"You did great today. I'm honestly surprised," Natalie commented.
"Really? That's promising," Kallista replied with a smile.
The two women had just finished Kallista's gun safety training and target practice. At the behest of Jesse, Natalie trained Kallista on all things she would need to know to properly carry and shoot her assigned gun.
"At first I was hesitant to train you but you showed some promise, especially after what Gabo had told me," Natalie commented as she watched the woman hand over her gun and ammo clip to the trained Overwatch Weapon Specialist.
"I suppose, Reyes told you about what happened..." Kallista trailed off and grimaced at the thought.
"Of course he did," Natalie replied.
"They were really...really lucky shots and nothing more," Kallista said as she turned to Natalie.
"Lucky or not. It was damn good," Natalie replied and started out of the shooting range.
"I've never shot a gun, but yet it looked like I knew what I was doing," Kallista followed after the woman.
"And I'm here to fix that, better than McCree. I'm sure you would have misfired on your first shot if he taught you," Natalie huffed and crossed her arms.
Kallista chuckled softly as she walked next to the woman. She had to admit that Jesse did have questionable methods when it came to firing his beloved Peacemaker, she figured that it was all just for show and as long as he completed his mission, no one cared.
"Just thinking about how he fires his gun infuriates me. Are you up for sparing later on today?" Natalie quickly changed the subject.
"I believe so. Why all of a sudden you want to spar with me?" Kallista asked as pulled out her cellphone and still kept pace with the woman.
"Lyuda told me you've gotten better in CQC. I wanna test that," Natalie smirked.
"You sound like you're a boss before the final boss," Kallista snickered.
"I am the boss before the second to the last boss," Natalie grinned proudly.
"Let me guess, Lyudmila is the second to last boss and then Reyes is the last boss?" Kallista smirked.
"Correct. But I have somethings to do I'll contact you when I'm ready ok?" Natalie began as she veered down a separate hallway. Kallista nodded as she watched the woman pick up her pace down the adjacent hall.
Malik grimaced as he stood in front of the taller, dark-haired man that examined his prototype exoskeleton. He knew that it was necessary but still hated every moment of it he also knew that Kallista's words meant well and to look out for his well-being.
He hated being examined,
He hated being looked over as some type of experiment.
"Get your exoskeleton checked over, and go get seen by a doctor"
"...I will,"
"Do it or you'll be permanently on desk duty. You know what Reyes told you,"
"Yeah…but…"
"I understand you have your reservations about being examined but you must do this if you want to get back on the field. Go see Mikael and Jin,"
At least the man examining him was someone that he trusted and was good looking.
"How is your exoskeleton? Is it still working for you? Any complaints?" Mikael asked as he opened a small control panel at the base of the cybernetic spine.
"Yeah...hey Mikky...you've been busy a lot…" Malik's voice trailed off.
"Well with the volcanic eruption near Crete and Japan, I've been assigned to help out since it was my main study. And they are developing new weapons and defense mechanisms," Mikael sighed heavily. "My free time is limited,"
"You're not overworking yourself are you?"
"Not any more than you are...Torbjorn has been ramping up his projects especially since there are more people in the mechanic's area within Blackwatch," Mikael replied as he examined the knee joints of the exoskeleton.
"That's true...Hayden has been telling me a little bit about what's her name Citlali?" Malik asked.
"Yeah that's her. But she prefers to be called Talli," Mikael corrected as he moved their knee.
"That's gonna be confusing…Kalli…Talli," Malik trailed off as he lifted his knee.
"True...or you can go the way that a few others do and call her Lali, at least that's what Kallista calls her...I'm not sure how she feels about it though." Mikael chuckled as he began to adjust the exoskeleton's controls.
"Have you gone to physical therapy recently?" Mikael suddenly asked as he moved to look at them. Malik's gold and black speckled eyes quickly glanced at the taller man and to the ground.
"I'm going to assume that is a no and I assume it's the same with your medication,"
Malik remained silent and continued to avoid the man's gaze critical gaze on them. After a few moments of silence, Mikael sighed heavily and focused back on the exoskeleton's control panel. A few moments later, Mikael stepped in front of them and crossed his arms, disapprovingly.
"I'm not sure of your relationship between you and Dr. Mikami...but he's the only one that knows what's going on with your health...you need to see him regularly," Mikael suggested.
"I know that I should…but…"Malik trailed off.
"But?" Mikael asked as he cupped the man's face, Malik's eyes still on the floor. "Hey...look at me,"
With some hesitation, Malik sheepishly looked up at Mikael
"Go see him...I'm not going anywhere and he's not going anywhere...ok?" Mikael said quietly. With a sigh, Malik agreed and looked away from him
"...Ok…"
Hours later
Kallista quietly and slowly walked down the halls of the Overwatch division, her attention focused on the datapad in her hands. It was at least two hours before her training session with Natalie, she convinced the woman to take her target practicing instead of sparing. In the meantime, Kallista read as much as she could about gun safety, gun care and whatever was suggested by the Overwatch weapon specialist – Kenneth.
She buried herself in as much knowledge as she could all to keep herself from running away from her fears – her previous mission in Austria. Just the thought of it caused the woman to halt in her tracks and sent a shiver down her spine.
"You're going to be fine Kallista," Kallista said to herself.
"H-Hey Kallista?"
Kallista turned towards the source of the voice to see a woman slowly hobbling down the hall towards her.
"Idoya...what are you doing up? Were you cleared to walk around?" Kallista asked as she quickly approached the woman.
Idoya chuckled breathlessly as she leaned against the wall with her cane, Kallista quickly examined the woman.
"Before you ask...I am in pain and I am dealing with it," Idoya said.
"I can see that...what about your therapy?" Kallista asked.
"It's going...I think I have one more month," Idoya replied.
"That's good to hear. Have you told Reyes yet?" Kallista asked.
"Yeah. He knows," Idoya replied.
"Have you decided? I know that you were hesitant before,"
"Yes. I know...I just…" Idoya trailed off.
"Take your time," Kallista replied.
"I...I was just hesitant to agree to be a part of Blackwatch...well Overwatch nonetheless...I just want to make sure that...what I'm doing is right...I…" the taller woman trailed off again and sighed heavily.
"I'm here...because I trust you and Reyes...you two basically talked me into staying here…"
"Oh? I didn't know you felt that way," Kallista said as she ran a hand through her hair, frowning at the scent of gunmetal on her hand.
"Kallista-" Idoya started.
"Revenge can come later...you need to pick yourself up again before you do anything against Los Muertos," Kallista began.
Idoya lowered her eyes to the floor, tears dripping onto her shirt, Kallista glanced at the woman next to her and sighed softly.
"Idoya...revenge is best served cold and unexpectedly," Kallista said as she looked up at the taller woman.
"I know…it is just hard to forget about it, they killed him like an animal…I…" Idoya sobbed.
"Idoya...they will get what is coming to them...I promise you," Kallista assured the woman.
Gabriel had invited Kallista to Mexico on a recruit mission that was generally safe and didn't require any unnecessary risks. When they arrived in Mexico and located their target, they didn't expect the recruit to be on death's door. The woman had connections with a gang Kallista knew too well while she lived in Mexico, Los Muertos gang.
Kallista could only speculate two things – one the woman betrayed the gang or the gang betrayed her. Neither Gabriel or Kallista would know what really happened until Idoya had recovered enough to speak
"Fewer tears now Idoya...go rest…" Kallista said as she nodded. Idoya wiped her tears away with the back of her hand before sighing heavily.
"Yeah...you make it sound so simple, but it's not," Idoya murmured.
"Quite," Kallista replied. "But you have backup and resources to help you now,"
"I guess...thanks, Kallista…" Idoya said as she struggled to push herself from the wall, Kallista moved to help the woman up.
"Take it easy and don't beat yourself up over this...they will get what's coming to them," Kallista said.
Idoya nodded silently before she began to hobble down the hallway. With a sigh, Kallista watched the woman down the hallway, ever since she began at Overwatch and Blackwatch she had come into contact with many people from various walks of life.
She considered herself lucky for the type of life she lived compared to everyone else.
Bzzt! Bzzt!
Kallista pulled out her cell phone to see a string of messages from several people.
{Malik: When are we leaving tonight?}
{McCree: I dunno who ready?}
{Mags: Who's all going? Roll call.}
{Nattie: Me!}
{Aleks: I guess me?}
{Linda: Can I go?}
{Mags: No.}
{Malik: No. Truffles.}
{Mikael: You assholes. Linda, you can come}
{Lali: Me~!}
{Linda: Thank you, Mikael}
{Birro: Hell yeah I'm down!}
{O'Conell: Me}
{Mags: Oh shit Rhett you're in on this?}
{O'Conell: Hell yeah.}
{Malik: Oh shit whaddup Rhett!}
{Birro: RHETT. YES. WHADDUP!?}
{O'Conell: WASSUP?!}
{Kallista: I'm going}
{Lali: Kallista!}
{Nattie: You better B) }
{Kallista: …}
{Malik: aay Kalli~}
{McCree: U better come}
{Kallista: What's that supposed to mean cowboy?}
{McCree: I dunno...lol}
{Lyuda: I assume that you're leaving us out of this?}
{McCree: Aye Lyuda. U wanna come?}
{Lyuda: It would be rude if you didn't include your commanding officers}
{Nattie: Lyuda you should come too! Come get shit faced with us}
{Lyuda: Shit faced? Nattie you forget where I come from, we drink alcohol like water}
{Mags: Lyuda know what's up, lol}
{Nattie: I take that as a challenge, Lyuda}
{Reyes: I don't want to hear your complaints tomorrow morning when you have a hangover.}
{McCree: cmon Gabe don't ruin the fun}
{Malik: Gabo, you gotta come}
{Nattie: Gabby! Come with us!}
{Mags: Reyes...you should definitely come B) }
{Reyes: Busy. Like you all should be right now}
{Malik: He'll show up. He always does B) }
Kallista grimaced at the texts before shoving her cell phone into her pocket, the group of people that planned to go to tonight's outing there was surely going to be chaos and mass shenanigans. But Kallista also knew that they needed this since Austria everyone had been working non-stop on missions, reports, training, and more.
A break was needed every so often.
Kallista turned to look out the window and to the high rise buildings of Zurich. So much had happened to her already since she dropped the name Fata Morgana, became the elusive Blackwatch Intel Director and left her socialite life behind.
"What chapter was I on?" Kallista said to herself as she focused her attention on the datapad.
"Again," Natalie said. Kallista fired again.
"Again. Aim for the heart,"
Kallista fired again, hitting her target
"Aim for the left ear,"
Again, Kallista hit her targets with ease and behind her, Natalie laughed and clapped. Kallista slid off her earmuffs and turned to the woman.
"Not bad, you're getting better already. I'm surprised," Natalie said as she placed her hands on her hips.
"Really? You were giving me so much shit earlier for missing, thanks...that's less stress on me," Kallista said as she placed the safety on the gun and holstered it.
"You've already gotten past the hard part...you know...killing someone," Natalie replied.
"Yeah…" Kallista trailed off.
"Hey. It's either you or them and I'd rather for it to be them than you and besides you've done a lot today, you've already gotten the stance down, covered all of the safety measures, your aiming in pretty good. I'm thinking with a few more sessions and you'll be on your way to being a pro," Natalie said as she nodded her head.
"That's promising," Kallista sighed.
"That is...if he lets his Pequeno gatita on the field," Natalie snickered. Kallista turned and frowned at the woman next to her.
"Don't give me that look. I see things," Natalie smirked, her golden hazel eyes narrowed at Kallista her signature smirk on her lips.
"There's nothing to see," Kallista replied as she tilted her head at the woman.
"Uh-huh…it's ok. My lips are sealed…" Natalie gave Kallista a knowing look.
"What are you two doing in here?"
Kallista and Natalie turned to look at the man and woman that entered the shooting gallery, it was Mikael and Citlali.
"Letting off some steam before we go out tonight. I need to be loose as a whistle," Natalie replied, Mikael chuckled in response.
"I think I understand what that means…sometimes the translations do not always make sense to me," Mikael smiled.
"To be honest, I'm not even sure what I said is even correct. English can be hard," Natalie replied.
"Hey Natalie, Kallista," Citlali smiled.
"Hey," Kallista nodded.
"Oh yeah, Natalie. I was downtown and I saw that they had released a new comic series that I thought you might be interested in," Mikael started as he ushered Citlali into a stall. Natalie's eyes lit up as she heard the man's words.
"New comic you say...Mikael tell me more," Natalie smiled.
"You guys read comics? Like the super old ones?" Citlali asked.
"Yeah…you know to waste time and whatnot," Natalie replied.
"That sounds kind of fun...but aren't the new ones interactive though? Why not read those?" Citlali suggested.
"Ok the feel of the old comic paper is the best part," Mikael chuckled.
"Those have to be expensive…" Citlali commented.
"Well with how we're being paid…" Natalie started
"Or with someone's credit card," Kallista said under her breath. Natalie turned to glare at the woman next to her.
"It sounds like you both need tonight," Mikael chuckled at their responses to one another.
"Of course I do. Do you know how stiff Gabo is? I'm getting stiff myself. I need like eight drinks just to get back to normal," Natalie sighed. "I'm sure there's gonna be an after part since Rhett, McCree, and Mags is all going,"
"Afterparty?" Kallista asked confused. "I didn't know Blackwatch agents were alcoholics,"
"Alcoholics? Nonsense," Mikael laughed.
"From one place of drinking only to bring it back to do more. Sounds like an alcoholic to me,"
"You haven't seen anything yet," Natalie smirked.
"Eseís oi dýo eínai anóitoi," Mikael laughed at the two women.
Their party was a blur to Kallista, Sunday had passed and Monday came in full force. On Sunday she had been convinced to drink more than she knew she could handle at the bar and at the so-called 'After Party". She regretted it when she blacked out and woke up in her room half-dressed and tangled in a familiar hoodie and scent. As she stumbled around in her room and to a mirror she noticed a few marks on her neck.
Hickey? Fingers? She couldn't tell.
Hard Liquor wasn't something she handled well and based on how she woke up and the hangover she had she could only assume that she made a fool out of herself. She made herself presentable and went to return the man's hoodie and apologize.
As she made her way to the man's room, she considered not mentioning anything to him but she felt that she needed to apologize. They slept together more than once but so this wasn't anything new to the both of them.
"Here goes nothing," Kallista murmured to herself before she knocked on the door. There was silence for a moment before she was about to hear movement in the room. For once, she was thankful for her enhanced hearing
"Hey Reyes, I'm sorry if I woke you up, it's Kallista I need to talk to you," Her words were soft as she looked around to make sure no one had seen her. The door opened slightly letting the woman slip in, she instantly noticed how dimly lit the room was as the door softly clicked behind her.
"...did I wake you?" she asked as she looked over her shoulder.
"No, I just got done showering, what's going on?" Gabriel asked as he walked past her sitting on the edge of his bed. He was shirtless, dressed in loose sweat pants, the humidity from his small bathroom clung to her clothes as she quickly averted her eyes to somewhere else in the room.
"I'll make this quick then," Kallista began as she placed the hoodie on one of the hooks by the door and turned to him.
"I'm listening,"
"It's about what happened this past weekend, yesterday to be exact," Kallista began. "I feel the need to apologize," Kallista started,
"An apology?" Gabriel questioned and arched an eyebrow.
"I…" Kallista hesitated, her cheeks slight tinged from embarrassment. "I don't remember…what happened but I am sure I made a fool out of myself…and I…apologize for whatever I did,"
Gabriel leaned on his knees as he looked at the woman with an amused smirk. Kallista looked at the man unsure and waited to see if he would chide her, or something but nothing came.
"I am trying to be serious here," Kallista huffed. "Why are you smirking?"
"Because you know you got shit faced and you have no clue what happened," Gabriel chuckled. Kallista tensed in front of the man, his words sent her in panic mode.
"W-What happened—look it doesn't matter, I'm apologizing now," Kallista replied in an attempt to regain herself from panicking. Gabriel continued to look at the woman amused.
"Well, what do you have to say—"Kallista began.
"Let's just say you had too much to drink, whatever you did…I could have easily stopped you, did you forget who I am Kallista?" Gabriel began.
"And for that I apologize," Kallista replied firmly.
"Hm. Besides I'm the one that should be apologizing to you, I heard that you got your ass handed to you with your training with Lyuda," Gabriel commented. Kallista shifted her weight from one leg to the other and crossed her arms.
"I did fine...it was no big deal. I learned my lesson, no more drinking with Blackwatch agents," Kallista replied nonchalantly.
"You sure?" Gabriel said as he stood up.
Kallista's eyes lingered on the man's chiseled bare chest before they snapped up to meet his whiskey-colored eyes that gazed hotly down at her.
"How are you feeling now?"
"I'm ok…I'm not limping or have any bruises at the moment. Thank you for your concern," Kallista replied and attempted to change the subject from her.
"In any case. I'll have those mission reports for you soon...Malik and the other are finishing up the reports for that outpost in Bulgaria. It shouldn't be too long until they are-"
"That's the last thing I'm worried about…"Gabriel trailed off
"Ok. What's at the top of your list of things to worry about?" Kallista asked as she looked at the man again.
"You really want to know what's on that list?" Gabriel asked with a small smirk.
"Humor me,"
Kallista knew that she would be questioned by the agents within her department when she arrived, she left to apologize to Gabriel, return his hoodie and wasn't seen again until the next day.
They were nosy.
Dressed in black, Kallista casually strolled into the intelligence office the next morning as normal. Instantly she felt the glances of her small team and a smirk from Malik, she continued as if nothing ha happened.
She placed her coffee and data pads on an empty desk and moved over to a terminal as she approached a green holographic screen and small holographic keypad appeared, she quickly entered in her individual code and waited a moment before a large holographic screen appeared.
The small team looked up from their monitors and focused on the large holographic screen silently before one of them spoke.
"I'm surprised you're here," Malik snickered.
"Meaning?" Kallista arched an eyebrow as sipped her ice coffee. Malik responded with a Cheshire cat-like grin.
"How did that apology go Kalli?" Magnus asked.
Kallista quickly glanced at the dark-haired man peering at her from his desk, Linda looked at Kallista expectantly.
"It went well," Kallista replied simply.
"Oh? Did it?" Magnus asked a grin spread across his lips.
"Yes. It did," Kallista replied and glared at the dark-haired man.
"Why were you—" Magnus began.
"Malik, what did you say to them? Are you putting lies in their heads now?" Kallista sighed.
"I dunno what you're talking about," Malik replied casually as he typed on his multicolored holographic keyboard. Kallista sighed heavily as she placed a hand on her hip and tensed, a bruise from the day before.
"I like how you automatically assumed that it was Malik that said something, which ninety percent of the time it is him but I didn't even say where I heard it from," Magnus began. "I heard through the grapevine…but I didn't think it would take a day…"
"I don't want to pry but I hope you're ok just in case you took the day off for health reasons," Aleks began.
"Thank you, Aleks, I am appreciative that you are one of the sensible people that I can trust," Kallista nodded to the man and crossed her arms.
"As for you lot, you all are the nosiest people I've ever encountered," Kallista said as she went over to one of the main terminals in the room.
"You're feeling well today, Director?" Linda asked.
"Yes, Thank you, Linda," Kallista replied as she pulled up more holographic screens. "As for you two, be sure to pay attention to today's meeting and come off of it,"
"There's that haughty British accent of yours...ooooh someone hit the nail on the head," Magnus commented.
"A slight limp and his signature scent. Mhmm," Malik commented coolly.
"Excuse me? I shower every day and I don't smell like him, "Kallista replied mildly offended by Malik's comment.
"Someone is paying close attention…" Magnus chuckled as he looked back at his screen.
"Sometimes," Malik chuckled.
"Didn't Commander Reyes take an Adrenaline cocktail to catch up on work?" Aleks commented.
"Most likely...but I mean…" Malik shrugged.
"Ok so that not what they are supposed to be used for. The effects that the person has is...questionable...oh," Linda trailed off as she realized what had happened.
"Oh?" Magnus leaned forward with a smirk and glanced at Malik.
"Don't look at me like that," Malik sneered.
"I know what you did," Magnus laughed.
"No tienes nada en mí!" Malik laughed.
"Shut up both you," Kallista sighed heavily.
Rough Translations:
Pequeno Gatita - Small kitten
(Greek) Eseís oi dýo eínai anóitoi - you two are fools/silly
(Spanish) No tienes nada en mí!- You don't have anything on me
*Read the NSFW piece in "Blackwatch Intel Files: Kallista Kaines - Apologize Not Needed "
