr. Coburn. It would be something more personal. A diary, or a family heirloom, like - I don’t know.” Aiden shrugs. “A piece of jewelry.”

“Jewelry.” Coburn sits back again, considering. “I’m afraid we have quite a lot of that. How do we even begin to narrow it down?”

Aiden and I exchange a meaningful look.

“If we can’t identify the object,” he tells Coburn, “Then we’ll have to ask the spirit what it wants. Directly.”

Coburn stares at him, disbelieving. “Ask the…?”

“Yes,” Aiden says. “We’ll have to make contact.”

~~~~

We know that we can’t rely on our previous hauntings to convince Coburn. Even if he’s shaken enough to buy our story, he’s going to start thinking about it harder, now that there’s an object from his beloved collection on the line.

There can’t be a shred of doubt in his mind, if he’s going to give us the locket. He’s going to need the proof right before his eyes. So.

“Let’s just do it right now,” Aiden says, turning to me. “Ready?”

I shrug. “No reason to wait around.”

“Wait a minute!” Coburn sputters. “Just a second! Excuse me!”

“Relax.” Aiden somehow manages to sound a little bored. “We’ve done this more times than I can count.” And then, as Coburn makes to get up: “Stay in your seat.”

Coburn drops back into his chair, his eyes perfectly round. “What on earth do you mean to do?”

“Now that we know what kind of spirit we're dealing with, we can contact it. I’ll reach out, Sutton will assist me. I’ll listen to what it has to say. That’s all.”

“That’s all,” Coburn repeats, dazed. “You have a - tool? A machine?”

“No,” Aiden answers. “It’s more like a very complex form of meditation.” Coburn scoffs incredulously, and Aiden quirks an eyebrow. “Well, you’ll believe me in a moment, anyways. Let’s get started.”

This is going to make some noise, but thankfully there’s no security in the building right now, nobody around to hear it.

Aiden reaches for my hand, and I let him take it. We don’t hold each other like we normally do when we open the connection; this is much more like a firm handshake.

Coburn’s eyebrows fly up, but he falls silent, watching us.

Aiden closes his eyes, so that Coburn doesn’t see the magic move through them. I close mine, too, to sell the effect.

“No interruptions, Mr. Coburn,” Aiden warns. “It’s vital that you don’t break our concentration. This is very serious stuff.”

“Yes, yes. Understood.”

Aiden opens the connection.

Hi, cute thing, I say, with my inside voice. Is it weird that I’m enjoying seeing you in a suit even in this situation? Feels like one flex and you could rip the sleeves right off of that jacket.

Aiden laughs, but only within the connection, so that only I can hear it.

Stupid, he groans. Stop it. You’re gonna make me smile.

You think we’re doing okay?

Well, if this doesn’t sell it, nothing will. Aiden hesitates. Should we wait, make it seem like we’re really meditating?

Hmm. Probably. That means we have a minute to talk, right? Can we get back to the suit flex thing? Is it actually possible, and if we make it out of here, will you do it?

Honestly, Jamie, how can your mind be on something like that at a time like this?

It’s called a coping mechanism, okay? I’m somehow simultaneously about to laugh myself to death and have a nervous breakdown. It’s a lot! And that stopwatch thing almost killed me. Thinking of you helps.

Oh. I can hear the smile in Aiden’s voice. Well, how about I read off the list of very bad things I plan on doing to you as soon as we’re alone again? Would that help?

Um! Would that help me chill out? No. Definitely not.

Fair. We should probably get going, anyways. What do we want to start with? The door?

Yeah, go for it.

I feel the surge of magic as Aiden channels his energy into temperature, and then into movement. I hear the loud bang of the door slamming shut, and the sound of Coburn’s gasp.

I open my eyes. Without releasing Aiden’s hand, I twist in my seat to look at the door, then at Coburn, who is half-risen out of his chair.

“Sit down,” I tell him, and he stops, uncertain. “You’re completely safe. We knew this would happen.”

He wrings his hands together, then drops back into his chair.

It’s almost like a performance art piece, this thing that Aiden does. He sits there, perfectly still, building up a slow crescendo of chaos.

The door first. Then the window flies open. Coburn doesn’t try to get up again, but instead starts cowering in his seat. Aiden drags the curtains into movement, as if they're caught up in a powerful gust of wind.

The energy in the room seems to thicken, like the air before a storm. It’s now very hot, and now very cold, and the quick fluctuation between the two sends a current of invisible movement through the room. Several things on Coburn’s desk crash to the ground. The door that had slammed closed pops open again, and swings wide.

Coburn is now frozen, watching with both hands pressed over his mouth, his face ashen with shock.

I think that’s enough, babe, I tell Aiden. Nice job. You did great! And I do want to hear that list later, for the record.

Everything comes to a screeching halt the moment our hands come apart.

“What…” Coburn stammers. “What… what…”

Aiden blinks his eyes open, then looks at me. I give him the quickest of nods, to confirm there’s no remaining trace of magic mixed in with their natural blue color.

Coburn is waiting, holding his breath. Aiden turns to him, and speaks slowly.

“She says…”

“She?” Coburn sputters.

“She says that she wants her locket back.”