Sombra

Sombra hated the concept of a "hero". Even after the word was tossed around her considering what she accomplished during Overwatch Gibraltar's final battle and the way she had single-handedly saved Angela's life, "hero" was repellant to her very person. She would just as quickly betray the organization that had so gracefully taken her in if it meant survival.

It was her nature.

A girl didn't recover so easily from being forced to eat out of the trash. From crying for a "hero" when the world crumbled around her and red-eyed omnics killed everyone she loved. No. A girl learned to survive by any means necessary. That was her reality then, and it wasn't changing anytime soon.

'A computer? The hell you gonna do with that, little lady?'

'Oh, this and that. How much?'

'More than you'll ever have…or can steal.'

'Heh. I wouldn't be so sure about that. I can be plenty resourceful.'

'You talk big for a kid.'

'Meh. The whole orphan thing, you know? Makes a girl grow up.'

She had used this guy before to get little things, but Olivia knew she needed a computer now. Anything that could connect to the web. Hours, and hours, and hours of learning the ins and outs of a computer; of the collective information available to the ignorant masses, and she was finally ready to take the next step to getting out of Mexico at last.

She was lucky…all things considered. Olivia had a knack for it. Her mind worked in numbers, equations, and probabilities. She could command technology so long as it had a source code. Her brain was its own supercomputer. Combine that with an actual computer and Olivia was sure she could make some magic happen. She could only utilize public domain terminals so much. It was time to move forward.

Teb. It was a dumb name for a dumb looking dude. But that same idiot was willing to humour Olivia's needs here and there. Surviving meant rubbing shoulders with some unsavoury folk, but it was a life she was more than accustomed to…until a weird look came over Teb. Still a stupid name.

'Guess that's true.'

'So, we got a deal?'

'This is asking for more than my table scraps, little lady.' Teb turned, his back massive and tattoos littering every piece of muscle on him, his sleeveless, torn-up shirt doing little to hide his intimidating physique. 'This might be something of a "special" sort of establishment I'm running here, but that doesn't mean I can just give you the kind of computer you're looking for.'

'Yeah. Whatever. How much?' She insisted. It was something of an act at that point, because Teb was a little scary. He was nice enough to Olivia, as strange as it seemed, but even as a younger teen, she could tell there was a deep darkness in the man's eyes she didn't want to get too close to. Since its fall, Mexico wasn't the nicest place to be for most. Olivia couldn't be picky about who was willing to help her.

'Isn't it past your bedtime?'

'Don't have one.'

'Yeah. Figured.'

'Look, I'm being nice and not stealing that little rig you got in your ghetto office, so, can you just tell me a number so I can get you some money?'

Teb chuckled dangerously.

'You touch my shit and I'd rip your Goddamn arm off.'

There it was. The reason Olivia kept her wits about her with this man. He meant it. She had crossed a line. But, at the same time, had pushed for an answer, finally.

'You want a computer that bad, it's gonna cost you.'

'Uh, yeah. I know. That's why we're having a little chat. I'll get the money…eventually.'

'Nah.' Teb turned fully, stepping in close and kneeling down so his massive form was parallel to Olivia's smaller one. 'No money. You want outta here so bad you pay up for everything I've given your grubby little hands until now and more.'

'…What?' Oivia's throat tightened. She had never ripped Teb off. The hell was he going on about?

'You still don't know? Thought you were smart.'

She waited, unsure if the answers her brain was spewing out were ones she was prepared to confront.

'Oh, I know.' Olivia did absolutely everything in her power not to let her voice shake as the numbers clicked into place, aligning with the most probable answer to the conversational equation before her. 'Just didn't peg you for a lolicon. Freak.'

Teb snickered at that, surprisingly. For some reason, it made the fear settle in more savagely.

'Turn around. Don't make a peep. Do that, and you can have the fucking computer.'

She wasn't entirely shocked. Not a bit. It was the world she lived in, after all. It was only a matter of time. Still, the reality of Teb's word scared her more than she would ever admit to a soul. But being scared rarely meant surviving, and Olivia was done with this shithole.

She turned, feeling the rough wall of Teb's backroom against her hands. His barely-legal "shop" was closed. It was dark out. The neighbourhood was quiet. If she screamed, someone would come. It wouldn't matter. She'd be dead a second later, no doubt. She could just steal the piece of tech when Teb wasn't looking, couldn't she? No. He had more influence than she knew. That was obvious. The fact this was her first time being put in such a position solidified that fact. The psycho was saving this. Fuck him.

'Not. A. Sound.' He repeated so close to her ear Olivia felt the hot breath.

She nodded. Whatever. If this was all it took to have a chance at living a life, what did a little manhandling mean to her? Nothing. Survive. That's what she'd do. Everything else just didn't matter.

His hands were rough. Calluses, scars, and old skin rubbed against her backside, her bottom half naked save for the clothes bunched at her feet. Then, the indescribable pressure. Pain beyond what she could have ever prepared for. She thought she was going to die. She really did. The veins in her neck protruded to the point she thought for sure they'd burst. Her stomach was definitely going to rupture. Her legs were covered in blood.

Thankfully, it didn't last long, in retrospect. A little over five minutes, at best. It felt like an hour. Olivia lay on the ground, holding her groin and still biting hard on her bottom lip, crimson dripping down her neck.

'Tch.' Teb clicked his tongue, leaving to the main area of his shop and bringing Olivia a brand-new piece of hardware. He slammed it roughly next to her, muttering something under his breath.

'Thought for sure you'd say something. Tough as nails. You'll be fine. Now, get the hell out of here.'

She knew refusing him would be a very bad idea, so, despite the agony her whole body screamed about, she took the box containing a brand new, state-of-the-art laptop, and stumbled her way through the darkness to her hole, immediately preparing the computer for work. By the time she could begin fiddling, over an hour had gone by, and her bowels were finally starting to not feel like a hundred knives were stabbing into them.

Olivia jumped onto the web, and millions of paths opened up to her. It took her no longer than a week to learn everything she needed to about the laptop with the knowledge she already had. Less to begin blackmailing and hacking her way to a stable lifestyle. Even shorter to officially join the Los Muertos.

It was a domino effect from there. The retrieval of information became an addiction to her. She used her gift to manipulate anything and everyone around her. It was only a matter of time before she was out of Mexico and moving on to bigger and better things. What she deserved after being tossed aside by the world….

…Until seven single eyes were staring at her from seven different screens, a blood-red background practically pushing their white outline into her retinas. The experience with Teb was the most frightened Olivia had ever been until this moment. As if a primal terror forced Olivia back, she destroyed everything to do with her old self and re-emerged as Sombra; just in time to join Talon and take another step up the ladder. She'd never forget what she stumbled upon that day, however. No. She had a personal vendetta against the world, and what she felt and saw that day alluded to a conspiracy that involved the planet's most powerful influencers.

Just a few more steps.

A few more "deletes".

A few more "friends".

Talon provided her an end to her means well enough, and it was surely only a matter of time before Overwatch did the same…

'Oi! There you are! Was wonderin' where you slinked off to!'

And then there was this one. Tracer the "hero".

'Can I help you?' Sombra was enjoying a morning drink at one of the many internet cafes sprinkled throughout the land. She blew on her coffee, eyeing the strange girl with a curiosity she adapted during their first meeting in Numbani. Out of everyone she had met in recent years, Lena bothered her less than she would have ever guessed. She was hopelessly optimistic and dumb, but there was a purity about her that Sombra observed with intrigue. Didn't have to claw her way out of a trash heap, after all. Still, "fun" was only had when Sombra was twisting others to her needs, in most cases. That day she joined Tracer for Lucio's ridiculous concert wasn't a terrible use of her time. Too bad her employer had paid her a hefty sum to help get Doomfist out of captivity…not that he needed that much assistance.

Nonetheless, Lena had, at least, more personality than "Widowmaker" and Reaper upon first meeting them. Amelie was definitely more interesting; way better than the cold slab of girl initially introduced to her. And Gabe was a hoot for teasing, but his emo thing got old quick. The boss was fun to play around with though. That "Nemesis" thing he housed for a bit fried some of Sombra's interwoven cybernetic enhancements, but the information she had managed to grab was more than worth it.

Another step up the ladder.

Talon's real leader was still something of a question mark, but Sombra had a feeling she was getting closer to solving that particular mystery. If her hunch was right – and it rarely wasn't – the world wasn't ready for that reveal. Which meant Sombra was more than willing to draw back the curtain when she could guarantee an escape.

'Nah, Luv. Just getting' ready to head out to meet Emily. Should be landing soon and all. Thought you might wanna join me.'

The hell?

'Why would you ever think I'd be interested in that? Spider leave you hanging?'

'Hah! No. No way.' She was simply hilarious to watch. 'She's just…uh…reading lots this morning, you know? It's a book by Emily, actually. Neat, huh?'

'Yeah. I know. It's not the worst thing I've wasted an hour on.' Sombra rolled her eyes, grinning in anticipation.

'Well, you gotta read more than that to get a handle on the…er…stuff, don't you?'

'Hahah! I did read all of it, sweetie. Ever heard of a little thing called speed-reading? Yeah. I do that. Need a description?'

'Oh! Really?'

'Yeah. Obviously you didn't get through the whole dealio, because you're all over the place trying to talk about it.'

'E-Emily knows I have a touch of trouble sitting still.'

'No way…!' Sombra giggled.

'Don't be daft, Luv.'

'I guess Spider is getting a "reward" tonight for showing that kinda dedication.'

'It's…not exactly like that.'

Heh. Fine. Sombra could understand that kind of look. In fact, she sort of appreciated the way Lena was willing to make a face like that around her. Vulnerability…wasn't easy for everyone.

'The fact you have something to even talk about with those two blows my mind. You might be a better hacker than me when it comes to breaking into people's emotions and whatever.' Not that Sombra couldn't do it. She could. Quite easily. It involved mail of the darker kind.

'Hahah…Yeah. I know. It's…completely crazy.'

'That's putting it lightly. But it doesn't concern me, so, what do I care?'

Lena waited a second, but then shuffled in a little closer, leaning into Sombra's space and peeking at the five miniature screens she had projected.

'Easy. You're popping my bubble, missy.'

'Whatcha lookin' at?'

'Porn.'

'W-what!?'

'Wanna help me rub one off?'

'Jesus, Sombra!'

'Aw. You're turning red. Didn't peg you for a shy one with that stuff.'

'I was just surprised. You're obviously lying.'

'Don't sound too upset. Still thinking about that kiss?'

'No!'

'Yeah. I think about it, too, sometimes.'

Lena groaned again, leaning back in the enclosed space and twisting her jaw around. Sombra didn't really get why she tolerated the loud girl as much as she did, but she had a piece of sympathy for her, for some reason, and tapped at her screens, bringing up information regarding the U.N. and various key members of Talon.

'I was just doing some research.' She started, sipping more of her drink. 'Think I'm getting close to cracking something big. Like, Spider's ass big.'

Lena laughed at this, and Sombra grinned alongside her.

'You're incredible, you know that?'

'Uh…yeah, dude.'

'And so humble!'

'Look, I didn't get where I am today by being humble, get me?' That came out more passionately than she wanted it to. Lena, for once, seemed perceptive enough to notice.

'I bet. You sorta touched on that before, huh? Not a whole lot of info on you, so, I've just been guessin', but…you've had a tough go of it, haven't you?'

'Dug around for some dirt?'

'Nah.' She waved Sombra off, unfazed. 'Just curious, I guess. Worried too.'

'I'm a big girl. Don't waste your time.'

'But it's gotta get lonely, right?'

'…Nope. I'm good.'

Lena obviously wanted to say more, but she respected Sombra enough, to the girl's surprise, to leave it at that.

'Alrighty. So…you don't wanna come?'

Sombra rolled her eyes theatrically, snapping her fingers to make all her monitors disappear.

'Reception is shit here anyway. I'll walk around a bit with you to find a better hot spot.'

'Yeah?'

Her eyes were bright and pure. They were blinding. Small wonder Spider crawled to them, battered and bruised as she was. How could anyone resist that with a shred of faith in the world? Fortunately, Sombra maintained her cynicism enough to turn away…like she did with anything that even hinted at making her feel something but disconnect.

Being with Lena was about as terrible as Sombra thought it would be. If terrible actually meant feeling a semblance of normality. Sombra wanted to resist the girl's nauseating optimism and positivity at every turn, but maybe the last year in Overwatch had made her just a little softer, because as they moved about the city of Kyoto, just the two of them, an old bitterness began boiling in Sombra's stomach, and she saw the world with anger and frustration, the fact she had to grow up doing everything and anything to survive simply because of her roll of the die and nothing else truly maddening.

'You like this kind of stuff, right?' They were near one of the many "game" buildings filtered throughout Japan's more populated areas. This one had what looked like a giant steam bun smiling "cutely" (creepily) at whomever wished to look upon it. Loud sounds of machines and casino-like buzzing whirred within, and Sombra shrugged.

'Meh. I can usually figure out how to win the best stuff, if that's what you mean. There's always an exploit somewhere.'

'Yeah?'

'Uh…yeah.' Sombra stuck with her normally belittling delivery, although Lena's lack of a reaction only made her feel bad. Just a little.

'Mind helpin' me win something for Emily as a little souvenir, "welcome to Japan" thing? She's never been.'

'…We'll see.'

She wasn't completely against the idea. The two girls entered the building filled with silly games meant primarily for "gamblers", considering Sombra could immediately tell most of the mechanics involved (such as crane games) were horribly rigged but cheap enough to try. She scoped out the area as lights flashed, noises beeped, and creepy, smiling steam buns beamed in her eyes and ears. It wasn't overly crowded, thankfully, and Lena seemed impressed enough with it all.

'How about this one?' Lena pointed at a crane game on the second floor, the prizes a little modest, but fitting for Emily, as far as Sombra knew. Little stuffed bears, pigs, foxes, turtles, llamas, and the like were piled into the glass container, their designs so "cute" is was unsettling. They were more like balls with legs than anything, but Sombra didn't care.

'Your money.'

'True enough!'

And she started at the machine, tongue pressed against her upper lip and eyes staring daggers through the glass that separated her from the gift she sought.

'Mommy! It's Tracer!' A kid called out, and Sombra's neck tensed.

Suddenly, a group began to form around the girl, and she sheepishly rubbed the back of her head as she belittled the compliments thrown her way. Sombra slowly backed away, figuring this was a common thing and wanting not to be part of it whatsoever.

'I'm actually here with my friend! Sombra! Over here!'

The crowd turned, omnics, men, women, and children curious about the hacker as she cocked her head and shook it slightly.

'Nah. I ain't her friend. Just a colleague.'

'Aw! Rubbish! Get on in here! Sombra is great! Saved my neck once or twice!'

'Almost slit it, too.' Sombra mumbled, feeling Lena's hand pulling her in.

'Psh. That's the past, Luv. No biggie.'

'Are you serious?'

'Totally!'

'…I need a drink.'

It was awful, but not for the reasons Sombra might have assumed it to be. Tracer really was a "hero" for more than just fighting in the Omnic Crisis. She was a beacon of hope; hope Sombra never got to see or feel without making it herself. The more the crowd praised Tracer for everything she had done, the more frustrated Sombra became, innately aware that she rarely let herself be anything but humorously indifferent. Lena had this effect. Sombra had felt it before throughout the base in Korea. Maybe that's why she was so adamant about keeping her distance. She hated this feeling. She hated feelings in general. If she let them creep in too much, she might short circuit.

Thankfully, Tracer was also pretty good at dispersing a crowd, and jokingly went on about having to nab a gift for her friend, allowing any last pictures to be taken before she was left alone (for the most part), with Sombra again.

'Brutal.' Sombra huffed.

'It can be tiring, but they need people like us.'

'Us?'

'Yeah, Luv. You're totally a hero now. Didn't you know?'

'A hero that'd betray you without thinking twice about it? Sure. Okay.'

'You ain't like that. I know it.'

'You forget about the little attack on base I let happen? Shut down the network and power so Talon could get in and kill a bunch of your friends?'

Her face twisted a little at that, which wasn't satisfying, surprisingly.

'Well…no. I didn't forget about that. But you tried to warn me.'

'I was trolling you, Tracer. Did I really give you time to counter anything? No.'

'Fine. But I believe you see the world a little differently than me. In fact, I know you do. Sure, I had a rough go of it with the whole disappearing thing I pulled, but you arose above the wreckage of war, right? Somethin' like that?'

Sombra felt her eye twitch and then scoffed, throwing some money into the machine Lena had been working on and muttering under her breath.

'…Which one?'

'Which…? Oh. Um. The fox?'

Sombra sent a wave of data into the machine and brought it into her brain, connecting to the mechanics with the simple piece of entertainment and controlling the hook remotely. She enhanced the gripping capabilities of the extension and easily claimed the prize Lena sought, placing it in her hands and flicking her head.

'I'm outta here.' Sombra claimed, but Lena grabbed her wrist lightning quick and pulled her in again.

'At least until the airport? I don't fancy riding in the taxi by myself.'

Why couldn't she say "no" to her? Probably the same reason she was the poster girl of Overwatch. Or so popular as a hero. Or why she could transform Spider so profoundly. She was a beacon of light. Warm, safe, comforting light. A luminescence Sombra couldn't remember knowing.

'…Fine.'

Emily was smart enough to fly into the newly built Kyoto Airport. It was likely more expensive to do so, but the girl obviously didn't care, and Sombra stepped out of the taxi, watching Lena treat the omnic driver as though they were just another human worker. Strange girl. Omnics were just machines pretending to be alive. Nothing more than convenient tools for manipulation and war. Sombra knew this better than anyone.

'Her flight's on time.' Sombra checked a screen projected from her internal network, connecting to the internet that was quite powerful around the flying hub.

'Wicked. It's been a while, so, I'm a little nervous…'

'Seems like you two are just fine. Which is so messed up.'

Lena turned to Sombra, raising a brow, and the hacker realized her mistake.

'You creeping on my texts?'

'What can I say?' Sombra answered with as much disinterest as she could. 'It's like my own private drama. You, Spider, and this Emily chick are kinda interesting when I'm not hacking into the U.N.'

Lena laughed a bit at this despite her cheeks flushing a bit.

'Yikes…'

'Yeah.' Sombra went all in, perhaps to hide her own embarrassment for being so intrigued by this girl. 'Those sexts are pretty steamy sometimes. Emily's got a nice pair.'

'Okay.' Lena scowled. 'You really shouldn't be doing that. I don't care if you see what I send, but leave Emily alone.'

Sombra shrugged, feigning indifference again.

'I'll do whatever I want, Girlie. Price you pay for harbouring a criminal.'

'That again…' Lena frowned even more.

Sombra pushed into the airport thereafter, questioning her reason for staying with Lena to begin with. The building was a mass of people and omnics, but Sombra was used to this kind of crowd. She frequently made use of it for her own selfish purposes. Hard to track the source of a hacker when there were so many people. Most of the time, anyway.

'Hey! Wait up!' A flash of light, which barely fazed the crowd whatsoever, and Lena was beside her again.

'Gate twenty, by the looks of it.' Sombra indicated without missing a beat.

'Okay.'

Such a bizarre girl. Sombra's conversation with Spider a little while back made a little more sense now. It was during one of the rare occasions that Widow had been staying at the base in between some intense missions assigned to her. She was warming up her body and mind in the shooting range, her top score in the new facilities remaining unchallenged, only the cowboy and washed up old lady coming close to her rank.

'Lemme get this straight: you and "Tracer" are still sort of a thing?'

'I hardly see how that could possibly be any of your business.'

'Come on. We go way back. I'm just curious.'

'Knowing you, the answer has likely been derived in some fashion already, no?'

'Heh. Got me there.'

'So, what's the point of this conversation? Do tell.'

'I like you way better than before, Spider. So sassy! Hahah!'

'Only to insects foolish enough to crawl into my web.'

'Oh? That mean you're just savouring two little flies before biting off their heads?'

Widow finally made eye contact with Sombra, then, and the hacker could recall being chilled by the gaze, the woman's capabilities not lost on the hacker. She could break Sombra before she even blinked. Even translocating might not save her. Freaky.

'…She is much more than a mere plaything, if someone like you could possibly understand that.'

'Yeah? How so?'

Widow smirked, turning away to hang up the practise rifle.

'You come from a world of darkness, do you not?'

'Huh?' Sombra's back went up. How could Widow possibly know anything about her past? It was all but erased.

'Please. It is quite obvious.' She paused just long enough for Sombras to regain herself. 'Imagine a hand piercing that same darkness and putting its very safety on the line for you. Why, I doubt I need to expound further.'

Sombra had grit her teeth, but smiled regardless, hoping for one final jab.

'Yeah. I get it. What other reason do you need to let "the hand" fuck you, right?'

A chill ran Sombra's spine as Widow walked past her, leaning down and whispering in her ear almost seductively.

'No. I am letting my hero fuck me…willingly.'

Sombra remained frozen even as Widow's steps faded. When was the last time she was so stunned? So angry? So frustrated with everything? Yeah. She could still feel the rough wall on her hands and her cheek mashing against it in regular intervals, mouth clenched so tight her teeth cracked.

'Boop…' She had muttered. 'Boop. Boop. Boop…'

'Emily!' Lena called out, literally running to the redhead, picking her up and spinning her around clumsily, her bags toppling to the side. They kissed for a long time, as if both women wanted their faces to become closer somehow. It was a spectacle, and some people seemed to recognize Tracer but kept their distance while pointing and beaming.

'Hey, there, pretty lady! I feel like it's been forever!'

'That's because it has, Luv!'

'Did you cut your hair?'

'How can you tell? It's always short to begin with.'

'Oh, I can tell! Hahah!'

Well, this was awful. Sombra was ready to make her exit when Lena's boisterous voice made her flinch to a stop.

'Hey! This is Sombra. I told you about her, remember?'

'Yes! You're the troublesome one, huh?'

Sombra grinned, but was a little thrown by just how beautiful this Emily chick was. She had her grossly pretty red hair in a messy ponytail, a frilly, loose white shirt, and beige short-shorts that looked a little too good all around. Her rack wasn't any less distracting, and her face was angular in all the right ways. That wasn't even mentioning her surprisingly sultry eyes. Lena couldn't have been luckier. Seriously; Spider and this Emily girl? Really?

'Yep. That's me.' Sombra wanted to leave. She hated this irritation that was throwing her normal game off.

'A hacker, huh? That's pretty impressive stuff.'

'Someone's gotta do it.'

'This one flirt with you yet? I can see you being her type.' Emily rolled her eyes, nudging Lena who made a sound of exclamation.

'We made out at a concert once, yeah.' Sombra winked, and Emily only sighed in exasperation.

'W-we weren't dating at the time! It was during out little break, a-and I was lonely, and it was a party, and…!'

'It's fine, Lena Oxton.' Emily continued to huff. 'It's not like that will be enough to push me away at this point.'

Sombra felt her veins surge, and she lashed out before she could reel herself in.

'Obviously, if fooling around with Spider on the side isn't a problem.'

Emily's face became serious instantly, and she cocked her head slightly.

'Ah. So, that's what it is.' She sniped back, although her words only held more impact when she went on. 'You're jealous. Interesting.'

'Huh? Sombra? Jealous? I don't know about that, Luv.'

'You really can't tell?'

'Not all of us are psychics.'

'It's just body language, silly.'

'Yeah. I'm gonna go now. Nice meeting you, Red.' Sombra decided sarcastically. Enough of that. This lady of Tracer's should be a freaking detective if she could nail Sombra down that easily considering how adamantly she usually hid any such feelings. True, she was out of sorts because of Lena, but it shouldn't have made her that easy to figure out.

'You sure, Luv?'

Sombra waved behind herself, exiting the airport and hailing a taxi the second she could. She made her way back to the hotel and went to the bar, greeting the man behind the counter with a nod and ordering a shot of scotch. Then another. She tapped her fingers and frowned, leaning back in her chair and savoring the second glass, swirling the liquid around delicately.

It was just past noon, with only another hour or two before the festival really started getting into full swing. The traffic was terrible. Despite all this, Sombra contemplated returning to Overwatch's base in Korea. Her irritation with just about everything was becoming stupidly annoying, and getting away from Lena and the rest of girls seemed like a reasonable idea.

'A glass of Chardonnay Icewine, please.'

'Spider…' Sombra hummed, noting the presence of the incredible woman as she sat down next to her, a simple but terribly distracting black outfit covering her form. 'Not holding back on the expenses, huh?'

'Why should I?' She grinned, taking hold of the small glass and pushing some loose strands of hair behind her ear. 'I've earned it.'

It was like night and day. Amelie Lacroix, save for the trippy skin and practically robotic eyes, had returned, yet she was stronger and demanded more attention than she ever could have before. She had survived hell, and it would take much worse to bring such a woman down now. Sombra used to tease her without mercy, but now, even she second-guessed herself.

'Hah. In that case, I should get one, too.'

'Perhaps you should.'

Sombra meant it as a joke, not having done that much since her triumphant display against Nemesis back at Overwatch Gibraltar. Sure, she was the one called when firewalls had to be erected or dismantled, or information about a client or target needed digging up. But such things were like breathing to her. Hardly worthy of praise. Sombra herself would admit that. Spider put her life on the line constantly; alongside Tracer and the rest. Sombra was perfectly fine lurking in the shadows, her exit always prepared should she need it.

So, why was this time different? Why was she even on this dumb vacation?

'Your quips have been lacking as of late.' Widow observed, taking a long sip, her slender neck moving with a few gulps.

'You know how it goes. These girls can be a little much for emo kids like us, right?'

'Hm.'

Sombra waited for Widow to say more, but she wasn't one for a grand montage of words to begin with, so, the hacker went on.

'Blinky went to get the Emily chick. She's hotter than any photo I've seen. Wonderin' why you didn't go with.'

A lingering pause before any form of answer came.

'…Emily and Lena belong together. I am simply a passing notion.'

'Yeah?'

'Yes.'

Sombra didn't believe that, but she wasn't in the mood to test Widow either. She approached from a different angle instead.

'But you and Tracer had a thing, right?'

'We have an arrangement, yes, although I am tiring of repeating myself. Your fixation is suspect.'

'I just don't get it, okay?' Sombra downed her drink, slamming the glass down harder than she meant to. She took a second to gather herself, and reunited with her joking intonation. 'Talon wasn't exactly a fun time, am I right? They messed you up good, but somehow you're here with a squeeze on the side, a career in…ballet! And a glass of Chardonnay? I mean…what?'

'It was not a simple matter, as you're aware.' Widow leaned back in her chair, sipping the rest of her glass and closing her eyes for a period of time. 'However, the first step to recovery may have been when I decided to simply stop feeling pity for myself.'

'Pity, huh?' Sombra's lip twitched.

'My life is my own now. I took hold of the opportunity and never released it. I suggest you do the same.'

'Hah!' Sombra almost spat. 'Do you even know me, Spider? Since when have I ever been pathetic enough to feel sorry for myself?'

Widow stood up, paid the barkeep, and sent a wave of déjà vu through Sombra as she passed her by, a whisper flowing between them.

'Every time you hide your rage with a comedy of errors.'

The hacker was left alone then, and for once in quite some time, she stayed silent, fixated on a speck on the ceiling, sparks of pulsation coursing through her veins.