Overwatch: The Samurai
Chapter Eleven: Family Reunion
The day after the mission in France, the team returned to the base with Widowmaker in tow, and Winston got to work as soon as they returned. Though some of the agents were skeptical, even outraged at Jet's decision, Winston, with help from Mercy, worked restless hours working with the information that Calvin was able to recover during his hunt in the effort to deprogram Amélie's brainwashing. Despite others saying that it was a lost cause, a waste of time, Calvin refused to hear it, refused to leave her side, despite how much Amélie, or rather, Widowmaker, screamed to be let go, how much she swore; he refused to abandon her.
After all, he made a promise to Gérard to protect her.
After several hours, Winston's efforts seemed to have borne some fruit. With help from Symmetra and Mercy, he created a machine he had called the Mind-Cleaner. As weak as the name may seem, it was the best Winston could come up with on such short notice. With help from Calvin, Winston was able to get Widowmaker hooked up to the machine. Though Widowmaker did resist with all her might, in her binds, she was no match for the combined might of both the gorilla and the Wolf Spider, while Mercy injected a sleep medicine to knock Widowmaker out.
Strapping Widowmaker into the machine, Winston put a blindfold over her eyes to protect her from the flashing lights, then the Mind-Cleaner attached itself to the back of her neck, injecting a needle, giving Winston a link to her mind.
As Winston worked on her brain, careful not to damage her brain, Winston was confident that this would bring Amélie back.
And through it all, Calvin never left her side.
Several days had passed, almost five days, and the procedure was finally complete. Winston then moved Amélie to a regular hospital bed in another room so she could rest, and he himself needed rest as well. Calvin, however, stayed by Amélie's side, which Winston understood, allowing him to stay.
Several hours later, Winston returned to check on Calvin, who had fallen asleep in the chair next to Amélie, holding her hand and soundly snoring.
Smiling, Winston gently carried Calvin to a nearby futon, leaving him with a fluffy pillow and a warm blanket.
"Calvin, I have a mission for you." Jack declared, entering the threshold.
For the past few days, about a week now, since the mission in France, and things were progressing for the agents of the newly reformed Overwatch. With problems popping up around the world, every agent is needed to get the job done. Calvin, however, has refused to leave Amélie's side, out of the fear of losing her again.
"Can't you get someone else to do it?" Calvin groaned.
"No one has the capabilities of infiltrating a Talon base like you, Spider and Karma." Jack explained. "And you assured Jet that you would cooperate."
Calvin groaned at this, rather reluctant.
"She'll be here when you get back." Jack assured. "You have nothing to fear."
Knowing that the soldier was right, Calvin let out a sigh, standing up, before taking one last look at Amélie's sleeping form, the leaped in close.
"I'll be back," He whispered into her ear. "I promise."
Kissing her forehead, he followed the soldier out, leaving Amélie to sleep a while longer.
After getting the mission details, Calvin, Karma, Spider and Sombra were onboard the airship, on their way to a Talon base in Africa. Recently, Overwatch had received information that Talon was exploiting slave trades and kidnappings in the country, that once Calvin had heard, he was more than happy to accept the mission. Inside the airship, Spider and Karma were sitting at a table, playing cards, while Calvin and Sombra sat on a bench, Sombra tapping away at her holo-screen, when she noticed how tense Calvin looked.
"What's with the serious look, cabrone?" She asked. "Worried that Talon might take Amélie away again?"
"I've spent my whole life trying to find Amélie." Calvin sighed. "I've put myself at risk, becoming Talons most hated enemy, trying to find her. I've gone after Talon officials, wrecked bases belonging to Talon, even gone so far as to go after people who were even rumored to be associated with Talon. I've risked becoming not only an enemy to Talon, but also an enemy to the public, using any mean necessary to find and bring Amélie back. The mere thought of losing her again, the thought of all my hard work going down the drain, terrifies me."
"I understand what you mean." Sombra nodded. "I've lost my father due to gang wars, back in Mexico. Talon is no better, trying to start a war people have worked so hard to put a stop to."
"But why did you leave?" Calvin asked, curious. "Weren't you one of their top hackers?"
"Yeah, but I left after I discovered some of the human testing they were doing." Sombra frowned. "Even discovered that they were going to use me for some sick experiment. I wasn't sure if it were true, but I wasn't gonna stick around to find out."
"So you joined Overwatch to save your own skin?" Calvin raised an eyebrow.
"Don't make such assumptions." Sombra frowned. "Because not only did I find my name on that list, but also other people that I happen to know. People that I was friends with." She gripped her knees. "They were going to turn my friends into mindless killers, and it would be my fault if I just sat by while Talon ruins the lives of innocent people when I have the power to make a difference."
Calvin was unsure, but he could feel the emotion behind Sombra's words. He can relate to her in some way. Both have lost someone they cared about and did everything they could to survive. That doesn't mean they were the same, however. Where Calvin went to Overwatch, Sombra went to Talon. Calvin fought to find and save Amélie, Sombra fought for information on some form of conspiracy.
"Besides, what does it matter what my reasons are?" Sombra inquired. "I'm here, I'm helping Overwatch, and that's all that should matter."
Calvin was still a bit curious about it, but decided to leave the matter be.
Besides, they have a job to do.
Meanwhile, back at the base, Cole and Murasa were shouting at each other. The two have been arguing with each other over Hana for the past week and it showed no signs of cooling down.
"You told me to just ask her out!" Cole snarled, feeling betrayed.
"That was before you mentioned that you were going to ask D. Va out!" Murasa yelled back. "Besides, I saw her first!"
"I'm not gonna take a back seat to you just because you 'claimed dibs'," Cole snorted, crossing his arms. "Don't be so pathetic. Besides, I never thought you were into girls anyway."
"So what if I am?" Murasa growled.
"Whatever floats your boat; makes no difference to me." Cole shrugged. "But you're not gonna stop me from asking Hana out."
"Is that so?" Murasa challenged with a grin, her hand glowing a dark purple color.
Cole saw this and readied his cybernetic arm, as it cracked with electricity.
"Enough!"
Both froze in terror, then looked to see Hana standing in the doorway, arms crossed and a scowl on her face.
"Hana," Murasa gulped. "How long have you-"
"Long enough to know that you two are acting stupid." She said sternly. "What the heck is wrong with you two, seriously?"
There was only silence, Cole looking away with shame, and Murasa looked down at the floor, embarrassed.
"No, it's fine, cause I already know." Hana snorted. "You two are getting into a fight over me, right?"
Before either could respond, Hana held up a hand, gesturing them to keep quiet.
"I can't believe how childish you two are acting; and that's saying something, coming from me." She declared. "You two are acting like you have full right to me, just because you like me, and yet you back down because you can't express yourselves!"
Cole and Murasa remained quiet, as Hana went on.
"Look, I think both of you guys are likable in your own ways." She declared, turning to Cole." Cole, you're an amazing mechanic and good with machines and you stick to your guns," She then turned to Murasa. "Murasa, you're very open about yourself and you're always making people laugh with your antics."
Both gave small smiles, but Hana wasn't done.
"But the way you guys are acting is childish." She said. "So until you guys grow up and stop fighting, I will never give either of you the time of day."
And with that, the Korean gamer stomped off, leaving the two absolutely stunned. Eventually, the two looked to each other, before Cole broke the silence.
"Well, she certainly put us on blast there." He declared. "Guess we both messed up, huh?"
"It certainly looks like it." Murasa sighed. "All because we happen to like the same girl."
"Wanna talk about it later?" Cole suggested. "I think it would work better than a physical fight."
"Yeah, I don't see otherwise." Murasa shrugged, following Cole to the garage section of the base.
In the weapons development section, Sean was watching Torbjörn making repairs to Brigitte's shield and flail, who was sitting beside him, wearing a pair of shorts and a sleeveless shirt that reached just above her stomach, which made Sean blush heavily at the choice of outfit.
"So, Sean," She spoke up. "What do you think of what my father does?"
"I believe he does good work." Sean stated. "He's smart and dedicated to what he does."
"I'm glad to hear." She smiled.
Then there was awkward silence, only the sound of Torbjörn's hammer banging against steel ringing out, before Sean finally spoke up.
"Brigitte, about our last mission together," He said. "Back in Mexico; why did you kiss me?"
Brigitte was a bit taken aback by this, unsure how to respond. Taking a moment, she looked over to her father, who was more focused on her equipment, then turned back to Sean.
"Well, I kissed you because, well, I…" She hesitated, but worked up the courage. "It's because I like you, lad. You're cute, but also because you went through a terrible ordeal when Talon held you captive, treating you like an animal, and that enraged me. And I want to make sure you have the best experience here with Overwatch." She then smiled. "And I want to travel the world with you and show you things that you haven't been able to see."
Sean took a moment to process what he was just told, then smiled.
"I appreciate your honesty." He said.
"Then…?" Brigitte said expectantly.
"I feel the same way." He declared. "You're strong, tough, and you care for me and wish to give me the chance I never had. I appreciate what you do for me."
"So, does that make us official?" Brigitte asked hopefully.
"Yeah, I believe it does." Sean nodded.
Without warning, Brigitte leaned in and planted a kiss on Sean's lips, which surprised him at first, but accepts it and wrapped an arm around her waist, their kissing becoming more passionate.
Unbeknownst to them, however, Torbjörn saw from the corner of his eye, seeing the two kiss and instead of speaking up, he simply smiled.
'Good on ya, kiddo,' He thought to himself. 'Looks like you're coming along fast.'
In a different part of the base, Jet was sparring with Genji, the two clashing blades while Tracer and Gabe sat in a nearby bench, while Hanzo stood outside the ring circle, watching the duel between the two swordsmen.
Genji threw his throwing stars, only for Jet to easily deflect them, Genji then put away his kodachi blade and gripped the handle of his Dragonblade.
'Looks like Genji's finally starting to get serious.' Jet thought with a smirk, as he readied his blade.
Genji pulled the Dragonblade partway from its sheath, the blade glowing a bright neon green color.
"Ryūjin no ken wo kurae!"
As he pulled the blade out, the blade is followed by a large spiritual green dragon, then charged forward.
Smirking, Jet sheathed his blade and as Genji got closer, Jet pulled the trigger of his scabbard, his own blade glowing a dark blue color.
"Raiton ingu doragon sutōmu!"
With a lightning fast quick draw, Jet pulled his blade, the blade enveloped by dark blue flames, followed by a large dark blue wyvern.
The two charged at each other, their blades clashing, and the dragons circling the two combatants, as they continued to fight, Tracer watched, then noticed Hanzo slide from his place against the wall, hefting his bow, as he rushed in to join the fray.
The two swordsmen kept clashing blades, before sliding apart, then Jet ducked as an arrow flew past his head. Looking over his shoulder, he spotted Hanzo loading another arrow, this time with the Scatter Arrow, and fired. Jet swung his blade, splitting the arrow, causing the mini-arrows to release. Luckily, Jet was able to dodge them with grace.
Regaining his stance, Jet readied his sword, as Genji readied his own, then he noticed Hanzo behind him, readying another arrow, as the dragon tattoo on his left arm began to glow.
"Ryū ga waga teki wo kurau!"
He fired, unleashing a large pair of blue dragons towards Jet. Smirking, the samurai crouched down, then jumped, leaping over the attack. As he landed, he noticed Genji use his dragon to manipulate them, leading them in a circle, throwing them back towards Jet. Still maintaining that smirk, Jet sheathed his sword, then hit the quick draw, using his wyvern to manipulate the dragons, leading them in a circle, as Hanzo looked on in surprise, while Genji seemed expressionless, as the dragons seemed to disintegrate, then his spinning slowed down a bit, then slowed to a stop, as he brought his hands together, then swung his katana, unleashing a light blue blast wave, blowing the Shimada brothers back and sending them rolling across the floor.
The fight done, Jet skillfully sheathed his sword, then helped the brothers to their feet.
"Once again, you've won." Genji said, admitting defeat. "Even with the two of us teaming up against you."
"Hey, you put up a good fight too." Jet confessed. "Especially when you work together."
"Still, you are indeed superior." Hanzo declared. "I can see why our father taught you our technique in the first place."
"Everyone has their own specialties." Jet shrugged. "And I might say that you two are the most talented."
"You flatter us, Jet." Hanzo pointed out with a smile.
Afterwards, the Shimada brothers left, then Tracer and Gabe stood from their seats.
"That was AWESOME!" Gabe said enthusiastically. "That was even more awesome than your last fight with those Talon fucks!"
"Hey, watch your language, young man!" Tracer scolded him.
"So, Gabe, how're your studies with Winston coming along?" Jet asked.
"It's going great, Ninja Man!" Gabe declared with a smile. "He's teaching me all kinds of stuff about science and biology, and a whole bunch more!"
"Good to hear." Jet chuckled. "Now, why don't you run along? I need to talk to Tracer alone."
Nodding, Gabe left the two alone in the room.
"First, I want to apologize for before." He said with a frown. "We never had the chance to 'catch up', before we were called for the mission."
"Eh, don't worry about it, love." Tracer smirked, placing a hand on his chest. "Right now, we have all day to ourselves."
"Well then," Jet smirked as he grabbed hold of Tracers hand. "Shall we pick up where we left off?"
The two then left the sparring room, intending to go to Jet's room to pick up where they left off.
In the science room, Winston and Mercy were making little to no progress on the cure for Tracer's condition, so much so that it started to wear Winston down, as he pounded the table in frustration.
"Why must this be so difficult!?" He roared in frustration.
Mercy looked over to her scientific, primate friend in shock, then turned sternly.
"Winston, calm yourself!" She said. "Getting upset won't make things any better!"
Winston looked to her, the slowly sighed.
"I'm sorry, Angie." He said, slumping in his chair. "This is just so frustrating. I promised Lena that I would find a way to cure her condition, and so far, nothing!"
"I understand your frustrations, Winston." Mercy said in a soothing voice, rubbing a hand against his back. "But even the most brilliant people suffer setbacks. We can't rush things, else we cause a catastrophe."
Winston looked back at the table of scattered notes, then sighed.
"Let's take a break." Winston said. "We have other things to take care of."
Nodding in agreement, Mercy followed Winston out of the labs, hoping some time away from the research might do her friend some good.
In the armory, Jack and Ana were going over weapons check.
"How's your side looking, Ana?" Jack asked, putting away a shotgun.
"Looking good." Ana nodded, checking a sniper rifle. "Yours?"
"Good so far." Jack nodded.
The two stood in silence for a moment, before Ana spoke again.
"Have you gotten into contact with Vincent, recently?"
"No word." Jack sighed. "To be honest, I'm not sure if he forgives me."
Ana set down the rifle she was holding and hugged him from behind.
"Jack, you have nothing to be guilty over." She said softly. "There are some things that are beyond your control. Talon is out there, causing all kinds of pain and suffering for innocent people and we are the only ones who can stop them." She gently turned him to face her, looking into his eyes. "But you're not alone. You have the team, the other agents…and you have me."
Jack took his time to process her words, looking into her eye, before smiling.
"Thanks for the kind words, Ana." He said. "I really appreciate it."
The two stood in silence for a moment, before slowly leaning toward each other, their lips close to making contact, until…
"Mother!"
Startled, the two stumbled back a bit, but managed to catch themselves, as Pharah and Brian rounded the corner, entering the room.
"Mother, there you are!" Pharah called out. "I was hoping to ask you something."
"Oh, Faree." Ana regained her composure. "What do you need?"
"Brian and I were planning on going on our date, but we're not sure where to go." She explained, holding Brian close. "Do you know of any places in Switzerland to go to?"
"Oh, right." Ana said, clearing her throat. "Well, I know a few places…"
Ana went over a few landmarks, restaurants, and other places to go to for dates.
"That sounds great!" Pharah smiled, hugging her mother. "Thank you, mother! We're gonna go get ready!"
After Pharah and Brian left, Ana and Jack stood in awkward silence, before Ana turned to Jack to speak.
"I'm better keep an eye on them." She said. "Make sure they have a safe time."
"Yeah, good idea." Jack nodded nervously.
Before leaving, Ana pulled Jack in and planted a kiss on his lips, then left to prep her gear, leaving Jack with reddened cheeks.
In the workout room, Junkrat, Roadhog, Reinhardt and Zarya were watching Sarge pushing weights, large slabs of heavy metal. Originally, Zarya, Roadhog and Reinhardt were working out like usual, until Sarge came in once again. Seeing the omnic soldier come in to work out was something to see, seeing him running on the treadmill, lifting weights, trying to push his limits, and the two recently stopped their own workouts to watch. Junkrat was working on his explosives, when he heard the commotion and stopped by to watch.
Sarge continued holding the massive weights up, seeing his limiter reach ninety-two percent.
"Come on, Sarge!" Zarya cheered him on. "Keep pushing!"
"What's it…look like I'm doing?" Sarge growled, seeing his limiter reach ninety-four percent now.
"Yes, you can do it, my metal friend!" Reinhardt chimed in.
"Yeah, send it through the roof, mate!" Junkrat cheered.
Roadhog simply nodded with a grunt.
Sarge, however, saw his limiter spike up to one hundred percent; his max limit.
"It's…no good!" He said. "Shut it down!"
"No, I'm not letting you give up!" Zarya urged. "Keep pushing!"
"I can't!" Sarge shouted.
"Yes you can!" Zarya yelled.
"No. I. CAN'T!"
Sarge collapsed, diving out of the way of the massive stack of metal crashing against the floor behind him.
Groaning from the pain, he looked up to see Zarya standing before him, offering a helping hand.
"I'd give you a nine for the dive," Junkrat commented. "But a two for the landing."
Sarge only gave a blank expression, before getting up and making for the door.
"Nobody asked you."
Sarge left the room, but Zarya followed shortly after.
"Sarge, what happened back there?" She demanded.
"Get off my back." Sarge spat harshly.
"I'm on your side." Zarya countered. "I was simply trying to encourage you, my comrade, to kick things up a notch, as they say."
"I don't have another notch!" Sarge yelled, turning to face her. "I'm not like you, okay? When I say I can't, I CAN'T!"
He turned away from her, then sighed, before removing his mask.
"When I was an athlete," He said sadly, looking at his reflection on the mask. "When I was HUMAN, I loved pushing my limits; getting stronger, faster, better, just by trying harder than I ever had before." He put his mask back on, then looked over his shoulder at Zarya. "My coach always told me to go for a hundred and ten percent…and I always did."
"You still can." Zarya urged.
"My muscles are mechanical now," Sarge said, looking at his hands. "Limits are built in. No matter how hard I try. A hundred percent is all I've got."
"I didn't know." Zarya frowned sadly.
"Well, now you do."
With that, Sarge simply walked off, leaving Zarya with something to think about.
"What happened to the excited, upbeat omnic that I heard about?" She let out a sad sigh.
Efi was in the workshop, working on the calibrations of Orisa and Bastian, while Lucio sat nearby, writing in a notebook.
"Aaaaand done!" Efi declared, wiping the sweat from her brow. "Thant's all for you guys!"
Bastion beeped happily, while Orisa politely thanked her creator. Efi looked over to see what Lucio was writing.
"What're you doing, Lucio?" She asked.
"Been trying to think up a new song," Lucio answered. "Jet asked me to come up with a new song to give hope to the people."
"So you and Jet have been on good terms?" Efi inquired.
"Kinda." Lucio shrugged, waving his hand a bit. "We've spoken a bit here and there, but it's always been about missions and stuff. I'm worried he might be getting stressed out."
"Being the leader of an organization like Overwatch can be pretty stressful," Efi admitted. "Still, he seems to carry himself quite well."
"Yeah, he's tough that way." Lucio nodded. "He's been through a lot, and now he's helping with rebuilding Overwatch!"
"I'm glad we have someone like Jet on our side." Efi smiled. "He's kind and caring, but when the situation calls for it, he's stern and serious."
Nothing much else was going on; Symmetra was working on her constructs, Mei-Ling was going over her data about the climate, McCree had been continuing his daily visits with Sebastian, making sure he was recovering, and Zenyatta was meditating. Overall, things looked fine.
Meanwhile, out in the field, the group of Wolf Spider, Spider, Karma, and Sombra had successfully infiltrated the Talon base, having either knocked out or killed the soldiers that they came across, before getting inside the main intelligence room. While Sombra hacked inside the database, Calvin and Spider stayed guard over the entrances, while Karma stayed close to Sombra to make sure the hack remained uninterrupted.
After several minutes of hacking, Sombra found something.
"I think I got it!" She smirked.
"Something useful, I hope." Spider remarked.
"It better had been worth our time coming out here." Calvin deadpanned.
"Oh, I bet it will!" Karma declared, jumping up on the table, and Spider and Calvin gathered close to the table. "Come on, what's it say?!"
"Several private conversations, people who showed up," Sombra read aloud, before raising her eyebrow. "Secret files?" She then smirked. "Ooh, interesting."
Opening up the files, she brought several images of records and projects, some of them with some people in U.S. Army uniform or French Army uniform.
"Is that Sean?" Spider asked, pointing at the picture of the person wearing the American military uniform.
"And is that Amélie?" Calvin pointed at the picture of the female sniper in the French army uniform.
"Let's see…" Sombra analyzed the files. "One of them talks about Talon planning on releasing Sean on a rampage in the middle of Moscow in Russia, while dressed in U.S. military garbs, while another was about sending Amélie to Germany under the guise of a French soldier shooting officials. Now, why would they…" She trailed off a bit before her eyes widened in realization. "Dios mío."
"They're planning on triggering World War Three." Spider said grimly.
"And they were going to use my sister to do so!" Calvin growled.
"We need to get this data to base!" Karma declared.
"Already on it." Sombra declared confidently, inserting a flash drive into the computer. "Downloading the data now!"
After downloading the data, the four snuck out of the base, returning to the airship, on their way back to base.
After several hours of flying, the airship landed in the hanger, allowing the four to step off, as Winston approached them.
"I trust your mission went well?" He said hopefully.
"Plenty of juicy information they had," Sombra smirked, holding up the flash drive. "We're gonna have a field day with this."
"Excellent!" Winston nodded, before turning to Calvin. "Calvin, I was hoping you would accompany me to the infirmary. Amélie has awakened."
"She is?!" Calvin gasped. "Then I need to see her right away!"
"Of course, I understand." Winston nodded. "Follow me; Amélie asked to see you."
Calvin followed Winston to the infirmary, sometimes walking in front of Winston, he's in such a hurry, and they arrived at the door that led to Amélie's room.
"Alright, Calvin, I need you to be careful." Winston warned. "Amélie will no doubt be in a state of shock."
Nodding, Calvin entered the room with Winston, seeing Amélie still lying in the hospital bed, her blindfold still covering her eyes. Looking over to Winston, who nodded, Calvin sat in a chair next to Amélie's bed, taking a deep breath.
"Amélie?" He said softly. "Can you hear me?"
"That voice…" Amélie spoke weakly. "Is that you, Calvin?"
"Yeah, it's me." Calvin nodded. "Listen, Amélie; I'm here for you when you need me, and I'm gonna help you through this."
He carefully reached up and untied the blindfold and removed it, allowing her to blink several times, before looking up at Winston, managing a smile.
"Hello, Winston." She said. "It's always good to see you."
"Thank you, Amélie." Winston smiled.
"And I could never forget you, Calvin." She turned to Calvin, looking him up and down. "My, you've gotten so handsome."
"Heh…thanks, Am." Calvin chuckled a bit, blushing.
"I feel as though I've awaken from a terrible nightmare." Amélie shivered. "I dreamt that I killed innocent people, Gérard included." She then smiled at the mention of Gérard's name. "Speaking of which, where is Gérard? I'm sure he would be happy to see me!"
Calvin's expression fell, as he looked down to the floor.
"He's…in a better place." He said weakly, tears welling up in his eyes.
"Calvin, what do you mean?" Amélie asked, confused.
Winston appeared sad about the situation, unable to add to the explanation.
"I'm so sorry, Amélie." Calvin sniffed, trying to wipe the tears from his eyes. "I…I couldn't stop it. I failed to save him."
"Calvin, I don't understand." Amélie said, her expression filled with confusion. "These things you're saying…"
She reached out from under the covers and froze at what she saw; blue skin and tattoo's written in a sinister manner. She soon came to the horrible realization that the things she saw weren't a dream.
"What have I done?" She said, barely bringing herself to speak, as tears started to run down her face, unable to hold the tears back.
"Forgive me, Gérard…"
Calvin held her in a gentle hug, letting her cry into his shoulder, as Winston looked on, a sad expression on his face.
"What have I done?" Amélie repeated sadly. "What kind of monster have I become?"
"You're not a monster." Calvin assured in a soft tone.
"I never imagined that I would be capable of causing such harm. I've killed so many, innocent people, with lives and families. And I smiled. How could I have done this?"
"It wasn't your fault." Calvin assured her. "You weren't yourself; you didn't have a choice."
"But it IS." Amélie sobbed. "They tortured me until I gave up, all because I wanted the pain to stop. If I were stronger, none of this would have happened."
Several minutes passed with Calvin trying to comfort Amélie, and the latter crying until she fell asleep from the exhaustion. Letting her sleep, Calvin and Winston left the room. Once they entered the hallway, Calvin was boiling with fury.
"Those bastards have put Amélie through Hell." Calvin growled, squeezing his fist so tight that he made it bleed. "I swear to God, those bastards will PAY!"
"Calvin, I understand your anger, but do not let it control you." Winston implored. "Right now, Amélie needs you, so I'm giving you the rest of the week off so you can help her."
Calvin seemed surprised by this at first, but relaxed as he let out a sigh.
"Thank you, Winston." He said. "This means so much to me." He then turned to leave. "I'm gonna get a shower now; I feel dirty."
He walked off, while Winston went to inform Jet.
A few days had passed since Amélie was restored; Calvin spent every waking moment with her, staying by her side as she recovered. When she was strong enough, Calvin led her around the base, introducing her to some of the agents; some were more than happy to welcome her back, while others were still a bit wary. Regardless, Calvin was glad to have her back.
Two weeks later, on a dark night, Moira approached the ruined Swiss base, walking amongst the rubble, before coming upon the hidden elevator. Smirking, she phased through the door, floating down the shaft, until she reached the main floor of the underground base. Looking down one hall to another, she walked down one of the halls, keeping her steps quiet so as to not wake anyone up, before spotting a door at the end of the hall.
"There you are."
Using her ability, she phased through the door, though she failed to notice the small mechanical spider on the ceiling, its sights set on the door she had just entered.
Inside the room, Moira gazed at Sean, who was fast asleep, his chest heaving up and down with each breath as he snored quietly. Carefully, she slowly approached the bed, getting down on both knees next to the bed, then gently caressed Sean's head.
"I've finally found you, my son." She whispered softly. "After all these years, I've found you."
Pressing her left hand against Sean's forehead, Moira activated her healing contraption, channeling light waves through her hand and transferring them into Sean's head.
"This may hurt, but fear not." She silently assured. "This will help restore your memory."
Gently rubbing her head against Sean's forehead, the healing wave spread through his head, healing the brain damage, causing his face to scrunch up in his sleep, his eyelids fluttering a bit, though they remained shut.
"M…Moth…Mother?" He mumbled in his sleep.
"Yes, it's me, my boy." She said gently, smiling. "Everything will be revealed, once you wake up."
Suddenly, the door was busted open, and some of the agents rushed in.
Sean groaned a bit, as he slowly opened his eyes, finding himself in a meadow, the wind blowing against his face, as he slowly stood among the grassy plain. Looking at himself in the reflection off a small nearby puddle, he noticed that he didn't look the same; he appeared as though he was thirteen years old again; no red marking, no golden bracelets, nothing. Just a normal child.
"Finally, I've found you, my son."
He spun around to come face to face with an older woman, wearing a red sundress, barefoot, and her hair was shoulder length red hair.
"M…Moth…Mother?" Sean choked out, stuttering a bit.
"Yes, it's me, my child." She softly said, pulling him into a hug. "It's been too long since I last saw you."
"So long?" Sean repeated. "I don't understand…"
"You will soon enough." She assured. "Once you wake up."
Sean groaned quietly, as he began to stir. His vision cleared up a bit, as he saw Jet, Genji, Reinhardt, and McCree holding Moira against the wall, Reinhart pinning her against the wall with his hammer, both Jet and Genji held their swords against her throat, and McCree pressed the barrel of his pistol against her head, and Jack had his rifle raised and trained on Moira, while Hanzo had an arrow aimed at her.
"Moira O'Deorain," McCree said in a grim tone. "You've got some serious stones, sneakin' in here, but never took into account the security systems, didja?"
"You've got a lot of nerve, showing your face here." Jack snarled.
"Even after what you've done, you still tempt fate," Genji growled.
"People like you have no honor." Hanzo narrowed his expression.
"Do not judge me!" Moira snapped angrily. "You don't have a clue of what I do!"
"And yet you claim to do the things you do in the pursuit of your precious science?" Reinhardt countered. "Don't try to claim the moral high ground!"
"You're the hypocrites here!" Moira snarled. "You claim to wish to help others, yet you lack the stomach to do what needs to be done!"
Suddenly, Brigitte barged into the room, wearing a nightgown, and rushed to Sean's side.
"Sean, are you okay?!" She asked frantically, reaching for him.
Suddenly, Moira unleashed a burst of purple and yellow energy waves, sending the other agents back, then swooped in and grabbed Brigitte by the throat with her right hand, pressing her against the wall, and the gauntlet glowing a dark shade of purple.
"Don't you dare lay your hands on my-"
Suddenly, in a black and red blur, Sean tackled Moira to the ground, wrapping his hands around her throat, summoning several energy spears, all pointed at Moira.
"Don't you DARE lay your hands on her!" Sean snarled, glaring daggers at her.
Shocked by this action, Moira looked back at Sean, as tears started to well up in her eyes.
"Did it not work?" Moira whimpered, as the tears started running down her face. "Do you…not remember me?"
The other agents looked on, shocked and confused by what was happening. Moira O'Deorain, the mad doctor of Talon, that was considered a cold-hearted person, was shedding tears before their very eyes.
Anger turned to confusion, as Sean looked at her, loosening his grip, before feeling a sudden throb in his head, stepping back, the faces of Moira and the woman from his dreams flashing in his head, piecing together the similarities; the hair, the pale skin, the multicolored eyes, even the smile.
"Sean, are you alright?" Brigitte asked, rushing to his side.
Moira made to move, only to be met with the blades of Genji and Jet to her throat, preventing her from moving.
"I…I remember…who I am…" Sean slowly said, stuttering a bit.
"You remember?!" Brigitte repeated, gasping.
"That's wonderful news!" Reinhardt smiled. "What do you remember?"
"I remember…" Sean said, pointing towards Moira. "That woman…is my mother."
To say the revelation was a shock was an understatement. The agents were absolutely shocked; some seemed to want answers, while others simply wanted Moira gone, even wanting Sean gone, claiming he's a security risk, despite Jet and Winston's best efforts to dissuade those particular voices.
After that, Jet and Moira sat in a white room, both sitting at opposite ends of the table, with Sean and Brigitte next to each other in between, while Jack stood at one side of Jet, Ana on the other, and McCree stood right behind Moira, his hand gripping his revolver, as if daring Moira to make a false move, while the other agents watched from a room with a one way window.
The occupants in the room sat in strong silence before Jet finally spoke.
"So, Moira," He began. "How do you wish to start this?"
Moira remained silent, though her gaze went Sean, who seemed to be trembling a bit, though a firm but gentle hand-over-hand grip from Brigitte seemed to keep him calm.
"Okay, then I'll start." Jet decided. "First things first; who is Sean to you?"
"He's my son," Moira snarled.
"Oh, finally decided to talk, eh?" McCree remarked, chuckling.
"Let's do our best to not aggravate our 'guest' here, Jesse." Jet warned, before turning back to Moira. "But say that is true, Moira; who's the father?"
"…There wasn't one." She stated bluntly.
"What do you mean 'wasn't one'?" Jack asked, raising a brow.
"I was single when I was pregnant with Sean, and I still was when I birthed him." Moira shrugged. "The only father figure he ever had was a friend of mine; Simon Goodwill."
"Okay, the second thing I want to know," Jet went on. "How did you find us?"
"Ask Sombra," Moira smirked.
"Sombra?" Ana repeated.
"I asked her to help me track you, before she defected," Moira revealed. "Thanks to the tracking device she left behind, I was able to track you down easily."
"Well, that answers one thing." McCree frowned, looking at the window.
"So tell us about what happened?" Jet pressed. "How did Talon get ahold of Sean? Do you really lack the parental moral code-"
He stopped when Moira slammed her fist against the table, shooting up from her chair, making everyone in the room jump; Jack, Ana, and McCree had a hand on their weapons, ready to draw, though Jet remained unflinching, even when Moira is glaring daggers at him right now.
"I would never…EVER…do that to my son." She snarled, baring her teeth. "For the years I've had him, I've done nothing but treat him as he deserved. I've bathed him, fed him, cared for him as any mother should!" She turned her gaze to Ana. "You of all people should know what that's like."
Ana remained silent, looking away.
"So what happened?" Jet asked. "Tell us everything."
Calming down, Moira slumped back in her chair.
"Years ago, when Sean was only ten, we made a discovery of something called 'Chaos Energy'." Moira explained. "It was a new phenomenon that even the higher-ups were confused about, so Doomfist tasked me with figuring out what it was, and if possible, weaponize it. We were struggling with finding the 'conduit' to properly control it; all of our test subjects had died, several disintegrated, some even exploded! All I knew was that the energy seemed very picky with its host and was extremely volatile."
"So how did Sean fit into it?" Jack asked.
"I didn't know why, at first," Moira mused. "But it seemed to…interact with him, I think. Then the next thing I knew, there was an explosion, and before I knew it, Sean was covered in those red markings. The energy had infused with him, making him as you see today, an accident."
"Accident?" Brigitte repeated.
"He wasn't meant to harness the energy," Moira revealed. "He simply got too close. Child curiosity, if you will. After a few days of testing, we found that it gave him incredible strength, speed, and powers we've never seen before. At first, I was proud of my findings and of my son…" She then frowned. "But then I remembered the whole point of this experiment; Doomfist would take him away and turn him into a weapon."
"What did you do?" Jet asked.
"After getting the other researchers on the team to agree, the project was abandoned," Moira said. "The notes were scrapped and it was reported as a failure."
"No doubt Doomfist wasn't too happy about that," McCree remarked.
"That he wasn't." Moira shooked her head. "He had us all punished in terrible ways. After I spent several years keeping the truth hidden and Sean safe, I thought the worst had passed…"
"It didn't last long." Jack guessed.
"That it did not." Moira nodded grimly. "They found out I had lied, killed Simon after torturing him for the information, and tracked me down. I tried to stop them, to persuade them that Sean wasn't necessary, but Doomfist wouldn't have it. After a scuffle, I was left unconscious, and when I came too, I was alone, and Sean was stolen."
The agents remained silent, unsure how to respond, along with Sean, who wasn't quite sure what to think of this.
"After that, I made it my mission to get him back." Moira continued. "Eight whole years and nothing came up. And when I was on the verge of giving up, I heard news of that German facility holding him, I grabbed the soldiers who stood by me and went to tear the place apart, but you lot had beat me to it."
"Well, now we're here." Jet waved on. "What do you intend to do now?"
"I have a proposition."
Jet raised a brow, watching at Moira pulled out a flash drive.
"I have here information on Talon's Inner Council." She explained. "Their members, occupations, even hidden bases that you never knew about. It's yours if you let me walk out with Sean."
"Just like that?" McCree commented.
"I'm only here for my son." Moira rebutted. "I do not wish for my offspring to be forced into a war he shouldn't be."
Jet was in thought, then looked to Jack and Ana, who seemed conflicted, then to McCree, who simply frowned. He then turned to Brigitte and Sean, the former looked as though she wanted to protest, while Sean seemed unsure.
Jet turned back to Moira.
"I'll accept your terms under one condition." He said, making Moira raise a brow. "That you let Sean decide."
Sean looked up to Jet, confused.
"Do you remember what I told you, when I first made the offer to you, Sean?" Jet asked, turning to Sean. "I told you that you didn't have to stay, but we'd appreciate your help. You have every right to make your own decision. So if you wish to leave, we hold no ill will towards you."
Sean looked between Jet and Moira, unsure on what to decide. His mother is here and now wants him to come back with her, to no doubt to go back into hiding. While he feels glad to see his mother again, he felt as though he didn't want to leave. And Brigitte…he didn't want to leave the woman he's grown attached to.
He felt conflicted; his family, or the mission and the woman he loves.
"I…"
Suddenly, Moira's communicator went off, bringing their attention. Moira looked to Jet, who nodded.
"Go ahead."
Activating the device, she put it on speaker, feeling that it needs to be heard by the others.
"Commander Sterling? What's wrong?"
She heard a tired voice on the other end, sounding frightened.
"Doctor, if you've found your kid, you need to get out!" He said frantically. "The Winds of Destruction are here!"
And there's another chapter, followed by another cliffhanger! We finally see Amélie restored, kinda, and reunited with Calvin, then we some the other agents going through their issues. And finally, we see a reunion between Sean and Moira! What will happen in the next chapter? Stay tuned and find out!
Anyways, I want to thank Victor157 for his help and suggestions, he's been a massive help, I highly recommend that you go and read his stories, show him some love!
Again, thanks for reading, and stay tuned for the next chapter! Be sure to review!