Thank you all for your patience and thank you for following my story!
So yeah, after some editing and drafting, I think I have a firm idea regarding the direction of the story so that's exciting.
Anyways, have a good day, stay healthy, and I hope you will enjoy the chapter :D
*Venice: Rialto*
After the dust was washed away by the storm, everyone slowly got back on their feet, blinking away the sudden wave of rain peppering down on them, all recollecting the same memory.
Moments after Sigma is frozen, gravity held still for a heartbeat before fluctuating violently, throwing everyone across the room at random, pinning them to wherever and whatever that withstood the pressure. They were forced to watch as the pillars and walls crumbling, eventually sending the entire mansion crashing down upon them.
Morrison was the first to stand and made his way to Angela, still encased in the strange green armor.
"Are you alright?"
"I will be in a moment" she mumbled, moving slowly to let her wounds heal faster.
"Good, look for the others" he groaned, a hand over his bloody side.
"What about you?"
"I'll be fine, go"
Knowing from experience that it was not a request, she complied and flew into the skies, scanning the ruins for survivors.
Winston is peeking out of his Barrier, with Mei and Lena unharmed inside, Genji and McCree stood next to some boulders that had been sliced in half, Widowmaker stumbled to her feet, leaning against the wall with a hand over her head, and even Lox is relatively unscathed as he slowly walked around the ruins, seemingly in a daze.
The only ones missing are Baptiste and Sombra, but given Baptiste's skills, they should be fine. Miraculously the frozen statues of Sigma, Moira, and the girl are still intact and unharmed.
Weighing her options, she decided to tend to the Talon Assassin first.
"Are you alright?" she asked, landing next to Widowmaker and inspected the cut above her eye, which is bleeding surprisingly fast despite her slow heart rate.
"Oui…"
Nodding, Angela looked around, she was amazed that the collapsing mansion did not kill them outright.
"It is strange to be at the receiving end of a... What does Overwatch usually call it... A 'disaster'?" Widowmaker added.
"How do you mean?"
"Normally we create disasters and you clean it up, now I know how it fee- ow!" she said when Angela gave her a particularly hard slap when covering her wound with a bandage.
After instructing Widowmaker to stay where she is, she turned her attention towards Genji and McCree.
"Both of you alright?"
"No" they replied in unison.
"Where are you hurt?" she asked hurriedly, immediately connecting a healing stream to Genji, trying to detect their injuries, but they looked relatively unharmed.
"He refuses to admit defeat" Genji said immediately.
"Excuse me?"
"Says you! Look at all the holes in the rocks, if I have not shot them, Mr Fancy here wouldn't have cut them"
"I already said I did not need your help"
"You definitely looked like you needed it, especially since you must spend all that time swinging around that stupid sword!"
A green blur cracked across McCree's face, sending him spiraling to the ground unconscious.
"Why did you do that?" Genji asked, stunned at her reaction.
"I… I don't know… It's just… The heat in the armor…" Angela stammered, lowering her staff quickly.
The annoyance and heat was so sudden at McCree's words that she just reacted. Looking down she saw the eyes of the dragon piece on her armor are glowing furiously.
"Mei! Mei! Winston! Help me break this!" Lena shouted, who grabbed a rock and trying to break open a large block of ice.
"Lena stop!" Winston said, grabbing her hands "She is alright, this is one of her defensive measures that she thought up if she ever gets into trouble"
Lena struggled briefly before calming down. Mei does look somewhat safe in there, especially when she is curled up in a fetus position like that.
"Is Angie alright? What about Genji and the others?"
"Everyone is okay" Winston said, as he looked around nervously, they must leave quickly before the authorities arrive.
"Faheera can you hear us?" he called.
"About time! Everyone ready for extraction?" she asked.
"Yes, hurry"
Blinking to the highest point she could find, Lena observed her surroundings and sighed in relief when she saw that everyone looked alright, except McCree, but Angie was there, so there shouldn't be a problem.
"We did it!" she whooped loudly, jumping into the air happily, breaking into laughter as she danced in the rain.
It was the perfect mission. Not only they have dismantled the most dangerous organization in the world by capturing almost off of their key members, none of them died! They've even successfully rescued Amelie and-
She felt her bones chill when she noticed that he was still missing.
"He's alright... He's just lying around somewhere resting, soon he will get back up like always" she thought, making her way over to the frozen Sigma, hoping to see some signs of him, but the storm is obstructing her view.
"Winston! Angela! Get everyone ready for extraction! Lena! You're with me!" Morrison barked.
"Wha-?" she said while everyone else prepared for extraction.
"Reyes is gone! We need to get him now!"
"But…" she began, looking back and forth.
"Hurry! There's no time!" he said before running off.
She stood there, not knowing what to do. If Reyes escapes, he will definitely wreak havoc upon the world, but the chances of them catching him now, in a storm like this, is slim at best. To help someone who could be in trouble now, who is definitely lying there under the rocks, would be the smarter move, but the potential to save more lives cannot be ignored, regardless how slim the chances are... Should she risk the fate of others over a single individual?
Sirens pierce through the rain and waves, which means the authorities are coming, probably by land and sea.
Pacing in an almost crazed fashion, her eyes darted between the rubble and Morrison, who had sprinted out of the area. Which one should she choose? Which one is the right decision? Which one would have the greatest value to focus on? Can she even make the right decision? The last time she made the choice to do something that benefits herself, someone dies.
Tears fell as the last thought crossed her mind. If lives will be list, a single soul is not worth the sacrifice of many. Not even a friend's. Reaper must be stopped now. She will allow history to determine if she had made the right decision or not.
"I'm sorry" she muttered, secretly praying that he will get back up like he always does. She turned around to Blink when she found herself staring at a ghost.
"It is rare to see you hesitating" it said.
"C-Captain Amari?" Lena stammered, glad that her tears are disguised with the rain.
"What was that? Please repeat" Faheera asked, to which Ana shook her head.
"Nothing, just got confused that's all" Lena quickly replied.
"Thank you" Ana said, placing a hand over her shoulder "What's under there that you keep looking at?"
"Can you help him? I think he is okay but-"
"You go, let us deal with Reaper"
"But-"
"Go, let the old soldiers handle this, it will not be fair for you to clean up our mess anyway" she said, giving Lena a quick squeeze before running after Morrison.
Roaring engines announced the arrival of Faheera, who came just as Ana's cloak whipped out of sight. Dropping the ladder, Lox was the first one to climb up, partially wanting to be out of there as quickly as humanly possible, but also to assist in the cockpit. Hovering over the others, the doors slid open.
Grabbing the frozen agents, Winston leapt into the shuttle and buckled them in place, careful not to accidentally break anything. Next was Mei and McCree, who is still unconscious, while Genji casually dashed up with them.
Jumping back down, Winston approached Widowmaker, who backed away.
"What do you think you're doing?" she said threateningly.
"I'm sorry, but you're coming with us" he said before grabbing her.
"Put me down!" she shouted but was ignored as Winston leapt back with her over his shoulder.
Lena waited for a moment, hoping to hear him shouting "wait" or make some silly comments about not being able to fly or jump that high while stumbling through the ruins so that she would grab him and they can Blink up together.
But no one came or called. That's when she Blinked towards his most probably location.
"He's fine, he is only resting because the mission is over. He's been through a lot… He can finally start a new life here too! After everything he had done he deserves some sort of reward, maybe I can introduce him to one of my friends and they could…"
Every thought and hopes for him were dashed away when she found him lying on the ground on his sides, sharp looking rocks embedded into his back, his half open eyes staring blankly into space.
"Quil?" she asked shakily, kneeling down in front of him.
No response.
"Hey common…" she said, trying to wake him up with a gentle shake, gulping down the rising fear at how cold and stiff he is.
"Angela!" she yelled, prompting the medic to immediately fly to her side.
"Oh no" Angela said, hating herself for forgetting Quillion as she grabbed his wrist.
"He won't die… Angie is here, he'll be fine…" Lena thought desperately as she stood back and watched.
A few painful seconds later, Angela dropped his hand and looked at Lena with a face. Not the face of a friend, but the face of a doctor.
"Lena…" she began.
"Don't say it…"
"I'm sorry"
"No!" she yelled, pushing Angela aside and… She didn't know what to do.
"Common Quil! Get up!" she yelled.
It is unfair, no one else has to see their friends die, so why does she?
In desperation, she grabbed the Caduceus Staff and gave it a random twist, causing the tip of the staff to emite the familiar gold glow. Encouraged by the reaction, she pointed it towards Quillion where the healing stream shone out of the green orb and attached itself to him.
A few painful seconds passed and nothing changed.
"Stupid piece of junk!" Lena cried and was about to toss it aside when a clawed hand stopped her.
*Egypt: Ana's Hideout*
Maximilien's systems groaned as his hardware forced itself to start, the filtration systems finally creating an immunity to his captor's tranquilizer. It had been a few hours since he slept and now he is finally, fully awake. After he observed his surroundings, he was greatly offended.
The room was small, dusty, and not even a single ornament or painting in sight. Even the light above him is flickering. Are they so poor and lazy they couldn't even afford to replace a lightbulb? These are the people who kidnapped him?
But the biggest offense, the most insulting fact of this entire ordeal, is that he is tied down with steel chords and handcuffs, as if he is some uncultured, disobedient human who will attempt an escape. Whoever these people are, they are clearly the uneducated bunch. As if he needed to attempt an escape when he could easily pay someone to break him out, all that is required is that he sends out a signal and…
He frowned when he could not detect any signals despite activating all of his boosters. He could not receive anything either, which is unacceptable. He must have visual and audio control of all his operations at all times.
Sighing, he accessed old security files and began to use the estimated amount of energy needed to break out of the handcuffs and the chord while taking great care to prevent damage to his suit. Though it tripled the required amount of time and effort needed, he is adamant to not give any satisfaction to people of this caliber that they made him scratch his own suit.
"Ahh that's better" he said to himself as the bonds fell away. He stood up and dust off himself the best he could before going into the other room.
When he saw the "kitchen", he had to fight off the pity he felt for his captors. Dark, damp, and worst of all, old. He was about to take his leave when he noticed strange scratch marks on the refrigerator, which piqued his curiosity. This could be a potential clue to figure out where he is or the identities of his captors.
It wasn't long before he found the picture at the bottom of the fridge.
"Overwatch is indeed desperate, hiding a place like this" he laughed, studying their faces on the aging picture.
Now that he knows who they are, he could use his vast resources to destroy them one at a time or… This could be excellent leverage information over Ogundimu. With this information, he could potentially become the head of Talon, making him truly the most powerful Omnic in both the public and underworld.
Once he is done scanning the picture, he shredded it, ensuring that he will be the only one with the image. Now that he knows he is captured by Overwatch, he needs to find himself a weapon to increase his chances of escape.
After a few dead ends, he finally found it. The Armory.
"Such lack of discipline" he commented, seeing the weapons and ammunition all laid out on the table carelessly.
Looking at the array of weapons and using the picture as a reference, he decided that a shotgun would be the most effective tool against them. Strong enough to take down a gorilla and versatile enough to destroy barriers quickly.
"This will do" he said, picking up an old SPAS and was reaching for the ammunition when a loud clicking noise clicked from the table.
"Wha-"
"Allow me to say that I have always respected you" a familiar, raspy voice played out from a hidden speaker.
"Reaper?"
"But you have chosen your side and after everything I have done and sacrificed, you have never spoke up when I needed you most"
Maximilien did not know what he meant. What does he mean to speak up? Did he mean back when Ogundimu broke his collarbone? Was Reaper the mastermind behind the kidnapping? Was that why he eagerly left for Italy?
"Instead you chose to side with him, him of all people!"
"Reaper, if you can hear me, we can talk about this!" Maximilien shouted, positioning himself to the corner, loading the shotgun quickly.
"Out of respect, I will grant you a quick death… Goodbye old friend, death comes"
"Reaper! You will regret this!"
The only response he received was a multitude of clicks and pings that sounded around him as hidden explosives around him were activated. The first explosion was from the doorway, caving in all hopes of escape, the second was deliberately slow, as if Reaper is taunting his victim.
"Do you not know who I am?! I am Ma-"
Thus are the final words of Maximilien as his body is torn apart by shrapnel and fire before the falling compound crushed the remaining pieces.
*Outskirts of Italy*
"So what's next for ya?" Baptiste asked, casually jogging next to Sombra who had hoped to lose him in the trees.
"Nothing that concerns you"
"But-"
"It'll be way over your head alright? Time for you to go your own way amigo" she said, slowing down to a stop.
"Aww common, I promise I'll be useful!"
"Look, Talon is destroyed, you can continue your medical things without needing to hide anymore"
"What about you? You look like you are going to continue hiding"
"That's my business alright? I just gotta-" she grimaced in pain when she habitually tried to lean against the tree with her hand, forgetting her fingers are still recovering.
"You won't last a day without both arms" he said, inspecting them.
"So what? You think you can just be a sidekick? Cause dream on pal, I've got standards to keep"
"Mmhmm... So where to next?" he asked after changing her bandages.
"Don't you have sick people to go back to?"
"I do"
"Then why are you still here?"
"Cause of the things you've found, the Eye or The Conspiracy or whatever you call it, besides, my brother is looking after them"
"That was only a lie to get everyone to take down Talon, should've been obvious to you"
"And it is obvious that everything you just told me was a lie"
Sombra looked at him and sighed.
"This is what happens when I get too close to someone..." she complained.
"See? You need someone to tell you when you're slippin'"
"Right..."
Leaning against a tree, they watched as a shuttle flew into the skies and disappeared into the distance, leaving a trail of fire as it sped off overhead as fast as it could. Deciding to let the storm wash over them, they looked at the city, pondering for a moment about the changes that this could make to the world.
Talon and its HQ is destroyed, its most powerful leader is now dead. What would this mean for the world? Is it even ready for the largest organized crime to be disbanded now? Would the world move on towards the path of peace? Or would many others battle to fill the void of power that they had left in its wake?
"What about that guy you brainwashed? Don't you want to check out how he's doing?" Baptiste asked.
"Nah, I got no more use for him, he can do whatever he likes now"
"If he survives"
"If"
Sirens echoed through the woods, no doubt the police making a desperate attempt to look like they were doing something for the public eye.
"I think we overstayed our welcome, where to next?" Baptiste asked.
"Mexico"
"Oh? Something's going on there?"
"No, we just need to lay low for now, once I am fully healed up, I'll find out where we need to go next"
"How do you usually do that by the way?"
"I usually hack into the banks or the UN to find a trail, it's really not that hard"
*Russia: The Front*
It has been months since the destruction of the RDF stationed here. Months since they were prepared to make the final push. Months since the Null Sector is trapped within the City of Perm. Now, months later, not only they are back, they made sure the city is well within range of the Russian artillery.
In the backline, they are still finding the frozen bodies, to which were quickly given a burial. They were also recovering supplies and setting up new barracks for the influx of soldiers who had being transported with surprising speed and enthusiasm that had not been seen in years, each soldier eager to join the glorious attack that will finally end this war.
Equipped with powerful new weapons and armor and up to date tactics and leadership, morale is at an all time high. Even the mighty Svyatogors that Volskaya has generously donated for the war effort will join in the attack, it is impossible for them to lose this time. However they remained highly vigilant and mindful of their tasks, denying the Null Sector any hope to pull off another miracle.
New sensors, heaters, and scanners became a common sight throughout the Front, constantly scanning the air for gas attacks and testing all rations for poison, allowing the soldiers to train and patrol comfortably, even in the heaviest of snowstorms. Even their living quarters have been strategically arranged so that only precise hits would cause any significant damage to the soldiers or the base.
In response, the Null Sector became more and more desperate to break the encirclement, from legions to a few companies. This was when they knew the Null Sector has finally dried up its resources. The first sign was when the Russian artillery won the artillery duels, earning free movement for the ground units, second was when it became evident that what's left of their Heavy Units are reserved to defending the city only, as only Nullifiers were sent to break through the siege, attempts that are so trivial that the RDF used them for target practice.
"How many more are we waiting for?" the newly appointed General of the Front asked, as she observes the squad of Mechs that just arrived through a live feed.
"That is it General, we are ready to attack on your order"
"Very well, connect me to the city"
"Connection completed"
Grabbing the microphone, the General stood to her full height and spoke.
"Enemies of Russia, hear me. Today is your end and there is no escape. The mighty Svyatogors will tear down your walls, your so called 'dreams' and 'ambitions' are dirt that we will wash from our boots, today we will send the skies crashing down upon you. Make sure to record the events today and send it to your 'supporters', so all will know what happens if anyone provokes the Bear"
The moment she finished her speech, what could be described as an earthquake shook the ground as tens of thousands of soldiers, armor, and Mechs took up their positions. The General stared at the holovid and waited, having been instructed to hold off the order until the red light turned green. Personally, she thinks this is completely unnecessary, the public will get enough footage of the upcoming battle one way or another anyway.
Green Light
"All Artillery, FIRE!"
Thousands of guns fired in perfect unison, sending the destructive power of an ancient god, everyone stared and shuddered as the powerful barriers that protected the city began cracking at the first volley. It only took three to break it open, allowing the ordnance to consume the buildings and factories located within.
Some of the new recruits cowered in fear while many chanted or cheered in pace with the attack, but this is only speculated from the images on the screen as any hope to hear them is a daydream, the ferocious barrage merged into a single, mighty roar that can be heard clearly all over Russia. The General watched as the artillerymen reloaded at a record pace, encouraged that each of them have the same, steely focus.
This is when she knew that the fearless army that is the Russian Defense Forces, forged from the fires of the First Omnic Crisis, has been resurrected. And it is famished. All it needs is permission to feast.
Soon the city is no more, all buildings are now rubble except for one. The Omnium, that looked damaged but remained defiant against the barrage, which is expected. All Omniums are built to resist anything short of a nuclear blast, it's only weakness is the reactor deep within.
"Cease fire!"
The silence was eerie and the stillness was deafening. Thankfully, it lasted only a few heartbeats.
"All forces. Cleanse that city"
With a cheer so loud that it rivalled the artillery barrage, the RDF attacked. With aerial superiority, the Mechs easily provided air cover whilst the ground units charged with reckless abandon, reinforced by the Svyatogors, whom immediately engaged the few surviving Titans.
*Gibraltar: Watchpoint*
Everyone waited in nervous anticipation for the arrival of their agents, each man, woman, and Omnic stared at the skies quietly, hoping to catch a glimpse for the shuttle. They were here since Faheera contacted Colonel Smith an hour ago, to which he immediately ordered everyone to drop what they were doing and standby for their return.
The pathways cleared, security, medical, and mechanical teams stood at attention, ready to assist in any way they could. Each of them knew, to have survived a frontal assault against Talon's Central Command, there was no chance that they could have escaped unscathed, regardless if they are heroes or not.
Morning had turned to afternoon and everyone had taken shelter in the shades, the cafeteria personnel provided everyone with cooling drinks and sandwiches, while the few men of ranks, including the Colonel, paced around nervously in a private room.
"They should be back by now…"
"Have we tried to establish a call?"
"Yes we tried, no one is picking up"
"Could they have been caught or shot down?"
"What if it's not them?"
"Quiet" Smith said, silencing them "They said they will return, they will return"
He shares their concern, so much so he had the security teams set up some of Torbjorn's automatic turrets and defensive positions just for that scenario. Or, as horrifying the thought it is, the attack failed and Talon has forced one of the agents to call back in an attempt to catch them off guard while transporting their own units for a counter attack.
"I see something"
They squint their eyes towards the direction where the staff was pointing and surely enough, there is a shuttle heading straight for them, prompting sighs of relief from some.
"Everyone, to your stations" he called, the order echoing through the base.
"It looks… Safe?" the person in charge of the scanner commented, eyeing the readings.
"No bomb… One red marking, but looks like a prisoner… I don't have the Commander's readings"
"Check it again"
Another few attempts and the results came back negative.
"You don't think…"
"This is Watchtower One calling unidentified aircraft to Hilltop Storage Facilities, you are attempting an unauthorized landing-"
"Clear the way to the Medical Bay and Mei's Lab quickly!"
They looked at the Colonel, who merely nodded. It is good to hear familiar voices again.
*Watchpoint: Meeting Room (One Hour Later)*
Winston entered the meeting room, where Smith and a few others are all waiting for him.
"Sorry Winston, but we need to talk about this now, especially after an ordeal like that"
"It's fine, what's all this?" he asked, pointing to the stacks of paper next to the Colonel.
"It's about the man who calls himself Quillion" Smith said to Winston after he had taken his seat "We can give him the medical attention he needs, but he cannot be allowed to make a full recovery"
"What? Why?"
"There is a high probability that Quillion is a Talon spy and could have plans to sabotage us"
Winston looked at them in shock.
"How did all of you come to that conclusion?"
"Athena please" Smith said.
The room lights dimmed and multiple pictures flipped onto the walls.
"Case 1: The attack in London a month ago. It was clear that Talon had a specific target in mind, which we identified to be Tracer, resulting in the first attack on our agents in years. This happened after Quillion was assigned as her bodyguard"
"But-"
"Case 1 Appendix 1: According to the reports, neither Winston or Tracer witnessed the attack and by the time either of them arrived to the scene, Emily have already suffered a fatal wound and Quillion was the only survivor"
"Case 1 Appendix 2: Emily sustained a single bullet wound, whilst Quillion had multiple injuries in forms of stabs, slashes, and what could be described as a stone spear Conclusion: It is possible that he was working with the assassin and all the injuries he sustained is merely a distraction"
"Wait, we can't just-"
"Case 2: After the attack, Quillion disabled Tracer, stole our resources, and forced Pilot Lox to aid his desertion. It was later reported that he teamed up with a Talon Assassin, a world renown hacker known as Sombra, and a drug lord. All who immediately made the journey back to Talon base, each of them a key member of the attack in London"
"Case 2 Appendix 1: The bullet used in Case 1 Appendix 2 is the signature ammunition of Talon Assassins, the safehouse has been hacked in record speed by an unknown party, and finally the drug lord, who himself is the terrorist that attacked London"
"No, they joined forces to attack Talon!" Winston blurted out.
"That's solely on the words of Sombra, unreliable"
"Then why did you believe her? Why did you allow Morrison to carry out the attack?" Winston asked, almost shouting.
"We didn't, but before we could persuade the Commander otherwise, the shuttle has already left" Smith said before continuing "Though this does not answer everything, Quillion seemed to be the centerpiece for the recent events so we must take precautions. The connections here cannot be denied"
Winston sat there, unable to come up with any sort of defense for Quillion. Everything they said makes sense… A lot of sense.
"So what do you propose?" he finally asked.
"As we said before, we will keep him alive if possible, but under heavy security at all times. When he is conscious, we will begin the interrogation"
"You cannot be serious!" Lena shouted, throwing open the doors and stormed in. They have only returned for an hour and already they are thinking about locking Quil up like a dog?
"Lieutenant! This does not concern y-" Smith began.
"Does not concern me? You better bloody take that back! Quillion is not a spy!"
"Lieutenant Oxton please! The facts speak for themselves!"
"Well you've got the wrong facts! Quil will never betray us! Not like that! Why haven't any of you asked me anything? Why do you just come up with random conclusions like that without knowing my part of the story?!" she demanded, staring at the pale faces of everyone around her.
"You're too close to the suspect, there is a chance you could be compromised"
"Compromised?!" she shrieked "You're the ones jumping to conclusions here!"
"Athena, please call someone to remove the Lieutenant" Smith called.
"Lena, we are still looking through the files, we are not jumping into anything" Winston said.
"I don't hear you standing up for him!"
"Everyone is just trying to be careful here"
"Why? We already won!"
"At the cost of the majority of our resources! We cannot afford to have anyone potentially sabotaging us from within, not now" Smith answered.
A few armed men came into the room, each of them looked concerned to be the ones selected to escort Lena out.
"Please follow us Lieutenant" one of them said, his voice cracking slightly.
"No I'm not finished!" she yelled "What about the times where he could've killed us? He could've easily killed McCree! Or even me! He was in my room countless times!"
"Wait what?" Smith said, voicing out the confused faces of everyone in the room.
"Why would he go out of his way to talk to the others about bringing Emily back? Why would he come visit me after he planned to destroyed my Chronal Accelerator? Why would he save us from Sigma? Why didn't he just reveal the location of this base to Talon beforehand?"
"Lieutenant! Pull yourself together!" Smith ordered but was ignored.
"You didn't even question Amelie! Why don't you ask her?!"
"Get her out of here!" Smith yelled, trying to restore the chain of command.
"Fine! If you're too lazy to do it, I'll ask her myself!"
"Lieutenant stop!"
But his words were lost to her as she had already disappeared in a blue light.
"Get someone to Widowmaker's cell now!" Smith yelled.
*Watchpoint: Holding Cell*
Widowmaker was still nursing the cut above her eye and was about to sleep when a familiar 'whipping' noise came from the side of the cell.
"Here to make fun of me cherie?" she asked, cracking open an eye.
She jumped up from the bed when she saw Lena holding a crowbar, but was puzzled when it was used to bolt the door.
"We don't have a lot of time, was Quillion working for you?"
"Who?"
"Quillion! My bodyguard in London!"
"Oh, him. Why would you want to know?"
"Just tell me!" Lena begged, almost desperately as banging can be heard from the door behind her.
"Non, I don't think I will" was the lazy reply, if she has to be interrogated, she will not make it easy for any of them. Until...
"Amelie please!"
The banging grew steadily louder and Lena was about to Blink away when she saw that the name prompted a reaction from the assassin.
"What did you call me?" she asked in an almost dazed tone.
"Amelie Lacriox, that name means something to you right?"
Amelie felt dizzy. Lacroix? The same name from the grave?
"Gerard… Who is Gerard?" she whispered, barely audible over the banging sound.
Seeing the opportunity, Lena pounced on it immediately, ignoring the disgust she felt to use that sensitive information, but with little time, she had to do it.
"Was Quillion working for Talon? Did he plan to kill Emily?"
The doors burst open and a group of men charged in, tasering Lena immediately.
"No!" Amelie shouted.
Lena couldn't tell what happened, one moment she was about to hear an answer, then the next she felt her whole body constricting before falling to the floor. When the effects wore off, she was being helped to her feet by Amelie, who is now panting. She looked around in amazement when she counted six men lying on the floor around them.
"Who is Gerard? Who is he to me?" she shouted, almost as desperate as Lena, not knowing tears are falling down her face.
"He was your husband… You two were about to start a family before…"
"Before what? Before what, girl?"
"Before Talon kidnapped you and had him killed"
Amelie felt dizzy. There is no way what she said was true, she had always sneered at the idea of starting a family, but deep down, she knew everything Lena said was the truth. Letting her go, she sat back on her bed, trying to piece together long forgotten memories that are resurfacing.
"He was asleep when it happened… That was before I was captured? Non… How would I know it happened when he was asleep?"
"Amelie, was Quillion working for Talon?"
"No, he was just Sombra's pet project that she picked up, she thought he will be useful to fight Talon"
"Then who killed Emily? Who did it?"
Amelie looked into Lena's eyes and her lips trembled.
"I did"
Lena froze as the words hit her hard.
Once again she is staring into the face of the person who took away people whom she loved and respected, the one who robbed her years of happiness and the source of her nightmares and trauma. First Mondatta, now Emily.
Her mind replayed what Athena said during the presentation earlier. Emily had not suffered any other wounds but one. And the one who pulled the trigger is sitting in front of her.
"L-Lena? That's you right? Lena? Please… Please help me…"
She watched as the once proud Assassin sat on the bed with her knees up to her chest and her arms wrapped around them, sobbing as the memories of Amelie Lacroix clashed with the ones of Widowmaker, looking around frantically with fearful eyes.
"Did I kill them? Why did I kill them? Why does it feel so good to kill them?" she muttered in French, her whole body trembling in genuine fear.
Numbly, Lena got up, walked, and stood over Amelie, who looked up at her with tearful eyes.
"Oh thank goodness! You finally came! Please save me!"
"You… Killed Emily?"
"It wasn't me! I mean I… I wasn't myself!"
Brushing aside some hair on Amelie's face, Lena's hand followed the strand that reached down to her neck, where she paused.
"Don't worry luv, we're here to help"
*Watchpoint: Meeting Room*
They all watched in silence at this confession, re-reading the transcript that Athena is recording on the side of the screen.
"If what she says is true, and I still don't trust her mind you, Quillion could be innocent... I will still assign a guard to watch him" Smith said, when Lena began comforting the grieving Amelie.
"That's it? Can we now focus on saving his life instead of suspecting it?" Winston said.
"Even so, from the reports, it is unclear if he will live through the night, especially with our current equipment"
A knock came from the door. Granting entrance, one of the staff walked in, a smile stretched across his face.
"Report: Torbjorn, Reinhardt, and Brigitte have returned to base, all missions are successfully completed"
"And?" Smith inquired further, guessing that there is more to the news that warranted a smile that obvious.
"The war is over"
