Author's Note
Heya! This was a piece made on Overwatch Amino for an event! One of them being a fanfic theme, and so I decided to make one about Gerard X Widowmaker to give this relationship the spotlight. I feel like it's rarely touched upon, so I wanted to put in my own interpretation of the mess that went down. Y'know? How it all happened and such with Talon vs Overwatch. I hope you do enjoy the ride and please don't hesitate to give feedback, I'm always welcomed to it!
Word Count: 2289
I'm not afraid of death. I know it all too well, unfortunately. The bombing in Oslo made me more familiar with it, all good lives in the overwatch community taken away. After the news reached us, Overwatch decided to enact an investigation and I wasted no time delving into it.
No clue was overlooked and no evidence left behind. I ringed Norway of any possible information like wringing every drop of water out from a rag. After conducting a review of the security procedures, I got all of the pieces of the puzzle and they fixed a fat picture of Antonio Bartalotti.
A lofty businessman who had a good brain on his shoulders and a key member of Talon. He conducted illegal activities that could be traced down to his compound in Venice, Italy.
I thought it would be easy to take him down. We got the location, we got the culprit, and we have the evidence. But after learning of his affiliation with the Italian government, I realized what kind of monsters we were dealing with.
I came to this realization as I walked through the doors of the newly built Blackwatch with commander Reyes and Jesse by my side. "One of our enemies is growing bolder. Over the past year, they have targeted us in cities across the globe. They're resourceful, they're determined, and they are not bound by the same rules as us. This is where we take them down," I remembered saying.
Yet, that was the only thing I can replay clearly more than anything else on that day. Because right when I watched them leave the screen lit room, out the building's double door, I heard a rumble and everything went black.
Death was knocking at the door. I predicted as soon as he came in, I would see the lights of heaven, but it was still black. That's when I realized he wasn't coming for me, but for my 14 comrades in that very building. I woke up with a beeping sound filling my ears and light from the ceiling glaring into my eye.
I felt the bandages wrapped around my other eye and the top of my head. I was sitting there, processing that I was living against unbelievable odds. And then I let out a chuckle. Don't get me wrong, I know I was injured and more lives lost. It was the bleakest situation at that time, yet I felt a glimmer of hope inside of me.
They tried taking me down but never succeeded. I was the biggest thorn in their side and they treated me like a bug to be squished. I dodged all of their attempts in killing me, some not even leaving a scratch.
I remember when they ordered a hitman to shoot me only for me to bob my head at the right moment for the bullet to miss. During a random party, someone had slipped me poison in a cup and told me it was "legendary grape juice" I had to try. I didn't like grape juice but didn't deny the person's offer to not be rude. I was more than surprised to see a potted plant shrivel up when I emptied the cup into the soil in secret.
And so Talon turned to their new way of effective killing with bombs, albeit that wasn't enough to kill me. Just thinking about the fact they had a strong determination to see me dead but had constant failures brought a smile to my face.
When I was feeling better enough to get to work, Angela said I was free to go. I could still remember hugging Amélie tightly and her constant crying of how much she missed me. I whispered I will be alright over and over while caressing her hair after she placed her head on my shoulders.
Through her sobs, her French accent thickened and she told me that she wants me to stay home. She said that she thought I could die at any moment since that was the closest I ever was to it. She never wanted to suffer through that again and wants a new life away from Overwatch. Get a new job, get a new identity, and live peacefully together.
No matter how much I hate Amelié's struggle with this, I know that more lives will die if I don't do anything against Talon. I am not afraid of death. I will end my whole life to save those from doom. I will endure any suffering they throw at me. Yet I was so close to going through with her plan since the only thing that mattered to me was not seeing my loved ones suffer.
That's when they realized this truth.
I was at a meeting not too long after the Venice incident. I was witnessing Jack and Ana scolding the Blackwatch commander in front of me. Ana was standing behind him, her hands against her hips and Jack pounding at the table in front of him, being sandwiched with negativity from his two best friends.
I don't remember saying much, but I did take into account his actions. As I leaned inside of my chair, I thought maybe it was better to have Antonio dead. Without a leader, his workers have nowhere to go and Talon has fewer brains to rely on. Unfortunately, Overwatch paid the price of that by having Blackwatch released to the public.
Even more jarring, I had paid the price they set for me. After that meeting, I was informed by agents that the only thing that mattered in the world was robbed from me. It was too hard of a pill to swallow.
I knew they would do something so criminal to get their way, yet I should have been prepared. Right then and there, I was given the worst pain someone could ever have. I was being ripped to shreds from the inside to the point I was broken down to a pitiful man.
Overwatch went on multiple searches, but they didn't search hard enough. I gave them hell whenever I felt that they were slacking off. When Jack told me that he was trying his best, in my mind, it was a half-assed promise. I was unable to work because of how much it consumed my thoughts. How do you expect a delirious man to remain stable enough to do his job anyway?
They sent me home. During lonely nights, I prayed at night hoping she appeared beside me in the empty space on the bed like magic. At times, I even wondered if they have already killed her and them leaving me with no answers for their sadistic enjoyment.
And I could imagine how much rage was in me because of that. I cried tears of needed revenge into my pillow to the point I could feel my heart rate pulsing in my ears.
Like a gift from the heavens, God answered my prayers and spared me from any more suffering. When I was told she was safe and sound at HQ, I never drove so fast in my life. Some agents led me to her when I came into the building, but I was well in the front.
Once I saw her awake in a daze in the hospital bed, I rushed over to her and cried tears of both happiness and confused fear. "What did they do to you?" I had croaked out as I desperately gripped her shoulders. She looked at me with a blank stare as if I wasn't her husband. But the agents had pulled me away and Rosenberg hurriedly told me she was okay.
"I tested her for anything. They haven't altered her psychically, but her behavior isn't right. She's barely spoken or moved," Rosenberg said before glancing at me in a way before the doctor asks you for the bad or good news first. I didn't want that trifling bullshit, I just wanted answers.
"What did they do to her?" I asked again, seeing if the answer would show itself if I hissed, but it stayed in the hidden.
"We don't know." The doctor pronounced firmly, solidifying that I will never know what truly happened.
Since nothing else could be done, she was brought home. I drove with her silently, not wanting to startle her with a conversation. When she stepped through the door, she looked around as if it's an ancient museum. Maybe they had erased her memory.
"Amelié." I finally spoke to her. "Do you remember me? Do you remember this place?"
She faintly nodded. "I feel like an outsider in my own home."
"Why is that? Why, Amélie dear?" I excitedly asked her with a soft voice, a voice full of wanting to desperately understand.
"I need a drink." I can see her stressing out with the way her eyebrows arched.
"Okay, mon amour. I'll give you a drink." I rushed to the fridge and poured her a wine glass. Maybe a drink will open her up. To make her feel more relaxed and comfortable. I would do anything to make her happy and that was my only goal.
During the first week home, I did what any husband would do for his wife. I smothered her with anything she wanted. Overwatch even allowed me to stay home again so I could keep a watchful eye on her. But all I saw was a woman with a broken shell of herself.
She hardly spoke, being mostly reserved to herself, in her quiet little world. For example, I sat by her on the couch while watching our favorite movie. I pointed out her favorite scene, but I can see her glancing out the window to the stars. Another instance was when we were eating at our dinner table, I asked her how she liked the food I cooked, but she didn't say anything. She didn't even look at me.
I'm not going to force her to speak or do anything. My mind concluded that they made her suffer enough to the point she wasn't herself anymore, and asking her will only reinforce her trauma. I pressed my fork so hard down on the plate it was bending. Those bastards.
But I also blamed myself. She wanted me to leave, but I rejected her idea. This was the painful result. During the second week, she even hissed at me like a wild animal with random strings of words. She ran down into the basement and I broke down to my knees and wished I was in Hell. I don't know why she had that sudden outburst, but I felt like I deserved it.
And so I walked up the stairs in defeat and I laid in bed. I prayed for this suffering to end and have my wife back to herself. This time God only fulfilled half of my wish.
While I was dreaming, I suddenly felt my body jolt from a quick pain. I thought I was bitten by a spider since we had an infestation of them once. However, I wasn't dreaming anymore. I woke up, but I never felt so surreal.
I realized I wasn't unconscious. I have transported through the veil of reality to another plane of existence and that feeling alone assured me I was dead. I thought the afterlife was going to be something different than Earth, yet I'm the most grounded I could possibly be. My body doesn't have a sense of space or gravity for it doesn't exist physically but in an outline. I can see all sorts of people wisping by and even sequences of images playing out.
I have no concept of time, but it took me a while to ponder why I was dead. Just thinking of a spider bite ending your whole life may seem embarrassing, but I realized it was a whole different meaning. After a while, I was able to learn how to control where I was and when.
I don't know how I did it. I teleported to Amélie's side. She was with Talon, speaking with them. She said she had finally killed me and was going to permanently. Although I watched this news go down, I oddly never felt so peaceful. I was unable to feel any negative emotions, only heavy relief and happiness.
I curiously kept watch of her in her time with Talon, seeing her progress from being a shallow woman to a cold-blooded killer named Widowmaker. Then it hit me that I did die of a spider bite. Her bite. And I wouldn't have it any other way. I rather have her kill me than anyone else.
Of course, I wish I could change the way things have turned out. But worrying about that wouldn't do me any good. I'm satisfied that I lived a good and eventful life with a wife. I'm probably better off dead. I watched Overwatch tore apart and saw my former members in horrible despair. I would be in the same spot as they were.
For Amélie's future, I have hope. I watched her sneak inside a cemetery on a snowy Christmas Day. I watched her lay down a rose on my grave before looking down at my name carved in the stone. I can see her finally expressing emotion, a glimpse of sadness as her eyebrows arched and her lips tug to a frown.
At that moment, I knew Talon's brainwashing wasn't enough to fully erase her memories and who she truly was. I was satisfied with that also and I hoped she'll have a bright future away from them. Till then, I wait for her patiently and will greet her with open arms when she comes.