"What's your story?" He asked and I finally looked away from him, thinking. "I know you were never an Overwatch agent, but yet you have all the qualifications."

"I knew they would be shut down, hated once they were made use of. I wanted no part of it. I fought the Omnic crisis alongside them, but my view points didn't align with them. When Overwatch split in two, 76 wanted all the Omnic brought in, had checked out to make sure they would never rebel again. To me, that wasn't right, they were sentient, they desire to make their own choices, so who are we to persuade them?" I shrugged lightly.

"And yet it led to the second Omnic crisis."

"Because 76 started bringing in Omnic. They disagreed with it and saw it fit the only way to stop the kidnapping, they uprose again and started killing. This time, they adapted and won." I stared at the ground. "I fought against the Omnic to protect families, children, humanity and its entirety. I killed only those who wished harm on the humans and healed those who helped aid and those injured. I was seen as an outcast, too dangerous to have as apart of the team. So, I was denied partnership. Then it was a simple matter of just doing what I desired to do, whatever cause I believed in, I went after."

"Had you asked me to join Blackwatch..."

"You'd what? Accept me? You had a healer as apart of your team, you didn't need a second. Plus, I rarely work well in a team." I rest my head back and closed my eyes.

"How did you get your abilities?"

"I was an orphan, raised by an Omnic who found me on the street. Explained that with enough meditation I could gain powers. So, I worked hard and gained the ability to heal around the age of eighteen. I then helped with the first part of the Omnic crisis, Winston saw my ability and gave me wings, with practice he upgraded them with armor, the rest of my power comes from an energy source in this staff, which runs on solar energy. Everything else was something I built."

"Where did you get the staff?"

"I built it, with the help of my Omnic parent."

"And what happened to your parent?" He asked turning to look at me.

I fell silent for a long moment, staring at the ground, frowning even further. "It was during the first Omnic battle. I wasn't there, I was fighting on the front-lines and...an Overwatch agent mistook him for a rogue Omnic, killing him on sight. I didn't know until nearly six months later when I was able to return. There was nothing left, not even scraps, they had pulled all the scraps together to melt down. It was my neighbor that told me. I decided then...I wanted nothing to do with Overwatch anymore. They couldn't even pay attention to its agents, they killed innocent Omnic. For what?" I tightened my hands around the staff and grit my teeth a moment. He was silent watching me until I eased slightly taking in a deep breath. "It doesn't matter, everyone's dead as it is."

"Then what is it you desire now?"

"Find the Omnic, stop the threat, help humanity grow again."

"You know another war may come."

"Yes, I am aware. Peace is never a fact, it will never happen. Not for long anyway, what matters is that humans, as a whole, do not go extinct. What would be the point? Humanity must thrive once more, rebuild, repopulate and move on. Hopefully learning from past experience."

"You are unique." He said suddenly causing me to look up at him. I waited for him to say something more but he didn't. We simply stared at one another for a long several minutes before he turned to look back outside. "Had I known of your existence, I would have taken you into Blackwatch."

"Doesn't matter now." I said taking a deep breath. "Anyway, we should get moving at dawn. No doubt they will notice their stuff has gone missing and will be on the search for it."

"Of course. It is still a long way to Gibralta."

"Yea, I know." Smiling lightly, I glanced up at him. "Reaper?" He turned to look at me from over his shoulder. "Thanks." I watched him give a slow nod then face forward again. Resting, I closed my eyes and was soon asleep.

It felt like the moment I closed my eyes, I was being shaken awake. "Phoenix, get up." Reaper said and I opened my eyes looking over at him. He was kneeling at my side a hand on my shoulder.

"What is it?"

"They discovered they were missing supplies. There's a group of ten searching house by house."

"Delightful." Slowly, I stood and stretched. "What's the plan boss?"

"Let's move on. If we kill them, it will draw attention we will have back up before we've downed them all."

"Alright." I nodded and placed my staff on my back. "Let's go." we snuck out of the town, headed onto the open road and walked along it the remainder of the night. Still, as the sun rose high into the sky, we never stopped walking. "Why all the sudden interest in my history?" I asked looking over at him.

"I remained curious. If we are partners, I want to know who I am working with, not some stranger I can't trust."

I stared at him, confused, "do you trust me?" He turned his head to look at me, but did not reply. "Good enough. Well, if it's an consolation, I trust you, even knowing who you are and what you've done. I have no reason not to." I shrugged lightly.

"I want to call you idiotic, slightly imbecile, and irrational."

"Call me what you will. Doesn't mean I can't trust the man I am working with. So long as I stay in my line."

"True. The moment you deviate from my path and if I should ever assume you would stand against me, I will not hesitate to put you down."

I giggled lightly, "oh, big bad reaper. You could put me down, but I would just resurrect." He paused his step and turned to look at me, so I did the same, now confused. "What? You did not know I could?"

"Healing is one thing, but resurrect?" I nodded. "Just yourself or allies?"

"Both." I responded with a shrug. "Not something I can do one after the other, but given some time, I could do it again." Smirking I stepped closer. "What did you think a Phoenix could do? It isn't just a myth anymore, devil."

"As I now know. This ability may come in handy down the road which makes you a bit more useful."

Pouting, I crossed my arms, "was I not useful to begin with?"

"I have not seen you draw your gun once and you have only healed me once. You cannot fly and your stealth skills need work. No, I have seen little use for you in this moment in time."

"Ouch." I sighed looking away from him. "I suppose you're right. But, I assure you, I am better than you see me as. I survived two Omnic attacks and defended my own, that should say something."

"Those stories, could very well be lies." I flinched suddenly and looked down. They weren't lies and I didn't need to prove that to him. Stories of Reyes, aka Reaper, were known far and wide. This man was dangerous, could kill with ease, disappear into shadow and even become and invincible rush of shadows on will. He controlled the darkness and nearly all feared him. He could beat nearly everything without so much as breaking a sweat, so the stories were told.

But, me? I was unknown. The only ones who knew my name were dead. I made no impact on the Omnic crisis, no impact on Overwatch. I remained to the shadows as a child of light, invisible to everything and everyone. I shouldn't have expected any less than him looking down on me and knowing nothing about me. I knew well enough he could have very well believed everything I told him was lies, but I knew the truth, wasn't that enough?

No. For some odd reason tugging on the back of my mind, I needed his approval, his trust. I needed him to know I could defend him and fight, that I was worth something. Would I ever get that chance?

A hand on my chin broke my thoughts and it forced me to turn and look up at the devil standing before me. He said nothing however and we merely stared at one another. "You have...potential." He said breaking the silence. "I won't know otherwise until I see you fight."

Smiling brightly, "Then I will prove myself to you someday soon, when we fight next."

He released my chin, "I look forward to it." Then began walking again. Chuckling to myself, I stepped up beside him and walked along with him.

The desert we walked in seemed endless. There was no town or city growing on the horizon, it was simply endless. Once night had settled we decided to stop and rest for the night, I slammed my staff into the ground to create a warming fire. Dim enough to not draw enough attention, but just enough to lightly warm the area. We lay side by side, however a foot or two apart, both of us staring at the sky, never once saying a thing.

I wanted to strike a conversation but hadn't found the proper things to say and it took me a long time to settle my thoughts and turn away, curling up to try and sleep. However, at some point in the night, he glanced over at me, to see my body shuddering just slightly and grew curious, of course I was a being of fire, I needed warmth more than what the fire was producing. He sighed and moved closer his side just barely touching my back and hoped that was enough body warmth.

In the morning, when I woke, my head was resting on something comfortable instead of the hard ground I remember laying on. There was also something curling up my back and resting on my shoulder. Tensing slightly, I decided not to move, not exactly sure what it was.

"Are you awake?" A voice asked and I slowly lift my head looking over to see I was resting on his chest, his arm wrapped around me.

"I'm sorry!" I said sharply and sat up turning towards him. "I didn't mean-"

"You were freezing." He cut me off and sat up. "I offered my warmth and nothing more." slowly, I watched him stand and I sighed looking down.

"Still..."

"Don't think anything of it. Let's get moving, we need to find a city soon."

"Yes, alright." I stood and pulled the staff out of the ground and we set off on our path again.