Chapter 10
Hana awoke the next morning, still rather tired. She began to stretch out on her bed before realizing that something was in the bed with her, and she was sprawled out over it. The thing in her bed began to push her off of it and Hana nearly screamed in fear, but quickly realizing that it was actually Valkyr in her bed.
"Oh God I'm sorry! I forgot you were there!" Valkyr glanced at Hana and retrieved her tablet from the bedside table.
"It is okay. I am not in any pain nor am I uncomfortable." Valkyr got out of the bed and also helped Hana out.
"Always so chivalrous." With a little peck on the cheek, the two got dressed casually for the day and went down to the lounge. There they found Lena, Angela and Genji sitting on the couch. They walked in and sat together on one of the larger chairs. Lena noticed the pair and was the first to speak up.
"Hey you two! I never got a chance to really ask, considering one of you fell asleep instantly."
"I was tired!" Cried Hana.
"Haha, I'm sure you were! But in all seriousness, did you two have fun?"
"Yeah! Tons! The restaurant was fantastic, the food delicious and the service wonderful. I'm still not entirely sure what I ate but it was one of the best stages I've ever had! And don't get me started on the cheesecake. The cheesecake was absolutely the greatest treat I've ever eaten. And the beach was absolutely beautiful, it was so quiet and peaceful, I don't think I've had a more relaxing moment in my life. And it also helps that my date was the most handsome and awesome person ever." She leaned into Valkyr and playfully punched her shoulder.
Lena had a wide grin on her face. "Yeah, but I'm pretty sure making out was also pretty nice right?"
"Uh! Well, it was a date you know! You shouldn't exactly be surprised…"
"Haha, I'm only teasing Hana! I know it was a date and that's it's natural and all that jazz. How about you Valkyr? What did you think?" Everyone turned to look at Valkyr while she wrote down her thoughts.
"I had a lot of fun being with Hana yesterday. It was very peaceful and entertaining spending the night with her. The restaurant was indeed very well organized and the beach incredibly relaxing. The date was very fun overall. And it also helps that my date was very beautiful and awesome." She looked over to Hana and returned the playful punch, sending Hana into a miniature giggle fit.
Genji chimed in from the couch. "I would hate to change the subject but I believe Jack wanted to see you two, says he has another mission for you."
Lena looked back at the couple, "Week there ya go! There's date number two!"
"I'm pretty sure a mission together isn't classified as a date." Hana replied.
"Two people, who just so happen to like eachother, going together, alone, to do an activity together."
"Yeah but this is our job, not an activity for the two of us to enjoy." Hana stood up from the chair and began to take herself and Valkyr out of the room. "We should go see Jack about that now anyways. See ya guys!"
Genji spun around to face the pair before leaving. "Valkyr! Zenyatta and I were going to meditate a little later tonight, it would probably be around ten this time if you'd like to join us."
"Thank you Genji, I would be honored to join you in meditation." Nodding, the pair left the room to find Jack.
"Since when have you meditated with Genji and Zen?"
"I started speaking to Genji and Zenyatta early when I first arrived, they were the people that I could relate to the most as we were all not exactly human. We soon became friends and I meditated with them every now and again, but I joined them quite often after our first mission together. I was so stressed out after seeing you wounded and I was afraid you might actually die, Genji and Zenyatta noticed my stress and offered me to join them as much as I wanted to, so I did. It helped me calm down so sometimes I still join them."
"Oh. Makes sense I guess." Hana sounded as if she had some doubts about what Valkyr told her. She knew that nobody really liked an overly possessive girlfriend, but this was different right? It wasn't anything serious.
Once the two reached the mission briefing room they entered to find Jack filling out some papers.
"Ah, good. You're here. There's been more sightings of Talon agents in Dorado, they've been seen in around the general area and we've heard that they're trying something big in this street here. We're sending you two in as scouts, just observe but if you are in danger of being discovered, or being shot at, then open fire on any Talon agents you see. There's also been some rumors that Widowmaker and maybe Sombra will be there. If you see either of them, fall back, call HQ for backup. They're both extremely dangerous and most likely would recognize you as Overwatch members. Do. Not. Engage. Them. Clear?"
Hana and Valkyr nodded in understanding.
"Good. The ship that will take you is leaving in approximately two hours. I'd suggest starting to get ready now. And remember, scouts, do not engage unless necessary, and fall back if the special targets are there. Dismissed."
2 Hours later. On the dropship.
Hana and Valkyr sat and waited patiently to arrive in Dorado. The looked like average civilians, each wearing some jeans, sunglasses, and a light overcoat to conceal small weapons. Hana had brought her energy pistol and Valkyr had brought something she dubbed 'Lex Prime'. It certainly looked fancy, although it was concerning because that's all she brought, Hana could at least call her mech in at will, but Valkyr was stuck with one sidearm. When asked about it, she stated that should the need arise, she would simply use her claws to be rid of any enemy agents. Still, Hana couldn't help but worry that if she did use her claws, Widowmaker, if there, would have an easy shot at her.
"Hana?"
Hana's eyes shot up to see a concerned Valkyr looking at her. "Yeah? What is it?"
"You look troubled, is everything alright?"
"Well, I'm just a little worried about Widowmaker and Sombra. If they turn out to be there, and they see us before we see them, it could be bad."
"We'll have to play this very carefully. If we get found out, can your mech, I'll take out my claws, and we'll get time to retreat."
"I know, but are you sure your claws are going to be enough for this? These guys have guns, you'll have to close the gap on all of them."
"When my claws are activated, my body goes into a state where any and all incoming threats cannot harm me. I shall take the lead and take as many bullets as I can to cover you."
"Okay, that's good. But I'll be in a mech, but not only that, a mech that had a large matrix that can delete any incoming projectile. Shouldn't I be covering you? Your invulnerability can't last forever."
"No not forever. But I still think it should be me on the frontline, I'll be able to take down many agents and when it's time to back off I'll get behind you."
"Val! I understand that, but if we need to retreat and call for backup and you go out on a rampage, I might not be able to get to you in time! Your invulnerability could run out before I'm there! If you were to get hurt or worse and I couldn't help I'd never forgive myself!"
"I handle myself Hana! I understand your concern for me, but you act as if I've never been in a fight before! I can handle myself okay?"
"Alright alright! I'll trust you, just, please be careful okay?"
"I promise I'll be careful."
The rest of the ride was rather silent. The only noise to be made was that of the ship's engines and the occasional announcement of their ETA. After about half an hour they arrived in Dorado at their drop point. After a short walk they reached the street where Talon was supposedly going to try something, they found a small coffee shop on the side of the street and decided that it was a good spot to lay low and watch the place. They sat at a table together constantly looking around for any shady activity, well, more shady than the usual shady activity. There was always the usual guy in an abnormally large trenchcoat or the unusually fast walking guy with his hood up too far. Everything seemed shady in a normal way. "Anything out of the ordinary yet Val?"
"Nothing yet. Have you noticed anything?"
"Nothing, I'll keep you posted." Looking back into the streets Hana noticed someone standing in an alley, wearing a long, purple and black coat. Their face was covered by their hood, they seemed to be looking up and down the streets constantly, as if waiting for something. Hana also noticed the figure seemed to be talking into a phone and clutching something in their coat pocket. "Val? Don't look now, but somebody is looking really suspicious in the alley behind you, if they do anything that is related to Talon, I'll make sure you know."
Minutes passed, which turned into two hours. Nothing had happened in the time they spent here, they rarely spoke and focused on keeping watch of uneventful street. The mysterious figure was still there, always on and off of their phone. Hana silently prayed to either be contacted and told to head back or for something to happen already. "Anything Val?"
"Still nothing I'm afraid. Should we inform headquarters?"
"One more hour. If nothing happens we'll call in." Something to Hana right caught her eye, a shimmer in the street, but nothing was there for anything to shimmer. "I think something might happ-" The shimmer turned into darkness as the figure from the alley emerged from nothingness, they pulled down their hood to reveal a Spanish lady, high twenties at max, with half of her head shaved, and what seemed like computer tech on her suit and on her head. She crossed her arms as some sort of energy pulled from her body, she then quickly the her arms out to her sides and yelled something in Spanish as a large flash of purple filled the street, all the lights in the area had turned off, and with that the stranger seemingly vanished.
"Okay! That's our que to report back!" Hana brought out her phone to contact HQ, but as she took it out she saw that something caused interference and it won't turn on. She quickly looked to her mech caller on her glove, but alas that too was malfunctioning. "It was an EMP! I can't contact headquarters or call my mech!" Looking up, Talon agents began coming out of alleys, buildings, and disguises, looks like it was a fight with no backup, or mech. "Val! Can you still use your claws?" Valkyr nodded to Hana. "Well it looks like you'll have to! Be careful!" Valkyr unleashed her claws and performed her signature scream, causing everyone in the vicinity to either run or lock up in fear. "EVERYONE GET OFF OF THE STREET NOW!" It was rare that Hana actually had to yell, but when she did it was powerful, and people listened. She flipped the table in front of her and crouched behind it for cover, she took her sidearm out of her jacket and turned safety off. She peeked over the top of the table and saw Valkyr taking on multiple agents and not breaking a sweat. It was almost beautiful in a way, the way she gracefully pounced onto each enemy and finishing them then and there. She was like a cat, only datable and infinite times more likely to kill people. As the crowds of enemies thinned Hana began to open fire on them, unsure how much longer Valkyr could keep up her assault. Hana kept firing into the agents as more and more showed up and dropped from either energy bullet wounds or missing limbs. After some minutes of fighting, Hana's mech caller came back online, she immediately contacted HQ to report and request backup, she shortly after called in her mech.
She climbed into the pink machine and turned her attention to Valkyr. She was holding up well, no signs of any damage as she slashed the last agent, Hana ran to her and told her the situation. "Backup has been called, electronics are back online. We need to find out what they're up to, that was most likely a diversion of some sort so they can do what they came here for." Overhead, the sound of a dropship could be heard. It flew above the two and Soldier, Genji, Reinhardt, and Ana jumped down to the street.
"Aha! Friends! Reinforcements are here! Let us bring the fight to the enemy and claim victory of ourselves!" Reinhardt yelled.
Soldier walked up to Valkyr and handed her her rifle. He then turned to face Hana. "Was there any sign of Sombra and Widowmaker?" Soldier questioned Hana.
"No sign of Widowmaker, but there was somebody dressed in a lot of black who managed to detonate an EMP on us, and somehow turn invisible. I'm willing to bet it was Sombra." Hana replied.
"Alright, everyone is going to have to keep an extra eye out for Widowmaker, if Sombra's here it's likely that she is too. Now, while we were flying overhead we noticed multiple agents heading into the factory at the end of this street, we need to go there now and stop whatever it is they're doing. Reinhardt and D. va, you're leading from the frontline. Myself, Genji and Valkyr will provide covering fire from the middle. Ana, provide support and watch our six from the backline. Let's move." Acknowledging the Soldier, everyone began to move in their group formation, they walked down the once busy street which now was quickly abandoned once the gunshots started to ring throughout the air. They had reached the facility rather quickly and had no problems getting there. There were two agents guarding the entrance, they were quickly rushed by Genji who managed to take them both down silently and hide the bodies before anyone else noticed. Soldier cake everyone together once more before they entered.
"Okay. We have no idea how many are in there so we need a strategy. Genji and Hana, each of you take opposite sides of the facility and take flank routes, flush out any enemies in sight. Should there be too many to handle, fall back, have Ana heal you and go back into the fight. Everyone else, were going in the front door. Reinhardt, keep your shield up as much as you can and push forwards, Valkyr, you and I will be the ones to shoot agents dead and Ana, you heal when necessary and snipe off targets that are alone. Clear? Good. Let's do this."
Genji and Hana prepared their flanks on the left and right respectively, Soldier, Ana, Valkyr, and Reinhardt were at the front entrance, preparing to attack. Normally Jack wouldn't be worried about something like this, but with one of the world's greatest snipers, (before Ana of course) and a stealthy assassin who can't be seen are here somewhere. He already warned everyone to be extra careful this mission but these enemies have had extensive training, it's possible that they'll never see them coming. Guess they'll just have to be even better. "Go! Leave none standing!"
All teams rushed into the building and we're welcomed by swarms of enemy agents. There must have been a hundred on the building, but that didn't stop Overwatch. Agents fell left right and center, friendlies were quickly brought back into the fight by Ana and Reinhardt made sure everybody had cover. The enemy was soon backed into a large circular area with Overwatch agents surrounding all sides. "Everyone! Hit them with all you've got! Now!" Soldier barked.
Hana jumped out of her mech at it launched. "Nerf this!"
Reinhardt lifted his hammer high into the sky and used all the force he could into his strike. "Hammer down!"
Valkyr unleashed her claws and pounced towards the enemy. "AAAAGGGGGHHHHHH!"
Genji unsheathed his sword as his glowing green Dragon surrounded him, "Ryūjin no ken o kurae!"
Ana aimed her arm at Soldier and fired her Nano Boost. "You're powered up! Get in there!"
Soldier, feeling the power of the Nano Boost, brought his hand up to his Tactical Visor and pressed the button to activate it. "I've got you in my sights!"
What was supposed to be a tough fight turned into a mere practise range. Hana's self destruct took many while Genji, Reinhardt and Valkyr relentlessly used close combat weapons through crowds of enemies stunned by Reinhardt's Earth Shatter, while many more fell to the powered up Super Soldier. Once the dust had settled, it was just a matter of fighting out why they were here. Walking towards Genji, Soldier spoke. "Start checking bodies, see if we can figure out why they were here." Looking outside the entrance, Soldier for a good look at the buildings of Dorado, beautifully structured, always wanted to take a vacation here. He noticed they the first start of the night had just come out, noticing the light above one of the rooftops. Although it didn't seem like a star, or a light.
It was a glint.
From a scope.
Widowmaker.
Time turned into a crawling pace, he saw that she wasn't aiming for him, but to his right, he looked in the direction and saw Valkyr, unaware, searching bodies. "VALKYR! GET DOWN!" Valkyr looked up at Soldier and it seemed as if she was too slow, until Hana came out of the corner of his vision, sorting full force into Valkyr. A gunshot was heard in the distance, high caliber. It came flying through the factory missing it's intentional mark, but hitting Hana directly in the shoulder, sending her into the ground screaming in pain. Before Widowmaker could take another shot everyone had ran behind cover except for Reinhardt, who had ran to Valkyr and Hana to shield them. "Valkyr! Carry her to the dropship! Reinhardt! Begin to push out to the dropship! Everyone else push forwards and check for any new threats, and keep your head down!" The team did as they were told, Widowmaker seemed to have backed off, and no new threats appeared. They ran to the dropship and got everyone on board, Hana was laid down onto a row of seats while Ana took a look at her.
"A couple darts could stop the bleeding, but with the bullet still in there it would be best to go see Angela about this. I will give you a single dart to stop some bleeding and ease the pain." Hana rested the rest of the flight while Valkyr watched over her. Soldier sat with Genji to discuss the mission.
"Did you find what they're after?" Soldier questioned.
"Not exactly, but I did find this." Genji held up a piece of paper. "Judging from what it says here, they weren't after something physical. They brought Sombra to hack into the facility and get information on something that's unspecified."
"She must have either bailed when we showed up, or left after she got what she needed. Damn, Widowmaker was probably distracting us while she got out." Valkyr stood up from where she sat and waited over to Soldier, taking out what looked like a USB drive.
"The invisible assassin reappeared after Hana was shot. I tackled her but she seemed to vanish before I could do anything. She did however, drop this." She handed the drive to Soldier.
"Thank you Valkyr. Once we get back to base we can figure out what exactly they wanted from here. Excellent work." Valkyr went back to sit with Hana once again. Soldier sighed, he's in no position to deny them loving eachother but he never really approved of dating within the team. "What do you think about that Genji?"
"It's great that we can figure out what they wanted. We could predict their next move-"
"I mean those two. Hana and Valkyr."
"What about them?"
"The fact that their dating within the team. What do you think about that?"
"Well it's undeniable that they love eachother. It's true it could cause some minor issues in the team, but I see them fighting harder than they ever have before now. As if they are doing this strictly for eachother. I think it is improving their skills." As much as Soldier didn't want to admit it, Genji had a point. He had seen both of them in a trance, focused so hard that almost seemed unstoppable. Hand reaction time and sprint speed once Widowmaker was discovered was increased greatly, perhaps the two dating did actually prove useful.
"I suppose you raise a good point. We'll see how much they improve or how many problems they cause. Until then, let's just hope Hana turns out okay."
Back at Headquarters….
Hana woke up on the all too familiar hospital bed. As her eyes adjusted to the light of the room she saw Angela at the foot of the bed, and Genji and Jack standing by either side of the bed. She sat up and prepared for a lecture.
"How are you feeling Hana?" Angela asked in a kind voice.
"My shoulder is a little sore, but apart from that I feel fine."
"That's good. We removed the bullet from your shoulder and disinfected it fine, all that's left is for it to heal on it's own. You should only be here about a week."
"What you did was foolish Hana." Genji spoke up. "What if you had not saved her? What if you got hit in the head instead? What if the shot was compensated, and pierced both of you? That was simply too big of a risk to take." If Genji was actually lecturing her about something, she dreaded what Jack was going to say to her. He was always like a father figure, and always made sure people knew their mistakes and that they'd never repeat them. She prepared herself for the worst.
"I disagree Genji."
Wait what?
He spoke much more casually than she had expected, and he disagreed?
"I believe Hana took a risk, she needs to know that risks have to be taken in order to receive the reward. She knew Valkyr was about to be shot, so she risked her own safety to make sure Valkyr came out okay. I'm sure she was well aware she was risking her life in that situation, and she got it done. Nobody died. Well done Hana." Hana was in shock. He didn't yell, or nag or anything! I must be asleep still. "Now, I have my own business to attend to. Get some rest Hana, you've certainly earned it." He was getting out the door before turning around and saying "And I don't want to hear anyone else lecturing Hana! She did great today." Once he left, the entire room fell silent.
"So, am I hallucinating? Or was that not Jack? Because he just congratulated me when he could've yelled at me."
Angela took a few seconds to comprehend what had happened before speaking. "Nope. You're not hallucinating and that was definitely Jack. I'm just as confused as you are Hana."
"Well, if he didn't lecture me, I know who will. Where is she?"
"Last I heard of her she went to the roof for some peace and quiet. But you need to rest, we'll go get her, you stay here." It was kind of writing to Hana to see Valkyr after what happened. They seemed a little stressed out before the mission started, and now that one of them had been wounded yet again, that stress might just get worse.
After around ten minutes, Valkyr walked through the door and slowly walked to the chair by Hana's bed. She looked as if she had been bathing in a stress lava lake. She was afraid that one wrong word would set her off.
Hana put the cutest face she could manage on, and even tried her cutest voice to see if it would reduce since of Valkyr's stress levels. "Hey Val." Through the voice and puppy dog eyes, Valkyr did look like she felt some sort of relief. She took out her tablet and Hana truly prepared herself for a real lecture.
"Why on Earth did you do what you did?" Yup. Lecture time.
"What? Save you? I thought it was a good thought to, ya know, not have you die."
"I was going to be fine! All you accomplished was hurting yourself!"
"Oh yeah? So how come if I wasn't half a second quicker, you probably wouldn't have moved? Did you expect get to just miss an immobile target?"
"I could've taken it! You don't trust my armour?"
"You've never been shot by guns on Earth without your invulnerability! You were not invulnerable there! Widowmaker uses a highly advanced, completely custom sniper rifle, and it can pierce Reinhardt's armour! I'm just saying it was likely that it would pierce yours too!"
"How will we know if the situation never occurs!"
"What's the situation!? Getting shot in the freaking head!? What if it pierced? Would just accept death for that? I understand your concern for me, really I do. But this is a great outcome! Neither of us are dead!"
"But the question still lies, what if something like this happened again, only this time you died! What would happen then? What would I do without you?"
"Yes, it would have been tragic if I had died. But I'd rather a chance of me dying than almost certain death for you! Have you maybe thought that I also wouldn't know what to do without you!?"
"But I still have the better chance of surviving! Half a second is all it would have took for you to get shot, at least I have a chance of my armour protecting me!" Valkyr put her face in her hands as both girls went silent. The room was dead for an excruciatingly long five minutes before Valkyr stood up. "We can discuss this at a different time. I need to go do some things, you need to rest."
Valkyr walked through the halls of Gibraltar looking for something to do. She kind of lied when she said that she had business to attend to, but she could not bear to see Hana on another hospital bed.
The more she thought about it, the more she realized that she really hasn't been hit by any higher caliber bullets in her time on Earth. Sure, invulnerability could have handled it, but it wasn't activated nor ready. Would the bullet have pierced? Considering the bullet went straight through Hana's right shoulder and lodged itself deep into the wall, it actually seems probable that the bullet wood have at least went half way through her head.
After coming to the conclusion that there was nothing to do, she decided to take the walk to the nearest town. The walk was uneventful and mainly consisted of birds chirping and Valkyr's mind constantly worrying about Hana. She was probably mad at her now, she really did rush her life fit her own, and all she did was scold her for it. She'd have to apologize later. Maybe she'd grab her something nice in town.
When she finally made it into town she started to do some simple window browsing, walking around here and there looking for something nice that Hana might like. She eventually spotted a pink gem necklace in the shape of a star, Hana would certainly love that. She walked into the store and purchased the pink jewelry for her beloved. She continued to walk around town to see if anything else would catch her eye.
Valkyr wandered between two big buildings to get to the street in the other side, the alley was pitch black and very narrow with garbage and insects littering the floor. She couldn't help but feel as if she was being followed, she turned one hundred eighty degrees and nobody behind her. Thinking it was just her imagination, she kept walking.
*CRACK!*
Turning once again, she saw nobody once more. That sound was definitely human made, but nobody was here in the vicinity but her. If she could yell for help, she most certainly would, but it looked like she'd have to help herself. She drew her claws and prepared for any attackers. Suddenly, a light pink light and some clicking noises came from behind her, she could only turn around before becoming completely immobile. Her claws had retracted themselves and no matter how hard she tried she couldn't move an inch. She looked up at her attacker, it was the same Spanish Lady from Dorado, Wearing a sadistic grin.
"Ha! I knew I'd be able to hack you with a few adjustments. Now, you're going to do what I say, so follow me, and don't make any noise. Were going somewhere special."