We're entering the homestretch people. After this, there will be two more chapters.
And yes, I was writing this as the whole Emily bombshell dropped. There's a few lines explaining why she isn't here.
Thank god I was right about Lena not having to wear the accelerator all the time.
Ameile sat in Angela's waiting room, nervously waiting what she had to say after a long night. As soon as the Nuremberg team came back to Gibraltar after capturing their target and gathering whatever intel lay in the safehouse, Ameile went straight to the Swiss doctor, desperately wanting to know if Siegfried's claim of a Talon failsafe in her head was true. Even if Angela had to completely rework what she was teaching her students that day, it was something she didn't think of when she brought the Frenchwoman back from the dead. So Angela had Ameile lay in an MRI machine, hoping to find any natural abnormalities she may have left behind.
Angela walked into the room carrying some manila folders, followed by a few of her students. She urged them to leave.
"Well, anything?" Ameile desperately asked.
"I'm glad you came to me," Angela started out. "The idea of a failsafe would definitely explain what's happening in your head. But, I didn't find anything."
Ameile was stunned. "Nothing?"
Angela pulled out some MRI images from one of her folders, showing Ameile's brain.
"Normally the MRI will pick up any traces of particularly abnormal brain activity, or things like tumors or implants. But even with the amount of time you spent in there, observing you in a sleeping state, nothing came up."
"I don't understand."
"If there is any failsafe in your head, it's certainly deeper than what my machines can detect. Or there's particular triggers for it. Though that won't stop me the slightest."
In the middle of the explanation, Jack barged into the room, having held off on scolding Ameile until she was back to her senses.
"You!" Jack shouted. "I ought to have you suspended for your reckless behavior. A sniper leading a battle charge? Who does that? Nobody!"
"Jack, we're in the middle of something," Angela tried to slow Jack down.
"You're lucky soldiers weren't seriously wounded. I would've taken you to the U.N. myself to explain your actions!"
"Jack, we got Siegfried!" Ameile interjected. "Along with what other intel you wanted. I don't know what more you could ask!"
"I don't want you putting my men in needless danger."
"They were going to be fighting anyway, how would I've prevented anything different?"
"Jack!" Angela shouted. "Now's not the time to aggravate Ameile."
"This woman needs discipline," Jack retaliated. "And there's no waiting around for that."
"She's in a very fragile state. I just got back her MRI scans."
"Well?" Jack didn't relent on his tone.
"Nothing. If there's something still in her head, it's deeper than what I can find."
"Where's Siegfried now?" Ameile asked, getting the topic away from her.
"He's being interrogated as we speak," Jack stated. "He's still in bad shape after that bullet you put in his leg."
"You did say no killing, after all," Ameile snarkily said.
"Hehe," Jack gave a sarcastic laugh in return. "But he may as well have died."
"I'd like to see him," Ameile demanded.
Jack and Angela exchanged looks, wondering if Ameile was sound enough to see the man. Angela had no problems, as she nodded her head.
"As you wish," Jack responded, leading Ameile and Angela out of medical wing to the section of interrogation rooms in the basement.
They found Reinhardt, Ana, and Winston standing outside the interrogation room Siegfried was held in. It had one glass wall for people to observe, the rest were white metal. Siegfried was sitting a metal chair, handcuffed, with a primitive leg brace around his left leg and crutches resting on the floor next to him. Thick gauze wrapped around his knee, and he seemed pretty unresponsive to his interrogator. Head leaned down towards the table, but occasionally making eye contact with the person sitting across from him.
"He's been like that for the past five minutes," Winston pointed out. "Not saying anything other than repeating himself. Sombra's in Mexico and she's holing up preparing for our attack.
"Why's he talking?" Ameile asked.
"He's going to prison no matter what," Jack commented. "So we promised him a pristine cell for his cooperation."
"May I speak to him?"
"What for? We have everything we need to finally tack Sombra down."
"Closure."
Jack didn't have any issue with her reasoning, but he gave a look to the other observers, waiting for some kind of approval. Angela and Ana nodded their heads, figuring it be best.
"You have ten minutes max," Jack told her, pressing a button on the glass wall's frame to notify the interrogator inside to leave. She walked out through a door in the glass, with Ameile followed in. As soon as Siegfried saw who was now in the room with him, he gave a sly smile through his sleep-deprived face and scraggly beard.
"Ah liebling," Siegfried raspily said. "I take it you're not gonna finish the job?"
"Beau," Ameile started off with, taking her seat. "How's your leg? I pray I wasn't too gentle on it."
"One of your doctors said I might never get the proper feeling back. It will have to get amputated just below the knee. And replaced with a metal prosthetic."
"Hmm, my friends in Australia could make one fitting for you. One's that rusty, creaking, and has no toes."
"Hmh, weak threats. Why're you even in here? I told Overwatch everything I know already. You want to see my face one last time before they haul me away?"
"I wouldn't give a fuck if I ever saw you again or not. But there is something I want to hear from you."
"And what would that be?"
"Everything."
"Everything?"
"Who you really are. What you did for Talon. Your relationship with Sombra now. Why you lied to me about everything. I want to hear it come from your petty mouth."
"I just told that other interrogator everything."
"We're gonna have you locked up for a long time. That's if you survive your amputation. I'll get it out of you eventually. So you better start talking."
Siegfried took a deep breath, staring into Ameile's piercing blue eyes. He could tell she was holding back, so he figured he tell everything. Again.
"Ever since I was a young boy, I've been fascinated by how easy it is to take a living being's life. People squash bugs with their feet or flush them down the toilet without giving a second thought. Or hunt animals for sport. And people kill each other for the most bizarre reasons. Or pure accident. It's a complex thing to wrap your head around.
I killed my first man when I was fifteen, in a hooligan brawl after a football game. Broken beer bottle to the head. I found the sensation exhilarating, that I was living for the first time. Of course I had to flee town to avoid getting arrested. So I briefly settled near the Germany/Austria/Switzerland border, becoming a freelance hitman. And after a few years of that, Talon came calling, wanting me to take care of deep cover assassinations. And I accepted immediately.
I wasn't lying about seeing what Talon did to you. How it repulsed me. But more along the lines of 'If Talon can just make their own assassins, what use would they have for someone who desired to kill their whole life?' So eventually, I made my complaints heard. And of course, Talon ignored me, saying I needed to know my place. And that's why I fled and went back into hiding.
I went back to freelance work, doing many . . . less than glamorous killings. Jealous lovers, people holding grudges, the biggest hits I got were small-time politicians in villages. They all died in mysterious accidents or apparently committed suicide, in ways that baffled authorizes. And of course, Overwatch had much bigger problems to deal with than one petty hitman trying to get by.
In those passing years, I continued to try and read all I could about you. Sightings of a killer blue woman around the world as Overwatch fell and the years since. Taking out important people one by one. It definitely made me regret leaving, mainly that I wasn't a part of any of those. That I couldn't see what skills you possessed. I may have learned a few lessons from you, given the chance.
A few days after word got out Talon fell and Overwatch was coming back, I got a message from Sombra. Saying her personal agenda could flourish even more since Talon wouldn't hold her back. So she was trying to gather as many former Talon people she could to lead something new. Something to create more chaos in the world than Talon ever could. I jumped at the chance, thinking it would be better worth my time.
Of course, not everyone wanted in, with dissenters either revealing what they knew or just wanting to be left alone. Of course, Sombra couldn't let that stand, and that's what I've spent most of my time doing. Until she assigned me to you. And that brings us to now."
"Wait," Ameile interrupted. "That night in Glasgow where you just left. Why?"
"What I said then, to find new leads. Sombra thought you were far enough along then to continue the mission on your own."
Sombra must've been certain this plan would work, thinking the conditioning would somehow magically reassert itself. Well, she only got part of that right. Ameile also remembered how if Siegfried failed, she would do it herself. A fitting conclusion for our entanglements, Ameile thought, for the woman she particularly despised.
"Siegfried, I may have told you all this already, but allow me to reiterate. I fell for you because I thought you were someone who could help, understand what I've been though. I do kill on missions, but that's because I believe I'm improving the world in some way. Mainly from stopping salauds (bastards) like you from taking lives like I once did. I may have spared your life, but don't think for a second I forgive you."
"That's what Sombra said she'd use you for. Improving the world."
"Sombra only cares about creating chaos and manipulating the remains. Believe me, I know."
"As do I, but oh, were you perfect at doing the same."
That little bit of undermining. Ameile had to keep reminding herself she's a different person now, to be collected to avoid screaming in his face.
"She wanted you in Mexico City. Is that where her headquarters are?"
"Yes she's there. But it's a city of twenty-five million people in a mass urban sprawl. You be looking for months. That's if she doesn't flee first."
"We expended a fraction of our power finding you in your hole. Just imagine what a full force can do hunting down our most wanted."
"In one of the world's largest cities? Sounds like a lot of collateral damage."
"We're gonna get Sombra, one way or another. And nothing you can say will phase me anymore. I'm starting to think your failsafe was a lie too."
"Can't you trust me on anything now?"
"I had MRI's done and they showed nothing."
"Believe me, they're there. In recesses of your mind you never imagined."
Ameile felt she got everything she wanted from the man, and had her thoughts confirmed. Siegfried was no better than the old Talon leaders who manipulated her. He certainly deserved whatever was coming to him in prison. She thought about walking out, leaving him to his fate, but something else in her mind bothered her.
"One last thing. Why'd you think me finding out about Lena loving me would tear us apart?"
Siegfried thought he had a response, but instead gave a look suggesting he had to think of one.
"Because you were in love with me?" Siegfried replied. A clearly half-assed answer.
"You nitwit. Of all my friends here, Lena cares for my well-being the most. She practically saved me from my suicidal thoughts. Morso than what Angela and Zenyatta had done."
"I know, she told me."
Something else clicked in Ameile's head. Was that what Siegfried and Lena were fighting about? Or why Lena never particular trusted him?
"I can never repay her enough for all Lena's done. She's certainly a better lover than you are!" Ameile blurted out, trying to get one last insult at him in.
How stuck up her tone was at the last statement surprised even herself. Flat-out admitting she had sex with her best friend. Siegfried just gave a wide-eyed look and, after taking a few seconds to process, started laughing.
"The annoying Brit? Oh that just made my day Ameile. You have gone crazy!"
"Lock this man up," Ameile demanded whoever was listening in on their conversation, standing up and preparing to leave. "I don't know how, but I'll see to it you never get your leg."
As Ameile walked back out, with Siegfried continuing to laugh to himself, the five onlookers gave her a collective stare, one of a muted shock.
"What? Was I too demanding?" Ameile wondered.
"No, not that," Winston said. "But would you care to explain more about you and Lena?"
Ameile ran back down the hallways to Lena's room. She just had a marathon session explaining the situation between herself and the Brit. Trying to pass it off as nothing serious and it wouldn't go anywhere beyond where it did. And yes, she had to point out the irony of how they used to be archenemies, and that Widowmaker had nothing to do with it. Oddly enough, the five onlookers took the news better than she thought they would, but Ameile still felt anxious inside.
Ameile arrived in front of a door marked for Lena "Tracer" Oxton. A few rooms down from her own. How would she take this news, Ameile constantly repeated to herself. Would she be mad? Indifferent like everyone else? She swallowed and gave the door a knock.
"Who is it?" Lena's voice lazily called out.
"Lena, open up. We need to talk," Ameile demanded.
"Hold on," Lena took a few seconds to open up her door. She appeared with some sleep still in her eyes, wearing a loose fitting white top and orange sweatpants, her accelerator resting on the windowsill. Her hair was notably de-poofed, the spikes running down the side of her head. Making the most of a day off, it appeared.
"Hey love," Lena reached to give Ameile a hug. The Frenchwoman just brushed it aside as she walked inside. "Did Angela figure it out?"
"She didn't find anything," Ameile hurried out, to get to her topics. "There's something more important we need to talk about. About us."
"Oh really?" Lena was intrigued.
"I may have let it slip out we had sex," Ameile admitted, shamefully.
"Oh," Lena reacted rather nonchalantly. "Didn't know you wanted to keep that a secret."
"Of course I did! I'm going through lots of stuff and didn't want people to think," Ameile paused when she realized how Lena worded her response. "Wait, you didn't tell anyone when I was gone, did you?"
"I didn't know it was a secret!"
"Nom de Dieu, Lena! Who'd you tell?"
"Just Lucio, Hana, Genji, some of the new people."
"Vous salope!" (You slut!) Ameile started slapping Lena on the head, the Brit meekly defending herself, being forced against one of the dressers.
"Well what about you letting it out?" Lena tried getting in amid the fury of slapping. Ameile stopped, remembering she was at fault too.
"Who else knows?" Lena continued, lowering her arms.
"Winston, Jack, Angela, Ana, Reinhardt, pretty much those at Siegfried's interrogation."
"So that's close to everyone then?"
Who else was left out, Ameile thought. Aleksandra, Fareeha, Jesse, Satya, Zenyatta, Torbjorn but who really cares what he thinks about romantic matters? The name that stuck out most was Hanzo. She no doubt believed the archer was attracted to her, but didn't have a proper gauge on how he'd react to such a revelation. After he'd been supportive of her the same way Lena has been.
"I mean they didn't overreact like you're doing," Lena continued. "I've brought men and women I'm involved with back to base before."
Ameile just lay down on Lena's bed, her hands covering her face trying to cover a weak attempt at a scream.
"I don't see what the big deal is," Lena tried reassuring her, making her way over.
"I told Siegfried about us too and he said I was crazy."
"What do you care what he thinks?"
"I'll be honest. I don't know if what we have, what we did, is genuine or a coping mechanism for me."
"Coping? What for?"
"Oh I don't know. Because my boyfriend was manipulating me into turning back to a mindless assassin and said assassin is haunting my dreams and possibly coming out to reality."
Why's she so concerned about people knowing? Lena wondered. People in Overwatch have been pretty open about who they were dating both before and after the Petreas Act and reacted normally to each instance. Why should Ameile be different now? Especially since Gerard used to take her to bases?
"Listen Ameile," Lena started out with her idea. "How did people react when Gerard brought you around bases?"
"Not too different from anyone else," Ameile replied, removing her hands from her face. "I was always trying to make friends."
"And we're all friends here. Why would we treat you any different when you're sleeping with someone else?"
Ameile figured she was right. Even when she thought Siegfried wasn't a bad person, she at least had the team on her side, supporting her. They just wanted each other to be happy.
"I'm not kidding about my other dates. I've snuck plenty in here when the Petras Act was still in effect. There was this one girl, cute redhead named Emily, I brought her here for Christmas dinner with Winston one time. This other guy, total wanker named Jeffrey, I considered showing him around, but he could be kind of controlling at times, which is why I dumped him."
Emily? Jeffrey? Ameile could certainly imagine Lena dating other people, either in or outside of Overwatch, but this was the first time she heard it right from her mouth. It must've been something she didn't like bringing up.
"If I was still dating either of them, or anyone else for that matter, I would definitely bring them here now, to see if they could really handle me. And let them know they'd be safe."
"You dumped Jeffrey, what happened to Emily?" Ameile asked out of curiosity.
Lena breathing got slightly shorter, as having to recall something hurtful. Ameile thought she could see Lena's eyes getting red, though she didn't know if it was from sleep or not.
"It was mutual," was all Lena got out. Ameile felt it best to leave it at that, knowing this must've been someone special to bring up in front of someone she claimed to love now.
"Tell me," Lena got back on track. "When you're around me, how do you feel?"
Ameile got herself back up to make proper eye contact. "Like I'm safe. Lena, I never realized how much I needed you in my life till that night. Lying defenseless as Widowmaker taunted me. Made me feel worthless. I wanted you beside to make me feel I could get through that."
"But Hanzo was there."
"And Hanzo's not you. We may have similar pasts, traits, and he was there for one time, but he wasn't for the others. I need you to be my anchor, my rock. To keep me sane when instances like that occur. Because I don't think they'll end anytime soon. And if I end up going to Mexico City, I might be compromised again."
"Anything you need, I'll be there," Lena said, finally reaching in for the hug she was denied earlier.
"I feel alive when I'm with you," Ameile whispered into her ear.
Lena backed away, still maintaining her hold on Ameile, though having a dumbfounded look on her face. "You being serious?"
Without further protest, Ameile grabbed Lena's head and pulled it in for a kiss. Lena's eyes opened wide before closing them in return, letting Ameile's tongue probe inside her mouth, her lips stroking against hers.
"Is that serious enough, cherie?" Ameile asked when she broke the kiss.
"No, don't need to convince me anymore," Lena replied, dazed, trying to catch her breath. She didn't even acknowledge being called cherie again.
"Good. Now would you mind if I stopped by here later tonight?"
Ameile visualized the move ahead of her on the open mat. No one else was in the gym to ruin her concentration. This is no different from ballet, she tried convincing herself. Or any other acrobatic maneuvers. Confident in her conditioned upper-body strength, Ameile put her hands down on the mat and raised the rest of her body in the air, getting her sweatpants-covered legs straight after a few seconds.
Ameile could feel her abs tighten to the point they could spontaneously combust. The bottom of her black workout tank top fell down enough to expose her belly button. Her arms were catching fire as blood rushed to her head. She could only hold for a few seconds more, trying to keep herself perfectly straight. Her legs started wavering, so she tried briefly spreading her legs to regain her balance.
Finally, Ameile couldn't take anymore. She let her legs fall back and touch the mat, much to the relief of her upper body. Her tried arms reached out as if she performed a complicated ballet maneuver, but immediately fell down to her sides. She dragged herself over to a nearby punching bag, starting to give roundhouse kicks.
"Figured you'd be down here," a raspy voice came from the gym's entrance. Jack's voice. Ameile paid no mind, going back to giving kicks, dreading what he had to say.
"You gonna yell at me more?" the sniper bitterly replied, thinking she'd hear something else about her behavior or being involved with Lena.
"No, I came to, um, apologize."
Ameile stopped, looking at the commander in his casual wear. When did Jack ever apologize for his actions? Even when talking about his Soldier 76 days, he always tried finding an excuse to justify himself back then.
"Commander Jack Morrison, apologizing? Never thought I'd see the day. Did Angela put you up to this?
The initial silence told Ameile all she needed to know. "There's something else I'd like to talk about," Jack got out. "Follow me to my office."
"Now? I'm in the middle of my workout."
"Ameile, you're not gonna see me be this kind often. Now if you'd mind," Jack motioned to leave.
Ameile did follow, with Jack leading her up a flight of stairs to the male wing of dormitory single rooms. Wouldn't a commander of Overwatch have something more expansive or dignified than this, she thought. Closer to the actual center of operations here? At the end of a long hallway was one door marked for a Commander Morrison, which he opened.
Jack's office was just his converted bedroom, though he was given a larger one than the other males to begin with. Aside from his bed, personal bathroom, and cabinets, there was a large screen beside the window showing several maps of Mexico City, no doubt drawing up battle plans. His Soldier 76 jacket hung on the wall next to his bed, the visor he used during that time resting on the desk in front of the screen. Next to the visor was a smaller screen scrolling through pictures from his younger Overwatch days. He was cracking a smile in each one she saw witth people she recognized. One with Reinhardt and Torbjorn, one with pre-eyepatch Ana and Fareeha who could've been no more than ten, one with a particularly young, possibly just joined Angela, and one with Jesse and Gabriel where, oddly enough, Gabe was smiling too.
"I take it you remember that?" Jack pointed at the jacket over the bed.
"The infamous Soldier 76," Ameile's attention was drawn back to that, having fought beside Jack's persona when Talon fell. "Of course I remember."
"Every morning, I wake up and that jacket is one of the first things I always see. Reminding me of what my life outside Overwatch was. I know I constantly say how your actions threaten the team, exaggerate how we'll get disbanded again. But it's because I don't want to see us go back to that seperated life. I've done horrible things as Soldier 76, killed needless lives. That jacket and that visor remind me to keep doing better than that I used to be. To be the leader you all deserve. I imagine you feel the same way?"
"Yes," Ameile admitted. "Though I got rid of every trace of Widowmaker I could."
"I don't blame you. Let me ask you Ameile, after you came back to us, if you didn't want to be part of the team, what would you've done?"
Ameile honestly didn't know. Her mind then was filled with suicidal thoughts and getting back at Talon. Hardly enough time for other thoughts of what to do. She was modified to be a soldier, same as Jack. She supposed she was meant to remain that way, no matter who she fought for.
"I, don't know."
"Same here, from someone who's also been groomed to be a soldier. Overwatch has been my life for decades now. And as commander, it'll be that way probably until I die. The others, they found their own lives outside here. Angela was doing great medical work, Torbjorn can fix whatever he wants, Fareeha worked for Helix, Genji, like it or not, could make something of himself either in Japan or in Omnic rights. And Lena? God knows what other work saving people she could do in the UK, or being a pilot like she always wanted. Me? I still played soldier, going on my own crusade, trying to take Gabe down and, well you know how that ended.
What I'm trying to say is I'm sorry for not giving you your due. Or respecting you. Or whatever, I've been really busy managing all these operations. Either way, you won't be punished for anything you did back in Nuremberg. Or any other dubious activities you've done lately. We need people like you who honestly want to make the world better, no matter what bad you've done. No one's entirely free of sin, I guess. As long as we work past them."
"Merci Jack," Ameile let out, breathing a sigh of relief. She may not have gotten everything she expected from this apology, mainly for every single instance he was wrong about her, but some respect from her superior was a start.
"Now you best get packing," Jack ordered. "We leave for Mexico tomorrow, and we need you on the front lines. And take a shower, you smell pretty bad."
And so, we say goodbye to Siegfried Paulis, possibly the most unlikeable Overwatch OC created at this point.
Soundtrack:
Flesh Without Blood – Grimes
So Alive – Love and Rockets
Sweet Miracle – Rush