The three last months have been a rush to every Overwatch agent now and then. The sudden grown up of a terrorist group greatly concerned the top agents, as they didn't even knew where it came from. Not only that, a sudden outburst of against-humans rebels also appeared out of nowhere. Funny enough, it also had various humans in it.
Actually, it was nothing an international organization like Overwatch couldn't take care of. The issue was that they've been dealing with way more smaller things before these just popped. Of course, this was a piece of cake when compared with the war. It still was a fuss, nonetheless.
In the middle of the silence, Reinhardt was the first to speak – which was something a little unusual. He striked the panel with fierce confidence, which seemed cool to him, but probably not to the rest. Gabriel jumped, Ana spit her tea, Torbjörn let a screech out and Jack barely winked. Reyes quickly changed his dazed face to an angry one.
"Bloody hell, Reinhardt, what is it?!"
"MEINE FREUNDE! We are just ignoring the most important point here! That we are dealing with rats, not mice!"
Ana frowned a bit, mostly a confused frown.
"I don't get your point."
Reyes pouted. "Guess we are putting too much effort on it when that isn't necessary. If we don't focus on separated operations and keep a bigger one that in theory embraces all the problem, we'll be just waisting resources and specially time. This is not another Omnic war." He spread his arms over the panel. "We are combating it like it's a big scale problem when it's not."
Jack nodded. "Very wise says,Reyes.e" He says, to which the former first in-command responded with a sulky face. Reinhardt lifted a finger to say something, but immediately lowered it as he pouted.
"So." Amari started, "I suppose you think it's better that Blackwatch deals with it under the covers."
Reyes just bounced his head while crossing his arms.
She approached him carefully, with the rest of the team doing the same. Torbjörn grunted.
"And I'm curious, how would this thing of yours deal with them?"
"Well, for starters..." He glared at Ana. "You should be the one doing it."
"I am what?" She was clearly offended. It was long before Ana added a notch to her rifle. She promptly refused to kill any living soul anymore, so mostly Gabriel assumed she was leaving the job for him.
"You know, Amari. It's not that I don't enjoy it", he smirked, "but you really think I would pass how you prefer to sit all day still in the base, and when you finally get in field the only thing you do is scream orders and check the perimeter?"
She scoffed, growling silently and lifting a finger to his chest. "Well, Reyes, as much as I want world peace, apparently not like YOU, I don't want to do it simply by the most gruesome way possibly. And besides that, I have a living now outside of that. Mostly you should be well aware of how's that." She finished, pompous.
"Oh, yeah, I do know how is that, but I don't use my offspring as—"
Torbjörn stepped up, grouch as he always was. "Could you all stop with this whining for once?! While we are here just discussing how non-focused our operations were, Talon is putting their dirty hands on God knows what!"
"The thing is we don't have a start point to that. We are just recovering the mess they are making up. But who knows how can we stop whatever they are planning?"
Reaper approached Jack, an evilish grin on the corner of his lips. "And that's why you should leave it to me, commander. While you deal with the omnic bullcrap, we will see how can we get under Talon's skin. After all, I don't need to work the way you do."
Jack closed his eyes for some time, while Ana and Torbjörn kept staring Reyes until Morrison spoke up.
"Fine. If you want to deal with them, do it, but don't just get it all for yourself if there is any sudden suspect of something really bigger. We will see what we can do with the—"
Reinhardt slamed the panel once again, making all of them jump in a scare. "WE WILL SMASH THEM!" Winston had just entered the room with a tower of boxes which he had a hard time not making them all fall over the sudden scream.
"Oh-h ouh huh, don't— please, d-don't punch the panel that hard, lieutenant..."
Upon the arrival of the gorilla, Gabriel scoffed and tresspassed past the door, not before bumping in Winston and making him almost drop his boxes again while spitting out a scared sound. Torbjörn got off his chair following, with a muffled "I'm done here".
The gorilla scratched his head with one of his hands. Ana sighed, as Morrison started looking up some files backwards to them. Reinhardt started smoothing his beard.
"I-I'm sorry captain, have I interrupted something?"
"Oh, no", Amari calmed him down. "We just had a little argument, that's all. Because Reyes can't simple act like any normal being would, that edgelord..." She crossed her arms, offended.
Winston sighed, relieved. "Uh, ahn, captain, there is also a little girl in the reception wanting to see you, the secretary said he sent you a notification but your communicator was off."
Ana stared at him a little confused, mumbling a "What?" until her head clicked. Her eyes widened as she ran downstairs in a rush, making the gorilla drop his packages as she stumbled on him.
The whole room went silent as Winston awkwardly stood in the door, picking up his boxes.
"So, my comrades", Reinhardt paused. "Any of you wand to go for some bier?"
One could say it was very out of place to see Ana Amari running like her life depended on it. Actually, it even contributed to a situation of mutual hysteria. Minor agents couldn't know everything that goes on the whole organization, so the most paranoids ones started running alongside Ana, fearing for the thing that could be dangerous enough to make one of the top agents of Overwatch run off. She didn't noticed it in the rush, but as soon as she reached the first floor, sweating off, she looked over her shoulder only to be surprised by a fair amount of agents behind her. Ana couldn't properly react to this. That organization really was the thing.
"Ma allaena— what are all of you even doing?! Go back to your posts!"
Some of them seemed relieved, some disappointed, some were just smirking of in the most stupid way by the rush of adrenaline by no reason at all. Ana swept sweat off her forehead. I am surronded by idiots.
Finally, she gets the door open by simply waving her hand lightly in front of it. The opaque glass doors slide open to reveal from a little afar the figure Ana was just expecting. About 1,50m, or just barelly 5". A whole third of the creature's back was covered by long, dark and fluffy hair that shone whenever light touched it. The thing was wearing a shirt too big for her size, in a dark cobalt color, with an Overwatch logo in it, and also oversized white shorts. Or to summarize, no sense of fashion at all. As any 9 year old kid would not have. Or any 36 year old Sam.
Yep. That is definitely Faheera.
Ana breathed heavily, leaning on her knees. The sparky child come over, her grimy flip flops clicking against the reflective white floor.
"This homeless brat appeared braging some nosense about wanting her mom", the receptionist leaned over the balcony, "She was getting in my nerves so—"
Ana stared at the man over her shoulder with the deadliest glare she could build up. He microscopically shrugged and grumbled something in some unknown languange, leaving right after.
"Mama, mama!", Fareeha cried, as she lifted her chubby hands wanting her mom's lap.
"Oh, my sweet Fareeha", Ana responded, with a loving smile that quickly dissipated in a annoyed face. "What are you doing here?"
"Mama, you promissed you would let me meet your friends!"
Ana quickly rested her left elbow on her right hand, using the other to sinalize a no-no. "I said that I would think about it."
"But mamaaa! I want to see them!" She cried once again, her big black eyes glimmering with a pinch of tears.
Ana snouted, her brows almost going in a straight line above her eyes.
"Okay, okay, habibti, we will see them. But first", she kneeled, holding Fareeha's hands tightly and caringly. "How did you got here?"
She pouted. "Papa brought me."
For fucking sake today's Ubers. Or maybe just no Ubers at all, just the privileges of being a high-paid agent and having the most out of world services at your hand. Like traveling across the Mediterranean sea in one wink. Or just having a soft-hearted father like Sam.
"So," she smilled almost like she was going to have a spasm right after. "Your papa just let you go from home to here. Alone?"
"Ana, I may spoil her a bit, but I am not trying to kill her."
"I think it's better for you to stay leaned against that wall because if you ever dare to move, I will make sure to bury you in it."
He chuckled. "Classic Ana".
She scoffed, hiding a smile in the corner of her lips. "Al'abalah."
"OOOH? Is that really our little Fareeha?! But how can a little girl be so big? Maybe because my hand is still bigger than yours! Hahaha!"
The little girl jumped in joy while the armored knight played with her. "Asada! Asada!", she pointed, bathed in enthusiasm.
"Ana." Reinhardt stared at her with a poker face and puppy eyes. "Let me carry her."
Amari smiled. "No."
While Reinhard frowned out, Gabriel appeared right behind the kneeled man, popping a "Boo!" as Fareeha was taken by surprise and bursted in laughter. Gabriel straight took the little girl up to his lap tickling her, while Ana warm smiled and Reinhardt pouted.
"Aaaaahahahhah! Stop it uncle Gabe!"
"What? I can't understand you!"
"Stop!", she claimed, as he left her lying on the floor, sparkling with joy.
Jack stood still, leaned against the wall with his arms crossed.
"So, is that your responsibility now, Amari?"
She sighed, in the same state as Jack. "These random outbursts groups just sucked me out of home. Sam is mostly the one caring to her..."
She seemed a little frowned. In the outside, Jack couldn't appear less of a 'I don't give a fuck' face, but inside his guts his heart bleed because he really was a father after all.
"You could've said."
"Maybe you just forgot what my free days were for?" She launched him a grim.
They watched as Reinhardt and Gabriel chase the little girl, who ran way faster than both of them; her golden hair ornaments shining in the few rays of sun going down the salloon.
"I don't know, I'm a bit confused. It's not worth it going home from kilometers everyday. I could bring them with me, but... I don't know if she will react well to too much traveling..."
Jack sighed.
"Yeah, I know you're usually the one who just guesses people real worries, but I may try it and, you just really don't want her excited for any of this, right?"
Ana closed her eyes as her face stiffened.
"I've told her countless histories. I ended up fuelling her too ahead of what I've should." She sighed. "I don't know if I can hold her anymore."
She took a ciggarette from her pocket but Jack readily slapped her hands off the thing.
"With you slapping them around everytime I think I just got 2 in the night. I don't even know why I still try."
"Then maybe you should just dump it. It's not like you didn't decided to start smoking like, three months ago."
Ana hmpfed, giving Morrison the package. He opened the small metal case, crushing the cigarettes. In the middle of them, he endend up crushing a small picture too.
"Thanks, dumbass." Ana sweared, as she took the photo from him. It was the picture of a even younger Fareeha with her hands dirty in mud – all kneaded now.
"I know this does not seems the best option, but we really like her and she really like us. And specially now we will get even more busy here. I can arrange an accommodation for both of you."
She stood still for a second, thinking about it.
"I am... really afraid. I don't—", she hesitated, "I don't really want her to experience all those things!"
Ana sobbed, putting her hand over her face. Jack patted her back carefully.
"Mama! Mama don't cry!"
She looked over Fareeha.
"What— are you speaking english, little girl?"
She perked, her smile still missing some teeth; not the same ones as 3 years ago, though. "Uncle Gabe and Asada can't understand me!", she pouted, squeezing her own cheeks. Gabriel just smirked over Ana while shrugging.
Amari stretched out a smile. "Maybe— we can get your language lessons here."