Masks don't breathe. Masks don't blink or have a pulse or anything. They are just works of art that imitate life. But the ones who wear masks...

They're alive.


Lena was very happy to have both feet on solid ground again. She had to fly planes for Overwatch, sure, but Tracer flew those while Lena curled up in the back of her mind. It was about 6 p.m at the moment so she had just enough time to go to her apartment, grab a bite, and get her gear on before running to the speech at 8. She hoped that for once, time was on her side.

The crowd was already alive and packed in front of the podium by the time Tracer got there. It was a mix of diversity, from all races of humans to Omnics. They were holding signs for peace, holding each other, all chanting the same name. Lena felt overwhelmed at everything here, it was too enclosed, no easy escape. But Tracer felt fine in every way; to her this was just another mission. She pushed herself closer to the front of the crowd to get a better look at her idol. A young girl next to her perked up when she saw Tracer, trying to get her mother's attention and tell her that her hero was there. Security was everywhere, but not heightened, meaning that they did not know there was going to be an attempt tonight.

The bodyguard closest to the podium gestured towards the crowd and out stepped a regal-looking Omnic dressed in silver robes. The crowd went completely silent as he walked to the podium. Tracer moved her head so she could see him better. In front of her was her idol, the person, robot actually, she looked up to the most. If she could ignore the fact that there was a chance he would be assassinated today, she would have enjoyed this.

"Human. Machine. We are all one within the Iris." Mondatta started, opening his arms to the audience. They all cheered, Lena included, for he spoke what they all believed in.

"Before me, I see the future. Humans and Omnics standing together...united by compassion." Everyone was silent, absorbing his words, cherishing them.

Tracer noticed the security guard listening closely to his comm. When he looked up she followed his line of sight to the roofs of the buildings nearby.

"...by common hopes, and dreams." said the wise Omnic. But she wasn't paying attention anymore. She pushed her way through the crowd, turning her back on her idol and his words.

Once out of the crowd, she had to make a plan. The guard's gaze traveled upwards, towards the rooftops. That's where she would have to go first.

The streets were empty from the speech, easy to see everything. King's Row was an older part of London with buildings that were possibly decades old. Most of the apartments had fire escapes, just like her own building. She found one away from the crowd leading all the way to the rooftop.

The only problem was that it was about 2 and a half meters up from the ladder. She had to jump nearly a meter to get up to it, and that was impossible for her. She took a trash can from a nearby alley and stood on that to reach it. Tracer grabbed the ladder just as the can toppled over. Curse her height, she would had been to the roofs by now if not for that.

Once she scrambled up the stairs, she ran into yet another problem. Overwatch had been disbanded years ago and all Overwatch activity had been declared illegal. She was an Overwatch agent. There were guards on the rooftops. The guards work for the government, and England was part of the United Nations. Therefore if she got caught she would announce to the entire world that Overwatch was back AND get arrested. Lena was terrified she would imprison all of her friends and they would all hate her for it.

Tracer thought it would be a fun game.

She hid behind the chimneys, running from one to another. Blinking caused too much sound, she would be noticed. There was a part out in the open, across from where the speech was held. Her only hope was that she would be fast enough to not be seen…

Or maybe...no that would be illegal. But then again her being there was illegal. So what would the harm be?

She was going to take out the guards. Not kill, just knock them out. Tracer took a deep breath and ran out from her hiding spot, expecting to be fired at.

But the was absolute silence except the distant cheers of the crowd. Every guard was already down. Did Overwatch not trust her enough? Did they also send in someone else? She walked up to one of them and tried to find a pulse, see how much time until they woke up.

She couldn't find one...the guards weren't unconscious, they were dead. Their bodies were still warm.

The assassin was already here, already there, already about to take the shot. Tracer looked across to the other row of buildings and saw a figure hanging down from one of them. Kinda like a spider. She got closer and recognized her from a file she read. Something about a new assassin in play. She didn't remember what organization she was from, which would had been useful to know for her strategy.

Tracer blinked twice towards the sniper, feeling a rush of energy. The sniper looked away from her target right as she appeared above her, firing her pistols. She snapped the rope keeping her in air, leading her to kick in a window a floor below. The sniper turned around while reeling the grappling hook in. Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw Tracer's face. She was probably expecting someone more professional.

"Tryin' to crash another party, love? HA!" Tracer started firing again. The other flipped off the back of the railway and landed a hook on the ceiling. She blinked across towards her, about to grab her, when she was knocked aside towards the stairs with a sharp hit from the sniper's leg. Tracer sprinted up the stairs, dodging bullets from the gun and trying to get up there faster.

She wasn't fast enough, she never would be fast enough.

No, no, no. Now was not the time for Lena to interfere with the mission.

The door to the roof was already open when Tracer slid to the top. She nearly missed the door completely at the speed she was going. She ran into the wall on the roof to try and catch a breath only to notice the sniper already up there and shooting at her. Tracer ducked behind the chimney for a chance to think. And to not get struck by bullets.

She had exactly one second.

She had to tell someone.

"Mondatta's in danger! Shooter on the roof!" She yelled into her comm. "I repeat, shooter on the roof!"

"This is a secure channel. No one's auth-"

"Mondatta's in danger! Get him out of here!"

"Identify yourself immedi-."

Tracer went silent as the sniper fired more rounds at her. She can't just keep calling her the sniper...she had read her file, what was her bloody name?

The firing suddenly stopped, perhaps she was reloading? Now would be the perfect time to attack.

She whipped around the chimney with both pistols up and ready to fire.

"Huh?" Lena said in confusion. Where was she? She wasn't on any other roof either. Tracer looked across the way to see two guards going on alert. They must have listened to her by an odd stroke of luck.

Not a moment later she saw the sniper fly up towards the roof with the guards (probably with the grappling hook) and start attacking them. No, wait, was she killing them? She can't tell at this distance. Tracer blinked across and started running after her. She took down 4 guards before firing three shots, each finding it's mark in a guard's head. The helmet slipped over her eyes again and located Mondatta. She looked back at Tracer with a small grin, inviting a challenge, before dashing off again.

Tracer spun over the last wall and starting firing at her, hoping at least one bullet would actually stop her. She chased the assassin across the rooftops, copying her steps, trying to catch up.

It was like a ballet of violence. A dance on top of King's Row. One partner experienced, dodging and dipping, while the other was attempting to follow along.

The sniper jumped across an opening in front of the old clock tower, disappearing out of sight for a second. Tracer soon followed, sliding down the rooftop to get a running start

But as she flew past the chimney a purple gas surrounded her. In surprise, she took a deep breath in and it filled her lungs. She couldn't breathe, she couldn't think. Her body stumbled forward as it tried to both catch up to the sniper and get the poison out of her lungs. She fell and kept moving forward, ending up in a fetal position a few meters from the edge.

Lena was terrified. The mask was fighting to stay on, to keep calm. She kept coughing when she heard a gun click in her ear and pressure on her shoulder. Tracer looked up in surprise to see the sniper standing above her, about to shoot.

"Such a sweet, foolish, girl."

Widowmaker was her name.

Or was it Amélie?

Either way, she was going to die if she didn't do something.

She felt herself enter the slipstream and wade up the river of time to seconds before.

Tracer got out in front of Big Ben and blink upwards. Widowmaker stood there, just watching her for a second.

"Wot's that?" She called out, firing a bullet at the pipe next to Widowmaker. The gas escaped, temporarily shocking her and made her lose focus as she tried to breathe. Tracer utilized this confusion to throw a Pulse Bomb. She threw it as far as she could, trying for a curve so it would directly hit Widowmaker. She saw her through the gas as it dissipated, saw her aim her gun in random directions, trying to find where her target was.

Her face, when she saw the Bomb coming at her, was almost comical. Clear surprise, a first of the night. Lena almost couldn't restrain herself from laughing. This elegant, deadly, indifferent sniper was caught off guard by her; a small, bright orange, clumsy pilot. What a twist.

What didn't make her laugh was the fact that Widowmaker shot the Pulse Bomb in mid-air. What didn't make her laugh was the explosive power in the tiny bomb rushing towards her.

Tracer flew off the roof and towards the crowd, helpless to whatever happens next.

Helpless…

Lena's worse fear.

She looked up to see Widowmaker falling as well, aiming directly at her. Not at her head...at the accelerator. She was aiming for the accelerator. If she didn't do something she would be trapped in the slipstream again, trapped in hell again, trapped in time and not being able to get out.

She can't let her get a hit.

Lena refuses to let her.

Right before the bullet entered the accelerator she blinked. She blinked and hoped that she would still be alive...

Tracer landed on a roof, quickly checking the accelerator for any sign of damage, any sign that she was still existing. Her search was ended when she looked up and saw Widowmaker standing there, content with herself.

"Looks like the party is over."

What was the party? Why was it over? What was she even there for? Was she there to end the party? Party… 'Tryin' to crash another party, love?' That's what she said before. The party...was the speech. Why was it over?

Tracer ran to the edge of the roof and looked down.

If it wasn't for the fact that she just checked the accelerator, she would had been sure it was another timeline. But it wasn't.

She was there, this was real.

Mondatta laid dead in the street.

"No...no no no no…"

The guards were trying their best to keep the crowd back.

"No no no no NO!"

Lena was filled with rage. The woman standing next to her just killed her idol, killed an icon. The anger broke down the mask as she blinked towards Widowmaker, not caring that she was exposed. She crashed headfirst into her, making them both tumble along the rooftop to the edge.

"WHY!" she yelled, pausing to take a breath, "Why would you do this?" Lena was on the brink of tears. She couldn't understand it, why. Just why…

Widowmaker only smiled and chuckled in response, like this was all just a game to her. Like the real pain and real sadness that Lena and others were feeling was not existent. This was confusing to Lena. Even the most heartless of humans can tell when someone is hurt. Then Widowmaker must not be human anymore. Or at least not as much. How could that all change? What happened to her humanity?

Lena looked behind her when a spotlight was shining on both of them. A dark black and red plane hovered, waiting...for what?

Red and black.

Waiting...

Talon.

It was a Talon craft.

They were picking up their assassin.

She was pinning down a Talon assassin.

How was she not dead.

Lena was literally yanked out of her thoughts by Widowmaker. She pulled her very close to her face, unusually close.

"Adieu chérie."

Lena didn't have a moment to process what she said before she was thrown off the roof and slammed into the wall. She rolled for a bit before coming to a stop, just as Widowmaker got back up.

Lena already felt bruises forming, she definitely broke at least one rib. Angela would have a fit later on. She tried getting up as slowly as possible, prepared to run back at her or recall.

Wait.

Sparks were flying from the accelerator. There were cracks in some parts of the supports, the metal holding it together, holding Lena in place. If she recalled or blinked or anything, she would break it. She would be lost again. It was damaged, but not enough at the moment that she would fade from existence.

She would survive.


At the moment of the kill…

Lena never felt less alive.