Mind in a blur as she stared at the note, the noise around her became muffled, as though she were listening thru heavy earmuffs. She was vaguely aware of Junkrat's voice in the mix, shouting something about bombs at Trueno, and the bull, whose eyes flared angrily, spoke right back to him, hoof grazing against the ground in challenge. Pilar did not have the willpower to stop them at the moment, nor did Roadhog truly care whether or not Junkrat got himself trampled at the moment. His gaze was still fixed on the stunned Spaniard, her hand shaking slightly as the reality of the situation seemed to weigh more heavily upon her. Shit.
"Where did you get this?" she suddenly snapped, more out of fear than anger. Suddenly, whatever arguing that had occurred–Junkrat's face was still inches away from Trueno's–it had stopped as Pilar finally found her voice. Her features were twisted in a mixture of confusion and fear, and her eyes flickered from one man to the other, and finally to Trueno. The bull wrenched his head away from Junkrat, huffing as he slowly approached his partner, allowing her to rest her brow against his. There was not much he could say that wouldn't upset her. What he and Roadhog had just gone thru would have set her into hysterics, had he spoken honestly.
"Where did you get this?" she repeated, softly, the paper crumpling up in her fist. Trueno waited for a moment before drawing away slowly, giving her a chance to compose herself before he spoke.
"Ɯє gαтнєяєɗ тнє ραcкαgє–"
"From your mess in the alley," interrupted Roadhog gruffly, rolling his shoulders as he gazed down at Pilar. She frowned, raising a brow, but said no more, waiting for the man to continue.
"…pαrтιαlly," finished Trueno, shaking his great head. "Wнeɴ we were ѕepαrαтed, we were corɴered, ѕo тo ѕpeαĸ, вy αɴoтнer ɢroυp oғ мeɴ. Tнey ѕpoĸe ιɴ тнe ѕαмe мαɴɴer, cαrrιed ѕιмιlαr weαpoɴѕ. Soмe αppeαred тo вe ɢeɴeтιcαlly αlтered тo α cerтαιɴ deɢree." The bull paused, flicking his whip-like tail, as he gazed about the area. Tell them as they might that omnics were scum, Trueno's presence did have its perks, and has his eyes scanned the area, from the computer in the corner, to the sheet-covered oddities, to the rooms in the back that they had yet to explore. His hoof pawed at the ground almost uneasily at the covered objects, but he did not speak quite yet.
"Note came from the fella you blew up in the alleyway, the bombs from our guys." Roadhog turned his attention away from Pilar and Junkrat, the pair still hovering nearer to each other than usual, and had the situation not been tense as it was, he would have chuckled. But the strange location, the off feeling of this area…it had his mind other places.
"Right…so we know that Talon is around and active, and not just in Gibraltar," Pilar finally said, sighing deeply, leaning her weight against Junkrat's side. Perhaps it was not the wisest idea, as his leg was still very sore, but he'd held himself up, a hand awkwardly on her shoulder, the other wrapped in his wiry hair, features twisted as though deep in thought. Trueno's glowing eyes fixed on them both as her gaze flickered to Junkrat's, whispering something quietly, only to be answered by a confused shrug and wrinkled nose. Odd developments, it would appear, and as he took her readings, an elevated heart rate and noticeable heat blazing on her face, he was able to come to his own conclusions…though the same could have been said of the man she spoke with.
"Do yoυ ĸɴow wнαт тнoѕe ғιɢυreѕ αre?" Trueno asked, nodding his head at the sheet-covered objects, to which Pilar shook her head. "Perнαpѕ ιт woυld вe ιɴ oυr вeѕт ιɴтereѕтѕ тo ғιɴd oυт."
Nodding slowly, she turned on the spot, to face the objects in question, her lips pouted in a slight frown. They were large, taller than Junkrat, himself, and why she hadn't really thought to find out what they were was beyond her. With a careful touch, she gripped the dirty, off-colored sheet and yanked, showering them both with years of collected dust and dead spiders.
Identical sounds of disgust fell from their lips as the sheet fluttered to the floor, and Pilar–though wanting only to brush the clumps out of her hair–turned her gaze back to what they had uncovered, stepping back in surprise at what it was she saw.
It was a bastion unit, deactivated and looking as though it had gone through several studies by Overwatch, standing tall, an imposing figure to the diminutive woman. Its chest had been pried open, the wiring and circuits within easily visible to whomever would look. Fascinating, Pilar thought, and slowly, she reached out to touch the robot, but not before Junkrat had realized what was going on.
He threw himself between them, a growl resonating from his lips, an absolutely feral expression crossing his features. It was not often she saw him like this; honestly, it had thrown her off the moment he stood before her, like a wolf guarding his back, fists clenched angrily, as though he were about to tear apart the robot piece by piece. Part of her was not sure if she wanted to intervene–Pilar knew that the radiation had poisoned his mind, and his emotions were constantly on the edge of flipping at any sign of a stressful event. There was little she knew about the crisis in the Outback, but whatever had transpired had pushed him to the brink of demolishing the deactivated unit without a bat of his eye.
"…fuckin' kill it…won't ever wake up…" He growled deeply, more to himself than anyone in the room with him. Trueno had taken a few paces back, knowing well that he could likely be in danger, should he say just the wrong thing. His armor may have been on par with the bastion units, and his shield to rival Reinhardt Wilhelm's, but god save the creature, should he cross the path of an angry and threatened junker.
She glanced at Roadhog; Pilar could not make out how he felt, the only inkling of emotion he showed was the clenching of his fists over his hook and weapon. There was just the right shine across the eyes of his mask that Pilar could not make out his eyes beneath them, and yet, from what she could see, his head was turned in Junkrat's direction, rather than the omnic's, though it did twitch slightly, as though casting his gaze back and forth.
Pilar's heart began to race; what was to become of the bastion units before them? She could see Junkrat visibly shaking, hear the frags jostle about within the launcher, gripped tightly in his hand. Her gaze turned to Trueno, encouraging him to leave the building, should chaos ensue; the did not like the omnic bull, and though Pilar was able to cut the tension between them for themost part, the precarious situation might not be the best for Trueno to be a part of.
She did not need to gesture twice; he had successfully backed out, hovering outside of the entrance, keeping watch for the four of them as Pilar thought of a way to ease the tension. Should she reach out to either of them? Roadhog, at least, seemed more level-headed than Junkrat, though that did not necessarily mean he would not attack. Still, she had to do something before the wholeblock was on fire.
Hesitating for only a moment, Pilar reached out, wrapping her fingers around his arm, tugging back gently. He did not seem to notice, at first, so buried he was in the flood of emotions that seemed to overtake his mind. She could feel him trembling in rage beneath her touch, and hearing his metal hand grip the handle of the frag launcher more tightly than before, she worried that he might unleash the rest of the grenades without realizing it. He continued to growl under his breath, his free hand twitching madly, as though it was trying to make up it's mind on whether or not to punch the thing before him.
With another sigh, her mech hand touched his other arm, gently lowering his weapon, though as not to startle him. It took a moment before Junkrat realized what was happening; one second, he was growling furiously, lip curled in disgust, the next, confusion had spread across his features, yellow eyes darting to the woman beside him, her touch somehow easing away the hostility he felt at his core. His mind, however, still screamed at him, loudly and incessantly, causing the twitch in his hand to continue, more powerfully, as he did all he could to shake away the radiation's curse. God, it ate him alive, and as humiliating as the voices where, as degrading and disappointed and demeaning as they were, he could not help to to let his face crack into a crazed smile.
A smile. Laughter. A crazed cackling that had Pilar staring at him in question. Hands rested on his head as he crouched, face hidden from view, incessant giggle passing from his lips, uninvited. It was how he coped, how he dealt with the intrusive thoughts from times long passed. There was never an obvious cause for the outbursts, not one that he could find, but the radiation was to blame, regardless. "Fuckin' omnics….I'll kill 'em all…"
Pilar watched on helplessly as Junkrat succumbed to his own madness. At least she had torn him away from the uncovered bastion unit, but it had done enough to trigger his breakdown. He did not look at her, and she could only cast a glance to Roadhog, who likewise stared at the arsonist, in question. He would have known what to do, after all, how long had the pair been traveling together? Likely enough to know how to help him, and yet Pilar had no solution. Should she? Could she? Admit it to herself or not, she wanted to help him, so badly, but part of her did not want to face what she might see if she couldn't bring him back. She couldn't allow herself the hurt of it.
Regardless, his cackling grew more intense; should someone pass by their hideout, he would likely draw in attention, unwanted or not. Of course, Pilar didn't particularly care at that moment. Reaching forward, she took his face in her mismatched hands, acting on her feelings rather than rationality. It startled him, that much she could tell, and he nearly jerked away from her as the cackling subsided a bit, but she could still see the burning in his eyes, the madness that was consuming him. She could still feel him shaking, and as though by instinct, she rose to her tiptoes, resting her brow against his gently.
"You're okay…it's okay."
Her voice was barely above a whisper, but its effect was instant. His shaking, though still there, had lessened, and the twitch in his free hand had subsided as well. Roadhog shuffled behind them–what he was doing, Pilar could not tell–but as her thumbs ran along Junkrat's face, his labored breathing became more even, and his shoulders slumped forward in defeat. Whether or not the worst of it had passed, she couldn't say, but before she knew it, his face was buried in her shoulder, head partially covered by her dark hair.
It was her turn to jump in surprise at the contact, and her face burned bright when she felt him mumble something unintelligible into her shoulder. She could not make it out, muffled as it was, but regardless, she had leaned her head against his, slowly and tentatively wrapping her arms around his torso. She imagined he'd not be familiar with that sort of bond, and yet with each second, Pilar's arms around him grew tighter, more protective, as she felt the shudders course through his body. She might have thought she knew him well, but god, there was still so much she had to learn.
"C'mon," she continued softly. "We've got to get going, we have things to do, remember?" He mumbled again into her shoulder, and a soft laugh fell from her lips when she realized that he clung to her like a lost child. She wasn't about to pry him off of her–in truth, she did not mind the attention–but they did have places to be, and part of her wanted to travel southward to Gibraltar, to find her mother and see that she was alright.
A moment of silence was followed buy Junkrat suddenly standing tall and Pilar, who had not expected it–though by now, she probably should have–following along with, her arms still wrapped tightly around his shoulders. A small squeak escaped her as her feet no longer touched the ground, and a giggle, quite unlike the crazed, almost panicked, laughter she had heard before, sounded next to her ear as he suddenly held onto her tightly.\
"What would we'a done without Caterpillar here, eh?" Junkrat called to Roadhog, who stood at the opposite side of the room, messing with the computer Pilar had logged onto earlier. "I know I would've gone crazy if she'd left!" She pursed her lips at his statement, knowing well that he was making a joke, but regardless, she squeaked again as he was suddenly smooshing his nose against her cheek in an affectionate sort of nuzzle. Had he not felt the heat radiating from her face at that point, then there was no hope for him.
Still, his sudden mood change had her stunned, and though she wriggled in his grasp–not too much, for she didn't exactly want to be let go–she let herself enjoy the affection she was given. A giggle escaped her as she pushed back against his nose, which in turn, provoked him to squeeze her tighter, but after a moment, and Roadhog watching them pointedly, she slid to the floor with a lightthump, before Junkrat began to drag her away by the hand, picking up his explosives along the way.
"Roight, the bank ain't gonna rob itself, eh?" he continued, as though they'd not seen an omnic, nor his mind had plagued him. "Let's get th' fuck outta here!" He stuck several of the bombs onto his harness and then hoisted the riptire from the floor and onto his back while Pilar retrieved her banderillas, inserting them into her arm once again.
One last sweep of the room to pick up all their belongings, and the trio were rushing out of their hiding spot, Pilar wondering vaguely where Trueno had gone. She'd known that he backed away for his own safety, and slight footprints in the rubble outside of the told them that he had headed east.
"S'pose we have t' get yer omnic, eh?" Junkrat said, noticing Pilar's confusion and worry. "Yer lucky I like ya, or I'd leave 'im t' the dogs."
Though she could tell he was less than happy with finding Trueno, she couldn't help but to smile at what he had said. She appreciated it, whether she showed it or not, and as they made to follow the footprints to the east, a clacking of metal on pavement behind them had Pilar stopping in her tracks, turning, only to find herself face-to-face with an omnic bull.
Relief spread through her, that was until she noticed his normally glowing, blue eyes were a shade of blazing red…