"Boss...you ok?"
Gabriel turned to face the agent that sought him out even though he deliberately avoided all of his agents as they assisted with the cleanup of their mission.
"W-What? Yavorov...what are you doing? Why aren't you with the others?" Gabriel quickly interrogated the young man.
"I dunno Reyes...trying to figure out why you suddenly vanished," Yavorov replied smugly. Gabriel scoffed at the younger man's cocky response and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
"I'm fine. Nothing to concern yourself with," Gabriel said as he turned around to face the man. He could see Yavorov's hazel eyes study him to see if there were any changes with the man to comment on. He huffed at the thought of the young agent's concern with his health.
"Listen, Reyes. You know we're not stupid," Yavorov sighed and crossed his arms.
"If you were you wouldn't be on my team or in Blackwatch," Gabriel replied gruffly as he walked past the man.
"Really Reyes? I'm here to tell you we're worried about you and you just brush me off?" Yavorov huffed as he followed.
"Save it,"
No matter how hard he tried to avoid everyone they sought him out and usually as the worst times. He couldn't let them see him like this. Unbeknownst to him, Jesse watched as Gabriel walked past him and began to check in on his crew completely oblivious to his watchful eye.
"You were right cowboy," Yarovov sighed.
"I know and I have been fer a while," Jesse replied confidently.
For the past month, Jesse had taken it upon himself to observe their commander all based on a hunch, there was something off about the man. Ever since that day, he had found him in the locker room on the brink of coughing up his lungs and with a bloody nose, there was no doubt in Jesse's mind that something was wrong, really wrong. But he also knew that Gabriel wouldn't peep a word about his condition, let alone go to the medbay willingly.
It worried him, ever since he was taken into the Blackwatch he had never seen the man so worn down, tired, as sick as he was now.
"Don't let it get to that big head of yours," the blond scoffed.
"Fuck off," Jesse grinned and glared at his comrade.
"Anyway, there's something definitely wrong with him, he was coughing up a damn lung when I found him," Yavorov commented quietly.
Jesse remained silent as he continued to focus on Gabriel. It seemed as time went on his condition degraded and wondered if anyone else caught on to the man's health. The heavy coughing, the nosebleeds and whatever else he hadn't seen yet. He thought for a moment about the Soldier Enhancing Program that he participated in, was his condition degrading because of that or was it something else? He didn't know of the specific details but knew that he would be there to help Gabriel up when he fell.
Gabriel had done so much for him he couldn't abandon him in his time of need.
"McCree! Yavorov! Get your asses over here! We're leaving!"
"Well…whatever it is eventually it will come to light. I'm sure when the Director catches wind of it, he won't be able to hide it. She seems to be really close with him," Yavorov commented before he started towards the carrier.
"Yeah…" Jesse trailed off and wondered if Kallista knew.
"I wonder how long the director will be out," Linda asked softly as if she spoke to herself.
"Why? You need something?" Aleks questioned, his attention still focused on the data pads in his hands.
"It's just a little strange for her to be on the field. So I was just curious," Linda replied softly.
"Ah yes, Reyes basically has her on house arrest," Magnus commented.
"House arrest? The Director?" Ellias questioned.
For a moment the crew had forgotten that Ellias was a transfer as they all looked to one another and then to Ellias. Everyone had their secrets from their previous walks of life in Blackwatch, Kallista was no different. Only those on a need to know basis knew of Kallista's previous life. Despite her looks, she was a wanted criminal that was realistically on a tight leash and house arrest.
"I-It's not actually house arrest," Aleks spoke up in an attempt to correct Magnus' seemingly innocent comment.
"It was a joke. The Director doesn't leave HQ much because of safety concerns," Magnus casually explained when the door to the office suddenly opened. The group quickly turned their attention to the person that unexpectedly entered the office.
"Honey, I'm home~"
"Malik? You're back?" Linda questioned surprised.
"You sound as if I wasn't supposed to come back Truffles," Malik replied casually.
"We haven't seen much of you in weeks…we didn't know if you were going to be gone longer," Linda countered. Malik shrugged as they entered the office and sat down at their desk
"Long time no see Malik, you ok?" Magnus questioned as he looked at them from head to toe.
"Yeah. Probably not my best behavior got drunk, had sex, maybe did some drugs. Not sure can't really remember," Malik sighed and leaned back in their chair.
"That sounds super healthy," Ellias commented. Malik sneered as they looked at the new agent in the office.
"Old habits die hard," Malik shrugged. "Alright. What is going on here? Kalli is gone?"
"Yes. The Director is out—"Aleks began.
"Out as in?" Malik arched an eyebrow, genuinely worried about the woman.
"On the field," Aleks replied.
"Oh she escaped her silk leash…I'm surprised. Gabo is getting pretty lax with her," Malik nodded for the man to continue with his update.
"Yeah…about that…" Aleks began and stole a quick glance at Ellias and then back to Malik.
"Ah," Malik sighed and reclined in their chair. Similarly, like Kallista, Malik's previous life was on a need to know basis for their protection from being prosecuted.
"The Lieutenant is returning from her mission, the Commander should be returning as well,"
"Alright, what needs to be done?" Malik began and adjusted their glasses.
"Perfect, we've been delegating some of the work to other smaller divisions of Blackwatch so there's not too much," Aleks began.
"Mhm," Malik nodded as they listened.
"I've made it to the location beginning to extract the data," Hayden whispered.
[Roger]
[Enemies disabled. You may move freely]
[I have your back]
Hayden sighed softly as they effortlessly hacked into the computer terminal of a confirmed company that aided Talon and had connections to Cassius Park. Hayden had already been stationed within the company to act as in informant and bide their time to act.
Within seconds they began to siphoning information to pass on to Intel crew.
"Connection secure. Download 10 minutes, upload in five minutes. We'll be out of here soon," Hayden sighed.
Though they were on a mission, they were back in their home country of New Zealand. Hayden was sure that Reyes picked them for this mission-specific mission for the simple reason that they were from New Zealand and had family. Upon given their mission details, they made plans to stay after the mission and hoped that Reyes wouldn't give them a hard time just for shits and giggles, although he was known to do that regardless.
A smile formed on their lips as they thought about their small and upcoming vacation. They knew that Isla would be happy to see them and Finley.
Despite their upcoming reward after the joint mission, in the back of their mind, in their gut, there was something about this mission that felt wrong.
"Bradley…you all set?" Hayden whispered.
[As good as I can be]
"Genji—" Hayden began.
[We have movement]
"I caught wind of what happened in San Jose. Is the Director ok?" Lyudmila questioned as she entered the Intel office.
"Lyuuuudaaa" Malik grinned.
"Welcome back Malik. Are you feeling better?" Lyudmila questioned as she looked down at them.
"Better isn't the right word I would use but I could be better," Malik trailed off. "You know…joint pain, muscle soreness, etcetera,"
"Go get seen by Dr. Mikami," Lyudmila replied, she could see them visibly balk at the suggestion and timidly looked away from her.
"Lieutenant, we haven't heard anything from Director Kaines…yet…nor did we know she was in San Jose," Aleks began. Lyudmila looked at the man surprised and nodded slowly.
"Something is jamming our connection to her and her actual location. But we can confirm that it is still active," Magnus began. "That's as much information I can give you since my permissions are limited on what I can do,"
Lyudmila sighed softly, it slipped her mind but she remembered how cautious Kallista had been about the details of where she would travel and her mission in general. The fact that her own team wasn't able to access her mission details meant that something was amiss in the office.
"I am sure whatever it is will be sorted in a few hours. In the meantime—"Lyudmila began
"Possibly, but I'm sure the Commander will hear something from her or Melody and her team," Aleks replied.
"How did the mission in New Zealand go?" Linda spoke up.
"I didn't go to New Zealand. I was on a different mission," Lyudmila replied as she looked towards the woman, Linda's brows furrowed slightly at the response.
"In any case. I am going to check in with Reyes and visit Konrad. He should be discharged soon. Aleks if you need me you know how to contact me,"
"Understood," Aleks nodded as he watched the woman nod to everyone in the room before she left. A short pause filled the room after the woman's exit from the office, Ellias was the first to break the silence.
"You Blackwatch agents and your unspoken messages and secrets," Ellias sighed.
"What else did you expect?" Malik smirked.
"We're the clandestine service. Know all, share none," Aleks commented.
"We wouldn't be Blackwatch if we didn't have secrets," Malik added.
"Yeah, yeah yeah," Ellias rolled his eyes.
"I didn't know the Lieutenant went on a different mission. It's not even updated on her mission dossier," Linda commented.
"It was a last-minute change," Aleks replied.
"Oh…"
{My friend and I were on our way back to LA when all of a sudden we heard shouting…like a declaration of something followed by explosions and then the train crashing…}
"Well, Well, Well…look who's a T.V Star," Sam grinned as he looked down at the woman next to him.
"Shut it," Thea hissed.
"At least you came up with a semi-decent name. Stella Dovanis," Melody commented.
"It was the first name that came to me. Sue me," Thea replied.
"It is unique. I'll give you that," Sam commented and turned his attention to Kallista as she entered the room.
"Director Kaines," Sam began and smiled
"Calm down dingo number two," Melody said as she paused the playback of the news.
Nearly eight hours had passed since Kallista and Thea's narrow encounter with the Anti-Omnic sect within San Jose. Although they were able to avoid injury, Thea had been pulled aside to do an interview for the local news segment, of course, Kallista politely declined and hid her face from the cameras as much as possible.
"So far Director, only glimpses of your skirt and the back of your head made quick appearances in the segment," Melody reported as she leaned on the back of her chair.
"That's good," Kallista, sighed as she stood next to Sam and gave him a small smile.
"Your skirt it's ruined," Sam commented. Kallista looked down at her skirt, it was stained with blood, dirt, and soot from the incident.
"It's fine. I'll get it cleaned later," Kallista replied and turned to Melody. The two women jumped into action to help those that were injured and took an alternative route back to Los Angeles. There was no time in between to change and once back in LA the two went to work on dissecting and processing what had happened.
"Have we gotten any information about those that were involved yet?"
"Yes. There's nothing too significant about them. Their records were pretty much clean or just minor offenses…well for the ones that have been identified at least. There are some things that missing still," Melody replied as she populated some of the individuals who were involved in the attack. "There were some that died and some that are still being identified,"
As the profiles were populated, the three women began to scan through the individual profiles, one by one until Thea spoke.
"That one," Her voice was soft but certain.
"Hm?" Melody looked over her shoulder.
"That's the one I tackled to the ground. When I took him down he was muttering something," Thea continued.
"Like what?" Kallista turned to face Thea.
"Something like…I can see it…it won't leave me…the cat," Thea repeated the words that she heard when she tackled one of the attackers to the ground. Sam looked at the three noticeably smaller women and sighed.
"This is beyond me, I'm going out," Sam turned and exited from the office.
"Are you certain that's what they said?" Kallista asked.
"For the most part, yeah," Thea nodded.
"I can only assume they are referring to the Cheshire cat…were they hypnotized perhaps?" Melody began as she turned back to the profiles.
"Hypnosis? Really?" Thea asked. Melody shrugged.
"It's possible,"
As the two women spoke, Kallista began to think back to the initial design of the Cheshire cat and compared it to some of the characteristics it currently displayed. She thought back to the time she encountered it back in Sterling Black's network space and what was said to her, that moment she realized she had forgotten a major piece.
The Cheshire cat was Artificial Intelligence, a program-
"Pull up their medical files," Kallista began.
"Anyone specifically?" Melody asked.
"Any of them. It doesn't matter,"
Within seconds Melody had produced holographic screens of each of the individual's health records.
"What are we looking for?" Melody and Thea asked.
"Surgeries. Look," Kallista began and pulled their attention to one of the individuals. "They've had eye implants recently,"
"Yeah? Getting eye implants are fairly normal nowadays, what's the point?" Thea asked.
"These two have as well…" Melody trailed off. "Director…you're not implying what I think you are?"
"Um?" Thea looked at the two women confused.
"I am. It's possible," Kallista replied.
"What's—"Thea started.
"That's impossible. Who is this person? To gain access like that?" Melody sighed.
Kallista pursed her lips together at the realization of how far the God Brigade's design of LOKI had advanced into what was now know as the Cheshire cat. She gathered from her encounter with one of the MacAllister twins in network space and how the young woman was different, hacked by what she assumed was being controlled by the hacker and not by the A.I.
"What is going on? Tell me," Thea cut in.
"From what I can ascertain about the Cheshire cat, it can affect or essentially affect anyone of cybernetic means or visual implants," Kallista began. "I don't know how far it can go…but it may be able to control their movements,"
"Wait-What?!" Thea replied shocked.
"If you examine their medical records you can see that each of them had some type of visual surgery either implant or an upgrade. These implants are in short wired to work with their brains to give them a picture," Kallista pointed out the surgeries on each of the identified assailants' records.
"Holy Hell," Thea whispered as she looked at the records
"Director…" Melody began as she looked to Kallista, brows tightly knitted as she realized the severity of the issue at hand or knew how the situation could worsen if not taken care of quickly.
"I know. I have several of my sources working on it…and I'm sure it has something to do with Mendoza Pharm," Kallista replied.
"So, we will need to go to Mendoza Pharm then," Thea stated.
"Yes, but to what extent…I'm not sure yet. I need…coffee and a bit of time,"
Melody sighed softly as she rubbed her eyes and then temples.
"It sounds like you're already planning on going somewhere….so where to now?" Melody asked as she leaned forward onto her desk.
"Washington State. One of the prime suspects is there…and the other I'm not sure," Kallista began. "In foresight that something like this would happen…, I've been in contact with an agent there keeping an eye on Mendoza,"
"Does Reyes know about this?" Melody asked, her eyebrows raised.
"Nope—"
"Can I—" Thea began.
"No," Melody cut the woman off before she was able to fully ask her question. "You forget, you're still suspended,"
Thea sighed.
"I need you here because I may need you to go undercover," Kallista began as she took out her cellphone.
"Director, she's suspended and you're –"Melody began.
"It's better than just sitting here and training, at least I'm being useful," Thea cut in.
"She's right. Besides out of all of the agents here she knows the most. Clearly we can't count on Sam…who has abandoned us," Kallista replied, Melody sighed and leaned back in her chair.
"Fine. Let me know what you need me to do," Melody replied and shrugged. Kallista nodded.
"You're the best," Thea smiled at Kallista.
"Don't you start with me," Kallista smirked and crossed her arms. "I'm going to have a shower, I'll have some mission details prepped for you shortly," Kallista yawned.
"Rest easy, Director," Thea added as she watched the woman wave off her concern and exit the office.
"That's the gist of it," Lyudmila replied.
"So the usual then," Gabriel replied, Lyudmila nodded.
She knew that she would still need to turn in the reports and eventual mission debriefs but she needed to see him, to speak to him as soon as possible. Before Gabriel and his team had returned, Jesse messaged her about their Commander's health. The message fueled her silent concern about the man and paired with her gut feeling worry was an understatement.
"Reyes, have you heard from Kallista?" Lyudmila suddenly questioned.
"No…did something happen?" Gabriel sighed.
"There was an omnic attack in San Jose. I think she was possibly caught in it," Lyudmila began. "The Intel team hasn't heard anything from her,"
"Ah," Gabriel nodded tiredly. "I haven't heard from her…but if something would have happened to her Melody would have contacted me,"
Lyudmila arched an eyebrow at the man's slow and tired like movements. She understood that he had recently returned from his mission and would be a bit fatigued but this seemed different, he seemed different. And yet, Lyudmila hesitated to ask, she hesitated because she knew that his response would be the same and attempt to brush off her concern for his well-being.
"I'm tired. Don't give me that look," Gabriel spoke up. Lyudmila nodded.
"Even if you weren't the only way we would know if something is truly wrong is by you being in the hospital or med bad," Lyudmila replied, Gabriel chuckled. He knew that she was right.
"Well old man Reyes. I'll leave Kallista's well-being in your hands," Lyudmila said as she stood.
"I'm sure you have more gray than I do, Lyuda," Gabriel chuckled tiredly.
"You're not supposed to say things like that to a lady Reyes," Lyudmila laughed as she exited his office.
Once the door closed, Gabriel slumped in his chair tired was an understatement. It was if all of his energy had been sucked dry, muscles sore, eyes heavy and was barely able to stay conscious as he spoke to the woman just moments ago. There were times when he had overworked himself to exhaustion but this time it felt different.
The black blood he coughed up, the nosebleeds…
The simple movement of putting his feet onto his desk was strenuous and drained the little energy he did have. He knew that he had to talk to Angela for some type of relief or he knew that whatever this was would continue to worsen.
Beep! Beep!
Gabriel reached into his pocket and nearly dropped his phone, eyes barely focused as he looked at the screen, a message from Kallista.
{Camilla: I'm checking in…I am still alive}
His eyes roamed over the message several times before he finally mustered up enough strength to respond back to her.
{G. Reyes: Good. You ok? Not hurt?}
{Camilla: I'm good. No injuries. I'm getting closer to finishing this}
{G. Reyes: Good. Pic?}
It took a couple of moments before he received a picture of the woman. Her hair was pinned into a bun, she wore her signature black-framed glasses, dressed in a shirt he thought he had lost months ago. A small but crooked smile formed on his lips as his eyes drooped slightly, he was thankful that she was safe.
{G. Reyes: Cute}
{Camilla: Get some rest...I know you're tired}
{G. Reyes: yeah…}
{Camilla: Night}
"Dad?!" Hayden gasped as they held their side and looked at the person shocked at their sudden appearance.
The downfall of their mission began with the sudden activity on both sides and stir of movement within Hayden's vicinity.
[Birro. I am coming]
"No-Wait!" Hayden choked on their words. "M-Maui...is that...you?"
[Man down! Man down!]
[Reira!]
Hayden heard their teammates panicked chatter and the announcement of one of their teammates injured but the man in front of them held their attention. A man they thought they would never see again.
"What are you doing? Don't you remember me?" Hayden shouted when suddenly the larger man rushed towards them to finish their job - to destroy all intruders. Abruptly the door shattered into large pieces as a familiar red blade had cut through the metal, the distraction allowed Genji into the room and halted the man's attack on Hayden.
"G-Genji! Wait! No!" Hayden shouted. Genji hissed in annoyance as he held back from cutting the man down but instead used the back of his blade to push the man back effectively putting space between them.
"Why?" Genji growled his crimson eyes trained on the assailant in front of them.
"I know him-" Hayden grunted as more blood seeped through their fingers and onto the floor.
"We don't have time," Genji replied as he held his stance in front of Hayden and was ready to strike if need be. The one known as Maui, their gaze was focused solely on Hayden and ignored Genji completely.
[Reira's been recovered. We've accomplished our objective. Target eliminated]
"We move," Genji replied firmly, Hayden winced at the man's order. They knew no matter how much they wanted to speak to the man they knew as Maui but knew that the person in front of them was not them. They also knew that Genji would not hesitate to put the man down regardless of their pleas.
"Y-Yeah…" Hayden hesitantly agreed.
"We need back up," Hayden said as they began to move towards the exit. With each step they took Maui took a step forward.
[Roger]
"Do you always wear that dumb hat?" Moira questioned.
"It's not dumb," Jesse replied.
"It's dumb because it doesn't match and besides this is a date you're supposed to dress to impress," Moira began.
"Fine. Fine. I'll take it off," Jesse sighed and removed his signature hat, he slowly ran a hand through his hair before he grinned at the cerulean haired woman. "Happy?"
"You look twenty times better," Moira sneered before she took a drink.
"It's just a habit of mine, but since you did agree to go on this date with me. I gotta make sure you're happy," Jesse said as he leaned back in his chair slightly.
At first, Jesse was hesitant about the blue-haired woman when she first joined Overwatch, there was something about her that rubbed him the wrong way and he thought that she was just some regular Overwatch agent that he would never see again, especially after the incident in Italy. He was surprised when he saw the woman in the Blackwatch division, on missions and slowly growing on him.
"Thanks, by the way, I know I was annoyed about this," Jesse began. Moira's russet brown eyes looked over the man for a moment and sighed.
"You were definitely persistent I'll give you that...but I've also had worse company. Not much to lose here,"
"Oh C'mon. I'm not that bad. I'm charming, I'm funny, I'm handsome and-" Jesse began.
"And you're a cowboy with a bad sense of fashion," Moira finished.
"Listen," Jesse began as he sat up in his chair.
"Mmhm...I'm listening," Moira replied with a smirk on her lips.
"Don't give me that look," Jesse chuckled as he leaned forward.
"Natalie?"
{H-Hey Jack}
"Where have you been? Are you alright?" Morrison fired off a myriad of questions and forced himself to hold off throwing more questions and to let her speak. "Sorry...Hi..."
{I actually should be saying that to you...I ghosted you basically}
"You did...I didn't expect that at all," Morrison replied
{I ...I know. I got nervous and you know being pregnant made it worse}
"About that…" Morrison trailed off. "Can you tell me about… him or her?"
{Twins. Emma and Miles. They are almost splitting images of you...I didn't expect that}
"Neither…did I," Morrison replied quietly. There was an awkward silence between the two, before Morrison spoke.
"Um…can I see them?" Morrison questioned hesitantly.
{Of course…it is the least I can do since you helped me with everything…}
