Chapter 7: Retrieval

Hello and sorry for the delay everyone. Even though I'm on my holidays I decided to find a summer job (cheers for those enjoying their holiday time!) and I have less time than I thought I would have. However, there you go, a new chapter! Genji is finally gonna go all Rambo but it will not be an easy task to save Angela! Feel free to let me know what do you think and enjoy! (:

Several hours have passed since Angela woke up. The sky was getting darker and the sun was casting its last golden rays on the busy streets of the city. Her mind was desperately trying to find a way to escape the tight room she was locked in and the more she thought of it, the more painfully impossible it seemed. The valkyrie suit Mercy was wearing healed most of the minor wounds she suffered during the explosion but still didn't managed to get rid of the numb pain in her head. To her surprise, her hands were free, as well as her legs, giving her some space to stretch from time to time.

The air in the cell began to become cold, sending shivers down Mercy's spine as she tried to warm herself up by curling up like a defenseless child.

Before the explosion and the chaos afterwards, it had been impossible for Angela to determine the identity of her kidnappers, but now, after having peeked at several Talon insignias on the black uniforms, there was no doubt who they were. What she had feared, was now the reality. She had experienced so much time of a calm mind in the Middle East that it was inescapable to avoid trouble forever.

The news regarding disappearing scientists that were spreading all around the word terrified her, but she knew there was nothing else she could do but to hide and hope to be unseen for as long as possible. Her sense of awareness and danger had gotten weak, causing the situation she was in now.

Angela looked at the ceiling and at the simple light bulb hanging from it. 'What if my researches fall into the wrong hands?' she thought to herself, scared of the consequences that could follow this terrible thought. Right now, Genji seemed to be her only hope. The thought of imagining what he might have felt after he learned of the explosion terrified Angela.

From time to time, cold separate voices and the loud steps of their owners could be heard resounding in the corridor. Angela couldn't quite catch much from what they were saying. What was little known was that they would abandon the place this very same night, around midnight.

After what seemed like an eternity later, she heard a loud sound of the metallic rusty door opening, and once she opened her eyes that adjusted to the darkness around, she saw two men standing in her cell. One was completely unknown guard but the second one was the one who caused her to lose her conscience hours ago. Despite the bad illumination, she remembered his pale skin and realized his hair was characteristically burning red. He waved his hand, and the guard left leaving these two alone. Angela didn't move from her position and stared at her kidnapper.

'I brought you something' he said smiling widely as he placed a plate with bread and a bottle of water on the floor. She looked at the food in disgust while her body screamed in need of energy, then she stared at the man again, trying not to break the eye contact. 'I'm Callaghan by the way. I've heard stories about you'

At first, she hesitated to answer; however, as terrified she was, she was decided not show any type of weakness to her captor.

'Like?' she asked dryly, grabbing a hard piece of bread and biting into it, enjoying the soft flavor of butter which reminded her of an easy Sunday morning.

He grinned, looked at her and asked 'Does bringing the dead back to life sound familiar?'

Angela felt her heart freeze in time. The man laughed and continued.

'That doesn't matter now, you can calm down doctor. I came here to inform you that we are moving from here at midnight; not like you need to prepare for that but, it's good to know right? Oh, don't worry, we are not gonna hurt you. The orders were clear.'

'What does Talon plan to use me for?' Mercy asked dryly, trying to calm down her breath.

'You're joking right? Isn't it obvious? We need what is in your mind' Callaghan answered poking his forehead. 'The Boss knows you can become quite helpful'

'Helpful? You think I will agree to this?' she growled looking at him in disgust.

'Whether you want it or not, sweetheart' he added as a cracking noise came from the transmitter attached to his belt. The man grabbed it and placed close to his lips 'What now?'

Angela's head was full of various thoughts but then she heard it. It was a voice that took her breath away.

'You getting ready in there Callaghan?'

'Impossible' Mercy whispered mostly to herself, her eyes opened wide in shock. That voice, so familiar and unknown at the same time.

'Yes sir, we are moving out soon. We are only waiting for the last squad looking for the robot' the red-haired man answered calmly, looking at the doctor who was staring in shock at the wall behind him.

'Good, I expect no more trouble than the chaos your squad caused before.' the voice from the transmitter growled deeply and added 'Let me say hello to our dear doctor'. Callaghan moved the device closer to Mercy 'Hi Angela'. The voice cut, followed by a loud buzz. The call was over.

The doctor covered her mouth as a strangely satisfied Callaghan moved away.

'Gonna leave you now, seems you need time to get over things no-' The man began to talk but was soon disrupted by the bottled water flying in his direction. He avoided it effortlessly, with eyebrows raised in surprise.

'Shut up, just get out.' Angela said with her teeth clenched, grabbing the plate he brought before, preparing to throw it at him.

'It seems you will need to be tied up after all, you know... for safety reasons' he said emotionlessly and exited the cell, leaving Angela to deal with the past that was so abruptly reminded to her.

After reaching the manufacturing area, Genji turned off the engine of the hovercycle he parked few streets away from the place that probably held Angela captive. He became a ghost, merging with the omnipresent darkness. Quietly and ably, climbed on top of the nearest building. His senses sharpened, in look for any sound, smell or sign. The piece of cloth tied on the back of his head flowing softly in the air.

A bucket lying on the street fell down and Genji's sight fell on it immediately just to notice a moment later it had been caused by a rat. As if the rat had felt the intense and deadly gaze of the cyborg, it quickly ran away into hiding to the sewers.

'Four... no, five armed men standing around the gate. Another two patrolling the closest gate. This will be easy' Genji thought. Suddenly, his visor caught another movement, an omnic agent patrolling the surroundings too. 'These are Talon agents, but they look unusually organized. Why?' Genji asked himself, looking for answers as he silently observed the guards.

Genji got up and jumped gracefully from one building to another, getting closer to the eastern part of the compound swiftly and quiet like an experienced cat. Then, he became one with the shadows, hiding from the sights of the agents present in there

'Have they found him yet?' he heard a split of a conversation and to his satisfaction he realized how troublesome his presence was.

Talon's agents expected him to save Angela and he was slowly becoming more anxious because time was running out. He had already spent a ridiculously amount of time looking for them in the small city.

'Hey, we are moving out in twenty minutes. Last scout patrol and come back to point A. The boss wants the doctor as soon as possible.' the masked man announced to the passing guards as they nodded and moved forward into their route, Genji slipped away from the shadow and followed the one who issued the orders. Hopefully, he would lead him closer to Angela.

'She is ready to go' someone's voice echoed. Genji's heart beat faster, because this meant he was ready to do anything for Angela as well.

When guards entered Angela's cell again, she knew that the moment of her leaving was approaching relentlessly. However, even in those last moments she wouldn't let them take her without fighting. Pushing and kicking did not help much, especially with her well tied hands, but it definitely made her feel better to put up a fight against her captors.

Once she finally stood, after hours of resting on the cool floor, she noticed how drained from energy she was. Her legs were shaking and if not the fact she was being carried, she would have fallen on the ground. The heavy pounding in the head and dizziness were effects of the concussion, making her feel as if the surroundings were blurry.

The hope that Genji was going to save her was slowly fading away. Oh how much she desired for him to be here; to get her back and run away as far as possible, never to be found again. During those painfully long hours of captivity, she regretted everything she hadn't done or said to him.

There was so much in her head now that it felt like exploding. All she wished for, suddenly, was for it all to end.

Mercy knew what Talon was capable of and her fate was already planned according to their needs. Ice cold shivers ran from her toes to the top of her head as she took a deep breath imagining her future.

'Move' growled one of the agents pushing her harshly forward. She bit her tongue and moved her legs, which tangled a second after.

'Man, she is drained. You pushing her won't help and if the boss sees any more bruises, we will be in trouble' warned the other man, holding Mercy tightly by her arm. They both looked at her with both pity and weird satisfaction on their faces.

They were moving fast making the light on the ceiling turn into a long white line.

After the fifth or sixth turn guards made in what seemed to be a maze of corridors, Angela lost the count. They stopped when a familiar voice came out of the transmitter.

'We are almost ready, Shimada was not found so we expect some troubles' Mercy raised her head curiously staring at the device.

'Genji' she thought and felt her throat tightened.

'We're approaching the southern entrance, Callaghan. Better prepare some vitamins because our doctor seems to be in a bad shape' the man laughed glancing at the pale woman. 'Oh she looks adorable when she's angry' he added, causing Mercy's stomach to turn around in disgust.

'Schwein' Angela whispered angrily, followed by the confused looks of the guards and Callaghan's giggle.

Moments later they entered a bigger hall with an open ceiling, allowing the bright moon light to disperse the darkness between the giant machinery scattered around. Angela took a deep breath feeling a soft breeze stroking her sweated cheeks until they stopped suddenly. She didn't know what was the cause until she saw someone's body sticking out from behind a car. One of the guards holding Mercy let go of her and quickly left to check on the lying person while the other took out his gun still holding tightly to Angela's arm.

'He is breathing, knocked out but alive' he grunted and as he stood up an unknown shadow quickly swept him off his feet.

Angela looked around, scanning through the darkness for any movement, with her heart pounding as if she had run without stopping for the last minutes.

The guard let her go grabbing onto the transmitter tucked to his belt.

'Boss, we've got a pro-' he begun until he was abruptly stopped and the device flew several meters away, crashing into small pieces on the ground. 'You-' he growled, quickly regaining consciousness and aiming at the metallic human-shaped figure that appeared from the shadows.

'Angela, move away' she heard the voice she so longed to hear.

'We knew you were coming!' the guard yelled. He aimed at Genji and pushed the trigger. A loud rumble echoed in the hall and before Angela was able to breath out, the guard was already lying on the ground. Alive, as his chest was rising in shallow breaths.

'Genji' Angela repeated, swaying on her feet, trying to reach the man. His previously turned off visor flickered as he quickly approached Angela to cut ties on her wrists. He grabbed her and right away, threw one of her arms around his neck as she pressed her cheek to the cool metallic plate on his chest. No more words could escape her tight and dry throat nor her clenched teeth as her body and lips began to tremble.

'Angela...' Genji whispered fondly, next to the doctor's ear, wrapping his arm around her body in a delicate embrace.

'We need to leave, fast' the doctor said, rising her head and looking at her savior a few seconds later.

'I know' he replied as the ground shook, almost unnoticeably for a normal human, under several people thumping with heavy shoes, coming their direction.

Genji swept Mercy off her feet as he started running, and she did not oppose. In fact, that was the fastest way they could get away from the building, thought Angela as her weak legs tingled uncomfortably. She closed her eyes, resting her chin on his shoulder and arms wrapped around his neck, hardly feeling any bumping while he carried her effortlessly through the darkness.

The first guard that had tried to stop them ended up being thrown across the corridor faster than he'd imagine, as Genji could hear his loud breath from a kilometer away. They moved past one more hall, smaller and emptier, getting closer to the exit. He expected trouble but there was no other way that to encounter whatever was waiting.

The relief he felt when he saw Angela, relatively in a good condition, somehow compensated all the hours of anxiety that had been hunting him from the moment he heard the explosion. She was here now, in his arms, safe for the moment. He took a breath and sensed a faint aroma of vanilla.

'I like your perfumes' Genji said grinning, crossing swiftly another meter. Angela first raised her head but giggled soon after, slightly poking his arm.

'Just get us out of here Genji' she whispered smiling weakly.

Her smile didn't last long as they finally reached the exit. But instead of getting out through the door Genji moved towards the ladder leading above. Before he pulled Angela up, she grabbed his arm hesitantly and said.

'Genji, listen. If we don't make this work.' and seeing Genji's body getting tense and ready to respond, she placed her palm on his mask, where his lips would normally be. 'Don't. If we don't make it, I want you to come back to our house, and burn everything you can before Talon lay their fingers on it. Do you understand?' Her face was unyielding and her deep blue eyes stared rigidly at Genji's visor. The building must have been heavy surrounded and knowing how much trouble the man went through to get to her, what was waiting outside was a wall hard to break. When running, they met almost no obstacles which created overwhelming suspicion in the air. She looked so determined that Genji clenched his wrists angrily.

'I will' he answered shortly not even taking into consideration the possibility of failure, and to avoid Angela's drilling gaze, he turned around and jumped quickly up the ladder reaching his arm for the doctor's. I'm going to protect you Angela, whatever it takes.

'He's there!' one of the guards screamed as the beam of light shone on Genji approaching from around the corner. His visor flickered and the hardly noticeable steam was released from the armor. A series of bullets echoed in the open space but there he stood untouched, reflecting all the shots that were meant to kill him.

His breath was steady and mind focused, calculating the amount of enemies surrounding the premises and who were now quickly surrounding him in small circles.

'The doctor is not here' a faint whisper reached his ears 'spread out and find her'.

There was no time for play, thought Genji as he threw several shurikens at the upcoming guards. Everyone looked the same, wearing dark coats and chest plates with the Talon insignia on them. One of the men however, seemed different that the others. Standing in the safe distance, straightened and confident, watching his comrades helplessly confront Genji as he was swirling around, reflecting bullets, choosing knocking them unconscious over killing.

Angela was safe for now, definitely not in form to defend herself so this needed to end fast. Talon would find her sooner or later and Genji was just buying them mere seconds.

Callaghan laughed as there were almost no units suitable to fight anymore, he stepped forward.

'Shimada Genji, I knew it would be a pleasure to meet you finally.'

Genji stood up straight after throwing one of the last man harshly on the ground.

'I'm quite impressed. Gossips about your generously acquired skills were accurate' the man continued getting closer to the ninja.

Genji tightly squeezed his sword, hearing more loud steps incoming. Callaghan stared mysteriously at the metallic body of the younger Shimada, and asked.

'How much of a human is left under those plates?'

Genji took a deep breath and clenched his teeth, taken aback by the question.

Don't let him provoke you, he thought to himself as the red haired man grinned to himself.

'You're not talkative Genji, why is that?' he growled, grabbing onto two short, seemingly innocent knives. A group of agents flooded the squared room pointing their guns at the invader, waiting for new orders. 'Perhaps you will be once we get doctor Ziegler. She is hiding in that building behind us, by the way. Yes, I know about that.' And without waiting for any response, Callaghan jumped.

This time there was not a single second to waste. Genji had to forget everything Zenyatta had taught him. The time slowed down, letting the spirit of the dragon awake in Genji's veins. A bright light began awakening in his slightly vibrating sword, sending pulses through his body. And he screamed, hearing the roar of the dragon within, as if Callaghan was waiting for it.

'Ryƫjin no ken wo kurae!'

The ground trembled as the dragon was unleashed.

'It's been too long...' Angela whispered as her body tensed at the loud wave of shots that came from the square.

Genji was supposed to come back for her once he cleared the way out and to her horror, it has been more time than they had agreed on since he disappeared. Curled under the cool wall, she squeezed her wrists and breathed deeply. She still felt too weak to run and cursed at her helplessness and at the fact of how much she had to rely on Genji. If not him, she would be long gone. The thought of what could happen to her if he failed terrified her as she pictured Amelie and what she went through, what she was turned into. Her body trembled.

Suddenly, the ground shook and the silence filled the air. Angela looked around nervously expecting the worst, until a metallic figure appeared.

The relief of seeing Genji quickly turned into disturbance as she saw blood on his armor. Her throat tightened as he wordlessly picked her up and said.

'Try not to stick your head out, Angela, I cannot reflect any bullets when I carry you'

For the answer, she simply nodded her head letting Genji carry her towards their way out.

What she saw didn't surprise her, yet the uncomfortable feeling spread around her body as they walked into a dark square. All covered in motionless figures scattered on the ground.

'Are they-' she mumbled but was soon disrupted by Genji.

'No, not all of them' he answered quickly and as they were moving swiftly, she saw him, Callaghan who was lying and holding onto his wounded side, blood covering his hand. He caught her gaze and grinned sending shivers down her spine.

'We will find you doctor Ziegler' he said as loud as possible, enjoying the terrified expression on her face.

They crossed the fence and reached the hovercycle Genji parked in the shadow. The younger Shimada left Mercy on the backseat and quickly scouted whether they were being followed or not.

'We need to get to the house Genji' Angela said once he came back, staring at his masked face. 'There are things that can't get into Talon's hands and if they do-'

'They won't' he said surprisingly calmly and moment later asked 'How do you feel?'

'Weak' Angela answered bitterly stretching and squeezing tight her hands.

Genji moved her to the front of the hovercycle and he sat behind her. She didn't complain and tightened her arms around his body, trying to ignore the closeness of his face and hoped to hide her reddening cheeks. The engine growled as the vehicle moved and the couple rode into the quiet and dark city.

A sharp wind stroked Angela's cheeks, ruffling her blond hair in every possible direction, her teeth slightly clenching as she tried to hug closer into metallic body of Genji in search for any protection from the wind.

The streets were empty, and orange lights from lamps located on the side of the road shone brightly. From time to time Angela stared behind them, afraid of the chase, paranoid of hearing Callaghan's laugh, Gabriel's- No. It couldn't be him, Angela protested. But she knew that what she heard was his voice. Oh gods, a small whisper was let out, immediately stopped by a growing lump in her throat.