- Late 2061-
Months had passed since Kallista had been deployed on a mission, and there was no movement of improvement for her. Gabriel had been off on missions and she was under the watch of his second in command, Lyudmila.
Since her first mission, Gabriel had placed on her on desk duty and she had been there since then. He placed her in charge of sifting through the information they pulled from her previous mission while Malik worked on other missions and their therapy.
The information they had gathered provided leads on possible Talon access points and learned of a possible double agent working for the Austrian government. Even with the lead, she was still placed behind a desk, hacking into corrupt politicians that had connections to the defunct Omnium Corporations and this possible double agent.
It was too simple for her but she had no choice.
Needing to vent Kallista spent the past three months honing her mind and body by beating an unsuspecting punching bag senseless with an occasional meditation session with a few others.
"Put me on desk duty will you?" Kallista growled as she kicked the red punching bag, the hook creaked as it swung from the force the woman kicked into it.
"I'm just as capable as everyone else,"
Kallista growled as she roundhouse kicked the bag letting out her frustrations, it had been three months since she completed her first and only mission, her initiation mission into Blackwatch. Reyes had managed to avoid, shelf and deflect her questions about missions and even pushed her to his second in command, Lyudmila.
"Fuck this. Fuck you. Fuck him," Kallista growled as she dealt a series of quick jabs and finished with a right hook causing the hooks of the bag to creak in distress.
"Woah Kalli...talk about being frustrated…"
Kallista held on to the bag as she turned to look over her shoulder at the woman who spoke to her. It was Natalie, one of the other Blackwatch agents. She stood with her arms crossed her signature grin on her lips.
"Natalie," Kallista sighed.
"I couldn't help but notice you kicking this poor bag's ass...what did it do to you?" Natalie chuckled.
"Everything at this point," Kallista sighed again.
"Some of those kicks…you know Tae Kwon Do?" Natalie questioned.
"Yeah, it's something I tried to keep up with," Kallista replied.
"That's interested, and here I thought you were just a normal civilian with no means to defend yourself," Natalie shrugged.
"I give that appearance don't I? You wanted to talk about something?" Kallista asked as she leaned partially on the punching bag.
"Yes…let's chat…" Natalie trailed off with a mischievous smirk on her lips. "Meet you in the main courtyard in 15?"
"Sure," Kallista sighed.
15 minutes passed and the two women were sitting across from each other at one of the small patio tables. It was midday, various agents and staff passed through the courtyard or used it to relax on their breaks.
"You're so frustrated Kalli...what's up?" Natalie asked as she clasped her hands together and leaned forward. Kallista sighed heavily as she too leaned onto the table.
"Just a little annoyed at my…current position," Kallista replied.
Natalie's golden hazel eyes focused on the woman, studied her and watched her movements and manners. Kallista noticed the woman's eyes on her and how she had been watching her since she had joined Blackwatch and noticed how the woman periodically checked in on her.
What Kallista didn't know if it was to satisfy her curiosity or if Reyes told her to keep an eye on her?
"Why do you wanna go on missions so bad? You're like the opposite of what hackers are supposed to be," Natalie shrugged.
"When you sit around for three months knowing that people are going on all of these cool missions that you could possibly do…how would you feel?" Kallista questioned
"Oh. That…well what you do is cool too. I don't know all of the finer details but…," Natalie trailed off. "They're just being careful is all, you did hack into HQs servers for a bit. Besides, I'm sure Gabe will get over it and I'm sure he and Lyuda are working on your access to the rest of the servers," Natalie shrugged casually.
"I'm sure," Kallista sighed and leaned back in her chair. "You make him out to be a nice guy when all I see is a scowling face of judgment and disapproval,"
"That's his normal look nowadays. He's been stressed about a mission and whatever else he does. Then again...he's really only had like two modes or so, scowling or angry as of late," Natalie sighed
"I've heard about the pranks that you have pulled," Kallista laughed.
"Oh? Word travels quickly…obviously, Gabo wasn't feeling it," Natalie laughed. Kallista looked at the woman unamused at the woman's previous pranks.
"I'll tell you this. Gabe is a very tenacious and a fierce man. He's real nice has good jokes when he's feeling funny, he's a good guy. He may be our scowling fearless leader now, but he's a protector. A hella fierce and stubborn one at that, and putting it bluntly he's protective over you," Natalie tapped her red nails on the table as she spoke.
"He wants to make sure that he's able to protect you. We the senior agents know what happened to you so he's just being overprotective now," The woman continued.
"It sounds like you and Malik are in on the same joke," Kallista huffed annoyed. Natalie arched an eyebrow as she heard the woman's British accent slip.
"I'm actually being serious for once. But you can always watch him…I know you're an observant person. Actions speak louder than words," Natalie shrugged again.
"That sounds kinda stalker-ish Natalie," Kallista commented.
"Ok so that depends on how far you take it, don't be that creepy," Natalie waved off the woman's comment before she continued. "I wouldn't be too surprised if he feels some sort of connection with you because of SEP…there's not many people around," Natalie trailed off.
"Well that's awfully disturbing," Kallista said and tilted her head to the side. She didn't have access to any files labeled 'SEP' also known as the Soldier Enhancement Program, nor was she allowed to view any of the files that the former medical staff kept.
"Well…shit like that happens, unfortunately," Natalie laughed.
Kallista sighed softly as she brushed a piece of her hair behind her ear before relaxing into her chair. Natalie also relaxed into her chair. There was so much about SEP that she didn't know, but knew that it would be some time before she would be able to look at any files.
But according to Malik, Natalie was held back from missions just like her, for different reasons of course. Malik had told her that Natalie had waited a complete year before she was able to go on missions. She was considered lucky that Gabriel had let her go on any type of mission eight months after she was 'recruited'.
"Let me know if you wanna get drinks...or raid Reyes' stash...he has the good stuff," Natalie said as she stood.
"I thought we were friends? It seems like you're trying to get me thrown into jail," Kallista replied.
"You'll be fine, I'll make sure of it and besides I'm still here and I've done much worse things than you are probably ever going to do," Natalie laughed.
"Riiiight," Kallista said as she looked up at the woman from her seat.
"No worries. Trust me!" Natalie said as she smirked at her.
"I don't have a choice do I?"
"Hey don't come at me like that. You're hella cute, you're a hella good hacker and how you were punching that bag you could give Gabo a run for his money," Natalie winked.
"Ok, that's quite enough out of you," Kallista huffed.
"Hehe...trust me. You'll see," Natalie said before walking off leaving Kallista alone in the courtyard.
Another month had passed with no movement on Reyes' side to put Kallista out on the field. Kallista used the time to do more research within Overwatch and the agents within the Intel department and pay more attention to her immediate crew, some of their little quirks were telling of who she was dealing with.
Malik's fake smile, hiding the pain that rampaged his body daily. She could see him trembling as he stood with his cane or as he spoke to other people. He was hiding his pain with laughter, jokes, and flirtation.
She noticed that Lyudmila hummed softly as she cleaned her guns or the occasional melancholy look. As if she remembered something close to her heart as she absentmindedly fiddled with her gloved left ring finger as if something should have been there.
The Strike Commander's daily visits to the Blackwatch division and the goofy smile he gets when Natalie is around. She had picked up that the Strike Commander was usually the butt of the jokes that other Blackwatch agents told.
She occasionally watched Reyes, to the point she was able to tell when he stopped paying attention in missions or how bored he was with the mission briefs that were given them the division. The moments where he would 'puff' out his chest, the moments where their eyes would meet.
As weeks passed, Kallista had already figured out everyone's little ticks, their weaknesses and was able to persuade some of the agents to unknowingly answer some general questions about Blackwatch.
As Fata Morgana, she sought to expose Blackwatch and all of its crimes, but now she worked for the same people she worked to expose of course she wanted to know answers.
An additional four weeks passed before she granted additional clearance and access to more of Overwatch's files than Blackwatch, which spiked her curiosity to research whatever she could get her hands on. She scoured over the files, spent time in the digital and library in the main library and made notes to research specific people, events and whatever she could find.
She had low-level access, it was a start and she would work with it.
Kallista casually walked around the halls of Overwatch, her attention turned to the darkened sky and the lights of the city in the distance. She had holed herself in the library researching events that were related to Overwatch dating back to the beginning and end of the Omnic Crisis.
Rubbing her temples gently she could faintly hear the wind blowing outside, the soft hum of electricity flowing through the building.
A side effect.
It had been eight months since the incident, her hearing and strength had been increased a side effect of the serum that she was still learning to deal with. Most of the time she could do without the medication that was given to her by Angela to alleviate the migraines and sensitivity to light and sound.
The more that she thought about her condition she thought back to Natalie's words and how Gabriel felt some type of connection because she experienced some of the pain he did. She had seen too many times how he went out of his way to check on her and had someone else do it when he couldn't.
She did have to admit that she was a little annoyed by the man's 'unnoticeable' tactics. Maybe some of Natalie's words were starting to ring true. She continued to stare blankly out the window, her mind lingering on the woman's words.
"Kallista?"
"Lyudmila...what can I do for you?" Kallista asked as she turned to face the woman. The woman's footsteps were told Kallista who approached her even without looking.
"Nothing. It's just strange for you to be here so late," Lyudmila replied, Kallista squinted at the blue digital numbers down the hall. It was 9 pm, for her it was later than usual.
"I don't believe I have a curfew do?" Kallista questioned.
"I'm sure you don't," Lyudmila replied.
"I was joking…I lost track of time," Kallista replied
"In the training hall and Library, I assume?" Lyudmila said as she leaned on the wall next to her.
"Yeah," Kallista nodded.
"Ah. Natalie told me you were training and that you're getting better," the taller woman began.
"I don't think I was ever that bad," Kallista replied.
"For a civilian," Lyudmila added. "I need to go to the R&D department. Want to come with me?" Lyudmila asked as she pushed herself off the wall.
"Sure," Kallista said as she began to follow the woman down the hall.
There were a few moments of silence between the two women, Kallista stole a glance of the woman before she spoke up. She was covered from head to toe in black workout gear, sweatpants, boots, shirt, a zip-up hoodie and noticed on the black glove on the woman's left hand.
Kallista could only speculate that either her hand had extreme scarring or it was prosthetic, she thought the same thing about the woman's legs. From the way she walked Kallista could tell that she may have gone through some type of injury.
"Are you coming back from training?" Kallista asked.
"Training some new recruits," Lyudmila replied.
"Do you train all of the Blackwatch agents?"
"Sometimes. Reyes and I do the finer details, but I suppose general training is completed with all of the agents based on their level," Lyudmila replied.
"I see…" Kallista trailed off.
"If you're curious about your situation. You didn't have any prior experience within the military...it was supposed to be a solid training plan for you," Lyudmila began.
"Yeah...about that," Kallista sighed.
The woman clicked her tongue at the woman's sigh, she didn't know all of the side effects but knew that what happened to her shouldn't have happened.
"If you think of it like this, you have even more reason to be on the field...or at least even a little bit," Lyudmila commented.
"Sure, if Reyes would even let me. He had the nerve to push me onto you...that's rude," Kallista huffed.
"He does that sometimes… and he's being...a bit...protective," Lyudmila replied as she rounded a corner, Kallista followed.
"I'm not really here to be protected. I was captured, and was put on the team to do a specific job," Kallista replied.
"True. But that would mean that you would spend all of your time behind a desk," Lyudmila countered." We didn't expect for you to want to be on the field so badly. Who would have known a hacker that wants to fight to exist?"
"Well...what else am I going to do when I don't have access to the servers?" Kallista quipped.
"You are correct. You do need access, which we are working on," Lyudmila glanced down at the woman. Lyudmila sighed and stopped walking, Kallista stopped a few feet in front of her.
"Look. I get that you hacked into the Overwatch servers or whatever. You need to regain trust and I understand that Reyes is not giving you an optional to prove yourself," Lyudmila started.
"Then?" Kallista asked.
"I am working on it. I understand how your skills and your potential to prove yourself are going to waste by you not having access," Lyudmila sighed as she crossed her arms.
"I'm flattered," Kallista replied softly.
"Honestly...this isn't the first time I've encountered the actual Fata Morgana…"Lyudmila trailed off.
"...what do you mean?" Kallista asked her curiosity piqued. Lyudmila studied the woman before she began to speak again.
"Perhaps...another time," Lyudmila said as she walked past Kallista.
"Hey, you can't start and stop a story like that," Kallista started as she quickly followed after the woman.
"Sure. As soon as you get on the field,"
"And when will that be? How long will you lot keep me from—"Kallista began.
"You never know might be in a few weeks. I may have recommended you for a specific mission," Lyudmila spoke up.
"Wait…seriously? Have you?" Kallista began
"We all know you have potential Kallista. Anyone can learn to shoot a gun, but it takes skill to do what and you do it flawlessly. I can't guarantee Reyes will move as quickly as you want but wearing him down is another option," Lyudmila said as she stopped in front of the R&D Department.
"Touche…" Kallista replied.
"I'll be a few minutes, you don't have to wait...or...have you been here before?" Lyudmila asked.
"I kinda figured it would be off-limits to me, with all of the new tech in there," Kallista replied sarcastically.
"Off-limits? Nonsense. I believe if you actually wanted to do something you would have done it already, and you'd be severely outnumbered. You're smarter than that. Come on," Lyudmila said as she entered the room. Kallista shrugged and followed after the woman.
Hours later Kallista made a quick stop into the Blackwatch common's room to grab a bottle of water before heading to bed. The conversations she had with the lead developer of the R&D Department and Lyudmila left Kallista excited for the months to come, excited she almost didn't realize the whiskey-colored eyes watching her as she 'bounced' over to the fridge.
"What's got you all excited, Kalli?"
Kallista turned her attention to the man lounging on the large sectional sofa across the room. Jesse McCree was lounging on the sofa, more interested in what was on his phone than the large screen t.v
"Projects," Kallista replied.
"Oh? You actually goin' on a mission with us this time?"
"Probably not…" Kallista trailed off.
"Ain't too surprisin', Reyes being all protective of ya. Can't say what for though," Jesse said as he ran his hand through his hair.
"Who knows maybe you should find out for me, What are you watching?" Kallista asked as she approached the back of the sofa.
"No can do Kalli, I like where I am mighty fine an' for what I'm watchin', I jus turned on the tv an' this is what came up," Jesse said as he looked up at the woman.
"Hm. You know I don't think I ever apologized for kicking you in the face," Kallista began.
"Ain't nothing to worry 'bout sugar," Jesse replied with a smirk as he went back to looking at his phone.
Kallista placed a hand on her hip and gave the man a disapproving look. Jesse looked up from his phone noticing that she had placed her hand on her hip, but she was also glaring at him.
"Don't call me that," Kallista retorted
"S-Sorry...jus a habit," Jesse replied.
"So…" Jesse started.
"What's your story? You don't seem like a normal recruit," Kallista commented.
"S'cause I'm not…" Jesse trailed off as he gnawed on the toothpick that hung loosely from his lips.
"You heard of the Deadlock gang?" Jesse asked.
"Of course," Kallista replied.
"Right...I forget that you were an all seein' hacker. Well, He picked me up durin' a raid that Overwatch conducted on the gang. Didn't know he was with Overwatch...or should I say Blackwatch. He said he felt sorry for me, that's how I got here," Jesse replied.
"He didn't want to see you in jail...I assume that you're young and the fact that you have valuable information about the Deadlock gang," Kallista started as she turned to look at the young man.
"Is it my baby face that's givin' it away? I can't be that much younger than you," Jesse chuckled.
"More so like your peach fuzz," Kallista laughed.
"Peachfuzz? I'm offended Kalli, there's more 'ere than jus peach fuzz," Jesse replied as he gently scratched at his facial hair.
"I'm not convinced, but maybe when you get older…it'll grow in," Kallista replied as she walked past him.
"Ouch. What's with all the hostility tonight?" Jesse huffed.
