Please read author's note.


It had all happened so suddenly.

BLAOW

INTRUDER ALERT. INTRUDER ALERT.

A young man flinched awake at the maelstrom of sound, sitting bolt upright on his plain twin bed. The room he was in was devoid of much objects, other than a metal door with no handle of any sort, a sink, a mirror, a toilet and a large double-doored closet. Excluding the closet, the room felt more like a prison cell than an actual bedroom.

Though, to be fair, that wasn't far from the truth.

The youth stood up from his place of rest, instinctively looking around the premises for any signs of activity. This wasn't necessary, however, as there were no windows to the corridors outside his room.

He did, however, get multiple glimpses of himself in the mirror across from him. His jet black hair was messy from his former rest, deep grey eyes as well discombobulated due to the sudden awakening. He wore a plain white T-shirt and grey pants.

Suddenly, the metal door split open, revealing a man with short blonde hair and a thin build.

"Keaton!" The man called out in an authoritarian manner.

"Yes, Jamison?" Keaton replied, trying to not let his distaste of the man seep into his words.

"If you couldn't tell already, were being attacked." Jamison said nervously.

What a coward. Keaton thought.

"I could surmise that. What do you want me to do about it?" The youth inquired.

"What do I want you to do about it!? I want you to get suited up and fight with us!" Jamison said angrily before bolting down the hallway outside, leaving Keaton's door open.

Shocked by this statement, Keaton leaned his head out of the doorframe to call to Jamison down the hall.

"It's that serious?" He hollered.

"Of course it is! Overwatch is the one attacking!"

After saying this, the man disappeared down the corner of the hall.

And that's when Keaton's brain began to work into overdrive.

He rushed to the closet in his room and flung it open to reveal its contents:

There was only one outfit in the wardrobe, and it was rather… peculiar, especially for Keaton's day in age. There was a long black woolen coat with a red silken interior, looking like it came straight out of the Victorian era. Inside its folds were a suit-vest complete with tie and black dress pants and shoes. Near the top of the wardrobe was black top hat with a red ribbon wrapped around its base and, possibly the strangest addition to this outfit, a white mask, rounded and blank-faced save for two spherical and shadowy eye holes.

On either side of the outfit, there lay a weapon. On the left hung what appeared to be a British infantry sword, complete with hand guard, and on the right lay a silver magnum revolver in a clear case.

Keaton took a deep breath whilst looking at the suit.

Okay Keaton, stay cool. This may be quite possibly the most important moment of your life, but you mustn't forget…

Keaton smiled wickedly, taking down the white mask before slipping it on.

A gentleman always keeps calm.


"Uagh!"

"Well, that's one!" Tracer called out, spinning one of her pistols.

"That just leaves around five more." Winston muttered.

The two friends were currently situated on opposite sides of a large hangar door, at the present moment opened and spilling out a river of ammo.

"Maybe we should retreat. I didn't know they would be this armed." Winston considered aloud.

"No! We already made it this far, we aren't leaving without that prisoner!" Tracer countered.

"But how are we going to get past here?"

"Ah, Keaton!" Tracer and Winston heard a man over the stream of bullets. Their expressions changed from looks of determination to wide-eyed surprise. "You're here! Quickly, help us dispose of these intru-"

BANG

And then the man spoke no more, with a line of fire disappearing.

"Keaton!? What the hell are you-"

BANG

Similarly, that woman spoke no more, her stream of bullets dying down.

BANG

And another.

BANG

And yet another.

BANG

And another still.

By this point, all lines of fire had been dissipated. Confused and thoroughly shocked, Winston and Tracer looked between each other slowly before inching their way into the opening of the hangar doors. There, in the middle of a crowd of dead Talon soldiers, stood someone who looked as if they walked straight of out a picture from the Victorian era, top hat and all. He appeared to be reloading a revolver of sorts. Catching sight of the gorilla and the time traveler, he turned his masked face towards the two and bowed respectfully, taking his top hat off with a flourish whilst still gripping it in his hand.

"Salutations, my friends. I take it you're from Overwatch?" He asked in polite manner.

Tracer and Winston looked to each other, quite surprised at the display sat before them.

"Yes, we are members of Overwatch." Winston answered. "You must be Keaton Spangler."

Keaton was in the midst of putting his hat on when he froze at the use of his full name. He decided to take his mask off (A gentleman always looks a man in the eye, after all… or this case a gorilla) slowly, revealing a confused looking teenager.

"How did you know my last name?" He questioned.

Tracer and Winston shared another glance with one another, bright smiles encompassing their faces.

"Because we were looking for you, silly!" Tracer said happily.

"You… were?" Keaton asked, his bewilderment more than apparent.

"Yes, we were. We'll explain everything later, but until then you're just going to have to trust us and follow our lead. Come on!" Winston said before dashing off through the hanger doors towards a large ramp leading to an opening of sunlight, with Tracer following closely behind.

Keaton didn't have much time to think things over, as he heard the whistling of bullets past his ears with outcries of "There he is!" and "After him following suit.

The youth began to book it towards to the two heroes ahead of him. Although getting a few graze wounds here and there from stray bullets (They must have been ordered to just wound, not kill. Keaton knew there were members of Talon that could've taken him out easily by now), Keaton was able to make it generally unscathed to the opening of the outside world.

And heavens, was it stunning.

The base appeared to be situated in the mountains, with tall pines surrounding the area and a large lake in the distance. The air was crisp and clean, and the sunlight was warm on Keaton's unnaturally pale skin.

Six years… I've been missing this for six years. Keaton thought, smiling and close to tears.

"This way!"

Keaton craned his head towards Winston's voice, seeing the gorilla and Tracer running towards a nearby launch pad with a small bi-plane on it. He ran towards the aerodynamic vehicle, sounds of incoming Talon cronies getting closer and closer.

Finally making his way next to the plane, Keaton took one last look at the facility behind him.

The place of so much heartache.

Countless sleepless nights.

Where he became someone he isn't proud to be.

"… Farewell." He said with a smirk.

And thus, he boarded the plane, Winston taking up the entire back row and Tracer taking the pilot's seat.

"Alright, loves: Hold on to something!" Tracer yelled.

Suddenly, the plane took off to the sky faster than any other plane he had been on, and they were free in the air.

The next few minutes between the three acquaintances were spent merely catching their breath, before Winston let out a laugh and said to Keaton:

"So, how does freedom taste?"

Keaton was silent for a moment, too distracted by what had just happened to answer properly at first.

Then, he began to smile.

"… Tastes good, my friend."


Good Morrow, People of Fanfiction! I must apologize if this seemed at all rushed or half-assed, I've just had this idea in my head for quite some time now and for the life of me couldn't figure out a decent opener. Then, something came to my head, and I just wanted to get it down and out there to see what you lovely people thought of it.

Now keep in mind, I'm still relatively new to the Overwatch Fandom, so there's a possibility I might get some things wrong in terms of character back-story/personality, so please make sure to call to my attention in the future if that happens.

Regardless, please leave your reviews to tell me what you think/what I can improve!