Chapter 1
Worth a Cup of Tea

Passing customs had been a challenge for Wei. Not that he had never taken the plane or visited another country, but his companion never had the most trustworthy face, and one of his many talents was to unsettle customs officers.

"Hum... any alcohol or..."

The agent's face went nervously to Roadhog's mask, then to the computer in front of him, and back to Roadhog. Wei decided to take the matter in his own hands.

"No, sir."

At first, he wondered if the officer had heard him. However, the officer asked another question, just as nervously as before:

"The reason of your... hum... trip?"

"Tourism," Wei claimed.

"Alright... So hum... how long will you be staying?"

"Two weeks," he lied.

"Good. You can proceed."

Wei was about to move past the gate but the large and heavy hand of Roadhog fell on his shoulder, holding him in place. Wei could see the officer paling. It only took an exchange of looks for Wei to understand what was going on.

"Oh right, our passports."

The officer looked in front of him, and indeed their Australian passports were still there.

"Oh, sorry."

He passed under the window, and Roadhog picked them up, placing them in his pocket.

"Have a nice... stay?" the officer tried.

Roadhog only nodded with a groan, and they passed the gate.

They made their way to the luggage reception, and Wei could see heads turning all around them, staring at his bodyguard. The large old man ignored them all and stopped in front of the conveyor belt. Wei stood by his side, his heart beating loudly in his chest. They had come here to get answers, and hopefully find his parents, and the fear and anticipation were slowly eating at him.

As they waited for their luggage, Roadhog glanced at the security camera beside them. Wei passed a hand through his messy chestnut hair and crossed his arms. Soon enough, their bags came rolling along the conveyor belt. Roadhog's was old and dirty, torn apart and sewed back carefully. He picked it up as if it wasn't heavy, the metal inside clicking loudly as he passed it over his shoulder. Wei picked up his own bag, a large duffel bag which he launched over his shoulder. Roadhog stared at him, and Wei shook his head.

"Don't worry, I can carry it."

The duo then made their way out of the international zone, and once they walked away from all the people waiting for their friends and family to arrive, Wei dropped his bag to the ground and placed it between his feet.

"Alright, let's take a shuttle downtown, then we can start lookin'."

Roadhog groaned, and Wei shook his head.

"I just slept, like, half of the flight. I don't need rest."

But Roadhog shook his head once again. He knew Wei had only pretended to sleep. The young man had had problems sleeping since his mother disappearance.

"Alright, how 'bout we drink some tea, and then we go downtown?"

Roadhog was about to shake his head, but Wei threw his bag on his shoulder and made his way to the closest coffee shop, ignoring his bodyguard. Roadhog followed begrudgingly.

Wei was already in the line when Roadhog joined him, taking up much of the space left in the small shop. When their turn came, Wei ordered two cups of tea and paid. Then, he went to take a seat right outside, only exchanging a glance with Roadhog, who understood he would be the one picking up their order.
Wei found an empty table right outside the door, against the shop's window. He sat down, dropping his bag at his feet once again. He took his phone out of his pocket, intending to see if he had received any news from either of his parents. Suddenly the seat beside him was filled, and he knew it wasn't Roadhog, because the person had been as discreet as possible when they had sat down. He looked up, confused.

Beside him now sat a young woman, younger than him. He was instantly struck by the unsettling blue of her eyes, as she looked at him with confidence. Her long inky black hair, strewn with purple locks, was tied in a messy bun, and her natural hair color complemented perfectly her dark bronze skin.

"Neelam?"

"Sshh!"

She leaned toward him while looking around the airport.

"What are you doin' here? How d'ya know I was comin' over? Did your mom tell ya?"

She shook her head quickly.

"I'll get straight to the point. You need my help, and I need yours."


Back inside the coffee shop, Roadhog had finally received the two paper cups containing their orders. He, however, almost dropped them when he saw the young woman with piercing blue eyes seating awfully close to Wei, and his protégé looking rather confused. To anyone else, it would have looked like the girl was flirting with him and he didn't know what to reply, but Roadhog knew better. He took quick heavy steps to the table and dropped in the only chair left, placing the cups in front of him. The girl sparred him a glance, but seemed unimpressed by his size, unlike everyone else in this airport.

"It's a good thing you came, too."

Roadhog squinted at the girl as if trying to jog his memory up. He had seen her before, he was sure. She looked awfully familiar, but he really couldn't place her, and it bothered him greatly.

"As I was saying, things are a mess here. I assume you're here because of your parents?"

"How did you know?"

The girl smirked, and Roadhog felt chills run down his spine. This smirk, he had seen it before, and it could only mean trouble, he knew.

"I have my ways. All I can tell you right now is, they're not the only one. And, it's got to do with Overwatch... and Talon."

Wei was petrified to hear the criminal organization's name out loud.

"Who are you?" Roadhog asked.

Another smirk graced her lips.

"I'm kind of shocked you don't remember me. I know you didn't come to the past few barbecue events, but still."

Roadhog frowned. It was impossible, he knew, but the posture, the speech, even the smirks, they were all identical. He tried, anyway.

"Sombra?"

The girl shook her head.

"So close yet so far."

Wei quickly corrected him:

"It's Neelam. Sombra's daughter."

Roadhog fell silent as he tried to assimilate the new information. Indeed, he hadn't seen the girl in a few years, and she had grown quite a lot since then. Sometimes, he even forgot how old Wei was, and that he wasn't a little kid anymore. He was nineteen, almost twenty, and he was running a rescue mission.
Neelam looked around once again, and something seemed to catch her attention in the crowd. Wei tried to follow her gaze but he didn't see anything out of the ordinary.

"We have to move. I'll take you somewhere safe where we can talk more."

She jumped to her feet, taking his hand and pulling him with her. Roadhog stood up quickly, ready to pull his gun out of his bag.

"Hey wait!" Wei declared as he was pulled toward the exit. "What about the others?"

"I'll tell you later."

He nodded and they walked quickly out of the airport. Neelam led him around the main building and into the parking lot. Roadhog tailed behind them, his gaze quickly shifting from one side to the other.

What none of them noticed was the woman standing on the roof of a nearby hotel, observing them through the scope of her sniper rifle. She also didn't fail to notice the two unidentified vehicles waiting right outside the parking, and ready to follow the teenagers.


Neelam led them to an old red car, hovering lightly above the parking spot.

"Oh, you finally got your drivin' license," Wei noted.

"No," Neelam confessed.

When he sent her a worried look, she replied:

"Hey, dire situation here! Plus, I didn't crash on the way to pick you up, I can make it back no problem!"

Wei shook his head and replied:

"I'll drive. You tell me where to go."

She sighed but threw him the keys nonetheless. She jumped in the passenger seat, leaving Roadhog to take the backseat on his own, which he did silently. The car sunk a bit under his weight, but it kept on hovering. Wei climbed in the driver's seat and handed his travel bag to Neelam.

"Careful with it. There's an unfinished project in there, and it's highly explosive."

She shrugged.

"If it didn't explode in the plane..."

Wei rolled his eyes. He turned the key in the ignition, and the car came to life with a limited amount of protest. They exited the parking without any problem, and Wei took the highway leading toward the city. Neither of them noticed the two cars which started following them there.

"So, the others? Can you at least tell me that?"

"Charlie's with Alya and Amanda. He did like you, came here when his mom disappeared. No sign of the twins for the past few months. Either they're in hiding or..."

Wei pursed his lips and nodded. He hoped everyone else was fine. He glanced behind them. Nothing caught his eye.

"Do you know who's been kidnapped so far?"

"A lot of people. It'll be easier if I show you, I think. I've got this whole file of info on Talon, and what they're doing. My mom told me about it before they got her..."

"And your other mom?"

"Gone too."

He nodded.

"We're on our own, basically."

"Basically."

Wei glanced behind. A motorbike was zigzagging between the cars. It should pass them soon. He moved the car slightly to the right, to leave space for the bike. When it didn't pass them, and he couldn't see it anymore, he supposed it had gone between two cars or taken one of the exits.

"How did you know we were coming over?"

"One of my mom's virus was keeping an eye out for the members of Overwatch still in the wind. When Roadhog's name showed up on the passenger list, I saw yours too. I knew you'd come over eventually."

Suddenly, Wei heard a metallic click coming from under the car. Had he driven over some hazardous object on the roadway? The thought barely brushed his mind before he was violently thrown forward.


The explosion rang in his ears. He forced his eyes open, adrenaline coursing through his aching body, pushing the pain away. Beside him, Neelam was shaking the confusion away.

"Everyone alright?" he asked.

"We need to get out... now..."

He looked under him. The roof of the car was covered with small pieces of glass. His bag was laying under Neelam, untouched. Relieved washed over him. They may still have a chance.

He unstrapped his seatbelt and fell heavily against the car's roof. He pushed himself into a crouch and pulled his bag toward him. Once the bag was out of the way, Neelam undid her own seatbelt. She fell on her back with a painful huff.

The car-door on Wei's side was torn off its hinges, and Roadhog appeared on the other side. Wei caught his massive hand and he was pulled out of the car. On the other side, Neelam kicked her door open, and she crawled out. While she brushed herself off, Wei assessed the situation. The highway had cleared ahead of them, but there was no running away. Two big black vans had closed off the other side, and already a dozen agents were jumping out. Talon agents, dressed in black and red, with the T symbol on their jacket's sleeve.

Wei quickly opened his backpack and pulled his project out of it. It was a gun scrapped together from other gun pieces, with a long orange cross, a white visor, a mostly blue body, though some green pieces came to complement the whole thing. Neelam joined him around the car.

"What the hell is that?"

"My project."

He pointed it toward the Talon agents, who were all pointing their own weapons back at them.

"Maybe you should take a step back, in case it blows up..."

Neelam did move slightly to the side. Wei took in a deep breath, then pressed the trigger. Bright orange flames poured out of the nuzzle, forcing the agents back. One of their vans caught on fire, melting the front tire. A big line of flames was traced on the concrete, separating the two teenagers and their bodyguard with the agents.

"Maybe we should run?" Wei suggested as he expelled a small metal capsule out of the gun.

"There's too many of them. We won't go far..."

Neelam's eyes seemed to glow for a second. In her hand, light blue energy appeared, and soon enough, she was holding her mom's semi-automatic, the old purple relic clenched in her fist.

"You can't teleport us out of here?" Wei wondered.

"It takes time to create a teleporter, you know! I can't just summon it out of nowhere!"

Beside them, Roadhog had already pulled his gun out, ready to shoot any agent who'd come through the flames.

When one of them did, however, he was shot down in an instant. A dark figure had jumped up from the lower level of the highway with the help of a grappling hook and had perfectly aimed at the agent's head, shooting him down while still in mid-air. When she finally landed right in front of the teenager, she pulled her sunglasses up on her head and her snipper riffle shifted back to an automatic weapon. She looked behind her at the teenagers, her amber eyes falling on the girl, then the boy, then their bodyguards.

"Get behind me."


A/N: See you on Monday for chapter 2!