A/N: My apologies for the delay, my lovelies! I hope the length of this chapter makes up for the long wait. The next chapter will take a little longer too but afterwards updates should pick up at normal pace again. Enjoy!

It was silent in the Overwatch base. Winston sat by his desk, some of his computers powered back up. Somehow Morrison had pulled some strings to get things working again, not much, but enough to give them back a shadow of their former glory. Winston could work, for one. He had worked, non-stop, ever since he'd been given the opportunity to boot his computer back up. Now his eyelids began to droop under his glasses, head nodding, falling forward, only to jerk back up. Winston couldn't sleep, not yet. Not until he'd managed to contact everyone he needed to rebuild Lena's chronal accelerator. It was the least he could do, Winston thought to himself for the thousandth time, to at least set straight what had caused this entire mess. Then, they could sweep up the shattered glass and try to mend what was still fixable. At least Morrison was back. He didn't know how to feel about it - relieved, yes, but also betrayed. The man had disappeared without a trace, left them thinking he was dead, he'd grieved for him and now he just waltzed back in.

He was glad Fareeha had finally managed to get Angela out of here. Everything about this place was a constant reminder for the woman and he'd seen her breaking down. He'd seen her look at Morrison with this forlorn, longing gaze as if the man could grant Genji the same kind of magical re-appearance. Winston slowly shook his head. Genji'd been given his second chance. Third chances were... rare. Statistically.

Across the room, Morrison sat on a desk chair. His arms crossed, he tapped his foot impatiently. In front of him, a stack of papers sat, that he hadn't touched. He seemed restless, all the time. He'd returned to the Overwatch base but he didn't actually want to be here. Winston noticed in the way he nervously rolled his shoulders, in the way he stiffly strode through the corridors. No longer tall and proud, but broken, sliding in the shadows, an echo of a man. An echo of a hero, now only the faint resound where the word is lost but the wail remains.

A static noise shook him from his thoughts. He looked over to the dashboard, tapping a few keys to get it out of sleep mode. Athena made a welcoming beep.

'Incoming call,' her mechanic voice sounded.

'Who is it?' Winston narrowed his eyes. A regular communication channel? It couldn't be. Morrison turned in his chair, lifting his chin as to ask what was going on.

'The Swedish Overwatch facility, main channel. All regular security measures have been taken.' Athena smoothly answered. Winston shook his head in confusion.

'Sweden? Who is currently stationed in Sweden?' Before Athena could answer, Morrison did.

'No one is,' he grunted, standing up from his chair to walk over to Winston's desk. 'But I've visited the base not three weeks ago, set it all back up in case I needed a base of operations.'

'Do we take the call?' Winston asked, hesitantly hovering over a button.

'Take it. Worst case scenario is that they know we're here; and face it - that's really not so bad.' Morrison straightened his back so he could cross his arms. Winston nodded, swallowed the lump in his throat, and accepted the call. The static immediately ceased, followed by a short silence.

'Winston?' A small voice came from the other side. 'Please tell me that's you, please, please, please-'

'Lena?' Winston asked, exchanging incredulous looks with Morrison, who bent over to listen closer. 'Lena, are you all right? Why are you in Sweden?'

'Oh, God, you have no idea how good it is to hear your voice!' Tracer exclaimed on the other side of the line. 'I didn't know how to get this bloody thing to work and maybe you weren't at the phone and-'

'Lena, are you safe?' Winston interrupted her, a grin growing on his face despite everything. 'It's good to hear from you too, by the way.'

'Thanks, love. Yeah, I'm safe, for now anyway, the Sweden base is pretty cozy.'

'What in the world are you doing in Sweden?' Morrison growled into the microphone. A short silence answered him.

'Winston, who's that?' Lena finally asked.

'It's a long story,' Winston sighed, silently and urgently gesturing for Morrison to be quiet, 'I'll tell you all about it when you get back.'

'Alright,' Lena answered, 'look, it's the same for me- it's a really long story and I don't think I have much time.'

'Go on.'

'The thing is, I need a pick-up. Fast. Timer, remember? I don't know how many days it has been, but I don't have many left.'

'We can manage a pick-up, probably,' Morrison said. Winston sighed in relief.

'Well, there's that much, Lena. I'll do my best for you. How did you wind up there, anyway?'

'Oh gods, it's been a complete rollercoaster, Winston,' Lena said, half sobbing between words, 'being this sort of-but-not-really Talon agent and Reaper had me go on a mission with Widowmaker and I crashed the plane and the Omnium reactived and now I'm here. She's pretty exhausted so I hope she'll sleep for a little bit but I'm constantly checking, you see, if she wakes up she can't know- know that I called you-'

'Lena, Lena, it's okay,' Winston tried to hush her, to reassure her, 'you're doing great. We'll come pick you up. What kind of forces can we expect?'

'It's just me and her now.' Lena whispered.

'Alright, Lena.' Winston tried to sound calming, though his own heart was beating in his chest. 'Take a deep breath. You're doing fine. You remember the plan, right?'

'Yeah. I've got it all under control. R-right.' Lena answered hesitantly.

'Don't be afraid. You just need to hold out until we get there, then we'll take that woman off your hands.' Morrison said, a little too eager. 'Think you can do that?'

'Y-yeah. Of course.' Lena answered. 'I hear her footsteps, I think,' she suddenly yelped, voice shrill over the speaker, 'I have to go!' The line disconnected with a faint click. Winston stared at the screen, as if he could bring the connection back through sheer force of will. Morrison grunted, then lowered his hands into the pockets of his pants.

'Seems like your pawn has done her job quite well. No resistance, we can just rush in and grab the girl as well as the criminal.'

'Can we at least get Widowmaker a trial?' Winston sighed, not really in the mood to debate this again. 'Wasn't that the point of Overwatch? To bring back humanity and justice?'

'That was the old Overwatch, Winston. None of us are heroes anymore.' Morrison's voice deepened with bitter grief. 'Now, we just do what has to be done.'

.

'There you are,' a thick French accent sounded a few moments later. Widowmaker leaned relaxedly against the doorpost, a small smile playing along her lips. 'What are you doing?'

'Trying to set up communications,' Lena hurriedly explained, turning her body so that she could pull a few wires loose from the dashboard while hiding it completely from sight. 'But it's all busted. No good.'

'Too bad,' Widowmaker shrugged, walking over to the dashboard where Lena stood. She tapped the machine a few times, then turned away, disinterested. 'It's not like Reaper will wither away from loneliness, though. He just likes to keep a tight grip on things. I admit I find the lack of his constant demands for reports rather relaxing.'

'I'm sure,' Lena nodded in agreement, 'but at some point we are going to have to let them know we're alive, right? Tell Reaper not to make us dinner and such.' Widowmaker just laughed at that.

'They can track us, I am more than sure of that. They can definitely track you and they can most probably track me, too. They'll be here before you know it.'

'They- What?' Lena's eyes widened in fear, 'you mean to say they already know where we are?'

'Does that surprise you?'

'And you knew this the whole time?' Lena's voice broke in a shrill yelp of anger and fear.

'It was irrelevant until now,' Widowmaker took a small step back, holding up her hands in defense, 'I didn't keep it from you, now did I?'

'Yeah, well, I would have liked to know a little earlier!'

'I'm sorry, Lena,' Widowmaker pursed her lips and shrugged, 'there's nothing I can do about it now.'

Lena furiously stared at the woman's face, who nonchalantly stood, weight resting on one leg, the other casually bent. There was no malice, perhaps just a little amusement in her features.

'Are you enjoying watching me squirm here?' Lena felt her anger melt away with her fear. Harmless. The assassin was absolutely harmless at this point. It was actually a little sickening how easy it had been. But Lena guessed that is what happens when you scramble people's brains for multiple years; they become messed up. Too trusting. Dependent.

'Maybe a little,' Widowmaker laughed. Lena's expression softened at that and she managed a smile.

'Rude,' Lena said, pressing her hands firmly to her hips in a defiant stance, 'I hate it when you're like this.' Widowmaker's lips only curled further into a grin as she stepped closer, twirling a strand of Lena's hair around a long finger. Lena took a step back and Widowmaker followed in a fluid motion, never letting the distance between them grow nor shrink. When Lena looked up to her, eyes wide, Widowmaker's grin turned downright predatory, her eyes glinting with something mischievous.

'What,' Lena managed to say. Widowmaker leaned in and gave her upper lip a soft kiss.

'You're lying,' she whispered, 'I can tell.'

Lena faked a shy laugh. She'd play the game, just a little longer now. If only that feeling of guilt would stop creeping in the back of her mind.

.

'Sit down, dear. It's been too long.'

'Thank you, Ana.' Angela's voice came from the corner of the room as Ana, with an experienced and steady hand, poured the fragrant tea. The creaking of the old couch indicated that her visitor had sat down, and it brought a smile to Ana's face. She hadn't had visitors in a long time. It had been a long time since she'd had regular friends even, and now she'd been welcomed back as if nothing had happened. Contact with Fareeha was still a little difficult, sometimes, but she tried her best and so did her daughter. Seeing her old colleague Angela again filled her with joy. Or, it would have, had she not been so worried at the sight of her.

'You've been going through a rough time, I hear,' Ana said as she brought the tea over. Angela gratefully accepted it, sipping it so she could think about her words.

'Yes, you could say that,' she finally decided to say. 'Who told you-'

'Jack, of course,' Ana laughed, relaxing in her chair, sitting across from Angela. 'Though I would have pried it out of Fareeha eventually.' That made the blonde laugh, and Ana was glad to see there was still some joy left in her.

'Well, I'm sure Jack spared no details about the future plans for Overwatch, then?' Angela stared into her cup.

'Hmm. He's changed. We all have, I suppose,' Ana thoughtfully replied. 'It's a dangerous plan, especially for poor Lena. So young, and to go through all this...'

'She doesn't even know Genji's gone yet,' Angela nodded, following Ana's string of thought, 'she doesn't know you're here, or that Jack's here, nothing.'

It was comfortably silent as they both thought about this. Ana studied Angela's features, her sunken eyes, her hallowed cheeks. Something needed to change before the doctor lost herself in her grief.

'I actually came here to ask for some advice,' Angela suddenly said. She took another long sip of her tea as if to strengthen herself before asking. Ana just waited, patiently, more motherly than ever.

'If you were in my position right now, would you join the mission to retrieve Lena? Fareeha said not to, but I'm just not sure anymore, what to do, what not to do...' she trailed off, stared at her cup for a couple more seconds, then lifted her face to peer into Ana's eyes. Ana stroked her chin in thought.

'Well, I am not you, but I will tell you what I know,' Ana finally began, carefully choosing her words. 'You experienced grave loss. I know how that feels, I know how it feels when you see the life slipping away from those you were supposed to protect.' She took a deep breath, then continued, her voice steady and assuring.

'I was betrayed too, by someone I had once trusted, and I paid the price for it. I paid the price because I hesitated. And if there is one thing I learned, my dear Angela, then it is this: you cannot act if you hesitate. You cannot protect anyone if you hesitate. So you choose forgiveness, or you choose vengeance, but you cannot stay in between.'

'I choose vengeance,' Angela immediately said, sternly. Ana only nodded understandingly.

'Good. I would have done the same.'

'So I'll go.'

'You should go. And when you stand eye to eye with her, you have to take the shot I could not take.'

.

'I understand if you don't want to do this,' Widowmaker said as she opened a cabinet drawer, 'I have plenty of time and I'm sure I can get all the intel I need by myself.'

'It's alright,' Lena said, bending behind a turned-over desk to retrieve the papers scattered there, 'gotta pay off that new accelerator somehow, right?' She quickly checked if Widowmaker wasn't watching, then separated the classified documents from the regular ones and chucked them behind another cabinet. This way, at least she could prevent some sensitive Overwatch information from falling into Talon's greedy claws. She found herself listening for the sound of airplanes more and more often, expectantly, longing to go home. Ever since the brief phonecall she'd felt more homesick than ever, and she couldn't wait to be safe and sound back in London again. Everything just seemed to take forever because she was still not there.

She mulled about how she was going to get Widowmaker to come with her quietly. Surely if Winston would be here they'd be able to apprehend her, but Lena preferred not to use violence. It was that gnarly voice in the back of her head that would keep arguing with her common sense, not to be too hard on the woman. Lena found herself listing all of Widowmaker's wrongdoings in her head just to convince herself of who she was dealing with here, and then she'd get a hand treading through her hair caringly or a whispered thank you and she'd have to do it all over again. It was maddening. Infuriating. Still no sound of airplanes. Just a little longer.

So no violence if at all possible. She'd thought about simply asking her, if Widowmaker'd not like to leave Talon and... then what? Offer her a future in Overwatch? Back where she began?

It was plausible, but unlikely to work. Also an incredibly high chance of Widowmaker immediately ratting her out to Talon and things only getting worse from that point. But perhaps she could trick her. Get her to stay close enough for her pick-up team to figure something out. They'd probably bring tranquilizers. Right. She just needed Widowmaker to stay close, and to trust her. That was the most important.

'Three disciplinary warnings?' Widowmaker clicked her tongue in mock disapproval, 'you're a downright scoundrel is what you are.' Lena peered over the overturned desk to see Widowmaker leaning against the cabinet, an old cardstock file folder in her hands. On the cover the faded nametag said "Lena Oxton".

'Oh, did you find my file? 'S gotta be an old one, isn't it?' Lena laughed, walking over to check out the file. It was an older file, incomplete, and only containing information from her first few years in Overwatch. However, it did still contain files from her recruitment, as well as her pilot academy track record.

'There was this one class I just hated,' Lena said, a faint red blush on her cheeks as she looked at the note about the disciplinary warnings. 'I just couldn't be bothered to go. That's all I ever did though!'

'I'm sure,' Widowmaker laughed, handing over the file. 'You can keep it, there's nothing in there that I need.'

'Just put it back then,' Lena shrugged. She pulled open another drawer and was pleased to see most files were completely empty, or only contained old, useless information. From the corner of her eye, she saw Widowmaker pull out file after file, thumbing some of them through, ignoring others completely. Suddenly, she halted her movement, staring at the nametag of the file she'd just pulled up.

'Who you got there- oh,' Lena asked as she walked over, and her stomach dropped when she saw the name.

Widowmaker carefully pulled down the file, staring hard at the nametag. Lena gently grabbed her arm and gestured for her to sit down on the ground in front of the cabinet. After a moment, Widowmaker let herself be led. She never took her eyes off the file.

'You know who that is, don't you?' Lena carefully asked.

'Gérard Lacroix,' Widowmaker quietly said, and then after a moment's hesitation added, 'my first target.'

'He was a little more than that, love,' Lena said, unintentionally letting sorrow sound through in her voice. 'You're actually still wearing his ring.'

She noticed Widowmaker idly playing with the ring under her glove, visibly hesitating whether she should open the file or not. Her eyes shot back and forth as she remembered, or tried to remember, but it didn't seem to do much good.

'Tell me what's on your mind right now,' Lena finally tried. She interlaced her fingers and waited, studying Widowmaker's features. It had become so familiar, so normal for her to do this that it was a strange thought that it would all be over soon. She wanted to commit her features to memory, for unexplainable reasons.

'I feel uneasy,' Widowmaker said, 'I thought I recognized the name but I don't know what his face looked like or what his voice sounded like or why my heart is beating so fast.'

'Do you want me to tell you about him?' Lena asked.

'No,' Widowmaker shook her head, 'no, he's gone now. I did exactly as I was supposed to do. I guess I don't even need this file.'

'Then, let's put the file away-'

'I don't want to.' Widowmaker's fingers tightened around the file, then loosened as she hesitated, and then tightened with extra force. 'I don't want to forget about him again.'

'You seem kind of torn about this,' Lena carefully said. Widowmaker's eyes narrowed at her, but she wouldn't be intimidated. 'Just take a deep breath, and open the file. There might be nothing of value in there, and then you won't have any regrets.'

Widowmaker nodded, and carefully opened the file. There was no personal data left inside, only a case report of a planned invasion on a Talon base from years ago. The pages were yellowed and out of order, but it was still easy to make out what it was for. It described the location, possible hazards, and found terrorist activity on the first pages. On the next, there was an extensive plan for the attack, the planned route, the expected retaliating forces, several back-up plans, and possible candidates for agents to be set out on the mission. Widowmaker thumbed through the pages with a glossy, blank look on her face. She stopped on one of the final pages of the report, her eyebrows curling up and her eyes suddenly filled with sorrow.

Advanced tactical mission #533

page 12/43

as aforementioned, casualties will be prevented as much as possible. This mission will be executed with the utmost precision. If any agent finds reason to doubt the plan will work, the mission will be aborted immediately to guarantee the safety of the team.

Goal of the mission: Retrieve civilian hostage.

Get Amélie back. I beg of you.

- Gérard

Widowmaker let her fingers glide over the handwritten message on the paper, not even noticing that she held her breath. Lena just stared at her face, at the sorrow playing over her features, not quite breaking through but definitely there. As soon and suddenly as it had appeared, the emotion was gone. Widowmaker snapped the file shut and shook her head, decidedly putting the file back. At Lena's protesting 'Hey!', she only replied with an annoyed growl.

'It's in the past,' she said, jamming the file back in the cabinet, 'he's dead, he's been dead for years, nothing to worry about. Mission complete.'

'You can't be serious right now.' Lena retorted in disbelief.

'Je m'en fiche, Lena, just leave me alone.' Widowmaker snapped, violently shutting the drawer with a loud clang.

'What, no, I'm not going to back down now,' Lena said, hopping back onto her feet. She closed the distance between them, pressing her chest up against Widowmaker's back. It no longer felt alien, instead there was warm familiarity that Lena didn't really want to admit to herself. Her arms wrapped loosely around the woman's waist, and she breathed against her ear. She felt Widowmaker relax under her touch.

'I'm here,' Lena murmured, 'you don't need to hide anything.'

'Sometimes I can remember things.' Widowmaker spoke without turning around, her voice quiet and muffled by the cabinet she stood by. 'Vague, fleeting memories. Just... details or specific situations. Nothing really complete, just fragments of things that may or may not have happened. It might all just be dreams, I wouldn't know.'

'Do you mind them? The fragments?' Lena slowly nuzzled Widowmaker's shoulder blades.

'In the beginning, yes. They brought a pain I couldn't bear, but also couldn't place. Now, I don't feel much. I just... get reminded.'

'And you don't want to remember more? To get some of your past life back?' Lena asked, bitterly reminded that her question reflected her own desires. While the Chronal Accelerator had given her powers beyond belief, she couldn't help but long for the time when she'd been free of it. Where no time warp or limit could ever bother her. Widowmaker thought for a moment before she answered.

'I guess not. There is little from my past that still holds meaning to me,' she said, and Lena noticed her playing with the ring around her finger again, 'and even if I did remember, any feelings connected to them are gone.'

She turned around slowly, careful so as not to break Lena's embrace. Her long fingers found Lena's cheeks and she caressed them, gaze catching Lena's. Lena felt a warmth in her chest, and for once the voice in her head kept quiet. She enjoyed this moment, this oasis of silence, looking into the other woman's eyes, where nothing but trust was displayed. She closed her eyes as Widowmaker rested her forehead against hers, finding so much solace, so much peace in the simple gesture.

'But this,' Widowmaker whispered, her eyes closed as well, 'this I wish to remember. Right here. With you.'

'So do I,' Lena replied equally as softly, hands tenderly resting against Widowmaker's chest. She felt a faint heartbeat that she'd somehow started to associate more with safety than danger.

Lena felt the trembling before she heard the sound, but when the reality sunk in, the planes already flew over at full speed. She jerked free from the embrace, startled by the sudden realization. She noticed Widowmaker's eyes questioningly narrow at her panicked response, but she couldn't explain. Instead, Lena ran towards the front door to peer through the windows. Another jetblack plane soared over, flying low, clearly headed for a destination nearby.

'The Omnium,' Lena realized, 'there's Talon planes headed towards the Omnium!'

'That must be our pick-up,' Widowmaker joined her at the window, completely relaxed. 'But they better not enter the Omnium, they'll be decimated.' She didn't see Lena nervously chewing her cheek.

'How many of them are there, do you think?' Lena asked. Her previous peace had been completely replaced by cold, hard fear, piercing her lungs, suffocating her from inside. Widowmaker shook her head.

'More than I expected. Hey, Lena, come here.' Widowmaker said, turning Lena to face her by grabbing her arm. Then she sank through one knee to be at eye-level with Lena's accelerator. On the left, she held a button for multiple seconds, until a faint static noise could be heard. She kept tapping the button until the line stabilized. Lena's eyes widened. The radio. She'd completely forgotten.

'Testing, testing,' Widowmaker spoke into the connection, 'Reaper, come in.' A silence followed. A look of confusion made Widowmaker's eyebrows frown for a moment before she stubbornly tried again.

'This is Widowmaker, come in,' she repeated, her voice stern. 'Can you hear me?'

'Hello, Widowmaker,' a cold, feminine voice replied, and upon hearing it, Lena's face paled to an ashen grey. 'This is Angela Ziegler. I can hear you just fine.'

.

'The Omnium's fully active, sir. What are your orders?'

Reaper cursed under his breath. His forces had stayed at a safe distance for now, and he would not waste them to retrieve a pair of corpses. His officer, standing next to him, did also not seem too keen on the prospect of entering the factory.

'What are the chances of them being alive in there?' Reaper asked, sighing heavily. There was another possible entrance to the Omnium, but it would cost them many perfectly good Talon lives. No use in wasting them.

'Close to none. The Omnic attacked our scouts viciously once they tried to enter but don't seem to be aggressive outside of the factory. Any intruders would be destroyed almost instantly, with the sheer numbers of them inside.'

Both turned at the heavy roar of an airplane, and Reaper turned his head to look up at the sky. The silver airplane he immediately recognized from a past he'd rather not recall. Inside him, an old flame was rekindled and burst into a wildfire.

'Leave the Omnium for now. Mobilize the troops - we're heading for that Overwatch airship.'

.

Lena felt lost in time, as if the world moved faster than she could think and then suddenly slowed down until every moment lasted an eternity. Widowmaker's look of utter betrayal, her confusion and sadness and genuine pain, seemed to last for hours, destined to be burned into Tracer's mind's eye forever. However her sudden scrambling backwards, then when she somehow gracefully got to her feet and threw open the door in one fluid motion, it seemed to go faster than the speed of light. Lena blinked her eyes once, and she was gone.

'Lena?' Winston's voice sounded from the device on her chest.

'Oh Christ,' Lena cried out, 'this was not supposed to happen!'

'Where are you?' Winston asked, matter-of-factly though he could not completely hide the concern in his voice.

'I'm going after her. We're outside the Overwatch base.'

'Gotcha. We're coming your way.'

Lena didn't bother answering, instead she ran out into the cold. She saw a trail of long strides in the snow and set in the chase. She could still follow. It might not be too late.

Lena willed the plan away from her mind. All she could think about was that look of betrayal. Even if everything went wrong now, even if it all turned out to be meaningless - she wanted to explain. She wanted to take away the pain she had inflicted. It was wrong, it was incredibly wrong but her heart ached and she just wanted to scream.

'Widowmaker!' she cried out into the snow, trying to raise her voice over the roar of the planes in the air. A silver plane had landed on the other side of the field, between the base and the Omnium. The worn, faded logo on the side spelled "Overwatch". She strained her eyes to follow the direction of the trail. Widowmaker had gone towards the Omnium, but later on strayed towards the forest. Lena vaguely wondered why. She grit her teeth and continued the chase, invigorated, unable to feel cold or pain. She had to find her. The air was warm and tense with the fumes from airplane engines. She knew Talon was close, too. It was just a matter of luck who would find who first.

.

'Stay with me,' Fareeha said, testing the wings on her powersuit once more. After a moment of thought, she added a half-hearted 'please'. Angela merely gave her a disdainful look in response.

'Don't tell me what to do, Pharah.'

'It looks like we've got company,' Winston said, leading in front of the group as they walked onto the field. 'We best locate Lena as soon as possible and get out of here.'

'We'll split up. Meet back here in an hour at the latest, and keep in touch.' Morrison agreed. 'If Talon-' he started, but agitatedly stopped his sentence as Angela extended the wings of her Valkyrie suit and took off, not even looking back. 'She's going to get herself killed.'

'I'll go after her,' Pharah sighed, her expression torn between concerned and exhausted. 'Please find Lena before she does.'

.

Widowmaker ran aimlessly. She knew not what to do except to tell her legs to keep moving. Go, go, keep going, as far as you can. She could keep this up. She'd run to the end of the world if she had to.

Talon ships in her peripheral vision. She wanted to see Reaper. Hear his voice. Have him tell her she did good. That everything was as it should be. But he'd ask her about Lena. About Tracer, Widowmaker corrected her own thoughts. How could she have been so foolish, she didn't know. She'd fallen for the trap she herself had tried to set. But she'd inexplicably tumbled right into it and now it hurt. It hurt her more than she could describe, hurt her more with every step she took. Every mark that Lena - no, Tracer - had ever set on her felt like a brand on her skin. She didn't want to feel like this, didn't want to be like this. She needed to go. To run.

'Widowmaker!' a voice called behind her. She didn't stop. Didn't look back. She was unarmed and unhinged.

'Please!' the voice had come closer. Tracer. Widowmaker changed direction, bending to the right. She could see the light of Tracer's chronal accelerator in the corner of her eye. She was at a disadvantage, but she'd fight. She'd fight until the bitter end if only to bring Tracer the same pain as her own.

Tracer blinked to her side, and that was her chance. She elbowed to the side, hitting Tracer in the ribs. The girl quickly retaliated, yanking on Widowmaker's arm and using their velocity to her advantage. They tumbled through the snow. Widowmaker saw a flash of white and grabbed one of Tracer's handguns. She somehow managed to come out on top, holding the gun with two hands. She felt her hands shake. She remembered her aiming for the device last time. This time, she would not be so foolish. She pressed the barrel of the gun against the girl's forehead. She didn't look at Tracer's eyes, for fear of feeling that cold anguish rise up in her chest again.

'Here we are again,' Tracer said. 'But this time, I'm not scared of you.'

'You should be,' Widowmaker hissed, aggressive like a cornered animal. 'I'm going to do what I should have done right that first time. And this time I'll make sure you're dead.'

'Touching, really.' A third voice, colder than the climate around them, sneered. The snow crunched under two sets of heavy boots. 'I'd almost believe it was real.'

'Widowmaker, hold up your hands where I can see them,' Pharah's voice was stern and businesslike. She gestured with her chin to the side to order the assassin to get off Lena.

'Pharah!' Lena gasped, her eyes shooting back and forth between the two, 'Angie, please let me explain!'

'Not a word,' Angela replied stone-faced. She stepped forward to hold Widowmaker at gunpoint.

'Is this how you treat your comrades?' Widowmaker scoffed, moving back slowly, though her grip on Lena's handgun only tightened. She kept the weapon aimed at Lena's head.

'Neither of you are,' Angela merely said, taking one more confident step closer. 'Lower your gun.'

'I don't think so, chèrie,' Widowmaker hissed. Angela didn't miss the way Widowmaker's eyes darted over the scene as she calculated a way out. She'd seen it a hundred times before.

'You think I won't shoot you just because you're aiming at that traitor?' Angela's smirk grew into a full-out, terrifying grin.

'Oh, she's a traitor to you too?' Widowmaker's lips curled into an amused, smug little smile. 'It seems the pétite souris is not entirely sure where she belongs anymore.' For a split moment, Lena saw Angela's determination waver. She noticed the fraction of a second where the realization of that statement sunk in, where Angela's gaze slid over Lena's face and where she asked herself if Lena was to be trusted. Then she only gripped her gun harder.

'Give me one reason not to gun you down right here,' Angela growled, her eyes darkening until they were almost pitch black.

'We need her,' Lena ground out, her chest aching from the strain and tension. She felt like her heart could jump out of her chest any second, it was beating so quickly. She didn't know who to keep an eye on, the three women in front of her all extremely dangerous. Of the three, she felt the most concerned about Angela. The hollowed out, ashen face, the ferocious snarl and the wild eyes were things she'd never seen on the doctor before.

And as she looked from Widowmaker to Mercy to Pharah, Lena felt her options melt away. She knew what she had to do. She just wished it wouldn't hurt so much now, to actually do it.

'Widowmaker, lower your gun.' Lena said, forcing her voice to sound calm, to sound collected and confident. 'Lower your gun and I will help you.' She hadn't fully expected it to work, though she'd hoped it would. Widowmaker gave her one long, sorrowful look, and then lowered the gun. Lena knew she'd considered every other way out, and wouldn't have done so if she'd had any other exit route. Three against one were bad odds even for Widowmaker. Pharah immediately jumped into action, rotating Widowmaker's arms behind her back and forcing her onto her knees, making her drop the gun. Angela kept her eyes and weapon trained on the assassin's face.

'Let me prove to you that I'm still the person you know, Angie,' Lena said quietly as she got up and kneeled in front of the captured assassin. She reached for the medicine wallet in the pouch strapped to Widowmaker's thigh, and tried not to hear the fearful gasp that came from her lips.

'Lena, no,' Widowmaker pleaded. Lena zipped the wallet open and grabbed the first vial, inserting it into the syringe.

'Just kill me, Lena, don't take all this away from me!' Widowmaker trashed against Pharah's unrelenting grip. Lena set the syringe against Widowmaker's thigh.

'I'm sorry, Widowmaker,' she whispered, pressing the needle in and emptying the first vial. Then she ejected the empty vial with trembling hands and inserted the second one into the syringe. Widowmaker trashed as hard as she could, head whipping back and forth, trying to somehow put some distance between them. Her voice broke when Lena readied the needle for the second time.

'Lena, I beg of you-'

Lena wound her fingers around the syringe, positioning her arm.

'I don't want to forget, Lena, please-'

The needle against taut, trembling skin. Widowmaker's panicked sobs against her cheeks.

'I loved you.'

Lena pressed down, emptying the second vial. Then she held Widowmaker's face gently, pressing against her forehead with her own. She felt cold, real tears running down the woman's face.

'I loved you too,' Lena whispered, entrusting her this secret, willing away the sorrow in her own heart. 'And now, I can't hurt you ever again.'