Chapter 10
At night
It started with a laugh, horrible, distorted. And a yell of pain, coming from the other side of the room. But Hana couldn't do a thing. She was pinned by Reaper, his gun to her face. She could only contemplate Sombra, seated away from her, bloodied by a number of wounds. And Reaper kept on laughing, again and again.
"Don't worry," he said. "Once I'm done with you it'll be her turn. But she will suffer so much more than you will."
And he laughed, and Hana woke up.
It took her a few seconds to understand where she was – a cabin in Russia, in a bed. A bed which was too empty for her likings. Both herself and Sombra had gone to bed together, so where was she? She touched the spot beside her and found it almost cold. It had been a while since Sombra had gotten up.
Hana had her answer when she got out of bed and found Sombra seated on the balcony, her sweater hugged around herself. Hana quickly put on her own jacket and opened the window.
Sombra looked up to her when she joined her on the balcony. Hana sat next to her, and Sombra asked:
"Have I woken you up?"
"No. I had a nightmare, it's all. You?"
"The component on my spine doesn't like the cold either. Can't sleep."
Hana smiled lightly.
"So you thought it was a good idea to go outside into the cold because the cold wouldn't let you sleep?"
She knew Sombra was lying. It wasn't cold inside. The fire in the chimney had done its part, and the two of them under the same cover was enough to heat the bed rather quickly.
"If you knew the cold affected you so much, maybe you should have asked for a cabin in Australia or something."
Sombra shook her head.
"I bought this cabin because I thought no one could find me there. All I asked from Katya Volskaya was that she took me there and made sure no one could find me."
"If you wanted to be alone, you sure picked the right spot."
"As long as Talon doesn't find me... us here..."
Hana took in a cold breath, her eyes longly contemplating the stars shining brightly over the lake. She could see the edge of an Aurora Borealis over the mountains, and should they stay a bit longer outside without dying of hypothermia they could probably see it in its full glory.
"You haven't told me yet why you tried to kill Reaper."
Sombra was silent for a very long time, which made Hana thought that she wouldn't get an answer. She was okay with that. Her curiosity was sometimes pushed to perversion, but she knew when it wasn't a good idea to pry. But suddenly, Sombra asked:
"Do you know how many children were orphaned by Omnics attacks during the Crisis?"
Hana shook her head. She knew it had to be a lot. The ravages the Giant Omnic had caused in her country were impossible to count, and it had been estimated that not a single family hadn't lost someone by now. That included herself, who had lost an uncle when she was very young, too young to remember what had happened.
"Numbers are evaluated at 5 million and 7 thousand. Now, do you know, during that same Omnic crisis, how many children were orphaned by human attacks?"
Sombra was silent for a few seconds before she declared.
"2 million and 9 thousand. No matter how much humans claim that Omnics are the problem, we are not bad either."
Sombra took in a shaky breath and finally found it in herself to open, and talk. And confess her pain to someone. So she let herself be drained by every word she spoke, and told Hana her story:
"My parents, they were mechanics. They would fix up cars and Omnics on the same afternoon. It didn't matter to them. They thought themselves as Omnics doctors. But that got them into trouble. Only a few months before the end of the Crisis, Guillermo Portero called upon Blackwatch to take care of them. There was only one agent sent, Gabriel Reyes, Reaper. He came in, killed them, and left. I was behind the counter that day, and when he looked at me I..."
Her voice broke. She was already crying, and Hana's arms found their way around Sombra, holding her dearly as if to make sure she wouldn't crumble.
"That day I swore I would find a way to avenge them. That's why I started hacking, to find who and where their assassin had gone. Everything I did it was for them because I can't... I can't understand why a man would kill my parents. Now I know. All along he was a monster, even before they experimented on him. And I still want to kill him so badly. I failed them once, but I know the next time I come across him I... I don't think I could control myself."
Hana was also crying now when she felt all the venom Sombra was spitting out about the murderer of her family. She understood her pain. She herself had lost comrades to the threat of the Giant Omnic, and she had wanted to avenge them by taking that monster down. But every time he reappeared, she failed.
Now Hana understood that they had the same problem. How do you kill something which can't be killed? Sombra had the answer to that, in a way. To try, again and again, should that mean until death. Hana wasn't sure she wanted that for either of them.
The Aurora Borealis found them hugging on the balcony, Hana holding Sombra with all her might, both of their tears turned to ice on their cheeks. Snow came, and still, neither of them dared to move, until the pain in Sombra's back was so insufferable that they retreated slowly inside, still holding onto each other for dear life.
A/N: Hi guys! Good news! If you thought this chapter was a bit short (it was compared to the previouses, and its the shortest of them all so don't worry), I just posted a one-shot called Hold my Hand. Some of you might have seen it already. It's a light PharMercy, and if you decide to read it I hope you will like it. I also have another story which is almost done about Genji and his dragon. I'll probably tell you more about it tomorrow so see you tomorrow guys!