Heartbreaker
Crete, Greece- The next morning
The early morning sun was shining down on the island of Crete, bringing the island to life. The nearby restaurants and bakery's were all open and tourists moved around searching for breakfast. As the sunlight hit the villa, Sombra began to wake up. She opened her eyes slowly and looked to her left, seeing the sunlight hitting the curtains as it attempted to enter the room.
Eventually, Sombra admitted to herself that she needed to get up. She threw the covers off herself and walked to the nearby wardrobe, finding a black top and a pair of shorts to put on for now. Whenever she was here, which wasn't often, Sombra usually slept in whichever room she got to first. Due to this, she made sure there was some clothes in every bedroom for her.
When she was dressed, Sombra opened the curtains and looked out at the scenery. There wasn't a single cloud in the sky today, meaning that the temperature would be high. As she stood admiring the view, Sombra began to smell something cooking.
She turned and opened the door to her bedroom, walking out and seeing Widow in the kitchen, leaning against the counter. Sombra guessed that she'd been up a while, since she was fully dressed and her hair was tied up. Once she saw Sombra, Widow gave her a small wave, before turning around and turning on a coffee machine.
"Hey Widow." Sombra said, as she walked over and joined her in the kitchen. "What's for breakfast?"
"Croissants. I found a bakery nearby when I was out yesterday and decided to have a look inside." Widow replied, leaning against the counter once again as she waited for her breakfast to cook.
"I know where you mean. It's a good place, does really nice cakes. Coffee?"
"Oui, merci."
Sombra opened a cupboard and found two mugs, filling both with coffee and handing the one to Widow. She wasted no time finding the milk and sugar, taking a sip once it was ready.
"So." Sombra began, as she took another sip of her drink. "Before the doc wakes up, how are you feeling? You look better since last night."
Widow thought for a moment. "I feel... different. It's difficult to explain, but it's like someone opened a door and a draft of air swept in. On top of that, my heart's beating slightly quicker now."
"How much quicker?" Sombra asked, slightly surprised by this.
"Not much, a beat or two... though I don't know how it's happened."
Sombra moved closer to Widow, placing a hand on hers. "You've been under a lot of stress recently and you're remembering old memories. Maybe it's having an effect on your body as well. Mercy will be able to tell us."
With that, the oven signalled that the food was ready. Widow placed on some oven gloves and removed the croissants, placing them on a couple of plates and passing one to Sombra. The two moved over to the couch and Sombra turned on the tv, watching whatever happened to be on.
After a short while, the two women heard movements from upstairs and a shower turn on.
"I guess the two lovebirds are awake." Sombra joked, gaining a confused look from Widow.
"Lovebirds? No way, Angela has always been too focused on her work..." As soon as Widow said this, she closed her eyes and grabbed her head with one hand, the other carefully putting her food down. After a few seconds, she released her head and let out a large breath, blinking a few times.
"You okay?" Sombra asked, noticing that Widow wasn't in as much pain as usual.
"Yeah... this has been happening all morning. Little things keep coming through. Doesn't hurt as much as it did, a small headache afterwards." Widow explained, picking her breakfast back up and continuing to eat.
"It's probably due to that dream." The two women turned towards the stairs to see Angela, who was wearing a long, black dressing gown. She walked over and sat down on a nearby chair. "If we're right and that dream you had was your conditioning failing, then it makes sense you'd be remember these little things."
"So, this is good?" Widow asked.
"Yes, it's definitely good. I'm still not exactly sure what Talon did to you but I have a few ideas. Are you still up for talking with me later?"
"Yes. I'd like that." Angela gave Widow a smile, standing and walking towards the stairs. Just before she got to them, Sombra spoke.
"Oh, by the way, I need to go out for a bit. I won't be too far away, so is it okay if I leave the three of you here?"
"I'm not planning to have a party any time soon if that's what you mean." Widow commented. "I'm okay with it if Mercy is."
"Fine by me." Angela added. "What do you need to do anyway?"
"There's a few things I need to grab and I should talk to some people, show my face around town. Some of the locals know me when I've been before, so I'd rather they not knock the door unannounced."
This was a half truth. Sombra did want to show her face, so that no one came round while Widow was here. However, she had another reason for leaving and she didn't want to tell anyone just yet. She wasn't sure how everyone would react.
"Okay then. I'll work with Amelie while you're out, hopefully we can make some progress."
Both Widow and Sombra nodded at Angela, finishing their food before they stood. Widow walked back to the kitchen and began cooking breakfast for Angela and Fareeha, who emerged from upstairs a short while later. Sombra meanwhile walked back to her bedroom, closing the door and immediately headed for the shower.
After a brisk shower, Sombra began to change into her normal outfit. While dressing, she activated her computer and typed in a chain of commands. Once she was satisfied, Sombra finished dressing and walked out of the room, heading for the front door. As she opened it, she took one of the spare keys she had and then turned to wave at the three woman inside, seeing Widow smile slightly at her. Sombra began to walk towards the town, heading for a nearby bar she usually visited while here.
Watchpoint Gibraltar
Winston's lab was once again filled with activity. All of the agents were currently here, apart from DVa and Lucio, who'd agreed to go and find something for everyone to eat in the nearby town. Everyone was busy looking over monitors, looking for anything regarding Angela or Fareeha. They were also keeping an eye out for any mention of Widowmaker or Sombra. Everyone was looking, apart from one person.
Lena sat at the back of the lab, her head leaning against the wall as she thought over everything. She had a lot of questions that she wanted answers to and had simply said that she needed some time alone. She was also hiding a large secret from everyone else, that Sombra had contacted her. At least, she thought it was Sombra. For all she knew, this was a Talon trap and she was walking straight into it.
Lena ran her hand through her hair, still wondering if this was a good idea. As she looked up at the rest of the lab, she saw the Bastion sat further away, clearly keeping itself out of the way while everyone else worked. She could also tell that no one had found anything yet, since there was very little conversation between the agents.
Eventually, Lena pulled out her phone and began to text Emily.
Hey Em. Can we talk?
Sure. You okay?
Yeah. It's just I still don't know where to go to find Ang.
Have you told anyone else?
No. Only you and one other person know.
Before the conversation could continue, Lena felt a metal finger poke her side. She knew it was the Bastion, so she simply waved it away.
"Not right now mate. I need some time alone."
She went back to her conversation with Emily, seeing her reply.
You need to stay calm Lena. You'll know what to do when the time comes.
Before she could reply, Lena felt the Bastion poke her again, this time with its weapon. She sighed, knowing that it wouldn't leave her alone till it was satisfied.
"What? What do you..."
When she looked up at the Bastion, Lena noticed one key difference with it. It's eye was not blue, instead it was purple. It made a motion to follow it, before turning and walking out of the lab. Everyone was too busy to notice it do this or notice Lena, who stood a few seconds later and gave chase.
Can I get back to you Em? Something's come up.
She placed her phone away as she followed the Bastion. It moved quickly, heading through the hanger and stepping on board a dropship. Lena was a few seconds behind it, seeing it walk over to the controls and type in a set of coordinates. Once done, the Bastion stepped back and turned its head to face Lena.
"Is that where Ang is?"
The Bastion nodded its head. A few seconds later, it's eye flickered and returned to its normal colour. It was left confused due to where it was, turning back to the controls and tilting its head.
"You don't know what just happened, do you?" Lena asked the Bastion, which turned to her and simply shook its head.
"I think you need to be checked over, someone managed to hack into you. Can you work out where that is? I'll be back in a sec."
The Bastion nodded, turning back to the controls and analysing the unknown coordinates. Lena meanwhile sprinted back to the lab, slowing down to a walk once she was close enough. Everyone was still too busy to notice her walk in and take Angela's staff from the building. She made her way back to the dropship quickly, seeing the Bastion sitting near the door when she arrived.
"Sorry, I need to go alone."
The Bastion let out a low tone, clearly meant to be one of worry.
"I'll be careful, I promise. It's just... I can't bring anyone else along. Zen knows what I'm on about."
With that the Bastion stood up and began to walk back to the lab. Lena placed the staff on one of the chairs before heading to the cockpit, sitting down at the controls. She typed in a few commands, most notably the command that disabled Athena's control over the craft. This code wasn't common knowledge for obvious reasons and only the high up members of Overwatch were meant to know it. Lena had just managed to stumble across it one day and never told anyone, just in case she ever needed it.
Lena brought out her phone, informing Emily of what was happening.
I have a location. Crete. I have to go Em.
Go get them tiger ;)
Lena smiled when she saw Emily's reply, feeling slightly more confident. She always knew just what to say.
Meanwhile, back in the lab, Morrison had just come off the phone to one of his many sources. Even now, some people were still willing to help him out from time to time. A majority of the agents present had turned to hear what Morrison had to say, while others remained at their screens, still searching for any information on Angela or Fareeha.
"Right. From what I'm gathering, the British and the Americans are up to something. They're being very secretive about their movements and intel surrounding what they know is almost impossible to come by. All I got was that they're following a link they got from a cargo ship they intercepted."
"Wait." McCree said. "Cargo ship? As in the one Lena's friend attacked? Maybe he knows something."
"McCree has a point. Lena, who's this friend of yours?" Morrison looked up towards the back of the room, expecting to see Lena. However, he was left a little puzzled when she wasn't there. "Where's Oxton? Come to think of it, where's that Bastion?"
"Never mind that." Reinhardt said, realising that a certain piece of equipment was missing. "Where's Angela's healing staff?"
Athena answered two of these questions shortly after.
"Alert! Unauthorised dropship departure detected!"
"Override it!" Morrison ordered.
"My remote control has been overridden, I cannot gain access to the ship." Athena replied, as a number of error messages appeared on a nearby screen, confirming what she just said.
"She's being reckless." Morrison mumbled, as everyone watched the dropship take off and fly away. Winston meanwhile contacted Lena directly, hoping that she picked up her phone. Fortunately, she did.
"Lena, what are you doing?"
"I'm sorry Winston... I need to do this alone."
"Do what alone? Lena, what's going on?" Winston pleaded, trying to stop her from running off alone.
"Someone contacted me with specific instructions... They said Ang and Fareeha were with them and that I have to go alone. This is the best chance we have at finding them."
"Or it could be a trap!" Morrison said, interrupting Winston before he could reply. "You need to focus, think about what you're doing. I know what I said before but Sombra isn't Talon's only hacker. They could very well be minipulating you, trying to take some of us down while we're busy looking for Angela and Fareeha."
There was only silence from Lena for a few moments. After she thought it over, she spoke again. "I know... but I have to try."
Lena hung up the call and Jack simply grunted in annoyance. "She could be walking right into a trap and she won't know until it's too late... Can you regain control over the ship?" He asked Winston.
Winston began typing on his computer. "I may be able to... but it'll take a while, the system wasn't intended to be overridden again. Also I can see on the base cameras that the Bastion is heading this way."
Morrison nodded. "Ana, McCree, Reinhardt, you three be ready to move if I give the order, she might need our help. Someone get DVa and Lucio back here, double time... and someone go fetch that Bastion, we may need it."
Everyone reacted quickly, as a few agents moved to respond to Jack's orders. Reinhardt went to fetch his armour, while Torb and Brigitte went to find the Bastion. McCree meanwhile contacted the two missing agents, telling them to hurry up. Even though she hadn't discussed this with the rest of them, they all hoped that Lena knew what she was doing.
Oasis- Iraq
Reaper walked quickly through the city, searching for where Moira had set up her lab. Her connection with this place was very useful for Talon, yet Reyes hated coming here. It always meant walking in on some strange experiment Moira was doing and they usually had a bad outcome for the test subject.
Despite what Sombra had said, Reaper hadn't told Talon everything. He had listened to her in a way and he wasn't covering the whole situation up. However, he'd neglected to mention that Sombra and Widow had gone rogue. Now Talon were busy working out what had happened. This meeting with Moira was a status update.
The area was very quiet at the moment, Reaper moving through the city at a time when no one else was really walking around. It didn't really matter when he got to Moira, so he decide to make her wait just a little longer.
As he reached the building Moira was set up in, he opened the door and walked inside, paying no attention to the person that greeted him. He attempted to show Reaper the way, yet he already knew where to go, this the fifth time he'd been here.
When he finally entered her lab, he was somewhat surprised to see a number of bodies. Bodies from the destroyed base to be exact. They were burnt beyond recognition and clearly were from the explosion in the hanger. Moira had her back to the door, along with a couple of Talon scientists, all working on presumably the same thing.
"You're not planning to raise the dead, are you Moira?"
"Not at all Gabriel. We still don't know where Amelie is, so we're checking all the bodies." Moira tapped the scientists shoulder next to her, signaling for them to take over.
"I have the feeling there's more to this. Why else would you tell me to come all the way here?"
Moira walked over to Reaper, folding her arms behind her back. "It seems clear what happened at that base. It was an inside job. Only one person had the potential to cause that much damage. Sombra."
"So, you want me to find her I'm guessing." Reaper replied, shrugging as he spoke.
"Yes. Though I wanted to know if she or Amelie showed any sign of betrayal beforehand."
"How should I know? Sombra kept a lot to herself and didn't tell me much. Widow on the other hand seemed fine. Why would she have gone rogue?" Reaper knew exactly what had happened, he was simply playing along, making sure his ass was covered.
Moira turned to one of the bodies. "Sombra may be very smart but the dropship Amelie was on exploded. We found the remains of a device, which I assume caused the engines to overload, yet I can't work out how she got it on board. There's no way Sombra could have taken Amelie prisoner and it's very unlikely that she managed to kill her. That leaves one very possible alternative."
"We would have noticed if Widow's conditioning was failing." Reaper said, knowing where Moira was going.
"Would we? If Amelie hid it from us, we would have had no idea until it was too late. If none of these bodies are hers, then I conclude that Widowmaker is no longer loyal to Talon. If that's the case, then she could very easily become Overwatch's greatest ally." Moira turned herself back to face Reaper, who had his arms folded. "We cannot allow them to learn what she knows."
"So you want me to find them both. Then what?"
"Capture them if possible. If not, Akande says to terminate them. Our alliance with Sombra is at an end and Amelie will be too big a liability."
Reaper nodded. "Anything else?"
Moira turned back to her lab assistants. "Were you able to salvage any data from the base?"
Reaper knew exactly the reason why she'd asked him this. Moira wanted to see if he knew about her capturing Fareeha. He never really knew why he didn't want her harmed. Guilt perhaps, due to Ana's supposed death. Or maybe he wasn't as cold hearted as he thought. Whatever the reason, he'd made it clear numerous times and Moira simply disregarded it. Despite the temptation to rush over to Moira and smash her head against one of the counters, Reaper held onto what he knew for now, saving it for another time.
"Nothing. The whole system was fried."
"A shame... but no matter, I can rebuild what was there."
"What about your plan for Mercy? You can't exactly make the nano tech without her."
Moira chuckled at his question, walking over to a briefcase sitting nearby and taking out a vial full of blood. "I had an insurance policy in place. A sample of Mercy's blood. I should be able to continue my work with this."
"You think of everything don't you?"
Moira chuckled once again, placing the blood sample away and walking back to her lab assistants. "I try to. I'll send you the results once I know if Amelie is here or not."
Once Moira waved him away, Reaper turned and walked back towards the exit. On his way out, the person who greeted him was standing with his back to him and Reyes couldn't resist walking into him and shoving him with his arm, causing him to fall over. Once he was outside, Reyes began the walk back to the ship, giving him time to think.
"Moira is getting close to finding out the truth. Hope Sombra's good at staying hidden."
Crete, Greece- Three hours later
Lena kept a close eye on the time, making sure that she wasn't too early or late. As she'd gotten closer to Crete, she'd received more instructions regarding what to do. She was to meet whoever was sending these messages at a popular bar, where there would be numerous tourists at the time of the meeting.
This meant that Lena couldn't just raise her weapons any time she felt like it. She had to keep them hidden, as well as anything else that could raise attention. So, she couldn't take Mercy's staff into the open either and she'd kept it safe on board the dropship, hidden in a secluded location so no one could stumble across it so easily.
Now she was walking into town, trying her best to blend in. This wasn't the easiest of tasks, since she didn't have a way to cover up her accelerator. Due to leaving the Watchpoint very quickly, she hadn't had time to pick up any extra clothing, her mind focused on finding her missing friends. Thankfully, no one really payed her too much attention. It was mostly children who recognised her and she gave them her signature salute as she passed them.
Once she found the bar, Lena walked inside and found an empty table. A waitor soon approached and took her order, which was simply a Coca Cola. Once her drink arrived, she waited. Waited for whoever it was to arrive. She was pretty confident that it was Sombra, after all, who else could it be. With what Morrison had said, along with the entire situation she was in, Sombra was a very likely candidate.
It was at least 20 minutes later before someone she recognised finally walked into the bar. Sure enough, it was Sombra. Lena watched her wave to the bartender and order a drink, almost like she was unaware Lena was there. Once she had her drink, Sombra turned and walked over to Lena's table, placing her drink down and slowly sitting down.
"Where's the staff?" Sombra asked, noticing its absence.
"Nearby. I couldn't walk through town with it in hand, it would draw too much attention."
There was an uneasy silence between the two for a while and Lena could tell that Sombra was uncomfortable. She tried twice to start a sentence, only to stop and think it over again. The normally confident hacker was now struggling to find the words. Lena connected the dots and realised that Morrison must have been right.
"This is about Widowmaker, ain't it?" Lena asked, breaking the silence between them.
"How do you... never mind. Yeah it is." Sombra breathed in. "Look, I need you to listen to everything I'm about to tell you. I know Overwatch will end up involved so I want it on my terms. She's nothing more than a victim, she doesn't deserve to be treated like a criminal."
"And what about you? Where do you fit into this?" Lena understood why Angela would help if Widow had indeed gone rogue. What she couldn't wrap her head around, even after the 20 minutes alone to think, was why Sombra of all people would help her.
Sombra couldn't help but chuckle. "Me. I'm a foolish young girl who thought she could change the world, only for the world to show her that she was way out of her depth."
Lena could tell there was regret in the hackers voice. This was very different to the Sombra she'd seen in battle. She assumed that there was a lot more that she wasn't telling her but Lena didn't push it, assuming Sombra wouldn't talk about it. "What's going on then? Why did you call me over here?"
Sombra breathed in once again. "Widow's conditioning is breaking down and she's remembering everything. I managed to help her escape but I knew my cover would be blown shortly after. So I broke Mercy and Pharah out and they agreed to help her. I know that Mercy will suggest going to Overwatch to continue helping Widow but I don't know how she'll feel about that."
"So you called me over here to try and convince her we're on her side?" Lena guessed, understanding Sombra's reasoning.
"Yeah. While Angela hasn't said she needs her staff, Pharah still looks a little beaten up and I thought it would help in the long term."
"Why me? You could have contacted any of us. Why only me?"
"I didn't want all of Overwatch here. Widow feels very vulnerable right now, so she'd likely panic at the sight of an entire Overwatch team. You on the other hand... She thought of you as a nemesis, someone that always caused her problems. If you show that you're willing to help her recover..."
"She'll be more willing to trust us." Lena concluded, finding herself agreeing with Sombra. "Okay, one more question. You're risking everything to help Widow. Why?"
Sombra looked down upon hearing that question. "I've seen what they did to her, they kept a record of everything they did. She didn't deserve that, no one did. I've seen every dirty secret Talon has and I'm not willing to be a part of that anymore. If you help me, I'll give Overwatch everything I know."
Lena thought for a moment. This was an incredible opportunity. She was close to finding Angela and now had an opportunity to deal a crippling blow to Talon. She wasn't going to let this go to waste. "Okay. I'll help. I'll fetch the healing staff and you can take me to them."
Sombra nodded, finishing her drink and throwing some money on the table. The two stood and left the bar, Lena leading the way towards the hidden dropship. It wasn't too long a walk, yet Sombra couldn't help but keep checking the surrounding area. Lena understood why she was on edge and she herself was keeping an eye out, just in case.
After walking a short distance out of town, they arrived at the dropship, hidden by some trees and bushes that had been left to grow. Lena boarded the ship and quickly picked up the staff, while Sombra remained outside, leaning against the dropship while she waited. After a very short time, Lena emerged with Mercy's staff in hand.
Sombra now leaned up and prepared to take the lead. "The place isn't too far away." Before Sombra could take a step, Lena placed a hand on her shoulder, stopping her before she could move.
"You said before that you saw what Talon did to her..." Lena didn't need to finish her sentence, as Sombra turned to face her, activating her computer and loading a single video file.
"Are you sure you want to see. It's... not an easy watch."
Lena looked towards the screen, seeing the video ready to play. "A part of me doesn't want to... but if I know what's she's been through, I feel I'll have a better chance at convincing her I'm here to help... Play it."
Sombra did just that, playing the very first video on her records. Then she played the second. Then the third. Through every video, Lena simply watched. She only spoke after the third one, simply telling Sombra that she didn't need to see anymore.
"I... I didn't know it was that bad. If only we got to her sooner." Lena wiped away a few tears that had managed to appear. "No wonder she's so emotionless. No one would be the same after going through everything she's been through."
"And that was only part of it." Sombra added. "They did everything they could think to break her... Now she needs those who care about her to help her remember who she is."
Lena placed her hand back on Sombra's shoulder, giving her a small smile. "Come on then. Lead the way."
Sombra's villa
"How much of your old life do you currently remember?"
Widow was lying down on the sofa, her eyes closed as she answered the questions Angela asked. She'd read through Widow's medical files and had a better understanding of what Talon had done to her, yet she still considered that she was missing something. The way that Widow was remembering small chunks of her life was similar to cases of amnesia she'd seen, yet she knew there was something more to this.
"Not much. I only remember small chunks with each memory that returns."
Angela made a note on a phone, one that Sombra had left her in case they needed to talk. "And what was the last thing you remembered?"
"It was something about you actually. Sombra made a joke and I remembered how hard you used to work."
"Not much has changed since then." Angela joked, which did managed to gain a small smile from Amelie. This was something else she noted down, below a underlined note about her heart rate increasing. In fact, anything that seemed normal to anyone else, such as a smile from a joke, she noted down. All of these emotions were things Amelie shouldn't be feeling, according to her medical reports.
"I hate to ask you this but do you remember anything about..."
"About Gerard's death? Non."
"Anything before that date, while Talon had you?"
Widow thought for a moment. "It's all hazy, nothing is clear. All I can remember is that they gave me an order and I followed it. I can't even remember what they said, just that I did it."
"I saw one of the videos Sombra had. They told you that good soldiers follow orders. They brainwashed you, broke you down with endless torture. It says that they wiped that part of your conditioning when you returned. It seemed to cause too much conflict..."
"I think they wanted me to be more than a simple soldier. They wanted me to be a perfect assassin." Widow concluded, finally understanding at least a part of her conditioning.
"The Spider. It was there to train you and keep you a perfect killer. Those dreams were clearly a last ditch attempt to keep your memories repressed. The part I'm still struggling to understand is the gap between when you were first conditioned and now. Talon's files state that the conditioning was successful upon your return and that you were completely loyal to them."
"Evidently that isn't correct." Widow sarcastically commented.
"Exactly. If Talon were correct, we wouldn't be having this conversation, which leads me to think something else happened and it had to be something outside of Talon's control."
Mercy now opened up Widow's medical files. Widow sat up and waited for her to speak again, while Fareeha, who was keeping herself out of the way by sitting outside on a balcony, walked inside and offered to make the two a drink, something both of them accepted.
"The issue I have is that there's an unnatural gap in Talon's files." Mercy explained, scrolling down to the file in question. "Talon say that after you returned, your conditioning was successful at repressing both your emotions and personality the very first time they tried. However, that's likely because you weren't responding to anyone after you returned. You closed yourself off from everyone and didn't even respond to your own name."
"Maybe she was scared and just wanted the pain to stop?" Fareeha suggested as she gave the two women a glass of lemonade each.
"Perhaps." Mercy admitted, trying to find an explanation in her head. "Though Talon didn't touch Amelie when she returned. Something else happened..."
"Maybe I just gave up and didn't care what they did to me." Widow said, taking a drink and then placing the glass down.
Angela thought over what Widow said for a moment and suddenly had an idea. "Wait a moment... you could be right." She quickly looked back through the medical file, paying very close attention to what happened after Amelie returned to Talon. "Of course, how could I miss that? It fits as well, add on Talon's conditioning and it makes perfect sense."
"What does? What happened to me?"
Before Angela could reply to widow's question, the front door began to unlock and Sombra stepped in.
"Delivery for Doctor Ziegler."
Angela looked over to Sombra, expecting to see a bag of medical supplies or food. What she saw instead made her stop and analyse the item she had. Sombra was holding her healing staff, the very same one she'd left behind at Gibraltar. Angela stood up and walked over to Sombra, taking the staff from her very slowly, almost in disbelief.
"Where did you get this?"
Sombra looked towards Widow, who was watching from the sofa. "Widow, do you trust me?"
The question made her tense up, worry beginning to fill her. "Yes, I trust you."
"Then please don't freak out. Okay, you can come in."
Everyone was left confused at what Sombra was doing. That confusion quickly left when Tracer slowly walked in from around the corner. Everyone was left speechless and both Angela and Fareeha were in disbelief that Lena was standing in front of them.
"Lena?"
Tracer quickly hugged Angela, not wanting to let her go. "I thought I'd never see you again. Are you two okay?"
"Yeah. We're okay. Fareeha managed to keep me going." Angela relied, gaining a small smile from Fareeha.
"I'm sorry I couldn't get to you two sooner..."
"Don't worry Lena. You're here now and that's all that matters." Lena couldn't help but let out a few tears. She'd found them. After everything they'd been through, they were still the same people she knew.
"So, do I get a hug?" Fareeha joked, causing Lena to turn her head towards her.
"No, sorry all hugs gone." She playfully said, before running over and hugging her. A few moments later, her attention focused on Widow, who had now stood up from the sofa and seemed ready to defend herself at any moment.
Lena let Fareeha go, walking towards Widow and keeping her hands in view of her. For a while, the two arch rivals stared down one another, neither making a move. It was Widow who finally broke the silence.
"What are you doing here?"
"I want to help you."
Widow scoffed at Lena's statement. "You hate me. We've battled so many times and nearly killed each other more times than I can count. Why would you want to help me?"
"I'm sorry... If I knew then what I know now, I would have tried so much harder to help. I let my own feelings get in the way and I didn't stop and think. You may of killed Mondatta, but you didn't have a choice. I'm pretty sure he'd want me to forgive you and help you."
Widow relaxed slightly but didn't let her guard down entirely. Lena was also slightly more relaxed but still was ready to blink out of the way if Widow launched any kind of attack.
"Overwatch don't want to help me." Widow said, after another short silence. "They want me dead."
"That's not true. We thought you were lost, beyond our help. No one knew what to do to try and help. Give us a chance to make amends."
Widow lowered her head, simply thinking everything over. She didn't know what to make of this. "You've always been my enemy, all of Overwatch have... Can I really trust you after everything that's happened?"
"Yes, you can trust me. If Ang thinks there's a way to help you, then I'll be right there ready to do just that and I'll make sure everyone else understands." Lena stepped forward, holding out her hand. "Please, let me help you."
Widow looked up, seeing Lena with her hand extended to her. She was giving Widow a smile, one that she knew could be trusted. Widow briefly looked over to Sombra, seeing her give a small nod. Widow finally looked back to Lena, extending out her own arm and shaking Lena's hand. "Okay... I'll let you help."
Lena responded by pulling Widow towards her and hugging her, which made her roll her eyes. "Is she always like this?" She asked sarcastically.
"You get used to it." Angela commented, aiming her healing staff at Fareeha and activating it. Within a few moments, any reminder of her time at Talon was gone.
"Thanks." Fareeha said, running a hand over one of her arms, where a large scar used to be. Angela gave her a subtle seductive wink, making sure that Lena didn't see. After all, they did agree not to tell her just yet.
"So, did you make any progress?" Sombra asked, as she leaned against the now closed door.
"I think I've worked out what happened to Amelie. You might want to sit down."
Lena turned to Angela, slightly confused, while Widow walked back to the sofa and sat down, Angela soon sitting on the chair in front of her. Everyone else simply stood and waited for the explanation that would follow.
"Talon did condition you after you returned to them." Angela began, as she placed her staff down on the floor. "However, they didn't realise why it was so easy to make you work for them. The reason that you seem to have amnesia is because you do have it. You suffered it when you returned to Talon."
"Wait." Lena interrupted, not fully understanding. "If she had amnesia, wouldn't she have remembered by now?"
"She already did. Talon recorded an incident when Amelie went on a killing spree at one of their bases. However, she soon forgot everything again. Talon's conditioning has simply stopped her remembering, similar to how a wall keeps the rain out. The wall has now begun to crumble and her amnesia is lifting."
"Hang on a moment." Sombra now interrupted. "How on earth did Widow lose her memories if Talon never touched her. You have to hit your head to lose your memories right?"
"Amelie didn't suffer traditional amnesia. She was made to kill Gerard against her will and Amelie couldn't live with what she did, so she forgot everything. I think you suffered something called Dissociative fugue, or a Fugue state, where the mind just runs away because it can't bare to look back. You wanted to become someone else, because Amelie Lacroix had lost so much. All Talon did in the end was give you what you wanted... a new life."
Widow couldn't believe what she was hearing. "I chose to become this?"
"No." Angela quickly said, taking Widow's hands in her own. "A Fugue can be caused by a traumatic event. That's what I think happened. You couldn't live with what Talon made you to do, so you chose to forget everything because you didn't want to accept it. Stick Talon's conditioning on top and the Fugue stayed in place for years... until you broke the conditioning."
Sombra had now sat next to Widow, wrapping an arm around her in order to comfort her. Both Lena and Fareeha understood what Angela was saying and they completely agreed with her reasoning. They both knew they'd never be able to live with themselves if they were made to kill the one they loved.
Widow suddenly had a wave of pain hit her head. Memories of her time at Talon began to reapear. All they did was confirm to her that Angela was right. "I think you're right. I remember... I couldn't live with myself... so I chose to forget everything so I could move on. So what now?"
"You will begin to remember more and more as time goes on. Eventually, you'll remember everything about your old life." Angela looked away slightly, clearly saddened by the situation. However, Widow could tell there was something else.
"There's more isn't there?"
Angela once again took ahold of Widow's hands. "I'm sorry Amelie... really I am... but eventually you're going to remember that night... and it's going to break your heart."
"When will it happen?"
"I don't know. It could be in ten minutes time... or ten weeks time. Either way, I don't want you to be alone when you remember. You need someone there for you."
Widow simply nodded, having no idea what to say. This was a feeling shared by everyone else, as the entire room was silent. Eventually, it was Widow who broke the silence.
"I don't really know how to feel right now... I've never had any real emotions for a long time now. However, thank you, all of you, for being here for me."
Sombra brought Widow closer to her. "Hey, don't worry. We're all here to help."
Widow gave her a small smile. "So what now? I guess you want to take me back to your base?"
"At some point I'd like to, but we'll talk about that later. Right now though, I think it would be best if you returned to some sort of normality." Angela explained. "Have a few days here and treat it like a holiday. That way, it'll allow your memories to return more naturally."
Widow nodded once again. "Is there anything else we need to talk about today?"
"No, I think were done for today. Just take it easy, I know that was a lot to take in. We'll talk again whenever you feel up to it."
With that everyone began to go off and do their own thing. Angela made one final check to make sure Widow was okay, before she walked onto the balcony for some air. Fareeha soon joined her, while Sombra turned on the tv. Widow stayed where she was, simply thinking over everything that she'd been told.
Lena took this opportunity to call Emily, walking into the nearest room and closing the door as she made the call.
"Hey Lena. You okay?"
"I found them Em. I found Ang and Fareeha."
"Are they okay?"
"Yeah, they're okay. Look, everything's a bit complicated so I can't really explain what's going on. I just wanted to let you know what was happening so I didn't worry you and to make sure you were okay."
"Aww. Nice to see you still worry about me." Emily joked, lightening the mood now that Angela and Fareeha were safe.
"I'll never stop worrying about you luv. I'll be back as soon as I can. Love you."
"Take as long as you need. I'll be here waiting for you. Love you too Lena."
The two women blew each other a kiss before they ended the call. Lena was glad that her girlfriend was so understanding because she knew this whole situation was about to get a lot more complicated.
Authors note
Well this chapter took a bit longer to get out than I wanted... Anyways, here it is, hope everyone liked it. I have a pretty good idea of the structure and content for the next few chapters, so hopefully they won't take as long to write as this one did.
So hope you enjoyed the story so far and see you in the next chapter :)