Sydney, Australia
2:32 PM
Overwatch soldiers watched as a jet flew away from the battlefield with black smoke trailing behind it.
Desmond gripped the throttle tighter as the Slipstream violently shook.
"Desmond, can you eject?"
"NO. The matrix is already charged and it's too dangerous to eject. I'm going to have to ride this out, Winston!" Desmond yelled.
After giving Overwatch soldiers support, the Slipstream had been heavily damaged. Desmond had tried to use the recall feature but to no avail. Now he was trying to use the matrix to fly back to Gibraltar but more problems rose as the jet started to spark up.
"Make it home safe. Winston, out"
"Don't worry, big guy" Desmond turned off his communicator and began to calm himself. Black smoke had began to shoot out of the side intakes and the jet began to shake even more violently.
"Please don't explode" Desmond said slightly jokingly. He looked to his side at the jet's vitals. He raised a brow when he saw that most of the critical ares of the jet was still green.
"What? Is the matrix malfunctioning?" He looked down at the matrix trying to come up with a solution. "What if I try to manually rewire it"
Desmond felt around to try to see if there was a way to open the matrix but found none. A loud whirring sound began to rise, as if the engines were moving faster.
His eyes widened "NO. NO! ABORT! ABORT!"
Desmond tried to shut down the engines and like the other attempts, it failed. The matrix had now begun to spark, causing Desmond to lean back into the seat.
"Oh shit!"
The jet lunged forwards as bright sparks of light surrounded it, as soon as the sparks cleared Desmond's eyes widened when he saw the earth coming closer. As he was about to hit the ground, he prepared to brace with both his hands.
Desmond closed his eyes shut as he waited for the ground to come.
He felt the jet touch the soil and begin to dig into the earth. He felt the pain as one of his arms were pierced by the glass canopy. Then he felt nothing.
Slowly opening his eyes, he took in his surroundings. He had crashed in a field of grass, pieces of metal from the jet disturbed some of the soil around him. All the adrenaline had began to wear off, giving him back the feeling of his body.
Wincing he looked at his chest to see a small piece of metal had lodged into it, he turned his attention to his left arm and saw the large cut that had began to expose some bone.
He gritted his teeth at the pain 'Probably from the impact'
Desmond pressed the emergency eject which popped the canopy open and ejected his seat from the jet, the seat had not activated it's thrusters causing him to fall to the ground, luckily it had not launched far.
He laid on the grass breathing, hoping that he wasn't dying.
"Fuck...me" He sat up and looked around. His eyes fixed onto a structure in the distance.
'Is that... A city?' Desmond looked behind him and saw a thick forest 'Wait... Isn't this the place were we had came to retrieve the Bastion unit? What the hell am I doing here? I was just in Australia, why am I in Germany?'
He then turned to the Slipstream crash 'That's not possible... No of course not, besides I set the destination to Gibraltar'
Using his right arm, Desmond got off the ground and stood up then walked towards the crash. He pressed a button on the side of the jet, trying to open its compartment.
'Jammed'
Looking around Desmond laid his eyes on a sharp thin piece of metal, he grabbed it and stabbed it into the lock then pushed the compartment open, exposing his weapons, gear and a first aid kit.
He grabbed the kit and opened it. He took a pair of jumbo tweezers and held a bandage between his legs. He took a deep breathe and bit on his jacket. He pushed the tweezers inside his chest wound, yelling in pain which was muffled by his jacket. He felt the metal piece and pulled it out.
Using the bandage, he began to cover it to stop the bleeding. After the bleeding had slowed down, he took off his jacket and shirt and began to wrap the bandage around the wound.
"Having Mercy here could be useful right now" He said looking at his broken arm. Taking another bandage from the first aid kit, he pushed the bone inside then quickly began to bandage the wound.
"AGG!" He yelled "FUCK!"
Breathing deeply, Desmond stood back up and took his gear and rifle from the compartment. He put the backpack where his Tech had been stored in on and slung his rifle on his shoulder. Grabbing a water bottle from the first aid kit, he began to walk towards the city in the distance.
As the sea of grass began to end, the large city had started.
Desmond had never been here before, other than that one Talon mission but he was in the forest not the city itself.
If he wasn't at risk of infection and was suffering from injuries, he would have marveled at the sights. Right now he had been a sight. Most of the omnics and people walking past were giving him strange looks, some shocked, some scared.
He looked towards an omnic who had stepped to the side to let him through. Grabbing him by the collar, Desmond leaned towards him,
"Where's the nearest hospital? I crashed nearby and I need proper medical assistance" The omnic did not respond, probably in shock but then quickly responded.
"Not far from here, do you need a ride? I'm a cab driver"
Desmond nodded wincing as he felt a surge of pain "Yes... Please"
The omnic rushed him to his cab and opened the rear door. He reached to help Desmond but he had put his hand up before the omnic touched him "No thanks... I can walk by myself"
The omnic nodded as Desmond stepped inside. The omnic closed the door and then rushed to the drivers seat.
Desmond rested his head on the headrest as he tried to ignore the pain.
"We'll be there soon, sir. Hang on"
Desmond nodded "It's Riley...Desmond Riley"
"Well hang on Mr. Riley, we'll be there soon"
Suddenly his eyes began to get heavy "Thanks... For..."
Before he could finish his sentence, Desmond had blacked out from his injuries.
"Wha... Where am I?"
Desmond was blinded by a bright light, he could barely see as his vision was blurry.
"Oh... The patient's awake! I shall notify Dr. Ziegler" A voice said.
"I'll watch over him until she gets here" Another voice responded.
'Ziergler? Why does that sound familiar' Desmond tried to sit up but only to be pushed back down
"Sir, you were just in surgery. Please let your body rest and stay down"
Desmond nodded still blurry visioned. After a couple minutes of silence, the room was brought back to life when the doors slammed open followed by rushed footsteps
"How is he?"
"He is fine but judging by his lack of movement, his eyes are still getting used to the light"
"Good"
Desmond could make out figures walking towards him then a soft hand on his forehead
"You're lucky Overwatch had stopped by here today, Stranger. You could've surely died"
Desmond shut his eyes and reopened them. He heard a soft chuckle before he was softly pushed back.
"Here. This will help, keep you eyes open"
He then felt cold splashes hit his eyes. He closed them both and noticed his vision began to clear up... Even better than they had been.
"What's in that?" Desmond asked as he rubbed his eyes.
"Nanocells that repair damaged cells. It also accelerates you body's healing rate and adaptation"
He looked up at the doctor.
"Angela? What the hell are you doing here? I thought you were supposed to be in Gibraltar?"
Mercy gave him a puzzling look "Excuse me? Do I know you? Are you an Overwatch agent?"
Desmond looked at her incredulously "Stop pulling my leg here, Doc. You know I'm an agent"
"That explains the weapons and gear" Mercy said. Desmond perked up.
"My Tech. My Weapons. Where is it?"
"Don't worry, we have stored it in a safe place. Until we can confirm who you are, we can give it back to you"
Desmond narrowed his eyes "Angela! Enough. You know who I am, stop with the bullshit"
Before the Swiss doctor could respond, the doors slammed open once again to reveal Genji.
"Angela..." He paused when he saw Desmond "He's awake"
Mercy nodded "Yes... What were you going to say, Genji?"
"Your patient's crash site... You won't believe what jet he was flying" Genji said.
"Why, what is it?"
Genji motioned for her to follow "Come with me, we had managed to retrieve it, it's been placed in the parking lot waiting for pickup"
Mercy nodded and ran out following Genji.
Desmond hopped off the surgical table and prepared to run after them. He looked down to see he wad been naked apart from the bandages cover his chest and the cast on his left arm.
He stepped out into the hallway and looked around "Nurse!"
A nurse came out of a room and looked at him "Yes?"
"I need my clothes... Where are they"
"Ripped. We threw them away. I'll get you a new pair just wait here"
Desmond nodded and began to tap his foot on the cold marble floor "C'mon... Hurry up"
The nurse came back with a white t-shirt, black pants and Desmond's combat boots.
"Here you go sir"
Desmond took them and quickly put them on.
As soon as he was dressed, he ran outside to see an Overwatch dropship and on a transport platform, was his the Slipstream. There was a crowd looking at it in curiosity. In the middle were four people inspecting the jet.
He saw both Mercy and Genji. Then Tracer and Winston.
He walked closer to them only to be stopped by security.
"Sir, this is area is currently blocked off from civilians"
Desmond gritted his teeth "That's my jet... I'm the pilot of that"
The guard looked at him intensely before sighing "Fine. Go."
Desmond walked through and began to walk towards the cockpit of the jet. Pressing a button, the shaped canopy began to open. A ladder then lowered allowing Desmond to start to climb on.
"OI! What do ya think ya doin'!" He heard a british high pitched voice call out.
Desmond turned and saw Tracer and Winston looking at him suspiciously.
"Uh... This is my jet... You guys know that" They both look at each other. Winston looked back at Desmond curiously
"Did you say your jet?"
Desmond nodded
"Do you know how to fly it?"
Scoffing, Desmond replied "If I own it I know how to fly it"
Winston nodded slowly "Okay. Then try to start the engines"
"Pfft. Fine" Desmond looked back at the control then held the start button. Nothing had happened. "Hmm... Starter must've busted in the crash" Desmond began to flip a few switches which had made the twin engines blow out smoke before everything just shut down.
Desmond sighed and looked at Winston "Engines dead, the matrix is probably dead too. No way to start this unless we repair it"
Winston looked at him with more curiosity "Funny... Only Lena and I know how to operate that jet. You've just proven you've worked with this before"
"Yes... Because I fucking own it!" Desmond said annoyed.
"Yes, you've said that but how? The Slipstream, to our knowledge, was lost to space and time during the test flight" Winston said stroking his chin in thought. Desmond shook his head and climbed out of the jet slowly.
"No it wasn't" Desmond sat down on the ladder as Mercy an Genji joined in the conversation.
Tracer looked at him skeptically "What do you mean it wasn't?"
Desmond looked at her "Because I was your damn copilot"
The four Overwatch agents looked at each other then back at Desmond.
"The Slipstream wasn't built with a second seat... How-"
Desmond pointed at the Copilot's seat quickly silencing Winston.
"How is that possible?" Tracer blinked inside it and looked down at the controls
"I'm extremely confused right now, do you not remember me?" Desmond said looking at them.
"I'm afraid not. Look we're as confused as you are right now, is it okay if you come with us?"
Desmond sighed "Sure, why not. I need an explanation right now, ever since the jet was hit, everything became so weird"
Winston froze and looked at him "Did you say the jet was hit?"
"Yes, I doubt you'd know, but I was acting as air support during a battle in Sydney, my jet got hit and I tried to teleport back to Gibraltar for repairs. Shit went haywire and here I am..." Desmond shrugging at the last sentence
Winston nodded in confirmation "Yes, it all matches up. If I am correct on this I believe... I believe you have traveled to a different dimension"
Watchpoint: Gibraltar
9:59 PM
Desmond stood in front of the giant glass window that Overlooked the sea below the watchpoint. After hearing Winston's idea that he had dimension hopped, he had thought that it was ridiculous, but now if he pieced it all together it made sense. It explained why the agents don't recognize him or why some buildings he had seen were in the wrong place or did not even exist.
He had learned the 501st was never formed here, the Nellis Air Force Base never helped out Overwatch, here the Head of Helix Security was never assassinated.
Most importantly, HE had never existed.
Desmond sadly smiled. If you take away Talon or the other threats against Overwatch, this place seemed more peaceful than the one he had been born in and all because he never existed.
Los Angeles was never bombed, Gibraltar was never invaded by Talon, Overwatch didn't have to move bases. As he thought about it even more, he began to realize that all the pain and suffering his world had to go through was partly because of him.
"You alright, love?"
Desmond tuned back and Trace looking at him.
"Yea... Just... Homesick"
Tracer gave him a look of sympathy "Don't worry about a thing, my friend Winston is a smar-"
"I know, Lena..."
Tracer sheepishly smiled "Oh... Right"
Desmond sighed as silence reigned between the two. Then he chuckled.
Tracer looked at him curiously "Something funny, love?"
"Yes... It's weird really" Desmond said as he smiled.
"What's weird?" Tracer said beginning to smile
"That both of us got fucked by the same jet... You get Chronal Dissociation while I get sent to a WHOLE FUCKING DIFFERENT GALAXY!" He slammed the thick glass causing a small crack to form.
Tracer's smile quickly faded, trying to think of a way to comfort him or reassure him. She found nothing. She'd never experienced this, and she never wants to. The accident alone became a scar that never healed but, to travel to a whole new dimension sent a grim thought in her head.
It could've been her.
"I'll leave you alone"
Desmond didn't respond and just closed his eyes. After taking a deep breath, he reopened his eyes and glances stoically glanced at the ocean below.
'I'll get out of this... I always do'
Watchpoint: Gibraltar
6 AM
Desmond stretched as he woke from his slumber. He glanced at a small duffle bag in the corner of the room, it had been given to him by McCree the night before just as he was about to sleep. It was spare clothes.
He got up and went inside the bathroom, he splashed his face with cold water then looked at his reflection. He went and grabbed a new set clothes from the bag then grabbed a towel.
As he waited for the shower to get hot, Desmond leaned against the bathroom wall and began to think of how he was going to get home. If the Slipstream had sent him here by accident, what's the chance of him being able to return home? If he did manage to make it work, what's the chance of him getting sent to a whole different dimension?.
He stepped inside the shower. During his time bathing, the only thing he could think of was that he was stuck. And for once, he didn't know what to do.
Desmond crossed his arms as he leaned on the walls of the watchpoint. He sighed as he waited to the gorilla that had requested him.
"How can you call for me and be late" He shook his head.
He had been informed by one of the agents that Winston had called for him in his lab but when Desmond arrived he had not been there. This was the lab, the lay out of the watchpoint was practically identical to that of his world.
"Desmond! I'm sorry i'm late, I had to get something that might clear up some things" The gorilla came rushing down the hall carrying a box full of papers in one arm.
Desmond got off the wall and raised a brow at the gorilla "Clear what up?"
Winston held a pointing finger up as he pressed a button on the wall which then opened the doors to his lab. Both he and Desmond stepped inside, then setting the boxes down near a computer.
"Your situation, the dimension thing" Winston started while Desmond took a seat "Well, I have a theory. Your dimension problem is not a dimension problem at all! Well it's still a problem bu-"
"Winston... Get to the point" Desmond said slightly annoyed.
"Oh right, well my theory is that this is an Alternate Reality problem not a dimension problem"
Raising a brow, Desmond looked at him confused "Aren't they... The same?"
Shaking his head, Winston reached into the box and pulled out papers "Here. Read that"
Desmond looked down at a book that Winston had handed him "Timeline Theories...Winston, how is this going to help me?"
"A lot!" Winston took the book back and opened to a certain page "Here it says, that an Alternate Reality refers to those who live on the same plane of existence but different results of certain decisions"
"So in the simplified version?"
Winston sighed and shook his head "Let's say you had to choose to eat a cookie or to not. If you chose to eat the cookie, it creates another timeline where you didn't eat the cookie, understand?"
Desmond nodded "Yea, I got it... But if you say this is an Alternate Reality, why am I not here?"
Winston placed the book back inside the box before turning back to Desmond with a smile "Because you were never born"
"What? Wait What? How do you know my parents even exist?" Desmond said standing up with a questioning look.
"I did some research, and I found out that there had been a Soara Riley in the past but, no Desmond Riley? So is she your mother?"
Desmond's eyes slightly lit up as he nodded "Yes... Do you... Know where she is?"
Winston's smile faltered "She's... Dead. Killed in a training accident"
"I guess that's why I never existed..." Desmond said sighing. Winston looked at him curiously.
"I expected you to be a bit more sad, I mean it is your mother"
Desmond waved him off "In my world, she's dead there too. I never met her but... I saw her die" He closed his eyes remembering his visions during his captivity in Talon.
"What was the last part, I didn't hear you?"
Desmond shook his head "Nothing. Back to the topic, can I return home?"
Winston sighed at the desperation in Desmond's eyes "I...I'll try my best, but I can't promise you anything"
"It's better than nothing... Thank you Winston"
Winston smiled at him "No problem. Hey while you're here, I'd like you to meet our agents... Uh re-meet our agents. I'm sure they have different personalities than the ones you know"
Desmond shrugged "I only held a conversation with Lena and the doc... Both seem the same"
"Really? Have you met Widowmaker?"
He nodded in response "Yup, she and I have a weird relationship but she gets me out of major jams at times. Especially when she helped me escape from Talon"
Winston raised a brow "She... Helped you escape from Talon, you were captured?"
Desmond rubbed the back of his head "Yea... It's a little personal though, I'd like to not speak about it"
"It's fine...Our Widowmaker helped us find an...Old friend who had been captured by Talon . In fact, she gave vital information about his whereabouts"
Chuckling, Desmond sat down on a chair "Seems like both our Widowmakers are good guys"
Winston smiled "Yes. It seems... If you know Widowmaker, I'm guessing you know Burr"
Desmond raised a brow at the unfamiliar name
"Who's Burr?"