Chapter 31: Back at it.

Emily's Home, 11 AM, 15 Days After Abel's Coma

Emily and Lena both walked up the stairs, carrying some fresh sheets up to the attic while Angela slept in the guest room. Lena opened the door silently to find the bed was empty, the sheets folded neatly on the foot of the bed, and a note reading "Bathroom." directly in the center of the bed. Lena and Emily both looked at each other, then at the bathroom door as they heard the sink running.

Lena zipped down stairs to wake Angela up, while Emily peeked and watched him, his pale back to her as he shaved off the gruff on his face with his bone thin right arm. His pants were barely hanging onto his waist as he lifted them up, cleaned his razor blade and then washed the residual shaving cream and loose hairs off his face.

He looked at his reflection, then sighed as he made himself an eye patch to cover his right eye, then turned to find Emily standing there, closing the bathroom door behind her as she kept her gaze down. He looked at her as she gently wrapped her arms around him, pressed her head into his neckline, then whispered "... How are you feeling?"

She kept her gaze down, but was surprised when Abel wrapped his single arm around her, guided his fingers through her hair and replied in an equally low and dry tone "I feel alright..."

Emily looked up at him, finding him smiling a tired smile as he let go and walked into the bedroom. Emily stood there for a second as she thought back on Alex, remembering that one phrase.

"All this... And I'm just a clone of you..."

That phrase genuinely made Emily feel uncomfortable around Abel now, it made her feel like a replacement, like a backup plan. But, he had Hana now, and she had Lena, so there was nothing to worry about, right? Well, she hoped.

In the bedroom, Abel was seated as Angela gave him a quick check up, taking a blood sample, testing his reactions, and the works. The only thing that worried her, and the others, was the massive scar on his chest. The skin looked like it was slightly spiraling into the puckered grey scar tissue in the middle, making Angela wonder how this would affect him.

She took some notes then asked him "Abel, do you feel any abnormalities within your chest region?" Abel raised a brow as Angela pressed her stethoscope against his ribs and listened ti his breathing, then replied "Not at the moment... Hurts like hell to stand straight though."

Angela sighed and wrote down "Patient adopted partner's injuries." then told Abel "Can you make something out of substance?" Abel nodded, put his right hand over his stump and had his substance arm grow out up until the elbow, where he felt his chest tighten and started coughing uncontrollably.

Emily watched from the door, seeing as he inhaled, then finished his left arm, at the expense of his heart beating a mile a minute. Angela noted this, and told Abel "Now I'm 100% sure of it. Abel, your ability to freely produce Substance has been horribly limited by your wound... Now you are gonna have to be more careful than before on how and when you use substance. If you are not, we are looking at full cardiac arrest..."

Abel looked down, his hair covering his face as it hasn't been cut in months, all the while Lena held Emily outside in the hall.

Winston's Office, Ecopoint 1 PM

Winston sat in his office with Torbjörn, Ana, and Reinhardt as Angela finished explaining Abel's situation to them, making him sigh and ask Angela "Can this be treated?" Angela sat back into the couch, Abel to her left, and Lena to her right, then replied "I will look into it... I might know a good colleague back in Switzerland that may help us."

Winston nodded, then told them "Alright... Do what you must Angela... And it's good to see you up again Abel... Lena and Emily will take care of you until further notice." Abel nodded, but remained silent as the call ended, allowing Winston to turn to face the others present and ask them "Alright, with that out of the way... Are there any questions?"

Reinhardt was the first to speak up, asking in a low and lamenting tone "Wouldn't it just be safer to let Abel go? At this rate, he will end up killing himself or worse..." Winston stared up at Reinhardt, seeing the serious expression the man had, and asked "Can we truly let him go? If we let him leave, then he will be hunted to no end... People near him will die... And he might fall again..."

Ana nodded, and added "I agreed with you Winston. We need to protect him until he doesn't rely on our aid..." Reinhardt sighed, and nodded, only saying in a low tone "I am only looking at things through his eyes..."

He left, allowing Torbjörn to ask "Well now... I have some doubts, more specifically, what are we gonna do to help Jack and Genji? They are still trying to kill us against their own will..." Winston nodded at the statement, and explained "Abby will try and sever the connection that AB-22 has on them through electrical shocks... Not enough to cause pain, I assure." Torbjörn nodded, and added "This better work... I can't stand to treat my friends like dogs..."

He then left, leaving Ana to sit, and ask Winston in a low tone "And if I may ask... What should we do with the prisoner...?" Winston sighed, and explained "Ashe... Might be many things... And she might not benefit us at all... But I think she can help in some places... If the offer is correct."

Ana shrugged, telling Winston "Dealing with a dealer and cheater is never a good idea Winston... Be careful on his you play your cards..." He nodded and watched her leave, closing the door behind her with a silent "woosh"

London England, 4 PM

Abel walked beside both Lena and Emily as they silently took Abel over to Westminster Abbey. Lena was the first to enter, followed by Abel then Emily as they closed to doors, and finding themselves in front of the same man that Lena met up with before and some of his subordinates.

Abel wore a trench coat as he looked up at the men with his gaunt features, Emily wearing a red shirt and green scarf while Lena had her pilot jacket on, and asked "Are we early?" The man took a seat within one if the rows, and replied "Actually, you are right on time... It's an honor finally meeting both your friends."

Emily however corrected the man by stating "Girlfriend and friend." The man chuckled, and continued by looking at Abel and telling him "It truly bus an honor meeting you, AB-31." Abel nodded, and replied in a dry tone "Likewise... So why did you want to talk with me?"

The man cleared his throat, and introduced himself "I'm Air Chief Marshal, Sir Douglas Whitechapel, head of the RAF and SAS for the time being. My mission is to provide you with employment within his Majesty's supervision... Which is just a fancy way to say that we don't want another San Francisco or Las Vegas here in Great Britain."

Emily and Lena both however interjected before Abel could speak, telling him "He won't join the army or air Force. It would look bad internationally and cause Talon to attack." But Sir Douglas smiled and shook a hand in a dismissing manner and told them "I can assure you both... He won't be a soldier... He won't be a driver... He won't be a pilot... We just need a way to keep tabs in him in order to prepare with some time in case Talon does come looking for him... Lower casualties and collateral damage, so to speak."

Lena looked at Emily, who shook her head, while Abel asked "So, what? Just work where I'm being supervised by one of your agents?" Sir Douglas nodded, and replied in a bland tone "Pretty much. Yes." Abel took a seat and coughed, his sunken eyes shut tight and boney cheeks flushing due to the lack of air. Sir Douglas noticed this and asked Abel "Are you alright? You don't really look... Well, alive, for a lack of a better term..."

Lena patted Abel's back with some force, while Emily explained "The last fight left him badly damaged... He will recover, but it will take time..." Sir Douglas nodded, and asked Abel "Well... I can't take long with this... So I must ask, what do you specialize in? In order to place you somewhere discreetly and where you would not cause too much of a stir."

Abel looked at him, and asked "Got anything with repairing old vehicles?"

Skies over Northern Russia, 2051/Late Years of The Omnic Crisis

A massive line of people marched down on the ground, evacuating the industrial city of Norilsk, with a child stating to his mother "Look mommy, there's a plane in the sky." The woman looked, and they saw large black triangles flying through the sky, cutting through the clouds like knives.

Piloting one of these massive bombers was a young man, well, that would be an overstatement, the boy was nothing but a teen, and he looked down as the mass exodus went on.

He looked away, keeping himself focused on the console as the target approached the squadron. Behind the bombers were fighter jets, a mix of British and Russian models all flew in formation as one of the fighters called in "This is King 1, we have hostiles coming from our Eleven o'clock, prepare for combat."

The pilot nodded, switching the emergency lights inside the bomber on, and signaling the crew to get on their battle stations. The gunners got in their ball turrets down under, while on the top there were gun nests with AA guns, while the fighters assumed defensive positions around the bomber squadron.

King 1 then called in and ordered the bombers "Whatever happens, drop those bombs on the city, alright love? All bombers follow Damien!" Damien, the pilot, responded with "Understood Lena, all guns, fire when ready."

The automated jets flew within firing range, and the guns started firing as the bombers continued on their path, the exodus watching from the ground as the battle started. The Jets fought among themselves, some trying to attack the squadron, but failed miserably as all gunners opened fire on any Omnic that came.

Eventually the bombers saw the town, and one was instantly shot down by a Titan Omnic, making Damien call in "There are Titans down in the city!"

But the fighter jets were too busy with the Omnic jets, Makin Damien order the other bombers "Drop the bombs! Drop all bombs and spread out!"

The bomb bays opened, shots whizzing through the air as the bombs whistled through the air, some hitting a Titan, others their target, and the rest missing. Damien tried to avoid the shots, baking hard to the right, just for a Titan to blast the back of his bomber off, causing him to spiral down.

He did all standard emergency procedures, but he was falling at over 300 knots, bailing would be useless, so, he sat there as the remaining gunners fired blindly in the general direction of any Omnic jet or Titan.

Earth drew closer at an alarming speed, until-

CRASH

London Marriott Hotel, 5 PM

Drake's eyes shot open as he woke up I a cold sweat, shooting up from his bed and looking around. He looked at his right arm, and sighed, muttering ti himself "Just another damn dream..." He then fell a sharp pain on the side of his head, and looked in the general direction, muttering "Abel..."

Chapter 31: Completed.

And oh boy did it take me a while to write this one... (Note to self: Never forget you can get a blockage at any moment.) And I finally got around and posted the first chapter of Nintendo Universe's Rewrite, so i hope you guys go over there and give it a read for yourselves. Onto the reviews:

He23t: It sure does, now let's get back at it. Will await your review over on the smash rewrite.

Noble6117: Let's hope he does, because he is officially been nerfed.

Now, for those who want, the smash rewrite is out now, go give it a read if you want, and also...

I'm still in the Trenches, and I hope You Enjoyed.