Chapter 7:

"Widow, it wasn't my fault!" Sombra hissed as she hurriedly followed the older woman down the hallway. "I swear, I didn't see them waiting there-"

"You should have let me pick up the coffee," Widowmaker remarked tonelessly. "I'm better at blending in than you,"

Sombra snorted. "Oh, yeah, sure. The blue lady is better at blending in than-" she halted when Widowmaker aimed her gun. "Ah, ha! J-just kidding!"

"Let's hope so," Widow murmured, punching a number into the keypad and waiting for the door to open.

When it did, the two women entered in silence. Reaper sat watching the TV with his back to the door.

"What happened?" he asked in a hollow voice without turning around.

Widow stepped forward. "Overwatch found us,"

Reaper turned around, and Sombra quickly clarified, "W-well, they didn't find where we're staying! They found us outside of the coffee shop!"

"I shot an agent," Widowmaker continued. "It was Mei-Ling Zhou. I chose to leave her alive,"

"She didn't see you, did she?" Reaper wanted to know.

"I'm not sure," Widow shrugged. "Sombra took out the other agents but didn't kill them,"

Reaper turned to look at Sombra, surprised. "Really?"

Sombra thought about it. "Uh...they took themselves out, actually-"

"So you didn't bring coffee?" Moira asked from her spot behind them

"It got spilled on the street," Widowmaker answered back.

Moira made a noise of disgust. "Ach. I'll request some from our gracious host,"

As she got up to leave the room, Sombra sighed, "Well, now they're after us,"

"Sombra, this is what we want," Reaper clarified. "And, as much as I hate to say it, not killing the ice girl was a good decision. We lure the agents in first, and then we kill them. You understand? But we have to keep them distracted,"

Sombra considered this, nodding thoughtfully. "Oh...makes sense,"

Widowmaker titled her head. "You still have not given a clear answer on why we're doing this,"

"You know why," Reaper turned back to the TV, changing the channel. "We keep Overwatch away from the Nomads, and we get our dough. That's the way this works,"

A floor above where the Talon members were staying, Tracer and Scout had been looking fruitlessly for them for almost an hour. As much as Scout wanted to spend time with Tracer, he hadn't had any breakfast and was starting to get worn out.

"Hey, um," he spoke up finally. "I'm gonna call it a day for now, is that okay?"

"Oh, that's fine!" Tracer assured. "I was about to head off myself,"

"Okay!" as Tracer checked her phone, Scout ran a hand through his hair. "So, uh, I'll talk to ya later?"

Tracer nodded. "Yep! I'll get a hold of Zenyatta for you," she tucked her phone away and smiled at Scout. "So long!"

"Yeah!" he watched her go. "Yeah, so long,"

After leaving the hotel, Tracer climbed into the van and shut the door behind her. "Nothing. All we found was this," she produced the bobby pin. "Just a bit of hair and a pin,"

"Hey, it's something!" Hana encouraged.

"Yes, don't get down on yourself, Lena," Ana went on. "Also, I should tell you I looked around a little myself. I asked some hotel staff about Talon, and I can tell they're hiding something,"

"Oh, really?" Tracer was surprised. "We met a man named David who seemed sincere,"

Ana snorted. "Sincere, huh? I asked that guy if I could take a look at the basement, and instead of answering me he wouldn't stop talking about his machinery. He's most definitely hiding something, but we can't be too sure yet,"

Tracer noticed Mei looking at her phone, and she tapped her shoulder. "Oi, Mei- if you're gonna talk to Scout, you'd better do it soon. I gave him my number so he could talk to Zenyatta, and now he thinks we're going on a date,"

Mei looked flushed all of the sudden. "O-Oh! Well...what would I even say to him?"

"Tell him you wanna bang, get the formalities out of the way," Ana suggested, and she laughed when the other women made sounds of protest. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding! Let's get back to the base,"

Inside the hotel, the TV played a soap opera on low volume while Scout talked all about his recent adventure.

"...but all I found was like, a pin, that had hair in it!" he paused to suck a bit of juice from his fruit cup. "But, yeah, we didn't see anything else. Not that excitin', but I got to work with a hot British chick named Tracer! And I got her number!"

"Aye, good on ya, laddie!" Ferguson gave Scout a pat on the shoulder.

"Too bad she's a Brit," muttered John.

Rene laid his teacup down on the bedside table, and he inhaled on his vape pen. "What else do you know about this 'Tracer'?"

"Uh," Scout tried to think. "Not much, actually...but if I spend more time with her, I'll find out!"

"Mm," Rene grunted in response.

Scout turned to look at John and Ferguson, watching as they changed the channel to watch a volleyball match. He then leaned over to talk to his father.

"So, uh, Dad," Scout began. "What exactly do you remember about-"

"Dylan, listen to me," Rene stopped him. "We're not going to continue with this nonsense. We're here get you a job because you're a man, now, all right? The past will be left in the past and that's that,"

"But- Dad, no!" Scout pleaded. "Dad, you gotta listen to me: that disease? The one on the news? Black Flu? Medic knows the cure, I'm sure of it! If we can just find Medic, he can tell us the cure and we can help a lot of people!"

Rene huffed and sipped his tea again. "Dylan, this is senseless-"

"No, it isn't!" Scout fired back. "Come on, Dad, can you just think for a second? Have you met anyone who looks like Medic or reminds you of him?"

"This is pointless-"

"Dad, please-"

Rene shot up, shouting, "Please, shut up!"

The room went dead silent. They had John and Ferguson's attention, now.

"Dylan," Rene inhaled deeply after a moment, his voice a little softer. "I don't remember much. I can remember bits and pieces, a few names and faces, but that's it. I...I can't even remember what Medic even looks like,"

"Rene, what are you on about?" John sounded concerned. "Did you take your meds?"

"That's none of your business, Bushman," Rene waved him off. "Anyway, mon fils, none of that matters, now,"

Scout felt his heart drop. "But...Dad-"

"That's enough, Dylan," Ferguson told him sternly. "Your father's stressed, lad,"

This would have been the end, but Scout wasn't one to give up. If he couldn't get his father to go to Zenyatta, he'd get Zenyatta to go to him.

It was now 11:00 in the afternoon.

"So, you'll be glad to know, or maybe you won't be glad to know," Mercy's hands stayed in her pockets as she addressed the agents in the lab. "That we got the results back and the body was identified,"

"Already?" Pharah asked, rather surprised.

Mercy nodded. "Yes. The man has been identified as 40-year-old Ernest George, and they were able to trace back his DNA through a sex offender registry. His family's been notified, but they haven't responded yet,"

"Sex offender, huh?" Jack poured some coffee into his mug. "I'm surprised those cannibals didn't choke,"

"Jack, please!" Winston scolded, all though he was trying not to laugh. He cleared his throat. "Mercy, how long was he there?"

"From what they could tell, roughly a week," Mercy answered. "No one reported him missing,"

"Maybe he would just disappear a lot," McCree suggested. "I knew guys like that- they'd be gone for days at a time, and when they'd come back no one would ask questions,"

"What about the blood sample I got?" Genji wanted to know. "Did that match any records?"

Mercy shook her head, going to her computer. "No, but I used the sample to create a 3D replica of what the individual's face might look like,"

She clicked on something and pulled up the file, projecting the face on the wall. There was a brief silence as the agents studied the face.

"That looks like a child," Pharah remarked finally.

"Ooh!" Tracer exclaimed suddenly, jumping up. "That's them! That's the kid I saw through the window!

"Good God," Genji muttered, mostly to himself. Did he stab a child?

Mercy went on. "According to the sample, this child is between the ages of ten and twelve years old, and they appear to have anemia-"

Winston's computer began flashing, and Athena's voice blared over the speakers, "Attention! Attention, an unauthorized person has been spotted around the perimeters! This person has already gone after two agents! It is unknown if they are armed!"

Without thinking twice, Winston leaped up and shouted, "Come on!"

As they ran down the corridor, the sound of snarling and screeching caught their ears.

"Let me at 'im! I can take 'im! Turn me loose!" it was Junkrat, and Zarya held him back from charging at the front door.

"Stop it!" she yelled at him. "I locked the doors! He can't get in!"

"What's going on!?" Winston demanded to know, storming in with the other agents behind him.

Zarya turned to look at them, Junkrat still pinned beneath her muscular arm. "There's a man outside who is very dangerous," she explained, trying to sound calm. "I do not know what he wants. I took Jamie outside to train, and this man came up to us. He was hostile and attacked us, but I did not fight him because I wasn't sure if I was allowed to,"

"That's all right, at least you alerted us," Jack walked up to the window and squinted outside. "Where is-? Oh, I see him,"

Everyone crowded around the windows to look. "It isn't a Nomad who followed us back, is it?" Tracer wondered, worried.

"No, look at what he's wearing," Pharah pointed out. "It looks like an old hospital gown,"

"Maybe he's an escaped mental patient?" Genji suggested.

Winston nodded. "That would make sense. Look at his hair- I think he sees us,"

The man seemed to be making direct eye contact with everyone at the same time as he stood there. He was tall and wide, with broad hands and dark eyes, and the dirty hospital gown was all he wore. His gaze was piercing as he stared in through the window.

This went on for close to a minute, and then Pharah began, "Maybe if we just approach him silently-"

The man charged, body-slamming the glass doors and shattering the glass. He made a yelling sound and grabbed Junkrat's prosthetic arm, lifting him in the air and ripping the metallic limb from its stump.

"Shit!" Junkrat exclaimed as he thudded to the ground, wriggling and trying to hoist himself up with one arm. "Oh, you'll pay for that, ya fat drongo! I oughta wring your neck!"

Tracer raced up to the attacker, only to be bludgeoned in the face with the metal arm. As she fell backward, she tasted blood in her mouth and made a mental note to avoid getting slapped by Junkrat in the future.

McCree cocked his gun and prepared to shoot, but he didn't have to, because out of nowhere a long chain coiled around the attacker's neck and pulled him back through the shattered glass doors.

It was Roadhog, and no one had even heard him approach. The attacker gasped and writhed as Roadhog tightened the chain around his neck.

"If I let you go, will you leave?" Roadhog growled in his ear. "Or do I just slice you up right here?"

The man didn't answer and instead reached up to grab Roadhog's mask, tearing it from him and making his ponytail come loose. This made Roadhog freeze up for only a moment, but when the attacker put his hands on him he reacted quickly and ran his sharp hook through the air, slicing the front of the hospital gown and drawing blood.

When the attacker stumbled backward in surprise, Roadhog tackled him and raised the hook high, preparing to strike.

"Roadhog!" Zarya called, running towards them. "Roadhog, don't kill!"

"Get out of here, I'm going to gut him," Roadhog told her flatly.

The man sat up quickly but dropped back down again after a 'thunk' sound resonated through the air. It was Ana, standing there holding her stun gun.

"It's all right, he'll be out for awhile," Ana commanded, motioning for Roadhog to get up. "Mako, get off of him and help Zarya take him inside. We want him alive to talk to him,"

Roadhog obeyed begrudgingly, climbing off and grabbing a hold of the man's left leg. He dropped it when a loud, intense cough wracked his body, and he began wheezing.

"Oh, no," Zarya realized, looking around. "Mako, where is your...?"

She stopped when he found it, and he reattached and breathed loudly through it. There was a pause as Ana took a moment to examine the growing black marks on Roadhog's back.

"Have you been taking the antibiotics?" she asked him.

"Yeah, but they don't do shit and you know it," Roadhog grabbed the leg again and helped Zarya hoist the man up. "I don't wanna talk about it,"

Hi, everyone! I hope you're enjoying this so far, I've worked hard on it. Thank you all for your wonderful comments, favorites and follows!

I just wanted to give a little update real quick- less than a week from now, I'm going to take a trip to Birmingham, Alabama, and I'll be there for four days, so you may not see an update from me for a while. Nevertheless, there will still be an update at some point, so I hope you stick around for that.

Anyway, thanks for reading, and I would love to hear feedback from you! If you have any questions or comments, please let me know in a review.