Hello, guys! I'm back with chapter two of 'His Shadow.'

I wanna give a quick thanks to AwesomeName for the first review on this story. I'm glad you're interested! As well as reviewers GhostFang GF and Kurasu (or zeldaleepalutena).

I also wanna thank rockobrocko, WynterAsiuuki, Syndirr, crescent the eclipse, Bernie2798, Incarnate47, and IjustCantRN for following the story, as well as GhostFang GF, Incarnate17, Wings of a Nevermore Dragon, and IjustCantRN for favoriting! It means a lot to know people enjoyed it!

Anyway, onto the story! This one will have a lot of line breaks, sorry 'bout that!

Rory, had his hands folded on the table as Alex processed the information. "Let me get this straight: Sombra got involved with Los Muertos because she thought the lower class were being taken advantage of, and you never told me?"

"For starters…"

"And then she found out about some 'Conspiracy' and you didn't tell me?"

"Yeah…"

"And then she got caught by the people running it and had to erase herself… And had to run away… and you've finally decided to tell me when it's too late to help her?"

"That's about all of it…"

"Rory… Why didn't you tell me?"

"I couldn't. There was no changing her mind, Alex… Believe me, I tried…"

His aunt smiled sadly at him. "I'm sorry, Sobrino."

"Why? I'm the one in the wrong."

"Because you lost your Sombra."

"What?" he asked incredulously. "My Sombra? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, you think I didn't notice the looks you give her when she isn't looking? It's the same way Pedro looked at me, Sobrino. I noticed."

Rory felt his face warm up. "How long?"

"Since Alejandra was born. You looked at Alejandra with a look I recognized from every time I looked at you and Lena. You wanted to grow up and have a child of your own. And when you looked at Sombra I knew you imagined that kind of life with her."

His face burned as his blood rushed to his face. "Oh," he said simply.

Alex laughed. "Ror, you're seventeen. You're allowed to have a crush on a pretty girl."

"La chica es muy bonita…"

"Sí."

"And now she's gone…" He remembered what she said before she left. "Alex, ¿Qué significa 'Eres mi sol, mi vida, mi cielo'?"

"What?"

"That's one of the last things she said to me before leaving."

"So I was right about that too…" Alex said to herself, smiling brightly. She looked to Rory. "Oh, you'll find out eventually, I'm sure."

"Why can't you just tell me?"

"Where would be the fun in that?"

"Well, it seems to be something good, right?"

"Very good."

"I know 'eres' is 'you are,' but I am what?"

Alejandra walked into the room. "Hi, Rory!" the toddler giggled out.

Rory's smile brightened and he stood and walked to the girl, picking her up and placing her on his hip. "Hey, Ali! How's my favorite little girl?"

"Good!"

"That's good! Listen, sweetie, Sombra had to go for a while. She got a new job and is gonna be gone for a few years, okay?"

"Why?"

"She got in a little bit of trouble and has to fix a few things, but she told me to tell you she loves you and is gonna miss you a bunch. She also said," he booped her nose lightly, "boop!" he said in a high-pitched voice, making the girl laugh.

"Boop!" she said and repeated the gesture on Rory's nose. "Boop boop boop!"

"Oh, we're starting a Boop War, are we? Well how about we gang up on Mamá, huh?"

"BOOP MAMÁ!"

-Line Break-

Sombra winced painfully as she laid on the bed. She was having an Enhancer install her hacking tech into her back and arms, connecting up to her head. Half of her head had been shaved to make room for the Neural Transmitter. A central power module was installed into her spine and the Enhancer was putting the finishing touches to make sure no wires would threaten to puncture her organs.

The artist had finally finished when Sombra was just about to snap at her for making it hurt so badly. The girl stood and looked in the mirror and the woman's handiwork. "Gracias." She got busy getting dressed, trying not to exert herself to badly while pulling her shirt and hoodie on.

"You'll be sore for a while, but you should be able to control your tech within the next twenty-four hours."

Sombra nodded before paying the woman and walking out of the building.

Now she would be able to really find out what this 'Conspiracy' was really about.

She entered an alley and knocked on the door. A man opened the door and greeted her, laughing, but he used her old name. The one she had to get rid of.

"That's not my name, Julio. It's Sombra."

"Ooh, a new pet name, hm?"

She pulled down her hood to reveal her shaved hair, the tech implanted onto her head, and vibrant purple eyes.

"Ah, so now you're a cyborg or something?"

"I got noticed looking into something and had to erase the girl. Sombra's what's left of her."

"Hm. So you're an emo?"

Sombra glared at him. "I can hack your gun to fly between your eyes and shoot your brains out before you can say 'Los Muertos,' cabrón. Don't test me."

Julio's eyes filled with terror as he held his hands up in surrender. "Sorry, Sombra."

The young woman smirked. "There you go."

-Line Break-

Five Years Later

It had been three years since the collapse of the Swiss Overwatch HQ and two years since Overwatch shut down and was deemed illegal by the Petras Act.

Sombra was still going strong with her hacking abilities, and someone else had noticed, but they wanted to recruit her skills.

"So I'm supposed to trust some blue-skinned chica and a ghost that want me to hack for them? How much?"

The ghost, Reaper, growled at her. "How about you don't get a shotgun shell unloaded on your face? That good enough payment for you?"

Sombra rolled her eyes and held out her hand, hacking his shotguns and sending one to aim at each of the Talon agents. "I'll ask again, Señor: how much am I getting paid to hack for you terrorist cabrones?

The blue woman, Widowmaker, narrowed her eyes. "How much do you want?" she asked coldly with a thick French accent.

"Hmm… at least ten thousand. Per job."

Reaper growled, but Widowmaker gave him a look. "Six thousand," she counter-offered.

"Seven thousand-five hundred and throw in a machine pistol. What do you say, chica?"

Widowmaker and Reaper shared a look before Reaper growled again. "Fine."

"Gracias, Gabriel,"she said with a smirk.

The man picked his shotgun out of the air and shot, but Sombra translocated across the room. "Try again."

"Call me that again, and the next round goes into your eye."

"Sure, Reapy."

Reaper growled as he turned, indicating for Widow to follow.

Widow glared at the hacker but simply said, "We'll be in touch, cherie."

"Adios."

Now to deal with the King Viper, Sombra thought deviously.

-Line Break-

"That has to be her," Rory said, indicating the report on Atlas News about the "collective" known as Sombra hacking LumériCo and releasing emails and files indicating that the CEO, Guillermo Portero, was corrupting the company and government.

"You can't assume everything called Sombra is her, Rory," Alex told him.

"We received an audio file from someone in the group that we're going to play for you now:

"This information was given to you by Sombra. The public deserves to know when the higher-ups are stealing their money and filling their own pockets. We all know what happened in Rio. This was only done acting the public interest."

Alex's eyes were wide. That was Sombra's voice alright. "I stand corrected."

"I knew it! What'd I tell you? Ha!"

An eight-year-old Alejandra walked into the room. "Dios mio, calm down, Rory."

"Sorry, Ali."

"What's going on?"

"Nothing, sweetie," Alex said quickly.

"Liar."

"Really, Ali, it's nothing you have to worry about," Rory told her. "Not for a while at least."

The girl groaned in frustration. "You treat me like a baby, I'm not!"

"You're only eight, Ally," Rory said mirthfully. "Your rebelliousteen days aren't supposed to have come yet."

"Fine. But I'm not gonna forget this!"

"Oh, I'm sure you won't, Ali, but it's not time to tell you what's going on. We will eventually."

"You'd better."

"We will, Mija. For now, the bakery opens in a couple hours, and I need both of your help."

-Line Break-

Five Years Later

(As a quick age recap, Sombra and Rory are now 29, and Alejandra is 13)

"Ali, I'm serious. I just want you safe. Los Muertos are very active this time of day."

Alejandra slammed the door open. "I'm not a baby anymore, Mamá, stop treating me like one!"

"Listen to me, Mija: get the flour and get back quickly! No stops."

"Fine!" The girl walked out the door and gave a quick "I've-had-enough-of-my-mom-babying-me" gesture to Rory.

Alex sat at the table, sighing and putting her face in her hands before putting them on the table. Rory walked over and took her hands in his before sitting down.

"What's going on in that head of yours, Tía?"

She sighed. "I worry about Alejandra. Every day, no longer a child and nowhere near grown up. She is at a crossroads. I tell her about the heroes who saved our world time and time again, because I want to give her hope. But I'm afraid that she could be forced to make a choice that will decide the direction of her life."

Rory thought about that for a little while, long enough to start to concern Alex. "Those stories about Overwatch really do help her, you know."

Alex laughed humorlessly. "I'm glad you think so, because I sure don't… I mean… She still talks with those Muertos even after we warn her about them, and… I don't know…"

"Do you think it's time we tell her about Sombra?"

"..."

"I mean think about it: she'll see that they got her in trouble and know not to go near them."

"Or she'll want to be close to them to be like her."

Rory sighed. "Just please think on it. Okya?"

"... Okay…"

"Thank you, Tía."

Hours had passed and dark had begun to settle in. And still Alejandra wasn't home.

Rory stood from his seat. "That's it. I'm going looking for her. I'm done sitting here and waiting for her."

He ran out the door and ran out towards the part of town where Los Muertos did their smuggling. The power had gone out in that district so he knew something had to have been going on. Suddenly he heard rapid gunfire. A minigun.

"Ali!" he shouted, heading in that direction. He found the alleyway where the gunfire was and found a man wearing red, white, and blue with a red glowing visor being shot at by Los Muertos. He also saw Ali hiding behind a crate, trying to avoid the gunfire!

"Ali!" he shouted, ducking down and running to her. "Ali, are you hurt?!"

"No, Rory, but I'm scared, Primo!"

"It'll be okay, Ali, we'll get out of here!" He looked over to see the visor guy run out from behind cover and fire three rockets at the mun with the minigun, blowing up the truck and sending shrapnel everywhere. Rory shouted before pressing Ali against the wall to minimize the chance she'd get hit. Miraculously, it all missed the two of them.

Rory noticed the giant '76' on the man's jacket. The man's visor let out a holo-display and he suddenly took out all the men on the roof with one shot each.

As all of them fell, one that had been on the ground already tried to crawl away, but 76 grabbed a piece of burning piñata and beat him over the head with it, Ali and Ror watching in awed terror.

Each of his words were punctuated with another blow. "THESE! AREN'T! YOUR! STREETS!" He paused for a brief moment. "ANYMORE!"

Ali shrieked as she slid back away from the men, Rory, grabbing her as he did the same. The man looked up at them his visor glowing menacingly.

"No, please, I-" Ali pleaded, crawling away, with Rory trying to hide her behind him.

A truck drove into the alley as Los Muertos clambered onto it in a rush, 76 rushing after them to try and stop them from escaping. "You don't get off that easy!" he shouted.

One of the men threw an object past 76 and it rolled slowly to Rory's feet before his eyes widened in fear over what it was. Ali saw it too and screamed, attracting 76's attention. He looked between the two and the truck escaping through the alley before running back to the two and grabbing them, covering them as the explosion sent them sliding down the alley.

Rory covered Ali's body to do his best to ensure she survived the blast, even if it had to be at the cost of his own life. Suddenly he felt someone else covering him before he was forced down the alleyway by the blast of the bomb.

They slid to a stop and the figure removed himself from the two painfully, making sure the young man and little girl were okay.

Rory opened his eyes to see that his savior was the visor guy who moments ago he feared would attack him and his cousin.

His cousin. Ali!

He quickly looked over her to make sure she was okay before laughing with relief, kissing her hair and holding her close to him, both of them laughing with the relief of surviving that.

Rory looked at 76 as he stood with his cousin. 76 clutched his side in pain and clutched his fist tightly to try and force the pain away.

Ali looked at the man, confused. "You… you saved us…" She paused to look between her cousin and the man. "Why?"

The man looked at the two, the visor unnerving both of them, causing Ali to gasp in slight fear. He answered in a low, gravelly voice: "Old habits die hard, I guess… Run home kids. It ain't safe out here," he added, throwing Ali's money pouch to Rory.

Ali looked at the man in glee as he turned away, picking up his gun, and walking down the alley. "You're one of those heroes, aren't you?" Ali shouted to him.

76 stopped and turned his head to the side, looking at the two out of the corner of his visor before answering. "Not anymore." He walked away without another word.

Ali smiled. "Well I think you are," she said, knowing that he had to have heard her say that.

Rory smiled at her and pulled her in for another hug. "Dios mio, Alejandra, don't ever go chasing Los Muertos for that bag again! From now on if you lose your money, run home and tell us!"

"Yes, sir!" she said with a laugh.

"Now, c'mon, let's get that flour and head home!"

-Line Break-

The door opened and Rory and Ali rushed inside to the kitchen where Ali threw the flour bag down and hugged her mother, followed quickly by Rory. "¡Mija! ¡Sobrino! I've been worried sick!"

"I'm sorry, Mamá, but you won't believe what happened tonight!"

The three sat down and Ali told them what had happened up until when Rory came and then the two both told her what happened with 76.

"Well, thank God you're okay! Thank God for that man, 76!"

"I can't believe that that happened!" Rory said, laughing breathlessly. "I was so afraid we were done for when they threw that grenade!"

"So was I! And remember when 76 shot those rockets at the truck!"

"That was so cool!"

Their stories were interrupted by a breaking news update.

"Hello, citizens of the world. I'm here tonight to report an attack on Volskaya Industries in Russia."

"Don't tell me it was the Omnics…" Alex said worriedly.

"The attack was an assassination attempt on Katya Volskaya's life. Luckily the attempt was failed, though many guards lost their lives trying to protect her. A report came in claiming that the attack was orchestrated by Talon, a terrorist group from when Overwatch was still around."

"Oh man, that's not good…" Rory stated.

"Obviously," Ali said, rolling her eyes.

"At least two attackers were identified. Reaper, the ghost-like agent that appeared shortly after Overwatch fell, and a new agent that a guard overheard him call 'Sombra.'"

Rory's eyes widened as he shared a look with Alex.

"'Sombra'?" Alejandra asked. "As in Sombra Sombra or…?"

"'It's unknown if this Sombra is related to the group who hacked LumeríCo a few years ago, but for now we are assuming that she is. Unfortunately all security footage from the attack was corrupted or stolen. Whoever did it was a master hacker and left no paper trail for detectives to follow. More updates to follow as they come in."

"Is that Sombra?" Alejandra asked again.

Rory looked at his aunt. "Well, I hope you're ready to tell her."

Alex sighed. "Ali, that is our Sombra. We need to talk to you about her for a little bit, explain a few things."

-Line Break-

"So Sombra hacked into governments, found some 'Conspiracy,' got caught looking into it, and had to leave?"

"That pretty much sums it up…" Rory said.

Ali didn't respond for a moment before smiling brightly. "Cool! She's awesome!" Then her face fell as she remembered the news story. "Except now… she's a terrorist…?"

"They have to be paying her a lot for her to do that," Rory said. "She wouldn't just up and go to terrorists and be like, 'LET'S RULE THE WORLD!'"

"You're probably right…" Alex said.

"Wait… I am?"

"Sombra would never disgrace her parents' memory like that. She has a reason for what she's doing."

"True. I didn't even think about that."

"You never think, primo," Alejandra joked.

"That is also true."

The three laughed for a little bit before Alejandra asked "So how can we help her?"

"We can't for now," Rory said. "I'm sure she has everything under control."

"I hope so…" Alex said worriedly. "For her sake…"

-Line Break-

"Reaps, I've got everything under control," Sombra told the man/wraith.

"No, you obviously don't," he growled. "You were supposed to make sure no one knew about this mission, and now it's all over the damn news!"

"Listen, Gabe-"

"Sombra!" he shouted, spooking her a bit. As angry as he always was, he rarely ever lost his temper around members of Talon.

"Reaper," Sombra addressed, turning serious, "I know what I'm doing. I swear."

"How can I know you aren't lying?"

"Would you believe if I swore on mi Mamá y Papá?"

As often as Sombra, Widow, and Reaper butted heads, they were close. They were as close to family as you could be in a terrorist organization. So Reaper knew the weight that that promise carried with it. He tried to formulate a response to that.

"... You'd better," he settled on.

"I do, Gabe."

"Okay…"

The silence after was as close to an apology as Sombra would ever get from Reaper, but she knew not to address it with the mood he was in.

"Now, please," she said, making a shooing motion, "I have stuff to do."

He left without another word.

Sombra sighed deeply and sunk into her chair. "Dios míos…" I really thought she'd rather keep it quiet than let it go public, Sombra thought to herself. One more thing in the news about me and Talon will decide I've outlived my usefulness. I'm just glad they don't know anything about who I was. Especially anything about him…

Sombra brought up a screen in front of her and looked at news reports from Dorado to make sure nothing too bad had gone on.

Her eyes widened when she saw that there had been gunfire and explosions in the district where Los Muertos did their work. Apparently a vigilante called Soldier: 76 had attacked them and stopped them.

"Jesucristo."

She then pulled up a picture that she had deleted every trace of except for the single one she had. It was a picture of sixteen year old Sombra and Rory sleeping on the couch. Rory was sitting and had his head tilted back and Sombra was lying down with her head in his lap. Both of them looked so young and peaceful.

She remembered what she said to him before leaving and wondered if he'd ever figured out what it meant. Eh, he probably didn't care even if he did…

She sighed and put the picture away, frowning. "I thought I was over this…"

"I'm guessing zat was Rory?"

Sombra turned quickly at the voice and saw Widowmaker leaning on the doorframe. The hacker sputtered for any kind of response, making the assassin chuckle.

"He's handsome, I'll give you zat."

"How'd you get in here?!"

"Reaper left looking as apologetic as I've ever seen him. Wanted to see what happened."

"I…"

"What, you zink I'll go tattle on you for reminiscing on a boy you'll likely never see again?"

Sombra looked down at her lap. "No need to be so blunt about it, Widow…"

"Sorry, cherie."

"Or at least you would be if you could actually feel anything," Sombra grumbled, not meaning for it to be as rude as it was.

The assassin looked down at her hands. "Yes… Yes, I would if I could…"

Sombra looked at the woman sadly. "I'm sorry, Widow… I didn't mean that to be so rude."

"Don't worry about it. I can't feel sadness or hurt either, so it's fine."

"Still sorry though."

"Don't be."

"But I'm gonna be, so ha."

Sombra laughed as Widowmaker chuckled, a show of feeling reserved for only when she was alone or with Sombra. Sombra was the only one who understood Widowmaker and knew how to deal with her. How she was able to do that neither of them knew, but they both were glad for it.

"But that was Rory, correct?"

"Yeah… I wonder how he's doing lately…"

"As I said before, he's handsome. I wouldn't mind catching him in my web," she finished, smirking at Sombra.

"Whatever, Widow."

"You were also very beautiful. Still are, Sombra."

The hacker smiled wistfully. "There was a time when only he, his aunt, and his cousin were allowed to call me by that name… Now it's all people call me…"

"Ah, so it was sort of a pet name?"

"I mean I guess."

"And it held sentimental value for you, so you chose to keep it as a reminder of them."

"Sí."

"Mm. Zat was smart. But now with your name all over the news, they likely know you're a 'terrorist cabrón.'"

Sombra groaned. "Don't remind me, Widow."

"I mean it was fine when you exposed the King Viper, but now?"

"I knooooowww." Sombra leaned forward and rested her elbows on her thighs, burying her face in her hands.

"Look on the bright side."

"What bright side?"

"Now you're unofficially an official Talon agent."

"That's not a bright side."

"I know," Widow said cheekily. "Au revoir." The assassin left Sombra alone in her room.

"Jesucristo… I really messed up…"

That's gonna do it for this chapter, guys! Sorry about the pretty awkward cutoff, but I was worried if I wrote more I'd have put too much in this for one chapter or I'd have not gotten this chapter out before Tuesday, which is my first day of school.

So yeah, school starting means I'll have a lot less time to write and updates will be very, very infrequent and sporadic. I wish I had more time to, but I know I won't. I'll be surprised if I can get a chapter out before I have too much work to do to be able to write at all.

Well, anyway, thanks for reading, guys! Any and all feedback is welcome! Byyyeeee!

P.S. Sorry about how rushed and sporadic this chapter was, I can tell it feels that way, but as I said, i wanted to get something out before school starts. I can tell it's not nearly as good as it could be, but I hope that you guys at least kind of like it. I'll definitely try to make the next one better either way. There may or may not be a run-in with a couple of Overwatch and Talon agents in store for Rory and Ali next chapter wink wink, nudge nudge, cough cough and Alex being overprotective after yet another disaster hits the news WINK WINK WINK ;) ;) hahaha.