Enraptured in Ice Ch. 16

Sitting in a dark room, the only light provided coming from the neon cables that lined her body and the monitor that she stared at, a young woman was moving her fingers furiously through the air. As she did, her eyes scanned the numerous amounts of images that appeared and vanished rapidly. "Come on, come on," she muttered to herself before finally, there was a ding, and she chuckled to herself. "I'm in! All right, time to have some fun." Adjusting the slider that had appeared on her holoscreen, she chuckled to herself as she watched the confused man through his own security cameras. Every few seconds, she'd open his garage door, only to shut it again the moment, he turned to look.

"Sombra," a deep gravelly voice said behind her, causing her to roll her eyes. "We did not outfit you with multibillion dollar equipment so you could hack a suburban garage door."

Turning over her shoulder, she stared into the pallid skull-like mask that Gabriel wore to hide his horribly scarred face. "Pssh. I was just having a little bit of fun. I swear, you are such a party pooper! Don't you ever like go watch a movie or something? Bowling, maybe?"

"I do not bowl," Reaper stated firmly.

"Clearly," she scoffed. "It's be pretty hard to do with that stick wedged in your ass."

"Sombra…" he growled, his temper starting to rise. She always set him on edge. It wasn't that she frightened him, in truth he wasn't frightened of anything anymore. It was just that she was so damned smart, and worse, she knew it.

"Imbécil maltido, what do you want Gabe?!" she snapped back, her own patience fading quickly at having her fun interrupted.

"I need a status report on our operative. Now."

Again her fingers began moving quickly as she spat a stream of highly insulting words in her native spanish. "There," she declared, finishing her work, showing a picture of the young boy. "Are you happy now, huh? He's right there, see? Still alive, still breathing. I told you when the sensors went off the other week that he'd be fine. His survival instincts would passively activate and his body would work to heal him faster."

"I'm not so certain," Reaper stated.

"Ay, Dios mio, are you seriously questioning my talents again? What happened when you first brought him here, huh? You were going to give him the same treatment as Amelie, and you've seen that she's slipping. My way is much more effective, not to mention he doesn't come out of it looking like a freaking alien."

"Ahem," the sniper coughed, announcing her presence. "I do not appreciate your accusations, Sombra. I am perfectly capable of performing my duties as I have always been. Not to mention that even with my new appearance, I still have plenty of men drooling over me. Right, Gabriel?"

"Do not bring me into this," he grumbled.

"That's his way of saying 'no', mamacita," Sombra taunted. "Anyway, are you happy now, Gabe? I told you, he's fine. That kid is my greatest work ever, he's not going to get messed up just because of some noise. Sheesh."

"For your sake, you'd better hope so," he threatened, brushing past Widowmaker to leave.

The sniper stood there for a moment before leaning closer to gaze at the image. "I do not understand the fascination with the boy. Yours or his. He doesn't look like anything special to me. When we fought, he was only able to beat me because he had backup."

Sombra scoffed. "Trust me honey, if you were to activate his survival programming, you'd not have come out of that alive. He's got all the skills you do, and with the hacking I gave his cells, I can give him 100% access to his muscle strength. Not to mention, he's apparently a great lover."

The last part made Amelie blink. "What?"

"A few times, I've registered a sudden increase in his heart rate, when I checked in on him through the oculus lenses we inserted in his eyes, I could see the woman or I suppose women, since it's been more than once, he was screwing. I tell you, Amelie, a girl don't make noises like the ones I heard unless they're getting something good. Or in your case, on laundry day."

If her blood were still visible through her skin, it would have been obvious that Widowmaker was blushing. "I don't know what you're talking about," she replied in a huff.

"Yeah, I bet you don't," Sombra cackled. "Your husband may be a bit stiff, but we both know you aren't going to be hitting that anytime soon." There was a click as a bullet was loaded into the rifle's chamber. The barrell now rested against her temple as Amelie gave a low growl.

"I would like to remind you that I was the one who put a bullet in my husband, and I loved him. Imagine the things I would do to someone like you," she threatened before retracting her weapon. Not even allowing her a chance to respond, Widowmaker swaggered off, her heels clicking along the tile as she did so.

"Orale, no one here can take a joke," the hacker complained before alarms began to blare on one of her screens. "Oh, what's this?" she asked, opening up a display to see that a buff pink-haired woman was now entering Vaswani's headquarters. "Ooh, it seems my friend has sent me some things to play with." Her eyes glanced from Zarya to the screen that housed Dan's image, a smile coming to Sombra's lips. "I swear, today must be my lucky day. Let's see about taking my chico for a test drive." Punching in a few commands, Sombra was surprised to find that her project was now at the back door of Vaswani as well.

Tuning into his auditory function, she could hear him speaking. "Damn, it's locked," he growled to Lucio. "Can you blast the door open?"

"Are you crazy?" the man with him asked. "If I do that, we'll be swarmed by guards before you can even shake a stick at them."

"Don't worry friend," Sombra noted. "Today, I'm going to be your guardian angel." With a mischievous giggle, she hacked into Vaswani's locks and electronics, and with a click, the door unlocked in front of him. Savoring his confused expression, she tapped her ear, creating a virtual microphone to speak directly into his ear. "Hello, hello. Testing. One, two, three. Qué estás haciendo güey?"

He suddenly straightened on her screen, causing her to smirk as he looked around himself in confusion. For him, it'd be hearing her right into his head, but the man standing beside him wouldn't be able to hear a thing. "Who said that?" Dan asked.

"Said what?" Lucio questioned.

"Someone just said something in my ear. Some girl."

"Man, you must be tripping. Why the hell am I doing this with you again?"

Licking her lips impishly, she spoke again. "Psst, gringo. I'm talking to you, wey." Again, Dan looked around completely baffled. "Hey. Listen, your friend isn't going to be able to hear me, okay? I'm your little fairy companion, got it? If you understand, nod your head." Dan did one more sweep, trying to find the source before slowly nodding his head. "Bueno. Now, go through that door, and head to the end of the hall, then turn up the stairs to the left. Wait exactly twenty eight seconds for the guards to pass before taking the rest of the stairwell. I've disabled motion detectors, so you should be fine for now."

As Dan reached out shakily, Lucio rolled his eyes. "Man, it's locked. We're not getting in that way, let's…" his words trailed off as Dan turned the handle, leading into the open hallway. Looking back at Lucio, he gave a shrug. "Un-freaking-believable. All right then, lead the way, I guess."

Symmetra tossed down her glove with a sigh before looking back to the girl sitting shyly across the table. "You have explaining to do," she stated matter-of-factly. "Why were you aiding and abetting that criminal?"

Mei scratched her cheek in thought, trying how best to reveal their purpose without actually mentioning their affiliation. "We need the technology he possesses," she explained. I'm a climatologist, and me and my assistant, the man you saw running after Lucio…"

"The criminal," she interjected.

"Yes," Mei admitted carefully. "We saw that there is a class five hurricane that's coming. It will destroy the town completely."

"Nonsense," another man stated as he entered. Immediately, Satya straightened and snapped to attention. "At ease, Symmetra," he instructed. "A pleasure to meet you Misses…"

"Miss Zhao," Mei corrected. The man set her on edge, but why she couldn't be sure. "And I'm afraid you'll have to trust me. This is my expertise. If we don't obtain the technology that Lucio has…"

"Stole," the man interrupted.

"Stole," she repeated, beginning to lose her patience. "As I was saying…"

"Madam, I assure you that Vaswani's hard light constructs are flawless in their design and near indestructible. While I appreciate your warning, we shall simply tell the residents to stay within their homes and wait out the storm. Go ahead and release her, Symmetra."

Mei was not happy with out the meeting turned out, but still she held her hands up for the dark-skinned woman to remove her hard-light shackles. "I will show her out," she informed her boss. "Come, Miss Zhao."

"Please," Mei requested one last time. "You must listen to me. The entire city of Rio is in danger. If we don't get that technology…"

"That will be all, Miss Zhao. Thank you," he stated flatly, tugging on one of his silken gloves to show his lack of interest in speaking further.

Symmetra led her out of the room, guiding her down the hallways until finally reaching the elevator. "Listen carefully," she whispered as the door closed. "We do not have much time to talk. They are certain to be watching us. What he said is untrue. Our structures are durable, but not invincible. I wish to help you, under the condition that you give me the technology once you are finished. That is all I request."

Mei blinked in surprise, turning to regard her, only to see that her expression remained blank and stoic. "Okay, I suppose that's fine," she replied meekly. "It was yours to begin with. I can't give you the weather machine, though."

"Weather machine?"

"Yes. With the sonic technology we'll be able to remove the hurricane, not just shelter the city from the storm. As such, we will have to be here for a week."

"Understood."

As the door opened, it revealed the large pink-haired woman who smiled broadly. "Ah! Satya!"

"Alexsandra," she greeted less excitedly. "How was your plane ride?"

"An earful," the buff woman sighed. "Who is your friend?"

"Mei," the climatologist greeted, offering her hand. "I feel like I recognize you. Were you a member of Overwatch?"

"Ha! No, no. I once was part of the Russian military and I assisted Overwatch a few times, but I was never truly a member. I am Alexsandra, but you may call me Zarya. My friends do," she noted, shooting a look at Symmetra.

"I prefer to use real names."

"I'm sure you do, 'Symmetra'," Zarya challenged smugly. "Anyway, about my problem…"

"We have another problem. One that is more pressing."

"How so?"

"A hurricane is on its way to shore. It will destroy the city if we do not catch…"

"There she is!" A familiar voice called as a streak of light came racing down the corridor. Turning to look, they were shocked to see Lucio and Dan rushing towards them. "You get your friend, I'll handle Symmetra," he instructed, leveling the sonic cannon and firing a volley towards her.

With a flourish of her hand, a shield appeared in front of her, dispersing the sound before she began charging up her particle beam. "We are under fire!" Zarya cried, dropping the case down that contained her beam cannon. "Get behind us, Mei."

"No, wait!" Mei cried trying to stop the fighting, but Dan had already rushed forward, carried by Lucio's sound to snag his boss away from the two. Just as he went to turn back, Zarya grabbed him easily by the back of his shirt and hurled him into the wall. "Stop!" Mei tried to say, but no one was listening.

"Now, it's time for the fireworks," Sombra murmured from her room far away, beginning to press a series of buttons. "Wake up, mi cielito. It is time to have some fun. Boop!" With one final push in the buttons, gauges began to appear on screen, showing the many drastic changes happening within Dan's mind and body.

First, she removed the body's built in safety mechanisms. There'd be no passing out for him, regardless of how hard he was hit. Not until he was dead, anyway. His body's muscles flexed, removing their usage limitations that were normally to protect one's self from their own strength. Finally, his pain receptors shut down, meaning that he'd be able to take even the fiercest attacks as if they were mosquito bites.

Now in full control of his features, she pressed a few more buttons and activated his survival instincts. Now, he'd fight as if his life depended on it. In a way it did. If he failed this test run, well it just meant she'd have to try again. Otherwise, she'd be rid of the pesky bitch once and for all.

Dan stood, just as Zarya threw one of her big meaty fists at his jaw, despite Mei's protests. However, in a blur of movement, he raised one hand, catching her punch on his palm and stopping it cold. Zarya's eyes widened. "Is not possible," she murmured in awe, before he returned with a punch of his own, sending her reeling back in surprise. "You are strong," she commented, wiping a bit of blood from her lip. "I am impressed." Dan said nothing, extending his fists in front of him and waiting for her to come after him again. "Even still, I am strongest there is! You cannot hope to defeat…me?"

Zarya's next swing ended when he spun, catching her by the wrist and with an inhuman amount of force flipped her over his shoulder, throwing her to the wall just as she'd done. Despite his smaller stature, he forced her arm behind her, pressing it up as if to break her shoulder.

Using her military training, she attempted to elbow him hard in the face, and when the blow made contact, he didn't even flinch. She'd struck him hard enough that it should have dislocated his jaw, but it seemed like he wasn't even phased.

Mei ran to him, grabbing his free arm and trying to pull him away. "Dan, stop it! She's a friend! They want to help us, there's no reason to-oof!" Without a word he flung her off of him, before kicking Zarya in the back of her shins hard enough to drop her to her knees.

"Yes, yes!" Sombra cheered, her fingers flying wildly in the air to adjust his parameters as needed. "Now, finish the job. Do it! We shall teach our friend that she needs to send us better toys, no?"

Releasing her arm, Dan grabbed Zarya tightly by the chin, his other hand going to her head. Immediately, the Russian warrior realized he was going to snap her neck, and worse, that with his unbelievable strength, he'd actually be able to do it.

She clamped her hands down on his wrists, squeezing as tightly as she could in an attempt to pry them from her body. She could even hear the sounds of his bones cracking under the pressure of her immense grip, but he didn't even grunt.

"What are you?" she hissed through gritted teeth, her strength beginning to fade from the effort of having to restrain him.

"Release her," Symmetra ordered, attaching her photon beam to him, trying to drain him of his energy. Even still, he just stood there.

"Woo! Forgetting about me, sweetheart?" Lucio called, releasing a concussive blast of sound that knocked her away from Dan. "Yo, we've got your girl! We don't need any blood on our hands. Knock her out and let's bail," he instructed, but Dan didn't budge.

"Something's wrong with him," Mei coughed, the wind having been knocked out of her by his blow. "We need to stop him."

"Stop him?" Lucio scoffed. "He came here for you!"

As Zarya's hands began to become limp, Dan twisted her neck first in one direction to build momentum for the final wrench that would end her life once and for all.

Just as Sombra was about to put in the command, alarms began to blare all around her, causing her to shut down the program in a panic. "What is that?!" she exclaimed, moving to pull up security feeds. Sure enough, three men were advancing on the compound. "Damn it. Interrupting my fun! You'd better put up a challenge."

Dan suddenly froze, his eyes dilating slightly as his nerves reactivated, reminding him of all of the vicious blows he'd taken. Realizing her opportunity, Zarya flung his hands from her neck, turning and grabbing him around the waist. With a quick bridge backwards at her hips, she slammed him down hard in a devastating German suplex.

His body crumpled like a sack of bricks as he lay there, unable to move. He began gasping for air, immense pain racking his body from the way his muscles had torn under the strain of his great strength, and the feeling of his cracked jaw and broken wrists.

"Dan!" Mei cried, rushing to his side and placing her hands gingerly on his cheeks. "Dan, speak to me! Dan!"

"Pah. Back away, Mei. I will finish this cad," Zarya declared, but Mei quickly hurled herself over him protectively. "What are you doing?"

"Please," Mei begged. "Don't hurt him. Something's wrong with him. He's not like this, I swear. I don't know what's going on, but this isn't him."

"He tried to kill me," Alexsandra stated grumpily. "I will wring his tiny neck like squirrel he is."

"No, don't. Please. Look, I'll restrain him. We can keep him chained up or something, but he needs help. Please don't hurt him."

"Ss...som...somb…" Dan wheezed, trying to blurt out a name, anything. With one last breath, he managed to utter, finally, "Sombra." With that, he passed out cold, leaving Mei sniffling over his body.

"Come on," Lucio urged her, nudging her to her feet. "Let me take a look at him. I know a thing or two about patching people up."

"R-really?" she asked.

"The power of music is strong."

Mei sank. "I...don't think that music will help in this case," she murmured, just as he swiped the modified sonic cannon to begin playing a different track of music. She frowned. "Listen, I appreciate the help, but we need to get him to a doctor."

"Hold on," Lucio assured. "It takes a little time. Let's see if I can turn it up a bit."

Now she was beginning to get angry. "Lucio! It's just music. It can't cure broken bones or…"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Lucio interrupted, holding up his hand. "Just music? Just music? Let me break it down for you, amiga. Music is the most powerful force on the planet, understand? When you needed a part for your weather machine, what's the first thing you looked for? That's right, my musical sonic cannon. I've also read your journal, Professor Zhao, and guess what, you've said before the original inspiration was from, you guessed it, my music. When Vaswani's being oppressive…"

"We are not being oppressive. You are being chaotic," Symmetra countered. "We are trying to make Rio de Janeiro a better place, you filthy ingrate."

"I'm sorry, what do you call setting up strict curfews, beating citizens who disagree, and imprisoning people who speak out? Do you not call that oppression? Everyone deserves to live as they choose, and my music, unlike anything you or your corrupt company has ever done for Rio, has saved lives and brought hope to the people." Turning back to Mei, he let out a huff. "As I was saying meu docinho, this world we're on turns to the sound of music. Without it, what would soothe the savage beasts? What would make people dance and sing? Music, more than any force in the world, has rallied people to the side of freedom and justice."

"Yes, but…"

"Just look," he gestured, pointing towards Dan. His breathing had already started to become more regular, and as the golden vibrations raced over him, his muscles had stopped spasming. Even the pained look on his face had faded. "So you see, there's no such thing as just music. Music is life."

"Pretty speech, but you're still nothing more than a common crook," Satya growled.

"If that's the case, then why is your company so scared of me?" Lucio smirked before lifting Dan in his arms. "Speaking of which, this stuffy place is making me nauseous. Come on, Professor. Let me show you to my home."

Symmetra snagged Mei's arm quickly. "Do not go with him. This is a big mistake, I warn you. We can still help you with your machine, but if you go with this thief, then you will have burned a bridge that you cannot bring back."

The climatologist looked from her, back to the freedom fighter who was carrying her boyfriend, and back to the other two again. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "Dan comes first. I don't really care about your politics or about your company's agenda. All I care about is saving Dan and the city of Rio." With that, she chased after Lucio who gave her a warm smile.

Symmetra was beet red with anger, and as she went to give the command for lockdown, Zarya rested her hand on her shoulder before shaking her head. "Do not be so harsh on them, Satya. She has a good heart. I trust her to do what is right. It is why I am not so angry about squirrely man. Two broken wrists and dislocated jaw...thinking now is fair trade for trying to kill me."

"A good heart does not make up for the crimes he's committed, nor does it assist in saving this city," she snapped, before Zarya wrapped her arms tightly around her in a bearhug. "What are you doing?!" Satya exclaimed in shock, struggling to get out of her embrace.

"It's called a hug, pchelka."

"I know what a hug is," she grumbled. "Why are you giving me one?"

"I am restraining you from doing something foolish like going after them. Don't even bother trying to escape, you know you can't." The powerful woman smirked at the smaller one, who just let out a grumpy huff.

"Fine," she sighed.

Winston scowled intensely at his former commanding officer as he accused his pupil of being a traitor. Then, the scowl slowly turned to a smile. He began to chuckle, then laugh uproariously. The thought of it was so ridiculous! "What have you been dosing this old man with, Ana?" Winston chortled. "Dan. A Talon Agent! That's absolutely hilarious. Hahaha!"

"I for one think that it's rude to simply come in here and accuse him of such things," Hana chimed in, standing beside the ape. "I don't take it you have any evidence of what you're saying."

"Let it go, Hana," Pharha tried, placing her hands on the smaller girl's shoulders, but she just shoved her away.

"Oh please," she scoffed. "You'd be the first to jump on the bandwagon to start some sort of witch hunt for him. Don't even try to deny it! You're lucky you didn't put him in the hospital when you attacked him!"

"Lucky isn't the word I'd use."

"It is lucky, because if you had, the only words that would be exchanged between us would be 'Hana, why are you pointing a gun at me?' Followed by the sound of a plasma bolt melting through your skull!"

"Easy, Hana," Winston lectured, placing his massive hand in front of her and sweeping her away from the other woman. "We are not starting a manhunt for Dan. The accusations are ridiculous!"

"Winston," Ana said softly. "Have we ever misled you before?"

The ape glared at her. "Yes. The moment you both pretended to be dead. Do you even know anything about the man you're claiming is a traitor? He came here when he was sixteen years old. I've practically raised him like a son for the last decade. He's scared to death of guns. He hates violence. You're talking about a brilliant mind wrapped in a childlike naivety that cares more for this world than either of you ever have! To accuse him of being an agent of Talon is just as foolish as accusing me or Mercy of being an agent of Talon."

"Winston, I was skeptical at first, too," Ana tried. "I've watched the boy from afar, and I agree, he has a good heart. That's when we discovered something."

"Talon has a new agent. One that's been working in the shadows," Jack explained. "While I was in Dorado, handling the problem with Los Muertos, I found evidence of a former member affiliated with Talon. After some interrogations, we found out that she goes by Sombra. She's an expert hacker. Almost nothing can keep her out."

"So?" Winston snorted.

"She can hack people, Winston," Ana said ominously. "We think she managed to track down Dan before he came to Overwatch, reprogrammed him as a sleeper agent, and is now using him to observe the inner workings of our organization."

"My organization," Winston growled. "You forfeited any right to call it yours when you turned your back on us! We are supposed to be a family, and that means you betrayed your family. I don't care what reasons you had Ana. You abandoned your own daughter, as well as your friends. As far as I'm concerned, you're still dead to me."

"Enough." Tracer's single word had echoed in the room with the same amount of presence as a gunshot. She stood, removing the blanket that had been wrapped around her shoulders. Everyone fell silent as she walked towards the group. "I'm willing to ignore the fact that you've kept your lives secret for the last decade. I'm willing to let go of the fact that you placed me into what you knew was my worst nightmare. What I have a problem with is that you are making accusations against Dan. I brought him to Overwatch. If he is a traitor, that means that I'm a traitor, too. I dare you both to look me in the eyes and tell me that I have not sacrificed everything I can for Overwatch." The two of them remained completely silent as the normally cheerful pilot stood there, a scowl on her face. "Dan is not a traitor. If he is a sleeper agent, he doesn't know it. I'm certain. If what you say is true and he's been 'hacked' or whatever you want to call it, that is our responsibility to handle it, not yours. I don't appreciate the two of you holding on to this information for so long, when for two weeks you claimed you had enough evidence to bring this to us. Right now, Dan is in Rio de Janeiro instead of being safe here, where he would be if you two had just told us everything up front. My problem is that you waited for so long to mention this to us and it's entirely possible that because of that, it may be too late to save him, and if that's the case then I will never forgive you." With that, she turned away from them and began marching towards the hangar where her jet was parked. "Come on Hana, let's go save Dan."

"Yes, ma'am!" she cried excitedly, running after her to catch up.

Pulling back the string of his bow with a creak, Hanzo fired his sonic emitter straight into the wall of Talon's complex. Sure enough, it began granting the shapes of enemies to him within the wall. All seemed normal for now.

He was still furious with Genji for refusing to go with him if Mercy did not tag along. That she-devil had managed to seduce his younger brother with her feminine wiles, and that was not something that the older Shimada brother approved of.

Rushing to the barbed fence that stood on the outskirts of the building, he quickly fired an arrow to slice a piece of the jagged metal before scaling it. As he landed on the other side of the fence with a thud, his eyes scanned the horizon to ensure that no one had noticed his presence. When all appeared silent, he allowed himself a confident smirk.

Taking another step forward, the grin immediately dropped from his face as alarms began going off all around the complex. Dozens of armed guards came rushing out from the building, and began firing at him with their assault rifles.

As he ran just ahead of their fire, he quickly drew an arrow, his mind performing the necessary calculations in the blink of an eye. Firing the arrow just precisely, it flew through the chain link fence that they fired from, striking a metal pole on the other side and deflecting back before exploding in shrapnel that wiped out half of their forces.

Even still, he could not stop running as an entire army seemed to pour forth. Finally reaching the brick wall, he slung his bow over his back, and began clambering up the building. The small metal hooks that he wore beneath his fingertips allowed him to grip the sheer face easily, as his fit body still managed to leap and dodge the incoming hail of bullets.

Rolling himself onto the roof, he quickly hit the deck, and as bullets whizzed overhead, he could hear the sound of commands being barked to go to his position. He was trapped. If he stood up, he'd be dead. If he stayed here, they'd find him and he'd be dead.

Just as he drew an arrow to prepare, the door to the roof burst open, and a squad of five men leveled their weapons at him. Bracing himself for the end, a voice called out, "Embrace Tranquility!" An Omnic he did not recognize, floated between him and his attackers.

Even though the bullets continued to fire, they seemed to pass through the Omnic harmlessly, and even the cuts and scrapes Hanzo had received seemed to vanish in the light that exuded from him.

Realizing his opportunity, Hanzo stood drawing his arrow and firing back upon the soldiers, taking out two of them, before three shuriken wiped out the other three. As the light faded, Hanzo turned to see his brother, steam hissing from his armor as another handful of shuriken were dispensed from his wrist. "Genji?" he asked in disbelief. "What are you doing here?"

"I know you all too well, brother," he commented. "I knew your pride would lead you here, regardless of how dangerous it was. I could not let my brother perish at his own hands."

Hanzo let out a derisive scoff. "I would have been just fine. I appreciate that you have finally returned to your senses and are ready to reclaim your familial honor." Looking towards the Omnic, he frowned. "But I see you still disobeyed and brought an outsider with you."

"You are wrong brother," Genji replied. "You said that this was a matter for family. Zenyatta is my master, and my family." While the features of his face did not change, the light in Zenyatta's eyes indicated that inside he was smiling. "Also, I did not come here for my familial honor. I came here for you."

"Bah, your sentimental weakness will get us all killed."

"It is your lack of 'sentimental weakness' that has put you in such jeopardy to begin with," Zenyatta observed calmly. "When one is able to put aside thoughts of rage and hatred, only then will they begin to see the truth through the lens of peace and tranquility."

"You should listen to him brother," Genji agreed, patting Hanzo on the shoulder. "My master served as a guiding light in my darkest of times. It is because of his teachings that I have made peace with the man I am today."

"You are hardly a man," Hanzo snapped angrily. "A man is flesh, blood, bone, spirit! Not twisted scraps of metal and discarded honor." His eyes went through his younger brother to the Omnic behind him. "You may be pretend to be a man all you want, but at the end of the day, Genji, you are broken and you only have yourself to blame for disobeying our father."

With that, the archer turned on his heels, and stepped over the pile of bodies to descend into the building. Hanging back for a moment, Genji gave a soft sigh. He'd hoped his brother would see reason. How could he possibly make him understand that his love for him is what allowed him to embrace his humanity and machinery? "Do not fret too greatly, my pupil," Zenyatta stated assuredly. "He lashes out at you, the same way a cornered animal will lash out at even something bigger than itself. He too realizes you are being the bigger man, and that is what frightens him so greatly. Exercise patience, together we will help him to see the light."

As always, his mentor's words calmed the younger ninja. "I suppose you are right, Master, as always. I cannot thank you enough again for assisting me with this matter. I wished to bring Doctor Ziegler along, but she said that it was probably best that she instead report to Overwatch to attempt to get us some support. I know her and my brother do not see eye to eye, and I hope that someday they will learn to accept one another."

"Genji, you are like the rock that sits in the middle of the river. As life courses around you, you feel that it is pulling you in two different directions. But recall, the river always comes back together in the end. We are all one within the Iris, even if we do not wish to be." Zenyatta slowly hovered towards the door before extending his arm to gesture for Genji to lead the way.

"Thank you Master...again."

"As you said, Genji, we are family. Family does not ask for gratitude, but can only request happiness for one another. If this will help to make you happy, Genji, then I will gladly endure your brother's insults."

"Overwatch! Repeat, this is Jesse McCree, reporting in as requested, over." Releasing the button on the tank's HAM radio, he frowned when only static came back. "Where in tarnation is everyone, over?"

"Are you sure they still use such old equipment?" Brigitte asked. "Why don't you use your wrist communicator."

"Darn thing was busted when that fat sonovabitch was draggin' my ass through the desert," McCree grumbled, before realizing who he was speaking to and again tipping his hat. "Beg you pardon my French."

As Brigitte shook her head, returning to the front of the tank, Reinhardt clapped his old friend on the back, nearly knocking him off his feet again. Thanks to the numbing gel like sealant that was applied to his wound, as well as the skilled suture job that was given to him, he was already able to stand again. "I think she likes you," the knight commented.

"So she's like...what? Your daughter or something?" Jesse quizzed. "Where'd you pick her up?"

"Oh, no, no, no," the large man quickly refuted. "Brigitte is simply a dear friend. The two of us have been travelling for a long while, and to be completely honest, nobody can polish my armor quite like her, if you know what I mean."

The cowboy blinked in shock, looking towards her in bewilderment. She was barely half of Reinhardt's age. "Don't let your imagination run away with your better sense, cowboy," she called back without even turning around. "He means that literally."

"Aye, I do! She makes my armor shine better than the first day it was forged."

"Back when dinosaurs roamed the earth?" Jesse scoffed.

"Ha! That is a funny joke, friend! Actually my armor was a gift from my Master who was the lord of my village of Eichenwalde. Now that was a man! It's rumored his armor still sits within his castle, just waiting to be reclaimed. Oh how I'd love to get my hands on it."

"Actually, that's not a bad idea," Brigitte chimed in. "That last stunt you pulled managed to damage the output nozzle for your rocket thrust. I could try to hammer it back out, but it'd be pretty tough to steer yourself."

"So friend, what have you been up to?" Reinhardt asked. "I have heard that you yourself have gotten something of a little brother, no?"

"Who, the kid? I mean, don't get me wrong, I enjoy his company, but he's first and foremost a responsibility. I gotta make sure he's taken care of and what not. So far, my job has not been going smoothly. It took forever to break him of being gunshy and even then, I had to trick him into thinking he was using tranquilizer bullets."

"You gave him real bullets and told them they were tranquilizers?!" Brigitte gasped. "That's horrible!"

"Hey," he argued, "If they're dead, that's tranquil enough for me. Anyway, the kid was saying that Winston wanted to get ahold of me, and seeing as how my mission in the desert was a bust, it leaves me in need of orders anyway. Too bad this gosh darned radio ain't workin'. Lord knows the kid probably scrapped it for parts to make some sort of robotic flapjack flipper or something."

"What if you used my communicator?" Reinhardt offered, taking the device off his wrist and presenting it to McCree.

For a long while, the cowboy was silent before he took it from his hands. "You didn't think for that entire hour and a half I've been fooling with that radio to mention you had a spare on you the whole time?" Grumbling under his breath to purge his irritation, he pressed a few buttons and sure enough, he was soon patched through by Athena. "Winston. Dan said you have some mission you need for me to get back to the base for. I figured I'd check in with you and save me a trip back to Gibraltar."

"Hello, Jesse. We have something of a situation here," he huffed.

That was never good news. "What sort of situation?"

"See for yourself," he said, turning his communicator to show Ana and Jack, now sitting at a table and enjoying a mug of coffee and a cup of tea.

"I'll be damned…" McCree gasped.

"Ana! Jack! You're alive!" Reinhardt exclaimed with glee over his shoulder. "It is so good to see you friends! Tell me how have you been?"

Ana smiled at the camera giving a polite wave. "It is good to see you as well Reinhardt. It seems that the life of adventure has been kind to you."

"You look very lovely as well," he replied flirtatiously. "Especially for a dead woman."

"Oh, you…" she giggled like a young girl, waving off his compliments.

"Anyway," Jack cleared his throat, looking to the camera. "Jesse, you and Reinhardt need to get back here on the double. There's been a breach of security and we need all hands on deck."

"Alleged breach of security," Winston corrected. "But he is right. Both of you get back here as fast as you can, and we'll explain everything once you're here."

"Roger. McCree over and out," Jesse stated before turning off the communicator and passing it back to the knight. "What do you think that means? Breach of security. Why would they need us?"

"Whatever it is, it must be serious," Reinhardt agreed. "Either way, I am excited to be returning It has been far too long since we've gotten to have a true adventure together old friend. I look forward to standing beside you in battle." As he clapped him roughly on the back again, McCree bit his tongue to remind him that they didn't even know if there really was going to be a battle. Right now, Jesse's biggest concern was that, if Jack and Ana were alive, who all else wasn't truly dead?

To be continued...