A/N: A very short chapter this time to set the stage for the coming chapter or two.


Watchpoint Gibraltar, Iberian Peninsula, Europe

"-I'll show you all the horrors the Covenant have inflicted in the last thirteen years I've been serving." With that the video interview ended, leaving the room in a stunned silence. Winston turned to face the main heroes of Overwatch; he'd only brought a few he could truly trust into this room. He appreciated the sacrifice each and every person in Overwatch was making simply by associating with them, but with the unique circumstances they'd found themselves in, he'd rather keep unnecessary speculation to a minimum.

"Aye so he's told a sad tale, but how can we believe him, let alone trust him?" Torbjorn spoke up, he'd always been a gruff old cynic, so his skepticism and doubt were nothing new. Winston technically had the power to enforce whatever he deemed fit as the 'leader' of Overwatch, but it wouldn't be right to those he serves with. He wanted them to understand his actions, to see why he felt it was necessary to bring this unknown into the fold.

"I understand your doubt my friend I truly do, however we have no reason to believe that he is telling anything other the truth. He had an understanding that he came from a different universe before we presented the idea to him, that's something I'll discuss further with him if possible. He also mentioned that his helmet stored visual data and he'd be willing to show it once he was freed. On top of that his armor and weapons have never been manufactured or even prototyped in our world, there was also something of note that Amari found while analyzing his armor." He reached to the side and grabbed a large cloth object, Winston unfolded it and laid it upon the conference table for all to see. It was a battered and heavily worn flag; it was crimson red with golden embroidery in the shape of the 'drop pod' that Kasporov discussed. In the center was a flaming red skull and under the were the words 'ODST', Kasporov's unit was presumably the numbers at the top of the flag.

"If this was all some elaborate joke then kudos to him, but the amount of information we have on the contrary shows that he is in fact telling the truth." Torbjorn grunted in dissatisfaction but said nothing more.

"I didn't just gather you in here to discuss the validity of his claims, rather I gathered you in here to propose the idea that this Adrian Kasporov join us in our fight against Talon." At that the small group of heroes grumbled and objected.

"Listen boss, I trust you, I don't however trust him. Nuttin against him personally, but he has no reason to fight for us and its clear he wants to be here as much as cat in water." McCree objected.

"I know he is a wildcard, but as you said he wants to leave, and I feel we can use that to our advantage. I've already been looking into this after Lena's accident and I have a decent amount of progress, but with his knowledge of his own world's technology, that progress could increase exponentially! I offer that we make a deal with him, we lend him our aid to help him return home and allow him to live here, in return he helps with operations or lends us some of the information on the technology form his own universe. If we want him to trust us, we have to show him that he has a reason too and I believe this would be the way to secure his help."

"Ehh I don't know about this; my men are more than capable of taking on Talon. Why do we need some outsider?" Amari voiced, she'd always cared deeply for those under her command, he was expecting to have some resistance from her.

"Your soldiers are capable yes, but Overwatch is still small. We need manpower, you know as much as I do. Kasporov has the experience and training to be an invaluable asset, think of it this way, for every mission that Kasporov goes on, that's one less situation in which your men have to risk their lives." Fareeha sighed and nodded in agreement.

"Then we're in agreement! I won't however simply let him run unwatched, I'll have Athena keep constant surveillance and alert us to any unusual activity. For now, I'd like him released from his cell and his gear given back, his weapons however will stay locked in the armory until the first mission. Fareeha if you could get one of your men to escort him here, I'd like to discuss our proposal." Winston just hoped he was doing the right thing by bringing Adrian in.


Putting on his ODST armor had been like being embraced by a close friend, it was a practically a second skin for him and being stripped of it and made him feel naked. Feeling under his chest plate he could feel the cloth flag between his fingertips, he breathed a sigh of relief. It turns out that Dr. Ziegler hadn't been lying after all, not long after she left he had passed out from exhaustion and when he woke the next day he was freed, his gear returned, and he was summoned to meet with 'Winston'. His escort had tersely explained that Winston was in fact the ape he had meet earlier, he had his suspicions, but it was good to know the specifics. Walking into the same room he'd tried to escape from just a day before had felt strange, at the far end of the room was the massive ape, Winston. When it saw he had come it did its primate waddle over to him and stuck out a hand, "Ah Kasporov, it's a pleasure to be officially acquainted." Adrian involuntarily shuttered but managed to keep a look of disgust off his face, he simply stared at the outstretched hand until Winston awkwardly retracted it.

"Well uhmm- uh let's get straight down to business then?"

"By all means. I am curious as to what bought me my freedom."

Winston walked around the table and up to the computer screen pulling up a map f the world marked with red dots.

"I believe Dr. Ziegler discussed returning you home and that was no lie, I will devote all the power at my disposable to returning you to where you came from." Adrian gave a sigh of relief, that was the best new he'd heard in a while, though he wasn't expecting this to be done out of pure kindness, "However we are in a bit of a tight situation, there is a terrorist group known as Talon. They're main goal is to create conflict and turmoil across the globe, they have money, power, and overwhelming force which is where we come in. Our job is top stop them from terrorizing the planet, these red dots are all areas where they've ben sighted or have been operating from. We would like you to help fight this organization Adrian, I understand that you have no connection to this world but every day innocents are harmed by their actions. In a more pragmatic sense however, by helping us you help Overwatch expand and grow, growth will help me gather more supplies and information to send you home faster. What I am proposing is that we help each other for your benefit and the benefit of mankind."

Adrian had been expecting a far worse deal, this plan wasn't bad at all. This Talon organization, they seemed like a truly despicable group, harming the benefits for what gain? It was all just senseless violence, he witnessed enough of that back home to be disgusted by the mere thought of it. He knew it wouldn't be easy to send him back home, it was an inevitability, but being able to actually do something instead of just sitting around with his thumbs up his ass was something that had actually made this deal all the more enticing to him.

"Alright, you've got yourself a deal."

"Really? I mean great, great! Right now, I don't have any assignments but you're free to explore the base or simply relax. You've been given your own room in the crew quarters, use it as you see fit. I'll send an alert to you when something comes up."

With that Adrian had secured a plan to make his way back to the real Earth, his Earth. He left the room and went to explore the base, more importantly see what his own room was like, that was something that only officers had in the UNSC.

Ignoring the obvious stares of distaste from some of the Overwatch personnel, he'd managed to find the crew quarters easily enough. Many of the doors were decorated in some way, likely by the occupants to help make it more their own, he noticed one door that was covered in pink cat stickers and vibrant decorations, the nameplate next to it had 'Song' written on it. Granted he'd only met a very small number of the people on base, but this one still seemed very out of place compared to the others. He ignored it and walked to the middle of the hall where he saw a plain door with his name on the plate next to it, opening the sliding door he walked into the room. It was a very spartan bedroom, a wide bed in the corner and a desk with a computer opposite of it, plain but far more than he'd ever had in the service, perfect for him. There a door in corner across the bed, opening it up revealed a small bathroom with a shower and toilet.

"Holy shit…" He muttered to himself, this was feeling more like a hotel than any military base. Walking up to the shower he wondered if they'd have it, they had so much other unnecessary shit why not. He turned the handle and…they did. These motherfuckers had easily accessible hot water, on the ground it was such a luxury that all hot water was used for cooking, aboard ships all the water was set to barely lukewarm and would only last a couple minutes. He laughed to himself and furiously began to strip the armor he'd been so eager to put only on just an hour ago. He turned the handle of the shower until steam as rising from the floor, throwing his armor onto the bed, he stepped into the shower embracing the scalding water. Weeks of built up grime turned the water a sickly brown as it flowed down the drain, the exhaustion he'd built up had practically melted away in the flow of the water. Resting his head against the wall, he wasn't sure how long he just stood there enjoying the reprieve. A resounding knock stir him from his stupor, stepping out of the shower he took a towel from the rack and wrapped it around his waist. He wasn't sure who'd want to talk with him but was surprised to see the armored man from earlier when the door slid open.

"Forgive me, I was unaware you were preoccupied." Said the synthesized voice as it turned to leave. Adrian was unsure of how to proceed; on one hand this was one of the men that had originally apprehended him and ODST's were particularly well known for socializing with non-ODSTs, though on the other hand he couldn't be sure how long he would be here and at the least making a friendly acquaintance wouldn't hurt.

"No you're fine, I was just getting out. Is…there something you wanted?"

"I came to introduce myself, if we are to work together, cooperation is key. I am Genji Shimada." He gave a light bow.

"Adrian Kasporov. I guess I aught to apologize for stabbing you." Adrian gave a non-committal shrug; he didn't feel any guilt over it but that wouldn't help him here.

"No apologies are necessary, we each did what we had to. Your technique is unusual but effective." Genji gave a light laugh.

"Don't sell yourself short, you've got a hell of an uppercut." They chuckled together and Adrian found himself rather enjoying the company of this Genji. A strange outfit to be sure, but his demeanor was rather calming, polite but not obnoxiously so.

"Would you care for some tea? I find it's quite relaxing in uncertain times."

"Sure why not, I've always preferred tea to coffee."

Their time spent together was as Genji had said, for all the insanity that Adrian had dealt with in the past twenty-four hours, a time of small talk and relaxing had been a refreshing change of pace. It a had also allowed Adrian to understand a bit more of the world he now found himself in, the biggest players aside from Overwatch and Talon had been the Omnics, a group of sentient machines that faced discrimination around most of the globe for simply existing. According to Genji, technology had taken a different path, notably in the form of 'Hard-Light' technology. It was some radical advancement that was created by the Vishkar Corporation, it reminded him a bit of Misriah Armony being a singular company that controlled such a vital aspect of technology. In return Adrian had shared a bit of the more mundane aspects of his world, the space elevators, the insurrections, and the worlds he's visited. Genji in particular was interested in hearing of the various colonies that humanity had, to Adrian they'd just been a part of his everyday life but to these people space flight was still relatively in its infancy.

"Mr. Shimada and Mr. Kasporov, I apologize for the interruption, but I have been told to inform that a mission has arisen which needs your immediate action. You two are to meet Ms. Oxton in hangar in five minutes, Mr. Kasporov you are required to go to the armory to retrieve your weapons." At Adrian's questioning look, Genji explained that Athena was the bases A.I, he would often provide intel support for those in the field as well. Heading back to his room he donned his armor, looking at his helmet he saw his reflection in the visor, a weathered and aged man whose eyes looked far older than one of twenty-nine. He sighed, running his hand across the visor he flipped it and put in on, hearing the helmet seal to the suit his familiar H.U.D booted up. A different world he may be in, but at least he'd had some bits of home with him, and now he'd be going back into the fray.