Guardians Come in All Shapes and Forms

Chap 3

Oh, my head.' Mercy thought in excruciating pain.

Her vision kept going in and out as she struggled to make out her surroundings. Yet, even the slightest movements caused her nerves to flare up in pain. From the small actions, Mercy could tell that she had third-degree burns on her body and a few broken bones. If it wasn't for the nano-machines in her body, Mercy was confident that she would have succumbed to her injuries moments after the plane crashed. Hearing another explosion followed by the ground shaking, Mercy knew she had to get to a safe distance; otherwise, an explosion would kill her. But her injuries were making it difficult to move forward even slightly. Luckily, she spotted her Caduceus Staff nearby.

'Must...get...to...it.' Mercy desperately thought, trying her best to ignore the pain as she slowly crawled to her staff.

But every inch closer to it she got, the more the pain increased. Typically, her nano-machines would dull any pain to tolerable levels so she could focus on any task at hand. However, they were preoccupied with keeping her alive, which meant dulling the pain was a low priority. Yet, she knew that she would die if she didn't heal herself quickly. Although she never feared death, even before they created the respawn device, she never wanted to die. Unfortunately, while the respawn machine would have brought her back to life if she died, she was far out of range. Feeling her vision beginning to darken, Mercy realized it was too late.

"No." Mercy whispered as she realized her fate was sealed.

She would die, and most likely, no one would ever know. Memories began to surface, yet while they started nice, they quickly turned saddening. They began with her spending time with her parents and helping others when they needed someone to help them. But, they were replaced by memories of the day she lost her parents and the times when her so-called teammates abandoned her during missions. However, her eyes snapped open when she heard rustling nearby. Fearing it might be a dangerous animal or Talon hostile, Mercy used her remaining strength to grab her Caduceus Blaster.

"Who's there?" She asked, pointing toward where the rustling was originating.

However, she became confused when a figure wearing a weird red suit and hazmat helmet exited the bushes. Despite her vision still blurry and going in and out, Mercy could tell that the figure was bruised and confused. But that did not mean it wasn't hostile. Raising her blaster, she aimed it at the person and was about to demand that it identify itself. Unfortunately, the searing pain proved too much, which caused Mercy to drop her arm and blaster with a pained grunt. And while uncertain if this was good or bad, her pained grunt caught the mysterious figure's attention. It then ran over to her, albeit slowly as it was limping. Once it reached her, it began trying to find a way to help her. Figuring that she had nothing left to lose and that it was worth a shot, she used her remaining strength to point to her staff.

"Please. My staff. On the bottom, button. Press it. And point it at me."

Confused, the figure muttered incoherently before looking around. It then moved to her staff and picked it up. It began to look it over while mumbling in what seemed like confusion and reminiscence. After a few more seconds, it finally found the button. Nodding, it returned, pointed the staff at Mercy, and pressed the button. A yellow beam emanated from the staff and connecter to her.

"So, that's how that feels." Mercy said in relief as her staff slowly healed her body. After ten more seconds, all her injuries were gone, and she could now move without excruciating pain. Breathing out, she stood up and stretched a bit before smiling. "That feels better. Thank you, whoever you are."

"Mrghfrr!"

"Um, what?"

"Mmmh, mmh!"

"Excuse me."

"Mmphn frphha herrpha."

"I knew I should have asked Junkrat to help me understand Roadhog. It would have been handy now." Mercy said, annoyed with herself. Huffing, she turned back to the figure and noticed that it was still severely injured. "Here. Let me help you."

Gently taking the staff from the mysterious figure, Mercy began to heal it. However, it took much longer for her staff to fully heal its injuries. But after a few seconds, all visible bruises and lacerations were gone. The person then shook its arms and legs while letting out a mumble that sounded like a sigh of relief.

"Fink fhu."

"You're welcome."

*Boom*

"Verdammt." Mercy said, mentally cursing herself for forgetting they were still next to a crashed plane that could explode at any moment. Turning back to the figure, Mercy saw him looking around in either confusion or worry. "Listen. I need your help."

"Mmmrgh!"

"Some people might still be trapped. I need you to get anyone who's trapped by the fire or inside the wreckage out. I'll bring anyone who's outside the wreckage to safety and tend to their injuries.

"Uh-huh."

With that said, the figure went inside the wreckage to search for any survivors while Mercy checked the surrounding area. Unfortunately, nearly every person she came across was dead. And some were horribly mutilated, while others clearly burned to death. Saying a quick prayer for them, Mercy moved past the bodies and continued to search for survivors. After about ten minutes, she managed to find and bring to safety six people.

"My healing steam will fix you up." Mercy said as she lowered an injured child to the ground before using her staff to heal her injuries.

"Thank you, Ms. Angela." The child said, smiling as the staff filled her with warmth as her bruises disappeared.

"You're welcome. But now, just rest. Everything will be okay." Mercy said, smiling before instinctively covering the child when she heard an explosion behind her. Turning around, Mercy saw that one of the engines had exploded and sent debris flying everywhere. Luckily, the remains of the plane's body blocked any debris from hitting them. However, that was only one of the three remaining engines. There were two others nearby, and they could explode at any moment.

"Are we going to be okay?"

"Yes, you're going to be okay. Hang on a little more, and we'll move to a safer spot."

"Heelp, mfe!"

"W-what was that?"

"Somone I met." Mercy answered while picking up her staff and blaster. "Stay here. I'll be right back."

Standing up, Mercy turned around and headed in the direction of the voice. Luckily, she didn't have to run far as she quickly spotted her helper. However, she did have to run over and help it as he was carrying two people with three others walking beside it. Fortunately, the worst one only had a limp and a few burns covering his body.

"Is that everyone?" Mercy asked as they helped the people reach the others.

"Uh-huh."

"Good. Let me finish healing them, and then we can get out of here." Mercy said as she lowered the person she was helping to the ground. But as soon as she did so, another engine exploded. "Damn it. We're running out of time. Stand back."

"Mrghfrr?"

"HEROES NEVER DIE!" Mercy declared as she activated her Valkyrie form.

"Khamahh!" The figure said, startled, taking a step back as Mercy flew off the ground. She then activated her staff while pointing it at the child from before. It released the yellow energy beam, which connected to the child before reaching out and connecting to the others. And in only about five seconds, everyone was up, healed, and feeling refreshed.

"That's better." Mercy said as she landed on the ground.

"Thank you, Ms. Angela." Everyone said, smiling. However, their smiling turned to fear when the plane's third engine exploded. Unfortunately, while the first two times, no one was injured, a man was killed when shrapnel pierced his skull. Thankfully, only three children were present, and nearby adults covered their eyes in time so they wouldn't have to see more death.

"We better get going." Mercy said as two adults dragged the body away.

"But where should we go? We have no idea where we are?" A man asked.

"There was a few survival kits in the plane's cockpit. If we can get them, we will be able to safely travel to the nearest town and get help. Unfortunately, while the cockpit is intact, fire is blocking the only entrance." A stewardess answered.

"Maybe your friend here can help. While I'm not sure what suit he's wearing or who gave it to him, I know it is an asbestos-lined suit that should protect him from the fire." Another male said.

"Not exactly a friend as I just met him not even half an hour ago. But I supposed he could try." Mercy said, turning to the figure. "Do you think you can head into the cockpit and retrieve what we need?"

"Uh-huh." The figure said, nodding.

However, instead of going around the back entrance, it walked over to the front of the plane. Mercy was about to ask what it was doing but stopped when two handles suddenly appeared on both sides. Everyone became confused but quickly understood what it was doing when it pressed two handles while jumping into the air.

"COOL!" The children said when they realized that figure summoned a jetpack from out of nowhere. The jetpack let out a blast of air which sent the figure into the air near the cockpit's windows. It then climbed in and began searching for the survival kits.

'Where did that come from? I know Winston would love to know how that works.' Mercy thought as the figure continued to rummage around the cockpit. After a few tense minutes, it reappeared with six kits slung across its arms. It then used its jetpack to return to the ground safely.

"Thank God. You found all of them. We can not get to safety." The stewardess said as she rushed to the figure and took the medkits from it. She then began looking through each one before letting out a relieved sigh. "Everything is here."

"Murr hurr mphuphurrur, hurr mph phrr." The figure said before giving the stewardess some more bags, which she quickly identified as ration bags.

"How long will the supplies last?" A lady asked.

"Including Ms. Angela and this person, there a total of twelve people. If we ration correctly, there would be five days of food rations." The stewardess answered as she sealed closed the kits so nothing would fall out or get damaged.

"So, where should we go?"

"How about we determine that after we get clear of the area? I don't want to be here when the last engine explodes." Another lady suggested.

"Wait, shouldn't we send out a flare, leave a message or do something to let any passing planes know there are survivors?" One of the children asked.

"We could send out a flare and leave a message. But while the message could be some sticks and rocks, we would still need something to launch the flare. We have three of them but no launcher." The stewardess answered.

"Hudda hudda, khamahh!" The figure said, getting everyone's attention. Turning to it, they noticed that it had pulled out a weird-looking flare gun from somewhere.

"That would work. Here's a flare. Launch it straight into the sky, so there is a higher chance of someone seeing it." The stewardess said, handing it the flare.

"Uh-huh." The figure said, ejecting the current flare and replacing it with the new one. It then aimed the flare gun into the sky and pulled the trigger. The flare traveled high into the sky, lighting it up to near blinding levels.

"Hopefully, someone sees it." Mercy said as they quickly left the crash site. Typically, she would try and be as optimistic as possible, but she found that harder to achieve and maintain after the recent months.

Two Hours Later

"Are the kids asleep?" Mercy asked as some of the adults returned to the campsite.

"Yes. They fell asleep almost instantly." A lady answered as she sat next to Mercy.

"After everything they've been through, we can't blame them." The stewardess said as she sat down across from Mercy while continuing to study the map.

"How far are we from the nearest town?" Mercy asked.

"Well, we were supposed to land in Airlie Beach. Unfortunately, we crashed far away from there. And the only place that would be able to accommodate us and have adequate transportation is Bowen. There is a highway nearby, but it's quite dangerous getting there."

"Where should we go then?" A man asked.

"There is a nearby harbor. While it is no longer in use, there is still an active communication building and telephones to get distress signals out. If we can get there, we would have shelter and a way to call out for help."

"How long would it take to get there?" Mercy asked.

"About a day if we maximize our traveling distance. But considering we have kids and land can be difficult with some unknown dangers, I would give a rough estimate of nearly two days."

"I don't think we would have to worry about the dangers out there when we have one right here." The man said, subtly referring to the mysterious figure.

Ever since they left the crash site, everyone had been on edge about the mysterious figure that helped Mercy rescue everyone. Especially when they learned that Mercy had never seen it before, was wearing an asbestos-lined suit, and could pull things from thin air. However, everyone nearly ran when it pulled out a homemade flamethrower from thin air. Even Mercy was about to use her blaster to take it down should it prove hostile. However, everyone calmed down slightly when they realized it seemed nervous and constantly checked its surroundings. But that did not put everyone's nerves entirely at ease. After two hours of traveling, everyone decided to make camp for the night as everyone was tired and it was getting late. Knowing they needed to quickly start a fire as it got cold during Australian nights, they searched for wood. Luckily, the figure was already ahead of them and had gathered enough wood and used its flamethrower to get the fire going.

"Are you sure you haven't seen it before today?" The stewardess asked Mercy.

"No. When I woke up after the crash, my vision kept going in and out. But right before I passed out again, I saw it coming out from the bushes. However, it was severely injured."

"I don't get a good feeling from it." The man nervously said when the figure kept tensing up every time it heard something.

"Neither do I. But we'll have to put up with it until we get to safety." The stewardess said as she folded the map and put it away.

"We should probably head to sleep now. It's already past midnight, and if we want to get to the harbor as quickly as possible, we need to wake up early."

"We should probably take shifts in keeping watch for any signs of danger." The man suggested.

"I'll keep first watch. You guys get some rest." Mercy offered.

"Are you sure? We wouldn't mind taking the first shift. You've done more than enough already." The lady asked.

"I-I'm sure. I'm used to it." Mercy assured with a smile everyone could easily tell was forced. What no one knew, not even the Overwatch family, was that Mercy often suffered from nightmares, which resulted in her barely getting any sleep. And those were only the days when she wasn't busy tending to others' minuscule needs that they could very easily handle themselves.

"Alright. But wake us up in an hour." The stewardess said with a sigh.

'Alright, Angela. You can do this. It would be like any other day working at Overwatch.' Mercy mentally told herself while holding back a few tears. Despite being assured by the few Overwatch members that she could call friends, she often felt neglected. And after nearly three years of this treatment, she was sure that nothing would change and hardly anyone would notice if she left. She sometimes wondered if she did the correct thing by agreeing to rejoin Overwatch. Taking a deep breath and breathing out, she composed herself as she knew she needed to remain vigilant for the next hour to keep everyone safe. "You got this."

"Khamahh, Mrrdrr!" The figure said, starling her. Looking to her side, Mercy saw it had quietly walked over to her and sat down next to her.

"Um, excuse me?" Mercy said, trying her best to make out any words from the figure.

"Mhhhhoooooo! Khamahh, Mrrdrr!" The figure said, clearly getting annoyed.

"Uh, do you, by chance, know sigh language?"

"Uh-huh."

'Thank God.' Mercy mentally said in relief. "Do you require my aid?"

"Was asking if you are okay, Medic?"

"How did you know I'm a medic?"

"You're thingy is similar to how a medic I used to work alongside used."

"Really?"

"Uh-huh."

"Well, I'm fine. Just a bit tired."

"Get some rest then."

"I can't. I promised the others that I would take the first shift."

"Then let me take the first shift. I'm good and don't require much sleep."

"Are you sure?"

"Uh-huh. It's not the first time I have done this either."

"Really?"

"Well, not exactly. Either way, I have my weapons to fend off anything that tries to attack us."

"Okay. But try not to burn down the forest."

"No promises."

"Alright." Mercy said, standing up and stretching. "But before I go to sleep, can I ask you something?"

"Uh-huh."

"What is your name?"

"I don't have a name."

"Well, what did your co-workers call you?" Mercy asked, curious but also slightly concerned. Instead of answering, the figure pointed to the fire symbol on its left arm. "Fire?"

"No."

"Pyrotechnic?"

"No. Close."

"Pyro?"

"Uh-huh."

"Well, Pyro. Thank you for helping me earlier. Good Night. Wake me up in about an hour so I can take the next shift."

"Uh-huh."

Smiling, Mercy went over to her spot and instantly fell asleep. However, she would not have a pleasant night as nightmares plagued her mind. But, surprisingly, those dreams left her when Pyro entered her mind. For some reason, it seemed like it chased the bad dreams away. Meanwhile, across from her, Pyro was carefully observing Mercy until it was sure she was asleep. And once it was certain, it got up and decided to scout around the camp to ensure everyone was safe. Whether it was a habit that came from guarding Engineer's buildings or something else, it did not know. All it did know was that it would help clear its mind from everything that happened in the past couple of hours.

Notes:

A couple of things to clarify. Pyro is not as insane as he used to be. He still is insane, just not as insane. He can understand things more things clearly now and doesn't see everything in Pyrovision now.

Also, after it started living with the Engineer on his farm, the Engineer taught Pyro sign language for fun.