Passing through the doorway, Pilar's eyes scanned the perimeter, lingering for seconds longer on the massive piles of scrap metal, searching for signs of enemy activity. All seemed quiet, for the moment. Of course, that didn't mean they wouldn't be on guard; there could very well be omnics that were missed-if there were, Pilar would be ready-but for the time being, there was a hushed silence that fell upon the scrap yard, quiet enough to hear the faintest of movements throughout the area. Pilar wasn't too concerned as they stepped forward cautiously, eyes narrowed as she watched, but it wouldn't hurt to be too careful. After all, the human guards still had to be around somewhere, and Pilar wasn't itching to get into it with them, anytime soon.
"Roight," Junkrat muttered, rolling his shoulders as he hovered inches from Pilar's. "Got some shit I need t' get, you sit tight an' I'll be right back!"
Before she could say a word, he mashed his face against her cheek in an affectionate sort of nuzzle before bounding off, his body moving awkwardly at the pronounced limp that his mech leg granted him. Pilar watched, puzzled; she wasn't sure why he was so secretive about what he was doing, and honestly, she didn't want to know. Her hand fiddled with the wrappings on her shoulder, keeping the stump from infection, before Roadhog slapped her hand out of the way with a warning glance.
She ignored his gaze, pouting her lip as she watched Junkrat disappear behind a pile of scraps, before flicking her eyes to Roadhog, a quizzical expression resting on her face.
"What do you suppose he's doing?" she asked, hand resting on her hip. Roadhog's head slowly turned back to the direction in which Junkrat disappeared, shrugging his massive shoulders but saying nothing. She eyed him suspiciously; usually, whether Junkrat knew it or not, Roadhog was well attuned to what he was doing. The fact that he feigned ignorance, especially in a situation as delicate as this, had Pilar not entirely believing him. Still, she didn't push the subject, instead wandering in the opposite direction as if to scout the area, just in case.
"I won't be too far," she called over her shoulder nonchalantly. She could hear a grunt of acknowledgement, and a shuffling as Roadhog seemed to move in Junkrat's direction, probably to make sure the erratic man didn't get into any more trouble than they needed. It was a good idea; Pilar was capable of keeping herself under the radar; she had yet to see herself named in the news as a cohort to the Junkers, which meant she was doing something right.
With a sigh, she rounded one of the larger piles of scrap, noting any spare parts that might come in handy in the long run. She wasn't about to try and pull them out; the last time she'd tried, she had use of both arms, and even then, it took one of Junkrat's concussion mines to actually free the parts that she had in mind. Hopefully, what he was looking for wouldn't take a lot of time-that way, she'd be able to drag him here for more parts before getting caught, again, but the bloody guards.
Her hand reached, absentmindedly, for her stump once again, stopping short when she quickly realized what she was going. Roadhog may not have been around, but she could still feel his heavy hand smacking her upside the head with a sort of silent, parental annoyance that she would expect only from him. Still, a small grin lifted her features at the thought; after only a few short months, and a bit of bickering, she'd found a home with two, infamous criminals. Two men who were not quite what the media made them out to be. Sure, Roadhog was terrifying, and Pilar still jumped in fright when he happened upon her unexpectedly. She'd seen him murder and rob without a second thought. Well, okay, maybe he was like the media portrayed, but not entirely. He was handy, smarter than people made him out to be, and fiercely protective, even if it was difficult to see from an outsider. He got stupidly happy when Pilar was able to sneak him ice cream, and even more so when she managed to bring back an adorable, stuffed pig plush. There were two sides to every story, and she was just beginning to learn his.
And then there was Junkrat. Junkrat. That damn man had Pilar questioning her own sanity half the time, but she wouldn't ask for it any other way. He had his issues; how many times had she seen him break down, trying to cope with the radiation that fucked with him? Or the unpredictable switches of his mood? Still, even with him fighting his demons, the man was brilliant. She saw his plans, read his blueprints, and the amount of effort and thought put into his projects was unbelievable. Honestly, it was nearly on par with Overwatch's agents; she grew up alongside them, watched them work, and while he might not have had the same access to the technology as they did, he was just as passionate as they were.
Her grin widened, hand running along a particularly jagged looking piece of scrap that might come in useful for something. She still didn't know how she was going to explain everything to her mother, provided they reached Gibraltar without hardships, but even so, part of her felt as though there was nothing to explain. Everything just fell into place, quite literally. Sure, she was doing a bit of work on her own, and her plans to take the men in had failed miserably, but she thought about how much she had changed since then. Pilar was a defender, skills honed in her youth, under her mother and father, skills that had yet to fail her. She was able to hold her own, for a time, against two criminals. Criminals, who decided that it was too dangerous to let her go, but also realized her skills would be of use. Criminals, who included her in their heists, listened to her input. Criminals, who, eventually, had given her the choice to stay home.
Criminals who became a family she never expected, and allies she could never leave.
Of course, knowing Junkrat, the moment they reached Gibraltar, he'd be on high alert. It was no secret that Maria would likely try to drag Pilar back to Overwatch's base the moment she had her in her sights, and as possessive as he was, he would not go down without a fight. That was what she worried about, the nearer they drew each day, but no amount of persuasion could keep Junkrat from leaving Pilar's side. Even as stressed as she was, she was glad to have him, and not just as an ally or a friend, but for the bond they had. More often than she'd care to admit, her mind would flicker to the time, several days ago. The time that raw emotions had been laid bare at one another's feet. She had been frightened for his wellbeing, the effect that her near-death experience had on his addled mind that he might not come back from his break. His worry was well-found, but the way he handled it was enough to incite fear in her. Even after her coaxing, their declaration of their feelings, he still seemed unsure, tentative to even touch her, let alone believe she was real. It was a process, one that she would gladly help him through, but she hated to see him like that again.
Her mind had been well occupied, her features stretched in a silly, almost lovestruck grin, barely noticing what was going on around her. Maybe it wasn't the best idea to wander off on her own, but then again, she couldn't have known where her thoughts would take her, the moment she was out of eyeshot. Still, it took a moment to clear her mind, bring her back to the present, and as she turned another corner, around an even larger pile of scrap metal, what she came face-to-face with was the last thing she expected.
A strangled yelp escaped her lips when she found herself face-to-face with another Bastion unit, towering over her, and she instinctively reached for the weapon on her hip, ready to attack should it prove hostile. Her mind was in a spin; she'd shut down all the omnics around the place! How the hell had this one manage to escape that? Was it from a different area? A different guard who had manage to get into the wrong facility? Either way, as she wrenched the weapon from her belt, she was stunned when the Bastion yelped, itself, an almost panicked sort of beeping coming from its vocal processors, hands thrown up into the air as though being arrested.
Pilar hesitated, brows knitting together as she realized what was going on. This omnic seemed afraid, confused, and with each beep that escaped it while it backed up clumsily, Pilar relaxed her arm, keeping it at her side, though her finger remained on the trigger, ready to shoot if this was a diversion. Still, as it continued to back away, tripping over its feet and landing heavily on the ground, she frowned deeply, deciding to take a chance with this one, holstering her weapon.
It panicked on the ground, until a small, yellowish bird came swooping about it head. The moment the Bastion caught sight of it, it calmed, making a few, happy beeps as the small creature landed on its 'shoulder.' Slowly approaching, Pilar raised her hand as a sign of peace, showing the omnic that there was nothing to fear from her presence. Even still, once it caught wind of her approach, its beeps became panicked again, and she quickly rushed to its side, falling to her knees before it, patting its leg comfortingly, offering a small smile.
"Hey, hey, it's okay!" she said, nodding her head. "I'm not going to hurt you, can you understand me?" It took a few seconds, but the Bastion seemed to calm, if only a bit, as Pilar's gentle voice carried to its receptors. The bird on its shoulder merely cocked its head at her, as though inspecting her for any sort of deceit, and after a moment, it seemed to nod at her, to which she returned her the gesture.
"You're not from around here, are you?" she asked, keeping her voice calm and gentle. She did not want to agitate the omnic any more than she had to. After all, from all the Bastion units she'd encountered since her adventure began, this one seemed far from similar to the others. "Did you mean to come here?"
Of course, she probably wouldn't understand what it said, given that it told her anything, but she still didn't want to upset it by assuming anything. It was nervous, almost twitchy, as though a lost child, separated from its mother.
"Wheee boop beep," is what it said, and though Pilar did not understand a word of what it meant, she still nodded, encouraging it to continue to calm itself.
"Can you understand me?" she asked again, nodding as her eyes fixed on the light in the center of its 'head'. "Can you nod if you do?"
There was a moment of silence, interrupted only by the bird's chirping, and slowly, tentatively, the omnic nodded, the glow of its light brightening slightly when she smiled. It seemed more eager to communicate as best as it could, and Pilar was more than happy to oblige it.
"Did you get here by mistake?" A quick nod. "Are you trying to find a way out? This is a big scrapyard."
Again, the Bastion nodded. Pilar bit her lip in thought, brows knitting together as she thought of a way to get the omnic out of there without the Junkers seeing it. After all, the omnics they'd run into up until now had been hostile, dangerous, and they'd love nothing more than another excuse to destroy an omnic.
"I know a way out," she continued, and the Bastion seemed to wiggle happily, the beeps coming from its vocal processors nearly ecstatic. "You have to listen to me carefully, though. I have friends here, friends who don't like omnics. We've been through a lot of bad things with them recently, so you might not want to be seen by them."
"Beeeep…" It did not seem happy with her statement, but it still seemed to agree that what Pilar said was best. As she slowly rose to her feet, she held out her hand for the Bastion to take. It wouldn't be a lot; she wasn't strong enough to lift one on her own, but rather, it was a sign of friendship at the most, trust at the least. And for a moment, it hung in the air, and Pilar began to wonder whether or not it was the right decision, but seconds before she made to draw back her hand, it had grasped onto her hand, rising to its feet easily.
"Not so bad, is it?" she asked, and the Bastion whistled a happy sort of tune as she led it forward, hand still clasped around hers. What she must look like, holding hands with a Bastion! The thought made her chuckle to herself, but she was happy to lead it along, looking foolish or not. The poor thing was scared, alone in a scrapyard, likely far away from wherever it needed to be. She led it, a tad quickly, back over the path from which she came, and it seemed to bounce whenever it took a step, still beeping merrily along as Pilar led it to its freedom. Still, even though it seemed like a pleasant little walk, Pilar still kept her ears open, in case Junkrat and Roadhog where finished with whatever it was they were doing.
After a few minutes, she could feel the omnic's gaze upon her, and glancing to the side, she watched as it raised its arm, pointing toward the lack of limb on her right side, making a quizzical sort of beep. Looking at it fully, the tilt of its head only confirmed that it was curious about what happened, and Pilar, pursing her lips in thought, decided that it would do no harm to tell it.
"My mom and I ran a sanctuary to help bulls rescued from bullfighting rings," she began, rounding a corner, still holding onto the Bastion's hand, the omnic swinging it happily from side to side as they walked. "One got spooked, knocked me over, trampled it pretty bad. I had to get a mech arm for it, but it's alright. It was scared and was only defending itself."
When she paused, the Bastion beeped again in question, and a small grin lifted the corner of her mouth, slightly bitter, but willing to divulge.
"You want to know how I lost it?"
The Bastion nodded, tugging on her hand.
"About a week ago, we ran into some, uh, bad people," she continued with a sigh. "One had hacked some old, decommissioned Bastions, cornered me, and then hacked my arm. It would have killed my friends and I, had they not ripped it off and destroyed it."
It beeped sadly, patting the top of her head with its free hand, sympathizing with her pain. A small smile spread across her lips, and she nodded in appreciation, provoking a string of happy, sing-song beeps from its vocal processes, and not much longer after, the front gates and control shack came into view.
"There!" she exclaimed, nodding toward the building. "Just through there is freedom, friend. Through the door will get you where you need to be."
It's happy beeping continued, and the Bastion released her hand, throwing its arms around her in a grateful hug, bouncing lightly. Pilar giggled, returning the gesture, before drawing back, encouraging it on.
"Now get going, friend," she said softly. "Maybe we'll bump into each other again!"
Nodding vigorously, the Bastion offered one last wave in farewell, before turning away and trotting off, its little bird friend flying about its head, chirping happily.
She watched the Bastion leave with a fond smile, her hand resting on her hip as she did. It was a few minutes before it was completely out of her sight, and not sooner than the omnic had left that she felt someone, rather heavily, crash into back, arms wrapping tightly around her.
"Roight, got what we needed, Caterpillar!" Junkrat exclaimed excitedly, face nuzzling into the back of her head. "Now let's get outta here before some more of them bastards show up!"