Author's note:
Tried as hard as I could to get this chapter out as soon as possible and here it is. Chapter 25, wow, there was a lot of them!
Thank you to KeepingThemAtBay for another review! Sorry (not sorry) about that cliffhanger, it just felt like a good place to stop. I'm so glad you enjoyed the chapter, I had a lot of fun writing it!
Thank you to Vedahzii for another review! All I can say is… well said!
I feel like some of you just want to keep reading so without further ado…
Enjoy!
Villen opened his eyes, the familiar surroundings of the Watchpoint's medbay coming into view. He tried to lift himself up, but failed, noticing he could barely control his body.
"My Lord!" Ember, who was sitting next to the bed jumped to his feet, moving to a monitor to get some readings. Noticing Villen opened his mouth in an attempt to speak, he grabbed a glass of water and raised half of the hospital bed to help the knight drink. Villen gulped the water down, soothing his parched throat.
Villen then looked Ember in the eyes. "A..Angela?" He rasped, his voice hoarse from disuse.
The obvious drop in the medic's mood heralded the answer Villen dreaded to hear. Ember lowered his head and sighed. "I'm sorry, Sir. It was close, but the damage proved too extensive." He shook his head and looked up at the knight, sadness clear in his eyes.
Villen broke eye contact, turning his head slightly and focusing his eyes on the ceiling. "How… long?"
"You were out for almost two months, my Lord. Mercy… she died on the operating table on the same day we brought you in." Ember answered carefully, his eyes focused on the man lying on the bed.
Villen stared at the ceiling in silence for a few seconds, processing the information. "Leave." He said quietly.
"My Lord, I should be present to monitor..." Ember tried, only to be interrupted.
"Leave." Villen repeated, more firmly, still not looking at him.
"As ordered." The medic said, bowing respectfully. "Contact me if you need anything." He backed out of the medbay slowly, door sliding closed behind him.
And so Villen was left alone, an overwhelming sense of failure and grief at the forefront of his mind. He may have not known Angela that long, but she was unlike anyone he met before. They got on extremely well, and even spent countless hours just talking. But he realised there would be no more of those talks that he so enjoyed. That her radiant beauty would never again bless his eyes. Instead there was a new hole in his soul, another person he cared for lost. Person he loved? As realization hit him, his eyes watered, and he didn't stop the stream of tears. Words from an old poem came to his mind.
"I never knew till now
How precious, till I lost thee. Now I see
Thy beauty whole, because I yearn for thee."
As depression set in, there was another current in his mind. A feeling that threatened to emerge, to take over, ever since his sister was taken from him. A lust for vengeance. A deep-seated rage. And this time he was too weak to stop it taking root. To prevent it from grabbing hold of his mind. He could almost feel his mind breaking apart.
Over the coming days, Villen's regeneration accelerated immensely. Several people visited him in the medbay, most notably Tracer, Reinhardt, Tirel and Henry, but the knight was distant, barely sparing a few words. The person he most talked to was Ember, mostly because he briefly answered questions about his condition.
As soon as he was able to move, Villen lifted himself from the hospital bed, and walked to the workshop, paying no mind to anyone he met on the way, and sealed himself inside.
Over two weeks later, Villen emerged from the workshop and headed straight for the hangar. As he was preparing the Griffin for takeoff, he heard familiar voices calling to him. He disregarded them, up to the point, when Tirel's voice sounded right behind him. "My Lord."
Villen turned, and the expression of anger and irritation on his face caused Tirel to take a step back. Tracer, who came with her, and who never before saw Villen in such a state, and even wondered if he ever got angry, reacted similarly. "What is it, Captain." Villen sneered.
"I wish to know where you are going." Overcoming the initial shock, Tirel held her ground, straightening her posture and looking the knight straight in the eyes.
"Where I am going?" Villen asked, a smug smirk forming on his face. "I am going to do what I should have done long ago. I will wipe Talon off the face of the Earth, and so thoroughly, that there will be no sign left that they even existed." His smile grew, as if he was enjoying the thought very much. And then just as rapidly his expression turned dark again. "No one else will suffer because of them."
"We know what you have been working on, Sir. You have broken your oath." Tirel still met his eyes with her steely gaze.
"I do what I have to. Talon had their reign of terror for long enough." Villen didn't even flinch.
Tirel's shoulders slumped. It pained her to see the man she followed fall so far so quickly. "Do you really cast all you believed in away so easily?" She asked, more meekly.
Villen's anger now seemed to burned in his eyes, as he took a step forward. "Easily? Do not presume it was an easy decision to make." He growled. "And know your place, Captain. I do not need your pity and concern."
"So you're just gonna kill them." Tracer said quietly, her eyes focused on the ground in front of her. "All of them. How does that make you any better than them?"
Villen's expression softened for a moment. "There will be one I will spare." He turned to look at Tirel, his face contorting in anger again. "Let it be known that I still keep some of my promises." He turned, and walked back towards the Griffin, getting himself situated in the lowered pilot seat.
"There is no honor in what you're planning! It isn't what neither of them would have wanted. What you wish for is genocide, it's not like you." Tirel yelled at him, her own anger and feeling of betrayal getting the better of her.
"Honor means anything only to the living, and I am already dead. And they will die, Captain, for I…" He paused, looking her in the eyes. "I have no more mercy."
With that, he got lifted up into the cockpit, and the Griffin took off almost instantly, soaring away.
"Barricade this door!" Reaper yelled, as a few grunts desperately pulled more and more things in front of the door, the wraith himself keeping his shotguns pointed at it. Widowmaker was off to his side, her sniper rifle aimed at the entry point as well.
A dull thud was heard from the other side of the door. They all readied themselves, the other soldiers in the room raising their rifles as well.
The door seemed to melt, as a grey cloud poured through it, devouring everything in its way. Everyone opened fire, but the cloud just grew larger, enveloping soldier after soldier, leaving nothing behind.
Through the scope of her rifle Widowmaker saw Hussar's head, as the man entered the room, walking slowly, a spherical nanite cloud swirling around him. He wasn't wearing his armor, his face exposed, his long coat billowed slightly in the wind caused by the moving nanites. She took the shot, but the bullet was simply deflected. Hussar raised his hands, pointing one at Reaper, and one at her.
A cloud of nanites surrounded Reaper, and as he tried to use his wraith form to get away, they released an electric shock, forcing him back into his human body. All of the equipment in the room was being devoured, leaving only empty walls behind. The cloud compacted around Reaper, forming a cage for him, and everytime he tried to leave it, he got shocked.
Meanwhile another cloud shot out towards Widomaker, the nanites forming into bonds that quickly pinned her to a nearby wall. Despite trying her best to struggle out of them, they refused to budge.
Soon after they were left in an empty room, everyone else killed, and any equipment devoured by the swarm. The Hussar then stepped forward, moving from the doorway.
As he passed the halfway mark between them, his head suddenly snapped to the side, and a nanite tentacle-like appendage shot out from the spherical cloud surrounding him. It twisted around seemingly thin air and pulled back towards him. Sombra's cloaking device shut off, as she was pulled into the sphere, and was lifted by the neck in front of the knight, struggling to get free.
A sinister chuckle left Villen's mouth, and a smug smile appeared on his face. "Leaving so soon? But we only just started."
Sombra desperately tried to pull away the nanite tentacle around her neck. "Come on… A-amigo." She rasped, struggling for breath. "What about our deal?"
"Deal?!" Reaper yelled, banging his fist on the cage. "You had a deal?! You're dead Sombra!"
Villen just smirked, and looked at the wraith briefly, before focusing back on the woman in front of him. "Yes we did have a deal, did we not?" His expression turned serious. "I am altering it. You will erase any sign of Talon activity. From anywhere. I want them to never have existed." A wicked smile returned to his face. "Can you do that for me, amiga?"
"S-sure." She managed.
"Go then. And make sure we do not cross paths again. If I find any sign of you near mine, or Overwatch operations, I will come back for you." With that, the nanite tentacle threw her across the room, and she skidded on the floor, out the door. "Now.." He cracked his knuckles. "Let us move on to the main event. Ladies first I suppose." He smirked and turned to Widowmaker. The woman sneered at him, and faced him defiantly, not struggling anymore. "I am guessing you killed her, and for that you should suffer for eternity. But, as much as I lack it now, there is another, whose mercy saves you."
"I don't need your pity. Or theirs." Widowmaker said, coldly.
"Oh, but fortunately for you, it is decided without your input. Besides." He stroked his beard. "Technically speaking you will die. It was not Widowmaker I promised to save. It was Amélie."
The woman's eyes opened wide briefly, before her screams, she failed to stop, echoed in the room, as a nanite cloud bore into her. She bucked and twisted in her restraints, desperately trying to escape the pain that just kept coming. The spectacle lasted for a few agonizing minutes, before Villen released her.
Amélie's unconscious, naked body dropped to the floor. She looked like a regular woman, her skin turned back to its natural color. Giving a satisfied nod, Villen turned and walked to his other prisoner.
"You should have killed me, when you had the chance, Reaper. It will prove to be your most… fatal mistake." He smirked again, the nanites continuously swirling around him.
"What the hell happened to the 'oh so honorable' knight getup?" The wraith asked mockingly. "Lost it somewhere?"
"Oh indeed. Indeed I did. How clever of you." Villen answered, his tone similarly mocking. "I must have misplaced it somewhere." His eye twitched slightly, and his smile widened. "Along with my sanity it seems. A shame, a shame. Especially for you. Since without it, I cannot really help but kill you."
"You are welcome to try." Reaper sneered.
"Oh, but there will be no trying. You will die Reaper. And do not hope for a fair fight, or an honorable duel. You will die in a cage. Like a rat." He smirked, and the cage closed over the man, nanites piercing his skin, and electric shocks preventing his escape. More screams of agony echoed through the facility.
A few minutes later, Reaper was left on the floor, breathing heavily, his clothes ripped in many places. A nanite tentacle gripped him by the neck and lifted him up, and moved him inside of the sphere, in front of Villen. He struggled to get out, and when he tried to shift into mist, he noticed that he couldn't. He realize he could feel his heartbeat again, the warmth of his body, the coldness of metal against his skin. "What… have you done... to me?" He rasped.
Villen laughed. "I brought you back, Reaper. Reverted your, might I add very interesting condition. You are back to normal again! Well, in terms of your body I suppose."
"You can… do that? Why?" The man stared at him wide-eyed, still desperately trying to pull away the metal around his neck.
"Oh, I felt it would be nice for you to taste life again." His smile disappeared suddenly, and a more sinister expression replaced it. "So that I can be the one to rip it away from you, before you get to enjoy it." Another appendage shot out of the sphere and pierced Reaper from the back, punching through to the front, holding his heart, spraying blood on the knight in front of him. Reaper let out his last breath and slumped. Villen wiped the blood from his face, the rest that covered him being absorbed into his clothes and skin by the nanites inside of him. He threw Reaper's lifeless body across the room, and made his way back towards Widowmaker. "Vea, be a dear, and set up an emergency beacon. Tirel will come to pick her up."
A massive explosion obliterated the Talon headquarters, and simultaneously their last bastion, after their bases fell one by one to Villen's wrath. At the bottom of the smoking crater that remained, pieces of scorched metal started to fall off from a perfect sphere, slowly revealing the knight kneeling, his head lowered.
Villen leaned forward, laying his hands on the ground in front of him, and let out a long breath. His vengeance was done, the last of Talon destroyed. He felt his anger dissipate, leaving emptiness and sadness behind. And there, at the site of his victory he wept. He had forsaken all he fought for all this time, became the very thing he always tried to stop, and defiled the memory of the people he loved. But his greatest enemy was defeated, banished into the abyss never to threaten anyone again. And he could only hope, those who used to follow him, would not allow it to be reborn.
There was another thought however. Why would he leave it to others, why would he trust in their ability. He looked at his hands. He broke his oath, weaponized his nanites, so why stop now. He now wielded the power to shape the world, to bring order to chaos, to stop anything like Talon from rising ever again. The world will finally know peace, and he will lead it into a glorious future.
"Stop. This isn't you." A familiar voice sounded, startling Villen to his feet.
His eyes widened in surprise. His voice shook as he spoke. "So the last shreds of sanity have finally left me." There, in front of him, stood his sister Anna, her form much the same as in his dream.
"You're lost, brother. All because you've blamed yourself again. For something that didn't even happen." Her voice was calm, and she was approaching him with a steady pace.
"What are you talking about?" Villen's voice cracked.
"Listen to what you have been ignoring, brother." Anna smiled, stopping not far from him. "And take from your subconsciousness the warning, to never allow yourself to fall this low."
"How is he?" A distant voice sounded, and Villen's heart skipped as he recognised it as Angela.
"You don't have to worry anymore, Doctor." It was Ember this time, his voice seemed to be coming from closer. The voices were quiet and distorted, whispers in the wind. "He is not in danger anymore, and at this point, it's only a matter of time until he recovers."
Villen fell to his knees, and more tears streamed down his face. This time, there were those of relief, as realisation dawned on him. "She lives. This… none of this was real."
"Don't wait too long." Anna said, a wide smile on her face. "Nothing is permanent."
And then everything went dark.
Angela awoke, breathing in sharply and jolting upwards, her hand moving to her chest, as memories flooded her mind. She felt a hand on her shoulder, and realised she was in the medbay. Still disoriented, she followed the arm laying her back down with her eyes, to find Ember at the end, a gentle smile on his face. "Easy, Doctor Ziegler. You are safely back in the Watchpoint."
"What… happened?" She asked, looking down at where her wound used to be, feeling under the hospital gown, finding bandages. "I remember getting shot." The splitting headache she felt, and the cloud of fatigue covering her mind, made recalling details very difficult.
"You were, right through the heart. I'll be honest it was close, you barely survived." He leaned back in his chair. "Must have been the hardest operation I have ever performed. It's not everyday one reconstructs almost an entire heart." He smiled a tired smile, clearly not having rested enough since, what must have been, a lengthy operation.
"Why have you not used my staff? I'm sure it would have been much easier." She narrowed her eyes at the pulsing headache.
"I'm sorry to say, that your staff had been shattered shortly after you were wounded. I hear, however that Torbjörn is very close to putting it back together. Quite an impressive piece of equipment, I must say." He mused.
"You said… You said my heart was almost completely destroyed? How did I survive long enough to be transported here?" Although thinking caused her pain, she looked for any reasoning for her survival, and couldn't find any.
"I placed a stasis field over you when I got to you, and it prevented your death, allowing me to set up what I needed. Before that, well…" He looked off to the side. "I suppose you have Lord Hussar to thank for that."
Angela followed his gaze, and her breathing hitched as she spotted Villen lying on one of the other medbay beds, hooked up to all kinds of life-support machinery, an oxygen mask over his mouth. He was still wearing his long coat, but his shirt was removed, his chest rising and falling slowly. "What happened to him?"
Ember sighed. "He transferred most of his nanites to you. I'm sure you're feeling the side effects now." He tapped the side of his head. "Still, they did most the work in keeping you alive. Kept your brain supplied with oxygen when your blood stopped flowing. Also managed to prevent any irreversible damage."
"I don't understand. What does that have to do with him lying there?" Angela asked, confused.
"The answer is quite simple, Doctor. The nantes coursing in his veins give him extraordinary control over his body. Accelerated regeneration. Improved reflexes. Even temperature control. That is all nice and well, but with every improvement, his body relies on the nanites more and more. At this point he basically cannot function without them. His body almost went into full organ failure. He is still right on the edge of death." Seeing Angela's guilty expression, Ember cursed under his breath. "And I probably shouldn't have told you that. Me and my big mouth." He mumbled.
Angela processed his words in silence for a few moments, her gaze still focused on the knight. "He could have died." She said quietly.
"He risked a chance at death, to give you a hope of life." Ember said slowly, Angela's eyes turning to him. "There is no reason to blame yourself, Doctor. Lord Villen knew full well what he was doing, and it is almost certain he will recover." He gave her a reassuring smile.
"I will rest easier when I know it's definitely certain." She said, her eyes darting back to the knight. "Can I help?"
Ember chuckled, shaking his head. "I can tell what he sees in you, my lady. No, the best way you can help right now is by resting. I'm sure Lord Villen would have killed me when he woke up and found out I let you work in your state. I'll give you something for the pain, in might not work, but maybe it will help a bit."
The following day Mercy had a couple of visitors. First of all, Tracer came in, with a large smile on her face, visibly relieved that her friend was alive, although it did diminish when she heard Villen's condition was yet to improve. She took the opportunity to fill Angela in on what happened after she got shot. With the help of the reinforcements, Overwatch managed to secure the facility they were after, and 76, Genji and the Drakes were still there, coordinating the salvage and recovery operations. With Reaper having fled, and much of Talon's force wiped out in the explosion, the teams backed by reinforcements made quick progress through the city, easily punching through to the facility and forcing Talon to retreat. Lena was relaying the story enthusiastically, often adding various sound effects to it, causing Angela to giggle in amusement at the Brit's antics.
Winston came in later, wearing a guilty expression on his face. He tried to apologize, feeling responsible for what happened, because as the commander he sanctioned the mission. Mercy tried her best to get that idea out of his head, pointing out that the mission was a success, that she survived and Villen was also likely to recover. Not to mention the fact that she didn't even think of blaming him for what happened. When the gorrilla left some time later, even though he seemed to feel better, Angela couldn't help but feel she didn't fully succeed, especially when Winston paused at the door and glanced back at Villen, before moving out of the room.
Others in the base came as well, if only to express their happiness and relief, before returning to their duties.
Over a week has passed, and Ember insisted on keeping her in the medbay, just in case. Not that Angela had any right to complain, it was something she always prefer to do, keep patients in longer, rather than risk releasing them too soon. Not that it didn't usually work out the other way, because of some important or unexpected mission.
Another thing that kept her from complaining, was the cleverness of Ember himself. He had quickly realised that Villen was her weakness, and although he used it only as last resort, when Angela was pushing for getting back to work particularly hard, a few well placed words about how Villen's wrath would be directed at the poor medic, should anything happen to her because he released her too soon, how she would surely be insistent that Villen stay as long as it was needed when he recovers, or simply the fact that she surely wouldn't want to miss out when he wakes up.
Angela sat up on her bed, having just woken up, and instinctively looked to her right, where the knight was still lying, finding Ember in front of one of the monitors by his bed, carefully studying its contents. "How is he?" She asked, moving her legs over the side of the bed, and into a pair of slippers. It had become a sort of the routine for them. It was always the first question she asked in the morning, and Ember indulged her, by relaying the progress of Villen's recovery.
The medic looked up at her with a smile on his face. "You don't have to worry anymore, Doctor." He said, more upbeat than recently, and certainly more than his obviously tired state should allow. "He is not in danger anymore, and at this point, it's only a matter of time until he recovers."
Angela breathed a sigh of relief. There has been some close calls over the last couple of days, but the knight survived, the nanites in his bloodstream recovering their numbers day by day. Mercy almost jumped out of bed in happiness, her white nightgown she changed into flowing as she made her way to the other bed. "That is great news!"
"Indeed. It may still be some time, but at least he doesn't require constant monitoring anymore, and we can start to take some of the life support offline." The medic scrolled through some more data on the monitor, glancing over at her, and smiling, seeing her own smile and relieved expression, as she looked down at the knight lying in front of her.
Angela looked to the side at one of the monitors. "There is quite unusual amount of brain activity. Especially for someone in his state."
Ember held back a chuckle. Mercy just couldn't help but get straight back to work. "Indeed. A side effect of a high nanite concentration. It is their prime directive to try and preserve the brain for as long as possible. Seems to me they are keeping it stimulated, to prevent any lasting damage." He looked down at the knight and then to Angela, who was now looking at him. "Let's just hope he is having pleasant dreams, hmm?"
Villen opened his eyes slowly, the dim light of the medbay still harsh on them, after such a long time in darkness. He waited for them to adjust, taking notice of the aches that plagued his body, especially the splitting headache, that combined with the tired haze on his mind made thinking nearly impossible. After his eyes adjusted to the light, and he was tired of staring at the ceiling, he tried to get up, finding that his body failed to respond. He could slowly move his head, but the only limb that answered his commands was his robotic arm, and even its movements were sluggish and imprecise. Villen took a deep breath, calming the sudden rush of panic. He knew the control would return, and he would just have to deal with his state of being in the meantime.
He moved his head, trying to scan over the room, but as soon as he looked to his right his heart skipped a bit. There she was, Angela, asleep in the chair next to his bed, a book lying on her chest, rising and falling slowly, with the rhythm of her breathing. Villen couldn't help but take in her peaceful expression, and his heart grew in relief. After finally tearing his eyes away, he noticed her hand was on his bed. He tried to gently move his palm over hers, but his clumsy movements, and the coldness of metal on her skin startled Angela awake.
She straightened in her seat, clearly not meaning to have fallen asleep. She looked over at him with hazy eyes, but a moment later, they were open wide. "Villen, you're awake!" A joyful expression left her mouth. Villen opened his mouth to speak, but words refused to come out of his parched throat. Angela noticed his plight and jumped to her feet. "Hold on, I'll get you some water." She smiled at him, and that smile alone almost made Villen forget all the pain he was feeling. He followed her with his eyes, as she grabbed a glass of water, and came back to his bed, helping him drink. He couldn't help but drink greedily, the liquid soothing his throat. After he finished the glass, Angela put it on the bedside table, and sat down in her chair, still smiling. "How are you feeling?"
Villen moved his hand slowly, and placed it over hers. "Lady Angela…" He rasped, his voice hoarse and quiet from disuse. Angela leaned in closer to hear him better. "Seems we have to… postpone our dinner." A weak smile formed on his face.
Mercy chuckled, music to his ears, and shook her head slightly. She pulled her hand slightly from under his, and put her fingers between his, in an affectionate gesture. "Don't worry, I'll wait."
They sat in silence for a few moments, just looking at each other, both relieved that the other was alright. Villen pulled his hand free, and shakingly lifted it, gently running the top of his fingers down Angela's cheek. She found herself leaning into the touch, feeling goosebumps forming on her skin, as much from the coolness of metal, as the touch itself. "I am… glad you are alright." Villen said weakly, his eyes focused on hers.
Angela grasped his hand with hers, and pressed her cheek against it. "I'm happy to see you recovering as well." She paused for a second, then broke eye contact and sighed. "You could have died."
Villen squeezed her hand gently, causing her too look back at him. "So could you. And I… promised to protect… you." It was painful for him to speak, but he pushed through it, taking pauses and deeper breaths when he needed. "I shall… give my life for yours if need be." He repeated the words from his oath, and squeezed her hand slightly harder, a gesture she reciprocated. "I would die… a thousand times over… if it meant saving you." He took a deep breath. Angela remained silent, letting him finish, clearly seeing it meant a lot to him. "And not only… because of the oath. You… you are important… to me." His smile was warped briefly into a pained grimace.
Angela wanted to protest, to say that her life was worth no more than his, that he shouldn't sacrifice himself on her behalf. But she noticed the determination in his voice, and also the pain that he failed to hide. So instead she guided his hand gently back to the side of his body. "You're important to me too, Villen. So try to be more careful in the future, hmm?" She said caringly, an affectionate smile on her face. She released his hand, running her fingers gently over it. "We'll talk more later, for now you should rest." She noticed Villen opening his mouth to protest despite his eyelids feeling heavy with tiredness, so after a moment of hesitation, she leaned in and placed a soft kiss on his cheek. She blushed lightly, and noticing a similar reaction from the knight, she patted his hand. "Regain your strength. I will be here, when you wake up." She gave him an affectionate smile.
Villen stared at her for a moment, before nodding slowly, returning the smile. "Then I hope my sleep... will be brief." He looked at her a moment longer, before surrendering to his fatigue, the feeling of her lips on his cheek, albeit brief, still radiating pleasant heat, as he drifted off to sleep.