Angela and Lena entered the beautiful hotel, each dragging a hefty suitcase. The hotel was paid for by Overwatch. They decided to share a room while they went to Los Angeles to attend a panel in the new Overwatch headquarters.
The two women entered their room. Crystal chandeliers dangled from the high ceilings. A spiral staircase sat in the middle of the room, leading to a library.
"Wow! This is too much," Angela said in awe, tracing her fingers over the intricate designs on the walls.
"Come on, Angela. Wouldn't wanna be the only ones that showed up late to the panel."
Widowmaker, Reaper, and the other Talon soldiers hid on the rooftop of a nearby building, waiting to receive the go ahead signal. Widowmaker patiently stood next to Reaper, peering at the headquarters with her scope.
"Go in whenever you're ready, Reaper. Widowmaker, hold the perimeter," an operative silently stated through their coms.
Widowmaker and Reaper nodded in each other's general direction before Reaper faded out, his men following behind him.
Mercy and Lena were inside the building, enjoying the complimentary water before the program started. How soon their parade would crash.
"Mercy? It's an honor to meet you. I've heard many positive things about your work here in the medical field," a man said, shaking Mercy's hand.
It was Tracer who first noticed the unusual men storming through the entrance. The men wore heavily cladded boots and carried rifles in their hands. They didn't look like the guards she had seen roaming the outskirts of the facility. How did they enter the building with weapons? Tracer's pistols had been confiscated before she even looked at the premises.
One of the men looked in Tracer's general direction, noticing her distrusting glances. They mumbled something amongst themselves, before pointing the rifle at the man talking to Angela. Tracer's instincts immediately took over.
"Shit, Angela! Watch-"
The man Angela was talking to grunted in pain as he was showered in bullets. Tracer grabbed onto Angela and furiously blinked behind a wall parallel to her. Humans and omnics feverishly panicked, attempting to run away from the uniformed men. Several omnics around Lena dropped to the floor as they were hit. Screams echoed throughout the vast corridor. Lena saw a wisp of black smoke glide through the air. Reaper.
Tracer motioned for Mercy to run into a secure hall, where the pair would be shielded by the chaos brewing throughout the rest of the facility.
Widowmaker was in the tallest story, yet she could still hear the muffled screams underneath her. As planned, she had entered the facility without anyone noticing. She looked up at the cameras peering at her from the ceilings, meaning that this was a time based effort. She would be caught any minute now. Widowmaker had already visualized the entrances and exits of the facility. All she had to do now was locate that file in Morrison's office.
Widowmaker approached the door. Not surprisingly, it was locked. It took Widow approximately two seconds to open the door before she ransacked the computer.
Jack Morrison rampaged around the facility, ordering backup to combat the Talon soldiers. Sirens urged panicked people to walk to a designated safe location. Paper flew everywhere. The entire building was on lockdown. Tracer and Mercy were safely escorted to the other end of the building by none other than Genji Shimada, whom was also attending the panel.
Genji, Tracer, and Mercy hurriedly walked next to the man, waiting to receive orders. Jack finally spoke.
"What are the orders, Commander?" Tracer finally asked.
Jack Morrison stopped walking, before facing Genji and Tracer behind him. "You two. Make sure all the remaining levels are clear of any danger. Ziegler, we have people in need of immediate medical attention. You're coming with me." Morrison stormed off, barking orders left and right.
"Do you have the information?" Reaper asked Widowmaker, appearing before the assassin.
"It's all on here," Widowmaker said, walking down the corridor with Reaper. She placed a flash drive in Reaper's hands before the apparatus disappeared. The information would be safer with him.
"Proceeding to leave the premises," Reaper said. "Escorting the objective."
Widowmaker looked all around her. The silence upstairs was deafening. "By now, I should have been noticed. We have to-"
Widowmaker heard the distinct sound of something cutting sharply through air. She ducked just in time for the shuriken to narrowly miss her head and hit the wall in front of her. Guns immediately appeared in Reaper's hands.
Tracer blinked in front of the pair. "Fancy meeting you here!"
Widowmaker's automatic assault rifle sent bullets through the air, each missing the blinking British hero. She absolutely despised Tracer's snarky remarks.
"Let's go!" Reaper urgently commanded. Widowmaker knew that engaging in battle would be an unwise idea. Tracer and Genji surrounded the pair, not daring to make a move.
Widowmaker looked up at the glass ceiling, before momentarily shooting the roof. Shards of glass rained on everyone.
Reaper took the opportunity to fade away, leaving Widow to fend for herself. She attempted to grapple onto the high ceiling, but Genji moved quicker. He dashed towards Widowmaker and used his blade to slice the grappling hook rope in half. Widow fell to the ground, but she rapidly got up. Genji swiftly moved his head away from Widowmaker's spinning kick. In a desperate attempt, Widowmaker aimed for Genji's nether regions, which surprisingly landed. Genji groaned in pain and went to his knees temporarily, grabbing his crotch. This bitch kicked harder than a fucking bull.
Tracer took the chance to shoot at Widowmaker. Widowmaker transitioned into a backward somersault, before running towards an emergency exit.
Now, Genji was beginning to get livid. He got up and limped through the pain, pulling out his swords. Breathe. Relax.
Widowmaker threw a purple venom mine in Genji's direction, which he deflected. The purple gas engulfed Widowmaker, causing her to cough violently. Widow closed her eyes and fell to the ground. She forgot how painful the venom mine's gas truly was. Genji waited until most of the gas cleared before going after the assassin. Widowmaker took action, barrel rolling away from Genji and swiftly kicking his legs out from underneath him. Tracer maneuvered her way behind Widowmaker, placing handcuffs on her slender wrists. Genji was on top of her, holding her in place. She made weak attempts to kick off Overwatch agents and run. Widowmaker, realizing there was no getting out of her situation, lied on the ground, defeated.
"Morrison!" Tracer yelled through her earpiece, "We have Talon agent Widowmaker in our custody."
"Lacroix," Morrison grumbled. "Stay up there until I can provide backup. Good work, agents."
"Tracer. You were actually useful for once," Widowmaker said, devoid of any bitterness or emotion.
"Save it, Widow."
Tracer read the headlines of the online newspaper, her guts twisting up in a tight knot.
"27 injured in latest attack!"
"The latest coverage on the Los Angeles Attack!"
"Overwatch Reactivates: Is it Still Worth It?"
"You should stop reading those articles," Mercy said, pulling Tracer into a tight hug.
Mercy and Tracer were worn out. The media cowered over the Overwatch members like scavengers cowering over their dead prey. Yet, one tiny, little detail was kept out of the public eye.
Widowmaker's capture.
The pair were currently in the Overwatch headquarters. Talon had hoped the attack would discourage people from joining Overwatch. Interestingly, the attack only urged more Overwatch members to attend the still ongoing panel. Now, more than ever, Overwatch was compelled to preserve the peace and protect the world.
The women were getting ready to leave the heavily guarded panel when Morrison approached them.
"Ziegler," Jack said, semi jogging towards the doctor. "Can you stick around for a little bit?"
"I'll catch up with you later," Mercy told Tracer. Tracer reluctantly left the scene.
"Why don't we go up to my office to discuss matters, now?" Jack said, hinting that he was going to discuss something important.
Morrison beckoned for Mercy to sit in a chair across from his. Jack heaved a sigh and grunted as he sat, and Mercy realized just how aged he has gotten. How worn down from life he was.
"Be honest. Did Lena tell you who we captured?" Morrison asked.
"Captured? No."
"Good. I told her not to. Only a select few people know that Widowmaker, Talon's master assassin, is under our custody. We need you to perform routine physical and psychological examinations on Widowmaker. Find out the true extent of her alterations," he said, leaning back against his seat. "Hopefully, we can learn more about Talon's science branch, as well as boost our own knowledge of the human body. You start tomorrow."
The mere thought of being in the presence of Widowmaker made Mercy scream on the inside. Everyone knows the things she is capable of doing, the atrocities she already committed. Mercy couldn't tell you how many times she had evaluated her victims, each bullet cutting clean and sharp into the temple of their head. Yet, Mercy was interested. Only a select few Overwatch agents have actually seen her, and most of them don't live to tell the tale. The ones who live describe her as icy, her skin unusually pigmented blue. Lena had no problem admitting that Widow was as beautiful as she was deadly. This would be an interesting task.
"I composed a file of information that we know about her. You can read over it, if you like. I don't care," Morrison said.
Angela took the file and scanned its short contents. There wasn't much they knew about Widowmaker. Yet, there was something that caught Angela's eye. She hadn't seen the name in ages.
Amélie Lacroix. The assumption that Amélie was killed years ago quickly shattered and divided like broken glass. Widowmaker was Amélie Lacroix?
"It comes off as a shock to me, also," Morrison said, reading Angela's mind. "We're going to press her for answers."
"When do you want me to perform the first physical evaluation?" Mercy asked, secretly eager to discover what alterations were made to the assassin's physical structure.
Morrison opened the door for Mercy. "Your first meeting with Widowmaker is tomorrow, same time. Remember, this conversation does not leave this office."
"Understood."
"What did Morrison want to talk to you about?" Tracer asked, unpacking her belongings in her assigned barrack. Mercy and Tracer had agreed to operate out of Los Angeles for the remainder of the year. Tracer was more than excited about being an active Overwatch agent again. Mercy was just glad she would be able to reach more people in need through her position as the head of the medical field.
Mercy wasn't a great liar. "We were just talking about matters within the medical field."
"Genji is operating in Los Angeles. He said he really wants to meet with you and talk some day."
"That'll... be nice. I'll consider it," Angela said. She was tired, especially considering the fact that she had a meeting with the Widowmaker the following day.
"I'm going to my room. Sleep well, Lena," Angela said, leaving the barrack. She would have never guessed how the events of the next day would unfold.