After left, flying into the night sky in her titan-like suit of armour, Reaper was left alone with Mercy, Tracer, and McCree, all of whom looked a little concerned. The sun would be rising soon, they had no idea where Genji was or where to start looking, Junkrat was dead, and they had already been in a major skirmish. Time was not running out. In was well and truly gone.

'We have to look for Genji. He must be close by!' Tracer exclaimed. She kept carrying on about it. Reaper listened passively, waiting for an opening.

'We should go back.' Mercy replied. 'It hasn't been too long, maybe I can resuscitate Junkrat. The four of us will have a much better chance of…'

'What about escaping?' McCree put in. 'Don't tell you maniacs don't have an escape plan.'

Yada-yada-yada. Reaper stifled a yawn and looked around. A few of the Japanese guards had been killed in the fight, he could sense them even now. Their life was gone, but their souls remained, drifting like poison gas on the wind. He opened his arms, drew them towards him, absorbed their energy. The souls of his enemies gave him strength.

The other three were, of course, unable to see what he was doing. He probably just looked like he was flapping his arms about, play-acting as a giant spastic bird of prey. A dark, angry raven, perhaps, like the love child of a monster conceived by Poe and Lovecraft.

'Reaper, what do you think? Should we go looking for Genji, go back for Junkrat, or try to escape?' Mercy asked. Apparently he held the deciding vote.

'Don't fucking say we go back for Junkrat. Please don't say it.' McCree looked tired, drawn out. 'I just killed the bastard like… ten minutes ago!'

Reaper didn't doubt that Mercy could revive Junkrat. Her powers had been proven time and time again. But he did doubt the usefulness of the explosive junker. Still, of the three options, bringing him back to life seemed, somehow, the most practical. Reaper had snatched Junkrat's soul as they left the cell block. He could use it now to control Junkrat.

Not to mention if he did what Mercy said she would continue to think of them as equals, a pair, working together on their quest to find out why people were not dying properly. Looking for a way to turn the world back the way it was.

The longer she trusted him the better. It would make it simpler when the time came to betray her.

'Junkrat.' He said. And it was settled – though McCree did not look happy.

Once inside the cellblock they shut and locked the door. It was not a good hiding space, but at least with the door shut they would not be spotted from a great distance. And, hopefully, the Japanese soldiers would not look at the cell block. There was no reason for them to think that the intruders would stay so close to their last point of contact.

'This is a bad idea.' Tracer scowled. 'Who died and put you two in charge?'

'God.' Reaper replied. Mercy gave him a dark look.

'Tracer's right. We should leave him.' McCree stood over Junkrat's body. Much of his chest had been blown apart, fragments of flesh and blood scattered the floor in a Rorschach's picture of gore. 'He was never any help to us anyway.'

'That's not true.' Tracer replied. 'He helped Mercy earlier when she was surrounded. He held off more than a dozen guards on his own. He died a hero.'

Mercy pointed her staff at Junkrat's body. She was clearly concentrating all her energy. She did not even glance at Tracer as she responded.

'Heroes never die.'

The flesh and bone and organ matter pulled itself back together, stitched the body into one piece. A brilliant golden glow covered the prone figure and, after a very long pause, Junkrat opened his eyes and took a deep, drowning breath.

He glanced around, eyes sparkling with confusion and life.

'He's… really alive?' Tracer took a step back. Reaper didn't blame her. As familiar as he was with death, the sight of Junkrat was somewhat unnatural. Mercy normally didn't wait this long to revive someone. Not to mention Junkrat was still missing his soul – Reaper had decided to keep it for safe keeping.

Junkrat's arms and good leg were shaky, but he slowly stood, and began patting himself down for any sign of wounds or injuries.

'You won't get rid of me that easily.' He grinned a gap-toothed grin, then stumbled. Reaper allowed the junker to grab his arm for stability, just for a moment.

'What… what happened?'

'Don't worry about it. We need to get out of here.' Tracer flickered in and out of time, then put her hands on her head. 'Bollocks! Not again. I keep phasing out!'

Reaper growled. He could hardly believe the idiots he had to work with. Mercy, so full of hope and prayer, kept trying to save every fool they met. Junkrat was wild, unpredictable, and reckless. McCree was cocky and rash. Tracer was driven and focused to the point of being blind to their real purpose. They'd all kill each other before dawn, unless the enemy killed them first.

Sometimes it seemed he was carrying the team all on his own.

Mercy, at least, was taking some charge. She led them to the door and flung it open. 'Come on. Let's head back to the…'

Hovering low in the air before them was the Mantis, Widowmaker's airship. The docking ramp was extended and standing at the entrance to the loading bay was Soldier 76. The withered old clone gestured for them to come and join him.

'Get up here. We don't have all day.'

They were all relieved to be back in the air, leaving the sirens and alarms and death of Hanamura military base far behind. The light hit the horizon and within minutes the Land of the Rising Sun was awash with bright light. But by that time the Mantis was already heading West, far from the island country, far from the last cradle of civilisation, back to the wilderness.

Widowmaker and Road Hog had, apparently, called for Soldier 76 to come and collect them shortly after completing her mission. A mission which had been, according to Road Hog, assassinating the leader and commander of the free world; General Shimada. Reaper didn't have much of an opinion on Shimada. He didn't care how the war started, the Omnics appeared, or why the Fallout occurred. His plan looked only to the future.

Still, it was interesting to learn a little about the politics of the land. Shimada had, according to Widowmaker, almost single-handedly saved Japan from both the Omnics and the plague of hungry dead, and managed to form a new city state out of the ashes. Although he wasn't the only person in charge of Japan, he was certainly the most powerful. Now that he was dead the country would be thrust into chaos and, if they weren't careful, civil war.

Genji, it turned out, was Shimada's son. Reaper couldn't remember if someone had told him that before. He probably just hadn't been interested before. But it did partially explain why the Japanese military had been so keen to reclaim Genji and the sword, an heirloom of his family, when they attacked Soldier 76's underground facility.

'We didn't save Genji.' Tracer admitted to the others.

'You didn't hear?' Widowmaker looked tired as well. Though not, surprisingly, mad at Road Hog. The two were very different, but had obviously made a fairly effective team. 'Genji escaped. We passed a few squads of Japanese guards and overheard them talking about it. That's why there were so many alarms going off.'

The look on Tracer's expression was hard to read. Some part of it was relief at knowing Genji was not being held by his enemies. But she was also scared for him, that was clear. And probably scared for herself. Even now, in the safety of the Mantis, she had flickered through time more than once. It seemed her ability was becoming harder and harder to control.

'Who's this?' Junkrat waved a thumb in the direction of a tall, ferocious looking Japanese warrior who was currently tied down to a bed. Though his mouth was gagged his eyes spoke volumes of hate at his captors.

'That's Hanzo.' Agent Widowmaker replied. 'Road Hog and I fought him after we killed General Shimada… his father. We could have left him there, but he was too valuable, so we brought him with us.'

McCree hummed with disapproval. But then McCree seemed to disapprove with most of their decisions lately. He stared at Junkrat with a dark, hateful gaze, as if waiting for Junkrat to lash out at any second. But Junkrat, since losing his soul and returning to life, seemed only vaguely aware of what had happened to him in the last few days. In fact he seemed only vaguely aware of everything, drifting along with very little interest. At times he was wildly energetic, at others he was distracted and oblivious. As far as Reaper was aware he had not even mentioned the fact that McCree had shot him. Perhaps he didn't remember at all. Perhaps he didn't care.

'Hanzo looks dangerous.' McCree said.

'He is.' Widowmaker tapped the gag. 'That's why he's tied up. I suggest you don't undo that.'

The group dispersed for sleep after Mercy did a quick heal-around. Soldier 76 flew the ship. There weren't enough beds for everyone, but they made do with other furniture. Road Hog, the biggest, slept on the floor on a spare sleeping bag, and claimed that he had slept on much worse over the years. Reaper didn't doubt it.

While they slept, Reaper watched. He did not need sleep. He spent some time in the cockpit with Soldier 76, learning how the Mantis worked, in case he ever needed to fly it. The time might come that Soldier or Widowmaker, the only two who understood the airship, were too injured to man the controls. Or perhaps Reaper would simply use the vehicle to abandon the others.

The possibilities were endless.

'Did you enjoy your time in Japan?' Soldier asked at a sleepy midday.

'No.' Reaper replied.

'I bet they gave you a warm welcome.'

'They tried to kill us many times.'

Soldier raised a white eyebrow. He was, for a clone, very old. 'I was using sarcasm.'

Reaper pat him on the shoulder and stood to leave. 'I'm very impressed. What did you spend the time doing?'

Reaper briefly caught sight of a card game on the computer screen as Soldier 76 leaned over and minimized it. The old clone cleared his throat.

'I don't want to talk about it.'

Shortly after the rest of the group woke again, and gathered in the main space of the airship to discuss their next destination. Japan lay behind, and it gave Reaper some joy to picture the smoke of their destruction rising lazily into the sky. Not even that perfect little island could escape unscathed.

It wasn't that Reaper and the others had meant to cause so much damage, so much death. It just happened when they arrived. They were like the thugs that ran around arcade halls, beating up the old machines, smashing windows, stomping on chairs, throwing popcorn in cinemas. Wanton destruction. Mayhem without a cause. A good day out for all involved.

'I need to find a way to fix my time travel.' Tracer said. 'We can't go anywhere or doing anything until that happens. I keep feeling like I could slip away at any moment!'

Widowmaker seemed to have lost almost all interest in the rest of the group. Though the Mantis was hers, she did not comment, and allowed the others to vote.

'We should look for more survivors. Others we can recruit to our cause.' Mercy argued. 'I hear that England might…'

'England!' Tracer exclaimed. 'I'm from Bloody England! It's a bloody nightmare there! Why do you think I've been trying to hide my accent?'

If she was trying to hide it, she was failing now. In fact the angrier she became the more obvious it was.

'Tracer, if we can…'

'No, you listen to me. England is a worse shitstorm than America. And London is the worst of the lot. We tried so hard before the Fallout. We came so close to peace with the Omnics. We locked up all the criminals, anyone who associated with creating terror or anarchy. We were so, so close to things going well…' She sniffled.

There was a pause. Everyone waited for her to speak, but it seemed as though she was done.

'What happened?' Soldier 76 finally asked, his gravelly voice as soft and warm as charred ash

'London escaped the worst of the Fallout, but the Omnic virus took over. Even the good machines went bad. The dead overthrew us and the country was split into three warring factions. Everyone died. Then they died again.'

'Who won?'

'The criminals. We had them all locked up in a backstreet nicknamed King's Row. Everyone who'd ever associated with evil, like…' Tracer glared up at Widowmaker. 'Talon. That's where they all were. They banded together, held off the Omnics, and took control of the city.'

'Forget about London, then.' Soldier nodded. He looked around, daring the others gathered to disagree with him. No one did.

'If only Overwatch was still around.' Tracer's face was red, and she looked close to tears. Talking about her home land was obviously a sore point. But she smiled as she mentioned Overwatch, and Reaper remembered that Tracer had been a big fan of the discontinued Organisation, even though Widowmaker had told her about their shortcomings.

'Why?'

Tracer's eyes started to glow. 'There was a scientist named Winston. A brilliant man. He helped design all the weapons for Reinhardt, and Ana, and the others. In his spare time he helped with the European Union's space program, before they shut down. I know he could help me. Learning to harness random scientific anomalies was like, his specialty!'

'He's not dead.' Widowmaker said. Everyone looked at her, shocked. She shrugged. 'I was part of Talon, you all know that. We kept tabs on the Overwatch team after they disbanded. Most of them disappeared. Some of them died. Winston went into hiding. He has a base in Europe, somewhere.'

'Where!' Tracer was on her feet in an instant, energised by her desperation and excitement.

'I don't know.' Widowmaker shrugged again, even more callously this time. Junkrat rolled his eyes as if genuinely disappointed. McCree grunted. Mercy scowled. Road Hog did not appear to even be listening.

'But,' Widowmaker continued, 'I know someone who could find out. Someone I used to work with. A former member of Talon. She's the most skilled hacker I know. If Winston is still on a network that the Omnics haven't taken over, which I guarantee he is, my friend can find him.'

There seemed no discussion left to be had. Everyone had agreed that they would do whatever it took to save Tracer. Reaper did not know if this was because they all cared for her, or if they all just wanted to have some kind of purpose. Either way, it was settled.

'Great!' Tracer beamed. 'Where is your friend, and what's her name?'

'Well, like you said, she's a former member of Talon, and almost all of them were put in King's Row before the Fallout. I know for a fact that's where she ended up. Knowing her she's probably running the place by now.'

Widowmaker smiled fondly. The others waited patiently. Soldier 76 was already readjusting their course for orbit – they could drop in and out of the atmosphere and be in England before sundown.

'Her name,' Widowmaker continued, smiling softly, 'is Sombra.'

*** Add me on Overwatch if you want to talk about my story so far, or just want someone to play with :) Maverick#6161