Hanzo woke to the steady beeping of a heart monitor and the unmistakable smell of disinfectant. He blinked in the bright light, his head pulsing lightly, and let out a groan as he shifted, his entire body resistant to the movement and sore. What had happened? Where was he?

There was a body at his side in an instant, a familiar metal hand gripping his own. "Doc! He's awake!"

"Jesse…" Hanzo breathed, blinking a bit more as the man's face slowly came into focus. He couldn't express how happy he was to see Jesse's face, to know that he was there. There was something missing, though, another presence that should have been there... "What happened?"

"You lost a lot of blood," Angela informed him, quickly striding over to his side to check his vitals. "You are extremely lucky Miss Marsh is a universal donor and knew how to do field transfusions. We might have lost you if she wasn't so generous." The doctor was frowning, scribbling something down on her clipboard. "And stupid. That girl's body does not contain the average amount of blood because of her mutations, those two and a half units she gave you could have killed her. How are you feeling?"

"Like I've been hit by a bus at least five times," he groaned, lightly squeezing Jesse's hand. 'Marsh… Marsh… Briallen!' He remembered it then; the little game they had started, the child who had taken him by surprise, the crossbow bolt being plunged into his leg before being ripped out as the child teleported away in a flash of purple light, Briallen finding him and putting so much effort into keeping him alive... "Where is she? Where is Briallen? Please tell me she's safe."

Jesse and Angela both paused, sharing a look.

"Well, she's relatively safe, Han," Jesse started, furrowing his brows as he looked back down at his boyfriend. "At least, I hope so… Talon has her."

"Talon?!" Hanzo tried to sit up, and immediately regretted the action, nausea welling up inside him as his head spun. "If she's with Talon, she isn't safe! We have to get her!"

"Hey now, calm your tits, Han," Jesse sighed, gently pressing his hand against Hanzo's chest. "Yes, she's with Talon, but she is most likely safe. Gabriel wouldn't hurt her, not if he had the choice… They're engaged."

Hanzo stared at him for a second, blinking a couple times. "Did I hit my head? Angela, I think I'm having a stroke. What the hell do you mean, they're engaged?"

"Just what I said, Han, they're engaged. Briallen isn't… she wasn't who she is now, not before her accident. She-"

Angela swooped in, shaking her head. "Jesse, he doesn't have clearance-"

"Clearance be damned, Doc, he deserves to know!" Jesse scanned Hanzo's face, searching his eyes before he sighed. "He's part of this relationship too. You saw the security footage, you heard the com recordings, he's part of this too."

"Gods above, look at you," the woman's voice murmured, breaking through the silence. "Aren't you just a little marvel of science?"

You grunted, the darkness around you slowly shifting into the red hues that you knew to be the backs of your eyelids. They were heavy, hard to open, and you fought against the drowsiness that clouded your mind to get them cracked. A bright light shone down on you, making you blink a few times before you could make out anything else in the room. It was a room, that was for sure, and it appeared to be a mix of a hospital room and a lab. It stunk of disinfectant.

Your head pounded softly, your body ached, you felt nauseous, and you desperately wanted a gallon of water to drink all in that one second, all signs that you'd lost a lot of blood. Groaning, you reached up to rub your face, but found your arm trapped to the seat you were in, secured by the wrist. Both of your arms were like that, you realised, and you began to panic.

"What the hell is going on?" you hissed, trying to wrench your arms free, but to no avail. You were stuck, good and true. "Where am I?"

"Oh, good, you're awake. I was wondering how long those nanites would take to kick in. You're probably experiencing some left over symptoms of hypovolemic shock," the woman said, and you could swear you recognised her voice, recognised the cadence of that Irish accent. She came around you, finally into your line of sight, and you blinked a couple of times. She looked familiar with that flash of red hair and those eyes, but you couldn't place where you'd seen her before. She shone a light into each of your eyes, excitement showing in her multicoloured ones. "Bear with me now, these little tests will only take a second."

You shook your head, blinking away the blotches of colour that persisted once she'd removed the light. "What? Who are you? What's going on?"

The woman hummed, setting the flashlight aside and picking up a syringe. "I'm not surprised you don't recognise me, Morrigan, we did first meet when you were very young. In the first stages of your mutation, if I'm correct," she said, smiling over at you. "You'll feel a pinch." She stuck the needle in your arm, drawing a small amount of blood before pulling away. "I don't expect you to remember much from that time, your little body was undergoing so much change it'd be hard to retain much."

"My name is not Morrigan," you said, clenching your teeth, glaring up at her, watching as she swirled your blood around in a vial. For a second, you wanted to wrench the vial from her hands, but you bade yourself be still.

"Ah, that's right, you go by Briallen now, don't you? A little more friendly to the civilian ear, but still a goddess of death, if I'm not mistaken," she flashed a twisted grin at you before she disappeared behind your seat, vanishing from your view. You could hear her back there, messing with some machine. "It's a shame Aderyn tucked those beautiful genetic modifications away before she let you run rampant. Imagine the terror you could have spread if only they knew who they'd been dealing with."

"I don't know what you're talking about. I escaped from Aderyn, she never let me free," you growled, shaking your head. "Aderyn never got the satisfaction of using me."

You heard her pause, heard the clink of glass as she set the vial down and came over to you. She was giving you an odd look. "Of course she did, you were her first, Morrigan. Her first success, her first true creation. Oh, but you don't remember that, do you? That accident must have dislodged your memory chip… We'll have to call in a few favours to get that fixed… But even still," she murmured, gripping your chin and tilting your head, "you should have some memories retained…" She frowned, dropping your chin and gliding away, disappearing from your view again.

You squeezed your eyes shut, another wave of nausea washing over you. "What did you do to me?"

"Hmm? Oh, nothing yet. I simply haven't had the time. Your recovery rate is remarkable, you've only been out for a few hours and already your red blood cell count is stabilising itself! You should be back on your feet by lunchtime tomorrow." The woman sounded absolutely gleeful at this discovery, but you just shook your head.

"I've always been like that… Angela says it's the nanites, says they'll speed up even more after the procedure," you shook your head, your pulse pounding behind your eyes as your body fought to right itself. The world was starting to melt in front of you and you struggled to stay conscious.

"The procedure?... So you're wanting to switch your edited genes back on?" You could swear that was Angela's voice behind you and you frowned because that wasn't right. This wasn't Angela's office. Where were you?

"Yeah, I don't… I don't ever want to feel that helpless again… I don't ever want to be that weak… not again..." The words slipped out of their own accord, and the room around you began to darken.

"I think we can arrange that, Morgan. Sleep now, you'll need your rest."

You nodded and closed your eyes, listening to the fading sound of whirring machines and the clinking of glass.

When you next awoke, you found yourself in a room. White walls, white floors, white decor, the only thing of colour in the entire room was you and your clothing. One glance to the doorway revealed it to be a cell, with the flicker of a plasma barrier being a clear indication. Your head still pounded, your limbs still ached, but you no longer felt like you were going to be sick all over the floor.

Groaning, you swung your legs over the side of the bed you'd been lain on, surprised to find that the floor wasn't cold to the touch, in fact, it felt like it was heated. Huh. Come to think of it, this cell did seem rather nice for a cell…

"Hello?" you called out, stepping up to the barrier. You placed a hand on it and it solidified under your touch. "Is anyone there?"

There was no answer.

"Fuck," you muttered under your breath, lightly smacking your palm against the barrier. "This is some way to treat your supposed fiancé!" you shouted into the empty hallway.

Again, no answer.

Muttering a string of curses in Gaelic, you slowly made your way over to the bed and curled up into the corner, your side pressed against the wall. Without anything else to do, your mind wandered back to what you could remember before you had passed out at the Reaper's feet; the panic, the urgency, the thought that you just might end up losing someone else you cared for, the thought that you might have to go home and tell Jesse… How Jesse might now have to find out on his own. You hoped the coms caught the exchange, hoped someone knew where Hanzo was. As long as he made it out okay, you were okay with being here. As long as Hanzo managed to make it, as long as someone found him, as long as he was alive, you were okay with this fate. Sure, it had been fun to entertain the idea that maybe you three could figure something out, but if it ended up this way, that would be okay with you. As long as they still had each other.

And, buried underneath all of that, in the one place you allowed yourself to be selfish, you prayed someone knew where you were, or at least that you'd been abducted by Talon.

Sniffling, you glanced over at the doorway, eyeing the figure that stood there, watching. They'd been there for a while, you realised, just standing. Just watching. They looked like a child.

Frustration and anger rising, you glared, meeting the mismatched eyes that peered in at you. "What, does this look like a zoo to you, kid? Get lost."

"I dunno, I mean, you are in a cage, so, yeah kinda," they responded, their voice muffled just slightly by the gas mask they wore. They tilted their head, pulling their grey hat over their ears as they sat against the wall, still watching. "Angry about your boyfriend still? I'm sure he's fine, my bolts aren't, like, barbed or anything… although, that's a good idea, I should write that down for later… The name's Bird, by the way, in case you cared."

Your glare festered as a newfound hatred bubbled in the bottom of your stomach. 'It was you!' "Go mbrise an diabhal cnámh do dhroma!" you spat, wanting to leap at the barrier, but managing to restrain yourself. "He was bleeding out and almost died, and I could have died saving him." You ran your fingers over the scars on your cheek, looking away. "I wouldn't be too proud of yourself, though. If Angela and the team managed to find him, the damage you did will have been for nothing." 'I hope they found him… I will never be able to forgive myself if I couldn't save him…'

"Didn't want to kill him, so I don't care, I just needed him out of the way," they said, shrugging. "I could honestly not give any less of a shit. Anyway, I didn't even hit one of those big artery things, you know the ones that kill you? I was careful like that."

"You did, actually, his femoral artery. He was lucky I knew what to do and that I'm a type O negative," you said, frowning.

"Oh, well, see? Got both of you out of the way, and you knew what to do to save him. No harm done," they said glibly, and you glared over at them. "Or not. Look, the point is your little ninja boyfriend is gonna be fine. I could have killed him, but I didn't because you were there to save him! All's well that ends well, right?"

A rage boiled up from your stomach and you fought against the urge to punch the wall next to you. "Gods, you're all the same! What the hell is wrong with you? You talk about human lives as if they're expendable, as if none of them actually matter! How would you feel if I went around talking about your family that way?!"

Bird's eyes narrowed a bit before they looked away and shrugged. "I don't know how I'd feel, I guess dead lives are already pretty expendable."

You stopped, absolutely floored for a second. "Oh… I'm… I'm sorry, I-"

"Don't be. You didn't know. Nobody just assumes someone's family is dead, right?" They tilted their head and the corners of their eyes crinkled in what you presumed was a pained smile.

Sighing, you leaned back against the wall, looking up at the white ceiling above you. After a few seconds of quiet, you shook your head. "I just… I don't understand. All we're trying to do is help people… Why are you so hellbent on stopping us? Why are you so determined to hurt people?"

Your visitor laughed sharply, more like a slightly rasping bark, really. "You think I work for Talon? I didn't have a choice. I'm just as stuck here as you, pal, I just get walking privileges. But, yeah, go on about how Overwatch is "so good". You know we're two sides of the same coin, right? Talon and Overwatch are both so convinced they're right that they'll destroy the world just to prove it."

Your eyes widened a bit. 'What? Really? Is that how they see this?' You didn't want to think about it, the whole concept just hurt your head and you weren't up to discussing shit like that right now, not in the current state you were in. "What do any of you want from me?"

"I don't want jack shit from you," they said, pulling out their hunting knife and playing with the edge of it. "I don't know about tall, dark, and annoying, but I'm just bored." They threw the knife at the plasma barrier, chuckling a bit when it ricocheted off and stuck in one of the cracks in the wall above their head.

"I'm not some kind of plaything," you said sharply, furrowing your brows as a pulse of pain spread through your head. "If you aren't here to interrogate me or help me escape, I might just call for the Reaper, Gods know whatever his real name is, and I doubt he would be happy to find you bothering his… prize." You grit your teeth at the last word. For all you knew, that's all you were to him, a prize and a pawn. You could only hope all he had planned for you was to keep you in this cell.

"First, his name is Gabriel," Bird started, pausing when you widened your eyes and looked at them incredulously.

"No. Fucking. Way. Gabriel Reyes?" you asked, groaning when they nodded. Of fucking course he was the Reaper. Of fucking course you were "engaged" to him. Of. Fucking. Course.

They chuckled at your reaction, shaking their head before they continued, "And second, I understand, you are a person. But I'm bored and Sombra can't find my ass down here, so I'm asking you nicely, so very nicely, not to call for grumpy pants because, honestly? I don't think you're ready to see him anyways."

They were right. You weren't ready to deal with Gabriel, not when your body felt like lead, not when you were still pseudo-mourning your possible new boyfriend, if you could even call him that - you liked the sound of partner better-, and certainly not when you felt like you could just fall asleep and never wake up.

You sighed and closed your eyes, rubbing at your cheeks. "Fine… Maybe I can get Overwatch to pardon you when they come find me, to thank you for the service of keeping me company," you joked bitterly, opening your eyes and listing your head to the side to meet their gaze.

"Oh, they won't be finding you. No one can find this place, unfortunately, or else asshole cowboy would have already given me some stern talking to about joining the wrong side or some other moral shit," they scoffed, wiggling the knife out of the wall above them. "I'm not the bad guy here, you know. I was hired for a single job, and then it was decided I'm not allowed to leave, so now I'm stuck here like you are."

You offered them a small smile before the name hit you and you laughed. "Asshole cowboy, huh? You aren't talking about Jesse McCree, are you?" you asked, sitting up and moving to the edge of the bed. You were beginning to like talking to this stranger. "I haven't really heard anyone call him an asshole besides Hanzo and I… He really can be one when he gets in a funk, huh?"

"Unfortunately. He's an asshole because he ruined my life, and I've been debating on how I'm gonna murder him once I'm out of this hellhole," they said, completely deadpanned. "Hope you aren't close."

You frowned, looking down at the floor. You weren't surprised Jesse had enemies, he'd been in this business a lot longer than you had, and you already had two, apparently. Two really big bad guys who wanted your head on a platter.

"We are, actually," you said softly, smiling to yourself as you brought your knees up to your chest, remembering that oh so gentle kiss he'd given you before you left for Norfolk. "I think he wanted us to be a lot closer than we are, but I was just too blind to see it." 'And too broken.' You rested your cheek against your knee, looking over at the cinderblock wall. "How'd he ruin your life, if you don't mind me asking? I just… I can't see that sweet old cowboy doing anything that would actively ruin someone's life on purpose."

"How much do you know about the fall of Atlas? It would have been sixteen, maybe seventeen years ago. Big city, everyone died kind of thing," they said, spinning the knife in their fingers. "Basically Cowboy Jim saves a kid, says he'll be there, make sure they're safe. Turns out it's all a fucking lie, kid does some research and realises wow, Overwatch really sucks ass and the cowboy is a little bitch."

"I'm… I'm sorry, I don't think I've heard of it. I don't remember anything beyond maybe five or six years ago," you murmured, turning to look back over at them, frowning. "But, it sounds like it would have been around the time Jesse got called back to Overwatch, or Blackwatch, at the time… I'm sure he regrets leaving you. He regrets a lot of things nowadays, I've realised. None of our lives have been especially easy."

"Tell me about it," they muttered, tucking the knife away and crossing their arms. "You can think what you want, but I'm telling you, the lines between good and bad are thin. No organisation should have as much power as Overwatch or Talon. They all need to fall." The visitor looked down the hall, their gaze distant, and, for the first time, you noticed small, yellow-tinted veins creeping up their skin. The sight made you shudder a bit.

"I agree that too much power can be bad… But I'm choosing to believe in the good in people, and I've seen nothing but good in Overwatch," you said, shaking your head. The two of you went silent again before you tilted your head up, looking up into the fluorescent lights that shone down on you. "What do they want from me?" you asked, looking away and rubbing at your face. "They could have captured any other active, higher-ranking agent, but they chose me, a simple assistant cleared for field work, and I'm not buying that whole engagement story. It just feels like they're trying to manipulate me from the past I don't know. So, what am I really here for?"

They scoffed. "You really think I know?" they asked, raising a brow. "They don't tell me shit. I was literally told, "Yo, we're kidnapping Gabe's ex-girlfriend and a ransom hostage, go distract the Shimada."" They ran a hand through their hair. "Except, imagine all of that in a Spanish accent, and being called chicken… Also in Spanish."

Your eyes widened and you slowly lowered your feet to the floor. "Wait. A ransom hostage?"

"Yeah, one of those little girls. Not really something I'd have gone along with, but, if it helps them stop funding Overwatch…" they shrugged a bit. "Not that we actually managed to bag her. The family disappeared before we could get a hold of one of them. Also, emo edgelord man was too engrossed in finding you."

You sighed in relief, shaking your head. "Thank the gods," you murmured, folding your hands together. You couldn't name the emotions that had just swam through you, they were too much right now, but you knew if either Poppy or Lyra had actually been swiped up, it'd be on you. Because you didn't go down to the cellar with them, because you had entrusted them to Shirley and that other guard, because you decided taking down a few fucking Talon operatives was more important than making sure they got to safety.

As these thoughts passed, something in the back of your mind negged you, nibbled away at the edges of your consciousness, trying to escape the dredges of your subconscious. The more you thought on it, the more little moments seemed to come back to you. A pair of warm arms, the scent of soap and musk, strings of Spanish whispered in your ear, flirtatious promises whispered behind walls, around corners, in meetings. Fleeting moments, a handful of emotions, snippets of a voice, but never a face.

And that's when it hit you.

They hadn't been lying.

Your eyes flew open and your breathing began to quicken. "Gabriel's… Gabriel's ex?" you whispered, fingers covering your mouth. "No.. his fiance… That's impossible, I… I was told I escaped, I was told I never… He's too old! I-I-I'm far too young to-to… Angela wouldn't lie to me, would she?" A sense of panic flooded over you as you meditated on these memories, they didn't feel like yours, that voice didn't feel like yours, but you knew it was. "I think I'm going to be sick…"

"Okay, let's not do that, stop panicking," Bird said, moving to stand right next to the plasma barrier instead of sitting across the hall. "I can't tell you anymore than what I just did because, honestly, I don't know, so, please? Stop freaking out?"

"He's, like, thirty years older than me, I've-I've seen his file! I know what he's done, I-" you let the sentence die off in your throat, leaning against the wall as a few more fragments of memories bombarded you, making you dizzy. You closed your eyes and shook your head even more, trying to dispel them. "No, no, no, no, it's got to be lies. Angela would never… It isn't possible!"

"She's a doctor, doctor's lie. Hell, everyone lies when they're trying to cover their own asses," they said bitterly. "People lie, and if you think they don't, well, I think it's time for a wakeup call, and this might just be it. Don't trust doctors, or scientists for that matter."

"Angela saved my life, she… She gave me another chance. What would she have to gain from lying to me?" You felt like you were beginning to lose yourself. Those memories felt too old, the voice, the cadence, the words, they didn't fit the body they came from, nothing matched up. "I am Briallen Marsh, I'm twenty six years old, I… I have a cat," you whispered, trying to regain some control over… something, anything. "My friends will find me."

"I'm sure… I'm sure it's fine," Bird offered, sounding entirely unsure of themselves. "Maybe Shadow the Edgehog is lying and just wants to jab at Overwatch… I wish I had more info…"

"I think it's time for you to leave," you said, not entirely glaring at them, just looking sad and tired and strung out. "Thank you for the company, but…"

"Yeah, no, I, uh, I get it. I'm sorry." They offered you one last look, trying to put so many words into their eyes, but failing, and walked off, leaving you alone in your prison cell.

Closing your eyes, you laid back on the bed and curled up, hugging a pillow to your chest. "My name is Briallen Marsh, I am twenty six years old, I have a cat, and my family will find me."