Chapter 17:

10:30 AM.

Birds sang in the trees as the midsummer wind blew through the leaves. From a distance, it would have been a lovely sight, but those who knew what Nature's Gate was viewed this as an eerie foreboding.

"Tracer said this was the house?" Lucio wanted to know, opening a kitchen cabinet and squinting inside.

"This was where she said she saw that child, and where I got the DNA sample," Genji nodded. "We think there might be some tunnel system through the walls,"

"Ooh!" Junkrat piped up. "Does that mean I can blow up this place!?"

Pharah gingerly pried an explosive from his mechanical hand, saying, "No, Jamison. We've told you no several times,"

Junkrat huffed. "Aw, come on! You said I could go on this mission and now ya won't even let me do anythin'!?"

"Just wait, all right?" Reinhardt took a deep breath, drawing his ax and approaching the back wall. "Someone get behind me with weapons,"

Lucio and McCree got behind him, poising their weapons as he began to hack away at the wall. Everyone else stood perfectly still, watching in total silence as the wood split down and fell to the floor.

Soon, a hole about as large as someone's head formed into the wall. Reinhardt glanced in, his hand still gripping his ax.

"Completely dark," he noted. "But hollow,"

Junkrat dug around in a drawer, retrieving a rusty spoon. "Can I drop this in? See how deep it is?"

Reinhardt hesitated. "All right, but...be careful,"

Junkrat scurried forward, leaning into the wall and dropping the spoon within. He counted: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5- and then there was the sound of metallic clinking on concrete.

"Do you think it's a basement, maybe?" Pharah suggested.

"Maybe," Reinhardt stepped away from the hole. "Let's start looking for basement stairs-"

"That won't be necessary," another voice cut in from the doorway, and everyone turned to look.

Pharah's face dropped. "Talon-!"

"They are, but I am not," Symmetra explained dryly, gesturing to Doomfist and Sombra.

"Wait!" Lucio leaped forward. "I know you! You're that lady from Vishkar,"

"And you're with Talon members?" McCree squinted. "What's goin' on?"

Doomfist explained, "You do not need to know all the details here. All you need to know is that you have two options,"

Reinhardt positioned himself to reach for his gun. "And what are those options?"

"If you drop this whole mission, we will leave you alone," Doomfist began. "You won't hear from Talon for a significant amount of time, and Vishkar will donate a great sum of money to you all, but only if you agree to abandon this Nomad mission,"

"And if we don't?" Pharah wanted to know, her eyes narrowing.

Doomfist gave a slight smile. "Well, then Talon will have no choice but to destroy you-"

All of the sudden, Junkrat rushed forward, unleashing a shrieking battle cry. He tossed a hand-held explosive towards the doorway, but right as it detonated, Symmetra threw up a shield to block the explosion.

The force threw Junkrat and the other agents backward, and Symmetra lowered the shield. Sombra snickered, "You guys really had to be idiots and go with the second option?"

Reinhardt jumped right back to his feet, aiming his gun. "No, there's a third option. No one here is going down without a fight!"

Genji suddenly put his hand up. "Wait just a minute- did you feel that?"

Doomfist shook his head. "Typical Shimada, trying to distract rather than..."

He trailed off at the vibration through the floorboards. Everyone fell silent.

McCree turned slowly to the wall. "Aw, hell no-"

A loud scratching echoed through the walls, accompanied by a chorus of war cries and yelling. Through the cabinets, floorboards, the closet, and the recent hole in the wall came clusters of people packed together like rodents.

Men, women, and children alike poured into the house, all either naked or dressed in rags. They ran like animals on their dirty feet, their clawed hands scrambling as they yelled in incomprehensible gibberish.

"It's the Nomads!" Pharah exclaimed with pure horror.

An adult male ran towards Genji, and Genji stabbed him without hesitation. The moment he did, though, two young boys grabbed him by his ankles and knocked him to the floor, while a little girl ran up and snatched his weapon. Despite being children, their fighting was incredibly skilled and fluid.

"We need to leave, now!" Sombra yelled at her companions, and Doomfist nodded in agreement.

Symmetra began to follow them out, only to feel a pair of dirty hands on her. She screamed, preparing to create another shield, but she suddenly found herself swarmed with Nomads.

"Akande!" she cried out. "Sombra! Please, help!"

No one answered her. The world seemed to swim around her as she tried to fight off her attackers, and within moments, everything faded to black.

Symmetra awoke moments later, her back against something hard and cold. She jolted to attention and noticed immediately that something was off: her prosthetic arm was missing, while her other one was chained to the wall.

She could feel herself panicking as she realized she'd been stripped of her equipment, although her clothes were still there, and she started tugging against the chains in hopes of breaking free.

"They won't break," a voice beside her sighed. "I tried that,"

It was Genji, with both of his arms chained up but his prosthetics still attached. He asked, "Any idea where we are?"

Symmetra had to force the words from her throat. "N...no...I don't,"

Genji glanced away, and Symmetra hoped he wouldn't try to talk to her again. She was mistaken, though, when he spoke once more. "So...you work with Talon?"

Symmetra pretended she hadn't heard him and tried to wriggle her wrist free from the chains. Genji pressed on. "You know, if myself and the other agents get out of this alive, we can tell everyone that Vishkar corporation collaborated with a terrorist organization. Somehow, I don't think that would be good for business,"

"I never wanted this," Symmetra muttered, refusing eye contact.

"I'm sure you didn't," Genji nodded. "But you got it all the same-"

Symmetra's head snapped up suddenly. "No! I didn't even want to go on this mission! I'm not even supposed to be here! S-someone else was supposed to go but he couldn't do it because of complications with his schedule so I had to but I truly didn't want to-" she started rambling on and burst into tears, her chest heaving.

For a long time, the only sounds in the dungeon were her sobs, until Genji spoke up again, his voice a little softer. "I didn't mean to make you cry. Sorry,"

Symmetra sniffed, shaking her head. "Not your fault,"

In the darkness, a few feet away, the sound of a door squeaking open broke the silence. Genji looked up, unable to see in the dark since his visor had been taken.

"Who is that?" he called out. "Who's there?"

Symmetra pressed her eyes shut, preparing for the worst. "We're going to die, we're going to die here,"

A pair of footsteps came closer, and the figure soon became visible in the dim light just above where the two captives sat.

Genji stared up in disbelief. "...Hanzo?"

Without saying anything, Hanzo knelt down and undid the chains on both using a small tool. As soon as Symmetra was free, she blurted out, "Where is my arm!?"

"I have it, it's safe," Hanzo assured her in a gentle voice. He then turned to look at Genji, scanning him up and down. "Hello, again, brother,"

Genji felt like he couldn't speak. "I...w-what are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing," Hanzo replied. "I understand you have a job to attend to, Genji, but may I ask why you can't leave these people alone?"

"What people?" Genji wanted to know. "Do you mean the Nomads? The Nomads are a threat, and...just- why are you here?"

"If you promise to listen to me, brother, I'll give you your devices so you can contact your friends," he then nodded at Symmetra. "I'll do the same for you, too,"

Symmetra and Genji exchanged a glance before Genji answered, "Okay, we're listening,"

Hanzo motioned for the two to follow him, and he led them through a door. The door opened to a long, dim hallway, once that was dirty and mostly resembled a tunnel. No one else was in sight, but several feet away some hushed voices could be heard.

Hanzo took a seat at what appeared to be dusty lawn furniture, and he gestured for the guests to do the same. Once everyone was seated, he explained, "These past few months, I've been traveling to try and find a place where I can truly belong. It has not been an easy process, but I had the funds to travel all the way out here, and I found the Nomads,"

"How did you convince them not to attack you?" Symmetra wanted to know.

"Ah, see, I didn't have to," Hanzo responded. "When I met the Nomads, it was by chance. A group of them were out scavenging, and I approached them and spoke to them. They were nervous around me, but I befriended them and they brought me into their community,"

Genji tilted his head in confusion. "You mean...they speak? They can actually communicate?"

Hanzo nodded. "They can, they aren't mindless animals. I've made friends with their leader, and she's shared with me the rich history of this community and of Nature's Gate itself. I've spent a great deal of time here, and it's been life-changing,"

Symmetra took a breath, straightening up. "Yes, but...you must understand that these people have become a threat to other communities. The Nomads are known cannibals, after all,"

"They only cannibalize those who harm them," Hanzo's tone remained even and neutral, but he was clearly defensive. "Those stories you've heard, of people disappearing in Nature's Gate, you don't know the full stories," he folded his hands on the table, focusing on Symmetra. "Let me ask you this: why is somebody from Vishkar here? And why were Talon agents with you?"

Symmetra's eyes flitted away, refusing eye contact. After a moment, she answered quietly, "Vishkar percieves the Nomads as a threat as is trying to eradicate them. Talon is assisting us in this process,"

"Eradicate them, how?" Genji asked.

"That information is classified," Symmetra replied quickly.

"Can you at least tell me why you're planning on stopping Overwatch from doing it instead?" Genji pressed on.

"Because you have Angela Ziegler," Symmetra stated. When Genji appeared confused, Symmetra explained, "Angela would want to let the Nomads live and then reintroduce them into normal society,"

Hanzo leaned his chin against his hand. "And why is that a bad thing?"

"There are little resources to perform such a task," Symmetra went on. "It would take ages to try and coax each and every Nomad out of this place, and it would take even longer to rehabilitate all of them. Extermination is the fastest and most effective way. I don't like it either, but my hands are tied,"

There was a pause. Hanzo stared at Symmetra for a moment, and then looked at Genji. Finally, he reached down from under his chair, pulling out a basket filled with their equipment. He passed everything to the guests, including Symmetra's prosthetic and Genji's utility belt.

As Genji reached for his pager, Hanzo cut in, "Before you call anyone, Genji, I'd like to take the two of you on a walk through here,"

Genji paused. "Why?"

Hanzo turned to look at Symmetra, who had just finished re-attaching her arm. "So she can see what it is her company wishes to destroy,"

It was about noon at this point.

Winston finished setting up the projector, and he turned to look at the group of people sitting behind him. Nine people: seven men and two women were here to see what had been discovered. He took a breath and began.

"All right- what you're about to see is the police bodycam footage of Adel Heinz's arrest. Adel Heinz was about twenty-six when he murdered his wife, his mother in law, and his unborn daughter. The wife and mother in law's bodies were both discovered, but the baby was never found, although Heinz admitted to killing her later,"

"Good Lord," Engineer murmured.

Heavy just sat there, looking perplexed. "I do not understand...Doctor would never harm a baby,"

Winston continued. "This footage was thought to be lost, but we discovered it merged on a DVD. I've seen the clip, and it seems to suggest your Medic was either innocent or unwilling,"

"Let's watch it and determine if that's true," Spy spoke up. "He's going to be executed in a day. If we can prove his innocence, we can save him,"

Winston reached out to hit the 'play' button but hesitated. "I'm warning you- it's hard to watch,"

"We've seen worse, pal," Scout quipped.

The video began.

A shaky camera viewed some police officers pounding on an apartment door marked '09'. "Open up, it's the police!"

When there was no answer, an officer kicked the door down. Instantly, the sound of a woman yelling filled the area, and the police rushed inside.

"Thank God you're here!" a woman sobbed offscreen. Though they couldn't see her, those watching knew exactly who it was.

"Administrator," Karen murmured as she watched.

Though the camera did not turn to her, she could still be heard speaking. "He got away! I stabbed him, he's injured, but he took the baby!"

The camera loomed over the form of a woman lying on the wood floor. Her eyes stared up, unseeing, and her mouth hung open while her middle had been cut clean open.

Winston added as he watched, "That's Adel's wife, Eliza Pendleton,"

"Where did he go?" an officer wanted to know.

"Outside," she affirmed. "Towards the woods out back, but he left another body in the bathroom!"

The camera traveled to the hallway, where the officer opened the bathroom door. Lying there, in a pool of blood, was an older woman. Her throat had clearly been slit.

An officer off-screen called, "There are some blood stains in the stairwell, and we believe we found a piece of an umbilical cord!"

The camera jerked up and followed the other officers to the stairwell. There, a thin trail of blood led towards the back door, where it eventually stopped. The door opened to reveal a snowy, dark night, and the men pursued the footprints in the snow until a loud, harsh wailing split the air.

Heavy jerked up when he heard it. "Doctor!" he gasped. "It's him!"

They ran to the woods, where Adel Heinz stood there screaming into the trees.

"You bastards!" he sobbed, clutching a bleeding arm as he cried into the wind. "I'll never forgive you! You killed my family- you killed my baby!"

The officers grabbed him, and he screamed to be released and fought back. They eventually shot him with a stun dart, rendering him unconscious.

As they dragged him away, some more officers walked around, but the woods got too dark and deep. Nothing else was found that night.

Everything was silent. Finally, Scout spoke.

"God damn,"

"Did they ever find who he was screaming at?" Spy wanted to know.

Winston shook his head. "At the trial, it was believed that Adel was pretending there was someone to throw investigators off his trail,"

"But he admitted to it," Engineer cut in. "If he was tryin' to throw them off, he wouldn't have admitted to it. Did he even try to defend himself?"

"Um," Winston tried to remember. "If my memory is correct, he first tried to talk about some conspiracy, and he blamed the people involved,"

Spy's brow furrowed. "Conspiracy?"

"Yes," Winston continued. "They didn't find any evidence to back that up, however, so no further investigation was done. Adel admitted to it after that,"

Engineer spoke up again. "Hey, wasn't that video lost or something? How were you able to find it?"

"I picked it up from a garage sale," Winston responded. "I still have to talk to the man who sold it to me. I have no idea who he was, but I remember where his house is,"

"Did you buy anything else from him?" Sniper wanted to know.

Winston thought about it and then turned to the shelf behind him. "Hang on- yes,"

He retrieved a collection of older electronic devices and a few tools. "He claimed these were almost a hundred years old, and-"

"Wait a sec!" Scout exclaimed, leaping up. He ran to the desk where Winston had the items displayed, and he reached for one.

"Careful!" Winston hissed at him, but Scout paid him no mind.

He held up the dusty headset in disbelief. "This...this is..." he struggled to form the words, but the others knew exactly what he'd discovered.

Karen stood up to take a look. "Let me see," she leaned over the desk, rooting through the items. Not only was Scout's old headset there, but some of Engineer's tools, a broken piece of a sentry, and even a vintage watch Spy apparently 'lost' during a mission. It was all there.

"Winston," Karen started finally. "These are all from the RED base. Who did you buy these from, exactly? It had to be someone who had connections to us,"

"I..." Winston shook his head. "I don't know his name! I was just in the area and I saw he was having a garage sale. He was an older man, and he was very odd. That's all I could tell you. I remember what house it was, though, so I'm going to see him and ask-"

"Merasmus!" Soldier exclaimed suddenly. "It has to be!"

Winston gave him a sideways glance. "I don't know that name,"

"Was he wearing either a long robe or an animal skull?" Spy wanted to know.

Winston hesitated. "I...um- wait, yes! Not an animal skull, but he had a long robe on. He also had some jewelry on, I think,"

Scout rose up again and started pacing. "Lemme get this straight: Merasmus gives us our memories back and doesn't freakin' tell us why, and he steals our shit and sells it for-" he paused. "How much was the headset sold for?"

Winston squinted at the price tag he'd left on. "About 60 dollars or so,"

"60 dollars!" Scout flailed his arms around. "It's worth way more than that-!"

"Quiet, you!" Demo snapped at Scout, silencing him. "Listen, how's 'bout we go talk to the wizard?"

Soldier suddenly reached out and grabbed Winston's arm. "Take us to him, Gorilla man!"

Winston pushed him off. "Don't touch me!" he sighed. "Okay, if you think you know this man, you can come with me in a shuttle. But please, please don't get in the way of what I need to do,"

"We won't," Engineer nodded at him. "We just wanna ask him some questions of our own, you understand?"

"Of course," sighed Winston, standing up. "First and foremost, we need to know how he got this video. Heinz's execution is quite literally in 24 hours, and this video was never played in court or released,"

Heavy's eyes widened. "A day? Only a day?"

The gravity of the situation suddenly struck everyone, and there was a silence.

"We're gonna need a miracle to get Medic back," Sniper muttered.