The shuttle slowly sputtered along in the air, it wasn't the fanciest craft, but it got the job done. The interior was small, but not cramped, a few seats lined the walls with a table in the center, capable of displaying information via holograms. A single figure sat stoically alone, leaning forward with one hand on his knees. He wore a leather jacket with the colors of the American flag, a large collar flanked both sides of his neck along with a thermal turtleneck, the number 76 was engraved in large front on the back. A few pieces of combat armor had been grafted to his jacket and black combat pants, along with the front of his boots, a small pistol sat holstered on his right thigh. His blue eyes shone in the dim light of the cabin, scars ran across his face, the largest one crossing the entirety of it. He sighed as he stood up, grabbing a plain metallic mask with a red glass visor from the seat next to him. He clicked the mask over his face, obscuring all but the largest scar that he held, before grabbing his rifle from the table. The rifle was a standard pulse munition rifle, they were common amongst most militaries, he had made a few modifications to his however. He linked up the rifle with his visor, allowing it to effectively be aimed by the internal computers, all he had to do was pull the trigger. The magazine size had been slightly increased from the usual, along with a helix rocket launcher attached to the under-barrel, it bore the same color scheme as his jacket. He glanced down at the table, a small button was blinking, he pressed it with a gloved finger. The image of a gorilla shone from the table, he worse a small pair of black glasses, along with a white set of combat armor custom made for his large size. "So, you've made it. I'm sorry to drag you into this sir, but there's no one else I could turn to. McCree's still in America, Genji is in Nepal, and Torbjörn is somewhere in Russia- "His deep voice was cut off by the soldier's gruff tone.
"Just go over the details, Winston." He brusquely spoke, examining his rifle without so much as a glance towards the hologram.
"Right. After the events in King's Row, Talon managed to get a hold of Le- "Winston stopped himself, "Tracer. She took some damage to her accelerator and was on her way to Gibraltar for repairs, but Talon was waiting for her. They took her here, to a small base located off the northwestern coast of Africa." A map appeared from the table, showing the location of the island as well as the shuttle's relative position, they were close. "I need you to sneak into the base, rescue Tracer, and bring her back to Gibraltar. There's no telling what Talon's doing to her, so you need to work fast." Winston's voice was full of concern, the cold gaze of the visor didn't give him any comfort.
"Anything else?" The soldier spoke, moving towards a side door of the shuttle, opening it with the press of a button.
"No, that's it. Good luck, Jack." The soldier growled as the communications shut off, he hated when people used his old name, only a few knew of his identity. Jack Morrison was dead, there was only Soldier 76. The shuttle soared low above the ocean, not wanting to show itself on any radars in the base, 76 was planning to land near a low cliff and sneak into the base from there, the shuttle would stay on standby not too far away. He withdrew a small device from his pocket, Winston had given him this as a tool to use on the mission, he called it an iDroid. 76 tapped a button on the side of the device, a holographic map of the base was projected from the screen, a small blinking dot indicated his position on it. He sighed as he slipped the device back into his pocket, he had no idea where on this base they were holding Tracer, but the large facility on the map seemed like his best bet. The shuttle slowly ascended to the edge of a cliff, hovering nearby to allow 76 to leap from the door, sliding against the wet rock as he landed. The shuttle lowered itself back down below, it would keep as low a profile as possible before 76 would call it for evac, hopefully they would never know he was there. The rain pattered against his visor as he surveyed his surroundings, a small prison could be seen across the bay, it couldn't hurt to check if she was there. 76 crouched low as he began to sneak across the cliff, a small guardhouse stood facing the bay, a lone figure stood inside, his face dimly lit by a cigarette. 76 prowled his way to a rock jutting out near the guardhouse, the rain made it difficult to hear footsteps, he'd have to keep that in mind. His visor didn't pick up any other hostiles nearby, he took this as his chance to get some fresh intel, withdrawing his pistol from its holster before placing his rifle on his back. The pistol had a silencer built into the barrel, it wasn't ideal in head on combat, but it would work perfectly as a stealth weapon. 76 crept next to the window of the guardhouse, quickly pulling the man into a chokehold as he pointed his pistol at his head.
"Where is Tracer being held? Give me the right answer, and you get to keep your life." 76 whispered, his gruff tone sounded fierce even when quiet. The man vainly struggled in his grasp, trying to pry himself free of the hold he was trapped in.
"I don't know, I swear!" The man gasped out, 76 tightened his grip on the guard's neck, hoping that a little pain would help his memory. He glanced down at the name tag on his uniform, maybe it could help too.
"Last chance, Hudson." 76 pushed the barrel of his pistol against the man's skull, the threat of death was often a great motivator. The guard continued to struggle, before slowly relaxing his muscles.
"Okay… She's in the main facility, I don't know what room. That's all I know." The man sighed, 76 let out a dry chuckle as he tightened his grip on his neck further, holding the man in place as he drifted into unconsciousness. He slumped the guard against the inside of the shack, he wouldn't want anyone to notice the body. Per the map he glanced at earlier, the main facility would be up the road from his current location, he hoped that the intel was correct. He slinked his way through the nearby shrubbery before the noise of an engine brought his attention away from sneaking. A large truck was driving its way up from the prison, the driver was the only one inside. The truck slowed to a stop as it neared the end of the road, just past 76's current location, the bed of the truck was empty and had high walls, he'd be able to ride it inside the base. He sprinted behind the truck, hoisting himself up into the bed as quietly as he could, before lying prone against the metallic surface. The rain had granted him a surprising amount of cover, the truck continued down the road, eventually coming to a stop outside a large gate. The massive door slowly opened, the truck drove inside of the base, eventually coming to a stop underneath a metal canopy, 76 heard the driver side door shut and the sound of the driver walking away. He quickly peered over the side of the truck, making sure that no one was nearby, it looked like he was in the clear. He dropped out of the bed, quickly looking around the interior of the base, a small pathway led to a lower section. He slid across the open path, trying to get out of sight as quickly as possible, there was a small opening between two buildings that he could fit through. 76 slowly made his way through the gap, peering around the corner as he reached the end, he could see a stairwell leading down into the bowels of the base, a lone guard stood watch in the rain, staring at the main gate of the base. 76 made his way to the railing of the stairwell, slowly hopping over before lowering himself onto the stairs, he wanted to deal with as few guards as possible. As he descended the stairs he found himself in some sort of boiler room, he could hear the footsteps of guards approaching from the other end of the room. He quickly made his way behind the boilers, crouching low to not be spotted, a pair of guards slowly walked past him.
"Man, it's about time we got off guard duty. Not that I don't think the prisoner's important, but it's just so god-damned boring!" The first guard moaned, stretching his arms into the air.
"Tell me about it, there's only so long I can spend staring down a hallway before I start going crazy." The second replied, lighting a cigarette in his mouth as they ascended the stairwell. 76 knew he was going the right way, Tracer couldn't be far away. He slinked past the boilers, peering around the corner at the end of the room, a pair of guards stood watch in front of a small chain gate, they looked as green as can be. 76 chuckled as he withdrew his pistol, he'd shoot the furthest one in the head, then use a more personal touch for the other. He counted to three before quickly turning the corner and firing a shot into the first guard's head, he quickly slammed the other into the concrete wall of the base, the impact making a disgusting crunch as his body fell to the ground. The chain gate held a small lock on it, but nothing a little brute force couldn't solve. 76 lifted his foot into the air, leaning all his weight into it as he kicked open the gate, the door flung open into the dimly lit cell. A lone figure sat in the center of the room, her arms were raising into the air, tied to the ceiling by ropes. Her goggles hung around her neck, the orange gloss reflecting the subtle blue light from the device on her chest. A few cuts and bruises could be seen on her face, the leather of her flight jacket had been frayed from the ordeal. 76 withdrew a knife from his side pocket, holding onto Tracer as he sliced the ropes that held her arms in place. She slumped forward against him, getting out with an unconscious person would be considerably more difficult than breaking in. He grunted as he hoisted her across his shoulders, he wouldn't be able to use his rifle with one hand, but it hopefully wouldn't come to that. He made his way back out of the cell, the way he came from would still have the guard at the top of the stairs, he'd try his luck with the other door. He slowly pushed it open, peering inside as he stepped through, he found himself in a small hallway that split off in two different directions up ahead. He glanced down the right hallway, the light of the base could be seen at the end of it, it wouldn't be wise to head that way. He turned to the left, a small opening was placed in the wall, it was labeled as a garbage chute. 76 sighed as he stepped towards the opening, it wasn't the most glamorous was to escape, but he hardly had a choice. He slid Tracer into the chute, pushing her down before hoisting himself inside, the smell was rancid. His groaned as he ventured down the chute, coming to a stop in a large pit outside the base, if he wasn't wearing a mask he'd be crying from the smell. He hoisted Tracer back on his shoulders, a small cliff sat at the end of the pit, the shuttle could fit there. He withdrew the iDroid from his pocket, marking his location for the shuttle to meet him at, wiping the remains of someone's dinner from his sleeve as he made his way towards the cliff. The rain would help wash some of it off, he hoped it wouldn't permanently stain his jacket, replacements were almost impossible to find. The shuttle lifted from below the cliff, the side door slowly opening as close to the cliff as it could, 76 hopped inside and placed Tracer in a chair. He glanced over her as she sat, a small red light could be seen on the side of the accelerator on her chest, he didn't remember that being there. The shuttle took off towards Gibraltar as he made his way to the table, bringing up the communication line to Winston, his face was soon projected from the table.
"I've got her, but there's some red light on the side of her accelerator." 76 spoke, expecting the scientist to know more about it than he would. The gorilla seemed to look through some notes, before a shocked expression crossed his face.
"You need to get rid of that now, the entire device has been compromised!" Winston shouted, 76 stood in bewilderment at his ally.
"Won't that kill her?" He still remembered the incident when he was Jack, Tracer had been chosen to test a prototype aircraft, and an incident occurred. The teleportation function of the aircraft broke down, the entire ship and Tracer disappeared, eventually she reappeared around Gibraltar before she'd disappear as quickly as she arrived. Winston had headed the effort to anchor her in the current time, creating a room in the base that was lined with chronal accelerators, allowing her to remain in the present. She was quarantined inside until Winston could create a more portable device, which was what she now wore on her chest, if she didn't have that on she was likely to drift through time again.
"We'll have a few hours until it starts getting out of control, you can make it back to Gibraltar and get her in the old room before it gets serious. Now get rid of it, unless you want to end up the same way." 76 sighed as he shut off the communications, making his way over to the still unconscious Tracer. The device was held on her with several straps, he began to undo them one at a time, eventually hoisting the surprisingly light device off her body. The red light had begun to blink faster, 76 reopened the side door, chucking the device into the sea below. He shut the door as he heard groans from Tracer, she was beginning to come to. He made his way back to her, unsure of how she would react to losing her accelerator and being saved by someone with his reputation. He wasn't a hero like back in his glory days, he was a vigilante, delivering justice however he saw fit. Tracer was much more of an ideologue, putting good before all else, she hadn't changed since he first met her, still the cheery bright-eyed Brit. Tracer shook her head as she awoke, her eyes slowly adjusting to the dim cabin, she pushed herself upright as she remembered her imprisonment.
"It's all right, you're safe." 76 calmly spoke, leaning his rifle against the table before he leaned against it. Tracer's gaze looked down at her chest, her motions became frantic as she realized that she was missing her accelerator. "I had to get rid of it, whole thing was compromised, we'll make it to Gibraltar." Small tears began to appear in her eyes, 76 felt his heart drop, he rarely saw the energetic young woman show any sort of sadness.
"But I can't go back to that, I can't let that happen to me again!" Tracer shouted, she began to cry as she pulled her knees to her chest. "Drifting through time, nothing to latch onto as I careen through centuries, powerless to help myself." Her voice was quieter, soon the only sound in the cabin was her gentle sobs. 76 pushed himself from the table, walking over to Tracer before placing a hand on her shoulder.
"That won't ever happen again, I promise." He spoke, trying to instill as much sympathy in his voice as he could. Tracer's head was still buried in her knees, her spiky hair had been matted down from the rain. 76 sighed as he reached up to his mask, slowly detaching it from his face, before placing it on the seat beside her. "Trust me." He gently whispered, attempting to coax Tracer from her despair. Her head slowly raised from behind her knees, her eyes were red and swollen from the tears. A look of shock crossed her face as she examined the man before her.
"Jack? Is that you?" She spoke, bewildered at the sight, the world believed that Jack Morrison had died in Switzerland during the collapse of Overwatch. He slowly nodded, pulling Tracer into a hug as she sobbed into his chest. Her cries slowed, eventually replaced by the sound of her breathing, he had always managed to calm down his soldiers when they needed it. Tracer began to quietly laugh as she turned her head towards him, her hazel eyes meeting his steel blue gaze. "Just one thing, luv. Promise me you'll take a shower when we get back!" Tracer laughed, she was always the first to make jokes in any situation, Jack nodded with a chuckle, before releasing their embrace. He slipped the mask back on, feeling quite naked without it, before making his way to a seat opposite of Tracer.
"I'll tell you all about how I survived when we get back, but don't tell anyone who I am. Winston knows, and now you're among the few who know the truth, and I'd like to keep it that way." 76 dryly spoke, he felt as though he had two different personalities; the remnants of Morrison, and the vigilante Soldier 76. The shuttle soared towards Gibraltar, they had more than enough time before Tracer's condition would begin to act up again. 76 settled into the chair, shutting his eyes to get some much-needed rest before they landed.