Enraptured in Ice Ch. 15

AN: Hey everyone! So a little update. NaNoWriMo is over and I'm happy to say it was a huge success. I have completed my original novel Legerdemain, and have started working on Oracle and Behemoth once again. Obviously, I intend to take some breaks here and there for fan fiction, but please bear with me. Offer is still on the table for Beta Readers in regards to my original work, so if you're looking for some good reading for Christmas Break, shoot me a PM or add me on Skype at Kiba Vulpus Elunal. Thanks again for all of your patience and support everyone. -Kiba

"Ratchet, 5 millimeters," Dan called, holding out his hand.

Mei quickly placed the socket wrench in his open palm, watching as he reached inside and tightened the bolt he needed. The machine was almost completed, save the one component they needed to make it function. Time was running out, but with the plane tickets they'd purchased earlier, the climatologist was certain that they would make it in time.

"Elemental fuse," her assistant requested, extending his gloved hand. Mei reached for it before he added, "Don't touch it with your fingers directly. Put on gloves." Grabbing another pair of latex gloves, she handed him the small glass bulb. As he put it in, he pulled his head back out and taking her hand, was helped to his feet. "Done," he beamed.

"Great work, Dan. I knew you could do it," Mei cheered, hugging him tightly. "The people of Rio will be grateful to you, I'm sure."

"To us," Dan corrected her. "You're the one who invented this thing, Mei. I just followed your instructions to put it together. Let's get packed, we need to get to Rio asap, so it's best we don't dawdle for too long."

"We should pack extra," she grinned as she began stuffing things into her duffel bag. "After all, once the weather is fixed, we could stay in Rio. We can say we have to perform maintenance on it or something for the week. It'd be beautiful, wouldn't it?"

Admittedly, Dan would love to see Mei in a bikini top. Despite their doing of the deed, somehow the thought of only certain parts covered up was even more arousing than her being fully exposed. "Yes," Dan agreed. "Though I suspect Winston may have more work for us."

"When does our flight leave?"

Dan took a moment to glance at his watch. "In about an hour and a half. I'm already packed, but if you'd like some help…" When he looked up, he saw Mei scooping up the undergarments that had littered the floor from her drunken wallowing. Again, he felt a wave of guilt flow over him. He'd never wanted to hurt Mei, but he knew that the last they fought, he'd said somethings that he hadn't meant. Moving to her side, as she went to pick up a pair of panties, he gently rested his hand on hers, causing her to look up at him with her beautiful brown eyes.

"Something wrong, Dan?"

"I just...wanted to say that I'm sorry for how I treated you earlier," he murmured. "I know I was pretty nasty to you, and I let things get too personal and just...I'm sorry."

She smiled softly at him, her eyes closing as she enjoyed the feeling of his hand on hers. "I'm sorry, too. I have a problem. When things are becoming difficult, I run away from it. I tell myself it's for the best, for myself and for others. I never really realized how much it hurts people until I met you." Leaning closer, she placed a light kiss on his cheek that made him blush brightly. "You have a beautiful heart, Dan. Don't ever change, please?"

He thought about it for a moment before asking, "Do you know when I first fell for you?"

"When you pulled me out of the ice?" she giggled.

He shook his head slowly. "No, not then. I first fell for you when you went to talk to Winston. You reached up and you changed something on one of his equations and fixed it. I knew then that you and I were supposed to be together."

"How?"

"Because it's the same as what I do," he whispered. "I fix things. I take what doesn't work, and I make it work again. When things are broken, I help put them back together...but…" he paused for a moment, his eyes beginning to tear up.

"Dan?" she questioned with concern. "What's the matter?"

"It's just...I remember thinking, when I saw you. I saw you fix the equation that Winston and I had been staring at for months and hadn't noticed the mistake. That was when, I knew...I hoped...that you'd be able to fix me," he began to tremble as his tears fell. "I'm broken, Mei. Something is wrong with me. Everyone thinks I don't notice or see the way they dote on me like I'm a child, but I do. Something inside of me isn't like it should be, because if it was, then I wouldn't have ever lost you to begin with."

"Dan…"

"Tell me it's not true. If I was more attractive, if I was more charming and social, that you wouldn't have left me when I told you I had feelings for you. Since I've met you, things have been different. I've learned to shoot. I've performed an operation. I've…" he swallowed, gesturing to their construct, "built a freaking weather machine. I've made love to two beautiful women. I've seen the dead come back to life. I've saved my best friend. But no matter what amazing things I've done, it will never change that the one thing I can't fix is me. I know you don't want me to change...but I need you to fix me, Mei. You can fix things like I can...so please, fix me."

Pulling her hand away from his, he flinched as if he were going to move to grab it, but he didn't. Mei wrapped her arms around her assistant, pulling his head to her chest as she affectionately stroked his hair. "You're not broken, Dan," she swore, cuddling him close. "You're different, that's true, but you're not broken. I've always been something of a loner. I'm friendly enough, but even when I was stationed in Antarctica, I wasn't very close with my peers. I've never really had a boyfriend before. Even still, when I first met you, I was so surprised by how kind and gentle you were. People in Overwatch tend to live up to it by being overbearing, so when you welcomed me to this new time, to my new time, I knew immediately that I liked you. You helped me against Widowmaker and Reaper, which was when I saw it, Dan. I saw the hero in you. I think...I think the reason it took me so long to admit my feelings for you, Dan, is that I was scared to let myself be happy. When someone makes you happy, it gives you something that can be taken away from you, so I was scared because I didn't want you to be taken from me, Dan."

"I couldn't be taken from you," he swore. "I love you, Mei. I'd do anything for you, I hope you know that."

"Please, don't say that," she pleaded. He looked at her in shock. "Dan, if ever you are given the choice between me or the greater good, you mustn't choose me, understand? The world is worth saving, so if I'm ever being used against you, you have to let me go."

"I...I can't," he stammered. "I mean...without you…" he paused, unsure of what to say. "You are the world to me," he finally stated. Unsure of how to respond, she simply continued to pack.

Dan felt conflicted, but began to assist her in putting her clothing into her bag. As she zipped it up, she stood and helped him to pack up the machine carefully. The two worked in silence before Dan spoke up again.

"I love you, Mei. I know I say it over and over again. But I just want you to know, no matter what happens in Rio...I love you."

"What do you mean, Dan?"

"Well...if this machine fails, for whatever reason, I don't plan on leaving it until it's fixed. If I don't fix it in time though, I want you to get as many people as you can out of Rio. You're more important to Overwatch than I am."

"Don't say that Dan," she criticised, but he just smiled sheepishly at her. Placing his hand on her cheek, he placed a quick peck on her lips, but said nothing, slinging the machine on to his back and carrying it carefully out of the tower.

Zarya began swiftly punching in commands at the digital console, trying to figure out what was the deal with the mysterious woman who'd attacked Volskaya not even a week ago. She had expected Talon to make some sort of attack eventually. The factory was one of the most important places in Russia, but still, for only three of them to so easily sneak in and get as far as they did before alarms were tripped…it was insanity.

"Who are you?" she questioned, staring at the one brief still they'd recovered from the cameras shortly before they were wiped. It was then that she got an idea. Pressing on her communicator in her ear, the phone began to wring before another feminine voice answered.

"Hello?" the exotic accent asked. "This is Vaswani. Please state who is calling."

"Satya! This is Zarya. How are you old friend? I trust you are well?"

"Zarya? Why is it you are calling?"

"Can one friend not simply call another friend?" Zarya tried, but after a skeptical pause on the other line, she sighed softly. "I have need of your assistance," she surrendered. "I am seeking a person of interest who attacked Volskaya shortly back."

Symmetra considered it for a moment before replying, "Perhaps there is a trade that can be made. We actually have a person who is causing troubles for Vishkar as well. Some musical street rabble who is inciting anarchy amongst the other citizens of Rio."

"Ah yes, I have heard of this man. What can I do?"

"If you could...er...handle him, our company would be most grateful. It is not that we wish him dead, mind you, but at the last, if you could recover the technology he has stolen from us, it would be much appreciated. In turn, I will give you access to any resources that are at my disposal. What is it you are needing specifically?"

The Russian woman ran her hand through her hair in thought. "I need a facial recognition scan. Possibly a three-dimensional rendering as well, to assist in discovering place of origin via phrenology scans."

"That should be little issue," Symmetra agreed. "When can I expect to see you in Rio? I will have a representative awaiting your arrival at the airport to bring you here."

"I'll be there by tomorrow morning. Sound fair?"

"Yes. We await your presence. Farewell, Alexsandra." With that, the phone clicked leaving Zarya standing there stunned by the flatness with which the architect had dismissed her. She knew this was typically her method, but even still, it was always jarring for such a sudden cease of conversation. What had ever happened to small talk anyway?

Grabbing her gear, she eagerly boarded a flight to Rio de Janeiro. On the way there, however, a weather report came in, informing her of the impending natural disaster that would wipe out the city. She only had two days to find the man that Symmetra had spoken of, after which she may be swept away with the rest of the city.

"Excuse me," a voice asked beside her on the plane. Turning to regard the stranger, Zarya looked down on the rather short red head who had the biggest smile on her face. "You're Zarya, right?"

"Y-yes?"

"I am such a lesbian for you! Can I get your autograph?!"

Zarya blinked in confusion for a moment before nodding slowly. The girl jutted out a book, the newest reprint of Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone, a book that was popular before Zarya's time. "Have a joy for the classics, I see," she noted opening up the cover and clicking her pen. "Who do I make it out to?"

"Remi Lucky," the girl answered excitedly. "With an 'i'."

"To my favorite lesbian Remi, Zarya," she read out loud, scribbling the inscription before passing the book back to her adorable fan. "Here you are. I hope that you enjoy your book. I've heard it's a good one."

She gasped loudly. "You haven't read it?! Okay, so the story starts out with…" As Remi continued to go on and on about the book, which Zarya was now informed was the first of a series, the Russian strongwoman came to the slow realization that this was most likely not going to be a restful flight.

In the middle of the desert, Jesse's hand rested on his hip where his gun was holstered. Behind him, two bandits had their weapons pointed at him, ready to fire. At times like this, Jesse felt more alive than ever before. High noon. When the fast were winners and the slow were dead. His robotic arm flexed its mechanical digits as he spun.

Grasping and unpinning the flashbang in one fluid motion, Jesse blinded the two men before diving and firing wildly at the two of them. Unfortunately, he hadn't noticed the rather large bear trap hidden in the sand as he fell and with a metallic snap, it closed down on his biological arm. He let out a roar of pain as the two injured men blinked stars from their eyes.

"Oy! What was all that fuss about?! See, we's was just gonna blow you up all quicksie, but now you done upset my friend! Right?" the smaller one said, turning to the larger one for affirmation.

"..." Roadhog walked up to McCree, rage boiling through the reflective lens of his mask as he roughly stabbed his meathook through Jesse's leg, making him hiss in agony. Turning, he walked to a nearby rocky outcropping where a large motorcycle and side car had been stashed for he and his partner.

"Ooh! Yer a lucky one, cowboy! It's been a while since we gave anyone the ol' keelhaul. Or in your case, the yeehaw!" Junkrat laughed maniacally at his bad joke, even going so far as to slap his prosthetic knee cap that was torn off during he and Mako's ski trip in the Aspens a few years prior. Putting on his helmet that was slotted to allow his ever burning hair to poke through, Junkrat excitedly jumped into the side car before giving an approving fist bump to his companion.

Jesse barely managed to get the beartrap off his arm in time for the wild motorcyclist to suddenly gun it, jerking him by his femur through the desert. The movement was so fast and so sudden that his gun fell from his hands, leaving him unable to do anything to defend himself against the psychotic bandits.

Instead, he found himself grateful for his body armor as it absorbed the rough treatment from the rocks that were in the desert. He struggled to reach the hook embedded in his leg. If he could remove it, then he'd be able to make himself gone, something he was rather skilled at. "Damn it, damn it, damn it!" he growled as he tried to dislodge himself, but the jerky movements from the bike, and the barbs on the hook prevented him from making any headway.

Just as Roadhog dragged Jesse through a narrow rock, his eyes widened, just before a large metal object came crashing into the front of his bike, causing it to come to a complete stop. With the speed they were going, both he and Junkrat were launched nearly forty feet from the bike, causing them to land in the dust and sand with a solid thud.

"Brigitte, go! Help our friend to the tank!" The wielder of the heavy metal hammer that had stopped the bike called. "As for these two…" He turned in surprise, just as Junkrat leveled his grenade launcher, firing a loud volley while screaming a stream insults. Each explosion created a large cloud of sand as both criminals released torrents of fire towards the interloper. As they got to their feet, the dust began to settle. "Ahahahahaha! Do you know who I am?! Foul villains! I am Reinhardt, defender of justice, honor, and valor!"

"How in the hell is he still talkin'?!" Junkrat cried. His answer was given by the flourescent orange energy barrier that was held in front of the large metal knight like a shield. The man was huge, even bigger than his friend, and that scared Junkrat to no end.

Jesse let out a groan as he suddenly felt the chain give slack. "Whozzat? Kid, that you?" he asked, as an arm slipped beneath his, helping him to his feet.

"I haven't been a kid in a few years," a feminine voice answered testily. "Can you stand? We have to get you to our vehicle. You'll be safe there." As his eyes began to adjust, Jesse looked to see the freckled face of a blonde woman, her hair tied up behind her and a pair of goggles on her forehead. "Don't worry, I'm a friend," she promised, helping him hobble, the hook still in his leg, towards a large boulder. The side hatch suddenly fell open, the hologram disguising it creating a rippling effect as it faded away.

"Come now, wrongdoers! Reinhardt fears no men! I shall teach you the true meaning of justice!" the knight declared, advancing on them as his hammer's rockets began to heat up.

"Roadhog! Buy me some time!" Junkrat instructed. His large friend nodded to show he understood, turning on Reinhardt and leveling his gatling gun. He cranked the handle quickly, firing the powerful stream of bullets at the armored knight who barely managed to put his shield up in time.

As he endured the brunt of the damage, he saw the smaller bandit placing a large spiked tire on the ground and pulling a ripcord. It roared loudly as a built in engine came to life inside of it, sending it careening, but not towards Reinhardt, towards the tank! "No! Brigitte!" the knight gasped, turning and activating his thrusters.

Time seemed to slow down for Brigitte as she heard her companion's shout, turning her head to see the explosive wheel running full speed directly at her. When it was nearly ten feet from her, she felt something big and heavy slam into her back, sending her and Jesse hard into the far inside wall of the tank, just an explosion rocked it fiercely.

"Booyah!" Junkrat cried, doing a victory dance, but Roadhog new better. He let out an impatient huff, advancing on the vehicle. Sure enough, from the explosion's debris, a crescent of flame raced outwards and slammed hard into Roadhog, engulfing him in fire.

He let out a cry of pain as he fell to the ground, rolling about to extinguish himself. As his friend went to assist him, the tank's door closed shut and it sped away through the sand, leaving the bandits with little more than a few wounds and totaled motorcycle.

"Damn it, boss! That hurt!"

"Sorry, Brigitte but trust me, that explosion would have hurt a lot more." As he gave her the steering wheel to drive, he stood on a panel, allowing the necessary mechanisms to remove his armor. "And what about you, friend? I trust your pain too is complaint worthy?"

Jesse groaned, unable to get up. "I'm mighty grateful for your timely arrival, partner. For a moment, I was pretty sure the devil was playing my song. Pains bad, but I guess it means I'll live. What in tarnation are you doing all the way out here anyway?"

Reinhardt beamed at him, moving to lift him like a child and lay him on a workbench that was laid out like an operating table. As humiliating as it was, Jesse made no objections. "Hasselhoff reunion tour! I tell you, those holo-vid replicas are so realistic, it's like I was actually a kid again! Brigitte and I were just about to hit the next stop, when we got lost."

"When you got lost," Brigitte countered. "I'd just finished repairing that armor that you just trashed...again!" Her friend just let out an apathetic 'bah', waving off her grumbling as he came to Jesse's side.

"Well, whatever the case, I owe you one Reinhardt," McCree swore. The rather muscular man grabbed a bottle of booze and handed it to the cowboy who gratefully took a swig. When Reinhardt's massive hand closed around the hook though, Jesse knew it would take more than that, so he quickly began chugging the bottle.

"Woah, slow down friend," Reinhardt interrupted snatching the bottle. "We need to save some of that."

"Why? We havin' a party or something?" Jesse muttered sarcastically. With a rough pull, the barbed hook came free causing him to let out a loud scream. "GOD DAMN MOTHERFUCKIN' PIECE OF-" he was cut off when his eyes fell on the appalled Brigitte. "Erm, I mean...ow? I beg your pardon little lady. Sometimes my sailor's tongue interrupts my cowboy's senses." He had to grit his teeth to prevent from swearing again as the knight then emptied the rest of the booze into his wound, filling his leg with a burning pain.

"Good news," Reinhardt commented. "It seems it only got your femur! No arteries cut!"

"Well gee, ain't that damned swell!" McCree hissed.

Engaging autopilot, Brigitte came to the back to assist her boss with treating their guest. "What he means, Mr. McCree, is that you'll live. Otherwise, you'd have bled out in less than a minute on our table. Luckily, we can fix you up. Reinhardt can you keep him still while I get the suture kit?"

"Sutures? God damn it, shouldn't I be out for this or something?" Jesse asked, just before the muscular man coldcocked him hard enough in the jaw to send him into unconsciousness.

His companion raised an eyebrow at him, as she removed the sterile packaging from the needle. "What?" Reinhardt asked. "Is he not still enough for you? Besides, he said he wanted to be out, now he's out!"

"Men," she sighed, getting to work on his injuries.

As their plane touched down, Mei turned to see Dan sound asleep beside her. She smiled softly, reaching out to brush his hair from his cute face. He hadn't gotten hardly any sleep the night before, as a result of a mix of jet lag and wanting to care for Mei in her drunken stupor. When he stirred, Mei gave an embarrassed squeak, pulling her hand back quickly. "S-sorry," she apologized quickly. "We're here."

Dan yawned sleepily, but nodded his head to show he heard her. "That was a nice nap," he commented. "And I don't mind being woken up. Especially if it's you." Stretching out, he placed a soft kiss on her cheek before wrapping his arms around her. "You ready to save some people?"

"Always," she beamed. As the two of them stepped off, they began walking down the street towards the hotel. Dan had no idea where they would be able to find Lucio, but as if an answer to his prayer, he suddenly heard a concussive boom, followed by the thump of music. It was so intense, it seemed to pierce right through him, even moving his soul.

"Head's up!" A voice called, and turning to look behind him, he saw a dark-skinned man skating straight towards him. Dan braced himself for impact, but the man just jumped to the wall beside him, flashing him a grin as he slid along the brick, leaving a streak of green behind him. The man was one he recognized a moment after he was gone.

"Mei, after him!" Dan declared, turning to begin running after him.

"Stop, thief!" a feminine voice cried, just as a bright blue wall erupted in front of him, trying to seal off Lucio's path. Instead, the musician just kicked off the hard light, sliding along it into another alley way.

"Dan, take the roof," Mei called to me, as she turned to run full force into the woman who was giving chase. As the two tumbled to the ground, Dan quickly ran after Lucio, as he was ordered.

Sure enough, the roofs allowed him to make faster headway than Lucio's skates could, even with the pumping music accelerating his speed. Looking up, he saw Dan running after him. "I've gotta admit," he called up to him, "you're not too bad. Let's see if you can handle this!" Slapping a button on the back of the device in his hand, the music suddenly blared loudly, rocketing him even faster through the alley way.

What Lucio hadn't counted on was that it sped Dan up too. Sure enough, Dan began to jumping from rooftop to rooftop, before doing a diving roll onto a lower ledge. "Lucio," he shouted after him. "I need to speak with you!" he cried.

"Yeah, you and a lot of people!" he laughed. "If you wanna take me in, you'll have to catch me first." With that, Lucio performed a quick 90 degree turn, before jumping onto a rail and grinding his way down a flight of stairs.

Dan gave chase, until he ended up in a wide market square where he couldn't make the jump. He looked around frantically for any sign of Lucio, but he'd managed to vanish with the crowd. Where was he?! Then, Dan saw a flash of green on the other side of the square, and he knew he'd picked up the trail again.

Jumping onto a balcony, he took a running start before swinging from a hanging flag and landing on the next rooftop. He could scarcely believe the amount of stamina he had right now. Normally, he'd be completely winded, but it seemed Lucio's music was able to boost him in more than just morale.

By this point, the locals had all begun pointing and shouting at Dan, some of them even starting to throw rocks in an attempt to shake him off of Lucio's trail. Mei's assistant, however, was able to dodge them just enough that he managed to catch up when Lucio found himself at a checkpoint constructed by the Vishkar Corporation.

Sure enough, the security force began to advance on Lucio. He tightened his grip on his sonic blaster, ready to fight if he had to, but even he knew he wouldn't be able to face them all at once. That was when, Dan swung down from a jutting out pipe to slam his foot into one of the guard's jaws, quickly turning and firing his gun to eliminate the turrets that were beginning to form. "Damn it," he shouted, as beams began to fire from their particle cannons, latching onto him and draining the energy from his body. Was this how he was going to end?

"Let's pump it up!" Lucio shouted, coming to his side and placing the sonic cannon right against the ground. By doing so, he created a massive feedback that blasted the guards away from Dan. "C'mon, afeiçoado. We have to get out of here. This way!" Grabbing Dan's hand, he began pulling him after him quickly, before the two ducked into a sewer pipe that seemd to lead down a sharp slide before coming out lower in the city in a slummy market area.

Dan could hear the guards giving chase through the pipe, so he and Lucio bolted, vanishing among the crowd only to sneak into a small metal shed that one of the citizens gestured us into.

As the door slammed behind us, both he and Lucio were panting and out of breath. "Whoo! That was a close one! Seriously man, you've got some legs on you. Looks like I pegged you wrong. You're not Vishkar, huh?"

Dan shook his head, still trying to breathe. "Dan McQueen," he introduced himself, offering his hand. "Overwatch representative."

"Oh! Yeah, I know you!" Lucio beamed, grabbing his hand and shaking it excitedly. "Yeah man, I saw you on TV! You're D. Va's new boyfriend, right? Man, you're one lucky guy. Some guys would kill for a chance to go on a date with her."

"Y-you're a big fan then, I take it," Dan replied, a little jarred by the man's overbearing positivity. "Look, I don't have much time, but I really need your help."

"For Hana Song's man? Anything you need!"

He bit his tongue to stop from correcting him, instead giving him a grateful nod. "I need your sonic cannon," he explained. Lucio was absolutely stunned by his declaration.

"Woah man, you're asking for a bit much there. I can't give you this. Sorry," he said. "I need this, for the people. I don't know if you noticed, but there's a revolution going on out there. Vishkar's got people on a short leash, and this…" he held up the cannon to show him, "is the only thing that's helped me to keep them free to live as they choose."

"I respect that," Dan swore. "I don't know if you noticed, but right now there's a class five hurricane heading straight for Rio. If you don't give me that sonic cannon a lot of citizens may die."

"Well what good is it to you?" Lucio challenged. "You going to use it as some sort of megaphone or something?"

Dan had to swallow a laugh. "No, no. I'm here with my boss, Mei. We've developed a weather machine that will stop the storm. The only problem is, we don't have anything capable of producing a high enough concentrated frequency. That's where your equipment comes in."

Lucio sank into a chair, running a hand through his dreads in shock. "Are you serious, man? A weather machine? That's some science fiction, mumbo jumbo. I'll believe it when I see it."

"No problem," he countered. "I'll just contact Mei and…" A broadcast suddenly echoed through the thin metal walls. "What's that?" Dan asked as the siren like noise wailed.

"Bad news," Lucio answered. Frowning at Dan, he went to his side and rested his hand on his shoulder. "That sound, means that Vishkar managed to get your friend, and if the device is with her, you can bet that they've taken them both to head quarters."

"We have to get her back!"

"Woah, woah. No, absolutely not. You're talking crazy, amigo. We can't get in there."

"Lucio! Hurricane! Innocent lives!" Dan blabbered, his heart pounding in his chest in panic. "We have to save her! Otherwise, we're going to see a lot of people, a lot of civilians get killed."

The musician gave a sigh, opening one eye to regard Dan before nodding in agreement. "Fine. Why the hell not? It's not like I haven't done it once before," he taunted, spinning the gun about his trigger finger. "Let's do it, buddy."

"Wake up," Wintson's voice echoed in Jack's ear. With a groan, his eyes opened to find he was no longer looking through his visor but was now staring the ape dead on. He went to quickly dash away, but found himself chained to a post. "You have explaining to do, Jack," he growled. "You were supposed to be dead. How could you lie to everyone like this?"

"There are things you cannot understand, Winston. Important things. Do you think that the people would just let Reyes' rebellion go? They wanted someone to pay in blood, and it would have been mine."

"So you ran like a coward?" he roared. "You pretended you were dead when Overwatch, our family, needed you the most because you were scared! We were all scared! We needed you to guide us and you abandoned us, so I took up the mantle for you! I have wondered many times if my work has honored you, respected your wishes in death, but clearly you're not worthy of being called the Hero of Overwatch!"

"Leave him be, Winston," Ana interrupted softly. "It is not his fault, nor is it an act of cowardice."

"And you!" the ape snapped. "You were supposed to be dead as well! Let me guess, you were scared too, is that it?"

Ana's eyes narrowed as she stared the scientist down. "I did what I had to in order to escape this life. It was better for everyone that I was dead. I made a mistake, and this was my way of paying for it. Do you think I have not felt the weight of my absence? You are wrong."

Winston's nostrils flared as he stormed back and forth outside of the holding cell. It was taking every ounce of will that he had to prevent him from triggering the neural primal enhancer embedded in his head. "One of you had better start talking quick. What are you doing here and why did you kidnap and torture one of my operatives?"

"We did not torture her," Ana protested. "We restrained her in the chrono chamber. She was going to reveal our presence before it was time and that was something we could not allow."

"Tracer is scared to death of confined spaces! You reactivated her chrono displacia and you could have made her vanish for good!"

"It was a necessary risk," Jack muttered. "We didn't take joy in exposing her to that, but we couldn't have us being discovered by that kid. Seems as though we weren't careful enough."

"Kid? You mean Dan? What does he have to do with any of this?"

"Winston, Hana tells me she is going to Arizona, to provide assistance to McCree, but what of my…" Pharah froze as she stared into the cell to see the two of them chained up. "No," she gasped, taking a step back. "No, no, no. This cannot be real. This must be a hologram or something. This isn't real."

"Fareeha…" the ape tried to soothe her, but she quickly tugged away. Ana's face sank in shame as her daughter just shook her head in denial. Pharah didn't want to believe it. She couldn't believe it.

Unsure of what else to say, Ana simply uttered, "Hello, Fareeha. It is nice to see you, my darling daughter."

Pharah's features flashed with anger as she stormed up to the bars of the cell. "I am not your daughter!" she hissed in rage. "My mother is dead! She's been dead for many years, and it will take more than some imposter to…"

"Al-aʻdālah nāzlah min fūq," Ana interrupted, using her old saying to prove her identity. Fareeha shook in shock as she just stood there. "I must say Fareeha, you have grown into a beautiful young woman. Though you have let hatred consume your heart. You must learn to have compassion along with your strength."

"This is a touching reunion," Soldier commented, "but we've got bigger problems right now. Where is the kid?"

"China, soon to be Rio. Why?" WInston grunted.

Jack sighed softly, looking to Ana who met his gaze as well. Finally, he uttered the secret the two had been hiding for so long. "He's an agent of Talon."

To be continued...