Chapter 2: Just Like Everyone Else


The sun shined softly, dimmer at that time in the day, as Reina continued down the street on a familiar route. A busy day at work had left her exhausted, yet she still went on with her routine of returning to the smaller outskirts of her hometown. It had grown significantly as she grew older, many more buildings and facilities added for the betterment of the people. Reina herself had helped and it showed with the means of defense she was constantly checking up on that were set up everywhere in town. Many took the form of simple statues resembling jungle cats and she saw a few as she walked down the relatively peaceful street. Seeing them brought a small sense of pride along with a sense of forlornness. They were her home's heroes now. She wasn't needed, not personally.

She was as much of a hero as everyone else.

Reina stopped outside a large, yet worn home with tall front doors and chalk drawings decorating the sidewalk in front of it. Going up those stairs and knocking on the door took her a moment, having lost herself in her thoughts, but her knocks were quickly answered regardless.

Mi niña preciosa!" In a split second, she was pulled inside and into a hug. Reina blinked a few times at the aged woman who'd wrapped her arms around her middle and trapped her arms at her sides. Still, she couldn't help but smile.

"Hello, *madrina. How is everyone lately?" She chuckled, laughing a little more when the woman pulled back with a pout.

"That's *abuela to you, young lady. Next thing I know you'll be using my name. Don't you forget, you're still my niña!" Reina rolled her eyes but her smile never wavered. "I've been good, thank you. Oh, and the kids? Trouble as always, but they've been rather–"

"REINA!" Before she knew what hit her, a group of kids ran at the tall woman and neatly tackled her to the floor. It took some strength for her to keep upright with five giddy kids clinging to her arms, legs, and torso.

"–energetic, lately."

"Señora Maria, you didn't tell us Reina was coming!" A boy of about 12 spoke up, giving a wide grin that showed off a missing front tooth.

"Carlitos, I visit everyday! Maria shouldn't have to remind you, but I guess I'm just not that fun anymore…" Reina chuckled and let out a sigh of relief as the rambunctious kids released her from their grip. The boy's eyes widened and he immediately started speaking rapidly and stammering his words out while throwing his small arms around her torso.

"No! Lo siento mucho, Ms. Reina! You're the best!"

"Get over here, you little flatterer!" It didn't take long for Reina and Carlitos to attract a few other kids within the house after she'd grabbed him in a hug and began to tickle his sides without a shred of mercy. They grouped up on her, however, and she was wheezing from laughing so much until Maria's stern voice stopped and silenced everyone present.

"Enough of that! You know why Reina is here and I'm sure she's tired after her day. Why don't you all go wait for dinner at the table, okay?" She said. There were a few complaints mixed with nods as they hurried away down the hall to the dining room. She grabbed Reina's arm to hold her back when the woman had tried to follow them.

"How bad is it?"

"How bad is what?"

"Reina," Maria sighed and turned her around to face her, giving her a knowing look, "you've been overworking yourself for weeks now. If anyone would know, I would. What's going on with you?" The received silence wasn't a reassuring answer. Finally, Reina let out a soft sigh and looked up from the floor to Maria's face.

"Yes, I have been working a little bit more, but it's nothing I can't handle. I'm perfectly fine."

Maria furrowed her brows and went from an expression of warmth and concern became much harder with a little annoyance. "Don't lie to me: you're awful at it."

"I'm. fine. I'm an adult, you don't need to worry about me anymore, abuela." Reina brushed away the older woman's hand and started walking to the dining room, leaving her to stand there with an unreadable look on her face. She didn't want to lie, but if it kept others from worrying about her, she would. What's worse, she wasn't even overworking herself for her job: it was in her own personal time that she continued working on anything and everything, all as if the weight of the world rested on her shoulders alone as her responsibility.

It wasn't…not anymore…and she knew that. It was what killed her.

"Reina, are you gonna join us?" Carlitos' voice snapped her back to the present and she shot him a tired smile from her place at the doorway, nodding subtly before stepping over to join everyone at the table. Even if it killed her, she still had a place among civilians. She'd only have to get used to it.


"…and then, she defeated the robotic monster single handedly! Of course, these things were nothing because she'd faced entire troops all alone with nothing but her wit and–" It was much later in the evening when Reina was helping Maria get the children to bed that she decided to tell them all stories of her time as a hero. Of course, it was never her initial idea, but their excitement and the way their eyes seemed to light up softened her heart to the point where they'd gotten her to childishly boast and remember said stories with very dramatic words and motions. This hadn't been their first time hearing this particular story, however.

"No you didn't! You had help from an angel! An angel wearing armor and wielding that staff thing!"

"She had a name, Isabella, but I don't remember that happening…"

"Don't forget when Reinhardt raised his shield when you got hurt! And his war hammer?! It was all, zoom SMASH!"

"Thank you, Carlitos, but that–"

"And didn't two soldiers jump in when you all needed the help? I forgot their names though…wasn't it Morri–"

"That's enough!" The slight fun they'd had teasing Reina vanished when a crack in her voice silenced them all. Well, all except one.

"Ms. Reina…" A little girl spoke up from her place in one of the beds in the room. Reina took a moment to sigh and force a small smile as she hummed questioningly. "Do you…do you miss being a superhero?"

Reina was caught of guard and actually seemed relatively surprised at the question. It didn't stop her from replying with a soft and gentle tone, "Yes. Everyday. I still wish I could be a hero, just for one day. Until that can happen again, I'll help like Señora Maria or the shopkeeper down the street or the couples who come here for you all…I'll be just like everyone else." Her smile was much more genuine this time.

Clearing her throat, she stood up and shot them a teasing look. "Now, you all could go to sleep or I can tell Señora Maria that you all had seconds for dessert without her permission."

"No!" The loud response only made her laugh as she went around the room wishing each individually a goodnight along with a hug and a promise to return as usual the next day. It was the same as everyday, but she got a surprise when she was tucking in the girl who'd spoke up earlier. Wrapping her small arms around Reina's neck, she tiredly whispered a few sweet words before yawning and laying back down. It left the woman completely silent yet again but gave a little chuckle and grin as she left her bedside for the door.

"Buenas noches. Hasta mañana." She mumbled, turning out the lights and shutting the door as quietly as possible behind her. A slightly ragged breath escaped her and she leaned back against the door, resting her palms against the wood and staring down at her feet. How can I have it so good out of everyone who had to leave? She questioned herself as she stood there for what felt like forever until separating herself from the door and shuffling down the hall. She glanced outside the windows she passed only to see how dark and quiet it was. The only light came from the streetlights and a few establishments that were open, the only sounds coming from bugs and the soft pitter patter of rain that had just began to fall.

"Reina! There you are!" She'd stopped at the top of the stairs, staring outside even while Maria had run up to her holding a thin jacket and an umbrella. "Here, I don't want you to get sick."

"Gracias, abuela." Reina replied, returning the hug her godmother gave to her before taking the stairs two at a time as she slipped on her jacket. Better to get home (and back to work, really) before the rain got too bad. "I'll be back, same time tomorrow, alright? Good night."

"Wait, niña!" She paused when she was halfway out the door, her head swiveling around at Maria's voice and footsteps as she rushed over to the door after her. "Please…don't work too hard. Get some rest and take it easy for awhile, okay preciosa?" Maria asked with a soft, warm smile that was hard for Reina to say no too. That didn't mean she didn't want to, but the Maria was busy enough worrying about a house full of kids without the extra weight of her everlasting concern for someone she still saw as a scared child. So, instead of worrying her more, Reina nodded and promised to listen to her if only this once. That seemed to do it, earning the brunette a kiss on the cheek and a goodnight before she left.

The walk home was a rather uneventful one with nothing that was out of the ordinary. A few people she knew greeted Reina on the way home with her offering simple waves as people either walked past or ran inside to avoid the rain as it slowly got heavier. The outskirts of the town delved into the busier side with much taller buildings and definitely more people. Now this is where something was always happening.

Crime, while it wasn't as bad as it had once been with all the efforts, was still a big problem. Plenty of places were still going through reconstruction if they'd been hit especially hard and there were poorer parts of the country, heck, her own town. Lately, several humans and omnics seemed bent on standing outside holding assemblies. Things weren't as bad here for omnics as they were in other countries, Reina knew this, so sometimes she wondered. However, she still understood it…to an extent. Seeing one of these groups holding up signs outside one of the establishments that didn't allow the machines to enter really did make her pause.

She wasn't proud of her…distrust, but she'd been one to grow up and fight during the omnic crisis that had hit countries around the world hard and that included her own home. She knew what they could do and what they were built for. It shouldn't have even been upsetting anymore, but looking past it was still difficult sometimes.

It was a matter of living in ignorance…just like everyone else. Just turn away and leave it to the professionals. Pretend like nothing was out of the ordinary. Even as that group, be them human or omnic, received scornful words and jeering from passerby, she didn't look back. Rather, she couldn't. She had to become numb or else she couldn't live a normal life. She just kept on walking.

Her slight discomfort and analyzing of it all made her all but throw open her front door and slam it behind her when she entered. She sighed, running a hand through her dark brown locks before throwing the umbrella to the side and tossing off her shoes before continuing her way inside. The place was big enough for a handful of people and the inventive work that Reina tended to take home with her. It felt big and empty with actually little furniture and decor except for what was needed or provided a bit of comfort so that it didn't feel as hollow within the house.

A low rumble and a soft whirring sound greeted her as she flipped on the lights to her room, a large hunk of dark grey metal moving on the bed as a feline head lifted from the comforter to look at her.

"What are you doing up there? Down." Reina gave the demand like she always had and the cybernetic cat stood and gently climbed down from the bed before sitting down right at the end of it and staring back up at her with those bright blue eyes. She just glanced over and sort of nudged it towards the door. "I'll check on you in a minute, alright? I'm gonna get dressed." It finally seemed content with leaving her be, if only for a moment, and set itself up comfortably outside the door while Reina dressed herself in a loose nightshirt. The robotic animal strolled back in the second the door opened once more to allow it inside.

Even if she was the one who made it, small behaviors that were actually rather frequent never ceased to surprise her. Though, any behavior from an omnic did the same, but even then she could always trace that back to an omnium. The means of defense was designed and built by her alone, the first of many and the only one that she kept personally: she couldn't part with her original creation. It wasn't all that different, save for a few changes to its original, pacifistic manners of defense within the programming, but she kept it around and it puzzled her some days for the reason of her understanding of it seeming to leave whenever it did anything she didn't see as…well, robotic. Nothing wrong as always, she thought as she peered over at its face curiously. Those same round eyes stared right back at her.

"All finished, Beta. You can leave…" Instead, it simply curled up at her the foot of the bed, "…or you can sit there." That same rumble from before came from Beta before it fully laid down without a care.

Reina shook her head and was about to leave to get back to work as usual when she remembered her promise to Maria. She'd been worried just at the possibility of Reina working too much on more of her defensive inventions and she didn't even know the half of it. She'd hardly gotten sleep some nights with those all-nighters and exhausted herself to the point where work the next day was a challenge, even with dozens of coffees throughout the day. Did it stop her? Most of the time, no. This time, however, she'd allow herself a break. Just this once.

She plopped down on the bed, grabbed the remote and absentmindedly turned on the tv.

"…the two 'Junkers' have continued their crime spree across the globe-"

"…a train was supposedly held up by a familiar face associated with the fallen group known as-"

"…*¿Y Quién es Sombra? Live in Dorado-"

"…tensions have risen as riots in King's Row have become more violent between omnics and-"

"…and the second omnic crisis currently contained within Russia continues to rage on, claiming another two thousand lives in the past month."

A growl left Reina's throat as she threw the remote across the room, Beta standing up and looking at her over its shoulder before going to retrieve it. She didn't bother to change the channel. Didn't waste time turning off the television. It wouldn't make the problems go away, even if she wanted them too. As Beta returned with the fallen remote, obediently placing it in its creator's lap, the woman stared down at it. Frustrated, she clicked the tv off and tossed it away once more. The whispered words of the girl from before lingered in her mind alongside the news she'd been hearing for months.

*'Usted sigue siendo un héroe para mí.'

"No…I'm not…not anymore…not ever again." Her voice shook and she didn't know if she felt anger, denial, or disappointment. It didn't matter. What she said was true.

Beta, having wandered away to grab the remote a second time, instead gave a loud rumble and whir to get Reina's attention. She'd thrown the item out of reach into the closet behind a heavy box and left the robotic beats to sit patiently and wait for her to retrieve it. It seemed so, for a moment, until it walked slowly back to her side and nudged it with the top of its head. Even when she pushed it away, it did so again, this time grabbing the end of her nightshirt gently in its mouth as it tugged her towards the closet and, presumably, the remote. It didn't look like the robot would stop anytime soon, chances are it wouldn't let her sleep with that insistence, so she grudgingly stood up and allowed Beta to drag her over. It didn't try to retrieve the remote as Reina suspected and pawed at the box, looking between both the heavy box and her as it did so until moving its head and front legs into the box.

"That's enough Beta. Get out of there. Hey! Beta!" Reina raised her voice and grabbed at Beta who didn't let up from rummaging its head in the box. It only relented when it brought out a small gauntlet in its teeth and stared up at her. Seeing it was enough to silence her as well as try and stop Beta from even touching the worn gauntlet. She fell to her knees in front of the robotic beast, not moving an inch when the gauntlet it held was placed gently in her lap.

The object brought back more memories than it should've for her and just feeling the cool metal in her hands was somewhat welcomed. She held it close to her chest, looking down at the floor and turning to glance back at the box. She crawled closer and peered inside at the contents.

The second gauntlet to a well missed pair. Aged and slightly torn posters, only in a bit better shape than a blue flag with a symbol in white and orange. A medal that had seen better days, now being covered with dust and having a lightly torn blue ribbon. A pair of goggles. More and more old creations, many small and her own while others had been crafted by others. The woman paused when she reached several photographs. It was harder to look at those than anything else that she'd hidden away.

She looked much younger in the ones where she was present, knowing that her absence in others was due to her taking the picture at random (save for one or two exceptions). Her in mid-run with a wide smile as one hand kept a cowboy hat onto her head while someone in the background tried to come after her. Her standing tall and proud, save for a goofy smile, in front of a familiar base. A scientist and pilot in recovery, both grinning widely for the picture. Her all dressed up with the medal pinned to her chest, that photo sitting right next to another of others appearing the exact same. An infirmary with a busy doctor treating a giant of a man, an arm in a cast just barely visible at the edge of the picture.

She didn't even realize she'd began crying until a tear fell onto the last photo she held shakily in an iron grip as though she was afraid it might disappear. A group of people, some smiling while others looked stern and even a few striking ridiculous poses, standing outside with her somewhat blurry form jumping in with that big, stupid smile. The tears continued in small streams down her face, Reina furiously wiping at her eyes as Beta moved closer to her and laid its head on her lap where her gauntlet now rested with the photos. It's for the best, she thought, almost angry, They didn't need us…they don't need us…. More small grumbles, attempted reassurances, slipped past her lips as she sat there shaking. Before long, she stood back up and began to shove everything back into the box. Beta tried stopping her to no avail until finally shoving its front half into the box when she was about to close it and throw it into the closet.

"Beta!" She shouted and the robot paused, poking its head out and turning its gaze back up at her, "*Vete. Ahora." It waited like she might change her mind before going through with her demand and leaving the room entirely, Reina shutting the door without a second thought. She flicked off the lights and, after wiping her eyes again in her aggravation, climbed into bed with her back turned to the door.

She wasn't sure how much time had passed, but it had definitely be more than a few minutes when she heard a voice outside the door and the frantic scratching at its surface. Silently, she got up and pressed an ear against the wood as the scratching began to slow down, finally stopping when a gruff voice came on.

"Winston?" Reina opened the door, but Beta was all that was waiting for her in the dark hallway. Between its teeth it held a small object she thought she'd stuffed back into the box along with everything else. The robotic animal didn't put up a fight when she took it into her hands and listened to her past colleague, pressing a button that showed a small video on a screen on the surface of the device. It went from Winston's exasperated expression to showing off several scenes of the second omnic crisis and other large scale problems that were going on. It was painful to watch, but as Winston continued speaking, she couldn't turn away or turn off the transmission. His words stuck with her as she watched in utter silence, not moving an inch as she listened.

She perked up at those last four words.

"Are you with me?" With that, the words of that little girl flashed through her mind at the same time as the signal for a recall.


*Godmother

*Grandmother

*And who is Sombra? (Sombra is shadow in Spanish if you want the extra translation)

*You're still a hero to me

*Get out. Now.