Chapter 10: Hand in Hand
"What in the hell were you thinking Jesse?! Are you stupid or something?!" Jack fumed in anger as he slammed a balled fist down on his desk. A resounding thump resonated off the room's walls with a short yet penetrating reverberation. Jesse shrugged, maybe he was, but he didn't know bringing her there would've led to a hostage situation. He was going to take the blame, if Jack knew they came for Sombra, she would be finished and all her chances for a new start would be casted to the wind.
"Listen Jack, Los Muertos and I got history, and not a good one, but you can't expect me to know when they're gonna break INTO MY GODDAMN HOUSE!" Jesse's roared.
"If anything would have happened to her, I swea-"
"Nothing did because, news flash, she can take care of herself, and I sure as hell ain't gonna let some lowly thugs hurt her. In fact, I got shot making sure she was safe."
Jesse had enough, he turned around and reached for the door before Jack spoke.
"I care about all of our agents...just...she is just more than an agent."
Jesse turned to him and spoke softly.
"If you smother a flame as bright as Hana, it is sure to die out. You gotta give her some freedom Jack, she's almost 20 now."
"Just, don't let my daughter get into that situation ever again."
"I swear on my life, it won't come to that."
Jack nodded his angry visage changed to one of a tired man who had seen to much death. Jesse didn't envy him. Years of running and killing begins to wear on you after a while and Jesse was almost becoming familiar with that.
"You need to get out of this life Jack and get her out of it too...but I know you and you won't quit til the fighting's done, and so neither will she. So you better teach her how to fight like there is no tomorrow, because I'm tellin' you now, Talon is moving and there might not be a tomorrow."
Jack nodded slowly and waved for Jesse to leave, it would seem he had enough of tough reality and wanted to be left with his thoughts, however haunting those thoughts of the past might be. Jesse left striding slowly and he noticed for the first time, how quiet the inner walls of the Watchpoint were and shuddered then continued onward towards his room.
. . . . . . . . .
Sombra had arrived at her room and was pleasantly surprised, the room wasn't as bland as she thought it would be already; the room was already furnished with a sort of contemporary decorum. The walls were painted a soft blue that captured the light from the singular square window that was placed slightly above her bed. She could see the vast and magnificent ocean, a beautiful blue body that danced in eternity with the sun and moon. She unpacked quickly, storing all of her clothes in her spacious walk in closet, before standing at the doorway to her room and staring at the interior in wonder.
This is way better than what Talon gave me, which was dark dead room with nothing but a cot to sleep in.
Her mind began to wonder again, to the thought of how Jesse risked his life to save her, how he held her when she needed it.
"Jesse…" she muttered out loud.
She stood unmoving, the silence seemed to envelop her, like a creeping chill nipping gently at her bones.
"What about him?" Hana piped out from behind.
Sombra's heart jumped. Startled, she whirled around to face Hana who wore a huge grin on her face.
"N-Nothing I was just thinking…" Sombra stumbled as she searched for words.
"You like him? And don't lie, I can tell if you are."
"I...Don't...Maybe...Yes." Sombra stumbled until she reached her final conclusion.
"That's...actually kind of cute, so have you figured out if you're gonna ask him out, because let's face it, I love Jesse but he is not...good at picking up on hints."
Sombra blushed "I haven't thought about that."
"Well you better, surprisingly he's a ladies man so you better get to him before another girl does." Hana sipped gingerly from a bottle of Mountain Dew she held in her left hand.
Fuck, I haven't gone on an actual date in so long. Fuck, I haven't had a crush in so long.
"What're you girls goin on bout?" Jesse's voice cut into the conversation, and both of the girls almost shot out of their skins.
"Jesse! Jesus fucking christ some warning next time, you fucking dick!" Hana shouted a bit embarrassed.
"Hana! Vatch your language." Reinhardt's muffled voice could be heard through the wall.
"SUCK A COCK!" Hana shouted back out of anger.
"Respect your elders, girl." was Reinhardt's muffled reply.
Hana stormed off to her room, frustrated. Jesse just chuckled to himself.
"Good to be home." he muttered.
He seemed to be lost in some sort of reflection of his past as he smiled at the blank ceiling, Sombra just took in the sight of him, his umber hair, and hazel nut eyes were enrapturing.
"You all set up?" Jesse raised an eyebrow as his gaze fell back to her.
Sombra was pulled from her thoughts. "Everything seems to be in order."
"Good, I was heading to the mess hall. Gonna get a bite to eat, you should think about doing the same."
"Go ahead, I'll find my way."
"Alrighty, I'll save you a seat." Jesse said, tipping his brown cowboy hat and exiting her room.
. . . . . . . .
Sombra stood in front of her window in a plain white t-shirt and a pair of gray sweatpants and let the sun wash over her. For years, she hid in the shadows and the darkness, but now for the first time in a long time she stood in the light, which held her in its warmth like a grand embrace. She smiled to herself, comfortable and happy. Her stomach rumbled softly.
Maybe I should get something to eat.
She let the blinds down and the light in her room dimmed as she stepped past the threshold and into the hallway. She heard a voice coming from down the hallway, a muscular women with short pink hair stood outside of a shut door holding ice cream cones in both hands, and seemingly talking to whoever was inside.
"Mei, please open door, I bring ice cream."
"I'm coming, give me a second!" came the reply from behind the door.
The pink haired woman took notice of Sombra standing awkwardly and smiled at her.
"Privyet, you must be new recruit, I am Zarya. I'm one of Overwatch's defensive operators."
"Pleased to meet you, I am Sombra, infiltration and tech expert."
"Bout time we have someone who hack computers, getting tired of setting off alarms."
Sombra chuckled and her stomach grumbled softly.
"Can you direct me to the mess hall?"
"Da, go down hall and to the left, can't miss it."
Just then the door clicked and swung open. A short asian woman poked her head out, glared at Zarya, snatched the ice cream from her hands before looking at Sombra and smiling.
"Hiya, I'm Mei."
Sombra smiled weakly as her stomach growled.
"Pleased to meet you, I'd love to stay and chat but I'm starving."
"Oh no problem, we can talk more when we go out tomorrow for girls night."
Sombra's eye visibly twitched but the two women seemingly chose to ignore the visible sign of discomfort. She nodded slowly as she took in the idea of going out with a bunch of strangers and trying to make friends, which she never has been good at. Then she remembered Lena's words.
We all have our quirks that would pin us as misfits or outcasts, but that's also the stuff that makes us heroes.
She smiled at the two women.
"Yeah, I'll see you both tomorrow night then."
She walked down the hall and followed Zarya's directions to the mess hall.
As she walked through the double swinging doors, she was greeted by rays of sunlight beaming through the sky lights, rows of tables seated the heroes of Overwatch. It was almost exactly like a high school cafeteria. Behind the cafeteria counter stood Reinhardt wearing a white apron and a chef's hat. When taking his stature into account, it was almost comical seeing him wearing a normal size apron and hat. She approached the edge of the counter and looked over to see what exactly was on the menu.
"Afternoon M'lady, come to try some of my vorld famous curry vurst?"
Sombra raised an eyebrow inquisitively.
"Curry...What?"
"CURRY VURST MY DEAR! IT IS THE PRODUCT OF PRECISION GERMAN ENGINEERING!" Reinhardt voice boomed as he held a platter of sausage covered with a light orange curry sauce.
"I guess I'll try it." Sombra shrugged casually taking the plate from Reinhardt, she turned around and surveyed the cafeteria. She scanned each table trying to locate where Jesse was seated. It wasn't hard, he stuck out like a sore thumb. No one really shared his particular sense of fashion.
Seriously, who can wear flannel every single day? She thought to herself.
She then eyed the woman that was sitting next to him, a slender blonde girl with deep blue eyes, she had her hand placed on Jesse's shoulder. They both sat inaudibly laughing. Sombra felt a twinge of jealousy like a sour feeling in the pit of her chest, she tried to shrugged it off.
Gotta be confident and straightforward, guys like that kind of stuff, right? She affirmed in her head.
She walked up behind Jesse and put her free hand on his shoulder.
"Hey Jesse, and who is this beautiful woman you haven't introduced me to yet" she imposed the slightest inflection on her voice to imply jealousy.
"Oh Sombra, this is Angela Ziegler, if you ever get into a scrape out there in the field she'll take care of ya, she's pretty much the best medic we got." Jesse said nonchalantly.
"I heard that, Jesse" said an older woman with silver hair sitting across from them, peeking over her teacup.
"Well contrary to popular belief, Ana, you're not supposed to shoot the people you're trying to help." Jesse stated sarcastically.
"You never seemed to complain." she said, calmly shrugging her shoulders as she took a sip of tea.
"No, I definitely remember objecting on multiple occais-" Jesse was cut off when a dart pierced into his chest, his eyes closed and his head fell onto the table, fast asleep.
Ana smiled and tilted her head to the side "He talks too much, you'll come to realize that Miss Sombra."
Sombra stared in shock at Jesse passed out on the table "Is he going to be okay?"
Ana shrugged carelessly "He'll wake up in a few minutes. It's just a low strength sleep dart."
"What do you mean "I'll come to realize he talks too much"? And how do you know my name?"
"Well, Jesse has the ability to make an ass of himself and he's honestly quite daft when it comes to picking up on queues. I could see that look of jealousy in your eyes when he was talking to Angela. Well, on that front I can quite assure you, you have nothing to worry about. She only has eyes on my daughter and that better be all she has on my daughter."
Mercy put her hands up in the air, mimicking a surrender.
Ana continued. "And Reinhardt told me your name, dear."
"HALLO" Reinhardt exclaimed, waved from behind the cafeteria counter.
Sombra cheeks were flooded with heat. Was she that easy to read or was this Ana woman really good at reading people?
"Well, I better get going before he wakes up. It was nice to meet you Sombra, I'll see you tomorrow night."
Sombra had almost forgot that tomorrow night was the girls night out. She was in disbelief that Ana would be coming along, she thought it would be just the young girls but it looks like everybody would be going. As Sombra took her seat, Jesse grumbled and slowly raised his head.
"Did she just-" Jesse started.
"Shoot you? Yes." Sombra finished his sentence.
"Crazy old woman, if she wasn't a decent medic I would've put in a complaint years ago. " Jesse frowned.
"Do you think Winston would actually get rid of her?" Sombra asked.
"No, but it would make me feel a helluva lot better." Jesse admitted.
Sombra smiled at his comment, before taking a bite of her meal, it was actually quite good, the curry wasn't too strong and it complemented the sausages well.
"Well, I'll be going now, Pharah and I have a date to plan for tonight. It was a pleasure, Miss Sombra. " Mercy chimed in.
Sombra actually had forgotten she was sitting there, she had been silent the entire time she had been there. She waved a farewell as Mercy walked to another table taking a seat next to a tan skinned woman with long black hair. The two women laughed and hugged, before gazing into each other's eyes for only a few seconds before closing the gap with a kiss. Sombra found herself longing for that kind of attention. She turned to look at Jesse who was staring off into space, he ran his hand through his newly trimmed beard.
"So...How bout supper tonight?" he said out of the blue.
"What do you mean?" Sombra asked, her heart skipping a beat.
"I mean, how about I take you out to dinner, as a sort of "sorry for yelling at you, I really didn't mean no harm" offering."
Sombra parsed over what he had just said in her head.
Is that like his way of asking me out on a date? I guess that makes it easier on me.
"Sure Jesse, I guess you do owe me." She smirked playfully.
"Alright, well I guess we'll leave by about 5:30 then, it'll take us a while to get into town, but I know of a nice little place there."
"Yeah that sounds good, it's gonna take me awhile to get ready anyways." Sombra nodded as she put another piece of curry wurst into her mouth.
The two finished their meals and headed back to their rooms. Sombra laid on her bed while thoughts jumped in and out of her head, fantasies of what her date with Jesse would be like, would they drink, sing, and dance, maybe share a kiss in the moonlight? Jesse stood alone in his room staring in the mirror at the scars that adorned his chest, including the most recent bullet wound from his rescue mission. His mind went back to when he held her in his arms after he had blown up on her. He never wanted to hurt her, and he didn't plan on ever doing it again. The hours felt like minutes, as the two readied for their date. Sombra wore a red dress that hugged her form tightly, Jesse put on red button up shirt with a red tie and black slacks, he normally didn't like dressing up but he could make an exception. When the time came to leave, Jesse walked over to Sombra's door. He went to knock but Sombra opened the door before his hand made contact.
"H-Hey" Sombra sputtered out surprised.
"Uh, Hi you look...you look good." Jesse said hoping to God she didn't notice him look her up and down.
"Thanks, I tried my best, I'm not used to this sort of thing." Sombra admitted looking down.
"Don't worry that makes two of us." Jesse said as he tugged on his collar for a little more room
Knowing that she wasn't the only one not used to conventional dates reassured her. She smiled and spoke cheerfully.
"Well, better get going, wouldn't wanna be late on our date now would we?" she was positively glowing, her smile could've brought Jesse to his knees.
"Yeah, let's get a move on." Jesse nodded in agreement.
The two walked side by side as they walked out of the base and into the open air. The base sat on a cliff face that oversaw the ocean. The sun was hanging low in the sky just peeking over the horizon coloring the sky a mix of red, orange, and violet. It was one of the most beautiful sights that Sombra had ever seen and a sight that Jesse had missed for a long while. It took them about 15 minutes to get to the outskirts of the town of Gibraltar, the two joked about the time they had first met and the amount they had to drink that night. Hopefully this night didn't end up a blur of memories. The town was a mass of small buildings: homes, small stores, market stalls. It was nothing like the larger cities, which actually made it a little more comfortable. Sombra reflected on Lena telling her about the inhabitants being Spanish but she had done her research. Gibraltar is actually a British territory and has remained so for quite a long time, so actually everyone here should speak English, with maybe a little bit of Spanish mixed in. This was completely validated when she heard a couple chatting while walking down the street, their English accents were thick and heavy. Jesse sighed and breathed in the fresh air, he felt a little more alive out here. He looked at Sombra who was too busy taking in the sights. In this light, she looked like the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. How had he ever got lucky enough to land a date with her, he could never understand. A group of thuggish young men walked down the street towards them.
"Hey girl, I'd love to get a slice of that ass!" one of the men called out.
Sombra rolled her eyes and continued to walk with Jesse, angering the man who yelled out.
"Don't you roll your eyes at me, bitch!"
Before Sombra could react she saw a blur of movement, Jesse had his prosthetic hand wrapped around the thug's throat clenching his robotic fist tighter.
"You wanna say that again, pardner?"
The thug shook his head from side to side.
"Don't you ever disrespect a woman like that ever again, ya hear?!" Jesse growled.
The thug nodded furiously, his face turning red. Jesse tossed the thug onto the ground, before turning and dusting himself off.
"Good, Now git!" he commanded.
The thugs shocked, quickly ran in the opposite direction, tripping over each other to get away from the angry gunslinger.
Jesse returned to Sombra's side, as they continued their journey into town.
"You know Jesse, you didn't have to do that." Sombra said plainly.
"No, I did." Jesse said as he took Sombra's hand.
Sombra felt a rush of heat run all over her body. Her spine tingled, as if almost small jolts of electricity went from Jesse into her, and for a moment she swore, with the sun disappearing over the horizon and the moon greeting them with the stars, that she was in love.