Cracks and Splinters

Talon Dropship- Destination India

Reaper had a force of 20 soldiers with him and he hoped they were somewhat competent this time. Recently, the troopers hadn't been very useful and frankly, Reaper would of been better off alone.

Reaper also had an envelope, currently sat on the holotable, containing sealed orders from Doomfist. Reaper hadn't looked at them yet. Instead, he simply sat, staring at the troopers along for the ride. After a long silence for pretty much the entire trip, Reaper finally spoke.

"So, are you guys any good? Or will I be heading back to base alone?"

The commander for the squad quickly stepped forward, placing his arms behind his back. "Doomfist handpicked us personally sir. I assure you we are some of the best at Talon."

"I'll be the judge of that. You know the mission objectives?"

"Partly sir. Doomfist informed me that you'd fill in the gaps."

At this point, Reaper walked over to the envelope, picking it up and unsealing it. "At least you sound more professional than most of the grunts." He admitted to the squad commander.

Reaper pulled out the orders, reading through them. It was a carefully laid out plan, seemingly hand written by Doomfist himself. However, the content wasn't exactly what Reaper thought it would be.

"Change of plans then Akande?"

Vishkar Corporation- Utopaea, India

Satya Vaswani was currently sat behind a desk, compiling a large array of paperwork. Vishkar had asked for her opinion on a future planned project and she was just finishing the final parts of her report, placing the final page in place and stapling the document together.

With her report complete, Satya placed it into a folder and dropped it onto her desk. She ran her hands through her hair and breathed out, heavily.

"That took longer than expected." Satya said to herself. Knowing that she needed a break, Satya decided to grab a coffee from the canteen and perhaps talk to a colleague or two, if anyone was around. It was a quieter day and most of the staff weren't in. She stood up and walked towards the elevator.

As she reached the elevator, she pressed the call button and waited for its arrival. As she stood, Satya looked out of the window, analysing the city below.

Vishkar headquarters stood near the centre of the city, a large tower marking its location. The tower was surrounded by smaller buildings, all of which circled the main tower. Satya was only half way up the tower and the view was nothing short of breathtaking, though it wasn't the view that made Satya think this.

Vishkar built this entire city and it was proof of what could be accomplished by them. Everyone's lives were better because of Vishkar. This was why she worked for them, to make the world a better place, even if some of Vishkar's methods were a bit extreme.

As the elevator pinged and the doors opened, Satya walked inside, pressing the button for the canteen. This gave Satya a moment to dwell on her thoughts. She remembered Brazil, the explosion... the girl with half her face burnt. It was something that never sat right with her. Even now, she still couldn't believe that Vishkar blew up an entire building. Something wasn't right about the whole situation.

Once the elevator arrived, Satya stepped out and walked into the canteen, which was its own dedicated floor. She walked over to the coffee machine, collecting a small mug from a nearby counter and holding it under the machine. A number of buttons were pressed, setting it to Satya's preferred blend of coffee, before the mug began to fill.

"Hello there Satya. How goes the report?"

Satya recognised the voice instantly, looking up briefly to acknowledge Sanjay. "Completed. How was your trip? Business I assume?"

"Indeed and it was very productive. I'll have your report on my desk at your earliest convenience."

As Sanjay went to walk away, a large rumble was felt through the entire building, stopping everyone in their tracks. They all simply stood for a few moments, before Sanjay's phone finally rang.

"What's going on?" He asked.

"We're under attack by Talon! Oh god, it's Rea..." Whoever was on the other end of the call was silenced by a gunshot. It didn't take a genius to work out what had happened.

Sanjay now turned to Satya. "Get your equipment and help get people out. If Reaper's here, then we're all in trouble." Satya didn't reply, instead running to the stairs and up three floors. It was fortunate that her equipment was kept close by, that meant she could enter the battle a lot quicker.

As she reached the storage room, a few heavily armed security guards ran past her, heading down towards the attackers. Satya opened the room and ran to her equipment, quickly putting it on and activating her weapon. Since Talon was attacking, she knew that killing was the only option. Just before leaving, Satya placed down the exit for her teleport. If Talon became too much, then she could teleport herself and anyone else away.

Now armed with her equipment, Symmetra emerged from the storage room, heading back the way she just came and towards the incoming battle. She quickly reached the canteen level again, passing numerous unarmed employees on their way up the tower. Once at the canteen, she found Sanjay talking to one of the security guards. Once he saw Satya, he dismissed the guard and walked towards her.

"I want you on the lower levels with the rest of the security, they'll need your abilities to stand any chance against Talon."

"What happened to getting people out?"

"Talon has the lower levels, no one can get out. We need to hold them back."

"Very well." Satya replied, heading for the stairs down. She ran down several flights of stairs before finding the makeshift fortifications the security had set up. It was nothing more than a few desks, toppled over and moved to block the stairwell. She knew it wouldn't hold long against Talon. Satya quickly walked over to the security chief, who was busy barking out orders.

"Situation report."

The security chief turned to Satya. "Symmetra, glad you're here. We've set up our defences here and I have someone wiring the elevators one floor up. Talon will have to either take the lift here or get through the barricade on the stairs."

"I will set up defences on the stairs, have your men cover the elevator." The chief nodded as Satya moved back to the stairwell, setting up six of her turrets above the makeshift fortification and moving back to the elevator. She also set up a shield generator at the rear of the room, giving extra protection to the security forces.

As soon as the shield generator was running, the elevator began to move down towards the bottom of the tower. After a short wait, it began moving back up, heading straight towards the defending forces.

Satya took one last look at the security forces. There were a few guards with some larger weaponry but nowhere near enough to fight people like Talon. She just hoped that they could hold them back.

As the elevator reached its destination, the doors opened and the security opened fire. The elevator was filled with bullets, which would of killed anyone inside. After a few moments, the security stopped firing. The elevator stood dormant and no one emerged from it. Nor were there any bodies. With no movement from it, everyone deemed the elevator safe.

A mere few seconds passed until the barricades on the stairs exploded, shortly followed by gunshots from the stairwell.

"Focus on the stairwell!" The security chief called out, as a Talon trooper moved up the stairs. His advance was quickly stopped by Satya's turrets, which slowed him down and made him a sitting target for the security forces.

As the Talon trooper fell, the rest of the attacking force held position, a couple of troopers firing through the destroyed barricade and hitting one of the security guards. Fortunately, the shield generator meant that no serious damage was caused.

After a short while, a Talon trooper threw an EMP grenade up the stairwell, which detonated at the top and disabled Satya's turrets. With the turrets disabled, the troopers began to push up the stairs, two moving forward, carrying riot shields which took the bullets from Vishkar's security. Satya fired off an energy drain at one of the riot shields, which managed to cause the trooper behind to drop the shield. This gave Satya an opening to fire another energy drain, hitting the trooper and rendering him unconscious.

As the battle on the stairs continued, one Talon trooper hid behind the remaining riot shield trooper, aiming up and destroying Satya's turrets before they regained enough power to fire. This was something she expected, however Satya was concerned with another matter.

"Why are Talon only coming up the stairwell? Why are they not using the elevator as well?" She asked aloud. This was a question she quickly regretted asking, as a cloud of black smoke emerged from the bullet filled elevator. It quickly transformed into Reaper, who shot two security guards, killing them instantly. Before anyone could react, another two more were executed, causing a moment of panic between the rest of the guards.

The Talon troopers used the opportunity to advance, taking down three security guards near the stairwell, who were too occupied trying to avoid Reaper's shots.

Satya knew that they'd lost this fight the second Reaper showed up, so she threw down the other half of her teleport, which instantly activated and created a portal back to the storage room.

"Get through the teleport! Move!"

The remaining guards began to flee, simply giving Talon a further advantage. The troops began to cut down the closest guards they could see, apart from Reaper, who simply threw away his weapons while beelining for the teleport.

Four security guards, including the security chief, managed to get through the teleport before Satya ran through herself, seeing that Reaper was too close and accepting that anyone else was dead. As soon as she was through, she closed the teleport, leaving three other guards at the mercy of Reaper.

"There were still people in there!" The security chief said, clearly angry with Satya's decision to close the portal.

"They were dead anyway." Satya replied coldly, more focused on trying to work out how to beat Talon. "Where is Sanjay? He must be the target."

"He'll be on the top floor, likely with any other staff who can't fight." The security chief answered, still angry with Satya. Not that she cared really. They all had a job to do, that didn't mean they had to like each other.

"We need to get there. Follow me." Satya lead the way, checking that the immediate area was clear before heading towards the stairwell. The five person team ran up several floors before they heard something behind them. They all stopped and listened, hearing nothing but the wind. Then it dawned on them. They shouldn't be able to hear the wind in this stairwell.

They all began to run again, moving quicker than they did before. However, one guard was simply not fast enough and a large hand covered his mouth. The rest of them could do nothing but continue running as they heard the muffled screams of the guard, Reaper silencing him shortly afterwards.

Satya now contacted Sanjay, wishing she had done so a few moments beforehand. "Sanjay, we're heading towards the top of the tower. Reaper's right behind us, be ready!" She didn't bother asking for his location, simply assuming he was there.

"Get to the boardroom, we've set up a trap." Sanjay replied.

After what felt like an eternity running, the small team reached the top of the tower. Satya turned around and deployed a moving barrier, covering them as they ran through the corridors. The barrier managed to block the shots that Reaper fired at them but simply confirmed that he was a mere few seconds behind them.

Satya kept deploying barriers, stopping Reaper from firing any shots at them. Thankfully they were nearing the boardroom, hopefully that trap was enough to stop Talon. Once they were at the doors to the boardroom, Satya fired one more barrier before opening the door. However, as soon as she did, a barrel of a rifle immediately hit her head, knocking her to the ground. She wasn't able to get up in time before a second hit landed, knocking her out cold.

The culprit now aimed up at the remaining three security guards, shooting two and killing them. The security chief meanwhile had reached for his pistol and aimed to kill. He was never able to take the shot, as Reaper landed a shot on his back, the force knocking him down and making him drop his gun. He quickly crawled forward and grabbed his gun, only for Reaper to step straight on his hand, holding it in place. The security chief could do nothing but look up, as Reaper fired a round straight into his head, killing him.

With the security taken care of, he turned his attention to Satya, who was still unconscious. "Time to have a little chat, Symmetra."

Talon facility- Unknown location

It was early in the morning and Angela and Fareeha had been shaken awake by the breakfast service. It wasn't much of a breakfast, just a single piece of bread and a glass of water. They split the food between them and now sat after their lacklustre meal, waiting for whatever Talon had planned for them today.

They were both still very hungry, having not eaten properly for a few days now. Fareeha was also covered in bruises and cuts, while Angela had no visible injuries thanks to her self healing.

Even without any visible wounds, Fareeha could tell that Angela wasn't doing well. The other day Angela had been taken away without Fareeha for hours. She had no idea what they did, since Angela was very quiet for the rest of the day. Whatever happened had clearly shaken her.

"Ang." Fareeha said softly, placing her hand on Angela's. "What happened the other day? You've not been yourself since."

Angela didn't reply, instead looking down to the floor and avoiding eye contact.

"Ang, remember what we promised? Please talk to me."

Angela began to cry, immediately hugging Fareeha. "I did exactly what they wanted."

"What do you mean?" Fareeha hugged Angela tighter, trying to calm her down. "What did they do to you?"

Several hours earlier

Angela and Fareeha were sat in their cell after the freezing bath Talon had given them. The two of them were still slightly damp, however they had mostly dried off.

The sight of Soldier 76 and Ana had filled the two of them with hope. However, it had also worried them slightly. If Morrison and Ana could find that video link, then they could find this facility, which meant Talon would start to move quicker with their 'conditioning.' Both women knew this and so had been mentally preparing themselves for whatever Talon had planned.

There was something else that was bothering the two women, or rather someone else. Both of them had started to question their feelings towards the other. They both were worried and concerned when the other was injured and both constantly made sure to comfort the other. They thought it was because they were simply friends. Now though... now they both wondered if it was something more. Neither one dared to tell the other. It just didn't feel like the right time.

After a short while, the cell doors opened and a group of Talon troopers entered. They wasted no time dragging Angela to her feet and forcing her out of the room, completely ignoring Fareeha and leaving her alone in the cell.

Angela was dragged through the facility and into a small room, which had a chair ready for her. She was forced down onto the chair and held in place by a Talon soldier.

"Why am I not tied up?" She thought to herself, starting to worry about what was in store for her today. After a few minutes, Moira walked in, followed by another girl, being escorted by Talon troopers. Her hands were bound behind her back and her face was heavily bruised. Talon had clearly held her captive for a long time.

The girl was placed on a second chair and secured to it, tears in her eyes as she feared for her life.

Moira began to speak, placing her arms behind her back and walking behind the girl. "Morrison and Ana may have interrupted my plans, but make no mistake, that's all it will be. Now, I want your help Mercy."

The girl looked up upon hearing Angela's callsign, recognising it instantly.

"Go to hell! I'm not helping you Moira!" Angela objected.

Moira simply smirked and leaned down next to the girls right ear. The girl flinched slightly, trying to escape her but failing due to her restraints.

"Tell our guest what your name is." Moira told the girl.

"Veronica." The girl replied, her voice shaking in fear.

Moira looked over to Angela. "How old are you Veronica?"

"Twenty... I'm twenty."

Moira now walked away from Veronica, over to a table against the right wall. She opened a file and began moving papers around. "It says here that your were taken from your family during a holiday in New York. Mom and dad tried so hard to find you but they never could, after all, it's a big city. You're from Miami correct?"

"Yes." Veronica replied, turning to her left as a trooper pulled out his pistol and checked it over.

"It also states that you were studying to become a doctor. You said in an application that you were inspired by the heroic acts of medics such as... Mercy."

Veronica began to cry heavily, remembering what her life would have been if Talon hadn't taken her.

"Hey." Veronica looked up at Angela, who had managed to lean forward to speak to her. The Talon guard went to pull her back, yet Moira put her hand up to object, letting Angela speak.

"You need to be strong, okay. You'll make it through this, I promise you."

"Don't make promises you can't keep Angela." Moira now nodded at the Talon soldier that was checking his pistol. He placed his gun back in its holster before walking over to the table. There was something else on the table, a small selection of torture equipment.

Moira now walked behind Veronica again, placing her hands on her shoulders. "Angela, I want to know how your resurrection tech works. You're going to write it down for me. If you refuse, very bad things will happen to poor Veronica here."

Angela looked over to Veronica, seeing the fear in her eyes. She knew that she couldn't give them that information. With it, Talon would be unstoppable. However, she couldn't simply let this innocent girl be tortured because she refused to cooperate, it went against all her morals.

Angela never had time to decide what to do, as Veronica spoke up.

"Don't do it! Don't tell them anything!" Her voice was shaking. She knew what was coming, that Talon had no more use for her. It was obvious why she was here, she was expendable.

Moira sighed. "Very well. You may proceed."

The soldier near the table picked up a knife, before turning around and walking to Veronica. She tried to move away but failed due to her restraints. The knife was plunged into her left leg, causing Veronica to scream out in pain. The soldier began to beat her, striking her face multiple times and causing blood to start pouring from her nose.

Angela could do nothing but watch, the trooper behind holding her down. After a few minutes, the soldier stopped and Moira aimed her biotic grasp, draining the life force from Veronica.

"Moira, please! Stop!" Angela begged, but to no avail.

"You can stop this at any time Angela. Just agree to help us." Moira replied, releasing Veronica from her grasp. She now nodded to the Talon soldier again, who reached for his pistol and aimed it at Veronica's head.

"Right, let me make it a little easier for you." Moira said to Angela. "I'm going to count to five, decide if you're helping us or not."

Angela's eyes moved from Moira to Veronica. She didn't know what to do. "I can't..."

"One."

"Moira, please. This is between me and you!"

"Two."

"Let her go. I'll talk..."

"Three."

"Do you know what Talon will do if I tell you?"

"Four."

The soldier pushed the gun further towards Veronica, the barrel touching her head. Veronica closed her eyes, weeping as she prepared herself.

"I'm begging you Moira, just stop, please!"

"Fi..."

"I'LL DO IT!" Moira stopped counting and the soldier lowered his gun.

"I'll do it...just...stop...please." Angela had tears in her eyes. She didn't want to do this, but she saw no other way to save Veronica.

Moira waved the guard behind Angela away, letting her stand up. Moira moved towards the table, picking up a piece of paper and moving it towards the end of the table. She found a pen from her coat and held it out at Angela.

Angela walked over, reluctantly taking the pen and writing on the paper. She did exactly as she was told, writing down how her resurrection tech worked. Once she was done, she placed the pen down and turned to Moira, who had a large smile on her face.

"Five."

"NO!"

Angela's cry was not heard, as the Talon soldier brought his weapon back up to Veronica's head and fired. Her body slumped forward in the chair, held in place by her restraints. Angela did nothing but stare at the young girl for a few moments, before anger took over. She reached for Moira and pushed her against the table, breathing heavily as she did. The Talon soldier aimed his weapon at her but Moira managed to signal him to stand down.

"SHE WAS INNOCENT! I GAVE YOU WHAT YOU WANTED!" Angela screamed out at Moira, tears very visible in her eyes.

Moira simply smirked. "Not fast enough I'm afraid."

"You're a sick, twisted monster! I should..."

"You should what Angela? Go on. what do you want to do?"

Angela moved her hands to Moira's throat and stared at her face. She didn't see fear however. Instead, Moira smiled, wanting Mercy to continue.

Angela let Moira go, falling to her knees as she cried. All she could think about was the girl. If she's just did what they asked sooner, would she still be alive? She was shaken out of her thoughts, as Moira grabbed her and pulled her back to her feet.

"Let me show you something Angela." She forcefully pushed Angela out of the room and into another. Inside was a screen filled with images of other people. "All of these people are prisoners here. Each one of them is expendable. If you don't want anyone else to suffer the same fate as poor Veronica, if you don't want Fareeha to suffer anymore, you're going to do exactly as we say. Understand?"

Angela nodded in defeat. "Okay...what do you want me to do?"

Moira smiled to herself. She'd found Angela's breaking point, now all she needed to do was exploit it. "I want you to improve your resurrection tech, allow me to control it. Do that for me and I promise that we'll let some of them go."

Angela simply nodded again, as Moira signalled two Talon troopers. "Take her back to her cell. Let her think over the events of today."

Present day

"Oh my..." Fareeha was shocked by Talon's brutality. To outright shoot someone after Angela had done what they asked. It wasn't human. "Are you okay Ang?"

Angela had tears in her eyes. "I'm okay... What if I'd just done what they asked sooner? Would she still be alive? She had so much to live for..."

Fareeha turned and faced Angela, looking straight into her eyes. "Ang, it wasn't your fault. You couldn't have prevented it, no matter what you did. This is Talon, they'll do anything to break us. We need to stay strong and not give in."

Angela sniffled, nodding at what Fareeha said. "Faree... I can't just stand by and let them harm others. Not if I can stop it... not if it was you they were threatening."

Fareeha thought for a moment, before speaking quietly. "Ang... we don't have very many options left. You need to keep them busy for as long as possible."

Angela nodded once again. "Okay... I'll try." She said softly, locking eyes with Fareeha. They both stared at each other for what felt like hours, before they both leaned in, closing their eyes and sharing a long, deep kiss.

As they broke away, they just looked at each other, neither knowing what to say. Finally, Fareeha broke the silence.

"Ang... there's something I need to tell you, something that I don't think I'll get the chance to say ever again." She breathed in heavily. "Ang. I... I love..."

Fareeha never finished her sentence, cut off by the sound of the cell door opening. Two Talon troopers walked in. "Hope you've enjoyed each other's company. You're never going to see each other again." One of the troopers announced, sending chills down the two women's spines.

Fareeha was quickly picked up and pushed out of the room. She tried to look back, getting a short glance at Angela, who looked like she'd had her heart ripped out. Seconds later, the door slammed shut and Angela was left alone. She curled herself up at the back of the cell, crying once again.

Fareeha was the only thing keeping her sane and now she was gone. She didn't know how much longer she could last without her. She also knew what Fareeha was about to say... and she finally realised that she felt exactly the same. Now she'd never be able to tell her... and it broke her heart.

Base command centre

Meanwhile, in the control centre for the base, Moira was watching Fareeha and Angela being split up, all part of her plan of course. Angela was relying on her friend more and more and the timing of the troopers couldn't have been better.

After Fareeha was placed in another cell, some distance away from Angela, Moira turned around and began packing a briefcase. She placed the paper with Mercy's notes inside, along with various blood and chemical samples. After placing a couple more files inside, Moira closed the briefcase.

The base commander now walked in. "Ma'am. You requested me?"

"Yes. I'm leaving the base for a few days, transporting this to my secondary facility. I'm leaving you in charge till I return."

"I can have someone else take it there if you wish ma'am."

"No. I prefer to see to this myself. I assume you understand the situation with Mercy?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Good, keep to the timeline. Make sure that she cooperates and builds us that tech." Moira reached for a file, handing it to the commander. "Also, give this to Widowmaker, it's her latest assignment."

The commander took the file, saluting as he did and walked out of the command centre. Once he was gone, Moira checked around to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything and then picked up the briefcase, making her way towards the landing pad.

The commander meanwhile had walked the distance of the base and reached Widow's quarters. Both Widow and Sombra had arrived at the base a few days ago, shortly after Angela and Fareeha were captured. They'd stayed out of the way, deciding to let Moira get on with what she was doing.

The commander knocked on the door, waiting a few moments before he heard a reply.

"Enter."

The commander opened the door and stepped inside the room. Widow was sat at a table, reading and her equipment was on a counter near the back of the room. As the commander entered she placed her book down and stood up.

"Ma'am, your next assignment."

Widow accepted the document, opening and reading through it. "Thank you. Tell Sombra I need to see her and have a dropship with a small squad prepared."

"At once ma'am." The commander nodded his head, before leaving the room, closing the door as he did. Widow was left alone, reading through the file to see who her next target was.

Turned out it was a former Talon operative, who'd defected and had handed himself to the authorities. Talon insiders were saying that he wanted freedom and in return, he'd give them intel on Talon.

Just then, Sombra entered the room, not bothering to knock. She closed the door behind her and then spoke up. "Hey Widow, what's the mission then?"

"Talon defector. I'm to kill him before he talks."

"Seems easy enough. Where you going?"

Widow looked back to the start of the document, seeing the destination. However, as soon as she read it, she closed her eyes and clutched her head in pain, almost falling over. Thankfully, Sombra ran forward and caught her.

"Woah. I got you." Sombra sat Widow back down on the chair, kneeling down in front of her. "You okay?"

Widow soon opened her eyes and blinked a few times, letting go of her head as she breathed heavily. "Another memory... must of been triggered by the location I'm going to."

Sombra looked over to the file, which Widow had dropped due to the pain in her head. She picked it up and saw the location. Paris.

"What was the memory?"

Widow thought back on the memory. It was only a few pictures in her mind but somehow, she was able to put together a story.

"It was me and Gerard. We were visiting an old friend of mine in Paris. She'd just got back from her honeymoon, so we were going round to see how the newlyweds were doing. One of the images was me and him, on top of the Eiffel Tower. He'd challenged me to a race to the top. He won... though we didn't care really. It was perfect... just the two of us."

Widow snapped herself back to reality, looking straight at Sombra.

"Widow... you need to get out of here and soon." Sombra said.

"How? Where will I go? It's not like I can just go back home."

"I've got it covered. Can you get to my quarters?"

Widow stood, blinking again and took a few steps to make sure she was alright. "Oui. I can make it."

The two of them walked to Sombra's quarters, luckily just a short distance away, making sure to look as normal as possible. Once inside, Sombra locked the door and then walked to her bed, pulling out a small suitcase from under it.

"This case was built by Talon to hide your equipment from any security scanners. I've packed it full of everything you'll need. I have a place you can lay low, the address is inside. Since your going to France for your next mission, it seems obvious to escape now."

"It's so bad that I have to run?" Widow asked, slightly worried.

Sombra sighed. "Honesty... I think it is. I'm no expert at any of this... but I believe that your conditioning is going to fail, very soon."

"How soon?"

"We're talking days to a few weeks at best now."

Widow looked down at the suitcase, considering her options. There was no way she was prepared to forget her memories again but was this really the only option? She then remembered the Spider and her deal. Maybe that was another option... a far less risky one.

Suddenly, another wave of pain hit Widow. She quickly sat down on Sombra's bed, clutching her head in an attempt to reduce the pain. As the pain stopped, she looked up to see Sombra, holding a glass of water for her.

"Merci." Widow said, taking the glass and having a long drink.

"Say that again."

"What? Merci? It means..."

"I know what it means... I just thought of something." Sombra walked over to her computer, pulling up one of the bases cameras.

Sombra smiled. "Of course. We need a doctor that would be able to understand this... and she's one of the best around..."

Widow looked over to Sombra's computer. "And how exactly will you get her out? Let alone convince her to help us?"

Sombra thought for a moment. She hated to admit it but Widow was right. She would have to break Mercy out... and this base wasn't one of the easiest to escape from, Moira made sure of that.

"I'll think of something. You need to get ready to leave. Oh, one more thing." Sombra picked up a small device next to her computer. "Attach this to the inside of the dropship you go on, it'll allow me to control it. I'll cover your tracks as long as I can."

Widow nodded. She was thankful for Sombra's help but one thing was bothering her. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Why are you helping me? You're risking everything for me... no one's ever done that for me before."

Sombra thought for a moment, being very careful with her response. She considered that Reaper had a different motive, though she still didn't know what it was. Finally, she found an answer. "Because it's the right think to do. Go get your equipment, let me check it over for any bugs before you leave."

Widow could tell that there was more to Sombra's motive than what she said. Did she think it was bad? No. The way Sombra just spoke made her certain that she wasn't going to betray her.

Widow slowly stood up, walking towards the door and unlocking it. She looked out to make sure no one was around and then walked to her room, collecting Widow's Kiss, her thermal visor and her grappling hook. She returned to Sombra's room, once again checking her surroundings and staying as calm as she could.

Once back inside Sombra's room, she locked the door once again and placed her equipment on Sombra's desk. Sombra quickly got to work, picking up the rifle and scanning it for bugs, while Widow sat back down. She watched Sombra scan her rifle, activating the sniper configuration and checking every single part of it.

Eventually, Widow couldn't hold back her curiosity. She had to ask Sombra what her real motives were.

"Sombra."

"Hmm."

"What aren't you telling me? I can tell you're withholding something." Widow asked softly, taking her rifle back as Sombra finished checking it over.

Sombra meanwhile breathed out heavily. "You deserve to know..." She picked up Widow's thermal goggles, beginning to check them over. "Back when I joined Talon, I accessed their system and found all their important files. I read through yours... and I was horrified at what I saw. Turns out Gabe had noticed me in the system and payed me a visit. He asked me to get to know you, get you to talk to me."

Widow looked down to the floor. "So, you only spoke to me because Gabriel told you to do it?"

"At first... yes... but as time went on, I realised something. Under that wall that you'd created, that cold exterior... there was a person, someone that needed a friend. Gabe knows that your conditioning is breaking down and he trusted me with that information... but he doesn't know it's at this stage."

"You haven't told him?" Widow asked, as Sombra finished with her goggles and moved on to her grappling hook.

"No... I don't know what his motives are. I don't think he wants to harm you, he cares about us after all... in his own way. Either way, I don't want to see you reconditioned again. You'd forget everything... and I'd lose my best friend."

Widow was stunned into silence. She never realised that someone felt this way about her, or that anyone could consider her their best friend. She stood up and walked over to Sombra, making her stand and, cautiously, gave her a hug. Sombra was surprised at first but returned the gesture shorty afterwards.

"I didn't take you for the hugging type Widow." Sombra joked.

"I don't really know if I am... guess it's time to find out. Thank you for giving me this chance."

Sombra gave Widow a smile, wriggling out of the hug and looking back at the grappling hook. She finished checking it over and placed it down on her desk. "Your equipment's clean. Stand still a moment."

A scan went over Widow, checking for anything that could be a tracker. A few moments later, Sombra checked the results and was very surprised.

"You're clean... Strange, I thought Talon would have at least one tracker on you."

"I think they removed it." Widow admitted. "I remember them taking something out of my arm a while ago."

Sombra chuckled. "Guess they think you're staying."

"Sombra... do you mind if I record something for Gabriel." Widow didn't need to give a reason.

"Of course." Sombra moved over to her computer and activated the camera. "I'll leave you to it. Make sure to give the file a password, don't want just anyone watching it."

As Sombra left the room, Widow walked over and sat down, considering what to say. She honestly didn't know, since she'd never needed to say goodbye to someone before. She finally activated the recording, hoping that the words appeared.

Two hours later

Widow walked towards the dropship waiting for her. She was currently wearing her grappling hook and carrying her goggles in the one hand. In the other, she carried the suitcase, which had her rifle packed inside as well as Sombra's 'supplies.'

Widow also had a bag of makeup with her. She was very capable of covering up her blue skin, so Sombra had suggested she use it to help her escape. In all honesty, Widow had already thought of it but was glad Sombra was looking out for her. All she hoped was that Sombra's device would give her the time she needed to escape.

The dropship Talon had provided was quite small, mostly used to run around operatives and defiantly not meant to transport vast amounts of soldiers. Widow found herself on these frequently, since her missions were mostly stealth assassinations. As she stepped on board the dropship, the pilot, who was standing at the door, gave her a salute.

"Ma'am."

"Is everyone here?" Widow looked around the ship, seeing four troopers, not including the pilot.

"Yes ma'am. The team's only here in case of any complications, so it's a small one."

"Good. Launch for Paris immediately."

"Yes ma'am." The pilot gave Widow another salute and turned around, walking to the cockpit of the ship.

Widow meanwhile walked to the rear of the ship, placing the suitcase down out of the way. She then moved over to one of the seats, making sure to keep ahold of her goggles. She was using them to conceal Sombra's device. Fortunately, people never questioned her about anything, too scared to look at her most days.

The dropship then roared to life, taking off quickly and heading off towards Paris. Widow waited for about ten minutes before she stood up and walked into the cockpit, keeping her goggles close to her, hiding her true intentions.

She opened the door to the cockpit and quickly closed it again once she was inside. The cockpit was just as small as the rest of the ship, though there was room for at least two people to stand comfortably.

Upon hearing the door open, the pilot turned to see who had entered. When he saw Widow, he turned back around, letting his guard down.

"Just checking on our progress ma'am? Well, we're on track. We should be in Paris within the next thirty minutes."

What he hadn't noticed was Widow putting her thermal goggles on her head. She attached Sombra's device to the ships controls, just out of sight of the pilot. Within a few moments, the pilot realised that he was no longer controlling the ship.

"What the?"

Widow reacted quickly, pulling out her grappling hook and wrapping it around the pilots neck. He realised far too late what was happening. He desperately tried to free himself but Widow's grip was too strong for him. After a short time, Widow let him go, his dead body falling out of the chair.

She now picked up the pilots pistol and walked out the cockpit, back towards the other four troopers. She kept the pistol hidden behind her back as she reached the first trooper, who was standing with two of the other troopers, while the fourth was busy checking over his equipment.

Widow moved with extreme speed, firing her grappling hook at the closest trooper and pulling them towards her. The trooper, totally unprepared, was suddenly being used as a human shield. Widow gunned down the next two troopers with two, perfect headshots. The other trooper turned, trying to get his weapon out but never managing to in time, another perfect headshot killing him.

Widow now aimed the pistol at the remaining soldier, who had finally realised what was happening.

"Wait! We're on the same side!"

"No, we're not." With that, Widow pulled the trigger, letting the lifeless body fall to the floor.

With the troopers eliminated, Widow walked over to the suitcase and pulled out her rifle, making sure it was ready for her mission. "One more kill. One more, then I'm free."

Authors note

Hello everyone

I wanted to say sorry that this chapter took a bit longer to get out. Life kicked in and I've not been able to write much recently. Also, thanks once again for reading this far and to anyone who's left feedback. It means a lot that people are interested in the story and I always read any comments people leave. (It gives me a few ideas and helps me improve where I can)

Anyway, hope you all enjoyed this chapter and see you in the next one :)