Author Notes

Welcome to my first published story. I hope you enjoy the totally not drug induced ramblings of my imagination!

I welcome all constructive feedback, I tend to beta my own stuff and I re-read what I've written multiple times and usually incur multiple amendments during that time (I'll usually end up editing stuff I've already posted), but inevitably there are slips up somewhere - bad grammar/spelling, completely muffed up pacing in comparison to the rest of the story, poor character development choices, crappy action scenes or perhaps a penchant for saying "a moment later" every other sentence, so if you spot anything like that do feel free to leave a review or send me a PM on how to improve (n stuff).

So why Overwatch, Tracer and Widowmaker? Surely it's been done to death? Yea, you're pretty much not wrong there, but I want to explore the characters myself and hopefully delve into a different story/plot to other authors here; whether there will be a relationship between the two, can't say for sure yet as I don't want it to come off as forced, so I guess we will all see how the story and character's developer over time. I also have plans for a Lord Of The Rings based story, but I'm keeping that a bit under wraps till I'm happy with my concepts surrounding it.

I'd like to stress right now that there will NOT be any explicit sexual content in any story I write, however I'm not afraid of wading into adult material such as violence, references to sexual activities, drugs and so forth. Pretty much to add a bit of grit and atmosphere (and because artistic license), in my own attempts to make everything feel more real if it suites the story at the time. Whether I manage to succeed or not, guess we shall see! With that being said please keep this in mind that I may change ratings depending on where things go.

As an FYI, I will be ignoring the Overwatch comic 'Reflections' when it comes to base lore foundations in this story, as it has some (what I consider) glaring mistakes in it (where is Lena's Chronal Accelerator? she isn't supposed to be able to take that off, or it's not adequately explained in the comic as to why she doesn't have it on) and it just breaks lore and immersion for me, not to mention some of the characters depicted doing things which just seem out of character to me as well. Pretty sure I read another author with the exact same opinion, so at least I'm not alone!

Starting off with a prologue to set the foundations for the story & plot going forward. Depending on feedback and how well received this all is will determine whether or not I will continue the story (no point writing stuff if it's garbage!). :-)

Let's move onto the legal stuffs:

I don't own Overwatch or any of the characters therein. This is simply my own take of the Overwatch lore in an Alternative Universe setting.

Picture sources

While I just mashed up the pictures until I was happy with them, I didn't make the original versions. The originals were made by some very talented artists (ruthiebutt on Deviant Art for Widowmaker, dinhosaur on Deviant Art for Tracer).

Ps. I promise the next time I write an Author Notes it won't be this long.

Prologue

In the Mediterranean Sea, a black VTOL aircraft built with stealth in mind was preparing to land on the helicopter pad of an civilian freighter sailing east towards the Suez canal. The VTOL quickly landed and deposited a single lone individual before taking to the skies again.

The individual, a woman with skin and hair the unnatural colour of blue with her hair worn in a long ponytail that reached beyond the small of her back and wearing a purple body-tight suit leaving almost nothing to the imagination where her perfect figure was concerned. She carried a ballistic sniper rifle casually in her arms, the weapon could transform into a plasma rifle at the touch of a button for the more personal encounters. Her eyes were cold and dead, in an almost eternally piercing glare as those golden eyes as unnatural as her skin pigmentation ignored everything and everyone around her, her long legs carrying her to her destination on the ship without faltering.

The waves from the sea crashed against the side of the ship almost soaking her despite the skin tight bodysuit she wore being water proof, yet she never stopped, even when she wiped the salty water from her face with her hand. She felt nothing, her heart was stone cold and had been that way as long as she could remember, which wasn't that long considering her memories were erased by her Talon overseers every couple of months.

The only thing she had left to her which was truly her own was her native language and accent; French. It was one of the few things that survived the wipes, but yet she didn't care nor resent what had been done to her, for that is how she had been programmed. Her heart only truly felt anything at the moment of the kill, when there was a short jolt of pleasure and an empowering sensation as she took the life of another. It was her only moment when she could smile and felt anything at all.

She approached a hatch door in the side of conning tower of the ship, which she quickly opened, stepped through and sealed closed behind her in a series of swift and graceful movements, before carrying on into the bowels of the ship. She briefly considered the ship she was on-board; it was one of many assets that Talon hid within its civilian front companies, not that anyone could trace it back to Talon even if they'd of wanted to as all traces would lead them to a conglomerate corporation in the US.

During the meanderings of her thoughts, she found herself before a black reinforced door within a hidden section in the bowels of the ship with a restricted sign threatening all sorts of non described punishments for trespassing and stopped before it. Her destination, the lab in which she was examined & maintained after every mission, and the place she had her mind wiped when due. Every talon vessel she might be expected to stop of at had a similar facilities.

As she entered and closed the door behind her, the lab was not unlike a hospital operating theatre with the addition of a few unusual devices and chambers, some of which purpose were more orientated for torturing individuals than healing them. She then stopped before a man in a lab coat labelled as a lead scientist who turned to look at her.

"Ah, Widowmaker... the usual is it?" he said with his lecherous smile and his eyes taking in her full beauty, although everyone in the room knew better than to openly comment on her beauty as she had brutally killed the last man who did in front of all of them; not that any of them knew he had actually been her target at the time due to him selling Talon secrets, but his death had the additional benefit for Widowmaker of stopping further verbal flattery.

She simply nodded and handed over her rifle, recon visor, and other equipment. The man was quick to put her equipment away, and went over to a cold metal slab with numerous medical diagnostic equipment, he knew what was coming next.

Widowmaker slid off her armoured boots and slowly undid the discrete armoured clasps holding her one piece bodysuit together and took it off, naked in her entirety with not a single hair on her body anywhere. She didn't care though, her body was that of a weapon and nothing more and she had no concept of the desire she created in both men and women.

Yet her bodysuit was designed to elicit such reactions to take advantage of her figure as its designers had considered sex as much of a weapon as an actual gun, even if Widowmaker didn't. It only took a moments hesitation in an opponent which could be taken advantage of by such a superlative assassin like Widowmaker, and every edge counted in her line of work.

She quietly and efficiently folded her bodysuit and placed it on a metal set of draws next to where her equipment had been stowed, before walking over to the the metal diagnostics table and slipping onto it and lying down, the metal was freezing cold against her skin. The scientists worked quickly on the consoles surrounding her diagnostics bed as different scanners went to work, as they all knew Widowmaker didn't like to be stuck on that table for long, as she wasn't very tolerant of inefficiency.

"Your body temperature is stable at 19 degrees Celsius… perfect for avoiding thermal sensors" the scientist cooed over the statistics, the man was proud of the work he had done, decades ahead of time as it was, not caring at all that it had destroyed an innocent woman who had never asked for any of it; not that Widowmaker herself cared either.

"...Everything else checks out... all we have to do is the mind wipe and you will be ready for your next assignment" the scientist spoke after several more medical check-ups were completed.

Widowmaker simply nodded, as the different scientists began to strap her down to the table and hook her up to an IV drip filled with a cocktail of different drugs, before finally placing a device on her forehead which was to all intents and purposes a fancy electrode designed to scan & erase any long term memory deemed as unneeded for future missions.

Without the drugs the process was sure to have been agony however Widowmaker simply felt like she was tumbling through the centre of a hurricane within her body and mind before she slipped into unconsciousness. When she next woke up, the process was finished and many hours had passed and she found herself still naked but unrestrained on the diagnostics table.

The scientists were about to begin their usual battery of quick tests to ensure Widowmaker's mind was intact, at least the parts that mattered when the black door opened and a tall, well built man dressed in a black hooded trench coat, with black armour hidden beneath and a white skull mask covering his face entered. Reaper, a man who was dead but not dead, a man who killed for his own enjoyment, and another of Talon's agents as deadly as Widowmaker, but where Widowmaker was a precision tool who made clean kills with no mess & no trace, Reaper was a bludgeon killing anything and everything in his path, leaving only a mess behind him where the corpses of his victims seemingly drained of life and easily linked back to him.

"Those tests won't be necessary..." Reaper's dark gravelly voice echoed through the room, the threat to kill ever present "... there's another assignment that needs completing, and it's urgent."

The lead scientist took a few steps back as reaper entered and approached, terror plain on his face, he then managed a stuttered response "... I c-c-can't... if there are unexpected gaps in her memory..."

Widowmaker watched on from her spot on the table, her cold eyes focused on Reaper.

"That is none of my concern..." Reaper retorted "... but if you insist on your little science experiments at the expense of orders then you will have to explain it to the bosses."

The lead scientist blanched and then replied "O-of course... Widowmaker, you may leave." All the scientists then began to quickly clean up the lab and leave, such was the effect of Reaper on others and the threats he bluntly wielded.

Widowmaker got off the table, still eyeing who she now noticed was also carrying a file of some description; she knew by instinct alone it contained her next assignment. She redressed quickly and collected her equipment, and approached Reaper with her usual stern facial expression.

"Follow me..." Reaper spoke to her and left the room with Widowmaker following closely behind him, closing the black door behind them. Reaper lead her to a hidden conference room close by to the lab, ushering Widowmaker inside before following behind her and closing the door.

"la Faucheuse {Reaper}, why did you not allow them to finish the procedure?" she asked as soon as Reaper closed the door and faced her.

"Why not?" he answered in a cold tone.

She responded cynically "It's against protocol, and I truly doubt Talon gave that particular order..."

"Because I've got better things to do than wait for you to play lab rat..." he responded in a condescending tone.

After a moment of silence she decided trying to pursue this line of conversation was pointless, and moved on "You've got an assignment for me?"

Reaper gave a half laugh-half grunt in response, not surprised that Widowmaker had chosen not to pursue the topic further, she was after all programmed to obey and not question her superiors. He then shoved the files he had been holding onto into Widowmaker's hand stating "This is your next assignment, an old friend of yours who has been a thorn in our sides for too long..."

She flicked open the files to see her next target - an Overwatch agent by the name of Lena Oxton with the call sign 'Tracer'. She did vaguely remember her past confrontations with her. The file contained a tactical analysis of strengths and weaknesses, personality profile and more; everything she'd need to take out the pesky agent. Yet there was more at the back of file, documents marked by Talon intelligence that were on first glance unrelated to Tracer.

"What is this?" she said showing the Intelligence documents to Reaper. The documents detailed a high flying business man in London, who had refused overtures from Talon. He was to be taken out of the picture and replaced with someone else more willing to work with Talon, someone they had already approached and got agreements from and Widowmaker was assigned, alone.

"That..." Reaper began "... is the bait. All fake intel designed to lure Overwatch out... intel, that will mysteriously find its way into their hands."

Widowmaker simply nodded in response, studying the documents detailed within before collecting and putting everything back neatly into the file with the sound of slapping paper, and began to check her equipment.

"I'm to do this assignment alone?" she asked while checking her rifle.

"You got a problem with that?" Reaper retorted, slightly swelling in size out of anger.

"Non {no}." Widowmaker replied instantly.

Reaper grunted an acknowledgement before speaking "Then go now, there is a VTOL waiting on the helipad for you. Once you arrive in London, the fake intel will have reached Overwatch, so I suggest you use your time wisely."

Reaper then turned, growling under his breath as he opened the conference room door and slammed it shut behind him, leaving the files with Widowmaker.

After completing her equipment checks a few minutes later, Widowmaker started heading back to the top deck of the ship and the helipad where another stealth VTOL craft was waiting for her to take her to London.

She knew this assignment would be her toughest yet, and she found herself looking forward to the thrill she'd feel at finally being allowed to kill Tracer. She began studying the office floor plans in a high rise tower and making her preparations for her trap for Tracer, as the VTOL flew her ever closer to London.

=Several hours later - London, UK - Late Evening=

Lena Oxton blinked through the streets of London, running as fast as she could to stop something terrible from happening. She'd received a call from Winston not 15 minutes prior and was warned of Talon making a move on a local and well-to-do businessman in order to take gain some form of influence over his company and they had sent none other than Widowmaker to deal with him. Winston had asked her to intercept Widowmaker, so much for Lena taking the break Angela had insisted she go on.

If their intel was right, and she had no reason to doubt it, Widowmaker would already be in London by now and would surely already be on the move. Time was of the essence, and Lena was determined not to let another person down like she had with Tekhartha Mondatta several months prior. She grinded her teeth together as a bead of sweat rolled down her forehead and onto her goggles as she ran and blinked forwards, as the high-rise tower that was her destination grew larger as she closed the distance.

Lena stopped before the automated doors, almost jogging on the spot with unspent energy as she waited for them to open ever so slowly, her unruly short brown hair bouncing with her. She was wearing her iconic RAF leather flight jacket and the yellow spandex trousers with her call sign 'Tracer' in white letters up her leg.

After the doors seemed to be finally wide enough for her to pass through, after what seemed like eternity to Lena, she burst into a full run and blinking slamming open the stairwell door and jumping up flights of stairs with every blink. She knew she was pushing her Chronal Accelerator energy reserves to its limit, but she had to get to the 10th floor as fast as possible, even though she'd end up regretting it later.

The 10th floor stairwell door slammed open with Lena blinking towards the far end of the building down long corridors where the targeted business man had his company offices. Upon reaching the office doors, she flung them open and ran inside to a full stop with the doors slamming shut behind her with the energy of her entrance. Her eyes opened wide in surprise at what greeted her.

The office lights were off, but she could tell that it was large and open plan save for a few enclosed rooms for meetings around the edges, it could have easily fitted 50 odd desks. What drew her attention however was the fact that there was only a single executive style wooden desk at the far end of the office, near the windows with a high backed executive chair facing out towards the windows and away from Lena, and it looked like there was someone sat in the chair, unmoving. She gulped slightly fearing she had arrived to late and jogged over to the desk.

"You alright love?" she chirped with a bright smile on her face upon reaching the desk, but received no answer to which quickly made her frown.

She quickly moved round to the side of the chair to find that there was no one sat in the chair at all unless you counted a dummy dressed in a business suit. When she heard the doors to the office close again and then lock, she realised how stupid she had been in her rush to get here and not check the surroundings. She looked up to see the outline of Widowmaker in the dark with her rifle aimed.

"I don't think he will reply, Cherie" Widowmaker cooed in triumph, she could almost taste the kill in the air and the satisfaction she would soon feel, but she had to draw it out, she was going to savour this.

"Don't think he's your target, aye love?" Tracer grinned and nodded at the direction of dummy in the chair as she moved slowly and carefully as she responded to Widowmaker.

"Non {no}." Widowmaker quickly replied as a grin formed on her face, while keeping her rifle trained on Tracer "You are, Cherie."

Lena knew she had to act quickly, and act first otherwise she'd be dead - caught in the spider's web like a fly as she was. Lena made a surreptitious check on her Chronal Accelerator's energy levels; it had just enough to do what she wanted. Not waiting for Widowmaker to make the first move, by shooting at her, Lena blinked to the left and then forwards trying to close the distance between herself and Widowmaker.

Widowmaker had expected her to move and reacted by copying Lena, running to her left and forwards swapping her rifle mode to assault and spraying bullets in Lena's general direction, attempting to keep her moving while deftly placing venom mines as she went to restrict Tracer's movements to one side of the office. The bullets from Widowmaker's rifle that hit the walls were stopped by armoured plating built into the office walls themselves. The hunt had begun and she finally had a worthy opponent, even if she was deliberately toying with Tracer and jeopardising her assignment, she felt to alive to care. She could of simply sniped Tracer through the windows from one of the opposite tower buildings, but instead she had to do this face to face.

Lena giggled while blinking forwards and began firing back with her own pulse pistols forcing Widowmaker to roll forwards and make a dart for cover behind the desk, avoiding the venom mines Widowmaker had placed on the other side of the office. In a matter of a handful of seconds the two had swapped their earlier positions in the office. She quickly reached behind her back and unclipped a pulse bomb from her backpack and blinked forwards once before activating and throwing it at the desk.

Widowmaker checking her rifle's ammo quickly while behind cover heard the distinct noise of Tracer blinking and then the thud of something small hitting the opposite side of the desk followed by the distinct sound of quick beeps. Like Tracer not minutes before, Widowmaker realised her stupidity in her rush for the hunt and tried to dart away from the desk, but unlike Tracer she wasn't fast enough. The exploding pulse bomb split the heavy wooden desk in two with one of the fragments flying through the air and hitting Widowmaker, with the shockwave of the explosion shattering most of the office's windows to the outside. Widowmaker quickly found herself hurtling out into the outside air with fragments of desk, chair and dummy falling all around her.

Everything seemed to move in slow motion for Widowmaker, her consciousness seemingly fading as she fell to Earth. There was no escape, she couldn't concentrate or keep her eyes open. As her eyes closed, she felt a warm embrace and a strange painful sensation throughout her entire body she couldn't explain as a bright blue light consumed everything before darkness finally took her.