There was no way. There had to be no way.
Brigitte didn't doubt DVa's credibility—her role in the Korean Army was specifically to suppress the monstrosity and its minions it would send to attack humanity—but Brigitte was certain the monstrosity was somewhere from the East China Sea to the west coast of the United States of America. At the very least, it devastated all of Hawaii's islands except the Big Island shortly before her garrison at the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range, so it had to be in the North Pacific Ocean. In the water.
From that, the most logical conclusion was DVa was currently experiencing a flashback.
"DVa!" Brigitte called for the final time. "Please, snap out of it!"
But she continued to dangle like a ragdoll. If anything, her gripped loosened.
Brigitte tightened her grip, fearful of crushing DVa's hand. She wavered as she constantly repositioned her feet, trying to stabilize herself on the incline. After the longest three seconds, her feet planted themselves. Ok, Brigitte thought, here we go. And a ONE and a TWO and a THREE!
Brigitte gambled all of her strength into the greatest tug she could manage. She pulled DVa like she was straight-up deadlifting a hundred-and-something pounds off the ground. She flicked her arms above her head, pulling DVa up to head height, above the ground level. Then she allowed herself to fall back, letting DVa's body collide with her. They fell to the ground, DVa on top of Brigitte, but they were safe.
They both coughed as DVa crawled onto all fours. For a moment, they locked eyes. DVa's hair tickled Brigitte's ears as she watched DVa's eyes looking around in tiny, rapid moments. Then she looked like the symbol of confusion. "Brigitte? Wha—?"
"I'll tell you later," Brigitte coughed, her chest tightening. "Reinhardt gets flashbacks, too. Zones out most of the time and has memory gaps. But c'mon, we should get back into the Humvee and find a safe place. Right now, the smoke's choking me."
And so they did that. Brigitte explained everything that happened as she drove this time. She didn't want to ask when her memory gap started to avoid possible embarrassment. DVa shuttered as she went over what she saw and called the monstrosity, but didn't show signs of another flashback.
The girls had found a small cave in the side of the mountain shaped as a blast crater. Every tree that they could see down the slope was either charred, burned to some degree, splintered, or completely combusted. The grass had more dark colors than its natural green hue, something Brigitte (and probably more so DVa) didn't want to be reminded of. But for now, it was the only choice they had. It was a few kilometers away from the hole into the monstrosity den, as far yet close to it they could risk being.
Brigitte parked the Humvee inside the crater, the mountain ceiling just barely tall enough for the turret not to be scathed. She sat in silence, wondering what to say. Since seeing the monstrosity (she still refused to believe it was the monstrosity), DVa sat motionless, her eyes sometimes swimming around or vigorously vibrating in the center. She could easily notice the symptoms of PTSD thanks to Reinhardt, but that didn't mean she could do so much to help it. She noticed herself getting better with talking to DVa, but on a casual sense. With something as serious as what DVa was going through, she felt like she was back to square one: not knowing what to either say or do.
A few minutes of silence went by. Brigitte kept watch out the window, ready to either drive away or jump to the turret if something came. She prayed for neither to be the case since gas and ammunition was limited. And as the hours went by, so was their food. They needed to visit one of the bunkers soon.
When DVa finally moved, she raised one of her legs to her chest, hugging it. Starring straight out the window, she spoke, "'Overconfidence is a flimsy shield.'" She glanced at Brigitte to see if she was watching her before staring back out the front window. "It's one of the quotes I respect the most by Tekhartha Zenyatta, a member of the Shambali. I was never looking for fame in Korea through MEKA, but if found me anyways. And even though I didn't like it, I felt myself affected by it in various ways. One way was being too confident in my abilities.
"The first time I fought against the monstrosity, I did well. Kept my cool, was aware of my surroundings, covered for my allies. My friends. We were a good team. In that fight, which I was streaming, I managed to pull of some high-skilled and mechanical feats. When we returned, I was celebrated. My people believed I made the biggest difference in the fight. From then on, I was an idol. I was more as a beacon of hope than anything else. And I regret how much it got to me. So when I fought against the monstrosity the last time, I…"
DVa choked and looked away, blinking rapidly. Brigitte wanted to reach over and hug her, but she knew it wasn't the time. She had to let her finish.
DVa continued, "I…I was full or myself. Instead of covering for my friends, I pulled the trigger. Instead of using my defense matrix, I launched my missiles. So many times could I have protected my friends…but I chose to shoot instead. I thought if the people saw the omnics being destroyed, that would give them the greatest sense of hope. And secretly, I thought I could do it all. It was hard for me to regret my choices until one of my friends, Yuna, went down. Then Jae-Eun. Then Seung-Hwa. Then Kyung-Soo." She slowly put her hands to the side of her head as she said the names, as if hearing them from within. "I was the last one left against it. I barely won, but to fight it alone…was the most terrifying experience I've ever had."
She let out a huge sigh of depression. "Of course, the people let it go as a 'great' victory. Who wants to think about your military losing to the enemy? To think of foreign hostiles forcing you to completely change your life or die…assuming you didn't die during an invasion or an attack." She shook her head.
They were silent for another few minutes. The smoke in the sky was starting to thin out and drift away from the wreckage they couldn't see. The red-orange sunlight was slowly turning to normal. "Brigitte?" DVa asked. Brigitte turned her head towards DVa, who was still curled up against the passenger window. "I'm so thankful you came when my mecka was shot down, but…why did you do it?"
"Why?" Brigitte repeated.
DVa turned herself around, looking over her shoulder with one eye. It was glassy, as if tears were forming. "When we first met, it didn't seem like you knew of me at all. If anything, I seemed to be an annoyance."
Brigitte was so relieved to be given a reason to talk in depth. "Because I thought of you as a hero. Truth be told, the only way I knew of you was from Reinhardt and the poster he gave me. The 'Hero of My Storm 2.' I thought you were simply a poster girl, becoming famous from your figure or such. But on the day of the attack, you saved my life three times. Not only that, but you saved dozens of other people's lives."
DVa looked to the side, not looking fully convinced. Brigitte continued, "When I was on Bluejay and we were ascending for takeoff, I thought I was going to die. I think everyone on that ship did. But you came in like a shining stallion, straight out of the epic fantasies Reinhardt always told when I was a kid. To save our lives, even if it was your duty or such, was an act of heroism. You're the kind of hero I'm always striving to be—rescuing others without a second thought or thinking much of it. I don't know how you see our situation, but to fight alongside you is nothing but an honor. I jumped down without thinking about it because I knew from that brief time spam of the fight it wouldn't have felt right doing anything else. I wouldn't have wanted to do anything else."
They locked eyes for several seconds. Finally, DVa gave a small smile. "Thanks."
Brigitte nodded before reaching for the car radio controls. "Now, let's see if Jeong knows what this 'monstrosity' is."