Chapter 16: Cole/Olivia
Jesse found himself being awoken by the light that slowly filtered its way in through the blinds of his window, and the stirring of Olivia next to him, as she gently turned in her sleep. It wasn't the first time he found himself waking up next to a beautiful woman, but it certainly was the first time that it roused something within his heart. Too often had he wasted away with one night stands, the nature of his work not allowing him to get close, and the scars of the past leaving him unable to trust anyone. He carefully unwrapped himself from the covers, trying his best to leave Olivia undisturbed. He slipped into casual clothes, a flannel and some jeans, picking up his hat off the dresser and placing it upon his head. He checked himself in the mirror, his beard would need a trimming soon, but that could come later. He crept back into the main bedroom proper looking in on Olivia as she slept. He meandered over to the bedside, looking down upon her sleeping face. He drank in the tranquility of her visage, and leaned down planting a kiss on her forehead. Olivia muttered something but remained at rest, as he headed for the door. Stepping out into the main hall he glanced around to see if anyone else was about during the morning. He spied Reinhardt, sporting his gym clothes emerging from a room of his own. Jesse sauntered over as Reinhardt noticed his presence and greeted him with a warm smile.
"Ah! Jesse, Come join me in a morning training zession!" Reinhardt exclaimed in his usual loud and boisterous tone.
Jesse shook his head in response; "Not today my friend, going to head down to the range and get some practice shots in."
Reinhardt nodded before replying "Zo be it! You know vere to find me!"
Jesse chuckled to himself, Reinhardt had an aura about him that just made everyone feel at ease. He waved off his friend and headed out from the main resting hall, and to the firing range. It was still early in the morning and the halls were noticeably empty, the way that Jesse normally liked it. He made his way through the Overwatch Gibraltar compound, finally arriving at the firing range. He could hear the soft sounds of gunfire coming from the inside.
"Seems I wasn't the only person with the idea of getting some practice in mind." He thought to himself, as he pushed through the door.
He approached the armory and retrieved his Peacekeeper and a box of ammunition. He headed to the range lanes, and noticed Jack was there in his full tactical gear, pulse rifle in hand, maintaining fierce focus and perfect form as he fired rounds downrange. Jesse headed to his lane, loaded his peacekeeper. He steadied himself, took aim at the target downrange, and fired. With each powerful blast from his revolver he was flooded with memories of his time with blackwatch, the betrayal of Reyes, and fellow talon defectors. His shoulder wound ached with a phantom pain almost shuddering at the touch of foul memories. As his cylinder was spent, he quickly reloaded it, and fanned the hammer with grace and fury, as the emotions threatened to overwhelm him. Smoke drifted off the barrel of his gun as he laid it to rest on the counter in front of him pressing the button on his right to bring the target closer to him. His controlled shots were all concentrated within the head, while a smattering of shots were scattered around the chest area. He sighed to himself as he closed the box of ammo, and turned to leave, noticing Jack who had leaned up against the wall behind him, his visor lowered giving Jesse a clear glimpse of his ice blue eyes.
"You're letting them get to you again aren't you?" Jesse nodded, grimacing at the memories that now lingered in his head.
"I can't allow myself to forget what Reyes did to me-" Jesse paused before correcting himself; "To us."
Jack sighed and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "You're not to blame for what happened, this was inevitable."
Jesse shook his head feverishly. "I should have seen it coming, all the signs were there, I just chose to ignore them. I am partly to blame for the way things are now, and not nipping this thing in the bud."
Jack approached Jesse and put a hand on his shoulder. "I am more to blame for the way things are than you, I have chosen to undertake this crusade on my own accord, I am not a good man, I am a good soldier. Cole… You can still be a good man, and a good soldier better than I at least."
Jesse blinked, surprised no one had called him by his real name in a long time, not since he had first joined Blackwatch…
Cole Cassidy rocked in his seat as the train rocketed through the desert, loading bullets into his peacekeeper silently as the other blackwatch members sat silently preparing themselves for their mission. Reyes, and Genji eyed Cole cautiously, Genji breaking the silence for the first time.
"ETA in ten minutes, I hope you are ready."
Reyes cut in asserting; "He's ready, just take care of yourself."
Genji silently accepts Reyes' words, standing from his seat and opening the train car door staring out into the city scape.
"Talon has taken a hold of an important ammunition depot, things could get dicey." Reyes loaded his shotguns and looked over at Cole.
"That's why we're here. You infiltrate, we'll quell any resistance if things go south. Cole, you'll be on your own this time. Wait for Genji and I to give you a signal, if everything goes down the right way, You won't need to lift a finger."
Cole nodded and uttered only a single word. "Understood."
Cole's first mission, the first time he ever shed blood under the blackwatch name, and yet through it all, the person he thought he could trust the most was one of the people who would stab him in the back, in the name of fighting against bureaucracy. Jesse shook his head as the memories faded to black.
"Maybe you're right, but I ain't exactly ever been a good man either, maybe we both can change this damned world for the better."
Jack gave a weak smile in reply as he stepped away from the wall heading for the door offering one last reply before he departed;
"You're allowed to hate the man you once were, but don't let it hold back the man you want to be."
Jesse was left alone in the range as he let out a relieved sigh.
"The man I want to become huh?" He muttered to himself.
Olivia yawned and stretched as she awoke, glancing next to her to see only empty sheets. She sat up in bed, and rubbed the drowsiness from her eyes, as she swung her legs over the side of the bed.
"I wonder what he's off doing." She said to herself, picking up her PDA and scrolling through it.
She noted that she needed to check in with Hana at some point in time today to make sure she was okay. Thankfully, she found herself without a hangover this morning, and felt more than well rested and ready to face the day. She got herself dressed in her casual attire, deciding on not putting on her hacking equipment. She headed out the door and into the main hallway, seeing Mei and Zarya coming out of their shared room. Zarya wore a bright smile on her face while Mei had bags under her eyes and a paler complexion than usual, and a pained expression on her face.
"Good morning Zarya, you look to be doing fine after last night, can't say the same for Mei here."
Zarya nodded and chuckled in agreement. "Da, snowflake had a little more than she asked for!"
Mei frowned and interjected; "I'm standing right here, you know…"
Olivia let out a hearty laugh before gesturing down the hall. "I've got an appointment with Angela this morning, so don't let me keep you from a well deserved breakfast."
Zarya gave a beaming smile in response. "Da, take care Olivia."
Zarya's words caused Olivia to freeze in place as the two walked in the opposite direction eastward to the cafeteria.
How did she know my name? I don't remember telling anyone else besides Jesse…
The thought rattled around in her brain, but no specific memory came to mind. Perhaps she would pry it out of her some other time, for the moment she had other places to be. She headed westward towards the main complex, keeping a steady pace through the empty halls. She entered the medical ward with a spring in her step, seeing Angela Ziegler at her desk, clicking away at holokeys as she seemed to be entering information into a database. Hearing the footsteps behind her Angela turned to glance over her shoulder.
"Ah Miss Sombra, please take a seat, and I'll be right with you." Olivia silently nodded in agreement, taking a seat and waiting patiently.
A few moments passed of light beeps of holokeys before Angela turned in her chair to face Olivia, sliding across the sterile white floor a little closer to her.
"So we're going to do a quick psych evaluation, just answer the questions honestly alright."
There was a certain professionalism in her tone that made Olivia feel like she was center stage. She gulped hard and nodded as Angela pulled out a tablet and looked at her expectantly.
"So you grew up in a slum in Mexico, that must have been a tough upbringing."
Olivia nodded and responded curtly; "It wasn't easy but I made do."
Angela looked down and seemed to tap away on the tablet before taking a deep breath and putting her gaze back on Olivia.
"You're a former Talon operative from my understanding, were you subjected to any brainwashing, or torture when you were in that… group."
Olivia gulped. Straight to the point I suppose. She remembered when she first joined Talon, she was a talented hacker, and they were the only people who were willing to take a gamble on some nobody. But, the training and expectations that consistently rose, made it a competitive and tough environment to survive in.
"I wasn't subjected to torture, or brainwashing. But, they had a rigorous training program, and a competitive attitude, those who didn't meet expectations were punished."
Angela once again tapped away at the tablet, not looking up as she asked her follow up question; "What were these punishments like."
Sombra leaned back and thought about it, she was the best hacker that Talon had, so she was never on the receiving end of beating often. She mostly got into trouble for talking back to Widowmaker or Reaper. She recalled a time where Doomfist punched her in the jaw when she questioned his methods.
"Sometimes someone would get a beatdown, or would be socially isolated, those who consistently failed to meet expectations were excommunicated and killed."
Angela frowned as she continued to tap away, shifting her glance once again back to Olivia.
"That can be a very stressful way to live, though I will not say that Overwatch is without its stressors, that one can be certain it will always remain in the line of work."
Olivia nodded in agreement, as Angela continued; "What was your relationship with Ame- I mean Widowmaker, and Reaper?"
Olivia let out a deep sigh before answering; "It was strenuous at best, it was a working relationship but it wasn't friendly by any means. Widowmaker herself was quite cold and cruel. She used to always one up me in exercises, and make it look like I didn't know what I was doing. It was honestly exhausting."
Angela tapped away again before looking up and putting the tablet face down on her lap.
"I'm sorry you had to deal with such things, no as to the incident that happened a few nights ago, are you feeling that you yourself are mentally capable of handling missions and tasks, or do you need time off to recuperate and feel more comfortable in your role here at Overwatch."
Olivia took in a deep breath and fidgeted in her chair, she had to admit to herself that her outburst the other night was nothing short of a manic episode that led to her attempt on her own life. With everyone being so kind to her, and being welcomed so easily into her new family she felt a renewed strength and with Jesse and Hana by her side she knew she'd be able to overcome any challenge that came her way.
"I believe that I'm better now, I have the support I need to keep my emotions in check, and handle whatever is thrown at me."
Angela offered a warm smile at this response and stood up, outstretching a hand. "Good, I look forward to working with you Miss Sombra."
Olivia stood up and accepted the hand shake correcting Angela; "Please, Call me Olivia."
Angela seemed surprised and took a mental note.
"Of course, Olivia. Take care now."
Olivia nodded as she departed from the medical ward, and made her way back to the members quarters. She noticed Jesse meandering around the halls. He looked up from his PDA and noticed her approaching, and met her halfway, as she sauntered up to his side and took his hand in hers, intertwining their fingers together.
"Hey there Jesse."
She smiled with stars in her eyes. Jesse returned a soft smile to her and pressed his lips to her forehead before whispering.
"Cole, Please call me Cole."
- Author's Notes -
Sorry everyone for putting this story on hold for over two years, as my love for the game dwindled
I found it hard to continue writing about it, especially with all the knowledge of Blizzard's practices.
However with Overwatch 2 and increasing popularity and interst in the game for me has been
the main driving force in my return to writing this series, I've been cultivating my writing style
over the last two years, as well as hosting an Etsy shop for my writing workshop so my time has been
sporadic as my work mounts with writing my personal stories and work for my customers.
I hope you all can understand and forgive me for my absence, and I look forward to taking
this story to where it deserves to be.
Much love and grace -KatTheKind