Noah sat there silently as Fareeha watched him in disbelief. This moment of silence has allowed her to really see Noah. He was disheveled, had clearly lost some weight, his hair was no better than a wild mane, and he had lost the fire he always possessed before. "I'm sorry, Fareeha, I really am. I was never meant for all this hero business."

"Noah-"

"Let me finish. That way when I die, there will be no question on how I felt about things. I had to become mature as a kid. And when things got rough, when the world fought hard I returned back. That was my way of life until three years ago. I managed to leave behind the guns, the near death experiences, the threat of jail, even the lure of adventure for a normal life. I was happy." Fareeha imagined that in that tiny apartment he had was a nice, snug space. Secure in a way that reassured him that he was safe. And when Burr arrived, it went up in flames. "Then Burr came back into my life. I love the guy like a brother. Hell, I always believed he was, but I couldn't handle his idea of being something more than thieves. He wanted to be a hero. A figure that protects all and ensures a secure future for all."

He stopped to look at Fareeha. She sat down and waited patiently. "I didn't want that, so after a job went awry we went our separate ways to try and make a life outside of all this. Obviously by now you know he never did that." Fareeha nodded. Burr went on to help rebuild Overwatch. "We would call each other on occasions, but the separation was good. It allowed me to rely on myself for once. So when he came to me in person, I was suspicious. Especially when he asked to come home with me. Then, obviously, you know what happened after that."

Noah looked at his hands before putting a hand over his right eye. "I haven't even been able to look at the lights above without filtered glasses since that day. And then they came back, all the things I left behind came back with a vengeance. I...I actually deluded myself that I wanted to return to this. After all, I had you guys. The only highlight is the people I've come to respect and love with all my being. However even being near you guys and seeing what you've done is a constant reminder of what I'm not. Fareeha, I'm a criminal not a hero. If you took off the Overwatch brand and looked at my actions I'm basically a terrorist. And this is coming from a guy who just stole shit for a living," he laughed bitterly at the situation.

"I can't be a hero. My closest friends like Lena have saved my ass more times than I can count. I just expect my life to become a never ending spiral of close calls until one guy just gets lucky and puts a bullet in my brain."

"Don't talk like that. You are so much more." He smiled sadly and held Fareeha's hand, "Fareeha, for once, don't help me. You and everyone else can argue against it, but I'm dead set on what I think about myself. However, I will say that the only thing that was worth it was meeting you guys."

He pulled her in for a hug and she slowly accepted it. "You guys are the only reason I both love and hate myself for everything." Fareeha held onto him and sighed. "I'm also sorry that I got you and Angela to like me."

"I don't regret it. Angela doesn't either." Noah nodded sadly. If Angela was here, he couldn't imagine what she would do if she heard him talk about these kinds of things, "I'm still sorry."

"And I still don't care." Noah looked around and could barely hear the sounds of soldiers or guns. That or his hearing had finally went gotten severely damaged. He felt that he owed her something if they did get out of there. After all, she did save him. "Fareeha. If we both get out of here, would you, um, like to…" She pulled back and looked at him. He looked quite nervous as she smiled.

"I wanted to see if you would, uh, I don't know. Uh, geez, the closest I got was when Angela stopped me, um-" She shushed him. "When we both get out of here, I would love to." He nodded and tried standing up. He held onto the wall and Fareeha quickly put his arm around her. "Let's just hope things are going good for our side."

They opened the door and saw that the armory was now a great battlefield. "You ready?"

"I hope so." She looked at him and kissed him on the cheek. "We'll make it. I swear."

Noah chuckled. "Keep kissing me, but I'm still going to be like this." Fareeha rolled her eyes and dragged him along. The battle was reaching its peak. Noah saw everyone there. He found enemies frozen, on fire, or torn up. He kept watching until he saw Genji facing off against several soldiers.

"Genji, get down!" He yelled. Genji took heed and ducked. A missile flew above him and hit the crates next to him. The ninja looked up and ran towards them. "Fareeha, Noah! It is good to see you alive."

Noah nodded and tried standing straighter. However he saw a truck being started. The soldiers activated it and all three were caught in its headlights. "Drive, drive!" The truck drove toward them at full speed. Genji grabbed them and pulled them away. The three fell to the ground as the truck missed and ran right into the hammer of Reinhardt. The German laughed as it crushed the engine. "Haha, my friends! It is good to see that you've managed to get here!"

The lumbering giant walked over and picked up Fareeha and Noah. "Fareeha, I see you can hold your own without your armor." Fareeha scratched her head with a small cheeky grin. "And Noah, it is good to see you're still fighting!"

"Thanks big guy." Noah said, slightly taken back by the German's happy approach. "Come. The others are waiting for this."

"Can you protect us? Noah's wounded. He needs a medic." Reinhardt leaned over and grabbed Noah by the scruff of his shirt. "Then let us find our angel! Let us go!"

"Reinhardt. You don't need to do this. I can walk."

"Nonsense. Now quit arguing, I'm faster!" Reinhardt began running through the field with Noah holding onto his armor. Genji and Fareeha were right behind them with each one defending Reinhardt. The German laughed as he brought down his hammer. Talon soldiers and vehicles went flying as he barreled through them.

"Grab her!"

"She keeps slipping away!"

"Stay still!" Noah looked to see a blue light zip past the enemy and into the air. Tracer appeared on the other side and landed on Reinhardt's shoulder. "Lena, how nice it is to see you."

"You got it, Hammer Man." She laughed before looking at the other side. Her eyes widened when she saw Noah. He smiled weakly and waved. "Hey Lena."

"OhMyGod!Noahareyouokaywhathappeneddidtheyhurtyoubadly?!" She spoke so fast that he could barely understand her until he saw a sniper. "Lena, dodge!" She turned around and blinked away. The bullet barely missed Noah when the enemy sniper's life ended via Tracer's pistols. She ran back and jumped again on Reinhardt's back. "Now where were we? Oh yeah! Are you okay?!"

"I'm...I could use help Lena." She looked at him and grabbed his communicator. "The teleporter is right here and guess what? Everyone else is already there! Alright Reinhardt full speed ahead!"

"Of course!" Reinhardt grabbed Fareeha and Genji and placed them with the others. "Hold on!" They charged through the masses, the obstacles, and the structures when Reinhardt stopped. Noah watched all the Overwatch agents hold their own against Talon. It was a sight to behold. It was until Reinhardt whistled. "Medic!"

Noah felt a jolt of joy when he saw the angelic wings of Mercy fly down.

He was placed on the ground and Angela ran to his side. "Noah!" He tried to smile, but his body was officially done with everything. "Hey doc. How's it going?"

Angela put her staff next to him and began the healing stream. He could feel his fatigue wash away, albeit slowly. "You stupid, worrisome, little…" Angela grumbled underneath her breath. Noah felt hurt to see the worry when she took a breath. "You're lucky your insurance covers this."

"Really?" Angela allowed herself a laugh when she pulled him up. "Of course." She looked at him and gave him a weary look. "How many times do you want to keep meeting me like this?"

"To be fair doc, we met at the medical wing. This is a cave." Fareeha saw the life behind Angela's eyes come back and felt a pang in her chest. Angela hugged him once he was able to hold his ground. He returned the hug with vigor and could feel himself relax like he did with Fareeha.

"You stubborn son of a bitch." He was pulled out his hug to face Burr. His face was sweaty, but held the brightest smile. "You really know how to get my blood pumping." He drew him in for a one arm hug as Noah laughed. His laughter died out when he saw Widowmaker. They locked eyes as she raised her hand to wave. Noah raised his palm and charged a shot when Burr jerked his arm up. The beam hit the roof and Burr had to stop Noah.

"Wait, wait! Peace, she's on our side! Our side, damn it!"

"She's one of the fucking people that did this to me! Let me go!"

"Widow did, but please calm down! We can wait to deal with all this until later. Where's the translocator?" Noah stopped struggling and glared at Widow. The French woman lost that arrogant glimmer in her eyes. He pulled out his communicator and tapped his foot. "We're right on top of it."

Burr called everyone over. They had their reunions with each other while Noah was scrolling for the phrase. "Alright let's see. The code is Translocator Activate. I just need to hit the handle and the translocator will start. So everyone get in place." Everyone did as Noah looked at Burr.

"Burr, may I have the honors?"

"Sure, why not." Angela stepped up and put a hand on his shoulder. "Wait, are you sure?"

"Doc it's just a handlebar. I got it." He locked eyes with Fareeha and flashed her a hopeful smile. She returned it as he went over to the controls. He looked at the handle and grasped it. He slowly pushed it up when a large weight dropped on him.

Noah found himself on the floor dazed and confused as everyone panicked. He felt the cool steel of a gun press against his head and looked up. It was Facet. The Omnic investigator that was responsible for ninety percent of his torture. "Now then, Bastin, we wouldn't want you to leave just yet. The party isn't over. Stand up."

Noah was pulled up and looked at the frightened faces of his friends. "I don't know how you found the translocator, but it won't do you any good. You're all finished."

Everyone stood still as Noah was taken hostage. Facet held the barrel right at his temple and put pressure on the trigger. "You, all of you, are dead."

76 stepped up, but Facet put the barrel closer. "Take another step forward and he'll be greeting all of you on the other side." Burr growled at Facet when he looked at him and Widowmaker. "Fitting that two traitors now stand here along with them."

"You goddamn bucket of bolts let him go!" Noah flinched at realizing he was now being used against his allies. "Or what? You'll shoot me? Kill me? That's nice, but you don't seem to realize the situation you're in. We're all dead. The only thing that'll change is that he might be the first one to go. Ain't that right, smartass?"

He let go of Noah and struck with the the butt of his gun. Noah fell to the floor hard. He tried getting up, but Facet kicked his head and made him stay down. Fareeha almost charged when the gun was once again pointed at his head. "You have no idea how satisfying it is to know that you'd be dead."

"Pft. Asshole." Noah groaned as he was on his hands and knees. Facet waved his hand and the remaining Talon soldiers took aim at Overwatch. "Don't think I forgot how you're a combat pragmatist. If you try anything they will shoot them. So now neither side can do anything if you value each other's lives."

Noah wiped away the blood on his lip and stood up with Facet's gun trained on him. "Now, enjoy these last five minutes. Say your goodbyes, final prayers, or whatever it is you do. Because after that, it's all over."

Everyone felt the mountain begin to rumble. Noah looked at everyone and sighed. They were all going to die and it was his fault. Everyone would disagree or at least some would, but his mind was made up. Things had to be fixed, but how.

"Guys." Everyone looked at him when he smiled sadly. "I didn't think that things were going to end this way."

Everyone nodded. They didn't expect this ending either and there was nothing that could be done. The next minute was one of the longest ones they can ever recall. "Hey Reinhardt. I can't be there with asshole pointing a gun at me." Facet would've sneered if he could express more it. "Give everyone a hug will you. And don't let go."

The big guy acknowledged his request and pulled everyone in. Fareeha, Angela, Lena, and Burr were looking at him. Noah winked at them. "I'm sorry. I just can't keep my promises." Everyone gasped in surprise when Noah grabbed Facet's gun and fired several rounds at the Talon soldiers aiming down at them. With one more bullet, he fired it right toward the handle bar and hit it. "Translocator Activate!"

-Translocator Activated-

Purple light surrounded everyone as Fareeha almost broke free to reach out. She screamed out his name when the cave surrounding them was replaced with a small warehouse. Sombra saw them arrive on camera and counted each one. Her eyes widened when she didn't see Noah among them. She slammed a gloved fist against the keyboard in frustration before turning her back on the screen.

They all fell to the ground with Tracer being the first to recover. She looked around at her surroundings and panicked. Burr was the second and grew furious at what had just happened. Fareeha helped Angela up before running to the doorway. "No, no, no!" Fareeha bursted through the door and found themselves on a distant cliff area with Talon warehouses where they landed. She examined her surroundings fast until she found the mountain. It was still intact. Her mind was going a million miles per hour. Trying to formulate a plan, anything that could have them return to the mountain. Everyone followed her before the land shook.

The mountain fortress erupted into a cloud of rock and dust. Even from a distance the damage could be felt. Fareeha didn't say a word as she watched the mountain breakdown and was reduced to a pebble pile. Burr stood next to Widowmaker when he walked forward as he fell to the ground. "You...you stubborn asshole! Goddamn you!"

Widowmaker held his shoulder and he shoved her off. "Get off me." He clutched his head and tried coming to terms on what just happened. Widow kept her distance, but continued to watch him. Ana came up to Fareeha and caught her attention. "Are you okay?"

Her daughter didn't reply and turned around. She walked past everyone and found several discarded dropships. Fareeha took a deep breath. Everyone heard a loud echoing sound of bashed metal and most went to investigate.

They saw a dropship Fareeha found and her smashing an iron bar against it that was on the ground. No one moved as they watched her wreck the ship. The soldier kept bashing the ship leaving large dents, broken windows, and bent metal. They kept watching her until the iron bar broke underneath the force and half of it went flying into the air and landing next to the group with a loud thud.

Fareeha panted hard as she turned to see the stunned faces of her comrades. She gave them a blank stare before storming off. Ana followed her daughter. "Fareeha, please wait!"

Angela moved away from the group when Lena stopped. "Don't. Ange, she needs to be alone." She turned Angela around and found tears streaming down her face. "Angela."

The doctor raised her hand to silence the pilot. "That's enough Lena. Just stop." She walked away when Lena tried her best to come to terms with this. There was no way he could've survived. Wounded, tired, and surrounded, Noah would've been dead the first few seconds they were gone. And the mountain? Crushed him underneath the caves walls. She looked around and saw while they won the battle, the mood was not one of celebration. 76 and Winston made the notion that they were heading home. Widowmaker picked up Burr and walked him over to the second ship. Everyone boarded and headed back to Gibraltar.

2 Weeks Later...

The day was rather sunny, but the autumn chill kept the warmth from reaching a group of people near a memorial. The past two weeks were times of celebration of Talon's defeat, the public's trust of Overwatch returned, and the funeral. Everyone dressed appropriately and the service continued.

Burr however asked for final words for everyone to be between only themselves. Understanding that he was the closest to the deceased, they agreed. The past two weeks were an emotional rollercoaster for him. Amélie, Angela, and Winston were the only people that could approach him. Angela put him under antidepressants. Winston provided the latest intel to get his mind off what's going on and focus on work. Amélie was the only one who could approach him without any special purpose.

Everyone listened to the priest give the final prayer. Burr was holding Amélie's hand when he looked at Angela. The doctor was staring at the grave with a blank stare at the grave. Ana and 76 stood next to her and kept a silent barrier up. His gaze slowly moved across and saw Emily and Winston holding Lena. The pilot couldn't keep her smile up and she was just done with everything.

"...in the peaceful hands of our Lord and Savior. Amen." The priest closed his book and everyone slowly backed away. Burr let go of Amélie and urged her to go with the others. He would join them later. He approached the priest and sighed. "Thanks for coming, Father Ray. I know you wouldn't have left St. Martinique, but Noah and I knew you since we were kids. I don't think he would've let anyone else pass last rites."

"Of course, Burr. It is rather hard myself. You know I always had the idea you would serve the church, but-"

"Sorry, Father. I know we would've if circumstances had been different. Though I'm still happy you came here. How much do we owe for the trip?"

"Nothing. It was enough to see you after all these years. I will take my leave in the morning. Peace be with you, Burr."

"To you as well Father." The priest walked away as Burr pulled out a cigar he stole from McCree. Been awhile since he smoked, but the situation called for it. He lit the cigar and let the moment pass by. A puff of smoke exited his lips as he let the chill wash over him. Burr stared at the memorial stone next to him. Countless names have been added over the years and he placed his hand on top of the new one. Noah Bastin.

The grave in front of him said the same. December 17, 2046- October 14, 2077. These dates will now haunt him for the rest of his days. He looked at his cigar and broke it underneath his fingers. It fell to the floor as he continued to stare at the grave. "Damn it. You'd think with what I did for a living, I would be the first to die. Why did it have to be you? Did you want to beat me at this race, you selfless bastard?"

No answer.

"Was there nothing we...I could've done?"

No answer.

"Would it be right to blame myself for everything that's happened to you? Cause believe me, I think that one's obvious!" He screamed. Burr looked around and sighed in relief that mostly everyone was gone. He didn't want to have Amélie or the others find him having this crisis. "Just tell me something, anything...please."

No answer. He got up and took a shaky breath. "You know I'm not the only one who's hurting. Angela barely leaves her office these days, Lena doesn't want to go on missions, Lucio and Hana don't have their gaming buddy, 76 seems more cold, even Ana is affected." The grave did nothing. "What did Talon even want from you besides me?"

He stood there for another couple of minutes before looking at the sky. The sky was cloudy now. "If you can see or even hear me, tell your mom hi. Tell her I miss you two by...a large margin. Ok?" He turned his back and bumped into Fareeha. She was hastily dressed in her black suit and barely fixed her hair.

"You're late." Burr said. "The service is over." She opened her mouth for an excuse, but shut it. Her eyes drifted to the ground when she walked past him. Burr watched her stand before his grave and straightened her hair. Once she was done fixing herself up, Burr could hear small mumblings. After a minute, she fixed her posture and gave a soldier's salute to him. Burr breathed out a cold breath and began to approach when he heard footsteps. "Burr."

"Ana. I thought you went to the base across town with the others." The sniper stood before him with a tired, sunken eye. "I didn't when I saw Fareeha run past me. We all knew she shut herself in for two weeks. It's been some time since we last saw her."

"You want to comfort her, be my guest. I have to find my girlfriend and get back to work."

"Burr…" He already walked away and was close to leaving the graveyard. Ana walked up to Fareeha. She was still holding her pose. "Fareeha. How are you?"

"I'm fine mother. Just giving last respects."

"Habiti please don't hold bottle all this up. It's fine." Fareeha shook her head. "I said I'm fine. It's been two weeks, plenty of-"

"That's not even a fraction of time to mourn, to feel this way. Unless you never cared for him." Fareeha's heart rate spiked at that last statement. "Perhaps you never did. I can account your feelings to a small fling. A passing crush." Fareeha clenched her fist. Ana noticed and pushed once more.

"Maybe you didn't care for him at all and saw him as your plaything." The former commander raised her arms and caught the incoming strike from her daughter. The two struggled for a second when Fareeha slid her foot behind her mother's and swept her down. The older woman fell to the grass when Fareeha raised her fist.

"Don't you act like you knew! How could you ever have known how I felt? He was my friend, not my plaything, and you have the nerve to think I didn't care." She breathed hard while studying her mother's face. She saw the intent behind her eyes. The soldier pulled away and Ana picked herself up. "I know you cared for him, loved him in some sense, but I don't understand why you insist on isolating yourself. Don't you know you have friends, family that can help you?"

Fareeha didn't answer and turned away. "I know that. More than anything I know that. I just...I just wanted to help him. He was so hurt, everything about him was pitiful, and even when we kissed I-I could see the reluctance. And he has the nerve to sacrifice himself and save everyone, you, me! He's gone when there could've been a way for all of us to-" She stopped as she felt water droplets.

The rain finally came. It was cold and fresh. Fareeha didn't continue her sentence and just let the rain fall. Ana took her hand and kissed it. "I'm sorry, Fareeha. I don't think anything could've been done. We were pinned as was he. And knowing him, he would choose his allies over himself every day."

"He said he didn't belong as a hero. If he didn't know he was a fool, if he did then he was a liar." Ana walked up to her child and reached into her pocket.

"Soldier 76 and I went back to the mountain to salvage any tech or information. We found a few servers that Burr's going to look over, but 76 found this. I would've given it to the others, but I think you might hold onto it."

Fareeha looked at her mother's hand and found the frames of shattered goggles. Her hand was shaking when she reached for it. "It's the only thing we could find traces of. The body's either buried or disintegrated." Fareeha held onto the frame tightly. For some reason the water was now warm and salty. Ana wiped a tear from her daughter's eye as Fareeha continued to stare at the frame.

The mother and daughter stood in the rain, waiting for the storm to pass by.

Omake 1

Angela opened her office door and went to her desk. She sat down and looked at the file on her desk.

-Subject: Noah Bastin. Age: 30. Height: 182 cm. Weight: 86 km. Blood Type: A Positive. Status: Alive-

The doctor picked up a pen and crossed out alive. She reached over then to grab a stamp. Pressing down on the ink, Angela put it over the paper and hit down. It stamped.

KIA

The doctor opened the filing cabinet and took one last look into the file. A picture of Noah was there with him waving. She replaced the proper photo of that since she liked this more personal one. She shook her head and placed the file underneath another folder.

Angela shut the cabinet hard and took a shaky breath. She took a moment to breath before shaking her head and straightening her pony tail. "I have so much work to do."

Omake 2

Burr popped a few pills in since it was around his time to take them. He sipped his cup of coffee while he scrolled through the files on his phone. The files were given to him by Soldier 76. A few bytes of data survived and he needed to ensure that nothing was to be compromised. As he scrolled through, he found a link. A link with Noah's name attached. He clutched his coffee mug tightly when he clicked it.

'The Legacy of Gerard Lacroix?' He looked up and saw Amélie walking toward him with another cup in her hand. She obviously wasn't in her skintight outfit, but rather a simple black dress with black high boots to wear. She smiled sweetly at him as and he returned it. He looked down at the article and clicked back to Noah's link. He pressed the link and kept his finger there. A menu popped up. He clicked an icon.

-Delete This File?-

He clicked yes.

-Are You Sure?-

He clicked yes again.

-File Deleted.-

Burr leaned against his chair as Amélie took a seat. "Find anything interesting, cherie?" He took one look at her and gave a small smile. "No, nothing yet. I think 76 found me their junk mail." She laughed as did he and the weight on his shoulders slightly lessened. It was something he appreciated, even it was just a little nudge.

Burr took one last look at the empty space before putting down his phone.

End of Act 1

0-0-0-0-0-0

Give SimplyKen some credit in cleaning the chapter up.

So that happened. I'm really, really, really sorry, but I kind of needed to shelve Noah off for the story to move to its next arc. Which is an Assassin arc. So I decided to hold seven assassin OCs that will help the main antagonist of the next arc. If you want to submit one, PM the details on your OC and I'll take it under consideration. I'll also be doing an OC review if you want me to on the next chapter as a way to see how I process how it'll work. Submissions will last until the next chapters plus I'm going on a brief break to prepare myself as a new OC protagonist will come along and bring the story to new heights.

So what did you think of this chapter?

How do you feel about Noah's death and how things will play out?

Anyone ready for next arc? Let me know and remember to review/favorite/follow to give feedback and get new updates. Until then ciao!