Author's Note:

Man it's getting tougher to write out chapters now, especially when work is kicking up hard. Unfortunately I can foresee that these two months (July - August), it will be unlikely for even a chapter to come out, but I will see what I can do to keep this story rolling.

I thank you all for sticking around and reading this and I hope that I can flesh out this story in a satisfactory way.

Apologies: Been working on this chapter for so long, I've decided to post this up first before a proper proofread, but that'll take another few days and I feel bad that there hasn't been an update in a while. So yeah, quality may be bad here and words will be changing (I think) within these few days, but the main idea will still be the same.

Until then, stay healthy and enjoy :)

*France: Outskirts of Paris*

"We'll be back in a couple of hours! Take care luvs!" Lena said, waving as Quillion and Amelie exited the shuttle.

"Do you think she is beginning to feel or something?" Lox asked, watching them walk towards the town.

"I guess? Quil seemed to have done a good job with her"

"Hmm…"

"What?" she asked, looking at him.

"Nothing… We've talked about it before that's all"

Lena's mood darkened. Though it is true that they only had that conversation once, but Lox's theory that she needed Quil as an emotional support remains a very uncomfortable idea for her. Especially when he had Amelie to look after.

"Let's just go" she said, yanking the shuttle back into the air.

Quillion stopped for a moment and looked back, having a feeling that the shuttle took off rather awkwardly, but shrugged it off soon after when it left without a problem.

"Something wrong?" Amelie asked.

"Nah, let's go"

The last time they were in this town, it was bustling with activity and celebration for the end of the Second Omnic Crisis. Now it is back to a quiet and peaceful place.

It was around lunch time and they could see people walking out of various buildings and making their way to the local restaurant or cafes. Alongside the blue collar workers, he could occasionally spot someone walking their dog or people carrying grocery bags after a day's shopping at the local market.

This was when Quillion realized he was quite hungry, as their last meal was two days ago. Looking towards the direction of the graveyard (which seems empty) he decided to grab something to eat.

"You want anything?" he asked, pulling out his wallet and checking its contents.

"The crème brulee they sell there is good" she said, pointing towards a supermarket.

She's hungry too.

"We're gonna need something more than a dessert"

"Egg sandwich then, the café next to the supermarket"

"Sure, you go ahead, I'll catch up"

Just when they were about to part, it began to rain.

"Oops, well, good thing I'm always prepared" he laughed, pulling out an umbrella from his pocket and tossing it to her.

"And yourself?"

"A little rain can't hurt. Yes I'm sure" he added when she glared at him.

She nodded and continued without him, slowly navigating through her feelings that began to rise, many of which were of no concern, leaving only two to control, the first being fear.

It was not the fear of seeing the grave, rather it was a fear of one who is about to apologize.

She does not have many memories of her life before Talon forged her into the Widowmaker, however, Sombra had kept her word and passed everything she had on Gerard and their life together soon after the events of Venice, one of them which was a diary with her handwriting.

She had read it once and the last entry bore the words:

Gerard, the only love of my life.

She thought about it in passing and theorized how a 'normal person' would feel about it. From what she observed, people usually say those words when they are driven by emotions rather than rationality, therefore a 'normal' would be devastated to read those words.

Not wanting to admit she was one of those people, she believes she was someone who would have written that through a careful and deliberate process.

The date it was written was a few years after they were married, which means that he had already survived the first few assassinations attempted by Talon. If she had stuck around with him through that and was still 'in love' enough to write out those words, she must have meant it.

So how is she going to explain that she may have found someone else to care for?

"Stop thinking so much" she thought, remembering her own advice back on the shuttle.

But it didn't work, as the second emotion began to make itself known. An emotion that is privy only to herself.

A rising, almost intoxicating feeling of pride. The pride that she killed someone so powerful and influential like Gerard Lacroix.

She shuddered in shame at the emotion, having tried to rid herself of it for months but to no avail. There was no doubt in her mind that this was the most disgusting thing about her, to actually feel pride for this kill. The fact that there was no shame nor regrets would terrify anyone who is suffering from the same emotions, but for Amelie, it was merely a puzzle to be solved.

To her, these emotions will give rise to a more dangerous scenario. If there is one absolute truth that will always haunt her.

She missed killing.

No, she longs for it.

The worst part of it all was not that she had to give up the killings, but she had to give up the only thing that makes her feel alive, to feel as close to her old self before Talon had corrupted her.

She would have to give up the very thing that makes her feel as close to being human again.

Sighing, she stopped, took a breath, and gathered herself.

All she needs to do is to say what she came to say.

Turning the corner, she was surprised to see that there was someone else already there.

*France: Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport*

As they walked out of the shuttle, they were immediately met with cheers, as people crowded around to try to catch a glimpse at Lena, pressing their faces against the glass.

"How'd they know we were coming?" Lena asked.

"I guess word got out when I asked for permission to land" Lox guessed.

Shrugging, she waved back enjoying the attention and Blinked, clearly trying her best to greet as many of those who showed up as possible.

"I feel like an animal" Lox commented sheepishly, himself waving back half heartedly.

"Don't be like that luv, they love you!" Lena exclaimed.

To prove her point, she grabbed his hand and pulled it over their heads, which made the crowd cheer like they won something, though he was sure that they only did so solely because of Lena. He doubts that anyone knew who the pilots of the shuttle were anyway.

Thankfully, the crew pulled up a fuel truck and started the refueling procedures.

"How long does it take to refuel this?" he asked, looking at the new machine.

"About half an hour, but do not worry, you can park your shuttle at Hangar J for the next two hours should you wish to rest" the crewman said, sneaking looks over to Lena, who was still waving.

"Sure thanks, a nap would do us good" Lox said.

"A nap? Are you crazy? We're in Paris! We should go out and look around!"

"I think I have enough action for the week… You go, I'll stay here"

"Suit yourself!"

With that, she disappeared in a flash of blue.

Leaving the shuttle to the crew, Lox yawned and grabbed their things before making his way to one of the nearby lodges, where he helped himself into the shower and a nice hot meal that is actually made to taste good and is served for him, instead of the 'nutritionally optimized meals' that Morrison had the base to eat.

Since they told him that everything will be paid for within a budget (and it was a hefty budget), he spared them no cost and pointed to the most expensive things on the menu.

After half an hour, whilst ordering a second glass of wine, he saw a family walking in with their daughter. Seeing how bored she was to be here made him feel guilty that not only he missed out on so much family time, he is eating this amazing meal without them around.

Immediately, he pulled out his phone to give them a call and saw a message that made his blood freeze. Why had he accidentally silenced his phone in Russia? Of all times why must he miss such a crucial message?

There were a few missed calls and a message sent 10 minutes ago, bearing the words.

Emergency. Quillion. Now.

*France: Outskirts of Paris*

The delicious aroma of coffee was absolutely welcoming when he opened the door, his stomach growling hungrily. The place was full of customers and half the tables have already been served, which means he does not have to wait too long.

After placing his order, he moved to the side and picked up one of the free holopads that was tied to the wall. Of all the technological marvels, he was most disappointed with this one, as even after decades of research, trials and errors, they have not gotten rid of the need of 'reading' the news.

As expected, the Pax Aeternum took up the entirety of the first page. Skimming through, he learnt that it is in no less than four weeks and will be held in King's Row. What did raise his eyebrows is that Overwatch was mentioned only once in a single sentence.

The UN and Overwatch will provide security.

"That's it? Nothing else?" he thought.

Flicking through the article, he was slightly puzzled to see that there's no more information about it. He was still jaded to see that there were still full paragraphs for Russia receiving full credit for stopping the Second Omnic Crisis, even though Overwatch was re-established after they took down Talon, the real villains behind it all.

"Overwatch were the ones who publicly stopped the First Omnic Crisis… Probably would incite more violence if they were the ones who stopped the Second and then be bodyguards for a peace ceremony" he thought.

Pax Aeternum… Peace Forever… Alas if the world knew that all of this is nothing more than a facade, as long as the God Program remains on the moon, there will be no peace.

"At least Overwatch is on the case… Or Sombra's on the case" he shuddered.

As he placed the holotab down, three teens rushed in to shelter themselves from the rain. He wouldn't normally eavesdrop on conversations, but they're complaining so loud in French, he decided to test himself to see if he is still fluent in it.

"-forecast said it was supposed to be sunny today"

"At least we dropped off the stuff!"

"Yeah! Now we can actually afford some real food!"

Keeping his head down, Quillion smiled. Young kids like these would go far in life.

"Hey did you see that hottie just now?"

"Oh yeah! She's smoking! Wish I have her number"

"Guess boys will be boys" Quillion sighed and reached over for his food.

"You wouldn't have gone anywhere with her, she's into those Omnic things, she even painted herself blue"

"Yeah that Omnic in the graveyard is probably her friend"

"Friend? You saw what's under that jacket, he looked like those fighter class Omnics"

"That's 5 Euro please" the cashier said.

Quillion didn't hear her, stunned at what he heard.

"Excuse me? 5 Euros" the cashier repeated.

Without a word, he snatched the food from her hands and stuffed his face quickly, ignoring her as she glared angrily at him. Throwing the money on the counter, he whipped out his phone, cursed when no one picked up, and ran out, leaving many confused looking customers.

First she ignored the Omnic, who was dressed in a large grey coat and its head looking down as if it was still reading the inscription on Gerard's tomb.

She took her time, slowly rearranging the dead flowers on the ground and brushing away the leaves that had fallen over the slab. Only when it was all clean and the Omnic did not move, did she finally address it.

"Can I help you?"

"I take it that you are Amelie Lacroix?" it asked in a hollow, male voice.

"No, my name is Elizabeth" she lied, studying it carefully.

"What? But… I was so sure…" it stammered.

Everything about it screams that it was a bounty hunter, but a relatively new one. It was not uncommon for her to come across Omnic Bounty Hunters whose programming is still too innocent to be in the line of work, so she hoped that her lie would confuse it long enough for her to leave without any problems.

All she needs to do is to wait for it to admit its mistake.

"No, I am sure you are Amelie Lacroix..."

"You don't seem too sure, do you even know how much is on her head?" she quizzed.

"Nothing, Mother just-" it began and stopped itself, but it was already too late.

"I knew you were a bounty hunter" Amelie said, reaching into her coat.

"Wait I-"

It was suddenly thrown out of balance when the first bullet hit it. Staggering, it tried to jump away, but it could not escape Amelie's aim. With a steady hand, all her shots hit home, the rain drowning out all the suppressed shots.

She watched as it splashed down onto the muddy ground, twitching slightly before lying still, disappointed that it does not give her the same thrill as a real kill. It was also disappointing that since it claims it was sent by the Mother, they should've at least sent an upgrade from the last time they attempted to kill her.

Insulted, Amelie turned her attention back to the grave, preparing herself to mentally connect back to Gerard, even though she has no idea why or how it works. The only thing she could feel the need to do is to regain that sense of longing for him.

She was barely able to get herself into a fraction of that headspace when the Omnic suddenly spoke.

"You really are good" it groaned.

"Be patient, I will deal with you later" she snarled.

"I am sorry, but Mother demands your ashes now"

She barely had time to grapple herself away to the nearest tree when it leapt and slashed at her wildly, blades protruding from its arms.

"Wow… That was already 80% of my default speed, you are really really good!" it said in amazement, looking up at the tree, looking for her in its leaves.

This time she said nothing. It was pure luck that she managed to dodge that attack, and it was because she was holstering the pistol next to her grapple gun. Rubbing a hand over her neck, she could feel a deep gash that reached up to her ear.

Looking around, she saw that this tree was the only place for her to hide or grapple around. Worst still, the Omnic has taken off its coat and revealed that none of her shots had even scratched its armor. Without her primary weapon or a second point to hide herself in, she was left with one last option if she were to increase her chances to survive.

"Tell me, how did you know I will be here?" she asked.

"I didn't, I just assumed that you'll come back when the snow falls, but I didn't expect you to come back so soon!" it boasted happily.

"And what does Mother want to do with my ashes?"

"She has Her reasons"

"Didn't She send you because She trusts you?"

"She does trust me!"

"Then why didn't She tell you what she wanted to do with my ashes?"

From the way it cocked its head to the side, she knew she had it confused. Encouraged, she started to make a list of questions in her head that could buy her more time, but unfortunately, the Omnic shook it off.

"It does not matter, time to slash you to bits now"

Then it jumped, higher than she expected, and forced her to abandon the high ground. Tumbling through the mud, she blinked away the rain from her eyes as she scrambled to her feet. Clumsily she had to run backwards, focusing hard to use all of her muscles to be as flexible as possible as she weaved away from the blades, which were becoming faster and more accurate.

Never before had she been in such a dire situation, where a single wrong move will guarantee her death. She doesn't even have time to breathe.

"Hold still!" the Omnic grunted.

Suddenly changing its techniques, it caught Amelie off guard and it earned a stab through her shoulder. Grimacing in pain, she instinctively fired a few shots at it, but it remained unharmed.

Before it could raise its blade to finish the job, she was suddenly pulled free and the Omnic was sent falling onto the ground.

"Target" Quillion demanded, his eyes glued to the Omnic, which was already back to its feet.

"HLC, bullet proof, fast" Amelie gasped, gulping as much as she could.

"Faster than me?"

"No"

He let out a sigh in relief. It has been a long time since he properly utilized his full Battle Rage, so he does not know if it'll still mess him up or not.

"We need to call for help" she said.

"Can't reach them, hope they will read the text soon"

"You should not have interfered, now you have to die as well" the Omnic said, swinging its blades to free it from mud.

Quillion spared no words, instead, letting his weapons speak for him. Activating his Rage in bursts, he landed two shots into the Omnic's head and stabbed into one of its exposed slits with his knife. Avoiding the blades, he threw a fistful of mud over its face and charged, only to be forced back when it primed itself to counter.

"Great, this thing has sensors" he thought.

Like the movies, one of the Omnic blades retracted itself and a gun appeared in place of it and fired. Quillion dragged Amelie out of its trajectory and they hid behind one of the tombstones. Seeing that their weapons were ineffective, their first instinct is to stay hidden until backup arrives, but seeing that this Omnic came without any plans of subtlety, as its gun is not suppressed, there is a high chance that it would destroy the town as it looks for them.

"Our weapons are useless, we need another plan" he said.

"Plan C"

He couldn't believe his ears and looked at her when she passed him her pistol. Did she agree to use Plan C?

"What? Do you prefer a different plan?" she asked.

"As long as you don't miss" he said, checking his ammo "Where?"

"The tree"

Nodding, took off his jacket and shirt. Thankfully the rain had become a storm as he stood up, using the crackling of thunder to boost his own confidence.

Lena

"About time! Did they say where?" Lena shouted when the town came into view.

She still couldn't believe it. They barely had time to relax when Lox came running and, according to him, he missed the message by ten minutes. The storm has also hindered their flight, costing them valuable time.

In short, they were half an hour late since Quillion sent the message.

Squinting, they could barely make out the shapes but judging by the lights, there were roadblocks that had cut off an entire section of the town.

"There!" Lox pointed.

It's dim, but there are brief flashes of fire and explosions, which seem to be coming from...

"Land this thing nearby, I'm going down" Lena instructed, unstrapping herself and pinned the landing zone on the map.

"Roger that, be careful out there"

On her go, Athena flung open one of the doors and she Blinked down, splashing behind one of the police cars and scared one of the officers stationed there.

"What's going on here?" she asked.

While the officer was still trying to formulate words, a loud bang echoed and someone flew over to them, clearly barely able to control himself in the air.

"Wha- Quil?!" Lena exclaimed when he landed clumsily on the car.

"Keep it away from the tree!" Quillion shouted before grabbing the shotgun that the officer was holding and charged forward once more.

Sensing the urgency, Lena popped out her Pulse Pistols and followed. Traveling at such high speed and with visibility limited by the storm, everything became a confusing blur, but she could tell that they were attacking a singular, humanoid target.

"Zero trace that bastard!" he roared.

Their attack was perfect. She Blinked ahead of him and stuck a Pulse Bomb onto its chest, followed by a powerful, flying kick from Quillion that lifted it off the ground. It barely moved a fraction as they barraged it with more attacks.

With point blank range, Quillion blasted it with the shotgun and twice he nearly missed as Lena's Blinking was throwing it around. He was about to signal to her that it was limiting their damage but when he saw that its armor began to bend, he adjusted his aim and continued the attack.

After a second, they ran clear of the blast zone to catch their breaths and watch as the Omnic disappeared in a blue explosion. He was about to resume his attack when Lena stopped him in time for the second blast.

"What other upgrades do you have?" he asked.

"That's about it… You think it's dead?"

Her question was answered when it started to drag itself off the ground.

"How tough is that thing?" she exclaimed.

When a piercing whistle came from the tree, Quillion immediately tackled the Omnic hard before it could regain its balance and sent it flying. They watched as it flailed and entangled itself into the multitude of wires that Amelie set up and soon it somehow ended up upside down.

What's even better was that Lena's bombs were actually effective. Most of its armor and carapace has been blasted open, showing the precious hardware inside it.

After ensuring that it is fully entangled, Quillion allowed himself to relax and the moment that he did, he fell to his knees as the world started to spin and his torn muscles screeched out in pain.

"This is why I never wanted to do Plan C" Amelie said, kneeling down next to him.

"Wow… Didn't even ask if I'm okay?" he gasped.

"It's your plan, you knew what you're getting into" she said before turning to Lena "What took you so long?"

"Sorry Amelie, we were-"

"You just had to do it…" the Omnic said and they all looked at it "It was supposed to be a good day…"

Lena was about to make a snappy comeback but a realization kept her quiet. She doesn't know why they were fighting in the first place and she felt worried that she went all out without assessing the situation first.

However, Quil would never attack someone without reason so all of this can be justified once he explains what happened. Furthermore, the blades protruding from its arms and the fact that it could take two Pulse Explosions in the face while still remaining intact, it clearly did not come here just to say hi.

"What do we do with it?" Amelie asked.

"Take it back to base, they can study it" Quillion said, fighting the urge to puke.

"Study me? Study me?!" it shouted, struggling against its bonds.

"Can the ropes hold him?" Lena asked concerningly.

"Do not worry, those ropes are stronger than steel" Amelie said confidently, having used all her reserves that she keeps on her person in the rare case that the grapple hook breaks.

"Oh?"

It stopped struggling and looked at them curiously before it looked at its bonds.

"Stronger than steel?"

To their horror, it tore itself free without so much as a grunt or grind, merely pulling everything off as if it were strings.

"No wonder, I was using the wrong setting, would've wasted me so much time to calculate how strong these things are" it said, holding up the rope before casting it aside.

Before their very eyes, it moved like a blur, its fist crashed into Lena's face and her unconscious body fell into the mud.

"Lena!" they both cried out and moved to help her, but the path was blocked by the Omnic.

"Now that the biggest threat is out of the way..." it said, turning its eyes at Amelie.

Incredibly, its speed was even faster than before, and Amelie was only able to feel a gust of wind that whipped by her face as Quillion knocked her out of the way.

"Impressive… I would be happy for you if I wasn't so angry!" it growled before dashing forward.

"Run!" Quillion shouted, maximizing his Battle Rage and met the charge.

Amelie winched when she heard the sound of breaking bones when they collided and watched helplessly as Quillion held it back, his body behind held up by determination alone. She desperately looked for an opening to help, but with their current weapons ineffective against it, there was none.

Her only option was to run.

But if she goes, Quillion and Lena will die.

"Ammie! Go!"

So she ran, not to escape, but towards Lena's body and sat her up on a tombstone. She groped around her arms and cursed when the Pulse Bombs were not attached to the vambraces. Quickly recalling how Lena moves whenever she throws her bombs, she turned her around and was relieved to see the discs protruding from the bottom of the Accelerator.

She was able to collect two Pulse Bombs when Quillion was knocked to the ground with a brutal punch that could easily have killed a lesser man.

When he looked up, she saw the desperation and fury in his eyes when he saw her there. He forced himself back up, but the Omnic kicked him square in the face, sending him into a daze.

Seeing that the fight was lost, he looked up at Amelie again and gasped for her to run.

All she could do is to give him a comforting smile as a blade pierced through her stomach.

"This is what Earth has to offer? Mother didn't even need to make my brother's that strong then! I am more than enough! Now stay still" the Omnic said triumphantly, raising its other arm that's aimed for her neck.

"Adieu mon amour" Amelie gasped, her eyes never leaving Quillion's as she shoved both Pulse Bombs into its exposed chest.

Thankfully it was quick, and her last memory was the Omnic pushing her away and attempting to pull the bombs away from its chest before being ripped apart by the explosives.

Author's Note:

HOLD ON! HOLD ON! I KNOW THIS LOOKS BAD!

A reminder (and potential spoilers), I WILL put Major Character Death warnings in the beginning of the chapter if there is one, and there was no warning in this chapter.

This was a rough chapter to write but I assure you, I believe the reasons for this will be justified later down the road.

And spoiler warning regarding Amelie.

You sure you wanna read it?

Last chance…

Ok…

She's not planned as a character death.