II / Black
"You think you'll be okay with him?" Lena was looking at Mercy, who had her eyes on the operation plan. It stated her and 76 to be sent to a building where possible hostages were being held, by two unknown armed criminals.
"Why is it only us two?" Mercy asked, remembering the other operation plans had at least three or four of them involved.
"I have no idea. But it seems we all are busy, I guess Winston trusts him. He wouldn't have approved of it if he didn't." Pharah said, now carefully waiting for Mercy's reaction.
"Poor Winston being put in charge for everything." Mercy sighed. After Overwatch was disbanded and lost its commander, there was never even a thought about who would become the next. In the past days, nobody had even just a second to think about it. They all seemed to trust Winston with everything, but he was not a solider and not an expert on the battlefield. He was a scientist, yet he tried to do as best as he could. They had a deployment not far from their new headquarters, where everyone eventually got to test out the team formation. It worked out nicely as they hoped, with having pressure in the front and backup in the back. To everyone's surprise, just a little training had helped them to get their routine back, even though it was years ago that they last really had to do this. Back then they didn't have to talk much, they just did everything by themselves. Their formations always seemed to work smoothly and they mostly had the best outcome without too many casualties. With some more training, they sure could do the same thing again. The new recruits were just harmonizing with the rest and made the work for everyone a lot easier. Who knew that it could be like the old times, even though having a commander was the greatest help. Now they tried to make commands among themselves, without neglecting any ideas or important input.
"We should wait if we hear anything from Genji. They should let us know when the way is clear." Reinhardt said while resting his heavy armor on a stone.
"Don't you think it's too quiet around here?" Pharah took off her helmet and pressed it between her body and upper arm to have two hands to correct her hair.
"That's probably because there is nothing here." Solider 76 said, who was leaning against a wall on the opposite of them.
Pharah turned to him. "Then why would someone request our presence?"
The cowboy grabbed his revolver and held it in the air. "To scare people off."
"Take that gun down, kid." The soldier moved toward him and had his glove pointing to the ground.
"Or else?" McCree asked, pretending to move his gun toward the man with the masked face. Hanzo sighed behind them, Mercy shook her head. "Now, now," she said, forcefully pushing McCree's arm down, then grabbing the loaded revolver from his hand. "I don't think this is funny, Jesse." She remarked as she heard him chuckle under his breath.
"Enemy contact." A voice suddenly crackled through their radio transmitter. Zarya's almost inaudible voice got them all on their feet in a blink of an eye. "We have bandits over here, they are trying to kill omnics." Tracers voice followed, and the sound of what could possibly be gunfire.
The group got up, grabbing their belongings and moved toward the end of a street that lead to the district the others were fighting in. Mercy still held McCree's revolver in her own holster, forcing her to hold her own blaster in her hands. Soldier 76 seemed to notice.
"You should give him his toy back," he said and offered a hand to hold her gun to free her hands.
"He pointed that at you. I'm not in the mood for jokes." Mercy was in her best mood actually, yet she hated bad jokes. Especially if it involved any kind of harm that could be done.
"That kid wasn't going to shoot me. But he might need to shoot out there."
Mercy frowned. Why did he care? And why was she so sure he wouldn't have shot? After all, nobody knew who he was and if they could trust him. She sighed and turned to McCree. Then reached for the revolver and handed it to him.
"Don't test me, Jesse. You don't want to see me angry." She pushed the revolver back into his hands. "My staff is broken and if anyone here gets hurt because of foolishness, I am not going to waste extra effort on that." His face now blank, he definitely knew she was serious. He nodded, then holstered the gun.
They were far behind Hanzo and Reinhardt, so they increased their pace. Pharah had been above them the whole time, trying to keep the sight clear of possible bandits crossing their way. Mercy eventually joined Pharah up in the sky to get an overview of the situation herself. The city was quiet, and there was nothing really strange going on for them to notice. There were no sounds, no gunfire, nothing. As if the radio transmit would have come from a different world. Just as when they had their feet back on the ground and ran along an alleyway, they caught Tracer waving at them, telling them to come closer.
"It's all under control. We found the bandits and spoke to the omnics." She then assured to the rest of the team and led them forward.
"But the gunfire?" Reinhardt asked straight away.
"It was nothing. They shot at us but you bet we can outplay a few bandits, Rein."
"Is anyone hurt?" Mercy was always asking the same first question when returning to the others, both out of habit and also personal concern.
Nobody was hurt, not even any of the robots that were attacked. Mercy stepped closer to the one standing next to Winston.
"What happened?"
"They wanted our supplies. They thought because we are not human we do not need it."
Mercy sighed. "So it is true." The war that they had already fought back then still had its traces to that day. Or it started again. There were still people who couldn't live with the fact that omnics lived among them, they created gangs and organizations that only wanted one thing. War.
But that day, nothing really happened for them to have a serious Overwatch deployment. They could arrest the bandits and help the factory go back to their ordinary work. No use of guns, nothing. Somehow it felt good, somehow it killed the anticipation for most of the heroes who loved the smell of a good gunfight.
"I still don't know what to think. I can't trust someone whose face I don't know. He could literally be anybody, friend or foe. We can only assume so much." Her grip around the pen tightened. "Do you trust him to look after me?" She looked around. The girls were all sitting in Mercys room to discuss their own operation plans while the men were preparing the necessities.
"We only know him for a few weeks too, Ang. But he is experienced, he sure wouldn't let any harm get to you." Mei said, was then interrupted by .
"You know, I think that man is not as tough as he looks. Pretty sure he has a soft core for a lovely lady like you." She giggled. Mercy sighed. Oh goodness. She never thought anyone would ever try to pass hints to her about that.
She hesitated shortly, then set the pen to the paper and signed it. "I guess sometimes I just have to trust the unknown."
"You know, just think about the lives you could possibly save today. It makes you feel good." Pharah grabbed the paper from her. "So it's set. Seems like we will be some busy ladies."
"Eventually. Soldier 76 still has to sign it." Mercy pointed out. "Maybe he doesn't like me and will decline."
"You really think any man could decline some time alone with you?" Lena teased, blowing a kiss in her direction. Mercy rolled her eyes, and she knew they just wanted the best for her. For her to be happy and glowing. Like most of them already did back with Jack, they always tried to get Mercy to like someone. Teasing as best as they could. But she still couldn't figure out why she didn't like 76. The mysterious and unknown about him seemed to draw her in, making her curious and wanting to find out more about his person. But at the same time, exactly this was what made er totally insecure. Someone wearing a mask had something to hide.
"If he lets any harm come to you, I'll kill him myself. No worries." Pharah offered a hand to Mercy to stand up. She took it and pushed her body up to stand on both of her feet. She shook her head and lightly bumped her fist into Pharah's shoulder.
"Please don't. I came back here hoping not to witness any more death." She smiled, knowing that Pharah was just joking around.
"Are you planning to go without your staff?" Lena remarked and Mercy seemed to have totally forgotten about it. She didn't feel as safe out there only having a few nano canisters and bandages, because they all were not strong enough to do what she was used to. Her eyes fell to the ground.
"I think – I hope we should be fine. If he's a veteran, he better know how to patch himself up if he needs to."
"So, we'll kill the bottle of the red Merlot that is stored in the fridge later, ladies?" squeezed in between Mercy and Pharah.
"Uhmm.. I'm not too sure you will be drinking any of it, Hana, but we sure will." Mei giggled and the girls were all facing .
"What is your problem?" She squeaked, making everyone around her laugh.
"Pretty sure you are too young. No wine for you." Mercy then added, messing around with 's hair.
"You don't have to tell anyone..." She then argued more quietly, obviously disappointed.
"And you better don't argue with me, Hana." Mercy said and stepped away from her. "We'll get you something else."
"Okay, okay..." lowered her hands that she held around Pharah's waist.
"But now," Mercy grabbed her unloaded gun from the shelf. "I guess we all have our work to do."
She opened the door of her room to lead everyone outside. Since all of them had the same way to the armory, why not go together. She locked the door behind her and then followed the girls down a long hallway that eventually turned into a stairway.
"I'll go hand these in to Winston." Pharah held up the sheets of paper all of them signed. "So he knows what we are up to." She smiled and waved towards the others, then rushed the stairway upwards.
All the way down there was barely any light, but a large metal door with a monitor in front of it. Holding her hand in front of it for identification, a quiet robotic voice answered shortly after. "Identification complete. Welcome back, Miss Ziegler."
Then, with a metallic noise, the door in front of them opened.
"See you later, everyone." Mercy smiled and watched them all go into different directions to their belongings. She went along a straight and dark corridor with several doors that lead to all sorts of different Overwatch tech. She was really impressed by the work and passion that Winston had put into the building. He really was serious about this reactivation.
She reached her locker, and was surprised finding a note on it.
"I'm sorry Doc, but I won't be able to fully fix the staff for now. - Torb"
She sighed. So she had to work with what was given to her, again. She opened the locker and grabbed the Valkyrie suit, then turned around to grab the ammunition to load her gun. A process that she despised, she hated fighting and the fact that she might have to shoot someone herself. But if she wanted to help and survive, there was no way around.
There was a bag with a few nano canisters in her locker as well was a few small bottles filled with a liquid that would probably help to cover up wounds. She grabbed it all and holstered the loaded gun, turned around to find her body twitching and releasing a gasp. She totally didn't hear the Solider approach her.
"And you can't knock?" She asked, annoyed that he seemed to have stalked her. How long did he already stand there?
"I just got here. And I was just about to say hello." How could he even see anything in the corridor with that stupid mask? He had his pulse rifle rested on his shoulder, and with his left hand he raised a piece of paper.
"Seems like we got a mission." His voice low and muffled through the mask echoed through the room.
"Yes. I am surprised you signed it." Mercy liked to be smug around people she didn't trust much. Everyone in Overwatch knew this. Of course the soldier knew it too.
"Why wouldn't I?"
"I don't know, it doesn't seem like it involves big gunfire and fights if they only send us."
"You think that's all I am looking out for? Fighting, shooting and getting my hands dirty?" He moved his arm and lowered the rifle.
"I was told you are a veteran. Isn't that what veterans want?"
"Veterans can also be happy about spending their time with a pretty lady. Without the shooting." He answered to her and immediately regretted it.
Mercy sighed and shut her locker. "You know, if not for the mask I might be able to respond to that. But besides you having white hair, that is all I know about you."
"I prefer if that is all you know about me." He wanted to change the topic as quickly as possible and Mercy seemed to notice.
"Why? Is there a monster hiding underneath?" She giggled, slightly starting to loosen up. She was trying to handle her work with him just as any other professional work, trying to treat him as best as she could.
His hand was going through his ashen blonde hair and he lowered his head. "Much, much worse." He muttered under his breath. Then there was silence that seemed to last at least five minutes before he continued.
He suddenly grabbed his gun and his other hand was showing to the door, trying to lead her the way. "We should get going." He said and she nodded. Following him outside, she started to wonder what could be hiding underneath that mask. Maybe she was just too curious. Maybe she should just let go, just as she had her secrets, it was his. And she should respect that. Just like a professional.
"You all seem to be really close." He suddenly remarked, pulling Mercy out of her thoughts. They were walking on a pavement alongside a street without any person around by miles.
She hesitated, thinking about what to say without having to recall about the past too much.
"Well, we have spent so many years together. They are my family." She said and lowered her head.
76 knew exactly what happened to her real family, and seeing that it hurt her, he didn't ask any further. Even though Soldier 76 would have asked. But the person who had control didn't.
"Winston has such a big heart for everyone." She sighed. "It's hard to see he is neglecting his scientific researches for us."
"Why is there no other leader?"
"We never had a leader. We had a commander." She inhaled and held her breath for a few seconds before continuing to talk. "Look at everyone in there. They want to help, yes, but they don't want to be responsible for what is happening. Nobody has that confidence and knowledge Jack Morrison had." She looked up to his face, where the sun reflected its light in the mask. "And everybody knows that."
76 kept silent, in awe about how she talked about their commander.
"He just knew how to lead the missions and the fighting. He always had a plan so we would have the upper hand. And you know," Mercy lifted her hands to her chest, "I trusted him with my life. If he said it's safe for me to fly in, I would."
"Seems like he was a very honorable man." 76 mumbled and caught another sigh of Mercy.
"Yes, yes, he was." They kept walking in silence for a few minutes until they seemed to reach the destination.
"I just wish that we can handle on our own. Without anyone getting hurt." She said and smiled in 76's direction. Who then lifted up his rifle.
"Then let's make sure these hostages don't get hurt." He winked at her, but obviously she couldn't see. She nodded lightly and grabbed her blaster. They walked slowly towards the abandoned building, and after Soldier 76 gave her a sign that the entrance is safe, she followed him inside. It was dark, dusty and definitely scary.
Her heart suddenly seemed to race, knowing that this could be more serious that she had thought. She felt the veins on her neck pulsing as she carefully looked around on the floor to find any signs of danger. Only taking small steps forward.
"Nothing over here." 76 whispered into the radio transmitter, not wanting to catch any unwanted attention.
"Not here, either." Mercy whispered back.
"Just be careful." His voice, surprisingly showing a few hints of real concern, made Mercy stop in her place. Then suddenly, her breathing got slower. At first she thought that was because she was so excited, but after a few seconds she barely could breathe and gasped for air. "76 – I – I think something -" She coughed and gasped for air, then felt something hard hit her head. And hitting the ground with her body was all she remembered.
She couldn't move her hands. Some stinging pain was rubbing against her wrists, which started to burn as soon as she tried to move. Ropes. Her hands were tied together. Trying to slightly open her eyes, she couldn't see a thing. Either she really couldn't see, or it was just too dark in the room – or wherever she was. She heard a groan, which made her body twitch, and she recognized the pitch. 76. Just what was happening? A few moments ago, they just entered the old building that was supposed to hold hostages. Now, she couldn't remember a thing of what has happened as soon as she stepped a foot in. Her head was spinning, aching from the inside. Something else made her want to cough, but she couldn't find the strength to. Her head felt hazy and heavy. Her neck was tickling, thinking is was only her hair, she knew exactly what the consistency running down was. Blood. Something, or someone, hit her head so she would pass out. But who? She tried opening her eyes again, only to find the Soldier tied up sitting on the floor, his gun nowhere near. He kept groaning, struggling to get free. His mask hid everything that would tell her if he was okay, she couldn't read his face and couldn't make out if he actually paid any attention to her. Through the throbbing aches on her head, she then heard dull footsteps coming towards them, sharing the pace of her own heartbeat.
"Well, if it isn't the heroes who accepted my invitation. It was almost too easy getting you here." A deep, dark voice said in the distance.
"YOU -" 76 snarled, but was interrupted by a female voice, that Mercy somehow recognized.
"Tiens, tiens, soldier. You shouldn't waste your breath." Her voice sounded cold, it send a shiver down Mercy's spine. She looked up and her eyes met those of a woman with a blue tinted skin. Then she remembered. It was her, Amélie, who had murdered a good friend of theirs. Brainwashed and trained, she turned into this. A Widowmaker.
"We've met before, chérie." She then said and lifted Mercy's chin up, only to give her a spiteful smile. Her hands were pure ice. Her eyes an evil stare that would bore a hole into your soul. And yes they had met. She was visiting Overwatch years back to assist her husband with work, they exchanged a few words. But nothing more. Her attention moved away from the woman next to her, over to 76 who still struggled to get free.
"Now, now." The dark voice spoke up. "It is good to see you both again." He turned around looking over to Mercy. His skull mask was hiding his face, and she didn't exactly know how they would know each other. "Angela." He then said and stepped closer to her. Out of reflex, she tilted her head backwards, not realizing she was bound in place and it didn't help anything to provide space between the two.
"Leave her out of this, Gabriel." 76's voice interrupted that tension that Mercy felt building while he was taking those steps toward her. Did he just say -
"She is the reason I am this way. I think she should know about this burden." He stressed the last word so loudly, it made Mercy twitch again. He hissed it into her direction, trying to make her scared. He succeeded, but she was too overwhelmed with everything altogether that she didn't even know what she was feeling exactly.
"Gabriel?" She asked with that husky voice that came from her throat, absolutely not sounding like the angel she usually did. Her throat was dry, swollen and burning like someone was forcing lava down her mouth. This must have been the Widowmaker's poison. "But I... I thought..."
"You thought you failed?" He hissed, taking another step closer. "Well, you did." He said harshly. "But yet, here I am."
Instead of taking another step, black smoke was forming around his feet, and it seemed he was slowly floating towards her. He reached out, making her head tilt even further. But he wasn't reaching for her, he was reaching for his mask. Only then she noticed his hands were claws, shiny metal pointers, that looked as dangerous as of a predator. He slowly took down the mask, revealing a lifeless face with bloodshot eyes. Mercy's lips released a light gasp as she caught the sight of that. She heard the other woman chuckle.
"Gabriel, I didn't know." Mercy's voice was totally shaky, that the words didn't even sound like she was trying to speak complete sentences. "I didn't know time would influence... this..."
They had found his body in the old headquarter ruins on the third day after the explosion. They kept looking and looking for any survivors and bodies. Three days his lifeless body had been laying around before being found by his friends. Mercy tried everything she knew, everything she could within her possibilities to save him. And when the resurrection finally worked, her staff couldn't take the energy. It broke. Literally broke into pieces. It made Mercy sick for days, and nobody ever wanted to talk about it. Nobody had ever heard of Gabriel. He had disappeared the night she supposedly brought him back. She thought she had failed. All this time, it was a burden to her.
Three days had been too many for the resurrection to be complete. Now she realized what it meant. His body was brought back, but was also already starting to decay. Shivering, she looked at the figure in front of her. Half dead, half alive. Her old friend, turned into a creature.
"I am so -" she started but was interrupted.
"Yeah, you're sorry. You always are. But you know, at least I can continue what I started. End what I wanted to end years back."
He turned his head over to 76, who seemed to have given up his fight with the ropes. Only then Mercy realized that his gun was actually closer to him than she thought. All this time he tried to reach it, and that was the reason he struggled in first place.
"What do you want?" 76 growled into Gabriel's face.
"I am surprised you are asking me that." A faint laugh left the black clothed figure.
"If you want me dead, just get it over with. But leave her out of this." His voice was now full of rage, it was clearly audible.
Mercy was more confused than ever. Did they know each other? They seemed to talk about things that she didn't know of.
"Oh, Jack, if only we could choose the ways we want it to be, huh?" Gabriel's dark voice echoed through the tall room, and Mercy's heart stopped as she heard the name.
Jack? Did he just say Jack? Just what was going on here?
"Just kill me and let her go." The soldier clearly wasn't joking. She never had heard him talk like that before ever since he joined Overwatch.
"Are you begging me to kill you? This should be my lucky day." Gabriel laughed again, it echoed through the walls, to her ears.
She felt so weak suddenly. Blood was still running down her neck, the injury seemed to be worse than she guessed. She kept breathing calmly and tried to focus on what was happening in front of her.
"That would be too easy, wouldn't it?" The black coat moved towards 76, then lifted his chin up. Claws digging deep into his skin that was not covered by the mask, the soldier released a short growl. Then, with the other hand, the sharp claws wrapped around the mask and ripped it off. "How about we talk eye to eye, old friend?" Gabriel's voice wasn't what she remembered at all. The warm, friendly, joking voice. It was all gone. It seemed like everything good about him had been sucked out of his body while he was lying helpless, left to die in the ruins. Only then, Mercy realized what she was looking at. An unmasked Soldier 76. Her eyes, which kept getting covered by heavy eyelids, caught a glimpse of a way too familiar face. Then she cried out. On the inside. Her body was too weak to just release a slight tone from her lips, but it was a gasp, a moaning sound that was audible to the people around her.
It made Gabriel turn around abruptly. "She didn't know?" Gabriel smiled towards 76 whose gaze was ready to rip the person in front of him into pieces.
"I'm going to kill you!" He shouted out, roaring his voice through the abandoned building.
The other person laughed. "Oh, Jack. You technically already did." He wasn't wrong, they both actually shouldn't be at the places they were now.
"Just let her go." He demanded again. "If you are out for your deadly revenge, have it, just leave her."
"Oh, Jack. Still trying to be the hero, are we?" The claws were back into the flesh of his cheeks. "Yes, yes. Revenge. Thank you, for reminding me of the reason for our lovely meeting today." He laughed. "You know, I figured..."
He threw a look towards the Widowmaker who was still standing next to Mercy, who seemed to take his gaze as a demand to move. She grabbed her gun. Mercy started to feel anxious about everything that was happening around her. Then the person in front of her continued talking.
"I figured killing you would be too easy. Making you the same way I am however, theoretically," he smiled down on the captured soldier. "Sounds like a much better plan. I'm not going to kill you. Not today anyway. I am going to take everything from you, like you took from me. I am going to kill your heart." He hissed.
And then something happened that Mercy didn't even manage to follow. She heard a click, and she next thing was her chest starting to burn and ache like a really bad insect sting. She couldn't figure out what it was. More poison? Panicking, she looked around her, adrenaline kicking in, her head flying up and her eyes ripped open. Her gaze went up to the right where the clicking noise came from.
Her head became dull, numb; her vision hazy and completely blurry.
"NO!" A shout hit her left ear, but she was too focused on the barrel of that sniper rifle that was pointing directly at her.
Widowmaker's gun had clicked to turn into a sniper rifle within a fraction of a second. Mercy slowly moved her head but wasn't strong enough anymore to focus. Her strength suddenly faded, the adrenaline kick suddenly turned into pulsing rushing pain into her senses. Like being burned alive, she wanted to scream, but she couldn't. With her last strength, she saw blood running down her stomach, her shirt was soaking. She was shot. Shot in the heart.
Black.
