*Gibraltar: Overwatch*
Reinhardt hid a groan as he walked around the base, carefully avoiding Brigitte and anyone who is part of the medical crew. It had been two days since the battle and he is still absolutely sore everywhere, which had caused everyone to overreact. He will recover, he always has, just that this time would take longer because he had to fight right after a swimming contest.
However, it does feel shameful to be avoiding people.
At the very least those UN pests have finally left the base, allowing them to regain a sense of peace, though their presence had left a bad taste in everyone's mouth. Normally he would go around and help them wash it out with his inspirational stories, but even he had enough sense that now is not the time, especially when Torbjorn is still in the Medical Bay.
"Ahh…" he groaned when a painful sting shot up from his knee.
Fighting the urge to rub it in public, he looked around before entering the Bowling Centre that was thankfully still intact. Finally away from any eyes, he felt his way through the dark room and sat down at one of the sofas, letting out a long sigh.
"Common Reinhardt, don't go all soft on me now" he growled to himself.
First he had to avoid people, now he had to sit down from something as simple as walking? What would Balderich think?
Shaking and resting his head in his hands, he took a deep breath to calm himself. What is he thinking? He is a Crusader! A symbol of strength and hope even in the darkest of times! He should stop worrying about silly things such as pain or shame, he should only focus to be a beacon of strength and inspiration for everyone around him.
"Live with honor…" he reminded himself.
The door swung open and a beam of light shone into the room. Rubbing his eyes, he saw that it was a stranger who looked ridiculous with a ponytail hairstyle.
"Oh sorry, I didn't think anyone else was here" Quillion said, before realizing that he was speaking to Reinhardt.
"Don't worry… Who are you?" Reinhardt asked with squinted eyes.
"Err… Quillion, the one Lena brought in last year?"
"Ahh…"
This was the first time they actually tried to have a conversation since Quillion first landed in Overwatch and that encounter was not as civil as one would've liked. Seeing Reinhardt again made Quillion's bones quake as it was reminded of the Crusader's great strength.
"So what are you doing here?" Reinhardt asked.
"Oh I just… Want to clear my head so I thought I'd come bowling"
"Ahh, the switches are next to you"
"You sure? I could always come back later or something"
"Of course! Torbjorn would be disappointed if we do not use his things!"
Quillion shrugged. Reinhardt seemed like he is in a good mood now and he does need to clear his head, so perhaps this would be tolerable. When he turned to the side of the door to look for the switches, Reinhardt laughed.
"Did you forget that he is short? Look down!"
Looking down, Quillion can't help but laugh with him when he saw the switches are indeed just above his knee level.
Torbjorn had made this extremely user friendly as the room and all five lanes lit up, each already resetting the pins and bowling balls at the flick of a single switch. Even the beverage machine shuddered to life, though they doubt anyone had changed its contents for months.
"So… You're gonna play or…?" Quillion asked but Reinhardt shook his head.
"I'll just watch" he said, pretending to adjust his seat, hiding a wince when he tried to stand.
"Suit yourself"
After a total of 3 minutes, Reinhardt felt his hand twitch when Quillion rolled the ball into the gutters for the third time.
It has been a while since he bowled and the sound of the game awoke an old rivalry he had with Torbjorn. To maintain a competitive spirit, Torbjorn had set up a Best Bowler Wall, which is now peppered with random players over the years, a place where Reinhardt had yet to earn a spot on. An unacceptable reality.
He is convinced that he is the best bowler within the ranks of Overwatch and Torbjorn had just rigged it to ban him from the Wall, all because everyone else agrees that his beard is better than his silly twin ponytail chin hairs that he called a beard.
Plus everything Quillion was doing is just embarrassing.
"Alright. Stop" he said, walking over to him.
"Hey, can't you see there's other lanes around?" Quillion protested when Rein snatch the ball away from him.
"I can, but that also means I'll see your sissy throws"
"Sissy?"
"Yes, sissy. You throw like a little girl skipping rope!"
Quillion stared for a moment before giving him a mocking bow, beckoning him to show how it is supposed to be done.
"Now watch here young one… This is how a man truly bowls!" Reinhardt shouted and threw with great strength and confidence…
Right into the gutter.
"Well done… Just stellar performance" Quillion said, clapping sarcastically.
"Just warming up you cheeky little…" Reinhardt growled and grabbed another ball.
After several more throws, Reinhardt showed no signs of giving up so Quillion moved on to the next lane. Slowly but surely, their play began to improve and when Reinhardt achieved the first strike of the day, it instantly became competitive.
A clatter soon became a thunderous echo, balls flying across the lanes quicker and harder as they tried to outdo one another, to a point where they abandoned all thoughts of skill and only to take out as many pins as quickly as possible.
"Just give up, you'll never catch up to me!" Reinhardt shouted, literally heaving the ball over the lane.
"Wanna bet?" Quillion replied with equal enthusiasm and, not being as strong as Reinhardt, ran between two lanes instead of one to tally up the score.
As the score climbed, so did the strength of their throws. Only when Reinhardt threw a particularly strong pitch and the ball erupted into a ball of fire that set fire to the lane and shattered the pins into hundreds of pieces, did they stop.
"Opps" he said, looking at the damage when the sprinklers activated.
"Err… Torbjorn is not gonna be happy about that" Quillion shouted over the fire alarm.
"Lets go"
Not wanting to be caught in the scene, both he and Quillion ran.
Like children, they sprinted around the corner and peeked out just in time to see the Fire Fighting Team coming from the other side of the hall. Relieved that no one should know that it is them, they continued to run until they reached the Landing Zone.
Climbing up to the second level to the roof of a building that overlooks the ocean, they take a moment to catch their breath.
"Ahh this place brings back memories" Reinhardt said, looking around.
"How do you mean?"
"This was where you attacked me yes? What an exciting time"
"Eh? No, all of you attacked me first"
"No, we asked you, nicely if I may add, to put down your weapon, but you just had to start shooting"
"Hey you guys didn't give me a lot of confidence to trust you either" Quillion shot back, which made Reinhardt laugh.
"Right… You were a scared little rabbit before weren't you?"
"You would be too if you woke up decades later"
"Me? Never!" he boomed, earning them annoyed looks from nearby engineers "I would face all challenges and overcome them! For that is the Crusader's way!"
"I highly doubt that, it's bad enough you are unsure about the future, but to wake up in it? That's a totally different story"
"Ahh… But you've done well for yourself eh? If you can do it, I'm sure I can do it too!" Reinhardt laughed.
Quillion rolled his eyes but was secretly happy that someone finally acknowledged his efforts to survive despite the wild cards that had been dealt to him. It has indeed been a hellish journey for him and he was amazed that he had overcome such challenges, though he would never, ever, want to relive any of it again.
All except one.
"Make us proud ya?"
Her voice has continued to echo inside him since that day, her sweet voice that gave him reason to live on. The warm arms from her and his parents that gave him the strength to strive to make them proud.
However, this encouragement served as a double edge sword. Sure it gave him a reason to live, but what can he do that would make them proud? A cashier's job was not exactly what he would have in mind to make his family proud and he could only imagine how they would think about Amelie.
Worst still was that there is a strange stinging pain beating in his head that has been bothering him since they returned to Overwatch. The same stinging pain that had haunted him last year whenever he is close to breaking a promise.
Was it triggered when he told Amelie that they will leave as soon as they find the location of HLC? It can't be because they have not even gotten a list of what it was yet. Other than that, he had already fulfilled all of his ancient promises and has been very cautious about making any since then.
Looking over to the ocean, Quillion tried once again to think about the source for the pain.
Has the program recognized his affirmation to make his loved ones proud as a promise? Or does it need a vocal confirmation? Could these old programs even examine brain waves or literal conversations in the spiritual world (or wherever that was)?
If… And only if that were so, that would mean that their path of revenge could be the source of the pain. Though he does not remember her, he did know enough that she was a police officer, therefore she has a desire driven by a strong moral code, which would equally mean that going for revenge is absolutely against their expectations of him.
But that is a big if.
He cannot work on 'ifs', only having one last chance before this ancient bomb would take him out, and he could only guess what sort of failsafes it has if he tries to take it out of him.
He was deep in thought when he was suddenly launched to the floor after Reinhardt gave him an encouragingly hard slap to the back.
"Aww common, that was just a love tap!" he scolded.
"Why…?" was all Quillion could ask as he picked himself up.
"I know what you are thinking… Don't" Reinhardt said knowingly.
"What? How would you know what I am thinking?"
"There was absolutely no chance you would have bested me that day"
Huh?
"It is no shame to lose to me, a Crusader vs a rabbit? The outcome was obvious!"
"Hey! You were backed up by the Commander, it was not a fair fight!" Quillion replied, deciding to continue the conversation to distract himself from the constant throb in his head.
"Why did you go bowling? Seems a bit strange for someone to go there" Reinhardt asked.
"Hey! Don't change the subject!"
"As your Captain, I can ask whatever I want"
Quillion had made it clear that he was not rejoining Overwatch so ranks should not matter and Reinhardt is clearly not his superior, but his military discipline prompted him to stand up straighter and compiled.
"Sir… I was trying to clear my head… Sir…" he replied.
"Sir? Haha! I like that!" Reinhardt laughed and slapped Quillion's shoulder unexpectedly, sending him tumbling to the ground again.
"Why are you clearing your head?"
"Sir, personal reasons sir"
"Details young one, I'm bored" he said, leaning against the wall and looked over to the ocean.
Quillion scowled. Is Reinhardt really going to abuse his rank for his own entertainment? Thankfully someone interrupted before he could answer.
"Reinhardt! You should be resting!" a livid Brigitte said sternly, marching up the stairs towards them.
"Oh no…" he muttered, shifting his body slightly away from her.
"Don't pretend you didn't hear me! You need to go back to the Medical Bay!"
"I have already recovered" he lied.
"I don't care! You're coming with me!"
Quillion watched with interest. He had always imagined Reinhardt to be arrogant in all things and would never follow instructions, so to see him recoiling before Brigitte's scornful gaze is a sight to behold.
It was at this moment he realized that throughout his service for Overwatch, he barely spoke to anyone but Lena, Morrison, Winston, and, most unfortunately, McCree. Even his conversations with Angela were mostly about his injuries or when he could be discharged. Now it seemed like a waste that he had not known the others better.
"And you! Report back to your officer" she snapped at Quillion, who nearly saluted at her tone, but was able to hold himself back.
"Good to see you too Brigitte"
"You dare speak to a Lieutenant in that tone? What's your rank-" she started angrily for a moment before realizing who he was.
"Wait, Quillion? I'm sorry, I didn't recognize you because of your-"
"Hair, yes, I think I'm seeing a trend" he said, absentmindedly touching his hair.
"Why aren't you in the Medical Bay?" she snapped, not at Reinhardt, but at him.
"Excuse me?"
"Lena's in there and you didn't even visit once? What's the matter with you?"
Surprised at her confrontation, he tried to reply but felt himself falter under the pressure of her gaze.
"Everytime you're in the Medical Bay she would visit from time to time but you? You call yourself a friend? You're going there right now! You too Reinhardt!" she ordered.
Immediately both men hung their heads and followed.
*Gibraltar: Medical Bay*
Quillion was impressed how much bigger and cleaner the Medical Bay has become, wishing that some of the equipment were here when he was around.
New rooms, bright lights, clean beds, and various other equipment had made it look like a proper hospital, unlike before where it was almost a makeshift clinic, which in fairness, it was.
"Reinhardt, where would you be without me?" Angela asked when applying a healing stream while he grudgingly sat on the bed in one of the rooms.
"Why do you always ask me that? You should ask everyone else who also needed you" Reinhardt laughed.
Ignoring the comment, she turned her attention to the Quillion, who looked ridiculous with his ponytail. She was surprised that Jack had not asked him to cut his hair or something since he had always been extremely particular how his soldiers were presented and groomed.
"I suppose you are here to see Lena?" she asked.
"Wait, you know who I am?" he asked hopefully. Finally someone who can recognize him.
"Yes… And no… The dragon knows at least" she said, setting her staff next to Reinhardt's bed, who is being overseen by Brigitte.
"Dragon?"
"Long story, but I can sort of see people I know through walls and how healthy they are" she smiled, indicating her blue eyes that have shades of green at the edges.
"You mean you have natural xray vision?"
"Not exactly, there's no radiation involved"
"I mean you can actually see people through walls? With their health? That's incredible! That would be a huge advantage in the battlefield!"
"Let's hope that there will not be another battlefield"
As they spoke, Quillion noticed that there is a considerable increase in manpower here, though most of them looked bored and were only here because it was their shift. Some were also looking at him strangely because Angela has always maintained a strict work discipline, therefore to have a total stranger chatting casually with her is a strange sight.
Opening one of the doors, Angela stepped in first and Quillion took a moment before entering, somewhat uncomfortable at the thought of Lena being bedridden and how she would react due to his lack of visits.
"'bout time you visited!" Lena exclaimed, turning away from the 'window' to see who it is "It's been super boring here!"
"Can she hear me?" Quillion asked Angela.
"Of course I can! It didn't take long for Angie to patch me up!"
"She's still recovering so it will be another couple of days before I will discharge her" Angela added.
"Aww common, you already said my ears are alright!" Lena complained when a knock came from the door.
"Dr Zigler? Master Engineer Torbjorn is asking for you" a nurse said, poking her head in.
"Very well, I'll be back soon" Angela said before leaving.
When she left, a long awkward pause lingered between them, merely looking at each other. One would think that they would have many things to discuss or talk about, especially with his list of questions.
What happened to the shuttle? Who attacked them? How did she rupture her ears? Was she ever going to come back for him? Had she found what she was looking for? Why did she pick him to be someone's custodian?
He opened his mouth but found it dry. She is still the beautiful woman that he remembered her to be, the almost exact copy of the woman whom he loved. A fated, one in a trillion roll of the dice, reminder of who she was… By all that is good and holy, why can't he remember her name?
Seeing that he is struggling to get the conversation going, Lena cleared her throat and spoke.
"How was life in France?"
"It was… Good"
"Good"
Silence...
"Did you find what you're looking for?" Quillion asked.
"Still getting there" she admitted.
"Hmm…"
Pause...
"Wow this is awkward" he said .
"Yeah… Err-"
"Sorry I haven't visited, was busy with something"
"Oh? Don't worry about it luv, Brigitte filled me in with most of the details"
"What details?"
"Well I still don't know the full picture, but from what I've got, whoever hit us, hit you guys pretty hard too?"
"How could you possibly have deduced that?"
"Elementary dear Watson!" she said with a cheekiness that thankfully melted away the awkwardness.
"Fine Sherlock, fill me in"
"It wasn't hard. Brigitte told me what happened when the base was attacked just before we came back. From what she told me, they destroyed the rocks that the terrorist group used as an explosive in France, so I have Athena to pull up some pictures and from where the attack was, I guessed it must've been directed at both of you"
"What? You knew where she lived?"
"No, but an attack on a manor that is in the middle of the lake? No one would waste their resources like that. That was until Athena picked you two up around the same time when the attack occurred, which explains why there was an attack in such an isolated place"
"How'd you figure it's the same group?"
"Cause they came and destroyed the rock evidence. I doubt anyone else would wanna risk their lives attacking us so they'd use their own resources"
Quillion could not help but feel impressed. Even during her recovery, she still spends her time productively. This piece of information had given him a bit of hope.
Whoever attacked them, attacked Overwatch because it was in the process of figuring out who they are. Therefore, with its resources, he and Amelie will know the identity of their target soon.
"So? How did I do?"
"Luck" he smiled.
"Hump, how would you know? Ya think I got the rank of Lieutenant just from charms alone?" she replied in mock arrogance.
"I dunno, when I first met you, you're using a stick, that don't really scream intelligence to me"
"Shut up" she laughed and threw her pillow at him.
He dodge the pillow and it flew straight to the door when Angela came in.
"Looks like both of you have caught up" she said calmly, catching the pillow as if she was picking a fruit without so much as a flinch.
"Whoa you can see that Angie?" Lena asked.
"No, but I can see you throwing something"
"Gotta say, that will come in very handy once we are out on the field!"
"Let's hope that will not be needed" Angela sighed.
Before anyone could say another word, an announcement chimed through the base, followed by Athena's voice echoing through.
"All agents to the Meeting Room, all agents to the Meeting Room"
"Wonder if that includes us" Lena asked hopefully, a question which Athena answered.
"Yes Lena, this includes everyone in the Medical Bay"
"Wait, by whose authority-?" Angela began when the door crashed open behind her.
"What are you all waiting for?! Let's go!" Reinhardt shouted, one arm carrying Brigitte and Torbjorn in the other.
"Let me go ya big oaf!" Torbjorn shouted, struggling to free himself.
"Put us down Reinhardt!"
"Well, I suppose I'll go back to the Data Room and-" Quillion sighed before he too was cut off.
"Your presence is required Corporal Zero"
"Hey! I did not say I'm rejoining Overwatch!"
"Would you like me to call the Commander?"
All eyes turned to Quillion, who gulped. Thankfully his head stopped hurting so he could think straight.
"The meeting room is still at the same place?"
*Gibraltar: Meeting Room*
The instant everyone from the Medical Bay entered the room, they recoiled. Not because everyone else was already there looking at them, nor was the fact of the very unexpected return of Ana, Fareeha, McCree and Genji. It was not even the fact that Hana is there with them.
It was because Sombra was pressing something in the air casually while Baptiste was looking around nervously.
"Wait! Isn't that...?" Lena gasped.
"You!" Quillion shouted, pointing at Sombra.
"Is that THE Dva?!" Reinhardt exclaimed.
"I said put me down!" Torbjorn roared.
"How could you not know she was here?" Brigitte shot back.
"Enough" Morrison ordered, quieting the room.
"You look ridiculous" Sombra said, eyeing Quillion, who seethed at the sight of her.
The last time he saw her was when she abandoned them after their defeat in Talon, leaving him and Amelie to be tortured for what must've been days. A betrayal that he had not forgiven her for and is still a debt that demands to be paid.
Then a puzzling thought crawled into his mind.
Has she been an agent of Overwatch after all this time? After all, she was the one who tried to help him in England, knew about the glasses, the safehouse, and planned the assault on Talon. If so was she the one who called Winston to aid them? However, the reaction from everyone else dashed away that possibility.
Within a minute, everyone shot every concern at Morrison. Security, safety, and various other concerns that could be at risk with Sombra nearby, but with a wave of his hand, they backed down.
"I can assure you, neither Sombra nor Baptiste will be a risk to anything or anyone here" he said, beckoning everyone to sit down.
"Ya heard the boss, we got it all under control" McCree said.
"You are the last person to say that!" Genji retorted.
"Whaddaya mean? We always have it under control!"
"Not from the mess that I had to pull both of you out of" Ana sighed, placing a hand on each other's shoulder, ending the discussion immediately.
After a few more reassurances, they all took their seats, each having their own reasons to be uncomfortable at the presence of the world's best hacker.
"With that out of the way, tell us what you know Sombra"
Sombra reached out to one of the datapads that had been set out for her and everyone stood up from their seats, ready to pounce on her if she does anything that looks suspicious.
"Jumpy" she smirked.
"Do not worry, the datapad is not connected to anything, nor would she have access to me or the base" Athena voiced out.
Seeing that they are still unconvinced, Sombra rolled her eyes.
"Look, I already know all of your dirty little secrets alright? There's no point for me to waste my storage with any more useless information. Plus, you do know what I do is actual hacking yes? If you give me something that ain't connected to anything, I can't do anything about it"
"But how can we trust you?" Winston quizzed.
"Fine. Don't. But you should know that I can hack into the UN anytime I want ya? Look, you guys want to know what I have to say or not?"
"What information could you possibly have that would benefit us?" Angela asked, her tone stricter than usual.
"Well, I can tell you all, right now, who attacked you and where to find them"
That had the attention of the room and when she saw everyone snapping looks at each other, she decided to sweeten the deal, much to Baptiste's surprise, by addressing each head of Overwatch with none of her usual blackmailing methods.
"Not only that, I can speed up the process for the insurance companies" she added with a sing-song voice, earning a dark look from Angela "I know you know that the insurance companies are all crooks, I heard you guys got hit pretty hard eh? With a flick of my finger I can assure you that those families will be compensated"
"And for you Winston, don't you want to know what are the exact barriers that are holding humanity back from its fullest potential? I can tell you exactly what and where the roadblocks are, and how to remove them" she said to him, whose eyes went from cautious to burning curiosity.
"I also know for a fact that both of you would not rest until everyone you love will be well looked after you're gone, I can make it happen" Sombra eyed Reinhardt and Torbjorn, who remained still as statues.
Both Quillion and Lena looked at Morrison, wondering what sort of bargain that she would give him, but he said nothing, merely waiting for her to finish.
"And what do we owe for this generosity?" Angela asked.
"All I ask is a tiny bit of your time. And Wisnton's" she added.
With that said, they both shared a look and sat back down. Even if Sombra's reputation is as fearsome as reported, there is no way she should be able to outsmart both of them.
"Excellente, now let's begin" she said, grabbing the datapad and winking when some in the room flinched.
Purple light flows from her hand into the datapad before connecting it to an old holovid, illuminating the dark screen with pictures, documents, and plans for the Pax Eternum Signing Ceremony.
"You should already know that the HLC is planning to crash the party next month? I'll not bore you with that detail since you only want to know is who and where they are"
Everyone held their breath when she flicked through another set of pictures and stopped at the Iris, its pictured gaze just as piercing as the real thing.
"What you see here is the so-called Iris that the Shambali Monks always preached about, a whole bunch of nonsense" she said, ignoring Genji who shifted in his seat but dare not make a move in front of Angela and Ana "But once you peel off its layers…"
Waving her hand, pieces of the Iris began deleting away like a concept art, an ominous purple glow replaced the comforting yellow and the upside down 'v' began merging itself with the Iris symbol beneath it, shaping until it becomes a full eye, before finally the four lines pointed down formed into three dots beneath it.
The Conspiracy.
"How do we know this isn't just some random editing?" Brigitte interjected.
"It is not" Athena replied.
"This is only a small snippet of the full picture, which myself and Bap finally uncovered in India, so let us expand this a little bit…" Sombra continued, rotating her hand as if unlocking a safe.
They watched as the picture zoomed out, but do not see that anything had changed besides the picture getting smaller. Most interestingly, the further she zoomed out, the slower the process seemed to become, to a point when Sombra began to flip through it frame by frame. Finally, after a full minute of clicking, their patience came to a shocking revelation.
"What?" Morrison growled, standing up.
"No… It is not possible" Winston gasped.
Between frames, there is a still image of a telescope. A massive telescope that scientists use to study the stars. Strangely enough, this particular one is pointed towards planet Earth.
"Like I said before, The Conspiracy just loves to shove the obvious right at your face, especially when they say that they 'see everything', right Winston?" Sombra said.
To everyone but Quillion, the location is as clear as day.
Horizon Lunar Colony.
Hey all, just wanna inform everyone that workload has piled up and is really eating up my time.
Let's just hope that I can finish some of it so this story can continue unhindered eh?
Until then, uploads will be unpredictable until further notice.
Stay safe and healthy all, see ya in the next one :D