Author's Note: This is a total breather chapter. Things heat up in chapter ten
They were leaving for King's Row in the morning. Zenyatta could not stand to be alone and so Tracer stayed with him. His new body caused him nothing but pain. His old systems jarred with the new ones. His memories swarmed and left his mind muddled. Sleep was impossible.
"How are you feeling?" Tracer asked as she wrapped a blanket around him.
"Hmm." He couldn't put into words. It was a constant and profound pain. It radiated through every part of his being.
"I'll stay up with you."
"I am fine…" He said weakly.
"How are your legs?"
His legs weren't the problem. It was everything now. He couldn't quiet his thoughts. He couldn't meditate. Thoughts of Genji intertwined with Mondatta. Love and regret mixed together into one toxic cloud of thoughts. Zenyatta was out of harmony. Being in sync with the universe, his body, and spirits was a distant memory.
"Hmm." He moaned.
"It'll be okay, luv." Tracer reassured. "You'll give the speech and then we can go back to the base. Dr. Ziegler will fix you right up."
The word "fix" scared him. Fixing meant more healers, more pain, more having a foggy mind and feeling ill. "I miss my old body." He said pitifully. His body may have been dented, rusted, and broken but it was his body. It was the body that he met Genji in, that he fell in love with Genji with, that he joined Overwatch in. The dents were memories and lessons. The rust carried parts of the world from his travels.
"I'm sure Winston could do something. He's great at this sort of thing." She tried to remain optimistic but as the hours ticked away and their departure grew closer, doubt began to grow.
At three in the morning, Basho, Tracer, and Zenyatta walked down to the small airport. Zenyatta hobbled along, leaning heavily on Tracer. The cold stung his new joints. It aged him and made him feel older than twenty.
"One step at a time, Zenny." Said Tracer, "No shame in taking it slow."
Zenyatta hung onto Tracer for dear life. Walking was a struggle. He kept going though. He put one foot in front of the other. He never felt so weak before.
"Thank you for your help." He whispered. "I can't imagine doing this alone."
At four in the morning, they arrived at the airport. By this time, Zenyatta could barely move. The trip down the mountains had completely exhausted him. Tracer carried him like he was made out of glass. She had never seen anyone like this before.
"What did you do to him?"
"Excuse me?" Basho stopped walking.
"What did you do to him?" She repeated.
"We merely updated his systems. If you don't do it often enough, the longer it takes your body to become acclimated. It's his own fault. He should learn to take better care of himself."
"He does." Tracer protested.
"His operating system was nearly a decade old. It is as Master Mondatta would say, "Your body is a temple." Zenyatta has turned his into a frat house."
Tracer opened her mouth to argue but a gentle shake of the head from Zenyatta convinced her otherwise.
"He's not worth it. Please, leave it alone."
She did but she didn't like it. Basho was a pain in the ass. Elia was already at the airport when they arrived. She was making the final arrangements. As usual, Elia looked beautiful and professional but then she saw Zenyatta. For her, time slowed down. It was like Mondatta was back.
"Mondatta?" She said tearfully.
"Zenyatta." He said shamefully. He may have looked like his master but he wasn't. He could never be like Mondatta.
Elia's heart was broken instantly into a million pieces. She held back. "You…You look good. Those upgrades really…um, I-I have to go. I need to make a call. Excuse me, please."
Zenyatta sighed. "I believe that I have upset her greatly."
"She will get over it." Basho said. "We need Mond-" He caught himself. He wasn't speaking to his master anymore. "Sorry, you, Zenyatta. We need you."
"I understand."
They boarded the plane. There were a group of men, seven in total, on the plane. Each wore matching black suits with shiny black shoes.
"Who are you?" Tracer asked.
"Head of security, miss." The man saluted and his subordinates followed. "My team will be handling this mission." He stood rigid as though Tracer were his commander.
"If protection was necessary I assure you that Overwatch would be more than capable of handling it." Said Zenyatta feebly.
"With all due respect sir," The man saluted to Zenyatta, ", we know that Overwatch is fighting the good fight in Russia. They have their hands full, sir. My team and I will be able to protect you to the best of our abilities, sir! Do or die!" In one fluid motion, each of the men saluted.
"I appreciate your enthusiasm but I hope that there will not be a need for dying."
"All in the line of duty, sir." Answered the Head of Security.
"They worked to protect Mondatta." Said Elia taking her seat. She was the last to board. "They served him while he was on tour and finally on his last speech." She cast her sight to the men who had sworn to protect her master. "They were trying to get him out."
"Ah, I see."
An air of unease set in. Basho hurriedly had everyone take their seats. The plane took off. They were on their way to England. Zenyatta and Tracer set next to each other while Basho discussed extra security measures. He didn't think it prudent to involve Tracer or Zenyatta. Elia kept to herself. Occasionally, she would stare at Zenyatta but then she would look away in shame. Zenyatta was drained by the travel.
"Tracer, I'm sorry but I am afraid that I will not be much company today. I need to rest."
"It's alright, luv. You get your rest. I'll keep an eye out for you."
"Thank you dear."
Zenyatta peacefully went into sleepmode. Tracer smiled but worry was deep-seated. The way Zenyatta was acting, he would never be able to give a speech like this. She hoped that maybe the time they spent in the air would give Zenyatta enough time to recover but now she was unsure. Basho's head of security, a tall white man with dark brown hair, sat down next to her. He didn't introduce himself. He simply said, "You were on the rooftop."
He knew. He knew that she was there.
"Will St. North." He said, extending a hand out to here. "It's an honor to meet you, miss."
"Call me Tracer."
He had a million dollar smile. "Call me Will. I just wanted to say that I'm glad you will be with us. I feel better knowing that an Overwatch agent is on the team."
"Thanks." She replied, not feeling too confident about her own skills.
"May I say that your work at the National Overwatch Museum was superb?"
"You may and you have. So, you were there, huh?" She asked, turning the conversation away from her own stellar past.
"Yes, miss. You spoke to me. Told me that there was a shooter on the roof."
"Oh! That was you."
"Yes, miss. I want to say thanks for your help."
"I wasn't much help."
"Are you kidding me, miss? I reviewed your actions from eye witness reports, you saved our asses, miss."
"Tell that to Mondatta."
"The first priority in evacuation is to not cause a panic. A shooter on the roof gets panicky when it's target is leaving. They might take their rage our on the crowd. The explosion made all us stop. We shouldn't have but…we did." He looked at Zenyatta. "So that's him, huh? Zenyatta?"
"Yes." She said quietly.
"I didn't think that he would look like Mondatta so much."
"He doesn't, not normally."
"I hope he can fix this mess. I had to move my family out of England."
"You're from England?" She didn't hear even a slight accent from him.
"I'm a transplant. Went overseas for work, fell in love." Will pulled a necklace with a silver ring on it. "It's been six happy years now."
"Who's the lucky girl?"
Will got out his phone and showed off his screensaver. It was of an omnic woman and two human children both boys. "Her name's Saoirse. She's from Ireland went to London for work. We met and one thing led to another and now we've got two kids. Sean is four and he's growing like a weed. Fin just turned two and he is a speed demon." Will flipped through his phone's photos. Various snapshots of a cozy domestic life. Sean was dressed up for Halloween wearing a familiar set of white and black armor.
"He's dressed up like Winston!" Tracer exclaimed.
"Yeah, glasses and all." Said Will. "He's a huge fan of the good doctor." He flipped between photos. "And here's Fin." Fin was wearing Tracer's iconic outfit.
"Aw…what a cutie."
"Isn't he? Takes after his Mum."
"He's adorable."
"Yep. We had an official adoption ceremony when we got the boys. Mondatta was one of our guests."
"You knew him outside of work?"
"You protect someone's life for half a decade, you become close to them. Mondatta actually officiated my wedding."
"I had no idea. I thought he was all…"
"Religious leader type? No, miss, he was regular guy. You could sit down with him and shoot the breeze."
"Really?"
"Yeah. He had a great sense of humor. You'd never know by looking at him but he was a major goofball."
Tracer laughed. "No way."
"Oh, yes way." A few more flips through his phone revealed the casual person that Mondatta was. It was the kind of photos, the unprofessional photos that the public would never get to see; Mondatta wearing googly-eyed glasses and a fake mustache, Mondatta wearing a pink apron saying "Kiss me, I'm holy", Mondatta playing with Will's kids.
"Wow…"
"The kids wondered what happened to him. They know something bad but I don't know how to tell him that he's gone."
"I wish I could have done more."
"And what? Taken the bullet for him?"
She mused on that thought before Will said, "Mondatta would never want anyone to die for him. The world doesn't need martyrs, the world needs more heroes."