"Miss Marsh? I have multiple requests from a variety of agents asking about your status," Athena probed gently. You could hear the hesitancy in her voice, and you almost laughed. Of course she was more than just an AI, just of course. She was designed by Winston, after all. It really shouldn't have been a surprise. She was piloting a little drone at the moment, a little torpedo-shaped body that hovered near your knees.

You kept your hands tucked into your hair, back still pressed against the wall underneath the hatch button. It had been at least an hour since you'd seen Jesse, since you'd realised what Aderyn had done to you, since you realised you were a threat. Soon after the hatch had closed, you'd fallen into a panic attack, which had since faded, leaving you feeling more hungry and increasingly stressed. You couldn't leave the ship, not with the possibility of running into any number of high level agents, to most of which you were a major threat. It had been a miracle you'd been able to restrain yourself from literally flying out of the ship to attack Jesse, and when Lena had showed up, you knew you wouldn't have been able to hold yourself back anymore.

"How many are outside the ship right now, Athena?" you asked, because you needed to know.

"Currently only four. Jack, Angela, Hanzo, and Jesse. They're all very worried about you, Briallen." The drone bobbed, lightly bumping against your knees to garner your attention. "As am I."

You sighed, tugging your fingers out of your hair and resting your arms on your knees. 'Put yourself in their shoes, Briallen… They're worried about you, they don't know what's going on and they need to… You can't stay hiding in this ship forever.' "Okay. Does this ship have a set of speakers on the outside?"

"No, but I can project your voice through my speakers, would that work?"

You nodded, looking down at the drone. "Okay, go ahead." You waited a couple seconds until the drone bobbed again and you knew the connection had been secured. "I'm okay," you said, voice hoarse from the panic attack. "I'm… Athena, how many low level agents are in the hangar?" You wanted to keep this as private and classified as possible for the time being.

"None, it's only Jack, Angela, Hanzo, and Jesse."

"Aderyn… She, I-" your throat closed up at the thought of it all again. You just couldn't catch a break, it'd been one thing right after another; Dean, and Gibs, and then the abduction, and the procedure, and now this? You were tired, so, so tired, and you wanted nothing more than to just go to sleep and wake up to find everything back to normal. But you knew that wouldn't happen. "Aderyn brainwashed me. I… I don't know when, I don't remember when, but… I have a kill list. Three fourths of you are on it."

Silence greeted you for a few moments, and you could hear the soft hum of Athena's voice through the walls of the ship, and then there was Angela, speaking through the drone.

"What do you want us to do?"

You snorted, shaking your head as you rubbed your temple. She was leaving this up to you, of course she was. "I-uhm… I can't look at any of you, I think that's what triggers it. I can hear you just fine and I don't feel like killing you," you said, laughing humourlessly. "You need to contain me, I know. But if I see any of your faces, I don't know what I'm going to do… Angela, I really don't know what to do. I'm tired, I'm starving, I can't think straight."

"Okay, here's what we're going to do, Briallen," that was Jack's voice, all tough and dad-like. You could hear the concern buried beneath the "Strike Commander" voice, and it made you wince. "We're going to send in a group of low level agents, fresh faces. We'll clear the halls to the room for you, you just need to be calm, okay? We'll leave the hangar so you don't have to worry."

"Don't you worry, darlin', we're gonna get through this," Jesse said, the sound of his voice making your heart hurt a bit. "Everythin's gonna be okay, you hear me?"

You squeezed your eyes shut, not letting yourself cry, not again. "Yeah, I hear you… I'm sorry, Jesse," you said, voice cracking as you fought to maintain composure. "I just… I knew I was going to do something bad if you got any closer and I-"

"I understand, pumpkin, don't worry about it. Focus on getting yourself outta that ship and somewhere more comfortable first, okay?" You could hear the smile in his voice and it made you smile a bit. You didn't know how he did it, but his voice had always been so soothing and it helped relieve some of the fear.

"Okay... I love you, Jesse," you whispered, not sure if Athena's drone would pick it up. At first, you were sure it didn't, and you were okay with that. It felt a little early to be saying that, but it was true. You'd loved Jesse before you'd felt anything romantic towards him, and you still loved him now, but maybe in a different way than you had before.

"I love you too, darlin'. Now, let's get out of here. The faster we can get you off that ship and somewhere safe, the faster we can help you."

You felt your ears flush at his words, and your heart stuttered, but you smiled, sure it was the same stupid grin Jesse got whenever he looked at you for too long. You think you understood it now, how easily it came, how hard it was to get rid of, how much it meant. There was still a fear, a mean panic, in your chest, but his words eased it down from a roaring flame into a quiet smolder. You thought about asking Hanzo to stay, but decided against it. This was something you needed to do on your own.

"Do you need a hug, Miss Marsh?" Athena asked after a while, when you were sure everyone had left the hangar. "I may not have arms, but I can overclock the drone a bit to increase internal temperatures and provide a unique snuggling experience."

You laughed, not at all shocked to hear how proud she sounded, rather more intrigued by her offer. "Uhm, I-... Yeah, I guess I do need a hug," you admitted, shifting a bit to make room for the drone on your lap.

"Prepare for hug initiation in three, two, one."

The drone settled onto your lap, its little thrusters shutting off, and a warm heat emanating from the core. It was surprisingly calming to hold the drone in your arms, tucked against your chest, and you realised how touch starved these last two months had made you. You'd been so used to Jesse's little touches here and there, his hugs and what felt like platonic kisses - you doubted they'd been anything of the sort now -, and Hanzo's more distant shoulder pats and the discreet brush of his fingers against yours. There'd been nothing like that in Talon, hardly any contact for two months. How long would you have to wait?

You didn't know how much time had passed before there was a knock in the ship's hatch and a voice calling for your attention. It was time to go.

They put her in an interrogation room. A fucking interrogation room. She'd been alone with Talon for just over two months, put through god knows what, and they put her in one of those cold interrogation rooms, soon to be accompanied by someone she didn't know, who would pester her with question after question when she'd already expressed she was tired and hungry and probably just needed some good company and some sleep, and maybe a therapist. And, through all of this, they expected him to sit quietly and watch.

"Don't look so sour, Jesse, you'll get wrinkles," Angela sighed, settling down in the seat next to him. She was frowning as well, looking in at the woman sitting in the chair, her knees pulled up to her chest, her wings splayed out over the chair back.

"It feels like we've caged her in a fucking zoo," Jesse grumbled, scowling. "Do we really have to do this now, Doc? She just got back home."

"I don't like it anymore than you do, Jesse. This is Jack's idea. I would rather have my medical staff give her a physical and let her sleep. Tea?" she asked, offering up her tumbler. Her eyes never left Briallen, as if they were scanning the woman for any injuries or cataloguing the differences between this version of Briallen and the one who had left for Norfolk two months ago.

Jesse sighed and relented a bit, taking a sip of the tea and coughing in surprise. It was some mix of chamomile and mint, a flavour he recognised had come from Ana's stash. There was also vodka in it. "Don't let Ana catch you with this," he murmured, handing the tumbler back with a wry smile. "She might take you to task, 'specially since you spiked it."

Angela just scoffed, watching as the old captain in question stepped into the observation room, Winston on her heels. "I'd like to see her try… Briallen's gotten smaller," she noted, looking back into the white-tiled room tucked away behind the pane of one-way glass. "She used to be, what, five three? She looks like she shrunk a few inches."

Jesse nodded. "Hanzo mentioned somethin' of the sort. Said she comes up to just above his shoulders now." He scowled when Jack stepped in, not bothering to hide his frustration. "Commander," he said through grit teeth.

Jack just looked down at him, his eyes sad, and sighed. "Don't look at me like that, Jesse. I didn't want to do this either, but it needs to be done. We need to know what happened, what she knows, and who's in danger."

"And we couldn't figure that out just by askin' her? She's terrified, Jack! She's terrified, exhausted, and starvin' from what she told us back in the hangar! Briallen ain't a double agent, we know this," he protested, standing up, much to Jack's surprise. It wasn't often that Jesse would stand up to his superiors, but if it meant saving Briallen from this? Jesse knew how bad interrogations could get, he'd been there to see Gérard Lacroix back in his glory days, and many of the people here who specialised in the same thing now took many things from Gérard's book.

Jack's eyes narrowed a bit. "Sit down, son."

"I ain't your son," Jesse growled.

"Both of you sit down," Ana snapped, looking between the two men. "Jack, Jesse has a point. Knowing Briallen's past, if she was working for Talon, there were any number of ways she could have sabotaged us, and she hasn't. You read the com transcript from the day she was abducted, that certainly wasn't two co-conspirators reuniting." She turned her fierce gaze on Jesse. "And while you do have a point, Jesse, you shouldn't make it a habit of butting heads with your superiors, I know you are better than that. Jack also has a point, we don't know what's been done to her. Obviously her old genetic code has been reinstated, but other than that, we know nothing. It's best to get this out of the way while we can. As for her being starving, I've taken the liberty of having Agent Garstka bring in something for her to eat. As soon as this is over, she will be escorted out and to a room on a secured floor away from high ranking agents until we can undo whatever the hell Aderyn did to that poor girl. Now, if you would both put your fangs away, we could get on with this and put an end to Miss Marsh's misery."

Jesse shrunk a bit under Ana's gaze, tilting his hat to hide his eyes as he sat down. "Yes, ma'am," he murmured, pointedly not looking at Jack, or the agent who walked in shortly after.

Dymitr Garstka was a paunchy young man, and exactly what you would expect from someone who gave their life to espionage. Nothing was ever given away in any of his smiles, and conversation with him always seemed to end up with you giving up a lot more information than you'd garnered from him. Jesse was not fond of the man, but he was the most likely person to prove Briallen's innocence.

"Good evening everyone," Garstka said, offering a cheery smile. He carried a platter of sandwiches with him and he seemed far too happy about the situation. "A lovely night, if I do say so myself."

Jesse glared at him. "Garstka," he said shortly, pushing his hat back. "If you hurt her, I'm gonna tan your hide and it ain't gonna be pretty, you hear me?"

The man merely chuckled, looking fondly down at the cowboy. "I wouldn't dream of it, Jesse. Your lover will not be harmed," he said, his smile pointed and knowing. He didn't wait to hear Jesse's response, and instead headed inside the interrogation room, greeting Briallen with a warm smile and plenty of compliments, which made Jesse grit his teeth.

"I feel like we've led a lamb to its slaughter," Angela murmured, taking a sip of her "tea" without flinching.

"It seems we have ourselves a bit of a problem, Panno Marsh," Garstka said, sighing as he looked over at you from the table. His smile felt sincere, though you knew it probably wasn't. There was something about his eyes that told you he didn't really care about you, just that he was here and doing a job. "Let's chat about that, shall we? I heard you were rescued from Talon earlier today, how was that?"

You looked between him and the sandwiches, your stomach growling, but you didn't dare reach out for them. Overwatch or not, interrogators more often than not had a hook, and you didn't really trust the one in front of you. "It sucked. I'm happy to be home," you said shortly, trying to shove down the hunger. 'I just need to get through this interrogation, and then I-'

Garstka chuckled and pushed the plate towards you. "Go ahead and eat, pani. I heard tell that you were hungry and was asked to bring something in for you. You didn't get to eat on the way, did you?"

You shook your head, eyeing the sandwiches again, before looking back up at him. "The ship wasn't retrofitted with a galley, I'm afraid," you said dryly, shifting to place one foot on the floor. "This isn't, like, a honey trap, is it? I know how you guys work, and I'm not interested in being coerced into talking. All you have to do is ask the questions and I will answer to the best of my abilities."

Garstka chuckled again, shaking his head. There was a disappointed glint to his eyes, as if he was disappointed that you weren't going to be more of a challenge. "Of course. The sandwiches are here for your comfort and wellbeing, Panno Marsh," he said, gesturing towards the plate.

You hesitated again before you grunted and reached forward to grab one. Ham, cheese, lettuce, and tomatoes, plenty of protein and definitely enough to get your blood sugar back up if you ate your fill. You'd have to thank Angela for thinking about you. Garstka let you eat a few of the sandwiches in peace, handing you a water bottle after your second sandwich. Eventually though, you knew you couldn't put off the interrogation and waved at him to continue.

He chuckled, raising an eyebrow. "Are you ready to move on, piękny?" he asked, leaning back in his chair.

You frowned, looking quickly up at him. "Don't call me that. I don't like taking compliments from strangers, and I doubt my partners would enjoy it either."

He actually looked surprised for a fraction of a second, his eyes widened just slightly before he reigned in his expressions. "You speak Polish? I wasn't aware."

"I don't, actually. I have a translator in my head. I can translate what you said, but without pracitse, I wouldn't be able to have a conversation with you in Polish," you said, taking a drink.

Garstka folded his hands. "Do elaborate."

Rolling your eyes, you pulled your knees back up to your chest, your wings twitching irritably. "Is talking about my processor really going to help clear me? Because if it isn't I'd rather avoid talking about my personal programming." It was weird to think you had programming, but you knew better than to think you didn't have any, not with a good portion of your brain being metal to account for old memory storage and dealing with the strain of your enhancements.

"If you've been programmed, I believe we should be talking about it, especially considering who programmed you," he said, giving you a slightly sardonic grin.

You frowned. "If I'd been programmed to do anything but survive, you'd think I would have sabotaged something by now, especially considering the fact that I work with the files of high level agents on a near daily basis. My programming has nothing to do with the brainwashing, if that's what you're getting at. It mimics that of omnic thought patterns and deals with the strain of my enhancements. A normal human brain would not be able to easily comprehend the onslaught of senses that come with my enhanced genetics."

"And those would be?"

Frustrated, you blinked, and the world went blue. There were a few stains on the wall behind him and you grimaced. "You should clean this room better, or hire new people to clean up in here," you said, blinking again to return the world to normal. There was a strange look on Garstka's face which made you smirk a bit. "Along with the added input from that sight, my sense of smell has increased, and I can count to four," you said, offering the man a wry smile. "Does that answer your questions, wścibski?"

Garstka narrowed his eyes a bit, seeming to size you up. "You said that perfectly," he noted.

Your wings twitched again and you listed your head to the side, tapping your fingers against your knees. "I must have had practise in a past life."

He let out a fake sigh and shifted, crossing his ankles as he peered at you. "It seems I've misjudged you, Panno Marsh. From your file and the word of your colleagues, I assumed you'd be a smart, quiet, and shy young woman."

You scoffed, rolling your eyes. "Well, I suppose being abducted by my ex-fiancé and rekindling old memories changed me a bit."

Garstka grinned, leaning forward. "Ah, and now we come to the root of another problem. Let's talk about Gabriel Reyes, shall we? Surely, you can see how this would be a concern for us."

You shot him a glare. "You're treading into unsanctioned territory," you warned. "Gabriel Reyes has nothing to do with any of this."

He folded his hands, his eyes offering a challenge. "See, that's where you're wrong, pani. Gabriel Reyes may have everything to do with this. You said you rekindled old memories, who's to say your allegiances haven't changed?"

"Gabriel Reyes is a traitor and a bastard. I much prefer my partners here, thank you."

"Now you're lying to me."

Your eyes flashed and you had to fight the urge to leap across the table. "Gabriel Reyes abandoned me when I needed him most. I want nothing to do with him, I-"

"If it meant going with Gabriel, hell, I'd do it again," your voice said through the speakers, and Garstka's eyes glittered. He was enjoying this.

"Briseadh agus brú ort! Out of context and edited!" you growled, "Don't you dare try to use my words against me. I'd much rather be taken by him if it meant saving the lives of any one of my friends! I would go through hell and back if it meant saving the lives of anyone I know and love!"

"Does that include Gabriel Reyes?"

"No!"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I-"

"I don't think you're telling the truth, Panno Marsh."

"I am! If you would just-"

"Would you kill for Gabriel Reyes?"

"I-"

"Would you sabotage Overwatch for him?"

"N-"

"Would you give your life for him?"

"Ye-" You stopped yourself from finishing, slapping a hand over your mouth, but the damage was done. Garstka sat back in his seat with a wide smile, his eyes dangerous and hard. You hadn't realised you still felt this way towards Gabriel, had known some part of you still loved him, but hadn't realised how much. Your heart sunk in your chest and you glanced towards the mirror on your right, knowing you had an audience, knowing they just heard that. Throat closing up, you hugged your knees to your chest. "I am not a traitor," you whispered into the silence that was your prison. "I did not bring any information to Talon, I did not plan the attack on the Knight's estate, I have not betrayed my friends. I have the unfortunate displeasure of still holding a smoldering candle for Gabriel Reyes, but I would not betray my family for him." You took a shuddering breath, wings trembling behind you. "I think I need a break."

Garstka nodded, a knowing look on his face that gave away so much, and yet so little. "Of course, Panno Marsh. Take your time."