A new fanfic...haven't written much lately from writer's block and well so many other issues that have happened. Plus. Holidays. Trying to find my muse again and write. Hopefully this story does well! Been playing Overwatch a while, and I love the lore they have and the characters! So finally got around to writing something about it. I hope everyone enjoys, and feel free to leave reviews to let me know how I'm doing! Still a little rusty with writing! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own any artistic works of Overwatch (including, story, character, lore, etc.). It is copyrighted by Blizzard and other affiliated companies.

NOTE: This chapter has been rewritten, and updated in an attempt to match the Overwatch lore and timeline...vague as it is sometimes. Thank you!

Chapter 1
Where Angels Are Found

The second Omnic Crisis was beginning. Angela had heard of all the unrest between Omnics and humans lately. Terror attacks against one another, debates whether or not Omnics deserved rights, deaths in Russia...the situation was a breeding ground for something terrible to rise from it. In the days of the first Omnic Crisis, she fondly remembered how Overwatch was put together. And her, being so young, making new discoveries and developments in nanobiology, had been asked aboard. They were interested in her research and what it could do to help those who needed it. She had happily joined, thinking now her skills weren't just concentrated in one or two hospitals; they could be utilized abroad. For the good of everyone.

But those days were long gone, right with the explosion. Everything had come crashing down around them, and left them disgraced. It didn't mean when the UN disbanded them, and enacted the Petras Act, that she didn't keep her Valkyrie suit. It was more than just an Overwatch uniform, so to speak...it helped her bring back countless from near death. And so far, no one's corrected her on the use of it in the battlefields of today.

Battlefields like Iraq, where she currently was. Iraq was a different beast than she could have ever guessed. In her days of Overwatch, she was used to sophisticated grenades and bombs. Here...one could barely walk down a street, without fear that a grocery bag and a pile of garbage on the side of the road concealed an IED. There were so many to help here, and as many as she helped, more seemed die or get wounded. Angela was resilient. She did all she could, flying into the thick of firefights as Overwatch taught her to rescue those pinned down or heavily wounded.

While she did everything she could in Iraq, she often watched the news and kept up with the events going on in Russia. A lot of tension between Omnics and humans was more prominent there than anywhere else. It wasn't surprising, given their past with Omnics and the first crisis. She was sorely tempted to go to Russia and lend her aid to them. It was wishful thinking that it would be like old times with Overwatch if she went...but she knew better. There would be no Winston, no Jack, no Reinhardt, no Genji, no Gabriel...

It would only be her and her Valkyrie suit, and the Russian military. No friendly faces. No Overwatch. As she believed, Overwatch was shut down for a good reason. And despite all the friends she made, it was best it stayed that way.

Deep in the Iraqi desert was an old, old city. In the last few weeks, it was a battleground between two opposing forces, struggling for power in that region. The fighting had left many families homeless, and many people severely injured or dead. But it was thanks to a certain blonde doctor that many of these deaths and injuries were avoided.

The patients were all brought to a spawling camp of canvas tents south of the city, where it was still safe. This was where doctor Angela Ziegler spent most of her time. Angela saved many from life threatening injuries, and a special few from death itself. When she wasn't in the dusty little camp, she was flying into battle with her VSRS, saving fighters on the frontlines. Stories of her abilities spread throughout the community, and many began to believe she was a true angel from Heaven sent to protect them all.

But even heroic angels could grow exhausted and fatigued.

Angela was dozing in her personal tent. Most of the other nurses and technicians had their own, vaguely decorated with personal items to make it more like home. Angela's was void of most of these, save a few pictures and ornate rug a patient had woven her as a present. A fan was blowing cool air from its stand, barely enough to make the tent's temperature tolerable. Twenty hours of work had depleted any energy she had left. After the long hours of flying in and out of battle zones, rescuing people, then tending to patients in the camp, the last thing she wanted to hear was any electronic beeping for attention.

But alas...something was chirping and calling for her attention from an old rucksack under her cot.

Angela loved silence. It put her at peace. Over her time with Overwatch, her ears had grown sensitive to any form of noise. The muffled beeping from her rucksack was as jarring to her as if someone had started up a jackhammer. Tired, blue eyes flew open and she stared at the blank canvas wall of her tent for a moment.

" Warum..." she groaned, as the sound was not going away.

She sat up slowly. She reached under her cot and pulled out the bag...frowning. She hid her electronics in the rucksack. While she held sympathy for her patients and others, there had been a few occasions where some medical personnel have had their personal electronics turn up missing. It was better to hide them or keep them on you.

She loosened the closure and dug around inside, pulling out her phone. Her eyes couldn't believe the words she saw flashing on its screen. It wasn't possible. Angela rubbed her eyes a few times, wanting to blame her sleepy and tired state for what she was seeing. But the words were clear.

"Verdammt," she muttered and shook her head.

RECALL OF ALL OVERWATCH AGENTS! AN IMMEDIATE RESPONSE IS REQUIRED!

"Immediate...hmph," Angela grumbled with a frown.

It was not that she did not wish to see old friends she had made in her time with Overwatch. There were some she still kept in contact with like Genji and even Torbjorn. Nor was it that she didn't want to help others in the world. She was already doing that by going into crisis areas affected by war.

It was because Overwatch was disbanded for a reason, and she supported it. The militarization of the agency had her pitted against her superiors like Jack and Gabriel, as well as the directors themselves. Then, of course, there was the Petras Act which made any Overwatch activity illegal. Whoever had sent out this recall was risking prosecution if anyone ever found out what they did.

"After I rest...I am certainly in no state to be dealing with this," she said to herself tiredly. The phone was put back in the rucksack. She shoved the sack back under her cot, and figured she would deal with it when she woke up and before she headed out to start her next twenty hour shift. Maybe when she woke up, she thought, the message would not be on her phone and could chalk it up to being nothing but a very realistic dream.

Ten hours came and went. A small, dial clock on the stand next to her fan began to chirp and ring loudly. Angela groaned and buried her face into the thin pillow her head was on. She had been having such a lovely dream... and was determined to enjoy it a few moments longer. Finally, she sat up and turned the alarm off. She stretched and yawned, noticing it was darker outside her tent. [i]It must be sunset[/i], she thought.

There was a list of things she wanted to get done. Mostly, she wanted to find some decent dinner to fill up on and more of the sweet hot tea that was custom to the country. There was something else too that she was vaguely recalling to memory.

"...That message!" she said suddenly. Arms darted under the cot and dragged her bag back out. She opened the bag swiftly and yanked out her phone. Nimble fingers moved over its smooth screen. Was it all a dream? No one could be crazy enough to want to recall former Overwatch agents. It was probably even an arrestable offense making threats to reform the old agency!

But as she went through her recent messages, it was there still. Clear as day. A heavy, sinking feeling slid into the pit of her stomach as she reread the message.

It was some time with her thumb hovering over the button to call back. All she had to say was that she would not be coming. There was much more to do in many other regions of the world that she could do on her own, and not be affiliated with Overwatch. She sighed as she hit the button and was immediately connected.

"Hello?"

She said once she knew the connection was established. There were sounds she took for someone scrambling about.

"Angela?"

There was a small smile that graced Angela's lips when she heard that voice. She knew it well.

"Winston. Was that you putting out the recall?" she asked.

"It was...Gibraltar had been attacked by Talon. They were attempting to hack Athena for information...she says they were trying to obtain the documents on former Overwatch agents and their locations. Reaper was here with them," he said, sounding a bit solemn.

Reaper...Angela sighed. She had been hearing news about some terrorist attacking certain Overwatch agents and leaving no survivors. Talon working with someone like Reaper didn't bode quite well with her. It was lucky that she was in the middle of a desert and in a city that was hard to reach.

"Are you ok?" she asked, becoming more awake and alert with each moment.

"I am fine, you know me. Tracer is here too now. And I think Reinhardt is on his way. And a friend of his. So is Torbjorn! He says his wife isn't too happy, but...she understands why. Look, Angela, is Reaper is hunting us all down, we're better off sticking together and taking down Talon together. Plus, you've seen the news...there is so much going on out there we can stop. We need more heroes, new and old...won't you come?"

There was silence from Angela as she mulled it over. Part of her wanted to go to support her friends, and indeed stop the rise of violence happening lately. Another part of her knew better. Reforming Overwatch was illegal and she didn't want any part of it.

"Winston, you know this is wrong. Reforming Overwatch is illegal...no matter what is going on in the world, how can we help when we have to look over our shoulder to make sure the UN doesn't try hunting us down to arrest us?" she reasoned.

" What's wrong is what's going on in the world and nothing stopping it. Besides the attack on this base, Reaper and Widowmaker tried to obtain the Doomfist. We were able to stop them...but me and Tracer can't do it alone. It's only a matter of time before the situation in Russia spills over into other parts of the world. The only one seeming to barely keep peace between us all is Mondatta. But he is only one Omnic. And if Talon is-"

Angela voice was sharp. "What do you mean they tried taking the Doomfist?"

"Well...after they tried to hack the information here and failed, they ran off after the next best thing. Seems there's a lot of missions they have in a day. We're okay, Angela! We are safe...but you know, we could always use a good healer. Just in case...won't you come?"

Angela was quiet on the end of the line for a moment. Her voice sounded oddly strained as she responded.

"I...I can't, Winston," she said, and hung up before he could say anything more.

There were too many memories in regards to Overwatch. There were some good ones, but often than not, quite a few bad ones. What mostly came to mind was her failures. Failures to effectively mediate between Gabriel Reyes and Jack Morrison, both whose feud was directly affecting the team and agency itself. Failure to get her superiors to bolster and fund the science and engineering departments instead of militarizing the agency overall. Failure to save Gabriel Reyes when he was dying...it was a weight on her she never had quite dealt with.

She put the phone back in her sack and tied it back together. The memories were taking root and began plaguing her. Angela abruptly stood and dressed in a rough manner. She tied her hair back up and shrugged on the white labcoat.

"It's ok. Don't think about it. Nothing a hard day's work can't fix," she said in a false cheerful voice. She got herself together and left her tent to report in to the main medical post and see what was on the agenda for her today. With the adrenaline still in her system and her emotions running a little higher than usual, she felt slightly daring. Maybe they would assign her to be a field medic today...that way, she had not a second to dwell on unhappy memories.

Angela returned to the dusty camp in a large humvee vehicle carrying many injured civilians who got caught up in crossfire. Angela had healed them and had some fighters help her get them out. They were in a sorry state, even after the healing. The shock had not quite left their eyes. Once at the camp, Angela had some nurses translate that they needed to be washed up and would be assigned a tent to stay in. Angela was hugged by an old woman in the group before she was escorted off to wash up. It was barely registering to Angela that she would need the same soon enough. Blood and dirt was all over her.

Angela managed to go wash up and get her suit cleaned. While she was waiting for it to dry, she joined some others on their break in a tent that had a television. There was a device attached to it that was using satellites to catch stations to broadcast. She watched as a woman in a suit was reporting on the latest news...

" The Shambali leader, Mondatta, has been assassinated today in King's Row. An overnight, international breakdown seems to have occurred since then. An apartment complex that housed many Omnics was burnt down shortly after the news was made public in Gorvoslask, Russia. CCTV reveals a masked man pouring some kind of flammable liquid all over the property then began to throw molotov cocktails into the windows. Fifteen people also perished in the fire..."

Angela stared at the screen blankly. How could this be happening?

" Protestors for Omnic rights are in an uproar, as police have failed to find the assassin. Many of them stand outside in the streets, in front of city halls and police stations, with fellow Omnics, demanding justice be served and peace prevail...in Russia, so far 15,000 lives have been claimed during the ongoing conflict between new Omnics being produced by a Siberian Omnium..."

Angela got up and went back to her tent, sitting down on her neatly made cot for a moment. She went to dig her phone out and was about to send a call out to Winston. This was the third time today she held her phone in her hand with disbelief. Winston was right, something had to be done. Russia was barely containing the Second Omnic Crisis themselves, even with Volskaya Industries being given a green light to build new mech for the military. And now with Mondatta dead...she knew the only thing coming now was a tsunami of problems for everyone globally. Brows furrowed at her lit up screen. After how she hung up on him before, she was hoping he wouldn't be too mad now.

There was barely two rings before she heard the familiar voice of Winston's.

"...So I assume you saw what happened just now..." he said.

"Yes..." she said, looking down.

" Well, want to know who showed up?" he said, his voice trying to sound more cheerful, sensing how distraught Angela was feeling.

"Who?" she said softly, resting her elbow on her knee.

" Genji. He said it was the right thing to do to come back amid all the discord going on...want to talk to him?" he asked.

Angela blinked. Genji was there that quick?

"Sure," she said, remembering how well they got along. She still had all the letters he wrote her over the course of the years. He seemed to be doing well under the tutelage of an Omnic known as Zenyatta.

"Dr. Ziegler? When are you coming back?" he asked.

Angela figured that Winston hadn't told him that she refused to. Part of her felt angry though. Was Winston using Genji as a way to convince her to come back?

" I...I haven't quite decided," she lied. There was some silence on the phone and she felt that Genji knew she was lying.

"Dr. Ziegler, you have seen the violence in the world escalating. And no force in the world seems to be able to stop it right now. There are corrupt organizations who are fostering this, profiting off of it. And with the new Omnic crisis, and now Mondatta dead... the world needs us now more than ever, don't you think? And...we need a good medic to help us make that happen," he said smoothly.

" Are you saying you guys cannot possibly function without me?" she teased half-heartedly.

There was a pause on the line.

"...Yes," he finally said, almost sheepishly.

Angela looked to an old picture she had framed on the small stand. It was an old picture of the Overwatch team, when Winston finally became an official member. It was one of her more fonder memories. Maybe if she went, she could work on correcting her failures. They could do it right this time. Overwatch could start anew.

"I will be there in one week...I still have much to do here before I return," she said finally. It was not like she had a contract with the military or medical staff here. She was here purely on her own volition. But she would need a week to get her own affairs in order before leaving.

" We will see you then. Safe travels, Doctor Ziegler," Genji said almost happily. Angela hung up and looked at her phone for a moment, wondering if she was doing the right thing. While she believed Overwatch should stay disbanded, part of her couldn't help but think it could be reformed for all the right reasons this time. That they all could learn from their mistakes. And she knew that not every former Overwatch agent would respond. They would need more heroes to join them in the fight. With new blood, it would be a new and different era than the one she joined into. Maybe a better one.