*Gibraltar: Watchpoint*
"You did what?!" roared a very angry Winston.
"I sent her on a mission to Malaysia to retrieve whoever activated the Emergency Beacon and potentially destroy anything that does not meet our interest" repeated a bored Morrison flatly.
Winston stormed into Morrison's office when he was informed that Tracer was sent off to another mission, missing her maintenance schedule for her Chronal Accelerator.
"I trust you have not forgotten that after every battle it is imperative that I check her Accelerator?" seethed the scientist.
"No I did not. But, this is important. We finally found one of the biggest drug dens we have seen in a while, Lena was the most capable agent available to destroy it"
"Available? She was still on the way back from Russia!"
"Enough, she has already made contact with this Corporal Zero and have engaged the drug den, she should have destroyed it by now"
Winston continue pacing around.
"I do not like this Jack, not only you sent her without having her equipment checked or proper rest, you sent her there without backup"
Morrison sighed heavily and took a sip from his drink on his desk.
"She is no longer a child Winston… She can take care of herself"
"Don't you dare lecture me Jack, you were not the one who had to help her come back to the present and you certainly did not help in her recovery"
With that, Winston stormed out of the office, leaving an exhausted Morrison to himself.
*Malaysia: Somewhere in the jungle*
Quillion and Tracer found themselves on the floor, the force of the explosion knocked all the air out of their lungs. Both looked at each other in confusion and before they felt it.
Despite being on the third floor, the ground shook as if something is marching towards them in a unified manner.
Quillion mouthed "hide", before dragging himself towards an overturned table while Tracer rolled to a nearby pillar.
Then he saw something that made his groan.
Marching into sight are 5 Bastion Units, each painted in elaborate graffiti. He looked over to Tracer, who is nursing her chest piece where visible cracks has appeared, and tried to get her attention, but to no avail.
"Fine" he thought, "Just need to reach my rifle"
Ever so slowly, he began crawling towards where he last left it on the other side of the mall.
He felt the Bastions are beginning to spread out as the vibrations began to dilute.
"Must be moving upstairs" he thought.
Looking behind him, he saw Tracer, who has now removed her goggles, is still nursing her contraption as the blue light began to flash randomly.
"Tracer! They're coming! Move!" he whispered.
She shook her head violently and looked at him for a brief moment, confusion sketched across her face, her hazel brown eyes now teary and she began hyperventilating, her breathing growing steadily louder.
The vibration on the ground stopped, which means they detected something.
"Tracer! Calm down! Or so God help me -"
Too late.
Massive firepower obliterated their location as huge caliber bullets rip through everything and anything that it hits.
Quillion barely had time to roll away before holes appear on the floor under him.
"Common!" he shouted as he grabbed Tracer and dragged her away from danger.
He threw themselves into an old clothes store and, once properly hidden behind a counter, grabbed Tracer by the shoulders and force her to look at him.
"Okay, I do not know why you decide now is a good time to panic but NOW is NOT the time!" he snarled angrily. She stares back blankly without a response.
"Look, I did not survive through that cold hell just to be killed by a bunch of old fashion Bastions in a drug factory. So, use your magical jumping powers to distract them so I can grab my rifle, got it?"
She remained unresponsive, then he noticed one of her eyes became unfocused. He panicked, is she hit? Heavy internal bleeding? He quickly looked for a wound or blood but he could not find any.
Before he could think or ask anything else, she suddenly reached out and grabbed his face with a surprisingly strong grip, and forced him to look back at her.
"You… You have nice eyes…" she mumbled.
Then realization hit Quillion like thunder. He knock her hand away, ignoring her protest, and grabbed her face.
"I… I don't swing... That way… Luv…" she giggled as he inspects her closely.
Then he found it, a slight yellow trail just under her nose. The explosion must have knocked some of the powder towards them and she accidentally inhaled some.
Cursing to himself for his bad luck, he reloads his revolver before grabbing a nearby cloth and threw it over Tracer.
"Wha- Who turned off the lights?" he heard her mumble.
"I'll be back soon, just… Just stay here, I'll come back for you" he replied.
Without waiting for a response, he darted out of the store.