Angelica winced as the bag was ripped off her head and sat, blinking, in the bright light. She studied the room and the two men standing against the opposite wall. The room was plain, bare white walls only broken by a mirror, she assumed a two-way mirror, along one wall. The men were equally plain, both white, brunet, wearing identical black suits. Finally, she broke the silence, feigning calm while her heart pounded in her ears.
"So, do they pay you to be stupid, or what?"
The man on her left raised an eyebrow. "You are consorting with several known terrorists. It would be in your best interest to cooperate."
"So, they do pay you to be stupid. Look, I have earned the trust and respect of Reaper, Soldier: 76, and all the current group calling themselves Overwatch. And some of Talon, come to that. Do you know what that means? The second they know you took me, they will put aside their differences and descend upon here like the combined wrath of an angry god. And if they think I told you anything, they'll make sure you die slower."
The one on her right scoffed. "Do you honestly expect us to believe that? You-"
He was abruptly cut off by a red-gloved fist punching through the wall right beside him. Dense black smoke poured through the hole and coalesced right inside. Reaper stood facing the men, a shotgun pointing at each. Soldier: 76 kicked in the door and loomed in the doorway, his attention likewise fixed on the two men. Slowly Angelica stood up.
"Gentlemen. I'm gonna go now. I don't think you want to object, do you?" They shook their heads. "Oh, good. Reaper, Soldier, they didn't do anything, so don't kill them." She nodded at 76 and walked out of the interrogation room, past several offices that were spewing chaos into the halls, and wondered at how many of them had come out when she needed help. Genji's dragon swam past her and she skritched it behind its horn before it turned back to cause more havoc elsewhere. She sauntered out of the facility and glanced around. She spotted Lena lounging against a jet and headed over.
"Heya! They didn't rough you up too badly, did they?" Lena chirped as Angelica got closer. She peered into Angelica's face. "You don't look too good, luv. You OK?"
"I'm fine. They just glared for the most part. You got here pretty quick. Where is 'here', anyway?" she asked, leaning against the jet next to Lena.
"Hmm? Oh, Tuscon." Lena flipped her hair out of her face while Angelica gaped at her.
"Why is there a government office in Tuscon?" she asked.
"Would you look for a government office in Tuscon? But its a front for Talon, really."
The team started arriving at the ship, mostly alone, although Jesse and Genji were laughing with each other about something as they approached. Everyone piled on board, Jack and Gabe bringing up the rear as several explosions erupted in the building and she looked at Jack and Gabe.
"That was Talon?"
She squeaked in surprise as Jack ran the last few steps and swept her up into a tight hug. She just realized that he was shaking when Gabe came up behind her and threw his arms around both her and Jack. She hung there, feet a few inches off the floor, and tried to come to terms with what was happening. Jack was nuzzling into her neck, muttering something she couldn't hear, while Gabe was softly crooning into her hair in Spanish.
Jesse broke the mood by letting out a loud wolf whistle. Both Gabe and Jack jumped back like they had been scalded. She stumbled when her feet hit the floor, but Gabe caught her arm and held her steady. She felt like her legs had turned into jelly.
"That was Talon? How could Talon get into the safehouse? It was supposed to be safe. You said it would be safe!" her voice climbed higher as the realization hit.
Jack rubbed a hand down her back, soothingly. He pulled her down to sit between himself and Gabe, who wordlessly wrapped an arm around her shoulders as she started shaking. "Breathe. You're OK. You handled yourself well."
"I thought those were, like, FBI or whatever! I wouldn't have said any of that if I'd known they were Talon! They called you terrorists, for fuck's sake!" she sputtered to a halt, unable to think clearly enough for words.
"Technically, I am a terrorist," Gabe mused, rubbing her shoulder. "And you were glorious. 'Combined wrath of an angry god'? Priceless. I need to remember that one."
She leaned into him, Jack still rubbing her back. "So the explosions were necessary."
Jack snorted. "Everyone was clear before we blew it. And yes, we needed to destroy the records they were holding. And you are going to be moving into the Watchpoint."
Angelica stared at him, suspicious. "Weren't all the Watchpoints decommissioned?"
Gabe cleared his throat awkwardly while Jack flushed, embarrassed. "Officially," Jack muttered. "But you'll be joining us at Watchpoint Gibraltar. Winston has already spoken to your boss, Anderson, and you are officially the Shooting Star liaison to Overwatch."
"Wait, Gibraltar? I don't have a passport, or my stuff, or anything. I can't just jet off to Spain!"
"Ya alright over there, darlin'? You're lookin' a bit pale," Jesse called.
Angelica waved vaguely in his direction. "I'm fine, given that I'm being uprooted again."
The dragon materialized, she couldn't see from where, and flowed over to drape across her lap. It didn't seem to mind that it was also draped on the laps on either side of her, too, and she smiled fondly at it and pet it again. It sighed happily, rolling over to expose a length of belly.
Jesse coughed, then stared pointedly at the floor. "I need ta apologize to ya, Angelica. Ya'see, it's kinda my fault that Talon went after ya last night."
"What did you do?" Gabe snarled lowly, tightening his grip on her shoulder and glaring at the cowboy.
Jesse snatched his hat off and worried at it. "Well, Ah thought it'd be faster if we knew where their base was, so Ah got everyone to come on by the safe house, and told the girls ta make a scene so's we'd be noticed. Ah didn't think-"
"No. You didn't." Jack snapped, rising to stand before Jesse, fury radiating from every line. "You didn't inform the rest of the team of your plan, you didn't have any backup. You didn't know that they would move in for a capture. And, you chose to use a civilian as bait. Did you even brief her, or ask her to be bait?"
"You used me?" Angelica's whisper caused Jesse to flinch back as if struck.
"Ah'm sorry. Ah thought Sombra and Widowmaker would be on site, and Ah thought Reyes and Morrison were stickin' around. Ah- Ah'm sorry."
Angelica opened her mouth to reply, then everything tilted suddenly. She heard Angela somewhere above her, but couldn't hear what she was saying over the pounding of her heart. She clung tightly to the hand in hers, she thought it was Gabe's, as everything faded to gray, and then black.
—
Angelica woke to find herself in a hospital room. As she blinked in confusion, Angela stepped into her field of vision.
"Ah, good, you're awake. No, don't get up," she said, pushing Angelica back down when she tried, "You had a bit of drug interaction. You're stable now, but you shouldn't exert yourself until we know what you were shot with."
Angelica felt panic rising in her chest and brutally pushed it down. "How long was I out? And where am I?"
The blonde nodded, seemingly satisfied. "It's been three days, and this is the medical wing of Watchpoint Gibraltar. Lena and Genji already packed your things from the safe house, as well as your apartment. I believe Sombra also made any issues with your lease... disappear." She smiled as Angelica snorted at that.
Angelica shifted so she was more comfortable. "I'm feeling better, at least. Gabe and Jack didn't kill Jesse, did they?"
Angela laughed. "No, but if you hadn't collapsed when you did, they might have."
"Good. I want to hit him. When am I good enough to go hit him?"
"Want to borrow Reinhardt's hammer?" Angelica sat up, surprised to see Jack leaning on the door frame.
She flopped back as Angela raised the head of the bed. "Hey, how long until I get to see my new rooms? And when can I talk to Jesse?"
Jack pushed off the door and approached the bed, nodding at Angela as she quietly stepped out of the room. He pulled a chair around and dropped heavily into it.
He grabbed her hand gently, and held it in both of his. "How are you holding up?"
She squeezed his hand, "I'm OK. Honestly. And I'm not really angry at Jesse. If he'd asked, I would have agreed. How about you? You were shaking back on the plane."
He flushed and glanced away, embarrassed. "I was just... worried about you. You managed to call me when Talon got you and..." he stared down at their joined hands and whispered, "I heard you scream. I wasn't there to save you. I couldn't protect you. I-"
She tugged her hand free and placed it on his cheek. He leaned into the touch, eyes slipping closed. "I'm OK, Jack. I promise. And you did come save me." A pointed cough from the doorway had Jack shooting up straight.
"I hope I'm not interrupting anything," Gabe drawled.
"Gabe, be nice," Angelica scolded, reaching out for Jack's hand.
Gabe rolled his eyes and sauntered to the other side of her bed, shadow tendrils dragging a chair over from the far side of the room. He settled down and she took his hand in her free one. "Want me to run the ingrate around some more?"
"No, I want to yell at him when I get out of here."
Gabe snorted, "For using you as bait?"
"No, for not asking first."
That startled a laugh out of both commanders. Jack squeezed her hand and Gabe stroked her cheek.
"You wanted to tell him to fuck off in advance?" Gabe asked.
"No, I would have agreed. I just wish I'd known first."
Jack kissed the back of her hand and rose. "I'm not sure why I'm surprised. You told us off enough, I'd believe you would."
He and Gabe exchanged a look, and he saluted and headed out. Gabe moved from his chair to sit on the bed next to her. Twining his fingers with hers, he studied their hands together. "You really do get on with him, don't you?" he asked finally.
"Well, yeah. I like him," she gave his hand a squeeze. "And I like you, too."
Gabe stroked his thumb along the back of her hand, still not meeting her gaze. "Who would you pick?"
Angelica stared at him. "Gabe, I..." she trailed off when he turned to look at her. She couldn't read his expression, but something in his face made her heart hurt. Tearing her eyes away, she held his hand in both of hers. Swallowing, she murmured, "I don't know."
Gabe pressed a kiss to her temple and stood. "I'll have Genji bring you a book. Try to stay in bed until Angela releases you, OK?"
She nodded and watched as he made his way to the door.
Gabe let his head fall back against the wall as the door closed behind him. He was thrilled that Jack and Angelica were getting along so well, but when he walked in and saw them together... He shook his head, annoyed at himself. They both deserved to be happy, dammit, and he wouldn't stop until they were. He sighed and pushed off the wall, setting out to find Genji.